Second stage of the race is about to begin. Today we'll mainly focus on bringing Bennett and me in position for the expected final sprint.
And of course we'll try everything to get a rider within the morningbreak. It would be a huge disappointment if we weren't in the breakaway.
Stage favourites
M. Goss
O. Freire, F. Ventoso
D. Galimzyanov, R. McEwen, A. Davis
"The nervousness from yesterdays starting stage has retracted a bit, but i still have some butterflies in my stomach here before the start.
I'll expect a difficult and very exhausting stage and hopefully the wind won't affect the pack very much"
The Race
Relatively fast a breakaway was builded. First the breakaway contained 3 riders including Mark Cassidy, but later on 7 riders more joined the breakaway too.
Mark Cassidy in todays break
The breakaway refused to drop back to the pack, concluding in a massive shoal of contra attacks. Cassidy was riding very fine, and held on to the very end of the breakaway.
Eliminination race in the breakaway until the bitter end
The breakaway only just got caught, with the last rider in front being caught only 6 km before the finish. Therefore it came down to a mass sprint.
Bennett found the perfect wheel, just behind the massive favorite Matthew Goss, whose team were perfectly prepared as yesterday, while i kept my place in the very front.
Bennett in the wheel of Goss
When nearing the finish, Bennett had lost his spot to P. Lastras from Movistar, but he still held on. For my own part, i was trying to reach Katusha's A. Vicioso's wheel, but without luck since E. Sanz came in front of me.
Me and Sam trying to get into positions
Sam completely exploded when Greenedge's leadout man Langeveld blocked him on his way down from the front, leaving Bennett on his own, trying to catch the wheel of Lastras again.
The situation meant that Davis, Goss and Lastras overtook the front, with several of bike lenght's between them and the rest of the pack.
3 riders alone in front after chaos in the pack
Matthew Goss repeated his triumph on the second stage, winning in front of Pablo Lastras and Karl Menzies.
Nothing seems to go wrong for this man, especially because of his fantastic team which was in front of the pack from start to finish.
Matthew Goss wins stage 2 of the Tour of Oman
While Goss was crossing the line, both me and Bennett was struggling.
We couldn't feel the momentum on the final kilometres, which went on to be a big disappointment for both of us.
Me crossing the line in 22th as best An Post rider of the stage
Results
1
Matthew Goss
GreenEdge Cycling Team
2h54'16
2
Pablo Lastras
Movistar Team
s.t.
3
Karl Menzies
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
4
Ángel Vicioso
Katusha Team
s.t.
5
Alexei Markov
RusVelo
s.t.
6
Manuel Cardoso
Caja Rural
s.t.
7
Francisco José Ventoso
Movistar Team
s.t.
8
Allan Davis
GreenEdge Cycling Team
s.t.
9
Roberto Ferrari
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
10
Robert Förster
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
...
22
Jonathan Bellis
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
Spoiler
11
Enrique Sanz
Movistar Team
s.t.
12
Alexandre Blain
Endura Racing
s.t.
13
Ian Bibby
Endura Racing
s.t.
14
Gustavo César Veloso
Andalucía
s.t.
15
Dean Windsor
Endura Racing
s.t.
16
Rory Sutherland
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
17
Robbie McEwen
GreenEdge Cycling Team
s.t.
18
Tom Stamsnijder
Project 1t4i
s.t.
19
Mart Ojavee
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
20
Paul Voss
Endura Racing
s.t.
21
Fabio Duarte
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
22
Jonathan Bellis
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
23
Jeffry Romero
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
24
Martin Gilbert
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
25
Giairo Ermeti
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
26
Juan Pablo Suarez
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
27
René Mandri
Endura Racing
s.t.
28
Sam Bennett
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
29
Javier Francisco Aramendia
Caja Rural
s.t.
30
Javier Chacón
Andalucía
s.t.
31
Jens Keukeleire
GreenEdge Cycling Team
s.t.
32
Alexandre Geniez
Project 1t4i
s.t.
33
Fausto Fognini
Team WIT
s.t.
34
Ian Wilkinson
Endura Racing
s.t.
35
Óscar Freire
Katusha Team
s.t.
36
Boy Van Poppel
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
37
Jackson Rodríguez
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
38
Denis Galimzyanov
Katusha Team
s.t.
39
Henry Frusto
Team Nippo
s.t.
40
Jonathon McEvoy
Endura Racing
s.t.
41
Alexander Mironov
RusVelo
s.t.
42
Vincenzo Garofalo
Team Nippo
s.t.
43
Fabio Felline
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
44
Eduard Vorganov
Katusha Team
s.t.
45
Pengda Jiao
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
46
Jay Thomson
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
47
Fabricio Ferrari
Caja Rural
s.t.
48
Michael Rodriguez
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
49
Danail Petrov
Caja Rural
s.t.
50
Simone Campagnaro
Team Nippo
s.t.
51
Evgeniy Kovalev
RusVelo
s.t.
52
Craig Lewis
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
53
Vladimir Gusev
Katusha Team
s.t.
54
Ivan Savitsky
RusVelo
s.t.
55
Jonathan Castroviejo
Movistar Team
s.t.
56
Tyron Giorgieri
Team WIT
s.t.
57
Iván Gutiérrez
Movistar Team
s.t.
58
Alfredo Balloni
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
59
Denis Menchov
Katusha Team
s.t.
60
Xavier Florencio
Katusha Team
s.t.
61
Gediminas Bagdonas
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
62
Kun Jiang
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
63
Daniele Callegarin
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
64
Luca Paolini
Katusha Team
s.t.
65
Julián Sánchez Pimienta
Caja Rural
s.t.
66
Igor Boev
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
67
Sergey Chernetskiy
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
68
Enrico Montanari
Team WIT
s.t.
69
Marcos García
Caja Rural
s.t.
70
Alexander Zdanov
Team Nippo
s.t.
71
Sebastian Langeveld
GreenEdge Cycling Team
s.t.
72
Dimitry Kozontchuk
RusVelo
s.t.
73
Tomohiro Hayakawa
Team Nippo
s.t.
74
Rubens Bertogliati
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
75
Serguei Klimov
RusVelo
s.t.
76
Igor Frolov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
77
Stuart O'Grady
GreenEdge Cycling Team
s.t.
78
David Boily
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
79
Jonathan Monsalve
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
80
Jacobus Venter
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
81
Hernâni Brôco
Caja Rural
s.t.
82
Cameron Wurf
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
83
César Bihel
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
84
Frank Dressler
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
85
Antonio Cabello
Andalucía
s.t.
86
Muhamad Othman
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
87
Vyacheslav Kuznetsov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
88
Kevin Kohlvelter
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
89
Mark McNally
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
90
Kohei Uchima
Team Nippo
s.t.
91
Julien Antomarchi
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
92
Tobias Ludvigsson
Project 1t4i
s.t.
93
Zachary Bell
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
94
Kirill Baranov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
95
Miguel Rubiano
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
96
Gang Xu
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
97
Andrey Solomennikov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
98
Alex Meenhorst
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
99
Dmitry Kosyakov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
100
Ilnur Zakarin
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
101
Rafael de Mattos Andriato
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
102
Patrick Gretsch
Project 1t4i
s.t.
103
Alexander Serebryakov
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
104
Simon Lambert-Lemay
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
105
Francesco Failli
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
106
Zakkari Dempster
Endura Racing
s.t.
107
Ryan Roth
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
108
Mathieu Sprick
Project 1t4i
s.t.
109
Wilson Marentes
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
110
Lucas Euser
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
111
Remco Broers
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
112
Juan Forero
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
113
Tom Dumoulin
Project 1t4i
s.t.
114
Mark Cassidy
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
115
Thierry Hupond
Project 1t4i
s.t.
116
Joey Rosskopf
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
117
Juan José Cobo
Movistar Team
s.t.
118
Jason McCartney
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
119
Beñat Intxausti
Movistar Team
s.t.
120
Jordi Simón
Andalucía
s.t.
121
Joe Eldridge
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
122
Luca Mazzanti
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
123
José Luis Roldán
Andalucía
s.t.
124
Vladimir Karpets
Movistar Team
s.t.
125
Davide Ricci Bitti
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
126
Leonardo Giordani
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
127
Diego Caccia
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
128
Roberto De Patre
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
129
Simon Geschke
Project 1t4i
s.t.
130
Adrián Palomares
Andalucía
s.t.
131
Davide Frattini
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
132
Karol Domagalski
Caja Rural
s.t.
133
José Luis Cano
Andalucía
s.t.
134
Jesús Rosendo
Andalucía
s.t.
135
Mark Christian
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
136
Sean Downey
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
137
George Preidler
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
138
Valery Kaykov
RusVelo
s.t.
139
Kiel Reijnen
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
140
Caleb Fairly
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
141
Ivan Rovny
RusVelo
s.t.
142
Raymond Künzli
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
143
Víctor Hugo Peña
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
144
Kai Reus
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
145
Miguel Ubeto
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
146
Michael Hepburn
GreenEdge Cycling Team
s.t.
147
Luis Felipe Laverde
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
148
Carlos José Ochoa
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
149
Cameron Meyer
GreenEdge Cycling Team
+ 3'02
150
Connor McConvey
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
151
Biao Liu
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
+ 13'11
General Classification
1
Matthew Goss
GreenEdge Cycling Team
6h23'10
2
Pablo Lastras
Movistar Team
+ 28
3
Óscar Freire
Katusha Team
s.t.
4
Ángel Vicioso
Katusha Team
+ 32
5
Karl Menzies
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
6
Ivan Savitsky
RusVelo
s.t.
7
Fabio Felline
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
+ 34
8
Enrico Montanari
Team WIT
s.t.
9
José Luis Cano
Andalucía
s.t.
10
Alfredo Balloni
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
+ 36
...
32
Jonathan Bellis
An Post - Sean Kelly
+ 40
Points classification
1
Matthew Goss
GreenEdge Cycling Team
50
2
Ángel Vicioso
Katusha Team
30
3
Pablo Lastras
Movistar Team
26
4
Alexei Markov
RusVelo
21
5
Óscar Freire
Katusha Team
20
Young classification
1
Ivan Savitsky
RusVelo
s.t.
6h23'42
2
Fabio Felline
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
+ 2
3
José Luis Cano
Andalucía
s.t.
+ 2
4
Alfredo Balloni
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
+ 4
5
Muhamad Othman
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
+ 4
...
12
Jonathan Bellis
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
+ 8
When looking back at todays stage i feel a bit disappointed.
The results are fine, but i could definitely see that things wasn't working for me out on the road.
Bennett was really unlucky today, if he wasn't blocked he maybe could have taken a top-10 spot. But such things happens in cyclesport.
Tommorow will be the last flat stage before the queen stage.
And i think the plans will be changed quite dramaticly...
Edited by andy222c on 08-02-2012 19:52
Not bad from Jonathan. Btw you accidentaly have the bad headline for stage 2 probably, there is said stage 1 again and profile looks same as in stage 1 too.
Jonathan still trying to get the best shape, still a solid result inside the 30 best. Of course with a different, easier field, Bellis can fight for a win.
@Avin Wargunnson: Thanks, and thank you for telling me about the error. I was appearently a little too fast to not notice it myself. I've corrected both errors
@FreitasPCM: I definitely agree with what you are saying. This is only a warm-up race which have got a really tough lineup with some of the very best riders within it.
I'm also quite convinced that Jonny will be able to fight for the win in some of the smaller races later in the season
The third stage will be the last flat stage before the queen stage.
We've changed our strategy a little, since we've been proved that we got no sprinter who's good enough to follow the best.
Therefore we won't even try to compeed in the final sprint, and instead focus 100 % on breakaways.
Stage favourites
M. Goss
O. Freire, F. Ventoso
D. Galimzyanov, R. McEwen, A. Davis
"Our tactic is very agressive today, so i'll have to keep my eyes open all day long. I can feel that my shape is beginning to get better, so i'm quite confident in my abilities"
The Race
A lot of riders wanted to be in the breakaway today, and therefore a lot of riders attacked from the very start. Among others my own team-mate Mark McNally whose shape is really great at the moment.
But the final breakaway came down to be only 3 riders. We tried to get 2 riders within it, and it succeeded, therefore both Sean Downey and Sam Bennett were in the break.
Sean Downey and Sam Bennett in todays break
Up in the break the three guys worked very well together and extended their lead continuous. Bennett won the first sprint of the stage and later became second in the last intermediate-sprint, and therefore earned some very nice bonus-seconds.
With 20 km left, they had about 2' min. down to the pack and Downey had to drop of because of exhaustion.
Now only Bennett and the Team Differdange rider were in front.
Downey drops down with 20 km to the line
The two guys really put in their efforts and rode extremely fast, but with 12 km to go, the pack drove in both of them after a great effort by the breakaway.
It now seemed as though it had to end in another mass-sprint with Greenedge in front.
The breakaway finishes 12 km from the line
It all seemed to end in a mass-sprint. But with 5 km left, I saw a golden moment. The Greenedge train suddenly didn't drove the same fast pace as before and i had to try exploit this chance.
It was all or nothing, so i gave myself all in.
Me exploiting a quiet moment 5 km from the line
But unfortunately Greenedge seemed to have everything under control.
They just send up a new man to pull me in completely, and i was therefore back in the pack with 3 km to go.
Because of my attack, greenedge's train was shortened a bit, and Goss had to set in his sprint very early.
But could he hold it to the line?
Goss starting his sprint very early this time
It became very close between Goss and Manuel Cardoso who came really fast on the last metres, and therefore the win had to be decided in a photofinish.
The photo showed that Goss was a little in front of Cardoso, and therefore he could call himself winner of his third stage in a row.
I kept myself in front and finished in 32th.
Matthew Goss takes the tripple
Results
1
Matthew Goss
GreenEdge Cycling Team
3h18'45
2
Manuel Cardoso
Caja Rural
s.t.
3
Robert Förster
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
4
Óscar Freire
Katusha Team
s.t.
5
Francisco José Ventoso
Movistar Team
s.t.
6
Allan Davis
GreenEdge Cycling Team
s.t.
7
Alexei Markov
RusVelo
s.t.
8
Roberto Ferrari
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
9
Denis Galimzyanov
Katusha Team
s.t.
10
Dean Windsor
Endura Racing
s.t.
...
32
Jonathan Bellis
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
Spoiler
11
Ángel Vicioso
Katusha Team
s.t.
12
Robbie McEwen
GreenEdge Cycling Team
s.t.
13
Pablo Lastras
Movistar Team
s.t.
14
Enrique Sanz
Movistar Team
s.t.
15
Ian Bibby
Endura Racing
s.t.
16
Juan Forero
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
17
Fabio Duarte
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
18
Fabio Felline
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
19
Rory Sutherland
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
20
Tom Stamsnijder
Project 1t4i
s.t.
21
Gustavo César Veloso
Andalucía
s.t.
22
René Mandri
Endura Racing
s.t.
23
Caleb Fairly
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
24
Alexandre Geniez
Project 1t4i
s.t.
25
Raymond Künzli
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
26
Javier Chacón
Andalucía
s.t.
27
Jeffry Romero
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
28
Julien Antomarchi
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
29
Juan Pablo Suarez
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
30
Karl Menzies
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
31
Kai Reus
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
32
Jonathan Bellis
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
33
Gediminas Bagdonas
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
34
Pengda Jiao
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
35
Ivan Rovny
RusVelo
s.t.
36
Miguel Ubeto
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
37
Jason McCartney
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
38
Michael Rodriguez
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
39
George Preidler
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
40
Ian Wilkinson
Endura Racing
s.t.
41
Martin Gilbert
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
42
Remco Broers
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
43
Jesús Rosendo
Andalucía
s.t.
44
Valery Kaykov
RusVelo
s.t.
45
Craig Lewis
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
46
Davide Frattini
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
47
Jacobus Venter
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
48
Luis Felipe Laverde
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
49
Frank Dressler
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
50
Jonathon McEvoy
Endura Racing
s.t.
51
Carlos José Ochoa
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
52
Boy Van Poppel
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
53
Jonathan Castroviejo
Movistar Team
s.t.
54
Danail Petrov
Caja Rural
s.t.
55
Alexandre Blain
Endura Racing
s.t.
56
Alex Meenhorst
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
57
Ivan Savitsky
RusVelo
s.t.
58
Paul Voss
Endura Racing
s.t.
59
Mart Ojavee
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
60
Zakkari Dempster
Endura Racing
s.t.
61
Adrián Palomares
Andalucía
s.t.
62
Kevin Kohlvelter
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
63
Jens Keukeleire
GreenEdge Cycling Team
s.t.
64
Hernâni Brôco
Caja Rural
s.t.
65
Stuart O'Grady
GreenEdge Cycling Team
s.t.
66
César Bihel
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
67
Sebastian Langeveld
GreenEdge Cycling Team
s.t.
68
Mark Christian
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
69
Mark Cassidy
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
70
Fabricio Ferrari
Caja Rural
s.t.
71
Javier Francisco Aramendia
Caja Rural
s.t.
72
Julián Sánchez Pimienta
Caja Rural
s.t.
73
Mark McNally
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
74
Jay Thomson
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
75
Michael Hepburn
GreenEdge Cycling Team
s.t.
76
Alexander Mironov
RusVelo
s.t.
77
Connor McConvey
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
78
Cameron Meyer
GreenEdge Cycling Team
s.t.
79
Luca Paolini
Katusha Team
s.t.
80
Igor Boev
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
81
Dmitry Kosyakov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
82
Henry Frusto
Team Nippo
s.t.
83
Kirill Baranov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
84
Vyacheslav Kuznetsov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
85
Simone Campagnaro
Team Nippo
s.t.
86
Andrey Solomennikov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
87
Diego Caccia
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
88
Igor Frolov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
89
Kohei Uchima
Team Nippo
s.t.
90
Vincenzo Garofalo
Team Nippo
s.t.
91
Sam Bennett
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
92
Ilnur Zakarin
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
93
Giairo Ermeti
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
94
Alexander Serebryakov
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
95
Alexander Zdanov
Team Nippo
s.t.
96
Davide Ricci Bitti
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
97
Alfredo Balloni
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
98
Muhamad Othman
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
99
Roberto De Patre
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
100
Leonardo Giordani
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
101
Fausto Fognini
Team WIT
s.t.
102
Luca Mazzanti
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
103
José Luis Cano
Andalucía
s.t.
104
Sergey Chernetskiy
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
105
Cameron Wurf
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
106
Wilson Marentes
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
107
Tobias Ludvigsson
Project 1t4i
s.t.
108
Zachary Bell
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
109
Antonio Cabello
Andalucía
s.t.
110
Rafael de Mattos Andriato
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
111
Simon Geschke
Project 1t4i
s.t.
112
Rubens Bertogliati
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
113
Tomohiro Hayakawa
Team Nippo
s.t.
114
Jackson Rodríguez
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
115
Tyron Giorgieri
Team WIT
s.t.
116
Daniele Callegarin
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
117
Simon Lambert-Lemay
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
118
David Boily
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
119
Francesco Failli
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
120
Dimitry Kozontchuk
RusVelo
s.t.
121
Eduard Vorganov
Katusha Team
s.t.
122
Sean Downey
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
123
Jonathan Monsalve
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
124
Patrick Gretsch
Project 1t4i
s.t.
125
Kun Jiang
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
126
Thierry Hupond
Project 1t4i
s.t.
127
Karol Domagalski
Caja Rural
s.t.
128
Miguel Rubiano
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
129
Enrico Montanari
Team WIT
s.t.
130
Víctor Hugo Peña
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
131
José Luis Roldán
Andalucía
s.t.
132
Lucas Euser
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
133
Evgeniy Kovalev
RusVelo
s.t.
134
Gang Xu
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
135
Tom Dumoulin
Project 1t4i
s.t.
136
Serguei Klimov
RusVelo
s.t.
137
Vladimir Gusev
Katusha Team
s.t.
138
Joey Rosskopf
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
139
Joe Eldridge
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
140
Juan José Cobo
Movistar Team
s.t.
141
Vladimir Karpets
Movistar Team
s.t.
142
Kiel Reijnen
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
143
Biao Liu
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
144
Xavier Florencio
Katusha Team
s.t.
145
Iván Gutiérrez
Movistar Team
s.t.
146
Marcos García
Caja Rural
s.t.
147
Mathieu Sprick
Project 1t4i
s.t.
148
Jordi Simón
Andalucía
s.t.
149
Beñat Intxausti
Movistar Team
s.t.
150
Ryan Roth
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
151
Denis Menchov
Katusha Team
s.t.
General Classification
1
Matthew Goss
GreenEdge Cycling Team
9h41'35
2
Manuel Cardoso
Caja Rural
+ 48
3
Pablo Lastras
Movistar Team
s.t.
4
Óscar Freire
Katusha Team
s.t.
5
Sam Bennett
An Post - Sean Kelly
+ 50
6
César Bihel
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
7
Ángel Vicioso
Katusha Team
+ 52
8
Robert Förster
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
9
Karl Menzies
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
10
Ivan Savitsky
RusVelo
s.t.
...
34
Jonathan Bellis
An Post - Sean Kelly
+ 1'00
Points classification
1
Matthew Goss
GreenEdge Cycling Team
75
2
Ángel Vicioso
Katusha Team
35
3
Óscar Freire
Katusha Team
34
4
Robert Förster
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
34
5
Manuel Cardoso
Caja Rural
34
Young classification
1
Sam Bennett
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
9h42'25
2
César Bihel
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
+ 0
3
Ivan Savitsky
RusVelo
s.t.
+ 2
4
Fabio Felline
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
+ 4
5
José Luis Cano
Andalucía
s.t.
+ 4
...
14
Jonathan Bellis
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
+ 10
Our agressive tactic worked pretty well today. With Bennett's bonus-seconds, we now got him in 5th overall and in lead of the young riders classification.
A great result for the team, and therefore a very profitable stage for us.
My own breakaway didn't worked as i wanted it to be, but i'm happy that i tried. Only by trying, you'll learn.
Tommorow's stage will be quite different with a steep mountain finish.
We'll keep our agressive tactic, since we haven't got any climber on our team, but let's see how we all are feeling tommorow, because it will surely be the one with the best legs who we'll work for.
Awesome stage, very aggressive by An Post. Good luck tomorrow, will be tough but hopefully you're going do well. Very nice reports too with the screens. All is great
@valverde321: Thank you
Original concepts? It sounds positive, but could you specify?
@Alakagom: Thanks Yeah, tommorows stage will be very dificult for our team, so we'll join every single breakaway to ensure our appearance in the front. I also hope that Bagdonas can follow through on the climb, so he can get a nice overall result with a good result in the TT.
Well you put the quotes above the pic, which is a good idea, and you also have certain graphics which you use for every report.
I was thinking of doing something similar as well with the graphics, but you've beat me to it again I was going to put titles on my "Race Results" one though, but that pic you chose, is great
This fourth stage will be very exciting. The stage is the queen stage of the race, and will be very crucial for the overall GC.
The rare thing about the stage is the mountain finish. After 3 days in the flat-land of Oman, we'll be heading for the mountains, which can be dreadfully steep.
We have no climbers in our squad, so we'll be very agressive once again.
Stage favourites
D. Menchov
J.J. Cobo, B. Intxausti
P. Lastras, F. Duarte, V. Karpets
"I have no comments, i'm too focused on the race to talk smalltalk with you right now..."
The Race
The first breakaway got away and Jonny followed them exactly as we'd planned. But the break got caught again, and a new one followed. After several attempts a breakaway with 16 riders was build including Bellis .
Bellis on his way into the final breakaway
But the pack didn't seem very happy with the break, and with 80 km left of the stage the breakaway got caught again.
This got J. Venter (Differdange) to counter attack.
A part of our tactic for today's stage was to be in the breakaway with two riders like yesterday. Therefore when Bellis saw Bagdonas being ready to make his counter, he reacted quickly and followed the Differdange rider with Bagdonas in his wheel.
Bellis with Bagdonas in his wheel, trying to make the gap
The breakaway seemed to work fine together with the two AnPost riders obviously making the biggest amount of work.
Even though Bellis had been into the previous breakaways, he was without no doubt the greatest sprinter among the 3, and therefore took the last intermediate sprint in front of his own team-mate.
Bellis taking the intermediate sprint
With 40 km to the finish, race leader Matthew Goss tried to attack.
It was a quite sepctacular sight, and he also got caught about 10 km after.
When he got caught the pack seemed to stop completely just to figure out what just happened. This was very useful for the breakaway which suddenly extended their lead to 3' min with 30 km to go.
Race leader Goss on the run - Which in the end was very useful for the breakaway
Break companion J. Venter had just tried to escape from the two AnPost riders, when he got caught and Bellis made a counter attack with 10 km to go, in favour of team-mate Bagdonas.
J. Venter had to make all the work while Bellis extended his lead every second, leaving Bagdonas to relax just behind Venter.
Bellis making a counter attack
Bellis was on very hard work and had a little gap down to his two follwers.
In the meantime the pack leaded by Katusha (Menchov) was nearing the breakaway dramaticly fast.
Bellis in his solo-attack
Bellis got caught with only 5 km to go, leaving J. Venter to drop down along, and Bagdonas alone in the front.
But with 3,5 km to go, he also got caught in the many breakaways which occurred from the pack.
In front R. Sutherland was alone, with two other riders a little further down.
Bagdonas was the last to be caught with 3,5 km to go
A lot of riders tried to escape on the last kilometres, but Sutherland still remained in front of the race. Behind Sutherland P. Lastras was trying to reach him to the front.
Sutherland in front - Lastras just behind
In the end Sutherland was too strong and took a very great victory in front of Lastras and J. Suarez who won the sprint in the pack.
With the stage-win he also overtooked the leaders jersey.
Sutherland takes the win
Results
1
Rory Sutherland
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
3h51'35
2
Pablo Lastras
Movistar Team
+ 8
3
Juan Pablo Suarez
Colombia - Coldeportes
+ 1'06
4
Ian Bibby
Endura Racing
+ 1'14
5
Fabio Duarte
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
6
Ángel Vicioso
Katusha Team
s.t.
7
Eduard Vorganov
Katusha Team
s.t.
8
Danail Petrov
Caja Rural
+ 1'25
9
Óscar Freire
Katusha Team
s.t.
10
Ivan Rovny
RusVelo
s.t.
...
71
Jonathan Bellis
An Post - Sean Kelly
+ 5'04
Spoiler
11
Luis Felipe Laverde
Colombia - Coldeportes
+ 1'35
12
Kai Reus
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
+ 1'40
13
Alexandre Geniez
Project 1t4i
s.t.
14
Francesco Failli
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
15
Miguel Rubiano
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
16
Davide Frattini
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
17
Simon Geschke
Project 1t4i
s.t.
18
Jackson Rodríguez
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
19
Carlos José Ochoa
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
+ 1'55
20
Matthew Goss
GreenEdge Cycling Team
s.t.
21
Julien Antomarchi
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
22
Vladimir Karpets
Movistar Team
s.t.
23
Juan José Cobo
Movistar Team
s.t.
24
Vincenzo Garofalo
Team Nippo
s.t.
25
Luca Paolini
Katusha Team
s.t.
26
Serguei Klimov
RusVelo
s.t.
27
Giairo Ermeti
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
28
Jonathan Monsalve
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
29
Vladimir Gusev
Katusha Team
s.t.
30
George Preidler
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
31
Craig Lewis
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
32
Denis Menchov
Katusha Team
s.t.
33
Daniele Callegarin
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
34
Sebastian Langeveld
GreenEdge Cycling Team
s.t.
35
Sergey Chernetskiy
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
36
Gustavo César Veloso
Andalucía
+ 2'30
37
David Boily
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
38
Jesús Rosendo
Andalucía
s.t.
39
Raymond Künzli
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
40
Jeffry Romero
Colombia - Coldeportes
+ 2'40
41
Xavier Florencio
Katusha Team
s.t.
42
Dimitry Kozontchuk
RusVelo
s.t.
43
Alexandre Blain
Endura Racing
s.t.
44
Rafael de Mattos Andriato
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
+ 3'19
45
Víctor Hugo Peña
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
46
Rubens Bertogliati
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
47
Karol Domagalski
Caja Rural
s.t.
48
Adrián Palomares
Andalucía
s.t.
49
Jonathan Castroviejo
Movistar Team
s.t.
50
Allan Davis
GreenEdge Cycling Team
s.t.
51
Denis Galimzyanov
Katusha Team
s.t.
52
José Luis Roldán
Andalucía
s.t.
53
Fabio Felline
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
54
Gediminas Bagdonas
An Post - Sean Kelly
+ 3'40
55
Paul Voss
Endura Racing
s.t.
56
Julián Sánchez Pimienta
Caja Rural
s.t.
57
Manuel Cardoso
Caja Rural
s.t.
58
Tom Dumoulin
Project 1t4i
s.t.
59
Andrey Solomennikov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
60
Francisco José Ventoso
Movistar Team
s.t.
61
Jason McCartney
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
62
Henry Frusto
Team Nippo
s.t.
63
Jacobus Venter
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
64
Stuart O'Grady
GreenEdge Cycling Team
s.t.
65
Pengda Jiao
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
66
Enrique Sanz
Movistar Team
s.t.
67
Beñat Intxausti
Movistar Team
+ 4'24
68
Caleb Fairly
SpiderTech powered by C10
+ 4'29
69
Tomohiro Hayakawa
Team Nippo
+ 4'35
70
Alexander Mironov
RusVelo
+ 4'56
71
Jonathan Bellis
An Post - Sean Kelly
+ 5'04
72
Michael Hepburn
GreenEdge Cycling Team
s.t.
73
Iván Gutiérrez
Movistar Team
s.t.
74
Marcos García
Caja Rural
s.t.
75
Alfredo Balloni
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
76
Karl Menzies
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
77
Jonathon McEvoy
Endura Racing
s.t.
78
Jordi Simón
Andalucía
s.t.
79
René Mandri
Endura Racing
s.t.
80
Javier Chacón
Andalucía
s.t.
81
Javier Francisco Aramendia
Caja Rural
s.t.
82
Wilson Marentes
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
83
Ian Wilkinson
Endura Racing
s.t.
84
Mart Ojavee
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
85
Fausto Fognini
Team WIT
s.t.
86
Martin Gilbert
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
87
Juan Forero
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
88
Simone Campagnaro
Team Nippo
s.t.
89
Connor McConvey
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
90
Patrick Gretsch
Project 1t4i
s.t.
91
Remco Broers
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
92
Mathieu Sprick
Project 1t4i
s.t.
93
Cameron Meyer
GreenEdge Cycling Team
s.t.
94
Gang Xu
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
95
Kohei Uchima
Team Nippo
s.t.
96
Roberto Ferrari
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
97
Mark McNally
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
98
Michael Rodriguez
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
99
Kun Jiang
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
100
Leonardo Giordani
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
101
Davide Ricci Bitti
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
102
Alexei Markov
RusVelo
s.t.
103
Jay Thomson
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
104
Alex Meenhorst
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
105
Robbie McEwen
GreenEdge Cycling Team
s.t.
106
Dmitry Kosyakov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
107
Antonio Cabello
Andalucía
s.t.
108
Cameron Wurf
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
109
Fabricio Ferrari
Caja Rural
s.t.
110
Kirill Baranov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
111
Tom Stamsnijder
Project 1t4i
s.t.
112
Luca Mazzanti
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
113
Roberto De Patre
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
114
Jens Keukeleire
GreenEdge Cycling Team
+ 6'17
115
Boy Van Poppel
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
116
Robert Förster
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
+ 6'26
117
Lucas Euser
SpiderTech powered by C10
+ 6'31
118
Igor Boev
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
119
César Bihel
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
120
Igor Frolov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
121
Alexander Serebryakov
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
122
Mark Cassidy
An Post - Sean Kelly
+ 6'46
123
Ryan Roth
SpiderTech powered by C10
+ 7'09
124
Kiel Reijnen
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
125
Ilnur Zakarin
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
126
Ivan Savitsky
RusVelo
+ 7'20
127
Tobias Ludvigsson
Project 1t4i
s.t.
128
Frank Dressler
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
+ 7'26
129
Enrico Montanari
Team WIT
s.t.
130
Zakkari Dempster
Endura Racing
s.t.
131
Sean Downey
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
132
Dean Windsor
Endura Racing
s.t.
133
Alexander Zdanov
Team Nippo
s.t.
134
José Luis Cano
Andalucía
s.t.
135
Miguel Ubeto
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
136
Muhamad Othman
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
137
Vyacheslav Kuznetsov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
138
Sam Bennett
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
139
Mark Christian
An Post - Sean Kelly
+ 7'48
140
Tyron Giorgieri
Team WIT
s.t.
141
Zachary Bell
SpiderTech powered by C10
+ 12'04
142
Joe Eldridge
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
143
Hernâni Brôco
Caja Rural
+ 22'05
144
Thierry Hupond
Project 1t4i
s.t.
145
Biao Liu
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
146
Evgeniy Kovalev
RusVelo
s.t.
147
Valery Kaykov
RusVelo
s.t.
148
Diego Caccia
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
149
Kevin Kohlvelter
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
150
Joey Rosskopf
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
151
Simon Lambert-Lemay
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
General Classification
1
Rory Sutherland
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
13h33'50
2
Pablo Lastras
Movistar Team
+ 4
3
Matthew Goss
GreenEdge Cycling Team
+ 1'15
4
Juan Pablo Suarez
Colombia - Coldeportes
+ 1'18
5
Ángel Vicioso
Katusha Team
+ 1'26
6
Óscar Freire
Katusha Team
+ 1'33
7
Ian Bibby
Endura Racing
+ 1'34
8
Fabio Duarte
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
9
Eduard Vorganov
Katusha Team
s.t.
10
Danail Petrov
Caja Rural
+ 1'45
...
73
Jonathan Bellis
An Post - Sean Kelly
+ 5'18
Points classification
1
Matthew Goss
GreenEdge Cycling Team
75
2
Pablo Lastras
Movistar Team
49
3
Ángel Vicioso
Katusha Team
45
4
Óscar Freire
Katusha Team
41
5
Manuel Cardoso
Caja Rural
34
Young classification
1
Ivan Rovny
RusVelo
13h35'35
2
Alexandre Geniez
Project 1t4i
+ 15
3
George Preidler
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
+ 30
4
Sergey Chernetskiy
Itera - Katusha
+ 30
5
Jonathan Monsalve
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
+ 30
...
19
Jonathan Bellis
An Post - Sean Kelly
+ 3'33
This was really a positive day for our team.
The team plan really worked the way it should and i'm really happy about my own performance. Being within every breakaway of the day seems quite convincing for my own confidence, so i'm very happy.
Even though Bennett lost his 5th place and his youth jersey, we aren't disappointed because we didn't expect he could keep his position.
Bagdonas looked good and he may make a very good result tommorow on the time trial - Let's hope.
Yeah, tommorows stage will be very dificult for our team, so we'll join every single breakaway to ensure our appearance in the front. I also hope that Bagdonas can follow through on the climb, so he can get a nice overall result with a good result in the TT.
