roturn wrote:
Strange finish on stage 2.
Hope you can get at least one stage with Cavendish and a good result in the overall.
the break just could not be caught, and haedo really worked hard so it seems he didnt have enough left to take the win. cav was the strongest of the peleton, so looking good for mass sprints later on in the TdU.
next stage though will be tough with the hard run in
21st January 2011 - Santos Tour Down Under Stage 3 (Unley-Stirling)
Haussler producing strong finish to take win
Heinrich Haussler sprinted to victory in Stirling today, finishing off after fine lead out work by rival's HTC-Highroad.
The Australian rider burst out from the wheel of Mark Cavendish in the last kilometre to take stage ahead of Tom Boonen (Quick-Step) and Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis).
The stage began with a number of attacks, as riders from all teams looked to create some gaps in the peleton. However, with Leopard-Trek and Team Sky controlling everything at the start, nothing could get a large gap. It was 46km before a significant escape could form, when 5 riders finally broke clear. Originally started by Laurent Mangel (Saur-Sojasun), he was soon joined by Taylor Phinney (BMC), Manuele Mori (Lampre), Sebastian Langeveld (Rabobank) and Stijn Vandenbergh (Katusha), and slowly they built up a good lead over the peleton behind.
Getting to a maximum of 5'35", the peleton never looked threatened by the break, and it was Androni Giocattoli who took control of the gap. They hit the front hard, and soon the break was being dragged back in. With 26km to go, only 1'26" was the break's time gap over the peleton, and they were eventually caught at the 5km, as HTC-Highroad started the organise the lead-outs.
So, it would be the second mass sprint of the Tour Down Under, and the second time we will witness the big Sprint Battle. All the big names where present, and from the lead-out trains, Mark Cavendish was the safest bet. HTC had done a great job getting him through the difficult finishing run-in and he looked set to complete the job.
Only problem for Cavendish, is that he had gone too soon, and Haussler kicked again to pass him. With the open road in front of him, the victory was all but confirmed. Hold off Boonen and the he had his first victory of 2011. And he did. It was a great finish by Haussler, and much deserved, thanks to Garmin's superb tactics.
22nd January 2011 - Santos Tour Down Under Stage 4 (Norwood-Strathalbyn)
Stage 4 takes the riders from Norwood to Strathalbyn on the 124km course. After the finish of Stage 3 in Stirling yesterday, this will be much in favour with the peleton, as there is nothing to serious on the route to trouble the riders.
The finish will fast and furious, and thanks to the downhill off the hills, it is set to be another sprint finish.
Race Leader Roberto Ferrari finished within the peleton, and holds onto the jersey for one more stage. Samuel Dumoulin will again wear the Jayco Sprints Jersey, whilst Niki Terpstra will have the Skoda King of the Mountains on his shoulders. Coen Vermeltfoort will be in the Cycle Instead Young Riders Jersey after his activity on today's stage
23rd January 2011 - Santos Tour Down Under Stage 5 (McLaren Vale-Willunga)
So we come to the Queen Stage of the Santos Tour Down Under, and Willunga Hill awaits the riders.
Deemed as the stage that will make or break a rider's chances of winning the Overall GC, this will be a nervy day for the peleton. With the big chance of a breakaway forming on the stage, the sprinter's teams will have to deal with bringing back any escapees, as well making sure that their big name guys makes it over Willunga Hill still in with a chance of winning.
roturn wrote:
Greipel beating Cavendish
Sorry but this doesn`t happen that often
Hope you can do well with Goss, Van Garderen or Fothen on the next stage.
Sadly Goss does not have the form or fitness. I was hoping he might have improved as the race went on, but it has not turned out as I hoped. When it has come to sprints or the finishes, he just has not had the legs to do anything.
I will try something with Fothen or Van Garderen, but I hope I can get Cav over Willunga with a chance of victory. His sprinting has not been on form
23rd January 2011 - Santos Tour Down Under Stage 5 (McLaren Vale-Willunga)
Boonen conquers Willunga Hill to take win and overall lead
Tom Boonen took a great win today in Willunga, sprinting to the win after great work on the run in. It would be a great finish for Quick-Step, as the Sokda King of the Mountains Leader Niki Terpstra come home in second place behind Boonen, with Stef Clement (Rabobank) finished third.
Back with the first half of the peleton, they hit Willunga Hill for the second time, and again Tejay Van Garderen attacked again. This time, he was tracked by Niki Terpstra, and the battle for the points at the summit would be on. Whoever won the battle would wear the jersey going into the final stage.
As the sprint started however, it was clear that Cavendish was not in good shape. In fact, he did not even look to compete at the finish. Instead it was left to Quick-Step and Rabobank to battle for the win, and Quick-Step won it convincingly.
The victory for Boonen moves him into the Ochre Leaders Jersey, thanks to the bonus seconds on the line, and also leads the Jayco Sprints Classification. There will also be a change in the Skoda King of the Mountains Classification, with American Tejay Van Garderen taking over from Niki Tersptra. The only jersey that does not change shoulders is the Cycle Instead Young Riders Jersey, which stays with Coen Vermeltfoort for the final stage tomorrow.
One-Two finish for Quick-Step in Willunga
The Day's Race in Photos
Spoiler
At the start in McLaren Vale
It was a big break on the stage today
Chasing back the break
KoM Sprint 1
KoM Sprint 2
Another great, but unsuccessful lead-out train for HTC
It was always gonna be very hard to do very well on this stage with Cav and getting 10th is very good, now hopefully you will take the last stage and compelte the sposnor's goals and move up the overall.
24th January 2011 - Santos Tour Down Under Stage 6 (Adelaide)
The Santos Tour Down Under ends with a 22 lap criterium around the City Centre of Adelaide. With nothing punishing to really test the peleton today, I fully expect this stage to end in a Mass Sprint.
We enter the finale of the Tour Down Under we all the Jerseys up for grabs in the stage. With a total of 19" available in bonus seconds on the route, every rider from Timothy Roe, who lies in 134th place, to Tom Boonen, who leads the race can come away with the overall victory, and with 13" available at the finish, it will be an exciting viewing.
In relation to Jayco Sprints Jersey, 6 points are available during the stage, and 13 are available at the finish, so yet again, any rider could come away with that jersey should they take maximum points from the stage.
With a grand total of 24 points are available in the Skoda King of the Mountains Classificaton, Tejay Van Garderen should take home the jersey provided that none of the riders who have already scored points take the maximum from the day. He leads the Classification with 28 points, and Niki Terpstra lies just behind with 24.
Coen Vermeltfoort leads the Cycle Instead Young Riders Classification going into Stage 6, and just like with the Ochre Jersey, any rider from Timothy Roe, who lies in 33rd in the classification, to Vermeltfoort himself could come away with the Jersey should they take bonous seconds available on the day.
Alakagom wrote:
It was always gonna be very hard to do very well on this stage with Cav and getting 10th is very good, now hopefully you will take the last stage and compelte the sposnor's goals and move up the overall.
well thanks to 13 bonus seconds on the line today, cav could take the overall with a victory!
24th January 2011 - Santos Tour Down Under Stage 6 (Adelaide)
Cavendish win final stage to steal the show
Mark Cavendish finally showed his sprinting strength and speed with a victory in Stage 6 of the Tour Down Under. The Manxman burst out from behind lead-out man Mark Renshaw in the closing kilometre and took the win in style. However, the result was slightly tarnished by a large crash with 2 kilometres to go, and ultimately held up most of the big names at the finish.
On a day where every jersey was still up for grabs, it was Dimitriy Muravyev (RadioShack) who attacked off the front, adn Tejay Van Garderen (HTC) followed suitly, sticking to his wheel. Muravyev was a danger in Skoda King of the Mountains Classification, and Van Garderen could not afford to give him any leeway. The two riders where joined by Pablo Lastras (Movistar) and Evgeni Petrov (Astana) in the breakaway, and they began to build up a health advantage. As the first Mountain sprint approached, Van Garderen made his move, taking maximum points. With a total of 44 points, he could not be caught, and he had secured the jersey. Muravyev just had answer to him.
As the break progressed through the stage, it was never going to succeed to finish, but it was definately causing a mix up in the Classifications. With the Skoda KoM jersey all sawn up, Tejay Van Garderen took first place in both Sprint points on the route, and thanks to bonus seconds, put himself Provisional in First Place in the Cycle Instead Classification. Only a podium finish for a young rider on line at the end would take that Jersey away from him.
And so the break was caught with 25km remaining, and it look like it would be a Mass Sprint that would decide the remaining 2 jerseys on offer. As the finish approached, the big names organised themselves. HTC-Highroad again took command, hitting the front hard, and Markus Fothen worked brilliantly to keep his train out of danger.
With 2 kilometres remaining, havoc reigned in the peleton. A touch of wheels between trains sent riders in all directions, and many riders hit the deck, including Thor Hushovd and Theo Bos. More importantly, however, GC Leader Tom Boonen had been caught up in the mayhem. Somehow, some teams had avoided the disruption, and HTC and Sky ProCycling looked like they would contest the final sprint. At the flamme rouge, the sprinters kicked, and no one could match the pace of Cavendish. He crossed the line with his arms in the air, and a small gap to those behind him.
Futhermore, the 13 bonus seconds on the line handed the Overall victory also to Mark Cavendish, along with the Jayco Sprints Jersey, thanks to the 13 points also earned. Tejay Van Garderen takes home the Skoda King of the Mountains Jersey for 2011, and completes a HTC-Highroad domination of the Classification by also winning the Cycle Instead Young Riders Jersey.
Cavendish shows his pace to take home the win
The Day's Race in Photo
Spoiler
At the start line
The Van Garderen Break
The second break group tried to bridge the gap
The chase down of the breaks, led by Rabobank and OmegaPharma
26th January - 5th February 2011 - Pre-season training camp (Monaco, France)
After a great finish to the Santos Tour Down Under for our guys, the entire team returned back to Europe for own second Training Camp.
The main aim is to make sure all of the team is fully fit and prepared for the season ahead, and also it gives us a good chance to introduce new addition Franco Pellizotti to all the riders.
Actually I am not the biggest fan of training camps. With the Season planner you are already better than the AI and training camp gives you an extra boost.
Definitely something they should change for PCM11.
But for the story it`s of course nicely written to link the old and new transfers together.
roturn wrote:
Actually I am not the biggest fan of training camps. With the Season planner you are already better than the AI and training camp gives you an extra boost.
Definitely something they should change for PCM11.
But for the story it`s of course nicely written to link the old and new transfers together.
i know they can give an unfair advantage, but it just adds something more realistic to the story. and it does nicely link together the new signings with the current recruits. looks good for the story, and it was a nice picture i found of monaco as well!!
Today it has been announced that HTC-Highroad's Directeur Sportif Phil Hoyle will lead Great Britain at the World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark in September.
The biggest hopes of a medal at the event will be with Bradley Wiggins and David Millar in the Time Trial, and of course, the 'Manx Missile' Mark Cavendish will be looking for glory in the Road Race.
