Re Leone wrote:

Was enjoying himself.

It were Pippo Pozzato and Peter Sagan who gave this years E3 the most colour. It was Pozzato his attack on the Eikenberg which opened up the race with just under 90km left. He was joined by fellow Italian Selvaggi and the Belgian de Backer.

Fabian was clear in instructing us to set up the chase and control the gap, never letting it grow beyond half a minute. Feeling good today and wanting to take some pressure off the team, both Rast and I attacked on the Kortekeer. Resulting in two things, first we caught Pozzato and were now at the forefront of the race and secondly we did not have to lead the chase anymore.

Rast did the bulk of the work in our group as we quickly caught on to the early breakaway and just as quickly dropped them including Selvaggi and de Backer on the following section of pave.

After about 20km of Rast, Pozzato and I relaying head over head, the Gregory had emptied himself. Leaving me and Pozzato to defend a 2’39” lead with 30km left in the race.

It was around this point in the race that Sagan attacked out of the peloton which had been reduced to an elite group of 20 men. The riders to quickly join the Slovak where Fabian, Vanmarcke, Boom and Van Avermaet. There was no stopping Sagan though as with a second acceleration he dropped the quartet and made his way towards the front of the race. Soloing past the wrung out Pozzato and I with 9km left in the race. Shortly there after the chasing quarter also dropped up us in a whim.

A podium finish was the best Fabian could do today as a strong Vanmarcke outsprinted him for second behind winner Sagan. Completely wrung out I ended the day on a high note with a 9th place finish. Looking forward to the big appointment next week in Flanders Finest, first there was Gent Wevelgem though.

After finishing third yesterday Fabian wanted to ride a very aggressive race, having us set the pace at the front of the peloton around the 120km mark as we started with the hilly section of the race, with 10 consecutive hills. Each hill causing another shift in the peloton as Stuyven, Hondo, Popovych, Roulston, Rast and I relayed like men possessed.

It was on the 8th of those hills the Baneberg that Fabian and Stijn accelerated out of the peloton. Joined by Vanmarcke, van Avermaet and Thomas a group which clicked right away. With no team left in the peloton to set up a chase it was clear the winner would come out of their group.

My work done for the day I just rode out the course at a leisurely pace finishing 61st on the day the 235km long course seeming to last forever.

The Giant team of Degenkolb tried to chase the men upfront to no avail only catching up to Devolder as the Belgian champion had emptied himself for Fabian who placed his deciding attack on 7km from the finish, Vanmarcke was the only one able to follow, just to be out-sprinted by the Fabian at the finishing line. It seemed that we had the top favourite for this years Ronde in our very own team.

Fabian Cancellara, Stijn Devolder, Jasper Stuyven, Nicholas Arcier, Hayden Roulston, Grégory Rast, Yaroslav Popovych, Danilo Hondo

The first thing one notices when attending the Tours of Flanders is the massive crowd of people. Ciclismo was absolutely alive with the Flemish crowd, people to my liking as they respected any rider who showed real panache. With a bright sun shining and the temperature mild the 256km course with 16 hills and 17 sections of pave almost seemed like… well not an awful afternoon.

Tom Boonen had returned from his injury, but Fabian Cancellara was still the top favourite for the win today. Reason for our DS to place our team at the head of the peloton for most of the day. With Danilo Hondo, Gregory Rast and Hayden Roulston relaying at head of the peloton for almost the entire first half of the race to keep recuperation periods to a minimum. Not pleasant, but I didn’t expect today to be a day for the fragile among us.

In the 40km section between the two crossings of the Oude Kwaremont various attacks where instigated most of them with Peter Sagan at the helm. Blowing up our team bit by bit, section of pave after section of pave. A flat for Jesper Stuyven which caused the young Belgian to get dropped from the group didn’t help either.

It were Devolder and I who where still able to pull at the head of the now 30 man sized peloton when we caught onto another of Sagan his attacks just after the Paterberg.

On one of the few cobble free hills on the day it was Lars Boom who launched the deciding attack as he accelerated away on the Hoogberg-Hotond, Fabian and Geraint Thomas right in his wheel. With Stijn and me holding our legs still it were Sagan, van Avermaet, Vanmarcke, Roelandts and a surprisingly strong Boonen who counter attacked as they quickly joined the trio.


Together with Stijn the both of us accelerated away out of the remaining group which had accepted its defeat and were barely turning the pedals. The two of us continuing at our own pace meant I had to let Stijn go rather quickly as I was completely wrung out for the final 15km, but I still managed to finish as 17th just over 4 minutes behind the winner of the day. A personal victory which needed no flowers or kisses as I finished ahead of a bunch of big names like Stybar and Gilbert.

The winner was decided during the final passing on the Oude Kwaremont as Vanmarcke accelerated right from the head of the group, Fabian and van Avermaet the only ones able to following.

Fabian tried one last attack in the final 5km, but was easily followed by the two Belgians. In a sprint a trois it was van Avermaet who silenced his critics as he took his first monument a victory long over due. Cancellera finished a frustrating third.

Matt97 wrote:
What a classy story, I love it! Shame Fabian wasn't able to win the Ronde but your ride sure did a nice job finishing at the first 20.

A dark sky, continues rain and a roaring wind across the road. All the ingredients where present for a heroic race towards the Velodrome in Roubaix. Where all signs in the Tours of Flanders last week where pointing towards a positive race, today it was the complete opposite.

The naive among us might have thought that the 23 man breakaway stood a chance to stay away simply due its size and the fact that every team was represented. (For us it was Jesper who by far was the best cobble rider in the early escape.) Even though they managed to get a 12 minute lead it was only a matter of time before their swan song would end.

It was Omega Pharma-Quickstep who slowly started to reduce the escapees their lead to about 3 minutes right ahead of the Trench of Arenberg. It was here where our DS commanded us to relay at the head of the peloton in the hope of using the wind to our advantage.


We were unsuccessful in breaking up the peloton, but as we passed through the Forest of Wallers the peloton was reduced to about 60 men who were still able to battle it our through the cold rain and sluggish mud.

It was on section 15 with about 74km left that Peter Sagan, Stybar and Kristoff accelerated out of the peloton. The trio easily gaining a 40 second leave as Roulston, Popovych and Hondo had already been dropped. Leaving Rast, Stuyven and I to lead the chase for Devolder and Cancellara

We managed to keep the gap around about 1 minute up till section 10 known as Mons-en Pevele one of the hardest sections of pave for the day. Which is where I found my end as my legs were simply not able to keep up the pace anymore. It was here that Stijn and Fabian threw up the pace, only 8 men able to follow the duo their acceleration.

By the time that Fabian placed his decisive attack the leading group had been reduced to him, Roelandts, Sagan, Boonen, Gatto and Vanmarcke. On section 6 Broughelles with about 25km left that Fabian sped out of the group, quickly gaining a 50 second lead as nobody seemed willing to chase. A read which continued growing until Fabian entered the Velodrome arms raised to the sky as he won his record tying fourth Roubaix with over 2 minutes on his chasers.


It was probably around this same time that thanks to my own fatigue, that I tasted the asphalt. There was a certain irony in crashing on the road in Roubaix instead of the asphalt. In a reflex created by habit I stepped back on my bike to continue my way towards Roubaix. Ignoring my pulsating wrist. My left wrist which would be killing me by the time I crossed the line as 91st, over 20 minutes after Fabian. Instead of the team bus, the hospital in Lille my final destination for the day.

With the Giro ending it is time for our yearly World Tour spring review and what a spring it was! From the rise of Carlos Alberto Betancur to the reappearance of Alejandro ‘El Imbadito’ Valverde. And at last it was there! Colombia there first Grand Tour victory since Luis Herrera in the 1987 Vuelta a Espana. It was Rigoberto Uran who in the colours of Omega Pharma - Quick·Step dominated in the Giro d’Italia, taking two stage wins and the mountains classification in the process.


To continue the theme of comebacks it seems Italy finally have a valid successor for Alessandro Petacchi as Giacomo Nizzolo took 3 stage wins and the points jersey in this year’s Giro, the Giro was a massive success for the Italian his equipe Team Tissot in general as the Swiss team their young Austrian climber Zoidl finished 5th and both Nizzolo and Cancellara wore the pink jersey for 1 day each. Last mentioned also getting a stage win meaning the Swiss has now officially won a stage in every one of the Grand Tours. Team Tissot has shown to be a great addition to the peloton and we hope to have them around for quite some time!

Not all was good this spring though as Tom Boonen was unable to really fight for any of the wins as he had to struggle with a repeating back injury, will the Belgian champion decide to retire at the end of the year? And this spring especially ended on a down note as Vincenzo Nibali who seemed to be the major challenger for both Froome and Contador in this years Tour will not participate in France this July after breaking his foot last week during training.

Nonetheless we are excited for the upcoming Dauphiné Libéré and Tour de Suisse, we hope to see you there!