Christina: The Tour caravan was transferred to Lantian, just 50 km outside Xi’an, I drove directly to the stage destination Shangluo, about 140 km to the southeast.
Today’s stage is a different beast, with a cat 2 climb in the middle, and another relative hard climb not far from the finish. It is not likely that a big peloton will finish together, but we are not sure if Francisco José can make it to a sprint finish, or if this is only terrain for Constantino Zaballa.
Dayun Temple of Shangluo
Sebastian Balck did what he could to get in a morning break, hoping to get some mountain points, if not a stage win.
He could not get away, so finally it was a break of six riders; that got the gab, so instead we pulled the peloton forward, to keep them in a short line.
Not long after the start of the cat. 2, Black was still feeling good, and attacked again, this time to help Zaballa later on the climb, shortly after Zaballa attacked.
At the top to the cat 2 climbs, the situation was: A front group of 6 with:
Jimmy Janssens (Team 3M) winning the climb
Jan Tratnik (Tirol Cycling Team)
Duber Quintero (Colombia)
Alex Dowsett (Movistar Team) 27 seconds after the front: Constantino Zaballa (Christina Watches) Sebastian Balck (Christina Watches)
Diego Milán Team (Differdange – Losch)
Shinichi Fukushima (Team Nippo)
Oleksandr Polivoda (Atlas Personal)
Jakob Rathe (Garmin – Sharp) 47 seconds after the front
Sergej Fuchs (Team NSP – Ghost) 2,56 after the front Francisco José Pacheco (Christina Watches) Another 24 seconds after the peloton.
Francisco José Pacheco attacks near the top trying to catch the front:
But after a while it was clear that Pacheco would not get a good gab to the peloton, the two front groups was now melted together, and Constantino Zaballa decided to attack on the last clims, it was short but hopefully steep enough to get a good gab.
It seemed that everybody else was empty, they never got close again.
Christina: What a fantastic tour we have got here in China, 2 stage wins in a row!
By the way, something I forgot to tell, two important transfers have been confirmed, Chris Froome have signed a new deal with Movistar, they will be hard to beat in the grand tours now. Another big transfer Marcel Kittel goes to Sky Procycling.
Christina: Today we moved to Xiangyang about 380 km to the southeast of Shangluo. The city was formed from the ancient cities of Fancheng and Xiangzhou, divided by the Han River.
The strategy today is to control the race, avoid that Zaballa loose time in the GC, and then see what we can to in a sprint.
Xiangyang :
A break of 7 riders got away, including a good hill rider Pablo Lastras (Movistar), we could not let him get to much time, so we helped Team Nippo, pulling the bunch forward.
Most of the break was caught, but with about 11 km left Pablo Lastras still had about 45 sec., so we set up a train and moved to the front with Pedersen first, then Zaballa and Pacheco.
The high speed of Pedersen was enough, Lastras was done, and when Pedersen pulled away, Zaballa opened the sprint.
It seems that no one is this field has the legs and the form of Pacheco.
OZrocker wrote:
Very successful end to the season here, hope they can hold their positions for the next two stages now
Thanks !
If seems like there is not much competition in china, I think most rider is out of form this late in the season. Our own season is soon over with just a few more races, awaiting a new exiting season to start, with a bigger and hopefully stronger squad.
Christina: The caravan has traveled another 85 km to the east, to the city of Zaoyang. The history of this arear date back to at least between 770-476 B.C., with important findings of rich tombs with chariots, horses and even very rare musical instruments.
The temperature all week has been high, today is very high 36 (°C), we will just sit in the peloton, trying to win another sprint finish.
As planned we was sitting in the peloton, a break of five riders got away, and with a short stage like this, we did our part to keep them in line. The only strong rider in front was Ángel Madrazo (Movistar), the break should not pose a threat if the pace was right.
Christina Watches take part in the chase:
Sebastian Balck had a puncture, and lost more than a minute, so we had to slow down a bit, to get him back. He got back and used the opportunity to carry some water to the front. 10 km before the line, Ángel Madrazo was reeled back in, and the positioning for the sprint began.
Ángel Madrazo gets caught:
Again Christina Watches had the strongest train and the best sprinter.
Christina: Still hot! The caravan has moved about 250 km southeast to Wuhan, the largest city in central china, with more than 8 million citizens. The city dates back an amazing 3500 years, located on the banks of the Yangtze River.
Wuhan Skyline:
Today a very short stage only 91 km. Again the plan is to win a mass sprint, but if possible we also want Zaballa to attack on the climb, to get the bonus seconds on the only sprint, to secure his position as 2nd in the GC.
Profile:
A break of 8 got away early on the stage.
We moved a few rider to the front, to help in the pursuit. On the climb Zaballa attacked trying to close the gap to the front group.
His effort was in vain, he could not catch them, in the end he waited for the peloton.
The peloton had to set an insane pace to catch the break-away; they gave in just 1 km before the finish.
Most of our team couldn’t hold on in the fast pace, we had only Furlan and Pacheco close to the front, Pacheco came second in a very close sprint.
Rasmussen: We have traveled to Belgian, to the Brakel area, a small community in East Flanders. For the GP Impanis-Van Petegem, named after two famous Belgian cyclist: Raymond Impanis and Peter Van Petegem.
Church of Sint-Maria-Oudenhove, Brakel:
The weather is fine, temperature a little low at 12 C°. A pancake flat race, our best shot at this, is to get a good sprint finish with Angelo Furlan, or of course a breakaway win, with one of the others.
Profile:
Roster:
Angelo Furlan
Daniele Aldegheri
Frederik Wilmann
Jordan Kerby
Martin Pedersen
Morten Høberg
Sebastian Balck
Simon Bigum
We got Daniele Aldegheri in a break with Laurent Van den Bak (An Post – Chainreaction) and Robbert De Greef (Cyclingteam Jo Piels) they got almost 8 min.
With 135 km left, the peloton speeded up, lead mainly by “Atlas Personal” and “Accent Jobs – Wanty”
Bjorn Selander (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) had a very bad crach, but amazingly to op to finish the race within the peloton.
The break did not make it, and the stage was won in a mass sprint, the winner was Steven Tronet (BigMat - Auber 93) Our best was Furlan (5)
27/9 – 28/9 Le Tour du Gévaudan Languedoc-Roussillon (cat.2.2)
27/9 Chanac – Mont-Aigoual : 134.6 km
Rasmussen: We are in southern France, in the historical area of Gévaudan, some 100 km north of Montpellier. The stage starts in the small town of Chanac and moves south into “Cévennes National Park” heading for Mont Aigoual.
Chanac:
A pure mountain stage, we haven’t got any very strong climbers in this race, so we will attempt to get Mitchell Lovelock-Fay or Frederik Wilmann in a break, looking for mountain points and if very lucky a break-away win.
Profile:
Roster:
Angelo Furlan
Frederik Wilmann
Jimmi Sørensen
Jordan Kerby
Mitchell Lovelock-Fay
Morten Høberg
Sebastian Balck
Simon Bigum
As planned we got Frederik Wilmann in the early break, he was at least on paper, the best climber in the group. He took the points on Col de coperlac (cat.1)
Again on the first climb to Mont-Aigoual:
At the descend 3 riders came up to the front group, this time better climbers, so Wilmann’s chances for a win, was reduced significantly.
But that didn’t matter, at the bottom of the last climb the break-away was over, and the stronger climbers took over. At the 5 km mark, it was Daniel Navarro (Cofidis) in front, Alfredo Balloni (Ceramica Flaminia) 36 sec. behind, 3 riders in between, and our best Mitchell Lovelock-Fay sitting in a group of 12 riders, 1’16 after the leader.
Daniel Navarro:
Sorry no finish line picture, for some reason it did not save. Our best was Mitchell Lovelock-Fay (16) at 3'41, Daniel Navarro won today taking 1'16 down to Balloni.
27/9 – 28/9 Le Tour du Gévaudan Languedoc-Roussillon (cat.2.2)
28/9 Mende – Mende 158.7 km
Rasmussen: The caravan has moved 73 km back up north, to Mende. Dwellings dating back to 200 BC has been found in the area, the current city date back to the middle age.
Mende Cathedral:
The last stage for us, in the 2013 season: Starting in Mende, riding south back into “Cévennes National Park” over 3 category 1 climbs, and back up to Mende.
The main strategy today, is to get Wilmann in a break, to fight for the KoM classification.
Profile:
Wilmann did get in a break of 7 riders, the strongest climber in the break was possibly G. Bernaudeau (Europcar).
At the foot of the first climb to “Col du Choizal” the group had more than 6 minutes, with 90 km to the finish. The Peloton is just visible in the background:
Wilmann just manages to win over Gaël Malacarne (Bretagne - Séché Environnementon) on “Col du Choizal”
Near the top of the second climb to “Col de Montmirat”, Wilmann was not paying attention; and lost contact with the group, he never got back.
That was very unfortunate, because the race was won between the break-away, the winner was Stanislav Kozúbek (Bauknecht – Author), Mitchell Lovelock-Fay had pretty good legs today he came in 9th on the stage, ending at 12 in the GC.
The final 2013 results have made these changes:
Promotions to UCI world tour : Bardiani Valvole & Team Europcar
Promotion to Continental Pro: Christina Watches, Jamis, Nippo, La Pomme
Relegation from UCI world tour: Euskaltel & FDJ
Relegation from Continental Pro: Crelan, UnitedHelth, Champion, Novo Nordisk
We are off course very excited about these results, and willing to put more financial support into the team, to maintain and hopefully improve our new position.
Christina: "News from the board meeting held 12/1-2014:
With our new position as a Pro Continental Team, we expect the competition in the races to be much harder that last year, so we realize it could be a much harder season for us. The only goal we have set is to stay in the Pro Continental division."
This is a presentation of our 2014 team.
Top riders: Kenny Elissonde, 22 years old, from Alsace, France. Kenny is a young upcoming climber, with strong mountain and hill abilities, but with a relative weak time trail. His average skill level is currently 73, with a potential to improve some
Francisco J. Pacheco , 31 years old, from Castilla-La Mancha, Spain. Francisco is a sprinter, with some hill and prologue abilities. His average skill level is currently 72, at 31 it possible that some of his skills may decline in the near future.
Stefan Schumacker, 32 years old, from Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Stefan is a hill specialist, with good flat/fighter abilities. His average skill level is currently 72, at 32 it possible that some of his skills may decline in the near future.
Sonder Holst Enger, 20 years old, from Vestfold, Norway. Sonder is an all-round fighter type rider, with good abilities on flat, hill, downhill and a fine sprint. His average skill level is currently 72, with a lot of potential to improve.
Lasse Bøchman, 30 years old, from northern Jylland, Denmark. Lasse is a very complex rider, with a good fighter spirit, able to do well in stage races, with abilities in hill, mountains, time trail. Lasse has also descent flat and sprint skills. His average skill level is currently 71, we don’t expect him to improve significantly.
Yves Lampert, 22 old, from Flanders, Belgium. Yves is our cobbles expert, and will be captain in cobbles races, besides that he had a good flat, and can perform well as lead-out man, in a mass sprint. His average skill level is currently 69, we expect him to be developing fast!
Helpers / Sprinters:
Philip Nielsen, 26 years old, from northern Jylland, Denmark, Philip is a fine sprinter with good flat abilities, but he is very weak uphill, so he can only preform on the very flat stages. His average skill level is currently 69, we don’t expect him to improve significantly.
Martin Pedersen, 30 years old, from Copenhagen, Denmark. Martin is a fighter type Hill and Flat specialist and a strong downhill, he has an ok sprint for the break-away finish. His average skill level is currently 69, we don’t expect him to improve.
Angelo Furlan, 36 years, from Veneto, Italy. Furlan is a sprinter, His average skill level is currently 68, at age 36 his skill is declining, we expect him to retire when his contract runs out.
Mitchell Lovelock-Fay, 22 years old, from Canberra, Australia. Mitchell is a hill rider with some mountain abilities. His average skill level is currently 68, we expect him to be developing fast!
Daniele Aldegheri, 23 years old, from Veneto, Italy. Daniele is a fighter type rider with some hill and flat abilities, His average skill level is currently 67, we hope he can improve, otherwise we may not keep him.
Sebastian Balck, 25 years old, from Sweden. Sebastian is an all-round rider, with skills in flat, cobble stone, time trail, and hill. His average skill level is currently 67, we hope he can improve, otherwise we may not keep him.
Marc Hester, 28 years old, from southern Denmark, Marc is a sprinter, His average skill level is currently 67, and he is still improving.
Frederik Wilmann, 28 years old, from Viggja, Norway. Frederik is a fighter with some mountain and hill abilities, his average skill level is currently 67, we don’t expect him to improve.
Morten Høberg, 25 years old, from Copenhagen, Denmark. Morten is a sprinter with some hill abilities, his average skill level is currently 67, with some potential to improve.
The youngsters:
These riders we will follow closely, if they don’t improve fast, we won’t keep them, when their contract runs out. Anders Bjerregård, Denmark, sprinter, average skill 66. Simon Bigum, Denmark, fighter, average skill 64. Lasse Christiansen, Denmark, sprinter, average skill 62. Anton Grøn, Denmark, stage races, average skill 57.
Edited by Tamijo on 13-10-2015 17:20
