Wow! all these comments. Thank you so much everybody who follows this story, it really helps keeping my motivation up

@Jesleyh: There's a lot more safety in signing a two year contract, i definitely agree in that. And as you said, Vacansoleil seems like a good place to develop, alongside with possibilites for some leader-roles.
I'm very glad you're following, and i appreciate your comment

@Pellizotti2: Thanks! I can only say the same about your own top quality story We'll probably have to wait at least until August before anything concrete will show up - Unless he resigns at Sky of course

@fcancellara: Farnese - Vini aren't very well placed in the continental rankings at the moment, but in the CQ's, they're almost equal points with Cofidis, being the 3rd best continental team. So they could have some slight chances to promote, especially since they've already resigned with Pozzato

@FreitasPCM: Thanks, i'm sure he will

@Spilak23: Thank you, i appreciate your comment I agree, Puccio should have a chance in some of the Italian one day classics if he signs for Farnese - Vini. He would definitely be an interesting character there.

@sutty68: Yeah, it wasn't very nicely done by Brailsford, but Sky is making their team look different next year, so that's not Puccio's problem. He'll gonna miss having Puccio on his team for sure, when Salvatore starts winning great races. Unless he resigns

@Ian Butler: Hehe, it'd be an honor to have your vote! Only thing is that it first has to be nominated, and with so many good one-rider stories through this year, amongst others your own Velasquez story, i'd be honored to be just nominated

@Ollfardh: Yeah, i agree, Lampre already have Cunego and some other prominent young talents competing for the hilly classics. But they are a WT team, so there would be a lot of races for Puccio to compete as free element in i think. About Quick Step, i think his chances would be approx the same as in Lampre. They've already got some good and talented hilly riders, so he would still have a difficult time, competing as leader. But sure he'd have a lot of Italian friends there

June was dominated by two big races. Namely the Critérium du Dauphiné and the Tour de Suisse. The two races who are seen as temperature indicators for the Tour de France, didn't disappoint with the startlists, as all the big Tour favorites were at the startline.

In Dauphiné, Froome was our main leader together with Cavendish. And namely Cavendish shoned by taking the victory on stage 2. It was enough for him to show that he is ready for the Tour de France. Also Froome did great and even won the team's second stage win on stage 8, winning a small group sprint. Andy Schleck won the general classification in front of Evans and Froome in third.


In Tour de Suisse, Wiggins was our indisputed leader, and with a strong stage racing team built around him, it was like a trial run for the Tour de France. Wiggins started out brilliantly, finishing 2nd on the prologue, only beaten by Jack Bobridge. But through the race he seemed to have some bad days, and sadly therefore couldn't compete in the top of the table. The race was won by Nibali, with Wiggins finishing in a bit disappointing 8th.

	Road Race	Time Trial
Colombia	Carlos Betancur	Juan Pablo Suarez
Portugal	Manuel Cardoso	Rui Costa
Russia	Alexander Porsev	Denis Menchov
Ukrain	Oleksandr Sheydyk	Andriy Grivko
Denmark	Nicki Sørensen	Marin Mortensen
Czech Republic	Frantisek Rabon	Roman Kreuziger
Poland	Krzysztof Jezowski	Michal Kwiatkowski
Switzerland	Fabian Cancellara	Fabian Cancellara
Great Britain	James Williamson	Bradley Wiggins
Norway	Edvald B. Hagen	Edvald B. Hagen
Canada	Dominique Rollin	David Veilleux
Spain	Carlos Barredo	Jonathan Castoviejo
Italy	Vincenzo Nibali	Vincenzo Nibali
France	Nacer Bouhanni	Jean-Christophe Peraud
Belgium	Julien Vermote	Maxime Monfort
Netherlands	Joost Van Leijen	Robert Gseink
USA	Tyler Farrar	Taylor Phinney
Germany	Fabian Wegmann	Tony Martin
Austria	Stefan Denifl
Estonia	Janik Tombak
Kazakhstan	Maxim Igliskiy
Lithuania	Aivaras Baranauskas
Luxembourg	Laurent Didier
Slovenia	Matic Strgar
Sweden	Jonas Ljungblad
Ireland	Nicolas Roche

In the World Tour team rankings, Radioshack has taken over second place, and is starting to near Team Sky's first place. But once again we're still in front. On the individuals Rodriguez is still in front. Froome has moved from 6th to 4th with his 3rd place in Dauphiné, while Wiggins has dropped a single place down to 8th.


In the CQ's, the exact same situation occurs in the team rankings. Sky is still in front, but Radioshack keeps coming closer. On the individuals Tom Boonen has been dropped down from the first place, which he has been the holder of since March. The one who now sits in first is Fabian Cancellara. Both Froome and Boasson Hagen have both increased one place in the rankings.


I'm still having a break from racing, so it's no wonder i've dropped a little down in the rankings again. But i'm still a part of the better half, so i'm not worried about my rankings right now.

Leaderboard	Ranking	Points
World Tour	70 (-2)	36
CQ-Ranking	129 (-29)	273

Here in June, i've finally begun training intensely again. I'll start racing again in mid August, so therefore i'm already beginning building up my basic shape again. I've slightly begun missing competetion and racing again, but that only has to be a good sign i think.


I'm looking very much forward for the upcomming Tour de France. Even though you've turned professional yourself and rides for a World Tour team, you still feel like a little child waiting for the candy, here before the world's biggest stage race. The official transfer period starts now, so i'm hoping that Giovanni has set up some meetings for the nearest future, especially after our disappointing meeting with Dave Brailsford.

@Ian Butler: Thank you

@Sutty68: Yeah, it seems to be like that. Wiggins hasn't really convinced himself worthy to lead the team more than Froome, so therefore the team is probably going to decide their roles as the race develops.

@Francopell: Thanks

@FreitasPCM: I'm sure they'll have

@the_hoyle: Better late than never Thank you, and yes, there have been some rumours, mainly Katusha seems to be giving their all to reel in Cavendish. But then again, nothing is decided yet, except that he is leaving Sky

@Ian Butler:
No Definitely not, you can check his racing schedule here

andy222c wrote:

@ste_18: I can't say that yet. He have got many races left, so it will be decided by both race category, shape and team lineup which aren't yet possible to know anything about at the time being

This years ultimate highlight has just gone past. A Tour without Contador had to be exciting, due to no superior favorite. Wiggins and Froome were to lead out Sky, but since they've both done great through the season, none of them started out as main leader.
But the one who started out best was Wiggins who finished 3rd on the prologue. A great start by him, who convinced most, that he had to be the leader of the team. On a decisive stage 1, Andy Schleck lost 7 minutes, whilst Froome finished 2nd behind winner Nibali. Already here, we knew it was going to be an exciting Tour de France 2012.


Cavendish proved the reason why he wears the rainbow jersey, as he took three stage-wins in a row. It was a mass demonstration by him and the team. And more success were to come at stage 9. Together with breakaway companion Jens Voigt, Boasson got away alone in the final, where he could take an astonishing victory. Less good was that Wiggins lost 3 minutes on the other favorites at the same stage, which made him drop even more in the general classification, making Froome our undisputed best card.

But fortunately Wiggins proved that he wasn't all gone at the next 3 stages, where he took the victory in the first TT-stage and finished as best Sky rider in the next two mountain stages, whilst Froome amazingly drove into the yellow jersey!


At stage 13 and 16, Cavendish once again oversprinted all and took his 5th victory, whilst at stage 15, everything went wrong where Froome lost his yellow jersey, whilst he along with Wiggins lost two minutes on new leader Nibali. Unfortunately both Froome and Wiggins couldn't do anything against Nibali at the following mountain stages, and on the 20th and final TT, Froome became 2nd with Wiggins in 4th, not near catching Nibali.


With Nibali in yellow, the pack came rushing into the legendary Champs Elysees. The general classification was already settled, so our team gave their all for Mark Cavendish, helping him towards his 6th stage victory. With a promising train and a fantastic leadout by Edvald Boasson, Cavendish did it once again and completed a great Tour de France for the team.

Not less than 8 stage victories, the points jersey and two riders in top-4, was what the team managed to reel in. A magnificent performance, despite the goal of winning the overall classification. They can be proud of themselves!

1	Vincenzo Nibali	Liquigas - Cannondale	85h57'15
2	Chris Froome	Sky Procycling	+ 1'23
3	Cadel Evans	BMC Racing Team	+ 5'35
4	Bradley Wiggins	Sky Procycling	+ 5'51
5	Joaquím Rodríguez	Katusha Team	+ 7'02
6	Samuel Sánchez	Euskaltel - Euskadi	+ 7'42
7	Thomas Voeckler	Team Europcar	+ 9'48
8	Robert Gesink	Rabobank Cycling Team	+ 10'15
9	Andy Schleck	RadioShack - Nissan	+ 11'01
10	Alejandro Valverde	Movistar Team	+ 11'06

In the World Tour team rankings, Team Sky is again improving their lead, and still remains in first. On the individuals, Rodriguez still remains in front, followed by Tour de France winner Nibali. Both Evans, Schleck and Hesjedal have moved into top-10 after their performances in the Tour, while Froome and Wiggins now both sits in top-5.


In the CQ's, the same scenario occurs in the team rankings with Sky in front. On the individuals Nibali amazingly has moved from 6th to 1st after his Tour de France win. The individual rankings has in general been moved around after July month, and both Froome, Wiggins and Cavendish are now inside the top-10.


Of course i've dropped a lot in the rankings this month, since there have been many valuable points to be won. Going towards August and racing again, i hope to get into the fight for the rankings again.

Leaderboard	Ranking	Points
World Tour	84 (-14)	36
CQ-Ranking	152 (-23)	273

There's nothing special to report from my own month of July. I'm back training on daily basis and is slowly building up towards the Trittico Regione Lombardia. My first objective will be the Post Danmark Rundt and then the Canadian classics. I'm excited to see how those races develops, and if i'll be good enough to have my own chances.


My motivation is extremly high, especially because of the only just finished Tour de France. I've been following the race very intensely, and seeing the other boys from my team, doing that well, was a real delight. It makes me feel that i'm a part of a real working team. Knowing that their dreams can become true with the same training as me, really gives me the belief that my dreams will become true someday too. See you in Varese at 14th of August!