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Insights: Citigroup Pro Cycling Team | Break
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 19-08-2013 11:29
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Tour de France Champion
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Blog #29 | 21th of May 2013 | 22:12
The big mountain stage! I was curious who I'd see on top first!
The peloton gave the breakaway quite some time and took it easy for a long time.
4 kilometers before the final climb, Tom jumped out of the pack.
Meanwhile, Vincent was cracking up the breakaway with his pace on the mountain slopes.
Amazingly, he shook off the entire group and finished solo. His very first victory, ever! Only cycling for a small two years and now winning a mountain stage!
Poor Tom finished 2nd, missing his first victory. But a great effort and he's got quite a gap, GC might not be lost after all!
Result
| 1 | Vincent Beaufort | Citigroup Pro Cycling Team | 3h53'43 | | 2 | Tom Butler | Citigroup Pro Cycling Team | + 55 | | 3 | Michael Rodriguez Galindo | Colombia | s.t. | | 4 | Bartosz Huzarski | Team NetApp - Endura | + 1'39 | | 5 | Davide Rebellin | CCC Polkowice | s.t. | | 6 | Darwin Atapuma | Colombia | s.t. | | 7 | Marc De Maar | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 8 | Bob Jungels | Citigroup Pro Cycling Team | + 3'30 | | 9 | Rob Ruijgh | Citigroup Pro Cycling Team | + 3'38 | | 10 | Jeff Louder | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | + 4'09 |
The final stage was just a flat one. Caethoven with a surprisingly strong finish.
Result
| 1 | Steven Caethoven | Accent.Jobs - Wanty | 3h08'07 | | 2 | Rik Steenacker | Citigroup Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 3 | Martin Elmiger | IAM Cycling | s.t. | | 4 | Tom Butler | Citigroup Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 5 | Leopold König | Team NetApp - Endura | s.t. | | 6 | Kris Boeckmans | Citigroup Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 7 | Bob Jungels | Citigroup Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 8 | Kristof Goddaert | IAM Cycling | s.t. | | 9 | Aldo Ino Ilesic | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 10 | Martijn Verschoor | Team Novo Nordisk | s.t. |
Final Classification
| 1 | Davide Rebellin | CCC Polkowice | 29h20'46 | | 2 | Marc De Maar | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | + 19 | | 3 | Bartosz Huzarski | Team NetApp - Endura | + 2'23 | | 4 | Tom Butler | Citigroup Pro Cycling Team | + 3'21 | | 5 | Bob Jungels | Citigroup Pro Cycling Team | + 3'22 | | 6 | Darwin Atapuma | Colombia | + 4'14 | | 7 | Jeff Louder | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | + 5'27 | | 8 | Vincent Beaufort | Citigroup Pro Cycling Team | + 6'21 | | 9 | Serguei Klimov | RusVelo | + 6'28 | | 10 | Martin Elmiger | IAM Cycling | + 6'47 |
I can't even begin to explain how proud I am of the boys today. I sent a young squad to the Tour of California, and they turned out to be unbeatable. They work hard together and take every opportunity with both hands.
Vincent conquered his very first victory. He hasn't been cycling for 2 years and he wins a mountain stage. Didn't I tell you he was the next Indurain? He put in a great effort in the time trial and would've won if the finish wasn't that technical.
Tom finally showed his talent. He jumped out the pack and made quite a gap on the final mountain. He also mixed it up in the sprint and was quite successful. I'm quite proud of him, I know he can make it.
Rik, I have no words for him. He's everything you want to have as a rider. He works so hard and puts in a great effort every single time. He's awfully insecure but delivers nevertheless. He's kind off the bike but ruthless on the bike, yet he knows his friends. He's a pleasure to work with, and I know I can take him to great heights. This 20 year old boy has unlimited potential and I'm curious where we can take him.
All three of my talents were there on the podium, each for another jersey. I wore the broadest smile in the history of man watching the ceremony.
See you later! I'll report back when the Giro is finished!
- Butler - |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-12-2024 06:57
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| Jesleyh |
Posted on 19-08-2013 11:32
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15274
Joined: 21-07-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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Oh wow, great results for the youngsters!
Though it's a shame that the line-ups of the other teams are so bad in this time of the year 
Edited by Jesleyh on 19-08-2013 12:36
Feyenoord(football) and Kelderman fanboy
PCMdaily Awards: 12x nomination, 9x runner-up, 0x win.
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| baia |
Posted on 19-08-2013 11:40
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5398
Joined: 04-10-2007
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Must say Citigroup almost dominated in California... this is a very important result for the team as it will help them alot with the sponsor due to the team´s situation...
Well done.
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| krisa |
Posted on 19-08-2013 12:33
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3962
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Good for new sponsors
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| welker3257 |
Posted on 19-08-2013 12:55
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2336
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Great job in California 
Gig 'em Aggies
Fast N' Loud Cycling Project - ICL
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| owen10ozzy |
Posted on 19-08-2013 12:55
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Stagiare
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Fantastic stuff from the team...California well and truly dominated. Whilst opposition may not have been at it's most difficult the team still got the job done.
Tom finally shows his talent, it was about time to be honest, but perhaps now his critics won't be so harsh
Vincent clearly a natural on the bike, much like Rik I will be intrigued to see if his first win spurs him on to bigger and better things.
Rik - What can we say which hasn't already been said. Superstar in the making.
1 Tour - 3 Jerseys....let the champagne flow. Well to everyone except for the DS...we all know what he gets like after a few drinks!
Edited by owen10ozzy on 19-08-2013 12:55
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| 547984 |
Posted on 19-08-2013 15:03
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5008
Joined: 29-01-2013
PCM$: 200.00
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Nice job the whole Tour 
baseballlover312, 06-03-14 : "Nuke Moscow...Don't worry Russia, we've got plenty of love to go around your cities"
Sarah Palin, 08-03-14 (CPAC, on Russian aggression) : "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke"
Big thanks to jdog for making this AMAZING userbar! |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 19-08-2013 15:57
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
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Jesleyh - I expected more competition. But actually it's better now, because we cashed in with our team
baia - Very true, it will definitely help. Even if Citigroup stays our sponsor, it will enjoy our American debut a lot
krisa - True!
welker3257 - Thanks! The team really killed off the competition 
owen10ozzy - Thank you unbelievably much for commenting so often and detailed on this story. You keep my motivation tower-high, thanks
Tom is clearly not growing the fastest, but he'll get to a certain level, that's for sure.
Vincent is just so powerful his lack of experience doesn't even get noticed.
I hope the DS didn't drink too much champagne. Who knows, maybe he'll go missing and doesn't show up until the Worlds?
547987 - Thanks! We had fun
Thanks for the big support! Will finish the Giro shortly, probably even later today! |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 19-08-2013 16:35
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
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The guys certainly did themselves proud in California |
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| krisa |
Posted on 19-08-2013 16:50
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3962
Joined: 12-04-2011
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Yeah all the young talents showed their potential
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 19-08-2013 17:14
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
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sutty68 - And they made me proud thanks!
krisa - Finally Vincent and Tom put in a good showing! Hope they keep it up! |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 19-08-2013 17:14
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
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Blog #30 | 1st of June 2013 | 17:58
The Giro has finished. Our main goal was to chase a stage win. In the end, Tyler finished second on 3 occasions, while Greg finished third 3 times, and 5 more times in the top 5.
Final Classification
| 1 | Vincenzo Nibali | Astana Pro Team | 83h48'46 | | 2 | Jan Bakelants | Radioshack Leopard | + 13'12 | | 3 | Roman Kreuziger | Team Saxo-Tinkoff | + 15'45 | | 4 | Samuel Sánchez | Euskaltel Euskadi | + 22'46 | | 5 | Beñat Intxausti | Movistar Team | + 24'05 | | 6 | Rigoberto Uran | Sky Pro Cycling | + 30'56 | | 7 | Haimar Zubeldia | Radioshack Leopard | s.t. | | 8 | Ryder Hesjedal | Garmin - Sharp | + 31'45 | | 9 | Rafal Majka | Team Saxo-Tinkoff | + 32'50 | | 10 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky Pro Cycling | + 41'18 | | (...) | | 13 | Kevin Seeldraeyers | Citigroup Pro Cycling Team | + 46'46 |
Mountain Jersey: John Gadret
Points Jersey: Vincenzo Nibali
Youth Jersey: Rafael Majka
Guillaume Van Keirsbulck put in a great effort in the Tour of Belgium, finishing 3rd overall. He was added to the list of participants only the day before the start, after Rik Steenacker dropped out due to neck problems.
Final Classification
| 1 | Martin Elmiger | IAM Cycling | 16h24'07 | | 2 | Preben Van Hecke | Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | + 6 | | 3 | Guillaume Van Keirsbulck | Citigroup Pro Cycling Team | + 34 | | 4 | Staf Scheirlinckx | Accent.Jobs - Wanty | + 40 | | 5 | Davy Commeyne | Accent.Jobs - Wanty | + 59 |
CITIGROUP PRO CYCLING TEAM 2014
We're looking at the future, all right!
It's only June, but we're busy building a squad for the 2014 team. With a huge decrease in budget and a most probably relegation to ProConti League, we will have to let a lot of talent go, unfortunately. However, we already renewed the contracts of 13 riders, and signed no less than 5 soon-to-be-neopro's.
Renewed Contracts
| Name | Specialization |  | Kris Boeckmans | Sprinter | | Tim Wellens | Puncher |  | Bob Jungels | Time-Trial | | Tom Van Asbroeck | Sprinter |  | Tom Dumoulin | Puncher | | Kenneth Vanbilsen | Northern Classics |  | David Veilleux | Northern Classics | | Stijn Steels | Sprinter | | Benjamin Verraes | Sprinter | | Rik Steenacker | Sprinter | | Pieter Serry | Puncher | | Vincent Beaufort | Time-Trial | | Tom Butler | Climber |
We also offered contracts to 5 young riders, who'll join us at the ProConti ranks next season. 3 coming from Belgium and 2 coming from the United States of America. We're scouting more from the USA at the moment, to please American sponsor Citigroup.
The way I see it, we could get some great results with this team, earning the trust of American sponsor Citigroup and maybe even return to World Tour in 1 season.
But it's early now. The year's not even half over yet, so we'll leave this as it is for now, like. This was just an update on our renewed contracts!
I'll report back from the Dauphiné, but probably not on a daily basis. The National Championships are the main goal for this month. This month is also all about Tour selection. I've already decided on 6 sure names. More than 10 riders will fight for the remaining 3 spots. See you later!
- Butler - |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 19-08-2013 17:55
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
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The team came ever so close to grabbing that stage win in the Giro  , but Seeldraeyers grabbing 13th overall is a Great result for him and the team 
And nice to see Guillaume Van Keirsbulck getting a podium in Belgium  |
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| baia |
Posted on 19-08-2013 18:03
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5398
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Yep, very good result in Italy, pity the team couldn´t grab that win but still very positive Giro.
Keirsbulck did great too in team´s still homeground... nice.
Team looks great for next season, i´m excited to see how those 5 soon-to-be-neopro´s do like...
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| krisa |
Posted on 19-08-2013 18:07
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good job by Jantje on 13 minutes but second in the giro
Guilaume good in Belgium to
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 20-08-2013 09:26
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
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sutty68 - He really moved up from the first week. Going from 30th to 13th place steadily, so good for him Farrar would've had 3 stage wins if it weren't for Cavendish 
baia - Thanks! Keirsbulck put in a great effort indeed!
krisa - Bakelants surprisingly hanging on to that 2nd place! He had it at stage 4 already!
Thanks for the support, guys! |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 20-08-2013 09:26
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
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Blog #31 | 20th of June 2013 | 12:15
Hi everyone!
As you notice above, it's already the 20th of June. Both the Dauphiné and the Tour de Suisse have passed. Both were majorly disappointing for our team. I send the entire Tour of California squad to Suisse, but they didn't perform. Rik got an 8th place in a hillier stage, Tom reached the top 50. Only the prologue was great, with Vincent finishing top 5!
I had no time to report back from there. Those final weeks before the Tour are busier than ever. Anyway, another thing worth mentioning is Bob Jungels. In his home country, the Tour of Luxembourg, he won the prologue. He lost the leader's jersey in stage 4 and seized it back in stage 5 with incredible force.
Tour of Luxembourg - Final Classification
| 1 | Bob Jungels | Citigroup Pro Cycling Team | 17h19'36 | | 2 | Simon Geschke | Team Argos-Shimano | + 58 | | 3 | Davide Malacarne | Team Europcar | + 1'55 | | 4 | Pieter Serry | Citigroup Pro Cycling Team | + 3'01 | | 5 | Omar Fraile | Team Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | + 3'47 | | 6 | Yukiya Arashiro | Team Europcar | + 4'11 | | 7 | Leonardo Duque | Colombia | + 4'24 | | 8 | Nikias Arndt | Team Argos-Shimano | + 4'36 | | 9 | Vincent Jérôme | Team Europcar | + 4'51 | | 10 | Staf Scheirlinckx | Accent.Jobs - Wanty | + 5'03 |
Only 20 years old, he's showing a lot of talent. Good thing we renewed his contract already!
It's about time for the national championships. We remain modest in our goals. One National Champion would be great for the team, but we can always hope for more, though! In the Belgian Championship, which has an extremely tough terrain this year, we hope for a top 3!
- Butler - |
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| Selwink |
Posted on 20-08-2013 09:57
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Grand Tour Champion
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Bakelants 2nd in the Giro
Nice victory for Jungels in Luxembourg
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 20-08-2013 10:58
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
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Selwink - Sure is. It was probably his main goal of the year, for Bob |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 20-08-2013 10:58
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
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Blog #32 | 28th of June 2013 | 23:42
BELGIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Time Trial
The time trial was a real thriller for us. Maxime Monfort set the best provisional time and held it for a while. Vincent Beaufort set an even better time and it looked like he would seize the jersey, until Thomas De Gendt came along and was only 3 seconds faster!
Result - Belgian Time Trial
| 1 | Thomas De Gendt | Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | 33'46 | | 2 | Vincent Beaufort | Citigroup Pro Cycling Team | + 3 | | 3 | Maxime Monfort | Citigroup Pro Cycling Team | + 14 | | 4 | Sébastien Rosseler | Garmin - Sharp | + 24 | | 5 | Ben Hermans | Radioshack Leopard | + 26 | | 6 | Jurgen Van den Broeck | Lotto Belisol | + 36 | | 7 | Dominique Cornu | Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | + 38 | | 8 | Dries Devenyns | Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team | + 46 | | 9 | Stijn Devolder | Radioshack Leopard | + 53 | | 10 | Boris Dron | Wallonie-Bruxelles-Crédit Agricole | + 1'04 |
Road Race
The profile of this year's National Championship was really heavy. It was an excellent opportunity for guys like Van Den Broeck, Gilbert, Monfort...
Tom, in a perfect profile for his capacities, went in the attack. Strangely enough he didn't manage to get anyone with him. He rode more than 200 kilometers solo.
The chasing peloton cracked in small pieces on this tough terrain. When the peloton only had 21 riders left, 6 of them were ours!
And then Gilbert went in the attack! We couldn't miss that!
Monfort reacted a bit late but not too late, he joined the head of the race!
Monfort and Roelandts escaped together and they were heading for the finish line. Unfortunately, we all know who the fastest is there...
Rik Steenacker, after being left behind by the peloton in 3 rounds before the finish, made a tremendous come-back, joined the first chasing group and even put them all down in the sprint, finishing third. Well done, boy! A bronze medal!
That the terrain was tough, is only shown in the number of finishers: only 22!
Result - Belgian Road Race
| 1 | Jürgen Roelandts | Lotto Belisol | 6h15'50 | | 2 | Maxime Monfort | Citigroup Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 3 | Rik Steenacker | Citigroup Pro Cycling Team | + 1'13 | | 4 | Thomas De Gendt | Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 5 | Dries Devenyns | Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team | s.t. | | 6 | Gianni Meersman | Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team | s.t. | | 7 | Ben Hermans | Radioshack Leopard | s.t. | | 8 | Philippe Gilbert | BMC Racing Team | s.t. | | 9 | Jurgen Van den Broeck | Lotto Belisol | s.t. | | 10 | Johan Vansummeren | Garmin - Sharp | + 1'53 | | 11 | Kevin Seeldraeyers | Citigroup Pro Cycling Team | + 3'26 | | 12 | Sep Vanmarcke | Blanco Pro Cycling | + 6'31 | | 13 | Jelle Vanendert | Lotto Belisol | s.t. | | 14 | Tom Butler | Citigroup Pro Cycling Team | + 7'02 | | 15 | Bart De Clercq | Lotto Belisol | + 12'06 | | 16 | Nick Nuyens | Garmin - Sharp | s.t. | | 17 | Serge Pauwels | Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team | + 13'26 | | 18 | Jan Bakelants | Radioshack Leopard | s.t. | | 19 | Greg Van Avermaet | Citigroup Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 20 | Sander Armee | Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | s.t. | | 21 | Tim Wellens | Citigroup Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 22 | Vincent Beaufort | Citigroup Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
I also would like to congratulate Tom on a great race. He rode more than 200 kilometers solo and when he was caught he didn't think of giving up, he wanted to finish the race. Well done, lad.
Here are more results. We didn't get any Champion, unfortunately.
| Road Race | Time Trial | | Belgium | Roelandts | De Gendt | | The Netherlands | Langeveld | Terpstra |  France | Démare | Roy |  Germany | Greipel | Martin |  United States | Van Garderen | Phinney |  Spain | Valverde | Plaza |  Italy | Marcato | Bennati |  Austria | Denifl | |  Denmark | Mortensen | |  Switzerland | Albasini | |  Poland | Janiszewski | |  Great Britain | Wiggins | |  Colombia | Betancur | |  Portugal | Costa | |  Sweden | Kessiakof | |  Norway | Boasson Hagen | |
TOUR DE FRANCE - SELECTION
It's been a tough decision, but I've come up with a final list of 9 riders. The following 9 riders will start in Corsica in a couple of days:
Maxime Monfort - Leader. Aiming for a top 15.
Kevin Seeldraeyers - Lieutenant for Maxime.
Rob Ruijgh - Domestique, try to get into attacks.
Vincent Beaufort - Peaking for the time trial at Mont Saint-Michel.
Tim Wellens - Hilly domestique.
Tom Dumoulin - Strong enough to chase a breakaway. Keep Maxime safe.
Rik Steenacker - Sprinter.
Kris Boeckmans - Sprinter.
Damien Gaudin - Free Element.
There you have it. We have a couple of Tour debutants, mixed up with some experience. Every single one of these riders have proven themselves in one way or another this year. It's the best possible squad to send.
Greg and Tyler were never peaking for the Tour so aren't selected, obviously. For me, personally, the toughest decision was leaving home Tom. He was looking forward to it and was keen to prove himself to get a selection. But I made the best decision professionally. Tom will get a starting place at the Vuelta, though.
See you in Corsica, can't wait!
- Butler - |
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