No surprise to see Sagan winning San Sebastian ( he is built for that race in PCM terms!). Good to see 'other' Cannondale riders such as Marcato showing well and winning.
Great start to the Eneco tour by Raphael, I hope it wasn't down to passive AI! He may have an outside shot at the GC with the harder days to come in the last few stages.
It was a bit of a weird sprint (after all, Raphael won it with 64 SP) but the AI was in fact very active. I just think that attacks by Kristoff, EBH and Phinney messed up the usual sprint trains a bit. I must admit I was really surprised.
Edited by Shonak on 05-04-2014 21:02
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
1. who is this Visconti guy I keep hearing so much about?
2. why did he steal Fabio's victory?
3. were did EBH take over the leaders jersey?
4. were did Kittel take over the leaders jersey?
5. how did they managed to do 4 stages in 4 hours?
so many questions, so little knowledge. hence the questions
After my victory and the efforts so far at the Eneco Tour, I was sure that I was good to go, ready to race. That my legs were definitely good, they felt easy again. I felt ominous sensations and that was a good sign.
We had a stage 5 to Valkenburg on a sunny day. The last 70 kilometers consisted of very hilly terrain and I had hoped for some racing that may have suited me, meaning early splits and that I could keep upfront. At least they first thing worked out, when there were only about 45 riders left in the peloton at the 20 kilometers mark. However soon thereafter Froome paced for race leader Boasson Hagen and they followed the attacks by Bennatti and Quintana. They were caught though by Tinkoff Saxo and Omega Pharma and I thought there may be a bit of a pause, but just at the next hill, Froome, Kreuziger, Kwiatkowski and Boasson Hagen tried it again. With so much quality upfront, I had to push through the ranks and made a move myself. Grivko and Phinney joined in, but surprisingly only Grivko wanted to help me get to Group Boasson Hagen. I couldn’t believe Phinney honestly since he’d been a rider that would have profited the most from catching Edvald. But nevermind him, I was riding for victories and I was riding hard. The reason why Phinney didn’t work must have been Gilbert, and the Belgian eventually caught me with his group, consisting of guys like Van den Broeck, Martin and Vanmarcke, but that cost them too.
With 5 kilometers left, it was too little for them to recover fully, although Gilbert attacked, but I followed Martin’s wheel then and the sprint up to Valkenburg turned out be easy for me with a such lead-out. I just overtook him when I went faster than him and went past him and I was flying. There were Froome, Boasson Hagen and everybody upfront and the closer I got to them, the faster I was going. I reached them and came in 3rd behind Froome, whon won, and Kwiatkowski. I looked back and they were still fighting up there way. I wanted to kiss my legs at that point. They felt tired, but I felt fabulous and soon thereafter, my legs could have easily stayed on a cloud.
Stage 5, Results
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Chris Froome
Team Sky
4h55'19
2
Michał Kwiatkowski
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
3
Raphael Visconti
Cannondale
s.t.
Spoiler
4
Lars Boom
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
5
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Team Sky
s.t.
6
Daniel Martin
Garmin Sharp
+ 17
7
Philippe Gilbert
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
8
Daniele Bennati
Tinkoff - Saxo
s.t.
9
Andrey Amador
Movistar Team
s.t.
10
Andriy Grivko
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
11
Jurgen Van den Broeck
Lotto Belisol
+ 41
12
Taylor Phinney
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
13
Nairo Quintana
Movistar Team
+ 57
14
Francisco José Ventoso
Movistar Team
+ 1'20
15
Oscar Gatto
Cannondale
s.t.
16
Ion Izagirre
Movistar Team
s.t.
17
Pieter Weening
Orica GreenEdge
s.t.
18
Thomas De Gendt
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
19
Adriano Malori
Movistar Team
s.t.
20
Geraint Thomas
Team Sky
s.t.
21
Niki Terpstra
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
22
Tom Boonen
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
23
Salvatore Puccio
Team Sky
s.t.
24
Sebastian Langeveld
Garmin Sharp
s.t.
25
Luke Durbridge
Orica GreenEdge
s.t.
26
Jürgen Roelandts
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
27
Jens Keukeleire
Orica GreenEdge
s.t.
28
Simon Yates
Orica GreenEdge
s.t.
29
Diego Ulissi
Lampre - Merida
s.t.
30
Thibaut Pinot
FDJ.fr
s.t.
31
Benoît Vaugrenard
FDJ.fr
s.t.
32
Kristof Vandewalle
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
33
Arthur Vichot
FDJ.fr
s.t.
34
Grégory Rast
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
35
José Joaquín Rojas
Movistar Team
s.t.
36
Hayden Roulston
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
37
Marko Kump
Tinkoff - Saxo
s.t.
38
Adam Yates
Orica GreenEdge
s.t.
39
Sander Armee
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
40
Leigh Howard
Orica GreenEdge
s.t.
41
Matthieu Ladagnous
FDJ.fr
s.t.
42
Christophe Kern
Team Europcar
s.t.
43
Ivan Rovny
Tinkoff - Saxo
s.t.
44
Sergey Chernetskiy
Team Katusha
s.t.
45
Mattia Cattaneo
Lampre - Merida
+ 2'40
46
Maxim Iglinskiy
Astana Pro Team
+ 6'14
47
Yannick Eijssen
BMC Racing Team
+ 6'28
48
Bryan Coquard
Team Europcar
s.t.
49
Romain Zingle
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
50
Nicolas Edet
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
51
Peter Stetina
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
52
Theo Bos
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
53
Rubén Plaza
Movistar Team
s.t.
54
Adrien Petit
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
55
Jan Polanc
Lampre - Merida
s.t.
56
Nathan Earle
Team Sky
s.t.
57
Alessandro Petacchi
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
58
Davide Cimolai
Lampre - Merida
s.t.
59
Gert Joeaar
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
60
Jesse Sergent
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
61
Alexandre Pichot
Team Europcar
s.t.
62
Pieter Vanspeybrouck
Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise
s.t.
63
Mark Renshaw
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
64
Zico Waeytens
Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise
s.t.
65
Marc Goos
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
66
Steven Kruijswijk
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
67
Stijn Vandenbergh
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
68
Jérôme Cousin
Team Europcar
s.t.
69
Sea Keong Loh
Team Giant - Shimano
s.t.
70
Jacopo Guarnieri
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
71
Tom Dumoulin
Team Giant - Shimano
s.t.
72
Rory Sutherland
Tinkoff - Saxo
s.t.
73
Matti Breschel
Tinkoff - Saxo
s.t.
74
Frederik Veuchelen
Wanty - Groupe Gobert
s.t.
75
Tyler Farrar
Garmin Sharp
s.t.
76
Jasha Sütterlin
Movistar Team
s.t.
77
Roman Kreuziger
Tinkoff - Saxo
s.t.
78
Olivier Kaisen
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
79
Tim Wellens
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
80
Laurens De Vreese
Wanty - Groupe Gobert
s.t.
81
Zdenek Stybar
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
82
Manuele Boaro
Tinkoff - Saxo
s.t.
83
Gijs Van Hoecke
Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise
s.t.
84
Maciej Bodnar
Cannondale
s.t.
85
Lloyd Mondory
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
86
Gediminas Bagdonas
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
87
Andrea Guardini
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
88
Luca Paolini
Team Katusha
s.t.
89
Edwig Cammaerts
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
90
Marcel Kittel
Team Giant - Shimano
s.t.
91
Nikolai Trussov
Tinkoff - Saxo
s.t.
92
Romain Lemarchand
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
93
Guillaume Bonnafond
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
94
Alexander Rybakov
Team Katusha
s.t.
95
Thomas Degand
Wanty - Groupe Gobert
s.t.
96
Yury Trofimov
Team Katusha
s.t.
97
Alan Marangoni
Cannondale
s.t.
98
Aleksandr Kuschynski
Team Katusha
s.t.
99
Filippo Pozzato
Lampre - Merida
s.t.
100
Eduard Vorganov
Team Katusha
s.t.
101
Louis Verhelst
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
102
Frederique Robert
Wanty - Groupe Gobert
s.t.
103
Jasper Stuyven
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
104
Tim Declercq
Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise
s.t.
105
Michael Schär
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
106
André Greipel
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
107
Elia Favilli
Lampre - Merida
s.t.
108
Stig Broeckx
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
109
Arnaud Demare
FDJ.fr
s.t.
110
Cyril Gautier
Team Europcar
s.t.
111
Simon Geschke
Team Giant - Shimano
s.t.
112
Kenny Dehaes
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
113
Preben Van Hecke
Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise
s.t.
114
Alex Howes
Garmin Sharp
s.t.
115
Klaas Lodewyck
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
116
Bert De Backer
Team Giant - Shimano
s.t.
117
Mirko Selvaggi
Wanty - Groupe Gobert
s.t.
118
Jack Bauer
Garmin Sharp
s.t.
119
David Boucher
FDJ.fr
s.t.
120
Joshua Edmondson
Team Sky
s.t.
121
Alexis Vuillermoz
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
122
Chad Haga
Team Giant - Shimano
s.t.
123
Jonathan Tiernan-Locke
Team Sky
s.t.
124
Maarten Wynants
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
125
Moreno Hofland
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
126
Luca Dodi
Lampre - Merida
s.t.
127
Sébastien Minard
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
128
Mikel Landa
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
129
Lawson Craddock
Team Giant - Shimano
s.t.
130
Eliot Lietaer
Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise
s.t.
131
Dries Devenyns
Team Giant - Shimano
s.t.
132
Barry Markus
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
133
James Vanlandschoot
Wanty - Groupe Gobert
s.t.
134
Jempy Drucker
Wanty - Groupe Gobert
s.t.
135
Anthony Roux
FDJ.fr
s.t.
136
Stijn Devolder
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
137
Koldo Fernández
Garmin Sharp
s.t.
138
Paolo Longo Borghini
Cannondale
s.t.
139
Alberto Bettiol
Cannondale
s.t.
140
Ruslan Tleubayev
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
141
Michel Koch
Cannondale
s.t.
142
Anton Vorobyev
Team Katusha
s.t.
143
Evan Huffman
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
144
Yves Lampaert
Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise
s.t.
145
Alexis Gougeard
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
146
Jens Mouris
Orica GreenEdge
s.t.
147
Nacer Bouhanni
FDJ.fr
s.t.
148
Björn Leukemans
Wanty - Groupe Gobert
s.t.
149
Sebastian Lander
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
150
Morgan Lamoisson
Team Europcar
s.t.
151
Christophe Laporte
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
152
Johan Vansummeren
Garmin Sharp
s.t.
153
Tony Hurel
Team Europcar
s.t.
154
Jasper De Buyst
Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise
s.t.
155
Ben King
Garmin Sharp
s.t.
156
Perrig Quemeneur
Team Europcar
s.t.
157
Markel Irizar
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
158
Patrick Gretsch
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
159
Andy Schleck
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
160
Greg Van Avermaet
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
161
Matteo Montaguti
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
162
Sep Vanmarcke
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
163
Christian Knees
Team Sky
s.t.
164
Borut Božic
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
165
Fabio Sabatini
Cannondale
s.t.
166
Mitchell Docker
Orica GreenEdge
s.t.
167
Sacha Modolo
Lampre - Merida
s.t.
168
Alexander Kristoff
Team Katusha
s.t.
The next day, stage 6, my legs though were heavy and useless. The time trial around Roermond turned into a disaster. However, I didn’t expect much. I still got even less though. I was fighting there, but lost a minute and twenty seconds onto Phinney. The worst thing: I would have nearly got caught by Froome in the end. Those 14 kilometers were just enough to save me from an embarrassment. No more good sensations left for the Muur.
On the last stage from Teeinen to Geraardsbergen, I was particuarlaly motivated again. My legs were getting a bit heavy and surely the Time Trial on the previous day had mostly destroyed all my GC hopes. However, I had still a good position thanks to the trip to Valkenburg, and when I proclaimed that I wanted to go full-throttle today, I was surprised when the team said, they’d support me.
So we did our usual thing: Like in the spring classics, we pushed hard as soon as we hit the cobblestones of Geraardsbergen at around 75 kilometers. On this circuit, we had to conquer three times the Muur van Geraardsbergern.
While we sent Bodnar upfront, Cannondale had Sabatini and Gatto take turns at the second time riding Muur van Geraardsbergen. With their pace, the peloton really suffered big-time. Like a yo-yo many riders dropped and had to fight to get back. Later on, Bodnar let himself deliberately drop from the break of the day to help us out further back. Cannondale managed at some point to form a group of merely 19 riders, where riders like Froome and Boonen were dropped. However, Boasson Hagen and Kwiatkowski were still in my group. Terpstra eventually ended up working for Kwiatkowski and thus helped in our pacing. From time to time, there were heavy crosswinds, which of course suited us and allowed for some echelons and unexpected splits after the tough cobblestone passages.
When we hit the last time the Muur, I had to attack eventually. You can’t have your team working all day long and don’t do nothing. The first time, I didn’t get far and Omega Pharma and Sky caught me again, but after the Muur, on a second try, I got out of their fangs and out of their reach, and was ready to push. Edvald Boasson Hagen, the leader of the race, was on my wheel. I thought that this was my chance and I pushed over the last segment of cobblestones, 20 kilometers of flat road ahead of me.
Surprisingly, and much to my dismay, Edvald Boasson Hagen, although being the leader, wasn’t interested in helping my effort. Instead, he just stayed at my wheel, while I was doing all of the work. I couldn’t believe him, really. I told him that his opponents are very close in the Classification and that he shouldn’t rely on a sprint. But he denied any work still. And then I just shaked my head and instead kept riding and riding… That's what you do in such a situation: You ride anway.
I wasn’t strong enough to keep the peloton at bay. They came closer again, since Omega Pharma and BMC were pushing strong and they knew how to handle such stages. But that turned out to be my luck. I had already invested so much into this race when there were only 10, 8, 7 kilometers left. They nearly caught us and Boasson Hagen decided to drop back in the peloton, but I kept pushing. I didn’t care for the classification. I had invested so much at that point, I wanted to keep going until they had me for sure. As long as I had more than three meters lead, I wouldn’t stop at any cost.
So I was nearly caught with 5 kilometers to go as we entered Geraardsbergen for the finale. However, when I looked back, there was suddenly no one there. My chasing group must have had different opinions and there may have been some issues between the riders, and they gave me too much lead and when the road was downhill, I suddenly gained meter on meter and second and second on them. I didn’t see them anymore for a while and I felt like flying.
That was until Philippe Gilbert came up to me on the last 2 kilometers and bridged the gap. He was riding strong but was lacking the strength to really overtake me in the finale uphill sprint up to the finish. I kept myself surprisingly easily ahead of him, and I looked back and suddenly there was Edvald Boasson Hagen rushing towards us. Again him. I thought, no, that can’t be it right now. He was coming so fast, and the finish line drew close so slow and I felt like I was standing there and striking my pedals and not moving a single inch forward at all. Gilbert’s heavy breathing behind me, the fans all around me cheering for him or me, and some wanted to see my reward. And then there were only 100 meters left and Boasson Hagen was right next to me, and I just kept the speed up somehow. And the Norwegian… I wanted to kick him off the bike, when there were only 10 meters left, and I had a lead of merely centimeters left when I crossed the line. I immediately knew it though. Without much energy left, I pushed my body over the finish.
Right on the line there.
Grande!
For the first few minutes I was just lying in the gutter, breathing heavily. I was empty, and proud. Some helpers were around and wanted to help me on my feet, I just said, that they should leave me alone. Just for a moment.
Impressions
Spoiler
Later, the race reporters asked me traditionally some questions. It’s nice to share your thoughts after such a race.
Interviewer: Mister Visconti, so – how does it feel?
This is’a just incredible. To win duo stages here in Belgium, and when one of them ends here in Geraardsbergo after taking on the Muur, it’s a-a-a… it’s incredible for me. I want to thank my team, they did an incredible job for me today. I really wanted to ride here today and erm… ride good here. So I attacked, and when Edvald didn’t want to cooperate, I just thought that I need to keep riding. I had no lead, I had nothing in my hands. Otherwise all the work would have been for nothing, and I don’t want to ride for nothing. So I kept going. I thought they had caught me at one point, but they didn’t. They must have thought so too. And then, yeah… I was lucky it was enough in the end.
Interviewer: Merely centimeters between you and Edvald. You said he didn’t want to work with you, do you know why? What did you talk about at Kilometer 20?
Yes, yes. I think, he relied on his sprint and his acceleration. He knew he had a good team and only had to wheelsuck today, so yes… I understand that he didn’t want to invest more energy than necessary. If he worked with me and Kwiatkowski dropped us in the finale, than he’d be the stupid one. But, well… I would have preferred it if he just dropped from my wheel entirely then if he’s not going to do any work. I don’t need such people on my wheel.
And if he would have taken the win from me today, either by riding with me or outsprinting me there, than I would have… I don’t know, probably punched a wall or something [laughs]. He still wins Eneco Tour, so I think he doesn’t mind too much. But I wasn’t really scared of him in the sprint. I feared Gilbert when he rushing towards me, because Gilbert is a rider to be afraid of, he is crazy strong. But Edvald… well, he just turned up there. I had no time to worry, and when I noticed Edvald, I was so close to the line, I didn’t think so much anymore.
Interviewer: Winning Dwars door Vlaanderen and now two stages at Eneco Tour, both with pave. You most certainly enjoy riding here in Belgium.
Ah, yes. Belgium is’a very kind to me. It’s a wonderful country with amazing fans and a great, great cycling culture. Italy and Belgium. I could travel between both countries all my life and it woulda be a wonderful life for any cyclists.
Interviewer: With your recent success in the Road racing, will there be a focus-shift. You are quite a CX talent and have recently signed a new contract with Cannondale. What’s your plans for the upcoming seasons?
I want to ride of course many, many road races. I know that riders don’t like to ride all spring classics, that riders either choose Flanders Classics or Ardennes classics. But I want to ride all of them, and my wish is to be competitive there at some point. Those are the races that suit me and that impress me. And those are the races that turn you into a great rider. [takes a nip of the water bottle] But honestly, Cyclo-Cross is a deep, very deep passion. I’d like to ride both disciplines and do well in both. You could say, road racing, it’s for my sanity, you know. CX adds that insane, unpredictable part that life needs to have for me. You can’t control CX, it’s muddy madness sometimes. Road racing is my life, but… Cyclo-Cross is my love.
Interviewer: Looks like we’ll be seeing you in Belgium again come Autumn & Winter then. Thank you for your time!