Amgen Tour of California was the next H.C or ProTour race we raced. Last year, we won it with Mollema, it was the same route this year, but we brought Boom as captain and Gesink (fitness of 52) in a free role.
Stage 1 was a prologue, which suited Cancellara very well. And when Cancellara rides TT, he comes, he cycles, he wins. This was not an exception.
Stage 2 suited Boom very well with some small hills near the finish.
He tried an late attack, but it didn't work out for him as he was caught of the peloton. Very surprisingly it was Martjin Maaskant who took the sprint ahead of Hushovd. Boom managed fourth though.
Stage 3 was one of two flat stages in this tour.
This time, Gilbert tried an late attack, but he was reeled back to the peloton of Steven De Jongh, De Jongh also made a great leadout for Boonen.
Boonen took the stage easily from his team mate's wheel.
Stage 4 was the Queen Stage of Amgen Tour of California, with a 6 kilometres climb some distance from the finish.
The pack was together on the climb, and Gesink managed to send himself into the favourite group. Boom did not.
Stage 5 was a hilly stage, Boom will try to get back some of the time he lost yesterday.
He really gave it all he had, he gave it so much that he was too fast for the cameras. They couldn't get him at the finish line.
He won the stage and got 20 bonus seconds.
Surprisingly, it was Fedrigo who took the stage. Boom lost nearly 40 seconds to the group, he had sat himself in a difficult position about the GC.
Stage 6 was a time trial. Cancellara was there, he comes, he cycles, he wins. Easy.
Very unlucky for Boom, he got a red cross in the TT, and he lost 1,33 to Cancellara.
Stage 7 was another bumpy stage. Again, it suited Boom well.
Again, he was allowed to get away from the peloton with 7 kilometres to the line. When the sprint started he held a lead of 49 seconds.
They couldn't catch him and Boom could celebrate his second stage win in Amgen Tour of California 2009.
Stage 8, the final stage of this Tour.
At the climb, halfaway in the stage Team CSC sat a really fast pace. Only Boom and Gesink could follow of our riders. It was then well-deserved that CSC could celebrate a 1-2-3 win with O'Grady-Arvesen-Breschel.
Stage Results:
1 Stuart O'Grady Team CSC 3h43'25
2 Kurt-Asle Arvesen Team CSC s.t.
3 Matti Breschel Team CSC s.t.
4 Martin Elmiger Quick·Step s.t.
5 Kim Kirchen Team High Road s.t.
6 Carlos Oyarzun Tecos de la Universidad Autonóma de Guadalajara s.t.
7 Pierrick Fédrigo Bouygues Télécom s.t.
8 Steve Morabito Saunier Duval - Scott s.t.
9 Andrey Zeits Team Astana s.t.
10 Danny Pate Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O s.t.
11 Stefan Schumacher Gerolsteiner s.t.
12 Stijn Devolder Quick·Step s.t. 13 Lars Boom Rabobank s.t.
14 Tom Boonen Quick·Step s.t.
15 Fabian Cancellara Team CSC s.t.
16 Fränk Schleck Team CSC s.t.
General Results:
1 Steve Morabito Saunier Duval - Scott 25h31'56
2 Stijn Devolder Quick·Step + 4
3 Danny Pate Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O + 1'03 4 Lars Boom Rabobank + 1'08
5 Fabian Cancellara Team CSC + 1'13 6 Robert Gesink Rabobank + 1'16
7 Kim Kirchen Team High Road + 1'23
8 Fränk Schleck Team CSC + 1'30
9 Pierrick Fédrigo Bouygues Télécom + 1'40
10 Thomas Lövkvist Team High Road + 1'53
11 Carlos Oyarzun Tecos de la Universidad Autonóma de Guadalajara + 2'15
12 Kurt-Asle Arvesen Team CSC + 2'19
13 Iker Camaño Saunier Duval - Scott + 2'45
14 Matti Breschel Team CSC + 2'53
15 Stefan Schumacher Gerolsteiner + 3'10
16 Stuart O'Grady Team CSC + 3'18
17 Hugo Sabido Tecos de la Universidad Autonóma de Guadalajara + 3'35
18 Sérgio Paulinho BMC Racing Team s.t.
19 Tom Boonen Quick·Step + 3'38 20 Philippe Gilbert Rabobank + 3'41
King of Mountain:
1 César Grajales Rock Racing 54
2 Laurent Lefèvre Bouygues Télécom 48
3 Jonathan Patrick McCarty Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O 46
4 Jeff Louder BMC Racing Team 46
5 Andrea Moletta Gerolsteiner 42
Sprint Jersey:
1 Lars Boom Rabobank 81
2 Stuart O'Grady Team CSC 77
3 Thor Hushovd Crédit Agricole 72
4 Pierrick Fédrigo Bouygues Télécom 71
5 Fabian Cancellara Team CSC 71
A great Amgen Tour of California, we got 2 stage wins, the point jersey and 4th and 6th in the GC.
Paris-Nice was a race Gesink did very well last year. He would be our captain this year too. As team mates he got e. g Gilbert and Langeveld.
As usual there was a prologue in Paris-Nice. There was a very surprising winner of it, Brett Lancaster crushed everyone else and won it with 6 seconds to Lövkvist. Boom managed third place. Gesink lost 40 seconds to Lancaster.
Stage 2 was flat, so I simmed it, Boonen won it.
Stage 3 was one of those many bumpy stages there are in Paris-Nice.
It all come down to a mass sprint between the rest of the peloton. Kim Kirchen from Team High Road took a great victory,
Stage 4 was another bumping stage.
And again, it was Kirchen who took the win. He is looking very impressive for the Ardennes. I hope he has peaked too early.
Stage 5 was the Queen Stage of this year's Paris-Nice. Unluckily the riders didn't finish at Mont Ventoux, they had to downhill to the finish line. This suited Gesink bad as he only has 59 in downhill.
At the bottom of Mont Ventoux, Chavanel attacked. He was followed of F. Schleck, Kirchen and Ricco. They managed to work together and they could fight for the stage win.
Again, Kirchen was the strongest, and took his third win.
Gesink finished in the group behind those 4 riders. He lost approximately 1 minute.
Stage 6, and Gesink will be happy if he stays together with Kirchen if he attacks.
But noone attacked, and in the sprint, where the best sprinters were too tired, a Norwegian showed what we in North are made of.
Arvesen wins stage 6 in Paris-Nice!
Stage 7 was the last hilly stage. It was a sprint in an uphill, so, if Gesink could position himself well....
But noway, Kirchen destroyed all thoughts about positioning, as he attacked with 3.4 kilometres to the line.
Gesink and all the others tried to follow, but Kirchen was just too strong, another well-deserved victory for the Luxembourger.
Stage 8 was a time trial. I don't want to call it a real mountain time trial as it is just 8 percents ascent, and it is just for 4.5 kilometres.
The result list showed that the stage wasn't for the pure climbers as Schumacher won the stage.
General Results:
1 Kim Kirchen Team High Road 29h11'45
2 Sylvain Chavanel Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone + 1'03
3 Fränk Schleck Team CSC + 1'24
4 Stefan Schumacher Gerolsteiner + 2'37
5 Yuri Trofimov Bouygues Télécom + 2'45
6 Juanjo Cobo Saunier Duval - Scott + 4'23
7 Alexandr Kolobnev Crédit Agricole + 4'31
8 George Hincapie Team High Road + 5'09
9 Peter Velits Team Milram + 5'19 10 Robert Gesink Rabobank + 5'32
11 Davide Rebellin Caisse d'Epargne + 5'37
12 Riccardo Riccò Saunier Duval - Scott + 5'45
13 Kurt-Asle Arvesen Team CSC + 5'51
14 Thomas Lövkvist Team High Road + 6'06
15 David Blanco Française des Jeux + 6'10
16 Matteo Carrara Quick·Step + 6'15
17 Jussi Veikkanen Liquigas + 6'59
18 Patxi Vila Lampre + 7'00
19 Mauricio Soler Saunier Duval - Scott + 7'18
20 David Zabriskie Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O + 7'23
King of Mountain:
1 Davide Rebellin Caisse d'Epargne 35
2 Ignas Konovalovas Crédit Agricole 34
3 Hubert Dupont AG2R - La Mondiale 27
4 Marco Marzano Lampre 26
5 Ondřej Sosenka Bouygues Télécom 26
Sprint Jersey:
1 Kim Kirchen Team High Road 136
2 Stefan Schumacher Gerolsteiner 114
3 Yuri Trofimov Bouygues Télécom 113
4 Sylvain Chavanel Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone 89
5 Kurt-Asle Arvesen Team CSC 89
It was okay of Gesink, but not more. He is starting to show his teeth before Giro d' Italia, I am really looking forward to that with Gesink.
Tirreno-Adriatico was the first big race in Italy, and many sprinters uses it as a run-up to Milan-San Remo. Oscar Freire was not an eception.
Thanks to some busy and lazy camera men, there was no picture from this race except at the finish line at the Queen Stage. Thanks to the simmed stages, Freire won stage 1,3 and 5.
Stage 4, the Queen Stage, the decisive stage except the time trial.
Once they hit the final climb, Valverde attacked. Dekker didn't dare to follow that early in the climb. Valverde increased his lead though, and finally, Cunego attacked. Many riders tried to follow, but no-one could. Cunego rode himself up to Valverde, and they co-operated well to get a good enough lead to fight for the stage. Dekker had to join a big group behind them.
Valverde took the sprint. Behind him and Cunego, Dekker cracked with 300 metres to the finish. He lost 40 valuable seconds, it was critical about the time trial.
Stage 6 was the time trial. Dekker wanted to put himself inside top 8. He knew he had to ride very well to do that. Cancellara was on the start, and as I have said before. Cancellara comes, he cycles, he wins.
Dekker did very well, he ended third on the stage, and 7th overall.
General Results:
1 Alejandro Valverde Caisse d'Epargne 18h54'24
2 Damiano Cunego Lampre + 50
3 Stijn Devolder Quick·Step + 1'35
4 Yaroslav Popovych Silence - Lotto + 2'12
5 José Angel Gómez Marchante Saunier Duval - Scott + 2'27
6 John Gadret AG2R - La Mondiale + 2'32 7 Thomas Dekker Rabobank + 2'33
8 Sandy Casar Française des Jeux + 2'41
9 Maxime Monfort Team High Road + 2'51
10 Johan Vansummeren Silence - Lotto + 2'59
11 Tom Stubbe Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni - Androni Giocattoli + 3'04
12 Christian Pfannberger Barloworld + 3'08
13 Gilberto Simoni LPR Brakes - Ballan + 3'35
14 Igor Antón Quick·Step + 5'10
15 Rémy Di Gregorio Française des Jeux + 5'19
16 Simon Spilak Lampre + 5'44
17 Iker Camaño Saunier Duval - Scott + 5'49
18 Jelle Vanendert Française des Jeux + 5'53
19 Edvald Boasson Hagen Team High Road + 6'00
20 Bernhard Kohl Gerolsteiner + 6'08
King of Mountain:
1 Luca Mazzanti Barloworld 13
2 Alejandro Valverde Caisse d'Epargne 12
3 Daniele Contrini Tinkoff Credit Systems 10
4 Francesco Bellotti Barloworld 10 5 Paul Martens Rabobank 9
Sprint Jersey:
1 Óscar Freire Rabobank 48
2 Fabian Cancellara Team CSC 31
3 Edvald Boasson Hagen Team High Road 31
4 John Gadret AG2R - La Mondiale 22
5 Alessandro Petacchi Team Milram 22
A bad Tour for us, I expected much better from Dekker, but I can't blame him neither, he has to be in top shape both in Ardennes and in Tour de France
To be honestly , I am a bit disappointed with my results, especially so far in this season. But it was a great Vuelta, P-R and LBL last season. It will be very hard to do the same this year, but I will try my best
Milan-Sanremo was next. The "Primavera," where Freire won last year. The profile though, didn't favourite sprinters.
We brought a very strong squad. But many other teams also brought strong squads, and it was many riders here who wanted to win this, but not from a sprint.
If it comes down to a sprint, Freire, Boonen and Cavendish are clear favourites. Bennati, Napolitano and Pozzato as outsiders. But the big hill, (Pa....don't remember the name) usually means attacks. I think the biggest favourites are Valverde, Cunego, maybe Ballan and maybe Dekker.
The race began, and as usually in Milan-Sanremo a TV-break went away.
The lucky guys were Paiani (BTL), Eskov (TCS), Renshaw (C.A), Cauuti (CSF) and Eichler (TMR).
They were allowed to shine in 150 kilometres, but with 70 kilometres to go they were reeled in.
Boom saw his opportunity with 50 kilometres to go, as he attacked.
Unluckily, he never got a good gap and was reeled back 35 kilometres from the finish.
No-one attacked before the hill. But when it started, it become fireworks.
O'Grady opened with an attack at the foot of the hill. Valverde, Ballan, Dekker and Hoste immediately followed. Valverde was the strongest though, and he got a gap of 20 seconds to Ballan, and 40 seconds to the three others.
Freire felt strong and attacked 1.5 kilometres after those 5 riders. Green moment! He flew past Dekker and his companions.
He was on his way to Ballan, and he reached him, he and Ballan was 35 seconds behind Valverde at the top.
But they couldn't catch him, he was just too strong for them both.
Valverde wins Milan-Sanremo 2009!
Behind him Freire and Balland sprinted for second. Freire hit the wall, his lactic acid in his legs was just way to high with 1 kilometer left. He had to settle for third as Ballan took second.
Milan-Sanremo 2009:
1 Alejandro Valverde Caisse d'Epargne 7h14'58
2 Alessandro Ballan Lampre + 26 3 Óscar Freire Rabobank s.t.
4 Tom Boonen Quick·Step + 2'22
5 Davide Rebellin Caisse d'Epargne + 2'48
6 Giovanni Visconti Quick·Step s.t.
7 Leif Hoste Silence - Lotto s.t.
8 Damiano Cunego Lampre s.t.
9 Matteo Carrara Quick·Step s.t.
10 Stuart O'Grady Team CSC s.t. 11 Philippe Gilbert Rabobank s.t.
12 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
13 Kim Kirchen Team High Road s.t.
14 Filippo Pozzato Liquigas s.t.
15 Greg Van Avermaet Silence - Lotto s.t. 16 Thomas Dekker Rabobank s.t.
17 Kurt-Asle Arvesen Team CSC s.t.
18 Paolo Bettini Gerolsteiner s.t.
19 Yuri Trofimov Bouygues Télécom s.t.
20 Maxime Monfort Team High Road s.t.
21 Joaquim Rodríguez Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
22 Fabian Cancellara Team CSC s.t.
23 Marcus Burghardt Team High Road s.t.
24 Danilo Napolitano Lampre s.t.
25 Matti Breschel Team CSC s.t.
26 Fränk Schleck Team CSC s.t.
27 Karsten Kroon Liquigas s.t.
28 Daniele Bennati Liquigas s.t.
29 Marco Bandiera Caisse d'Epargne s.t. 30 Sebastian Langeveld Rabobank s.t.
31 Martin Elmiger Quick·Step s.t.
32 Jelle Vanendert Française des Jeux s.t.
33 Leonardo Bertagnolli Liquigas s.t. 34 Juan Antonio Flecha Rabobank s.t.
35 Bernhard Eisel Team High Road s.t.
36 Maarten Tjallingii Silence - Lotto s.t.
37 Mirko Lorenzetto Lampre s.t.
38 Leonardo Duque Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
39 Enrico Gasparotto Barloworld s.t.
40 Martijn Maaskant Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O s.t.
41 Robert Hunter Silence - Lotto s.t.
42 Alexandre Pliuschin AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
43 Mark Cavendish Team High Road s.t.
44 Robbie McEwen Silence - Lotto s.t.
45 Wim De Vocht Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone s.t.
46 Nick Nuyens Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone s.t.
47 Thor Hushovd Crédit Agricole s.t.
48 Tyler Farrar Team Milram s.t.
49 Anthony Geslin Bouygues Télécom s.t.
50 Juan José Haedo Lampre s.t.
I am having a big problem. When I am trying to play Paris-Roubaix my PCM shuts down, and a error message pops up. The message says that PCM has stopped running, and has to shut down.
Ronde van Vlaandern was the worst I ever have played on PCM.
Anyway, there were many great cobble riders at the start lists.
The action began with 55 kilometres to the line! Ballan relayed quite hard in the peloton, Devolder's team mates couldn't follow him, and suddenly he sailed away!
It had to be suicide.
But with 35 kilometres to the line, Devolder also relayed quite hard, and suddenly he also sailed away
Langeveld, Gilbert and Flecha saw the danger and started to relay hard, actually, everyone in the group behind relayed hard, no way they could catch them.
With 25 kilometres to the line Maaskan relayed quite hard, and guess what? He sailed away
Langeveld, Flecha and Gilbert tried their best to bring them back, but in the end, Ballan soloed away and won it with lots.
Ballan wins Ronde van Vlaandern 2009!
Devolder took second.
And Maaskant took third.
Langeveld lost the sprint for fourth behind the podiumplaces, and he ended sixth.
Ronde van Vlaandern 2009:
1 Alessandro Ballan Lampre 6h30'16
2 Stijn Devolder Quick·Step + 2'09
3 Martijn Maaskant Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O + 6'16
4 Filippo Pozzato Liquigas + 7'15
5 Nick Nuyens Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone s.t. 6 Sebastian Langeveld Rabobank s.t.
7 Johan Vansummeren Silence - Lotto s.t. 8 Philippe Gilbert Rabobank + 8'34
9 Marcus Burghardt Team High Road s.t.
10 Andreas Klier Team High Road + 8'54
11 Alexandre Pliuschin AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
12 Matti Breschel Team CSC s.t.
13 Vladimir Gusev Team Astana s.t.
14 Paolo Bettini Gerolsteiner + 9'08
15 Fabian Cancellara Team CSC + 9'24
16 Greg Van Avermaet Silence - Lotto s.t.
17 Manuel Quinziato Liquigas s.t.
18 Pieter Vanspeybroeck Topsport Vlaanderen s.t.
19 Leif Hoste Silence - Lotto s.t.
20 Yuri Trofimov Bouygues Télécom + 10'12
This is a typical Belgian race; cobbles, wind and rain. It couldn't be better
We started with the same team as in Ronde van Vlaandern. But this time, Langeveld will be captain, as he is the only one who is happy, both Gilbert and Flecha are unhappy.
Nothing happened on Kemmelberg, everything was decided from 25 kilometres and in. With 19 kilometres to go, Ballan attacked. Cancellara was the only one to follow. Boonen, O'Grady and Langeveld tried to follow, but they had to admit that they wasn't as strong as Ballan and Cancellara.
It was a very weird decision of the time takers to give the win to Ballan.
In my opinion, and as you can see of the picture, Ballan celebrates, but he was beaten quite clear of Cancellara in the sprint. Cancellara must be furious with the decision.
Boonen won the sprint of third, ahead of O'Grady and Langeveld.
Langeveld did quite well, he followed both Boonen and O'Grady, I am looking forward to Paris-Roubaix.
I forgot to exportops:
Edited by ember on 11-06-2008 15:00
I wasn't able to play Paris-Roubaix, I had to sim it
Paris-Roubaix 2009:
1 Fabian Cancellara Team CSC 6h42'58
2 Alessandro Ballan Lampre s.t. 3 Juan Antonio Flecha Rabobank + 39
4 Marcus Burghardt Team High Road s.t.
5 Stijn Devolder Quick·Step + 1'18
6 Sébastien Rosseler Quick·Step + 1'44
7 Leif Hoste Silence - Lotto s.t.
8 Martijn Maaskant Slipstream - Chipotle powered by H3O + 2'11
9 George Hincapie Team High Road s.t. 10 Sebastian Langeveld Rabobank s.t.
11 Nick Nuyens Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone s.t.
12 Andreas Klier Team High Road s.t.
13 Stuart O'Grady Team CSC + 2'52
14 Michael Schär Lampre s.t. 15 Lars Boom Rabobank s.t.
16 Johan Vansummeren Silence - Lotto s.t.
17 Allan Davis Liquigas + 3'19
18 Greg Van Avermaet Silence - Lotto s.t.
19 Alexandre Pliuschin AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
20 Nico Eeckhout Française des Jeux s.t.
I have to admit that I doubt I would have done as well as the computer when I simmed it.
I did play Basque Tour though, but I forgot to both take SS and export. But Dekker won it after a great time trial. Valverde was second. Dekker had started his warm-up for Ardennes.
Edited by ember on 11-06-2008 15:04
Amstel Gold Race, my favourite of the Ardennes. Dekker's favourite too, his riding at home court, in the Dutch jersey with 93 fitness points, can it get better?
The fun started with 40 kilometres to the line. F.Schleck, Kirchen and Cunego formed the lead group. Valverde, Schumacher and Vanendert was right behind them.
It was soon clear that Schleck and Dekker was the strongest in the group, and Schleck rode them ahead of the others.
Ont the penultimate climb, Dekker made a small attack, and he got a gap!
Even though Schleck was helped of the motor cyclist, he couldn't catch Dekker.
Thomas Dekker wins Amstel Gold Race 2009!
Schumacher outsprinted Vanendert for third place.
Amstel Gold Race 2009:
1 Thomas Dekker Rabobank 7h03'24
2 Fränk Schleck Team CSC + 47
3 Stefan Schumacher Gerolsteiner + 3'36
4 Jelle Vanendert Française des Jeux + 3'56
5 Alejandro Valverde Caisse d'Epargne + 4'24
6 Kim Kirchen Team High Road + 4'52
7 Damiano Cunego Lampre + 5'00
8 Leonardo Bertagnolli Liquigas + 6'20
9 Joaquim Rodríguez Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
10 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R - La Mondiale + 6'28
11 Filippo Pozzato Liquigas s.t.
12 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 6'36
13 Yuri Trofimov Bouygues Télécom s.t.
14 Davide Rebellin Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
15 Andrea Moletta Gerolsteiner + 6'44
16 Giovanni Visconti Quick·Step s.t.
17 Paolo Bettini Gerolsteiner s.t.
18 Christian Pfannberger Barloworld + 6'52
19 Riccardo Riccò Saunier Duval - Scott s.t.
20 Maxime Monfort Team High Road s.t.
21 Martin Elmiger Quick·Step s.t.
22 Danilo Di Luca Team Astana s.t.
23 Alexandr Kolobnev Crédit Agricole s.t.
24 Karsten Kroon Liquigas s.t.
25 Sergei Ivanov Team Astana + 7'00
26 Juanjo Cobo Saunier Duval - Scott s.t.
27 Fabian Wegmann Gerolsteiner s.t.
28 John Gadret AG2R - La Mondiale + 7'08
29 Sylvain Chavanel Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone s.t.
30 Tony Martin Team High Road + 7'16
31 Sébastien Joly Française des Jeux + 7'24
32 Benoit Vaugrenard Française des Jeux s.t.
33 Laurent Lefèvre Bouygues Télécom + 7'32
34 José Iván Gutiérrez Bouygues Télécom s.t.
35 Pierre Rolland Team CSC + 8'04
36 Franco Pellizotti Liquigas + 8'20
37 Thomas Voeckler Bouygues Télécom + 8'28
38 René Mandri AG2R - La Mondiale + 8'44
39 Andriy Grivko Team Milram s.t. 40 Robert Gesink Rabobank + 8'52
41 Manuel Vázquez Team CSC + 9'00
42 Peter Velits Team Milram + 10'44
43 Mikhail Ignatiev Team CSC + 11'00
44 Ángel Vicioso Française des Jeux + 12'44
45 Guillaume Levarlet Française des Jeux + 13'16
46 Sandy Casar Française des Jeux s.t.
47 Manuele Mori Team High Road + 13'24
48 Carlos Sastre Team CSC + 13'48
49 Iván Parra Team CSC + 13'56
50 Thomas Lövkvist Team High Road + 14'04
The start list contained all the riders who should be there; Dekker, Kirchen and Cunego.
At the bottom of the Mur Cunego held a lead of 1 minute.
Dekker dotted himself all the Mur and started sprinting at once he could, he soon cut the gap, but would it be enough?
With 300 metres to go, he could see Cunego.
It was a very dramatic finish, Cunego celebrated, but Dekker gave it all he had, and he come very close on the line.¨
I have to admit that I thought Cunego was first, and he actually was, but the timekeepes did a mistake as in Gent-Wevelgem, they gave the victory to the wrong person.
Thomas Dekker won La Fleche Wallonie 2009!
La Fleche Wallonie 2009:
1 Thomas Dekker Rabobank 5h23'48
2 Damiano Cunego Lampre + 1
3 Alexandr Kolobnev Crédit Agricole + 24
4 Jelle Vanendert Française des Jeux + 30
5 Fränk Schleck Team CSC + 33
6 Jens Voigt Team CSC + 44
7 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R - La Mondiale + 2'12
8 Joaquim Rodríguez Caisse d'Epargne + 2'44
9 Kim Kirchen Team High Road + 3'00
10 Karsten Kroon Liquigas + 3'16
11 Alejandro Valverde Caisse d'Epargne + 4'52
12 Yuri Trofimov Bouygues Télécom + 5'00
13 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 5'08
14 Stefan Schumacher Gerolsteiner s.t.
15 Leonardo Bertagnolli Liquigas s.t.
16 Maxime Monfort Team High Road s.t.
17 Filippo Pozzato Liquigas + 5'16
18 Giovanni Visconti Quick·Step + 5'24
19 Davide Rebellin Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
20 Riccardo Riccò Saunier Duval - Scott s.t.
21 Martin Elmiger Quick·Step s.t.
22 Peter Velits Team Milram + 5'32
23 Paolo Bettini Gerolsteiner s.t.
24 Andrea Moletta Gerolsteiner + 5'40
25 Óscar Pereiro Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
26 Vincenzo Nibali Liquigas + 5'48
27 Luis León Sánchez Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
28 Bert De Waele Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner + 5'56
29 Tony Martin Team High Road s.t.
30 David Blanco Française des Jeux + 6'04
This story is now running again; a big thank to Addy
Liege-Bastogne-Liege, the most legendary of them all, the hardest of them all, simply said; It is Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
On Cote Saint Nicholas almost everyone attacked. Kim Kirchen was clearly strongest of the attackers, and he sailed away from the others. Behind him Schumacher, Dekker and Rebellin tried their best to reel him in, but it wasn't good enough.
He could solo away, he did very well, he was simply the best today.
Kim Kirchen wins Liege-Bastogne-Liege 2009!
Approximately 1 minute behind him Rebellin and Dekker sprinted for second place. Rebellin was a smart guy, he got a good lead before the sprint and he took second place with ease. Dekker ended third.
I read every update, just not so good in posting comments ^^
ops:
