Okay well nobody reached 3 votes so the winner is....Wilco Kelderman!! I will be portraying the promising Dutch youngster! I will have a preview up sometime soon, and am going to dive right into it! Looking forward to starting this and hopefully everyone will enjoy it!
My name is Wilco Kelderman and I am a 23 year old professional Dutch Cyclist riding in the WorldTour for Team LottoNL-Jumbo. I have been a professional cyclist since 2010 when I began riding for the Lotto feeder team, Rabobank Development Team. I moved up to the WorldTour team in 2012, and immediately felt the pressure from the Dutch fans and team bosses following strong performances in the Tour of California, and the Criterium du Dauphine, including the White Jersey at the Dauphine at only the age of 21.
After those palmares I was portrayed as the next BIG Stage racer, in fact I carried the pressure that my teammate Robert Gesink, once held, the next Dutch rider to win the Tour de France. Although I am honored to be thought of in this way, I also see how that title affected my teammate, so I am trying my best to stay grounded and continue to work hard, and achieve good results.
In the following two years, 2013-2014 I was again able to post good results, including my first top 10 Overall at a Grand Tour in the 2014 Giro, another White Jersey and 4th overall at the 2014 Dauphine, a solid Vuelta in 2014 and a TT Stage and Overall Victory at the 2013 Tour of Denmark. Because of my strong climbing and TTing ability, I am considered an All-Around rider, and in this 2015 season, I hope to take another step up. I know I will most likely not win a Grand Tour this season, but I am hoping for a Top 10 in the Tour, and hopefully a Stage Win! This season, I am hoping to not only achieve my Top 10 in the Tour and contend for the White Jersey, but I am also hoping to take a step forward as a classics rider, as I will tackle All 3 of the Ardennes Classics for the first time in my career.
This is also a very important season for me because my contract expires at the end of this season. And although I am very happy with LottoNL-Jumbo, I do have a bit of frustration because our team has 4 GC leaders (myself, Laurens ten Dam, Robert Gesink, and Steven Kruijswik), which sometimes causes us to split leadership, and not get a full team's support. I hope to set myself apart as the primary GC leader so I can gain full support during some races, and also receive a nice payday! Although, money is not the most important thing to me, I would 100% love to stay with the organization that gave me my first chance in cycling!
This season I am reverting to a schedule that brought about great success for myself in the past. I will be starting my season out with a training camp in Spain, then I will debut at the WorldTour Santos Tour Down Under in Australia where I hope to factor into the GC picture at the end of the 6 day stage race. I will follow that up with the Inaugural Cadel Evans Great Ocean Race before heading back to Europe to Race the Ruta del Sol prior to Paris-Nice/Tirreno-Adriatico. From there, I will begin my preparation for the Ardennes, and the Tour de France, so my season will head up to full-broil immediately!
I look forward to the challenges of the upcoming season, and hopefully, I will encounter great success with my team, and also individual success. I can't wait to get rolling, and I thank you for joining me for the "ride!"
Today we just completed the first stage of the Santos Tour Down Under, and I feel like I lost 6 or 7 pounds in just 130 kilometers!
Prior to arriving in Australia, my team and I were able to complete a phenomenal training camp in Spain, while down there, I met with our directors and outlined a training program and main goals for the season, as outlined below. Even though I am primarily targeting the Tour de France this season, I think it might be good to ride the Vuelta as well to chase stages and potentially work for one of my teammates!
Now back to the Tour Down Under, we took a great team there for the first race of our season, and the first WorldTour Race on the calendar.
111-Me
112-George Bennett-The spritely Kiwi is on great form after a 3rd place in his National TT Championship, and a runner-up in the Road Race. He will be my right hand man on Stages 3 and 5, the GC Stages.
113-Martijn Keizer-a relentless attacker, we will look to get him in the breaks, and on the stages where he is not in the break, he will act as a super domestique
114-Paul Martens-will be our road captain, he will be the final cog in our lead out train.
115-Barry Markus-Plain and simple our sprinter, with a surprisingly strong field in this years race, he will not chase wins, but rather Top 10 placings
116-Maarten Tjallingi-The former Podium finisher at Paris-Roubaix will be an important man for us on the flats
117-Maaretn Wynants- Another big engine, he will be a big part of our sprint train.
This year's race attracted a very uncharacteristic-ly strong field with such stars as Marcel Kittel, Mark Cavendish, Michael Matthews, Alexander Kristoff, and Andre Greipel on the flats, and Alejandro Valverde, Rui Costa, Chris Froome, and the reigning Tour de France champion, Vincenzo Nibali all competing for a top placing to start their season.
Well as we rolled out of the start town today, I was feeling good, and very excited to get the season underway. As a team we hoped to get Keizer or Tjallingi in the breakaway, and hopefully take hold of the King of the Mountains jersey early on in this race. I have to give a special thanks to Wynants today he looked after me perfectly on the stage and kept me out of trouble in the uncertain moments of the day.
As the racing heated up, it took a solid 35 kilos before a breakaway formed, a group of 15 escaped up the road, but the primary sprinters teams, Etixx, and Katusha reeled them back, and from there David Boucher of FDJ hit out and brought two other riders with him, one of them being Tjallingi, and the other being Aleksejs Saramotins of IAM Cycling. That group made up the break of the day, as a team we were thrilled to get Maarten in the move, and we were excited to see what he could do in the break!
In the peloton it was a rather quiet day, I suffered a puncture about 70 kilometers in, but I had no worries as Keizer, Wynants, and Martens paced me easily back into the peloton....the break built up a lead of about 4 minutes and as we approached the day's lone King of the Mountain checkpoint we eagerly awaited news over the radio of the results....Unfortunately we were disappointed to hear that Saramotins was the quickest in the break easily taking the points ahead of our man. However, he is second in the rankings, so we hope that he can get back in the break and possibly take over the jersey come stage 6. On the bright side, he was able to collect a nice little payday for himself, and it was great seeing a faithful teammate getting some personal glory
With the gap to the break shrinking to about a minute with 30 clicks to go, I tapped Barry Markus on the shoulder and asked him if he had any intentions to contest the final sprint today, he said he was feeling great, and I offered my friend my services in the lead-out, so as we approached 20 k's to go I got on the front and made sure to keep my guys out of trouble.
Maarten was caught with 12 km to go and when he was thrown back into the fray he unselfishly helped keep the pace up for Markus, and as we approached the flamme rouge we were set up in excellent position, as a small group of 30 riders broke ahead of the main peloton, luckily I was able to get on the right side of this move, with a number of great sprinters in this move, I just made sure to keep it upright and finish near the front. As the sprint commenced, Giant-Alpecin's leadout train placed Arndt-Degenkolb-and Kittel at the front of the race. Kittel launched from a long distance out and unfortunately for him, he was overtaken shortly before the line by Bling MAtthews of Orica. I couldn't have been more proud of our leadout today, we lined it up perfectly for barry, unfortunately he can't match the liks of Kittel and Matthews, but he came away with an awesome 4th place finish, even beating the likes of Greipel, and Cavendish!
Although we missed the victory today, we took a lot of positives from the day, we had a top-5, a rider in the break, and above all we claimed the day's team classification prize, a great day in our first race with our new sponsor!
Im definitely excited with the way our season started out, tomorrow is another flat day, and we hope to maybe get Barry on the podium, but we will keep working. I can't wait to keep this rolling, and keep working with the best team in the world!
Have a great day everyone!
Wilco
Results:
Spoiler
Rank Name Team Time
1 Michael Matthews Orica-GreenEDGE 2h48'24
2 Arnaud Demare FDJ s.t.
3 Marcel Kittel Team Giant-Alpecin s.t.
4 Barry Markus Team LottoNL - Jumbo s.t.
5 Mark Cavendish Etixx - Quick-step s.t.
6 Alexander Kristoff Team Katusha s.t.
7 Danny Van Poppel Trek Factory Racing s.t.
8 Heinrich Haussler IAM Cycling s.t.
9 Philippe Gilbert BMC Racing Team s.t.
10 André Greipel Lotto Soudal s.t.
11 Niccolo Bonifazio Lampre-Merida s.t.
12 Paul Martens Team LottoNL - Jumbo s.t.
13 Maarten Wynants Team LottoNL - Jumbo s.t.
14 Nikias Arndt Team Giant-Alpecin s.t.
15 John Degenkolb Team Giant-Alpecin s.t.
16 Fabio Sabatini Etixx - Quick-step s.t.
17 Alexey Tsatevitch Team Katusha s.t.
18 Ramunas Navardauskas Team Cannondale - Garmin s.t.
19 Luka Mezgec Team Giant-Alpecin s.t.
20 Wilco Kelderman Team LottoNL - Jumbo s.t.
21 Tom Dumoulin Team Giant-Alpecin s.t.
22 Luis León Sánchez Astana Pro Team s.t.
23 Matteo Trentin Etixx - Quick-step s.t.
24 Daniele Bennati Tinkoff-Saxo s.t.
25 Vyacheslav Kuznetsov Team Katusha s.t.
26 Daniel Moreno Team Katusha s.t.
27 Lieuwe Westra Astana Pro Team s.t.
28 George Bennett Team LottoNL - Jumbo s.t.
29 Rui Costa Lampre-Merida s.t.
30 Bauke Mollema Trek Factory Racing s.t.
31 Ariel Maximiliano Richeze Lampre-Merida s.t.
32 Vincenzo Nibali Astana Pro Team s.t.
33 Quentin Jauregui Ag2r La Mondiale s.t.
34 Jan Bakelants Ag2r La Mondiale s.t.
35 Laurens De Vreese Astana Pro Team s.t.
36 Moreno Moser Team Cannondale - Garmin s.t.
37 Greg Henderson Lotto Soudal s.t.
38 Yaroslav Popovych Trek Factory Racing s.t.
39 Sylvain Chavanel IAM Cycling s.t.
40 Daniel Oss BMC Racing Team s.t.
41 Francisco José Ventoso Movistar Team s.t.
42 José Joaquín Rojas Movistar Team s.t.
43 Maarten Tjallingii Team LottoNL - Jumbo s.t.
44 Lars Boom Astana Pro Team s.t.
45 Andrew Fenn Team Sky s.t.
46 Salvatore Puccio Team Sky s.t.
47 Manuele Mori Lampre-Merida s.t.
48 Julian Arredondo Trek Factory Racing s.t.
49 Borut Božic Astana Pro Team s.t.
50 Julian Alaphilippe Etixx - Quick-step s.t.
51 Tiesj Benoot Lotto Soudal s.t.
52 Roberto Ferrari Lampre-Merida s.t.
53 Jérôme Pineau IAM Cycling s.t.
54 Nikolai Trusov Tinkoff-Saxo s.t.
55 Pieter Weening Orica-GreenEDGE s.t.
56 Rubén Plaza Lampre-Merida s.t.
57 Dries Devenyns IAM Cycling s.t.
58 Louis Meintjes MTN-Qhubeka s.t.
59 Jempy Drucker BMC Racing Team s.t.
60 Peter Kennaugh Team Sky s.t.
61 Julien Bérard Ag2r La Mondiale s.t.
62 Gerald Ciolek MTN-Qhubeka s.t.
63 Luke Rowe Team Sky s.t.
64 Jay McCarthy Tinkoff-Saxo s.t.
65 Marcel Sieberg Lotto Soudal s.t.
66 Damien Gaudin Ag2r La Mondiale s.t.
67 Tom Veelers Team Giant-Alpecin s.t.
68 Michael Schär BMC Racing Team s.t.
69 Adam Hansen Lotto Soudal s.t.
70 Caleb Ewan Orica-GreenEDGE s.t.
71 Johan Vansummeren Ag2r La Mondiale s.t.
72 Brent Bookwalter BMC Racing Team s.t.
73 Christopher Sutton Team Sky s.t.
74 Taylor Phinney BMC Racing Team s.t.
75 Marcus Burghardt BMC Racing Team s.t.
76 Kris Boeckmans Lotto Soudal s.t.
77 Roger Kluge IAM Cycling s.t.
78 Brett Lancaster Orica-GreenEDGE s.t.
79 Boy Van Poppel Trek Factory Racing s.t.
80 Dylan van Baarle Team Cannondale - Garmin s.t.
81 Rubén Zepuntke Team Cannondale - Garmin s.t.
82 Magnus Cort Nielsen Orica-GreenEDGE s.t.
83 Leigh Howard Orica-GreenEDGE s.t.
84 Ruslan Tleubayev Astana Pro Team s.t.
85 Adam Blythe Orica-GreenEDGE s.t.
86 Murilo Fischer FDJ s.t.
87 Jens Debusschere Lotto Soudal s.t.
88 Christopher Juul-Jensen Tinkoff-Saxo s.t.
89 Gediminas Bagdonas Ag2r La Mondiale s.t.
90 Matti Breschel Tinkoff-Saxo s.t.
91 Bob Jungels Trek Factory Racing s.t.
92 Matthieu Ladagnous FDJ s.t.
93 Theo Bos MTN-Qhubeka s.t.
94 Stijn Devolder Trek Factory Racing s.t.
95 David Boucher FDJ s.t.
96 Aleksejs Saramotins IAM Cycling + 1'40
97 Alexandr Kolobnev Team Katusha s.t.
98 Martijn Keizer Team LottoNL - Jumbo + 2'19
99 Alberto Bettiol Team Cannondale - Garmin s.t.
100 Iljo Keisse Etixx - Quick-step s.t.
101 Gianni Meersman Etixx - Quick-step s.t.
102 Kristoffer Skjerping Team Cannondale - Garmin s.t.
103 Anthony Geslin FDJ s.t.
104 Anton Vorobyev Team Katusha s.t.
105 Sébastien Chavanel FDJ s.t.
106 Alexis Gougeard Ag2r La Mondiale s.t.
107 Jasha Sütterlin Movistar Team s.t.
108 Jesús Herrada Movistar Team s.t.
109 Giovanni Visconti Movistar Team s.t.
110 Alex Dowsett Movistar Team s.t.
111 Alejandro Valverde Movistar Team s.t.
112 Koen De Kort Team Giant-Alpecin s.t.
113 Nelson Oliveira Lampre-Merida s.t.
114 Andreas Stauff MTN-Qhubeka + 4'09
115 Songezo Jim MTN-Qhubeka s.t.
116 Nathan Earle Team Sky s.t.
117 Alan Marangoni Team Cannondale - Garmin s.t.
118 Bernhard Eisel Team Sky + 4'53
119 Łukasz Wiśniowski Etixx - Quick-step s.t.
120 Manuele Boaro Tinkoff-Saxo s.t.
121 Juraj Sagan Tinkoff-Saxo s.t.
122 Arnaud Courteille FDJ + 6'50
123 Jay Thomson MTN-Qhubeka + 7'58
124 Johann Van Zyl MTN-Qhubeka s.t.
125 Pavel Kochetkov Team Katusha s.t.
@trekbmc- Thank you! It was a good ride, and hopefully there will be more to come!
Hello friends! Have you ever had a day where things don't go according to plan? Well for me, today was that day. If you looked at the profile of Stage 2 of the Tour Down Under, you would think that it would've ended in a sprint finish and it would not have a large impact on the GC, well that was not the case today, unfortunately, but we will get to that later.
As the flag was dropped and the racing commenced, I was shocked that there were no attacks launched, instead everyone sat around, nobody feeling like attacking. Well, LottoNL-Jumbo was going to change that, as we sent our breakaway rider from yesterday, Martin Tjallingii, up the road, he was feeling good, and wanted to chase the Mountain points, and earn the jersey he nearly had yesterday. Tjallingii was joined by only a single rider, Chris Sutton from Team Sky, and the duo built up a lead of 6'45" in between the leaders and the peloton, Marcel Sieberg of Lotto Soudal chased the breakaway in earnest, but he failed in reaching them eventually giving up and retreating into the peloton.
As the pair reached the day's lone King of the Mountain sprint, Sutton didn't seem to willing to just give Martin the points and the lead as he struck out trying to shed our man with 3 km to go before the summit, Martin was able to keep him within striking distance, and when the Aussie tired out, Tjallingii breezed right past him taking the points, and a commanding lead in the competition! Over the radio we celebrated the news, and added a new goal to our list, keep the jersey until Adelaide on Sunday!
As the day drug on, we neared the second intermediate sprint point, Marcel Sieberg the man who was chasing the leaders was roped back into the peloton, which left 2 points, and more importantly 2 bonus seconds up for grabs for the 3rd man across the line. As I checked around me I noticed that none of the sprinters or GC men were up near me, and that if I didn't attack, Juraj Sagan, a man who will most likely not achieve a Top 10 placing in a stage before hell freezes over, would take those points, and because he was over 8 minutes down already, those points, and seconds were useless to him. I decided to have a kick for the points, and to my surprise nobody else contested the sprint and I was able to bag myself the ever important bonus seconds.
As I retreated to the peloton, up front, the two riders stopped working together, as Sutton refused to share pulls with Tjallingii so Martin attacked and tried to go solo for the final 35 kilometers of the stage. He quickly doubled his lead and with 20 km to go he still held an advantage of 2'45". Could he make it to the end, and surprise the peloton? Our man was digging incredibly deep, his shoulders were swaying back and fourth, and it is possible that he would have made it to the finish first, if it hadn't been for the ever aggressive Philippe Gilbert....the former World Champion, hit out of the peloton "like a greyhound" as the announcer said, and immediately caught and blew past our brave teammate.
Gilbert took advantage of the uphill kick towards the finish, and immediately built up a rather large advantage. As I felt the GC slipping out of my fingers, I sent Paul Martens off the front, in hopes of bringing the rest of the peloton up to the back wheel of Gilbert, instead he was able to break free of the main field, bringing Sylvain Chavanel with him. Chava proved that he was the strongest rider between the two, easily shedding Martens and setting off in pursuit of Gilbert. But he did run out of time, as Gilbert crossed the line, taking a very fine victory, and grabbing a strong hold of the GC.
With 3rd place potentially up for grabs if Martens was reeled back in, I decided to try to cue up a sprint, but unfortunately I was no match for guys like Degenkolb, and the Ochre jersey, Matthews, who overtook Martens within sight of the line relegating him to 5th place. I was able to finish 8th on the stage, my first Top 10 of the season, but I could not help but feel a little disappointed as I lost 31" and most likely a podium spot come Sunday.
As I wound down on the rollers, I did realize that there were a number of positives that came out of today's stage, I mean for the 2nd day in a row, we were able to place a rider in the Top 5, I got my first Top 10 placing of the season, and maybe most importantly of all we were able to get our first competition leader's jersey of the season, with Tjallingii's Mountain classification lead. We now hope that he can hold that jersey until the end of the race!
I also realized that I would have to change my stragtegy, and my expectations for the race. I now know that I must be the one to instigate attacks, and try to claw back time, and maybe try instead of the GC to win a stage. I also realize that a final podium spot is very unlikely, so I will readjust my goals and go for a Top 5 or potentially the Young Riders Jersey. One thing is for sure, however, and that is that I will not stop fighting and trying!
I look forward to giving it a go tomorrow, and telling you all about it!
Good-bye for now my friends,
Wilco
Stage results:
Spoiler
Rank Name Team Time
1 Philippe Gilbert BMC Racing Team 3h36'32
2 Sylvain Chavanel IAM Cycling s.t.
3 Michael Matthews Orica-GreenEDGE + 31
4 John Degenkolb Team Giant-Alpecin s.t.
5 Paul Martens Team LottoNL - Jumbo s.t.
6 Alejandro Valverde Movistar Team s.t.
7 Moreno Moser Team Cannondale - Garmin s.t.
8 Wilco Kelderman Team LottoNL - Jumbo s.t.
9 Tom Dumoulin Team Giant-Alpecin s.t.
10 Lieuwe Westra Astana Pro Team s.t.
11 Koen De Kort Team Giant-Alpecin s.t.
12 Julian Alaphilippe Etixx - Quick-step s.t.
13 Maarten Wynants Team LottoNL - Jumbo s.t.
14 Alexander Kristoff Team Katusha s.t.
15 Peter Kennaugh Team Sky s.t.
16 Arnaud Demare FDJ s.t.
17 Lars Boom Astana Pro Team s.t.
18 Pieter Weening Orica-GreenEDGE s.t.
19 Ruslan Tleubayev Astana Pro Team s.t.
20 Dries Devenyns IAM Cycling s.t.
21 Barry Markus Team LottoNL - Jumbo s.t.
22 Francisco José Ventoso Movistar Team s.t.
23 Luis León Sánchez Astana Pro Team s.t.
24 Vincenzo Nibali Astana Pro Team s.t.
25 Alexey Tsatevitch Team Katusha s.t.
26 Rui Costa Lampre-Merida s.t.
27 Kris Boeckmans Lotto Soudal s.t.
28 Adam Hansen Lotto Soudal s.t.
29 Magnus Cort Nielsen Orica-GreenEDGE s.t.
30 Murilo Fischer FDJ s.t.
31 Borut Božic Astana Pro Team s.t.
32 Julian Arredondo Trek Factory Racing s.t.
33 André Greipel Lotto Soudal s.t.
34 Leigh Howard Orica-GreenEDGE s.t.
35 Adam Blythe Orica-GreenEDGE s.t.
36 Stijn Devolder Trek Factory Racing s.t.
37 Gediminas Bagdonas Ag2r La Mondiale s.t.
38 Boy Van Poppel Trek Factory Racing s.t.
39 Daniel Moreno Team Katusha s.t.
40 Niccolo Bonifazio Lampre-Merida s.t.
41 Taylor Phinney BMC Racing Team s.t.
42 Jan Bakelants Ag2r La Mondiale s.t.
43 Nikias Arndt Team Giant-Alpecin s.t.
44 Roger Kluge IAM Cycling s.t.
45 Mark Cavendish Etixx - Quick-step s.t.
46 Matteo Trentin Etixx - Quick-step s.t.
47 Gerald Ciolek MTN-Qhubeka s.t.
48 Jérôme Pineau IAM Cycling s.t.
49 Daniel Oss BMC Racing Team s.t.
50 Laurens De Vreese Astana Pro Team s.t.
51 Caleb Ewan Orica-GreenEDGE s.t.
52 Aleksejs Saramotins IAM Cycling s.t.
53 Bauke Mollema Trek Factory Racing s.t.
54 Brent Bookwalter BMC Racing Team s.t.
55 Jay McCarthy Tinkoff-Saxo s.t.
56 Jens Debusschere Lotto Soudal s.t.
57 Daniele Bennati Tinkoff-Saxo s.t.
58 Dylan van Baarle Team Cannondale - Garmin s.t.
59 Roberto Ferrari Lampre-Merida s.t.
60 Marcel Kittel Team Giant-Alpecin s.t.
61 Johan Vansummeren Ag2r La Mondiale s.t.
62 David Boucher FDJ s.t.
63 Damien Gaudin Ag2r La Mondiale s.t.
64 Ariel Maximiliano Richeze Lampre-Merida s.t.
65 Julien Bérard Ag2r La Mondiale s.t.
66 Tiesj Benoot Lotto Soudal s.t.
67 Ramunas Navardauskas Team Cannondale - Garmin s.t.
68 Bernhard Eisel Team Sky s.t.
69 Matthieu Ladagnous FDJ s.t.
70 George Bennett Team LottoNL - Jumbo s.t.
71 Giovanni Visconti Movistar Team s.t.
72 Luke Rowe Team Sky s.t.
73 Jempy Drucker BMC Racing Team s.t.
74 Jesús Herrada Movistar Team s.t.
75 Greg Henderson Lotto Soudal s.t.
76 Nikolai Trusov Tinkoff-Saxo s.t.
77 Anthony Geslin FDJ s.t.
78 Alexis Gougeard Ag2r La Mondiale s.t.
79 Andrew Fenn Team Sky s.t.
80 Yaroslav Popovych Trek Factory Racing s.t.
81 Tom Veelers Team Giant-Alpecin s.t.
82 Maarten Tjallingii Team LottoNL - Jumbo s.t.
83 Christopher Juul-Jensen Tinkoff-Saxo s.t.
84 Sébastien Chavanel FDJ s.t.
85 Alex Dowsett Movistar Team + 2'03
86 Brett Lancaster Orica-GreenEDGE s.t.
87 Martijn Keizer Team LottoNL - Jumbo s.t.
88 Quentin Jauregui Ag2r La Mondiale s.t.
89 Jasha Sütterlin Movistar Team s.t.
90 Marcus Burghardt BMC Racing Team s.t.
91 Kristoffer Skjerping Team Cannondale - Garmin s.t.
92 Nelson Oliveira Lampre-Merida s.t.
93 Manuele Boaro Tinkoff-Saxo + 2'52
94 Nathan Earle Team Sky s.t.
95 Luka Mezgec Team Giant-Alpecin + 3'32
96 Fabio Sabatini Etixx - Quick-step s.t.
97 Iljo Keisse Etixx - Quick-step s.t.
98 Rubén Zepuntke Team Cannondale - Garmin s.t.
99 Christopher Sutton Team Sky + 5'43
100 Anton Vorobyev Team Katusha s.t.
101 Gianni Meersman Etixx - Quick-step + 6'04
102 Arnaud Courteille FDJ s.t.
103 Łukasz Wiśniowski Etixx - Quick-step s.t.
104 Pavel Kochetkov Team Katusha s.t.
105 Alexandr Kolobnev Team Katusha s.t.
106 Marcel Sieberg Lotto Soudal + 9'28
107 Louis Meintjes MTN-Qhubeka + 9'41
108 Michael Schär BMC Racing Team s.t.
109 José Joaquín Rojas Movistar Team s.t.
110 Vyacheslav Kuznetsov Team Katusha s.t.
111 Manuele Mori Lampre-Merida s.t.
112 Salvatore Puccio Team Sky s.t.
113 Theo Bos MTN-Qhubeka s.t.
114 Matti Breschel Tinkoff-Saxo + 10'22
115 Bob Jungels Trek Factory Racing s.t.
116 Heinrich Haussler IAM Cycling s.t.
117 Andreas Stauff MTN-Qhubeka + 10'37
118 Rubén Plaza Lampre-Merida + 10'51
119 Songezo Jim MTN-Qhubeka + 12'52
120 Alan Marangoni Team Cannondale - Garmin + 15'09
121 Johann Van Zyl MTN-Qhubeka s.t.
122 Jay Thomson MTN-Qhubeka s.t.
123 Juraj Sagan Tinkoff-Saxo + 18'08
124 Alberto Bettiol Team Cannondale - Garmin + 18'22
GC:
Spoiler
Rank Name Team Time
1 Philippe Gilbert BMC Racing Team 6h24'46
2 Sylvain Chavanel IAM Cycling + 4
3 Michael Matthews Orica-GreenEDGE + 27
4 Arnaud Demare FDJ + 34
5 Marcel Kittel Team Giant-Alpecin s.t.
6 Maarten Tjallingii Team LottoNL - Jumbo + 35
7 Mark Cavendish Etixx - Quick-step + 38
8 David Boucher FDJ s.t. 9 Wilco Kelderman Team LottoNL - Jumbo + 40
10 John Degenkolb Team Giant-Alpecin + 41
Points:
Spoiler
Rank Name Team Points General
1 Michael Matthews Orica-GreenEDGE 13 28
2 Philippe Gilbert BMC Racing Team 15 22
3 Marcel Kittel Team Giant-Alpecin 0 18
4 Arnaud Demare FDJ 2 16
5 Mark Cavendish Etixx - Quick-step 0 16
6 Sylvain Chavanel IAM Cycling 14 14
7 Barry Markus Team LottoNL - Jumbo 0 12
8 John Degenkolb Team Giant-Alpecin 12 12
9 Paul Martens Team LottoNL - Jumbo 11 11
10 Wilco Kelderman Team LottoNL - Jumbo 8 10
KoM:
Spoiler
Rank Name Team Mountain General 1 Maarten Tjallingii Team LottoNL - Jumbo 10 16
2 Aleksejs Saramotins IAM Cycling 0 10
3 David Boucher FDJ 2 6
4 Christopher Sutton Team Sky 6 6
5 Marcel Sieberg Lotto Soudal 4 4
U25:
Spoiler
Rank Name Team Time General Time
1 Michael Matthews Orica-GreenEDGE 3h37'03 6h25'13 (1)
2 Moreno Moser Team Cannondale - Garmin s.t. + 14 (6)
3 Wilco Kelderman Team LottoNL - Jumbo s.t. + 13 (3)
4 Tom Dumoulin Team Giant-Alpecin s.t. + 14 (5)
5 Julian Alaphilippe Etixx - Quick-step s.t. + 14 (9)
I think you should change your results format btw.
Putting it in a table and possibly putting the Top 10 out of a spoiler. And bolding Wilco's name ofc
This looks really promising! The reports are a very good read, Wilco is a rider with good potential both ingame and for a story, you have an admin on board already, everything looks nice There are some stylistic things that could be (though not necessarily have to be) enhanced, like what Jesleyh said. Maybe go though some of the older stories for some inspiration. But anyway, I'll be following, keep it up!
Wow thank you so much for all of the positive feedback and support! I'm definitely enjoying doing this and am in it for the long haul! Any good stories you think I should read for ideas?? Trying a new results format, so hoping for good luck here!
Hi Everyone!
As I woke up today, I realized that it was my first major challenge of the season. I knew it was a day to be serious and get down to real business! Although it was not a stage on my favorite playground of the mountains, I knew it was a stage where I could potentially do some damage for myself, and that made me smile! As we sat in the team bus, we knew that it would most likely come down to a very small group sprint, and the team wanted to keep me out of trouble, so they assigned Wynants to protect me and make sure that I stayed out of the wind.
As we rolled out today, I knew that Gilbert, Matthews, and Rui Costa would be the primary contenders to watch, so I knew that in the run in to the finish, I would do my best to mark those guys and launch as best as I can off of those guys. At the beginning of the stage, I was talking strategy with Tjallingii, who was looking resplendent in the beautiful Tour Mountains leader jersey.
An interesting break went up the road, containing two very dangerous riders, Dylan van Baarle from Cannondale-Garmin, and my former teammate/co-leader Bauke Mollema from Trek Factory Racing, they were joined by Saramotins, the former leader of the Mountains classification from IAM who provided some additional firepower for the duo. With no climbs on the day, we gladly let the Latvian rider up the road, and we left it up to BMC, and Orica GreenEdge to do the pacemaking and keep an eye on the breakaway.
With two very dangerous men for the GC in the break, the leader's teams, BMC, Orica, and Lampre made sure that the break was kept on a very tight leash, the leaders were not allowed a lead of over more than 2 minutes the entire stage, and Saramotins did us GC men a favor scooping up first place and the important maximum bonus seconds at all 3 intermediate sprint points.
With only 20 km to go and a lead of 30" the break members began to attack each other mercilessly, before finally Saramotins broke the sprit of the other two and set off alone. He put up a very valiant fight, but he was reeled in within site of the 5 km to go banner, which must've been a very hard pill to swallow from this fighter.
As the IAM rider was brought back in immediately I put my guys on the front, and I immediately placed myself on the back wheel of Rui Costa, who sat right behind Gilbert. I was feeling very good as we passed under the flamme rouge, I thought that I might have a legitimate shot for the win!
As the sprint was launched, Costa struggled to keep the wheel of Gilbert and a gap was opened up between the two, I immediately tried to get around Costa but was trapped with the barrier to the right and a hard charging Alejandro Valverde on my left. As Valverde passed me, well on his way to the stage win, I slid through a small gap behind him, and pushed for the line trying to make my way past Costa for a podium finish. As the line neared I drew even with Costa, and at the line I threw my Bianchi with all my might, and as I looked right, I smiled knowing that my efforts allowed me to hit the line before Costa, meaning I was 3rd on the stage! My first podium of 2015! A great result, that I am so extremely proud of!
As I climbed out of the saddle, I knew that today went just as well as possible! With the time bonus I earned for 3rd, and the benefit of being in the group of 8 that got a gap on the main peloton I was able to move up to 3rd on GC, a podium spot! I am actually very surprised I am now on the podium, but I know that there is still work to be done. I am very close to Matthews for not only 2nd but also the Young Riders Jersey. Although I sit 40+ seconds down on the lead of Gibert, I realize that anything is possible in cycling, especially with the Wilunga Hill stage looming the day after tomorrow. Much like yesterday I will fight on, and again I hope for the elusive stage win on Stage 5 but for now I will enjoy a great dinner, and a nice bottle of champagne tonight to celebrate my podium finish, my place on GC, Martin's Classification lead, and to say a huge thank you to my teammates for their phenomenal work!
Well I am startving and my mates are badgering me to get down to the dining room, so I must sign off, but I will speak with you all again very soon!
If you're looking for inspiration, here are the nominees for last year's Best One Rider Story award, I guess that's a good start. Il Bimbo d'bronzo and Salvatore Puccio are some of my personal favorites, especially in terms of layout. Then there's basically everything by Ian Butler, and if all that still isn't enough, I'd modestly point to my signature for more ;)
Oh, and I think the results look good that way, but if you want the whole row to be bold (and italic), you need to put every element (rank, name, team and time) in BB codes individually.
@cunego59- Thank you! And thanks for the suggestions, I was very impressed with your story, can definitely see why it was award winning
Hello all!
I would like to preface my race report by offering up HUGE congratulations to my teammate and good friend, Robert Gesink, who took our 1st victory this season as a team, on the Penultimate day of the Tour de San Luis, which also gives him the GC lead with just one stage left. His fine victory came on a summit finish where he outclassed the one and only Alberto Contador. We are so proud of you mate, and I look forward to celebrating your victory when we are reunited!
Back to Australia, after yesterday’s tough finish, my legs were feeling quite sore today, but at least it is a good recovery day today, as it is a day for the sprinters. Today I found out that I would be wearing the Young Rider’s jersey because Matthews is leading the points competition. It was a very pleaseant surprise for me! And although I knew the jersey was only being worn on loan, it gave me great pride to wear it, and it was great motivation to try to take it on tomorrow’s stage, and hopefully take other accolades as 2015 rages on.
For myself, and the team, we will be working for Barry Markus again today. He is on superb form, and we are hoping to launch him up onto thepodium of today’s stage! Additionally, with the day’s King of the Mountain sprint coming very early in the stage, we decided to send Maarten Tjallingii up the road for the first part of the stage. He followed the first move of the day and luckily for him (and us!) that move stuck, and formed the break of the day. With nobody else in the break having mountain points, Maarten asked his mates to allow him to take maximum points without contest, and being professionals, they all agreed. As the summit neared, Tjallingii set the pace right up the climb and took the points, basically giving him an unassailable lead in the competition, that is something that we will celebrate tonight for sure!
After the mountain point, the King of the Mountains bid farewell to Eisel (Sky), De Vreese (Astana), Vansummeren (AG2R), van Baarle (Cannondale-Garmin), van Poppel (Trek), and Geslin (FDJ), leaving those 6 to solider on one man down.
Because the break contained danger men in De Vreese, and van Baarle, again BMC controlled the pace for most of the day and gave the rest of us a free ride, not that anyone is complaining! With the breakaway caught with no real struggle, our leadout train began to form for Barry. As the kilometers wound down, we found ourselves near the front of the race, just the position we wanted to be in for our sprinter. We were able to line him up right on Cavendish’s ass, that’s definitely the wheel to follow in a sprint (if you can of corse)!
Paul Martens did a perfect job of dropping Barry off right on the wheels of the sprint kings, it was up to him to achieve a top result! When I peeled off inside the final 500 meters of the stage I made sure to watch the sprint on the big screen that sits right behind the finishing area, and I was not at all disappointed as the two best sprinters in the world, Cav and Kittel squared off and it became a two man battle. In the end, it was a photo finish! Can you tell who won??
While Kittel was busy pipping Cav for the stage win, if you look right over Marcel’s shoulder you see the best part of this picture, the Yellow Flash, Barry Markus achieving yet another Top 5 result! It was a shame to have Barry miss the podium by the slimmest of margins again, but 4th in this incredibly deep sprint field! We cant wait to see not only what he can do in Adelaide on Stage 6 but also the rest of the season!
As for myself, its great to have another stage down, and now I can look forward to the final climbing stage of this year’s race! I am super excited for this stage and for the climb of Wilunga Hill. I believe that I can achieve victory tomorrow. While wearing the youth jersey today, it inspired me to fight even harder for it tomorrow, and to be standing higher up on the final podium come Sunday. Who knows? Maybe ill be able to overtake Gilbert, hey a guy can dream can’t he?
Well I have to grab a massage and then head off to sleep. Tonight I will definitely be dreaming of raising my arms on top of the climb tomorrow! I hope that I do not let my fans and friends down, and I hope to be celebrating my victory with you all tomorrow!
@trekbmc- haha well lets hope he can be a tad bit better than Rojas, and thanks hope we don't disappoint here!
Good evening friends!
Well today was my first real (and hardest) challenge of the season. The climb up to Wilunga Hill is a very steep and punchy one, although, I am not necessarily a puncheur, I know that I can try to attack early and often on the climb in hopes that it will break my rivals, although they are some of the best puncheurs in the world, I will do what I can to take the win today! Today I have my eyes on 5 guys specifically, obviously Gilbert and Matthews who are just above me in the standings, but I am very weary of Chavanel, and Costa who are right behind me in the rankings, and finally despite the fact that he is well down in GC, I believe that Valverde is the outright favorite for victory today.
It again felt great to be wearing Michael Matthew’s white jersey on loan today, but it was my goal to be standing on the podium atop Wilunga Hill today being able to call it my own jersey! With only a flat day tomorrow, it was time to leave everything out on the course and have no regrets about my ride. Regardless of the stage today, we as a team have had a phenomenal first race of the season, and a lot to be proud of. Maarten and I made sure to show off a little at the front of the peloton.
Today’s break was harmless today with Quinten Jarequi of AG2R being the highest placed rider in the move, well over 6 minutes down on GC. Still the break wasn’t allowed much leash by any team, and it maintained a lead of about 1’30” for the majority of the stage and as we climbed Wilunga for the first time, the break was reeled in just as Lars Boom of Astana hit the summit. Immediately Rui Costa and Tom Dumoulin attacked and tried to open up a gap on the main group of contenders, and they had great success, gaining 45 seconds. Dumoulin again hit out and dropped Costa just under the 5km banner, as we approached the banner, I was in a great position thanks to my wonderful teammates, but I was restless as Dumoulin was a threat to take my GC spot. Unfortunately, my teammate Martijn Keizer suffered a puncture just as we flew under the banner, and as he dropped back, he brushed wheels with Bauke Mollema and set off a rather large crash that brought down about 15 riders, including Alexander Kristoff and Taylor Phinney, who I’m sure would have liked to have contested the stage today. Unfortunately for Keizer, he heard lot of nasty words, and he was very sorry for the unfortunate circumstances, and any injuries he caused
Just as if my thoughts were heard by my enemies, Gilbert and Valverde lauched big attacks almost simultaneously, which meant that I had to follow, as I responded to Gilbert, I realized that Matthews was in a spot of difficulty as he could not keep up with our group, and suddenly it was just me Phillippe, and Jan Bakelants who were alone in pursuit of Valverde and Dumoulin. The dangerous duo ahead had only about a 20 second lead, which would mean that my GC spot over Dumoulin was secured I tried one last ditch attack to try to catch the two but as soon as I rose out of the saddle my legs exploded and I realized that I would be relegated to a minor placing again……DAMN!!! I was extremely mad at this moment, and although I knew I would most likely be moving up to 2nd overall, I still could not help but feel disappointed that I missed out on the victory. Up ahead and to nobody’s real surprise, Valverde breezed to victory over Dumoulin, one must wonder what would have happened with the GC picture if Alejandro hadn’t lost that time on the 2nd stage.
I was stuck in an unfortunate position, as I was leading out Gilbert and Bakelants, who after briefly dropping them, had come back to my rear wheel, as I was exhausted already, I tried to wait to sprint as long as possible and as I opened up I looked back and saw that Jan had popped and it was a sprint for 3rd between Gilbert and myself. Unfortunately that is a tough battle to win for me and Gilbert took the final time bonus……DAMN x2.
Although a sense of disappointment engulfed my body as I crossed the line, it only took a few brief seconds to feel better as I looked back and saw my wonderful teammate, and loyal domestique Paul Martens cross the line in 8th place, not only a Top 10 on the stage, but a Top 10 in GC. I was very proud of him and a big hug took away all of my disappointment. Although I did want the personal glory today, seeing such a hard-worker get a good result, was a victory in itself.
Before I could even get my earpiece out, a swarm of media members engulfed me and began shouting at me, from what I could hear they were telling me that I had to get to the post-race staging area because not only did I have many interview requests awaiting me, I was due to make an appearance on the podium due to me being the new leader in the Youth Competition, a sense of pride for me! Back in the staging area I offered my congratulations to Philippe, a man I greatly admire, a champion in the truest sense of the word, and I got a hug from my fellow classification leader, Tjallingii, I quickly forgot my disappointment, and just remembered all of the accomplishments my teammates and I had earned this race. I also found out that we were the team classification leaders, another reason to enjoy the night tonight!
Although, I was hell bent on victory, I know it is a long season, and if I can compete at this level, the sky is the absolute limit, I can only be excited moving forward and I do so carrying heavy expectations on myself and on my team, but in order to be successful in life you have to set big goals and bust your ass to achieve them!
Well although we still have one stage to go tomorrow, it is a less than 100km pancake flat stage that Is more of a procession into Adelaide rather than actual racing, so tonight we will fully celebrate this 6 days and look to the future with fondness!
Hope you will continue to join me on the rest of the journey this season!
@DiCyc- Thank you for your support, so glad you like it!
Here is the combined report from Stage 6 of the TDU and Cadel Evans Great Ocean Race, hope you all enjoy! Again any suggestions are always welcome! Cheers!
Hello friends,
Well today was the day, the final day of the Santos Tour Down Under has come and gone. And honestly I am more than thrilled to see this race come to an end. I have to say I am excited to get out of Australia in the next few days, I certainly won’t miss the brutal heat, the weight loss, extreme thirst, and the sun beating down on us constantly. Today’s stage made me extremely nervous, I was worried that even though it was a short, and criterium-esque stage, I was worried that the technical turns and constant switching left and right would cause gaps and I was not going to take any chances I made sure to latch myself right on the front so I would not lose my podium spot, and jersey as well. As we rolled out of town I had a nice conversation with the man in the lead, Phillippe Gilbert, I was extremely honored that he told me that I had an incredibly bright future ahead of me and that he would be following my career. I was taken aback, its not everyday that a World Champ tells you that, that definitely put a smile on my face for a majority of the day.
Today, we thanked Martijn Keizer for his service during this week, he was the MVP of our team constantly pulling on the front, ensuring we were properly hydrated and pacing me back after my two punctures. We allowed him to do what he did best, heading into the breakaway. He did an incredibly brave ride, as he was one of 7 in the break. The lead never eclipsed 1’15” because of the length of the stage, but Keizer soloed for 35 kilos on his own, lasting until 7km to go, a great ride by him, one we were so proud of!
As the sprint was being prepared, I took over Maarten Wynants’s role as the leadout man to the leadout man, meaning it was Me-Martens-Markus in the train, I was even going to finish sprinting, just to ensure that I wouldn’t lose any time. Me taking part in a bunch sprint, hell must be freezing over Before the stage began, Barry told me that anything less than a podium finish was disappointing to him, so that motivated me to work even harder to set him up perfectly for the sprint. Degenkolb was the first man to open up the sprint, and Markus was in perfect position to contend for the podium, although it was evident rather quickly that he could not match the giants again this time it was Cav vs Greipel, unfortunately Markus who finished about 5 meters behind Greipel the day’s winner, wasn’t able to catch the fading Degenkolb, and surprise, surprise he finished 4th again for the 3rd stage in this year’s race. A bang on the handle bars from him but nonetheless he put together admirable performance after admiral performance managing to hang with the greatest sprinters in the world, we are all very proud of him. Back to me, my predication came true and groups formed, most of the GC guys high up in the overall rankings, but I made sure to fully sprint to the line so there was no risk, and goodness me I got a top 10 today, what a strange day but ill take it! Haha
As I collected my prizes and retired back to the team bus I had a great feeling of pride and happiness overcoming me, what a week it was for not only me, but my team. We achieved so much, lots of Top 5 finishes, 2 in the Top 10 in GC, the King of the Mountains win, and the Team Classfiication win. Just a nearly perfect week, and a great way to kick off the season.
Now its time for a few days of light training and enjoying the pretty girls down here in Australia, as well as the beaches! Ahh off the bike it is the life! Haha I wish it was that simple, but I will be preparing for the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, a day that I feel like I can be very successful in!
Talk to you all soon!
Wilco
Stage:
Spoiler
11
Michael Matthews
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
12
Nikias Arndt
Team Giant-Alpecin
s.t.
13
Kris Boeckmans
Lotto Soudal
s.t.
14
Maarten Tjallingii
Team LottoNL - Jumbo
s.t.
15
Julian Alaphilippe
Etixx - Quick-step
s.t.
16
Jens Debusschere
Lotto Soudal
s.t.
17
Fabio Sabatini
Etixx - Quick-step
s.t.
18
Matteo Trentin
Etixx - Quick-step
s.t.
19
Alexey Tsatevitch
Team Katusha
s.t.
20
Theo Bos
MTN-Qhubeka
s.t.
21
George Bennett
Team LottoNL - Jumbo
s.t.
22
Jan Bakelants
Ag2r La Mondiale
s.t.
23
Tom Dumoulin
Team Giant-Alpecin
s.t.
24
Caleb Ewan
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
25
Luka Mezgec
Team Giant-Alpecin
s.t.
26
Borut Božic
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
27
Roger Kluge
IAM Cycling
s.t.
28
Daniele Bennati
Tinkoff-Saxo
s.t.
29
Leigh Howard
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
30
José Joaquín Rojas
Movistar Team
s.t.
31
Roberto Ferrari
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
32
Francisco José Ventoso
Movistar Team
s.t.
33
Tom Veelers
Team Giant-Alpecin
s.t.
34
Gerald Ciolek
MTN-Qhubeka
s.t.
35
Rui Costa
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
36
Ramunas Navardauskas
Team Cannondale - Garmin
s.t.
37
Maarten Wynants
Team LottoNL - Jumbo
s.t.
38
Luke Rowe
Team Sky
s.t.
39
Daniel Oss
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
40
Boy Van Poppel
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
41
Sylvain Chavanel
IAM Cycling
s.t.
42
Jempy Drucker
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
43
Ariel Maximiliano Richeze
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
44
Adam Hansen
Lotto Soudal
s.t.
45
Marcel Sieberg
Lotto Soudal
s.t.
46
Moreno Moser
Team Cannondale - Garmin
s.t.
47
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
s.t.
48
Taylor Phinney
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
49
Andrew Fenn
Team Sky
s.t.
50
Bernhard Eisel
Team Sky
s.t.
51
Tiesj Benoot
Lotto Soudal
s.t.
52
Peter Kennaugh
Team Sky
s.t.
53
Niccolo Bonifazio
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
54
Brett Lancaster
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
55
Heinrich Haussler
IAM Cycling
s.t.
56
Matti Breschel
Tinkoff-Saxo
s.t.
57
Martijn Keizer
Team LottoNL - Jumbo
s.t.
58
Iljo Keisse
Etixx - Quick-step
s.t.
59
Matthieu Ladagnous
FDJ
s.t.
60
Luis León Sánchez
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
61
Lars Boom
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
62
Johan Vansummeren
Ag2r La Mondiale
s.t.
63
Pieter Weening
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
64
Lieuwe Westra
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
65
Vyacheslav Kuznetsov
Team Katusha
s.t.
66
Koen De Kort
Team Giant-Alpecin
s.t.
67
Murilo Fischer
FDJ
s.t.
68
Salvatore Puccio
Team Sky
s.t.
69
Jérôme Pineau
IAM Cycling
s.t.
70
Jay McCarthy
Tinkoff-Saxo
s.t.
71
Michael Schär
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
72
Damien Gaudin
Ag2r La Mondiale
s.t.
73
Daniel Moreno
Team Katusha
s.t.
74
Magnus Cort Nielsen
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
75
Laurens De Vreese
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
76
Giovanni Visconti
Movistar Team
s.t.
77
Rubén Zepuntke
Team Cannondale - Garmin
s.t.
78
Dries Devenyns
IAM Cycling
s.t.
79
Alex Dowsett
Movistar Team
s.t.
80
Jesús Herrada
Movistar Team
s.t.
81
Vincenzo Nibali
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
82
Alexis Gougeard
Ag2r La Mondiale
s.t.
83
Anton Vorobyev
Team Katusha
s.t.
84
Manuele Mori
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
85
Bauke Mollema
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
86
Bob Jungels
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
87
Stijn Devolder
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
88
Marcus Burghardt
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
89
Jasha Sütterlin
Movistar Team
s.t.
90
Christopher Sutton
Team Sky
s.t.
91
Gediminas Bagdonas
Ag2r La Mondiale
s.t.
92
Julien Bérard
Ag2r La Mondiale
s.t.
93
Yaroslav Popovych
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
94
Alexandr Kolobnev
Team Katusha
s.t.
95
Kristoffer Skjerping
Team Cannondale - Garmin
s.t.
96
Nathan Earle
Team Sky
s.t.
97
Łukasz Wiśniowski
Etixx - Quick-step
s.t.
98
Julian Arredondo
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
99
Christopher Juul-Jensen
Tinkoff-Saxo
s.t.
100
Quentin Jauregui
Ag2r La Mondiale
+ 3'57
101
Louis Meintjes
MTN-Qhubeka
s.t.
102
Alberto Bettiol
Team Cannondale - Garmin
s.t.
103
Songezo Jim
MTN-Qhubeka
s.t.
104
Gianni Meersman
Etixx - Quick-step
+ 4'33
105
Andreas Stauff
MTN-Qhubeka
s.t.
106
Pavel Kochetkov
Team Katusha
s.t.
107
Aleksejs Saramotins
IAM Cycling
+ 5'13
108
Jay Thomson
MTN-Qhubeka
s.t.
109
Rubén Plaza
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
110
Brent Bookwalter
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
111
Nelson Oliveira
Lampre-Merida
+ 6'19
112
David Boucher
FDJ
s.t.
113
Juraj Sagan
Tinkoff-Saxo
s.t.
114
Alan Marangoni
Team Cannondale - Garmin
s.t.
115
Sébastien Chavanel
FDJ
s.t.
116
Greg Henderson
Lotto Soudal
s.t.
117
Ruslan Tleubayev
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
118
Nikolai Trusov
Tinkoff-Saxo
s.t.
119
Dylan van Baarle
Team Cannondale - Garmin
s.t.
120
Anthony Geslin
FDJ
s.t.
121
Arnaud Courteille
FDJ
s.t.
122
Johann Van Zyl
MTN-Qhubeka
+ 7'38
GC:
Spoiler
11
Julian Alaphilippe
Etixx - Quick-step
+ 2'27
12
Daniel Moreno
Team Katusha
s.t.
13
Peter Kennaugh
Team Sky
+ 3'03
14
George Bennett
Team LottoNL - Jumbo
s.t.
15
Tiesj Benoot
Lotto Soudal
+ 3'11
16
Daniel Oss
BMC Racing Team
+ 3'41
17
Maarten Tjallingii
Team LottoNL - Jumbo
+ 3'53
18
Lieuwe Westra
Astana Pro Team
+ 3'54
19
Vincenzo Nibali
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
20
Maarten Wynants
Team LottoNL - Jumbo
+ 3'59
21
Luis León Sánchez
Astana Pro Team
+ 4'17
22
Matteo Trentin
Etixx - Quick-step
+ 4'18
23
Pieter Weening
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
24
Mark Cavendish
Etixx - Quick-step
+ 4'26
25
John Degenkolb
Team Giant-Alpecin
+ 4'33
26
Arnaud Demare
FDJ
+ 4'34
27
Johan Vansummeren
Ag2r La Mondiale
+ 4'37
28
Bauke Mollema
Trek Factory Racing
+ 4'38
29
Barry Markus
Team LottoNL - Jumbo
+ 4'41
30
Alexander Kristoff
Team Katusha
s.t.
31
Alexey Tsatevitch
Team Katusha
s.t.
32
Francisco José Ventoso
Movistar Team
s.t.
33
Nikias Arndt
Team Giant-Alpecin
s.t.
34
Niccolo Bonifazio
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
35
Roberto Ferrari
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
36
Ramunas Navardauskas
Team Cannondale - Garmin
s.t.
37
Lars Boom
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
38
Jérôme Pineau
IAM Cycling
s.t.
39
Adam Hansen
Lotto Soudal
s.t.
40
Caleb Ewan
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
41
Magnus Cort Nielsen
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
42
Kris Boeckmans
Lotto Soudal
s.t.
43
Borut Božic
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
44
Julian Arredondo
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
45
Dries Devenyns
IAM Cycling
s.t.
46
Matthieu Ladagnous
FDJ
s.t.
47
Jay McCarthy
Tinkoff-Saxo
s.t.
48
Stijn Devolder
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
49
Marcus Burghardt
BMC Racing Team
+ 6'13
50
Koen De Kort
Team Giant-Alpecin
+ 7'00
51
Giovanni Visconti
Movistar Team
s.t.
52
Jesús Herrada
Movistar Team
s.t.
53
Luka Mezgec
Team Giant-Alpecin
+ 7'42
54
Fabio Sabatini
Etixx - Quick-step
s.t.
55
Daniele Bennati
Tinkoff-Saxo
+ 7'54
56
Roger Kluge
IAM Cycling
s.t.
57
Luke Rowe
Team Sky
s.t.
58
Gerald Ciolek
MTN-Qhubeka
+ 8'18
59
Brett Lancaster
Orica-GreenEDGE
+ 8'21
60
Marcel Kittel
Team Giant-Alpecin
+ 8'25
61
André Greipel
Lotto Soudal
+ 8'32
62
Leigh Howard
Orica-GreenEDGE
+ 8'42
63
Jens Debusschere
Lotto Soudal
s.t.
64
Taylor Phinney
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
65
Jempy Drucker
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
66
Andrew Fenn
Team Sky
s.t.
67
Tom Veelers
Team Giant-Alpecin
s.t.
68
Damien Gaudin
Ag2r La Mondiale
s.t.
69
Yaroslav Popovych
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
70
Gediminas Bagdonas
Ag2r La Mondiale
s.t.
71
Laurens De Vreese
Astana Pro Team
+ 9'32
72
Julien Bérard
Ag2r La Mondiale
+ 10'02
73
Alexis Gougeard
Ag2r La Mondiale
+ 10'37
74
Aleksejs Saramotins
IAM Cycling
+ 11'21
75
Alexandr Kolobnev
Team Katusha
+ 11'54
76
Martijn Keizer
Team LottoNL - Jumbo
+ 12'33
77
Murilo Fischer
FDJ
+ 12'36
78
Christopher Juul-Jensen
Tinkoff-Saxo
+ 12'46
79
Dylan van Baarle
Team Cannondale - Garmin
+ 12'56
80
Rubén Zepuntke
Team Cannondale - Garmin
+ 13'02
81
Christopher Sutton
Team Sky
s.t.
82
Boy Van Poppel
Trek Factory Racing
+ 13'32
83
Ariel Maximiliano Richeze
Lampre-Merida
+ 13'34
84
Bernhard Eisel
Team Sky
+ 13'35
85
José Joaquín Rojas
Movistar Team
+ 13'51
86
Manuele Mori
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
87
Vyacheslav Kuznetsov
Team Katusha
s.t.
88
Salvatore Puccio
Team Sky
s.t.
89
Kristoffer Skjerping
Team Cannondale - Garmin
+ 13'53
90
Matti Breschel
Tinkoff-Saxo
+ 14'32
91
Alex Dowsett
Movistar Team
+ 14'41
92
Greg Henderson
Lotto Soudal
+ 15'01
93
Quentin Jauregui
Ag2r La Mondiale
+ 15'27
94
Louis Meintjes
MTN-Qhubeka
+ 16'18
95
Gianni Meersman
Etixx - Quick-step
+ 17'06
96
Marcel Sieberg
Lotto Soudal
+ 17'38
97
Iljo Keisse
Etixx - Quick-step
+ 18'06
98
Anton Vorobyev
Team Katusha
+ 18'21
99
David Boucher
FDJ
+ 18'35
100
Michael Schär
BMC Racing Team
+ 18'43
101
Heinrich Haussler
IAM Cycling
+ 19'24
102
Bob Jungels
Trek Factory Racing
+ 19'31
103
Ruslan Tleubayev
Astana Pro Team
+ 19'53
104
Nathan Earle
Team Sky
+ 20'04
105
Brent Bookwalter
BMC Racing Team
+ 20'42
106
Nikolai Trusov
Tinkoff-Saxo
+ 21'16
107
Anthony Geslin
FDJ
+ 22'42
108
Nelson Oliveira
Lampre-Merida
+ 23'44
109
Theo Bos
MTN-Qhubeka
+ 24'05
110
Jasha Sütterlin
Movistar Team
+ 24'26
111
Sébastien Chavanel
FDJ
+ 26'32
112
Łukasz Wiśniowski
Etixx - Quick-step
+ 27'36
113
Songezo Jim
MTN-Qhubeka
+ 29'58
114
Andreas Stauff
MTN-Qhubeka
+ 35'21
115
Pavel Kochetkov
Team Katusha
s.t.
116
Alberto Bettiol
Team Cannondale - Garmin
+ 37'41
117
Rubén Plaza
Lampre-Merida
+ 42'09
118
Arnaud Courteille
FDJ
+ 46'01
119
Alan Marangoni
Team Cannondale - Garmin
+ 47'00
120
Juraj Sagan
Tinkoff-Saxo
+ 55'23
121
Jay Thomson
MTN-Qhubeka
+ 57'45
122
Johann Van Zyl
MTN-Qhubeka
+ 1h01'40
Points:
KoM:
Youth:
Team:
Hello my friends!
Well my time in Australia has come to an end, and as I said before I can’t be happier to be leaving Hell on Earth (it’s a beautiful place, just so super hot!) and well I have to tell you all that I feel pretty damn good about my performances in Australia, but I truly have never been happier to be returning to Fortress Europa!
Well today was a race that was very special to me, the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, when I first heard this race was being created, I knew that I needed to be apart of the inaugural edition. Cadel Evans was one of my idols in cycling, he was plain and simple a hero of mine, and I wanted to race this race named in his honor, because not only would it make me feel like I was apart of my hero but it could confirm just how far I have made it in my career!
Team LottoNL-Jumbo brought the same team that took part in the Santos Tour Down Under, plus one more, Brian Bulgac came down to make his season debut, he will be a very important man for our squad on the flats, taking long pulls to keep the pace high. We came into this race with a 3 headed monster at the leader ship role, obviously I was looking to have a strong effort, but I was wearing bib #85, I hoped to finish 84 spots higher! Paul Martens, my fellow Top 10 GC rider at the TDU, was the man if it comes down to a reduced field sprint. And if Barry Markus can survive the hills at the end of the race, and is in good form we would be backing him following his bevy of 4th place finishes in the WorldTour.
As we rolled out today, it was an extreme honor to roll through Cadel’s hometown of Barwon Heights, it was an extreme honor and was a huge motivating factor for me!
An early break of 3 slipped up the road, this group of mostly anonymous riders wasn’t paid much mind by the peloton. As they were being brought back in by the peloton, I knew that it would be a rather large bunched sprint, and that meant that unless I did something major, my personal ambitions could be kissed goodbye. I sat right near the front of the peloton, and as I saw the road was kicking upward soooooo I decided to attack!
As I danced on the pedals, I knew that I had opened up a nice gap, and I knew it would be a difficult 15 km or so to the finish, I was on the dot 100% and I didn’t dare look back, I just locked in and focused on getting to the line before everyone else. As I neared the 10 km to go banner, I had a minute lead. I didn’t dare let that phase me in fact, I shooed the motorbike that had the gap back to the peloton away, I was too focused to worry about time.
As the road went from downhill to flat I immediately got into my TT tuck, I was going full broil to the line, my legs were on fire, lactic acid was coming out of places you wouldn’t even believe, I was screaming out in agony and pain with every stroke of the pedals, I was blowing up but I kept telling myself that pain is temporary and this win would last forever. I told myself Cadel would never give up, this is my race! I noticed the crowds shouting out of the corner of my eye, but I could not hear them, I could not here the stroke of my pedals, or my Director Sportif screaming at me out of the team car, I was so focused, I was in a bubble, it was only me and the road and I wouldn’t let anything stop me! Just inside the 2 km to go banner, I took a sweeping left hand turn, and I allowed my self one look back, and I saw the most beautiful sight ever…..nothing. I knew that the race was mine! But I would not allow myself to crack a smile, I knew that a mechanical, a flat, a crash anything could befall me so I said focused and just churned to the finish! Finally inside the final 300 meteres I allowed myself a smile, and a fist pump, one more look back over the shoulder to confirm the victory! YES! All that was left to do today was a two armed salute, and let me tell you rasing my arms in the air took away all of the pain and suffering I went through to get to this point! What a race, what a day, what a win! It had finally sunk in, it was finally my day!
As I passed the line, I was swarmed with media, but I only wanted to go see my team managers, and the soigneurs, hugs all around, it was truly a victory I wanted to share with the entire organization! As I knew I had two fast teammates behind I had hoped to have one of my brothers on the podium, I check out the big screen and saw the sprint playing out for 3rd (Taylor Phinney soloed to 2nd about a minute behind me) but unfortunately my cursed teammate Barry Markus came home with YET ANOTHER 4th!! WHAT THE HELL? Haha his time is coming, he was just beaten by a better Wouter Wippert today.
As I stood on the podium and looked out at the crowd, I smiled looking back at the nearly perfect time in Australia we had, it was the best start to the season I could’ve asked for, and I was jittery with excitement as I thought about the rest of my season! I was never happier to get on the team jet, and get back home! I was wishing the Ruta del Sol started tomorrow! Hell, I was wishing the Tour started tomorrow, I have never been more ready for something. This season is my season, time to prove who I am, what I can do, and what’s coming for the rest of the cycling world! I’m hungry and im on my way up!
But finally, I have to thank all of you my fans for sticking with me, cheering me on, and following me. I hope I have made you proud today, and I hope you will stick with me on this ride that is my career. I truly love and appreciate you all!
After my arrival back in Europe I was able to spend some time with my family and friends, and that was a great treat, they truly are my biggest fans and I owe all my success to them! After taking a few days of very light training, I headed to Spain where I would train for about a week prior to beginning the Vuelta a Andalucia-Ruta del Sol, a very tough early season race, it consists of a Prologue, 2 mountain stages, and 2 flat stages. Last season the race drew a very strong crowd, and this season was no different. With big stars there like Contador, Valverde, Quintana, Rodriguez, Dani Moreno, Dani Navarro and the Astana All-Star team of Nibali, Aru, Fuglsang, Kangert, Scarponi, and Landa it was going to be a great challenge, and a good indication of my early season build up, because I will most likely face many of these riders in Paris-Nice/Tirreno-Adriatico, I will make my decision on that race, most likely after this one ends.
While I was in Holland, I swung by the team Headquarters, and although the directors and trainers were thrilled with my results in Australia, they were concerned that I would peak too soon, and burn myself out either in the build up to the Tour de France, or in the Tour itself, so I’ve adapted a different training routine that is designed to have progressive gains, that way I will be peaking right as the National Championships and Tour roll around, 2 of my primary goals of the season!
We brought a very strong team to Spain for this race, we have a few guys are capable of putting in a good time trial, we have myself and Laurens Ten Dam for GC, and our big sprinter Moreno Hofland for the flat stages at the end of the race.
ROSTER:
71-Me
72- Kevin De Weert- A great, cagey veteran who will be our road captain and a very important domestique in the high mountain stages.
73-Moreno Hofland- Our sprinter, probably the strongest sprinter in the field, he will be aiming for a good prologue, and then saving his energy over the 2 mountain stages so he can target his first victories of the season on Stages 4 and 5
74-Martijn Keizer- the only man who joins me from Australia, he will be targeting the prologue, and looking to support the team on the flats
75-Bert-Jan Lindeman- this young Dutchman will be a bottle carrier
76- Laurens Ten Dam- My co-GC leader, he and I will both be aiming for Top 10’s in GC
77-Robert Wagner- a quick sprinter in his own right, he will be looking for a strong prologue, and then he will be the leadout man for Hofland
My expectations for this race are a Top 10 in the prologue, a Top 10 in GC, and to try to win the Youth jersey, however, I am not so sure about that goal with Quintana in the field.
As I warmed up for the prologue, I made sure to keep a keen eye on the leaderboard, seeing what the time to beat was and who was on top. My teammate Martijn Keizer was so close to snatching the lead from Jesse Sergent as he crossed the line, 2nd best time provisionally, a great ride for him. He reported back to me that it was important to keep the speed up coming out of the corners, it was a very technical prologue which really suits my skills. I have really tried to improve my time trialing ability, and I feel comfortable in the saddle, but I was a little nervous as I rolled down the start ramp.
As I ripped through the streets of Cordia del Rio, I knew I was on pace for a good time, I was hoping to maybe slot into the Top 5 and if I was looking for a Top 5 or Top 10 on GC, I would need to gain as much time on guys like Valverde and Quintana, Contador, etc. I was loving the twists and turns on the streets, for a first time trial I was loving this.
Inside the final kilometer, I turned myself inside out heading up for the line. As I threw my bike at the line, I looked up and was rather pleased with my result, I slotted in 5th only 7 seconds back of Sergent, but in doing so I was able to match Nibali’s time exactly, and put myself ahead of the rest of the contenders.
I thought I had a sure fire top 5 but Jan Barta the second to last rider to set off today blasted not only my time, but Sergent’s time, and the Czech National TT Champ took a very fine victory and the first red leader’s jersey of the race. A solid day for me. I ended the stage 6th overall, my first goal of the race was accomplished, and looking at the leaderboard, I saw that I was the best rider under age 25, so I would be pulling on the first white jersey of the race! I am starting to get used to not wearing my regular team kit, and frankly I am enjoying it! I was very happy with myself and Martijn Keizer today, a great day for the team, 3rd in the prologue with Martijn, 6th for myself, and the white jersey. A great start here in Spain, hopefully more to come!
I am excited for my first real mountain day tomorrow, lets see how it goes, it will really be a first marker for my progress this season!
Later friends!
Wilco
Stage results/GC:
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Jan Barta
Bora - Argon 18
7'18
2
Jesse Sergent
Trek Factory Racing
+ 2
3
Martijn Keizer
Team LottoNL - Jumbo
+ 4
4
Michael Rogers
Tinkoff-Saxo
+ 6
5
Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg
MTN-Qhubeka
+ 7
6
Wilco Kelderman
Team LottoNL - Jumbo
s.t.
7
Vincenzo Nibali
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
8
Bob Jungels
Trek Factory Racing
+ 9
9
Alberto Contador
Tinkoff-Saxo
+ 11
10
Kristof Vandewalle
Trek Factory Racing
+ 13
Spoiler
11
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
s.t.
12
Tom Slagter
Team Cannondale - Garmin
s.t.
13
Geoffrey Soupe
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
+ 14
14
Bryan Nauleau
Team Europcar
+ 15
15
Grégory Rast
Trek Factory Racing
+ 16
16
Moreno Hofland
Team LottoNL - Jumbo
s.t.
17
Bauke Mollema
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
18
Robert Wagner
Team LottoNL - Jumbo
+ 17
19
Luis León Sánchez
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
20
Javier Moreno
Movistar Team
+ 18
21
Lars Ytting Bak
Lotto Soudal
s.t.
22
Jakob Fuglsang
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
23
Antonio Molina
Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
+ 19
24
Tanel Kangert
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
25
Cyril Lemoine
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
26
Imanol Erviti
Movistar Team
s.t.
27
Greg Henderson
Lotto Soudal
s.t.
28
Kristjan Koren
Team Cannondale - Garmin
+ 20
29
Ivan Rovny
Tinkoff-Saxo
s.t.
30
Matthew Goss
MTN-Qhubeka
s.t.
31
Michele Scarponi
Astana Pro Team
+ 21
32
Benoit Jarrier
Bretagne - Séché Environnement
s.t.
33
Alexey Kurbatov
RusVelo
s.t.
34
Nicolas Edet
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
35
Markel Irizar
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
36
Nairo Quintana
Movistar Team
+ 22
37
Laurens Ten Dam
Team LottoNL - Jumbo
+ 23
38
Stéphane Rossetto
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
39
Tom Danielson
Team Cannondale - Garmin
s.t.
40
Artem Ovechkin
RusVelo
+ 24
41
David Muntaner
ActiveJet Team
s.t.
42
Youcef Reguigui
MTN-Qhubeka
s.t.
43
Mario González
ActiveJet Team
s.t.
44
Jesús Ezquerra
ActiveJet Team
s.t.
45
Pierre Rolland
Team Europcar
s.t.
46
Dominique Rollin
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
47
Michael Valgren
Tinkoff-Saxo
+ 25
48
Marc Soler
Movistar Team
s.t.
49
Pablo Lastras
Movistar Team
s.t.
50
Petr Ignatenko
RusVelo
s.t.
51
Sven Erik Bystrøm
Team Katusha
s.t.
52
Cesare Benedetti
Bora - Argon 18
s.t.
53
Angelo Tulik
Team Europcar
+ 26
54
Ángel Madrazo
Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
s.t.
55
Hayden Roulston
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
56
Daniel Moreno
Team Katusha
s.t.
57
Tony Hurel
Team Europcar
s.t.
58
Eros Capecchi
Movistar Team
s.t.
59
André Cardoso
Team Cannondale - Garmin
+ 27
60
Kevin De Weert
Team LottoNL - Jumbo
s.t.
61
Ángel Vicioso
Team Katusha
+ 28
62
Emanuel Buchmann
Bora - Argon 18
s.t.
63
Bert-Jan Lindeman
Team LottoNL - Jumbo
s.t.
64
Moisés Dueñas
Burgos - BH
s.t.
65
Daniel Navarro
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
66
Jaco Venter
MTN-Qhubeka
s.t.
67
Christophe Laborie
Bretagne - Séché Environnement
+ 29
68
Songezo Jim
MTN-Qhubeka
s.t.
69
Antoine Duchesne
Team Europcar
s.t.
70
Eduard Vorganov
Team Katusha
+ 30
71
Artem Nych
RusVelo
s.t.
72
Jacopo Guarnieri
Team Katusha
s.t.
73
Sander Armee
Lotto Soudal
s.t.
74
Jesper Hansen
Tinkoff-Saxo
s.t.
75
Fabio Aru
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
76
Pello Bilbao
Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
s.t.
77
Sam Bennett
Bora - Argon 18
s.t.
78
Merhawi Kudus
MTN-Qhubeka
s.t.
79
Moreno Moser
Team Cannondale - Garmin
+ 31
80
Jelle Vanendert
Lotto Soudal
s.t.
81
Vincent Jérôme
Team Europcar
s.t.
82
Marcel Sieberg
Lotto Soudal
+ 32
83
Mikel Landa
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
84
Miguel Angel Benito
Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
s.t.
85
Fernando Grijalba
Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
s.t.
86
Pierre-Luc Périchon
Bretagne - Séché Environnement
s.t.
87
Chris Anker Sørensen
Tinkoff-Saxo
+ 33
88
Frédéric Brun
Bretagne - Séché Environnement
s.t.
89
Alexander Rybakov
RusVelo
s.t.
90
Andreas Schillinger
Bora - Argon 18
+ 34
91
Jesús Hernández
Tinkoff-Saxo
s.t.
92
Jesús Del Pino
Burgos - BH
s.t.
93
Ivan Savitskiy
RusVelo
s.t.
94
Eduard Prades
Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
s.t.
95
Anthony Delaplace
Bretagne - Séché Environnement
+ 35
96
Vyacheslav Kuznetsov
Team Katusha
s.t.
97
Janier Acevedo
Team Cannondale - Garmin
s.t.
98
Joaquím Rodríguez
Team Katusha
s.t.
99
Juan Carlos Riutort
Burgos - BH
+ 37
100
Andreas Stauff
MTN-Qhubeka
s.t.
101
Dario Hernández
Burgos - BH
s.t.
102
Pim Ligthart
Lotto Soudal
s.t.
103
Hugh Carthy
Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
s.t.
104
Phil Bauhaus
Bora - Argon 18
s.t.
105
Yohann Gène
Team Europcar
s.t.
106
Maxime Cam
Bretagne - Séché Environnement
+ 38
107
Davide Villella
Team Cannondale - Garmin
s.t.
108
Scott Thwaites
Bora - Argon 18
+ 40
109
Paweł Bernas
ActiveJet Team
s.t.
110
Armindo Fonseca
Bretagne - Séché Environnement
s.t.
111
Pablo Torres
Burgos - BH
s.t.
112
Sebastian Mascaro
Burgos - BH
+ 43
113
Romain Zingle
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
+ 44
114
Ander Arranz
Burgos - BH
+ 46
115
Dennis Vanendert
Lotto Soudal
+ 48
116
Konrad Dabkowski
ActiveJet Team
s.t.
117
Michał Podlaski
ActiveJet Team
+ 49
118
Igor Boev
RusVelo
+ 55
Points:
Rank
Name
Team
Points
1
Jan Barta
Bora - Argon 18
25
2
Jesse Sergent
Trek Factory Racing
20
3
Martijn Keizer
Team LottoNL - Jumbo
16
4
Michael Rogers
Tinkoff-Saxo
14
5
Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg
MTN-Qhubeka
12
Youth
Hello my friends!!
Well today I took part in my first mountain stage of the season, and there was a lot of good on the stage but also I had my share of bads and mistakes. But you learn from those mistakes going forward. I have to rememeber that guys like Nibali, Contador, Rodriguez, Froome, etc. are in their late 20’s and early 30’s, while I am a mere 23, I will continue to learn, work, develop, and get better, that way I can reach their elite level!
Today was a difficult stage, with 5 categorized climbs, and a Cat 3 to finish on. I knew that in the hot Spanish sun, I would have to be well hydrated, I would have to eat well to keep my stamina up, and finally I would need to really be in good position as the final 3 climbs came up, anyone could make a move on any of them, and I didn’t want to get left behind! I made sure to ride close to the front and Kevin De Weert looked after me brilliantly, he was phenomenal, chapeau to him!
A break of 2 Spanish riders went off the front, they both were lower level riders on 2 Spanish non-WT teams, so the peloton as a whole let them have a large leash, although with 60kms to go their lack of climbing ability hurt them and they were quickly caught by the peloton, and spat out the back, a rather sad finish for them as the peloton had no real organization or team leading the charge. As we prepared for the final 3 climbs of the day, I prepared myself and got near the front, I was especially vigilant of Valverde, he is a sneak bastard, and I did not want him to ride away uncontested. In fact, as we crested the penultimate climb I finished 2nd in the KoM sprint, although there was no real sprint it was still good to be up there and in a good position.
As the final climb commenced it was an 8 km climb to the line, and I was in good position with De Weert, and Keizer setting the pace, as Laurens and I had a good energy conserving ride up to the line. With 3 km to go, I looked at Laurens and saw a very pained look on his face, although we were supposed to be co-leaders, I knew he was showing early-season weakness and I decided to go for the GC and a good result on my own. With a group of about 40 still hanging on, I launched an attack, it was more of a feeler attack to see if I was marked or not and unfortunately I was marked very heavily, and the red jersey of Barta pulled me back himself with Tinkoff-Saxo, Astana, and Katusha leading the charge behind him. Although my move failed to get me separation, it did shoot about 20 riders out of the leading group including Ten Dam, meaning I was the last team rider up the road and hopefully, the team’s work paid off in getting me a good finish!
As we hit the flamme rouge, I regretted deeply my decision to attack as I knew I would be in prime shape for the sprint to the line, and unfortunately that was the case, as I tried to sprint, about 150 meters from the line my legs just failed and I was quickly overtaken. A surprising winner, Jakob Fuglsang, probably the number 4 man for Astana in the race took the victory.
As I finished up in the 6th position, I was disappointed in myself because I knew I could match a guy like Fuglsang, and even Valverde who finished 2nd. However, I just took the stage as a learning point, and resigned myself to not making a mistake like that again. The one positive I took out of the stage was that I have earned the respect of my peers, and I now know that I am close to an “elite” rider if a guy like Valverde chases me down by himself. Well tomorrow is a new day, and another day to try for a solid result.
tomorrow I am not sure what to expect, although today I was able to match the likes of Quintana, CContador, and Rodriguez today, it is a 1st Cat climb and I am not sure whether or not I will be able to hang with those guys tomorrow, but I am going to do my best. I have 15 seconds over Quintana for the Youth jersey, but I fear that is not enough. I will give it my all, and no matter what happens I will go out knowing I have done my best.
