doddy13 wrote:
Albasini has taken the win in Stage 3 of the Tour of Britain in Swansea
and it was absolutle chaos apparently. Awful weather + incredibly steep cobbled climb towards the finish sounds like fun viewing.
Indeed it was. I was on Constitution Hill (the incredibly steep cobbled climb) - there a few hours before hand, rained pretty much non stop - but I got the best spot.
And my photos of the action itself will be uploaded here in due course - looking forward to the highlights now to see what happened on the rest of the stage.
By the way - didnt really understand Sky's Stage 2 tactics. Thomas, Wiggins and Henderson in the decisive group, great. Thomas and Wiggins then killing themselves on the front, and dropping off with more than 1km to go? Seemed to me to be throwing away the chance of a GC victory - and even better for Sky - a British GC victory - in favour of a stage victory that was by no means guaranteed even after they had put in the effort. Henderson was always unlikely to keep the race lead through the race, as today showed.
1 Michael Albasini (Swi) Team HTC - Columbia 3:40:37
2 Ian Bibby (GBr) Motorpoint - Marshalls Pasta 0:00:08
3 Stijn Neirynck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator
4 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Garmin - Transitions 0:00:21
5 Mark McNally (GBr) An Post - Sean Kelly 0:00:28
6 Simon Richardson (GBr) Sigma Sport - Specialized 0:00:31
7 Richie Porte (Aus) Team Saxo Bank 0:01:15
8 Jack Bauer (NZl) Endura Racing 0:01:16
9 Tony Martin (Ger) Team HTC - Columbia 0:01:18
10 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 0:01:24
11 Borut Bozic (Slo) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team
12 Pim Lighart (Ned) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 0:01:27
13 Greg Henderson (NZl) Sky Professional Cycling Team
14 Zak Dempster (Aus) Rapha Condor - Sharp 0:01:34
15 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator
16 Iker Camano (Spa) Endura Racing
17 Marco Frapporti (Ita) Colnago - CSF Inox 0:01:37
18 Jaroslav Marycz (Pol) Team Saxo Bank
19 Liam Holohan (GBr) Team Raleigh 0:01:39
20 Carlo Scognamiglio (Ita) ISD - Neri Giambenini 0:01:48
It was an impressive performance by HTC. They split up the peloton on the Black Mountain climb - and then Tony Martin attacked with Albasini on the descent to join up with the best of the days breakaway - Meyer, Bibby, Neirynck, Richardson, McNally and Ligthart.
Tony Martin kept up the gap, then went pop at the start of Constitution Hill and Albasini took over - getting a gap when McNally couldnt keep up, with the An Post rider crucially inbetween Albasini and Bibby/Neirynck.
Albasini wins the stage, and is firm favourite in GC now.
A really good ride by Ian Bibby. It would be brilliant to see Sky sign him and/or Simon Richardson - but I guess its unlikely.
Edited by SportingNonsense on 13-09-2010 20:09
Ill see if I can upload some highlights from the day, Im recording all of the hour per stage TV shows.
The man of the day today was Dan Martin. He went with every single move, most of the time leading the attacks. At one point he had Sinkewitz with him, later it was Hayman and Hoogerland, before going solo and being caught only a few km out.
Poels took the win for a Vaconsoleil 1-2. Albasini keeps the race lead. Hoogerland - who at one point was in virtual Yellow - takes over the KoM although is tied with Richie Porte still.
Decent riding for the British teams aswell, Jack Bauer taking 4th - with the likes of Partridge, Bibby, McEvoy, Tennant and Thomas all finishing right up there.
Wiggins though, rolled in with the peloton at I think over 20 minutes down - the split having been made in the very first 10km.
Edited by SportingNonsense on 14-09-2010 20:07
SportingNonsense wrote:
A really good ride by Ian Bibby. It would be brilliant to see Sky sign him and/or Simon Richardson - but I guess its unlikely.
Maybe a long shot for this season, but Ian Bibby certainly won't be looked over for long. They have worked with him in the MTBer area of British Cycling after all, and they do seem to like hiring guys they've worked with.
Ill see if I can upload some highlights from the day, Im recording all of the hour per stage TV shows.
The man of the day today was Dan Martin. He went with every single move, most of the time leading the attacks. At one point he had Sinkewitz with him, later it was Hayman and Hoogerland, before going solo and being caught only a few km out.
Poels took the win for a Vaconsoleil 1-2. Albasini keeps the race lead. Hoogerland - who at one point was in virtual Yellow - takes over the KoM although is tied with Richie Porte still.
Decent riding for the British teams aswell, Jack Bauer taking 4th - with the likes of Partridge, Bibby, McEvoy, Tennant and Thomas all finishing right up there.
Wiggins though, rolled in with the peloton at I think over 20 minutes down - the split having been made in the very first 10km.
Unfortunately i need British Ip. But because of you pictures i just can imagine how crazy is this hill. And because i was very excited about this stage since the day when the route was announced.
Ill see if I can upload some highlights from the day, Im recording all of the hour per stage TV shows.
The man of the day today was Dan Martin. He went with every single move, most of the time leading the attacks. At one point he had Sinkewitz with him, later it was Hayman and Hoogerland, before going solo and being caught only a few km out.
Poels took the win for a Vaconsoleil 1-2. Albasini keeps the race lead. Hoogerland - who at one point was in virtual Yellow - takes over the KoM although is tied with Richie Porte still.
Decent riding for the British teams aswell, Jack Bauer taking 4th - with the likes of Partridge, Bibby, McEvoy, Tennant and Thomas all finishing right up there.
Wiggins though, rolled in with the peloton at I think over 20 minutes down - the split having been made in the very first 10km.
Unfortunately i need British Ip. But because of you pictures i just can imagine how crazy is this hill. And because i was very excited about this stage since the day when the route was announced.
Im currently uploading 20 minutes of video from the stage
Ok, just thought it looked liked it from the pics and I couldn't remember the name of the climb in LGP. LGP is a pretty sweet race though, really fun to watch. And I'm shure that both those hills must be fun to ride. Wish I could
SportingNonsense wrote:
A really good ride by Ian Bibby. It would be brilliant to see Sky sign him and/or Simon Richardson - but I guess its unlikely.
Maybe a long shot for this season, but Ian Bibby certainly won't be looked over for long. They have worked with him in the MTBer area of British Cycling after all, and they do seem to like hiring guys they've worked with.
Hopefully that will be the case - but the way they handled Downing last year suggested reluctance on their part in terms of hiring domestic riders
