March 5th: Le Tour of Langkawi
Stage 5: Johor Bahru - Bandar Penawar, 183.3 kms
Today’s stage could fit our situation very well. It has a mountain check near the beginning, worth 10 points. The break probably will already be established before the climb, and there won’t be any peloton or attackers to steal the points. We need to get them. Other than that, it isn’t near as difficult as last 2 stages were, so I believe a bigger group will arrive in front and sprint for the win.
When we were getting closer to today’s KOM climb, 2 escapee groups had been formed, the first with 8 riders and the second with 4. Among those 4, were Fiorilli and Arseno, trying to reach the front group and battle for the points.
One rider among the 4 chasers simply accelerated from the group and reached the leaders, so when we started climbing, the first group had 9 riders, and our group had 3. Difference was about 45 seconds.
We never saw them again and they got the KOM points.
At this point our mission was over for this stage, and it would be useless to stay in a group with almost no chances of winning and wasting precious energy for the next stages. So we decided to simply wait for the peloton(and no, our riders did not quit).
The breakaway was still going when the peloton reached the final 20 kilometers. Things were looking good for them, as they had a 2 minutes advantage to the pack.
10 km to go for the escapees, and gap was down to a minute.
David Jai Crawford decided to attack with 4 km left! He was followed by Antonov and Roldán. The peloton had almost reached the other escapees, 25 seconds was the gap. Now the sprint begins! It’s an uphill sprint for the first 1 km, then a flat finish! Pack is 17” behind other escapees a 43” behind leaders!
The peloton bridged the gap in the uphill sprint! Navarro and Visconti with a great acceleration! Crawford is still in front, though.
But not for long, as the peloton reaches him in the last 400 meters and battle for the win!
Jan Bakelandts takes the win!! Ángel Vicioso comes home 2nd with an incredible acceleration in the last hundred meters. If the finish line was a bit further he probably would have taken the win. Pierre Rolland finishes the podium.
Today winner is Stage Results
1
Jan Bakelandts
Omega Pharma - Lotto
5h15'06
2
Ángel Vicioso
Andalucía - Cajasur
s.t.
3
Pierre Rolland
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
s.t.
4
Josep Jufré
Astana
s.t.
5
Giovanni Visconti
ISD - Neri
s.t.
6
Jelle Vanendert
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
7
Cyril Lemoine
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
8
Daniel Moreno
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
9
Daniel Navarro
Astana
s.t.
10
Gianluca Mirenda
ISD - Neri
s.t.
Something to say about this one? Congrats to Bakelandts =P Well, we completely missed the chance for mountain points, yeah since the beginning we probably had no chance. Anyway... it shouldn’t take long before our leaders come back to action =)
March 6th: Le Tour de Langkawi
Stage 6: Bandar Penawan - Kuala Rompin, 174.2 kms
Today’s stage is probably the easiest stage of the race. The first 70 kilometers are the most flat you’ll find in Le Tour de Langkawi. After that it gets a little bit more difficult, nothing to really worry about until the last climbing, that is about 6 km long. There is one KOM check giving 6 points, and the finish gives 10 points to the winner. If we get the 6 points, we have a chance to still battle for the jersey. The problem is we are probably not getting 6 points.
11 riders formed the early break. We missed the action so no KOM points today.
With 20 km left, the escapees held a 2’10” advantage to the peloton. Looked like just another day that the break was gonna be caught.
But the breakaway upped the pace, and when they had only 10 kilometers left, they had a nice gap of a minute and a half to the pack.
When the 6 km climb started to these guys, they had maintained the gap in a minute and a half! Would it be enough?
With 5 km left for the peloton, Visconti decided to accelerate. Yellow jersey Navarro went with him. They quickly opened an interesting gap to the others and almost reached the break!
The peloton was not for jokes today and soon reeled in the entire package including Navarro, Visconti and the breakaway.
When the sprint started, Navarro and Visconti simply rode away from the others! Was Navarro going after his 3rd win in 4 days?
Vogondy closed the gap in the final km and even took second, but couldn’t stop Navarro from getting another stage win! If we had 300 more meters, though, I believe Vogondy would have won.
Today winner is Stage Results
1
Daniel Navarro
Astana
4h28'10
2
Nicolas Vogondy
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
s.t.
3
Giovanni Visconti
ISD - Neri
s.t.
4
Jan Bakelandts
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
5
Pierre Rolland
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
s.t.
6
Daniel Moreno
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
7
Cyril Gautier
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
+ 27
8
Jérôme Coppel
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
9
Ángel Vicioso
Andalucía - Cajasur
s.t.
10
Federico Canuti
Colnago - CSF Inox
s.t.
Now with the points Navarro has gained on the mountain classification, finally we are officially out of the competition! 18 points is the maximum you’ll be able to get on tomorrow’s stage, but we trail the leader by more than this. Navarro is just proving to be the strongest rider in the race and deservers his 2 minute lead on GC. Only a tragedy tomorrow shall take this win from him.
March 7th: Le Tour de Langkawi
Stage 7: Kuala Rompin - Kuantan, 158.6 kms
In the last stage of Le Tour of Langkawi, the riders will go north in direction of the city of Kuantan, state capital of Pahang, the third largest state of Malaysia to finish the race. Usually, the last day is an easy stage where the riders will relax and enjoy a last ride in the race. It’s not the case of Le Tour de Langkawi. The riders will face some serious hills during the whole stage before the flat finish.
12 riders decided to give a try today going for the BotD.
With 30 kilometers left they had almost 4 minutes of advantage to the pack. Maybe today was the first day that a break would win?
With 15 km to go, gap was down to 1’50”. Not as good as before but still a nice gap.
Stephen Cummings saw an opportunity and attacked on the last hill.
The peloton caught the others but when there was only 5 kilometers of race, Cummings was in front with half a minute advantage.
The pack caught him just inside the last kilometer, so no breakaway victory.
Giovanni Visconti, who has performed very well on these last days took the stage win. Daniel Navarro crossed 3rd and guaranteed his overall win.
Today winner is Stage Results
1
Giovanni Visconti
ISD - Neri
4h13'35
2
Nicolas Vogondy
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
s.t.
3
Daniel Navarro
Astana
s.t.
4
Ángel Vicioso
Andalucía - Cajasur
s.t.
5
Daniel Moreno
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
6
Jérôme Coppel
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
7
Jelle Vanendert
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
8
Laurent Lefèvre
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
s.t.
9
Olivier Kaisen
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
10
Pierre Rolland
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
s.t.
Oh, poor Cummings, I was hoping for him to take the win =( Again the peloton gets the break during the sprint, I think that’s not the first time this happens in this race =)
General Classification
1
Daniel Navarro
Astana
33h12'13
2
Nicolas Vogondy
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
+ 2'00
3
Jérôme Coppel
Saur - Sojasun
+ 2'07
4
Giovanni Visconti
ISD - Neri
+ 2'28
5
Pierre Rolland
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
+ 2'32
6
Cyril Gautier
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
+ 2'47
7
Ángel Vicioso
Andalucía - Cajasur
+ 2'51
8
Tomasz Nose
Adria Mobil
+ 3'31
9
Daniel Moreno
Omega Pharma - Lotto
+ 3'40
10
Jan Bakelandts
Omega Pharma - Lotto
+ 3'52
Spoiler
11
Cyril Lemoine
Saur - Sojasun
+ 3'59
12
David García Dapena
Xacobeo - Galicia
s.t.
13
Laurent Lefèvre
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
+ 4'15
14
Josep Jufré
Astana
+ 4'27
15
Johann Tschopp
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
s.t.
16
Matthias Frank
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
17
Alexander Kvachuk
ISD - Neri
+ 4'43
18
Bartosz Huzarski
ISD - Neri
s.t.
19
Mitja Mahoric
Adria Mobil
+ 5'24
20
Jelle Vanendert
Omega Pharma - Lotto
+ 5'40
21
Mario Aerts
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
22
Steve Houanard
Skil - Shimano
+ 5'55
23
Marco Frapporti
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 6'19
24
Rodrigo García
Xacobeo - Galicia
s.t.
25
Davide Bonuccelli
CDC - Cavaliere
s.t.
26
Yevgeniy Nepomnyachshiy
Astana
+ 6'28
27
Carlos Castaño
Xacobeo - Galicia
+ 6'39
28
Marcos García
Xacobeo - Galicia
s.t.
29
Javier Moreno
Andalucía - Cajasur
+ 6'51
30
Gustavo Domínguez
Xacobeo - Galicia
+ 7'03
31
Chris Barton
BMC Racing Team
+ 7'42
32
Morris Possoni
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 9'03
33
Yukiya Arashiro
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
+ 10'43
34
Steve Chainel
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
+ 11'15
35
Peter Kennaugh
Sky Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
36
Enrico Zen
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 11'44
37
Sergey Rudaskov
Itera - Katusha
+ 11'47
38
Francesco Masciarelli
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
+ 12'32
39
Valeriy Dmitriyev
Astana
+ 13'24
40
Scott Davis
Astana
+ 13'33
41
Jorge Martín Montenegro
Andalucía - Cajasur
+ 13'41
42
Guillaume Levarlet
Saur - Sojasun
+ 14'22
43
Luca Pierfelici
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
+ 14'42
44
Christophe Brandt
Omega Pharma - Lotto
+ 15'16
45
David Jai Crawford
Fly V Australia
+ 15'25
46
Francis De Greef
Omega Pharma - Lotto
+ 16'38
47
Gianluca Mirenda
ISD - Neri
+ 17'07
48
Albert Timmer
Skil - Shimano
+ 17'21
49
Luca Ascani
CDC - Cavaliere
+ 17'33
50
Dario Cioni
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 18'00
51
Roman Kireyev
Astana
+ 18'19
52
Francisco José Pacheco
Xacobeo - Galicia
+ 18'33
53
Reinier Honig
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
+ 19'23
54
Sacha Modolo
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 19'45
55
Igor Abakoumov
ISD Continental Team
+ 19'46
56
José Luis Roldán
Andalucía - Cajasur
+ 19'58
57
Stanislav Kozúbek
PSK Whirlpool - Author
+ 20'33
58
Federico Canuti
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 20'49
59
Vitaliy Popkov
ISD Continental Team
+ 21'06
60
Dominique Cornu
Skil - Shimano
+ 21'35
61
Russell Downing
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 22'08
62
Martin Mareš
PSK Whirlpool - Author
+ 22'46
63
Walter Proch
Tecnofilm - Betonexpressz 2000
+ 23'21
64
Floris Goesinnen
Skil - Shimano
+ 23'49
65
Alexandre Usov
ISD Continental Team
s.t.
66
Jean-Marc Marino
Saur - Sojasun
+ 24'34
67
Olivier Kaisen
Omega Pharma - Lotto
+ 25'05
68
Jonas Ljungblad
Omega Pharma - Lotto
+ 25'21
69
Maxim Belkov
ISD - Neri
+ 25'32
70
Mikhail Antonov
Itera - Katusha
+ 25'51
71
Giuseppe Palumbo
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
+ 26'11
72
Mauro Santambrogio
BMC Racing Team
+ 27'51
73
Blaz Jarc
Adria Mobil
+ 28'07
74
José Antonio De Segovia
Xacobeo - Galicia
+ 28'12
75
Chad Beyer
BMC Racing Team
+ 28'37
76
Kristjan Fajt
Adria Mobil
+ 28'54
77
Jay Thomson
Fly V Australia
+ 29'57
78
Roy Curvers
Skil - Shimano
+ 30'20
79
Alexander Mironov
Itera - Katusha
+ 30'50
80
Ian Stannard
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 31'00
81
Alessandro Fantini
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
+ 31'27
82
Bolat Raimbekov
Astana
+ 31'48
83
Giuseppe Muraglia
CDC - Cavaliere
+ 31'51
84
Stephen Cummings
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 32'38
85
Martin Hebik
PSK Whirlpool - Author
+ 33'02
86
Stefano Pirazzi
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 36'02
87
Alexandre Moos
BMC Racing Team
+ 36'27
88
Piet Rooijakkers
Skil - Shimano
+ 37'39
89
Simon Zahner
BMC Racing Team
+ 38'42
90
Denys Kostyuk
ISD - Neri
+ 39'07
91
Brent Bookwalter
BMC Racing Team
+ 40'04
92
Bernard Sulzberger
Fly V Australia
+ 41'33
93
Job Vissers
Skil - Shimano
+ 43'23
94
Ruslan Pidgornyy
ISD - Neri
+ 44'08
95
Laurent Mangel
Saur - Sojasun
+ 44'19
96
Alan Marangoni
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 44'20
97
Jimmy Engoulvent
Saur - Sojasun
+ 44'37
98
Dmitry Kosyakov
Itera - Katusha
+ 45'30
99
Saïd Haddou
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
+ 45'53
100
Andrey Zeits
Astana
+ 45'58
101
Leonardo Scarselli
ISD - Neri
s.t.
102
Marcello Pavarin
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 46'08
103
Sylvain Calzati
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 47'40
104
Dídac Ortega
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
+ 48'30
105
David Tanner
Fly V Australia
+ 49'00
106
Zoltan Tisza
Tecnofilm - Betonexpressz 2000
+ 49'49
107
Manuel Belletti
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 50'45
108
Davide D'Angelo
CDC - Cavaliere
+ 51'52
109
Oleksandr Sheydyk
ISD Continental Team
+ 52'35
110
Alex Arseno
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
+ 53'02
111
Petr Ignatenko
Itera - Katusha
+ 54'36
112
Gianfranco Visconti
Tecnofilm - Betonexpressz 2000
+ 54'46
113
Simone Masciarelli
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
+ 56'22
114
Phil Zajicek
Fly V Australia
+ 57'40
115
Evgueni Popov
Itera - Katusha
+ 58'20
116
Tiago Fiorilli
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
+ 59'28
117
Manuel Ortega
Andalucía - Cajasur
+ 1h00'12
118
Emanuele Rizza
Tecnofilm - Betonexpressz 2000
+ 1h00'28
119
Pablo Lechuga
Andalucía - Cajasur
+ 1h00'44
120
Charles Dionne
Fly V Australia
+ 1h00'53
121
Marc Reynès
PSK Whirlpool - Author
+ 1h00'57
122
Ben Day
Fly V Australia
+ 1h02'32
123
Marino Palandri
Adria Mobil
+ 1h04'10
124
Maksym Polishchuk
ISD Continental Team
+ 1h06'05
125
František Klouček
PSK Whirlpool - Author
+ 1h07'16
126
Vladimir Isaychev
Xacobeo - Galicia
+ 1h11'08
127
Domenico Agosta
CDC - Cavaliere
+ 1h12'04
128
Fabrice Jeandesboz
Saur - Sojasun
+ 1h12'26
129
Tamas Lengyel
Tecnofilm - Betonexpressz 2000
+ 1h12'28
130
Alessandro Donati
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
+ 1h13'00
131
Magno Prado Nazaret
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
+ 1h14'04
132
Stéphane Poulhiès
Saur - Sojasun
+ 1h14'29
133
Danilo Andrenacci
CDC - Cavaliere
+ 1h17'10
134
Eugenio Loria
CDC - Cavaliere
+ 1h17'38
135
Robert Wagner
Skil - Shimano
+ 1h20'08
136
Gabor Fejes
Tecnofilm - Betonexpressz 2000
+ 1h20'49
137
Rida Cador
Tecnofilm - Betonexpressz 2000
+ 1h22'50
138
Krisztian Lovassy
Tecnofilm - Betonexpressz 2000
+ 1h25'17
139
Stanislav Starobudtsev
Itera - Katusha
+ 1h29'14
140
Nilceu Dos Santos
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
+ 1h30'15
141
Denis Flahaut
ISD Continental Team
+ 1h31'59
142
Vyacheslav Kuznetsov
Itera - Katusha
+ 1h32'36
143
Christopher Butler
BMC Racing Team
+ 1h36'02
144
Tiego Justo
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
+ 1h36'44
145
Davide Viganò
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 1h37'39
146
Aaron Kemps
Fly V Australia
+ 1h39'19
147
Volodymyr Rybin
ISD Continental Team
+ 1h39'48
148
Danilo Mello
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
+ 2h02'00
Points
1
Daniel Navarro
Astana
104
2
Ángel Vicioso
Andalucía - Cajasur
86
3
Giovanni Visconti
ISD - Neri
83
4
Nicolas Vogondy
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
80
5
Pierre Rolland
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
66
Spoiler
6
Jérôme Coppel
Saur - Sojasun
52
7
Cyril Gautier
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
48
8
Sacha Modolo
Colnago - CSF Inox
47
9
Daniel Moreno
Omega Pharma - Lotto
43
10
Jan Bakelandts
Omega Pharma - Lotto
41
11
Laurent Lefèvre
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
40
12
Josep Jufré
Astana
38
13
Yukiya Arashiro
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
30
14
Jelle Vanendert
Omega Pharma - Lotto
26
15
José Luis Roldán
Andalucía - Cajasur
24
16
Reinier Honig
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
24
17
Cyril Lemoine
Saur - Sojasun
23
18
David García Dapena
Xacobeo - Galicia
21
19
Francisco José Pacheco
Xacobeo - Galicia
20
20
Tomasz Nose
Adria Mobil
18
21
Luca Pierfelici
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
16
22
Stephen Cummings
Sky Professional Cycling Team
16
23
Jimmy Engoulvent
Saur - Sojasun
16
24
Johann Tschopp
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
15
25
Igor Abakoumov
ISD Continental Team
14
26
Stanislav Kozúbek
PSK Whirlpool - Author
14
27
Russell Downing
Sky Professional Cycling Team
14
28
Jay Thomson
Fly V Australia
14
29
Gianluca Mirenda
ISD - Neri
12
30
Marco Frapporti
Colnago - CSF Inox
10
31
Alexandre Usov
ISD Continental Team
10
32
Chad Beyer
BMC Racing Team
10
33
Steve Chainel
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
9
34
Jorge Martín Montenegro
Andalucía - Cajasur
8
35
Piet Rooijakkers
Skil - Shimano
8
36
Olivier Kaisen
Omega Pharma - Lotto
7
37
Javier Moreno
Andalucía - Cajasur
6
38
David Jai Crawford
Fly V Australia
6
39
Dario Cioni
Sky Professional Cycling Team
6
40
Federico Canuti
Colnago - CSF Inox
6
41
Alessandro Fantini
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
6
42
Jonas Ljungblad
Omega Pharma - Lotto
6
43
Bernard Sulzberger
Fly V Australia
6
44
Bartosz Huzarski
ISD - Neri
5
45
Rodrigo García
Xacobeo - Galicia
4
46
Enrico Zen
Colnago - CSF Inox
4
47
Francis De Greef
Omega Pharma - Lotto
4
48
Alexander Mironov
Itera - Katusha
4
49
Floris Goesinnen
Skil - Shimano
4
50
Mauro Santambrogio
BMC Racing Team
4
51
Simon Zahner
BMC Racing Team
4
52
Giuseppe Muraglia
CDC - Cavaliere
4
53
Martin Hebik
PSK Whirlpool - Author
4
54
Mitja Mahoric
Adria Mobil
3
55
Steve Houanard
Skil - Shimano
3
56
Albert Timmer
Skil - Shimano
2
57
Dominique Cornu
Skil - Shimano
2
58
Stefano Pirazzi
Colnago - CSF Inox
2
59
Dmitry Kosyakov
Itera - Katusha
2
60
Oleksandr Sheydyk
ISD Continental Team
2
61
Tiago Fiorilli
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
2
62
Matthias Frank
BMC Racing Team
1
63
Morris Possoni
Sky Professional Cycling Team
1
Mountain
1
Daniel Navarro
Astana
32
2
Javier Moreno
Andalucía - Cajasur
26
3
Pierre Rolland
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
24
4
Jelle Vanendert
Omega Pharma - Lotto
22
5
Dario Cioni
Sky Professional Cycling Team
18
Spoiler
6
Blaz Jarc
Adria Mobil
18
7
Nicolas Vogondy
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
16
8
Guillaume Levarlet
Saur - Sojasun
16
9
Albert Timmer
Skil - Shimano
14
10
Jérôme Coppel
Saur - Sojasun
12
11
Laurent Lefèvre
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
12
12
Luca Pierfelici
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
12
13
Giovanni Visconti
ISD - Neri
10
14
Morris Possoni
Sky Professional Cycling Team
10
15
Gianluca Mirenda
ISD - Neri
10
16
Jay Thomson
Fly V Australia
10
17
Mauro Santambrogio
BMC Racing Team
10
18
Tiago Fiorilli
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
10
19
Ángel Vicioso
Andalucía - Cajasur
8
20
Tomasz Nose
Adria Mobil
8
21
Martin Hebik
PSK Whirlpool - Author
8
22
Cyril Gautier
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
6
23
Enrico Zen
Colnago - CSF Inox
6
24
José Luis Roldán
Andalucía - Cajasur
6
25
Stanislav Kozúbek
PSK Whirlpool - Author
6
26
Chad Beyer
BMC Racing Team
6
27
Stephen Cummings
Sky Professional Cycling Team
6
28
Jan Bakelandts
Omega Pharma - Lotto
4
29
David Jai Crawford
Fly V Australia
4
30
Walter Proch
Tecnofilm - Betonexpressz 2000
4
31
Alexandre Usov
ISD Continental Team
4
32
Daniel Moreno
Omega Pharma - Lotto
2
33
Jorge Martín Montenegro
Andalucía - Cajasur
2
34
Reinier Honig
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
2
35
Stefano Pirazzi
Colnago - CSF Inox
2
Young
1
Jérôme Coppel
Saur - Sojasun
33h14'20
2
Pierre Rolland
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
+ 25
3
Cyril Gautier
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
+ 40
4
Jan Bakelandts
Omega Pharma - Lotto
+ 1'45
5
Matthias Frank
BMC Racing Team
+ 2'20
Spoiler
6
Jelle Vanendert
Omega Pharma - Lotto
+ 3'33
7
Steve Houanard
Skil - Shimano
+ 3'48
8
Marco Frapporti
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 4'12
9
Yevgeniy Nepomnyachshiy
Astana
+ 4'21
10
Marcos García
Xacobeo - Galicia
+ 4'32
11
Chris Barton
BMC Racing Team
+ 5'35
12
Peter Kennaugh
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 9'08
13
Enrico Zen
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 9'37
14
Francesco Masciarelli
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
+ 10'25
15
Guillaume Levarlet
Saur - Sojasun
+ 12'15
16
Francis De Greef
Omega Pharma - Lotto
+ 14'31
17
Albert Timmer
Skil - Shimano
+ 15'14
18
Roman Kireyev
Astana
+ 16'12
19
Sacha Modolo
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 17'38
20
José Luis Roldán
Andalucía - Cajasur
+ 17'51
21
Federico Canuti
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 18'42
22
Dominique Cornu
Skil - Shimano
+ 19'28
23
Maxim Belkov
ISD - Neri
+ 23'25
24
Mikhail Antonov
Itera - Katusha
+ 23'44
25
Blaz Jarc
Adria Mobil
+ 26'00
26
Chad Beyer
BMC Racing Team
+ 26'30
27
Jay Thomson
Fly V Australia
+ 27'50
28
Ian Stannard
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 28'53
29
Alessandro Fantini
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
+ 29'20
30
Bolat Raimbekov
Astana
+ 29'41
31
Stefano Pirazzi
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 33'55
32
Dmitry Kosyakov
Itera - Katusha
+ 43'23
33
Andrey Zeits
Astana
+ 43'51
34
Marcello Pavarin
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 44'01
35
Manuel Belletti
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 48'38
36
Petr Ignatenko
Itera - Katusha
+ 52'29
37
Pablo Lechuga
Andalucía - Cajasur
+ 58'37
38
Marc Reynès
PSK Whirlpool - Author
+ 58'50
39
Marino Palandri
Adria Mobil
+ 1h02'03
40
František Klouček
PSK Whirlpool - Author
+ 1h05'09
41
Vladimir Isaychev
Xacobeo - Galicia
+ 1h09'01
42
Magno Prado Nazaret
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
+ 1h11'57
43
Stéphane Poulhiès
Saur - Sojasun
+ 1h12'22
44
Gabor Fejes
Tecnofilm - Betonexpressz 2000
+ 1h18'42
45
Krisztian Lovassy
Tecnofilm - Betonexpressz 2000
+ 1h23'10
46
Stanislav Starobudtsev
Itera - Katusha
+ 1h27'07
47
Vyacheslav Kuznetsov
Itera - Katusha
+ 1h30'29
48
Christopher Butler
BMC Racing Team
+ 1h33'55
49
Tiego Justo
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
+ 1h34'37
50
Danilo Mello
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
+ 1h59'53
Team
1
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
99h44'14
2
Astana
+ 3'31
3
Omega Pharma - Lotto
+ 4'20
4
ISD - Neri
+ 4'55
5
Xacobeo - Galicia
+ 8'14
Spoiler
6
Saur - Sojasun
+ 10'57
7
Andalucía - Cajasur
+ 15'01
8
BMC Racing Team
+ 18'56
9
Adria Mobil
+ 21'30
10
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 21'35
11
Colnago - CSF Inox
+ 27'27
12
Skil - Shimano
+ 30'22
13
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
+ 33'59
14
CDC - Cavaliere
+ 44'20
15
ISD Continental Team
+ 56'25
16
Itera - Katusha
+ 57'37
17
PSK Whirlpool - Author
+ 1h02'16
18
Fly V Australia
+ 1h14'19
19
Tecnofilm - Betonexpressz 2000
+ 1h53'11
20
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
+ 2h49'28
Ok, so now you can't say the team did well xD Even though we got nowhere near our goal, they tried, that's enough. I even tried putting Nazaret in the squad in the last hour but he had no good fitness. As for the fitness, all the team but Nazaret had fitness +90 going to the last stage. That didn't prevent the team from having no one finish with the peloton in all stages if I'm not mistaken. So this wasn't a good race.
Anyway, congratulations to Navarro, he showed he was the strongest in the race and clearly deserved the win. 3 stages wins and 1 podium, the 3 jerseys also goes for him.. he deserved the victory. Congrats.
The team will no travel back to europe, as our next race on the calendar is Settimana Coppi e Bartali. We have 4 riders going there that have this race as a favorite race. Also we'll be able to count again on our Donut rider of the month, Daniel Rogelin. Let's hope he is able to get near his results on Oman! That's all for now =)
I'm sure you will have better results, when you're back in Europe Langkawi was a though tour, too bad you missed your goal, but it wasn't easy and you tried. Good luck for the upcoming races!
tsmoha wrote:
I'm sure you will have better results, when you're back in Europe Langkawi was a though tour, too bad you missed your goal, but it wasn't easy and you tried. Good luck for the upcoming races!
I agree. I am sure that you will be more successfull soon Edited by janne_837 on 07-01-2011 22:57
@all
Thanks, we're hoping for the good results to start coming soon, the sponsors are not really liking this
Anyway, before Settimana Coppi e Bartali, we have the results of the first Pro Tour races after Tour Down Under, including the first monument of the season.
Back to Italy, Settimana Coppi e Bartali offers us our first mountain classified stage of the years. In fact, offers the first 2 mountain classified stages. Through it’s 25 editions, the race has an interesting history. The race is named after Italian cyclists Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi. It’s considered one of the most important stage races in Italy and has had some famous recent winners, including Cunego, Evans, Scarponi and Pellizotti.
This also is the race where ‘Il Pirata’ Pantani stepped up on the podium for the last time on his life, with a 2nd place in 2003. He rode with the number 145 on his back, and since then, the organization doesn’t issue the same number to any rider.
This year’s route features 2 mountain stages, 1 short team time trial, 2 flat and 1 hilly stages. The team time trial could have some influence on the final results, but probably not much, as it’s a really short team time trial. Stage 3 shouldn’t be too difficult, with only a few climbs near the end. Stage 4, on the other hand, is the toughest on the race, and will probably see some serious changes in GC. And, depending on the time gaps, the last stage could turn into a really exciting stage.
The GC Contenders
As the time trial is a team one, we have some climbers with bad TT stat among the favorites. Domenico Pozzovivo, for example. Garmin’s Daniel Martin also enters the list. Our well known smaller races favorite Przemyslaw Niemiec is also taking part in Italy. TdF 2009 stage winner Pierrick Fédrigo marks his presence too. Katusha’s hopes goes on Evgeni Petrov. And that will be not only in the mountains, but also in the TTT, as Katusha brought no other good time trialist.
The Sprinters
Even though we have only 2 sprint stages, we have a nice number of sprinters here. Ceramica Flaminia’s Enrico Rossi is taking part. As usually in minor races, Amore & Vita brings a good sprinter. This time it’s Nicholas Sanderson. We are already used to see some names in the early season, such as Oscar Gatto, Denis Flahaut and Fabio Sabatini. We have other names, including Paride Grillo and Sebastian Siedler, but these are the most worth mentioning.
Rio es Carnival/Seara/Vivo
Team Goals:
- Go for breakaways;
- Not finish last on TTT.
Our squad is still weak, but better than the last 2 races’ squad. We have in Jorge Giacinti a decent time trialist, the best on the team together with Médici. Nilceu dos Santos is also here and we probably will try something with him on the two sprint stages. The Donut rider of the month Daniel Rogelin is also with us, so another one that maybe could try something on sprints. Unfornately the fitness of almost all the team is quite bad, with this being even the first race of the year for some of them, so we have very few expectations for this race.
March 23rd: Settimana Coppi e Bartali
Stage 1: Riccione - Riccione, 85.4 kms
The first stage of the race is really short, 85 kilometers long. It’s a criterium featuring a small hill that will be climbed 9 times. Probably it will be too tough for Rogelin and dos Santos, and probably it will be too much short for a break to go clear.
The break of the day contained only 4 riders, Rodrigo Nascimento representing Seara/Vivo among them.
In such a short stage, the peloton kept an eye close on them and never let they get a good gap. Lampre and mainly Colnago - CSF did the work today.
The last escapee was reeled in with 11 km left.
As expected, Rogelin and dos Santos struggled with the high pace on the peloton during the last climbs and couldn’t sprint today. The same probably happened to a lot of other sprinters.
When with 1.5 km left, Rossi was leading. Siedler was well positioned too, but both of them were already facing the wind. On the right side, Arashiro came quite strong with Grillo and Sabatini on his slipstream.
Under the 1 km banner, Sabatini and Grillo had made their moves and were battling for the stage win, as Rossi tried to hold on the podium position!
And Fabio Sabatini takes it with no celebration on the line! Grillo and Gatto completed today’s podium.
Today winner is Stage Results
1
Fabio Sabatini
Liquigas - Doimo
1h59'16
2
Paride Grillo
CarmioOro NGC
s.t.
3
Oscar Gatto
ISD - Neri
s.t.
4
Yukiya Arashiro
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
s.t.
5
Enrico Rossi
Ceramica Flaminia
s.t.
6
Sebastian Siedler
Vorarlberg - Corratec
s.t.
7
Emanuele Vona
ISD - Neri
s.t.
8
Marco Bandiera
Team Katusha
s.t.
9
Laurent Beuret
CarmioOro NGC
s.t.
10
Pierpaolo De Negri
ISD - Neri
s.t.
Yeah, the stage was too short for a the peloton to let a break get a winning gap. We'll just keep trying.
Ps.: I've travelled to the beach today. I have some 'stock' stages already played, so won't stop posting =)
the only problem is my time on the internet will be limited, so sorry if I ain't that active for a couple days.
Thanks
March 24rd: Settimana Coppi e Bartali
Stage 2: Riccione - Riccione, 14.9 kms (TTT)
A very short team time trial, kinda like a prologue like in Tour of Qatar. It’s a short TTT, but considering we have no mountain top finish in the race, maybe this could be crucial on the final GC? Today, we’ll try to not be last, but I’m almost sure we will.
And yes, there you go - our boys made some effort but we still ended last, 1’13” behind stage winner.
Garmin was the main favorite today, and had a chance to give Dan Martin a small advantage. They didn’t disappoint - new best time, 19’44”.
Miche was trying to minimize the losses to their leader Niemic, and probably they did that, finishing 20 seconds behind Garmin in provisional 3rd.
Another favorite was Colnago - CSF, and they got provisional 3rd, too, 10 seconds behind Garmin’s time.
Sabatini had a 20 second lead to the others, and Liquigas was trying to defend his leader jersey. They failed, getting 31 seconds behind Garmin on the finish.
Bbox Bouygues Télécom didn’t appear as a favorite and was just trying not to lose much time for Fédrigo. They did surprisingly good, though, with a provisional 2nd, only 8 seconds behind the leaders.
After Colnago, Team Katusha was the only one possible to beat Garmin’s time - and they also did not do that. 3rd place for them, trailing Garmin by 9 seconds.
Today winner is Stage Results
1
Garmin - Transitions
19'44
2
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
+ 8
3
Team Katusha
+ 9
4
Ceramica Flaminia
+ 10
5
Colnago - CSF Inox
s.t.
6
ISD - Neri
+ 14
7
De Rosa - Stac Plastic
+ 15
8
Miche
+ 20
9
Lampre - Farnese Vini
+ 23
10
Acqua & Sapone - D'Angelo & Antenucci
+ 25
Ok, we didn’t get our goal of not finishing last.. but that changes nothing, it’s just that I suck on short team time trials. Anyway, we now go to the mountains with an interesting situation. Very small gaps is what separates the favorites, so expect a lot of attacks. It will be fun to watch, I hope.
March 25th: Settimana Coppi e Bartali
Stage 3: San Lazzaro di Savena - Faenza, 179.9 kms
This is the first mountain classified stage of the year for Seara/Vivo! It's probably not the most difficult so far, though. The riders will initially enter a small circuit and climb Monte Carla twice. Then, they exit the circuit and climb the Monte Trebbio, which tops out at 500 meters. After that, a small downhill and a flat finish. With 15 km from the last climb to the finish, we could see a bigger group arriving in front and deciding it in the sprint.
9 riders managed to break away from the pack in the beggining of the stage. Among them was Jorge Giacinti representing Seara/Vivo.
They worked hard during the first 50 kilometers and opened up a 9 minute gap to the Colnago - CSF led peloton. The peloton was watching them closely though and after the 9 minutes gap, upped the pace. When the break started Monte Trebbio, the peloton was trailing them by 4 minutes.
Niemic waited no more time when the peloton reached the same point, and was the first to attack, 26 kilometers away from the KOM check, so the end of the climbings. Pietropolli and Petrov went with him.
About 4 km later Pozzovivo decided he should go too and attacked. Visconti tried to counter, but couldn't stick to Pozzovivo's wheel after such an amazing acceleration from the Colnago rider.
Pozzovivo quickly reached the other attackers and they started climbing after the early escapees. At this point they had almost opened a gap of 2 minutes on the peloton.
Garmin definitely didn't show the same strength as yesterday and couldn't make efforts to chase the attackers. When seeing the threat that was to his jersey, Martin decided to attack.
His attack was a complete fail, though, and he couldn't open any gap to the peloton.
Meanwhile, Pozzovivo dropped the others and started chasing the breakaway alone.
The red leader jersey was desperate. He tried attacking again.. with no success again. Pozzovivo had reached the second break survivors group, which included Médici, and soonly would reach the lead group. By this moment, he had two minutes and a half advantage to Martin's group.
Pozzovivo pulled himself to the front group and rested a bit while the climbing passed its easier sections. When we hit the steeper gradients though, he dropped the others and started riding alone.
Niemic and Giordani did the same and were chasing the leader by themselves.
Pozzovivo flied up the last hill and increased his gap to Niemic too. By now Daniel Martin probably already knew he wouldn't wear the same jersey tomorrow.
Martin tried to attack one last time. The others in his group were too tired to up the pace, and finally Martin got away. That didn't really matter anymore, as Pozzovivo kept going hard. He probably had secured his stage win by now.
And indeed, he sees the finishing line and slides to it with his hands raised up on the air! A really deserved win, 24 kilometers alone against all!
Pietropolli caught Niemic in the final kilometer, and they got the other podium positions, finishing 49 seconds behind the stage winner.
The small peloton caught the break survivors group, so we lost the opportunity of a top 10. This man, though, lost his jersey, so he has more motives to be mad than us. What a bad day for the young irish rider. He had his losses minimized to only 2 minutes, at least.
Today winner is Stage Results
1
Domenico Pozzovivo
Colnago - CSF Inox
4h19'06
2
Przemyslaw Niemiec
Miche
+ 49
3
Daniele Pietropolli
Lampre - Farnese Vini
s.t.
4
Evgeni Petrov
Team Katusha
+ 1'37
5
Leonardo Giordani
Ceramica Flaminia
+ 2'00
6
Pierre Rolland
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
s.t.
7
Pierrick Fédrigo
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
s.t.
8
Daniele Righi
Lampre - Farnese Vini
s.t.
9
Andrea Capelli
Vorarlberg - Corratec
s.t.
10
Eduard Vorganov
Team Katusha
s.t.
What a stage to be the first mountain classified of the season! Really exciting. Pozzovivo shows why he was considered the biggest favorite on the race preview. Also a nice ride for us, up to the final kilometers I really though we would be able to fight for 10th, there were about 6 riders in front of us I think and then the group of about 9 breakaway survivors, so 4 of them would make into the Top 10, but the small peloton reached us about 4 km from the finish.. still a nice ride from Giancinti.
March 26th: Settimana Coppi e Bartali
Stage 4: Pavullo - Pavullo, 174.5 kms
To the queen stage of the race! This stage have a big chance to define the winner of the race, as stage 5 is completely flat and stage 6 not too tough. The riders will initially face Passo della Futa, a 8 km long and 900 meters tall climb(about 11%). The next challenges will be Castiglione dei Pepoli and Passo dello Zanchetto before the riders enter a final circuit and pass a last climb that is short, but steep to finally the flat finish. Real life saw Niemic be crowned the winner in Pavullo. Could he do the same here?
We had two intentions today: send someone on the breakaway and protect Nilceu dos Santos for tomorrow's stage. We managed to put Giacinti among the 11 riders that formed the early break today.
When the break passed the only KOM check of the day, that is, 44 km away from the finish, we had 3 minutes and a half advantage over the peloton.
The break was eventually reeled in on the beggining of the last climb of the day. As soon as that happened, Niemic attacked like yesterday's stage, very early. Pietropolli on the counter attack.
A few meters later, Daniel Martin, who lost his leader jersey yesterday, and overall leader Pozzovivo attacked and reached the others.
Gentili and Rolland also made their way to the front group, and the 6 riders had a very nice situation near the finish off the climb. Nobody though decided to make the pace, and peloton bridged the gap.
On the flat part, Niemic still tried to attack. Would he really repeat his real life win? A 20 second bonus awaited the winner, and that could fit very well Niemic for the last stage, as he was trailing Pozzovivo by a minute.
Martin and Pozzovivo chased him furiously and reached him inside the last 2 kilometers. Sprint time!
Who could stop Pozzovivo from getting another stage win? He even opened up a small gap to the others in the end that wasn't counted on the results. He had all the time in the world to celebrate but decided not do it.
Today winner is Stage Results
1
Domenico Pozzovivo
Colnago - CSF Inox
5h15'32
2
Daniel Martin
Garmin - Transitions
s.t.
3
Evgeni Petrov
Team Katusha
s.t.
4
Emanuele Vona
ISD - Neri
s.t.
5
Trent Lowe
Garmin - Transitions
s.t.
6
Giovanni Visconti
ISD - Neri
s.t.
7
Przemyslaw Niemiec
Miche
s.t.
8
Paolo Longo Borghini
ISD - Neri
s.t.
9
Massimiliano Gentili
Ceramica Flaminia
s.t.
10
Pierrick Fédrigo
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
s.t.
Uh.. interesting stage. Pozzovivo shows he's the strongest in the race and deserves to be leading by almost a minute and a half. Only a tragedy takes this win from him now, I believe. As for us, we protected Nilceu dos Santos through almost the whole stage, let's see what he is able to do tomorrow, his fitness is great(almost 95 I think).
Langkawi was a though tour, too bad you missed your goal, but it wasn't easy and you tried. Good luck for the upcoming races!
Good luck in upcoming races !
