The Tour du Haut Var is a two-day road race around the region of Provence in Southern France. As part of the UCI Europe Tour, it was first run in 1969 as a single-day race up until 2009, when it then became the two-day event. Since 2005, it has been classified as a 1.1 event by UCI.
With the varying terrain levels across the two stages, this will be a race for a hill climbers and the puncheurs. Team Sky will go to the event with a competitive squad, and will look for a Top 10 finish on the GC. We will also look to get into the breaks in race.
Previous winners in Provence include Laurent Jalabert, Sylvain Chavanel, Filippo Pozzato and most recently Thomas Voeckler in 2009.
20th February 2010 - Tour du Haut Var Stage 1 (La Croix Valmer-Grimaud)
Stage 1 of the 2010 Tour du Haut Var takes the peleton from the town of La Croix Valmer to Grimaud.
A stage which should not cause too many problems for the riders, a difficult steep finish to the stage could prevent the out and out sprinters taking the win. This should be a stage that suits a Spring Classics rider a little more.
Riders to Watch: S. Dumoulin, A. Geslin, D. Le Lay, K. Kroon My Tip for the Stage: A. Geslin. The Frenchman has shown already, at the Etoile de Bessèges, that he has the legs to get over the hills and take a win with a fast sprint finish, and he should be able to do the same again today.
20th February 2010 - Tour du Haut Var Stage 1 (La Croix Valmer-Grimaud)
Geslin has it in the legs to take the win, as the World Champion's curse strikes for Evans
Anthony Geslin took the victory in the mass sprint on Day 1 of the Tour du Haut Var. The Française des Jeux rider looked cool and composed in the sprint, taking it ahead John Gadret of AG2R La Mondiale and Endura's Ian Wilkinson.
The day started with an attack launched by Team Sky's Peter Kennaugh on the first climb on the day, and just over the top, he was joined by Caisse d'Epargne's Arnaud Coyot, Loulé - Louletano's Bruno Pinto and Christoph Pfingsten of Van Vliet EBH Elshof. On the decent, 3 more riders, from Endura Racing, Roubaix Lille Métropole and Bretagne - Schuller, joined the 4 escapees, and working well together, they soon gained a lead of around 7'48" before a BMC, Cofidis and Française des Jeux led peleton began to chase them down.
In the break, Peter Kennaugh took the points over 3 of the 4 Mountain Classification Sprints, and the points at the Intermediate Sprints was not contested for.
With 14km left, and less than a minute between the break and peleton, there were last ditched attacks from the riders with anything left, but it was to no avail, as they were caught 4km later, and the stage was set to end in a mass sprint.
With 8km remaining, disaster struck for many of the favourites for the GC, as a crash in the peleton brought down many riders. In the crash were Michael Barry of Team Sky, AG2R's Rinaldo Nocentini, Rein Taaramäe of Cofidis and also World Champion Cadel Evans. They came across the line in small groups following the pile-up, with the amount of time lost being between 2'56" and 4'10".
Back at the front the lead-out trains began to form, but it was going to be a srappy end to the stage with no real team taking charge.
In the end, it was Française des Jeux rider Geslin who had the legs in the final kilometre, as the road ramped up to over 9.5%, taking the win ahead of John Gadret and surprise package Ian Wilkinson of British team Endura Racing.
The main talking point at the finish though was the crash involving Cadel Evans. Has the World Champion's Curse hit the Australian already in February? And do the pre-race favourites now have too much to do to make up the time lost?
Geslin celebrates his hard win
The Day's Race Photos
Spoiler
The start in La Croix Valmer
World Champion Cadel Evans at the startline
The day's breakaway
The peleton travelling through a small town
The peleton glimpses the break as they loop around a small town
Disaster for Evans as he falls 8km from the finish
21st February 2010 - Tour du Haut Var Stage 2 (Draguignan-Montauroux)
Draguignan to Montauroux is the route for the second and final of the Tour du Haut Var. With more of a challenge in terms of hills and mountains, this will be the day for a climber.
After yesterday's events, including the crash for many GC contenders, there should be fireworks on the final climbs to the finish, as many will look to put a lot of time into Overall Leader Anthony Geslin. But don't count the Frenchman out, as he will not just roll over and watch his lead get taken from him.
Riders to Watch: C. Evans, M. Soler, R. Taaramäe, R. Nocentini My Tip for the Stage: R. Taaramäe. The Estonian National Champion has shown for many years his potential in the steeper climbs, and seems to improve and impress more and more each year. He is definately someone to watch today for the victory.
Tuco the Ugly wrote:
Good luck in stage 2. If in form, Geslin just may be tough enough to hang on.
Thanks I have that feeling with Geslin as well. However, with the steep climb to the finish, there could be some interesting time gaps.
on stage 1, it looked like the peleton came in all together, but riders lost a few seconds time. good old pcm and its time gaps on climbs
question now is whether I sacrifice the kom jersey for a Top10 on GC. Kennaugh is in better form than Froome, and is in a better position on GC, and if he can stay with the favourites, like evans and taaramae, I can get him really high up.
But if I don't attack for the kom points, then there are enough points available to other riders to lose the jersey! Choices of what to do!! Edited by the_hoyle on 01-11-2010 12:26
21st February 2010 - Tour du Haut Var Stage 2 (Draguignan-Montauroux)
Fédrigo wins it on the climb and takes the overall from Geslin
Bbox-Bouygues Télécom's Pierrick Fédrigo took the victory in second and final stage of the Tour du Haut Var, ahead of Juan José Cobo and David Moncoutié in second and third respectively.
The victory for the French rider means he takes the Overall Classification Jersey from Anthony Geslin, who finished 20" back in the second group on the road.
The day started with a breakaway instigated by pre-race GC favourite Juan Mauricio Soler, who after a fall yesterday, was looking to make up for lost time. He was tracked by Big Mat-Auber 93 rider Neils Brouzes. As the peleton climbed up to the first Mountain Classification, Team Sky's Peter Kennaugh attacked from the peleton, joining the two others. He took the points at the top, further extending his lead in the Standings. On the decent, another pre-race GC favourite, Laurent Lefèvre, and soon 6 others met up with the breakaway to make a stronger group of 10 riders. They worked well together, and after being joined by a further 3 more riders, they built up a good lead of over 6'20".
Over the next time 2 mountains, the numbers in the break dropped as riders could not handle the pace, but managed to get back on the tail of the group on the decents, only to be dropped again, leaving 10 in the group.
Behind, the peleton had splintered in littel groups, and many of the favourites where scattered across the stage. The front chase group of 12 men included the Overall Leader Anthony Geslin, as well as many others, but most importantly, it did not include Cadel Evans. The World Champion just did not have the legs, and he was soon many groups back from his rivals. It was clear the crash yesterday has affected him in some way. Was he carrying a slight injury?
Back with the breakaway riders, King of Mountains Leader Peter Kennaugh was dropped by the group, and he was soon with the GC favourites helping out with team duties. With Chris Froome clearly struggling for form, Team Sky changed their focus to Morris Possoni. The Italian was looking strong, and with the aid of Kennaugh and Frenchman Sylvain Calzati, he was looking comfortable in the first chase group.
With 25km left on the stage, there was still 1'30" between the chase and the break, but it was dropping steadily, and it looked as if they would be caught. At the 15km mark, the group was only 46" ahead, and looking like they had nothing left in the legs. Only Soler, who first attacked after the 2km mark, was looking like he could give a little more. At the 8km mark, he gave his all to drop his breakaway companions, but it was not enough, and he was back with the chase group. Morris Possoni then had his go at escaping the group, but with a high pace on the flat sector before the climb to the finish, he did not get far.
And so the group hit the climb, with any of a number of riders still in contention for the win. Fédrigo made his move, and only 2 others, Cofidis's David Moncoutié and Juan José Cobo could go with him, but he did enough to hold on at the finish, and with a small gap back to the Geslin group, Fédrigo take the Overall win at the same time.
Fédrigo celebrated his win
The Day's Race in Photo
Spoiler
Geslin at the start in Yellow
The day's early breakaway
Sky's Peter Kennaugh leads the break over the first Mountain Classification Sprint
Fall for a CarmioOro rider
The peleton weaves through a small town
World Champion Evans struggled again
The GC riders on the final climb of the day
Results
Final Standings:
1
Pierrick Fédrigo
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
5h25'44
2
Juan José Cobo
Caisse d'Epargne
s.t.
3
David Moncoutié
Codifis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
4
John Gadret
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 20
5
Anthony Geslin
Française des Jeux
s.t.
...
24
Sylvain Calzati
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 1'05
27
Morris Possoni
Sky Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
29
Peter Kennaugh
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 1'54
56
Nicolas Portal
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 10'42
60
Michael Barry
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 10'50
65
Chris Froome
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 11'22
67
Dario Cioni
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 11'30
72
Ben Swift
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 11'54
Overall Classification Standings:
1
Pierrick Fédrigo
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
9h25'31
2
Juan José Cobo
Caisse d'Epargne
+ 8
3
David Moncoutié
Codifis, le crédit en ligne
+ 12
4
Anthony Geslin
Française des Jeux
+ 20
5
John Gadret
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 28
...
15
Morris Possoni
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 1'25
19
Sylvain Calzati
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 3'03
20
Peter Kennaugh
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 3'04
63
Dario Cioni
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 11'50
65
Nicolas Portal
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 12'00
67
Ben Swift
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 12'14
75
Chris Froome
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 13'04
78
Michael Barry
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 14'16
Points Classification Standings:
1
Anthony Geslin
Française des Jeux
37
2
John Gadret
AG2R La Mondiale
34
3
Pierrick Fédrigo
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
30
4
Juan José Cobo
Caisse d'Epargne
24
5
Sébastien Joly
Saur-Sojasun
18
...
14
Peter Kennaugh
Sky Professional Cycling Team
8
33
Ben Swift
Sky Professional Cycling Team
1
Mountain Classification Standings:
1
Peter Kennaugh
Sky Professional Cycling Team
54
2
Laurent Lefèvre
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
36
3
Florian Morizot
Big Mat - Auber 93
36
4
Juan Mauricio Soler
Caisse d'Epargne
28
5
Jean-Marc Marino
Saur - Sojasun
22
Young Riders Classification Standings:
1
Clément Lhotellierie
Roubaix Lille Métropole
9h26'31
2
Cyril Gautier
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
+ 19
3
Dimitry Ignatiev
Itera-Katusha
+ 1'45
4
Peter Kennaugh
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 1'58
5
Rein Taaramae
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
+ 3'22
...
19
Ben Swift
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 11'08
22
Chris Froome
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 11'58
Team Classification Standings:
1
Caisse d'Epargne
28h18'13
2
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
+ 45
3
Française des Jeux
+ 1'31
4
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 3'24
5
BMC Racing Team
+ 5'32
Team Reaction to the Race:
This was a hit and miss race for Team Sky. Peter Kennaugh was brilliant again, taking the Mountain Classification Jersey for a 2nd time in a Stage Race. He is really showing his potential in the Mountains, and that is really pleasing.
On the other side, we missed out on the Top 10 finish on GC, and despite 3 riders in the Top 20, it is a tad disappointing. The lack of form and fitness for riders like Chris Froome and Dario Cioni and the crash on stage 1 for Michael Barry were possibly some of the factors towards that outcome.
All in all, this was a Stage Race which we can take a lot from and also learn a lot from at the same time.
The Vuelta a Andalucía or the Ruta Del Sol (Route to the Sun) is a 5-day stage race based in the Southern Region of Andalucía, Spain, during the month of February. Since 2005, it has been run as a 2.1 event by the UCI on the Europe Tour.
Despite being first run in 1925, the second edition of the Ruta del Sol was run 30 years later in 1955. From then, it has been a regular feature in Spanish and now UCI Cycling Calenders, with many name changes along the way.
The Ruta del Sol is the first race of the year for many riders on Team Sky. We have the first outing of Thomas Löftvist, Serge Pauwels and Kjell Carlström, and this is the first race since the Australian National Road Race Championships for Simon Gerrans. It will be good to see him in the Australian National Champions Jersey. This will be a test on the climbing legs of Bradley Wiggins as well, ahead of the Spring Classics.
Previous Winners of this Race includes Erik Zabel, Antonio Colom, Oscar Friere and Joost Posthuma, the winner in 2009.
21st February 2010 - Vuelta a Andalucía Stage 1 (Jaén-Puerto de la Guardia)
Stage 1 of the 2010 Vuelta a Andalucia has the riders travelling from Jaén to Puerto de la Guardia. As first stages go, this is a very difficult one to start with. Flat terrain for most of the stage, with only little rising for the Mountain Classification Sprints, the finish ramps up, as the riders climb 14km to the end.
With the peleton likely to scattered across the Mountain at the finish, it is a certainty that the riders will arrive at summit in small compact groups and only the riders with the best legs will have the chance to take the victory.
Riders to Watch: B. Wiggins, A. Vinokourov, S. Garzelli, R. Valls My tip for the stage: S. Garzelli. The Acqua & Sapone rider will be slowly building his form and fitness towards a possible Giro d'Italia appearance in May, and today he will look to get one over his possible Giro GC rivals and gain a small psychological advantage at the same time.
tour du haut var next. hopefully i can continue the form there
