I really like your screenshots! I don't comment too often in this forum, but I think this story deserves a high five and I just have to say: "Good luck!"
I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.
Unfortunately I had to simulate through this race, as the removal of Milan/Guerra/Sobrino caused the game to crash in 3D mode (I already rode the first stage with them in, and then removed them, recipe for disaster). No problems on the long term though, the future races will work just fine
Results: General Classification:
1. Nairo Quintana (Movistar)
2. Jesus Hernandez (Saxobank) +8"
3. Bruno Pires (Saxobank) +9"
Points: Kristof Goddaert (AG2R) KOM: Yann Huguet (Project 1t4i) Team: Movistar Team (interestingly we finished 19th, not last, even tho we only had 3 riders left!) Young: Nairo Quintana
J. Sobrino won the first stage, before he left the Orbea team. Goddaert went on to claim all remaining flat stages, while Pires won the first mountain stage in the sprint out of a 7 men group. Quintana took the lead in the next mountain stage, finishing first, 21s ahead of Jesus Hernandez.
I'm sorry I couldn't really report on the Tour de Langkawi, as I always find it an exciting race. Ah well, next up is the G.P. Costa degli Etruschi, and then the Vuelta a Mallorca!
Rankings Update after January:
World Tour
Continental Tour
CQ Ranking
Reports of GP Costa degli Etruschi and some Mallorca stages should be up later today Edited by CasperVg on 09-02-2012 07:00
As you can see we've come here with a team full of youngsters, and as this race will most likely end in a mass sprint, we don't have much hopes for a good result. Therefore, everyone will have a lot of freedom to go in breaks.
And they're off! Favourites for the win today are Viviani, Oss, Gatto, Vicioso, and others, but depending on the speed of the peleton over the hills in the first 75km, it could even be a puncheur who takes the win.
A small break forms immediately, including our own Aberasturri. Hopefully he has good legs today!
Interestingly Liquigas, who have the main favourites for the win today, decide to put two people in the BOTD, M. Paterski and J. Sagan.
Admiring the Italian countryside.
What a strange tactic by Liquigas, as now two of their riders are pulling at the front of the peleton. With ~100km, the break's advantage is roughly 7 minutes.
Heh, the Liquigas DS really needs to get his mind made up. Now they are pulling the BOTD again, and have dissappeared from the front of the peleton. Advantage keeps on growing now Liquigas has dissappeared from the front of the peleton. Only Bank BGZ and Champion System are chasing a bit.
The break is now 14 minutes ahead with just 20km to go, they'll surely take the win here. Sensing that, and knowing he's a bad sprinter, Stefano Pirazzi attacks. Padour of WFK Whirlpool and Guillaume Van Keirsbulck of OPQ immediately follow; Aberasturi counters a bit later, and has Juraj Sagan on his wheel.
The remaining riders from the break seem to be too exhausted. This is the situation with 7 km to go. Padour is ahead, 13s later are Pirazzi and Van Keirsbulck, another 10s behind is Aberasturi and Sagan. The others are defeated and follow at roughly 1 minute.
Padour is really strong today, he actually improves his advantage and comes solo into the final kilometre.
Meanwhile Aberasturi is forced to lead out the other three. Not a great position, but he's young and still has to learn a lot from experience. Still, he should be best sprinter of his group.
Padour takes it! A perfect result for PSK Whirlpool. He'll certainly get a raise.
Aberasturi managed to delay his sprint as long as possible, forcing the others to jump out of his wheel. He then put in a magnificent burst of speed, overtaking J. Sagan and finishing as second. A fine result by our youngster. Van Keirsbulck is 4th, while Pirazzi showed he was the worst sprinter, finishing 5th without a chance.
Meanwhile in the peleton the sprint trains are being set up for 12th spot. Oss, who could have been a great lead-out man for Viviani, crashed with 10 km to go though.
It's Katusha's Alexander Kristoff who takes it though. One could wonder why Katusha didn't bother chasing the break, if Kristoff was feeling well.. Gatto gets 13th, while Viviani dissappoints and finishes 18th.
Full Results:
Spoiler
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Frantisek Padour
Whirlpool - Author
5h09'44
2
Jon Aberasturi
Orbea Continental
+ 48
3
Juraj Sagan
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
4
Guillaume Van Keirsbulck
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
5
Stefano Pirazzi
Colnago - CSF Inox
s.t.
6
Mauro Abel Richeze
Team Nippo
+ 1'22
7
Maciej Paterski
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
8
Vladislav Borisov
Amore & Vita
s.t.
9
Vyacheslav Kuznetsov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
10
Artur Ershov
RusVelo
s.t.
11
Matej Gnezda
Adria Mobil
s.t.
12
Alexander Kristoff
Katusha Team
+ 17'14
13
Oscar Gatto
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
14
Ariel Maximiliano Richeze
Team Nippo
s.t.
15
Gorik Gardeyn
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
16
Marco Marcato
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
17
Cristiano Benenati
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
18
Elia Viviani
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
19
Stiven Fanelli
Utensilnord Named
s.t.
20
Stijn Vandenbergh
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
21
Kris Boeckmans
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
22
Thomas De Gendt
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
23
Lieuwe Westra
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
24
Mariusz Witecki
Bank BGZ
s.t.
25
Yury Trofimov
Katusha Team
s.t.
26
Enrico Franzoï
Miche - Guerciotti
s.t.
27
Vitaliy Popkov
ISD - Lampre Continental
s.t.
28
Andrew Fenn
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
29
Jérôme Pineau
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
30
Mikhail Ignatiev
Katusha Team
s.t.
31
Tomasz Smolen
Bank BGZ
s.t.
32
Kin San Wu
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
33
Blazej Janiaczyk
Bank BGZ
s.t.
34
Rubens Bertogliati
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
35
Kristof Vandewalle
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
36
Mirko Selvaggi
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
37
Ángel Vicioso
Katusha Team
s.t.
38
Jaan Kirsipuu
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
39
Oleksandr Martynenko
ISD - Lampre Continental
s.t.
40
Pierpaolo De Negri
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
41
Filippo Fortin
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
42
Aritz Etxebarria
Orbea Continental
s.t.
43
Paolo Longo Borghini
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
44
Mart Ojavee
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
45
Gatis Smukulis
Katusha Team
s.t.
46
Maxime Vantomme
Katusha Team
s.t.
47
Daniele Callegarin
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
48
Alessandro Malaguti
Miche - Guerciotti
s.t.
49
Gang Xu
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
50
Piotr Sztobryn
Bank BGZ
s.t.
51
Pawel Cieslik
Bank BGZ
s.t.
52
Anuar Manan
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
53
Francesco Failli
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
54
William Clarke
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
55
Alessandro Bazzana
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
56
Michal Podlaski
Bank BGZ
s.t.
57
Giampaolo Caruso
Katusha Team
s.t.
58
Jan Keller
Atlas Personal - Jakroo
s.t.
59
Alexander Serebryakov
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
60
Omar Fraile
Orbea Continental
s.t.
61
Pim Ligthart
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
62
Enrico Montanari
Team WIT
s.t.
63
Federico Rocchetti
Utensilnord Named
s.t.
64
William Dugan
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
65
Cristiano Fumagalli
Miche - Guerciotti
s.t.
66
Cameron Wurf
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
67
Adrian Kurek
Utensilnord Named
s.t.
68
Jacek Morajko
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
69
Julien Vermote
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
70
Paolo Bailetti
Utensilnord Named
s.t.
71
Xavier Florencio
Katusha Team
s.t.
72
Gabriele Pizzaballa
Team WIT
s.t.
73
Luca Zanasca
Team WIT
s.t.
74
Peter Kusztor
Atlas Personal - Jakroo
s.t.
75
Simone Campagnaro
Team Nippo
s.t.
76
Anatoliy Pakthusov
ISD - Lampre Continental
s.t.
77
Cristian Cominelli
Team Idea
s.t.
78
Javier Megías
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
79
Juan Tamayo
Team WIT
s.t.
80
Cristiano Monguzzi
Utensilnord Named
s.t.
81
Tyron Giorgieri
Team WIT
s.t.
82
Yuriy Agarkov
ISD - Lampre Continental
s.t.
83
Vladyslav Bakumenko
ISD - Lampre Continental
s.t.
84
Gianfranco Visconti
Utensilnord Named
+ 18'20
85
Michaël Baer
Atlas Personal - Jakroo
s.t.
86
Luca Barla
Team Idea
s.t.
87
Tiziano Dall'Antonia
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
88
Ruslan Karimov
Team Idea
s.t.
89
Nicolas Baldo
Atlas Personal - Jakroo
s.t.
90
Giuseppe De Maria
Team Idea
s.t.
91
Florian Salzinger
Atlas Personal - Jakroo
s.t.
92
Giuseppe Di Salvo
Miche - Guerciotti
s.t.
93
Simone Boifava
Team Idea
s.t.
94
Fabio Piscopiello
Utensilnord Named
s.t.
95
David Rosch
Atlas Personal - Jakroo
s.t.
96
Nicolas Winter
Atlas Personal - Jakroo
s.t.
97
Roberto De Patre
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
98
Patrick Schelling
Atlas Personal - Jakroo
s.t.
99
Denys Karnulin
ISD - Lampre Continental
s.t.
100
Andrea Palini
Team Idea
s.t.
101
Nicola Dal Santo
Miche - Guerciotti
s.t.
102
Vegard Stake Laengen
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
103
Mauro Da Dalto
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
104
Serguei Klimov
RusVelo
s.t.
105
Enrico Peruffo
Miche - Guerciotti
s.t.
106
Mikel Bizkarra
Orbea Continental
s.t.
107
Matteo Rabottini
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
108
Ilnur Zakarin
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
109
Fortunato Baliani
Team Nippo
s.t.
110
Simon Pavlin
Adria Mobil
s.t.
111
Peter Velits
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
112
Davide Ricci Bitti
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
113
Marino Palandri
Amore & Vita
s.t.
114
Federico Canuti
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
115
Gabriele Bosisio
Utensilnord Named
s.t.
116
Diego Tamayo
Team WIT
s.t.
117
Leonardo Giordani
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
118
Jiri Hudecek
Whirlpool - Author
s.t.
119
Omar Lombardi
Colnago - CSF Inox
s.t.
120
Kohei Uchima
Team Nippo
s.t.
121
Matthew Brammeier
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
122
Matvey Zubov
RusVelo
s.t.
123
Wouter Mol
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
124
Aljaz Hocevar
Adria Mobil
s.t.
125
Petr Benčík
Whirlpool - Author
s.t.
126
Alexander Prishpetniy
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
127
Joshua Prete
Whirlpool - Author
s.t.
128
Sergey Rudaskov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
129
Nicholas Francesconi
Amore & Vita
s.t.
130
Kristjan Mugerli
Adria Mobil
s.t.
131
Ivan Kovalev
RusVelo
s.t.
132
Alberto Contoli
Colnago - CSF Inox
s.t.
133
Eugenio Bani
Amore & Vita
s.t.
134
Domenico Pozzovivo
Colnago - CSF Inox
s.t.
135
Patrik Moren
Amore & Vita
s.t.
136
Igor Frolov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
137
Kristjan Fajt
Adria Mobil
s.t.
138
Artem Tesler
Amore & Vita
s.t.
139
Antonio Testa
Team Nippo
s.t.
140
Primoz Segina
Adria Mobil
s.t.
141
Volodymyr Kogut
Amore & Vita
s.t.
142
David Dvorsky
Whirlpool - Author
s.t.
143
Andrea Di Corrado
Colnago - CSF Inox
s.t.
144
Kirill Baranov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
145
Paolo Locatelli
Colnago - CSF Inox
s.t.
146
Carlos Barbero
Orbea Continental
s.t.
147
Philipp Mamos
Amore & Vita
s.t.
148
Jiri Polnicky
Whirlpool - Author
s.t.
149
Gianluca Brambilla
Colnago - CSF Inox
s.t.
150
Marco Coledan
Colnago - CSF Inox
s.t.
151
Pavel Kochetkov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
152
Igor Merino
Orbea Continental
s.t.
Well, that was a great result from Jon Aberasturi. He's one to follow for the future!
Mallorca is next, hope you're looking forward to it!
Like in Etruschi we're not bringing our "star" here, but rather a team of youngsters. We hope for an equally good result, but it won't be easy if you see the line-up, with stars like Fränk Schleck, Daniele Bennati, Alejandro Valverde and others.
Stage 1: Trofeo Palma
The opening race of this year's Challenge Mallorca. Should be one for the sprinters.
A break of roughly 13 riders forms quite early on, most notable rider is Adrian Palomares of Andalucia. None of our riders succeed in getting in it.
Last year's Vuelta winner Juan Jose Cobo falls about 50 km into the race, he's clearly injured and finishes 19 minutes off the pace. Luckily for him Movistar's leader for the race is Valverde.
Because of the flatness of the stage, nothing noteworthy happens until about 5kms from the finish, as the trains are starting to set up. Igor Merino tries to follow the wheel of Fabio Sabatini of Liquigas.
Although his train looked strong, Bennati of Leopard-Nissan-Trek was clearly the fasted today, beating Perez Sanchez of Euskaltel and Robert Förster of UHC by quite a margin. Merino just fell back when the sprint started, clearly he's not up to it yet
Stage 2: Trofeo Cala Millor
Another flat stage for the sprinters to conquer.
Unlike yesterday we immediately send Extebarria out on an attack. Quite a few riders follow him.
Once again a fairly big BOTD is formed. They never get a good cooperation going, and eventually are reeled back in. Extebarria got 3rd on both KOM-sprints.
More organisation for the sprint than there was yesterday, but Leopard-Nissan seems to have abandoned Bennati, who has to fight for the win and the bonus seconds himself. Maybe they think he won't hang on in the hills anyhow?
But Bennati doesn't seem to care at all. He easily takes the stagewin again; even without any sort of train at all. He comes in miles ahead of Sabatini and Ruben Perez. A beautiful win!
Results:
Spoiler
Stage 1:
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Daniele Bennati
RadioShack - Nissan
2h33'33
2
Rubén Pérez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
3
Robert Förster
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
4
Fabio Sabatini
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
5
Giovanni Visconti
Movistar Team
s.t.
6
Federico Canuti
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
7
Filipe Cardoso
Efapel - Glassdrive
s.t.
8
Bert De Backer
Project 1t4i
s.t.
9
Aitor Galdos
Caja Rural
s.t.
10
Juan Forero
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
...
15
Igor Merino
Orbea Continental
s.t.
Stage 2:
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Daniele Bennati
RadioShack - Nissan
4h05'40
2
Fabio Sabatini
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
3
Rubén Pérez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
4
Giovanni Visconti
Movistar Team
s.t.
5
Koen De Kort
Project 1t4i
s.t.
6
Robert Förster
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
7
Juan Forero
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
8
Bert De Backer
Project 1t4i
s.t.
9
Federico Canuti
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
10
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
s.t.
...
28
Igor Merino
Orbea Continental
s.t.
GC after 2 stages:
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Daniele Bennati
RadioShack - Nissan
6h38'33
2
Rubén Pérez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 20
3
Fabio Sabatini
Liquigas - Cannondale
+ 28
4
Sérgio Sousa
Efapel - Glassdrive
s.t.
5
Adrián Palomares
Andalucía
+ 30
6
Robert Förster
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
+ 32
7
Omar Lombardi
Colnago - CSF Inox
s.t.
8
Pablo Torres
Burgos BH - Castilla y León
+ 34
9
Alejandro Marque Porto
Carmin - Prio
s.t.
10
Alberto Contoli
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 38
...
27
Igor Merino
Orbea Continental
s.t.
Points:
Rank
Name
Team
Points
General
1
Daniele Bennati
RadioShack - Nissan
25
50
2
Rubén Pérez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
16
36
3
Fabio Sabatini
Liquigas - Cannondale
20
34
KOM:
Rank
Name
Team
Mountain
General
1
Adrián Palomares
Andalucía
6
6
2
Vergílio Santos
LA - Antarte
6
6
3
Delio Fernández
Onda
5
5...
6
Aritz Etxebarria
Orbea Continental
2
2
Hope you're enjoying it!
Edited by CasperVg on 09-02-2012 15:13
Today should be the first test for the climbers, with two major climbs on the menu.
Radioshack immediately take matters into their own hands for Bennati.
Eventually a break forms though, Oscar Santamaria (Burgos) wins the intermediate sprint. 2nd is Dominic Klemme (1t4i), followed by Daniele Ratto (Liquigas). Barbero is in the break for Orbea.
Meanwhile Radioshleck are really hammering it on the climbs.. one might expect they would make it an easy race, to keep Benatti in the lead; but no.
Barbero tries to make an impact on the KOM-sprint, but comes in 4th. Javier Gonzalez of Colombia-Coldeportes wins it.
Meanwhile the peleton has really thinned out; none of our riders are left and Bennati is barely hanging on to it.
As they go over the first slopes of the second climbs, the obvious happens. Bennati has to let go, and the entire Radioshack-Leopard-Trek team drops back, including leader F. Schleck. Only Chris Horner remains in the front group.
As De Maar of UHC attacks, Euskaltel's Perez Sanchez, second in the points and GC classification, is also dropped.
De Maar is reeled back in, but still wins the KOM sprint, ahead of Nieve and Horner.
And now Horner attacks! Valverde tries to counter.
He easily makes it back to Horner's wheel, and drags the entire front group with him. Just a few kilometers to go.
Under the kite, Valverde is already sprinting. Horner's in his wheel.
And Chris Horner clearly had lots left in the tank, as he easily overtook Valverde and claimed an epic win. A good day for Radioshack-Leopard-Trek after all! Horner also takes the lead in the GC, with Valverde second at +8s because of bonifications.
Stage 4: Trofeo Deia
More climbing on the menu today, and more cols too! Horner will be looking to defend his overall classification.
Once again Radioshack-Leopard hammer it from the first few kilometers.
Our leader, Omar Fraile is feeling well, and comes second in the first KOM sprint. No-one else really seemed to bother tho. Klöden wins it.
In the descent, a break forms, and Fraile decides to go into it.
Climbing the Coll de Femenia, Igor Anton, who lost a lot of time yesterday, attacks out of the peleton.
Meanwhile Fraile wins the KOM sprint, giving him the preliminary lead in that classification.
In the descent, Anton catches up with the remainders of the break.
Once the climb up the Puigmajor starts, Anton is clearly too strong for his companions. He drops all of them. Fraile is in the second group, together with Portuguese Nat Champion, João Cabreira of Onda.
Anton thus wins the KOM sprint, but Fraile limits his losses by coming in second again.
Anton is clearly feeling well today
Afraid he might lose his mountains' jersey, De Maar sets a big pace in the pack, or what remains of it. Nieve and Valverde follow.
An elite group of 5 is formed. In it are Horner, De Maar (who is clearly in great shape, as he isn't really a good climber), Nieve, Valverde and Vasil Kiriyenka.
That group swallows the 3 remaining BOTD riders, including Omar Fraile, and they are also quickly dropped and end up in another group, led by Liquigas' dissappointing leader Nibali.
The elite group never manages to catch Anton tho (forgot to take a pic of his win.. d'oh). And it's a close sprint; Horner just takes it, Valverde is second again. Horner therefore remains in the jersey, as Anton finished 'just' 3'07" ahead of the group. He does move up to 8th overall tho.
Bonus picture: Omar on the KOM-podium. He has a 10-point lead over De Maar; but it won't be easy to defend that, as there are a lot of KOM-points left in the next stage. He finished the stage as 21st, in the Nibali/F. Schleck group.
Results:
Spoiler
Stage 3:
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Chris Horner
RadioShack - Nissan
3h51'24
2
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
s.t.
3
Vladimir Karpets
Movistar Team
s.t.
4
Mikel Nieve
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
5
Marc De Maar
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
6
Gabriele Bosisio
Utensilnord Named
s.t.
7
Vasil Kiryienka
Movistar Team
s.t.
8
David Arroyo
Movistar Team
s.t.
9
Amets Txurruka
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
10
Rubén Pérez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 1'45
...
55
Omar Fraile
Orbea Continental
+9'21
Stage 4:
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Igor Antón
Euskaltel - Euskadi
3h52'29
2
Chris Horner
RadioShack - Nissan
+ 3'07
3
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
s.t.
4
Vasil Kiryienka
Movistar Team
s.t.
5
Mikel Nieve
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
6
Marc De Maar
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
7
Vincenzo Nibali
Liquigas - Cannondale
+ 3'28
8
Jakob Fuglsang
RadioShack - Nissan
s.t.
9
Giovanni Visconti
Movistar Team
s.t.
10
Fränk Schleck
RadioShack - Nissan
s.t.
...
21
Omar Fraile
Orbea Continental
s.t.
GC after 2 stages:
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Chris Horner
RadioShack - Nissan
14h25'41
2
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
+ 12
3
Mikel Nieve
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 32
4
Marc De Maar
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
5
Vasil Kiryienka
Movistar Team
s.t.
6
Gabriele Bosisio
Utensilnord Named
+ 53
7
David Arroyo
Movistar Team
s.t.
8
Igor Antón
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 1'25
9
Vladimir Karpets
Movistar Team
+ 2'55
10
Amets Txurruka
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 3'03
...
30
Omar Fraile
Orbea Continental
+ 10'14
Points:
1
Daniele Bennati
RadioShack - Nissan
0
50
2
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
16
47
3
Chris Horner
RadioShack - Nissan
20
45
4
Rubén Pérez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
0
42
5
Giovanni Visconti
Movistar Team
7
35
6
Fabio Sabatini
Liquigas - Cannondale
0
34
7
Igor Antón
Euskaltel - Euskadi
25
30
8
Mikel Nieve
Euskaltel - Euskadi
12
26
9
Vasil Kiryienka
Movistar Team
14
23
10
Marc De Maar
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
10
22
KOM:
1
Omar Fraile
Orbea Continental
26
26
2
Marc De Maar
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
0
16
3
Vladimir Karpets
Movistar Team
0
14
4
Mikel Nieve
Euskaltel - Euskadi
0
12
5
Chris Horner
RadioShack - Nissan
0
10
6
Igor Antón
Euskaltel - Euskadi
10
10
7
Andreas Klöden
RadioShack - Nissan
10
10
8
Javier Gonzalez
Colombia - Coldeportes
0
10
9
Román Osuna
Andalucía
10
10
10
Vasil Kiryienka
Movistar Team
0
8
Hope you're enjoying it!
EDIT: For some reason the Stage 3 pics aren't working for me. Will try to fix that as soon as possible.
Edited by CasperVg on 11-02-2012 05:45
Sorry for the long wait, but it has been a busy week for me (start of the second semester at uni), with a lot of activities in the evening (Champions/UEFA League soccer, Minecraft, etc.), but I hope this (picture-abundant) update will make some of it up.
Stage 3: Trofeo Magaluf - Palmanova
The final stage of the Vuelta a Mallorca, and "coincidentally" also the hardest, with many steep, punchy climbs on the menu. Horner will be looking to defend his (small) lead against Valverde, who is the better puncheur, but everyone in ~2min of the GC lead is really still in chance of the overall victory. Our own Omar Fraile is in the KOM lead, and will be looking to defend that position. It won't be easy, however, as over 46 points are available and Omar only has 26 points (10 points advantage over 2nd, Marc de Maar) right now.
As the riders set off, Omar immediately makes his way to the front. His only chance is to get in the BOTD.
And he succeeds. Radioshack let the first few riders form the break immediately. Apart from Omar, only Joao Cabreiro already has KOM points (8). He was also in the break yesterday.
It turns out they're also the only riders interested in fighting for the jersey. Omar takes the first KOM ahead of Joao Cabreiro. Rui Souza of Efapel is third.
Meanwhile there are many falls in the peleton, this here is Felipe Cardoso. Strange, because the weather is quite good. Movistar are pacing the peleton, keeping the advantage at ~2minutes, as Castroviejo is only 29s ahead of Fraile in the Young classification.
Meanwhile the peleton has really thinned out; none of our riders are left and Bennati is barely hanging on to it.
Because the previous sprint was so close, Omar decided to go early for the second KOM point. He once again succeeded, also getting a 30s gap on the BOTD riders, now strengthened by David de la Fuente of Caja Rural. Cabreira doesn't give up yet, however, as he once again takes second, ahead of Osuna of Andalucia - Caja Granada.
Omar now has a decent advantage in the KOM classification, but just to be sure he decides to keep riding, extending his advantage over the rest of the BOTD. Meanwhile more riders are dropped.
His tactic is working, as he also crosses the third KOM sprint in first place, with 1'30" advantage over the break, where Joao Cabreiro seems to have given up, not fighting for second place and instead finishing 6th, which only offers him 2 points. Surely Omar could win this, but mathematically there are still 16 points on offer, and Omar's advantage to Joao is 14 points now, so let's not get too excited too early.
Movistar pushing hard for young TT-talent Castroviejo.
On the first slopes of the 4th climb of the day, De La Fuente is pushing the BOTD hard, and Omar is feeling quite tired, and his advantage is dropping fast. Can he make it to the top to claim the KOM prize?
Oh yes! He held only a few seconds advantage in the end, but also wins the 4th sprint, ahead of DLF and Karl Menzies of UHC. He lifts his arms as if he has just won the entire Vuelta a Mallorca, but hey?
When Pantano of Colombia-Coldeportes puts in a stunning attack immediately after that, Omar can't follow and has to let go (hmm... isn't that a hyperbole?) He just has to finish this stage now...
Meanwhile 4th in GC (and 2nd in KOM at the start of the stage) Marc de Maar attacks! He's no longer a danger to Omar tho.
Him and Omar are quickly reeled in by the Radioshack train soon after.
26 people make up the peleton as we approach the final (and easiest) climb of the day. Omar Fraile struggles to keep up.
Valverde attacks (and wins the last KOM sprint, but that doesn't matter much now), he gets a gap to Horner, but is quickly reeled back in by Horner's strong team (with Schleck, Cancellara, Klöden, Fuglsang ..)
Situation with just 10km to go. Still 7 (!) RSNT-riders in the pack. Omar, like the other BOTD riders, couldn't match the fierce accelerations and is now behind this group.
5 kilometer to go and Valverde tries it again. Can he succeed? He only needs 12 seconds to pass Horner on the GC, so winning the stage (with bonus seconds) is actually enough!
All the Radioshack riders are chasing for their bald leader.
To no avail, as Valverde still has a 15s advantage when the sprint starts. Strangely enough, it seems all RSNT riders are going for themselves now, no organised train for Horner.
Horner ain't known for his sprint quality, and that shows, as he is overtaken by pretty much the entire peleton. Valverde still holds a small advantage with 400m to go..
But he's completely burned out, so it's Nibali who, with a great burst of speed, wins the stage. Valverde does finish second (12s bonus) and Horner 12th (no bonus).. That means they are on equal time in the GC! It's up to the jury to decide who wins it..
Omar eventually finishes 27th, securing his spot in the Top 30 GC, 2nd in Young and 1st in the KOM (!). A great ride by him. Bubbles for everyone tonight!
It took way longer than usual to declare the winner, but eventually Valverde is deservedly crowned victor of the 2012 Vuelta a Mallorca, thanks to his consistent high placings in the stages, which also wins him the Points Jersey!
Big smiles all around for Omar Fraile who did well to secure Orbea's first jersey win of 2012. Hopefully many more will follow
Results
Spoiler
Stage 5:
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Vincenzo Nibali
Liquigas - Cannondale
4h42'41
2
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
s.t.
3
Mikel Nieve
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
4
Igor Antón
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
5
Rubén Pérez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
6
Marc De Maar
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
7
Linus Gerdemann
RadioShack - Nissan
s.t.
8
Fränk Schleck
RadioShack - Nissan
s.t.
9
Gabriele Bosisio
Utensilnord Named
s.t.
10
Jakob Fuglsang
RadioShack - Nissan
s.t.
11
Giovanni Visconti
Movistar Team
s.t.
12
Chris Horner
RadioShack - Nissan
s.t.
13
Fabian Cancellara
RadioShack - Nissan
s.t.
14
David Arroyo
Movistar Team
s.t.
15
Iván Gutiérrez
Movistar Team
s.t.
16
Andreas Klöden
RadioShack - Nissan
s.t.
17
Maxime Monfort
RadioShack - Nissan
s.t.
18
Vasil Kiryienka
Movistar Team
s.t.
19
Vladimir Karpets
Movistar Team
s.t.
20
Amets Txurruka
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
21
Maciej Paterski
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
22
Hugo Sabido
LA - Antarte
s.t.
23
Jonathan Castroviejo
Movistar Team
+ 53
24
Karl Menzies
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
+ 3'38
25
Jeff Louder
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
26
David De la Fuente
Caja Rural
s.t.
27
Omar Fraile
Orbea Continental
s.t.
28
Jarlinson Pantano
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
29
Pierre Cazaux
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
30
João Cabreira
Onda
s.t.
Final GC:
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
19h08'22
2
Chris Horner
RadioShack - Nissan
s.t.
3
Mikel Nieve
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 24
4
Marc De Maar
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
+ 32
5
Vasil Kiryienka
Movistar Team
s.t.
6
Gabriele Bosisio
Utensilnord Named
+ 53
7
David Arroyo
Movistar Team
s.t.
8
Igor Antón
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 1'25
9
Vladimir Karpets
Movistar Team
+ 2'55
10
Amets Txurruka
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 3'03
11
Rubén Pérez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 4'28
12
Vincenzo Nibali
Liquigas - Cannondale
+ 4'53
13
Maciej Paterski
Liquigas - Cannondale
+ 5'13
14
Giovanni Visconti
Movistar Team
+ 7'03
15
Iván Gutiérrez
Movistar Team
s.t.
16
Fabian Cancellara
RadioShack - Nissan
s.t.
17
Jakob Fuglsang
RadioShack - Nissan
s.t.
18
Andreas Klöden
RadioShack - Nissan
s.t.
19
Fränk Schleck
RadioShack - Nissan
s.t.
20
Maxime Monfort
RadioShack - Nissan
s.t.
21
Linus Gerdemann
RadioShack - Nissan
s.t.
22
Hugo Sabido
LA - Antarte
+ 8'21
23
Jonathan Castroviejo
Movistar Team
+ 10'38
24
Omar Fraile
Orbea Continental
+ 13'46
25
João Cabreira
Onda
s.t.
26
Adrián Palomares
Andalucía
+ 13'57
27
Danail Petrov
Caja Rural
+ 14'05
28
Gustavo César Veloso
Andalucía
+ 14'07
29
Javier Gonzalez
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
30
Daniele Bennati
RadioShack - Nissan
+ 15'45
Points:
Rank
Name
Team
Points(Stage)
General
1
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
20
67
2
Rubén Pérez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
12
54
3
Daniele Bennati
RadioShack - Nissan
0
50
4
Chris Horner
RadioShack - Nissan
4
49
5
Igor Antón
Euskaltel - Euskadi
14
44
KOM:
Rank
Name
Team
Mountain
General
1
Omar Fraile
Orbea Continental
40
66
2
João Cabreira
Onda
18
26
3
Marc De Maar
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
2
18
4
Román Osuna
Andalucía
6
16
5
Chris Horner
RadioShack - Nissan
4
14
Team:
Rank
Team
Time
General Time
1
Euskaltel - Euskadi
14h08'03
57h26'59 (1)
2
RadioShack - Nissan
s.t.
+ 12'45 (3)
3
Movistar Team
s.t.
+ 4 (2)
4
Liquigas - Cannondale
+ 3'38
+ 27'38 (4)
5
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
+ 7'16
+ 30'26 (5)
...
13
Orbea Continental
+ 26'20
+ 1h13'10 (14)
Young;
Rank
Name
Team
Time
General Time
1
Jonathan Castroviejo
Movistar Team
4h43'34
19h19'00 (1)
2
Omar Fraile
Orbea Continental
+ 2'45
+ 3'08 (2)
3
Jarlinson Pantano
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
+ 5'54 (4)
4
Ion Izaguirre
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 3'29
+ 5'16 (3)
5
Stiven Fanelli
Utensilnord Named
+ 6'59
+ 24'38 (16)
6
Daniele Ratto
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
+ 12'35 (6)
7
Román Osuna
Andalucía
s.t.
+ 11'19 (5)
8
Pablo Lechuga
Andalucía
s.t.
+ 12'41 (7)
9
Igor Merino
Orbea Continental
+ 7'30
+ 28'23 (19)
10
Yannick Mayer
Team NSP - Ghost
+ 10'19
+ 16'01 (10)
Calendar for End February, March, Begin April:
20/02 - 24/02: Vuelta a Andalucia 1.2;
27/02: Clasica del Almeria 1.1.;
02/03: Le Samyn 1.1 (Preliminary);
04/03 - 06/03: Vuelta a Murcia 1.2;
02/04: Gran Premio Miguel Indurain 1.HC;
10/04: Klasika Primavea 1.1;
Interesting Results:
- Champion System (!) won the TTT in Qatar, Mark Cavendish won the GC ahead of Rojas and Borut Bozic.
- Thomas Voeckler of Europcar won the final stage and GC of the Tour du Mediterraneen, ahead of Nocentini and Jelle Vanendert.
Hope you liked it! I sure did, next up is la Vuelta a Andalucia! Comments are always appreciated
A lot of teams here with very weak or small (one rider) teams here. Clearly the Spanish WT teams are the only ones taking this race seriously, as they come with very strong teams, with great allrounders like Samuel Sanchez, V. Kiriyenka, etc.
Our team:
Our team will be lead by Jesus del Nero, who isn't in really good shape at the moment, but with this weak start list we hope to achieve at least a top 5, if Jesus manages to hang on in the mountains, but of course, like always, the younger riders will get their chances as well, naturally.
Stage 1: Benavis Benavis ITT/Prologue (Hilly)
A very hilly prologue around Benahavis to start the Vuelta a Andalucia, with a fierce uphill in the final 2 km's, which means it's up to the punchy ITT'ers to get some seconds.
First rider to set off is NetApp's Swarchmann. He's not really a known TT'er and that shows, as he finishes 80th, way off the pace.
For once the Euskaltel riders are not the worst ITTers around, but the best. Every one of them has a chance of winning here.. Gorka Verdugo sets a very respectable time of 12'15". His time will stick around for awhile.
Aberasturri is our first rider on the course; while his main duty was to explore the bends, he still finished quite well in 25th.
Interestingly Sven Vanthourenhout is Landbouwkrediet's leader here, while the cyclocross season is still active. Perhaps that means he'll have good form? He'll need to perform better than today, tho, as he only manages to finish in 58th in the end, some 23s off th epace.
Skipping a lot of uninteresting riders, we finally come to the favourites. Our own Jesus del Nero is eager to start and do well in this ITT. (as I was focussing on him I forgot to take pictures of the other riders.. woops!)
Jesus is a decent ITTer and that shows, as he's going really well. Kiriyenka currently leads with a very good time of 12'06". Can Jesus come close to that?
Oh yes, he finishes in 12'04", making him the preliminary leader. Only two more riders still have to finish, so the podium is secured!
First came the Movistar rider Benat Intxausti. He did brilliant, finishing in s.t. as Jesus. Lucky for us, Jesus was ahead in milliseconds.
One of those riders is Samuel "Samsam" Sanchez; if he has any kind of form he should win this race, and this prologue, hands down.
But no! Clearly he's still looking for his best form. He finishes 6th, 10s off Jesus' time.
Results
Spoiler
Stage 1:
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Jesús Del Nero
Orbea Continental
12'04
2
Beñat Intxausti
Movistar Team
+ 1
3
Vasil Kiryienka
Movistar Team
+ 2
4
Bartosz Huzarski
Team NetApp
+ 9
5
Rubén Plaza
Movistar Team
+ 10
6
Samuel Sánchez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
7
Markus Eichler
Team NetApp
+ 11
8
Imanol Erviti
Movistar Team
s.t.
9
Paul Voss
Endura Racing
+ 12
10
Andoni Blázquez
Orbea Continental
s.t.
One remark to make: are ITT's quite easy to do, compared to the AI who always seem to get their timing wrong? Maybe I should switch to hard instead of normal, as this series of successes isn't quite realistic anymore?
Thoughts?
Hope you liked it and feel free to comment,
Casper
[/quote]
That particular prologue is renowned for being way too easy to overachieve, I once had seven of my riders in the top ten!!
Regarding the difficulty, I would always advise hard but your team is really weak so normal is alright. However, if you think it's too unrealistic, then you should put it up to hard. It's your story though.
ps. Nice win
Manager of Bunzl - Centrica
ICL's World Tour Champions and Talented Bottlers
