Since I have missed large parts of Tirreno – Adriatico due to the intense stages in France, I take a look at what has happened at Tirreno-Adriatico so far. Afterwards we’ll join Igor Antón & Co. at Stage 5 for the last 3 stages.
The race of the two seas is traditionally featured parallel to Paris-Nice and takes us from Tyrrhenian sea to the Adriatic sea. It’s one of the most prestigious races in Italy next to Mailand – San Remo, Giro d’Italia and Il Lombardia. Although the race itself is of some importance, it also functions as a build-up for later tasks, most noteworthy Mailand – San Remo. Especially for italian riders this race has a high importance and can become a fundemantel key to becoming an Italian cycling legend. The winner of the last year Vincenzo Nibali is certainly a main contender for the win but do not underestimate any hungry riders from Italy such as Diego Ulissi (LAM), Dario Cataldo (SKY) or Oscar Gatto (VIN). It’s clear with whom the sympathy of the Italian Fans lie, when the decisive moments of Tirreno – Adriatico will come.
Due to the parallel to Paris-Nice only the best teams can allow themselves to sent a highly competitive squads to both races. There are enough high-quality riders around with riders such as Peter Sagan, Philippe Gilbert, Christopher Froome, Daniel Martin, Joaquim Rodriguez or Roman Kreuziger, but how will they perform?
Stage 1
Peter Sagan takes the first stage and the leader’s jersey. He outsprints Philippe Gilbert as they both arrive together in the finish. They have set themselves apart from the rest on the last climb or the downhill and have fought it out between them two. Right after come two riders of Lampre – Merida, who must have had the allowance to try their luck, instead of helping Diego Ulissi. They outsprint Yury Trofimov (KAT) who takes 5th. Igor Antón comes in with the third group of chasers and is 1’15’’ behind. This is okay, although one might have prefered if he hadn’t lost time on riders like Kreuziger or Cancellara.
Stage 2
Yes, I have noticed that Greipel (LTB) won two stages at Paris-Nice fairly easily. Is there an absence of the two other perfect sprinters? You wonder, where are they? Well, Mark Cavendish and Marcel Kittel fight it out in this race. And the first point victory goes to Marc Cavendish as he beats Marcel Kittel (ARG) and Andrea Guardini to the line. Peter Sagan, leader of the race, gets 5th place. The flat stage sees no drastic changes in the overall classification.
Stage 3
There’s always another day, and this time the two world best sprinters switch places as Marcel Kittel wins over Marc Cavendish & Peter Sagan on this flat stage with a slight finish going up.Excellent performance by the Argos-Shimano & flawless sprinting of Marcel Kittel mean another victory for the german youngster, who has already several victories this season so far in continental races.
Stage 4
It`s all the same again. Marcel Kittel succeeds in climbing over the mountains and stays in the peloton. Truly this is maybe the biggest challenge for the german supersprinter, but his Team will surely always stay at his side. Mark Cavendish and Peter Sagan once more lose against Kittel as he takes his second stage win at Tirreno – Adriatico.
Overall not much has changed for Euskaltel – Euskadi. Nobody lost or gained any time, except for Peter Sagan snatching bonus seconds here and there. So I suppose the only one being a bit bothered is Philippe Gilbert, who is now 12 instead of 4 seconds behind.
Edited by Shonak on 29-11-2013 14:35
Ah yes, the “quality of the Giro”. Rainy weather and tough stages... We take a look at Peter Sagan, who is the leader of the race, and hope for another Euskaltel – Euskadi victory, as Bilbao and Landa are already rowing up in the first rows to get into a breakaway.
Igor Antón is currently ranked 19th in the GC, 1’33’’ behind Sagan. The stage, as seen in the bottom right, certainly suits him quite a bit. Tough competitors at Tirreno-Adriatico include Gilbert (BMC) ranked at 2nd, Kreuziger (TST), Ulissi (LAM), Spilak (KAT). Daniel Martin (GRS), Nibali (AST), Tejay van Garderen (BMC) and Kelderman (BEL), although certainly all great riders, are 2’33’’ to nearly 3 minutes behind in general classification and shouldn’t have a chance at winning normally, but who knows what happens on the road to Adriatic Sea? Nibali probably has to wait another year to win Tirreno-Adriatico for a second time, as it won’t happen in here in 2013, and further catch up to record winner Roger De Vlaeminck, who won the race incredible seven times. Anyone in the race is surely motivated for a stage win and won’t make it easy for Igor Antón.
On the narrow path to Orvinic, the first climb of the day, Landa and dutch national champion Terprstra try to catch up to the breakaway up front. It’s raining like Hell. Paris-Nice was a nice summerrain compared to this storm. In the breakaway upfront is another dutch rider, who certainly has better chances of winning today than Terpstra: Bauke Mollema (BEL) tries his luck. He doesn’t seem to be in too good shape though, since he is already nearly 17 minutes behind Sagan.
Terpstra and Landa get into the breakaway, in which Leukemans takes, without any hassle from the other riders, the mountain points. The peloton is seemingly slow on this narrow roads up to Orvinic and the few riders in the breakaway have a comfortable lead of 7 minutes at the top.”It looks a bit like a jungle, doesn’t it?”, I tell Katu and he laughs. “Yes, it does. All that rain, all these trees – we might climb as well climb some mystical mountain in the Amazonas.”
By the way, Terprsta is the best ranked rider in the breakaway, only 1’33’’ behind Sagan. Edmondson and Langeveld follow with each 2’22’’. Landa already has over 11 minutes gap. Surprisingly, there’s no italian rider in the breakaway.
Up to the Fagge, the next climb of the 3rd category, Landa looks quite comfortable, despite all the rain. I believe that Mollema has a way lower cadence and doesn’t sit too good onhis bike. Chapeaux to the italian fans, who gear up at this climb, despite the shitty weather. Unfortunately, there are no basque fans to be seen that could motivate Landa further, but I suppose, potentially winning a stage at Tirreno-Adriatico, should be enough motivation anyway?
Meanwhile, Antón doesn’t seem to be to comfortable on these narrow, curvy roads and the constant rain. The race radio reports that he fell back for a while and was just handed through the crowd, but ultimately managed to stay in the peloton. However, two other riders don’t fulfill this task. Malori, currently ranked 4th GC, and Joaqium Rodriguez fall back and quickyl lose time. However, that’s hardly surprising for both: Malori isn’t the type of rider for these stages and Joaquim Rodriguez is already over 8 minutes behind Sagan. As things look today, he will only lose more time, and frankly, I don’t think he really cares about it all too much.
And the climb hasn’t really begun yet, and another rider loses time: Christopher Froome, serious Tour contender, can’t keep up in the rain. All around him are his Sky riders (like Urán). A bit in front is Andy Schleck, getting caught by the froome group. However, no reason to worry for any Froome fans out there: As soon as the Sagan Group hit the climb, the second peloton hit it hard from behind and catched up again. However, looking at the race, I except at split anytime, and so does Katu, as he warns Antón, to not take this climb too easily and rather invest some effort to get upfront.
And yes, truly it comes like this. Another split breaks the peloton into two veeery long snakes, each with around 70 riders at the end of the downhill. One of them paces over the rainy roads, while the other much more still crawls its way up the climb. Antón looks much better by now and so does his teammates. I spot Kwiatkowski in the crowd somewhere, and wonder why he wasn’t mentioned as a favourite, but realized that the polish rising star is already 7 minutes behind. A very known rider meanwhile paces the peloton for Sagan; Ivan Basso.
The fans cheer for Basso, as he tries to prevent Antón’s and Dan Martin’s attack, but alas, they are both just two strong. Quickly, Movistar take over the charge though and are inclined to not let both riders get too far away. I wonder why, and see that Capecchi is their best rider, currently ranked at 13th. Hmm…
Since both of them ride for the General Classification, their work pays off and they quickly make up serious time on the breakaway, while keeping the peloton off their back on these steep, narrow paths.
Since Leukemans is really eager to take any mountain points in his sight, he gets closer and closer to the Mountain jersey. 3 points are still missing at the end of the day. While Leukemans fights with Edmondson and Roux over the points, Landa rides behind Terpstra and looks for the duo behind him, who are soon arriving.
Unbelieveable. Antón just couldn’t reach the leaders of the race, yet they were so close in sight and instead he had to complain about Martin’s sudden unwillingness to do any work in the chase. However, when he looked back, he understood why. The peloton was already too damn close. It was pointless to work further.
“Certainly, it’d be nice to have two riders in the break, but you also steal the victory from another rider, one who might deserve it more.” Katu said with a philosophical arrogance in his voice, that reminded me of any teacher I had in school. “Think about it. Landa has still a good shot in there, but Dan Martin will pretty sure own us in the sprint all in the slight uphill finish”, Katu said, and I was about to disagree; “What about the general classification?”
“Well – what about it? There’s not much chance that Antón could get 2 minutes against Sagan, against the peloton. We better concentrate on a possible stage win and making up time with decisive moves rather than blind attacking rage. This would lead us nowhere. See, Dan Martin, he’s quite a smart rider and knew when his chances were decreasing, and it’s smarter to conserve some energy, rather than fight for any meter you can ride longer alone in the rain… That’s hard after all.”
When he realized that the peloton was truly stepping up their game, Antón decided to rest too. He shook his head as the peloton caught him.
Katu was right… it looks kinda pointless. The breakaway is stepping in line to get caught, when suddendly Landa accelerates, and than Daniel Martin comes out of the shadows of the peloton and follows his wheel. Together they get some distance between them and the peloton.
The race is getting more intense. As Daniel Martin and Landa get caught - again, Bakelants (RTL), Lopez (SKY) and Rubiano (AND) attack and gain some time on the peloton. The small uphill finish might suit a rider like Bakelants best. That, or the favourite, Sagan, takes the win probably. Antón, once again, tries to catch up to the riders upfront. Daniel Martin is behind him and shows a geat fighting performance today.
Oh my gosh, that can’t be real. Bakelants (RTL, left rider), who already raises his arms in triumph, gets zabel’d by his own teammate, Cancellara (RTL, right rider)! And then by three more riders. The group of five riders looked to get the stage win, but ultimately the fast peloton behind them were smart enough to conserve the energy for the sprint. Antón was completely overrolled and didn’t stand a chance unfortunately. This finish just tops off a very entertaining, very wet stage. Bakelants later tells the media, that he isn’t mad at Cancellara, after all three more riders outsprinted him, but he is rather pissed on his own stupid move to raise the arm too early, rather than fight for any meter.
Later Igor calls Samu and congratulates on Samu`s victory. He cranked a joke on Bakelants expense then, and surely the belgium rider will hear tomorrow quite a few of those in the peloton. I got one too; but that one is hardly appropiate for any childern, who might read my texts. It’s kinda dirty.
Stage 6 I think about going to the race, but I am really tired from Paris-Nice and rather just stay in the hotel and watch the race on some italian livestream, where I hardly understand a word. It’s a sunny day in Teramo, and the road to Frontone, offers plenty of chances for a possible Euskaltel-Euskadi win. This is the second last stage of Tirreno – Adriatico 2013.
That’s quite a breakaway early on. Euskalte – Euskadi wait for their first attack until the second climb, but the group in front of the race won’t be easily caught. It includes high-profile names such as Pozzovivo (AGR), Ventoso (MOV), Bak (LTB), Zaugg (TST), Palini (LAM) and – behold – Froome (SKY), who might look for a chance to redeem his disappointing performance from the day before. However the high pace in the peloton doesn’t really it make it easy for the breakaway and they have to struggle to get a serious lead. At least, today the sun is bright and no cloud to be seen.
Well, hello there… it doesn’t take much effort for Martínez to get to the breakaway, after attacking on the 2nd climb. It’s a good group and one more rider can’t hurt, right? On the other side of the race, Chaoufi has recently lost contact to the peloton and probably will keep his 169th rank overall, which grants him the title of the red lantern.
While Cannondale serioulsy picks up the pace, 80 kilometers from the finish and therefor many splits occur in the peloton, Martínez and his fellow riders ride comfortable on yet another narrow road. I can’t shake off the image of this being some Sunday ride for Martínez with some great friends and a lot of joy. Surely, the race will get tough pretty soon.
Not even 20 kilometers are left to go and the lead still is over 2 minutes. Surely, they can win today’s stage. That’s what Pozzovivo and Froome are probably thinking too and attack in the downhill together with Roy (FDJ). Martínez sees no reason to chase so hard already, since the uphill finish is definitely the important part of the finish. Or maybe he already can’t hold up with Froome & Pozzovivo?
The last 5 kilometers are on. While the break keeps their distance on the peloton of around 2 minutes(!), things are really heating up. Just as the fellow riders caught up to the three riders up front, Froome & Pozzovivo attack again. Martínez jumps out of the pack and snatches Pozzo’s backwheel, just as Froome attacks again. The hill is starting soon but things are looking good. Just let Froome power himself out… easier said than done, obviously.
Alex Howes is the smartest and strongest in the sprint and takes the stage win. Quite some surprise back there, and I start to count the seconds. Bakelants and Leukemans are already nearly 2 minutes behind the breakaway and Antón has even more, who attacked about 3-4 kilometers from the finish. And, he quickly gains time on the peloton, where only Bardiani is chasing and Cannondale just… does nothing. Are all their helpers powered out? What’s about with Sagan, is he risking his overall victory this late into the race? What the heck is happening?
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Antón is the first from the peloton. They’d have nearly caught him but maybe he makes up some time to crack Top 10?
Meanwhile, Sagan has lost his leader’s jersey for good. And then it’s official. Palini (LAM) is in front of Tirreno-Adriatico and he nearly can’t believe it. Oliver Zaugg is 28 seconds behind him on 2nd place, while Martínez is 3rd! Euskaltel – Euskadi has a reason to celebrate so too, although they couldn’t win the stage… but what was up with Sagan and all the other teams? Were they just too exhausted after yesterday. Did they just stop caring, or was the intention of letting other team’s work in the end an utter tactical failure. I look up the rankings later in the internet and see that Sagan was the only rider left of Cannondale in the peloton. Ok, so the young superstar surely must feel pissed, but just imagine the joy of the three unexcepted riders up front? Surely, Tirreno-Adriatico still misses one more stage but it’s hard to imagine that Lampre, TST and Euskaltel will not work together to ensure their success on the last flat stage? After all, teams don’t want to make a habit of fucking up too often. The same probably can't be said about Cannondale, who truly did horrible today.
Stage 7 And yes, the stage turns out how everybody expected it to turn out. Another flat sprint won by Kittel who is just dominating this early race sprint-wise. This also means that he wins the point jersey. He is point-wise equal with Cavendish, but won two more stages than the british supersprinter. Sagan apparently didn’t even seriously contest in this sprint, as shown by his 13th rank, maybe the youngster is unmotivated. Losing the leader`s jersey after you have worn it the entire race, surely must feel awful. Or maybe he already concentrates on MSR. I didn’t even bother to watch the race though as I prepare myself for Mailand – San Remo, so my guess is as good as any and it’s not really that important.
Overall Classification:
1. Andrea Palini (Lampre)
2. Oliver Zaugg (Team Saxo Tinkhoff) 3. Egoi Martínez (Euskaltel – Euskadi)
Mountain jersey: Leukemans (Vacansoleil – DCM)
Point jersey: Marcel Kittel (Argos – Shimano) 46 points, Cavendish (Omega Pharma) 46 points
U25 jersey: Andrea Palini (Lampre)
Team classification: Lampre
Tirreno – Adriatico’s days have certainly caused some rememberable moments for many riders. Bakelants getting zabeled by his teammate Cancellara, Igor Antón and Daniel Martin hooked on a dose of raging attacks, pictures of the italian Amazonas and Cannondale deliver a potential award winner for the worst team tactic of the year. Palini, Zaugg and Martínez were the lucky ones from the strong breakaway on stage 6 and could complete the podium. For Euskaltel – Euskadi, this is the first overall podium in this season on a World Tour level, and a great ending to these rewarding previous race days, which started a couple of days ago with Urtasun’s win at Paris-Nice.
@Selwink: It's way more than I expected - and its only thanks to Cannondale/Sagan's embarrasing failure on the 2nd last stage.
@The Rider: Haha, no. Unfortunately no decent talent scouted yet. But give me some time, it's only March and my scouts are all over basque country and Navarra. Mailand - San Remo will be up later today by the way, first gotta finish some work and then sporty stuff in the freezing cold. Edited by Shonak on 29-11-2013 15:30
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
Yes yes yes you finally do story, i am playing PCM 12 at the minute aswell finally got it working he he. Good luck Shonak, i think you should give Samu 85 Mountain, he is a legend haha.
@atlanta: Good to see you in this thread. Hope you enjoy the story. As for Samu being a legend: It's funny that you mention that, since yesterday I wrote 1-2 sentences about Sánchez, his basque fans and his supposed status of a legend for one of the future reports... Glad your PCM12 finally works without problems.
MSR, March 2013 The longest road
So, the first monument is up and things are pretty busy in Mailand. Stars get interviewed, more unknown riders try to fight their way through the crowd and an optimistic Euskaltel – Euskadi team wants to surprise everybody. Recent results have been great. A third place at Tirreno-Adriatico by Martinez and a fourth by Samuel Sanchez plus two stage wins at Paris – Nice certainly are a sign that the form and the spirit are definitely intact and even maybe quite high. I look in cheering faces at the team meeting early in the morning and everybody wants to start the race, so I don’t waste too much time and sit myself into the team car. It’s a sunny day at first but Euskaltel riders miss the initial break, which is okay since it doesn’t last too long anyway. Every team is eager to get into the break and increase their chances of a surprise victory.
Obviously any sprinter in form is at the start. Cavendish, Sagan, Greipel and Kittel have already won some races this year and certainly are the hottest names when it comes to name-dropping for pure mass sprint. Goss (OGE), Kristoff (KAT), Bennatti (TST), Nizzolo (RTL) and Demare (FDJ) definitely have a chance too. My personal tip of the victory is Edvald Boasson Hagen, who has shown great form at Paris-Nice, getting 2nd place, and I suppose the route suits him quite well. As for all sprinters, there's one thing they have to keep in mind: For them to win in San Remo, they will first have to master the Poggio - and there are many riders in the peloton who look to make the race tough at this crucial point. As for Euskaltel, our main man for the sprint is Lobato, but we’ll try to get the best of the favourites by attacking at the Poggio. Our wild cards for these event are Samuel Sanchez and Ion Izagirre.
As the race unfolds, it - of course - starts too rain. Once again. Bilbao managed to catch the right attack and together the 8 riders form a strong breakaway. Such illustrous names as Mollema, Talansky (GRS) and Barguil (ARG) and Nocentini (ALM), so this has some potential at least.
What a triste, long road is behind and ahead of them. The rain pours down, the ocean swamps over. At least there was a cheering crowd in the town up ahead. But hearing the cyclists through the cold rain, their breaths and their struggling, I get a little bit the shivers. A lonely atmosphere sneaks up on any viewer as he sees the remaining images on the television screen just bumping up and the freezing riders trying to keep up their morale against the longest road. Through the fog, that appears here and there, I sometimes hardly see Bilbao, ahead of me in the team car.
Cancellara paces up the Cipressa. The breakaway is already in sight and it’s only a question of when, rathern than if, they caught. Euskaltel riders are by now used to such weather but nearly 299 kilometers of continuied, unforgiving rain, which resembles much a storm at times, is a new challenge. One, that is all on its own and hardly comparable to the smaller stage races a week earlier.
A picture of the wet soaked and freezing peloton as it stretches itself over the Cipressa.
Bilbao gets caught by the peloton while his companions from before still struggle to maintain their gap. Cancellara, Vanmarcke (BEL), Boom (BEL), Chavanel (OPQ), Turgot (EUC) and Flecha (VCD) attack and try to catch up to the breakaway before they head into the Poggio.
Sanchez follows Roelandts wheel as he, - what a... big surprise - even enjoys, riding the Poggio. All the world-class sprinters are further back and will come forward soon enough. Only Sagan can be seen from the top sprinters. Kwiatkowski and Chavanel are behind Sanchez’ wheel. Cancellara tries to catch up to Flecha who is just beasting his way up the Poggio.
And there’s the split, right in front of Turgot (EUC). Kwiatkowski and Chavanel hunt down Cancellara and Flecha up front for their teammate Boonen. No Cavendish, No Kittel, No Greipel are to be seen. Only Sagan keeps the pace. And Sanchez.
World Champion Gilbert is the last rider in the 19 man strong group. Turgot, Paolini and others managed to snatch on to the Omega Pharma-Express and now have a chance to win. But honestly, it looks like a duel between Sagan and Boonen.
Who else but Boonen on such a rainy day should win Milano – San Remo. Maybe Flecha, maybe Cancellara. Riders like these shine when a race like this gets unnaturally tough by the weather. Boonen rises his hands into the air and wins the first time Milano – San Remo. Omega Pharma certainly bet on the right horse today and prefered Boonen instead of Cavendish, who couldn’t hold the pace at the Poggio. Later I hear how Boonen thanks his teammates Chavanel, Kwiatkowski Vandenbergh, who truly did an amazing job splitting the peloton in a tough manner and reeling Flecha and Cancellara back in.
Sanchez scores a great 10th place, so we are very happy with his performance obviously. This is no race for a team like Euskaltel – Euskadi, but I think the riders have shown that this is no reason for them to take it lightly. It wasn’t an easy day for any rider and I suppose everybody is glad to finally feel some hot water under shower.
Thanks guys. Sànchez is really doing great so far, let's hope it continues. And a special thank you to Greenlandzone, it's good to know that you are following this story too! (is there a way to delete this stuff?)
Some information: Since I had some issues with the way I capture the screenshots (copy them into word), I have downloaded a Capture programme now. The name is Greenshot, it's pretty much perfect for me since it's accesible and fast to use and allows for good customization. I can only recommend it. This also means that future screenshots will be featured in superultra, amazing, jaw-dropping High-Definition, starting somewhere around Vuelta Ciclista al País Vasco or Paris - Roubaix.
@Atlanta: Thanks! My first banana, I'll honour it immensly. The total account of collected bananas during this story is now: 1. Nerdy me decided to make a trivia section in the first post where a collection of all bananas you guys deem worthy for this story will be accounted. Edited by Shonak on 30-11-2013 12:46
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
Euskaltel – Euskadi Lineup: Mikel Landa
Mikel Astarloza
Gorka Izagirre
André Schulze
Adrian Saez de Arrengi
Juan Jose Lobato
Ruben Pérez
Tarik Chaoufi
Last year Samuel Sánchez got 2nd place in the overall ranking here, only behind Michael Albasini. So one would assume, this is a WT stage race that suits Euskaltel – Euskadi. 7 stages take us through Catalunya. It’s the fourth oldest stage and despite recent different attempts of a suitable place in the Cycling Calender, this race offers lots of flair, excitement & high-class racing.
Amidst the deciding stages is a steep ramp finish, a Team Time Trial and a hilly 15 km TT. On two stages things could look good for a breakaway. Next week, the (obviously) more important race through the basque country is on the programme for Euskaltel - Euskadi, but the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya is a great World Tour race that can easily attract riders & fans alike due to its attractive course and long-lasting tradition.
Our squad for the Volta merely looks for a breakaway win. Apparently there was some talk in the team management to get Nieve into the race and slowly build up his form, so he will be rested for the Vuelta later that year but can also impress at the Tour, but ultimately the coaching staff decided against it. For any masssprints, where we wanna try something, Juan Jose Lobato will be our man. His performance at Mailand – San Remo was disappointing as he couldn’t hold up with the riders up the Poggio in the heavy rain, but alas, that wasn’t much of a surprise. We feel that this routes at the Volta will suit him better, although there are only roughly two stages were he has a real possible chance. He has scored some nice results so far in the season, but is still looking for a win. So does all other riders in the team.Since no major leader is in this line-up, I hope that some riders take the chances they are offered and really shine. Sometimes, throwing someone in the cold water and tell them, they can try for their own, actually works. So, they are motivated to make this count and may recommend themselves for the Volta Ciclista al Pais Vasco, their home race, the week afterwards.
Competition-wise at least things are looking good for Lobato. There aren’t many top sprinters around. Arnaud Demare (FDJ) or Matthews (OGE) might be the most well-known. As for the competition in the mountains, I have no illusions: The startlists contains 3 Grand Tour winners with Contador, Wiggins and Hesjedal, and with Quintana, Urán and Majka, there are three more potential 3 Grand Tour winners, who are eager to recommend themselves for leader qualities in their teams. Jürgen Van den Broeck (LTB), T.J. Van Garderen, Peter Velits (OPQ) or Diego Ulissi (LAM) just make the startlist more competitive. Obiously Euskaltel – Euskadi will still look for a surprise, as they managed lately in Tirreno-Adriatico with the 3rd place by Egoi Martínez. Meanwhile, our top riders take a bit off rest after the last intense weeks of racing.
Stage 1 A flat time trial starts the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya this season. Saxo – Tinkhoff (Contador, Majka) wins the stage 14 seconds ahead of Katusha (Spilak) and Radioshack – Leopard (Zubeldia). Wiggins and Urán rank 4th with Sky, 30 seconds behind. Same as Aru and Tangert and their Astana Team. Euskaltel – Euskadi got the 3rd last place, 2’14’’ behind TST. This is actually quite alright. Our squad is relatively weak and the more time we get at the start, the more likely our riders are to succeed in a breakaway.
Stage 2 The stage sees a win by Arnaud Demare (FDJ) ahead of Barry Markus (VCD) and Nikias Arndt (ARG). The team must have bet on Lobato, since non of them is in the breakaway and Lobato scores a nice 9th rank. There are no chances in the overall classification and Marko Kump (TST) leads the race, followed by his teammates.
Stage 3 The stage sees after a first small, 2.-Cat climb a long flat part with two intermediate sprints. After the 1.-Cat climb Alt de Camella, the finish will be in Els Cortals d’Encamp, which offers a traditional, serious steep ramp for the riders at the end of the stage as they fight for the stage win and it might be one of the most important parts for the overall victory.
Talk about feeling confident, as Astarloza attacks with Wiggins, while the end of the peloton still crosses the bridge ahead of them.
The group just reorganizes itself after the second intermediate sprint that day. It really took a while until the breakaway was formed. The peloton, especially Saxo Tinkhoff but also various other teams, didn’t want to let Wiggins (SKY) go, and with Cunego and Voigt, there are two more riders who shouldn’t be underestimated. Astaloza is, as any other rider in this group, of course a major outsider against a rider like Wiggins. However, Astarloza is in a very good shape from the latest races and Wiggins attack might be an indication that the british rider doesn’t feel so good yet. However, once the breakaway finally gaine dmore than a minute, it quickly turned into six, as the peloton stopped their chase and regarded it as better to just let Wiggins have his fun for a while. As usual, it rains. But we’ve come to expect that by now, didn’t we?
It’s all shiny now as the breakaway it’s the last 20 kilometers of climbing. As the breakaway looks at itself and there’s some doubt whether to carry on, since there’s only 2 minutes left and Wiggins is unwilling to put in more work than other riders, Astarloza tries to take his chance and just calmly rides off.
While Astarloza tries to keep his fellow breakaway riders on the distance, but doesn’t manage more than 10 to 20 seconds, Kiryienka and Urán (both SKY) surprise everyone in the peloton with an attack. Do they want to use Wiggins as a relais station, and Kiryienka’s task is to bring Urán upfront? Katusha, Radioshack and Saxo Tinkoff aren’t willing to let that happen though.
Sky’s Tactic didn’t really work out. When Quintana attacks (MOV), he quickly goes past Urán. Contador (TST) tries to hang onto the columbians attack, and even passes him on a rather flat part, as the columbian suddenly raises his arm into the air. What is it, a mechanical or does he want a bottle? Confusion is also in Contador’s face, who stops his attack. The peloton now has nearly catched up to the breakaway with Wiggins, however Astarloza is riding good up front and has about a minute left onto the peloton. The attacks of Urán, Quintana and Contador didn’t really help him though as the peloton increased their pace and back there, many Euskaltel – Euskadi riders are already dropped.
8 kilometers to go. Astarloza wins the mountain sprint but he doesn’t really care about that. Behind him, his former fellow riders try an attempt by not getting caught by the peloton. This isn’t good. The more they fight, the closer they will bring in the peloton, until it catches. “God damn it!”, I think, “just give up…”. Of course I know, that no rider should ever give up when they are in front of the race, but such attitude just makes it frustratingly hard to get an advantage in this last ramp and gain time. My experience, keen eye notices how Astarloza increases his cadence and from content riding it turns into a struggle rather fast. Bookwalter (BMC), Lemoine (SOJ) and Cunego (LAM) appear to be his fiercest rivals.
At least, as soon as Cunego and Bookwalter don’t attack each other any more and try to get the jump on Astarloza, our Euskadi rider can quickly gain some distance between them again. I see a SKY rider suddenly getting passed them, I think first, that Wiggins must have made his move of the day, but in fact it’s Urán. So one could say, that all breakaway riders except for Astarloza are caught? Behind Urán Katusha is setting the pace for Spilak.+ Come on, Mikel , make it count!
Spilak attacked and no one was able to follow him. Urán, Ulissi, they were all reeled in, except for Spilak, who is now about to catch up to Astarloza. 2.5 kilometers to go. And now, no other than Contador is doing the work back in the peloton: “Well, if you want something done, Pistolero, you gotta do it yourself”, I presume.
Astarloza was seemingly nervous as soon as Spilak (KAT) caught up to him. For him, only the victory was really important as he tried to drop Spilak, but the slowenian was just too strong. He rode past Astarloza and when the last kilometer was there, Astarloza could do nothing but fight and see how he lost meter on meter on Spilak. That wasn’t even though as, Contador, Kriyienka & Co. passed him. Astarloza still prevailed thoughin some sort and achieved a great 7th rank. He nearly made it from the breakaway and some Top 10 result under this competition is quite something. If it’d be up to me, he’d definitely ride Pais Vasco next week. Also Mikel Landa and Gorka Izagirre have proved their good form and shown a nice performance by getting into Top 25 of the daily classification. Due to the Team Time Trial, the Euskaltel – Euskadi still don’t play a role in the Overall Classification though.
Stage 4
Over several climbs, the race ends in Llivia. This is a perfect stage for a potential breakaway win and riders who can deliver in the hills as well as a potential mass sprint, have a chance to shine here. Of course, Euskaltel – Euskadi is looking forward to this stage, and are eager to get one or more riders in the breakaway. It’s nice to report about this guys, I think, as I see them walking to the start, and I am sure, I’ve made the right choice by following this team around. With only 147 kilometers, the stage is rather short, and one can except a high pace from the get-go.
After an intense beginning, a break with riders Jan Barta (TNE), G. Brambilla (OPQ) and Garzelli (VIN) has been formed. Pérez pays the price for riding with these guys as he alreadystruggles here to keep up. So in an attempt to gain an advantage, Katu ordered Gorka Izagirre to attack, and yes, the basque rider can get away from the peloton fairly easily and should be able to get to the breakaway in no-time.
However, the other riders are not inclined to let two Euskaltel – Euskadi riders in their group. By 5 riders, this would be a massive advantage, and so Katu orders Pérez back into the peloton, as it is obvious that he probably wouldn’t stand a chance on the next climb. Izagirre has great legs today, Gorka assures Katu, and when asked, Pérez feels only… okay, although he is sure he can win this stage. After some time of thinking, he demands Pèrez to go back and the rider nods and understands. He is just not made for such climbs, although the finish probably would suit him. There’s a group with Ulissi (LAM) and Vichot (FDJ) that tries to get away from the peloton too and maybe if they succeed, Pèrez still has a chance at winning this stage. For now, he has put his own goals behind the one of a stronger teammate’s, a teammate that is much better suited for this stage. “He knows it’s the right thing to do”, Katu explains to me, but I can imagine that Pérez might need a pep-talk and another opportunity after this stage.
Since the group with Ulissi didn’t last very long, Pérez too was caught by the peloton eventually. He doesn’t luck too happy, but Katu again ensures me, that he understands and accept this. “Of course he is a bit disappointed, who wouldn’t be?” On the highest point of today, Alt del Calvari, we see Lemoine (SOJ) trying another attempt. The last few kilometers have been quite hectic, since many riders broke free and there are no already lots of riders between the lead and the peloton. Amongst them is a Simon Clarke (OGE), together with Mondory (ALM), who is a hot pick for the win today and already tries to gain some time in the downhill. He is still 4 minutes behind the lead though.
Former winner Albasini (OGE) doesn’t look at all on the Alt del Calvari, as he loses already the peloton out of his sight. He will probably catch up in the downhill. Since he’s already 5 minutes behind, there isn’t much chance for a second victory in a row anyway.
20 kilometers to go, 5 kilometers up to. I have to remind myself, that gorka Izagirre is only 4’20’’ minutes behind in General Classification, so all this time he is in the virtual jersey of the leader. “Gora Gorka…” I scream out of the team car and think that this sounds kinda weird. The group has a great chemistry but attacks will surely start to happen very soon. Barta, Garzelli and Brambilla are good riders for a such a stage, and they all know that letting Clarke getting closer to the group will drastically decrease their chances of a win. Maybe because of the great team work Clarke (OGE) fails to make up any serious time.
At the mountain top no rider could set himself apart from the other 3, so they definitely have to risk something in the descent if they want to win. Meanwhile, Gorka is still leader of the race, but they have lost some time and it’s highely unlikely that he’d be in the white jersey of the leader at the end of the day. I suggest to Katu, that he better focuses on the stage win, and Katu responds, “No shit, Sherlock.”
Things are looking good. As soon as Garzelli gets back to the other 3 riders, Izagirre attacks from all behind in the descent. Some serious training with Samu Sánchez, I imagine. He definitely has the skills to get far from them and things are looking good so far.
As Izagirre heads into the finish line, Barta is on his backwheel and none of the other threes are willing to get in front of Gorka. He is a fast boy, so maybe he can win by riding upfront. He will wait and he will have to see, but he can’t lose much time, as the fight for the leader`s jersey is up… He can win both now, win only one… lose both...
Gora Gorka, Gora Euskadi!
Gorka Izagirre takes the stage win as he stays cool despite the 3 riders behind him. The head turned back, Gorka sees when they launch the sprint and quickly gets a distance between them. He was the best sprinter in these group and takes the win by just sprinting up front. Maybe more a show of brute power & form rather than a tactical win, but nonetheless, the joy is just the same as Gorka Izagirre raises his arm into the air. He even can step one more time on the podium after enjoying his victory immensly in front of the cheering crowd, as he comes to pick up the jersey for the best climber. He leads with 43 points, 3 points ahead of Brambilla. After this great breakaway stage, he is ranked 3th overall, 15 seconds behind Contador.
I congratulate him later on the team bus and he is seemingly relieved. Ruben Pérez comes forward to him and falls in his arm. It seems, Ruben is even happier than Gorka. I ask Katu what they talk about, and Katu tells me, that Gorka is just massively happy that he performed. And I can see in Katu’s eyes too, that he is relieved that the plan succeeded. It’s certainly a risk to sent a rider back, and it’s never an easy decision when you have to decide between two riders, but today, Katu did everything right. There’s no reason to feel down, as the team heads into the hotel and enjoys their meal. After all, there’s hardly any time available for a small celebration.
Edited by Shonak on 30-11-2013 15:50
@welker: There's a TT up and Gorka's shape isn't quite top, despite his victory. So I honestly have little hopes for that.
@The Rider: Haha, yeah I think Tamouridis rides in all of them, but I can't say for sure. I'd have to look up the results in the game itself.
Good to know that I am not the only one who is eager to see how Euskaltel - Euskadi will do on the WT cobbles.
E3 will be up next, probably tomorrow. I wrote the stuff down and intend to post in the same order the calender works. But if you guys prefer it that I finish Tour of Catalunya first and then post E3 and Gent - Wevelgem, I might switch it?
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
Unfortunately no decent talent scouted yet. But give me some time, it's only March and my scouts are all over basque country and Navarra. 
, top 10 in MSR deserves abannana
(is there a way to delete this stuff?)
Nerdy me decided to make a trivia section in the first post where a collection of all bananas you guys deem worthy for this story will be accounted. 
