Cadel Evans lost his National time trial champions jersey to South Australia's Miles Olman. The in-form youngster took the title in a close battle against the experienced Ben Day (Navigators) and team mate Shaun Higgerson.
The road race, held a few days later also saw a change in jersey wearer for this year. Evans again did not show up, prefering to keep his legs fresher for the remainder of the season. Pictures of Evans training in Australia show that he is still serious about the tour this year, but many doubt his abilities against the younger, more aggressive, Alberto Contador. In his place, Stuart O'Grady (CSC) took a tight victory after a late attack, over breakaway compatriots Simon Gerrans (LIQ) and Matthew Lloyd (SIL). Could this early victory be an example of the Aussie's great form for the start of the year? Expected to ride the major cobbled classics in support of team mate Cancellara, will he instead take the lead. After racing Paris Roubaix for many years, and taking a 4th place last year, whilst Cancellara took the win, will he look to focus on other races, or again play a vital supporting role. Only time will tell.
Slovak News you can Trust! Reporting on Slovenian Cycling.
March Looms
With March comes the first races for Adria Mobil. Unlike many teams, the managerial staff at Adria Mobil have a smaller budget and so can only focus on races that have importance to the squad. As such, the season for these riders does not start until March. This enables the riders and staff to have an extra 2 months of holiday off a year, causing a much more relaxed atmosphere around the team. With several hard races coming up for the team, some of the best riders will be starting off in a support role ready to peak later in the season. One such rider is Danilo Wyss. The Swiss rider, known for his quick finish and ability to get over the hills will begin his sprint campaign over in Italy. The trip will be purely a learning experience, with breakaways the order of the day before he becomes too well known for sprint wins. Taking on one of the grand tours this year, thought to be the Giro, he will do what many Swiss youngsters wish to do.
Team for Paris - Nice
Simon Spilak, Peter Velits, Jure Zrimsek, Mateusz Mroz, Artur Pryzdzial, Dmytro Grabovskyy, Miha Svab and Silvan Dillier. Team for Trofej Porec and Tirreno Adriatico
Danilo Wyss, Tomasz Nose, Matej Mugerli, Morris Possoni, Daniele Ratto, Blaz Jarc, Marco Kump and Joze Senekovic.
Links will appear once stage has been completed. Post one will also contain links to March post (i.e. this post), and then April, etc.Edited by rjc_43 on 04-09-2008 11:02
Benoit Vaugrenard (QSI) took an early lead in the first pro tour prologue of the year and held off the challenge of team mate Rene Andrle and Bradley McGee (RABO) to take the first leaders jersey of Paris Nice.
Setting an early fast time was CSC's Jens Voigt, but the German just didn't go hard enough around the technical course and ended up settling for 4th place at 9 seconds back.
The cold spring morning greeted the riders as they left Porec for a 4 lap race around the surrounding countryside. After a brief one lap spell of attacks, a group of 8 riders rode away from the bunch. With 40 km left the gap had decreased greatly due to a brutal pace set by Adria Mobil, Perutnina Ptuj and Team 3C-Gruppe Lamonta. A cross wind caught out the Adria Mobil team when, on a slight downhill section, Gottfried and Oroz broke across the gap to the lead riders, which swelled to a group of 11. With the added impetous of the two roleurs, the break stayed away from the charging bunch. Federico Granados took his first professional win from Laurent Lefevre and Alexander Gottfried.
Results:
1 Federico Granados TEAM MAXBO BIANCHI 4h01'45
2 Laurent Lefèvre KIO-ENE - TONAZZO - DMT s.t.
3 Alexander Gottfried TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA s.t.
4 Juan José Oroz PERUTNINA PTUJ s.t.
5 Jeremy Venell DYNATEK s.t.
6 Rupert Probst TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN s.t.
7 Philipp Mamos TEAM SPARKASSE s.t.
8 Adrian Noring TEAM GLS s.t.
9 David Martín PSK WHIRLPOOL HRADEC KRÁLOVÉ s.t.
10 Uwe Hardter CINELLI - ENDEKA - OPD s.t.
11 Luka Orlovic TEAM SPARKASSE s.t.
12 Juan David Torres CINELLI - ENDEKA - OPD + 1'01
13 Scott Davis TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN s.t.
14 Piotr Przydzial DYNATEK s.t.
15 Björn Papstein TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA s.t.
16 Fabio Baldato TEAM GLS s.t.
17 Dennis Haueisen TEAM GLS s.t.
18 Roland Vazhinski THÜRINGER ENERGIE TEAM s.t. 19 Matej Mugerli ADRIA MOBIL s.t.
20 Erik Hoffmann TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA s.t.
21 Ermanno Capelli TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA s.t.
22 Elnathan Heizmann TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA s.t.
23 Rasmus Fjordside TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN s.t.
24 Kristoffer Nielsen TEAM GLS s.t.
25 Tomás Buchácek PSK WHIRLPOOL HRADEC KRÁLOVÉ s.t.
26 Fabrice Jeandesboz KIO-ENE - TONAZZO - DMT s.t.
27 Thomas Kristiansen TEAM GLS s.t.
28 Andreas Schillinger TEAM SPARKASSE s.t.
29 Alberto Benítez CINELLI - ENDEKA - OPD s.t.
30 Davide Bragazzi KIO-ENE - TONAZZO - DMT s.t.
31 Georgios Tentsos PSK WHIRLPOOL HRADEC KRÁLOVÉ s.t.
32 Luca Orlandi KIO-ENE - TONAZZO - DMT s.t.
33 Jefferson Abacuc Vargas TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN s.t.
34 Enrique Salgueiro PSK WHIRLPOOL HRADEC KRÁLOVÉ s.t.
35 Mads Christensen TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN s.t.
36 Martin Mares PSK WHIRLPOOL HRADEC KRÁLOVÉ s.t.
37 Morris Possoni ADRIA MOBIL s.t.
38 Jens Erik Madsen TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN s.t.
39 Chris Wherry DYNATEK s.t.
40 Danilo Wyss ADRIA MOBIL s.t.
41 Tomasz Nose ADRIA MOBIL s.t.
42 Daniele Ratto ADRIA MOBIL s.t.
43 Vojtech Dlouhý PSK WHIRLPOOL HRADEC KRÁLOVÉ s.t.
44 Michael Tronborg TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN s.t.
45 Uros Milosevic PSK WHIRLPOOL HRADEC KRÁLOVÉ s.t.
46 Niki Ostergaard TEAM GLS s.t.
47 Kristof Vandewalle TEAM SPARKASSE s.t.
48 Gianluca Cavalli CINELLI - ENDEKA - OPD s.t.
49 Mauro Santambrogio DYNATEK s.t.
50 Christian Lademann TEAM SPARKASSE s.t.
51 Antonio Elgert TEAM SPARKASSE s.t.
52 Giordano Montanari CINELLI - ENDEKA - OPD s.t.
53 Jean-Paul Simon THÜRINGER ENERGIE TEAM s.t.
54 Ramunas Navardauskas TEAM DESIGNA KOKKEN s.t.
55 François Pervis TEAM GLS s.t.
56 Guillaume Boivin KIO-ENE - TONAZZO - DMT s.t.
57 Artur Krol AMORE E VITA - MCDONALD'S s.t.
58 Dawid Krupa DYNATEK s.t.
59 Timo Honstein TEAM SPARKASSE s.t.
60 Bart Velghe TEAM GLS s.t.
61 Rein Taaramäe DYNATEK s.t.
62 Egiziano Amaolo CINELLI - ENDEKA - OPD s.t.
63 Jesús Pérez CINELLI - ENDEKA - OPD s.t.
64 Sandros Grace DYNATEK s.t.
65 Frederik Wilmann TEAM MAXBO BIANCHI s.t.
66 Pol Holtz TEAM SPARKASSE s.t.
67 Wojciech Podobinski DYNATEK s.t.
68 Martin Riška THÜRINGER ENERGIE TEAM s.t.
69 Seweryn Kohut AMORE E VITA - MCDONALD'S s.t.
70 Slawomir Kohut AMORE E VITA - MCDONALD'S s.t.
71 Michelangelo Biloslavo CINELLI - ENDEKA - OPD s.t.
72 Tobias Erler TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA s.t.
73 Joachim Bohler TEAM MAXBO BIANCHI s.t.
74 Jonas Holmkvist TEAM MAXBO BIANCHI s.t.
75 Slawomir Bury AMORE E VITA - MCDONALD'S s.t.
76 Karsten Heß THÜRINGER ENERGIE TEAM s.t.
77 Josep María Jusué TEAM MAXBO BIANCHI s.t.
78 Arnie Sliman THÜRINGER ENERGIE TEAM s.t.
79 Sebastian Pristl TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA s.t.
80 Lubor Sloncik PSK WHIRLPOOL HRADEC KRÁLOVÉ s.t.
81 John Garth AMORE E VITA - MCDONALD'S s.t.
82 Michael Stevenson AMORE E VITA - MCDONALD'S s.t.
83 José Manuel Carballo AMORE E VITA - MCDONALD'S s.t.
84 Hubert Krys TEAM 3C-GRUPPE LAMONTA s.t.
85 Gil Furtano AMORE E VITA - MCDONALD'S s.t.
86 Tim Pearce THÜRINGER ENERGIE TEAM s.t.
87 Wilfrid Singla THÜRINGER ENERGIE TEAM s.t.
88 Ernesto Cerone KIO-ENE - TONAZZO - DMT s.t.
89 Joze Senekovic ADRIA MOBIL s.t.
90 Andrea Trentin KIO-ENE - TONAZZO - DMT s.t.
91 Markus Fahnert THÜRINGER ENERGIE TEAM s.t.
92 Baoqing Song PERUTNINA PTUJ s.t.
93 Edgar Nohales PERUTNINA PTUJ s.t.
94 Nicholas White PERUTNINA PTUJ s.t.
95 Radoslav Rogina PERUTNINA PTUJ s.t.
96 Kristijan Durasek PERUTNINA PTUJ s.t.
97 Oskar Knezevic TEAM MAXBO BIANCHI s.t.
98 Eric Pedrosa PERUTNINA PTUJ s.t.
99 Alois Kankovsky PERUTNINA PTUJ s.t.
100 Stian Sommerseth TEAM MAXBO BIANCHI s.t.
101 Daniel Martin KIO-ENE - TONAZZO - DMT + 2'54
102 Sten Stenersen TEAM MAXBO BIANCHI s.t.
103 Blaz Jarc ADRIA MOBIL + 3'10
104 Marko Kump ADRIA MOBIL + 3'26
Edited by rjc_43 on 04-09-2008 10:43
In a flat cold stage of Paris Nice, Greipel takes the honours against a strong field of sprinters. With many of the sprinters opting to do the flatter Tirreno Adriatico many think that a sprint stage win in the Paris Nice is an easier option. Not the case. With Weylandt, Sutton, Haussler, Bennati and Eisel all breathing down Greipel's neck, the finish was a tight one. The extra kick in Andre's legs proved the deciding factor, but Wouter Weylandt should still be pleased with his 2nd place as it confirms him to be more than just Boonen's lead out man.
The stage started with several attacks. Eager to try for the first king of the mountains jersey the first break proved to be the wrong one, and was soon brought back. Not long after, a break containing Steve Cummings, Linus Gerdemann, Jure Zrimsek and Sergei Kolesnikov to name just four, got away. Staying away for well over 140 km of the route they took up the primes and king of the mountain points between them. CSC, Quickstep, Milram and T-Mobile all led the chase. CSC trying to set it up for their sprinter Breschel were unfortunate as the youngster couldn't return the favour of his team mates.
Results
1 André Greipel T-MOBILE TEAM 4h06'31
2 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
3 Christopher Sutton COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
4 Heinrich Haussler GEROLSTEINER s.t.
5 Bernhard Eisel T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
6 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t. 7 Simon Spilak ADRIA MOBIL s.t.
8 Baden Cooke UNIBET.COM s.t.
9 Mark Cavendish T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
10 Olaf Pollack PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
11 Anthony Geslin TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
12 Matti Breschel TEAM CSC s.t.
13 Edvald Boasson Hagen TEAM MILRAM s.t.
14 Stefano Zanini PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
15 Tyler Farrar COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
16 Koldo Fernández de Larrea EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
17 Samuel Dumoulin AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
18 Fabian Wegmann GEROLSTEINER s.t.
19 Jeremy Hunt UNIBET.COM s.t.
20 Gert Steegmans T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
155 Miha Svab ADRIA MOBIL + 5'42
159 Dmytro Grabovskyy ADRIA MOBIL s.t.
160 Peter Velits ADRIA MOBIL s.t.
162 Mateusz Mroz ADRIA MOBIL s.t.
169 Silvan Dillier ADRIA MOBIL + 17'28
170 Artur Przydzial ADRIA MOBIL s.t.
171 Jure Zrimsek ADRIA MOBIL s.t.
175 Raúl Alarcón SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 23'20
GC after stage 2:
1 Benoît Vaugrenard QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 4h15'19
2 Bradley McGee RABOBANK + 6
3 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC + 9
4 Dominique Cornu PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 10
5 Olaf Pollack PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 13
6 Matej Jurco TEAM MILRAM + 15
7 Edvald Boasson Hagen TEAM MILRAM + 17
8 Brett Lancaster TEAM MILRAM + 19
9 Koen De Kort TEAM ASTANA + 20
10 Alexander Khatuntsev UNIBET.COM + 21
11 Stef Clement BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM s.t.
12 Pedro Nicacio LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t. 13 Simon Spilak ADRIA MOBIL + 22
14 Matti Breschel TEAM CSC s.t.
15 Bert Grabsch T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
16 Rik Verbrugghe COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
17 Sylvain Chavanel COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE s.t.
18 Libardo Niño DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
19 Marco Velo TEAM MILRAM + 23
20 Ben Hermans TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
Points:
1 Olaf Pollack PREDICTOR - LOTTO 26
2 Benoît Vaugrenard QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 25
3 André Greipel T-MOBILE TEAM 25
4 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 22
5 René Andrle QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 22
6 Edvald Boasson Hagen TEAM MILRAM 21
7 Christopher Sutton COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE 20
8 Bradley McGee RABOBANK 20 9 Simon Spilak ADRIA MOBIL 18
10 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC 18
KoM:
1 Sergei Kolesnikov UNIBET.COM 8
2 Linus Gerdemann TEAM ASTANA 2
3 Bastiaan Giling TEAM WIESENHOF FELT 2
4 Leon Van Bon RABOBANK 1
5 Steven Cummings DISCOVERY CHANNEL 1
Edited by rjc_43 on 04-09-2008 20:44
I'll send you a PM soon with the team stats. Sergio has also just gone up a few stat points thanks to 3 months of training.
ember wrote:
I really like it, it is always quality when you are writing There's only one thing; can you please cut the result lists at f. ex top 30?
Yes. I was just trying about with some different styles. From now on I will probably only post top 20, and will not bother with where my rubbish team riders arrive.
And thanks to all for taking an interest.
Edited by rjc_43 on 04-09-2008 18:15
