After our big day on Isola 2000 the whole team has been closely followed by reporters and I had to answer a lot of question in the mix zone following yesterday’s stage, where I put in a big effort for Løvkvist, who finished our work off incredibly. After revealing that I would like to win the Vuelta at some point in my career, I was very satisfied with my performance, because if I didn’t had to work for Thomas so much I could have done a lot better. The last two stages is all about keeping the jersey and we’re quite sure we can do so, because eventhough the stages are hilly, the finales are quite flat, so none of the favourites should be able to crack Thomas.
Today’s break contained Daniel Moreno, who were “only” 11’34 down on GC before today. After the final tough climb with 70 kilometres to go, he had gone solo with more than 13 minutes on the pack and he actually managed to keep that gap for quite a while.
But on the last 60 kilometres he totally faded and with 20 kilometres to go he was in pack in the pack, which was down to just 70 riders. It was just me, Lars and Thomas left from our team here as the others had done a big job throughout the early phases of the stage. Anyway I tried to go for the win in the sprint, but I was badly placed. And eventhough I made my way up nicely I couldn’t beat Riccó with his good positioning, a 2nd place isn’t bad though and I’m coming into very good form for Milan – Sanremo. Only one day left until we can celebrate our Paris-Nice win!
1 Riccardo Riccò Saunier Duval - Scott 5h09'46 2 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road s.t.
3 Yann Huguet Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O s.t.
4 Damiano Cunego Lampre s.t.
5 Thor Hushovd Gerolsteiner s.t.
6 Roberto Longo Lampre s.t.
7 Alejandro Valverde Saunier Duval - Scott s.t.
8 Samuel Sánchez Bouygues Télécom s.t.
9 Mathieu Drujon Team Milram s.t.
10 Coen Vermeltfoort Liquigas s.t.
11 Kevyn Ista Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O s.t.
12 Martijn Maaskant Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O s.t.
13 Allan Davis Silence - Lotto s.t.
14 Ángel Vicioso Team Milram s.t.
15 Xavi Florencio Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
16 Fabian Wegmann Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone s.t.
17 Rinaldo Nocentini Team CSC s.t.
18 José Iván Gutiérrez Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
19 Murilo Fischer Liquigas s.t.
20 Ricardo Serrano Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
GC
1 Thomas Lövkvist Team High Road 26h25'28
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 + 2'15
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 + 3'54
20 Steve Morabito Saunier Duval - Scott + 4'04 38 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road + 9'44
It’s the penultimate stage. It’s the stage I wanted to win, but tied to domestique obligations I wasn’t allowed to attack. I get the point though, winning this race will be a great result for us. We won it last season with Kirchen, so defending it will be even bigger, especially with a rider like Thomas who has never won anything this prestigous before in his career. Again today it was me and Lars who were told to stick close to Thomas through the whole stage, while the others took turns relaying the pack.
Javier Moreno, who came close to a win yesterday went solo today.
At the top of the last climb of this year’s Paris-Nice the Spaniard had build a gap of over 8 minutes, with about 60 kilometres to, which were more or less downhill. Saunier-Duval tried to put some of Valverde’s opponents under pressure on the Col de Turini, and only a group of 26 riders would cross the top trailing Moreno. I only just managed to stay in there alongside Thomas and Lars. At this point Thomas was easing his way to the overall win, so me and Lars just sticked close to him to keep him out of trouble.
With 30 kilometres to go, he had about 4 minutes and it seemed like he would make. He faded somewhat towards the finish and the gap was pretty boiled down as we hit the home stretch in Nice.
I didn’t have anything left to try and sprint, so I just stayed with Thomas so we could celebrate this big win when we would cross the line. Meanwhile Valverde was clearly the strongest in the pack, which had grown to about 70 riders in the descent and he closed in on Moreno rapidly. Moreno must’ve really digged deep, because with a timed effort he just managed to take time to celebrate and cross the line as the winner aswell.
Shortly after Thomas rolled in, having won the Paris-Nice! Me and Lars were the first to congratulate him afterwards, and after all the work I have put in along these 8 stages I felt I really had something to do with this win.
Thomas also recognized how hard we had worked for him as he held a short speech at the celebration that same evening. It really was a big result and it has definitely given me some inspiration and some important experience on how to ride as a domestique in a stage race. Now I can’t wait until my first Grand Tour. I still don’t know which one it is, but I’m still looking forward.
Thomas celebrating his biggest win of his career.
1 Javier Moreno Silence - Lotto 3h37'20
2 Alejandro Valverde Saunier Duval - Scott s.t.
3 Rinaldo Nocentini Team CSC s.t.
4 Damiano Cunego Lampre s.t.
5 Philippe Gilbert Française des Jeux s.t.
6 Yann Huguet Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O s.t.
7 Romain Feillu Agritubel s.t.
8 Rubén Plaza Lampre s.t.
9 Tom Boonen Quick•Step s.t.
10 Murilo Fischer Liquigas s.t.
11 Jérôme Pineau Silence - Lotto s.t.
12 Peter Velits Team Milram s.t.
13 Andrea Moletta Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
14 Fabian Wegmann Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone s.t.
15 Samuel Sánchez Bouygues Télécom s.t.
16 Ricardo Serrano Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
17 Juan Antonio Flecha Rabobank s.t.
18 Lars Ytting Bak Team High Road s.t.
19 John Gadret AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
20 Riccardo Riccò Saunier Duval - Scott s.t. 29 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road s.t.
GC
1 Thomas Lövkvist Team High Road 30h02'48
2 Samuel Sánchez Bouygues Télécom + 17
3 Alejandro Valverde Saunier Duval - Scott + 55
4 Rubén Plaza Lampre + 58
5 Luis León Sánchez Team CSC + 1'28
6 Yann Huguet Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O + 2'15
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 + 3'35
18 Damiano Cunego Lampre + 3'46
19 Riccardo Riccò Saunier Duval - Scott + 3'54
20 Steve Morabito Saunier Duval - Scott + 4'04 37 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road + 9'44
Points Competition
1 Alejandro Valverde Saunier Duval - Scott 137
2 Samuel Sánchez Bouygues Télécom 94
3 Yann Huguet Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O 90
4 Damiano Cunego Lampre 86 5 Thomas Lövkvist Team High Road 82 15 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road 37
King of the Mountains Competition
1 Christophe Moreau Crédit Agricole 65
2 Javier Moreno Silence - Lotto 50
3 Johan Vansummeren Lampre 35
4 Julien Loubet AG2R - La Mondiale 34
5 Andrea Moletta Euskaltel - Euskadi 26
Following Paris-Nice I had a few days to slow down a bit and take it easy in training, so I also had the opportunity to follow the last two stages of Tirreno-Adriatico. Apparently Kirchen had moved into 5th after the mountain stage and I felt sure he would move up on the podium after the time trial, but that didn’t happen. He stayed in 5th, which is also a good result of course. Diego Ulissi gave another glimpse of this big talent as he finished 10th overall.
The last three days before Milan-Sanremo, I had some great workouts with Edvald Boasson Hagen, who I will Co-lead our Milan-Sanremo team with. That’s right I will lead the team in Milan-Sanremo. Rolf Aldag told me a couple of days after finishing Paris-Nice that I have shown good enough form to be our leader there. I’m so thrilled because it’s another race that I really want to win at some point and why not already this year? I’m very good form after France, I’m so good form that I will have to lower my training intensity after Milan-Sanremo to prevent me from burning out before the Ardennes.
Our team for La Primavera is Me, Hagen, Bak, Kirchen, Løvkvist, Pinotti, Ciolek and Knees. If I want to get on the podium I will have to try something on La Cipressa, since Poggi shockingly isn’t in this year’s Milan-Sanremo. If I don’t get away on the Cipressa then I still stand a good chance to podium in the sprint as the big sprinters like Boonen and Hushovd should be pretty beat when we hit Via Roma. This is going to be an interesting 300-kilometres ride.
I’ve come out of Paris-Nice in good form, so I was sure I could pull off a result today. It’s one of the biggest races in the world and I really want to win this race at some point. It’s the longest classic of them all with its almost 300 kilometres and you need a great stamina, to compete for the win here. Stamina is one of my forces, so that’s why I think I will be able to win this race in the future. If I have good legs today then it should be possible to get on the podium, last year I took 2nd at the Worlds in a mass sprint, so as this will most likely end in a sprint I should have a good chance. Shockingly there’s no Cipressa and there is no Poggio this season season. Instead of those two climbs there is one big climb, Pompeiana, topping some 20 kilometres from the finish at Via Roma.
Not much happened in the early phases of the race. A small break of 5 riders got away, but they were never given any big leash and they were reeled in while we were riding on the coast of the Mediterrenean. Shortly before the Pompeiana, Cancellara, Ballan and Gilbert attacked and got a gap as they climbed the Pompeiana.
I attacked from the pack to try and come across, but it wasn’t going to happen. Now I just had to hope they would be reeled in again. But they had almost 2 minutes at the top.
They weren’t going to be caught and with 7 kilometres to go an attack from Ballan, forced Gilbert to let go. Cancellara followed him and he had to lead out the sprint.
And Allesandro Ballan won Milan-Sanremo. Cancellara and Gilbert took 2nd and 3rd, so no podium for me this season. It was a shame they stayed away because I took 3rd in the sprint of the peloton. But 6th in my first Milan-Sanremo isn’t bad at all if you ask me.
With this result I’m really starting to consolidate my position as a classics rider and the other favourites will be on the lookout for in the Ardennes. Next up for me is Criterium International, where I hope I can win the second stage.
1 Alessandro Ballan Lampre 7h10'02
2 Fabian Cancellara Team CSC s.t.
3 Philippe Gilbert Française des Jeux + 1'11
4 Tom Boonen Quick•Step + 2'24
5 Allan Davis Silence - Lotto s.t. 6 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road s.t.
7 Matti Breschel Team CSC s.t.
8 Eros Capecchi Saunier Duval - Scott s.t.
9 Tom Leezer Rabobank s.t.
10 Daniele Bennati Liquigas s.t.
11 Filippo Pozzato Liquigas s.t.
12 Thor Hushovd Gerolsteiner s.t.
13 Bernhard Eisel Gerolsteiner s.t.
14 Danilo Di Luca LPR Brakes s.t.
15 Óscar Freire Rabobank s.t.
16 Danilo Napolitano Lampre s.t.
17 Greg Van Avermaet Silence - Lotto s.t.
18 Fran Ventoso Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
19 Paolo Bettini Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
20 Francesco Gavazzi Lampre s.t.
If it wasn’t for the 10-kilometres time trial on the last stage in this race then I would be able to fight for the overall win, but because of that time trial I don’t think I will ever win this race. It’s another quite prestigous race organized by ASO, and it does contain some of my favourite terrain as I will try to see how I can do on stage 2 which suits me quite perfectly. Our leader for the race is Lars Bak who is great form, as he will our cobbled leader this season, because of an injury to Marcus Burghardt. Also racing here is Cavendish, who has just won Rund Um Köln, and he will be looking to win stage one, which will come down a sprint most likely.
Stage 1
And it did come down to a sprint. Lars took the front in our train with me in his wheel and then Cavendish behind me to finish it off. Lars was very strong and he got us in to a great position, as I was able to sprint into the lead. Shortly after, Cavendish opened up with the finish line looming up the road, but Christopher Sutton managed to pass him in the final metres to take stage. Quite dissapointing for Cav. I took 7th on the stage. I’m ready for tomorrow.
1 Christopher Sutton Team Milram 4h22'37 2 Mark Cavendish Team High Road s.t.
3 Sébastien Chavanel Française des Jeux s.t.
4 Kenny De Ketele Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O s.t.
5 Nico Sijmens Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner s.t. 7 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road s.t.
Stage 2
The stage is just 99 kilometres and ends on a small hill. A lot riders attacked during the stage and we tried to get our young German, Nico Keinath in the break. But no breaks managed to seperate itself decisively from the pack, as the race was controlled very well by Team Milram.
The road went up and down the whole day and the first rider to hit the final climb was Slipstream’s Kenny de Ketele, who got away on the last but final climb. He had about 40 seconds on the pack, where me and Lars were preparing an attack. We hit the throttle just as we hit the bottom of the climb and we immediately got a gap on the pack. Ruben Plaza and Sylvain Chavanel countered.
Me and Lars caught up with De Ketele just as we rode under the flame rouge. But so did Chavanel and he was surging up the final part of the hill. I tried to go with him but I couldn’t close the gap on him, as he was just too strong and he took the stage with a perfectly timed effort, while I burned out a bit in the final kilometre and had to settle for 3rd, as Plaza also got past me. I lost a bit on Chavanel. Lars did too but he’s still in a good position ahead of tomorrow’s time trial.
1 Sylvain Chavanel Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone 2h31'37
2 Rubén Plaza Lampre + 12 3 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road s.t. 4 Lars Ytting Bak Team High Road s.t.
5 Kenny De Ketele Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O s.t.
6 Kilian Patour AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
7 Egoi Martínez Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
8 Francesco Ginanni Française des Jeux + 58 (Pack)
GC
1 Sylvain Chavanel Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone 6h54'04
2 Rubén Plaza Lampre + 16 3 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road + 18
4 Kenny De Ketele Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O + 22 5 Lars Ytting Bak Team High Road s.t.
6 Egoi Martínez Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
7 Kilian Patour AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
8 Christopher Sutton Team Milram + 58
9 Mark Cavendish Team High Road + 1'02
10 Leonardo Duque Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone + 1'06
Stage 3
For me this would be a fight to stay inside the top 10, which would be a very good result for me just before Vuelta al Pais Vasco, where I will be looking for my first win of the season. I’m starting to get a bit hungry for a win and I hope it’ll come round soon.
I did quite well on the first check where I was 25th. But I faded from there on in as I had to settle for 52nd on the stage. I stayed inside the top 10 though. Lars put in a good ride as he finished 4th on the stage. But Plaza and Patour, who were also up there in the finish on stage 2 were faster and as Chavanel only lost a couple of seconds on Lars, he had to settle for overall 4th. It’s a shame he couldn’t get on the podium, but he was still done very well here and for me it’s been a succesful race aswell, finishing in the top 10.
Me in the Points Jersey on the last stage, where I lost it again.
Next up for me is Vuelta al Pais Vasco, where me and Kirchen will be our captains. I might try and go for a stage win rather than a Top 20 or something like that, but let’s see.
1 Kilian Patour AG2R - La Mondiale 9'51
2 Rubén Plaza Lampre + 6
3 Luis León Sánchez Team CSC + 18 4 Lars Ytting Bak Team High Road + 21
5 Damien Monier Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone + 24
6 Sylvain Chavanel Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone + 26
7 Arkaitz Durán Française des Jeux + 30
8 Linus Gerdemann Rabobank + 32
9 Christopher Sutton Team Milram + 33
10 Emilien-Benoît Bergès Agritubel s.t. 52 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road + 55
GC
1 Rubén Plaza Lampre 7h04'17
2 Kilian Patour AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
3 Sylvain Chavanel Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone + 4 4 Lars Ytting Bak Team High Road + 21
5 Kenny De Ketele Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O + 36
6 Egoi Martínez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 40 7 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road + 51
8 Luis León Sánchez Team CSC + 1'04
9 Christopher Sutton Team Milram + 1'09
10 Damien Monier Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone + 1'10
11 Arkaitz Durán Française des Jeux + 1'16 12 Mark Cavendish Team High Road + 1'18
13 Linus Gerdemann Rabobank s.t.
14 Mathieu Sprick Bouygues Télécom + 1'20
15 Thomas Voeckler Bouygues Télécom + 1'21
16 Óscar Pereiro Caisse d'Epargne + 1'25
17 Nico Keinath Team High Road s.t.
18 Julien Mazet Agritubel + 1'26
19 Steven Cozza Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O s.t.
20 Sébastien Delfosse Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner + 1'27
I had a minor ProTour breakthrough in this race last season so I hope I can duplicate on that succes. I’m not too confident though as I had to lower my training intensity after Milan-Sanremo, so I’m not in the shape now as I was at this point last season. I will be in shape for Liege-Bastogne-Liege though. Count on it! Me and Kirchen would captain the team here in the Basque Country after Kim finished 3rd overall here last year. We will recieve back-up from last year’s double Vuelta a Espana stage winner, Dainius Kairelis, Bradley Wiggins, Nico Keinath, Konstantin Schubert, Bjoern Hoeben and Vicente Reynes.
Stage 1
On the first we didn’t do much. A large break got away. They were caught litterarily on the finish line, with Linus Gerdemann, just managing to hold off the pack and win the stage to take the first leader’s jersey of the race. My legs gave me a hard time today and at the end of the day I wasn’t able to compete in the sprint. But I hope I’ll come around. Tomorrow’s stage will most likely show us who will compete for the win in this year’s Basque Tour.
1 Linus Gerdemann Rabobank 3h44'44
2 Marc De Maar Tinkoff Credit Systems s.t.
3 Yannick Talabardon Crédit Agricole s.t.
4 Constantino Zaballa Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
5 Jelle Vanendert Française des Jeux s.t.
6 Blaise Sonnery AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
7 Huub Duyn Karpin Galicia s.t.
8 Beñat Intxausti Orbea - Oreka S.D.A. s.t.
9 Igor Antón Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
10 David Muñoz Orbea - Oreka S.D.A. s.t. 80 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road s.t.
Stage 2
It’s a perfect stage for me today with a steep climb about 20 kilometres from the finish, but I just don’t think I have the strenght to get clear of the pack. I’ll give it a go but I’m sure some riders will be much stronger than me today. Last year’s winner JJ Cobo should be one of the riders to look our for.
I felt relatively fresh as we hit the final climb, so me and Kirchen took off at the same time countering the moves of Jelle Vanendert and Juan José Cobo. It didn’t work unfortuneately as Kirchen had to drop back quickly and then group I established with Cobo, Dekker and Vanendert soon was reeled back in by Saunier Duval, who set an amazing pace. They did that for Valverde who with a tremendous effort that I can only dream of at this point, took off with Damiano Cunego, and these two formed the front duo as they crossed the top.
I hoped they would be reeled back in, but that wasn’t the case, as Alejandro Valverde took the stage and the yellow jersey. Luca Pierfelici led in the pack, 1’37 after Valverde and Cunego. The Spaniard should be the top-favourite now with his better time trial skills than Cunego.
Again today I didn’t really have any strenght to sprint, but I wouldn’t bother sprinting for 3rd anyway.
1 Alejandro Valverde Saunier Duval - Scott 7h51'24
2 Damiano Cunego Lampre s.t.
3 Luca Pierfelici Quick•Step + 1'37
4 Jelle Vanendert Française des Jeux s.t.
5 Arkaitz Durán Française des Jeux s.t.
6 Igor Antón Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
7 Rubén Plaza Lampre s.t.
8 Samuel Sánchez Bouygues Télécom s.t.
9 Tom Danielson Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
10 Rinaldo Nocentini Team CSC s.t. 43 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road s.t.
Stage 3
This day turned out quite eventful. I’m feeling a bit more positive feedback from my legs than I did on the two first stages, so I hope I can be there in the finale today. Valverde and Cunego seem strong, so I will have to stay close to them.
The attacks began at a small climb about 30 kilometres from the line. Cobo was the first to take off and I tried to follow him. Kirchen also went. But we couldn’t break clear of the high pace the Saunier Duval team was setting with Ricco powering away on the front. Instead when things had settled down a bit, Valverde delivered a shattering acceleration, which only Sammy Sanchez could follow up on.
A group of 5 riders with Vanendert, Ermeti, Frank Schleck, Pierfelici and Visconti rode in the wake of Sanchez and Valverde, with Cunego trailing them. Behind Cunego the peloton was completely shattered down to 11 men, where I was sitting. Unfortuneately Kirchen wasn’t, so it doesn’t look as though he’s going to be on the podium this year.
The 11-men group with me in it.
Up the final climb, where I last year attacked away from the pack, I had some problems keeping up with my group, but I just managed to get over and get a free ride into the finish. No doubt my form isn’t good enough to do anything in this race. Up front Valverde put the hammer down on Sanchez in the sprint taking back-to-back stage wins and consolidating his leader’s jersey.
Finishing in the 11-men group I should have booked myself a place in the top 20 of this race, as the last man in that group finished 18th on the stage, with a good gap on the peloton.
1 Alejandro Valverde Saunier Duval - Scott 4h18'24
2 Samuel Sánchez Bouygues Télécom s.t.
3 Jelle Vanendert Française des Jeux + 1'17
4 Giairo Ermeti Silence - Lotto s.t.
5 Giovanni Visconti Barloworld s.t.
6 Fränk Schleck Team CSC s.t.
7 Luca Pierfelici Quick•Step s.t.
8 Damiano Cunego Lampre + 1'58
9 Juanjo Cobo Team Astana + 2'18
10 Andrea Moletta Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
11 Riccardo Riccò Saunier Duval - Scott s.t.
12 Cadel Evans Rabobank s.t.
13 Luis León Sánchez Team CSC s.t. 14 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road s.t.
15 Thomas Dekker Rabobank s.t.
16 Eros Capecchi Saunier Duval - Scott s.t.
17 Rubén Plaza Lampre s.t.
18 Alexandr Kolobnev Team CSC s.t.
19 Igor Antón Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
20 Manuele Mori Saunier Duval - Scott + 4'27
GC
1 Alejandro Valverde Saunier Duval - Scott 12h09'48
2 Samuel Sánchez Bouygues Télécom + 1'37
3 Damiano Cunego Lampre + 1'58
4 Jelle Vanendert Française des Jeux + 2'54
5 Luca Pierfelici Quick•Step s.t.
6 Giairo Ermeti Silence - Lotto s.t.
7 Fränk Schleck Team CSC s.t.
8 Giovanni Visconti Barloworld s.t.
9 Juanjo Cobo Team Astana + 3'55
10 Rubén Plaza Lampre s.t.
11 Igor Antón Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
12 Thomas Dekker Rabobank s.t.
13 Riccardo Riccò Saunier Duval - Scott s.t.
14 Luis León Sánchez Team CSC s.t.
15 Cadel Evans Rabobank s.t. 16 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road s.t.
17 Alexandr Kolobnev Team CSC s.t.
18 Eros Capecchi Saunier Duval - Scott s.t.
19 Rinaldo Nocentini Team CSC + 6'04
20 Leonardo Bertagnolli Quick•Step s.t.
This had been a pretty awful race for us so far, not like last year, where everything went our way. Kirchen is definitely not in the shape as he was last season in this race and neither am I. At least there’s still some time until the Ardennes, which is a bigger target for us definitely. It is a bit demoralizing though that I can’t keep up with Valverde here, as I showed last season that I can beat him, even in a sprint.
Today’s stage also has a small hill in the finale topping about 10 kilometres from the finish. So it was no surprise that Valverde was the first rider to enter the home stretch. I tried to attack on the climb, but you just can’t get away with Saunier Duval pulling the pack and then letting up when Valverde goes. He had Cunego in his wheel today, so maybe his victory streak will come to and end? Of course not, Valverde took another win and strenghtens his GC lead again.
Again I didn’t bother to sprint. I’d rather conserve my energy than finishing 5th on the stage or whatever.
1 Alejandro Valverde Saunier Duval - Scott 4h11'38
2 Damiano Cunego Lampre s.t.
3 Rinaldo Nocentini Team CSC + 1'07
4 Ivan Basso Team CSC s.t.
5 Tony Martin Team Astana s.t.
6 Mathieu Sprick Bouygues Télécom s.t.
7 Branislav Samoilau Quick•Step s.t.
8 Alberto Losada Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
9 Leonardo Bertagnolli Quick•Step s.t.
10 Igor Astarloa Caisse d'Epargne s.t. 32 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road s.t.
Stage 5
A big group of 12 riders got away today. We had Christian Knees in it. For a moment it looked as though they would make as with 30 kilometres to the line they had more than 4 minutes on the pack. But in a matter of no time the gap was just under a minute as Saunier Duval gained a lot of time on them in the hills in the finale, and so they were reeled in with about 15 kilometres to the line. There was a small hill just 10 kilometres from the finish, but no-one attack and so we will have a mass sprint for the ones not too exhausted. Saunier out in a crazy pace on that climb and I was dead-beat when the sprint began and I was sitting in the pack of the 68-man peloton that made it home. From there I could see Valverde taking his 4th consecutive stage win.
1 Alejandro Valverde Saunier Duval - Scott 4h01'12
2 Giairo Ermeti Silence - Lotto s.t.
3 Eros Capecchi Saunier Duval - Scott s.t.
4 Matej Mugerli Liquigas s.t.
5 Jelle Vanendert Française des Jeux s.t.
6 Damiano Cunego Lampre s.t.
7 Giovanni Visconti Barloworld s.t.
8 Manuele Mori Saunier Duval - Scott s.t.
9 Rinaldo Nocentini Team CSC s.t.
10 Riccardo Riccò Saunier Duval - Scott s.t. 56 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road s.t.
Stage 6
We can’t be the least happy about this tour and me and Kirchen just want to get it over with so we can focus on the Ardennes, where we want to be on the podium in all three races. With kind of form Valverde is in right now, he will be very difficult to deal with in those races, but we know we can take him and maybe he has peaked too early and he could be all out of energy when we hit the hills in Amstel in about a week from now.
We haven’t finished in the top 10 on any stage here and we didn’t today either. Kirchen was our best rider in 21st, while I put in my compulsory rubbish time trial performance by finishing 105th, 1’21 down, I did stay inside the top 20 though as I will finish 18th in this year’s edition of the Basque Tour. Valverde looked set to grab his 5th stage win as he lead Luis Leon Sanchez by 2 seconds on the 2nd intermediate check, but somehow he faded slightly towards the finish and had to settle for 2nd, as Sanchez took the win. 1 second faster than Valverde.
Luis Leon Sanchez broke the dominance of Valverde as he won the final stage.
Valverde couldn’t care less, as he with 4 stage wins take a crushing overall win aswell.
Me and Kirchen have just one race left now before we take off in the Ardennes with Amstel Gold Race. We are going to race the small French one-day race, GP de Denain, where I took 6th last season, so I might give my legs a final test here before the action commences in Holland.
1 Luis León Sánchez Team CSC 20'02
2 Alejandro Valverde Saunier Duval - Scott + 1
3 Thomas Dekker Rabobank + 15
4 Samuel Sánchez Bouygues Télécom + 18
5 Giovanni Visconti Barloworld + 20
6 Beñat Intxausti Orbea - Oreka S.D.A. s.t.
7 Rubén Plaza Lampre + 22
8 Riccardo Riccò Saunier Duval - Scott s.t.
9 Giairo Ermeti Silence - Lotto + 24
10 Ivan Basso Team CSC + 25
11 Cadel Evans Rabobank s.t.
12 Héctor Guerra Team Astana + 26
13 Juanjo Cobo Team Astana + 27
14 Roman Kreuziger Liquigas + 29
15 Janez Brajkovic Team Astana s.t.
16 Tony Martin Team Astana s.t.
17 Haimar Zubeldia Team Astana + 30
18 Alberto Contador Team Astana s.t.
19 Vladimir Karpets Lampre s.t.
20 Andy Schleck Team CSC + 31 21 Kim Kirchen Team High Road + 33 105 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road + 1'21
GC
1 Alejandro Valverde Saunier Duval - Scott 20h42'41
2 Damiano Cunego Lampre + 2'45
3 Samuel Sánchez Bouygues Télécom + 3'01
4 Giovanni Visconti Barloworld + 4'20
5 Giairo Ermeti Silence - Lotto + 4'24
6 Fränk Schleck Team CSC + 4'40
7 Jelle Vanendert Française des Jeux + 4'57
8 Luis León Sánchez Team CSC + 5'01
9 Luca Pierfelici Quick•Step s.t.
10 Thomas Dekker Rabobank + 5'16
11 Riccardo Riccò Saunier Duval - Scott + 5'23
12 Rubén Plaza Lampre s.t.
13 Cadel Evans Rabobank + 5'26
14 Juanjo Cobo Team Astana + 5'28
15 Eros Capecchi Saunier Duval - Scott + 5'53
16 Alexandr Kolobnev Team CSC + 5'58
17 Igor Antón Euskaltel - Euskadi + 6'11 18 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen Team High Road + 6'22
19 Beñat Intxausti Orbea - Oreka S.D.A. + 7'30
20 Ivan Basso Team CSC + 7'35 24 Kim Kirchen Team High Road + 7'43
