"The start of the race, if we are being honest here gentleman, puts us on the backfoot from the get-go. With teams like Movistar, Sky and BMC present here.
It started out alright for us, we where only 25 seconds behind at the first time check, but at the finish we was further behind, 32 seconds.
Nothing could be done about Movistar, they crushed this one. With BMC 5 seconds behind and Team Sky 8 seconds behind them again.
At least Degenkolb. Mollema and Nizzolo is fresh and ready for tomorrow."
"The stage looked on paper as proper oppurtunity for Degenkolb, but with the field including the world champion Sagan, it could be tough. We made a plan to make sure Mollema stayed with the other GC contenders and Degenkolb riding for the stage victory.
As soon as the start went, a group went away from the front of the peleton. We had no intension of contribute in the pacemaking today. We want the bigger teams to tire themself out before the later stages.
Everything looked great for us, Mollema and Degenkolb looked great. But then disaster struck. A big group went down in the middle of the peleton. Including Mollema and Aru. Lucky for us, Aru also went down. So Astana sent down their entire team to get him back. We kept cool, since Mollema reported he was ok. He returned to the peleton in one piece.
The peleton re-focused their attention to the breakaway, and reeled them in in good time before the finish. Peter Sagan had full control and took the stage with ease. John didn't have the legs today, and as luck would have it, Mollema was ok and came in with the first group."
"The first possibility for the pure sprinters, a proper flat stage. We had high hopes for John and Nizzolo. We had a straight forward tactic for this stage, keep Mollema and John safe.
As expected, a smaller group went of the front of the peleton early on, and the sprinter teams took over the responsibility straight away. Keeping the breakaway close.
The peleton caught the group in good time before the finish, and the teams competed to get the most dominating lead-out. Nizzolo placed himself on the wheel of Sagan with John right behind him.
The sprint didn't go our way this time either, Kristoff took it on the line in front of Nizzolo. John was not happy when they returned to the bus. He felt Nizzolo rode for himself today and did not follow the plan. We had a good talk in the evening, and the boys shook hands and smiled"
"Today was the day, we had to make up time on the others. Mollema and the team knew. During the morning meeting, we went over who we should watch out for and when we wanted to put the pressure on. The plan was clear, one of the domestique, whoever felt the best at that point, need to attack and be up the road for when Mollema makes his move.
Today we where more active in the front of the peleton, we tried to get a man into the break. And we got it, Felline managed to get himself into the morning break. And Mollema sat right up front, well protected.
As the peleton drew closer to the final climb of the day, Monte Terminillo, Felline broke clear of the breakaway. Following the tactic to perfection. Now the stage was set for a Mollema attack early in the climb.
As soon as the peleton had rode 1 KM of the climb, Bauke went on the attack, with Felline up the road waiting for him.
Astana responed straight away, cleary fearing Mollema in the overall. Cataldo went straight to front and went hard. Mollemas attack was for nothing, he was brought back.
Then, after a bit of looking around, Aru went and the big hitters all jumped on his wheel. Aru cleary felt great, him and Froome rode hard in the group. 3 KM from the top, they went off alone as the others had to pace themself to the top.
With 1 KM to go, Aru's pace was too hard for Froome, he had to let him go. This was cleary Aru's day, taking the stage and the lead of the race all in one big attack.
The stage made it clear who the strongest in the field is. The race for the overal win will be between Aru and Froome. While the rest have to battle it out for the last place on the podium."
"On paper a perfect stage for a break. The cobble section at the end of the stage could be a possible place to attack, to create a gap. The peleton will ride the cobble section twice.
The break went early, and Astana controlled the field strong the entire stage.
As soon as the peleton caught the breakaway, the field hit the cobble section and Movistar turned up the heat. And Froome ended up on the wrong side of the split. Unfortunely for Movistar, and us for that mather, was that nobody in the first group had anything left to keep up the hard pace. And Froome with the help of Sky came back.
In the finish there was one man who wanted it more then everybody else. Valverde went like a rocket 1 KM before the finish, and held off.
With that win, Valverde passes Mollema in the standings. Pushing Mollema back to 4th."
"The last chance for everybody who don't like the time trail bike to get a stage win. We had one plan, and one plan only: Don't use to much energy and protect Mollema.
A group of six riders got clear of the peleton, and quickly buildt a gap. Every team who didn't have a man in the break, took it easy. The gap kept building before some of the sprinters team woke up and started giving chase.
But it was all for nothing, the break managed to hold off, and it ended in a sprint. Johannes Fröhlinger was the strongest, and took it on the line.
Unfortunetly for us, Nizzolo and John had full control in the bunch sprint, and came first and second. Now everybodys attention turns to tomorrows decisive individual time trail. Froome versus Aru."
The smell of war was in the air. A british cycling legend in the making, chasing down the Shark for the race win. On the end of the podium, the battle between El Bala and the dutch train. The stage was set for a nerve recking stage.
Fabio, as one of the first guys to finish from the "group" of more decent climbers, crushed the current time and led for a long time. Then came Roglič, Dennis and Dowsett. And they all set great times before it was time for the GC warriors. Dowsett led the stage for a long time before Dennis crushed it at the finnish. Roglič then crossed the line 12 seconds behind. The pace was quick, very quick.
Bauke rode his heart out, trying his very best to beat Valverde. But he came up short. 1 second short. Heartbreaking. But, the biggest heartbreake of the day - was delivered by Chris Froome. Aru lost the leaders jersey on the last day. By 5 seconds. Amazing stage.
Rohan Dennis however, the man of the day, winning by a clear margin.
Giovanni Ellena: "We just missed out on the podium. My hope is that this will motivate Mollema even more for the classics. What a close race, seconds all over the place! One for the ages.
Let's talk Milano - Sanremo, the floor is your Greg"
The Milano-Sanremo is raced on the classic route which has connected Milan to the Riviera di Ponente over the last 105 years, via Pavia, Ovada, Passo del Turchino, and then descending towards Genoa Voltri.
From here, the route strikers west, passing through Varazze, Savona, Albenga, Imperia and San Lorenzo al Mare where, after the classic sequence of the “Capi” (Capo Mele, Capo Cervo and Capo Berta), the peloton negotiates two climbs which have entered the race route in recent decades: the Cipressa (1982) and Poggio di Sanremo (1961).
The Cipressa is just over 5,6 km long with a gradient of 4,1%. The descent leading back down to SS 1 Aurelia road is highly technical descent leading.
The ascent of Poggio di Sanremo starts 9 km before the finish line. The climb is as follows: 3,7 km, average gradient less than 4%, maximum 8% in the segment before getting to the top of the climb. The road is slightly narrower, with four hairpin turns in the first 2 km.
The descent is extremely technical, on asphalt roads, narrow at points and with a succession of hairpins, twist and turns as far as the junctions with SS 1 Aurelia.
The final part of the descent enters urban Sanremo. The last 2 km are on long, straight urban roads. 850m from the finish line there is a left-hand bend on a roundabout. The last bend, leading into the home straight, is 750m from the finish line.
Experts:
Sagan and Demaré the favourites but anything goes at Milan-San Remo
Despite the unpredictability of Milan-San Remo, two riders have marked themselves out as the consensus favourites for this year's race on the basis of their pedigree and their performances at Tirreno-Adriatico and Paris-Nice over the last week: Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Arnaud Démare (FDJ).
Sagan has the ability to instigate moves on the Poggio, make the difference on the descent, or win a sprint on the Via Roma. In short, he can win every kind of Milan-San Remo. However every advantage, as football legend John Cruyff said, is also a disadvantage. Faced with an abundance of choice, Sagan has not always reached for the right weapon from his armoury in the finale of La Primavera, even if his decision-making, once a glaring weakness, has improved greatly since he landed the first of his world titles in Richmond in 2015.
Michael Matthews (Sunweb) was perhaps the most impressive of the Milan-San Remo contenders in action at Paris-Nice, even if his form didn't earn him a stage win. Like Sagan, has the ability to win Milan-San Remo in multiple ways, he is looking to make amends after a crash ruined his challenge last year.
Arnaud Démare (FDJ) crashed at the same time as Matthews last year but remounted to win Milan-San Remo after a controversial chase back and accusations of help from a team car. He, too, was on song at Paris-Nice, showcasing his climbing skills and displaying considerable nous to win the opening stage. The Frenchman arrives looking to be the first man to win the race twice in succession since Erik Zabel in 2000 and 2001.
The riders who preceded him on the roll of honour: Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) and John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo), will undoubtedly be in contention in the event of a sprint. The other past winners in the field, Filippo Pozzato (Wilier-Triestina) and Simon Gerrans (Orica-Scott), will need to be very inventive.
Other men pinning their hopes on a group finish – of varying sizes – on the Via Roma include Tom Boonen (Quick-Step Floors), Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto Soudal), Ben Swift and Sacha Modolo (UAE Team Emirates), Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida), Elia Viviani (Team Sky), Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data), Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott).
"The first monument of the season, and we felt we had a strong squad to compete for the win. With both John and Nizzolo for a possible sprint finish, and Felline for a suprise attack up Poggio.
During the team meeting we all knew who to look out for. Peter Sagan has been looking strong troughout the season. Impressive win at the second stage of Tirreno - Adriatico, draws similarities with the final 20 KM.
The race started in a high pace, and several teams tried hard to get a rider into the morning breakaway. After a quick first hour, the peleton stopped chasing and the break settled down in front of the peleton. In that break was the man who snubbed the sprinters from the break a few days earlier on the 6th stage of Tirreno-Adriatico. Johannes Fröhlinger. He has a bunch of confidence at the moment, and must belive he can also pull out a win from this group.
But, a monument is diffrent from a smaller stage race. The peleton was giving chase hard, dominated by FDJ. Which told us one thing, Dèmare must be feeling great.
The peleton stayed together as they roared into the final climb of the day, Poggio. Felline didn't feel to great today, so he used the last bit of energy pulling hard at the front up Poggio. Keeping it together. It was time for Nizzolo and Degenkolb.
Antonio Cabello: "Good evening gentleman, i know you all are tired after a long day today. But we need to make a choice quickly. As you all know, the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya starts in two days.
This is major goal for Alberto this year, he want to make a statement. And after a convincing win in Paris - Nice, he is on scheduale to do so. Unfortunately, he is feeling the effect of his back injury still. The hard efforts in Paris - Nice has set is mark.
So the question is, should we bring Mollema as help considering Alberto is under the weather right now?
Keep in mind, Mollema has hopes of doing well in the classics later in April."
Ellena and Elli exchanges looks and Elli speaks up
Alberto Elli: "We think the obvious choice here is..."
I don't think it would hurt Mollema to use the race as a form builder by having him pace for Bertie early in the day and either help bring back a break or keep everything in check before the final climb/ Bertie makes his first move.
As long as Bauke eases off at that point and doesn't also try to follow when the favourites/ those in better shape attack each other then I don't think it would hurt his ambitions later on.
@sammy Good point but I think in prep for Ardenes Basque is more interesting He did race Tirreno and did well, so some rest and then Basque and Ardennes would be perfect, I think!
Ian Butler wrote:
@sammy Good point but I think in prep for Ardenes Basque is more interesting He did race Tirreno and did well, so some rest and then Basque and Ardennes would be perfect, I think!
I was thinking take it easy at Catalunya, then go to Basque not purposefully riding for GC but either a Stage Win or KOM jersey and maybe sneak a top 10 if he doesn't have to lose too much time early on to be able to achieve that, thinking that Contador would go there for GC and Bauke have a free role. Then after that I guess Contador would need to knock back the effort and take a break to rest before starting his Tour prep.
Ian Butler wrote:
@sammy Good point but I think in prep for Ardenes Basque is more interesting He did race Tirreno and did well, so some rest and then Basque and Ardennes would be perfect, I think!
I was thinking take it easy at Catalunya, then go to Basque not purposefully riding for GC but either a Stage Win or KOM jersey and maybe sneak a top 10 if he doesn't have to lose too much time early on to be able to achieve that, thinking that Contador would go there for GC and Bauke have a free role. Then after that I guess Contador would need to knock back the effort and take a break to rest before starting his Tour prep.
You are spot on there sir! Mollema is scheduled to ride the Basque tour with a free role with Contador as captain.
Ian Butler wrote:
@sammy Good point but I think in prep for Ardenes Basque is more interesting He did race Tirreno and did well, so some rest and then Basque and Ardennes would be perfect, I think!
Do you want to change your vote or are you sticking by your choice?
Volta Ciclista a Catalunya is one of three World Tour stage races in Spain, together with the Vuelta a España and the Tour of the Basque Country. The race has had several different calendar dates, running before in September, June and May. Since 2010 it has been on the calendar in late March as part of the UCI World Tour.
Raced over seven days, it covers the autonomous community of Catalonia in Northeast Spain and contains one or more stages in the mountain region of the Pyrenees. The race traditionally finishes with a stage in Barcelona, Catalonia's capital, on a circuit with the famous Montjuich climb and park.
First held in 1911, the Volta a Catalunya is the fourth-oldest still-existing cycling stage race in the world. Only the Tour de France (1903), the Tour of Belgium (1908) and the Giro d'Italia (1909) are older. It was the second cycling event organized on the Iberian peninsula, only after the amateur and sub-23 race Volta a Tarragona (1908), equally held in Catalonia but no longer on the calendar. Catalan cycling icon Mariano Cañardo won the race seven times in the 1920s and 1930s, setting an unsurpassed record.
For the record, the last time there was a team time trial in Catalunya was in 2007, a 15.7km effort won by Caisse d'Epargne, the same race where a certain Mark Cavendish took his first ever WorldTour stage win. In the 1980s and 1990s, team time trials in the Volta were frequent, most of them in the 20-30km range. But the last team time trial of this length in the Volta was in 1964, a 42-kilometre effort running from Lloret de Mar to Saint Feliu de Guixols. It was won by Federico Martin Bahamontes’ Margnat-Paloma squad ahead of two top 1960s teams, as Faema finished at 29 seconds and KAS at 1:05. There was a near five-minute margin between the first and last of the eight teams.
Provided there are no repeats of the bizarre wheel incidents which wrecked their TTT in Tirreno-Adriatico, Team Sky has the strength in depth to produce an impressive ride. Other top rivals and TTT specialists, though, such as BMC, Movistar and Quick-Step Floors could all do well on a course as long as this, where discipline and technique will be decisive. And given it is such a long course, the time gaps created could have a huge impact on the overall.
Asked if the TTT was so long it could end up deciding the GC, Peris countered: "I think there are more than enough mountainous stages for that not to happen."
Of those, stage 3 is considered the toughest for the climbers, in that it contains what the route book defines as three first category ascents and concludes on the well-known summit finish of La Molina, the opening stage of the Pyrenees for the Volta in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Technically a first category ascent, La Molina is not that tough and the time differences could well be as minimal as in 2016, with 24 riders finishing inside 22 seconds of the stage winner, Dan Martin (Quick-Step Floors). Possibly only poor weather, which has proved a key factor in recent years in the Volta when it heads into the Pyrenees, could make this stage more decisive.
The really big climbing test will likely prove to be two days later with a summit finish of Lo Port, in Tortosa, on the other side of Catalonia near the Mediterranean coast. It has only been used twice before. The first, in 1985, produced a stage win for Colombian climber Alirio Chizabas, the biggest victory of his career during a brief three-year stint racing for Spanish outfit Kelme, and the second time in 1991 for his better known compatriot, Lucho Herrera.
Together with the team time trial, the 8.4km long Lo Port climb, with an average gradient of nine per cent and ramps of up to 20 per cent, will almost certainly decide the overall classification. Although, looking at the outright winners of the Volta - in 1985 climber Robert Millar defeated local hero and future Kelme director Vicente Belda, and five times Tour winner Miguel Indurain in 1991 - it is hard to predict what kind of racer will be clad in the green and white race leader's jersey afterwards.
Barring crashes, Sunday's traditional closing stage, which consists of little more than the usual laps round the Montjuic park motorsport circuit in Barcelona, and a steady 2km ascent, is unlikely to have little impact.
Tirreno - Adriatico
Alejandro Valverde
Richard Carapaz
Danny Van Poppel
BMC Racing Team
Team Sky
Team Sunweb
Peter Sagan
Greg Van Avermaet
Warren Barguil
Tejay Van Garderen
Alexander Kristoff
Caleb Ewan
Jakub Mareczko
Esteban Chaves
Astana Pro Team
Petr Vakoč
Trek - Segafredo:
Ilnur Zakarin
Louis Meintjes
