Tactics meeting
The fourth stage is almost as hilly as most other stages in the Vuelta Pais Vasco, but the long flat section at the end will probably discourage the GC riders from trying anything. A breakaway win is possible.
No breakaway win today, as Luis Leon Sanchez led the peloton towards a bunch sprint. He's been an amazing domestique ever since the Vuelta last year. Euskaltel were there in force though, so Valverde could face competition for his 3rd stage win in this race.
Euskaltel didn't utilize their numbers, as Cunego came to the front with only a few hundred meters left. Valverde and Casar were also in the mix!
But none of them had the power to overtake the Italian. Cunego clinched a good win for Katusha. Because of the bonifications, he gained a few seconds on Valverde, but the Spanish race leader distanced everybody else by 8 more seconds by taking 3rd. Tomorrow the hills come closer to the finish, so we can get an exciting last road stage!
Tactics meeting
We're getting used to hills in this race by now. Today they could prove to be more decisive than usual. It's the last road stage before the closing time trial, and a lot of riders should be keen on improving their GC position before the race against the clock. The in-fighting that will take place can probably leave a breakaway with a good chance of taking the stage win, so we aim to be present in all moves today.
A lot of teams were thinking the same as us. The break of the day contained 13 riders, including our very own Andreas Klöden, who was 14 minutes down in the GC and therefore not a threat to the big guns. Other strong riders in the break were Dan Martin (Garmin), Le Mevel (FdJ) and Tour de France stage winner Tom Leezer of Rabo.
Klöden was in a very attacking mood today, and showed his breakaway companions a clean pair of heels with 42km remaining. It was touch and go whether the break would stay clear; the peloton was now 4 minutes in arrears.
Klöden, a former Pais Vasco winner, put up a solid fight, but could never form a sizeable gap back to the breakaway. He is afterall lacking form bigtime.
Andreas quickly got tired, and was caught again 26km from the finish. The lead over the peloton had shrunk to 3 minutes, but the stage win was still within their reach, especially with the fairly tough last hill coming up.
On said hill, the breakaway split. Klöden was exhausted from his earlier efforts, and couldn't stay with the stronger escapees. Dan Martin and Kuschynski were part of the leading quartet, together with two Spanish climbers from lesser Spanish teams Andalucia and Xacobeo.
The peloton hurried up the last hill, and when Samuel Sanchez put in an attack just before the top, the break was just 1 minute ahead.
Roman Kreuziger felt fresh today, so he manouvered clear of the peloton as well, in pursuit of Sanchez.
His expertise in decending took Sanchez up to the leading four. Behind, Kreuziger had some distance to go yet.
The third group on the road included Valverde, Cunego and Casar, and also our Egoi Martinez. None of the fancy jerseys wanted to do turns, so Martinez just slowed down to sabotage the chase. With just a handful of kms left, Sanchez' group was 1 minute ahead of Valverde, while Kreuziger was in the middle, 30 sec ahead.
Up the road, Sammy Sanchez had no problems winning the sprint, and the Euskaltel captain would move up to 2nd in the GC as well. I couldn't help thinking though, that Klöden could easily have won this if he didn't attack so early.
Kreuziger kept ahead of Valverde & co, and gained valuable time before tomorrow's time trial. The Czech finished 6th on the stage, 43 seconds behind Sanchez.
Valverde's chasegroup was caught by the peloton before the line, thanks to Martinez' brilliant sabotage efforts. This big group finished 1'25 behind Sanchez and 42 seconds behind Kreuziger. Great move by Roman!
lluuiiggii wrote:
And with Kreuziger TT abilities, maybe he can even reach Scarponi? Or do you think the TT is too short to take one minute?
Well, it's 25km, so there will be some decent gaps. If Kreuziger was in top form, I would've been hoping he could get 4th, but Scarponi is clearly in much better shape at the moment (he won stage 3, and even got a time gap). I just hope for the best possible result on the stage, and then we'll see where he ends up in the GC.
Tactics meeting
The last stage is a 25km time trial with a few climbs thrown in. Yesterday, Samuel Sanchez took back some serious time on race leader Valverde. Sanchez goes into this time trial only 38 seconds behind Valverde, who shouldn't feel safe. Roman Kreuziger is situated 5 seconds off 5th place, and he should be able to pass Rodriguez and Casar in the GC. We also have a tiny hope that he might gain a minute on Scarponi and slot into 4th.
Andreas Klöden is way down on the overall lists, but has found a little bit of form during the last couple of days. The German TT champion set the early time to beat.
Martin didn't want to be worse than his compatriot. The young T-Mobile strongman rode 19 seconds faster than Klöden.
Finally we saw some kind of result from our new signing Sergio Pardilla. The Spaniard has been completely out of it during the whole race, but he performed well on his TT bike today. A provisional 2nd place for Pardilla, doing better than teammate Klöden.
T-Mobile was certainly on fire today. Triple World TT champion Mick Rogers assumed pole position after his ride, beating Martin by 32 seconds.
Roman Kreuziger disappointed placing-wise, finishing in a provisional 6th, but he beat both Rodriguez and Casar by enough to overtake them in the GC. Roman had to settle for 5th though, as Scarponi held on to his 4th place by 4 seconds! So close...
Then it was the battle for overall victory. Sammy Sanchez was impressive yesterday, and continued with a fine performance in the time trial. The Olympic champion came 2nd on the stage, 18 seconds behind Rogers. He really put pressure on Valverde!
Alejandro Valverde is not a specialist in time trials, but he kept out of raincoat trouble today, and performed well enough to keep Sanchez behind him in the GC. 7th on the stage for the Spaniard was unspectacular, but more than enough.
Valverde must know every inch of this podium by now. It's his third straight Pais Vasco win, and his third one-week stage race victory of the season!
I've given up on finding a tactic that can beat Valverde. It's impossible. He wins his third Vuelta al Pais Vasco in a row, and continues his impressive start to the season. The only consolation is that he didn't seem as dominant as he was in Paris - Nice. He was beaten several times in the latter stages of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco. Maybe his form is declining a bit?
Roman Kreuziger makes a great season debut, and clawed his way up to 5th overall after the final TT. Our stage race sensation seems to be on course to win the Giro once again. Egoi Martinez was super-consistent during this race, and moved up to 10th after a strong time trial. He was the best Basque rider as well. The Vuelta al Pais Vasco marks one of the few occasions we didn't win the team classification. We weren't even among the top three, but with an out-of-form team, what can you expect?
We have exciting days ahead of us. Paris - Roubaix and the Ardennes classics are just around the corner, but first we'll see what happened in Gent - Wevelgem, which was raced during the Vuelta al Pais Vasco. Stay tuned!
That was close, but I'm sure Kreuziger will get his revenge on the Italian when they are going to race against each other in the Giro (I would be surprised if Scarponi ain't racing the biggest race of his homeland).
rycadinho wrote:
That was close, but I'm sure Kreuziger will get his revenge on the Italian when they are going to race against each other in the Giro (I would be surprised if Scarponi ain't racing the biggest race of his homeland).
Agree. Pretty bad Kreuziger was only 4 secs behind Scarponi, but the revenge time will come
Past winners 2009: Stijn Devolder (Quick-Step)
2010: Alessandro Ballan (Lampre)
Held midweek between Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris - Roubaix, Gent-Wevelgem is arguably the third most important cobbled classic. The route is a lot easier than de Ronde. The two main obstacles are the Monteberg and the Kemmelberg, which are to be climbed twice each. The run-in to Wevelgem is flat.
As previous winners and in-form riders, de Ronde podium occupiers Tom Boonen, Stijn Devolder and Alessandro Ballan are the big favourites. Quick-Step have another option as well, as Pozzato is brought into the lineup. Juan Antonio Flecha returns for Caisse d'Epargne, and will probably relegate Van Summeren to a helper. Thor Hushovd is another Wevelgem winner who can grab victory.
Once again, Bernhard Eisel leads us on the cobbles. George Hincapie won this event back in 2001, but a lot of years have passed since then. Big George will be Eisel's main support though. Our Austrian leader should be more effective on the flatter course of Gent-Wevelgem than he was in the hilly Ronde a few days ago.
Discovery Channel Bernhard Eisel George Hincapie Vladimir Gusev Ivan Rovny Tomas Vaitkus Bjorn Selander Jurgen Van Goolen Andrew Talansky
Tactics meeting
Since the Tour of Flanders a few days ago, the weather has improved. We won't have rain, but it'll be a windy day in Belgium. Bernhard Eisel should have better chances in this race, but our limited cobbles support leaves him with a lot of work to do himself if he wants a good result.
The five-man early break was caught on the second cobbled hill, the Kemmelberg. The field was still together.
On the last climb of the race, the second ascent of the Kemmelberg, Franzoi and Hushovd drove up the tempo significantly. Did Ballan have plans?
Lampre's pace-setting splintered the peloton. After all hills had been negotiated, 14 riders were left in the front group. Eisel was our only representative here, while Saxo Bank had four riders present.
As expected, Ballan was on the warpath today. The ProTour leader took off with 25km of flat road remaining!
The others, and especially the strong-in-numbers Saxo Bank team, wouldn't let him go that easily. Ballan was caught 8km from the line after 17 kilometers off the front.
At the same time, Bernie Eisel was tiring. It became increasingly tougher to keep the wheel of the riders in front.
2 kilometers after he was caught, Ballan decided he didn't like company! With 6km remaining, could he do it? He surely would be tired after his previous effort.
Eisel regained some of the control over his legs, and focused on staying on Chavanel's wheel in the third group on the road. This bunch was 50 seconds behind the leading Ballan and 25 seconds behind the main chasers, including Boonen and Devolder.
Alessandro Ballan entered Wevelgem alone off the front of the race! He had time to soak up the atmosphere as he completed the last kilometer.
Ballan honoured his newly captured ProTour leader's jersey in the best way possible!
Eisel's group almost caught up with the first chasegroup, and the first eleven riders behind Ballan were given the same time. An exhausted Bernie managed a 10th place, which is one better than his Ronde result. We're satisfied.
Today's winner
Results
1.
Alessandro Ballan
Lampre
5h29'16
2.
Heinrich Haussler
Saxo Bank
+ 22
3.
Juan Antonio Flecha
Caisse d'Epargne
s.t.
4.
Tom Boonen
Quick-Step
s.t.
5.
Stijn Devolder
Saxo Bank
s.t.
6.
Filippo Pozzato
Quick-Step
s.t.
7.
Enrico Franzoï
Lampre
s.t.
8.
Leif Hoste
Silence - Lotto
s.t.
9.
Nick Nuyens
Rabobank
s.t.
10.
Bernhard Eisel
Discovery Channel
s.t.
11.
Michael Mørkøv
Saxo Bank
s.t.
12.
Sylvain Chavanel
Quick-Step
s.t.
13.
Thor Hushovd
Lampre
+ 1'46
14.
Kasper Klostergaard
Saxo Bank
s.t.
15.
Marcus Burghardt
T-Mobile
+ 3'21
Ballan continues his amazing season! He got away from the superior sprinters on his second attempt today, and defends his Gent-Wevelgem win from last year. Look out for the Italian on the cobbles of Northern France in a few days!
Bernhard Eisel grabbed a top ten placing for Discovery, which we should be reasonably pleased with, considering our mediocre classics team. T-Mobile have been very unimpressive on the cobbles in their comeback season, with Burghardt barely making the top 15 and Hagen completely off the radar.
That was all the build-up done. It's time for what is arguably one of the best races of the season: Paris - Roubaix! Not that we will feature heavily there, since we only have the slightly lightweight Eisel as our leader, but it will still be a real spectacle! Stay tuned!
Past winners 2009: Tom Boonen (Quick-Step)
2010: Tom Boonen (Quick-Step)
The 2011 season has reached the Queen of the classics. It's time for the 109th edition of the Paris - Roubaix. The Hell of the North features loads of cobbled sectors, and is regarded as the toughest one-day race on the calendar. Two riders have won four times in Roubaix, Belgians Roger De Vlaeminck and Tom Boonen.
Boonen will not get the chance to surpass De Vlaeminck this year though, as he is not in the Quick-Step lineup. He must have gotten ill or picked up an injury. Another favourite is also missing: 2006 winner Fabian Cancellara has been injured since Paris-Nice. Cobbles specialists who are present includes Alessandro Ballan, Stijn Devolder, Heinrich Haussler and Quick-Step's stand-in leader Filippo Pozzato. Judging on recent form, Ballan should be the main favourite.
This will be a tough challenge for Discovery Channel. Bernie Eisel hasn't really set the world alight so far in the cobbles season, but he will get one last chance to get a really good result in Roubaix. Hincapie's experience will be valuable in keeping Eisel well-positioned and safe on the treacherous cobbles.
Discovery Channel Bernhard Eisel George Hincapie Vladimir Gusev Tomas Vaitkus Gerald Ciolek Bjorn Selander Taylor Phinney Andrew Talansky
Tactics meeting
The rain has returned for Paris - Roubaix! This will probably mean carnage, and also a very fascinating race. Bernie Eisel is up against it today, but he should be able to get us a good placing if he's on a good day.
The early break, led by Steven Kruijswijk, was caught with 97km remaining. The peloton counted only 28 riders, and Eisel was the only Discovery rider there. This would be a long, hard day for us...
Crash! Quickstep leader Pozzato tasted the cobbles as he crashed hard. Now Van Avermaet was the only Quickstep rider left in the 19-man frontgroup.
One by one, riders disappeared from the leading group. Eisel was in trouble with 70km left to ride. 15 men were now left in front, so a top ten seemed impossible for us.
One rider who was in even more trouble was Pozzato. He never really got going after his crash, and soon found himself more than 6 minutes behind the leaders.
Lesser riders continued to drop off, and when 35km remained, the frontgroup had whittled down to just seven riders. MSR and Gent-Wevelgem winner Alessandro Ballan powered on in front. He looked ridiculously strong!
And then disaster struck! Ballan hit the asphalt! The six leaders were still pushing the pace, so the ProTour leader had his work cut out now. The velodrome in Roubaix was now 28km away.
Devolder (Saxo) and Hoste (Lotto) looked to be the strongest among the six remaining leaders as they battled through the rain.
In fact, they just powered away from the other four. With 15km left, Van Avermaet (Quickstep), Quinziato (Liquigas), Burghardt (T-Mobile) and Nuyens (Rabobank) found themselves 40 seconds behind the two leaders.
By the 10km mark, it was clear that the fight for victory would be between Stijn Devolder and Leif Hoste.
Behind the leading duo, a wet and muddy Ballan managed to catch up with the four chasers! He still looked really good on the bike. Who knows what would have happened had he not crashed?
Hoste and Devolder entered the velodrome 1'30 ahead of the Ballan-reinforced chasers. Who would get the precious cobblestone trophy?
Devolder was ahead as the finish line approached, but Hoste looked ready to jump out of his wheel!
But Stijn Devolder just powered away from the Lotto man and took his first ever Paris - Roubaix win!
Van Avermaet sneaked onto the last step of the podium. A decent result for Quick-Step despite their leader Pozzato crashing. Another crash victim, Ballan, managed to get 5th in the end.
A cold, wet and completely empty Bernie Eisel was absolutely relieved to finally see the finish line. Our cobbles captain finished 16th, behind AG2R's Pliuschin. It was probably a result we could have expected.
Stijn Devolder of Saxo Bank and Belgium defied the rain and the cold to grab his biggest ever victory. Paris - Roubaix becomes the second monument in the palmares of the 2008 RvV winner. One can always discuss how deserved his victory is when the rider who looked by far the strongest, Ballan, lost his winning chances due to a crash. But then again, staying on the bike is a big part of Paris - Roubaix.
Greg Van Avermaet emerged as one of the top classics riders today, riding 90kms with no teammates around him and finishing 3rd. T-Mobile finally gets a decent cobbled classics result with Burghardt's 7th place. As for Bernhard Eisel, this race was just too tough for him, especially with no real team support. His 16th place is decent enough.
Well folks, that was the cobbles. Now it's the hills. Cycling fans shift their eyes towards another part of Northern Europe: the Ardennes forest. The three Ardennes classics are coming up, beginning with the Amstel Gold Race. Stay tuned!
Eisel did what he could do,16th place is good...pity Ballan crashed,he showed with his 5th after crashing that he was here to win...Now this was a great win by Devolder..Avermaet with a strong finish too...
