Four days after Cadel’s triumph on the time trial, we were again the favorites, with nine riders starting the race. We started the day by taking control, putting low pressure on the other riders, so that a breakaway would go early. Specialized – Sungard leading the peloton
It went, and Simon Gerrans followed Cameron Meyer, saying he had the legs to follow him right to the end. Four other riders followed, including Matthew Hayman of Sky. Simon Gerrans leading Cameron Meyer of Garmin
It was clear to me that Meyer weren’t going to help out, and no other teams had taken control of the peloton, so I ordered Richie Porte to try and reach Simon. He had a great day, and nobody had the team to answer to his attack. He went right past the quartet with Hayman, and soon he reached Simon, and immediately took the lead. Porte has gained contact with the two in front
After this, Meyer started working with Porte a bit, but Porte kept increasing the pace, and on the second last circuit, Meyer and Simon lost contact with him. Gerrans didn’t move, kept cool, and let Meyer do the work. On the last hill, he attacked with incredible pace, and Meyer hadn’t the power to follow him. He reached Porte in the last 3 k’s, and they chose to fight it out in a sprint. Gerrans, doing much less work than Porte during the race, won the sprint easily. Simon Gerrans is going to ride in green and yellow for the next 10 months
In the peloton, Cadel Evans and Heinrich Haussler put on pressure on the last two climbs, after Cadel came back after a solo crash. This took the last bit of motivation out of the other riders, so in the peloton we claimed to three positions.
The next update is probably a few days away. I'm going to Sweden tomorrow to play in the European Championship final, so I wont be able to play tomorrow really, and I still need some stages of the TDU.
tehMalone wrote:
The next update is probably a few days away. I'm going to Sweden tomorrow to play in the European Championship final, so I wont be able to play tomorrow really, and I still need some stages of the TDU.
Is this the Aussie Rules European Championships?
Good Luck, let us know how you go. Edited by Porte on 09-08-2010 00:23
tehMalone wrote:
The next update is probably a few days away. I'm going to Sweden tomorrow to play in the European Championship final, so I wont be able to play tomorrow really, and I still need some stages of the TDU.
We started the race with a strong lineup of all Australian riders. Haussler would be our captain, with Gerrans as his lieutenant .
Spoiler
11.
H.Haussler
12.
J.Cantwell
13.
R.England
14.
S.Gerrans
15.
M.Goss
16.
M.Renshaw
17.
W.Sulzberger
1st stage
On the first stage, we were quick to take control, alongside Heineken, riding for Van Hummel and Schleck, and Royal Unibrew, riding for Cooke.
HEI, SPS and RUB taking control against a breakaway of 10
The breakaway was never really threatening, so the stage would end up in a mass sprint. Renshaw weren’t really fit for the day, so Matt was alone with the task of setting up Heinrich for the sprint, but he did it with perfection, and Heinrich took the first stage with ease. First of the other favorites for the stage was Farrar, finishing seventh, just in front of McEwen.
Haussler with his first win of the season
The top 3 of the stage, and the jerseys after the stage:
Spoiler
Top 3:
1.
Heinrich Haussler
SPS
3h25m59s
2.
Matteo Carrara
VAC
s.t.
3.
Francesco Ginanni
AND
s.t.
The shirts after the first stage
Leader
Heinrich Haussler
SPS
3h25m59s
Points
Heinrich Haussler
SPS
8pts
Mountains
Raffaele Ferrara
CMO
24pts
Young
Francesco Ginanni
AND
3h25m59s
2nd stage
Early on the stage, a breakaway of 12 riders went, including Andreas Klier of CSC – Cervélo. It was a long day in front for Cantwell and England, who hadn’t got any help this time. At some point I actually feared that the break might hold, so I sent up Renshaw and Sulzberger up to help, and we regained control. With just 30 k’s to go, Garmin and Royal started helping us, and we caught Klier as the last man about 12 k’s from finish. Goss, who’d suffered over the many hills of the day, communicated that he wouldn’t be able to lead out Haussler, so I sent him up on the final k of the last downhill, with Simon G. and Haussler on his wheels. He sat an amazing pace, considering his comment to me, and he managed to split the peloton, when Julian Dean couldn’t follow Cooke’s wheel. Cooke was on Haussler’s wheel, so the winner was in the quartet.
Goss leading Gerrans, Haussler and Cooke
Some fifty meters behind the four, the sprinters started an early sprint to get up to the four, led by Julian Dean. But up front, they were just too fast. Cooke, started the sprint, going past Haussler with incredible pace, and at that moment I thought it was done for. But Haussler responded well, and with an amazing finish, he took victory number two in a photo finish, where Cooke actually thought he won, and celebrated.
Haussler had to fight for it this time
In the peloton, Koldo Fernández won the sprint.
The top 3 of the stage, and the jerseys after the stage:
Spoiler
Top 3:
1.
Heinrich Haussler
SPS
4h36m52s
2.
Baden Cooke
RUB
s.t.
3.
Koldo Fernández
BAE
s.t.
And the shirts after the stage, no changes
Leader
Heinrich Haussler
SPS
8h02m31s
Points
Heinrich Haussler
SPS
16pts
Mountains
Raffaele Ferrara
CMO
24pts
Young
Francesco Ginanni
AND
8h02m47s
3rd stage
Third stage, we had it all under control - until Barredo of Banesto attacked. He rode with incredible strength, and even though we made a huge effort, he had the power to take this one alone.
Barredo winning after a great deal of work
In the peloton, nobody could resists the train we made, and Heinrich, fighting for his jersey, was incredible in the sprint, but he could do nothing
The top 3 of the stage, and the jerseys after the stage:
Spoiler
Top 3:
1.
Carlos Barredo
BAE
3h50m01s
2.
Heinrich Haussler
SPS
+38s
3.
Baden Cooke
RUB
s.t.
And the shirts after the stage, with two changes
Leader
Carlos Barredo
BAE
11h52m39s
Points
Heinrich Haussler
SPS
22pts
Mountains
Carlos Barredo
BAE
32pts
Young
Francesco Ginanni
AND
11h53m26s
4th stage
On this fourth stage, I decided that we were not going to control the race from the start. Banesto had to pay for taking the shirt from us, but unfortunately, they didn’t. Instead a breakaway with 11 riders got a 6 minute gap, when Cantwell and England was sent up to pull for us. They were certainly fresher at this stage than the other days, and with the terrain close to pancake flat, it fitted us much better. We caught the breakaway, and on the final kilometers, we were able to piece together a train with Simon G, Renshaw, Matt Goss and Haussler. Nobody had the force to resist this, and Haussler took his third win.
Haussler is probably the most fit rider in the race
The top 3 of the stage, and the jerseys after the stage:
Spoiler
Top 3 of the stage:
1.
Heinrich Haussler
SPS
4h44m11s
2.
Baden Cooke
RUB
s.t.
3.
Tyler Farrar
GRM
s.t.
And the shirts after the stage, no changes, but Haussler came closer to the leaders jersey again
Leader
Carlos Barredo
BAE
16h36m50s
Points
Heinrich Haussler
SPS
30pts
Mountains
Carlos Barredo
BAE
32pts
Young
Francesco Ginanni
AND
16h37m37s
5th stage
The fifth stage was the queen stage. With hilly terrain all through the day, we decided that it was up to Banesto today, since it wasn’t a sprinters finish. They’d brought a strong squad, and they controlled all day.
Banesto – Eroski Cycling showing off for the first time
An 11 man breakaway got away, but with the firm control of Banesto, helped by Cantwell and Renshaw, they were slowly wheeled in. On the last big hill, Banesto’s pressure split the peloton, with Haussler in the front group, containing 25 men, while Sulzberger, Matt Goss and Simon G. was caught in the second one. They regained contact on the downhill though.
With 27 k’s to go, most of the breakaway were caught by a 48 person peloton, only two was left with a 38 second lead.
On the last hill before the uphill-finish, Elmiger of CSC started the attacks, followed by Schleck and race-leader Barredo. Gerrans and Haussler also reacted, and they formed a five man front group, but Schleck was dropped on the downhill. I ordered Haussler to do nothing in the group, and let Simon G do the work, because we need the victory for the jersey.
Simon G. doing a lot of work for Haussler
On the final one and a half k, Elmiger and Barredo accelerated, but not enough to drop Haussler, and while Barredo lost terrain on the final 500 meters, Haussler went past Elmiger, and took his fourth in the race.
King Haussler of Down Under
In the peloton, Sinkewitz and Cooke reached Schleck, but couldn’t touch him, while Ginanni saved his youth jersey with a late attack.
The top 3 of the stage, and the jerseys after the stage:
Spoiler
Top 3 of the stage:
1.
Heinrich Haussler
SPS
6h26m04s
2.
Martin Elmiger
CSC
s.t.
3.
Carlos Barredo
BAE
+18s
This meant that Haussler took back the leaders jersey
Leader
Heinrich Haussler
SPS
23h02m59s
Points
Heinrich Haussler
SPS
38pts
Mountains
Carlos Barredo
BAE
40pts
Young
Francesco Ginanni
AND
23h06m08s
Haussler on the podium after his stage win
6th stage
In this stage, the final one, there was a lot of confusion in the beginning. It ended with Van Garderen of Microsoft went in a break, collection the final KoM points, and thus stealing the shirt from Barredo. Then suddenly, Fränk Schleck attacked, and gained a 31 second gap. But with the long flat circuit before finish, we decided not to react too much.
And the tactic paid off. We drove into the final 10 kilometers with full control, and we sat up our four piece train, which worked perfectly. Matt Goss was really strong today, and made it very easy for Haussler to beat McEwen and Fernández, with Goss ending fourth.
Haussler was the strongest Down Under – by far!
Top 3 of the stage:
1.
Heinrich Haussler
SPS
4h01m59s
2.
Robbie McEwen
KAT
s.t.
3.
Koldo Fernández
BAE
s.t.
Final GC top 10
1.
Heinrich Haussler
SPS
27h04m48s
2.
Carlos Barredo
BAE
+19s
3.
Martin Elmiger
CSC
+50s
4.
Simon Gerrans
SPS
+1m39s
5.
Baden Cooke
RUB
+2m40s
6.
Fränk Schleck
HEI
+2m48s
7.
Patrik Sinkewitz
ISD
+2m56s
8.
Francesco Ginanni
AND
+3m19s
9.
Juan José Cobo
BAE
+3m20s
10.
Jean-Christophe Peraud
OML
+3m23s
Top 3 sprinters jersey
1.
Heinrich Haussler
SPS
46pts
2.
Carlos Barredo
BAE
18pts
3.
Baden Cooke
RUB
16pts
Top 3 king of mountains jersey
1.
Tejay Van Garderen
MIG
48pts
2.
Carlos Barredo
BAE
40pts
3.
Fränk Schleck
HEI
32pts
Top 3 youth competition
1.
Francesco Ginanni
AND
27h08m07s
2.
Wesley Sulzberger
SPS
+16s
3.
Domenik Klemme
RUB
s.t.
Top 3 team competition
1.
Specialized - Sungard
81h20m34s
2.
Banesto – Eroski Cycling
+1m24s
3.
CSC - Cervélo
+1m56s
As you can see we dominated the race. This was much to all our satisfactions, but especially to me, since this was my first time leading the team in a Pro Tour event. I just feel a little bad for Barredo, coming in 2nd in all three main jerseys.
tehMalone wrote:
The next update is probably a few days away. I'm going to Sweden tomorrow to play in the European Championship final, so I wont be able to play tomorrow really, and I still need some stages of the TDU.
Is this the Aussie Rules european Championships?
Good Luck, let us know how you go.
Yes actually it is
A silver for Denmark and bronze for Sweden, not bad for us northerners.
tehMalone wrote:
The next update is probably a few days away. I'm going to Sweden tomorrow to play in the European Championship final, so I wont be able to play tomorrow really, and I still need some stages of the TDU.
