Ian: "Today, we're heading through Suffolk and Essex as we get closer to London and the finish. This is as flat as it gets, as you'd expect in the lowlands of East Anglia. Surely, the sprinters will get a chance today, surely?!"
Ian: "Again, defending the leader's jersey is all we'll be doing today. We're not interested in breakaways or bringing them back, but obviously, if it does come down to a bunch finish, Downing will give it a go."
Ian: "Well, nobody told me yesterday, but as there are no more categorised climbs in the race, I have won the King of the Mountains (hills!) here. That's a great result but I'm more looking forward to the all-Endura podium tomorrow!"
An Post
181. N.Eeckhout
182. S.Bennett
183. M.Cassidy
184. M.Christian
185. S.Law
186. R.McLaughlin
187. M.McNally
188. J.Mould
Team Type 1
191. A.Bazzana
192. A.Bowden
193. W.Dugan
194. J.Eldridge
195. A.Ilesic
196. K.Reijnen
197. J.Rosskopf
Race Report
An early breakaway of seventeen riders tried to get clear, including the man/machine hybrid that is Ian Stannard, but they were all brought back very quickly by a number of teams.
The break of the day was just six strong, but they were very strong. Hincapie, Maaskant and Meyer present. Again, there was no real danger for the yellow jersey so Endura could relax in the bunch.
Colnago and Liquigas were determined not to make the same mistake as yesterday and started to bring the break back. The gap tumbled but with ten kilometres to go, the break still held a minute's advantage. It would be very close.
British champion Froome was at it again, attacking just before the finish. As he passed the remnants of the break, only Maaskant was now ahead of him. Could the climber catch the rouleur?
He couldn't and Maaskant took a deserved victory after his agressive riding all week. Froome was second, whilst Colnago and Liquigas' lack of pace in their final leadout was inexcusable and once again prevented Sabatini and Modolo battling it out for the stage win. Seven stages, seven breakaway wins!
"Another day for the breakaway, just. It looked like it was gonna be a sprint but the two Italian teams just stopped riding in the last five kilometres and Martijn is too strong a rider to let that opportunity go. Another wonderful day for us though as we barely had to do anything. Just one stage to go in London. A few people have suggested I should try and attack and win the race, but that wouldn't be fair on my team mates. The order we are in now will be the order we finish in, unless of course somebody has a problem or a crash. The final day of my 2012 season tomorrow. It's been a good'un, but it's about to get even better ."Edited by brewers90 on 09-05-2012 18:05
Manager of Bunzl - Centrica
ICL's World Tour Champions and Talented Bottlers
Ian: "The final stage is a short Criterium in Newham, London. The course may look a bit savage from the profile but this is completely flat and should be a fast stage that ends in a sprint. Then again, we haven't had a sprint yet..."
Ian: "This stage should be very easy for us but with heavy rain forecast all day we have to stay upright on the technical course. Russell will get one last chance, hopefully, to get a good sprint result."
Ian: "I just have to get to the end today and then I will be taking two trips up to the podium. One to get my polka dot jersey, and one alongside two team mates to pick up the 1-2-3 overall. What a race!"
An Post
181. N.Eeckhout
182. S.Bennett
183. M.Cassidy
184. M.Christian
185. S.Law
186. R.McLaughlin
187. M.McNally
188. J.Mould
Team Type 1
191. A.Bazzana
192. A.Bowden
193. W.Dugan
194. J.Eldridge
195. A.Ilesic
196. K.Reijnen
197. J.Rosskopf
Race Report
Just like yesterday, a huge group tried to get away, but with the stage being so short, this eighteen-man group was never going to get too far ahead.
A whole variety of teams were controlling the pace, bringing the huge break back. This was a nailed on mass sprint and they wanted to make sure that nobody got too much of an advance.
With the original group caught, another few riders gave it a dig and got a decent advantage. Unsurprisingly, Maaskant ad Meyer were in there again. These two have been incredibly active here but they wouldn't succeed today as Liquigas soon brought them back.
With the rain pouring down, there was a monumental crash on the last lap. Over seventy riders were brought down and nine had to abandon. Tenth place van Dijk and eleventh place Huzarski were the big losers, dropping way down the order. It goes without saying that Froome and Thomas were involved, again.
And, finally, Modolo took the win ahead of his Italian rival, Sabatini. Downing managed a strong fifth place with Wilkinson in ninth. All of Endura's riders finished in the very small peloton of 37 to make sure of the win. Bradley Smith, a stagiaire, wins the 2012 Tour of Britain, with Tennant second and Bibby third. The polka dot and young riders' jersey will also be going home with Endura.
"Well, that was alright! A podium in my home tour is a nice way to finish my season. Bradley Smith has already won more than I have in one and a half months! He is phenomenal. All I can really add is that more races like that would be nice next season. Thanks to everyone for following my season progress, hope you'll join me in 2013. "
Manager of Bunzl - Centrica
ICL's World Tour Champions and Talented Bottlers
The World Championships took place this week in Valkenburg with the Cauberg climb being the key deciding factor in the race. Firstly, the time trial took place, again finishing on top of the Cauberg. No Endura riders were present but Britain's David Millar was strong, coming in second behind Dave Zabriskie, the veterans showing they still have it. EBH was third, with Cancellara in fifth, while Martin could only manage seventh.
David Zabriskie of the USA was in spectacular form as he won the ITT World Championships to earn the rainbow-striped skinsuit.
World ITT Championships - Result
Four days later, the road race took place, with Endura represented by Tiernan-Locke and Faiers, both riding for Great Britain. The 260km course favoured the punchers with the finish atop the Cauberg climb made famous by the Amstel Gold Race. It was Spain's Alejandro Valverde who rode away from pre-race favourite Philippe Gilbert to win the rainbow stripes. But behind this, something incredible was happening. EBH finished third (again!), while neo-pro and Team Sky team mate Luke Rowe followed him all the way for fourth. Another Sky rider, Froome was fifth but in sixth, outsprinting the likes of Gerrans, Cunego, Hesjedal and Joaquim Rodriguez, was Endura's Tom Faiers. A stunning result, most people there didn't even know who he was! As well as a 4-5-6 for GB, Tiernan-Locke came home in the second group in 26th place after having terrible legs on the day.
Spaniard Alejandro Valverde proved he is back once and for all by leaving favourite Gilbert behind on the final ascent of the Cauberg. Boasson Hagen completed the podium.
Hi guys, hope you enjoyed the season, I certainly did.
But, it's over now. Nine months of hard racing has seen new stars blossom, old faces returning to form and Endura Racing become one of the best teams in the world!! So, first of all, here's a review of the last two months of the season:
The two Canadian classics were won by De Gendt and Cunego, while the HC races were won by Bouhanni and our very own Bradley Smith. Kittel won another two races and who could forget the remarkable result in the Tour of Britain.
Koren took the win in the Tour of Beijing, which was a bit of a surprise and the final monument of the season was won by Contador, incredibly. The Spaniard has done two races this season, the WC ITT and Lombardia and he won one of them. Incredible. The final national champions of the season are Anacona and Betancourt, with the Colombian returning to Europe to take two more wins. Cunego also had a good month but just missed out in Lombardia. The final race of the year was won by El Fares in Japan.
So, there you have it, the 2012 season. Exciting from start to finish. A short review of the season will follow before I go off on holiday, well, back to England anyway!
UCI World Tour Igor Anton is this year's winner of the World Tour, just. His Giro-Vuelta double puts him just twelve points ahead of Cancellara, who won three of the four cobbled classics in the spring. Andy Schleck was consistent all season whilst Cadel Evans won the Tour.
Continental Tour No surprise here, Kittel, comfortably the best rider outside the World Tour, has well over double the points of his team mate, Degenkolb, who JUST pipped Tiernan-Locke. Schulze, El Fares and De Waele also had great seasons, with Faiers in eighth. Bibby ended up in a solid 17th position.
CQ As you would expect, Anton won here aswell and much more comfortably from Gilbert. Cavendish was nigh on unbeatable and took fifth, with Kittel in eighth. The highest ranked Endura rider was JTL but he was way down in 43rd place.
Victories Well, the two super sprinters Kittel and Cavendish dominated here. Can Kittel do the same at the top level? Cancellara was superb in the spring, while Martin got most of his wins against the clock. JTL picked up seven brilliant wins this season, the same as Evans and Anton. Great effort.
Team Rankings
UCI World Tour Radioshack win the World Tour this season thanks to great performances from Cancellara and Andy Schleck, just ahead of BMC who would have won had Hushovd turned up at some point this season. Sky are third. At the bottom, it's AG2R and FDJ-Big Mat who are ging back down to the Continental Tour. Saxo Bank somehow surviving.
Continental Tour Unbelievable. Despite only being a small Conti team, Endura Racing win the Continental Tour thanks to their astonishing Tour of Britain. 1t4i led for the entire season but were pipped at the last. NetApp are a distant third and Europcar had a poor season.
CQ BMC turned the tables on Radioshack here by performing better in the smaller races. Endura finished 16th.
Victories Kittel and Degenkolb couldn't quite fire 1t4i to the top of the victories list as Radioshack beat them by one. Cavendish and Wiggins were amongst those that put Sky in third, whilst Endura just popped into the top ten with 23 wins.
Great end of the season for Endura in Britain and Worlds, congrats.
And to your question, i think the story is perfect the way it is now, for me there is no need to change anything, i love it
As a newbie, I had to post and say how much I love this story. Please don't change a thing, I will never see Ian Bibby in the same light again after this.
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