Stage three was considered flat, but had a relatively small climb before the finish, that may allow a breakaway to succeed, and today, we wanted someone of our own to be in that breakaway.
Despite wanting to be in the breakaway, we did not send anyone out with the first attackers, because we didn't believe that they would be able to last for 200k.
Eventually, 8 riders accumulated at the front of the race to form the early morning breakaway.
The leaders were caught before the first intermediate sprint, which Petacchi won again.
With just over 70km to go, I launched my attack.
As I attacked, I was joined by Gorka Izzagire, and Blel Kadri was already four minutes up the road.
Eventually I dropped Izagirre, but Kadri still had a four minute advantage.
Soon it became clear that I would not catch Kadri, and he soloed all the way to the victory.
I finished well ahead of the peloton, however, and grabbed second place on the stage. Even though I didn't win it, I was still proud of my result.
Stage Results
Spoiler
1. Blel Kadri AG2r La Mondiale 4h57'22" 2. Diego Ulissi Lampre-ISD +6'28"
3. Greg Van Avermaet BMC +8'10"
4. Edvald Boassen-Hagen Team Sky s.t.
5. Robert Hunter RadioShack s.t.
6. Enrico Gasporatto Astana s.t.
7. Pierrick Fredrigo FDJ s.t.
8. Christopher Sutton Team Sky s.t.
9. Serguei Ivanov Katusha s.t.
10. Michael Albasini HTC-Highroad s.t.
Unfortunately for us, Petacchi didn't have enough energy left in the tank to really contest at the finish. He finished in 14th place.
General Classification
Spoiler
1. Blel Kadri AG2r La Mondiale 13h09'34" 2. Diego Ulissi Lampre-ISD +2'03"
3. Serguei Ivanov Katusha +3'03"
4. Roger Hammond Garmin-Cervelo +3'06" 5. Alessandro Petacchi Lampre-ISD +3'43"
Since Kadri was involved in a crash in stage one and he lost some time, he is only two minutes ahead of me in the GC, and about four minutes ahead of most of the favorites.
Points Competition
Spoiler
1. Edvald Boassen-Hagen Team Sky 57pts
2. Greg Van Avermaet BMC 54pts
3. Graeme Brown Rabobank 47pts
4. Robert Hunter RadioShack 47pts 5. Alessandro Petacchi Lampre-ISD 46pts
Petacchi dropped a bit in this competition. Hopefully he will be able to climb back up in later stages, even though all of the flat ones are over.
Kadri had a truly great ride today. He may have just been running off of adrenaline from his earlier crash. I had no chance of catching up to him. Maybe I can catch him in the white jersey competition, perhaps.
Man, I'm feeling better than ever right now! Today's stage was pretty great, and maybe in the mountains I'll be able to pass Kadri in the young rider competition, as long as he doesn't ride as well as he did today.
Also, Simon's form is great too right now, and maybe he can make a break for a victory today if he gets into a successful breakaway.
Anyway, I thought I would just tell everyone how great I'm feeling right now, and maybe my mood will help me in the mountains as well.
Wish me luck!
So we've reached the part where the real Paris-Nice begins. today's stage certainly isn't the most difficult, and could very well end in another mass sprint, because all of the climbs come well before the finish. However, I suspect that there will be a small peloton at the finish, and the best sprinter left will take the win, because most sprinters probably won't survive all of the climbs.
Today I got to wear the white jersey, even though I was second place in that competition, because the leader was wearing the yellow jersey.
Over the top of the first climb, I took second place to Yohan Offredo. the first attacks came on the descent of that climb.
Thirteen riders established themselves at the front, with a two minute headstart on the peloton.
they extended it to three minutes over the top of the second climb, and the advantage was now at 3 minutes.
the gap stretched to a maximum of 6'10" before it finally began to come down.
On the next climb, Bouyer of Europcar was dropped from the breakaway.
Pretty soon, on the next to last climb, riders were dropping like stones from the peloton, and me and Simon were soon the only Lampre riders left in it.
that didn't last too long, as I soon gave out and dropped behind the pack. My form today wasn't too great.
Meanwhile, on the descent, Luis Leon Sanchez, one of the favorites to win it all, had a bad fall and fell behind the pack. Hopefully it isn't too serious.
In a way, this was actually good for me, because I passed him as he got back on the bike, and I fell in with his team as they tried to drag him back into the race.
Meanwhile, Yohan Offredo had attacked from the rest of the disorganized breakaway, and was now solo in the lead by about three minutes, and the rest of the breakaway was scattered along the road.
Although the peloton was chasing furiously, they could do nothing to catch Offredo, who took the stage on a solo victory. What an impressive ride!
I finished well behind the group with Spilak, alongside two other riders.
Now I know that I'm going to have to improve my ability in the smaller hills, and not just the large mountains. I also attribute the disspointing result to the fact that I was tired from yesterday, had bad daily form, and worked far to hard on the early climbs to make Simon's life a little bit easier.
Stage Results
Spoiler
1. Yohan Offredo FDJ 5h21'28"
2. Greg Van Avermaet BMC +1'00"
3. Steve Chainel FDJ s.t.
4. Edvald Boassen-Hagen Team Sky s.t.
5. Jonathon Hivert Saur-Sojasun s.t.
6. Pierrick Fredrigo FDJ s.t.
7. Alexandr Kolobnev Katusha s.t.
8. Leonardo Duque Cofidis s.t.
9. Jose Ivan Guitierrez Movistar s.t.
10. Robert Hunter RadioShack s.t.
... 75. Diego Ulissi Lampre-ISD +7'38"
Only changes in Overall were Ulissi dropping a lot and Offredo moving into second, 2'41" behind Kadri.
Although I feel terrible, it was still a great ride by Offredo, who brings home a victory for FDJ. Edited by Flash127 on 28-09-2011 01:48
Night Report To tell the truth, I'm really not feeling great. Today's stage was an utter disaster. I've decided to keep my head up, however, and look on the brighter side. I had a great result last stage, and now I can focus more on helping out Simon.
I also received a call from the DS, who said I shouldn't feel too bad. I was just too worn out from the previous stage, and there is plenty more time for me to redeem myself. I've just got to move on, and stay focused.
I think I've got to get a good night's sleep, so good night everyone.
While Diego was currently riding in the Paris-Nice, Lampre was also registered for the Tirrenco-Adriatico. It was a sponsor goal to win it, so Michele Scarponi would be made leader for the race.
Race Favorites
+++: Joaquim Rodriguez (KAT), Frank Schleck (LEO)
++: Michele Scarponi (LAM), Vincenzo Nibali (LIQ), Jose Rujano(AND)
+: Bradley Wiggins (SKY), Van Den Brouk (OPL), Andreas Kloden (RSH), Stefano Garzelli (ANS)
Stage one was a team time trial, and Lampre is never good at those.
Not surprisingly, the team tied for last place, 1'45" behind the winners, Team Sky. Scarponi would have a lot to make up in future stages.
The fifth stage of this year's Paris-Nice would definately shape the overall standings. It finishes just after the tough climb of the Cole de lu Mure. It is a tough climb, and I hope to be able to pass over it without the same results as yesterday.
As the day began, four riders broke free of the peloton to form the first breakaway of the day. M. Aerts, P. Stetina, L Westra, and I. Velasco were included. As the breakaway passed over the first summit of the category three climb the advantage was up to 3'29" back to the peloton.
The second climb was much more difficult, probably the hardest of the day, and over the summit of that, the peloton was now over 6'00" back.
Carlos Barredo outsprinted me to the top, but I still picked up a few KOtM points.
The peloton brought the gap down to five minutes on the long descent, and as we came back into the flatlands, Barredo attacked.
Before we reentered the mountains, Barredo had caught up to the leaders.
As we powered through the next few easy climbs, the gap steadily began to come down, and over the second to last climb was down to just 4'00". By this point many riders were falling off the pace and forming groups behind the peloton, most notably Janez Brajkovic and his teammate Haimer Zubeldia.
Velasco had also been dropped from the breakaway by this point and was just three minutes ahead of the peloton on the descent.
Soon it was just me, Simon, and Premyslaw left in the peloton of Lampre riders, and Premyslaw looked tired, but me and Simon were riding comfortably side by side the entire way so far.
Soon Barredo began to ride away from his fellow riders in the breakaway as Velasco was caught.
The three breakaway riders were also caught soon, leaving Barredo was the only one left in front.
Just then the real favorites began to attack. Andy Schleck was the first to go, and Contador followed.
Contador pulled around Schleck, and continued after Barredo.
As the 10k descent began, a group of eight formed, including Blel Kadri, Carlos Barredo, Alberto Contador, Andy Schleck, Rein Taaramae, Ryder Hesjedal, Peter Velits, and Jonathon Hivert. They had a 50" advantage over the second group on the road. Me and Simon were still back in the fourth group on the road.
In the end, it was Contador who held off Ryder Hesjedal at the end to take the stage win.
I finished safely inside the small peloton, so a mediocre day, but much better than yesterday.
Stage Results
Spoiler
1. Alberto Contador SaxoBank-Sunguard 5h27'51"
2. Ryder Hesjedal Garmin-Cervelo s.t.
3. Blel Kadri AG2r La Mondiale s.t.
4. Rein Taaramae Cofidis s.t.
5. Andy Schleck Leopard-Trek s.t.
6. Peter Velits HTC-Highroad s.t.
7. Jonathon Hivert Saur-Sojasun s.t.
8. Pierre Rolland EuropCar +0'28"
9. Thonas Voeckler EuropCar s.t.
10. David Zabriske Garmin-Cervelo +0'44"
... 36. Diego Ulissi Lampre-ISD +3'27"
General Classification
Spoiler
1. Blel Kadri AG2r La Mondiale 23h59'51"
2. Alberto Contador SaxoBank-Sunguard +3'46"
3. Ryder Hesjedal Garmin-Cervelo +3'48"
4. Peter Velits HTC-Highroad +3'52"
5. Rein Taaramae Cofidis s.t.
... 59. Diego Ulissi Lampre-ISD +12'11"
So both me and Simon tried to conserve some energy today so that maybe we could grab a stage win in later stages.
Today was owned by Contador, who despite being too far down to win the GC, picked up a great stage win today. Edited by Flash127 on 01-10-2011 17:38
Mmm, looks like we get another "French guy in an early break, gains a lot of time, and can suddenly go uphill with the best riders" scenario...... Nice for Kadri, but really nothing like irl (but therefore, this is a game!)
Stage 6 of the Paris-Nice is this year's only time trial, which will favor Contador a lot in the overall. I doubt he will be able to overtake Kadri today, but he can gain a lot of time. As you know I am not a great time trialer, and the only one who is on our current team is Adriano Malori.
Malori didn't dissapoint early on, and crushed the previous best time at the first checkpoint by 30 seconds, which was set by Chad Meyer.
However, the small climb did a number on Malori, and he ended up running out of energy, so in the end finished behind Meyer by 8 seconds, which he was dissapointed by.
Haimer Zubeldia came by however, and took the best time from Meyer by 11 seconds and moved into first.
Very soon Malori was kicked out of the top five.
As Malori's hopes for a good result began to fade, it was Sebastian Lang who lay waste to Zubeldia's time and took the lead by 27 seconds.
As more and more riders shuffled through the finish, Alessandro Petacchi surprised everyone with a very strong time, beating Malori by 19 seconds, and putting him in eight place.
Soon it was my turn to start, and I was nervous. It was my first time trial of the year.
By the first intermediate checkpoint, I had the 43rd best time, 51 seconds behind Langeveld, who had recently beaten Lang's time by 19 seconds.
With 1k to go, I started sprinting all out. My legs were screaming at this point.
As I crossed the finish line and looked up to see my time, what I saw surprised me. I had climbed up to 12th place! I was ecstatic, even though I knew there were many more riders still to come.
Coming in not long after me was Luis Leon Sanchez, who was well out of contention for any high overall place, however clearly had plans to go out with a bang,a s he set the best time so far, nearly passing his teammate Pieter Weening.
Simon took off a few minutes later. He rode steadily, with our team manager informing both of us that he was riding slightly faster than I did, and at the finish, he had me beat by 8 seconds.
A few minutes later, Edvald Boassen-Hagen beat Sanchez's time by 16 seconds, and moments later it was Tony Martin who beat that time. After that it was David Zabriske who beat Martin by 6 seconds. As the rest of the riders trickled in through the finish, no one could match Zabriske's time, and he took the stage win.
Meanwhile, Blel Kadri managed to limit his losses on the day, as he somehow managed to only fall to Contador by one minute.
Stage Results
Spoiler
1. Dave Zabriske Garmin-Cervelo 38'17"
2. Tony Martin HTC-Highroad +0'06"
3. Edvald Boassen-Hagen +0'19"
4. Alberto Contador SaxoBank-Sunguard +0'30"
5. Peter Velits HTC-Highroad s.t.
... 36. Simon Spilak Lampre-ISD +1'32" 45. Diego Ulissi Lampre-ISD +1'40"
47. Alessandro Petacchi Lampre-ISD +1'41"
General Classification
Spoiler
1. Blel Kadri AG2r La Mondiale 24h39'38"
2. Alberto Contador SaxoBank-Sunguard +2'46"
3. Peter Velits HTC-Highroad +2'52"
4. Dave Zabriske Garmin-Cervelo +3'06"
5. Rein Taaramae Cofidis +3'19"
6. Ryder Hesjedal Garmin-Cervelo +3'29"
7. Jonathon Hivert Saur-Sojasun +3'37"
8. Andy Schleck Leopard-Trek s.t.
9. Thonas De Gendt Vacansoleil s.t.
10. Jean-Christophe Peraud AG2r La Mondiale +3'55"
... 25. Simon Spilak +6'36" 58. Diego Ulissi Lampre-ISD +12'21"
I felt like I performed pretty well. Simon and Alessandro did as well, But Premyslaw and Adriano did not have very good days.
Zabriske was certainly a favorite coming in today, and he pulled through with flying colors.
Today's stage was flat, and therefore nothing interesting happened.
Stage Results
Spoiler
1. Robbie McEwen RadioShack +3h46'56"
2. Mark Cavendish HTC-Highroad s.t.
3. Heinrich Haussler Garmin-Cervelo s.t.
4. Thor Huschovd Garmin-Cervelo s.t.
5. Juan Jose Haedo SaxoBank-Sunguard s.t.
McEwen surprised the bigger favorites to pull out the victory, with Cavendish settling for second. Even with Garmin-Cervelo's excellent sprinting trio, they did not manage a victory, and Farrar ended up back in sixth.
So today probably has the most difficult climbs, however they all come well before the finish. Me and Simon are both getting into good form, and one of us will try and get into a breakaway to finally grab that elusive stage win. Of course will all of the climbers in this race, it will be difficult to achieve.
Jason McCartney and Jan Bakelants launched the first attack, and due to my great position in the peloton, I followed to join the breakaway.
We were joined by Romain Sicard (EUS), Lieuwe Westra (VAC), and Mauro Santambrogio (BMC).
No one contested the intermediate sprint, and at this point we were joined by many more riders, most notably the Sky duo if Christopher Sutton and Ben Swift.
No one challenged me for the first KOM points, which was a tiny climb and offered few points.
Our gap was slowly growing, and over the second miniscule climb, it was up to almost 3 minutes, but there was still 141k to go.
I was the best climber in the group by far, and I soon created a small gap over the climb, and extended it on the descent. Soon enough, I was riding solo with a 53" lead on the other breakaway riders.
At the start of the climb, I had a 4 minute lead on the other breakaway riders, who were 4 minutes ahead of the peloton.
Riding solo in the lead up that climb was both painful, but great, considering that my form was great and I was in the lead. My elgs were screaming, but my manager was telling me that my lead was growing steadily. The pain was growing, and I was tiring.
I learned that I had a 6'17" lead on the next group of ten riders, and was about 10 minutes ahead of the peloton. Still a long way to go, however.
It began to rain as I started up the climb directly after the last one. This one wasn't as long, but was still very difficult. I went over this one with a big lead as well. As I passed over, I was given the great news that I was in the provisional KOM lead, which boosted my confidence a whole lot.
With 64km to go, I haerd that the group behind me was caught by the peloton, so I was the only leader left with a 7 minute lead.
However, I was spent after being in the lead for so long, and was eventually caught with 33 km to go, at which point Alberto Contador attacked from the peloton.
He was caught soon, however, and the peloton was back together.
By this point, I was dead tired, and dropped back into a group, falling off the pace of the peloton.
With 3km to go, it was Voeckler of EuropCar who had attacked and was in the lead, with Pierrick Fredrigo in second.
And Voeckler gets the win, with Fredrigo holding off Boassen-Hagen for second
I finished long after the peloton alongside Petacchi. So my place in the stage was pretty bad, but I'm still real happy taking the KOM lead.
Stage Results
Spoiler
1. Thonas Voeckler EuropCar 5h45'43"
2. Pierrick Fredrigo FDJ +0'50"
3. Edvald Boassen-Hagen Team Sky s.t.
4. Pierre Rolland EuropCar s.t.
5. Jens Voigt Leopard-Trek s.t.
6. Matteo Carrara Vacansoleil s.t.
7. Rein Taaramae Cofidis s.t.
8. Dave Zabriske Garmin-Cervelo s.t.
9. Andy Schleck Leopard-Trek s.t. 10. Simon Spilak Lampre-ISD s.t.
... 81. Diego Ulissi Lampre-ISD +18'27"
So today's stage was pretty nice for me, despite the fact that I finished 18 minutes behind the peloton. I was the solo leader for the majority of the day, and most importantly I took the KOM lead with only one stage left. I hope I can hold on tomorrow.
Scarponi will need to make up some time today if he has a chance of winning it all, and it will be tough against this competition.
Lampre put Marco Marzano and Alessandro Spezialleti in the breakaway, which contained Jose Rujano, a danger for the overall, however, it all came back together with 20k to go.
Scarponi tried to attack, but wore himself out and was caught, leaving the gate open for Phillipe Gilbert to attack and take the win.
Scarponi didn't finish a strong spot, and ended up just losing more time. This may be due to his bad form.
Stage Results
Spoiler
1. Phillipe Gilbert Omega-Pharma Lotto 6h08'36"
2. Giovanni Visconti Farnese-Vini +36"
3. Juan Antonia Flecha Team Sky +1'03"
4. Joaquim Rodriguez Katusha s.t.
5. Nick Nuyens SaxoBank-Sunguard s.t.
General Classification
Spoiler
1. Juan Antonia Flecha Team Sky 15h34'07"
2. Phillipe Gilbert Omega-Pharma Lotto +0'10"
3. Joaquim Rodriguez Katusha +0'28"
4. Oscar Freire Rabobank +0'39"
5. Nick Nuyens SaxoBank-Sunguard +0'47"
Today's final stage wields 38 possible KOM points. I was ahead of Carlos Barredo by just 12 points heading into the stage, so I knew that it would be difficult to hang on to it, especially sinc Barredo is a very strong climber and he has more experience than me. The team has informed me that they will be working for me on this stage, and Simon will focus on the stage win. With the help of all of my teammates, I think I can hold on to it.
The first attack came almost immediately into the stage, initiated by Sylvester Szymd, and quite a few riders followed, including Ben Swift and Haimer Zubeldia. The most dangerous rider to me was Jan Bakelandts of Omega-Pharma Lotto, who only had six points, so even if he got every point avaiable, he would not catch me.
As the peloton was heading under a tunnel, with still 7k to go until the top of the first climb, Barredo attacked. I was forced to follow.
We joined the breakaway, with a 1'30" lead on the peloton.
With just 2k to the top of the climb, I made my move to get the KOM points.
I got far enough ahead and took the points easily.
Peter Sagan even beat out Barredo to get second place, so my lead extended to 15 points.
n the descent, as I was taking a sip of water and waiting for the peloton to catch me as they had the other riders, I was informed that I had a 1'55" lead on Barredo and Sagan, who were 26" ahead of the peloton. I didn't believe it! What was going on in the heads of the peloton riders?
I went over the second climb with an even bigger lead. I had confidence now and was pushing hard. After Barredo and Sagan passed over, my lead was now 17 points.
I crossed over the third climb, and my lead was up to 6'30". I suppose since I was 29 minutes behind in the overall the peloton didn't really want to chase.
Meanwhile, on the final climb,m it was race leader Blel Kadri who attacked. Both Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador caught and passed him.
They all came together on the descent, as well as Voeckler and Rein Taaramae. They had a 40" lead on the main group of 23 riders, which included Simon.
Pretty soon it became evident to me that I would win the stage, and I crossed the finish in first. My first victory of the year!
Behind me, Voeckler launched his sprint first, and opened up a gap.
He held on for second, and behind him Pierrick Fredrigo managed to grab third ahead of Edvald Boassen-Hagen.
Stage Results
Spoiler
1. Diego Ulissi Lampre-ISD 3h27'22"
2. Thonas Voeckler EuropCar +5'20"
3. Pierrick Fredrigo FDJ s.t.
4. Edvald Boassen-Hagen s.t.
5. Blel Kadri Sky Pro Cycling s.t.
6. Matteo Carrara Vacansoleil s.t.
7. Alexandr Kolobnev Katusha s.t.
8. Rinaldo Nocentini AG2r La Mondiale s.t.
9. Pierre Rolland EuropCar s.t.
10. Peter Velits HTC-Highroad s.t.
It's me!
Well it wasn't until the final stage, but we did it. We finally got the Stage win to achieve the goal. the sad news was that Adriano Malori did not finish within the time allowed, and was forced to withdraw from the race.
General Classification
Spoiler
1. Blel Kadri AG2r La Mondiale 33h58'52"
2. Alberto Contador SaxoBank-Sunguard +2'41"
3. Peter Velits HTC-Highroad +2'53"
4. Dave Zabriske Garmin-Cervelo +3'05"
5. Rein Taaramae Cofidis +3'12"
... 20. Simon Spilak Lampre-ISD +6'37" 56. Diego Ulissi Lampre-ISD +24'30"
72. Premyslaw Niemic Lampre-ISD +31'12"
102. Alessandro Petacchi Lampre-ISD +53'27"
110. David Loosli Lampre-ISD +56'51"
126. Daniele Righi Lampre_ISD +1h20'43"
156. Balint Szeghalmi Lampre-ISD +1h49'47"
DNF Adriano Malori Lampre-ISD
We didn't do a very good job in terms of the GC, with Simon being our highest placed rider at 20th.
Points Competition
Spoiler
1. Edvald Boassen-Hagen Sky Pro Cycling 133pts
2. Greg Van Avermaet BMC 83pts
3. Blel Kadri AG2r La Mondiale 82pts
4. Pierrick Fredrigo FDJ 76pts
5. Robert Hunter RadioShack 55pts
I can't decided whether this or the stage win is better, but I'm ecstatic about both.
Young Rider Classification
Spoiler
1. Blel Kadri AG2r La Mondiale 33h58'52"
2. Rein Taaramae Cofidis +3'19"
3. Thonas De Gendt Vacansoleil +3'48"
4. Pierre Rolland EuropCar +4'19"
5. Robert Kiserlovski Astana +4'57"
Team Classification
Spoiler
1. AG2r La Mondiale +102h04'28"
Wow. I feel great, even though my legs are more tired than they've ever been before in my life. But it's worth it. What a great Paris-Nice. I thought that it would end awfully after one of those stages, but it turned out to be great! Goodbye for now. It's time for some champagne!
Night Report I got a call from the DS, and apparently they're just as happy as I am. I not only won the stage and achieved a sponsor goal, but I also won the King of the Mountains competition, making this my most successful tour so far. Not only for this year, but my entire career so far, which I'll admit has only been two years.
My next race is the Criterium International, which is a difficult race. We'll see how I do there.
Bye for now, I'll see you soon.
