Tactics meeting
Even more action! The only time trial in Tour de Suisse comes early. It could make for some good Discovery results, as we have several high-calibre TT guns in the team. Klöden should take over the yellow jersey today. Scarponi and Kirchen aren't exactly what you can call TT specialists.
Big Marcel Sieberg put in a good ride to claim the provisional lead before all the favourites came.
The Dutch talent Lars Boom showed some of his strength today, taking the lead 1'04 ahead of Sieberg.
Home favourite Steve Morabito was a bit of a surprise today, crushing Boom's time with 49 seconds!
Morabito couldn't hold off Vladimir Gusev though. Our Russian took the lead 7 seconds ahead of the Swiss Astana rider.
As more of our big guns went through the course, the leading time was lowered further. Linus Gerdemann overtook Gusev with a small margin of 5 seconds.
Menchov is obviously lacking some of his Tour form, coming in 57 seconds behind Gerdemann.
Our biggest gun couldn't do anything about our smaller ones. Klöden saw himself beaten by both Gusev and Gerdemann as well as Morabito. Despite no stage win, Andreas is almost sure of taking over the leader's jersey.
Kirchen didn't shine today, falling down to 15th overall. Andreas Klöden is therefore the new race leader, and Gerdemann & Gusev makes sure Discovery gets a 1-2 on this stage! What a great day!
Today's winner
Results 1 Linus Gerdemann Discovery Channel 50'32
2 Vladimir Gusev Discovery Channel + 5
3 Steve Morabito Astana Cycling Team + 12 4 Andreas Klöden Discovery Channel + 22
5 David Zabriskie Garmin - Slipstream + 25 6 Gustav Larsson Discovery Channel + 34
7 Denis Menchov Rabobank + 57
8 Francis De Greef Silence - Lotto + 59
9 Lars Boom Rabobank + 1'02
10 Bradley Wiggins Garmin - Slipstream + 1'03
GC 1 Andreas Klöden Discovery Channel 10h21'17
2 Linus Gerdemann Discovery Channel + 25
3 Vladimir Gusev Discovery Channel + 30
4 Steve Morabito Astana Cycling Team + 37
5 David Zabriskie Garmin - Slipstream + 50 6 Gustav Larsson Discovery Channel + 59
7 Denis Menchov Rabobank + 1'22
8 Francis De Greef Silence - Lotto + 1'24
9 Bradley Wiggins Garmin - Slipstream + 1'28
10 Stijn Devolder Team Saxo Bank + 1'28
Tactics meeting
The general classification makes for beautiful reading at the moment, and it will stay that way at least until tomorrow. Today's stage takes the race on a few loops around the city of Kreuzlingen, and has the profile of a sprint stage.
And a sprint it was, won by Cervelo's Heinrich Haussler. I guess Tom Boonen misses his early season form. The Belgian champion was only 3rd. The GC is still a joy to look at.
Today's winner
Results
1 Heinrich Haussler Cervélo Test Team 4h43'04
2 José Joaquín Rojas Caisse d'Epargne + 0
3 Tom Boonen Quick-Step + 0
4 Danilo Napolitano Team Katusha + 0
5 Óscar Freire Silence - Lotto + 0
6 Francesco Ginanni Serrament PVC Diquigiovanni - Androni Giocattoli + 0
7 Tom Leezer Rabobank + 0
8 Matti Breschel Team Saxo Bank + 0
9 Koldo Fernández de Larrea Euskaltel - Euskadi + 0
10 Martin Elmiger AG2R La Mondiale + 0
GC 1 Andreas Klöden Discovery Channel 15h04'21
2 Linus Gerdemann Discovery Channel + 25
3 Vladimir Gusev Discovery Channel + 30
4 Steve Morabito Astana Cycling Team + 37
5 David Zabriskie Garmin - Slipstream + 50 6 Gustav Larsson Discovery Channel + 59
7 Denis Menchov Rabobank + 1'22
8 Francis De Greef Silence - Lotto + 1'24
9 Stijn Devolder Team Saxo Bank + 1'28
10 Bradley Wiggins Garmin - Slipstream + 1'28
Tactics meeting
Today we get another small taste of the mountains to come. The Etzelberg is a real killer, with 10.6% over 5km. Maybe a bit like Xorret del Cati in Spain. Having stayed with the best on the previous climb in this race, Klöden can very well extend his lead today. Our GC domination will probably be somewhat broken though, with Gusev not being among the best climbers.
With breakaways neutralized, Gerdemann set the pace on the Etzelberg. This was shaping up nicely for Klöden to try something.
With 1km left of the climb, he attacked! Could he get a gap?
He sure could! Klöden crossed the line at the top on his own.
Kim Kirchen had also gone well up the climb, and was only 20sec behind Andreas.
Behind Kirchen came Pellizotti and Wiggins, but they had half a minute up to the Columbia man. F.Schleck and B.Feillu were about to catch Pellizotti & Wiggins.
But Schleck and Feillu couldn't reach them, so Pellizotti & Wiggins increased their advantage. They were not going to catch Klöden and Kirchen though.
Andreas Klöden kept Kirchen at bay during the short flat stretch after Etzelberg, and won our second stage in Switzerland! Great stuff!
Today's winner
Results 1 Andreas Klöden Discovery Channel 4h20'50
2 Kim Kirchen Team Columbia - High Road + 0
3 Bradley Wiggins Garmin - Slipstream + 25
4 Franco Pellizotti Liquigas + 25
5 Fränk Schleck Team Saxo Bank + 52
6 Brice Feillu Cofidis, le crédit en ligne + 52
7 Vladimir Karpets Team Katusha + 52
8 Denis Menchov Rabobank + 1'15
9 Michele Scarponi Serrament PVC Diquigiovanni - Androni Giocattoli + 1'15
10 Damiano Cunego Team Katusha + 1'15
GC 1 Andreas Klöden Discovery Channel 19h25'05
2 Linus Gerdemann Discovery Channel + 1'50
3 Kim Kirchen Team Columbia - High Road + 1'53 4 Vladimir Gusev Discovery Channel + 1'55
5 Bradley Wiggins Garmin - Slipstream + 1'59
6 David Zabriskie Garmin - Slipstream + 2'15 7 Gustav Larsson Discovery Channel + 2'24
8 Vladimir Karpets Team Katusha + 2'41
9 Denis Menchov Rabobank + 2'47
10 Francis De Greef Silence - Lotto + 2'49
Tactics meeting
The easy stages have come to an end. Today will be the first foray into the Swiss Alps. The Grosse Scheideggpass is located towards the end of the stage. That climb will trouble a lot of good climbers, as it's 16km long with a percentage of 7.7. Andreas Klöden seems to be one of the strongest riders in the race, and we'll work to keep his yellow jersey through the day.
On the second mountain, lone escapee Brice Feillu led the peloton by as much as 10 minutes. He had some seriously good legs today, because...
...the peloton hadn't taken it easy, as there were only around 20 riders left before the last climb to Grosse Scheideggpass.
Quite early on the last climb, Menchov (9th, +2'47) decided to ride away on his own.
Nobody came anywhere near the Russian. Klöden and Vino were the closest pair, trailing Menchov by 1'30, 5km from the mountaintop.
Next on the road were S.Sanchez and Gaia. They were making their way up the mountain 30 sec behind Klöden.
3km before the top, Klöden had cracked Vinokourov. The Kazakh was even caught by Sanchez who had parked Gaia down the road.
Among all this favourite action, let's not forget Brice Feillu. He reached the top 4'50 ahead of Menchov! That meant 6'10 ahead of Klöden, so the young Frenchman was on his way to borrow the yellow jersey from our leader, as he was only 4'40 behind Klöden in the GC.
Klöden managed to cut into Menchov's lead on the descent towards the finish, but not at all enough to catch him.
Fränk Schleck did what Fränk Schleck often does. He fell on the descent, ending his GC hopes.
Young Brice Feillu is today's hero! Taking both the stage win and the yellow jersey after a magnificent solo breakaway! Maybe he can put up a decent fight to keep the jersey as well?
Menchov crossed the line as 2nd, 4'09 behind Feillu after a great ride on the last climb. The Russian moves into 3rd overall.
Klöden managed 3rd today, more than a minute behind Menchov. He loses his overall lead to Feillu by 48 seconds. Let's not hope a breakaway will end his Tour de Suisse chances once again.
Today's winner
Results
1 Brice Feillu Cofidis, le crédit en ligne 5h06'29
2 Denis Menchov Rabobank + 4'09 3 Andreas Klöden Discovery Channel + 5'22
4 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 6'01
5 Alexandre Vinokourov Astana Cycling Team + 6'39
6 Rigoberto Urán Caisse d'Epargne + 6'58
7 Michele Gaia CSF Group - Navigare + 6'58
8 Domenico Pozzovivo CSF Group - Navigare + 7'35
9 Amets Txurruka Euskaltel - Euskadi + 8'07
10 Franco Pellizotti Liquigas + 8'40
GC
1 Brice Feillu Cofidis, le crédit en ligne 24h36'04 2 Andreas Klöden Discovery Channel + 48
3 Denis Menchov Rabobank + 2'20
4 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 4'36
5 Alexandre Vinokourov Astana Cycling Team + 5'16 6 Linus Gerdemann Discovery Channel + 6'00
7 Bradley Wiggins Garmin - Slipstream + 6'09 8 Gustav Larsson Discovery Channel + 6'34
9 Rigoberto Urán Caisse d'Epargne + 6'36
10 Vladimir Karpets Team Katusha + 6'51Edited by Squire on 11-09-2010 22:41
Impresive ride by Feillu, indeed, and looks like Menchov is finally getting into top shape... those two final mountain stages should be quite entertaining.
Anyway, great story: i've been reading it for months and figured it was about time to congratulate you.
zambeaux wrote:
Impresive ride by Feillu, indeed, and looks like Menchov is finally getting into top shape... those two final mountain stages should be quite entertaining.
Anyway, great story: i've been reading it for months and figured it was about time to congratulate you.
Thanks! I hope you enjoy it in the coming months too!
You just got me motivated to pour out a couple more stages
Stage 7 Interlaken - Col du Gd St Bernard: 185.0km
Tactics meeting
The main attraction of today's stage is the finish on the Grand St. Bernard pass. The climb is almost 35km long with an avg. gradient of 5.7%. Being the diesel engine that he is, Klöden should manage to get his jersey back on this mountain. Our plan is to put race leader Feillu into all sorts of difficulties. But there is a certain Menchov to watch out for as well.
A breakaway with no climbers in it whatsoever had a lead of 7 minutes by the foot of the Grand St. Bernard.
Surprise, surprise! Brice Feillu showed some extraordinary courage, and attacked the peloton with 28km left to climb!
He made it up to the break, 1'40 ahead of Klöden, Menchov & co. At first nobody took this baffling move seriously.
But that soon changed. 8km from the top, he had left the breakaway riders and was still riding 1'30 ahead of the main group.
Klöden soon had to do something on his own. The rest of our team had faded, and the favourites group didn't climb quickly enough.
Klöden's move triggered a response from Menchov. The Russian cranked up the speed to a level Klöden couldn't match, and put our leader into trouble. 6km left to climb now.
With 2.5km until the finish, Menchov had bridged the gap to Feillu. A superhuman effort by the Russian, as Feillu was still going very well.
Approaching the Flamme Rouge, Klöden and Sanchez were still 1'20 behind the two leaders who had kept together during the last kms.
On the flat run-in to the finish, Feillu distanced Menchov! What is this young man made of?
After an astonishing ascent of the Grand St. Bernard, Feillu stretched out his arms to celebrate another stage win!
Poor Andreas came 4th, 1'13 behind Feillu. And this time, Feillu didn't even have an advantage when the climb began. Klöden needs to do something special on the last stage the day after tomorrow if he wants to overthrow Feillu and keep Menchov behind.
Today's winner
Results
1 Brice Feillu Cofidis, le crédit en ligne 5h32'49
2 Denis Menchov Rabobank + 7
3 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 1'13 4 Andreas Klöden Discovery Channel + 1'13
5 Bradley Wiggins Garmin - Slipstream + 1'26
6 Michele Gaia CSF Group - Navigare + 1'26
7 Alexandre Vinokourov Astana Cycling Team + 1'26
8 Juanjo Cobo Fuji - Servetto + 1'26
9 Domenico Pozzovivo CSF Group - Navigare + 1'26
10 Tom Danielson Garmin - Slipstream + 1'26
GC
1 Brice Feillu Cofidis, le crédit en ligne 30h08'43 2 Andreas Klöden Discovery Channel + 2'11
3 Denis Menchov Rabobank + 2'31
4 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 5'55
5 Alexandre Vinokourov Astana Cycling Team + 6'52
6 Bradley Wiggins Garmin - Slipstream + 7'45
7 Vladimir Karpets Team Katusha + 8'27
8 Francis De Greef Silence - Lotto + 8'35
9 Michele Gaia CSF Group - Navigare + 9'12
10 Laurens Ten Dam Cofidis, le crédit en ligne + 9'33Edited by Squire on 12-09-2010 01:35
Wow, Feillu must be on the shape of his life, looks like the french answer to Pantani... Let's hope he is in fact the new Luc Leblanc and cracks big time on the final stage
Is Hushovd retired or what?
Hope "Squire" will remember Hushovd if he drives somewhere.
So i just know whats happening and i will also follow the story
NORSPEED wrote:
Is Hushovd retired or what?
Hope "Squire" will remember Hushovd if he drives somewhere.
So i just know whats happening and i will also follow the story
This isn't a Hushovd story
He was in the Giro without doing much. But I mentioned him in the preview.
Tactics meeting
With Klöden's hopes for victory fading fast, we look to add a third stage win today. We'll send someone in the breakaway and try to fool the sprinters, who should be tired after two consecutive mountain stages. Our revenge on Feillu (one can hope) will have to wait until tomorrow.
Popovych was our hopeful escapee today. Together with Stijn Devolder from Saxobank, he formed a strong breakaway pair.
Cervelo were obviously interested in a sprint for Haussler, who has already won one stage in this race. 40 km before the finish, the breakaway pair was 4'20 in front. This could be Popo's day!
At the 20km mark, the deficit had gone down to 1'50. It wasn't looking too good anymore, but there was still a chance. Afterall, Devolder and Popovych had some serious engines.
15km remaining, and Popo had to do it on his own if this was to work out. The pack was only 1'15 behind now.
At the 10km mark, it was over. Following some very hard work from the Cervelo guys, Popovych was caught.
The chase had been so hard that it had killed off the sprinters. Sammy Sanchez had a good position behind Cunego, while our Gusev was also in the mix.
Sanchez took the stage! In destroying Popovych's hopes, Cervelo had also destroyed Haussler's. Tomorrow it's the end of the Tour de Suisse, in the form of a tough mountain stage.
Today's winner
Results
1 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi 4h08'07
2 Damiano Cunego Team Katusha + 0
3 John Gadret AG2R La Mondiale + 0
4 Ángel Vicioso Andalucía Cajasur + 0
5 Yuri Trofimov Bbox Bouygues Télécom + 0
6 Brice Feillu Cofidis, le crédit en ligne + 0
7 Pierre Rolland Bbox Bouygues Télécom + 0
8 Bradley Wiggins Garmin - Slipstream + 0
9 Alexandre Vinokourov Astana Cycling Team + 0 10 Vladimir Gusev Discovery Channel + 0
GC
1 Brice Feillu Cofidis, le crédit en ligne 34h16'50 2 Andreas Klöden Discovery Channel + 2'11
3 Denis Menchov Rabobank + 2'31
4 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 5'45
5 Alexandre Vinokourov Astana Cycling Team + 6'52
6 Bradley Wiggins Garmin - Slipstream + 7'45
7 Vladimir Karpets Team Katusha + 8'27
8 Francis De Greef Silence - Lotto + 8'35
9 Michele Gaia CSF Group - Navigare + 9'12
10 Laurens Ten Dam Cofidis, le crédit en ligne + 9'33
Tactics meeting
Last chance to do something about Feillu. Judging by the young Frenchman's performances until now, it's rather him who can do something about Klöden. But we're not giving up until the finish line, and are hoping Klöden can find some good climbing legs today. The last climb, the Neufenenpass, is almost as high as the Grand St. Bernard, and will be the decisive climb of the race. The descent towards the finish is a bit tricky as well.
On the penultimate climb, Ten Dam was setting a high pace for Cofidis. Was Feillu feeling good today as well?
You won't believe it! At the foot of the final climb, that crazy Frenchman attacked. He is beginning to annoy me. Klöden was one of the few who followed the initial move.
But soon, other climbers realized that this was serious, and made it up to Klöden and Feillu.
Feillu still had some juice left. 5km from the top, he attacked again! No Luc Leblanc tendencies here. This time, Klöden couldn't answer.
Only Menchov could follow Feillu. These two are clearly the strongest riders in the race. They quickly opened up a gap of 1'20 back to Klöden.
Juanjo Cobo managed to keep the leaders in sight, but he was not a threat in the GC (9th, +9'37).
On the descent, Feillu and Menchov were in the lead and sure to take the first two places on the stage and probably also in the GC.
Klöden's group (Zaugg, Karpets, Arroyo) were 1'15 behind the leaders, with Cobo and Vinokourov in between in 3rd and 4th place on the road.
Sanchez was losing his 4th place in the GC to Vinokourouv, as he was behind Klöden's group.
The unbelievable Feillu won the stage ahead of Menchov. He's extra terrestrial, as Simoni would have put it.
A resigned Klöden came in 8th. He has lost his 2nd place overall to Menchov.
He's just annoying.
Today's winner
Results
1 Brice Feillu Cofidis, le crédit en ligne 5h43'34
2 Denis Menchov Rabobank + 0
3 Juanjo Cobo Fuji - Servetto + 45
4 Alexandre Vinokourov Astana Cycling Team + 55
5 Vladimir Karpets Team Katusha + 1'25
6 David Arroyo Caisse d'Epargne + 1'25
7 Oliver Zaugg Liquigas + 1'25 8 Andreas Klöden Discovery Channel + 1'38
9 Bradley Wiggins Garmin - Slipstream + 2'09
10 Damiano Cunego Team Katusha + 2'09
Final GC
1 Brice Feillu Cofidis, le crédit en ligne 40h00'14
2 Denis Menchov Rabobank + 2'35 3 Andreas Klöden Discovery Channel + 3'59
4 Alexandre Vinokourov Astana Cycling Team + 7'57
5 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 8'04
6 Vladimir Karpets Team Katusha + 10'02
7 Bradley Wiggins Garmin - Slipstream + 10'04
8 Juanjo Cobo Fuji - Servetto + 10'28
9 Francis De Greef Silence - Lotto + 11'46
10 Laurens Ten Dam Cofidis, le crédit en ligne + 12'44
Points ranking
1 Brice Feillu Cofidis, le crédit en ligne 59 2 Andreas Klöden Discovery Channel 58
3 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 50
Mountain ranking
1 Brice Feillu Cofidis, le crédit en ligne 78
2 Franco Pellizotti Liquigas 48
3 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi 40
Youth ranking
1 Brice Feillu Cofidis, le crédit en ligne 40h00'14
2 Francis De Greef Silence - Lotto + 11'46
3 Jakob Fuglsang LPR Brakes Farnese Vini + 13'13
Tour de Suisse is once again the race for surprisingly great performances. Brice Feillu won all three mountain stages in an almost bizarre fashion, and takes home all the jerseys. Cofidis must have discovered some very rewarding "training methods". Feillu's teammate Laurens Ten Dam managed a solid 10th place in the GC as well.
Some riders are not looking good for the Tour. Fränk Schleck fell on one stage and ends up half an hour behind Feillu in the GC. Pellizotti was also disappointing in 20th place overall. Menchov, on the other hand, looks to be coming into form. Our own Andreas Klöden once again fails to win the Tour de Suisse, and jugding by his performances in this race, he is nowhere near challenging Armstrong's role as leader for the Tour.
Still, Klöden did manage a stage win for us in Switzerland, and so did Gerdemann. Despite being outclimbed in the GC, we achieved some good results. What is worrying though, is that the team completely disappeared in the mountains, leaving Klöden all alone. The likes of Popovych and Larsson need to step it up before the Tour.
There are only a few weeks until the Tour de France, which will be our next big race. Once again, Armstrong clashes with Contador in a great battle for the victory in the world's biggest bike race. Stay tuned!
Edited by Squire on 12-09-2010 18:35
Amazing performance by Feillu in Romandie. Too bad Kloden lost the yellow jersey, but a podium is still good. Can't wait for Le Tour de France and some great screens, Squire.
The end of June is the time for most national championships. Being an international team, we have quite a few riders in action over the NC week.
It would have been nice to have some national champion's jerseys to display during the Tour, but none from our Tour squad managed to win their road race. Paulinho couldn't defend his national RR title either, but retained the TT title. Andreas Klöden exchanged his national road-race jersey for a TT suit, by beating Seb Lang and Matthias Russ in the German TT championship.
Over in Britain, David Millar couldn't keep his TT jersey as he lost it to Wiggins. In the RR, nobody could beat Cavendish, who takes his second national championship in a row. In Spain, Valverde took his third road-race championship in a row. There, Rubiera finished 6th.
We got one national road-race champion though. In Russia, Vladimir Gusev came out on top, and will sport the Russian colours the next year. He was actually a bigger favourite to take the TT title, but was beaten by a strong Karpets.
alexkr00 wrote:
Can't wait for Le Tour de France and some great screens, Squire.
You don't have to wait long
I think there are possibilities for some nice screenshots, as this variant seems to be quite well-made. I'll try to incorporate some photography skills into the picture taking!
