He survived the experience, though he went flying!
Though, having said that, he got back on, and attacked away from the groupetto, and finished just over a minute behind the peloton.
Right, i'm also away over New Years, so we will have to wait until the 2nd/3rd of january to find out how stage 2 will go, but then we should be able to crack on with the season
As the team were preparing to tackle day 2 of the Tour du Haut Var, I received an e-mail from the Paris-Nice board, we have been granted a wild card for the race!
Great news and the team were thrilled to receive the invite to our first UWT race, and there will be much discussion over the next few weeks, regarding the team that we will choose to send out.
The final day of the Tour DHV, is a painful relentless ride covering 200km, including the highly feared Col De Mons, a 12km climb featuring percentages well into the twenties.
It seemed likely that today would provide an overall race winner, and the riders of Youtube Twitter hoped to claim that title come the end of the day. As the riders set off at a predictably lacklustre pace, Eric Chen attaacked, and a small group of 4 managed to break away.
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Up the almost immediate first climb off the day, it was Eric who left an impression, skating away from his fellow break riders to claim the first 10points in today's Hilly stage. 5 riders, from other teams were unfortunate enough to fall on the first hurdle of the day, 2 retired there and then, whilst the others managed to eventually re-join the peloton 40km further down the road.
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As the day continued, a second group joined the smaller front break, and a strong 18man group formed and steadily pulled a gap between themselves, et la peloton. No prominent names were yet seen in the break, likely saving themselves for later in the stage, where that last turn of the crank could prove enough to claim victory in the Tour.
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As the riders started up the much feared climb, the group had a lead of 6minutes, looking strong as they hauled up the start of the climb.
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The key riders of TYT's team, Il Cassano, and H. Leinstein, pulled away from the main group as the climb began to rear up in front, Cassano protecting Heinrich, and whilst Chen was able to claim the KOM points in the ferocious pull, the two riders of Youtube-Twitter had done enough to catch the front group as they began a high speed descent down the Col.
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Pushing on as the day grew older, Cassano and Chen provided the perfect cover for Heinrich Leinstein as the group steadily pulled on, the gap steadily decreasing as expected, but the peloton had been thinned out on the major climb, as Youtube set up near the front, driving home a ferocious pace and causing most teams big name sprinters to fall off the back, never to come back into contention over the days race.
Once the distance back to the peloton had been reduced to under 2 minutes, Leinstein set off once again, Cassano provided cover, and for the last 20km, it would be these two against the clock in an effort to hold off the main group.
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With under 15k to go, Kiryienka and Voeckler made there move, driving away from the pack to join the two Youtube riders. Cassano gave up his chance of a podium place finish, by slowing down the threat T.Voeckler, leaving Leinstein in a 1 on 1 with the Movistar rider once again, a repeat of the finish in the south of France, just days before.
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Steadily Kiryienka pulled him back, and as the 2k mark flew by, Kiryienka found himself on Leinsteins wheel, they set off in the sprint finish, and the line drew ever closer, it seemed he would hold on to the finish, but in a cruel twist of fate, as they crossed the line, the Movistar rider's front wheel was sat millimetres ahead of the Youtube Leaders. A nailbiting finish, and a great ride, but sadly not quite enough in the end, and Kiryienka had done enough to take the stage, and the overall.
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Final Results up shortly.Edited by baggieboys32 on 02-01-2012 23:55
Sadly H.Leinstein's attack on the final day was not enough to place him in the leaders jersey, Kiryienka had taken second on day one, and his stage victory on day two, was enough to leave him in the points jersey, and Leinstein was limited too second place, due two his 2 great finishes, the Movistar rider was also able to claim the points jersey, no sprinter able to make enough of an attack in day 1, to cling on overall.
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KOM competition
The Ride by Erec Chen on day two, was enough to secure a consolation jersey for the team, his attacks on the initial climb and the Col, combined with top 3 finishes on every other climb that day, gave him a total of 46 points, great effort by the Korean, and a victory he should be proud of after a tough days ride.
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Under 25's
Morgan Kneisky of the Roubaix team put in two meritable finishes, staying within the peloton, and finishing high enough on day one, to claim the overall victory, the rider broke away at the beginning of stage 1, meaning he was able to get a few small time bonuses, enough to secure him a jersey to take home.
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Rider of The Tour My rider of the tour, today goes the the rider Miguel Rocha, he placed well inside the peloton on both days, worked tirelessly for his leaders bottling even up the Col, and on day one, was able to attack the KOM competition with enough Venom, to claim 4th overall, without fighting in the second day.
Miguel is a young rider with enough potential to become a key rider later in life, and a keen classics rider further down the line. for now though, a more passive role for the good of the team is what is asked of the portugese lad, and he gives his all for the team without complaint. so Congratulations to him.
Giro De Sardegna
The Giro is a gruelling 5 day event, containing multiple steep climbs, and no easy day on the bike, many teams from the Pro Tour are likely to be seen in the race, due to the lack of UWT races at this point in the calendar.
Stage One
Stage one is a difficult stage, with a steady ascent and a large climb towards the end of the days racing. Youtube had decided on a team of climbers and support in order to set up either sprinter Peter Pal, or leader Heinrich Leinstein in the race to the Finish.
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The Board here at Youtube Twitter decided not necessarily to focus on an overall win, but rather to finish as the highest placed Continental Tour Rider, due to the fact that the majority of riders are currently teams with UWT licences.
When the race set off, there were multiple attacks, figuring riders from multiple sides, a few riders managed to get away for a while, and the group managed to build a small lead up to the first ascent.
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As the first ascent of the day began, a group of 6 riders took a tumble, multiple riders would fall during the day, and these became just a small number within the groups who would ride in a distance behind the peloton.
In one of the crashes, Xuo Zheng was unfortunate to be removed from his bike, he was unable to get back in touch with the front group and the team, and spent the rest of the day, as a passenger in the trailing Gruppetto, driven by the Liquigas-Cannondale Team.
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During the Climbs, Youtube stuck to there tactic, and set up relaying at the front of the broken peloton, driving the knife into many other continental teams, the hurt was apparent on many riders, and over 80, were unable to finish with the front group, brilliant work by the lads, and a great position to push from towards a high overall finish.
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Although unable to contest the positions at the very front of the peloton, the riders were able to claim 6th and 7th, and all of our key riders finished less than a minute behind the front leaders, an excellent achievement when Lampre had sent there key rider Damien Counego!
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Overall, a highly effective day for the team, exhausting many oppostion riders, with people finishing more than half an hour behind! and Geox leader was a full 16minutes back by the end of the day!!!
Edited by baggieboys32 on 03-01-2012 22:57
Giro De Sardegna Stage 2
A tough second stage in a tough tour, featuring painful climbs, fast downhills, and a final steep climb to the finish, the Riders from TYT were hopeful of a strong placing in this stage of the Giro D.S, but were aware that due to the strong level of the competiton, it would require a whole team effort to pull off there hope of a stage victory!
As the riders set off on day two, the course dived down one side of a valley, and no one was able to make the very early attack, so common in continental cycle races, after 25km, two riders were able to escape, one of them, the TYT rider- Kando Boss.
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He was able to claim first in 2sprints, and second in the KOM checkpoint. The break was not to the liking of Lampre ISD, who hold the current leaders position, and they set to work reeling in the two man break as the hills started to subside.
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On the route to the final climb, the two riders in the breakaway were caught thanks to the driving of the entire Lampre and Garmin teams, but for Youtube this was excellent news, with Boss in the break, there had been no need for our riders to work during the day, and all of our key climbers were in perfect shape, and well placed as we arrived at the base of the climb.
The teams started upwards, and the list of dropped riders continued to grow, once again, Alex Zhou was unable to maintain contact with the peloton, and he coasted in behind the rest, who were driving once more at the front as we climbed towards the summit.
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With around 3km to go, the Youtube Riders set off, Peter Pal, Eric Chen, and Heinrich Leinstein parted company with the peloton, leaving all in there wake, and working as a trio as they pushed hard for the end of the climb, hoping for todays victory.
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The three managed to place almost a minute between them and the following pack, Daniel Martin also broke, but was unable to catch them, so as the line was passed, 50seconds ahead of the pack, were the THREE riders from Youtube Twitter, who claimed an incredibly powerful victory, working as a tight knit unit on the final climb, excellent job by the boys, as we go into tomorrows more gentle stage.
First place was claimed by classics specialist Peter Pal today, an excellent job by him, and now he will change his focus tomorrow, towards the points jersey in the flatter likely sprint finishes tomorrow will bring.
The third stage of the Giro D.S, is the first chance the sprinters may get to show themselves, rather than fighting against potential elimination at the back of the peloton, as such, it seemed likely that Julian Dean of Garmin, Alessandro Petacchi of Lampre, Denis Galimzyov of Katusha and the other Big name sprinters would be heavily involved. The team would ride to protect the leaders jersey, and if possible, set up a sprint finish for Peter Pal.
As the riders set off through the initial hills, Miguel Rocha joined the break, and the initial 7 man group built up a small lead, before splitting 3-4 on the first steep climb
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The group built up a large lead on the pack, over 6minutes at one point, but as the downhills started flowing thick and fast, the pack became more willing to work, and the lead 3 were hauled in as the race entered it's second stage. Before they were caught however Miguel Rocha was able to contest the opening 2 sprints, claiming 2nd twice, aswell as victory in the KOM climb of the day, and adding ten points to the column by his name.
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With the break caught thanks to the driving Garmin team, the Youtube riders took over control at the front, driving a rapid pace, which forced a few casualties upon the back of the already tired peloton, but more importantly stopped anyone managing a late break trying for the stage win.
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The 12k marker drew closer, and the lads set up a sprint train to try and protect Pal, and give him the best possible opportunity to succeed against the multiple strong sprinters entered in the race. However after Kando Boss, and Leinstein had done there shifts on the final pull, a couple of riders from AG2R managed to disrupt our train, and Pal appeared to be drifting out of contention.
Sat almost 20places back, his chance seemed to have gone, until Kando Boss performed the impossible! having already pulled at max pace and worn himself out, seeing Pal drop away, Boss gave another incredible effort, and despite having nothing left in the tank, still somehow forced it upon himself, picking up Pal, dragging him to the front before dropping away himself to 95th place in the peloton finish. he was utterly exhausted but his work for the team and Peter was absolutely incredible to watch!
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With this effort Pal kicked away from the front, and although the stronger sprinter Petacchi was clsing on him, Pal refused to give up his position at the front, clinging on for a brilliant stage victory, owing everything to Kando Boss.
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We were unable to get a complete interview, but his expression of delight and thanks was clear, having crossed the line, he went immediately to Boss, to show his appreciation of the effort.
Edited by baggieboys32 on 05-01-2012 23:16
The final hilly stage in the 5 day tour, and the last real threat towards the GC currently controlled by Team Youtube Twitter, The stage contains a 10km climb about 20km away from the finish line, and this may give a stronger rider the chance to break away and cling on to the line.
TYT's plan for the day, was to protect the jersey rather than focus on the sprint, unless they were presented with the opportunity to attack the podium at the end of the day.
The race started in a particularly lazy fashion, no riders attacking initially, and as a result Peter Pal, was able to claim victory from the peloton in both of early intermediate sprints.
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As the hills towards the end drew nearer, there were small attacks, but the TYT domestiques set up near the front of the peloton, stopping any of these from escaping, keeping the pack as a group, as they team had intended in the Pre-Race meeting.
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Up the first climb the peloton started to break apart, several weaker riders unable to keep up, and a very strong attack was placed by many of the opposition GC contenders and they started to pull a strong lead over the pack.
As a result the 3 key climbers within the Youtube team, Chen Leinstein and Pal were forced to give chase, they caught the break and the group looked for a while like it may cling on to the finish.
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The opposition riders gave up on there attack, but considering the condition of the 3leaders from Youtube they decided to push onwards, and attempt a third stage victory for the team.
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As they entered the final straight they were caught by the pack, but suspecting this might happen, Leinstein and Chen had protected there climber-come-sprinter Peter Pal, and thanks to some good work once again by Time Trial specialist Kando Boss, Pal was left well placed in the sprint finish.
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Sadly he was unable to beat the fresher sprinters over the final straight, but he still managed a more than credible 5th place, which along with his checkpoint victories, gave him enough points to claim the Points jersey aswell as the GC going into tomorrow, the final stage of the Tour which brings the riders out of the hills down into Cagliari
The final, shortest stage of the 5 day tour, and Youtube started the day in full control of the Leaders jersey. todays intention, not allow any silly break nick the jersey, and protect Peter Pal during his ride into Cagliari and a potential sprint finish.
The route itself for today's stage, was extremely flat, no further KOM checkpoints, mean that AG2R rider, Nocentini has claimed the jersey heading into today's stage, and a sprint finish looked more than likely.
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As the riders set off, 13men attacked the main group, and formed a break, working together to pull ahead, the group was unlikely to pose a genuine threat to the GC, with the best placed rider 5'36 behind at the start of the day, the riders were more looking to gain some TV time for there sponsors, and possibly take sprint points at the intermediate checkpoints.
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With the group getting to 6minutes ahead, both Lampre, and Youtube started to take control near the front of the peloton, Lampre were clearly hoping for an improvement in what had so far been a weak tour for the Italian cycling giants. Youtube more interested in pegging the break at around 4minutes, so as to avoid any unwanted surprises at the end of the day.
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Lampre worked hard at the front and reduced the lead of the break to less than 30 seconds, meaning that the remaining hopefuls after that elusive stage win, had to brave the last 15km alone, trying to put as much of a gap as possible between them and the opposition.
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None of the riders were able to get far enough ahead to claim the win, and as the sprinting trains formed, there were no groups up ahead. Youtube formed there line, with Zhou protecting Pal into the final straight, with sprinters Dean of Garmin, and Petacchi of Lampre on his wheel.
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As the final sprint set off, It was clear the victor would be one of these three, initially Pal looked well placed, and Deans sprint seemed to have gone to early, he peetered out of contention, unable to out gun the two more powerful older sprinters.
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Petacchi's attack was perfectly timed, jumping off Pals wheel, and powering over the line to claim a second stage for the Lampre team.
