Our riders that will ride the Ardennes classics, start their preparation in the Critérium International. This 3 stage-race at the isle of Corsica, is a perfect mix of all you need in cycling: lots of height metres and a mountain top finish in stage 1, a flat stage in stage 2, and a short time trial in stage 3.
In 2012, the 81st edition, the race was surprisingly won by FDJ's Arnold Jeannesson. He was in the succesful breakaway in the 1st stage and managed to stay in the leaders jersey.
The first stage in the Critérium International is the most difficult one. The stage is almost 200km long and features 7 categorized climbs, with the finish at the Col de l'Ospedale.
Andy Schleck is our man for this stage, but with a fitness level of 72, his chances to get the stage win are pretty low. In the end, he remains up front together with 3 French riders, but can't take part in the sprint for the win. That win goes to Euskaltels Romain Sicard, who beats Thomas Voeckler. Schleck finishes in 3rd at '11, in the same time as Christophe Kern.
Does this mean that Sicard finally shakes of being the eternally talent, or is he a one day fly?
I must not forget to mention, that Rob Ruijgh was present in the BOTD, collecting most of the KOTM-points, thus securing himself of the KOTM-jersey.
Results
1
Romain Sicard
Euskaltel - Euskadi
5h32'29
2
Thomas Voeckler
Team Europcar
s.t.
3
Andy Schleck
Monster Energy - Subway
+ 11
4
Christophe Kern
Team Europcar
s.t.
5
Jérémy Roy
FDJ
+ 1'04
6
Matteo Carrara
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
+ 1'43
7
Alessandro Bisolti
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
+ 1'51
8
Peter Sagan
Monster Energy - Subway
+ 2'10
9
Jérôme Pineau
Saur - Sojasun
+ 2'33
10
Pieter Weening
Qantas Airways
+ 2'39
Today's winner
Stage 2
The 2nd stage is only 75km long and mostly ends in a mass sprint. The route is almost completely flat.
Nothing much happens in the stage, and the peloton is preparing for a mass sprint. With that many riders with fitness levels under 75, our rider for the sprint Peter Sagan decides to choose a wheel, not using a Monster train.
He chooses the wheel of Samuel Dumoulin, and has mad the right choice. Only thing is, that Dumoulin is just too strong. Sagan comes close, but misses the win by a bike length. Great sprint by Samuel Dumoulin!
Results
1
Samuel Dumoulin
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
1h44'22
2
Peter Sagan
Monster Energy - Subway
s.t.
3
Daryl Impey
Team Type 1
s.t.
4
Anthony Geslin
FDJ
s.t.
5
Andrea Guardini
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
s.t.
6
Marko Kump
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
7
Shawn Milne
Garmin - Barracuda
s.t.
8
Russell Downing
Qantas Airways
s.t.
9
Sébastien Chavanel
Big Mat - Auber 93
s.t.
10
Gene Michael Bates
Lotto - Belisol
s.t.
Today's winner
Stage 3
The last stage is a 7.8km time trial in the streets of Porto Vecchio. It features a very small hill (height difference of 30 metres).
Peter Sagan takes revenge for stage 2, as he wins the time trial. The gap to number 2 Geoffroy Lequatre is small, just one second.
Romain Sicard rides the 5th time of the day and wins the Critérium International, beating the Europcar-duo Voeckler and Kern. Andy Schleck finishes in 4th.
Results
1
Peter Sagan
Monster Energy - Subway
10'20
2
Geoffroy Lequatre
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
+ 1
3
Jimmy Engoulvent
Garmin - Barracuda
+ 2
4
Maarten Neyens
Lotto - Belisol
+ 3
5
Romain Sicard
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
6
Matthieu Ladagnous
FDJ
+ 5
7
Paul Martens
Rabobank Cycling Team
+ 6
8
Jérémy Roy
FDJ
s.t.
9
Christophe Kern
Team Europcar
s.t.
10
Cyril Lemoine
Saur - Sojasun
+ 8
Today's winner
GC
1
Romain Sicard
Euskaltel - Euskadi
7h26'54
2
Thomas Voeckler
Team Europcar
+ 12
3
Christophe Kern
Team Europcar
+ 34
4
Andy Schleck
Monster Energy - Subway
+ 37
5
Jérémy Roy
FDJ
+ 1'21
6
Peter Sagan
Monster Energy - Subway
+ 2'15
7
Matteo Carrara
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
+ 2'24
8
Alessandro Bisolti
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
+ 2'49
9
Pieter Weening
Qantas Airways
+ 3'18
10
Jérôme Pineau
Saur - Sojasun
+ 3'27
Points
1
Peter Sagan
Monster Energy - Subway
53
2
Romain Sicard
Euskaltel - Euskadi
37
3
Samuel Dumoulin
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
31
4
Thomas Voeckler
Team Europcar
26
5
Jérémy Roy
FDJ
26
KOTM
A nice reward for Ruijgh.
1 Rob RuijghMonster Energy - Subway 39
2 Andy SchleckMonster Energy - Subway 32
3 Cyril Gautier Team Europcar 30
4 Arnold Jeanneson FDJ 28
5 Romain Sicard Euskaltel - Euskadi 20
Overall winner
Word from the DS
This was a good Critérium International for us, with a stage win, the KOTM-jersey and the 4th place in the GC. Not bad!
Back to Belgium, for the 3 Daagse De Panne - Koksijde. It's a 4-stage race in the West of Belgium, consisting of 1stage with cobbled hills, 2 flat stages near the North Seas with lots of wind and echelons, and 1 ITT.
The rider who wants to win this race, has to have great skills in cobbles and time trialling. So it's no wonder that last year, it was won by Fabian Cancellara.
This looks like a great story, just too bad that it's so long already, impossible for me to read it all. Maybe I'll try following from now on, but I might have missed too much.
The first stage in the Drdaagse can decide the GC. But, even though featuring many hills and cobbled sections, it is called a flat one, so expect a bigger group to arrive at the finish.
17km to go
A pretty large breakaway (12 riders) takes a margin of several minutes, but after the cobbled hills, only 3 riders remain up front. Kevin Hulsmans (Cofidis), Jan Kuyckx (Lotto) and Bert Scheirlinck (Accen'Jobs) have a margin of 1'54 to the first peloton. Kuyckx feels that he is the strongest and attacks.
Finish
Kuyckx even enlarges his margin and takes his first ever, getting rewarded for numerous attacks in the last few years.
Matti Breschel wins the sprint of the peloton (19 riders), 1'23 behind Kuyckx, and takes the 2nd place.
Results
1
Jan Kuyckx
Lotto - Belisol
4h45'48
2
Matti Breschel
Monster Energy - Subway
+ 1'23
3
William Bonnet
FDJ
s.t.
4
Thor Hushovd
Lotto - Belisol
s.t.
5
Tyler Farrar
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
s.t.
6
Lars Boom
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
7
Yohan Offredo
FDJ
s.t.
8
Coen Vermeltfoort
Monster Energy - Subway
s.t.
9
Kevin Hulsmans
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
10
José Joaquín Rojas
Garmin - Barracuda
s.t.
Today's winner
Word from the DS
Good stage for us, too bad that there was 1 rider of the former breakaway in front...
Ian Butler wrote:
This looks like a great story, just too bad that it's so long already, impossible for me to read it all. Maybe I'll try following from now on, but I might have missed too much.
Thank you! Well, when the weather is bad, you can always give tit a try!
Haha, when it rains for a week, maybe
For the moment, I'll just try and follow, when you start following cycling irl, you can't start at the beginning of time either, you just try to catch up whatever you can.
The Driedaagse De Panne - Koksijde continues with 2 flat stages. The first one goes from Zottegem to Sint Idesbald and is 165 kilometres long.
9km to go
Today, the peloton is more awake and will catch the BOTD. With a predicted mass sprint, also the sprinter teams are willing to help, so with 9km to go, the last 2 riders in the lead get caught. These 2 young Dutch riders, Ricardo van der Velde (Livestrong) and Thomas Berkhout (M&M's) went in the eary attack with 5 others and could dream of a stage win untill 9 kilometres before Sint Idesbald.
Finish
We've decided to practice our sprint train again, and manage to do a good job untill 1km to go. Matti Breschel isn't a pure sprinter and he simply lacks the speed of the big guns (okay, a dialy form of -1 doesn't help either, but that's no excuse!). Tyler Farrar is one of these sprinters with great top speed, and he wins the stage, being too fast for JJ Rojas and Jens Keukeleire. Breschel manages to finish in 7th place.
Results
1
Tyler Farrar
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
3h57'45
2
José Joaquín Rojas
Garmin - Barracuda
s.t.
3
Jens Keukeleire
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
4
Romain Feillu
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
5
William Bonnet
FDJ
s.t.
6
Gert Steegmans
Landbouwkrediet - Euphony
s.t.
7
Matti Breschel
Monster Energy - Subway
s.t.
8
Tosh Van der Sande
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
s.t.
9
Ian Stannard
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
10
Steven Van Vooren
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
s.t.
Today's winner
Stage 3
The 3rd and penultimate stage with start and finish in De Panne, is a short one. Only 100 kilometres, and almost completely flat.
7km to go
Just as yesterday, the peloton is awake and never lets the BOTD go to far. In the end, one of the 8 riders that were present in that BOTD, still remains up front. Aurélien Passeron from the Cofidis team has been joined by BMC's Alessandro Ballan, who is testing his legs with a late attack. But with 7km to go, they get caught. As you can see, the sprint trains are formed, with Omega Pharma - Quick Step, Garmin - Barracuda and Monster Energy - Subway in the front.
Finish
José Joaquín Rojas launches his sprint with 1500m to go, and immediately creating a nice gap. But with the finish line approaching, he starts to stall and his speed is declining. Tyler Farrar and Romain Feillu are coming close, along side of JJR and overtake him in the last 50 metres. It's the French Vacansoleil rider who takes the win, his first of the season.
And Matti Breschel? He feels a bit better than yesterday (daily form 0), but gets blocked a bit by Landbouwkrediets Gert Steegmans, and has to settle with the 9th place (without the blocking, a 7th or 8th would be maximum).
Results
1
Romain Feillu
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
2h08'18
2
Tyler Farrar
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
s.t.
3
José Joaquín Rojas
Garmin - Barracuda
s.t.
4
William Bonnet
FDJ
s.t.
5
Leonardo Duque
Radio Shack - Nissan
s.t.
6
Tom Leezer
M&M's
s.t.
7
Jens Keukeleire
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
8
Gert Steegmans
Landbouwkrediet - Euphony
s.t.
9
Matti Breschel
Monster Energy - Subway
s.t.
10
Sebastian Siedler
Differdange - SES Astra
s.t.
Today's winner
GC
Kuyckx is a terrible time trialist, but a margin of 1'11 should be enough... At 1'43 follows a big group, with also Hushovd, Vansummeren, Flecha and Terpstra.
1
Jan Kuyckx
Lotto - Belisol
10h51'31
2
Tyler Farrar
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
+ 1'11
3
José Joaquín Rojas
Garmin - Barracuda
+ 1'23
4
Matti Breschel
Monster Energy - Subway
+ 1'31
5
William Bonnet
FDJ
+ 1'35
6
Kevin Hulsmans
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
+ 1'37
7
Coen Vermeltfoort
Monster Energy - Subway
+ 1'43
8
Yohan Offredo
FDJ
s.t.
9
Martijn Maaskant
Monster Energy - Subway
s.t.
10
Lars Boom
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
Points
1
Tyler Farrar
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
57
2
José Joaquín Rojas
Garmin - Barracuda
42
3
William Bonnet
FDJ
42
4
Romain Feillu
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
39
5
Matti Breschel
Monster Energy - Subway
36
KOTM
1
Jan Kuyckx
Lotto - Belisol
20
2
Kevin Hulsmans
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
20
3
Bert Scheirlinckx
Accent.Jobs - Veranda's Willems
8
4
Maxim Debusschere
An Post - Sean Kelly
8
5
Jos Pronk
Rabobank Continental Team
5
Word from the DS
In both stages we tried to make the best of it, knowing that Breschel can't beat the likes of Farrar, Rojas and Feillu in a normal mass sprint. Next stage: ITT!
Edited by dienblad on 03-06-2012 17:01
The closing stage in the 3Daagse De Panne - Koksijde is a 9.3 kilometre time trial.
The question before the time trial is if Jan Kuyckx manages to maintain his GC-lead. He has a margin of over a minute, but is one of the weakest time trialist to start today.
To the race: At the time the last 25 riders have to start, the fastest time is surprisingly set by Sky's Mark Cavendish in a time of 11'43, being faster than someone like Taylor Phinney! But his time is crushed by Lars Boom, '21 faster. Meanwhile, our riders do disappoint a lot, with Niki Terpstra as fastest with the 14th place, '37 behind Boom.
Tyler Farrar sets all the pressure on Jan Kuyckx, finishing in the 2nd time only '19 behind Boom. This means, Kuykx as to finish before the clock hits 12'52. And he does, but with a very small margin. He has only 6 seconds left to keep in the lead and win the Driedaagse!
Results
1
Lars Boom
Rabobank Cycling Team
11'22
2
Tyler Farrar
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
+ 19
3
Mark Cavendish
Sky ProCycling
+ 21
4
Rick Flens
Rabobank Cycling Team
+ 24
5
Thomas Löfkvist
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
6
Kim Kirchen
Sky ProCycling
+ 25
7
Thor Hushovd
Lotto - Belisol
s.t.
8
Jens Voigt
Radio Shack - Nissan
+ 26
9
Sébastien Delfosse
Landbouwkrediet - Euphony
+ 34
10
Yohan Offredo
FDJ
s.t.
...
14
Niki Terpstra
Monster Energy - Subway
+ 37
Today's winner
GC
1
Jan Kuyckx
Lotto - Belisol
11h04'17
2
Tyler Farrar
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
+ 6
3
Lars Boom
Rabobank Cycling Team
+ 19
4
Thor Hushovd
Lotto - Belisol
+ 44
5
Jens Voigt
Radio Shack - Nissan
+ 45
6
José Joaquín Rojas
Garmin - Barracuda
+ 47
7
Yohan Offredo
FDJ
+ 53
8
George Hincapie
BMC Racing Team
+ 54
9
Niki Terpstra
Monster Energy - Subway
+ 56
10
William Bonnet
FDJ
+ 58
Points
1
Tyler Farrar
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
77
2
José Joaquín Rojas
Garmin - Barracuda
42
3
William Bonnet
FDJ
42
4
Romain Feillu
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
39
5
Matti Breschel
Monster Energy - Subway
36
KOTM
1
Jan Kuyckx
Lotto - Belisol
20
2
Kevin Hulsmans
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
20
3
Bert Scheirlinckx
Accent.Jobs - Veranda's Willems
8
4
Maxim Debusschere
An Post - Sean Kelly
8
5
Jos Pronk
Rabobank Continental Team
5
Overall winner
Word from the DS
For sure, this was a bad day for us. The riders all had an off day. So instead of aiming at the podium, we can be happy with one rider in the top 10.
@ sutty & Ian Butler: sometimes, you only race a race to prepare yourself for an other race, like I raced the 3daagse to preapre for De Ronde.
If you do so, a good result is nice, a bad result isn't a problem. Last year, I finished outside the top 10, this year inside, so improvement!
