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[EPIC] Euskaltel - Euskadi | Coming and Leaving
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 06:38
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 04-02-2014 21:56
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kubys: Glad you like it - and even happier if it will spread to other places 
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 04-02-2014 21:57
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Team Leader
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Continental RR Championships
We had hoped that Tarik would find his way into the break in the Aufrasian race, but he didn't have the legs and just finished inside the main peloton without making himself noticed the slightest. Too bad since the riders from the break generally finished in solid positions...
In the European race we had mich higher hopes. No one jumped in the break. In fatc no one even attcked all day. That in spite of Antón looking very strong as the guy, who kept closing the gaps and leading the 2nd group all the time in the finale. Had he just followed the attacks in stead things could have been very different. Still a 7th place isn't all that bad, now we can just hope that Verboven's crash won't affect his effort in the big cobbled classics coming up.
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 05-02-2014 11:22
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Team Leader
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82 riders have set off for the first race in the series.
The big teams keep things fairly close in the start so after 30 km no break has yet established in spite of plenty of attempts.
With 60 km to go a break is starting to establish with Huguet, Aberasturia, Larralde, Delpech, Naibo, Peña, Mayoz, Aristi and De la Porte. I wonder if Garmin and FDJ.fr have a big plan with sending their helpers in the break or the helpers just didn't understand their role...
The Euskaltels, Movistar and RadioShack are in charge of the peloton and with 150 km to go they keep the break at 3’30’’
With 140 km to go Castroviejo and Gárate decide to mix things up among the favourites.
Zandio and Txurruka follow soon after and the quartet quickly builds a good gap.
They reach the break 25 km later with a gap of 5 minutes to the peloton.
With 100 km to go the gap has grown to 6’30’’ and Landa has been sent to the front in the peloton.
The first time over Jaizkibel is a slow elimination race both in the break and the peloton.
Gorka Nieve is looking comfortable staying out of trouble behind the Euskaltel riders in his first ever senior race.
Surely that should help him find a team for the rest of the season.
The late joiners of the break keep the pressure high and with 75 km to go they have 6’40’’ to the peloton where Euskaltel – Euskadi is now the only team working.
Approaching Jaizkibel for the 2nd time Erviti and Sanz have started helping out with the chase a bit in spite of havnig Castroviejo out in front.
Txurruka, Gárate, Castroviejo and Zandio easily get rid of the original break on the climb.
Landa is leading the chase behind.
With 50 km left Intxausti and López surprisingly try to join their teammates in front.
At the top Beñat and Daniel have half a minute to the 26 rider peloton and four minutes to the front group.
The NetApp riders and Garcia are sitting at the back of the peloton. Ready to strike or just hanging in there?
Euskaltel – Euskadi are still alone to chase and with 30 km to go they have brought in Intxausti and López and reduced the gap to the front to 3’20’’
This can still go either way.
The sight of the last remains of the original break encourages Intxausti and López to try again. This time they are joined by Zubeldia in the attack.
This time the favourites teams take no chances and both Ion Izagirre and de las Campos join up.
That brings a true flurry of orange attacks from the peloton.
The attack of Mikel Nieve marked the limit of his young cousin.
Status with 15 km to go:
Castroviejo, Zandio, Txurruka and Gárate
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+ 0‘44
Nieve, de las Campos, Verdugo, Zubeldia, I.Izagirre, Astarloza, Antón, Intxausti and López
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+ 1‘17
Durán, Galdos, Velasco, Sicard and 9 others
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…
Ion Izagirre just keeps on attacking and with 10 km to go his 5th attack in the last 10 km almost brings him up to the front group.
8,5 km to the finish line and the 13 riders are united in front.
Nieve attacks immediately, but it was apparently too much for his team mate Verdugo, who crashes when trying to follow his captain.
Izagirre closes the gap and Antón counterattacks when Nieve gives up.
No one wants to chase full-out and Igor gets a small gap alone with only 5 km to go.
Zubeldia leads the chasing group into the final 3 km with Antón 25 seconds ahead.
Castroviejo tries to get rid of the others and catch Antón with a long sprint.
Igor still has the advantage under la flame rouge.
With 300 m he is caught from behind.
But a bit too late.
Antón takes it ahead of team mate Izagirre and Intxausti.
Txurruka and Gárate follows.
A slight disappointment from Euskaltel – Navarre and Sky though both having two riders in the group but no one able to fight for the win in the end.
Everyone sprints for the last spots in top 20 bringing some decent places for some of the small teams
| 1 | Igor Antón | Euskaltel - Euskadi | 6h06'44 | | 2 | Ion Izagirre | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 3 | Beñat Intxausti | Movistar Team | s.t. | | 4 | Amets Txurruka | Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | s.t. | | 5 | Juan Manuel Gárate | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 6 | Jonathan Castroviejo | Movistar Team | s.t. | | 7 | Mikel Nieve | Euskaltel - Navarre | s.t. | | 8 | David López | Sky Procycling | s.t. | | 9 | Cristiano De las Campos | Euskaltel - Navarre | s.t. | | 10 | Xabier Zandio | Sky Procycling | s.t. |
Spoiler | 11 | Mikel Astarloza | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 12 | Haimar Zubeldia | RadioShack - Leopard | s.t. | | 13 | Gorka Izagirre | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 2'22 | | 14 | Rubén Pérez | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 15 | Iván Velasco | Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | s.t. | | 16 | Juan José Oroz | Euskaltel - Navarre | s.t. | | 17 | Arkaitz Durán | Efapel - Glassdrive | s.t. | | 18 | Aitor Galdos | Euskadi Talents | s.t. | | 19 | Pablo Urtasun | Euskaltel - Navarre | s.t. | | 20 | Egoi MartÃnez | Euskaltel - Navarre | s.t. | | 21 | Pello Bilbao | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 22 | Javier Etxarri | Navarre Talents | s.t. | | 23 | Miguel MÃnguez | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 24 | Gorka Verdugo | Euskaltel - Navarre | s.t. | | 25 | Romain Sicard | Euskaltel - Aquitaine | s.t. | | 26 | Garikoitz Bravo | RadioShack - Leopard | + 4'41 | | 27 | Iker Camaño | Team NetApp - Endura | + 4'57 | | 28 | Mikel Landa | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 29 | Egoitz GarcÃa | Cofidis, Solutions Crédits | + 5'29 | | 30 | Gorka Nieve | Team NetApp - Endura | + 6'37 | | 31 | Jorge Azanza | Euskaltel - Navarre | s.t. | | 32 | Ibon Zugasti | Sky Procycling | s.t. | | 33 | VÃctor De la Parte | Euskadi Talents | s.t. | | 34 | Iban Mayoz | Euskadi Talents | s.t. | | 35 | Yann Huguet | Team Argos - Shimano | s.t. | | 36 | Aketza Peña | FDJ.fr | s.t. | | 37 | Mickaël Delage | FDJ.fr | + 8'04 | | 38 | Koldo Fernández | Garmin - Sharp | s.t. | | 39 | Omar Fraile | Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | + 8'26 | | 40 | Ricardo GarcÃa | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 41 | Aitor Hernández | Euskadi Talents | s.t. | | 42 | Ibai Salas | Euskadi Talents | s.t. | | 43 | Imanol Erviti | Movistar Team | s.t. | | 44 | Pierre Cazaux | Aquitaine Talents | s.t. | | 45 | Joseba Larralde | Navarre Talents | s.t. | | 46 | Jean-Luc Delpech | Bretagne - Séché Environnement | s.t. | | 47 | Jon Aberasturi | Garmin - Sharp | + 11'23 | | 48 | Enrique Sanz | Movistar Team | s.t. | | 49 | Javier Francisco Aramendia | Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | s.t. | | 50 | Markel Irizar | RadioShack - Leopard | s.t. | | 51 | Guillermo Lana | Navarre Talents | + 12'56 | | 52 | Aitor Pérez Arrieta | Cofidis, Solutions Crédits | s.t. | | 53 | Carl Naïbo | Aquitaine Talents | s.t. | | 54 | Aritz Bagües | Euskadi CT | s.t. | | 55 | Haritz Orbe | Euskadi CT | + 14'12 | | 56 | Igor Romero | Euskadi Talents | s.t. | | 57 | Mikel Bizkarra | Euskadi CT | s.t. | | 58 | Adrián Sáez de Arregi | Efapel - Glassdrive | s.t. | | 59 | Daniel Sesma | Navarre Talents | s.t. | | 60 | Mikel Aristi | Euskadi CT | s.t. | | 61 | Jean Mespoulede | Euskaltel - Aquitaine | + 20'22 | | 62 | Igor Merino | Euskadi CT | s.t. | | 63 | Julien Mazet | Aquitaine Talents | s.t. | | 64 | Fabien Patanchon | Aquitaine Talents | s.t. | | 65 | Yannick Marié | Aquitaine Talents | s.t. | | 66 | Jon Pardo | Navarre Talents | + 21'06 | | 67 | Unai Iparragirre | Euskadi CT | s.t. | | 68 | Sergio Ruiz | Euskadi Talents | s.t. | | 69 | Jon Larrinaga | Euskadi CT | s.t. | | 70 | Xabier Zabalo | Navarre Talents | s.t. | | 71 | Andoni Lafuente | Bretagne - Séché Environnement | s.t. | | 72 | Romain Guillemois | Aquitaine Talents | s.t. | | 73 | Alberto Morrás | Team NetApp - Endura | s.t. | | 74 | Illart Zuazubiskar | Euskadi CT | s.t. | | 75 | Mikel Ilundain | Navarre Talents | s.t. | | 76 | Beñat Urain | Euskadi Talents | + 22'49 | | 77 | Nicolas Capdepuy | Aquitaine Talents | s.t. | | 78 | Beñat Txoperena | Navarre Talents | s.t. | | 79 | Kevin Labeque | Aquitaine Talents | + 23'21 | | 80 | Gijs Van Hoecke | Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | s.t. | | 81 | Mikel Iturria | Team Argos - Shimano | + 26'33 | | 82 | Kevin De Jonghe | Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | s.t. |
The SagastÃn award goes to Intxausti for continued attacking in spite of having a team mate out in front and thus finally making the peloton explode and the break to get caught.
It might not have been intelligent from a team perspective, but it made the race much more and fun to watch.
Full points rankings will be available in post #5 shortly.
We have been invited to a charity race in Denmark in relation to the Dancake Classic.
The route si a combination of a bit of cobbles and some small hills. The race will be fitted in at a time where no one is racing anyway but now is the time if new riders want to sign up or out.
For the next race in Basque country we will invite a handful of riders earning a place through strong efforts in Vuelta al PaÃs Vasco or in the already raced GP Miguel Indurain.
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 05-02-2014 11:47
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World Champion
Posts: 14563
Joined: 08-08-2011
PCM$: 9100.00
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Good ride from Garate!
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 05-02-2014 13:20
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World Champion
Posts: 14563
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Here's your schedule for part 2:
Ronde van Vlaanderen
Pais Vasco
Paris-Roubaix
Amstel Gold Race
La Fleche Wallone
Liege-Bastogne-Liege
Tour de Romandie
Giro d'Italia
Criterium du Dauphine
Tour de Suisse
Scheldeprijs
Brabantse
Trentino
Dunkerque
Koln
Norway
Belgie
Luxembourg
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| knockout |
Posted on 05-02-2014 13:44
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
PCM$: 400.00
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And the award for the most aggressive team goes to... Movistar
My team members have really shown that they deserve to be called Basques
EDIT: You're not going to introduce a team ranking, do you?
Edited by knockout on 05-02-2014 13:45
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| Shonak |
Posted on 05-02-2014 13:48
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15615
Joined: 16-07-2013
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Iker and Gorka with some results. Would have loved to see one of them in the breakaway or so. Maybe next time. Mighty fine report. Looking forward to the second race already.
Edited by Shonak on 05-02-2014 13:49
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| mvhoogdalem |
Posted on 05-02-2014 13:56
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2244
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Nice to see De las Campos in 9th. Too bad Nieve couldn't win, but at least an Euskaltel rider won.  |
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 05-02-2014 19:21
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Team Leader
Posts: 6795
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knockout: I have thought about it, but haven't really figured out how to do it fairly so that teams with only a few riders doesn't get punished, so for now it's just the individual rankings.
Shonak: Both hung in very well even though they were always near the end of the peloton they always managed to move into safety right before the peloton cracked. Until the likes of Antón and M. Nieve started attacking in turns that is. Still a very solid effort and Gorka looks really strong for an 18-year old
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| knockout |
Posted on 05-02-2014 20:03
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
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Atlantius wrote:
knockout: I have thought about it, but haven't really figured out how to do it fairly so that teams with only a few riders doesn't get punished, so for now it's just the individual rankings.
Well, don't you punish those teams with few Basque riders already by don't let them participate with as many riders as e.g. euskaltel-euskadi ?
Perhaps you could say only the best (two) riders per team count for the team competition...
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| The Rider |
Posted on 05-02-2014 20:25
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Grand Tour Specialist
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A great race there. Not surprising as that route really does induce plenty of attacks late on from the favourites.
Forgive my bias, but I think Zubeldia should get a lot of credit today maybe more than Inxausti. He was really prominent in the attacks and even sacrificed himself in the finale in the hope of catching Anton. |
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 05-02-2014 21:07
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Team Leader
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Knockout: Not all teams having the same number of riders is just a result of it being regional championships. Not much to do about that (except not holding them) as it would defeat the purpose if the startlist got filled with a lot of other nationalities.
For now I still don't think I'll introduce team rankings as the very small teams with 2-3 riders have a very low likelihood of actually getting their entire team close. It's just too sqeewed for a tem comp. in my opinion.
The Rider: It really was a great race to report.
As for Zubeldia sure he led in the end, but he was much less active in the attacks as he didn't follow the first attack Intxausti started and never once actually attacked. Haimar did a good job for you, but Beñat was just more agressive which is what the award is given for.
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 07-02-2014 05:24
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Team Leader
Posts: 5533
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Hello Manager of Euskaltel-Euskadi
Who from your team will be competing in the Giro?
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 07-02-2014 12:07
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World Champion
Posts: 14563
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Hey fans,
I'm training on a indoor bike again, don't want any bumps in the road to ruin my back again. It's not the preparation to Ronde Van Vlaanderen I wanted, but I'm pretty confident I'll be able to start. Can't predict the outcome yet though. After Ronde it's the Scheldeprijs in Schoten. I'm not the fastest sprinter but together with JJ, we could get a top 10. Next it's Paris-Roubaix, it excites and scares me at the same time, finishing will be the main objective for me.
So due to this injury, I decided to delay my peak a bit. Brabantse Pijl can be the race for me, that uphill sprint should suit me well. The same goes for the Amstel gold Race, though the distance might be a problem in my first year aas a pro. Fleche Wallonne is nice, but Huy is a bit too steep for me, I'll probably be working for Igor there. The same in Liege-Bastogne-Liege, I can take a few climbs, but the final will probably be too hard for me.
The manager also gave me some stage races. Dunkerque is ok, Ronde Van België is nice as well, and finaly it's Luxembourg for me. I also ride in Koln in between. I know I'm dreaming, but I'm hoping one of those smaller races will give me a good result. I could really use something after my mediocre first season part.
~ Rudy
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 12-02-2014 16:07
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Team Leader
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Time for more cobbles...
Rudy was left alone almost immediately so when the peloton cracked ahead of him he was in trouble as he had no one to help him back. In fact his team mates were so worthless that Verboven was the only finisher for us!
Whether it was his crash affecting him or just that he isn't strong enough for this cruel race I'm not sure, but today there just wasn't much he could do...
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 12-02-2014 16:26
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World Champion
Posts: 14563
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Hey fans,
The Ronde Van Vlaanderen, what a race! Two things to start 1) Belgian fans are awesome 2) I finished it! It was an awesome day.
All was well at the start. Nervous, yes. But my back was feeling better after my fall in the Continental Championships. My fellow crashers, Sagan, Vanmarcke and Van Avermaet all looked good as well.
But yes, there was some less good stuff as well. I'm not the person to speak bad about my team mates, but on the cobbles, it just wasn't good enough. I can't blame the guys, they're not cobblers and obviously if they had a choice they wouldn't ride here. But yes, I was isolated for most of the race. No one to protect me, no one to bring me food or water, it was hard.
And the unevitable happened, as I was in the back picking up a water bottle, we had a split. Well, there were a lot of splits, but this one was final. I tried to get back, hopping form group to group, and I passed quite a few big names. The crowd was cheering for me as I left Breschel, Thomas Devolder and a few others behind. The final verdict: 38th. Not bad, but not anywhere near the points either.
My back is feeling better, and I feel I should be ready for the next weeks. But on the cobbles I feel it just won't work without at least one guy that can follow me for more than half the race. It's something I'll have to bring up when the contract negotiations for next year start. Scheldeprijs is next, looking forward to that one.
But most importantly: I just finished The Ronde Van Vlaanderen!
~ Rudy
Edited by Ollfardh on 12-02-2014 16:44
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 12-02-2014 18:04
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Team Leader
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Not a good ride by Euskaltel, can't say it wasnt expected.
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 15-02-2014 10:13
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Team Leader
Posts: 6795
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It's no secret that this is the most important race all season for us and that reflects in our starting roster with all our top climbers ready to race.
We are not just here to ride along!
The first hilly stage went with gaging out the competition as the stage wasn't really tough enough for us to make real differences.
In the finale both Antón and Sánchez covered the attacks, but in the end Ion was our best sprinter getting a 10th place.
A solid start from the team proving that they are ready for the real racing to begin.
Categorized as flat this stage was about staying out of trouble and we did so perfectly.
Not the biggest mountain of the race, but any uphill finish is important.
With 5 km to go things went pretty much as planned for us. Until Kelderman ttacked that is. Apparently Igor and Samuel can't quite agree on their roles so they both try following the Dutch rider. A good plan if it had worked out, but sadly neither of them can keep up with Wilco. A slightly disappointing turn of events!
Deemed the Queen Stage of the race it was perhaps the most important day for us all season.
Samuel put in a brave attack from long out, but burned out trying to get rid ov Kiserlovski, who was just sticking to Samu's wheel until the final few km.
A 6th place and another small time loss was less than what we had expected from our captain on this stage.
This stage had all the elements needed to do something and a lot happened.
Unfortunately Samuel decided that he didn't feel like racing today and lost more than two minutes thus obliterating any GC chance he had.
Just not good enough!
Going into this stage we all dream us back to when Samu won the final TT and the GC in 2012.
This time around the foreign TV company hired to transmit the race couldn't even be bothered to show our jersey on the final day of our biggest home race...
Edited by Atlantius on 06-03-2014 12:22
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 19-02-2014 11:19
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Team Leader
Posts: 6795
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You could call this sort of an experiment. We mainly applied for Verboven's sake, but he is not the only skilled rider here.
Here we will see exactly what we can achieve when we bring our strongest sprint set-up!
Most of the day the biys just made sure to stay safe in the first part of the peloton waiting for the sprint.
Lotto and QuickStep took care of reeling in the break as expected and we were all set for the sprint.
Rudy delivered Lobato good, though we were never anywhere near thereatening the big sprint teams.
All.in-all better than expected!
| 1 |  André Greipel | Lotto Belisol | 4h30'15 | | 14 |  Juan José Lobato | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 19 |  Rudy Verboven | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 49 |  Ioannis Tamouridis | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 50 |  Jure Kocjan | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 53 | André Schulze | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 62 | Stefan Radochla | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 77 |  Jon Aberasturi | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 1'28 | | 108 |  Tarik Chaoufi | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. |
Edited by Atlantius on 20-02-2014 09:46
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 19-02-2014 12:01
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World Champion
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Yeah, Sanchez and Anton did make the bloopers there..
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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Simon Gerrans
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