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Team Milram
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 31-03-2008 12:14
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
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Tirreno-Adriatico
Stage 7
Deffinately one for the sprinters. At 45 seconds up Rebellin in garanteed the overall win unless he crashes. Obviously we'll br going for the win and valuble Pro-Tour points with Petacchi in this stage.
As usual a number of riders attacked and came together further down the road to create a leading group of 13 riders.
Again Gerolsteiner controlled the peleton and didn't let the gap get too big. With about 50k to go the gap was still around 4 mins and so the sprinter teams, including Milram, went to the front to bring the gap down.
The last remaining members of the break were caught with about 30k to go and the build up for the sprint began. I sent Ongaratto and Sacchi to the front of the train to lead out Pettachi. Once again the other sprinters saw that my train was the strongest and jumped onto Petacchi's wheel.
As soon as they passed the 3k sign the sprint started and Pettachi got a good lead. But once again Boonen was simply too strong for him and his -2 daily rating didn't help. Obviously the previous days mountains had taken their toll on Petacchi. Boonen quickly went around Pettachi and Friere followed him.
At one point it looked like Petacchi was going to crack completely but he dug in and held on to take 3rd.
Hopefully Petacchi will be in better shape next week at the Milan-San Remo.
Rebellin takes the win. Once again B.Telecom manage to get someone into the top 10 on gc. I'm going to have to get a result in the Milan-San Remo to move up the standings.
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| matt493 |
Posted on 31-03-2008 12:59
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3549
Joined: 01-10-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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too bad you couldn't win. but 3rd is still good.
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 31-03-2008 13:13
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
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yeah, well i couldn't really do much else. he was led out perfectly but with his -2 daily rating Boonen and Friere were simply stronger on the day.
Hopefully he'll have a better day at the Milan-San Remo. |
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 01-04-2008 16:55
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
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Milan-San Remo
The first major classic of the season and my first major goal. This race will be very important in getting me up and running in the Pro-Tour comp and i send the strongest squad i have to bring home a win.
Squad: Petacchi, Zabel, Sacchi, Celestino, Astarloa, Grivko, Velo, Lorrenzetto
A group of 18 riders went away including the likes of Big Magnus Backstedt and David Miller. They built up an advantage of 10 mins by the time they went through the tunnel at the top of the only major climb of the day.
On the dessent however the sprinters teams moved to the front and the gap quickly began to fall. With about 75k to go the gap was down to just 30 seconds as the riders in the break sat up. George Hincapie used this oportunity as the peleton relaxed to launch his attack. He put everything he had into it and quickly blew past the remaining breakaway riders and build a significant gap.
I think that because he was out on his own a few of the riders at the front didn't take the attack seriously and he was allowed to stay away. The gap went up to 3 mins and stayed at around 3 mins for a while.
Finally as the race entered the hills at the end the peleton decided to start chasing. However, despite the best efforts of Zabel, Sacchi and Celestino, at the top of the last hill Hincapie still had a lead of over 1.30.
Hincapie had buried himself to get away and he wasn't going to throw this lead away easily. As the Peleton headed down the final descent there was a pile up that took out both Boonen and Friere. With a daily rating of +5 Petacchi was surely now the favourite for the win, if only we could catch Hincapie. On the final run in to the line the gap from Hincapie to the peleton was still over a minute but falling quite quickly. Hincapie was tiring. The Milram train continued at a ferocious pace and no other trains could keep up. Celestino dropped off to leave Sacchi and Zabel to Lead out Pettachi in the final 5k. As the peletonwent under the 3k to go banner the sprnt started and it was clear that Peacchi was the fastest in the bunch. But how far ahead was Hincapie.
Hincapie was exhausted but was there enough road left for Petacchi to make up the difference. Either he had no energy left or he thought he was further ahead then he really was, but Hincapie didn't sprint. As he saw Petacchi gaining he finally got out of his saddle but it was too late as Petacchi easily blew past him with just meters to spare.
Pettachi crossed the line in first to claim an excellent win for himself and the team. The chase had been timed to perfection and Petacchi had once again proven himself as the best sprinter in the world on the flat.
To make the dream result even better Zabel sprinted home in 5th and Sacchi followed his wheel to 7th. Today couldn't have gone any better.
This was the last Pro-Tour event of the month so here is the table of how things look after the first months racing. We sit proudly in second while unibet.com are the only team still to get off the mark.
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| fefj |
Posted on 01-04-2008 17:00
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Domestique
Posts: 661
Joined: 15-02-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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Nice win ! |
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| rjc_43 |
Posted on 01-04-2008 20:46
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Team Leader
Posts: 6716
Joined: 13-10-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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You no longer need to worry about demotion  the teams who get demoted in my games usually only get like 40 points 
[url=cleavercycling.co.uk]  [/url] |
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| Oliuj |
Posted on 01-04-2008 22:31
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Under 23
Posts: 61
Joined: 28-09-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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That was a great victory that probably will make you stay on the ProTour.
Edited by Oliuj on 01-04-2008 22:32
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Posted on 23-12-2024 16:26
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 02-04-2008 09:06
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
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thanks.
yes i definately think i'll be staying up this year, and Petacchi has agreed to extend his contract which is excellent. I think Unibet are definately going down. Also i think that teams like B.Telecom and Cofidis have trained hard early on to get as many early season points as possible. I doubt they'll get much from the classics and once the other team get fitter they won't get anyone in the top 10 of any of the major races.
I've had a quick look at some of the riders who are out of contract at the end of the season and have already made up a little shortlist. Do i have to wait till June to contact them or can i aproach them earlier? |
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| fefj |
Posted on 02-04-2008 09:29
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Domestique
Posts: 661
Joined: 15-02-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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You'll have to wait till June. |
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| wackojackohighcliffe |
Posted on 02-04-2008 10:01
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7681
Joined: 19-02-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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1st July isnt it?
anyway good win
with some giro/tour stage wins you'll definitely stay up
but i think pettachi's stats go down after a year:cry: |
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 02-04-2008 10:13
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
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:cry: oh well, hopefully i'll be able to sign some better riders in the winter and so i won't be so dependant on him next year.
Yeah, i think it is July actually. I just wasn't sure if i could sound out riders before then to see if it would be worth making an approach for them.
Hopefully i can get some more good results and attract some big names. i want to make the team more then just a sprint team. It's annoying in the tours knowing that i'm only there for the sprints and just hanging on for most of the stages! Like in the Tirreno-Adriatico. After the 2nd stage there were 4 stages where i knew i wouldn't get anything and had to simply hang on in the peleton. |
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 02-04-2008 22:31
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
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Well after our excellent win in San Remo the mood in the Milram camp is extreamely high. I've still got a few minor races before the spring classics season gets into full swing.
Petacchi will have the rest of the month off as he has requested. Not really to sure what to do with him next month. The GP al Pais Vasco will be too hilly and i don't really see him as a spring classics rider. What does everyone else think?
As for the rest of my squad, Celestino, Astarloa, Grivko and Ghisalberti are off to the Coppa Ciclistica Internazionale in preperation for the GP al Pais Vasco. Celestino wants to ride the GP von Vlaanderen instead but i feel, in the form he's in, he can get a top 10 at the pais vasco.
Meanwhile Zabel and Sacchi will be racing the Kortijk-Waregem and the G3-Harelbeke in preperation for the classics season. There's also the Brabantse prijs-Alsemberg to race but i'll prob just send a young squad for experience.
I did a few races today but i can't be bothered to put the stories up atm, i'll do it tomorrow. Seeing as they're only minor races there'll only be brief reports and results anyway.
cheers. |
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| matt493 |
Posted on 02-04-2008 22:32
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3549
Joined: 01-10-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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Well I hope they are good results.
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| wackojackohighcliffe |
Posted on 02-04-2008 22:36
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7681
Joined: 19-02-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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Milram are fun to dominate sprints with but from then on it's like riding with a continental team |
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 03-04-2008 10:24
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
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Coppa Ciclistica Internazionale
Stage 1
Squad: Celestino, Astarloa, Grivko, Ghisalberti, Terpstra, Dyudya, Sabatini, Schwagwer
Celestino will be my leader during this tour and will be supported by Astarloa, Grivko and Ghisalberti. The other 4 are all young rigers here for the experience.
Stage one is completely flat until the last 20 k when it sees a short sharpe climb and then a slightly sess steep but longer climb that will decide the outcome of the race. As usual a break goes away and i manage to get Terpstra into it. He rides well before the group are caught with about 40k to go. My 4 main riders all move near the front of the peleton and with a daily rating of +5 and a 92 fitness rating Celestino is looking good. Half-way up the last climb both Cunego and Di Luca attack and i send Celestino on the counter. He easily catches them and the three of them ride strongly to a gap of 1 min at the top of the hill. It is clear that the three will stay away and with his supperior fitness and daily rating Celestino takes the sprint from Cunago in second and Di Luca in 3rd. Celestino truely deserves this win for the work he's done for the team all year. So now we have the leaders jersey to protect in tomorrows ttt.
GC:
1. Celestino Milaram 3.49.59
2. Cunego Lampre +8
3. Di Luca Liquigas +12
4. Mozzoleni Astana +1.32
5. Tont Quickstep st
6. Jufre Pou Predictor-Lotto st
7. Mayo Saunier Duval st
8. Get Cataluna Team LRP + 2.09
9. Zaugg Gerolsteiner st
10. Guerini T-Mobile st
11. Grivko Milram st
Stage 2
Is a dead flat 14k ttt. Not much to report. T-Mobile won and we came 5th at +26 seconds to keep hold of the leaders jersey. Tomorrows stage will be faught out by the sprinters so we should be able to keep hold of the jersey for tomorrow at least.
Kortrik-Waregem
Squad: Zabel, Sacchi, Grabsch, Knees, Siedler, Sieburg, Rigotto, Ongarato
A strong field in one of the last practise cobble races before the spring classics get under way. Zabel would be my leader and would be going for a top 10 finish. As expected a break went away and was caught with quite a long way to go. From then on the pace in the peleton was extreamly high and its number slowly decreased fromover 100 down to 50 and then one by one down to about 25. I still had 3 riders, Zabel, Sacchi and Grebsch, riding with the peleton and with about 20 k to go i tried to send Zabel on an attack before the last cobbled section. It didn't work as the pace was simply too high. With about 15k to go the peleton completely split into 4 or 5 small groups. Zabel was in the largest group number 3 while Sacchi and Grabsch fell back into groups futher back. Zabels group worked hard but couldn't catch the griups ahead as Hoste rode off to another solo victory with a minuits advantage over the next group. Zabel cracked during the sprint and finished last in his group to take 15th.
Results:
1. Hoste Predictor-Lotto 5.32.04
2. Cancellara CSC +54
3. Flecha Rabobank st
4. O'Grady CSC st
5. Hincapie Discovery st
6. Van PetegemQuickstep +145
7. Gilbert FD Jeux +2.19
8. Weseman Wiesenhof st
9. Nuyens Cofidis st
10. Eeckhout Chocolade J +3.57
15. Zabel Milram st
Edited by ringo182 on 03-04-2008 10:27
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 04-04-2008 17:24
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
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hey guys, should have the next few stages up in the next couple of days. My brothers back at uni tomorrow so i should be able to get on the computer more. |
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 05-04-2008 09:18
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
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Coppa Ciclistica Internazionale
Stagw 3
Stage 3 was definately a sprinters stage and so todays task would be to try to control the peleton and keep hold of Celestino's leaders jersey. There was a decent sized hill about 80k's to the finish and my plan was to let any breaks go away and start to chase it properly on the long descent as i didn't want to exhaust my young team. I also expected to get some help from the sprinter teams.
As expected a group went away and got a lead of about 7 mins going over the hill. At the top i sent my 4 young riders to the front and told them to show me what they could do. They duely obliged and with 50k to go the gap was down to 3 mins. At this point the sprint teams moved to the front and so i called my riders back into the peleton. The break was caught and the sprint was won by Grillo.
GC
1. Celestino Milram 9.11.28
2. Cunego Lampre +11
3. Di Luca Liquigas +25
4. Mazzoleni Astana +1.17
5. Jufre Pou Predictor +1.35
6. Henderson T-Mobile +1.43
7. Korff T-Mobile st
8. Schreck T-Mobile st
9. Pinotti T-Mobile st
10. Pill T-Mobile st
Stage 4
The only mountain stage of the race and it will see the biggest battle for Celestino to hang onto his jersey. A break of 9 goes away and on the flatish section leading up to the final two climbs of the day i again send my youngsters to the front to chase them dowm. They are helped by the Liquigas and Lampre teams obviously working hard for Di Luca and Cunego. At the bottom of the last climb the group has been caught and The main contenders are all together. Mazzoleni attacks and seeing the danger i send Celestino on the counter but neither of us could get away and we are quickly sucked back in. At this point Di Luca launches his attack and is joined by a couple of others. Celestino has got no strengh left to counter and i can only hope that Di Luca attack is unsuccessful. My prayers are answered as the peleton is travelling that quickly that no-one has a chance to break away. It's going to come down to a sprint and i set Celestino up behind Di Luca. Meanwhile Cunego has cracked on the final climb and dropped out of the lead group. In the Sprint Mozzoleni proves to be the strongest. Di Luca takes 2nd and Caruso of Lampre 3rd. Celestino comes in 6th while Cunago looses 30 seconds in 17th. The result means that Celestino has retained his jersey and takes it into tomorrows final flat stage. I'll still have to keep an eye out for Di Luca though.
GC
1. Celestino Milram 13.10.38
2. Di Luca Liquigas +13
3. Cunego Lampre +41
4. Mozzoleni Astana +57
5. Nufre Pou Predictor +1.35
6. Guerini T-Mobile +1.43
7. Iglanskiy Astana +1.54
8. Moletta Gerolsteiner st
9. Caruso Lampre +2.04
10. Tonti Quickstep st
G3-Harelbeke
Squad: Same as Kortrik-Waregem
Not as strong a field as at the Kortrik-Waregem a couple of days ago but this race will give Zabel, Sacchi et al some good reace practice before the big classics. The wind was ferocious and because of this absolutely no-one dared to attack. The peleton stayed in one piece until the final short, sharp climb of the day when Eeckhout of Chocolade J and Van Impe of Quickstep got a gap. I tried to send Zabel but he didn't have the legs. They worked well together before Eeckhout attacked again and left Van Impe behind. He rode away for the solo win and Van Impe finished second. In the peleton i still had 7 of my riders in the reduced peleton and was trying to set up Zabel for the sprint for 3rd. However once again he didn't have the legs to jump onto the train so i decided to go with Sacchi as my sprinter and being led out by Siedler and Grabsch he sprinted away to take 3rd. Zabel recovered well to claim 7th and i got 6 of my riders in the top 30. I know it was a weak field but i still feel that my classics team is starting to perform well. |
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 06-04-2008 15:33
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
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Coppa Ciclistica Internazionale
Stage 5
The last stage of the race and this stage should see a sprint finish. Di Luca is only 13 seconds behind Celestino and with a 20 second bonus for the win i will still have to look out for him.
As expected a large breakaway went of and built up a gap. The highest placed rider in the break was 7 mins down and i was happy to let the break stay away so that Di Luca couldn't get the win. At the half way stage the gap was about 5 mins and i moved my team to the front to control the gap. As with the last flat stage, with about 50k to go the sprint teams moved to the front to bring the break back in. The final few break-away riders were caught in the last few k's and Grillo once again proved to be the strongest in the sprint. Di Luca didn't contest the sprint so Celestino was the overall winner. A great win for Celestino in preperation for the GP al Pais Vasco.
The GC remained unchanged from yesterday with Celestino winning by 13 seconds from Di Luca.
The riders now have a week off before the start of the classics season. I've split the team into 2 with half going of for a training camp at roubaix and half of to Lake Como for a bit of training in the hills. Next race is the GP van Vlaanderen.
Edited by ringo182 on 06-04-2008 15:34
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| matt493 |
Posted on 06-04-2008 15:38
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3549
Joined: 01-10-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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Good win. Keep it up.
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 07-04-2008 10:41
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
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GP van Vlaanderen
The first Northern Classic of the season will see a class field and we will have our work cut out to get a top 10 placing. It will be good practice for the Gent-Wevelgem which is one of our sponsors goals.
Squad: Zabel, Pettachi, Sacchi, Grabsch, Terpstra, Siedler, Sieburg, Ongarato
Zabel would be our leader for this race. The conditions were terrible with driving rain and a wind speed of 60(what is the wind meassured in in the game?). Because of the conditions no-one dared to attack and the race stayed together until the race reached the last 3rd. As the peleton went over the first hill a number of riders were dropped. This was the pattern for the rest of the race with the peleton slowly shrinking on each climb. With 30k to go the peleton was down to 40 with 5 Milram riders still hanging on in there. Zabel, Sacchi and Pettachi were looking comfortable while Grabsch and Ongarato were hanging on. Then disaster struck as Zabel punctured. I sent Ongarato and Grabsch back to help him but as the peleton was now movi g at quite a pace he had no chance of getting back. With Zabel went my realistic chances of getting a top ten and Sacchi and Petacchi soon began to struggle as the peleton split up. At the front Pozzato attacked on the second last hill and was followed by Hoste and Flecha.
At the top of the hill Pozzato still had his advantage and was looking strong. Hoste and Flecha were still just behind and chasing hard.
Pozzato was too strong for the chasers and rode away to a fine solo victory. Hoste had more left in the tank and won the sprint for second.
As for Milram, Sacchi, Zabel and Petacchi all finished in the front 35 riders but just weren't strong enough to get any pro tour points. The fact they all had -daily raings didn't help either.
On a plus note, Petacchi won rider of the month for March following his win in San Remo and a couple of podium placings at the Tirreno-Adriatico. |
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