"We all know that wasn't the real footage of the Worlds anyway. That was just the staged footage to perpetuate the coverup that it was actually Vinokourov that won the race."
I have been racing a lot in Italy this season and that’s also my favourite country when it comes to racing because of the terrain. Holland has areas quite similar to that in Italy and this race is a bit like it eventhough it’s mostly flat. There are a few sharp hills in the finale though and they should help decimate the peloton. Me and Candido Barbosa are team captains today and we will both ride our chance in the finale.
With 25 kilometres to go a small group was still ahead but not by much. The pack was pretty small at this point.
On this very hill Martens of Rabobank and Clement Lhotellerie of Skil attacked, Barbosa went with them.
I was feeling great but I couldn’t go as long as Barbosa was out there eventhough he and Lhotellerie couldn’t quite catch up with Martens. In this hairpin bend you can see both the early break, Martens chasing, Barbosa and Lhotellerie chasing Martens and the pack right after. The gaps are small and I hope it will come back together.
It did and on the final small hill with 10 kilometres to go me and Mario Aerts got a gap on the pack. The last 10 kilometres would be flat so Aerts, not delighted by that prospect dropped back, so I figured there would be no point going flat-out alone, so I dropped back too.
With about 5 kilometres to go Martens and Aerts attacked on the flat and I tried to go with it, but Martens in particular was really strong.
But as we began sprinting for the line I started gaining. Can I win this?
I soon moved past Aerts and I was nearing Martens. But I had out of metres. Martens took the win, but being on the podium was a big satisfaction for me. The pack consisting of 30 riders eliminated the gaps on the line, not that it mattered. I hope my recent form will get me to the Basque Tour.
1 Paul Martens Rabobank 4h34'16 2 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road s.t.
3 Mario Aerts Silence - Lotto s.t.
4 Antonio Cruz NGC Medical - OTC Industria Porte s.t.
5 Volodymyr Dyudya Team Milram s.t.
6 Stefan Van Dijk Mitsubishi - Jartazi - Protech s.t.
7 Matthew Lloyd Silence - Lotto s.t.
8 Paul Van Schalen P3Transfer - Batavus s.t.
9 Gerben Löwik Rabobank s.t.
10 Christian Knees Team Milram s.t.
11 Björn Schröder Team Milram s.t.
12 Pieter Weening Rabobank s.t.
13 Kristof Vandewalle Topsport Vlaanderen s.t.
14 Francesco Reda NGC Medical - OTC Industria Porte s.t.
15 Clément Lhotellerie Skil - Shimano s.t.
16 Bram De Groot Rabobank s.t.
17 Nicki Sörensen Team CSC s.t.
18 Allan Johansen Team CSC s.t.
19 Volodymyr Gustov Team CSC s.t.
20 Maarten Tjallingii Silence - Lotto s.t.
That’s right I made the Pais Vasco team. I’m ecstatic because this is also a race I could see me doing well in the coming seasons. It’s a prestigous race just like Tirreno-Adriatico, and it has ProTour status aswell, and with the form I’m in, I think it’s possible for me to score my first ever ProTour points on one the stages. Team Captain is, however, Kim Kirchen and my main objective is to sit with him through the many hills of the Basque Country. But I feel awesome and I have a feeling that I will do something here. Tirreno-Adriatico is completely forgotten. The rest of the team is Hagen, Bak, Kairelis, Wiggins, Løvkvist and Horner.
Stage 1
It’s a bit hilly but the finale is flat and it came down to a sprint. We formed a train at the front with Bak, Hagen, me and Kirchen. But it didn’t really work to our favour as Bertagnolli of Quickstep took the win quite easily. I finished 7th as the best High Road rider and on top of that I was the first U25 rider to cross the line meaning I will wear white tomorrow. It was an awesome experience to recieve the jersey on the podium.
1 Leonardo Bertagnolli Quick•Step 3h42'09
2 Jens Voigt Team CSC s.t.
3 Carlos Barredo Quick•Step s.t.
4 Davide Rebellin Gerolsteiner s.t.
5 Fränk Schleck Team CSC s.t.
6 Alexandr Kolobnev Team CSC s.t. 7 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road s.t.
8 Jelle Vanendert Française des Jeux s.t.
9 Toni Colom Team Astana s.t.
10 Tony Martin Team Astana s.t.
11 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
12 Haimar Zubeldia Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t. 13 Kim Kirchen Team High Road s.t.
14 Lars Ytting Bak Team High Road s.t.
15 Markus Fothen Gerolsteiner s.t.
16 Óscar Sevilla Silence - Lotto s.t.
17 David López Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
18 Matthew Lloyd Silence - Lotto s.t.
19 Jurgen Van den Broeck Silence - Lotto s.t.
20 Benoit Vaugrenard Française des Jeux s.t.
Stage 2
I felt like I could take on the world today wearing my white jersey. I didn’t stand out much from my teammates though as our jersey is, well, more or less white already, but still. Today’s stage has an about 9-kilometres climb that tops some 25 kilometres from the finish, so we should see the race’s favourites attack today. So my job today is to keep Kirchen out of troubles during the first part of the race.
At the climb Schleck was the first to take off, but Kirchen was right on his countryman’s wheel.
This formed an elite group with Kirchen, Schleck, Cobo, Valverde, Nocentini and Sammy Sánchez. After the descent with about 20 kilometres of flat into the finish they had 30 seconds on the pack so it seemed very difficult. But they kept a high pace and they kept the pack at bay quite phenomenally. Kirchen didn’t do too good in the sprint though as he only finished 5th on the stage, but with no boni seconds he’s very much in the hunt for the overall win. I finished safely in the pack and I had no problems whatsoever today. I lost the white jersey to some random guy in the pack though, but I’m bothered. For some reason Schleck is the new race leader eventhough he only finished 6th to stage winner Sánchez.
1 Samuel Sánchez Bouygues Télécom 4h09'24
2 Juanjo Cobo Saunier Duval - Scott s.t.
3 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
4 Alejandro Valverde Caisse d'Epargne s.t. 5 Kim Kirchen Team High Road s.t.
6 Fränk Schleck Team CSC s.t.
7 Rémy Di Gregorio Française des Jeux + 51
8 Markus Zberg Gerolsteiner s.t.
9 Luis León Sánchez Team CSC s.t.
10 Markus Fothen Gerolsteiner s.t.
11 Fabian Wegmann Rabobank s.t.
12 Tony Martin Team Astana s.t.
13 Maarten Tjallingii Silence - Lotto s.t.
14 Mario Aerts Silence - Lotto s.t.
15 Theo Eltink Rabobank s.t.
16 Benoit Vaugrenard Française des Jeux s.t.
17 Grischa Niermann Rabobank s.t.
18 Alexandr Kolobnev Team CSC s.t.
19 Jurgen Van den Broeck Silence - Lotto s.t.
20 Emanuelle Bindi Lampre s.t. 34 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road s.t.
Stage 3
Not surprisingly we have hills on the programme today. There’s one with about 5 kilometres to go and another with about 30 kilometres to go. I asked Holm this morning if I could go with the early break today, but we have been instructed to stick close to Kirchen so unfortuneately I was turned down, but I can still do something great today I think.
I sticked close to Kirchen until the hill with about 30 kilometres to go where Cobo decided to attack. I wanted to go with Kirchen but figured it was a bad idea to try and chase him down, but I was definitely feeling strong.
Cobo was the strongest though and he kept a lead of about 20 seconds on a big group of 13 riders, which contained all the riders that breaked clear yesterday along with riders like Evans and Cunego. If I had stayed a bit nearer the front at that climb I could’ve been in there, but I had plans for the last climb. Cobo kept his lead over the flat part and he was going strong over the climb as he kept his lead here also. As soon as the pack hit the hill with 6 kilometres left I took off.
The favourites group were about two minutes up the road when I attacked so I knew it would be impossible to make the junction. But I went flat-out from there on in and I managed to catch Colom who had been dropped from the big group. Cobo kept his lead and won the stage and the leaders jersey. We took over the lead in the teams classification because of me. I had managed to pull over 50 seconds clear of the pack in the last 5 kilometres. We lead the teams classification because of me. That sentence has a very nice ring to it.
1 Juanjo Cobo Saunier Duval - Scott 4h24'24
2 Stefan Schumacher Gerolsteiner + 20
3 Matteo Carrara Quick•Step s.t.
4 Haimar Zubeldia Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
5 Jelle Vanendert Française des Jeux s.t.
6 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
7 Fabian Wegmann Rabobank s.t.
8 Alejandro Valverde Caisse d'Epargne s.t. 9 Kim Kirchen Team High Road s.t.
10 Fränk Schleck Team CSC s.t.
11 Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto s.t.
12 Samuel Sánchez Bouygues Télécom s.t.
13 Damiano Cunego Lampre + 47
14 Toni Colom Team Astana + 2'40 15 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road s.t.
16 Carlos Barredo Quick•Step + 3'34
17 Christian Vandevelde Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O s.t.
18 Christophe Le Mével Crédit Agricole s.t.
19 Manuele Mori Saunier Duval - Scott s.t.
20 Delio Fernández Karpin Galicia s.t.
GC
1 Juanjo Cobo Saunier Duval - Scott 12h15'57
2 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R - La Mondiale + 20
3 Fränk Schleck Team CSC s.t. 4 Kim Kirchen Team High Road s.t.
5 Alejandro Valverde Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
6 Samuel Sánchez Bouygues Télécom s.t.
7 Jelle Vanendert Française des Jeux + 1'11
8 Stefan Schumacher Gerolsteiner s.t.
9 Matteo Carrara Quick•Step s.t.
10 Haimar Zubeldia Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
11 Fabian Wegmann Rabobank s.t.
12 Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto s.t.
13 Damiano Cunego Lampre + 1'38 14 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road + 3'31
15 Toni Colom Team Astana s.t.
16 Carlos Barredo Quick•Step + 4'25
17 Alexandr Kolobnev Team CSC s.t.
18 Juanma Gárate Quick•Step s.t.
19 Trent Lowe Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O s.t. 20 Edvald Boasson Hagen Team High Road s.t.Edited by niconico on 10-08-2008 21:32
Yesterday’s stage has got me feeling very confident in myself again. I was a bit down during the first couple of months of the season, but to show myself off in a race like this is a very big thing for me, and I’m feeling very secure that I will be named in our Ardennes team. I’m 14th in the GC and 2nd in the Young Riders GC, so the media at home is starting to show a little attention around me. But it’s still the only the biggest cycle fanatics who is beginning to notice me perform on the big stage. Anyway today’s stage was an easy ride for all the favourites as a break just managed to make it home and no one tried to attack during the stage. We didn’t want to either as we feel confident that Kirchen can take the jersey on the time trial. I did try an attack on the last climb as the break was only about 40 seconds ahead here, but I didn’t really get away, so instead Medina of Astana took the win edging out Gutierrez of Karpin-Galicia.
1 Manuel Medina Team Astana 4h13'32
2 Cecilio Gutiérrez Karpin Galicia s.t.
3 Sergio De Lis Orbea - Oreka S.D.A. s.t.
4 José Vicente Toribio Bouygues Télécom s.t. 5 Kim Kirchen Team High Road + 18
6 Davide Rebellin Gerolsteiner s.t. 7 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road s.t.
8 Lars Ytting Bak Team High Road s.t.
9 Jens Voigt Team CSC s.t.
10 Fabian Wegmann Rabobank s.t.
11 Thomas Dekker Rabobank s.t.
12 Pierrick Fédrigo Bouygues Télécom s.t.
13 Luis León Sánchez Team CSC s.t.
14 Samuel Sánchez Bouygues Télécom s.t.
15 Alexandr Kolobnev Team CSC s.t.
16 Jelle Vanendert Française des Jeux s.t.
17 Markus Fothen Gerolsteiner s.t.
18 Carlos Barredo Quick•Step s.t.
19 Andrea Moletta LPR Brakes s.t.
20 Rémy Di Gregorio Française des Jeux s.t.
Stage 5
Today’s stage is officially named flat by the organizers but there are quite a few hills coming into the finish, so the team will try and set me up today for the sprint. And the team did a great job safely reeling in the early break so I could contest for the win today. I had one of the best lead-out men imagineable, Edvald Boasson Hagen. We were at the very front when Hagen opened up, but somehow, eventhough I was feeling quite terrific, we were just overtaken by a load of riders and at the finish line, I wasn’t even in top 10. Schumacher was the strongest on the day.
1 Stefan Schumacher Gerolsteiner 4h03'52
2 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
3 Samuel Sánchez Bouygues Télécom s.t.
4 Matteo Carrara Quick•Step s.t.
5 Andrea Moletta LPR Brakes s.t.
6 Alejandro Valverde Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
7 Davide Rebellin Gerolsteiner s.t.
8 Fabian Wegmann Rabobank s.t.
9 Damiano Cunego Lampre s.t.
10 Thomas Dekker Rabobank s.t.
11 Carlos Barredo Quick•Step s.t.
12 Xavi Florencio Bouygues Télécom s.t.
13 Rubén Pérez Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
14 René Mandri AG2R - La Mondiale s.t. 15 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road s.t.
16 Pierrick Fédrigo Bouygues Télécom s.t.
17 Manuele Mori Saunier Duval - Scott s.t.
18 Fränk Schleck Team CSC s.t.
19 Aitor Galdos Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
20 Riccardo Riccò Saunier Duval - Scott s.t.
Stage 6
It’s the final day today and the main thing for us is whether Kirchen can win the race or not. He’s sitting 6th in the GC 20 seconds down on Cobo, but in the same time as Valverde, Sánchez, Nocentini and Schleck. He should be able to beat them all, but is 20 seconds too much to gain on Cobo, with the form he is in? Myself, I was hoping I could stay in the Top 20 as I’m still 14th in the GC, but I have some very strong guys 54 seconds behind me like Thomas Dekker, Luis Leon Sanchez, Markus Fothen and Jens Voigt plus many others but I will give it my all today.
Well the two CSC riders Voigt and Sánchez did very well finishing 3rd and 2nd respectively, and with the time trial being 15 kilometres I lost more than 54 seconds on those two. But not much more actually as I did very good today. Stefan Schumacher came away winner while I finished 83rd, 1’04 down, meaning I would only slip to 17th, which is a great result for me. Kirchen lost time on Valverde today and couldn’t quite gain the 20 seconds on Cobo, neither could Valverde, so Cobo grabbed his second win in Vuelta al Pais Vasco. We won the teams classement, 10 seconds ahead of CSC and I finished 3rd to Vanendert and LL Sánchez in the young riders classement. So this has been a small breakthrough for me.
1 Stefan Schumacher Gerolsteiner 20'11
2 Luis León Sánchez Team CSC + 1
3 Jens Voigt Team CSC + 3
4 Alejandro Valverde Caisse d'Epargne s.t. 5 Kim Kirchen Team High Road + 6
6 Markus Fothen Gerolsteiner + 10
7 Juanjo Cobo Saunier Duval - Scott + 12
8 Thomas Dekker Rabobank + 14
9 Michael Rogers Caisse d'Epargne + 16
10 Janez Brajkovic Team Astana + 17
11 Benoit Vaugrenard Française des Jeux + 18
12 Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto + 19
13 Andreas Klöden Team Astana s.t.
14 Haimar Zubeldia Euskaltel - Euskadi + 21
15 Tony Martin Team Astana + 25
16 Paolo Savoldelli LPR Brakes + 26
17 Fränk Schleck Team CSC s.t. 18 Lars Ytting Bak Team High Road + 30
19 Vincenzo Nibali Liquigas + 31
20 Mikel Astarloza Euskaltel - Euskadi + 34 83 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road + 1'04
GC
1 Juanjo Cobo Saunier Duval - Scott 20h54'02
2 Alejandro Valverde Caisse d'Epargne + 11 3 Kim Kirchen Team High Road + 14
4 Fränk Schleck Team CSC + 34
5 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R - La Mondiale + 43
6 Stefan Schumacher Gerolsteiner + 59
7 Samuel Sánchez Bouygues Télécom s.t.
8 Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto + 1'18
9 Haimar Zubeldia Euskaltel - Euskadi + 1'20
10 Fabian Wegmann Rabobank + 1'41
11 Matteo Carrara Quick•Step + 1'47
12 Jelle Vanendert Française des Jeux + 1'52
13 Damiano Cunego Lampre + 2'32
14 Luis León Sánchez Team CSC + 4'14
15 Jens Voigt Team CSC + 4'16
16 Markus Fothen Gerolsteiner + 4'23 17 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road s.t.
18 Thomas Dekker Rabobank + 4'27
19 Michael Rogers Caisse d'Epargne + 4'29
20 Benoit Vaugrenard Française des Jeux + 4'31
The day we finished Vuelta al Pais Vasco I met up with with one of our sporting directors, Brian Holm, who had some good news for me. Honestly I wasn’t surprised because I have put in a good effort in the Basque Country – not only for myself but also for the team and I might be the rider in best form right now in the whole team, so Brian telling me I was going to race all three Ardennes was no surprise to me. What was a surprise though, was that I have been selected team captain for the famous one-day race Rund Um Den Henninger Turm. It takes place a couple of days after Liege-Bastogne-Liege, meaning I will have to maintain my form after that. It’s getting a bit strenous though because I have been training intensively for a while now and I’m starting to feel it get to me just a bit. But right now I’m just happy that I have recieved the opportunity to go for the win in Frankfurt. A couple of days before Amstel I raced a small race in France called GP de Denian where I finished 6th.
Team High Road: Kim Kirchen, Paolo Bettini, Chris Horner, Jonas Aaen Jørgensen, Kanstantin Sioutsou, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Dainius Kairelis and Candido Barbosa.
Amstel Gold Race
This is just for me to learn and see how my two team leaders, Bettini and Kirchen does. Because especially Bettini is a role model for me as a cyclist. Kirchen and Paolo are both in very good shape, which Kirchen has showed over this spring by winning Paris-Nice and finishing 3rd in Vuelta al Pais Vasco. Bettini has been a bit more anonymous but he has one win though.
Kirchen also turned out stronger on the day and he was the one I was told to stick close to all day until the 40 kilometres mark, where he countered the moves from Valverde, Kroon, Rebellin, Schumacher and Wegmann. But just as he came across, Valverde attacked again and got a gap on his companions. Kirchen was hurting a lot over the hills coming into the finish and at the last but final hill he cracked as the first from the chasing group which now only consisted of Kroon, Wegmann, Schumacher and Rebellin.
Valverde would hold on to win Amstel Gold Race, while Kirchen managed to get past a cracked Wegmann on the Cauberg. Me and Bettini attacked from the pack at the foot of the Cauberg, which resulted in Bettini finishing 8th and me taking 10th. Eventhough Kirchen only managed 5th I was ecstatic, it was my first ever ProTour Point!
1 Alejandro Valverde Caisse d'Epargne 6h56'31
2 Karsten Kroon Team CSC + 41
3 Davide Rebellin Gerolsteiner s.t.
4 Stefan Schumacher Gerolsteiner + 1'38 5 Kim Kirchen Team High Road + 2'02
6 Fabian Wegmann Rabobank s.t.
7 Fränk Schleck Team CSC + 8'59 8 Paolo Bettini Team High Road s.t.
9 Juanjo Cobo Saunier Duval - Scott + 9'08 10 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road s.t.
11 Manuele Mori Saunier Duval - Scott s.t.
12 Danilo Di Luca LPR Brakes s.t.
13 Joaquim Rodríguez Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
14 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
15 Jelle Vanendert Française des Jeux s.t.
16 Alexandr Kolobnev Team CSC s.t.
17 Leonardo Bertagnolli Quick•Step s.t.
18 Mathieu Sprick Bouygues Télécom s.t.
19 Matteo Carrara Quick•Step + 9'37
20 José Iván Gutiérrez Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
Fleche Wallone
This was a different story from us. I had acquired a taste for it since I finished 10th in Amstel so I was really determined to do well here and help Bettini and Kirchen get a good result. And they really did. After being the only rider in the team to stick close to them all day they both attacked at the final climb before Le Mur du Huy, they quickly caught the group chasing race leader Sammy Sanchez.
But Sanchez ran out of steam at Mur du Huy and when Kirchen and Bettini opened up there were no one who could respond. They both accelerated away from all the favourites and took a brilliant 1-2 for the team with Bettini taking 1st place. Amazing day. Eventhough I “only” finished 20th, I just had to celebrate as I crossed the line and it was a nice feeling to congratulate Bettini on the win. Maybe he will be congratulating me next year?
1 Paolo Bettini Team High Road 5h34'52
2 Kim Kirchen Team High Road + 7
3 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R - La Mondiale + 18
4 Alejandro Valverde Caisse d'Epargne + 24
5 Samuel Sánchez Bouygues Télécom + 36
6 Manuele Mori Saunier Duval - Scott + 38
7 Alexandr Kolobnev Team CSC + 2'07
8 Juanjo Cobo Saunier Duval - Scott + 2'08
9 Fränk Schleck Team CSC s.t.
10 Matteo Carrara Quick•Step s.t.
11 Jelle Vanendert Française des Jeux + 2'11
12 Damiano Cunego Lampre + 2'12
13 Karsten Kroon Team CSC + 2'13
14 Sylvain Chavanel Cofidis + 2'14
15 Leonardo Bertagnolli Quick•Step s.t.
16 Fabian Wegmann Rabobank + 2'16
17 Ricardo Ricco' Saunier Duval - Scott + 2'17
18 Stefan Schumacher Gerolsteiner s.t.
19 Luca Mazzanti Cofidis 2'30 20 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road + 2'36
Liege-Bastogne-Liege
This is the biggest of them all for me. There is no race I’d rather win one day than this one. Well maybe Tour of Lombardy, but this one is definitely in second place. It’s not going to be this year though as the team is very much looking to Kirchen and Bettini for succes here and they can bring it no doubt.
I tried to get away two times early on but the pack wouldn’t allow the moves I was in unfortuneately. Barbosa then managed to break clear in an 8-man breakaway group with the biggest name being Andy Schleck. Barbosa left them all behind, but he was caught when the favourites made their moves at the Redoute. Valverde was the first to break clear but a lot of riders followed including Kirchen and Bettini who would both make the front group.
I was in the third group on the road after the Redoute with Hagen, Schumacher, Ricco and a couple of other guys, but we didn’t really go flat-out as we had Kirchen and Bettini up front with Valverde, Schleck, Vanendert, Cobo, Nocentini and Rebellin.
The others tried to attack numerous times and it wasn’t succesful. Kirchen and Bettini stayed cool though and wait until the very last climb to make their moves. Kirchen and Bettini both attacked at the foot of the final, not so steep climb and they got a small gap on the others and Kirchen was leading ahead of Bettini coming into the last left hand bend. And they did again! Another 1-2 for Team High Road as Kirchen won Liege-Bastogne-Liege ahead of teammate Paolo Bettini, another amazing day for us.
Schumacher and Ricco both beat me on the line as I finished 18th on the day just ahead of Hagen and both of us had pretty big smiles on our faces as we crossed the finish line.
1 Kim Kirchen Team High Road 7h10'12
2 Paolo Bettini Team High Road s.t.
3 Jelle Vanendert Française des Jeux + 11
4 Juanjo Cobo Saunier Duval - Scott s.t.
5 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
6 Davide Rebellin Gerolsteiner + 33
7 Alejandro Valverde Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
8 Fränk Schleck Team CSC + 58
9 Samuel Sánchez Bouygues Télécom + 2'25
10 Carlos Barredo Quick•Step s.t.
11 Leonardo Bertagnolli Quick•Step s.t.
12 Fabian Wegmann Rabobank + 3'14
13 Vincenzo Nibali Liquigas s.t.
14 Pierrick Fedrigo Bouygues Télécom + 3'43
15 Michael Albasini Liquigas s.t.
16 Stefan Schumacher Gerolsteiner + 6'24
17 Ricardo Ricco' Saunier Duval - Scott s.t. 18 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road s.t.
19 Edvald Boasson Hagen Team High Road s.t.
20 Mikel Astarloza Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
I have cut down a bit on the amount of pictures, but that's only so writing the updates won't get too time consuming. As I've said earlier for this story to be anywhere near SunMade's Saul Raisin story it needs to deal with several seasons so writing the reports should be as easy as possible to keep going.
"We all know that wasn't the real footage of the Worlds anyway. That was just the staged footage to perpetuate the coverup that it was actually Vinokourov that won the race."
This is my last race this spring. After this I’ll take a well-deserved break from racing and then start honing my form for my biggest goal of the season: The World Championships in Copenhagen. But today I’m just thinking about this race because I quite simply want to win here. I’ve kept my form up since the Ardennes so I should be able to do it. But there is some big riders here. Frank Schleck, Karsten Kroon, Franco Pellizotti, Ivan Basso, Peter Velits, Alessandro Petacchi etc. But the team was focused on helping only me today. One my helpers is Sioutsou who finished 4th here last year, so I have competent back-up.
A quite big group got away in the beginning so we chased it down. Another big group then got away, with the same result. Finally a smaller group was allowed to go clear but that was pretty far into the race. It was McGee and Posthuma who broke clear. But they were kept on a leash and Posthuma’s gap came down drastically at the final of the big climbs. Near the top Pellizotti put in an attack and knowing I would have to go with everything to get in the winnig move, I countered him. We were caught in the descent however. In the flat part before the three small lumps towards the end, Velits and Schleck attacked and again me and Pellizotti went.
I though for a moment I couldn’t come across because Schleck and Velits were really digging deep, but Pellizotti closed the gap on them at the first of the three lumps. What a group I was in.
Schleck put in an attack at the last of the small lumps and I thought for a moment I couldn’t hang on but I digged deep and powered into the lead on the descent.
And so I attacked. I put in an all or nothing attack. I might be able to outsprint them all, but I was a bit afraid of Velits, who beat me in the sprint at U23 World Championships in 2007, so I took a deep breath and gave it everything.
I didn’t look back and I slowly opened up a gap on Velits who lead the group. As soon as I saw the flame rouge and I began sprinting towards the finish line which I could also see up the road. I thought for a moment I had over-extended myself because my legs were definitely about to explode real soon.
No Way! I looked back with 300 metres in and I was expecting to see Velits right up my alley, but he was about 100 metres back. I knew I had it now. I had won Rund Um Den Henninger Turm! The biggest win of my career and my first as a ProTour rider.
I had beaten Frank Scheck. I had beaten Franco Pellizotti and I had beaten Peter Velits. I watched Velits climb the podium at the Worlds in 2007 after I finished 6th there. The tables had turned today and I was the best. I feel like I can win the World Championships now. I know I’m not good enough yet, but I still think I can win it. Strange feeling really.
1 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road 5h04'19
2 Peter Velits Team Milram + 26
3 Franco Pellizotti Liquigas s.t.
4 Fränk Schleck Team CSC s.t.
5 André Cardoso Team Volksbank + 2'11
6 Matthew Lloyd Silence - Lotto s.t.
7 Alessandro Petacchi Team Milram + 3'11
8 Giairo Ermeti LPR Brakes s.t.
9 Karsten Kroon Team CSC s.t.
10 Geert Steurs Silence - Lotto s.t.
11 Allan Davis Silence - Lotto s.t.
12 Jos Van Emden ELK Haus - Simplon s.t.
13 Radoslav Rogina ELK Haus - Simplon s.t.
14 Óscar Sevilla Silence - Lotto s.t.
15 Marco Frapporti CSF Group - Navigare s.t.
16 Sébastien Turgot Team High Road s.t.
17 Maarten Tjallingii Silence - Lotto s.t.
18 Harald Starzengruber ELK Haus - Simplon s.t.
19 Thomas Rohregger ELK Haus - Simplon s.t.
20 Mickael Buffaz ELK Haus - Simplon s.t.
Still I’m on break from cycling, but of course that doesn’t mean that I’m not training every day, I’m just not training that intensively and I won’t be until I can eye the Worlds in the nearest future. I have been training a lot with Marcus Burghardt lately since we live pretty close to each other. After my daily rides I have been watching the Giro lately in which we of course took part and I must say I have been very impressed with how the team has fared in Italy this year.
Our captain for the race was 37-year-old Chris Horner and he put in the Grand Tour of his career as he finished 5th overall. Hagen and Bettini were also on fire during the race, with Hagen taking three stage wins and Bettini too, and on top of that Hagen also won the points competition. So it was very interesting to follow for me. I would have liked to have raced it myself this year, but after Rund Um Den Henninger Turm I’m glad I didn’t. I was really tired and there was no way I would be able to compete in my first Grand Tour ever. I have been talking with Brian about it, and it’s 90 percent sure that I won’t be racing any Grand Tour this year. I’m not in the picture for the Tour as I’m not strong enough yet and I don’t want to race the Vuelta as I’m gunning for the Worlds.
About my upcoming race programme, Brian has told me a little about it. I will take part in the Triple Crown, but I will not race the first race. I’ll start up with Commerce Bank Reading Classic on June 6 and then race the biggest of ‘em Commerce Bank International Championship. I hope I can pull off a good result in the latter. Then I’m off to Ster Elektrotoer while the second half of the Tour de France favourites battle it out in Switzerland, and after honing my form in Holland I will be taking part in the Danish National Championships, where I have unfinished business from last year to take care of. Besides that I don’t know where I will be racing. I have my eye on Tour de Pologne as it’s pretty close to the Worlds, but as said I’m not completely sure.
