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The Astro League (2016)
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| pcm2009fan |
Posted on 01-02-2013 19:33
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Sammy is a prime candidate for the win along with Valverde. He only lost a minute today and will look to take considerable time back in the time trial, so we'll see how it goes for him! |
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| pcm2009fan |
Posted on 01-02-2013 21:17
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STAGE 4
Sammy Sanchez
It wasn't so much of a surprise to see Sammy Sanchez win today's stage, but the manner in which he did so was hard to ignore, beating specialists like Devolder and Phinney by 40 seconds.
Alejandro Valverde
Valverde and Quintana both lost around 2'20" but it could have been worse for them given Sanchez's form. Valverde has 46 seconds to find on Sanchez in the closing stages, which seems likely to happen.
Sammy Sanchez
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STAGE 5
Samuel Sanchez
Valverde might have looked good before, but Sammy Sanchez had no intention of making life easy for him.
Samuel Sanchez
He broke clear early on the penultimate climb and Caisse and Liberty failed to keep things under control. He flew up the final sharp incline and ended up making 2 further minutes on Valverde who was next in. Things have swung drastically in the Asturian's favour.
Current GC
 1 | Samuel Sánchez | SAUNIER | 16h50'49 | | 2 | Alejandro Valverde | CAISSE | + 3'13 |  3 | Nairo Quintana | LIBERTY | + 6'41 |  4 | Timothy Duggan | LIQUIGAS | + 10'59 |  5 | Michael Rogers | DRAPAC | + 11'15 |  6 | Alexsandr Dyachenko | TINKOFF | + 11'28 |  7 | Nicolas Roche | BOUYGUES | + 13'23 |  8 | Ivan Basso | LIQUIGAS | + 13'43 | | 9 | José Joaquin Rojas | CAISSE | + 14'35 | | 10 | Simon Gerrans | DRAPAC | + 16'18 |
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| pcm2009fan |
Posted on 01-02-2013 22:27
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STAGE 6
Nairo Quintana
Up the Angilru was Valverde's last chance to bite back at Sanchez. He put him under pressure and took back 2 minutes, but that's still 1 minute short ahead of the procession around Madrid. Further up the road, Quintana thrived on the steep roads and clinched a solo victory.
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FINAL STAGE
Samuel Sanchez
Unbelievable! Sammy Sanchez went down 8km from the line, and was unable to claw his way back to the peleton before the finish. Which means Valverde finally breaks his curse, but only in the cruelest and most dubious of manners.
Jose Joaquin Rojas
Valverde still might not have convinced everyone yet, but team-mate Rojas has put on many convincing displays of late, and rounded off a joyful day for Caisse with his second stage of La Vuelta.
Alejandro Valverde
Final GC
| 1 | Alejandro Valverde | CAISSE | 24h04'38 | | 2 | Samuel Sánchez | SAUNIER | + 1'44 | | 3 | Nairo Quintana | LIBERTY | + 4'59 | | 4 | Timothy Duggan | LIQUIGAS | + 9'16 | | 5 | Alexsandr Dyachenko | TINKOFF | + 10'56 | | 6 | Michael Rogers | DRAPAC | + 12'44 | | 7 | Nicolas Roche | BOUYGUES | + 15'10 | | 8 | Ivan Basso | LIQUIGAS | + 15'48 |  9 | Dominik Nerz | LAMPRE | + 19'43 |  10 | Mathias Frank | BOUYGUES | + 23'45 |
Points
Samuel Sanchez
Mountains
Samuel Sanchez
Youth
Nairo Quintana
Team
Liquigas |
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| SSJ2Luigi |
Posted on 01-02-2013 22:28
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World Champion
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NO, Caisse wins the GC and the final stage 
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| Jesleyh |
Posted on 01-02-2013 22:31
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World Champion
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Poor Sanchez 
Feyenoord(football) and Kelderman fanboy
PCMdaily Awards: 12x nomination, 9x runner-up, 0x win.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 05-12-2025 19:43
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Bot Agent
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 01-02-2013 23:00
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Tour de France Champion
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Totally surprised that Valverde came back to win the Vuelta 
I thought Sanchez had it all sewn up |
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| pcm2009fan |
Posted on 02-02-2013 15:09
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Last two races of the season coming up and then I'll round everything up.
Jimmy Engoulvent
Jimmy Engoulvent went out and pleased the home crowds today and took a fairly comfortable win to add to his 2nd place at the GP Luxembourg. A good season for him. Next fastest were Stijn Devolder and Magno Prado Nazaret.
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Simon Gerrans
4 men made it over the final climb - defending champion Cunego, along with Gerrans, Jim and Quintana (who needed to win today if he wanted to be this year's League Champion). However, it was the Australian Simon Gerrans who outwitted the others at the finish to take his only win of the season.
Next Up:
Season Review! |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 02-02-2013 15:44
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Tour de France Champion
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Nice finish to the season for Gerrans |
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| pcm2009fan |
Posted on 02-02-2013 16:54
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*************************************************************
RACES
| Cancer Research Classic | Murilo Fischer (Liquigas) |  Tour of Qatar | Murilo Fischer (Liquigas) |  Tour of the Kenyan Highlands | Frank Schleck (Joker) | | Giro dell'Emilia | Giovanni Visconti (Joker) | | Monte Paschi Eroica | Ruben Perez (Saunier) |  Ronde Van Vlaanderen | Lars Boom (Rabobank) |  Paris-Roubaix | Manuel Quinziato (Androni) |  GP Luxembourg | Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse) | | Giro d'Italia | Nairo Quintana (Liberty) | | Tour de Suisse | Robert Gesink (Rabobank) |  Netherlands Tour | Mikel Nieve (Saunier) | | Astana TTT | Caisse | | Tour de France | Jose Rujano (Androni) | | Tour of Belgium | Leif Hoste (Lampre) | | Clasica San Sebastien | Damiano Cunego (Lampre) | | La Vuelta | Alejandro Valverde (Caisse) | | Chrono des Nations | Jimmy Engoulvent (Cofidis) | | Il Lombardia | Simon Gerrans (Drapac) |
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AWARDS
Most Victories: 5 -  Murilo Fischer (Liquigas)
Most Podiums: 11 - Alejandro Valverde (Caisse)
Best Climber Award: Alejandro Valverde (Caisse)
Best Cobblestoner Award: Leif Hoste (Lampre)
Best Puncheur Award: Damiano Cunego (Lampre)
Best Time-Trialist Award: Jimmy Engoulvent (Cofidis)
Best Stage Racer Award: Samuel Sanchez (Saunier)
Petacchi Fastman Award: Murilo Fischer (Liquigas)
Fan's Favourite: Rick Flens (Rabobank)
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FINAL RANKINGS
It's time for the moment you've all been waiting for... *Drum roll please*
Spoiler
We have a new champion!
Podiums at the Giro and Suisse, top 10 at Le Tour, and winning La Vuelta won Valverde the League Championship through consistency.
Quite the contrast of the dominance that Robert Gesink, only 4th this time round, displayed last year, but most will credit Valverde as the strongest rider this year.
Quintana just edged out Sanchez for 2nd thanks to his performance at Il Lombardia. 
Spoiler
They took the lead prior to La Vuelta and there was no chance of them dropping it after that - Caisse are this year's best team!
Valverde took over half their points, but considerable thanks must also go to Rojas, Contador and Luis Leon Sanchez for their contributions.
At the bottom, we must say good-bye to Vacansoleil and Tinkoff, two teams who struggled throughout the season to make their mark on the Diamond League.
Spoiler
Not too much to comment on here as Spain wrap up consecutive best nation awards.
Particuarly impressive was the South American influence on the league this year: Colombia, Venezuala and Brazil occupying places 5-7.
France struggled this year, down in 12th.
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PROMOTION
Before we close up for the season, we should take a quick look at who will replace our relegated teams for next season:
Spoiler
Yeah they can't afford fancy background colours down in Divison 2
Anyway, Coca-Cola clinched the title for promotion. Behind, Diamond League rules stipulate that only 2 teams from one country may participate in the top division. Thus Allianz go up despite finishing 5th. Best of luck to them in surviving next season, just as Bouygues and Joker managed this year!
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WORD FROM THE CEO
That's this season done, although team transfers are already well under way and will be presented before we move onto season 3.
Thanks a lot for everyone who tuned into the Diamond League for it's first 'proper' season. I hope you enjoyed this season, and hopefully I'll see you all next season too!
pcm2009fan,
Diamond Leauge CEO |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 02-02-2013 17:12
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Tour de France Champion
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Valverde had a very successful season  |
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| SSJ2Luigi |
Posted on 02-02-2013 18:22
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well Flens won something, that oké right?
of course it is, he was the only one who deserve to win the Fan Favorite title. nobody came close
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| pcm2009fan |
Posted on 02-02-2013 20:29
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Yep, and he won the Dutch NC too He's also signed a new contract with Rabobank, although his stats haven't developed in the off-season. |
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| pcm2009fan |
Posted on 02-02-2013 23:38
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I've got a couple other things to keep us occupied during the off-season. For starters, I forgot to do a 'summary in pictures' so I'll create one tommorow. For now, here is a list of riders who are hanging up their wheels at the season end:
Spoiler Juan Antonio Flecha
Cadel Evans
Haimar Zubeldia
Leif Hoste
Robbie Hunter
Ivan Basso
Maarten Tjallingii
David Millar
Bjorn Leukemans
Cadel Evans perhaps didn't live up to expectations in the diamond league and he particuarly struggled to make an impression on his final season. However, his best memory is surely winning the TdF time trial in season 1.
Bjorn Leukemans will be fondly remembered for his solo victory at the inaugural Ronde Van Vlaanderen.
Ivan Basso made sure to leave his mark on the Diamond League with a memorable solo victory in the penultimate stage of the Giro d'Italia. In addition, he only narrowly missed out on 2nd place at the Giro, and the mountains jersey at the Vuelta this year, after serving as a loyal domestique to Vincenzo Nibali much of last year.
Leif Hoste may have only had 2 seasons in the Diamond League but he leaves us with many fond memories, least of all his victory at Paris-Roubaix in season 1. His farewell gift this season was the overall classification at the Tour of Belgium, and earning his 2nd "Cobblestoner of the year" award, which will be renamed in his honour.
Stats Fixed.
Edited by pcm2009fan on 02-02-2013 23:43
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| pcm2009fan |
Posted on 03-02-2013 13:55
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SEASON 2 - IN PICTURES
Cancer Research Classic
Murilo Fischer got his season off to a flier in Melbourne. Just like Petacchi did last year, Fischer went on to finish as the season's highest ranked sprinter.
Tour of Qatar
And, with the help of leadout man Benatti, he took a stage and the overall in Qatar to establish a sizeable lead at the top of the league rankings.
Tour of the Kenyan Highlands
Remember this? Frank Schleck thought he'd won in Kenya, but was horrified to see young Dominik Nerz spring up on him on the line. Fortunately the Luxembourger was spared his blushes as he still crossed the line first.
Giro dell'Emilia
Gio Visconti made it two wins on the trot for Joker on their way to survival in the top league. The other promotees, Bouygues, have similarly managed to stick around for another year.
Ronde Van Vlaanderen
Then it was time to head onto the cobblestones, where Lars Boom had no opposition in winning this year's Ronde.
Paris-Roubaix
However, we had a more surprising winner at Paris-Roubaix, where Italian Quinziato burst away from the others and held on to celebrate in the velodrome.
GP Luxembourg
Closing out the classic season, another surprise was produced. A strong breakaway spoiled the show for the puncheurs and "Lulu" Sanchez was on hand to take the honours on the treacherous course.
Giro d'Italia
Surely this year's most memorable moment was produced atop Isola 2000 in the Giro, where the now-retired Ivan Basso produced a breathtaking "Landis-style" solo win which almost won him the maglia rosa.
But the coveted jersey was ultimately to be contested between these two men. "The Wonderkid" Quintana ultimately prevailed on Isola to wrest the pink jersey from Valverde. Some began to wonder whether Valverde was simply cursed to never win a Grand Tour in the Diamond League.
Tour de Suisse
Onto Suisse, where Robert Gesink gave us another taste of the talent which won him 2 grand tours last year, dominating both mountain stages at Sante-Croix and (pictured) Verbier.
Le Tour
But it was not to be for Robert at Le Tour. Despite earning the maillot jaune on stage 4, it was Jose Rujano who got into all the right moves in the mountains and ultimately eased to victory in the final time trial.
La Vuelta
Valverde took control on Sierra Nevada and looked to be on his way to finally breaking his GT curse. He didn't bargain on Sammy Sanchez making 4 minutes on him in the next 2 stages, but ultimately it was 6th time lucky for Alejandro, after Sanchez fell victim to the cruellest of crashes in Madrid.
Il Lombardia
So it was time to close out the season, and it was Simon Gerrans who prevailed in Lombardy. His points saved Drapac from the drop this year, but rumour has it he is nonetheless in negotiations with Rabobank for coming season. |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 03-02-2013 14:50
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34002
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Some big names have retired  |
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| lluuiiggii |
Posted on 03-02-2013 15:40
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Grand Tour Champion
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Funny calendar in this one  Nice story, but I'm not sure I've quite grabbed the concept here. Are the riders with random stats or something?
Must admit it was very surprising to see Fischer so dominant in the early races of the calendar and later, on the TdF. And Magno Nazaret placing 2nd on the Tour ITT, something's clearly not right But Rujano won the Tour, that was great. Well deserved after that early attack
Edited by lluuiiggii on 03-02-2013 15:40
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| pcm2009fan |
Posted on 03-02-2013 15:50
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Yep definitely something is not right with this story
The stats are calculated using a tiered system. Lvl 4s have the best stats, Lvl1s only have basic stats. At the end of the season, your level can go up or down based on your performances, which will be presented along with the teams and transfers soon.
But for now, I'm keeping the exact distribution of stats a secret |
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| pcm2009fan |
Posted on 03-02-2013 19:04
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PREVIEW - PART 1 OF 3
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| SSJ2Luigi |
Posted on 03-02-2013 19:07
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World Champion
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Boonen and Cancellara in one team. if only this was real life
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| pcm2009fan |
Posted on 03-02-2013 21:16
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SSJ2Luigi wrote:
Boonen and Cancellara in one team. if only this was real life
Hah, I hope not. Their rivalry is great They won't get in each others way in this game though given that Cance is set as a time trialist. |
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Juan Jose Haedo*
Denis Galimzyanov
Thomas Vaitkus
Daryll Impey*
Vasil Kiryienka
Thor Hushovd
Ryder Hesjedal
Gustav Larsson
