A quick update as I await on my plane to Marseille at Palma de Mallorca airport.
What a day it's been! Our first stage victory and a fine chance of the overall means I'm flying to the Tour Mediteranean with great hopes and expectations. I'm really looking forward to it, although it's the first race this season where I'll be under a certain amount of pressure to deliver a big result with our sponsors watching so closely. Like I said earlier though, I'm confident about our chances. I'm also confident in Luis Leon Sanchez's ability to deliver too, and thought I'd share this snap that was on the sports pages of the first edition newspapers I bought whilist waiting at the airport:
It's these moments that make you glad to be a team manager. I'll be reporting to you all tomorrow, so until then, all the best people!
The team worked to protect Sanchez today, as a group of 7 riders broke away from the peloton.
The breakaway’s lead peaked at 7 minutes, and then we took control of the pack and reeled them in. The sprinter’s teams of Quickstep and Rabobank then came to the front, working for Freire and Boonen. Boonen just edged it in the sprint, with Freire second. José Joaquin Rojas helped bring back the break but still managed to finish third, a solid performance from the team today.
Stage 4 Results:
1 Tom Boonen Quick•Step 3h57'11
2 Óscar Freire Rabobank s.t. 3 José Joaquín Rojas Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
4 Fran Ventoso Andalucía - CajaSur s.t.
5 Koldo Fernández de Larrea Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
6 Sébastien Chavanel Française des Jeux s.t.
7 Wouter Weylandt Quick•Step s.t.
8 Sebastian Siedler Skil - Shimano s.t.
9 Rafael Rodríguez Contentpolis - Murcia s.t.
10 Rubén Pérez Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
11 Iñaki Isasi Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
12 Carlos Torrent Extremadura - Ciclismo Solidario s.t.
13 Samuel Dumoulin Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone s.t.
14 Aitor Galdos Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
15 Heinrich Haussler Gerolsteiner s.t.
I was about to bring you the first stage of the Tour Mediteranean, but for some reason, photobuckets playin' up and I can't get into the correct folder. Hopefully get it posted tomorrow morning, hopefully it won't effect continuity of the story too much
I’ve flown a few hundred miles north now to La Crau for the start of the Tour Mediterranean, one of the most important dates on the calendar for the team. It isn’t going to be easy to win a lot of the team goals, and looking at it on paper this is the easiest one by some distance, as many top riders are either not here or off form. We brought a fairly strong squad, with Spanish champion Rodriguez as the leader for the 5 day race. His skills in the hills will be vital in this 5 stage race, particularly on stage 3 where this race could easily be won or lost. Here’s the team list:
As you’ll notice, we lack a sprinter for this race with Drujon and Rojas both riding in Mallorca – at Rojas’s request. I had hoped young Johnny Bellis would be available for the race, but he is still trying to gain fitness after not riding much on roads during the winter.
The first thing I noticed this morning as the stage began was the lack of big name sprinters one usually associates with this race, Boonen in particular has always favoured this early season race – but not this year, as we’ve seen. The lack of names even lead the bookmaker’s to make some strange decisions – Backstedt of Slipstream is a big favourite today, even though out-and-out sprinters like Gadret and Bonnet are riding, they’re only given a small chance of winning on this first flat stage.
Anyway, on to today’s action - the peloton rolled out of La Crau a little bit too leisurely for Ista (Agritubel), so he went on the attack. He caught the whole peleton sleeping as he immediately opened up a large gap of around one minute 30 seconds. At this point several teams decided they had missed out and sent a rider up the road to join Ista, including us as we sent Luis Passamontes. Eventually a chase group of 8 riders formed, including Pasamontes, De Zutter, Criquielion, Thurau, Carlstrom, Hoj, Vandenburgh and Serri. The group quickly established time on the peloton, but the gap to Ista stayed at 1 minute 30 seconds: the group were not working well together at all – constantly attacking each other and playing games. It’s like they forgot there was a man up the road completely! I told Passamontes to just ride at the back – there was no way the break was going to work with riders like this.
Ista spends the day off the front and takes an early lead in the sprint and mountain competitions as the chasing group mess about attacking each other.
And it wasn’t long before the “chasing” group was caught – in fact there was still 60km to go! Ista continued to work well off the front though, delaying the catch all the way until the 25km to go point. We don’t really have much hope in the sprints, but that’s what today’s stage was going to be, so we told Arnold Coyot to try his best – he certainly started well, grabbing the wheel of Trussov as he was lead out by Tinkoff team mate Mazzant.
Ista has had a good ride today, but it’s all in vain as the teams ready themselves for the sprint. The two early trains that form are Tinkoff and AG2R, as Dion leads out Mondary, with Bonnet in the mix too.
Disaster strikes for the Tinkoff train though as they get swamped and then blocked out by other riders. This opens up a gap for the Bouyeges train to come through as Haddou gives Clerc a perfect leadout to the start of the sprint. Bonnet has miraculously just held his position at the front without a lead out at all, as the sprint opens up in the last 800m. It’ll be between Clerc, Bonnet and Mondary despite a late effort from Slipstream to get Maaskant involved. Backstedt is nowhere to be seen.
The sprint gets underway between the French teams, whoever wins will be popular today with the crowd! After a few hundred metres Mondary fades – just Clerc and Bonnet left now...it’s such a close one, but as they enter the last 50 metres Clerc just slows a little and Bonnet takes it by half a wheel!
Not really a stage for us today but Coyot did well to finish in the top 20 in 17th, considering he’s not a sprinter by trade. It’s been a frustrating day for us actually; it is hard coming from a race like the Vuelta a Mallorca where we were looking for a victory every day, to a race like here where our hopes are hinged on the hilly day three and maybe a breakaway if we’re lucky. Here are today’s results though from the Tour Mediterannean.
Stage 1 Results:
1 William Bonnet Crédit Agricole 3h01'25
2 Aurélien Clerc Bouygues Télécom s.t.
3 Lloyd Mondory AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
4 Nikolai Trussov Tinkoff Credit Systems s.t.
5 Martijn Maaskant Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O s.t.
6 Max Van Heeswijk Willems Veranda's Continental Team s.t.
7 Guido Trenti Liquigas s.t.
8 Ricardo Serrano Tinkoff Credit Systems s.t.
9 Mickael Delage Française des Jeux s.t.
10 Alexandre Pichot Bouygues Télécom s.t.
11 Bernardo Riccio Tinkoff Credit Systems s.t.
12 Sven Nevens Mitsubishi - Jartazi - Protech s.t.
13 Pierre Rolland Crédit Agricole s.t.
14 Mathieu Ladagnous Française des Jeux s.t.
15 Saïd Haddou Bouygues Télécom s.t.
Today looked like being another sprinter’s stage judging by the route profile. We knew that we had pinned a lot on tomorrow’s stage where the overall is likely to be decided – it’s a very risky strategy. With this race being important for the sponsor we decided at the team meeting it would be important to try and get a stage win at some point in case we weren’t able to take tomorrow’s stage. Therefore the team agreed that whoever felt the best this morning would get in the day’s TV break. There aren’t so many of the bigger sprinters here so we felt that a break has a slightly higher chance of making it...but it’s still slim.
Anyway after the peloton rolled out of La Londe this morning, young Rigoberto Uran felt like going for a day off the front – so he did, joined by a host of other riders too.
Uran claims one of the KOM sprints as the break works well together. It’s composed of 8 riders: Schorn, Uran, Zielinkski, Cadellini, Kaupas, Francois, Mangel and breakaway specialist Buffaz.
The break, however, would not last the full day. We knew this from a very early stage when Credit Agricole , Tinkoff and AG2R controlled the pace together all day – a strange combination of teams working together but a break of 8 stood no chance against their collective pedal power...
We made the best of the situation as Uran claimed 28 KOM points in the break today – that’s enough for him to wear the jersey tomorrow, and defending it is something he and our sponsors will hope to do. The break was reeled in with 25km to go, and the teams with sprinters were working hard again to get good positions. Magnus Backstedt was one of the favourites again today, but it was clear he was working for their young Dutch star Maaskant as he brought him up to a great position. We told Coyot to get involved again, to try and use the Tinkoff train again. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to get across to them and would end up slipping back. As the race entered the last few hundred metres, it was clear that the Tinkoff train had done a wonderful job for Trussov – he was in the perfect position as the sprint began. He had Maaskant on his wheel, but there was no way he was strong enough to come past the Tinkoff man. Race leader William Bonnet had struggled too as the sprint wound up, and started to far back to be involved in the win. Just when it looked like Trussov had it all sown up, Mondary of AG2R came flying out the wheels and level with Trussov in the last few hundred metres – this was going to be some finish! Could Mondary do it? No! Trussov somehow managed to cling on right to the line from Mondary in an exciting finish! Maaskant took an excellent 3rd.
Trussov wins an exciting finale!
Stage 2 Results:
1 Nikolai Trussov Tinkoff Credit Systems 3h15'43
2 Lloyd Mondory AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
3 Martijn Maaskant Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O s.t.
4 Mickael Delage Française des Jeux s.t.
5 William Bonnet Crédit Agricole s.t.
6 Aurélien Clerc Bouygues Télécom s.t.
7 Max Van Heeswijk Willems Veranda's Continental Team s.t.
8 Ricardo Serrano Tinkoff Credit Systems s.t.
9 Luca Mazzanti Tinkoff Credit Systems s.t.
10 Mikel Gaztañaga Agritubel s.t.
11 Pierre Rolland Crédit Agricole s.t.
12 Guido Trenti Liquigas s.t. 13 Arnaud Coyot Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
14 Kevyn Ista Agritubel s.t.
15 Mikhail Ignatiev Tinkoff Credit Systems s.t.
Overall:
1 Lloyd Mondory AG2R - La Mondiale 6h16'48
2 Nikolai Trussov Tinkoff Credit Systems s.t.
3 William Bonnet Crédit Agricole s.t.
4 Aurélien Clerc Bouygues Télécom + 8
5 Martijn Maaskant Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O + 12
6 Mickael Delage Française des Jeux + 20
7 Max Van Heeswijk Willems Veranda's Continental Team s.t.
8 Ricardo Serrano Tinkoff Credit Systems s.t.
9 Guido Trenti Liquigas s.t.
10 Pierre Rolland Crédit Agricole s.t. 11 Arnaud Coyot Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
44 Dani Moreno Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
49 Joaquim Rodríguez Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
53 Xavier Zandio Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
60 Fran Pérez Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
61 Rigoberto Urán Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
68 Imanol Erviti Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
102 Luis Pasamontes Caisse d'Epargne + 3'54
Points:
1 Nikolai Trussov Tinkoff Credit Systems 39
2 William Bonnet Crédit Agricole 37
3 Lloyd Mondory AG2R - La Mondiale 36
4 Aurélien Clerc Bouygues Télécom 30
5 Martijn Maaskant Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O 28
KOM:
1 Rigoberto Urán Caisse d'Epargne 28
2 Kevyn Ista Agritubel 20
3 Daniel Schorn ELK Haus - Simplon 20
4 Mickael Buffaz Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone 16
5 Piotr Zielinski Bretagne - Armor Lux 10
Well it’s the big one tomorrow. We’ve managed as a team this season to be involved in all the key stages of races this season and this is something I hope Rodriguez can continue tomorrow. He was on the phone to Luis Leon Sanchez tonight to congratulate him on his Mallorca win and get a bit of advice on getting the gap at a key stage in the race. I’ve certainly been impressed with his professional approach to the race – he knows how much this race matters to the team’s future.
It was left to Caisse d’Epargne to chase down today’s break, which contained Remi Di Gregorio. He seemed to be after the KOM jersey today, but just to be safe they were reeled in with 25km to go. The high pace set by the team had fragmented the peloton a little, so the sprinters teams were too tired to set it up for the big names, and no one was in a great position with 10km to go.
It was a strange finish today, as punchy riders were mixing it with the sprinters who managed to get over the day’s hills in a good condition. Rojas was one of those sprinters, who took Sanchez on his wheel. Rojas opened the sprint and was looking good for the win until Markus Zberg came from nowhere in the last 200m at pipped him on the line! So close to another stage win! Sanchez came in 6th, and takes the stage race in style. Our first overall victory of 2008!
Stage 5 Results:
1 Markus Zberg Gerolsteiner 3h49'43 2 José Joaquín Rojas Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
3 Rodrigo García Extremadura - Ciclismo Solidario s.t.
4 Fabian Wegmann Gerolsteiner s.t.
5 Martin Mareš PSK Whirlpool - Author s.t. 6 Luis León Sánchez Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
7 Paul Martens Rabobank s.t.
8 Riccardo Riccò Saunier Duval - Scott s.t.
9 Heinrich Haussler Gerolsteiner s.t.
10 Óscar Freire Rabobank s.t.
11 Kevin Hulsmans Quick•Step s.t.
12 Maarten Wynants Quick•Step s.t.
13 Pedro Horrillo Rabobank s.t.
14 Jaume Rovira Extremadura - Ciclismo Solidario s.t.
15 Eros Capecchi Saunier Duval - Scott s.t.
1 Enrique Mata Burgos Monumental 6
2 Vladimir Isaychev Karpin Galicia 6
3 Fran Ventoso Andalucía - CajaSur 6
4 José Herrada Contentpolis - Murcia 4
5 Luis Ángel Maté Andalucía - CajaSur 3
KOM:
1 Rémy Di Gregorio Française des Jeux 30
2 Adrián Palomares Contentpolis - Murcia 26
3 Martín Mata Burgos Monumental 17
4 Steve Zampieri Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone 17
5 Oliver Zaugg Gerolsteiner 14
I have to go to a cycle sale this morning but I hope to have a bit of free time this afternoon to progress the story a bit further Edited by stuartmcstuart on 11-05-2008 08:56
Well, here we are in Rousset getting ready for the big stage of the Tour Mediterranean. It’s going to be pleasant enough weather wise for the riders today, so I’m sure we’ll see some explosive action as we finish on Mount Faron today. It should be exciting, and I just hope we’re involved in it right to the finish. Rodriguez is coming into a bit of form now, so I hope he can deliver a big performance for us, in particular. He’s a big favourite today, along with Mazzanti and Sandy Casar of Francais de Jeux.
Anyway, we were just outside the neutral zone at the beginning of today’s stage when the attacks started. Rigoberto Uran was keen to keep his KOM jersey, and felt good, so he went on the attack immediately. There was a mountain sprint just 14km into today’s stage, so even if he wasn’t to stay away all day, there was still a good chance of points early on. And that proved to be the case, as he took the first mountain sprint before settling into a breakaway with two other men – Trampusch and Duret.
Rigoberto Uran extends his lead in the mountains competition, before working with the two other riders who had broken away with him.
The pack, however, was not happy about the make up of the day’s break. Uran and his companions were only 20 seconds back overall, and they were chased down after only gaining an advantage of around 2 minutes. There was still a long way to the finish though, and Le Mével of Credit Agricole fancied his chances. He launched off the front as Uran was reeled in, and soon built up a healthy lead of 5 minutes to the pack. With 44km to go though, and the pack beginning to reel him in, something really strange happened. Mazzanti, one of the pre-race favourites, decided to chase him down solo and waste his energy. It was apparent immediately he didn’t have the form to be a threat today, and was brought back by the pack in due time...
Le Mével goes away on his own before Mazzanti tries to chase him down solo.
Everything was going perfectly for Caisse d’Epargne during the stage – we weren’t obliged to chase really as AG2R were quite happy to work for Mondary, and we had got Rodgriguez positioned well near the front of the bunch with 25km to go. Then, disaster! Moreno and Perez, who had been protecting Rodriguez, touched wheels with each other – they both came down along with a Mistubishi rider. Fran Perez managed to get up and continue, but Dani Moreno sustained an injury as he hit the road hard. He’s had to withdraw from the race as a precaution, a real shame after his great start to the season. Rodriguez had to look after himself now, and didn’t do a bad job. On the second last hill, a group of riders tried to get away including Joly, Rod, Leferve, Rolland and Kushinski. With Mazzanti out of the running, and Casar nowhere, this could be the race winning move. I got onto Joachim via the radio. “Follow them, catch them on the descent and drop them on Mount Faron Joachim! This is your time!”
Caisse d’Epargne riders Dani Moreno and Fran Perez hit the deck while Rodriguez catches the leading group on the descent before the climb of Mount Faron.
And boy, did he follow my plans to perfection. A quick acceleration at the base of Mount Faron got rid of all riders except Liquigas’s Kuchinski. He suddenly bonked though, and was scrambling for food. Rodriguez was clear now, or so I thought...Casar launched from the peloton, and reached the break in no time, where Joly had held back for his team leader. He led Casar up to Joachim’s wheel.
Joachim gets clear of Kushinski only to be caught by Joly and Casar of FDJ as the summit of Mount Faron approaches...
The balance of this race had completely swung from Rodriguez’s favour. I told him to let the Francais de Jeux riders do all the work, and see if he could get them in the sprint. On paper, he is a stronger sprinter than either Joly or Casar, but they both looked so strong as they set a relentless pace up the climax of Mount Faron. I was screaming encouragement from the team car, but Joachim was beginning to look tired just at the wrong moment. As we entered the last kilometre he was caught out as he lost concentration. The two French riders accelerated for the line, and Joachim was too slow in reacting. He was out it before it even began to be honest though.
Joachim Rodriguez gets caught out as the pace quickens for the line – he’ll have to settle for third. The two Francais de Jeux riders then cross the line together, but the win is given to Casar. It could have easily gone to Joly though, I’m sure Sandy will have a little word with him about that!
So close, but no cigar. It’ll be hard to close the gap on new race leader Casar considering the last two stages of this race are flat and there are no intermediate sprints. We’re in an almost identical situation to Luis Leon Sanchez’s in Australia, but at least Joachim has a bit of a sprint on him. I won’t be holding my breath though.
Stage 3 Results:
1 Sandy Casar Française des Jeux 2h54'40
2 Sébastien Joly Française des Jeux s.t. 3 Joaquim Rodríguez Caisse d'Epargne + 10
4 Thomas Rohregger ELK Haus - Simplon + 39
5 Pavel Brutt Tinkoff Credit Systems + 1'03
6 Evgeni Petrov Tinkoff Credit Systems + 1'23
7 Eduardo Gonzalo Agritubel + 1'39
8 Johann Tschopp Bouygues Télécom s.t.
9 Christian Vandevelde Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O s.t.
10 Christophe Rinero Agritubel s.t.
11 Przemyslaw Niemiec Miche - Silver Cross + 1'51
12 Tristan Valentin Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone s.t.
13 Benoit Salmon Agritubel s.t.
14 Laurent Lefèvre Bouygues Télécom s.t.
15 Christophe Kern Crédit Agricole s.t.
Overall:
1 Sandy Casar Française des Jeux 9h11'28
2 Sébastien Joly Française des Jeux + 8 3 Joaquim Rodríguez Caisse d'Epargne + 22
4 Thomas Rohregger ELK Haus - Simplon + 59
5 Pavel Brutt Tinkoff Credit Systems + 1'23
6 Evgeni Petrov Tinkoff Credit Systems + 1'43
7 Johann Tschopp Bouygues Télécom + 1'59
8 Christian Vandevelde Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O s.t.
9 Eduardo Gonzalo Agritubel s.t.
10 Christophe Rinero Agritubel s.t. 27 Xavier Zandio Caisse d'Epargne + 2'43
28 Rigoberto Urán Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
49 Imanol Erviti Caisse d'Epargne + 4'27
62 Arnaud Coyot Caisse d'Epargne + 5'35
74 Luis Pasamontes Caisse d'Epargne + 6'17
85 Fran Pérez Caisse d'Epargne + 7'31
Points:
1 Nikolai Trussov Tinkoff Credit Systems 39
2 William Bonnet Crédit Agricole 37
3 Lloyd Mondory AG2R - La Mondiale 36
4 Aurélien Clerc Bouygues Télécom 30
5 Martijn Maaskant Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O 28
KOM:
1 Rigoberto Urán Caisse d'Epargne 40
2 Sébastien Joly Française des Jeux 24
3 Kevyn Ista Agritubel 20
4 Daniel Schorn ELK Haus - Simplon 20
5 Laurent Lefèvre Bouygues Télécom 20
Edited by stuartmcstuart on 12-05-2008 00:28
Who'd of thought FDJ were capable of a one-two like that? I certainly didn't see it coming! ops:
Rodgriguez is the kind of rider you want on your team - he's really excellent in the hills and can sprint a bit too. He won't be going anywhere next season!
Yeah it was good. I got some new pedals and various trinkets for my bike for when I do the etape caledonia this weekend. Hopefully should be good fun and good weather. B)
Anyway, back on topic - next update coming tonight!
According to the bookies, this stage is for the sprinters. I disagree though. There are enough hills in today’s route that should hopefully mean quite a few sprinters could be dropped along the way – which would make an attack in the last 10km more likely to succeed if there are less people chasing. That was today’s plan of action, it’s not like we’ve much choice considering our sprinters aren’t racing with us here. As the stage got underway, Talabardon of Credit Agricole went onto the attack. Uran was way back in the pack at this moment, and we needed someone to defend the jersey for the team. Passamontes had already collected a few points on the first stage and was in the perfect position to counter. So he did.
Luis Passamontes goes onto the attack and takes the mountain sprint.
The two riders began to work well together and built up a good lead on the pack. This was to our advantage as the onus was on Francais de Jeux to do all the chasing. With 60km to go, the break still had 5 and half minutes – they really needed to turn up the gas. They duly did, which had the effect I had predicted this morning...Some of the big name sprinters were struggling over the number of inclines this ‘flat’ stage had...
The breakaway companions work well together, forcing Francais De Jeux to chase hard and drop some of the sprinters, including William Bonnet, who takes a team mate with him so he won’t be lonely.
Passamontes was reeled in with 15km to go. I knew the chase had worn out a lot of the pack, and if Joachim was going to make an attack work, this was the stage to do it. I told him to eat and get ready for one big effort to get clear. He didn’t reply over the race radio, but I knew he was just getting himself mentally prepared. I know he wants to make amends for yesterday, he was so close to delivering a victory. With 9km to go, he accelerates. Screaming encouragement down the radio, he quickly gets a 15 second advantage over the tiring peloton. He settles into a high cadence and begins to put the power down as we enter the last 3km, with the time gap still at 15 seconds. None of the sprinters are able to chase, he is being closed down now by the puncheurs, including Mazzanti and Casar – but they’ve left it too late! As they try to close the gap with a sprint, I tell Joachim to open up, and he manages to hold them all off ‘til the line! Great victory for the Spanish champ and for the team!
A real show of power as Joachim Rodriguez holds off the peloton after a well timed attack!
Unfortunate that he was unable to keep the gap on the peloton, as the time bonus on the line is only good enough to take him to second in the GC, but he’s only 2 seconds behind Casar now. I’m sure we’ll try for a repeat performance tomorrow, but the stage isn’t as hilly and I think we’ll find it a lot harder to get rid of the sprinters.
Stage 4 Results:
1 Joaquim Rodríguez Caisse d'Epargne 3h33'22
2 Luca Mazzanti Tinkoff Credit Systems s.t.
3 Yuri Trofimov Bouygues Télécom s.t.
4 Benoit Salmon Agritubel s.t.
5 Sandy Casar Française des Jeux s.t.
6 Laurent Lefèvre Bouygues Télécom s.t.
7 Aleksandr Kuschynski Liquigas s.t.
8 Lloyd Mondory AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
9 Max Van Heeswijk Willems Veranda's Continental Team s.t.
10 Martijn Maaskant Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O s.t.
11 Valerio Agnoli Liquigas s.t.
12 Sébastien Joly Française des Jeux s.t.
13 Christophe Mengin Française des Jeux s.t.
14 Johann Tschopp Bouygues Télécom s.t.
15 Pierre Rolland Crédit Agricole s.t.
Overall:
1 Sandy Casar Française des Jeux 12h44'50 2 Joaquim Rodríguez Caisse d'Epargne + 2
3 Sébastien Joly Française des Jeux + 8
4 Thomas Rohregger ELK Haus - Simplon + 59
5 Pavel Brutt Tinkoff Credit Systems + 1'23
6 Evgeni Petrov Tinkoff Credit Systems + 1'43
7 Johann Tschopp Bouygues Télécom + 1'59
8 Christian Vandevelde Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O s.t.
9 Eduardo Gonzalo Agritubel s.t.
10 Christophe Rinero Agritubel s.t. 26 Rigoberto Urán Caisse d'Epargne + 2'43
29 Xavier Zandio Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
47 Imanol Erviti Caisse d'Epargne + 4'27
56 Arnaud Coyot Caisse d'Epargne + 5'35
70 Fran Pérez Caisse d'Epargne + 7'31
76 Luis Pasamontes Caisse d'Epargne + 9'29
Points:
1 Lloyd Mondory AG2R - La Mondiale 44 2 Joaquim Rodríguez Caisse d'Epargne 41
3 Nikolai Trussov Tinkoff Credit Systems 39
4 Sandy Casar Française des Jeux 37
5 William Bonnet Crédit Agricole 37
KOM:
1 Luis Pasamontes Caisse d'Epargne 40
2 Rigoberto Urán Caisse d'Epargne 40
3 Sébastien Joly Française des Jeux 24
4 Frederik Willems Liquigas 22
5 Kevyn Ista Agritubel 20
It’s the final stage of the Tour Mediterranean and we’re still on a high from Joachim’s victory yesterday. We might not win overall, but we’ve given it a damn good go so I don’t think the sponsor can have too many complaints.
The action gets underway before the day’s break forms. The break includes Passamontes, out to seal his overall victory in the mountains competition over young Uran.
I had a feeling today’s stage would indeed be one for the sprinters as there aren’t too many gradients to worry about today. What mountain sprints there were, Passamontes took them in the break. Another mountain jersey for the team! There was no way the break was going to be let go today though, and Lloyd Mondary’s AG2R did a lot of chasing to bring back the break. It was going to be a mass sprint finish today, and the pack was moving too quickly to enable Joachim to break away from the front like he did yesterday. He would have to slug it out with the sprinters! Tinkoff seem to have one of the best trains in this race, so I told him to get on that one. It’s not just the stage the sprinters are fighting for here though, the point’s competition is also up for grabs.
Passamontes takes the mountain jersey for keeps, before the sprint develops after the break is caught. It’s going to be a close one, with Mondary and the AG2R train on the left, while Rodriguez gets on Trussov’s wheel with Mikel Gaztañaga of Agritubel.
We were having problems with the radios all day today, so it was no real surprise that our transmission went down as we entered the last few km. Very frustrating! Joachim Rodriguez would have to fight for this one himself. It turned out the Tinkoff train was indeed the one to be on again, as Trussov opened up the sprint in a perfect position after a fantastic lead out by Mazzanti. Joachim was right on his wheel at 800 metres, but is no sprinter and couldn’t hold it all the way to the line, where Trussov took a comfortable victory! Mondary makes his move down the outside too late to have any hope of catching Trussov, but it is enough for second place – meaning he shares the point’s competition with stage winner Trussov!
Rodriguez just can’t hold the speed generated by the sprinters as Trussov takes a great victory!
Stage 5 Results:
1 Nikolai Trussov Tinkoff Credit Systems 3h02'24
2 Lloyd Mondory AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
3 Max Van Heeswijk Willems Veranda's Continental Team s.t.
4 Mikel Gaztañaga Agritubel s.t.
5 William Bonnet Crédit Agricole s.t.
6 Luca Mazzanti Tinkoff Credit Systems s.t.
7 Aurélien Clerc Bouygues Télécom s.t.
8 Mathieu Ladagnous Française des Jeux s.t.
9 Martijn Maaskant Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O s.t. 10 Joaquim Rodríguez Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
11 Kevyn Ista Agritubel s.t.
12 Vytautas Kaupas Mitsubishi - Jartazi - Protech s.t.
13 Alexandre Pichot Bouygues Télécom s.t.
14 Renaud Dion AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
15 Pierre Rolland Crédit Agricole s.t.
Overall:
1 Sandy Casar Française des Jeux 15h47'14 2 Joaquim Rodríguez Caisse d'Epargne + 2
3 Sébastien Joly Française des Jeux + 8
4 Thomas Rohregger ELK Haus - Simplon + 59
5 Pavel Brutt Tinkoff Credit Systems + 1'23
6 Evgeni Petrov Tinkoff Credit Systems + 1'43
7 Eduardo Gonzalo Agritubel + 1'59
8 Christophe Rinero Agritubel s.t.
9 Johann Tschopp Bouygues Télécom s.t.
10 Christian Vandevelde Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O s.t.
11 Benoit Salmon Agritubel + 2'11
12 Aleksandr Kuschynski Liquigas s.t.
13 Tristan Valentin Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone s.t.
14 Laurent Lefèvre Bouygues Télécom s.t.
15 Christophe Kern Crédit Agricole s.t.
16 Przemyslaw Niemiec Miche - Silver Cross s.t.
17 Luca Mazzanti Tinkoff Credit Systems + 2'19
18 Pierre Rolland Crédit Agricole s.t.
19 Ricardo Serrano Tinkoff Credit Systems + 2'31
20 Sébastien Minard Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone s.t.
21 Maryan Hary Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone s.t.
22 Martijn Maaskant Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O + 2'35
23 Mikhail Ignatiev Tinkoff Credit Systems + 2'43 24 Rigoberto Urán Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
25 Valerio Agnoli Liquigas s.t.
26 Jussi Veikkanen Française des Jeux s.t. 27 Xavier Zandio Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
28 Gerhard Trampusch ELK Haus - Simplon s.t.
29 Mickael Buffaz Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone + 3'15
30 José Luis Arrieta AG2R - La Mondiale + 3'23
31 Dario Cataldo Liquigas s.t.
32 Maurizio Carta Miche - Silver Cross s.t.
33 Thomas Peterson Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O s.t.
34 Mathieu Ladagnous Française des Jeux + 3'35
35 Huub Duyn Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O s.t.
36 Christophe Mengin Française des Jeux s.t.
37 Alessandro Vanotti Liquigas s.t.
38 Francis Mourey Française des Jeux s.t.
39 Ivan Santaromita Liquigas s.t.
40 Cédric Hervé Agritubel s.t.
41 Cyrille Monnerais Française des Jeux + 4'03
42 Stefan Denifl ELK Haus - Simplon s.t.
43 Lloyd Mondory AG2R - La Mondiale + 4'07 44 Imanol Erviti Caisse d'Epargne + 4'27
45 Ludovic Turpin AG2R - La Mondiale + 4'39
46 Laurent Mangel AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
47 Alexandre Pichot Bouygues Télécom + 5'11
48 Stijn Vandenbergh AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
49 Julien Simon Crédit Agricole s.t.
50 Mickael Delage Française des Jeux + 5'31 51 Arnaud Coyot Caisse d'Epargne + 5'35
52 Hervé Duclos-Lassalle Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone s.t.
53 Renaud Dion AG2R - La Mondiale + 5'51
54 Maxime Bouet Agritubel s.t.
55 Max Van Heeswijk Willems Veranda's Continental Team + 5'55
56 Kilian Patour Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O + 6'03
57 Yuri Trofimov Bouygues Télécom + 6'09
58 Blaise Sonnery AG2R - La Mondiale + 6'15
59 Julien Belgy Bouygues Télécom + 6'35
60 Kjell Carlström Liquigas + 6'57
61 Jason Donald Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O s.t.
62 Nikolai Trussov Tinkoff Credit Systems + 7'07
63 Bernardo Riccio Tinkoff Credit Systems + 7'15
64 Yannick Talabardon Crédit Agricole s.t. 65 Fran Pérez Caisse d'Epargne + 7'31
66 Perrig Quemeneur Bouygues Télécom + 7'55
67 Aurélien Clerc Bouygues Télécom + 8'15
68 Dieter Cappelle Willems Veranda's Continental Team + 8'23
69 Guillaume Le Floch Bretagne - Armor Lux + 8'27
70 Maxime Vantomme Mitsubishi - Jartazi - Protech + 9'23
71 Nicolas Vogondy Agritubel + 10'03
72 Sébastien Duret Bretagne - Armor Lux s.t.
73 Jimmy Engoulvent Crédit Agricole + 10'19
74 Tanel Kangert AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
75 Frederik Willems Liquigas s.t.
76 Magnus Bäckstedt Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O + 10'27
77 Eddy Serri Miche - Silver Cross + 10'29
78 Grégory Habeaux Mitsubishi - Jartazi - Protech + 10'35
79 Wolfgang Murer ELK Haus - Simplon s.t.
80 Kevin De Weert Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone + 10'51
81 Markus Eibegger ELK Haus - Simplon + 10'55
82 Kevyn Ista Agritubel + 11'13
83 Sven Nevens Mitsubishi - Jartazi - Protech + 11'19
84 Mikel Gaztañaga Agritubel + 11'59
85 Guido Trenti Liquigas + 12'15
86 William Bonnet Crédit Agricole + 13'03
87 Piotr Zielinski Bretagne - Armor Lux + 13'18
88 Nikita Eskov Tinkoff Credit Systems + 13'19 89 Luis Pasamontes Caisse d'Epargne + 13'29
90 Saïd Haddou Bouygues Télécom + 13'31
91 Mathieu Heijboer Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone + 14'03
92 Sjef De Wilde Willems Veranda's Continental Team + 15'27
93 Antoine Dalibard Bretagne - Armor Lux + 16'15
94 Martial Ricci-Poggi Mitsubishi - Jartazi - Protech + 16'55
95 Christophe Le Mével Crédit Agricole s.t.
96 Kristof De Zutter Willems Veranda's Continental Team + 16'57
97 Daniel Schorn ELK Haus - Simplon s.t.
98 Blake Caldwell Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O s.t.
99 Lorenzo Cardellini Miche - Silver Cross + 17'01
100 Jurgen François Willems Veranda's Continental Team + 17'22
101 Vytautas Kaupas Mitsubishi - Jartazi - Protech + 17'25
102 Robert Lauscha ELK Haus - Simplon + 18'17
103 Frank Høj Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone + 18'37
104 Hansjorg Standaert Willems Veranda's Continental Team + 18'47
105 Yann Rault Bretagne - Armor Lux + 21'39
106 Andrea Capelli Miche - Silver Cross + 21'43
107 Jurgen Van Loocke Willems Veranda's Continental Team + 23'15
108 Tim Meeusen Willems Veranda's Continental Team + 25'03
109 Kalle Kriit Mitsubishi - Jartazi - Protech + 25'55
110 Mathieu Criquiélion Mitsubishi - Jartazi - Protech + 27'09
111 Alessandro Celli Miche - Silver Cross + 27'52
112 Bjorn Thurau ELK Haus - Simplon + 30'41
113 Cyril Lemoine Crédit Agricole + 36'30
114 Geoffrey Coupé Mitsubishi - Jartazi - Protech + 37'36
115 Diego Persichetti Miche - Silver Cross + 39'31
Points:
1 Lloyd Mondory AG2R - La Mondiale 64
2 Nikolai Trussov Tinkoff Credit Systems 64
3 William Bonnet Crédit Agricole 49 4 Joaquim Rodríguez Caisse d'Epargne 47
5 Max Van Heeswijk Willems Veranda's Continental Team 42
KOM:
1 Luis Pasamontes Caisse d'Epargne 52
2 Rigoberto Urán Caisse d'Epargne 40
3 Daniel Schorn ELK Haus - Simplon 24
4 Kevyn Ista Agritubel 24
5 Sébastien Joly Française des Jeux 24
And that wraps it up for Febuary for me, but not the team. Having overseen the hectic season start, I’m off for a break. The next race I’ll be in the team car will be Paris – Nice in March, and I’ve got to say I’m really looking forward to it, even though it’s a few weeks away yet. For me it’s the start of the real cycling season, and the start of a busy period for the team - leading up to the Tour of the Basque Country and of course the Ardennes classics, both of which are team goals. So I’ll be charging my batteries in the next few weeks getting ready for all that, but I should hopefully be able to update you with all the races that the team participate in until then. First up – Tour du Haut Var, then Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. Just before Paris – Nice starts, there’s also a key race for a few members of the Caisse d’Epargne squad: Alejandro Valverde and José Rojas are both native Murcians looking to do well in the Tour of Murcia, it's a race we should do well if those riders are there.
I know the other directeur sportifs are looking forward to getting a free reign in the next couple of weeks while I’m away, so best of luck to them as they take control for a while. See you in March!
Edited by stuartmcstuart on 12-05-2008 23:23
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