Until now only Vini Fantini and IAM have not told us from the PCT teams (which managers are at least still on PCM.daily), so we decided to make things up without them at first, but if one of them contacts us, they can join of course.
Here is a provisional startlist that we made up. We took your eight strongest guys with max. AVG 70. If you want to have somebody changed, please tell us.
As there were 29 teams for now and only 25 may be in a race, we decided that the following World Tour teams will be part of a duo as they have the least riders eligible:
OPQS (3)
Sky (3)
Radioshack (4)
Katusha (4).
Now they either have to make a team together or build a duo with a PCT team which will then see its number of riders decreased obviously, so that they have 8 riders together. We would prefer if you have some ideas, otherwise we will work something out (Suggestion: Katusha + RusVelo, duo of Sky/RadioShack/OPQS, one of them with another PCT team)
Here is the provisional startlist:
Spoiler
AG2R
Gastauer, Ben
Domont, Axel
Bérard, Julien
Houle, Hugo
Bonnafond, Guillaume
Kadri, Blel
Chérel, Mikael
Minard, Sébastien
Argos
Fröhlinger, Johannes
Stamsnijder, Tom
Clarke, William
Timmer, Albert
Curvers, Roy
Preidler, George
Damuseau, Thomas
Peterson, Thomas
BMC
Powers, Jeremy
Warbasse, Larry
Eijssen, Yannick
Kohler, Martin
Lander, Sebastian
Belkin
Goos, Marc
Van Winden, Dennis
Bol, Jetse
Bobridge, Jack
Tankink, Bram
Van Emden, Jos
Gárate, Juan Manuel
Cannondale
Longo Borghini, Paolo
Canuti, Federico
Paterski, Maciej
Marangoni, Alan
Dall'Antonio, Tiziano
Wurf, Cameron
Salerno, Cristiano
Vandborg, Brian
Euskaltel
Oroz, Juan José
Azanza, Jorge
Mestre, Ricardo
Mínguez, Miguel
Radochla, Stefan
Aberasturi, Jon
Sicard, Romain
García, Ricardo
Garmin-Sharp
Maaskant, Martijn
Klier, Andreas
Rathe, Jakob
Morton, Lachlan
Haas, Nathan
Dekker, Thomas
Katusha
Kritskiy, Timofey
Kuznetsov, Vyacheslav
Kuschynski, Aleksandr
Isaychev, Vladimir
Lampre
Lloyd, Matthew
Wackermann, Luca
Graziato, Massimo
Sagdijev, Borat
Durasek, Kristijan
Stortoni, Simone
Polanc, Jan
Cattaneo, Mattia
Lotto
Fischer, Alex
Dockx, Gert
Van Leijen, Joost
Kaisen, Olivier
De Vries, Pieter
Bellemakers, Dirk
Bulgac, Brian
Van de Walle, Jürgen
Movistar
Gutiérrez, Iván
Erviti, Imanol
Teruel, Eloy
Karpets, Vladimir
Ospina, Argiro
Del Pino, Jesús
Orica
Beppu, Fumiyuki
Hepburn, Michael
Sulzberger, Wesley
Bewley, Sam
Teklehaimanot, Daniel
Nieve, Gorka
OPQS
Verona, Carlos
De Vries, Niels
Rabon, Frantisek
RadioShack
King, Ben
Roregger, Thomas
Popovych, Yaroslav
Bennett, George
Saxo-Tinkoff
Juul-Jensen, Christopher
Noval, Benjamín
McCarthy, Jay
Lund, Anders
Duggan, Timothy
Pires, Bruno
Christensen, Mads
Jorgensen, Jonas Aaen
Sky
Edmonson, Joshua
Rasch, Gabriel
Tiernan-Locke, Jonathan
Vacansoleil
Wauters, Willem
Mol, Wouter
Veuchelen, Frederik
Selvaggi, Mirko
Ruijgh, Rob
Androni
Malaguti, Alessandro
Ermeti, Giairo
Parrinello, Antonio
Facchini, Patrick
Di Serafino, Matteo
Gil, Tomás
Bertazzo, Omar
Ochoa, Carlos José
Bardiani
Pasqualon, Andrea
Pagani, Angelo
Delle Stelle, Cristian
Zardini, Edoardo
Balloni, Alfredo
Locatelli, Stefano
Barbin, Enrico
Baggio, Filippo
Caja Rural
Fraile, Omar
Gomez, Yelko
Moreno, Francisco Javier
Ferrari, Fabricio
Aramendia, Javier Francisco
Moyano, Josué
Petrov, Danail
Fernández, Rubén
Champion System
Othman, Muhamad
Lewis, Craig
Gazvoda, Gregor
Beyer, Chad
Roth, Ryan
Butler, Christopher
Friedemann, Matthias
Schnaidt, Fabian
Colombia
Rodriguez, Michael
Marentes, Wilson
Suarez, Juan Pablo
Ávila, Edwin
Ospina, Dalivier
Chalapud, Robinson
Valencia, Juan Pablo
Romero, Jeffry
Europcar
Lamoisson, Morgan
Quemeneur, Perrig
Hurel, Tony
Charteau, Anthony
Tulik, Angelo
Cousin, Jérome
Berhane, Natnael
Thurau, Björn
MTN
Niyonshuti, Adrien
Thomson, Jay
Grmay, Tsgabu
Van Rensburg, Jacques Janse
Bryan, Luke
Meintjes, Louis
Russom, Meron
Van Niekerk, Dennis
NetApp
McEvoy, Jonathan
Juárez, Jose Alberto
Matzka, Ralf
Hägg, Heimdal
De las Cruz, David
Wetterhall, Alexander
Downing, Russell
Dempster, Zakkari
RusVelo
Boev, Igor
Kochetkov, Pavel
Kovalev, Ivan
Mironov, Alexander
Tatarinov, Gennadiy
Ershov, Artur
Pomoshnikov, Sergei
Pedrovski, Wladi
This duo building would have been like looking for group work partners in school back in time - I would have like that,
Team Management - Jochen Hahn
Edited by Silvio Herklotz on 25-04-2014 11:23
Hi,
We'd prefer not to have our riders take part in the proposed event under the current rules structure. Our younger riders like Viennet and Courteille would be better severed spending time with our trainers, while our older riders like Boucher and Mangel have carefully balanced schedules to maximize their energies.
Racing in a "Domestique" event does not fit well with this. Is wastes energy for the older guys and does not give the younger guys serious experience. In addition not being able to field a full 8 riders does not help things, harming the team brand overall. Mikel
Hi,
We'd prefer not to have our riders take part in the proposed event under the current rules structure. Our younger riders like Viennet and Courteille would be better severed spending time with our trainers, while our older riders like Boucher and Mangel have carefully balanced schedules to maximize their energies.
Racing in a "Domestique" event does not fit well with this. Is wastes energy for the older guys and does not give the younger guys serious experience. In addition not being able to field a full 8 riders does not help things, harming the team brand overall. Mikel
Well, if that is your choice, then you will not appear there of course. Under the present circumstances we actually appreciate that, because that opens up space for another team. We will take you out of the series immediately.
So far, nobody disagreed on anything I said and therefore we present you the finalised startlist. Of course it can still be changed if anybody asks for it, but if that will not happen, the racing is going to start soon.
FDJ will not appear in the series as its manager asked for it, while we chose to build up a duo of NetApp and RadioShack because NetApp was willing to do so. Furthermore we decided to make a joint Russian team of Katusha and RusVelo, so that the last duo will be OPQS + Sky, because those are those two teams with only three riders eligible.
Here is the startlist so far:
Spoiler
AG2R
Gastauer, Ben
Domont, Axel
Bérard, Julien
Houle, Hugo
Bonnafond, Guillaume
Kadri, Blel
Chérel, Mikael
Minard, Sébastien
Argos
Fröhlinger, Johannes
Stamsnijder, Tom
Clarke, William
Timmer, Albert
Curvers, Roy
Preidler, George
Damuseau, Thomas
Peterson, Thomas
BMC
Powers, Jeremy
Warbasse, Larry
Eijssen, Yannick
Kohler, Martin
Lander, Sebastian
Belkin
Goos, Marc
Van Winden, Dennis
Bol, Jetse
Bobridge, Jack
Tankink, Bram
Van Emden, Jos
Gárate, Juan Manuel
Cannondale
Longo Borghini, Paolo
Canuti, Federico
Paterski, Maciej
Marangoni, Alan
Dall'Antonio, Tiziano
Wurf, Cameron
Salerno, Cristiano
Vandborg, Brian
Euskaltel
Oroz, Juan José
Azanza, Jorge
Mestre, Ricardo
Mínguez, Miguel
Radochla, Stefan
Aberasturi, Jon
Sicard, Romain
García, Ricardo
Garmin-Sharp
Maaskant, Martijn
Klier, Andreas
Rathe, Jakob
Morton, Lachlan
Haas, Nathan
Dekker, Thomas
Katusha + RusVelo
Kritskiy, Timofey
Kuznetsov, Vyacheslav
Kuschynski, Aleksandr
Isaychev, Vladimir
Tatarinov, Gennadiy
Ershov, Artur
Pomoshnikov, Sergei
Pedrovski, Wladi
Lampre
Lloyd, Matthew
Wackermann, Luca
Graziato, Massimo
Sagdijev, Borat
Durasek, Kristijan
Stortoni, Simone
Polanc, Jan
Cattaneo, Mattia
Lotto
Fischer, Alex
Dockx, Gert
Van Leijen, Joost
Kaisen, Olivier
De Vries, Pieter
Bellemakers, Dirk
Bulgac, Brian
Van de Walle, Jürgen
Movistar
Gutiérrez, Iván
Erviti, Imanol
Teruel, Eloy
Karpets, Vladimir
Ospina, Argiro
Del Pino, Jesús
Orica
Beppu, Fumiyuki
Hepburn, Michael
Sulzberger, Wesley
Bewley, Sam
Teklehaimanot, Daniel
Nieve, Gorka
Goesinnen, Floris (Drapac)
Lapthorne, Darren (Drapac)
OPQS + Sky
Verona, Carlos
De Vries, Niels
Rabon, Frantisek
Edmonson, Joshua
Rasch, Gabriel
Tiernan-Locke, Jonathan
RadioShack + NetApp
King, Ben
Roregger, Thomas
Popovych, Yaroslav
Bennett, George
Hägg, Heimdal
Juárez, Jose Alberto
Downing, Russell
Dempster, Zakkari
Saxo-Tinkoff
Juul-Jensen, Christopher
Noval, Benjamín
McCarthy, Jay
Lund, Anders
Duggan, Timothy
Pires, Bruno
Christensen, Mads
Jorgensen, Jonas Aaen
Vacansoleil
Wauters, Willem
Mol, Wouter
Veuchelen, Frederik
Selvaggi, Mirko
Ruijgh, Rob
Androni
Malaguti, Alessandro
Ermeti, Giairo
Parrinello, Antonio
Facchini, Patrick
Di Serafino, Matteo
Gil, Tomás
Bertazzo, Omar
Ochoa, Carlos José
Bardiani
Pasqualon, Andrea
Pagani, Angelo
Delle Stelle, Cristian
Zardini, Edoardo
Balloni, Alfredo
Locatelli, Stefano
Barbin, Enrico
Baggio, Filippo
Caja Rural
Fraile, Omar
Gomez, Yelko
Moreno, Francisco Javier
Ferrari, Fabricio
Aramendia, Javier Francisco
Moyano, Josué
Petrov, Danail
Fernández, Rubén
Champion System
Othman, Muhamad
Lewis, Craig
Gazvoda, Gregor
Beyer, Chad
Roth, Ryan
Butler, Christopher
Friedemann, Matthias
Schnaidt, Fabian
@Shonak: Sorry, Ioannis Dimitriou is to strong, he has 71 AVG. About Jose Alberto: My bad, I put him in for Alex Wetterhall if that's ok, just forgot him.
@Cycleman: Approved. Edited them in. But you will then race as OGE p/b Drapac or something. Or maybe not, because nobody manages Drapac... We'll see.
If it's all the same to you I would like to make a few changes (I might be WT, but I still have plenty of riders eligible for this ):
Basically I'm replacing all the foreigners with Basque's in stead (plus Radochla rally haven't earned his spot!).
Joining:
Bilbao, Pello
Pérez, Rubén
Leaving:
Ricardo Mestre
Stefan Radochla
This was actually quite hard as I still have 9 riders that couldn't get a spot
Listen, everybody, now it is finally done! The DB is ready, the startlist as well. Racing can start!
I had to made duos of Vacansoleil + OPQS and BMC + Sky instead of Vacansoleil, BMC, Sky + OPQS, because I forgot that I need a control team.
The final startlist in-game can be seen here:
I hope it is no problem for the duos that I randomly took one of their jerseys. Sorry, but I'm to lazy/busy to do extra jerseys and I am not skilled enough to do it anyway. I even thought about taking backside from one and frontside from another jersey. Maybe something like this will come in future, but for now I can't help it.
The first classic to be raced has also been decided, it is GP Südkärnten:
If anything is wrong, please tell me. Otherwise, you just need to wait for the racing now!
So excited,
Team Management - Jochen Hahn
PS: I just noticed that I forgot Vladimir Isaychev for team Katusha+Rusvelo. Sorry for that, I changed it.
Edited by Silvio Herklotz on 03-05-2014 12:53
As we said, the racing is starting now. Here is the final startlist again:
Just some important thing to get you started. There will be abbreviations, you do not know, which stand for duos. Those will be: RSN (RadioShack-NetApp), OPV (Omega Pharma-Vacansoleil), RUS (Katusha-RusVelo), TBS (Team BMC-Sky) and finally OGD (OricaGreenedge-Drapac).
We will be racing GP Südkärnten in Völkermarkt, Austria today. Here is the profile for all of you:
We are right here at the startline in Völkermarkt, I will be in my commentary box throughout the race and comment for you. Today we have 192km to go, which are rated as flat, but we have pretty nice hills here.
All in all, it will be 8 rounds on this course with two minor climbs. The race will be decided on the final climb up to Völkermarkt.
184 riders are taking part in the race. But not everybody made it to the start today. We were told that Vladimir Isaychev (Katusha - Rusvelo) was ill. We are sorry for him and the team, they will start with 7 riders only (Sorry for that, I edited him in, but already reported the race).
We have no real leaders here and therefore team tactics should be reduced to a minimum level - just everybody could win this race. But this is what makes it so fun and why I love this series. All the riders here are on a very similiar level.
My prediction is that an attack inside the last two laps will decide the race, but it could literally happen everything.
We have warm weather with 22 degrees and sun shining, so that weather is perfect for racing today. Do not forget the strong wind (46) that could really have an influence.
Everybody is waiting for the start now, spectators are all over the place. Bring it on!
And the riders are finally rolling!
As always, we are now waiting for the first attacks. And here they come:
It is Bonnafond (ALM)! He is amongst the strongest in mountains and hills, so does he try to decide things early?
But who is going to follow him? Anybody? Yes, indeed. After a moment of deliberation, Balloni (BAR) attacks.
Both are joining for the breakaway. But what is happening in the field? The pace is still not high, will there be more attacks coming in? Yes, there are. And its three guys trying to get clear. Those are Gil (AND), Molard (COF) and Moreno (CJR). The latter two have problems following Gils acceleration and the question is if the peloton is willing to let those guys get away. Especially Europcar are decent in numbers at the front. What are them planning?
No, they are not. Instead we have even more attacks coming in as the other ones are slowly creating gaps on the peloton. It is Verona (OPV) going. Peterson (ARG) and Cattaneo (LAM) are trying to follow him, while Janse van Rensburg (MTN) is still not sure if he should go after it.
Now as those guys break free, we have groups all over the place. In this short flat/downhill section, we see even more attacks coming in as Europcar is somehow trying to organize everything, but failing it. Guys that want to break away are Gazvoda (CSS) and Eijssen (TBS)
Is that our break of the day now? In the peloton, Europcar does a bit of chasing, but not enough to catch the escapees at all. Still, Hurel (EUC) holds the peloton in contention.
In the front, everything seems to be coming together to a big breakaway of the day. Only Janse van Rensburg (MTN), Gazvoda (CSS),
and Eijssen (TBS) haven't made the junction with the eight other guys up front.
In the meantime, Saxo-Tinkoff had taken over the chasing effort from Europcar. They are really motoring right now.
Everything together now at the front, but under Saxo-Tinkoff's chasing, the gap is nearly closed, while the peloton is strung out before the next mini-climb.
The head of the race notices that as well, so we have attacks over there. It is Verona (OPV) trying to get away, but Moreno (CJR) is spending big effort on keeping the group together.
Onto that little climb and the breakaway is altogether again. But they have no time to look around, as Europcar is chasing again and Charteu, Quemeneur and Thurau (all EUC) are working hard. Maybe we see some team tactics here in the first ten kilometres already? Yes, we do, indeed. They are surely working for Berhane (EUC), who is among the best climbers in the peloton.
Oh my gosh, the tempo is absolutely incredible. Everybody is really racing up that hill, just wow. Look how long the peloton is right now! If we will go on like that, only the strongest will survive for sure.
And it gets even faster! Now that Janse Van Rensburg (MTN) is attacking, everybody will be really struggling in the pack while Europcar is putting down such a fast tempo. All of his former companions are almost caught. Van Rensburg seems to be the lone survivor now.
No, no, I was wrong! The whole group is starting to increase its tempo again as they negate his attack. Now Bonnafond (ALM) is going for it again and the other guys behind are trying everything to stay away from the pack
And that is finally the end of the big breakaway. Now Europcar succeeded to catch them. But in that exact moment, seven of them did not want their journey to be at an end, so Gil (AND), Janse Van Rensburg (MTN), Petersen (ARG), Moreno (CJR), Balloni (BAR), Molard (COF) and Bonnafond (ALM) are giving it another try.
But Europcar does not stop their chasing effort. Due to the high tempo, Janse Van Rensburg (MTN) is unable to stay in the front group after his attacks now and drops back to the peloton, which is just some metres behind the head group. That guy is all over the place.
After 20 km, the race is up to start again. Under the pressure of Quemeneur and Charteau (both EUC), the whole breakaway is reeled back in. Wow, so much racing and we have not even finished the first of eight rounds. As we can see, the pace dropped down immediately and everybody is relaxing his legs a bit. Still, the spectators are cheering for the riders. That is what we want to see on such a sunny day of racing hier in Südkärnten, Austria.
Expect for Gomez (CJR) who unfortunately hit the deck. But he will not have any problem getting back and he does not seem to be injured.
And it does not get boring at all! Right on the next little climb, we have more attacks with round about 30km raced. It is Bellemakers (LTB) with Teruel (MOV) following him. Will those two be able to stay in front the rest of the day?
We can't say yet as Euskaltel does some kind of chasing, but the gap still increases slowly. It is Bilbao and Azanza (both EUS) working back in the peloton. Surely they believe in Pérez' (EUS) uphill sprint.
There we see another attack and it is an unpredictable one! Molard (COF) is trying his luck again now! Can he finally make his team proud?
But as we all see, the advantage is not big yet. But it is increasing! Is that our breakaway of the day? Well, at least it seems so. Those three are having an advantage of about a minute now, which is increasing steadily.
Yup, it is. In the back, nobody is really chasing, because that 3-man breakaway seems not so hard to catch later on. The gap is now at two minutes, those guys should not be catched before the final round or two, I predict. The peloton is now more compact again, the tempo is not that high. Is the nteresting part in the beginning over now?
No, it is not! We have more attacks! It is a two-man attack by Wauters (OPV) and Suarez (COL). But as they are attacking on the descend, Paterski (CAN) has not a hard time staying close to them.
Everything neutralised now, but the break's lead has suffered as it is down again to 1:30. With one and a half laps done, we are still in the beginning of the race. But from now on it is widening. It seems like our break of the day is established and the next part of the race will be rather boring. So time for us to have a deeper look on the guys in the front!
140km to go, E1 - 4:43 - Peloton
First of all, we have Dirk Bellemakers from Lotto-Belisol here. He is known as a strong figther (FTR 73), but lacks a bit of strength overall. Most noteable he is quite decent on short hills (HIL 69) like here in Völkermarkt. But if there would be a sprint in the end, I would not put my money on him at all (SP 61). Oh, and until now, he has never won an international race, becuase he was always working for his leaders. Could that be the chance to do so now? Is not that what the Domestique Racing Series was made for?
120km to go, E1 - 6:48 - Peloton
Nobody is chasing behind at all, so we have more time to look at Eloy Teruel as the gap is increasing. The Movistar rider is usually known for his strength in Time Trials (TT and PRL 73), but that also means he is quite decent on flat roads (FL 71). However, this race is going to be decided on the hills for sure, which is not good for him, because he really hates uphill racing (MO 57). But maybe the hills will not turn out so hard, so he can have a chance to compete there in the end (HIL 65). Although he is not a good sprinter as well, he should be the fastest one in the breakaway for sure (66 SP). In his career he has not done anything noteable, but he is usually more of a track racer. For example, he has already been winning a silver medal 2013 and a bronze medal 2014 in the Track World Championships in his favourite discipline: The Points Race.
116km to go, E1 - 6:57 - Peloton
One of their guys is in front, another one abandoned. Karpets (MOV) hit the road very hard and therefore had to quit the race. He entered the team car and as of now it seems like he has hurt his shoulder pretty bad. Let us hope he did not break anything. Unfortunately, our cameras missed that, but we found a picture of him earlier in the race.
105km to go, E1 - 7:20 - Peloton
The gap is growing and growing, so we now come to our third escapee. Rudy Molard is racing for Cofidis since 2011. You can guess it, he is the third one that has not achieved anything big in his carreer, until now there is no victory. But he is still a rider worth watching as he has great fighting spirit (FTR 71) and his quite good on uphill terrain (MO 67, HIL 70). He seems to be the strongest rider in the break as the race will be decided on the hills, as I already said. Yup, he is my favourite if the group will come to the end. But that is only my prediction.
92km to go, E1 - 6:48 - Peloton
Now finally we see some chasing starting. The teams want to close the gap now and they seem to be right in time as the lead begins to drop significantly. Teams chasing are Colombia (4 riders), Omega Pharma - Vacansoleil (2 riders), Saxo-Tinkoff and Euskaltel (both 1 rider). So Colombia seems to have the biggest interest to bring those guys back. They are working for their leader Romero (COL). It seems like the teams are thinking this will end in a final sprint. But I am not sure about that.
80km to go, E1 - 5:04 - Peloton
Nothing changed as we go up and down all the time. The lead is decreasing heavily, those hills are having big impact on the legs today. We will see all the guys suffer, I swear! However, here is some fine landscape for you:
60km to go, E1 - 3:49 - Peloton
The break is losing ground, they are not going to make it to the end, I think we can say that. In the peloton, Euskaltel inreased its effort, but it is still Colombia, Omega Pharma - Vacansoleil and Saxo-Tinkoff supporting them.
55km to go, E1 - 3:36 - Peloton
Up front, the three guys are still working together pretty good, as in the pack Houle (ALM) falls between all the other guys. He touched the back wheel of Pagani (BAR) and just hit the ground, but he did not take anybody down with him. It will be a hard way for him fighting back, but he is going to make it.
45km to go, E1 - 3:04 - Peloton
I do not know what is wrong with that guy. Next time down. Gomez (CJR) has a really bad day as he overpaced in the descent and fell again. Oh, I do not think he is going to do something today after two crashs.
41km to go, E1 - 2:48 - Peloton
Next one is Di Serafino (AND). He crashed in a house right on the descent. Though he picked up his bike pretty fast, he decided not to go on with the race. His left foot seems to be hurt dangerously, so it should be best not to put pressure on it again.
35km to go, E1 - 2:39 - Peloton
Somehow the peloton is not able to pull back the breakaway as fast as they want to. The lead is still decent and there could be a chance for the guys up front to take the victory. It is noteable that they just lose time when climbing, the peloton is really pacing hard here. But on the downhill parts of the course, they maintain their lead pretty well. In the peloton it is still Euskaltel chasing hard.
33km to go, E1 - 2:29 - Peloton
Now we are coming to the most interesting part of the race. Wurf (CAN) opens up the final with his attack from the bunch. Will he be able to bridge the gap on his own?
31km to go, E1 - 2:05 - Wurf - 0:17 - Peloton
Look at that! The riders in the peloton are absolutely furious now. Not only that in two kilometres, the break's lead decreased by almost half a minute, but Euskaltel and Saxo-Tinkoff are there at the front in numbers really. That is not to be seen often in cycling, but we have 5 guys from Euskaltel motoring that are followed by six guys from Saxo-Tinkoff. The pace is incredible now!
28km to go, E1 - 1:24 - Wurf - 0:30 - Peloton
But somehow they fail to organize themselves, so Wurf (CAN) is granted the chance to stay in front longer and go for this. His lead is now constant about half a minute but against the whole lot of guys behind, he will not stand a chance for sure. In the last kilometres, the break really suffered and their lead decreased now to about two minutes onto the peloton. I think they will be caught, but I could wrong - you never know.
24km to go, E1 - 0:56 - Wurf - 0:24 - Peloton
In the peloton, there are Kamyshev (AST), Bonnafond (ALM) and Pires (TST) working. I am wondering why Saxo let their strongest climber work, but then they will be relying on Jorgensen's sprint. I am really not sure if it is right to bet on a mass sprint in the end, but well, most of the teams do. Now up to the last harder climb before we then have a downhill section, another minor hill and some flat kilometres until we see the final uphill sprint. Everything is close by now, how will it work out. From my point of view, this should be the point of the race where everything will be decided as it is the last chance for the climbers really. You can see the break (up right), Wurf (left) and the peloton on that picture, isn't that incredible?
20km to go, E1 - 0:48 - Wurf - 0:16 - Peloton
Nope, I was proven wrong. Nothing happened on the climb except chasing, chasing and chasing. By the way, we had no look onto the breakaway for a long time now. Up there Bellemakers (LTB) is putting major effort in this ongoing break, but will that be enough?
18km to go, E1 - 0:47 - Wurf - 0:10 - Peloton
Wurf (CAN) seems pretty exhausted as he is now losing more ground on the peloton as the break, which is pretty weird. But surely he was just overpacing earlier as he has put his nose in the wind for 15km. Despite the high tempo, almost all of the riders are able to stay in contention with the pack, but those behind will have a pretty hard time coming back to the front, I guess.
16km to go, E1 - 0:46 - Peloton
Now Wurf (CAN) is caught and the pack's only enemy are the three guys in the front. You can see how bad the peloton is strung out, it will break now for sure while we head on to the penultimate climb.
14km to go, E1 - 1:00 - Peloton
What are them guys doing? The lead is increasing again as Selvaggi (OPV) is the only one working now - and even he is not riding hard. When they will not do a great chasing effort now, the break will win this race for sure! Damn, that would be a surprise! (Not really because of the AI, but it would be in real life.)
13km to go, E1 - 1:02 - Peloton
And the break is in the climb now. They maintain their lead pretty well, chapeau guys! But on the picture you can see that their lead is still not big as one huge attack could just nullify it. By the way, you noticed how long the peloton is? Yes, everybody is still in there or came back again. And the pace is thrilling again.
11km to go, E1 - 0:12 - Teruel - 0:48 - Peloton
Nope, no attacks again. Just Euskaltel and Omega Pharma - Vacansoleil chasing all the time. Those teams alongside Saxo-Tinkoff really need a top result today, otherwise this will mean a whole lot of wasted energy. Things in the front are more interesting: Teruel (MOV) dropped back from the other two, you could have predicted that. But the gap is little, so he could stand a chance if he is able to rejoin.
9km to go, Bellemakers + Molard - 0:37 - Teruel - 0:16 - Peloton
He is really struggling, but on the flat part Molard (COF) and Bellemakers (LTB) work together, so he has no chance to fight back. Teruel (MOV) is now to be catched by the peloton. But still, that was a strong ride and he really gave it everything. The pack is under the 10km-banner now and can see all the escapees on that long straight road. Will that give them a boost?
8km to go, E1 - 0:46 - Peloton
Bam! That does not look good for the breakaway as we have some more guys trying their luck before the final climb. It is Marangoni (CAN). Minard (ALM) and Bazayev (AST) tried to follow him, but they are a bit blocked by Azanza (EUS). Cannondale are really on fire today!
6500m to go, Molard - 0:14 - Bellemakers - 0:19 - E3 - 0:13 - Peloton
Molard (COF) has now left Bellemakers (LTB) behind. The same time, the three last attacking have joined and are closing in on the two guys from the morning breakaway quickly. However, still everything seems to end in a bunch sprint, if the peloton will now chase hard.
5000m to go, Molard - 0:16 - Bellemakers - 0:07 - E3 - 0:06 - Peloton
Passing under the 5km-banner, Molard (COF) is still in front, but it seems like the peloton will bring everything back together. The pace is absolutely unbelievable now and there are still Euskaltel and Omega Pharma - Vacansoleil chasing hard. From our helicopter view, you can see that Marangoni (CAN), Minard (ALM) and Bazayev (AST) are heavily closing in on Bellemakers (LTB), but those four should be back in the pack in a few moments. I did not see it coming, but that will end in a bunch sprint.
4000m to go, Molard - 0:16 - Bellemakers - 0:14 - Peloton
As the two in the front still maintain their small lead on that downhill part before the final climb now, we have the first trains setting up in the peloton. While the chasing still goes on and the three other escapees were brought back, we see several teams trying to put their sprinters in best position: There is an Euskaltel-train for Pérez, we have Saxo-Tinkoff for McCarthy (SAX) on the right side of the road, while De Vries (OPV) is brought to the front on the left.
3500m to go, Molard - 0:20 - Bellemakers - 0:19 - Peloton
Euskaltel is flying! As their former helpers drop back on the left, we see that their train Aberasturi-Garcia-Pérez is now coming to the front quickly. On their wheels is McCarthy (SAX). The train on the left from Omega Pharma - Vacansoleil is kind of confusing me as Ruijgh (OPV) is nobody to make a leadout for. So they are just helping Romero (COL), who somehow came from nowhere, and is now in a great position right behind his leadout man Valencia, whom is still sitting behind Ruijgh (OPV). On his wheel are Tiernan-Locke
(TBS), Ferrari (CJR), De Vries (OPV, their real sprinter by the way) and Sijmens (COF). All the other sprinters will have a hard time coming to the front now! But do not forget Molard (COF) and Bellemakers (LTB)! Those guys are showing a Tony Martin (who is not here) today and keep their small lead for kilometres now! Great performance!
2700m to go, Molard - 0:20 - Bellemakers - 0:12 - Peloton
That is what you call a late attack! Thurau (EUC) is trying it in the last moment before the sprint finish, can he win this race like this? We will see. At the same time, everybody is struggling for the wheels of Pérez (EUS) and Romero (COL), so the positions behind change quite often. That is a hell of a mess there on the road.
1500m to go, Molard - 0:19 - Peloton
Can you believe this? Rudy Molard from Cofidis, a man who never won a race, is still maintaining that lead. He is just in front of the peloton, but they cannot catch him. Now he goes up on the final climb, the only question is if he can hold on to that first place. Because all the guys behind are really fighting now and the leadouts have started. God, those guys are so strong, even though they are domestiques usually. We have García leading out Pérez (both EUS), behind him McCarthy (TST), Tiernan-Locke (TBS), Ferrari (CJR) and Popovych (RSN) are tucked in. A bit more left Ruijgh found De Vries (both OPV) again and is leading him out, while Romero (COL) is hoping for that wheel to be the right one. On the far left side, everybody is fighting for his own with Valencia (COL), Sijmens (COF), Rathe (GRS) and Pedrovski (RUS) are involved.
1000m to go, Molard - 0:09 - Peloton
Molard (COF) is finally being caught as he kind of stands still in the final climb. At the same time, Pérez (EUS) starts his sprint and it looks pretty good for him. Will he be the winner? McCarthy (TST) and Tiernan-Locke (TBS) are following him. From now on, on the 4-6 percent of the hill, trains will not make the difference anymore, everybody is just fighting for himself. That is why all the other guys behind still have their chance to get a podium or even the victory. We should really have an eye out on De Vries, who is still behind Ruijgh (both OPV) and waiting to open his sprint now.
500m to go, Peloton altogether
I can not believe this! Molard (COF) is still in front, but it is nip and tuck everywhere. Maybe he can even win. Pérez (EUS) already lost his strong acceleration as now De Vries (OPV) comes flying from behind. My bet: He will win. But you never know, it is so close now and everybody up there can find that extra bit of strength and take the win.
300m to go
Around the last corner now! It is so close, you will not believe this finish! As we see now, my bet was totally wrong, De Vries (OPV) cannot hold on to that pace and he probably will not overtake the other guys. It seems like it is now Molard (COF) against Pérez (EUS) against McCarthy (TST). Behind those four, there are García (EUS, totally exhausted after leadout), Tiernan-Locke (TBS), Sijmens (COF), Ferrari (CJR), Ruijgh (OPV), Popovych (RSN), Pedrovski (RUS), Tankink (BEL), Roth (CSS) and many more.
150m to go
It is so close, I have no idea who is going to win here from the view out of my box at the finish line. To avoid any advantage for you, you get the same picture as me. I am totally freaking out here waiting to know who will be the winner of this very first edition of the Domestique Racing Series here in Völkermarkt at GP Südkärnten.
Finish line
And the winner is:
Ruben Pérez (EUS)! Somewhere he found a bit of strength and sprinted down Jay McCarthy (TST) and Rudy Molard (COF). But strong ride from those two as well whom get second and third. Really bad for Molard that after this strong race he could only hold on to third.
Finish line
Right behind them, Sijmens (COF) makes this a very good result for Cofidis with place four, just ahead of De Vries (OPV), the guy I called the winner with 500 metres to go. In review, all my predictions and bets were wrong, so, do not rely on those in future, I am never right with these. Tiernan-Locke (TBS) gets sixth, slightly disappointing for strong Team BMC-Sky.
Finish line
Behind him, it is all nip and tuck. There are so many guys sprinting to the line, but in the end Ferrari (CJR) holds on to place seven, just beating García (EUS) and Popovych (RSN). Roth (CSS) takes the last place in Top10, Tankink (BEL), Domont, Berard (both ALM), Rathe (GRS), Romero (COL), Ruijgh (OPV) and Pedrovski (RUS) just narrowly miss out. Behind the, all the other guys are coming in, but they are not fighting for positions anymore as there has been a small viewable gap for the first 17 riders.
Another thing afterwards: With Euskaltel, Saxo-Tinkoff and Omega Pharma - Vacansoleil three teams working hard throughout the race had at least a Top5 result, while Colombia could not even hold on to Top10. That was a waisted day for the South Americans. There have been many teams showing nothing, yes nothing throughout the race, both World Tour and Pro Continental Tour. That is a bit frustrating, because things could have been even more exciting. About the AI: There have been happening two stupid things: Molard holding on all that time after being in both breakaways as the only rider in the peloton, and that there have been no gaps at all, although the hills should have been pretty selective. But you know, I will not complain. However, we thank all the cyclists for making this interesting to watch. In the end, I say thank you for joining me and hope that we will see each other again for the next race. Goodbye!
Firstly, fantastic report. If your other reports will be like that, then Ollfardh needs to give you some big races.
However, the bad news is BMC will not be taking part in any future races unless an alternative option is found. We do not want to work for a Sky rider thank you very much.
Manager of Bunzl - Centrica
ICL's World Tour Champions and Talented Bottlers
@knockout and brewers: Thanks, I really appreciate you like it.
@brewers: I know, I don't like it as well. But it seems like the only option would be to join with a PCT team. I would really like to go over 25 teams, but, you know...
Otherwise I could maybe let Evans and so on race but if they will win something people could start complaining
I'm still thinking about how to reduce teams, so anybody around here who is not active anymore, so I could take out his team?
Silvio Herklotz wrote:
@brewers: I know, I don't like it as well. But it seems like the only option would be to join with a PCT team. I would really like to go over 25 teams, but, you know...
Otherwise I could maybe let Evans and so on race but if they will win something people could start complaining
If possible, I would like BMC to be joined by Schelling, Lang and Hollenstein from IAM for the next race to promote Swiss cycling as much as possible. It's up to Sky to find a partner.
Manager of Bunzl - Centrica
ICL's World Tour Champions and Talented Bottlers
![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
GP Südkärnten
