Late 2008...
Late in 2008 a large Dutch electronics company, no one less than Philips, announced that during the last months a new cyclist team was build, consisting of a small group of unknown young Dutch riders. One hopes to gain some experience throughout the year and sign several riders able to compete in Continental Tour...
At the same time, a small Food Company from Great Britain was reported to be interested in sponsoring a young cycling team if there would be space for British youngsters. However, since there are not much British riders, and there is not much money, building an own team would be far beyond their possibilities. The guys involved in planning the team were more then lucky when they heard about the new Philips team, and even more lucky when Philips reacted positive to an invitation of Redwood Wholefood Company to come to England and talk about cycling...
Things went fine throughout the meeting and both sides were glad to announce that they've found a partner to build up a cycling team, one that allowed for development of young riders from Great Britain and the Netherlands, and can compete in the Continental Tour.
Licences were paid and the team could look out for some more promising riders from UK and Netherlands. Rumours spread that Martijn Keizer, former team mate of Lars Boom and Theo Bos, has signed a contract.
Edited by manindemaan on 05-09-2009 23:35
January 2009
In January, the riders went on short holiday with some training, but more importantly to get to know each other. This also gave the team organisation the opportunity to present the team to the public for the first time, who could be signed, and what can be expected of the team.
The young riders of the team, who all are from the Netherlands, didn't impress the audience, which was no surprise. There are 12 young Dutch riders who try to get a secure place in the team. Furthermore, there are some riders who come from minor Dutch teams, and some who come from the Rabobank Continental Team. Among them are Martijn Keizer, Jetse Bol, Wout Poels, and Ramon Sinkeldam. It is not sure yet what type of races they will ride, but as they all are still young there is still time to observe them. The same is true for Tomas Swift, except he's from Britain.
There are five more riders in the team, three from UK, two from the Netherlands:
The UK guys who impressed our scouts in hilly races are Daniel Lloyd and Chris Froomme. Also from the UK is the sprinter of our team, Jonathan Bellis.
Especially proud to announce is the team of signing two leaders from the Netherlands:
Kai Reus and Lars Boom, both former riders at Rabobank. Kai is our small stage race rider, who likes stages the steeper the better. Lars Boom is no nobody, as national champion and winner of several races in 2008. He had the chance to go to the Rabobank ProTour Team, but with Redwood – Philips he has a guaranteed leaders role in every race he participates, and the team will be build with him as a key leader.
The Australian Championship was won by Cadel Evans (Road) and Michael Rogers (ITT). The Tour Down Under, which we were not invited for, was won by Tom Boonen – three stages were won by Robby McEwen, who could only finished 103rd in GC.
Our first race will be the Grand Prix Cycliste la Marseillaise, and, starting the same day, the Tour de Qatar. We might meet some great teams, and maybe achieve some minor results.
Two stage races are of especial importance for us this year: It's the Tour of Britain, where Redwood likes to see us win some stages, and the Ster Elektrotoer, where Philips wants us to show some good sprint results as well.
List of ridersEdited by manindemaan on 02-08-2009 15:15
It's February, 1st, and that means it's the first day of Tour of Qatar 2009. Our Redwood – Philips Team is taking part in the race, competing with great teams like Astana, Quick Step and Caisse d'Epargne.
Our riders for the race are:
Jonathan Bellis (Leader, Sprinter), Martijn Keizer, Ramon Sinkeldam, Jetse Bol, Serge Kreekers, Ed Meulensteen, Stef van Raalte, and Ignacio Dubbeldeman
Stage 1 – Doha TTT 12km flat
The opening stage of this years Tour de Qatar was a 12km TTT in the capital Doha. It was a rainy day and our riders had some troubles forming a good train. We finished 15th at 1'10'', only 20 seconds behind Astana.
Results 1st stage (TTT)
1. Caisse d'Epargne 14'02''
2. Team Katusha +8''
3. Garmin-Slipstream +22''
4. Team Designa Kokken +22''
5. Quick Step +39''
6. BMC Racing Team +39''
7. Skil – Shimano +44''
8. PSK Whirlpool – Author +50''
9. Astana Cycling Team +50''
10. Rock Racing +1'01''
…
15. Redwood – Philips +1'10''
Sky was blue when 155 riders went to the start of the Grand Prix Cycliste la Marseillaise. It is the first time that Lars Boom will wear our jersey and we hope to see him somewhere in the front at the end of the day. The stage is fairly flat, but it does contain enough hills to be too hard for pure sprinters, and there could be a tough fight towards the finish. Lars will be protected by Wout Poels, while the other riders have to chase dangerous riders and gain some experience in controlling the pack. So far the theory...
In the first half of the race, our young team was able to control the pack and even chased down an early brakeaway containing Alexander Efimkin.
From a later brakeaway, Oscar Sevillia was the last man who stayed away from the pack, and at that time most of our riders were tired and fell back. Lars still was accompanied by Wout, who, however, didn't looked well facing the last hill of today.
At the summit of this hill it was Lars who went out to attack, and with the descent made up of lots of sharp turns he quickly made a gap of ten or more seconds.
Back in the pack it got dangerous, after several riders fell independent of each other. Luckily, most of them could get back on their bike, and none of our riders was involved in a crash.
At the same time Lars did a solo ride to the finish. The first victory for Redwood – Philips!
Some 30 seconds later it was Thomas Voeckler who won the sprint of the pack.
Results:
1 Lars Boom Redwood - Philips 3h23'21
2 Thomas Voeckler Bbox Bouygues Telecom + 38
3 Petr BenÄÃÂk PSK Whirlpool - Author s.t.
4 Christian Poos Differdange s.t.
5 Aurelien Duval Française des Jeux s.t
6 Dennis Van Winden Rabobank CT s.t.
7 David Millar Garmin - Slipstream s.t.
8 Romain Feillu Agritubel s.t.
9 Lloyd Mondory AG2R La Mondiale s.t.
10 Laurent Mangel Besson Chaussures - Sojasun s.t.
Thanks matt. Seeing this I'm a bit worried whether they'll be of any help in longer races.
beagle, I guess you're right. But maybe some teams just stopped relaying since their leaders were involved in the crashes on the final hill, as happened with Steegmans/Quick Step.
manindemaan wrote:
But maybe some teams just stopped relaying since their leaders were involved in the crashes on the final hill, as happened with Steegmans/Quick Step.
it´s not question of relaying, but counter-attacking. Anyway promising story, keep it up!
Tour of Qatar: Stage 2 – Al Zubarah - Doha Golf Club (138km, flat)
Our riders were in good mood after Lars' success the day before in Marseilles when they signed in for today's stage of 138km from Al Zubarah to Doha, with temperatures around 35 degree Celsius.
The first 40km of the stage were dominated by several attacks and a high pace of the peloton, which finally let go two riders, Rene Haselbacher (Vorarlberg) and Andrew Pinfold (OUCH).
With 60km to go they had made a gap of 3 minutes, when the pack started to relay. 10Km ahead in the race, Alexandre Pliuschin (AG2R) attacked from the pack, with Kevin van Impe (QuickStep) in his wheel, and quickly made a gap of more than a minute.
Twenty seconds in front of the pack Pliuschin and Sinkedam tried to hold them off, and another 20 seconds ahead was van Impe.
With 3 km to go, the duo was caught, as was van Impe when PSK Whirlpool finally opened the sprint for Danielo Hondo and Jonathan Bellis jumped into the wheel of Fred Rodriguez (Rock Racing), who had troubles holding the wheel of Hondo.
Danielo set on to sprint, Fred followed and Jonathan looked promising – maybe he can sprint towards a place on the podium? Only Janek Tombak is in between him and a 3rd place..
From behind Ignatiev is coming closer (he's hidden in the picture above), Jonathan cannot hold the wheel any longer...
Danilo Hondo crosses the line with a large margin, followed by Fred Rodriguez and Janek Tombak finishing 3rd. Ignatiev could pass Jonathan, as did Markus Zberg. Still, with a 6th place in the sprint Jonathan achieved more than expected, and – even it looked more promising in between – we felt pretty well with the outcome.
Tour of Qatar: Stage 3 – Camel Race Track - Qatar Foundation
Today we face another flat stage with temperatures up to 40° C and a strong wind, that towards the end of the stage was blowing right into the riders faces. 14 riders got away in breakaways, two (Gaztanaga, Guldhammer) in front, with another duo (Valentini, Escuela) behind them, and a group of ten riders with the most prominent name Floyd Landis. Sinkeldam tried to get into the break, but he was not able to hold the high pace in front and fell back in the peloton.
The break never got away very far, and with 50 km to go, there was a split in the pack, leading to a group with GC leader Sanchez (C. d'Epargne), Hulsmans (QuickStep), Goesinnen (Skil), Perez, and Amador (both C. d'Epargne). And six of our riders, including the most important guys Jonathan Bellis and Martijn Keizer. Our team rode how they should have done in the opening TTT of the tour, surprised most other riders in their group, got away and could catch up with group Landis quickly. However, the action did cost a lot of energy, and our four helpers couldn't keep up with the others any more, meaning Jonathan and Martijn were on their own from now on. Still, especially Jonathan, they did worked hard to hold off the various groups which were reported following them after the strong wind blew up the peloton.
The strongest of these groups included several riders of Club Bourgas and PSK Whirlpool, and Mikahel Ignatiev (Katusha). With about 30 km to go, they chased in the group around Jonathan and Martijn, forming a group of 33 riders, and only the two riders from the early breakaway left to chase in, which did not took them very long. The packs speed was controlled by BMC and Rock Racing, but it didn't take very long before they gave up chasing the strong group up in front...
The race now was really exciting. Some riders of the leading group, especially Floyd Landis, tried to break away about 10 km from the finish, but the strong wind and high pace didn't let them go. A sprint train was formed by PSK, with Padour in front and Hondo in his wheel. Jonathan could jump into the wheel of Danielo Hondo, who could win yesterday, and behind him Dempster and Tombak from Club Bourgas. Martijn Keizer hang on onto the wheel of Tombak, as the remaining riders made no attempt to follow the train. This way there was a gap, and Ignatiev asked his team mate Vandenbergh to close it. But the others were already gone...
Dempster lost the wheel of Jonathan, Tombaks chances ruined. Martijn noticed the problem, passed the two, but had done too much already to play a role in the sprint.
Padour in the front, Hondo following, in his wheel Jonathan. Hondo goes out into the wind, passes Padour, Jonathan still in his wheel, Tombak closing up from behind, Martijn out of sight. The line in sight, Jonathan gives it a try, facing the wind, and he felt strong..
With every turn of the paddle he came closer to the front, and as Hondo saw Jonathan next next to him he couldn't believe his eyes. He knew he had lost, beaten by a 20-year-old boy from Douglas.
Jonathan took the win with more than a bike's length. Hondo fell back to 4th, Padour 3rd place, and Tombak got 2nd in the end. The group of Sanchez and Landis finished one minute later, the peloton two. However, several riders between the group Sanchez and the sprinters caused that the whole group around Sanchez got the same time in the end and Sanchez keeps the yellow jersey. Martijn finished 5th, after superb work throughout the final phase of the stage. All other riders of our team were far behind the peloton, but most of them could stay in the peloton until about 15 km from the line.
Finish Top 10 1 Jonathan Bellis Redwood - Philips 3h11'43
2 Janek Tombak Cycling Club Bourgas s.t.
3 Frantisek Padour PSK Whirlpool - Author s.t.
4 Danilo Hondo PSK Whirlpool - Author s.t. 5 Martijn Keizer Redwood - Philips s.t.
6 David Tanner Rock Racing s.t.
7 Zak Dempster Cycling Club Bourgas s.t.
8 Mikhail Ignatiev Team Katusha s.t.
9 Stijn Vandenbergh Team Katusha s.t.
10 Jose Vicente GarcÃa Acosta Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
After the race Jonathan and Martijn talked with the other riders, thanking them for their support and invited them for dinner when it cooled down in the evening. They may not show up in the results lists, but without them, Jonathan and Martijn do know, they had had a hard time to get in the leading group.
General classement
1 Luis León Sánchez Caisse d'Epargne 6h18'38
2 Jose Vicente GarcÃa Acosta Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
3 Mikhail Ignatiev Team Katusha + 8
4 Stijn Vandenbergh Team Katusha s.t.
5 Nikolai Trussov Team Katusha s.t.
6 Danilo Hondo PSK Whirlpool - Author + 31
7 Antonio Cruz BMC Racing Team + 40
8 Frantisek Padour PSK Whirlpool - Author + 43
9 Janek Tombak Cycling Club Bourgas + 49
10 Martin Mareš PSK Whirlpool - Author + 51 12 Jonathan Bellis Redwood - Philips s.t.
24 Martijn Keizer Redwood - Philips + 1'11
153 Ramon Sinkeldam Redwood - Philips + 8'11
154 Ed Meulensteen Redwood - Philips + 10'16
155 Serge Kreekels Redwood - Philips + 12'14
156 Jetse Bol Redwood - Philips + 12'55
157 Stef van Raalte Redwood - Philips + 13'48
158 Ignacio Dubbeldeman Redwood - Philips + 21'27
Sprints
1 Danilo Hondo PSK Whirlpool - Author 14 39
2 Janek Tombak Cycling Club Bourgas 20 36 3 Jonathan Bellis Redwood - Philips 25 35
4 Frantisek Padour PSK Whirlpool - Author 16 25
5 Mikhail Ignatiev Team Katusha 8 22
6 Fred Rodriguez Rock Racing 0 20
7 Markus Zberg BMC Racing Team 0 12
8 Mikel Gaztañaga Contentpolis - Ampo 12 12 9 Martijn Keizer Redwood - Philips 12 12
10 David Tanner Rock Racing 10 10
Young riders GC
1 Mikhail Ignatiev Team Katusha 6h18'46
2 Stijn Vandenbergh Team Katusha + 0
3 Nikolai Trussov Team Katusha + 0
4 Frantisek Padour PSK Whirlpool - Author + 35
5 Petr Kubias PSK Whirlpool - Author + 43 6 Jonathan Bellis Redwood - Philips + 43
Tour of Qatar
Stage 4: Khalifa Stadium – Al Khor Corniche
It's already the fourth stage today, and that means that half of the stages is completed. The last two stages were tiring, not just for us, but also for the other teams. While there were still strong winds, most of the time the riders had the wind in their back, meaning it would play a less big role compared to the last two stages.
Early in the race a few riders broke away from the pack, among them Ramon Sinkeldam, who today managed to keep in the break, at least for a while. There was Kiryenka, team mate of GC leader Luis Leon Sanchez, who rode at the top, and with a minute behind four riders – Kilun (OUCH), Moletta (Miche), Palomares (Contentpolis), and Sinkeldam. Southerland (Team Type I) and McKissick were following as well.
Their advantage topped with 80 km to go at more than 7 minutes, before Caisse d'Epargne increased the speed of the pack – with their team mate Kiryenka still in front. It seemed their tactics for today were to get one man in the break so they do not have to work, but with Kiryenka placed 146th in GC at 6 minutes, and some of those who followed him being at only 3 minutes, they had to do something or Luis Leon might loose his jersey.
Some riders of the break got tired and couldn't keep up, resulting in Kiryenka followed by Palomares with 1 minute, followed by Moletta with 30 seconds. With 30 km to go, the pack now really increased it's speed, with riders of several teams relaying. As the days before it was inevitable that the pack broke apart, and so it happened, with 22 km to go. I told my riders to stay in the front, and they did, so that all our riders – except for Sinkeldam who meanwhile was left behind the peloton – found themselves in a strong group again. We had no clue where the other riders were, all we saw was Sanchez was with us, as was Danilo Hondo (PSK).
The group of about 30 riders quickly reeled in the remaining riders from the break, and got a minute and a half to the big pack, first with some help of us – but again most of our riders couldn't keep up – then under control of Skil-Shimano, who had Tom Veelers with them in front. We were left with Jonathan and Martijn, and Jetse Bol, another one of our young riders. The Skil-guys kept the speed so high that Luis Leon Sanchez could not follow – or he thought that the pack would get them anyway – and fell back into the peloton, together with his helpers, just 10 kilometers from the line.
Two sprinter trains were formed, a small one for Tom Veelers, another one for Danilo Hondo by his team mate Mares, and as the day before, Jonathan jumped in the wheel of Danilo, behind him Markus Zberg. Veelers changed trains and hang on to Zberg, when the last corner was taken.
Mares opened the sprint, the others waited in his wheel a long time. Too long for Zberg, who gave it a try. Danilo reacted, left the wheel of his team mate, Jonathan followed. But today, with the wind from behind, there was no chance for anyone to pass Danilo, who took his second stage win in this years Tour of Qatar. Behind him it was Zberg who finished 2nd and Jonathan 3rd. Tom Veelers grabbed a fourth place, after no results in the previous days.
Finish Top 10
1 Danilo Hondo PSK Whirlpool 2h48'44
2 Markus Zberg BMC s.t. 3 Jonathan Bellis Redwood-Philips s.t.
4 Tom Veelers Skil-Shimano s.t.
5 Fred Rodriguez RRC s.t.
6 Sebastian Siedler VBG s.t.
7 Martin Hebik PSK s.t.
8 Patrik Sinkewitz PSK s.t.
9 Martin Mares PSK s.t.
10 Wim van Huffel s.t.
The pack came in a minute later, with an unworried Luis Leon in yellow. But to his and everyone else's surprise all but the 22 riders that were in the front group got 57 seconds added to their time, resulting in some changes in the GC.
Danilo Hondo will wear the yellow jersey the next day, as he is the new leader of the race. Second in GC now is – we were astonished – Jonathan Bellis! Former leader Sanchez is fifth after this stage, 46 seconds behind Danilo. Martijn Keizer, who finished in the front group as well, completes the top ten of today's GC.
Tomorrow, Jonathan will wear the jersey of the best sprinter, but he'll wear it for Danilo. Petr Kubias, another PSK rider, will wear the jersey for the best placed young rider of the tour: Jonathan!
General classement
1 Danilo Hondo PSK 9h07'33 2 Jonathan Bellis Redwood-Philips + 32
3 Martin Mares PSK + 40
4 Petr Kubias PSK + 40
5 Luis Leon Sanchez GCE + 46
6 Jose Vicente Garcia Acosta GCE + 46
7 Mikhail Ignatiev KAT + 54
8 Stijn Vandenbergh KAT + 54
9 Nikolai Trussov KAT + 54 10 Martijn Keizer Redwood-Philips +1'00
Sprints
1 Danilo Hondo 64 2 Jonathan Bellis 51
3 Janek Tombak 36
4 Markus Zberg 32
5 Fred Rodriguez 32
Young riders GC 1 Jonathan Bellis
2 Petr Kubias + 8
3 Mikhail Ignatiev + 22
[failed to export results today, therefore a light version only]
[thanks to those who comment, and those who just read as well. feel free to comment, make suggestions, or shout out if you miss something]Edited by manindemaan on 06-08-2009 02:41
Tour of Qatar
Stage 5: Al Khor Academy – Al Khor Corniche
Having a rider placed 2nd in GC on the pre-last stage made us think about our tactics a bit more today. Danilo Hondo was in lead, Jonathan 32 seconds behind. We could take everything if we get Jonathan in a group without Danilo when it comes to the finish, but the last days have shown that he's in front when he needs to. We could loose a lot if there's a group of GC contenders finishing in a group earlier than Jonathan.. But when the weather forecast came in our worries were like blown away by the wind. The wind had it's role all the stages so far, and today.. ? There was no wind at all, except for a refreshing breeze, and temperatures of 40° C. We were looking out for a relative easy race with a mass sprint in the end. We can Danilo Hondo and his PSK team let do the work and watch out to stay together. Still, just to be on the save side, I advised my riders to stay in the front of the pack.
Other teams seemed to have the same idea, so no team reacted when four riders went away in a break. But they were of no real danger for the GC, so the teams back in the peloton gave them more then 8 minutes before PSK eventually started to reel them in, when there were another 100 km to go. A welcome change for the breakaway riders eyes.
Astana and Club Bourgas joined PSK in taking back the breakaway, when with 40 km to go Sergio Paulinho (Astana) fell, while leading the peloton. Most riders reacted on time, one,Piet Rooijakkers (Skil-Shimano) however began to struggle, fell, and eventually took Manuel Vazquez (Contentpolis) with him on the asphalt. All three could get up again and finish the stage, but they did not made in back into the peloton, despite the effort of five Contentpolis riders who came them to help. Piet Rooijakkers (Skil-Shimano)
When the pack approached the line, Jonathan Bellis hang on to the wheel of Sebastian Siedler (Vorarlberg), who had his team mate Hollenstein as strong lead out man in front of him. Danilo took the wheel of Fred Rodriguez (Rock Racing) in another train.
Hollenstein gained some meters on the other train, but suddenly Rodriguez and Hondo were a pushing forward, and Hollenstein was weaker than expected. Jonathan had to take the risk and try to get onto the other side of the road, as the finish was still a long way off. Danilo attacked Rodriguez, and the two had a long time of a head to head sprint, that was eventually won by Danilo. Jonathan still ended 5th, and both our top riders could hold their top 10 position in the GC.
Stage result
1 Danilo Hondo PSK Whirlpool - Author 3h49'05
2 Fred Rodriguez Rock Racing s.t.
3 Assan Bazayev Astana Cycling Team s.t.
4 Aldo Ino Ilesic Team Type 1 s.t. 5 Jonathan Bellis Redwood - Philips s.t.
6 Markus Zberg BMC Racing Team s.t.
7 Guennadi Mikhailov Team Katusha s.t.
8 Sebastian Siedler Vorarlberg - Corratec s.t.
9 Daryl Impey Barloworld s.t.
10 Tom Veelers Skil - Shimano s.t. 59 Martijn Keizer Redwood - Philips s.t.
112 Jetse Bol Redwood - Philips s.t.
143 Ramon Sinkeldam Redwood - Philips s.t.
144 Serge Kreekels Redwood - Philips s.t.
156 Stef van Raalte Redwood - Philips s.t.
157 Ed Meulensteen Redwood - Philips s.t.
158 Ignacio Dubbeldeman Redwood - Philips + 6'51
General classification
1 Danilo Hondo PSK Whirlpool - Author 12h56'18 2 Jonathan Bellis Redwood - Philips + 52
3 Martin Mareš PSK Whirlpool - Author + 1'00
4 Petr Kubias PSK Whirlpool - Author s.t.
5 Luis León Sánchez Caisse d'Epargne + 1'06
6 Jose Vicente GarcÃa Acosta Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
7 Mikhail Ignatiev Team Katusha + 1'14
8 Nikolai Trussov Team Katusha s.t.
9 Stijn Vandenbergh Team Katusha s.t. 10 Martijn Keizer Redwood - Philips + 1'20
153 Jetse Bol Redwood - Philips + 16'14
154 Serge Kreekels Redwood - Philips + 19'10
155 Ed Meulensteen Redwood - Philips + 19'54
156 Stef van Raalte Redwood - Philips + 23'26
157 Ramon Sinkeldam Redwood - Philips + 23'39
158 Ignacio Dubbeldeman Redwood - Philips + 33'22
Best Sprinter
1 Danilo Hondo PSK Whirlpool - Author 89 2 Jonathan Bellis Redwood - Philips 63
3 Fred Rodriguez Rock Racing 52
4 Markus Zberg BMC Racing Team 42
5 Janek Tombak Cycling Club Bourgas 40
Best Young Rider 1 Jonathan Bellis
2 Petr Kubias + 8
3 Mikhail Ignatiev + 22
Tour of Qatar
Stage 6: Al Wakra – Doha Corniche (final stage)
Today's final stage of 2009's Tour de Qatar will bring us from Al Wakra to Doha Corniche, another 120 km through the desert. The wind was stronger again with up to 50 km/h, and the sun still burned the riders. The early breakaway consisted of 12 riders, none of them a real threat for the remaining GC contenders. Among them were Kevin Hulsmans (Quick-Step), Arnoud Coyot (C. d'Epargne), and our Ed Meulensteen, who could hold the breakaways speed for about 50 km before he got dropped.
With 60 km to go and an advantage of more than 4 minutes for the breakaway, PSK Whirlpool increased the speed to secure the yellow jersey. After they did some work, Astana, still waiting for a stage win, joined them, and together they destroyed the breakaway riders hope for a stage win. Kadri (AG2R) and Coyot gave it one last try, but couldn't hold off the peloton. Coyot in his last attempt to hold off the peloton
With less than 10 km to go it happened again: the peloton riding at high pace some riders in the back of the pack didn't pay attention and the field was split in two. All of our riders found themselves in the first pack (except those three that were dropped in between), as well as GC leader Danilo Hondo.
When the remaining 70 riders prepared for the sprint, Jonathan couldn't find a good wheel, and had to sprint from the back, while in front a train by Vorarlberg with Sebastian Siedler, and Danilo Hondo, fought for victory. Siedler did better than the day before and managed to stay in front, securing his first season victory. Danilo came in second, Jonathan ended 7th. Danilo would keep the lead and sprinters jersey, Jonathan his second place in the GC, and is best young rider of the tour. Sebastian Siedler taking his first stage victory in 2009
Finish line
1 Sebastian Siedler Vorarlberg - Corratec 2h42'36
2 Danilo Hondo PSK Whirlpool - Author s.t.
3 Wim Van Huffel Vorarlberg - Corratec s.t.
4 Gerrit Glomser Vorarlberg - Corratec s.t.
5 Reto Hollenstein Vorarlberg - Corratec s.t.
6 Matt Wilson Team Type 1 s.t. 7 Jonathan Bellis Redwood - Philips s.t.
8 Andreas Linden Team Capinordic s.t.
9 Kristoffer Nielsen Team Capinordic s.t.
10 Martin Pedersen Team Capinordic s.t.
When the second pack came in it was led by the men of Katusha, and Mikhael Ignatiev. Martijn got a smile on his face, as that meant for him that he would gain a rank in the GC. But it seemed more riders were laying back when they better had not done so: Luis Leon Sanchez got back on the podium, finishing 3rd overall, and Martijn achieved a great 4th place overall. Danilo Hondo, winner of Tour of Qatar 2009.
Final Sprinters Classification
1 Danilo Hondo PSK Whirlpool - Author 109 2 Jonathan Bellis Redwood - Philips 72
3 Fred Rodriguez Rock Racing 52
4 Sebastian Siedler Vorarlberg - Corratec 43
5 Markus Zberg BMC Racing Team 42
6 Janek Tombak Cycling Club Bourgas 40
7 Frantisek Padour PSK Whirlpool - Author 25
8 Mikhail Ignatiev Team Katusha 22
9 Tom Veelers Skil - Shimano 22
10 Wim Van Huffel Vorarlberg - Corratec 22
11 Aldo Ino Ilesic Team Type 1 18
12 Thomas Guldhammer Team Capinordic 18
13 Mikel Gaztañaga Contentpolis - Ampo 18
14 Assan Bazayev Astana Cycling Team 16 15 Martijn Keizer Redwood - Philips 15
16 Reto Hollenstein Vorarlberg - Corratec 15
17 Gerrit Glomser Vorarlberg - Corratec 14
18 Arnaud Coyot Caisse d'Epargne 12
19 Vasil Kiryienka Caisse d'Epargne 12
20 Martin Mareš PSK Whirlpool - Author 11
Final Young Riders Classification 1 Jonathan Bellis Redwood - Philips 15h39'46
2 Martijn Keizer Redwood - Philips + 28
3 Yohann Cauquil Cycling Club Bourgas + 1'23
4 Petr Kubias PSK Whirlpool - Author + 1'31
5 Mikhail Ignatiev Team Katusha + 1'45
6 Nikolai Trussov Team Katusha + 1'45
7 Stijn Vandenbergh Team Katusha + 1'45
8 Tom Veelers Skil - Shimano + 2'08
9 Frantisek Padour PSK Whirlpool - Author + 2'20
10 David Vitoria Rock Racing + 2'25
Overall, it had been a great tour for us, far better than anyone, not even we ourselves, had expected. We took a stage victory, a spot on the final podium, a second place in the sprinters jersey, and a 1-2 in the young riders competition. The riders are free to take some days off in Qatar, but I have to go to Italy, where we will take part in the Gran premio Costa degli Etruschi tomorrow.
Nice team.
