@all
Thanks! Even though we'll try, it'll be very difficult to get any better than showing the sponsors on our jersey on the breakaway =/
April 25th: Vuelta a La Rioja
Logroño - Logroño, 207.4 kms
Today we start in Logroño and finish in Logroño, too, in a 207 kilometers route. It’s a difficult route, with 3 steep ascents, 2 near the final. The descent after them and only that small hill may very well fit for a bigger group sprint finish. We intended to put Kangert and maybe someone else in the breakaway and see what happens.
No one was able to establish a breakaway until we reach the steep sections of the first ascent today. When that happened, Kangert and Nazaret attacked trying to create a breakaway.
3 other riders joined them and finally the peloton let a breakaway establish.
Spoiler
BotD: Tanel Kangert, Magno Prado Nazaret, Carlos José Ochoa, Dennis Van Winden, Anders Lund.
60 kilometers later, with the gap in 2’40, Márcio Barbosa and Aleksejs Saramotins attacked out of the peloton trying to joing the escapees. That eventually happened.
With 96 kilometers to go, gap between break - peloton was 5 minutes. Then, it was time for Xavier Florencio, Peter Sagan and Iban Mayoz to try an attack.
Main workers on the peloton were Caisse d’Epargne, Astana and Androni Giocattoli.
Ok, so not only we have bad riders but we also have bad luck. With 60 kilometers left and only 10 kilometers to start the main climbs of the day, Nazaret has a puncture. He never got back to the leading group. Peloton 5’09 behind.
On the middle of the first climb, the breakaway had several splits. Barbosa and Saramotins increased and were now leading alone. Kangert came next, then the other 4 riders who were only now joined by late attackers Sagan & co. The pack was three minutes and a half behind with 46 km left.
Kangert did everything trying to catch the leaders after the first ascent - and that probably was a mistake. He got really close, but in the end never reached them and spent a lot of energy. When the second climb and last big one on the day started, Barbosa and Saramotins were leading 16” ahead of Kangert, who was 12” ahead of an alone Peter Sagan. Peloton 2’47 behind.
The first serious attempt came only on this climb: David López accelerated, countered by Maxim Iglinskiy. The Kazakh couldn’t follow the acceleration of the Spanish though, who quickly reached Sagan, whilst Iglinskiy got up to Kangert.
Another Caisse rider attacking, this time is Rigoberto Uran. He was able to get up to Iglinskiy group.
On the descent, López got to the leaders of the course. The 3 riders had a 40-second advantage to the first group of chasers, formed by Iglinskiy, Urán and Sagan. Then came a 21 rider group in which was Kangert.
Thanks to mainly Androni Giocattoli’s work, Iglinksiy group was caught on the very finish of the descent. López was still a minute ahead, though, with 20 kilometers left. The escapees wouldn’t stand a chance against the Spanish rider power. Was he going for the win?
No. He was caught much earlier than expected, on the tiny steep hill. Kangert dropped out of the group on that hill (he never had time to recover after the effort made to catch the leaders).
There were no more attacks, so sprint time! Euskaltel with 2 good sprinters on Pérez and Galdos are on the right, Astana with Noval leading out Iglinskiy is on the left, on the middle is Ginanni, who is also a good sprinter but is already facing the wind!
Now it’s the final kilometer, the lead outs decided not to sprint so no Ginanni nor Pérez on the move, it’s García Dapena leading but Bertagnolli just got out of Ginanni’s wheel and is coming strong!
And the win goes for Leonardo Bertagnolli! He gets the win ahead of Dapena and Iglinskiy, the work from Androni Giocattoli pays off today!
Kangert finished 42th in a big group 1’46 behind the winner. So to something nice: Nazaret won the sprint of the peloton. And they were actually sprinting 53th until the final kilometer, when them all stopped (I think it’s because the group was P but in the last km changed to A3). Well he was going to ‘win’ even when they were sprinting so it’s something that made me happy!!
Today winner is Results
1
Leonardo Bertagnolli
Androni Giocattoli
5h30'19
2
David García Dapena
Xacobeo - Galicia
s.t.
3
Maxim Iglinskiy
Astana
s.t.
4
Francesco Ginanni
Androni Giocattoli
s.t.
5
Arkaitz Durán
Footon - Servetto
s.t.
6
Rubén Pérez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
7
David Blanco
Palmeiras Resort - Prio
s.t.
8
Volodymir Gustov
Cervélo Test Team
s.t.
9
Óscar Pereiro
Astana
s.t.
10
Aitor Galdos
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
Spoiler
11
Rigoberto Urán
Caisse d'Epargne
s.t.
12
Aleksejs Saramotins
Team HTC - Columbia
s.t.
13
Benjamín Noval
Astana
s.t.
14
Xavier Tondo
Cervélo Test Team
s.t.
15
Juan José Cobo
Caisse d'Epargne
s.t.
16
Janez Brajkovič
Team RadioShack
s.t.
17
Cândido Barbosa
Palmeiras Resort - Prio
s.t.
18
Andriy Grivko
Astana
s.t.
19
David López
Caisse d'Epargne
s.t.
20
Stéphane Augé
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
21
Christophe Kern
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
22
Jesús Hernández
Astana
s.t.
23
Alessandro Bertolini
Androni Giocattoli - Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni
+ 1'46
24
Iban Mayoz
Footon - Servetto
s.t.
25
Peter Sagan
Liquigas - Doimo
s.t.
26
Xavier Florencio
Cervélo Test Team
s.t.
27
Paul Martens
Rabobank
s.t.
28
Mauro Finetto
Liquigas - Doimo
s.t.
29
Juan Manuel Gárate
Rabobank
s.t.
30
Joost Posthuma
Rabobank
s.t.
31
Rein Taaramäe
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
32
Ángel Vicioso
Andalucía - Cajasur
s.t.
33
José Ángel Gómez Marchante
Andalucía - Cajasur
s.t.
34
Kanstantsin Siutsou
Team HTC - Columbia
s.t.
35
Richie Porte
Team Saxo Bank
s.t.
36
Francisco Pérez
Caisse d'Epargne
s.t.
37
Rasmus Guldhammer
Team HTC - Columbia
s.t.
38
José Luis Rubiera
Team RadioShack
s.t.
39
Gustav Erik Larsson
Team Saxo Bank
s.t.
40
Mirko Selvaggi
Astana
s.t.
41
Xabier Zandio
Caisse d'Epargne
s.t.
42
Tanel Kangert
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
s.t.
43
Rubens Bertogliati
Androni Giocattoli - Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni
s.t.
44
Alejandro Marque
Palmeiras Resort - Prio
+ 4'53
45
Martin Pedersen
Footon - Servetto
+ 6'47
46
Óscar Pujol
Cervélo Test Team
s.t.
47
Beñat Intxausti
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
48
Dimitriy Muravyev
Team RadioShack
s.t.
49
Hugo Sabido
LA Rota dos Móveis
s.t.
50
José Herrada
Caja Rural
s.t.
51
David Bernabéu
Barbot - Siper
s.t.
52
Carlos José Ochoa
Androni Giocattoli - Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni
s.t.
53
Magno Prado Nazaret
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
+ 8'06
54
Markel Irizar
Team RadioShack
s.t.
55
Jason McCartney
Team RadioShack
s.t.
56
Stef Clement
Rabobank
s.t.
57
Manuel Calvente
Andalucía - Cajasur
s.t.
58
Sébastien Minard
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
59
Serafín Martínez
Xacobeo - Galicia
s.t.
60
Gonzalo Rabuñal
Xacobeo - Galicia
s.t.
61
Andrés Antuña
Burgos 2016 - Castilla y Leon
s.t.
62
Byron Guama
Burgos 2016 - Castilla y Leon
s.t.
63
Luis Ángel Maté
Androni Giocattoli - Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni
s.t.
64
Javier Moreno
Andalucía - Cajasur
s.t.
65
Edgar Pinto
LA Rota dos Móveis
s.t.
66
Oleg Chuzhda
Caja Rural
s.t.
67
Vitor Rodrigues
Caja Rural
s.t.
68
José Antonio De Segovia
Xacobeo - Galicia
s.t.
69
Ricardo Vilela
Madeinox - Boavista
s.t.
70
Matthew Busche
Team RadioShack
s.t.
71
Jackson Rodríguez
Androni Giocattoli - Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni
s.t.
72
Damien Monier
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
73
Pablo Urtasun
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
74
Mathieu Perget
Caisse d'Epargne
s.t.
75
Rubén García
Caja Rural
s.t.
76
Tiziano Dall'Antonia
Liquigas - Doimo
s.t.
77
Dennis Van Winden
Rabobank
s.t.
78
Joaquín Novoa
Cervélo Test Team
s.t.
79
Bruno Pires
Barbot - Siper
s.t.
80
José Vicente García Acosta
Caisse d'Epargne
s.t.
81
Anders Lund
Team Saxo Bank
s.t.
82
Francisco José Pacheco
Xacobeo - Galicia
s.t.
83
Sébastien Rosseler
Team RadioShack
s.t.
84
Kai Reus
Rabobank
s.t.
85
Javier Ramírez Abeja
Andalucía - Cajasur
+ 10'19
86
Valerio Agnoli
Liquigas - Doimo
s.t.
87
Bert Grabsch
Team HTC - Columbia
s.t.
88
Sérgio Sousa
Madeinox - Boavista
s.t.
89
Vicente Reynès
Team HTC - Columbia
s.t.
90
Delio Fernández
Xacobeo - Galicia
s.t.
91
Danail Petrov
Madeinox - Boavista
+ 12'03
92
Francisco Javier Aramendia
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
93
Mauricio Morandi
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
s.t.
94
Iñaki Isasi
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 12'27
95
Tom Leezer
Rabobank
s.t.
96
Geoffroy Lequatre
Team RadioShack
s.t.
97
Guillaume Blot
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
+ 13'39
98
Enrique Mata
Footon - Servetto
s.t.
99
Vidal Celis
Footon - Servetto
s.t.
100
Michał Kwiatkowski
Caja Rural
s.t.
101
Fabio Sabatini
Liquigas - Doimo
s.t.
102
Joaquín Ortega
Barbot - Siper
s.t.
103
Assan Bazayev
Astana
s.t.
104
Arnaud Coyot
Caisse d'Epargne
s.t.
105
Arnaud Labbe
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
106
Roger Hammond
Cervélo Test Team
s.t.
107
Gregory Brenes
Burgos 2016 - Castilla y Leon
s.t.
108
Antonio Cabello
Andalucía - Cajasur
s.t.
109
Nelson Rocha
LA Rota dos Móveis
s.t.
110
Tomas Swift Metcalfe
Palmeiras Resort - Prio
s.t.
111
Ion Izagirre
Orbea
s.t.
112
Lluis Guillermo Mas
Burgos 2016 - Castilla y Leon
s.t.
113
Pedro Merino
Footon - Servetto
s.t.
114
Sergio De Lis
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
115
David Vitoria
Footon - Servetto
s.t.
116
Higinio Fernández
Caja Rural
s.t.
117
José Carlos Lara
Burgos 2016 - Castilla y Leon
s.t.
118
Hélder Oliveira
Barbot - Siper
s.t.
119
Daniel Sesma
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 16'03
120
Nelson Oliveira
Xacobeo - Galicia
s.t.
121
Edward King
Cervélo Test Team
s.t.
122
Maxim Gourov
Astana
s.t.
123
Vladimir Isaychev
Xacobeo - Galicia
s.t.
124
Óscar Vicente Grau
Burgos 2016 - Castilla y Leon
s.t.
125
Tom Stamsnijder
Rabobank
s.t.
126
Matías Médici
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
s.t.
127
Jacopo Guarnieri
Liquigas - Doimo
+ 17'07
128
Jonathan Bellis
Team Saxo Bank
s.t.
129
Célio Sousa
Madeinox - Boavista
s.t.
130
Maciej Bodnar
Liquigas - Doimo
s.t.
131
Jarosław Marycz
Team Saxo Bank
s.t.
132
Cesar Fonte
Barbot - Siper
s.t.
133
Egoitz García
Caja Rural
s.t.
134
Gabriel Rasch
Cervélo Test Team
s.t.
135
Ricardo García
Orbea
s.t.
136
Tiago Fiorilli
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
s.t.
137
Mariano Giallorenzo
Meridiana Kamen Team
s.t.
138
Olegs Melehs
Meridiana Kamen Team
s.t.
139
Maciej Paterski
Liquigas - Doimo
s.t.
140
Kasper Klostergaard
Team Saxo Bank
s.t.
141
Márcio Barbosa
LA Rota dos Móveis
s.t.
142
Mikel Landa
Orbea
s.t.
143
Jens Keukeleire
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
+ 19'31
144
Mikel Ilundain
Orbea
s.t.
145
Jon Aberasturi
Orbea
s.t.
146
Damiano Margutti
Androni Giocattoli - Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni
s.t.
147
Alberto Morrás
Madeinox - Boavista
s.t.
148
Leigh Howard
Team HTC - Columbia
s.t.
149
Marin Andelini
Meridiana Kamen Team
s.t.
150
Rubén Calvo
LA Rota dos Móveis
s.t.
151
Baden Cooke
Team Saxo Bank
s.t.
152
Adam Hansen
Team HTC - Columbia
s.t.
153
Martin Velits
Team HTC - Columbia
s.t.
154
Alex Arseno
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
s.t.
155
Aritz Etxebarria
Orbea
s.t.
156
Hugo Vítor
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
s.t.
157
Bruno Sancho
LA Rota dos Móveis
+ 21'39
158
Daniel Rogelin
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
s.t.
159
Ruben Couto
Madeinox - Boavista
+ 23'15
160
Daniel Mestre
Palmeiras Resort - Prio
s.t.
161
Boris Legovic
Meridiana Kamen Team
+ 24'03
162
Henrique Casimiro
Palmeiras Resort - Prio
s.t.
163
Mauro Hrastnik
Meridiana Kamen Team
+ 25'23
164
Juraj Ugrinic
Meridiana Kamen Team
+ 26'19
165
Michele Merlo
Footon - Servetto
+ 29'39
166
Joaquín Sobrino
Caja Rural
+ 30'27
167
Bruno Lima
Barbot - Siper
s.t.
168
Alex Rasmussen
Team Saxo Bank
+ 31'39
Well, 42th. Could have been really better. I believe Kangert could have finished with the first group. But no, I decided to make him chase the leaders on those last climbs. He never reached them and wasted a lot of energy. Had he gone on his own, he would be caught by the pack with still some energy and probably be able to finish with it. Maybe we could have snatched a Top 20! Bad decision = bad finish.
Bertagnolli is the 5th out of 50 winners of the race not Spanish! Congrats to him, and did it in the 50th anniversary of the race. We still had 6 Spanish riders on Top 10. Anyway I still do not understand why Caisse d'Epargne sent their best guys here instead of LBL. Their result there was a 18th by Soler, who is worse than their 3 leaders today. They could have gotten great results.
Our next race is East Midlands International Cicle Classic. 14 sections of hard pavé are on the route, and we have no good riders on cobblestones, so we have no expectations for this race. I believe this is the only race with cobbles on the season for us. Anyway, we are racing it just for the fitness and it should be quite the same as happened here - goal: breakaway.
Edited by lluuiiggii on 29-01-2011 01:38
Yeah,maybe that move was a mistake,maybe Kangert could have finished with the pack,maybe this...maybe that....i say it was a nice try from him,no risk no fun mate.
April 25th
East Midlands International CiCLE Classic
East Midlands CiCLE Classic is our first and only cobblestones classic this season. We will be in other races with stages with cobblestones, such as Ronde van Belgie and, if we get an wild card - which is not likely at the moment - Eneco Tour. Anyway, this is our only cobble classic. We have no good guys when it comes to the hard and treacherous pavé roads, so we’ve no expectations, just get that little more fitness.
The race takes part in England, and, although created in 2006, already is classified as 1.2 event on the UCI Europe Tour. The riders will suffer today as 12 hard cobblestone sections are on the way, and with the last one being a 1.5 km long uphill just 5 kilometers away from the finish, we might see an interesting finish today.
Adageo Energy
191. A.Carr
192. A.Carroll
193. J.Horowitz
194. M.Landen
195. A.Martinez
196. B.Van der Genugte
Favorites
If I was surprised to see a startlist stronger than expected in Vuelta a la Rioja, I’m surprised to see a startlist weaker than expected today. Probably because we have only continental teams, but anyway. Main favorite today is Tom Veelers (Skil - Shimano), followed by Taylor Phinney (Trek Livestrong) and Matt Stephens (Sigma Sport). And that’s all. The rest of the field has got no one with COB better than 67. So I’d be surprised, big time, to see another rider winning over the favorites, especially Tom Veelers. I mean, not only he’s the best cobblestoner (is this right? =P) but also better sprinter than Phinney, and Stephens isn’t a sprinter. Me, by the way, hopes for Phinney to win.
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
Team Goals:
- be part of breakaway.
Well, the best guy on cobbles on the team is Escuela (COB 61). He’s taking part here but doesn’t have a really good form. Instead, Walker (COB 59) has a pretty nice form - 93 - so he’ll our bet for today’s breakaway. Pagliarini maybe will go with, and let’s see what will happen.
April 25th: East Midlands International CiCLE Classic
Rutland - Melton, 160.4 kms
As said on the race preview, the route is tough. 12 sections of pave totalizing 18.4 km of cobbled distance wait for the riders. Let's see what these hard stone roads will show us today.
The game unfortunately crashed but fortunately it saved the results, it was not the usual type of crash so I didn’t know if I’d have to play the race again, and I didn’t want to play the race again so… well let me report what happened:
The peloton was wanting no breaks at all, so all tries were being reeled in by the pack. We got to the first section of cobblestones still without a established break. Was it gonna be like this for the whole day?
Then, after the 3rd cobble section, I think, some riders decided to attack. Pagliarini, btw, had already maxed on +5 daily form. I tried to attack too with Walker and Pagliarini but Pagliarini had reached his ‘attack limit’ (red bar going from full to zero in one sec). In the end, only 2 riders managed to go clear and Walker and Pagliarini were still in the peloton.
We had already given up on any chance for Pagliarini thanks to the ‘attack limit’. Anytime his effort was bigger than (heart rate) 174~175, his red bar would go to zero. So he was almost all the time with full yellow bar recovering red bar. Pity because he was +5 on the day.
Anyway we still Walker and were trying to protect him, but we knew once we went further in the race the peloton would increase on the cobblestones and Walker would struggle. Another problem we were having today was feeding. Most of our riders were tired all the time, and almost no one was able to go, get food, no be caught by any split and bring water to the others.
With 30 km to go, Skil - Shimano, Trek Livestrong and Sigma Sport, as expected, were controlling the race, especially the first one. The gap to the 2 escapees was down to 2 minutes, so they would probably be caught shortly. We were still in the peloton, that was down to 89 riders (from 138 in the beginning). Pagliarini was protecting Walker, when he (Pagliarini) suddenly had a puncture. Those two were basically my only riders with energy on the pack, so that was another punch for us. Fortunately Escuela still had something to help Walker.
I have no idea how, but Walker had survived the last sections of pave. Now there was only one left. The problem is that this was the main section of the race: 1.5 km long, uphill and with 5 km to go, as said in the race preview. It was now about 22 km left and we were having real problems getting water to Walker, even though he wasn’t near the front of the peloton.
As we saw there was no way our riders could get Walker the water, we decided to get the water Walker. The 20 km line had already passed, so seeing ourselves without choice, Walker decreased his speed until he was in the last rows of the peloton to get water. The problem was that while he was doing that, the 3 riders we had sent to get water dropped of the peloton. So now we had the worst position and no water. Fail. 10 km to go.
So now 10 km left and that’s our situation. I decided to look at the front - the pack is going on a slow speed, the break of 2 riders 2 minutes in front! The peloton couldn’t close the gap in these 20 kms! Was the break really gonna make it?
Walker saw a chance to get back to a better position on the slow pace of the peloton - with Escuela protecting him, I put Walker on relay at 80, and although he was suffering a bit, he was going back to the front! And wow, with 7 km to go we’re in the front of the peloton! I knew though Walker probably wouldn’t survive the last cobbled hill to sprint.
So we had an idea: with Escuela protecting Walker, seeing the pace on the peloton was really slow, with nobody relaying and nobody trying to make sprint trains or anything like that, we tried to brake away with dot 75. The pack would reach us in the hill, because we would slow down and by doing this, save energy for the sprint! The escapees were too far to be reached now, but dammit, we still wanted something today!
And it was working! We entered the hill in first position, without spending much energy! It was when this happened: all the favorites (Phinney, Veelers) got Walker’s wheel!! I quickly realized they would go up in the same speed as us! I never wanted to be first position in pre-sprint as I wanted now! It was the perfect opportunity!!
So with Escuela protecting Walker, we set Walker on dot 25 and climbed the hill on a very slow pace! All the favorites followed us, nobody did another sprint train to pass us, so on top of the hill we still had some energy to sprint! Of course, the favorites and better riders had much more energy, but I would be satisfied with a Top 15!
In the front, the escapees, whose name I shall reveal now, were battling for the win: Marc de Maar against Matt Cronshaw! De Maar was a bit better in cobblestones, but Cronshaw was the better sprinter! In the end, Cronshaw proved who had the better legs and took the win in his home country! When you get a win in your 3rd day in the season you gotta be really happy, and he is, for sure!
So on the peloton, there were 8 spots for a Top 10! Walker was a medium sprinter among the peloton and had 93 fitness! Please, Walker, you can do it!! The favorites pass like bullets, as Walker tries to get someone’s wheel. Under the last km banner, there are about 4 riders in front of him, but he’s losing much power! Will he save us a Top 10??
YES, Nicholas Walker crosses the line 9th!! Oh my god, I would never ever expect this. In a cobble race? Are you serious? Kenny van Hummel won the sprint in the peloton for 3rd. Ricardo Escuela crossed 21th, so almost a Top 20 too! I just repeat: in a cobble race? There’s been a looong time since our last Top 10 and we saw it again in an epic cobble race? I gotta be kidding, but I ain’t! And, of course, sorry for the REALLY long writing, but I’m very happy for this result! Oh, and I said that when I get motivated in writing, I write too much. Sorry again and thanks if you read this all Here btw is the SS of results if you want =)
Today winner is Results
1
Matt Cronshaw
Rapha Condor - Sharp
4h35'57
2
Marc De Maar
UnitedHealtchare
s.t.
3
Kenny Van Hummel
Skil - Shimano
+ 1'58
4
Tom Veelers
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
5
Robert Hayles
Endura Racing
s.t.
6
Taylor Phinney
Trek Livestrong U23
s.t.
7
David Deroo
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
8
Evan Oliphant
Endura Racing
s.t.
9
Nicholas Walker
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
s.t.
10
Liam Holohan
Team Raleigh
s.t.
Spoiler
11
Malcolm Elliott
Motorpoint - Marshall's Pasta
s.t.
12
Ian Bibby
Motorpoint - Marshall's Pasta
s.t.
13
Matthew Stephens
Sigma Sport - Specialized
s.t.
14
Jesse Anthony
Kelly Benefit Strategies
s.t.
15
Michale Friedman
Jelly Belly
s.t.
16
Michalel Berling
Glud & Marstrand
s.t.
17
Roy Curvers
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
18
James McCallum
Endura Racing
s.t.
19
Simon Richardson
Sigma Sport - Specialized
s.t.
20
Scott Thwaites
Endura Racing
s.t.
21
Ricardo Escuela
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
s.t.
22
Kasper Jebjerg
Team Designa Kokken - Blue Water
s.t.
23
Jens Erik Madsen
Team Designa Kokken - Blue Water
s.t.
24
Shawn Milne
Team Type 1
s.t.
25
Troels Ronning Vinther
Glud & Marstrand
s.t.
Oh wow! Thank you pai-de-santo! What just happened? I can't even believe this really happened. We got a Top 10!! Last time this happened, or better, last time we had a chance to fight for a Top 10 was March 27th, Settimana Coppi e Bartali, on a breakaway we got 8th. There have 14 race days since then, and we haven't got any chance to do good. There at least we had our bad riders on the action, but now we have our best peaking! Other than that, our last Top 10 was Feb 19th, Médici got 7th on Tour of Oman's ITT. That's 31 race days. Also Escuela on 21th was pretty nice! So yeah, we are really glad to find again a good result, even if it is only one, especially now that we have a season goal so close.
Skil - Shimano and the others favorites' teams really failed here. They got the break under control, 30 km to go, gap is only 2 minutes and they weren't able to close the gap. Skil - Shimano could even have the double hadn't the break won today!
We surely have reasons to celebrate, but not too much, as the day after tomorrow, 27th, we will take part in Subida al Naranco. It's a mountain classic, and will be our last preparation for our first goal of the season! Let's hope this good result is repeated within the next days, and stay tuned!
Edited by lluuiiggii on 30-01-2011 14:06
Alakagon wrote:
Congrats ! Excellent tactics and great place for Walker, now hopefully you will fulfil sposonor goas so they will be happy, great result
@roturn
Thanks for deleting those posts
And yeah, Sanchez did great, but I loled at Gilbert's fail: 7th, 7th, and no Top 10 on LBL. Great results, but certainly not what he expected
April 27th
Subida al Naranco
We are in Spain for Subida al Naranco, a mountain classic rated as 1.1 on the UCI Europe Tour. The race was created in 1941, but has had only 43 editions thanks to two big periods without the race (48-59 and 67-80). As a race dominated by Spanish riders on its early history it saw some Vuelta a España winners win here, such as Marino Lejarreta, Tony Rominger, Abraham Olano and Roberto Heras.
This year’s route is very tough. The riders will face several climbings, and as you go further on the road, the climbs get steeper. The last climb is probably the steepest, and if we get there with the winner not defined yet, expect a lot of attacks on that. And, of course, today we’ll be able to see who are contenders for sister race Vuelta a Asturias, starting tomorrow, if the rider decides to take part on both.
Caisse d’Epargne brought a strong team, as often, with its leader being Juan Mauricio Soler. Astana also comes with a as good as team, so Soler will face serious competition in Daniel Navarro. A French team is also strong today: Cofidis brings David Moncoutié and as good helpers as the others have, such as Estonian Taaramae. Tiago Machado is the hopes of win for Radioshack. Surprisingly, the American team hasn’t the best to offer him as a help. The list continues with Xavier Tondo (Cervélo), Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel) and others. The battle should be interesting.
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
Team Goals:
- be part of breakaway
Seeing the strong startlist, we have no other option but go in the break. On the last hilly classic some riders of the break finished with the first group, maybe the same happens today? Kangert and Nazaret are in great form. The problem is that today’s finish is a short MTF, so it’s different then Vuelta a la Rioja. Oh, yeah, and we have to hope Nazaret do not suffer a puncture while in the break xD
April 27th: Subida al Naranco
Oviedo - Alto del Naranco, 176.2 kms
More mysterious mountains! The beginning will have smaller climbs, but a nice number of them. After about 70 kms, the climbs will get bigger and steeper, finishing in the Naranco climb, the steepest ascent of the course. Considering the start list, we’ll send Kangert in a break, and let’s see what happens!
It took quite long for a break to establish today. That only happened on top of the second climb. Fortunately, we were able to have Kangert and Nazaret between the 9 attackers. No notable riders, Kangert was probably the best among them.
30 kilometers later, with the gap in two minutes and a half, Iban Mayoz tried to attack out of the pack.
He quickly reach us, and, interested in having the break go clear as long as possible, took the matter into his own hands and was doing most of the work in the break. We started the 3rd to last climb 5’19 ahead of the pack.
When we reached the steeper slopes of the climb, Mayoz increased and only Landa was able to follow him. Before the end of the climb, though, Landa had already dropped too so now Mayoz was alone 60 kilometers before the line.
He climbed his advantage up while all the others but Landa were caught on the middle of the penultimate climb. His advantage was now 3 minutes with 37 km to go. Christophe Moreau was doing most of the work for Caisse d’Epargne.
Landa was caught on the end of that climb. Kangert survived until the flat part, but as he couldn’t recover even on the descent and was suffering a lot, it was done for him today. The gap was now only 1’27 with 27 km to go. Peloton was down to 72 riders.
There were a few attempts of attack, but all them failed on the fast speed of the peloton. On front, Mayoz was going faster, though, and with 10 kilometers to go, the gap was still in 1’14, looking better for the solo rider although he would probably need more if he wanted the win.
5 kilometers to go for the solo escapee, and the gap is still a minute! Last climb was about 4 km long, and really steep in some parts. Would we see the break winning a classic for the second time in a row?
No. When Xavier Tondo attacked, followed by Jesús Hernández and David López, he caught the poor Footon rider with only 2 kilometers to go.
Mayoz was also caught by the peloton while Daniel Navarro made his way up the first group. The 4 entered the final kilometer fifty seconds in front of the peloton to sprint for the win today!
Tondo proved to be the strongest and took the win ahead of Hernández and Navarro! López lost contact to the group but still held for 4th. Another Caisse rider won the sprint on the peloton, Juan Mauricio Soler.
Today winner is Results
1
Xavier Tondo
Cervélo Test Team
5h09'59
2
Jesús Hernández
Astana
s.t.
3
Daniel Navarro
Astana
s.t.
4
David López
Caisse d'Epargne
+ 21
5
Juan Mauricio Soler
Caisse d'Epargne
+ 35
6
Óscar Pereiro
Astana
+ 44
7
Rein Taaramäe
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
+ 52
8
Christophe Kern
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
9
Miguel Rubiano
Meridiana Kamen Team
s.t.
10
José Ángel Gómez Marchante
Andalucía - Cajasur
s.t.
Spoiler
11
Amaël Moinard
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
12
Rubén Plaza
Caisse d'Epargne
s.t.
13
David Moncoutié
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
14
Marcos García
Xacobeo - Galicia
s.t.
15
Tiago Machado
Team RadioShack
s.t.
16
Ángel Vicioso
Andalucía - Cajasur
s.t.
17
David De la Fuente
Astana
s.t.
18
David Blanco
Palmeiras Resort - Prio
s.t.
19
Amets Txurruka
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
20
Alejandro Marque
Palmeiras Resort - Prio
s.t.
21
Christophe Moreau
Caisse d'Epargne
s.t.
22
Javier Moreno
Andalucía - Cajasur
s.t.
23
Reto Hollenstein
Vorarlberg - Corratec
s.t.
24
David Bernabéu
Barbot - Siper
s.t.
25
Bram Tankink
Rabobank
s.t.
26
Arkaitz Durán
Footon - Servetto
s.t.
27
Juan Manuel Gárate
Rabobank
s.t.
28
Philip Deignan
Cervélo Test Team
s.t.
29
David García Dapena
Xacobeo - Galicia
s.t.
30
Aitor Pérez Arrieta
Footon - Servetto
s.t.
31
Gorka Verdugo
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
32
Grischa Niermann
Rabobank
s.t.
33
Óscar Pujol
Cervélo Test Team
s.t.
34
Eros Capecchi
Footon - Servetto
s.t.
35
Francisco Pérez
Caisse d'Epargne
s.t.
36
Iban Mayoz
Footon - Servetto
s.t.
37
Steven Kruijswijk
Rabobank
s.t.
38
Yevgeniy Nepomnyachshiy
Astana
s.t.
39
Giampaolo Cheula
Footon - Servetto
s.t.
40
Josep Jufré
Astana
s.t.
41
Sérgio Paulinho
Team RadioShack
s.t.
42
Andrés Antuña
Burgos 2016 - Castilla y Leon
s.t.
43
Iván Velasco
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
44
Alberto Losada
Caisse d'Epargne
s.t.
45
Gorazd Stangelj
Astana
s.t.
46
Pieter Weening
Rabobank
s.t.
47
José Vicente García Acosta
Caisse d'Epargne
s.t.
48
Hubert Schwab
Vorarlberg - Corratec
s.t.
49
Rémi Pauriol
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
50
Mauricio Ardila
Rabobank
s.t.
51
Hernâni Brôco
LA Rota dos Móveis
s.t.
52
Íñigo Cuesta
Cervélo Test Team
s.t.
53
Carlos Castaño
Xacobeo - Galicia
s.t.
54
Rodrigo García
Xacobeo - Galicia
s.t.
55
Beñat Intxausti
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 2'42
56
Gustavo César Veloso
Xacobeo - Galicia
s.t.
57
Gonzalo Rabuñal
Xacobeo - Galicia
s.t.
58
Nelson Victorino
Palmeiras Resort - Prio
+ 3'09
59
Xavier Florencio
Cervélo Test Team
s.t.
60
Julien El Fares
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
+ 3'23
61
Samuel Dumoulin
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
+ 3'57
62
Rémy Cusin
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
+ 4'05
63
Alberto Fernández
Xacobeo - Galicia
s.t.
64
Tanel Kangert
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
s.t.
65
Andrey Amador
Caisse d'Epargne
s.t.
66
Kai Reus
Rabobank
s.t.
67
Mikel Landa
Orbea
+ 5'47
68
Iván Melero
Burgos 2016 - Castilla y Leon
+ 5'59
69
Matthew Busche
Team RadioShack
+ 6'09
70
Hélder Oliveira
Barbot - Siper
s.t.
71
David De la Cruz
Caja Rural
+ 7'41
72
Jonathan Castroviejo
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 7'49
73
Mikel Nieve
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
74
Volodymir Gustov
Cervélo Test Team
+ 8'07
75
Magno Prado Nazaret
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
+ 8'16
76
Ricardo Mestre
Palmeiras Resort - Prio
s.t.
77
José Luis Rubiera
Team RadioShack
s.t.
78
Simon Geschke
Skil - Shimano
+ 8'32
79
Rui Sousa
Barbot - Siper
+ 8'47
80
Pedro Merino
Footon - Servetto
s.t.
81
Yukihiro Doi
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
82
Martin Schöffmann
Vorarlberg - Corratec
+ 9'13
83
Vitor Rodrigues
Caja Rural
+ 9'21
84
Alexandre Geniez
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
85
David Gutiérrez Palacios
Footon - Servetto
+ 9'37
86
Ricardo Vilela
Madeinox - Boavista
s.t.
87
Rubén García
Caja Rural
+ 9'51
88
Joaquín Novoa
Cervélo Test Team
s.t.
89
Mauricio Morandi
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
s.t.
90
Javier Ramírez Abeja
Andalucía - Cajasur
+ 10'05
91
Thomas Faiers
Footon - Servetto
s.t.
92
José Luis Roldán
Andalucía - Cajasur
s.t.
93
Gregory Brenes
Burgos 2016 - Castilla y Leon
+ 10'23
94
Ion Izagirre
Orbea
s.t.
95
Hugo Vítor
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
s.t.
96
Michał Kwiatkowski
Caja Rural
+ 10'39
97
Tomasz Marczynski
CCC Polsat Polkowice
+ 10'47
98
Ivan Rovny
Team RadioShack
+ 11'15
99
Nelson Rocha
LA Rota dos Móveis
s.t.
100
Dimitry Kozontchuk
Rabobank
+ 12'05
101
Albert Timmer
Skil - Shimano
+ 12'21
102
Sergio Carrasco
Andalucía - Cajasur
+ 18'03
103
Salvatore Commesso
Meridiana Kamen Team
+ 18'11
104
Miguel Mínguez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 19'19
105
Alan Pérez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 20'19
106
Mariano Giallorenzo
Meridiana Kamen Team
s.t.
107
Marko Ivancic
Meridiana Kamen Team
+ 21'39
108
Francisco Chamorro
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
+ 33'27
109
Markel Irizar
Team RadioShack
s.t.
110
Dominique Cornu
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
111
Danail Petrov
Madeinox - Boavista
s.t.
112
Hugo Sabido
LA Rota dos Móveis
s.t.
113
Célio Sousa
Madeinox - Boavista
s.t.
114
Miguel Ángel Candil
LA Rota dos Móveis
s.t.
115
Aketza Peña
Caja Rural
s.t.
116
Thomas De Gendt
Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator
s.t.
117
Ricardo Escuela
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
s.t.
118
Jason McCartney
Team RadioShack
s.t.
119
Pieter Jacobs
Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator
s.t.
120
Vergílio Dos Santos
LA Rota dos Móveis
s.t.
121
Higinio Fernández
Caja Rural
s.t.
122
Nicholas Walker
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
s.t.
123
Christoph Sokoll
Vorarlberg - Corratec
s.t.
124
Sander Armee
Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator
s.t.
125
Rubén Reig
Caja Rural
s.t.
126
Jérôme Baugnies
Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator
s.t.
127
Francisco José Pacheco
Xacobeo - Galicia
s.t.
128
Luciano Pagliarini
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
s.t.
129
Piergiorgio Camussa
Vorarlberg - Corratec
s.t.
130
René Weissinger
Vorarlberg - Corratec
s.t.
131
José Carlos Lara
Burgos 2016 - Castilla y Leon
s.t.
132
Alberto Morrás
Madeinox - Boavista
s.t.
133
Joaquín Ortega
Barbot - Siper
s.t.
134
Márcio Barbosa
LA Rota dos Móveis
s.t.
135
Martin Reimer
Cervélo Test Team
s.t.
136
Joseba Larralde
Orbea
s.t.
137
Tomas Swift Metcalfe
Palmeiras Resort - Prio
s.t.
138
Diego Gallego
Burgos 2016 - Castilla y Leon
s.t.
139
Bjorn Selander
Team RadioShack
s.t.
140
Mario Costa
Barbot - Siper
s.t.
141
Steven Van Vooren
Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator
s.t.
142
Sergey Renev
Astana
s.t.
143
João Benta
Madeinox - Boavista
s.t.
144
Tomasz Kiendyś
CCC Polsat Polkowice
s.t.
145
Dominik Hrinkow
Vorarlberg - Corratec
s.t.
146
Olegs Melehs
Meridiana Kamen Team
s.t.
147
Carlos Baltazar
Barbot - Siper
s.t.
148
Kristof Vandewalle
Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator
s.t.
149
Bartlomiej Matysiak
CCC Polsat Polkowice
s.t.
150
Tomasz Repinski
CCC Polsat Polkowice
s.t.
151
Ricardo García
Orbea
s.t.
152
Matic Strgar
Vorarlberg - Corratec
s.t.
153
Luis Pinheiro
Madeinox - Boavista
s.t.
154
Kris Boeckmans
Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator
s.t.
155
Garikoitz Bravo
Caja Rural
s.t.
156
Job Vissers
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
157
Adrián Sáez de Arregi
Orbea
s.t.
158
Michael Van Staeyen
Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator
s.t.
159
Kamil Zielinski
CCC Polsat Polkowice
s.t.
160
Robin Chaigneau
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
161
Łukasz Bodnar
CCC Polsat Polkowice
s.t.
162
Jon Aberasturi
Orbea
s.t.
163
Krzysztof Jeżowski
CCC Polsat Polkowice
s.t.
164
David Francisco
Burgos 2016 - Castilla y Leon
s.t.
165
Sylwester Janiszewski
CCC Polsat Polkowice
s.t.
166
Jin Long
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
167
André Cardoso
Palmeiras Resort - Prio
+ 35'03
168
Boris Legovic
Meridiana Kamen Team
+ 49'59
Kangert crossed 64th, by the way. We had no expectations for this race, so we are not caring for this. Basically all our interest is in starting-tomorrow's race.
Anyway, Xavier Tondo with a great result, his first win in the season. He's got only 20 race days now. Astana also with a very good performance, 2nd, 3rd and 6th, and also Caisse d'Epargne, 4th and 5th. I said they both brought strong teams, and also talked about Cofidis who might be satisfied with 7th and 8th. Tiago Machado didn't match the expectations with a 15th, but other than that, no real surprises.
So, it has finally come: our next race is Vuelta a Asturias. It's our second goal of the season, so we better accomplish it otherwise the sponsors will be really mad. What we need: wear the sprinter's jersey, and we'll be counting on Pagliarini and Walker for that. The first stage is the only flat one, and we gotta do well on that. Stay tuned!
Welcome to Vuelta a Asturias, a 5-day tour in the region of Asturias, in Spain! The race is quite old, created in 1925, but is only going to its edition number 54 as the race hasn’t been held consistently until 1968.
[img-r]https://fotos.miarroba.com/fotos/6/2/6246aec8.jpg[/img-r]
In the first edition the riders passed 676 kilometers in only 3 stages, being the biggest one a 250 km long going from Gijón to Oviedo. Ricardo Montero won the race with a time of 27h45’42, so an average speed of about 24 km/h.
Nowadays, the Vuelta a Asturias feature 5 stages in a nice mix: this years’ edition brings one flat, two hilly and two mountain stages. The race will start in Oviedo and finish in Oviedo. Actually, the stage Gijón - Oviedo will finish this year’s race. Of course, it won’t be 250 km long, "just" 200 kilometers.
Stage 1 is the only flat, and the one we are mostly looking forward to. Stage 2 and 3 offers some small hills. Just a warm up for Stage 4’s mountain top finish on Alto del Acebo. Stage 5 is the queen stage, though, offering 6 big and hard climbs. And no, I did not put it wrong: stage 3 is indeed a mountain one and stage 4 a hilly one. We can do nothing if that’s how the organizers think.
The GC Contenders
As already mentioned, on Subida al Naranco we can see who has good form and who are the favorites for Vuelta a Asturias. So, Tondo could be one of the main favorites here, but he isn’t as Cervélo isn’t taking part. Another team that did well yesterday but is not here is Caisse d’Epargne, so no López among the favorites too. This way, the attention turns to the Astana team, more exactly Jesús Hernández and Daniel Navarro. Cofidis also performed well yesterday. We’ll just have to know who will be their leader: Rein Taaramäe or David Moncoutié. Tiago Machado didn’t get the spotlights yesterday, could this happen in the stage race? The RadioShack rider at least got 15th, but Juan Manuel Gárate had to live with 27th yesterday. If he can turn the cards then he is also a favorite. We still have Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel), Kanstantsin Siutsou (HTC - Columbia), and others. Might see some great attacks in the mountains.
The Sprinters
Oh, you can’t believe how I was relieved as looking at the peloton searching for sprinters. We have, thank god, a small list of sprinters here, and no really high level sprinter. The 2 best sprinters on the field here are Samuel Dumoulin and Cândido Barbosa. Hopefully Cofidis will focus more on GC and not help Dumoulin very much. The same for Geoffroy Lequatre. Other riders we should take a close look at are Vicente Reynès and Giovanni Visconti. The Italian champion is good at hills and could be a problem.
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
Team Goals:
- Wear sprinter’s jersey - Sponsor Goal (Pagliarini, Walker)
Quoting one of the few American football narrators in Brazil: It’s now or never!
It is here. Unsuccessful preparation races shouldn’t already be part of our rider’s memories, we need total focus here! Concentration, determination. We have trained for this, we are prepared for this. This is maybe the biggest focus of all season for our sprinters. They will attack if needed to collect more points. All we need is to wear the sprinter’s jersey for a single day. Failure is not an option.
Tanel Kangert and a few others, by the way, won’t finish this race. They shall give up on Stage 4 as we have a classic that is another goal of the season on May 2nd, same day of the last stage of this race. So they are using this as that last brush stroke to the best form they can have.
I mean, they are really mad at me 
sry again for too long post, but I was happy 
