22/1 Our scout has reported on two interesting new amateur talents.
Chuma Mokoena, 18 years old sprinter from South Africa
Rustam Sergienko, 19 years old Rouleur from Kazakhstan
We will follow them closely.
23/1 Luis León Sánchez have openly criticized the fact that he is not scheduled to ride his target Vuelta Ciclista de Catalunya, we have now adusted the calender not to upset the Grand Old Man
24/1 Cataldo has stretched a tendon in his back crashing in San Juan, he is likely to be back for Tirreno but not in the best shape, we may have to adjust something in his calendar to get the most out of it.
27/1 Jesús Herrada has signed a 1 year contract with Cofidis, note to send him flowers and chocolate on his birthday 26 July, just to show we may be interested.
28/1 Gorka Izagirre won Sharjah Tour
29/1 Egan Bernal won Grand Prix la Marseillaise
29/1 Artyom Zakharov have problems with saddle soreness, he needs to rest for a weak should be a minor issue as he has no upcoming races right now.
The stage consists of three laps, traveling northeast up to the rural/recreational area of El Durazno and back to San Luis. It is up and down all day, but with such gentle slopes this is a flat stage and we must expect a mass sprint finish.
El Durazno literally “peach tree” is just a tiny village but due to its beautiful location the area houses several small restaurants and a shopping center.
Top 5 media favorites:
Peter Sagan (BORA) Alexander Kristoff (UAE) Jakub Mareczko (Wilier Triestina) Bryan Coquard (Vital Concept) Andrea Guardini (Bardiani)
Outside Pulperia del Negro - Asador Criollo restaurant, El Durazno
Race
Km: 115
For a while it seemed like on one was interested in forming a breakaway today, but then with less than 2 km to the only KoM today we get the attack, it is Yecid Sierra (Manzana) accelerating with Marco Maronese (Bardiani), Aviv Yechezkel (Israel) Miguel Eduardo Florez (Wilier Triestina) and Davide Villella
A little further back also Marco Tizza (NIPPO) is laying some distance to the bunch.
Davide Villella did a great job on stage 2, leading teammate Fuglsang to a good result, today he may get a chance to make a result for himself
Km: 85
The peloton won’t allow the breakaway to get a substantial gap, even though the pace is quite high at an average of some 43-44 km/hour, the gap stabilize around 2’45”.
There is no strong rouleur in the breakaway, strongest on paper Davide Villella, if he make it that far Marco Maronese clearly the better finisher.
23 years old Marco Maronese started his career in 2016, impressively winning “Circuito del Porto - Trofeo Arvedi” after just three races as an professional
Km: 12
From about mid stage the distance starts to shrink, with 12 km left it is below 45”, especially Vital Concept but also UAE and BORA putting a lot of effort into the hunt
Marc Fournier (Vital Concept) was the most active rider in the peloton today, taking many long and hard turns
Km: 0,3 meters
The breakaway was over with 8 km left, it has come to the expected mass sprint.
Looks like it could be a narrow finish between Peter Sagan (BORA) Kenny Dehaes (Aqua Protect) Alexander Kristoff (UAE) Luka Mezgec (Michelton) Juan Jose Lobato (NIPPO) all sitting close in first row.
Peter Sagan won the first and third stage ahead of Alexander Kristoff, we may well get the same result on the final day
Km: 0
Peter Sagan does it again; this is his third win of this race. With this he also takes the points classification.
Very impressively Kenny Dehaes (Aqua Protect) 2nd in front of Manuel Belletti (Androni) 3rd.
Belgian Manuel Belletti with a very good final 300 meters, made it to the last podium, beating Alexander Kristoff with a perfectly timed sprint
Astana Pro Team
Overall we can be satisfied with the race, was a lot of strong GC riders and it is hard to tell what part form played this early in the season.
Squad:
Magnus Cort Nielsen, Oscar Gatto, Alexey Lutsenko, Michael Valgren
Zhandos Bizhigitov, Artyom Zakharov, Nikita Stalnov
Expectations:
With a surprisingly weak startlist, we must expect a podium from Magnus Cort even though he is out of form, we got some strong support in Valgren and Lutsenko,
The race takes place in and around Geelong first a longer loop south and west of the city taking up about 2/3 of the race, and finally several laps inside the city itself. A sprinter friendly race but not without its difficulties, the about 1 km long Challambra Cres, which increases by an average of 8%, is passed three times and could post difficulties for the pure sprinter. Another obstacle might be wind on the part of the route raced along the Indian Ocean.
In 1836, David Fisher, James Strachan, and George Russell settled the area. By 1836 Geelong was officially a town at the time with church, hotel, store, wool store, and a population of more than 500.
Top 5 media favorites: Magnus Cort Nielsen (Astana ), Bernhard Eisel (Dimension Data),
Ramunas Navardauskas (Bahrain) Jean-Pierre Drucker (BMC)
Daniele Bennati (Movistar)
Geelong Town Hall constructed in 1855
[
Race
Km: 142
The opening attack comes after just a few KM, Jérémy Roy (FDJ), Christoph Pfingsten (BORA) Antwan Tolhoek (Lotto Jumbo), after about 30 km they have built a lead of 3’50”.
The strongest rouleur in the break is 34 years old Jérémy Roy
French Jérémy Roy have been with FDJ since 2003, having his prime year from 2008 to 2012 winning a stage in Paris – Nice, The Grand Prix D'ouverture La Marseillaise, Tro-bro Léon and other good podium results
Km: 116
Many teams take part in the pace line of the peloton, Astana has dedicated two rider to help control the breakaway Artyom Zakharov and Zhandos Bizhigitov the distance begin to slowly melt.
Most active in the peloton has been Mark Padun (Bahrain)
Km : 14
With more than 30 km left we get the last desperate attacks between the riders in the breakaway, and soon after it were all over.
Then with 14.3 km left, somewhat surprisingly stage favourite Ramunas Navardauskas (Bahrain) attacks, but was immediately closed down by Serge Pauwels (Dimension Data) and Alexey Lutsenko (Astana)
Belgian Serge Pauwels came to Dimension Data in 2015, he won Tour de Yorkshire last season
400 meters:
Astana set up a nice train Alexey Lutsenko - Michael Valgren - Magnus Cort Nielsen, but Magnus Cort was hanging a bit too low and have used some energy getting to the front in time.
With a little less than 1 km left the lead-outs was done and we got 6 riders sprinting it out for the victory. In first row, Jean-Pierre Drucker, José Joaquin Rojas, Magnus Cort Nielsen and in second row, Simone Consonni, Mark Renshaw, Rudy Barbier
Good job by Simone Consonni (UAE) sitting between this “final” six. With a good result today it will be the first at World Tour Level for the 23 years old
Km: 0
Jean-Pierre Drucker (BMC) won Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race 2018
Simone Consonni (UAE) 2nd and José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) took the last podium.
Luxembourgish Drucker takes his first win on World Tour Level since he won stage 16 in Vuelta a España back in 2016
Astana Pro Team
Honestly quite disappointed with how this went, 4th on this level is fine but Magnus Cort Nielsen was bad positioned for way to long and we could have done better.
Squad:
Magnus Cort Nielsen, Oscar Gatto, Alexey Lutsenko, Michael Valgren
Zhandos Bizhigitov, Artyom Zakharov, Nikita Stalnov
Expectations:
If it turns out as we expect, where a strong puncher can compete with the best tempo riders in the final ITT, we hope to see Valgren climb to a top 5 or better, anything outside top 10 would be a huge dissapointment.
On the Sprinter stages we expect Magnus Cort Nielsen to win a stage.
Yes, as you say good result from Fuglsang, but we need to get our sprint setup working Magnus should at least have a podium with the backing he had in Geelong.
The stage starts in Beaucaire situated on the banks of The Rhône River, the historic city dates back to 7th century BC, later to be a stop on the Roman paved road Via Domitia linking Italy and Spain approx. 100 BC.
The stage takes us on a flat route in the Rhône River delta south east of Avignon, it contains two small climbs up to Ruines de la Tour de Bellegarde, but they should not pose any serious difficulty for the sprinter teams.
Top 5 media favorites:
Magnus Cort Nielsen (Astana) Fabio Jakobsen (Quick-Step) Kristoffer Halvorsen (Sky) Juan Jose Lobato (NIPPO) Bryan Coquard (Vital Concept)
Ruins of The Château de Beaucaire, originally constructed in 11 century
Race
Km: 106
7 riders attempt to get into the morning breakaway, but only three make the escape Steven Tronet (Roubaix), Frederik Backaert (Wanty) and Marco Tizza (NIPPO)
Some 27 km into the stage also Pierre Barbier (Roubaix) starts to lay some distance to the peloton, meanwhile Tronet takes the KoM in front of Backaert.
Pierre Barbier joins what will be the breakaway of the day.
Frederik Backaert should on paper be the strongest in the break, a surprise that he cloud not win the KoM
Km: 65
Vital Concept is taking most of the responsibility leading the peloton, Astana contributes with Laurens De Vreese the distance never exceeds 3 minutes.
Again Tronet takes the KoM in front of Backaert
Overnight KoM result
1
Steven Tronet
20
2
Frederik Backaert
16
3
Pierre Barbier
10
31 years old French Steven Tronet have had only three wins after 11 years as a Pro, the latest a stage in Route du Sud 2015
Km : 8
The breakaway was over just after the 10 km banner was passed.
We got two trains up Quick-Step Floors still sitting behind Laurens De Vreese who is about to swing off, and Astana’s train coming up at the left side.
Astana have formed a line with Valgren-Gatto- Cort
Km : 0
Bryan Coquard (Vital Concept) have found the wheel of Fabio Jakobsen (Quick-Step).
Astana in a line of their own, but Oscar Gatto starts his sprint to late and was just able to pass Michael Valgren before the line, obviously it was too late for Magnus Cort to reach his maximum.
Fabio Jakobsen wins in Bellegarde, Bryan Coquard 2nd and Oscar Gatto takes the last podium in front of his two teammates.
Just 21 years old Dutch Fabio Jakobsen signing with Quick Step, after a lot of fine results at CT level in 2017
Astana Pro Team
Can hardly be very disappointed with three in top 5, but on the other hand a bit frustrating to miss-time the sprint and not launch Cort.
Stage 2/5 – Nîmes – Les Fumades (Saint-Ambroix) 155.1 km
The stage starts in Nîmes, a city date back to pre-roman time (aproxx 500 BC) where a Celtic fortress was constructed in Mount Cavalier. After roman occupation Nîmes bloomed under Augustus making it capital of the Narbonne province. Nîmes houses two very important historical constructions the Pont du Gard aqueduct and the Maison Carrée temple.
The route contains two categorized climbs, but it is overall quite flat. Only the rather undulated short circular route and the uphill finish in Les Fumades les Bains, may pose some challenge for the pure sprinter. A somewhat punchy sprinter may fit this profile.
Top 5 media favorites:
Magnus Cort Nielsen (Astana) Fabio Jakobsen (Quick-Step) Kristoffer Halvorsen (Sky) Juan Jose Lobato (NIPPO) Bryan Coquard (Vital Concept)
Maison Carrée was constructed in the Augustus era, sometime between 10 BC and 4 AD. (French landscape painter, Hubert Robert 1783, Oil on canvas)
Race
Km: 123
Four riders was able to escape on the first uncategorized hill, Jérôme Cousin (Direct Energie) Pierre Idjouadiene (Roubaix) Quentin Jauregui (AG2R) and Xandro Meurisse (Wanty)
Astana have dedicated Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev to the chase but it is Tanguy Turgis (Vital Concept) taking a lot of responsibility and burning most calories today.
Jauregui wins the early KoM near “Uzes” in front of Meurisse
23 years old Quentin Jauregui joined AG2R in 2015, but so far not with major success, his best result was winning Grand Prix de la Somme in May that very first season
Km: 71
Right after the first KoM the distance max out to above 5 minutes, from there slowly shrinking.
Xandro Meurisse (Wanty) wins the 2nd KoM in front of Jauregui, but it was not enough for any of them to take the KoM lead
Overnight KoM
1
Steven Tronet
Roubaix Lille Métropole
20
2
Frederik Backaert
Wanty - Groupe Gobert
16
3
Xandro Meurisse
Wanty - Groupe Gobert
13
4
Quentin Jauregui
AG2R La Mondiale
13
Distance 3’00”
Belgian Xandro Meurisse turned 26 yesterday, he came 2nd and won the U25 in HC stage race Tour de Luxembourg last season
Km : 7
Sky and Katusha now also send riders forward to help Astana and Vital Concept close down the breakaway. Now Astana have formed a train and takes the lead of the Peloton, the two riders left in the breakaway has just 20”
Astana have formed a line led by Laurens De Vreese
Km : 0
The uphill finish is perfect for Astana, with a strong Valgren keeping the team ahead and a fine lead-out sprinter in Gatto
Magnus Cort Nielsen takes a relative clear stage win at “Thermes des Fumades” in Les Fumades les Bains. Simone Ponzi (NIPPO) 2nd and Bryan Coquard (Vital Concept) takes the last podium.
Very fine timed teamwork gave Astana the 2nd stage win of the season, also handing the point lead to Magnus Cort Nielsen
Astana Pro Team
We got two goals here, a GC top 5 for Valgren and a stage for Cort, now we got a mark on the stage win, that was nice after some miss timed sprints lately.
The stage starts and finish in Bessèges, originally just a hamlet belonging to the parish of Robia, but with the construction of a coal mine and later a steel plant Bessèges became a town in 1858 and grew to a population of about 11.000, From 1920 onwards the industries was closed down and today the population is approx. 4000
The route consist of three laps of about 40 km in the hilly mainly woodlands that surrounds Bessèges, then three short laps in the town, leading up to the finish line.
Top 5 media favorites:
Fabio Felline (Trek) Simone Ponzi (NIPPO) Alberto Bettiol (BMC)
Magnus Cort Nielsen (Astana) – Laurent Pichon (Fortuneo)
Old postcard from Rue de la République
Race
Km: 146
With a very early Cat.1 KoM climb the attacks begun as soon at the flag went down. Kévin Le Cunff (Auber) takes it in front of Fabien Doubey (Wanty) and Loïc Vliegen (BMC)
29 years old Kévin Le Cunff, started as professional very late, signing his first contract with Auber in 2017
Km: 57
After the KoM we get what is to become the breakaway of the day, as mentioned Le Cunff (Auber) Doubey (Wanty) Vliegen (BMC) joined by Ista (Aqua Protect) Kasperkiewicz (Delko Marseille) and Levarlet (Auber)
After maxing out at 3’09 the distance stabilize around 2’30”, Vliegen wins the 2nd KoM in front of Le Cunff and Levarlet.
The last KoM goes to Le Cunff in front of Vliegen and Doubey.
Overnight KoM result:
1
Loïc Vliegen
BMC Racing Team
42
2
Kévin Le Cunff
St Michel - Auber 93
40
3
Fabien Doubey
Wanty - Groupe Gobert
28
Distance 2’33”
BMC’s 24 years old Loïc Vliegen won Flèche Ardennaise in 2015, his best season so far
Km : 35
The pace gets very hot from here, at some point the peloton breaks over and the Astana favourites are cut off, burning calories to close up.
It is mainly Koen De Kort (Trek) Christian Knees (Sky) and Tom Leezer (Lotto – Jumbo) keeping up the insane pace in the peloton.
The distance is brought down to 50” and the peloton is stretched, it is likely that many riders may lose several minutes today. Winds of 20-30 km/h does not make things easier.
Clearly Trek - Segafredo is working for Fabio Felline, what plans Sky and Lotto – Jumbo has is not that clear
Km : 1
BMC’s Loïc Vliegen is quite well suited for a terrain like this, the peloton struggles. Trek, Sky and Lotto–Jumbo gave up hope, but then Quick-Step Floors decided to take over.
Coming closer to the finish line also Michael Valgren forced to keep up a higher pace than intended to attempt reaching the breakaway in time.
But it is the five riders left in the breakaway first under the red kite, led by Vliegen.
The breakaway got 9” to a reduced peloton with just 900 meters left, this will be close
Km : 0
The breakaway does not make it we get the close finish between the favourites.
Fabio Felline (Trek – Segafredo) wins in Bessèges, Fabio Jakobsen (Quick-Step) 2nd and Laurent Pichon (Fortuneo) takes the last podium.
The breakaway all finished way outside top 10.
27 years old Fabio Felline also won one day HC race Trofeo Laigueglia last season
Astana Pro Team
This was a hard fought stage and we had difficulties in some situations, 4th was within expectations, we are fine with that, and still lead the points.
The stage unfold in the communities west of Rhône River on both sides of the smaller La Cèze Rive. Starting at the hilltop village Sabran. a village known to have been rules by The barons of Sabran (or House of Sabran) since the 10th century with ruins of the feudal castle still on the hilltop.
The Route contains two cat.2 climbs one to the south near the village Saint-Victor-la-Coste and later one in the hills north of Cèze Rive close to the village Saint-Laurent-de-Carnols. Besides those we got several uncategorised hills and finally the uphill finish in Pont-Saint-Esprit, making this stage rather hard, we must expect a reduced sprint.
Pont-Saint-Esprit was just a tiny fishermen’s village when a Benedictine monastery was built in 952. The bridge over the Rhône River that now gives the town its name was finished in 1309 making it an important strategic and commercial river crossing.
Top 5 media favorites:
Simone Ponzi (NIPPO) Fabio Felline (Trek) Laurent Pichon (Fortuneo)
Alberto Bettiol (BMC) Magnus Cort Nielsen (Astana)
Sabran
Race
Km: 122
There was a hard fight to establish the morning breakaway, at first 9 riders got 1’28” but was reeled in, approaching the first come we got a situation with 5 riders leading: Aurélien Paret-Peintre (AG2R) Jérôme Cousin (Direct Energie) Julien Antomarchi (Roubaix) Kévin Le Cunff (Auber) Yoann Offredo (Wanty)
In pursuit at 1’06” Michael Schär (BMC) and Anthony Perez (Cofidis)
Best places in CG Anthony Perez and Yoann Offredo at + 4'34 and + 4'38 everyone else over 6 minutes, best in KoM Kévin Le Cunff 2nd with 40 points.
The only team with a stage favourite getting a rider in the breakaway was BMC, forcing the opponents to work in the peloton
Km: 60
Jérôme Cousin wins the KoM, Kévin Le Cunff passes in 5th position taking two points, now co-leading the competition
Vital Concept doing most of the work in the peloton, although not a clear favourite they must believe that Bryan Coquard has opportunities either today or in the GC.
Michael Schär wins the 2nd KoM, Kévin Le Cunff again in 5th position taking two points, with that we have won the King of Mountain with just a ITT stage left.
Peloton at 3’04”
Yoann Offredo and later Anthony Perez lost contact on the climb, they will never get back.
Michael Schär have been with BMC since 2010, a very strong rouleur that will always pose a threat to anyone attempting to close him down
Km: 2
Over the undulated section from the 20 km banner Astana have some difficulties forming the train and moving forward, they are sitting too low and the bunch is stretched, they make it just in time.
Hard work from especially Jérôme Cousin and Michael Schär keep the breakaway in the competition, they got 47” with just 2km left.
French Jérôme Cousin came from Cofidis to Direct Energie for this season, after little results the last few years, would be good with something here.
700 meters
The 5 riders left in the breakaway got 10” with just 700 meters left. Jérôme Cousin first with Kévin Le Cunff and Michael Schär at wheel. Julien Antomarchi (Roubaix) also well placed attempting to pass by on their right.
In the peloton Oscar Gatto first with Magnus Cort
33 years old French Julien Antomarchi best result was winning Tour de Normandie in 2012
Km : 0
Jérôme Cousin completely explode, from his slipstream Kévin Le Cunff wins the stage, in front of Simone Ponzi (NIPPO), Julien Antomarchi takes the last podium.
Kévin Le Cunff made this race a huge success for “St Michel - Auber 93” not only winning the stage but also securing the KoM on the same day
Astana Pro Team
Not the best day for us, having issues with the hard pace over the last 20 km burning up our lead-out train and in the end Magnus Cort ran out of energy with some 150 meters left losing positions, but holding on to the points lead is a huge comfort, moving into the final stage.
The foundation of Alès is unclear, it is suggested that Alès may be the same town as Arisitum, a Merovingian bishopric that existed in the 6th and 7th centuries but it is not proven.
What we know for sure is that the area was inhabited in Gallo-Roman period around 1 century BC and that it evolved to a city in the Middle Ages.
Top 5 media favorites:
Jonathan Castroviejo (Sky) Fabio Felline (Trek) Patrick Bevin (BMC)
Lars Boom (Lotto-Jumbo) - Sylvain Chavanel (Direct Energie)
Alès
Race
“Auber” impresses again today this Nicolas Baldo setting a good early time 17’14” holding of a lot of on paper better riders: Tom Bohli, Quentin Pacher, Yoann Offredo, Alex Kirsch and especially Matthieu Ladagnous who should have easily beaten him.
Enrico Battaglin (Lotto-Jumbo) though, beat Nicolas Baldo with 11”, this may indicate that strong climbing is very important today, Battaglin far from a top tempo rider.
Italian Enrico Battaglin won two stages in the Giro, one in 2013 and one in 2014
After another eight riders Battaglin will lose the hot seat to Daniel Teklehaimanot (Cofidis), and soon it is Rémi Cavagna (Quick-Step Floors) topping the leaderboard
In the meantime four Astana riders have crosses the finish line
Truls Engen Korsaeth currently 100th, Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev 42th, Nikita Stalnov 51st
Laurens De Vreese 68th and Oscar Gatto 33th – with another about 25 riders yet to finish
Just 22 years old Rémi Cavagna have shown some potential as a tempo rider last season, not a huge surprise if the does good today
Then we move into the last 20 riders to start:
Alexis Gougeard (+58”), on paper well equipped for this, but he loses about a minute.
Tom Devriendt even worse and then Loïc Chetout 50 sec lost.
Now time for top stage favourite Jonathan Castroviejo (Sky) also at +58”, Castroviejo have an expected good ride and cut 34” of the best time.
Chad Haga (Sunweb) also starts at 58”, 4th best time +38”
Reto Hollenstein (Katusha) also starts at 58”, 5th best time +41”
Mads Würtz (Katusha) +16”, +1’09
Sylvain Chavanel (Direct Energie) +16”, loses one minute that was clearly below par.
38 years old French ”vétéran” Chavanel at his 19th season as a Pro
Patrick Bevin (BMC) +16”, a great time 2nd best with +24” and by that new Virtual GC leader. Michael Valgren +16”, +52” that was not enough to beat neither Bevin nor Castroviejo, Virtual GC 3rd right now
Alberto Bettiol (BMC) +16”, he loses 1’08” Virtual GC 5th
Lars Boom (Lotto Jumbo) +16”, loses 37” a fine result passing Castroviejo for Virtual GC 2nd
Mads Pedersen (Trek) +16”, with +1'22 a bit to much for a top result
Edward Theuns (Sunweb) +16, +1’21 also a bit to much.
With just 6 riders left, Patrick Bevin leads the GC
Laurent Pichon (Fortuneo) +12, +1’32 that will send him out of top 10
Fabio Felline (Trek) +6, great time 2nd best +24 and new Virtual GC leader
Magnus Cort (Astana) +6, +2’43 a bad time, 20 in GC
Bryan Coquard (Vital Concept) +6, +1’43 a top 15 time
Simone Ponzi (NIPPO) +4, +1’44 - 14 in GC
And last rider Fabio Jakobsen (Quick-Step) +2’56 send him down to 23th in GC
With 16’03 Jonathan Castroviejo won the final stage in Alès
Astana Pro Team
13th on the time trail was a bit below what we had anticipated, but we did meet our GC target with top 5 and a stage win. We are happy with that.
Was a bit sour to lose the points jersey at the TT
Formerly the race was held in august as a cat. 2.2 races as Vuelta a Colombia, but from this season the race have been upgraded to a 2.1 race and moved to February. It is debatable if it should be considered the same race. You might consider this one the very first edition of the race.
Squad:
Miguel Angel Lopez - Magnus Cort Nielsen - Davide Villella
Sergey Chernetckii - Tanel Kangert - Jesper Hansen - Riccardo Minali
Expectations:
This is the first race for Miguel Angel Lopez, but even so we expect a good result, anything outside a podium will be a dissapointment.
Magnus Cort Nielsen have already raced and should be able to win at least one of the flat stages early in the race. He wont have the best support but he is the best sprinter in the race.
The first stage of Colombia Oro y Paz starts and finish in Palmira, exploring the city and the countryside to the south. A completely flat stage only interrupted by a single point sprint.
Palmira is a city in southwestern Colombia, also know as La Villa de las Palmas, in the Cauca Valley just 30 km from Santiago de Cali
It is widely accepted to date the foundation of Palmire to around 1680 credited to a Mr. Carlos Arturo de Quevedo but it is hard to find any information about what he actually “founded” or who he was.
Top 5 media favorites:
Magnus Cort Nielsen (Astana) José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) Søren Kragh (Sunweb) Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (Dimension Data) Sondre Holst Enger (Israel)
Catedral de Nuestra Señora del Rosario del Palmar, constructed 1914-1929
Race
Km: 110
Without any fight the morning breakaway was formed by four riders, with about 1/3 of the stage raced they have got 3’30”
The riders are Mikkel Frølich Honore (Virtu Cycling), Aaron Verwilst (Vlaanderen-Baloise), Grant Koontz (Holowesko) and Jhojan Garcia (Manzana)
Mikkel Frølich Honore on paper the best rouleur, but none of these riders should be able to post a threat to the sprinter teams.
21 years old Danish Mikkel Frølich Honoré signed his first contract with Virtu Cycling prior to this season
Km: 21
Movistar and Dimension Data leads the chase getting closer to the finish and the distance starts to melt.
Honoré wins the intermediate sprint in front of Aaron Verwilst, peloton now at 1’23”
With 21 km left Aaron Verwilst attacks from the break, Honoré alert and at his wheel.
20 years old Belgian Aaron Verwilst made some fine result last season as an amateur, and signed with PCT team “Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise”
Km: 2.5
The breakaway was over with 12 km to the line
With 4 km left it looks like we have three groups of riders ready to fight for the win.
Dimension Data in front, then Movistar and a bit further beck Astana
Astana get in front of the other teams and starts the sprint from about 2.5 km, Sergey Chernetckii opening.
23 years old Italian rider Riccardo Minali will be the last lead-out for Magnus Cort in Colombia
Km : 0
José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) wins the first stage of Colombia Oro y Paz, in front of Florian Vachon (Fortuneo – Samsic) and Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (Dimension Data)
After a podium in Great Ocean Road Race, José Joaquin Rojas takes his first win of the season. His latest win was National Championships of Spain in 2016
Astana Pro Team
5th was disappointing in a pure sprint, the timing awful with Magnus almost exploding 50-75 m before the line. Hope we can get the teamwork up to a higher level very soon. We should at least podium all flat stages here, not to mention our (internal) sprinter stage win goal
Also the 2nd stage start and finish in Palmira, but this time we take a longer sweep south down to Santander De Quilichao, before we head back to where we started. Still a sprinter friendly stage but a lot more undulated.
Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical is a not-for-profit research and development organization, dedicated to reducing poverty and hunger while protecting natural resources in developing countries. It is based in Palmira with 300 scientists working there.
Top 5 media favorites:
Magnus Cort Nielsen (Astana) José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (Dimension Data) Søren Kragh (Sunweb) Riccardo Minali (Astana)
The International Center of Tropical Agriculture founded in 1967
Race
Km: 130
The was a lot of activity this morning, starting with Roy Goldstein (Israel) leading a group of four riders on the very first hill including one of yerterday’s hero’s Aaron Verwilst.
Behind them soon another group of four lays distance to the bunch, here we got U25 leader Mikkel Frølich Honore.
But the pace is extreme and while the original group get caught, others upon new attacks after 20 km we got Anthony Delaplace (Fortuneo) leading with Maximilian Schachmann (Quick-Step) a strong duo and they are not allowed to go either.
We get to the first KoM,
Mathias Le Turnier (Cofidis) takes it in front of Gregory Daniel (Trek), peloton at 1’28 with three other riders in-between.
22 years old Mathias Le Turnier became a trainee with Cofidis in 2016, he is still looking for his first professional win
Km: 102
Mathias Le Turnier and Gregory Daniel, was soon joined by Rémi Cavagna (Quick-Step) and Anthony Delaplace (Fortuneo), Delaplace takes the 2nd KoM in front of Daniel.
Rémi Cavagna and Anthony Delaplace both relative strong rouleur.
Behind them Jonas Rickaert (Vlaanderen – Baloise) hangs at 1’53” but is not able to reduce the distance significantly.
The four riders sprint for the points, Gregory Daniel takes the 6 points and 3” bonus.
Gregory Daniel won the USA National Championships and Tour de Beauce in 2016, making him able to sign with Trek
Km: 2.5
Soon after the 3rd KoM won by Anthony Delaplace in front of Daniel.
On this section the peloton is led by rider from Sky, BMC and Movistar but not getting any closer.
After the long downhill, the last KoM, Rémi Cavagna and Anthony Delaplace drops their companions, and Rémi Cavagna takes the 10 points.
Overnight KoM result:
1
Anthony Delaplace
Team Fortuneo - Samsic
24
2
Mathias Le Turnier
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
20
3
Rémi Cavagna
Quick-Step Floors
18
Peloton at 3’07”
22 years old French Rémi Cavagna best result was 2nd in Baloise Belgium Tour last season
Km : 5
Gregory Daniel also wins the 2nd bonus sprint.
After that Dimension Data, Movistar and Cofidis up the pace dramatically, cutting down the distance. With 7.5 km to the line the breakaway was over.
Under the 5 km banner we got Maxime Bouet leading it out for teammate Florian Vachon (Fortuneo). Race leader José Joaquin Rojas 6th in that line at wheel of Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg.
Magnus Cort Nielsen at the right a bit further back with Astana’s train.
With 5 km left Florian Vachon seems to be in the best position before the sprint
Km : 0
Astana just makes it to the front and lead-out Riccardo Minali starts sprinting just a bit late, but from the best position. Florian Vachon now with José Joaquin Rojas clued moves forward very fast.
This is going to be close, Rojas just passing Vachon and Cort passing Minali, also Sunweb’s Søren Kragh Andersen coming very fast.
José Joaquin Rojas takes a very narrow 2nd win in Palmira, in front of Magnus Cort and Florian Vachon, also Søren Kragh 4th close.
32 years old José Joaquin Rojas Gil, started as professional back in 2005 riding for Liberty Seguros - Würth
Astana Pro Team
With just one sprinter stage left we still haven’t met out target of a stage win, but that said this was a much better attempt than yesterday
The third stage with start in Palmira, but this time we are heading north. The route is quite flat with just a relative easy climb in the Cordillera Central Mountains, after that we are heading up to La Paila before turning back south to the finish in Buga
Buga is one of the oldest cities in Colombia, there was a first settlement under the name Buga La Vieja but the date is uncertain. It is certain that the 2nd foundation took place between 1554 and 1555, later relocation several times with the final in 1573 to the site where the city is now.
Top 5 media favorites:
Magnus Cort Nielsen (Astana) José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) Søren Kragh (Sunweb) Janse Van Rensburg (Dimension Data) Riccardo Minali (Astana)
"'Sebastián de Belalcázar"' 1480-1551 ordered the first foundation of Buga La Vieja, but it is not clear exactly when it took place
Race
Km: 145
We get a series of unsuccessful attacks including too many riders to mention, but after 27 km we get a move that will last. It was initiated by Mikkel Frølich Honore (Virtu Cycling), we also saw attacking at the first stage.
Over the intermediate sprint 7 other riders have united into the breakaway of the day. Nicola Conci (Trek) Jonas Rickaert (Vlaanderen – Baloise), Anthony Delaplace (Fortuneo) Bernardo Suaza (Manzana), Valentin Madouas (FDJ), Matthias Krizek (Felbermayr), Rafael Silva (Efapel)
Honore wins the sprint, the peloton is still close at just 46”
Even though it is Honore first Pro season, he has won Sint-Martinusprijs Kontich (junior race) in 2014 and 2015 as an amateur
Km: 11
Honore and Silva struggles on the cat 3 climb, won by Anthony Delaplace, but the both get back.
Things settle down and they build a lead of about 3’30”, that is reduced to 2’12 when they pass the points sprint won by Jonas Rickaert.
We got 11 km left, Astana and Movistar with two separate trains hunting the breakaway. They still got 1’48”
As we have seen before, Astana will be active on the last 10 km, attempting to bring Cort in position for the expected mass sprint
900 m
With 3.5 km left KoM jersey holder Anthony Delaplace, attacks from the breakaway, at this point the bunch is at 40”
Anthony Delaplace was able to distance the breakaway, who was later caught one by one, but under the red kite he has just 5”, behind him it is Sepulveda for Rojas, Fabian Lienhard (Holowesko) and Minali for Cort.
French Anthony Delaplace won Tour de Normandie last season
Km: 0
Astana’s lead-out with Riccardo Minali kicking of Magnus Cort Nielsen seems to work perfectly, but again José Joaquin Rojas is simply the fastest on the last 5-600 meters and takes the 3rd victory in a row.
Magnus Cort Nielsen 2nd and Riccardo Minali takes the last podium
Impressively Rojas winning the first three stages of Colombia Oro y Paz, a dream start for Movistar with also Valverde taking Down Under
Astana Pro Team
Regrettably we could not beat Rojas, hopefully due to the relative bad form that Magnus has right now, so our target of a stage win was not fulfilled. That said 2rd and 3rd on the last flat stage wasn’t too bad.
Now time to focus on the GC and what Miguel Angel Lopez has got in his legs early season. We know that Sergey Chernetckii is in very good form and he might be a joker.
Latest Winners:
2017: Rohan Dennis 2016: Thomas Voeckler 2015: No race
Squad:
Michael Valgren, Luis León Sánchez, Jan Hirt,
Nikita Stalnov, Hugo Houle, Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev, Artyom Zakharov
Expectations:
We find it hard to predict this profile, looks like it will be a puncher and in that case we should aim for a podium, but it is not as hard as we would like and we may just lack a hilly sprinter here. So we have defined it as anything outside top 5 will be disappointing.
