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KOFOLA - Going West | Tour du Haut Var
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| calamada8454 |
Posted on 30-10-2014 22:41
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Junior Rider
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THX Sutty and Hoyle. I'm just worried that our team is not strong enough. If Barta gets dropped on the climbs, there will be no way he could chase leaders in those last 50k. It will be very fast for sure... |
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 30-10-2014 22:44
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Grand Tour Champion
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I wouldn't worry too much about it  It will be something to build on over the season
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| OZrocker |
Posted on 31-10-2014 01:35
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Hoping the team can protect his top 10 place, fingers crossed 
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| calamada8454 |
Posted on 02-11-2014 19:51
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Welcome to the final stage! 9 riders got into the early break. There was no direct threat to Barta's TOP 10 position - best placed riders in the break were Rabottini (YEL) and Caruso (KAT) @2min behind him. Betancur's AG2R controlled the break - by the start of the first climb on reasonable gap 5:30...
But tempo on the climbs was rather slow in the pack, so the gap rose to 6:30 at the summit. It was time for us to go on the front. Our good descenders Domont & Herklotz brought gap back to 4:30...
Barta had very good sensations on the climbs. On the last one, when it was clear the break won't make it, he decided to attack and try his luck. Hirt and Koren helped him...
But the pack didn't let us go away. So Jan backed off, trying to keep his powder dry. As expected, in final kilometers tempo was very high. Climbs proved too hard for our young sprinter Mateusz Nowak and he couldn't stand the pace. So it was all on Barta himself. He felt very good - he knew that only disaster could take 7th place overall from him now. So he decided to contest the sprint and went to the front as pack overtook breakaway riders...
Jan couldn't believe he was still on Bennati's wheel when sprint started with 1km to go. Maybe climbs took its toll from sprinters - there were no sprint trains forming...
Daniele Bennati proved he was the best prepared sprinter at this year's race and won another stage, with Trek's Giacomo Nizollo on 2nd place. Jan is sprinting on third place with just 100m to go, but is loosing speed. Can he get on the podium?
Only photo finish showed Jan Barta managed to hold on third place by mere centimeter! Luca Paolini and Gianni Meersman were coming really fast from behind, but it was not enough. We are on the podium!!
| 1 | Daniele Bennati | Tinkoff - Saxo | 3h54'21 | | 2 | Giacomo Nizzolo | Trek Factory Racing | s.t. | | 3 | Jan Barta | Kofola Cycling Team | s.t. | | 4 | Luca Paolini | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 5 | Gianni Meersman | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team | s.t. | | 6 | Carlos Betancur | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. | | 7 | Beñat Intxausti | Movistar Team | s.t. | | 8 | Paul Martens | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 9 | Heinrich Haussler | IAM Cycling | s.t. | | 10 | Simone Ponzi | YellowFluo | s.t. |
| 1 | Carlos Betancur | AG2R La Mondiale | 12h55'40 | | 2 | Beñat Intxausti | Movistar Team | + 8 | | 3 | Daniel Martin | Garmin Sharp | + 12 | | 4 | Luis León Sánchez | Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | + 57 | | 5 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar Team | + 2'05 | | 6 | Daniele Bennati | Tinkoff - Saxo | + 3'42 | | 7 | Jan Barta | Kofola Cycling Team | + 4'16 | | 8 | Lars Petter Nordhaug | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | + 4'30 | | 9 | Fredrik Kessiakoff | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | 10 | Chris Froome | Team Sky | s.t. |
Edited by calamada8454 on 02-11-2014 22:35
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 02-11-2014 19:54
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Tour de France Champion
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Joined: 22-08-2010
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Barta was so close to the win on that stage today
Edited by sutty68 on 03-11-2014 09:35
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 02-11-2014 20:09
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7651
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Great podium
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| OZrocker |
Posted on 03-11-2014 08:30
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Well done, a great start to the year for a new team.
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| calamada8454 |
Posted on 03-11-2014 19:17
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Junior Rider
Posts: 37
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Another week passed by and we are now in Provence region of southern France where is another season objective waiting for us. Tour du Haut Var is maybe not so prestige regarding presence of first class riders, but from our sponsor's view it is more important. With company's plans to expand to France this is the race we need to shine and deliver TOP 10 result overall...
In the case early break would succeed today, we put Martin Velits up the road. He was cooperating well with De Man (MMM) and Dakteris (CCD)...
Later on they were joined by another 4 riders, but Katusha, Orica and Garmin started to pull on the front of the peloton. When they reached final 5 hills their gap shrunk just to 1:30. With 15to go, Wilco Kelderman of Belkin attacked...
It was a strong move, he gained 20 seconds despite the hard work of peloton. We kept our leaders, Koren and Barta well protected on the front...
Finish line was on the uphill section and we timed our sprint perfectly. Koren did good job leading Jan from the 6th place. Kelderman was still holding 12s gap to the peloton with 500m to go...
But Jan showed he is enjoying great form and managed to overtake fading Landa (AST), Rodriguez (KAT) and Rensburg (GIA)...
Great stuff! Our sponsor is very happy, with one stage to go we have three riders in top 10 (Velits won intermediate sprint) and our objective looks reachable.
| 1 | Wilco Kelderman | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | 3h57'03 | | 2 | Jan Barta | Kofola Cycling Team | + 9 | | 3 | Mikel Landa | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | 4 | JoaquÃm RodrÃguez | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 5 | Jonathan Hivert | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 6 | Kristjan Koren | Kofola Cycling Team | s.t. | | 7 | John Gadret | Movistar Team | s.t. | | 8 | Pieter Weening | Orica GreenEdge | s.t. | | 9 | Bauke Mollema | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 10 | Giovanni Visconti | Movistar Team | s.t. |
| 1 | Wilco Kelderman | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | 3h56'43 | | 2 | Jan Barta | Kofola Cycling Team | + 17 | | 3 | Mikel Landa | Astana Pro Team | + 21 | | 4 | Martin Velits | Kofola Cycling Team | + 23 | | 5 | JoaquÃm RodrÃguez | Team Katusha | + 29 | | 6 | Jonathan Hivert | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 7 | Kristjan Koren | Kofola Cycling Team | s.t. | | 8 | John Gadret | Movistar Team | s.t. | | 9 | Pieter Weening | Orica GreenEdge | s.t. | | 10 | Bauke Mollema | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
Edited by calamada8454 on 03-11-2014 19:42
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 03-11-2014 19:26
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7651
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Good result on the first stage of Haut Var
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 03-11-2014 23:09
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Tour de France Champion
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Barta certainly has some good form at the moment |
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| calamada8454 |
Posted on 04-11-2014 21:33
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Junior Rider
Posts: 37
Joined: 05-10-2010
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Stage 2 at Tour du Haut Var is not an easy one. We are in good position with Barta on 2nd place, but there is barely flat road in this stage. Never-ending succession of hills is highlighted by 800m Cote de Tuilieres with average gradient of 13% just 15k from finish. We can expect fireworks from many favorites, so it will be tough to defend position in top 10.
As usually, we put rider in the break. This time A. Domont felt good - it was his home race. Break of 6 riders built healthy advantage of 8 minutes...
Katusha and Astana started to pull on the front of the peloton and gap fell down quickly. Koren had a bad fall with 39k to go. What a pity, he was supposed to be main help for Barta in closing kilometers. Once we hit Cote des Tulieres, attacks started. Coppel, Mollema, Weening, Landa and Durasek went hard, so Barta in green jersey decided to go with them...
On the top, Barta was completely exhausted. It was such a hard effort! When he looked behind, he saw he has a gap over the peloton. He tried to gather strength for remaining 15 kilometers.
It was only Mollema, Weening, Kelderman and Coppel in front of him. After few minutes of hard effort he realized he is not the only one with tired legs. He made it to Kelderman and Coppel. With furious chase behind him and his aim for top 10 overall, he didn't want to play games and continued to ride hard...
Meanwhile, Mollema took the stage for Belkin...
When closing to the finish line, Barta stopped working hard on the front. He thought he has top 10 place secured by now. He tried to concentrate on final sprint. He gave it his best, but it was not enough to beat race leader Kelderman, who was sitting on his wheel for last 7km....
| 1 | Bauke Mollema | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | 5h03'55 | | 2 | Pieter Weening | Orica GreenEdge | s.t. | | 3 | Wilco Kelderman | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | +1'21'' | | 4 | Jan Barta | Kofola Cycling Team | s.t. | | 5 | Jerome Coppel | Cofidis, Solution Creditis | s.t. |
| 1 | Bauke Mollema | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | 9h00'47 | | 2 | Pieter Weening | Orica GreenEdge | + 8 | | 3 | Wilco Kelderman | Belkin Pro Cycling Team | +1'04 | | 4 | Jan Barta | Kofola Cycling Team | +1'29 | | 5 | Mikel Landa | Astana Pro Team | +1'33 | | 6 | Martin Velits | Kofola Cycling Team | +1'35 |
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Posted on 22-12-2024 01:07
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 04-11-2014 22:59
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Posts: 34654
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Jan will certainly be happy with his early season form |
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 09-11-2014 23:39
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Great result for the team
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