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One in a Billion | Rise to the Summit
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 14-04-2017 18:19
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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With April approaching, we were really getting into the thick of the action as far as the season is concerned. I've been doing well, a lot better than I expected in fact. I have the team to thank too, with them giving me a lot of freedom to express myself.
In April, I'll be heading back to Spain with the team to race in the Basque country and round it off with a couple pf outing in the Ardennes classics. A lot to look forward to.
Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco
Meintjes led the team and I was given the freedom once again to look after myself and pursue my own interests.
I decided to change things up by going into the break in Stage 1. It was just the two of us in the break. Of the three climbs on the stage, I won the first and the third and took second place in the other. We were caught with 65 km to go. There were more attacks from the pack but they didn't last long. The favourites started attacking as the end approached and I didn't have the energy to follow or chase. Meintjes too struggled to keep pace and finished in the third group on the road while I finished a further group down. Kwiatkowski won the stage in a three way sprint ahead of Alaphilippe and Kelderman. Not a good start for us. I did have the KOM jersey to show at the end of the stage.
Stage 2 and I joined the break after the third climb of the day. We were caught soon after. I did have the strength to attack again on the fourth climb and take the KOM points. Gilbert and Vuillermoz attacked from the group and sped away. I could not keep up with the pace and dropped out of the lead group and went on to lose a minute. Meintjes did finish in the lead group which just caught the two attackers on the line. It wasn't enough to prevent Vuillermoz from taking the win ahead of Gilbert, a good result for us.
Stage 3's finish was similar to the last but there was no attack from a long way out. This time, it was Meintjes who couldn't keep up with with the pace and lost time. I hung on to the lead group and finished just outside the top 10. Wellens won the stage.
Having lost a lot of time in the previous stages, Nibali, Contador and Zakarin joined up with the breakaway on Stage 4. I couldn't missed the chance of riding shoulder to shoulder with them and joined the break too. Through the course of the race I lost out on the KOM jersey, not being strong enough to take any points. We were caught by the pack with 35 km to go. The pack was already reduced by this time and kept getting smaller as the stage went on. Kelderman and Rui Costa contested the sprint for the win, with the Dutchman taking it on the line. I did well to hang on to 9th, despite losing more than 2 minutes. I did move up from 3rd to 1st in the U25 standings.
(Wearing the KOM jersey on Stage 4)
I joined the break again on Stage 5, this time with Kangert and Sepulveda. With 100 km, I was the leader of the GC on the road! This however did not last long as the peloton started picking up the pace. We were caught with 30 km to go. I managed to hang on to the lead group and lost no time on this stage.
Stage 6 was the customary ITT to end Pais Vasco. I was 3 seconds off the pace when I passed the first checkpoint and 6 seconds off at the finish. There were fifteen more riders who started after me and I ended up in 7th place by the time the last of them completed, a whole minute down on Kwiatkowski's winning time, but only 18 seconds off second place.
| 1 | Wilco Kelderman | Team Giant-Alpecin | 21h50'53 | | 2 | Michal Kwiatkowski | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 36 | | 3 | Julian Alaphilippe | Stella Artois | + 1'45 | | 4 | Simon Yates | Astana Pro Team | + 3'18 | | 5 | Diego Ulissi | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 3'40 | | 6 | Mikel Landa | Team Katusha | + 4'31 | | 7 | Tom Dumoulin | Team Giant-Alpecin | + 4'38 | | 8 | Simon Spilak | Orica-GreenEDGE | s.t. | | 9 | Carlos Betancur | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 4'45 | | 10 | Tim Wellens | ESPN | + 4'58 |
Spoiler | 11 | Sérgio Henao | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 5'41 | | 12 | Alexis Vuillermoz | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 5'51 | | 13 | Joaquím Rodríguez | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 6'18 | | 14 | Rui Costa | IAM Cycling | + 6'44 | | 15 | Abhishek Sinha | Lotto Soudal | + 6'50 | | 16 | Tanel Kangert | ESPN | + 7'40 | | 17 | Ilnur Zakarin | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 7'52 | | 18 | Adam Yates | Team Sky | + 7'57 | | 19 | Louis Meintjes | Lotto Soudal | + 8'00 | | 20 | Pierre Rolland | Team Sky | + 8'25 | | 21 | Chris Froome | Team Sky | + 8'58 | | 22 | Fabio Aru | Astana Pro Team | + 9'10 | | 23 | Warren Barguil | Stella Artois | + 9'30 | | 24 | Alberto Contador | Astana Pro Team | + 10'06 | | 25 | Matej Mohoric | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 10'41 | | 26 | Daniel Martin | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 10'44 | | 27 | Bob Jungels | Team Sky | + 10'53 | | 28 | Tejay Van Garderen | Stella Artois | + 11'29 | | 29 | Gorka Izagirre | IAM Cycling | + 11'44 | | 30 | Roman Kreuziger | Astana Pro Team | + 11'59 | | 31 | Romain Bardet | Astana Pro Team | + 12'37 | | 32 | Anastasio Ania | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 12'50 | | 33 | Eduardo Sepulveda | Team Sky | + 12'57 | | 34 | Wout Poels | Astana Pro Team | + 13'35 | | 35 | Tony Gallopin | Stella Artois | + 16'33 | | 36 | Julian Arredondo | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 16'39 | | 37 | Carlos Barbero | TEAM Cepsa | + 19'16 | | 38 | Davide Formolo | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 20'47 | | 39 | Sebastian Henao | Colombia | + 21'19 | | 40 | Jan Barta | ESPN | + 22'03 | | 41 | Michael Matthews | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 22'32 | | 42 | Tom Slagter | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 23'15 | | 43 | Merhawi Kudus | Bora - Argon 18 | + 23'59 | | 44 | Rafal Majka | Team Sky | + 24'23 | | 45 | Javier Moreno | TEAM Cepsa | + 25'41 | | 46 | Aurélien Paret-Peintre | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 26'00 | | 47 | Zico Waeytens | Stella Artois | + 26'08 | | 48 | Moreno Moser | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 26'28 | | 49 | Marcos García | TEAM Cepsa | + 26'40 | | 50 | Tony Martin | Stella Artois | + 26'59 | | 51 | Egor Silin | Team Katusha | + 27'32 | | 52 | Lawson Craddock | ESPN | + 27'43 | | 53 | Juan José Lobato | TEAM Cepsa | + 28'14 | | 54 | Peter Kennaugh | MTN-Qhubeka | + 29'27 | | 55 | Cameron Meyer | MTN-Qhubeka | + 29'40 | | 56 | Peter Velits | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 29'47 | | 57 | Alejandro Valverde | Team Katusha | + 30'09 | | 58 | Philippe Gilbert | Lotto Soudal | + 30'28 | | 59 | Arnaud Duteil | Team Europcar | + 30'46 | | 60 | Ian Boswell | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 31'40 | | 61 | Vincenzo Nibali | Team Sky | + 31'56 | | 62 | Petr Vakoc | Iberdrola | + 32'10 | | 63 | Edward Ravasi | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 32'34 | | 64 | Alvaro Cuadros | Team Katusha | + 32'49 | | 65 | Loïc Vliegen | Lotto Soudal | + 34'19 | | 66 | Emanuel Buchmann | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 34'56 | | 67 | Dylan van Baarle | Team Giant-Alpecin | + 35'54 | | 68 | Kenny Elissonde | Team Europcar | + 37'17 | | 69 | Michael Schär | IAM Cycling | + 37'19 | | 70 | Jonas Bokeloh | Team Giant-Alpecin | + 42'02 | | 71 | George Preidler | IAM Cycling | + 42'06 | | 72 | Jesús Herrada | TEAM Cepsa | + 42'13 | | 73 | Richie Porte | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 42'37 | | 74 | Daniel Moreno | Team Katusha | + 43'18 | | 75 | Diego Rubio | Iberdrola | + 43'27 | | 76 | Gianni Moscon | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 43'29 | | 77 | Winner Anacona | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 44'50 | | 78 | Gregorio Ibañez | Stella Artois | + 45'56 | | 79 | Magnus Cort Nielsen | Bora - Argon 18 | + 46'13 | | 80 | Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg | MTN-Qhubeka | + 46'30 | | 81 | Romain Combaud | Team Europcar | + 46'40 | | 82 | Gorka Ceballos | Iberdrola | + 47'07 | | 83 | Miguel Angel Benito | TEAM Cepsa | + 47'18 | | 84 | Davide Martinelli | ESPN | + 49'41 | | 85 | Caleb Ewan | Team Katusha | + 50'04 | | 86 | Lukas Löer | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 50'50 | | 87 | Garikoitz Bravo | Iberdrola | + 51'55 | | 88 | Wouter Wippert | IAM Cycling | + 51'59 | | 89 | Gerald Ciolek | MTN-Qhubeka | + 52'05 | | 90 | Christophe Laporte | Team Giant-Alpecin | + 52'27 | | 91 | Salvatore Puccio | Astana Pro Team | + 52'32 | | 92 | Marcel Wyss | IAM Cycling | + 53'59 | | 93 | Josip Rumac | MTN-Qhubeka | + 54'06 | | 94 | Rick Zabel | TEAM Pirelli | + 54'15 | | 95 | Daniel Eaton | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 56'28 | | 96 | Taylor Phinney | Team Sky | + 57'17 | | 97 | Jaime Castañeda | Colombia | + 57'20 | | 98 | Lilian Calmejane | Team Europcar | + 59'19 | | 99 | Jeppe Lykke Hartvig Nielsen | IAM Cycling | + 59'51 | | 100 | Michael Vink | Team Europcar | + 1h00'31 | | 101 | Fabien Grellier | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 1h01'36 | | 102 | Alberto Gallego | Iberdrola | + 1h01'42 | | 103 | Boris Vallée | Stella Artois | + 1h01'50 | | 104 | Koen De Kort | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 1h03'06 | | 105 | Fabio Sabatini | TEAM Pirelli | + 1h03'13 | | 106 | Timo Roosen | Team Giant-Alpecin | + 1h03'45 | | 107 | Vincent Jérôme | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 1h03'54 | | 108 | Sven Erik Bystrøm | IAM Cycling | + 1h04'24 | | 109 | Christian Koch | Bora - Argon 18 | + 1h05'03 | | 110 | Simone Consonni | TEAM Pirelli | + 1h05'17 | | 111 | Raymond Kreder | MTN-Qhubeka | + 1h05'43 | | 112 | Jonas Koch | Bora - Argon 18 | + 1h05'44 | | 113 | Jurgen van Diemen | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 1h09'59 | | 114 | Cristiano Salerno | TEAM Cepsa | + 1h10'07 | | 115 | Marco Haller | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 1h10'31 | | 116 | Logan Owen | ESPN | + 1h10'33 | | 117 | Davide Plebani | TEAM Pirelli | + 1h12'14 | | 118 | Víctor de la Parte | TEAM Cepsa | + 1h12'50 | | 119 | Pim Ligthart | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 1h12'59 | | 120 | Milan Veltman | TEAM Pirelli | + 1h13'09 | | 121 | Romain Matheou | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 1h13'52 | | 122 | Ramon Sinkeldam | Bora - Argon 18 | s.t. | | 123 | Mateusz Nowak | Colombia | + 1h14'04 | | 124 | Rafal Palik | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 1h16'28 | | 125 | Marco Tizza | Colombia | + 1h17'35 | | 126 | Lucas Liss | Bora - Argon 18 | + 1h18'00 | | 127 | Jan Brockhoff | Bora - Argon 18 | + 1h18'29 | | 128 | Maximilian Schachmann | Team Giant-Alpecin | + 1h21'14 | | 129 | Brenton Jones | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 1h21'33 | | 130 | Angelo Tulik | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 1h22'19 | | 131 | Georgios Bouglas | Iberdrola | + 1h23'39 | | 132 | Aser Estévez | Iberdrola | + 1h25'45 | | 133 | Frederique Robert | Lotto Soudal | + 1h26'52 | | 134 | Hayato Yoshida | Colombia | + 1h29'08 | | 135 | Yonas Tekeste | Colombia | + 1h29'38 | | 136 | Tim Kerkhof | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 1h31'48 | | 137 | Tim Merlier | Lotto Soudal | + 1h32'13 | | 138 | Mitchell Docker | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 1h32'37 | | 139 | Francesco Lasca | TEAM Pirelli | + 1h33'02 | | 140 | Konrad Pister | Bora - Argon 18 | + 1h33'09 | | 141 | Florian Maître | Team Europcar | + 1h40'13 | | 142 | Johann Van Zyl | MTN-Qhubeka | + 1h42'38 | | 143 | Anton Vorobyev | Team Katusha | + 1h44'42 | | 144 | Lennard Kämna | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 1h45'07 | | 145 | Lukas Spengler | ESPN | + 1h49'08 | | 146 | Salvador Moreno | Colombia | + 1h51'26 | | 147 | James Shaw | TEAM Pirelli | + 1h54'24 | | 148 | Romain Bacon | Team Europcar | + 1h54'58 | | 149 | Steve Chainel | Team Europcar | + 2h04'16 | | 150 | Daniel Klemme | Team Giant-Alpecin | + 2h08'23 | | 151 | Michael Van Staeyen | Lotto Soudal | + 2h08'25 | | 152 | Fariji Tahar | MTN-Qhubeka | + 2h20'02 | | 153 | Jimmy Duquennoy | Lotto Soudal | + 2h27'34 |
| 1 | Michal Kwiatkowski | Team Cannondale - Garmin | 77 | | 2 | Julian Alaphilippe | Stella Artois | 75 | | 3 | Wilco Kelderman | Team Giant-Alpecin | 72 | | 4 | Diego Ulissi | Tinkoff-Saxo | 59 | | 5 | Tim Wellens | ESPN | 46 |
| 1 | Tanel Kangert | ESPN | 51 | | 2 | Abhishek Sinha | Lotto Soudal | 40 | | 3 | Alberto Contador | Astana Pro Team | 22 | | 4 | Ilnur Zakarin | Tinkoff-Saxo | 21 | | 5 | Egor Silin | Team Katusha | 21 |
Young Riders Classification
| 1 | Abhishek Sinha | Lotto Soudal | 21h57'43 | | 2 | Matej Mohoric | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 3'51 | | 3 | Anastasio Ania | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 6'00 | | 4 | Sebastian Henao | Colombia | + 14'29 | | 5 | Merhawi Kudus | Bora - Argon 18 | + 17'09 |
| 1 | Tinkoff-Saxo | 65h44'55 | | 2 | Stella Artois | + 3'59 | | 3 | Team Sky | + 5'46 | | 4 | Astana Pro Team | + 6'36 | | 5 | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 13'59 |
After a string of good results, a bit of an off race here for me. I did come away with the U25s win and 2nd place in the KOM. A top 15 is not too bad, but after the huge highs in France in March, I've perhaps set the bar a little too high for myself. The team struggled too and Meintjes was not able to challenge for the GC.
Ardennes week up next and its something I've been looking forward to from the start of the season.
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 15-04-2017 06:27
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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By the end of March, it was confirmed that I'll be on the startlist for Liege-Bastogne-Liege. How much would I take part in the rest of the week was a question that was left unanswered. After returning from the Basque country, I took the decision not to start in Amstel Gold Race, to better prepare for the rest of the week. So my first outing in Ardennes this year would be La Fleche.
I was given a free role again, I decided not to try to get into the breakaway. Instead, I hoped that there would be opportunities to attack later on in the race. The peloton kept a fast pace beyond the half-way point of the race, chasing down the break with enough time for riders to think about attacking from a long way out. And that's exactly what happened. Six riders - Kelderman, Alaphilippe, Kwiatkowski, Kreuziger, Ania and Dan Martin - got away from the pack with 20 odd kilometres left and never looked back. The group was whittled down to 4 as Ania and Kreuziger were dropped inside the last 10 kilometres. I didn't have the legs to challenge for the top 15 and had to settle for 19th place. Dan Martin won the four-way sprint.
| 1 | Daniel Martin | Tinkoff-Saxo | 4h36'21 | | 2 | Michal Kwiatkowski | Team Cannondale - Garmin | s.t. | | 3 | Julian Alaphilippe | Stella Artois | s.t. | | 4 | Wilco Kelderman | Team Giant-Alpecin | s.t. | | 5 | Anastasio Ania | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 1'43 | | 6 | Roman Kreuziger | Astana Pro Team | + 2'03 | | 7 | Sérgio Henao | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 2'20 | | 8 | Rui Costa | IAM Cycling | s.t. | | 9 | Diego Ulissi | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 2'37 | | 10 | Wout Poels | Astana Pro Team | s.t. |
Spoiler | 11 | Tony Gallopin | Stella Artois | + 2'47 | | 12 | Simon Yates | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | 13 | Alexis Vuillermoz | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. | | 14 | Mathieu van der Poel | Team Giant-Alpecin | + 3'20 | | 15 | Tim Wellens | ESPN | + 4'47 | | 16 | Andrew Talansky | Team Sky | + 4'56 | | 17 | Michal Paluta | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. | | 18 | Stefano Pirazzi | ESPN | s.t. | | 19 | Abhishek Sinha | Lotto Soudal | s.t. | | 20 | Carlos Betancur | Tinkoff-Saxo | s.t. | | 21 | Domenico Pozzovivo | TEAM Pirelli | + 5'20 | | 22 | Joaquím Rodríguez | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 5'32 | | 23 | Warren Barguil | Stella Artois | s.t. | | 24 | Bart De Clercq | Stella Artois | s.t. | | 25 | Rafal Majka | Team Sky | s.t. | | 26 | Tejay Van Garderen | Stella Artois | s.t. | | 27 | Sindre Lunke | Bora - Argon 18 | s.t. | | 28 | Dayer Quintana | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. | | 29 | Moreno Moser | Team Cannondale - Garmin | s.t. | | 30 | Arnaud Duteil | Team Europcar | s.t. | | 31 | Antoine Lavieu | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. | | 32 | Tom Dumoulin | Team Giant-Alpecin | s.t. | | 33 | Sebastian Henao | Colombia | s.t. | | 34 | Gorka Izagirre | IAM Cycling | s.t. | | 35 | Romain Bardet | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | 36 | Simon Spilak | Orica-GreenEDGE | s.t. | | 37 | Davide Formolo | Tinkoff-Saxo | s.t. | | 38 | Vincenzo Nibali | Team Sky | s.t. | | 39 | Jarlinson Pantano | Orica-GreenEDGE | s.t. | | 40 | Bauke Mollema | Orica-GreenEDGE | s.t. | | 41 | Peter Kennaugh | MTN-Qhubeka | s.t. | | 42 | Ian Boswell | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 6'53 | | 43 | Richie Porte | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 7'18 | | 44 | Bob Jungels | Team Sky | s.t. | | 45 | Jelle Vanendert | Lotto Soudal | s.t. | | 46 | Edward Ravasi | Team Cannondale - Garmin | s.t. | | 47 | Ivan Santaromita | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | 48 | Kristijan Durasek | IAM Cycling | s.t. | | 49 | Heiner Parra | Drapac Professional Cycling | s.t. | | 50 | Diego Rosa | TEAM Cepsa | s.t. | | 51 | Ilya Koshevoy | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | 52 | Dylan Teuns | ESPN | s.t. | | 53 | George Preidler | IAM Cycling | s.t. | | 54 | Yannick Eijssen | Stella Artois | s.t. | | 55 | Sam Oomen | Tinkoff-Saxo | s.t. | | 56 | Ion Izagirre | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 8'01 | | 57 | Mattia Cattaneo | TEAM Cepsa | s.t. | | 58 | Merhawi Kudus | Bora - Argon 18 | s.t. | | 59 | Jan Hirt | Bora - Argon 18 | s.t. | | 60 | Huub Duyn | Team Giant-Alpecin | s.t. | | 61 | Arvid Melchiot | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | s.t. | | 62 | Gregor Mühlberger | Bora - Argon 18 | s.t. | | 63 | Tony Martin | Stella Artois | s.t. | | 64 | Benjamin Brkic | TEAM Pirelli | + 8'58 | | 65 | Yury Trofimov | Alcatel | s.t. | | 66 | Tao Geoghegan Hart | Team Sky | s.t. | | 67 | Sébastien Reichenbach | IAM Cycling | s.t. | | 68 | Kenny Elissonde | Team Europcar | s.t. | | 69 | Brian Bulgac | IAM Cycling | s.t. | | 70 | Louis Meintjes | Lotto Soudal | s.t. | | 71 | Sergey Nikolaev | Drapac Professional Cycling | s.t. | | 72 | Steven Kruijswijk | Team Giant-Alpecin | s.t. | | 73 | Yoann Bagot | Team Europcar | s.t. | | 74 | Eduardo Sepulveda | Team Sky | s.t. | | 75 | Koen De Kort | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 9'50 | | 76 | Laurens De Plus | Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | + 10'06 | | 77 | Beñat Intxausti | TEAM Cepsa | s.t. | | 78 | Valerio Agnoli | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | 79 | Egor Silin | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 80 | Pieter Jacobs | Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | s.t. | | 81 | Jacques Janse Van Rensburg | Drapac Professional Cycling | s.t. | | 82 | Emanuel Buchmann | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | s.t. | | 83 | Philippe Gilbert | Lotto Soudal | s.t. | | 84 | Daniel Moreno | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 85 | Peter Velits | Team Cannondale - Garmin | s.t. | | 86 | Eduard Beltran | Colombia | s.t. | | 87 | Sven Erik Bystrøm | IAM Cycling | s.t. | | 88 | Floris De Tier | Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | s.t. | | 89 | José Ramella | Team Cannondale - Garmin | s.t. | | 90 | Cameron Meyer | MTN-Qhubeka | s.t. | | 91 | Gianfranco Zilioli | TEAM Pirelli | s.t. | | 92 | Miguel Rubiano | TEAM Cepsa | s.t. | | 93 | Jérémy Maison | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. | | 94 | Hugh Carthy | Team Sky | s.t. | | 95 | Maciej Paterski | MTN-Qhubeka | s.t. | | 96 | Carlos Ribeiro | Team Cannondale - Garmin | s.t. | | 97 | Serghei Tvetcov | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | s.t. | | 98 | Kevin Ledanois | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. | | 99 | Lawson Craddock | ESPN | s.t. | | 100 | Léo Vincent | Cyanide | s.t. | | 101 | Nicolas Edet | Cyanide | s.t. | | 102 | Alexander Geuens | Lotto Soudal | s.t. | | 103 | Graham Traino | Orica-GreenEDGE | s.t. | | 104 | Alfredo Balloni | Team Cannondale - Garmin | s.t. | | 105 | Arnold Jeannesson | Cyanide | s.t. | | 106 | Winner Anacona | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 11'49 | | 107 | Anatoliy Budyak | Drapac Professional Cycling | s.t. | | 108 | Lorenzo Rota | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | 109 | Francis De Greef | Team Giant-Alpecin | s.t. | | 110 | Patrick Facchini | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 12'06 | | 111 | Magnus Cort Nielsen | Bora - Argon 18 | s.t. | | 112 | Fabio Duarte | Colombia | s.t. | | 113 | Clément Chevrier | Alcatel | s.t. | | 114 | Steff Cras | ESPN | + 12'23 | | 115 | Badu Obasanjo | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. | | 116 | Josip Rumac | MTN-Qhubeka | s.t. | | 117 | Yannick Martinez | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. | | 118 | Pedro Bras | Team Joker | s.t. | | 119 | Aurélien Paret-Peintre | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. | | 120 | Bernardo Suaza | Drapac Professional Cycling | s.t. | | 121 | Alvaro Cuadros | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 122 | Tiago Machado | TEAM Pirelli | s.t. | | 123 | Eddie Dunbar | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 124 | Simon Clarke | Lotto Soudal | s.t. | | 125 | Kevin Pauwels | Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | s.t. | | 126 | Manuele Boaro | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 127 | Óscar González | TEAM Cepsa | s.t. | | 128 | Leonardo Pinizzotto | Team Joker | s.t. | | 129 | Jeppe Lykke Hartvig Nielsen | IAM Cycling | s.t. | | 130 | Lars Petter Nordhaug | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. | | 131 | Nikolay Mihaylov | TEAM Pirelli | s.t. | | 132 | Larry Warbasse | Team Sky | s.t. | | 133 | Salvador Moreno | Colombia | s.t. | | 134 | Kristian Aasvold | MTN-Qhubeka | s.t. | | 135 | Miguel Angel Benito | TEAM Cepsa | s.t. | | 136 | Quentin Pacher | Alcatel | s.t. | | 137 | Lennard Kämna | Orica-GreenEDGE | s.t. | | 138 | Muhamad Othman | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. | | 139 | Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg | MTN-Qhubeka | s.t. | | 140 | Markus Hoelgaard | Team Joker | s.t. | | 141 | Gerald Ciolek | MTN-Qhubeka | s.t. | | 142 | Arnaud Courteille | Cyanide | s.t. | | 143 | Emilien Viennet | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. | | 144 | Jordi Simón | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 145 | Rudy Molard | Cyanide | s.t. | | 146 | Gregorio Ibañez | Stella Artois | s.t. | | 147 | Michael Hepburn | Orica-GreenEDGE | s.t. | | 148 | Tanel Kangert | ESPN | s.t. | | 149 | Simon Raffin | Team Europcar | s.t. | | 150 | Kahled Zitouni | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. | | 151 | Patrick Bevin | Bora - Argon 18 | s.t. | | 152 | Finn E. Rosenkilde | Team Europcar | s.t. | | 153 | Jean Küpper | Team Europcar | s.t. | | 154 | Jack Bobridge | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 14'03 | | 155 | Alex Peters | Team Joker | + 15'00 | | 156 | Simone Stortoni | TEAM Pirelli | s.t. | | 157 | Dylan Girdlestone | MTN-Qhubeka | s.t. | | 158 | Paul Voss | Team Giant-Alpecin | s.t. | | 159 | Olaf Buekens | Lotto Soudal | s.t. | | 160 | Rein Taaramäe | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 161 | Guillaume Bonnafond | Alcatel | s.t. | | 162 | Bernard Thiel | Bora - Argon 18 | s.t. | | 163 | Koen Bouwman | Team Giant-Alpecin | s.t. | | 164 | Bert-Jan Lindeman | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 15'39 | | 165 | Kevyn Ista | ESPN | + 16'02 | | 166 | Jan Bakelants | Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | + 16'30 | | 167 | Jean-Christophe Peraud | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. | | 168 | Marlon Gaillard | Alcatel | s.t. | | 169 | Xabier Martínez Madrigal | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. | | 170 | Rémy Rochas | Alcatel | s.t. | | 171 | Frederik Backaert | Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | s.t. | | 172 | Nathan Haas | Team Joker | s.t. | | 173 | Clément Venturini | Team Europcar | s.t. | | 174 | Ben Dyball | Drapac Professional Cycling | s.t. | | 175 | Gediminas Bagdonas | Team Joker | s.t. | | 176 | Romain Hardy | Cyanide | s.t. | | 177 | Boy Van Poppel | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 17'16 | | 178 | Damien Monier | Team Europcar | s.t. | | 179 | John Ebsen | Alcatel | + 18'04 | | 180 | Davide Plebani | TEAM Pirelli | s.t. | | 181 | Beñat Txoperena | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 182 | Hugo Pigeon | Cyanide | + 19'02 | | 183 | Abel Kenyeres | Drapac Professional Cycling | s.t. | | 184 | Antonio Dubois | Colombia | s.t. | | 185 | Milan Veltman | TEAM Pirelli | s.t. | | 186 | David Belda | TEAM Cepsa | + 19'18 | | 187 | Jefferson Reátegui | Colombia | s.t. | | 188 | Maxime Cam | Cyanide | + 19'27 | | 189 | Lucas Gaday | Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | s.t. | | 190 | Christian Koch | Bora - Argon 18 | s.t. | | 191 | Louis Convens | ESPN | s.t. | | 192 | Marco Tizza | Colombia | + 20'26 | | 193 | Patrick Gretsch | TEAM Cepsa | + 20'40 | | 194 | Oliver Karjalainen | Team Joker | s.t. | | 195 | Jérémy Roy | Alcatel | + 21'14 | | 196 | Carlos Quintero | Colombia | + 22'33 | | 197 | Bjørn Vidar Riseth | Team Joker | s.t. | | 198 | Dieter Markaï | Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | s.t. |
Three days later, I put the mediocre performance in La Fleche behind to concentrate, and enjoy, my first outing in this legendary race. Again, I stayed away from the break but this time it perhaps wasn't the best decision. I struggled as the pack picked up pace beyond the mid-way stage, hanging to its tail for some time before losing touch for good. I would finish more than 10 minutes after the lead group. Talking of the latter group, ten riders would distance the rest and contest the sprint at the finish. Three teams had two riders - Giant, Tinkoff and Orica - and were the favourites to have one of their riders take the win. And true to predictions, it was Mathieu van der Poel of Giant pipping Betancur at the line to win LBL. Kreuziger took the last podium place. Meintjes in 16th was our best, finishing more than 2 minutes down on van der Poel. 68th place for me.
| 1 | Mathieu van der Poel | Team Giant-Alpecin | 6h47'37 | | 2 | Carlos Betancur | Tinkoff-Saxo | s.t. | | 3 | Roman Kreuziger | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | 4 | Tim Wellens | ESPN | s.t. | | 5 | Wilco Kelderman | Team Giant-Alpecin | s.t. | | 6 | Simon Spilak | Orica-GreenEDGE | s.t. | | 7 | Daniel Martin | Tinkoff-Saxo | s.t. | | 8 | Fabio Aru | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | 9 | Rui Costa | IAM Cycling | s.t. | | 10 | Bauke Mollema | Orica-GreenEDGE | s.t. |
Spoiler | 11 | Michal Kwiatkowski | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 35 | | 12 | Joaquím Rodríguez | Tinkoff-Saxo | s.t. | | 13 | Anastasio Ania | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 56 | | 14 | Simon Yates | Astana Pro Team | + 1'16 | | 15 | Ion Izagirre | Tinkoff-Saxo | s.t. | | 16 | Louis Meintjes | Lotto Soudal | + 2'11 | | 17 | Andrew Talansky | Team Sky | + 3'05 | | 18 | Sérgio Henao | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. | | 19 | Steven Kruijswijk | Team Giant-Alpecin | s.t. | | 20 | Odd Christian Eiking | Team Joker | s.t. | | 21 | George Preidler | IAM Cycling | s.t. | | 22 | Marcel Wyss | IAM Cycling | + 4'19 | | 23 | Sam Oomen | Tinkoff-Saxo | s.t. | | 24 | Tony Gallopin | Stella Artois | s.t. | | 25 | Winner Anacona | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 5'14 | | 26 | Wout Poels | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | 27 | Miguel Angel Lopez | Stella Artois | s.t. | | 28 | Philippe Gilbert | Lotto Soudal | + 6'05 | | 29 | Rafal Majka | Team Sky | s.t. | | 30 | Tejay Van Garderen | Stella Artois | + 6'28 | | 31 | Jan Polanc | Lotto Soudal | s.t. | | 32 | Evgeny Shalunov | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 33 | Jarlinson Pantano | Orica-GreenEDGE | s.t. | | 34 | Dylan Teuns | ESPN | s.t. | | 35 | Jan Hirt | Bora - Argon 18 | s.t. | | 36 | Peter Kennaugh | MTN-Qhubeka | s.t. | | 37 | Alejandro Valverde | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 38 | Julian Alaphilippe | Stella Artois | s.t. | | 39 | Tiago Machado | TEAM Pirelli | s.t. | | 40 | Matej Mohoric | Orica-GreenEDGE | s.t. | | 41 | Egor Silin | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 42 | Sebastian Henao | Colombia | s.t. | | 43 | Vincenzo Nibali | Team Sky | s.t. | | 44 | Tom Dumoulin | Team Giant-Alpecin | s.t. | | 45 | Diego Ulissi | Tinkoff-Saxo | s.t. | | 46 | Yury Trofimov | Alcatel | s.t. | | 47 | Romain Bardet | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | 48 | Magnus Cort Nielsen | Bora - Argon 18 | s.t. | | 49 | Lachlan Morton | Team Cannondale - Garmin | s.t. | | 50 | Petr Vakoc | Iberdrola | s.t. | | 51 | Davide Formolo | Tinkoff-Saxo | s.t. | | 52 | Alex Peters | Team Joker | s.t. | | 53 | Tanel Kangert | ESPN | s.t. | | 54 | Francis De Greef | Team Giant-Alpecin | s.t. | | 55 | Nathan Haas | Team Joker | s.t. | | 56 | Emanuel Buchmann | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | s.t. | | 57 | Sondre Holst Enger | Team Joker | s.t. | | 58 | Yonas Tekeste | Colombia | s.t. | | 59 | Tao Geoghegan Hart | Team Sky | s.t. | | 60 | Simon Raffin | Team Europcar | + 8'33 | | 61 | Hugh Carthy | Team Sky | s.t. | | 62 | Steff Cras | ESPN | s.t. | | 63 | Ben Hermans | Stella Artois | + 9'44 | | 64 | Jelle Vanendert | Lotto Soudal | + 10'29 | | 65 | Eduardo Sepulveda | Team Sky | s.t. | | 66 | Simon Geschke | Bora - Argon 18 | s.t. | | 67 | Kenny Elissonde | Team Europcar | s.t. | | 68 | Abhishek Sinha | Lotto Soudal | s.t. | | 69 | Sebastian Schönberger | Cyanide | s.t. | | 70 | Mattia Cattaneo | TEAM Cepsa | s.t. | | 71 | Benjamin Brkic | TEAM Pirelli | s.t. | | 72 | Jan Bakelants | Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | s.t. | | 73 | Rein Taaramäe | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 74 | John Ebsen | Alcatel | s.t. | | 75 | Jan Barta | ESPN | s.t. | | 76 | Pim Ligthart | Orica-GreenEDGE | s.t. | | 77 | Eddie Dunbar | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 78 | Richie Porte | Orica-GreenEDGE | s.t. | | 79 | Diego Ochoa | Colombia | s.t. | | 80 | Rafael Valls | TEAM Cepsa | s.t. | | 81 | Eduard Beltran | Colombia | s.t. | | 82 | Cameron Meyer | MTN-Qhubeka | + 11'47 | | 83 | Alfredo Balloni | Team Cannondale - Garmin | s.t. | | 84 | Clément Chevrier | Alcatel | s.t. | | 85 | Silvan Dietrich | IAM Cycling | s.t. | | 86 | Matteo Busato | TEAM Pirelli | s.t. | | 87 | Dennis Vanendert | ESPN | s.t. | | 88 | Fabio Duarte | Colombia | s.t. | | 89 | Scott Ambrose | IAM Cycling | + 12'42 | | 90 | Dylan Girdlestone | MTN-Qhubeka | s.t. | | 91 | Arnold Jeannesson | Cyanide | s.t. | | 92 | Léo Vincent | Cyanide | s.t. | | 93 | Gianni Moscon | Team Cannondale - Garmin | s.t. | | 94 | Stéphane Poulhiès | Alcatel | s.t. | | 95 | Esteban Chaves | IAM Cycling | s.t. | | 96 | Lawson Craddock | ESPN | s.t. | | 97 | Jelle Wallays | Lotto Soudal | s.t. | | 98 | Alex Dowsett | Team Sky | s.t. | | 99 | Jonathan Castroviejo | TEAM Cepsa | s.t. | | 100 | Yoann Bagot | Team Europcar | s.t. | | 101 | Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev | Astana Pro Team | + 13'51 | | 102 | Floris De Tier | Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | s.t. | | 103 | José Ramella | Team Cannondale - Garmin | s.t. | | 104 | Luis Ángel Maté | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | 105 | Romain Sicard | Team Europcar | + 14'48 | | 106 | Björn Thurau | Team Giant-Alpecin | s.t. | | 107 | Ian Boswell | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 15'41 | | 108 | Patrick Konrad | Bora - Argon 18 | s.t. | | 109 | Arthur Vichot | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. | | 110 | Hector Saez | Iberdrola | s.t. | | 111 | Christian Livieri | TEAM Pirelli | s.t. | | 112 | Luca Sterbini | TEAM Pirelli | s.t. | | 113 | Simone Stortoni | TEAM Pirelli | s.t. | | 114 | Jasper Ockeloen | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | s.t. | | 115 | Leonardo Pinizzotto | Team Joker | s.t. | | 116 | Nicolas Edet | Cyanide | s.t. | | 117 | Óscar González | TEAM Cepsa | s.t. | | 118 | Floris Gerts | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | s.t. | | 119 | Laurens De Plus | Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | s.t. | | 120 | Tony Martin | Stella Artois | s.t. | | 121 | Pedro Bras | Team Joker | s.t. | | 122 | Massimo Mogni | TEAM Pirelli | s.t. | | 123 | Kevin Pauwels | Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | s.t. | | 124 | Lars Van Der Haar | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | s.t. | | 125 | Stéphane Rossetto | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 16'23 | | 126 | Victor Lafay | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. | | 127 | Edward Theuns | Lotto Soudal | s.t. | | 128 | Maximilian Schachmann | Team Giant-Alpecin | s.t. | | 129 | Merhawi Kudus | Bora - Argon 18 | s.t. | | 130 | Thibaut Pinot | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 16'39 | | 131 | Goredema Dabengwa | Iberdrola | + 17'20 | | 132 | Eros Capecchi | Team Cannondale - Garmin | s.t. | | 133 | Mikaël Chérel | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. | | 134 | Lennard Kämna | Orica-GreenEDGE | s.t. | | 135 | Petr Ignatenko | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 136 | Marc De Maar | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | s.t. | | 137 | Josip Rumac | MTN-Qhubeka | s.t. | | 138 | Giovanni Carboni | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | 139 | Thomas Degand | Iberdrola | s.t. | | 140 | Gianfranco Zilioli | TEAM Pirelli | s.t. | | 141 | Warren Barguil | Stella Artois | s.t. | | 142 | Rafal Palik | Orica-GreenEDGE | s.t. | | 143 | Badu Obasanjo | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. | | 144 | Anton Vorobyev | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 145 | Neil Van Der Ploeg | Team Joker | + 18'50 | | 146 | Víctor de la Parte | TEAM Cepsa | + 19'55 | | 147 | Jean Küpper | Team Europcar | s.t. | | 148 | Garikoitz Bravo | Iberdrola | s.t. | | 149 | Daan Myngheer | Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | s.t. | | 150 | Frederico Figueiredo | Iberdrola | s.t. | | 151 | Finn E. Rosenkilde | Team Europcar | s.t. | | 152 | Juan Chamorro | Colombia | s.t. | | 153 | Alexis Guerin | Team Europcar | s.t. | | 154 | Jaime Castañeda | Colombia | s.t. | | 155 | Jan Brockhoff | Bora - Argon 18 | s.t. | | 156 | Bernard Thiel | Bora - Argon 18 | s.t. | | 157 | Boy Van Poppel | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | s.t. | | 158 | Salvador Moreno | Colombia | s.t. | | 159 | Sander Armee | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | s.t. | | 160 | Johann Van Zyl | MTN-Qhubeka | s.t. | | 161 | Jasper Bovenhuis | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | s.t. | | 162 | Alberto Gallego | Iberdrola | s.t. | | 163 | Bob Jungels | Team Sky | s.t. | | 164 | Thomas Damuseau | Alcatel | s.t. | | 165 | Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg | MTN-Qhubeka | s.t. | | 166 | Gert-Jan Bosman | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | s.t. | | 167 | Mike Teunissen | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 22'27 | | 168 | Philip Lavery | MTN-Qhubeka | s.t. | | 169 | Quentin Pacher | Alcatel | s.t. | | 170 | Bert-Jan Lindeman | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | s.t. | | 171 | Gregorio Ibañez | Stella Artois | + 23'01 | | 172 | Arvid Melchiot | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 23'15 | | 173 | Nicolas Baldo | Cyanide | + 23'44 | | 174 | Dylan Van Zijl | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | + 25'11 | | 175 | Fredrik Galta | Iberdrola | s.t. | | 176 | José Vicente Toribio | TEAM Cepsa | s.t. | | 177 | Hugo Pigeon | Cyanide | s.t. | | 178 | Rémy Rochas | Alcatel | s.t. | | 179 | Brice Feillu | Team Europcar | s.t. | | 180 | Rudy Barbier | Cyanide | s.t. | | 181 | Karel Hník | MTN-Qhubeka | s.t. | | 182 | Laurent Evrard | Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | + 26'45 | | 183 | Bjørn Vidar Riseth | Team Joker | s.t. | | 184 | Alexis Vuillermoz | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. | | 185 | Rubén Pols | Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | + 28'50 | | 186 | Martijn Keizer | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 29'20 | | 187 | Robert Kiserlovski | IAM Cycling | + 30'47 | | 188 | Marlon Gaillard | Alcatel | + 32'09 | | 189 | Sergey Firsanov | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 190 | Matteo Rabottini | Team Cannondale - Garmin | s.t. | | 191 | Milan Menten | Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | + 32'28 | | 192 | Stefano Pirazzi | ESPN | + 35'22 | | 193 | Tim Merlier | Lotto Soudal | s.t. | | 194 | Anthony Vandrepotte | Cyanide | + 35'58 | | 195 | David Belda | TEAM Cepsa | + 39'07 |
A lot of excitement leading up to this week but the team failed to deliver any good result. Good form in the preceding six weeks had my hopes up for a good personal showing here too. However, reality checks like these come around to remind me of the hard work that is still to do in order reach the top of the cycling world.
Oh, by the way, the Giro's up next 
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 15-04-2017 08:32
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4191
Joined: 13-09-2015
PCM$: 300.00
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Definitely not the best month, but looking forward to your GT debut
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| Tamijo |
Posted on 15-04-2017 09:04
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Team Leader
Posts: 7406
Joined: 14-07-2015
PCM$: 599.00
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Ok results from You, but the team not so great.
Lets hope for some nice miracles in the Giro
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 16-04-2017 03:05
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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@Tamijo and Aquarius: The Giro is a nice little distraction, isn't it?
Anything better than a three week struggle there would be welcome!
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 17-04-2017 16:47
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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The First Grand Adventure
"There is a chill in the air in Foligno as I suit up in the team paddock. I can see Meintjes talking to our Directeur Sportif Marc Sargeant. They both look quite relaxed. The rest of my teammates are spread across the paddock. Some are warming up in the stationary bikes, a couple are suiting up like me while another is talking to a couple of team managers. I'm not able to catch the conversation.
I feel a little light-headed as I get up on the practice bike for the last warm up before heading off to sign against my name in the start-list. I work up a sweat pretty soon, which takes away the numbness that the chill seemed to have brought in my arms. Nothing much is going through my head at the moment. I've been waiting a long time for this chance. It is now a question of how I go in the following three weeks..."
The two weeks leading up to the Giro were spent on numerous reconnaissance trips and rhythm building rides in some of the stage routes. The mountain routes were meticulously dissected to look for the best options for our riders. I took things in with an increased gusto, never wanting to give the impression of being daunted by the situation. I made a mental note of parts of the route which would suit me, parts of the route from where I could launch attacks, or where I could help out the team in the best way. There was palpable tension mixed with excitement in the air. Protecting Meintjes would be our main aim. The KOM jersey would be another achievable target. Individual glory would be welcome if the situation presented itself. In such a long Tour, the team managers were sure that it would.
Meintjes would challenge for the GC. He would be ably supported by Bonnen and de Gendt, among others. Me and Polanc were free to look after our own interests, mainly going after the KOM points, as long as it did not come in the way of the GC goal. Cimolai was our only designated sprinter.
Let's go Lotto!!
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 21-11-2024 13:13
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| Tamijo |
Posted on 18-04-2017 18:48
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Team Leader
Posts: 7406
Joined: 14-07-2015
PCM$: 599.00
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 Go get'em
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 19-04-2017 02:33
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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Stage 1
I was almost dropped from the peloton in the first climb itself, having not ventured into the break. I recovered well following the climb and stayed safe in the pack as they gobbled up the break and then reached the approach to the finish together. With the red kite above, I found myself at the front of the pack. Sensing a visible lull among the sprint favourites, I took the cue and attacked off the front, followed by a handful of others, including Polanc and Meintjes. We built a gap and the peloton were just a little late in reacting. Although I was caught my one of the sprinters, I still managed an incredible 5th place in my first stage in a Grand Tour! Polanc took 3rd while Meintjes came home in 7th.
(That's me on the far left sprinting to the line)
The ITT on Stage 2 saw big time gaps among the favourites. It was a bad day for Meintjes as he lost more than 2 minutes to new Pink jersey holder Bob Jungels. I lost 1'45" but wasn't too disappointed with my outing. Lotto's best was de Gendt, finishing 9th, losing 33"
Stages 3 to 6 were majorly flat stages won by sprinters in bunch sprints. Nothing much to report from my end. Cimolai finished 4th on stage 3 and 10th on stage 6, these being Lotto's best results. At this stage, I stood 4th in the U25s classification.
Stay tuned to find out about my exploits in the later stages...
The encouragement has worked so far 
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| Tamijo |
Posted on 19-04-2017 08:39
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Team Leader
Posts: 7406
Joined: 14-07-2015
PCM$: 599.00
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Great start with that top five.
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 20-04-2017 05:32
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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Now to try to get some of those goals!
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 20-04-2017 16:48
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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Stage 7 started off badly for Lotto with Meintjes falling in the first half. He did recover, but the effects showed throughout. Coming into the last climb, nobody from our team could respond to the attack from 8 riders up ahead. I settled into E2 with Meintjes and a couple more of my teammates. Overnight leader Jungels was in this group too. I was dropped further and ended the race in the next big group, almost 6 minutes behind stage winner Tanel Kangert. Rigoberto Uran took away the Pink jersey from Jungels. Meintjes lost more than 2 minutes to Uran and now stood at 27th place in the GC.
Stage 8
I joined the break on Stage 8 with Bardin, van Baarle, Maartens and Buts. I picked up points steadily at the KOM sprints and moved up to 4th place in the standings. The break was caught 50 km from the line, on the downhill approach to the last climb. The early efforts had drained me and I could not stay with the lead pack, losing 8 minutes on the stage. Aru's 2nd place made him the new wearer of the Pink Jersey while Meintjes moved up to 17th in the GC.
Stage 9 was a flat one and Cimolai picked up 9th place for us.
The long ITT on Stage 10 wasn't a very good one for us. It started off well for me though. I passed the first intermediate time check in third place, a mere 3 seconds off the pace. By the time I reached the finish, I was down 1'41"! When the last rider crossed the line, I was more than 2 and half minutes behind the winning time of Lawson Craddock. Meintjes was more than a minute behind my time and lost a couple of positions in the GC. Aru still had the lead but it was down to a miniscule 4 seconds for Felline.
Stage 11
Not wanting to miss out on the points on offer in the KOM, I joined the 5 man break which included Landa and De Marchi. I picked up three 2nd places, 3rd and a 4th on the five KOM sprints. At 100 km, another rider joined us in the break. Only 25 km later, 4 of us from the break were caught. I stayed in the group and protected Meintjes for as long as I could. I was dropped from the lead group, down to just 30 riders now, with 30 km left. I rode alongside Arnaud Duteil, the overnight leader of the U25 classification before dropping him on the climb to the finish. Aru won the stage, Meintjes lost no time (thereby moving up to 14th in the GC) and I got to wear the KOM jersey on the stage ending podium 
Current KOM Standings
| 1 | Abhishek Sinha | Lotto Soudal | 88 | | 2 | Enrico Barbin | Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec | 84 | | 3 | Mikel Landa | Team Katusha | 66 | | 4 | Jeppe Lykke Hartvig Nielsen | IAM Cycling | 66 | | 5 | Paul Martens | Southeast | 42 |
Stage 12 was meant to be for the sprinters but Julien Vermote surprised everyone with a very late attack and snatched the win away from the sprinters.
How will the second half of the race go for me and the team? Will I be able to keep hold of the KOM jersey till the end? Stay tuned to find out...
Edited by AbhishekLFC on 20-04-2017 17:41
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| Tamijo |
Posted on 20-04-2017 17:54
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Team Leader
Posts: 7406
Joined: 14-07-2015
PCM$: 599.00
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A mix of up's and down's in this part of the race.
But in the end comming out as KoM leader is nice.
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 21-04-2017 05:05
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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Hopefully I can hold on to that till the end...
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 21-04-2017 21:28
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4191
Joined: 13-09-2015
PCM$: 300.00
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Fighting for the KOM in your first GT is a great achievement. Great job!
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 22-04-2017 04:07
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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Aquarius97 wrote:
Fighting for the KOM in your first GT is a great achievement. Great job!
Thanks . More fighting coming up...
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 22-04-2017 04:50
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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Stage 13 was an undulating in-between stage featuring just one categorised climb. There were just 2 riders in the break, so I took the chance to claim 3rd place and 2 points off the front of the peloton. The break was caught with about 20 km to go. U25s leader Latour was dropped from the peloton and lost more than 3 minutes on the stage. With 2.5 km to go, I attacked out of the peloton to try my luck in the slightly uphill finish. I reached the finishing straight ahead in first position but could not hold on ahead of the sprinters, settling for 5th place on the stage.
(That's how close I was again to the stage win)
Stage 14
The first MTF and having three massive climbs, this stage was gong to be tough. I joined the 9 man break with the likes of Geniez, Landa and Barbin. The break was down to four on the second climb and to go 3 after it, with only Landa and Geniez left with me. I picked up three third places in the three intermediate climbs. We were caught with 55 km to go and it all went downhill for me after that. I lost 23 minutes on this stage, as I struggled up the climb to the finish. I still finished inside the top 50! Meintjes finished 9th and moved up to 12th in the GC. I had lost the KOM lead to Landa too.
Stage 15
Polanc joined the break for us. An uneventful stage for me but I managed to hang on to the leaders' group till the end, taking up the role of protecting Meintjes. Despite the high climbng, a relatively big group of nearly 40 riders finished together, with me taking 8th place and losing no time. Landa picked up even more points in the KOM race. Jungels' time bonus for first place moved him 3 seconds ahead of Aru in the GC!
I joined the break again on Stage 16 along with 9 others. I took first in the only climb of the day. I was back in the pack soon after with only 4 riders remaining in the break. The second half of the stage was mostly flat. The sprinters' teams chased the break and the race ended in a bunch sprint. Cimolai got 7th for us.
Stage 17
The massively important ITT on Stage 17 would have a major impact on the GC. Jungels destroyed the competition, finishing more than 2 minutes better than anyone else. I had a dream day too, finishing 6th and making up 5 positions in the GC. Meintjes too moved into the top 10 with his 7th place finish on the stage.
Stay tuned for the conclusion of the race...
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 23-04-2017 16:13
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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Stage 18 was a simple stage on paper and was decided in a bunch sprint but Pierre Latour lost ground and lost his U25 jersey to Arnaud Duteil.
Stage 19 was another tough one. de Gendt joined the break. The break itself did not survive till the end. I was in the group of the leaders till 10 km to go before being dropped. A four man late attack went away unchallenged, Caruso winning from there. Meintjes finished with the same time as the GC leaders and moved up one place in the GC. Landa increased his lead at the top of the KOM standings to 30 points more than me.
I tried to get into the break on Stage 20 but was brought back every time. Landa did manage to get into the break and that proved the end of my KOM chances. I was dropped with 18 km to go. Aru won the stage and put time into Jungels but it was not enough to take back the GC lead. Meintjes finished 6th on the stage, moving up to 7th in the GC.
Stage 21
I attacked on the second climb on but was caught and then dropped! This later turned into a blessing in disguise. Meintjes was dropped from the lead group with 15 km to go and I took the initiative to pace him back. We did manage to bridge the gap and Meintjes finished in 8th place, moving up two places in the GC to finish 6th. I finished 13th on the stage, in the second group on the road.
| 1 | Bob Jungels | Team Sky | 83h23'06 | | 2 | Fabio Aru | Astana Pro Team | + 57 | | 3 | Adam Yates | Team Sky | + 11'13 | | 4 | Julian Arredondo | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 13'28 | | 5 | Rigoberto Urán | TEAM Cepsa | + 14'58 | | 6 | Louis Meintjes | Lotto Soudal | + 16'27 | | 7 | Tanel Kangert | ESPN | + 17'34 | | 8 | Thibaut Pinot | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 18'27 | | 9 | Bauke Mollema | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 21'29 | | 10 | Richie Porte | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 21'56 |
Spoiler | 11 | Mikel Landa | Team Katusha | + 23'34 | | 12 | Roman Kreuziger | Astana Pro Team | + 24'25 | | 13 | Damiano Caruso | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 25'36 | | 14 | Diego Ulissi | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 26'06 | | 15 | Kenny Elissonde | Team Europcar | + 32'03 | | 16 | Fabio Felline | TEAM Pirelli | + 35'40 | | 17 | Alejandro Valverde | Team Katusha | + 36'21 | | 18 | Eduardo Sepulveda | Team Sky | + 36'35 | | 19 | Rohan Dennis | IAM Cycling | + 38'43 | | 20 | Alexandre Geniez | ESPN | + 42'12 | | 21 | Rafał Majka | Team Sky | + 43'02 | | 22 | Romain Bardet | Astana Pro Team | + 45'22 | | 23 | Peter Kennaugh | MTN-Qhubeka | + 46'19 | | 24 | Rubén Fernández | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 48'45 | | 25 | Pierre-Roger Latour | ESPN | + 53'32 | | 26 | Andrey Amador | Team Sky | + 54'06 | | 27 | Arnaud Duteil | Team Europcar | + 55'23 | | 28 | Lawson Craddock | ESPN | + 55'32 | | 29 | Dominik Nerz | Team Giant-Alpecin | + 56'15 | | 30 | Thomas De Gendt | Lotto Soudal | + 56'30 | | 31 | Leopold König | Astana Pro Team | + 57'07 | | 32 | Edward Ravasi | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 1h02'50 | | 33 | Bart De Clercq | Stella Artois | + 1h03'40 | | 34 | Abhishek Sinha | Lotto Soudal | + 1h06'21 | | 35 | Jeppe Lykke Hartvig Nielsen | IAM Cycling | + 1h14'21 | | 36 | Vincenzo Nibali | Team Sky | + 1h15'27 | | 37 | Stéphane Rossetto | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 1h24'39 | | 38 | Serghei Tvetcov | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 1h25'02 | | 39 | Jan Barta | ESPN | + 1h25'11 | | 40 | Jesús Herrada | TEAM Cepsa | + 1h26'09 | | 41 | Ivan Santaromita | Astana Pro Team | + 1h27'05 | | 42 | Jan Polanc | Lotto Soudal | + 1h29'52 | | 43 | Alessandro De Marchi | Iberdrola | + 1h30'08 | | 44 | Dylan Teuns | ESPN | + 1h35'01 | | 45 | François Bidard | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 1h37'05 | | 46 | José Herrada | TEAM Cepsa | + 1h37'28 | | 47 | Benjamin Brkic | TEAM Pirelli | + 1h45'01 | | 48 | Javier Moreno | TEAM Cepsa | + 1h47'24 | | 49 | Silvio Herklotz | Team Giant-Alpecin | + 1h48'59 | | 50 | Evgeny Shalunov | Team Katusha | + 1h50'50 | | 51 | José Ramella | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 1h52'21 | | 52 | Daniele Dall'Oste | Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec | + 1h52'38 | | 53 | Alexis Guerin | Team Europcar | + 1h56'58 | | 54 | Enrico Barbin | Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec | + 1h58'59 | | 55 | Fredrik Galta | Iberdrola | + 1h59'05 | | 56 | Marcel Wyss | IAM Cycling | + 2h01'06 | | 57 | Pello Bilbao | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 2h02'58 | | 58 | Dylan Girdlestone | MTN-Qhubeka | + 2h03'01 | | 59 | Tsgabu Grmay | Iberdrola | + 2h03'40 | | 60 | Vitaliy Buts | Team Europcar | + 2h04'08 | | 61 | Björn Thurau | Team Giant-Alpecin | + 2h04'14 | | 62 | Jean-Christophe Peraud | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 2h05'59 | | 63 | Gavin Mannion | Trek Factory Racing | + 2h07'39 | | 64 | Víctor de la Parte | TEAM Cepsa | + 2h08'28 | | 65 | Sergey Chernetskiy | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 2h08'35 | | 66 | Carter Jones | Trek Factory Racing | + 2h10'31 | | 67 | Peter Stetina | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 2h11'23 | | 68 | Fabio Tuzi | Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec | + 2h15'31 | | 69 | Tiago Machado | TEAM Pirelli | + 2h17'14 | | 70 | Toms Skujins | Bardiani CSF | + 2h17'22 | | 71 | Matteo Rabottini | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 2h19'12 | | 72 | Adriano Malori | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 2h19'44 | | 73 | Yoann Bagot | Team Europcar | + 2h20'29 | | 74 | Valerio Conti | Astana Pro Team | + 2h21'22 | | 75 | Janier Acevedo | IAM Cycling | + 2h26'11 | | 76 | Tobias Ludvigsson | Stella Artois | + 2h26'59 | | 77 | Davide Pacchiardo | Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec | + 2h27'46 | | 78 | Giacomo Berlato | Southeast | + 2h27'53 | | 79 | Eros Capecchi | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 2h30'41 | | 80 | Karel Hník | MTN-Qhubeka | + 2h30'52 | | 81 | Gabriele Pizzaballa | Bardiani CSF | + 2h31'41 | | 82 | Erick Rowsell | Iberdrola | + 2h33'56 | | 83 | Miguel Rubiano | TEAM Cepsa | + 2h34'54 | | 84 | Matteo Pelucchi | Team Katusha | + 2h35'37 | | 85 | Théry Schir | Trek Factory Racing | + 2h38'04 | | 86 | Egor Silin | Team Katusha | + 2h40'27 | | 87 | Matteo Gozzi | Bardiani CSF | + 2h42'03 | | 88 | Mads Pedersen | ESPN | + 2h45'10 | | 89 | Anthony Roux | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 2h46'34 | | 90 | Ramunas Navardauskas | Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec | + 2h46'58 | | 91 | Daniel Moreno | Team Katusha | + 2h47'54 | | 92 | Daniele Ratto | Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec | + 2h49'50 | | 93 | Moreno Giampaolo | Bardiani CSF | + 2h50'29 | | 94 | Patrick Gretsch | TEAM Cepsa | + 2h50'42 | | 95 | Filadelfio Soriano | Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec | + 2h51'03 | | 96 | Maciej Paterski | MTN-Qhubeka | + 2h53'35 | | 97 | Nick Van Der Lijke | Team Giant-Alpecin | + 2h54'49 | | 98 | Mirko Torta | Bardiani CSF | + 2h55'05 | | 99 | Wout van Aert | Trek Factory Racing | + 2h55'19 | | 100 | Matthieu Ladagnous | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 2h56'11 | | 101 | Fernando Gaviria | MTN-Qhubeka | + 2h56'34 | | 102 | Daryl Impey | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 2h59'50 | | 103 | Luca Chirico | Astana Pro Team | + 3h01'27 | | 104 | Jeffrey Perrin | Trek Factory Racing | + 3h01'51 | | 105 | Caleb Ewan | Team Katusha | + 3h02'20 | | 106 | Giacomo Nizzolo | TEAM Cepsa | + 3h02'41 | | 107 | Bert-Jan Lindeman | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 3h03'17 | | 108 | Pieter Serry | Stella Artois | + 3h04'26 | | 109 | Garikoitz Bravo | Iberdrola | + 3h07'00 | | 110 | Andrea Vaccher | Southeast | + 3h07'53 | | 111 | Bryan Coquard | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 3h09'58 | | 112 | Stef Clement | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 3h14'40 | | 113 | Rasmus Guldhammer | Southeast | + 3h15'41 | | 114 | Stefan Küng | ESPN | + 3h15'51 | | 115 | Davide Cimolai | Lotto Soudal | + 3h16'58 | | 116 | Michele Scarponi | Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec | + 3h20'18 | | 117 | Kenneth Vanbilsen | ESPN | + 3h20'40 | | 118 | Dylan van Baarle | Team Giant-Alpecin | + 3h22'45 | | 119 | Taylor Phinney | Team Sky | + 3h24'23 | | 120 | Sacha Modolo | Stella Artois | + 3h24'29 | | 121 | Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier | Team Europcar | + 3h27'03 | | 122 | Antonino Parrinello | TEAM Pirelli | + 3h30'55 | | 123 | Alexis Gougeard | Astana Pro Team | + 3h31'24 | | 124 | Sean De Bie | Stella Artois | + 3h32'41 | | 125 | Alexey Tsatevitch | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 3h33'02 | | 126 | Dylan Page | IAM Cycling | + 3h34'34 | | 127 | Carlos Ribeiro | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 3h35'40 | | 128 | Jelle Vanendert | Lotto Soudal | + 3h36'29 | | 129 | Leigh Howard | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 3h37'35 | | 130 | Kristian Sbaragli | TEAM Pirelli | + 3h38'02 | | 131 | Raymond Kreder | MTN-Qhubeka | + 3h38'23 | | 132 | Pim Ligthart | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 3h38'49 | | 133 | Paul Martens | Southeast | + 3h39'19 | | 134 | Geoffrey Curran | Trek Factory Racing | + 3h40'04 | | 135 | Oscar Gatto | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 3h40'28 | | 136 | Vincent Jérôme | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 3h42'22 | | 137 | Simone Ponzi | Bardiani CSF | + 3h42'39 | | 138 | Paweł Franczak | Southeast | + 3h50'48 | | 139 | Paweł Bernas | Bardiani CSF | + 3h51'11 | | 140 | William Barta | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 3h51'54 | | 141 | Albert Timmer | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 3h52'02 | | 142 | Boris Vallée | Stella Artois | + 3h54'04 | | 143 | Davide Appollonio | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 3h55'46 | | 144 | Jesper Asselman | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 3h57'12 | | 145 | Martijn Keizer | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 4h00'28 | | 146 | Manuele Boaro | Team Katusha | + 4h00'49 | | 147 | Julien Vermote | Stella Artois | + 4h01'05 | | 148 | Niccolo Bonifazio | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 4h04'11 | | 149 | Gerald Ciolek | MTN-Qhubeka | + 4h04'49 | | 150 | Alex Dowsett | Team Sky | + 4h05'56 | | 151 | Tim De Troyer | Stella Artois | + 4h07'39 | | 152 | Clément Venturini | Team Europcar | + 4h10'05 | | 153 | Roy Jans | Stella Artois | + 4h11'06 | | 154 | Michael Schwarzmann | Team Giant-Alpecin | + 4h11'42 | | 155 | Aser Estévez | Iberdrola | + 4h11'51 | | 156 | Jonas Bokeloh | Team Giant-Alpecin | + 4h11'55 | | 157 | Nicola Ruffoni | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 4h12'52 | | 158 | Francesco Lasca | TEAM Pirelli | + 4h13'39 | | 159 | Marc Sarreau | Team Europcar | + 4h15'00 | | 160 | Yoeri Havik | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 4h16'09 | | 161 | Denis Galimzyanov | IAM Cycling | + 4h17'55 | | 162 | Andrea Palini | TEAM Pirelli | + 4h18'32 | | 163 | Michael Van Staeyen | Lotto Soudal | + 4h19'24 | | 164 | Jurgen van Diemen | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 4h19'37 | | 165 | Alexander Geuens | Lotto Soudal | + 4h21'19 | | 166 | Eduard-Michael Grosu | MTN-Qhubeka | + 4h23'39 | | 167 | Aleksejs Saramotins | TEAM Cepsa | + 4h24'03 | | 168 | Tom Wirtgen | MTN-Qhubeka | + 4h24'18 | | 169 | Mark Cavendish | Trek Factory Racing | + 4h26'57 | | 170 | Matthew Goss | IAM Cycling | + 4h30'47 | | 171 | Andrea Guardini | Astana Pro Team | + 4h34'10 | | 172 | Jacopo Guarnieri | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 4h34'44 | | 173 | Liam Bertazzo | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 4h37'47 | | 174 | Davide Ballerini | Bardiani CSF | + 4h40'19 | | 175 | Anton Vorobyev | Team Katusha | + 4h41'21 | | 176 | Jonas Ahlstrand | Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec | + 4h43'39 | | 177 | Jan Maas | Team Giant-Alpecin | + 4h43'59 | | 178 | Brenton Jones | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 4h47'53 | | 179 | Eugenio Alafaci | Southeast | + 4h50'00 | | 180 | Benjamin Giraud | Team Europcar | + 4h53'40 | | 181 | Filippo Fortin | Bardiani CSF | + 4h58'18 | | 182 | Georgios Bouglas | Iberdrola | + 4h58'35 | | 183 | Koen De Kort | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 4h59'31 | | 184 | Robert Wagner | Team Giant-Alpecin | + 5h01'25 | | 185 | Cristian Delle Stelle | Southeast | + 5h09'24 | | 186 | Gian Marco Di Francesco | Southeast | + 5h39'32 |
| 1 | Fernando Gaviria | MTN-Qhubeka | 244 | | 2 | Bryan Coquard | Tinkoff-Saxo | 195 | | 3 | Bob Jungels | Team Sky | 161 | | 4 | Fabio Aru | Astana Pro Team | 143 | | 5 | Niccolo Bonifazio | Orica-GreenEDGE | 143 |
| 1 | Mikel Landa | Team Katusha | 305 | | 2 | Abhishek Sinha | Lotto Soudal | 183 | | 3 | Bob Jungels | Team Sky | 170 | | 4 | Enrico Barbin | Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec | 118 | | 5 | Fabio Aru | Astana Pro Team | 115 |
Young Riders' Classification
| 1 | Pierre-Roger Latour | ESPN | 84h16'38 | | 2 | Arnaud Duteil | Team Europcar | + 1'51 | | 3 | Edward Ravasi | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 9'18 | | 4 | Abhishek Sinha | Lotto Soudal | + 12'49 | | 5 | Benjamin Brkic | TEAM Pirelli | + 51'29 |
| 1 | Team Sky | 250h39'59 | | 2 | Astana Pro Team | + 21'55 | | 3 | ESPN | + 41'13 | | 4 | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 1h00'06 | | 5 | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 1h06'36 |
The Giro was a two-way fight where Jungels did just enough to hold off Aru and claim the win. I was so so close to a KOM jersey in my first outing in a Grand Tour! Could I probably have done better in the GC? Yes, I think I could have. But that would've meant staying in the peloton more, and where's the fun in that . The team management were quite pleased with Meintjes's 6th place finish in the GC. I was very happy that I could play some small part in that too, especially getting him back to the front of the pack on the last stage. The team finished 6th in their standings too, another satisfactory result. My first Grand adventure comes to an end. Hopefully the first of many more to come...
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| Tamijo |
Posted on 23-04-2017 22:11
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Team Leader
Posts: 7406
Joined: 14-07-2015
PCM$: 599.00
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Not easy at this level, would have been cool with the KoM, but been there done that hopefully learned a lot.
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 23-04-2017 22:18
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4191
Joined: 13-09-2015
PCM$: 300.00
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Even though you didn't win the KOM jersey, i think that it has been a great first GT for you. Let's hope for a great second part of the season, with hopefully a few wins, and your first GC win
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 24-04-2017 06:22
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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Tamijo wrote:
Not easy at this level, would have been cool with the KoM, but been there done that hopefully learned a lot.
Yes a lot of good experience from this race . Would've been great to hang on to that jersey though but Landa was just too good...
Aquarius97 wrote:
Even though you didn't win the KOM jersey, i think that it has been a great first GT for you. Let's hope for a great second part of the season, with hopefully a few wins, and your first GC win
Thanks . Off to Switzerland next, where I'll be hoping to challenge at the top. I won't be riding in the Tour. My next GT will be the Vuelta. Building up to that now.
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