Just been catching up on the last few pages and wow, what a monumental season by Alaphilippe! Still, good decision to switch it up with MVPD after that. And I always enjoy the bigger picture overview with all the teams!
cunego59 wrote:
Just been catching up on the last few pages and wow, what a monumental season by Alaphilippe! Still, good decision to switch it up with MVPD after that. And I always enjoy the bigger picture overview with all the teams!
Thanks! Julian really had a great year, but it would've been hard to replicate it again, so switching the MVDP will hopefully be the right move.
With an opening day timetrial (20km), the race favourites would need to start off well here in order to have a shot at the win, in a weeks time. One of the favourites for the opening day, Bob Jungels didnt disappoint with a winning time 17 seconds faster than the next best, Primoz Roglic.
1
Bob Jungels
Deceuninck
+00:00
2
Primoz Roglic
Jumbo - Visma
+00:17
3
Enric Mas
Movistar
+00:17
4
Tom Dumoulin
Jumbo - Visma
+00:26
5
Geraint Thomas
Team INEOS
+00:28
6
Maximilian Schachmann
Trek - Segafredo
+00:33
7
Pierre Latour
AG2R
+00:34
8
Søren Kragh Andersen
CCC Team
+00:39
9
Tony Gallopin
AG2R
+00:39
10
Chris Froome
Team INEOS
+00:41
Stage 2
Jungels wearing the Yellow jersey on day two
Photo finish to end day two
In a day for the sprinters, we see a closely challenged sprint, but the winner of the day is Arnaud Demare, whom the French fans will probably be happy to see with the win.
We also see some big name withdrawals, mostly from Team INEOS.
Stage 3
The finish on this years Queen stage
With most of the day being a slow pace, the final climb was ridden on the limit for everyone. The strongest on the day was Tom Dumoulin, ahead of Geraint Thomas who did well to finish second despite a now weakened team wtih the withdrawal of his teammates.
1
Tom Dumoulin
Jumbo - Visma
+00:00
2
Geraint Thomas
Team INEOS
+00:00
3
Vincenzo Nibali
Trek - Segafredo
+00:21
4
Miguel Angel Lopez
EF Education First
+01:12
5
Bob Jungels
Deceuninck
+01:12
6
Mikel Landa
Bahrain McLaren
+01:12
7
Wout Poels
Sunweb
+01:12
8
Davide Formolo
Astana
+01:12
9
Enric Mas
Movistar
+01:12
10
Emanuel Buchmann
BORA
+01:31
11
Thibaut Pinot
Groupama - FDJ
+01:53
12
Steven Kruijswijk
NTT
+02:44
13
Esteban Cháves
Mitchelton - Scott
+02:44
14
Rigoberto Uran
EF Education First
+03:24
15
Richie Porte
Trek - Segafredo
+03:24
Stage 4
The rainbow curse is over
A day for the breakaway, and World Champ, Julian Alaphilippe opens his account on the 2021 season. A reduced group of the favourites finishes behind them.
1
Julian Alaphilippe
Total Direct Energie
+00:00
2
Dylan Teuns
Bahrain McLaren
+00:00
3
Matej Mohoric
Israel Cycling
+00:00
4
Greg Van Avermaet
CCC Team
+00:00
5
Bob Jungels
Deceuninck
+01:45
6
Peter Sagan
BORA
+01:45
7
Geraint Thomas
Team INEOS
+01:45
8
Vincenzo Nibali
Trek - Segafredo
+01:45
9
Primoz Roglic
Jumbo - Visma
+01:45
10
Tom Dumoulin
Jumbo - Visma
+01:45
Stage 5
With another opportunity for a breakaway stage, Deceuninck send two in the break, Senechal and Ballerini.
Luis Mas takes the win from the break
After playing the tactics game, Ballerini and Senechal both weren't strong enough on the final climbs. Padun tried a late attack to bridge to the break, but was just short. Jungels also lifted the pace, trying to bridge over to Padun, but couldn't get a gap. He did however destroy the peloton, and only 30 riders finished on +30s.
At the base of Mt. Ventoux two riders that need a lot of time look to create some distance.
Dumoulin extends his lead
Miguel Angel Lopez is able to keep up with the leaders after being caught on the climb, while Dan Martin falls away completely. Thomas is strong again in 2nd and a surprise rider in Cyril Pascal, one of the newest riders to the WT, takes 3rd.
Already on the foot of the first climb we have a breakaway of 34 riders. For Deceunink, Bagioli, Ballerini, Lambrecht and Stybar are there. Alaphilippe, Izagirre, Gaudu, Pinot and Adam yates are also in there, looking for a stage win.
Padun attacks on the 2nd climb
Now on the 2nd climb, Padun attacks. Deceuninck must be trying to set up a long range attack here. The break has a 6min advantage and Padun is already 2mins ahead of the peloton.
Jungels decides enough is enough
Now on the 3rd climb, with still 100km to ride, Jungels decides now is his time to move. A long day is ahead of him. He makes it up to Padun almost immediately and the two set out for the breakaway, which contains 4 teammates. They have a gap of about 1min with 30km to go, so things aren't looking great.
Drama on the final descent
With only a few kilometers to go, Tom Dumoulin and most in the lead group of 10 riders falls on a descent. With Jungels still up ahead, this could give him the gap he needs to take the overall victory.
The break crosses the line, and its Pinot with the win.
Jungels crosses the line at +27s
But the Dumoulin group crosses at +1:59, enough to hold on
Looking at Dumoulin and Thomas, 3rd was probably as good as possible. Gutsy attack (from basically the entire team ) on the last stage though! Pity that it wasn't rewarded more. Good to see Emu in the Top 5 btw
@ Cunego - Thanks, thats probably true. It was worth the shot, but really its impossible to make long range attacks like that in PCM or atleast 99% of the time.
@ VoetsT - Thanks! I'll finally have Tirreno up shortly, after a delay
AAs the race starts to wind up, a big gap forms. Everyone outside the top 50 on the day will end up losing about 2 minutes on the others.
Bennett (NTT) takes the win
In what was more like a reduced sprint, Sam Bennett holds off Jakobsen and Degenkolb for the win.
1
Sam Bennett
NTT
+00:00
2
Fabio Jakobsen
Deceuninck
+00:00
3
John Degenkolb
Mitchelton - Scott
+00:00
4
Dylan Groenewegen
Jumbo - Visma
+00:00
5
Christophe Laporte
Katusha - Alpecin
+00:00
6
Michal Kwiatkowski
Team INEOS
+00:00
7
Mathieu Van der Poel
Deceuninck
+00:00
8
Sacha Modolo
Total Direct Energie
+00:00
9
Philippe Gilbert
Trek - Segafredo
+00:00
10
Gianni Moscon
Team INEOS
+00:00
Stage 3
Another win for Bennett
Today sees another reduced group take it to the line, with the same winner as yesterday. Only the top 12 finish in the lead group, as the rest finish 49 seconds back on todays winner. A big gain for the first 12 over the line today.
1
Sam Bennett
NTT
+00:00
2
Fabio Jakobsen
Deceuninck
+00:00
3
Mathieu Van der Poel
Deceuninck
+00:00
4
Gianni Moscon
Team INEOS
+00:00
5
Sacha Modolo
Total Direct Energie
+00:00
6
Sam Oomen
Sunweb
+00:00
7
Rohan Dennis
Trek - Segafredo
+00:00
8
Michal Kwiatkowski
Team INEOS
+00:00
9
Romain Bardet
AG2R
+00:00
10
Bauke Mollema
Deceuninck
+00:00
Stage 4
Big win for Deceunink as they just narrowly missed wins on the past two stages!
The first real showdown for the GC riders sees Mollema take the win.
1
Bauke Mollema
Deceuninck
+00:00
2
Michal Kwiatkowski
Team INEOS
+00:00
3
Michael Woods
EF Education First
+00:00
4
Romain Bardet
AG2R
+00:00
5
Sam Oomen
Sunweb
+00:00
6
Rohan Dennis
Trek - Segafredo
+00:00
7
Gianni Moscon
Team INEOS
+00:00
8
Gorka Izagirre
Astana
+00:00
9
Tony Martin
Jumbo - Visma
+00:36
10
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar
+01:00
Stage 5
Bennett wins again!
Sam Bennett, who surprisingly held on to his GC lead yesterday takes his third win of the race. He will now be seen as maybe the top favourite for Milan San Remo in less than a weeks time. The lead group again was a reduced group, only the top 13 finished in the lead group with everyone else again over a minute down.
1
Sam Bennett
NTT
+00:00
2
Gorka Izagirre
Astana
+00:00
3
Diego Ulissi
UAE - Emirates
+00:00
4
Michal Kwiatkowski
Team INEOS
+00:00
5
Simon Yates
Mitchelton - Scott
+00:00
6
Sam Oomen
Sunweb
+00:00
7
Gianni Moscon
Team INEOS
+00:00
8
Romain Bardet
AG2R
+00:00
9
Rohan Dennis
Trek - Segafredo
+00:00
10
Bauke Mollema
Deceuninck
+00:00
Stage 6
Kwiatkowski takes the win and moves into first in the GC. He will be tough to beat now
The first stage that more than 15 riders make it to the finish in the lead group, and probably one of the last ones you'd have guessed that to happen on so far, but Kwiatkowski moves into the lead with Dennis and Mollema still less than 10 seconds behind.
1
Michal Kwiatkowski
Team INEOS
+00:00
2
Sam Oomen
Sunweb
+00:00
3
Sam Bennett
NTT
+00:00
4
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar
+00:00
5
Bauke Mollema
Deceuninck
+00:00
6
Rohan Dennis
Trek - Segafredo
+00:00
7
Gorka Izagirre
Astana
+00:00
8
Gianni Moscon
Team INEOS
+00:00
9
Mathieu Van der Poel
Deceuninck
+00:00
10
Diego Ulissi
UAE - Emirates
+00:00
Stag e 7
Kwiatkowski reaches the line but was it enough?
Dennis and Kwiakowski were both favourites to take the stage win today, so with only a few seconds gap it really could have gone either way, but Dennis wins the stage and Kwiatkowski loses 17 seconds. Mollema holds on to 3rd, but the gaps for the top riders are all so slim. This was a very close race.
We've made it to the first monument of the season again! The 3 main favourites are, Fernando Gavira, Dylan Groenewegen and Alexander Kristoff. Ewan, Viviani and Jakobsen are also favourites, but dont have the form of the other riders. Jakobsen is also on a strong squad with Deceuninck having Van der Poel, Stuyven and Jungels all with a chance at winning, depending on how the race goes.
If the race is settled on the Poggio, some other strong puncheurs attending are, Alaphilippe, Kwiatkowski and Valverde. Sagan who is great on both hills and flats has decided to skip the race this year, perhaps giving MvDP some respect as he perhaps feels he's been surpassed by the Dutchman.
The breakaway goes over the Turchino in the bright sun
The break just before being caught by the pack
We're already nearly at the Cipressa and the peloton finally makes the catch. Will this open up some moves for late attackers to spoil the sprinters party? The Poggio is still to come too!
Riders losing contact after the Cipressa
Some huge names losing ground now with just under 20km to go. The big loser is Fabio Jakobsen who was poorly positioned. Other top sprinters dropped are Philipsen, Consonni, Griepel, former winner Haussler and Cavendish. Maybe teams that have lost their sprinters will see teammates attacking on the Poggio?
Politt makes his move
Well, actually its Politt who makes the first move. With Ewan still in the front its a bit of a surprise move, but it give Lotto two different cards to play.
Movement on the Poggio
Now we see Jungels attacking. This must be because his teams leader, Jakobsen got dropped. He's followed, surprisingly by Pascal Ackermann. Surely he wont be able to follow Jungels who is much stronger on the hills?
Nearly at the 1km to go banner
But that's exactly what happens. Ackermann stays with Jungels and he decides to force the German to do all of the work. He knows he cant win in the sprint, but they have a gap of 30 seconds now and the peloton may not catch them.
Ackermann wins!
And the German sprinter, Ackermann holds off the bunch. Jungels didnt have the speed to win in the end, but holds on for 3rd, as Elia Viviani comes past him in the final meters. Its still a solid result for the team, but given the strength, maybe could have played their hand better.
Jungels the odd one out in a sea of sprinters. It's pretty hard to make a winning move in MSR so it's a good result even though working for van der Poel or Stuyven might have been a better idea.
alexkr00 wrote:
Jungels the odd one out in a sea of sprinters. It's pretty hard to make a winning move in MSR so it's a good result even though working for van der Poel or Stuyven might have been a better idea.
Thanks! I always read that people find MSR very easy, but I've never had much luck with it in PCM18.
I actually did plan to work for them after Jungels went clear with Ackermann as I knew he couldn't win in that situation, but after not playing PCM for a few months, I may have been a bit rusty as I set up my train but forgot to increase their speed from 85 to 99 so they started a bit far back
The opening stage saw a strange sprint unfold as none of the sprinters teams really wanted to go and lead the front of the peloton. Two quick acting riders, Mollema and Serry were able to ride away from the pack, and no other teams wanted to work until it was too late. A 1-2 for Deceuninck, with Mollema one of the favourites for the race, so a great start already for him.
Stage Results
1
Bauke Mollema
Deceuninck
+00:00
2
Pieter Serry
Deceuninck
+00:00
3
Michael Matthews
Trek - Segafredo
+00:00
4
Ivan Ramiro Sosa
Team INEOS
+00:00
5
Stan Dewulf
Lotto - Soudal
+00:00
Stage 2
Another 1-2 for Deceuninck as this time Andrea Bagioli takes his first WT win of his career. The riders came into the finish town in a select group of 15, with the next group over 50 seconds back. Bagioli played his tactics perfectly as he caught the others looking, as they had their eyes on Mollema. In the end, Mollema also beat the others, so either way Deceuninck probably would have got the win.
Stage Results
1
Andrea Bagioli
Deceuninck
+00:00
2
Bauke Mollema
Deceuninck
+00:00
3
Enric Mas
Movistar
+00:00
4
Michael Matthews
Trek - Segafredo
+00:00
5
Daniel Martin
UAE - Emirates
+00:00
Stage 3
Fuglsang and Dumoulin try an attack over the summit. They get clear, but Mollema and Matthews catch back up to them, to make a lead group of a handful heading into the finish. Surely Deceuninck wont win again?
Mollema tries it atleast, and inside the last kilometer he has the lead. This is amazing, but Matthews is a great sprinter and is coming up fast on his right side.
It wasn't even close! The Aussie takes the win in what ended up being a very easy sprint, with no other sprinters in the group.
Stage Results
1
Michael Matthews
Trek - Segafredo
+00:00
2
Bauke Mollema
Deceuninck
+00:00
3
David Gaudu
Groupama - FDJ
+00:00
4
Enric Mas
Movistar
+00:00
5
Louis Meintjes
NTT
+00:00
Stage 4
The queen stage separated the strongmen from the pretenders, and despite his early race form, Mollema couldn't hang with the best on the climbs. Nibali, Dumoulin and Mas who won the race before all fared much better than Mollema who finished 1:26 down today, but still sits 3rd overall 30 seconds back of Dumoulin.
Stage Results
1
Vincenzo Nibali
Trek - Segafredo
+00:00
2
Tom Dumoulin
Jumbo - Visma
+00:24
3
Enric Mas
Movistar
+00:42
4
Louis Meintjes
NTT
+01:07
5
Mikel Landa
Bahrain McLaren
+01:26
Stage 5
Stage 5 was another reduced sprint, but Frenchman Benjamin Thomas wins for FDJ. It was a close one for the breakaway, but when they were caught the sprinters organized, but chaotically which gave Thomas the chance to win ahead of some bigger names.
Stage Results
1
Benjamin Thomas
Groupama - FDJ
+00:00
2
Bauke Mollema
Deceuninck
+00:00
3
Michael Matthews
Trek - Segafredo
+00:00
4
Ryan Gibbons
NTT
+00:00
5
Gorka Izagirre
Astana
+00:00
Stage 6
Matthews wins another on a flat day. He's been the best sprinter at the race and was the favourite to take the win.
Stage Results
1
Michael Matthews
Trek - Segafredo
+00:00
2
Pieter Serry
Deceuninck
+00:00
3
Andrea Bagioli
Deceuninck
+00:00
4
Ryan Gibbons
NTT
+00:00
5
Jelle Wallays
Lotto - Soudal
+00:00
Stage 7
Dario Cataldo was in the days breakaway, and on the final climb he decided to lift the pace. He was 30 seconds clear at the summit and 1 minute clear of his next closest breakaway companion at the bottom. The peloton dont look interested in bringing him back but its been a long day on the bike and they are closing the gap.
But he takes the win! He looked the strongest all day, and despite his main goal of the day being to win the KOM jersey which he failed to do, he takes a win, which might be an even better consolation.
Wow, what a Catalunya for you guys! A shame Bauke couldn't turn his form into the GC win but a podium is very solid especially with all those stage results. Very nice first WT win for Bagioli, great young talent
Good ride from Jungels in MSR but I guess when you're DQT and you have Stuyven and VDP you will always be aiming for a win
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jandal7 wrote:
Wow, what a Catalunya for you guys! A shame Bauke couldn't turn his form into the GC win but a podium is very solid especially with all those stage results. Very nice first WT win for Bagioli, great young talent
Good ride from Jungels in MSR but I guess when you're DQT and you have Stuyven and VDP you will always be aiming for a win
Thanks! I think Catalunya has historically been my best race in this save and Im not really sure why. I think the hilly parcours eliminates any chances for the sprinters and when that happens the AI is really poor in setting up the win for their GC guys from a sprint, so that could be the reason? Also miss-timed a lot of fitness peaks, so a couple guys were in their prime here.
Yeah, was hoping to get the win. MSR and PR are the only monuments I have yet to win in this save, but Stuyven and MvDPs sprint ability still haven't helped me win them yet. MvDP actually been rather poor so far, but theres still many races to come where he can be successful.
The race will come down to a sprint as the cobbles were not enough to reduce the pack down, and Quickstep have a good leadout going, but there are faster riders around them, so they will have to get it perfect.
It was a really close sprint but Ewan edges it over Moschetti. Sagan takes the bottom step of the podium. Van der Poel takes 5th.
Results
1
Caleb Ewan
Lotto - Soudal
+00:00
2
Matteo Moschetti
EF Education First
+00:00
3
Peter Sagan
BORA
+00:00
4
Marcel Kittel
Israel Cycling
+00:00
5
Mathieu Van der Poel
Deceuninck
+00:00
6
Phil Bauhaus
Bahrain McLaren
+00:00
7
Nacer Bouhanni
Deceuninck
+00:00
8
Matteo Trentin
Bahrain McLaren
+00:00
9
Edvald Boasson Hagen
NTT
+00:00
10
Fabio Felline
Trek - Segafredo
+00:00
E3 BinckBank Classic (1.UWT) 2021
With 60km to go and most of the cobbles yet to come we have some gaps to report. EBH, Politt, and Stannard are in a group 1 minute down on the favourites group.
With 20km to go, a very select group forms, with Sagan, Van Avermaet, Stuyven, Van der Poel, Lampaert, Benoot and Van Aert but with a breakaway group still ahead, containing Fernando Gaviria and Sonny Colbrelli in a group of 6.
As the leaders reach the break, Van Aert and Van der Poel attack to try and get away from the dangerous sprinters who are now in the lead group with no cobbles left.
The attacking duo do not get far though, and it comes down to a sprint, with Sagan leading under the kite.
And its Sagan that takes it. He's been in great form recently and looks hard to beat. A perfect ride for him, following the major moves and using his sprint to beat the others.
Results
1
Peter Sagan
BORA
+00:00
2
Fernando Gaviria
UAE - Emirates
+00:00
3
Tiesj Benoot
Team INEOS
+00:00
4
Sonny Colbrelli
Astana
+00:00
5
Mathieu Van der Poel
Deceuninck
+00:00
6
Edward Theuns
NTT
+00:00
7
Valentin Madouas
Groupama - FDJ
+00:00
8
Jens Debusschere
Katusha - Alpecin
+00:00
9
Wout Van Aert
Jumbo - Visma
+00:00
10
Luke Rowe
EF Education First
+00:00
Up Next...
- Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields (1.UWT)
- Dwars door Vlaanderen (1.UWT)
Only 20km into the race and thanks to 50km/h winds the pack is really spread out in a line. This means the pace is already really fast and could lead to a very long day for a lot of riders and could but a lot of riders in difficulty.
Deceuninck use the weather to their advantage. About half way through the race we take a turn and they head to the front to try and leave some un-attentive riders behind.
Only one cobble sector left, but Jakobsen isnt going to win today. He cant keep up with the lead group, which is down to a group of 30 riders.
Just as the rain stops...crash. Big big news as Sagan and Pedersen two of the favourites at the start of the day. Will be a big ask to get them back to the front now.
10km later and Sagan is on the attack. I guess the crash hasnt hurt him, or he's running on adrenaline right now. Benoot, Stuyven, Valgren and Politt are the attackers with him, and have a 30 second gap with 10km to go. This could be the winning group now.
Valgren makes the decisive move and no one has the energy to chase him down. He will take the win on the day as long as he keeps himself upright.
The "peloton" catches the other leaders just before the line, giving the sprinters a chance to fight for 2nd place. Viviani takes that prize but will be upset knowing it wasnt the win. Valgren just made a perfectly timed move.
Dwars door Vlaanderen - A travers la Flandre (1.UWT) 2021
We start the action with only 35km to go. The leaders group was slowly reduced, and now Stuyven and Van der Poel try a move. After the other classics ending in disappointing sprint results, they wanted to try a different tactic today. Benoot follows the duo and will try and extend the gap to the others who all look on the limit.
Reaching the final cobble section, Styuvens companions have been replaced with Sagan who rode across the gap. Van der Poel cracked, and Benoot couldnt hold on either.
With only a few kms to ride, Sagan riders away from Stuyven and Benoot who recently caught up. Stuyven and Benoot will need to work together to catch Sagan, but he looks extremely strong and even if he was caught, would probably win in the sprint.
Amazingly, they make catch back up to Sagan. The next group is quite a ways back, so the leading 3 start to play games. Stuyvens in perfect position, right on Sagans wheel for when the sprint starts.
But Sagan takes it! Perfectly played, and Stuyven just didnt have the speed of Sagan. He takes 2nd, still a very good result, but overall a disappointing week for Deceuninck in the classics. One win out of 4 was probably the minimum expectation, so to leave with none is worrying heading into RvV and PR.
Paris - Nice 2021 (2.UWT) 
Tirreno Adriatico (2.UWT)
) on the last stage though! Pity that it wasn't rewarded more. Good to see Emu in the Top 5 btw 
