"Thousands line the road in this annual rite of spring cheering their larger than life heroes. Urging, at times, even helping them victory. They ride in the tracks of bygone legends dreaming of distant fame and glory. But glory is not without a price. These bloodied and battered warriors struggle through the rain, the cold, the mud, on roads better suited to oxen cart than bicycles. But for the victor there is glory, immortality and a place in history amongst the giants of the road. Since 1896, the greatest bike racers on earth have come to test their very souls in this brutal and beautiful spectacle."
It’s a cliché I know, but this is really it. “The Hell of the North”, “The Queen of the Classics”, The 105th edition of Paris-Roubaix is here. 259,5 km of sheer pain awaits the 176 riders, who are set to take off from Compiegne to compete on this legendary route. 28 cobble sections, representing 54 km of cobbles, is to be raced in this year’s edition of the biggest classic on the pro cycling calendar.
The plan was simple and achievable for us after the great result in Gent-Wevelgem in the midweek, where Cancellara showed off his power on the cobble sections. But the truth is that Gent-Wevelgem, all due respect, is nothing compared to this cycling monument that is the Paris-Roubaix. All the big boys will be in peak conditions to take each other on when they hit the first cobble section, Troisville after 98 km. Get ready for the 105th Paris-Roubaix.
How the peloton looked right after taking off from Compiégne, one thing’s for sure; it won’t look that way in about 100 km.
As told the first paved section didn’t come until the 98 km mark, meaning that we could concentrate on keeping Fábian well wrapped in by his teammates to keep him out of the wind. The biggest surprise from the outset was the absence of Tom Boonen. No one knows why he’s not here. He raced the Gent-Wevelgem in the midweek, but now, in the most important race of his season, he’s nowhere to be seen. All the other favourites were here though, with Hoste, Hincapie, Flecha, Ballan, Pozzato, Wesemann and Burghardt all present in the pack.
The first 98 km were fairly easy as they were completely flat, but after 98 km we hit the first cobble section, Troisville, which is 2200 metres long. At this point the big teams didn’t set a high pace, as we were still 150 km from Roubaix, so it wasn’t until the 164 km mark in the Arenberg forest when things got going.
The anticipation was incredible at the first cobble section, Troisville, where Paris-Roubaix returned to its right element, namely the cobble stones.
The big teams took hold of the race as they hit the cobbles, but in fact you can’t take hold of the Paris-Roubaix.
With about 135 km to go, we went to the front of the pack at the 5th paved section, the Vertain á St.-Martin.
Now this is more like it, one of the big contenders stringing out the pack, with the lighter guys sitting in the back. This is at the Pavé of Buat about 130 km from the Roubaix Velodrome.
As the km kept going we gradually increased the pace by letting, danish National Champion Allan Johansen, Kurt-Asle Arvesen, Michael Blaudzun and Marcus Ljungqvist, set the pace as the pack was getting very close to the legendary Trouée d’Arenberg, the cobble section where Johan Museeuw, one of the greatest Paris-Roubaix legends, crashed in 1998 and almost had to have his leg amputated because it had gone gangrenous.
We took the front one Trouée d’Arenberg with the four guys I mentioned above, but also Karsten Kroon and Lars Michaelsen began taking part in the work as we entered this feared section of 2,6 km of cobble stones.
Trouée d’Arenberg looming up the road as we turned the heat on, on this nasty 2600 metres cobble section, which is Paris-Roubaix itself.
The Arenberg Forest claimed a victim as Stuey crashed right after passing the section, the other rider unbelievably managed to dodge him.
On top of being a great hilly rider, Karsten Kroon is also very capable of riding on cobbles and when you add the fact that he’s in peak condition to the equation, he makes for a perfect rider to blow the pace out of proportions to get rid of all the weak riders, and so he really did. Meanwhile we had to forget about Stuey as he had gone down injured. I talked to him right after the crash and he wanted to finish the race nevertheless.
At the Warlaing à Brillon, 80 km from the finish, Kroon showed his cobbler abilities as only 37 other riders could keep up with the dutchman.
Just 10 km later the favourites group was down to only 20 guys, who still had a shot of taking home the Cobble Trophy. And at this point all the hot shots moved to the front to put pressure on each other. Burghardt was here, Wesemann was here, Hincapie, Hoste, Bäckstedt and Pozzato were here. Flecha and Nuyens were here too, but 10 km later, with 60 to go, the leading group was cut to just 15 riders, and Flecha and Nuyens were surprisingly among those getting dropped. We still had Fábian, feeling good backed up by Lars Michaelsen and Karsten Kroon in the group, so were in a great position.
This was the point were the favourites put pressure on each other and I though that especially Hincapie was looking great as he was doing some really massive relays.
Karsten Kroon was hanging onto the tail of the leading group as Hincapie kept a deadly pace in the front.
But no one was dropped immediately, despite of Cancellara also relaying. Over the radio he told us that he was feeling okay. He could’ve been better, but he felt confident that he could follow when the strongest riders eventually would begin attacking.
Fábian Cancellara took the lead of the leading group with a shade under 50 km to go.
With 45 km to go, the leading group consisted of 15 riders and they were Fábian Cancellara, Lars Michaelsen, Karsten Kroon, Allesandro Ballan, Leif Hoste, Peter Van Petegem, Magnus Bäckstedt, Filippo Pozzato, Steffen Wesemann, Marcus Burghardt, George Hincapie, Luca Paolini, Fabio Baldato, Björn Leukemans and Roberto Petito.
The crucial moment came with 40 km to go, just before the 8th last cobble section Pont-Thibaut à Ennevelin. Here Predictor – Lotto’s Leif Hoste took off, with Magnus Bäckstedt, George Hincapie and Fábian Cancellara countering.
George Hincapie couldn’t keep up after all, so Fábian got away with Tour of Flanders star Leif Hoste and former Paris-Roubaix winner Magnus Bäckstedt. Now that’s star quality.
The three guys in front cooperated really good and they steadily increased the lead, kilometre after kilometre. With 17 km to go they entered the 4th last cobble section, the infamous 2,1 km Carrefour de l’Arbre. At this point they had 1’19” on the chasing group. This group was now down to 8 rider, who were Ballan, Wesemann, Kroon, Burghardt, Hincapie, Baldato, Van Petegem and Flecha who’d made a fantastic comeback and rode himself up to this group after being dropped 40 km ago.
The leaders tamed the Carrefour de l’Arbre, while Kroon were struggling to keep up with the chasing group.
The leaders had just 3 cobble sections left now and before entering the final one, they crossed the 26th and 27th section, Pavé de Gruson (1100 metres) and Pavé de Hem (1400 metres). The final cobble section is a section custom made for this race and it presents no real challenge. But as they hit the Espace C.Crupelandt, which is 300 metres long, after 258 km in the saddle it will really add to the riders’ fatigue.
The last cobble section presented no real difficulty for Fábian, Bäckstedt and Hoste, who were going to fight it out on the Velodrome.
But the guys in front rode over it as if there were nothing there, and shortly thereafter they found themselves on the most famous cycling track in the world, the Roubaix Velodrome. They were now leading by about 2 minutes and Fábian locked himself in on Bäckstedt’s wheel as he felt confident that he could outsprint the swede. Hoste lead the leaders onto the track for the one and half lap that had to be completed there before a winner could be found.
Hoste lead the group onto the one and a half laps at the Velodrome, meaning that he would have to open the sprint.
As they rang the bell indicating that the trio had only one lap to go, Hoste accelerated giving it a last edge effort to scare his opponents, but the Belgian completely hit the wall exhausted from the 7 hours of racing. So Bäcksted flew by, with Fábian on his wheel. Who was gonna win this? We knew that Bäckstedt was a good finisher, but so was Fábian and would be very capable of passing Bäckstedt in the sprint, if he was the strongest on the day.
Hoste was used, so it was down to Fábian and Bäckstedt to fight it out. Who was going to win the 105th Paris-Roubaix?
Coming into the final corner Fábian made his move and he moved up side-by-side with Bäckstedt. We’re were holding our breath in the support car. They jostled a bit side-by-side with Bäckstedt having the small advantage. As they came out of the corner the swede were still leading by a half bike or so. Fábian gave it his very last trailing Bäckstedt, but the 2004 Paris-Roubaix winner was too strong for Fábian as he closed the door on our swiss machine to cross the finish line as the winner of the 105th Paris-Roubaix.
Bäckstedt caught Burghardt and Hincapie on the line as he won the second Paris-Roubaix of his career, becoming the 12th rider to have two Paris-Roubaix victories on his resume.
Hoste crossed in 3rd, claiming another podium spot. Wesemann outsprinted Ballan and Flecha to take 4th, while belgian veteran Peter Van Petegem was 7th of the day, finishing just ahead of Karsten Kroon, who rode a brilliant Paris-Roubaix. Burghardt took 9th ahead of Hincapie.
105th Paris-Roubaix | Result
1 Magnus Bäckstedt LIQUIGAS 7h25'46
2 Fábian Cancellara TEAM CSC s.t.
3 Leif Hoste PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 39
4 Steffen Wesemann TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 2'11
5 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
6 Juan Antonio Flecha RABOBANK s.t.
7 Peter Van Petegem QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 2'40 8 Karsten Kroon TEAM CSC + 3'45
9 Marcus Burghardt T-MOBILE TEAM + 4'35
10 George Hincapie DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
11 Luca Paolini LIQUIGAS + 4'57 12 Lars Michaelsen TEAM CSC s.t.
13 Filippo Pozzato LIQUIGAS s.t.
14 Fabio Baldato LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
15 Björn Leukemans PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
16 Serguei Ivanov ASTANA + 7'32
17 Frank Hoj COFIDIS s.t.
18 Leon Van Bon RABOBANK s.t.
19 Frederic Guesdon FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
20 Nick Nuyens COFIDIS s.t. 47 Stuart O'Grady TEAM CSC + 21'14
51 Marcus Ljungqvist TEAM CSC + 23'22
58 Allan Johansen TEAM CSC + 26'18
Michael Blaudzun and Kurt-Asle Arvesen forfeited the race. Only 71 riders completed.
Magnus Bäckstedt repeated his victory in Paris-Roubaix 2004 by edging out defending Champion Fábian Cancellara on the line at the Roubaix Velodrome.
ProTour | Individual Standings
1 Fränk Schleck TEAM CSC 133
2 Filippo Pozzato LIQUIGAS 117 3 Fábian Cancellara TEAM CSC 92
4 Björn Leukemans PREDICTOR – LOTTO 86
5 Leif Hoste PREDICTOR – LOTTO 73
6 Juan Antonio Flecha RABOBANK 70
7 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PREVOYANCE 69
8 Sámuel Sánchez G. EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI 60
9 Paolo Bettini QUICKSTEP – INNERGETIC 56
10 Magnus Bäckstedt LIQUIGAS 55 13 Karsten Kroon TEAM CSC 49
17 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC 38
24 Stuart O’Grady TEAM CSC 28
35 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC 13
Tour de Georgia – Stage 2 Result | Thomaston > Rome – 135 miles
1 Stefano Zanini PREDICTOR - LOTTO 4h15'00
2 Ciaran Power NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
3 Oleg Grishkine NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
4 Matteo Tosatto QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
5 Nikolai Trussov TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
6 Ruggero Marzoli TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
7 Alberto Loddo SELLE ITALIA - SARRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI s.t.
8 Ricardo Serrano G. TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
9 Manuele Mori SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
10 Bradley Huff TEAM SLIPSTREAM s.t. 16 Matthew Goss TEAM CSC s.t.
18 Martin Pedersen TEAM CSC s.t.
23 Luke Roberts TEAM CSC s.t.
34 Lars Ytting Bak TEAM CSC s.t.
36 Juan José Haedo TEAM CSC s.t.
66 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC s.t.
Tour de Georgia – Stage 2 | GC
1 Stefano Zanini PREDICTOR - LOTTO 8h55'27
2 Ciaran Power NAVIGATORS INSURANCE + 24
3 Kyle Gritters HEALTH NET - MAXXIS + 28
4 Jason McCartney DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
5 Oleg Grishkine NAVIGATORS INSURANCE + 32
6 Alberto Loddo SELLE ITALIA - SARRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI s.t.
7 Martin Pedersen TEAM CSC + 34
8 Jeff Louder HEALTH NET - MAXXIS + 36
9 Robert Mclachlan DRAPAC PORSCHE + 38
10 Nikolai Trussov TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 40
Klasika Primavera
Klasika Primavera | Result
1 José G. Marchante SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 4h19'13
2 Frank Schleck TEAM CSC + 39
3 Marcos Serrano KARPIN - GALICIA s.t. 4 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC + 1'09
5 Oscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t. 6 David Zabriskie TEAM CSC s.t.
7 Candido Barbosa LIBERTY SEGUROS + 1'34
8 Gorazd Stangelj LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
9 Luis Perez Rodriguez ANDALUCIA - CAJASUR s.t.
10 Joan Horrach CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t. 31 Bobby Julich TEAM CSC + 2'28
50 Iñigo Cuesta TEAM CSC + 6'51
60 Nicki Sørensen TEAM CSC + 8'01Edited by niconico on 15-09-2007 21:20
soooooooooo close. that's got to be gut-wrenching for Cancellara
The preceding post is ISSO 9001 certified
"I love him, I think he's great. He's transformed the sport in so many ways. Every person in cycling has benefitted from Lance Armstrong, perhaps not financially but in some sense" - Bradley Wiggins on Lance Armstrong
issoisso wrote:
soooooooooo close. that's got to be gut-wrenching for Cancellara
I'll tell you something. Bäckstedt must've had a +5 day because otherwise he couldn't have won. Fábian was in absolute peak condition. He's daily form was -1 though, but I was sure I could pass Bäckstedt in the sprint, but I guess not
Life goes on, even when Paris-Roubaix is over. For me I had a week to recover and prepare a slightly different team to the first of the Ardennes Classics. The heavy cobblers have now been sent home to recover from a tiring cobble season. Fábian is on a break until the Giro, where we are gonna need him for the opening team time trial, but he’ll most likely abandon the race very shortly thereafter. Stuey who’s still a bit dissapointed after the Paris-Roubaix, will be breaking until the Dauphine Libere, where he will start his preparation for the Tour de France. Only two guys from the cobble team are gonna race in the Ardennes. They are Marcus Ljungqvist and Kurt-Asle Arvesen.
Tour de Georgia – Stage 3 Result | Rome > Chattanooga – 118 miles
1 Ruggero Marzoli TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS 3h54'31
2 Koldo Gil SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
3 Andrea Tonti QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 7
4 David Millar SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
5 Juan José Cobo Acebo SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
6 Pavel Brutt TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t. 7 Lars Ytting Bak TEAM CSC s.t.
8 Jurgen Van den Broeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
9 Preben Van Hecke PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
10 Ryder Hesjedal HEALTH NET - MAXXIS s.t.
11 Egoi Martinez DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 15
12 Mario Aerts PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
13 Ricardo Serrano G. TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 28
14 Tyler Hamilton TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
15 Massimiliano Maisto OTC DOORS - LAURETANA s.t. 16 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC s.t.
17 Darren Lill NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
18 Manuele Mori SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 46
19 David De la Fuente SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
20 Jason McCartney DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t. 68 Matthew Goss TEAM CSC + 6'20
72 Luke Roberts TEAM CSC + 7'53
86 Martin Pedersen TEAM CSC + 8'52
97 Juan José Haedo TEAM CSC + 9'31
Tour de Georgia – Stage 3 | GC
1 Ruggero Marzoli TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS 12h50'18
2 Koldo Gil SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 8
3 Andrea Tonti QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 19
4 Pavel Brutt TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 27
5 Juan José Cobo Acebo SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t. 6 Lars Ytting Bak TEAM CSC s.t.
7 Preben Van Hecke PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
8 David Millar SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
9 Jurgen Van den Broeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
10 Ryder Hesjedal HEALTH NET - MAXXIS s.t. 16 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC + 48
67 Matthew Goss TEAM CSC + 6'40
72 Luke Roberts TEAM CSC + 8'13
83 Martin Pedersen TEAM CSC + 9'06
95 Juan José Haedo TEAM CSC + 9'51
Ruggero Marzoli won the first round of the fight for the Tour de Georgia GC.
Today is another important day for the GC in Tour de Georgia. The leading rider, Marzoli isn’t a very strong time trialist so he’s going to have a tough time today, keeping the other GC contenders behind him. Lars Bak could establish some GC credentials after he rode a great stage yesterday, as he is a pretty good time trialist.
Tour de Georgia – Stage 4 Result | Chickamauga > Lookout Mountain – 18,9 miles
1 David Millar SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 29'11
2 Jason McCartney DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 21 3 Luke Roberts TEAM CSC + 26
4 Nathan O'Neill HEALTH NET - MAXXIS + 32
5 Tyler Hamilton TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 43
6 Jurgen Van den Broeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 55
7 Pavel Brutt TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 56
8 Bert Roesems PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 1'03
9 José Serpa Santander SELLE ITALIA - SARRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI + 1'17 10 Lars Ytting Bak TEAM CSC + 1'30
11 Egoi Martinez DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
12 Phil Zajicek NAVIGATORS INSURANCE + 1'35
13 Gianni Meersman DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 1'39
14 Steven Cummings DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 1'43
15 Juan José Cobo Acebo SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'53
16 Ryder Hesjedal HEALTH NET - MAXXIS s.t.
17 Iker Camaño SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 2'01
18 Pavel Padrnos DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 2'10
19 Ian McKissick BMC Racing Team + 2'15
20 Nikolai Trussov TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 2'21 43 Matthew Goss TEAM CSC + 3'43
44 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC + 3'51
82 Martin Pedersen TEAM CSC + 6'41
100 Juan José Haedo TEAM CSC + 8'01
Tour de Georgia – Stage 4 | GC
1 David Millar SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 13h19'56
2 Jason McCartney DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 48
3 Jurgen Van den Broeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 55
4 Pavel Brutt TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 56
5 Tyler Hamilton TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 1'04 6 Lars Ytting Bak TEAM CSC + 1'30
7 Egoi Martinez DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 1'38
8 Juan José Cobo Acebo SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'53
9 Ryder Hesjedal HEALTH NET - MAXXIS s.t.
10 Ruggero Marzoli TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 1'58 15 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC + 4'12
40 Luke Roberts TEAM CSC + 8'12
53 Matthew Goss TEAM CSC + 9'56
88 Martin Pedersen TEAM CSC + 15'20
98 Juan José Haedo TEAM CSC + 17'25
David Millar took over the leader’s jersey after doing a great time trial.
As said I will just run quickly through the Tour de Georgia to get to the more interesting races. I hope you're not dissapointed bout that. But in order to follow the realism I can't give you details from Georgia as my character is right now in Europe preparing the for the Ardennes.
Edited by niconico on 17-09-2007 14:04
The GC is shaping in Tour de Georgia after yesterday’s time trial, where Dave Millar brought home the bacon and won the stage plus the leader’s jersey. He’s going to have a tough time today though as the stage ends with a very nasty mountain top finish and eventhough he’s a decent climber, there’s a lot of riders in the peloton who outmatches him in this area. Today we will be looking to Kolobnev to bring home a good result as he’s the best climber in our team for this tour, but we’re also kinda hoping that Lars Bak can ride a good stage and maybe keep his top ten position.
Tour de Georgia – Stage 5 Result | Dalton > Brasstown Mountain – 107 miles
1 Juan José Cobo Acebo SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 5h36'31
2 Koldo Gil SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
3 Andrea Tonti QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 39
4 Egoi Martinez DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
5 Tyler Hamilton TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
6 Massimiliano Maisto OTC DOORS - LAURETANA s.t.
7 Ryder Hesjedal HEALTH NET - MAXXIS s.t.
8 Ruggero Marzoli TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 1'18
9 Ricardo Serrano G. TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
10 José Serpa Santander SELLE ITALIA - SARRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI s.t.
11 Jurgen Van den Broeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
12 Guido Trentin SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
13 Pavel Brutt TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 2'03
14 David De la Fuente SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
15 David Millar SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
16 Walter Fernando Pedraza M. SELLE ITALIA - SARRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI s.t.
17 Mario Aerts PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
18 Kevin Seeldrayers QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t. 19 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC s.t.
20 Iker Camaño SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t. 22 Lars Ytting Bak TEAM CSC + 2'16
57 Luke Roberts TEAM CSC + 7'43
68 Matthew Goss TEAM CSC + 13'17
88 Martin Pedersen TEAM CSC + 16'15
90 Juan José Haedo TEAM CSC s.t.
Tour de Georgia – Stage 5 | GC
1 Juan José Cobo Acebo SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 18h58'00
2 Tyler Hamilton TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 10
3 David Millar SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 30
4 Jurgen Van den Broeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 40
5 Koldo Gil SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 41
6 Egoi Martinez DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 44
7 Ryder Hesjedal HEALTH NET - MAXXIS + 59
8 Pavel Brutt TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 1'26
9 Ruggero Marzoli TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 1'43 10 Lars Ytting Bak TEAM CSC + 2'13
11 Iker Camaño SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 3'44 12 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC + 4'42
13 Mario Aerts PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 4'43
14 José Serpa Santander SELLE ITALIA - SARRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI + 4'50
15 Andrea Tonti QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 4'59
16 Jason McCartney DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 5'14
17 David De la Fuente SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 5'40
18 Massimiliano Maisto OTC DOORS - LAURETANA + 5'53
19 Guido Trentin SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 6'08
20 Ricardo Serrano G. TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 7'08 44 Luke Roberts TEAM CSC + 14'22
69 Matthew Goss TEAM CSC + 21'40
89 Martin Pedersen TEAM CSC + 30'02
98 Juan José Haedo TEAM CSC + 32'07
So with one slightly hilly stage and a flat stage left to race, it looks as though Cobo is going to win this race.
Juan José Cobo took over the leader’s jersey from his teammate David Millar by winning the Queen Stage of the Tour de Georgia.
The last but final stage of this tour. It’s a fairly hilly course and it’ll be Tyler Hamiltion’s last chance to drop Cobo, but considering the fact that this is Cobo’s favourites terrain, there’s no indications that he’s going to drop his lead as he has looked really strong all the way from Paris-Nice until now, where he is just moments away for the final GC win.
Tour de Georgia – Stage 6 Result | Lake Lanier Islands > Stone Mountain Park – 114 miles
1 Michael Friedman TEAM SLIPSTREAM 4h25'59
2 Jonathan Garcia BMC Racing Team s.t.
3 Jason McCartney DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
4 Glen Alain Chadwick NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
5 Simone Bruson OTC DOORS - LAURETANA s.t.
6 Kyle Gritters HEALTH NET - MAXXIS + 1'31
7 Alberto Loddo SELLE ITALIA - SARRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI s.t.
8 Bradley Huff TEAM SLIPSTREAM s.t.
9 Stefano Zanini PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
10 Viktor Rapinski NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t. 24 Martin Pedersen TEAM CSC s.t.
36 Matthew Goss TEAM CSC s.t.
41 Luke Roberts TEAM CSC s.t.
54 Juan José Haedo TEAM CSC s.t.
55 Lars Ytting Bak TEAM CSC s.t.
75 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC s.t.
Tour de Georgia – Stage 6 | GC
1 Juan José Cobo Acebo SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 23h25'30
2 Tyler Hamilton TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 10
3 David Millar SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 30
4 Jurgen Van den Broeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 40
5 Koldo Gil SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 41
6 Egoi Martinez DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 44
7 Ryder Hesjedal HEALTH NET - MAXXIS + 59
8 Pavel Brutt TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 1'26
9 Ruggero Marzoli TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 1'43 10 Lars Ytting Bak TEAM CSC + 2'13
13 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC + 4'42
44 Luke Roberts TEAM CSC + 14'22
68 Matthew Goss TEAM CSC + 21'40
88 Martin Pedersen TEAM CSC + 30'02
97 Juan José Haedo TEAM CSC + 32'07
American Home-favourite Mike Friedman took the biggest win of his career on stage 6 of the Tour de Georgia, while Cobo retained his leader’s jersey.
The last day in USA for now (I’m not sure if there anymore american races on our calendar this season). Like the rest of this race I couldn’t follow it in 1st person as I’m with another branch of them team in Holland, preparing for Amstel Gold Race, where Fränk and Kroon are our top candidates.
I talked a bit with one our sports directors, who was with the team in Georgia and he was quite pleased with the result. Lars Bak was gonna finish in the top ten and Kolobnev just outside it. I asked if we could expect something from Haedo on today’s stage, but he didn’t sound too positive about that as Haedo hasn’t showed any signs of good form yet as he is preparing for the Giro. As predicted, the stage ended with a mass sprint in which Stefano Zanini was the strongest, to take his third stage win of the tour. Cobo finished with the pack, as did the other 98 riders, so he retained his lead in the GC and won this year’s edition of Tour de Georgia.
Tour de Georgia – Stage 7 Result | Atlanta (Centennial Olympic Park) – 77 miles
1 Stefano Zanini PREDICTOR - LOTTO 2h35'58
2 Kyle Gritters HEALTH NET - MAXXIS s.t.
3 Bradley Huff TEAM SLIPSTREAM s.t.
4 Nikolai Trussov TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
5 Alessandro Proni QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
6 Alberto Loddo SELLE ITALIA - SARRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI s.t.
7 Matteo Tosatto QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
8 Robert Mclachlan DRAPAC PORSCHE s.t.
9 Oleg Grishkine NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
10 Jackson Stewart BMC Racing Team s.t. 21 Matthew Goss TEAM CSC s.t.
30 Luke Roberts TEAM CSC s.t.
38 Martin Pedersen TEAM CSC s.t.
43 Juan José Haedo TEAM CSC s.t.
52 Lars Ytting Bak TEAM CSC s.t.
61 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC s.t.
Tour de Georgia – Stage 7 | GC
1 Juan José Cobo Acebo SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 26h01'28
2 Tyler Hamilton TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 10
3 David Millar SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 30
4 Jurgen Van den Broeck PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 40
5 Koldo Gil SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 41
6 Egoi Martinez DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 44
7 Ryder Hesjedal HEALTH NET - MAXXIS + 59
8 Pavel Brutt TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 1'26
9 Ruggero Marzoli TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 1'43 10 Lars Ytting Bak TEAM CSC + 2'13
13 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC + 4'42
44 Luke Roberts TEAM CSC + 14'22
68 Matthew Goss TEAM CSC + 21'40
89 Martin Pedersen TEAM CSC + 30'02
97 Juan José Haedo TEAM CSC + 32'07
Predictor-Lotto’s italian sprinter Stefano Zanini has been firing in Tour de Georgia as he won 3 stages.
Team: Fränk Schleck, Karsten Kroon, Andy Schleck, Nicki Sørensen, Kurt-Asle Arvesen, Marcus Ljungqvist, Alexandr Kolobnev and David Zabriskie.
In the 6 major April Classics we’re now in the Ardennes, where the final three will be run. It’s not a very classic race this considering this is only the 47th edition of it, compared to Paris-Roubaix’ 105 editions, Liége-Bastogne-Liége’s 97 and Milan-San Remo’s 98. Nevertheless it’s a big ProTour race and we’re coming here as defending champions in the form of Mr. Fränk Schleck, who has had brilliant year so far having won Paris-Nice and the Basque Tour and on top of that he would’ve won Milan-San Remo had not a crash spoiled it for him. We’ve brought a very strong side besides Fränk, with Karsten Kroon, who finished 3rd in last year’s Fleche Wallone and Andy Schleck who won his first ProTour victory as he claimed the 4th stage of the Basque Tour about a week ago. Also Nicki Sørensen could be a great help for Fränk as he’s in the condition of his career, having won the Tour of California and finishing 17th in the Basque Tour.
But enough with the talking, lets go. As in many other races, there was also a early breakaway in this Amstel Gold Race. We were represented by Marcus Ljungqvist in that break who got away with seven other riders. It was Lorenzetto (MRM), Raisin (C.A.), Wegelius (LIQ), Pichot (BTL), Marzano (LAM), Marichael (FDJ) and Rosseler (QSI). Rosseler attacked a bit later though and first made contact with the 7 others after 80 km.
Marcus Ljungqvist showed the CSC colours as we tried to stay on top of things by participating in the breaks.
Rabobank controlled things on their home turf as their sponsors were really looking for a win in their arguably most important race of the season.
The gap for the 8 guys in front topped at 11 minutes with 130 km to go, so Rabobank didn’t take any chances whatsoever. Nothing particular happened in the next phase of the race as Rabobank just concentrated on chasing the break down, so it wasn’t until 75 km to go, that something happened. Sebastien Joly of Francaise des Jeux tried to get away from the pack on one of the characteristic hills and he also gained a small gap. But with 68 km to go it was all over again for the frenchman.
Joly in a crazy effort to do something constructive but in the end it turned out as a complete waste of energy.
With 55 km to go, as the breakaway only had about a minute on the pack, the first serious attacks came. It was Basque Tour Runner-Up Kim Kirchen who started things by attacking just before the very difficult finale of the race. He got away with 4 other riders, namely Celestino (MRM), Pellizotti (LIQ), Florencio (BTL) and Nocentini (A2R).
Kim Kirchen was determined to collect his first win of the season as he earlier had lost the Basque Tour on the final stage.
10 km later with 45 to go, the five riders joined up with those from the early breakaway and stayed their for a while to catch their breath. At this point they had 1’09” on the pack. With 40 km to go, the most difficult part of Amstel Gold Race began. This is where the race is settled with a lot of hills and the hill finish on Cauberg hill in Valkenburg. At the very first hill, Kirchen attacked again and only Nocentini could counter him. Ljungqvist tried but he found himself riding solo between them and the rest of the group.
Did I mention the determination of Kirchen today?
They were kept in a tight leash by the leading teams however and as Rebellin and the other favourites began attacking with 30 km to go, the two guys in front were soon caught up with. So a group of favourites formed over the dutch hills, containing 11 riders, where we had Karsten Kroon and Fränk Schleck in his white ProTour jersey, among them. The nine others were Rebellin, Nocentini, Kirchen, Florencio, Celestino, Boogerd, Riccó, Bettini and Pellizotti.
Davide Rebellin took the initiative as Kirchen and Nocentini was caught with 25 km to go of the race.
Rebellin wasn’t satisfied with the tempo however as he decided to take off once more and he quickly got a gap to the now 10 riders chasing him. With 20 km to go it was all over for Nocentini who got dropped.
Davide Rebellin was looking to repeat his 2004 performance of winning the Amstel Gold Race as he was looking really strong.
Rebellin kept increasing the gap and with 10 km to go he had 1’30” on the chasing group, where Fränk Schleck and Karsten Kroon were hanging on.
A Rabobank fan cheering on who is presumeably his favourite rider, considering we are in Holland and he’s wearing a Rabobank jersey obviously.
With 10 km to there were just 7 riders left among the chasers, besides Kroon and Schleck they were Kirchen, Boogerd, Bettini, Pellizotti and Riccó. As Rebellin hit Cauberg Hill, with its 1450m and a gradient of 12%, people began attacking from the chasing group just before they would hit the final climb. Riccó, Boogerd and Bettini got away, with Fränk, Kroon, Kirchen and Pellizotti, not being able to follow them on the flat part leading up to the climb.
Rebellin scorched up the 1450 metres long climb and won the 47th Amstel Gold Race. Riccó, Bettini and Boogerd stayed ahead of Fränk and Karsten on Cauberg, to fight it out for the last two podium spots, that were eventually taken by Bettini and Boogerd. Karsten finished 5th just ahead of Fränk.
Rebellin won his second Amstel Gold Race of his career after a beautiful solo victory, very similar to the one Fränk won last year.
A bit dissapointing for us as we know we have two podium candidates for these races. Luckily there are still two left and we’ll be looking to do very well there.
47th Amstel Gold Race | Result
1 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER 6h21'11
2 Paolo Bettini QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 1'30
3 Michael Boogerd RABOBANK + 1'37
4 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'59 5 Karsten Kroon TEAM CSC + 2'21
6 Frank Schleck TEAM CSC + 2'30
7 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS + 2'54
8 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
9 Mirko Celestino TEAM MILRAM + 3'21
10 Xavier Florencio BOUYGUES TELECOM + 3'31
11 Axel Merckx T-MOBILE TEAM + 4'19
12 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PREVOYANCE s.t.
13 Matthias Kessler ASTANA + 4'41
14 Samuel Sánchez G. EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 4'53
15 Cristian Moreni COFIDIS + 5'19
16 Constantino Zaballa CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 5'42
17 Lorenzo Bernucci T-MOBILE TEAM + 6'19
18 Igor Astarloa TEAM MILRAM + 6'27
19 Cédric Vasseur QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
20 Leonardo Bertagnolli LIQUIGAS s.t. 21 Nicki Sørensen TEAM CSC + 6'42
23 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC + 8'31
24 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC + 8'57
33 Marcus Ljungqvist TEAM CSC + 11'41
122 David Zabriskie TEAM CSC + 20'21
174 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC + 37'49
Italian veteran Davide Rebellin claimed victory in Amstel Gold Race after a splendid solo effort.
