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EPIC - Season 2 Part 1
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 15-03-2015 08:55
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Ouch, that is one tough Almeria startlist 
Looking forward to the race though.
Will be cheering a bit for Lobato as well.
Edited by Atlantius on 15-03-2015 08:56
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| Cycleman123 |
Posted on 15-03-2015 09:35
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Ok so I've just realised why there's been no contest for points and no bonus seconds in Algarve - the sprint/KoM checkpoints that show up don't actually give points. Any fix for this before I start the GC stages?
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 08:10
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| Smowz |
Posted on 15-03-2015 12:19
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Hoping to get something from Almeria - still will be tough but if we are going to go better than expected we need to strike in low level classics like these as well as stage races for which we have been solid so far.
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| mvhoogdalem |
Posted on 15-03-2015 12:50
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Hello and welcome to the Clasica de Almeria. The 113 riders have made it to the start line in Almeria. It is a sunny day here in the south of Spain with little to no wind.
180 km to go
We are off and it is McCauley (Drapac) who makes the first move. While we leave Almeria behind, no one seems interested to follow him.
165 km to go
More riders are attacking, but Belkin and Katusha are not willing to let them go. The increase in pace due to these attacks cause McCauley to be caught by the peloton.
130 km to go
After many attacks, the peloton is content to let these four riders go. Bilbao (Euskaltel), Russom (MTN), Oroz (Movistar) and Mori (Lampre) are almost 2 minutes ahead now.
110 km to go
With not a lot happening in the race right now, there are other things to be amazed by. The people of Balanegra have come out in great numbers to get a glimpse of the riders.
95 km to go
With 95 kilometers to go the riders have started going uphill. The break got a maximum lead of 5 and a half minute. Katusha is starting to chase, while Belkin position themselves at the front of the peloton.
45 km to go
The hills are left behind, while the break is still 2 and a half minute ahead. Katusha has been chasing the whole time, but finally Belkin decides to help them now.
30 km to go
Marcato (Movistar) attacks, but the pace is too high and he is reeled back in by the peloton. The lead of the breakaway has decreased to 1 minute and 30 seconds. Marcato tries it again, but Belkin's Hofland does not let him get away. But Marcato is persistent and goes for the third time. It proves to be a waste of energy as he is caught immediately.
20 km to go
This is getting ridiculous as Marcato attacks another time. Maybe he thinks the saying is fourth time's a charm or he is just stupid. It takes the peloton a bit more effort to catch him now, but they still manage to reel him in quite easily.
15 km to go
It is the battle of the national champions now, as the teams are preparing for the sprint. The breakaway is still 45 seconds ahead though. In the meantime Flecha attacks. Movistar's tactics are very unclear at the moment, but they don't seem to have a lot of trust in Lobato's sprint.
10 km to go
Flecha has bridged the gap to the breakaway. They got a 30 second lead over the peloton, which does not seem to be enough.
5 km to go
The break still has a 30 second lead, but Belkin is coming to the front with Kittel now. The biggest news however comes from behind as it is Verboven with a flat tire. Euskaltel won't be winning here today if it comes to a sprint.
3 km to go
The lead of the break has dropped to 20 seconds, while Cristobal Riquelme is giving everything to get Kittel in the best position possible.
2 km to go
Porsev is leading out Kristoff, who has Modolo on his wheel. Renshaw is trying to get Kittel back to the front on the right. Abundi, Machado and Lobato are also still within reach of the victory. Notable names that are too far back are Ciolek and Bennett.
1.5 km to go
The breakaway is caught while Kristoff is off. Modolo is in a great position here, but Kittel has not started his sprint yet.
1 km to go
Modolo and Kittel have started their sprint now too, while Abundi has to watch out not to get blocked by Flecha.
500 meter to go
And it is Kittel who takes the lead. He is a cut above the rest here. Kristoff is fading, while Machado and Lobato are trying to get around Modolo.
Finish
An easy victory for Marcel Kittel. There was no stopping the German today. Belkin timed that sprint very well. Modolo holds on for 2nd and Martinez Machado continues his good early season with a 3rd place. Euskaltel and Tinkoff-Saxo will probably be very disappointed here with their best riders in 14th and 15th.
| Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Marcel Kittel | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | 4h14'07 | | 2 | Sacha Modolo | Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox | s.t. | | 3 | Ricardo Martinez Machado | Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | s.t. | | 4 | Juan José Lobato | Movistar Team | s.t. | | 5 | Abasi Abundi | MTN - Qhubeka | s.t. | | 6 | Alexander Kristoff | Katusha Team | s.t. | | 7 | Kristian Sbaragli | Movistar Team | s.t. | | 8 | Mark Renshaw | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 9 | Luis León Sánchez | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 10 | Gerald Ciolek | MTN - Qhubeka | s.t. | | 11 | Jorge Cristobal Riquelme | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 12 | Pablo Urtasun | Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | s.t. | | 13 | Johnny Hoogerland | Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 14 | Xavier Florencio | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 15 | Daniel Moreno | Team Tinkoff - Saxo | s.t. | | 16 | Juan Antonio Flecha | Movistar Team | s.t. | | 17 | Laurent Pichon | Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 18 | Gaël Malacarne | Bretagne - Séché Environnement | s.t. | | 19 | Sam Bennett | Team Tinkoff - Saxo | s.t. | | 20 | Moreno Hofland | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
Spoiler | 21 | Andrea Palini | Lampre - Merida | s.t. | | 22 | Ilja Kusnezov | Movistar Team | s.t. | | 23 | Francisco José Ventoso | Movistar Team | s.t. | | 24 | Egoitz GarcÃa | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 25 | Juan José Oroz | Movistar Team | s.t. | | 26 | Daniele Pietropolli | Lampre - Merida | s.t. | | 27 | Fabian Schnaidt | Team Champion System | s.t. | | 28 | Pello Bilbao | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 29 | Meron Russom | MTN - Qhubeka | s.t. | | 30 | José JoaquÃn Rojas | Movistar Team | s.t. | | 31 | Alexander Porsev | Katusha Team | s.t. | | 32 | Jimmy Engoulvent | Sojasun | s.t. | | 33 | Julien El Fares | Sojasun | s.t. | | 34 | Manuele Mori | Lampre - Merida | s.t. | | 35 | Romain Feillu | Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 36 | Manuel Cardoso | Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | s.t. | | 37 | Sergio Pardilla | MTN - Qhubeka | s.t. | | 38 | Marco Marcato | Movistar Team | s.t. | | 39 | Nicki Sørensen | Team Tinkoff - Saxo | s.t. | | 40 | Matthew Brammeier | Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | s.t. | | 41 | Manuel Belletti | Team Champion System | s.t. | | 42 | Paul Martens | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 43 | Markel Irizar | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 44 | Elia Favilli | Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox | s.t. | | 45 | Simone Stortoni | Lampre - Merida | s.t. | | 46 | Antonio Piedra | Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | s.t. | | 47 | Benoît Vaugrenard | Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 48 | Koldo Fernández | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 49 | Paul Poux | Sojasun | s.t. | | 50 | Arnaud Gérard | Bretagne - Séché Environnement | s.t. | | 51 | Maurits Lammertink | Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 52 | Damiano Cunego | Lampre - Merida | s.t. | | 53 | Fabricio Ferrari | Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | s.t. | | 54 | David Tanner | Drapac Cycling | s.t. | | 55 | Boy Van Poppel | Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 56 | Christophe Laborie | Sojasun | s.t. | | 57 | Marc De Maar | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 58 | Jérémie Galland | Sojasun | s.t. | | 59 | Cyril Lemoine | Sojasun | s.t. | | 60 | Davide Mucelli | Lampre - Merida | s.t. | | 61 | Jay McCarthy | Team Tinkoff - Saxo | s.t. | | 62 | Rory Sutherland | Drapac Cycling | s.t. | | 63 | Geoffroy Lequatre | Bretagne - Séché Environnement | s.t. | | 64 | Imanol Erviti | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 65 | Jon Aberasturi | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 66 | Renaud Dion | Bretagne - Séché Environnement | + 2'10 | | 67 | Oliver Zaugg | Team Tinkoff - Saxo | s.t. | | 68 | Graeme Brown | Drapac Cycling | s.t. | | 69 | Ben Day | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 70 | Richard Löwenherz | Katusha Team | s.t. | | 71 | Spiro Milosevic | Katusha Team | s.t. | | 72 | Christopher Jones | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 73 | Youcef Reguigui | MTN - Qhubeka | s.t. | | 74 | Wouter Wippert | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 75 | Tom O'Callaghan | Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox | s.t. | | 76 | Michael Valgren | Team Tinkoff - Saxo | s.t. | | 77 | John Murphy | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 78 | Grega Bole | Katusha Team | s.t. | | 79 | Francisco Javier Moreno | Team Champion System | s.t. | | 80 | Roman Maikin | Katusha Team | s.t. | | 81 | Jack Haig | Drapac Cycling | s.t. | | 82 | Adrien Niyonshuti | MTN - Qhubeka | s.t. | | 83 | Andrea Pasqualon | Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox | s.t. | | 84 | Nicola Boem | Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox | s.t. | | 85 | Gang Xu | Team Champion System | s.t. | | 86 | Jean-Luc Delpech | Bretagne - Séché Environnement | s.t. | | 87 | Jeff Louder | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 88 | André Cardoso | Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | s.t. | | 89 | Gordon McCauley | Drapac Cycling | s.t. | | 90 | Lucas Sebastián Haedo | Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | s.t. | | 91 | Benoit Jarrier | Bretagne - Séché Environnement | s.t. | | 92 | Andreas Stauff | MTN - Qhubeka | s.t. | | 93 | Massimo Graziato | Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox | s.t. | | 94 | Martin Kohler | Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox | s.t. | | 95 | Gatis Smukulis | Katusha Team | s.t. | | 96 | Jay Thomson | MTN - Qhubeka | s.t. | | 97 | Pengda Jiao | Team Champion System | s.t. | | 98 | Johnnie Walker | Drapac Cycling | s.t. | | 99 | Mikhail Ignatiev | Katusha Team | s.t. | | 100 | William Walker | Drapac Cycling | s.t. | | 101 | Robert Förster | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 102 | Mart Ojavee | Team Champion System | s.t. | | 103 | Joe Eldridge | Team Novo Nordisk | s.t. | | 104 | Marco Coledan | Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox | s.t. | | 105 | Rudy Verboven | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 106 | Stephen Clancy | Team Novo Nordisk | s.t. | | 107 | Martijn Verschoor | Team Novo Nordisk | + 5'59 | | 108 | Andrea Peron | Team Novo Nordisk | s.t. | | 109 | Benjamin Wolfe | Jelly Belly p/b Kenda | + 6'39 | | 110 | Morgan Schmitt | Jelly Belly p/b Kenda | + 9'33 | | 111 | Ruben Companioni | Team Champion System | s.t. | | 112 | Thomas Raeymaekers | Team Novo Nordisk | s.t. | | 113 | Justin Morris | Team Novo Nordisk | s.t. | | 114 | Zachary Bell | Team Champion System | + 12'34 | | 115 | Ian Burnett | Jelly Belly p/b Kenda | + 17'02 | | 116 | Luke Davison | Drapac Cycling | s.t. |
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| sgdanny |
Posted on 15-03-2015 12:59
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3591
Joined: 18-03-2014
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EDIT : Was going to post the P-N preview, but enjoy Clasica Almeria 
Edited by sgdanny on 15-03-2015 13:01
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| The Hobbit |
Posted on 15-03-2015 13:13
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2730
Joined: 18-08-2013
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Second is an amzing result for Modolo. When I saw the startlist I lost a bit of hope but it is great to see Sacha got in a good position and held on, even if he wasn't the best sprinter on paper. |
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 15-03-2015 13:23
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Classic Verboven luck there 
Bummed to miss out on a goal due to a puncture but at least Xavier scored a few points for us.
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 15-03-2015 13:43
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World Champion
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Finaly a classic win, really needed this.
And the AI really hates Verboven, this isn't funny anymore.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Selwink |
Posted on 15-03-2015 13:44
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That's our win goal gone...
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| Smowz |
Posted on 15-03-2015 13:58
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Easy goal sealed easily. Got some good chances of getting a decent set of goals succeeded in this first half of the year.
Kittel was always going to be difficult to beat but got some good PT scalps there - a very strong start to the year from RMM.
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| sgdanny |
Posted on 15-03-2015 14:14
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Welcome to the 2014 edition of Paris - Nice, which is the 72nd edition of the race and this year the race doesn't have any Time Trials! It's gonna be interesting to see how much this will affect the race and the organizers has also shown a little doubt, whether this type of race will influence it positively.
Together with Tirreno-Adriatico and Milano - San Remo it's the biggest race on the calendar in the first season part and the world elite will gather here to test their abillities to the fullest. No one can predict the winner of this race, as it might go to an favorite with skills in mountains and hills or it will go to an rouleur with some good overall skills. Let's have a look at the Startlist :
The favorites for this race is Peter Sagan, Phillipe Gilbert and Alejandro Valverde, since there is neither any Time Trials or Mountains in this race, which means that the Ardennes Specialists are the favorites here and if you want to race with mountains, then you are surely at the wrong place.
AG2R is on home soil with Carlos Betancur, which is probably the biggest outsider to this race and together with Valverde, they are the strongest when the high percentages hits the pack. Don't underestimate Daniel Martin, Thibaut Pinot and Pierre Rolland, where the last two are also on home soil, which means they are probably more familiar with the climbs, but still many professionals lives around Nice and Monaco.
Mark Cavendish, Alexander Kristoff and Peter Sagan is going to dominate the sprints, while Bouhanni, Calzone and Coquard is going to do everything to spoil their chances. Cavendish has the best leadout by far and all Swift has to do is being present and sending the english sprinter away on the right time. The first 3 stages are going to be pure sprinter stages and since only 6 points are present for the KoM jersey in those stages, you won't see many big names among the breakaways.
On Stage 4 it really begins on going up hill and stage 5 and 8 are the hardest of them all. The climbs are technical hard and you will experience big gaps, even though the stages doesn't look hard on paper. There are lots in the making and the big world elite is gathered here to give their best!
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| Shonak |
Posted on 15-03-2015 14:29
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Tour de France Champion
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I love how we have a Top 10 goal here and NetApp is the last team on the startlist. 
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 15-03-2015 14:33
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Grand Tour Champion
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Dang, strong sprinters field. Debusschere will stand no chance 
Putting some faith in the Three Mountain Musketeers (De Clercq, De Greef and Rosanski). A top 10 would be a great achievement
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| Paul23 |
Posted on 15-03-2015 14:42
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no ITTs? hm...should have informed myself better...at least Tony can help Kwiatek a bit...
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 15-03-2015 14:47
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Tour de France Champion
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Hoping for another surprise GC from either Vichot or Roy, course fits them relatively well. Bouhanni to podium a couple of stages would be good. Basically i want FDJ to keep up their consistency levels on hom soil
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| knockout |
Posted on 15-03-2015 15:14
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Grand Tour Champion
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Lovely action in Almeria. fantastic how active Movistar was. Sending JJ in the break, let Marcato attack 4 times. Let JA attack and then taking a strong 4th place by JJ as well as another top ten.
Looking forward to P-N. I think Sagan should be favourite but Valverde should be right there as well. Calzone to steal Sagan the bonus seconds and stage wins and J.J., J.J., J.J., J.J., J.A. and Losada as strong support and attackers.
Yes. I love my Juans and Joses
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| mvhoogdalem |
Posted on 15-03-2015 15:31
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2244
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Sagan should be able to at least get a GC podium here. Should have brought better support. |
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 15-03-2015 15:50
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Team Leader
Posts: 6795
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Not entirely happy with that P-N startlist- Hopefully Ion will be able to do something.
Or perhaps Antón out of a break or something like that...
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| Stromeon |
Posted on 15-03-2015 16:37
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Classics Specialist
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Should've brought Purito here, with a race that will be entirely dependent on a rider's ability on the hills, bringing the best hill rider in the game might have helped
Nevertheless Moreno should do fairly well, top 5 should be the target, though there isn't much pressure as we don't have a goal here.
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 15-03-2015 16:40
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World Champion
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Mollema for our easy goal here, though one harder stage would've been great to drop Gilbert and Sagan.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
