After yesterdays fall ,i am feeling pretty disappointed. But, 2nd stage is hilly one, with great chance for me. I'll surely try to get stage win, and to reduce gap in GC.
And , here we go!
---
A bit colder than yesterday here in Australia. Actually i like these conditions more.
No breakaway today for us, that's the plan. BOTD was created fastly after start and peloton let these riders go: Koch (CAN) , Bol (BEL) , Jorgensen (SAX) and Brookwalter (BMC). They seems like small,compact group. We'll see what they can do.
They actually had 6 minutes of advantage in front of peloton, but that was only temporarily. 25 kms to go, they were still relaying. They seems strong.
Meanwhile, few guys attacked in peloton. These guys are favourites actually. Meyer (OGE) , Dumoulin (AG2R) , Florencio (KAT) and Haas (GAR). I decided to skip this chance to attack, since it was a bit far for me.
They fastly got E1 and show could start. Many attacks, but none successful. But , after about 10 attacks from first group, Bookwalter and Dumoulin got some distance and kept getting advantage in front of them. Seems like winner is one of these 2.
Last and decisive hill starts. I was on top, and it was great position for me. I had doubt should i attack or not, but Gianni was with me and he encouraged me. I attacked.
And i actually got advantage really quick. I really felt good. Dumoulin attacked Brookwalter but i passed both of them. And now i am on downhill. Big pressure, i have to keep first position and win this. Dumoulin is behind me, and 10man group 40" behind.
My TimeTrial abilities helped me alot here. I kept advantage and i won this. Karma. After i fell and probably lost all chances for GC fight yesterday, i won stage today!
---
Stage Results
1
Michał Kwiatkowski
OPQS
2h44'56
2
Jens Voigt
RadioShack - Leopard
+ 38
3
Samuel Dumoulin
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
4
Jan Bakelants
RadioShack - Leopard
s.t.
5
Adriano Malori
Lampre - Merida
s.t.
6
Gianni Meersman
OPQS
s.t.
7
Pim Ligthart
Vacansoleil - DCM
s.t.
8
Daniele Pietropolli
Lampre - Merida
s.t.
9
Kristijan Durasek
Lampre - Merida
s.t.
10
Daryl Impey
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
General Classification
1
Daryl Impey
Orica - GreenEdge
5h54'06
2
Jens Voigt
RadioShack - Leopard
+ 4
3
Samuel Dumoulin
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 6
4
Niki Terpstra
OPQS
s.t.
5
Allan Davis
Orica - GreenEdge
+ 8
6
Pim Ligthart
Vacansoleil - DCM
+ 10
7
Gianni Meersman
OPQS
s.t.
8
Jan Bakelants
RadioShack - Leopard
s.t.
9
Diego Ulissi
Lampre - Merida
s.t.
10
Lars Petter Nordhaug
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
...
54
Michał Kwiatkowski
OPQS
+ 2'01
I am in great form. I will attack at least 2 times in next few stages. Maybe i can get onto podium. Why not?
Big win today at 2nd stage of TDU! I am in great form. Big thanks to my team, they did excellent job! #OPQS#TDU2013#win
Nice win for Michal. Some impersonator tweeting though. Doesn't have the little "check", you know.
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!
Yesterdays win definitely raised my ambitions and my mentality. I'll try something today, but this is more stage for Gianni. We'll see what we can do, anyway.
We're about to start. Bye , bye.
---
No brekaway in first 20 kilometers. Quite strange , i have to admit. Anyway, at that point 3 guys attacked. Their names are: Agnoli (AST) , Dennis (GAR) and Tossato (SAX).
Everyone's nervous, that's sure. Seems like someone are preparing attack, i can feel it. And yes, 2 laps to go and Nocentini (AG2R) attacked. He's followed by Florencio (KAT) , Oss (BMC) and Bak (LBL). They seems like nice group. Our tactic is to stay calm and to put Rabon (OPQS) and Terpstra (OPQS) at the front, to relay. Should be working.
As i said, it was great tactic. Now, few kilometers after that, new attack! This time, more serious guys. Ulissi (LAM) tried once again.
And once again, he failed. Meanwhile, E1 group is at good position. They co-operate and it is looking great so far.
No action in next few kilometers. I decided to break the silence. It's time to attack! Meersman (OPQS) is following me.
Since everyone was exhausted from all of these attacks, we succeeded, we made group. 2 kilometers to go, and i am struggling. It's painful! Gianni is few meters in front of me. Looks like he'll make it.
And yes! He overtook guys from first group and he is winning! We did great job.
You can see me in background. Great result for me , aswell.
---
Stage Results
1
Gianni Meersman
OPQS
3h18'27
2
Rohan Dennis
Garmin - Sharp
s.t.
3
Valerio Agnoli
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
4
Michał Kwiatkowski
OPQS
s.t.
5
Jan Bakelants
RadioShack - Leopard
s.t.
6
Anthony Roux
FDJ.fr
s.t.
7
Daryl Impey
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
8
Lars Petter Nordhaug
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
+ 39
9
Samuel Dumoulin
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
10
Ion Izagirre
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
General Classification
1
Daryl Impey
Orica - GreenEdge
9h12'33
2
Gianni Meersman
OPQS
s.t.
3
Jan Bakelants
RadioShack - Leopard
+ 10
4
Anthony Roux
FDJ.fr
+ 30
5
Samuel Dumoulin
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 45
6
Lars Petter Nordhaug
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
+ 49
7
Daniele Pietropolli
Lampre - Merida
+ 1'09
8
Ion Izagirre
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 1'15
9
Pim Ligthart
Vacansoleil - DCM
+ 1'56
10
Diego Ulissi
Lampre - Merida
s.t.
...
11
Michał Kwiatkowski
OPQS
+ 2'01
This isn't over yet!
Great job we did taking that win. Congratulations for Gianni! #TDU2013#TeamWin
Great job yesterday. Today's flat stage again, and i'll try to help Gianni taking his 2nd win. Won't try anything today, most probably.
Here we go. It's start time, babe!
---
This seems like it will be boring stage. Breakaway from start, weak guys in it , to be honest. We won't let them win this.
Members of BOTD today are: Bazayev (AST) , Wellens (LTB) , Bilbao (EUS) and Tanner (BEL).
And , as i said , it is boring stage. Peloton let breakaway take only 2 minutes of advantage , so it's clearly visible, this will finish in mass sprint.
And here we are, 10 kilometers to go, breakaway group neutralised. Our team is creating train. I am on top of it, followed by Keisse (OPQS) and Meersman (OPQS). Seems fine at the moment.
Somehow, i succeeded to bring both of them on top until 2 kilometers to go. Rest was routine. Impey (OGE) tried something, but no chances. Again, win by Meersman (OPQS)!
Ian Butler - Yeah , i know, he is amazing! Yeah, shame he had that crash, he would have great chance to win this. But podium is still possible, i guess.
Olfradh - Well, i am still not sure about tactics. Will Michal get free role and try something himself (rest of the team will help Gianni) , or he will be main Giannis helper , but anyway, i think Gianni has this in hands. No way Impey can beat him 1v1 on Old Willunga Hill.
sutty68 - True! It's actually great, since we got 3/4 wins and leaders jersey.
And we decided. Giannis jersey will be priority and i have no problem with it. Will give my all to help him get it.
Nothing to wait for , so we can start.
---
Big group started breakaway from an early start. It is clear that nothing's going to happen until first hill, so peloton let them go.
And , of course i was right. Nothing happened until first hill. E1 still had big advantage, but orange jersey fight is definitely more important. Our plan is to make 3 man attack (Me, Gianni and Nicki) and try to relay until the finish. So, we have nothing to wait for.
Of course, Terpstra (OPQS) could not keep our tempo so he had to go back in peloton. Now, only 2 of us are going. I am in front of Meersman (OPQS) protecting him. I feel great!
My TT abilities helped me alot on flat part and we had to face last hill, 3 kilometers to go. Meanwhile , Bakelants (RLT) attacked and he's getting closer and closer. At about 100 meters to go, he's in in same line as me. He accelerated and got few meters of advantage. He wins this.
Anyway, since i finished 2nd and Gianni finished 3rd, it's obviously that we saved that jersey!
Aand somehow i managed to get KoM jersey, although i didn't even want to do that.
Great race so far, strong performance at Old Willung Hill and smart tactic. Bakelants was just a bit too strong today I suppose. Kwiatkowski, King of the Mountain and stage winner - sounds good.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
Shonak - Yeah, he's game (IRL) also!
Really nice race for us so far, as you can see from last few reports.
- Guys , i got strange "bug" with PCM on steam. It needed about 5-10 minutes to open (it's only case with PCM - my computer is pretty strong f.e. NBA 2k14 and FIFA 2014 running on full graphics, so it's not problem) and now it takes even more (even 15 minutes sometimes). Is that because of new patch/ PCM database or because of something else? I reinstalled it, contacted game support/steam and no answer yet. This "bug" is there since start of Radenska, but it really starts annoying me now. I also deleted all databases and still same. Don't know what to do... Not helping with motivation , really.
Edited by admirschleck on 04-12-2013 20:04
When trying to start game, and when trying to play any stage (loading time). Gameplay is fine, running at about 50-60 FPS with MAX settings.
Edited by admirschleck on 04-12-2013 20:34
Stages just take longer on PCM13, but i found lowering the settings reduces the load times. Not heard anything about startup as even my steam powered half broken laprop opens the game in 2 minutes
Sorry for bumping , but anyone? I really like this story and it would be cool if i could continue, but if answer don't appears it seems like i'll have to take a break until i somehow solve this.
Tour Santos Down Under - Stage 2
