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La Pomme Marseille - Bye for now!
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 04-11-2012 11:20
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Nice race from the team  |
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| FreitasPCM |
Posted on 04-11-2012 11:20
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That sure was a great re-start of racing!  |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 04-11-2012 12:38
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Koretzky put in a Great ride at Paris-Correze  |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-11-2024 12:57
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 04-11-2012 13:10
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Thanks a lot, everyone! 
 2.1: Tour de l'Ain - Preview
Tougher terrain is up next. l'Ain comes perfectly in terms of schedule, as the five stages will really provide good grounds to continue building up the form on. The GC is likely to go to a climber, as it'll probably be decided on the difficult top finish in Septmoncel on the penultimate day.
Koretzky will do what he can on the tougher stages, and really try to hang on through the mountain stage. A miracle is needed for him to finish decently in the GC, but one can always hope.
Meanwhile, Evaldas will give it his best shot on the two opening flat stages. Skujins will also have a very free role, and probably try to win a stage if an opportunity shows up at some point.
Luckily, the competition is quite soft. Astana and AG2R are likely to battle for the overall with whoever their respective captains will be. The Frenchmen will obviously be dangerous as well, with Geniez, Feillu and Casar all capable of winning the race against this sort of field.
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 04-11-2012 13:38
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I'm pretty sure that you'll be happy if Kessiakoff win's the GC. |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 04-11-2012 16:26
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Ah an area in France I enjoy a lot! Hope the team can show me nice results there |
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 04-11-2012 21:41
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@ Mig - Not that much, to be honest. Here I'm just biased towards the La Pomme riders. Any rider in front of them is an enemy.
@ Ian - Thanks. I'll do my best!
2.1: Tour de l'Ain: Stage 1
As expected, nothing stands in the sprinters' way on the opening stage. Three kilometres out from the uphill finish, it's really crowded towards the front of the field. Paillot and Skujins does everything in their power to keep Evaldas out of trouble, but there are so many teams trying to do the same!
In the slight uphill finish it's Sky's Davide Appollonio who proves to have the best legs! Florian Vachon challenges the Italian all the way to the line, but comes short by less than half a wheel.
Evaldas gets stuck behind some slower riders for a little while, but eventually finds his way through. Unfortunately he can't improve further than to a sixth place. Still, not at all bad considering the so-so form.
| 1 | Davide Appollonio | Sky Procycling | 3h20'17 | | 2 | Florian Vachon | Bretagne - Schuller | s.t. | | 3 | Matteo Pelucchi | Team Europcar | s.t. | | 4 | Alexandre Blain | Endura Racing | s.t. | | 5 | Dean Windsor | Endura Racing | s.t. |
2.1: Tour de l'Ain: Stage 2
Jumping over to the the very short (82km !) second stage. For some reason, the peloton just blows off the chase with 20km remaining. Koretzky realizes it, and doesn't hesitate for more than a second before setting off in a pursuit all by himself.
He makes the catch after just five kilometers, but the peloton obviously speeds up as well. A minute gap has already appeared at that point though.
Koretzky keeps digging by himself after dropping the escapees rather quickly - and believe it or not, two and half kilometres from the line, he's still half a minute ahead! The yellow jersey of Appollonio takes chase however!
As it turns out, they've mistimed it - and Koretzky wins the stage with a suicide attack! Vachon closes the gap at a rapid speed with a final kick in the last kilometer to take second. Evaldas takes another sixth place further back.
| 1 | Clément Koretzky | La Pomme Marseille | 1h46'42 | | 2 | Florian Vachon | Bretagne - Schuller | s.t. | | 3 | Benoit Drujon | Auber 93 - BigMat | s.t. | | 4 | Rinaldo Nocentini | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. | | 5 | Fabrice Jeandesboz | Saur - Sojasun | s.t. |
2.1: Tour de l'Ain: Stage 3
A team time trial at just 10 kilometers. In other words - impossible to get any result that isn't last, no matter what team you have. Therefore I decided to simulate the stage, to make it a bit more fair. Hope you understand.
Endura Racing prove to be the strongest, winning by eight seconds over Astana. "We" lose 47 seconds in ninth place, approximately where you'd expect us to be with Paillot in the team. Not bad, but not great either.
| 1 | Endura Racing | 11'42 | | 2 | Astana Pro Team | + 8 | | 3 | Team Argos - Shimano | + 11 | | 4 | Team Europcar | s.t. | | 5 | Saur - Sojasun | + 24 |
Erick Rowsell crosses the line first of the Endura boys, and thus takes over the overall lead ahead of the crucial stages. Koretzky is just 27 seconds down thanks to the bonus seconds from stage two. Still in with a shout.
| 1 | Erick Rowsell | Endura Racing | 5h18'40 | | 2 | Alexandre Blain | Endura Racing | s.t. | | 3 | Dean Windsor | Endura Racing | s.t. | | 4 | Ian Bibby | Endura Racing | s.t. | | 5 | Jack Anderson | Endura Racing | s.t. | | 6 | Iker Camaño | Endura Racing | s.t. | | 7 | Matteo Pelucchi | Team Europcar | + 3 | | 8 | Francesco Gavazzi | Astana Pro Team | + 9 | | 9 | Fredrik Kessiakoff | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | 10 | Alexsandr Dyachenko | Astana Pro Team | s.t. |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 04-11-2012 21:51
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Kamikaze Koretzky wins brilliantly! |
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| fcancellara |
Posted on 04-11-2012 21:53
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Yet another win! You're doing great!
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 04-11-2012 22:05
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Amazing win!! You have got to love it when the peleton gets it wrong
.: Manager of :.
.: My Awards :.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 04-11-2012 23:03
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Great win from Koretzky on stage two
He certainly left some daylight to the others |
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 06-11-2012 19:05
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Thanks guys. It certainly is nice when you succeed with that sort of move!
2.1: Tour de l'Ain: Stage 4
On this first demanding day, Skujins jumps into an early break. At first just to be up the road as support for later in the stage, but he quickly realizes that he is one of the strongest in the group. Therefore he accelerates a bit near the top of the first category Col de la Lèbe, and reaches the top in first place!
He then takes second on climb number two a little while later, making his way into a provisional KoM jersey. No more points than that today for him though, as the peloton gobbles up the group just before the final climb.
On the tough slopes it's Fabrice Jeandesboz who sets a high pace and drops everyone else. Koretzky decides to take his own pace and goes over the top in second place, a bit clear of the rest.
Trying to make the junction up to Jeandesboz.
We soon realize that the man from Saur is really on fire. At the bottom of the descent, his gap reaches the minute marker! Koretzky figures that it's a waste of energy to keep pushing in no-man's-land, and waits for the main field.
Jeandesboz on the other hand, is just not going to get caught. Inside the final kilometer, his lead is still around a solid half minute as a chaotic sprint is launched all over the road behind him. Koretzky among the first.
Kicking for bonuses behind the sole leader.
A not too excited Jeandesboz hits the line as the day's clear winner. Not all good for him though, as he isn't given the gap he was surely hoping for.
Victoire pour Jeandesboz!
The rest of the bonus seconds are taken by Johan Mombaerts and Blel Kadri. Koretzky unfortunately just comes short with a sixth place. Possibly because of going too hard on the climb earlier. Oh, well.
Mombaerts takes the sprint for second.
| 1 | Fabrice Jeandesboz | Saur - Sojasun | 3h29'05 | | 2 | Johan Mombaerts | Auber 93 - BigMat | s.t. | | 3 | Blel Kadri | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. | | 4 | Peter Kennaugh | Sky Procycling | s.t. | | 5 | Rinaldo Nocentini | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
2.1: Tour de l'Ain: Stage 5
With even more climbing on the menu, Skujins sets off early to protect the polkadot jersey. The plan works out perfectly, as he wins both of the two categorized climbs en route, extending the lead over his closest rivals.
Skujins working to retain his jersey.
The peloton catches up with the break just at the foot of the finishing slope. Skujins uses his last resources to move Koretzky to the front, whilst Kenny Elissonde takes off immediately as the road starts to go up.
Elissonde powering clear of the rest.
Eventually, it's stage four winner Jeandesboz, in the green jersey, who picks up the chase by himself - realizing that Elissonde is going strong.
The acceleration shatters the field in a million pieces. Only Rinaldo Nocentini and Javier Moreno are able to stay with the Frenchman, while Koretzky impresses heavily, hanging on to a group with riders like Geniez, Kessiakoff and Feillu - far better climbers than him!
Jeandesboz breaks the field apart.
A second little acceleration from an incredibly strong Jeandesboz drops also Nocentini and Moreno. Elissonde manages to just about hang on to win the stage, with the green man almost coming back at him in the end.
Elissonde wins in front of Jeandesboz.
Koretzky somehow manages to stay with the bigger chasing group all the way to the line, finishing in an amazing 10th place - beating a lot of normally stronger climbers. The yellow jersey of Rowsell meanwhile loses over two minutes and hands over the race lead to Jeandesboz.
Koretzky finishing at the back of the chasing group.
| 1 | Kenny Elissonde | FDJ - BigMat | 3h49'11 | | 2 | Fabrice Jeandesboz | Saur - Sojasun | + 16 | | 3 | Rinaldo Nocentini | AG2R La Mondiale | + 36 | | 4 | Javier Moreno | Movistar Team | + 1'06 | | 5 | Alexsandr Dyachenko | Astana Pro Team | s.t. |
Spoiler | 6 | Jean-Marc Marino | Saur - Sojasun | s.t. | | 7 | Brice Feillu | Saur - Sojasun | s.t. | | 8 | Fredrik Kessiakoff | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | 9 | Alexandre Geniez | Team Argos - Shimano | s.t. | | 10 | Clément Koretzky | La Pomme Marseille | s.t. | | 11 | Tobias Ludvigsson | Team Argos - Shimano | + 1'42 | | 12 | Arnaud Courteille | FDJ - BigMat | + 2'11 | | 13 | Sandy Casar | FDJ - BigMat | + 2'19 | | 14 | Blel Kadri | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. | | 15 | Erick Rowsell | Endura Racing | s.t. | | 16 | John Gadret | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. | | 17 | Cyril Gautier | Team Europcar | s.t. | | 18 | Maxime Bouet | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. | | 19 | Romain Bardet | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. | | 20 | Julien Antomarchi | Team Type 1 - Sanofi | s.t. | | 21 | Damien Monier | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | s.t. | | 22 | Peter Kennaugh | Sky Procycling | s.t. | | 23 | Imanol Erviti | Movistar Team | s.t. | | 24 | Evgeni Petrov | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | 25 | Cédric Pineau | FDJ - BigMat | s.t. | | 26 | Paul Poux | Saur - Sojasun | s.t. | | 27 | Jean-Eudes Demaret | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | s.t. | | 28 | Fabio Aru | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | 29 | Johannes Fröhlinger | Team Argos - Shimano | s.t. | | 30 | Julien Guay | Roubaix Lille Métropole | s.t. | | 31 | Marzio Bruseghin | Movistar Team | s.t. | | 32 | Alexander Efimkin | Team Type 1 - Sanofi | s.t. | | 33 | Yohann Gène | Team Europcar | + 3'41 | | 34 | David Le Lay | Saur - Sojasun | s.t. | | 35 | Romain Hardy | Bretagne - Schuller | + 4'08 |
2.1: Tour de l'Ain: Stage 6
Only action early in the day is Skujins again in the morning escape group, defending the KoM jersey. Unlike in previous days, he gets some real competition for the points, from Jean-Eudes Demaret and Daniele Callegarin.
We eventually walk away from the tough battle victorious though. Although Skujins misses out on a few points to the other two, he still takes more than enough to wrap up the KoM jersey. Mission accomplished!
On the penultimate climb, Col du Menthières, Saur turns up the heat a few notches, bringing an end to the breakaway whilst also reducing the peloton rapidly. No more than 30 riders manage to stay in contact over the top.
Saur drilling it for Jeandesboz.
On the way down, Peter Kennaugh really pushes through the corners and breaks free of the peloton. At the foot of the final drag up to the finish line, the Briton is over a minute ahead.
Kennaugh on the move.
After a ton of attacks from the peloton, a small group goes clear of the rest. Koretzky makes the cut, along with race leader Jeandesboz and basically the same names that dominated the climb to Septmoncel.
They're unable to jump back across to Kennaugh however! The Sky rider times his effort to perfection and wins the stage by half a minute over the fast closing group. Jeandesboz takes the sprint for second over Dyachenko, while Koretzky had to battle just to stay in contact.
Kennaugh celebrates at a (very) wrongly placed finish.
No time lost for us at least. Same can't be said about Kessiakoff and Feillu, who both missed the decisive attack and ends up losing more than five minutes. Good news for us, as it takes Koretzky past them in the GC!
| 1 | Peter Kennaugh | Sky Procycling | 3h49'25 | | 2 | Fabrice Jeandesboz | Saur - Sojasun | + 29 | | 3 | Alexsandr Dyachenko | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | 4 | Kenny Elissonde | FDJ - BigMat | s.t. | | 5 | Arnaud Courteille | FDJ - BigMat | s.t. |
As you can figure out yourself, Jeandesboz wins the GC after dominating the last three days. Elissonde and Nocentini gives him company on the podium, while Koretzky settles for an excellent 7th place. Great race!
| 1 | Fabrice Jeandesboz | Saur - Sojasun | 16h26'46 | | 2 | Kenny Elissonde | FDJ - BigMat | + 31 | | 3 | Rinaldo Nocentini | AG2R La Mondiale | + 56 | | 4 | Alexsandr Dyachenko | Astana Pro Team | + 1'11 | | 5 | Alexandre Geniez | Team Argos - Shimano | + 1'21 | | 6 | Jean-Marc Marino | Saur - Sojasun | + 1'34 | | 7 | Clément Koretzky | La Pomme Marseille | + 1'37 | | 8 | Javier Moreno | Movistar Team | + 1'48 | | 9 | Peter Kennaugh | Sky Procycling | + 2'21 | | 10 | Arnaud Courteille | FDJ - BigMat | + 3'02 |
And as you know - Skujins takes the KoM jersey!
| 1 | Toms Skujins | La Pomme Marseille | 78 | | 2 | Jean-Eudes Demaret | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | 62 | | 3 | Daniele Callegarin | Team Type 1 - Sanofi | 42 |
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 06-11-2012 19:13
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Koretzky good in the GC and Skujins win the KOTM jersey. A free  for you. |
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| FreitasPCM |
Posted on 06-11-2012 20:00
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Really strong performance from Koretzky, and kudos for Elissonde and Jeandesboz, nice surprises. |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 06-11-2012 20:20
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Well, the team had a great time, I think.
I had a great time watching them! A good result in the GC, single stages and in the KoM Classification, congrats! |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 06-11-2012 23:02
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Nice to see Skujins win the Mountains Classification |
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| dienblad |
Posted on 06-11-2012 23:10
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Good Tour de l'Ain for the team!!!
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| roturn |
Posted on 07-11-2012 08:05
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Good race for you.
Really like the screens and Elissonde winning. :-) |
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| ste_18 |
Posted on 07-11-2012 15:02
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Very nice report
Good performance for the team in GC and also with KoM jersey |
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 08-11-2012 06:36
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I can only agree with the others, nice 7th place for Koretzky thanks some agressive riding, which bring him the stage win also.
And KOM for Skujins is a nice bonus.
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