Today was very flat, so a mass sprint was to be expected.
Stijn Van Gent
Everything was going according to plan today. A small breakaway that couldn't really threaten the peloton got away and was reeled in at about 20km to the finish. I knew these roads and before the sprint it gets extremely narrow, so I positioned myself quite up front for the sprint.
Then this happened:
The first one that hit the ground was me. Someone took his turn a bit too wide and I had to move over, causing a chain reaction which ended in me slipping away. I'm really ashamed to have caused this, but I already publicly apologized and no one was hurt badly. However, it ruined my chances for the sprint. I got up as quickly as possible and rode as hard as I could, because I was losing my 2nd place. I crossed the finish line a minute behind the winner, and dropped to a 7th place in the GC. That's not bad, but coming from 2nd place, I can only say: it sucks...
Here is a picture of me trying to recover as much time as possible. Too bad I had to give up the jersey.
Eric Lombaerts
It wasn't the best day for me.
My day started with Fröhlinger falling right in front of me, and unfortunately he took me and Dennis Vanendert with him.
It took us about 15 minutes to return to the peloton, only to be included in another fall near the end of the race. Finishing the race I noticed a pain in my arm, but the doctor says it's nothing a bit of rest couldn't cure. I should be back in business for Tirreno-Adriatico, which starts in a couple of days!
Oh, by the way, I noticed Stijn didn't say who won, I guess it's because he's too disappointed.
Baugnies won, in front of Eeckhout and Blythe
Well, I finished 184th in the GC, so Stijn did a little better here.
However, my first World Tour race is coming up and I just can't wait!
I'll see you there!
Must be frustrating for both riders, as they have both been held back by falls. However, the season is very long and there are still lots of sprints ahead of him, and a 7th place isn't bad for a neopro
Wow you're really fast
I love the introduction - very nice writing I haven't read everything yet but I definitly will in the next days But the first race reports were very good as well - keep it up!
@johannes-w: Thanks for the comment, much appreciated. I'm glad you'll be taking the time to read it all, that way you'll enjoy it even more
I'm going fast now but eventually that'll slow down (after all, the holidays don't last for ever, unfortunately), but I thought a quick start might be a great start
Hey everyone, it's been a while since the last post, but that's because the first races here in beautiful Italy are quite flat. However, I was able to heal from the multiple falls in West-Vlaanderen that way. Our team ended 6th in the opening team time trial, I lost a couple of seconds on the team because of my injuries. But luckily I was all right on the day it mattered: the first hilly stage!
The breakaway of the day contained our very own Dennis Vanendert. But it was pretty clear that they wouldn't make it to the finish this stage.
Meanwhile in the peloton the wheels keep going round. When I was talking to De Greef I suddenly realized what a giant he is, just look at the difference between us.
As we went into the final 30km and the breakaway had long been captured, Cancellara saw a chance to surprise and attacked, what an acceleration!
A bit later, Rodriguez and Nordhaug tried to get away.
As we all know, Cancellara isn't someone you let escape. Definitely not when he's got company of two strong riders. The peloton reacted too slow to my liking so I stepped up and increased the pace.
Luckily I was soon relieved by some helpers of Vacansoleil. But soon we knew why they were eager to take over. As soon as we caught the attackers, Thomas De Gendt attacked, going into the final kilometers.
This time I placed myself at the wheel of Valverde, who accelerated with him.
Unfortunately, at this point De Greef dropped. I was too far ahead to wait for him, and I was still going strong. I really had an absolute top-day. Other riders soon followed and the final sprint was on. This used to be my specialty. Although my legs were burning up already, I chose the wheel of De Gendt and started sprinting. It felt like dying, let me tell you.
But it was Chavanel who won, followed by Valverde and De Gendt.
Nobody will dare criticize Chavanel for riding Tirreno instead of Paris-Nice after this victory.
I was going good for a fourth place, but I saw Ballan passing me by on the right. I stranded on a 5th place, barely holding off Gerdemann, what a day, what a day!
De Greef didn't lose too much time, he was just badly placed at the time of the acceleration. He made up some time with his final sprint. He's still in competition for a top 10 place, I'm sure he'll succeed, and I'll help wherever possible.
And of course, I'm extremely happy, a 5th place in a World Tour race, what a beautiful result. I moved up to the 12th place in the General Classification.
Tomorrow is yet another day (the only real mountain stage) and I wonder if I can do yet even better. Maybe a top 10 can be more than just a dream...
Let's find out tomorrow!
What a day, again. It's very hard riding in a race of this caliber, but I love it. Just look at the profile we were up against today:
It's a race of nearly 200km with an estimated 4466m climbing, a lot! The final two mountains are the highlights of this Tirreno-Adriatico, with percentages up to 20%.
Sieberg escaped from point zero. He was soon joined by other riders and they'd form the breakaway of the day.
The whole team was very relaxed in the peloton. I was enjoying my young jersey!
Right before the peloton caught the breakaway, we started on the climb of the Piano Roseto. It was so steep (up to 17%) that the pace slowed down for the first few seconds. Moreno took advantage of this and got away. Scarponi and Masciarelli soon followed.
Both Scarponi and Moreno were caught before the top of the mountain, along with the breakaway of the day. In the descend, I took the lead of (what was left of) the peloton: I didn't want to fall again, like I did in Haut-Var!
Before the final climb, we had only a minute or so, but it was enough for me and De Greef to consult with him what to do. He told me he was feeling better than the day before and he was sure he'd reach the top within the first 15 riders. If I could hang on, and he was sure I would, too, I had to lead him out for his sprint.
So the final climb began...
The first kilometer had percentages up to 22%! This really tired out some riders who aren't the greatest climbers. Most important dropper: leader Chavanel.
Rodriguez was the first who had enough power left to attack. He went looking for Masciarelli, who he caught only moments later.
Incredible as it is, I was able to follow De Greef his pace, which was the pace of the first group behind Rodriguez (who had now even left Masciarelli behind)
Like yesterday, I chose the wheel of De Gendt for the final sprint, De Greef planted himself in my wheel.
When we started our sprint, Rodriguez rode over the finish line all by himself, what a performance! He tried it yesterday without luck, and finished his effort today.
Unofrtunately, something went wrong with De Greef his gear. That made him lose a couple of seconds that were required to participate in the sprint. I waited for him and pulled him as fast as possible to the finish line. We only arrived 17 seconds behind Cataldo (2nd today)
This is going great! Take a look at the top 10 of the day and the top 10 in the GC (with only two more stages to go: a hilly stage and a time trial of about 10km)
Stage 5:
Spoiler
1
Joaquin Rodriguez
Katusha Team
6h01'58
2
Dario Cataldo
Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team
+ 37
3
Thomas De Gendt
Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
4
Rui Costa
Movistar Team
s.t.
5
Chris Anker Sørensen
Team Saxo Bank
s.t.
6
Francesco Masciarelli
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
7
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
s.t.
8
Eric Lombaerts
Lotto-Belisol
+ 54
9
Francis De Greef
Lotto-Belisol
s.t.
10
Ivan Basso
Liquigas-Cannondale
+ 1'05
GC:
Spoiler
1
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
22h06'17
2
Thomas De Gendt
Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
+ 2
3
Chris Anker Sørensen
Team Saxo Bank
+ 21
4
Dario Cataldo
Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team
+ 45
5
Rui Costa
Movistar Team
+ 51
6
Eric Lombaerts
Lotto-Belisol
+ 56
7
Francis De Greef
Lotto-Belisol
+ 1'21
8
Joaquin Rodriguez
Katusha Team
+ 1'26
9
Ivan Basso
Liquigas-Cannondale
+ 2'15
10
Andreas Klöden
Radioshack Nissan Trek
+ 2'20
And what's more, I ended up on the podium again, this time with a comfortable lead:
So two more stages. I guess if everything goes right for De Gendt tomorrow, he'll take the win home. If everything goes right for me tomorrow, I could end up in the top 10 here! The young jersey is as good as sure now (leading with 11 minutes), so holding on to that shouldn't be the hardest thing!
With Eric riding in Italy, there isn’t much for me to tell. However, I followed Paris-Nice closely and now that it’s come to an end, I’ll do a small report on it, very small.
For Lotto - Belisol it was a strange Paris - Nice. We lost 3 men to injuries, Van de Walle, De Clerq and Neyens.
Jurgen Van Den Broeck won stage 5 but dropped down the GC the next day (caused by a fall), only to be back in business the final time trial, where he came in second (after Wiggins), securing him a 5th place in the GC.
Jelle Vanendert performed rather well, building form for the classics and ended 4th in the final time trial. He ended up right outside the top 10 (12th) on the GC
The thing that struck me the most was Van Den Broeck, it's like he is reborn. After his 4th place in TDF in 2010 and his fall in 2011, he's trained a lot, and improved a lot. But the most important thing is that he became an attacker, it was beautiful to see. And it resulted in a stage win, something rare for him! I'm curious to see what he'll do in TDF!
Well, tomorrow's another big day for Eric, so keep your fingers crossed for him, he's doing very good business there!
Well, the last stage before the final time trial. Both De Greef and I are positioned excellent on the GC. When I got out of bed this morning, my legs felt heavy. The effort of the past two days has taken its toll.
The breakaway of the day consisted out of Thor Hushovd, Juan Jose Oroz, Paolo Longo Borghini, Xabier Zandio, Niki Terpstra and John Gadret. The peloton gave them more than 10 minutes at one point. It was obvious they would battle for the stage win. Gadret, being the closest on the GC, was already 9 minutes away from leader Valverde.
Nothing really happened in the rest of the stage until the start of the loop (of the hills), where Henderson had a pretty bad fall. He did, however, finish the race, luckily!
Entering the last 30km, Rodriguez launched an attack, for the third day in a row!
Unfortunately, my suspicions of this morning were correct: I didn't have the legs to compete today. I was slowly slipping from the front of the race.
After Van Leijen delivered De Greef at the wheel of Rojas Gil, he picked me up and helped me minimize my losses.
Slowly slipping away
De Greef at Rojas Gil's wheel
However, the victory was for Hushovd, who left his other breakaway companions in his dust with an incredible final sprint.
Van Leijen led me out for a small sprint to make up as much time as possible. Overall, I lost nearly 2 minutes on the favorites, dropping out of the top 10 to an 11th place on the GC. (De Greef is now 6th)
It was a tough day. I hope I can recuperate a bit for the time trial tomorrow. The top 10 is still in reach, so I'll do anything I can to reach it.
See you tomorrow, for the end of this Italian Stallion!
