I'd like to begin with a short piece of news. After the successful Paris-Nice, we've received several new invitations to big races.
Ronde van Vlaanderen, Paris-Roubaix, Amstel Gold Race, La Fleche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège will all be visited by us during the month of April!
1.1: GP Cholet, Pays de La Loire
With Cholet and this race less than an hour away from the hotel in Nantes we stayed at for yesterday's race, it was an obvious choice for next place to go. Reigning champion is Oscar Gatto, who sprung away from the sprinters on one of the steep hills included in the old, much tougher route.
Alex still hasn't quite hit his absolute best form, so we're backing him up with two reserve options in the shapes of Evaldas and Toms. The uphill finish should suit both very well. In case of a late attack like yesterday, we also have Clement to cover if necessary.
Joeri Stallaert (Crelan) is once again probably the fastest sprinter in the race, but his form is a bit of a questionmark. Belgian top talent Tom Van Asbroeck (Topsport) might therefore be the one to watch closest, as he is coming to this race with a recent victory in Handzame Classic under his belt.
The day is rushed through at very high speed, as the sprinter teams aren't happy with any of the riders attempting to break clear and form an early leading group.
This obviously leads us right to the finish, where two of the most active teams are leading out the sprint on each side of the road. Crelan for Stallaet and Topsport for Van Asbroeck. Evaldas isn't feeling too well (-4), but takes place behind Marko Kump (Saxo), who is following Crelan's train.
Topsport's train proves to be the stronger of the two, so Van Asbroeck can easily jump past his final leadout and into the lead with a kilometer remaining.
Yohann Gène (Europcar) is tagged on behind, and then we see Toms and Alex finally finding position after a failing to hook on to a wheel earlier.
The gradient quickly saps Van Asbroeck of energy, allowing Stallaert and Kump to return with 500m left. Evaldas is struggling to stay on the wheel, but is still profiting from the acceleration in terms of position.
Stallaert doesn't have much left after the initial kick, but Kump has yet another gear and speeds away to nab a big win.
Former Spanish champion Fran Ventoso (Movistar) comes up for 3rd behind Stallaert, followed by Evaldas, Alex and Toms in place 4 through 6. None of them really came close to the win, but we still score big time yet again.
Another great team performance even though you couldn`t get a podium. Seeing all your success in almost every race the next wildcards are truly deserved.
Thanks, guys! Will be fun to take part in all the big classics!
2.HC: KBC-Driedaagse van de Panne: Preview
The Ronde is less than a week away, so it's time for some last minute finetuning of the form. A race that actually includes cobbles would obviously have been preferred, but with none available, this'll have to do.
The opening stage is likely to sort out a bit of selection and get rid of the sprinters to prevent them from taking the race lead on any of the two following stages. The concluding time trial will probably largely decide who wins the overall, though.
We didn't participate in last year's edition, but Kwiatek was 3rd overall for Quickstep. Repeating that in this field will be close to impossible, but the time trial should still favour him.
Yoann and Gatis will also try to stay in somewhat contact with the leaders on the opening stage to climb as far up the GC in the time trial as possible. The flat stages will probably be difficult, as Alex is still a few kilos away from absolute top form.
The competition isn't light, that's for sure. Sylvain Chavanel (Quickstep) wears bib #1, which is truly deserved. Possibly the biggest favourite both for the hilly stage and the time trial. Beating him will be tough.
Last year's CT victory king Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (Argos) and Paris-Nice 3rd place Jan Bakelants (Radioshack) might be his main rivals for stage 1, while Taylor Phinney (BMC) and Geraint Thomas (Sky) should be hot bets for the time trial as well.
A strong breakaway group seemed to be on their way to the stage win with 15 km to go, but a huge push from Kwiatek up the steep penultimate climb reduced their advantage of 3 minutes to less than 1.
The gap is still existent however, so Kwiatek kicks in yet another gear as we go over the top, and in the descent he catches up with the last standing man: Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto). The peloton isn't happy to let him go, though.
The gap diminishes quickly and it's over for Kwiatek just ahead of the final kilometer.
It's Jan Bakelants (Radioshack) leading Geraint Thomas (Sky), Tomasz Marczynski (Vacansoleil) and Paul Martens (Blanco) across.
There's no waiting around after the catch either, as Bakelants, Thomas and Marczynski storms up the hill leading to the finish, leaving a fading Kwaitek behind.
Bakelants finally cracks also Thomas and Marczynski with 300m to the finish with a devastating kick. He takes the stage win and a slight bit of time as well.
Thomas takes 2nd, with Martens coming past Marczynski for 3rd. Gatis, Kwiatek and Toms finishes 11th, 14th and 17th, respectively. All still to play for in the time trial, as Yoann also stayed in the main group.
Stage
1
Jan Bakelants
Radioshack - Trek
4h36'27
2
Geraint Thomas
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 10
3
Paul Martens
Blanco Pro Cycling
s.t.
4
Tomasz Marczynski
Vacansoleil - DCM
s.t.
5
Pieter Serry
OmegaPharma - Quickstep
s.t.
6
Nick Nuyens
Garmin - Sharp
s.t.
7
Dries Devenyns
OmegaPharma - Quickstep
s.t.
8
Peter Stetina
Garmin - Sharp
s.t.
9
Julien Vermote
OmegaPharma - Quickstep
s.t.
10
Matteo Montaguti
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
GC
1
Jan Bakelants
Radioshack - Trek
4h36'07
2
Geraint Thomas
Sky Professional Cycling Team
+ 18
3
Paul Martens
Blanco Pro Cycling
+ 22
4
Koen De Kort
Team Argos - Shimano
+ 24
5
Jürgen Roelandts
Lotto-Belisol Team
+ 26
Stage 2
We jump right into the preparations for a sprint finish, with Topsport Vlaanderen and Crelan setting things up for their respective sprinters: Tom Van Asbroeck and Maxime Vantomme.
Neither of the two trains really has the firepower to seize complete control of things, so instead we see AG2R's Matteo Montaguti and GC's 3rd Martens trying to surprise with an early move just inside the 2 km mark.
Despite that element of surprise, the sprinters kick back again inside the final km. Quickest of all is Vantomme, who benefited from his team's work perfectly. Benjamin Verraes (Ventilair) and Tyler Farrar (Garmin) join him on the podium.
Kwiatek takes the highest finish for our team: 12th. Alex had bad legs and decided not to participate in the sprint. A few more races are needed for him to reach a competitive level.
The overall table stays the same, but the time trial is looming.
Stage
1
Maxime Vantomme
Team Crelan
4h51'56
2
Benjamin Verraes
Ventilair - Steria Cycling Team
s.t.
3
Tyler Farrar
Garmin - Sharp
s.t.
4
Tom Van Asbroeck
Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise
s.t.
5
Jürgen Roelandts
Lotto-Belisol Team
s.t.
6
Geraint Thomas
Sky Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
7
Michael Van Staeyen
Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise
s.t.
8
Davide Appollonio
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
9
Kenny Van Hummel
Vacansoleil - DCM
s.t.
10
Ruslan Tleubayev
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
Points
1
Geraint Thomas
Sky Professional Cycling Team
30
2
Jan Bakelants
Radioshack - Trek
26
3
Maxime Vantomme
Team Crelan
25
4
Benjamin Verraes
Ventilair - Steria Cycling Team
20
5
Paul Martens
Blanco Pro Cycling
16
Stage 3
Everything seemed set for a second consecutive mass sprint with 10 km to the finish, but everything suddenly changes a short while later when the speed suddenly drops for an unknown reason.
We're not going to pass on the opportunity, so Toms sets off.
A gap emerges straight away, and increases to over 40 seconds before Topsport and Astana finally reacts. 3 km left to race.
It might've looked like a sure victory for us at first, but an incredible effort from Astana's last leadout man Borut Bozic reduces the gap to just 15 seconds as he takes the turn near the kite.
Ruslan Tleubayev now takes from his team mate, hoping to shut the last little bit of advantage for Toms.
So close, yet so far. With just 500m remaining, they come storming past him with Van Asbroeck now leading the troops. Tleubayev is going backwards, but Farrar, Verraes and Kenny Van Hummel (Vacansoleil) are still in with a shot.
Van Asbroeck really starts suffering in the final meters, but searches through his body to find just about enough power to hang on.
Van Hummel is a very close 2nd, with Verraes following in 3rd. The rest come across the line far behind these three.
8th place from Alex isn't too bad, considering his current form. Kwiatek also notes a good result, 11th. With him, Gatis and Yoann all within reach of the race leader, things are looking positive for tomorrow's time trial.
Thanks. It has indeed been a fairly bleach race for us, but I guess they're hard to avoid occasionally.
I'm testing out a new way to report time trials, so I'd be glad if you could tell me what you think of it.
2.HC: KBC-Driedaagse van de Panne: Stage 4
11 kilometers of individual riding against the clock is all that remains of this year's De Panne Tour, and it's Orica-GreenEDGE's Brett Lancaster in the lead as we join the race.
The former Giro d'Italia prologue winner almost caught up with team mate Wesley Sulzberger out on the short course, which says a bit about his speed.
Provisional leaderboard
1
Brett Lancaster
Orica-GreenEDGE
15'38
2
Jacobus Venter
MTN-Qhubeka
+ 20
3
Michael Hepburn
Orica-GreenEDGE
+ 22
4
Hugo Houle
AG2R - La Mondiale
+ 26
5
Jonathan Breyne
Team Crelan
+ 30
As we go down the startlist, we eventually reach Yoann and Gatis. Both a little ways down the standings due to not caring particularly about position earlier, but still well within touch of the race lead.
Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it's going to be our day. Neither have the strength to even get anywhere near Lancaster's time, and Gatis actually does pretty badly. The daily form just wasn't there for him today.
Ian Stannard (Sky) also sneaks in among the fastest as we take another look at the leading table.
1
Brett Lancaster
Orica-GreenEDGE
15'38
2
Yoann Paillot
La Pomme - Bouygues
+ 15
3
Ian Stannard
Sky ProCycling
+ 16
4
Jacobus Venter
MTN-Qhubeka
+ 20
5
Michael Hepburn
Orica-GreenEDGE
+ 22
Yoann's time on the provisional stage podium remains short however, as he is quickly knocked down by a trio of riders.
Best of those is yet another Aussie and GreenEDGE rider: Luke Durbridge. Turbo Durbo even takes over the lead, while Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin) and Julien Vermote (Quickstep) take place just behind Lancaster.
1
Luke Durbridge
Orica-GreenEDGE
15'30
2
Brett Lancaster
Orica-GreenEDGE
+ 8
3
Ramunas Navardauskas
Garmin-Sharp
+ 13
4
Julien Vermote
OmegaPharma - Quickstep
+ 13
5
Yoann Paillot
La Pomme - Bouygues
+ 23
Just as the Aussie crowd is starting to celebrate, things slip out of their hands. It's not going to be Durbo's day today, as his fellow youngster and rival Taylor Phinney (BMC) goes even faster.
Not even this time is as solid as it might've looked at first sight though, and already the next rider matches. Sylvain Chavanel (Quickstep) is a few tenths of a second too slow, however.
1
Taylor Phinney
BMC Racing Team
15'24
2
Sylvain Chavanel
OmegaPharma - Quickstep
+ 1
3
Luke Durbridge
Orica-GreenEDGE
+ 6
4
Brett Lancaster
Orica-GreenEDGE
+ 14
5
Ramunas Navardauskas
Garmin-Sharp
+ 19
We're now getting close to the end of the day, with our last hope; Kwiatek, starting the day in 14th overall.
Unsurprisingly, he is unable to match the top times and has to settle for a time a second slower than Yoann's. 3rd overall certainly wont happen again.
It's not all bad news, luckily. He does still go faster than all of those who entered today's stage inside the GC top 10 thanks to bonus seconds gotten through breakaways. That includes decent time triallists like Blanco's Paul Martens and Dennis Van Winden.
1
Taylor Phinney
BMC Racing Team
15'24
2
Sylvain Chavanel
OmegaPharma - Quickstep
+ 1
3
Luke Durbridge
Orica-GreenEDGE
+ 6
4
Brett Lancaster
Orica-GreenEDGE
+ 14
5
Ramunas Navardauskas
Garmin-Sharp
+ 19
...
9
Michal Kwiatkowski
La Pomme - Bouygues
+ 30
One strong timetriallist remains, and sadly he does bump both Yoann and Kwiatek yet another spot down the table. I'm of course talking about Geraint Thomas, who has an advantage of 12 seconds over Phinney ahead of today.
Amazingly, his deficit out on the course is exactly... 12 seconds!
While the judges calculate times, we follow race leader Bakelants in the last few hundred meters of his time trial.
As expected, he is far from strong enough in the discipline to defend the jersey. He still puts up an admirable fight and "only" drops to 5th overall, which is quite impressive in a TT race like this.
So, Phinney wins the stage ahead of Chavanel and Durbridge. But who takes the overall?
It's time for the season's second monument race, following a disappointing MSR. That's highly unlikely to occur again, as the Ronde almost always guarantees great racing.
The first difficulties will be Taaienberg and Eikenberg, followed by some other cobbled sections before we travel towards Oudenaarde and the final circuit, where Koppenberg, Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg will decide who wins the 97th edition of this classic.
As you understand, our expectations are basically non-existent. Jeanlou and Toms will try to stay near the front and hang with the big names for as long as possible, although even that will be very difficult. Top 30 should be possible, at least.
The rest of the squad are just looking to build form. They're likely to abandon the race as soon as we reach the decisive part of the race.
Regardless of the 200 starters, this is expected to be a battle between just two men: Fabian Cancellara (Radioshack) and Tom Boonen (Quickstep). However while the latter has earned this respect from dominating the classics so far, the former hasn't really been seen at all. Remains to be seen how his form is.
Filippo Pozzato (Lampre), Peter Sagan (Cannondale), Geraint Thomas (Sky), Philippe Gilbert (BMC) and perhaps also Boonen's team mate Sylvain Chavanel will try to challenge the two big dogs.
Worth mentioning is that Euskaltel are also in the race, but I decided to crop them out of the screenshot to remove a pathetic last row of teams in the picture including just their squad. They'll get dropped as soon as we reach the cobbles.
1.1: GP Cholet, Pays de La Loire
2.HC: KBC-Driedaagse van de Panne: Preview
