The last stage in Pais Vasco is an individual time - trial. But with some hills on the route and an advantage of 3 minutes over Menchov, who is the best time - trialist from the favorites group, Valverde should have no problems retaining the overall win
On paper, Larsson was the big favorite of the day and he managed to take the lead from the early leader of the stage, Steve Cummings, by almost one minute
But he lost the provisional lead to the first big name that started, Lance Armstrong being 6 seconds faster than the Saxo Bank rider
Lovkvist was 10 seconds faster than the 7 times winner of the Tour de France, but it was enough to defend his place in the GC and even win a position as Anton wasn't in a good mood today and lost over a minute
Gerdemann is the only stage winner in this race except Valverde but he won't be able to take a second stage win today as he was 3 seconds slower than Armstrong
At the top of the steepest hill of the day, at the intermediate check, Gesink was clearly in front of Armstrong but he lost some valuable time on the downhill and finished 7 seconds behind the American
The second Rabobank gun, Denis Menchov, was way faster at the intermediate check than both Gesink & Armstrong and he took the lead at the finish by 27 seconds
Valverde was 1 seconds faster than Menchov at the top of the climb but he lost 12 seconds on the downhill to the Russian rider, which gave him only the 2nd place in today's ride but it was more than enough to take the overall win.
With today's win Menchov becomes the third rider to win a stage this year in Pais Vasco after Valverde and Gerdemann, while with the 7th place, Lovkvist managed to achieve our 3rd goal of the season
The third Monument of the year also means our 4th goal of the year. So far we got 3 out of 3, 2 being achieved by Flecha in Milano - Sanremo and Ronde van Vlaanderen and the third one by Lovkvist in Vuelta al Pais Vasco. A top 3 is required here by our sponsors and after the current shape show by Flecha in Ronde and Scheldeprijs, the Spaniard has a real chance to get a podium place here.
Flecha is going to be supported here by our best cobbles team, with 3 strong team - mates: Boasson Hagen, Arvesen and Hayman. Our Brit superstar, Bradley Wiggins, will also start the race Sunday but we will have to see if he will be strong enough to finish the race.
The list of favorites is an impressive one, from the best cobblers in the World at the moment, only 3 aren't registered for the race. Gilbert decided to skip it this year, while Hushovd and Haussler will be missing this year's Paris - Roubaix because Cervelo didn't receive an wildcard. So the most important 5 leaders are: Tom Boonen, Filippo Pozzato, Alessandro Ballan, Fabian Cancellara and Juan Antonio Flecha.
The strongest teams seem to be Quick Step and BMC. Last year's winner, Tom Boonen, being supported by Devolder, Chavanel, Barredo, Hulsmans and Van Impe, while the former World Champion, Alessandro Ballan, will count on the support of Burghardt and Hincapie.
Team Sky for Paris - Roubaix: Kurt Asle Arvesen Edvald Boasson Hagen Matt Hayman Juan Antonio Flecha Nicolas Portal Ian Stannard Geraint Thomas Bradley Wiggins
Edited by alexkr00 on 27-03-2010 14:25
Here it is, probably the most expected one day race of the year. Tom Boonen is looking after his third win in a row and the fourth overall, while the recent winner of Ronde van Vlaanderen, Juan Antonio Flecha, is looking for the double and for his first Paris - Roubaix win as well
Surprising there were no moves in the first half of the race but with 100 kilometers before the finish the situation became more clear as only 30 riders were left in the leading group. All the favorites were there, Boonen having all his important team - mates with him, while Flecha had only the support of Boasson Hagen left
But 40 kilometers later Hagen was dropped off from the group and the bad luck stroke for Sky as Flecha had a puncture on one of the cobbled sections. Few moments after that while he was trying to get back in the leading group, he crashed which made his come back almost impossible, his morale being really down after these two unexpected events
With just 30 kilometers left before entering the velodrome in Roubaix, 6 riders got away from the leading group. Cancellara was the only real big gun, except of course Flecha, that missed which looked to be the winning move. Pozzato made an acceleration and he was only followed by Boonen, Van Summeren, Hoste, Ballan and Devolder
Ten kilometers later, the underdog of the group, Van Summeren tried to get away. He was quickly followed by Pozzato and Devolder, but then he couldn't hang on to those 2 and he was brought back in the chasing group, with Hoste, Ballan and Boonen. This might be the decisive move in the leading group as Pozzato and Devolder were heading to Roubaix with an advantage of over one minute in front of the chasinp group
Right before they entered the famous velodrome, Pozzato made an acceleration in an attempt to get rid of Devolder, but the former Belgian Champion looked strong enough to follow him as we were only a few kilometers apart from knowing the name of this year's Paris - Roubaix winner
One and a half minute behind them, Hoste was leading the chasing group, but it looks like Boonen missed an amazing chance to take a fourth win in Paris - Roubaix, and the third in a row, a place on the podium being the best he could get now
Pozzato's attack wasn't enough to make a gap between him and Devolder, but when the final sprint started, the Italian Champion had no problems getting away from the 2 times winner of Ronde van Vlaanderen
And Filippo Pozzato is the 2010 winner of Paris - Roubaix! An amazing ride from the Italian to beat last year's second place from the Hell of the North, which now was taken by Stijn Devolder
Behind the battle for the win, Boonen had no problems winning the sprint for the third place in front of Ballan, the Belgian Champion even getting a nice gap, but that's not important. Hoste took the 5th place, followed by Van Summeren, Cancellara, Maaskant, Chavanel and Van Avermaet who grabbed the last place of the top 10
If what happened with Flecha so far wasn't enough, the Spaniard crashed again when he entered the velodrome, missing even the top 40, finishing just 46th in a race where a top 3 was required by our sponsors. Our best rider today was Boasson Hagen, who came 24th in Roubaix
Castilla y Leon is Wiggins' last race before Romandie and the Giro and he will face here riders like Armstrong, Menchov and Carlos Sastre. For today's stage the main favorites are Theo Bos and the Sky duo made by Vigano and Sutton
Wynants, the last survivor from the breakaway of the day, was caught inside the last 20 kilometers and the stage head to a mass sprint. With 7 kilometers to go the Sky train was made by Arvesen, Vigano and Sutton. And the 3 Sky riders destroyed the competition the only rider being able to keep it up with them being Muravyev, who's definitely not a threat in the sprints
When the sprint started the gap between the Sky riders and the pack was even bigger, Muravyev being now brought back in the pack. Arvesen is leading Vigano and Sutton to what could be an amazing result for Sky
After giving the lead to Vigano, Arvesen wasn't able to keep it up with the others 2 and he lost the contact with them. With just one kilometer left, Sutton took the lead from Vigano and head to the finish line in front
Inside the last kilometer Arvesen was caught by the pack and even lost the third place to Appollonio, but in front of him Vigano and Sutton were celebrating the double for Team Sky. This is Sutton's third win of the season the previous one being taken 2 months ago, when the Aussie Champion took the overall win in Tour of Qatar
De Brabantse Pijl is the last one day race before the big Ardennes Trio kicks off with Amstel Gold Race. Gerrans and Flecha will lead Team Sky here, where some other strong riders are also present, including the Continental Tour leader, Thomas Voeckler
With just 20 kilometers left from the race, after all the early escapes were caught, the big moves started and a group of 7 riders, with Pozzovivo, Fedrigo, Leukemans,Goesinnen, Scheirlincks, Gerrans and Vanspeybrouck, got away. Behind them a second group, which included pretty much all the other favorites like Voeckler, Hoogerland or Barredo, wasn't too far either
Five kilometers later, 3 riders got away from the leading group, and they stayed together in front until the last uphill section of the day where the final sprint started. Vanspeybrouck started in front but he cracked on the steepest portions of the hill and lost the lead to Fedrigo
Gerrans made a very good move by staying behind Fedrigo during the whole sprint and with just 500 meters left he made his move and he was unstoppable. Simon took his second win this season after the early one in Down Under and shows some good shape before the Gold Race. Fedrigo took the second place, while Vanspeybrouck finished only third in the end. Flecha finished only 22nd today and it looks like the events from the recent edition of Paris - Roubaix are still affecting him
The second stage in Castilla y Leon is an individual time - trial. The main favorites are Wiggins, Menchov and Armstrong. Wiggins won the TT in Criterium International, Menchov did the same in Pais Vasco, while Armstrong is always a threat in the time - trials
Sastre didn't shine today but he didn't have a bad time either, finishing the 28 kilometers in 37 minutes and 7 seconds. The important thing for him though could be that he beat Konovalovas' time with 3 seconds
Wiggins was 20 seconds faster than Sastre at the intermediate check and 44 seconds at the finish. Those seconds could prove to be very important in the next two mountain stages
Armstrong was a few seconds faster than Wiggins at the intermediate check but at the finish he was 16 seconds slower than the Brit Champion. Both Armstrong and Sastre will look to gain some time back in the mountains from Wiggins though
At the intermediate check, Menchov beat Wiggins time with more than 25 seconds. The Russian lost some time on the downhill but it was still enough to take the lead by 8 seconds
Sutton lost more than 2 minutes today, which also meant the lost of the burgundy jersey, Menchov being now the new leader of the race. From the final Sky trio, Arvesen came with a nice time finishing 11th and the recent results might guarantee the old Norwegian a place in the Giro squad
Today's the first one of the 2 decisive mountain stages. The last climb looks quite short but hopefully it will be steep enough to make some gaps between the favorites. Menchov has to be very careful as Wiggins is only 8 seconds behind him after the time - trial
At the top of the last climb, Froome attacked from the pack and joined quite easily on the downhill what was left from a large breakaway group. He found there his team - mate, Michael Barry, plus other 3 riders. They started the last climb with an advantage of circa 35 seconds over the pack
With just 2 kilometers before the summit, the 2 Sky rider were setting the pace in the leading group, but behind them 3 riders were coming very fast from the pack. Those were Carlos Sastre, Dario Cataldo and their team - mate, Bradley Wiggins
Sastre and Wiggins joined quite easily the group, but that wasn't enough for Sastre, who continued his acceleration and entered the last kilometer in a solo lead! The 3 Sky riders tried to keep it up with them, but it wasn't impossible to follow Sastre's wheel, Wiggins trying now not to lose too much time
Sastre gets his revenge after the defeat in the TT and takes the stage win. The Sky riders kept their positions but lost 13 secods, 30 seconds and 45 seconds each. Still this looks good for Wiggins as he won time over both Menchov and Armstrong
Gesink lead the pack for Menchov, but they lost 1 minute and 1 second to Sastre today. Menchov lost the lead to Wiggins and he is now only third, Sastre taking the second place from him as well. Wiggins will have 31 seconds to protect in tomorrow's stage in front of Sastre, but a podium place is now probably secured, with Armstrong being more than one minute behind