Early in the race, Deceuninck put on the pressure to try and reduce the riders in the lead group. It took some work but eventually the group is limited to a very select group. Some top riders in the group include: Sagan, Trentin, Moscon, Van Avermaet, Stuyven, Jungels, Naesen and Gilbert.
Deceuninck head to the front on the last major climb/cobble sector of the race
The added pace helped reduce the pack even more with now a flat run in to the finish.
3 riders attack!
Valgren, Vanmarcke and Trentin make a move! They get a good gap of about 25seconds, and keep the pace up, but the chasing group begin to coordinate a chase.
All back together with just 1km to go, its looking like a sprint finish
Sagan takes the win in the sprint
It was always going to be tough for Stuyven to win in a sprint, and the race never ended up being as selective as the team had hoped, although it wasnt for lack of trying.
1
Peter Sagan
BORA - hansgrohe
+00:00
2
Matteo Trentin
Team Bahrain Merida
+00:00
3
Sep Vanmarcke
EF Education First Pro Cycling Team
+00:00
4
Jasper Stuyven
Deceuninck - Quick Step
+00:00
5
Greg Van Avermaet
CCC Team
+00:00
6
Bob Jungels
Deceuninck - Quick Step
+00:00
7
Silvan Dillier
AG2R La Mondiale
+00:00
8
Philippe Gilbert
Trek - Segafredo
+00:00
9
Oliver Naesen
AG2R La Mondiale
+00:00
10
Michael Valgren
Team Dimension Data
+00:00
11
Tiesj Benoot
Team Sky
+00:00
12
Nils Politt
Lotto - Soudal
+00:00
13
Niki Terpstra
Total Direct Energie
+00:00
14
Gianni Moscon
Team Sky
+00:00
15
Kasper Asgreen
Deceuninck - Quick Step
+01:50
Kuurne - Brussel - Kuurne (1.HC) 2020
Deceuninck try to break the race apart
After yesterdays failure, the team want to come home with one win this weekend! 4 of our riders get clear, Keukeleire, Asgreen, Stuyven and Keisse. The move is made nearly 80km out though, and it will be tough to keep this advantage for the rest of the race.
All back together with 40km to go
Unfortunately the gap could not be held. The largest group of 20 riders, probably the 6th group on the road eventually started swallowing up the smaller groups ahead, of 2 or 3 riders in each group, until it becomes a group of 40.
Attacks as we near the finish
Despite the efforts to make the race selective again, the race concludes with a big group, nearly 80 riders, coming into the last 5kms. Politt and Stuyven
Now 2 more attack
After Stuyven an Politt are brought back, Keukeleire and Terpstra attack and this time their move looks pretty strong!
Final KM for the leaders
Going under the 1km kite the two leaders still have a gap of about 10 seconds! This could be a great move for the both of them, and in a sprint, Keukeleire could be the favourite, which would be a great result for him.
But only Terpstra is strong enough to hold on and take the win
The bunch catch up to the two leaders but Terpstra has enough of an advantage to take the win!
1
Niki Terpstra
Total Direct Energie
+00:00
2
Dylan Groenewegen
Team Jumbo - Visma
+00:00
3
Pascal Ackermann
BORA - hansgrohe
+00:00
4
Edward Theuns
Trek - Segafredo
+00:00
5
Jens Keukeleire
Deceuninck - Quick Step
+00:00
6
Arnaud Démare
Groupama - FDJ
+00:00
7
Elia Viviani
Trek - Segafredo
+00:00
8
Philippe Gilbert
Trek - Segafredo
+00:00
9
André Greipel
Trek - Segafredo
+00:00
10
Max Walscheid
Team Sunweb
+00:00
11
Mads Pedersen
Team Sunweb
+00:00
12
Jasper Stuyven
Deceuninck - Quick Step
+00:00
13
Nils Politt
Lotto - Soudal
+00:00
14
Christophe Laporte
Team Katusha - Alpecin
+00:00
15
Ramon Sinkeldam
Groupama - FDJ
+00:00
Strade Bianche (1.UWT) 2020
The race ran its course and everyone reaches the final kms together, which means it will be a sprint finish! Alaphilippe and Jungels are both very well positioned as they open up the sprint, but Bardet, Thomas and Martin are also in good spots.
A 1-2 for Deceuninck
In the sprint, Alaphilippe and Jungels beat out the others and take a big win for the team. The classics campaign to this point hasn't been great, so a 1-2 finish here will hopefully get the team back on track for the rest of the campaign.
Tamijo wrote:
Seen in the rear view mirror Stuyven was a bit too impatient in Kuurne, that flat is just too long.
A very different story in Tuscany – unbelievable hard puncher profile and Alaphi just love those especially if they got the ugliest uphill finish
Yeah, I probably should have just held out for the sprint in KBK but I like breaking up the race if my team has the strength to do so. Indeed Alphi is just so good on the hill, and Jungels is getting up there too!
sutty68 wrote:
Some good results in Omloop and K-B-K, but they were just warm ups for what happened in Italy
Yeah, the cobbled classics were disappointing, but Strade was great, after not winning it last year
Kiserlovski01 wrote:
Lots of strongs showings already in the first months, especially from Alaphilippe and Padun. Also, that Strade finish looks really nice in game!
Thanks, those two have been in good form so far!
I agree, the race is almost as good looking as real life
Cool team you built for this season. A shame though that a lot of your young talents, especially Honore, Martinelli, Padun, Johansen and even Lambrecht and Evenepoel look so different from their actual skillsets.
Nevertheless a great story! Though you win a tad too much for keeping me on board closely. Will continue to catch up from time to time though Keep it up!
Croatia14 wrote:
Cool team you built for this season. A shame though that a lot of your young talents, especially Honore, Martinelli, Padun, Johansen and even Lambrecht and Evenepoel look so different from their actual skillsets.
Nevertheless a great story! Though you win a tad too much for keeping me on board closely. Will continue to catch up from time to time though Keep it up!
Thanks! I've increased the difficulty, so other than when Alaphilippe rides, I will probably start winning less frequently.
I dont really think any of the stats are all that bad, except for maybe Lambrecht, who is more of a punchuer, but hes not terrible on long climbs either. Lambrecht and Padun both had huge stat increases in MO when they were on AI teams (so were getting trained on MO I guess).
Froome wins on Mont Ventoux, solidifying his GC lead
1
Chris Froome
Team Sky
+00:00
2
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo - Visma
+00:11
3
Tom Dumoulin
Team Sunweb
+00:11
4
Richie Porte
Trek - Segafredo
+00:46
5
Davide Formolo
BORA - hansgrohe
+01:12
6
Vincenzo Nibali
Team Bahrain Merida
+01:46
7
Richard Carapaz
Movistar Team
+04:02
8
Michal Kwiatkowski
Team Sky
+04:19
9
Domenico Pozzovivo
Team Bahrain Merida
+04:19
10
Louis Meintjes
Astana Pro Team
+04:48
Stage 7
Alaphilippe goes solo with 60km to go, and holds off the peloton
1
Julian Alaphilippe
Deceuninck - Quick Step
+00:00
2
Florian Vachon
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
+01:16
3
Elia Viviani
Trek - Segafredo
+01:16
4
Pierre-Luc Perichon
Vital Concept - B&B Hotels
+01:16
5
Mads Pedersen
Team Sunweb
+01:16
Stage 8
1
Michael Valgren
Team Dimension Data
+00:00
2
Simon Spilak
CCC Team
+00:00
3
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
+00:00
4
David Gaudu
Groupama - FDJ
+00:00
5
Rohan Dennis
Team Bahrain Merida
+01:04
Final GC
1
Chris Froome
Team Sky
+00:00
2
Tom Dumoulin
Team Sunweb
+00:15
3
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo - Visma
+00:21
4
Richie Porte
Trek - Segafredo
+01:16
5
Davide Formolo
BORA - hansgrohe
+01:53
6
Vincenzo Nibali
Team Bahrain Merida
+03:27
7
Rohan Dennis
Team Bahrain Merida
+04:18
8
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
+05:22
9
David Gaudu
Groupama - FDJ
+06:06
10
Adam Yates
Mitchelton - Scott
+06:34
...
18
Julian Alaphilippe
Deceuninck - Quick Step
+08:08
Final Points
1
Chris Froome
Team Sky
102
2
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo - Visma
93
3
Tom Dumoulin
Team Sunweb
77
4
Julian Alaphilippe
Deceuninck - Quick Step
77
5
Davide Formolo
BORA - hansgrohe
71
Alaphilippe was our only GC rider here, and he wasn't strong enough in the Mountain stages, but this allowed him to attack on Stage 7 and was not seen as a threat to the GC riders, which helped him hold off the peloton to take a great solo win. Other than that, the race was quite disappointing for the team.
Stage 1
Team Jumbo - Visma
+00:00
Team Sky
+00:17
Lotto - Soudal
+00:18
Team Bahrain Merida
+00:19
Team Sunweb
+00:20
Stage 2
Todays break saw brothers, Andrea and Nicola Bagioli get clear, but it would not be their day
Konrad wins the sprint ahead of Enric Mas
1
Patrick Konrad
Astana Pro Team
+00:00
2
Enric Mas
Deceuninck - Quick Step
+00:00
3
Sam Oomen
Team Sunweb
+00:00
4
Romain Bardet
AG2R La Mondiale
+00:00
5
Enrico Battaglin
Team Katusha - Alpecin
+00:00
Stage 3
1
Mark Cavendish
Team Dimension Data
+00:00
2
Matteo Moschetti
EF Education First Pro Cycling Team
+00:00
3
Sam Bennett
Trek - Segafredo
+00:00
4
Dylan Groenewegen
Team Jumbo - Visma
+00:00
5
Jasper Stuyven
Deceuninck - Quick Step
+00:00
Stage 4
1
Sonny Colbrelli
Team Bahrain Merida
+00:00
2
Michael Woods
EF Education First Pro Cycling Team
+00:00
3
Pascal Ackermann
BORA - hansgrohe
+00:00
4
Magnus Cort Nielsen
Astana Pro Team
+00:00
5
Jasper Stuyven
Deceuninck - Quick Step
+00:00
Stage 5
Bardet wins the Queen stage, ahead of Mas and Yates
1
Romain Bardet
AG2R La Mondiale
+00:00
2
Enric Mas
Deceuninck - Quick Step
+00:27
3
Simon Yates
Mitchelton - Scott
+00:35
4
Sam Oomen
Team Sunweb
+00:53
5
Patrick Konrad
Astana Pro Team
+01:04
6
Miguel Angel Lopez
Astana Pro Team
+02:00
7
Rigoberto Uran
EF Education First Pro Cycling Team
+02:00
8
Remco Evenepoel
Deceuninck - Quick Step
+02:15
9
Diego Ulissi
UAE - Team Emirates
+02:15
10
Damiano Caruso
Team Bahrain Merida
+02:25
Stage 6
Hodeg wins the sprint on Stage 6, from a group of 65
@ Batista - Thanks! Evenepoel still hasnt improved from the beginning of the year, so not sure he will be leader next year yet. One can only hope though
@ Tamijo - Lol thats how it always works though, right? Once they leave they get the results.
@ Freitas - Froomes already been declining, he's at 82 MO now I think, which is only tied for 2nd highest. Evenepoel really surprised me how strong he was, but Im really looking forward to his future.
@ Sutty - Yeah, only really lost time to Bardet the whole race, and knew he would gain that time back in the TT on the final day!
Its time to kick off the Monument season with the longest single day of racing of the year! San Remo is often more about endurance than being the strongest at a decisive moment, but at the same time being the freshest at the end will only help improve your chances of winning.
As always the route begins in Milan and is more or less a straight line to San Remo, going along the Lingurian coast after the descent of the Turchino. The largest difficulty is the Cipressa, but it is often the Poggio that is the decisive moment in the race, used as a launch pad for late attacks.
The betting favourite is Dylan Groenewegan, the Dutch sprinter for Jumbo Visma, but Peter Sagan is always a threat, as probably the best allrounder in the peloton in recent years. Gaviria, Stuyven and Viviani are the main challengers to the two main favoruites. Gaviria is maybe the fastest sprinter in the world atm, and will be stronger on the hills than Groenewegan, and Viviani is the 3rd fastest man in the world but even better on the hills.
Deceuninck have many options for the race, Stuyven is seen as the best option, with maybe the best hill ability of all the sprinters, apart from Sagan, but Jakobsen is their strongest finisher, and of course Alaphilippe, who was 2nd last year is always a threat from a late race attack. Two of the newest team members, in Andrea Bagioli and Julius Johansen will be on the squad, as they've been in good form, and will look to support the leaders.
Great squad for it with Ala, Stuyven, Jakobsen and then the support (especially Keukeleire). Lots of options tactically, best of luck!
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." [PT] Xero Racing
, anyway a fine podium and some stage wins can’t be bad 
)
Omloop Het Niewsblad (1.UWT) 2020
Strade Bianche (1.UWT) 2020
Paris Nice (2.UWT)
