sutty68 wrote:
Brilliant Performance from Mollema in the Tour de France, a totally deserved victory
Mollema is way above the rest this season. A shame that Weening didn't get into the podium, but I think he doesn't have it in his legs anymore for a GT. He should do better in smaller races.
sutty68 wrote:
Brilliant Performance from Mollema in the Tour de France, a totally deserved victory
Mollema is way above the rest this season. A shame that Weening didn't get into the podium, but I think he doesn't have it in his legs anymore for a GT. He should do better in smaller races.
The Tour de Pologne appears in the World Tour two years after it was last raced. Jose Joaquin Rojas is the defending champion, but it is difficult to see the Spaniard retaining the title. The surprises could be big nevertheless, as the main riders will have the peak of form for the Tour gone. The new route favors the hills better than the route two years ago, so some classics riders and climbers could be battling over the win. Apart from the main favorites, which we will comment later, there are other riders that should do well, like Janez Brajkovic, Hubert Dupont, Bjorn Leukemans and Roman Kreuziger.
In the section of absents we find several riders that were in the top 10 in the Tour, such as Mikel Nieve, Pieter Weening, Frank Schleck and Bart de Clerq. Most of them preferred to take a break ahead of the classics on the end of the season.
Favorites:
- Davide Rebellin (Movistar): Movistar chose to ride for Rebellin in the Tour de France instead of going for Steven Kruijswijk and that was probably a mistake. The Italian should do much better in races like this and in hilly classics. The big mountains were too much for him and he will be much more comfortable in the Polish small hills.
- Dries Devenyns (Quickstep): Dries Devenyns will get all the support from his team in Poland considering Pieter Weening is resting after the Tour. The Belgian wants to add another win to the Fleche Wallonne this year and he will have plenty of opportunities in this end of the year.
- Rob Ruijgh (Rabobank): Rabobank's rising star Rob Ruijgh will have had a boost on his confidence after taking the 7th overall spot in the Tour de France and being very close to taking a stage win. He is more of a climber, but he should be comfortable enough in the hills of Poland.
- Bauke Mollema (Vacansoleil): One cannot make a favorites list of a stage race this year and not include Bauke Mollema. The Dutch's season has been outstanding and it doesn't seem anyone will be able to take him away of the World Tour's standings. There is no time trial in Poland and his fitness isn't probably too high, but he cannot be counted out.
The Tour of Poland starts with a very easy stage, almost a criterium around the streets of Warsaw. At only 100 kilometers, the sprinters should have their chance today.
Cadel Evans continued his miserable season by crashing with 65 kilometers remaining. Jean Christophe Peraud also fell along with the Australian. Cadel must be cursing his bad luck in this 2012 season. The strong winds in Warsaw probably contributed to the crash.
The break of the day took a lot of effort to take shape. When it settled it didn't have a big gap, only 1' 15'' when the riders are already in the final circuit. In the group of 12 there are riders such as Marcel Kittel (Discovery), Rein Taaramae (Radioshack), Kenny van Hummel (Rabobank), Beñat Intxausti (Katusha), Romain Feillu (Euskaltel) and Robbie McEwen (Garmin).
The break never had a chance and they were caught before the mountain sprint, won by Alexandre Vinokourov. Denis Menchov was involved in a big crash in the last 10 kilometers, where several other riders like Gerrans, Van Summeren and Goss were involved. The only train that appeared in the last kilometers was BMC's. Alessandro Ballan was dragging Sacha Modolo, while Tony Gallopin and Ben Swift were right behind.
The sprint was very chaotic and none of the main sprinters was ahead entering the last kilometer. Luis Leon Sanchez led Wiggins, Contador and Rast. However, Tony Gallopin comes strong from behind along with Sacha Modolo.
Tony Gallopin wins in Warsaw! The French took advantage of BMC's work in the run to the finish line and takes his 4th win of the year. Ben Swift and Sacha Modolo completed the top 3 for the opening stage in Poland. If he performs well in the first 4 stages, Gallopin could take a good amount of bonus seconds and maybe he can have a good performance in the GC.
The negative point of the day was the crashes. Quite a lot of riders that could have had something to say in the GC lost a lot of time. The list includes Simon Gerrans, Denis Menchov, Cadel Evans and Lieuwe Westra.
Tour de Pologne Stage 2: Czestochowa - Dabrowa Gornicza
The second stage in Poland is again very flat. Today's stage starts taking the riders south towards the only hilly section of Poland. Meanwhile, the sprinters will enjoy several days were they will be the absolute stars of the race.
The break of the day didn't take a lot of effort to build today. As the group of 6 riders went through the second intermediate sprint of the day, in Siewierz, they had 6' 25'' on the bunch, where Quickstep was setting the pace. The most important riders in the break are Tom Boonen (Lotto), Marcel Kittel (Discovery) and Gregory Rast (Sky).
The peloton had not much control by any team, but they caught the break nevertheless. Only 11 kilometers were left in the stage and the mass sprint was guaranteed again.
Many sprint trains got formed today. The lead was for the BMC's train, as Alessandro Ballan was towing Sacha Modolo and Grega Bole was right behind. In the Sky team, Alexander Kristoff was working for Ben Swift and in Saxo Bank, Juan Jose Haedo was ahead of Tyler Farrar with the leader, Tony Gallopin, right behind.
Many sprinters were well positioned at the start of the sprint and as the riders entered the final kilometer all were fairly matched. Sacha Modolo was leading the way ahead of Jose Joaquin Rojas, Tyler Farrar and Tony Gallopin.
Sacha Modolo wins in Dabrowa Gornicza! The BMC rider held the push of Tony Gallopin and narrowly won the stage ahead of the French. Jose Joaquin Rojas took the third place in the stage ahead of Tyler Farrar.
The GC was only changed due to the bonus seconds, as there were no crashes today. Sacha Modolo is now tied with Tony Gallopin, but the French retained the leader's jersey. Tomorrow there will be another opportunity for the sprinters as the stage will also be very flat.
The riders have another flat and short stage in Poland. They head to Katowice this time, where they will have a very easy circuit. The usual sprinters are the favorites and probably the most interesting fact of the day is the fight of Gallopin and Modolo for the leader's jersey.
A group of 9 was ahead halfway through today's stage. It included riders like Borut Bozic (Lampre), Taylor Phinney (HTC), Kenny van Hummel (Rabobank), Michael Albasini (Radioshack) and Alberto Contador (Euskaltel). The maximum gap they enjoyed was not too big, at only 4 minutes.
The bunch was lazy to chase the break, as Quickstep stopped chasing seeing as no other team helped them. It wasn't until the last 35 kilometers that the chase was serious. They therefore went through the mountain sprint 13 kilometers from the finish with a delay of 1' 20''. This gap gives the break a chance on the stage.
Alberto Contador tried a solo attack in the last kilometers and he reached the last 4 kilometers 35 seconds ahead of the bunch. The rest of the riders from the break had just been caught by a charging peloton. The gap was big enough for the sprinters to be a bit nervous.
Contador has little hopes of arriving first as the sprinters close on him in the last kilometer of the stage. Sacha Modolo is already leading the sprint ahead of Tyler Farrar and Filippo Pozzato. If Modolo gets more bonus seconds than Gallopin he will be the leader of the race.
Sacha Modolo wins in Katowice! A really narrow sprint with Tyler Farrar gives the Italian his second win in a row in Poland. The judges of the race will surely have had to look at the photo finish to decide the winner (when I took the picture I didn't know who was going to win). Modolo therefore takes the leader's jersey ahead of Tony Gallopin.
It is remarkable how difficult it is for Farrar to win this season. The American has been very close to winning several times, but he just cannot put everything in place at the same time. Many times has he lacked a good positioning and when he has a good positioning he doesn't have the legs. It isn't helping that he is also lacking a good support in the run to the sprint. Never Matthew Goss or Juan Jose Haedo seem to be at front to help him position.
The fourth stage is not as easy as the first three. The middle part of the stage is rather demanding, with three categorized climbs to Kubalonka and the group should lose some units. After that, the final circuit also has a 1 kilometer climb averaging 5.5%. This should allow the classics riders to contend for the stage win. The final circuit is quite funny, as it has another small hill, where the finish line is placed. It also crosses to the Czech Republic for some part of the lap.
The break of the day had 9 riders in it during the first climb to Kubalonka. The group included Kenny van Hummel (Rabobank), John Gadret (Discovery), Lars Bak (Liquigas), Romain Feillu (Euskaltel) and Andreas Kloden (HTC). They had a nice gap of 5' 20'' on the bunch, but there were 92 kilometers from the top to the finish line in Cieszyn.
The bunch was lazy chasing again and loses 1' 20'' in the last categorized climb (17 km to go). This is the climb in the circuit, where the chase is not that easy as in previous days. The break could have a chance today.
John Gadret was finally caught in the last 3 kilometers, just after the last climb in the circuit. In the bunch Simon Gerrans is doing an amazing job for Tony Gallopin. The Quickstep rider has tremendous lead men, as Van Summeren takes that role in flatter stages.
Tony Gallopin went into the last uphill kilometer with a healthy lead and looks set to take the stage win. Behind him still was his teammate Simon Gerrans, while the main bunch was lead by Tyler Farrar and Yauheni Hutarovich. However, the uphill finishers could have an edge today.
Tony Gallopin wins in Cieszyn! The French doesn't fail in converting the amazing work by Gerrans in another win for the Belgian team. This takes the count to 5 for Gallopin and 13 for Quickstep this year. Jure Kocjan took the second place, while Sacha Modolo was fourth and saved the leader's jersey ahead of the hilly stages.
Modolo leads 4 seconds ahead of Gallopin. Both of them have now a healthy lead of 25 seconds to the third in the GC, Tyler Farrar. Considering they can go through the hills quite well, it would be silly from the favorites to discard them from the GC fight.
The bad news today was a crash in the last kilometers where Andy Schleck hit the ground. The HTC rider lost almost 3' 30'' in the finish line. HTC miserable day didn't finish there, as Heinrich Haussler had to withdraw from the race in a separate incident.
Frank Schleck is living the best moments of his career in 2012. The Luxembourgish has just finished an outstanding Tour de France. He was never a favorite for the final win in Paris, as he was considered more of an outsider and, even though he narrowly missed a podium place in Paris he will be very happy with his 3 stage wins (Mont des Alouettes, Saint Flour and Galibier) and the 9 days he wore the leader's jersey.
On the preparation for the Tour, Frank had already given hints that this could be a good year for him. He won a stage in Dauphine and another one in Switzerland. However, his performance in France improved the most optimistic predictions for him.
Frank Schleck has spent his four professional years so far in the Leopard first and Radioshack structure, as he survived the merging of the structures. However, the focus for the team for the Grand Tours had been on Jean-Christophe Peraud until his demise this year. The change of leader has paid off and the best news for the team is that Frank Schleck has 2 more years remaining in his contract. Considering the lack of time trial kilometers in next year's Giro and Vuelta, Frank could well be one of the candidates for the overall win if he keeps progressing.
Wins:
2009
- 1st Stage 5 Tour de Suisse
- 1st Tour de Suisse
2011
- 1st Stage 6 and 7 Criterium du Dauphine
- 1st Criterium du Dauphine
- 1st Points jersey Criterium du Dauphine
2012
- 1st Stage 6 Criterium du Dauphine
- 1st Stage 5 Tour de Suisse
- 1st Stage 1, 9 and 18 Tour de France
Other notable results:
- 8th 2009 Giro di Lombardia
- 5th 2010 Tour de Romandie
- 9th 2010 Vuelta a España
- 9th 2011 GP Cycliste de Quebec
- 4th 2011 Giro di Lombardia
- 2nd 2012 Liege - Bastogne - Liege
- 8th 2012 Tour de Suisse
- 4th 2012 Tour de France
The fifth stage is the first of the duo of hilly stages on the Tour de Pologne. Today's stage takes place in a circuit around the town of Zakopane, where the riders will have to do 5 laps to the 40 kilometers lap. With 2 climbs in each lap, the riders will spend the whole day going up and down.
Several attempts had to be made for the break of the day to take shape. In the end, a rather strong group got ahead. Among the 12 men were Matthew Goss (Saxo Bank), Emanuele Sella (Astana), Philippe Gilbert (Discovery), Xavi Tondo (Euskaltel) and Taylor Phinney (HTC). In the third climb to Glodowka they had 6' 20'' on the peloton.
BMC leads the bunch and is setting a strong pace as the riders enter the last lap of the stage. The break still holds a good lead of 2' 25'' on them, so the leader's jersey of Modolo is in danger. On the other side of the race, Sebastian Chavanel is behind the bunch after a crash.
Tony Gallopin is the surprising first attacker in the bunch during the penultimate climb, as the French tries to leave Modolo behind. Carlos Barredo, Francisco Ventoso and Alexandre Vinokourov try to follow, but the riders still have 25 kilometers to the finish line.
Wouter Poels (Vacansoleil) gained a few meters on the break before the last climb. He has 10 seconds of the chasers with 9 kilometers remaining. On the peloton, the only successful attack was Dupont's. The French joined Xavi Tondo and Daniel Martin, who had lost contact with the break. They are 55 seconds behind Poels, while the bunch in 1' 40'' behind the leader.
The attacks were numerous in the last climb. Poels went through the KoM sprint 30 seconds before a group of chasers that grew to 17 units after riders like Sacha Modolo, Tony Gallopin, Roman Kreuziger or Davide Rebellin joined the party.
Tremendous attack by Rebellin, who caught Poels in the last kilometer. They are 20 seconds ahead of the chasers as they start sprinting for the stage win.
Davide Rebellin wins in Zakopane! The Italian knew where to attack to bring the sixth victory for Movistar in the year and takes the leader's jersey in the process. Poels crossed the finish line 11 seconds behind, while the chasers group of 16 lost 32 seconds.
It was surprising that 3 of the pre-race favorites, Dries Devenyns, Bauke Mollema and Rob Ruijgh lost 1' 11'' today and could see their chances in the race fade away. However, the race is very interesting as Rebellin is leading 11 seconds ahead of Modolo and 15 ahead of Gallopin.
Tour de Pologne Stage 6: Bukovina Terma Hotel Spa - Bukowina Tatrzanska
The penultimate stage in Poland is the hardest of the race. There are 11 categorized climbs for a total of more than 4.000 meters of climbing in two different loops around the town of Bukovina Tatrzanska. The riders that do well in the hills should have their chance today, as the rest of the riders will suffer from the up and down of the stage.
A big amount of attacks were needed for a break to settle today. Even a big group of 26 riders had to be reeled back by the peloton early in the stage. In the end, only 3 riders remained in front: Levi Leipheimer (HTC), Jean-Christophe Peraud (Radioshack) and Robert Gesink (Rabobank). During the third climb to Zab (105 km to go) they had 4' 40'' over a bunch where the attacks looking for the KoM points were constant.
In the penultimate categorized climb, Bustryk, the bunch is about the bring Gesink and Peraud back. However, Levi Leipheimer is still 1' 25'' ahead, but his difference is decreasing fast. BMC is setting the chasing pace in the peloton and that generated the first significant casualty. Taylor Phinney, 4th overall, is in a group behind the bunch and is going to lose time in the finish line.
With great effort Leipheimer stayed ahead of the group for the last KoM sprint (12 km to go). That will give him the mountain jersey for the race, as tomorrow there are no mountains in the closing stage. He is 45 seconds ahead but completely empty.
The favorites waited until the uphill finish in Bukowina Tatrzanska to attack. The first one to do it was the leader, David Rebellin. He took advantage of the good pace that BMC was setting in the last kilometers. The Italian was surely hoping to put some more time between himself and Modolo and Gallopin.
Several other attacks happened right after Rebellin started accelerating. Roman Kreuziger is leading the way as the riders enter the last kilometer of the stage. He is followed by Dries Devenyns, Davide Rebellin and Bauke Mollema.
Dries Devenyns wins in Bukowina Tatrzanska! The Belgian was the strongest in the final hill and knew how to keep behind Bauke Mollema, who charged in the final meters of the stage. The third position was for Roman Kreuziger, while Rebellin, Brajkovic and Lopez arrived in the same time. Sacha Modolo lost 29 seconds, while a group of 10 with Gallopin, Barredo, and Dupont lost 41 seconds.
The GC is mostly settled, as the last stage is a flat circuit. Davide Rebellin should win the race, as he is 38 seconds ahead of Roman Kreuziger. However, Kreuziger's place is anything but secure as Sacha Modolo is only 2 seconds behind and the Italian could well grab some bonus seconds tomorrow.
The Tour of Poland draws to an end with a criterium in Poland that shouldn't change the GC too much. A mass sprint will probably be the way to go. Sacha Modolo will have th chance to progress to the second overall place if he can take some bonus seconds in the finish line, as Roman Kreuziger is only 2 seconds ahead of him.
A group of 9 riders tried their luck today. Among the riders in the break were: Marcel Kittel (Discovery), Chris Froome (HTC), Romain Feillu (Euskaltel), Michele Scarponi (Radioshack) and Robbie McEwen (Garmin). They had 5' 45'' on the pack with 60 kilometers remaining, so the teams with sprinters better hurry up if they want a mass sprint.
The break ended with only 7 kilometers remaining after several teams like Quickstep, Saxo Bank and Astana started setting the pace. Movistar never looked too keen on chasing, as there was no danger in the break to Rebellin's lead.
Many teams tried to set up their sprinting train. The most successful ones were Vacansoleil, with Bernhard Eisel towing Peter Sagan, Lotto, as Andre Greipel was pulling Jose Joaquin Rojas (the reverse tactic that they used in the Tour), and BMC, where Giovanni Visconti was leading Sacha Modolo and Yauheni Hutarovich.
Sacha Modolo leads the way as the riders enter the last kilometer. The Italian is looking for the second place in the GC. However, the sprint is very tight, as Tony Gallopin, Alexandre Vinokourov and Jose Joaquin Rojas follow closely.
Sacha Modolo wins in Krakow! What an amazing race for the Italian, who has taken 3 stage wins out of 7. Adding to that, Modolo finishes the GC in the second place of the podium and goes home with the points jersey. The final sprint was very close, as Alexandre Vinokourov was very close to grabbing the win. The Kazakh had to settle for the second place. Tony Gallopin and Yauheni Hutarovich were thrid and fourth in the stage.
As expected, Davide Rebellin had no trouble maintaining the leader's jersey today. The Italian takes the first major win for Movistar in the season. He will also ties with Bauke Mollema and Sacha Modolo at 6 wins in the season. That could be one of the few statistics that the Dutch will not be leading, as Rebellin has the potential to do well in the final classics of the season.
