|
Team Milram Again!!!
|
| ringo182 |
Posted on 20-10-2008 14:29
|
Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
|
February Review: A bit of a nothing month for us. We weren't expecting to get any results this month as it was all about getting our key riders into shape for March. Caruso had a couple of good performances in the Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca and the Volta a regiao do Algarve while Grivko would have achieved his goal of a top 15 placing in California if he'd had a better day on the time-trial. Hopefully March will see us finally getting off the mark in the Pro-Tour.
|
| |
|
|
| ringo182 |
Posted on 20-10-2008 15:01
|
Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
|
Gent-Lokeren: 1/3
First cobbled race of the season for us so it'll be a good chance for some of our classics riders (not that we have any specialists) to get in some practise for the start of the northern classics season in April. Zabel will be leading the squad and it'll be a good indicator of his classic form this season.
Squad: Zabel, Eichler, Grabsch, Knees, Muller, Poitschke, Cchroder, Schwager
The wind was strong today and because of this nobody wanted to attack. An attack finally went a the hills started to kick in and Muller went with the other 2 riders but the big teams never let them get too far. Quickstep, Lotto, CSC and High Road dominated the race and in the last 30 or so k's the lead group was down to 16, but Zabel was still sitting in there and looking strong. With abour 15k to go the big names all attacked. Zabel didn't have the strength to go with them so focused on trying to bridge the gap with the rest of the riders in his group. However it soon became clear that no-one else had any intention of helping him chase so he resigned himself to finishing with the group he was in.
At the front Tom Boonen proved to be the fastest of the leading group of 4 sprinting away from Cancelara, Devolder and Hoste to claim the win.
Another win for Quickstep as Tom Boonen crosses the line in 1st
Zabel Finished 15th in the end which i am very pleased with. He proved he can stick with the big names. I just hope he can put in a similar performance when the big races come in April.
Trofeo di Lugano: 2/3 (simmed)
Squad: Barla, Dyudya, Gajek, Haueisen, Kux, Roels, Sabatini, M. Velits
Didn't mean anything to us so i sent a team of riders who wouldn't be riding in the Paris-Nice or the Tirreno-Adriatico.
Edited by ringo182 on 20-10-2008 15:11
|
| |
|
|
| ringo182 |
Posted on 20-10-2008 15:10
|
Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
|
Paris-Nice: 9-16/3
March see's the pro-tour season really kick off and it all starts here in Paris. We've been working hard through February to get us ready for today and we'll need to start picking up some pro-tour points before we give ourselves too much work to do in the second half of the season.
Caruso will be leading the squad, and with the help of Ghisalberti and astarloa will be aiming to get as high up the final GC as possible. Zabel is still not in his best shape but he has gone to build up his fitness for the Milan-San Remo and the Northern Classics. He will be going for the sprints but i'm not expecting too much.
Squad: Caruso, Astarloa, Eichler, Ghisalberti, Lancaster, Schroder, Schwager, Zabel
Stage 1
Stage 1 is a prologue and the aim will be for Caruso to loose as little time as possible. Cancelara is the clear favourite and takes the win comfortably. I was pleased to see Lancaster putting in a good ride to take 9th will Caruso lost 44 seconds to cancelara and sits in 84th place. Overall i'm satisfied witht the first stage but with a much longer tt coming up later in the week it could be the undoing of Caruso's hopes of a top 10 finish.
 |
| |
|
|
| ringo182 |
Posted on 20-10-2008 17:44
|
Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
|
Vuelta a Murcia: 5-9/3 (simmed)
Like the Trofeo di Lugano it meant nothing to me. The riders were all gearing up for the Paris-Nice etc so again it was just a team of riders who weren't riding in either of my other races.
Squad: Poitschke, Gajek, Grabsch, Haueisen, Kux, Sabatini, Roels, M. Velits
 |
| |
|
|
| ringo182 |
Posted on 20-10-2008 17:57
|
Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
|
Paris Nice
Stage 2
A flat stage that should come down to a sprint. A small group of 3 goes away but CSC put a rider into the break and then control the peleton all day.
CSC control the break
As the finish draws near the sprint teams quickly reel the break in as the sprint is set up.
Team Milram help bring the break back in
As we reach the 3k to go mark Zabel is right up at the front on Quinziatto's wheel. Boonen and Benatti have lined up behind Chavanel on the right of the road and at this point they have a slight advantage.
Zabel gets ready to sprint
Zabelo gets the jump on everyone else and goes right to the front. The others struggle to hold his wheel.
Zabel hits the front
Breschel slowly claws his way back and starts to accelerate past Zabel.
However Zabel is a seasoned pro and sees him coming. He ups his effort and Breschel starts to drop back again. However, Just as Zabel thinks he has the win in the bag Benatti comes flying up on the right hand side and looks like he will pass Zabel on the line.
Surely Benatti can't take it on the line?
But Zabel holds on!!! Milram have they're first win of the season!!!
What a ride from Zabel. He held off some of the best sprinters around to pick up out first win and first pro-tour points of the season. i'm delighted and the team have been lifted by the win.
Zabel celebrates his win |
| |
|
|
| alexkr00 |
Posted on 20-10-2008 18:29
|
World Champion
Posts: 13924
Joined: 05-08-2008
PCM$: 300.00
|
good job 
|
| |
|
|
| kirosha |
Posted on 20-10-2008 20:35
|
Domestique
Posts: 612
Joined: 30-03-2008
PCM$: 200.00
|
nice win! |
| |
|
|
| Halvor |
Posted on 20-10-2008 21:05
|
Sprinter
Posts: 1951
Joined: 18-09-2007
PCM$: 200.00
|
Nice win fo sho Lucky though, Zabel went a bit too early! |
| |
|
|
| ringo182 |
Posted on 20-10-2008 22:44
|
Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
|
yeah, i was suprised he held on for the win seeing as he's only on about 75% fitness at the moment.
More coming up tomorrow, hopefully. |
| |
|
|
| ringo182 |
Posted on 21-10-2008 08:24
|
Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
|
Paris-Nice
Stage 3
Another flat stage but with a bit of a hilly run in it could suit a sprinter like Zabel. A huge break of 15 riders goes away but i miss out on the break. The peleton decides that this is too big and so chases it down. However with the gap down to about 30 seconds the peleton stops chasing and the gap starts to grow again. I take this opportunity and get Eichler to bridge the gap. He makes it across and is one of the strongest riders in the break.
Suprisingly the peleton let the huge break go
The break worked well together and it wasn't until the final descent of the day that Eichler and his last couple of escapees were caught. Now all my focus went on to Zabel. He moved to the front but no-one else wanted to do any work so as the sprint began to take shape he found himself at the front of one of the trains as the riders in front of him just droped of.
Is it too early to hit the front?
As with yesterday, i thought that Zabels best plan of attack would be to try to go early and get the jump on Boonen and Benatti. Again he sprinted out in front and left the big 2 behind. However Haussler and Kirchen held onto his wheel and got a big pull.
Zabel leaves Boonen and Benatti behind
Unlike yesterday Zabel couldn't keep his lead and was passed by both Haussler and Kirchen in the final k.
Zabels lead slips away
The win is taken by Haussler while Zabel holds on to take 3rd. Another excellent ride from the veteran German. Boonen and Benatti finished nowhere.
Another podium for Zabel
So another pro-tour point for the team and Zabel becomes the real leader of the points competition from Cancellara. This is turning out to be a great race for us. Now we've just got to hope that Caruso is on some equally good form in the mountains.
 |
| |
|
|
| alexkr00 |
Posted on 21-10-2008 08:29
|
World Champion
Posts: 13924
Joined: 05-08-2008
PCM$: 300.00
|
Yeah it's another podium but you could get the win there, if zabel wasn't alone in front so early
|
| |
|
|
| Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-12-2024 15:06
|
Bot Agent
Posts: Countless
Joined: 23.11.09
|
|
| IP: None |
|
|
| ringo182 |
Posted on 21-10-2008 08:33
|
Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
|
and even more good news is that i just realised there is no second tt in the Paris-Nice. I was looking at the Tirreno-Adriatico tt by mistake. This gives Caruso a better chance of making it into the top 10. |
| |
|
|
| ringo182 |
Posted on 21-10-2008 12:11
|
Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
|
i'm well pissed off. turns out i've been playing tha last few stages on the normal difficulty setting i thought the last two stages were too good to be true.
i always play with the music turned off because it annoys me and i like to watch the telly while i'm playing. a few days ago i turned the game on and the music started playing. i thought nothing of it and just turned it off again and carried on playing. then today while out on my bike (a lovely day for riding in the west midlands) i suddenly realised that the music plus my good performances in Gent-Lokeren and the P-N could be down to the fact that the game has completely reset all the setting for some unknown reason. and i was right.
i've put it back up to hard now so don't expect any more wins from Zabel or Petacchi....or Caruso.... or Grivko... or anyone else in my team for that matter! |
| |
|
|
| ringo182 |
Posted on 21-10-2008 17:18
|
Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
|
Paris-Nice
Stage 4
Classed as a mountain stage but there's nothing too demanding on the stage and my guess is that it could finish in a reduced bunch sprint. As expected a break goes away but as we reach the foot of the last climb they have all been caught. A number of small breaks went away over some of the previous climbs but Caruso decided to stay in the safety of the bunch and they were all caught. This time however he decided to go with the attack.
Caruso goes with the bid names
The group contained some big names such as Cunego, Schleck and Chavenal and they held their advantage over the top of the mountain.
On the descent however the group was caught by the reduced peleton of about 40 riders.
The break is caught on the final run in
At this point a few riders with a bit of energy launch one last attack. The strongest is Frank Schleck who builds up a decisive lead in the final 5k's.
Schleck launches the decisive attack
No one can catch the Luxemburger as he rides away to a solo victory.
A solo victory for Schleck
Caruso finished with the peleton at 55 seconds. Mixed feelings for us today. Caruso had the legs to go with the big names on the climb but then struggled to hold on on the descent and the run in.
On GC Caruso has moved up to 31st at 1:06 down on new leader Schleck. It's going to be a tough ask to get into the top 10 and tomorrows stage up Mont Ventoux will be decisive in this race.
 |
| |
|
|
| ringo182 |
Posted on 22-10-2008 17:11
|
Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
|
Tirreno-Adriatico
Like with the Paris-Nice this is another race that is very important to us. Grivko and Velits have been working towards this race all season so far and they will joint lead the team with Grivko the more senior leader because of his ability to tt. This could change though depending on how they perform in the first few stages. Petacchi will be going for a stage win but his main aim is to get into shape for the Milan-San Remo.
Squad: Grivko, Gajek, Jurco, Kux, Petacchi, Terpstra, P. Velits, Velo
Stage 1
Classed as flat but those hills won't help the sprinters. A number of breaks go up the road but they fail to work together and disintigrate into small groups of 2s and 3s.
The break is disorganised
The break is caught at the top of the second climb and a number of big names goes on the attack.
Nuyens leads the attack
However they were only after some mountain points and quickly fell back into the peleton on the descent. The peleton stayed together all the way to the finish and Petacchi had managed to stay in the first group along with Grivko, Velits and Velo. As the sprint formed he moved to the front.
Petacchi looks to make his move
However the hills have taken there till on all the sprinters legs and he can only manage 13th. Ballan takes the win in a sprint that was contested by the hilly specialists rather then the sprinters.
Ballan takes the win
So Grivko and Velits are looking in good shape and Petacchi looked good on the hills which will stand him in good shape for the Milan-San Remo.
|
| |
|
|
| ringo182 |
Posted on 23-10-2008 15:42
|
Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
|
Paris-Nice
Stage 5
The stage heads up Ventoux and is sure to have a large effect on the overall classification. A break of 5 riders go away but none of them are seen as threats and the peleton, led by CSC, let them go. However, a bit further down the road Hoste and Barry jump out from the peleton and try to bridge the gap.
Hoste and Barry make a break for it
The peleton still doesn't believe they will be a threat and so lets them go. With about 100k to go the peleton begins to up the pace and the gap is brought down. With 50k to go a number of semi big names decide to make a long run for home.
Rodriguez Oliver leads another breakaway
The attack comes to nothing and as they reach the foot of the Ventoux CSC are still controlling the peleton.
CSC control the pace
A number of riders attack at the foot of the hill but CSC have maintained a strong pace and no-one goe away. However with 15k to go some of the real contenders attack and get a gap.
Garate leads the decisive attack
A group of 10 riders, including Caruso, get away and get a gap which continues to grow.
A leading group of 10 forms
The lead group grows to about 20 riders and some of the favourites decide that this is the right time to attack. A small group of 7 goes up the road.
Schleck leads the small break
The attack fails and before long the group is back together.
7.5k to go
As we enter the last 7k the gradiant kicks up and the leading group is split into 2. Caruso falls into the second group.
Caruso falls out of the leadng group
Caruso is still looking strong and has a small gap on the rest of the group but in the end he has to accept that he won't catch the leading group and rides in with his own group.
At the front Garate, who has looked strong all day, claims the win from Kirchen and Schleck.
Caruso looses almost 2 mins on the leading group and now sits in 25 on GC. His dream of getting into the top 10 appears to be over.
In the GC Schleck is still in control while FDJeux and Cofidis still have riders in the top 10.
Edited by ringo182 on 23-10-2008 15:43
|
| |
|
|
| ringo182 |
Posted on 23-10-2008 15:51
|
Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
|
Tirreno-Adriatico
Stage 2
Another hilly stage which won't suit Petacchi but Grivko and Velits will be trying to stay with the leaders. A large break went away and it included some pretty handy riders...
...but Lampre were always in control and controlled the gap all day.
With the group caught another large group including Grovko, Velits and all the big names went away and formed the decisive break.
As the race entered the final couple of k's the group began to fragment and Grivko and Velits fell to the back.
Garzelli took the win at the front and Grivko and Velits were able to hang on to get the same time as the others in ther group.
Garzelli has taken the overall lead and Grivko and Velits have moved to 12th and 13th on GC repectively. Hopefully they can move up the rankings after the tt.
 |
| |
|
|
| fenian_1234 |
Posted on 24-10-2008 03:04
|
Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4790
Joined: 06-12-2006
PCM$: 200.00
|
Some fairly good results, ringo - I'm enjoying reading about Milram. |
| |
|
|
| ember |
Posted on 24-10-2008 06:51
|
Team Leader
Posts: 6867
Joined: 27-03-2008
PCM$: 700.00
|
Great realism! |
| |
|
|
| Goldberger |
Posted on 24-10-2008 11:54
|
Domestique
Posts: 504
Joined: 14-02-2008
PCM$: 200.00
|
Exellent story And realistic |
| |
|
