Well, it's the last stage of the race. Pretty similar to yesterday's. But let's hope such a disaster will avoid us this time. Barta is still holding to third place overall despite he isn't a sprinter and other rivals are scoring big time with bonus seconds on every stage. We wanted to have things under control and maybe to make a small surprise, so we placed two riders in the break. It is Jurco and Domont...
It was a short stage so we had plenty of strength and wanted to take advantage of numbers. So we attacked, Jurco leading, with Domont on his wheel. He is better placed in overall ranking, just 4min behind Blythe. We are virtually leaders on the road...
But it looks like we just don't have it for today. Rest of the break has caught Domont with 5km to go, with peloton approaching very fast. Leader of KOM classification Mugerli tried his luck...
For the moment it looked like Ryan Anderson will win another stage...
But it was Tom Scully of Madison Genesis who timed his sprint to perfection. It was the worst scenario for us. Scully was on 5th place overall, just 7s behind Barta. With 20 bonus seconds Scully moved to 2nd overall and Barta dropped to 4th. Jan tried his best today, but he had to settle for 8th place...
So, the first race of the season is behind us. If you told me before, that we would finish with 2 riders in top 10 overall, I would be happy. But in given circumstances I can not be fully satisfied.
The prologue and the second stage were just perfect. We rode well and smart. But after, we just faded. Yes, Hirt, Herklotz, Jurco, Domont and Velits tried really hard, but they couldn't make a difference. They suffered too often - in headwind, when going uphill, in the late part of stages when tempo was high. I know, this was the first race of season, but we need to be better prepared. Kristijan Koren surprised everyone in prologue, but since then, we didn't see him at all. He was invisible. I just hope he is keeping his powder dry for another races. The only riders, who can't have any regrets, are Jan Barta and Mateusz Nowak. Nowak was clearly out of form, but even so he was up there every time when it mattered. And Jan... it was a very good performance. Flat character of stages didn't suit him at all, but he was fighting with sprinters till the very end, every single day. All riders should take an example from him.
Well, another race is coming in one week, so let's get a little rest and then back to training. In Mallorca we are going to face much tougher competition than in New Zealand. Overall, this was a good race. We have one stage win in a pocket and first points in Continental Ranking. Thanks to everyone Edited by calamada8454 on 28-10-2014 22:31
Here we go, we just arrived to Mallorca. It starts tomorrow, with flat opener. We are going to face some of the best riders in business, like Cavendish, Greipel and Cancellara. Our sponsor let the message clear for us: we must finish in top 10 overall, and it is one of the most important objectives of the whole season. Let's see what can we do...
We came to Mallorca with the same squad as in New Zealand.
Jan Barta - our best card in the game. If all goes well, he could deliver top 10 Kristjan Koren - not in from yet, but maybe he can surprise us Mateusz Nowak - will compete in sprints Silvio Herklotz - domestic for Barta, but will try his luck in breaks Martin Velits - domestic for Barta, but will try his luck in breaks Axel Domont - domestic for Barta, but will try his luck in breaks Jan Hirt - domestic for Barta, but will try his luck in breaks Matej Jurco - domestic for Barta, but will try his luck in breaks
Since we can't rely on a bunch sprint (there are Cavendish, Greipel, Nizollo, Greipel, Meersman and other top sprinters present), we had to try for a break. Herklotz felt good, so he went for it and got a small gap...
Other sprinters wanted to contest the intermediate sprint, but Herklotz had already advantage about 60 seconds. That was enough for him to take full points and bonus seconds...
Few kilometers later, he was joined by Verhelst (COF) and King (Garmin). Good to have a company, strong headwind has been already taking its toll..
Peloton let the advantage of break grow to 3min, so the second intermediate sprint was to be fight out just among them. Herklotz hit the gas at the very end and managed to overtake others!! Full points&seconds for us again...
But that was it for a break, sprint trains were forming inside the peloton, what meant the gap fell down drastically within few minutes. Since we didn't have our train, Nowak fought for Greipel's wheel.
Strong wind and high pace were causing gaps inside the peloton! Luckily, all our riders managed to stay in front group...
With 3km to go, Nowak was still hanging on Greipel's wheel. Great work, the pace was just extreme...
But when the best sprinters unleashed the throttle, there was nothing to do about it. It was Bennati #1, Cav #2, Greipel#3. Nowak finished on very well 7th position, given the tough competition.
This was a very good stage for us. Silvio Herklotz is 3rd overall and leads Young riders competition as well, thanks to bonus seconds obtained. Mateusz Nowak has top 10 placement and Jan Barta finished safe in bunch. Few overall contenders like Navarro, Herrada or Kruijswik had already lost more than 3 minutes because of echelons, so we are happy with this. Edited by calamada8454 on 29-10-2014 20:18
Wellcome to stage 2. Again a flat stage. But there is an intermediate sprint with 6/4/2 bonus seconds just 13k from the start. It would be worth trying to go for it with Barta, so he could get an early advantage to his GC rivals without too much effort. And Nowak will challenge best sprinters at the finish again...
As we said in our pre-race meeting, we attacked right after the start. Koren, Jurco and Hirt were leading Barta. It looks like no one from the peloton intends to chase us.
Everything went perfect, Barta grabbed 6 bonus seconds only with small effort. Great team work...
After the sprint, we sent Martin Veltis up the road. He joined King (GRM), Thompson (MTN) and Bol (BEK). Nice group.
When gap hit 5:30 mark, Lotto and Trek started their chase. No one in break wanted to speed up, so Martin went by himself...
He took the last intermediate sprint, but that was it. Game of sprinters had begun...
Nowak decided to take Cavendish's wheel this time. And he succeeded! Great stuff from him, it's just 5k to go...
It was a great decision, Cav has the best lead out, with 1k to go it is just Petacchi leading Cav and Nowak on 3rd position! Can he hold on?
Despite sprint went perfect for him, Nowak ended up on 5th place. Speed was too high for him to sustain. In the end the best sprinters dominated, it was #1 Cav, #2 Greipel and #3 Bennati.
Great stuff by Kofola Cycling Team! Mateusz Nowak managed to improve his 7th place from stage 1 to 5th place. Despite his young age and lack of experience he is racing with the biggest names of the sport like equal. It's very promising start from him. Herklotz is still keeping the jersey for best young rider. But from our sponsor's view, the best news of the day is that 6s bonus for Jan Barta. That might be of great importance once we hit the hills...
It's gonna be the 'Queen stage' tomorrow. 5 classified climbs, with the last one, category 1 Coll de Puig Major, situated just 19km from the finish line. We are going to compete with great riders like Contador, Froome, Valverde, Betancur, Dan Martin, Moreno, L. L. Sanchez, Fuglsang, Nieve, Van Garderen, Danielson etc. From this point of view, TOP 10 finish that our sponsor wants from us, would be a mirracle. Let's hope we make one.
We wanted to have rider in the break just in case. Tempo was high on first two climbs, but Axel Domont, one of our better climbers, managed to stay away. Along with Bak (LTB), Howes (GRM), Madrazo (CJR) and Landa (AST)...
But with 70km to go, Saxo and Lotto started to work hard on the front of peloton. Soon, just before the first tough climb, break was reeled in..
Attacks started right away at the foot of the climb. It was Rabottini (YEL), Chavanel (IAM) and Froome (SKY)...
Contador & co. didn't want to let them go, so the pace on the 2nd category Col de Soller was brutal. Hirt and Domont helped Barta to stay near the front. But Jan suffered at the top badly...
Now it was just 7km downhill, short time to recover. Hirt was the closest one to Barta, he tried to come forward and help him. But as soon as we hit the slopes of 15km long category 1 climb Coll de Puig Major, attacks started again. Now it is Knees (SKY), Kiserlovski (TRK), Rabottini (YEL), Caruso (KAT) and Froome (SKY)...
Barta was soon left alone, all his team mates in deep pain. He was riding at 190 BPM constantly, for 3 kilometers now. And there are still 50 riders in the group. This ain't gonna be good...
Most of the attacks failed. But later, small group got a gap of 40s. It was Dan Martin (GRM), Betancur (AGR), L.L. Sanchez (CAJ) and Intxausti (MOV). Another four riders were scattered here and there between them and the peloton, but the gap grew bigger and bigger ...
Out of nowhere, pace in peloton dropped. Saxo's Contador, who was doing most of the work, just had enough and green jersey holder Bennati had to go after the leaders on his own. And there was nobody else willing to take up the chase in peloton...
It took just few moments for Barta to do the calculation. There are 9 riders (main favorites) in the front. Peloton is hesitating. If he is going to finish in top 10, this is the moment. He has to go now!
His legs were screaming in pain, his heart was jumping out of his chest. But after just one sharp bend, he saw he got few meters to the peloton...
Barta is an excellent time-trialist and he knows how to pace himself. It was 3km to the summit and 19km to the finish line. Can he make it? When only 200m from the top, he realized he was closing to Bennati. What a morale boost!!
Road started to rise again after short downhill section. Jan saw Bennati was cooked. And small group in front of him started to play games...
In the mean time, front group reached the finish line. It is #1 Betancur (AGR), #2 Intxausti (MOV) #3 Dan Martin (GRM)...
It is just 5k to go. Barta knows the rest of the peloton is in furious chase after them. He doesn't want to wait and continues to push on...
He gave everything in those last 4 kilometers, so Kessiakoff, Bennati and Froome overtook him easily on the finish line. But it didn't matter. Barta knew he had an advantage over them - that 6 second bonus from yesterday. The pain all over his body suddenly converted to great pleasure and joy...
We are just one step away from accomplishing our first objective of the season - TOP 10 finish at Vuelta a Mallorca. Jan Barta sits on 7th place with 6s advantage to his closest rivals. This stage is flat, but with sharp hills in the middle part. We certainly can't underestimate it. Some teams will try to make it as hard as possible...
