I really don't know what the problem could be, cio. Hopefully it was just something temporary that'll disappear.
Apologies for the lack of recent updates. I've got a huge physics test coming up on Wednesday, so the last few days have been all about studying. Will try to have at least one more report up before the test.
Paris - Camembert
As the Amstel preparations continue, our next stop is one of last year's highlight races. In case you missed it, here's a link to the memorable double victory founded by Pierreluc and Evaldas. Perhaps we'll see a sprint for the victory this time around?
Both the two previously mentioned are included in our squad again, although we intend to back up Kwiatek primarily. Clement meanwhile joins as another potential late attack option, though his form is not perfect at the moment.
In terms of opposition, CT ranking leader Adrien Petit (Cofidis) might be the closest watched name. With possibly the best speed of all participants and a team fully dedicated to him, he'll be a tough one to break.
Due to both Clement and Pierreluc still feeling a little off in terms of form, we opt for a different tactic this year. Instead of trying one attack after the other on the final few climbs, we set up a high pace to put the pressure on the pure sprinters in favour of Kwiatek and Evaldas.
Our plans are set on halt just a few kilometers later though, as the treacherous weather causes a rider to slip and take a tumble near the front of the field and bring a whole bunch of others down with him.
Unfortunately, one of those involved is Evaldas. That leaves us with only Kwiatek, while the group is almost halved in size as result of the crash.
We therefore change our tactics to a much more defensive approach, as Garmin takes over and shuts down a late attack from Franco Pellizotti (Androni).
The attacks continue to fly all over the place as the American squad attempts to set up a squad for young sprinter Steele Von Hoff.
It's eventually one too many for the leadout men to handle, and Damien Gaudin (Europcar) slips into a 15 second lead inside the last 3 km.
The sprint is thus forced to be launched quite early, with Austrian champion Daniel Schorn (Netapp-Endura) and pre-race favourite Petit among the front runners.
Also in the mix is Kwiatek, who unfortunately had to manage the positioning mainly on his own and had to settle for a position a little behind.
Gaudin has already leapt too far away however, and the Frenchman steals the win from the sprinters in a way very similar to how Pierreluc did it.
In the sprint behind, Petit is surprisingly beaten into 3rd by a strong Leigh Howard (GreenEDGE). Kwiatek ends up in 5th, after struggling to find a way past Zico Waeytens (Topsport). Not a bad result, but a shame the crash took out Evaldas.
Thanks. I'd like to see an animation like that as well.
GP de Denain
For the second consecutive race, we return as defending title holders. This time it's Evaldas who will try to master the sprint finish for a second time. It'll be hard though, as he'll be marked much closer by the other sprinters now.
He will absolutely have full support from the squad, at least. Kwiatek will have a bit of a free role, but the rest will dedicate their race to helping Evaldas in any way needed. I guess that means mostly bottle collecting.
As if the task of defending the title wasn't difficult enough already, we're also facing a massive opposition. Top favourite is Andrea Guardini (Astana), by far. The young Italian has been doing quite well also in the Worldtour races, so winning this should be a piece of cake for him.
A few riders, including recent Camembert winner Damien Gaudin (Europcar), tried escaping late in the race, but the course proved to be just too easy for anyone to break the sprinter teams' grip around the race.
Astana's leadout for Guardini is a big fail however, as they can't even set up a train for Guardini after chasing all day. Instead, it's GreenEDGE seizing control with Jens Keukeleire and Leigh Howard leading Michael Matthews.
Guardini is glued onto Matthews' back wheel and swiftly responds as the Australian makes his move just outside the final kilometer.
Behind them are Nikolas Maes (Quickstep) and the white jersey of Adrien Petit (Cofidis).
GreenEDGE's work turns out to have been for nothing, as Matthews struggles to accelerate while the other sprinters jump past him from behind.
Petit and Joeri Stallaert (Crelan) appear to be the fastest, while Guardini is losing position due to staying in Matthews' slipstream.
One man is clearly stronger than the rest today, as Stallaert powers clear to win the race by several metres!
Petit's well timed launch rewards him with second place, while young talent Dylan Groenewegen (De Rijke) completes the podium with a flying finish. Guardini can't do better than 4th, probably pissed after waiting too long.
As for us, we struggled to ever get into the mix. Evaldas couldn't find any good wheels and decided to pass on the sprint, while Kwiatek tried to do it all by himself and ended up in 19th. Next race, please!
A trip in western direction from yesterday's race in Denain takes us to the coast and Quimper for what's expected to be a tough day. This area includes plenty of short climbs, including a city circuit to decide the race. Defending champion is Julien El Fares, who mastered the uphill finish to claim victory.
As if not aware of the difficulty of the race, the organisation has given out the lowest bib numbers and thus also the favourites statuses to a number of sprinters. Most notable one present is surely Joeri Stallaert (Crelan), considering his dominance in GP Denain.
I'm warning more for the puncheurs though, with Jan Bakelants (Radioshack) being one of the biggest names spotted. For us, it's again mostly about Kwiatek. Evaldas, Clement and Pierreluc are the lieutenants lined up right behind him in case something goes wrong.
Nothing really happens before we reach the final circuit, but after several failed attacks from Pierreluc - Clement digs in with a big attack, 7 km from the finish!
A halfhearted attempt to respond from Thor Hushovd (BMC) is quickly shot down as Clement builds up a gap of 30 seconds.
A gap which then grows even further as chaos erupts in the main field. A few riders tangle into each other near the front end of the group, and over half the peloton goes down. Unfortunately among those we have Kwiatek.
Far from all bad news for us though, as the chase is stalled completely. Clement therefore easily extends his gap to well over a minute, which turns out to be more than enough to slip away with the win!
Those who made it through the crash arrive almost two minutes later, with Daryl Impey (GreenEDGE) just pipping Stallaert for 2nd. Evaldas takes 6th.
So quite a successful race for us, after all. Kwiatek luckily isn't injured and even made it back to the field again after the crash.
We've reached the 15th of April, which means that Amstel Gold Race is only hours away! We're making one last stop before then however, to follow today's other race - also known as "Hell of the West".
Although it includes far less sections of cobbles than the big northern classics like Roubaix, the weather and the narrow roads makes the race painful enough.
Defending champion Lloyd Mondory surely goes as the big pre-race favourite, having defeated among others Evaldas in the tricky finish. The Lithuanian is not back to take revenge for us however, so Toms, Jeanlou and Gatis will show our colours on front of the race instead.
Just as the day's primary breakaway started to lose their advantage over the main field and the inevitable doom approached quickly, David Millar (IG Sigma) and Kevin Hulsmans (Vini Fantini) jumped out of the main field and up across to the group, which suddenly found new wind.
15 km to go as we join live coverage, and the group still holds a lead of 2'30.
Luckily we have the strength the other teams were missing, and a huge push from Jeanlou finally brings them back as we begin the final lap around Lannilis.
Setting things up for a sprint finish turns out to be a real challenge, as all the other teams seem willing to do anything to prevent it.
Even top sprinter Petit is involved in the attacks led by Steve Chainel (AG2R), Ian Stannard (Sky) and Dominique Rollin (FDJ).
Unfortunately, this causes us to lose the brilliant front position and get stuck behind slow riders as the sprint is opened by Petit.
The disturbingly narrow finish prevents all attempts to move back up front from a position further back, so Petit profits from his lucky position to win the race after a massive sprint for almost 3 km.
Mondory can't do better than 2nd this year, after finding a small gap in the final meters. Last podium slot is filled by Sébastien Chavanel (FDJ).
Best rider for us is Gatis in 7th, although both he and in particular a 13th placed Toms had almost a full tank left as they reached the finish. If it wasn't for the fact that it was impossible to move through, I'm absolutely certain that we would've got a podium, if not the victory. Oh well.
We're moving away from the cobbles as Amstel kicks off the Ardennes week. Over 30 short climbs are included in the parcours, which takes the riders from Maastricht to the finish in Vilt, just after the final climb of Cauberg. The flat finish probably wont have much of an effect on the race's outcome however, thanks to other late climbs like Eyserbosweg, Fromberg and Keutenberg.
These are the participating riders:
As our chances of competing for any sort of result today are close to non-existent, we focus on getting some TV-time for our sponsors. Therefore Thomas is the first rider to attack today, instigating the day's primary breakaway.
His six companions are Marc Goos (Blanco), Matti Breschel (Saxo-Tinkoff), Jurgen Van Goolen (Accent), Michael Schär (BMC), Jesus Herrada (Movistar) and Murilo Fischer (FDJ).
They speed through the early and middle kilometers of the race relatively slowly, as we fast forward to the final 60 km.
The leaders' maximum lead of around 10 minutes has been reduced to just three, with Lampre, Katusha and Garmin setting the pace. Interestingly, among those working are former winner Damiano Cunego (Lampre) and Garmin co-captain Ryder Hesjedal.
The break's advantage thus continues to slim down rapidly under the pressure piled on by the aforementioned names. It finally breaks together completely just after the Gulpen, as Breschel leads the last attempt to survive.
As we reach the Kruisberg, Thomas drops the rest of the escapees and sets off in pursuit after the man in the Danish colours.
His adventure is soon over however, as he is swallowed by the big peloton at the foot of the Eyserbosweg. Breschel, on the other hand, is going very well and still holds an advantage of some 55 seconds.
The Saxo rider survives over the top of Eyser, as there are suprisingly no attacks from the big favourite group.
That changes immediately on the Fromberg though, as Slovak champion Peter Sagan (Cannondale) sets off.
He does successfully create a small gap as the other favourites are surprisingly not marking him, but Dries Devenyns (Quickstep), Carlos Betancur (AG2R) and Philippe Gilbert (BMC) are closing the gap as we get closer to the Fromberg's summit.
Also worth noting is Kwiatek, still sitting in excellent position.
Sagan's attack thus fails to accomplish much but to bring Breschel back into the main field as we descend down towards the Keutenberg.
The short climb quickly kicks up to brutal gradient, and Bauke Mollema (Blanco) decides it's go-time. Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (Sky), Andrea Palini (Lampre) and Roman Kreuziger (Saxo-Tinkoff) dig deep to follow.
The other favourites still find it a bit too early, and the quartet opens a gap of around 30 seconds over the summit.
Behind them, a chasing group of 13 forms. As expected, none of our riders manage to make the cut, although Kwiatek might've if he hadn't gotten hindered by a tired Breschel on the climb.
Instead, the names are:
Moreno and Kolobnev (Katusha)
Leukemans and Poels (Vacansoleil)
Stybar and Devenyns (Quickstep)
Rodriguez (Garmin)
Gilbert (BMC)
Sagan (Cannondale)
Boasson Hagen (Sky)
Cancellara (Radioshack)
Niemiec (Lampre)
Pozzovivo (AG2R)
The four leaders are brought back just as the Cauberg begins. 16 riders will fight for the victory today.
Already in the first few hundred meters of the climb, Moreno puts in a big attack as he tries to break clear. The main response comes from Kreuziger.
The two fail to build up much of an advantage however, and Mollema shuts the gap as they pass under the bridge near the summit.
Mollema's acceleration is doing more than just closing down the leaders though, as he also reduces the group to just a few riders.
Shockingly, the only real top favourite remaining is Rodriguez, alongside some surprising names like Palini, Cancellara and Tiernan-Locke. Sagan is fighting to stay in contention, but a gap is opening up near the end of the climb.
The sprint is kicked off as the road pans out, and the speedy Moreno quickly gains a few metres on Kreuziger.
Behind them, Rodriguez is closing together with Palini.
Moreno's former captain and team mate struggles to match his friend however, and instead it's Palini who looks to challenge the Spaniard!
And with a superb finishing kick, Andrea Palini wins Amstel Gold Race!
Moreno shakes his head in disappointment as he goes over the line for 2nd a few metres back, just holding off a flying Mollema. Surely not a podium anyone would've predicted ahead of the race!
Cancellara is an impressive 4th, passing a fading Rodriguez in the final meters. Tiernan-Locke then follows, just ahead of Kreuziger, who seems to have spent his energy a bit too early today.
37 seconds later, Sagan comes in solo for 8th. He'll surely be wondering what could've been if he hadn't left that little gap on the Cauberg.
Niemiec and Stybar completes the top 10 today, with Boasson Hagen following them. The Norwegian might've been able to do a bit better with a more clever final climb, as he cooked completely after trying to hang with Mollema.
Another 30 seconds later comes Jan Bakelants (Radioshack), who was perhaps the fastest of all on the Cauberg after missing the split earlier.
Behind him, Leukemans outkicks an empty Gilbert for 13th. The former double winner surely can't be happy with today's race.
After another small group's finish we see some familiar colours as Kwiatek comes over the line in 21st place. He was probably capable of better, but missing out on the Keutenberg costed him a bit too much.
Still, beating riders like Vanendert, Valverde and Contador isn't too bad.
Paris - Camembert
Amstel Gold Race
