The first three stages we’re mainly flat and surprisingly went to a break, so not much for me to do those days except getting to know Peeters better. That meant that I was caught unaware behind a split in the peloton on stage 3, which saw me lose some time. Not that it matters, but still it annoys me a bit.
Stage 4 was the important stage by any measure. As usual I was in the role of the helper. I made sure to deliver Peeters in a decent position for the final climb and from there things just exploded!
Fortunately my work to save Peeters from using unnecessary energy paid off as he had enough left to take the stage, GC and mountain jersey!
After that it was all about getting Thomas safely to the finale and then just rolling home without wasting too much energy.
I did my job perfectly on both stage 5 and 6 delivering Peeters to his final attack and then rolling home with the peloton.
All in all another hard race in the role of the slave – I hope I’ll soon see some of the freedom to attack I was promised when I signed the contract…
I made worldwide headlines this week, in Continental Championships. First their was time trial, my favourite. Competition was hard, with Dennis Rohan and Porte and Shaqif. But no Wiggins, that is good. He is only guy who beat me this year. People call me top favourite. So I started very hard, taking corners really close to the edge.
Managers said I was doing really well, so I just kept going. Most of the course was flat, with occasional slope. But I know I had to save energy for final climb. At the Cauberg, I saw Shaqif, at this point I think I was winning. Was really close to finish now.
And here I finish, 49 seconds in front of Dennis Rohan. I won the Austrasian Championships! Here another nice picture from press.
Finaly last picture of me on podium as winner. Nice dutch podium girls as well, unfortunately not allowed to take them home, only trophy. Later I hear I have best time from all riders, beating even Wiggins! Was best day of my life!
After time trial, I was really tired, but few days later I had to ride road race. Not top favourite, but managers think I can win medal. Unfortunately, I get bad team mate Arashiro. My friend Lue and Berhane did their best to help me early in the race, but then this happened:
Traitor Arashiro let Porte get away while he was just sitting in his wheel. Capitalist pig was bribed! So I had to close gap myself, and look who follow now!
Australian Gerrans won I finished six and traitor Arashiro just finished in my wheel. I'm furious now, I hope management will purge traitors and publicaly execute Arashiro.
And I don't think Arashiro was bribed, Po-Ding. He just has a terrible tactical vision. Nevertheless, if it happens again, we'll think about firing him. Or executing maybe Edited by Jesleyh on 05-02-2014 14:37
The Continental Championships have finished now. A lot of teams, including Europcar, were looking forward to it. And it has been fun for sure!
We'll go through them race for race.
Aufrazian Time Trial
The Championship starts with the race that we have the most hopes for. The Aufrazian TT. Po-Ding, considered one of the best in the long races against the clock, is favourite here, with Shaqif and the Aussies as main rivals.
After Meyer & Rogers setting decent times, Dennis slaughtered that time, and it looked like his time was the one to beat.
Nobody came close for a long time.
Shaqif was starting second-to-last. He disappointed though. Then there was Po-Ding. After setting impressive intermediate times, he really slaughtered Dennis' time and got Europcar a title!
It even got better. He had the fastest time of every TTist in Valkenburg, faster than all Europeans and Americans(beating them was very important for Po-Ding, ofc!)
He completed the course in 1'02'01. That's 49 seconds faster than Dennis.
American Time Trial
This looked like a battle between guys from the USA. More accurate one between 2 BMC riders. We had Veilleux here.
Van Garderen started early. He set a strong time, 1'02'29. Some big riders have bitten in the dust. Tuft, Amador, Talansky, McNutt, they all bit in the dust, not even getting close to Tejay's time.
Then there was the other favourite, Phinney. He was the last guy left to possibly threaten Van Garderen. But I guess the hilly part was too much for him, he was 49 seconds slower than TvG and got second.
So Tejay wins this race, and a 1-2 for BMC!
Veilleux couldn't do better than 21th.
European Time Trial
This looks like the big one of the 3. Martin, Wiggins, Cancellara, Froome, all there. Martin being the big favourite.
Our hopes weren't that high. We hoped for a decent result for Di Silvestro though.
It rained today. That might slow the riders down a bit.
LLS had a decent early TT. Then there was Wiggo. He really crushed that times, by 2'30.
Nobody of the minor TTists, came close, of course. The 3 big ones were still about to come:
First there was Cancellara. He had a bad day, 1'31 off Wiggins' time.
Second there was Froome. He couldn't get close either. 1'16 off Wiggins time.
At last, there was Martin. Everyone expected it to be close. It wasn't. 1'19 off.
That means Wiggins, with a 1'02'17, won the European Championships!
Impressive ride for him.
The TT was a bit disappointing for Europcar. Di Silvestro didn't seem to have a good day, getting 63th. Gaudin didn't do much either, getting 60th.
Aufrazian Road Race
Another interesting race for us. Po-Ding as leader and Khamphan, Arashiro & Berhane as helpers.
Gerrans, Sithembile & Porte have some great chances as well. Gerrans & Porte attacked, and with a lack of cooperation in the pack, they got a gap. Po-Ding couldn't counter, and attacked later on with Arashiro and some others.
Arashiro tried to close the gap, but didn't manage to do that. Gerrans kept a gap on Porte and won. Due to some tactical errors, the rest of the second group was allowed away as well. Arashiro couldn't get them in, but Po-Ding didn't counter them either.
Po-Ding and Arashiro got 6th and 7th in the end.
Decent performance, but could've been better.
American Road Race
In the American RR, Veilleux was on his own. We hoped he'd get in the break, but he couldn't get into it, the escapees were gone too soon.
Sky took over the chase, but when Talansky attacked later in the race, everything changed. A big favourite group was created, without Veilleux.
Betancur managed to slip away, later joined by Henao. It got decided in a sprint-a-deux, and Betancur won it, with a nice finishing sprint, which is one of his specialities.
Veilleux did a good job though, getting 17th. That's on 13 minutes though, that's how big the gaps were!
European Road Race
Some would say that this is the main event of this week in Valkenburg. They might be right.
Schröder, Voeckler, Peeters and Rolland were our hopes here. None of them was really considered a favourite though, Schröder may be an outsider.
The breakaway didn't seem to have any chances today. The gap was never really big.
Valverde & Gilbert attack pretty early. They were reeled in by the peloton quite quickly.
A bit later, a big group of favourites was left. They merged with the breakaway in the end. Malacarne, who was in the break, was, sadly enough, the only Europcar rider. A 3-men group of Cancellara, and (again) Valv & Gilbert, was left. It got into a sprint. They all have decent finishing sprints. The early attacks must have made the latter 2, especially Valverde, tired. Spartacus won the sprint by a few centimeters.
He's the deserved European RR winner!
Malacarne still had some energy left, finishing in the 3rd group with guys like Kwiatkowski & Mollema. He got us a nice Top 10, finishing 10th on 42 seconds.
After all, it's been a nice week in Valkenburg for us.
We'd like to congratulate Po-Ding with his nice TT title. Honourable mentions to Malacarne(10th RR), Arashiro(7th RR), Po-Ding(6th RR), Veilleux(Riding for himself), who did some good jobs as well
Kim Po-ding won time trial, so Kim Po-ding demands credit for glorious nation. Would like training for acceleration so I can follow Rodriguez next time.
I can confirm those 3 races.
But since there are not a lot stage-races with a TT at the end of the year, you might want to ride the Bayern Rundfahrt as well. It has a long TT and some (short) climbs.
If you really don't want it, it's okay, but it's advised, since you would have a good chance to win.
Hello Boss,
i is sorry for bad result in Flanders. All i can say to that is "Stupid Flanders". I thinks i were positioned badly at important point, and couldn't do nothing after that. Anyway, i think i be better in race to my home city, i even train in Velodrome yesterday, i very confident about know how to win there. Anyway, thank you for your patience, i hope i can win! I were training sprint, i can beat everybody in Velodrome. I is too busy to write much now, but i will write something about visiting Laos in the break, i make lots of nice pictures!
No problem Lue.
Turgot saved our day. We have higher expectations for Roubaix anyway.
We really hope you do well. Our sponsors won't be satisfied with anything less than a Top 10, but I'm sure you(or one of the Frenchies) can make that.
I hope it gets to a small sprint, you can do well there.
Oh, and for those wondering, we're planning to write a report about both monuments combined, not just 1 about Flanders(which isn't a very important race for us anyway, Roubaix is more awesome )
Edited by Jesleyh on 16-02-2014 18:59
It's time for the cobbled classics. 2 major events in the cycling season, especially for us!
RvV: Khamphan failed, Turgot saved us.
RvV isn't as important as Roubaix for us, but it's definitely important!
No sponsor goals here, but team goals, since we just want a Top 10 here, with our cobbled team, we just have to score serious points here.
We didn't have to take control of the race though, Radioshack, OPQS & BMC did it for us.
Khamphan seemed to have a bad day. He dropped with 70km to go, and was nowhere to be seen anymore. Luckily, we have others.
Turgot & Gaudin managed to hang on for a long time, especially Turgot. Van Avermaet got away quite early, and only Boonen was able to stay close. Greg won the race, with Boonen 2nd.
Turgot hung on to a group with Pal & Cancellara, and managed 8th, which is decent.
Gaudin finished a few mins later, 17th.
Roubaix: Just made it, it was really close!
Ah, Roubaix. Very important for both us and the sponsor. Gaudin & Turgot want to perform well on home soil, while Lue wants to take revanche from his RvV performance.
Gaudin told us he felt really good, so we took control of the race, along with OPQS.
Maybe it was a bit too much, but our helpers are strong, so it's okay.
Jerome, Thurau, Pichot & especially Di Silvestro did a great job.
Lue told us he wasn't feeling too well. There seem to be a few rumours that he was a bit ill this week, but well, I'm not completely sure.
So he could at least work for Gaudin.
So Gaudin attacked along with Cancellara. And again.
They both got reeled in after all, twice in a row.
The peloton got thinned out though.
A bit later, Vanmarcke attacked. That one proved to be decisive.
The guys behind got closer and closer, but Vanmarcke made it in the end.
Even after all those attacks, Gaudin found the energy to stay with a big group. He couldn't follow some of the attacks from that group, but it got to a sprint to 8th. Gaudin managed to grab 10th, which is just what we need.
We hoped for more, but at least, the goal is achieved, and we definitely showed ourselves!
Scheldeprijs: Oh no, so close!
A big sprinting classic. The sponsors gave us an ''easy'' goal of Top 10.
So we sent Coquard and a strong leadout train. Sadly enough, the best sprinters were there.
We were all looking good, until there was a crash 5km to go, with one of our guys there as well. Luckily not Coquard, but it messed up our train.
Coquard could grab a wheel, and managed 11th in the end.
Fucking 11th! This is really frustrating. Anyway, we have to move on, it is what it is.
Pais Vasco: Surprising GC leader
Pais Vasco, the severely hilly stage-race, has reached the third stage, which was a summit finish.
A strong break, including Mourey & Poels, had more than 3 mins with 20km to go. Mourey found the energy to attack from the group, while the peloton got a bit closer every minute. Poels & Sella could follow for a bit, but couldn't keep up with Mourey.
5km from the finish, Kelderman put in an attack from the peloton. He got some space and stayed ahead of the bunch, but couldn't get to Mourey, making the Frenchie the new GC leader!
Kelderman is at 12 secs, while Kwiatkowski is at 36 secs, and Porte at 55 secs. That's something to consider, since there's still a TT coming. Will the talented youngster grab the GC?
Next-up:
Next up for us, is Brabantse Pijl. With both cobbles & hills, it might suit Voeckler really well, though we don't expect a win.
There's also Flèche after that. That's Schröder's territory.
After that, we have 2 stage-races. One WT race, Tour de Romandië. It's a severe mountain race, where Po-Ding will lead Europcar.
At the same time, there's Tour of Turkey. A bit less prestigious, but we have a stage-win goal. We'll send both our (best) sprinter, Coquard, and good climbers: Peeters & Rolland.
Hi there, we're back!
It wasn't really a busy time of the year, but at least the Ardennes have been races.
Turkey: Already got our goal!
Really good news! Our goal was a stage-win, and we made it! We expected a really strong line-up due to all the goals, but that didn't really happen.
Coquard managed to win stage 1 and got 2nd at the second stage. So next stage, he will get 3rd, no doubt.
We also have high GC ambitions here.
Flèche: Fluke
This didn't turn out too well. We had a Top 3 goal here, but we didn't even make the Top 10. Surprisingly, Schröder wasn't even our strongest guy here, Rolland got 11th. Peter Sagan managed to win this, which is a great achievement for him.
AGR: Purito wins sprint-a-deux
This definitely was a nice Ardennes classic. The pack got thinned out more and more. With 3km to go, there were 11 guys left, and in the end, it was Purito vs Valv. Purito seems to have recovered well from the Cauberg, because he convincingly took the win.
LBL: Slovakian glory!
Pure domination here!
Sagan attacked 27km from the finish line, bridging the gap to the escapees. Betancur & Valverde managed to escape from the small peloton, and tried to get closer to Sagan. Betancur actually got close, but Sagan kept a 10 seconds gap over the young Colombian. Valverde got 3rd on a minute, and there were big gaps ahead.
Next-up:
Next up for us, still is Brabantse Pijl. It got postponed, and as said earlier, it might suit Voeckler pretty well.
Also, we have a few stage-races. In Switzerland, there's Romandië, where Po-Ding head to. It will be exciting to see how he does there.
Of course, Tour of Turkey is still going on, and we're looking for a good GC there, possibly even a GC win?
In France, there's Dunkerque. A race with cobbles & hills that is really important to us. We've sent a really strong squad there.
I have to say, I like your country very much. Is very much like North Korea! Unfortunately, I could not stay here long, as manager was very angry and send me to race in Switzerland. I don't understand, he say I must ride Tour of Romania. Am I punished for something?
Anyway, race start with short time trial, a bit too short for me. Porte win, even though I beat him on Continental Championships. But maybe longer time trial will be pay back time for me. Here is picture from newspaper. Look at people cheering for me!
This was my chance to take revenge on Bradley Wiggins. For those who remember, he defeated me by one second in the time trial in Argentinia. Here was 4 flat stages and 1 time trial. Manager say I should focus on time trial, and I get help from Thomas. He nice guy, even when he won Tour de France in Dunkerque a few weeks ago, he want to help me. So first stages we just ride along. Then was time trial. I was ready!
I ride fast as the wind, but so was Wiggins, it would be close.
But then I hear manager say our Great and Noble Leader was watching. He stayed up all night to watch me race. I could not disappoint him. And I could not disappoint the family members he held hostage.
And yes, I did it! I win the time trial and the race. After Algarve, this is another very important moment in my career. Glory for North Korea!
Here we are again. Quite some stuff has happened! Good stuff, mainly!
Dunkerque: Tommy proving his value
Great news here! We won the Dunkerque GC! Thomas Voeckler did that for us. Staying with the pack on the cobbled and flat stages, he made the real difference there by finishing 2nd on the hilly stage, with just early escapee Roth ahead.
To be very honest, we were obligated to do well in the GC here, we took our full cobbled team here, and Voeckler on top of that.
Sadly enough, Khamphan crashed here, like he did often this year. While he's a great rider, he should work on his bike handling a bit.
Turkey: Points incoming!
We'll recieve so many points here! We sent Peeters & Rolland here, along with sprinter Coquard. You've already read that we made the stage win goal. Well, on top of that, Coquard won stage 8 as well!
We did well in the climbing part of the race as well. We didn't really have a clear leader, but that sort of paid off in the end, with Rolland & Peeters both finishing in the GC Top 10, with Rolland 3rd and Peeters 4th. Yay!
Bayern: Another GC Win!
Bayern was decided by a long TT. We sent our North-Korean Po-Ding there, and he surely delivered. He had to beat Wiggins here, and he did! That's a nice revenge on the San Luis TT, which was close as well.
Po-Ding held on in the flat stages, so he took us a great GC home!
As you can see, Po-Ding was so fast, that the cameras couldn't even film him properly. Well, North-Korean cameras might have done the job, but yeah.
Romandië: Top 10 in sight despite losing time
Po-Ding was again our leader here, he deserves all his leader-roles, obviously. After participating in the sprints(we misunderstood each other here, but well, it seems to pay off), and grabbing 2 Top 10s in the sprint, Po-Ding had a bad day in the mountains. He's now positioned 13th in the GC, which is not too bad, given that a 20km long TT is still coming up. We always said that our goal was a GC Top 10, and that's still realistic.
California: Looking good, but it won't be easy
Po-Ding's quest to prove that communism is better than capitalism, is not going too bad. At the moment, Po-Ding is situated 5th in the GC, but just 15 seconds behind the leader, an Englishmen. At least Po-Ding is situated in front of the first American, a bald 41 year old grandpa.
Next-up:
Next up for us, is Tour of Belgium. We sent Christian Schröder there, and he's doing pretty well. Turgot is there as well, and he got 5th at cobbled stage 2. The deciding stages still are to come, though.
)
, will start soon as well. Schröder will be looking for a podium, and possibly a GC win, here. 
