Apparently Fabian Cancellara has never heard of race fitness because for the swiss superstar 6 race days have been enough to find sufficient form and legs to win at the Ronde 2015.


The race was early on influenced by rain and the breakaways, in which Kristjan Koren from Citigroup-Cannondale was featured too. After an far-out attack by Philippe Gilbert (BMC) and Offredo (FDJ), Trek and Citigroup-Cannondale decided to help Omega Pharma in their little game of catch-up. However, the group’s little fun activity lasted for quite some time, as Gilbert and Offredo joined the break up front and become increasingly dangerous. The peloton at that point was lready greatly reduced, with 100 kilometers remaining 50 riders had a chance left at the victory. This small number was the testimony to the tough first part of the race.

Over the first time of the double of Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg, Gilbert kept his lead of roughly 2 minutes. The peloton, in it Raphael Visconti, kept their cool though so far and the work commited to the chase spoke volumes for the effort of the top teams. Since attacks were lacking at those two famous paved hills, the engine kept running smoothly at first.


Soon after, at around 20 kilometers left, the big move happened though, when Cancellara and Tom Boonen each attack. Several riders were eager to follow them, among them Raphael Visconti. However, Visconti, Van Avermaet, Sagan and Vanmarcke stood no chance at the Koppenberg’s decisive passage. Spartacus went through first, clear of all competition. Boonen with some distance was Cancellara’s first chaser. The other riders stood no chance there, Visconti rode next to Vandenbergh. Behind the Italian-Austrian was a long row of desperate faces in the distance, a horizon of grins and torment. Visconti realized then, he was riding for a Top 10 result here!

The intense race cumulated in a fantastic 20 km solo-run by Cancellara, followed by the chase of Boonen. Cancellara in this regard was the only rider able to catch the last breakaway rider, Philippe Gilbert, a few kilometers from the finish. Gilbert stood after the long, brave breakaway, no chance against Cancellara in the sprint, and Spartacus took his fourth Ronde win. Boonen would have nearly made it but came in third. Man of the day was certainly Gilbert though with his fantastic, aggressive riding.


For Raphael Visconti, the race remained a struggle. Against the once hopeful remnants of opposing riders, he rode bravely with Stijn Vandenbergh on his wheel. Raphael couldn't keep up with Van Avermaet, Vanmarcke and Sagan, but he was gunning for a Top 10 result at that point. Iglinskiy and Offredo prevailed ahead of him, riders from the initial breakaway from earlier on. Of all people Vandenbergh, who sat on his wheel in the last 20 kilometers, outsprinted him. But he had it there. He had scored his desired Top 10 result.




Ronde van Vlaanderen 2015, Results

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Fabian Cancellara	Trek Factory Racing	6h13'31
2	Philippe Gilbert	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
3	Tom Boonen	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	+ 8
4	Greg Van Avermaet	BMC Racing Team	+ 54
5	Peter Sagan	Team Sky	+ 58
6	Sep Vanmarcke	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	+ 1'01
7	Maxim Iglinskiy	Astana Pro Team	+ 1'06
8	Yohan Offredo	FDJ.fr	+ 1'11
9	Stijn Vandenbergh	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	+ 2'53
10	Raphael Visconti	Citigroup - Cannondale	+ 3'00

Journalist X: "Raphael, your first words?"
Raphael: "As a baby? Mama, probably... [takes a nip from water bottle] In all honesty, it was a fantastic race for me today. The Ronde feels special to race and it's great to scored a Top 10 ranking in a Monument. I... I... don't know what to say else. I'm a bit at a loss for words right now. Really happy."

Journalist X: "You and your team were very active today as usual in the paved classics. Did your tactic work?"
Raphael: "Erm, so and so. We had expected that an attack would come a bit earlier from the top tier riders. But Gilbert pushed for it very early and that made us nervous. Gilbert is one hell of a dangerous rider. At something like 120 kilometers left, we knew the risk of him and other riders, so well, we decided to help the chasing effort. I wish I had been able to hang on a bit longer, but when we hit the Koppenberg, I just wanted to come over that hill and somehow get a decent result. I'm glad it worked out. But there are points and moments, where tactic doesn't help you anymoe. In those moments you just need the legs to hang on."

Journalist X: "Your plans for Roubaix now. And what do you expect next year at the Ronde?"
Raphael: "Of course I'd like to contest in a good form next year again but that's far away. Greater riders have never managed to win here, that means for me that I should enjoy right now. I want to win every race imaginable, but not every victory has to be a win on the drawboard. This today was for me a big step in the right direction and feels like a victory too. When you feel like the training pays off, the sacrificies slowly reward you... professional cycling is unforgiving, but it also grants you some personal moments of glory. This is it for me today.
Obviously I'm looking forward to Roubaix. It's the biggest classic of the year, however I don't think I'll play much of a role there. It should be Oscar's turn then again."

The Rider wrote:
-- Every time you race the big cobble classics it seems almost everyone finishes, what gives?!?

Contador takes over World Tour lead by claiming two Spanish stage races!

Albero Contador, last year’s second at le Tour, has come into some unbeatable shape so far, by claiming the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya and the Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco.

At De Gendt’s first race his injury, the Tour of Catalunya, our new Belgian rider performed great by coming 8th overall. He and the team started out far-out and with some obvious lack but with some solid fighting performances over the upcoming days, De Gendt improved all the time and can look now solid to prepare for the larger tasks.

Stage	Name	Team	Leader’s Jersey
1, PRL	Pieter Weening	Orica GreenEdge	Pieter Weening
2, MT	Chris Froome	Team SKY	Chris Froome
3, MT	Gian-Luca Brambilla	Omega Pharma	Chris Froome
4, HL	Alejandro Valverde	Movistar	Alberto Contador
5, FL	Brett Lanchester	Orica GreenEdge	Alberto Contador
6, HL	Chris Froome	SKY	Alberto Contador
7, FL	Kevin Reza	Europcar	Alberto Contador

Volta Ciclista a Catalunya 2015, Final Classification

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Alberto Contador	Tinkoff - Saxo	19h29'27
2	Joaquím Rodríguez	Team Katusha	+ 2'56
3	Chris Froome	Team Sky	+ 3'09
4	Fränk Schleck	Trek Factory Racing	+ 3'37
5	Carlos Betancur	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 3'56
6	Jurgen Van den Broeck	Lotto Belisol	+ 4'09
7	Michal Kwiatkowski	Lampre - Merida	+ 5'13
8	Thomas De Gendt	Citigroup - Cannondale	+ 6'22
9	Alejandro Valverde	Movistar Team	+ 6'31
10	Luis León Sánchez	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	+ 6'33

The Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco several days later then was mostly targeted as a build-up race for Moreno Moser and others for the Ardennes classics. The young Italian didn’t stand much chance against Contador’s aggressive, virtuous style of riding and came in 12th overall, behind a true phalanx of excellent riders. Moser once more wasn’t lucky as he crashed on stage 2, but there were no serious injuries accounted.

Stage	Name	Team	Leader’s Jersey
1, HL	Michal Kwiatkowski	Lampre-Merida	Michal Kwiatkowski
2, MT	Alberto Contador	Tinkoff Saxo	Alberto Contador
3, HL	Jose Serpa	Lampre	Alberto Contador
4, HL	Pierrick Fedrigo	FDJ.fr	Alberto Contador
5, MT	Simon Clarke	OGE	Alberto Contador
6, TT	Michal Kwiatkowski	Lampre – Merida	Alberto Contador

Vuelta Ciclista a Pais Vasco 2015, Final Classification

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Alberto Contador	Tinkoff - Saxo	18h10'07
2	Nairo Quintana	Astana Pro Team	+ 1'23
3	Chris Froome	Team Sky	+ 1'50
4	Carlos Betancur	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 1'57
5	Michal Kwiatkowski	Lampre - Merida	+ 1'58
6	Alejandro Valverde	Movistar Team	+ 2'14
7	Samuel Sánchez	BMC Racing Team	+ 2'22
8	Rui Costa	Team Katusha	+ 3'10
9	Chris Horner	Lampre - Merida	+ 3'13
10	Bauke Mollema	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	+ 4'00

Moser also contest at the Settimana Coppi e Bartali, where he achieved a 3rd place overall. Peter Velits won the race.

Great news for fans of Cancellara: After Tom Boonen last year, it was this year his turn as the swiss rider to take the double once again. With a clear-cut solo-performance, the Trek rider won in almost the same manner as one week prior at the Ronde. You don’t need that much tactics, when you’re the strongest.

The race started to get interesting early on, with Cancellara and Vanmarcke showing a keen interest to make the race tough. At that point, Citigroup’s main man, Oscar Gatto, was looking very good. However, after an attack by Peter Sagan, which was followed by Degenkolb and Cancellara, Gatto missed the move. Instead, Raphael Visconti followed Tom Boonen and Sep Vanmarcke closest in pursuit of Cancellara & the others. But lighting stroke hard down on the young Italian-austrian cyclist, as a mechanical put him out of contention.



With the 5 top riders up front, Citigroup-Cannondale now had to pace hard after Visconti’s return into the peloton. Daniel Oss, Raphael Visconti, Marco Marcato and Kristjan Koren did the same they did so often already this season: Pace over the pave.

As Cancellara distanced his competitors upfront with a decisive blow, Gatto tried his chances too after the fabulous work by his teammates. The race was already lost at that point, there was no hope in catching Cancellara. But still there was hope for a great result. Greg Van Avermeat, Bernie Eisel, Ladagnous and Boom followed Gatto too, but surprisingly – except for GVA - none of them was willing to help Gatto. A disgraceful style of riding from his competition there, and in an attempt of dropping them, Gatto just lost his power over and over again. Eventually, Oscar Gatto finished 13rd. Raphael Visconti came in 33rd after a tough day of racing.





Paris-Roubaix 2015, Results

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Fabian Cancellara	Trek Factory Racing	6h11'40
2	Sep Vanmarcke	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	+ 1'18
3	John Degenkolb	Team Giant - Shimano	s.t.
4	Tom Boonen	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.
5	Peter Sagan	Team Sky	+ 2'13
6	Sebastian Langeveld	Garmin Sharp	s.t.
7	Alexander Kristoff	Lotto Belisol	+ 4'12
8	Lars Boom	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
9	Bernhard Eisel	Team Sky	s.t.
10	Greg Van Avermaet	BMC Racing Team	s.t.

Not surprisingly, Raphael Visconti didn't want to make an interview after today's race. Journalist X is sure to dig deep though!

With a strong comeback, Citigroup – Cannondale has responded on the defeat at Paris-Roubaix. De Brabantse Pijl saw an unique, great team performance, as the team paced over the five laps around Overijse. Those were 50 kilometers of intense chasing and determined destruction of the opposition. But more so: It was the construction of the stage for the last lap of grandeur, which belonged to Raphael Visconti.

The team went into the race with a clear plan. Surely, the biggest favourite was Philippe Gilbert in his favourite race in the season, and his BMC team took over early responsibility. Citigroup-Cannondale rode in their support. Marcato, Koren, Bodnar and Sabatini did amazing work and continued to perform when the cobblestones appeared, 5 laps each 10 kilometers. Overijse was here, but the finish was still 50 kilometers away.

The unbeatable force of Citigroup-Cannondale rushed over the pave and cared for several splits in the peloton. Surprisingly, Gilbert must have gotten nervous by the sheer impeccable pacing of Citigroup, and attacked early on: 35 kilometers out. In turn, this made Citigroup nervous too. Under the role of team captain Visconti ordered to pace and that’s when the riders went all-in. They all paced horrendously over the pave. In the process, they destroyed themselves. Oscar Gatto was the last remaining rider for Visconti at around 12 kilometers. Philippe Gilbert was still at large, now in the initial Break of the Day and closing in on the finish line. Oscar performed though and flew with Visconti on his back to the BOTD and thus catched Gilbert.


It was then up to Raphael: As pressure took over me, I knew that the team had put faith in me. After the Ronde, everybody knew that this was a race suited to me, and the team did such tremendous work today. I havn’t seen that. I wanted to pay them back for their help. But more than that, I wanted to win. I looked at Gilbert. He knew, that I was going to attack as soon as the cobblestones were up. And so I did, and so he followed, but I got my lead. At first it were centimeters, then meters and then it was enough to be over the hill. To enjoy the rest of the race…


Visconti had time to enjoy the last 4 kilometers. When he celebrated, he tipped on his chest. Everybody noticed the gesture, a nod to his sponsor but more so: A signal of gratitude to his team. De Brabantse Pijl was Raphael Viscontis.


De Brabantse Pijl 2015, Results

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Raphael Visconti	Citigroup - Cannondale	4h52'22
2	Philippe Gilbert	BMC Racing Team	+ 37
3	Yaroslav Popovych	Trek Factory Racing	+ 2'04
4	Oscar Gatto	Citigroup - Cannondale	+ 2'14
5	Frédéric Amorison	Wallonie - Bruxelles	s.t.
6	Pieter Serry	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.
7	Gert Steegmans	Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise	s.t.
8	Nick Nuyens	Garmin Sharp	s.t.
9	Alexandre Pichot	Team Europcar	s.t.
10	Bernhard Eisel	Team Sky	s.t.

Journalist X: “Raphael… I see that your teammates are coming and are eager to celebrate you. Just two questions. How was it to race here today? Your team did some amazing support and you really delivered here.�
Raphael: “Yeah, it was rather great. It just went perfect. I’m not sure I delivered… I was still feeling great in the finale though. I think with this support a lot of riders could have won today. I think any rider from my team could have won today, so I am very grateful that I had the opportunity and that the team was racing for me today. Very happy that they sort of chose me. The Ronde was a great result and maybe it has opened up places.�

Journalist X: “Has the disappointment from Paris-Roubaix been cured by this now? How was the Hell of the North?�
Raphael: “I had some bad luck on the road to Roubaix but honestly: I was at my limit. I shouldn’t have followed them. Oscar should have had that chance, he was meant to take it. When I followed Boonen and Vanmarcke, I was… I was suddenly on my limit. Nothing worked anymore. I don’t know, the mechanical may be a result of that. I wasn’t riding straight and clear anymore. I was not concentrated anymore, I wanted the race to end… It was a low-point, I didn’t want anybody to see me after Roubaix, so weak.�