Message to everyone. I just found this website and tbh I was enjoying reading all of these 'stories' so much so I decided to create one.
As I am new to this website any advice on how to improve will be appreciated a lot, equally no schnied comments thank you very much.
Lets hope Its going to be an interesting one starting off on the continental tour with a 'lithuanian backed team'.Edited by The Rider on 01-08-2012 16:32
Database: 2012 v1.
Difficulty: Normal
Evolution: 0.5
It has been announced that a new team will be in the saddle for the 2012 pro continental season. To many people's suprise the team will be based in the baltic tiger that is lithuania, and why not? It is a great time to be in lithuania, the economy booming and cycling becoming ever more a part of the national psyche.
Team manager: 'Evgeni' had this to say at a press conference held in Kaunas earlier today. "It is true that Team Augantis Visas Pelnas (roughly translated as, Growing we gain) will be part of the UCI pro continental tour. Our main sponsor Cyanide will be withdrawing at the end of the season so the main priority is to acquire new sponsorship. As we set decided to join the tour at a late date we were only able to acquire free agent riders, however we are very pleased with all riders we have acquired. Our team is a mixture of hard flat men and talented puncheurs. As a team our goal is to gain as much exposure as possible, through breakways and ofcourse victories. Our secondary target is to achieve promotion to the world tour, this may be ambitious first year, however with plenty of funds available we will give our riders every chance of accumulating as many points as possible."
At the press conference the full team of 25 riders was announced, with a few controversial suprises, 11 contracts are up at the end of the season.
The Leaders:
Having been released by liquigas at the end of 2011, Mauro enters 2012 in a make or break situation. Will he lay dorment or will he be up challenging the cream of the crop at the continental tour.
Other notable riders include:
David Rebellin: The veteran had a 'respectable season in 2011. Rebellin, who reportedly owes the Italian government 6.5 million euros in back taxes, will look to peak for the Italian races late in the season and repay the faith Team Augantis have put into him.
Team Augantis 2012 season gets under way at the Tour of Langkawi, if a wildcard for the santos tour down under is not accepted. How will they do?
Edited by The Rider on 07-03-2012 20:50
After being refused entry to the tour down under, team Augantis will start there season in Malaysia at the tour of langkawi. Biondo, Beyer and Cretskens came through through pre season training especially well. Biondo will be the leader for the sprints and Pidgornyy willl be our best hope for the mountains.
Daily strategy: We will try to get into an early break, after that it will all be for Biondo. Although with Van Dijk, Degenkolp and Kittel in the sprint a placing may be the best we can hope for.
The Race
Its starts off at a really high pace. 10km into the race a breakway of around 18 riders tries to get away. Team Augantis's Lithuanian Kondrotas is part of it. The breakway gains a lead of around 1 minute as Accent Job's Leif Hoste struggles to close down the peloton. However, at around 65km to go the breakaway is caught and the pace slows down. With 53km to go approching a mountain sprint five riders including Bert De Waele go on the attack. After the climb De Waele comes back to the group, leaving four riders ahead who go on to gain a maximum gap of 1:50, but are swallowed up with less than 15km to go, as the project IT4I team set a very fast pace. With just over 5km to go there is a massive crash in the peloton, gasparotto one of the casulties, Augantis very fortunate not to loose any riders as most of the team were at the rear of the peloton.
With less than 5km to go the sprint was really on. Baranauskas had delivered Biondo to the wheel of Stefan Van Dijk who was himself on the wheel of Marcel Kittel whom was being led out by Degenkolb.
It turns out Biondo was in the perfect position. Kittel went to early, Van Dijk passed with ease and Biondo was in such a good position he couldn't miss coming out from the wheel of Van Dijk and winning by a bikes length to claim the win.
What a brilliant result in the first ever race in the history of Team Augantis, a team which easily could have gone months without winning.
Alas, this is just the begining of the journey, tommorow the team will be riding... but this time protecting the yellow jersey.
Stage 2: Kangar- Butterworth 173.5 kms
Daily strategy: Protect the yellow jersey by riding on the front.
The Race
It took around 40 kms and a lot of attempts but eventually a breakaway of 8 riders was able to get away on this flat stage. Riders including: R Downing, F Ferrari, B Van Poppel. They were allowed a maximum gap of 4.30 before Augantis reduced the gap, they were caught be the peloton driven by Accent and Project 1T4I in the last 15 kms.
Team Augantis were on the front for much of the race.
Going into the last few kilometres Biondo was slightly out of position, being led out by Beyer.
Kittel was launched at the right time today, a better postion for Biondo may have led to a better finish, nevertheless he finished 3rd and keeps the yellow jersey with a 8 second gap over Kittel.
Stage 3: Taiping - Sitiawan 125.4 kms
Daily strategy: Again ride for Biondo. Prepare for the sprint ahead of two days with a mountain finish.
The Race
As expected, a breakway was able to get away in poor conditions. Riders included: K Hulsmans and R Selig for a second break in Langkawi. Eventually growing to 11 riders, and gaing a maximum time gap of 5:20. Although Augantis rode on the front, it was no where near the extent as yesterday, Movistar controlled the peloton for much of the race thinking of GC, and Accent and 14TI rode in the last thirty kilometeres.
MartinGilbert decends after claiming the mountain sprint.
As the breakaway where caught in the last five kilometers, Biondo(yellow) and leadout man Beyer were blocked losing many positions.
Leaving another battle between Van Dijk and Kittel (Green). Kittel was led out strongly however, Van Dijk had enough to come from the wheel and take the win. Kittel will take yellow ahead of Van Dijk (S.T.) and Biondo (-4 secs). Biondo passed about dozen riders in the sprint to take 10th.
Results stage:
Daily goals: Hope for the best with Pidgornyy, while giving a bit of protection to Biondo
The Race
With the riders aware of a tough second half to the stage a breakaway forms early on, growing to 12 riders and gaining a maximum time of around 6 minutes at around the half way mark. At the base of the long second climb of the day Juan Pablo Suarez sets off from the peloton. At the steep base of the climb the peloton splits into two, however, joins back up further up the climb.
Towards the top of this climb, under pressure from Movistar (working for Ruben Plaza) the peloton splits again this time for good into a group of about forty riders. Kittel and Biondo are still there, but there is no sign of second place Van Dijk.
At the top of the penultimate climb the breakaway stills leads by about two minutes. In the 40 man peloton, aswell as Biondo, Beyer and Pidgornyy are present for Team Augantis. Then from about 27 kilometres from the end, the attacks come thick and fast. First its Plaza, then De Maar, Kessiokoff, as the breakaway merges into the peloton on the final climb. Five kilometers from the summit the peloton splits again, Kittel and Biondo unable to stay in contact. At the summit Plaza, Suarez and De Maar lead over the next group being led by Katusha.
On the finish Plaza is two strong for his competitors finising with a gap at the finish. On the decent to the finish Pidgornyy tried to attack, however made no ground himself finishing with the same time in a big group.
The last chance for the GC contenders to make to there mark.
Team Strategy: Keep Pidgornyy towards the front and maybe go on the attack.
The Race
A breakaway of 12 riders was establshed, including tiernon-locke and B. traksel. However. Movistar and United Healthcare didn't allow the breakaway much chance to win.
'The Break going through a village.'
On to the final climb, over 23 kilometers at over 7%. Movistar really dominated and set a fast pace, catching the break inside 17km to go. By 10km to go the group was down to about 15 riders, including pidgornyy who went on the attack but wasn't able to sustain it.
In the closing kilometers, Kessiakoff of Astana attacked and was countered by Plaza (Movistar) who was too strong and went off to take his second win in a row and surely tie up race the leadership.
Spoiler
1
Rubén Plaza
Movistar Team
3h41'14
2
Fredrik Kessiakoff
Astana Pro Team
+ 38
3
Beñat Intxausti
Movistar Team
+ 50
4
Yury Trofimov
Katusha Team
+ 1'14
5
Marc De Maar
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
+ 1'27
6
Nairo Quintana
Movistar Team
+ 1'34
7
Javier Moreno
Movistar Team
+ 1'54
8
David Arroyo
Movistar Team
s.t.
9
David López
Movistar Team
+ 2'04
10
Eduard Vorganov
Katusha Team
s.t.
11
Philip Deignan
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
12
René Mandri
Endura Racing
+ 2'15
13
Ruslan Pidgornyy
TEAM AUGANTIS VISAS PELSNAS
s.t.
14
Pavel Brutt
Katusha Team
+ 2'26
Spoiler
1
Rubén Plaza
Movistar Team
16h54'01
2
Fredrik Kessiakoff
Astana Pro Team
+ 1'45
3
Marc De Maar
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
+ 2'13
4
Beñat Intxausti
Movistar Team
+ 2'34
5
Yury Trofimov
Katusha Team
+ 3'06
6
Nairo Quintana
Movistar Team
+ 3'26
7
Javier Moreno
Movistar Team
+ 3'46
8
Eduard Vorganov
Katusha Team
+ 3'56
9
Philip Deignan
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
10
David López
Movistar Team
s.t.
11
Ruslan Pidgornyy
TEAM AUGANTIS VISAS PELSNAS
+ 4'07
12
Pavel Brutt
Katusha Team
+ 4'18
13
Francesco Masciarelli
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
14
Esteban Chavez
Colombia - Coldeportes
+ 5'00
15
Markus Fothen
Team NSP - Ghost
+ 5'11
Stage 6: Rawang - Putrajaya loop 139.3 kms
Race Strategy: Work for Biondo
The Race
After many riders tried to get a way Movistar, Rusvelo and Accent brought back the breaks so by the first sprint point there was no one ahead of the breakaway. Kittel, Van Dijk, Traksel and Markov went for the both sprints and finsihed in that order. But having contested the sprints would they have anything left come the finsih? After the sprinters rejoined the peloton a break of 7 was established. With 40 km to go the break was still growing with a gap of around 4:10 over the peloton. With Van Dijk's teammate 'Hoste' in the break and Kittel's team not willing to work, Auagntis put 2 riders on the front and reduced the gap by well over a minute in 10km with Project 1t4Iworking from around 30 km onwards. At around 24 km to go De Waele and Gasparotto attacked put the peloton just upped speed and caught the break with 7km to go.
For the first time in the race Augantis's classic specialist Cretskens was feeling great, and was able to give Biondo a great lead out. As custom in this tour, Degenkolb was again leading out Kittel ahead of Van Dijk in third.
As Degenkolb was going backwards, Biondo had to check his speed in order to prevent a crash. At this point it looks a straight battle between Gatto and Kittel.
But they both fade as Manuel Cardoso comes through to take the victory, just ahead of a faster Biondo who surely would have won if it wasn't for Degenkolb. Team manager Evgeni Emerus had this to say afterwards. "Only John Degenkolb knows if what he did was intentional, but thats bike racing."
Results: Stage and Points classification update
Spoiler
1
Manuel Cardoso
Caja Rural
3h20'01
2
Maurizio Biondo
TEAM AUGANTIS VISAS PELSNAS
s.t.
3
Enrico Gasparotto
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
4
Oscar Gatto
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
5
Marcel Kittel
Project 1t4i
s.t.
6
Bobbie Traksel
Landbouwkrediet - Euphony
s.t.
7
Stefan Van Dijk
Accent Jobs - Willems Veranda's
s.t.
8
John Degenkolb
Project 1t4i
s.t.
9
Rubén Plaza
Movistar Team
s.t.
10
Iván Gutiérrez
Movistar Team
s.t.
11
Guillaume Boivin
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
12
Wilfried Cretskens
TEAM AUGANTIS VISAS PELSNAS
s.t.
13
Aitor Galdos
Caja Rural
s.t.
14
Alexei Markov
RusVelo
s.t.
15
Jonas Ljungblad
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
Spoiler
1
Marcel Kittel
Project 1t4i
81
2
Stefan Van Dijk
Accent Jobs - Willems Veranda's
72
3
Manuel Cardoso
Caja Rural
69
4
Maurizio Biondo
TEAM AUGANTIS VISAS PELSNAS
67
5
Rubén Plaza
Movistar Team
57
Stage 7: Banting - Tampin 165.3 kms
Stage profile and results
The Race
Stage 7 was another stage for the sprinters, and the project 14tI team controlled the peloton and chased down the 13 man breakaway which grew to be 17 in the last 10 kilometeres in wet and windy conditions.
Coming into the closing stages for the first time in the race Cardoso's team of Caja Rujal put together a decent sprint train and steamed past Kittel's team. Augantis with Cretskens and Biondo were in a great position.
However, in what looked to be a tail wind finish, Cardoso was released at the perfect time to claim back to back victories. Augantis do have a bittersweet consolation knowing that they finish with two men on the podium.
Stage 8: Kuala Pilah - Jasin 165.7 kms
Daily strategy: Another possible sprint stage, however, terrain may suit breakaway. As a team we should follow.
Well a break of 8 eventually got away and today it was allowed to stick. The gap was over 5mins with over 50km to go, Augantis put a man on the front but didn't really make any headway. The project team started to ride from 3okm to go but it was to little to late. Michael Friedemann taking a victory, over veterens including Hulsmans and De Waele again! The points classification looks to be hotting up. Biondo gained one point over Cardoso on the stage narrowing the gap to just 6 points.
Results:
Spoiler
1
Matthias Friedemann
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
4h07'07
2
Javier Francisco Aramendia
Caja Rural
s.t.
3
Kevin Hulsmans
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
4
Vladimir Gusev
Katusha Team
s.t.
5
Bert De Waele
Landbouwkrediet - Euphony
s.t.
6
Kai Reus
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
7
Sergey Rudaskov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
8
Johan Coenen
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
9
Marcel Kittel
Project 1t4i
+ 1'39
10
Keven Lacombe
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
11
Maurizio Biondo
TEAM AUGANTIS VISAS PELSNAS
s.t.
12
Manuel Cardoso
Caja Rural
s.t.
13
Ariel Maximiliano Richeze
Team Nippo
s.t.
14
Oleg Chuzhda
Accent Jobs - Willems Veranda's
s.t.
Spoiler
The grand prix de Marseille
We sent some riders to Marseille to get some of our better flat racers to Marseille to prepare for a sponsor objective in Qatar. We didn't really have any goals to gain in the race. Kazakh Gruzdev, despite not being on form, was felling really really good today and got into a break. With 20km to go the break had an advantage of 2mins. Gruzdev looking the strongest going uphill. Despite attacks from Rolland and AG2R and Cofidis working hard by 10km to go the gap was 1:14. The break was looking strong and the peloton looked to give up the ghost, with a massive crash at 8km to go the break was going to be successful today. Going under the flamme rouge, Gruzdev was in the worst possible position, right at the head of the group, if he attacked a few km from the finish he may have won the stage, giving the pleasently suprising amazing day he was having. In the end Commeyne won a scrappy sprint to take the early season stohlwart of french cycling. 6th a decent result for Gruzdev and the team would have taken that at the start of the day.
[spoiler]
1
Davy Commeyne
Landbouwkrediet - Euphony
3h48'42
2
Guillaume Blot
Bretagne - Schuller
s.t.
3
Thomas Vaubourzeix
La Pomme Marseille
s.t.
4
Tomasz Kiendy
CCC Polkowice
s.t.
5
Cyril Bessy
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
6
Dmitriy Gruzdev
TEAM AUGANTIS VISAS PELSNAS
s.t.
7
Aljaz Hocevar
Adria Mobil
s.t.
8
Cesare Benedetti
Team NetApp
s.t.
9
Kevin Lalouette
Roubaix Lille Métropole
s.t.
10
Gianni Meersman
Lotto Belisol Team
+ 45
11
Jelle Vanendert
Lotto Belisol Team
s.t.
12
Samuel Dumoulin
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
13
Johan Mombaerts
BigMat - Auber 93
s.t.
14
Egoitz García
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
15
Jean-Eudes Demaret
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
16
André Steensen
Glud & Marstrand - LRØ
s.t.
17
Cyril Gautier
Team Europcar
s.t.
18
Nicolas Edet
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
19
Marek Rutkiewicz
CCC Polkowice
s.t.
20
Tosh Van der Sande
Lotto Belisol Team
s.t.
21
Nico Sijmens
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
22
Mathieu Claude
Team Europcar
s.t.
23
David Veilleux
Team Europcar
s.t.
24
Jonas Vangenechten
Lotto Belisol Team
s.t.
25
Bart De Clercq
Lotto Belisol Team
s.t.
26
Niki Østergaard
Glud & Marstrand - LRØ
s.t.
27
Pierre Rolland
Team Europcar
s.t.
28
Rafaâ Chtioui
Team Europcar
s.t.
29
Brian Bulgac
Lotto Belisol Team
s.t.
30
Anthony Charteau
Team Europcar
s.t.
31
Bartlomiej Matysiak
CCC Polkowice
s.t.
32
Jan Ghyselinck
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
33
Olivier Kaisen
Lotto Belisol Team
s.t.
34
Sébastien Chavanel
Team Europcar
s.t.
35
Geoffroy Lequatre
Bretagne - Schuller
s.t.
36
Robert Vrecer
Adria Mobil
s.t.
37
Kevin Peeters
Landbouwkrediet - Euphony
s.t.
38
Franck Bouyer
Team Europcar
s.t.
39
Florian Vachon
Bretagne - Schuller
s.t.
40
Jonathan Thiré
BigMat - Auber 93
s.t.
41
Gaetan Bille
Lotto Belisol Team
s.t.
42
Evgeni Sokolov
TEAM AUGANTIS VISAS PELSNAS
s.t.
43
Sven Vanthourenhout
Landbouwkrediet - Euphony
s.t.
44
Lasse Bøchman
Glud & Marstrand - LRØ
s.t.
45
Sébastien Delfosse
Landbouwkrediet - Euphony
s.t.
46
Jean-Luc Delpech
Bretagne - Schuller
s.t.
47
Steven Tronet
BigMat - Auber 93
s.t.
48
Floris Goesinnen
TEAM AUGANTIS VISAS PELSNAS
s.t.
49
Christian Patron
Wallonie Bruxelles - Crédit Agricole
s.t.
50
Florian Le Corre
Roubaix Lille Métropole
s.t.
51
Marius Bernatonis
TEAM AUGANTIS VISAS PELSNAS
s.t.
52
Oliver Hofstetter
Leopard - Trek Continental Team
s.t.
53
Tomasz Nose
Adria Mobil
s.t.
54
Simon Pavlin
Adria Mobil
s.t.
55
Toms Skujins
La Pomme Marseille
s.t.
56
Lloyd Mondory
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 2'28
57
Anthony Ravard
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
58
Mikaël Chérel
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
59
Aleksejs Saramotins
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
60
Preben Van Hecke
Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator
s.t.
61
Mickaël Buffaz
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
62
Steven Van Vooren
Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator
s.t.
63
Christophe Riblon
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
64
Sébastien Hinault
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
65
Pieter Jacobs
Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator
s.t.
66
Sébastien Minard
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
67
Romain Lemarchand
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
68
Ben Gastauer
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
69
Nicolas Rousseau
BigMat - Auber 93
s.t.
70
Joeri Stallaert
Landbouwkrediet - Euphony
s.t.
71
Eric Berthou
Bretagne - Schuller
s.t.
72
Bob Jungels
Leopard - Trek Continental Team
s.t.
73
Primoz Segina
Adria Mobil
s.t.
74
Paul Poux
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
75
Mathias Gade Jacobsen
Glud & Marstrand - LRØ
s.t.
76
Tom Van Asbroeck
Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator
s.t.
77
Alexandre Pliuschin
Leopard - Trek Continental Team
s.t.
78
Mauro Finetto
TEAM AUGANTIS VISAS PELSNAS
+ 4'05
79
Tim Declercq
Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator
s.t.
80
Raivis Belohvosciks
TEAM AUGANTIS VISAS PELSNAS
s.t.
81
Sebastian Lander
Glud & Marstrand - LRØ
s.t.
82
Florian Guillou
Bretagne - Schuller
s.t.
83
Fabien Bacquet
BigMat - Auber 93
s.t.
84
Blaz Jarc
Team NetApp
s.t.
85
Jarl Salomein
Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator
s.t.
86
Pierre Drancourt
Roubaix Lille Métropole
s.t.
87
Benoit Drujon
BigMat - Auber 93
s.t.
88
Michael Van Staeyen
Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator
s.t.
89
Fabio Polazzi
Wallonie Bruxelles - Crédit Agricole
s.t.
90
Julian Kern
Leopard - Trek Continental Team
s.t.
91
Christophe Premont
Wallonie Bruxelles - Crédit Agricole
s.t.
92
Flavio De Luna
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
93
Eliot Lietaer
Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator
s.t.
94
Quentin Bertholet
Wallonie Bruxelles - Crédit Agricole
s.t.
95
Pit Schlechter
Leopard - Trek Continental Team
s.t.
96
Arnaud Coyot
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
97
Timon Seubert
Team NetApp
s.t.
98
Boris Dron
Wallonie Bruxelles - Crédit Agricole
s.t.
99
Anthony Delaplace
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
100
Michael Valgren Andersen
Glud & Marstrand - LRØ
s.t.
101
Reinier Honig
Landbouwkrediet - Euphony
s.t.
102
Nikolay Mihaylov
CCC Polkowice
s.t.
103
Cyril Lemoine
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
104
Pierre-Luc Perichon
La Pomme Marseille
s.t.
105
Markus Eichler
Team NetApp
s.t.
106
Renaud Dion
Bretagne - Schuller
s.t.
107
Reto Hollenstein
Team NetApp
s.t.
108
Koen Barbé
Landbouwkrediet - Euphony
s.t.
109
André Schulze
Team NetApp
s.t.
110
Laurent Mangel
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
111
Daniel Schorn
Team NetApp
s.t.
112
Kurt Hovelynck
Landbouwkrediet - Euphony
s.t.
113
Gaël Malacarne
Bretagne - Schuller
s.t.
114
Pawel Charucki
CCC Polkowice
s.t.
115
Stéphane Poulhiès
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
116
Julien Simon
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
117
Mathieu Delaroziere
La Pomme Marseille
s.t.
118
Matija Kvasina
TEAM AUGANTIS VISAS PELSNAS
s.t.
119
Morgan Kneisky
Roubaix Lille Métropole
+ 5'59
120
Benjamin Giraud
La Pomme Marseille
+ 6'34
121
Zachary Bell
SpiderTech powered by C10
+ 7'57
122
Loïc Desriac
Roubaix Lille Métropole
s.t.
123
Boris Zimine
Roubaix Lille Métropole
+ 10'22
124
Grzegorz Stepniak
CCC Polkowice
s.t.
125
Janek Tombak
TEAM AUGANTIS VISAS PELSNAS
s.t.
126
Kristijan Durasek
Adria Mobil
s.t.
127
Evaldas Siskevicius
La Pomme Marseille
s.t.
128
Laurent Evrard
Wallonie Bruxelles - Crédit Agricole
s.t.
129
Eugenio Alafaci
Leopard - Trek Continental Team
s.t.
[/spoiler]
Stage 9: Melaka - Nilai 146.0 kms
Race strategy: Put Biondo in a good postition if it comes to a sprint.
The Race
On the penultimate day of racing a large break of around 14 riders was able to get clear. But, unlike yesterday Accent and the Project team were willing to reel in break, with 6km to go the sprint trains are leading the peloton. As the pace slackens, Team Augantis's Crestkens attacks, probably so Biondo can find himself a better position as the attack was never going to sustain. Coming into the finish the key sprinters leave it right till the last untill they unleach there sprint, a tactic which worked well for Stefan Van Dijk who picked up his second stage win. Manan showed well for the first time in the race while Cardoso gained a larger lead in the green points standings.Team Augantis got the tactics wrong, this was a stage to have a good lead out train, as a result Biondo finished back in 9th.
Results:
Spoiler
1
Stefan Van Dijk
Accent Jobs - Willems Veranda's
3h26'33
2
Anuar Manan
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
3
Manuel Cardoso
Caja Rural
s.t.
4
Bobbie Traksel
Landbouwkrediet - Euphony
s.t.
5
Marcel Kittel
Project 1t4i
s.t.
6
Oscar Gatto
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
7
Guillaume Boivin
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
8
John Degenkolb
Project 1t4i
s.t.
9
Maurizio Biondo
TEAM AUGANTIS VISAS PELSNAS
s.t.
10
Alexei Markov
RusVelo
s.t.
End of the month, round up:
Australian Championship: Gerrans
Australian ITT: Sutherland
Santos tour down under: Martin
San Luis: Rob Partridge
Giro Calabria: Schumacher
GP de Marseille: Commeyne
With Augantis making over 350k in the month, february will see more coaches, scouts and one doctor arrive.
Stage 10: Shah Alam - Kuala Lumpur 95 kms
Race Strategy: Sprint, so get in position.
The Race
The final day of what has been a great first race of the season for team Augantis. Today sees a circuit around big city Kuala Lumpur. A lot of riders tried to get a way, a 16 man break once had a two minute gap. But all breaks were shut down and with 20 km to go no one was out in front.
Coming into the sprint Lambouwkrediet were setting a real hard pace, making it very dangerous. Masciarelli was the main casualty, crashing just outside of 3km to go moving on GC from 13th to 30th. In the sprint for Augantis, Biondo was again in a poor position however produced a decent sprint. However, the win once again went to Van Dijk who having never wore the green jersey ends up winning it by one point over cardoso. Plaza wins the yellow after looking very comfortable in the climbs and kept out of trouble in the sprints.
Results:
Spoiler
1
Stefan Van Dijk
Accent Jobs - Willems Veranda's
2h21'04
2
Bobbie Traksel
Landbouwkrediet - Euphony
s.t.
3
Marcel Kittel
Project 1t4i
s.t.
4
Manuel Cardoso
Caja Rural
s.t.
5
Maurizio Biondo
TEAM AUGANTIS VISAS PELSNAS
s.t.
6
Anuar Manan
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
7
Oscar Gatto
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
8
Rubén Plaza
Movistar Team
s.t.
9
Iván Gutiérrez
Movistar Team
s.t.
10
Alexei Markov
RusVelo
s.t.
Spoiler
1
Rubén Plaza
Movistar Team
34h03'32
2
Fredrik Kessiakoff
Astana Pro Team
+ 1'45
3
Marc De Maar
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
+ 2'13
4
Beñat Intxausti
Movistar Team
+ 2'34
5
Yury Trofimov
Katusha Team
+ 3'06
6
Nairo Quintana
Movistar Team
+ 3'26
7
Javier Moreno
Movistar Team
+ 3'46
8
Eduard Vorganov
Katusha Team
+ 3'56
9
Philip Deignan
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
10
David López
Movistar Team
s.t.
11
Ruslan Pidgornyy
TEAM AUGANTIS VISAS PELSNAS
+ 4'07
12
Pavel Brutt
Katusha Team
+ 4'18
13
Esteban Chavez
Colombia - Coldeportes
+ 5'00
14
Markus Fothen
Team NSP - Ghost
+ 5'11
15
Josué Moyano
Caja Rural
s.t.
Spoiler
1
Manuel Cardoso
Caja Rural
128
2
Stefan Van Dijk
Accent Jobs - Willems Veranda's
127
3
Marcel Kittel
Project 1t4i
119
4
Maurizio Biondo
TEAM AUGANTIS VISAS PELSNAS
111
5
Bobbie Traksel
Landbouwkrediet - Euphony
74
1 Rubén Plaza Movistar Team 40
2 Fredrik Kessiakoff Astana Pro Team 24
3 Marc De Maar UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 22
4 Jason McCartney UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 20
5 Yury Trofimov Katusha Team 18
After this stage race, I am not going to post so much info and I am just gonna get on with the races.
Edited by The Rider on 10-03-2012 10:54
To finish in the top 10 at Qatar is one of our sponsors objectives. Despited no Radioshack and Sky present there are still many top class sprinters present. The best chance Augantis has to fulfill the objective is to get in break.
Start List:
Spoiler
Katusha
1. Ó.Freire
2. X.Florencio
3. D.Galimzyanov
4. M.Ignatiev
5. A.Kristoff
6. A.Kuschynski
7. A.Porsev
8. G.Smukulis
Quick·Step
11. G.Ciolek
12. M.Brammeier
13. F.Chicchi
14. B.Grabsch
15. I.Keisse
16. J.Pineau
17. G.Van Keirsbulck
18. K.Vandewalle
Lotto
21. L.Bak
22. J.Debusschere
23. G.Henderson
24. M.Neyens
25. F.Robert
26. J.Vanendert
27. J.Vangenechten
28. F.Willems
FDJ
31. W.Bonnet
32. N.Bouhanni
33. A.Demare
34. Y.Hutarovich
35. M.Ladagnous
36. R.Pauriol
37. G.Rasch
38. A.Vichot
Movistar
41. V.Karpets
42. J.Castroviejo
43. R.Costa
44. J.Herrada
45. J.Iriarte
46. I.Konovalovas
47. Á.Madrazo
48. B.Samoilau
Farnese Vini
51. F.Pozzato
52. C.Benenati
53. D.Caccia
54. P.De Negri
55. L.Giordani
56. A.Guardini
57. L.Mazzanti
58. M.Rabottini
Euskaltel
61. M.Astarloza
62. G.Izagirre
63. J.J.Oroz
64. A.Pérez
65. R.Sicard
66. A.Sáez de Arregi
67. P.Urtasun
68. G.Verdugo
AUGANTIS
71. M.Biondo
72. A.Baranauskas
73. C.Beyer
74. A.Buividas
75. W.Cretskens
76. D.Dzervus
77. F.Goesinnen
78. M.Kvasina
1t4i
81. T.Veelers
82. K.De Kort
83. P.Gretsch
84. C.Ji
85. R.Kluge
86. T.Ludvigsson
87. R.Sinkeldam
88. A.Timmer
Astana
91. J.Guarnieri
92. A.Bazayev
93. F.Gavazzi
94. V.Iglinskiy
95. T.Kangert
96. S.Ponzi
97. S.Renev
98. E.Silin
UnitedHealthcare
101. R.Förster
102. H.Clarke
103. B.Day
104. C.Jones
105. J.Keough
106. K.Menzies
107. R.Sutherland
108. B.White
Androni
111. R.Ferrari
112. O.Bertazzo
113. A.De Marchi
114. G.Ermeti
115. F.Felline
116. E.Sella
117. J.Serpa
118. M.Ubeto
SpiderTech
121. H.Houle
122. R.Anderson
123. Z.Bell
124. L.Euser
125. R.Künzli
126. S.Lambert-Lemay
127. F.Parisien
128. R.Roth
Endura Racing
131. I.Camaño
132. J.Anderson
133. R.Partridge
134. E.Rowsell
135. P.Voss
136. A.Wetterhall
137. I.Wilkinson
Champion
141. G.Xu
142. C.Avery
143. J.Boillat
144. W.Clarke
145. K.Jiang
146. A.Kemps
147. B.Liu
148. C.Wurf
Nippo
151. M.A.Richeze
152. S.Campagnaro
153. H.Frusto
154. V.Garofalo
155. H.Nakane
156. K.Sakakibara
RusVelo
161. A.Ovechkin
162. N.Eskov
163. V.Kaykov
164. A.Khatuntsev
165. I.Kovalev
166. L.Krasnov
167. A.Serov
168. S.Valynin
Differdange
171. V.Kaupas
172. R.Broers
173. F.Dressler
174. K.Kohlvelter
175. A.Meenhorst
176. S.Weber
Stage 1: 145 km Barzan Towers - Doha Golf Club
Typical flat stage in Qatar, the sprint trains worked well not allowing a break to stay away till the end. For Augantis Biondo showed his decent form, getting a top ten and Goesinnen was feeling good.
Results:
Spoiler
1
Gerald Ciolek
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
3h11'41
2
Tom Veelers
Project 1t4i
s.t.
3
Simone Ponzi
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
4
Óscar Freire
Katusha Team
s.t.
5
Filippo Pozzato
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
6
Greg Henderson
Lotto Belisol Team
s.t.
7
Yauheni Hutarovich
FDJ - BigMat
s.t.
8
Maurizio Biondo
TEAM AUGANTIS VISAS PELSNAS
s.t.
9
Aaron Kemps
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
10
Robert Förster
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
Stage 2: Lisail - Lisail 11kk TTT
A team time trial today, will be interesting to see how Augantis go.
Bad result, Augantis showed the lack of synergy with the team and bikes finishing behing winners Movistar by 55 seconds, and in last place by 12 seconds. Positively, the experience is vital. We must get in a break tommorow!
Stage 3: Dukhan - Al Gharafa stadium 145.8kms.
After many attempts a 12 man break, including Augantis's Chad Beyer, was able to get away on an echelon day of racing.
The peloton was split into three or so groups with Augantis only having Maurizio Biondo in the first group which was comprised of around 39 riders.
Chad Beyer survived the longest in the break, being caught 2km further up the road from the others. This attack made Ciolek's lead out man Chicchi work hard to close down the break, which played into the hands of Biondo, who miraculously choose the perfect wheel of Ponzi. Biondo was strong enough to win, although Ciolek was gaining ground. Biondo showing terrific early season form with his second win.
Results:
Spoiler
1
Maurizio Biondo
TEAM AUGANTIS VISAS PELSNAS
3h25'46
2
Gerald Ciolek
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
3
Simone Ponzi
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
4
Óscar Freire
Katusha Team
s.t.
5
Yauheni Hutarovich
FDJ - BigMat
s.t.
6
Greg Henderson
Lotto Belisol Team
s.t.
7
Francesco Gavazzi
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
8
Robert Förster
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
9
Francesco Chicchi
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
10
Filippo Pozzato
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
Spoiler
1
Gerald Ciolek
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
6h52'24
2
Tom Veelers
Project 1t4i
+ 2
3
Vladimir Karpets
Movistar Team
+ 4
4
Simone Ponzi
Astana Pro Team
+ 7
5
José Herrada
Movistar Team
+ 9
6
Alexander Serov
RusVelo
s.t.
7
Valery Kaykov
RusVelo
s.t.
8
Greg Henderson
Lotto Belisol Team
+ 13
9
Lars Ytting Bak
Lotto Belisol Team
s.t.
10
Robert Partridge
Endura Racing
s.t.
Stage 4:
With no real winds today the peloton just had to be weary of the break, which was caught by Freire's team Katusha. Felline was the only person not to finish with the peloton as he tried to catch the break but never made the junction. Biondo showed well in a mass sprint wearing the continental white leaders jersey.
Stage 5:
Again another mass sprint, after a breakaway including riders under a minute of the lead were able to get a 5min plus advantage.
Stage 6:
The final stage, freire wins again as Ciolek wraps up the winners jersey in style.
With a stage win it is been a good tour of Qatar for Team Augantis, although as the team did not achieve a top ten finish the sponsors were not very happy at all. Team manager 'Evgeni' said "The sponsors should be happy, a stage win is surely better than finishing 9th or 10th overall. Biondo, the best placed Augantis rider 41st @ 1:17.
Results:
Spoiler
1
Gerald Ciolek
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
16h36'34
2
Óscar Freire
Katusha Team
+ 31
3
Tom Veelers
Project 1t4i
+ 34
4
Alexander Serov
RusVelo
+ 37
5
Simone Ponzi
Astana Pro Team
+ 39
6
Vladimir Karpets
Movistar Team
+ 44
7
Greg Henderson
Lotto Belisol Team
+ 53
8
Lars Ytting Bak
Lotto Belisol Team
s.t.
9
Robert Partridge
Endura Racing
s.t.
10
Alexander Khatuntsev
RusVelo
+ 54
Tour of Oman:
Augantis brings a similar squad to which they brought to Qatar. Biondo and Baranauskas are exchanged for Belohvosciks and Lasis. With no real team leader, breakaways should be the priority.
Stage 1:
A comprehensive stage win for Kittel. Of the GC contenders Cobo finished over 8 mins behind after puncturing. Augantis's Goesinnen 19th was the best finish in the team.
Stage 2:
A seven man break was able to get away today, including Goesinnen of Augantis. Two riders from Nippo tried to follow, but they never managed to bridge the gap. With 10km the break has just 1 minute of a gap, Floris Goesinnen sets off and it looks to be a great attack. With 5km the sprint trains are struggling to pull back Goesinnen who still has 1 minute of a gap with help from a tail wind. But with 3.5km to go, to Goesinnen's anger the road changes meaning Goesinnen is now riding in a cross wind. Farnese Vini and the project team pull back Goesinnen (17th) under the flamme rouge, Kittel wins again looking formidable.
Stage 3:
After the project team worked hard for Kittel, we launched his sprint way too early. Pippo Pozzato proved the fastest and look to be in good form at his new club. For Augantis Lasis was the best finisher in 23rd.
Stage 4:
A 12 man breakaway got away, including Augantis's Kvasina and Balliani of Nippo. From 90km to go, with heavy winds and rain, farnese vini started working really hard to close the break. Working for Pozzato, they closed down the break before the foothills of the climb up to Jabar al akhdar. Before the final climb small groups couldn't keep up with farnese vini's pace and started falling of the back of the peloton. Only four riders from Augantis were in the peloton. 8km before the final climb Pozzato went and attacked on the flat, followed by Nicki Sorenson of Saxo bank, all this was brought back at the bottom of the climb by the project team and astana. Up the climb Project14ti team were making pace despite having no real contenders for the finish. Kvasina, of Augantis. was still right at the front of the peloton after being out in the break. Then Joaquin Rodriguez attacked.
He quickly gained a gap of around one minute, the project team still on the front couldn't do anything. Then punchy attacks by Lastras, Paulinho, Kiserlovski and Pozzato came, none with the same class as rodriguez. Perhaps, Pozzato's team plan would have played off it it wasn't for Rodriguez being in great knick. Kvasina, stayed up to gain a great 13th place ahead of Scarponi, ahead of a hilly time trial tommorow.
Stage 5:
Stage 5 was the day of a very interesting time trial. Team Augantis seemed to be turning a lot of heads, largely due to the make up of the bikes. The whole team posted the quickest times at the first checkpoint, once the real GC contenders were on course was this chain broken. Unfortunately for Augantis, decending wasn't so spectacular, most of the riders lost all of their gains on the decent. In the end the top few times were only seperated by a few seconds, the stage deservedly going to Jose Ivan Gutierrez, with no real change on the GC. Augantis were very happy with Chad Beyer who finished 10th on the stage, Kvasina finished 20th @29 seconds, staying at 13th on the GC.
Stage 6:
The final stage has arrived. Early on an 18 man breakaway tried to get away, but CSS wouldn't allow it, it included Dzervus who claimed 1st place on the mountain sprint. With 100km a 6 man break was allowed to get away. Wu survived longest being caught under the flamme rouge. Kittel was led out well and claimed another impressive victory, Freire finished in 2nd place and gained another seconds to move from 14th to 13th above Kvasina from Augantis. Kvasina (38th) was the best placed rider on the day.
Results:
Spoiler
1
Joaquím Rodríguez
Katusha Team
18h06'04
2
Pablo Lastras
Movistar Team
+ 1'16
3
Filippo Pozzato
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
+ 1'38
4
Robert Kiserlovski
Astana Pro Team
+ 2'08
5
Iván Gutiérrez
Movistar Team
+ 2'46
6
Enrico Gasparotto
Astana Pro Team
+ 2'51
7
Andriy Grivko
Astana Pro Team
+ 3'00
8
Damiano Cunego
Lampre - ISD
+ 3'09
9
Ángel Vicioso
Katusha Team
+ 3'11
10
Sérgio Paulinho
Team Saxo Bank
+ 3'14
11
Esteban Chavez
Colombia - Coldeportes
+ 3'21
12
Robinson Chalapud
Colombia - Coldeportes
+ 3'27
13
Óscar Freire
Katusha Team
+ 3'35
14
Matija Kvasina
TEAM AUGANTIS VISAS PELSNAS
+ 3'37
15
Michele Scarponi
Lampre - ISD
+ 3'43
Spoiler
1
Filippo Pozzato
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
95
2
Marcel Kittel
Project 1t4i
82
3
Óscar Freire
Katusha Team
69
4
Anuar Manan
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
55
5
Pablo Lastras
Movistar Team
53
Spoiler
1
Joaquím Rodríguez
Katusha Team
20
2
Pablo Lastras
Movistar Team
14
3
Robert Kiserlovski
Astana Pro Team
12
4
Filippo Pozzato
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
10
5
Iván Gutiérrez
Movistar Team
8
Best young rider: Esteben Chavez @ 40 seconds over 2nd place Kittel.
Best team: Katusha, 48 seconds over Movistar.
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
As the tour of andalucia was on, Augantis sent seven of its riders to Roubaix to practice for the upcoming cobbled races. The first of which was the omloop van Nieuwsblad, where there were was a field of some of the best riders in the world.
Start List:
In the early stages a lot of riders were exiting the peloton, whether it by breakaway attempts or punctures and crashes. The first real break was established 80km into the race. It was a really capable break though, with Develder, A Davis and Guesdon.
On the second cobbled section Offredo managed to bridge across to this lead group from another break, none of which including Bruseghin and Degand could follow, the break managed to quickly pull out time and by 100km to go had an advantage of about 5:00. It grew to a maximimum time of 6:30 with about 79km to go before, Quickstep, Garmin and Lambouwkrediet started to rider.
Guesdon leads the break in harsh conditions.
With 50km to go the pelton started to fracture all over the place. The front group been driven along consisted of about 27 riders, including Cretskens, but excluded Hushovd and all Team Sky riders. With 30km to go the break was down to about 22 riders, four riders inclusing Langeveldt, Paolini and Bonnet joined the front group of 22 riders after breaking away from a chasing group being led by team sky. With 16km the two FDJ riders in the break tried to attack but didn't count on Devolder being the strongest in the break and he was the last to survive. At this time the gap back to the group of 25, Paolini punctured, was over 2mins. Cretskens, Augantis, thought the pace was too slow and tried to attack, this made the quickstep team severly up the pace, and other attacks from Bonnet, Chavanel and Cretskens again meant the break was caught inside the last 3km to go. De Waele comes out of the cobbled section with 1km to go in great position, but Degenkolb then Breschel come flying past, in the dying meters Breschel looks assured of victory then Boonen comes from nowhere to take the win. Crestkens is the best finisher for Augantis finishing 8th.
Dzerves and Lassis fail to finish for Augantis.
Great support everyone. There can't be a more supportive community than the cycling community in the world.
Im always on the look out for tips and advice on how to improve aswell.
Then I'll give you 1 tip: you're screenshots now are in .png format. Please change them into .jpg (e.g. with paint.net), as it takes forever to load .png screens from a race-report.
More tips can be given when you are continuing the story with race-reports. Most important: do the things you enjoy!
Stage 1: Prologue
Short, the prologue may be, but that is not a pseudonym for easy, the last 2 kilmeters are particularly difficult. Augantis, sent a six man squad, mostly to get riders into form. Ben Jacques - Maynes was the first man off for Augantis and he set the best time by 15 seconds, the team really had great tactics attacking the decent hard and giving all up the climb. Jacques - Maynes watched rider after rider pass, but none challenging his time successfully. For a prologue, Jacques - Maynes won the stage with a large margin, 5 seconds over Fuglsang and 7 seconds over Kazakh TT champion teammate Gruzdev on his first day of racing of the season.
The team manager had this to say "We know Ben is capable of these performances and we are overjoyed by the result, in the coming days the team are going to ride for him."
Result:
Stage 2:
With Ben Jacques - Maynes in yellow, the one priority for Augantis today was to protect the jersey. In the first few kilometeres a 11 man break was established, including Doi, Veilleux and Jose Mendes. With many Augantis riders out of postition at the start it was a challenge getting to the front of the peloton on the hilly terrain. By the bottom of the first climb Augantis riders were in postition.
At the start of the first climb Movistar and Radioshack, mainly Zaugg, were setting pace with the break reaching a maximum time gap of 3:30 over the peloton.
Half way up the monster first climb Baranauskaus and Andy Jacques - Maynes (working for his brother) were setting a very good pace. Ben Jacques - Maynes looked fairly comfortable behind Lhotellerie, who was protecting him. With 5km to the top of the climb, under pressure from Augantis 36 riders dropped off the peloton, including Gruzdev and Bernatonis of Augantis. By the time the riders reached the top of the climb only 54 riders remained in the peloton.
On to the second climb and Augantis set pace all the way to the top, Andy giving all for his brother. By the summit there was around a 2:30 gap to the break, with 39 riders now left in the peloton.
On to the final intermediate sprint, the gap is still around 2 minutes, Baranauskas and Andy are working really hard for Augantis. With 15km to go Movistar take up the chase, downhill mostly, the gap is still over 1:30. Then Lhotellerie sets a really hard pace, managing to close the break down in the last 3 kilometers.
As Lhotellerie is still on the front, behind the pace slows right down. Then Andy Shleck, with Fuglsang in his wheel, catches everyone by suprise, and opens up a big gap. Ben Jacques - Maynes is on the wheel of Kiryienka which turns out to be a bad move. Fuglsang is perfectly delivered to the line for the stage and the jersey, Andy Shleck hangs on for a Radioshack one - two. Jacques - Maynes finishes back in thirteenth after being caught out in the scrappy sprint.
General after stage:
Spoiler
1
Jakob Fuglsang
RadioShack - Nissan
4h49'56
2
Ben Jacques-Maynes
TEAM AUGANTIS VISAS PELSNAS
+ 15
3
Andy Schleck
RadioShack - Nissan
+ 23
4
David Veilleux
Team Europcar
+ 24
5
Rory Sutherland
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
+ 26
Stage 3:
Stage 3 saw a hilly stage, with a deceptive uphill finish for a climax. After many attempts for a break, no riders managed to get away as Movistar and Radioshack (thinking of GC) were setting a fast pace. Two riders, from contintental spanish teams managed to get away after the first categorised climb. This left one (2 second bonus) at the intermediate sprint point, which Ben Jacques- Maynes won without being contested.
On a stage, which would be considered breakaway terrain, the two man break weren't allowed a gap more than 1:30. Mid way up the second narrow climb, the peloton splits, In the first group the Augantis riders left are the jacques-maynes's and an on form Baranauskas. On to the final climb the breakaway are swallowed up as riders continue to drop of the back on by one. On the decent, despite a high pace from the peloton, attacks start with Rojas and suprisingly Baranauskas, but there not sustained. With 10km to go Rojas, Salgueiro, Pozzovivo, De Koort attack. They gain about 1 minute. Then with 3km to go Fuglsang attacks, Ben Jacques - Maynes is in his wheel but cant follow and explodes. The hard racing taking its toll. Rojas is the strongest and goes on to win from an onform Fuglsang. Baranaukas finished 33rd at 1:34 whil Ben Jacques Maynes crossed the line shattered 44th @ 2:00, most likely losing any aspirations of an overall victory.
General after stage:
1
Jakob Fuglsang
RadioShack - Nissan
9h16'17
2
Rory Sutherland
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
+ 35
3
Linus Gerdemann
RadioShack - Nissan
+ 1'00
4
Marc De Maar
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
+ 1'02
5
Andy Schleck
RadioShack - Nissan
+ 1'15
Stage 4:
A thirteen man break got away but it was always under control. Team Augantis didn't show today. Lamboukrediet, UHC and Movistar brought back the break. Rojas wins his second stage in a row.
Baranauskas was the best finisher in 46th.
Stage 5:
The final stage suited breakaways more than yesterday and Augantis were determined to get in one. Baranauskas @ 2:02 off the lead wasn't allowed to get away but Bernatonis managed to get in an 11man break. However, the peloton brought it back with 12km to go setting up a final sprint. Rojas, who looked the fastest comfortably, was beaten by Traksel who was in a much better position.
Ben Jacques-Maynes was the best placed in 46th.
Results:
Spoiler
[center]
1
Jakob Fuglsang
RadioShack - Nissan
17h26'37
2
Rory Sutherland
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
+ 35
3
Linus Gerdemann
RadioShack - Nissan
+ 1'00
4
Marc De Maar
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
+ 1'02
5
Andy Schleck
RadioShack - Nissan
+ 1'15
6
Vladimir Karpets
Movistar Team
+ 1'16
7
Jérôme Coppel
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
8
Jonathan Castroviejo
Movistar Team
+ 1'21
9
Maxime Monfort
RadioShack - Nissan
s.t.
10
David Veilleux
Team Europcar
+ 1'22
24
Aivaras Baranauskas
TEAM AUGANTIS VISAS PELSNAS
+ 2'02
28
Ben Jacques-Maynes
TEAM AUGANTIS VISAS PELSNAS
+ 2'07
[/center
]
Green Jersey: Fuglsang
Mountain Jersey: Veilleux
Young Rider: Castroviejo
Team: Radioshack
Edited by The Rider on 15-03-2012 16:36
Story post #5
1 day 3 races, for the first time Team Augantis has a triple race program.
Classic de Almeria
Here Augantis sent the same team that was in Andalucia with the additions of Joeaar and Vasilev who will ride their first race of the season.
Due to Movistar and Endura no riders were able to get away untill the half way mark in this stage, probably because a long downhill favoured a break. As it started to go uphill at about 90 km from the finish Goncalves (onda) went on the attack. Shortly followed by Ben Jacques-Maynes (Augantis) who was feeling really good. They gained a gap of 1 minute before 5 riders tried to join them. Including a pre race favourite Gustavo Cesar. By the summit of the climb with 58km to go, 2 riders dropped off, the gap 4mins back to the peloton. Despite Movistar and Euskaltel's best efforts they weren't able to claw any time back on the desent, if anything they lost twenty seconds. Into the last 12km, the break knew they wouldn't be caught an started playing cat and mouse. The pace slackoned and Cesar went on the attack with Jacques Maynes in the wheel but Boily shut it down immediately.
Into the finish. The order of the riders: Goncalves then Porto then Boily then Cesar then Jacques Maynes. Goncalves went way to early and floundered. Cesar came past Boilly, Jacques-Maynes wasn't fast enough and takes the stage over a unfortunate Boilly who perhaps looked stronger. Jacques-Maynes, 3rd place, is producing great early season results/
Classic Sarda Sassari - Cagliari
In a field of only 110 riders, Rebellin was won of the favourites despite this being his first race of the season. A lot of teams only brought a few riders. A break managed to get away with 7 riders including Cataldo, but was swallowed up inside the last 15km. Approaching the final climb Hulsmans, the only rider for farnese vini, attacked on the steep hill, the front group down to about 20 riders including: Kvasina, Biondo,Finetto and Rebellin of Augantis. Astana bring Hulsmans back then Mori attacks, Gasparotto sets a fast pace and then launches his sprint, few riders can take the pace. Gasparotto goes on to win on the finish that was tailer made for Rebellin if he was on form.
Les Boules du sud ardeche - Souvenir Francis Delpech
Here Augantis sent the same team which was at Niewsblad with Kondrotas in for Dzervus. Ivanov (Augantis) was given the no.1 in the race.
A thirteen man break managed to get away. As soon as the peloton got to the hilly terrain splits in the peloton started occuring all the time, Augantis missed all of the early splits. With about 55km to go Augantis put Beyer and Goesinnen on the front for Ivanov, setting a hard pace, realising the break wasn't coming down. These riders along with Dumoulin, Moncoutie, Riblon and Shipilevsky managed to break off the front of the peloton. With 20km to go the original break was swallowed up. Then Ivanov dropped back to the 20 rider chasing group. With 10km to go a group of 11 riders was out ahead, Beyer dropped back, Goesinnen looked good. With 5km to go Dumoulin attacked, no one could follow and he goes on to win, Goesinnen took a great 2nd place outsprinting the others. Beyer and Ivanov also finished in the top 15 in 11th and 12th respectively.
End of month summary:
Other races:
Besseges - Martens
Etruschi - Viviani
Mallorca - Gerdemann
Mediterranean - De Maar
Algarve - Westra
Haut var - Schierlinckx
Laigueglia - Ovechkin
Sardegna - J Rodriguez
Lugano - Gatto
di Lugano - Giavani Visconto
Kuurne Bruxelles Kuurne - Nuyens
Edited by The Rider on 17-03-2012 17:53
The first race of march for Augantis is le Samyn. The favourites included Schierlinckx, Vaitkus and Cretskens (Augantis). Augantis brought the same team as the previous races in Belgium.
Upon reaching the first set of narrow hills, 28 riders were tailed off the back of the peloton. They lost five minutes in total, including Ivanov and Tombak (Augantis) who were outsiders for the stage. Dzervus and Tombak managed to bring the group back to the peloton.
Approaching the first set of cobbles a 12 man break was ahead with five riders including Y popovych tried to join it. Augantis fought this was too dangerous and used up Goesinnen to bring everything back.
With 60km to go and no break Serguei Ivanov went on the attack, J Coenen, Popovych, Van Hecke and Vanspeybrouk(both of Topsport) also went on the attack. Gaining a gap of 3:30 with 40km to go. The peloton had now split into a number of groups the front group consisted of 45 riders. 4 from Augantis.
With 20km to go the gap was still 2:00, Ivanov decided to attack on the last cobbled section with Van Hecke in his wheel. Van Hecke countered and was looking the strongest, the winner was going to come from the break. Inside the last 2km Van Hecke was swallowed up by Coenen and Popovych, in the sprint it was between Popoych and Vanspeybrouck (the latter) was faster and takes a great win.
Tour of Murcia
Team Augantis squad:
Finetto, Anza, Rebellin. Kvasina, Pidgornny, B Jacques-Maynes, Gruzdev, Lhotellerie
An 11man break was able to get away. Gaining 8:30 max. With 40km to go the break looked to be under control with a 4min gap. NSP, UHC, Augantis and Radioshack were the main protoganists in shutting down the break that included Martias and Delio Fernandez.
With 15km the break was almost entirely in the peloton, except for Delio Fernandez who had a few seconds advantage. Entering the steep down, Augantis were the only team working, Fernandez was able to desend much quicker and he just hung on to the stage win for onda. Most of the peloton crossed the line with the same time with Scarponi, Frank Schleck and Rebellin making the back markers.
Stage 2:
Early on a 10 man break managed to get away.Marino (Orbea) was having a bad day and retreated back to the peloton. At the half way mark a number of riders attacked and tried to bridge for 4minute gap with Onda setting pace on the peloton. Txurruka was successful so was Pidgornyy and Pimienta. On the Zarzadilla the break had an advantage of less than a minute in very windy conditions. On to the final climb (The Bermejo) Movistar start to set pace and catch the last remainding breakaway rider Brice Fellieu. Then Lastras attacks followed by Monfort then De Maar and Karpets attack, Lastras is the strongest and decends strongly to take the win.
Lhotellerie was the best finisher for Augantis in 12th, coming home in a group of 4o.
Stage 3: Time trial
Rounding off a miserable tour of Murcia was a 12km TT. Gretsh set the fastest time and that looked unbeatable untill Castroviejo destroyed the course.
Results:
Spoiler
1
Pablo Lastras
Movistar Team
9h30'52
2
Maxime Monfort
RadioShack - Nissan
+ 10
3
Vladimir Karpets
Movistar Team
+ 49
4
Marc De Maar
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
+ 52
5
Jonathan Castroviejo
Movistar Team
+ 1'08
6
Iván Gutiérrez
Movistar Team
+ 1'23
7
Gustavo César Veloso
Andalucía
+ 1'29
8
Tiago Machado
RadioShack - Nissan
s.t.
9
Vasil Kiryienka
Movistar Team
+ 1'32
10
Matija Kvasina
TEAM AUGANTIS VISAS PELSNAS
+ 1'35
Nokere - Nokere
At about the half way stage 2 breaks managed to get away. Four riders including Vanspeybrouek were at the front, a 6 man group including Tuft and Rosselar never managed to bridge the gap. From about 60km to go with a gap of about 5mins the peloton started working hard. Accent Jobs (working for hot favourite Scheierlinckx), Project 1t4i team and Augantis were setting the pace. Augantis's Ivanov was one of the race favourites but they were working for inform Cretskens on this windy day. With 30km to go race favourite Schierlinckx attacked, Project team and Augantis tried to shut him down but he was very strong. With 20km to go four riders ahead with a minute gap, Cameron Meier was spent and dropped back to the peloton. With 10km to go Schierlinckx rode away from his breakaway companions as attacks started coming from the peloton. Westra, Veucheulon and Veelers attacked, Veelers reached Schierlinckx then amazingly Schierlinckx attacked Veelers. With 4km to go it all came back together. Alot of riders started there sprint really early, Cretskens was about 15 riders back marking Westra, Degenkolb sprinted and got a gap over the chasers, Cretskens attacked and was too strong for everyone over the cobbles, but narrowly fails to beat Degenkolb who takes the win.
GP de Cholet
A quality break was able to go straight to the finish, thanks to a crash 20km from the finish in the main bunch. Van Vooren narrowly outsprinted Hivert to get the win, Dzervus (Augantis) got 7th on the stage.
In other news:
Cancelllara will miss the spring classics, out till the end of april.
Team Augantis were awarded a willcard into there first top tour race, which will be the tour of flanders.
The sponser search is going well, American Express are in contact.
Criterium International
Stage 1:
On this epic stage a 6man break got away, eventually massing to ten riders. Including Biondo (Augantis) who took all sprint points, Greg Henderson, Bravo (Rural) who will be in the mountain jersey after seeing off the challenge from Ojelnik. The break gained a maximum gap of around 8:50, Garmin and Cofidis controlled the peloton. With 105km to go Tankink and Pinot attacked they bridged to the break on the last climb before the finish, replacing two riders in the break who were fatigued. On the base of the last climb (col de l'ospedale) the break had a gap of around 2:20. With 8km to go it was all back together.
Then Ryder Hesjedal goes on the attack, Sanchez Pimineta tries to go with him but can't. Moncoutie,Voeckler are the closest but today are not in the same league. Lhotellerie (17th) @5:15 was the best finisher for Augantis, whose sponsors set the challenge of finishing in the top 10 in the race as a target.
Stage 2:
This stage was one for the sprinters. The only real notable flat out sprinter present was Greg Henderson, so Biondo was one of the top outsiders for the stage. 14 riders tried to get away on the short course, Augantis shut this down as it was deemed to dangerous. Approaching the sprint point, two men were just ahead of the peloton, Biondo and Henderson go for the sprint but only one place is to fight for, Biondo claims it. Six riders the attack forming the only real break of the day. With 10km to go, Augantis and Pidgornyy were trying to claw back the 50 seconds to the break, with no support from anyone else. Rebellin (feeling good) takes up the chase, going into the end of the race Rebellin pulls off as the break are in distance, Garmin take it up. The sprint is on, Biondo is on Rebellin's wheel, sprint trains try to forge on but Rebellin can match there pace and launches Biondo at the perfect time, Henderson (on Biondo's wheel) tries to come past but runs out of road, Biondo takes a great victory for Augantis.
Stage 3: Time Trial.
Jos Van Emden set the fastest time early on, by twenty seconds. From then on riders such as, Gruzdev, Kvasina, Gazvoda, Henderson and Biondo gradually took seconds off the time.
'Augantis's Kazakh TT champion Gruzdev going on to set a decent time.'
Then the GC contenders came, Barredo,going on to win by the smallest of margins.
Results:
Spoiler
1
Ryder Hesjedal
Garmin - Barracuda
7h58'40
2
Thomas Voeckler
Team Europcar
+ 2'05
3
David Moncoutié
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
+ 2'12
4
Carlos Barredo
Rabobank Cycling Team
+ 3'24
5
Christophe Le Mével
Garmin - Barracuda
+ 3'50
6
Jérôme Coppel
Saur - Sojasun
+ 4'11
7
Pierre Rolland
Team Europcar
+ 4'12
8
Alexandre Geniez
Project 1t4i
+ 4'17
9
Sandy Casar
FDJ - BigMat
+ 4'46
10
Christophe Kern
Team Europcar
+ 5'05
Green Jersely:Biondo
Mountain Jersey: Bravo
Young Rider Jersey: Geniez
Team: Europcar
Other results:
Giro Del Friuli: Marcato
veste van Vlaandaren-Degenkolb
Bianchi: Sabatini
Paris Nice: J Rodriguez
Tirreno: N Roche
Milan San Remo: Cavendish
Catalunya: Kreuziger
Bartali: Gatto
Dwars door Vlanaderen: Flecha
E3: Boonen
Gent-Wavelgem: VanSummeren
KBC: Boonen
Edited by The Rider on 24-03-2012 17:45
Here Team Augantis sent a relatively 'weak' squad. Sokolov was the team leader and managed to get into a 5man break with Bertogliati and Dennis Vanendert. It all rounded up in a selected bunch sprint, Gruzdev 29th @1:119 was the best finisher for Team Augantis.
Results:
1st Ghyselinck
2nd Tankink
3rd Commeyne
GP de Miguel Indurain
Rebellin showed well, feeling good on the day despite not being in the best of form. The finishing group formed on the last longish climb, with plenty of attacks. Rebellin looked strong in the finish, if he was on the right wheel he could have taken his first victory for Augantis.
Results:
ataran Lang- Kuah 93.2 kms
