Good performance, on next stage you can destroy Sky if you play it aggresively on the hills. In my career, after losing over 3 minutes to Froome on the mountain stage with Stybar, I got almost the same amount back on the hilly stage, where surprisingly Henao dropped Froome, then won the last one and GC as well With Rodriguez good hill and downhill performance, you have chances for a similar result.
After yesterday's mountainous queen stage, the GC battle continued today with a hilly stage. The profile shows three major climbs across the day, which should ensure the sprinters don't make it to the finish at the front. That left the door open for further attacking.
Early on, an six man break was let go, while the peloton settled into a comfortable rhythm behind. The team moved to the front to set the pace, while I (In the King of the Mountains polka-dots) marked Froome just behind.
Hitting the first of the three climbs the break was still up the road, with a couple minutes advantage. I sent Belkov, who felt extremely good today, onto the front to set a very high tempo.
That took its toll on the peloton, with an elite group of eight emerging over the top ahead of the rest!
The eight riders involved were Me, Trofimov, Belkov, Puccio (Sky), Froome (Sky), Pozzato (Lampre), Scarponi (Lampre) and Hivert (Sojasun).
Belkov remained on the front over the next ascent and descent, eventually catching the breakaway and creating a group of 14 at the front of the race, heading into the crucial final climb.
As the final climb started, Trofimov took over pace-making duties and reduced the group to five, including Froome and Cataldo, who was in the break.
Moving onto the final slopes, I decide to try and distance the race leader and attack!
I open up a 45 second gap over the top, which Cataldo was left to close. On the descent, Froome was struggling to keep up with his domestique's pace, hanging on at the back! Things looked good for me.
With just under 10kms left though, the gap had dropped to 35 seconds and with the flat coming, I had to dig deep to keep up the distance between me and the group.
I managed to hang onto that slender lead for another couple of kilometres before Scarponi attacked up to me. I had to remain on the front though, with any drop in pace giving the super-strong Cataldo a chance to close the final few metres.
Into the final 2500m, Cataldo finally started to tire. If I could finish second, which was likely seeing that Scarponi was in my wheel, I would need an unlikely 29 second gap to win the race. Every second would count!
Under the kite, the situation was very much the same with me providing Scarponi with the perfect leadout. Froome had taken up the chase behind, protecting his GC lead.
Inevitably Scarponi took victory, a sacrifice I knew I'd have to make to finish ahead of Froome. Second still gave me a few bonus seconds.
But finishing right behind me was Froome, and no gap was given. He also collected some bonus seconds, so I only gained 8 today. A bit disappointing in the end.
Trofimov finished a deserved fifth, after doing some good pacing on the final climb. Shame I couldn't profit, and still lie in second overall overnight.
1
Michele Scarponi
Lampre - Merida
3h36'00
2
Joaquím Rodríguez
Katusha Team
s.t.
3
Chris Froome
Sky Procycling
s.t.
4
Dario Cataldo
Sky Procycling
s.t.
5
Yury Trofimov
Katusha Team
s.t.
6
Jonathan Hivert
Sojasun
+ 47
7
Pierre Rolland
Team Europcar
+ 1'45
8
Jérôme Pineau
Omega Pharma - Quick•Step Team
+ 2'40
9
Robert Kiserlovski
RadioShack - Leopard
s.t.
10
Thomas Voeckler
Team Europcar
s.t.
Spoiler
11
Cyril Lemoine
Sojasun
s.t.
12
Gustav Erik Larsson
IAM Cycling
s.t.
13
Filippo Pozzato
Lampre - Merida
s.t.
14
Adriano Malori
Lampre - Merida
s.t.
15
Jakob Fuglsang
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
16
Maxim Belkov
Katusha Team
s.t.
17
Brian Bulgac
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
18
Simone Ponzi
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
19
Andy Schleck
RadioShack - Leopard
s.t.
20
Peter Velits
Omega Pharma - Quick•Step Team
+ 4'27
21
Jürgen Roelandts
Lotto Belisol
+ 6'32
22
Maxime Monfort
RadioShack - Leopard
s.t.
23
Salvatore Puccio
Sky Procycling
s.t.
24
Chris Horner
RadioShack - Leopard
s.t.
25
Alexsandr Dyachenko
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
26
Tomas Vaitkus
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
27
Sergio Pardilla
MTN - Qhubeka
s.t.
28
Mark Cavendish
Omega Pharma - Quick•Step Team
+ 8'53
29
Matteo Trentin
Omega Pharma - Quick•Step Team
+ 9'16
30
Geraint Thomas
Sky Procycling
s.t.
31
Andreas Klöden
RadioShack - Leopard
s.t.
32
Francis De Greef
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
33
Alessandro Vanotti
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
34
Giacomo Nizzolo
RadioShack - Leopard
+ 11'21
35
Andrew Fenn
Omega Pharma - Quick•Step Team
s.t.
36
Ben Swift
Sky Procycling
s.t.
37
Daniel Teklehaimanot
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
38
Andrea Guardini
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
39
Bryan Coquard
Team Europcar
s.t.
40
Gaetan Bille
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
41
Rémy Cusin
IAM Cycling
s.t.
42
Sebastian Langeveld
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
43
Davide Malacarne
Team Europcar
s.t.
44
Davide Cimolai
Lampre - Merida
s.t.
45
Jérémie Galland
Sojasun
s.t.
46
Danilo Hondo
RadioShack - Leopard
s.t.
47
Rigoberto Urán
Sky Procycling
s.t.
48
Elia Favilli
Lampre - Merida
s.t.
49
Alexis Vuillermoz
Sojasun
s.t.
50
Daryl Impey
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
51
Julien Vermote
Omega Pharma - Quick•Step Team
s.t.
52
Thomas Löfkvist
IAM Cycling
s.t.
53
Andrea Palini
Lampre - Merida
s.t.
54
Fredrik Kessiakoff
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
55
Luke Durbridge
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
56
Wesley Sulzberger
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
57
Damiano Cunego
Lampre - Merida
s.t.
58
Joseph Dombrowski
Sky Procycling
s.t.
59
Matthias Friedemann
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
60
Youcef Reguigui
MTN - Qhubeka
s.t.
61
Serge Pauwels
Omega Pharma - Quick•Step Team
s.t.
62
Steven Van Vooren
An Post - Chainreaction
s.t.
63
Chad Beyer
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
64
Alphonse Vermote
An Post - Chainreaction
s.t.
65
Darren Lapthorne
Drapac Cycling
s.t.
66
Floris Goesinnen
Drapac Cycling
s.t.
67
Giovanni Bernaudeau
Team Europcar
s.t.
68
Dennis Van Niekerk
MTN - Qhubeka
s.t.
69
Jani Tewelde
MTN - Qhubeka
s.t.
70
Tiago Machado
RadioShack - Leopard
s.t.
71
Jonathan Fumeaux
IAM Cycling
s.t.
72
Frederik Willems
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
73
Anthony Charteau
Team Europcar
s.t.
74
Bryan Nauleau
Team Europcar
s.t.
75
Dominic Klemme
IAM Cycling
s.t.
76
Alexey Tsatevitch
Katusha Team
s.t.
77
Aleksandr Kuschynski
Katusha Team
s.t.
78
Freqalsi Debesay
MTN - Qhubeka
s.t.
79
Gatis Smukulis
Katusha Team
s.t.
80
Carlos Verona
Omega Pharma - Quick•Step Team
s.t.
81
Pirmin Lang
IAM Cycling
s.t.
82
Kristian Sbaragli
MTN - Qhubeka
s.t.
83
Matteo Bono
Lampre - Merida
s.t.
84
Anthony Delaplace
Sojasun
s.t.
85
Jérôme Cousin
Team Europcar
s.t.
86
Leigh Howard
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
87
Jakub Danačík
Bauknecht - Author
s.t.
88
Arman Kamyshev
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
89
Sam Bennett
An Post - Chainreaction
s.t.
90
Sébastien Hinault
IAM Cycling
s.t.
91
Jimmy Engoulvent
Sojasun
s.t.
92
Alberto Losada
Katusha Team
s.t.
93
Jay Thomson
MTN - Qhubeka
+ 13'18
94
Etienne Tortelier
Sojasun
s.t.
95
Fabian Schnaidt
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
96
William Walker
Drapac Cycling
s.t.
97
Gregor Gazvoda
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
98
Gert Dockx
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
99
Martin Wesemann
MTN - Qhubeka
s.t.
100
Bobbie Traksel
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
101
Marco Bandiera
IAM Cycling
s.t.
102
Clinton Avery
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
103
Evan Huffman
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
104
Frederique Robert
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
105
Chan Jae Jang
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
106
Mark McNally
An Post - Chainreaction
s.t.
107
Mart Ojavee
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
108
Maarten Neyens
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
109
Jean-Lou Paiani
Sojasun
s.t.
110
Travis Meyer
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
111
Jiri Hudecek
Bauknecht - Author
+ 14'05
112
Gordon McCauley
Drapac Cycling
s.t.
113
David Dvorsky
Bauknecht - Author
s.t.
114
Wout Franssen
An Post - Chainreaction
s.t.
115
Ronan McLaughlin
An Post - Chainreaction
s.t.
116
Josef Maňousek
Bauknecht - Author
s.t.
117
Tomas Danacik
Bauknecht - Author
+ 15'04
118
Glenn O'Shea
An Post - Chainreaction
s.t.
119
Thomas Zechmeister
Bauknecht - Author
s.t.
120
Nicolas Vereecken
An Post - Chainreaction
s.t.
121
Alexander Porsev
Katusha Team
+ 15'39
122
Thomas Palmer
Drapac Cycling
+ 17'17
123
Luke Davison
Drapac Cycling
s.t.
GC
1
Chris Froome
Sky Procycling
17h54'34
2
Joaquím Rodríguez
Katusha Team
+ 23
3
Michele Scarponi
Lampre - Merida
+ 2'07
4
Pierre Rolland
Team Europcar
+ 3'43
5
Jakob Fuglsang
Astana Pro Team
+ 4'38
-----
So another podium finish and still no leaders jersey, Froome just seems uncrackable. I'll probably have to settle for second here.
baseballlover312, 06-03-14 : "Nuke Moscow...Don't worry Russia, we've got plenty of love to go around your cities"
Sarah Palin, 08-03-14 (CPAC, on Russian aggression) : "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke"
Big thanks to jdog for making this AMAZING userbar!
With Rodriguez good hill and downhill performance, you have chances for a similar result.
Tour of Oman
Michele Scarponi
Chris Froome
Yury Trofimov
Jonathan Hivert
Robert Kiserlovski
Jakob Fuglsang
