@ ladagnous: Well I bought Keinath, Knees and Cornu. I tried to get hold get hold of Gerdemann and Brajkovic, but then Cya-logic kicked in and forgot all about replying to my bids.
@ Smoothie: Yep it is and it's a pain to see how rubbishly he actually performs in this savegame. Because I have to admit he's quite fast
2009 was a breakthrough for me. I won some big races and I showed that I’m able to keep with the finest of the business, I even beat them one some occasions. This year it’s time for me to beat them........even more.
In interview with CyclingNews I told about my dreams of winning a Grand Tour. Now, I stand by that dream and I think I can do it, but for now and the next couple of seasons, maybe more, I’ll focus on what I’m good at right now. The classics. But it won’t be all about the classics this season. I’m anticipating my first Grand Tour start and even though I know with 95 percent certainty it won’t be the Tour de France, it’s a dream come true nevertheless.
My first goal of the season will be Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the next goal is decided after that. It depends on which Grand Tour I’m going to ride. If I’m going to ride the Giro, the goal is to win a stage there and then come back in the Autumn to go for some of the one-day races there, maybe I’ll aim to defend my title in Lombardy. If I’m going to Spain to race La Vuelta, then I’ll take a break after Liege-Bastogne-Liege, and then ride races like Clasica San Sebastian as tune-up race for the Vuelta and if I come out of the Vuelta in good form I might try and get on the podium at the Worlds in Slovenia, but as told the route is too easy for my liking.
My first race of this new season will be in Portugal, namely Volta ao Algarve. It kicks off in February, so unlike last season I’ll have some time to prepare, where I last year started racing already in January. Here’s to a great season.
Back out on the road for mt first race of the new season. The profile suits me very well but still I don’t have any expectations whatsoever for this race. My form is pretty good though. I had some good days in our training camp in Monaco and I feel stronger than I usually do before the start of a new season. The start to this season is very important to me, because I don’t want to go through the same nightmare as I did last season, where I started off awfully and had a disatrous Tirreno-Adriatico, almost forcing me into a small crisis, but I want to prove to myself that I can turn the pedals in the start of a season and still not fall off the back of the peloton.
The first stage went pretty well. The plan was for me try and lead out Cavendish as today’s stage would definitely end in a mass sprint and so I did lead him out. I need to get into the zone again though because the concentration was failing a bit and we were far back when the sprint started. Cav finished 9th and I took 10th, so that’s my first top 10 of the new season already. Allan Davis looks to be the man to beat after he took a convincing win here.
Stage 2 and we have turned into the hills. With some 50 kilometres to the line there’s a climb of almost 20 kilometres and it should be clean up the peloton for the heaviest of riders. Me and Kirchen will try and stay near the front during the whole stage to prevent getting caught up in any eventual split on the climb. We did just that and when a group of 42 riders crossed the top, both me and Kim was in it. Kairelis almost made the cut aswell, but he had to settle for the group behind. The lead group would be cut to 33 riders at the end though, meaning both me and Kirchen had the chance of gaining a good overall result from this race already. With about 10 kilometres to go there was a bonification sprint which Davis won. I took 2nd so I will definitely be in the top 10 after today. We didn’t try anything in the sprint though as Monfort came out a surprising winner of the stage. With my two boni seconds I’m now 6th in the GC, with Davis still topping the board.
Monfort claiming stage 2 – you can just eye me in the back of the group.
The next two stages were pretty awful for me and partly for Kirchen, maybe even especially for Kirchen. Both stages were flat with some pretty tough hills on them underway, which precluded Cav from taking part in the sprint. On the third stage when I was lined up for the sprint, being in Davis’ wheel I hit a bump or something on the road travelling with 49 kilometres per hour in the middle of the back and I went down taking quite a few other riders with me. Luckily, I only recieved some bumps and bruises and I was ready to go. Kirchen took 4th on the stage and Davis won it. The next stage it happened again. I was sitting behind Kirchen who was in Eisel’s wheel, when there was a touch of wheels or something like that and Kirchen crashed taking me with him, plus a few other riders. Amazingly we managed to close the gap to nullify the loss. I also did that on stage 3, so I’m still high up in the GC, as I’m ranked 7th. Kirchen was hurt though, but we hope he can ride it off. Oh and Mirko Selvaggi won the stage.
Crashing on stage 3
...and biting the dust again the next day, this time with Kirchen.
The last stage and we’re back into the hills again. Today’s stage featured a hill top finish, but not a very steep one onfortuneately. Only some 3 percent in average gradient, so I wasn’t really sure I could do anything, but I tried anyway and would you believe it, I didn’t crash today, that’s a victory already there. As for crossing the line first I couldn’t quite manage to do that. I gave it a respectable go though as I finished 4th on the stage. Unfortuneately the three riders who finished ahead of me all took enough boni seconds to jump past me in the GC to demote me to 10th. Still a good result though and I’m absolutely content. Carlos Oyarzun won the stage and Davis took the overall win after an impressive performance.
I gave it a go but Oyazun was too strong on stage 5.
Final GC
1 Allan Davis Silence - Lotto 20h48'58
2 Leonardo Duque Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone + 4
3 Carlos Oyarzun An Post - M. Donnelly - Grant Thornton - Sean Kelly Team + 13
4 Maxime Monfort Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone s.t.
5 Mirko Selvaggi PSK Whirlpool - Author s.t.
6 Julien Simon Team Astana + 17
7 Javier Moreno Silence - Lotto s.t.
8 Christian Pfannberger Barloworld + 19
9 Maxim Iglinskiy Madeinox - Boavista s.t. 10 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road + 21
11 Luca Mazzanti Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone + 22
12 Johann Tschopp Team Astana + 23
13 Sylvain Chavanel Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone s.t.
14 Amael Moinard Sport Lisboa e Benfica s.t.
15 Emanuele Sella Française des Jeux s.t.
16 Serge Pauwels Barbot - Siper s.t.
17 Oliver Giesecke An Post - M. Donnelly - Grant Thornton - Sean Kelly Team s.t.
18 Moisés Dueñas Barloworld s.t.
19 Iñigo Landaluze PSK Whirlpool - Author s.t.
20 Tony Martin Team Astana s.t. 28 Kim Kirchen Team High Road s.t.
Yeah well, he hasn't crashed since 2008, so I don't think he has used up his quota at all.
GP di Lugano
My only race of February was the one in Portugal, but just a few days after finishing with a 4th place on the last stage there, I’ve come to Switzerland for GP di Lugano. I finished 8th here last year. I might do better this year, but I’m not really looking to do so. I’m not riding fast enough to do so yet and since Thomas Løvkvist is back in top condition after being nowhere since the start of last season, we will definitely be riding for him. Kirchen is also here.
Ulissi took part in the early break and he led the breakaway riders over the last but final climb. It was huge group of 18 riders he was in, but it was caught at the foot of the last climb, with some 15 kilometres to the finish. Me and Kirchen were still sitting close to Thomas who was quite strong today, so when the favourites attacked on the climb, Thomas countered immediately. We wanted to have another rider up there since Løvkvist can’t win this race because of his sprint, and as Kim was feeling better than me he joined up with Løvkvist and the 8-man group that would battle it out.
The group consisted of Valverde, Løvkvist, Kirchen, Caruso, Duque, Cunego, Velits and Rebellin. Kirchen opened the sprint and he looked strong for a moment, but soon Valverde and Duque came flying by him, with Duque being the strongest and the Colombian took a convincing win. Kirchen finished just outside the podium and Løvkvist looks set for a good run of form at Paris-Nice.
I finished way down but I didn’t sprint for the last two top ten spots as I wouldn’t bother, but also because the crashes in Portugal was in the back of my mind a bit. My next race now is Paris-Nice. It’s my first time racing it and I’m really looking forward to it. It’s a mini Tour de France and it’s very prestigous aswell. My form is pretty good, so I might go for a stage win on one of the stages. I have checked the profile and some of the stages suits me very well.
1 Leonardo Duque Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone 3h51'58
2 Alejandro Valverde Saunier Duval - Scott s.t.
3 Damiano Cunego Lampre s.t. 4 Kim Kirchen Team High Road s.t.
5 Peter Velits Team Milram s.t. 6 Thomas Lövkvist Team High Road s.t.
7 Davide Rebellin AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
8 Gianpaolo Caruso LPR Brakes s.t.
9 Sebastian Schwager Team Milram + 1'39
10 Matteo Montaguti LPR Brakes s.t.
11 Heinrich Haussler Gerolsteiner s.t.
12 Matej Stare Quick•Step s.t.
13 Paolo Bailetti LPR Brakes s.t.
14 Diego Milán Acqua e Sapone - Caffè Mokambo s.t.
15 Fabian Wegmann Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone s.t.
16 Mikhail Ignatiev LPR Brakes s.t.
17 Paul Martens LPR Brakes s.t.
18 Francisco Pacheco Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce s.t.
19 Manuele Mori Saunier Duval - Scott s.t.
20 Danilo Di Luca LPR Brakes s.t. 91 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road s.t.
Last season I rode Tirreno, this year it’s its French counterpart I’m in. Namely “The Race to the Sun”, the Paris-Nice. My form is decent but that won’t help me win this since we have brought Thomas Løvkvist in absolute peak condition and I seriously think he can win this. Last year he was supposed to do the same in Tirreno-Adriatico, but when he failed he has nowhere to see the rest of the season. He has recieved one more chance from the management to pull off some good results, so this is very important for Thomas. Besides me and Løvkvist, the team has selected Lars Bak, Marco Pinotti, Mark Cavendish, Andreas Klier, Pavel Padrnos and Christian Knees. My goal is to protect Thomas, and then maybe go for a stage win. I have eyed the last stage as an opportunity for me to attack early, but let’s see.
The prologue was something I just needed to get it over with, for Thomas it was quite important. And he did well against some tough opposition. He took 5th on the stage but people like Monier, Vaugrenard and Gutierrez would always be diffcult to beat on a flat prologue like this. Thomas has his force in the long time trials. A good start and I didn’t do as horrible as I though I would.
1 Damien Monier Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone 9'06
2 Benoit Vaugrenard Française des Jeux + 1
3 José Iván Gutiérrez Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
4 Gustav Larsson Saunier Duval - Scott + 5 5 Thomas Lövkvist Team High Road + 6 74 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road + 38
Day two and we were already heading into the hills. The final climb presented a chance for the race’s favourites to attack and so they did. Normally I would be able to win a stage like this one, but having worked for Thomas I was pretty tired as we reached the final climb, where Sammy Sanchez kicked off the attacks. Thomas countered and he formed a leading group over the top alongside Sanchez, Valverde, Huguet, Chavanel and Cunego. I didn’t think that Thomas could make the group, but him doing so proves he is in excellent form.
He could do nothing in the sprint though, as Cunego took the stage. Monier would keep the lead though as the pack closed the gap on the home stretch. Quite unfortuneate, because otherwise Thomas would have taken the yellow jersey.
Stage 3 was more or less flat and it was the sole reason Cavendish lined up for this race so we will make sure it’s going to be mass sprint today. Luckily we didn’t have to work a whole lot as Silence – Lotto and Quickstep were quite interested aswell. So I had a quite easy day, so I had some time to catch up with some of my Danish colleagues in the peloton. I had chat with Claus Michael Møller, who really knows how to ride a Grand Tour, so I think I will be talking to him a lot the next couple of days for good advice.
The sprint didn’t turn out to Cav’s advantage. Despite having great legs on the day he didn’t have the power to go with the acceleration of Allan Davis who took the win today ahead of Freire and Cav. I stayed away from the mass sprint. The jostling is really a lot more intense in this race than any other I have ever ridden. But I’ll have to get used to it, especially if I want to do well in a Grand Tour. Monier kept his jersey again today and Løvkvist is now in 4th, as Gustav Larsson was dropped the day before.
One of the more important stages was the fourth stage. It had 3 Category 1 climbs with the last one topping about 55 kilometres from the finish. The plan was to pile on some pressure on that climb to try and tire some of Thomas’ opponents for the jersey. So up the climb I moved to the front with Thomas in my wheel. I was the only one from the team capable of doing this, as the others were pretty beat following the two other climbs. I really hit the throttle up the climb and I nearly over-extended myself as I had problems keeping up coming into the finish.
A group of some 50 riders came over the top, but on the home stretch it was down to some 40 riders. Me and Thomas were the only riders from the team in it. I’m really feeling so much better than I did last year at this point. I wanted to win this stage as we came into the finale, only problem was the Sammy Sanchez was up the road and had been for about 20 kilometres. No-one was going to catch him either as he took the stage and the yellow jersey. I don’t think I would have won the stage anyway as I was pretty exhausted following my raid up that Category 1 Climb. I finished in the top 10 on the stage though as I came in 5th in the sprint of 40-man group, from where this year’s Paris-Nice winner will come if it’s not Sanchez. The Spaniard doesn’t have that big a gap and on tomorrow’s time trial we hope that Thomas can bring the deficit back.
GC
1 Samuel Sánchez Bouygues Télécom 15h46'32
2 Damien Monier Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone + 40
3 José Iván Gutiérrez Caisse d'Epargne + 41 4 Thomas Lövkvist Team High Road + 46
5 Carlos Castaño Saunier Duval - Scott + 50
6 Luis León Sánchez Team CSC + 54
7 Alejandro Valverde Saunier Duval - Scott + 55
8 Steve Morabito Saunier Duval - Scott + 57
9 Julien Mazet Agritubel + 59
10 Vladimir Karpets Lampre s.t.
11 Thor Hushovd Gerolsteiner + 1'00
12 Peter Velits Team Milram + 1'01
13 Óscar Pereiro Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
14 Rubén Plaza Lampre s.t.
15 Sylvain Chavanel Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone + 1'02
16 Iván Parra Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone s.t.
17 Tom Boonen Quick•Step + 1'03
18 Arkaitz Durán Française des Jeux s.t.
19 Tom Danielson Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
20 Philippe Gilbert Française des Jeux + 1'09 31 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road + 1'18
It’s time for the time trial here in France and Thomas has a great chance to take over the yellow jersey today. That way he will at least get to wear it one day, because it’s unlikely he can keep up with likes of Valverde and Sammy Sanchez on tomorrow’s stage to Isola 2000. Today’s time trial is hilly, so I will try to give it a go as I think I can win a lot of time on the climb about halfway through the 30 kilometres. When talking to Thomas this morning he said that he has never felt better and that he is absolute top form, so with the time trial abilities he posseses I think he can do very well today, eventhough a guy like J.I. Gutierrez will be difficult to handle.
Lars Bak is also in great shape and he raced into the provisional lead as he crossed the line. Shortly after it was my turn to take the course, as the 31st last starter, meaning I would just make it into the TV broadcast, Brian had told me. I didn’t think about it a whole lot though as I tried to flat-out for the entire course. It went quite well as I posted provisional 30th fastest time of the about 120 finishers so far.
When Thomas hit the course it was CSC’s LL Sanchez who had taken the lead. Thomas was about 20 seconds down on the first provisional check but at the second, at the top of the climb he had surged into a dominant lead by 31 seconds over Sanchez. At the finish he had taken an additional second to post a time 32 seconds faster than the Spaniard.
Gutierrez couldn’t match him and Monier couldn’t match him either, so now it was all about Sammy Sanchez. He needed 42 seconds on the former Euskaltel rider to take over the yellow jersey. In the end there was no question. Sammy Sanchez finished 1’05 down in 9th, so Thomas is the new leader! Let’s hope he can keep it up tomorrow, but it will be very difficult.
1 Thomas Lövkvist Team High Road 40'59
2 Luis León Sánchez Team CSC + 32
3 Rubén Plaza Lampre + 43
4 Vladimir Karpets Lampre + 46
5 José Iván Gutiérrez Caisse d'Epargne + 53
6 Mikel Astarloza Française des Jeux + 58
7 Sylvain Chavanel Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone + 1'00
8 Alejandro Valverde Saunier Duval - Scott + 1'04
9 Samuel Sánchez Bouygues Télécom + 1'05
10 Carlos Castaño Saunier Duval - Scott + 1'06
11 Thor Hushovd Gerolsteiner + 1'08 12 Lars Ytting Bak Team High Road + 1'12
13 Benoit Vaugrenard Française des Jeux + 1'18
14 Damien Monier Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone + 1'19
15 Tom Danielson Euskaltel - Euskadi + 1'21
16 Steve Morabito Saunier Duval - Scott + 1'25
17 Julien Mazet Agritubel + 1'29
18 Peter Velits Team Milram + 1'34
19 Rinaldo Nocentini Team CSC + 1'35
20 Philippe Gilbert Française des Jeux + 1'38 50 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road + 2'24
GC
1 Thomas Lövkvist Team High Road 16h28'17
2 Samuel Sánchez Bouygues Télécom + 19
3 Luis León Sánchez Team CSC + 40
4 José Iván Gutiérrez Caisse d'Epargne + 48
5 Rubén Plaza Lampre + 58
6 Vladimir Karpets Lampre + 59
7 Carlos Castaño Saunier Duval - Scott + 1'10
8 Alejandro Valverde Saunier Duval - Scott + 1'13
9 Damien Monier Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone s.t.
10 Sylvain Chavanel Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone + 1'16
11 Thor Hushovd Gerolsteiner + 1'22
12 Mikel Astarloza Française des Jeux + 1'29
13 Steve Morabito Saunier Duval - Scott + 1'36
14 Tom Danielson Euskaltel - Euskadi + 1'38
15 Julien Mazet Agritubel + 1'42
16 Peter Velits Team Milram + 1'49
17 Óscar Pereiro Caisse d'Epargne + 1'53
18 Iván Parra Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone + 1'54
19 Tom Boonen Quick•Step + 1'55
20 Arkaitz Durán Française des Jeux + 1'57 33 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road + 2'56
The Race to the Sun will most likely be decided today, I know the last two stages are hilly, but the hills aren’t located close enough to the finish for any of the favourites to put in a decisive attack. So today’s where it’s at. Thomas will have to put in the ride of his life on Isola 2000 to keep his jersey. It was very nice to line up in St. André les Alpes for the start with the yellow jersey in the team. I know it’s not the Tour de France, but Paris-Nice is still a big race, so it’s a big day for everyone in the team and we were really focused right from the outset. We didn’t want to go with the break today as Thomas needed all the protection he could get. Me and Lars were designated to be his bodyguards throughout the day while the rest should control the pack.
Not much happened until the Valberg climb, which topped about 60 kilometres from the finish line on Isola 2000. Here four riders got away and soon passed the early break. They were Gomez Marchante, Ivan Parra, Mauricio Ardila and Bauke Mollema. None of them presented a real threat so we let them go for now. Pinotti was really strong today and almost singlehandedly, he controlled their gap around one minut the whole time until we hit the foot of Isola 2000.
At the foot of Isola 2000, it was my turn as it was no me and Pinotti pulling the 46-man peloton. It was quite a feeling to be pulling the pack up a climb like this knowing you were doing it for your teammate to keep his yellow jersey. During the day Thomas had told me he was feeling great so it was up to me and Marco to get him in a good enough position.
I gave it my all and because of my effort the four riders in front never got a big gap. When Mazet started the attacks with 12 kilometres to go I had to let go and drop back. But my work was done as Thomas had made his countermove already.
He and the other favourites quickly caught up with the quartet up the mountain and amazingly Thomas was able to keep up with everyone. An elite group formed with Thomas, Valverde, Sanchez, Huguet, Plaza and the Gomez Marchante who managed to latch onto their wheels.
Aldag and Holm kept us updated through the final kilometres and Thomas was doing very well. He was in there, and he just needed to stay with group to keep the jersey. He had 19 seconds on Sammy Sanchez before today, and as you only get 6 boni seconds for winning the stage he would easily keep the jersey this way. I had my fingers crossed.
And he frickin’ did it! Valverde won the stage ahead of Huguet and Sanchez, but Thomas finished 4th in the same time as Sanchez and Huguet and only 8 seconds after Valverde. He has defended his jersey!
I lost 7 minutes but that doesn’t matter. All that matters now is to keep Thomas in yellow on the final two stages. This probably means that I won’t be allowed to hunt for a stage win unfortuneately, but the yellow jersey is more important than me winning a stage. I’ll get round to it later.
1 Alejandro Valverde Saunier Duval - Scott 4h47'17
2 Yann Huguet Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O + 8
3 Samuel Sánchez Bouygues Télécom s.t. 4 Thomas Lövkvist Team High Road s.t.
5 Rubén Plaza Lampre s.t.
6 Luis León Sánchez Team CSC + 56
7 Iván Parra Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone s.t.
8 José Angel Gómez Marchante Saunier Duval - Scott + 1'20
9 Bauke Mollema Rabobank + 1'32
10 Damiano Cunego Lampre + 1'44
11 Mikel Astarloza Française des Jeux s.t.
12 Riccardo Riccò Saunier Duval - Scott s.t.
13 Javier Moreno Silence - Lotto s.t.
14 Igor Antón Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
15 Sylvain Chavanel Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone s.t.
16 Edwin Orozco Quick•Step s.t.
17 Óscar Pereiro Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
18 José Iván Gutiérrez Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
19 Carlos Castaño Saunier Duval - Scott s.t.
20 Pierrick Fédrigo Crédit Agricole s.t. 50 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road + 7'00
GC
1 Thomas Lövkvist Team High Road 21h15'42
2 Samuel Sánchez Bouygues Télécom + 17
3 Rubén Plaza Lampre + 58
4 Alejandro Valverde Saunier Duval - Scott + 59
5 Luis León Sánchez Team CSC + 1'28
6 Yann Huguet Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O + 2'17
7 José Iván Gutiérrez Caisse d'Epargne + 2'24
8 Vladimir Karpets Lampre + 2'35
9 Iván Parra Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone + 2'42
10 Carlos Castaño Saunier Duval - Scott + 2'46
11 Sylvain Chavanel Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone + 2'52
12 Mikel Astarloza Française des Jeux + 3'05
13 Tom Danielson Euskaltel - Euskadi + 3'14
14 Julien Mazet Agritubel + 3'18
15 Peter Velits Team Milram + 3'25
16 Óscar Pereiro Caisse d'Epargne + 3'29
17 Rinaldo Nocentini Team CSC + 3'37
18 Damiano Cunego Lampre + 3'46
19 Riccardo Riccò Saunier Duval - Scott + 4'00
20 Steve Morabito Saunier Duval - Scott + 4'04 41 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road + 9'48
