Thank you guys! I am starting to get the hang of this, and it's pretty fun too! Yeah, I'd say it was a much better result this go around look for stage 3 shortly! Thanks for the support!
Stage 3 of the Tour de San Luis is upon us! Today's stage should end in a field sprint, so we will try to set up yesterday's runner-up Ruben Perez for victory today!
As the peleton rolled out of Buena Esperanza 2 riders broke clear and formed the breakaway of the day they were Zubov of RusVelo, and Pokidov from Itera-Katusha, neither was a threat to the GC leader Kevin Seeldrayers as Pokidov was the highest placed rider sitting a distant 8'43" down.
Only two riders were in today's breakaway
My legs were feeling surprisingly well today after the tough finish yesterday so I decided to ride at the front of the peloton and show off my prized classification jersey.
I am enjoying my stay in white
About 6'00" after the 2 escapees crossed under the day's final intermediate sprint point, the peleton was about to roll through, however there was a 2 second time bonus left on course, surprisingly no one wanted it, so our DS Alex Diaz told me to sprint for it since Txrruka's fitness wasn't up to par today. I faced no resistance and swept up 3rd place, and the 2 second time bonus which if all goes as planned should place me 5th overall at day's end!
Me looking like Cavendish at the intermediate sprint point!!
The breakaway died out with 14KM to go and now it was time to set up the sprint train for Perez. At the front of the field Nippo, and Differdange were the other two teams setting up lead-outs. For us it is Garcia, Cabedo, and then Perez at the end. I am going to latch on to Ruben's wheel just to ensure I arrive safely in the main bunch with the same time.
The lead-out trains begin to form
Ljungblad from Differdange opens up his sprint from far out taking a marginal lead, however Perez and Richeze (Nippo) start their sprints and immediately close the gap down to the Swede. Who will win Stage 3?
Spoiler
Raymond Kreder from Garmin-Barracuda was like a ghost, appearing only at the line and swiping the win ahead of Perez and Ljungblad
Safely in the main pack I come home with a 45th place finish.
Ruben was very disappointed with second, he felt that he had the legs to win today, when we returned to the team bus, he apologized to us and promised retribution in the final sprint stage on the final day of the race.
Stage Rankings:
1. Raymond Kreder-Garmin-Barracuda 4hr04min50sec
2. Ruben Perez-Euskaltel st
3. Jonas Ljungblad-Differdange st
4. Ariel Richeze-Nippo st
5. Russel Downing-Endura st
...
45. Romain Sicard-Euskaltel st
There was no change at the top of the GC, Seeldrayers safely defended the leader's jersey. Perez gained 12" at the finish and now sits just 18" back. I moved into the top 5 thanks to my time bonus:
1. Kevin Seeldrayers-Astana 12hr17min37sec
2. Ruben Perez-Euskaltel +18"
3. Jon Tiernan-Locke-Endura +53"
4. Amets Txrruka-Euskaltel +1'28"
5. Romain Sicard-Euskaltel +1'36"
Pts. Raymond Kreder-Garmin 45 pts
KoM. Kevin Seeldrayers-Astana 16 pts
U25. Romain Sicard-Euskaltel 12hr19min11sec
Enjoying another day in white
Post-Race Quote: "Today was a very good day in the saddle, there were no issues on the route, and I was able to pick up a few seconds at the intermediate sprint point. Tomorrow is the Race of Truth, a 17KM Individual Time Trial, I will be looking to hold onto my Top 5 placing on GC and striving for a Top 10 in the stage. I look forward to showcasing my much improved TT skills tomorrow. Hopefully one of our riders will earn Euskaltel's first victory of 2012 and possibly a leader's jersey."
Unfortunately when trying to start Stage 4 the ITT my PCM crashed however it has been resolved and it works yet again. However instead of re-playing the stages and doing replacement writeups, I decided to simulate The Tour de San Luis with the same Euskaltel team, unfortunately many of the other teams were not the same. Unfortunately we (me included) did not have as much success as the 3D Raced version, but oh well.
Benat Intauxi (Movistar) won the Tour de San Luis with a dominating performance by winning 2 Mountain Stages. He beat his teammate Vladimir Karpets (who won the ITT) by 53". Rounding out the podium was Karsten Kroon from Saxo Bank. Our highest finisher was Ricardo Garcia who came in 5th and took the U25 Jersey off the shoulders of Sicard, who placed 8th overall, still a great result. It was great achieving the goal of a Top 15 in the overall GC. Unfortunately Txurruka crashed out of the Tour with a fractured thigh while sitting 3rd on GC, Damn Simulations!
Pts. Intauxi KoM. Ruben Perez-EUS U25. Garcia
Team. Movistar
The bright spot of the tour was Ruben Perez's stage victory on stage 7, a great way to end the first UCI America's tour race. Also the 2 classification jerseys were a great plus.
On the flip side in the Santos Tour Down Under, Frank Schleck took overall victory ahead of Roman Kreuzeger (ASTANA) our own Alan Perez finished 3rd after claiming the Stage 2 victory.
Samuel Dumoloin of Cofidis took out the GP Marsaille the other race in January.
In the UCI Rankings Alan Perez is our highest placed rider sitting 3rd and team wise we are 2nd beind RadioShack.
In the CQ Rankings Perez is our highest rider as well, again sitting 3rd, the team situation is the exact same lol. Sicard sits 31st overall with 35 points not a bad start.
I will be doing race #2 the Clasica de Almeria soon! Please stay tuned, sorry for the delay!
look for stage 3 shortly! Thanks for the support! 
however it has been resolved and it works yet again. However instead of re-playing the stages and doing replacement writeups, I decided to simulate The Tour de San Luis with the same Euskaltel team, unfortunately many of the other teams were not the same. Unfortunately we (me included) did not have as much success as the 3D Raced version, but oh well. 
