Weird finish, it's horrible when they mess up the time gaps like that, and it usually happens, in my experience, when the finish is downhill, even only slightly. This stage provided such a very tiny downhill part at the end I guess.
Solid performance by Tangert though, hopefully PCM fault won't cost him a good ranking in the end.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
The problem with that stage was that it's from nathounet87's variant for PCM12, which hasn't been converted to PCM13 format. Minimum gaps for all stages are therefore automatically decided by PCM.
Anyway, I'm sure things will get better.
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Volta Ciclista a Catalunya: Stage 2 March 19th, 2014
Day two of the journey through Catalonia leaves the coast behind to travel inland for a finish in TÃ rrega; slightly east of Zaragoza.
The terrain faced is far less challenging than on the first stage, but the final part of the stage is actually uphill - albeit very gently.
Most of the stage passes quietly with the few teams with sprinters present keeping track of the breakaway, but we look set for an eventful finish as the curse of the rainbow jersey strikes Betancur with 15 km remaining!
Four of the Colombians team mates instantly drop back to assist him, but they have a tough task of quickly gaining over a minute on a fast peloton.
Up front, the battle of the sprint trains is on between Orica-GreenEdge, Belkin and Lotto. Jules is meanwhile trying to keep Martinez protected.
For the 2nd day in a row, it is Belkin who look the strongest as Jonathan Hivert launches the final leadout for Moreno Hofland.
Recent GP Nobili winner Alexey Tsatevich is following Hofland, while Kris Boeckmans leads Kenny Dehaes on the right and Jens Keukeleire is dragging Martinez upwards on the left side.
Moments later, Belkin's plan is shattered when Hofland can't even follow his own leadout man and starts losing positions rapidly. Keukeleire, Tsatevich and Dehaes look set to fight for the stage win instead.
But hang on... who's that coming up closest to the camera?
Incredible - Moreno makes it two in a row!
Tsatevich and Keukeleire complete the podium, whereas Martinez finishes a few positions further back.
The day is about to get a whole lot worse, however. While the coverage focused on the sprint to the line, another crash occured in the last 2 kilometers - involving a continuously unlucky Kangert.
He comes home 3 minutes down; falling out of the GC altogether.
Betancur is even worse off. Even with assistance from his team mates, he failed to make contact again and loses over 5 minutes.
In the overall, it is starting to look like Moreno might add a second World Tour stage race to his name before this month is over!
Other than that, the time-based rankings stay the same.
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!
Volta Ciclista a Catalunya: Stage 3 March 20th, 2014
The route goes back into the mountains today, with a stage centered around the Montserrat massif. The route goes through the area near the mountain at first, but will eventually ascend to its monastery with the final climb.
With Kangert out of the GC, it is now all about stage wins for us.
Rossetto is therefore allowed to follow the early breakaway. He is accompanied by the irregular duo Winner Anacona and Benoît Vaugrenard.
On the category 1 Coll de Estenalles, another three riders escape: opening stage escapee Michael Albasini, crash victim Haimar Zubeldia, and most importantly GC's 8th Dan Martin.
Just before the start of Montserrat, they catch up with Rossetto's group. The main field is chasing hard just a little bit further back, however.
The peloton's hunt is in fact so intense that many riders are getting dropped already on these low slopes. Only the weakest of climbers however, with one exception: 2nd overall, Nairo Quintana!
Sitting in a position very far back at such a critical moment is never a good thing, which Quintana learns the hard way by being caught on the wrong side of a split. Many of his team mates drop back to help him re-join.
Luckily for the Colombian; the other favourites apparently don't feel up to racing hard today. Discounting a couple of short digs from Mollema, all of Montserrat passes without any moves from them.
As a result, Albasini and Rossetto just about hang on to claim maximum points at the summit and move up to 1st and 2nd in the KoM competition.
However, a big move is made right afterwards. Interestingly enough, it is Valverde - who either doesn't know or doesn't care that Quintana is in trouble. Could this perhaps be his revenge for Paris-Nice?
Moreno, Mollema, Contador, Fuglsang, Costa and Ulissi tag along and a pretty sizeable gap emerges between them and the other favourites.
Due to a huge effort from Contador down the final descent, the gap remains about the same as the leading group comes down towards the finish.
Right behind him is Moreno, who is looking poised to make it 3 in a row.
He is however a little late to launch, and it is instead white jersey wearer Ulissi who charges into the lead with a kilometer to the finish.
Aside from Moreno, only Valverde and Mollema seem to have the speed required to compete for the stage win.
It's just not happening against Ulissi, though!
A slightly less impressive than earlier Moreno gets second, beating Valverde with the smallest of margins. The rest follow some meters back.
Down in the peloton, Samuel Sánchez experiences some sort of mental blackout and decides to sprint ahead for 9th place - cutting his team mate Contador's gains down by several seconds. Good thinking, Samuel!
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!
And Saxo too. But Moreno looks in incredible shape. I wonder how long he can keep this up. Quintana and Valverde need a serious talk between them two.
Bad luck with Tangert. He was riding quite good and it's a shame that a crash ends the hopes for a good GC. Hopefully he didn't get any injuries. Hunting for stage wins is more fun anyway.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
Their tactics are certainly somewhat questionable. The Tour will be fun if they continue like this!
---
Volta Ciclista a Catalunya: Stage 4 March 21th, 2014
Diversity is apparently not a thing the race organisation cares much for, as we have practically the same stage as yesterday again. The only real difference is that the roads here in the Montseny massif reaches higher altitude than Montserrat did.
In general, probably a harder day than the previous. The final climb is easier than yesterday's, but the preceding HC top of Santa Fe de Montseny makes it up with its long slopes.
We decided before the stage that Kangert would try to get back into the GC today, so Rossetto and Chevrier both go with the early break to have assistance up the road for later.
Unfortunately, the only company they get is from Peter Stetina and Sebastian Reichenbach - neither of whom bother helping out with the pacemaking. On the other hand, they don't stop Rossetto from taking maximum points at the early category 2 climb.
On the same hill, stage 2's unlucky duck Carlos Betancur attacks from the main field and makes contact with the leaders.
From there, we fast-forward to the lower slopes of the day's longest climb, and the moment we've been planning - Kangert attacks.
He finds a good rhythm and catches the breakaway some 5 km from the summit; at which point Chevrier hits the front to stretch out as much of a gap as possible.
He does an absolutely fantastic job, but can't do much when Moreno decides to have Katusha fly down the descent towards the final climb.
A mere minute remains by the time they reach the climb's base, just as Rossetto takes over from an exhausted Chevrier.
He increases the speed a little bit, but the peloton continues closing in regardless. Reichenbach and Stetina meanwhile finally figure it's time to stop wheelsucking.
They're not going to stay clear for much longer though, because Valverde attacks from the peloton. Moreno and Ulissi follow.
He sits down and has a look over his shoulder just as the trio come across to Kangert - having already passed a spent Rossetto.
Contador is working hard to make contact as well, while Gesink, Mollema and Fuglsang are standing up on the pedals further down the road.
But look at this - Valverde is starting to ride away!
Is the previously unbreakable Moreno perhaps beginning to falter? He leaves the chasing to Ulissi, while Valverde joins Betancur, Reichenbach and Stetina in the lead.
He quickly passes them and crests the top first; almost 50 seconds ahead of Moreno!
It's looking more and more like the race leader is indeed in big trouble. Rather than doing everything he can to bring Valverde back, he is sitting in the middle of a group that now also includes Mollema, Porte and Fuglsang.
Strangely enough, Moreno doesn't go to the front on the descent either. Mollema is instead the one pursuing Valverde.
With Mollema left to do all the work, the gap just isn't coming down - it's still 40 seconds with 3 km to the finish.
Up front, we have a four-way sprint for the stage win. Can any of the long-time escapees come around Valverde, after all the work he has done?
Not even close. The Spaniard crowns the day by crushing them in the sprint!
The sprint for 5th is won just as easily by Moreno. He does bring his deficit down to 34 seconds, but one has to wonder if helping Mollema wouldn't have been a better option.
He is still in the fight of course, but his spell in the leader's jersey is over.
Jurgen Van den Broeck and Janier Acevedo follow next; a little over a minute down. Kangert is a few meters further back together with Warren Barguil, but they are given the same time as the first two.
At least we got the gaps on our side for a change! Other than that, the day didn't really work out as hoped. Oh, that's right - we also have the KoM jersey with Rossetto now!
Seemed like a solid plan but alas didn't quite work out unfortunately. Still it's good to see that the team is willing to take risks on such days. KoM jersey is nice little reward in the end.
Valverde was very strong today, goes to show how strong Movistar can be when they have their tactics right.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
Thanks, guys. Kangert is actually a little past his first peak of the season, which is the main reason he has been weaker than in previous races.
---
E3 Prijs Harelbeke: Preview March 22nd, 2014
Although a couple of cobbled classics have already been raced, today marks the start of the biggest races - those that are part of the World Tour.
Much like its bigger brother - the Ronde van Vlaanderen - E3 is expected to be decided on the climbs of Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg. They may not cause as much damage here however, since they feature a lot further out from the finish than in the Ronde.
Nevertheless, mayhem is to be expected!
Having destroyed the competition in both Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Dwars Door Vlaanderen; Tom Boonen certainly looks capable of strengthening his record of most wins in this race by adding a sixth.
He will of course have to wrestle down arch rival Fabian Cancellara in order for that to happen. It is currently 1-1 between them in the classics this season, with Spartacus having claimed Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne
There's also a whole bunch of others, obviously. One rider in particular has stands out this season: Sebastian Langeveld. With 2nd places in Kuurne and Dwars plus a 3rd in Omloop on his record this season; the Dutchman might perhaps be the biggest threat to Boonen and Cancellara.
Taking place on Corsica for the 5th consecutive year; this race is only increasing in popularity with every passing season. No need to change a working concept, so the stages remain the same as usual.
The very same ridiculously strong startlist that - along with the crash - wrecked Kangert's chances of a strong overall result in Catalunya, turns out to be a blessing for us as well. How? Well, almost no strong climbers have showed up to compete with Kwiatkowski here!
Domenico Pozzovivo is really the only one who will be tough to handle. Pierre Rolland, Daniel Navarro and Pieter Weening are strong climbers too, but none of them should be able to shed Kwiatkowski or Pozzovivo on the climbs.
As usual in big races like this, lots of riders want to be part of the early breakaway. Today it's almost ridiculous, though - it literally takes more than half the race before a group finally settles!
Initially there are only two members - Martin Reimer and James Vanlandschoot - but that changes when Luca Paolini drags Andrey Amador, Francis Mourey, Yoann Offredo and Gatis Smukulis across.
With all those 70+ cobblers pushing the pace, it's only a question of time before Reimer and Vanlandschoot are forced to let go.
Sep Vanmarcke meanwhile decides to open the race for real. A very bold move, considering that there's 45 km left to ride.
Together with Jürgen Roelandts, Vanmarcke establishes a small escape group - although they are barely given any space by OPQS.
They do however bring back the early breakaway on the Paterberg.
Paterberg does far more than just end the day for the breakaway, of course. Smukulis starts Oude Kwaremont in the lead, but look behind him!
A massive upsurge from Cancellara has destroyed the peloton completely.
The Trek rider appears to be done for the moment however, as he steps aside and lets Vanmarcke try his luck instead.
With another huge turn of pace, he reduces the group to only four riders: himself, Cancellara, Boonen and Stybar!
Paolini tried to hang on too, but imploded almost right away.
And here comes the attack from Cancellara!!
He can't get rid of Boonen though, and decides to sit up - causing the whoel group to come to a full stop.
As a result, a bigger group joins them.
With no cobbles left on the course, Stybar is forced to use the non-paved Knokteberg to try to reduce the group's size.
The acceleration puts many riders in big trouble, but the group stays together over the top and Stybar steps aside.
This causes a slowdown, which Philippe Gilbert uses to attack!
Nobody responds at first, but Vanmarcke eventually panics and digs in with a huge attack - smashing the group to pieces.
He never gets across to Gilbert however, and the gap starts to increase again when Vanmarcke starts looking for assistance from others.
He doesn't get any help at all, so Stybar decides to dump the dysfunctional group and set off in pursuit with Nick Nuyens.
But look at this - Nuyens cracks!
Looks like it's Gilbert vs. Stybar...
Oscar Gatto has in the meantime joined Nuyens.
Hang on a minute... did Stybar perhaps put too much effort into that attack? Gilbert is starting to pull away again, while Gatto and Nuyens are closing in on too!
Or is it simply the return of 2011 Gilbert? Look at the gap!
Phil is back - what a ride!
Stybar does take 2nd in the end. He could be a good reserve in case Boonen fails to deliver in the bigger races a couple of weeks from now.
Nuyens and Gatto should be incredibly satisfied with the day too.
Gr. Boonen/Cancellara come home almost three minutes behind the winner. They were probably the strongest today - together with Vanmarcke and Stybar - but their refusal to cooperate stopped them from succeeding.
Best rider for us is Skujins in 26th, followed by GarcÃa in 30th. Paiani needs a few more racedays to find a good rhythm.
What a race! Gilbert and Stybar real strong here, and surprising to see Gatto get 4th. Boonen defeated in a sprint on a cobble stage by Tony Gallopin - that's a surprise.
But why sent Kwiatkowski to Criterium International instead of E3? I think he would have had a chance too.
Edited by Shonak on 27-12-2013 13:40
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
Two stages in one day is a tall order for the riders, but this 89 km opening stage on the flat shouldn't be too exhausting.
As expected on this easily controllable course, the early break never get anywhere near the stage win. Approaching the finish, three teams in particular are working hard to set up their sprinter: Bretagne (R. Feillu), AG2R (Dumoulin) and Topsport Vlaanderen (Van Staeyen)
With those names being the biggest contenders for the stage win, even Kwiatkowski could have a shot today - so he positions himself behind Dumoulin and tags on when Davide Appollonio and Maxime Daniel launch the final leadout for Dumoulin.
Even these guys are a little too fast for him however, and he starts to drift backwards while Dumoulin goes head to head with Leigh Howard.
Dumoulin takes it in the end; finishing off his team's brilliant leadout with a - considering his size - hilarious celebration.
Orica-GreenEdge get 2nd and 3rd through Howard and Brett Lancaster, while Kwiatkowski ends up in 6th.
The finale was dramatic at the back of the peloton too. A total of 42 riders were dropped and finish in two bigger groups - one just under two minutes down and the other more than three minutes back.
Part two of this first day on Corsica, and the second out of three stages. The difficulty of the final stage will prevent this from having much of an impact on the overall, but it will at least bring a quick end to Dumoulin's spell in yellow.
Although more or less all top riders were within the last 30 to start, the stage win was claimed very early. Adriano Malori was never challenged by this low-profile field.
The former Lampre-rider didn't get to pull on the leader's jersey, though! He was one of those involved in the split earlier today and started the day far down.
None of our riders had a super-day, on the other hand. Both Kwiatkowski and Taaramae performed okay and could well both finish inside the top 10 overall at the end of the race.
Finally, the race lead went to none other than Brett Lancaster!
He started the day with an advantage of 8 seconds thanks to yesterday's 3rd place, but he wouldn't even need that headstart in the end - as he finished a place better today, 3 seconds slower than Malori.
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!
After a couple of somewhat messy days - caused by racing on three different locations at once - we return to Catalunya for the third stage from the end.
On paper, it should be a stage for the sprinters, but then again - the last time this was the case, the winner was Moreno.
We may not even get a sprint today, though. With so few quality sprinters in the race, it is bound to happen: nobody's chasing the breakaway!
Orica-GreenEdge eventually pick up the pacemaking, but the break - led by Lieuwe Westra - still has 45 seconds of advantage with 3 km to go.
But the gap is coming down quickly with Jens Keukeleire leading out Daryl Impey! Behind them, a certain Katusha rider is waiting to pounce...
Impey makes contact with the break as he launches inside the final kilometer, but a still leading Westra is still several meters up the road.
Look at Impey's speed, though!!
He absolutely flies into second place on the road; leaving Moreno, Martinez and the rest of the sprinters behind. It's going to be so close!
It's Westra!
Oh no! Look at this - the Astana rider's celebration is premature!
A late bike throw from Impey puts him half a wheel in front. Orica-GreenEdge timed this to perfection in the end!
Third place also requires a photo finish, but Moreno is less fortunate than Impey. Daniel Teklehaimanot hangs on, denying the Spaniard valuable bonus seconds.
Lawson Craddock, Tom Danielson and Alexandre Geniez also cling on to a top 10 finish after being in the breakaway. Lucky for them, but bad news for us - since Martinez sprinted well and would've claimed 3rd in a clean sprint, but instead ends up in 6th.
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!
Volta Ciclista a Catalunya: Stage 6 March 23rd, 2014
With four riders still closely packed together at the top of the GC, lots can and should - given that tomorrow's stage is flat - change on this queen stage.
Coll de la Creueta's average gradient of just 5.9% might not seem like much, but a length of 18 km and long sections of 8-10% is nothing to sniff at.
The red jersey was close to secure already before the start of the day, but Rossetto still jumps with the early attacks and collects maximum points atop both the first two climbs and thereby officially secures winning the competition.
Esteban Chaves and the unlucky Lieuwe Westra are his companions. They cooperate exceptionally well throughout the entire stage, but it's going to be hard to stay away with just two minutes of advantage at the bottom of Creueta.
The climb soon begins for the peloton too. Already on the first steep section, Valverde is put to the test when Moreno and Ulissi join an attack led by Porte.
Quintana manages to contain them, so Dan Martin counters.
His attempt too is short-lived, as Porte is determined to make up for a weak first stage today. Moreno and Ulissi are once again following.
Rossetto has meanwhile dropped from the break after finding Chaves's rhythm much too hard to cope with.
Porte's attack once again failed to achieve much, so Ulissi and Moreno now figure it's time to go. Rossetto and Westra are both absorbed in the process.
Once again, Quintana neutralises the attacks. This time he continues pushing after catching them however, and the field starts to thin.
Chaves is about to be shut down too, as a result of this.
Was he perhaps going a bit too hard even for Valverde, though? All of a sudden, he steps aside and the group slows down.
This triggers a new attack - from Kangert!
No luck. Porte quickly jumps on the wheel and closes the gap, while Chaves desperately tries to preserve his last bit of advantage.
Under the red flag, Kangert uses his last resources to attack once more - and this time he gains a few meters!
Chaves is still a few meters up the road, though.
It's just too far. Esteban Chaves claims the stage win after an absolutely amazing performance on the final climb!
Quintana and Valverde jumps past an empty Kangert in the final meters, but 4th place is still a respectable finish.
Behind him, there's a clear gap - but PCM once again takes a brilliant decision and gives the first 13 riders the same time. Doesn't matter much to us this time, but I'm guessing Valverde's not too happy.
Volta Ciclista a Catalunya: Stage 2
E3 Prijs Harelbeke: Preview
Critérium International: Preview
