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Dominik Nerz: Germany's stage racing hope (Ended, next season in PCM 2011)
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| johannes-w |
Posted on 14-08-2011 15:28
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Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 833
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great results for liquigas in the last days - it seems like basso should be able to gain enough time in the mountains to keep the lead after the tt... well at least i hope so good luck
it will be a big challenge for the new riders to follow in bassos footsteps in the next season
oh and have a nice holiday!!! |
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 14-08-2011 18:27
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Team Manager
Posts: 6508
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PCM$: 1090.00
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Thank you both. It really looks good for Basso, and the classics squad looks fine, too.
@ johannes-w: Kreuziger and Brajkovic won't be able to completely replace Basso, at least not yet. But maybe Nibali will be our main man for the Tour, and the other two for the Giro or Vuelta, they might be able to shine there. And remember, we still have one transfer to announce...
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 14-08-2011 18:31
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Team Manager
Posts: 6508
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PCM$: 1090.00
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September 16, 2011
 2.PT: Vuelta a Espana – Stage 16-18
Six stages left, two mountain top finishes, a time trial and three flat ones. This is one of the two mountain stages:
Stage 16
The tough stage up to the Cotobello featured the Alto de San Lorenzo and the Puerto de la Cobertoria as a warm up. The breakaway featured mostly weak climbers and was caught on the climb to la Cobertoria. On top, Nicolas Roche attacked, took the full 16 points and the provisional KoM lead.
Only 28 riders entered the last climb together. Early on the climb, Alberto Contador attacked, trying to improve his (by his standards) desolate GC position. He caused the group to split, but didn't really get away. The big loser was Nicolas Roche, who lost contact early and eventually loses 7 minutes.
The decisive attack was made by Samuel Sanchez, who was simply the strongest today. He broke free with 3 km to go and maintained a gap into the finish. Basso led Igor Anton and David Arroyo over the line 53 seconds later and enters the time trial with now only 18 seconds of advance. As Sanchez doesn't show any signs of weakness, that shouldn't be enough. Basso may just have lost the Vuelta, if he doesn't do something extraordinary tomorrow or on the last mountain stage.
Result
| 1 | Samuel Sanchez | Euskaltel - Euskadi | 5h07'42 | | 2 |  Ivan Basso | Liquigas – Cannondale | + 53 | | 3 | Igor Anton | Eukaltel - Euskadi | s.t. |
Stage 17
The time trial might bring a preliminary decision. If Sanchez can gain enough time on Basso, he could secure his overall win today, as only one large mountain stage is left.
The expected happened, and Samuel Sanchez overtook the lead in the general classification. But Basso managed to limit his losses and is in second position with only 54 seconds behind. That means that everything is still possible.
The time trial was won by Christian Vande Velde in front of the amazing Carlos Sastre and Luis Leon Sanchez. Liquigas' new signing for next season, Janez Brajkovic, finished fourth and stays on fifth overall.
Result
| 1 |  Christian Vande Velde | Garmin – Cervelo | 1h01'47 | | 2 | Carlos Sastre | Geox – TMC | + 1'27 | | 3 | Luis Leon Sanchez | Rabobank | + 1'38 |
Stage 18
Three of the last four stages are completely flat, this was the first of them. It ended unspectacularly in the expected mass sprint, which was won by Joaquin Rojas in a close decision in front of Tyler Farrar.
Result
| 1 | Jose Joaquin Rojas | Movistar Team | 3h34'49 | | 2 | Tyler Farrar | Team Garmin – Cervelo | s.t. | | 3 |  Andre Greipel | Omega Pharma – Lotto | s.t. |
General Classification after Stage 18:
| 1 | Samuel Sánchez | Euskaltel - Euskadi | 73h57'27 | | 2 | Ivan Basso | Liquigas - Cannondale | + 54 | | 3 | Carlos Sastre | Geox - TMC | + 4'22 | | 4 | David Arroyo | Movistar Team | + 7'30 | | 5 |  Janez Brajkovic | Team RadioShack | + 9'08 | | 6 | Alberto Contador | Saxo Bank - Sungard | + 9'55 | | 7 | Christian Vande Velde | Team Garmin - Cervelo | + 10'27 | | 8 |  Nicolas Roche | AG2R La Mondiale | + 13'05 | | 9 | Ezequiel Mosquera | Vacansoleil - DMC | + 13'10 | | 10 | Igor Antón | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 13'31 |
Points Classification after Stage 18:
| 1 | Ivan Basso | Liquigas - Cannondale | 171 | | 2 | Samuel Sánchez | Euskaltel - Euskadi | 143 | | 3 | José JoaquÃn Rojas | Movistar Team | 109 |
Mountain Classification after Stage 18:
| 1 | Nicolas Roche | AG2R La Mondiale | 66 | | 2 | Ivan Basso | Liquigas - Cannondale | 65 | | 3 | Igor Antón | Euskaltel - Euskadi | 48 |
Young Riders Classification after Stage 18:
| 1 | Rafael Valls | Geox - TMC | 64h36'07 | | 2 |  Robert Kiserlovski | Astana | + 20'37 | | 3 |  Edvald Boasson Hagen | Sky ProCycling | + 22'04 |
Team Classification after Stage 18:
| 1 | Euskaltel – Euskadi | . | 74h30'34 | | 2 | Geox – TMC | . | + 15'28 | | 3 | Team RadioShack | . | + 55'48 |
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 14-08-2011 21:38
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Team Manager
Posts: 6508
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Ok, I'm not going to post the last Vuelta stages before I leave tomorrow, because there is another classics post inbetween. But I mailed myself the posts I already wrote and maybe I'll be able to post one every couple of days when I have internet. But I can't promise anything
See you then...
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 15-08-2011 10:37
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World Champion
Posts: 14236
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Have a nice holiday, great second place overall by Ivan
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| Ad Bot |
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 18-08-2011 09:14
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Team Manager
Posts: 6508
Joined: 14-09-2008
PCM$: 1090.00
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September 17, 2011
 1.1: Grand Prix de la Wallonie
The next two races for our classic squad took part in Belgium.
Peter Sagan was again the top favorite in the GP de la Wallonie. His main rivals on the paper were Jelle Vanendert and Rein Taaramäe.
Damiano Caruso was our man in the 9 men break of the day. They were caught with 15 km to go. Peter Sagan followed Taaramäe's move with 9 km to go on the penultimate small climb and found himself in a 12 riders group entering the last climb.
After a late attack, Bert de Waele (Landbouwkrediet) had a small advance, Peter Sagan and the others followed him close. And it was very, very close: Kevin Seeldraeyers nearly caught up with De Waele, but he only came in second.
And the fight for third was equally tight: Peter Sagan saved only centimeters in front of Rein Taaramäe, continuing his row of good results.
Result
| 1 | Bert de Waele | Landbouwkrediet | 5h25'15 | | 2 | Kevin Seeldraeyers | Quick·Step | s.t. | | 3 |  Peter Sagan | Liquigas – Cannondale | s.t. |
1.1: Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen
For a change, the team also enters a cobbled classic. Some of the best continental cobblestone riders like Staf Scheirlickx or Bert de Waele took part in the criterium in Koolskamp, so we didn't expect much, as Peter Sagan shouldn't be able to compete with them.
I had to simulate the race, so I can only give you the result:
Result
| 1 | Staf Scheirlickx | Verandas Willems Accent | 4h20'24 | | 2 | Nico Eeckhout | An Post – Sean Kelly | + 33 | | 3 | Koen Barbé | Landbouwkrediet | s.t. |
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 23-08-2011 14:04
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Team Manager
Posts: 6508
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PCM$: 1090.00
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September 19, 2011
2.PT: Vuelta a Espana – Stage 19-21
The final three stages of the last grand tour of the year consist of two flat ones, who enframe one last big mountain stage up to the Bola del Mundo.
Stage 19
The stage was the expected mass sprint, with a bit surprising outcome: Caja Rural managed to get a 1-2 with Diego Milan and Aitor Galdos. Tyler Farrar finished third.
Result| 1 Diego Milan | Caja Rural | 4h49'45 | | 2 Aitor Galdos | Caja Rural | s.t. | | 3 Tyler Farrar | Team Garmin - Cervelo | s.t. |
Stage 20
Today, the GC was fixed. For Ivan Basso, it was the last chance to make up one minute on Samuel Sanchez and win this Vuelta.
Everything stayed together until the last climb. Out of a ten men favorite's group, Samuel Sanchez attacked with 5 km to go, and only Basso and Arroyo were able to follow. Basso knew that he had to try more and attacked with 1.7 km to go. He was able to create a gap and won the stage. Together with the 20 seconds time bonification, and given that Sanchez would get at least 8 seconds as well, he would need 43 seconds...
… but Sanchez came in third with only 32 seconds deficit. The Spaniard wins the Vuelta with 10 seconds of advance!
Result| 1 | Ivan Basso | Liquigas – Cannondale | 4h55'22 | | 2 | David Arroyo | Movistar Team | + 32 | | 3 | Samuel Sanchez | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. |
Stage 21
The pack finally arrived at Madrid today. A totally flat stage ended in a bunch sprint, which was won by Koldo Fernandez (although it might not look as if he did).
Result
| 1 | Koldo Fernandez | Euskaltel – Euskadi | 2h09'56 | | 2 |  Ben Swift | Sky ProCycling | s.t. | | 3 | José Joaquin Rojas | Movistar Team | s.t. |
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 23-08-2011 14:06
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Team Manager
Posts: 6508
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September 19, 2011
2.PT: Vuelta a Espana – Review
Final General Classification
| 1 | Samuel Sánchez | Euskaltel - Euskadi | 85h52'54 | | 2 | Ivan Basso | Liquigas - Cannondale | + 10 | | 3 | Carlos Sastre | Geox - TMC | + 4'52 | | 4 | David Arroyo | Movistar Team | + 7'26 | | 5 | Alberto Contador | Saxo Bank - Sungard | + 11'13 | | 6 | Janez Brajkovic | Team RadioShack | s.t. | | 7 | Christian Vande Velde | Team Garmin - Cervelo | + 13'00 | | 8 | Ezequiel Mosquera | Vacansoleil - DMC | + 14'18 | | 9 | Juan José Cobo | Geox - TMC | + 15'15 | | 10 | Nicolas Roche | AG2R La Mondiale | + 15'18 | | 11 | Igor Antón | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 16'40 | | 12 |  Michael Rogers | Sky ProCycling | + 17'39 | | 13 | JoaquÃm RodrÃguez | Katusha Team | + 19'08 | | 14 |  Fränk Schleck | Leopard - Trek | + 21'05 | | 15 | Luis León Sánchez | Rabobank | + 22'23 | | 16 | Damiano Cunego | Lampre - ISD | + 30'41 | | 17 | José Herrada | Caja Rural | + 32'00 | | 18 | Tom Danielson | Team Garmin - Cervelo | + 32'27 | | 19 | Amets Txurruka | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 33'53 | | 20 | Egoi MartÃnez | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 34'25 |
Spoiler Full results when I'm back home.
Final Points Classification
| 1 | Ivan Basso | Liquigas - Cannondale | 219 | | 2 | Samuel Sánchez | Euskaltel - Euskadi | 159 | | 3 | José JoaquÃn Rojas | Movistar Team | 135 | | 4 | Aitor Galdos | Caja Rural | 114 | | 5 | Carlos Sastre | Geox - TMC | 107 |
Final Mountain Classification
| 1 | Ivan Basso | Liquigas - Cannondale | 95 | | 2 | Nicolas Roche | AG2R La Mondiale | 80 | | 3 | JoaquÃm RodrÃguez | Katusha Team | 69 | | 4 | Samuel Sánchez | Euskaltel - Euskadi | 67 | | 5 | Fränk Schleck | Leopard - Trek | 56 |
Final Young Riders Classification
| 1 | Rafael Valls | Geox - TMC | 86h29'42 | | 2 | Edvald Boasson Hagen | Sky ProCycling | + 27'32 | | 3 | Robert Kiserlovski | Astana | + 30'25 | | 4 | Arkaitz Durán | Geox - TMC | + 30'52 | | 5 | Eros Capecchi | Liquigas - Cannondale | + 35'36 |
Final Team Classification
| 1 | Euskaltel - Euskadi | | 257h31'51 | | 2 | Geox - TMC | | + 12'07 | | 3 |  Katusha Team | | + 1h02'40 | | 4 | Team Garmin - Cervelo | | + 1h06'17 | | 5 | Sky ProCycling | | + 1h08'58 |
Tops and Flops
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Samuel Sanchez and Ivan Basso
This duo completely dominated the Vuelta. They have a shared amount of five stage wins and no one came ever close to them. Eventually, Sammy Sanchez won the race because of both the bonus seconds and the team time trial (who would have thought that Euskaltel would ever win a tour with a TTT?), but both performed great.
Carlos Sastre and Geox
Sure, Geox had the big disappointment of Denis Menchov, but eventually, they shouldn't be bothered much: Carlos Sastre really filled the gap. He won a stage and deserved the podium spot. The whole team convinced, Menchov did a good job as a domestique once his overall chances were gone, and Juan Jose Cobo on nine is the best domestique of the Vuelta.
Rafael Valls
Another positive appearance of Geox: The Spaniard was only considered as an outside favorite for the white jersey, but early grabbed it and never let it go. He was close to the front most of the time and hadn't a single bad day.
Other positive appearances:
Caja Rural - With a total of 3 stage wins and a couple of podium spots, Aitor Galdos and Diego Milan really impressed in the sprints.
Euskaltel - The guarantee for Sanchez' win was his strong team. 4 riders in the Top 20 prove that.
The Spaniards - The winner, six riders in the top 10, another six in the top 20, a great performance in their home country.
David Arroyo - Fourth was more than most people expected and he probably secured Movistar's WorldTour licence.
Janez Brajkovic - The Slovenian showed that he can end up very well in a GT, Liquigas can really look forward to him.
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Alberto Contador
As mentioned in the preview, he had a lot of racing days in his legs, still a bit more than place 5 could have been expected. Also, he wasn't close to a stage win at any time.
Nicholas Roche on Stage 16
The Irish looked extraordinarily well, together with Sastre being the best of the rest and it looked like he had a real chance for the overall podium. But he lost all of it on that stage. Without that massive loss of time, he would easily be in the Top 5 minimum.
Denis Menchov
As good as his team was, as brutally failed the Russian, at least considering the overall. Started as one of the main favorites, he lost all of his chances very early and found himself as a domestique for Sastre. That, of course, he did quite well.
Other negative appearances
Robert Kiserlovski - He was the clear favorite for the young riders classification but never got close to Rafael Valls and eventually even finished behind the non-climber Edvald Boasson Hagen.
Michael Rogers - After his strong Tour, most experts expected more of him than a 12th.
Fränk Schleck - Coming to Spain as one of the best climbers in the field, he showed nothing at all and disappointed with his fourteenth overall. A horrible year for the Schleck brothers.
Mark Cavendish and Andre Greipel- The top sprinters failed completely and both didn't achieve a single top 3
La Vuelta for Liquigas
We are a bit ambivalent in our review of the Vuelta. Basso really performed well, stage wins, dominating all individual rankings... But eventually, we would of course have loved to see him winning the overall! Losing it by 10 seconds is really bitter.
Apart from the overall, we are happy that Tiziano Dall'Antonia performed well in some sprints, being on the podium more than once. And Eros Capecchi on 5 of the young riders classification is quite good as well.
So after all, we're rather pleased with the outcome of the Vuelta.
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 23-08-2011 14:15
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11819
Joined: 19-07-2010
PCM$: 300.00
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Oh, man.. 10 seconds.. still a great Vuelta for Basso, he was definitely "Top" here Great reports!
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 23-08-2011 20:18
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Team Manager
Posts: 6508
Joined: 14-09-2008
PCM$: 1090.00
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@tsmoha: Yeah, I think it was the closest outcome I ever had in a GT... But still you can see how good Basso really was also looking at the points and mountain classification. He would have deserved the win, but so does Sanchez. It was definetely a great Vuelta to play.
The last big transfer will be announced probably tomorrow (any last guesses? it's no sprinter) but first, here's some cycling news...
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| roturn |
Posted on 23-08-2011 20:22
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Team Manager
Posts: 22246
Joined: 24-11-2007
PCM$: 3900.00
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This is just a pity for Basso. Also never had such a close one with one of my rider for the win.
But still a great results in all this Spanish domination here. |
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 23-08-2011 20:35
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Team Manager
Posts: 6508
Joined: 14-09-2008
PCM$: 1090.00
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September 20, 2011
Disputes in Saxo Bank Team after the Vuelta
Bjarne Riis' comment on Alberto Contador's Vuelta performance caused trouble in the Danish Saxo Bank - Sungard team. The directeur sportive said that he was very disappointed and that he really would expect more of Contador.
Confronted with those words, the Spaniard reacted outrageous, saying that he was after all just a human being and attacking Riis with harsh words. Several of his team mates supported him and stated that Contador fought very well during the Vuelta and that no matter what, a DS should never comment on a rider in public in such a respectless way. Riis seems to have a lot to kit there to propitiate his most important rider.
New Australian team to be started next season
After a lot of secret work backstage, a representative of the Australian group called GreenEdge Cycling Project surprisingly announced that their team will start already the upcoming season. At the moment, they're aiming for the possibility to start in the World Tour right away which would make them the first Australian team in the first division of cycling. The squad will mostly consist of national riders and a couple of central europeans.
The first big names that the team announced today are Matthew Goss who will step out of Cavendish's shadow at HTC, and Sky's Simon Gerrans.
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| FreitasPCM |
Posted on 23-08-2011 20:41
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8389
Joined: 08-09-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Very close with Basso. For the last transfer - is it a cobbler? Alessandro Ballan would be my guess.  |
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 24-08-2011 08:22
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Team Manager
Posts: 6508
Joined: 14-09-2008
PCM$: 1090.00
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@ roturn: Thanks. And it was really a Spanish domination. Writing the tops and flops, I noticed that almost every top had a spanish flag. And only one flop had.
@ FreitasPCM: I really thought about Ballan, as he was without contract for next season (not anymore, of course) and we have no good cobbler, but no, it's not him. It's...
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 24-08-2011 08:26
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Team Manager
Posts: 6508
Joined: 14-09-2008
PCM$: 1090.00
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September 21, 2011
Ladies and Gentlemen, it's time for our last and biggest transfer announcement! Our best new signing for 2012 is...
Rider In:
Third of the Pro Tour and sixth of the CQ Ranking, Damiano Cunego was one of the major appearances of this year. He won the Amstel Gold Race and came fourth at the Fleche Wallonne. Also, he finished second in the Giro d'Italia behind his new team mate Vincenzo Nibali.
I'm very, very pleased with this signing. Hence, our squad plannings are done. I hope you like them as much as I do.
Edited by cunego59 on 24-08-2011 08:40
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| Alakagom |
Posted on 24-08-2011 08:26
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World Champion
Posts: 10891
Joined: 19-11-2010
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I can't find words better to use than epic or awesome for this story. Great layout with great pictures and reports. Some great results with Dominik and that was one excting Vuelta. Keep it coming
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| kitface |
Posted on 24-08-2011 08:42
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Domestique
Posts: 408
Joined: 11-08-2010
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Yes! GreenEDGE all. the. waaaaaay! |
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 24-08-2011 09:25
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11819
Joined: 19-07-2010
PCM$: 300.00
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Cunego is definitel a great signing for Liquigas and should bring in some results, which the team will miss without Basso Congrats on that transfer! (and a great season, if i hadn't mention it before ...)
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| roturn |
Posted on 24-08-2011 09:36
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Team Manager
Posts: 22246
Joined: 24-11-2007
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Basso out, Brajkovic, Kreuziger and Cunego in. Sounds like a very good deal.
Edited by roturn on 24-08-2011 09:36
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| johannes-w |
Posted on 24-08-2011 18:31
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Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 833
Joined: 24-04-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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great - i really like your new signing!! i think although your losing basso the roster will be a lot stronger especially in the hilly races with cunego
a great end for basso at liquigas - well 10 sec - thats quite hard i cant remember such a close outcome in a grandtour in my game
i cant wait for a new season with dominik |
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