Welcome all, to the Ronde Van Vlandaaren, the second of the Flanders week, and a much more challenging route lies ahead, travelling from Brugge to Oudenaarde, with 18.2km of Cobbles, and 10.9km of Short Sharp Climbing.
Our Squad and Expectations
Leader: Tyler Farrar
Frees: Tom Danielson Dominic Rollin
Team mates: Chad Beyer Taylor Phinney Peter Stetina Bernardo Colex Phil Zajicek
We have no target for the race, without a strong Cobbler to lead the squad, we will look to get into a breakaway early on, and keep Farrar as high up the pack as possible, sadly even Tyler will struggle today, he is okay on the cobbles as we saw in Gent-Wevelgem, but the combination of hills and cobbles will be too much for Tyler.
The Race has all of the favourites- Cancellara, Boonen, Flecha, Ballan etc, it will be interesting to see which one of the favourites has the legs to take the win in this years Ronde!
My pick for today is Stijn Devolder- The hills and cobbles suit him, and he looked really strong in the Gent Wevelgem last week where he took the victory in a less selective race, things bode well for the Vacansoleil Rider and Belgian Champ.
The day saw 2 attacks set off early on, Taylor Phinney led the charge right at the start for Exxon, and a second group of 4 followed him to create tywo groups out in front.
The breakaway looked strong out in front over the first section of the race, Taylor Phinney held a gap of 11'35 upon the main group behind, it was starting to look genuinely threatening for the race as Taylor passed the first sections of Pavé.
Sky decided he had been allowed slightly to much of a gap, and upped the pace, in the pack, where they recieved help from the major favourites teams, such as Katusha, and Vacansoleil, with 104km to go, Taylor's lead was down to 7'36.
With 77km to go, the breakaway was looking exhausted, Phinney had spent much of the day as a lone rider up front, the second lead group had been re-absorbed, and a thundering peloton which was starting to crack had reduced his lead to just 45".
The front group split for a second time, not long after Phinney had been caught, and only Farrar and Rollin made the split, our lack of a cobbler was really starting to tell at this point in the race...
With 4 sections of the dreaded Pavé to ride, Farrar finally fell away as a trio were dropped, we would play no further part in the race, now it was time to sit back and watch the fireworks out in front, still to hold on this long on such a race says good things about Farrars shape, perhaps a decent placement in Paris-Roubaix isn't out of the question?
The lead group reduced to just 24riders, Devolder and Breschel decided now was the moment to go for glory, pulling away from the main pack, it was now a question of time trialling against the pack for 14km to take the prestigious monument.
Alas, it was not too be, they were kept in sight by a thundering pack, which caused another split, just 11 riders now, the favourites were isolated from team mates, it was just a question of who had the best legs...
The four big men decided the Patterburg was the place to go, making an attack about halfway up, were Hushovd, Cancellara, Boonen and Flecha, it would be hard for the 7 remaining to pull back such a strong group, but if they could, then surely it would make them favourites, having not burned the energy upon this dreadful 12.9% cobbled climb.
And caught they were! with just 5km to go, the four are caught, whilst they made the attack, Chavanel also managed to solo from the second group up to the leaders, meaning that 12 were in front, how much would he have left in the legs?
Enough to lead out Tom Boonen it would appear, he gave Tom a headstart, but how much would Boonen be feeling his attack on the Patterburg? could he hold off the fresher favourites?
Yes! Boonen takes a convincing sprint win in his 3rrd Victory at the Tour of Flanders, in front of the J.A Flecha of Sky, and Breschel the Rabobank rider, a very strong performance by him, to go with his victories already this season, A highly impressive classics collection- 1st in E3, KBK, Dreisdage de de Panne, and Dwars Dur Vlandaaren, he really looks to be by far the strongest of the cobbles men this season!
Stage Results
1
Tom Boonen
Quick·Step Cycling Team
6h28'06
2
Juan Antonio Flecha
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
3
Matti Breschel
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
4
Alessandro Ballan
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
5
Thor Hushovd
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
6
Nick Nuyens
Saxo Bank SunGard
s.t.
7
Fabian Cancellara
Leopard Trek
s.t.
8
Philippe Gilbert
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
9
Stijn Devolder
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
10
Björn Leukemans
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
Spoiler
11
Filippo Pozzato
Katusha Team
s.t.
12
Sylvain Chavanel
Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
13
Leif Hoste
Katusha Team
+1'05
14
Martin Elmiger
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
15
George Hincapie
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
16
Gert Steegmans
Quick·Step Cycling Team
+ 1'46
17
Heinrich Haussler
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
18
Bert De Waele
Landbouwkrediet
+ 2'37
19
Kurt-Asle Arvesen
Sky ProCycling
+ 3'20
20
Maxim Iglinskiy
Pro Team Astana
+ 4'06
21
Luca Paolini
Katusha Team
s.t.
22
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
23
Marcus Burghardt
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
24
Wouter Weylandt
Leopard Trek
s.t.
25
Sebastian Langeveld
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
26
Johan Van Summeren
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
27
Bobbie Traksel
Landbouwkrediet
+ 5'48
28
Wim De Vocht
Veranda's Willems - Accent
s.t.
29
Lars Boom
Rabobank Cycling Team
+ 7'57
30
Paolo Longo Borghini
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
31
Bernhard Eisel
HTC - Highroad
s.t.
32
Matthew Goss
HTC - Highroad
s.t.
33
Lars Ytting Bak
HTC - Highroad
s.t.
34
Tyler Farrar
Exxon Duke
s.t.
35
Niki Terpstra
Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
36
Stijn Vandenbergh
Katusha Team
s.t.
37
Sébastien Hinault
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
38
Koen Barbé
Landbouwkrediet
s.t.
39
Hayden Roulston
HTC - Highroad
s.t.
40
Davy Commeyne
Landbouwkrediet
s.t.
41
Jeremy Hunt
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
42
Peter Sagan
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
43
Sergueï Ivanov
Katusha Team
s.t.
44
Sep Vanmarcke
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
45
Roger Hammond
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
46
Andriy Grivko
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
47
Frederik Willems
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
48
André Greipel
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
49
Kristof Goddaert
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
50
Geraint Thomas
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
51
Daniele Bennati
Leopard Trek
s.t.
52
Lloyd Mondory
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
53
Sébastien Rosseler
Team RadioShack
s.t.
54
Andreas Klier
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
55
Ian Stannard
Sky ProCycling
+ 12'26
56
Aleksandr Kuschynski
Katusha Team
s.t.
57
Francisco José Ventoso
Movistar Team
s.t.
58
James Vanlandschoot
Veranda's Willems - Accent
+ 12'59
59
Sven Nys
Landbouwkrediet
s.t.
60
Frederik Veuchelen
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
61
Jan Bakelandts
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
62
Simon Spilak
Lampre - ISD
s.t.
63
Mark Cavendish
HTC - Highroad
s.t.
64
Coen Vermeltfoort
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
65
John Gadret
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
66
Roberto De Patre
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
+ 14'19
67
Jens Debusschere
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
68
Koldo Fernández
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
69
Francis De Greef
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
70
Steven Caethoven
Veranda's Willems - Accent
s.t.
71
Stefan Van Dijk
Veranda's Willems - Accent
s.t.
72
Geoffroy Lequatre
Team RadioShack
s.t.
73
Sébastien Minard
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
74
Maarten Neyens
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
75
Juan José Haedo
Saxo Bank SunGard
s.t.
76
Theo Bos
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
77
Thomas De Gendt
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
78
Gerald Ciolek
Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
79
Tom Stamsnijder
Leopard Trek
s.t.
80
Bart Dockx
Landbouwkrediet
s.t.
81
Michael Schär
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
82
Geert Verheyen
Landbouwkrediet
s.t.
83
Jan Ghyselinck
HTC - Highroad
s.t.
84
Joost Posthuma
Leopard Trek
s.t.
85
Steven Kruijswijk
Rabobank Cycling Team
+ 18'46
86
Borut Božic
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
+ 19'24
87
Óscar Freire
Rabobank Cycling Team
+ 20'53
88
Sébastien Delfosse
Landbouwkrediet
+ 21'27
89
Massimo Graziato
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
+ 22'00
90
Evgeni Petrov
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
91
Ben Swift
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
92
Danilo Wyss
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
93
Matteo Carrara
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
94
Patrik Sinkewitz
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
s.t.
95
Maciej Bodnar
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
96
Nikolai Trussov
Katusha Team
s.t.
97
Branislau Samoilau
Movistar Team
s.t.
98
Dominique Rollin
Exxon Duke
s.t.
99
Ben Hermans
Team RadioShack
s.t.
100
Yannick Eijssen
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
101
Ignatas Konovalovas
Movistar Team
s.t.
102
Jurgen Van Goolen
Veranda's Willems - Accent
s.t.
103
Francesco Chicchi
Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
104
Michel Kreder
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
105
Paul Martens
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
106
Denys Kostyuk
Lampre - ISD
s.t.
107
Tejay Van Garderen
HTC - Highroad
s.t.
108
Tom Danielson
Exxon Duke
s.t.
109
Sam Bewley
Team RadioShack
s.t.
110
Serge Pauwels
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
111
Kevin De Weert
Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
112
Dmitriy Fofonov
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
113
Chad Beyer
Exxon Duke
s.t.
114
Mario Aerts
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
115
Chris Barton
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
116
Chris Anker Sørensen
Saxo Bank SunGard
s.t.
117
Mark Renshaw
HTC - Highroad
+ 23'51
118
Nicki Sørensen
Saxo Bank SunGard
+ 24'39
119
Maxime Vantomme
Katusha Team
+ 25'43
120
Vasil Kiryienka
Movistar Team
s.t.
121
Andrew Talansky
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
122
Kevin Seeldraeyers
Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
123
Bruno Pires
Leopard Trek
s.t.
124
Rinaldo Nocentini
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
125
Fumiyuki Beppu
Team RadioShack
+ 26'15
126
Elia Favilli
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
+ 26'55
127
Francesco Masciarelli
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
128
Damiano Caruso
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
129
Aitor Pérez Arrieta
Lampre - ISD
s.t.
130
Vitaliy Buts
Lampre - ISD
s.t.
131
Wout Poels
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
132
Juan José Oroz
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
133
Gustav Erik Larsson
Saxo Bank SunGard
s.t.
134
Egoi Martínez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
135
Maciej Paterski
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
136
Laurent Didier
Saxo Bank SunGard
s.t.
137
Rubén Plaza
Movistar Team
s.t.
138
Luca Mazzanti
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
s.t.
139
Amets Txurruka
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
140
Andrey Amador
Movistar Team
s.t.
141
Robert Kiserlovski
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
142
Valerio Agnoli
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
143
Pierre Cazaux
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
144
Sérgio Paulinho
Team RadioShack
s.t.
145
Stefan Denifl
Leopard Trek
s.t.
146
Phil Zajicek
Exxon Duke
s.t.
147
Luis Pasamontes
Movistar Team
s.t.
148
William Clarke
Leopard Trek
s.t.
149
André Steensen
Saxo Bank SunGard
s.t.
150
Thomas Vernaeckt
Veranda's Willems - Accent
s.t.
151
Alessandro Spezialetti
Lampre - ISD
s.t.
152
Enrico Gasparotto
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
153
Alessandro Bisolti
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
s.t.
154
Philip Deignan
Team RadioShack
s.t.
155
Miguel Mínguez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
156
Pello Bilbao
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
157
David Kemp
Veranda's Willems - Accent
s.t.
158
Matthew Busche
Team RadioShack
+ 29'11
159
David Loosli
Lampre - ISD
+ 29'35
160
Enrico Magazzini
Lampre - ISD
+ 30'07
161
Ion Izagirre
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 30'31
162
Grégory Habeaux
Veranda's Willems - Accent
s.t.
163
Enrique Sanz
Movistar Team
+ 31'19
Farrar takes 35th for us today as our highest rider, not a good day for Exxon-Duke, though we expected little, and Taylor Phinney gave a highly convincing performance out in front in the early sections of the race, so the sponsors did at least score a good amount of time with the TV viewers!
It's time for the Tour of the Basque Country. This 6 stage long race, is tucked between the Paris-Roubaix, and the Ronde Van Vlandaaren, and provides a good opportunity for riders who lack the skill over the cobbles to take something from early april, and we will look to use the race as a stepping stone for Horner, as his final preparation for the Ardennes classics.
The race itself is challenging, and any one who looks to be successful, will need to run on high alert throughout the week, and keep an eye open for late attacks.
If the peloton can be controlled, then days 4 and 6 should prove most decisive, with a climb to the finish, and a 20km hilly TT, though every day packs a weapon which may prove decisive, should a plucky rider make a daring attack...
We bring a fairly strong side here to the Basque, with Horner as our named leader. His main support in the climbs will come from Zwizanski and Pate, both of whom are decent climbers. We also bring Chad Beyer to the Basque, he has not ridden a stage race, since the STDU, where he gained 3rd place, along with the points and KOM jerseys, he will no doubt look for breaks where he can make his presence felt.
Chris Horner won this race last year, with his old team- Radioshack, It would be nice if he can replicate this performance again for the squad, ending a woeful run of form in the Stage Races.
Full Startlist
Spoiler
Saxo Bank
1. A.Contador
2. M.Boaro
3. J.Hernández
4. J.A.Jørgensen
5. G.Larsson
6. B.Noval
7. R.Porte
8. C.A.Sørensen
Euskaltel
11. S.Sánchez
12. I.Antón
13. I.Izagirre
14. M.Nieve
15. J.J.Oroz
16. R.Pérez
17. D.Sesma
18. R.Sicard
Leopard
21. A.Schleck
22. J.Fuglsang
23. L.Gerdemann
24. M.Monfort
25. J.Posthuma
26. F.Schleck
27. J.Voigt
28. F.Wegmann
Geox
31. D.Menchov
32. M.Ardila
33. D.Blanco
34. J.J.Cobo
35. M.Corti
36. A.Durán
37. F.Felline
38. C.Sastre
BMC
41. C.Evans
42. C.Barton
43. Y.Eijssen
44. M.Frank
45. A.Kristoff
46. J.Murphy
47. J.Tschopp
48. S.Zahner
Astana
51. A.Vinokourov
52. A.Bazayev
53. A.Dyachenko
54. J.Jufré
55. T.Kangert
56. R.Kireyev
57. R.Kreuziger
58. E.Petrov
Exxon
61. C.Horner
62. C.Beyer
63. B.Jacques-Maynes
64. B.Mead
65. D.Pate
66. T.Phinney
67. P.Stetina
68. S.Zwizanski
Katusha
71. J.Rodríguez
72. D.Di Luca
73. J.Horrach
74. V.Karpets
75. A.Kolobnev
76. A.Kuschynski
77. A.Losada
78. S.Vandenbergh
Rabobank
81. R.Gesink
82. C.Barredo
83. P.Martens
84. T.Slagter
85. L.L.Sánchez
86. D.Van Winden
87. C.Vermeltfoort
88. P.Weening
Sky
91. B.Wiggins
92. S.Gerrans
93. T.Löfkvist
94. S.Pauwels
95. M.Rogers
96. C.Sutton
97. R.Urán
98. X.Zandio
The Shack
101. A.Klöden
102. M.Irizar
103. B.King
104. G.Lequatre
105. T.Machado
106. S.Paulinho
107. S.Rosseler
108. H.Zubeldia
Lampre - ISD
111. D.Cunego
112. L.Bertagnolli
113. V.Buts
114. D.Hondo
115. D.Kostyuk
116. A.Pérez Arrieta
117. S.Spilak
118. B.Szeghalmi
Garmin
121. C.Vande Velde
122. R.Hesjedal
123. B.Lancaster
124. D.Millar
125. R.Navardauskas
126. G.Rasch
127. S.Vanmarcke
128. M.Wilson
Omega Pharma
131. J.Van den Broeck
132. M.Aerts
133. A.Hansen
134. M.Neyens
135. Ó.Pujol
136. V.Reynès
137. M.Sieberg
138. F.Willems
Vacansoleil
141. E.Mosquera
142. J.Hoogerland
143. S.Lagutin
144. A.Ongarato
145. R.Pidgornyy
146. W.Poels
147. J.Van Leijen
148. F.Veuchelen
AG2R
151. N.Roche
152. D.Champion
153. H.Dupont
154. J.Gadret
155. K.Goddaert
156. D.Le Lay
157. S.Minard
158. C.Riblon
HTC
161. T.Martin
162. B.Grabsch
163. M.Pinotti
164. F.Rabon
165. A.Rasmussen
166. G.Smukulis
167. P.Velits
168. M.Velits
Movistar
171. X.Tondo
172. D.Arroyo
173. B.Intxausti
174. I.Konovalovas
175. D.López
176. L.Pasamontes
177. R.Plaza
178. F.Pérez
Quick·Step
181. K.De Weert
182. M.De Maar
183. D.Devenyns
184. A.Engels
185. N.Maes
186. F.Robert
187. A.Stauff
188. J.Vermote
Liquigas
191. P.Sagan
192. M.Bodnar
193. D.Cimolai
194. T.Dall'Antonia
195. M.Finetto
196. E.King
197. E.Viviani
198. C.Wurf
Farnese Vini
201. P.Sinkewitz
202. A.Bisolti
203. F.Failli
204. M.Graziato
205. A.Guardini
206. L.Mazzanti
207. G.Mirenda
208. E.Vona
Caja Rural
211. J.Moreno
212. V.De la Parte
213. A.Galdos
214. J.Herrada
215. G.Lana
216. R.Reig
217. A.Ryabkin
218. J.Sobrino
Considering the startlist, it will be an immensely difficult race for all, with names like Schleck, Contador, Rodriguez, Menchov appearing for the first time this season in the Protour Calendar.
My pre-race favourite seems cursed to fade into anonymity so far, having had Fréire fail me, Devolder miss the top, and several other men fail to perform... None the less, I will make a selection, the rider I think is going to win, is Damiano Cunego, who is in good form currently, and may have teh edge in terms of fitness over the likes of Contador and Schleck. It is also hard to look past Romain Kreuziger who has started this year superbly, he is my pick for the -25 jersey, but I think the harder climbs of day 2 and persistant hills will prove just too much for him to take the overall win.
Edited by baggieboys32 on 23-04-2012 22:51
No messing around here, todays 145km Critérium (of sorts) is a difficult day in the saddle, and will cause immediate break ups in the General Classification. watch out for a break here, of if they can be caught in time, then the sharp uphill finish, will see the Punchers fighting out the win.
The morning breakaway took over 50km to form, there was an attack early by a group of 9 which was looking successful, but when a second 11 man group followed, the 20 out in front were kept on a tether, and brought back by Leopard-Trek.
The 3 man group that did get free, consisted of David Le Lay, Chad Beyer, and Paul Martens. The group had a lead of 3'24" after 80km of racing, the pace in the pack was being kept high by Leopard, and Katusha.
With 50km to go, Peter Sagan made an attack from the peloton, which was allowed clear, and he made it up to the front group with 42km to ride, he looked strong, and we were one of 3 teams to send a couple of men to help in the chase, not wanting to allow a late break a headstart in the GC.
On the final hill of the day, All of the main leaders were forced to attack, Beyer had been dropped from the lead group, and Sagan was setting a tremendous pace, it would be difficult to close the 2'38 lead in just over 20km of racing when he still had fresh legs.
The attacks were controlled by the pack, strangely, Liquigas did a lot of the work to bring the favourites back, and with 10km to go, Sagan dropped Le Lay in what was going to turn into a fantastic solo victory.
Sagan Takes it, Martens was swallowed up by the pack along with Beyer, and Sagan takes it, with a lead of 1'56 over the pack, enough to claim the overall? Le Lay is just visible on the lower section of the hill, he only lost 56" today, staying with Sagan until very close to the end.
In the pack, it was Euskaltel rider - Sanchéz who took third place, leading the sprint uphill to the finish, in front of Schleck and Rodriguez. Chris Horner held on to take 10th place on the stage, showing good form early in the tour, a good place from which to push upwards in later days.
Following yesterdays assault on the legs, we today have a much more relaxed day in the saddle, there are several short (<1km) climbs along the route, along with a vicious climb 7km long, from 61-68km still, the race is not overall too hard, and i can't see the route being too selective.
The morning breakaway was let go after 35km, the 4th group to make an attempt, and we managed to place Danny Pate in this escape group, along with several men including Marc De Maar, Sergey Lagutin.
Despite a large group, and a 9minute lead at peak, it never really looked to threatening, and they were brought back with 24km to go, the pace lulled a bit before the penultimate ascent, and knowing we had no sprinter, Chris Horner made a brave attack with 14km to go.
The attack opened a lead of 40" when Euskaltel and Liquigas sent both entire teams forwards, they forced a pace so hard as to drop around 60 riders in just 9km, and as the Horner hit the 2km banner, the opposition came past him.
His legs spent, he rode in inside the pack in a meaningless 35th place, gaining nothing, losing nothing, whilst Euskaltel rider Sanchéz showed a powerful sprint in the teams home tour, to take stage 2, in front of Rodriguez and A.Schleck.
Todays stage looks to be the last opportunity for sprinters, the course isn't too sharp, and the final 20km are flat which should suit the likes of Sagan very nicely.
The morning break consisted of 5 men, including Blanco-Geox, Kuschynski-Katusha, Irizar-Radioshack, Boaro-Saxobank, and Konvalovas-Movistar. They fought out the KOM points between them, with Blanco taking the best haul, before being brought back by Leopard with 40km to go.
Once again, Horner was feeling good legs today, and attempting to make something of the day, He attacked on the climb 19km from the finish, it is a distance from home, but he has a better chance going solo than trying to take the sprint, over the top of the climb he holds 12" on the peloton behind.
Once he was over the top, it became clear just how good his legs were, despite 3 teams trying, his lead just kept growing, with 7km to go, he held 1'35! surely today would be Chris' opportunity to open our account for the Stage Races?
With 5km to go, the pack are getting desparate along the wet roads, and the inevitable occurs, a mass crash in the peloton bringing down 70 riders, including some of the pre-race favourites- Kreuziger, F.Shcleck, and Antón are included in the crash, as well as several super domestiqués such as Rogers, this group would never make it back to the front, and surely takes some GC men out of contention.
Sure enough, Horner can throw his arms into the air, 1'26 ahead of the pack to take a fantastic stage win, before we make it even so far as the hills/mountains of later days. Sagan still holds first in the GC, But Horner moves up to second thanks to today, now just 32" behind, and with some difficult days suiting Horner to come, he looks poised to jump forwards into the leaders jersey.
The only official "Mountain" day, finishing atop the summit of Alto De Uzartza, this should prove to be selective and show who is in the best form of the GC contenders!
The morning break away were kept under close control, unable to go free until around the 50km mark, when 4 men, Beyer broke away, along with, Kolobnev, Grabch and Gerrans. The quadruplet held a margin of 4'23 at the 114km mark, (37km to go.)
The group broke apart upon the second climb, and 2 men pedalled across the gap from the peloton, Kreuziger and Gesink, both fine riders, who had been involved in the crash, and were therefore looking to reclaim some time on the favourites today.
On the descent of the Alto De Ixuia, (27km out) The peloton had reduced the gap, and there number, 65men were remaining, and the lead was just 2'27" We had 3men in the group, Zwizanski, Pate and Horner, Whilst Beyer had been overtaken by the group.
On the Penultimate climb, Kreuziger dug again, dropping the remnants of the break, he was now solo against the peloton, holding a lead of 1'47" with 9km to the base of the final climb of the day.
And the attacks come flying at the base of the final climb, Horner, A. Schleck and Sanchéz were strongest, and opened a gap, now 27" behind Kreuziger, and dropping the pack behind them, Favourites groups started to form along the road, a second group including Evans, Contador, Cunego, Rodriguéz and Vinokourov just 27" behind.
With just 2 turns to go, the trio catch Kreuziger, Horner is in no mood to hang around today, attacking the group as the Flamme Rouge comes into view 200m up the road, Schleck and Kreuziger are Waning, it's Sanchéz vs Horner at this point.
300m to go, and the pair open up the sprint, Horner was in front of Sanchéz, and seems to have the stronger legs, is it going to be 2 from 2 for Horner?
YES!!! Horner takes the uphill sprint from Sanchéz, who is yet to hit peak form this season, the remainders wheel in behind, and Sagan has fallen away on the final climb, Chris Horner gives Exxon-Duke the race lead!
Horner is looking in fantastic shape at the moment, a great sign ahead of the Ardennes Classics, Todays excellent ride follows his successful break yesterday, to give him a lead of 1'32 in the GC, remaining for the riders are tomorrows hilly stage, where we will look to protect Chris, and then a Hilly TT, The race is far from over, but Horner is perfectly positioned!
Todays stage is the final road race, and with two short but sharp climbs near the finish, we will have to be wary of late breaks, in many ways, a breakaway victory today would suit us perfectly, as we look to protect Chris' Jersey ahead of tomorrow.
The morning break was a large group of 14 men, we were without representation, and the only familiar men ahead were Sastré, Mozquera, and Millar.
We took charge for a while at the front, limiting the break to 4 minutes, before Leopard and Lampre took over, reducing the lead to just 1'23" before the final ascent of the day.
Seeing the breakaway was likely to get caught as a whole Ruben Plaza of Movistar attacked, quickly dropping the rest, it would seem he had been doing limited work thus far today.
Ruben Plaza takes the stage, a good addition to his Palmarés, he has a 47" advantage over the remnants of the break, who are caught as they cross the line, they none the less make up the top 10 on the day, with Sanchéz beating Gerrans to 11th spot, winning the peloton sprint.
Horner rode in safely into 17th place today, in the main bunch, meaning he takes a lead of 1'32 over closest rival Samuel Sanchéz to the 20km TT tomorrow. Kreuziger meanwhile sews up the KOM jersey today, yet another success for the storming Czech.
He's on peak fitness because this is his second Stage Race, and his training is focussed on the Ardennes, most of the competition, this is a first or second race, with a TdF target, so his fitness is just proving too much for the competition!
The 20km TT is a hilly route, which should suit the guys strong in both areas, i wouldn't put a 3rd victory past Horner today, with other favourites being the likes of Kreuziger and Wiggins.
The early lead was taken by Alex Rasmussen of HTC, he set a pace very first up, that was strong all the way up to top 50 when David Millar took the lead by 32".
Millars time didn't stand for long, he was soon overtaken by the German TT champion Tony Martin, who set a time eventually good enough for 6th.
Cadel Evans may have missed out on the Aussie TT jersey this year, but he showed us he still has it by breaking this time again 4th last to set off.
Even this time was not good enough in the end though, Horner shows us how dominant his form is early in the season, and takes the first place in front of Samuel Sanchéz, defending his Race in the Basque!
Sadly my PCM crashed just after the stage ( ) so I have neither screenshots of Horner in the Race leaders jersey, or the final stage results, he took the GC by 1'55 in the end, an absolutely perfect warm up for the Ardennes and AGR, as well as the first Stage Race victory for the team!!!
My pre-race selection seems cursed once again, only managing 7th place, as the top 5 looked like so-
GC
1. Chris Horner
2. Samuel Sanchéz
3. Andy Schleck
4. Peter Sagan
5. Cadel Evans
Edited by baggieboys32 on 26-04-2012 18:39