1) Gallopin (Radioshack Leopard)
2) Vaugrenard (FDJ.fr) +0’00
3) Bak (Lotto Belisol) +0’24
18) Tiralongo +0’54

• Stage 1
Huge blow as our primary sprinter Sabatini fell and abandoned with a fractured hand midway through the stage, so we changed our attention to leadout man Matysiak. Chaotic final 40km with only 35 riders coming in the front peloton.
1) Mezgec (Argos-Shimano)
2) Ahlstrand (Argos-Shimano) +0’00
3) Roux (FDJ.fr) +0’00
7) Matysiak +0’00

• Stage 2
We made the race very hard early on but it didn’t work in our favour really. Argos again in impressive in the final.
1) Mezgec (Argos Shimano)
2) Kocjan (Euskaltel) +0’00
3) Van Rensburg (Argos-Shimano) +0’00
25) Matysiak +0’00

• Stage 3
Kuranty made an early breakaway but there was a ferocious chase behind and it was caught quite early. A punishingly hard pace throughout.
1) Bozic (Astana)
2) Mezgec (Argos-Shimano) +0’00
3) Modolo (Bardiani) +0’00
50) Cummings +0’00

• Stage 4
We are very much in survival mode until the ITT now.
1) Mezgec (Argos-Shimano)
2) Van Rensburg (Argos-Shimano) +0’00
3) Bozic (Astana) +0’00
19) Cummings +0’00

• Stage 5
Hiding and surviving in the peloton on another fast day.
1) Bozic (Astana)
2) Van Rensburg (Argos-Shimano) +0’00
3) Napolitano (Accent.Jobs) +0’00
76) Matysiak +0’00

• Stage 6
A solid showing in this short ITT from Rasmussen which secures his top 10 in GC.
1) Jungels (Radioshack Leopard)
2) Castroviejo (Movistar) +0’03
3) Amador (Movistar) +0’03
8) Rasmussen +0’11

Overall GC:
1) Van Rensburg (Argos-Shimano) 16h05’10
2) Jungels (Radioshack Leopard) +0’18
3) Roux (FDJ.fr) +0’20
7) Rasmussen +0’29

Young Riders GC:
1) Van Rensburg (Argos-Shimano) 16h05’10
2) Jungels (Radioshack Leopard) +0’18
3) Navardauskas (Garmin) +0’24
58) Wenc +30’07

Mountain:
1) Etxegibel (Cofidis) 54pts
2) Talabardon (Sojasun) 42pts
3) Koretzky (Bretagne) 36pts
11) Kuranty 10pts

Points:
1) Mezgec (Argos-Shimano) 101pts
2) Bozic (Astana) 76pts
3) Van Rensburg (Argos-Shimano) 64pts
22) Rasmussen 14pts

Team:
1) Radioshack Leopard 48h16’45
2) Garmin-Sharp +0’11
3) Sky Pro Cycling +1’01
5) LOT Polish Airlines +1’35

Directeur Sportif comments: “After losing Sabatini so early, it appeared to affect our confidence and we struggled in a ferociously fought race. Argos-Shimano were too fast and powerful for everyone. In the end, a top 10 GC result isn’t too bad but this is not a race we’ll look back on too fondly.�

• Stage 1
Cooke tried to mix it up but was freelancing and never figured.
1) Greipel (Lotto)
2) Coquard (Europcar) +0’00
3) Farrar (Garmin) +0’00
13) Cooke +0’00

• Stage 2
Le Bon made a three-man breakaway and lasted until 8km to go. Cooke again freelanced and nicked a top 10.
1) Greipel (Lotto)
2) Bos (Blanco) +0’00
3) Farrar (Garmin) +0’00
9) Cooke +0’00


• Stage 3
Le Bon made the breakaway again and was kept company by Koren but they were reined in early. Contador launced a savage attack which destroyed the field. Pauwels rode superbly and only an non co-operative elite group meant the winning gap was so big. It also allowed Huzarski and Losada to rejoin to secure a good result for the team.
1) Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff)
2) Pellizotti (Androni) +4’25
3) Casar (FDJ.fr) +4’25
6) Huzarski +6’05
7) Pauwels +6’05


• Stage 4
Pauwels made it into the early breakaway. He swept up enough mountains points to win that classification overall. The breakaway held on by the skin of its teeth and Pauwels squeaked home for a stunning win! Even Losada mixed it up well in the sprint behind.
1) Pauwels
2) Pantano (Colombia) +0’00
3) Kiendys (CCC Polkowice) +0’00
9) Losada +0’00

Overall GC:
1) Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) 13h59’37
2) Pellizotti +4’33
3) Casar (FDJ.fr) +4’37
6) Pauwels +6’01

Young Riders GC:
1) Kelderman (Blanco) 14h04’22
2) Madrazo (Movistar) +5’10
3) Felline (Androni) +6’25
7) Gonzalvo +7’38

Mountain:
1) Pauwels 36pts
2) Pauriol (Sojasun) 34pts
3) Pantano (Colombia) 20pts

Points:
1) Greipel (Lotto) 50pts
2) Pauwels 38pts
3) Farrar (Garmin) 32pts

Team:
1) Katusha 42h16’26
2) Androni +0’00
3) Movistar +1’40
5) LOT Polish Airlines +1’40

Directeur Sportif comments: “A great last couple of days for us, our climbers were very strong. Serge was super strong on stage 3 and to back it up with a stage win in a break the next day was an outstanding achievement....never mind his mountains classification win! Huzarski and Losada were strong too in GC which is good news for the season ahead.�

Australian National Championships: Cooke
Santos Tour Down Under - Stage 1: Nizzolo
Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca - Stage 4: Pauwels

• Stage 1
Kuranty tried to make the breakaway but couldn’t, so a quiet day for us.
1) Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano)
2) Hutarovich (Ag2r) +0’00
3) Swift (Sky) +0’00
10) Selvaggi +0’00

• Stage 2
A fair effort from Cummings in the ITT.
1) Castroviejo (Movistar)
2) Meyer (Orica-GreenEDGE) +0’03
3) Pinotti (BMC) +0’05
14) Cummings +0’19

• Stage 3
Movistar controlled a tricky stage well to protect Castroviejo’s yellow jersey.
1) Betancur (Ag2r)
2) Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) +0’00
3) Amador (Movistar) +0’00
15) Cummings +0’00

• Stage 4
Roslaniec made a six-man breakaway but squabbling and a lack of co-operation destroyed it. The final 30km were so hard and fast, it took its toll on Cummings and Tiralongo who nursed the Brit home up Mont Faron.
1) Rolland (Europcar)
2) Betancur (Ag2r) +0’10
3) Martin (Garmin) +0’30
27) Tiralongo +4’20
28) Cummings +4’20


• Stage 5
Tiralongo made an eight-man breakaway and took enough mountains points to win the classification overall. Remnants of the breakaway did survive including lone attacker Landa who secured a great victory. Tiralongo faded.
1) Landa (Euskaltel)
2) Lagutin (Vacansoleil) +0’27
3) Mate (Cofidis) +0’27
8) Tiralongo +2’05

Overall GC:
1) Rolland (Europcar) 16h06’09
2) Betancur (Ag2r) +1’08
3) Martin (Garmin) +1’38
23) Tiralongo +5’53

Young Riders GC:
1) Betancur (Ag2r) 16h07’17
2) I.Izagirre (Euskaltel) +3’33
3) Meyer (Orica-GreenEDGE) +4’34
40) Wenc +37’02

Mountain:
1) Tiralongo 42pts
2) Betancur (Ag2r) 32pts
3) Antomarchi (La Pomme-Marseille) 28pts


Points:
1) Betancur (Ag2r) 57pts
2) Rolland (Europcar) 46pts
3) Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) 45pts
30) Tiralongo 8pts

Team:
1) Sky 48h27’00
2) Movistar +2’43
3) Euskaltel +3’22
13) LOT Polish Airlines +33’35

Directeur Sportif comments: “We’d like to have been a little closer to the sharp end of the GC but a decent effort over the week. Paolo securing the mountains jersey was a nice little bonus for his aggression and a good way to start his season.�

• Stage 1
Marczynski made a three-man breakaway early on and will wear polka-dots tomorrow.
1) Hushovd (BMC)
2) Steegmans (OPQS) +0’00
3) Lobato (Euskaltel) +0’00
43) Dumoulin +0’00

• Stage 2
Majka stretched his legs off the front early to claim some mountains points. Dumoulin then forged a lone attack with Majka securing the polka-dots from the peloton. Dumoulin had a puncture with 40km to go so the inevitable catch came sooner rather than later.
1) Hushovd (BMC)
2) Impey (Orica-GreenEDGE) +0’00
3) Van Avermaet +0’00
33) Cummings +0’00


• Stage 3
Majka attacked from the flag to set about a lone breakaway, and was allowed freedom as he lost 12 minutes on stage 2. His lead topped 15 minutes at one point with two pursuers caught in between. Majka understandably faded late on but with not much chasing from behind, it ensured a spectacular 193km lone victory, one of the best we’ll have all season.
1) Majka
2) Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) +5’51
3) Kelderman (Blanco) +6’29



• Stage 4
An expected winner in the long ITT.
1) Martin (OPQS)
2) Porte (Sky) +0’05
3) Peraud (Ag2r)
18) Cummings +1’08

Overall GC:
1) Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) 15h17’50
2) Martin (OPQS) +0’55
3) Porte (Sky) +1’00
17) Cummings +3’25

Young Riders GC:
1) Kelderman (Blanco) 15h19’11
2) Meyer (Orica-GreenEDGE) +0’15
3) Dumoulin +2’34

Mountain:
1) Majka 30pts
2) Ershov (RusVelo) 14pts
3) Landa (Euskaltel) 12pts

Points:
1) Hushovd (BMC) 57pts
2) Majka 37pts
3) Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) 37pts

Team:
1) LOT Polish Airlines 45h57’18
2) Sky +1’12
3) Blanco +4’13

Directeur Sportif comments: “A good tour for us and nice to see Rafal in an aggressive mood to start his season. We knew the ITT would ruin his GC so he decided to lose time and go for a stage which worked perfectly. The other guys rallied well to get the team classification; Cummings particularly did another solid job.�

• Stage 1
Flens went on the attack but no-one joined him so once again a LOT rider was left to battle it out alone. His lead maxed out at 8’30 and will wear polka-dots tomorrow. Battaglin attacked late for the win and Kwiatkowski secured a good 2nd on his 2013 bow.
1) Battaglin (Bardiani)
2) Kwiatkowski +0’43
3) Rolland (Europcar) +0’43

• Stage 2
Gonzalvo was part of a four-man breakaway including breakaway veteran Jens Voigt. Once hauled back, Kwiatkowski, wearing green, launched an attack for glory but was caught with a km to go by the impressive Battaglin.
1) Battaglin (Bardiani)
2) Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) +0’00
3) Kwiatkowski +0’00

Overall GC:
1) Battaglin (Bardiani) 8h51’33
2) Kwiatkowski +1’03
3) Rolland (Europcar) +1’15

Young Riders GC:
1) Battaglin (Bardiani) 8h51’33
2) Kwiatkowski +1’03
3) Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) +1’21

Mountain:
1) Voigt (Radioshack Leopard) 26pts
2) Flens 26pts
3) Kohler 16pts

Points:
1) Battaglin (Bardiani) 50pts
2) Kwiatkowski 36pts
3) Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) 26pts

Team:
1) Bardiani 26h40’15
2) Vacansoleil +0’53
3) Movistar +0’53
15) LOT Polish Airlines +9’23

Directeur Sportif comments: “A nice start to Michal’s season with a couple of good late digs in both stages. Battaglin and his team were just too strong though, they are deserving winners.�

1) Ponzi (Astana)
2) Gusev (Katusha) +0’00
3) Stannard (Sky) +0’23
14) Selvaggi +1’22

Australian National Championships: Cooke
Santos Tour Down Under - Stage 1: Nizzolo
Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca - Stage 4: Pauwels
Volta ao Algarve - Stage 3: Majka

• Stage 1
A short prologue to start off.
1) Kiriyienka (Sky)
2) Clement (Blanco) +0’05
3) Elmiger (IAM) +0’06
11) Rasmussen +0’20

• Stage 2
For some reason the game wouldn’t allow me to play this stage.
1) Rabottini (Vini Fantini)
2) El Fares (Sojasun) +0’00
3) Pliuschin (IAM) +0’14
14) Pirazzi +0’52

• Stage 3
Koren joined a three-man breakaway and it survived. However he will rue this as a missed opportunity, seeing Saramotins escape with 20km to go and not following.
1) Saramotins (IAM)
2) Koren +0’30
3) Fraile (Caja Rural) +1’13

• Stage 4
Labiano took to a breakaway with experienced campaigners Elmiger and Duque, but with much attacking behind it didn’t win the day. Koren did a superb job setting up Pirazzi for a downhill assault but Uran was ultra strong.
1) Uran (Sky)
2) Amador (Movistar) +0’37
3) Anton (Euskaltel) +0’37
5) Pirazzi +0’37

Overall GC:
1) Amador (Movistar) 12h48’29
2) Uran (Sky) +0’01
3) Wiggins (Sky) +0’53
4) Pirazzi +1’09

Young Riders GC:
1) Slagter (Blanco) 12h50’34
2) Merino (Euskaltel) +6’16
3) Fraile (Caja Rural) +6’51
16) Labiano +19’20

Mountain:
1) Elmiger (IAM) 54pts
2) Duque (Colombia) 52pts
3) Labiano 40pts

Points:
1) Amador (Movistar) 58pts
2) Wiggins (Sky) 38pts
3) Koren 37pts

Team:
1) Sky 38h30’25
2) Blanco +3’01
3) Movistar +3’14
11) LOT Polish Airlines +18’18

Directeur Sportif comments: “Although we didn’t bag a stage win, we’re generally happy with our showing. We ended strongly with a 2nd and 5th, with Koren and Pirazzi’s aggressiveness on the final stage to improve the Italian’s GC ranking a real highlight for us. Promising signs.�

1) Bos (Blanco)
2) Greipel (Lotto Belisol) +0’00
3) Ciolek (MTN-Qhubeka) +0’00
92) Koren +0’00

1) Hoogerland (Vacansoleil)
2) Moreno (Katusha) +0’00
3) Taborre (Vini Fantini) +0’29
10) Huzarski +0’29

1) Ponzi (Astana)
2) Sella (Androni) +0’30
3) Vicioso (Katusha) +0’30
4) Huzarski +0’30

• Wenc made a five-man breakaway but it got swallowed up and we worked hard behind for Pirazzi. All the favourites attacked on the climbs and unfortunately Pirazzi was caught with an uncooperative group.
1) Amador (Movistar)
2) Pellizotti (Androni) +0’00
3) Pietropolli (Lampre) +0’26
12) Pirazzi +2’35

Australian National Championships: Cooke
Santos Tour Down Under - Stage 1: Nizzolo
Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca - Stage 4: Pauwels
Volta ao Algarve - Stage 3: Majka

• Stage 1
A quiet start for us in the prologue.
1) Thomas (Sky)
2) Chavanel (OPQS) +0’05
3) Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) +0’06
57) Le Bon +0’23

• Stage 2
Petit (Cofidis) went on an ambitious lone attack and stood simply no chance. We had a nightmare trying to get Nizzolo in position. Meanwhile, Majka purposely slipped behind into the grupetto to allow for freedom later in the race.
1) Cavendish (OPQS)
2) Kristoff (Katusha) +0’00
3) Kittel (Argos-Shimano) +0’00
19) Nizzolo +0’00

• Stage 3
A better effort in the sprint today but still not close to victory as the top 3 is exactly the same two days running.
1) Cavendish (OPQS)
2) Kristoff (Katusha) +0’00
3) Kittel (Argos-Shimano) +0’00
9) Nizzolo +0’00


• Stage 4
So frustrating, missed the breakaway so we decided we’ll take up the chase. This enabled us to attack with Le Bon in a dangerous-looking five-man splinter group. This was caught on the final climb as Majka mixed it up with the GC contenders. On the run into the finish Cavendish survived but couldn’t overhaul the Gilbert.
1) Gilbert (BMC)
2) Cavendish (Sky) +0’00
3) S.Sanchez (Euskaltel) +0’00
21) Le Bon +0’00

• Stage 5
Reminiscent of Algarve, Majka attacked and nobody went with him so he began another 190km lone adventure. With Majka at +16’36 in GC, he was inevitably given freedom and inevitably took the polka-dot jersey for tomorrow. His lead maxed out at 10’30 with OPQS doing all the work in behind to monitor the gap. GC contenders attacking in behind really didn’t help Majka’s cause whatsoever. Cruelly he was caught with 8km to go and remarkably some of the sprinters survived a tough mountain stage. Nizzolo did well to mix it up but Cavendish is red hot!
1) Cavendish (OPQS)
2) S.Sanchez (Euskaltel) +0’00
3) Nizzolo +0’00



• Stage 6
Gonzalvo took to a five-man breakaway, whereas in behind we looked to protect the good GC position of Le Bon. However the breakaway stood no chance as the GC battle took place on the La Montagne de Lure. Contador launced a solo attack near the foot of the climb that no-one could match and a relatively large elite group climbed up together. Majka rode a great climb considering his exploits yesterday. Le Bon, like many others, faded and finished well off the pace.
Cavendish’s unbelievable run in yellow finally comes to an end.
1) Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff)
2) Martin (Garmin) +0’55
3) Rolland (Europcar) +0’55
10) Majka +1’09

• Stage 7
Majka and Nizzolo sparked a five-man breakaway and it represented a great chance for us to cement Majka’s polka-dot jersey and win the stage with Nizzolo. Unfortunately, the other three riders were not overly keen to co-operate with us because we had two riders present. Their lead maxed out at 11’30 and it became clear they would survive. The attacks rained in during the last 20km and it took its toll as Brutt proved the strongest. Our hopes dashed by a lack of co-operation from the other escapees, understandable I guess but still frustrating.
1) Brutt (Katusha)
2) Kadri (Ag2r) +0’00
3) Nizzolo +0’00



• Stage 8
A quiet day for us in the Col d’Eze ITT.
1) Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff)
2) Gesink (Blanco) +0’01
3) Nieve (Euskaltel) +0’06
23) Majka +0’45

Overall GC:
1) Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) 27h34’44
2) Cataldo (Sky) +1’35
3) S.Sanchez (Euskaltel) +1’43
60) Majka +15’29

Young Riders GC:
1) Pinot (FDJ.fr) 27h37’24
2) Kelderman +0’40
3) Gallopin +1’39
8) Majka +12’49

Mountain:
1) Majka 61pts
2) Brutt (Katusha) 38pts
3) Martin (Garmin) 30pts

Points:
1) Cavendish (OPQS) 112pts
2) Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) 89pts
3) Thomas (Sky) 80pts
6) Nizzolo 60pts

Team:
1) Radioshack Leopard 82h50’16
2) Saxo-Tinkoff +5’21
3) Euskaltel +6’52
13) LOT Polish Airlines +22’51

Directeur Sportif comments: “Mixed feelings about our performance here. We knew the GC was beyond us so we tried to animate the race and win at least one stage. Although we got ourselves on TV a fair bit and won the mountains classification, our failure to take a stage hurts as it was our sponsor goal.�

• Stage 1
Middle-of-the-road performance from us in the TTT.
1) Sky (Boassen Hagen)
2) Radioshack Leopard (Voigt) +0’18
3) BMC (Hushovd) +0’32
7) LOT Polish Airlines (Selvaggi) +0’52

• Stage 2
We missed the break so set about contributing to the chase. Selvaggi mixed it up in the sprint.
1) Sagan (Cannondale)
2) Bennati (Saxo-Tinkoff) +0’00
3) Bos (Blanco) +0’00
7) Selvaggi +0’00

• Stage 3
Today we just decided to sit quietly in the peloton and let it all play out in front of us. A tricky, spiky final that Kwiatkowski negotiated superbly.
1) Degenkolb (Argos – Shimano)
2) Demare (FDJ.fr) +0’00
3) Boassen Hagen (Sky) +0’00
5) Kwiatkowski +0’00

• Stage 4
We stayed again in the peloton and decided to chase and set things up for Kwiatkowski on the summit climb to Prati di Tivo. But Movistar took it over and dominated the peloton. On the final climb, Rodriguez and Valverde attacked early and Sky set the tempo to catch up. Surprisingly, Porte was stronger than Froome and took a great win. In behind, Kwiatkowski climbed strongly in the chase elite group and moved upto 9th in overall GC and into the white jersey and young GC leader.
1) Porte (Sky)
2) Rodriguez (Katusha) +0’23
3) Froome (Sky) +0’23
7) Kwiatkowski +1’06


• Stage 5
Once again it was a case of staying behind in the peloton and working hard for our leader. However, on the punishing Passo Lanciano Kwiatkowski was isolated relatively early, but he rode excellently to keep pace. The race broke up in the spiky last 10km and Hesjedal who had dragged the elite group to this point, attacked for a deserved victory. Porte rode courageously in defence of his GC lead, as did Kwiatkowski who secured a great 5th on the day, but lost the white jersey to the impressive Betancur.
1) Hesjedal (Garmin – Sharp)
2) Betancur (Ag2r) +0’08
3) Valverde (Movistar) +0’19
4) Kwiatkowski +1’16


• Stage 6
Pirazzi attacked from the flag and was joined by Nicki Sorensen. With neither rider a GC threat, they were given plenty of freedom to go and contest the stage win between themselves. Sorensen launched a dangerous attack with 20km to go but Pirazzi chased it down and rode straight past as Sorensen completely blew up. A superb victory on home soil to continue his excellent form this season.
In behind, all the GC favourites, including Kwiatkowski, were hitting each other with numerous attacks. Porte again rode fantastically to defend his GC lead and Kwiatkowski secured a magnificent 5th on the stage which takes him to 4th in overall GC.
1) Pirazzi
2) Sorensen (Saxo-Tinkoff) +3’12
3) Ruijgh (Vaconsoleil) +10’30




• Stage 7
A solid performance (16th) in this short ITT from Kwiatkowski to ensure 4th place in overall GC.
1) Cancellara (Radioshack Leopard)
2) Sagan (Cannondale) +0’04
3) Boassen Hagen (Sky) +0’06
11) Rasmussen +0’17

Overall GC:
1) Porte (Sky) 26h24’30
2) Betancur (Ag2r) +2’02
3) Valverde (Movistar) +3’07
4) Kwiatkowski +3’07

Young Riders GC:
1) Betancur (Ag2r) 26h26’32
2) Kwiatkowski +1’05
3) Talansky (Garmin – Sharp) +16’48

Mountain:
1) N.Sorensen (Saxo-Tinkoff) 21pts
2) Pirazzi 11pts
3) Rodriguez (Katusha) 9pts

Points:
1) Sagan (Cannondale) 32pts
2) Valverde (Movistar) 29pts
3) Rodriguez (Katusha) 27pts
8) Kwiatkowski 22pts

Team:
1) Sky 78h49’25
2) Movistar +16’05
3) LOT Polish Airlines +27’06

Directeur Sportif comments: “A very good week for us, our sponsors wanted a stage win and thankfully we delivered. Pirazzi has fully deserved that success given his strong performances so far this season. We’re also delighted with Michal’s performance in the GC. His consistency and aggressiveness bode very well ahead of the Giro, and it was nice to see the team support him so strongly too.�

Australian National Championships: Cooke
Santos Tour Down Under - Stage 1: Nizzolo
Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca - Stage 4: Pauwels
Volta ao Algarve - Stage 3: Majka
Tirreno-Adriatico - Stage 6: Pirazzi

We worked for Selvaggi as 11 riders escaped. The team put in a strong performance but three riders proved just too strong in the testing final.
1) Gatto (Vini Fantini)
2) Sutton (Sky) +0’00
3) Knees (Sky) +0’29
4) Selvaggi +0’29
5) Le Bon +0’29

We put all our eggs in the Nizzolo basket. However, disaster struck as Nizzolo fell with 13km to go, ending our hopes.
1) Bozic (Astana)
2) Modolo (Bardiani) +0’00
3) Napolitano (Accent.jobs) +0’00
21) Selvaggi +0’00

Selvaggi made the break with five others. Their lead topped 10 minutes before the peloton started to take interest. Pirazzi was given the job of looking after Nizzolo on the climbs, which he did with aplomb. With 40km to go, Gilbert, Cancellara, and Boassen Hagen escaped the peloton causing understandable panic. However these four were caught and with 15km to go Dumoulin spotted an opportunity to attack and laid everything on the line. It was looking good until 3km to go but the sprinters had their day. Unfortunately Nizzolo had nothing left in the tank to compete.
1) Greipel (Lotto Belisol)
2) Cavendish (OPQS) +0’00
3) Bennati (Saxo-Tinkoff) +0’00
16) Nizzolo +0’00

• Stage 1
Marczynski and Losada joined a 7 man breakaway. Unfortunately, Saxo-Tinkoff were wholly committed to bringing it back together for Contador. The terrain ensured the breakaway always stood a chance though and Marcynski survived until the red kite but was overwhelmed by the onrushing peloton.
1) Gasparotto (Astana)
2) D. Van Poppel (Vaconsoleil) +0’00
3) Pichon +0’00
20) Marczynski +0’00

• Stage 2
The day’s breakaway was a nightmare to establish and after a couple of attempts we gave in and had a quiet day. Betancur somehow trumped 3 Orica sprinters.
1) Betancur (Ag2r)
2) Impey (Orica-GreenEDGE) +0’00
3) Matthews (Orica-GreenEDGE) +0’00
64) De Clercq +0’00

• Stage 3
A tough stage for us, we let a few of our climbers just ride home with the grupetto to save their legs for potentially breakaways later on in the week. Marczynski proved our strongest rider on the final climb and rode well with very little help. Contador is really flying this season and takes yellow from Betancur.
1) Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff)
2) Betancur (Ag2r) +0’39
3) Nibali (Astana) +2’02
24) Marczynski +5’25

• Stage 4
Koren made a three man break with Pinot and Geschke. However the GC teams were determined to bring the race back together for the summit finish. Losada did a perfect job shepherding Marczynski up the final climb, dropping off with just 2km left to ride.
1) Quintana (Movistar)
2) Betancur (Ag2r) +0’00
3) Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) +0’14
31) Marczynski +5’17


• Stage 5
Dumoulin made the five man breakaway of the day. Unfortunately a number of teams were interesting in chasing so a bunch gallop ensued. The catch was close though, Dumoulin the last man brought back with 3km to go.
1) Meersman (OPQS)
2) Impey (Orica-GreenEDGE) +0’00
3) Trentin (OPQS) +0’00
25) Dumoulin +0’00

• Stage 6
De Clercq took to a six man breakaway on the stage most likely to see escapees succeed. Their lead topped 12 minutes despite some ridiculous and unnecessary in-fighting in the breakaway group. De Clercq was on a bad day and couldn’t truly contest the final sprint between the successful escapees. In behind, Betancur launched a crafty move to surprisingly steal yellow.
1) Piedra (Caja Rural)
2) Moinard (BMC) +0’00
3) Lopez Garcia (Sky) +0’00
5) De Clercq +0’00


• Stage 7
Dumoulin made an eight man breakaway and it stayed away. Arroyo made the decisive and winning attack with 10km to go and just about held on. Dumoulin battled bravely but it wasn’t his day.
1) Arroyo
2) Velits (OPQS) +0’00
3) Morabito (BMC) +0’00
6) Dumoulin +0’00

Overall GC:
1) Betancur (Ag2r) 28h49’10
2) Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) +1’19
3) Quintana +3’27
26) Marczynski +12’31

Young Riders GC:
1) Betancur (Ag2r) 28h49’10
2) Quintana +3’27
3) Van Garderen +7’05
44) Dumoulin +1h25’30

Mountain:
1) Geschke (Argos-Shimano) 58pts
2) Betancur (Ag2r) 52pts
3) Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) 50pts
6) Koren 39pts

Points:
1) Betancur (Ag2r) 84pts
2) Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) 68pts
3) Quintana (Movistar) 48pts
32) Dumoulin 13pts

Team:
1) Sky 86h39’09
2) Movistar +8’06
3) Blanco +15’34
12) LOT Polish Airlines +41’04

Directeur Sportif comments: “It wasn’t our week. We knew that we wouldn’t be competitive on GC but Marczynski rode solidly to provide some sort of presence. Unfortunately, we put all our eggs into trying to engineer a race winning situation, but on the day our breakaway riders didn’t have enough. We’ll learn lessons and move on.�

• Stage 1
Short, flat sprinters stage. We were the favourites and Nizzolo landed the spoils after a textbook leadout from Pirazzi, Boaro, and Sabatini.
1) Nizzolo
2) Valverde (Movistar) +0’00
3) Belletti (Ag2r) +0’00




• Stage 2
Close run thing for Boaro in this short, flat ITT. Valverde snatches yellow forcing Nizzolo to switch to the white jersey.
1) Gaudin (Europcar)
2) Boaro +0’05
3) Roux (FDJ.fr) +0’05

• Stage 3
We worked hard along with Movistar to bring the battle to the find climb, with Tiralongo and Pirazzi asked to help Majka. With 7km to go, the three favourites sprung away; Valverde, Rolland, and Majka. It was an epic battle all the way to the line and Majka just about clung on for a photo finish victory! Valverde grimly clung onto yellow.
1) Majka
2) Rolland (Europcar) +0’00
3) Valverde (Movistar) +0’00

Overall GC:
1) Valverde (Movistar) 6h28’32
2) Majka +0’11
3) Rolland (Europcar) +0’17

Young Riders GC:
1) Majka 6h28’43
2) Elissonde (FDJ.fr) +4’06
3) Gonzalvo +4’19

Mountain:
1) C.Pineau (FDJ.fr) 18pts
2) Stake Laengen (Bretagne – Seche) 12pts
3) G.Izagirre (Euskaltel) 10pts
4) Majka 6pts

Points:
1) Valverde (Movistar) 50pts
2) Rolland (Europcar) 27pts
3) Nizzolo 25pts

Team:
1) Movistar 19h34’34
2) Ag2r +0’20
3) LOT Polish Airlines +1’26

Directeur Sportif comments: “A super three days in Corsica for us, and with a little more luck we might have had three stage wins and the yellow jersey. The team worked excellently both for Nizzolo’s sprint win and Majka’s mountain win. One unsung hero in particular was Gonzalvo who had a fantastic day in the mountains, doing a huge amount of pulling of Majka and netting a great result on the stage and in GC.�

Australian National Championships: Cooke
Santos Tour Down Under - Stage 1: Nizzolo
Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca - Stage 4: Pauwels
Volta ao Algarve - Stage 3: Majka
Tirreno-Adriatico - Stage 6: Pirazzi
Criterium International - Stage 1: Nizzolo
Criterium International - Stage 3: Majka

A massive 19 man group escaped early, which included Le Bon. Unfortunately there were a number of passengers. With the breakaway going nowhere, Kwiatkowski had a mid-race dig with Bozic and they made a handy escape. Eventually they bridged the gap and Le Bon went away with Bozic. The pair worked very well together but Cancellara caught them at 12km and rode through for what looked like a typically imposing victory. However, a regrouping of the elite riders behind ensured he was to be denied.
1) Sagan (Cannondale)
2) Boonen (OPQS)
3) Kristoff (Katusha)
22) Le Bon +2’25

Flens made it over to the large early breakaway. On the first hill of the day, Kwiatkowski attacked viciously so we dropped Flens back to help pace him. Eventually a 20 man group formed from the early breakaway and other mid-race attacked formed which caused a bit of panic in the fracturing peloton. One of the mid-race attackers, Rosseler, was able to ride away from the group on the final cobbled section but was denied victory by the favourites.

1) Cancellara (Radioshack Leopard)
2) Sagan (Cannondale) +0’00
3) Chavanel (OPQS) +1’48
11) Kwiatkowski +4’06

Good effort from the team. This was a tough race to control but we just about managed it. Unfortunately Delfosse and his team asserted themselves in the final few km.
1) Delfosse (Crelan – Euphony)
2) Nizzolo +0’08
3) Vaugrenard (FDJ.fr) +0’08

Rasmussen and Dumoulin was the early 16 man breakaway. As the cobbles began, we pulled our two back as Koren and Kwiatkowski attacked. The four were soon together and we pulled for Kwiatkowski, with Chainel (Ag2r) hitching a free ride. However, the big boys came out to play and dampened it all with 30km to go and from that point on we were just spectators.
1) Cancellara (Radioshack Leopard)
2) Sagan (Cannondale) +1’17
3) Chavanel (OPQS) +1’17
28) Kwiatkowski +7’47

1) Chicchi (Vini Fantini)
2) Modolo (Bardiani) +0’00
3) Colbrelli (Bardiani) +0’00
139) Tiralongo +0’00

Australian National Championships: Cooke
Santos Tour Down Under - Stage 1: Nizzolo
Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca - Stage 4: Pauwels
Volta ao Algarve - Stage 3: Majka
Tirreno-Adriatico - Stage 6: Pirazzi
Criterium International - Stage 1: Nizzolo
Criterium International - Stage 3: Majka

• Stage 1
Gonzalvo was one of a four man breakaway, but the peloton never allowed much leeway. On tough terrain this was a horribly hard stage and we struggled.
1) Betancur (Ag2r)
2) Quintana (Movistar) +0’00
3) Moreno (Katusha) +0’00
34) Niemiec +1’26

• Stage 2
Labiano took to a three man breakaway, but it was caught with about 10km to go and Degenkolb eased home in the sprint.
1) Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano)
2) D. Van Poppel (Vacansoleil) +0’00
3) Matthews (Orica-GreenEDGE) +0’00
19) Niemiec +0’00

• Stage 3
We missed the breakaway despite a couple of big efforts to get into it. With Ag2r struggling to control the race, Niemiec and De Clercq stepped up the pace and surprisingly forged a gap on a false flat. However both faded in the final.
1) Meyer (Orica-GreenEDGE)
2) Betancur (Ag2r) +1’04
3) Mollema (Blanco) +1’14
47) Niemiec +2’02


• Stage 4
We managed to get both Losada and Gonzalvo in the day’s breakaway, with Gonzalvo having an eye on the mountains classification. On the final climb the breakaway group fractured and Zubeldia and Lopez were aggressive. Losada measured his efforts more and did catch the pair up but his brave ride didn’t bring the reward of victory. Niemiec rode solidly for 16th on the stage.
1) Zubeldia (Radioshack Leopard)
2) Lopez Garcia (Sky) +0’00
3) Losada +0’00



• Stage 5
Pauwels made it into a five man breakaway. But this was a brutal stage and main GC contenders wanted to fight this one out between themselves. Niemiec had a tough day but didn’t move much in GC.
1) Betancur (Ag2r)
2) Mollema (Blanco) +0’21
3) Moreno (Katusha) +0’21
21) Niemiec +5’51

• Stage 6
An inevitably tough outing for us in this medium length ITT.
1) Froome (Sky)
2) T.Martin (OPQS) +0’04
3) Van Garderen (BMC) +0’04
48) De Clercq +1’05

Overall GC:
1) Betancur (Ag2r) 21h06’58
2) Froome (Sky) +0’18
3) Mollema (Blanco) +1’15
13) Niemiec +10’03

Young Riders GC:
1) Betancur (Ag2r) 21h06’58
2) Quintana (Movistar) +3’53
3) Van Garderen (BMC) +12’17
28) Gonzalvo +57’37

Mountain:
1) Zubeldia (Radioshack Leopard) 28pts
2) Gonzalvo 28pts
3) Gerrans (Orica-GreenEDGE) 27pts

Points:
1) Betancur (Ag2r) 97pts
2) Froome (Sky) 69pts
3) Mollema (Blanco) 56pts
17) Losada 18pts

Team:
1) Sky 63h31’36
2) Movistar +7’04
3) Blanco +12’14
17) LOT Polish Airlines +49’41

Directeur Sportif comments: “We feared that this would be a tough week and so it proved. Niemiec can be pleased with his effort in GC considering this is his first outing of the season and also that the punchy climbing here didn’t particularly suit his strengths. Aside from that, positives were thin on the ground bar Losada’s heroic failure on stage 4 and Gonzalvo’s chase of the mountains classification.�

Terrible news as Dumoulin crashed and broke his arm, meaning he is out until July.
1) Cancellara (Radioshack Leopard)
2) Boom (Blanco) +0’37
3) Langeveld (Orica-GreenEDGE) +0’37
59) Koren +6’53

A good effort from Nizzolo. This again was a fast and lumpy French one-dayer and he stuck at it well to compete a close uphill sprint.
1) Bardet (Ag2r)
2) Bakelandts (Radioshack Leopard) +0’00
3) Kreder (Garmin-Sharp) +0’00
6) Nizzolo +0’00

Tiralongo made it into the early breakaway, and the 6 escapees saw their lead reach and exceed 9 minutes with 150km to go. With 90km to go, Pauwels and Pirazzi launched a splinter attack to add some pressure to the peloton. Pauwels brought Pirazzi upto Tiralongo and the pair applied more pressure with the breakaway group, all the time Kwiatkowski sitting handily placed protected by De Clercq. With 50km to go, Gilbert launched a surprise attack which brought the whole race back together. The key move was Degenkolb, Gilbert, Betancur, and D.Martin which stayed away to contest the finish, with the German the strongest in the sprint.

1) Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano)
2) Gilbert (BMC) +0’00
3) Betancur (Ag2r) +0’00
10) Kwiatkowski +1’27

• Stage 1
Wenc escaped with 2 others for the day’s breakaway, but it was swallowed up on the climb near the finish by a counter-attack.
1) Slagter (Blanco)
2) Tiernan-Locke (Sky) +0’00
3) Voeckler (Europcar) +0’00
23) Niemiec +0’00

• Stage 2
An expected struggle for us in the TTT.
1) Sky (Knees)
2) Radioshack Leopard (Gallopin) +0’11
3) Blanco (Tjallingii) +0’11
25) LOT Polish Airlines (Wenc) +2’12

• Stage 3
We took a back seat from the break and stayed behind to rally around Niemiec. With all sorts of attacks, it was upto us to set the tempo on the final summit finish. Wyss from the breakaway took the win with Niemiec a solid 6th, moving upto 10th in GC.

1) M.Wyss (IAM)
2) Wiggins (Sky) +0’47
3) Silin (Astana) +1’13
6) Niemiec +2’04

• Stage 4
Gonzalvo and Boaro attacked from the flag and were joined by two other escapees who were unwilling to work. Boaro buried himself to give Gonzalvo a fighting chance of victory as Sky headed the chase behind. But Gonzalvo simply didn’t have the legs and had to settle for 3rd.
1) Battaglin (Bardiani)
2) Valls (Vaconsoleil) +0’26
3) Gonzalvo +1’05


• Stage 5
Similarly to stage 3, we kept everyone behind to support Niemiec. On the final climb, Cataldo shepherded Wiggins all the way to the top, but Duarte took the win.
1) Duarte (Colombia)
2) Kiserlovski (Radioshack Leopard) +0’13
3) Cataldo (Sky) +0’22
5) Niemiec +1’17

Overall GC:
1) Wiggins (Sky) 18h09’48
2) Kiserlovski (Radioshack Leopard) +1’19
3) M.Wyss (IAM) +3’19
5) Niemiec +4’36

Young Riders GC:
1) Slagter (Blanco) 18h14’44
2) Ca.Meyer (Orica GreenEDGE) +1’29
3) Silin (Astana) +4’18
23) Gonzalvo +30’48

Mountain:
1) M.Wyss (IAM) 26pts
2) Silin (Astana) 26pts
3) Wiggins (Sky) 22pts
10) Niemiec 12pts

Points:
1) Slagter (Blanco) 45pts
2) Kiserlovski (Radioshack Leopard) 44pts
3) Duarte (Colombia) 40pts
11) Niemiec 22pts

Team:
1) Sky 54h14’04
2) Radioshack Leopard +9’13
3) Astana +9’19
9) LOT Polish Airlines +32’26

Directeur Sportif comments: “Another good GC effort from Niemiec who is looking sharp ahead of the Giro. The TTT inevitably hurt his chances of overall victory but the team plugged on in strong support for the rest of the race. We don’t go home with any prizes but not the worst week.�

Australian National Championships: Cooke
Santos Tour Down Under - Stage 1: Nizzolo
Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca - Stage 4: Pauwels
Volta ao Algarve - Stage 3: Majka
Tirreno-Adriatico - Stage 6: Pirazzi
Criterium International - Stage 1: Nizzolo
Criterium International - Stage 3: Majka

De Clercq and Pirazzi slipped themselves into the early breakaway. With still well over 100km to go, Tiralongo attacked from the peloton. He rode superbly to bridge a large time gap to the breakaway group, and with 60km to go the race was on. Pirazzi, De Clercq, and Tiralongo put the hammer down and the pressure was on in the peloton. The race exploded in the final 50km as Gilbert attacked. In the end it came down to a bunch finish.

1) Froome (Sky)
2) Moreno (Katusha) +0’00
3) J.Rodriguez (Katusha) +0’00
23) Kwiatkowski +0’00

We altered our tactics for this one, deciding to keep everyone behind to rally around Kwiatkowski. But this was a messy race in the middle stages and the narrow roads caused plenty of issues. With 35km to go and the race a mess, we decided to send Kwiatkowski on the attack, triggering the other favourites to follow. However Valverde, who had boldly attacked 10km earlier having been set up perfectly by his team, was not to be caught as he secured a wonderful solo victory.
1) Valverde (Movistar)
2) Gilbert (BMC) +0’28
3) D.Moreno (Katusha) +1’26
7) Kwiatkowski +3’11

• Stage 1
Reasonable effort from Majka in this short but mountainous ITT.
1) Quintana (Movistar)
2) Valverde (Movistar) +0’01
3) Froome (Sky) +0’02
14) Majka +0’30

• Stage 2
Losada launched an attack and was joined by Hoogerland. The pair worked well together but the catch was made and a sprint ensued. Losada took the polka-dot jersey.
1) Cavendish (OPQS)
2) Demare (FDJ.fr) +0’00
3) Kump (Saxo-Tinkoff) +0’00
12) Cooke +0’00

• Stage 3
We missed the break so got to work at the head of the peloton. It was a hard day with all the GC favourites stretching their legs on the climbs and the finishing sprint was played out with the climbers.
1) Pozzovivo (Ag2r)
2) Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) +0’00
3) Costa (Movistar) +0’00
8) Majka +0’00


• Stage 4
Losada and Cooke made up half of a 4 man breakaway, Losada looking for more mountains points and Cooke a potential stage win. However neither objective was achieved successfully as the race took a similar pattern to the previous day.
1) Valverde (Movistar)
2) J.Rodriguez (Katusha) +0’00
3) Nibali (Astana) +0’00
21) Majka +0’00

• Stage 5
Losada was again active in a breakaway as he looked to try and regain the mountains classification lead. For some reason (didn’t appear to crash), J.Rodriguez abandoned in the early part of the race from 2nd in GC. Losada took the require points to win the mountains classification an in the peloton we had our formation sorted to support Majka. As expected, the race blew up on the final ascent of the Col de le Croix and Majka performed strongly with the rest of the guys only able to help him in the lower slopes.
1) Valverde (Movistar)
2) Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) +0’29
3) Froome (Sky) +0’59
6) Majka +1’34


• Stage 6
Majka inevitably lost a little ground in this flat ITT, but rode solidly to only lose 1’06 to the stage winner.
1) Nibali (Astana)
2) Froome (Sky) +0’03
3) Monfort (Radioshack Leopard) +0’05
29) Koren +0’49

Overall GC:
1) Valverde (Movistar) 18h27’25
2) Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) +0’17
3) Froome (Sky) +0’39
7) Majka +2’49

Young Riders GC:
1) Quintana (Movistar) 18h28’34
2) Majka +1’40
3) Pinot (FDJ.fr) +1’57

Mountain:
1) Losada 47pts
2) Roy (FDJ.fr) 28pts
3) Horner (Radioshack Leopard) 26pts

Points:
1) Valverde (Movistar) 78pts
2) Quintana (Movistar) 63pts
3) Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) 54pts
13) Majka 18pts

Team:
1) Movistar 55h28’07
2) Astana +7’21
3) Sazo-Tinkoff +7’25
11) LOT Polish Airlines +32’29

Directeur Sportif comments: “A very accomplished GC showing from Majka who showed maturity and consistency. The team supported him well but the support did melt away on the final climb up the Col de la Croix quite rapidly. It is again a race without a stage win but Losada did well to be aggressive and take the mountains classification.�

Australian National Championships: Cooke
Santos Tour Down Under - Stage 1: Nizzolo
Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca - Stage 4: Pauwels
Volta ao Algarve - Stage 3: Majka
Tirreno-Adriatico - Stage 6: Pirazzi
Criterium International - Stage 1: Nizzolo
Criterium International - Stage 3: Majka