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Farnese Vini - Selle Italia [July, signing new riders]
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| tyriion |
Posted on 24-05-2012 09:55
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It's been a while, stage crashed and then I didn't feel like it for a week or so. But I got around to it now.
The race
The first attacks are controlled by RadioShack, who seem unwilling to let a group ride with riders from BMC and Sky. This continues the first 50 km into the race, when Hermans from RadioShack starts an attack himself. Benenati has been waiting for this and quickly joins the move.
But too many riders try to do the same and Sky has no rider there. They shut this move down. But after 70 km a group of 3 finally forms. de Patre is there for us, together with Kangert and King. But King isn't working with the others as he's only there to control. This group makes it onto the first cobbled sections, but their advantage is under 2 minutes as Sky picks up the pace again.
And the first cobbles see the break brought back. It also wreaks havoc in the peloton. At some point there are just 31 riders in the front group and some big names missing. Leukemans, Nuyens and Pozzato have all been caught napping.
Of course they can still get back to the front this early in the race. 125 km to go and there's some breathing room as the first cobbles are passed. But the peloton is only 46 riders now. Some still get back, like Devolder, but as the pace drops some riders want to attack again. And now it's a serious move as Offredo, Paolini and Haussler set up a move.
The peloton doesn't respond as some teams still wait for helpers and so the trio gets 4'. Then with 75 to go as the speed is picked up a bit over some cobbles Leukemans punctures.
Devolder and van Impe bring him back, but this will surely have cost energy. 60 to go now and the gap is at 5'15. Some big cobbled sections are coming up now, so BMC moves to the front of the group and starts chasing Haussler and co. 15 km later Breschel puts in an attack.
But as he's still 3 minutes down from the break and the group of favorites is increasing the speed this is a move that leads nowhere.
With 30 to go it's Boonen himself who moves to the front and things will surely happen now.
And they do. The break is caught by Boonen, but it's Ballan who makes the first move. Just before a cobbled section the Italian gets a small gap.
That cobbled section sees Cancellara, Chavanel and Flecha join Ballan. Boonen keeps a steady pace that drops all remaining helpers. The fight is man to man now.
With 10 to go, on the final cobbles, Cancellara and Flecha drop Ballan and Chavanel. But as the differences are still small Boonen tries to bridge to them.
And Boonen succeeds. Pozzato couldn't follow this move and is actually pretty tired. But luckily enough for him and some others the three up front don't cooperate. This means we get a group of 7 approaching the velodrome.
Their names are; Ballan, Chavanel, Cancellara, Hushovd, Boonen, Flecha and Pozzato. And they all stay together going into the final lap. Hushovd leads the others out.
But if that's to help Ballan he made a mistake. Cancellara, Pozzato and Boonen have caught the Norwegians wheel, but the others are caught behind Chavanel, who can't follow.
But int the sprint it's clear that Pozzato has nothing left. He even gets passed by Chavanel.
Ballan and Flecha probably move fastest through the final kilometer, but their bad placement costs them. Boonen has worked hard chasing, so it's Cancellara who can take the victory.
Final classification
| 1 | Fabian Cancellara | RadioShack - Nissan | 6h39'35 | | 2 | Thor Hushovd | BMC Racing Team | s.t. | | 3 | Alessandro Ballan | BMC Racing Team | s.t. | | 4 | Tom Boonen | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team | s.t. | | 5 | Juan Antonio Flecha | Sky Procycling | s.t. | | 6 | Sylvain Chavanel | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team | + 27 | | 7 | Filippo Pozzato | Farnese Vini - Selle Italia | s.t. | | 8 | Bernhard Eisel | Sky Procycling | + 53 | | 9 | George Hincapie | BMC Racing Team | + 2'38 | | 10 | Sébastien Hinault | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. | | 11 | Björn Leukemans | Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 12 | Geraint Thomas | Sky Procycling | s.t. | | 13 | Johan Vansummeren | Garmin - Barracuda | s.t. | | 14 | Matti Breschel | Rabobank Cycling Team | s.t. | | 15 | Heinrich Haussler | Garmin - Barracuda | + 3'32 | | 16 | Grégory Rast | RadioShack - Nissan | s.t. | | 17 | Nick Nuyens | Team Saxo Bank | s.t. | | 18 | Yohan Offredo | FDJ - BigMat | s.t. | | 19 | Greg Van Avermaet | BMC Racing Team | + 6'13 | | 20 | Marcus Burghardt | BMC Racing Team | s.t. | | 21 | Lars Ytting Bak | Lotto Belisol Team | s.t. | | 22 | Luca Paolini | Katusha Team | s.t. | | 23 | Tomas Vaitkus | GreenEdge Cycling Team | s.t. | | 24 | Niki Terpstra | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team | s.t. | | 25 | Stijn Devolder | Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 17:23
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 24-05-2012 09:57
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Without Pozzato the team wouldn't get any results, still 7th is a good result  |
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| tyriion |
Posted on 24-05-2012 10:00
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sutty68 wrote:
Without Pozzato the team wouldn't get any results, still 7th is a good result
The others get dropped about 100 km into the race. Maybe I could keep them a bit longer with better positioning, but what's the point? I will focus on some cobble helpers, as Hulsmans on his own isn't that helpful.
But yeah, 7th is pretty decent, considering Pozzato has 77 COB in this DB.
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| tyriion |
Posted on 24-05-2012 20:26
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The GP Denain is a small race in Northern France. We come here with no special ambitions, our target is the Tro Bro Leon later this week.
We will try to get in a break, as our chances in the sprint look pretty slim.
The race is very flat, just some minor speed bumps in the laps in Denain.
The race
There are attacks throughout the race, but no break establishes itself. Caccia and Benenati try early on, but there's always one team that feels it must chase. Foremost is AG2R. Hulsmans makes a move in the final 50 km, but this doesn't go anywhere either, so it's going to end in a mass sprint. de Patre is our best hope here. He gets a good position going into the sprint, but he clearly lacks speed and gets passed left and right. While Geslin takes the win de Patre is our best rider on 18th.
Final classification
| 1 | Anthony Geslin | FDJ - BigMat | 4h19'43 | | 2 | Sébastien Hinault | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. | | 3 | Frédéric Amorison | Landbouwkrediet - Euphony | s.t. | | 4 | Leonardo Duque | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | s.t. | | 5 | Jetse Bol | Rabobank Cycling Team | s.t. | | 6 | Jos Van Emden | Rabobank Cycling Team | s.t. | | 7 | Nico Sijmens | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | s.t. | | 8 | Kenny Dehaes | Lotto Belisol Team | s.t. | | 9 | Cyril Gautier | Team Europcar | s.t. | | 10 | Zakkari Dempster | Endura Racing | s.t. | | 18 | Pierpaolo De Negri | Farnese Vini - Selle Italia | s.t. |
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| FreitasPCM |
Posted on 24-05-2012 20:52
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Nice result and nice screens in P-R.  BMC manager must be pretty mad.  |
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| tyriion |
Posted on 24-05-2012 22:33
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The Tro Bro Leon is a sponsor goal of co-sponsor Selle Italia. As such Pozzato will lead the team one last time before taking a well deserved break.
The race itself is quite long but very flat. The thing that stands out however are the rough sections of road that are as tough as the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix.
The race
We decide a different approach to this race as Pozzato is the big favorite. We control the early breaks until a group of 5 with decent cobbled riders goes clear. We keep them within 2 minutes and as there's 50 km left to race and the hardest part of the race comes up we send Hulsmans to try and bridge. He does so successfully, but the peloton responds immediately. Pozzato can't take away the fact that Hulsmans is a threat on his own. But the move gets shut down and so 50 riders arrive for a sprint. Pozzato gets a bit boxed in and only gets the 6th place. Hinault wins.
Final classification
| 1 | Sébastien Hinault | AG2R La Mondiale | 4h54'44 | | 2 | Lloyd Mondory | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. | | 3 | Sébastien Chavanel | Team Europcar | s.t. | | 4 | Maarten Wynants | Rabobank Cycling Team | s.t. | | 5 | Davy Commeyne | Landbouwkrediet - Euphony | s.t. | | 6 | Filippo Pozzato | Farnese Vini - Selle Italia | s.t. | | 7 | Jimmy Casper | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. | | 8 | Koen Barbé | Landbouwkrediet - Euphony | s.t. | | 9 | Dennis Van Winden | Rabobank Cycling Team | s.t. | | 10 | Jetse Bol | Rabobank Cycling Team | s.t. |
Edited by tyriion on 05-06-2012 18:48
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 24-05-2012 23:15
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Another top ten for Pozatto, have his stats improved much  |
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| tyriion |
Posted on 25-05-2012 06:21
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@Freitas; Had to lower graphics to play P-R, so screens aren't exactly as I hoped. And the BMC manager must be very mad indeed, Ballan went from last place in the group to 7th, even bridging a gap Chavanel made.
@sutty; Don't know what you mean? This field was pretty weak so he should have been able to win. But his form is going down and I wanted to reward Hulsmans for all his hard work. He has raced 40 days already, from Langkawi until now.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 25-05-2012 09:38
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tyriion wrote:
@Freitas; Had to lower graphics to play P-R, so screens aren't exactly as I hoped. And the BMC manager must be very mad indeed, Ballan went from last place in the group to 7th, even bridging a gap Chavanel made.
@sutty; Don't know what you mean? This field was pretty weak so he should have been able to win. But his form is going down and I wanted to reward Hulsmans for all his hard work. He has raced 40 days already, from Langkawi until now.
If his form is going down then give the poor guy a deserved rest, he has been awesome |
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| tyriion |
Posted on 29-05-2012 08:26
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While the Ardennes classics are raced, Italy hosts a small stage race to prepare for the big Giro. Our goals here are very moderate. Mazzanti will lead the squad, but he isn't the best climber by far.
Stage1
The short prologue will not be decisive, but nonetheless the favorites wants to show themselves. And Nibali does so best, he wins. Mazzanti proves this isn't his thing as he finishes 1'15 down.
Stage 2
Mazzanti goes into this stage with a mission. The KoM jersey. There is no break until the climb starts and Mazzanti gets some room. He crosses first and will wear the jersey tomorrow. But his lead is small, so he drops back into the pack. The next two escapees won't be caught until after the finish. Klimov takes the stage over Efimkin, Brutt is the strongest in the pack.
Stage 3
Today the real mountains start. And even though Nibali crashes in the first half of the stage, Liquigas catch the break. Mazzanti has a good day and climbs with the big favorites. But he can't follow Nibali when he attacks and takes back his leader jersey. Katusha meanwhile makes a tactical error as the make Menchov work for Brutt.
Stage 4
Andriato makes it into the break, but a halfway attack from Menchov joins them before the climbs start. The pack is unresponsive, and Menchov build a huge lead. And while Nibali responds on the final climb it's too late and Menchov wins the GC.
Final classification
| 1 | Denis Menchov | Katusha Team | 14h02´57¨ | | 2 | Vincenzo Nibali | Liquigas - Canondale | + 1´50¨ | | 3 | Dario Cataldo | Oega Pharma - Quick Step Cycling Team | + 3´21¨ | | 4 | Pavel Brutt | Katusha Team | + 3´37¨ | | 5 | Simon Spilak | Katusha Team | + 3´53¨ | | 6 | Johnny Hoogerland | Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team | + 4´41¨ | | 7 | Eros Capecchi | Liquigas - Canondale | s.t | | 8 | Paolo Tiralongo | Astana Pro Team | + 6´15¨ | | 9 | Vladimir Gusev | Katusha Team | + 6´18¨ | | 10 | Alexander Efimkin | Team Type 1 - Sanofi | + 7´03¨ |
Edited by tyriion on 29-05-2012 08:26
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| tyriion |
Posted on 29-05-2012 10:27
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To end April and the first period of racing for our team it's another hilly Italian classic. After his decent showing in Trentino Mazzanti will head the squad once again. The real team leaders have already started their holidays.
The race itself is dominated by a big climb near the end, with several lumps after that. Then there's a flat stretch leading onto the final short bump to the finishing line. Big names here are Poels, Garzelli and Cataldo.
The race
De Patre and De Negri try to get into the break. It takes a long time for a group to get away, but in the end it's De Negri with 5 others who get up to 6 minutes. Before the big climb they're joined by Schumacher and Pirazzi however. De Negri can keep up with them almost to the top, but he's the last of the original group who has to let the new duo go. Meanwhile the peloton has been a bit sleepy, but just in time OPQS and Vacansoleil start pulling Schumacher and Pirazzi back. Mazzanti is isolated, but doesn't get into trouble and follows easily. It gets tight, but the lead duo are caught on the final climb. So 17 riders sprint for the win. De Weert looks strong, but at the last moment Capecchi takes it. Mazzanti does decent and finishes 8th.
Final Classification
| 1 | Eros Capecchi | Liquigas - Cannondale | 5h27'40 | | 2 | Kevin De Weert | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team | s.t. | | 3 | Grega Bole | Lampre - ISD | s.t. | | 4 | Dario Cataldo | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team | s.t. | | 5 | Fortunato Baliani | Team Nippo | s.t. | | 6 | Julien El Fares | Team Type 1 - Sanofi | s.t. | | 7 | Matthew Lloyd | Lampre - ISD | s.t. | | 8 | Luca Mazzanti | Farnese Vini - Selle Italia | s.t. | | 9 | Stefano Garzelli | Acqua & Sapone | s.t. | | 10 | Rafael Valls | Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 29-05-2012 12:28
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Nice 8th place for Mazzanti in Italy |
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| tyriion |
Posted on 29-05-2012 13:41
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Kittel comfortably leads the individual rankings, our riders lost some places.
After one month without races we're still 2nd in the team rankings.
And there's more good news. Farnese Vini had already announced at the start of the year that they wouldn't renew their sponsorship deal for next season. So while the riders were resting up in May, the management staff worked hard and came up with some possible candidates for next season.
And due to the good results Gazetta dello Sport made a very good offer. The budget will be increased so the step into the Pro Tour can be made. After just 1 week of negotiations a deal was signed.
And with the extra money in hand we went and signed a promising young rider.
This young sprinting talent will hopefully improve over the course of his 3 year contract and be a big asset to the team in the following seasons.
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| tyriion |
Posted on 29-05-2012 20:08
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Following the news of Gazetta's sponsorship deal a list of riders was leaked. It's currently unknown if this is a wishlist from the newspaper, or the shortlist from the teams management. It's certainly raising some speculation. A footnote with the lists reads; contract free Italians at the end of the season.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 30-05-2012 10:01
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It ain't looking good then  |
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| Skippy17 |
Posted on 30-05-2012 14:04
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Nice story, awesome results. Pictures are really good. Keep it up |
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| tyriion |
Posted on 31-05-2012 06:16
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@sutty What do you mean? Think we're doing pretty well at the moment, the riders needed a break from racing. They were busy from end of January until the end of April, so a well deserved resting month.
@skippy Thanks! will continue with June and the NCs soon.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 31-05-2012 08:47
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tyriion wrote:
@sutty What do you mean? Think we're doing pretty well at the moment, the riders needed a break from racing. They were busy from end of January until the end of April, so a well deserved resting month.
@skippy Thanks! will continue with June and the NCs soon.
The way that the names are all written over, i thought you were getting rid of them all |
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| dienblad |
Posted on 31-05-2012 08:54
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sutty68 wrote:
tyriion wrote:
@sutty What do you mean? Think we're doing pretty well at the moment, the riders needed a break from racing. They were busy from end of January until the end of April, so a well deserved resting month.
@skippy Thanks! will continue with June and the NCs soon.
The way that the names are all written over, i thought you were getting rid of them all
Nope, is a very nice twist in his story. Leaking a shortlist to the press. Like it!
And tyriion: like this story, with one of my favourite teams (yeah, they're sponsored by a wine-maker, so I gotta love them ). You're getting some good and realistic results. Keep it going!
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| tyriion |
Posted on 31-05-2012 09:14
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Yeah, thought I'd make it a real story instead of just reports. There's a list with foreigners anyway that I've managed to keep out of the press. Will look to do the Tour of Luxemburg today.
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