+++ German sprinters moving +++ Top CT Transfers +++
The teams are still working heavily to build their squads for the new season. Among the most wanted riders is, or more precisely was, the German top sprinter and recent third on the Champs Elysées, André Greipel. After lots of negociations, he finally made his choice and joins the Italian Lampre – ISD team.
André Greipel – From Omega Pharma to Lampre
His former team, the Belgian Omega Pharma equipe, reacts and signs Mark Renshaw, who eventually leaves Mark Cavendish to become a sprint captain himself.
Mark Renshaw – From T-Mobile to Omega Pharma
And Renshaw isn't the only sprinter to leave T-Mobile. Gerald Ciolek didn't extend his contract but instead joined the Skil team. Mark Cavendish is running out of lead-outs.
Gerald Ciolek – From T-Mobile to Skil
And now to something completely different: He's neither a sprinter nor German, and he's also much older than the riders above. Still, his transfer from his longtime team Unicef to the British Island is worth mentioning. It is Levi Leipheimer. Recent 11th of the Tour de France joins the stage racing squad around Bradley Wiggins and Michael Rogers at Sky.
Levi Leipheimer – From Unicef to Sky
At the moment, André Greipel is Germany's only world class cyclist. He joins Daniele Bennati and the aging Alessandro Petacchi at Lampre.
The transfer market is in full swing in the continental division as well. Several top riders are moving and among them is the best continental rider of the whole season so far: Fabio Duarte. The winner of the Tour de Romandie and third of the Giro d'Italia will leave Geox. But his new team is extremely surprising, considering he could easily move up to ProTour: The Colombian joins the Spanish Caja Rural team.
Fabio Duarte to Caja Rural
Another surprising signing was made by French sprinter Jimmy Casper. The 34 years old leaves Saur despite the good chance for promotion to World Tour. Instead, he rather heads towards Germany and joins the Team NetApp.
Jimmy Casper to NetApp
After that, Saur couldn't remain passive. Instead of replacing Casper with another sprinter, they strengthen the climbing squad around John Gadret with Pierre Rolland, who comes from Europcar. The young Frenchman recently finished 19th in the Tour de France but should have some potential left to improve.
Pierre Rolland to Saur
Meanwhile, Vacansoleil continues to go down. After an aweful season, allrounder Greg Van Avermaet is going to leave the team after just one year. The Belgian, usually capable of winning all kinds of classics, couldn't achieve a single notable result and now looks for a completely new beginning. He has signed a contract with Acqua & Sapone.
Greg Van Avermaet to Acqua & Sapone
Fabio Duarte had an amazing development in the last two years and is undoubtebly one of the best climbers worldwide. Therefore, it's interesting that he prefers the smaller, more quiet environment of the continental team Caja Rural.
Held since 1981, the Clasica San Sebastian isn't a very old race. Still, it's made his way up to one of the most important races in Spain, next to the Vuelta al Pais Vasco surely the most important race in the Basque Country. In its history, several huge riders like Miguel Indurain or Lance Armstrong wrote their names in the palmarès of the race.
The profile is rather hilly but in total not too hard. 231 kms are doable and the second of the two biggest ascents is quite far from the finish. As last year, a sprint from a smaller group of riders is expected. But maybe, a strong rider can break free on one of the hills and maintain his gap until the finish.
Spoiler
Result in 2011
1
Alberto Contador
Saxo Bank - Sungard
2
Andy Schleck
Leopard - Trek
3
Igor Anton
Euskaltel - Euskadi
4
Fränk Schleck
Leopard – Trek
5
Michael Rogers
Sky ProCycling
Favorites
Some of the best puncheurs are present today, above all Phillipe Gilbert. The couse suits him and other quick finishers like Alejandro Valverde or Samuel Sanchez.
Team Liquigas
Roman Kreuziger is still in a good shape as his season comes to an end. The problem here is, though, that he probably won't be able to get away from the others. And in a sprint from a bigger group, he lacks of speed. So a Top 10 finish would already be very nice.
Report
The race was extremely hectic the whole day. No break could ever gain more than three minutes, the pace in the pack was very high all the time. Especially Leopard and Katusha were doing the pace.
The final battle began early after the last larger climb. One after another, most favorites began to set their attacks. Gilbert, Rodriguez and especially Alejandro Valverde attacked numerous times. But again and again, they all reunited in one rather big group. The only good those attacks did was to minimize the size of this group, which eventually would sprint for the win.
The sprint was led by Phillipe Gilbert. He came to the front with a very high pace but even he can't hold such a speed. The first to overtake him was Igor Antón but he made his move too early. Two riders could still outsprint him: His compatriots Samuel Sanchez and the surprisingly strong Benat Intxausti came out of his shadow and Sanchez left no doubt that he was today's winner.
Roman Kreuziger tried to cover some of the early attacks and in the final, he could barely hang on so he only finished 16th.
Notice Kreuziger's new NC jersey!
Result
1
Samuel Sánchez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
5h55'52
2
Beñat Intxausti
Movistar Team
s.t.
3
Igor Antón
Leopard Trek
s.t.
4
Philippe Gilbert
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
5
Carlos Barredo
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
6
Jérôme Pineau
Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
7
Ivan Basso
Katusha Team
s.t.
8
Joaquím Rodríguez
Katusha Team
s.t.
9
Alejandro Valverde
Unicef - Oracle
s.t.
10
Jens Voigt
Leopard Trek
s.t.
Spoiler
11
Michael Albasini
GreenEdge Cycling
s.t.
12
Levi Leipheimer
Unicef - Oracle
s.t.
13
Stijn Devolder
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
14
Pierrick Fédrigo
FDJ
s.t.
15
Tiago Machado
Unicef - Oracle
s.t.
16
Roman Kreuziger
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
17
Kevin De Weert
Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
18
Daniel Moreno
Katusha Team
+ 49
19
Mikel Astarloza
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
20
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Sky ProCycling
+ 2'10
21
Matthew Lloyd
GreenEdge Cycling
s.t.
22
Gorka Izagirre
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
23
Simon Spilak
Lampre - ISD
s.t.
24
Fabian Wegmann
Leopard Trek
s.t.
25
Karsten Kroon
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
26
José Ángel Gómez Marchante
Unicef - Oracle
s.t.
27
Romain Sicard
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
28
Rémy Di Gregorio
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
29
Johann Tschopp
GreenEdge Cycling
s.t.
30
Andrey Kashechkin
Lampre - ISD
+ 3'18
31
Paul Martens
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
32
Robert Kiserlovski
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
33
Simon Gerrans
GreenEdge Cycling
s.t.
34
Jelle Vanendert
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
35
Mauro Santambrogio
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
36
Johnny Hoogerland
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
+ 4'33
37
Jan Bakelants
Omega Pharma - Lotto
+ 5'05
38
Benjamín Noval
Movistar Team
s.t.
39
Oliver Zaugg
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
40
Franco Pellizotti
Katusha Team
s.t.
41
Simon Geschke
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
42
Mathieu Sprick
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
43
Danilo Di Luca
Lampre - ISD
s.t.
44
Serge Pauwels
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
45
Yaroslav Popovych
Unicef - Oracle
s.t.
46
Giampaolo Caruso
Katusha Team
s.t.
47
José Herrada
Caja Rural
s.t.
48
Sergey Renev
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
49
Chris Barton
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
50
Christian Knees
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
51
Wout Poels
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
52
Laurens Ten Dam
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
53
John-Lee Augustyn
Sky ProCycling
+ 6'57
54
Peter Velits
Team T-Mobile
+ 7'23
55
Cyril Dessel
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
56
Kevin Seeldraeyers
Quick·Step Cycling Team
+ 7'57
57
Andrew Talansky
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
58
Jérôme Coppel
Movistar Team
s.t.
59
Thomas Löfkvist
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
60
Rob Ruijgh
GreenEdge Cycling
s.t.
61
Steven Kruijswijk
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
62
Grischa Niermann
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
63
Gorka Verdugo
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
64
Juan José Oroz
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
65
Pierre Cazaux
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
66
Adam Hansen
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
67
Carlos Sastre
Unicef - Oracle
s.t.
68
Florian Stalder
BMC Racing Team
+ 10'02
69
Addy Engels
Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
70
David Millar
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
71
Rémi Pauriol
FDJ
s.t.
72
Jure Golcer
Lampre - ISD
s.t.
73
Assan Bazayev
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
74
Michael Schär
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
75
Marc De Maar
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
76
Jeff Louder
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
77
Ruslan Pidgornyy
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
78
Haimar Zubeldia
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
79
Daniel Martin
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
80
Blel Kadri
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
81
Ramunas Navardauskas
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
82
Fabio Felline
Geox - TMC
s.t.
83
Michel Kreder
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
84
Rui Costa
Caja Rural
s.t.
85
David De la Fuente
Geox - TMC
s.t.
86
Chris Froome
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
87
Matthew Busche
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
88
Diego Ulissi
Lampre - ISD
s.t.
89
Íñigo Cuesta
Caja Rural
s.t.
90
Santo Anza
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
91
Thibaut Pinot
FDJ
s.t.
92
Jérémy Roy
FDJ
s.t.
93
Tanel Kangert
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
94
Claudio Veronese
Katusha Team
s.t.
95
Rubén Plaza
Movistar Team
s.t.
96
Thomas De Gendt
Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
97
Dries Devenyns
Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
98
Davide Malacarne
Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
99
Julián Sánchez Pimienta
Caja Rural
s.t.
100
Michael Barry
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
101
Ivan Santaromita
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
102
Harald Starzengruber
Leopard Trek
+ 12'06
103
Marcus Gerber
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
104
Mitchell Docker
GreenEdge Cycling
s.t.
105
Markel Irizar
Unicef - Oracle
s.t.
106
Thomas Rohregger
Leopard Trek
s.t.
107
Philip Deignan
Unicef - Oracle
s.t.
108
Matthias Kessler
Team T-Mobile
+ 12'40
109
Mauro Finetto
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
110
Artem Ovechkin
Katusha Team
+ 13'56
111
Pieter Weening
GreenEdge Cycling
s.t.
112
Dario Cataldo
Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
113
Ronan Van Zandbeek
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
114
Marcello Pavarin
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
115
Brice Feillu
Leopard Trek
+ 14'45
116
Ezequiel Mosquera
Movistar Team
s.t.
117
Peter Stetina
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
118
David Arroyo
Movistar Team
s.t.
119
Martin Elmiger
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
120
Dmitriy Fofonov
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
121
Mattia Cattaneo
Lampre - ISD
s.t.
122
Mario Aerts
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
123
Fabio Duarte
Geox - TMC
s.t.
124
Tejay Van Garderen
Team T-Mobile
s.t.
125
David López
Movistar Team
s.t.
126
Christophe Riblon
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 16'47
127
Dimitri Champion
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
128
Alexandr Kolobnev
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
129
Job Vissers
Omega Pharma - Lotto
s.t.
130
Gabriel Rasch
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
131
Sébastien Minard
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
132
Olivier Bonnaire
FDJ
s.t.
133
Maxime Bouet
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
134
Tom Slagter
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
135
Dimitry Kozontchuk
Geox - TMC
s.t.
136
Martin Velits
Team T-Mobile
s.t.
137
Bruno Pires
Leopard Trek
s.t.
138
Christopher Butler
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
139
Matteo Pelucchi
Geox - TMC
s.t.
140
Sergio Pardilla
Movistar Team
s.t.
141
Mikhaylo Khalilov
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
142
Maxim Belkov
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
143
Caleb Fairly
Team T-Mobile
s.t.
144
Aitor Pérez Arrieta
Lampre - ISD
s.t.
145
Juan Manuel Gárate
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
146
Maxime Vantomme
Katusha Team
s.t.
147
Víctor De la Parte
Caja Rural
s.t.
148
Ion Izagirre
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
149
Andriy Grivko
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
150
Danny Pate
Team T-Mobile
s.t.
151
Vitaliy Buts
Lampre - ISD
s.t.
152
Damiano Caruso
Liquigas - Cannondale
+ 18'15
153
Alan Marangoni
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
154
Harald Morscher
Leopard Trek
+ 20'44
155
Patrick Gretsch
Team T-Mobile
s.t.
156
Sylwester Szmyd
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
157
Arnaud Courteille
FDJ
s.t.
158
Fabio Sabatini
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
159
Juraj Sagan
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
160
Victór Ortiz
Omega Pharma - Lotto
+ 22'41
161
Marko Kump
Geox - TMC
s.t.
162
Francis Mourey
FDJ
s.t.
163
David Tanner
GreenEdge Cycling
s.t.
164
Daniele Colli
Geox - TMC
s.t.
165
Rubén Reig
Caja Rural
s.t.
166
Alberto Ongarato
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
167
Christopher Sutton
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
168
David Gutiérrez Gutiérrez
Geox - TMC
s.t.
169
Clint Harvey
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
170
Jesus Baker
Team T-Mobile
s.t.
171
Kirk O'Bee
Team Garmin - Cervélo
+ 27'32
172
Garikoitz Bravo
Caja Rural
s.t.
173
Carsten van Boven
Skil - Shimano
s.t.
174
Geoffrey Soupe
FDJ
+ 28'13
175
Matias Lozano
Caja Rural
s.t.
176
Mateo Langlais
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 39'41
The Winner
What a prestigious win for Samuel Sanchez and his Euskaltel team on home soil! Obviously, he could keep a very good shape and he timed his sprint to perfection. A very impressive performance!
Liquigas Resumé
16th is surely not what we hoped for. But in the hectic of the last kilometers, Roman Kreuziger just wasn't calm enough and wasted too much energy on the wrong attacks. After last year's 22th by Sylvester Szmyd, this may be an improvement, but the race just doesn't seem to be our favorite.
At the moment, André Greipel is Germany's only world class cyclist. He joins Daniele Bennati and the aging Alessandro Petacchi at Lampre.
Other than that blonde kid on Liquigas right?
Some strange transfers, but not too un-realistic really. Is Renshaw world class now?
San Seb wasn't great for Liquigas. Sanchez is a great rider though.
Haha, sure About the transfers, strange, sure, but kind of interesting as well, in my opinion. Renshaw isn't really world class, no, and maybe he won't be sprint captain at Rabobank as I said, but I think it sure was worth mentioning that Cavendish lost both his most important lead out men.
@ sutty: 16th isn't really good, but well, I was never good at San Sebastian. Some races suit me, some don't. This one surely doesn't It's better than Szmyd's 22nd last year, though.
Above all stands Contador's fifth triumph at the Tour de France, his fourth in a row. The other results aren't worth mentioning really.
World Tour Ranking
With his fourth spot in San Sebastian, Gilbert overtakes the lead here. Contador and Sanchez are the big newcomers after their Tour performances. Duarte, Nibali and Boonen dropped a bit, although the latter scored some points during the Tour.
Liquigas couldn't score very much and only leads by very little to Leopard. Movistar made up a lot due to Contador's Tour win.
While BMC is in very serious trouble, GreenEdge could gain some points and is now in a tough battle with FDJ for the WorldTour existence. Astana and Garmin aren't completely safe yet either.
CQ Ranking
With his Tour win, Contador is able to kick the Liquigas duo from the top. Sanchez also approaches the front, although Liquigas still dominates as Kreuziger entered the Top 10, being the third rider of the Italian team. Dominik Nerz by the way is in a strong 43th place.
Consequentally, Liquigas still leads the CQ Ranking very comfortably although Movistar made a big leap forward. Also, Sky enters the Top 5.
Saur made a lot of points and increases their advance on Geox, whose only chance for promotion seems to be a great Vuelta. Cofidis still leads. Surprisingly, the Polish CCC Polsat equipe is among the 5 strongest Continental teams here.
Victory Ranking
Boonen adds one more win to his palmarès, otherwise no changes here.
Liquigas still leads but could only score one win this month. Movistar, GreenEdge and T-Mobile are coming closer.
Monthly Awards
No surprise here. Three stages plus the overall of the Tour. Contador ruled this month. Gretsch came in second in stage 7 of the Österreich-Rundfahrt.
Preview August
01.08. - 07.08.
Tour de Pologne
Nerz participating
08.08. - 14.08.
Eneco Tour
09.08. - 14.08.
Tour de l'Ain
Nerz participating
20.08. - 11.09.
Vuelta a Espana
Nerz participating
21.08.
Vattenfall Cyclassics
28.08.
GP Ouest France - Plouay
29.08. - 03.09.
Settimana Ciclista Lombarda
Our team schedule for August consists almost exclusively of World Tour races. Only the Tour de l'Ain, where I will lead a team, and later the Settimana Ciclista Lombarda are CT races. The most important race surely is the Vuelta, where our sponsor expects us to get a Top 5. The team around Vincenzo Nibali (and myself) wants the win there, though! La Vuelta will be my season final.
A couple big races for Dom, before the big one! Will be great to see him in a grand tour again, can't wait. Let's hope Nibali crashes so Nerz is leader!
@ Teddy: I'm excited, too. And maybe Nibbles doesn't even need to crash: Depending on the field, I consider giving Dominik a free role to go after the young riders jersey. If he gains maybe one more point in MO, HI and TT, that might be a real possibility.
@ dienblad: In Poland, he'll have a shared leadership with Sylvester Szmyd. Szmyd starts his Vuelta prep so he's not in shape yet, in contrary to Nerz. But I'm not sure about the profiles: They appear quite hard, couple of MTFs as you'll see in the preview later today, but they're all classified as hilly which isn't really Dom's favorite terrain, so I don't know how good he can handle it. Whether he or Szmyd will be the leader will be decided on the respective day...
Nice transfers and unlucky in San Sebastian. Nice overview as always and great calendar for the team and Nerz. Good luck in Pologne Should be fun race with Szmyd and you in the team.
Edited by Alakagom on 23-01-2012 16:22
@ Alakagom: Well, as mentioned, San Sebastian is just not "my" race And thanks! I hope that especially the Tour de l'Ain can be another highlight with a nice GC result for Dominik. We'll see...
The Tour de Pologne is without a doubt the most important cycling race in Eastern Europe. In its long history, which dates back to 1928, it was dominated by local Polish riders. That didn't change until the late 90s, when riders like Serguei Ivanov or later Johan Vansummeren and Alessandro Ballan took the overall.
As those names might suggest, the race is mostly a race for strong classic riders. This year, though, the route is spiced up by three hard uphill finishes. Although the organisation considers those stages still as hilly, strong climbers might break free here and claim the overall. Many things can happen!
Spoiler
Result in 2011
1
Elia Favilli
Farnese Vini – Neri Sottoli
2
Russel Downing
Sky ProCycling
3
Giovanni Visconti
Farnese Vini – Neri Sottoli
4
Jakob Fuglsang
Leopard – Trek
5
Simone Ponzi
Liquigas – Cannondale
Favorites
Igor Antón (Leopard) , Rigoberto Uràn (Sky)
Sylvain Chavanel (Leopard)
Heinrich Haussler (Sky) , Filippo Pozzato (Katusha)
Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank)
Benat Intxausti (Movistar) , Matti Breschel (Rabobank)
The organisators declared the sprinters with good puncheur skills to be the top favorites here but I don't think so. The last three stages are too tough for pure sprinters to survive at the very front. I think, a stronger puncheur or even climber like Igor Antón or Benat Intxausti, who showed their strength in San Sebastian, will take it.
Team Liquigas
We have a decent team without any top contender for the win here, but the starting list is very dense so you never know.
Fabio Sabatini will be our man for the bunch sprint in the first days while the likes of Finetto or Busche will be valuable on the later stages.
For the overall, we have a shared leadership with me and Sylvester Szmyd. Although, to be honest, Szmyd is the captain here. His problem is that, in contrary to me, he's in rather bad shape but if he uses the first flat stages, he might be able to do well later. Plus, he has the local advantage on his side. Whether I will be able to compete here depends on how the stages will be ridden. As the harder terrain suits me better than the hills, I'm not sure what I can do here.
Our goal is a Top 10 overall and hopefully Top 10s on every stage here. Although, regarding the other teams, those goals are quite ambitious.
