A tough experience for the Champ but he did good. Hopefully this 4 minutes will allow for a good breakaway in the coming stages. Purito way too strong for Urán.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
Yes, it's great with high quality pictures. And you did upload each report pretty quick after earlier one.
But the best thing is,
My favourite team won the team competition in the Volta Catalunya.
sutty - Uran was impressive in that stage, for sure
Ian - Thanks
Shonak - Indeed it was one of those stages where losing time was a good thing Purito will be a force to be reckoned with in whichever GT he's doing, that's for sure after this showing!
Faillu - I have been going quite quickly with the reports but it might slow down soon, just because time is limited in life
Next report is fairly long - was quite an exciting stage
Before the stage, I had made my mind up that I was going to attack, and try and get into the break of the day. And that is precisely what I tried to do at the start of proceedings today on stage 4, the queen stage of the Volta a Catalunya.
I had barely been going for a few seconds when I heard the DS screaming in my ear:
‘What the **** do you think you’re doing? Attacking?! We told you you’re needed to protect Rigo in the peloton!’
I paid no attention to him and focussed on the road ahead.
There were five of us in the break, and unfortunately for me, who wanted to have a shot at the KoM jersey currently being held by Tim Wellens, most of the others were good climbers. Egoi Martinez of Euskaltel, Francis Mourey of FDJ, John Gadret of Ag2r, and Jens Voigt of RadioShack were my companions.
Excluding the final climb, there was a maximum of 62 points if anyone managed to crest all the summits beforehand in first place!
First up was the third category Coll de Merolla. I put in a little dig with 700m to go and the others responded rather half-heartedly and I was able to claim the six points on offer!
The first category Alt de Pedraforca seemed rather easy for a first-category climb but here the rest of my breakaway companions opted not to go for the points so I was left to lead them over the top and gain 16 points, essentially without expending any extra effort.
It was the same story at the top of the Alt de la Josa del Cadi. Our gap to the main field had now extended to nine minutes, although there were still 120km left.
However, by the time we rolled through the intermediate sprint, the lead had been cut to 6 minutes (74km to go), with BMC and Katusha doing the majority of the chasing at the front of the pack.
It didn't take long before we found ourselves on the first slopes of the Port del Canto. At 23km, this is a long climb, but there are some flat sections along the way to offer some respite.
A group of 4 riders (Danielson, Barguil, Herrada and Fuglsang - surprised to see him make a move so early) attacked off the front of the peloton and got themselves a 30 second cushion for most of the second half of the climb. By now the gap was coming down rapidly, just three minutes separated us from the pack. I knew that the break was not going to make it to the finish but if we could hang on till the top of the climb I could secure myself the mountain jersey!
Me at the back of the break, and the peloton in the background! I was feeling it really hard going at the moment, and after doing quite a fair share of the work over the day, I resorted to clinging to the back of the break, conserving my energy until the end of the climb.
We could now see the finish in the distance, the climb flattens out towards the end, and I had to convince myself to keep going. This was tough!
To make matters worse, this time Gadret and Martinez did attack and I was unable to follow.
With the dangerous Fuglsang group lurking just behind I could only manage 5th. The mountain jersey was not to be.
With Francis Mourey, an excellent descender, at the head of the break we flew down the descent - even I was having problems keeping up - and we still had just under a minute and a half’s lead as we approached the final climb. Meanwhile the Fuglsang group, having looked so dangerous earlier, faltered on the descent and was quickly re-absorbed by a pack now firmly under Belkin control.
Despite a small bit of optimism, we knew we were never realistically in with a chance once the final climb started. I was the first to lose contact with the head of the race, and drifted back to the reduced peloton, where the action was hotting up.
Dan Martin was the first of the main favourites to attack, it didn't take long for him to pass me! I tried to hang on to his wheel but he was going too quickly and I didn’t want to push myself that hard - after all, I had spent most of the day out in the lead.
With 10km to go, Purito launched his attack. Rigo was straight on his wheel, not wanting to lose more time to the rampant Catalonian.
With 6km to go no significant gaps had emerged between the favourites, although it looked like everyone was on the limit. Meanwhile, Thomas de Gendt had joined Gadret and Mourey from the break and they were still going surprisingly strongly, with a 15 second gap to attacker Gorka Verdugo of Euskaltel, who had a further 30 seconds on Purito and co.
Rodriguez kicked again, taking Mollema and Samuel Sanchez with him, they quickly joined up with the frontrunners. Rigo was happy to sit at the front of the ‘pack’, which was down to about 15 riders now.
With the finish line in sight, and the devil looking on approvingly, Purito launched his trademark final kilometre push...
... which was easily enough to see him storm to victory!
Mollema was 2nd after a strong showing and de Gendt is the surprise of the day as he rounds off the podium.
Rigo is 7th, a few seconds back.
And me? Well, I am left to wearily haul myself over the line, my energy completely drained, about six minutes afterwards. Nevertheless, I am still extremely happy with my performance today. Not sure the DS is though...
Really nice story going here! Well sorted layout, interesting rider (on a meh-team ...) and nice screens as well. Loving the devil-pic in this latest report! Good luck and keep it going.
Yeah, real brave effort from The Champ despite the team orders. I am not sure it's good for his career though; he's a domestique first and foremost and can be easily replaced while maybe such rumours keep potential interested parties from offering him a deal later on. I hope the DS wasn't too hard on the Champ. Of course he wants to show himself, gotta understand that too. Then again, maybe the Champ is a sleeper agent, eager to mess up Sky's tactics one by one.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
Apologies for this short break, just not having a lot of time lately
tsmoha - Thanks very much it's amazing to have such praise from a writer like you (and yes it is a meh team )
Shonak - Wow that was a long comment! At least he managed to get away though even if he's finding the team mentality not quite to his liking. Well you never know, do you?
I had barely entered the door to my hotel room in Rialp when my phone rang. It was the DS.
‘I’m coming to see you in your room in five minutes, you’d better be prepared.’
Oh shit, I thought to myself. Here comes the inevitable lecture.
It had not even been three minutes when the DS strode unannounced through the door, his face glowering with rage.
‘What in god’s name were you doing today? I specifically told you to stay in the pack! And what do you do? Go careering off like a gazelle in search of some fresh f***ing pastures?! You know that at Sky we do not attack unless we have to; you know that it’s scientifically proven that riding at a constant speed protected from the wind is the best way to ride; you know that keeping that figure on your power meter as steady as possible is of the utmost importance!’
‘Can I at least have a free rein to pursue the mountain jersey now that I’m in the position I am?’
‘Since you’re in the f***ing situation I suppose you can, but be warned, attack at a forbidden point again this year and we’re not renewing your contract!’
He stormed out of the room, slamming the door with as much emphasis as possible.
I sat there quietly, contemplating life.
Rather battered after my evening duel yesterday I decided to sit tight in the pack today.
Unfortunately the weather today was miserable, with rain pouring the whole day. I suffered a puncture (my first, and hopefully my last) but recovered to get back into the pack after a speedy change.
There was just one climb today, the 2nd category Port d'Ager. This was negotiated without difficulty from the pack, and the break too. None of the members of the break had any mountain points before the stage, so I was happy with that.
The rain brought with it some nasty fog and low-hanging clouds, just like we get back at home in the mountains in Bhutan!
Rohan Dennis was the unlikely victor on today's stage as surprisingly, the sprinter's teams somehow failed to reel in the breakaway.
A first category climb on the route means one thing today. Mountain points. And they mean only one thing themselves - attack!
A tentative group of 5 formed with a lead of about 45 seconds over the pack, who didn't want to let them go, and I was struggling to hold on to the pace. Unfortunately for me, King of the Moutains jersey wearer Egoi Martinez of Euskaltel, who has one more point than me, was also in this group.
Thankfully, the peloton gave up their eager chase not too long after, so I had time to look around and take stock of my fellow members: Ruben Plaza, Winner Anacona, Jens Voigt (again) and the aforementioned Martinez. Once again, all strong climbers.
However, cooperation didn't seem to be the word of the day today as several times Martinez, Anacona and Plaza attacked to try and get away. They probably felt that I wasn't doing enough relays although I think that's a little harsh.
This utterly pointless infighting continued for several kilometres, and it was obvious that this was not the best way to ride, as our gap seemed to be decreasing to the pack; from about four minutes down to three minutes.
Thankfully, common sense prevailed in the end and by the time we hit the foot of the 1st category Alt de Prades, the group was working fairly well together and our lead was now at about 7 minutes with 75km to go.
It was a cagey series of attacks at the top of the climb, but I prevailed despite Martinez's best efforts! 16 points in the bag and a provisional lead in the Mountains classification!
I got word on the radio that action was happening in the main field - Joaquim Rodriguez attacking on the descent? Now it was a decision for the DS - pace the pack hard to reel him in and curtail the break, and the opportunities that would provide for me, or let him, and me go?
There was only ever going to be one answer to that question... Purito was brought back but our gap plunged down to just four minutes.
Angry at hearing this, I launched into full throttle down the long descent after the slight plateau that followed the climb. Our gap was stable now at four minutes with 40km to go now that my team-mates had stopped chasing.
Thanks to my work on the downhill, and some strongman pacing on the flat from Jens Voigt, by the time we hit the foot of the steep 2nd category Alt de Lille the gap back to the peloton was still just over 2 minutes. However, Anacona, Voigt and Martinez had attacked and left Plaza, and particularly me, a while behind. If Martinez carried on like this he would no doubt take over in the KoM standings - I had to get back.
I tried to put every last bit of energy I had into making it up that climb, but it was not to be. I had already lost a minute to the other four, and a group containing Gerrans, Gasparotto, Moreno and more was just a minute behind me. To make matters worse, Rigo was struggling to hold on as the other favourites attacked.
Martinez won the mountain sprint easily and I lost 8 points to him, coming over 5th, and with it the potential jersey I had.
In a massive burst of accelerations from the favourites and semi-favourites in the peloton, realising today was a good chance to gain back any time lost in the mountains, the race completely splintered. Here’s how it looked after I came over the top of the climb:
59''
1'41''
35''
1'40''
E1 (4)
E2 (1)
E3 (14)
E4 (1)
E5 (6)
Martinez
Dorji
Rodriguez
S.Sanchez
Kiryienka
Anacona
Moreno
Spilak
Uran
Voigt
Kwiatkowski
de Gendt
Plaza
Kreuziger
v.Garderen
Mollema
2 others
Horner
D.Martin
7 others
I was under the 5km to go banner and I still hadn't been caught. The gap ahead remained roughly the same, I reckon I must have done a good downhill, (well at least I hope I did - I was feeling exceptionally tired after all that effort!) and so the winner of the stage would most probably come from that group. But I was on for a top 5 finish here if I could just hold on!
Ruben Plaza proved the strongest in the sprint, but who was that diminutive figure passing under the Flamme Rouge?
Me of course! A fifth place on the stage - something to be very pleased with!
To my surprise, I also find that I have climbed up into 20th overall - if you had said that at the start of the tour I would have laughed at you, but here I am! However, Rigo couldn't quite make it back to the favourites group and lost a bit of time, dropping to 4th overall.
Just one more stage to go!
Edited by Stromeon on 20-01-2014 19:01
Purito will be a force to be reckoned with in whichever GT he's doing, that's for sure after this showing!
Katusha Team
