Thank you all for the comments! It's really great to know that the story is so well received!
The crash was indeed really big. About 35 riders were on the road, unfortunatly (for them) some of the GC riders, too.
And yes, the jersey is just great, and in fact more than I dared to hope for.
@ roturn: The manager was a little surprised by Dominik's attacks on stage 1, but then agreed that the mountain jersey (or even place 2 or 3) would be much bigger than something like the 50th overall. And after all, he's of course over the moon that Dominik justified the trust he put in him.
@ Tombola: Well, it might not be a whole spurt, but he already improved quite a bit, as you can see on page 8. And he is a constant worker, so you can expect him to improve, and improve, and improve, and then, he will be on top
Nice to read that you intend to transfer the story to PCM 11 (also it's a big job). Even though I like stories with 09 (more unique), it would be a pity to see this brilliant story stops.
Good luck in Pais Vasco, hoping for more good results
@ lluuiiggii: From what I've heard of PCM2011, it's gonna be great, and so the story should benefit from that, too. It also should give me even more motivation.
While I was busy in Catalonia, our coblled squad participated in two preparation races for Gent – Wevelgem. Here are the reports:
1.1 – Dwars Door Vlaanderen
The race had some prestigious winners like Tom Boonen or Nick Nuyens, who prepared here for the big classics. Today, only two of the „bigger“ riders are present here: Alessandro Ballan (BMC) and Juan Antonio Flecha (Sky) are the top favorites here.
Eventually, none of those two took part in the final top group. Flecha had a puncture with 20km to go. Ballan fell back very early, BMC's leader was obviously Greg Van Avermaet.
The latter set the decisive attack, which caused the front group to break. Van Avermaet then won the sprint out of a group of four, in front of Bert Scheirlincks.
Paolo Longo Borghini ends up 12th, one place behind Flecha.
1
Greg Van Avermaet
BMC Racing Team
5h24'34
2
Bert Scheirlinckx
Landbouwkredit
s.t.
3
Staf Scheirlinckx
Verandas Willems Accent
s.t.
1.HC – E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
As one of the biggest cobbled classics and preparation for Gent – Wevelgem, the E3 Prijs is highly frequented with the elite of cobbled riders. The only ones missing today are the Quick·Step riders Boonen and Chavanel, as well as Nick Nuyens.
Paolo Longo Borghini won't have any chances today, a Top 20 would be remarkable.
The first decision was made with about 55 km to go. Without attacking, four riders came free of the peloton: Leif Hoste, Heinrich Haussler and the Leopard duo Stuart O'Grady and Fabian Cancellara.
O'Grady soon couldn't keep up anymore, and when Haussler and Cancellara attack within the last kilometres, Leif Hoste wasn't able to follow neither. In the end, the Australian champion attacked a little longer and kept his advance until the finish.
Paolo Longo Borghini finished 23rd, along with guys like Matti Breschel and Gert Steegmans, so he should be quite satisfied.
Gent – Wevelgem is the first of three ProTour cobbled classics and probably the easiest, as the Kemmelberg is the only cobbled obstacle. Top favorite is Fabian Cancellara, but his concurrence is hard. Nearly all top cobbled riders are here, just as yesterday, the only teams that don't bring their leaders are Quick·Step and Saxo Bank.
Five escapees led most of the race, which was characterized by strong winds. But they were caught the first time they passed the Kemmelberg, mostly due to the efforts of Garmin.
16 riders passed the Kemmelberg the second time together. Paolo Longo Borghini found himself in a group behind them. With 25 km to go, Stijn Devolder attacked, causing the front group to split. The Belgian champion was soon accompanied by five other riders, but the group split and Cancellara was in the lead together with the Katusha duo Pozzato and Hoste.
A bit surprising, Cancellara had nothing to give anymore, and Katusha got a great 1-2!
He can't believe it: A great day for Filippo Pozzato and his Katusha Team!
The last test for the Ronde Van Vlaanderen. Especially the first stage is a good preparation.
Fabian Cancellara is the big favorite, especially because of the time trial on stage four. It will also come to the first duell with his probably biggest rival for the Flemish classics, Tom Boonen.
Tom Boonen presented himself in good shape and won the first stage in front of Thor Hushovd. They broke free from the favorites group a couple of kilometres in front of the finish. Also, our team showed their cobblestone qualities, as three guys fell out of the time limit.
Those two are obvously the strongest at the moment, as they take the first two spots on the second stage as well, just the other way around: Hushovd wins.
On stage 3, Tom Boonen regained prevalence and wins in front of his lead out Gerald Ciolek. This time, Hushovd only finished 9th. Before the time trial, Boonen leads with twelve seconds to Hushovd, Pozzazo follows a minute behind, and Fabian Cancellara has to make up 1'30, which should be manageable for him.
Fabian Cancellara wins the time trial, not surprisingly. But he misses the win by 19 seconds and finishes only third overall.
A good test for the Ronde Van Vlaanderen: Tom Boonen!
Most impressive was Frederic Amorison, who won three classics within a week. Also notable: Nibali's complete domination in both Tour de Langkawi and Tirreno – Adriatico, and Katusha's 1-2 at Gent – Wevelgem.
As usual, I present you the intermediate states of the different rankings. First of all, the ProTour.
Although he didn't win any ProTour race, Haussler leads due to his second places in Tirreno – Adriatico and Milano – San Remo. Together with Thor Hushovd, he brings Garmin the lead in the team ranking, too.
Duque and Barbosa still live off their great results in the first two months, while Landbouwkredit dominated the CT classics and thus also lead in the team ranking.
Thanks to his domination in Malaysia and during Tirreno – Adriatico, Vincenzo Nibali leads here. Finetto contributes to a strong Liquigas result in the team classement as well.
Five stages and two overall wins bring Nibali the lead here. Mostly therefore, Liquigas leads, too.
Nibali had a great month and deserves this award. Strange is honour for Filippo Savini, as he didn't achieve a single Top 10 result.
De Ronde: Second monument in the calendar, one of the two biggest cobblestone classics, and very prestigious. Everyone of distinction regarding cobbled races is present here, the top favorites on the paper being Fabian Cancellara and Tom Boonen, but especially Thor Hushovd showed a great form recently, so he has to be reckoned with, too.
Liquigas plays a minor role today, a Top 20 result would be sensational.
Km 5: Strong winds afflict the peloton. That will make the race even harder.
Km 21: Maybe for that reason, no attacks have been launched yet.
Km 60: Eventually, Leopards Tom Stamsnijder attacks. Three riders follow.
Km 71: They soon build up a lead of more than 2 minutes.
Km 123: With an advance of 6 minutes, the escapees enter the first pavé section.
Km 128: The pack is on the pavés now, too, and immediatly lengthens. Also, the advance of the escapees decreases.
Km 155:Mark Renshaw chrashes, but he can continue the race.
Km 159: Both the escapees and the pack are now in the hilly part of the race. The advance is down to 3'20.
Km 167: Longo Borghini has a puncture! But luckily, he holds contact to the peloton.
Km 185: What is that? Tom Boonen attacks with still 75 km to go. What does he plan?
Km 190: The favorites react: Cancellara, Heinrich Haussler, Thor Hushovd and some others attack and try to bridge to Boonen, who overtook the remaining escapees and leads solo.
Km 198:Cancellara has reached Boonen and they lead with about a minute to a group of 9 other favorites.
Km 205: The group caught up to them, but immediatly, Cancellara attacks and Boonen and Haussler counter.
Km 213: Again, the group is back together, but again, many attacks follow.
Km 222: At the moment, the situation is as follows: Stijn Devolder leads with about a minute to Heinrich Haussler and Nick Nuyens. Half a minute behind them are Pippo Pozzato, Cancellara and Boonen.
Km 225: Those two groups are now together, and Thor Hushovd is there, too. Devolder leads with 1'20.
Km 235: While Nuyens has problems to follow the first chasing group, Devolder's lead remains constant. Other chasers probably won't be able to intervene, so the winner will be either Devolder or one of the six chasers.
Km 242: With 20 km to go, the Belgian champion even extended his lead to 1'45. That looks great for him. Meanwhile, Nuyens has reconnected with the favorite's group.
Km 246: With Devolder's lead being over two minutes, ProTour leader Heinrich Haussler tries it on his own and attacks. Only Pozzato counters.
Km 252: They got away a couple of seconds, but Pozzato couldn't keep up with Haussler, who is now in second position. With 10 km to go, Devolder's win can only be prevented by a crash or a puncture.
Km 254: With an amazing effort, Leif Hoste caught up with the group among Cancellara, who obviously accepted to fight only for place 4.
Km 257: The group slowed down extremely and lost another 2 minutes on Devolder within the last 8 km. As even De Waele and Van Summeren are almost with them, Boonen sets another attack, followed by Cancellara and Hushovd.
Km 262: He really did it! After an incredible solo rider, Stijn Devolder wins his third Ronde!
Km 262: Behind him, Pozzato almost caught up with Haussler, who finishes second.
Km 262:Cancellara surprisingly outsprints Boonen and Hushovd for place 4.
Km 262:Daniel Oss eventually finishes 38th as best Liquigas rider, a good result for him.
He was unbeatable today. Stijn Devolder wins De Ronde!
Welcome to Dominik's last race for a while. He starts within the same team as always, with Tiziano Dall'Antonia being the leader. Let's see what they can do.
In contrary to Dominik's last two races, this one does not start with a prologue but with a rather hilly, 144km long road stage. Most of the climbs aren't too challenging, but it goes up and down all the time, which will be quite hard.
Km 3: The first attacks enliven the race. Christiano Salerno is one of the six guys who try to break free.
Km 23: He didn't succeed. After the first mountain, four men lead with a minute. Francesco Failli (Farnese Vini), Paul Martens (Rabobank), Addy Engels (Quick·Step) and Ezequiel Mosquera (Vacansoleil) form a strong break of the day.
Km 49: While Francesco Failli takes the provisional mountain lead, it's time to have a look at the favorites for this race. There are three top favorites standing out of the rest: Andy Schleck, Alexandre Vinokourov and Samuel Sanchez. All of them are top hilly riders with at least decent time trial skills, which is what you need to succeed here.
As there are no big mountains, the likes of Damiano Cunego or Phillipe Gilbert might have some chances, if they gain enough time before the time trial.
Outside chances have guys like Levi Leipheimer, Luis Leon Sanchez and Thomas Löfkvist.
Km 65: As the advance is at about four minutes, Leopard and Euskaltel start to increase the pace.
Km 67: Chris Horner (RadioShack) and Francisco Perez (Movistar) attack. A surprising move.
Km 72: They soon build a lead of more than a minute and try to bridge up to the escapees.
Km 114: We're now within the last 30 km and the advance decreased to two and a half minutes. Only Martens, Mosquera and Engels are left in front.
Km 116: Jerome Pineau with another attack out of the pack.
Km 122: On the third-to-last classified mountain, with 22 km to go, Andy Schleck attacks. Damiano Cunego immediatly reacts and follows along with a couple of other riders.
Km 129: While Cunego and Schleck are back in the peloton, Carlos Barredo and Jerome Pineau are in the lead. They're chased by a group among Philippe Gilbert and Samuel Sanchez.
Km 131: Leopard tries everything to reel in the escapees and sets an enormous pace.
Km 136: At the bottom of the last short climb, the leading group – consisting of the riders mentioned above plus Joaquim Rodriguez and Rigoberto Uran – has an advance of about a minute. Can Leopard fight back?
Km 137: Three riders broke free and chase the escapees on their own now: David Arroyo, Levi Leipheimer and Luis Leon Sanchez.
Km 140: Only Arroyo could catch up with the escapees while Jerome Pineau fell back.
Km 143: The sprint starts and it's a close decision between Gilbert, Rodriguez and Barredo. Who will win?
Km 144: Now, where did they come from? With an amazing speed, Rigoberto Uran takes the win in front of David Arroyo!
Km 144:Dominik had his problems during the stage but eventually finishes within the pack.
First win since 2007 for the Colombian!
Result
1
Rigoberto Urán
Sky ProCycling
3h29'10
2
David Arroyo
Movistar Team
s.t.
3
Philippe Gilbert
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
4
Carlos Barredo
Rabobank
s.t.
5
Joaquím Rodríguez
Katusha Team
s.t.
6
Samuel Sánchez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
7
Yaroslav Popovych
Team RadioShack
+ 48
8
Levi Leipheimer
Team RadioShack
s.t.
9
Luis León Sánchez
Rabobank
s.t.
10
John Gadret
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
11
Jérôme Pineau
Quick·Step
s.t.
12
Christophe Kern
Europcar
+ 1'44
...
130
Dominik Nerz
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
Dominik's Comment
A tough stage, just like all the stages here. We didn't have anything to do with the decision, all of us were just fighting to stay in the peloton. I guess we'll have to search our chances in breakaways.
See you,
Dominik
Edited by cunego59 on 01-07-2011 18:15
Although this stage is classified as flat, it has it's difficulties. The course should suit the Liquigas sprinters Tiziano Dall'Antonia and Simone Ponzi , let's see what they can do here.
Km 0: With the first pedalsteps, Thomas De Gendt attacks.
Km 1: Among the followers is Dominik Nerz.
Km 7: Nerz comes in third over the first mountain. With his three fellow escapees, he has only 40 seconds of advance, while De Gendt leads with Patrick Sinkiewitz.
Km 22: Dominik is within the leading group. They have an advance with 1'30.
Km 27: Many riders attack and close the gap to the escapees.
Km 48: No one is left in front of the peloton, Dominik is back in there as well.
Km 62: Still no other rider tried his luck.
Km 87: Yesterday's escapees Ezequiel Mosquera and Francisco Perez do it again.
Km 103: Perez is in the lead together with David De la Fuente (Geox) and Fabian Wegmann (Leopard). Mosquera is 1'30 behind, the pack another one minute.
Km 117: The Spaniard is reeled back in. Wegmann and Perez are still 2'45 in front, De la Fuente fell back a little.
Km 134: Wegmann is in front alone now, but the pack will probably be too fast for him.
Km 136: On the last mountain, Dominik suffers a lot at the end of the pack. He worked a lot for Simone Ponzi and pays the price now.
Km 149: 11 km to go, and everything is back together. Ponzi is the only Liquigas rider close to the front.
Km 157: The sprint begins and Ponzi is in a good position. But he seems very, very tired.
Km 159: And indeed, he has nothing to do with the decision. John Gadret leads in front of Geox' Matteo Pelucchi and Gregory Rast (RadioShack).
Km 160: Gadret puts everything he got into this sprint and is rewarded with the stage win!
First stage win for the Frenchman.
Result
1
John Gadret
AG2R La Mondiale
4h09'39
2
Matteo Pelucchi
Geox - TMC
s.t.
3
Philippe Gilbert
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
4
Grégory Rast
Team RadioShack
s.t.
5
Anthony Geslin
FDJ
s.t.
6
Samuel Sánchez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
7
Luis León Sánchez
Rabobank
s.t.
8
Peter Velits
HTC - Highroad
s.t.
9
Aitor Pérez Arrieta
Lampre - ISD
s.t.
10
Diego Milán
Caja Rural
s.t.
…
160
Dominik Nerz
Liquigas - Cannondale
+ 6'51
General Classification
1
Philippe Gilbert
Omega Pharma - Lotto
7h38'49
2
Samuel Sánchez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
3
Rigoberto Urán
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
4
Joaquím Rodríguez
Katusha Team
s.t.
5
Carlos Barredo
Rabobank
s.t.
6
John Gadret
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 48
7
Luis León Sánchez
Rabobank
s.t.
8
Jérôme Pineau
Quick·Step
s.t.
9
Yaroslav Popovych
Team RadioShack
s.t.
10
Juan José Oroz
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 1'44
…
141
Dominik Nerz
Liquigas - Cannondale
+ 8'35
As there are no time boni here, the classement changes a little: Thanks to his better place on this stage, Gilbert takes over the leader's jersey.
Dominik's Comment
On days like this, I become aware of the fact that I'm still one of the weak guys in the peloton. I'm just not able to attack, fail, and then go on in the pack for the whole race without problems. After such efforts, I can't take the pace of the top riders, especially on the last kilometres.
But well, I'm still young, eh? So I think I can allow myself a day like this, although I'm not happy with it.
Welcome ladies and gentlemen. Today's stage features a relatively steep, but not too long final climb up to the city of Eibar. Those classement riders, who already lost some time, need to show something today, so we can expect a nice finish.
Km 0: From the start, the first riders attack, among them is yesterday's escapee Thomas De Gendt, who is very active.
Km 15: No attack was really successful so far, now it's Nicholas Roche's turn. He is already far back in the GC, so maybe the pack will let him go.
Km 23: Roche is 2 minutes in front, together with Movistar's Luis Pasamontes and seven others. That looks good for them.
Km 58: Over the first small climb, the peloton is down by 7'00.
Km 78: Now it's enough for Omega: They set a higher pace to keep Gilbert's lead.
Km 105: Christian Knees and David Millar with an attack out of the pack. A strange moment, as Omega Pharma still paces. The advance of the escapees is down to about 4 minutes.
Km 116: The attack was desultory, the two are back.
Km 138: The pace is lethal now. Many riders have problems to follow, and Dominik doen't look really good either.
Km 139: On the third-to-last mountain, Laurent Didier overtakes the lead in the mountain ranking.
Km 142: On the descent, Dominik struggles to recontact with the peloton. But other, stronger riders like Ezequiel Mosquera fall back, too.
Km 154: With 20km to go, GC's third Rigoberto Uran attacks.
Km 166: The attack didn't succeed. 49 riders enter the final climb together.
Km 167: Overall leader Phillipe Gilbert doesn't hesitate long: Along with Carlos Barredo and Fränk Schleck, he attacks! Stil 7km to go.
Km 169: The Luxembourgian champion managed to create a little gap, while the others didn't get away. But from behind, other riders like Marco Pinotti (HTC) attack.
Km 171: Schleck reaches the mountain top first. A rather large group of 9 men chase him, but attacks are launched every couple of meters.
Km 173:Joaquim Rodriguez, before today at the same time as Gilbert, broke free from the chasers. He won't catch Schleck, but it could be the overall lead for him!
Km 174: Fränk Schleck did a really strong performance today. He fully deserves this win!
A bright day for the older Schleck brother in Spain.
Result
1
Fränk Schleck
Leopard - Trek
4h20'27
2
Joaquím Rodríguez
Katusha Team
+ 1'01
3
Carlos Barredo
Rabobank
+ 1'30
4
Samuel Sánchez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
5
John Gadret
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 1'38
6
Damiano Cunego
Lampre - ISD
s.t.
7
Juan José Cobo
Geox - TMC
+ 1'46
8
Luis León Sánchez
Rabobank
+ 2'26
9
Christophe Riblon
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 2'34
10
Danilo Di Luca
Katusha Team
s.t.
...
106
Dominik Nerz
Liquigas - Cannondale
+ 10'26
General Classification
1
Joaquím Rodríguez
Katusha Team
12h00'17
2
Samuel Sánchez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 29
3
Carlos Barredo
Rabobank
s.t.
4
Fränk Schleck
Leopard - Trek
+ 43
5
John Gadret
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 1'25
6
Philippe Gilbert
Omega Pharma - Lotto
+ 1'41
7
Rigoberto Urán
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
8
Luis León Sánchez
Rabobank
+ 2'13
9
Damiano Cunego
Lampre - ISD
+ 2'21
10
Juan José Cobo
Geox - TMC
+ 2'29
...
134
Dominik Nerz
Liquigas - Cannondale
+ 18'00
Dominik's Comment
Mediocre day for me today. I was our second best rider, which is quite ok, and I had to help Christiano, as we felt he had better legs today. I really didn't feel good at all, so my result is quite ok, I guess. Nevertheless I hope for something better tomorrow. The DS gave me the OK for another breakaway try. Let's see what I can do.
The last stage classified as „flat“ today before the hilly road stage and the hilly time trial. The GC shouldn't be changed too much today. As we heard yesterday, Dominik wants to try to get into the break. Let's wish him luck!
Km 2: And indeed, as many others, Dominik attacks towards the first mountain.
Km 14: The first group was threatened to be realed in, so Dominik gave it another try and leads solo now.
Km 23: What a pity. Despite his big efforts, Dominik is back in the pack. Let's hope he hasn't wasted too much energy.
Km 30: Both Cunego and Gilbert go for mountain points, although they are both in the Top 10. They seem to have strong legs.
Km 34: After the big climb, Dominik finds himself in a large grupetto. Hopefully he can recover on the descent.
Km 56: He can. But the next climb isn't far away.
Km 64: Katusha sets a hard pace for Rodriguez, and again, Nerz is in trouble, but this time, he manages to stay in the pack.
Km 82: By the way: There are some escapees out today. Inigo Cuesta (Caja Rural) and Joost Posthuma (Leopard) lead with a minute to a six men group. The pack is another four and a half minutes behind.
Km 108: On the penultimate hill, Dominik finally has to let go. The efforts during his break away tries were too much for him.
Km 126: The peloton passes the last hill and enters the final 36 flat kilometres. The leading duo is still more than 5 minutes in front, that could work out for them.
Km 136:Juanma Garate (Rabobank) slipped and took a few riders with him. Let's hope they're all okay.
Km 142: With 20km to go and an advance of four minutes, Cuesta and Posthuma should fight for the win today. The other escapees are back in the pack.
Km 152: Approaching the last 10km, Simone Ponzi, the last Liquigas rider remaining, struggles at the end of the pack. Not a strong performance today.
Km 158: Inigo Cuesta wheelsucks on the last kilometres. They're both equally weak sprinters, but the Spaniard might be the fresher one.
Km 160: Meanwhile, Philippe Gibert has a good position behind Perez Arrieta and Enrico Gasparotto. Who'll take third?
Km 161: But more important: Who will win? Close to the finish, it's a close decision. Cuesta shook off his helmet to get cooler. That might be the decisive small plus point...
Km 162: That's it! Inigo „The Helmless“ Cuesta wins! A great thing for the old Spaniard.
Km 162: Nearly a minute behind them, Gilbert outsprints Gasparotto by an incredibly short margin. Dominik Nerz collapsed completely and was passed by nearly every single rider – except for one.
Result
1
Íñigo Cuesta
Caja Rural
4h13'26
2
Joost Posthuma
Leopard - Trek
s.t.
3
Philippe Gilbert
Omega Pharma - Lotto
+ 43
4
Enrico Gasparotto
Astana
s.t.
5
Aitor Pérez Arrieta
Lampre - ISD
s.t.
6
Peter Velits
HTC - Highroad
s.t.
7
Anthony Geslin
FDJ
s.t.
8
Assan Bazayev
Astana
s.t.
9
Damiano Cunego
Lampre - ISD
s.t.
10
Matteo Pelucchi
Geox - TMC
s.t.
...
178
Dominik Nerz
Liquigas - Cannondale
+ 18'26
General Classification
1
Joaquím Rodríguez
Katusha Team
16h14'26
2
Samuel Sánchez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 29
3
Carlos Barredo
Rabobank
s.t.
4
Fränk Schleck
Leopard - Trek
+ 43
5
John Gadret
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 1'25
6
Philippe Gilbert
Omega Pharma - Lotto
+ 1'41
7
Rigoberto Urán
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
8
Luis León Sánchez
Rabobank
+ 2'13
9
Damiano Cunego
Lampre - ISD
+ 2'21
10
Juan José Cobo
Geox - TMC
+ 2'29
...
158
Dominik Nerz
Liquigas - Cannondale
+ 35'43
Dominik's Comment
Oh god, what an awful day! For all our team! To start with, only one of our riders managed to stay in the peloton, which is just a pathetic display. Davide Cimolai even had to abandon the race, along with two other riders. Apart from those, the last four riders who finished today were all from Liquigas. One of them was me... My, I never felt so empty, so out of energy, it was a desaster. The DS won't be happy.
Tommorow, I will just try to relax and to recover a little for the concluding time trial.
The last road stage of this Vuelta before the time trial tomorrow. Weaker time trialists, for example Joaquim Rodriguez or Fränk Schleck, should try to make up some time today, time they'll probably lose tomorrow.
Km 3: Vicente Reynes (Omega) is the first rider who attacks.
Km 5: A couple of other riders try to follow. Among them are German champion Christian Knees (Sky) and Tiziano Dall'Antonia.
Km 11: The try didn't succeed.
Km 13: Paul Martens (Rabobank) gives it a try. He will have an eye on the mountain jersey, where he is only 2 points back.
Km 25: The German is now within a group of seven, leading by 1'30.
Km 43: While Matthias Frank (BMC) crashed, a couple of riders around Peter Velits try to bridge up to the leaders.
Km 56: 10 riders lead now with about 3 minutes to the pack.
Km 111: Katusha slowly takes over the lead in the pack and increases the pace.
Km 129: On the penultimate climb, Dominik Nerz is in trouble. Together with Tiziano Dall'Antonia, he fights to hold contact to the pack.
Km 131: Paul Martens takes over the lead in the mountain ranking. Only one more mountain sprint is left, and his fellow companion Francesco Failli is only one point behind him.
Km 155: But they got caught earlier, so the German wins the KoM-competition.
Km 160: On the last small climb, overall leader Joaquim Rodiguez attacked and descends now together with points jersey wearer Philippe Gilbert.
Km 164: Samuel Sanchez is a great descender, and he reaches the leading two. Astana's Paolo Tiralongo is with them as well.
Km 166: Following those four, a group of five other favorites is only 20 seconds behind. The pack is down by 30 more seconds.
Km 167: Michel Albasini reached them and attacks right off. Can he get away?
Km 169: With 1km to go, he keeps a small advance to Philippe Gilbert. Looks good for the Swiss.
Km 170: But it's Gilbert who jubilates. He takes his first stage win in the Basque country after a couple of good results.
Result
1
Philippe Gilbert
Omega Pharma - Lotto
4h22'53
2
Michael Albasini
HTC - Highroad
s.t.
3
Samuel Sánchez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
4
Joaquím Rodríguez
Katusha Team
s.t.
5
Carlos Barredo
Rabobank
s.t.
6
Jérôme Pineau
Quick·Step
+ 22
7
Addy Engels
Quick·Step
s.t.
8
Paolo Tiralongo
Astana
s.t.
9
Francesco Failli
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
s.t.
10
Yaroslav Popovych
Team RadioShack
s.t.
...
151
Dominik Nerz
Liquigas - Cannondale
+ 7'26
General Classification
1
Joaquím Rodríguez
Katusha Team
20h37'19
2
Samuel Sánchez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 29
3
Carlos Barredo
Rabobank
s.t.
4
Fränk Schleck
Leopard - Trek
+ 1'05
5
Philippe Gilbert
Omega Pharma - Lotto
+ 1'41
6
John Gadret
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 1'47
7
Rigoberto Urán
Sky ProCycling
+ 2'03
8
Luis León Sánchez
Rabobank
+ 2'35
9
Damiano Cunego
Lampre - ISD
+ 2'43
10
Juan José Cobo
Geox - TMC
+ 2'51
...
157
Dominik Nerz
Liquigas - Cannondale
+ 43'09
Dominik's comment
Did I say something about relaxing and recovering? Really? Well, that must have been wishful thinking. This stage was nearly as exhausting as yesterday. I didn't suffer so bad this time, but I couldn't attack either.
Anyways, I'm glad that I'll have some holidays after tomorrow.
Yours,
Dominik
Yes, the favorite should be Samu Sanchez now. Regarding Dominik, I hoped that he would at least get into the break once. But after a respectable Paris - Nice and an amazing Volta a Catalunya, I think, one bad race is acceptable.
Welcome to the last stage today. A time trial will decide the overall winner, and the Top 10 are rather close. Top favorite should be Samuel Sanchez, the best time trialists of the top placed riders. Also, Gilbert might be able to improve, as well as Luis Leon Sanchez. But the latter is already some time behind.
13:00: Jacopo Guarnieri is the first rider who starts today.
13:38: Brett Lancaster sets a first time to beat.
13:40: Dominik Nerz starts the race.
14:07: Third best time for him on the checkpoint behind the new leader Marcel Sieberg (Omega).
14:18: But he loses quite a bit on the downhill, ending up provisional 6th.
14:42: Bert Grabsch (HTC) takes a new best time.
14:49: It's beaten by the big margin of 40 seconds by the new leader, David Millar.
15:01: Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Movistar) beats Millar at the checkpoint. Will he save his advance to the finish?
15:18: No. 23 seconds to late.
15:25: Tony Martin is on his way. He might be a good bet for today.
15:29: And we have a new best time! The German champion takes it by 20 seconds.
15:33: He couldn't celebrate for too long: Marzio Bruseghin (Movistar) lowers the time by 5 seconds.
15:35: Another 5 seconds faster was Marco Pinotti. Two Italians are in the lead now.
15:39: The battle for the stage victory begins: Alexandre Vinokourov sets the current best time, 14 seconds better than Pinotti.
15:47: Juan Jose Cobo opens the battle for the Top 10!
15:58: Damiano Cunego comes in provisional third.
16:00: This might be the winning time: Luis Leon Sanchez lowers the best time by 5 more seconds.
16:04: Fränk Schleck's time is nothing special, he's just not a good time trialist.
16:07: The only one who might be able to challenge him is Samuel Sanchez. The Basque will come in within the next few minutes.
16:09: And takes it! Seven seconds faster!
16:14: Joaquim Rodriguez loses a good bit of time today. Let's see where he ends up...
Result
1
Samuel Sánchez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
35'23
2
Luis León Sánchez
Rabobank
+ 7
3
Alexandre Vinokourov
Astana
+ 13
4
Marco Pinotti
HTC - Highroad
+ 28
5
Damiano Cunego
Lampre - ISD
s.t.
6
Marzio Bruseghin
Movistar Team
+ 34
7
Tony Martin
HTC - Highroad
+ 39
8
Levi Leipheimer
Team RadioShack
+ 44
9
David Zabriskie
Team Garmin - Cervelo
+ 52
10
Andy Schleck
Leopard - Trek
+ 56
...
114
Dominik Nerz
Liquigas - Cannondale
+ 2'47
General Classification
1
Samuel Sánchez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
21h13'11
2
Joaquím Rodríguez
Katusha Team
+ 1'13
3
Carlos Barredo
Rabobank
+ 1'22
4
Fränk Schleck
Leopard - Trek
+ 2'05
5
Luis León Sánchez
Rabobank
+ 2'13
6
Damiano Cunego
Lampre - ISD
+ 2'42
7
Rigoberto Urán
Sky ProCycling
+ 2'47
8
Philippe Gilbert
Omega Pharma - Lotto
+ 2'57
9
John Gadret
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 3'11
10
Alexandre Vinokourov
Astana
+ 3'31
...
156
Dominik Nerz
Liquigas - Cannondale
+ 45'27
Points Classification
1
Philippe Gilbert
Omega Pharma - Lotto
75
2
Samuel Sánchez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
65
3
John Gadret
AG2R La Mondiale
46
4
Joaquím Rodríguez
Katusha Team
46
5
Carlos Barredo
Rabobank
45
Mountain Classification
1
Paul Martens
Rabobank
37
2
Francesco Failli
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
36
3
David De la Fuente
Geox - TMC
21
4
Laurent Didier
Saxo Bank - Sungard
19
5
Addy Engels
Quick·Step
18
Young Riders
1
Rigoberto Urán
Sky ProCycling
21h15'58
2
Cyril Gautier
Europcar
+ 2'23
3
Ben Hermans
Team RadioShack
+ 5'29
4
Matthias Frank
BMC Racing Team
+ 5'32
5
Simon Spilak
Lampre – ISD
+ 5'44
...
12
Dominik Nerz
Liquigas - Cannondale
+ 14'36
Team Classification
1
Rabobank
.
63h48'23
2
Euskaltel – Euskadi
.
+ 1'54
3
Katusha Team
.
+ 1'55
...
23
Liquigas – Cannondale
.
+ 1h03'43
Dominik's Comment
Well. I don't know what to say. This tour was a complete disappointment. We didn't achieve a single good position, we mostly didn't even survive in the front group. We also weren't able to get into breaks. We did basically nothing.
Now in fact, that isn't too bad. The DS didn't expect much from us, so they aren't too unsatisfied. But after the great Volta a Catalunya, we of course hoped for more.
But for now, that's it with racing. I will have a nice 2 month break until the Dauphinée, and I will enjoy that. First thing is that I will provide you with a live ticker tomorrow.
See you around,
Dominik
