The Belgium openings weekend is coming up, while the Spaniards and most of the Italians are laughing at these fouls who run enormous risk on the cobbled sections, riding in the rain and windy conditions. It will be the honour to the Boonen's, Cancerallara's and Hushovd of this world to shine trough in the first weekend.
Because the cobble season is a pretty long one there are not much riders of our team who will do the double. Our captains are mainly focussed on Roubaix and Flanders so it could be a chance for Vermeltfoort or maybe Wynants. In Kuurne we also bring our Joker with us, Oscarito Freire, the man who still dreams of winning the Tour of Flanders...
Omloop het Nieuwsblad 1.HC Rider Preview
Leader:
Matti Breschel Not in a real good form yet but should be able to go for a top 20 here, although that’s not what we bought him for. But Matti is more focused on Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders, but we don’t blame him.
Sprinter:
Coen Vermeltfoort Has a nice form now, if the pack stays together we hope that the young Dutch sprinter is able to surprise the cycling world.
Free Roll:
Sebastian Langeveld Unless the second place of last year he also focuses more on the cobbles races within a month. Because of last year he knows that he is capable of results in these kinds of classics so this weekend will be a test for him.
Michael Matthews We don’t really know what to expect, he says that he really loves these races but we first want to see some results before taking Michael to bigger races. Maybe next year’s Paris-Roubaix, it just depence on his own growth .
Michael Matthews Could surprise here, is able to follow the pack on a hilly course and has a good sprint.
Helper:
Tom Jelte Slagter
Rick Flens
Maarten Wynants
Tom Leezer
Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne 1.1 Rider Preview
Leader:
Lars Boom His shape is getting better and better, after Paris-Nice he will be in über form as there is his first goal, the KBC Driedaagse van de Panne-Koksijde. We will see what Kuurne will bring us, but most of the time it will be a sprint of a group.
Sprinter:
Coen Vermeltfoort Again the young Vermeltfoort here, because it’s a more flat stage with the chance of a bunch sprint he is could be our man today.
Free Roll:
Oscar Freire Will see this as a training but when he’s still in the first group and feels well then we should trough his cards on the table.
Helper:
Tom Jelte-Slagter
Rick Flens
Jos van Emden
Tom Leezer
Edited by Tombola on 01-07-2011 21:59
London - It seems that one of Brittains best Continental teams is looking for some fresh riders overseas. The 28 year old Rabobank rider Rick Flens is what Sigma Sport - Specialized is aiming for.
When coming from the Rabobank Continental team he won several races as a professional, like a stage in Olympia's Tour in 2006. But after the stage win in Denmark in 2007 the rider didn't brought much results for Rabobank.
As a time trial and prologue specialist Flens is a rider who has the chance of riding a good GC in several smaller stage races. Teammanger Tom Bovere told us that Rick is a great help but has no contract yet for 2012. Isn't not that we don't want to give him, but we talked with Rick and his manager about it and if he has the oppurtinity of being a leader in a team like Sigma then we won't stop him for taking that chance. But still he's a great domestique in our team!
The rumours of transfer are very realistic because the manager of Sigma Sports already told our journalists that Rick is one of the riders the teams want's to sign for the next season.
Edited by Tombola on 24-06-2011 12:30
The Omloop is probably the hardest one of the two classics in the Belgium openings weekend, with several cobbled hills and a total of 9 cobble sections it’s a typical Flamisch classic. Near the end there is one smaller section were some riders may try to get away, if they didn’t before.
Here is someone who is very delighted to ride in the pouring rain, Michael Matthews is trying his luck with several others. Michael wants to be the “new” Stuart O’Grady, but we hope for a “new” Óscar Freire…
The attackers are together, most known names are Samoilou (MOV), De Weert (QST), Pinot (FDJ), Siutsou (HTC) and Reimer (SKS). Matthews feels really good today and the others are also willing to ride, with 100k the gap is just 2’50”.
At 75k to the finish line it’s Sky and Leopard who are closing the gap for Juan Antonio “The Arrow” Flecha and Fabian “Spartacus” Cancellara.
The toughest hill of today and Greg van Avermaet is trying to split the peloton in to pieces, but on the first flat part everything is back together again.
Matthews really is the strongest in the group, on every cobble or hill section he has to wait for the others. But with 40k to go and the gap just 1’05” is trying it on his own…
But with 20k to go also he got caught by the peloton, than the only attack until the finish is from Flecha (SKY), Boonen (QST) and Hushovd (GAR). Which surprises me because Boonen and Hushovd should wait and go for their sprint. Breschel tried to follow Hushovd but couldn’t keep up…
Then the computer crashed, not so nice so I don’t have a screen of the winner, Heinrich Haussler. He won very easily and it looks like he is in a great shape, but not only him the whole Garmin team. Because 4 of the 10 riders were a black shirt with Garmin – Cervelo on it, accept Hushovd of course, his one is white!
We think that Breschel did the best he could, it’s not easy to create a gap on tough races like this. It was nice that he still managed to ride a top 10 spot while Vermeltfoort was struggling but did a great job by finishing in the first group too. Tomorrow will be another day for Coen and we hope he gets a lot stronger and learned a lot after this weekend. Also Matthews did a great job with the breakaway of 160 kilometers long, showing he is able to ride races like these but we think that he couldn’t managed to stay in the first group with the big names like Coen did.
A bid disappointing was Rick Flens, he is our man with by far the best condition but wasn’t even able to stay in the first group while Rick is not a bad cobble rider, maybe he does a better job tomorrow!
Results
1 Heinrich Haussler Team Garmin - Cervélo 5h06"32
2 Tom Boonen Quick•Step Cycling Team s.t.
3 Tyler Farrar Team Garmin - Cervélo s.t.
4 Thor Hushovd Team Garmin - Cervélo s.t.
5 Sylvain Chavanel Quick•Step Cycling Team s.t. 6 Matti Breschel Rabobank Cycling Team s.t.
7 Juan Antonio Flecha Sky Procycling s.t.
8 Marcus Burghardt BMC Racing Team s.t.
9 Hayden Roulston HTC - High Road s.t.
10 Roger Hammond Team Garmin - Cervélo s.t.
11 Matthew Goss HTC - High Road s.t.
12 Sébastien Rosseler Team Radioshack s.t.
13 Phillipe Gilbert Omega Pharma - Lotto s.t.
14 Johan van Summeren Team Garmin - Cervélo s.t.
15 Greg van Avermaet BMC Racing Team s.t.
16 André Greipel Omega Pharma - Lotto s.t.
17 Stijn Devolder Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team s.t.
18 Nick Nuyens Saxo Bank SunGard s.t.
19 Manuel Quinziato BMC Racing Team s.t.
20 Björn Leukemans Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team s.t. 38 Coen Vermeltfoort Rabobank Cycling Team s.t.
47 Sebastian Langeveld Rabobank Cycling Team +1'18
50 Maarten Wynants Rabobank Cycling Team +1'18
60 Tom Leezer Rabobank Cycling Team +1'18
81 Rick Flens Rabobank Cycling Team +2'50
86 Michael Matthews Rabobank Cycling Team +4'10
113 Tom Jelte Slagter Rabobank Cycling Team +5'22
Kuurne is a lot easier than yesterday, there will be a lot more riders who will survive the last cobble section so it could easily end up in a sprint with a large group. But maybe the weather will a vital role today because there is a lot of wind and rain coming up, wind speeds of 66 at some points!
Despite the awful weather our riders Flens and Wynants are trying to get in the break of the day, while Wynants is a bit better on the hills he managed to get away with a small group.
Other riders in the group are Feillu (LEO), Gardeyn (VAC), Caruso (LIQ), Noval (SAX) and again Samoilau (MOV) and Pinot (FDJ). With 50k the gap didn’t grow more the 3’00 so the riders in the break knew what time it is. But they might have a little bit luck with the weather, if the stronger riders attack they might follow.
But until the pack caught the break there were no attacks, but the pack splitted up several times. Our riders Freire and Boom were always in the second group with a few helpers, Flens is doing a lot better than yesterday. [sarcasm]Otherwise Sigma Sports could have him…[/sarcasm]
Nearing the finish it is Devolder (VAC) who attacks, but Leopard is trying to keep everything back together along with Sky again.
Then Flecha (SKY) and Cancellara (LEO) attack! So Boom also decided to attack because now Leopard and Sky weren’t riding at the front of the peloton, but the others are much better and Boom was hanging between them and the pack. But it was Team Garmin – Cervelo who was closing every gap.
So it is a sprint of a large group, Freire got well positioned thanks to Coen Vermeltfoort. He took the wheel of Boonen and waited until the right moment, but on the right side you see Heinrich Haussler (GAR) with a massive speed!
Damn, this man is probably in the form of his life now. Yesterday he won the Omloop and today Haussler won Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne. Again Garmin was pretty good but they didn’t own as much as yesterday, although a win is a win!
We were very glad that Freire got second behind Haussler, a nice podium spot in at least one of the two races this weekend. We also like to say that Coen did a great job, not only leading out Freire but also that he managed to stay in the top 10 today! Overall the team did really great, it was a shame that Boom wasn’t able to get away but teams like Leopard, Sky and especially Garmin are way to strong in these races.
Results
1 Heinrich Haussler Team Garmin - Cervélo 4h55'00 2 Óscar Freire Rabobank Cycling Team s.t.
3 Koldo Fernández Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
4 Tom Boonen Quick•Step Cycling Team s.t.
5 Matthew Goss HTC - Highroad s.t.
6 Nick Nuyens Saxo Bank SunGard s.t.
7 William Bonnet FDJ s.t.
8 Roger Hammond Team Garmin - Cervélo s.t. 9 Coen Vermeltfoort Rabobank Cycling Team s.t.
10 José Joaquín Rojas Movistar Team s.t.
11 Frédéric Amorison Landbouwkrediet s.t.
12 Mark Renshaw HTC - Highroad s.t.
13 Bernhard Eisel HTC - Highroad s.t.
14 Daniel Oss Liquigas - Cannondale s.t.
15 Juan Antonio Flecha Sky ProCycling s.t.
16 Tom Veelers Skil - Shimano s.t.
17 Bert De Waele Landbouwkrediet s.t.
18 André Greipel Omega Pharma - Lotto s.t.
19 Wouter Weylandt Leopard Trek s.t.
20 Thor Hushovd Team Garmin - Cervélo s.t. 32 Rick Flens Rabobank Cycling Team s.t.
33 Lars Boom Rabobank Cycling Team s.t.
51 Tom Leezer Rabobank Cycling Team s.t.
64 Jos Van Emden Rabobank Cycling Team s.t.
109 Maarten Wynants Rabobank Cycling Team + 3'14
Leader:
Stef Clement Altough he isn’t really a leader we are aiming at him because of the last time trial stage.
Sprinter:
Oscar Freire We only have to see him once, on the first stage.
Lead Out:
Dennis van Winden The young Dutch man will help Oscarito on the first stage.
Free Roll:
Juan Manuel Garate His condition is getting better and better for Tirreno but he is a terrible time trialist so we don’t expect too much, we hope for a top 10 in the GC.
Carlos Barredo Is not in a good shape yet so will ride here as training.
Laurens ten Dam Same as Barredo, hoping to gain some fitness.
A stage with several hills but not hard enough to split the pack, Freire is the top favorite for today!
But he got boxed in before the sprint even started, it was Dumoulin (COF) who won and is doing a great season so far. Freire became 4th despite he was way faster than the others, a missed opportunity today.
Results:
1 Samuel Dumoulin Cofidis, le crédit en ligne 4h29’35
2 Aitor Galdos Caja Rujal s.t.
3 Tomas Vaitkus s.t.
Stage 2 Calasparra - Caravaca de la Cruz
A stage with two hard climbs in the end, we are trying to help Clement today so he won’t lose too much time and will ride a nice GC because of tomorrows time trial.
But the big guys wanted to win today, the last 30 kilometers were very hard because of Kreuziger (AST), Anton (EUS) and the riders of Radioshack who wanted to win today.
Garate became 8th in the sprint of the first group, very close one! Also Dumoulin was still in it, that was pretty surprising because there were only 17 riders left and he’s not such a good climber. Clement could keep up, he lost 4’57” in the end.
Results:
1 Roman Kreuziger Pro Team Astana 4h36'50
2 Igor Antón Euskaltel - Euskadi + 28
3 Sérgio Paulinho Team RadioShack + 1'41
Stage 3 Las Torres de Cotillas - Alhama de Murcia ITT
The decisive stage and last stage, but could somebody beat Kreuziger?
Clement was a bit disappointing with his 18th place today. But he is not in a good form yet so we don’t blame him.
Janez Brajkovič (TSH) set a good time and became second because today’s winner was really outstanding.
Juanma did the best he could but wasn’t able to hold his top 10 position in the GC, today he lost 1’29”.
Kreuziger (AST) really was the best here in Murcia, after winning yesterday he did the same thing today. He beated the time of Brajkovič with 27 seconds. That’s pretty much on 12 kilometer.
Results:
1 Roman Kreuziger Pro Team Astana 15'43
2 Janez Brajkovič Team RadioShack + 27
3 Andriy Grivko Pro Team Astana + 33
Classifications
General
1 Roman Kreuziger Pro Team Astana 9h21'48
2 Igor Antón Euskaltel - Euskadi + 1'56
3 Janez Brajkovič Team RadioShack + 2'28
4 Rubén Plaza Movistar Team + 2'41
5 Sérgio Paulinho Team RadioShack + 2'44
6 Nicolas Vogondy Cofidis, le crédit en ligne + 2'47
7 Hugo Sabido LA - Antarte + 2'51
8 Marcel Wyss Geox - TMC + 3'02
9 Chris Horner Team RadioShack + 3'07
10 David Blanco Geox - TMC + 3'08 15 Juan Manuel Gárate Rabobank Cycling Team + 3'30
44 Carlos Barredo Rabobank Cycling Team + 5'53
48 Stef Clement Rabobank Cycling Team + 6'24
49 Laurens Ten Dam Rabobank Cycling Team + 6'40
80 Dennis Van Winden Rabobank Cycling Team + 11'52
91 Óscar Freire Rabobank Cycling Team + 12'20
Points:
1 Roman Kreuziger Pro Team Astana 50
2 Janez Brajkovič Team RadioShack 34
3 Samuel Dumoulin Cofidis, le crédit en ligne 31
4 Rubén Plaza Movistar Team 24
5 Sérgio Paulinho Team RadioShack 22
6 Leonardo Duque Cofidis, le crédit en ligne 21
7 Igor Antón Euskaltel - Euskadi 20
8 Aitor Galdos Caja Rural 20
9 Tomas Vaitkus Pro Team Astana 19
10 Andriy Grivko Pro Team Astana 16
Mountain:
1 Roman Kreuziger Pro Team Astana 16
2 Ion Pardo Onda 16
3 Igor Antón Euskaltel - Euskadi 12
4 Sérgio Paulinho Team RadioShack 10
5 Rubén Pérez Euskaltel - Euskadi 10
6 Rui Vinhas LA - Antarte 10
7 Janez Brajkovič Team RadioShack 8
8 Santiago Pérez Barbot - Efapel 8
9 Rubén Plaza Movistar Team 6
10 Delio Fernández Onda 6
Young:
1 Roman Kreuziger Pro Team Astana 9h21'48 (1)
2 Marcel Wyss Geox - TMC + 3'02 (2)
3 Jonathan Castroviejo Euskaltel - Euskadi + 3'52 (3)
Well that was the Roman Kreuziger show for now, 4 brand new jerseys for his trophy closet. We didn’t expect much from this race although we of hoped for a stage win with Freire and a top 10 in the GC, because it isn’t a really tough field. But unfortunately thinks went different, but within several days the big two big Pro Tour stages start, Paris-Nice and Tirreno. We hope that Freire is able to show something in Italy.
Leader:
Laurens Ten Dam Not really having a good condition but we just hope for the best, we are more aiming at winning a stage here because the field of riders for the GC is pretty hard. Maybe a top 10 but I don’t really think that’s possible at the moment with this shape (78).
Sprinter:
Graeme Brown Has only a few chances because of the several stage which includes hills, for this old track specialist it needs to be almost 100% flat.
Lead Out:
Tom Leezer The sprinting Dutch man will do his very best here, he wants a contract renewal and is not sure about that. But the season will take a while. He will help Graeme and Matti the best he can.
Free Roll:
Lars Boom Will use this stage race as a training and is going test himself at the time trial.
Matti Breschel Like Lars he will use this week as a training, he might pick a stage or two were he could feel how his legs are and what kind of training he has to do before Roubaix and Flanders.
Helper:
Stef Clement
Dennis van Winden
Rick Flens
Tirreno-Adriatico Pro Tour Rider Preview
Leader:
Juan Manuel Garate Has the best shape of the climbers at this moment, since there is no time trial in Tirreno we choose to send him to Italy instead of France. We try to get in to the top ten with the experienced Spaniard
Sprinter:
Oscar Freire We are going for several stage wins with Oscar, it could be possible to ride a good GC. But that will depend on the pace of the pack on the hills and climbs, with riders as Kolobnev (KAT) and Gilbert (OLO)this will be though.
Lead Out:
Paul Martens He will be the main helper of Oscar, along with Michael they will try to set Oscar off in the sprint as good as possible.
Michael Matthews Will have the same job as Martens, it just depend on their condition who will help thath stage.
Free Roll:
Carlos Barredo Will ride in Tirreno as a training, may want to test himself but the Ardennes classics are still more than a month ago.
Sebastian Langeveld Also sees this week as a training for the cobble classics which are coming up, still needs to gain some conditions. A rider as Lars has a far better shape will they aim at the same period.
Helper:
Grischa Nierman
Tom Jelte Slagter
Edited by Tombola on 01-07-2011 22:08
Paris – A day before the start of Paris-Nice the Rabobank team had set up a conference about their contract renewals. The cycling season just started but they already cleared air around some riders, Van Emden already announced his renewal on his own website but team manager Tom Boveree had several other names who wanted to stay with the Dutch team. The Spanish riders Barredo and Sanchez both ride for the team next year, the last one signed a contract of three years.
All the other riders were Dutch, we already mentioned Van Emden but also future talents Vermeltfoort, Boom, Kruijswijk and Langeveld signed their new contract. Also track specialist Theo Bos wanted to renew his contract, he did that for the upcoming two years. While future star Michael Matthews told the team he has several other teams which are also interested, Rabobank will negotiate again with Matthews after the Tirreno because the really wants him to stay.
One of the other Spaniards in the Dutch team, Garate, also didn’t renew his contract yet. He told the team manager that the Spanish Caja Rujal was interested in him and he might join the smaller team in his home country. It’s not that he doesn’t like to ride for the Rabobank team said manager Boveree, but he at the end of his career he likes to be the real leader sometimes.
A stage which is not quite flat, some sprinters will be in trouble but looking at the last two classics there will be only one favorite today, Heinrich Haussler from the Garmin-Cervelo squad.
A group of more than 20 riders tried to get away, but with riders as Van Garderen (THR) and Gusev (KAT) they had no chance.
These three riders had more luck, it were Paterski (LIQ), De Clerq (OLO) and Felline (GEO). With 60k to go they had their maximum gap of 5’40”.
It was AG2R – La Mondial who was closing the gap and their teamwork really paid of John Gadret was their first rider today on a 52th place!
With 20k to go the breakaway got caught, now it was up for the sprinters for their 500 meters of fame.
Breschel took the wheel of Lorenzetto (AST) and it was really close!
But yet again it was Heinrich Haussler (GAR) who was by far the strongest today, also Dumoulin (COF) did very great with his second place while Breschel became third.
Results:
1 Heinrich Haussler Team Garmin - Cervélo 3h32'57
2 Samuel Dumoulin Cofidis, le crédit en ligne s.t. 3 Matti Breschel Rabobank Cycling Team s.t.
Stage 2 Montfort l’Amaury - Amilly
A stage like yesterday so also the same favorites, we don’t expect any time gaps today.
These five riders represented their team in the break of the day, it were Van Leijen (VAC), Gretsch (THR), Szeghalmi (LAM), Barton (BMC) and Carlström for Sky. With 60k to go their gap was 5’35” but several teams helped to make it a mass sprint today.
The peloton was very close while there was still 30k to go, the gap was only 1’10 now.
Breschel took the wheel of Haussler because this was the man in the best shape.
But today Lorenzetto (AST) surprised everybody on the other side of the road, Haussler jumped but the Italian was too far away and Heinrich lost speed.
Lorenzetto with a very powerfull sprint which he started very early, Breschel could overtake Haussler but the sprinters on the left side had more speed so Matti became 4th today.
Results:
1 Mirco Lorenzetto Pro Team Astana 4h29'39
2 Sébastien Turgot Team Europcar s.t.
3 Tiziano Dall'Antonia Liquigas - Cannondale s.t.
Today became a little bit more difficult than yesterday, although again we don’t expect any time gaps. The peloton would probably be a bit smaller at the finish.
In the breakaway were Morkov (SAX), Lelay (AGR), Walker (GEO) and Isaychev (KAT).
Today there were a lot of crashed, Rodriguez (KAT), Porte (SAX), Machado (TSH), Cancellara, Wegmann (LEO) and Morabito already lost a lot of time today.
But with 35k to go the gap was still 6’47”, so the pace in the peloton got turned up a notch and the breakaway got reeled in. Breschel was not so well positioned today…
But again it was Heinrich Haussler (GAR), Breschel had not enough speed to overtake the other riders because he was too far behind when the sprint started. Dumoulin (COF) did great again and while Lorenzetto (AST) filled the last podium spot.
Results:
1 Heinrich Haussler Team Garmin - Cervélo 4h57'32
2 Samuel Dumoulin Cofidis, le crédit en ligne s.t.
3 Mirco Lorenzetto Pro Team Astana s.t.
Stage 4 Crêches-sur-Saône - Belleville
Today was more difficult with several steep hills and some parts which already looks like a real mountain. Still Breschel is one of the favorites for today stage.
A big group got away, the most known riders are Dessel (AG2R), Carlström (SKY), Pidgornyy (VAC), Pujol (OLO), Felline (GEO) and Bellis (SAX) who was the best placed rider at 12 seconds.
The pack got stretched out for several times but at the end there was still a big pack together.
With 35k to go the gap was still over 6’00” but it looks like none of the times was interested to catch the breakaway today.
So they stayed in front and it was Dessel who decided to attack after several attempts of others which didn’t work out.
Back in the bunch they were preparing for the sprint, there were still 10 points at the line for the green jersey. The points classification is very close so this was important. Breschel took the wheel of Lorenzetto in the Astana train.
You will always see this, when riding for a stage win it doesn’t work out and now Matti was first of the peloton and became 11th today. But what happened in front?
It was Dessel who cheered the last 500 meter so much that other French man Ladagnous (FDJ) came very close.
Results:
1 Cyril Dessel AG2R La Mondiale 5h09'29
2 Matthieu Ladagnous FDJ s.t.
3 Fabio Felline Geox - TMC s.t.
Classifications
After 4 Stages
General
1 Óscar Pujol Omega Pharma - Lotto 18h12'27
2 Jonathan Bellis Saxo Bank SunGard + 43
3 Heinrich Haussler Team Garmin - Cervélo + 55
4 Mirco Lorenzetto Pro Team Astana + 59
5 Samuel Dumoulin Cofidis, le crédit en ligne s.t.
6 David Le Lay AG2R La Mondiale + 1'01
7 Sébastien Turgot Team Europcar + 1'03
8 Michael Mørkøv Saxo Bank SunGard + 1'04 9 Matti Breschel Rabobank Cycling Team + 1'05
10 Tiziano Dall'Antonia Liquigas - Cannondale s.t.
Points:
1 Mirco Lorenzetto Pro Team Astana 72
2 Heinrich Haussler Team Garmin - Cervélo 71 3 Matti Breschel Rabobank Cycling Team 64
4 Samuel Dumoulin Cofidis, le crédit en ligne 62
5 Sébastien Turgot Team Europcar 51
6 Danilo Hondo Lampre - ISD 49
7 Tiziano Dall'Antonia Liquigas - Cannondale 46
8 Denis Galimzyanov Katusha Team 38
9 Cyril Dessel AG2R La Mondiale 29
10 Fabio Felline Geox - TMC 28
Mountain:
1 Fabio Felline Geox - TMC 29
2 Ivan Rovny Team RadioShack 13
3 Matthieu Ladagnous FDJ 12
4 David Le Lay AG2R La Mondiale 7
5 Chris Barton BMC Racing Team 7
6 Óscar Pujol Omega Pharma - Lotto 7
7 Juan José Oroz Euskaltel - Euskadi 7
8 Jérôme Pineau Quick•Step Cycling Team 5
9 Ignatas Konovalovas Movistar Team 4
10 Marco Marzano Lampre - ISD 3
Young:
1 Jonathan Bellis Saxo Bank SunGard + 3'33 18h13'10
2 Denis Galimzyanov Katusha Team s.t. + 24
3 Geraint Thomas Sky ProCycling + 3'57 + 24
A stage with should fit the sprinters with a bit of hilly skills, riders as Freire, Rojas (MOV), Davis (AST) and Bennati. But La Gazetta dello Sport still said that Cavendish (HTC) and Farrar (GAR) were the top favorites for today. In this Tirreno we expect a lot from Freire because he has a very good shape, this race and San Remo are his goals for the first part of the season.
Michael Matthews was very proud to show his new outfit, he already had the national jersey of Australia but we also made him some custom shorts. Looks great, hopefully he can show it today by helping Oscarito in the sprint. They both have a very good condition!
Today there was a breakaway of 5 riders, it were Tosatto (SAX), Paolini (KAT), Frapporti (COL), Elminger (AG2R) and Quinziato (BMC). The Swiss champion between the Italian riders…
While Movistar and Lampre were doing the pace, they had a maximum advantage of 5’15” with 60k to go.
Just 18k to go and Quinziato just took the last KoM points before the group got caught by the chasing peloton. Now will see what the team can do for Freire.
First Martens pulled our sprint train forward and with 2k to go it’s Matthews who leads out Freire. Matthews is going really fast and it looks that only Rojas (MOV) can keep up…
An outstanding sprint finish of Freire, it was Rojas who was the only one able to keep the wheel. The other sprinters Swift (SKY), Farrar (GAR) and Cavendish (HTC) were all far too late.
Results: 1 Óscar Freire Rabobank Cycling Team 3h05'10
2 José Joaquín Rojas Movistar Team s.t. 3 Michael Matthews Rabobank Cycling Team s.t.
Stage 2 Montecatini Terme - Montecatini Terme
The hills at the end were a bit easier than yesterday, although the riders have to climb today we don’t expect any gaps yet. We are defending the leaders jersey of Oscar and aim at another stage win.
Today we decided to send Langeveld in to the breakaway so we don’t had to do a lot of work in the peloton, among the group the most known riders were Leukemans (VAC) and Mondory (AG2R) and Rast (TSH).
Garmin and Omega Pharma were chasing the break for Farrar and Greipel. Greipel who became a disappointing 21st today.
In the descent of the last hill there were a few riders who crashed, unfortunately there were also two riders of Rabobank involved. Matthews and Barredo, so with Matthews not there we had to choose a different strategy and start later than yesterday with our train.
Today Martens did a perfect job, only one kilometer to go and again it was Rojas but this time also Hushovd (GAR) who was still in front for the win. But the world champion got back in the saddle with 500 meter to go, today was too much for him.
Rojas and Freire were definitely the sprinters in the best shape here, but with Freire having a better sprint train Rojas was again not able to overtake the other Spaniard. So today it became to out of two, it looks promosing for San Remo, Freire’s major goal this spring.
Results: 1 Óscar Freire Rabobank Cycling Team 3h23'10
2 José Joaquín Rojas Movistar Team s.t.
3 Alessandro Petacchi Lampre - ISD s.t.
Stage 3 San Miniato - Monsummano Terme
Today was for the pure sprinters, but with Freire and Rojas in a very good shape it was probably between the two Spaniards. Again we are going to defend our jersey because when you look at this year’s profile of Tirreno, Freire could be able to win the GC just like he did in 2005, when he also won three stages.
Leukemans (VAC) and Schär (BMC) represented the breakaway for today, but they had no chance. With 70k the gap was at a maximum of 6’15” and with 20k to go it was only 1’20.
So Rabobank did a good job by controlling the pace, now it was up to the other part of the team to finish the job.
Like in the first stage, with 4k to go it were Martens and Matthews who were leading out Freire.
And they did it in a great way, today Greipel (OLO) and Farrar (GAR) came very close but we could still cheer again, it looks like the “old” Freire is back! He also did a good job for the points jersey while Rojas was only 21st today.
It’s also good to see that a young rider as Matthews has so much joy of seeing his teammate win! Now hope Matthews will renewal his contract!
Results: 1 Óscar Freire Rabobank Cycling Team 3h48'10
2 André Greipel Omega Pharma - Lotto s.t.
3 Tyler Farrar Team Garmin - Cervélo s.t.
Stage 4 San Gemini - Chieti
Today was an important day for the GC, riders as Cunego (LAM) and Gilbert (OLO) should be able to create some gaps on this stage. Especially the last two hills, while the hill to the finish should also suite Freire because of his great condition. Today it is important to help him as much as we can and the other Spaniard Barredo is going to keep him in front of the race.
Some riders are trying to get away, it were Hincapie (BMC), Pate (HTC) and Iglinsky (AST) who checks the peloton and sees that another rider is attacking.
Because we don’t think that Matthews will make it over the last few hills he had a free roll today and when you tell “Bling” that he is able to ride his own race he isn’t the guy that’s going to wait for the finish line to appear, despite his sprinting skills.
Matthews closed the gap quickly but because of several other riders who attacked, the pack started to chase and they got reeled back in. The moment they got caught it was Hincapie who smacked on the ground, but luckily without harm.
After the chase it became really weird, some riders were doing a very hard pace in front and it looks like they wanted fatigue Freire and some other sprinters. The pack split up a few times though.
It were Pozatto and Di Luca (KAT) who were doing a terrible pace, only Brajkovic (TSH) could keep up but he regrets it later on in the stage. With 130k to go this is pretty early for these riders. But Di Luca stayed in front on his own until 15k from the finish, when he got caught by the small peloton.
Last year’s winner Stefano Garzelli (ASA) attacks, in his wheel it is Gilbert who looks very strong today.
But despite the effort of the two they never got away, this is the peloton of 34 riders with 15k to go. The last uphill section before the uphill finish, Garzelli is still doing a hard pace so some riders are going to crack. Freire and Garate were trying to hang on but for Barredo it became a little bit to much.
Here you see the “peloton” split up, Freire is in the second part but with 12 flat kilometers to go until the finish they should be able to come back. Also Barredo joins the group just after the descent.
Some very strong classic riders are still in the group, like Flecha (SKY) who gives it a try but without any success. When they have just 5k to go it looks like Gilbert, Cunego (LAM), Di Luca or maybe Freire is going to win today.
Freire was in the wheel of Di Luca but they both couldn’t keep up with Cunego and Gilbert. One of those two will win the stage today, but is Freire able to defend his GC!?
Cunego was very strong and Gilbert might regret the many attacks he did along the route, in the back you see Freire and Di Luca sprinting for 3rd place and bonus seconds of course!
Freire was able to overtake Di Luca so that was great, but he lost two seconds too much to keep the leaders jersey. So that was a shame, but still a great job. Now had have to hang on tomorrow which will be a very though day for him, while the last stage is for the sprinters again.
General
1 Damiano Cunego Lampre - ISD 17h52'52 2 Óscar Freire Rabobank Cycling Team + 4
3 Philippe Gilbert Omega Pharma - Lotto s.t.
4 Danilo Di Luca Katusha Team + 33
5 Leonardo Bertagnolli Lampre - ISD + 1'01 6 Juan Manuel Gárate Rabobank Cycling Team + 1'02
7 Stefano Garzelli Acqua & Sapone s.t.
8 Nick Nuyens Saxo Bank SunGard s.t.
9 Alexandr Kolobnev Katusha Team s.t.
10 Stijn Devolder Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team s.t.
Points: 1 Óscar Freire Rabobank Cycling Team 46
2 Tyler Farrar Team Garmin - Cervélo 21
3 José Joaquín Rojas Movistar Team 20
4 Alessandro Petacchi Lampre - ISD 19
5 Philippe Gilbert Omega Pharma - Lotto 17
6 Danilo Di Luca Katusha Team 17 7 Sebastian Langeveld Rabobank Cycling Team 15
8 Damiano Cunego Lampre - ISD 15 9 Michael Matthews Rabobank Cycling Team 13
10 Ben Swift Sky ProCycling 11
Mountain:
1 Marco Frapporti Colnago - CSF Inox 11 2 Sebastian Langeveld Rabobank Cycling Team 10
3 Danilo Di Luca Katusha Team 8
4 Björn Leukemans Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team 5
5 Damiano Cunego Lampre - ISD 5
6 Davide Malacarne Quick•Step Cycling Team 5
7 Filippo Pozzato Katusha Team 5
8 Luca Paolini Katusha Team 5
9 Martin Elmiger AG2R La Mondiale 5
10 Manuel Quinziato BMC Racing Team 5
Young:
1 Francesco Masciarelli Pro Team Astana 17h53'54
2 Edvald Boasson Hagen Sky ProCycling + 3'58
3 Daniel Martin Team Garmin - Cervélo + 4'22
So a great week for the team in Italy, what just grabbed near the win in Paris-Nice a few times but here in the Tirreno everything worked out well. We hope that Freire is able to hang on tomorrow, with some more climbs and a tougher last 80k it will be very hard to stay among Cunego. If he could than he might be able to win the jersey back because of the bonus seconds in the last sprint stage, but we first have to survive tomorrow!
Also Langeveld did great by gathering points for the mountain jersey, but he wasn’t really interested though. His attack was pure because of the team aspirations here another rider who want to give our thumbs up is Matthews. The young Australian champ did a very good job here in Italy, his new national outfit was good for his moral.
Edited by Tombola on 30-06-2011 09:32
The first decisive stage of this year Paris-Nice, with a though climb at the end which will split the peloton in to several pieces probably. We are hoping for a nice result of Ten Dam, and maybe Boom can keep up with the first group to ride a good GC with the upcoming time trial.
From the beginning there was a very hard pace, so with 170k to go Brown and Rasmussen (HTC) already lost contact with the peloton. It was going to be a tough they for them. Later on they were joined by a few others, surprisingly on of them was Porte (SAX) who did a very bad Paris-Nice.
The guys lost a lot of time because of this breakaway, it were Cancellara (LEO), Klöden (THS), Samoilau (MOV), Roche (AG2R), Van Garederen (HTC) and a few others. The peloton is chasing them down but the pace is very, very high.
In the end the peloton takes a few steps back, they came close but Klöden and Cancellara were very strong and kept the pace very high in the break.
The peloton with Astana for Vinokourov gets support from Omega Pharma, do they really think that Pujol is able to keep the leaders jersey today? He’s not a bad climber but still… The peloton keeps the break “in sight” today.
The last climb of the day is Col de la Croix de Chaubouret, only 20k to go and they are 1’20” behind on the breakaway. Hesjedal (GAR) attackes with Gadret (AG2R) and later on Casar (FDJ) who was a bit too late to close the gap.
Ten Dam stayed within the first 20 riders so he did well, Boom lost contact with the peloton unfortunately.
After the descent the gaps stayed almost the same. Hesjedal took the win and was the strongest of the two today, Casar lost some time in the descent but was never able to close the gap. Ten Dam finished in the first group of 21 riders and was now 8th in the GC.
Results:
1 Ryder Hesjedal Team Garmin - Cervélo 5h21'39
2 John Gadret AG2R La Mondiale s.t.
3 Sandy Casar FDJ + 33
Stage 6 Rognes - Aix-en-Provence (ITT)
A time trial which isn’t very long, but in the end there will be a small hill for the riders. The percentage will maximize until 8,5 at some parts, the route should fit Boom and we of course hope that Ten Dam will stay within the first 10. But his time trial skills aren’t very good (68).
Rick Flens set a good time and in the end he became 12th at 41 seconds from today’s winner. But here you see Boom who set a great time, he had beaten all the time other times at the moment and became 8th at the end at 35 seconds.
Vogondy (COF) was the first to beat the time of Boom, the national champion of France was 7 seconds faster.
Breschel did really great, he was trying to get in the top 25 so he would gain some points for the points classification he became 18th today, but Haussler became 20th so not a big difference again.
Voigt (LEO) set a nice time but was just 2 seconds slower than Vogondy, in the end the old German took the 7th place today, just in front of Boom.
At the intermediate it was Zabriskie (GAR) who was 1 second faster as the best time, but in the end he lost two seconds and so he became second at 1 second behind the winner of today.
Ten Dam was a little bit disappointing today, he lost 49 seconds and became 17th. That made him 13th in the general classification, maybe he will gain some time in the coming stages.
Also Casar (FDJ) lost 22 seconds on Hesjedal (GAR) and Gadret (AG2R) lost 1’04” so the Canadian had created a nice gap for the upcoming stages.
It was Cancellara who won today! Almost beaten by Zabriskie but still, a win is a win. He didn’t show up on camera today because he started very early. You’ll have to do it with the results.
Results:
1 Fabian Cancellara Leopard Trek 38'13
2 David Zabriskie Team Garmin - Cervélo + 1
3 Ryder Hesjedal Team Garmin - Cervélo + 23
Stage 7 Brignoles - Biot - Sophia Antipolis
A hard stage but at the end the course becomes more easy, if the pace isn’t too high in the middle of the stage then riders as Breschel and Haussler should have their chance of winning.
Boom lost a lot on the stage 5 so today he wants to see if he’s more lucky, the first attack of the day and Lars does such a hard pace that we had to said that he had to wait on the others.
And so the young Dutch man waits while he takes a view of the beautiful landscape around him, this truly is the race to the sun!
A nice group together with riders as Boucher (OLO), Smukulis (HTC), Bellis (SAX), Selander (THS) and Selvaggi (VAC) in it. The gap is 8’01” while they have 60k to go, this could work!
The peloton is led by the Garmin-Cervelo riders, Boom is the best placed rider in the front group with 4’33”. He’s a bit in doubt if he shall go for the stage, the general or the mountain classification.
A long the route he gather many points for the mountain jersey, but he didn’t pay much attention to it. That was a shame because in the end there was a difference of just 1 point in benefit of Felline (GEO)
Just 5k to go end the peloton is coming very close, still 50” but will it be enough because the last few kilometers aren’t really flat.
Lars couldn’t stay in front so it became a mass sprint, a really weird one with a surprising winner. It was Gadret (AG2R) who won and because of the bonus seconds he became a bit closer to Casar (FDJ) in the GC.
Breschel became 4th, which was really good. But after the stage we were a bit disappointed. There were no points given at the finish line because the jury said it was not a stage for the sprinters. Also tomorrow there will be no points at the finish. A real shame otherwise Breschel took over the points jersey.
Results:
1 John Gadret AG2R La Mondiale 5h49'04
2 Matteo Carrara Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team s.t.
3 Ryder Hesjedal Team Garmin - Cervélo s.t.
Stage 8 Nice - Nice
A hard stage but riders as Breschel and Haussler could be able to stay with the first group, it all depends on how the favorite will act on of the many hills at the end.
The usual break of the day, it were Carlström (SKY), Rodriguez (KAT), Vandenbroeck (OLO), Muravyev (TSH) and Paterski (LIQ). So Rodriguez and Vandenbroeck are riders who could make it to the end today, they already lost a lot of time so the peloton wasn’t really interested.
While there was just 25k to go the gap was still 2’03” and Ten Dam decided to attack, also Hesjedal (GAR) gave it a try but he couldn’t make it to the wheel.
The attempt of Hesjedal didn’t get far today.
At the top of the climb Laurens had an advantage of 22” seconds, but Vandenbroeck and Muravyev were still 1’05” in front. The other breakaway riders got reeled in on the descent.
Vandenbroeck wasn’t really excited but he sure won, also Muravyev did great that he was able to keep up with the Belgium climber. In the back the peloton came together so a sprint for the last spot on the podium.
On the right side of the screen it is Breschel who became 3rd, just in front of Hesjedal. So another chance missed today, it looks like Breschel can only win the sprint wen it isn’t for first place. There were no points today so not a lot of luck for him, he deserved something in this Paris-Nice but came out empty handed actually.
Results:
1 Jurgen Van den Broeck Omega Pharma - Lotto 3h28'40
2 Dimitriy Muravyev Team RadioShack s.t. 3 Matti Breschel Rabobank Cycling Team + 41
Classifications
General
1 Ryder Hesjedal Team Garmin - Cervélo 33h32'14
2 Sandy Casar FDJ + 55
3 John Gadret AG2R La Mondiale + 1'04
4 Alexandre Vinokourov Pro Team Astana + 1'13
5 Nicolas Vogondy Cofidis, le crédit en ligne s.t.
6 Jens Voigt Leopard Trek + 1'15
7 Andrey Kashechkin Lampre - ISD + 1'22
8 Rigoberto Urán Sky ProCycling s.t.
9 Geraint Thomas Sky ProCycling + 1'23
10 Vincenzo Nibali Liquigas - Cannondale + 1'25 17 Laurens Ten Dam Rabobank Cycling Team + 2'13
37 Lars Boom Rabobank Cycling Team + 5'32
52 Matti Breschel Rabobank Cycling Team + 7'22
63 Stef Clement Rabobank Cycling Team + 10'17
102 Dennis Van Winden Rabobank Cycling Team + 23'07
139 Tom Leezer Rabobank Cycling Team + 42'54
144 Rick Flens Rabobank Cycling Team + 48'33
166 Graeme Brown Rabobank Cycling Team + 1h34'25
Points:
1 Heinrich Haussler Team Garmin - Cervélo 72
2 Mirco Lorenzetto Pro Team Astana 72 3 Matti Breschel Rabobank Cycling Team 67
4 Samuel Dumoulin Cofidis, le crédit en ligne 62
5 Sébastien Turgot Team Europcar 51
6 Danilo Hondo Lampre - ISD 49
7 Denis Galimzyanov Katusha Team 38
8 Ryder Hesjedal Team Garmin - Cervélo 34
9 Cyril Dessel AG2R La Mondiale 29
10 Fabio Felline Geox - TMC 28
Mountain:
1 Kjell Carlström Sky ProCycling 32
2 Fabio Felline Geox - TMC 29 3 Lars Boom Rabobank Cycling Team 28
4 Tejay Van Garderen HTC - Highroad 25
5 Jonathan Castroviejo Euskaltel - Euskadi 21
6 Dimitriy Muravyev Team RadioShack 20
7 Jurgen Van den Broeck Omega Pharma - Lotto 19
8 Joaquím Rodríguez Katusha Team 18
9 Ivan Rovny Team RadioShack 13
10 Branislau Samoilau Movistar Team 12
This week was a good preparation for Boom and Breschel when you look at the upcoming classics. They are doing really great and Matti will be a very good couple with Freire in San Remo. Boom wants to win the KBC Driedaagse van de Panne-Koksijde and we think he should be able to do that. It was a bit disappointing that we didn’t win anything actually, no stage, a few points less to win the points- and the mountain classification. We also though that Ten Dam could do better in the GC, but in the upcoming Vuelta a Catalunya we hope to see some more
.
Edited by Tombola on 30-06-2011 13:16
Just kidding, obviously. 
).
For the hattrick by Freire! Dominating in first half of T-A. Well done!
