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aCross the road: Mud, Sweat & Gears
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 22-04-2014 12:33
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
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Kittel winning Tirreno just cracks me up 
Time to get back into the field, it was a nice review of the road season  |
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| Shonak |
Posted on 22-04-2014 16:02
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15615
Joined: 16-07-2013
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Vali wrote:
Wow Valverde really had an amazing season. Has anyone ever managed to get over 1200 WT Points?
With the departure of Sagan and the 3 great new signings being all some kind of stage racers, does that mean that Raphael will get more opportunities to lead next year?
Good luck for Raphael and Citigroup in 2015 
Thanks. Yeah, it may just seem like a good set-up for Raphael to take on higher duties. But there'll be also more pressure.
@Ian: Yeah, it's about time, however still not quite there yet. Kittel winning Tirreno was just the weirdest in a long-time. At least guys like Freire won it in the past so it's not entirely, 100% unrealistic. ^^
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 22-04-2014 16:05
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World Champion
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Great season, sorry for n,ot always commenting, but I was definitely following. Let's see what the return to the cyclocross gives
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Shonak |
Posted on 22-04-2014 16:19
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15615
Joined: 16-07-2013
PCM$: 350.00
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Personal Review 2014 / Part 2
After the official season review, allow me to give a personal review of my season too. It's somehow necessary, maybe because I’m a wonderful narcissist.
Road Season 2014
| GP Costa Etruschi | 55th | Italian Championships | 30th | | | Omloop | 40th | Clasica San Sebastian | 38th | | | K-B-K | 53rd | Trofeo Matteotti | 11th | | | GP de Camaiore | 12th | RideLondon-Surrey Classic | 15th | | | Strade Bianche | 45th | Eneco Tour | 6th | 2 Stage wins | | Roma Maxima | 18th | Giro del Veneto | 10th | | | Tirreno-Adriatico | 65th | GP Ouest Plouay | 23rd | | | Nokere Koerse | 66th | Tour of Britain | 3rd | 1 Stage Win | | Dwaars door Vlaanderen | 1st | Milano-Torino | 12th | | | E3 Prijs Harelbeke | 33th | Il Lombardia | 21th | | | Gent-Wevelgem | 32th | Coppa Sabatini | 7th | | | Ronde van Vlaanderen | 23th | Giro dell'Emilia | 7th | | | Gran Prix de Cermai | 5th | Giro della Romagna | 2nd | | | Paris-Roubaix | 22th | Coppa Placci | 6th | | | De Brabantse Pijl | 15th | | | | | Amstel Gold Race | 44th | | | | | Fleche Wallone | 84th | | | | | L-B-L | 33rd | | | |
You may see, I was very lucky to have had such a first season. Highlights of course include my first win in Flanders at the Dwars door Vlaanderen, my daring solo-run at Eneco Tour up the Muur van Geraardsbergen and the Tour of Britain, where I finished my stage race on a podium. But every race was an experience for me, one I cherish and hold dear. I’m thankful for having ridden all five Monuments this season. I couldn’t say which one I loved the most, which one I hone the most respect. They all feel like a part of me by now. I’ve watched and studied them for so long. Racing them was the most I could ask for. And I’m now more confident than ever that I want to win them all.
Before I depart to the Cyclo-Cross pits of Europe, let me share with you a few nice words from the famous bike analysis-site INRNG.COM, who wrote about me in their review section of “Hottest talents to watch”. I was chosen as the fourth great talent, right behind Kwiatkowski and ahead of Moser.
Number 4: Raphael Visconti
Although recently come into criticism for selfish riding at the World Championships and continued failure on his home turf in Italy, Raphael Visconti (21, Cannondale) had a great first season coming from the Cyclo-Cross trails. The young domestique became known as a reliable domestique in the early part of a season and through a constant wave of attacks in the second half.
Notably his first performance of the potential was his selfless, sacrificing riding in the end of the second stage of Tirreno - Adriatico, where he brought back Peter Sagan. Sagan crashed merely kilometers from the finish and Visconti was quick enough to react. Aganst the wind and the peloton, Sagan then managed.
Visconti himself first went into serious contention with his breakaway victory at Dwars door Vlaanderen, where he was the only rider to be able to hang onto Zdenek Stybar in the race’s finale, after he spent the entire race in the breakaway earlier on. He apparently knew Stybar quite well from the CX scene and may have taken advantage of that by cleverly outplaying him.
With a breakaway at Paris-Roubaix after Sagan’s injury in April, he underlined his ambitions. He played a key role in helping Moreno Moser to some fantastic results in the Ardennes.
After a season break, he combined training for CX and road racing in the late campaign. At Eneco Tour, we found him in stellar form and with a hungry lust for wins. On stage 2, he snugged away the victory from his teammate Fabio Sabatini, which caused some controversy, however he later paid back Fabio with great domestique helps. This is surely a sign of his sportmanship and camaraderie. Raphael Visconti then went on to really justify this ranking at the Muur van Geraardsbergen. With unbroken spirit and unforgiving riding, he shook off Edvald Boasson Hagen, who was unwilling to help him, and in a thrilling finish he prevailed against the Norwegian and Philippe Gilbert just by centimeters after a daring 20 kilometer solo.
What could have been a flawless season finish, saw a domination by Joaquim Rodriguez, which the young talent Raphael didn’t stand much. However, he found luck in the Tour of Britain, where a stage win and the youth rider jersey, were a just reward for some brave riding. The World Championships seemed to have broken his form, a 31st is still a worthy result for a young rider such as him. Considering however that Kwiatkowski went home with two bronze medals, the young Italian squad built around Ulissi and Moser, and thereby Visconti too, fell incredibly short of success.
With Visconti contesting in the CX season, the talent will face a tough split of time & training in the coming years. Either he fully commits to one discipline or it’ll be tough for him to fulfill his true potential in later years. For now however, Visconti is one of Italy’s most promising talents, capable of winning Flanders & Ardennes classics as much as becoming a multiple World Champion.
Some nice words of them, ain’t they? However I disagree. I don’t have to choose between the road and CX. I feel like I can contest in both and I can score victories on both sides. Of course, for that to happen, I have to improve and stop talking and start racing again!
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| Shonak |
Posted on 22-04-2014 16:20
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15615
Joined: 16-07-2013
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Ollfardh wrote:
Great season, sorry for n,ot always commenting, but I was definitely following. Let's see what the return to the cyclocross gives
No worries mate. Yup, looking forward to CX myself. It's so much easier to report on actually.
Edited by Shonak on 22-04-2014 16:20
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| baia |
Posted on 22-04-2014 18:04
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5398
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Being included in "Hottest talents to watch." is already a win.. i think too that Raphael can race both, time for some gravel / grass action..
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 22-04-2014 18:06
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
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Really hope he doesn't have to choose!
Great, great read and this remains one of my favorite stories of all time, easily! |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 22-04-2014 18:12
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All in all Raphael has had a Great season |
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| The Rider |
Posted on 22-04-2014 18:23
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A great season for the team and Raphael has shown great improvement. He is on his way to be capable of winning in the Ardennes and in Flanders, but he could have a nervous breakdown/ car crash or he could be abducted. Who knows?
With Cannondale's star rider departing if Raphael doesn't perform well the team could have some difficulties and may be candidates for relegation! |
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| Shonak |
Posted on 22-04-2014 20:54
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15615
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@baia: Yeah, it's my unofficial list of Shonak hyping.
@Ian Butler: Thanks Ian.  I might use this one day as an advertisement line for the story.
@sutty68: Thanks sutty. You sure know about it. It was really a good first season on the road, now off to his third CX season.
@The Rider: I have some story elements planned that should keep it fun. Yes, there's some pressure now on the squad next season but I'm confident that they'll manage.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| Shonak |
Posted on 23-04-2014 09:28
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15615
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CX marks the spot 2014/15
Cyclo-Cross Intro
You’d think some things don’t change, but I can assure you that old measurements no longer fit. In fact, I grew quite a bit since August and got a late growth boom. Typical for our family, my dad explained. I gained weight too, and I got a bit of extra punch. I feel like I can say goodbye to the notion of me becoming ever a man for the high mountains, but I feel more and more welcomed by the hills around my neighborhood. And of course, by the trails of those CX hosts.
I also have some more official news concering the CX World Cup: The UCI has changed its reglement and now longer awards points to the Top 50 but just the 20 best placed riders. This is apparently to ensure a tougher fight for the points around those mid-tables of the races, while also awarding a greater reward for the top finishes.
Starting the new season, you may wonder about the riders who to look out for most? CXmagazine has compiled a list of them. I am featured on #10. An honour if you ask me. I want to justify this in my first race of the season too.
Top 15 of Cyclo-Cross Riders 2014/2015
| Rank | Country | Name | AVG | Team | | 1 |  | Sven Nys | 83 | Crelan-Euphony | | 2 | | Niels Albert | 82 | BKCP-Powerplus | | 3 |  | Lars Van der Haar | 82 | Argos Shimano | | 4 | | Kevin Pauwels | 81 | Sunweb - Napoleon Games | | 5 |  | Zdenek Stybar | 81 | Omega Pharma | | 6 | | Tom Meeusen | 80 | Telenet - Fidea | | 7 |  | Francis Mourey | 80 | FDJ - BigMat | | 8 |  | Philipp Walsleben | 80 | BMC Mountainbike Racing Team | | 9 | | Klaat Vantornout | 79 | Sunweb - Napoleon Games | | 10 |  | Raphael Visconti | 78 | Cannondale Cyclocross World | | 11 | | Thijs Van Amerongen | 77 | AA Drink - Leontien.nl | | 12 | | Wout Van Aert | 75 | Enertherm - BKCP | | 13 | | Mathieu Van der Poel | 75 | Rabobank Giant Offroad | | 14 | | Michael Vanthourenhout | 72 | Sunweb - Napoleon Games | | 15 | | Julien Alaphilippe | 72 | Omega Pharma |
World Cup Valkenburg
Niels Albert continues where he left off
It was my first CX race of the season. It’s good to be back in the mud. And if you thought things would have changed, you are mistaken. Here in Valkenburg, Niels Albert took the first World Cup race of the season. Sven Nys and Kevin Pauwels completed the all-belgian podium, while I came in 6th.
I had hoped for a better result, secretly. After all, different than many of the other guys, I have the racing legs and I aimed to have a head-start towards them. To collect a few wins early on. But it didn’t work out. Instead, I feel the exhaustion from a tough second part of road racing season. When young gun Mathieu Van der Poel attacked with Simunek and Van Amerongen early on, I wasn’t able to react at first and was just happy to be able to keep the pace steady.
Later on, I got better into the race though. I placed two attacks. One of them was in order to try to bridge the gap to the Group Van der Poel upfront. The other one was at a tactical crucial point, when the riders got caught by Nys and Albert, and I tried to slip out and profit from the confusion. But it didn’t work out. I wasted my spare energy and need to recover fast in order to stay competitive. Tomorrow is already the next race in Kalmthout. Cylo-Cross is back, bitches!
Impressions
World Cup Valkenburg, Results
| Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Niels Albert | BKCP - Powerplus | 3h35'24 | | 2 | Sven Nys | Crelan- Euphony | + 12 | | 3 | Kevin Pauwels | Sunweb - Napoleon Games | s.t. | | 4 | Tom Meeusen | Telenet - Fidea | s.t. | | 5 | Lars Van Der Haar | Argos Shimano | s.t. | | 6 | Raphael Visconti | Cannondale Cyclocross World | + 2'01 | | 7 | Bart Aernouts | AA Drink - Leontien.nl | + 2'10 | | 8 | Bart Wellens | Telenet - Fidea | + 5'57 | | 9 | Thijs Van Amerongen | AA Drink - Leontien.nl | s.t. | | 10 | Francis Mourey | FDJ - BigMat | + 7'06 |
Spoiler | 11 | Rob Peeters | Telenet - Fidea | s.t. | | 12 | Philipp Walsleben | BMC Mountainbike Racing Team | + 7'24 | | 13 | Martin Zlamalik | Crelan- Euphony | + 8'43 | | 14 | Klaas Vantornout | Sunweb - Napoleon Games | + 11'00 | | 15 | Mathieu Van Der Poel | Rabobank Giant Offroad | + 11'18 | | 16 | Radomir Simunek | Kwadro - Stannah | + 11'34 | | 17 | Julien Alaphilppe | Omega Pharma | s.t. | | 18 | Marcel Meisen | Kwadro - Stannah | s.t. | | 19 | Wout Van Aert | Enertherm - BKCP | s.t. | | 20 | Michael Vanthourenhout | Sunweb - Napoleon Games | + 11'56 | | 21 | Gerben De Knegt | Orange Babies | + 12'15 | | 22 | Martin Bina | Cycklo Team Tabor | s.t. | | 23 | Julien Taramarcz | BMC Mountainbike Racing Team | s.t. | | 24 | Ian Field | Hargroves | + 12'37 | | 25 | Jiri Polnicky | Sunweb - Napoleon Games | s.t. | | 26 | Gianni Vermeersch | BKCP - Powerplus | s.t. | | 27 | Wietse Bosmans | BKCP - Powerplus | s.t. | | 28 | Dieter Vanthourenhout | BKCP - Powerplus | + 12'54 | | 29 | Enrico Franzoi | Selle Italia - Guercotti | + 13'02 | | 30 | Steve Chainel | FDJ - BigMat | + 13'28 | | 31 | Sven Vanthourenhout | Crelan- Euphony | s.t. | | 32 | Vladimir Kyzivat | Czech | s.t. | | 33 | Joeri Adams | Telenet - Fidea | s.t. | | 34 | Mariusz Gil | Kwadro - Stannah | s.t. | | 35 | Micki Van Empel | Crelan- Euphony | s.t. | | 36 | Kenneth Van Compernolle | Style & Concept | + 13'59 | | 37 | Gert-Jan Bosman | Rabobank Giant Offroad | s.t. | | 38 | Roy Van Heeswijk | Orange Babies | s.t. | | 39 | Robert Gavenda | Argos Shimano | s.t. | | 40 | Arnold Jeannesson | FDJ - BigMat | s.t. | | 41 | Jose Antonio Hermida | Espagna | + 14'49 | | 42 | Joeri Hofman | Crelan- Euphony | + 15'04 | | 43 | Jonathan Page | Planet Bike | s.t. | | 44 | Angelo De Clerq | Sunweb - Napoleon Games | s.t. | | 45 | Mathieu Boulo | Roubaix Lille Métropole | s.t. | | 46 | Tom Van Den Bosch | Hargroves | s.t. | | 47 | Thijs Al | Telenet - Fidea | s.t. | | 48 | Eddy Van Ijzerdoorn | Orange Babies | + 16'07 | | 49 | Niels Wubben | Rabobank Giant Offroad | + 16'45 |
World Cup Classification
| 1 | Niels Albert | 80 | | 2 | Sven Nys | 65 | | 3 | Kevin Pauwels | 50 | | 4 | Tom Meeusen | 45 | | 5 | Lars Van Der Haar | 40 | | 6 | Raphael Visconti | 35 | | 7 | Bart Aernouts | 30 | | 8 | Bart Wellens | 25 | | 9 | Thijs Van Amerongen | 20 | | 10 | Francis Mourey | 15 |
Spoiler | 11 | Rob Peeters | 10 | | 12 | Philipp Walsleben | 9 | | 13 | Martin Zlamalik | 8 | | 14 | Klaas Vantornout | 7 | | 15 | Mathieu Van Der Poel | 6 | | 16 | Radomir Simunek | 5 | | 17 | Julien Alaphilippe | 4 | | 18 | Marcel Meisen | 3 | | 19 | Wout Van Aert | 2 | | 20 | Michael Vanthourenhout | 1 |
Edited by Shonak on 06-05-2014 13:28
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 23-04-2014 09:40
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
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Cyclo-cross is back, bitches, indeed! 
Awesome. A 6th place is a good place to start. You can't expect too much too soon. Get used to the field again and that victory will be there soon! |
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| Shonak |
Posted on 23-04-2014 11:49
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15615
Joined: 16-07-2013
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Yup, let's hope Raphael can finally get that long wanted CX win this year.
World Cup Kalmthout
Walsleben – Snatching first win for New Team!
With an early attack, Philipp Walsleben, now riding for BMC, came out victories of this year’s sudden chosen World Cup race Kalmthout.
Initially Heeren should take the spot this year from Plzen and Tabor, who in turn got the World Championships later in the year, but some issues with the organization meant that Kalmthout had to take over. Not a bad thing for them, although the Belgian audience might not have been too happy with the german winner.
For me, the race was pure hecticsm. There were lots of position fights going on, more than usual. I am missing a bit the elbow quality I have accustomed myself with and I need to get used to it again. At one of the worst points, Van der Haar crashed. Last year’s overall World Cup winner then was left to the chasing side of things. Luckily for him, I got dropped a bit later when my chain bonked and made life hard for me. This ended in both of us working together and we did good. Sadly, only Van der Haar managed to get back into the group of leaders, while I just narrowly missed out before they went gun-blazing into the finale. I would have needed some seconds of recovery and I could have been there in the finale.
However, since none of them was actually riding for the win, due to Walsleben’s impressive solo-run, I didn’t mind so much. I spoke some words (in german) later with Walsleben. My mother from Austria raised me bilingual and it rarely comes in handy since I'm mostly surrounded by Italian, American or Belgian people. So, it’s always nice to spare some time in another lingual world before or after the races. What he tells makes me most curious though: He told me that BMC is interested in signing me after my contract with Citigroup/Cannondale is up.
World Cup Kalmthout, Results
| Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Philipp Walsleben | BMC Mountainbike Racing Team | 3h28'47 | | 2 | Niels Albert | BKCP - Powerplus | + 1'54 | | 3 | Sven Nys | Crelan- Euphony | s.t. | | 4 | Tom Meeusen | Telenet - Fidea | s.t. | | 5 | Kevin Pauwels | Sunweb - Napoleon Games | s.t. | | 6 | Lars Van Der Haar | Argos Shimano | s.t. | | 7 | Francis Mourey | FDJ - BigMat | s.t. | | 8 | Bart Aernouts | AA Drink - Leontien.nl | + 3'21 | | 9 | Bart Wellens | Telenet - Fidea | s.t. | | 10 | Raphael Visconti | Cannondale Cyclocross World | + 4'03 |
Spoiler | 11 | Angelo De Clerq | Sunweb - Napoleon Games | + 8'07 | | 12 | Jonathan Page | Planet Bike | s.t. | | 13 | Mathieu Van Der Poel | Rabobank Giant Offroad | + 8'43 | | 14 | Dieter Vanthourenhout | BKCP - Powerplus | s.t. | | 15 | Sven Vanthourenhout | Crelan- Euphony | s.t. | | 16 | Julien Alaphilppe | Omega Pharma | s.t. | | 17 | Patrick Van Leeuwen | Orange Babies | + 10'50 | | 18 | Steve Chainel | FDJ - BigMat | s.t. | | 19 | Gert-Jan Bosman | Rabobank Giant Offroad | s.t. | | 20 | Mariusz Gil | Kwadro - Stannah | + 11'35 | | 21 | Michael Vanthourenhout | Sunweb - Napoleon Games | + 12'24 | | 22 | Martin Zlamalik | Crelan- Euphony | s.t. | | 23 | Wietse Bosmans | BKCP - Powerplus | s.t. | | 24 | Klaas Vantornout | Sunweb - Napoleon Games | + 14'06 | | 25 | Thijs Van Amerongen | AA Drink - Leontien.nl | + 14'30 | | 26 | Rob Peeters | Telenet - Fidea | s.t. | | 27 | Radomir Simunek | Kwadro - Stannah | + 15'07 | | 28 | Joeri Hofman | Crelan- Euphony | + 16'39 | | 29 | Wout Van Aert | Enertherm - BKCP | + 17'05 | | 30 | Marcel Meisen | Kwadro - Stannah | + 18'32 |
Top 25 World Cup Standings After 2 Out of 10 Races
| Rank | Rider | WC Points | | 1 | Niels Albert | 145 | | 2 | Sven Nys | 115 | | 3 | Kevin Pauwels | 90 | | 4 | Tom Meeusen | 90 | | 5 | Philipp Walsleben | 89 | | 6 | Lars Van Der Haar | 75 | | 7 | Bart Aernouts | 55 | | 8 | Raphael Visconti | 50 | | 9 | Francis Mourey | 45 | | 10 | Bart Wellens | 45 |
Spoiler | 11 | Thijs Van Amerongen | 20 | | 12 | Mathieu Van Der Poel | 15 | | 13 | Rob Peeters | 10 | | 14 | Angelo De Clerq | 10 | | 15 | Julien Alaphilippe | 9 | | 16 | Jonathan Page | 9 | | 17 | Martin Zlamalik | 8 | | 18 | Klaas Vantornout | 7 | | 19 | Dieter Vanthourenhout | 7 | | 20 | Sven Vanthourenhout | 6 | | 21 | Radomir Simunek | 5 | | 22 | Patrick Van Leeuwen | 4 | | 24 | Marcel Meisen | 3 | | 23 | Steve Chainel | 3 | | 25 | Wout Van Aert | 2 |
Edited by Shonak on 23-04-2014 12:15
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 23-04-2014 12:35
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
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Two races and two top tens for Raphael |
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 23-04-2014 13:07
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Classics Specialist
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Great to see CX back, and Rapha's started the new season well so far, especially regaining the top 10 after his mechanical.
I'm expecting him to beat his predicted 10th place on the overall.
I wonder if he can write history and hold both the CX and Road WC's at the same time, would make a great long term goal.
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| Shonak |
Posted on 23-04-2014 14:48
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15615
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@sutty68: Yeah, he started season great. Thanks to Tour of Britain and Italian Fall classics.
@sammyt: That's certainly a long term goal to make him in both regaining World Champion, however before we can get to that he will have to win a CX race first.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| krisa |
Posted on 23-04-2014 14:50
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3962
Joined: 12-04-2011
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Cyclo is back 
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| Shonak |
Posted on 23-04-2014 19:01
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15615
Joined: 16-07-2013
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Glad you like it
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| admirschleck |
Posted on 23-04-2014 19:07
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Team Leader
Posts: 6690
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I really like the path of this story so far, you basically hit the perfect balance of rider developement (not OP, not weak at all) , which makes it so enjoyable, alongside (of course) your great reports, unique style and what not. I am being 100% honest here, this is one of the rare stories that I follow at the moment.
This always makes me want to continue Marko (it still didn't die!), as the idea of that story was something more or less the same as this, but I just don't want to lost motivation for Trek, so that won't probably happen in near future. Gone too much off-topic now. All in all - please keep up this!
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| Shonak |
Posted on 23-04-2014 19:30
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15615
Joined: 16-07-2013
PCM$: 350.00
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Thank you, such words are great motivation
I'm glad you found your winning formula with Trek, cherish it. That story is going great. You can make the story with Marko at a later point, especially because the fella appears to be immortal.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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