The Volta a Catalunya kicked off with a typical undulating stage with a flat finish. The likelihood was a bunch sprint but with five categorised climbs, including one first category peak, to tackle, it wouldn't be easy. BMC had a quiet day, sitting patiently in the peloton all day as the breakaway was reeled back in.
In the bunch sprint, Blythe was on his own as Wyss couldn't help him. But most of the others were the same aswell, with no organised leadouts. Bennati took the win for Saxo, just ahead of Riquelme with Blythe taking a decent sixth position to kick BMC's race off alright.
The second stage was a flat stage with a tough finishing circuit ending on an uphill slope. Today was an even quieter day than yesterday with no BMC rider spotted in the entire report. The uphill sprint didn't suit any of our riders and we didn't score a top ten, with the remaining results unknown.
Results - Stage 2 Full Results Unknown
1 Daniele Bennati Saxo
2 Andrea Palini Lampre
3 Sebastian Langeveld Orica GreenEdge
4 Richie Porte Sky
5 Ruben Perez Euskaltel-Euskadi
6 Ryder Hesjedal Garmin-Sharp
7 Nicklas Stromberg Garmin-Sharp
8 Samuel Sanchez Euskaltel-Euskadi
9 Benat Intxausti Movistar
10 Davide Cimolai Lampre
Stage 3
The third stage in Catalunya took us into the Pyrenees with a finish at the top of Vallter 2000. Once again, BMC weren't interested in the early break with our attention focused on Lewis and Nerz.
The young German was the first to give it a go, before he even reached the final slope, countering attacks by Costa and Dan Martin as he tried to get an advantage before the big guns started firing. Unfortunately, with the Sky train going at full speed, Dominik was back in the bunch soon to give everything he had left to Lewis.
As Porte flew off up the mountain to take the stage win ahead of Contador and Hesjedal, Lewis did not look overawed by his company and set about limiting his and the group's losses, by leading them across in eleventh. Nerz was also in this group that finished 1'27 behind the leaders but for such a young rider to be beating the likes of Moreno and Anton is certainly a good sign, especially as he remained calm throughout and maintained a consistent rhythm up the climb.
Results - Stage 3
1
Richie Porte
Sky Procycling
4h53'02
2
Alberto Contador
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
s.t.
3
Ryder Hesjedal
Garmin - Sharp
s.t.
4
Samuel Sánchez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
5
Beñat Intxausti
Movistar Team
s.t.
6
Tanel Kangert
Astana Pro Team
+ 30
7
Michele Scarponi
Lampre - Merida
+ 44
8
Andrew Talansky
Garmin - Sharp
s.t.
9
Domenico Pozzovivo
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 56
10
Maxime Monfort
RadioShack - Leopard
s.t.
11
Jordan Lewis
BMC Racing Team
+ 1'27
...
31
Dominik Nerz
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
85
Marco Pinotti
BMC Racing Team
+ 12'09
99
Larry Warbasse
BMC Racing Team
+ 12'50
100
Stephen Cummings
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
109
Danilo Wyss
BMC Racing Team
+ 16'06
168
Jeremy Powers
BMC Racing Team
+ 26'45
177
Adam Blythe
BMC Racing Team
+ 28'13
Stage 4
The second and final stage in the mountains was a really nasty stage with two hard climbs of the Port de Canto and Port-Ainé, at the top of which was the finish line.
In complete contrast to yesterday, BMC were absolutely anonymous on this stage, a very disappointing day for the team. Neither Lewis nor Nerz were seen or mentioned throughout the final two climbs and the whole team, particularly road captain Pinotti, have to ask questions about why they aren't showing their face in this prestigious race.
As it was, Contador took his revenge for the day before by narrowly beating Porte to the line, with the rest miles behind. Sanchez was the best of the rest, with BMC's best being Nerz in 21st. Good from Dominik but poor from Lewis, who finished over five minutes behind the lead duo. We simply have to do more in the coming days.
Results - Stage 4
1
Alberto Contador
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
5h44'53
2
Richie Porte
Sky Procycling
s.t.
3
Samuel Sánchez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 1'35
4
Rui Costa
Movistar Team
s.t.
5
Laurens Ten Dam
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
6
Andrew Talansky
Garmin - Sharp
+ 1'52
7
Fabio Duarte
Colombia
s.t.
8
Daniel Martin
Garmin - Sharp
+ 2'19
9
Michele Scarponi
Lampre - Merida
s.t.
10
Tanel Kangert
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
...
21
Dominik Nerz
BMC Racing Team
+ 4'15
24
Jordan Lewis
BMC Racing Team
+ 5'11
72
Stephen Cummings
BMC Racing Team
+ 14'31
89
Larry Warbasse
BMC Racing Team
+ 19'57
94
Marco Pinotti
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
110
Danilo Wyss
BMC Racing Team
+ 24'40
150
Adam Blythe
BMC Racing Team
+ 30'26
172
Jeremy Powers
BMC Racing Team
+ 34'14
Stage 5
The fifth stage was another one destined to end in a sprint but there was a big second category climb near the start of the stage. After a difficult evening at the BMC HQ, the riders went out with their ears still ringing and Cummings was keen to put things right.
The Brit was in a breakaway group of six riders and this sextet got down to the business of trying to stay away from the peloton. At one point, it looked like they might just do it, especially when Cummings, Huzarski and Chaves went on the attack near the end to drop the other three escapees.
But Orica-GreenEdge and Garmin were just too quick in the final few kilometres and Cummings was back in the bunch with just two kilometres to go. So unlucky! Blythe, meanwhile, was poor in the sprint and went backwards to finish 15th. Lewis and Nerz finished safely in the bunch.
Results - Stage 5
1
Daniele Bennati
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
3h30'39
2
Luka Mezgec
Team Argos - Shimano
s.t.
3
Nicklas Stromberg
Garmin - Sharp
s.t.
4
Aidis Kruopis
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
5
Francesco Gavazzi
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
6
Jorge Cristobal Riquelme
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
7
Andrea Palini
Lampre - Merida
s.t.
8
Fabio Aru
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
9
Geoffrey Soupe
FDJ.fr
s.t.
10
Andrew Fenn
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
s.t.
...
15
Adam Blythe
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
25
Stephen Cummings
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
52
Dominik Nerz
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
91
Jordan Lewis
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
150
Danilo Wyss
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
163
Marco Pinotti
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
166
Larry Warbasse
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
189
Jeremy Powers
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
Stage 6
The penultimate stage featured two tough climbs, one of which was a first category, to decide the GC once and for all. With no real chance on the overall, the aim for BMC had to be to get in the breakaway again but the riders missed out. Again.
And to make things worse, Lewis crashed hard, hurting himself, and ruined what GC ambitions he may have had left. Nerz finished way down in the main bunch but stayed 21st overall, with Moreno winning the stage ahead of Voigt and Casar. Contador took the leader's jersey off Porte.
Not good enough. Again.
Results - Stage 6
1
Daniel Moreno
Katusha Team
4h12'14
2
Jens Voigt
RadioShack - Leopard
s.t.
3
Sandy Casar
FDJ.fr
s.t.
4
Hubert Dupont
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
5
Paolo Tiralongo
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
6
Alberto Contador
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
s.t.
7
Ángel Madrazo
Movistar Team
s.t.
8
Samuel Sánchez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 57
9
Jorge Cristobal Riquelme
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
10
Daniel Martin
Garmin - Sharp
s.t.
...
61
Dominik Nerz
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
149
Larry Warbasse
BMC Racing Team
+ 6'05
150
Danilo Wyss
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
152
Stephen Cummings
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
153
Jordan Lewis
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
159
Adam Blythe
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
161
Marco Pinotti
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
182
Jeremy Powers
BMC Racing Team
+ 7'21
Stage 7
The final stage in Catalunya took place on a tough hilly stage but it might as well have not taken place as far as BMC were concerned. The team had one of their quietest days since the Tour Down Under in January as Nerz brought the team home in 24th place, confirming his 21st place finish on GC.
Once again, the rest of the team refused to show their faces. Not a great race for the team.
The race kicked off with the hardest stage of the race, with multiple hills and three cobbled sections. With that in mind, Danish champion Lander took the pressure off the team by getting in the early break. Despite this group being brought back quite early, Lander had done his job well.
Then it was the turn of Hushovd to go on the attack as he followed numerous attacks, though none of them would ultimately prove successful. With Thor reeled in five kilometres from the end, it was left to Van Avermaet and Phinney to try to mix it in the bunch sprint.
Greg was strong once again to take third, just behind Chavanel but Phinney wasn't interested in these minor placings and flew past everyone to take BMC's first win of the season, finally, at the very end of March. It has been a long time coming but the young American certainly made it worthwhile.
Results - Stage 1 Full Results Unknown
1
Taylor Phinney
BMC Racing Team
2
Sylvain Chavanel
Omega Pharma - Quick Step
s.t.
3
Greg Van Avermaet
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
4
Rudy Verboven
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
5
Sep Vanmarcke
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
6
Lars Boom
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
7
Jurgen Roelandts
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
8
Juan Antonio Flecha
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
9
Niki Terpstra
Omega Pharma - Quick Step
s.t.
10
Maxime Vantomme
Crelan - Euphony
s.t.
...
15
Thor Hushovd
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
21
Klaas Lodewyck
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
24
Sebastian Lander
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
Stage 2
BMC started the second stage with a leader's jersey to defend after Phinney's fantastic win on the opening day. The second stage was easier than the first but there were still some cobbles so vigilance would be important to stop our rivals from gaining an advantage.
And sure enough, all of the big names attacked near the end but Phinney was never far from them as he stuck to the wheels easily. He came round the final corner in second position but unfortunately couldn't quite overhaul Vantomme, who took the stage win. Nevertheless, Phinney extends his lead over the likes of Boom, Chavanel and Gaudin, who should be the American's main rivals in the ITT.
Results - Stage 2
1
Maxime Vantomme
Crelan - Euphony
4h21'14
2
Taylor Phinney
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
3
Lars Ytting Bak
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
4
Lars Boom
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
5
Sylvain Chavanel
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
6
Damien Gaudin
Team Europcar
s.t.
7
Niki Terpstra
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
8
Vladimir Gusev
Katusha Team
s.t.
9
Drago Di Silvestro
Team Europcar
s.t.
10
Juan Antonio Flecha
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
...
15
Thor Hushovd
BMC Racing Team
+ 1'31
16
Klaas Lodewyck
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
20
Greg Van Avermaet
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
38
Sebastian Lander
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
65
Jeremy Powers
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
Stage 3
A nice simple, short, flat stage that would end in a bunch sprint, so BMC kept things under control all day. At the end, both Phinney and Hushovd went for the sprint, following different trains, with very similar results; fourth and fifth.
Just the ITT to come, with Phinney defending a lead of six seconds over Vantomme but more importantly ten seconds over Chavanel, who is likely to be his closest rival.
Results - Stage 3
1
André Greipel
Lotto Belisol
2h15'23
2
Andrea Guardini
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
3
Theo Bos
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
4
Taylor Phinney
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
5
Thor Hushovd
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
6
Jacopo Guarnieri
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
7
Lue Khamse Khamphan
Team Europcar
s.t.
8
Bryan Coquard
Team Europcar
s.t.
9
Maxime Vantomme
Crelan - Euphony
s.t.
10
Jürgen Roelandts
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
...
27
Klaas Lodewyck
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
32
Sebastian Lander
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
47
Greg Van Avermaet
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
72
Jeremy Powers
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
Stage 4
The final time trial would decide the winner of the Driedaagse De Panne. It was only short and Phinney already had a handy advantage over the others, so he knew he just had to be within nine seconds of Chavanel to take the overall.
But Taylor continued his sensational form of the week and beat everyone, only Chavanel being within fifteen seconds of him, to take the overall victory in Belgium. He also won the points jersey and the young riders' classification of course. What a performance by the young American! Hushovd also went well, claiming 11th in the ITT and 13th overall. A great week for the team.
As the first part of the season comes to an end, attention switches to the Continental Championships, with one rider having the chance to be crowned the best rider in the Continent, or multiple Continents as may be the case! BMC Racing Team have a presence in all six races and we can now reveal our teams to you.
Europe
Road Race
Alessandro Ballan Stephen Cummings Matthias Frank Philippe Gilbert Thor Hushovd Dominik Nerz Daniel Oss Ivan Santaromita Greg Van Avermaet
ITT
Stephen Cummings Philippe Gilbert Dominik Nerz Marco Pinotti
Pan-America
Road Race
Brent Bookwalter Jordan Lewis Taylor Phinney Jeremy Powers Tejay Van Garderen Larry Warbasse
ITT
Brent Bookwalter Jordan Lewis Taylor Phinney Tejay Van Garderen
Australia/Asia/Africa
Road Race
Cadel Evans
ITT
Cadel Evans
Of course, the team has a big ambition to perform well in the US and the ITT looks like a great opportunity for us with both Phinney and Van Garderen having a great shot at a double podium finish and, of course, the win. In the road race, Van Garderen will be the leader with helpful support from the likes of Lewis, Bookwalter and Phinney.
In Europe, World Champion Gilbert will be our leader, ably supported by a mix of climbers and rouleurs that should be perfect on the undulating route. Van Avermaet will hope to stay with him until the end. In the ITT, Pinotti is our only real hope of a good result and he will aim to finish as close to the top ten as possible.
In the third region, Evans is on his own and will have to have a very good day to get near the podium in both events but his experience and stamina could come in handy against the likes of Orica, MTN and Europcar, who all have strong representation in this race.
Good luck to all our entrants.
Manager of Bunzl - Centrica
ICL's World Tour Champions and Talented Bottlers
BMC Racing Team have announced their goals for the second part of the season. They are as follows:
Easy Goal: Top 5 Tour of California Medium Goal: Stage Win Tour de Suisse Hard Goal: Win Liege - Bastogne - Liege
With this being such a busy part of the season, it certainly hasn't been easy to narrow it down to three races but with the team having its home race in Switzerland, plus the biggest race in America, those two were obvious picks. The third goal is to win L-B-L, a very tough task, but one that Gilbert will give everything to achieve.
Of course, there are other races BMC are interested in in this part, with the Tour de Romandie, Giro d'Italia and, of course, the two cobbled monuments, Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris - Roubaix high on the agenda for the team boss.
Our full schedule will be announced shortly.
Manager of Bunzl - Centrica
ICL's World Tour Champions and Talented Bottlers
RadioShack wishes the best of luck for BMC in achieving its goals for Part 2. After a very expensive presentation thrown together by RadioShack we also hope to be taking part in the tour of California. The organisers are already drooling over the prospect of van Garderen vs Horner up Mount Baldy!
Who knows, when the transfers come around maybe we can swap some of our bigger names.
BMC Racing Team have finalised their schedule for the second part of the season after receiving confirmation that all of our race applications have been accepted. This part of the season, from April to the end of June, is a very busy time in the World Tour, so BMC have chosen a fairly light Continental Tour program. Here are all of the races we will take part in in the next three months:
Ronde van Vlaanderen Vuelta al Pais Vasco Paris - Roubaix De Brabantse Pijl Amstel Gold Race Giro del Trentino La Fleche Wallonne Liege - Bastogne - Liege Tour de Romandie Quatre Jours de Dunkerque Giro d'Italia Tour of California Ronde van Belgie Critérium du Dauphiné Tour de Suisse
With three "home" races in this section of the season (Romandie, California, Suisse), as well as the big Spring Classics, BMC must improve on their early season form if we are to have what you would class as a successful season. There is also the Giro, of course, the first Grand Tour of the year, with Nibali as the early favourite.
Manager of Bunzl - Centrica
ICL's World Tour Champions and Talented Bottlers
With April upon us, we can now take a look back at the first three months of the season, one which got gradually better for BMC as time went by, with some exceptions. Here is our review:
Best Performances
3. Philippe Gilbert, Milano - San Remo
The World Champion hasn't had the greatest start to the season (maybe the infamous curse has hit him!), but he certainly had a great day at the first monument of the season in Italy.
Once Cancellara had put in his attack and disappeared, everyone in the peloton gave up and settled for a battle for second, but not Philippe. He put in an incredible pace over the last two climbs to try to bring Fabian back but as many riders have found out before, chasing Spartacus is pointless.
Despite all of the work he had put in, Gilbert was still able to mix it in the sprint to claim a great sixth place, beating some much quicker sprinters on the way, including Hanzen and Degenkolb.
2. The Whole Team, Gent - Wevelgem
After a decent start to the cobbled classics at E3, with Van Avermaet picking up fourth, the team lined up on the start line at Gent - Wevelgem, with everyone expecting Boonen to pick up another routine victory.
But BMC were unbelievable on the day, using all their experience to cause huge splits in the peloton in the crosswinds. The likes of Phinney, Oss and Hushovd took control of the race, leaving a trail of pain and destruction in their wake.
And their work did not go unrewarded as Van Avermaet finished the race second, not too far behind Sagan who, unfortunately for us, but maybe not unexpected, survived the chaos.
1. Taylor Phinney, Driedaagse De Panne - Koksijde
We entered our final race of this segment, a four-stage race in Belgium, still without a single victory to our name; and to be honest, when we saw the startlist, with strong teams from Belkin, Europcar and OPQS amongst others, we were expecting more near misses and crushing disappointment.
But young American Taylor Phinney hadn't read the script that the rest of our riders had been using up to now, and he went out and destroyed the field. So comprehensive was his victory, that a fourth place finish on stage 3, behind three very quick sprinters, was seen as a disappointment by him and the team!
He finished it all off with a comfortable win in the time trial, where he was of course expected to win, but nevertheless, with the exception of Chavanel, he made the rest look like amateurs. Chapeau Taylor, chapeau.
Goals
We succeeded in only two of our six goals in this part, which is not good enough, but one of these was a hard goal, which makes it better; the top three at GW, so well done Van Avermaet for that. The other goal we passed was at MSR, where Gilbert brought home the bacon. We very narrowly missed out on our other hard goal at E3, with another near miss in the TTT in Qatar. The other two were further away, though Oss nearly got us our stage win in Tirreno Adriatico with a third place on stage six.
Rankings
The EPIC management have released the final rankings for this part of the season. Here they are:
Teams
1
Omega Pharma
3107
2
Belkin
2695
3
Sky
2445
4
Movistar
2247
5
RadioShack
2082
6
BMC
1532
7
Cannondale
1382
8
Europcar
1346
9
Argos
1300
10
Lotto
1254
Spoiler
11
Saxo-Tinkoff
1247
12
Garmin
1100
13
Euskaltel
1059
14
Astana
677
15
Orica-GreenEdge
675
16
Katusha
671
17
FDJ
645
18
AG2R
571
19
Androni
535
20
MTN
506
21
Lampre
428
22
Colombia
412
23
Cofidis
409
24
Bretagne
334
25
Sojasun
280
26
Vini Fantini
263
27
Bardiani
217
28
IAM
199
29
Topsport
178
30
Crelan
175
31
RusVelo
178
32
Accent Jobs
108
33
NetApp
104
34
CCC
47
35
Novo Nordisk
26
36
UHC
-7
37
Caja Rural
-10
38
Champion System
-230
39
Vacansoleil
-441
No real surprise to see OPQS at the top of the rankings with their incredible classics team, though Belkin in second is more of a surprise. We are in sixth, way adrift of the top five, with Radioshack being the only one of those that we can realistically catch, only if Cancellara has a bad season from here though. Vacansoleil are doomed to relegation, with Europcar almost certain to be promoted. The rest are pretty close in the middle.
Riders
1
P. Sagan
1220
2
F. Cancellara
980
3
T. Boonen
874
4
N. Quintana
755
5
A. Greipel
709
6
W. Brouwer
695
7
A. Valverde
662
8
J. Rodriguez
535
9
J. Degenkolb
518
10
A. Contador
517
11
M. Cavendish
505
12
R. Porte
504
13
S. Vanmarcke
487
14
C. Froome
484
15
P. Kim
442
16
G. Meersman
426
17
G. Van Avermaet
416
18
M. Kittel
397
19
S. Sanchez
357
20
T.Phinney
357
Spoiler
P. Gilbert
204
T. Van Garderen
161
T. Hushovd
134
A. Ballan
86
C. Evans
57
D. Oss
40
D. Wyss
24
I. Santaromita
10
A. Blythe
8
The rider rankings show that our stage racing department is not good enough. Van Garderen picked up a fair few points in Paris - Nice but really, Evans is not doing enough. Van Avermaet is unsurprisingly our best rider in 17th, but over 800 points behind Sagan! Phinney just squeezes into the top twenty after his superb performance in De Panne, with Gilbert not too far behind.
Awards
BMC will be awarding several very prestigious* trophies at the end of each part of the season. Here are the inaugural BMC EPIC Awards:
*Honestly, very prestigious.
BMC Awards
BMC Best Rider - Greg Van Avermaet
BMC Best Young Rider - Taylor Phinney
BMC Best Individual Performance - Taylor Phinney, Driedaagse De Panne
BMC Most Consistent Rider - Thor Hushovd
BMC Best Domestique - Daniel Oss
BMC "Oh, He's Racing?" Anonymity Award - Larry Warbasse
BMC "Must Try Harder" Award - Jeremy Powers (1st of many)
EPIC Awards
Best Rider - Tom Boonen
Best Young Rider - Peter Sagan
Best Team - Belkin
Best Individual Performance - Shared: Peter Sagan, Strade Bianche + Fabian Cancellara, Milano - San Remo
Best EPIC Young Rider - Willem Brouwer
Best EPIC Manager - Atlantius, for his fighting spirit and Basque Series initiative
Biggest Surprise - Dermot Walker, Oman
The "Whoops" Award - Jordan Birtles, for taking out half of his team on the first stage of Paris - Nice. Whilst wearing the white jersey.
The "WTF" Award - Marc De Maar. Just Marc De Maar. And that race in Langkawi.
Fan Vote
Most EPIC Performance
Here's your chance to have a say on the awards (if you've read this far, you deserve to have a say, right?). The fan award is for the most EPIC performance. Only EPIC (custom) riders are eligible for this award. You can vote for 3 performances by EPIC riders, with your number 1 getting 3 points, down to 1 point for your third favourite. You can't vote for your own rider, nor can you vote for an EPIC rider in your team.
So, what was the best individual performance by a young EPIC rider in this opening segment of the season? PM me with your three favourite individual performances by an EPIC rider. If you can't think of three, then one or two will do.
Manager of Bunzl - Centrica
ICL's World Tour Champions and Talented Bottlers
Go Team Peter. Have to say I'm thrilled to see his Strade Bianche win up there next to Cancellara. Still going to make fun of you when your riders fail though. I need to be the top USA team. Hushovd consistent in the background.
Too bad I can't vote for my own riders, would've voted for De las Campos, Crit Int. stage 3 then. Hinault it is then.
Love these awards. Not sure about most EPIC performance by a custom rider though. Probably Hinault as well, followed by McDermott.
EDIT: Wait, is the EPIC performance award mainly reduced on the result & racing (EPIC performance of a race), or does the overall seaosn part as well as personal blogs etc play a role too (EPIC performance of early season)?
Edited by Shonak on 27-01-2014 21:42
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
Daniele Bennati Saxo 3h42'49" 
Jorge Cristobal Riquelme Belkin s.t. 
Aidis Kruopis Orica GreenEdge s.t. 
Nicklas Stromberg Garmin-Sharp s.t. 
Adam Blythe BMC s.t. 
Sebastian Langeveld Orica GreenEdge s.t. 
Takashi Miyazawa Saxo s.t. 
Richie Porte Sky 
Ruben Perez Euskaltel-Euskadi
Ryder Hesjedal Garmin-Sharp 
Tanel Kangert
Andrew Talansky
Maxime Monfort
Dominik Nerz
Danilo Wyss
Rui Costa
Fabio Duarte
Daniel Martin
Luka Mezgec
Geoffrey Soupe
Peter Velits
Thor Hushovd
Sebastian Lander
Vladimir Gusev
Lue Khamse Khamphan
P. Kim
