RHW wrote:
What's the DB maker's logic with the high flat stats?
I'm not entirely sure but it does make the gameplay in sprints a lot better. The trains of top sprinters are better and sprints are less random for my feeling now.
Plus the game is a lot harder now, I definately noticed that. Hard is like extreme now...
We'll have no chance against Tony Martin, Bert Grabsch and co but I'm looking forward to this nonetheless. Hope to get a top 10!
Kahra, my teammate, sets an excellent time, he is even 18 seconds faster than Gretsch! Quite the performance.
My own race goes quite well too. At the first checkpoint I'm 10th after everyone passed, so I'm right on target for my goal, top 10.
At the finish I'm suprised that I could not beat the time of Kahra, I'm 14 seconds behind, he must have had an excellent day!
Voigt doesn't beat my time, but Lang does, and he also beats Kahra, by 54 seconds!
Klöden goes even 11 seconds faster, but the monster is Tony Martin, he goes another 5 seconds faster and wins the ITT.
But I finish 5th! Exceeded my expectations, and so did Kahra, who just lands besides the podium. Great day!
German Road Championships
The fight for the jersey begins. Although on this course it will be hard for us against the professionals.
Right from the start the peloton breaks into pieces and I'm in the first piece. So far so good!
Halfway the race a group with Voigtm Fröhlinger, Lang, Voss, Stauff and teammate Thiel go away. Nobody in the peloton controls, this could be it.
But with 80km to go, HTC finally quickens the pace. A lap after, Leopard forces the pace and a group with Wegmann and Gerdemann goes away and some other riders. I decide to join myself!
We quickly lieve Greipel and Stahr behind, they can't follow the pace. But the lead group is still 6 minutes ahead. And appearently Thiel is about to lose contact as he is out of energy.
Meanwhile guys from the small peloton attack and we get overrun. I can't keep up anymore and just try to finish the best I can.
The favorites are too late to catch the leaders though! Voigt puts in a typical Voigt solo and takes the German Championships!
15 Jakob Steigmiller / Thüringer Energie Team +9'39
A flat stage but with a hilly final. It won't be a normal sprint, that is for sure. The first few breaks didn't get the ok from the peloton. That was good for us because we had nobody there.
Finally a break with Kahra gets away. They get a maximum lead of six minutes before the peloton starts working again.
At the 10km to go sign we can see the lead group riding. I'm riding in front of the peloton, which has already sized down to about 100 men after the hills in the finale.
However, as a last desperate attempt Kahra attacks from the break. The peloton hesitates and with 1km to go he still has a gap. Can my teammate win?
FUCK YEAHHHH!!
14 Jakob Steigmiller +0.12
Stage 2
The first of 4 (!!) mountain stages in a row. The Kitzbüheler Horn is not an easy hill, to say the least!
The Leopard guys + Pinotti + Nose are probably the best climbers here.
As extra difficulty we have to control the race since Kahra is the leader. For a long time we do seem to be able to control the 13 man break. But with 23km the gap is still 3 minutes and my teammates are going full out already.. It has to happen on the Kitzbüheler horn!
Leopard Trek takes over in the race to the foot of the climb, they are planning on ripping the field apart. And with 8.6km to go, the last attacker is caught. I'm still very near the front of the pack!
With 7.5km to go Pires attacks followed by Pinotti. I decide to keep riding at my own pace.
And with 5km to go, I only have 5 guys in my wheel! Ahead Pinoitti and Pires are still riding.
Bak is just in front of me, then Pinotti and Pires are much further ahead, while I keep leading the chase group. In the end, Pires beats Pinotti, I follow Fuchs and Bak and sprint to a 5th place. A really great result!
Pinotti was 30 seconds behind Pires and our group was 2 minutes behind Pinotti, so the GC is pretty much made up. It's Pires vs Pinotti...
Stage 3
Another mountain stage, but with the last mountain 50km from the finish it will probably end up in a reduced bunch sprint.
A pretty boring race follows. 2 riders break away, and the peloton finds it ok. Then they start to ride fast till the foot of the only mountain and ride a hard pace.
With 8.4km to go till the top I start to feel good and just ride pace myself.
At the top only 16 riders are left as we start to descend.
Now it's hard to control for leader Pires, so I might be able to get a stagewin! There are plenty of attacks but I decide to spare my energy. With 3km to go Skujins goes and I react, but then Pinotti counters and blasts us away. I can see Pinotti celebrating while I sprint to 3rd place. Again a good result!
Suprisingly the group behind lost almost 2 minutes on the flat last 3km because they were all looking at Pires...even Gerdemann and Denifl could return to the group!
I jumped to 4th place in the general classification now, just behind Pires.
Stage 4
Finish on the Großglockner today. Another hard mountain finish. Pires is sure to attack and gain back time on Pinotti. I just hope to maintain my place.
In total 13 riders attack, with none of the Thüringer guys in the breaks. We count on Leopard to pull them back anyway.
They did do exactly as we had planned.
At the foot of the Grossglockner the 13 riders had only 1'25 of their lead left. There would be another battle of us GC-riders!
Skujins and Nose don't wait long, they attack at the foot of the climb. Then Pires countesr and gets away!
Unfortunately I got a bit suprised at the foot and got behind some slow riders and missed an important split, not a good anymore...
Pires goes on to win with almost 2'30 advantage on Pinotti! The excitement is completely back here in Austria. But my day is ruined after a dissapointing ride.
16 Jakob Steigmiller / Thüringer Energie Team +6.03
I'm somehow still 4th in the GC! That's at least a bit of good news.
Stage 5
Today we go to Deutschlandsberg, how more German can you get. I'm extra motivated to do well here, certainly after yesterdays mishap!
The start is fast and very hard. Riders keep attacking for about 50 kilometers until finally a fourteen man group gets away. On the first big climb, Thiel sets a high pace until 56 riders are left at the top, at this point the break has been caught!
On the downhill everyone takes it easy but on the Deutschlandberg the game is on. I led the first group until 4.6km from the top, were we hit the gravel part. There I simply ran out of steam and had to let the best 10 guys go. I guess I overrated my capabilities a little bit after the first 2 mountain stages.
The stage win is for Pinotti!
13 Jakob Steigmiller / Thüringer Energie Team +0.54
I dropped from 4th to 9th but with this timeloss it isn't too bad.
Stage 6
Something resembling a flat stage today. We missed the break of the day and that tells the story of a large part of the stage.
The break gets caught with 8km to go. The mass sprint is won by Van Staeyen. Nothing more to add to this stage. I went through it without any noticable problems!
14 Jakob Steigmiller / Thüringer Energie Team s.t.
Stage 7
A nice 30km time trial with some uphills and downhills. It is not going to be easy to control your energy here. But with a good time trial I could move up to the 4th place!
My time trial started well, I had a good first split time. However, my second split time was a bit far off the pace so I had to accelerate in the final part.
My final time was 37 seconds slower than Tuft, the leader by far. With 8 still to come I was 4th and I thought it was pretty good.
Bak, Nose, Parisien, they all had much slower times, so I already knew I would move up to 4th. Mission accomplished!
But the most impressive was Pinotti, not only did he beat Tuft's time by 16 seconds, he also passed Pires on the way!
I moved up to 4th in GC, more than 8 minutes behind mr. Pinotti..
Stage 8
An easy flat stage to finish this race off with. I'll be happy to keep my 4th place here. A big break goes but William and Kahra help with closing the gap.
The stage is too short for a new break and it ends in a sprint. Van Staeyen wins again. I finish in the first peloton, which broke after another mass fall!
27 Jakob Steigmiller / Thüringer Energie Team s.t.
I hope to do another good result with my good form level I have now. The race started with a team time trial
16 Thüringer Energie Team +1.25
Stage 2
A mountain stage to get started with, hope I can limit the damage to the best riders. The finish up the Cima Poffe is not easy. And with Rujano, Pozzovivo, Garzelli and others here it is not a weak field either.
The first climb comes pretty early in the race and we don't have anybody in the break. It doesn't matter though, the pace is so tough that I can't imagine the break staying away, as we head for the final climb.
The last climb was a real tempo climb however, hard to get away! As we neared the finish it was clear we wouldn't even catch the break anymore. I set off in the attackbut it was too late. I got passed by 5/6 of the favorites but still finished well.
However, with the break staying in front it was a bad day for me and the team!
16 Jakob Steigmiller / Thüringer Energie Team +1.17
Stage 3
A flat stage in between today. Thiel was in the break of the day for us, he lost much time yesterday when he was protecting me on the first climb. Now he can go for his own chance.
With 60km to go and a 8 minutes lead it looked like it would be a piece of cake for them to stay away. They did and it came down to a sprint.
Thiel looked liked to have timed his sprint perfectly, but then Bideau came out of nowhere and took the win
17 Jakob Steigmiller / Thüringer Energie Team +3.22
Stage 4
The most difficult mountain stage of the Brixia Tour with finish on the Passo Maniva. Here the differences will be made and I should be on my top form now. With a good day, who knows what is possible?
We missed the initial break so Nuber went after them on the first descent. He almost made contact but then another climb began and Nuber ended up in nomans land. Poor guy!
I didn't feel my legs on any of the first climbs and my confidence skyrocketed. On the penultimate climb I went to the front and decided to ride a comfortable pace, and already many riders had to pass. Among them the numbers 1,2 and 4 in the GC.
Leader de Vreese did return in the downhill, but I guess he knew he would lose the jersey on the final climb anyway.
The pace is high on the final climb, set by Devolder and Anza for Carrara. With 4.3km to go, I attack and reach the last breakaway rider Agnoli. Carrara is not far behind.
Soon Rujano comes after us and counters. Carrara goes with him. I have trouble following but we're in the final km!
Rujano outsprints Carrara for the win, I finish 3rd. Unbelievable result!
Stage 5
In this final stage I just want to keep my GC spot (5th) and my young riders leader jersey. The first break of 14 guys gets caught after 50km.
Then a second break of four gets the OK.
Colnage and Androni started working when the gap was 6 minutes. In the final 20km I wasn't outside the first 10 to be sure I would not get caught up in falls. The final sprint was won by Ferrari with ease!
15 Jakob Steigmiller / Thüringer Energie Team s.t.
Final GC
I moved up to 4th due to a fall of Pozzovivo. A real nice result once again, 4th in Austria and 4th in Brixia, my form peak worked out great. On to the last part of the season, but now, a little rest!
Oh, and on a final note...
Probably the last race of the season for me (maybe I ride the worlds..), let's hope my form hasn't become too bad!
Luckily the first few stages are pretty flat so I can gain some form.
The early breakaway of 12 contained Kahra. Behind it was Sky, ofcourse, who was controlling the peloton. The part between 80km and 30km to go was very hilly. Normally not a problem. The roads were very small however and it split the peloton into pieces! I was in the second group of 11, top favorite Hagen was in the first part just ahead of us.
Net.App and Astana closed the gap and so I was part of the first favorite group of 24! The peloton was 1 minute behind. But after the final climb they return nonetheless. With a group of 65 we head into the final 20km, but hte break is still 3 minutes ahead! Kahra dropped out to help me however, I hope that was not the wrong choice.
However we don't make it and Laverde wins the stage...
55 Jakob Steigmiller / Thüringer Energie Team +2.39
If the favorites continued riding after the split was made we might have made it. Too bad!
Stage 2
Another treacherous stage. Largely flat, but with some steep hills again in the finale. I'll try to stay in the front again. But with the break gaining 2'39 in the first stage, I'm not in for a good classification here anymore anyway.
The stage follows the predictable pattern. Brekaway goes and gets caught with 11km to go. And during the hilly final the attacks start. Noboyd can get away and Sutton wins the mass sprint!
18 Jakob Steigmiller / Thüringer Energie Team s.t.
Stage 3
One of the most hilly stages this Tour of Britain. Mike William is in the break for the team. I hope to stay with the favorites in another hilly final.
Again the stage is pretty eventless. The breakaway gets caught with 10km to go. We get a mass sprint once again and this time Farrar wins after a perfect leadout by Hushovd!
34 Jakob Steigmeiller / Thüringer Energie Team s.t.
Stage 4
Yet another flat stage on rolling terrain. However, the final does look difficult here. But I thought that the other days again and those were boring mass sprint days!
A ten men group with Bürgel is in the attack for a large part of the stage. To my great dislike it's raining cats and dogs today. This could get dangerous in the twisty hilly final.
The break holds the advantage on the final hill. I attacked on the same final hill from the peloton but Hagen and Gatto follow me. Hushovd is slightly behind..
The stage win is for Lacombe from the breakaway. Bürgel finishes 9th...
15 Jakob Steigmiller / Thüringer Energie Team s.t.
I finish as one of the first favorites but there are rarely time differences.
Stage 5
Our tactic for the stage is to make the race hard. It's the only way to try and make the stage difficult!
So for 120km, William, Bürgel, Kahra, Nuber and Thiel, in that order, made the race as hard as possible. But after all that work, there are still 139 riders in the peloton. I guess it was a mission impossible to begin with!
Well, not completely impossible, on the final hill Garmin Cervelo makes pace and the peloton is reduced to 70 men, probably because we made them tired before. Then again, if anti-climber Guardini can hang on, you really question the difficulty of this stage.
Kristoff won the sprint...
39 Jakob Steigmiller / Thüringer Energie Team s.t.
Stage 6
Flat and boring. A nine man breakaway rides ahead until 10km to go. Sky sets up the mass sprint...
And Sutton wins!
18 Jakob Steigmiller / Thüringer Energie Team s.t.
I'll start the ITT tomorrow as 17th in the GC. With a bit of luck, top 10 is possible.
Stage 7
The time trial, probably my last race of the season or I must get selected for the World Championships.
The time that is the one to beat when I start is impossible. Jesse Sergent rode 22'23.. which was 34 seconds than nr 2 Löfkvist and 58 seconds faster than nr 3 Gasparotto. Good luck me!
At the first check I'm already 45 seconds behind. I try to do better in the second part, but it's clearly not a top day. I finish as 18th in 1'13, with still sixteen people to finish after me. But in the end I only drop 4 places to 22th. Still a bit underhwelming.
22 Jakob Steigmiller / Thüringer Energie Team +1.14
Final GC
18 Jakob Steigmiller / Thüringer Energie Team +2.38
To my suprise I got selected for the Worlds ITT. I did well in the German Championships and some of the big names didn't want to go. So I got to go to Copenhagen!
Big German favorite Martin is tired from a long season though so he probably can't win. Only Schumacher is still in awesome form, but he is not a match for Cancellara and co normally!
I am the first German to start. The first two checkpoints it's clear I can't match the top time of Ovechkin. But at the final checkpoint I at least manage a top 5 time, just a bit faster than Westra who is 5th. I'm pretty satisfied with my ITT
The second German does mind boggingly awesome though. Schumacher does as good as in his best doping years and blows the opposition away with 59'40, 1 minute faster than nr 2 Cameron Meyer.
Geraint Thomas is close with a time that is 10 seconds slower. While Lang also posts a good time, 1'05 slower than Schumacher. It seems I will be worst of the Germans, but I was here for experience anyway.
Tony Martin didn't have the form as expected and finished 8th, 1'05 back, with still Cancellara as last to come..Schumacher was still leading. Will Cancellara beat him??
37 Jakob Steigmiller / Germany +2.26
Too bad for Schumacher! And not a bad performance for myself either.
World Championships Road
German selection: Schumacher, Martens, Kittel, Steigmiller, Schröder, Lang, Degenkolb, Burghardt, Greipel.
Our tactic is everything for Kittel today. He is the sprinter with the best form.
A break of 13 riders has formed early in the race and with 130km to go Schröder, Degenkolb and me have to work to reduce the gap. When we come closer with 60km to go, a dangerous new counter-break forms with Terpstra, Poels, F.Schleck and Duarte among them.
Finally, with 40km to go, we have caught them and I am emtpy. I'll just try to stay on as long as possible now.
With 13km the German train is on the rails. Burghardt, Martens, Degenkolb, Schumacher, Greipel, Kittel.. in that order.
Philippe Gilbert attacks and causes some ruckus. Gasparotto counters. Martens closes the gap, but by doing so Greipel blows up. Kittel closes the gap on Schumacher himself, less than ideal!
This is proven when Kittel is overpowered by 7 others in the final meters. A big dissapointment. Cavendish is world champion!
148 Jakob Steigmiller / Germany +3.55
And that ends my season. We did well in the worlds but due to Greipel losing the wheel Kittel had no chance. Too bad! But that's sport I guess.
1 Fränk Schleck
2 Janez Brajkovic
3 Chris Horner
4 Peter Velits
5 Roman Kreuziger
Tour de Suisse
1 Michele Scarponi
2 Bradley Wiggins
3 Vincenzo Nibali
4 Andreas Klöden
5 Samuel Sánchez
Tour de France
1 Andy Schleck
2 Robert Gesink
3 Ivan Basso
4 Peter Velits
5 Janez Brajkovic
6 Fränk Schleck
7 Alberto Contador
8 Cadel Evans
9 Jurgen Van den Broeck
10 Pierre Rolland
(note: Contador was injured, and thus performed poorly)
Clásica San Sebastián
1 Philippe Gilbert
2 Cadel Evans
3 Wout Poels
4 Roman Kreuziger
5 Jelle Vanendert
I could but I didn't. I can tell you that nobody has stats similar to Steigmiller. Kahra is a decent ITT-er (beginning 70), and Thiel a decent climber (70 MO). There are some talents for 2012 that have good beginning stats but none at the level of Jakob...
Season review
So with season 2011 over. Here's a quick overview of my results
GP Costa Degli Etruschi 32th
Giro di Sardegna 8th
Vuelta a Murcia 40th
Settimana Coppi e Bartali 35th
Delta Tour 107th
Ster ZLM Toer 26th
National ITT Championships 5th
National Road Championships 15th
Österreich Rundfahrt 4th
Brixia Tour 4th - won youth classification
Tour of Britain 18th
Worlds ITT Championships 37th
World Road Championships 148th
Final Continental ranking: 98th (92 pts)
Final CQ ranking: 216th (214 pts)
A very cool and consistent season, where I have proven myself as a promising stage-racer. The next step is to actually win a stage race or at least a stage!
