Movistar Starting List
Roman Kreuziger
Rafal Majka
Elia Viviani
Adriano Malori
Rafael Valls
Pello Bilbao
Eustaquio Sanchez
Carlos Artime
The second World Tour race sees Movistar go for a two-pronged attack on the GC. Roman Kreuziger would be leading the team, the first since his victory at Mallorca. Rafal Majka was riding in his first big race for Movistar and would surely look to impress. The competition was mostly comprising of strong punchers with the likes of Dan Martin, Jakob Fuglsang, Michal Kwiatkowski among those who were expected to challenge for the GC. A well balanced set of stages should see a lot of excitement in the mountains, as well as a tense finish in the MTT. Should be a good race to follow.
Stage 1 - Individual Time Trial - Flat - 9.4 km
This stage gave the TT specialists their day out in the sun. Tom Dumoulin, consistently the best pure TT-ist in the field, grabbed the opportunity with both hands. Adriano Malori finished 4th for Movistar.
Stage winner - Tom Dumoulin Movistar - Adriano Malori 4th, losing 14", Roman Kreuziger lost 39" Other important results - Michal Kwiatkowski 2nd, same time, Jakob Fuglsang 5th, losing 20", Chris Froome 7th, losing 22", Bauke Mollema 11th, losing 29"
Stage 2 - Flat with 1 minor intermediate climb
Zardini and Gaudin was in the early breakaway. 5 riders joined in including Dylan Teuns. This 7 man group came down to just 3. They stayed away for a long time but were caught with 6 km left. The bunch was won by Marcel Kittel with Viviani in 3rd for Movistar.
Stage 3 - Hilly with uphill finish, including 1 minor intermediate climb
A 12 man breakaway held a 1-1'15" second till 100 km to go. The peloton allowed them to break the shackles, and they pulled away to a 3 minute lead. 4 riders from the break were caught with 10 km left; 3 more with 8 km to go. The breakaway, in its entirety was finally caught at the base of the climb to the finish. Jay McCarthy, Mollema, Kwiatkowski and Fuglsang made the first move. Kreuziger, Majka and Betancu were the only ones who followed. Majka wsa caught by the peloton before the finish. The original four attackers sprinted for the win, with Kwiatkowski emerging the fastest.
Stage winner - Michal Kwiatkowski Movistar - Roman Kreuziger 5th, 25" behind Other important results - Jay McCarthy 2nd, Jakob Fuglsang 3rd, Bauke Mollema 4th, all same time, Carlos Betancur 6th, 25" behind. The peloton finished 48" behind
Stage 4 - Hilly with slight uphill finish, including 2 major and 2 minor intermediate climbs
The man break, including Kruijswijk, built up an 8 minute lead. The rest of the stage was without incident till the break was caught with 10 km to go. At this point the lead group was down to 30 riders. Rafal Majka attacked with 4 km to go, followed by Kreuziger with 3 km left. They were not caught by the pack and ensured a 1-2 finish for Movistar. The other GC leaders finished together in the pack. This was Majka' s first win for Movistar, 25 seconds down.
Stage winner - Rafal Majka Movistar - Roman Kreuziger 2nd, 11" behind
Stage 5 - Hilly with uphill finish, including 3 major and 2 minor intermediate climbs
A 5 man group including Adam Yates and Dennis Shmatovalenko set off on the break. They were joined by 2 more riders. After the 4th climb, the lead group had been whittled down to 90 riders. The break was caught just 2.5 km to go. Majka, Kwiatkowski and Betancur attacked immediately. Kwiatkowski attacked too with 1.5 km to go. The four of them finished together, with Kreuziger taking the win on the climb to the finish. Kreuziger and Najka were up onto 2nd and 3rd place on the podium respectively.
Stage winner - Roman Kreuziger Movistar - Rafal Majka 4th, same time Other important results - Michal Kwiatkowski 2nd, Carlos Betancur 3rd, both same time, Dan Martin 5th, 31" behind, John Darwin Atapuma 6th, Wilco Kelderman 7th, Bauke Mollema 8th, 46" behind
Stage 6 - Hilly with 1 major and 4 minor intermediate climbs
A 7 man breakaway, again with Adam Yates, built up a 5 minute lead over the pack. The pack chased with earnest but ultimately could not catch one last breakaway rider. Nathan van Hooydonck won the stage. No time gaps were created among the leaders.
Stage winner - Nathan van Hooydonck Movistar - Roman Kreuziger 8th
Stage 7 - Hilly with 3 major and 1 minor intermediate climbs
A super-strong 11 man breakaway, with Geniez, Barguil, Sebastien Henao, Anacona and Talansky, among others, built up a 14 minute lead on the pack. The lead group was down to 50 riders after the last climb. The leaders were busy closing the gap to the breakaway and did not attack each other. They did close the gap but could not catch the break as Arthur Vichot won. Again, no time gaps were created among the leaders.
Stage winner - Arthur Vichot
Stage 8 - Individual Time Trial - Mountain - 9.3 km
This stage was more suited for the climbers than the time-trialists. Kwiatkowski was always favourite to hold on to his near 1 minute lead in the GC and he did just that, extending it by 20 seconds here. Fuglsang won the stage with Mollema in second, while Majka's disappointing stage meant he dropped out of the podium places and down to 6th. Kreuziger hung on to 2nd place overall.
Stage winner - Jakob Fuglsang Movistar - Roman Kreuziger 9th, losing 25", Rafal Majka lost 52" Other important results - Bauke Mollema 2nd, losing 2", Michal Kwiatkowski 4th, losing 6", Dan Martin 7th, losing 21"
General Classification
Michal Kwiatkowski (Orica GreenEdge)
2)Roman Kreuziger (Movistar)
3)Bauke Mollema (IAM)
Young Riders' Classification
1)Mickel Grelet (Cofidis)
2)Robert Power (American Express)
3)Eustaquio Sanchez (Movistar)
Team Classification
1)Astana
2)Orica GreenEdge
3)Sky
Paris-Nice kept the excitement alive till the last stage. The stages had promised a good race and the riders delivered. Kwiatkowski was too strong in the end for the others. Kreuziger did well to finish 2nd, in both the GC and the Points classification. Majka's almost had the perfect start to his Movistar WT career, but the last ITT took away his podium position. Eustaquio also did a commendable job in the U25s. All in all, a race in which Movistar have a lot of positives to carry back to the camp. They're looking forward to having a great year, without jinxing it...
The flat TTT stage starts us off at the Tirreno-Adriatico. Teams will be looking to give their leaders an early advantage on this relatively sedate stage.
Stage 2
The stage ends in a flat after some climbing in the second half. The sprinters should not be dropped on the climbs and are likely to be the ones contesting the sprint at the finish.
Stage 3
Another mostly flat stage ends with a twist. There is a minuscule climb just before the finish, which might give some hope to the punchers to get one over on the sprinters.
Stage 4
Although the big climb comes early on this stage, the real difficulty for the riders would be final quarter. Sporting numerous, sharp ups and downs, there are a lot places from where attacks can be launches The GC contenders have to be very attentive or risk losing time to their rivals.
Stage 5
Stage 5 boasts the biggest climb of the race and ends on a downhill after a few more smaller climbs. Another stage where the leaders will be looking for opportunities to take time over their rivals.
Stage 6
The stage starts off at a high altitude but gradually comes down before a set of four consecutive pairs of hills lead the riders to the finish. This is a stage where the breakaway is likely to survive given the nature of the stage and the tiredness which is likely to have crept up on the peloton by now.
Stage 7
The ITT is destined to play an important role in deciding the GC once again. Given the nature of the stages, a lot of time gaps among the leaders is unlikely to be created. As such, the ITT will most likely again decide who stands on the top step of the podium.
Overall Assessment
Once again, the Tirreno-Adriatico is devoid of decisive big climbs and instead focusses on two time trials as central to the course. There are high climbs, but none of these are likely to affect the results of individual stages or the GC, given their position in the stage profiles. The overall profile favours a rider who is strong in multiple disciplines.
Movistar Starting List
Leopold Konig
Bryan Coquard
Benat Intxausti
Ion Izagirre
Isidro Pintassilgo
Gorkha Izagirre
Ruben Fernandez
Alejandro Valverde
The profile of this race did not suit Movistar's strengths. They have always been a team who've excelled in races with high climbs. As a result, they had announced a team which contained riders who were 'all-rounders' as their leaders. Konig and Intxausti would co-lead the team. It was slightly surprising that they had not selected an out-and-out TT specialist despite two time trials. It would be interesting to see how they performed against good competition. The likes of Aru, Rolland, Ulissi, Bardet, Frank and Meintjes would pose major threats to Movistar's ambitions. Perhaps this was the first race this season wherein Movistar were lining up without one of their riders being a 3-star favourite for the GC.
Stage 1 - Team Time Trial - Flat - 16 km
Not exactly a Prologue, the first stage was long enough for certain teams to build a sufficient time gap over others. At the end, it Orange who won the stage, putting Cavendish into the leader's blue jersey overnight. Movistar finished a good 3rd place.
Stage 2 - Flat with 1 major and 1 minor intermediate climbs
A total of four separate breakaways were pulled back by the peloton till the first sprint point of the day. After that, they allowed a two man break to stay out till 12 km from the line. The sprint saw Movistar unable to put Coquard into a good position, and he failed to get into the top 10. Cavendish won, extending his lead at the top.
Stage winner - Mark Cavendish
Stage 3 - Flat with 1 major intermediate climbs
A two man early breakaway built up an 8 minute lead over the pack. The action behind started on the only climb of the day as the pack split in two. The front group caught the break with 3 km to go. The sprint from Movistar was better this time as Coquard claimed 3rd. Cavendish won again.
Stage winner - Mark Cavendish Movistar - Bryan Coquard 3rd, Leopold Konig 9th
Stage 4 - Hilly with uphill finish, including 1 major and 1 minor intermediate climbs
There was a 6 man breakaway with Pintassilgo, Stannard and Tony Martin in it. 1 rider was dropped after the first climb. The lead group was down to less than a 100 riders after the second climb. Rolland attacked with less than 20 km to go. Mohoric and Meintjes countered but the latter was reeled back in by the peloton. The lead pair caught the break with 3 km to go. Konig, Intxausti and Stybar attacked, catching Rolland. Bardet too made a late dash. Mohoric stayed ahead and claimed the win. Movistar had a good stage with 2 riders in the top 5,
Stage winner - Matej Mohoric Movistar - Benat Intxausti 2nd, 11" behind, Leopold Konig 5th, 19" behind Other important results - Pierre Rolland, Romain Bardet 4t, both 1" behind, Zdenek Stybar 6th, Tom Slagter 7th, both 19" behind, Mathias Frank 10th, 44" behind
Stage 5 - Hilly with downhill finish, including 1 major and 2 minor intermediate climbs
The early 7 man breakaway had Aru, who had lost a lot of time on the previous stage, and Pintassilgo. They built up a lead of 10 minutes. 4 riders, including Pintassilgo were caught by the peloton around the halfway stage. With 60 km to go, Ulissi, Bardet and Meintjes launched the decisive attack of the stage. Slagter, Mohoric, Matthews and Rolland went away off the front of the peloton at the 40 km mark. Movistar did a lot of work to try to catch the break but the terrain did not help their cause. From the four last attackers, three were caught by the peloton; only Mohoric stayed away in pusuit. Eventually, Eros Capecchi, part of the original morning breakaway, won the stage and propelled himself up into the top 5. Movistar had a bad day as both their leaders lost more than 4 minutes. Konig and Intxausti were down to 6th and 10th places in the GC, respectively.
Stage winner - Eros Capecchi from breakaway Movistar - Leopold Konig 7th, 4'7" behind, Benat Intxausti 4'47" behind Other important results - Romain Bardet 2nd, Diego Ulissi 3rd, Louis Meintjes 4th, all 1'41" behind, Matej Mohoric 5th, 2'45" behind
Stage 6 - Hilly with slight uphill finish, including 1 major and 1 minor intermediate climbs
Pintassilgo put himself into another breakaway in search of KOM points. In the end, his efforts would only bring him 3rd place on the KOM standings. Konig attacked with 25 km to go, in attempt to claw back some time. He was caught around the 20 km mark. Intxausti and Rolland attacked next, but they too were not successfull. Konig attacked again with 6 km left, but was first caught by the charging Mohoric, and then by the pack. Mohoric won the stage with his perfectly timed late attack. The leaders lost no time, barring Capecchi.
Stage winner - Matej Mohoric
Stage 7 - Individual Time Trial - Flat - 9.3 km
The short ITT meant that no significant changes were expected in the GC. The bright spot for Movistar was Konig's good ride propelled him above Capecchi and into 5th place in the GC. Geraint Thomas beat out pre-stage favourite Tony Martin to take the win.
Stage winner - Geraint Thomas Movistar - Leopold Konig lost 44", Benat Intxausti lost 46" Other important results - Romain Bardet 6th, losing 23", Louis Meintjes lost 49", Matej Mohoric lost 57"
The team weren't expecting great things from this race and that's how it turned out. The first stage race where Movistar haven't challenged for the GC so far this season. Konig managed to control the rot to an extent with a good ride in the final stage ITT. A top 5 finish would still be something to show to the sponsors. The team will have better races and this one shouldn't get them down too much. Time to re-focus and get ready for the spring classics starting in a few days.
Roman Kreuziger officially announced his retirement following his outing in Paris-Nice. Having previously hinted at the same in the off-season, it seems he has now made up his mind. He will continue to ride for us through the rest of the season, with his most important role being a super-domestique to Nairo Quintana at the Giro. He will also lead the team in the Tour of the Basque Country and sign-off at the Il Lombardia in the autumn.
The team management would like to thank him for his contributions to Movistar and wish him all the best for the future.
The first Monument of the year saw Movistar bring a very strong team. They were putting their money on Alaphilippe to get them a first win in this race. There was no doubting the quality of the field. The field would ride over more than 300 km to reach the finish.
The start saw a 3 man breakaway. There were no real dangerous riders in the bunch, and so the peloton allowed them some leeway. Movistar riders Konig and Pintassilgo fell before the second climb but recovered. The peloton picked up the pace as they entered the last third of the race. They caught 2 riders from the breakaway with about 20 km left. The solo break had a minute's lead at this time. Zdenek Stybar launched the first attack with Alaphilippe in tow. This was with 12 km to go. Soon, the trio of Konig, Stannard and Arredondo attacked and caught up to the former duo, who in turn had caught up to the solo break by then. Stannard launched another attack on top of the final climb with 7 km to go. Alaphilippe was the only one who could follow while the others were swept up by the peloton. Stannard stayed ahead and claimed 1st place. Alaphilippe held on to 2nd place, just ahead of the charging peloton. Degenkolb won the sprint to finish 3rd .
Two big climbs wont have much of an impact on the outcome. The final climb is on the smaller side and not near enough to the finish to affect the outcome. The sprinters have an outside shot of a stage win.
Stage 2
The decisive moves of the stage wll boil down to the first category climb before the finish. Too steep for the sprinters to hang on to, it surely ensures a sprint among a reduced bunch for the stage win.
Stage 3
The queen stage comes early in the race. Despite that, with the absence of any TTs, this stage will have the biggest impact on the final GC. Only the best climbers will be able to challenge for the win here.
Stage 4
The peloton will ride over the same climb twice heading into Asco. The steepness of the climb should once again whittle the field down to the stronger climbers. The GC leaders will have to be watchful of late attacks from their rivals.
Stage 5
The climbs continue in Catalunya. The second categorised climb of the day should see most of the action. The flat portion leading to the finish might see someone other than a pure climber take the stage though.
Stage 6
The climbs on this penultimate stage are moderate compared to what the riders would've faced till this time. A good stage for the breakaway to take their chances. The peloton would be quite tired by this time to chase with real intent.
Stage 7
The final stage takes us to Barcelona, the capital of Catalunya. More climbs face the GC leaders as they try to hold on and maybe consolidate on their positions. The last two climbs should see a lot of action, with this being the last chance to make an impact on the GC. Whoever is the leader at this point should be prepared to defend, defend, defend.
Overall Assessment
A lot of climbing awaits the riders. A technically challenging course, one that should see the climbers make hay. Nothing much to play for, for the sprinters or the flat specialists. Should be a good indicator of the forms of the riders for the Grand Tours.
