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LPR Brakes
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| wackojackohighcliffe |
Posted on 26-05-2008 20:17
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7681
Joined: 19-02-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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aah wiggins what a result
good luck
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 27-05-2008 16:12
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
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4 Jours de Dunkerque
Stage 3
Another flat stage that will end in a sprint, although there is a bit of a drag a few k's from the finish that could allow Smukulis to get away from the bunch. A break of 8 riders break away and spend most of the race up the road. Agritubel do most of tha chasing but they soon move to the side as the sprinting teams move to the front. As the break is about to be swallowed up i send Smukulis to the front and launch an attack.
because the sprinters have spent so much time chasing the break no-one is willing to chase Smukulis and his advantage increases to over 1 min.
As he enters the last 5 k he still has a large lead but his red bar is about to fill. Will he make it?
YES. A second carrer win for Smukulis as he just hangs on but doesn't get any time gaps on the peleton:cry: To make things even better Pietropolli sprint to 4th place, he's slowly improving each stage.
The result sees Smukulis move up to 4th on GC with Pietropolli in 14th.
Giro d'Italia
Stage 2
Nothing too steep today but the finish is on a slight uphill that will rule out most pure sprinters and could suit Di Luca. Will he want to stamp his authority on the Giro this early?
Two riders go away early including Davide Rebellin rather suprisingly?
They work well together but with High Road well organised at the front they don't really have a chance of staying away.
As the race reaches its climax there isn't the usual organisation from the sprinting teams as most sprinters are put off by the gradient. I decide this could be a good chance for Di Luca to get some bonus time and stick him on the back of the Milram train (Milram being the only train going and its not even for Petacchi who's sitting in the peleton somewhere) The peleton is hampered by a massive crash that brings down over 30 riders but luckily no-one form my team is involved.
In the sprint Di Luca proves to be too strong for everyone. He easily moves around the Milram riders and takes the win, a 20 second time bonus and the pink jersey.
This puts us in a good position. I'm not going to kill my riders by holding on to the jersey through the first week, but with the next two stages completely flat i can let the sprinting teams control the peleton and sit in the bunch. Di Luca has shown the peleton he means bussiness and that he is feeling good. Hopefully the next two stages will be almost like rest days for him.
4 Jours de Dunkerque
Stage 4
Realising that most of the top riders on GC have been getting their time bonuses from intermediate sprints, i decide to send Pietropolli into the early break to take the 3 second bonus at the first sprint point just 19k after the start.
He does this easily and i tell him to drop back into the peleton to conserve energy for the final sprint. However after that the stage goes far from perfectly. Following his early efforts Pietropolli seems to be struggling all day and while he does hold on in the peleton, he is in no condition to contest the sprint.
Once again Smukulis tries to go from far out but the peleton are wise to him this time and he is quickly chased down.
With Smukulis being marked, Pietropolli and Klyuev not having a good day and everyone else either dropped or just hanging on i resign myself to just getting to the finish. However in the final few k's 3 riders get away and get a gap over the peleton. They take the top 3 places and a time gap in GC.
I'm quite pissed off with this because they've got no more distance then Smukulis did when he won but they've be given 32 seconds??? BOLLOCKS Anyway because of this Smukulis moves down to 7th and i think Pietropolli is just about in the top 20. Tomorrows stage finishes on a short steep hill so Smukulis and Pietropolli might be able to pull back some time.
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| wackojackohighcliffe |
Posted on 27-05-2008 16:19
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7681
Joined: 19-02-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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stage win with Di Luca is good and the pink jersey!
nice start
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| Stijn_vranken |
Posted on 27-05-2008 17:06
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Sprinter
Posts: 1638
Joined: 28-03-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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MASS CRASh
prevent hangovers --> stay drunk
pozzato, basically the most stupid cyclist around
RIP WW. Gone but not forgotten
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| Piveskid |
Posted on 27-05-2008 17:46
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Amateur
Posts: 15
Joined: 25-04-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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Very nice story Ringo  want more  |
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| ember |
Posted on 28-05-2008 08:19
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Team Leader
Posts: 6867
Joined: 27-03-2008
PCM$: 700.00
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Great riding and great reporting I am looking forward to the rest of the Giro, I think you will win it easilyB) |
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 28-05-2008 18:12
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
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Giro d'Italia
Stage 3
A completely flat stage that will end in a sprint. As i mentioned in my last post, i'm in a good position because i can sit in the peleton and let the sprinters teams pull any breaks back. I follow this tactic and Di Luca, looking pretty in pink, sits near the front of the bunch surounded by his team mates.
A break of 8 riders goes away but i leave the chasing to the sprinters teams, which in this case is Milram, Lotto and Quickstep.
The break is caught and as expected the race comes down to a sprint that is won by Lorenzetto ahead of McEwen and Nocentini. Di Luca roles in in the middle of the peleton to keep his 12 second advantage over his nearest rival.
4 Jours de Dunkerque
Stage 5
Posibly the most important stage as a number of small hill near the end could aid a breakaway. A group of 9 riders go away early on and built up a large lead.
I decided against sending anyone away because Pietropolli and Smukuli would be chased down quickly, and i felt the others would be better used protecting my 2 leaders to the final hill. However as the race went on it became clear that Bozic's Cycle Collstrop team wasn't strong enough to bring back the break. With just 40k's to go the break still had several minutes and the peleton was resigned to leaving the break to fight over the win.
I decided that this might be a good chance to send my two leaders up the road as either the peleton, having been unsuccesfully chasing all day in a stiff wind, would either not have the energy to chase or would chase and reduce the time gap to the break. I was still hiopeful of getting both Smukulis and Pietropolli into the overall top 10. With 15k to go Smukulis attacked on the penultimate hill and got a gap, however this gap began to drop and it didn't look like he would make it.
With just over 5k to go i sent Pietropolli up the road, desperate to get something out of the stage.
Up the road the stage was won by Cornu of Lotto, but the overall lead would go the Vandenbergh of AG2R.
Behind them Smukulis and Pietropolli were fighting hard to stay away and the hard effort paid off as they both stayed away and got a time gap.
The excellent attacks by Smukulis and Pietropolli in the last few k's had moved them both into the top 10 on GC. Smukulis is only 15 seconds from 1st place so he will deffinately be trying something in tomorrows last stage.
Giro d'Italia
Stage 4
Another flat stage with a big hill in the middle. The hill is too far from the finish to effect the overall result but i've no doubt someone will break-away up it to get the points. My prediction proved correct as 3 riders broke early on and increased there lead up the hill.
Once again i decided to leave the chase to the sprinters teams. This time the chase was taken up by Milram on there own.
I decided to send a couple of my riders to the front to help in the hope that Milram might return the favour later in the race(though i don't think the game thinks like that:roll
In the end the break is easily cought and the teams set themselves up for the sprint. The sprint is won by Paulo Bettini from Petacchi and McEwen with Di Luca once again being watched over the line by his team-mates.
Di Luca maintains his 12 second lead and my team are looking in good shape. Its much too early to start saying who the main contenders are going to be but F. Schleck is my nearest realistic rival at the moment.
Up next the final stage in Dunkerque and the Giro continues.
thanks for reading.
Edited by ringo182 on 28-05-2008 18:19
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-12-2024 03:37
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Bot Agent
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| wackojackohighcliffe |
Posted on 28-05-2008 18:30
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7681
Joined: 19-02-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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nice work
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| localfox |
Posted on 28-05-2008 23:49
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Amateur
Posts: 5
Joined: 28-05-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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great story. love it, good work. btw i might be interested to write my own story in the future but can you tell me how you got the pictures of the races onto here? |
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| Deadpool |
Posted on 28-05-2008 23:54
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Team Leader
Posts: 7357
Joined: 06-10-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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go to articles and read Crommy's guide to story writing, it will tell you everything you need to know |
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 29-05-2008 14:12
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
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4 Jours de Dunkerque
Stage 6
the sixth stage of the race proved to be the most interesting and decisive. Smukulis was only 15 seconds of the lead and was going to try something today, and Pietropolli was still keen to move even further up the GC standings.
A break of 9 riders went away early on...
...but the real action was happening behind them in the peleton. The day was incredibly windy and this was causing problems in the peleton. As the race entered its final third AG2R were setting a frantic pace at the front and a number of riders dropped of the back.
I had my riders all just behind the train protecting Smukulis and Pietropolli who were waiting to make their moves. Suddenly, the pace went up again and the first 20 or so riders became detached from the rest of the peleton. This new mini group consisted of only three teams (LPR, AG2R and Agritubel)
All three teams had reason to stay away from the peleton and all three worked together to keep the gap. Despite the best efforts of Lotto to get 2nd placed Cornu back into the leading group the gap stayed at a constant distance for about 30k's.
With about 40k to go the mini group had been whittled down to an elite few. LPR still had Smukulis, Pietropolli and Klyuev (who had done a heroic job for the team), Agritubel still had 4 riders working for Casper but the race leader Vandenburgh had been left isolated as his team had dropped away one by one.
As we entered the last 15k Vandenburgh decided that this was his only chance to make a break for the overall victory. Smukulis was still feeling quite fresh as he had left all the work to Klyuev and Pietropolli and instantly countered.
At ht esame time Pietropolli decided that he still had enough energy to make a break and also jumped after Vandenburgh.
It soon became clear that the two LPR riders were clearly in the best shape and, as the riders cought up to the riders still out in the breakaway, they carried on their attack while Vandenburgh was forced to sit in with the break.
Smukulis and Pietropolli worked hard together and got a gap over Vandenburgh and the breakaway and while the AG2R rider did manage to ride away from the break, he couldn't catch the 2 LPR riders.
In the end Pietropolli didn't contest the sprint and allowed Smukulis to take the win and the overall win. An excellent result for the team and a huge moral boost.
Giro d'Italia
Stage 5
Stage five was classed as hilly so i probably couldn't rely so much on the sprint teams to help me pull back any breaks. I wasn't that bothered about chasing too hard and would happily give the jersey away as long as i didn't loose too much time to a dangerous rider.
As expected a break went and once again Davide Rebellin had gotten himself into it. He was over 7 minuits down so i wasn't too worried about him.
A group of 9 riders formed down the road and built up a healthy lead. This time Lampre went to the front and i was happy to let them pull the peleton along. As the race went on Rebellin and Tankink proved that they were the strongest riders in the break and slowly pulled away from the others.
With about 30k to go it became clear that the break would stay away and i moved some of my riders to the front to stop us loosing too much time.
In the end Rebellin rode away to a solo victory but he hadn't mage up enough time to take the overall lead. That honour went to second placed Tankink.
Di Luca finished comfortably in the bunch...
...we had achieved our goal of giving away the leaders jersey and with Di Luca only trailing by 56 seconds, we hadn't let the break go too far. Another perfect day in the Giro.
Stage 6
Another hilly day and without the pressure of the pink jersey on our shoulders my riders could relax a bit. A break of 10 riders went away and as expected Rabobank went to the front and set the pace in the peleton.
Jens Voigt decided to try something from a long way out but i decided that it would be too dangerous to let him go away so i sent a few riders to the front to bring him back in.
In the final few k's Rabobank looked to be tiring after chasing the break all day so i sent Savoldelli and Pidgornyy to the front to chase up the last few members of the break.
They were brought in and my team sat in the bunch till the finish. I didn't contest the sprint that was won by Bertagnolli from Pellizotti and Rebellin.
Di Luca has moved up to third after Poitschke got dropped by the peleton in the run in to the line. Another day goes pretty much to plan.
thanks for reading. up next the Giro continues and Klyuev and Bellis lead a team at the Tour de Picardie.
cheers.
Edited by ringo182 on 29-05-2008 14:13
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| Manofdestiny |
Posted on 29-05-2008 14:21
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Junior Rider
Posts: 47
Joined: 17-05-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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Good Giro for Di Luca until now |
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| G_Larsson |
Posted on 29-05-2008 14:41
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Sprinter
Posts: 1779
Joined: 25-03-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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Good luck with Di Luca in the rest of the Giro.
Team Manager of Team IKEA-Bianchi
[url=(color=#0000ff] Team Info[/url]
Media Room
You'll Never Walk Alone |
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 30-05-2008 18:40
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
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Tour de Picardie
Stage 1
A four day flat stage race. Smukulis and Pietropolli will take a break after there efforts in Dunkerque so Marinangeli,Klyuev and Bellis will be leading.
Squad: Marinangeli, Klyuec, Bellis, Maserati, Celli, Chiarini, Proch, Ferrari
It looks like Barloworld are continuing their tactic of sending Hunter to every race they know no-one else is taking seriously so he'll most likely win overall. My aim will be to get at least two riders into the top 10 on GC to try not to loose to many points to them. The stage is completely flat and as expected goes down to a sprint, that as expected is won by Hunter
Marinangeli was our designated sprinter for today and managed to take 7th while Klyuev just missed out on the top 10 after leading out his sprinter.
Giro d'Italia
Stage 7
The first mountain stage of the Giro and the real contenders will come to the ront today. I don't really want to go on a big attack unless i have to and will rely on my team to try to keep the race together.
A break of 6 riders including my own Spezialetti goes away. I send Spezialetti so he can help Di Luca later if he does need to counter any breaks.
Rabobank are riding at the front to try to deter anyone else from attacking. However with 85k still to be raced 5 riders attack. Jufre goes of alone while Garzeli, Spilak, Moncoutie and Zandio form a small group behind him.
I decide that none of these riders will be too dangerous in the GC and sit Di Luca near the front of the peleton and wait for them to be brought back in. As expected they are all cought and Rabobank continue to pull the peleton along.
With 55k still to go another group of riders attack. Pellizotti, Caucchioli, Zubeldia, Julich, Barredo, Rujano and Nocentini all attack.
Again i decide that they will all be brought back and sed my team to the front to take over the job of pulling the peleton. However, My two main rivals for the overall classification Ricco and Cunego both lauch a sudden attack and i have no option but to send Di Luca after them.
Ricco and Di Luca accellerate well and quickly pass most of the group ahead of them but Cunego looks to be struggling a bit. Di Luca goes past Ricco and joins up with Pellizotti while Ricco joins up with Caucchioli just behind them.
Di Luca and Pellizotti work well together and maintain their gap over Ricco. Meanwhile up the road i've informed Spezialetti to drop back and help Di Luca. He does this and leads Di Luca up the last long climb.
Spezialetti gives his all but is soon left behind and it'd just Di Luca and Pellizotti. Behind them Ricco and Caucchioli have begun to close the gap and the peleton is also beginning to speed up. I decide that this is a chance for Di Luca to put some valuble seconds between him and his rivals and so he puts his foot down and rides away from Pellizotti.
Di Luca enters the final k on his own and he glides over the line to take a brilliant victory. Once again he has shown his rivals that he means bussiness.
Behind him Ricco and Caucchioli have cought Pellizotti and they come over the line 35 seconds behind Di Luca.
Savoldelli, who also attacked on the last climb, Comes in with Nocentini to take 6th on the stage. While the rest of the team come in with the peleton over 4 mins down.
Another excellent day for the team and Di Luca goes back into the pink jersey. This time it won't be possible to give it away so it looks like we will have to defend it now. I believe i've got the squad and the rider to take it all the way to Milan.
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| wackojackohighcliffe |
Posted on 30-05-2008 19:15
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7681
Joined: 19-02-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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great results
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 02-06-2008 13:20
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
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Tour de Picardie
Stage 2
Another flat stage, however there was a small hill near the end which might allow someone to jump away. On the day Bellis had the best form so i decided to try and make the leap with him.
Bellis jumped off the front and got a small gap on the peleton. Behind him the sprint trains were beginning to form and for some reason one of the trains, led by B.Telekom, pulled away from the rest of the group and got a time gap. They quickly cought Bellis and so i sat him in the train behind the two B.Telekom riders.
The train stayed away until the line and the sprint went down to those 6. Bellis wasn't strong enough and finished 6th in the sprint won by Lequatre of Agritubel but he still got a time gap over Hunter, who missed the break, and so goes ahead of him on GC.
Giro d'Italia
Stage 8
The first of two flat stages before we enter our first rest day and hopefully my team can relax a bit and allow the sprint teams to do most of the pulling. A large break of 11 riders goes away...
...but none of them pose any threat to the GC so i'm happy to let the sprint teams do all the work, in this case its mostly Milram.
The break is cought and the sprint is won again by Paulo Bettini, he's looking in great form.
Another rider to look out for is Nocentini, who after showing well on the first mountain stage, is contesting every sprint for those valuable time bonuses. He obviously goin for the GC.
No change at the top of the GC overall.
Tour de Picardie
Stage 3
Once again a flat stage, sfter his exploits yesterday Bellis doesn't have the best of days today but still finishes in the peleton to keep in the top 10 on GC. Todays stage is only 93k's long and with a daily rating of +5 Klyuev is our designated sprinter for today. He once again jumps on the B.Telecom train and they once again move ahead of everyone else. They don't get a gap this time but they have an advantage when the sprint starts. Klyuev gets a great start and cruises into the lead. He is looking like he's going to take his first professional win but just then Hunter comes storming past to take the win. Klyuev holds on for second and also moves into the top 10 on GC.
Hunter has moved ahead of Bellis and could win overall with a win on the final stage. My aim will be to keep my two rider in the top 10.
Giro d'Italia
Stage 9
Another flat stage and i will hope to follow the same tactics as yeaterday. Only two riders go away and instead of joining up and working together they both go out alone so they soon tire and begin to fall back. I'm happy to leave thw chasing to the other teams and once again it's Milram who do most of the work with a little help from Quickstep and Lotto.
As we near the only mountain sptint of the stage 4 riders go away on the attack. The group consists of Voigt, Zandio, Hayman and Moncoutie. A couple of them are on 4/5 mins down on GC so i move a couple of riders to the front to help the chase.
The break is cought and the teams set up for the sprint. Once again Bettini comes out on top, He's having a great Giro. And once again Nocentini goes for the bonus seconds.
The only change to the overall GC is that Bettini has moved into 8th thabks to all his time bonuses.
Tomorrow is a rest day. The last stage of the Tour de Picardie is up next and then Pietropolli and Smukulis will lead a team at the Circuit de Lorraine Professionals.
cheers
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 04-06-2008 16:34
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
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Tour de Picardie
Stage 4
Another short 90k race for the final stage and with Hunter needing a win to take the overall competition i'm guessing that Barloworld will be trying to control the race as well as B.Telekom. The usual break goes away but they are never allowed to get too far up the road because of the short distance. As the peleton swallows the break the sprint teams begin to assemble. There is a sprint point about 15k before the finish and Marangeli takes first too claim a valuble few seconds. He is looking in the best shape and i make him my sprinter to try and get him some bonus seconds to take him into the top 10 with Bellis and Klyuev. He is led out perfectly by the two youngsters.
When the sprint starts my train has gained a significant advantage over the rest of the field and Maringaneli gets a nice start over his rivals. Dispite this he isn't strong enough to hold off the Barloworld pair of Hunter(who takes the stage and the overall win, and Cooke who moves into the top 10.
Maringaneli takes third and the time bonus takes him into 7th on GC with Bellis 6th and Klyuev 9th. i've accomplished my goal of getting all 3 into the top 10.
Forgot to take a ss of the final GC but you get the picture.
Up next the Giro rusumes after it's rest day with a hilly tt and then a tricky hilly stage. Hopefully i'll have them up later tonight.
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 05-06-2008 10:20
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3472
Joined: 03-01-2008
PCM$: 1348.00
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Giro d'Italia
Stage 10
An individual time trial over hilly terrain. While Di Luca isn't the best tter in the world he's better then most of his closest rivals so i hope he can take out even more time on them.
The only problem is that because the first stage was a ttt and most of my team have finished up in the peleton on everyday since then i've got 5 riders going off one after the other so i'm not going to have much chance to work out the best way to ride the route by the time Savoldelli and Di Luca go off.
Savoldelli takes 3rd which moves him up to 2nd overall while Di Luca comes in 24th and extends his lead over his major rivals.
Stage 11
A hilly stage follows the tt and it will be importane to watch out for attacks on the last little hill of the stage. A break goes away early but with the highest man on GC being nearly 20 mins down i'm happy to let them go away and contest the srint at the end. However Lampre have other ideas and set up there team at the front, Cunego is obviously planning something.
Sure enough, as the escapees are cought on the final hill Cunego and Ricco launch their attacks.
Unfortunately for them though Di Luca has being expecting it and because he is much higher up in hte bunch, when he launches his counter he is able to steal about 10 seconds on the other 2.
As they go down the other side of the hill Di Luca's lead extends to around 20 seconds and the peleton is sinking into the background.
Di Luca holds on to his advantage ro take his second stage win of the Giro. So far he is looking in much better shape then his rivals.
It is starting to look like its going to be a 3 horse race between Di Luca, Ricco and Cunego. There are two flat stages next before the first of 3 mountain stages. Di Luca has a nice advantage over his rivals going into the mountains.
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