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Lefevere's Blue Army | S3 | Tour de France
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| VoetsT |
Posted on 06-03-2019 18:15
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Breakaway Specialist
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Very good start with some victories already. 
Still a shame they had to let go Gavaria.
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 06-03-2019 22:53
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World Champion
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Appreciate the replies guys!
@ tsmoha - yeah, he's really been a thorn in our side so far! Most wins of any rider to this point and we've come second to him several times already. A lot of times its like hes shot out of a rocket in the final 50m.
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Strade should be up in a couple hours! It was an exciting race! I only decided it would be a full report late on though, so only a couple pics
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 06-03-2019 23:16
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Viviani on fire in the early season |
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 06-03-2019 23:18
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Great start to the season with some good wins in Oman. Gaviria is really an early pain in the arse for you though!
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 07-03-2019 03:08
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World Champion
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Thanks guys! I've been satisfied with the start, but if I could time sprints just a little better I'd have a couple more wins. Im always in the right spot, just timing the sprint wrong atm.
 13th Strade Bianche (1.UWT)
The race started its first bit of action just past 30km into the stage, after going over the summit of the Bagnaia, as nearly half the peloton was involved in a crash. This separated the race into 3 distinct groups, with the Chasers -> Peloton -> Breakaway! Valverde probably the most notable rider to go down. His Movistar team all waited for him to bring down the gap of nearly 2 minutes. Alaphilippe remained safe in the peloton.
Movistar and the rest of the chasers eventually made it back to the big bunch around 60km into the stage, the peloton also turning up the pace, to try and distance themselves from a pre race favourite like Valverde, surely.
The favourites group riding on the Pieve a Salti section
Two more major crashes in the middle section of the race, Valverde goes down again. This time Alaphilippe is involved, although he doesn't look to be in any pain. By this point you could probably count on both hands the amount of riders that haven't been involved in a crash so far! The race is complete mayhem.
At the end of the Pieve a Salti section, the favourites group is down to 30 riders, with still 75~km to ride. Mas, Devenyns and Alaphilippe represent Deceuninck.
The race situation remains the same until 20km to go, where the now solo breakaway rider is caught, meaning a rider in the lead group of 25 will take the win, in this group is, Mas, Alaphilippe, Valverde, Kwaitkowski, Wellens, Costa and Bardet.
Rudy Molard launches an attack on Monteaperti
The first to move is Molard from the favourites group. Initially he is brought back, chased down by Geraint Thomas of Sky, but as soon as hes caught he moves again! Kwiatkowski makes another move from the favourites group and goes past Molard. Molard is brought back in again with 10km to go, and now only Kwiatkowski remains out front. Strangely enough, Thomas is the one doing the chasing and brings back the former winner of the race in Kwiatkowski! Its looking like it will all come down to the finishing climb now, with a group of about 15.
Sprint finish for the win in Siena
In a finish like this, its hard to bet against Valverde and sure enough he takes the sprint in commanding fashion. The fight for 2nd was very close, Alaphilippe comes from behind to take 3rd place narrowly on the line over Costa, and Kwiatkowski takes 2nd place! A top 3 from Ala is nice for us, although he was hoping for better going into the race, so the result is bitter sweet! The fact Valverde won despite crashing twice is a testament to his ability!
| 1 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar Team | +00:00 | | 2 | Michal Kwiatkowski | Team Sky | +00:00 | | 3 | Julian Alaphilippe | Deceuninck - Quick Step | +00:00 | | 4 | Rui Costa | UAE - Team Emirates | +00:00 | | 5 | Tim Wellens | Lotto - Soudal | +00:00 | | 6 | Geraint Thomas | Team Sky | +00:00 | | 7 | Michael Woods | EF Education First Pro Cycling Team | +00:00 | | 8 | Romain Bardet | AG2R La Mondiale | +00:00 | | 9 | Esteban Cháves | Mitchelton - Scott | +00:00 | | 10 | Domenico Pozzovivo | Team Bahrain Merida | +00:00 | | 11 | George Bennett | Team Jumbo - Visma | +00:00 | | 12 | Maximilian Schachmann | BORA - hansgrohe | +00:00 | | 13 | Rudy Molard | Groupama - FDJ | +00:00 | | 14 | Sam Oomen | Team Sunweb | +00:00 | | 15 | Gianni Moscon | Team Sky | +00:00 | | 16 | Enric Mas | Deceuninck - Quick Step | +00:00 | | 17 | Giulio Ciccone | Trek - Segafredo | +00:00 | | 18 | Mads Pedersen | Trek - Segafredo | +01:38 | | 19 | Lucas Hamilton | Mitchelton - Scott | +02:08 | | 20 | Diego Ulissi | UAE - Team Emirates | +03:37 | | 21 | Jarlinson Pantano | Trek - Segafredo | +03:37 | | 22 | Gianluca Brambilla | Trek - Segafredo | +03:37 | | 23 | Matteo Fabbro | Team Katusha - Alpecin | +03:37 | | 24 | David Gaudu | Groupama - FDJ | +03:37 | | 25 | Michael Matthews | Team Sunweb | +03:37 |
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| VoetsT |
Posted on 07-03-2019 11:33
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Breakaway Specialist
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How good was Valverde  Alaphilippe did well to
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 07-03-2019 16:05
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World Champion
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Yeah, I think he must be in great form. 3rd is still a nice result, but I cant help but feel I should be winning just a little more often.
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| Tamijo |
Posted on 07-03-2019 16:12
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Elia Viviani brilliant in Oman !
Valverde is a monster in those puncher race reduced sprints and Kwiatkowski at Strade Bianche…..I think a podium is a great result
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 07-03-2019 16:50
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World Champion
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Tamijo wrote:
Elia Viviani brilliant in Oman !
Valverde is a monster in those puncher race reduced sprints and Kwiatkowski at Strade Bianche…..I think a podium is a great result
Thanks, yeah, Viviani is quite good, and I think its the first major sprinter race that Gaviria was absent so that helped too! Maybe youre right about Strade
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Tirreno and PN soon, as well as the preview for MSR!
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 07-03-2019 17:52
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Tour de France Champion
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Gaviria on a roll.
Don't worry about not winning enough, when the real important races come, I'm sure the killer's instinct will prevail! |
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 07-03-2019 18:15
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World Champion
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 Paris Nice (2.UWT) 2019
Stage 1
| 1 | Julian Alaphilippe | Deceuninck - Quick Step | +00:00 | | 2 | Tiesj Benoot | Lotto - Soudal | +00:00 | | 3 | Alexander Kristoff | UAE - Team Emirates | +00:00 | | 4 | Philippe Gilbert | Deceuninck - Quick Step | +00:00 |
Stage 2
| 1 | Arnaud Démare | Groupama - FDJ | +00:00 | | 2 | Giacomo Nizzolo | Team Dimension Data | +00:00 | | 3 | Dylan Groenewegen | Team Jumbo - Visma | +00:00 |
Stage 3
| 1 | Geraint Thomas | Team Sky | +00:00 | | 2 | Daniel Martin | UAE - Team Emirates | +00:00 | | 3 | Vincenzo Nibali | Team Bahrain Merida | +00:00 | | ... | | 8 | Julian Alaphilippe | Deceuninck - Quick Step | +00:00 |
Stage 4
| 1 | Geraint Thomas | Team Sky | +00:00 | | 2 | Richie Porte | Trek - Segafredo | +00:04 | | 3 | Chris Froome | Team Sky | +00:05 | | .. | | 19 | Julian Alaphilippe | Deceuninck - Quick Step | +00:53 |
Stage 5
| 1 | Fernando Gaviria | UAE - Team Emirates | +00:00 | | 2 | André Greipel | Team Arkéa - Samsic | +00:00 | | 3 | Michael Mørkøv | Deceuninck - Quick Step | +00:00 |
Stage 6
| 1 | Pierre Latour | AG2R La Mondiale | +00:00 | | 2 | Tim Wellens | Lotto - Soudal | +00:00 | | 3 | Geraint Thomas | Team Sky | +00:00 | | ... | | 6 | Julian Alaphilippe | Deceuninck - Quick Step | +00:00 |
Stage 7
| 1 | Sam Oomen | Team Sunweb | +00:00 | | 2 | Pierre Latour | AG2R La Mondiale | +00:11 | | 3 | Thibaut Pinot | Groupama - FDJ | +00:11 | | ... | | 10 | Geraint Thomas | Team Sky | +02:25 | | 11 | Daniel Martin | UAE - Team Emirates | +02:48 | | 12 | Richie Porte | Trek - Segafredo | +02:48 | | ... | | 26 | Julian Alaphilippe | Deceuninck - Quick Step | +05:59 |
Stage 8
| 1 | Greg Van Avermaet | CCC Team | +00:00 | | 2 | Thibaut Pinot | Groupama - FDJ | +00:00 | | 3 | Tiesj Benoot | Lotto - Soudal | +00:00 | | ... | | 7 | Julian Alaphilippe | Deceuninck - Quick Step | +00:00 |
Final GC
| 1 | Geraint Thomas | Team Sky | +00:00 | | 2 | Richie Porte | Trek - Segafredo | +00:35 | | 3 | Vincenzo Nibali | Team Bahrain Merida | +01:04 | | 4 | Daniel Martin | UAE - Team Emirates | +01:40 | | 5 | Nairo Quintana | Movistar Team | +02:33 | | 6 | Miguel Angel Lopez | Astana Pro Team | +02:58 | | 7 | Tim Wellens | Lotto - Soudal | +03:00 | | 8 | Davide Formolo | BORA - hansgrohe | +03:27 | | 9 | Julian Alaphilippe | Deceuninck - Quick Step | +04:29 | | 10 | Simon Yates | Mitchelton - Scott | +04:42 |
Alaphilippe (DQT) winning the sprint on the opening stage
The opening stage came down to a sprint, with a group of about 50, and Alaphilippe was pulled to the front by Gilbert, which was enough to get Ala to the front and sprint for the win! A great start to the race for us! On stage 2 we didn't have much ambitions with no real sprint option for us. Stage 3, Alaphilippe started to feel under the weather which affected his performance, but still managed to finish with the lead group, same situation on stage 4 except he lost nearly a minute. Stage 5 was brought down to a select group, so Morkov did quite well for us, but of course Gaviria was there to take the stage win. The final stage was the decisive one and Alaphilippe was not strong enough. A breakaway won the day, but Alaphilippe lost nearly 3 minutes to the lead GC riders, although he did put time in on Yates who was ahead of him in the GC.
Overall it was a decent race for us, but had Alaphilippe been in top form, it could have been a race we dominated!
Tirreno Adriatico (2.UWT) 2019
Stage 1 (TTT)
| Team Jumbo - Visma | +00:00 | | Team Sky | +00:02 | | Movistar Team | +00:13 | | Deceuninck - Quick Step | +00:44 |
Stage 2
| 1 | Michal Kwiatkowski | Team Sky | +00:00 | | 2 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar Team | +00:08 | | 3 | Søren Kragh Andersen | Team Sunweb | +00:08 | | ... | | 8 | Bob Jungels | Deceuninck - Quick Step | +00:08 |
Stage 3
| 1 | Caleb Ewan | Lotto - Soudal | +00:00 | | 2 | Sacha Modolo | EF Education First Pro Cycling Team | +00:00 | | 3 | Sam Bennett | BORA - hansgrohe | +00:00 | | 4 | Álvaro José Hodeg | Deceuninck - Quick Step | +00:00 |
Stage 4
| 1 | Peter Sagan | BORA - hansgrohe | +00:00 | | 2 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar Team | +00:00 | | 3 | Michal Kwiatkowski | Team Sky | +00:00 | | ... | | 13 | Bob Jungels | Deceuninck - Quick Step | +00:00 |
Stage 5
| 1 | Primoz Roglic | Team Jumbo - Visma | +00:00 | | 2 | Tom Dumoulin | Team Sunweb | +00:32 | | 3 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar Team | +00:51 | | ... | | 8 | Bob Jungels | Deceuninck - Quick Step | +02:54 |
Stage 6
| 1 | Manuel Belletti | Androni - Sidermec - Bottecchia | +00:00 | | 2 | Gediminas Bagdonas | AG2R La Mondiale | +00:00 | | 3 | Nils Politt | Team Katusha - Alpecin | +00:00 |
Stage 7
| 1 | Patrick Bevin | CCC Team | +00:00 | | 2 | Primoz Roglic | Team Jumbo - Visma | +00:01 | | 3 | Tom Dumoulin | Team Sunweb | +00:04 | | ... | | 9 | Yves Lampaert | Deceuninck - Quick Step | +00:14 | | 10 | Bob Jungels | Deceuninck - Quick Step | +00:15 |
Final GC
| 1 | Primoz Roglic | Team Jumbo - Visma | +00:00 | | 2 | Tom Dumoulin | Team Sunweb | +00:57 | | 3 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar Team | +01:30 | | 4 | Michal Kwiatkowski | Team Sky | +02:08 | | 5 | Domenico Pozzovivo | Team Bahrain Merida | +03:23 | | 6 | Wout Poels | Team Sky | +03:54 | | 7 | Bob Jungels | Deceuninck - Quick Step | +04:05 | | 8 | Alexandre Geniez | AG2R La Mondiale | +04:21 | | 9 | Rudy Molard | Groupama - FDJ | +04:24 | | 10 | Bauke Mollema | Trek - Segafredo | +04:42 |
Not a very impressive race for us. Jungels is still trying to find his form, and Viviani was out of position on the two flat stages, but Hodeg was able to perform in his absence. Lampaert had a great day on the final TT, but it was not enough with the strong TT riders coming in after him, but it was the early benchmark which for a while looked like it could be the winning time.
(PREVIEW)
Milan San Remo is the first Monument Classic of the season and also the longest of the year. At nearly 300km, only the strongest riders will be left going over the summit of the Poggio, if an attacker or attackers haven't gone clear on one of the earlier climbs, like the Cipressa or Capo Berta. The question of sprinters vs puncheurs is again the main question heading into the race.
The betting sites favour the sprinters, but the last few seasons have seen late attacks spoil the sprinters party. If it comes to a sprint, Gaviria and Viviani are the favourites. Maybe the biggest omission from the startlist is Peter Sagan. Sagan a very dangerous dual-threat being missing makes a rider like Trentin or Stuyvevn a strong bet as well.
If it comes to a late attack, some very strong hill riders are here, including Alejandro Valverde, who we have seen has great form coming into the race. Perhaps the biggest one day race still missing from Valverde's palmares, a win here in the Maglia Rosa would perhaps solidify Valverde as the best rider of his time. Thomas, Pinot, Kwiatkowski (a former winner), Woods and Alaphilippe also look to challenge for the win here. From the "late attacks" group, the biggest name missing is Nibali, who won the race last year, after an impressive late attack and then descent, holding off the sprinters.
Conditions are expected to be changeable and cold, although not as cold as the 2013 edition which saw snow. Riders will need to be focused for the entire 293km if the roads are slick if they want to remain upright for the entirety of the race. If it stays wet as the peloton descends the Poggio, only the best bike handlers will have a shot at the win.
Stay here, as coverage starts in just a few short hours!
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 07-03-2019 21:13
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World Champion
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Ian Butler wrote:
Gaviria on a roll.
Don't worry about not winning enough, when the real important races come, I'm sure the killer's instinct will prevail!
Thanks, lets hope thats the case, Im about to ride some of the bigger classics in game so Im hoping for good results.
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 07-03-2019 21:59
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Mixed results from T-A and P-N, but a stage win added to the palmares is surely a positive note. From my biased point of view it's also nice to see Paddy Bevin taking a stage on this level
Good luck for MSR!
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 07-03-2019 23:19
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Grand Tour Champion
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Another good couple of races with podiums in Strada Bianchi and PN stage 1. Looks like it is slowly coming together and as you say, time the sprints and the world is your oyster.
Looking forward to MSR! Will you attack on the final climbs or wait for the sprint?
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 08-03-2019 00:26
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World Champion
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@ tsmoha - Yeah, was nice to get the win, although I was expecting better in PN since Ala won the first stage, I kind of assumed he'd probably get another before its over.
@ the hoyle - Exactly, thanks! And, I've brought both Viviani and Alaphilippe so something for every scenario really, but I have a Plan A and a Plan B, which will be revealed in the report
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 08-03-2019 01:13
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Tour de France Champion
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Awesome to see you back at a story after all these years! Totally understand the short updates. Best to keep to that than overextend yourself and lose motivation.
Also, those are some really beautiful screens. With how crappy my computer is, I sometimes forget how beautiful PCM can be!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 08-03-2019 01:36
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Posts: 12986
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Milano San Remo (1.UWT) 2019
The breakaway reaches the Ligurian Sea before the peloton
At the halfway point the break still has an advantage of 4 minutes, but the sprinters teams are beginning to wind it up. In particular Dimension Data, and Lotto Soudal.
The first crash of the race, inside the last 50km
A crash of 18 riders just as the race gets to its decisive last sector on the descent of the Capo Berta. Some important domestiques were forced to abandon due to the incident. Puccio, Guardini, Cimolai, Docker, Moser and Lobato all abandon due to injury.
The front group climbing the Cipressa
The breakaway is brought back on the Cipressa and Jumbo hit the front of the race for their leaders Groenewegen and Roglic, perhaps setting up a move on the Poggio for Roglic? The rain begins to fall harder now, up to this point its only been a light drizzle, and just as the race is heating up too. Will it have any affect?
Greg van Avermaet climbs the Poggio
No accidents on the descent of the Cipressa, and GVA makes his move on the Poggio. Immediately he opens up a good gap. Our strategy from the get go was to have Alaphilippe attack on the Poggio, and Viviani would stay in the peloton in the event it comes down to a sprint. Alaphilippe gets to van Avermaets wheel just as they reach the summit of the Poggio, they have a gap of 54 seconds, so theres a very good chance that one of those two will be fighting for the win.
The two leaders (DQT, CCC) heading down the Poggio
Alaphilippe puts the pressure up on the descent, he feels stronger than GVA and will want to use his bike handling to try and create a gap to GVA, who is the quicker sprinter of the duo.
The leaders arriving on the Via Roma
Alaphilippe cant shake van Avermaet and the two have to settle it in a sprint. Alaphilippe appears to be the stronger of the two, but van Avermaet has won many classics before and will have more experience than the frenchman. van Avermaet sprints out of Alaphilippe's wheel and opens up the dash for the line, Alaphilippe responds. They are neck and neck with only meters to go! For a race that is nearly 300km, it seems like every other year the race ends in a photo finish and this looks to be one of those years!
van Avermaet (CCC) takes the win!
WOW! van Avermaet shows he still has a great kick in the sprint. In probably the final 10m he separated himself by half a bike length to take the win, and negate any need for the photo finish, but it was very close! Alaphilippe looked to be closing and even might take the win, but van Avermaet found another gear! A thrilling finish.
The sprinters fight for the final podium spot
In the sprint from the peloton, its Fernando Gaviria taking it ahead of Ewan and Viviani. Gaviria has been nearly unbeatable this season, but his team couldn't bring back the escapees in time for him to get his biggest win of the season.
| 1 | Greg Van Avermaet | CCC Team | +00:00 | | 2 | Julian Alaphilippe | Deceuninck - Quick Step | +00:00 | | 3 | Fernando Gaviria | UAE - Team Emirates | +00:31 | | 4 | Caleb Ewan | Lotto - Soudal | +00:31 | | 5 | Elia Viviani | Deceuninck - Quick Step | +00:31 | | 6 | Ariel Maximiliano Richeze | Deceuninck - Quick Step | +00:31 | | 7 | Dylan Groenewegen | Team Jumbo - Visma | +00:31 | | 8 | Fabio Jakobsen | Deceuninck - Quick Step | +00:31 | | 9 | Jasper Stuyven | Trek - Segafredo | +00:31 | | 10 | Matteo Trentin | Mitchelton - Scott | +00:31 | | 11 | Marcel Kittel | Team Katusha - Alpecin | +00:31 | | 12 | Søren Kragh Andersen | Team Sunweb | +00:31 | | 13 | Bauke Mollema | Trek - Segafredo | +00:31 | | 14 | Tim Wellens | Lotto - Soudal | +00:31 | | 15 | Dylan Teuns | Team Bahrain Merida | +00:31 | | 16 | Lukas Pöstlberger | BORA - hansgrohe | +00:31 | | 17 | Sep Vanmarcke | EF Education First Pro Cycling Team | +00:31 | | 18 | Arnaud Démare | Groupama - FDJ | +00:31 | | 19 | Mads Pedersen | Trek - Segafredo | +00:31 | | 20 | Michael Woods | EF Education First Pro Cycling Team | +00:31 | | 21 | Rohan Dennis | Team Bahrain Merida | +00:31 | | 22 | Tony Martin | Team Jumbo - Visma | +00:31 | | 23 | Mark Cavendish | Team Dimension Data | +00:31 | | 24 | Christophe Laporte | Cofidis, Solutions Crédits | +00:31 | | 25 | Michael Matthews | Team Sunweb | +00:31 |
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 08-03-2019 02:31
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Grand Tour Champion
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Ah man! So close and almost perfectly exected. Great ride by Alaphilippe to take 2nd place after catching GVA on the Poggio but experience pays off in this case
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| Tamijo |
Posted on 08-03-2019 05:04
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Team Leader
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The Olympic shamp always dangerous.....
A strong race by Quick Step anyhow, 2nd and four riders in top ten must be a massive points haul
....almost 300 k and puring rain. 
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| VoetsT |
Posted on 08-03-2019 11:13
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Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 851
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That was a realy good showing in Milano - San Remo. A sprint after 300k is always unpredictable.
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