Great win for the team once again. Zubeldia leading out for Felline? Now those are some Admir Schleck tactics right there. No wonder he has his own fanclub.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
Thanks everyone. The team is really on fire right now, as we seem to win everything we stand a little chance for. Hopefully, that will keep up for a long time.
I actually checked if I forgot to put the settings to "Hard" after MG reporting, but I didn't and I actually played all of this on Hard. I feel somehow powerful right now.
The second stage of Giro del Trentino is the only flat stage over here and it's Team Time Trial which is 14 kilometers long. We're once again in Lienz, Austria. Not the stage where we hope for a great result, as Zubeldia is the only good TTer in this squad. Will be good to get a Top 10 place here.
Giro del Trentino [Stage 2]
15th April - 19th April, 2014
IAM Cycling were the first serious contender to start this TT today and after 17 minutes spent on road, they managed to finish on provisional first position and only 3 seconds in front of RusVelo.
Astana was next one. With Kangert and few good TTers in the squad, it was expected from them to get the provisional lead. It happened, as they managed to finish 10 seconds in front of IAM, at the end.
OPQS guys are here, aswell. With De Gendt and Vermote as the best guys against the clock, they had some hopes they can finish on the podium here. However, they took the provisional first at that point, but finished as 4th at the end. Considering that 90% of their TT squad isn't here, this was pretty good.
Team Sky was the next team on starting ramp. With Wiggins as their only TT rider here, they could only hope for some great result. However, they somehow managed to finish 32 seconds in front of Astana! Now, this is a serious time.
Orica guys, lead by Durbridge, Bewley and Meyer were definitely one of the favourites for taking the win here. On the finish line, they only kept 3 seconds of advantage over the Sky. They definitely expected a bit more.
At that point, Trek Factory Racing, alongside BMC and Cannondale was the only team left to start. Our start was great, but just after the first time checkpoint, Felline had some bike problems, so our 2nd best TTer in this squad had to wait for team-car. That meant many additional seconds for us. At the end, our team finished on 13th position. Very, very disappointing result for us.
BMC Racing Team was the next one to start and finish this short TTT. They definitely showed some huge power, as they finished on first position with huge 20 seconds of advantage over the Orica and by this, they definitely secured the win here. Great base for Sanchez, he'll definitely have much easier job in mountains now.
Cannondale was the last team on the starting ramp. Except Bodnar and Basso, they didn't really have any strong TTists here. However, they finished on solid 5th position, which is definitely good for them.
And by that, the 2nd stage of Giro del Trentino was finished. Really,really disappoiting one for Trek Factory Racing, but we'll try to forget it as soon as possible and to focus on upcoming mountains.
True that, but still, you can't win always. Hopefully, La Fleche Wallone will be yet another surprise for us.
La Fleche Wallone, or on English, The Walloon Arrow starts today! Second Ardennes classic in the season and the first of two Belgian hilly classics is about to start. It's the race with a big history, one of the hardest races in UWT calendar and I am sure we, spectators will enjoy it. Not so sure about the riders.
La Fleche Wallone [UWT]
17th April, 2014
The route of this years edition (just as most of the previous ones) isn't really hilly and bumpy as maybe the Amstel's route or LBL's one, but it has Muur de Huy, which is definitely going to be main factor in this race, as it will be repeaten for 3 times and it will be actually a final climb. Besides Huy, there are only few hard clims here, such as Cote d'Ereffe, Cote de Bohisseau and Cote de Haut-Bois. All of them are quite hard, but it's no likely that they'll decide the winner of the race. However, everything's possible.
The startlist is a bit different than the one in Amstel. Most of the puncheurs are here, but most of stage-racers and classic climbers now decided to miss this one and that decision isn't strange at all, as the race is most probably going to be decided on Muur de Huy and only the quickest guys are standing a chance there. However, all the best puncheurs of the world, including last years winner Moreno, Rodriguez, Kwiatkowski, Valverde, Gilbert are here so it's definitely going to be a great race!
Our team, however, didn't change alot compared to one that was in Amstel. We still decided to keep our best climbers, Schleck brothers and Kiserlovski, alongside Spartacus and few a bit weaker helpers, such as Arredondo, Jungels, Voigt, Sergent. Definitely not the best squad out there for this kind of terrain, but surely the one who'll give all to get a good result here. We'll most probably try the late-attack tactic once again, but I am pretty sure everyone's prepared for it, so it definitely won't be so easy to repeat it once again.
It's hard to believe that AGR's case is going to repeat, but we definitely won't have anything against it, if it happens. However, we have Top 10 as our main goal here and hopefully, we'll manage to fullfill it. That was more or less everything for this preview. Wish us luck, we'll definitely need it. See ya!
Thansk alot, bigggassi! Cool to have you on board, and I am really glad that you like the story. Spartacus double would be totally crazy and unbeliavable, but I'll definitely take it if it happens.
See the report below to check what really happened.
Haha! Once again rainy day in Belgium (and Europe generally). Hopefully, this will stop before the Giro or we'll have to watch copy of last years one. However, it's not too cold, so it will be interesting race to follow, definitely. Trek is ready for it! #PrayForTrek
La Fleche Wallone [UWT]
17th April, 2014
Breakaway, as expected, was created just as the race started. 6 guys decided to make a move there and try something from break of the day group. Kruiswijk and Favili were the only 2 "dangerous" guys in that group.
I am sorry that I have to say that, but dull and boring race was somehow expected in first 150 kilometers. And it exactly was like that. Classic breakaway vs peloton chasing fight. OPQS and Katusha were 2 most active teams in peloton. It was clear who they were working for.
And even in next tens of kilometers, nothing happened. No way that this is going to be finished on Muur de Huy and final uphill sprint. That was exactly the opinion of Nibali and Kwiatkowski, who attacked at around 19 kilometers to go on Cote d'Ereffe hill. Now it's getting interesting! Breakaway was still in front, but it was only few seconds at that point and it was clear that they don't stand a chance.
Only a kilometer later, few guys decided to make a move, too. As Fabian is definitely not the main favourite for Muur de Huy's sprint, he decided to attack aswell. Alongside him, there are Moreno and Costa in that attacking group too. Also breakaway is now caught, so this was the situation on the road:
E1
E2
P
Kwiatkowski
Cancellara
Rodriguez
Nibali
Costa
Gilbert
Moreno
Schlecks
...
Fabian, however, couldn't keep the pace of Costa and Moreno, which was pretty interesting. But, he wasn't really feeling good today, so it was somehow expected. On the top of the race, two attacking groups now merged and there's only one now, very strong one.
As the terrain between Cote d'Ereffe and Muur de Huy was descent/flat, riders soon arrived to Huy and they were on 5 kilometers to go at that point. Still, E1 group is in front of peloton, but the gap is slightly melting away.
Only 2 kilometers after that, riders reached the bottom of almighty Muur de Huy. Peloton almost caught the attacking group, but the guys in front are the first ones to hit steep percentages of this deadly climb. It's heating up! Still, Schleck brothers were on the top of that group. Looked good for us at that point.
Just as peloton got really close, Moreno launched an attack in front! Other guys are trying to follow him, but no one else from peloton is doing the same. Did the chasing exhaust them too much or is this just a strategic thing? We'll find out soon!
One kilometer to go and still no one reacts from peloton! The sprint is now going to start. Rodriguez, Schlecks, Bakelants, Sagan and Poels are the first one to launch it in the peloton. Moreno still has the lead on the top, but he's now struggling alot. Will he make it?
Moreno soon finished the hardest part of that climb and he had only few hundred of meters of fairly flat terrain. None of the guys could even come close to the last years winner, who had a perfect race here and won once again! What a great tactic from Katusha and Daniel Moreno, who managed to defend his 2013 title this year.
To make the things even better for Katusha, Rodriguez easily outsprinted rest of the peloton and got the 3rd position, just behind Rui Costa. However, the fight behind was more interesting for us. Schleck brothers both started sprinting and both caught up with Kwiat/Nibbles duo on the steepest part of Muur de Huy. However, few hundred meters of a bit easier gradient were still in front of them.
All of these 4 guys gave last atoms of power, even tho it was a fight for 4th and 5th position. At the end, Vincenzo and Michal managed to finish in front of Andy and Frank with less than a wheel differences. Could've been great 4th and 5th position for our guys, but we're more than happy with 6th and 7th, too.
