@Ste_18: The first youth jersey is always something special.
It really gives you a pat on the back and reminds you that you're going the right way.

And well, losing the jersey on such stage isn't anything to cry over for Puccio

@Ian Butler: Yeah, quite dominating Thank you! I think we'll have to start a new PcmDaily award for best layout then

xah wrote:
I really love your story, but perhaps you should up the difficulty to extreme since you're playing with such a strong team? It might get boring after a while if you win *everything*!

First of all, thanks
Yeah, i've thought about it changing difficulty, and i know exactly what you mean. Sky isn't my favorite team, especially due to their significant dominance, but as Ian points out, the story is about Salvatore Puccio and not Sky.

Right now i'm riding the Catalunyan tour with an extremely powered team in great shape - This won't be the same, going through the rest of the season, and therefore it won't be the same scenario all over again.

But if it continues like this (winning it all ), i might change the difficulty to extreme. But right now i'm giving Hard a chance

@Sutty: Thank you! Yes the team has really had some great results, especially here in March. I'm glad you're following the story again

Pre-Tactics
I'm beginning to feel a little exhausted after 3 extremely difficult days.
Wiggins wants to settle the GC once and for all today, and we're going to support him all day long. There are some major climbs in the final, and everything will probably blow up.

	B. Wiggins
	C. Froome, R. Gesink
	S. Gerrans, C. Horner, R. Kreuziger

None went as planned at the start of the stage. Everything blew up, and suddenly a group of 6 riders with favorites like Evans, Ten Dam and Van Den Broeck was formed.


The breakaway wasn't just fun - They ment it deadly serious! This ment that almost our whole team were pacing up from the very start. There weren't any stagnations, so the stage quickly exhausted a lot of riders, making them fall of the pack.


On the final climb, only Wiggins, Froome and Siutsou sat in the front group from our team. After dragging in Evans, who was the last standing man from the breakaway, Gerrans quickly made his contra move and went solo.


Froome gave his all trying to catch Gerrans, but Gerrans was too strong. On the descent, Wiggins and Froome had left the pack behind, with only Horner being able to follow. Cooperating together on the descent, the trio was able to catch Gerrans, making the front group contain 4 riders.


A big group behind was trying to reel in the front group again. In the front, Wiggins and Froome decided giving their all to gain the biggest time gap to the group behind, not concerning about the stage win.


Horner and Gerrans looked extremely exhausted and weren't nearly able to sprint - Wiggins clearly had some reserves of energy, making a win very possible. And once again, Wiggins took his 3rd stage win at this years Tour of Catalunya, also taking time on his competitors.

1	Bradley Wiggins	Sky Procycling	4h42'08
2	Chris Horner	RadioShack - Nissan	s.t.
3	Simon Gerrans	Orica - GreenEdge	s.t.
4	Chris Froome	Sky Procycling	s.t.
5	David Millar	Garmin - Sharp	+ 33
6	Andreas Klöden	RadioShack - Nissan	s.t.
7	Luis León Sánchez	Rabobank Cycling Team	s.t.
8	Marco Pinotti	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
9	Yaroslav Popovych	RadioShack - Nissan	s.t.
10	Gorka Izagirre	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.
...
52	Salvatore Puccio	Sky Procycling	+ 7'58

1	Bradley Wiggins	Sky Procycling	18h41'06
2	Chris Froome	Sky Procycling	+ 30
3	Chris Horner	RadioShack - Nissan	s.t.
4	Rui Costa	Movistar Team	+ 1'09
5	Robert Gesink	Rabobank Cycling Team	+ 1'24
6	Roman Kreuziger	Astana Pro Team	+ 1'28
7	Beñat Intxausti	Movistar Team	+ 2'06
8	Andreas Klöden	RadioShack - Nissan	+ 3'04
9	Luis León Sánchez	Rabobank Cycling Team	+ 3'26
10	Martin Elmiger	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 3'45
...
40	Salvatore Puccio	Sky Procycling	+ 18'29

1	Bradley Wiggins	Sky Procycling	95
2	Chris Horner	RadioShack - Nissan	44
3	Chris Froome	Sky Procycling	38
4	Luis León Sánchez	Rabobank Cycling Team	34
5	Cyril Lemoine	Saur - Sojasun	33
6	Rui Costa	Movistar Team	32
7	Roman Kreuziger	Astana Pro Team	27
8	Andreas Klöden	RadioShack - Nissan	25
9	Simon Gerrans	Orica - GreenEdge	22
10	Lars Petter Nordhaug	Sky Procycling	22
...
16	Salvatore Puccio	Sky Procycling	16

1	Jackson Rodríguez	Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela	62
2	Cameron Meyer	Orica - GreenEdge	45
3	Bradley Wiggins	Sky Procycling	41
4	Nicki Sørensen	Team Saxo Bank - Tinkoff Bank	40
5	Chris Froome	Sky Procycling	36
6	�ngel Vicioso	Katusha Team	36
7	Mikel Astarloza	Euskaltel - Euskadi	32
8	David Le Lay	Saur - Sojasun	32
9	Chris Horner	RadioShack - Nissan	28
10	Stephen Cummings	BMC Racing Team	28

1	Jonathan Castroviejo	Movistar Team	18h45'29
2	Thibaut Pinot	FDJ - BigMat	+ 0
3	Gorka Izagirre	Euskaltel - Euskadi	+ 1'20
4	Damiano Caruso	Liquigas - Cannondale	+ 1'39
5	Cameron Meyer	Orica - GreenEdge	+ 6'38
6	Rigoberto Urán	Sky Procycling	+ 10'18
7	Egor Silin	Astana Pro Team	+ 12'16
8	Salvatore Puccio	Sky Procycling	+ 14'06
9	Jesús Herrada	Movistar Team	+ 26'46
10	Simone Ponzi	Astana Pro Team	+ 29'36

This may be the most exhausting i've ever tried. Todays breakaway was filled with stars which made it very difficult for the team to go quiet through the stage. The stage was driven in an insane pace all the way through, so i'm very glad that it's over now.

Wiggins finished the team's work beautifully of, and i'm not the slightest in doubt that he's really grateful for our work. With his shape at the moment, i don't think anything can stop him from bringing home the overall victory in this race.

Tommorrow will be quite similar to todays stage, so we're in for some hard work again.

@Miguel98: Simply just a little training ride for Wiggins

@FreitasPCM: Yeah, Wiggins is doing very well. The victory seems quite secure, but with 3 really tricky stages left, riders like Gerrans and Costa are able to threaten Wiggins. Let's see

@Ian Buttler: Puccio really suffered a lot out there, so yes! stepping out of bed tommorrow will be a real challenge

@Sutty68: Wiggins did very well, but without the team, no one would ever have caught Evans, Van Den Broeck and Ten Dam.
Well, another victory... Why not

Jakstar22 wrote:
Sky winning everything. Wiggins domination