Excellent work by Mandri and Bibby. And even more beautifully is that Camaño rewarded them for their hard work by ending top 3. Bibby came in pretty good so maybe there's a nice GC place in it for him. I'm kinda happy for Rolland, though, he's a good rider.
Really nice story, can't wait to see the first victory for Ian, hope it will be soon. How many stars are left in his potential, especially in mountain?
Thanks for the comments guys. Here's what happened next.
TomC, he has enough potential all round but you'll have to wait and see just how good he can be
Ian: "Same as yesterday but with the finish being downhill, I really need to be able to help Camano with my good descending skills. If I have enough in the legs at the bottom, my sprint might see me get a good result."
Ian: "As I said, it's vital that I stay with Camano over the monster Port de Bales, because I am a decent descender, so can really help over the other side. I wouldn't mind a good result at the finish either."
Not many people fancied the break on this horrendous stage as just seven brave riders went up the road including Vangenechten of Lotto and Jules of Veranda Rideau.
It was AG2R and FDJ doing the work today, oddly, with no help from Europcar, who of course have the yellow jersey. Obviously, Roche felt strong today as well as Casar, whose crash clearly hadn't affected him.
On the HC climb, it was Roche who kicked first and nobody could go with the Irishman. Rolland, Casar and Konig were trying to catch him, with the other GC contenders in a group of twelve just behind. Camano and Bibby were both in this group.
Over the other side, Camano and Bibby were trying to pull this group back to Konig, who had been dropped by the two Frenchmen. It was never going to happen and it would be a battle for fifth in this group.
But Nico Roche was absolutely stunning today, taking a comfortable solo win. Casar outsprinted Rolland for second, giving Roche the yellow jersey by the narrowest of margins.
Konig did take fourth, with Sutherland taking the sprint for fifth. Gautier was sixth with Bibby in ninth and Camano having to settle for thirteenth. Iker drops to fifth on GC but that's certainly better than the top ten we came here for.
"That was another pretty good day for us. Those front three are the next level up from us guys, so we're not too fussed about them, but it was frustrating that Konig got away from us, because it's the difference between fourth and fifth on GC. I tried to win that sprint there at the end, but I'd given a lot for Camano on that climb and the descent, so I couldn't quite do it. Tomorrow's stage is flat and it's just about getting to the end without losing silly time."Edited by brewers90 on 01-05-2012 18:51
Manager of Bunzl - Centrica
ICL's World Tour Champions and Talented Bottlers
Ian: "The final stage takes the peloton out of the mountains and finishes in the regular TDF destination, Pau. It should be a sprint, but with the time gaps being so big, a breakaway may be let go."
Ian: "Again, we'll be trying to get Cronshaw into a good position for the sprint and everyone will be helping him, apart from Camano of course."
Ian: "I will be leadout man again today, taking Mandri and Cronshaw into the last two kilometres. That's all."
Today's breakaway consisted of nine riders, including Stetina (Garmin), Domagalski (Caja Rural), Schorn (NetApp) and Tortelier (Saur Sojasun). This group pulled out a gap of seven minutes on the peloton.
The only team willing to pull the breakaway back was Roubaix, working for Flahaut. There were a lot of hand signals in the peloton as nobody could understand why FDJ, AG2R and Europcar wouldn't help. The gap was coming down but not quickly enough.
Into the final few kilometres the break still had a small gap over the marauding peloton. Endura were the ones doing the chasing now with McEvoy and Bibby putting in huge turns on the front, ready to launch Cronshaw.
And despite the peloton making the catch with a kilometre to go, Schorn timed his jump to perfection to hold off the sprinters. Martinez did likewise in second, with Flahaut and Turgot being the best of the bunch. Cronshaw took tenth.
"That was a disappointing day for everyone. None of the big teams wanted to chase the breakaway and left it to Roubaix which was not gonna work. It was up to us at the end and we got very close but the break just made it. A top ten for Cronshaw is alright but we wanted more. Camano finishes fifth here and I got an unlucky thirteenth. I've really enjoyed this race with some brutal mountains and a nice level playing field, well, apart from the front three, of course! Off home again now to prepare for the Nationals."
Manager of Bunzl - Centrica
ICL's World Tour Champions and Talented Bottlers
My next blog is about the results from June. The month is split into two parts, with the first half being regular races and the second half being filled with the majority of the National Championships. Here's the 'regular' races first:
I am in Stamfordham with all of my team mates preparing for the National Championships. We have twelve Brits in the team so three of them know they won't get picked but everyone is enjoying training together. We also have Andy Fenn of Quick Step and the An Post boys training with us. All of us know that beating Sky will require a massive effort so we'll have to form some sort of alliance. We've seen Sky training around here, (you can't really miss the rainbow jersey!!) and they are such a well-drilled squad. You can see that they all enjoy riding in each other's company, even though Luke Rowe seemed to be getting a bit of a battering when we saw them!
I have to tell you guys as well that after my performance in the Pyrenees a few days back, the team feel that I have improved my abilities. Here's my updated attributes;
As you can see, almost everything has gone up, so I'm excited for the next few races. I doubt I'll be winning any big races soon but every attribute point counts!
As promised, here are the results from the National ITT Championships that took place a few days ago:
There are a few surprising results there, Ghyselinck winning the Belgian title certainly being the main one. Christensen is probably the other main surprise, just beating Fuglsang in Denmark. Our riders never really stood a chance. In Spain, Camano took thirteenth, beating Zubeldia in the process. Blain was nowhere in France and in Germany, an out of form Voss just broke into the top twenty.
I'm off to go and race the World Champion, see you on the other side,
June 30, 2012 - British National Championships, Road Race
Race Preview
Ian: "This course is pretty flat but there are quite a few little climbs on it. It shouldn't be enough to shake off the out and out sprinters *cough*, Cav, *cough*, but there are plenty of launchpads for attacks."
Ian: "All of our riders here are in a different part of their season so the fitness varies massively. JTL and Faiers haven't raced for ages so they are just team mates here, whilst McEvoy, Cronshaw and myself are in great shape after that tough race in France. The plan is to keep attacking until something sticks because Downing doesn't really have much of a chance of beating Cav if it came to a mass sprint!"
Ian: "My shape is great so I am one of the riders that has been earmarked to give it a go. I want to wait until later on though, when some of the non-sprinting big boys might try to get away."
An Post
41. J.Bellis
42. M.Christian
43. M.McNally
44. J.Mould
Quick·Step
51. A.Fenn
Carmim - Prio
61. T.S.Metcalfe
Ian: "A very, very small field here and most of them are shared by the two British teams. You have to feel for the likes of Fenn and Millar here, what can they possibly do? Will Sky all work for Cav or do they have a Plan B? We have already organised an alliance with An Post to try to work together in a break so let's see if it works."
Race Report
An early break got away in the pouring rain. The three riders present were McEvoy and Fleeman (Endura) and Mark Christian of An Post. They built up a lead of over two minutes over the first couple of laps, but you could see Sky getting anxious behind.
This was a familiar sight today. A couple of Sky riders on the front of the "peloton" with the World Champion safely embedded in the group. Dowsett, Rowe and Swift soon brought the three escapees back which just sparked a thousand more attacks.
Eventually, with 90kms to go, another group did form and this one was much, much more dangerous. The eight riders were Wiggins, Froome, Hunt (Sky), Partridge, Bibby (Endura), Millar (Garmin), Cummings (BMC) and Bellis (An Post). It looked promising for this elite group.
With 20kms to go, it was fairly obvious, that with a gap of 15 minutes back to the rest, that this group would take the first eight places. The new British champion was in here but who was it? Wiggins tried to get away, followed by Partridge but they were both brought back by Jeremy Hunt. A sprint lay ahead.
Hunt lead everyone out and Bellis took up the sprint first, but it became a two horse race between Froome and Bibby. Ian is the quicker sprinter but Froome just timed his jump better and won by a bike-length. Bibby looked distraught as Kenyan-born Froome was crowned the new British champion. Bellis took third with Partridge finishing eighth.
It didn't really matter but Downing amazingly outsprinted Cavendish to take ninth place, an astonishing 21 minutes down. I wonder if Russ would have beaten him had it been for the win? Fleeman, Thwaites, Dowsett and Rowe had a tough day and were dropped at the end.
Race Result
1
Chris Froome
Sky Procycling
4h42'14
2
Ian Bibby
Endura Racing
s.t.
3
Jonathan Bellis
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
4
Jeremy Hunt
Sky Procycling
s.t.
5
Stephen Cummings
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
6
David Millar
Garmin - Barracuda
s.t.
7
Bradley Wiggins
Sky Procycling
s.t.
8
Robert Partridge
Endura Racing
s.t.
9
Russell Downing
Endura Racing
+ 21'18
10
Mark Cavendish
Sky Procycling
s.t.
11
Adam Blythe
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
12
Geraint Thomas
Sky Procycling
s.t.
13
Andrew Fenn
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
14
Ben Swift
Sky Procycling
s.t.
15
Matt Cronshaw
Endura Racing
s.t.
16
Ian Stannard
Sky Procycling
s.t.
17
Mark McNally
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
18
Mark Christian
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
19
Jonathan Mould
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
20
Thomas Faiers
Endura Racing
s.t.
21
Tomas Swift Metcalfe
Carmim - Prio
s.t.
22
Jonathon McEvoy
Endura Racing
s.t.
23
Jonathan Tiernan-Locke
Endura Racing
s.t.
24
Daniel Fleeman
Endura Racing
+ 22'20
25
Scott Thwaites
Endura Racing
+ 23'15
26
Alex Dowsett
Sky Procycling
s.t.
27
Luke Rowe
Sky Procycling
s.t.
Ian's View
"Gutted. I thought I had that but I just left the sprint too late and Chris did brilliantly, well done to him. I was on the perfect wheel in Bellis but I didn't expect Froome to come around me with such speed. I knew we were battling Sky today but I didn't expect it to be him! Once I've got over the massive disappointment I'm feeling now, I'm sure I will realise that this is a great result, but in NC's, it's only first that counts."
Manager of Bunzl - Centrica
ICL's World Tour Champions and Talented Bottlers
This has been an amazing month for Bibby. Tour du Sud really proved his climbing capacities and the second place in the British Road Race is very great for a young climber like him. Good to see he's improving a lot. And about the NC: anyone who comes in second, can come back to win it.
Love the storytelling, by the way, you make it a very interesting story to follow!
Edited by Ian Butler on 02-05-2012 12:35
Well I've had a couple of days to come to terms with my second place and I can tell you that it doesn't get any better! Everytime that I'm alone I'm thinking "what if"? So I need a race to forget about it. And would you believe it, I have one!! The Tour of Austria starts tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited to get out there and race. Again, there's a mix of flat stages, really tough mountain stages and a long time-trial. So the race suits me, but we'll have to see how well I go.
But first, here's a little review of the National RR Championships (the ones where I didn't miss out on by a couple of feet!). Here's the breakdown:
In Spain, Garcia attacked with 100kms to go and soloed to a win. Camano finished a decent 14th. Petacchi won a bunch sprint in Italy, while there was no surprise in Belgium or France. Popovych, Kreuziger and Tony Martin completed the double, with Westra taking the Dutch title. Hushovd took the Norwegian title and Cancellara took another easy win in Switzerland.
However, I can announce that we do have one national champ in the squad at least. Alexander Wetterhall took the Swedish title with a superb solo ride and gets to wear the blue and yellow for twelve months. Congrats Alex.
Looking forward to the transfers as well ,
Ian Bibby
Manager of Bunzl - Centrica
ICL's World Tour Champions and Talented Bottlers
NOTE: If any jersey makers out there would be willing to make me a Swedish NC jersey, I would be hugely grateful! Can't have Alex riding round in the standard one can we? If you can make it, PM me please
Thanks a lot Ian Butler, and I agree with everything you say.
And sutty, true, but nobody really cares about second at the end of the day. Professionals ride to win! Edited by brewers90 on 02-05-2012 14:32
Manager of Bunzl - Centrica
ICL's World Tour Champions and Talented Bottlers
July 3, 2012 - Internationale Osterreich Rundfahrt Stage 1
Race Preview
Ian: "A nice easy start to the race, with two climbs near the start to warm the legs up. The short stage culminates in a slightly uphill finish, but it's not nearly difficult enough to prevent the sprinters having their first battle."
Ian: "Our sprinter for today will be Cronshaw and again we have a strong team to support him with Mandri, Dempster and McEvoy all quick guys. We won't be bothering with the breakaway today."
Ian: "This is the first time I will lead a team as a professional and I'm both excited and nervous ahead of the tough mountain stage tomorrow. Today, Robbie P will be looking after me all day, keeping out of trouble hopefully."
Ian: "The clear favourite here is Sorensen, who is a lot better than the next best, although Marcel Wyss and Rutkiewicz will give it a go. Hopefully, my TT skills will keep me in with a shout of a good result."
Race Report
In typically scenic Austrian surroundings, eleven riders formed a breakaway. The strongest riders present were Fajt, Kozubek, Hoberg and Kasper Jorgensen. They pulled out a gap of seven minutes over the peloton.
But the World Tour (for now!) team, Saxo Bank soon had them controlled and they began to reel the break in. With their TDF chances almost non existent, they know that nothing less than a win here will suffice.
With eight kilometres remaining, the final member of the breakaway, Morten Hoberg of Concordia, was caught and the sprinters were getting themselves prepared. Bank BGZ were doing all of the work at the moment.
As this picture shows, it was a battle between Bank BGZ, Miche and Endura in the leadout. McEvoy was doing a great job with Dempster, Mandri and Cronshaw behind him. Smolen and Fumagalli were the other two teams' last men.
Despite his team running out of legs in the final couple of killometres, Fumagalli used his brain to get on Smolen's wheel and then blaze past him to earn Miche the win. Rick Zabel managed to pass Cronshaw for third as the young Brit just ran out of gas at the end.
"Today was never going to be particularly exciting for me but it's important that I learn how to conserve energy in stage races. I did literally nothing but sit on Partridge's wheel all day! Good result for Matt, he was hoping for a podium but that Zabel kid is alright, you know. His Dad will be proud of him, whoever he is!"Edited by brewers90 on 02-05-2012 15:07
Manager of Bunzl - Centrica
ICL's World Tour Champions and Talented Bottlers
July 4, 2012 - Internationale Osterreich Rundfahrt Stage 2
Race Preview
Ian: "The race may have only just started but here is the Queen Stage already. The first 95% of the stage is very easy with just a couple of small hills. The final 5% though, is the horrifically steep Kitzbuheler Horn. The climb is nine kilometres and most of it is over 12%. Nasty."
Ian: "Only three of our riders will be interested in today's stage and I'm one of them! Fleeman will be helping me on the climb, while Mandri is more of a free element, riding for himself. The others will do their jobs on the flat and then grind their way to the line as best as they can."
Ian: "Here we are then, my first real chance to show the world what I can do when given the chance. I really don't want to let anybody down and I couldn't have wished for a harder climb to start with, apart from the Zoncolan! Sorensen should win this but after that, it's up for grabs."
Today's break consisted of six hardy souls hoping to pull off a miracle. Four smaller German riders were joined by Kump and Michael Andersen. None of them are noted climbers and they were just there to please the sponsors.
There was no surprise at the front of the peloton as Saxo Bank were helped out by Atlas Personal to bring the break back. Saxo Bank's Sorensen and Atlas' Wyss are the two best climbers here.
In the last twenty kilometres we were greeted by the strange sight of the race leader attacking. The only chance Fumagalli had of hanging on to the jersey was to pull out about seven minutes before hitting the final climb. He got thirty seconds and was soon back in the peloton.
On to the vicious climb and it didn't take long for Sorensen to get bored of the pace and charge off into the distance. Fleeman was on the front helping Bibby up but this acceleration was too much for everyone. Bibby soon rode away from the others along with Wyss.
Sorensen was almost embarrassed by the win against opponents nowhere near his level and didn't bother celebrating it. He had pulled out a two minute advantage in just five kilometres. At least Saxo will win something this season!
Two minutes back, Wyss pulled away from Bibby in the ridiculously steep last kilometre to take second but Ian will not be disappointed at all with third. Paulinho was the only guy anywhere near them in fourth, while Mandri won the sprint for fifth against Nose.
"Ouch, what a brute of a climb that was. One of those climbs where you just have to grit your teeth and go at your own pace. I tried an acceleration and it just destroyed my legs which cost me in the last kilometres and I couldn't stay with Wyss. If I can stay close enough to him though, I could get him in the TT, but there's a long way to go before then. Chris Anker is way too good to be here to be fair and he has to win this race. He didn't disappoint today! Thanks to Dan Fleeman aswell for pacing me up for those first few kilometres and pleased I could finish it off. Happy with that."Edited by brewers90 on 02-05-2012 17:17
Manager of Bunzl - Centrica
ICL's World Tour Champions and Talented Bottlers
