Thank you. I decided to set up a live ticker at all five monuments. I think, they're worth it
I have another question for you, readers:
During the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, Dominik's next race, there will be some one day classics, in which the team participates in. Would you like to have the whole Catalunya first and then the classics, or shall I give you the reports mixed?
cunego59 wrote:
Thank you. I decided to set up a live ticker at all five monuments. I think, they're worth it
I have another question for you, readers:
During the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, Dominik's next race, there will be some one day classics, in which the team participates in. Would you like to have the whole Catalunya first and then the classics, or shall I give you the reports mixed?
I would prefer the whole Catalunya first. I mean, Dominik should focus on his own racing in Catalunya and not his team-mates in Belgium!
Welcome to La classicissima, La primavera, the most important Italian one-day classic and one of the most prestigious races at all.
Km 5: After a calm start, the first riders attack.
Km 27: HTC, Rabobank and Quick·Step kept everything together, and now the next men try to break free.
Km 40: Still no group of the day, still a lot of attacks. I will come back to you when the break is up.
Km 76: I have to say that I am kind of impressed by Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Saxo Bank). I guess, it's his sixth try now to break free. He just doesn't succeed.
Km 90: Finally, the pack stops chasing. 8 men are now about 3 minutes in front of the peloton. Haedo isn't among them. Most notably is maybe John Gadret (Ag2r), but considering the behaviour of the peloton in the last kilometres, it's not very likely that they will stay away.
Km 146: The escapees pass the Passo del Turchino with an advance of about 5 minutes.
Km 151: During the descent, Paolo Longo Borghini crashes along with Mauro Santambrogio (BMC). Hopefully, nothing serious happened. He is now chasing the pack.
Km 163:Longo Borghini reconnected with the pack, while Santambrogio is 2'30 behind.
Km 199: The advance of the first escapees decreased to two and a half minutes. Only five are left in front.
Km 235: With 60 km to go, Marcus Burghardt (BMC) sets the first attack our of the peloton. But as noone follows, it's not very likely to succeed.
Km 244: The German caught up with the escapees, but the pack is only a minute down.
Km 258: Shortly before the riders enter the Cipressa – Burghardt is already caught again – the next classic specialists attack. Garmin's Roger Hammond lauches the attack, followed by Leif Hoste (Katusha), Björn Leukemans (Vacansoleil), Edvald Boasson Hagen (Syk) and the next BMC rider Greg Van Avermaet. Still, none of them is considered as their team's leader, except for maybe the Norwegian.
Km 270: The pack sets an extremely high pace and lots of riders have problems to follow. On the descent, only Leukemans and Boasson Hagen are left in front of the pack, with an advance of 40 seconds.
Km 283: On top of the poggio, the escapees are caught by the pack, in which only 66 men are left. Finetto is the last Liquigas rider, but he really doesn't look good. A mass sprint is very probable now, and most major sprinters including Mark Cavendish are still present. Especially Tom Boonen and Oscar Freire show themselves in front. They seem to be very fresh.
Km 287: On the descent, Finetto suffers at the end of the peloton. He won't have anything to do with the decision. But right in front of him, a crash takes place! Who is affected?
Km 288: Pippo Pozzato is on the ground, and that looks really bad. Along with him, Rabobank's Luis Leon Sanchez and Joaquin Rojas crashed.
Km 290: No other rider attacked, so it will come down to a mass sprint.
Km 292: Shortly before the sprint starts, Allan Davis leads in front of his compatriots Simon Gerrans (Sky) and Heinrich Haussler, who leads out world champion Thor Hushovd. Boonen and Freire are relatively far behind.
Km 294: One kilometre to go, and the victory will definetly be decided between the two Garmin riders. Fabian Cancellara fights for the podium behind them.
Km 295: And it's World Champion Thor Hushovd who celebrates his first major win in that jersey. World Champion curse anyone? I don't think so!
He really is a champion! Thor Hushovd honoures this jersey with a brilliant win.
Result
1
Thor Hushovd
Team Garmin - Cervelo
7h08'10
2
Heinrich Haussler
Team Garmin - Cervelo
s.t.
3
Fabian Cancellara
Leopard - Trek
s.t.
4
Philippe Gilbert
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
5
Alessandro Ballan
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
6
Tom Boonen
Quick·Step
s.t.
7
Oscar Freire
Rabobank
s.t.
8
Jens Voigt
Leopard – Trek
s.t.
9
Johan Van Summeren
Team Garmin – Cervelo
s.t.
10
Allan Davis
Astana
s.t.
…
59
Mauro Finetto
Liquigas - Cannondale
+1'09
Dominik's comment
So, that was the first live ticker I made by myself, and I have to say it's quite nice! Maybe I will do that for the other monuments as well.
What a Garmin domination we could experience today! A 1-2 in one of the most important races at all, that is really impressive. Plus, they have another one in the Top 10. In general, it's eye-catching that five out of the Top 10 are pure classic riders, and no sprinters. That shows the difficulty of this race.
Our team is a little disappointed, because a 59th from Mauro isn't what we expected at all. But well, everyone has his bad days.
So far from me, the next report will be made by my management again, because I will be riding: In two days, the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya starts!
Stay tuned,
Dominik
I'm on my way to Lloret de Mar where the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya starts with a short prologue tomorrow. I just wanted to inform you about my training progress. I really feel the impact of the Liquigas training methods and I'm certain that this team change was the right decision.
Hello and welcome to Dominik's next ProTour adventure. He is part of the same team that participated in Paris - Nice, so mostly sprinters. Due to his recent training successes, the DS decided to give Dominik the leading position in the team.
The 5km long prologue is not very challenging, and won't bring bigger time gaps.
14:00: Belarussian time trial champion Branislau Samoilau (Movistar) starts the race.
14:04:Davide Cimolai is the first Liquigas rider to start.
14:09:Jean Christophe Peraud sets an early best time. He's a good time trialist, so it might subsist some time.
14:26: Dominik Nerz starts the race.
14:32: He comes in 15 seconds behind Peraud. A solid time.
14:45:Fränk Schleck is on his way. He's here in a strong Leopard team as a support for his brother Andy.
14:51:Mauro Quinziato (BMC) surprisingly beats the best time by a second. A minute later, one of the overall favorites, Levi Leipheimer, misses the Italian's time by one second.
15:09: David Millar (Garmin) is one of the best time trialists in the world. He proves that and sets a new best time. 3 seconds are a relatively big advance.
15:14: The British can't be happy for too long: Ruben Plaza lowers the best time by 3 more seconds.
15:23:Roman Kreuziger, Astana's leader, comes in fifth, 8 seconds down.
15:24: Rabobank's captain is Luis Leon Sanchez. The Spaniard seems to be in good shape, as he is only one second slower than his compatriot.
15:54: The top favorite, Alberto Contador, seems to be in quite good shape. 2 seconds down on Ruben Plaza, provisional third.
16:03: British champion Bradley Wiggins comes in provisional second, only one second behind the surprising leader.
16:11:Tony Martin was the big favorite for today. He disappointed exorbitantly, finishing nearly 30 seconds down, eventually ending up on rank 127.
16:15: Contador's probably biggest thread, at least on the paper, is Luxembourgian time trial champion Andy Schleck. He sets an amazing time, considering his ususal TT qualities, and comes in provisional sixth.
16:23: As one of the last riders, overall contender Cadel Evans crosses the finish line. He seems to be in really good shape, and misses the stage win by less than a second.
He has every reason to smile: Ruben Plaza with a surprising win.
Well, what can say? A short, unspectacular day for me. It's still amazing to race among the top guys of the world, and I'm thankful for the experiences I make.
After the massage, the DS told me that I should ride for the classement here. I was a little surprised, but they told me they wanted to see what I can do without losing time after breakaways. I'm interested to see that, too, especially on the mountain finish on stage four.
If you play the official version, then it might be possible to stay in the first group on every stage with a bit of luck. But normally the time trialists are winning then.
Gaining time in intermediate sprints might work out, if you stay in the group afterwards.
@ Avin: Yeah, they really have faith in Dominik's potential But if you look at the rest of the squad, it's not that big deal.
@ roturn: I play the version that was in the PCMdaily DB, and I am pretty sure that Dominik will not be able to stay in the first group on every stage Especially stage 3 features a tough mountain top finish.
@ mresuperstar: Thanks a lot. I will definetly need some luck there.
The first road stage of this tour. It's considered flat, the hills towards the end shouldn't be too selective. With all those sprinters, Liquigas might look for a good result today.
Km 0: The race has hardly begun, and the first escapee is already on his way. It's Josè Herrada from Caja Rural.
Km 2: A second wave of escapees tries to follow the Spaniard. Among them is Simone Ponzi.
Km 18: Still, no group has established itself. David Veilleux gives it another try.
Km 47: A 16 men group climbs up the first climb together. But Garmin paces high for their captain Thor Hushovd, so they don't stand a chance.
Km 51: Wow, that young gun is amazing: Dominik Nerz attacks for the mountain points.
Km 53: And he takes the full amount of 16 points. Provisional King of Mountain Dominik Nerz!
Km 75: Since the mountain sprint, Dominik Nerz leads together with Luis Pasamontes (Movistar), but they both don't do too much, and the lead is only at about one and a half minutes.
Km 87: The Spaniard didn't do any work, so both are back in the peloton.
Km 106: Movistar controls the pack now for overall leader Ruben Plaza and their sprinter Joaquin Rojas.
Km 118: The second mountain sprint comes closer, and Dominik Nerz manages himself towards the front part of the pack.
Km 121: He really seems to take the mountain ranking serious: 10 more points on his account.
Km 142: The last climb was a lot steeper, so no chance for Dominik. Unfortunately, Christophe Le Mevel takes the full points, and as he was second on the first mountain, too, he overtakes the KoM-lead. So no jersey for our German tomorrow.
Km 154:Dominik Nerz can't follow anymore, probably he's too tired after his former attacks.
Km 161: The hill was hard for many sprinters, but not for the world champion. He follows Jerome Pineau and Tom Boonen.
Km 164: But they soon fall back, and then it's surprisingly Michele Scarponi who leads the pack towards the finish line.
Km 166: But of course, he couldn't hold the speed, and the although Thor Hushovd comes from far behind, it's an easy win for him.
Km 166:Dominik Nerz comes in a grupetto, about 4 minutes behind the winner.
Third ProTour victory within a week for Thor Hushovd.
Change of plan. I'm not going for the GC any longer, as you may imagine.
The mountain ranking will be incredibly hard, and to be honest, I don't think that I will get it in the end. But if I could maybe wear the jersey for a day, that would be a huge success for me.
Wow, dominant win by Hushvod, he seems to be in great shape.
Interesting change of plans, suddenly Dominik is attacking and collecting KOM-points Good luck for this classement, it is possible and would be great for Dominik to get it =)
But the KoM is good to
