4th place wasn't a bad result really, considering the competition, it's just a shame about the breaks is all
KBC Dreisdaag De Panne
Just a quick little feature to let you know about how the team got on in Belgium for this short 2.HC Mini tour.
We sent a weak squad who were there to gain some experience working in unfamiliar roles - Leader: Shy Vogel/Taylor Phinney. Free's: Dom Rollin, Steven Cozza.
Team mates: Aldapé, Cruz, Louder, Jacques-Maynes.
We had a fairly poor overall showing, in terms of the GC, but Taylor Phinney managed to podium the final stage (17km TT) finishing behind Fabian Cancellara and Tony Martin.
We also had a top 10 on stage 2 thanks to Shy Vogel, though the GC was decided when a 20man breakaway was let free on day 1.
Speak to you all soon, with the Ronde Van Vlandaaren report!
He's also a declining 40 year old! last year he was operating on 80hill 77mo when he won La Fléche, his current stats are much less great, 77hill, 75mo and his TT and prologue are down to 72+71 from 74's
Hence i said he'll have a much more sideline role as a key helper this year
The 3rd of the Flanders classics, is todays race, The Ronde van Vlandaaren. It's built around steep cobbled climbs where only the strongest riders can keep with the pace.
The Riders
Our Team:
Leader: George Hincapie
Key Helpers: Shy Vogel, Dominique Rollin, Taylor Phinney
Doméstiques: Chad Beyer, Tom Zirbel, Steven Cozza, Jeff Louder.
The big names are all here, the bookies top 5 are as follows:
Hushovd, Haussler, Cancellara, Boonen and Breschel.
Arguably the most interesting team out today is Rabobank, with 5 men of similar ability over todays terrain (Boom, Breschel, Langeveld, Hoogerland and Nuyens) They may struggle to convince the team to work for any particular individual.
Omega-Pharma look powerful on paper, with both Gilbert and Haussler at there disposal, and a strong collection of riders, they will probably look to take control later in the race.
Last Year
Last year saw Tom Boonen take the victory for a 3rd time, after his (then) Quickstep team mate Sylvain Chavanel gave his all to position him in the small group sprint.
When we were last here, we lacked anyone with power on the cobbles, but now with both Shy and George, the target for the team is top15.
@Miguel - Agreed hopefully Big George can give the team a good result!
The Race
As per normality, a breakaway got clear in the early stages of the race. Unsure about how successful we would be at the other end of the race, we were keen to get someone into the breakaway. Chad Beyer was the man, and he joined the move along with 4 others (Niemic, Bonnet, Bodnar and Fofonov.)
The group got a lead of around 5minutes, nothing to threaten the peloton who continued to roll towards the difficulties that come later in the race. With 100km to go, (just as the cobbles+hills really start to arrive) The rain began! The riders will have to be careful on the slippery cobbles, and crashes seem almost a certainty!
Yup! Down they go! As the peloton made the transition off the pavé someone lost control and caused a big crash in the pack (37 men.) The biggest losers in this crash were BMC, who saw leaders Ballan and Quinziato both hit the deck, never to return...
The reduced peloton, (at this point 47 riders) made the catch of the breakaway with 42km to ride. The break go straight through, though Beyer managed a bottle run before getting dropped. In the group we're down to 3 other men - Rollin, Vogel and Hincapie.
24km from the finish line sees the first collection of attacks, Pozzato of Katusha jumps away, with Hushovd in his tracks. They open an instant gap of about 20" and no team has reacted yet, will this prove the decisive move?
As the gap hits 30" Philippe Gilbert tries to bridge across. 3 men is apparently too much for Leopard, who react and bring the trio back, with a little help from Shy Vogel. Hincapie's last helper.
One the final cobbled section, Hushovd tries to breakaway again! He's on fire at the moment, (1st in MSR and G-W) and it seems he wants to add another classic to his palmáres.
The reaction to this move is enough to split the pack, and with 10km to go, a group of 11 including Hincapie sits in front. They're followed by a big group of around 30, around 15" behind.
This group is still in front as they hit the 3km mark. Hincapie latched onto Devolders wheel behind Cancellara, whilst Gilbert and Hushovd moved up on the left side of the road.
It looks good for Thor with 800m to ride, Gilbert unintentionally gave him the perfect leadout, and now he's got a clear run to the line! Hincapie isn't a great sprinter, but he's sat in the middle of this group, and looking strong still.
Behind Shy Vogel is following near the front of group 2, can we get 2 strong placings?!
Thor Hushovd wins the Ronde for the first time in his career, continuing his phenomenal start to the season. Behind, Hincapie takes a great 9th place and Vogel our (19year old first season pro) sprints to 15th!
@Miguel - Possibly, he's certainly looked like the strongest in each so far, most aggressive and he's got that killer sprint to top it all off
@Baseballlover - Yeah, I'll start on the Basque Tour later today probably, where hopefully we'll continue the decent run
@Sutty68 - Agreed, he's peaking form now, hopefully be able to make top10 in Roubaix as well, the way Vogel is developing, by next year Hincapie might be working for him instead, so it'd be great if he could grab a final success!
Edited by baggieboys32 on 06-10-2012 15:36
Coming in the week between Flanders and Roubaix, is the Tour of the Basque country, or Vuelta Ciclista al pais Vasco. At 6 days, it's one of the Shortest WT stage races on the calendar, and the team has a special feeling towards this race, as it's where we claimed our debut WT Stage-Race GC, thanks to Chris Horner.
The Route
The route has no huge climbs, or summit finishes. But will make the ideal warm up for the ardennes classics, due to the endless short steep climbs which are present almost every day.
The other most noticeable thing with this route, is the varying length of stages, with RR days clocking in at both over 200, and under 100km in length!
Stage 6 will play a large deciding factor in terms of the GC, with a hilly Time Trial, in what looks set to be a hard fought race between the punchers.
Last Year
On our last outing in the Pais Vasco, Horner was able to take a great victory, finishing in front of Samuel Sanchéz and Andy Schleck. All 3 return, and sadly we're not predicting such a resounding success this time around.
If we can, then Horner would be the first man ever to win this race 3 times on the trot!
We've gone for strong mountain support around Chris, through Landis, Zabriskie, Lewis and Louder. Dombrowski will have a free role in this race, before he returns to lead the team in the Tour of the Gila and Tour of California.
Looking at the startlist, it seems the Basque-based Euskaltel-Euskadi team are out for some revenge upon us! We pipped them both here and at the Vuelta, and there team seems set up with enormous climbing support for there joint leaders Antón and Sanchéz!
The list of favourites just carries on from there, with both of the Schlecks, Menchov, Rodriguez, Hesjedal, Nibali, Cunego and Evans being just a few of the names worth mentioning!
My pick for the overall classification, is Samuel Sanchéz, racing on home turf will surely give him a major morale boost, and his team looks incredibly strong!
The opener here in Spain is short, clocking in under 100km, which could make it quite difficult to control. We're intending to put a man into the breakaway, to reduce the workload for our team.
PCM.Daily Favourite Cyclist competition winner, Jens Voigt was the man who lead the breakaway charge this morning. Dombrowski followed for Exxon-Walmart and the group was allowed clear at the first attempt.
Voigt and Dombrowski fought out the first KOM sprint, with Omega-Pharmas rider taking the points for first. The breakaway had a lead of 5minutes, which despite being early in the stage, was already a threatening position!
3 Teams clearly agree, as riders from Leopard, Liquigas and Acqua & Sapone try to bridge across the gap. The break is now in front of the 1minute per 10km mark, will this be an unexpected shot at a stage for young Joe?
20km to ride, and the gap is still 2'47"! However, it starts to fall as we get onto the climb, and the team-leaders begin the attacks.
Out front, Kjell Carlstromm has managed to get away from the break over the climb. He's solo with an advantage of 37" over the break, and 1'17" over the peloton with 8.7km to ride...
Meanwhile, Horner has given up on the peloton, and makes an attack along with WC Damiano Cunego, trying to get to the favourites group 15" ahead.
2km to ride, and Carllstromm can be seen by the break and peloton. It looks like it'll all come back together now, but it's going right to the wire!
700m and the break are all but caught. The front Sky man however, has increased the lead a little, he'll take the stage, but how much of a time gap can the rider open?
Answer: None. He takes the stage win, but the gaps between the lone leader, the break, and the peloton were so small that everyone was given the same time. Dombrowski finishes 11th on the stage after a weak finish, whilst Horner was happily inside of the peloton.
