|
La Pomme Marseille
|
| 547984 |
Posted on 24-01-2014 16:20
|
Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5008
Joined: 29-01-2013
PCM$: 200.00
|
Niiiiiiice! 
And Skujins got 10th as well. 
baseballlover312, 06-03-14 : "Nuke Moscow...Don't worry Russia, we've got plenty of love to go around your cities"
Sarah Palin, 08-03-14 (CPAC, on Russian aggression) : "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke"
Big thanks to jdog for making this AMAZING userbar! |
| |
|
|
| sutty68 |
Posted on 24-01-2014 16:53
|
Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
PCM$: 200.00
|
Brilliant win for Kwiatkowski |
| |
|
|
| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 24-01-2014 21:44
|
Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4573
Joined: 07-10-2012
PCM$: 200.00
|
Wow, a brilliant win there! Kwiatek showing great form going into the Ardennes. |
| |
|
|
| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 25-01-2014 11:42
|
World Champion
Posts: 10121
Joined: 01-05-2010
PCM$: 200.00
|
Merci!
---
 Amstel Gold Race: Preview
April 14th, 2014
The 'easy' finish that was introduced last year didn't seem to affect the racing negatively at all, so it has been kept around for a second run.
One thing that will be interesting to observe is whether the puncheurs have learned anything from last year's race, when waiting for the Cauberg resulted in a quick Andrea Palini hanging on and outsprinting them.
The Lampre rider has of course suffered from an almost suspiciously major drop in performance since then, but there are others around who could potentially pull of a similar feat this year.
Peter Sagan is naturally the first name coming to mind, but he has actually prioritied training to racing Amstel, so other light sprinters will have to try filling that role instead.
Interestingly enough, the stage looks set for such a coup, since the world's arguably two best puncheurs at the moment - Joaquim Rodriguez and Dan Martin - are both up on altitude, getting ready for the upcoming Giro d'Italia.
Their absence also plays into the hands of Vincenzo Nibali, however. The Italian hasn't had any luck here in the past, but could definitely be on his way to changing his record. He's not going to be missing team support at least, since Astana have brought a ridiculously strong team for him.
Two-time winner Philippe Gilbert and two-time almost winner Alejandro Valverde are also expected to do well, as are 2013 runner-up Daniel Moreno and Brabantse Pijl dominant Michal Kwiatkowski.
Aforementioned defending winner Andrea Palini wont be able to upset them again, but they will instead have to worry about shaking John Degenkolb, Simon Gerrans, Zdenek Stybar - just to name a few.
|
| |
|
|
| Miguel98 |
Posted on 25-01-2014 11:46
|
World Champion
Posts: 10497
Joined: 23-06-2011
PCM$: 200.00
|
After a win, Kwiatek will win another  |
| |
|
|
| 547984 |
Posted on 25-01-2014 16:51
|
Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5008
Joined: 29-01-2013
PCM$: 200.00
|
Sagan: F*** Amstel, too easy for me. I will go for LBL 
baseballlover312, 06-03-14 : "Nuke Moscow...Don't worry Russia, we've got plenty of love to go around your cities"
Sarah Palin, 08-03-14 (CPAC, on Russian aggression) : "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke"
Big thanks to jdog for making this AMAZING userbar! |
| |
|
|
| sutty68 |
Posted on 25-01-2014 17:08
|
Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
PCM$: 200.00
|
Looking forward to a Great battle in Holland  |
| |
|
|
| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 26-01-2014 10:06
|
Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4573
Joined: 07-10-2012
PCM$: 200.00
|
Should be a good race, hopefully the team can grab at least a top five with three of the favourites not racing. Kwiatek should be right up there. |
| |
|
|
| Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-11-2024 07:35
|
Bot Agent
Posts: Countless
Joined: 23.11.09
|
|
| IP: None |
|
|
| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 26-01-2014 12:23
|
World Champion
Posts: 10121
Joined: 01-05-2010
PCM$: 200.00
|
Amstel Gold Race
April 14th, 2014
We join with only 35 km left to race, with the race about to come together.
Tony Gallopin attempted to jump across to the early breakaway of four on the Wolfsberg, but never really manages to put any distance between himself and the a peloton where many teams are taking turns.
The final catch is made 10 km later, at the bottom of the Eyserbosweg.
Immediately, the next move is launched by Tinkoff captain Alberto Contador. The former Tour winner isn't exactly known to be a strong classics rider, but clearly feels confident about his chances today.
He doesn't get anywhere, but the field gets stringed out on the descent down to Fromberg, where Simon Gerrans is the next to pounce.
None other than Vincenzo Nibali marks, and then counters on the descent - creating a very select leading group together with Gerrans, Zdenek Stybar, Philippe Gilbert and Sergio Henao.
Half a minute behind them is another escape group, with Contador, Gallopin, Kwiatkowski, Bartosz Huzarski and Simon Spilak.
On the Keutenberg, the pursuing group breaks apart when Spilak, Huzarski and Kwiatkowski leave the others and try to join the leaders.
None of them succeed before reaching the top, but Kwiatkowski and Spilak are only a few seconds off the back - having dumped Huzarski.
On the slight slope following the Keutenberg, Kwiatkowski gets rid of Spilak too and manages to close the last meters.
He goes directly to the front of the race, and is the first to begin climbing the Cauberg. Spilak isn't making any headway 30 seconds back, so it looks like we have six riders contending this.
All the leaders play the waiting game at first, but once they get close to the bridge, Gilbert just can't hold his acceleration in anymore.
It's nowhere near the kind of attack that won him this race in 2010 and 2011, and he sits up when realising that everyone can follow.
Sprint finish it is then, with Kwiatkowski and Nibali getting a headstart!
The rest aren't really making any progress compared to them, but Gilbert and Stybar are slowly closing in with a few hundred meters remaining.
It all comes down to who has the best kick in the final 200m - victory for Philippe Gilbert! After a couple of tough years, the Belgian claims his second big win of the year, next to E3 Prijs.
Kwiatkowski comes over for 2nd, followed by a Stybar who is clearly better than ever uphill. Nibali drops to 4th in the end, just ahead of Gerrans.
| 1 | Philippe Gilbert | BMC Racing Team | 6h12'24 | | 2 | Michał Kwiatkowski | La Pomme Marseille | s.t. | | 3 | Zdenek Stybar | Omega Pharma - Quickstep | s.t. | | 4 | Vincenzo Nibali | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | 5 | Simon Gerrans | Orica - GreenEdge | s.t. | | 6 | Sergio Henao | Sky Procycling | s.t. | | 7 | Simon Spilak | Katusha Team | + 1'26 | | 8 | Bartosz Huzarski | Team NetApp - Endura | + 2'10 | | 9 | Diego Ulissi | Lampre - Merida | s.t. | | 10 | Alberto Contador | Team Tinkoff-Saxo | s.t. |
Spoiler | 11 | Tony Gallopin | Lotto-Belisol | s.t. | | 12 | Bauke Mollema | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | + 3'06 | | 13 | Maxim Iglinskiy | Astana Pro Team | + 6'36 | | 14 | Greg Van Avermaet | BMC Racing Team | s.t. | | 15 | Jan Bakelants | Omega Pharma - Quickstep | s.t. | | 16 | Simon Clarke | Orica - GreenEdge | s.t. | | 17 | Pieter Weening | Orica - GreenEdge | s.t. | | 18 | Simone Ponzi | Cannondale Pro Cycling | s.t. | | 19 | Igor Antón | Omega Pharma - Quickstep | s.t. | | 20 | Robert Gesink | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | + 10'29 | | 21 | Michele Scarponi | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | 22 | Enrico Gasparotto | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | 23 | Clément Koretzky | La Pomme Marseille | s.t. | | 24 | Jonathan Hivert | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | + 11'01 | | 25 | Luca Paolini | Katusha Team | + 12'21 | | 26 | Thomas Dekker | Garmin - Sharp | s.t. | | 27 | Yury Trofimov | Katusha Team | s.t. | | 28 | John Gadret | Movistar Team | s.t. | | 29 | Benoît Vaugrenard | FDJ.fr | s.t. | | 30 | Carlos Betancur | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. | | 31 | Ramunas Navardauskas | Garmin - Sharp | s.t. | | 32 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar Team | s.t. | | 33 | Tobias Ludvigsson | Team Giant - Shimano | s.t. | | 34 | Simon Yates | Orica - GreenEdge | s.t. | | 35 | Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg | Team Giant - Shimano | s.t. | | 36 | Fabio Felline | Trek Factory Racing | s.t. | | 37 | Nicki Sørensen | Team Tinkoff-Saxo | s.t. | | 38 | Damiano Caruso | Cannondale Pro Cycling | s.t. | | 39 | Tom Dumoulin | Team Giant - Shimano | s.t. | | 40 | Cyril Gautier | Team Europcar | s.t. | | 41 | Björn Leukemans | Wanty - Groupe Goubert | s.t. | | 42 | Tom Jelte Slagter | Garmin - Sharp | s.t. | | 43 | Daniel Moreno | Katusha Team | s.t. | | 44 | Chris Anker Sørensen | Team Tinkoff-Saxo | s.t. | | 45 | Ben Hermans | BMC Racing Team | s.t. | | 46 | Daniele Ratto | Cannondale Pro Cycling | s.t. | | 47 | Matthias Frank | IAM Cycling | s.t. | | 48 | Luis León Sánchez | Movistar Team | s.t. | | 49 | Thomas Voeckler | Team Europcar | s.t. | | 50 | Ion Izagirre | Movistar Team | s.t. | | 51 | Sonny Colbrelli | Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox | s.t. | | 52 | Stefano Pirazzi | Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox | s.t. | | 53 | Sébastien Reichenbach | IAM Cycling | s.t. | | 54 | Jelle Vanendert | Lotto-Belisol | s.t. | | 55 | Adam Yates | Orica - GreenEdge | s.t. | | 56 | Ivan Santaromita | Orica - GreenEdge | s.t. | | 57 | Alexey Lutsenko | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | 58 | Michel Kreder | Wanty - Groupe Goubert | s.t. | | 59 | Alejandro Marque | Movistar Team | + 12'47 | | 60 | Angelo Pagani | Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox | s.t. | | 61 | Guillaume Levarlet | La Pomme Marseille | s.t. | | 62 | Julien Antomarchi | La Pomme Marseille | s.t. | | 63 | Rohan Dennis | Garmin - Sharp | + 13'14 | | 64 | Esteban Chaves | Orica - GreenEdge | s.t. | | 65 | Dario Cataldo | Sky Procycling | s.t. |
|
| |
|
|
| admirschleck |
Posted on 26-01-2014 12:29
|
Team Leader
Posts: 6690
Joined: 11-10-2010
PCM$: 200.00
|
Kwiat was so close! But 2nd is really good with this strong competition! |
| |
|
|
| Miguel98 |
Posted on 26-01-2014 12:36
|
World Champion
Posts: 10497
Joined: 23-06-2011
PCM$: 200.00
|
So close, yet so far. 
Great result neverthanless, and Stybar is amazing.  |
| |
|
|
| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 26-01-2014 12:46
|
Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4573
Joined: 07-10-2012
PCM$: 200.00
|
A nice race, very good report once again Pelli. Kwiatek did really well to get up to the front group to make the decisive move, despite missing it initially. He did very well to finish second after that. |
| |
|
|
| VoetsT |
Posted on 26-01-2014 12:51
|
Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 851
Joined: 29-06-2013
PCM$: 200.00
|
My first post in this story, I think 
That was a very strong race from Kwiatkowski, looks very good for the next races
|
| |
|
|
| Ian Butler |
Posted on 26-01-2014 13:07
|
Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
|
Close call, but an excellent result for the team |
| |
|
|
| 547984 |
Posted on 26-01-2014 20:10
|
Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5008
Joined: 29-01-2013
PCM$: 200.00
|
Wait, what? So Gilbert makes a halfhearted attack and then suddenly sits back and decides to sprint?
baseballlover312, 06-03-14 : "Nuke Moscow...Don't worry Russia, we've got plenty of love to go around your cities"
Sarah Palin, 08-03-14 (CPAC, on Russian aggression) : "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke"
Big thanks to jdog for making this AMAZING userbar! |
| |
|
|
| sutty68 |
Posted on 26-01-2014 22:40
|
Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
PCM$: 200.00
|
Michal was oh so close to a Great win in the Amstel |
| |
|
|
| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 27-01-2014 14:24
|
World Champion
Posts: 10121
Joined: 01-05-2010
PCM$: 200.00
|
Thanks, everyone. I think Kwiatek could've taken it if he hadn't been forced to chase for so long. That's what I get for believing that they'd slow down after Nibali's attack on the Fromberg descent...
VoetsT - I believe so - good to have you here!
547984 - Apparently, that's how he played it. Didn't work out too badly
---
 La Flèche Wallonne: Preview
April 17th, 2014
On to the W/kg challenge... I mean Flèche!
And who knows - given how hard Amstel was ridden from far out - perhaps we can start dreaming of a race with attacks earlier than on the Mur? Everyone knows this finish is all about patience, but there's no telling what can be done with the right determination.
What speaks in favour such an outcome, is the extremely anticlimactic finale that took place a year ago.
Nobody was able to open a gap on the steep slopes of the Mur, and one favourite after another ran out of steam after launching too early - eventually resulting in more or less a mass sprint at the top, which an aging Samuel Sánchez claimed ahead of Amstel revelation Zdenek Stybar.
One can always hope that fear of the same thing happening once again will motivate some of those expected to be up there to try their luck earlier.
Since Amstel, the only major change is that recently crowned Vuelta al Pais Vasco winner Nairo Quintana and third place Rui Costa replace two of Sunday's main protagonists: Stybar and Henao.
If anything, they should make the race more difficult for the other favourites. Quintana in particular could be very interesting, given that Valverde was completely off in Amstel and the fact that the Mur looks well suited for his characteristics.
Also joining is former winner Cadel Evans. He is of course not on the level he had back then anymore, but might still get his chances if the Mur proves to be too long for his team mate Gilbert.
|
| |
|
|
| roturn |
Posted on 27-01-2014 14:40
|
Team Manager
Posts: 22246
Joined: 24-11-2007
PCM$: 3900.00
|
I unfortunately don`t find enough time to follow this great story as regularly as in the beginning.
But it`s amazing to see you still keep bringing those reports.
Kwiatowksi really developed well and is on fire right now. Hope he can do well in the Fleche.
Love the winning screenshot above btw. even though you were outsprinted by Gilbert there. |
| |
|
|
| VoetsT |
Posted on 27-01-2014 15:00
|
Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 851
Joined: 29-06-2013
PCM$: 200.00
|
I'm sure kwiatkoski can make it to a podium finish
|
| |
|
|
| sutty68 |
Posted on 27-01-2014 16:20
|
Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
PCM$: 200.00
|
Lets hope for another win for Michal |
| |
|
