A race i wasn't going to report, but after doing well, i thought i might as well...
Another 1.HC race, which will see Jollet and Galland get more experience towards their level ups.
Tronet would be looking to do well in the bunch sprint, trying to out do Hushovd and Steegmans will be hard however.
Levarlet got in an early break that stayed away until 30km to go, when a Lotto driven pack brought them back in. The pack then remained without any teams on the front for a few kilometres until Malacarne attacked and got away. Just the one rider chasing after him. With his good daily form, he pulled out quite a gap, and managed to maintain it running into the finish.
Normally, at about 10km out, i'd see the team solo rider blow up and go shooting back out the pack, but Malacarne was storming away today, into the last 3km he had a 40 second lead. I was on the edge of the seat as the sprint began. Both Tronet, and Pioline went down in a crash, but that didn't matter as Malacarne got over the line first!
With the mountains jersey officially ours, Brouzes would be free to help protect Drujon or Morizot as they would try to attack to gain time later on in the stage.
A break went with Trussov in it, and we thought that we would gain another place in the GC as he'd get dropped, but as the bunch caught them, he was obviously strong enough after riding 120km on 2 bottles to keep up and sprint at the end to keep in the bunch.
Over the final climb, Morizot had a dig, with the leader, Haedo following along with others.
As he had to go past the broken breakaway to get away, the bunch caught on, and wouldn't let him get away, so Brouzes feeling good after sitting in all day, had a go himself.
This looked much more promising, and with some mucking around by the bunch, as no team led the sprint out, Brouzes had more than enough gap to take another win for Auber 93! Two wins in one day!
To worship his almighty holiness rjc_43, who made miracles with his leadership of Auber 93 to promotion. He is our spiritual guidance in the world of Cycling, and his worship is a bright pathway for all those burdened by news of Doping Scandal's and other Cycling sins. All Hail rjc_43, All Hail Auber 93.
Please reply to this message if you wish to join the Church, a photograph of the Shrine we have built to His Holiness rjc_43 on top of L'Alp du Huez will follow shortly.
In other news, i had a few races that i'd signed up to do, that i wouldn't have been doing usually, and so i got bored and simed them ops: A few more top 10's keep me pretty stationary up in 2nd spot.
Also i sent off for the teams one wildcard request for Paris - Tours sprinters classic, and got given it! The team's season highlight will be racing with the big boys.
As well as that, Cancellara managed to retain his WChamps ITT jersey for another year:
I dedicate this Shrine to His Holiness rjc_43, may he have a long and succesful career, and not quit during the next few seasons. ALL HAIL rjc_43, ALL HAIL Auber 93.
THe last sponsors goal, 4 months after the previous one we completed, will be tough to do. But with many riders by now having the legs of concrete, we were confident that either Tronet or Drujon would be able to pull off a top 5 in this race.
Regardless of our confidence, we brought the strongest flat squad we have here, and the same squad will probably be doing the Paris - Tours race too.
With a few bumps in the middle, the worse climbers out of the sprinters will not be in contention by the end.
A group of 14 went away fairly late into the race, and Brouzes was of course amongst them.
He would later attack over the final climbs to get away solo for a while.
Just shortly after the climb, with about 30km to go, a few riders attacked out the bunch. Feeling that maybe an opportune attack would win this one, Gaudin went with them. He was the only way to get a gap though, and soon was crossing over to the breakaway.
Once there, he wasted no time in getting near the front, getting some energy back into his legs, and launching another brutal attack.
With 15km to go, it looked promising.
Even so, with 3km to go, his lead was falling slightly, down to 40 seconds, so we made sure Tronet and Drujon were both positioned well in the bunch.
Coming into the final kilometre, it was going to be close. Gaudin had literally 100m's on the charging pack. And oh so agonising as he was overtaken literally metres from the line.
He would hang on in there to claim 4th though, securing our fifth and final sponsors goal!
Named "the Sprinters Classic", this race usually ends in a bunch sprint. But at the end of such a long season, sometimes it goes wrong, with sprinters teams not wanting to do any work to pull back breaks or suicidal attackers.
Our squad for today would be our main men, with a few here for experience.
The route is pretty flat, with just a little kick 8 km before the finish line.
Early on, a break went with 12 riders in it. We thought nothing of it, considering Quickstep weren't in it, and Boonen was around. But soon after 100km to go mark, and there was still a gap of 12 minutes, and growing. We knew the break was the place to be.
Soon enough, the wind caused the break to fall apart a bit. And Credit Agricole were looking good. If they got this win, they could avoid relegation!
With less than 7km to go, Hinault (CA) was still in there, having managed to get over the top with the group.
With 4km to go, his inexperience, or crapness - one or the other - led to him leading out the sprint, and just being torn past.
Teams Relagated to the Continental Division are:
Bouygues Telekom
Credit Agricole
Teams Promoted to the Pro Tour are:
Wiesenhof Felt Auber 93
(At this point I would like to thank you all for reading my story upto this time, and I hope you get as much enjoyment out of it as I have had doing it so far. Many thanks for all the good lucks, the well dones, and general shouts of amazement at what I have achieved)
Auber 93 had its most successful year ever. Usually a team where young French riders get a small contract to enable them to race at UCI .1 and .2 levels, this team has excelled past the sponsors expectations. Normally, many riders leave at the end of the year to move onto better, or bigger teams. But with promotion achieved, no one needs to leave as all the riders feel comfortable here, and are very happy to ride at this new level.
But the team will still be keeping its roots deep in French territory, with many signings coming from France itself, and other French teams. A rumour of Belarussian input into the team has been floating around, and the management do not wish to comment on the matter so far.
Season Goals for 2007 all completed
The season also has been a great one financially. With the team taking on many new staff at the start of the year, and the additional riders that it did, there was a worry that the bank balance would not expand to cope with the added strain. However, the riders managed to solve that problem themselves by winning many jerseys (often in the shape of a mountains one!), and getting constant placings in single day races and stage races.
But it hasn't just been Auber 93 that have had a good year. Many teams at the top tier of the sport, and at the bottom, have had excellent seasons.
With Contador winning Le Tour, and coming 2nd in the Vuelta, Discovery were over the moon at the youngster, and he maintains his place in their team. Likewise Cancellara has had an awesume year, retaining his World Champion title has been his highlight.
But the many top performances by Auber 93's young talent show great potential for the future. Next year may be a struggle for many of the younger riders, but with some older, more experienced riders being looked at as potential transfer targets, the team feels that they will get through the tough year ahead of them. Here's a recap on our years top performances:
The teams goal of furthering the development of young riders has been achieved this year by quite some astronomical proportions. While we look at how our riders have progressed, and how far some still have to go, we cannot fail to be amazed at the potential we have surrounding us. I am one truely lucky manager to be in control of some of the best riders in France.
I start off with introducing one of the most promising signings that we have managed. When this riders contract was known to be running out, and with Auber 93 looking like it may be promoted, I quickly contacted him to see if he'd be interested in returning to where he began. With us.
I'm proud to introduce the reigning French Individual Time Trial Champion, Benoit Vaugrenaud.
Other season highlights this past year include wins at De Brabantse Pijl, the overall win at Circuit de la Sarthe, and of course his win in the French National ITT championship. He also came 6th in the French National Road Race Champs, and is the 6th best time trialist in the world going on his World Championship time.
Other transfers that have been going on in the off season include:
L.Paolini - Caisse d'Epargne
C.Evans - Rabobank
J.Cobo - Rabobank
P.Bettini - Liquigas
D.Menchov - Astana
Y.Popovych - Saunier Duval
A.Davis - Milram
J.A.Gomez Marchante - Lampre
S.Wesemann - Quickstep
E.Boasson Hagen - Euskatel
A.Loddo - AG2r
If there is anyone you would like to know about, please ask, and i'll be happy to find out for you.
A look at our transfer budget, and you will see it has increased a lot since last year.
B)
I love that report-style!
