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Cycling Team de Rijke - Taking over
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 05-10-2012 23:25
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
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Nice win for Groenewegen in the Mountains Classification  |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 06-10-2012 08:40
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
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Nice KoM Jersey |
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| Mico92 |
Posted on 08-10-2012 21:05
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Under 23
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Joined: 25-12-2009
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With the second team still improving their from, I decided to take Bates to the Ster ZLM Tour. It was an important race for out sponsors and they wanted another yellow jersey. This time it would be an impossible goal because of riders like Kittel, Greipel and Van Hummel.
Stage 1
The first of four stages was a flat one. 143 kilometers without any hills so it would be a mass sprint.
We tried to compete with Vacansoleil and Lotto-Belisol, but we just were no match for Greipel. He was by far the strongest sprinter in this peleton. Bates managed to finish 5th. A good result for him in this strong field.
Stage 2
Stage 2 will go down like the worst race for me ever without falls or other bad luck. It was a mass sprint, but my train failed completely and eventually Bates got 14th. Greipel took his second win.
Stage 3
Stage 3 was 191 kilometers long and had 10 mountain sprints. Bates was the rider with the best form and second best hill stat, so he was the one who attacked.
He managed to win 2 of them and became 3rd on 6 others. This gave him a total of 82 points and a 3rd place in the KOM. ranking. But the breakaway got caught and with only 20 kilometers left there was a small group with only 30 riders who could go for the stage win.
We only had Duyn in this group and he managed to cross the line on a 13th place. He also climbed to the 13th place in the GC, becoming our best rider. Kelderman from Rabobank won the stage. Followed by Popovych and Denifl.
Stage 4
We wanted to end this tour with a good result and were aiming for a top 5 finish with Bates. Again we formed a train and tried to compete with Greipel and his man
But in this races the pace at the end is so high that Bates is to fatigued to push out something that looks like a sprint and he lost a few places at the end. Greipel won his 3rd stage and Bates ended 9th. Not bad, but we were hoping for more. Duyn kept his 13th place in the GC
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 08-10-2012 22:28
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Tour de France Champion
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There is not a lot you can do when Greipel is on form  |
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Posted on 28-11-2024 12:04
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 09-10-2012 08:24
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
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Nice screenshot in stage 3  |
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| Mico92 |
Posted on 09-10-2012 21:46
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Under 23
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Joined: 25-12-2009
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In preparation for the National Championship ITT and the road race the team started in the Flèche Ardennaise. It was no sponsor goal and I decided to simulate it because I wanted the NC races. Perhaps it was a good choice to simulate it, because it was Stroetinga who won it and had his first win of the season.
Both of the National Championship races were lead by Duyn. In the time trail he managed to get a 11th place and only lost 47 seconds to Westra from Vacansoleil.
We decided to use the same tactic like the Licoln GP for the road race, and every time the team crossed the steepest hill the peleton got torn apart. Of course this didn't really hurt riders like Gesink and Poels, but a few lost contact just to many times. Terpstra for instance and also Langeveld had a really disappointing NC. Eventually Rabobank took over control and it didn't take long before Duyn was isolated. He managed to take 10th place and I guess that's a really nice result for a small team with no world class riders.
The next race will be one with 2 sprints, 1 hilly stage and a time trial. Perfect for riders like Stroetinga and Duyn |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 09-10-2012 23:19
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
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The National Championships weren't too kind to the team |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 10-10-2012 08:32
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
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Great win by Stroetinga so close to the NC
10th in the RR isn't bad! |
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