Flat stage with some hills in the middle. Should be a sprint finish.
Cantoni tries to get in the days break but it is caught. Nielsen goes with the next break attempt and gets away.
The break reaches a maximum 12 minute lead with 110km to go. The peloton jumps into action and tracks the break down, 20 km from the finish. As the sprint trains form, Sui jumps on the Lampre train right behind Bennati.
The sprint gets into full swing and Boasson Hagen is back to his tricks from the Tour de Romandie. He goes from back to front in no time at all.
A sight that will probably be seen again throughout this Giro: Boasson Hagen, Sui and Bennati at the front of the sprint. Sui is pulling away from Bennati but not closing the gap on Boasson Hagen.
Boasson Hagen will take yet another win to add to his already impressive collection this season. Sui is 2nd, Bennati is 3rd.
Results
1 Edvald Boasson Hagen RABOBANK 4h43'31 2 Zhou Sui DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
3 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
4 Beniamino Cangelosi BARLOWORLD s.t.
5 Lino Calvi AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
6 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
7 Carlo Scognamiglio TEAM LPR s.t.
8 Rafael Rodríguez TEAM MILRAM s.t.
9 Gennarino Carruezzo TEAM MILRAM s.t.
10 William Bonnet CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
11 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen LIQUIGAS s.t.
12 Claudio Corioni GEROLSTEINER s.t.
13 Giuseppe Cerbone TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
14 Juan Pablo Dotti CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
15 Nicolas Sanderson AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
16 Rinaldo Nocentini TEAM MILRAM s.t.
17 Christopher Sutton GEROLSTEINER s.t.
18 Jonas Hoberg CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
19 Florent Bonnet EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
20 Elias Schmäh LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
21 Paride Grillo EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
22 Rafael Figueres CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
23 Didac Ortega TEAM LPR s.t.
24 Giancarlo Balsamo TEAM MILRAM s.t.
25 Mikhail Ignatiev TEAM CSC s.t.
26 Riccardo Riccò T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
27 Assan Bazayev T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
28 Damiano Cunego CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
29 Sébastien Harbonnier TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
30 Ruggero Marzoli RABOBANK s.t.
31 Máximo Lema TEAM MILRAM s.t.
32 Luca Pierfelici T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
33 Jos Pronk BARLOWORLD s.t.
34 Domenik Klemme GEROLSTEINER s.t.
35 Fausto Camilli TEAM MILRAM s.t.
36 Donato Cannone SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
37 Juan José Haedo TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
38 Diego Caccia LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
39 Francesco Civero T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
40 Rubén Pérez SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
41 Yann Huguet T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
42 Valerio Agnoli TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
43 Adam Blythe AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
44 Maarten De Jonge EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
45 Gabriele Tassinari SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
46 Ignacio Sarabia SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI s.t.
47 Mauro Facci SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
48 Leonardo Giordani TEAM MILRAM s.t.
49 Rémy Di Gregorio AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
50 Giovanni Visconti RABOBANK s.t. 61 Lars Boom DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
86 John-Lee Augustyn DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
109 Elia Casanova DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
112 Maxime Monfort DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
114 Luigi Sestili DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
116 John Devine DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
148 Kristoffer Nielsen DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 5'41
170 Ruben Cantoni DISCOVERY CHANNEL +7'32
Augustyn looks mighty good, and you have a young Italian with an 81 mountain rating at #2. With Sui having a chance to win those flat stages, you almost need a handicap with how you've beat the other teams up so far.
fightinchicken26 wrote:
Augustyn looks mighty good, and you have a young Italian with an 81 mountain rating at #2. With Sui having a chance to win those flat stages, you almost need a handicap with how you've beat the other teams up so far.
I hope the 2013 Giro is a good one.
Casanova was one I found in a scouting trip, scouted more heavily then signed. He developed very well, best neo I've found myself. I tend to sign 2 neo's every season and I've only kept 3 that have ever developed into anything reasonably useful. It is very hit or miss. Wish I could say I found Sui myself, but he came up with another team then I signed him away when his contract expired.
Flat stage. 12 man break today includes Nielsen. They are caught by the peloton and we move to a mass sprint finish.
Sui jumps on the Milram train, just behind Florent Bonnet. Boasson Hagen is nowhere to be seen.
With 1.5km to go, Boasson Hagen looks to be in pretty poor position.
Upfront, it is tight and will come down to Bonnet, Sui or Carruezzo.
Bonnet gets the win, Sui is 2nd place for the 2nd day in a row. Boasson Hagen put in an impressive push to finish 4th. However, the results push Sui into the maglia rosa and just on top of the sprinters points after two stages.
Results
1 Florent Bonnet EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 4h23'51 2 Zhou Sui DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
3 Gennarino Carruezzo TEAM MILRAM s.t.
4 Edvald Boasson Hagen RABOBANK s.t.
5 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen LIQUIGAS s.t.
6 Carlo Scognamiglio TEAM LPR s.t.
7 Lino Calvi AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
8 Rafael Rodríguez TEAM MILRAM s.t.
9 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
10 Giuseppe Cerbone TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
11 William Bonnet CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
12 Beniamino Cangelosi BARLOWORLD s.t.
13 Nicolas Sanderson AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
14 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
15 Kenny De Ketele CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT s.t.
16 Claudio Corioni GEROLSTEINER s.t.
17 Jonas Hoberg CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
18 Christopher Sutton GEROLSTEINER s.t.
19 Juan Pablo Dotti CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
20 Rafael Figueres CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
21 Elias Schmäh LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
22 Paride Grillo EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
23 Juan José Haedo TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
24 Rinaldo Nocentini TEAM MILRAM s.t.
25 Hayden Roulston AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
26 Giancarlo Balsamo TEAM MILRAM s.t.
27 Sven Vanthourenhout LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
28 Marcel Wyss LIQUIGAS s.t.
29 Kristof De Zutter LIQUIGAS s.t.
30 Máximo Lema TEAM MILRAM s.t.
31 Tim Klinger TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
32 Mikhail Ignatiev TEAM CSC s.t.
33 Wim Stroetinga TEAM LPR s.t.
34 Stijn Vandenbergh LIQUIGAS s.t.
35 Gregory Baugé LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
GC 1 Zhou Sui DISCOVERY CHANNEL 9h06'58
2 Florent Bonnet EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 4
3 Edvald Boasson Hagen RABOBANK s.t.
4 Sébastien Rosseler TEAM CSC + 14
5 Gennarino Carruezzo TEAM MILRAM + 16
6 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
7 Lino Calvi AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 24
8 Carlo Scognamiglio TEAM LPR s.t.
9 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen LIQUIGAS s.t.
10 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
11 Rafael Rodríguez TEAM MILRAM s.t.
12 Beniamino Cangelosi BARLOWORLD s.t.
13 William Bonnet CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
14 Giuseppe Cerbone TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
15 Nicolas Sanderson AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
16 Claudio Corioni GEROLSTEINER s.t.
17 Juan Pablo Dotti CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
18 Christopher Sutton GEROLSTEINER s.t.
19 Jonas Hoberg CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
20 Elias Schmäh LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
Another flat stage, another expected sprint finish. 12-men in break today over two groups. Cantoni finally gets into his first break, but is unfortunately in the 2nd group. The front group has a 10 minute lead wtih 95km to go and the pack shows no inclination to chase. With Cantoni unable to go for a win, we move into action and haul the break back in.
As sprint trains form, Sui has good position in front just behind Sutton. Boasson Hagen is behind Sui.
With 3km to go, Bennati falls and wreaks havoc on the sprint trains.
This creates a domino effect where more than 40 riders go down. Included in the casualties are Augustyn and a number of other favorites. Nobody will lose time, but the real concern is injuries.
We have a heart stopping moment where it looks like Augustyn can't go on. He finally does start pumping the pedals, however, and is fine. 5 riders, including Andrea Palini, are not so fine, however, and will be forced to abandon.
Up front, Weylandt has moved into the lead in the sprint, Sui is following him. Boasson Hagen is 3rd.
Sui tries to make his move but Weylandt is too strong and for the 3rd day in a row, Sui will finish 2nd. Always the bridesmaid but never the bride, it seems.
Results
1 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 4h12'55 2 Zhou Sui DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
3 Edvald Boasson Hagen RABOBANK s.t.
4 Beniamino Cangelosi BARLOWORLD s.t.
5 Giuseppe Cerbone TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
6 Christopher Sutton GEROLSTEINER s.t.
7 Lino Calvi AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
8 Gennarino Carruezzo TEAM MILRAM s.t.
9 Carlo Scognamiglio TEAM LPR s.t.
10 Nicolas Sanderson AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
11 Jonas Hoberg CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
12 Manuel Cardoso AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
13 Rafael Rodríguez TEAM MILRAM s.t.
14 William Bonnet CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
15 Claudio Corioni GEROLSTEINER s.t.
16 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen LIQUIGAS s.t.
17 Juan José Haedo TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
18 Florent Bonnet EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
19 Paride Grillo EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
20 Marcel Wyss LIQUIGAS s.t.
21 Wim Stroetinga TEAM LPR s.t.
22 Elias Schmäh LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
23 Simone Ponzi QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
24 Sébastien Harbonnier TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
25 Giorgio Brambilla QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
26 Willibert Rolfes TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
27 Marco Calascibetta TEAM MILRAM s.t.
28 Rafael Figueres CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
29 Giovanni Visconti RABOBANK s.t.
30 Steve Schets CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
GC 1 Zhou Sui DISCOVERY CHANNEL 13h19'41
2 Edvald Boasson Hagen RABOBANK + 8
3 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 16
4 Florent Bonnet EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
5 Leonardo Giordani TEAM MILRAM + 26
6 Sébastien Rosseler TEAM CSC s.t.
7 Gennarino Carruezzo TEAM MILRAM + 28
8 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
9 Michael Pichler PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 30
10 Lino Calvi AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 36
11 Beniamino Cangelosi BARLOWORLD s.t.
12 Carlo Scognamiglio TEAM LPR s.t.
13 Giuseppe Cerbone TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
14 Rafael Rodríguez TEAM MILRAM s.t.
15 Christopher Sutton GEROLSTEINER s.t.
16 Nicolas Sanderson AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
17 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen LIQUIGAS s.t.
18 William Bonnet CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
19 Jonas Hoberg CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
20 Claudio Corioni GEROLSTEINER s.t.
Thought I got a screenshot of the profile but apparently not. In any case, it is mostly flat with a hill in the middle and a slight uphill finish. The finish does not favor Sui but plays right to Boasson Hagen's strengths. Therefore, we will not chase today in the hopes that the breakaway can take the win.
There is a break of 12 including Nielsen. Rabobank takes charge of the chase for Boasson Hagen and they catch the break with 10km to go.
As the trains form, Sui is in terrible position and Boasson Hagen is nowhere to be seen.
Full on into the sprint, two hilly specialists are at the front: Balsamo and Gottfried. Boasson Hagen has suddenly burst into the scene in the background.
Balsamo is going to take the win. Boasson Hagen, has he has done so many times before this season, does an impressive job of coming from well back to finish in the top 3.
Boasson Hagen takes back the maglia rosa. We are not too heartbroken about this as it means we won't have to defend the jersey in tomorrow's mountain stage. More important for us, is that Boasson Hagen has taken an 11 point lead in the points standings.
Results
1 Giancarlo Balsamo TEAM MILRAM 3h30'44
2 Alexander Gottfried PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
3 Edvald Boasson Hagen RABOBANK s.t.
4 Rafael Rodríguez TEAM MILRAM s.t.
5 Claudio Corioni GEROLSTEINER s.t.
6 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
7 Beniamino Cangelosi BARLOWORLD s.t.
8 Carlo Scognamiglio TEAM LPR s.t.
9 Lino Calvi AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
10 Giovanni Visconti RABOBANK s.t.
11 Giorgio Brambilla QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
12 Riccardo Riccò T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
13 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen LIQUIGAS s.t.
14 Steve Schets CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
15 Francesco Failli TEAM ASTANA s.t.
16 Elias Schmäh LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
17 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t. 18 Zhou Sui DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
19 Florent Bonnet EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
20 Giuseppe Cerbone TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
21 Luca Pierfelici T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
22 Marcel Wyss LIQUIGAS s.t.
23 Assan Bazayev T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
24 Yann Huguet T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
25 Rinaldo Nocentini TEAM MILRAM s.t.
26 Christopher Sutton GEROLSTEINER s.t.
27 Jérôme Baugnies PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
28 Francesco Civero T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
29 Didac Ortega TEAM LPR s.t.
30 Ignacio Sarabia DIQ - SELLE ITALIA s.t.
GC
1 Edvald Boasson Hagen RABOBANK 16h50'25 2 Zhou Sui DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
3 Giancarlo Balsamo TEAM MILRAM + 16
4 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
5 Florent Bonnet EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
6 Alexander Gottfried PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 24
7 Leonardo Giordani TEAM MILRAM + 26
8 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 28
9 Rafael Rodríguez TEAM MILRAM + 36
10 Beniamino Cangelosi BARLOWORLD s.t.
11 Lino Calvi AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
12 Carlo Scognamiglio TEAM LPR s.t.
13 Claudio Corioni GEROLSTEINER s.t.
14 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen LIQUIGAS s.t.
15 Giuseppe Cerbone TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
16 Elias Schmäh LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
17 Christopher Sutton GEROLSTEINER s.t.
18 Steve Schets CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
19 Marcel Wyss LIQUIGAS s.t.
20 Giorgio Brambilla QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
Discussions with our riders are proceeding well. In terms of key riders:
Frederik Nolf: Currently earns 30,000 euros/month, wants a team leader contract at 70,000 euros/month. We already declined to re-sign him.
Heinrich Haussler: Earns 40,000 euros/month as a team leader, wants 60,000 euros/month. We're negotiating.
Ivan Rovny: On 20,000 euros/month, wants a team leader contact of 90,000 euros/month. We've postponed to see what options we have to sign other riders for less.
Andy Schleck: On 110,000 euros/month as a team leader, wants 140,000 euros/month. We've postponed making a decision to see what options we have in July.
First mountain stage and we will get some idea of who the real contenders are this year.
Break of 4 today includes Nielsen. They get an 11'20" lead with 140km to go when QuickStep starts the chase. Thomas Rohregger must be feeling strong today for QuickStep to want to go for the win.
We hit the final climb and the action starts. Ricco makes the first attack, 13 km from the finish.
Casanova, Mitodorov, Augustyn, Campanile, Tassinari and Boasson Hagen follow.
Campanile's attack was the strongest and he comes away with a 16 second lead.
The chase group that has formed behind him includes the riders mentioned above plus Rohregger. Chasing behind this group are Egoi Martinez, Gomez Marchante, Pozzovizzo, Zubeldia and Broco.
Campanile is caught with 5 km to go.
Suddenely, nobody in the front group wants to cooperate anymore and we start to break apart.
As we near the finish, based on the logic that Rohregger feels good today, Augustyn latches onto his wheel. Casanova is not at his best today and follows Augustyn rather than the other way around.
Following Rohregger proves to be the move of the day as he pulls our guys well away from the others. Now Augustyn tries to pass him in the sprint.
It is going to be incredibly close.
I can't tell who won but the officials hand it to Augustyn. We get our first stage win and Augustyn moves into the maglia rosa.
This is a bit early to be taking the maglia rosa and we have flashbacks to last season where Augustyn had the lead for much of the Giro only to go into the final week and be crushed by Soler.
Speaking of Soler, he must be hurting from the Bennati lead pile-up of 2 stages ago. He struggles bigtime and finishes over 9 minutes back today.
Performance of the day goes to Boasson Hagen. If he is going to take top 10s in flat stages, hill stages and mountain stages then Sui has no chance at the points jersey.
Results 1 John-Lee Augustyn DISCOVERY CHANNEL 5h10'08
2 Thomas Rohregger QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
3 Elia Casanova DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
4 Riccardo Riccò T-MOBILE TEAM + 18
5 Annunziato Campanile LIQUIGAS + 26
6 Mirdjalol Mitodorov TEAM ASTANA s.t.
7 Edvald Boasson Hagen RABOBANK s.t.
8 Egoi Martínez TEAM LPR + 53
9 Gabriele Tassinari SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
10 Domenico Pozzovivo CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 1'27
11 José Angel Gómez Marchante CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
12 Rémy Di Gregorio AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 2'14
13 Hernâni Brôco BARLOWORLD s.t.
14 Haimar Zubeldia EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 2'28
15 Henry Raabe DIQ - SELLE ITALIA + 3'00 16 Maxime Monfort DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 3'08
17 Giancarlo Balsamo TEAM MILRAM s.t.
18 Branislav Samoilau BARLOWORLD s.t.
19 Fausto Camilli TEAM MILRAM s.t.
20 Simone Bruson TEAM MILRAM s.t.
21 Tim Dees CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t. 22 Lars Boom DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
23 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen LIQUIGAS s.t.
24 Alberto Fernández BARLOWORLD s.t. 25 Luigi Sestili DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 3'16
26 Sergey Balayan DIQ - SELLE ITALIA s.t.
27 Rubén Pérez SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t. 28 John Devine DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
29 Ian McLeod TEAM CSC s.t.
30 Rinaldo Nocentini TEAM MILRAM s.t.
31 Evgeni Petrov TEAM CSC s.t.
32 Mikhail Ignatiev TEAM CSC s.t.
33 Ignacio Sarabia DIQ - SELLE ITALIA s.t.
34 Edwin Parra TEAM ASTANA s.t.
35 Alexander Gottfried PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 3'24
36 Donato Cannone SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t. 37 Zhou Sui DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
38 Matthias Ruß RABOBANK s.t.
39 Damiano Cunego CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
40 Saul Raisin EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 3'32
41 Julián Rodas TEAM CSC s.t.
42 Marcel Wyss LIQUIGAS s.t.
43 Máximo Lema TEAM MILRAM s.t.
44 Chris Sørensen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 3'40
45 Luca Pierfelici T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
46 Matteo Bono SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
47 Rafael Rodríguez TEAM MILRAM s.t.
48 Chris Froome LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 3'48
49 Cristiano Ronaldo Venâncio DIQ - SELLE ITALIA s.t.
50 Valerio Agnoli TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
GC 1 John-Lee Augustyn DISCOVERY CHANNEL 22h00'49
2 Thomas Rohregger QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 8
3 Edvald Boasson Hagen RABOBANK + 10 4 Elia Casanova DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 12
5 Riccardo Riccò T-MOBILE TEAM + 38
6 Mirdjalol Mitodorov TEAM ASTANA + 46
7 Annunziato Campanile LIQUIGAS s.t.
8 Egoi Martínez TEAM LPR + 1'13
9 Gabriele Tassinari SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
10 José Angel Gómez Marchante CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'47
11 Domenico Pozzovivo CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
12 Rémy Di Gregorio AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 2'34
13 Hernâni Brôco BARLOWORLD s.t.
14 Haimar Zubeldia EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 2'48
15 Giancarlo Balsamo TEAM MILRAM + 3'08 16 Zhou Sui DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
17 Henry Raabe DIQ - SELLE ITALIA + 3'20
18 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen LIQUIGAS + 3'28
19 Fausto Camilli TEAM MILRAM s.t. 20 Lars Boom DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
21 Branislav Samoilau BARLOWORLD s.t. 22 Maxime Monfort DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
23 Tim Dees CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
24 Alberto Fernández BARLOWORLD s.t.
Hilly towards the finish today and we expect attacks. Favors Boasson Hagen for points so we won't chase but will rather try and send someone in the break in the hope that the break wins.
Lots of early breaks, all get chased down. A break of 4 finally gets away but it does not include us.
QuickStep chases the break down with 40km to go, we move through the series of hills with no attacks so it will be a sprint finish. As the sprint starts, Boasson Hagen is at the front and Sui is nowhere to be seen.
With no breakaways and a downhill sprint finish, this plays well for Sui (a downhill specialist), and sure enough he is quickly moving up. Problem is, Boasson Hagen is well in the distance.
Boasson Hagen gets a comfortable win and takes back the maglia rosa. Augustyn's stay in rosa was short.
Results
1 Edvald Boasson Hagen RABOBANK 5h20'54
2 Giovanni Visconti RABOBANK s.t.
3 Lino Calvi AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
4 Christopher Sutton GEROLSTEINER s.t. 5 Zhou Sui DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
6 Francesco Civero T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
7 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
8 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen LIQUIGAS s.t.
9 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
10 Giancarlo Balsamo TEAM MILRAM s.t.
11 Luca Pierfelici T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
12 Alexander Gottfried PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
13 Valerio Agnoli TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
14 Riccardo Riccò T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
15 Yann Huguet T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
16 Rafael Rodríguez TEAM MILRAM s.t.
17 Mikhail Ignatiev TEAM CSC s.t.
18 Claudio Corioni GEROLSTEINER s.t.
19 Beniamino Cangelosi BARLOWORLD s.t.
20 Carlo Scognamiglio TEAM LPR s.t.
21 Assan Bazayev T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
22 Rubén Pérez SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
23 Ignas Konovalovas RABOBANK s.t.
24 Elias Schmäh LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
25 Didac Ortega TEAM LPR s.t.
Hills at the outset but a flat finish likely to result in a mass sprint.
11 in the break today, including an unusual sight. Soler, winner of 3 out of the last 4 Giro's is there. He's obviously feeling better after a niggling injury sustained in an earlier crash but is out of the running given he already trails Rohregger by 28 minutes coming into today.
The break is caught and we come to a mass sprint. Sui is on Boasson Hagen's wheel and a bit behind Weylandt.
He loses touch, however, and well into the sprint Weylandt is running away with it, Boasson Hagen in the top 3 and Sui nowhere to be seen.
Weylandt takes the win, Boasson Hagen is 2nd and Sui is 8th. At this point, Sui has virtually no chance of winning the points jersey as Boasson Hagen further extends his lead.
From here on out, Sui's goal chages to trying to win a stage and (barring something unforeseen) it is likely we will withdraw him by the end of the 2nd week before the real mountain action starts.
Results
1 Wouter Weylandt QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 4h15'25
2 Edvald Boasson Hagen RABOBANK s.t.
3 Claudio Corioni GEROLSTEINER s.t.
4 Lino Calvi AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
5 Beniamino Cangelosi BARLOWORLD s.t.
6 Rafael Rodríguez TEAM MILRAM s.t.
7 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen LIQUIGAS s.t. 8 Zhou Sui DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
9 Christopher Sutton GEROLSTEINER s.t.
10 Carlo Scognamiglio TEAM LPR s.t.
11 Juan José Haedo TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
12 Manuel Cardoso AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
13 Jonas Hoberg CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
14 Florent Bonnet EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
15 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
16 Wim Stroetinga TEAM LPR s.t.
17 Alexander Gottfried PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
18 Nicolas Sanderson AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
19 Giorgio Brambilla QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
20 Assan Bazayev T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
While we are at the Giro, we have another race to run. This one is also important to the sponsors, who want a top 3 finish. If we are to get one, it is likely that Rovny will be the guy to get us there. We've had good success at this tour in the past and will be hoping that it continues.
Past Winners
2007: Juanma Garate (QuickStart)
2008: Juan Angel Gomez Marchante (Discovery Channel)
2009: Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel)
2010: Ruben Plaza (QuickStart)
2011: Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel)
2012: Humberto Amilcar (Caisse d'Eparge)
It is a tough field this year. The main guy to watch, based on his recent performances, is likely to be Tony Martin. A lot of the other big names, like Thomas Dekker, will not yet be in race shape.
TTT generally favor my Discovery Channel team, however this is not our strongest time trialing team nor are we in top shape so not sure what to expect.
Long time trial today. Should see a shake-up at the top of the standings as Rohregger is a poor time trialist while Augustyn is the best amongst those in the top 5 at the moment. We're expecting our Italian time trialing specialist, Luigi Sestili, to perform quite well today.
Kraaybeek sets the first really strong time of the day: 1h15'44. It will end up being good enough for 4th, +1'16.
Klinger, +1'24 (5th)
Rodas, +43 (3rd)
Sestili does indeed fly through the course and finishes in 1h14'28". That looks tough to beat.
Tassinari, +2'50 (19th)
Mitodorov, +2'46 (19th)
Ricco, +1'30 (7th) - good time for him
Augustyn,+1'28 (6th)
Boasson Hagen, +3'40 (39th)
Rohregger loses lots of time: +3'20 (32nd)
So, Sestili gets us our 2nd stage win and Augustyn is back in the maglia rosa.
Results 1 Luigi Sestili DISCOVERY CHANNEL 1h14'28
2 Mikhail Ignatiev TEAM CSC + 26
3 Julián Rodas TEAM CSC + 43
4 Han Kraaybeek TEAM ASTANA + 1'16
5 Tim Klinger TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 1'24 6 John-Lee Augustyn DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 1'28
7 Riccardo Riccò T-MOBILE TEAM + 1'30 8 Lars Boom DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 1'38
9 Chris Froome LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 1'42
10 Fausto Camilli TEAM MILRAM + 1'53
11 Annunziato Campanile LIQUIGAS + 2'04
12 Tim Dees CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 2'06
13 Marcel Wyss LIQUIGAS + 2'12
14 Edwin Parra TEAM ASTANA + 2'33
15 Egoi Martínez TEAM LPR + 2'40
16 Mirdjalol Mitodorov TEAM ASTANA + 2'46 17 John Devine DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
18 Giovanni Visconti RABOBANK + 2'47
19 Gabriele Tassinari SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 2'50
20 Giorgio Brambilla QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 2'55
21 Luca Pierfelici T-MOBILE TEAM + 2'56
22 Christopher Sutton GEROLSTEINER + 3'00 23 Elia Casanova DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 3'02
24 Alexander Gottfried PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 3'06
25 Haimar Zubeldia EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 3'07
26 Ignacio Sarabia DIQ - SELLE ITALIA + 3'08
27 Mauricio Ortega TEAM LPR + 3'13
28 Domenik Klemme GEROLSTEINER + 3'16
29 Óscar Sánchez QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 3'17
30 Evgeni Petrov TEAM CSC + 3'20
31 Hernâni Brôco BARLOWORLD s.t.
32 Thomas Rohregger QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
33 Alberto Fernández BARLOWORLD + 3'23 34 Maxime Monfort DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 3'26
35 Giancarlo Balsamo TEAM MILRAM + 3'30
36 Simone Ponzi QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 3'32
37 Donato Cannone SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 3'36
38 Michael Rogers RABOBANK + 3'40
39 Edvald Boasson Hagen RABOBANK s.t.
40 Ignas Konovalovas RABOBANK + 3'41
41 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen LIQUIGAS + 3'42
42 Henry Raabe DIQ - SELLE ITALIA + 3'44
43 Sébastien Rosseler TEAM CSC + 3'48
44 Damiano Cunego CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 3'54
45 Stanislav Kozúbek TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 4'04
46 Matthias Ruß RABOBANK s.t.
47 Francesco Failli TEAM ASTANA + 4'07
48 Chris Sørensen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 4'09
49 Mauricio Soler CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 4'16
50 Valerio Agnoli TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
GC 1 John-Lee Augustyn DISCOVERY CHANNEL 40h25'28
2 Riccardo Riccò T-MOBILE TEAM + 15
3 Thomas Rohregger QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 1'17
4 Annunziato Campanile LIQUIGAS + 1'38 5 Elia Casanova DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 1'54
6 Edvald Boasson Hagen RABOBANK + 1'58
7 Mirdjalol Mitodorov TEAM ASTANA + 2'04
8 Egoi Martínez TEAM LPR + 2'33
9 Gabriele Tassinari SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 2'43
10 Mikhail Ignatiev TEAM CSC + 2'58 11 Luigi Sestili DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 3'04
12 Julián Rodas TEAM CSC + 3'55 13 Lars Boom DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 4'18
14 Tim Dees CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE + 4'22
15 Chris Froome LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 4'30
16 Marcel Wyss LIQUIGAS + 4'44
17 Alexander Gottfried PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 4'49
18 José Angel Gómez Marchante CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
19 Hernâni Brôco BARLOWORLD + 4'58
20 Giancarlo Balsamo TEAM MILRAM + 5'26
21 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen LIQUIGAS + 5'32 22 John Devine DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 5'34
23 Ignacio Sarabia DIQ - SELLE ITALIA + 5'48
24 Luca Pierfelici T-MOBILE TEAM + 5'52
25 Giovanni Visconti RABOBANK + 5'55
Edited by SeoulYank on 20-08-2009 01:26
There is a break of 13 today. Before it is caught, as we hit the foot of the climb, LL Sanchez launches an attack. It is a bit ambitious, and he will be caught along with the rest of the break.
As the peloton is in full pursuit, Thomas Dekker has the misfortune of a puncture. Teammates will go back to help him but he stands no chance of getting back to the peloton and will lose over 6 minutes on the day.
With 30km to go, we get the first serious attack of the day from Elias Morca.
He'll be followed by Pardilla and Orozco. Plaza and Martin are soon to follow.
Time for Rovny to counter, along with Mariani and Txurruka.
As the attacks settle down, a group of 11 top riders comes together: Morca, Martin, Rovny, Pardilla, Duarte, Ulbrich, Txurruka, Mariani, Gonzales, Castroviejo and Orozco. Most of the favorites are here.
With 2.7km to go, Rovny is leading the way and getting ready for the sprint. He is one of the better sprinters in this group and is thinking now about winning the stage.
.3km to go and Rovny is in full sprint. Pardilla, the only guy with a chance to beat him, tries to make his move.
Rovny is too strong, though, and he'll win the stage. Pardilla takes the top spot.
Results 1 Ivan Rovny DISCOVERY CHANNEL 4h46'55
2 Sergio Pardilla RABOBANK s.t.
3 Elias Morca CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
4 Tony Martin PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
5 Tim Ulbrich TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t. 6 Jesús Mariani DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
7 Javier González TEAM LPR s.t.
8 Fabio Duarte SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
9 Edwin Orozco TEAM ASTANA s.t.
10 Ricardo Mestre BARLOWORLD s.t.
11 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
12 Luis Cuadrado TEAM CSC + 1'42
13 Alejandro Valverde AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 2'09
14 Eros Capecchi PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
15 Jaume Rovira QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
16 Aleksandr Pliuschin EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
17 Eduardo Gonzalo KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
18 Jesus Guréndez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
19 Markus Eibegger LIQUIGAS s.t.
20 Ángel Vázquez KARPIN GALICIA s.t.
21 Dimitry Kozontchuk CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT s.t.
22 Carlos Barredo QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
23 Andreas Linden CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
24 Rubén Plaza LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
25 Philip Deignan TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
GC
1 Sergio Pardilla RABOBANK 5h22'13
2 Fabio Duarte SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 14 3 Ivan Rovny DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 18
4 Elias Morca CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 19 5 Jesús Mariani DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 28
6 Tony Martin PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 42
7 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
8 Tim Ulbrich TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 54
9 Javier González TEAM LPR + 1'00
10 Ricardo Mestre BARLOWORLD + 1'04
11 Edwin Orozco TEAM ASTANA + 1'06
12 Luis Cuadrado TEAM CSC + 1'46
13 Jakob Fiedler TEAM CSC + 2'13
14 Raúl Gurpegi TEAM CSC s.t.
15 Jonay Pereiro TEAM CSC s.t.
Points 1 Ivan Rovny DISCOVERY CHANNEL 25 25
2 Sergio Pardilla RABOBANK 20 20
3 Elias Morca CAISSE D'EPARGNE 16 16
4 Tony Martin PREDICTOR - LOTTO 14 14
5 Tim Ulbrich TEAM WIESENHOF FELT 12 12
A challenging mountain stage today. Should see lots of action.
Ruben Plaza launches the first serious attack of the day, 4km from the peak of the next to last climb.
The race leader, Pardilla, and Tony Martin follow.
This is a signal to many other riders, including Rovny, to get moving.
When all the attacking is done, only Duarte has managed to get away. The remainder are caught by the peloton which proceeds to split under the effort such that the group chasing Duarte is composed of 30 riders.
Pardilla tries to get away again. It won't work but it will result in the pace being increased and riders being dropped. At this point, Duarte has opened a 1'42 lead over the chasing pack.
Mariani moves up front to push the pace harder, trying to close the gap and drop riders.
Mariani doesn't close the gap on Duarte who is looking superhuman today. He does drop riders, however, and the group narrows to 13. Unfortunately, one of the casualties is Rovny who cannot keep up and cracks. He'll lose a lot of time today.
Well ahead, Duarte crosses the line with a very impressive win, more than 2 minutes ahead of the chasers.
Morca takes 2nd, Gurendez 3rd and Mariani 4th. We still have a shot at a top 3 but it will have to be Mariani.
Results
1 Fabio Duarte SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 5h31'00
2 Elias Morca CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 2'25
3 Jesus Guréndez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t. 4 Jesús Mariani DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
5 Sergio Pardilla RABOBANK s.t.
6 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK + 2'33
7 Tim Ulbrich TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
8 Javier González TEAM LPR + 2'41
9 Tony Martin PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
10 Luca Zanasca SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 2'49
11 Ricardo Mestre BARLOWORLD + 3'21
12 José Antonio Redondo BARLOWORLD s.t.
13 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
14 Jaume Rovira QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
15 Luis Cuadrado TEAM CSC + 3'29
16 Sergio Domínguez LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
17 Rubén Plaza LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
18 Edwin Orozco TEAM ASTANA s.t.
19 Eladio Jiménez KARPIN GALICIA + 3'37
20 Manuel Medina TEAM ASTANA s.t. 21 Ivan Rovny DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 3'45
22 Mikel Astarloza CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 3'53
23 Ángel Vicioso RABOBANK s.t.
24 David Martín CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 4'01
25 Adelio Ceretta CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE s.t.
GC
1 Fabio Duarte SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 10h53'17
2 Sergio Pardilla RABOBANK + 2'21
3 Elias Morca CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 2'34 4 Jesús Mariani DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 2'49
5 Tony Martin PREDICTOR - LOTTO + 3'19
6 Tim Ulbrich TEAM WIESENHOF FELT + 3'23
7 Javier González TEAM LPR + 3'37
8 Amets Txurruka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 3'59 9 Ivan Rovny DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
10 Ricardo Mestre BARLOWORLD + 4'21
11 Edwin Orozco TEAM ASTANA + 4'31
12 Jesus Guréndez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 4'49
13 Luca Zanasca SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 5'08
14 Luis Cuadrado TEAM CSC + 5'11
15 Ángel Vicioso RABOBANK + 6'04
