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Team Milram Again!!!
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 04-11-2008 13:20
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rodda wrote:
Dekkor 
oops i really need to check the spelling of the riders names before i post the report  how come his name isn't licensed? |
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 05-11-2008 08:36
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Koln Rundfahrt
Will be a good chance for my cobbled classics squad to get in some race practise before they head off for their cobble training camp. Zabel has been invited so he will lead the squad and in a weak field should be looking for the win.
Squad: Zabel, Eichler, Grabsch, Haueisen, Knees, Muller, Schroder, Terpstra
I am keen to get someone into a break to make it easier for my guys in the peleton so when Grabsch's early break fails to get away i send Schroder into the next one and it sticks. The break is caught with about 50k to go and i send my team to the front to set a fast pace so no-one else breaks away. The plan works and with 20k to go Zabel makes his move and attacks. He gets a good gap and despite several other riders attacking they haven't got the strength to bridge the gap. Zabel rides the last 20k alone to a great solo victory.
March Review: It's been a bit of a mixed month for team Milram in march. We've got a couple of stage wins and are off the mark in the Pro-Tour standings but we would have liked to have a few more points. It's deffinately going to be a struggle to stay up.
As you can see all the teams are off the mark and as expected we are near the bottom. Of the teams below us i would expect Astana and Saunier Duval to start racking up some points soon so it will be up to us to catch the likes of C.A, AG2R and Bouygues Telecom.
What does everyone think? Will we stay up or are we doomed to fall into the continental tour at the end of the season? |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-12-2024 17:47
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 05-11-2008 08:40
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why you attack with zabel? You should just sprint
good victory after all
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 05-11-2008 08:46
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well i wanted to wait for the sprint, but in the past, like at Milan-San Remo, someone else usually attacks anyway so i thought i'd attack before anyone else has the chance. he had a daily rating of +5 and 92 fitness so i figured why not. it all worked out in the end. |
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 05-11-2008 08:47
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yep, a victory is a victory
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 05-11-2008 17:35
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GP van Vlaanderen
The first of the cobbled Classics that really matter to us. The squad has been off on their training camp and Zabels cobble stat is now 78. This one might be a little too hilly for him to get us any points though.
Squad: Zabel, Eichler, Grabsch, Haueisen, Knees, Muller, Schroder, Terpstra
Originally i wasn't interested in getting anyone into the break but seeing as Terpstra was near the front when a few riders attacked i sent him after them. The break got a gap and formed a large group of 14 riders. However with around 100k to go Terpstra rides off the front and is looking strong.
The pace has been increased in the peleton and soon only the strongest can hold on. Zabel is one of them.
However Zabel couldn't maintain this pace and soon an even more exclusive group of 6 formed.
While Zabel went into the second group with Boonen. At this point Zabel was sitting in the top 10 on the road with a big gap to the next group. I began to think Zabel might actually get something from this race.
However one by one the riders from the group behind me start to bridge the gap and Zabels group grows. Flecha shoots straight past and carries on on his own.
Meanwhile in the leading group Hincapie makes his move. The others watch him for the time being.
Hincapie is caught and Devolder attacks instantly. Again the others sit and watch him go.
Devolder is looking strong and it looks like he's going to go all the way. Boonen has finished stongly and has bridged the gap to Hincapie and Cancellara's group.
Devolder takes the win while Boonen outsprints Cancellara for second.
Zabel tires in the last few k's and is just caught on the line by van Avermaet to loose his top 20 placing.
As i said, this race was probably a little too hilly for Zabel and it showed at the end. Hopefully he'll have a little more luck in the other cobbled classics.
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 05-11-2008 17:49
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GP al Pais Vasco
A tough 6 day race with 4 hilly stages and a hilly tt at the end. Grivko will be hoping to build on his form from the Tirreno-Adriatico as he leads the squad with the help of Ghisalberti. It's a very tough field and it will be very difficult to get into the top 10 at the end of the week.
Squad: Grivko, Barla, Ghisalberti, Jurko, Roels, Sabatini, Schwager, M. Velits
Stage 1
Its a wet day and as i will find this will prove difficult for a number of riders. A break goes away and initially Sabatini gets into it. However he is struggling on the hills so i have him sit up and he drifts back to the pack leaving 5 others out in front.
The peleton is working well to catch the group but Jens Voigt has other ideas and attacks.
Voigt gets accross to the break and with the new member they start to work again and the gap stops falling.
They are finally caught with just 8k to go on the final climb of the day.
Chavanel leads the peleton over the hill but noone has made a move.
The peleton seems resigned to leaving this race to a sprint but Grivko has other ideas and launches an attack on the descent.
With just 3k to go Grivko still held a 20 second advantage. Could he hold on?
YES!!! Grivko just holds off the late challenge of Pellizotti and Rodriguez Oliver to take the win and the overall lead. What a win for the young Ukranian.
As i mentioned at the start, a number of riders went down in the wet conditions with the most noticable being Linus Gerdemann who lost 10 mins and Franck Schleck who lost over 3 mins.
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| G_Larsson |
Posted on 05-11-2008 18:29
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Nice win with Grivko!
Team Manager of Team IKEA-Bianchi
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Media Room
You'll Never Walk Alone |
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 05-11-2008 18:40
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 Grivko 72hills so what a victory
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 09-11-2008 21:35
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GP al Pais Vasco
Stage 2
After his excellent win yesterday, Grivko is looking cool in yellow today.
It's going to be a tough day for my team to try to control the break to keep Grivko in Yellow. Hopefully some other teams will want to keep the peleton together for a sprint finish. The day gets even tougher when the break goes away and includes Linus Gerdemann. He lost 10 mins yesterday and is keen to make some of that time up today.
No one else seemed interested in chasing so it was up to me to keep the gap at a decent distance.
The day got even tougher with about 80k to go when Franck Schleck, who lost 3 mins yesterday, launched his own attack.
His brother and Bert Grabsch went with him and together they got across to the original break. However Franck was feeling good today and decided to carry on going.
Back in the peleton the Andalucia team had woken up and started to help us with the chase.
With the peleton gaining quickly Gerdemann and De La Fuente made a last ditch attempt to stay away.
However it is to no avail and with 20k to go Gerdemann is swallowed up.
The peleton cuts it fine but Schleck is finally caught inside the last 10k. Hopefully they will be exhausted after their efforts today and won't make the time up.
So the race went down to the sprint which was won by Paulo Bettini while Grivko finished comfortably in the bunch.
Despite this however he has moved down to 10th on GC and Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver has taken the overall lead. Which i think is pretty bollocks seeing as Grivko has won a stage.
Edited by ringo182 on 09-11-2008 21:36
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| fenian_1234 |
Posted on 10-11-2008 06:57
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Ringo, for the future reference.
When overall time is the same finishing positions are added up on the stage to see who's winning.
For example, Rodriguez finished 14th and 3rd giving him a total of 17. Schumacher has a 14th and a 4th, so I guess he's currently 2nd overall. Grivko has a 1st and a 50th maybe, so his score is 51 and only good enough for 10th.
If you want to keep hold of the jersey in these situtations, try to finish as high as possible.
Good luck with the rest of the race - it's one of my favorites. |
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 10-11-2008 09:52
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yeah i kind of figured it was something like that. But Grivko is no sprinter so i decided not to waste energy by sprinting at the end.
At least i don't have to waste energy defending the Jersey today. |
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 10-11-2008 10:10
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Classics Specialist
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Gent-Wevelgem
The second of the major cobbled classics will see another world class field. Todays race is flatter then the GP van Vlaanderen so it might suit Zabel a bit more. The squad is the same as it was a couple of days ago.
Squad: Zabel, Eichler, Grabsch, Haueisen, Knees, Muller, Schroder, Terpstra
There was a howling wind today so no breaks went away at all. everyone seemed happy to sit in the bunch and role along. However after the halfway mark the pace was upped and the peleton began to fragment. It was looking good for us as we still had 3 riders in the leading group of 18.
A little further down the road the first wto groups rejoined but then split again with a very elite group of 15 riders. Zabel was still hanging on in there.
As Cancellara led the group over the last climb a few of the riders were starting to struggle but Zabel was still sitting in the lead group of 10 riders.
However on the flat run in to the finish Zabel began to loose touch with the group and was caught by Gert Steegmans.
Zabel and Steegmans worked together to try to bridge the gap back to the leading group.
However at the front Hoste was stretching the group as he used his strength to ride away.
However Hoste quickly tired and Hincapie and Devolder passed him and looked to have a gap to take them to the finish.
However Boonen and Cancellara still had some energy left and bridged the gap to make a group of 4 with just 3k to go.
As expected Boonen had the egs to take the win in the sprint and takes another win for himself and for Quickstep.
Meanwhile it's heartbreak for Zabel who looses out to Steegmans and has to settle for 11th place. It was still an excellent ride from the veteran German who has proved that he can still mix it with the best.
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 10-11-2008 11:58
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Classics Specialist
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GP al Pais Vasco
Stage 3
A long and lumpy stage today. As expected a break goes away and builds up quite a lead.
There's a bit of a hiccup for Team Milram as Grivko gets a puncture and is forced to chase back into the peleton. luckily the pace was still relitively low.
Once again Gerdemann was trying to make up some of the time he had lost on the first day and followed an attack by Florencio.
However it didn't work and they were caught. With 40k to go Popovych and Cesar launched a slightly more successful sttack as they made it accross to the break.
In the last 30k the big names were starting to wake up. First Valverde and Rebellin attacked...
...followed by Dekker leading out Kloden, Schumacher and Sanchez.
At this point i decided to send Grivko after them as i thought this break looked dangerous and could stick.
However Grivko was quickly swallowed back up and was forced to sit in the peleton. At the front Schumacher and Sanchez had got themselves a gap on the other 4 leaders and were looking strong.
Back in the peleton another small group went away led by Pellizotti.
They all joined up, except Pellixotti who fell back into the peleton, and formed a leading group of 10 big name riders.
Back in the peleton Grivko did his best to chase them down.
But it was too late as the 10 riders sprinted to the line and Chavenal took the win.
The lead group got almost a minute on the peleton and they are in a very strong position for the rest of the race.
Grivko has dropped to 13th on GC but has held onto his young riders jersey, though it's only a matter of time before Dekker takes it from him. He's got alot of work to do if he is going to get into the top 10.
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| brann |
Posted on 10-11-2008 14:01
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Very good story and i love the quality of your pics
Good luck. |
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 10-11-2008 14:51
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Classics Specialist
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cheers brann
GP al Pais Vasco
Stage 4
Another day, another lumpy stage at the GP al Pais Vasco. As expected the break goes away. And as is becoming the norm at this race Linus Gerdemann tries to get accross to make up his lost time.
As usual he failed, but it didn't stop him trying again later.
As Gerdemann was reeled in again by the peleton Franck Schleck launched his attack.
With 50k to go Schleck was caught and the peleton was back together. Cue an attack from Jens Voigt.
Jens managed to hold his gap and others saw that he might stay away. Valverde led Clement and Kirchen across the gap and they formed a dangerous looking group of 4.
Just behind them another small group including Schleck, Reballin and Nibali joine up.
The two groups joined up and Grivko decided it was time to go. He attacked with Ghisalberti, Dekker and Chavenal.
Grivko's group joined up with the lead group and as they went over the last hill they were all together. However 8 riders began to ride away on the decent. Grivko didn't make it into the first group but got a gap on the second and ended up doing the decent alone.
However he still had some work to do to chase down the lead group.
Grivko was gaining fround quickly.
But unfortunately it wasn't enough. At the front Rebellin took the win and the overall lead.
Grivko held off the peleton to finish 9th on the stage. However he wasn't given a time difference so he doesn't get any advantage over them.
Grivko remains in 13th place overall but he has lost his young riders jersey to Nibali.
Edited by ringo182 on 10-11-2008 14:54
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 10-11-2008 15:17
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Classics Specialist
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GP al Pais Vasco
Stage 5
The hardest stage of the race sees us going over 3 tough looking hills. A number of riders go away but Voeckler has got the grit between his teeth and decides to go alone.
What a suprise, Gerdemann on the attack!!!
Just before we reach the last steep climb of the day Voigt and Sanchez attack.
The rest of the peleton reach the hill together. Grivko decides it is now or never and attacks.
The gradient is too steep for him and he doesn't get any gap. As they reach the top of the climb Voeckler is finally caught...
...and Sanchez leads the peleton over the top.
Sanchez begins the decent on his own and begins to pull out a large gap.
Grivko lead the peleton down the decent but he couldn't stop Chavenal (in the green jersey) jumping off the front.
With 1k to go Sanchez was still leading but was beginning to tire. Chavanel, Voigt and Valverde had all bridged the gap to Sanchez and were closing quickly.
Sanchez was outsprinted by Jens Voigt and had to settle for 2nd place.
Meanwhile Grivko finished at the front of the peleton in 12th place.
In the GC Sanchez has taken the overall lead with Valverde just 12 seconds back. Grivko has dropped 1 place to 14th but with only tomorrow's TT remaining he will have to give up on his aim to finish in the top 10. It's still been a good performance from the young Ukranian. Maybe next year will be his year.
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| ember |
Posted on 10-11-2008 15:25
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To be honestly, I think it will be hard to get a top10, the guys in front of you are good TT'ers aswell, but hopefully you can do it.
Good luck! |
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| ringo182 |
Posted on 10-11-2008 15:28
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nah, i ain't got a chance. i'm a minute behind and he ain't gonna make that kind of time up. plus there's about 50 riders all on the same time as Grivko and some of them are gonna be better then him at tt's so if anything he'll probably go down 4 or 5 places 
i'm really started to think it's gonna be a real struggle to stay up. what does everyone else think? will i make it? |
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| ember |
Posted on 10-11-2008 15:37
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I think you'll make it. Maybe it is too late to tell you now, but I would have saved one of your captains for the end of the season, it is much more easier to win ProTour in September than in March, especially if you have peaked for August, September and October.
I think you will struggle, but you decide your destiny with a win in Paris-Tours from Petacchi/Zabel, hopefully..:)
Edited by ember on 10-11-2008 15:38
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