Another quite easy classic, used as preparation for the cobbles and the Ardennes by most riders. It's a race for the sprinters and the rouleurs, since the race ends with a long, flat run-in.
Result irl:
1
Pim Ligthart
Vacansoleil - DCM
5h00'39
2
Federico Canuti
Colnago - CSF Inox
s.t.
3
Samuel Dumoulin
Cofidis, le crédit en ligne
s.t.
4
Simon Geschke
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
5
Marcello Pavarin
Vacansoleil - DCM
s.t.
6
Giovanni Visconti
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
s.t.
7
Edwig Cammaerts
Landbouwkrediet
s.t.
8
Thierry Hupond
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
9
Bert De Waele
Landbouwkrediet
s.t.
10
David Tanner
SaxoBank - SunGard
s.t.
A group of 20 arrived to the finish together with Vacansoleil's Pim Ligthart surprisingly being the fastest in the group, just edging out Italian Federico Canuti and first actual sprinter Samuel Dumoulin. Simon Geschke surprised with a very strong sprint and just missed the podium, while Hupond also made it into the top 10. A good race for Skil in other words. In a really hard race, everyone but the first group abandoned. That's a total of 126 abandons!
Skil squad:
We're aiming for the win and nothing else. Kittel is by far the best sprinter in the race and with in-form Van Hummel and Veelers as leadout men it can't be bad, right?
Also a big part of the rest of our squad will be used in our final sprint train. De Backer, Curvers, Huguet and Van Zandbeek will all make sure that we have a long line of Skil riders at the front of the race in the final 10 kilometers. Last but not least we've got Chaigneau, who will be bottle boy.
Favourites:
*** Marcel Kittel
** Kenny Van Hummel, Samuel Dumoulin
* Bobbie Traksel, Alexander Kristoff, Michael Matthews
As I said earlier, we're looking for the win and nothing else. With the two by far best sprinters in the field, it should be possible too. Kittel and Van Hummel, it's up to you.
When looking at other possible win candidates, I can only see two who should be able to even challenge. Dumoulin and Traksel has both shown great form recently and are probably best of the rest in a sprint. They will be fighting for the other podium spots.
The first part of the race will be the hardest. Lots of narrow climbs and steep descents. We'll be keeping a position near the front of the field from the beginning to not get trapped behind a split. If we reach the final flat with our sprinters still feeling good, then this will be a piece of cake.
Everything worked out just as we had planned and with a bit less than 10 kilometers to go we had our train in a perfect position. Cofidis tried to challenge us a little bit, but their weak train soon got blown away.
A late attack from Staf Scheirlinckx looked like it could succeed for a moment, but Veelers managed to neutralize the move by hitting the front in the final three k's.
Veelers pulled aside and Van Hummel launched the final leadout for Kittel. Surprisingly we didn't get much of a challenge from the other sprinters teams and Dennis Van Winden were the only one following us. Weird sprint.
Kittel accelerated past VH in the final kilometer, a thing no one else was able to do. Good news for us, as firm Kit&VH could celebrate a dominant 1-2 for us. Dumoulin rounded off the podium, while De Backer made it three Skil's in the top 10. A great day.
@dienblad: Why didn't I think of that myself? Shame on me.
03.04.2011: Ronde Van Vlaanderen
The day all the big names have been waiting for is finally here. It's the day when the Ronde van Vlaanderen is held. Together with Paris-Roubaix, it's the most prestigious race you can win as a strong man on the cobbles. The first edition of the race was held in 1913 and since then it has had a lot of well-known winners. Rik Van Looy, Eddy Merckx, Claude Criquélion, Johan Museeuw and Tom Boonen to name a few.
Real life result:
1
Nick Nuyens
SaxoBank - SunGard
6h00'42
2
Sylvain Chavanel
Quickstep Cycling Team
s.t.
3
Fabian Cancellara
Leopard Trek
s.t.
4
Tom Boonen
Quickstep Cycling Team
+ 2
5
Sebastian Langeveld
Rabobank Cycling Team
+ 8
6
George Hincapie
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
7
Björn Leukemans
Vacansoleil - DCM
s.t.
8
Staf Scheirlinckx
Verandas Willems - Accent
s.t.
9
Philippe Gilbert
OmegaPharma - Lotto
s.t.
10
Geraint Thomas
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
A late attack from Cancellara brought Chavanel and Nuyens with him, with the latter one outsprinting his two companions for the biggest win in his career. Tom Boonen's attack in the final kilometer almost saw him catching them back, but the former winner just came short of the podium.
Skil squad:
We're sending pretty much the best squad we can produce in a cobbled race, but our expectations are still low. A top 15 for Veelers, De Backer or Docker would be a huge success for us, seing the strength of the field here. De Kort and Roy "Never-getting-in-form" Curvers will be luxury domestiques with a bit of a free role too. A mid-stage attack from one of them is not imposssible.
As in every cobbled race he enters, Fabian Cancellara will once again have the big pressure on his shoulders. Will he be able to do what he couldn't do irl, defend his title? Tom Boonen and Thor Hushovd are the ones who can give Cancellara some nasty surprises during the race. The God of Thunder looked absolutely brilliant in De Panne, but was defeated by Spartacus in the final timetrial. He's definitely looking for revenge today.
This will be the last report this week, since I'll be away from my PCM computer over the weekend. Next report on Sunday evening or Monday. In return for your patience, you get a long report from the Ronde here.
03.04.2011: Ronde van Vlaanderen
The 254 kilometers between Brugge and Meerbeke is a hard test even for the cobbled specialists. The second half of the race is almost ridiculous in terms of hardness. Lots of short, razor-steep climbs with many of them being paved too, making them even harder. The last two climbs, Muur van Geraardsbergen and Bosberg are most times the crucial ones, with the latter of them topping with just about 10 kilometers to go. That's where we want Veelers at the front of the field.
A pic from earlier today, the race director waving the flag and declaring the start of this year's Ronde.
We didn't get any early breakaway, but on one of first cobbled sections we got a more dangerous duo escaping. Two strong cobblers in Matthew Hayman (Sky) and Jurgen Roelandts (OmegaPharma). No teams was interested in chasing them though, so the two attackers built up a nice advantage during the race.
Not a too big advantage though, since Leopard, Vacansoleil, Quickstep and BMC all had riders at the front of the peloton, making sure that the gap stabilized at around 7 minutes.
Immediately as the hills started, the pack splitted. Not just a small split either, and only 25 riders made it into the first group. Unfortunately Veelers was the only one of our riders who was on the right side, isolating him already with 70 kilometers to go.
Here's the situation the split caused:
Group 1: Cancellara, Veelers, Leukemans, Flecha, Nuyens, Chavanel Group 2 + 1'30: Gilbert, Boom, Thomas, De Backer, Docker Group 3 + 2': Vansummeren, Langeveld, Hushovd, Boonen Group 4 + 4': Eisel, Van Avermaet, Pozzato, Rosseler
Group 2 & 3 later became one chasing group, struggling Veelers' group by about 1'30.
Most of the riders in Gr1 saw this as a great opportunity to distance their main rivals and started setting an insane pace. The group soon only included 8 riders: Cancellara, Nuyens, Veelers, Leukemans, Vaitkus, Chavanel, O'Grady and Hincapie.
After over 20 kilometers of chase, the chasing group finally caught their rivals, throwing Hushovd, Boom, Flecha, Langeveld, Vansummeren, Burghardt, Scheirlinckx and Traksel back in the game. Still missing from the group were Gilbert, Boonen, Thomas and Eisel.
After some very action-filled kilometers, we got a long period without especially much happening. The two early escapees reached the day's penultimate climb, and also the hardest - Muur van Geraardsbergen with a lead of about 2'.
Cancellara then surprising his rivals by attacking inside Geraardsbergen, but before we started the climb. Nobody had expected it, so he quickly created a gap. The decisive move?
Chavanel took the reponsibility to chase Spartacus, while Veelers were having the day of his life, still sitting in a perfect position.
It took Cancellara one Muur to close the 2' gap to Roelandts and Hayman. Wow. Game over for them today then.
Cancellara wasn't able to shake his two new companions off, so he decided to wait for the group rather than pacing the other two home. Chavanel was still the one controlling the pack when we reached the final climb - Bosberg.
The French champion continued his great riding up the climb, neutralizing all attacks together with another national champion - Cancellara. Veelers started to feel a bit tired now and lost a few positions.
Just before we reached the top of the climb, Chavanel surprised everyone with a very strong attack. The gap back to the rest of the group grew to 30s almost immediately. Was this the decisive move then?
A group of nine were chasing the French champion, after most of the riders in the group were dropped up the Bosberg. The most notable missings were irl winner Nick Nuyens and Sebastian Langeveld.
The group wasn't able to gain back any time on Chavanel, but when we reached the outer parts of Meerbeke Cancellara gave it one last try and pushed up the pace, dropping riders on flat ground like only he can. Veelers couldn't resist longer and could only watch Cancellara, Hushovd, Flecha, Leukemans and Vansummeren riding away.
Not even Cancellara's inhuman flat attack could stop Chavanel though. The French champion was no doubt the strongest, and smartest today. Nice for him to get revenge for his second place irl.
In the sprint for second, Hushovd, Flecha and Leukemans all jumped around Cancellara, who emptied in his late attempt to bring Chavanel back. The God of Thunder was unsurprisingly the fastest.
He might have been tailed off on the final flat, but it was still an amazing performance by Veelers. He won the sprint in the next group to take 7th place, much better than we had even dreamed of.
Disappointment 1) today arrived over eight minutes after Chavanel. Far from the result Gilbert had been hoping for. This doesn't look too good for the Ardennes.
Disappointment 2) came in two minutes behind his fellow Belgian Gilbert. He said that this was his big goal this season. What's wrong Boonen?
Boonen might have failed, but Chavanel saved the day for Quickstep by taking a surprising victory. You bet he'll be a marked man next Sunday in Paris-Roubaix. Hushovd's time then maybe?
Amazing report of De Ronde!! I think this was the maximum result for Veelers, 7th is really great! I think Paris-Roubaix should suit him even better, without the steep hills.
And indeed strange to see Boonen that far behind. Sometimes, the favourites are positioned too far behind when the hills and cobbles start in these classics, and they never get back...
Good luck the next week for Paris-Roubaix, hope you can get a top 5!
