Movistar Starting List
Mikel Landa
Julian Arredondo
Rafael Valls
Eduard Korniets
Ruben Fernandez
Eustaquio Sanchez
Alejandro Valverde
Manuel Moreno Capitan
Movistar were looking to bounce back from an average showing in the last WT race. Mikel Landa would be leading their challenge with a strong domestique team at his side. This was a high priority sponsor objective and the team were looking to put up their best showing. The competition included strong riders like Kelderman, Uran, Zakarin and Pinot. A lot of the riders were using this race as a build-up to the Giro. It would be a good indication of their form.
Stage 1 - Hilly with 2 major and 1 minor intermediate climbs
Julian Arredondo picked up a bit of an illness on the night before the last stage but opted to start the race despite it. The early break of 6 riders were caught. Ruben Fernandez went away solo, taking the first KOM sprint uncontested. A couple of riders attacked after that climb, but could not make the gap. With 10 km to go, Fernandez had a 90 second lead over the pack with just the flat approach to the finish remaining. He held on to take the stage win by half a minute, giving Movistar two jerseys after stage 1.
Stage winner - Ruben Fernandez, 39" ahead of the peloton
Stage 2 - Hilly with 1 major and 1 minor intermediate climbs
Arredondo's illness forced his overnight retirement. Landa's climbing train lost a significant member but the team were determined to carry on strong. The breakaway formed after the first sprint point, with 7 riders. 5 riders were caught on the second climb by the lead group, which was down to only 11 riders. Landa attacked with 5 km to go, catching the breakaway 2.5 km from the line. He would hold on and make it two consecutive victories for Movistar. He would also take the lead in the GC by 4 seconds.
Stage winner - Mikel Landa Other important results - Adam Yates 2nd, Wilco Kelderman 3rd, same time. Group of 16 riders 51" behind
Stage 3 - Mountain with mountain top finish, including 3 major intermediate climbs
A solo breakaway formed, who was chased by 10 riders, The chase group was caught by the peloton after which Fernandez attacked. After a couple more attacks, the breakaway stood at 7 riders after the first climb. They kept on attacking wach other but no one could pull away. On the third climb, Valls did the hard work, pulling Landa away from his rivals, with only Elissonde in tow. The break was caught on top of the third climb itself. After Valls got tired and sat up, some of the other GC contenders caught up to Landa on the descent. The lead group was 10 riders at the base of the climb to the finish. The riders kept getting dropped as Landa started to crank up the effort. He finally attacked with 4 km to go, pulling out to more than a minute. He won his second and the team's third stage of this race.
Stage winner - Mikel Landa Other important results - Rigoberto Uran 2nd, Adriano Jorge Benedito 3rd, Francesco Bongiorno 4th, all 1'5" behind, Tanel Kangert 5th, Ilnur Zakarin 6th, both 1'22" behind, Esteban Chaves 7th, Pierre Rolland 8th, 1'53" behind
Stage 4 - Hilly with 3 major intermediate climbs
A 6 man group formed the breakaway pulling out to a 10 minute. The breakaway did chase them, not allowing the lead to get out of hand, but could not reel them back in. Paul Voss won from the break as the leaders finished with the same times.
Stage winner - Paul Voss from breakaway Movistar - Mikel Landa, 1'55" behind
Stage 5 - Hilly with 2 major intermediate climbs
A 7 man breakaway with Fernandez created an 11 minute lead over the pack. 1 rider was dropped from the break on the second climb. Diego Rosa attacked with 20 km left and held on for the stage win. The leaders finished together again in the reduced peloton.
Stage winner - Diego Rosa from breakaway Movistar - Ruben Fernandez 6th, 1'15" behind, from breakaway
Stage 6 - Hilly with 3 minor intermediate climbs
Fernandez put himself into the break once. They pulled out to a 9 minute lead before any reaction from the pack. Fernandez won two KOM sprints, going to the top of that classification. The break was caught with 2 km left. Biel Kadri, in the original break, somehow found strength to attack again and hold for an incredible stage win. The leaders finished in the peloton.
Stage winner - Biel Kadri
Stage 7 - Hilly with downhill finish, including 1 major and 3 minor intermediate climbs
A dangerous 5 man breakaway, with Geniez, got to a 10 minutes lead over the peloton. Movistar put their resources into chasing as Geniez was about 13 minutes down on Landa. 7 of Landa's direct GC rivals attacked with 35 km to go and stayed ahead till the last climb. Landa, so far being helped by his domestiques, left them behind and finally made up the gap to his rivals on the descent to the line. The breakaway meanwhile, survived, with Stephane Rossetto winning. There were some minor time gaps among the GC leaders this time.
Stage winner - Stephane Rossetto from breakaway Movistar - Mikel Landa 7th, 33" behind Other important results - Wilco Kelderman 8th, Rigoberto Uran 9th, Francesco Bongiorno 10th, all 33" behind. Others lost time
Team Classification
1)Sky
2)Astana
3)American Express
After many second places, Movistar finally register a win on the WT circuit. Landa never looked in any trouble all through this race. The last four stages turned into a damage control exercise for Movistar as they allowed the breakaways to have fun out in front. The other stronger climbers could not produce the goods on stage 3, which did turn out to be the decider. Ruben Fernandez out in some hard and determined work to claim the KOM jersey. Two jerseys and three stage wins is a fine return for the team from Catalunya. They hope to keep this going.
Tamijo wrote:
Good show, CG & KoM win, as expected Stage 3 was the killer.
Was good to get a win under the belt after a few near misses! Landa was in great form
E3 Prijs Vlaanderen - Harelbeke
The first break consisting of 3 riders was caught early. The next break of 4 riders built up a 7 minute lead over the peloton. 2 more riders attacked with 95 km left. 5 riders attacked with 75 km to go but they were caught. This was followed by a 3 rider attack, which too failed. The pack split with 70 km to go, with the lead group having 40 riders, behind the breakaway. The pack split again and this time it was decisive. Benoot got caught and fell back to the fourth group on the road. Viviani was Movistar's highest placed rider at this time, in the second group on the road. The break was caught with 40 km to go. Viviani was dropped with 25 km to go, and never looked like getting back in touch with the leaders. It went downhill from there for Movistar, as Viviani only managed 13th, as Movistar's highest finisher. Peter Sagan and John Degenkolb built up a lead in the home stretched and sprinted against each other for the win. Sagan came out on top, taking yet another cobbled classic victory. Degenkolb took 2nd with Luke Rowe edging out his Team Sky team-mate Geraint Thomas to take 3rd place.
We don't really have a stronger helper for Benoot than Viviani in the cobbled races, so not much options in that respect. Benoot missed the decisive acceleration, and Viviani isn't strong enough to keep up with the best cobblers.
Criterium International
Intxausti has always done well on this race, but this year wasn't his best outing, finishing down in 7th place, after losing time on the last stage. Perhaps a sign his legs aren't what they used to be. Pintassilgo finished 4th while Robert Power powered his way to the top of the GC.
The early break of 3 riders included former Movistar man Luis Leon Sanchez. The pack split into 3 groups on the climb after the first cobbled section. The lead group behind the breakaway was down to 17 riders after the second cobbled section, with 3 of them of Movistar. After the third cobbled section, with 40 km to go, the break was being chased by 4 member group (Kristoff, Vanmarcke, Boom, Thomas). Behind them, Movistar were in the next group. The break was caught with 25 km to go. At that time, the lead group consisted of 5 riders, with the next group of around 25, having the Movistar, threesome chasing. The leading two groups came back together with 20 km to go. The same four riders as earlier plus Stybar attacked again with 18 km. At 5km, the same 5 riders were out ahead, with the chasing group having only 3 riders, including Benoot and Viviani for Movistar. At the finish, Kristoff used his superior sprinting to claim 1st place with Stybar in 2nd and Geraint Thomas in 3rd place. Viviani won the sprint for 6th place.
Yes much improved from E3 Prijs but still a worry that our riders keep missing the decisive breaks. Benoot has time to improve, so we're hopeful of a bright future
A star-studded field lined up to start the Ronde. Early action saw first a 17 rider breakaway form but were caught. This was followed by a series of unsuccessful breaks featuring 8, 5 and 11 riders. Finally, a 6 rider break went away and built up a 10 minute lead. Two riders attaked with 130 km to go, followed by another a little later. The peloton split for the first time with 75 km to go. The breakaway was caught 5 km later. 4 riders - van Aevermaet, Geraint Thomas, Kristoff and Vanmarcke - attacked immediately after. They built up a 45 second lead but were caught by the second group on the road, having Benoot for Movistar, with 60 km left. Kristoff attacked again with 40 km left. The foremost chasing group had 12 riders, before Stybar attacked. At this point Kristoff had a 90 second lead. Keukeliere and Boom were the next attackers. The former caught up with the previous attacking duo, but Boom fell back to the chase group. Benoot did his best to catch the leaders but to no avail. Kristoff took yet another cobbled race win, with Stybar coming home in 2nd. Keukeliere rounded out the last podium place, in 3rd place. The group with Benoot sprinted to the line for 4th place, but the Movistar rider didn't have any energy left and had to settle for 12th place.
Thanks . But Coquard was one of the favourites for the win. Not the result we were hoping for...
RACE PREVIEW - VOLTA CICLISTA al PAIS VASCO
Stage List
ITT - 1
Flat - 1
Hilly - 4 (1 HT)
Stage 1
As many as 8 second and third category climbs await the riders at the start in Basque country. This should be an attritional stage, and might just see some time gaps.
Stage 2
A more moderate stage as compared to the last one. The big climbs are over by the time the stage reaches its final third. The small climbs at the end give the punchers something to aim for.
Stage 3
The two bigger climbs on this stage take the peloton up to the plateau towards Vitoria-Gasteiz. Another stage which might see a showdown between the GC contenders, but might not produce big time gaps.
Stage 4
Barring the ITT, this is perhaps the stage most likely to differentiate the contenders from the also-rans. Five big climb, the last one apexing just before the finish, should see a much reduced pack fight it out on the final ascent. The first major time gaps are expected to be formed here.
Stage 5
Two steep climbs before the finish might prove tricky for the GC contenders. It will require them to keep their focus and concentration so as to not lose precious seconds before the potentially race-deciding ITT in the next stage.
Stage 6
A tough ITT is the stage that ultimately should decide the outcome of this race. This particular stage is not going to favour the TT specialists, with the climbers and punchers good against the clock who are likely to put in faster times.
Overall Assessment
A little unlike Pais Vasco to keep an ITT as its deciding stage. The hilly stages are good, but none of them, barring stage 4 are ideal in allowing the cream of the riders' crop to rise to the top. The ITT will also be a case of who has stayed fresh and who has recovered the best after 5 days of tough riding. A difficult race to call.
Movistar Starting List
Roman Kreuziger
Dayer Quintana
Ion Izagirre
Isidro Pintassilgo
Eduard Korniets
Rafael Valls
Gorkha Izagirre
Ruben Fernandez
Movistar's season so far has been a little strange. They've been up there challenging in almost every one of the WT events, but have only 1 victory in those same events so far, at the last stage race in Catalunya. They were looking to keep it going here, and had put that responsibility on Kreuziger, who was also defending his title. Unlike last year, it was the younger Quintana sibling giving him company at the event this time. A strong climbing team meant that Movistar were looking towards an overall victory here. They would have to fend off some tough competitors as a strong field had lined to start this race. The likes of Chris Froome, Tejay van Garderen, Ilnur Zakarin, Thibaut Pinot and quite a few others would be competing for the GC. This could very well turn into a battle royale on the slopes on stage 4 as well as in the stage 6 ITT. Let's see what happens...
Stage 1 - Hilly with downhill finish, including 6 major and 2 minor intermediate climbs
A 3 man breakaway was formed early on. They were soon joined by 5 riders, followed by one more. 5 riders from the break sat up and dropped back to the pack after the third climb. Pintassilgo attacked with 70 km to go. He caught up to the break before the fourth intermediate climb. Pintassilgo rode away form the others in the break on the fifth climb. On the sixth climb, the pack split for the first time. With 10 km to go, Pintassilgo had a 2 minute lead over the chasing group of 40 riders, with most of the GC favourites still in it. Going into last climb, Pintassilgo's lead was down to 30 seconds. He almost held on for the stage win, but Jesus Ezquerra managed to break free from the chasing group and sprinted past the Movistar rider to claim the stage win. There were no time gaps among the favourites.
Stage winner - Jesus Ezquerra Movistar - Isidro Pintassilgo 2nd, Ion Izagirre 7th, Roman Kreuziger 8th. Pintassilgo 2nd in KOM. Korniets 1st in U25s
Stage 2 - Hilly with downhill finish, 3 major and 1 minor intermediate climbs
An 8 man early breakaway formed. Chris Froome fell early, but was not affected and recovered. The stage remained without incident till the breakaway was caught with 35 km to go. The attacks started, with Gallopin and Spilak first in line. Soon after they were caught, Fuglsang and Uran tried their luck but did not succeed. A reduced bunch sprinted for the line with Mohoric claiming the stage. AMong the favourites, only Zakarin lost time on this stage.
Stage winner - Matej Mohoric Movistar - Roman Kreuziger 6th, Ion Izagirre 10th Other important results - Thibaut Pinot took the lead in the GC via countback
Stage 3 - Hilly with downhill finish, including 2 major and 2 minor intermediate climbs
The early 2 man break was joined by 2 others - Pintassilgo and Zakarin . Pintassilgo and another rider were caught soon after but the other two stayed clear. They built up a lead of 6 minutes at most but were caught with 10 km left. The lead group was down to a 100 hundred riders after the last climb. The finish saw another sprint in the reduced bunch, with Michael Matthews crossing the line in first place.
Stage winner - Michael Matthews Other imporatnt results - Tom Slagter took the lead in the GC via countback
Stage 4 - Hilly with hill top finish including 5 major intermediate climbs
The early 8 man breakaway were not allowed to build up a big lead. Three more riders attacked on the second climb but were caught. Simon Spilak aatcked on the third climb and was able to build up a small lead. Dan Martin, Jay McCarthy and Peter Kennaugh followed. They caught up to the break, but all of them were caught by the peloton with 20 km left. There was no action till the peloton reached the climb to the finish. Movistar were setting the pace and with 2 km to go, Pintassilgo found himself at the head of the pack. He steeped up the pace and eventually attacked with 1.5 km to go. He was followed by Kreuziger and Dayer and they weren't followed. Pintassilgo led a Movistar 1-2-3, but seemed to tired to celebrate as he crossed the line! The result put Kreuziger into yellow, Movistar now occupied the top 3 spots in the GC too. Chris Froome was one of the favourites who lost a lot of time.
Stage winner - Isidro Pintassilgo Movistar - Roman Kreuziger 2nd, same time. Dayer Quintana 3rd, 15" behind Other important results - All other GC favourites finished 25" behind
Stage 5 - Hilly with 3 major and 2 minor intermediate climbs
A 5 man breakawya buil up a 9 minute lead over the peloton. Movistar led the chase after the first climb. There were more attacks along the final set of climbs but none were successful. On the last climb, two riders were out in front with the group of 12 leaders chasing them. The break was caught on the descent, with a few more riders catching up. A reduced bunch of around 40 riders sprinted for the line. Carlos Betancur was the strongest and took the stage win.
Stage winner - Carlos Betancur Movistar - Dayer Quintana 4th, Roman Kreuziger 10th
Stage 6 - Individual Time Trial - Hilly - 22.8 km
The all important time trial started with around 40 odd riders separated by 25 seconds! This was gonna be a close run thing. The early pace was set by the strong TT-ists. Their times soon started to fall as the stronger climbers started crossing the line. Isidro Pintassilgo put in a disappointing ride to fall down the GC. Kreuziger's effort was much better as he ensured his rivlas stayed behind him after crossing the line. However, the star of the day was Dayer Quintana. He put in the best TT of his life, claiming the victory in star-studded field, picking up time on Kreuziger and just missing out on the GC by 1 second! Movistar finished 1-2 in the GC for the second year in a row in this race.
Stage winner - Dayer Quintana Movistar - Roman Kreuziger 4th, losing 14", Isidro Pintassilgo lost 1'29" Other important results - Tejay van Garderen 2nd, losing 10", Matias Frank 3rd, losing 11", Michal Kwiatkowski 6th, losing 23", Thibaut Pinot 8th, losing 32", Romain Bardet 9th, losing 35"
General Classification
1)Roman Kreuziger (Movistar)
2)Dayer Quintana (Movistar)
3)Tejay van Garderen (Telenet)
Two years in a row for Kreuziger in Basque country. One wonders why he's retiring so early! He's easily got a couple more years left in his legs by the looks of it. Younger sibling Dayer proves as good as Nairo. A brilliant ride in the ITT almost turned the GC in his favour. In the end, it still was a Movistar party. Dayer got his reward in the Points classification by winning it. Korniets went under the radar somewhat but managed to pull out a win in the U25s. A good word for Pintassilgo too, who was right in the mix till the ITT. His stage win and the second place in the KOM was a good return. A superlative performance from the team saw four classification wins, the ITT triumph and the unbelievable 1-2-3 on stage 4! Calls for a party tonight.
. And you are spot on!
