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Fant. Neutral Story [Ronde 2018]
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 13-07-2014 17:30
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A Great battle in the high mountains, and Andy Schleck comes out on top 
Now he must defend his four second lead on the GC  |
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| Forever the Best |
Posted on 14-07-2014 16:53
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Classics Specialist
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ANDY
And,mpardo still Andy fans are left. |
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| Forever the Best |
Posted on 14-07-2014 16:54
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Classics Specialist
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ANDY
And,mpardo still Andy fans are left. |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 01-11-2024 16:23
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Bot Agent
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| mpardo |
Posted on 14-07-2014 19:27
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Sprinter
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@sutty68: I think he will be fine unless he crashes. I don't think his rivals will get any bonus seconds.
@The Schleck Fan: Glad there are still fans out there. He needs the support.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 15-07-2014 00:04
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Tour de France Champion
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Lets hope he avoids those pile ups then |
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| mpardo |
Posted on 15-07-2014 07:24
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Sprinter
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 Tour of Beijing
Stage 5: Tiananmen Square - Bird's Nest
The season draws to an end inside the huge metropolis that is Beijing. The last stage starts in front of the Forbidden Palace and will finish in a circuit around the Olympic venues where the 2008 Games where celebrated. The stage is really easy and short so a mass sprint is the most likely outcome by far. That would mean that Andy Schleck would win the race, as it is difficult to think that any of his rivals can get enough bonus points.
No break had been allowed to go away before the second intermediate sprint of the day as Lampre made a good work to bring everyone back. Marcel Kittel easily won the maximum points ahead of Yauheni Hutarovich and Andre Greipel, what brings him a bit closer to winning the points competition. Only 7 laps (55 kilometers) were left from that point to the finish.
A trio of riders were hopeful enough to try a late attack in the stage: Anthony Roux (Astana), Jos van Emden (Saxo Bank) and Nick Nuyens (Garmin). 10 kilometers from home they still are 50 seconds ahead as they are good rouleurs. However, Radioshack seems to have everything under control especially because Fabian Cancellara is imposing a high pace.
Discovery was quicker than Radioshack to set up their sprint train as soon as the break was reeled back in. As usual Mark Renshaw will be the lead-out man for Marcel Kittel, while Jose Joaquin Rojas and Yauheni Hutarovich are in the wheel of the German. In Radioshack, Daniele Bennati will be the last man for Andre Greipel with Grega Bole behind. The main bunch is much stretched as there is quite a bit of wind in Beijing today.
Marcel Kittel emerged very soon from Mark Renshaw's wheel, with more than 1 kilometer to go. It seems that the German might be sprinting a bit too early. His main rivals at this point are Jose Joaquin Rojas, who has already proven how dangerous he is, Yauheni Hutarovich and Ben Swift. Andre Greipel is quite a few meters back, as Radioshack could not manage to make his train work as well as it should again.
All of Marcel Kittel's rivals are starting to gain with still more than 500 meters to go. If the German does not have another gear he will find it difficult to win today. Ben Swift and Yauheni Hutarovich are specially threatening on the right hand side of the road, while Jose Joaquin Rojas seems to be losing gas as well. The fifth on the road is Tyler Farrar, still ahead of Andre Greipel.
Ben Swift wins in Beijing! The British rider was the fastest of the sprint surprising the favorites by coming close to the fences in the right hand side of the road. He might not be the quickest in a pure sprint but will be the sprinter with the highest number of points of the World Tour this season narrowly ahead of Marcel Kittel. The second place in the stage was for Tyler Farrar after a very strong finish, he would have needed 200 more meters to win the stage. The top 5 was completed by Yauheni Hutarovich, Marcel Kittel and Jose Joaquin Rojas.
The season finally comes to an end with the win in the GC in Beijing for Andy Schleck, surrounded in the podium by Laurens Ten Dam and Andrew Talansky. During the Tour de France we mentioned that Andy had never won a stage race in the story and, even though this is an HC race, this could mark an inflection point in his career. It is still unknown whether Quickstep will sign another stage racer or renew Menchov but probably Schleck will have a bigger role to play in the team next year.
Today's Winner
Stage Results
| 1 |  | Ben Swift | Sky Procycling | 2h33'37 | | 2 |  | Tyler Farrar | Team Saxo - Tinkoff | s.t. | | 3 |  | Yauheni Hutarovich | Lampre - Merida | s.t. | | 4 |  | Marcel Kittel | Discovery Channel | s.t. | | 5 |  | José Joaquín Rojas | HTC - Highroad | s.t. | | 6 | | André Greipel | RadioShack - Leopard | s.t. | | 7 |  | Kenny Van Hummel | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 8 |  | Michael Matthews | Garmin - Sharp | s.t. | | 9 |  | Tom Boonen | Team Saxo - Tinkoff | s.t. | | 10 |  | Luca Paolini | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step | s.t. |
General Classification
| 1 |  | Andy Schleck | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step | 20h01'32 | | 2 | | Laurens Ten Dam | Cannondale Pro Cycling | + 4 | | 3 | | Andrew Talansky | HTC - Highroad | + 10 | | 4 | | Johan Vansummeren | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step | s.t. | | 5 | | Bart De Clercq | Lampre - Merida | s.t. | | 6 |  | Hubert Dupont | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 7 | | Juan José Cobo | Sky Procycling | s.t. | | 8 | | Stefano Garzelli | Lampre - Merida | s.t. | | 9 | | Simon Gerrans | RadioShack - Leopard | s.t. | | 10 |  | Janez Brajkovič | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step | s.t. |
Points
| 1 | | Marcel Kittel | Discovery Channel | 181 | | 2 | | André Greipel | RadioShack - Leopard | 173 | | 3 | | Ben Swift | Sky Procycling | 157 | | 4 | | Yauheni Hutarovich | Lampre - Merida | 150 | | 5 | | Tyler Farrar | Team Saxo - Tinkoff | 122 |
Mountain
| 1 | | Anthony Roux | Astana Pro Team | 59 | | 2 | | Enrico Gasparotto | Astana Pro Team | 52 | | 3 | | Nick Nuyens | Garmin - Sharp | 50 | | 4 | | Thomas Voeckler | Garmin - Sharp | 48 | | 5 | | Jos Van Emden | Team Saxo - Tinkoff | 28 |
Young
| 1 | | Andrew Talansky | HTC - Highroad | 20h01'42 | | 2 | | Gianni Meersman | Team Saxo - Tinkoff | + 1'28 | | 3 | | Mark Renshaw | Discovery Channel | + 1'30 | | 4 |  | Nairo Quintana | Sky Procycling | s.t. | | 5 | | Diego Ulissi | Lampre - Merida | s.t. |
Teams
| 1 | | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | 60h05'06 | | 2 | | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step | s.t. | | 3 | | RadioShack - Leopard | + 1'17 | | 4 | | HTC - Highroad | s.t. | | 5 | | Sky Procycling | + 1'30 |
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| Forever the Best |
Posted on 15-07-2014 08:44
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Andy still in lead |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 15-07-2014 16:27
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Tour de France Champion
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Swifty nicks it at the line |
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| mpardo |
Posted on 15-07-2014 21:45
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Sprinter
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UCI World Tour rankings riders (final standings)
| 1 | | Peter Stetina | BMC | 647.53 | | 2 | | David Lopez | Euskaltel | 611.1 | | 3 | | Tejay Van Garderen | BMC | 610.58 | | 4 | | Bauke Mollema | Vacansoleil | 577.48 | | 5 | | Rob Ruijgh | Belkin | 481.31 | | 6 | | Björn Leukemans | Lotto | 423.17 | | 7 | | Laurens Ten Dam | Cannondale | 410.85 | | 8 | | Mikel Nieve | Discovery | 373.42 | | 9 | | Jelle Vanendert | Lotto | 344.09 | | 10 | | Simon Gerrans | Radioshack | 299.05 | | 11 | | Hubert Dupont | Belkin | 295.95 | | 12 | | Ben Swift | Sky | 294.1 | | 13 | | Marcel Kittel | Discovery | 290.05 | | 14 | | Jose Joaquin Rojas | HTC | 248.01 | | 15 | | Fränk Schleck | Radioshack | 242.8 |
UCI World Tour rankings teams (final standings)
| 1 | | BMC Racing Team | 1784.15 | | 2 | | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | 1255.05 | | 3 | | Lotto - Belisol | 1031.05 | | 4 | | Omega Pharma - Quickstep | 949 | | 5 | | Euskaltel - Euskadi | 935.3 | | 6 | | Radioshack - Leopard | 931.4 | | 7 | | Vacansoleil - DMC | 876.35 | | 8 | | Discovery Channel | 851.6 | | 9 |  | Team Saxo - Tinkoff | 649.3 | | 10 | | Sky Procycling | 603.5 |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 15-07-2014 22:32
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
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Nice to see the Americans doing well |
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| SSJ2Luigi |
Posted on 15-07-2014 23:10
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BMC wins by a landslide, there's enough room to park the GreenEDGE bus 
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| Forever the Best |
Posted on 16-07-2014 07:49
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Classics Specialist
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Andy wins the overall |
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| maxime86 |
Posted on 20-07-2014 16:10
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wow andy |
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| mpardo |
Posted on 20-07-2014 20:06
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Sprinter
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Transfer market update 3
Omega Pharma - Quickstep has been very active in the market lately. Their most important signing this season has been Frank Schleck, as the Belgian team will reunite the two brothers in the same team. It is difficult to separate the two of them in terms of performance this season, so it will be interesting to see who takes the leading role. They have also hired a good helper in the mountains and good time-trialist, Marco Pinotti. Their latest recent signing was the Dutch sprinter Theo Bos.
Another of the riders that should make good performances in the mountains also changed teams in the last few days, as Juanjo Cobo has agreed to move to HTC - Highroad. The Spaniard was in the podium in the Volta a Catalunya and will be looking to improve next season. The American team has also signed Jonathan Tiernan-Locke from Ag2r, although the Britishman season was unimpressive.
Discovery Channel has also announced a few new contracts including the climber Jean-Christophe Peraud, who will be the most important helper for Mikel Nieve in the mountains. They have also signed a couple of Spaniards: Luis Leon Sanchez, who has had a very solid season with Movistar, and Pablo Lastras.
Another surprising signing has been the new agreement between Oscar Freire and Lampre - Merida. The Spaniard can be in the top 10 in any cobbled race and will also be important for Yauheni Hutarovich, as Freire can be a very good lead-out man for the Belarusian.
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| dienblad |
Posted on 20-07-2014 20:12
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Wow, are you still doing this story? Respect for your dedication!!!
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| Forever the Best |
Posted on 20-07-2014 22:17
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Classics Specialist
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Schlecks in the same team
The user formerly known as 'The Schleck Fan'
Gracias Alberto.
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| mpardo |
Posted on 21-07-2014 09:49
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Sprinter
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@dienblad: Yes, I take it easy and only play the story slowly. I think that helps me not losing interest.
@The Schleck Fan: I knew you'd be happy about that but was a completely random event, I did not force it.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 21-07-2014 13:49
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
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The Schlecks together at Omega Pharma |
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| mpardo |
Posted on 22-07-2014 15:30
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Sprinter
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Transfer market update 4
One of the riders that comes back home is Denis Menchov, who will return to Team Katusha on a 2 year contract. The Russian rider has been largely wasteful this year, but will probably still be the man for the Grand Tours in Katusha. The Russian had won Tirreno - Adriatico and a stage in the Vuelta last year has been nowhere as good in 2014.
Cannondale is taking advantage of the new funding that has come from their sponsor after the good performances of Laurens Ten Dam to improve their climbers. They have signed Jurgen van den Broeck from Lotto - Belisol. The Belgian was in the shadow of Jelle Vanendert and Robert Kiserlovski and will enjoy more freedom in the Italian team.
Movistar Team has decided to change their sprinters, as Denis Galymzyanov is leaving the team and Matthew Goss is joining from Lotto. The Australian is a rider that is able to fight for sprints in hilly stages and, even though the Spanish team will probably have no chances in the flat stages, it is a style that suits better the profile of the team.
The last highlight of the new movements is Bart de Clercq, who will move from Lampre to Sky Procycling. The Belgian has not had a great season and Chris Froome will probably be the main climber in the team. However, de Clercq is a very versatile rider that can shine or help in lots of places.
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| mpardo |
Posted on 23-07-2014 23:39
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Sprinter
Posts: 1738
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2014 End of Season
| Race | Category | | Winner | | Paris - Nice | 2.WT | | Peter Stetina | | Tirreno-Adriatico | 2.WT | | Bauke Mollema | | Milano - Sanremo | 1.WT | | Simone Ponzi | | Volta a Catalunya | 2.HC | | David Lopez | | Gent - Wevelgem | 1.WT | | Tom Boonen | | Ronde van Vlaanderen | 1.WT | | Johan Vansummeren | | Amstel Gold Race | 1.WT | | Simon Gerrans | | Liege - Bastogne - Liege | 1.WT | | Simon Gerrans | | Criterium du Dauhpine | 2.WT | | Tejay van Garderen | | Tour de France | GT.WT | | Tejay van Garderen | | Clasica de San Sebastian | 1.WT | | Pieter Weening |  | Tour de Pologne | 2.HC | | Simon Gerrans | | Eneco Tour | 2.WT | | Marcel Kittel | | Vuelta a España | GT.WT | | Peter Stetina | | GP Ouest France - Plouay | 1.WT | | Alessandro Ballan |  | Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal | 1.HC | | Bjorn Leukemans | | Road World Championship | WC | | Bjorn Leukemans | | Tour of Beijing | 2.HC | | Andy Schleck |
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