The third stage was quite hilly. The plan was to get a rider in the break to support Sanchez later. I was given a free role today and decided to try an attack at some point - mainly for training purposes and to not ride in the peloton with the same pace the whole day. The weather was quite bad. It was raining and also pretty cold, so everyone would have to be careful, especially on the downhills.

Today Breschel went into the break, but he really suffered on the climbs of todays stage and wasn't a big help to Sanchez.
The peloton rode up the Puig Major, Mallorcas highest climb, in a pretty slow pace, because the escapees weren't far away anymore and the peloton didn't want to catch them just yet.
So I decided to attack five kilometers before the top of the climb at about 55 kilometers before the finish.

I tried a little attack in the middle of the stage

I was able to close the gap to the front pretty fast, but we all were caught on the next climb.
Bakelants then attacked shortly before the top of the climb, Luis Leon Sanchez and Inxausti followed him on the downhill.
Meanwhile a little further behind in the middle of the peloton there was a crash on the wet, descending roads. Sadly Matthews slipped in a sharp corner and hit the ground hard. He wasn't able to continue the race and was brought to a hospital nearby.

Sanchez took some big risks

But the three attackers were caught from a small group eventually. Rodriguez showed a strong attack out of that group on the last climb and was able to win the stage.

Luis Leon Sanchez couldn't keep up with the first chase group in the end, but he isn't too far off in the GC.
I lost a bit more time after I spent too much energy on my attack, but this race is just a preparation for the important tasks that are coming up soon and I felt really good on the climbs. So of course I'm not satisfied, but also not at all concerned about my form.
Later we were informed, that Matthews has a patella tendon tear, which means he will not be back to racing until at least mid-March. Let's all hope he gets well sooner rather than later!

Bye for now
- Steven -

Well today was already our last day on Mallorca. Another hilly stage, but it also had a downhill towards the finish, which should offer Sanchez a great opportunity to use one of his biggest strengths. The plan was to bring him in the best possible position today.
Here is what happend:

Todays stage saw quite a big breakaway group of nine riders heading into the main climb of the day. Amongst them were some pretty good climbers and they still had a good lead to the peloton. As we headed into the climb I started pacing in the peloton for Luis Leon Sanchez together with some riders from Katusha.

Rabobank controlling the peloton

A lot of guys lost contact to our group thanks to the pace on the front. It was a good feeling to see the group getting smaller and smaller, because of the work I did. On top of the climb the gap to the break was nearly closed and there were only about thirty riders in the main group. I really did some damage there.
Luis Leon Sanchez attacked a few meters before we were on top of the climb.

Sanchez tries it today as well.

Heading into the downhill, he was building up a small lead, but today he didn't go all in like yesterday. He tried to save some more energy for the final.
Katusha worked hard to catch all attackers and so everyone was caught eventually.

Team Katusha is bringing them all together again

But with five kilometers to go Luis Leon Sanchez tried to attack again, this time he was giving his all, but so were the Katusha guys in the group behind Sanchez.

Sanchez uses his downhill skills

He was able to increase his lead. When he was heading into the last kilometre it was pretty clear, that he was going to win the stage.

Sanchez wins stage four

Well a great day for the team!
And I am perfectly happy with my own performance as well. I did a very high pace up the climb, which was my job. I'm not a team leader, at least not yet. I will get my chances to lead the team in some races, but sometimes I have to work for another rider. That's just how it works and I'm absolutely fine with it.
My next race will be the Vuelta a Andalucía. I'll be back with a new blog entry soon.

Bye for now
- Steven -

While we were racing on Mallorca in some mixed weather, some other guys from our team were riding their bikes in the heat of Qatar. It is a six day stage race featuring five flat stages and a team time trial. Here is a short review of what happend there:

No team wanted to do the chase in the final kilometer, so two riders could get away to win the stage.

Sadly we weren't really good enough in the TTT.

Renshaw was able to get a nice second place finally.

Another solid sprint saw Renshaw getting fourth.

Again two escapees made it through.

Kittel was by far the strongest sprinter in Qatar this time - he proved it again in the last stage.