Thanks, all. We'll do everything we can to prove that we deserved the wildcard.
@ Miguel - I don't know, maybe vibes from real life Tirreno?
WT: Paris - Nice: Prologue
Lots to keep track of during this short opening ride, and to make it even more tough we have plenty of strong riders among the first starters.
The first one who manages to set a real benchmark time comes as early as fifth out from the start. Sky have lined up an unusually weak squad, but that doesn't stop Ian Stannard from storming through the race with a time of 6'51.
Not long after that comes Euskaltel co-leader and Spanish TT champion Samuel Sanchez, who is surely one of the GC favourites. He's a questionmark after today however, as 7'07 is a lot worse than you'd expect from him.
Gatis might be on domestique-duty in this race, but that doesn't mean that he isn't allowed to go all-out today. The good form allows him to push the limits a bit, but Stannard is still two seconds too fast.
The top of the provisional stage ranking gets even more crowded as Cameron Meyer (GreenEDGE) slips in between Stannard and Gatis.
Same goes for Kristof Vandewalle (Quickstep), however he is a few tenths of a second slower than Meyer and goes into provisional 3rd place while Gatis drops to fourth.
Gatis isn't even going to be our best rider today, as Yoann also finishes with a better time. No lead though, as Stannard hangs on by the slightest of margins.
And out of nowhere, we now get a new provisional leader! Bob Jungels shows that the Radioshack management made a good call when they promoted him from the Leopard CT team by clocking 6'49!
Our dream of a podium from Yoann is quickly shattered completely as Andrey Grivko (Astana) shoves him down to fourth by squeezing into second place on the same second as Stannard.
We're now getting to some more GC contenders, with Cadel Evans (BMC) leading them out. 6'55 isn't what he or his team were hoping for however, so perhaps they should go all in for Gilbert as captain instead.
Stannard now also has to leave the podium area, after being in one of the three hot seats for several hours. Jungels stays on top though, but Daniele Bennati (Saxo) comes home for second place just a second slower.
And officially no podium for us today, as Kwiatek clocks 6'53. Still enough to place him a good position for future stages.
The stage win is still very much up for grabs tho, with Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) taking a landslide lead! 6'46 puts him 3s clear of everyone else!
As we continue going down through the starting field, we catch a glimpse of a very uncomfortable-looking Andy Schleck (Radioshack). As usual when it comes to time trials, he performs on a low level and is one of the slowest today with 7'10. Doesn't look like he's in form this time either...
Quite a contrast as we switch focus to the next man: Rui Costa (Movistar). 6'48 takes him into second place, looking ready for a GC assault later in the race.
Tom Boonen (Quickstep) also starts out well with 6'52. With bonifications available on tomorrow's flat stage, he could very well be switching his regular jersey for yellow quite soon.
Only two guys left, then. First is Purito Rodriguez (Garmin), who seems to have adapted well to his new environment after Katusha's failed attempt to get their WT license back. A time of 6'53 also hints that he may have improved his TTing even more. He'll be dangerous at the Tour!
Philippe Gilbert starts out very similarly, but will probably be shocked to see that he was beaten by his big rival today. Just by a second, but still perhaps a bit of a mental hit for the Belgian.
Nobody is able to match an amazingly strong Boasson Hagen, however!
Gatis ends up in 12th place and Kwiatek in 15th - both 8 seconds back. Pierre meanwhile loses 15s with Clement struggling home at + 22
Stage / GC
1
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Sky Professional Cycling Team
6'46
2
Rui Costa
Movistar Team
+ 2
3
Bob Jungels
Radioshack - Trek
+ 3
4
Daniele Bennati
Team Saxo-Tinkoff
+ 4
5
Andriy Grivko
Astana Pro Team
+ 5
6
Ian Stannard
Sky Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
7
Yoann Paillot
La Pomme - Bouygues
+ 6
8
Cameron Meyer
Orica - GreenEdge
+ 7
9
Kristof Vandewalle
OmegaPharma - Quickstep
s.t.
10
Kristijan Durasek
Lampre - Merida
s.t.
WT: Paris - Nice: Stage 1
Our original main plan for today's stage was to feature in the breakaway and fight for some KoM points, but Argos thought differently. Thomas makes a number of attempts to jump clear, but for some reason he is chased down by the Dutch squad every time.
They don't see any problems with four stronger and better placed riders creating a gap, on the other hand, and the group including Sebastien Turgot (Europcar), Paul Poux (FDJ), Davide Vigano (Lampre) and Cameron Wurf (Cannondale) establishes easily a couple of kilometers in.
Apart from a fairly intense sprint for bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint, the mid-way part of the stage doesn't include much action. Vigano is the quickest, followed by Turgot and Poux.
Turgot and Poux both get their revenge later though, with the former winning the next sprint and the latter the day's only categorized climb.
At the top of the hill their adventure is basically over however, as Pierre has made a jump out of the peloton in the way you've seen us do many times for the past year or so.
We quickly realise that it's going to be a lot harder to succeed with a move like this on the big stage. Pierre is shut down after just over a kilometer by a galloping field led by Lotto, Argos and OPQS.
The early breakaway also comes to their inevitable end here.
And then the worst imaginable happens. Some riders swoop to the side a little bit, ramming an unaware Kwiatek - who goes down.
Clement, Evaldas and Pierre luckily all manage to find away around the incident. Thomas and Christophe meanwhile stops at the side to assist.
He gets up just off the back of the group, but the lost momentum leaves him unable to cling on to the back and a gap of almost two minutes opens.
Evaldas manages to tag on to Greipel's back wheel while OPQS accepts the challenge as well. The sprint is now kicking off with Van Rensburg, Degenkolb and Daryl Impey (GreenEDGE) leading on the far left.
The main sprinters take inside the final kilometer. Degenkolb appears to be completely empty and not even able to go past his own leadout man Van Rensburg, so Boonen shoots into the lead instead with Poulhies just behind.
Greipel has meanwhile decided to wait as long as possible, with Evaldas maintaining his cool as well as possible right in the wheel.
A late burst from Greipel propels him up to 3rd place, but he is far too late to stop Boonen from winning the stage. Poulhies takes a very impressive 2nd place, showing that picking the right wheel is a massive advantage.
Evaldas didn't really have the legs in the end and crosses the line 10th, just behind Clement, who followed a very quick Boasson Hagen in the end.
Better news for us further back, as Kwiatek has sprinted back on to the back of the peloton. No time lost, after all!
The bonus seconds pushes Boonen into the race lead, 13 seconds ahead of EBH. The Norwegian will certainly try to take it back on tomorrow's slightly harder stage though, but Boonen should be able to do relatively well too.
Yesterday's problem remains today. Even though Thomas lost almost five minutes while helping Kwiatek back, he is chased down when trying to bridge across to an early escape trio involving Romain Hardy (Cofidis), Alexandre Geniez (FDJ) and surprisingly Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil).
Westra sitting in 14th overall didn't seem to concern OPQS at all. I even drove up alongside their team car and asked Wilfried Peeters what on earth they were doing, but he refused to answer. Very frustrating.
The earlier mentioned trio becomes part of the day's long break, on the other hand. Paolo Longo Borghini (Cannondale) and Assan Bazayev (Astana) are the only ones who manages to join them on the way.
After a long, dull day, the group starts to splinter as we start climbing up towards the last few climbs. Bazayev is the first one to get shelled out the back, and surprisingly also Geniez a little while later. Normally a good climber, but perhaps not at all in shape.
In the strong wind up the penultimate climb, Westra drops also Longo Borghini and Hardy to crest the summit alone - taking over the polkadot jersey.
The peloton is right behind him, tho.
The catch is made up the remotely steeper last climb when Cameron Meyer puts in a big attack with Maarten Wynants (Blanco) showing previously unknown climbing skills to follow.
Clement and Kwiatek also creates a little gap after trying to close down the attack with a high pace.
An amazingly strong Wynants digs in again and goes over the top first, followed by Meyer and then Kwiatek a few meters back.
The big stars have meanwhile also decided to join the party with GC's 2nd Rui Costa setting off after the leaders, with Zdenek Stybar, Philippe Gilbert and Purito Rodriguez having caught up with a tired Clement a little further back.
Jan Bakelants (Radioshack), Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil) and Michael Albasini (GreenEDGE) also joins as we begin the descent with this 10-man group leading the main field by almost a minute.
Clement was unfortunately completely exhausted in the final metres of the ascent and couldn't quite catch on to the back of this group.
The descent is quickly completed, and as we get down on the flat with 3.5km remaining, Bakelants is leading the way. Kwiatek has positioned himself behind perhaps the quickest member in the group on paper: Stybar
The looking around at the front is costing the leaders ground however, and Argos are now leading out Degenkolb will full power behind.
Bakelants kicks through the final corner, and Stybar immediately responds by jumping up alongside the Belgian. Marcato have chosen the same tactic as Kwiatek except with Bakelants, while the rest of the riders are all doing their own sprint all over the road.
Marcato puts in a deadly kick as we go under the kilometer mark, and Kwiatek is the only one who latches on to the Vacansoleil rider's wheel as Stybar and Bakelants are already starting to fade.
Kwiatek can't do more than just follow Marcato, unfortunately. The jump was just too powerful, and the Italian nets an impressive stage win.
Still a magnificent 2nd place for us considering the opposition. Purito steals the last chunk of bonus seconds by taking third.
Degenkolb again fails to deliver, as it is Yauheni Hutarovich who takes the sprint back in the peloton. The clock shows 48 seconds lost for these, which means that Boonen loses the race lead. But to who?
Stage
1
Marco Marcato
Vacansoleil - DCM
4h38'17
2
Michal Kwiatkowski
La Pomme - Bouygues
s.t.
3
JoaquÃm RodrÃguez
Garmin - Sharp
s.t.
4
Zdenek Stybar
OmegaPharma - Quickstep
s.t.
5
Philippe Gilbert
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
6
Rui Costa
Movistar Team
s.t.
7
Michael Albasini
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
8
Jan Bakelants
Radioshack - Trek
s.t.
9
Maarten Wynants
Blanco Pro Cycling
s.t.
10
Cameron Meyer
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
...
11
Yauheni Hutarovich
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 48
Costa!
The bonifications takes Marcato just a second away, and Kwiatek just two, but it's the Movistar rider who gets it thanks to a better position at the start of the day. With Rodriguez 4th at 4 seconds and Meyer 5th at 5 seconds, I guess you get the idea of how close it is at the moment!
Thanks everyone. Had a big exam today, which is the reason for this update's long overdue. With that behind, it's time to continue Paris-Nice!
@ cunego - I cut away most of the original screens to take down the file size, and then I sharpen them.
WT: Paris-Nice: Stage 3
After several unsuccessful attempts, Gatis breaks the curse today by featuring in the early break. He is unfortunately not able to go for the KoM jersey however, as both Sandy Casar (FDJ) and Dmitri Muravyev (Astana) are a bit too strong for him on the climbs.
The roles are turned around as we reach the bottom of the climb, however. After saving energy by not competing for the earlier climbs, Gatis sets a high pace and sheds the other two. The peloton is around 4 minutes back.
With Movistar in charge, the gap is reduced to nothing in a short matter of time. The length of the climb is meanwhile beginning to take a toll on Kwiatek, who is slowly drifting backwards.
The leaders are brought back within the next few minutes, just as Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lampre) is the first to stretch his legs.
Possibly just a setup for team mate Damiano Cunego, who responds to this together with Thomas Voeckler (Europcar), Rafal Majka (Saxo) and Philippe Gilbert.
Perhaps alarmed by Gilbert's presence, Rodriguez increases the pace behind and drags 6 others, including race leader Costa, with him across.
The remaining names are Vincent Jerome (Europcar), Robert Gesink (Blanco), Yannick Talabardon (FDJ) and Radioshack couple Andreas Klöden and Jan Bakelants.
Majka has countered Niemiec's original acceleration however, and leads the second group by around 30 seconds at the top of the climb. The big field including Kwiatek, Mollema, De Gendt, Marcato, Anton and Velits is almost two minutes back.
A leading group of 13 forms when Majka is caught shortly after the top. Stybar, Boasson Hagen and Tiralongo closely misses the cut, and desperately tries to shut the gap in the final kilometers of the descent.
They haven't been able to make contact as Niemiec opens the sprint for Cunego up front. The Italian is located further back however, behind the yellow jersey. Bakelants and Klöden are instead placed perfectly.
Indeed it's Bakelants who takes the lead under the kilometer kite. Voeckler and Majka are closing fastest behind him.
They're no match for Bakelants, though!
Gesink kicks for second ahead of Voeckler. 6th placed Costa defends the jersey, but only by a second over Bakelants. Purito moves past Kwiatek and onto the podium.
Tiralongo, Boasson Hagen and Stybar almost caught on to the back of the front group on the descent, but ends up losing 47 seconds.
Michael Albasini (GreenEDGE), who also missed the decisive move, comes home alone for 17th. Another 30 seconds later we have the main field, led home by Hubert Dupont (AG2R), over two minutes back. A disappointed Kwiatek drops to 19th overall.
An incredibly high pace from Quickstep turned this into a very dull stage. For our part, the only notable event was that Evaldas hit the ground around halfway through. Luckily he made it back to the peloton without problems.
He does feel the light injuries on the little hill near the finish however, so we decide to let him skip the sprint today.
Quickstep, on the other hand, are working incredibly hard to set things up for Boonen. With 2 km remaining, they're down to last leadout man Fenn. Right behind him is Boonen, followed by Boasson Hagen and Hutarovich. Lotto's train for Greipel meanwhile gets boxed in completely.
Boonen makes the jump as we go through the corner on to the home stretch. Boasson Hagen immediately kicks up alongside, while Greipel attempts to shut the gap that opened when Hutarovich couldn't follow.
Possibly tired from the late hill, Boonen significantly loses speed in the final meters while Boasson Hagen only gets faster and faster on his way to stage win number two in this race. A quick Greipel almost steals second, but has to settle for the lowest step on the podium.
Hutarovich is a distant 4th, unable to respond to the speed of the top 3. Costa defends his jersey with a 10th place finish.
We figure it's time for a break to succeed now, so both Gatis and Pierre take place in the early breakaway. The former to set the pace in the group throughout the day and the latter to take over on the final climb and go for the stage win.
The other names in the group are very strong, though. Above all, Pierre Rolland (Europcar), although his form doesn't seem to be good at all. KoM leader Casar (FDJ), Frederik Veuchelen (Crelan), Ian Boswell (Sky), Moreno Hofland (Blanco) and Florian Vachon (Bretagne) are the others.
Gatis plays his role perfectly, burying himself at the front to extend as much of a gap as possible. They do gain around 12 minutes, but unfortunately Movistar aren't happy to let them that far away.
After a lot of hard work, Gatis runs out of steam a few km before the foot of the final climb. 30 km to run, and the gap is just 3 minutes over the field.
The peloton soon starts the climb as well, and Purito attacks immediately. Gerrans and Cunego tag on as they fly past a dead empty Gatis, while closing in on the leaders rapidly.
Gerrans and Cunego soon can't follow Purito, who bridges across to the leading group 3 km from the summit of Col du Corobin.
They're chasing furiously behind, however. Kwiatek is again having a bit of a weak day towards the back of this select group. Another one doing so is the white jersey of Majka.
Rodriguez crests the summit first, with Pierre and a few of the other escapees hanging with him. Costa has meanwhile demolished the main field, creating just a small chasing group roughly 30s down.
The Movistar man isn't willing to give up the yellow jersey, and makes the junction to the leaders with a little over 10 km remaining.
With no one left in front, nobody feels like doing the pacemaking and the group slows down. This is lucky for many riders, as it allows them to come back along with the rest of a huge second group.
Among those returning are Gesink, Niemiec, Coppel, Boasson Hagen, Klöden and Jerome. Kwiatek unfortunately lost major ground on the climb and missed this group.
The pace remains more or less non-existent, so we use the opportunity to play out the only tactic that could result in a surprise stage win: an attack!
Dutch champion Mollema (Blanco) keenly follows, looking to gain back some of the time he lost due to bad positioning yesterday.
The surprise element works perfectly and a gap emerges as Pierre continues to push while Mollema drops back into the group again. The gap starts to come down very quickly as we get down on the flat, though.
Nothing to do as the rest comes storming back with 500m to go. Stybar is the first to jump past, closely follwoed by Voeckler and Boasson Hagen.
The latter two both crack in the last few hundred meters, but Stybar powers on to take the stage win dominantly. I guess that makes up for missing out on the front group on the queen stage.
Mollema takes 2nd, showing that he probably made a good call by dropping back rather than continuing the attack earlier. Westra completes the podium, denying 4th placed Bakelants the bonus seconds he needed to take over the race lead from Costa.
Kwiatek and Majka comes home 1'17 later. This surely ends all hopes of a decent GC, so he'll also go for stage wins from now on.
Stage
1
Zdenek Stybar
OmegaPharma - Quickstep
5h00'41
2
Bauke Mollema
Blanco Pro Cycling
s.t.
3
Lieuwe Westra
Vacansoleil - DCM
s.t.
4
Jan Bakelants
Radioshack - Trek
s.t.
5
Philippe Gilbert
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
6
Thomas Voeckler
Team Europcar
s.t.
7
Marco Marcato
Vacansoleil - DCM
s.t.
8
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Sky Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
9
Michael Albasini
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
10
JoaquÃm RodrÃguez
Garmin - Sharp
s.t.
Two hilly stages remain, and Costa's lead is looking more and more shaky. Bakelants and Rodriguez have both been quick in the sprints for bonus seconds, and this could well come down to that in the race's finale.
WT: Paris - Nice: Prologue
