Ollfardh wrote:
Jesleyh made Kelderman crash

This should make the weekly news actually

brewers90 wrote:
"NetApp, where the fuck are NetApp?"

Well, it's a one day race, so NetApp wouldn't have done anything anyway.

Shonak wrote:
NetApp honestly doesn't care, so go for it.

Besides,


Quoted for truth *sigh*

Today the stage-racers will have some rest. We’ll be having a flat stage today. It does have a few hills, but I think it’s not enough to stop the sprinters from surviving, that’s at least not likely at all. The ‘’Rengg’’ is still just 40km from the finish and is of 2nd category though, so who knows? A breakaway win is of course a possibility, but I doubt some teams, especially FDJ(both Bouhanni & Demare) will let that happen. Given that the past days have been windy, there’s again a decent chance to have echelons. Which would be quite interesting.

Favourites

A.Demare(FDJ)/N.Bouhanni(FDJ)
(Depending on who will be today’s leader.)


N.Stromberg(GRS)
E.Viviani(CAN)


M.Goss(OGE)
E.Boasson Hagen(SKY)
G.Meersman(OPQ)


The Race
Hello and welcome to today’s flat stage! The weather is sunny, but there’s definitely a lot of wind for now. There are definitely opportunities for echelons to form today, but the riders won’t always have crosswinds today.
153km -

Chaves(COL) and Pietropolli(LAM) are the first ones to give it a try. It’s not the first time that Chaves attacks, Colombia can be proud of him.
151km -
More attacks! Lindeman(VAC) and Ferrari(CJR) go for it! They are easily able to reach the other escapees.
146km -
Chaos in the breakaway! The peloton was nearly reaching them when Ferrari decides to attack. The rest follows though.
144km -
Van Leijen(LTB) tries to make the jump to the others. That said, the others try to get rid of Lindeman.
140km -
The 5 guys that were riding in front of the peloton have now merged into 1 group. Meanwhile, the first guys already start to drop out of the peloton. It’s the fast pace plus the hard wind that does it. The highest guy in the GC involved is number 33 in the GC, Tony Martin. That’s also the only big guy involved. The rest are domestiques that couldn’t care less about the GC. Except for De Greef(the best climber of the guys that dropped), he would’ve liked getting 20th in the GC here.
127km -
The group of 5 has been around 20 seconds ahead for a while now. The pack doesn’t give them any more space, the pace is very fast. Another group dropped, with most notable ‘’flat-roads hater’’ Llanet(MOV) in it, and some good TTists like Westra and Ludvigsson as well.
122km -
The pack got the early attackers back in the peloton. This also made the pace slow down enough to enable Llanet’s group to return to the peloton. There’s not a lot of wind ‘’left’’ now.
119km -
New attackers! BMC attacks
Bookwalter(BMC) and again Pietropolli(LAM) are looking to make today’s breakaway.
116km -
Dockx(LTB), who was caught in a peloton split earlier, is now attacking as well! The pace in the peloton has now slowed down enough to make the dropped groups return to the peloton.
105km -
The 3 guys managed to merge just before the intermediate sprint, which nobody seems to give a shit about. Pietropolli takes the win. The gap is already at 3 minutes, so it’s pretty obvious that these 3 will make today’s breakaway. Of those 3 guys, Bookwalter is placed the best, at 11 minutes.
80km -
The breakaway has 4’45, and it doesn’t seem like it will be much more today.
60km -
There’s just a 3’20 gap now, the pack has everything under control.
52km -
Nobody cares about the IS once again. Pietropolli is the first one crossing the line, ahead of Bookwalter and Dockx. 3 mins left, and a tough climb coming up.
41km -
Hoogerland attacks on the steep climb, possibly just for KoM points.
40km -
Dockx wins the KoM sprint at the front ahead of Pietropolli and Bookwalter. Txurruka sneaks away some points for Hoogerland, more than 2 minutes later.
The sprinters have survived the hill, though especially Stromberg and Demare fell back a bit in the peloton.
37km -
With the peloton over the major hill, some crosswinds appear again. Not a lot is happening though, but since the pack is still at 2’30, the pace has gone up, and you never know what could still happen.
26km -
The pack, with FDJ leading, is setting an insance pace. They already reduced the gap to 1’40. Meanwhile, Pietropolli and Dockx try to fight for the KoM. Bookwalter can’t follow, it seems.
25km -
Easy win for Pietropolli. Also, this KoM sprint wasn’t good for the chances of the breakaway, given that the break is pretty much shattered now, and Pietropolli doesn’t seem to feel like waiting for the others.
20km -
Dockx more or less caught up with the Italian under the 20km banner. There’s a gap of 1’30 left, with Bookwalter hanging about 50 seconds behind. If the pack refuses to co-operate, they might have a chance!
19km -
Dockx appears tired, and can’t follow Pietropolli’s pace. So Pietropolli is now alone against all. Greenedge, FDJ, Garmin and Cannondale are doing the pace. Those are the teams you’d expect to do the pace.
14km –
With 14km to go, the gap still is 1’20, due to some miscommunication in the pack. Pietropolli has a decent chance! The pack did actually drop around 70 additional guys though. No notable names caught.
10km -
Just 10 kilometers left, and 1’03 precisely is the gap. Dockx and Bookwalter are chanceless by now, Pietropolli has an opportunity to get a big win today.
8km -
The teams put the pressure on Garmin and (mainly) FDJ now. This means the gap goes back to 1’10, which means things look very good for Lampre!
5km -
Under the 5km banner, Pietropolli has 50 seconds, but he looks a bit tired. Pack is coming in the distance! Even Hesjedal is working now! Sprint trains haven’t exactly formed yet.
3500m -
Some sprint preperations are being made, but with still 40 seconds in between, it might not be for the win!
2000m -
Pietropolli still looking good, but the gap is closing pretty quick now.
Bouhanni leads out Demare incredibly early, in an attempt to close the gap. In his wheel, there are Rasmussen(GRS), Stromberg(GRS) and Boasson Hagen(SKY). On the right, we have Ladagnous(FDJ), Commeyne(AJW), Goss(OGE) and Lasca(CJR). Viviani, Markus and Meersman do not seem to participate in the sprint today, the stage has been too hectic for them!
1500m -
We have a very weird situation now. Demare lost the wheel to Bouhanni, who had nearly reached Pietropolli. Demare does not have a leadout now. We have Rodriguez and Quintana on the right sprinting for a win as well now, on the road that is only slightly uphill.
1000m -
That’s it, it seems unlikely that Pietropolli will win. Purito(!!!!) is in pole position now. Demare won’t start his sprint, he actually seems tired from the pace that was set a bit earlier.
Quintana and Betancur are following Purito at this moment.
700m -
Bouhanni on fire now, finally started sprinting. Quintana leads, and has more speed than Purito or of course Pietropolli, while Betancur, a bit further to the back, has quite some speed as well. Goss is the only one of the sprinters at the back who actually has some speed.
450m -
Bouhanni has a bike length already, while Quintana looks decent for second, with only Betancur as danger. Hagen, further in the back, looked to have picked up some speed.
200m -
Bouhanni will dominate this sprint, surely! Quintana still 2nd, and Boasson Hagen might have a chance on the podium after all!
Finish -

Bouhanni finishing it in style! Bravo!

Boasson Hagen takes second in the end, with Quintana just pipping out Betancur for third. The race leader sprints to 4th, and Goss takes 5th. Pietropolli takes a well-deserved Top 10, as do (celebrating) Demare and Commeyne, Ladagnous and Stromberg.


Well… That was an interesting stage at least. The combination of wind, the hill on 25km and the miscommunication did that, it seems.
I would lie if I’d say there were no GC differences, since Quintana took a couple of bonification seconds.
Nothing else changed though.
Very impressive effort by Pietropolli today. Great day for FDJ as well!


Results:

1	Nacer Bouhanni	FDJ.fr	3h35'31
2	Edvald Boasson Hagen	Sky Procycling	s.t.
3	Nairo Quintana	Movistar Team	s.t.
4	Carlos Betancur	AG2R La Mondiale	s.t.
5	Joaquím Rodríguez	Katusha Team	s.t.
6	Matthew Goss	Orica - GreenEdge	s.t.
7	Daniele Pietropolli	Lampre - Merida	s.t.
8	Arnaud Demare	FDJ.fr	s.t.
9	Davy Commeye	Accent Jobs - Wanty	s.t.
10	Matthieu Ladagnous	FDJ.fr	s.t.

GC

1	Joaquím Rodríguez	Katusha Team	13h13'06
2	Nairo Quintana	Movistar Team	+ 27
3	Richie Porte	Sky Procycling	+ 1'39
4	Roman Kreuziger	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	+ 2'00
5	Ryder Hesjedal	Garmin - Sharp	s.t.
6	Carlos Betancur	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 2'18
7	Vincenzo Nibali	Astana Pro Team	+ 2'53
8	Michele Scarponi	Lampre - Merida	+ 3'11
9	Cristiano De las Campos	Euskaltel - Euskadi	+ 3'57
10	Cadel Evans	BMC Racing Team	+ 4'23

Points

1	Joaquím Rodríguez	Katusha Team	11	51
2	Nairo Quintana	Movistar Team	16	44
3	Edvald Boasson Hagen	Sky Procycling	20	40
4	Carlos Betancur	AG2R La Mondiale	13	39
5	Nacer Bouhanni	FDJ.fr	25	25
6	Daniele Pietropolli	Lampre - Merida	21	21
7	Ryder Hesjedal	Garmin - Sharp	0	20
8	Roman Kreuziger	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	0	19
9	Richie Porte	Sky Procycling	1	18
10	Tony Martin	Omega Pharma - Quick•Step Cycling Team	0	15

KoM

1	Joaquím Rodríguez	Katusha Team	0	20
2	Jens Voigt	RadioShack - Leopard	0	20
3	Amets Txurruka	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	2	17
4	Nairo Quintana	Movistar Team	0	14
5	Roman Kreuziger	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	0	14
6	Matteo Rabottini	Vini Fantini - Selle Italia	0	12
7	Vincenzo Nibali	Astana Pro Team	0	10
8	Brian Bulgac	Lotto Belisol	0	10
9	Gert Dockx	Lotto Belisol	10	10
10	Daniele Pietropolli	Lampre - Merida	9	9

U25: Quintana
Team: Sky

Bikex wrote:
Purito fifth?
He seems to be very serious about defending the lead in the points competition.