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One in a Billion | Rise to the Summit
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 15-10-2017 14:56
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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@Ripley: Thanks Ripley  . Hopefully, the new riders will gel well in the team. The little Dutch flag is something I'm getting used to as well!
@dominox: Thanks and nice to hear from you . Just wanted to change the calendar up a bit. Also, the Vuelta has very less TT km, which might be a disadvantage.
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 16-10-2017 17:37
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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I didn't start a race in January for the first time since my debut season. This was a calculated decision, to stay fresher by the time the GTs came around. Just one race in February.
After doing domestique duties for Barguil in this race last year, I was back as the leader of the team. I was one of the favourites for the win.
Stage 1 was in the flats and I stayed safely in the pack. The sprinters enjoyed the day.
Stage 2 saw some climbing. The early break of three had a six minute lead at its peak. I attacked 1 km from the top of the second climb. Seven riders were able to follow and make up the gap to me. Two of the break were caught but one survived to win the stage. More riders caught up to us. I finished 10th with Bosvelt 9th on the stage.
Stage 3 was another mild climbing stage. The pack split on the only climb of the day but got back together on the flat following it. Riders kept getting dropped in the high crosswinds. The break was caught with just over 10 km to go. The peloton was down to around sixty riders at this point. I rode away from the further reduced peloton with 5 km to go. Three riders caught up to me and left me behind before the finish. I finished 5th on the stage, caught by the next group on the road approaching the line. Ania finished 10th. I moved up to 7th in the GC.
Stage 4
I was among the favourites to win this stage. The early part of the stage was uneventful. After the break was caught, me and four more riders - Ania, Bardet, Beltran and Turano - attacked out of the pack. With 1.5 km to go, Beltran and I were able to launch another acceleration and distance the rest, who were caught before the line by the peloton. The two of us were so tired from the effort that neither could get up and sprint for the win. I just missed out in the end, finishing 2nd, but grabbing the leader's jersey! Ania finished 3rd.
Stage 5
The peloton split up in the first intermediate sprint and I found myself on the wrong side of it. I managed to chase back. Meintjes was a big name caught in the second group. Both me and Ania had left the peloton behind on top of the climb. With 14 km to go, a selct group of GC candidates caught the last of the break. McCarthy attacked with 10 km to go and puleld out a minute's lead. It was Me, de Plus and Gallopin in the second group, chasing down the Aussie, while GC 2nd placed Sagan was a further 30 seconds behind. We managed to cut the gap to McCarthy but couldn't catch him. I finished 4th on the stage, with de Plus 5th and Ania 10th. I held on to my GC lead.
Stage 6
My birthday! The early 7 man break was allowed to get a huge lead, which meant the pack spent most of the second half of the stage chasing. With 11 km left, Sagan launched an attack, which I could not counter. Despite my best efforts to chase, through the last 10 km, he surfed the wheels of the breakaway riders, set the pace when they dropped off and managed to hold on to a big enough gap to leapfrog me into first place in the GC!
| 1 | Peter Sagan | Swissair | 20h48'18 | | 2 | Abhishek Sinha | Duvel | + 39 | | 3 | Jay McCarthy | Huawei | + 2'03 | | 4 | Tony Gallopin | Huawei | + 2'40 | | 5 | Anastasio Ania | Duvel | + 4'52 | | 6 | Eduard Beltran | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 6'43 | | 7 | Laurens De Plus | Duvel | + 7'06 | | 8 | Daniel Martin | De Koninck | + 7'13 | | 9 | Louis Meintjes | Swissair | + 7'28 | | 10 | Romain Bardet | Huawei | + 7'32 |
Spoiler | 11 | Gracjan Gregorek | MTN-Qhubeka | + 7'58 | | 12 | Andrew Talansky | Huawei | + 8'09 | | 13 | Grégory Ambroise | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | + 8'18 | | 14 | Lachlan Morton | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 9'17 | | 15 | Rafał Majka | MTN-Qhubeka | + 9'53 | | 16 | Sam Oomen | Swissair | + 10'46 | | 17 | Heiner Parra | Basler Zeitung | + 11'30 | | 18 | Clement Penven | Huawei | + 11'38 | | 19 | Lilian Calmejane | MTN-Qhubeka | + 11'48 | | 20 | Mads Pedersen | MTN-Qhubeka | + 12'14 | | 21 | Mathieu van der Poel | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 12'24 | | 22 | Caleb Ewan | Swissair | + 13'09 | | 23 | Matej Mohoric | Huawei | + 13'17 | | 24 | Anthony Maldonado | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 13'21 | | 25 | Óscar Peláez | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 13'22 | | 26 | Gini Turano | Colombia | + 13'44 | | 27 | Kristijan Durasek | Basler Zeitung | + 14'06 | | 28 | Stefano Nardelli | Gerolsteiner | + 14'24 | | 29 | Andrea Manfredi | Duvel | + 14'53 | | 30 | Jack Haig | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 15'12 | | 31 | Philip O'Donnell | Swissair | + 15'26 | | 32 | Avelino Braguês | Smartstop | + 15'53 | | 33 | Alexandre Geniez | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | s.t. | | 34 | Romain Le Roux | Lapierre | + 15'57 | | 35 | Jens Keukeleire | De Koninck | + 15'58 | | 36 | Edward Theuns | De Koninck | + 16'11 | | 37 | Tommy McCoosh | Colombia | + 16'12 | | 38 | Lawson Craddock | Duvel | + 16'15 | | 39 | Luka Pibernik | Swissair | + 16'23 | | 40 | Michael Matthews | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 16'34 | | 41 | Paul Bosvelt | Duvel | + 16'56 | | 42 | Rayane Bouhanni | Lapierre | + 17'01 | | 43 | Christophe Laporte | Swissair | + 17'04 | | 44 | Giacomo Nizzolo | Huawei | + 17'10 | | 45 | Geoffrey Duteil | Duvel | + 17'14 | | 46 | Gustav Hoog | MTN-Qhubeka | + 17'45 | | 47 | Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev | Basler Zeitung | + 18'12 | | 48 | Edward Diaz | Colombia | + 18'20 | | 49 | Konstantinos Gianopulos | Superior | + 18'43 | | 50 | Tosh Van der Sande | De Koninck | + 18'53 | | 51 | Karel Hník | Superior | + 19'51 | | 52 | Nick Van Der Lijke | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | + 19'53 | | 53 | Alexis Dulin | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 20'27 | | 54 | Koen Bouwman | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | + 20'36 | | 55 | Carter Jones | Smartstop | + 21'21 | | 56 | Carlos Ribeiro | MTN-Qhubeka | + 21'41 | | 57 | Leonardo Pajuelo | Basler Zeitung | + 21'45 | | 58 | Sjoerd Bax | Superior | + 22'00 | | 59 | Patrick Konrad | Colombia | + 22'01 | | 60 | Jurgen van Diemen | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 22'11 | | 61 | John Baker | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | + 22'15 | | 62 | Sep Vanmarcke | Duvel | + 22'22 | | 63 | Enzo Wouters | De Koninck | + 22'48 | | 64 | Bert-Jan Lindeman | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | s.t. | | 65 | Daniel Oss | Huawei | + 23'03 | | 66 | Franco Leon | Colombia | + 23'08 | | 67 | Abel Kenyeres | Smartstop | + 23'27 | | 68 | Kamil Gradek | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 24'02 | | 69 | Jonas Koch | Gerolsteiner | s.t. | | 70 | Donny Schrijvers | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 24'12 | | 71 | Florian Senechal | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 24'27 | | 72 | Marcel Huber | Colombia | + 24'36 | | 73 | Daniele Ratto | Gerolsteiner | + 24'55 | | 74 | Jan-Harm van den Braken | MTN-Qhubeka | + 25'49 | | 75 | Moreno De Pauw | De Koninck | s.t. | | 76 | Yannick Martinez | Orica-GreenEDGE | s.t. | | 77 | Pedro Marín | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 26'11 | | 78 | Jenthe Biermans | De Koninck | + 26'38 | | 79 | Stan Godrie | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 26'50 | | 80 | Fabien Grellier | Lapierre | + 27'01 | | 81 | Shiki Kuroeda | Basler Zeitung | + 27'08 | | 82 | Eugert Zhupa | Old Spice | + 27'15 | | 83 | Richard Handley | Old Spice | + 27'17 | | 84 | Sebastian Trillini | Old Spice | s.t. | | 85 | Roland Thalmann | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 27'24 | | 86 | Kilian Frankiny | Superior | + 27'31 | | 87 | Etienne Tortelier | Lapierre | + 27'36 | | 88 | Jonas Rapp | Gerolsteiner | + 28'02 | | 89 | Fabio Silvestre | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 28'04 | | 90 | Kenneth Van Rooy | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 91 | Stefan Kreder | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | s.t. | | 92 | Lukas Juan | Basler Zeitung | s.t. | | 93 | Jens Wallays | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | + 28'47 | | 94 | Juan Sebastian Molano | Basler Zeitung | + 29'11 | | 95 | Ramon Sinkeldam | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | s.t. | | 96 | Piotr Havik | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | s.t. | | 97 | Max Walscheid | Gerolsteiner | + 29'20 | | 98 | Afram Iwu | Old Spice | + 29'32 | | 99 | Bryan Nauleau | Lapierre | + 29'39 | | 100 | Stig Broeckx | De Koninck | + 29'51 | | 101 | Thomas Vaubourzeix | Lapierre | s.t. | | 102 | Maximilian Werda | Gerolsteiner | + 30'47 | | 103 | Revy Amhaouch | Swissair | s.t. | | 104 | Martijn Budding | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | s.t. | | 105 | Jasper Frahm | Gerolsteiner | s.t. | | 106 | Jesper Asselman | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 30'58 | | 107 | Jeffrey Romero | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 108 | Arvid De Kleijn | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 109 | Sjoerd Kouwenhoven | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 31'01 | | 110 | Arman Kamyshev | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | + 31'44 | | 111 | Adrian Smith | Aer Lingus | + 32'06 | | 112 | Sjoerd Van Ginneken | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 32'24 | | 113 | Timo Roosen | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 32'26 | | 114 | Joshua Huppertz | Gerolsteiner | + 32'34 | | 115 | Manuel Todaro | Superior | + 32'48 | | 116 | Maxime Renault | Lapierre | + 33'21 | | 117 | Pyotr Cheresh | Superior | + 33'35 | | 118 | Jan Kovar | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | + 33'55 | | 119 | Bruno Armirail | MTN-Qhubeka | + 34'50 | | 120 | Lee Richmond | Superior | + 34'51 | | 121 | Louis Verhelst | Smartstop | + 34'54 | | 122 | Nino Honigh | Basler Zeitung | + 34'57 | | 123 | Alexandre Darville | Old Spice | s.t. | | 124 | Franco Velásquez | Old Spice | s.t. | | 125 | Kizito van Dam | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 126 | Jani Music | Smartstop | + 36'29 | | 127 | Aaron Buggle | Aer Lingus | + 36'40 | | 128 | Jocelyn Bellanger | Smartstop | + 36'52 | | 129 | Jarno Gmelich | Superior | + 37'00 | | 130 | Rüdiger Selig | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 37'34 | | 131 | Klaas Lodewyck | Lapierre | + 38'39 | | 132 | Ramunas Navardauskas | Colombia | + 38'55 | | 133 | Stephen Clancy | Aer Lingus | + 39'45 | | 134 | Ludwig Bengtsson | Smartstop | + 39'54 | | 135 | Thomas De Troch | Aer Lingus | s.t. | | 136 | Mannase Miller | Old Spice | + 39'57 | | 137 | Titte van Laer | Aer Lingus | + 40'20 | | 138 | Alistair Murdock | Aer Lingus | + 41'22 | | 139 | Evghenii Butelschii | Smartstop | + 42'41 | | 140 | Tom Maginness | Aer Lingus | + 42'46 | | 141 | Ernesto Rengifo | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 42'50 | | 142 | Kenny Baker | Old Spice | + 44'49 | | 143 | Akili Zitouni | Aer Lingus | + 46'21 | | 144 | Julio Álvarez | Colombia | + 1h23'34 |
| 1 | Peter Sagan | Swissair | 125 | | 2 | Romain Le Roux | Lapierre | 59 | | 3 | Mads Pedersen | MTN-Qhubeka | 59 | | 4 | Abhishek Sinha | Duvel | 54 | | 5 | Giacomo Nizzolo | Huawei | 49 |
| 1 | Romain Le Roux | Lapierre | 24 | | 2 | Óscar Peláez | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | 22 | | 3 | Eduard Beltran | Orica-GreenEDGE | 16 | | 4 | Abhishek Sinha | Duvel | 14 | | 5 | Louis Meintjes | Swissair | 10 |
| 1 | Huawei | 62h34'13 | | 2 | Duvel | + 2'03 | | 3 | Swissair | + 6'39 | | 4 | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 18'13 | | 5 | MTN-Qhubeka | + 18'49 |
Spoiler U25 classifications won't be published any more, because I've outgrown it 
So close to starting another season with a win! The wily old head in the peloton got the better of me here. Sagan timed his attack to perfection, taking advantage of my tiring legs, after the effort I put in on the climbs. Oh well, not a bad start to the year even with 2nd place.
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 21-10-2017 08:02
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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Having just missed out on the win in Oman, I approached the next race on my calendar with even more determination to do well. The season really kicks off in March with most of the big names coming out to play. My only race this month was no different.
Boasting a much stronger startlist, this race would give an indication of how the leading riders have fared in the off-season. We went into this race with a strong team. Barguil, Dumoulina and Ulissi joined me on the startlist.
Stage 1
Mayhem on the slopes! The early MTT ripped apart the time-sheets. I had a very poor day, finishing more than three minutes in arrears, in 19th place. Dumoulin had a bad day too, losing more than two minutes. Clearly, I wasn't prepared for this!
| 1 | Bob Jungels | Rusal | 43'06 | | 2 | Nairo Quintana | De Koninck | + 31 | | 3 | Gregorio Ibañez | TEAM Kodak | + 42 | | 4 | Louis Meintjes | Swissair | + 1'18 | | 5 | Davide Formolo | Rusal | + 2'04 | | 6 | Tony Gallopin | Huawei | + 2'05 | | 7 | Alexis Vuillermoz | Rusal | + 2'08 | | 8 | Tom Dumoulin | Duvel | + 2'12 | | 9 | Tanel Kangert | Team Europcar | + 2'19 | | 10 | Simon Yates | Swissair | + 2'20 | | 11 | Wilco Kelderman | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 2'21 | | 12 | Sebastian Henao | Commonwealth Bank | + 2'48 | | 13 | Daniel Felipe Martinez | TEAM Cepsa | + 2'56 | | 14 | Michał Kwiatkowski | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 3'00 | | 15 | Yohann Olive | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 3'05 | | 16 | Clément Chevrier | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 3'06 | | 17 | Matvei Mamykin | Rusal | + 3'10 | | 18 | Edmeo Menghini | Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec | + 3'12 | | 19 | Abhishek Sinha | Duvel | + 3'19 | | 20 | Alexis Guerin | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | + 3'22 |
Stage 2 was flat. The early break were caught just before the finish and the sprinters claimed their win.
I was classified as one the favourites for Stage 3. The three man early break was joined by another on the first climb. They were all caught with 40 km to go, at the base of the tallest climg of the day. Unfortunately for us, this climb also saw Bosvelt retiring, illness getting the better of him. I attacked on the last climb of the day, winning the KOM and building up a 20 second lead to the peloton. I was caught on the descent but held on at the front to finish 4th. Dumoulin was 3rd.
Stage 4 was the queen stage and probably my last shot at gaining some time and places. Ulissi joined the day's break with the hope of helping me in the latter part of the stage. The nine man break was down to seven on the fourth climb. Nairo Quintana, Jungels and two others attacked on the same climb. They joined up with the remaining break 5 km from the top. At that point, they had a two minute to the peloton. However, they were slowly pulled back in and finally caught by the ninety man peloton on the descent. On the last intermediate climb, the peloton was reduced to just 20 riders. I had Barguil and Ulissi left in support, with Dumoulin dropped. As sson as the 13 km long MTF started, Sagan and Vuillermoz were dropped. With 9 km to go, Sebastien henao attacked. The next group on the road had 13 riders. Nibali and Kelderman were the next to be dropped, followed by me! I started pacing myself and caught and overtook a few riders going backwards. I ended up 8th on the stage with Barguil 10th.
The early part of Stage 5 saw the peloton chasing the break. I attacked with 4 km to go, only followed by Kwiatkowski initially. We caught the rbeak with 2.5 km to go but then I was dropped. Three further riders went past, as I couldn't hang on to their slipstream. I finished 5th on the stage.
Stage 6 was a rolling stage which saw the early break cruise to victory as the peloton refused to chase.
The Stage 7 ITT was too short to have any major impact on the final standings. I was 1st through the first intermediate but lost some time in the second half to end up 5th. Dumoulin claimed 2nd place on the stage.
| 1 | Bob Jungels | Rusal | 23h30'55 | | 2 | Nairo Quintana | De Koninck | + 19 | | 3 | Louis Meintjes | Swissair | + 58 | | 4 | Gregorio Ibañez | TEAM Kodak | + 2'56 | | 5 | Simon Yates | Swissair | + 3'08 | | 6 | Davide Formolo | Rusal | + 4'16 | | 7 | Sebastian Henao | Commonwealth Bank | + 5'03 | | 8 | Tony Gallopin | Huawei | + 5'04 | | 9 | Abhishek Sinha | Duvel | + 5'26 | | 10 | Wilco Kelderman | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 5'59 |
Spoiler | 11 | Clément Chevrier | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 6'26 | | 12 | Jay McCarthy | Huawei | + 7'36 | | 13 | Michał Kwiatkowski | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 7'40 | | 14 | Warren Barguil | Duvel | + 7'47 | | 15 | Lawson Craddock | Duvel | + 8'47 | | 16 | Edward Ravasi | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 9'06 | | 17 | Matvei Mamykin | Rusal | + 9'17 | | 18 | Gini Turano | Colombia | + 10'09 | | 19 | Tiesj Benoot | Rusal | + 10'16 | | 20 | Alexis Vuillermoz | Rusal | + 10'58 | | 21 | Peter Sagan | Swissair | + 12'42 | | 22 | Massimo Mogni | Rusal | + 13'05 | | 23 | Daniel Felipe Martinez | TEAM Cepsa | + 13'17 | | 24 | Finn E. Rosenkilde | Colombia | + 13'32 | | 25 | Alexis Guerin | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | + 13'52 | | 26 | Lachlan Morton | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 13'53 | | 27 | Edmeo Menghini | Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec | + 14'50 | | 28 | Anatoliy Budyak | Commonwealth Bank | + 15'03 | | 29 | Moreno Moser | TEAM Cepsa | + 15'20 | | 30 | Daniel Martin | De Koninck | + 15'33 | | 31 | Juan Chamorro | Colombia | + 16'46 | | 32 | Joseph Dombrowski | Huawei | + 16'51 | | 33 | Simone Andreetta | Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec | + 17'23 | | 34 | Franco Leon | Colombia | + 17'25 | | 35 | Tom Dumoulin | Duvel | + 17'34 | | 36 | Geraint Thomas | Vérandas Willems | + 18'01 | | 37 | Rohan Dennis | Huawei | + 18'31 | | 38 | Jasper Ockeloen | Continental | + 19'05 | | 39 | Sidio Mezzini | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 19'33 | | 40 | Edoardo Zardini | TEAM Kodak | + 19'46 | | 41 | Alberto Gallego | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 20'07 | | 42 | Gianfranco Zilioli | TEAM Kodak | + 20'50 | | 43 | Andrea Fedi | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 21'12 | | 44 | Goredema Dabengwa | MTN-Qhubeka | + 21'21 | | 45 | Tanel Kangert | Team Europcar | + 21'25 | | 46 | Donato De Ieso | Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec | + 21'33 | | 47 | Yuber Conteras | Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec | + 22'43 | | 48 | Anthony Turgis | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | + 23'37 | | 49 | Romeo Pisciotta | TEAM Cepsa | + 24'04 | | 50 | Davide Villella | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 24'07 | | 51 | Diego Ulissi | Duvel | + 24'37 | | 52 | Antonio Nibali | TEAM Cepsa | + 24'47 | | 53 | Roman Kreuziger | Swissair | + 24'49 | | 54 | Tim Banks | Commonwealth Bank | + 25'19 | | 55 | Yohann Olive | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 25'45 | | 56 | Mads Pedersen | MTN-Qhubeka | + 26'05 | | 57 | Dominik Nerz | Swissair | + 26'06 | | 58 | Patrick Müller | Commonwealth Bank | + 26'27 | | 59 | Caleb Ewan | Swissair | + 26'33 | | 60 | Lilian Calmejane | MTN-Qhubeka | + 26'51 | | 61 | Joaquín Cacho | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | + 27'02 | | 62 | Taylor Phinney | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 27'12 | | 63 | Awazbek Georgiev | Vérandas Willems | + 27'17 | | 64 | Fernando Gaviria | TEAM Cepsa | + 27'54 | | 65 | Dylan van Baarle | Swissair | + 28'32 | | 66 | Davide Pacchiardo | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 28'39 | | 67 | Philip O'Donnell | Swissair | + 28'42 | | 68 | Samir Jabrayilov | MTN-Qhubeka | + 28'47 | | 69 | Bryan Coquard | Team Europcar | + 28'51 | | 70 | Dario Cataldo | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 28'57 | | 71 | Vincenzo Nibali | Team Europcar | + 29'05 | | 72 | Christian Livieri | TEAM Kodak | + 29'16 | | 73 | Alessio Taliani | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 30'34 | | 74 | Sonny Colbrelli | Huawei | + 30'47 | | 75 | Giovanni Carboni | TEAM Kodak | + 31'14 | | 76 | Meron Teshome | Adidas | s.t. | | 77 | Jack Haig | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 31'20 | | 78 | Rostyslav Zhukovskyy | Team Europcar | + 31'27 | | 79 | Elia Favilli | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 31'52 | | 80 | Julien Roux | Lapierre | + 33'26 | | 81 | Andrea Zordan | TEAM Kodak | + 33'37 | | 82 | Samuel Spokes | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 33'38 | | 83 | Maxime Cam | Lapierre | + 33'41 | | 84 | David Boily | Team Europcar | + 33'47 | | 85 | Flavio Sotera | Team Europcar | + 33'54 | | 86 | Jesper Asselman | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 34'19 | | 87 | Arnaud Demare | Lapierre | + 34'25 | | 88 | Anthony Maldonado | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | s.t. | | 89 | Carlos Ribeiro | MTN-Qhubeka | + 34'48 | | 90 | Emilien Viennet | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 34'49 | | 91 | Miguel Angel Benito | Commonwealth Bank | + 35'15 | | 92 | Matej Mohoric | Huawei | + 35'39 | | 93 | Nicola Boem | Adidas | + 35'48 | | 94 | Eugenio Alafaci | Vérandas Willems | + 35'54 | | 95 | Dejan Kokot | Team Europcar | + 36'42 | | 96 | Pierre Naudin | Lapierre | + 36'52 | | 97 | Rubén Zepuntke | Continental | + 37'46 | | 98 | Jordi van Dingenen | De Koninck | + 38'01 | | 99 | Miles Scotson | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 38'31 | | 100 | Marko Díaz | Commonwealth Bank | + 38'32 | | 101 | Magnus Bak Klaris | Rusal | + 38'38 | | 102 | Derk Abel Beckeringh | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 38'39 | | 103 | Ennio Fornello | Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec | + 39'18 | | 104 | Cameron Meyer | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 39'20 | | 105 | Gurhan Volkan | Continental | + 39'25 | | 106 | William Barta | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 39'39 | | 107 | Fabrizio Gadau | TEAM Kodak | + 39'49 | | 108 | Silvan Dillier | Adidas | + 40'08 | | 109 | Ricardo van Dongen | Continental | + 40'14 | | 110 | Iliya Klepikov | Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec | + 40'28 | | 111 | Davide Martinelli | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 40'29 | | 112 | Jasper Stuyven | De Koninck | + 40'47 | | 113 | Ian Stannard | Huawei | + 41'07 | | 114 | Niccolo Bonifazio | Rusal | + 41'23 | | 115 | Marco Haller | Continental | + 43'00 | | 116 | Federico Zurlo | TEAM Kodak | + 43'35 | | 117 | Olivier Naesen | Duvel | + 44'06 | | 118 | Edward Heinen | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 44'27 | | 119 | Lorenzo Trabucco | Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec | + 44'43 | | 120 | Paweł Bernas | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | + 45'48 | | 121 | Kristian Sbaragli | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | + 46'07 | | 122 | Kristian Haugaard | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 46'18 | | 123 | Daniel Oss | Huawei | + 46'20 | | 124 | Trevor Praticò | Colombia | + 46'22 | | 125 | Ahmet Örken | De Koninck | + 47'53 | | 126 | Alex Clements | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 47'55 | | 127 | Joris Blokker | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 48'17 | | 128 | Sjoerd Kouwenhoven | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 48'50 | | 129 | Omar Bertazzo | TEAM Cepsa | + 49'18 | | 130 | Daniel Hoelgaard | MTN-Qhubeka | + 49'51 | | 131 | Eryk Latoń | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | + 50'02 | | 132 | Frederik Plesner | Lapierre | + 50'13 | | 133 | Pim Ligthart | MTN-Qhubeka | + 50'27 | | 134 | Onesto De Gori | Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec | + 50'31 | | 135 | Mattia Frapporti | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 50'39 | | 136 | Ximo Ela | Team Europcar | + 50'45 | | 137 | Andrea Guardini | TEAM Cepsa | + 51'13 | | 138 | Rick Zabel | Continental | + 51'43 | | 139 | Sacha Modolo | MTN-Qhubeka | + 52'11 | | 140 | Richard Weinzheimer | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 52'52 | | 141 | Rodolfo Calderón | Vérandas Willems | + 52'54 | | 142 | Alexander Krieger | Continental | + 52'57 | | 143 | Arthur Vichot | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 54'09 | | 144 | Rüdiger Selig | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 54'23 | | 145 | Nicolas Marini | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 54'37 | | 146 | Lucas Liss | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 55'00 | | 147 | Jenthe Biermans | De Koninck | + 55'12 | | 148 | Jens Debusschere | De Koninck | + 56'20 | | 149 | Sjoerd Van Ginneken | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 56'56 | | 150 | Volodimir Fredyuk | Commonwealth Bank | + 57'22 | | 151 | Thomas Van Opstal | Adidas | + 57'39 | | 152 | Enrique Sanz | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | + 58'25 | | 153 | Jovan Hamidovic | Colombia | + 58'39 | | 154 | Etienne Tortelier | Lapierre | + 59'15 | | 155 | Roy Jans | Lapierre | + 59'16 | | 156 | Mathieu van der Poel | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 1h00'13 | | 157 | Simon Sellier | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | + 1h01'29 | | 158 | Bjorn Selander | Adidas | s.t. | | 159 | Travis Mccabe | Adidas | + 1h03'23 | | 160 | Alo Jakin | Vérandas Willems | + 1h04'18 | | 161 | Gamal Jespersen | Commonwealth Bank | + 1h06'30 | | 162 | Edward Theuns | De Koninck | + 1h06'57 | | 163 | Yasuo Yamashita | Colombia | + 1h07'22 | | 164 | Jori van Steenberghen | Adidas | + 1h08'27 | | 165 | Edwin Ávila | Vérandas Willems | + 1h12'43 | | 166 | Guillaume Van Keirsbulck | Duvel | + 1h14'40 | | 167 | Joaquím Durant | Lapierre | + 1h16'25 | | 168 | Taco Van Der Hoorn | Continental | + 1h16'43 | | 169 | Alexandr Popkov | Vérandas Willems | + 1h19'23 | | 170 | Tommy McCoosh | Colombia | + 1h23'06 | | 171 | Elgun Alizada | Vérandas Willems | + 1h39'25 |
| 1 | Michał Kwiatkowski | Orica-GreenEDGE | 32 | | 2 | Louis Meintjes | Swissair | 28 | | 3 | Nairo Quintana | De Koninck | 26 | | 4 | Wilco Kelderman | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | 26 | | 5 | Andrea Fedi | Ag2r La Mondiale | 24 |
| 1 | Andrea Fedi | Ag2r La Mondiale | 51 | | 2 | Sjoerd Van Ginneken | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | 32 | | 3 | Jack Haig | Orica-GreenEDGE | 31 | | 4 | Alessio Taliani | Team Cannondale - Garmin | 22 | | 5 | Julien Roux | Lapierre | 17 |
| 1 | Rusal | 70h44'42 | | 2 | Swissair | + 5'05 | | 3 | Duvel | + 6'24 | | 4 | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 13'57 | | 5 | Huawei | + 16'43 |
Not a good start in a stacked field. I have some work to do if I have to repeat last season's performances. Looks like my rivals have been busy in the off-season with their preparation. I hope I have done enough.
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 21-10-2017 10:28
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Clearly not your best race, but the bad day in the initial ITT has cost you a lot. At least you were the best of your team 
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 21-10-2017 11:53
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No worries yet, it's all about preparing for later glory!
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| dominox |
Posted on 21-10-2017 12:13
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Great 2nd place in Oman! In Tirreno that opening ITT costed you a lot of time. Could been something amazing! |
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 21-10-2017 16:03
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Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
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@Aquarius: Best in the team is pretty much a given now  . The ITT screwed everything up for sure.
@Croatia: That's the plan. And the hope!
@dominox: I'm not sure about amazing but I should've been fighting for the podium I guess. Oman was great  . Thanks!
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| Ad Bot |
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 23-10-2017 16:53
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As we get closer to the first GT of the year, my preparation keeps getting more focused. In April, I go to my major preparation race for the Giro.
I changed up my schedule a bit from last year, dropping Pais Vasco from the calendar to ride here. The Romandie is closer to the Giro and helps me plan my peak better. Another strong field has shown up as a lot of riders use it as the warm-up even to the Giro. I had Mollema and Craddock as domestiques, a pre-cursor to our climbing train in the Giro.
Stage 1
This stage was similar to the MTT in Tirreno - Adriatico, just shorter. I was determined to do much better here. I started off a bit slow, 50 seconds off the pace at the first intermediate. I improved to be in 6th place, 37 seconds off the top when I finished. I ended up 9th, losing 38 seconds on the day. A much improved outing indeed.
Stage 2 saw an early pack split on the first hill, behind the day's break. I was caught in the wrong side of it and very soon found myself four minutes down! The break was caught in the flats and my group eventually found its way back to the peloton before the second climb. Another break of four riders went away from the peloton on the second climb. As the peloton tried to close down the gap, I attacked on the next climb to get 30 seconds to the pack. I was caught at the bottom of the descent and the break soon followed. The pack split again before the finish, but no GC contender was caught out this time. I moved up a place in the GC.
Stage 3 had me joint favourite for the stage win with Nairo Quintana. The early break didn't last long, but was replaced by a two man break before the first climb. The pelotonw as down sixty riders on the first climb. The break was cuaght before the second climb. I attacked on that climb and got nearly a minute's lead on the pack before the top. I had more than a minute following the descent with 10 km to go at that time. The peloton was down to about 30 riders at the time, and they were chasing me down. I was caught with just 2 km left by a group of 15 odd riders. No win, but some of the competition were dropped at the end.
Stage 4 really took off after the break was caught with 30 km to go. Aru, Kelderman, Nairo, Formolo and Meintjes got a gap to the peloton. Mollema and de Bie did most of the chasing in the pack, which had reduced to about 40 odd. With 3 km to go, It was Kelderman alone out in front with a 30 second lead over Aru. The rest of the attackers were already caught. Kelderman took the win as Aru was caught on the line. The Dutchman took the lead in the GC. I moved up another spot.
Stage 5
The early break of four sell to six and then to eight riders. The number was down again to four at the of the first climb and to three by the third climb. Quintana attacked at the bottom of that climb. The break was caught before the peak. Kelderman was dropped, opening up the GC completely. At the top of the last climb, Nairo and Formolo were leading my group of six riders by 50 seconds. Formolo won the stage and took the lead in the GC. I finished 8th, moving up to 5th in the GC.
Stage 6
I was one of the favourites in the IIT. I crossed the line 52 seconds off the best time, ending up 11th after all riders had completed. Despite the time loss, my rivals had fared even worse and I moved up to 3rd place in the GC!
| 1 | Davide Formolo | Rusal | 18h03'39 | | 2 | Eduardo Sepulveda | TEAM Kodak | + 50 | | 3 | Abhishek Sinha | Duvel | + 1'28 | | 4 | Romain Bardet | Huawei | + 1'35 | | 5 | Louis Meintjes | Swissair | + 1'51 | | 6 | Nairo Quintana | De Koninck | + 2'12 | | 7 | Wilco Kelderman | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 2'56 | | 8 | Fabio Aru | Rusal | + 2'59 | | 9 | Bob Jungels | Rusal | + 3'42 | | 10 | Gregorio Ibañez | TEAM Kodak | + 4'10 |
Spoiler | 11 | Thibaut Pinot | Rusal | + 5'15 | | 12 | Grégory Ambroise | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | + 5'59 | | 13 | Tao Geoghegan Hart | Huawei | + 6'33 | | 14 | Andrew Talansky | Huawei | + 7'51 | | 15 | Carlos Betancur | Swissair | + 8'06 | | 16 | Clement Penven | Huawei | + 8'59 | | 17 | Rohan Dennis | Huawei | + 9'43 | | 18 | Julian Arredondo | Team Europcar | + 9'44 | | 19 | Graham Traino | Rusal | + 10'35 | | 20 | Tilegen Maidos | TEAM Kodak | + 12'34 | | 21 | Simon Raffin | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 13'39 | | 22 | Rigoberto Urán | Team Europcar | + 13'45 | | 23 | Sérgio Henao | Team Europcar | + 15'13 | | 24 | Sebastian Henao | Commonwealth Bank | + 15'17 | | 25 | Peter Kennaugh | Huawei | + 16'15 | | 26 | Matvei Mamykin | Rusal | + 16'19 | | 27 | Andy Atkinson | Commonwealth Bank | + 17'38 | | 28 | Alvaro Cuadros | TEAM Kodak | + 18'36 | | 29 | Bauke Mollema | Duvel | + 23'41 | | 30 | Michael Matthews | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 25'55 | | 31 | Dominik Nerz | Swissair | + 26'28 | | 32 | Alexander Foliforov | TEAM Kodak | + 26'40 | | 33 | Lawson Craddock | Duvel | + 27'49 | | 34 | Dzidoslaw Grodecki | Rusal | + 28'50 | | 35 | Koen Bouwman | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | + 30'41 | | 36 | Lure Podgaetschii | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 31'35 | | 37 | Hyeoung Min Choe | Commonwealth Bank | + 31'37 | | 38 | Danny Van Poppel | Continental | + 32'48 | | 39 | Lukas Löer | Swissair | + 34'16 | | 40 | Arvydas Kartchemarskas | De Koninck | + 34'27 | | 41 | Conrado Moscoso | Huawei | + 34'44 | | 42 | Fernando Gaviria | TEAM Cepsa | + 34'56 | | 43 | Kahled Zitouni | Swissair | + 35'09 | | 44 | Antonio Nibali | TEAM Cepsa | + 35'20 | | 45 | George Pym | Swissair | + 35'38 | | 46 | Jonathan Klever | Colombia | + 36'14 | | 47 | Alex Carmichael | Adidas | + 36'17 | | 48 | Sondre Holst Enger | Commonwealth Bank | + 36'20 | | 49 | Rubén Zepuntke | Continental | + 36'38 | | 50 | Nelson Oliveira | Duvel | + 36'48 | | 51 | Thomas Boudat | Commonwealth Bank | + 37'05 | | 52 | Théry Schir | Rusal | + 37'18 | | 53 | Santos Barbero | TEAM Cepsa | + 37'34 | | 54 | Quentin Jauregui | Continental | + 37'47 | | 55 | Andrew Fenn | Huawei | + 37'49 | | 56 | Adel Trabelsi | Colombia | s.t. | | 57 | Jonas Bokeloh | Swissair | + 37'59 | | 58 | Julien Roux | Lapierre | + 38'28 | | 59 | Sean De Bie | Duvel | + 38'40 | | 60 | Florian Maître | Team Europcar | + 38'47 | | 61 | Adriano Malori | TEAM Kodak | + 39'26 | | 62 | Brian Bulgac | Continental | + 40'31 | | 63 | Vladislav Gorbunov | TEAM Kodak | s.t. | | 64 | Anthony Dillon | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 40'52 | | 65 | Dries Van Gestel | De Koninck | s.t. | | 66 | Davide Malacarne | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 41'11 | | 67 | Pello Bilbao | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | s.t. | | 68 | Toine Kolijn | Continental | + 41'12 | | 69 | Sidio Mezzini | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 41'37 | | 70 | Rudi Milic | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 41'52 | | 71 | Stefan Küng | MTN-Qhubeka | + 41'57 | | 72 | Lucas Destang | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 42'56 | | 73 | Steven Lammertink | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | + 43'05 | | 74 | Meik Hermanski | Duvel | + 43'08 | | 75 | Nick Van Der Lijke | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | + 43'09 | | 76 | Edward Diaz | Colombia | + 43'21 | | 77 | Jarl Salomein | De Koninck | + 44'26 | | 78 | Adrien Petit | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 45'38 | | 79 | Phil Bauhaus | MTN-Qhubeka | + 45'54 | | 80 | Moreno De Pauw | De Koninck | + 46'03 | | 81 | Alessandro Tonelli | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 46'16 | | 82 | Léonard Quentin | MTN-Qhubeka | + 46'21 | | 83 | Jon Ruminkiewicz | TEAM Cepsa | + 46'23 | | 84 | Jasper De Buyst | De Koninck | + 46'32 | | 85 | Wouter Wippert | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 46'45 | | 86 | Patrick Müller | Commonwealth Bank | + 47'05 | | 87 | Juan Manuel Puntas | TEAM Cepsa | + 47'23 | | 88 | Kamil Gradek | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 47'48 | | 89 | Fabien Grellier | Lapierre | + 47'57 | | 90 | Barry Markus | Continental | + 48'12 | | 91 | Luca Sterbini | Team Cannondale - Garmin | s.t. | | 92 | Silvan Dillier | Adidas | + 48'25 | | 93 | David Menut | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 48'54 | | 94 | Tosh Van der Sande | De Koninck | + 49'15 | | 95 | Nils Politt | Commonwealth Bank | + 49'23 | | 96 | Pavel Janku | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 49'28 | | 97 | Victor Campenaerts | Duvel | + 50'02 | | 98 | Julien Morice | Team Europcar | + 50'17 | | 99 | Flávio Cipriano | Colombia | + 50'21 | | 100 | Leigh Howard | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 51'29 | | 101 | Fabio Silvestre | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 51'32 | | 102 | Alexey Kurbatov | Team Europcar | + 53'46 | | 103 | Roger Houston | TEAM Cepsa | + 53'57 | | 104 | Bruno Armirail | MTN-Qhubeka | + 54'31 | | 105 | Campbell Flakemore | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 54'49 | | 106 | Stig Broeckx | De Koninck | + 54'50 | | 107 | Jan Tratnik | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 55'15 | | 108 | Romain Cardis | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 55'21 | | 109 | Travis Meyer | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 55'25 | | 110 | Antonio Molina | TEAM Cepsa | + 55'39 | | 111 | Daniel Hoelgaard | MTN-Qhubeka | + 56'30 | | 112 | Sander Helven | Adidas | + 56'51 | | 113 | Raymond Kreder | Continental | + 56'57 | | 114 | Vinnie Braet | Adidas | s.t. | | 115 | Jonathan Dibben | MTN-Qhubeka | + 57'31 | | 116 | Joris Blokker | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 57'40 | | 117 | Lucas Liss | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 58'11 | | 118 | Jovan Hamidovic | Colombia | + 58'22 | | 119 | Peter Erdin | MTN-Qhubeka | + 59'31 | | 120 | Julio Álvarez | Colombia | + 59'33 | | 121 | Nicola Ruffoni | TEAM Kodak | + 59'35 | | 122 | Jurgen van Diemen | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 59'52 | | 123 | Stefan Kreder | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | + 59'55 | | 124 | Chande Danger | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 1h00'24 | | 125 | Maximilian Schachmann | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 1h00'30 | | 126 | Jan Maas | Continental | + 1h01'16 | | 127 | Tim Kerkhof | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | + 1h01'31 | | 128 | David Desmecht | Adidas | + 1h02'54 | | 129 | Benjamin Jasserand | Lapierre | + 1h03'35 | | 130 | Marcus Bohla | Duvel | + 1h03'53 | | 131 | Marlon Gaillard | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 1h04'40 | | 132 | Simon Pellaud | Adidas | + 1h04'53 | | 133 | Thomas Umhaller | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 1h05'21 | | 134 | Travis Mccabe | Adidas | + 1h05'51 | | 135 | Inaxio Arcega | TEAM Cepsa | + 1h06'05 | | 136 | Alpha van de Berg | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 1h06'26 | | 137 | Etienne Fabre | Lapierre | + 1h07'46 | | 138 | Roy Jans | Lapierre | + 1h08'24 | | 139 | Stef Krul | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | + 1h08'37 | | 140 | Roland Thalmann | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 1h08'44 | | 141 | Joachim Vanreyten | Lapierre | + 1h09'29 | | 142 | Bryan Nauleau | Lapierre | + 1h10'12 | | 143 | Anders Egsvang | Swissair | + 1h10'20 | | 144 | Pim Ligthart | MTN-Qhubeka | + 1h10'22 | | 145 | Samuel Harrison | Commonwealth Bank | + 1h10'28 | | 146 | Mattia Frapporti | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 1h10'30 | | 147 | Piotr Havik | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | + 1h12'49 | | 148 | Gerald Ciolek | Colombia | + 1h13'56 | | 149 | Andrija Janecek | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 1h14'04 | | 150 | Dylan Van Zijl | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 1h15'59 | | 151 | Michael Vingerling | Team Europcar | + 1h18'21 | | 152 | Mohamed Kok Keong | Colombia | + 1h19'14 | | 153 | Maxime Le Lavandier | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 1h20'57 | | 154 | Misha Van De Mije | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | + 1h22'20 | | 155 | Senne Leysen | Adidas | + 1h22'29 | | 156 | Claude Thevenon | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 1h23'28 | | 157 | Jérémy Maison | Lapierre | + 1h25'30 | | 158 | Benoit Jarrier | Ag2r La Mondiale | + 1h28'56 |
| 1 | Wilco Kelderman | Team LottoNL - Jumbo | 75 | | 2 | Davide Formolo | Rusal | 54 | | 3 | Louis Meintjes | Swissair | 41 | | 4 | Fabio Aru | Rusal | 38 | | 5 | Eduardo Sepulveda | TEAM Kodak | 35 |
| 1 | Gregorio Ibañez | TEAM Kodak | 30 | | 2 | Davide Formolo | Rusal | 25 | | 3 | Stefan Küng | MTN-Qhubeka | 23 | | 4 | Alessandro Tonelli | Team Cannondale - Garmin | 21 | | 5 | Andy Atkinson | Commonwealth Bank | 20 |
| 1 | Rusal | 54h14'43 | | 2 | Huawei | + 8'13 | | 3 | TEAM Kodak | + 10'56 | | 4 | Swissair | + 29'13 | | 5 | Team Europcar | + 34'05 |
A much improved performance in the time trials leads to a higher finish. I did well on Stage 5 to keep myself in contention. Not the perfect preparation for the Giro but it's looking better now than it was a month ago. Fingers crossed...
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 26-10-2017 13:37
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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The first GT of the year and with the first high expectations. Also, now that I represented Netherlands, there was a different kind of expectation and pressure. I could see a lot of Dutch supporters had made the trip, and had heard that there would be many more on the roads as we rode by. I hoped I could put on a show for them!
After an improved performance in Romandie, I was quietly confident about a good result here, and generally a lot calmer than I was following the Tirreno-Adriatico. I had pretty much the same support staff as in Romandie, Mollema and Craddock were going to be my chief domestiques on the slopes. Only time would tell if I could improve on my previous best 7th place in this race.
The TTT on Stage 1 suited us quite well. We were favourites for the win along with Huawei. Surprisingly, it was Kodak who took the win. We took 2nd place, losing 6 seconds on the day but gained a second to Huawei and their leader Bardet. Adam Yates (Swissair) was 14 seconds behind me, Aru (Rusal) had lost 53 seconds to me and Landa (Cepsa) was down 25 seconds. Nairo Quintana was the big loser as de Koninck finished 1'23" slower than us.
Stage 2 was for the sprinters but with two small climbs thrown in. The pack split up on the second climb but none of the GC favourites were affected. The break was caught with 7 km to go. Wout Van Aert took the stage win for us!
Stage 3
The six man early break pulled out to a eight minute lead. Nairo, Aru and Yates pulled away from the pack on the first climb, but were caught on the descent after furios chasing from our guys and Cepsa. With 35 km to go, the peloton was down to less than a hundred riders while the break still a lead of more than 90 seconds. Dunbar attacked 20 km from the finish but there was no counter from the pack. Nairo and Aru attacked again with 8 km to go. Landa followed but the trio was caught. I joined Nairo and Aru in the next attack 2 km from the top of the climb. We got a lead of 30 seconds but were caught on the descent. Bardet launched a late late attack to distance the peloton and take the win. He wasn't awarded any time gap. I moved up to 4th in the GC.
Stage 4
The early break wasn't allowed to get away very far this time. They were caught on the second decent. Two riders formed a new break but they too were caught, on the third climb. Sepulveda attacked next and there was no counter. On the final descent, I was in the second group on the road with 18 others, including the race favourites while Sepulveda had more than minute's lead. He would go on to win the stage and I finished 5th. I was the new leader of the GC!
Stage 5 was flat and I enjoyed an easy day's ride in Pink. The sprinters had their fun.
(Wearing the Pink Jersey!)
Stage 6 was similar to 5. Riders kept attacking throughout and ha to be reeled in one by one. Eventually, the sprinters would have their way. Van Aert finished 3rd with Ulissi 9th for us. There was a lot of tired bodies at the end, on a stage which everyone expected to be 'simple'.
Stage 7
The dreaded cobbles towards the end. All GC riders had expressed their concerns about the possibility of the race being ripped apart here. As it would turn out, everyone took it easy through that section. I saw a chance and hung on to the wheels of four cobbles specialists as they launched a late attack. I finished 4th out of the five attackers but gained 22 seconds on the peloton.
| 1 | Abhishek Sinha | Duvel | 28h19'25 | | 2 | Adam Yates | Swissair | + 32 | | 3 | Romain Bardet | Huawei | + 1'13 | | 4 | Nairo Quintana | De Koninck | + 1'22 | | 5 | Mikel Landa | TEAM Cepsa | + 1'29 | | 6 | Fabio Aru | Rusal | + 1'40 | | 7 | Merhawi Kudus | TEAM Kodak | + 1'48 | | 8 | Eddie Dunbar | TEAM Kodak | + 2'00 | | 9 | Tao Geoghegan Hart | Huawei | + 2'06 | | 10 | Eduardo Sepulveda | TEAM Kodak | + 2'17 |
Edited by AbhishekLFC on 27-10-2017 09:00
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| dominox |
Posted on 26-10-2017 16:43
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1452
Joined: 23-07-2014
PCM$: 5533.75
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Great 3rd place in Romandie. Also, what a start in Italy 
But what a "specialist" put that cobbles on 7th stage?  |
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 26-10-2017 19:18
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4191
Joined: 13-09-2015
PCM$: 300.00
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Hopefully this lead will last longer than in Vuelta
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 27-10-2017 04:57
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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@dominox: Thanks . Personally I loved the cobbled stage, but you are right, it was probably a bit too rough for a GT!
@Aquarius: It is already close to beating that
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| Raziz |
Posted on 27-10-2017 06:53
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Domestique
Posts: 552
Joined: 22-12-2016
PCM$: 200.00
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What a dream start! |
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 27-10-2017 07:26
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World Champion
Posts: 11392
Joined: 17-12-2014
PCM$: 1020.00
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Abhishek Nibali taking his opportunities Amazing start to the Giro, let's go and keep that jersey!
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant."
[ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT]  Xero Racing
5x  x5
2x  x2
2x  x2 |
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| Kiserlovski01 |
Posted on 27-10-2017 08:12
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4054
Joined: 26-04-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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Glad I finally found some time to catch up. The prep races were OK really, apart from a few stages off. No doubt the shape's good if you perform so well on mountain stages coming so early in the race, they're always a step into the unknown.
Keep it up!
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 27-10-2017 17:19
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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@Raziz: Absolutely!
@Jandal: Time to emulate the Shark of Messina maybe?
@Kiserlovski: Prep races were decent, I agree. Hopefully I can deliver in the real thing. Good start definitely!
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 28-10-2017 04:01
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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Stage 8
The four man early break became five after the first climb. The pace was steady till six riders attacked, none a threat, attacked on the very small incline just before the MTF. Nairo and Yates made their move on the starting slopes of the MTF. Soon Aru followed. Yates was first dropped by Nairo and then by Aru. With 5 km to go, the break still survived as the elad group on the road. The group of six attackers were next, followed by Nairo. Aru was half a minute behind him with Yates another 40 seconds down. Me and Landa were 10 seconds down on Yates. I finally attacked to drop Landa, catch and drop Yates and catch up to Aru. One rider from the break survived to take the win. I finished 4th, together with Aru and lost some time to Nairo.
I knew the early flat ITT on Stage 9 was a huge chance to pull away from my rivals. I started off a little slow, around 20 seconds down at the first intermediate. I kept pulling time back on each intermediate and was 12 seconds off the pace in the third one. I pulled back further time and beat everyone at the finish! My second ever Grand Tour stage win!
Stage 10
The innocuous looking finish proved to be a real difference maker as both Yates and Nairo were dropped by the lead group. I did not have any such trouble, finishing 4th again and gaining some valuable seconds.
Stage 11
This was similar to the last stage but it had a longer climb at the finish. This climb favoured me more than the pure climbers and I hoped to take advantage of that. Nairo and Aru went away on the second intermediate climb. At the top of the climb, a single rider fromt he day's break was in front followed by Nairo and Aru, who were 30 seconds ahead of my group which also had Yates and Landa. I lost some ground just as the climb to the finish started. At this point, Yates had caught up to Aru and Nairo with me and Landa chasing. We kept pulling the gap down and finally caught up with 7 km to go. I attacked with 4 km to go and Nairo was the only one who kept up. I accelerated away from the Colombian with 1.5 km to go and held on to win the stage! We were given the same time but gained time on everyone else. This was my first road stage win in a Grand Tour!
Stage 12
Now this was a stage which did not suit we that well! A 13 man break was allowed to form and get a whopping 17 minutes on the pack. On the seconds climb, one from the break was caught but their lead was up to 21 minutes! Dunbar attacked 10 km from the top of the third climb. Yates, Bardet and Nairo followed and eventually dropped Dunbar. I attacked in unison with Aru and Landa 2 km from the top. We caught Dunbar and then I dropped them all. I caught up to the initial attacking trio. All this happened in the space of a kilometer! Nairo attacked again before the summit and was not caught again. The break won by over 15 minutes and I lost 20 seconds to Nairo. Yates finished with the same time as me.
| 1 | Abhishek Sinha | Duvel | 47h59'14 | | 2 | Nairo Quintana | De Koninck | + 3'42 | | 3 | Fabio Aru | Rusal | + 5'12 | | 4 | Adam Yates | Swissair | + 6'35 | | 5 | Mikel Landa | TEAM Cepsa | + 7'55 | | 6 | Merhawi Kudus | TEAM Kodak | + 9'34 | | 7 | Romain Bardet | Huawei | + 14'58 | | 8 | Eddie Dunbar | TEAM Kodak | + 15'06 | | 9 | Tao Geoghegan Hart | Huawei | + 16'09 |
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| Raziz |
Posted on 28-10-2017 08:25
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Domestique
Posts: 552
Joined: 22-12-2016
PCM$: 200.00
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Wow, unbelievable 2nd week there. |
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 28-10-2017 08:36
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 9099
Joined: 13-03-2013
PCM$: 2100.00
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Awesome. Now defend that lead by heart!
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| Ripley |
Posted on 28-10-2017 08:38
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3341
Joined: 25-11-2014
PCM$: 300.00
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And here I was complaining about the TT performances... great stuff, the Sinha we've been waiting for. A comfortable GC position, losing a bit of time on the remaining mountain stages to Quintana is to be expected, but won't hurt. No crashes, please. |
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