Very interesting team for the Vuelta. Much much stronger than what we can deliver for sure. I really hope that Gesink Does well. Fingers crossed that you will be one of the teams to score ~1000 points.
alexkr00 wrote:
Let's hope so. But that will not be easy at all. I just hope that Gesink will show up when it comes to the big guns making their moves.
True... It will be difficult. I suspect that Madrazo, Tenorio and Pluchkin will be there aswell, to make it difficult to reach the podium. But I hope he does. There are too far between succeses for him.
alexkr00 wrote:
Let's hope so. But that will not be easy at all. I just hope that Gesink will show up when it comes to the big guns making their moves.
True... It will be difficult. I suspect that Madrazo, Tenorio and Pluchkin will be there aswell, to make it difficult to reach the podium. But I hope he does. There are too far between succeses for him.
Not sure about Madrazo but the other two should be there. Also, Phinney, Dekker and Taaramae should be there considering their tt skills.
alexkr00 wrote:
Let's hope so. But that will not be easy at all. I just hope that Gesink will show up when it comes to the big guns making their moves.
True... It will be difficult. I suspect that Madrazo, Tenorio and Pluchkin will be there aswell, to make it difficult to reach the podium. But I hope he does. There are too far between succeses for him.
Not sure about Madrazo but the other two should be there. Also, Phinney, Dekker and Taaramae should be there considering their tt skills.
True... Contador is probably there on a wildcard also, while riders such as Dan Martin, Timofey Kritskiy, Jose Alarcon and Andrey Amador could also be there to do some damage...
The more I look at things the less likely it feels that Lecuisinier can fight for a top 10 I guess
It was always going to be a gamble with Gesink and Grand Tours and this time it payed off. The race started with a decent first week of racing with one time - trial and a couple of hilly stages, which saw Gesink 3rd in the GC as we entered the big mountains.
But it in the first mountain stage, disaster stroke for Gesink who failed to follow the early moves from the other favorites and soon saw himself playing catch up. It was impossible to make up the time lost though and Gesink dropped down to 9th in the GC, more than 5 minutes behind Taylor Phinney, who was leading the race at that moment.
Unlike other times, Gesink didn't gave up though and the next day he was set to gain back some. This time he was the one who made an early move and had no trouble putting some time between him and the other favorites. He soon caught Ricardo Van Der Velde, who was part of the early breakaway. And with the help of his team - mate, Gesink launched himself to a brilliant stage win, gaining almost two minutes on his closest rivals and getting back on the podium in the GC, a little over one minute behind Justo Tenorio, who was now leading the race.
Gesink refused to give up
Gesink was very focused for the remaining stages of the race and was never again caught out by the early moves of the other favorites. Still, he didn't seem to find his legs in the time - trials and with a rather off day in the 12th stage he was dropped out of the podium, on fourth.
But Gesink didnt' let that small step back ruin his race and he continued to ride as strong as ever. He had a fantastic final, which started with a 2nd place in the 19th stage. He had a good day on Angliru too, where even though he finished 5th, he was able to take the 3rd place from Andrei Amador who had a very bad day and dropped a few places in the GC.
He entered the last stage with an advantage of 34 seconds in front of Thomas Dekker. And not only he managed to defend that advantage, he even increased it as he grabbed the stage win. Two stage wins and a podium in the GC definitely make up for a very successful Vuelta for Gesink, who went on tho finish 5 minutes and 35 seconds behind Aleksandr Pluchkin, who eventually won the race in front of Justo Tenorio.
Plenty of reasons to celebrate, not just the stage win
It was a very good race from Van der Velde, Majka and Brambilla as well. With their performances and Gesink's, Project 1t4i finished 2nd in the team rankings. Even though their race wasn't as good as in Il Giro, Brambilla finished 26th in the GC, while Majka, just as Van der Velde (who was fourth in the KoM rankings) went in early breakaways and helped Gesink later in the stage, when the Dutch Champion most need it.
