Rider of the Month: Sergio Henao: The Colombian took two wins in the Ardennes, and finished second in the third, just missing out on the triple. Henao also finished 5th place in the Tour of the Basque Country, dropping form 1st to 5th in the final Time Trial.
Ride of the Month: Peter Sagan Liege-Bastonge-Liege: Peter Sagan just missed out on rider of the month after taking an amazing win in Liege-Bastogne-Liege with a 38 km solo.
Surprise Ride of the Month: Alexander Kristoff: Paris-Roubaix: After no good results all season, the sprinter found great legs in the "Hell of the North". Finishing in second place behind Fabian Cancellara.
WT Races
Tour of the Basque Country: Joaquim Rodriguez: The Spainard actually won a race due to his time-trialing, taking the lead from Sergio Henao on the final day.
Paris-Roubaix: Fabian Cancellara: Spartacus barely won this year's race, narrowly beating a charging Alexander Kristoff at the line, Damian Gaudin rounded out the podium in third.
Amstil Gold Race: Sergio Henao: The Colombian won the race in a group sprint of 11 ahead of Sagan and Gerrans.
Fleche-Wallonne: Sergio Henao: Henao took his second big win of the year, beating out Valverde and Hesjedal after a perfect leadout by teammate Uran.
Liege-Bastogne-Liege: Peter Sagan: Sagan took a magnificent win ahead of Henao and Hesjedal following a long solo attack.
Tour of Romandie: Bradley Wiggins: The Brit showed off great form, taking three stages in route to an easy win in Switzerland.
Rankings
Peter Sagan leads the rankings after a great classics season with a top 5 in three monuments
Sky leads the team rankings after great results in the classics and a win in the Tour of Romandie. Euskatel is in danger with only 9 points after 4 months of racing.
Contador leads the CQ rankings after lots of solid results throughout the whole season.
Sky also leads the CQ rankings ahead of Katusha and Europcar, who looks like a shoe-in for promotion. Behind the French Team, Bardiani and IAM are fighting for the second spot for promotion.
This year's Giro starts in Naples with a flat stage, and a sprinter should be the first wearer of the Maglia Rosa. The second day is a Team Time Trial, and odds are that we will see a lead change. The Team test is followed by five days of racing that shouldn't be too selective, and the sprinters may get a few chances for glory. In Stage 8, the GC battle will heat up.
The riders face a 55 km hilly Individual Time Trial, and that should shake up the GC.
After a medium mountain stage and a rest day, the riders will face the first big summit finish, stage 10.
The first mountain stage features a 1st category and an HC climb to finish. The race won't be won here, but it will be lost. After another hilly day and two days for the sprinters, the peloton will enter the mountains once again for stage 14.
This stage's final climb is shorter, but much steeper than the climb on stage 10. We should see riders all over the mountain at the end of this tough climb. After a summit finish at the Col de Galibier in France, the riders will face two hilly days, before they face stage 18.
Stage 18 is the Mountain Time Trial, and we should once again see big gaps, and the winner will most likely be clear at the end of today's stage.
Stage 20 is the last chance for the riders to take over the GC lead, and the last summit finish is tailor-made for a long range attack. There is lots of climbing in the last 40 km, and so we should see many attacks.
The Favorites
Vincenzo Nibali is the man that most have tabbed to take this year's Giro. He is probably the best climber in the race, but how will he hold up in the Time Trial.
Last year's Tour winner Bradley Wiggins is here to try and take his second Grand Tour win. He is the best tt rider of the favorites, but his descending skills are suspect.
Last year, Ryder Hesjedal surprised all of cycling by taking a great win in the Giro. He is here to defend his crown, and can't be counted out for the win.
Outsiders
Nairo Quintana hasn't raced very much this season, but we showed some form in the Tour of Romandie, finishing in 5th place.
Carlos Betancur has raced less than Quintana, but has more good results, including: 5th in Paris-Nice and 7th in Tour of Romandie.
Rafal Majka leads the Saxo Bank squad, and has a very strong team supporting him.
Team BMC comes into the race with two leaders: Tejay Van Gardren and Cadel Evans. Unfortunately for the team, neither of them have impressed so far this season.
This probably one of the last chances for Michele Scarponi to get a good result in his home Grand Tour.
Sprints
The sprints in this race will be a crapshoot. There are no great sprinters, but a lot of above-average ones including: Farrar (Garmin), Feillu (Vacansoleil), Bos (Belkin), Modolo (Bardiani), and Matthews (Orica).
The first stage of the Giro is a flat circuit ride in Naples. It should come down to a sprint finish. The team wants a top 5 out of either Eisel or Sutton.
The Race
There's me on the left side of the road at the start of my first Grand Tour!
A four man group got away shortly after the start of the stage. It included: Ignatiev of Katusha, Marangoni of Cannondale, Van Winden of Belkin, and Curvers of Argos-Shimano.
At the first KOM sprint, Van Winden timed it perfectly, taking the 3 points. At this point the break has only 3 minutes over the Garmin and Bardiani led bunch.
At the second KOM sprint, Marangoni took first, and will wear the KOM jersey tomorrow with 4 points. The gap is now down to 1 minute.
The breakaway was hauled back with 11 km to go, and the leadout-trains can now start getting organized.
With 3 km to go, Orica-Greenedge has control at the front of the race. Suprisingly, Michael Matthews is no where no be seen, and the Australian team is leading out Aidis Kruopis.
500 m to go and Sutton has just died over on the far left after leading under the Flamme Rouge. Modolo is charging through the center next to Gerrans and Eisel. Who will wear the first Maglia Rosa?
Sacha Modolo takes his first win of the season in the first stage of the Giro! Gerrans takes second after Kruopis lost his wheel. Sutton is third, Eisel fourth, and Enrico Battaglin fifth. I finish safely inside the bunch, in 34th place.
Stage Results
1
Sacha Modolo
Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox
3h29'38
2
Simon Gerrans
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
3
Christopher Sutton
Sky Procycling
s.t.
4
Bernhard Eisel
Sky Procycling
s.t.
5
Enrico Battaglin
Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox
s.t.
6
Carlos Betancur
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
7
Romain Feillu
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
8
Baden Cooke
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
9
Aidis Kruopis
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
10
Tyler Farrar
Garmin - Sharp
s.t.
GC
1
Sacha Modolo
Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox
3h29'18
2
Simon Gerrans
Orica - GreenEdge
+ 8
3
Christopher Sutton
Sky Procycling
+ 12
4
Bernhard Eisel
Sky Procycling
+ 20
5
Enrico Battaglin
Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox
s.t.
6
Carlos Betancur
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
7
Romain Feillu
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
8
Baden Cooke
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
9
Aidis Kruopis
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
10
Tyler Farrar
Garmin - Sharp
s.t.
Points
1
Sacha Modolo
Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox
25
25
2
Simon Gerrans
Orica - GreenEdge
20
20
3
Christopher Sutton
Sky Procycling
16
16
4
Bernhard Eisel
Sky Procycling
14
14
5
Enrico Battaglin
Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox
12
12
KOM
1
Alan Marangoni
Cannondale Pro Cycling
4
4
2
Dennis Van Winden
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
3
3
3
Mikhail Ignatiev
Katusha Team
3
3
4
Roy Curvers
Team Argos - Shimano
2
2
U25
1
Enrico Battaglin
Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox
3h29'38
2
Carlos Betancur
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
3
Tony Gallopin
RadioShack - Leopard
s.t.
4
Peter Kennaugh
Sky Procycling
s.t.
5
Michael Matthews
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
Post Race Comments- What a great day for the team's sprinters! We had two riders in the top 5! We should be able to get leader's jersey tomorrow in the TTT, assuming we can beat Orica by 4 seconds, and Bardiani by 12 seconds.
See You Then-Ian
Edited by welker3257 on 28-09-2013 22:55
Nice result for the team, definitely exceeded expectations.
Hmm, on the first picture, who was that Lampre rider, I think he got a little too close to you...
baseballlover312, 06-03-14 : "Nuke Moscow...Don't worry Russia, we've got plenty of love to go around your cities"
Sarah Palin, 08-03-14 (CPAC, on Russian aggression) : "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke"
Big thanks to jdog for making this AMAZING userbar!
Nice April review .. SKY leads and Henao is doing great... i liked that Giro Preview too, with some interesting stages i´m sure this will be one hell of a race..
After all this nice reviews and previews, the only thing was missing was one great start in Giro d´Italia and SKY "just" delivered that to us... well done.
Today's stage is the Team Time Trial. It is 17 km long, and pan flat. We just hope to avoid losing too much time, as Wiggins is our only good Time Trialist for the team.
Stage Results
Giro d' Italia Stage 3
The third stage of this year's Giro is the first day with any major difficulties. There are two category two climbs, the last of them tops out with around 25 km to go. We should see a group of around 50 contesting the finish.
The Race
A three man group got away around 30 km into the stage. It included: Belkov of Katusha, O’Grady of Orica-Greenedge, and Morkov of Saxo Bank.
At the first climb, Belkov took the points ahead of Morkov, O'Grady dropped back and was caught in the descent. The two leaders have 3 minutes at the top.
Shortly after the summit, Sammy Sanchez put in an attack and slowly bridged his way over to the break in the descent.
There were no attacks from any favorites during the climb, and the break had 45 seconds at the summit.
In the descent, Race leader Dan Martin put in a move and momentarily got away.
The only thing the Irishman's move did was bring the trio of leaders back into the pack.
Robert Kieserlovski put in an attack shortly after the breakaway was caught, and he was getting a gap!
At the 10 km to go mark, the Croatian still led the chasing peloton by 30 seconds.
1 km to go now, and Kieserlovski is cooked and has only 10 seconds on the charging peloton.
With 500 m to go, Kieserlovski is caught, but more importantly, I'm in the lead! Could I hold on?
At the finish, no one can tell who took the win! It would come down to a photo-finish between me, Uran, and Gasparotto (Who had already beaten me in a sprint for the win this season).
Uran takes it with a final lunge! I take second, and Gasparotto is third.
Post Race Comments- Are you kidding me? Passed by my own teammate with less than 10 meters left! What kind of teammate is that? I asked him about it later after the race, and Uran said something about time bonuses. Looks like I have to deal with him for three years, so I might as well avoid making enemies, but how can I not be upset? Tomorrow is another hilly day, but should be more selective.
Uran should not be allowed to sprint, he's not at Sky next year.
baseballlover312, 06-03-14 : "Nuke Moscow...Don't worry Russia, we've got plenty of love to go around your cities"
Sarah Palin, 08-03-14 (CPAC, on Russian aggression) : "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke"
Big thanks to jdog for making this AMAZING userbar!
Today' stage should have a much larger impact on the GC than yesterday's stage. The climb is the first real difficulty of the race, it is around 10 km long, and is steepest at the bottom. The team hopes to help Wiggins finish in the first group.
The Race
A four man group came together after around 50 km to racing. It included: Battaglin of Bardiani, Vaugrenard of FDJ, Willems of Lotto and Vicioso of Katusha.
For some reason, a five man group attacked the peloton with around 75 km to go. The chase included: Pellizotti, Gerrans, Sanchez, Slagter, and Roche.
At the foot of the final climb, Battaglin was the only rider still up the road, and Cunego opened up the attacks with an unsuccessful move.
With around 15 km to go, Maglia Rosa wearer Dan Martin put in a violent move and got away from the reduced bunch.
A few kilometers later, Quintana just simply rode away from everyone else. He quickly up with Martin. Behind Wiggins was sitting comfortably in the group.
At the 10 km to go mark, Quintana and Martin have caught Battaglin. I'm in the next group with Wiggo, Uran and around 25 riders 45 seconds back.
Wiggo, Betancur, Majka, and Uran eventually rode away from the others and I was in the next group behind them at the summit of the climb. This group fractured in the descent, and I found myself with guys like Nibali and Evans in the descent to the finish in the Giro.
Three km to go and Majka is struggling to stay with the rest of riders at the front of the race. My group looks like it will be caught by about 15 other riders at the finish.
Yes, he can! Wiggins holds off a late charging Betancur to deal an early blow to Nibali! Quintana is third, Uran fourth, Martin fifth and Majka sixth.
I lead in the next group in for seventh on the stage ahead of Nibali, Evans, and Scarponi. We are given the same time as the next 20 or so riders.
Stage Results
1
Bradley Wiggins
Sky Procycling
5h58'56
2
Carlos Betancur
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
3
Nairo Quintana
Movistar Team
s.t.
4
Rigoberto Urán
Sky Procycling
s.t.
5
Daniel Martin
Garmin - Sharp
s.t.
6
Rafal Majka
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
s.t.
7
Ian Boswell
Sky Procycling
+ 1'11
8
Vincenzo Nibali
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
9
Cadel Evans
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
10
Michele Scarponi
Lampre - Merida
s.t.
GC Standings
1
Daniel Martin
Garmin - Sharp
15h11'45
2
Nairo Quintana
Movistar Team
+ 7
3
Bradley Wiggins
Sky Procycling
+ 14
4
Rigoberto Urán
Sky Procycling
s.t.
5
Rafal Majka
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
+ 58
6
Carlos Betancur
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 59
7
Ryder Hesjedal
Garmin - Sharp
+ 1'11
8
Beñat Intxausti
Movistar Team
+ 1'26
9
Laurens Ten Dam
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
+ 1'27
10
Ian Boswell
Sky Procycling
+ 1'33
Points
1
Rigoberto Urán
Sky Procycling
14
39
2
Bradley Wiggins
Sky Procycling
25
39
3
Carlos Betancur
AG2R La Mondiale
20
30
4
Ian Boswell
Sky Procycling
9
29
5
Simon Gerrans
Orica - GreenEdge
0
29
KOM
1
Maxim Belkov
Katusha Team
0
8
2
Daniel Martin
Garmin - Sharp
5
5
3
Samuel Sánchez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
0
5
4
Michael Mørkøv
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
0
4
5
Alan Marangoni
Cannondale Pro Cycling
0
4
U25
1
Nairo Quintana
Movistar Team
15h11'52 (1)
2
Rafal Majka
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
+ 51 (2)
3
Carlos Betancur
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 52 (3)
4
Ian Boswell
Sky Procycling
+ 1'26 (4)
Post Race Comments- I am really surprised by how well I did today. I definitely like these medium mountain stages that have a group sprint, I don't think that I will ride this well when we get into the mountains though, however I will probably try to get a stage win at some point via breakaway. Tomorrow is a day for the punchy sprinter's. The team has no goals.
baseballlover312, 06-03-14 : "Nuke Moscow...Don't worry Russia, we've got plenty of love to go around your cities"
Sarah Palin, 08-03-14 (CPAC, on Russian aggression) : "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke"
Big thanks to jdog for making this AMAZING userbar!
Hey guys, the story isn't dead. My Internet router is dead so all my posts have been from my phone recently. I have played up to stage 9 in the Giro. I will get them uploaded as soon as the new router comes in.
Sergio Henao: The Colombian took two wins in the Ardennes, and finished second in the third, just missing out on the triple. Henao also finished 5th place in the Tour of the Basque Country, dropping form 1st to 5th in the final Time Trial.
Peter Sagan Liege-Bastonge-Liege: Peter Sagan just missed out on rider of the month after taking an amazing win in Liege-Bastogne-Liege with a 38 km solo.
Alexander Kristoff: Paris-Roubaix: After no good results all season, the sprinter found great legs in the "Hell of the North". Finishing in second place behind Fabian Cancellara.
Joaquim Rodriguez: The Spainard actually won a race due to his time-trialing, taking the lead from Sergio Henao on the final day.
Fabian Cancellara: Spartacus barely won this year's race, narrowly beating a charging Alexander Kristoff at the line, Damian Gaudin rounded out the podium in third.
Bradley Wiggins: The Brit showed off great form, taking three stages in route to an easy win in Switzerland.
.. SKY leads and Henao is doing great... i liked that Giro Preview too, with some interesting stages i´m sure this will be one hell of a race.. 
Uran... hope this will not bring some bad atmosphere inside SKY team..
![imageshack.us/a/img812/205/cbd3.jpg[/img<br />
With 800 m to go, Wiggo is looking like he is the strongest in the sprint to the finish. However, Betancur is coming fast can Wiggins make it two wins for Sky?<br />
[img]https://imageshack.us/a/img826/2885/ls06.jpg](https://imageshack.us/a/img812/205/cbd3.jpg[/img<br />
With 800 m to go, Wiggo is looking like he is the strongest in the sprint to the finish. However, Betancur is coming fast can Wiggins make it two wins for Sky<br />
[img]https://imageshack.us/a/img826/2885/ls06.jpg)
