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La Pomme Marseille
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 26-10-2013 11:43
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Not bad results from Flakemore in his home land. |
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 26-10-2013 11:54
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Good luck Down Under, hopefully the team can start the year off well. |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 07:49
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| ricardo123 |
Posted on 26-10-2013 14:00
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Good luck |
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 26-10-2013 14:02
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World Champion
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Thanks, guys! I think the nats went pretty well too!
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 Santos Tour Down Under: Stage 1
January 22nd, 2014
Clearly not the toughest of terrains, but Mengler's Hill could definitely become a problem for some riders if the steep first few hundred meters are climbed quickly. The slight incline from the kilometer mark to the finish could also be a factor in who wins the stage. We might even see the puncheurs in the mix for a stage win and valuable bonus seconds.
The always aggressive Vaubourzeix was one of the most active riders earlier today. He did in fact initiate the first breakaway, which also featured Nelson Oliveira (Lampre), Manuele Boaro (Saxo) and later also Jonas Ahlstrand (Argos).
Perhaps simply unwilling to give the quick Ahlstrand the opportunity to gain some points on their own sprinters, Orica-GreenEDGE and Trek kept the group in a tight leash for more or less the first half of the stage - before eventually shutting them down.
Luckily for us, Vaubourzeix managed to outkick his three companions for maximum points at the first intermediate sprint. He also dug in with a new acceleration a little while after the shutdown, and did establish a solid advantage together with Saxo Bank's Jay McCarthy.
Still tired from racing hard earlier, Vaubourzeix was unfortunately unable to match McCarthy's acceleration at the 2nd sprint prime and had to settle for 2 bonus seconds. Still more than any other rider at that point, at least.
Anyway, due to a high pace from Radioshack and Katusha, Vaubourzeix decided to give up the breakaway early and drop back into the peloton with 25 km to the finish. McCarthy kept going on his own for another while, but was also back in the peloton some 10 km later.
Just a few short moments later, the peloton started tackling Mengler's Hill. Unfortunately, it turned out to be nothing more than an enormous anticlimax. It seemed as if every single rider in the peloton wanted a slow pace to make sure that their sprinters wouldn't start to suffer!
No one even bothered to jump for the KoM, so Luke Durbridge happily collected it while taking an easy turn on the front for team mate Daryl Impey.
The speed remained low also after the climb, so we used the opportunity to set up an unchallenged sprint train for Siskevicius with Flakemore and Thiré.
Fabio Felline, Francesco Gavazzi and Daniele Ratto quickly latched on to the back of this.
We waited and waited and waited for someone to open the sprint so that Thiré could respond, but everyone decided to play the waiting game - which meant that we still had our trio in front of everyone else under the kilometer kite, where Thiré finally launched.
The reason for the unwillingness to launch the sprint early soon became obvious. The uphill drag towards the finish effectively sapped both Thiré and Siskevicius of energy - which allowed Belkin's punchy duo Jonathan Hivert and Paul Martens to charge past our riders and into the lead on the far left, with Felline and Gavazzi responding in the middle.
After a demanding, messy sprint, it was finally Felline who came out on top - half a wheel in front of Hivert in 2nd and Gavazzi in 3rd.
Siskevicius found some kind of reserve in the final few hundred meters and worked his way back to finish a decent 5th, with an impressive Thiré in 7th and Koretzky showing promising signs in 8th.
The entire peloton finished together, meaning that Vaubourzeix could profit from the bonus seconds he snatched earlier by taking the lead in the points classification and moving into 3rd place in the GC. Good start for us!
| 1 | Fabio Felline | Trek Factory Racing | 3h06'02 | | 2 | Francesco Gavazzi | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | 3 | Jonathan Hivert | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 4 | Daniele Ratto | Cannondale Pro Cycling | s.t. | | 5 | Evaldas Siskevicius | La Pomme Marseille | s.t. |
GC
| 1 | Fabio Felline | Trek Factory Racing | 3h05'52 | | 2 | Francesco Gavazzi | Astana Pro Team | + 4 | | 3 | Thomas Vaubourzeix | La Pomme Marseille | + 5 | | 4 | Jonathan Hivert | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | + 6 | | 5 | Jay McCarthy | Team Saxo Bank | + 7 |
Points
| 1 | Thomas Vaubourzeix | La Pomme Marseille | 10 | | 2 | Fabio Felline | Trek Factory Racing | 8 | | 3 | Jay McCarthy | Team Saxo Bank | 6 |
Mountains
| 1 | Luke Durbridge | Orica - GreenEdge | 10 | | 2 | Brett Lancaster | Orica - GreenEdge | 6 | | 3 | Jesús Herrada | Movistar Team | 4 |
U25
| 1 | Fabio Felline | Trek Factory Racing | 3h05'52 (1) | | 2 | Thomas Vaubourzeix | La Pomme Marseille | + 5 (2) | | 3 | Jay McCarthy | Team Saxo Bank | + 7 (3) |
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| welker3257 |
Posted on 26-10-2013 15:48
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2336
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Good start to the first WT race for La Pomme
Gig 'em Aggies
Fast N' Loud Cycling Project - ICL
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 26-10-2013 16:13
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World Champion
Posts: 12986
Joined: 20-05-2009
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Its great to finally have this story back up and running! I really love the new jersey and I think the team is looking really strong! One thing though. I think you will be switching to Extreme very soon! This version of the game feels a bit easier to me, than past versions somehow.
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 26-10-2013 16:15
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World Champion
Posts: 10497
Joined: 23-06-2011
PCM$: 200.00
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Some good results there in the 1st WT race for the team. |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 26-10-2013 16:15
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
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Good result for Evaldas
And some very nice screens too  |
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 26-10-2013 18:28
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World Champion
Posts: 10121
Joined: 01-05-2010
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Indeed, it was a solid start!
valv321 - That may well be the case. I have (as mentioned earlier) not had the time to play as much as usual, so it might be a pleasant surprise!
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Santos Tour Down Under: Stage 2
January 23rd, 2014
Stage 2 goes back on known roads to have the usual finish up in Stirling, and its slight uphill finale. Sprinters and puncheurs have both been successful here in the past, so I had a bit of a dilemma when deciding who the team should back today: Siskevicius or Koretzky
Flakemore did such a good job on yesterday's stage that he was rewarded with the opportunity to be our designated man for the long breakaway on this stage. He responded by countering anything that moved in the early stages of the day!
Disturbingly, his tremendous attacking spirit would not be rewarded. Orica-GreenEDGE had apparently their tactics set to "chase everything" today, so Flakemore decided to give up trying after being shut down over and over again.
Instead, the long breakaway would be formed by Jan Polanc (Lampre), Guillaume van Keirsbulck (OPQS), Johan Le Bon (FDJ) and Benjamin King (Garmin). Luckily for us, they weren't allowed much of a gap either and were re-absorbed by the peloton with almost exactly 10 km to the finish.
Shortly afterwards began the final incline, so Skujins made a big push and moved Koretzky to the very front of the peloton in case of any attacks.
Nobody dared to try anything on the steepest part of the climb, so our tactics changed slightly, with Skujins launching the sprint from 3 km out - opening a gap behind Koretzky for race leader Felline to close and give the perfect leadout to a wheelsucking Siskevicius.
However, before Felline was stressed into taking action, Paul Martens came like shot out of a rocket from behind on the other side of the road - leaving Koretzky with no choice but to leave Skujins's slipstream and go into pursuit.
Entering the final kilometer, he did start to close in on a fading Martens, but a new threat emerged from behind in the shape of a speedy Daniel Oss (BMC). Felline meanwhile finally kicked, still with Siskevicius glued to his back wheel.
Koretzky and Oss both made the jump past Martens at almost the same point, roughly 800m from the finish. The effort had basically emptied Koretzky altogether though, while Oss only seemed to keep accelerating.
But after a perfectly played finale, Siskevicius managed to sneak through right by the barriers and topple Oss for the stage win! Staying behind Felline for as long as possible and then do a short sprint worked perfectly on this finish, where the key really was to wait for as long as possible.
Giovanni Visconti (Movistar) used the same tactic, and managed to make it all the way up to 2nd place, after following Siskevicius. Oss did at least hold on for 3rd place, which he definitely deserved after an amazing sprint. Koretzky lost a little speed towards the end, but claimed a strong 9th place.
No back-to-back win for Felline, but he did at least retain the race lead by finishing in 5th place. Only a countback separates Siskevicius from him, so we'll try our hardest to flip the order of those two in the next couple of days.
| 1 | Evaldas Siskevicius | La Pomme Marseille | 3h21'18 | | 2 | Giovanni Visconti | Movistar Team | s.t. | | 3 | Daniel Oss | BMC Racing Team | s.t. | | 4 | Anthony Roux | FDJ.fr | s.t. | | 5 | Fabio Felline | Trek Factory Racing | s.t. |
GC
| 1 | Fabio Felline | Trek Factory Racing | 6h27'10 | | 2 | Evaldas Siskevicius | La Pomme Marseille | s.t. | | 3 | Giovanni Visconti | Movistar Team | + 4 | | 4 | Francesco Gavazzi | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | 5 | Thomas Vaubourzeix | La Pomme Marseille | + 5 |
Points
| 1 | Thomas Vaubourzeix | La Pomme Marseille | 10 | | 2 | Fabio Felline | Trek Factory Racing | 8 | | 3 | Evaldas Siskevicius | La Pomme Marseille | 8 |
Mountains
| 1 | Jan Polanc | Lampre - Merida | 16 | | 2 | Johan Le Bon | FDJ.fr | 12 | | 3 | Luke Durbridge | Orica - GreenEdge | 10 |
U25
| 1 | Fabio Felline | Trek Factory Racing | 6h27'10 (1) | | 2 | Thomas Vaubourzeix | La Pomme Marseille | + 5 (2) | | 3 | Jay McCarthy | Team Saxo Bank | + 7 (3) |
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 26-10-2013 18:32
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World Champion
Posts: 10497
Joined: 23-06-2011
PCM$: 200.00
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 for the 1st WT win for La Pomme.  |
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| 547984 |
Posted on 26-10-2013 18:42
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5008
Joined: 29-01-2013
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La Pomme dominating the classifications. 
baseballlover312, 06-03-14 : "Nuke Moscow...Don't worry Russia, we've got plenty of love to go around your cities"
Sarah Palin, 08-03-14 (CPAC, on Russian aggression) : "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke"
Big thanks to jdog for making this AMAZING userbar! |
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| ricardo123 |
Posted on 26-10-2013 18:49
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Neo-Pro
Posts: 319
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Nice win 
Edited by ricardo123 on 26-10-2013 18:50
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| baia |
Posted on 26-10-2013 19:35
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5398
Joined: 04-10-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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So, here comes the first win.. i´ve the feeling that it will be hard to stop La Pomme now..
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| krisa |
Posted on 26-10-2013 21:25
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3962
Joined: 12-04-2011
PCM$: 200.00
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Nice story
1 little remark: I don't think it was needed to say wiggo and froome were positive. That's a bit a shame
But all in all a nice story and good luck
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| welker3257 |
Posted on 26-10-2013 21:35
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2336
Joined: 29-05-2013
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First WT win
You're too good at this game
Edited by welker3257 on 26-10-2013 21:35
Gig 'em Aggies
Fast N' Loud Cycling Project - ICL
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| rogvi97 |
Posted on 26-10-2013 23:02
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Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 933
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Congrats with your first WT win!
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 27-10-2013 09:02
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World Champion
Posts: 10121
Joined: 01-05-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Thanks, all! It was awesome watching Siskevicius speed past all the other sprinters in the final couple of hundred meters!
krisa - Oh, it is everything but a shame. Having them ruin races in real life is enough for me. Same goes for Horner, who I have even forced to retire.
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Santos Tour Down Under: Stage 3
January 24th, 2014
The 3 km wall of Corkscrew Road was a good source of entertainment last year, so the organisers have brought it back for a second consecutive year, albeit with the finish in Campbelltown rather than Rostrevor.
After yesterday's jackpot, I felt that we had more to gain from having the entire team stay in the peloton than from joining the early breakaway. That task was instead taken on by Boivin (Cannondale), Wyss (BMC), Kessiakoff (Astana), Oliveira (Lampre) and Ludvigsson (Argos).
Throughout the entire stage, Delaroziere and Flakemore made sure to keep them relatively close to the peloton. Both did a terrific job with the pacemaking, and almost created echelons at one point!
Their shift finally came to an end with 8 km to the finish, at the bottom of Corkscrew Road. The pacing was instead taken over by Skujins, who once again brought Koretzky to the front of the peloton at just the right time.
On the steepest part of the climb, Koretzky turned the speed up another notch and managed to open a gap over the peloton!
The gap grew all the way to the summit, which he crested roughly 30 seconds ahead of a peloton led by no one else than race leader Felline!
On the descent, Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEDGE) launched a new offensive after realising that all domestiques were burnt by the tough climb. Felline immediately tagged along, together with Katusha's Spilak and Tsatevich, plus Siskevicius.
Little could they do about Koretzky, however!
Clarke jumped away for a clear 2nd inside the final kilometer, but wasn't awarded with a new time. Siskevicius launched from the back of the group far too late, and ran out of road before he could pass Felline for 3rd.
The rest of the peloton was led home by Martin Elmiger (IAM) a little while later. The clock was well past a minute's deficit for them, but the jury decided to screw over the escapees and give everyone behind Koretzky the same time: 36 seconds lost!
Despite the questionable ruling regarding the times, another superb day for us. Koretzky pulls on the leader's jersey, with Siskevicius sitting in 3rd and Vaubourzeix in 8th. Looks like Clarke and Felline will be the main rivals on Willunga Hill!
| 1 | Clément Koretzky | La Pomme Marseille | 3h18'13 | | 2 | Simon Clarke | Orica - GreenEdge | + 36 | | 3 | Fabio Felline | Trek Factory Racing | s.t. | | 4 | Evaldas Siskevicius | La Pomme Marseille | s.t. | | 5 | Alexey Tsatevitch | Katusha Team | s.t. | | 6 | Simon Spilak | Katusha Team | s.t. | | 7 | Martin Elmiger | IAM Cycling | s.t. | | 8 | Jonathan Hivert | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 9 | Johann Tschopp | IAM Cycling | s.t. | | 10 | Giovanni Visconti | Movistar Team | s.t. |
GC
| 1 | Clément Koretzky | La Pomme Marseille | 9h45'21 | | 2 | Fabio Felline | Trek Factory Racing | + 34 | | 3 | Evaldas Siskevicius | La Pomme Marseille | + 38 | | 4 | Simon Clarke | Orica - GreenEdge | + 42 | | 5 | Giovanni Visconti | Movistar Team | s.t. |
Points
| 1 | Fabio Felline | Trek Factory Racing | 12 | | 2 | Clément Koretzky | La Pomme Marseille | 12 | | 3 | Danilo Wyss | BMC Racing Team | 12 |
Mountains
| 1 | Jan Polanc | Lampre - Merida | 16 | | 2 | Johan Le Bon | FDJ.fr | 12 | | 3 | Clément Koretzky | La Pomme Marseille | 10 |
U25
| 1 | Clément Koretzky | La Pomme Marseille | 9h45'21 (1) | | 2 | Fabio Felline | Trek Factory Racing | + 34 (2) | | 3 | Thomas Vaubourzeix | La Pomme Marseille | + 43 (3) |
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 27-10-2013 09:42
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World Champion
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Koretzy !!!! |
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| krisa |
Posted on 27-10-2013 10:30
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3962
Joined: 12-04-2011
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Victory
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| FreitasPCM |
Posted on 27-10-2013 10:34
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8389
Joined: 08-09-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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The show has started again. |
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