A difficult squad selection here for me. With the ProTour TDU running simultaneously to this race and the sprinter happy 2.HC Tour De Langkawi starting the day this race finishes, my options are a little limited in this lesser race, particularly as far as sprinters are concerned. However, the team is set and is as follows:
Leader - Thiago Machado
Sprinter - Adam Blythe
Teammate - Sergio Henao
Teammate - Gustav Larrson
Teammate - Stephen Cummings
Teammate - Nairo Quintana
Teammate - Staf Scheirlinckx
Machado's hill stat of 74 is shared by Scheirlinckz and Cummings. However, his superior time trialing gives him the edge as leader. Adam Blythe isn't expected to be too competitive in the sprints. Hopefully Larrson and Scheirlinckx can deliver him on to the tail of a competing sprinter in the final kilometres and then rely on good fortune or superior fitness.
A win might be difficult, but a podium finish in the race should be a possibility.
A day for the sprinters and Skil's Marcel Kittel and Androni's Roberto Ferrari (sprint - 76) are the clear favourites. Our Adam Blythe (sprint - 75) should be able to work himself into the mix, however without a notable lead out train some good fortune will be needed.
An early breakaway of four riders jumped out to an early 7'03'' second lead as the mountain sprint was reached and it was won by Nikita Novikov of Itera-Katusha.
The first intermediate sprint was won by G. Boivin of Spider-Tech (he also went on to win the second intermediate sprint) and it wasn't long before United Healthcare and Movistar jumped on the front of the peloton and started bringing back the breakaway.
However, with 60km to go with the breakaway at 4'oo'' up, things got much more interesting...
...Movistar's Ruben Plaza (76MO, 75HI) fell on his own, obviously a serious GC threat.
With 20KM to go, the breakaway had little over a 1'oo'' lead on the peloton whilst Ruben Plaza, who had been abandoned by his team, plowed a loan furrow five minutes behind the peloton.
As the riders passed under the 5KM banner, the breakaway had been caught and the Manx Racing train was looking strong out in front. Even better news, both Androni's (Ferrari) and Skil's (Kittel) trains were unformed or disrupted. Still, without a sprinter to race leadout for Blythe, the chances for a stage win are slim:
At 1.6KM to go, Adam Blythe was sitting second on the course in Staf Scheirlynckx's wheel. NetApp were moving up on the right with Darryl Impey in the wheel of his leadout man and Androni's Roberto Ferrari (in the white) was sitting in eigth. Surprisingly, Marcel Kittel had vanished from the front and was sitting mid-peloton. Perhaps there is hope after all:
Alas it wasn't meant to be. Blyth was hurt by the lack of an effective leadout and was passed quickly by a number of riders. But boy what a sprint!
Mirko Lorenzetto (73SP) of Astana took the stage with a photo needed to separate the other podium spots. In the end it was Oscar Gatto of Farnese-Vini finishing second and Murilo Fischer of Garmin taking the final podium spot. Blythe finished ninth and a re-think of our sprint tactics for this race will be needed. The train worked beautifully up until the start of the sprint but there was no pace to set Blythe up after that point.
The Top 10
Spoiler
1
Mirco Lorenzetto
Pro Team Astana
3h46'01
2
Oscar Gatto
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
s.t.
3
Murilo Fischer
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
4
Francesco Ginanni
Androni Giocattoli
s.t.
5
Cyril Lemoine
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
6
Roger Kluge
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
7
Daryl Impey
Team NetApp
s.t.
8
Davy Commeyne
Landbouwkrediet
s.t.
9
Adam Blythe
MANX TEAM RACING
s.t.
10
Matteo Pelucchi
Geox - TMC
s.t
.
And Ruben Plaza? At 8'53'' down on GC, he'll only be good for breakaways for the rest of this race.
So disappointing on the sprint, but all our riders finished in the peloton, they exerted little and it was an event free race. With stage two being the first of the hilly stages, it's time to look to our climbers.
The first of three hilly stages, one made notable by the narrow track up the final climb. Positioning will be crucial for this race.
A flat monotonous stage except for the final short sharp climb. Machado was listed as an outsider on the favourites screen (wasn't able to grab a screenshot in time unfortunately), but looking through the ranks of riders, there's a number worth looking out for, unsurprising with Astana, Katusha and Movistar in the race:
Danilo Di Luca - Katusha
Pavel Brutt - Katusha
David De La Fuente - Geox
JJ Cobo - Geox
Robert Kiserlovski - Astana
Paolo Tiralongo - Astana
Bert De Waele - Landbouwkredeit
Benoit Intxausti - Movistar
Amongst others.
A 6 man BOTD jumped out to an eight minute lead enabling them to grab all the intermediates but with just over 80K to go, Movistar and United Healthcare started the pull at the front of the peloton. With so many other contenders in the field, we feel no need to, for now, to help out.
At 20km to go and at the start of the uphill drag leading to the final climb, our riders got into position towards the front of the peloton with Machado being protected by Henao and Scheirlinckx being protected by Nairo Quintana. The BOTD still has a two minute lead at this point, but it's falling rapidly now, particularly with Movistar and Astana on the front.
As the breakaway hit the final climb, with 5km to go, things started to look better for them, with the gap still at 1'48''. Perhaps the efforts of Movistar and Astana weren't going to be enough:
At the base of the climb, Allesandro Bertolini was the first to make a move at the front of the peloton:
The three Movistar riders at the front are all significant threats: David Arroyo, Ruben Plaza (yesterdays faller) and Pablo Lastras.
At 1.5kn to go for the leaders, both Machado and Scheirlinckx are showing to the front bookending Intxausti, 24'' ahead of he peloton but still trailing the early breakaway who will almost certainly stay away now:
At the finish, Jarlinson Pantano of Colombia, part of the original breakaway, takes the stage win:
Thiago Machado and Staf Scheirlynckx finished 8th and 10th on the stage, 53'' down on the winner.
Spoiler
1
Jarlinson Pantano
Colombia es Pasión - Café de Colombia
4h16'47
2
José Alberto Benítez
Andalucía Caja Granada
+ 5
3
Alessandro Bisolti
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
+ 21
4
Bert De Waele
Landbouwkrediet
+ 27
5
Beñat Intxausti
Movistar Team
+ 38
6
Remmert Wielinga
Itera - Katusha
+ 43
7
Alessandro Bertolini
Androni Giocattoli
+ 51
8
Tiago Machado
MANX TEAM RACING
s.t.
9
David Boily
Team SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
10
Staf Scheirlinckx
MANX TEAM RACING
s.t.
11
Steven Cozza
Team NetApp
+ 1'07
12
David Arroyo
Movistar Team
+ 1'37
13
Mirco Lorenzetto
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
14
Francesco Failli
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
+ 1'45
15
Robert Kiserlovski
Pro Team Astana
+ 2'02
16
Jonathan Hivert
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
17
Pablo Lastras
Movistar Team
s.t.
18
Sébastien Joly
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
19
Rubén Plaza
Movistar Team
s.t.
20
Dmitriy Fofonov
Pro Team Astana
+ 2'15
21
Tanel Kangert
Pro Team Astana
+ 2'25
22
Paolo Tiralongo
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
23
Rory Sutherland
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
s.t.
24
Jesús Herrada
Movistar Team
s.t.
25
Imanol Erviti
Movistar Team
s.t.
26
Koen De Kort
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
27
Davide Frattini
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
s.t.
28
David Zabriskie
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
29
Ángel Vicioso
Androni Giocattoli
s.t.
30
Michel Kreder
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
31
Daryl Impey
Team NetApp
s.t.
32
Ramunas Navardauskas
Team Garmin - Cervélo
+ 2'53
33
Luis Pasamontes
Movistar Team
s.t.
34
Andrey Zeits
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
35
Gustav Erik Larsson
MANX TEAM RACING
s.t.
36
Jack Bauer
Endura Racing
s.t.
37
Gorazd Stangelj
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
38
Benjamin Gourgue
Landbouwkrediet
s.t.
39
Kevin Peeters
Landbouwkrediet
s.t.
40
Charles Wegelius
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
+ 3'12
41
Bartosz Huzarski
Team NetApp
+ 3'17
42
Branislau Samoilau
Movistar Team
s.t.
43
Francesco Ginanni
Androni Giocattoli
s.t.
44
Johannes Fröhlinger
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
45
Paul Voss
Endura Racing
s.t.
46
Yury Trofimov
Katusha Team
s.t.
47
Daniel Moreno
Katusha Team
s.t.
48
Nairo Quintana
MANX TEAM RACING
s.t.
49
Adam Blythe
MANX TEAM RACING
s.t.
50
Sergio Henao
MANX TEAM RACING
s.t.
51
Dimitry Kozontchuk
Geox - TMC
s.t.
52
Stephen Cummings
MANX TEAM RACING
s.t.
53
Koen Barbé
Landbouwkrediet
s.t.
54
Bobbie Traksel
Landbouwkrediet
+ 3'41
55
David Millar
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
56
Jonathan Clarke
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
+ 3'53
57
Assan Bazayev
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
58
Fortunato Baliani
D'Angelo & Antenucci - Nippo
s.t.
59
Murilo Fischer
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
60
Antonio Piedra
Andalucía Caja Granada
s.t.
61
Oscar Gatto
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
+ 4'03
62
Juan José Cobo
Geox - TMC
s.t.
63
Víctor Hugo Peña
Colombia es Pasión - Café de Colombia
+ 4'21
64
Robinson Chalapud
Colombia es Pasión - Café de Colombia
s.t.
65
Luca Ascani
D'Angelo & Antenucci - Nippo
s.t.
66
Karl Menzies
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
s.t.
67
Martin Gilbert
Team SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
68
Hilton Clarke
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
s.t.
69
Frédéric Amorison
Landbouwkrediet
s.t.
70
Dmitry Mokrov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
71
René Mandri
Endura Racing
s.t.
72
Juan Forero
Colombia es Pasión - Café de Colombia
s.t.
73
Andrea Noè
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
s.t.
74
Adrián Palomares
Andalucía Caja Granada
s.t.
75
Gabriel Rasch
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
76
Roberto Ferrari
Androni Giocattoli
s.t.
77
Robert Förster
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
s.t.
78
Sergey Firsanov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
79
Sven Nys
Landbouwkrediet
s.t.
80
Cyril Lemoine
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
81
Dalivier Ospina
Colombia es Pasión - Café de Colombia
+ 5'00
82
Guillaume Boivin
Team SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
83
Hector Paez
Colombia es Pasión - Café de Colombia
+ 5'14
84
Boy Van Poppel
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
s.t.
85
Pavel Brutt
Katusha Team
+ 5'57
86
Davy Commeyne
Landbouwkrediet
s.t.
87
Egor Silin
Katusha Team
s.t.
88
Alexander Wetterhall
Endura Racing
+ 6'09
89
Will Routley
Team SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
90
David De la Fuente
Geox - TMC
s.t.
91
Danilo Di Luca
Katusha Team
s.t.
92
Jesús Rosendo
Andalucía Caja Granada
s.t.
93
Elia Favilli
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
s.t.
94
David Blanco
Geox - TMC
s.t.
95
Jonas Ljungblad
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
96
Sep Vanmarcke
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
97
Christophe Laborie
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
98
Aleksandr Kuschynski
Katusha Team
s.t.
99
Michael Tronborg
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
100
Jesús Del Nero
Team NetApp
+ 6'26
101
Ian Wilkinson
Endura Racing
s.t.
102
Christian Poos
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
103
Roy Curvers
Skil - Shimano
+ 6'43
104
Juan Villegas
Colombia es Pasión - Café de Colombia
s.t.
105
Andreas Dietziker
Team NetApp
s.t.
106
Camilo Suárez
Colombia es Pasión - Café de Colombia
s.t.
107
José Luis Roldán
Andalucía Caja Granada
s.t.
108
Yannick Talabardon
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
109
Dimitri Claeys
Team NetApp
s.t.
110
Stefan Cohnen
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
111
Fang Han
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
112
David Hesselbarth
Team NetApp
s.t.
113
Pierpaolo De Negri
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
s.t.
114
Alexandre Blain
Endura Racing
s.t.
115
Ariel Maximiliano Richeze
D'Angelo & Antenucci - Nippo
s.t.
116
Roger Kluge
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
117
Vytautas Kaupas
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
118
Matteo Pelucchi
Geox - TMC
s.t.
119
Leonardo Giordani
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
s.t.
120
Andrew Talansky
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
121
Kevin Lacombe
Team SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
122
José Vicente Toribio
Andalucía Caja Granada
s.t.
123
Cyrille Heymans
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
+ 7'26
124
Joel Zangerle
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
125
José Serpa
Androni Giocattoli
s.t.
126
Gediminas Kaupas
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
127
Daniele Ratto
Geox - TMC
s.t.
128
Sergey Rudaskov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
129
Giairo Ermeti
Androni Giocattoli
s.t.
130
Laurent Mangel
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
131
Jackson Rodríguez
Androni Giocattoli
s.t.
132
Giuseppe Muraglia
D'Angelo & Antenucci - Nippo
s.t.
133
Scott Thwaites
Endura Racing
s.t.
134
Eric Baumann
Team NetApp
s.t.
135
Vladimir Isaychev
Katusha Team
s.t.
136
Fabio Duarte
Geox - TMC
s.t.
137
Gianluca Mirenda
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
s.t.
138
Albert Timmer
Skil - Shimano
+ 7'55
139
Maarten De Jonge
Endura Racing
s.t.
140
Eduard Vorganov
Katusha Team
s.t.
141
Junya Sano
D'Angelo & Antenucci - Nippo
s.t.
142
Fabio Felline
Geox - TMC
s.t.
143
Alexander Prishpetniy
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
144
Emanuele Sella
Androni Giocattoli
+ 8'17
145
Martin Reimer
Skil - Shimano
+ 8'28
146
Pavel Kochetkov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
147
Julien Simon
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
148
Juan Javier Estrada
Andalucía Caja Granada
s.t.
149
Marcel Kittel
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
150
Ryohei Komori
D'Angelo & Antenucci - Nippo
+ 8'40
151
Stéphane Poulhiès
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
152
Dmitry Kosyakov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
153
Nikita Novikov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
154
Masaaki Kikuchi
D'Angelo & Antenucci - Nippo
s.t.
155
Bernardo Riccio
D'Angelo & Antenucci - Nippo
s.t.
156
Jonathan Patrick McCarty
Team SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
157
Bruno Langlois
Team SpiderTech powered by C10
+ 8'53
158
Antonio Cabello
Andalucía Caja Granada
+ 9'01
159
Mark Batty
Team SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
Whilst the win would have been nice, of those riders finishing ahead of Machado on the stage (and therefore GC), only Intxausti (75TT) time trials better than Machado (74TT), and behind Machado in the GC, Rory Sutherland is the closest TTer who could threaten us and he's 1'30' down on Machado. So with one 19.5 km TT and two hilly stages to go, a podium or even victory is still on the cards in this race.
Our first World Tour event and time to unleash two of our big guns:
Leader: Nicholas Roche
Sprinter: Mark Cavendish
Teammate: Grega Bole
Teammate: Michael Matthews
Teammate: Luke Rowe
Teammate: Vladimir Gusev
Teammate: Matthew Hayman
Stage One:
Stage Two:
Stage Three:
Stage Four:
Stage Five:
Stage Six:
The first chance to show Mark Cavendish in his World Championship jersey riding under the Manx flag. What this team was made for. I did consider holding him back for the Tour De Langkawi as there would likely be easier stage victories there, but the opportunity to grab some serious points and showcase the new team on the world stage couldn't be passed up - the sponsors wouldn't have been happy with the Manx missile riding the lesser of the two races.
An early 16 man breakaway jumped away early with little effort from the peloton to pull them back. With only seven riders in the race, the Manx DS didn't feel it in the best interests of the team to join in. Of the sprint teams, only Manx Racing, Omega-Pharma (Greipel), Lampre (Petacchi) and Quickstep (Boonen) weren't represented in the break. With 80km to go, the breakaway had a 5' minute lead. Unlike Stage Two at San Luis, this is one breakaway I'm not going to rely on others to pull back and Matthew Hayman got himself positioned at the front of the peloton ready to help pull it back when needed. Notable riders in the break included Chris Sutton (Sky), Marcus Burghardt (BMC), Sebastian Chavanel (Europcar) and Robbie Hunter (Radioshack).
With a little over 10km to go, this happened:
However, no riders of note were involved save possibly Lloyd Mondory (AG2R) and Davide Apollonio (Sky).
At the other end of the race, just as the final remnants of the breakaway are caught and Tomas Vaitkus (Astana) launches a valiant attack and 5km to go, the Manx train (Hayman-Bole-Matthews-Cavendish) is well positioned.
As the riders pass under the flamme rouge, Cavendish is blocked by Danilo Hondo, once again the sprint-train has been far from effective. Petacchi, Swift and Renshaw lead the sprint up the final straight.
And at the finish it's Allessandro Petacchi who wins comfortably followed by Bennati (Leopard) and Graeme Brown (Rabobank). Cavendish, following being blocked, lost all momentum and failed to get his sprint back on track.
A poor 15th for Mark Cavendish:
Spoiler
1
Alessandro Petacchi
Lampre - ISD
3h18'30
2
Daniele Bennati
Leopard Trek
s.t.
3
Graeme Brown
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
4
Mark Renshaw
HTC - Highroad
s.t.
5
Tom Boonen
Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
6
Julian Dean
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
7
Juan José Haedo
Saxo Bank SunGard
s.t.
8
Francisco José Ventoso
Movistar Team
s.t.
9
Ben Swift
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
10
Sébastien Hinault
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
11
André Greipel
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
12
Grega Bole
MANX TEAM RACING
s.t.
13
Danilo Hondo
Lampre - ISD
s.t.
14
Michael Matthews
MANX TEAM RACING
s.t.
15
Mark Cavendish
MANX TEAM RACING
s.t.
16
Nick Nuyens
Saxo Bank SunGard
s.t.
17
Daniele Pietropolli
Lampre - ISD
s.t.
18
Tony Martin
HTC - Highroad
s.t.
19
Björn Leukemans
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
20
Vicente Reynès
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
21
Jürgen Roelandts
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
22
Marco Marcato
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
23
Sylvain Chavanel
Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
24
Baden Cooke
Saxo Bank SunGard
s.t.
25
Bernhard Eisel
HTC - Highroad
s.t.
26
Jakob Fuglsang
Leopard Trek
s.t.
27
Marco Bandiera
Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
28
Jens Voigt
Leopard Trek
s.t.
29
Rinaldo Nocentini
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
30
Maarten Neyens
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
31
Matthew Wilson
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
32
Simon Clarke
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
33
Tomas Vaitkus
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
34
Johan Vansummeren
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
35
Matthew Hayman
MANX TEAM RACING
s.t.
36
Dimitri Krivtsov
Lampre - ISD
s.t.
37
Nicolas Roche
MANX TEAM RACING
s.t.
38
Mikhail Ignatiev
Katusha Team
s.t.
39
José Vicente García Acosta
Movistar Team
s.t.
40
Andriy Grivko
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
41
John Degenkolb
HTC - Highroad
s.t.
42
Steve Houanard
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
43
Francisco Pérez
Movistar Team
s.t.
44
Danilo Wyss
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
45
Adam Hansen
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
46
Christian Knees
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
47
Manuel Quinziato
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
48
Vladimir Karpets
Katusha Team
s.t.
49
Francesco Gavazzi
Lampre - ISD
s.t.
50
Yaroslav Popovych
Team RadioShack
s.t.
51
Daniel Oss
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
52
Chris Horner
Team RadioShack
s.t.
53
Luke Rowe
MANX TEAM RACING
s.t.
54
Gert Steegmans
Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
55
Danny Pate
HTC - Highroad
s.t.
56
Jos Van Emden
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
57
Robert Hunter
Team RadioShack
s.t.
58
Vladimir Gusev
MANX TEAM RACING
s.t.
59
Alexander Porsev
Katusha Team
s.t.
60
Dennis Van Winden
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
61
Marcus Burghardt
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
62
Iván Gutiérrez
Movistar Team
s.t.
63
David Boucher
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
64
Giacomo Nizzolo
Leopard Trek
s.t.
65
Adriano Malori
Lampre - ISD
s.t.
66
Michael Schär
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
67
Ignatas Konovalovas
Movistar Team
s.t.
68
Sébastien Turgot
Team Europcar
s.t.
69
Martin Kohler
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
70
Alexandre Pichot
Team Europcar
s.t.
71
Giovanni Bernaudeau
Team Europcar
s.t.
72
Damien Gaudin
Team Europcar
s.t.
73
Andreas Stauff
Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
74
Leigh Howard
HTC - Highroad
s.t.
75
Travis Meyer
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
76
Mathieu Claude
Team Europcar
s.t.
77
Denys Kostyuk
Lampre - ISD
s.t.
78
Chad Beyer
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
79
Maciej Bodnar
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
80
David Tanner
Saxo Bank SunGard
s.t.
81
Yohann Gène
Team Europcar
s.t.
82
Yuriy Krivtsov
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
83
Marcel Sieberg
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
84
Sébastien Minard
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
85
Martijn Maaskant
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
86
Simon Zahner
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
87
Rafael Valls
Geox - TMC
s.t.
88
Marco Corti
Geox - TMC
s.t.
89
Alan Marangoni
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
90
Alberto Ongarato
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
91
Brett Lancaster
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
92
Lucas Sebastián Haedo
Saxo Bank SunGard
s.t.
93
Christopher Sutton
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
94
Kristof Goddaert
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
95
Gorik Gardeyn
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
96
Pablo Urtasun
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
97
Linus Gerdemann
Leopard Trek
s.t.
98
Cameron Wurf
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
99
Matteo Tosatto
Saxo Bank SunGard
s.t.
100
Koldo Fernández
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
101
Matthias Brändle
Geox - TMC
s.t.
102
Matthew Brammeier
HTC - Highroad
s.t.
103
Enrico Gasparotto
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
104
Frederique Robert
Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
105
Zdenek Stybar
Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
106
Rubén Pérez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
107
Jens Mouris
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
108
Geoffroy Lequatre
Team RadioShack
s.t.
109
Chris Froome
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
110
Enrique Sanz
Movistar Team
s.t.
111
Mauro Da Dalto
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
112
Giampaolo Cheula
Geox - TMC
s.t.
113
Valentin Iglinskiy
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
114
Fabian Wegmann
Leopard Trek
s.t.
115
Paolo Longo Borghini
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
116
Edward King
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
117
William Clarke
Leopard Trek
s.t.
118
Ian Stannard
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
119
Jake Keough
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
s.t.
120
Sébastien Chavanel
Team Europcar
s.t.
121
Alexandre Pliuschin
Katusha Team
s.t.
122
Cameron Meyer
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
123
Christopher Jones
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
s.t.
124
Alan Pérez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
125
Frederik Veuchelen
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
126
Stef Clement
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
127
Kurt-Asle Arvesen
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
128
Grischa Niermann
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
129
Tomas Alberio
Geox - TMC
s.t.
130
Roman Kireyev
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
131
Jason McCartney
Team RadioShack
s.t.
132
Noe Gianetti
Geox - TMC
s.t.
133
Andrew Pinfold
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
s.t.
134
Juan José Oroz
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
135
Scott Zwizanski
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
s.t.
136
Bradley White
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
+ 3'07
137
Adrian Hegyvari
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
s.t.
138
Christian Meier
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
+ 3'59
139
Rick Flens
Rabobank Cycling Team
+ 5'35
140
Maxim Iglinskiy
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
141
Lloyd Mondory
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
142
Tom Leezer
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
143
Stijn Vandenbergh
Katusha Team
s.t.
144
Davide Appollonio
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
145
Luke Roberts
Saxo Bank SunGard
s.t.
146
Iñaki Isasi
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
147
Jesse Sergent
Team RadioShack
s.t.
148
Maxime Vantomme
Katusha Team
s.t.
149
Wouter Mol
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
150
Egoi Martínez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
151
Marcel Wyss
Geox - TMC
+ 6'50
152
Dimitriy Muravyev
Team RadioShack
+ 7'18
153
Alexander Mironov
Katusha Team
s.t.
Edit - Apologies for the cursor on most of the pictures. Im my rush to produce them, I forgot all about it.
Edited by mscaviy2601 on 11-10-2011 15:10
Back on the flat again and another chance for Adam Blythe to feature. I 've decided that we neither have the train or a sprinter with sufficient pace to win in a conventional mass sprint so today we'll try for something different. I once hadd success getting Russell Downing winning a sprint against much better sprinters by having a good flat train shooting him off the front of the peloton with around 3km to go and then having the slower Downing sprinting from further out and hanging on at the finish line. So this will be the tactic for today. Will most likely end in failure but as they say, nothing ventured...
...And damn. Lost my pictures for this stage so a summary will have to suffice.
With 7km left to go, our train was perfectly positioned to attempt to jump off the front of the peloton. The hammer went down, but seconds later so did the hammers of NetApp and Androni who came up on either side of our train. With 3KM to go, our train was positioned in the middle of the road, NetApp were on the left and Androni on the right.
At 2KM, Steve Cummings, who was directly ahead of Blythe went for the sprint again to hopefully create some distance but was unsuccessful. However, the upshot of these attempts was that Blythe was well placed at the front, just without any seperation. In the end, he sprinted to a credible 6th place behind the winner Darryl Impey from NetApp. Not bad for a 21 year old sprinter. Much happier with this result although I think in future that we'll just be using Blythe in a leadout role.
A Shame you didn't include a lot of the young IOM talents coming through: Tim Kennaugh, Chris Whorrall, Mark Christian, maybe even juniors like Joe Kelly, Jonathan Cregeen etc. to give the team a proper Manx feel.
Other than that, I like your team line up, good luck.
