Another flat stage with a couple of small hills. Except that it's two times as long as yesterday, it shouldn't be any much harder.
Dominik's Pre-Race Comment
We expect another sprint finish today. In the meeting yesterday, the DS told me to also try to get the mountain jersey so we might try to keep everything together until the mountain sprint. Also, if he feels okay, Maciej Paterski won't have to lead out Davide Cimolai but is free to go for himself as he's clearly in better shape. Maybe he can achieve more than yesterday's seventh.
Live Ticker
Km 7:
7 km into the race, we have a first group of seven riders in front.
Km 9:
It didn't last long, though...
Km 14:
Another couple of riders try their luck and Liquigas immediatly increases the pace.
Km 25:
The group isn't given more than a minute of advance.
Km 44:
5 km to the mountain sprint and Liquigas controles the pack with no one out in front.
Km 46:
Following Alexander Mironov (Katusha), Dominik Nerz attacks and goes for the mountain sprint!
Km 48:
Without problems, Dominik takes the full six points and advances to second in the mountain ranking.
Km 57:
GC's sixth Pavel Kochetkov (Itera) broke free solo and is one minute in front.
Km 69:
Overall leader Lloyd Mondory sprints to second on the intermediate sprint and takes four valuable bonus seconds. Casper comes in third.
Km 74:
Bert de Waele joined Kochetkov and the two are out alone in front, increasing their advance.
Km 107:
The leading duo is already 6'30 in front as Liquigas again overtakes the pace.
Km 145:
Under the high pace of Saur, Liquigas and NetApp, the advance of De Waele and Kochetkov shrinked to 2'30 with 27 km to go.
Km 163:
Early enough, the two are caught again. The sprint can begin!
Km 169:
As Tiziano Dall'Antonia and Davide Cimolai obviously are too tired after the peloton's chase, Liquigas doesn't set up an own train. Maciej Paterski was able to grab yesterday's winner Mondory's wheel – and following him is young gun Dominik Nerz!
Km 172:
The sprint begins and Jimmy Casper gets a perfect lead out by his new team mate Anthony Geslin. Behind him, Mondory and Impey are still waiting to make their moves!
Km 173:
While Casper is out in front, Impey chases him with an imense speed. Mondory seems to have a bad day, what a pity for Paterski.
Km 173,5:
Casper clearly went for it too early and is overtaken by Impey and Van Poppel. Just like Cimolai yesterday, Paterski finishes seventh, Nerz does a very good 14th.
Well, an okay stage for us. I got the mountain points and we achieved a decent result in the sprint. If Maciej and I would have chosen for example Casper's wheel, he would even have had a shot at the podium. So it's something we can build upon. Another flat stage tomorrow until we go for the mountains!
See you,
Dominik Edited by cunego59 on 21-09-2011 10:27
Very nice reports so far, its to bad the results don't compare yet. And I only wished I would have came up with putting borders around the pictures. Such a easy and simple thing to do yet it makes the reports look so much better.
@ Mresuperstar: Thank you. Well, two Top 10s aren't the best but I'm quite content with it. Cimolai has a terrible form and Paterski is just not that good. And yeah, I'm really glad that I thought of the black borders around the pictures. As you said, they really look nice
@ kitface: Thanks. For Paterski, it's ok I think. It's Cimolai who could have done better if he was in a good shape... I really hope for the young riders jersey, yes. His biggest contenders will be Nairo Quintana and Diego Ulissi, who are both a bit better in mountain stats. But as they are both Domestiques and I will ride only for Dominik, I think the jersey is possible.
The last flat stage before the two mountain stages. It's a bit hilly but that shouldn't make any difference.
Dominik's Pre-Race Comment
Well, we'll pretty much aim for the same things as yesterday. We are going to try to get me the mountain points which would give me the jersey already and then get Maciej or Davide to a good sprint result. A Top 5 this time would be nice.
Live Ticker
Km 5:
Although Liquigas controls the pace in the pack, the first attacks are being made.
Km 9:
The escapees don't get away more than a minute, Liquigas really wants the mountain points.
Km 17:
The first group is caught again, so now other riders try their luck. Liquigas is still riding very fast.
Km 26:
Three kilometers to the mountain sprint and Liquigas caught the last escapees. Now it's up to Dominik Nerz to get it.
Km 29:
And without any contesting, he takes the points and the mountain jersey, at least for tomorrow.
Km 35:
Taking his small advance from the previous attack, Dominik takes the next intermediate sprint as well, along with 6 valuable bonus seconds! Afterwards, he falls back into the pack.
Km 49:
After Liquigas dropped off the front of the peloton, two riders were able to break free: Frank Dressler (Differdange) and Hugo Houle (SpiderTech) lead with almost a minute.
Km 62:
Behind the leading duo, Lloyd Mondory scores third in the second intermediate sprint and increases his overall lead by two seconds.
Km 75:
The advance of the two riders at the front increased to 2'30 but they really don't seem to be dangerous.
Km 96:
Under the pressure of NetApp and Endura, the pack is coming closer and closer to the escapees.
Km 111:
And they're caught again.
Km 120:
In the sprint preparations, Dominik Nerz tries to set up Paterski but is blocked by a rider of Differdange. In front, Casper again gets a great lead out by his team but has yesterday's winner Daryl Impey on his wheel.
Km 122:
After passing the Differdange rider, Dominik did a marvelous job and places Paterski very close to the front. He's right next to Casper and Impey. Saur starts the sprint...
Km 123,5:
While Paterski and Cimolai again aren't able to compete with the best, Casper is in front early with Impey (green jersey) comfortably sitting on his wheel.
Km 125:
And as Impey makes his move, no one is able to contest him! Another great win for the NetApp rider. Maciej Paterski surprises with a fast end speed and scores a very good fifth place.
That was pretty much a perfect stage for us. We achieved all our goals: I overtook the mountain jersey and by taking the bonus seconds on the sprint as well, I already advanced into the Top 10! It was great to be on the podium again, presenting the mountain jersey. The fans here are really enthusiastic.
Also, Maciej Paterski did very well. I placed him quite good in front and he jumped from wheel to wheel to the fifth spot. He almost got fourth in fact. It seems like he's the best sprinter for us at the moment.
Tomorrow, we finally hit the mountains! I'm really excited. See you then, Edited by cunego59 on 21-09-2011 11:30
Here we are: The first of two tough mountain stages is up today. This one is probably less hard as the climb is longer but not that steep. Still, we will see who's in a decent shape to compete for the overall. The Tour probably won't be won today, but it can be lost.
Dominik's Pre-Race Comment
I'm really excited, guys! This is the first really hard mountain stage of 2012. We hope for a good result for me, my team will completely support me. Although there a several riders who are better than me on the mountains, I hope that I can make up something with my relatively good early shape.
Our tactics is pretty simple. As we don't have the team to shape the race, we'll just try to cling on to the front and counter the final attacks of the top favorites.
Live Ticker
Km 1:
The attacks start from scratch. Morgan Schmitt (Healthcare) opens the stage.
Km 6:
Among the first attackers is Liquigas' Alessandro Vanotti.
Km 19:
Together with two other riders, Vanotti leads with three minutes to the pack. Another six riders are in between them.
Km 24:
Vanotti's companions are Bram Schmitz (Drik Grepdon) and the most active rider of the Tour, Bert de Waele.
Km 44:
At the second intermediate sprint, the advance of the leading trio grew to 7'30. Their six chasers are 1'30 behind them.
Km 56:
What a pity for Liquigas! Valerio Agnoli hits the ground! Hopefully, he's not injured...
Km 67:
Alessandro Vanotti wins the first mountain sprint, preventing Bert de Waele from overtaking the mountain jersey from Dominik. Good move. They are still 6'30 in front.
Km 70:
Agnoli made it back to the pack but Dominik's most important helper lost a lot of energy.
Km 71:
Protected by Damiano Caruso, mountain leader Dominik Nerz enters the climb...
Km 74:
Quickly after hitting the climb, the first four riders attack, among them Nairo Quintana (Colombia) and Jesus del Nero (NetApp).
Km 78:
Those escapees aren't given more than a minute of advance, Movistar's strong team does the pace, Arroyo seems to feel good.
Km 85:
Very slowly, the advance of the four riders grows. It's at 1'20 now. Especially Quintana might be dangerous.
Km 93:
As the advance comes close to two minutes, Valerio Agnoli increases the pace in the pack and tries to reel them back in.
Km 99:
Agnoli is successful on his mission. The advance of the four riders who in the meantime united with the group of six behind the leaders, shrinked down to one minute.
Km 104:
While all escapees are caught again by Agnoli, Nairo Quintana attacks and wins the mountain sprint. Nerz is in a bad position and can't take any points.
Km 109:
Stefano Garzelli caught up with Quintana and those two lead now.
Km 112:
Przemyslav Niemiec attacks and joins the two leaders. They're 30 seconds in front but don't look too good.
Km 115:
61 riders enter the descent towards the last climb together. Dominik Nerz seems to feel very well. No escapees are left in front.
Km 122:
Freddy Montana (Colombia) opens the fight for the win and attacks! Some riders, among them Maxime Bouet, follow.
Km 123:
Niemiec and top favorite Arroyo attack and Nerz tries to counter...
Km 128:
A group of nine riders crosses the final climb together. Dominik Nerz is among them along with 3 riders from Movistar...
Km 134:
With three kilometers to go, Dominik Nerz sets a final attack on the last small ascent! What a move by the younster! Can that succeed?
Km 135:
He quickly creates a decent gap, that looks great for him!
Km 136:
Nerz opened an impressive gap of more than half a minute and sprints towards the finish. He will take the win for sure!
Km 137,5:
Amazing! With a courageos attack, German youngster Dominik Nerz celebreates his first professional win!
Km 137,5:
Long 40 seconds behind him, David Arroyo outsprints Maxime Bouet for place two. Damiano Caruso does a great race, too, and finishes within the same group. In total, 29 riders get the same time as Arroyo.
What a day! I'm completely overwhelmed after that ride! I mean, I hoped for a good result but that...
The day already started well for us with Vanotti being in the break. But more important for me personally was Damiano Caruso. After Agnoli crashed, he was my personal domestique and did extraordinarily well. He always held me close to the front so that I could react properly to Arroyo's attack.
The climb turned out to be less demanding than expected so the pack didn't split that much. Luckily, I made it to the final group of nine. We were already in the sprint preparations when I noticed the pace decreasing very much. So I thought: What the hell, let's try it! And I obviously caught the others completely off-guarded. They didn't really chase me at all and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the 40 seconds afterwards.
But much more important is of course that I just achieved my first professional EVER! In such a strong field! I'm very proud.
I don't know if I can sleep tonight, but I shall try now and try to defend my lead tomorrow...
congrats - i hope you can defend the lead!!!
