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Petronas - Monster Energy; The end of an era
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| dienblad |
Posted on 08-04-2013 22:43
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Ian Butler wrote:
Well, it's the Vuelta, lots of uphill finishes. Curious to see the startlist!
Well, that'll be posted tuesday or probably wednesday. So be patient!
Spoiler GC: Weak field, with COntador and Gesink as the 2 favourites, and further riders as Wiggins, Cobo, De Gendt, Taaramäe.
Sprinters: Except Kittel, Farrar and Guardini, all are present, so besides Sagan it is Cavendish, Greipel, Boasson Hagen, Rojas, Bos, Feillu, Gavazzi, Keukeleire, Goss and Haussler. Not bad?!
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| romaniangoat |
Posted on 09-04-2013 08:28
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Gesink will win this easily in front of Contador.AC had too much race days in his legs.Gesink is much fresher.Wiggins,Cobo,De Gendt and Taaramae aren't very good climbers.In sprints will be probably Kittel but I think he can't win more than 3 stages.Good luck!
Edited by romaniangoat on 09-04-2013 08:30
ex Ventoux
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 09-04-2013 13:39
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
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Lets hope the team put in a solid performance at the Vuelta |
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| dienblad |
Posted on 09-04-2013 16:20
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3772
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romaniangoat wrote:
Gesink will win this easily in front of Contador.AC had too much race days in his legs.Gesink is much fresher.Wiggins,Cobo,De Gendt and Taaramae aren't very good climbers.In sprints will be probably Kittel but I think he can't win more than 3 stages.Good luck!
Hope so for Gesink. But the sprints: Kittel won't win, as he doesn't participate.
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| MrUfo87 |
Posted on 09-04-2013 16:24
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dienblad wrote:
romaniangoat wrote:
Gesink will win this easily in front of Contador.AC had too much race days in his legs.Gesink is much fresher.Wiggins,Cobo,De Gendt and Taaramae aren't very good climbers.In sprints will be probably Kittel but I think he can't win more than 3 stages.Good luck!
Hope so for Gesink. But the sprints: Kittel won't win, as he doesn't participate.
It should be nice if he wins while not participating! 
Edited by MrUfo87 on 09-04-2013 16:25
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| krisa |
Posted on 09-04-2013 16:26
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Totall domination by Kittel in Hamburg.
By the way good luck in Spain
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| baia |
Posted on 09-04-2013 18:02
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Hell of a sprint with Kittel, no chance for anyone... good luck for La Vuelta.
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| romaniangoat |
Posted on 09-04-2013 18:12
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dienblad wrote:
romaniangoat wrote:
Gesink will win this easily in front of Contador.AC had too much race days in his legs.Gesink is much fresher.Wiggins,Cobo,De Gendt and Taaramae aren't very good climbers.In sprints will be probably Kittel but I think he can't win more than 3 stages.Good luck!
Hope so for Gesink. But the sprints: Kittel won't win, as he doesn't participate.
My sorry...In this case Cav probably is the favorite for the massive sprint.
ex Ventoux
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| SSJ2Luigi |
Posted on 09-04-2013 20:54
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World Champion
Posts: 11971
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MrUfo87 wrote:
dienblad wrote:
romaniangoat wrote:
Gesink will win this easily in front of Contador.AC had too much race days in his legs.Gesink is much fresher.Wiggins,Cobo,De Gendt and Taaramae aren't very good climbers.In sprints will be probably Kittel but I think he can't win more than 3 stages.Good luck!
Hope so for Gesink. But the sprints: Kittel won't win, as he doesn't participate.
It should be nice if he wins while not participating!
only Danny Pate can do that 
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-11-2024 09:21
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| dienblad |
Posted on 10-04-2013 08:49
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3772
Joined: 10-09-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Startlist
Spoiler Movistar
1. A.Contador
2. M.Astarloza
3. C.Barredo
4. R.Costa
5. D.Milán
6. R.Plaza
7. J.J.Rojas
8. K.Siutsou
9. J.Sanchez Pimienta
Petronas
11. R.Gesink
12. G.Bernard
13. M.Breschel
14. M.De Maar
15. M.Maaskant
16. P.Sagan
17. J.Vanendert
18. S.Vanmarcke
19. L.Westra
RadioShack
21. T.De Gendt
22. L.Duque
23. K.Gonzalez
24. H.Haussler
25. S.Magnell
26. M.Rubiano
27. E.Silin
28. C.Vande Velde
29. J.Voigt
Dexia
31. J.J.Cobo
32. E.Boasson Hagen
33. S.Gerrans
34. P.Gilbert
35. M.Goss
36. J.Herrada
37. V.Reynès
38. A.Valverde
39. B.Wiggins
Astana
41. R.Kiserlovski
42. A.Bazayev
43. M.Gourov
44. Y.Hutarovich
45. V.Iglinskiy
46. M.Lloyd
47. M.Nieve
48. D.Potapovitch
49. Y.Trofimov
Sony Ericsson
51. R.Taaramäe
52. N.Collins
53. J.Drucker
54. M.Fischer
55. J.Hoogerland
56. A.Klöden
57. T.Lowe
58. D.Pate
59. T.Rohregger
Saxo Bank
61. R.Porte
62. L.Boom
63. G.Hincapie
64. O.Kem
65. K.Klostergaard
66. D.Kreutzfeldt
67. R.Majka
68. T.Peterson
69. J.Veikkanen
Garmin
71. D.Martin
72. L.Augier
73. A.Candelario
74. T.Danielson
75. G.Eyraud
76. S.Hernandez
77. S.Milne
78. S.Poulhiès
79. K.Wamsley
Colombia es Pasión
81. J.M.Soler
82. W.Aranzazu
83. E.Carvajal
84. R.Infantino
85. F.Montaña
86. E.Ortíz
87. W.Perez
88. D.Tamayo
89. J.Villegas
Euskaltel
91. B.Intxausti
92. A.Durán
93. M.García
94. E.García
95. E.Gonzalo
96. A.Marque
97. I.Mayoz
98. E.Prades
99. G.Zubiagirre
Sky
101. P.Kennaugh
102. M.Cavendish
103. D.Fleeman
104. J.Kocjan
105. M.Kreder
106. Á.Madrazo
107. C.Opie
108. R.Partridge
109. I.Stannard
Caja Rural
111. J.Moreno
112. G.Bravo
113. M.Cardoso
114. Í.Cuesta
115. G.César Veloso
116. Ó.Freire
117. E.Mosquera
118. D.Navarro
119. E.Teruel
BMC
121. B.Mollema
122. M.Belletti
123. N.Hendrickx
124. M.Mahoric
125. J.Murphy
126. M.Quinziato
127. H.Schwab
128. A.Tonti
129. R.Vrecer
Lampre
131. E.Capecchi
132. V.Agnoli
133. G.Bole
134. M.Gentili
135. D.Loosli
136. G.Nizzolo
137. F.Pellizotti
138. F.Piscopiello
139. A.Pérez Arrieta
Katusha
141. J.Rodríguez
142. A.Bazhenov
143. M.Belkov
144. V.Gusev
145. S.Kolesnikov
146. A.Markov
147. A.Porsev
148. S.Vandenbergh
149. M.Vantomme
Andalucía
151. A.Txurruka
152. J.A.Benítez
153. J.Benítez
154. V.Celis
155. J.Etxarri
156. D.Gutiérrez Gutiérrez
157. A.Palomares
158. A.Pérez
159. E.Ruiz
Red Bull
161. S.Denifl
162. M.Albasini
163. L.Beuret
164. G.Ciolek
165. M.Eibegger
166. R.Liard
167. M.Schär
168. A.Stauff
169. P.Voss
Europcar
171. R.Di Gregorio
172. Y.Arashiro
173. M.Delage
174. L.Desriac
175. A.Duval
176. G.Levarlet
177. R.Martias
178. M.Méderel
179. M.Sprick
Vacansoleil
181. S.Szmyd
182. S.Devolder
183. B.Eisel
184. K.Goddaert
185. A.Granero
186. M.Marcato
187. M.Pavarin
188. J.Van Leijen
189. B.Van Poppel
Rabobank
191. T.Slagter
192. D.Bellemakers
193. F.Gavazzi
194. L.Hagenaars
195. J.Keukeleire
196. P.Martens
197. I.Tamouridis
198. A.Van Groen
199. J.Vissers
Qantas Airways
201. P.Stetina
202. D.J.Crawford
203. A.Greipel
204. J.J.Haedo
205. S.Lagutin
206. D.Lapthorne
207. J.McEvoy
208. C.O'Reilly
209. W.Sulzberger
Omega Pharma
211. R.Feillu
212. S.Bailly
213. T.Bos
214. W.De Vocht
215. M.Mondragon
216. J.Monterey
217. J.Tratnik
218. K.Vandewalle
219. J.Vermote
Our Team
Our Goal
- GC-win
- At least 2 stage wins
GC-Favourites
Alberto Contador
The 2008-winner of this Vuelta was close in the Tour de France with a week in the maillot jaune, but had to settle with the 3rd place after the hunger knock at the Mont Ventoux. So make sure Alberto Contador is fully focussed and comitted to take revenge and win in his homeland. And with domestiques as Barredo, Siutsou, Astarloza, Plaza and Rui Costa, he probably has the strongest supporting team. One week thing: already 60 race days in the pocket.
Robert Gesink
Dutch Robert Gesink has won the Vuelta in 2011, and is back in the hunt for a 2nd GC-win. He took it easy the last weeks after winning his first ever Tour de France, so he has lesser racedays than Contador. Question is if his team isn't too weak, with only Vanendert and De Maar to help him in the mountains.
Juan José Cobo
Juan José Cobo as a 3-star favourite to win the Vuelta??? Well, he rides in his homeland, he is in great shape (remember his win in the Tour de l'Ain?) and has a strong team behind him (Valverde, Herrada, Gerrans, Gilbert, Wiggins). But he has to take the role of team leader immediately in the first mountain stage, or he'll be pushed in a role as domestique. And can he has to form in the last week, considering his amount of racedays?
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Thomas De Gendt
And this is the reason Thomas De Gendt left his former Monster Energy-team after 3 seasons: the chance to be a team leader in a GT! Well, with the absence of Nibali, Froome and Cunego, De Gendt is the guy to do it for Radio Shack, but with riders as Rubiano, Silin and Vandevelde to help him in the mountains, it'll be a hard nut to crack.
Rein Taaramäe
Estonian Rein Taaramäe is getting closer and closer to a GT-podium. This year's Giro, he managed to finish in 4th place behind Nibali, Scarponi and Kelderman. Can he become the first Estonian to finish in the top 3 in Madrid?
Bradley Wiggins
34-year-old Bradley Wiggins is called a shadow-leader by his Dexia-team for this Vuelta. It all depends on his form in the first week if he can hang on with JJ Cobo, and then crush him in the TTT, to let the team work for him. At least he is one of the freshest riders, with only 43 racedays in the legs.
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Beñat Intxausti
Without Igor Antón participating, Beñat Intxausti is the hope for the Basque cycling fans to win this Vuelta. Well, they'll prbably be satisfied with him winning 1 of the 2 stages in Basque country Intxausti is a good climber and time trialist, and that combination can bring him in the top 5.
Bauke Mollema
Bauke Mollema seems to have a talent the last few years to loose time early in a GT (due to crashes, echelons or whatever) and makes a comeback into the top 10 again. Last Giro, he took home a 6th place, so he has the level to compete for the top 5.
Kanstantsin Siutsou
He is the luxury domestique of Alberto Contador, so he has to do some work for him. But nevertheless, the Belarusian is one of the better riders that starts in this Vuelta, so at least a top 10 should be doable.
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| dienblad |
Posted on 10-04-2013 09:36
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3772
Joined: 10-09-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Sprinters
After the horrible Tour de France for sprinters (only 1 mass sprint, and most of them already having to leave the Tour after finishing outside the timelimit in the Pyrénées), the Vuelta is stacked with world class sprinters!
Mark Cavendish
The Manx Missile is still the fastest man on the bike, but isn't showing off in the GT's the last few years. WIth at least 5 expected mass sprints, this is his chance for revenge.
André Greipel
Believe it or not, but André Greipel hasn't won a single race in 2014.... But with JJJ Haedo and Sulzberger to help him, he probably has the best lead out train, so no excuses for the gorilla!
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Winner of 4 stages in the Giro, Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen is now looking to win in Spain. But with 68 race days in the legs and without s sprint train, it will be a difficult task for him.
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Matthew Goss
EBH has to battle it out with Matthew Goss who'll become the main sprinter in the Dexia-team. This looks to be a difficult task for him.
José Joaquín Rojas
Spains best sprinter José Joaquín Rojas has got 74 racedays in the legs. But the number 2 of the points ranking in the Tour de France has the home advantage.
Peter Sagan
Peter Sagan is one of the freshest sprinters to start here, with only 43 racedays so far this season. But he'll focus on the stages in the 2nd and 3rd week of the Vuelta, as his form is relatively low.
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Theo Bos
Dutch Theo Bos has to battle with Romain Feillu who'll become the main sprinter of the Omega Pharma-team. Theoratically, he's the fastest of the 2, but never count out Feillu.
Gerald Ciolek
Only 24 racedays, and it is the middle of August?? WHat has Gerald Ciolek been doing this year? He should be good enough for some top 5's, and maybe better.
Heinrich Haussler
Heinrich Haussler isn't the fastest sprinter here, but showed in the Tour de Pologne with 2 stage wins that he is in a great form. Never count him out, especially when the terrain gets hilly!
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| dienblad |
Posted on 10-04-2013 09:51
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3772
Joined: 10-09-2010
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KOTM-ranking
Okay, the polkadot jersey will probably go to Contador or Gesink, but it's still worth to mention these climbers that can aim for this prestiguous jersey.
The Astana-boys Kiserlovski and Nieve are some of the main candidates for the KOTM-jersey, together with Caja Rurals Javier Moreno.
Eros Capecchi is one of the few Italian riders present here. Juan Mauricio Soler is thankful that the organisation gave his team Colombia es Pasión a wildcard, and wants to thank them buy fighting for the KOTM-ranking. Irish Daniel Martin can be a top 10-candidate, but also fight for the KOTM-points.
What goes for Soler, also goes for Amets Txurukka and his Andalucía team. The old fox Joaquím Rodríguez will go for one of his last tricks, and finally Richie Porte, well, either he finishes in the GC-top 5 or he'll disappoint.
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| TTspecialist |
Posted on 10-04-2013 10:02
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Posts: 796
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What a great presentation. Good job!
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 10-04-2013 10:09
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4573
Joined: 07-10-2012
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Great preview dienblad, hopefully Gesink and Sagan can do something here  |
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| dienblad |
Posted on 10-04-2013 10:38
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3772
Joined: 10-09-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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@ TTspecialist & FroomeDog99: thanks a lot!
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| dienblad |
Posted on 10-04-2013 11:26
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3772
Joined: 10-09-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Stage 1
The Vuelta ciclista a España 2014 kicks off with a TTT in the streets of Benidorm. The weather is great along the Costa Brava!
The first team to start the Vuelta is Euskaltel - Euskadi. And under the leadership of Beñat Intxausti, the team sets a good time of 20'30.
Team Sky starts without a rider with GC-ambitions, but always rides a good TTT. They are faster than Euskaltel, setting the new best time at 20'17.
Sony-Ericsson, with Andreas Klöden, Rein Taaramäe and the mighty Danny Pate as the best timetrialists sets the 3rd time so far, '16 behind Sky.
Richie Porte, Lars Boom, George Hincapie.. with these riders in the team, Saxo Bank - Sunguard must be able to ride a fast TTT. And they do so, beating the best time so far set by Team Sky by 2 seconds! New time to beat: 20'15.
The stage we have feared the most. Okay, Gesink, Westra, and Sagan are good time trialists, but the form isn't good enough to compete for the win. Well, 22nd and dead last at the split time, and a final 18th place for Petronas - Monster Energy, 1'03 behind the winners, is for sure a weak start!
Times at first checkpoint after 7km:
1. Dexia 9'50; 2. Movistar +'11; 3. Rabobank +'12; 4. Caja Rural +'15; 5. Sky +'15; 22. Petronas - Monster Energy +'42.
Dexia was the pre-race favourite to win the TTT. Especially Cobo, Boasson Hagen and Wiggins pull their team mates to the fastest time so far, 19'54. Will this be enough for the win, so Juan José Cobo, as the first rider to have crossed the finish line, will be the first leader in the Vuelta?
Then a big surprise: wild card-team Caja Rural sets the 2nd time so far, '18 behind Dexis and faster than Saxo, Sky etc!!!
Alberto Contador is leading the Movistar Team to a very good 2nd place, '10 behind Dexia. This means that Contador leads Gesink in the GC by already '53!
The last team to finish is Radio Shack - Nisan. Thomas De Gendt and colleagues finish in 6th place at '30.
The Results
| 1 |  Dexia | 19'54 | | 2 |  Movistar Team | + 10 | | 3 | Caja Rural | + 18 | | 4 |  Saxo Bank SunGard | + 21 | | 5 |  Sky ProCycling | + 23 | | 6 |  Radio Shack - Nissan | + 30 | | 7 | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 36 | | 8 | Sony Ericsson | + 39 | | 9 |  Red Bull - Cervélo | s.t. | | 10 |  Pro Team Astana | + 44 | | 11 |  Rabobank Cycling Team | + 45 | | 12 |  BMC Racing Team | s.t. | | 13 |  Colombia es Pasión - Café de Colombia | s.t. | | 14 | Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team | + 49 | | 15 |  Katusha Team | + 54 | | 16 |  Qantas Airways | + 1'01 | | 17 |  Lampre - Alitalia | + 1'02 | | 18 | Petronas - Monster Energy | + 1'03 | | 19 | Andalucía - Catalunya | + 1'07 | | 20 | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step | s.t. | | 21 |  Team Europcar | s.t. | | 22 |  Garmin - Barracuda | + 1'53 |
GC
| 1 | Juan José Cobo | Dexia | 19'54 | | 2 | Alejandro Valverde | Dexia | s.t. | | 3 | Bradley Wiggins | Dexia | s.t. | | 4 | Philippe Gilbert | Dexia | s.t. | | 5 |  Edvald Boasson Hagen | Dexia | s.t. | | 6 | Matthew Goss | Dexia | + 3 | | 7 | Simon Gerrans | Dexia | + 5 | | 8 | José Herrada | Dexia | + 7 | | 9 | Vicente Reynès | Dexia | + 9 | | 10 | Rubén Plaza | Movistar Team | + 10 |
Word from the DS
Man, do we suck in these way too short TTT's.....
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 10-04-2013 11:35
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Well, it's a team time trial, considering that I think you did decently Now go Gesink! Crush them all!
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| Neillster |
Posted on 10-04-2013 11:52
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Domestique
Posts: 713
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That minute could come in crucial later on! Gesink has an uphill battle already |
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 10-04-2013 12:41
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Team Leader
Posts: 7294
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That minut could come back and bite you. But good luck with the rest of the giro.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 10-04-2013 14:01
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Now the TTT is out of the way lets go and kick some arse |
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