Because the people on this website are annoying, and made it so I had to flip a coin for the team, I will be playing with Rabobank, the best team out of all twenty in the race (I wanted Jet Fuel). To cut down on complete domination, I will not be bringing Menchov or Freire, but beyond that, here is the team.
1. Team Leader (Goals 1. G.C. 2. KOM) - Michael Rasmussen
Here so that
A ) More Danish people will read the story
B ) It will be hilarious if he wins
C ) It will be somewhat difficult with his 56 TT
His main goal is the Yellow Jersey, but if worst comes to worst he'll go after the Polka Dots.
2. Free Rider (Goals 1.Stage Win 2. Top Ten) - Michael Boogerd
Boogerd comes to the tour to win a stage and try to get into the top ten. He will however be willing to sacrifice his ambitions for the G.C. result if it in necessary for him to work for The Chicken.
3. Free Rider (Goals 1. White Jersey 2. Stage Win) - Thomas Dekker
Thomas "The Junior" Dekker will be looking for a stage win, with the most likely result coming in a TT. However he hopes that a strong performance in general will set him up to be in white on the Champs.
4. Super Domestique (Goals 1. Help Get Yellow) - Erik Dekker
A very strong flat rider, Erik "The Senior" Dekker will be very useful helping The Chicken on the flats, he will also look for some results for himself on some of the easier hill stages.
5. Domestique (Goals 1. Help Get Yellow) - Pieter Weening
The young Dutchman has one goal and one goal only, help get The Chicken to Paris in Yellow. He will be most helpful in the mountains.
6. Domestique (Goals 1. Help Get Yellow) - Karsten Kroon
Kroon will be a help on both the flats and the smaller hills. He will also be the teams attacker on the transition stages so the team doesn't have to chase.
7. Domestique (Goals 1. Help Get Yellow) - Marc Wauters
The elderly Belgian will not find any of his favorite terrain until the final day of the race, but he should be able to get some top results in TT's and be a good helper on the flats.
8. Domestique (Goals 1. Help Get Yellow) - Theo Eltink
The young rider Eltink will be a helper in the mountains this Tour, and will most likely be used to drive the pack at the base of the climbs to drop the weaker riders.
9. Domestique (Goals 1. Help Get Yellow) - Remmert Wielinga
"FFN" Wielinga (funny first name) will be a helper on the mountains, and will most likely have the same job as Eltink.
Well, there is the team, first race (21 km prologue with a big bridge in the middle) should be up either tomorrow or Friday.
Edited by Deadpool on 14-01-2009 23:24
Stage 1 is a prologue time trial, it is mainly flat, but with a very steep (both up and down) bridge around 2/3rds of the way through the stage:
Our first rider off was Weening, here he is in the starting gate, preparing to start the tour for Rabobank:
Here he is attacking the bridge:
Weeining rode much better than expected, finishing 11th, 1'15 back. Next up for us was Eltink, who also rode better than expected, coming in 32nd 1'46 back:
After him came Marc Wauters. Wauters will struggle in the mountains, but his place to shine is in the time-trials. And boy did he, he rode the fastest time at both the provisional and final checks. He would later be passed at both, but did finish in second place, 35 seconds back. Giving him the green jersey for tomorrow:
He was followed by Wielinga, who, needless to say, didn't ride very well, finishing 106th, 2'27 back:
He was followed by our big dog, The Chicken, Rasmussen did as expected, riding into 170th, 3'09 back. Here he is starting, descending the bridge, and crossing the line:
Next up was another less than stellar time-trialist, Kroon, he rode amazing though, finishing 15th, 1'24 back:
Next up was Erik "The Older" Dekker, who was looking for a decent ride. He got more than he expected. He blazed through the course, coming in first at both the provisional and final check. He would hold it till the end, giving us the Yellow Jersey to start the race:
He was followed by Boogerd, who was expecting to, nor did very well, finishing 146th, 2'45 back:
Last up for Rabobank was Thomas Dekker, who was a big favorite for the stage. He rode well, finishing 4th, also 35 seconds back:
Erik Dekker gave us the Yellow Jersey, and was rewarded by getting a chance to be on the podium:
Thomas Dekker also got the White Jersey, which he hopes to keep into Paris:
Also out on the course were three big rivals of Rasmussen.Sergei Gonchar (3rd, '35 back):
Claus Michael Moller (14th, 1'23 back):
And Sella (177th, 3'16 back):
Also out on the course was, in his first tour, the leader of Lowik, Robert Gesink. I think most will agree his stats were a little bit on the low side though:
Note: I don't intend to spend much time on the flat stages, the coverage will pick up in the hills and mountains.
Stage 2 - Flat Stage - 181km
A nice long flat stage to start the race proper, here is route and the favorites for the stage:
We moved are riders to the front to start the race, but with the sprinters team's controlling things we spent very little time up there:
A huge break of 15 riders got away, with none of them closer than 1'47 back of Dekker:
We tried to move to the front to chase, but found their was no room, as Quick-Step (for Boonen), Ceramica-Panaria (for Grillo), and Domina Vacanze (for Cadamuro) were already chasing at the front:
After that massive breakaway was caught six other riders, including Ruslan Ivanov of Domina Vacanze broke away, and gained up to eight minutes on the pack. Ivanov would be the last rider brought in, just after the final intermediate sprint. That allowed Ribeiro (Barbot-Pascoal) to win the KOM sprint and gain a jersey for Portugal:
Next came the sprint. It wasn't well set up, with the sprinters well behind the front of the peloton as the sprint kicked off. However they would move past, with Boonen taking a big lead, only to be piped at the line by a hard charging Grillo:
With no sprinters we weren't involved, but all of our riders finished in the pack. With Dekker, Wauters, and Gonchar tied at 0'35 back their finishing order put (Thomas) Dekker in second, Wauters in third and Gonchar in fourth.
However, the finish line was actually well past where it appeared to be, and because Boonen slowed down drastically he was awarded 6th (don't you love PCM 1). Grillo however still won the stage:
Here are the standings:
Stage:
G.C.:
Sprint:
KOM:
U25:
Team:
Stage 2 is also a flat stage, but with more KOM sprints
Edited by Deadpool on 18-01-2009 15:50
