@FreitasPCM: He'll try his all, that's for sure He has developed well and is definitely ready for his first leader role
@Ian Butler: Thank you so much Puccio have had a really great time riding the Ardennes-classics for sure, and the results really wasn't what we expected at first
Ian Butler wrote:
So what's the next chapter in Püccio's life?
Well, first of all, this chapter isn't over at all. In a few days he'll ride the Giro di Toscana, being the first race with him participating as leader. With his great shape at the moment, i'll bet he'll end near the top of the table. It'll undoubtable be exciting to follow.
But when that's over, Puccio will have a long break from racing. This means training, covering up a lot of stuff and also a chance to talk about his contract situation. So Salva is going into a more quite chapter of his career now
Pre-Tactics
Together with Xabier and Peter, i'm the only one on the team who've been riding the Ardennes-classics as main focus, and therefore we're naturally also the ones in best shape. Our director sportif has chosen me as the main leader, and i'm really excited about that, especially with a lineup like this.
The route suits me quite well. The most paramount climbs are a little too steep for my taste, but they're a long way away from the finish line. I think i'll have my best chance if we can bring it down to a small group sprint finish.
Riders to be special aware about are Pellizotti, Garzelli and Gatto who are soon ready for the Giro. Also Riders like Machado and Pietropolli could be a real threat with their current shape.
Favorites
F. Pellizotti
T. Machado, D. Pietropolli
O. Gatto, S. Garzelli, A. Vinokourov
The Race
Only three riders got away in the morning. Quite unknown riders like Selig, Dodu and Ciavatta shouldn't be counted as any real threat with such tough profile and a race length of 180 km. It therefore looked to be a mission impossible for the three.
Break of the day
The weather was quite awful, with rain and strong winds all day long. Not the best weather for a rider with Puccio's origin.
The pack along the sea in rainy weather
The pack had complete control over the breakaway, so over the two last climbs, Sky got to the front with the only purpose of making the race hard for the weaker riders in the back of the pack.
Sky starting to control the pace
The seperation seemed to work fine, as only 29 riders got over the last climb in front. The morning break was already reeled in and eliminated at this point and both Xabier, Kennaugh, Barry and Puccio was a part of the front group.
The front group after the last climb
With a group sprint in sight, Garzelli thought he had to take a chance and therefore he went solo just eight km from the finish line.
Garzelli on a solo ride 8 km from the line
With very strong riders like Gatto, Favilli and Failli, Farnese Vini who were massively represented in the front group, immediately got to the front to relay and reel in Garzelli again.
Farnese Vini chasing Garzelli
But the task of bringing back Garzelli was more complicated than first assumed. With great downhilling skills, Garzelli extended his lead a little bit on the slippery roads towards the finishing line.
Garzelli keeping the intense high
But when getting to the flat and straight section again, the sprint-trains got organized and it now seemed difficult for Garzelli. Puccio's team-mates had run dry on energy and couldn't set up a train for him. Therefore he tried to follow the wheel of Pietropolli, surrounded by decent sprinters like Gatto, Pellizotti, Montaguti and Favilli.
Trains being organized as Garzelli's lead reduces
Going into the final sprint, Garzelli quickly got caught. Pellizotti led out at front while Gatto clearly didn't had what it took to win. Behind Pellizotti was Pietropolli, followed by Puccio and Favilli.
The final sprint starts as Garzelli gets caught
With the finish in sight, Pietropolli moves past Pellizotti with Puccio, Favilli and Montaguti right behind in the slipstream.
Pietropolli takes the front
With Puccio still in the wheel of Pietropolli, Favilli makes a clever move, by going between Pietropolli and Pellizotti in an extraordinary fast acceleration, making it hard for Puccio to follow directly.
Favilli makes his move
Puccio tried his all to catch Favilli. With the finish line in sight, it could almost look as he had a chance to get past Favilli before the line...
Puccio trying to follow Favilli
Puccio caught Favilli and managed to be able to snif at Favilli's rear wheel. If he had to get past, it had to be very quick and right now...
Puccio almost there
But it was too close to call. Puccio had used up all his energy and wasn't able to get past Favilli, who took a great win for the most dominant team today. But undoubtedly still a great result for Puccio and the team, definitely!
Favilli takes the win in front of Puccio and Montaguti
This was a great race for me. I'm excited to have had the chance of leading the team, and i think i did my very best to not disappoint my teammates and staff. Favilli makes a clever move on the final couple of metres, and my relatively unexperienced way of riding probably loses my chances of winning today, as i felt really strong on the final metres. But done is done and i have to be happy about this great result of mine, which was a part of my personal ambitions for this season.
I'm definitely beggining to feel the exhaustion of my tight schedule and the way of living as professional bike rider. I'm therefore quite glad to have a break from racing through the next months. As far as i'm aware, i'll first be in action again at August, so it's a relatively long break where i can breath out and recover.
But i'll keep you updated about my doings through the months, so goodbye for now - And see you later.
Great result. Not a win, but it was a really good finale to the first half of his season, Favilli was faster. Now, hope Salvatore keeps on improving during his break!
@all: Thanks everybody! It's great to see that so many of you, are following. Puccio did great in his last spring race and definitely deserves a break on these magnificent spring results
I'll keep you updated through the months with different highlights, contract situation and so forth. So stay tuned
It has been a very rewarding month for the team. Flecha started the month out great, by ending 3rd in Ronde Van Vlaanderen, but unfortunately couldn't interfere himself in the top later in the Paris - Roubaix. Before Froome went on to take a recovering break, he led out the team at the Pais Vasco. Here he took a great yet quite surprising win in the general classification, going from third to first on the final and decisive time trial. A great result indeed!
The rest of the story you already know quite well. In the Tour of León, Uran took the overall win with Puccio taking the mountains classification jersey. And onwards to the Ardennes-classics, the team surprised everybody, taking two podium spots with Urán.
On the World Tour team rankings, our team occupies first place with a narrow lead over Omega Pharma - Quick Step, which is now the case for the second month in a row. On the individual rankings, our highest placed rider is Froome, who has taking the fourth place, followed by Wiggins, in a table led by Ardennes-classics winner Rodriguez.
On the CQ-rankings, our team also occupies first place, followed by the Radioshack team. On the individuals, Tom Boonen who've had a great spring session, is in the lead. Froome is also our best placed rider in this table, occupying 6th.
There's no doubt that i've been making the greatest results in my career in this month of April. This is clearly seen in my progress on the ranking tables seen below.
Salvatore Puccio's Rankings
Leaderboard
Ranking
Points
World Tour
55 (+5)
36
CQ-Ranking
67 (+130)
273
I haven't yet figured out the importance of my actions and performances in my latest races. I've been a top contender to the biggest favorites in the Ardennes-classics, while the whole world of cycling was watching me. I've seen several media articles about a future star, concerning my name, and i've experienced an explosive increase of media interrest when riding races. It all seems so unrealistic, but i'm living my dream.
I'm looking forward to have a break from racing. I can feel the exhaustion from the many races i've rode over such short amount of time. It's very hard and i've been travelling a lot, so i'm glad to have the chance of going back to Italy and see my friends and family.
For this months team-mate award, i've chosen Peter Kennaugh.
Peter is 22 years old like me, so i'm naturally feeling a strong conection with him, since we're going through the same.
The main reason that it had to be Peter, was the fact that he has been in such great shape through the Ardennes-classics. If Peter had had a chance of driving his own chances, he could've done some amazing results i think. But instead of thinking about his own chances, he has sacrificed himself completely for the team and his leaders. He has shown a great ability of team spirit in such young age, and it really deserves to be recognised.
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