Tirreno-Adriatico is another important stage race.
Stage 1 is a short Team Time Trial and that's why our best prologue and time-trialists are here in Italy.
Stage 2&3 are both pan-flat... We took Renshaw with us to get a result there... The amount of good sprinters here in Italy isn't as big as Paris-Nice but there are still good sprinters participating, for example Tom Boonen who showed in TDU that he's still one of the best. After that, stage 4 is fairly hilly, and it ends uphill... I don't think a sprinter takes it, earlier a puncheur or fighter. Our own Henkjan Knol might be a favorite here.
Stage 5 is serious climbing. The finish is at the top of the mountain, higher than 1500m's... It will be the most important stage for the GC, I'm sure of that... After that, there is another hilly stage... There is a hill near the finish, but the finish is not uphill, so sprinters may have got a chance here...
The last stage is a prologue... It's just 9km's and it's of course about prologue ability, but also about recuperation.
Boom and Knol are both absolute favorites here...
We came here with an amazing line-up... Mainly because we took the best TT-ists with us. We also got Mollema and Hoogenboom with us, for the GC. Hoogenboom is the best climber of the two, but he's bad on the hills. So if Hoogenboom loses too much time, then Mollema will be our GC man here. But our absolute leader will be Hoogenboom in the first place.
We noticed that some of the best climbers went for Paris-Nice so they will not race Tirreno.
But still, there are people like Fränk Schleck here in Italy. Hoogenboom will have a hard time dropping Schleck, but it's possible. And don't forget that we might have the best squad for the TTT, where we can gain a lot of time. At the moment of writing this not all startlists where revealed, but it's sure that there will be 1 or 2 great stage racers will join Schleck as a favorite. And don't forget the two young Italians Scalvini and Moretti.And for the stage win we want: we've got Renshaw here for the sprints and Knol for the hills. Goals
- GC top 10, if it goes really well, we might want a Top 5 or Top 3
- Stage win
- Rabobank win in the TTT
- Team classification win
Edited by Jesleyh on 12-11-2012 17:03
Henkjan Knol, fighter
17/01 - 22/01 Santos Tour Down Under(Aus) (6 racedays)
07/03 - 13/03 Tirreno - Adriatico(Ita) (7 racedays)
17/03 Milano - Sanremo(Ita) (1 raceday)
15/04 Amstel Gold Race(Ned) (1 raceday)
18/04 La Flèche Wallonne(Bel) (1 raceday)
22/04 Liège - Bastogne - Liège(Bel) (1 raceday)
24/04 - 29/04 Tour de Romandie(Swi) (6 racedays)
30/06 - 22/07 Tour de France (Fra) (21 racedays)
06/08 - 13/08 Eneco Tour(Bel/Ned) (8 racedays)
26/08 GP Ouest France - Plouay(Fra) (1 raceday)
19/09 World Championships ITT(Ned)(1 raceday)
23/09 World Championships(Ned) (1 raceday) 55 race days in total
Wesley Hoogenboom, Stage racer
07/03 - 13/03 Tirreno - Adriatico(Ita) (7 racedays)
15/04 Amstel Gold Race(Ned) (1 raceday)
22/04 Liège - Bastogne - Liège(Bel) (1 raceday)
24/04 - 29/04 Tour de Romandie(Swi) (6 racedays)
09/06 - 17/06 Tour de Suisse(Swi) (9 racedays)
10/07 - 16/07 Tour de Pologne(Pol) (7 racedays)
14/08 Clásica San Sebastián(Spa) (1 raceday)
18/08 - 09/09 Vuelta a España(Spa) (21 racedays)
19/09 World Championships ITT(Ned)(1 raceday)
29/09 Il Lombardia(Ita) (1 raceday) 55 race days in total
Hey, can I still change my calendar btw...? Fran posted that the WC's aren't included in the race day count...
So I can change my schedule a little tiny bit I think...
This is my new schedule:
Hey, It's me, Wesley.
I didn't write much on this blog up to now, but that doesn't mean I didn't do anything in the meantime... I've trained very hard and I feel ready for Tirreno!
But there are still some days left until Tirreno starts, and there are other things happening at this moment. Paris-Nice has started, and with Gesink we have a GC contender. The prologue was today, but we don't have a prologue rider with us in France, since they are all going to Italy(Tirreno) As you know, there is a TTT in Italy, so that's why people like Boom, Sanchez and my friend Knol are going there... Just to win some time for me
But yes, the prologue, It turned out bad for Rabobank. Our best finisher (Barredo) was 33th and Gesink is 60th... The time differences aren't that big, but we hoped for a better result for Gesink. No problem, plenty of hills and mountains to get that time back. Me(and Henkjan) won't report every race in France, We let Filip and Mikulas do that, since they are racing...
We might report in some days though, just to let you know how our preparation goes and how the team is doing in France
See ya,
Wesley
with us to get a result there... The amount of good sprinters here in Italy isn't as big as Paris-Nice but there are still good sprinters participating, for example Tom Boonen
who showed in TDU that he's still one of the best. After that, stage 4 is fairly hilly, and it ends uphill... I don't think a sprinter takes it, earlier a puncheur or fighter. Our own Henkjan Knol
might be a favorite here.
so they will not race Tirreno. 
here in Italy. Hoogenboom will have a hard time dropping Schleck, but it's possible. And don't forget that we might have the best squad for the TTT, where we can gain a lot of time. At the moment of writing this not all startlists where revealed, but it's sure that there will be 1 or 2 great stage racers will join Schleck as a favorite. And don't forget the two young Italians
