Stage 4: Strathalbyn – Yankalilla
Rory was on his usual role today, joining 5 others on the suicidal mission of a 154km break. Halfway through, the KOM points loomed with an 8% slope, and Rory took one look at the crowd cheering him on, and he was off. It was an awesome sight (helped by the fact I had Bon Jovi on in the car). Despite his closest rival Martias’ best efforts, Rory was just too strong, and was so fired up, he actually cheered at the top.
Rory rocks the climb to secure his jersey
The tough pace thereafter shredded the peloton, so Geraint’s sprint wasn’t exactly the best. No change to the general rankings, whilst Rory now has that mountain jersey in the bag
No Shell anywhere near in form
Stage:
1 Bram De Groot RABOBANK 3h59'17
2 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
3 Xavier Florencio BOUYGUES TELECOM s.t.
4 Gert Steegmans DAVITAMON - LOTTO s.t.
5 Robbie McEwen DAVITAMON - LOTTO s.t. 17 Geraint Thomas SHELL CYCLING s.t.
56 Ed Clancy SHELL CYCLING s.t.
62 Rory Sutherland SHELL CYCLING + 2'10
78 Marcel Kittel SHELL CYCLING + 5'30
88 Danilo Wyss SHELL CYCLING s.t.
90 Theo Bos SHELL CYCLING + 17'30
91 Mark Jamieson SHELL CYCLING s.t.
Stage 5: Willunga – Willunga
The crucial stage of this year’s Tour, Darren was focusing on being near the front at the top of a brutal 9% climb – realistically, given the strength of the field and his form, a top 10 would be a fantastic result, but I just told him to focus on building up some race fitness for next month.
Rory joined his customary break, and cheered as he went over the final sprint checkpoint – the first he’d won from the breakaway, and his last moment up front for the Tour, as the pack reeled him in, and prepared for the pivotal climb.
Beneteau of Bouygues led the charge, and I asked Darren if he’d like to go for all or nothing. He responded by getting out of his saddle, and pushed it hard, but just didn’t have that stamina to make it, and was forced to stay in the diminished peloton, which had just 25 riders left.
Confusion reigns as it appears a Bouygues rider has a slim chance of victory
Astana were nice company though, and caught all but 1 rider by the finish – Bram de Groot, who won – and take the overall lead. By some miracle of time keeping, 67 riderrs were given the same time after him, so Geraint remains our best placed overall in 27th, with Darren stuck in 28th.
Rabobank rider De Groot ensures a Bouygues "impossibility" doesn't occur, thus saving me from having a heart attack
Stage:
1 Bram De Groot RABOBANK 3h38'11
2 Andriy Grivko TEAM MILRAM + 36
3 Johan Vansummeren DAVITAMON - LOTTO s.t.
4 Dimitri Fofonov CREDIT AGRICOLE s.t.
5 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM s.t. 12 Darren Lill SHELL CYCLING s.t.
37 Geraint Thomas SHELL CYCLING s.t.
42 Rory Sutherland SHELL CYCLING s.t.
52 Ed Clancy SHELL CYCLING s.t.
77 Marcel Kittel SHELL CYCLING + 5'14
88 Danilo Wyss SHELL CYCLING + 9'02
90 Mark Jamieson SHELL CYCLING + 12'46
91 Theo Bos SHELL CYCLING s.t.
Overall:
1 Bram De Groot RABOBANK 16h01'23
2 Sergio Paulinho ASTANA TEAM + 13
3 Oleg Grishkine NAVIGATORS INSURANCE + 56
4 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM + 1'00
5 Andriy Grivko TEAM MILRAM + 1'16 27 Geraint Thomas SHELL CYCLING + 1'28
28 Darren Lill SHELL CYCLING s.t.
He's pretty bad, and he's form isn't great - plus, I set him to protect Bos, on the off chance that he gets him to the finish, and I totally forgot about him once
Stage 6: Adelaide – Adelaide
We finish where we started, after 6 days of riding, with a short, pancake flat 92km stage. Another poor show from us followed, as Geraint our first finisher in 16th.
Stage:
1 William Bonnet CREDIT AGRICOLE 2h08'39
2 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
3 Bram De Groot RABOBANK s.t.
4 Robbie McEwen DAVITAMON - LOTTO s.t.
5 Ashley Hutchinson SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS s.t. 16 Geraint Thomas SHELL CYCLING s.t.
22 Danilo Wyss SHELL CYCLING s.t.
44 Darren Lill SHELL CYCLING s.t.
60 Rory Sutherland SHELL CYCLING s.t.
61 Marcel Kittel SHELL CYCLING s.t.
69 Theo Bos SHELL CYCLING s.t.
82 Ed Clancy SHELL CYCLING s.t.
88 Mark Jamieson SHELL CYCLING + 6'08
Overall:
1 Bram De Groot RABOBANK 18h09'54
2 Sergio Paulinho ASTANA TEAM + 21
3 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM + 56
4 Oleg Grishkine NAVIGATORS INSURANCE + 1'04
5 William Bonnet CREDIT AGRICOLE + 1'08 18 Geraint Thomas SHELL CYCLING + 1’36
28 Darren Lill SHELL CYCLING s.t.
47 Ed Clancy SHELL CYCLING s.t.
61 Rory Sutherland SHELL CYCLING + 9'12
81 Marcel Kittel SHELL CYCLING + 23'19
85 Danilo Wyss SHELL CYCLING + 33'18
90 Theo Bos SHELL CYCLING + 53'11
91 Mark Jamieson SHELL CYCLING + 59'59 Points: Alessandro Petacchi Climber:Rory Sutherland
Well, it’s been a good learning experience in my first race. It was nice to get a jersey, but when no one else challenges for it, and this being a very flat race, it doesn’t amount to much. We didn’t even get close to a podium finish on any stage – I dreamt I would be special, and be amazing from the start, but it doesn’t look like it. Anyway, off to Qatar next, for the Doha International GP. Let’s hope for better luck there. And I really need to decide on an assistant.
Doha International GP
We had a bit of a mix for a team. Bos was here in case he made it, Sutherland would try to sneak into a break, Wyss would be our sprinter proper, and we had Jose Chacon gaining some form for his February schedule.
Having had a week to acclimatise to the scorching sun, I have a red nose, and a car that no longer has air conditioning. Great. It pretty much summed up the day.
Rory didn’t get into the break, but that was OK, because it was caught.
He gave it his all, but kept picking the wrong attacks
With 6km left, a big crash happened, taking out guys like Boonen and O’Grady, but we all managed to stay vertical.
Some big favourites fall - we could have a chance
So we now had a chance, and with Theo actually in amongst everyone, I had some hope of doing well. Of course, it all went disastrously, and Theo struggled into 13th.
And that race summed up a pretty rubbish start for us, and me. Our sprinting was pretty diabolical, and all we have to show for a month of racing is a jersey nobody wants. The board rang me up, and tried to be positive whilst making a very thinly veiled threat. They know they’ve gambled on me, and given the money they’ve invested in the team, they expect things to happen, results to come in – quickly. The training rides have been a bit subdued – which is worrying given January is only a minor month with not much racing, but I can tell the riders don’t really have any confidence in me.
classics training will get his endurance up. otherwise, forget him in any race longer than 40km. he gets to the finish far too brittle to be able to sprint quickly
Edited by issoisso on 11-11-2007 11:58
The preceding post is ISSO 9001 certified
"I love him, I think he's great. He's transformed the sport in so many ways. Every person in cycling has benefitted from Lance Armstrong, perhaps not financially but in some sense" - Bradley Wiggins on Lance Armstrong
Shell Cycling – January Review Direct and exclusive from the blog of team manager, Will Reader
Welcome Shell fans, to the first of my monthly blogs just for you.
My first month as a manager has been great fun, and it’s been incredible to meet such a talented team. I’m learning quickly about the ins and outs of cycling, and our first month has seen some good success, but I hope to bring you news of our first win next month.
Keep smiling,
Will Reader
Highlight of the Month:
Has to be Rory Sutherland’s stunning jersey winning climbing performance, which he earned through sheer hard work and persistence by going in every break possible, and was unlucky that none of them stayed away – of he’d been in a sprint in a small group, you’d not have bet against him with the determination he showed.
Results:
-- Australian Championships Rory Sutherland - 2nd
-- Tour Down Under Geraint Thomas - 18th plus 9th Stage 3 Rory Sutherland - climber’s jersey
-- Doha International GP: Theo Bos 13th
Doctor’s Report:
An injury free month is always a great start
Rider of the Month: Rory Sutherland
A great attitude combined with persistent hard work gave Rory a deserved jersey, and got him great exposure in his home country, as well as our first podium in the Australian National Championships
Next Month: A total of 26 days of racing.
We begin the month with 2 stage races – in France, the Etoile de Besseges, and our first mountains in the Tour de Langkawi. The highlight of our month however is of course, the Tour of California, and we hope to see some of you, Shell fans, cheering us on – don’t forget to see your nearest Shell station for your free Shell cycling flags!
Of course it is A nice long update, and back to my older style of story telling
I’ve hired my new assistant. He just randomly popped up on our team coach, and just sort of managed to hire himself – probably because he’s such a likeable fellow. He knows his stuff though, and it is good to have him on board, especially since I need him straight away for the Etoile de Besseges. He’s called James Wilson by the way.
Tour de Langkawi
With James all alone in France, I travelled with possibly our strongest team to Malaysia, with our leader Jose Chacon, with support from our next 2 best climbers, Ardila Cano and Saul Raisin. Danilo Wyss is out of form, but still here for the sprints.
Stage 1: A decent sprint gave Danilo 8th, whilst Degano of Barloworld took victory
Stage 2: Degano wins again, but Danilo slips to a 9th place. Still not bad, but tomorrow is the big day.
Stage 3:
We had the most important stage today, with a long, tough climb up the Kg Raja – perfect for our team.
Danilo, who can’t ride a mountain at all, decided to go early and soaked up the 3 intermediate checkpoints, taking him to 4th in the points rankings. However, all anyone was worried about was the giant climb, and as we got to the base, I was checking to see how everyone felt. A hearty cheer all round, and we began the breathtaking slopes.
We waited for someone to attack, and Mizourov, the pre-race favourite, gave us it with 15 km to the summit. Jose, Alex and Saul all followed, but the Kazakh got to big a jump, and we had to settle behind him. It was then that Jose showed us what Venezuelans are made of. Quite frankly, we could all do with a bit of Venezuelan inside of us.
Shell Cycling on the warpath
He just started riding, eyes focused on that Capec jersey, and slowly brought it in. Within 5 km, Jose was up level, and without even looking at him, he just flew right past, and went over the top with a 3 minute lead. Saul and Alex were in group 3, alone, chasing Mizourov by a minute, but they both were hurting, and struggling to hold off a strong group of 5 behind them.
Chacon piles on the pain with a short attack
A short descent went badly for us. Jose lost over a minute of his lead, whilst Saul and Alex had been joined up by their chasing group. However, Jose regained most of that time, to take our first win of the season (I’ll stop cheering incoherently soon), whilst Saul managed to sprint for 3rd, taking the U25 jersey in the process.
Our first victory, but a winner who isn't the happiest
Cycling24’s Clive Smith managed to catch up with Jose at the end of the race:
CS: A great win Jose, how do you feel
JC: (shrugs shoulders) OK. I’m a bit down because I couldn’t keep up with Mizourov‘s initial acceleration. I really should have done better.
CS: But that was an incredible climb. You really should be pleased.
JC: It was not incredible. It was pretty average really, I needed someone to push me harder, some guys lower down in the rankings today were absent up front, and I’m disappointed nobody was there to challenge me.
CS: Cheer up, you won the bloody race!!! Anyway, how do you feel about your new boss? Angry that you were given an unknown in charge?
JC: Nope.
CS: Why not?
JC: He’s done fine so far. [walks off]
CS: Well, that was the worst person I think I’ve ever interviewed. Back to you in the studio.
So a win!!! At last! And a mighty impressive one to, I just wish Jose would act a little more excited – he was racing against some tough opposition.
Edited by Crommy on 12-11-2007 17:19
