The Ardennes Classics are up and it’s a week full of (hopefully) fantastic racing. The start was set in the Netherlands, as the peloton heads up and down the hills and ultimately fights it out at the Cauberg. Citigroup can look back at a great spring campaign so far with two big classic win wins (K-B-K, Brabantse Pijl) and numerous Podium finishes and Top 10 results. The Ardennes week shall now be the icing of the cake, with Moreno Moser being the obvious captain and Raphael Visconti appearing as a dark horse after his great results at the Ronde, Strade Bianche and most notably his win at Brabantse Pijl.


The race itself presented itself calm throughout most of the day. There was some rain for the riders, but nothing they couldn’t deal with and it soon faded again. As usual, there some incidents for the riders due to the roads with many turns, roundabouts and other road… things, that should actually help regular cyclists but ironically enough, are a danger to the professional cyclists in a race.

At around 20 kilometers out, a big group of favourites dispatched after Alejandro Valverde attacked from far out. The Tour de France champion surely rides with new-found confidence after his stellar season last year and with his win at Tirreno-Adriatico, things look good that he reaps another great year for himself. Unfortunately, Moreno Moser was held up in the peloton and couldn’t follow the group of chasers.
Only Visconti was the last capable rider to be right up there with Moser (besides De Marchi who spent most of the day in the initial, rather pointless breakaway) and so Raphael supported his captain and worked hard and tirelessly to get the favourites back. Eventually, Visconti brought the peloton close enough to Group Gilbert, so that Moreno Moser could dare to make the jump. Moser thus bridges over to Group Gilbert with 10 kilometers left, Alejandro Valverde still upfront alone though.

There was some uneasy alliance going on, not everybody willing to work. However, Moser had great legs and he wanted to show that today. Henao from Team SKY joined too from behind alongside Moser, and both of those youngster looked well in that 9 men big group. The alliance remained uneven though, and that showed itself in the climb up the Cauberg.


As Valverde was struggling up there, Daniel Martin pushed out of the Band of Nine and set out to conquer the Cauberg ahead of him. Moser was eager to follow but couldn’t follow the acceleration. Kwiatkowski seemed to be able to, but Moser reeled him back in.


Valverde was all over the hill, Martin was pushing on, and then there was Moser riding bravely and great… and coming over the Cauberg, wanting to launch that damn sprint for the podium but not even slightly able to accelerate. It was enough though, holding the pace was enough for Moser though as he took third at AGR! He completes podium behind Valverde and Martin. Raphael Visconti a short while, after some great work for Moser, comes in 17th, spearheading a group of his own.

Amstel Gold Race 2015, Results

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Alejandro Valverde	Movistar Team	6h19'37
2	Daniel Martin	Garmin Sharp	+ 26
3	Moreno Moser	Citigroup - Cannondale	+ 38
4	Philippe Gilbert	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
5	Michal Kwiatkowski	Lampre - Merida	s.t.
6	Sergio Henao	Team Sky	s.t.
7	Fränk Schleck	Trek Factory Racing	s.t.
8	Simon Gerrans	Orica GreenEdge	s.t.
9	Rui Costa	Team Katusha	s.t.
10	Samuel Sánchez	BMC Racing Team	s.t.

Recent history tells us, that Fleche Wallone is always meant to be a simple sprint up the feared Mur de Huy. And while the race offered little, except for a small three-man breakaway group, it became exciting with one move: Raphael Visconti attacked 20 kilometers far out, on his wheel were no other riders than Alejandro Valverde and Joaquim Rodriguez. The three of them formed a band and set out to get a lead onto their rivals. That was at least Raphael’s intention.


Already at the next climb, Valverde and Rodriguez accelerated once more. Later, Raphael told me, that he didn’t know if they raced against him or if they wanted to drop each other. As a reaction to the two Spaniards upfront, various groups of riders got away from the peloton. Visconti himself got caught by a group containing Kwiatkowski, while Moreno Moser was further back.

With Rodriguez in first position and Valverde closely behind, a total of three groups of various riders chased them up the Muur de Huy. Gilbert came the closest, nearly passing them in the last kilometer but he soon faded and had to make room for Alberto Contador and Uran. However Purito was way too strong at this climb, which is perfectly suited for him. It is as if this climb was either build for Rodriguez – or he himself was built for this climb in particular.
Raphael Visconti fought his way up the Muur. Since he went quite exhausted already into the Muur, he didn’t stand much chance against the supreme climbers but his fighting spirits kept the time in control and he suffered over the steepest parts until he saw the finish line – and came in 8th!


La Flèche Wallone 2015, Results

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Joaquím Rodríguez	Team Katusha	4h43'41
2	Alejandro Valverde	Movistar Team	+ 17
3	Alberto Contador	Tinkoff - Saxo	+ 23
4	Rigoberto Urán	Team Katusha	+ 34
5	Philippe Gilbert	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
6	Michal Kwiatkowski	Lampre - Merida	+ 56
7	Simon Clarke	Orica GreenEdge	+ 1'34
8	Raphael Visconti	Citigroup - Cannondale+ 1'44
9	Sergio Henao	Team Sky	+ 1'58
10	Daniel Martin	Garmin Sharp	+ 2'02

Journalist X: Raphael, a great race from you today. You attacked relatively early, 20 kilometers out from the Muur. What did you expect?
Raphael: I had hoped I could ride alone and get a bit of gap. The Muur de Huy doesn’t suit me so much as other riders so I wanted to take my chances early on. At least this way the fans get to know my name. Either win or go down guns blazing…
I was surprised then when Purito and Valverde, two of the best riders, were on my wheel. I couldn’t keep up with them though, but I’m satisfied with a 8th place here today.

Liège – Bastogne – Liège can be a dull race at times, but in general, La Doyenne is dinner plate full of exquisite possible racing. The Oldest One proved to have one of the most exciting editions of recent years, as the fight was in full swing in the heavy rain on the road to Liège at La Redoute.


There at the first famous climb, La Doyenne’s fanatic crowd saw attacks by Contador, Flèche winner Purito and World Champion Daniel Martin. An illustrious group without a doubt, who challenged BMC and Astana to do some major chasing effort back in the peloton. Citigroup’s Moreno Moser was inclined to show his worth already at La Redoute too, however an unfortunate hold-up by Van Hoecke (Topsport Vlaanderen), where the Belgian blocked half of the road, and the race official’s car, ended Moser’s move and saw him lose that critical momentum.

With Contador catching up to the break of the day, and Daniel Martin dropping Purito, the race presented itself in an enjoyable manner. Raphael Visconti hasn’t shown himself at that point yet, but he had his dearest struggle to keep up with the BMC and Astana train. As the comments in internet forums were speculating about Contador’s chances and brave far-out attack and the possibility of him winning this race, they neglected that the 35 rider strong peloton was actually quite close to the Spaniard.


As they headed into Côte de la Roche aux Faucons, the small peloton had to brace themselves for the big onslaught. There was a high intensity being felt in the groups, and quickly tension was released like a steaming valve, as Philippe Gilbert set out with a strong attack. Though riders such as Purito and Moreno Moser wanted to follow, they couldn’t at that decisive moment. Gilbert had too much panache. Gilbert was too strong in that moment and Côte de la Roche aux Faucons also saw him overtaking the break of the day and Contador. The hype around the Spaniard was gone, the hype train for Gilbert was slowly building up…

With 3 riders out of 6, the first chasing group was dominated by Katusha. There were also Moser, Kwiatkowski and Mollema featured in Katusha’s group, as they came out of Roche aux Faucons. However, Gilbert was causing explosion upfront there and at that point just riding for his life. And with an seemingly endless hunger, Gilbert rushed over Saint Nicholas, straight into Liège.

Visconti was riding at the forefront of the peloton meanwhile, whom reeled in Contador. The Spaniard was still eager to show his worth in a One-Day classic and followed the initial attacks on the Saint Nicholas by Valverde and Gerrans. This time at his wheel were also Daniel Martin and Raphael Visconti. The three of them built up a great chemistry, as they passed the first Katusha rider, Rigoberto Uran. With several riders up the road, Visconti knew at that point, his chances for a Top 10 were getting slim…


With a strong punch, Kwiatkowski distanced his rivals on the way up to Ans. Moser was without an answer at that point, as he had to let go off Rui Costa too. With Gerrans and Valverde coming up from behind, Moser was in a hunted position. They came up quickly and fast, and with each look behind him, Moser just lost more believe and action.

As Kwiwatkowski came around that last turn, he just caught a glimpse of Gilbert winning. The Belgian Ardennes specialist from BMC had enough left in his tank, 18 seconds. A triumph, as the crowds in Ans went crazy for Gilbert’s win. Rui Costa rounded off the podium, Moser finished 7th.

Visconti came up a bit later, in a duel with Contador. They have both kept Daniel Martin behind them, and Visconti didn’t know the exact rankings but it was close and he was ready to give it all at that point. �I was sure I could finish in Top 10�, Raphael later admitted. But Contador and he were on the same bike length for the last hundred meters, and in the end, a few centimeters put Visconti out of the Top 10, into 11th.



Liège- Bastogne - Liège 2015, Results

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Philippe Gilbert	BMC Racing Team	6h31'45
2	Michal Kwiatkowski	Lampre - Merida	+ 18
3	Rui Costa	Team Katusha	+ 39
4	Maxim Iglinskiy	Astana Pro Team	+ 55
5	Simon Gerrans	Orica GreenEdge	s.t.
6	Alejandro Valverde	Movistar Team	s.t.
7	Moreno Moser	Citigroup - Cannondale	s.t.
8	Bauke Mollema	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	+ 1'21
9	Joaquím Rodríguez	Team Katusha	+ 1'49
10	Alberto Contador	Tinkoff - Saxo	+ 2'03

Journalist X: “Raphael… you finished 33rd last year, this year 11th. You seem to have a neck for those spots with the same numbers?�
Raphael: “Well, I hadn’t planned on missing out on the Top 10 so close. It was just a few centimeters but alas, I was beaten in the sprint up to Ans. I think we had a great dynamic in our little group, and Contador, Martin and I really tried to get back there… Congratulations to Gilbert, he was crazy-strong today. Also, there have been some great performances here today, so it was a great day of racing I think.�
Journalist X: “You chased despite Moreno being upfront?�
Raphael: “I knew that we were unlikely to catch them, so yes – I was helping the effort of the small group in order to get a good result myself. Our Directeur sportives had allowed me to so, it was a minor risk I could take. Of course, italian media probably wants to blame me now for some strange reason, but I didn’t race against Moreno at any point. I raced against the huge group behind us.�
Journalist X:: “You have finished your combo Flanders/Ardennes week now. How do you hold up?�
Raphael: “Tired, but that could be just Liége talking now… I was fortunate to avoid horrific crashes, had a mechanical at Roubaix… but overall, I think I can be very satisfied. Numeros Top 10 placings, a win at Brabantse Pijl. Of course, I’m still glad about my 10th place at Ronde. It was a very nice classic’s campaign for me. I havn't scored so many WT points, but I think I'm pretty high up in terms of CQ Rankings?
[Journalist X: "Yes, you're 11th right now"]. Yeah, cool. Well, it’s time to call it an end now, and… take some rest, prepare for other races.�
Journalist X: “Your next race will be?�
Raphael: “I’ll revisit America and ride the Tour of California in support of T.J. After that, I head to Bavaria, to race Bayern-Rundfahrt. In June and July, I’ll take a much needed break from racing then. I’m in competition since August last year.�

With two stage wins Joaquim Rodriguez has been fantastically strong throughout the week but his weak time trial skills weren’t enough to hold against the superb Mountain Time Trial performance of Vincenzi Nibali. The Italian blasted over the Gotthardpass on the last day. Chris Froome lands 3rd place overall, Ivan Basso is Citigroup’s best man on 12th.

Stage	Name	Team	Leader’s Jersey
1, TTT	Garmin-Sharp	Garmin-Sharp	Ryder Hesjedal
2, HL	Joaquim Rodriguez	Katusha	Joaquim Rodriguez
3, HL	Tanel Kangert	Astana	Joaquim Rodriguez
4, FL	Mark Cavendish	Omega Pharma	Joaquim Rodriguez
5, MT	Joaquim Rodriguez	Katusha	Joaquim Rodriguez
6, MT TT	Vincenzo Nibali	Astana	Vincenzo Nibali

Tour de Romandie, Final Classification

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Vincenzo Nibali	Astana Pro Team	18h52'06
2	Joaquím Rodríguez	Team Katusha	+ 13
3	Chris Froome	Team Sky	+ 42
4	Richie Porte	Team Sky	+ 3'10
5	Carlos Betancur	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 3'24
6	Ryder Hesjedal	Garmin Sharp	+ 3'30
7	Tanel Kangert	Garmin Sharp	+ 3'57
8	Jurgen Van den Broeck	Lotto Belisol	+ 4'10
9	Cadel Evans	BMC Racing Team	+ 4'49
10	Michael Rogers	Tinkoff - Saxo	+ 5'03