Lovely day today and action starts early with plenty of attacks. The pack chases all of them down. With 85km to go we start to get serious. Carrara, Arroyo and Verbist launch a strong attack.
Discovery Channel leads the relay and hauls them in. Huguet is next to go at 58 km.
Sebastien Joly counters and gets away. He is followed further back by Ten Dam.
We track them down as well. Things get really interesting at the 36km mark as Tony Martin attempts to get away. Lema and Rovny decide to join him.
Pauriol, in his rainbow jersey, decides to counter, linking up to make a group of 4.
With 9km to go, Pauriol attacks again. It seems to work as he opens a 14 second lead.
Shortly thereafter, Martin counters and gets ahead of Pauriol. Rovny has no blue and cannot counter but he does push the pace harder and begins to cloes in on Pauriol.
With Rovny pushing the pace to try and catch Martin, Lema can't keep up and falls off the back.
Soon, Pauriol is unable to keep up and falls off as well. Rovny is 29 seconds in back of Martin but closing the gap.
This is beginning to resemble La Fleche Wallone as Rovny catches, then passes Martin.
Rovny isn't running out of gas today, however, and opens a big lead over Martin who clearly has cracked.
Rovny crosses the line first for an impressive sweep of the classics.
Martin lands another strong 2nd.
Results 1 Ivan Rovny DISCOVERY CHANNEL 7h01'26
2 Tony Martin PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 39
3 Rémi Pauriol AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
4 Máximo Lema TEAM MILRAM + 1'31
5 Leonardo Moser RABOBANK + 4'31
6 Andrei Klyuev PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t. 7 Elia Casanova DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
8 Sébastien Joly AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
9 Yann Huguet T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
10 Eros Capecchi PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
11 Laurens Ten Dam QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
12 Jonathan Castroviejo AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
13 Ángel Vicioso RABOBANK s.t.
14 Matti Breschel QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
15 Elias Morca CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
16 Andrew Towers TEAM ASTANA s.t.
17 Oliverio Roba T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
18 Maarten Wynants AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
19 Matteo Carrara TEAM CSC s.t.
20 Evert Verbist GEROLSTEINER s.t.
21 Danny Summerhill GEROLSTEINER s.t.
22 Michael Morkov LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
23 Massimiliano Maisto TEAM MILRAM s.t.
24 Fredy Gentizon QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
25 Jakob Fiedler TEAM CSC s.t.
26 Ricardo Mestre BARLOWORLD s.t.
27 Michele Ciano RABOBANK s.t.
28 Jérôme Baugnies PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
29 Mario Sterling T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
30 Yoann Bagot AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t. 32 Lars Boom DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
38 Frederik Nolf DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
49 Brian Vandborg DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 5'43
61 Juan Van Heerden DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 8'47
85 Luigi Sestili DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 18'15
132 Ruben Cantoni DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 30'47
April was a bit of a boring month and despite our success, I am glad to see the back of it. The lack of any real competition at many of the key races made the results predictable and the racing lack any real drama.
The lack of competition also has severly skewed the UCI Pro Tour standings at the top, where Discovery Channel is dominant both on the individual level and the team level.
UCI Pro Tour Individual Rankings
UCI Pro Tour Team Rankings
Continental Team Rankings Edited by SeoulYank on 13-08-2009 07:19
May promises to be much more competitive and interesting as the start list for the Tour de Romandie will show.
This is a key month for us which includes two race goals set by our sponsors: 1) win the Giro d'Italia, 2) a top 3 at Catalunya. Neither will be easy to achieve.
Our Giro efforts will be spearheaded by John Lee Augustyn. He has two second places to show for his efforts there, but his time trailing abilities (something we've worked on) have come a long ways and he may have a legitimate shot this time. In Catalunya, will rely on Ivan Rovny one more time.
May 1-6: Tour de Romandie
May 12-June 3: Giro d'Italia
May 21-27: Volta a Catalunya
May 30-June 3: Tour de Belgique
Past Winners
2007: Yaroslav Popovych (Discovery Channel)
2008: Juanjo Cobo (CSC)
2009: Juanjo Cobo (CSC)
2010: Thomas Dekker (Discovery Channel)
2011: Samuel Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne)
2012: Elia Casanova (Discovery Channel)
In past seasons, we've had an in shape threat here to compete for the win. This season that is not really the case. This is more of a pure Giro warm-up for us with no expectations of a podium spot. The team we send here will closely resemble the team that starts the Giro.
Hilly stage, good for action. Weather is a bit wet today so have to be careful.
Sestili goes in the days break. He is with a group of Kirchen, Pauriol and Maisto. There is another group of 4, 1 minute ahead.
Most of the break has been caught by the time we get to the Col du Mont Crosin where Tony Martin makes the first attack, passing the lone remaining member of the break: Pauriol.
Nibali counters, as does Augustyn who is feeling really strong today.
Ulbrich decides to get in on the action and his attack is strong enough to carry him across the peak alone and in front.
With Ulbrich leading, it is Martin and Augustyn together, 25 seconds behind.
Then Gentizon and Duarte, who decided to attack after Ulbrich and are 29 seconds in back of the Martin group. Sanchez is 18 seconds behind them and Boasson Hagen is a further 25 seconds back. Nibali has been caught by the chasing pack.
On the descent toward the finish line, Martin has dragged Augustyn forward to connect with Ulbrich.
.8 km to go and the sprint has started. Augustyn is on Ulbrich’s wheel.
.1km to go and it is very close. The three are nearly even with Martin leading the way.
Unlike the hilly classics, it is Martin who pips the Discovery Channel rider at the line. Duarte will take 4th, Gentizon 5th and all the other break members were caught by the peloton.
At the end of the race, we hear disappointing news for Caisse d’Epargne. Humberto Amilcar has slipped on the wet pavement and fractured his hip. He will miss the Giro and is questionable for the Tour. This probably makes his main target for the year the Vuelta and odds on favorite there, at this stage.
Results
1 Tony Martin PREDICTOR – LOTTO 5h31'32 2 John-Lee Augustyn DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
3 Tim Ulbrich TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
4 Fredy Gentizon QUICKSTEP – INNERGETIC + 27
5 Fabio Duarte SAUNIER DUVAL – PRODIR s.t.
6 Damiano Cunego CERAMICA PANARIA – NAVIGARE + 1'24
7 Mathieu Sprick CERAMICA PANARIA – NAVIGARE s.t.
8 Branislav Samoilau BARLOWORLD s.t.
9 Juanjo Cobo CERAMICA PANARIA – NAVIGARE s.t.
10 Michele Ciano RABOBANK s.t.
11 Sergio Pardilla RABOBANK s.t.
12 Matthew Lloyd TEAM CSC s.t.
13 Danilo Di Luca QUICKSTEP – INNERGETIC s.t.
14 Elias Schmäh LAMPRE – FONDITAL s.t.
15 Edvald Boasson Hagen RABOBANK s.t.
16 Philip Deignan TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
17 Rinaldo Nocentini TEAM MILRAM s.t.
18 Rafael Andriato CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
19 Oliver Giesecke TEAM ASTANA s.t.
20 Ángel Vicioso RABOBANK s.t. 21 Lars Boom DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
22 Jaume Rovira QUICKSTEP – INNERGETIC s.t.
23 Alberto Rodríguez T-MOBILE TEAM s.t. 24 Thomas Lövkvist DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
25 Vincenzo Nibali TEAM MILRAM s.t.
GC
1 Tony Martin PREDICTOR – LOTTO 5h47'51 2 John-Lee Augustyn DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 45
3 Tim Ulbrich TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 47
4 Fredy Gentizon QUICKSTEP – INNERGETIC + 1'12
5 Fabio Duarte SAUNIER DUVAL – PRODIR + 1'14
6 Han Kraaybeek TEAM ASTANA + 1'17
7 José Iván Gutiérrez CERAMICA PANARIA – NAVIGARE + 1'31
8 Vasil Kiryienka TEAM LPR + 1'39
9 Oliver Giesecke TEAM ASTANA + 1'41
10 Ezio Cangiano CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 1'42
Points
1 Tony Martin PREDICTOR – LOTTO 25 33 2 John-Lee Augustyn DISCOVERY CHANNEL 20 20
3 Tim Ulbrich TEAM WIESENHOF FELT 16 16
4 Han Kraaybeek TEAM ASTANA 0 15
5 Fredy Gentizon QUICKSTEP – INNERGETIC 13 13
Mountain
1 Andrea Pagoto TEAM LPR 26 26
2 Piercarlo Casbarra TEAM ASTANA 18 18
3 Alberto Benítez CAISSE D'EPARGNE 18 18
Flat stage, should be a sprint finish. Only chance for Zhou Sui to get a result as we are pulling him from the race tomorrow. Want him to be fresh for the Giro and he has already logged a lot of racing over the past 2 months.
6 man break today. Lead is 6 minutes with 68km to go when the peloton moves into action. The break is caught and we get our sprint finish. Sui is lined up behind Pacheco. Not a great spot but not horrible.
As we get into the sprint, Boasson Hagen shows tremendous acceleration to go from nowhere to up front.
Boasson Hagen gets the win, Sui is 4th.
Results
1 Edvald Boasson Hagen RABOBANK 3h37'11
2 Eros Capecchi PREDICTOR – LOTTO s.t.
3 Francisco Pacheco CERAMICA PANARIA – NAVIGARE s.t. 4 Zhou Sui DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
5 André Greipel CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
6 Michael Morkov LAMPRE – FONDITAL s.t.
7 William Bonnet CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
8 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP – INNERGETIC s.t.
9 Jaume Rovira QUICKSTEP – INNERGETIC s.t.
10 Juan Pablo Dotti CERAMICA PANARIA – NAVIGARE s.t.
11 Rafael Figueres CHOCOLADE JACQUES – TOPSPORT s.t.
12 Anuar Manan TEAM MILRAM s.t.
13 Rafael Andriato CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
14 Elias Schmäh LAMPRE – FONDITAL s.t.
15 Gert Steegmans TEAM MILRAM s.t.
16 Andrei Klyuev PREDICTOR – LOTTO s.t.
17 Rinaldo Nocentini TEAM MILRAM s.t.
18 Preben Van Hecke PREDICTOR – LOTTO s.t.
19 Danilo Di Luca QUICKSTEP – INNERGETIC s.t.
20 Koen De Kort CHOCOLADE JACQUES – TOPSPORT s.t.
21 Theo Eltink RABOBANK s.t.
22 Tom Veelers TEAM CSC s.t.
23 Birger Leys CHOCOLADE JACQUES – TOPSPORT s.t.
24 Bernardo Herrera TEAM ASTANA s.t.
25 Sergio Pardilla RABOBANK s.t.
The queen stage. Still an uphill time trial to come tomorrow, so this won’t settle things but should give a pretty good idea of what to expect.
As planned, Sui abandons.
There is a break, it is caught. As we hit the final mountain, Devine is at the front of the peloton pulling it along. We’re trying to wear down the pack.
It hasn’t quite worked. Duarte attacks, followed by Gentizon and Pardilla.
Augustyn counters along with Dominguez and Gutierrez.
Nibali is next, followed by Ulbrich, Petrov and Tony Martin. This is the second stage in which Nibali has attacked. He is clearly not at peak form but is in better shape than most of the big names in the field. He must be planning to ride the Giro.
As the dust settles, Martin has managed to get up to Duarte and they lead.
Augustyn has linked up with Ulbrich and Gentizon and is 18 seconds back. Another 29 seconds behind Augustyn is a pairing of Nibali and Pardilla.
Augustyn manages to close the gap some to the Martin group, however Martin cruises in for his second stage win.
Uphill time trial. Augustyn is the best climber of those competitors who are reasonably fit and is the favorite to win this stage. Tomorrow's stage has a tricky uphill sprint that could allow for some time gaps, but today is the last real opportunity to impact the standings.
Giesecke, +34 (4th)
Pardilla, +1'18 (17th)
Cangiano, +26 (3rd)
Nibali, +56 (8th)
Gentizon, +36 (5th)
Ulbrich, +1'00 (10th)
Duarte, +4 (2nd)
Augustyn - as expected, best time of the day: 35'41".
Tony Martin must not be feeling well today as his time is quite poor, but he will hang on to yellow. +1'06 (14th)
After twice playing second fiddle to Rovny, it looks like Martin will finish just ahead of a Discovery Channel rider to take a tour for the second time this season (Tour of California being the first).
Profile not available, but it is a mostly flat stage with an uphill finish. Need to be careful not to allow any time gaps in the finish.
The days break is caught easily. Moving into the sprint, it is Morkov and Blythe with best position as the trains form. The yellow jersey is not far off.
As the sprint starts, Morkov is looking good and Safonov has pushed forward.
As in Stage 3, Boasson Hagen suddenly blows in from nowhere.
He proceeds to cruise past everyone and take his second stage win.
Time gaps did emerge and Martin pulled further away from Augustyn. Martin has had a fantastic first few months and has been a real nemesis for us, beating Jason at the Tour of California, beating Augustyn here and giving Rovny a run for his money at the classics. Look forward to more battles with him.
Results
1 Edvald Boasson Hagen RABOBANK 4h15'33
2 Jaume Rovira QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 8
3 Victor Safonov T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
4 Rafael Andriato CRÉDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
5 Michael Morkov LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
6 Tony Martin PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
7 Adam Blythe AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 16
8 Eros Capecchi PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
9 Yauhen Sobal T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
10 Francisco Pacheco CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
11 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 24
12 Andrei Klyuev PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t. 13 John-Lee Augustyn DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 32
14 Mathieu Sprick CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
15 Rafael Figueres CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
16 Elias Schmäh LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
17 Alberto Rodríguez T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
18 Vincenzo Nibali TEAM MILRAM + 40
19 Juan Pablo Dotti CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
20 Rinaldo Nocentini TEAM MILRAM s.t.
21 Damiano Cunego CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 48
22 Tim Ulbrich TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
23 Jakob Fiedler TEAM CSC s.t.
24 Sébastien Harbonnier TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
25 Ricardo Mestre BARLOWORLD s.t.
GC
1 Tony Martin PREDICTOR - LOTTO 19h03'05 2 John-Lee Augustyn DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 41
3 Fabio Duarte SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'39
4 Tim Ulbrich TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 2'03
5 Fredy Gentizon QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 2'20
6 Vincenzo Nibali TEAM MILRAM + 3'42
7 Ezio Cangiano CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 4'32
8 Alberto Fernández BARLOWORLD + 4'46
9 Edvald Boasson Hagen RABOBANK + 4'59
10 Oliver Giesecke TEAM ASTANA + 5'11
11 Ricardo Mestre BARLOWORLD + 5'19
12 Sergio Domínguez LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 5'35
13 Branislav Samoilau BARLOWORLD + 5'37
14 Matthew Lloyd TEAM CSC + 5'57
15 Óscar Sánchez QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 6'09
16 Sergio Pardilla RABOBANK + 6'13
17 Rubén Pérez SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 6'14
18 Rinaldo Nocentini TEAM MILRAM + 6'15
19 Damiano Cunego CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 6'17
20 Mathieu Sprick CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 6'24
21 Jaume Rovira QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 6'37
22 Vladimir Karpets SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 7'01
23 Juanjo Cobo CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 7'06
24 Alexander Khatuntsev BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM + 7'08
25 Mauricio Ortega TEAM LPR + 7'11
26 Theo Eltink RABOBANK + 7'12
27 Silvanio Garibay LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 7'27
28 Eros Capecchi PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 7'29
29 Edwin Orozco TEAM ASTANA + 7'33
30 Wout Poels BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM + 7'35
31 José Iván Gutiérrez CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
32 Iñigo Landaluze TEAM ASTANA + 7'40
33 Evgeni Petrov TEAM CSC + 7'42
34 Michele Ciano RABOBANK + 7'45
35 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 7'46
36 Leonard Gloor SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 7'56
37 Victor Safonov T-MOBILE TEAM + 8'05
38 Alberto Rodríguez T-MOBILE TEAM + 8'13
39 Robert Kiserlovski EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 8'16
40 Danilo Di Luca QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 8'19
41 Rafael Andriato CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 8'45
42 Vasil Kiryienka TEAM LPR s.t.
43 Roman Kreuziger SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 8'56
44 Kevin Imhof PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 9'01
45 Ángel Vicioso RABOBANK + 9'02
46 Philip Deignan TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 9'04 47 Thomas Lövkvist DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 9'05
48 Johann Tschopp GEROLSTEINER + 9'11
49 Han Kraaybeek TEAM ASTANA + 9'43
50 Fausto Camilli TEAM MILRAM + 9'50 57 Lars Boom DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 10'51
59 John Devine DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 12'45
62 Maxime Monfort DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 13'38
106 Kristoffer Nielsen DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 29'09
124 Luigi Sestili DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 37'39
Markus Reich (small increase in salary)
Fumiyuki Beppu (small increase in salary)
Thierry Lamborelle (small increase in salary)
Maxime Monfort (slight decrease in salary)
Told to find work elsewhere:
Bjorn Leukemans
Brian Vandborg
We've also made the decision to not consider a contract extension for Frederik Nolf. As good as he is, recent development of Boom and Nielsen has placed them not far off Nolf's quality with continued room for growth (plus they are much less expensive).
We've managed to win this race once back in 2008 when we brought Danilo Di Luca in as a one season hired gun. Augustyn is our hope here and he has come close the last two seasons, finishing second twice.
John Lee Augustyn: Leader
Augustyn is a genuine GC contender now. He has always been strong in the mountains, but we've focused on his time trial abilities and he has gotten them up to a point where he is strong enough not to lose significant time on the time trials. This should make a big difference and we're hopeful he can pull off a big win here.
Elia Casanova: Lieutenant
Elia took 5th here last year. He'll be by Augustyn's side as we reach the final climbs, helping him all the way to the top. If Augustyn struggles, Elia will become our main hope although he is, realistically, not strong enough to compete or a win.
Zhou Sui: Sprinter
Zhou has been in good sprinting form this season and we're hoping he can keep it up to compete for the maglia ciclamino.
Lars Boom: Teammate
This race will help Lars continue his development. He'll mainly help Sui throughout the race.
John Devine: Teammate
John is here to help drive us through the mountains and put a little hurt on the peloton.
Maxime Monfort: Teammate
As with John, Maxime is here for mountain support.
Luigi Sestili: Teammate
Sestili has the simple objective of winning one of the time trialing stages.
Ruben Cantoni: Teammate
Ruben is young, not very good right now and odds on favorite to finish last in the peloton. He is here so that we actually have 9 guys present. It will help his development as well, of course. He has one simple focus: attack, attack, attack.
Kristoffer Nielsen: Teammate
Last, but not least, the man who will take over cobblestone leadership from Nolf next season. If Cantoni fails to get into breaks, Nielsen will be the next man to go. He'll also help drive the pace on the flats.
In addition to our own John Lee Augustyn, these guys are the main favorites to win the Giro. One of the main theats we expected to see, Vincenzo Nibali, oddly enough did not show up this year.
Mauricio Soler (Caisse d'Epargne)
He was quiet at the Tour de Romandie, but Soler has won three out of the last four Giro's. He loves this race and makes it his own. You can count on him gaining at least a podium spot, if not taking home the maglia rosa.
Riccardo Ricco (T-Mobile)
Soler's former teammate took the one Giro that Soler did not win in the last four years. This is Ricco's favorite race and he has consistently been a top 5 finisher. He's fresh, he's strong and he'll be gunning for the win.
Gabriele Tassinari (Saunier Duval)
Tassinari has all the tools to take home the maglia rosa. We haven't seen him in action much this year, however, so don't know what to expect from a race fitness standpoint. We'll get a better idea over the course of the first week.
Julian Rodas (CSC)
At first glance it might appear tough for him to compete with the other guys. However, Rodas has consistently been in the mix at every grand tour he has participated in. Expect him to be there again.
Others to watch: Chris Froome (Lampre), Michael Rogers (Rabobank), Bratislav Samoilau (Barloworld), Thomas Rohregger (QuickStep), Alexander Gottfried (Predictor Lotto), Rinaldo Nocentini (Milram), Marcel Wyss (Liquigas)
Edited by SeoulYank on 15-08-2009 02:36
Other than Zhou Sui, the main contenders for the points jersey include:
Edvald Boasson Hagen (Rabobank)
He's been phenomenal so far this season. We know he is on good form, having taken two stages at the Tour de Romandie. Expect him to win a few more here. He'd have to be the odds on favorite at this point.
Daniele Bennati (Lampre)
Bennati is back again. He has the pace and feels at home in this race. Along with Boasson Hagen and Sui, he forms one of the top 3 sprinters here.
Wouter Weylandt (QuickStep)
Weylandt and Boonen trade turns as Belgian champ. He's good enough to beat Boonen, he is good enough to take the sprinters jersey here.
Beniamino Cangelosi (Barloworld)
He's young and untested, but talented and on his home turf. Don't know quite what to expect but imagine he will find a way to be in the mix.
Others to Watch: Lino Calvi (AG2R), Carlo Scognamiglio (LPR), Claudio Corlioni (Gerolsteiner), J.P. Dotti (Ceramica Panaria), JJ Haedo (Wiesenhof)
