---- Pro Tour News
The RadioShack directors talked to the press today and told that Cadel Evans is their main target for next season.
----
March 27th: Settimana Coppi e Bartali
Stage 5: Rovigo - Finale Emilia, 187.3 kms
So, basically, this is the stage where we have the most hopes in the race. Nilceu dos Santos has fitness 94, is somewhat fresh, and is our main hope for today's stage. Surely we'll send a man to the breakaway, as always, but I think we'll have better chances with dos Santos =)
8 riders formed today's break. Rodrigo Nascimento between them for Seara/Vivo.
The escapees were working hard and with 80 kilometers left, they had a 10 minutes gap to the peloton. It was probably too early to say anything, but their situation was good.
With 60 kilometers to go, gap was 12 minutes! Now we could say that probably the winner today would be one of those 8 riders. The most dangerous in GC was about 9 minutes in front of Pozzovivo.
40 kilometers and the gap was still in 11 minutes! For sure now, the breakaway would do it today! The first successful break that we take part in the team history!
At this point, now with 20 km to go, everybody in the break wanted to preserve themselves, not do much effort. Peloton was 9 minutes and a half behind.
And there's the move we were waiting for. Andriotto tries to leave his companions with 16 kilometers to the line. Nobody counters.
The break ups the pace a little bit, but the gap is established in about half a minute.
And now, with only 6 kilometers left, Nascimento has a good position on the wheel of Sokoll. Andriotto was still in front, though, but I believed we could catch him in the sprint.
Sokoll now leading the breakaway.
Hey, hey!! I would like to know how did he just do that! He simply left the front, so now Nascimento was in the horrible position of first in the group!
We then decided to attack, but the others who had my wheel simply followed without even getting off the saddle!
It became a track race now. Nascimento tried to slow down a lot, but everyone did the same.
This one said "thank you very much" to Nascimento and opened up a 2 minute gap. He was sure the stage winner today!
Having no other alternative, Nascimento had to get back to the normal pace. We tried attacking, slowing down.. apparently the AI can avoid the first sprint position, but you can't. So when the sprint begun for us, everyone was fresher than Nascimento. We were still trying to hang on a wheel and battle for a Top 5.
This man had nothing to do with what was happening behind though, and Dario Andriotto can raise his arms and celebrate a great victory!
Cucinotta got 2nd while Bernatonis finished the podium. Nascimento crossed 8th, that is, last between the escapees, who finished 1'34 behind Andriotto.
The peloton arrived about 2 minutes later, with Rossi and Arashiro finishing the Top 10.
Today winner is Stage Results
1
Dario Andriotto
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
4h21'17
2
Claudio Cucinotta
De Rosa - Stac Plastic
+ 1'34
3
Marius Bernatonis
Atlas Personal
s.t.
4
Domenico Agosta
CDC - Cavaliere
s.t.
5
Christoph Sokoll
Vorarlberg 0 Corratec
s.t.
6
Fausto Fognini
Amore & Vita - Conad
s.t.
7
Emanuele Rizza
Tecnofilm - Betonexpressz 2000
s.t.
8
Rodrigo Nascimento
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
s.t.
9
Enrico Rossi
Ceramica Flaminia
+ 3'25
10
Yukiya Arashiro
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
s.t.
Oh.. getting an unexpected Top 10 was really great, but I got a bit disappointed with what happened when Nascimento got the first position in the pre sprint. I mean, the guy simply disacelerated and let us pass him. I tried to do the same, tried to attack, nothing would work. Oh and the attack thing is really bad by the way. I think it's because they were following me but.. it shouldn't be like this.
March 28th: Settimana Coppi e Bartali
Stage 6: Fiorano Modenese - Sassuolo, 176.1 kms
Our last stage consists of 2 circuits. It begins with 3 rides up a 300 meter climb, and ends with 3 rides up a different 300 meter climb. In real life, the second climb is steeper. Not sure if the same applies to the game. After a small descent, the finish will be flat. Pozzovivo's overall lead might be already secured, but probably it's gonna be an interesting battle for the victory.
9 riders formed the break of the day. After taking part in a successful break yesterday, Seara/Vivo wasn't able to put anyone on today's break.
When the break reached the last climb, with 20 kilometers left, they had a nice gap of 3 minutes and a half to the peloton. Would a break make it again?
The pack had no attacks that had success and didn't go up in a really high pace, so the break was probably gonna make it! With 10 kilometers left, they still had almost 3 minutes and a half to the pack.
Without attacks, the escapees entered the final kilometers to sprint for the win! Ackermann was probably the best climber but had the horrible position of first in the sprint.
When entering the final km he was still in front, but Terrenzio and Koren were in his slipstream and hadn't made their moves yet!
They tried, but couldn't match the speed of Ackermann! A great sprint from him to win today's stage!
The peloton checked in 2'12 behind. Mori won the sprint for the last Top 10 position. Pozzovivo crossed the line 16th securing his very well deserved overall win.
Today winner is Stage Results
1
Silvère Ackermann
Vorarlberg - Corratec
4h44'22
2
Fabio Terrenzio
CarmioOro NGC
s.t.
3
Freddy Bichot
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
s.t.
4
Kristjan Koren
Liquigas - Doimo
s.t.
5
Donato Cannone
Ceramica Flaminia
s.t.
6
Mikhaylo Khalilov
Team Katusha
s.t.
7
Vladislav Borisov
Amore & Vita - Conad
s.t.
8
Yuriy Agarkov
ISD Continental Team
s.t.
9
Giuseppe Muraglia
CDC - Cavaliere
+ 1'38
10
Manuele Mori
Lampre - Farnese Vini
+ 2'12
The peloton might have got a bit tired after the two mountains, because its unusual for 2 stages to be won by breakaways in a row in smaller races. Even if we had made it into the break I think maybe we wouldn't be able to keep with them, don't know.
General Classification
1
Domenico Pozzovivo
Colnago - CSF Inox
21h04'24
2
Przemyslaw Niemiec
Miche
+ 1'27
3
Daniele Pietropolli
Lampre - Farnese Vini
+ 1'34
4
Evgeni Petrov
Team Katusha
+ 2'08
5
Daniel Martin
Garmin - Transitions
+ 2'18
6
Danny Pate
Garmin - Transitions
+ 2'30
7
Pierrick Fédrigo
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
+ 2'38
8
Pierre Rolland
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
s.t.
9
Trent Lowe
Garmin - Transitions
s.t.
10
Egor Silin
Team Katusha
+ 2'39
Spoiler
11
Enrico Zen
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 2'40
12
Eduard Vorganov
Team Katusha
+ 2'43
13
Giovanni Visconti
ISD - Neri
+ 2'44
14
Emanuele Vona
ISD - Neri
s.t.
15
Davide Ricci Bitti
ISD - Neri
s.t.
16
Paolo Longo Borghini
ISD - Neri
s.t.
17
Massimiliano Gentili
Ceramica Flaminia
+ 2'52
18
Mathieu Sprick
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
+ 2'54
19
Sergio Pardilla
CarmioOro NGC
+ 3'05
20
Francesco Tizza
CarmioOro NGC
s.t.
21
Jack Bobridge
Garmin - Transitions
+ 3'36
22
Simone Stortoni
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 3'46
23
Fabio Negri
De Rosa - Stac Plastic
+ 3'51
24
Andrea Masciarelli
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
+ 4'03
25
Steven Cozza
Garmin - Transitions
+ 4'27
26
Yukiya Arashiro
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
+ 4'35
27
Alexandre Botcharov
Team Katusha
+ 4'36
28
Paolo Bailetti
Ceramica Flaminia
+ 4'37
29
Santo Anza
Ceramica Flaminia
s.t.
30
Pavel Brutt
Team Katusha
+ 4'42
31
Enrico Magazzini
Lampre - Farnese Vini
+ 4'50
32
Ruggero Marzoli
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
+ 4'52
33
Manuele Mori
Lampre - Farnese Vini
+ 5'37
34
Damiano Caruso
De Rosa - Stac Plastic
+ 6'24
35
Daniele Righi
Lampre - Farnese Vini
+ 6'29
36
Davide Bonuccelli
CDC - Cavaliere
+ 6'31
37
Simone Masciarelli
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
s.t.
38
Luca Zanasca
CDC - Cavaliere
s.t.
39
Vitaliy Popkov
ISD Continental Team
+ 6'37
40
Sébastien Turgot
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
+ 6'38
41
Walter Proch
Tecnofilm - Betonexpressz 2000
+ 6'42
42
Mikhaylo Khalilov
Team Katusha
+ 6'55
43
Giampaolo Caruso
Team Katusha
+ 6'59
44
Kristjan Koren
Liquigas - Doimo
+ 7'03
45
Enrico Rossi
Ceramica Flaminia
+ 7'15
46
Gianluca Mirenda
ISD - Neri
+ 7'19
47
Leonardo Giordani
Ceramica Flaminia
+ 7'23
48
Leonardo Pinizzotto
Miche
+ 7'25
49
Eric Berthou
CarmioOro NGC
+ 7'40
50
Igor Abakoumov
ISD Continental Team
+ 8'05
51
Fortunato Baliani
Miche
+ 8'06
52
Laurent Beuret
CarmioOro NGC
+ 8'17
53
Donato Cannone
Ceramica Flaminia
+ 8'18
54
Fabio Terrenzio
CarmioOro NGC
+ 8'31
55
Yuriy Agarkov
ISD Continental Team
+ 8'33
56
Giuseppe Muraglia
CDC - Cavaliere
+ 8'35
57
Travis Meyer
Garmin - Transitions
+ 8'44
58
Marcello Pavarin
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 8'54
59
Luca Celli
Ceramica Flaminia
s.t.
60
Fabio Sabatini
Liquigas - Doimo
+ 8'55
61
Riccardo Chiarini
De Rosa - Stac Plastic
s.t.
62
Gianluca Brambilla
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 8'56
63
Giairo Ermeti
De Rosa - Stac Plastic
+ 8'59
64
Luca Ascani
CDC - Cavaliere
+ 9'03
65
Diego Ulissi
Lampre - Farnese Vini
+ 9'09
66
Freddy Bichot
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
+ 9'11
67
Fausto Fognini
Amore & Vita - Conad
+ 9'14
68
Vladislav Borisov
Amore & Vita - Conad
+ 9'38
69
Reinier Honig
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
+ 10'11
70
Salvatore Commesso
Meridiana Kamen Team
+ 10'15
71
Jorge Giacinti
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
+ 10'23
72
Filippo Savini
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 10'33
73
Alberto Contoli
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 10'36
74
Mauro Da Dalto
Lampre - Farnese Vini
+ 10'49
75
Valerio Agnoli
Liquigas - Doimo
+ 10'57
76
Mathias Belka
LKT Team Brandenburg
+ 11'18
77
Christian Meier
Garmin - Transitions
+ 12'13
78
Paride Grillo
CarmioOro NGC
+ 12'25
79
Bruno Guggisberg
Atlas Personal
+ 12'52
80
Alexandre Usov
ISD Continental Team
+ 13'16
81
Oleksandr Martynenko
ISD Continental Team
+ 13'24
82
Tiziano Dall'Antonia
Liquigas - Doimo
+ 13'29
83
Stefano Usai
Meridiana Kamen Team
+ 13'36
84
Volodymyr Bileka
Amore & Vita - Conad
+ 13'52
85
Salvatore Mancuso
ISD - Neri
+ 14'02
86
Emanuele Rizza
Tecnofilm - Betonexpressz 2000
+ 14'03
87
Krzysztof Szczawinski
Miche
+ 14'08
88
Adriano Angeloni
Tecnofilm - Betonexpressz 2000
+ 14'15
89
Andrea Grendene
Lampre - Farnese Vini
+ 14'17
90
Marco Cattaneo
De Rosa - Stac Plastic
+ 14'41
91
Davide D'Angelo
CDC - Cavaliere
+ 15'18
92
Alan Marangoni
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 15'38
93
Volodymyr Zagorodny
Miche
+ 16'08
94
Marco Bandiera
Team Katusha
+ 16'21
95
Zoltan Madaras
Tecnofilm - Betonexpressz 2000
+ 16'40
96
Silvère Ackermann
Vorarlberg - Corratec
+ 18'07
97
Gianluca Coletta
Tecnofilm - Betonexpressz 2000
+ 18'30
98
Marcin Sapa
Lampre - Farnese Vini
+ 18'49
99
René Weissinger
Vorarlberg - Corratec
+ 20'35
100
Reto Hollenstein
Vorarlberg - Corratec
+ 20'39
101
Domenico Agosta
CDC - Cavaliere
+ 21'33
102
Timothy Duggan
Garmin - Transitions
+ 21'46
103
Andrea Capelli
Vorarlberg - Corratec
+ 22'22
104
Oscar Gatto
ISD - Neri
+ 24'32
105
Enrico Peruffo
CarmioOro NGC
+ 25'00
106
Alessandro Raisoni
CarmioOro NGC
s.t.
107
Marko Ivancic
Meridiana Kamen Team
+ 25'04
108
Rafaâ Chtioui
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
+ 25'35
109
Maksym Polishchuk
ISD Continental Team
+ 26'27
110
Dario Andriotto
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
+ 27'01
111
Pierpaolo De Negri
ISD - Neri
+ 27'06
112
Maciej Bodnar
Liquigas - Doimo
+ 29'03
113
Alexandre Pichot
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
+ 29'37
114
Christoph Sokoll
Vorarlberg - Corratec
+ 32'19
115
Daniele Colli
Ceramica Flaminia
+ 32'25
116
Rodrigo Nascimento
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
+ 32'27
117
Frank Scherzinger
Atlas Personal
+ 33'25
118
Danilo Andrenacci
CDC - Cavaliere
+ 33'26
119
Mariano Giallorenzo
Meridiana Kamen Team
+ 33'51
120
Stefano Borchi
De Rosa - Stac Plastic
+ 33'54
121
Maciej Paterski
Liquigas - Doimo
+ 34'00
122
Piergiorgio Camussa
Vorarlberg - Corratec
+ 34'03
123
Stefan Schäfer
LKT Team Brandenburg
+ 34'28
124
Krisztian Lovassy
Tecnofilm - Betonexpressz 2000
+ 35'57
125
Michel Koch
LKT Team Brandenburg
+ 37'05
126
Jacopo Guarnieri
Liquigas - Doimo
+ 37'28
127
Roberto Antonio Richeze
Tecnofilm - Betonexpressz 2000
+ 38'05
128
Nilceu Dos Santos
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
+ 38'09
129
Martin Hacecky
Atlas Personal
+ 38'23
130
Roberto Cesaro
Miche
+ 38'56
131
Roman Vishnevskiy
Amore & Vita - Conad
+ 39'27
132
Janick Wisler
Atlas Personal
+ 39'59
133
Volodymyr Kogut
Amore & Vita - Conad
+ 40'48
134
Daniel Rogelin
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
+ 41'13
135
Marius Bernatonis
Atlas Personal
+ 41'21
136
Paolo Ciavatta
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
+ 41'22
137
Volodymyr Rybin
ISD Continental Team
+ 41'29
138
Renato Ruiz
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
+ 42'15
139
Michaël Bär
Atlas Personal
+ 42'18
140
Matteo Montaguti
De Rosa - Stac Plastic
+ 43'08
141
Nikias Arndt
LKT Team Brandenburg
+ 45'13
142
Claudio Cucinotta
De Rosa - Stac Plastic
+ 47'05
143
Robert Bartko
LKT Team Brandenburg
+ 47'20
144
Denis Flahaut
ISD Continental Team
+ 48'00
145
Sebastian Siedler
Vorarlberg - Corratec
+ 48'09
146
Alexander Gufler
Vorarlberg - Corratec
+ 48'14
147
Alessandro Donati
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
+ 49'22
148
Marin Andelini
Meridiana Kamen Team
+ 49'39
149
Marco Carletti
Tecnofilm - Betonexpressz 2000
+ 49'42
150
Tino Meier
LKT Team Brandenburg
+ 49'58
151
Nicola D'Andrea
Meridiana Kamen Team
+ 50'45
152
Jakub Novak
Amore & Vita - Conad
+ 50'56
153
Nicolas Sanderson
Amore & Vita - Conad
+ 51'00
154
Armando Camargo
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
+ 51'46
155
Peter Erdin
Atlas Personal
+ 53'02
156
Michael Weicht
LKT Team Brandenburg
+ 54'29
157
Saïd Haddou
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
+ 55'23
158
Bernardo Riccio
CDC - Cavaliere
+ 1h01'07
159
Vojtech Hacecky
Atlas Personal
+ 1h01'33
160
Eric Pidun
LKT Team Brandenburg
+ 1h03'17
161
Burkhardt Glöckner
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
+ 1h03'25
162
Flavio Silvério
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
+ 1h06'34
163
Sergiy Gretchyn
Amore & Vita - Conad
+ 1h08'26
Points
1
Domenico Pozzovivo
Colnago - CSF Inox
50
2
Przemyslaw Niemiec
Miche
31
3
Evgeni Petrov
Team Katusha
30
4
Dario Andriotto
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
29
5
Fabio Sabatini
Liquigas - Doimo
27
Spoiler
6
Silvère Ackermann
Vorarlberg - Corratec
27
7
Claudio Cucinotta
De Rosa - Stac Plastic
26
8
Emanuele Vona
ISD - Neri
23
9
Fabio Terrenzio
CarmioOro NGC
22
10
Freddy Bichot
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
22
11
Marius Bernatonis
Atlas Personal
22
12
Daniele Pietropolli
Lampre - Farnese Vini
20
13
Daniel Martin
Garmin - Transitions
20
14
Yukiya Arashiro
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
20
15
Paride Grillo
CarmioOro NGC
20
16
Giovanni Visconti
ISD - Neri
19
17
Enrico Rossi
Ceramica Flaminia
19
18
Domenico Agosta
CDC - Cavaliere
16
19
Oscar Gatto
ISD - Neri
16
20
Pierrick Fédrigo
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
15
21
Kristjan Koren
Liquigas - Doimo
14
22
Pierre Rolland
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
13
23
Mikhaylo Khalilov
Team Katusha
13
24
Emanuele Rizza
Tecnofilm - Betonexpressz 2000
13
25
Trent Lowe
Garmin - Transitions
12
26
Leonardo Giordani
Ceramica Flaminia
12
27
Fausto Fognini
Amore & Vita - Conad
12
28
Giuseppe Muraglia
CDC - Cavaliere
12
29
Donato Cannone
Ceramica Flaminia
12
30
Christoph Sokoll
Vorarlberg - Corratec
12
31
Eduard Vorganov
Team Katusha
11
32
Pierpaolo De Negri
ISD - Neri
11
33
Sebastian Siedler
Vorarlberg - Corratec
10
34
Yuriy Agarkov
ISD Continental Team
9
35
Vladislav Borisov
Amore & Vita - Conad
9
36
Paolo Longo Borghini
ISD - Neri
8
37
Daniele Righi
Lampre - Farnese Vini
8
38
Marco Bandiera
Team Katusha
8
39
Rodrigo Nascimento
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
8
40
Massimiliano Gentili
Ceramica Flaminia
7
41
Laurent Beuret
CarmioOro NGC
7
42
Andrea Capelli
Vorarlberg - Corratec
7
43
Manuele Mori
Lampre - Farnese Vini
6
44
Jorge Giacinti
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
6
45
Luca Ascani
CDC - Cavaliere
6
46
Rafaâ Chtioui
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
6
47
Krzysztof Szczawinski
Miche
5
48
Francesco Tizza
CarmioOro NGC
4
49
Riccardo Chiarini
De Rosa - Stac Plastic
4
50
Alexandre Usov
ISD Continental Team
4
51
Mariano Giallorenzo
Meridiana Kamen Team
4
52
René Weissinger
Vorarlberg - Corratec
4
53
Egor Silin
Team Katusha
3
54
Andrea Grendene
Lampre - Farnese Vini
3
55
Roman Vishnevskiy
Amore & Vita - Conad
3
56
Danny Pate
Garmin - Transitions
2
57
Vitaliy Popkov
ISD Continental Team
2
58
Igor Abakoumov
ISD Continental Team
2
59
Enrico Zen
Colnago - CSF Inox
1
60
Mathieu Sprick
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
1
61
Simone Masciarelli
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
1
62
Maciej Bodnar
Liquigas - Doimo
1
Mountain
1
Freddy Bichot
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
32
2
Mikhaylo Khalilov
Team Katusha
28
3
Donato Cannone
Ceramica Flaminia
20
4
Domenico Pozzovivo
Colnago - CSF Inox
16
5
Leonardo Giordani
Ceramica Flaminia
16
Spoiler
6
Eric Berthou
CarmioOro NGC
16
7
Kristjan Koren
Liquigas - Doimo
16
8
Silvère Ackermann
Vorarlberg - Corratec
14
9
Przemyslaw Niemiec
Miche
12
10
Sébastien Turgot
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
12
11
Daniele Pietropolli
Lampre - Farnese Vini
10
12
Vitaliy Popkov
ISD Continental Team
10
13
Evgeni Petrov
Team Katusha
8
14
Daniele Righi
Lampre - Farnese Vini
8
15
Reinier Honig
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
8
16
Vladislav Borisov
Amore & Vita - Conad
8
17
René Weissinger
Vorarlberg - Corratec
8
18
Luca Ascani
CDC - Cavaliere
6
19
Pierre Rolland
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
4
20
Jorge Giacinti
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
4
21
Bruno Guggisberg
Atlas Personal
4
22
Yuriy Agarkov
ISD Continental Team
4
23
Rodrigo Nascimento
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
4
24
Igor Abakoumov
ISD Continental Team
2
25
Giuseppe Muraglia
CDC - Cavaliere
2
26
Maciej Bodnar
Liquigas - Doimo
2
Young
1
Daniel Martin
Garmin - Transitions
21h06'42
2
Pierre Rolland
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
+ 20
3
Egor Silin
Team Katusha
+ 21
4
Enrico Zen
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 22
5
Jack Bobridge
Garmin - Transitions
+ 1'18
Spoiler
6
Simone Stortoni
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 1'28
7
Steven Cozza
Garmin - Transitions
+ 2'09
8
Enrico Magazzini
Lampre - Farnese Vini
+ 2'32
9
Damiano Caruso
De Rosa - Stac Plastic
+ 4'06
10
Kristjan Koren
Liquigas - Doimo
+ 4'45
11
Leonardo Pinizzotto
Miche
+ 5'07
12
Laurent Beuret
CarmioOro NGC
+ 5'59
13
Fabio Terrenzio
CarmioOro NGC
+ 6'13
14
Yuriy Agarkov
ISD Continental Team
+ 6'15
15
Travis Meyer
Garmin - Transitions
+ 6'26
16
Marcello Pavarin
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 6'36
17
Fabio Sabatini
Liquigas - Doimo
+ 6'37
18
Gianluca Brambilla
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 6'38
19
Diego Ulissi
Lampre - Farnese Vini
+ 6'51
20
Fausto Fognini
Amore & Vita - Conad
+ 6'56
21
Filippo Savini
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 8'15
22
Alberto Contoli
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 8'18
23
Valerio Agnoli
Liquigas - Doimo
+ 8'39
24
Mathias Belka
LKT Team Brandenburg
+ 9'00
25
Christian Meier
Garmin - Transitions
+ 9'55
26
Oleksandr Martynenko
ISD Continental Team
+ 11'06
27
Salvatore Mancuso
ISD - Neri
+ 11'44
28
Andrea Grendene
Lampre - Farnese Vini
+ 11'59
29
Reto Hollenstein
Vorarlberg - Corratec
+ 18'21
30
Oscar Gatto
ISD - Neri
+ 22'14
31
Enrico Peruffo
CarmioOro NGC
+ 22'42
32
Marko Ivancic
Meridiana Kamen Team
+ 22'46
33
Rafaâ Chtioui
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
+ 23'17
34
Pierpaolo De Negri
ISD - Neri
+ 24'48
35
Maciej Bodnar
Liquigas - Doimo
+ 26'45
36
Christoph Sokoll
Vorarlberg - Corratec
+ 30'01
37
Rodrigo Nascimento
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
+ 30'09
38
Frank Scherzinger
Atlas Personal
+ 31'07
39
Stefano Borchi
De Rosa - Stac Plastic
+ 31'36
40
Maciej Paterski
Liquigas - Doimo
+ 31'42
41
Stefan Schäfer
LKT Team Brandenburg
+ 32'10
42
Krisztian Lovassy
Tecnofilm - Betonexpressz 2000
+ 33'39
43
Michel Koch
LKT Team Brandenburg
+ 34'47
44
Jacopo Guarnieri
Liquigas - Doimo
+ 35'10
45
Martin Hacecky
Atlas Personal
+ 36'05
46
Roberto Cesaro
Miche
+ 36'38
47
Roman Vishnevskiy
Amore & Vita - Conad
+ 37'09
48
Janick Wisler
Atlas Personal
+ 37'41
49
Marius Bernatonis
Atlas Personal
+ 39'03
50
Michaël Bär
Atlas Personal
+ 40'00
51
Nikias Arndt
LKT Team Brandenburg
+ 42'55
52
Marin Andelini
Meridiana Kamen Team
+ 47'21
53
Tino Meier
LKT Team Brandenburg
+ 47'40
54
Jakub Novak
Amore & Vita - Conad
+ 48'38
55
Peter Erdin
Atlas Personal
+ 50'44
56
Michael Weicht
LKT Team Brandenburg
+ 52'11
57
Bernardo Riccio
CDC - Cavaliere
+ 58'49
58
Vojtech Hacecky
Atlas Personal
+ 59'15
59
Eric Pidun
LKT Team Brandenburg
+ 1h00'59
60
Burkhardt Glöckner
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
+ 1h01'07
61
Flavio Silvério
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
+ 1h04'16
Team
1
Team Katusha
62h38'48
2
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
+ 22
3
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 1'42
4
Garmin - Transitions
+ 2'26
5
ISD - Neri
+ 2'40
Spoiler
6
CarmioOro NGC
+ 2'46
7
Lampre - Farnese Vini
+ 3'35
8
Ceramica Flaminia
+ 4'18
9
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
+ 4'26
10
Miche
+ 6'10
11
De Rosa - Stac Plastic
+ 10'07
12
CDC - Cavaliere
+ 13'52
13
ISD Continental Team
+ 17'25
14
Liquigas - Doimo
+ 19'27
15
Amore & Vita - Conad
+ 20'57
16
Tecnofilm - Betonexpressz 2000
+ 22'41
17
Meridiana Kamen Team
+ 35'20
18
Vorarlberg - Corratec
+ 51'42
19
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
+ 1h01'17
20
Atlas Personal
+ 1h02'44
21
LKT Team Brandenburg
+ 1h13'20
I liked the team's performance. Even though we did finish last on the TTT, we still got one Top 10 from stage 5 breakaway. Unfornately, it was the last position between the escapees. Also unfornately, we didn't make it into the winning breakaway on the last stage. It was still a good ride by us.
Pozzovivo confirmed his favouritism winning the 2 mountain stages with mastery. Daniel Martin wore the leader jersey but lost it in the same day. In the end, he can be satisfied with 5th in GC and the young classification after the poor performance on stage 3. Niemic also did well and finished second, like in real life.
The riders will now rest for 2 weeks before heading to France. Paris - Camembert Lepetit is our next race on the calendar. We will finally be counting on our big guns Pagliarini and Walker again as the first season goal is getting closer(28/04). Before, though, we'll have our Month Review. Tune back later!
Welcome to our month review! What did we do in March? Was it a good month? Let's see!
We took part in only two races: Tour de Langkawi and Settimana [img-r]https://img89.imageshack.us/img89/2358/25833121.jpg[/img-r]Coppi e Bartali. On both of them we had weak squads, so we had few expectations. On Le Tour de Langkawi, we tried to win the KOM competition, and actually did bad. Fiorilli scored 10 points and got 18th, while KOM winner Daniel Navarro scored 32 points. As for Settimana Coppi e Bartali, we had no expectations at all: our goal was only to be part of breakaways. In the end, we managed to take part on a successful breakaway on stage 5 and get out of the race with one Top 10, an 8th position to be more exact. Summing up, not really a good month.
[img-l]https://img213.imageshack.us/img213/9781/35577694.jpg[/img-l]The month of March saw the first monument of the season and the first Pro Tour races after Tour Down Under. Mark Cavendish won Milan - San Remo mass sprint for his second win in a row. Astana had the most sensational March you can imagine, with Vinokourov claiming two Pro Tour stage races, which brings him to the top of the rankings, Iglinskiy winning the race to the sun, which also puts him in 3rd on UCI rankings, Navarro winning Le Tour de Langkawi on the Continental part and Gasparotto surprisingly solo winning Gent - Wevelgem. Kim Kirchen is still doing great on the rankings thanks to good appearances on Catalunya, and so is Ryder Hesjedal. Fabian Cancellara late month cobble wins and his 2nd on Gent - Wevelgem shows he has a pretty good form and is probably the biggest favorite for the cobble classics on April. Rankings UCI Pro Tour Individual
Rider of the Month:
Alexandre Vinokourov (2nd in a row)
Victories: 2 (Races)/3 (Stages)
2nd places: 0/4
3rd places: 0/0
Races: Tirreno - Adriatico, Volta Ciclista a Catalunya
Young rider of the month:
Julien Bérard
Victories: 0 (Races)/0 (Stages)
2nd places: 0/0
3rd places: 0/1
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seara/Vivo Rider of the Monthpresented by Donut&Donut
Rodrigo Nascimento
Congratulations to Rodrigo Nascimento, he is our rider of the month! We didn't have a really good month, getting only one good result: a Top 10 in Settimana di Coppi e Bartali, and it was gotten by him, after bravely being in a breakaway for more than 150 kilometers! Well done!
Edited by lluuiiggii on 19-02-2011 17:38
@janne_837
The Magical World of PCM, where dreams come true!
April 13th Paris - Camembert Lepetit
Paris - Camembert, our first classic of the season! A very interesting race to open the season classics for us. Created in 1934, has had 71 editions so far, with Laurent Brochard holding the record for most wins (3 times). By the 1970s famous riders were regularly participating and sometimes winning the race, such as Bernard Hinault and Joop Zoetemelk.
It can be a race for the sprinters, as well as it can't. Just 10 km away from the finish côte de Canapville, côte du Moulin Neuf and Mur des Champeaux await the riders, as well as other hills in the middle of the race. Add that to the fact that some riders take this race as a good preparation for the Ardennes, and we have good chances for an attacker to solo win like happened in 2007 with Sébastien Joly. Valverde won in 2008 and Jimmy Casper holds the title currently.
To be crowned the winner in Camembert you have to be a good sprinter with good hill stats, or maybe just have good hill stats. If we only consider the sprinting part, William Bonnet (Bouygues Télécom), Lloyd Mondory (AG2R), Enrico Rossi (Ceramica Flaminia) and Jimmy Engoulvent (Saur - Sojasun) are good bets. If we look at the hilly side, Christophe Le Mével (Française des Jeux), Juan Jose Cobo (Caisse d'Epargne), Bert de Waele(Landbouwkrediet) are good choices.
If you join both and look for a good sprinter-hiller or a hiller-sprinter, names to appear on the table are Giovanni Visconti (ISD - Neri), Yann Huguet (Skil - Shimano), Yuri Trofimov (Bouygues Télécom) and early season uphill sprint master Ángel Vicioso - ups, he is not taking part here, sorry.
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
Team Goals:
- Be part of botd.
The boys are back in town! (Thin Lizzy - 1976 "Jailbreak" - good song!) Seara/Vivo will be again see its leaders Luciano Pagliarini and Nicholas Walker in action as they build up their way to the late April goals! Tanel Kangert gets back tomorrow. As they are back from some months without taking part on any race, their fitness ain't good. So we don't have expectations for this race as the route is very tough. It's great to see them again anyway
April 13th: Paris - Camembert Lepetit
Paris - Camembert, 204.2 kms
A very tough route, could even be classified as a hilly classic. Pagliarini and Walker are completely out of shape so we expect nothing from there in this race. We just intend to send someone to the break and see how things goes.
A big break of 11 riders was formed today. It had some good hillers. Médici was between them and was the worst in hill stat. When the break reached the first of the 7 final hills, their advantage to the peloton was about 5 minutes.
On the peloton main workers were Landbouwkrediet and AG2R.
On the fourth hill Médici had to let go the breakaway. On the same point all Seara/Vivo riders in the peloton struggled.
The pack quickly caught Médici and when going for the last 2 hills, with 20 kilometers left, the break had a 2 minute advantage.
On the last hills, the peloton broke in a lot of minor groups. The front one, chasing the breakaway, had 30 riders. The only sprinters named on the pre race favorites that made it into the selection were Enrico Rossi and Lloyd Mondory. They were probably tired, though. The 3 sprinter-hiller name also as pre race favorites were also there - Visconti, Huguet and Trofimov.
After the break climbed the hills and were 10 km away from the finish, gap to the second group was 36 seconds.
The break was caught 4 kilometers before the line. When the sprint started, nobody had organized a train or a lead out.
Bert de Waele outsprinted the others since the beggining and celebrate a quite easy win! He showed he was the strongest in the first group! On the battle for the other positions, Emanuele Vona got 2nd and Laurent Lefèvre finished the podium.
Today winner is Results
1
Bert De Waele
Landbouwkrediet
4h52'22
2
Emanuele Vona
ISD - Neri
s.t.
3
Laurent Lefèvre
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
s.t.
4
Yann Huguet
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
5
Nicolas Vogondy
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
s.t.
6
Yury Trofimov
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
s.t.
7
Steve Chainel
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
s.t.
8
Pierre Rolland
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
s.t.
9
Mathieu Sprick
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
s.t.
10
Jérémie Galland
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
Spoiler
11
Pablo Lastras
Caisse d'Epargne
s.t.
12
Thibaut Pinot
Française des Jeux
s.t.
13
Raffaele Ferrara
CarmioOro NGC
s.t.
14
Jussi Veikkanen
Française des Jeux
s.t.
15
Bartosz Huzarski
ISD - Neri
s.t.
16
Alexandre Geniez
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
17
José Iván Gutiérrez
Caisse d'Epargne
s.t.
18
Mathieu Perget
Caisse d'Epargne
s.t.
19
Rémy Di Gregorio
Française des Jeux
s.t.
20
Romain Zingle
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
21
Sébastien Minard
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
22
Laurent Mangel
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
23
Lloyd Mondory
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
24
Benoît Vaugrenard
Française des Jeux
s.t.
25
Giovanni Visconti
ISD - Neri
s.t.
26
Enrico Rossi
Ceramica Flaminia
s.t.
27
Simon Clarke
ISD - Neri
s.t.
28
Massimiliano Gentili
Ceramica Flaminia
s.t.
29
Florian Morizot
Big Mat - Auber 93
s.t.
30
Jean-Marc Bideau
Bretagne - Schuller
s.t.
31
Miguel Rubiano
Meridiana Kamen Team
s.t.
32
Stéphane Augé
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
33
Emanuele Sella
CarmioOro NGC
s.t.
34
Christophe Le Mével
Française des Jeux
s.t.
35
Donato Cannone
Ceramica Flaminia
s.t.
36
Juan José Cobo
Caisse d'Epargne
s.t.
37
John Gadret
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
38
Clément Lhotellerie
Roubaix Lille Métropole
s.t.
39
Alexander Efimkin
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
40
William Bonnet
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
+ 1'32
41
Arnaud Gérard
Française des Jeux
s.t.
42
Guillaume Blot
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
+ 2'04
43
Paolo Longo Borghini
ISD - Neri
s.t.
44
Amaël Moinard
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
45
Rui Costa
Caisse d'Epargne
s.t.
46
Damien Monier
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
47
Santo Anza
Ceramica Flaminia
s.t.
48
Andrey Amador
Caisse d'Epargne
s.t.
49
Patrik Sinkewitz
ISD - Neri
s.t.
50
Sven Nys
Landbouwkrediet
s.t.
51
Sergey Rudaskov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
52
Rein Taaramäe
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
53
Stéphane Poulhiès
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
54
Andrea Tonti
CarmioOro NGC
s.t.
55
Sébastien Fournet
CarmioOro NGC
s.t.
56
Sébastien Hinault
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
57
Anthony Ravard
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
58
Jimmy Engoulvent
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
59
Nicolas Rousseau
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
60
Sven Van Dousselaere
Jong Vlaanderen - Bauknecht
s.t.
61
Ramon Sinkeldam
Rabobank CT
s.t.
62
Julien Simon
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
63
Yohann Gène
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
s.t.
64
César Quitério
Centro Ciclismo de Loulé - Louletano
s.t.
65
Filippo Baggio
Ceramica Flaminia
s.t.
66
Jonathan Bertrand
Landbouwkrediet
s.t.
67
Daniele Colli
Ceramica Flaminia
s.t.
68
Iker Camaño
Endura Racing
s.t.
69
Sibrecht Pieters
Jong Vlaanderen - Bauknecht
s.t.
70
Raivis Belohvosciks
Ceramica Flaminia
s.t.
71
Romain Matheou
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
72
Thierry Hupond
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
73
Yannick Talabardon
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
74
Paolo Bailetti
Ceramica Flaminia
s.t.
75
Yohan Offredo
Française des Jeux
s.t.
76
Bart Dockx
Landbouwkrediet
s.t.
77
Sébastien Delfosse
Landbouwkrediet
s.t.
78
Gatis Smukulis
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
79
Dimitry Ignatiev
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
80
Jack Bauer
Endura Racing
s.t.
81
Bart Van Haaren
Van Vliet EBH Elshof
s.t.
82
David Deroo
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
83
Pit Schlechter
Continental Team Differdange
s.t.
84
Diego Tamayo
CarmioOro NGC
s.t.
85
Robert Retschke
Continental Team Differdange
s.t.
86
Boy Van Poppel
Rabobank CT
s.t.
87
Ronan Van Zandbeek
Van Vliet EBH Elshof
s.t.
88
Julien Loubet
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
89
Roel Paulissen
Jong Vlaanderen - Bauknecht
s.t.
90
Job Vissers
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
91
Baptiste Planckaert
Landbouwkrediet
s.t.
92
Daniel Silva
Centro Ciclismo de Loulé - Louletano
s.t.
93
Dmitry Kosyakov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
94
Jean-Marc Marino
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
95
João Cabreira
Centro Ciclismo de Loulé - Louletano
s.t.
96
Pieter Serry
Jong Vlaanderen - Bauknecht
s.t.
97
Alexander Kvachuk
ISD - Neri
s.t.
98
Robert Partridge
Endura Racing
s.t.
99
Francisco Pérez
Caisse d'Epargne
s.t.
100
Nico Schneider
Continental Team Differdange
s.t.
101
Diego Caccia
ISD - Neri
s.t.
102
Alberto Losada
Caisse d'Epargne
s.t.
103
Laurent Pichon
Bretagne - Schuller
s.t.
104
Albert Timmer
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
105
Eduardo Gonzalo
Bretagne - Schuller
s.t.
106
Ross Creber
Endura Racing
s.t.
107
Han Feng
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
108
Celestino Pinho
Centro Ciclismo de Loulé - Louletano
+ 4'28
109
Martijn Keizer
Rabobank CT
s.t.
110
Julien Mazet
Big Mat - Auber 93
s.t.
111
Daniele Ratto
CarmioOro NGC
s.t.
112
Sander Oostlander
Van Vliet EBH Elshof
s.t.
113
Nick Van der Lijke
Rabobank CT
s.t.
114
Martial Ricci Poggi
Landbouwkrediet
s.t.
115
Stanislav Starobudtsev
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
116
Julien El Fares
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
117
Luciano Pagliarini
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
s.t.
118
Daniel Bajlo
Meridiana Kamen Team
s.t.
119
Olivier Peelman
Continental Team Differdange
s.t.
120
Tom Slagter
Rabobank CT
s.t.
121
Maurice Vrijmoed
Rabobank CT
+ 5'24
122
Mikhail Antonov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
123
Patrick Gressnich
Continental Team Differdange
s.t.
124
Jocelyn Bar
Roubaix Lille Métropole
s.t.
125
Tom Thill
Continental Team Differdange
s.t.
126
David Lines
Endura Racing
s.t.
127
Bruno Pinto
Centro Ciclismo de Loulé - Louletano
s.t.
128
Diego Genovesi
CarmioOro NGC
s.t.
129
Matías Médici
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
s.t.
130
Nicholas Walker
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
s.t.
131
Petr Ignatenko
Itera - Katusha
+ 6'28
132
Stefan Vreugdenhil
Van Vliet EBH Elshof
s.t.
133
Bob Schoonbroodt
Van Vliet EBH Elshof
s.t.
134
Stefan Cohnen
Continental Team Differdange
s.t.
135
Jeffrey Wiersma
Van Vliet EBH Elshof
s.t.
136
Nilceu Dos Santos
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
s.t.
137
Florian Vachon
Bretagne - Schuller
+ 7'08
138
Niels Van Dyck
Jong Vlaanderen - Bauknecht
s.t.
139
Romain Lemarchand
Big Mat - Auber 93
s.t.
140
Wilco Kelderman
Rabobank CT
s.t.
141
Dimitri Le Boulch
Big Mat - Auber 93
s.t.
142
Stanislav Volkov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
143
Romain Hardy
Bretagne - Schuller
s.t.
144
Andrea Piechele
CarmioOro NGC
s.t.
145
Jasper Bovenhuis
Rabobank CT
s.t.
146
Cédric Pineau
Roubaix Lille Métropole
s.t.
147
Matthieu Boulo
Roubaix Lille Métropole
s.t.
148
Ludovic Baptista
Centro Ciclismo de Loulé - Louletano
s.t.
149
Jorg Pannekoek
Jong Vlaanderen - Bauknecht
s.t.
150
Maxime Méderel
Big Mat - Auber 93
s.t.
151
Johan Le Bon
Bretagne - Schuller
s.t.
152
Alex Arseno
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
s.t.
153
Timothy Dupont
Jong Vlaanderen - Bauknecht
s.t.
154
Juraj Ugrinic
Meridiana Kamen Team
s.t.
155
Arkimedes Arguelyes
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
156
Mauro Hrastnik
Meridiana Kamen Team
s.t.
157
Boris Legovic
Meridiana Kamen Team
s.t.
158
Renato Ruiz
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
s.t.
159
Yoeri Havik
Van Vliet EBH Elshof
s.t.
160
Bas Krauwel
Van Vliet EBH Elshof
s.t.
161
Dominik Eberle
Continental Team Differdange
s.t.
162
Sébastien Duret
Bretagne - Schuller
+ 11'00
163
Steve Schets
Jong Vlaanderen - Bauknecht
+ 11'24
164
Mathieu Drouilly
Landbouwkrediet
s.t.
165
Flavio Silvério
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
s.t.
166
Cheng Ji
Skil - Shimano
+ 12'12
167
Danilo Mello
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
s.t.
168
Callum Wilkinson
Endura Racing
+ 13'56
Well, we had no expectations for this race. Really. It's just for the riders to go building their form for the late April/May goals. As expected the sprinters with bad hill stat, even though they were shown as favorites by the game, did bad. When we were heading to that sprint finish I thought Visconti would take, but it was de Waele who had more left. Great win by him.
Landbouwkrediet knew about their good chances working against the breakaway since the beggining. In the end, the work had results. Oh, and take a look at that massive domination by Bbox Bouygues Télécom in the Top 10: from 3rd to 9th, all but the 4th are Bbox.
The riders now departure from France and immediately go for Spain, as tomorrow Vuelta a Castilla y León starts! Not only we'll be counting again on our two main sprinters but also Tanel Kangert will get back to action. Stay tuned!
Edited by lluuiiggii on 17-01-2011 03:45
April 14th
Vuelta a Castilla y León
Now to Vuelta a Castilla y León!! It was created in 1985, and through its 25 editions, the race has seen some famous names winning, such as Miguel Indurain and Francisco Mancebo. In recent years, these names are appearing more often, and Astana riders have been dominating the race: Vinokourov won it in 2006(riding for Liberty Seguros), Alberto Contador in 2007(for Discovery Channel), Contador again in 2008, this time riding for Astana, and Leipheimer in 2009, also riding for Astana. This is a small domination compared to former team Banesto: from 1993 to 2003 the won 10 times out of 11!!
Anyway, this year's route is very balanced: 5 stages, 2 flat, 1 hilly, 1 mountain, 1 time trial. Since stage 1 we'll probably know the real contenders, as the riders will face a lot of hills. Stage 2 will be quite relaxing, a stage for the sprinters, but then Stage 3 offers a lot of mountains: Alto de San Lorenzo, Puerto de la Cobertoria and the finish on Alto del Morredero wait for the riders. Stage 4 individual time trial will then see the winner, while the sprinters that survive Alto de Hóndon de los Fraires on stage 5 will have the chance to claim the last victory.
The GC Contenders
With you, the boss, Lance Armstrong!! (c'mon Lance, hoping for you to win). Lance is according to the game the biggest favorite, but he has no good team mates for the climbings. Marzio Bruseghin, on the other side, has the full team of Caisse d'Epargne supporting him, including Juan José Cobo, who is also a favorite if given the role of leader. Cofidis put their hopes on the young estonian Rein Taaramae (Tanel Kangert said he's glad to be racing with him). Michele Scarponi is the best climber in the field, and is where Androni Giocattoli's hopes are deposited. Astana has probably no rider good enough to continue their domination, as both their leaders Óscar Pereiro and Paris-Nice winner Maxim Iglinskiy do not really like time trials.
The Sprinters
There are some real good sprinters here. Óscar Freire gets the most highlights, but Gert Steegmans wants to give him someone to beat on the 2 flat stages(especially with the giantic number of sprinters Radioshack brought - look at the startlist). Euskaltel brought Koldo Fernández, and you gotta keep on eye on him. Other riders to be watched are William Bonnet, Cândido Barbosa and Martin Pedersen.
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
Team Goals:
- KOM Jersey (Kangert)
- 1 Top 10 (Pagliarini, Walker)
Finally, Tanel Kangert is back to racing! This is probably one of the strongest line-ups we can have. Vítor would be missing, as he is the best climber together with Kangert. We have our 2 best sprinters and 3 best time trialists. Initially I was thinking in trying for a good GC with Kangert, but after seeing the start list, it was stronger than I expected, so we decided to go for the KOM. After all, Kangert and the others form is still bad, but I hope it's enough to contest the KOM competition.
April 14th: Vuelta a Castilla y León
Stage 1: Belorado - Burgos, 175.6 kms
Stage 1 of Vuelta a Castilla y León will be one of the toughest and we'll be able to see who are the real contenders. The riders will pass through 3 KOM climbs today. The first is Alto Ventas de Zafarraya(14.1 kms 5.1%) , near the beggining of the stage, and will give 10 mountain points. The second, Alto de Montefrío will be giving 6 points to the rider who cross first. And the last, Puerto de Valdepeñas (7.2 kms 6.0%), finishing 8 km away from the line, will probably be the decisive one.
After several failed attempts, 14 riders managed to break clear near the beggining of Alto Ventas de Zafarrava. Astana few GC expectations can be clear as they sent 2 riders to the break. We also had 2 riders, as we thought Kangert would need some help concerning his current fitness, so Nazaret managed to go to the break with him. RadioShack also sending one rider, Rast, maybe shows that they do are not really relying on Armstrong GC chances.
The break wasn't really opening a good gap, but it was going. Nazaret had orders to stay in the break until the first KOM check, then he could slip back to the peloton as his mission of helping Kangert would be done.
With 500 meters for the KOM check, Kangert accelerated, but he wasn't opening a gap.
He was still able to take the lead and cross in the check first! 10 points for him!
When the break reached the foot of the second KOM climb, Alto de Montefrío, the peloton was 5 minutes behind.
With 1 km to the KOM check Kangert moved himself to the front of the group.
This time he didn't need to attack, as he put a good effort to cross the check leading the escapees and collect other 6 points! We have very good chances of seeing him using the mountain jersey tomorrow, as he already has 16 points! Learn it, Médici
Just kidding, Médici did a good job in Giro di Sardegna. And Kangert is the team leader. Anyway, when on the last descent before Puerto de Valdepeñas, the pack was trailing the escapees by a single minute. Bbox Bouygues Télécom and Caisse d'Epargne were setting the pace. No RadioShack rider working, which is bad, but at least they have no good climbers.
The break was eventually caught 1 kilometer after we hit the steep roads of Valdepeñas.
The first attack came from Yury Trofimov. José Iván Gutiérrez tried to counter this move.
He couldn't, though, and Trofimov kept pulling hard to open a big gap in no time!
Next move came from Scarponi. He couldn't reach Gutiérrez but opened a nice gap to the peloton. Nobody countered.
Even though the peloton was climbing in a high pace, Taaramae decided to go with 10 kilometer left. He didn't open a big gap, but at least got to Scarponi.
Lastras saw an opportunity on a slow down by the peloton and attacked, leaving doubts of who was the real Caisse d'Epargne leader. Pereiro tries to follow.
On the end of the climb, Lance Armstrong struggled to keep with the group.
Gutiérrez, Scarponi and Taaramae were descending together trying to keep the others away. But where was the first attacker, Yury Trofimov?
Almost a minute in front, Trofimov was heading for a brilliant solo win! He was the first to attack and fooled everybody in the peloton!
On the last two kilometers he lost some ground but who cares anyway? Trofimov raises his hands and celebrate a really deserved victory, 13 kilometers of solo ride!
25" later, the chasers completed the course. Taaramae contested the sprint for 2nd. The other attackers were caught and finished in a 22 rider group, 1'23 behind stage winner. But where is Lance Armstrong?
He finished in the 45th, in the 4th group, but fortunately got the same time as the others in the front, so only a 1'23 loss to Trofimov. With his losses minimized, you can say Armstrong is still in the fight, but after today's performance it's easy to see he hasn't good the best shape.
Watching the battle in front, we forgot something: Tanel Kangert will wear the mountain jersey tomorrow, the first time in the team history that we see a rider of ours in the game podium! What a moment for the riders!
Today winner is Stage Results
1
Yury Trofimov
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
5h08'26
2
Rein Taaramäe
Cofidis
+ 25
3
José Iván Gutiérrez
Caisse d'Epargne
s.t.
4
Michele Scarponi
Androni Giocattoli
s.t.
5
Pablo Lastras
Caisse d'Epargne
+ 1'23
6
David Blanco
Palmeiras Resort - Prio
s.t.
7
Xavier Florencio
Cervélo Test Team
s.t.
8
Nicolas Vogondy
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
s.t.
9
Arkaitz Durán
Footon - Servetto
s.t.
10
Pierre Rolland
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
s.t.
What a magnificent stage for us! Tanel Kangert will wear the mountain jersey tomorrow, and with some bonus seconds he got in a sprint check while in the break, he gets 5th on GC and 2nd on young rider, making it double for Estonia on that classement! Also, it's always great to watch a stage with lots of attacks and great rides, such as Trofimov today, who shows he still has the good form that put him in 15th on Pais Vasco and 6th on Paris - Camembert. The only bad thing about today's stage was Armstrong struggling and losing time.
Bad luck with Nascimento in final sprint. Next time, things will better!
