The day is finally here. My first ever race as a professional cyclist. I am really looking forward to it and I am really nervous. I will be working for my leader here who is Amael Moinard. I would also like to get a top 10 in a stage.

The Team



Stage 1

Today is a flat stage with a few hills. We will try to win today with Kristoff.



The Race

The race started of with the usually break away so Hincapie and Phinney got on the front to control them.



With 10km to go a big crash happened and a 100 rider group went of the back.

With 7km to go the final breakaway riders were caught and it would come down to a mass sprint.

With 3km to go it was coming down to a drag race. Lotto and BMC.



With 1km to go it was Kristoff in the lead. Cav 2nd and Blythe 3rd.



Unfortunately Cav had picked the right wheel and had the energy to get around Kristoff. Cav won ahead of Kristoff and Rojas Gil for 3rd.



I finished safely in the peloton.

Results

1	Mark Cavendish	Euskaltel - Euskadi	2h37'07
2	Alexander Kristoff	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
3	José Joaquin Rojas Gil	Movistar Team	s.t.
4	Robert Hunter	Watmar	s.t.
5	Thor Hushovd	Team Garmin - Cervélo	s.t.
6	Jens-Erik Madsen	Saxo Bank - Sungard	s.t.
7	Adam Blythe	TEAM Lotto	s.t.
8	Danilo Wyss	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
9	Vicente Reynès	Caja Rural	s.t.
10	Jérôme Baugnies	Mercator	s.t.

GC Rankings

1	Mark Cavendish	Euskaltel - Euskadi	2h36'47
2	Alexander Kristoff	BMC Racing Team	+ 2
3	José Joaquin Rojas Gil	Movistar Team	+ 10
4	Aitor Galdós	Caja Rural	+ 14
5	Adam Blythe	TEAM Lotto	+ 16
6	Juan Javier Estrada Ruiz	Andalucia - Caja Granada	s.t.
7	Enrique Mata	Tavira - Prio	+ 18
8	Robert Hunter	Watmar	+ 20
9	Thor Hushovd	Team Garmin - Cervélo	s.t.
10	Jens-Erik Madsen	Saxo Bank - Sungard	s.t.

Stage 2

Today is another flat stage. Today we want the win. If we we win Kristoff will take the overall lead.



The Race

Yannick Eijssen started of the attacks. No one followed his first attack so he was alone for a while.



Eijssen won the first mountain sprint ahead of Bazayev and Chainel.

The team didn't want to let any breakaway get away so when one went of the front Phinney would get on the front until they were back in the peloton.



This is how the sprint ended. Cav 1st, Blythe 2nd and Kristoff 3rd.



With 10km to go the breakaway was still out front. The team was trying desperately to bring them back.

With 1.8km to go the break was only 400m in front. Will the sprinters catch them?



No. The break manages to stay away, just. it was Lemoine who won ahead of Ermeti and Larralde. Then it was the peloton who came in. Rojas Gil won the sprint of the peloton ahead of Cav and Kristoff.



I finished safely in the peloton again.

Results

1	Cyril Lemoine	Saur - Sojasun	4h08'45
2	Giairo Ermeti	Geox - TMC	s.t.
3	Joseba Larralde	Orbea Continental	s.t.
4	José Joaquin Rojas Gil	Movistar Team	s.t.
5	Kanstantsin Siutsou	Saur - Sojasun	s.t.
6	Mark Cavendish	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.
7	Alexander Kristoff	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
8	Adam Blythe	TEAM Lotto	s.t.
9	Thor Hushovd	Team Garmin - Cervélo	s.t.
10	Danilo Wyss	BMC Racing Team	s.t.

GC Rankings

1	Mark Cavendish	Euskaltel - Euskadi	6h45'26
2	Alexander Kristoff	BMC Racing Team	+ 6
3	José Joaquin Rojas Gil	Movistar Team	+ 16
4	Adam Blythe	TEAM Lotto	+ 18
5	Aitor Galdós	Caja Rural	+ 20
6	Juan Javier Estrada Ruiz	Andalucia - Caja Granada	+ 22
7	Enrique Mata	Tavira - Prio	+ 24
8	Thor Hushovd	Team Garmin - Cervélo	+ 26
9	Robert Hunter	Watmar	s.t.
10	Danilo Wyss	BMC Racing Team	s.t.

Stage 3

Today is the 3rd stage of the Trofeo Mallorca but the first of 3 hill stages. Today I want to help my leader as much as I can. That is my first and only priority.



The Race

Danilo Wyss who is our 2nd sprinter decided to get in the break today. He
followed the attack by Sesma of Orbea.



Wyss won the first sprint ahead of Chalapud and Klier. There was no sprint so he just got on the front to claim maximum points.

With 50km to go we set up at the front. Hincapie 1st, Me 2nd and Moinard 3rd.



A group of 9 favourites formed at the front. It included (from top of screen to bottom) Hincapie, Txurruka, Cobo Acebo, Nieve, Oroz, Siutsou, Kiryienka, De la Fuente and Moinard. Moinard wasn’t looking to good.



I saw Moinard drop off at the front and then I heard him on the team radio say “keep going George�.



With 8km to go the leading group of 5 was 2.22 ahead of the next group on the road. Hincapie was in the leading group sprint following Nieve.

With 1km to go Hincapie was just starting to come around Nieve. Can Hincapie win the race? Let’s find out.



YESSSSS!!!! Hincapie wins. Great ride by him and for the team. We know have the overall lead. Great job George.



Nieve comes 2nd and Kiryienka 3rd. I came in 5.36 behind Hincapie. I am happy with my race today.

Results

1	George Hincapie	BMC Racing Team	3h55'53
2	Mikel Nieve	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.
3	Vasil Kiryienka	Movistar Team	s.t.
4	Amets Txurruka	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.
5	Juan José Cobo Acebo	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.
6	Trent Lowe	Watmar	+ 3'05
7	Juan Jose Oroz	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.
8	Beñat Intxausti	Movistar Team	s.t.
9	Amaël Moinard	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
10	David De la Fuente	Geox - TMC	s.t.

GC Rankings

1	George Hincapie	BMC Racing Team	10h41'25
2	Mikel Nieve	Euskaltel - Euskadi	+ 8
3	Amets Txurruka	Euskaltel - Euskadi	+ 20
4	Juan José Cobo Acebo	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.
5	Vasil Kiryienka	Movistar Team	+ 3'05
6	Amaël Moinard	BMC Racing Team	+ 3'25
7	David De la Fuente	Geox - TMC	s.t.
8	Serge Pauwels	Caja Rural	s.t.
9	Elvir Pantarolo	BMC Racing Team	+ 5'40
10	Yannick Eijssen	BMC Racing Team	s.t.

I was very surprised when they told me to go to the presentation. I was leading the youth rankings. This was a massive surprise and it would be great if I could win it. Now my objective has changed. Win the youth
Classification.

1	Elvir Pantarolo	BMC Racing Team	s.t.	10h47'05
2	Yannick Eijssen	BMC Racing Team	s.t.	+ 0
3	Ricardo García	Orbea Continental	s.t.	+ 55
4	Pascual Orengo	Euskaltel - Euskadi	+ 4h01'13	+ 2'53
5	Larry Warbasse	Team Garmin - Cervélo	+ 4h02'08	+ 3'48

Thanks

Stage 4

Another hill stage. We want to keep the overall with Hincapie.



The Race

We set up on the first climb of the day in our plan to keep the jersey.



At the start of the first climb I took over the pace making.



Unfortunately I couldn’t hold onto the lead group and I dropped off with 25km to go. I will keep riding as hard as I can to keep my white jersey.



With 7km to go we had started the short climb at the end. A leading group of 19 was at the front with all the favourites.

With 2km to go the sprint was about to start and Hincapie was on Gilbert’s wheel.



Nieve had done it. He improved from his 2nd the day before to win today. Txurruka 2nd and Cobo Acebo 3rd. Hincapie managed to get 6th place.



I came in 2.54 later and can kiss my jersey good bye. Eijssen will take the jersey but at least we kept it in the team.

Results

1	Mikel Nieve	Euskaltel - Euskadi	3h47'24
2	Amets Txurruka	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.
3	Juan José Cobo Acebo	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.
4	Philippe Gilbert	TEAM Lotto	s.t.
5	Vasil Kiryienka	Movistar Team	s.t.
6	George Hincapie	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
7	Kanstantsin Siutsou	Saur - Sojasun	s.t.
8	Amaël Moinard	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
9	Beñat Intxausti	Movistar Team	s.t.
10	Trent Lowe	Watmar	s.t.

GC Rankings

1	Mikel Nieve	Euskaltel - Euskadi	14h28'37
2	George Hincapie	BMC Racing Team	+ 12
3	Amets Txurruka	Euskaltel - Euskadi	+ 20
4	Juan José Cobo Acebo	Euskaltel - Euskadi	+ 24
5	Vasil Kiryienka	Movistar Team	+ 3'17
6	Amaël Moinard	BMC Racing Team	+ 3'37
7	David De la Fuente	Geox - TMC	s.t.
8	Serge Pauwels	Caja Rural	s.t.
9	Yannick Eijssen	BMC Racing Team	+ 5'46
10	Philippe Gilbert	TEAM Lotto	+ 5'52

Tomorrow is the last stage. I want to once again help Hincapie and try to get the youth jersey back.

Thanks