the_hoyle - cheers! First season only the beginning, I hope
Selwink - Early season will be very, very difficult to match. (San Remo again and Strade? ) It'll be interesting (and difficult) for Antonio to find his real specialty. But the mountains of Lombardia were definitely a bit too high. This season he has really excelled in San Remo type races. Some rolling hills, enough room to power through.
The cycling season has come to an end. Even though modern cycling never truly finishes, with races in Africa, Asia and all around the world, the European season finished with Paris - Tours and Chrono Des Nations. I'd like to say I raced there, but after my crash the doctors found it safest if I ended my season after Lombardia. After all, I didn't have much more to gain in these races for my debut season and much more to lose after such a fall.
I've spend two weeks off the bike and now I'm back in action, ready to tackle the off-season for the first time (coming from the track, I didn't have an off-season in the winter) so I'm curious to see how that'll improve my riding.
One more picture from the 2015 season I didn't want to keep from you. The finish photo from Il Lombardia. I wasn't there, obviously, but Porte, Wellens and Aru in such a close sprint, what a great photo it is.
2015
I'm very proud to be on this sheet of paper, with only the most important moments of the season on. Yes, I'm talking about Milano - San Remo. It's still something unreal for me and there's still something inside me that cannot quite believe it. I see the name, I remember the day, yet I don't feel like I've actually won that historic race.
The 2015 season has been most kind on me. I've won races and not just any races. The dream start for an Italian, most certainly. People know I've got talent and I'm not that immodest to disagree. I do have a lot of potential and I now know more than ever that my switch to the road was destined to happen. With enough talent and the right attitude, there can be greatness in cycling. That's exactly what I want.
This is my palmares after the 2015 season, my debut year road racing:
Most obvious about this are San Remo and the fact that I'm still a GT-virgin. But I plan to change that as quickly as possible. But that's for my next post, when I'll get back to you nearing the end of the off-season and when I'm ready again to get back on the road and do what I do best: enjoying myself.
Time for 2016! Granted, we're still 2015, but only barely. I'm writing to you between the big holidays here in Europe, Christmas and New Years. Training has been intense and the new season is taking shape. Cattelan Italia management is working very hard to get the right riders at the right races to make our first WT season a success.
2016 Grand Tours
Arguably the two biggest races of the season (or at least for us) are the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France, maybe only matched by Milan - San Remo and Il Lombardia. As last year's winner, I'm quite certain of a selection for Milan - San Remo. I'm not that eager to tackle those huge climbs of Lombardia per se, but it is my home race, so I guess we'll put that on the long track.
Now for the two Grand Tours (Vuelta selection will mostly depend on the early season and riders' freshness), our management has put together a tight plan.
Giro d'Italia: With Pozzovivo in our ranks, our absolute goal is to podium the race. We firmly believe he can even conquer the pink jersey in Milan. However, since his best effort is a 5th place in 2014 (but 8th and a stage win last year), we'll be aiming at any podium spot. Surrounding him will be a strong supporting cast, especially in the mountains.
Possible line-up: Pozzovivo, De Marchi, De Plus, Silva, Cataldo, Malori, Colbelli, Appollonio, Matzka
Team Objectives: General Classification is our primary target. Pozzovivo should be up for the task. Hope to limit time losses in time trial with a team time trial, a prologue, mountain time trial and hilly time trial. Many time trial kilometers but not too many flat.
Stage wins are secundary but might be very important to the sponsor and to ourselves. Colbrelli is good on many stages, Appollonio supporting him. De Marchi can always break away for a stage win.
Tour de France: With our strongest climbers peaking for the Giro, we had to develop a different strategy for the Tour, since our climbing depth isn't that extensive (yet). So our Tour will be all about trying for a stage win and maybe hunt a jersey, but that won't be easy.
Possible line-up: Fontana, Barta, Malori, Cunego, Fassoli, Bono, Van der Zouwen, Andolini, Grancitelli
Team Objectives: Stage wins, mostly. Fontana is turning into a beast sprinter with many late season victories last season. He's still very young and has a frightningly infinite potential, or so it seems at least. He's not good uphill, but in a typical flat stage he might just be the next Mark Cavendish. Cunego has experience if he gets in a break. I have also proved to be up for a late stage break and make it to the finish.
Personal Objective: The team sees me riding my first GT in the Tour. It'll be hectic and I hope to grow as a rider. In the peloton there's a half-truth that you're not a real cyclist until you've finished a Grand Tour. I want to do that. Two long, flat time trials only inspire me to keep training hard in the discipline, especially with the Nationals raced right before the Tour so peaking will hit two birds with one stone.
Other than that, who knows? My objective of last season was to start at Milan - San Remo and I ended up winning it. This doesn't mean I will win the Tour de France, but there are some stages that suit my abilities and I never race just to be part of the peloton.
2016 Schedule
What about the rest of the season for me? It's hard to tell. Some opening races, preferably in Italy for me, I don't like traveling as much as many of my collegues. Strade Bianchi is planned and I hope to do even better than last year's 5th. Same goes for Tirreno, where I couldn't show myself last season, and San Remo. I'm not fooling myself to believe I can win San Remo two consecutive times or even ever again, but I love that race and having won it just once already makes me a very happy man. I just want to race there again.
The team has already asked me how I feel about cobbled Belgium. I've seen some in the World Championships, where I hung on longer than expected, but they said it's no comparison. Either way, we'll need 8 riders at E3, GW, RvV and Roubaix. I said I'm willing to try everything at least once, but after San Remo I'll have to see how my energy levels are. We'll see. But I'm probabaly going to Belgium anyway for the Ardennes classics, so why not take a cobbled race or two and see what happens?
Then it's right on to the Nationals and the Tour. After that, who knows? That's for later.
2016 Objectives
It's hard for me to set objectives. I'm the kind of man who always wants to do better. But saying I want to do better than 2015 is very ambitious. On the other hand, it's a bit sad to say I don't want to do better than my neopro season.
So I'll say this: My objective is to ride competitively and race for the victory in all my pre-set races. Whether I win or not is not the priority, but I hope to do something noteworthy.
I guess that's it.
See you at the first race.
I can't wait. My legs are iching.
It's been too long since I've raced!
It feels good to be back in the saddle. I've just raced the Italian opening race of the season. Looking forward to the rest of the season now.
GP Costa degli Etrushi
Pre-race
It's the first race of the season, so let's just get through this and stay on the bike. Colbrelli is our man and I'll put in some work for him.
The Race
It was nice to be back in racing mode again. The race started with an easy pace and we had some time to catch up with collegues I haven't seen since last season.
But that didn't last long. The pace increased and with the rain, things started getting dangerous so we needed to pay attention instead of chatting.
We formed a train for Colbrelli. I'm not slow myself so I would pilot him to the final 250 meters.
Our train got pushed away a bit and we were a bit too far. Probably too far to still contend for the stage win. I stepped on the pedals and tried to pilot Colbrelli back to the front.
He came close and I think he actually delivered the fastest sprint of the pack, but we had to be happy with a 3rd spot. I took 16th after my delivery of our sprinter. Not a bad start. Too bad we couldn't finish it off.
Full Result
1
Rüdiger Selig
Bora - Argon 18
2h53'34
2
Roger Kluge
Bora - Argon 18
s.t.
3
Sonny Colbrelli
Cattelan Italia
s.t.
4
Manuel Belletti
Southeast
s.t.
5
Magnus Cort Nielsen
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
6
Yannick Martinez
Bardiani CSF
s.t.
7
Davide Vigano
Team Idea 2010 ASD
s.t.
8
Roberto Ferrari
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
9
Marko Kump
Adria Mobil
s.t.
10
Maciej Paterski
Bora - Argon 18
s.t.
11
Mikhail Ignatiev
IAM Cycling
s.t.
12
Oscar Gatto
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
13
Fabio Chinello
Team Unieuro Wilier Trevigiani
s.t.
14
Egidijus Radzius
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
15
Luca Wackermann
Southeast
s.t.
16
Antonio Andolini
Cattelan Italia
s.t.
17
Nicola Boem
Bardiani CSF
s.t.
18
Scott Thwaites
Bora - Argon 18
s.t.
19
Rein Taaramae
IAM Cycling
s.t.
20
Andrea Fedi
Southeast
s.t.
Spoiler
21
Stijn Devolder
Etixx - Quick-step
s.t.
22
Stefano Pirazzi
Bardiani CSF
s.t.
23
Yannick Eijssen
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
24
Alessandro De Marchi
Cattelan Italia
s.t.
25
Gatis Smukulis
Team Katusha
s.t.
26
Sergey Nikolaev
Team Katusha
s.t.
27
Ersen Weiss
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
28
Lukasz Wisniowski
Etixx - Quick-step
s.t.
29
Matteo Montaguti
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
30
Alberto Nardin
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
31
Grégory Rast
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
32
Rubén Plaza
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
33
Maxime Bouet
Etixx - Quick-step
s.t.
34
Ruslan Tleubayev
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
35
Sven Fissers
Etixx - Quick-step
s.t.
36
Johann Van Zyl
MTN-Qhubeka
s.t.
37
Marco Frapporti
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
38
Aleksejs Saramotins
IAM Cycling
s.t.
39
Manuel Quinziato
Team Katusha
s.t.
40
Francesco Reda
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
41
Patrick Schelling
IAM Cycling
s.t.
42
Gianluca Brambilla
Etixx - Quick-step
s.t.
43
Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz
Etixx - Quick-step
s.t.
44
Patrick Gretsch
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
45
Johan Vansummeren
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
46
Zakkari Dempster
Bora - Argon 18
s.t.
47
Sirko Laudeley
Bardiani CSF
s.t.
48
Ben Gastauer
Southeast
s.t.
49
Timothy Dupont
Etixx - Quick-step
s.t.
50
Romain Sicard
Etixx - Quick-step
s.t.
51
Louis Meintjes
MTN-Qhubeka
s.t.
52
Georges van der Zouwen
Cattelan Italia
s.t.
53
Esteban Cháves
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
54
Giampaolo Caruso
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
55
Matteo Spreafico
Team Idea 2010 ASD
s.t.
56
Francesco Gavazzi
Southeast
s.t.
57
Andrea Manfredi
Bardiani CSF
s.t.
58
Maxat Ayazbayev
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
59
Kanstantsin Siutsou
Team Sky
s.t.
60
John-Lee Augustyn
MTN-Qhubeka
s.t.
61
Davide Formolo
Team Cannondale - Garmin
s.t.
62
Sergey Firsanov
Team Katusha
s.t.
63
Egor Silin
Team Katusha
s.t.
64
José Mendes
IAM Cycling
s.t.
65
Eduard Vorganov
Team Katusha
s.t.
66
Nicola Dal Santo
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
67
Merhawi Kudus
MTN-Qhubeka
s.t.
68
Julian Arredondo
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
69
Tom Bohli
IAM Cycling
s.t.
70
Adam Yates
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
71
Ross Barraclough
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
72
Klemen Stimulak
Adria Mobil
s.t.
73
Diego Rosa
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
74
Marcel Wyss
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
75
Kristijan Durasek
MTN-Qhubeka
s.t.
76
Javier Moreno
Team Katusha
s.t.
77
David Per
Adria Mobil
s.t.
78
Jonathan Fumeaux
IAM Cycling
s.t.
79
Nathan Earle
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
80
Andrea Piechele
Southeast
s.t.
81
Frank Vicelich
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
82
Maurizio Grancitelli
Cattelan Italia
s.t.
83
Rick Zabel
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
84
Paolo Ciavatta
D’Amico - Bottecchia
s.t.
85
Andrea Zordan
NIPPO - Vini Fantini
s.t.
86
Daniel Navarro
Team Cannondale - Garmin
s.t.
87
Vinnie Braet
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
88
Jaco Venter
MTN-Qhubeka
s.t.
89
Festus Cadogan
Team Cannondale - Garmin
s.t.
90
Alexsandr Dyachenko
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
91
Manuel Senni
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
92
Filippo Baggio
NIPPO - Vini Fantini
s.t.
93
Natnael Berhane
MTN-Qhubeka
s.t.
94
Alberto Cecchin
NIPPO - Vini Fantini
s.t.
95
Riccardo Stacchiotti
NIPPO - Vini Fantini
s.t.
96
Andreas Stauff
MTN-Qhubeka
s.t.
97
Terence Line
Team Sky
s.t.
98
Luca Chirico
Bardiani CSF
s.t.
99
Davide Ballerini
Team Unieuro Wilier Trevigiani
s.t.
100
Patrick Konrad
Bora - Argon 18
s.t.
101
Robinson Chalapud
IAM Cycling
s.t.
102
Cesare Benedetti
D’Amico - Bottecchia
s.t.
103
Jacopo Guarnieri
D’Amico - Bottecchia
s.t.
104
Joe Dombrowski
Team Cannondale - Garmin
s.t.
105
Lennart Thorgersen
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
106
Simone Petilli
Team Unieuro Wilier Trevigiani
s.t.
107
Enrico Barbin
Bardiani CSF
s.t.
108
Simone Andreetta
Bardiani CSF
s.t.
109
Lucas Manuel Gaday Orozco
Team Unieuro Wilier Trevigiani
s.t.
110
Eduardo Estrada
D’Amico - Bottecchia
s.t.
111
Marcos Garcia
Team Katusha
s.t.
112
Alberto Bettiol
Team Cannondale - Garmin
s.t.
113
Federico Zurlo
Cattelan Italia
s.t.
114
Gianluca Mengardo
Team Idea 2010 ASD
s.t.
115
Kristjan Fajt
Adria Mobil
s.t.
116
Filippo Pozzato
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
117
Matteo Malucelli
Team Idea 2010 ASD
s.t.
118
Cristiano Salerno
Bora - Argon 18
s.t.
119
Thomas Capocchi
D’Amico - Bottecchia
s.t.
120
Kevin De Weert
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
121
Josip Rumac
Adria Mobil
s.t.
122
Ian Boswell
Team Sky
s.t.
123
Jordan Kerby
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
124
Simone Antonini
Team Idea 2010 ASD
s.t.
125
Lorenzo Rota
Team Unieuro Wilier Trevigiani
s.t.
126
Danilo Napolitano
Southeast
s.t.
127
Jon Bozic
Adria Mobil
s.t.
128
Valerio Conti
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
129
Carlos Martín Gómez
Southeast
s.t.
130
Davide Plebani
Team Unieuro Wilier Trevigiani
s.t.
131
Giacomo Berlato
NIPPO - Vini Fantini
s.t.
132
Rino Gasparrini
Team Unieuro Wilier Trevigiani
s.t.
133
Shiki Kuroeda
NIPPO - Vini Fantini
s.t.
134
Simone Ponzi
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
135
Arrigo Biondi
D’Amico - Bottecchia
s.t.
136
Silvio Giorni
D’Amico - Bottecchia
s.t.
137
Emanuel Buchmann
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
138
Massimo Graziato
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
139
Stefano Nardelli
Team Unieuro Wilier Trevigiani
s.t.
140
Luca Agliottone
Team Cannondale - Garmin
s.t.
141
Marcello Posio
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
142
Jan Hirt
Bora - Argon 18
s.t.
143
Alex Howes
Team Cannondale - Garmin
s.t.
144
Maurizio Damiano
Team Idea 2010 ASD
s.t.
145
Jason Himsworth
Team Sky
s.t.
146
Simone Sterbini
Team Idea 2010 ASD
s.t.
147
Mirko Torta
Team Idea 2010 ASD
s.t.
148
Luigi Miletta
Cattelan Italia
s.t.
149
Antonio Nibali
NIPPO - Vini Fantini
s.t.
150
Donato De Ieso
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
151
Lee Precious
Team Sky
+ 4'04
152
Damiano Cunego
Cattelan Italia
s.t.
153
Nathan Brown
Team Cannondale - Garmin
+ 8'41
154
Sebastián Henao
Team Sky
s.t.
155
Mattia Pozzo
NIPPO - Vini Fantini
s.t.
156
Yevhenii Manko
Team Sky
+ 14'09
Other Cattelan Successes
Our team is off to a great start in the World Tour. Cataldo finished 2nd in the Tour Down Under, giving us a good amount of WT points early in the season. Meanwhile, Fontana delivered our first victory of the season in Bessèges. He sprinted to a win, a second place and a third place in all.
Tour Down Under - Top 10
1
Richie Porte
Team Sky
22h24'02
2
Dario Cataldo
Cattelan Italia
+ 24
3
Michal Kwiatkowski
Team Sky
+ 29
4
Jean-Christophe Péraud
Ag2r La Mondiale
+ 43
5
Vincenzo Nibali
Astana Pro Team
+ 49
6
Simon Spilak
Team Katusha
+ 52
7
Charly Theodore
Movistar Team
s.t.
8
Tony Gallopin
Lotto Soudal
+ 59
9
Samuel Sánchez
Movistar Team
+ 1'10
10
Gianni Moscon
Cattelan Italia
+ 1'17
Besides sprinting to a win, we managed a great result in Bessèges in the final time trial. Piazzalunga is only 19 years old and considered a great time trialing talent in Italy. I'll have to watch out for him in the Nationals - Time Trial!
Etoile des Bessèges - Top 10
1
Thibaut Pinot
FDJ
+00:00
2
Jesus Herrada
Movistar Team
+00:02
3
Jérôme Coppel
IAM Cycling
+00:07
4
Luis León Sánchez
Ag2r La Mondiale
+00:08
5
Andrea Piazzalunga
Cattelan Italia
+00:09
6
Lars Boom
Astana Pro Team
+00:12
7
Alexey Lutsenko
Astana Pro Team
+00:15
8
Ruben Fernandez
Movistar Team
+00:18
9
Warren Barguil
Ag2r La Mondiale
+00:21
10
Edward Theuns
Ag2r La Mondiale
+00:22
That's it for the start of the season. See you soon!
Another race on our home soil. Once again, we were looking towards Colbrelli for a good result. I feel my fitness is not yet what it should be so I took domestique duties, pulling the peloton and forcing a split, somewhat 30 km from the finish.
Colbrelli managed to finish it off and so we can celebrate another victory. I finished somewhere between place 60 and 70, but having done my work and after a great training.
Full Result
1
Sonny Colbrelli
Cattelan Italia
4h42'51
2
Fabio Felline
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
3
Blel Kadri
Ag2r La Mondiale
s.t.
4
Ruben Fernandez
Movistar Team
s.t.
5
Adam Yates
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
6
Winner Andrew Anacona
Movistar Team
s.t.
7
Stefano Pirazzi
Bardiani CSF
s.t.
8
Egor Silin
Team Katusha
s.t.
9
Shakhin Sirkhaev
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
10
Andrea Pasqualon
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
+ 21
(...)
69
Antonio Andolini
Cattelan Italia
+ 1'33
Spoiler
11
Simon Clarke
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
12
Valerio Conti
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
13
Maxime Bouet
Etixx - Quick-step
s.t.
14
Samuel Sánchez
Movistar Team
s.t.
15
Matthias Brandle
IAM Cycling
s.t.
16
Marco Frapporti
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
17
Vyacheslav Kuznetsov
Team Katusha
s.t.
18
Christopher Juul Jensen
Tinkoff-Saxo
s.t.
19
Rory Sutherland
Movistar Team
s.t.
20
Eduard Vorganov
Team Katusha
s.t.
21
Jonathan Fumeaux
IAM Cycling
s.t.
22
Fränk Schleck
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
23
Carlos Verona
Etixx - Quick-step
s.t.
24
Yonnatta Monsalve
Southeast
s.t.
25
Maurizio Grancitelli
Cattelan Italia
s.t.
26
Przemyslaw Niemiec
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
27
Davide Cimolai
Lampre-Merida
+ 42
28
Luca Wackermann
Southeast
s.t.
29
Andrea Fedi
Southeast
s.t.
30
Alexey Lutsenko
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
31
Sébastien Turgot
Ag2r La Mondiale
s.t.
32
Wesley Sulzberger
Team Sky
s.t.
33
Dennis Vanendert
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
34
Marco Bandiera
IAM Cycling
s.t.
35
Esteban Cháves
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
36
Yury Trofimov
Tinkoff-Saxo
s.t.
37
Lars Petter Nordhaug
Team Sky
s.t.
38
David Tanner
IAM Cycling
s.t.
39
Johan Le Bon
FDJ
s.t.
40
Pierre-Roger Latour
Ag2r La Mondiale
s.t.
41
Giovanni Visconti
Movistar Team
s.t.
42
Carlos Alberto Betancur
Movistar Team
s.t.
43
Simone Andreetta
Bardiani CSF
s.t.
44
Simone Stortoni
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
45
Miguel Angel Lopez
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
46
Vasil Kiryienka
Team Sky
s.t.
47
Gianluca Brambilla
Etixx - Quick-step
s.t.
48
Matvey Mamykin
Tinkoff-Saxo
s.t.
49
Kanstantsin Siutsou
Team Sky
s.t.
50
Sirko Laudeley
Bardiani CSF
s.t.
51
Michael Mørkøv
Tinkoff-Saxo
+ 1'03
52
Davide Vigano
Team Idea 2010 ASD
s.t.
53
Daniele Bennati
Tinkoff-Saxo
s.t.
54
Magnus Cort Nielsen
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
55
Lorenzo Manzin
FDJ
s.t.
56
Leigh Howard
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
57
Oscar Gatto
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
58
Lieuwe Westra
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
59
Dmitry Kozontchuk
Tinkoff-Saxo
s.t.
60
Salvatore Puccio
Team Sky
s.t.
61
Gianni Moscon
Cattelan Italia
s.t.
62
Paolo Ciavatta
D’Amico - Bottecchia
s.t.
63
Christian Knees
Team Sky
s.t.
64
Matthew Busche
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
65
Andrea Piechele
Southeast
+ 1'33
66
Maxime Vantomme
Etixx - Quick-step
s.t.
67
Marco Coledan
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
68
Simone Sterbini
Team Idea 2010 ASD
s.t.
69
Antonio Andolini
Cattelan Italia
s.t.
70
Dominique Cornu
IAM Cycling
s.t.
71
Pierpaolo De Negri
NIPPO - Vini Fantini
+ 1'53
72
Matthieu Ladagnous
FDJ
+ 3'47
73
Pawel Poljanski
Tinkoff-Saxo
s.t.
74
Diego Ulissi
Lampre-Merida
+ 7'05
75
Eduardo Sepulveda
IAM Cycling
s.t.
76
Luke Durbridge
FDJ
s.t.
77
Francesco Manuel Bongiorno
Bardiani CSF
s.t.
78
Hubert Dupont
Ag2r La Mondiale
s.t.
79
Nicola Boem
Bardiani CSF
+ 7'30
80
Gaëtan Bille
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
81
Ruslan Tleubayev
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
82
Sergey Nikolaev
Team Katusha
s.t.
83
Quentin Jauregui
Ag2r La Mondiale
s.t.
84
Maxim Belkov
Team Katusha
s.t.
85
José Herrada
Team Katusha
s.t.
86
Simone Antonini
Team Idea 2010 ASD
s.t.
87
Yonder Godoy
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
88
Marco Tecchio
Team Unieuro Wilier Trevigiani
s.t.
89
Ersen Weiss
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
90
Francesco Reda
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
91
Matteo Bono
Cattelan Italia
s.t.
92
Marco Haller
Team Katusha
+ 7'53
93
Fabio Sabatini
Etixx - Quick-step
s.t.
94
Enrico Battaglin
Bardiani CSF
s.t.
95
Manuele Mori
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
96
Nathan Haas
Team Sky
s.t.
97
Hugo Houle
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
98
Riccardo Stacchiotti
NIPPO - Vini Fantini
s.t.
99
Silvio Giorni
D’Amico - Bottecchia
s.t.
100
Enrico Barbin
Bardiani CSF
s.t.
101
Giuseppe De Maria
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
102
Manuele Boaro
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
103
Joël Zangerle
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
104
Cesare Benedetti
D’Amico - Bottecchia
s.t.
105
Richard Zanette
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
106
Jesse Sergent
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
107
Stijn Devolder
Etixx - Quick-step
s.t.
108
Lanfranco Ferocino
Team Idea 2010 ASD
s.t.
109
Aurelio Masia
Team Unieuro Wilier Trevigiani
s.t.
110
Fabrice Jeandesboz
FDJ
s.t.
111
Andrea Piazzalunga
Cattelan Italia
s.t.
112
Matteo Pelucchi
IAM Cycling
+ 8'16
113
Samuel Dumoulin
Ag2r La Mondiale
s.t.
114
Gediminas Bagdonas
Ag2r La Mondiale
s.t.
115
Daniele Colli
NIPPO - Vini Fantini
s.t.
116
Yannick Martinez
Bardiani CSF
s.t.
117
Massimo Graziato
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
118
Olivier Le Gac
FDJ
s.t.
119
François Bidard
FDJ
s.t.
120
Eros Capecchi
Movistar Team
s.t.
121
Giorgio Cecchinel
Southeast
s.t.
122
Juan Pablo Valencia
Southeast
s.t.
123
Gabriele Campello
D’Amico - Bottecchia
s.t.
124
Luca Fassoli
Cattelan Italia
s.t.
125
Fabio Chinello
Team Unieuro Wilier Trevigiani
+ 8'45
126
Alexander Porsev
Team Katusha
s.t.
127
Roberto Ferrari
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
128
Marcel Aregger
IAM Cycling
s.t.
129
Imanol Erviti
Movistar Team
s.t.
130
Julien Loubet
Ag2r La Mondiale
s.t.
131
Eduardo Estrada
D’Amico - Bottecchia
s.t.
132
Matteo Montaguti
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
133
Lorenzo Rota
Team Unieuro Wilier Trevigiani
s.t.
134
Jason Himsworth
Team Sky
s.t.
135
Giacomo Berlato
NIPPO - Vini Fantini
s.t.
136
Mitchell Docker
Orica-GreenEDGE
+ 9'09
137
Tiziano Dall'Antonia
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
138
Adriano Brogi
D’Amico - Bottecchia
s.t.
139
Matteo Spreafico
Team Idea 2010 ASD
s.t.
140
Jacopo Guarnieri
D’Amico - Bottecchia
+ 9'36
141
Mattia Pozzo
NIPPO - Vini Fantini
s.t.
142
Davide Ballerini
Team Unieuro Wilier Trevigiani
s.t.
143
Arnaud Courteille
FDJ
s.t.
144
Matteo Malucelli
Team Idea 2010 ASD
+ 9'57
145
Rino Gasparrini
Team Unieuro Wilier Trevigiani
s.t.
146
Andrea Dal Col
NIPPO - Vini Fantini
s.t.
147
Thomas Capocchi
D’Amico - Bottecchia
s.t.
148
Luigi Miletta
Cattelan Italia
+ 12'01
149
Filippo Baggio
NIPPO - Vini Fantini
+ 12'23
150
Mattia Frapporti
Team Unieuro Wilier Trevigiani
+ 12'46
151
Gianluca Mengardo
Team Idea 2010 ASD
+ 14'57
152
Silver Meet
Southeast
s.t.
153
Michael Kolar
Tinkoff-Saxo
s.t.
154
Davide Plebani
Team Unieuro Wilier Trevigiani
+ 15'20
155
Sven Fissers
Etixx - Quick-step
s.t.
156
Maurizio Damiano
Team Idea 2010 ASD
s.t.
157
Genki Yamamoto
NIPPO - Vini Fantini
s.t.
158
Erik Baska
Etixx - Quick-step
+ 15'45
159
Mirko Tedeschi
Southeast
+ 16'12
So what's next on the calendar? Strade Bianchi - Tirreno - San Remo is coming closer and I hope to score in one of these races. Not necessarily win (although I'd love to win, obviously), but I want to ride a good result.
To get in the right form, I'll be heading to Switzerland in a week to ride in Lugano. That'll be my final preparation race so I might lack the real racing rhythm, but then again I'll still be very fresh so I should be in top shape for San Remo.
Ripley - Gent - Wevelgem is definitely one considering. Not too many cobbles and seems most suited to Antonio from all Belgian cobbled races.
Tamijo - Bringing Cataldo to the team was a good move. Colbrelli only continues to develop and Antonio is looking for last year's form while doing some good work thanks!
Pre-race
It feels nice to be back here, where it all began. I started my road career here with a fifth place. Talk about setting the bar high from the start. I return today with great ambition but also with both feet on the ground. As I have noted, my form is nowhere near last year's. My 37th place in Lugano proves that. Yet Strade is a race I cherish and I come here as the team leader, so what can I do but to give it my all?
An attack from a while out seems my best shot. I'd be more than happy to finish top 10, though, with my eyes on Tirreno.
The Race
Today was marked by bad weather, from start to finish. That always lead to trouble.
I managed to stay on my bike the entire race and that's a small miracle. Almost everyone went down at some point today. It was a hectic race.
A small group dropped us and looked like it was away with 50 km to go.
Thanks to Silva and Cunego, the group was brought back. But I considered myself warned.
And so I decided to go on the offensive myself. I attacked with 24 km to go. Still far off but manageable.
I got a decent gap because the teams were disoriented by a lack of helpers. However some riders quickly came forward and kept the gap within limits. I had a minute at the most and that shrunk back to 40 seconds.
One particular uphill section broke me and my 40 second lead was gone at the top. Caruso flew past me. It was all I could do to hang on to the oncoming group.
And Caruso proved to be the strongest today. I gambled and lost. However I hung on to the chasing group and still finished 14th, which isn't all that bad. My form isn't what it could be, though, because usually I wouldn't lose 40 seconds on a hill of only 2 kilometers.
Full Result
1
Giampaolo Caruso
Astana Pro Team
4h22'48
2
Michael Matthews
Orica-GreenEDGE
+ 39
3
Daniel Martin
Team Cannondale - Garmin
s.t.
4
Diego Rosa
Astana Pro Team
+ 1'07
5
Sergio Luis Henao
Team Katusha
s.t.
6
Egor Silin
Team Katusha
s.t.
7
Simon Clarke
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
8
Alexandr Kolobnev
Team Katusha
s.t.
9
Gianluca Brambilla
Etixx - Quick-step
s.t.
10
Michael Albasini
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
11
Lars Petter Nordhaug
Team Sky
+ 1'29
12
Manuele Boaro
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
13
Ivan Santaromita
Team Cannondale - Garmin
s.t.
14
Antonio Andolini
Cattelan Italia
s.t.
15
Sergey Chernetckii
Team Katusha
s.t.
16
Hans-Peter Ballon
IAM Cycling
s.t.
17
David De la Cruz
Etixx - Quick-step
s.t.
18
Wout Poels
Team Cannondale - Garmin
s.t.
19
Lee Precious
Team Sky
s.t.
20
Francesco Manuel Bongiorno
Bardiani CSF
+ 2'49
Spoiler
21
José Herrada
Team Katusha
s.t.
22
Felipe Silva
Cattelan Italia
s.t.
23
Rinaldo Nocentini
Lampre-Merida
+ 3'41
24
Oscar Gatto
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
+ 4'21
25
Daniele Ratto
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
26
Damiano Cunego
Cattelan Italia
s.t.
27
Edoardo Zardini
Bardiani CSF
s.t.
28
Francesco Reda
Astana Pro Team
+ 4'54
29
Donato De Ieso
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
30
Diego Ulissi
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
31
Gianni Moscon
Cattelan Italia
+ 5'31
32
Matteo Montaguti
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
33
Moreno Moser
Team Cannondale - Garmin
s.t.
34
Bob Jungels
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
35
Francesco Gavazzi
Southeast
s.t.
36
Darwin Atapuma
Colombia
s.t.
37
Davide Villella
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
38
Luca Paolini
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
39
Maurizio Grancitelli
Cattelan Italia
s.t.
40
Elia Viviani
Team Sky
s.t.
41
Mauro Finetto
Team Cannondale - Garmin
+ 6'05
42
Kiel Reijnen
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
+ 6'57
43
Jan Polanc
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
44
David Tanner
IAM Cycling
s.t.
45
Luca Chirico
Bardiani CSF
+ 7'15
46
Wesley Sulzberger
Team Sky
s.t.
47
Jempy Drucker
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
48
Patrick Konrad
Bora - Argon 18
s.t.
49
Maciej Paterski
Bora - Argon 18
s.t.
50
Phillip Gaimon
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
51
Ben Gastauer
Southeast
s.t.
52
Andrea Fedi
Southeast
s.t.
53
Simone Stortoni
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
54
Jens Keukeleire
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
55
Christoph Pfingsten
Bora - Argon 18
s.t.
56
Salvatore Puccio
Team Sky
s.t.
57
Brent Bookwalter
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
58
Janier Acevedo
Bora - Argon 18
s.t.
59
Lennart Thorgersen
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
60
Shakhin Sirkhaev
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
61
Dominik Nerz
Bora - Argon 18
s.t.
62
Tiago Machado
Team Katusha
s.t.
63
Robinson Chalapud
IAM Cycling
s.t.
64
Rein Taaramae
IAM Cycling
+ 7'52
65
Paul Voss
Bora - Argon 18
+ 9'00
66
Romain Sicard
Etixx - Quick-step
+ 9'47
67
Martin Velits
Etixx - Quick-step
s.t.
68
Fabio Sabatini
Etixx - Quick-step
s.t.
69
Fränk Schleck
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
70
Eduard Vorganov
Team Katusha
s.t.
71
Pier Andrea Gaudio Pucci
Cattelan Italia
s.t.
72
Davide Malacarne
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
73
Stefano Pirazzi
Bardiani CSF
s.t.
74
Carlos Verona
Etixx - Quick-step
s.t.
75
Gianfranco Zilioli
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
76
Fabio Taborre
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
77
Esteban Cháves
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
78
Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz
Etixx - Quick-step
s.t.
79
Yaroslav Popovych
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
80
Przemyslaw Niemiec
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
81
Hugo Houle
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
82
Dennis Vanendert
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
83
Brayan Ramirez
Colombia
s.t.
84
Cayetano Jose Sarmiento
Colombia
s.t.
85
Dmitriy Ignatiev
IAM Cycling
s.t.
86
Davide Formolo
Team Cannondale - Garmin
s.t.
87
Sirko Laudeley
Bardiani CSF
s.t.
88
Ian Boswell
Team Sky
s.t.
89
Cristiano Salerno
Bora - Argon 18
s.t.
90
Matteo Busato
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
91
Daniel McConnell
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
92
Cesare Benedetti
D’Amico - Bottecchia
s.t.
93
Pieter Serry
Etixx - Quick-step
s.t.
94
Richard Zanette
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
95
Fabio Chinello
Team Unieuro Wilier Trevigiani
+ 10'58
96
Lachlan Norris
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
97
Janez Brajkovic
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
98
Andrea Manfredi
Bardiani CSF
s.t.
99
Vincent Baber
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
+ 11'29
100
Nathan Brown
Team Cannondale - Garmin
s.t.
101
Marco Frapporti
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
102
Alberto Cecchin
NIPPO - Vini Fantini
s.t.
103
Eugenio Alafaci
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
104
Jonathan Clarke
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
105
Sébastien Reichenbach
Team Katusha
+ 13'23
106
Enrico Barbin
Bardiani CSF
s.t.
107
Clément Chevrier
IAM Cycling
s.t.
108
Kanstantsin Siutsou
Team Sky
s.t.
109
José Mendes
IAM Cycling
s.t.
110
Dominique Cornu
IAM Cycling
s.t.
111
Mattia Cattaneo
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
112
Simone Sterbini
Team Idea 2010 ASD
s.t.
113
Carlos Quintero
Colombia
s.t.
114
Marc Garby
Team Idea 2010 ASD
s.t.
115
Stefano Nardelli
Team Unieuro Wilier Trevigiani
s.t.
116
Alessandro Bisolti
NIPPO - Vini Fantini
s.t.
117
Adriano Brogi
D’Amico - Bottecchia
s.t.
118
Henrique Casimiro
Bora - Argon 18
s.t.
119
Daniele Colli
NIPPO - Vini Fantini
s.t.
120
Darwin Pantoja
Colombia
s.t.
121
Daniel Martinez
Colombia
s.t.
122
Alessandro Bazzana
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
123
Eugert Zhupa
Southeast
s.t.
124
Matteo Spreafico
Team Idea 2010 ASD
s.t.
125
Antonio Nibali
NIPPO - Vini Fantini
+ 14'35
126
Davide Ballerini
Team Unieuro Wilier Trevigiani
s.t.
127
Andrea Zordan
NIPPO - Vini Fantini
s.t.
128
Andrea Piazzalunga
Cattelan Italia
s.t.
129
Luca Agliottone
Team Cannondale - Garmin
s.t.
130
Yonder Godoy
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
131
Luca Fassoli
Cattelan Italia
s.t.
132
Stef Clement
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
133
Walter Pedraza
Colombia
+ 15'06
134
Giacomo Berlato
NIPPO - Vini Fantini
s.t.
135
Ranieri Pedrocchi
D’Amico - Bottecchia
+ 15'58
136
Thomas Capocchi
D’Amico - Bottecchia
s.t.
137
Edwin Avila
Colombia
s.t.
138
Giovanni Carboni
Team Unieuro Wilier Trevigiani
s.t.
139
Gabriele Campello
D’Amico - Bottecchia
s.t.
140
Ramon Carretero
Southeast
s.t.
141
Marco Tecchio
Team Unieuro Wilier Trevigiani
s.t.
142
Manabu Ishibashi
NIPPO - Vini Fantini
s.t.
143
Lanfranco Ferocino
Team Idea 2010 ASD
s.t.
144
Gianluca Mengardo
Team Idea 2010 ASD
+ 16'54
145
Sebastian Martin Trillini
Team Unieuro Wilier Trevigiani
+ 18'07
146
Manuel Todaro
Team Idea 2010 ASD
s.t.
147
Samuele Conti
Southeast
s.t.
148
Paolo Ciavatta
D’Amico - Bottecchia
s.t.
149
Ennio Garaffoni
Southeast
s.t.
150
Alessandro Tonelli
Bardiani CSF
s.t.
151
Edmondo Mazzaferro
NIPPO - Vini Fantini
s.t.
152
Sebastián Henao
Team Sky
s.t.
153
Andrea Pasqualon
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
154
Aurelio Masia
Team Unieuro Wilier Trevigiani
s.t.
155
Giuseppe Fonzi
Southeast
+ 19'34
156
Charly Petelin
D’Amico - Bottecchia
s.t.
157
Nicola Poletti
D’Amico - Bottecchia
s.t.
158
Giacomo Peretto
Team Idea 2010 ASD
s.t.
159
Simone Antonini
Team Idea 2010 ASD
s.t.
160
Francesco Chesi
Team Unieuro Wilier Trevigiani
+ 25'09
So what now? Tirreno - Adriatico is next. It's a strange profile, without any time trial kilometers and without any mountain stages. It's all about hills and flats. That makes me wonder if I should try and ride a good classification.
I still have a few days to figure it out. And, if not, the team will probably know better anyway. Let's hope my form continues to increase because I'll need it!
Antonio Tirreno-SanRemo-Wevelgem hype Good racing early on, Strade very nice to see with some aggresion from Ando! Will be interesting to see how the increased race days take a toll, but if he does suffer hopefully not before his next step to Spartacusdom
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
Photobucket once again failing to deliver, can't access the site.
I'll upload the next part without pictures, there aren't that essential (summary of Tirreno). But I'm going to wait to race San Remo until I can get back on photobucket!
Tirreno - Adriatico proved to be an interesting final test before Milan - San Remo. The route wasn't as hard as usually without any mountain stages. The team asked me to stay near the front as much as possible and see where I could end up in the GC.
In the first stage, a group of 80 sprinted for the win, I finished 7th. After that, I lost some time on some tougher stages, but always managed to limit my losses to 10 - 20 seconds, half a minute max.
And so, by the penultimate stage, I was in 23rd position, only 1'48" down on the race leader, Wellens. With 20 km to go, and the pace slacking a bit, I saw my chance. I attacked on a flat section.
On the hilly part, I managed to keep my gap and even increase it further in the downhill. Only Henao was willing to risk his current top 10 place in an attack and came after me on the hilly section.
In the end, we weren't able to catch the breakaway and sprinting for the win, but we took back some important time and Henao even ended up winning Tirreno because of this move. I jumped from 23rd place to a 5th place and kept it in the final, flat stage.
And so I can consider this Tirreno - Adriatico a great success. With a 5th place, I can look forward to San Remo and Gent - Wevelgem, my next races. The only thing that is slightly negative coming out of this race is that I've only been able to race aggressively that one stage. The other races were all about following for as long as possible, not a tactic that fits me I'm afraid.
That's why I love classics so much. It's winning, or losing. You have to try something.
Let's put that into action in San Remo. I'm looking forward returning there so much.
Very good result in Tirreno. Seems like the lack of a real high mountain stage did serve Antonio very well (or did Antonio undergo a Wiggins-2009 transition )
Selwink - There weren't any mountain stages at all. No climbs over 4 km long and not a lot of steep ones, too. Only one uphill finish (up a small hill that is)
Antonio Tirreno-Sanremo-Wevelgem-Another cobbled race top 5 hype
Maybe Antonio isn't quite up for hardest racing every day in a stage race but he's already good at it and he's only 23 - seems he's pretty good already
Congrats on ever entertaining writing Ian, loving this!
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
) It'll be interesting (and difficult) for Antonio to find his real specialty. But the mountains of Lombardia were definitely a bit too high. This season he has really excelled in San Remo type races. Some rolling hills, enough room to power through.
GP Costa degli Etrushi 
