Here it is the queen stage in Castilla y Leon. Wiggins has an advantage of 31 seconds in front of Carlos Sastre, the Spaniard looking stronger in the mountains though and 40 seconds in front of Denis Menchov, the winner of the time - trial
Augustyn set up the pace on the first climb of the day and nobody was able to get away from the pack there, where the only important moves were those for the KoM jersey, which was took back by Wynants.
A few kilometers after the final climb started, Sastre made his move just like yesterday. This time more riders followed him but only 2 were able to keep it up with him: Denis Menchov and Lance Armstrong. At the 5 kilometers banner they were leading the race, with Bradley Wiggins, who missed the right move at the start of the climb, more than 1 minute behind them
Almost one minute and a half after the leading group passed the banner, the second group came, where Wiggins was trying to get away from the other three, Bernabeu, Cataldo and Pinto, in order to try to win some time back over Sastre &co. Behind them Gesink and Froome weren't too far away and they could have joined the group at any moment
Just 2 kilometers later Wiggins managed to join the leading group, which looked almost impossible a few minutes before. Behind them, Gesink joined the chasing group which means that now there are 4 riders in the front group and 4 in the second one
Inside the last two kilometers of the climb the chasing group came really close to the leaders, which let Gesink catch the first group. Impressive achievement by the Dutch, with 5 kilometers before was still in the pack
Before the last kilometer banner, Wiggins made an acceleration which spread the riders from the leading group. Only Armstrong and Menchov were strong enough to keep it up with the Sky rider, but the Brit might have some problems when it comes down to the sprint
Armstrong and Menchov proved to be faster in the final meters than Wiggo, with the American taking the stage win. Still this was more than enough for Wiggins to keep the lead of the race as Sastre even lost a few seconds in the final kilometer
The last stage in Castilly y Leon is as the first one made for sprinters. Team Sky dominated the opening stage of the Spanish race so Sutton and Vigano will look to repeat their performances
As expected the stage ended up in a mass sprint. But after helping Wiggins in the mountain stages, Arvesen didn't have enough energy left so secure a good lead - out as in the first stage. Sky was again one of the fastest trains but the one made by The Shack proved to be a little bit faster in the end and the win went to Thomas Vatikus, while both Sutton and Vigano missed the podium.
Wiggins didn't win any stages but he was on the podium in all the important stages, 2 times second and 1 time third, which means that he was the most constant one, taking in the end the overall win in front of Menchov and Sastre. The Brit had some problems during this last stage, crashing with less than 3 kilometers before the finish, but right after getting back on his bike, he started a fantastic sprint and managed to get back in the pack and didn't lose any time.
Amstel Gold Race is the first one from the big Ardennes classics trio. The race is known for it's difficulty of the many short steep hills, their number also being an impressive one, after 30 hills on the route the riders will face one more right at the finish in Maastricht, the Cauberg hill.
The recent winner of De Brabantse Pijl, Simon Gerrans, will lead Team Sky in the Dutch race and he will be able to count on the support of Thomas Lovkvist and Juan Antonio Flecha. Lovkvist didn't shine in Pais Vasco as he clearly isn't in that amazing shape from Tirreno, while Flecha doesn't look too good either after what happened in Paris - Roubaix even though he won Ronde van Vlaanderen two weeks ago. Still they both should be very useful for Gerrans, who will aim for a top 10 at the very least.
From last year's podium, only the winner, Serguei Ivanov, is registered for the race, the home stars, Kroon and Gesink skipping the race this year. But names like Valverde, Cunego, Gilbert, Sammy Sanchez, Contador, Albasini, Nocentini, Kirchen, Kolobnev Nibali or Wegmann will be present Sunday in Maastricht for the start of The Gold Race.
Team Sky for Amstel Gold Race: Sylvain Calzati Kejl Carlström Russell Downing Juan Antonio Flecha Simon Gerrans Peter Kennaugh Thomas Lövkvist Serge Pauwels
The main news from Maastricht at the start of the race it was that the weather is going to be rainy for most of the race and we might see some surprises in the end. Valverde, who showed an amazing shape this season is the main favorites, but last year's winner Ivanov and many others also want to finish first on Cauberg
From the early kilometers a few big names, like Kreuziger, Millar or Lastras tried to get away, but in the end the biggest name from the breakaway of the day was Van Goolen. Fifty kilometers before the finish the day's main breakaway was already history thanks mainly to Columbia.
With just 30 kilometers before the Cauberg climb, we had the first big attacks of the day. Gilbert made the first move and he was closely followed by Albasini, Ivanov and Gerrans. 10 kilometers later after they've managed to build quite a nice gap they were joined in front by Damiano Cunego. But when Cunego went away from the pack he wasn't the only one and a few chasing group were made between the leading group and the pack
On the penultimate hill of the day the number of riders in the leading group increased. Valverde, Gerdemann, Nocentini, Wegmann and Barredo all joined the group, while Flecha, Rodriguez, Contador and Popovych weren't too far away either. But by the end of the hill 2 bad news for Sky came in, Gerrans lost the contact with the leading group, while Flecha wasn't able to join it, which means that there were 9 riders in the front group heading to Cauberg
On the flat section between the final two hills of the day, Gerrans was caught by Flecha and Rodriguez, who were the 2 main chasers of the leading group at that moment. But there were some changes in the leading group as well, 2 riders, Nocentini and Barredo losing the contact with the others and their chances to take the victory today.
With Barredo and Nocentini out, there were only 7 riders left in the leading group which was fast heading to the Cauberg hill, where everything was going to be decedided. The riders in the leading group were: Ivanov, Valverde, Cunego, Gilbert, Albasini and the Milram duo made by Wegmann and Gerdemann
Right before the last kilometer, the leading group reached the first slopes of the Cauberg hill. Gilbert was leading the group, while Valverde, the main favorite, was a few meters behind him. Also one of the Milram, Fabian Wegmann riders was about to be dropped off, which left us with only 6 riders fighting for the victory in The Gold Race
Inside the last kilometer, Valverde and Cunego were the fastest riders but the advantage that Gilbert took before that put the Belgian even in a better position that them. It looks like those 3 will be on the podium today but the it's going to be a tight one for the win
But Gilbert managed to hold on in front of the two Latins and took his second big win this season, after the amazing performance from Milano - Sanremo. Cunego took the second place, Valverde finished only third in the end, Gerdemann got an amazing result for Milram finishing fourth, while the top 5 was rounded up by last year's winner, Serguei Ivanov
On Cauberg, Rodriguez got away from the third group and took away the 8th place from Nocentini and Barredo. Flecha and Gerrans tried to keep it up with the Spanish rider but it was impossible and they both lost a place the top 10 by a bit in the end
La Fleche Wallone is the second race from the Ardennes trio. The route doesn't look to be as hard as the one from Amstel Gold Race with not so many hills to be passed. But the main attraction from Fleche Wallone is the Mur de Huy, a short hill of 1.3 kilometers length, an average grade of 9.3% but the steepest portions are more than 25%. The legendary climb will be passed 3 times, the last time also meaning the end of the race after more than 200 kilometers in the saddle.
The Team Sky registered for this race is almost the same as the one from Amstel Gold Race, the only modification being the fact that Chris Froome will be replacing Russell Downing. Gerrans didn't have a great day in the Netherlands but hopefully he will be in a better mood when the Mur de Huy will be reached here in Wallonia. Flecha was our best rider in Amstel Gold Race but the route there might suited him more, while Lovkvist will definitely try to make a better performance than in The Gold Race.
Not only the Sky line - up is almost the same as the one from Amstel Gold Race, almost the whole startlist coincides with the one from the Dutch race. So Gilbert will try to repeat his performance, while Valverde is still the main rider to watch, as well as Cunego, who finished second Sunday.
Team Sky for La Fleche Wallone: Sylvain Calzati Kjell Carlström Juan Antonio Flecha Chris Froome Simon Gerrans Peter Kennaugh Thomas Lövkvist Serge Pauwels
Edited by alexkr00 on 31-03-2010 22:48
The good news is that today's a sunny day! So Gilbert who won in the rain in Amstel Gold Race might not feel as good as in the Netherlands, while Valverde is looking for his 2nd victory in La Fleche Wallone
At the first pass on the Mur de Huy, a group of 10 riders were leading the race. It was the main breakaway of the day group, which included riders like Westra, Rosseler and Di Gregorio. Their maximum advantage was over 7 minutes
With still 100 kilometers left before the finish a new group attacked from the pack. Riders like Pellizotti, Fuglsang and Boom were there. They joined quite soon the breakaway group, but they were all caught 60 kilometers later by a pack lead mainly by Columbia and Lampre
Few moments after the escapes were caught we had a new bunch of attacks. Cunego, Albasini, Gilbert, Lovkvist and Valverde got away from the pack. They stayed in front for a few kilometers but they were eventually caught after an amazing chase from Katusha
On the penultimate hill of the day, Gilbert made an another acceleration which split the pack into many small groups. Ten riders were in what became the leading group, but somehow the Omega Pharma rider missed the first group and he was caught in a chasing group, with Cunego, Albasini, Kirchen, Ivanov and many others
The ten riders from the leading group were: Sammy Sanchez (Euskaltel), Yaroslav Popovych (The Shack), Simon Gerrans (Sky), Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne), Linus Gerdemann (Milram), Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), Alberto Contador (Astana), Francesco Failli (Acqua & Sapone), Fabian Wegmann (Mirlam) and Juan Antonio Flecha (Sky).
There were no other important changes until the first slopes of the Mur de Huy. Popovych took the lead of the group as soon as the road started to go up, while the second group, lead by Cunego and Gilbert managed to join the leading group, which increased the number of riders in the first group to 18
Popovych maintained the lead in the early meters of the last kilometer, but Valverde and Rodriguez were right behind him and the Spaniard are away better sprinters than the Ukrainian. Ivanov, Gilbert and Cunego, who all came from the second group also looked very strong on the early slopes
As it was quite expected, Popocyvh, who made his move a bit too early, lost the lead as soon as the steepest slopes of the climb were reached. Rodriguez took the lead from The Shack rider, while Valverde, Ivanov and the others were also looking stronger than him
In the last corner the fight for the victory seemed to be over as Rodriguez already had made a small gap between him and the others. The fight for the podium was still open though, Popovych losing the second and the third pace to Valverde and Ivanov
And Rodriguez wins La Flecha Wallone! Amazing win for the Spaniard and a great result for Katusha as Ivanov beat Valverde in the sprint for the second place to give an 1 - 2 to the Russian squad. Popovych finished only 5th in the end, losing even the fourth place, which was taken by Alberto Contador
As in Amstel Gold Race, Flecha finished again right in front of Gerrans, but this time they were both 5 places lower than in the Dutch race. Behind them, Kim Kirchen was celebrating an amazing result for Katusha, who took the first 2 places and had 4 riders in top 25
GL for the ardenner-classics..
and thanks
