Ripley wrote:
Without knowing Kreuziger's exact stats, but P-N probably isn't his favorite terrain, most variants are more suited to punchers than climbers. So I wouldn't worry that he didn't do well here. Especially with Izagirre jumping in to bag the victory.
Yes point taken. He has been a little down on performances in a couple of races previously too. He gets to lead at Catalunya next. Should be a better assessment of his form as the terrain suits him more.
Stage List
TTT - 1
ITT - 1
Flat - 3
Hilly/Mountain - 2
Movistar Starting List
Mikel Landa
Mikel Nieve
Dayer Quintana
Elia Viviani
Pello Bilbao
Adriano Malori
Jasha Sutterlin
Eustaquio Sanchez
With races now coming thick and fast in the season, the Tirreno-Adriatico would give Landa another chance of testing himself against some serious competition. The main threat to Movistar would be from Sky, with Froome and Porte both in the starting line-up. Some other contenders likely to make a possible impact were Moreno Moser and Carlos Betancur. A good combination of stages would test the overall mettle of the riders and should ensure a good race.
The following is a summary of stages...
Stage 1 - Team Time Trial - Flat - 17.4 km
The first stage played right into the hands of Sky with them winning it comfortably. Movistar managed an average seventh place with Astana taking third.
Stage 2 - Flat including 2 major intermediate climbs
A first flat stage saw the sprinters come to the fore and the teams of the sprinters ensured a bunch sprint finish. Peter Sagan was the strongest of the lot and took the stage win.
Stage winner - Peter Sagan
Stage 3 - Flat including 1 major and 1 minor intermediate climbs
Another flat stage saw the sprinters' teams set a blistering stage heading to the finish. The early breakaway stood no chance and was caught some way before the line. Nacer Bouhanni took the win and added to Sky's kitty.
Stage winner - Nacer Bouhanni
Stage 4 - Mountain with mountain top finish, including 2 major intermediate climbs
An early breakaway built up a lead of 17 minutes over the peloton. The pack started chasing hard to bring it down to manageable proportions. On the second intermediate climb, a group of eight riders, including the Sky trio of Froome, Porte and Kruisjwijk went away from the group. Mikel Landa, with the help of Mikel Nieve, chased down the pack with much difficulty, but with still some way to go. The effort had tired out the Movistar riders and when again the next group of leaders formed they weren't able to follow, with Landa losing time to Froome. Igor Anton took the win from the breakaway and also the lead in the GC.
Stage winner - Igor Anton from breakaway Movistar - Mikel Nieve 19th, Mikel Landa 22nd, Dayer Quintana 27th, 5'2" behind Other important results - Chris Froome 5th, 2'17", Pierre Rolland, Moreno Moser 10th, Thibaut Pinot 11th, 4'13", Alaphilippe 13th, 4'40", Porte 17th, 4'49"
Stage 5 - Mountain with hill top finish, including 1 major intermediate climb
A flat first half of the race was followed by the hilly finish. The pack started breaking with the pace set by Movistar and Sky. On the intermediate climb, near the top, Landa broke from the pack and built up a sizeable lead. His attack was not immediately followed but he was eventually caught by Froome, who had dropped his tail - the surprise package Alexandre Geniez - behind. On the uphill, Landa was again the first to attack, but it wasn't enough as Froome powered past him just on the line.
Stage winner - Chris Froome Movistar - Mikel Landa 2nd, s.t., Dayer Quintana 8th, 2'55" behind, Mikel Nieve 9th, 3'50" behind Other important results - Alexandre Geniez 3rd, 1'34" behind, Richie Porte 4th, Thibaut Pinot 5th, 1'45" behind, Kruijswijk 2'10" behind
Stage 6 - Flat including 2 minor intermediate climbs
An early breakaway formed and stayed ahead all through the duration of the stage to spoil the sprinters' outing. Although there was no time gaps, the breakaway being caught on the line, Alexis Gougeard took the win from the break.
Stage winner - Alexis Gougeard
Stage 7 - Individual Time Trial - Flat - 10.7 km
The ITT started with Froome enjoying a comfortable 3 minute lead over the pack. Victory was secured for him as long as he could avoid disaster. The real fight was for second place with Landa 20 seconds ahead of 3rd palce Geniez and 56 seconds ahead of Porte in 4th place. While Froome ensured his victory by finishing second, and extended his lead in the GC in the process, Landa struggled out of his element, losing second place to Geniez. He managed to hang on to 3rd place with Porte having a bad day as well. Tony Martin picked up the stage victory with Malori claiming 4th place on the stage for Movistar.
Stage winner - Tony Martin Movistar - Adriano Malori 4th, 33" behind, Mikel Landa 1'44" behind Other important results - Alexandre Geniez 6th, 38" behind, Richie Porte 1'12" behind
Team Classification
1)Sky
2)Movistar
3)Tinkoff-Saxo
Another sponsor objective ticked off with this third place GC finish. Mikel Landa once again failed to challenge Froome in a repeat of Algarve. The two TT stages did not do him any favours. Being especially weak in that skill is not a good sign for his future GT aspirations. A particularly poor showing from Viviani was a big disappointment. Not a single finish in the top 10, even being out-sprinted by team-mate Sutterlin in one stage! Let's hope he can buck up before the one day classics and the Giro. This was not the form he'd showcased when being scouted for us...
The first monument of the year did not go too well for Movistar as their riders struggled to keep pace with the head of the pack in the final quarter of the race. In the end, a one-day specialist in Zdenek Stybar claimed victory by attacking before the sprinters had started their charge and kept his lead at the line. The best Movistar could manage was a top 30 finish.
Movistar Starting List
Roman Kreuziger
Leopold Konig
Sam Bennett
Pello Bilbao
Rafael Valls
Alex Dowsett
Winner Anacona
Isidro Pintassilgo
The Tour of Catalunya comes on the back of a disappointing outing for Movistar at the Milan-San Remo. Roman Kreuziger was chosen to lead again following his not so good showing in Paris-Nice. With the terrain more inclined towards being mountainous, this should suit him better. Leopold Konig was drafted in to support Kreuziger, although this was not one of his objectives. A strong climbing team and Bennett as the sprinter led Movistar's charge for glory. Among the competition, Chris Froome, Dan Martin, Rafal Majka, Pierre Rolland, and Nicholas Roche would be the main threats. Could Kreuziger redeem himself with a commanding performance? Let's find out.
The following is a summary of stages...
Stage 1 - Hilly with flat finish, including 1 major and 2 minor intermediate climbs
The first stage saw an early breakaway form across the hills. The teams of the sprinters led the way in chasing them down and managed to catch them some way before the line. The stage ended in a bunch in the short flat after the last intermediate climb with Fabio Felline taking the win. Movistar managed two top 10 finishes.
Stage winner - Fabio Felline Movistar - Sam Bennett 6th, Roman Kreuziger 9th
Stage 2 - Flat with 1 major and 1 minor intermediate climbs
This flat stage saw some unwanted action as Froome and Arredondo both fell early on. The breakaway did not stand a chance with the pace set by the peloton and was caught before the line. Davide Appolonio took the win with the strongest sprint.
Stage winner - Davide Appolonio Movistar - Sam Bennett 4th
Stage 3 - Mountain with mountain top finish, including 2 major intermediate climbs
This stage saw a big-name retiree in Rafal Majka. Another early breakaway formed but was reeled in before the climb to the finish. The favourites formed a leading group of about 15 riders. A late attack by Domenico Pozzovivo saw him take the win and 10 seconds off the others.
Stage winner - Domenico Pozzovivo Movistar - Roman Kreuziger 9th, 10" behind, went into second place overall Other important results - All leaders finished in lead group, 10" behind Pozzovivo
Stage 4 - Mountain with mountain top finish, including 4 major intermediate climbs
A stage which finally saw some time gaps appearing in the peloton. The early breakway took the mountain sprints but did not stand a chance against the charge of the leaders. Fabio Aru put a disappointing 2017 behind him and showed his calibre by storming to the line ahead of Pattick Konrad and Peirre Rolland. Kreuziger limited his losses in 8th place while Konig finished further back. Froome had a bad day and lost 27 minutes to the leaders.
Stage winner - Fabio Aru Movistar - Roman Kreuziger 8th, 37" behind, Leopold Konig 12th, 2'54" behind Other important results - Pattick Konrad 2nd, Peirre Rolland 3rd, 8" behind, Dan Martin 4th, 22" behind, Alexandre Geniez 5th, Jan Polanc 6th, Dimenico Pozzovivo 7th, Nicholas Roche 9th, 37" behind
Stage 5 - Hilly with 1 major intermediate climb
An early breakaway formed with some strong riders, but who were well behind in the GC. Rolland, fell early in the stage but recovered very fast to get back to the peloton. It did not seem like he was suffering from any ill effects. The peloton did not chase the breakaway too hard allowing them to stay well clear. Atapuma took the stage, leaving the other breakaway riders well behind. Behind him however,, there was another almighty scramble for positions as the leaders jostled for an advantage. Eventually, Patrick Konrad ws able to attack without anybody following him. He shaved off a little more than 30 seconds taking the lead in the GC.
Stage winner - John Darwin Atapuma Movistar - Roman Kreuziger 11th, 3'54" behind Other important results - Patrick Konrad 5th, 3'22" behind, the other leaders finished in Kreuziger's group, 3'54" behind Atapuma
Stage 6 - Hilly with flat finish, including 1 minor intermediate climb
A relatively mild stage allowed the leaders and their teams to take a breather as the sprinters came to play once again. Wout Poels was the latest top rider to fall. However, the peloton remained in one piece and Tom van Asbroeck took the stage in the sprint.
Stage winner - Tom van Asbroeck
Stage 7 - Hilly with 6 minor intermediate climbs
A very undulating stage brought an end to this race. The leaders stayed together without much incident until they reached the set of undulating hills leading to the finish. Movistar tried their hardest to put Kreuziger into a good position. They kept up a high pace, but the riders dropping off the back were few in number. Finally, it wasn't to be as Dan Martin launched a well timed attack on the last hill to go to the front and finished in first place. The leaders finished in a bunch, meaning Martin done just enough to take the GC win.
Stage winner - Dan Martin Other important results - All leaders finished in the leading group
Overall Classification
1)Dan Martin (Tinkoff-Saxo)
2)Patrick Konrad (Bora-Argon)
3)Fabio Aru (Astana)
Team Classification
1)Astana
2)Tinkoff-Saxo
3)Movistar
Another disappointing outing for Movistar. They failed to fulfill another sponsor objective, again after MSR. Kreuziger did not have that last few seconds in him in each of the stages, which ultimately proved decisive against him. The team put most of their efforts into protecting Kreuziger and so were not competitive in the race for the other jerseys. It is strange how Kreuziger has faded in the off-season even though stats show he should be a stronger rider after the pre-season preps. Not jumping to conclusions too soon, but this is only a shadow of his performances last year. Time to pull up his socks it would seem...
Another cobbled classics went along the same script for Movistar. With Viviani away on a training camp for the Giro, it was left to Sam Bennett to lead Movistar, being the best cobbled rider in the team. Alas, his efforts were not enough as Movistar struggled to put any rider into contention. The rain made for a very treacherous ride as the riders came out of the race caked in mud and grime. Zdenek Stybar put in another superlative ride to claim back to back classic victories. Kristoff and Degenkolb filled out the other spots on the podium.
Gent - Wevelgem
Movistar changed up their strategy by putting Bennett into the break in this race. He was again leading for the team as Viviani was still away. The strategy did not work as the breakaway was caught with 50 km to go, well before the last of the cobbles was overcome. The favourites stepped on the gas leaving Movistar fighting for the lower placings. Surprisingly, the sprinters had a good day out overshadowing the cobble specialists with Sagan taking the win, followed home by Edward Theuns and Bryan Coquard. Movistar managed 28th, 29th and 30th places.
It wasn't to be a hattrick of wins for Intxausti in this race but Dayer Quintana, riding with illness, made sure of a hattrick by Movistar. Taking the last stage and the overall victory, he overcame the odds of bad health and showed his ever-increasing potential.
The Ronde saw Viviani return to lead the team as its best cobbled racer. Movistar kept its riders at the head of the pack to keep them safe from the cobbles. Slowly but surely, most of their riders started falling off the pace leaving only Bennett and Viviani in the leading pack of about 40 riders in the final third of the race. The last cobbled sections saw attacks from the favourites, breaking the race down into a two-horse race for the finish. Zdenek Stybar had the stronger legs pulling away from Sep Vanmarcke, who finished in second place, in the final stretch to take a third one day race win in four races. Lars Boom was the surprise third place finisher. Viviani managed 14th place, the best finish in a cobbled race for Movistar this season.
Paris - Roubaix
The last of the major cobbled races saw Movistar fail to make an impact again. The favourites attacked a long way from the finish line and the peloton split up into small groups of three to five riders. Jonh Degenkolb pulled away from the leading three man group to claim the sprint in the velodrome at Roubaix. Alexander Kristoff and Sep Vanmarcke finihsed second and third respectively. The best Movistar could manage was a 26th place.
DiCyc wrote:
Dayer looks stronger than before and Benat too.
Well, Movistar had never been good on cobbles, I believe
Dayer's definitely one for the future. His climbing stats are already pretty competitive. He just needs to improve on the peripheral skills.
Benat is also doing well consistently after being a little subdued last season. His form has been very impressive so far.
So far, cobbles are what our nightmares are made of. I'm sure we're not alone in this though Edited by AbhishekLFC on 07-01-2016 04:21
Movistar Starting List
Leopold Konig
Benat Intxausti
Ion Izagirre
Mikel Nieve
Pello Bilbao
Ruben Fernandez
Alex Dowsett
Eustaquio Sanchez
Having failed on the last three sponsor objectives, it was very important for Movistar to put their best foot forward in this race. Having said that, the task was the toughest imaginable; the sponsors demanded a first place finish! They'd sent a relatively strong climbing team to meet the challenge. Favourites to challenge them for top honours would be Wilco Kelderman, Ilnur Zakarin, Richie Porte, Rui Costa and Michal Kwiatkowski among others. A failure here might lead to serious questions being raised about Movistar's new direction, and would not be held too lightly by the sponsors.
The following is a summary of stages...
Stage 1 - Hilly with 6 major and 2 minor intermediate climbs
A very difficult stage greeted the riders at the start of this race. Pello Bilbao put himself into the break and collected enough points to lead the KOM at the end of stage 1. The breakaway was caught before the last climb of the day as the favourites made their charge. A surprise late attack from Marc de Maar caught the favourites by surprise. Movistar recovered earliest and both Intxausti and Konig counter-attacked in tandem. They managed to catch up to de Maar but he had just enough legs to hold out for the stage win. The trio took 34 seconds off the others.
Stage winner - Marc de Maar Movistar - Benat Intxausti 2nd, Leopold Kong 3rd, same time. Pello Bilbao took KOM jersey. Movistar were the leaders of the team classification Other important results - All other favourites finished in the chasing pack
Stage 2 - Hilly with 3 major and 1 minor intermediate climbs
An early breakaway formed with Oscar Gonzalez, in 2nd place in the KOM standings, in it. He picked up mountain sprint points along the course and Bilbao lost the KOM jersey after this stage. A 15 member group mostly consisting of pre-race favourites formed at the end of this stage with overnight leader de Maar in it. At the end, Tony Gallopin opened up the strongest sprint to take the stage. de Maar finished at the back of the leading group and lost his GC lead to Konig on countback.
Stage winner - Tony Gallopin Movistar - Leopold Konig 6th, Benat Intxausti 8th, same time. Konig took yellow jersey on countback
Stage 3 - Hilly with flat finish, including 2 major and 2 minor intermediate climbs
A flat finish to this stage ensured no time gaps emerged between the leaders. Earlier on in the stage, Rui Costa and Sergio Henao both fell but thankfully recovered to end in the peloton. Carlos Barbero was the strongest sprinter on the day and took the stage win. Pello Bilbao collected enough KOM points to take back the jersey again.
Stage winner - Carlos Barbero Movistar - Ion Izagirre 10th, same time. Benat Intxausti took the yellow jersey on a countabck
Stage 4 - Hilly with mountain top finish, including 5 major intermediate climbs
A dangerous breakaway formed early in the stage and they were allowed to stay away for too long a duration before the pack started chasing in earnest. By then, the leading group had not kept themselves with enough road left to pull the break back all the way. As a result, Adam Yates took the win from the break as well as the overall lead. Rolland, also from the break, took third on the stage and second place overall. Rigoberto Uran, Dan Martin and Bauke Mollema fell together early on. While the latter recovered, the former duo lost time on the leaders.
Stage winner - Adam Yates from breakaway Movistar - Benat Intxausti 8th, Leopold Konig 9th, both 1'13" behind. Movistar lost the team lead Other important results - Tanel Kangert 2nd, same time, Pierre Rolland 3rd, 22" behind, Betancur 4th, 34" behind, Fuglsang 5th, Zakarin 6th, Rui Costa 7th, 43" behind, Kwiatkowski 10th, 1'27" behind
Stage 5 - Hilly with 3 major and 2 minor intermediate climbs
Another early breakaway formed on this stage having strong riders, but this time they were of less danger to the leaders. However, the peloton kept them close anyway. They were not able to catch them however, and Andrey Amador kept up his good form this season to take another win a minute ahead of the peloton. The leaders finished together in the leading group.
Stage winner - Andrey Amador
Stage 6 - Individual Time Trial - Undulating - 22.7 km
Tom Dumoulin lived up to his pre-stage favourite billing an won this stage by a comfortable margin. Going into this stage Konig and Intxausti were tied for 3rd with Zakarin in 5th place, just 4 seconds behind. It was gearing up to be a three horse race for the title. As it turned out, Zakarin took 2nd place, 4 seconds faster than Konig in third place. They finished tied on time! Who took the win? Take a look at the screenshot to find out...
Stage winner - Tom Dumoulin Movistar - Leopold Konig 3rd, 29" behind, Benat Intxausti 7th, 1'4" behind Other important results - Ilnur Zakarin 2nd, 25" behind, Rui Costa 4th, 37" behind, Richie Porte 5th, 48" behind, Wilco Kelderman 8th, 1'4" behind
General Classification
1)Leopold Konig (Movistar)
2)Ilnur Zakarin (Aeroflot)
3)Rui Costa (AG2R)
Points Classification
1)Rui Costa (AG2R)
2)Leopold Konig (Movistar)
3)Benat Intxausti
Young Riders' Classification
1)Odd Christian Eiking (IAM)
2)Mathieu van der Poel (Philips)
3)Jean-Albert Carnevali (FDJ)
Team Classification
1)Tinkoff-Saxo
2)Movistar
3)Sky
A timely victory to lessen the ire of the sponsors. Fourth time lucky. Konig continues his good form and looks promising for the rest of the season. Intxausti built on his good start to the season. Pello Bilbao also showed good form to take the KOM jersey and is justifying his transfer to Movistar. A solid showing from the team just when it was needed. A satisfying race overall.
With the one day races moving away from the cobbles and towards the hilly flats, it was time for Movistar to be more involved in the ongoings. They registered a pretty strong team for this one in the hope of putting up a better showing. The early breakaway stood no chance as the teams of the favourites took up the mantle of pulling them back. With about 20 km to go, there was an attack by a group of about 20 riders who went away from the rest of the pack. Ion Izagirre and Sam Bennet made this split for Movistar. At about 8 km to go, there was another attack and this time the Movistar riders could not counter strongly enough to keep pace with the leaders. A group of 8 riders went away. They were hauled back enough for the original pack to get the same time at the finish, but not before John Degenkolb powered home to take his second one-day classic of the season. Adam Yates and Michal Kwiatkowski joined him on the podium. Ion and Bennett finished 12th and 15th respectively.
Updates from a couple of one-day races - A WT Classic and a Monument...
La Fleche Wallonne
The La Fleche Wallone was the second of the hilly classic races this season. As has become the norm, Movistar sent in a strong team of punchers and flat specialists to mount a serious challenge on this race. The customary early breakaway was allowed to stay ahead of the peloton for quite some time. This race did not see the extended attacks by the favourites which had characterised the other one day races so far this season. Catching up to the breakaway triggered the response from the favourites to pick up the pace. Quite a big group went into the closing stages with a chance of victory. The twisty ending section saw attacks from six riders to pull away from the rest. This included Benat Intxausti from Movistar, who eventually managed to finish 5th after being in the podium positions at the start of the final sprint for the line. Bauke Mollema produced a burst of pace going into the last corner and was not caught again. The other five sprinted to the line with Alaphilippe and Dan Martin taking the lower podium spots.
Liege-Bastogne-Liege
A race where Movistar has been doing well over the past three years saw them register a strong team. This race followed a similar script to La Fleche Wallone, with the leaders and their teams working together to chase the breakaway. Once they were in the clear, Rui Costa launched a blistering attack just before the summit of the last climb aand built up an insurmountable lead. The other leaders split up into groups of two and three riders, with some major time gaps opening up in the top 10 itself. This is stark contrast to how this race has tended to come down to a sprint for the line among the leaders in the past couple of years. Costa was followed home by Dan Martin and Michal Kwiatkowski in 2nd and 3rd positions respectively. Mikel Nieve was Movistar's best finisher once again, but this time was five positions worse off - 8th - than last year's third place finish.
Movistar Starting List
Nairo Quintana
Dayer Quintana
Mikel Nieve
Adriano Malori
Ruben Fernandez
Jesus Herrada
Jasha Sutterlin
Isidro Pintassilgo
This race became an important one in Movistar's race calendar as it was the first outing for Nairo in a stage race this year. He would have his brother, Dayer, who was is great form at moment, and Mikel Nieve as super domestiques. The competition would be tough with the likes of Wilco Kelderman, Vicenzo Nibali, Rigoberto Uran, Ilnur Zakarin, Thibaut Pinot, among others, in the reckoning. Movistar were coming off a decent run in the latest one day classics. Could they keep up the momentum on this last race before the Giro?
The following is a summary of stages...
Stage 1 - Individual Time Trial - Flat - 4.7 km
A miniature stage greeted the riders as they started the Tour of Romandie. This was the ideal ground for people to warm up without having to exert themselves too much. The stage itself went to the favourite, Tom Dumoulin. Jesus Herrada managed Movistar's best position of 8th place. Nairo did not have a good start, and found himself down in 82nd place.
Stage winner - Tom Dumoulin Movistar - Jesus Herrada 8th, losing 14", Jasha Sutterlin 11th, losing 18" Other important results - Ilnur Zakarin 6th, losing 10", Rigoberto Uran 16th, losing 19", Wilco Kelderman 20th, losing 20"
Stage 2 - Hilly with 2 major intermediate climbs
The first of the hilly stages saw a solo victory for Diego Ulissi following a late attack. The peloton effectively managed to catch the early breakaway leaving the race to be decided from the pack. Ulissi's late attack saw no counter, as the favourites waited and watched each other, finishing 35 seconds down on him.
Stage winner - Diego Ulissi
Stage 3 - Hilly with 1 major and 1 minor intermediate climbs
This stage saw the early breakaway get caught before the first climb itself, even before the halfway stage of the race. No other breakaway formed till the end and the stage was decided in a bunch sprint. Kenneth Vanbilsen took the win.
Stage winner - Kenneth Vanbilsen
Stage 4 - Mountain with 4 major intermediate climbs
Dayer Quintana put himself into the early breakaway in search of KOM points. He was the strongest climber in the break and collected maximum points on the stage, giving him the lead in the KOM classifications. His ride was so good, that at the last climb, he was the only one of the 11 man breakaway left. Behind him, there was battle royale between the leaders as they formed a 8 man chase group. On the last kilometres of the climb Zakarin and Nibali attacked again and were out of site of the others. They caught up to Dayer a little distance before the finish. Before the line, Dayer used his relative freshness of not having attacked going uphill to his advantage and took the stage win by a few feet. He put himself on to 3rd place on the podium.
Stage winner - Dayer Quintana Movistar - Nairo Quintana 6th, 2'12" behind Other important results - Ilnur Zakarin 2nd, Vicenzo Nibali 3rd, same time, Wilco Kelderman 4th, Diego Ulissi 9th, 2'12" behind
Stage 5 - Hilly with 4 minor intermediate climbs
Another hilly stage with a short flat finish saw no time gaps form among the leaders. Enrico Barbin, a part of the small early breakaway group won the stage as the pack refused to put in the required effort to catch them. It would all come down to the ITT to decide the final classifications. The problem was that it was Dayer's weak point. It would be tough for him to hold on to 3rd place, despite the almost 2 minute buffer.
Stage winner - Enrico Barbin, from breakaway
Stage 6 - Individual Time Trial - Flat - 18.5 km
There was an upset of sorts as far as the winner of the TT was concerned. Tom Dumoulin was beaten on time by Bob Jungels, who took a surprise win. Behind him, Dayer characteristically struggled but just did enough to hang on to his 3rd place - by all of 1 second!!
Stage winner - Bob Jungels Movistar - Nairo 14th, losing 37", Dayer lost 2'4" Other important results - Ilnur Zakarin 4th, losing 6", Wilco Kelderman 5th, losing 11", Vicenzo Nibali 8th, losing 17", Diego Ulissi 16th, losing 40"
Young Riders' Classification
1)Isidro Pintassilgo (Movistar)
2)Odd Christian Eiking (IAM)
3)Silvio Herklotz (Tinkoff-Saxo)
Team Classification
1)Movistar
2)Astana
3)Tinkoff-Saxo
Well, mission accomplished as far as this race is concerned. This race was basically meant to be a means to get Nairo race ready. Any good GC finish would've been an added bonus. Dayer's long ride through the mountains on stage 4 not only fetched him a stage win and the KOM classification victory, but also propelled him to 3rd place on the podium. Nairo finished a decent 8th while Isidro Pintassilgo furthered the cause for satisfaction by winning the Young Riders' classification. The Giro is almost upon us...
