A almost dead-flat 60 km Criterium, 5 riders went early, and although at times were grouped into 2 and 3 riders, mainly stayed seperate:
They were eventually caught, and I told Phinney (+5) and Lill (+3) to take a dig with 10 km to go, and they got a solid gap (especially Phinney):
But Phinney was being caught as they started the sprint, and although he was feeling decent, there was no chance he could hold on. Stewart was however in a great spot behind Huff of Jelly belly (winner of the Central Valley Classic):
Just around the curve though, tragedy struck, as Stewart fell for the second time in the month, ruining our chances of gaining anything in this event:
In the end, Freddy Rodriguez won easily over Loffler and Rollin:
Results:
Stage:
1 Fred Rodriguez Rock Racing 1h11'24
2 Stefan Löffler Giant Asia Racing Team s.t.
3 Dominique Rollin Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team s.t.
4 Alex Candelario Kelly Benefit Strategies - Medifast s.t.
5 Brad Huff Jelly Belly Cycling Team s.t.
6 Juan Van Heerden Team MTN s.t. 7 Magnus Bäckstedt Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O s.t.
8 Kuei Shiang Peng Giant Asia Racing Team s.t.
9 Kyle Gritters Health Net presented by Maxxis s.t.
10 Iván DomÃnguez Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team s.t.
G.C.: 1 Tom Danielson Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O 1h56'17 2 Magnus Bäckstedt Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O + 11
3 Steven Cozza Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O + 33
4 David McCann Giant Asia Racing Team + 34
5 Tom Zirbel Bissell Pro Cycling + 35
6 Danny Pate Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O + 42
7 Dominique Rollin Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team + 47
8 Christopher Baldwin Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team + 50
9 Michael Creed Rock Racing + 51 10 Taylor Phinney BMC Racing Team + 57
A long day, the route is a loop that is dead flat, except for a nasty cobbled hill at the finish:
The team is set-up with Wyss as the leader, along with Moos and Cruz as alternates. The plan is to take a dig around 5-10 km to the line, as I know I will not be able to win in a sprint:
The day began, and there had been no attacks through the first loop of the circut, as the riders started up the dreaded hill that marked the finish. The team's on front, Quick-Step, Mitsubishi, Topsport, and Collstrop would stay constant throughout the day:
Eventually a three-man break got away, but they were not a danger, and were gobbled up around 35 km to the line:
With 8 km to go, Wyss, the only one of the three leaders feeling decent, took a dig off the front:
He was almost caught numerous times, but as the sprint began he had a solid lead, However, having been on the dot at 99 for 7 km was taking its toll, and the pack closed in on the hill. It would however, not be enough, as Wyss took the win, just a few meters ahead of Davis and Van Heeswijk:
Here is is from another angle:
Needless to say, myself, the team, the sponsor's, and of course Wyss were thrilled, with champange being popped late into the night.
Just to note, the Criterium International is a 1-star goal for our team
The three stage, two day race's sprinter stage could go to a puncheur instead, as a hilly lead-up to the finish could diminish the chances of rider's like Wyss. However, with practically no pure sprinters in the race, Wyss is pegged as a two-star favorite:
Here is the team, with the GP de Llodo (possible spelled wrong) coinciding with the race, I will send Moos an a number of top riders there. However, I have sent a strong team, which combines riders for all three days with a few riders (Tolleson, Miller) coming for experience. Also to note, CSC has brought there A-Team, with Voigt, Sastre, and the Schleck brothers:
The break got away early, and was composed of Den Bakker (Skil-Shimano), Hary (Cofidis), Dyudya (Milram), and Bookwalter (BMC), I sent Bookwalter up for the KOM jersey. By the time the break reached the first intermidate sprint, the lead was around 8 min, which is where it would stary for a while, by now the break had split-up with Den Bakker alone in front, chased by Hary and Bookwalter, who were in turn being chased by Dyudya, and then the pack, who were really coming on, led by CSC. Den Bakker took first in the KOM sprint, with Bookwalter second, before the riders were swallowed up:
Around 15 km to the line, at the KOM sprint, I told Lill to go, as I hoped he could get a gap and keep away. This was partly driven by the fact that Wyss had -5 form for the day. He attacked, but despite a strong launch, did not get very far:
He contiued to attack, and get 10-15 sec gaps, but was brought in every time, meanwhile Wyss was way back in the pack, and so as the sprint started, Lill was back in the pack, with Wyss around 50 riders back, with no wheel. Wyss however found a wheel and would launch himself up to 11th by the end of the sprint, and amazing feat, meanwhile, up front, Felliu used a great burst of speed to get around Amorison for the win:
It had been a tough day, with the only consolation being that Sastre and A. Schleck came over the line well back with Bookwalter.
Both of the final two stages of the Criterium International, the hilly stage and the ITT, crashed as soon as I tried to load them, and when I simmed, did not produce any results. Therefore, the final standings are those listed back, and the sponsor's are still pretty happy with 14th for Wyss.
It appears this is the end, after the second two stages of the Criterium International, everything is crashing, and giving me no results when I sim. I downloaded and installed the update for the PCM.daily pack, but nothing works. So sorry if you liked it, I am really pissed.
