@ all: well, Dumoulin had too low sprint stats to win this one. And since there were better climbers and puncheurs in the group, also an attack would have been a wasteless effort. Thats why I tried him to save as much energy as possible, but simply not enough....
The 14th stage from Burgos to the summit of the Peña Cabarga brings the riders back to the mountains. It features 2 2nd categorized climbs, before the final climb to Peña Cabarga, a terrible steep climb, 3.9 kilometres long with an average gradient of 10.9% and a maximum of 19%!
62km to go
During the ascend of the Portillo de Lunada, the former breakaways splits up and Astana's Tadej Valjavec is the first to cross the summit of the climb. The Austrian duo of Thomas Rohregger (Sony Ericsson) and Stefan Denifl (Red Bull) follows at '53 and are closing the gap. The peloton has taken it pretty easy and follows at 4'55.
45km to go
The Austrians have joined Valjavec during the ascend of today's penultimate climb, the Alto de Caracol. Although the peloton has lost 31 more seconds, it has shrunken to 31 riders. This mostly thanks to the hard work by the Radio Shack guys.
3km to go
The 3 leaders have started the final ascend of the Peña Cabarga, and now it's a man against man against man-race. Valjavec is about to get dropped, while Denifl looks to be the strongest of the 3. The peloton is still 4'55 behind, so these 3 will fight for the win.
Finish
Stefan Denifl gives Team Red Bull - Cervélo their first stage win in a Grand Tour, by being by far the strongest of the 3. But the attention immediately switches to the peloton, as a lot is happening there.
5km to go
The foot of the Peña Cabarga hasn't even been reached, as Samuel Sánchez decides to launch a surprise attack, 5km before the finish. He gets countered by Nicholas Roche and....... GC-leader Vincenzo Nibali! Andy Schleck is a bit flabbergasted, and decides not to counter, fearing the steep slope of the final climb.
2km to go
But this appears to be the wrong choice, as almost halfway up the climb, Nibali is riding 1'18 in front of him... 43 seconds behind Nibbles follows a small group with Sánchez, Pavel Brutt and Igor Antón, and Andy follows at 1'18 in the company of brother Fr:ank, Roche, Visconti, Matthias Frank and Dario Cataldo. Fränk increases the pace, and the young bro follows, trying to make up as much as possible of the already suffered damage.
Finish
Nibali finishes in 3rd place (Rohregger in 2nd) at 1'50. The Schleck-brothers do a great job, gaining a lot of places, with Andy finishing in 4th and Fränk in 5th. Too bad, that they regained no more than 9 seconds to the Sicilian.... But at least they manages to overtake Antón, who eventually looses 14 seconds to them.
Results
It's the 6th day in a row, the breakaway is succesful!
1
Stefan Denifl
Red Bull - Cervélo
4h29'52
2
Thomas Rohregger
Sony Ericsson
+ 1'24
3
Vincenzo Nibali
Radio Shack - Nissan
+ 1'50
4
Andy Schleck
Monster Energy - Subway
+ 2'59
5
Fränk Schleck
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
s.t.
6
Tadej Valjavec
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
7
Igor Antón
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 3'13
8
Samuel Sánchez
Lampre - Generali
+ 3'21
9
Pavel Brutt
Rabobank Cycling Team
+ 3'39
10
Giovanni Visconti
BMC Racing Team
+ 3'55
GC
Is the Vuelta decided after today?
1
Vincenzo Nibali
Radio Shack - Nissan
59h37'18
2
Andy Schleck
Monster Energy - Subway
+ 1'23
3
Igor Antón
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 1'40
4
Fränk Schleck
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
+ 3'00
5
Samuel Sánchez
Lampre - Generali
+ 3'52
6
Giovanni Visconti
BMC Racing Team
+ 4'48
7
Carlos Barredo
Movistar Team
+ 5'20
8
Pavel Brutt
Rabobank Cycling Team
+ 6'15
9
José Herrada
Caja Rural
+ 6'16
10
Nicolas Roche
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
Points
1
Andy Schleck
Monster Energy - Subway
127
2
Mark Cavendish
Sky ProCycling
96
3
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Lotto - Belisol
93
4
Vincenzo Nibali
Radio Shack - Nissan
81
5
Igor Antón
Euskaltel - Euskadi
79
KOTM
1
Nadir Haddou
FDJ
46
2
Antonio Santoro
Androni Giocattoli
41
3
Andy Schleck
Monster Energy - Subway
39
4
Paolo Tiralongo
Pro Team Astana
38
5
Nico Keinath
Sony Ericsson
37
U25
1
Andrew Talansky
Radio Shack - Nissan
59h52'11
2
Jonathan Monsalve
Androni Giocattoli
+ 12'41
3
Ángel Madrazo
Movistar Team
+ 16'43
4
Yannick Eijssen
BMC Racing Team
+ 18'34
5
Peter Sagan
Monster Energy - Subway
+ 21'20
Teams
1
BMC Racing Team
178h10'38
2
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
+ 5'20
3
Monster Energy - Subway
+ 12'03
4
Saxo Bank SunGard
+ 15'53
5
Red Bull - Cervélo
+ 18'37
Today's winner
Word from the DS
What an incredible effort by Nibali. We really thought that he had overestimated his strength, by attacking even before the climb. But he managed to keep the high pace, really impressive.
We should say that he hasn't won the Vuelta yet, and that Madrid is a long way to go, but with him in this form, and the ITT still waiting, as well as Andy with a decreasing fitness, it will be very difficult to win the GC for Andy...
@ all: Yeah, Nibali is too strong. Andy's fitness is decreasing (84 now), and with the ITT remaining (and 2 mtf-stages), the win seems to be gone .....
The Lagos de Covadonga! What the Alpe d'Huez is for Le Tour, is the Covadonga for La Vuelta. 15.9km at an average gradient of 6.3%, but with max gradients of 15%. Luckily for the non-climbers, the entire route is flat, untill teh foot of the Lagos de Covadonga.
16km to go
Th efirst part of the stage can be described quickly: few breakaways, none of them succesful, untill 1 rider tried a solo attack.
So Caja Rural's Ezequiel Mosquera is the first rider to start the ascend of the Lagos de Covadonga. With 16km remaining, he has got a margin of 2'02 to the peloton, with the Radio Shack-domestiques doing the pace.
14km to go
A lot earlier than expected, the first of the GC-favourites attacks. Igor Antón is the one, desperately seeking for his second GT-win this season. No one counters, and he quickly creates a margin of 30 seconds to the peloton.
10km to go
It takes Antón 4 kilometres to close the gap to Mosquera. With 4km to go, the 2 lead the peloton by 27 seconds. This is the moment that Nibali counters. Is this too strong again, or can the Schleck-brothers follow him?
7km to go
Nibali closes the gap to the 2 Spaniards who are in the lead. Andy Schleck is the only one that could counter Nibbles a bit, but the winner of the Tour de France is still 20 seconds behind the 3 leaders. The others, including Fränk Schleck, follow at 1'03.
5km to go
The moment that Andy joins with the 3 leaders, Antón attacks again. Mosquera tries to counter, but wasted too much energy with his long breakaway. Nibali counters as well, but Antón has already created a margin of '20. After his chase, Andy is gasping for breath, and can't counter... The other Schleck and co. follow at 1'22
2km to go
Only 2 kilometres remaining, and the top 3 can be filmed in 1 shot. Antón is still in the lead, looking surprisingly strong considering it is his 82nd raceday of the year. Nibali follows at 16 seconds and Andy at 39, and is about to loose his 2nd pplace in the GC.
Finish
They say that winning wipes away the fatigue of someones face, but this.... Igor Antón can put a big smile upon his face and doesn't look tired at all, winning his first Vueta-stage this year.
Vincenzo Nibali finishes at 14 seconds in 2nd place and Andy Schleck at '32 in 3rd. Fränk Schleck finishes pretty devastated at 1'52, knowing that the podium will be gone for him.
Results
1
Igor Antón
Euskaltel - Euskadi
4h18'23
2
Vincenzo Nibali
Radio Shack - Nissan
+ 14
3
Andy Schleck
Monster Energy - Subway
+ 32
4
Fränk Schleck
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
+ 1'52
5
Matthias Frank
Red Bull - Cervélo
+ 2'05
6
Samuel Sánchez
Lampre - Generali
s.t.
7
Bauke Mollema
BMC Racing Team
+ 2'34
8
José Herrada
Caja Rural
s.t.
9
Nicolas Roche
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
10
Daniel Navarro
Saxo Bank SunGard
s.t.
GC
1
Vincenzo Nibali
Radio Shack - Nissan
63h55'43
2
Igor Antón
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 1'18
3
Andy Schleck
Monster Energy - Subway
+ 1'41
4
Fränk Schleck
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
+ 4'50
5
Samuel Sánchez
Lampre - Generali
+ 5'55
6
Giovanni Visconti
BMC Racing Team
+ 7'20
7
Carlos Barredo
Movistar Team
+ 7'52
8
José Herrada
Caja Rural
+ 8'48
9
Nicolas Roche
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
10
Matthias Frank
Red Bull - Cervélo
+ 8'52
Points
1
Andy Schleck
Monster Energy - Subway
145
2
Igor Antón
Euskaltel - Euskadi
104
3
Vincenzo Nibali
Radio Shack - Nissan
101
4
Mark Cavendish
Sky ProCycling
96
5
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Lotto - Belisol
93
KOTM
1
Igor Antón
Euskaltel - Euskadi
60
2
Andy Schleck
Monster Energy - Subway
59
3
Vincenzo Nibali
Radio Shack - Nissan
48
4
Nadir Haddou
FDJ
46
5
Antonio Santoro
Androni Giocattoli
41
U25
1
Andrew Talansky
Radio Shack - Nissan
64h18'08
2
Jonathan Monsalve
Androni Giocattoli
+ 12'41
3
Ángel Madrazo
Movistar Team
+ 18'33
4
Yannick Eijssen
BMC Racing Team
+ 20'24
5
Higinio Fernández
Caja Rural
+ 23'19
Teams
1
BMC Racing Team
191h16'42
2
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
+ 6'54
3
Monster Energy - Subway
+ 12'18
4
Saxo Bank SunGard
+ 15'17
5
Red Bull - Cervélo
+ 17'47
Today's winner
Word from the DS
I believe that this was the maximum result today for Andy. Losing only '18 to Nibali in this stage is a good job. But I can't help questioning the performance by Antón. He made it look like he was playing with everybody.... Let's hope that the 2nd rest day won't become a blood bag monday for him....
For the first time in the existence of our team, we take art in the Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda, a 6-stage race in Lombardia, with some famous winners as Pavel Tonkov (record holder with 3 wins), Lance Armstrong (back in '91), Michele Scarponi and Robert Gesink.
Although the race is mostly won by a young talent, in 2012 it was Aussie Rory Sutherland who won it.
The favourites *** Mikel Nieve (Astana), Yaroslav Popovych (D'Angelo), Gabriele Bosisio (Liquigas). ** Mattia Cattaneo (Farnese Vini), Fredrik Kessiakoff (Nespresso), Giampaolo Caruso (Katusha). * Diego Ulissi (Liquigas), Rob Ruijgh, Rory Sutherland (Onfone).
Our goal
With our riders in a bad fitness, or not suited for this terrain, we'll be happy with a top 10 in the GC, and a top 5 in a stage.
Stage 1
The Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda starts with a mountain time trial up the Colle Gallo. Astana's Mikel Nieve wins it, beating Mattia Cattaneo by a margin of 4 seconds. Best from our team is Rob Ruijgh in 17th place at '40.
Results
1
Mikel Nieve
Pro Team Astana
27'59
2
Mattia Cattaneo
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
+ 4
3
Francesco Masciarelli
Pro Team Astana
+ 10
4
Fredrik Kessiakoff
Nespresso - Algarve
+ 11
5
Rafael Valls
Nespresso - Algarve
s.t.
6
Andrey Kashechkin
Lampre - Generali
+ 15
7
Diego Ulissi
Liquigas - Cannondale
+ 16
8
Andrey Zeits
Pro Team Astana
+ 19
9
Gabriele Bosisio
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
10
Roman Klimov
Katusha Team
+ 24
Stage 2
In the short (110km) 2nd stage in Calcinato, 2 riders manage to surprise the peloton. Of the, Dutch Tom Stamsnijder is the strongest and takes the win, beating good old Enrico Franzoï. Daniele Callegarin (Team Type 1) wins the sprint of the peloton at '42, with Theo Bos in a 7th place.
Results
1
Tom Stamsnijder
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
2h35'15
2
Enrico Franzoï
Adria Mobil
+ 16
3
Daniele Callegarin
Team Type 1
+ 42
4
Blaz Jarc
Adria Mobil
s.t.
5
Elia Viviani
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
6
Marcello Pavarin
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
7
Theo Bos
Monster Energy - Subway
s.t.
8
René Mandri
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
9
Daniel Oss
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
10
Wouter Mol
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
Stage 3
The 3rd stage is the last of the flat stages, before we enter the Lombardian hills. Again, the breakaway is succesful, with Polish Dariusz Rudnicki (Bank BGZ) beating his 3 breakaway buddies. The peloton (with Andrea Guardini winning the sprint) finishes at 3'35, with Theo Bos finishing in 11th place.
Results
1
Dariusz Rudnicki
Bank BGZ
3h54'29
2
Mikhaylo Khalilov
Amore & Vita
s.t.
3
Josef Hosek
PSK Whirlpool - Author
s.t.
4
Oleksandr Sheydyk
ISD - Lampre Continental
s.t.
5
Andrea Guardini
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
+ 3'35
6
Maurizio Biondo
Pisanellastoria - Guerciotti
s.t.
7
Grega Bole
Lampre - Generali
s.t.
8
Elia Viviani
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
9
Danilo Napolitano
Acqua & Sapone
s.t.
10
Paride Grillo
Colnago - CSF Inox
s.t.
Stage 4
The first of 3 hilly stages has its start and finish in Lumezzane. And again, a breakaway is succesful. Lampre's Luca Solari takes the win. Daniele Callegarin finishes '17 in front of the peloton and also Yaroslav Popovych gains 9 seconds. Our riders finish inside the peloton.
The penultimate stage to Grumello Del Monte has a difficult climb with the summit only 7km before the finish. Rob Ruijgh attacked at the penultimate climb, but was caught halfway the last climb, falling back in the first peloton. And for the first time in 4 normal stages, r=the breakaway doesn't win. Ukrainian Yaroslav Popovych is the strongest, beating Matteo Cattaneo, the future of Italian climbing. Cattaneo becomes the new leader in the GC. Our riders drop in the GC, finishin in the first peloton at 3'24.
Results
1
Yaroslav Popovych
D'Angelo & Antenucci - Nippo
4h37'34
2
Mattia Cattaneo
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
+ 20
3
Gabriele Bosisio
Liquigas - Cannondale
+ 43
4
Mikel Nieve
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
5
Rafael Valls
Nespresso - Algarve
s.t.
6
Francesco Tizza
Pisanellastoria - Guerciotti
+ 1'06
7
Daniele Callegarin
Team Type 1
s.t.
8
Andrey Kashechkin
Lampre - Generali
+ 1'24
9
Giampaolo Caruso
Katusha Team
s.t.
10
Dimitry Ignatiev
Itera - Katusha
+ 1'47
Stage 6
The last 50km of the last stage to Bergamo are hilly again. The win goes to, surprise surprise, the breakaway, with Ukrainian Yuriy Agarkov being the strongest. Matteo Cattaneo not only stays out of trouble to defend his GC-lead, but is also able to create a gap of 25 seconds to the peloton.
Results
1
Yuriy Agarkov
ISD - Lampre Continental
3h37'41
2
Davide Bonuccelli
Nespresso - Algarve
+ 20
3
Davide Rebellin
Pisanellastoria - Guerciotti
s.t.
4
Mattia Cattaneo
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
+ 57
5
Rafael Valls
Nespresso - Algarve
+ 1'10
6
Yaroslav Popovych
D'Angelo & Antenucci - Nippo
+ 1'22
7
Mikel Nieve
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
8
Andrey Kashechkin
Lampre - Generali
s.t.
9
Fredrik Kessiakoff
Nespresso - Algarve
s.t.
10
Gabriele Bosisio
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
GC
1
Mattia Cattaneo
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
19h25'20
2
Yaroslav Popovych
D'Angelo & Antenucci - Nippo
+ 35
3
Rafael Valls
Nespresso - Algarve
+ 55
4
Mikel Nieve
Pro Team Astana
+ 56
5
Gabriele Bosisio
Liquigas - Cannondale
+ 1'07
6
Daniele Callegarin
Team Type 1
+ 1'37
7
Andrey Kashechkin
Lampre - Generali
+ 1'52
8
Giampaolo Caruso
Katusha Team
+ 2'16
9
Francesco Tizza
Pisanellastoria - Guerciotti
+ 2'21
10
Dimitry Ignatiev
Itera - Katusha
+ 2'30
...
13
Rob Ruijgh
Monster Energy - Subway
+ 4'15
Points
1
Mikel Nieve
Pro Team Astana
54
2
Mattia Cattaneo
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
54
3
Yaroslav Popovych
D'Angelo & Antenucci - Nippo
39
4
Yuriy Agarkov
ISD - Lampre Continental
37
5
Rafael Valls
Nespresso - Algarve
36
KOTM
1
Mattia Cattaneo
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
24
2
Mikel Nieve
Pro Team Astana
22
3
Yuriy Agarkov
ISD - Lampre Continental
20
4
Yaroslav Popovych
D'Angelo & Antenucci - Nippo
16
5
Rafael Valls
Nespresso - Algarve
16
Overall winner
Word from the DS
Not the best stage race for us, but this was expected as none of the riders, except Maaskant, was in great form. Still a top 10 for Bos in a stage and a 13th in the GC for Ruijgh. We'll keep a close look at Cattaneo, as he can be the new Scarponi or Basso!
Edited by dienblad on 20-09-2012 18:30
A smaller cobbled classic in Belgium is the GP Jef Scherens in the University city of Leuven. We won the race the previous 2 years, with Niki Terpstra in 2011 and Joost Posthuma in 2012.
The route
A long flat part, before a few laps with 1 steep cobbled climb (up to 15%) in it.
Startlist
Spoiler
Monster Energy - Ford
1. N.Terpstra
2. J.Audet
3. G.Bernard
4. P.Ligthart
5. M.Maaskant
6. J.Mulder
7. C.Veldkamp
8. L.Westra
The favourites ***Martijn Maaskant. ** Stijn Devolder (Vacansoleil), Phil Lavery (An Post), Hayden Roulston (Accent.Jobs). * Michel Koch (Sony Ericsson), Niki Terpstra, Bert De Backer (M&M's).
The race
Our young rider Cees Veldkamp joins the BOTD, and drops his breakaway buddies on 1 of the steep climbs. His adventure is over at the last climb in the last lap, being totally exhausted and he will finish in 25th place.
But his role of race leader is taken over by Martijn Maaskant. He simply rides away from the others in the last climb and solos to the win. Kevin van Impe (Landbouwkrediet) wins the sprint for the 2nd place at 1'17, beating Martin Koch and Niki Terpstra.
Results
1
Martijn Maaskant
Monster Energy - Subway
5h02'20
2
Kevin Van Impe
Landbouwkrediet - Euphony
+ 1'17
3
Michel Koch
Sony Ericsson
s.t.
4
Niki Terpstra
Monster Energy - Subway
s.t.
5
Stijn Devolder
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
+ 1'50
6
Philip Lavery
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
7
Kristof Goddaert
Lotto - Belisol
+ 2'25
8
Sven Renders
Accent.Jobs - Veranda's Willems
+ 2'42
9
Lieuwe Westra
Monster Energy - Subway
s.t.
10
Bert De Backer
M&M's
s.t.
The winner
Word from the DS
Great team riding, and Martijn Maaskant was simply too strong for the opponents.
The answer is: rest day, so that's why a few othe reports. Hopefully I can play stage 16 tonight, with the ascends of the San Lorenzo, Cobertoria and Cotobello.
The key is my son: will he continue crying or be quiet and falling asleep, as my wife is out tonight
dienblad wrote:
For those wondering: where is La Vuelta??
The answer is: rest day, so that's why a few othe reports. Hopefully I can play stage 16 tonight, with the ascends of the San Lorenzo, Cobertoria and Cotobello.
The key is my son: will he continue crying or be quiet and falling asleep, as my wife is out tonight
Stefan Denifl
Vincenzo Nibali
Tadej Valjavec
Igor Antón
Pavel Brutt
Nicolas Roche
Mark Cavendish
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Nadir Haddou
Nico Keinath
Andrew Talansky
Jonathan Monsalve
Yannick Eijssen
BMC Racing Team
Saxo Bank SunGard
Fredrik Kessiakoff
Andrey Kashechkin
René Mandri
Dariusz Rudnicki
Mikhaylo Khalilov
Josef Hosek
Oleg Berdos
You can do this! We wanne see that res jersey on you at the end!
