Well, that's the best ITT i've ever seen in PCM, to be honest. It was just unreal. Good result for our guys, 2 in Top 6 is quite good i suppose.

2nd stage of Race to the Sun is flat stage, which is definitely going to be finished in mass sprint. It's rainy and cold over here, which can make the race more fun for watching, but some guys can get serious injuries so let's hope no one gets a serious injury there. Van Poppel brothers are ready!




Todays break was created pretty late, about 20 kilometers after official start of the race. Only 4 guys decided to make a move and none of them are threat for getting the lead in GC, neither for taking stage win.



The dull and boring race was stopped for a second, when Theo Bos had a crash. He's now trying to catch the peloton, but he's getting even bigger gap. None of the Belkin riders are going to help him, as they seem focused on GC. By that, one of favourites for todays race gets out of the fight.



We'll now directly skip to final 10 kilometers, as real action started there. After peloton caught break about 13 kilometers before finish line, trains were about to be created. Our guys somehow found their way to top of the peloton and are now in best position. Vandewalle - Sergent - Cancellara - D. van Poppel for us. Boy is following Cavendish's wheel.



Giant's train accelerated quickly thanks to Luka Mezgec, who was 3rd guy and rest was routine for them, as they got first two places today. Kittel is the winner, while Degenkolb finished as 2nd!



Absolute nomination by German. Our guys was great, as 3 of them finished in Top 10. GC remained same as before start of this stage.

1	Marcel Kittel	Team Giant - Shimano	4h20'03
2	John Degenkolb	Team Giant - Shimano	s.t.
3	Mark Cavendish	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.
4	Danny Van Poppel	Trek Factory Racing	s.t.
5	Michael Matthews	Orica GreenEdge	s.t.
6	Boy Van Poppel	Trek Factory Racing	s.t.
7	Nacer Bouhanni	FDJ.fr	s.t.
8	Anthony Geslin	FDJ.fr	s.t.
9	Fabian Cancellara	Trek Factory Racing	s.t.
10	Elia Viviani	Cannondale	s.t.

Team is doing overally solid, but we want a win here, as that's our first Sponsor Goal. It will be very hard...

Although it's a bit more hilly than previous flat stage, the one has sprint written all over it. It's hardly to believe, but i am pretty sure that someone will try solo attack in last few kilometers.




Only few meters after race directors gave a sign to start the race, breakaway was created. Palini, Jarnier, Kern and Saramontis are there.



Although the riders at front looked pretty good all day, main teams from peloton didn't want to risk anything and caught them after 140 kilometers, 59 before finish line.

Nothing interesting for us happened, before 7 kilometers to go. Last few hills made alot of problems to Danny van Poppel, who has fallen throught the peloton and he is struggling alot. Meanwhile, on the top of peloton, Sergent is making move and trying to escape!



He kept the lead for only one kilometer and soon gave up. Giant - Shimano was just too strong. There are now 4 kilometers to go and trains are aready created.

Giant - Shimano	FDJ.fr
Luka Mezgec	Arthur Vichot
John Degenkolb	Anthony Geslin
Marcel Kittel	Nacer Bouhanni

Boy van Poppel is on Bouhanni's wheel.



Degenkolb is first to start the sprint. He's clearly way better sprinter than Geslin is which means Kittel is definitely in better position than Bouhanni.



And of course, just as it was predicted, Giant Shimano scored great win once again. 1-2 again, but this time it's Degenkolb who rises his hands. Looks like Marcel let him win this, which is great fair-play, if you ask me.



Our best rider at the endwas Boy van Poppel, who finished on 4th position just behind Betancur and in front of Rodriguez. Strange, i know.



Pretty solid race for us, once again. We hope for better results in upcoming hilly stages.

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	John Degenkolb	Team Giant - Shimano	4h20'14
2	Marcel Kittel	Team Giant - Shimano	s.t.
3	Carlos Betancur	AG2R La Mondiale	s.t.
4	Boy Van Poppel	Trek Factory Racing	s.t.
5	Joaquím Rodríguez	Team Katusha	s.t.
6	Sébastien Turgot	AG2R La Mondiale	s.t.
7	Nacer Bouhanni	FDJ.fr	s.t.
8	Chris Froome	Team Sky	s.t.
9	Vincenzo Nibali	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
10	Michał Kwiatkowski	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.

It was pretty good result, indeed. We're now going more and more uphill, where we expect some better results.

And once again, my screenshot program stuck while playing stage and i couldn't take pictures. This makes me more and more angry, so i would like to get few recommendations to what program should i download? This was one of best stages for team...

4th stage of Paris - Nice 2014 should finish in sprint, but everything can happen. Alot of hills there, perfect for guys who're specialists in late attacks. We're surely going to get in action here!




Breakaway was launched early and Coppel, Stannard, Lopez and Vanmarcke were there. Some strong names were there!

Although they had great ride, 15 kilometers to go peloton caught them. As our sprinters were back once again, we decided to take one really risky move, but a move that can make us proud at the end. Fabian Cancellara made a move and decided to go on his own at last climb!

No one reacted and as he was closer to finish line it was more and more clear that he's going to win this. At the end, he managed to catch the win with 22 seconds over the peloton!



Danny van Poppel managed to get 10th place in mass sprint, behind. Great result for us, as we now got stage win and fullfilled Sponsor Goal!

1	Fabian Cancellara	Trek Factory Racing	5h03'32
2	Marcel Kittel	Team Giant - Shimano	+ 22
3	Joaquím Rodríguez	Team Katusha	s.t.
4	Vincenzo Nibali	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
5	Nacer Bouhanni	FDJ.fr	s.t.
6	Michał Kwiatkowski	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.
7	Andriy Grivko	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
8	Gianluca Brambilla	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.
9	Chris Froome	Team Sky	s.t.
10	Danny Van Poppel	Trek Factory Racing	s.t.

1	Fabian Cancellara	Trek Factory Racing	13h54'16
2	Tony Martin	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	+ 9
3	Michał Kwiatkowski	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	+ 30
4	Chris Froome	Team Sky	+ 36
5	Marcel Kittel	Team Giant - Shimano	+ 38
6	Vincenzo Nibali	Astana Pro Team	+ 39
7	Andriy Grivko	Astana Pro Team	+ 41
8	Danny Van Poppel	Trek Factory Racing	+ 52
9	Dries Devenyns	Team Giant - Shimano	+ 53
10	Joaquím Rodríguez	Team Katusha	+ 54

And we're now in GC lead! Next stage should surely be decisive one, as if we survive it without losing yellow jersey, Fabian will have great chances to wear it all way to Nice!

Well, both Fraps and In-Game programm stucks from time to time (like they're working for 10 days and decides not to work in one stage and it repeats), so i decided to use Irfan viewer. Irfan viewer showed as good, but quality was bad and i had no idea when i am, or not taking images. Now i downloaded Greenshot and it looks and works great. Thanks, Shonak!

Great win by Fabian, it's real shame i couldn't post images, as it was really Fabian-style win (attack few kilometers before finish line and finishing stage just in front of main group.

In the same time as Paris - Nice, Race of the two seas, Tirreno Adriatico runs every year. As you can see, it starts 4 days later and has 1 stage less. Generally, it's less popular than P-N, but it's more because a bit harder profile . Anyway, it's one great race that should bring us alot of fun.




The route is, as said, a bit harder than in P-N. 1 Mountainous stage, 2 Time Trials, 2 Flat and 2 Hilly stages. Very interesting and dynamic profile.

Startlist isn't even near to one that was showed in Paris. It's like totally new division of riders. All of secondary leaders, 2nd best sprinters, TTers, puncheurs are here. Not talking that there aren't some great riders, such as Sagan, Porte, Nizzolo, Gerrans, Hesjedal, Talansky, Gilbert, Evans, Boonen, Greipel, but it's way weaker starlist than it is currently on Paris - Nice race. Who knows, that can maybe bring us alot more fun, as the differences between riders shouldn't be too big.



Our team strengthness suits the story above. The team is nowhere near the one we have in France, but it's still very good team. Nizzolo is our best sprinter here, while Zubeldia is our best climber. As you can see, we brought alot of domestiques here, who should do a good job protecting our leaders and preparing them for attack/sprint.



That was all for this Tirreno - Adriatico preview, see ya on report of the first stage, Team Time Trial.

DS of Trek FR, admirschleck