Jesleyh: Indeed! The month couldn't have gone any better

Mvhoogdalem: I agree, with this win in his baggage he is very close to already having achieved an even greater season. But don't forget his GP Québec win last year. In my opinion the win in Canada was bigger than this one

Sutty: As said previously. A race is a race, a win is a win

Ian Butler: Well, he's truly becomming more and more integrated on the team, and especially his results have been showing that he is worthy of taking more leader-roles. So undoubtedly he'll have more chances i guess.

Pre-Race
We've come to Portugal for our next 4 stages race. The team's new signing, Nicolas Roche, is brought as captain and we'll try to make a great impression on him from the start. I'm going to be fully dedicated to help the guys on the team, and since the stage-profiles suits me well, i'm hoping to become a key for our success.

A small breakaway of four riders got away in the morning. They didn't seem to cause any trouble, so everyone took it easy. But when nearing the final kilometres, things started to become a little too tense.


But with a massive effort from Lotto, the last escapee was caught five kilometres from the line. The final sprint became a battle between Haussler and Greipel, but in the end Greipel easily pulled away and took the stage victory along the yellow leaders's jersey.

1	André Greipel	Lotto Belisol	4h47'27
2	Heinrich Haussler	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	s.t.
3	José Joaquín Rojas	Movistar Team	s.t.
4	Fabian Cancellara	RadioShack - Leopard	s.t.
5	Enrico Battaglin	Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox	s.t.
6	Matthew Hayman	Sky Procycling	s.t.
7	Andrey Amador	Movistar Team	s.t.
8	Nikolas Maes	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.
9	Sébastien Hinault	IAM Cycling	s.t.
10	Sacha Modolo	Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox	s.t.
...
27	Salvatore Puccio	Sky Procycling	s.t.

A massive climb in the start of the stage got the pace insanely high up, and to protect Roche in the battle for positions, we took the front uphill.


Our rapid pace over the steep climb caused the pack to split in two. Several favorites who wasn't positioned right was therefore caught behind with big names like Ulissi, Iglinskiy and Nieve. We therefore continued to lay down a fast pace at the time we got over the top.


Greipel mistimed his sprint ridiculously wrong, and therefore was Haussler able to take revenge from the day before. The riders who was caught behind from the split lost over 10 minutes in the end.

1	Heinrich Haussler	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	4h35'39
2	Philippe Gilbert	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
3	Geraint Thomas	Sky Procycling	s.t.
4	José Joaquín Rojas	Movistar Team	s.t.
5	Michał Kwiatkowski	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.
6	Francesco Gavazzi	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
7	Filippo Pozzato	Lampre - Merida	s.t.
8	Fabio Felline	Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela	s.t.
9	André Greipel	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
10	Carlos Betancur	AG2R La Mondiale	s.t.
...
20	Salvatore Puccio	Sky Procycling	s.t.

A breakaway containing six riders got away in the morning, being no threat in the general classification. Their lead grew a lot and nobody seemed to want riding them back into the pack again, and at the time BMC and AG2R gave their all, it just seemed to be a little too late.


The pack got very close in the end, but Levarlet from the morning breakaway ended up winning the stage. Gilbert became the highest ranked rider from the pack, while Roche was the second fastest.

1	Guillaume Levarlet	Cofidis, Solutions Crédits	4h54'42
2	Arkaitz Durán	Efapel - Glassdrive	+ 12
3	Luca Paolini	Katusha Team	+ 27
4	Hugo Sabido	LA Alumínios - Antarte	s.t.
5	Philippe Gilbert	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
6	Nicolas Roche	Sky Procycling	+ 45
7	Sylvain Chavanel	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.
8	Diego Ulissi	Lampre - Merida	+ 55
9	Fredrik Kessiakoff	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
10	Carlos Betancur	AG2R La Mondiale	s.t.
...
24	Salvatore Puccio	Sky Procycling	+ 1'37

Roche was to defend his third place in the general classification, and even though he have been improving his time trial very much lately, we all knew it was a difficult task with so many experts on the startlist.


As expected Cancellara took a convincing victory which also brought him the final general classification win. Thomas did a very good job by ending on the podium, while Roche ended in a fine 11th place.

1	Fabian Cancellara	RadioShack - Leopard	49'55
2	Sylvain Chavanel	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	+ 26
3	Geraint Thomas	Sky Procycling	+ 36
4	Michał Kwiatkowski	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	+ 48
5	Niki Terpstra	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	+ 50
6	Fredrik Kessiakoff	Astana Pro Team	+ 53
7	Andrey Amador	Movistar Team	+ 55
8	Adriano Malori	Lampre - Merida	+ 56
9	Janez Brajkovi�	Astana Pro Team	+ 1'00
10	Carlos Betancur	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 1'06
...
44	Salvatore Puccio	Sky Procycling	+ 2'19

It was a very hard race! I've worked a lot in the front these four days and especially stage 2 was exhausting as hell. We managed to hold about 70 riders behind ourselves for a very long time, until they gave up in the end. That's something you can feel in the legs for some days!

Roche and Thomas did a great job in this race and fulfilled our goals very satisfying. It was a shame the time trial was so long, because with a shorter one we would probably have seen Roche in at least the top 5. We're beginning to get close to my spring objeectives and with my next race being the GP di Lugano, i'm looking very much forward to see how the race will unfold.

Welker: He is indeed in great shape already! He'll ride the Paris - Nice along with Salvatore, so Puccio will be looking forward to race with him again. A victory must be the objective for the team and the Irishman, and Salvatore will maybe have a free role...

Sutty: It was a rather quiet race for Salvatore, but after all he is still a young and important helper for the team. He did his best and the objective to become a key for success was achieved well

Krisa: Nice picture, i like it! He'll be a star someday, if not already

Pre-Tactics
I rode the GP di Lugano for the first time last year. It was a great experience and i was even close managing to solo my way to the finish line. This year i'm heading as leader of the team, and i'm feeling comfortable in my chances to actually win this race, especially due to a weaker startlist. I have a strong lineup of team-mates behind me, so let's see how things will develop.

We were very much in doubt whether we would let the morning breakaway get away this morning, since some relatively strong riders got away with A. Losada, J. Serpa and T. Nose. But we chose to make the gap and keep them in sight. Stupid or not, we would find out...


Astana for Kessiakoff and Omega Pharma for Kwiatkowski, seemed to be the the most active teams in the front of the pack all day long.


Pretty soon we could see that the three riders in front were riding very well together. We had to help at the front to close the gap.


We kept the pace at its highest to drag the breakaway back in before the penultimate climb. Everything seemed to be going as planned. I was gaining my way towards the very front and the breakaway were in reachable distance. Right until the final climb...


Losada was gaining his way over the top of the climb, after having left his fellow breakaway companions. What he didn't knew was, that back in the pack everything had stopped immediatly when getting to the bottom of the climb. Sky had been setting the pace until they heard that i had been blocked by a tired Astana rider who literally stood still on the road! Nobody wanted to take the front.


The only one who managed to get away from the pack was Francesco Bongiorno who had reached the downhill section towards the finish line. With Losada in sight, nothing seemed to be decided by now.


Bongiorno got very close in the end, but Losada did a magnificent job to keep himself going. A great race by the spaniard who did right in getting away early morning to crown himself as winner.


Back in the pack, Kwiatkowski led out from the front. He tried to take out J. Serpa for the final podium spot, but Serpa only just managed to get his bike in front of the Polish rider. Once again things didn't went as planned in the sprint for me. I was back in the front, but once again got blocked when nearing the final hundreds of metres...

Looking at the final results, then 11th seems to be a decent result. But when knowing the circumstances behind the race, then i'm very disappointed. I had to pull the brake uphill the final climb, when the Astana rider blocked me, but fortunately my team-mates up front did a great job to stop the pace so i could get back in front.

When we then got to the downhill section i wasn't in doubt that the victory was already decided, but i would still give my all for the final podium spot. I was in the wheel of Andrew Fenn, but somehow i got locked up along the left side banner, and then had to accept an 11th place in the end. It's a fine result, but i really want to forget it as quickly as possible. Next race will be the Le Samyn.

Pre-Tactics
Le Samyn is a difficult race to predict. In the finishing part we'll be riding a course with a small, but yet decisive cobblestone section. A small breakaway could end up taking the victory, but if the pace is going slow over the cobblestones, we'll probably see a bunch sprint.

We're competing without any real leader, since both Eisel and i are feeling confident in our chances to finish in the high end. We agreed trying to split the pack on the cobbles, and see if Eisel can get away. If not, we'll ride for a bunch sprint with me as main character.

A huge breakaway containing 11 riders, got away in the morning. Way to many for my taste, but once they got going, it would have been suicide to try reeling them back into the pack again.


Most of the bigger teams wasn't represented in the breakaway, thankfully! But either way, we felt obliged to take the front, if only a slight hope of winning the race should remain.


About halfway into the race, we hit the first cobblestone section of the race. As planned at the morning tactics, we tried thinning out the pack by keeping the pace at a maximum.


The fast pace seemed to hurt throughout the pack. At the flat part between the cobblestone sections we were informed that many riders desperately were trying to hang on to the back of the pack.


At the second last section, the breakaway still held onto the front, but with a 1 minute lead, their surviving possibilities seemed doubtful. B. Hermans, F. Silvestre and Y. Havik seemed to be the strongest, but if they wanted any result, they had to get rid of the others soon.


But the first move didn't come from the breakaway. Back in the pack Johan Offredo made his first move right after the cobble section. This led to a stream of other attacks who were kept on a tight leash.


Up front the morning breakaway was splitted, and surprisingly it was Benjamin Verraes who managed to be alone in the front with only 15 kilometres to go. The pack was very close now, though.


The attacks from the pack kept on streaming. Once again it was Offredo who tried to get away, this time with company of Tosatto.


Verraes was caught by the pack when we entered the final cobble section. At once, Sieberg, Offredo and Oss tried to get away. Very unfortunate, Eisel was blocked when we entered the section, and therefore he couldn't launch his breakaway as planned.


The three guys who tried to slip away couldn't get going and fell back. Therefore we took the front immediately to organize our troops. Eisel quickly got back, and lightly lay his hand on my back and said nothing but "Get in my wheel," we would try to make this a bunch sprint.


It was a very difficult sprint, since no teams were able to make a decent train. Wynants and Commeyne had a little gap due to a clever move before the sprint began, but they were still inside our reach.


At least we thought they were inside our reach... It now seemed as though they had timed it perfectly. I tried my best to move up, but i had started from a position too long back. Maybe i had overestimated the finishing uphill section.


Commeyne took a beautiful victory with his move before the sprint, and his ability to keep it going together with Wynants was what earned him this totally deserved victory today.


With Commeyne on the top of the podium, Sinkeldam and Oss finalized the lower steps. A little disappointed i only took seventh.

We rode a good race, but the margins just didn't seem to be on our side. First Eisel gets blocked on the final cobble section, and when we decide to ride for me in the sprint, i am simply not near enough at the front, to be able catching the other guys. What a disappointment.

Let's just forget this race like in Lugano, where things didn't work out either. Thankfully i have a lot to be looking forward to, since i'll be riding the famous Paris - Nice for the first time in my career, in just a couple of days. We'll be heading to France with Nicolas Roche as leader, and after our great time in Algarve, i'm really looking forward to be working together with him again.

Sutty: I agree, seventh is actually a very fine result, but when you know you could've won the race, you better be disappointed

Ian Butler: The team has lots of objectives in the Paris - Nice, and a strong lineup as well. Without judging anything at forehand, i'm just saying Salvatore is not the the one they will count on. But you can't predict a race before it is ridden, so let's see if some strange situations will occur in the race