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One in a Billion | Rise to the Summit
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 30-03-2018 07:06
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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Trouble in Paradise?
- A PCM.Daily Report
There have been recent reports doing the rounds about former Giro winner Abhishek Sinha rejecting a new contract offer from Bonsucro. From what we've learnt from our inside sources, these reports seem to be true!
The disagreement between rider and team seems to stem around two reasons, that of Davide Formolo being the team's chosen leader for two Grand Tours next season, and the fact that Bonsucro are not willing to meet the wage demands of their star rider, despite a career first win in the Ardennes and a top 5 in the recently concluded Tour.
Sinha was not available for comment as he is still recovering from his illness picked up in the Tour. He is not yet to be scheduled to start in any of the preparation races before the Vuelta in August, which does not seem like an ideal preparation. With the Vuelta startlist yet to be finalized, both for Bonsucro and for most of the peloton, it remains to be seen if we will see Sinha there at all!
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 09-04-2018 17:33
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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Without any preparation races for the Vuelta, both by earlier choice, as well as due to recent illness, this wasn't the ideal preparation. The past month has been tormentous, with a lot of friction between myself and the team. The contract situation and my refusal to start any preparation races has pushed my relationship with the management to breaking point. The only reason I'm starting this race is because Formolo is not in the best shape. The riders joining me on the startlist for Bonsucro are not exactly the best mountain domestiques around!
However, as fate would have it, the rest of the Vuelta start-list threw up a massive surprise. I was the top favourite for this race, with the only other top climbers present being either too weak in the hills or in the TTs. My biggest competitor would be Kwiatkowski, who wasn't the best climber but excelled elsewhere.
Stage 1
The Team Time Trial on the first stage was perfectly suited for us with Palik and Phinney in the team. We lived up to it, winning the stage by 14 seconds over Gazprom. Palik wore the Red Jersey.
Stage 2
A hilly stage right from the start. Ania was top favourite. The break had two riders as we rode a lot of first half of the race over dirt roads. The break were caught with 33 km to go. Calmejane, Duteil and Conti attacked with 9 km to go. The final climb started with 5 km left. Soon Van der Poel attacked as well. I countered. Van der Poel and I caught the earlier attackers with 3.5 km left. Four riders were chasing us, having got away from the peloton. We dropped Conti and then Van der Poel and Duteil went away with 2 km left. I countered, dropping Calmejane. I caught Duteil with 500 meters remaining. I could not catch Van der Poel and finished 2nd, losing 15 seconds. Kwiatkowski lost 26" to me. Ania finished 9th. I was the new GC leader, with Ania in 4th.
Stage 3 was a flat stage were the three man break was caught with 15 km left. Ania finished 7th in the sprint.
Stage 4
Ania was top favourite once again on the hills. The four man break held on till 30 km to go, on the first climb. The peloton was reduced to 74 riders at the top. We started pushing the pace up near the top of the second climb. I attacked 2 km from the peak of the second climb. Six riders followed. I dropped the others by accelerating again at the summit. The chase group had nine riders, but no Van der Poel. I was caught by the next group after the descent. Kwiatkowski attacked with 10 km to go. Six riders couldn't hang on in my group and were dropped. Kwiatkowski maintained his lead to win. I finished in the next group, in 5th place. Ania finished 10th. Van der Poel recovered, losing only 25 seconds on the day. I was still in the GC lead by 6 seconds and was up to 2nd in the KOM.
Stage 5 was mostly flat with an uphill finish. The early break was caught with 20 km to go. The bunch accelerated with 2 km to go, led by the punchers. I managed to finish 4th but was beaten on the line by Kwiatkowski, who also received bonus seconds for 3rd. My lead was down to just 2" in the GC. Ania finished 7th.
| 1 | Abhishek Sinha | Bonsucro | 18h38'52 | | 2 | Michał Kwiatkowski | Gazprom | + 2 | | 3 | Mathieu van der Poel | Swissair | + 1'03 | | 4 | Moreno Moser | TEAM Cepsa | + 1'27 | | 5 | Anastasio Ania | Bonsucro | + 1'41 | | 6 | Tim Wellens | De Koninck | + 1'46 | | 7 | Valerio Conti | Fly Emirates | + 2'26 | | 8 | Lawson Craddock | MTN-Qhubeka | + 2'37 | | 9 | Gervais Hardouin | Gatorade | + 2'40 | | 10 | Matej Mohoric | MTN-Qhubeka | + 3'13 |
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| dominox |
Posted on 09-04-2018 18:25
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Protected Rider
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Great start! Looking good so far! |
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 10-04-2018 05:51
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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Perfect start indeed!
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| Tamijo |
Posted on 10-04-2018 07:05
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Team Leader
Posts: 7406
Joined: 14-07-2015
PCM$: 599.00
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wow looks good
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| Ripley |
Posted on 11-04-2018 08:34
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3341
Joined: 25-11-2014
PCM$: 300.00
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Typical PCM, the Vuelta attracts less and less competition with each new season. But a great chance for you, a GT is a GT! |
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 11-04-2018 12:25
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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@Tamijo: Looks good indeed!
@Ripley: Every season till now, there has been at least two big challengers whenever I've lined up at the Vuelta. Quite a big downgrade this season.
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 14-04-2018 06:05
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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I had the perfect start to the Vuelta and was leading by a couple of seconds till the last update. The first big mountain stage is up next.
Stage 6
I was top favourite for the win here and I didn't want to disappoint. Nine riders formed a large sized break which we needed to keep an eye on. The peloton was already reduced to ninety riders on top of the first climb. Alaphilippe fell on the descent and was dropped for good. The pace remained slow past the next couple of climbs. The peloton had seventy five riders on the fourth climb. With 20 km to go, I still had two teammates in the peloton, Ania and Palik, in a pack further reduced to less than fifty riders. Palik was dropped soon after. I accelerated with 8 km to go, at the start of the last climb. Four breakaway riders still remained ahead, with a 3'38" lead. The peloton had 21 riders but no one helped me chase the break. I put in a strong kick at the 5 km banner to drop the group. Eight riders were chasing me. Two riders from the rbeak held a 1'24" gap at that moment. I caught them with 3.5 km to go. We were 1'11" ahead of the chasers. I dropped the duo half a kilometer later. I went on to win the stage with the breakaway holding on to the next two positions. I was leading all three individual classifications now! Kwiatkowski lost a significant amount of time.
| 1 | Abhishek Sinha | Bonsucro | 5h00'57 | | 2 | José Ramella | TEAM Cepsa | + 1'38 | | 3 | Clément Chevrier | Orange | + 2'52 | | 4 | Lawson Craddock | MTN-Qhubeka | + 3'54 | | 5 | Pierre-Roger Latour | Orange | + 4'14 | | 6 | Simone Petilli | Gatorade | + 4'30 | | 7 | Gervais Hardouin | Gatorade | s.t. | | 8 | Ilnur Zakarin | Gazprom | + 4'57 | | 9 | Jean Küpper | Swissair | + 5'08 | | 10 | Arvid Melchiot | Gatorade | s.t. |
Stage 7 was back to the flat roads. VdP and Conti were dropped on the stage for a while but they made it back. Bohla, our top sprinter, was assigned to protect me for some reason! This meant he was out of contention for the sprint finish. The break were caught 10 km before the line and the sprinters took the win.
Stage 8
Seventeen riders joined the break on this hard stage. the Peloton was down to fifty nine riders on the third climb. Three riders from the rbeak were caught on this descent. The break had six riders remaining on the fourth climb. I fell on that descent and had to play catch up now! Three teammates were still in the front group. I struggled at first. I settled down into a rhythm and was helped, first by Brown and Palik, and then finally by Ulissi, as I caught and went past them. I made it back to the peloton with 17 km left. The GC favourites had already made their move and were further ahead. I caught and passed Ania with 10 km to go, my last teammate on the road. With 7 km to go, the gap to the front was 2'49". With 2 km left, the front group consisted of Kwiatkowski and three others. Five riders formed the next group on the road, 1'4" behind. I was on my own a further 25" behind. I caught up to the second group before the finish, and claimed 5th place. What a recovery! I did lose time to the front group, 58" to the winner and 45" to Kwiatkowski.
Stage 9 was another one for the sprinters. The three man break was caught with 20 km left. Degenkolb tried a late attack but was not successful. Bohla sprinted to 2nd at the finish.
| 1 | Abhishek Sinha | Bonsucro | 39h42'32 | | 2 | Michał Kwiatkowski | Gazprom | + 4'35 | | 3 | Jean Küpper | Swissair | + 8'50 | | 4 | Ilnur Zakarin | Gazprom | + 9'10 | | 5 | Gervais Hardouin | Gatorade | + 10'07 | | 6 | Tony Gallopin | Gazprom | + 10'29 | | 7 | Tim Wellens | De Koninck | + 10'56 | | 8 | Victor Lafay | Continental | + 12'15 | | 9 | Arvid Melchiot | Gatorade | + 14'02 | | 10 | Maxime Le Lavandier | Team Europcar | + 14'18 |
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 14-04-2018 09:45
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4191
Joined: 13-09-2015
PCM$: 300.00
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This is going to be a walk over for you, with the only question being how many stage wins you'll get 
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 16-04-2018 10:47
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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Not to get too carried away, but if I lose this, I'll probably never win another GT!!
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 20-04-2018 02:32
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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Stage 10
A hilly stage to break the monotony of the climbs. Ania was top favourite. The break consisted of six riders. I was having an uneventful day till I fell again on the descent after the fourth climb! Ulissi too, was one of those who went down in the same crash. I was able to make it back to the pack with a little help from my teammate. Van Gestel suffered the same fate some kilometers later! A group of 11 riders went away on the fifth climb, including Kwiatkowski. The peloton was down to 70 riders. We chased the attackers and finally caught up to them with 40 km to go. We set the pace over the final climb. Ania and Mohoric attacked, which I followed with interest. I caught two riders from the break with 5 km to go, and had a 26" lead over the pack. Ania was in the lead group, along with two of the morning breakaway riders. I was caught by the pack with 3.5 km left. Ania attacked again and won the stage! Two breakaway riders finished ahead of the pack, with Mohoric caught in the final kilometer. I finished with the peloton. Ania gained 1'1" on the day but did not make any GC improvement.
Stage 11 was the first ITT stage of the race. Palik was the top favourite but he did not have the ebst day, finishing down in 7th. I kept losing time through each sector and ended up 1'14" off the best time, in 13th place. Kwiatkowski finished second on the day, gaining 59" to me. I still had a substantial lead.
Stage 12
No respite after the ITT as he headed straight into a big mountain top finish stage. 15 riders formed the initial breakaway. My teammates chased hard throughout the stage after allowing a to close them to get a big led early on. All but one of them were caught with 18 km to go. Three riders attacked with 15 km left, but none of them were a GC threat. Another rider tried his luck and got a gap to the pack. I moved to the front of the peloton and started setting the pace myself to give my teammates a break. Lafay and Elissonde attacked with 12 km to go, and this was definitely a threat. We chased again as a team. I sped away from the pack, which had started splitting. I caught the break and the attackers with 9 km to go. We were 7 riders at the front of the race. Kwiatkowski and Ion Izagirre were chasing us. Lafay attacked again a kilometer later. I followed belatedly, but dropped the others immediately. I caught up to Lafay and we were increasing the gap to those behind us with every pedal-stroke. I dropped Lafay with 5 km left. Kwiatkowski was out of strength and was going backwards now! I had built up a huge lead and had my strangelhold on the GC now. I rode to an uncontested win, pulling my lead in the GC to over 8 minutes! Kwiatkowski had a bad day, and his efforts in the ITT were nullified.
Stage 13 saw teammate Brown start despite being unwell. The seven man breakstayed away and won the stage. Three of my teammates fell on the stage but recovered, and luckily did not suffer any injuries. Zakarin crashed and lost 14', thereby ending any chance of a late challenge in the GC.
Stage 14 was another flat stage. Brown fell this time, adding injury to illness, but he kept on riding. I too, suffered my third fall of the race, but was able to recover. The break were caught before the finish and a bunch sprint decided the stage.
| 1 | Abhishek Sinha | Bonsucro | 57h15'34 | | 2 | Michał Kwiatkowski | Gazprom | + 8'03 | | 3 | Gervais Hardouin | Gatorade | + 13'19 | | 4 | Tony Gallopin | Gazprom | + 16'05 | | 5 | Victor Lafay | Continental | + 16'51 | | 6 | Tim Wellens | De Koninck | + 17'17 | | 7 | Jean Küpper | Swissair | + 17'40 | | 8 | Eduardo Sepulveda | Gazprom | + 20'09 | | 9 | José Ramella | TEAM Cepsa | + 22'32 | | 10 | Maxime Le Lavandier | Team Europcar | + 22'44 |
Edited by AbhishekLFC on 26-04-2018 16:23
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Posted on 21-11-2024 12:33
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 24-04-2018 15:47
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
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Stage 15
I was top favourite for this stage. The 15 rider break had both Duteil and Van der Poel in it. The peloton was reduced to 68 riders on top of the third climb. Three riders were caught from the break on the next climb. Another was caught on the fifth climb. The full team started chasing post this. The peloton was losing riders very often and we were down to 47 on the sixth climb. The breakaway was down to 7 riders at the start of the last climb. Five riders attacked with 11 km to go, just as the pack caught two more riders from the break. Chased and caught two of the attackers with 5 km to go. I caught and passed the rest inside the final kilometer. Four riders from the break survived, and I finished 5th behind them.
Stage 16 was a flat transitional stage. The early break of 5 riders were caught 2 km from the line. A bunch sprint decided the stage.
Stage 17
The day's break had five riders. I fell one more time, with two teammates and a couple of other riders. This is the most I've ever fallen in a particular race! I recovered back to the pack soon enough. The peloton was down to just 25 riders on top of the second climb. I still had five teammates with me. Elissonde and Lafay attacked at the start of the last climb. I chased them with interest, soon dropping everyone else who had followed. I could catch up to Elissonde with 500 meters remaining but Lafay gained some time. I finished 7th, behind Lafay and the breakaway.
Stage 18
Ania was top favourite on this hilly stage. The break consisted of eight riders. The terrain was hard right from the start and the peloton was down to 48 riders in the first climb itself. The break was down to three riders at this point, and were caught on the descent. Three riders formed another break soon after. I had four teammates left with me when this break caught on the third climb. Another group of seven riders got away on the fourth climb. Palik crashed on the descent. The break was down to just two riders. Three more tried to join the break, only two of them made it. I positioned myself myself at the front of the pack, to keep focused and stay away from any further possible crashes. No attacks came and I sped away myself 2 km from the summit. I was caught with 3 km to go. Two riders from the four that started the final climb at the front survived. I finished 9th.
| 1 | Abhishek Sinha | Bonsucro | 75h27'09 | | 2 | Michał Kwiatkowski | Gazprom | + 9'01 | | 3 | Gervais Hardouin | Gatorade | + 13'49 | | 4 | Victor Lafay | Continental | + 16'58 | | 5 | Tony Gallopin | Gazprom | + 18'08 | | 6 | Tim Wellens | De Koninck | + 18'34 | | 7 | Jean Küpper | Swissair | + 19'38 | | 8 | Eduardo Sepulveda | Gazprom | + 22'28 | | 9 | Kenny Elissonde | Lacoste | + 24'20 | | 10 | Maxime Le Lavandier | Team Europcar | + 25'13 |
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| dominox |
Posted on 24-04-2018 15:52
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Protected Rider
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It seems you have just won Vuelta. Congrats to this man!
Unless something bad will happen, hope not. |
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 25-04-2018 06:34
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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I've crashed four times in this race already, so it's not yet a given. But I think I can be extra careful and still hold on to the lead comfortably.
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 26-04-2018 16:22
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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Stage 19
The break of the day had eight riders. The peloton was down to 50 riders on top of the third climb. One of the breakaway was caught on the sixth cimb. Van Gestel was on fire on that climb, the following descent and the valley, single-handedly pacing the peloton for that duration. Four more of the breakaway riders were caught with 7 km left. I accelerated away from the pack a kilometer later and caught the break with 2.5 km to go. Four riders caught up to me - Van der Poel, Hardouin, Wellens and Elissonde. We were sprinting with 800 meters to go, up the incline. I held the advantage for a bit, but was edged out at the line my Van der Poel. That meant 2nd place while Ania finished 8th. More time gains in the GC.
Stage 20
A strong nine man break formed. We started setting the pace from the fourth climb. The peloton reduced in size to 70 riders at the summit. Two from the break were caught on the next climb. New and Kwiatkowski attacked on that climb and built a few sceonds' lead. New was caught soon after but Kwiatkowski extended his lead. This was his last desperate attempt to make an impact. Hardouin too accelerated away. I did not react and left the work to my teammates. Kwiatkowski was caught with 2 km to go. Two from the break were still out in front. New was dropped in that same time. I dropped everyone else with a kilometer to go and caught the break 500 meters later. But I ran out of steam at the finish and finished 3rd behind the surviving breakaway after a photo finish. Incidentally, once again it was Van der Poel who took the stage win!
Stage 21
The last stage was an ITT, wherein I had to defend a huge lead to ensure I had won my second ever Grand Tour. Palik was the top favourite and rode well but it was not his best effort. I started off slowly, being 18th after the first intermediate. I improved to be 2nd after the second time check and ended up winning the stage! That was as emphatic a GT win as I could've ever imagined. Palik ended up 7th on the day.
| 1 | Abhishek Sinha | Bonsucro | 85h27'22 | | 2 | Michał Kwiatkowski | Gazprom | + 11'04 | | 3 | Gervais Hardouin | Gatorade | + 15'44 | | 4 | Tony Gallopin | Gazprom | + 21'57 | | 5 | Victor Lafay | Continental | + 22'52 | | 6 | Tim Wellens | De Koninck | + 23'42 | | 7 | Jean Küpper | Swissair | + 24'57 | | 8 | Kenny Elissonde | Lacoste | + 28'55 | | 9 | Eduardo Sepulveda | Gazprom | + 29'29 | | 10 | Maxime Le Lavandier | Team Europcar | + 30'05 |
Spoiler | 11 | Jeff New | Continental | + 30'06 | | 12 | José Ramella | TEAM Cepsa | + 36'23 | | 13 | Arvid Melchiot | Gatorade | + 36'44 | | 14 | Anastasio Ania | Bonsucro | + 38'00 | | 15 | Matej Mohoric | MTN-Qhubeka | + 41'27 | | 16 | Bat Batkhuyag | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | + 44'04 | | 17 | Peter Sagan | Swissair | + 45'48 | | 18 | Lennard Kämna | TEAM Cepsa | + 48'10 | | 19 | Jay McCarthy | Fly Emirates | + 48'18 | | 20 | Antoine Lavieu | Orange | + 53'30 | | 21 | Ian Boswell | Fly Emirates | + 55'46 | | 22 | Pierre-Roger Latour | Orange | + 57'57 | | 23 | Arnaud Duteil | Continental | + 58'11 | | 24 | Eduard Beltran | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 1h04'27 | | 25 | Mathieu van der Poel | Swissair | + 1h06'18 | | 26 | Dusan Rajovic | Continental | + 1h07'45 | | 27 | Ilnur Zakarin | Gazprom | + 1h08'18 | | 28 | Cameron Meyer | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 1h11'16 | | 29 | Edoardo Zardini | TEAM Cepsa | + 1h14'06 | | 30 | Alexey Lutsenko | Gatorade | + 1h16'03 | | 31 | Manuel Senni | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 1h16'50 | | 32 | Eugenio Moreno Rosillo | Iberdrola | + 1h20'13 | | 33 | George Preidler | MTN-Qhubeka | + 1h22'48 | | 34 | Davide Villella | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 1h23'42 | | 35 | Yingbo Zhou | Swissair | + 1h32'16 | | 36 | Ulf Hausweiler | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 1h32'39 | | 37 | Gregor Mühlberger | CULT Energy Pro Cycling | + 1h34'49 | | 38 | Rigoberto Urán | Team Europcar | + 1h36'31 | | 39 | Rafal Palik | Bonsucro | + 1h37'09 | | 40 | Lilian Calmejane | MTN-Qhubeka | + 1h40'28 | | 41 | Julian Alaphilippe | Gazprom | + 1h43'05 | | 42 | Jérémy Maison | Team Europcar | + 1h44'45 | | 43 | Wout van Aert | MTN-Qhubeka | + 1h49'15 | | 44 | Petr Vakoč | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 1h50'23 | | 45 | Diego Ulissi | Bonsucro | + 1h51'27 | | 46 | Daniele Dall'Oste | Gatorade | + 1h54'32 | | 47 | Edward Theuns | De Koninck | + 1h56'01 | | 48 | Carlos Barbero | Gazprom | + 1h59'25 | | 49 | Meik Hermanski | Bonsucro | + 2h00'34 | | 50 | Arie Santl | CULT Energy Pro Cycling | + 2h00'43 | | 51 | Dries Van Gestel | Bonsucro | + 2h01'12 | | 52 | Alexander Edmondson | Iberdrola | + 2h03'04 | | 53 | Florian Maître | Team Europcar | + 2h03'58 | | 54 | Hugo Pigeon | Lacoste | + 2h06'42 | | 55 | Óscar González | Iberdrola | + 2h06'54 | | 56 | Valerio Conti | Fly Emirates | + 2h09'01 | | 57 | Francesco Bongiorno | Gatorade | + 2h11'39 | | 58 | Benjamin Zimmermann | De Koninck | + 2h13'10 | | 59 | Sohol Oppliger | Trek Factory Racing | + 2h15'37 | | 60 | Jordi van Dingenen | Swissair | + 2h16'41 | | 61 | Yoann Paillot | Bonsucro | + 2h20'29 | | 62 | Renato Agapito | Fly Emirates | + 2h22'23 | | 63 | Lukas Löer | Swissair | + 2h23'52 | | 64 | Danny Van Poppel | Continental | + 2h24'25 | | 65 | Michael Hepburn | Gatorade | + 2h25'04 | | 66 | Pio Scarpato | Gatorade | + 2h25'24 | | 67 | Alexis Gougeard | Team Europcar | + 2h25'26 | | 68 | Ander Arranz | Iberdrola | + 2h30'20 | | 69 | Arnaud Demare | Lacoste | + 2h32'23 | | 70 | Giovanni Pedretti | Boyaca | + 2h32'40 | | 71 | Jasper Stuyven | Trek Factory Racing | + 2h33'01 | | 72 | Michael Kolar | Team Europcar | + 2h35'44 | | 73 | Edward Diaz | Boyaca | + 2h35'58 | | 74 | Mathias Krigbaum | Team Europcar | + 2h36'17 | | 75 | Miles Scotson | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 2h39'51 | | 76 | Milan Menten | Lacoste | + 2h41'22 | | 77 | Franco Leon | Boyaca | + 2h41'38 | | 78 | Jarlinson Pantano | TEAM Cepsa | + 2h42'45 | | 79 | Mischa Van der Heijden | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | + 2h45'52 | | 80 | Floris Gerts | Philips | + 2h46'43 | | 81 | Rok Oslaj | Philips | + 2h47'37 | | 82 | Jens Keukeleire | De Koninck | + 2h47'52 | | 83 | Elden Boateng | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | + 2h47'55 | | 84 | Yamato Shirota | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 2h51'16 | | 85 | Davide Cimolai | TEAM Cepsa | + 2h54'57 | | 86 | Jasper Lindenbergh | Fly Emirates | + 3h00'53 | | 87 | Kenneth Vanbilsen | De Koninck | + 3h01'08 | | 88 | Gad Azoulay | Iberdrola | + 3h02'34 | | 89 | Marcos García | Iberdrola | + 3h07'10 | | 90 | Mike Teunissen | Continental | + 3h07'36 | | 91 | Nathan Brown | Bonsucro | + 3h16'47 | | 92 | Jelle Wallays | Trek Factory Racing | + 3h17'35 | | 93 | Marc Soler | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 3h17'43 | | 94 | Jesse Kerrison | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 3h18'02 | | 95 | Johannes Windischbauer | Boyaca | + 3h20'31 | | 96 | Léonard Quentin | MTN-Qhubeka | + 3h22'03 | | 97 | Inaxio Arcega | Fly Emirates | + 3h22'19 | | 98 | Antonio Nibali | Boyaca | + 3h22'43 | | 99 | Yuber Conteras | Boyaca | + 3h26'34 | | 100 | Willy Willwohl | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 3h26'45 | | 101 | Ximo Ela | Team Europcar | + 3h27'26 | | 102 | Chande Danger | Fly Emirates | + 3h27'33 | | 103 | Idalécio Ferreira Sousa | Gazprom | + 3h28'20 | | 104 | Nawaf Albalooshi | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 3h34'35 | | 105 | Christophe Laporte | Swissair | + 3h35'50 | | 106 | Eryk Latoń | Iberdrola | + 3h36'28 | | 107 | André Looij | MTN-Qhubeka | + 3h38'31 | | 108 | Dylan Groenewegen | MTN-Qhubeka | + 3h39'19 | | 109 | João Silva | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | + 3h44'16 | | 110 | Ahmet Örken | Trek Factory Racing | + 3h46'10 | | 111 | Joachim Vanreyten | Lacoste | s.t. | | 112 | Wynton Fallon | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 3h47'05 | | 113 | Michael Schwarzmann | Swissair | + 3h47'20 | | 114 | Pavel Janku | CULT Energy Pro Cycling | + 3h47'27 | | 115 | Jenthe Biermans | De Koninck | + 3h51'55 | | 116 | Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | + 3h52'24 | | 117 | Misha Van De Mije | Philips | + 3h52'26 | | 118 | Boris Vallée | De Koninck | + 3h54'18 | | 119 | Marcus Bohla | Bonsucro | + 3h55'32 | | 120 | Jasper De Buyst | De Koninck | + 3h58'48 | | 121 | Barry Markus | Philips | + 3h59'02 | | 122 | Andrea Fedi | Orange | + 3h59'14 | | 123 | Onur Balkan | Trek Factory Racing | + 3h59'49 | | 124 | Jan Maas | Continental | + 4h00'59 | | 125 | Gert-Jan Tahya | Philips | + 4h08'34 | | 126 | John Baker | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 4h10'56 | | 127 | Magnus Faglum | CULT Energy Pro Cycling | + 4h11'35 | | 128 | Eduardo Estrada | Boyaca | + 4h15'04 | | 129 | Gaëtan Pons | Trek Factory Racing | + 4h15'15 | | 130 | Tristan Robbins | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | + 4h18'36 | | 131 | Guiseppe Lottaroli | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 4h21'42 | | 132 | Maxime Daniel | Lacoste | + 4h22'20 | | 133 | Dabid Lightbody | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 4h22'53 | | 134 | Roger Houston | TEAM Cepsa | + 4h25'52 | | 135 | Fariji Tahar | Iberdrola | + 4h25'56 | | 136 | Luke Keough | Team Cannondale - Garmin | + 4h31'42 | | 137 | John Alieu Roberg | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 4h34'26 | | 138 | Frederik Plesner | Lacoste | + 4h34'37 | | 139 | Fabio Silvestre | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 4h34'58 | | 140 | Angel Sánchez | TEAM Cepsa | + 4h35'24 | | 141 | Aurélio Brás | Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club | + 4h35'34 | | 142 | Marcel Huber | Boyaca | + 4h39'25 | | 143 | Matthias Plarre | CULT Energy Pro Cycling | + 4h43'35 | | 144 | Loris Roca | Alcatel | + 4h49'45 | | 145 | Jurgen van Diemen | Philips | + 4h52'48 | | 146 | Vadim Galeyev | Alcatel | + 5h01'50 | | 147 | David De la Cruz | Iberdrola | + 5h02'47 | | 148 | Stefan Kreder | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | + 5h14'59 | | 149 | Lars Boom | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | + 5h17'43 |
| 1 | Abhishek Sinha | Bonsucro | 185 | | 2 | Michał Kwiatkowski | Gazprom | 149 | | 3 | Mathieu van der Poel | Swissair | 125 | | 4 | Peter Sagan | Swissair | 108 | | 5 | Wout van Aert | MTN-Qhubeka | 102 |
| 1 | Bat Batkhuyag | Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton | 100 | | 2 | Mathieu van der Poel | Swissair | 62 | | 3 | Rigoberto Urán | Team Europcar | 54 | | 4 | Abhishek Sinha | Bonsucro | 50 | | 5 | Óscar González | Iberdrola | 45 |
| 1 | Gazprom | 256h05'13 | | 2 | Continental | + 38'30 | | 3 | Gatorade | + 46'56 | | 4 | Swissair | + 50'58 | | 5 | Bonsucro | + 53'45 |
I won!! After the month of turmoil following the Tour, this was dreamland. I was now a two time GT winner! I had won the Points Classification too. I had won three stages. The nearest competitor was more than 11 minutes down! It was as if everything had fallen into.
In truth, everything had. The startlist in this race meant that I was the overwhelming favourite. I was able to live up to my rating and now take home the spoils of a first Vuelta victory!
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| Ripley |
Posted on 26-04-2018 17:02
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3341
Joined: 25-11-2014
PCM$: 300.00
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Congrats! Turmoil, turning up for a race expecting little and all the sudden a decisive victory, taking the points jersey, too.
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 29-04-2018 05:13
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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Circumstances helped, but I had to get the job done and I did
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 29-04-2018 23:53
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4191
Joined: 13-09-2015
PCM$: 300.00
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Lombardia? Check 
Giro? Check
Fleche? Check
Vuelta? Check
Tour? Sooner than later...
Congrats for your 2nd GT win, though the weak startlist made it very easy for you. But despite that, you have always to race it, and a GT win is never easy to get
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 30-04-2018 00:55
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World Champion
Posts: 11392
Joined: 17-12-2014
PCM$: 1020.00
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Congrats on GT #2 - what a dominant victory
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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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 30-04-2018 07:02
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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@Aquarius: I do specialize in winning one of each, don't I ?  The Tour remains the elusive target. Just one of that will be worth it!! One less opportunity after this year is gone...
@Jandal: Thanks Sure was!!
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