For those who signed up for the Pizza contest, we can happily inform that a few people have been given rewards already. Thank Philippe Gilbert for that!
People that have already won cheese: Ollfardh, Jesleyh, Marcovdw, Atlantius, Bikex
And people that have won extra cheese! Jesleyh, SSJ2Luigi, Atlantius, Bikex
2 days ago we had teh beginning of the cycling season. The Santos Tour Down Under marked the beginning of a fantastic season. The year started with Andre "The Gorilla" Greipal take his first, of what some say, many wins this season. He managed to edge out ING's Johan Veenhof and Pure Black Racing's star sprinter Matthew Goss.
The next day we had the first hill stage which I was targeting. The stage looked like this.
The stage today was where the team wanted to make their mark along with stage 5, and we did not disappoint.
Greipal did not make it easy to take over taking the first IS sprint points. SGL didn't want to lose that jersey so they kept trying. When we got to the hills with 25km to go it was Voigt who was trying.
But in the end it was the Belgium champion Phillipe Gilbert who took the win.
The results went like this
Stage Results
1
Philippe Gilbert
Lierse - Pizza Ullo
3h23'18
2
Cadel Evans
Pure Black - Genesys Racing Team
+ 8
3
Simon Gerrans
Team CSC
+ 11
4
Jelle Vanendert
ITV ProCycling
+ 12
5
Greg Van Avermaet
Allianz - BMW Cycling Team
+ 13
6
Karl Hammarling
Caterham - Austar
+ 15
7
Matti Breschel
Tulip - Guinness
s.t.
8
Przemyslaw Niemiec
Tulip - Guinness
s.t.
9
Dries Devenyns
Lierse - Pizza Ullo
s.t.
10
Rudy Verboven
Nintendo - Ambuja Cycling
+ 16
I managed to get a great 15th spot finishing only 17 seconds behind Gilbert.
Well I will keep you posted about my time here in Australia.
Mitch Thompson
P.S. I really need some TV time Edited by Jakstar22 on 08-02-2013 13:34
After yesterday's fantastic run, we had a very bad day today. The most unfortunate guy was no doubt Dries Devenyns, who crashed badly. As you can see, the crash was so hard he lost both his wheels.
I would go into a stage review but as you can see my manager has already done a great job. So all I am going to do is give you 2 things. Here is the finish sprint.
We promised you the big reward for being the first team to reach 300 posts, and here it is. Congratulations, and thank you for your continueing interest in Lierse - Pizza Ullo!
Today was our last chance to put Greipel out of the race before Willunga Hill, so we tried to set a pace on the hills. Mitch Thompson did a fantastic job here. We couldn't get rid of the Gorilla in the end, but he didn't win either, so it was a small success. Now, we have to focus on tomorrow's race, the deciding race to Willunga Hill. The team will have to be at their best, but we don't doubt they'll be ready for it.
Also, it seems out TdF squad left our opponents speechless. That's a good thing!
Edited by Ollfardh on 12-02-2013 10:14
While we're not participating in this one, it's always interesting to watch the competition. We predict stage wins for 3 sprinters, a puncheur, and a stage racer. It would seem the World Tour teams aren't going to use their big names yet, leaving the race open for the Continental Tour riders.
Nintento-Ambuja will try to continue their good results from Australia, though they aren't sending the big names either. This means the CT ranking will be open for all teams entering Portugal.
For the General Classification you will need TT skills. No way around that. As I said before, no big guns like Contador, Wiggins or Evans, but I'm also not expecting TT specialists like Martin, Cancellara or Chavanel. Types like Boasson Hagen or Hushovd would probably have a shot as well, due to their combination of sprint and TT skills.
However, I'm not expecting to see either of them start, so it's looking at the second row. Rui Costa will definitely go for the win in his home nation. Kessiakoff will be another name to watch. All in all, it will be very unpredictable, but who ever wins will take the lead in the CT tour, I guarantee you that!
Edited by Ollfardh on 14-02-2013 12:59
When the riders had breakfast this morning, there was a big print of the GC hanging on all the walls in the room. The message was pretty obvious, forget everything else, just make sure we don't lose the GC. Of course, in these situations it's all vs.one, so the team had to be perfect today.
First of all, the Greipel issue still hadn't been fully resolved yet. Of course it was likely he would lose time today, but we didn't want to take chances that he somehow would hang onto the back of the peleton. So we immediatly set a good pace, which was successfull in the end, Greipel lost over a minute, enough to end his GC threath for good.
The major problem would of course be all those puncheurs waiting for a mistake from Gilbert so they could get a gap. Most notably the two homeboys Evans and Gerrans. A lot of people tried attacks and put the team under pressure, but we had a Plan-Voeckler.
Plan-Voeckler unfolding.
Voeckler was one of the stage favourites, but was nowhere in the GC. So letting him escape would put pressure on the rest as the bonification seconds they wanted were almost lost. Everyone reacted, except Gilbert, who had a bad day. He needed some more support of the team and a fantastic Mitch Thompson pulled the pack again, so Gilbert only had to close the gap in the final kilometre.
So, Voeckler played his part perfectly and took away the stage win and the boni seconds. Gilbert managed to get in the leading group and that was all he needed to do to defend his jersey. Maybe a stage win would've been possible with a bit more risks, but it was best to play safe here.
Only one mission today, get Philippe safely to the line. The team did another perfect effort to protect our GC. Nizzolo and Meersman did the final work, guiding him through the sprint to the line. Greipel (who else?) grabbed the stage win, but we are leaving Australia with both the individual and the team ranking. A job well done!
More to follow tomorrow, first we're going to let the riders enjoy their win.
It was one of the team goals to achieve victory in the Tour Down Under to start the new season with a bang. And we did! Philippe Gilbert won the GC with a few seconds. While grabbing the GC, he also claimed a stage win in Stirling, while finishing 4th on Willunga Hill. Devenyns earned points in Stirling, finishing 9th, before crashing and losing his good GC. But even then, the rest of the team stood up to secure the team classification.
Team rating
Dries Devenyns - 8
A strong Dries managed to protect Gilbert perfectly, while also scoring some points for us. Unfortunately a crash ended his GC hopes in stage 3. Stijn Devolder - 8
Stijn was always around to help, and that's why we wanted him to be here. No points, but did exactly what was expected of him. Niko Eeckhout - 7
Niko didn't get in the breakaway as we wanted, but did a far more important job by securing Gilbert's jersey. This veteran isn't done for yet!. Philippe Gilbert - 9,5
Would've earned a 10 if he had won on Willunga Hill, but Phil raced very smart to secure the GC after his first stage win. Gianni Meersman - 7,5
Gianni didn't use his sprint ability to the full, but he did help Gilbert where needed, while also securing our team classification. Giacomo Nizzolo - 6,5
While the team was built for a GC win, we're slightly disppointed Giacomo not getting a top 10. but it was very close and he worked hard for Gilbert, so we forgive him. Mitch Thompson - 8,5
Mitch was very unlucky, missing the top 10 very narrowly a few times, but he did a perfect job for Gilbert and secured our team classification.
Jan Bakelants
Ivan Basso
Arnaud Démare
Lucas Gonzalez
