Thanks everyone. The finish photo on Stage 1 was taken few meters after the finish line, so it couldn't really show how close Andy was. He basically lost it in last meter.

Thanks VoetsT, I really like this time so far and I have some great plans for next season(s). I really hope techincal problems won't stop me this time. Btw, it's already 21st page, which is my previous record on Adria Mobil PCM12 story (yeah, I know it's weak). Thanks alot guys, once again!

The 2nd stage of Basque Country is one of two mountainous stage and probably the stage with toughest and steepest last climb in this years edition. Gaps are must here, so we'll try to stay in the same group as main favourites.




Once again, we made it to the break. This time, it was almighty Jens! Voigt managed to attack alongside Landa and Schar and to make breakaway of the day group, early this morning.



That was strong group, but everyone knew that they won't make it to the end. Few guys saw their chance and attacked! Spilak, Mollema, Monfort and Meyer are there. Pretty strong group.



Both groups are easily and quickly caught. 30 kilometers to go now and only last climb is left. Valverde attacks and he's followed by Caruso.



Sky definitely didn't want to let that go, so they chased hardly and managed to catch that on the start of last climb. Schleck brothers upped the pace from the seats and they somehow managed to create new group. Froome and Valverde are there with them.



As Frank was in better form, Andy was constantly protecting him and saving his energy for last few kilometers. 4 kilometers to go and Andy couldn't keep the pace with first group anymore, so there are only 3 guys there now. Uran, Quintana, Contador and Sanchez are getting closer and closer from behind.



1 kilometer to go and these 2 groups merged. In the meantime, Schleck tried a quick attack, but he couldn't create the advantage over others. He lost some good amount of energy before final sprint, but can he really finish in the same group as main favourites today? Let's see.



Sprint started and only one guy kept showing his class - Froome. Absolutely great sprint and 2nd win in a row for Brit, who keeps the yellow jersey.



Frank finished on 6th position and in the same group as others. Considering he had an advantage in GC over others, he might even get the provisional podium in GC!

1	Chris Froome	Team Sky	3h51'49
2	Rigoberto Urán	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	+ 6
3	Nairo Quintana	Movistar Team	+ 13
4	Alberto Contador	Tinkoff - Saxo	s.t.
5	Alejandro Valverde	Movistar Team	s.t.
6	Fränk Schleck	Trek Factory Racing	s.t.
7	Samuel Sánchez	BMC Racing Team	+ 27
8	Richie Porte	Team Sky	+ 51
9	Jurgen Van den Broeck	Lotto Belisol	+ 1'12
10	Chris Horner	Lampre - Merida	+ 1'24

GC

1	Chris Froome	Team Sky	7h08'32
2	Nairo Quintana	Movistar Team	+ 13
3	Fränk Schleck	Trek Factory Racing	s.t.
4	Rigoberto Urán	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	+ 34
5	Alejandro Valverde	Movistar Team	+ 41
6	Alberto Contador	Tinkoff - Saxo	s.t.
7	Samuel Sánchez	BMC Racing Team	+ 55
8	Richie Porte	Team Sky	+ 1'19
9	Daniel Moreno	Team Katusha	+ 1'24
10	Andy Schleck	Trek Factory Racing	+ 1'44

Points	Chris Froome [Sky]	50 points
KoM	Mikel Landa [Astana]	12 points
U25	Nairo Quintana [Movistar]	7h08'45
Team	Team Sky	21h29'07

Thanks guys, it really was great stage by Frank. Maybe we could get a better position if Frank didn't have a short attack at around 1km to go, but it's late to talk about that.

Yeah, we're already on 3rd stage of Tour of Basque Country! This one is looking pretty interesting, as you don't know what to expect. Breakaway can win, puncheurs can win, stage racers can win. Everything can happen. So, let's see what actually did happen!




After 2 days having a guy in a break, we decided to rest a bit today. That turned out to be bad decision (you'll see why later). Anyways, some really strong names such as Gilbert and Martin are in that break. As none of the guys in front are close in GC, they had huge chance of winning this.



Surprisingly for this profile, the race was pretty boring all the time. We could only see few falls from time to time. Zubeldia was one of them. He had pretty hard job to get in peloton, as that happened on the bottom of last hill. He managed to do so after few minutes, tho.



Meanwhile on the very front of the race, Gilbert attacked. Only 15 kilometers to go and less than 3 of them until the climb finishes. No one seems to have enough power to follow him from breakaway group and as the peloton is way behind, this is huge chance for Phillipe.



Pretty passive atmosphere in peloton was stopped for a second by an attack from Rigoberto Uran, Samuel Sanchez and Sergio Henao. As Sky sent Henao, they had no reason to chase and no one else had enough energy to catch that, so these guys made another group, in front of the peloton.



Gilbert was the first one to arrive on the top of the last climb. As he had 30 seconds advantage over Martin and rest of that breakaway group, it's most likely that he's going to win this, as it's almost impossible to close that gap in 6 kilometers of descent.



And after getting even bigger advantage on that downhill before finish, Phillipe Gilbert celebrated win on 3rd stage of Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco. Absolutely deserved win.



More than a minute and half after, Sanchez/Uran/Henao trio arrived to the finish line. They had a great descent and somehow managed to stay in front of the peloton.



Our first riders arrived 30 seconds after E2 group. Frank was our best rider today, getting the win in pelotons mass sprint. To repeat once again, Zubeldia made it to the main group and didn't lose any time.



GC will now look even more crazy after this stage. We're really curious to see what's current standings. For more, check results board below.

1	Philippe Gilbert	BMC Racing Team	3h53'59
2	Tony Martin	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	+ 55
3	Rohan Dennis	Garmin Sharp	s.t.
4	Jesús Herrada	Movistar Team	+ 1'40
5	Antonio Piedra	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	s.t.
6	Rigoberto Urán	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.
7	Samuel Sánchez	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
8	Sergio Henao	Team Sky	s.t.
9	Fränk Schleck	Trek Factory Racing	+ 2'19
10	Pierrick Fédrigo	FDJ.fr	s.t.

GC

1	Rigoberto Urán	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	11h04'45
2	Chris Froome	Team Sky	+ 5
3	Fränk Schleck	Trek Factory Racing	+ 18
4	Nairo Quintana	Movistar Team	s.t.
5	Samuel Sánchez	BMC Racing Team	+ 21
6	Alejandro Valverde	Movistar Team	+ 46
7	Alberto Contador	Tinkoff - Saxo	s.t.
8	Richie Porte	Team Sky	+ 1'24
9	Daniel Moreno	Team Katusha	+ 1'29
10	Sergio Henao	Team Sky	+ 1'38

Points	Chris Froome [Sky]	55 points
KoM	Phillipe Gilbert [BMC]	20 points
U25	Nairo Quintana [Movistar]	11h05'03
Team	BMC Racing Team	33h17'07

I won't call that a bad day, just missing out the late break. Frank won mass sprint, which talks about how good legs he had and he could even manage to finish with the guys in front, but it's past activity now already. We have to focus on Schelderprijs now!

Thanks for support guys!

Scheldeprijs is the last challenge for the guys before Paris - Roubaix and as it's rated as 1.HC, it can be very popular. Last year, Kittel took the win in front of Cav and Markus and I think it talks about how popular it is.




The profile and route can't be more flat, I think. It's basically just pan flat race with the sprint as the only one understandable finish possibility. Race starts in Antwerpen, North of Belgium and finishes in Schoten, basically on border with Netherlands.

I already talked a bit about the popularity of this continental race, but I am sure you'll get more into this story after you hear some of the names that are taking pariticipation in this years edition: Kittel, Greipel, Farrar, Bouhanni, Modolo, Nizzolo, Bennati, Hushovd, Vanmarcke, Bennett... Most of the Worlds Top sprinters are here, as you can see.



Our team is, as well as every other here, sprint-orientated. Our top 5 sprinters, Nizzolo, van Poppel's, Styuven and Silvestre are here and all will be working for Giacomo. Also, we do have Irizar, Popovych and Beppu here as old guns and the guys that should help alot.



Both Nizzolo and younger van Poppel are in awful forms, so getting a Top 10 result will surely satisfy us. I guess this was short but effective preview for this kind of race. It's its end now, so see ya on the road.

DS of Trek FR - admirschleck

Nizzolo is our leader here, so I really doubt that van Poppel will get in chance to win. I won't complain if that happens, tho.

We'll see, Shonak. Not sure if Schlecks are currently in the same level as Gilbert, but we'll definitely try our best. Yup, Fabian was impressive in all his one day races this season. Let's hope he'll get the win on Roubaix!

Once again, awful weather. God doesn't seem to like this story, but we'll have to deal with it. At least it's not very cold, so riders can fully enjoy the todays ride.




The race started and huge breakaway group was expected. And as that's normal in these spring classics, big 9 riders group created BOTD. Popovych is defending the colours of Trek there.



What could really happen on this profile except usual peloton chasing - getting the break at about 20 kilometers to go - finishes in sprint situation? Anyways, Camano and Popovych tried to make it more dynamic and they attacked at about 15 kilometers to go. Rest of the breakaway is already caught.



However, soon after that, at about 6 km's to go, this attack was neutralised. Everyone's now expecting sprint, but Leukemans and Hushovd doesn't really like that idea. They are attacking!



Surprisingly, all the leaders decides to follow that from seat. Leukemans, Hushovd, Bennett, Greipel and Steegmans are all on the very top of that group. Kittel, Nizzolo and van Poppel are a bit behind.



German champion had absolutely perfect position all the time, so he decides to start the sprint. He looks absolutely unbeatable. Nizzolo gained few meters and is now on 4th-5th place. Kittel is still on around 10th position or something.



At the end, Greipel grabs an easy win in Scheldeprijs 2014. He was just the best sprinter today. The guy is in form!



Few seconds after, despit the fact that he's in awful form, Nizzolo outsprints Steegmans and Kittel and grabs the 2nd position. Great result for us!



That wasn't all, as van Poppel finished on 9th place, while Styuven crossed the line as 16th. Really solid result for the team in Belgium.

1	André Greipel	Lotto Belisol	4h20'41
2	Giacomo Nizzolo	Trek Factory Racing	s.t.
3	Gert Steegmans	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.
4	Marcel Kittel	Team Giant - Shimano	s.t.
5	Jürgen Roelandts	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
6	Scott Thwaites	Team NetApp - Endura	s.t.
7	Thor Hushovd	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
8	Preben Van Hecke	Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise	s.t.
9	Danny Van Poppel	Trek Factory Racing	s.t.
10	Roberto Ferrari	Lampre - Merida	s.t.

Yeah, but honestly I couldn't even imagine getting 2nd position here with Nizzolo being on '4' and van Poppel on '3' fitness.

After Schelderprijs report and Belgium, we're now moving to Spain once again, to report the 4th stage of Basque Country. This one is very hilly, with some big chance of final hilly sprint on final climb in Altasasu. We'll see what we can do, but we're aiming high with Frank, Haimar and Andy all feeling good today.




I guess there's no need to say that the breakaway was created today. We once again missed it, as we wanted to fully concentrate on protecting our leaders. Some really good climbers are there, such as Monfort or Kelderman.



120 kilometers to go and another 2 great climbers, Voeckler and Gerrans decides to make an attack. They now have to catch up with first group, which won't be easy at all, as the guys in front has about 7 minutes of advantage.



However, after long 50 kilometers, they somehow managed to and these 2 groups merged and now, 70 kilometers before finish line, there are 7 strong, 7 very strong riders in breakaway group. But will peloton really let them go just like that?



Of course, the answer was clear - NO. Omega Pharma - QuickStep, as well as Katusha were most active on the top of peloton. OPQS tried to defend Uran's yellow jersey, while Katusha clearly wanted Moreno to surprise with a win here.



Last rated hill (1) arrived pretty soon. There are still 2 groups - breakaway one and peloton. On the bottom of the hill, few riders are trying to break away from peloton. Their names are: Valverde, Uran, Henao and Moreno.



Meanwhile, on the very top of the hill, Maxime Monfort from Lotto surprisely dropped everyone else and is now going alone. 25 kilometers to go for him, rest of the guys looks cracked and there's no way that they can follow him.



These 2 groups merged on the downhill, but at about 13 kilometers to go, calmly domestiques from peloton managed to catch that. That was bad move from leaders and great sign for us, as we didn't lose energy on acceleration and we're still in the same group as these guys. However, it's now only Monfort versus Peloton.



10 kilometers to go and we definitely needed plan change. As all of our three guys felt great, we decided to send one of them in an attack before last climb. Most logic option was Zubeldia, as he was furthest in GC. Haimar attacked!



Soon after that, he managed to catch Monfort. As Maxime was really exhausted, he couldn't really help Haimar with chasing. That meant Haimar is spending his energy. 6 kilometers to go and they have about 40 seconds of advantage. Pretty good!



3 kilometers to go and Zubeldia is first one to start climbing. From very bottom of the hill, it was clearly visible that Monfort just can't follow that. At that moment, it looked great for us!



Down the road, few guys tried their luck with attacks. All of that was neutralised by Team Sky and their great mountain train. 1 kilometer to go and Haimar finally got rid of Monfort. It's now or never for the win!



As very experienced rider, Haimar just knew that peloton was getting closer and closer. But how close? Every pedal turn, every meter, he basically felt breathing on his neck. It was like someone's pulling him down, someone's going to stop him winning this. But at the end, after such a brave fight, we finally won this!



It was basically win in last meter, as peloton came very, very close. This time, we Haimar'd other guys! To make thing better, Frank finished on 6th position in mass sprint behind. Nothing changed in GC tho, as all favourites finished in the same group.

1	Haimar Zubeldia	Trek Factory Racing	4h00'45
2	Sergio Henao	Team Sky	s.t.
3	Philippe Gilbert	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
4	Chris Froome	Team Sky	s.t.
5	Alejandro Valverde	Movistar Team	s.t.
6	Fränk Schleck	Trek Factory Racing	s.t.
7	Maxime Monfort	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
8	Rui Costa	Lampre - Merida	s.t.
9	Nairo Quintana	Movistar Team	s.t.
10	Luis León Sánchez	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	s.t.

GC	Rigoberto Uran [OPQS]	15h05'30
Points	Chris Froome [Sky]	69 points
KoM	Maxime Monfort [Lotto]	29 points
U25	Nairo Quintana [Movistar]	15h05'48
Team	BMC Racing Team	45h19'22