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Double Feature | THE END
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| Daggen |
Posted on 16-02-2013 22:39
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Sprinter
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Good man  |
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| FreitasPCM |
Posted on 16-02-2013 22:40
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Grand Tour Champion
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Willy's riding very well.  |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 16-02-2013 23:45
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Tour de France Champion
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Another nice performance from Willy, it was worth the wait
Btw, hope you had a nice meal |
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| dienblad |
Posted on 17-02-2013 08:22
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Nice 3rd place. What is Willy's fitness at the moment? Beating Rrodiguez and F. Schleck, it mus be pretty good!
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 17-02-2013 08:47
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Tour de France Champion
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Jakstar22 - Thanks
Daggen - He sure is 
FreitasPCM - Couldn't agree more, it's like riding with Gilbert or something, his energy seems endless at this form! Despite his HILL stat being far from Rodriguez' or Gilbert's.
sutty68 - Thanks, mate The meal was excellent, ordered the usual restaurant food: steak
dienblad - Indeed, it's an awesome form, he's about 93 now. I'm hoping to keep the edge over the other riders because the one but last stage looks really hard and he'll need the advantage to keep on the podium! |
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| Ad Bot |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 17-02-2013 09:55
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Tour de France Champion
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Tirreno - Adriatico :: Stage 4
Stage four is the final day for the sprinters.
Kittel felt pretty good, as did Veelers. The consequence: Stijn was to lead both of them out.
I just enjoyed the ride in my Young Jersey. It's a real looker, I think. The other ones I've worn were always white, so it went unnoticed on the Argos shirt, but I like the blue highlights on this one!
I'm a team player, so I decided to help in the lead-out. I pulled for a while against the impressive Sky-train.
I must admit we were nowhere near Team Sky's level with our lead-out. They were impressively stronger and we just got blown away.
Willy and myself tried our best to get Kittel in a favorable position for the sprint, but he had to come from too far out and finished 9th. Cavendish won another close sprint from Bennati, almost losing the stage in the celebration!
Marcel (Kittel) let me know right after the stage it ain't nobody's fault. I felt pretty shitty so I'm glad he said that.
Result
| 1 | Mark Cavendish | Sky Pro Cycling | 4h46'26 | | | 2 | Daniele Bennati | Radioshack Nissan Trek | s.t. | | | 3 | José Joaquin Rojas Gil | Katusha Team | s.t. | | | 4 | Heinrich Haussler | Orica-GreenEDGE | s.t. | | | 5 | Tyler Farrar | Team Garmin-Barracuda | s.t. | | | 6 | Nacer Bouhanni | FDJ-BigMat | s.t. | | | 7 | Francesco Gavazzi | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | | 8 | Arnaud Démare | BMC Racing Team | s.t. | | | 9 | Marcel Kittel | Team Argos-Shimano | s.t. | IanButler | | 10 | Tom Boonen | Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team | s.t. | |
GC
| 1 | Andy Schleck | Radioshack Nissan Trek | 18h59'30 | | | 2 | Alejandro Valverde | Astana Pro Team | + 10 | | | 3 | Willy Wouters | Team Argos-Shimano | + 31 | IanButler | | 4 | Johnny Hoogerland | Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | + 55 | | | 5 | Joaquin Rodriguez | Katusha Team | s.t. | | | 6 | Mikhail Ignatiev | Katusha Team | s.t. | | | 7 | Paul Martens | Rabobank Cycling Team | s.t. | | | 8 | David Millar | Team Garmin-Barracuda | s.t. | | | 9 | Stijn Devolder | Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | | 10 | Francesco Masciarelli | Astana Pro Team | + 1'33 | |
Three more stages now. One medium hilly stage, one extremely hard hilly stage and a small time trial.
Until tomorrow,
Stijn & Willy |
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| PCM rulezz |
Posted on 17-02-2013 10:09
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I hope you can hold that podium spot 
Winners never quit, quitters never win.
It's difficult not to be happy when you're surrounded by Belgians. - Mark Cavendish
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 17-02-2013 10:12
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What could you have done against the mighty Team Sky  |
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 17-02-2013 10:52
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The team tried their best. And at least Kittel said it wasn't anyone's fault. Good sportsmanship there
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| FreitasPCM |
Posted on 17-02-2013 11:28
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Grand Tour Champion
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In the sprinting matters, things aren't going quite as expected. |
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| JuanMotr |
Posted on 17-02-2013 13:48
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Come on Kittel where is your glory? |
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| rogvi97 |
Posted on 17-02-2013 13:48
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Well, that's just Team Sky at their best... You did what you could.
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 17-02-2013 14:19
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Tour de France Champion
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PCM rulezz - I sure hope so, too!
sutty68 - Not much, I'm afraid... They're overwhelming, they just destroyed the entire lead-out
Jakstar22 - Thanks. Kittel still looks a little below Cavendish' level, though.
FreitasPCM - I know. It's strange. Though it's an amazingly strong field, and we didn't bring the greatest lead-out. (and I'm not very used to sprinting on hard yet.)
JuanMotr - He's just waiting for San Remo... Or a Tour victory
rogvi97 - Thanks. They're impressive. Though we'll beat them later, we'll have our revenge |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 17-02-2013 14:40
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Bad news and good news:
Bad news: the following 2 stages weren't very good and lagged too much to be playable. I simmed them both and thought: what the hell, so I also simmed the final 15km TT.
Good news: The result, in a couple of minutes! |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 17-02-2013 15:01
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Sorry for posting so late, Tirreno - Adriatico is already over at this time. We had a busy schedule and the final races really took all the energy out of us. I'll let you know how Paris-Nice turned out.
Unfortunately, Costa found his form too late, no top 10 for him.
GC Paris-Nice
| 1 | Bradley Wiggins | Astana Pro Team | 27h57'24 | | | 2 | Cadel Evans | BMC Racing Team | + 2'20 | | | 3 | Igor Anton | Euskaltel Euskadi | + 3'01 | | | 4 | Luis León Sánchez | FDJ-BigMat | + 3'26 | | | 5 | Rein Taaramae | Cofidis, Le Crédit en Ligne | + 4'12 | | | 6 | Daniel Moreno | Katusha Team | + 4'15 | | | 7 | Tony Martin | Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team | + 4'16 | | | 8 | Peter Velits | Astana Pro Team | + 5'51 | | | 9 | Simon Spilak | Katusha Team | + 5'58 | | | 10 | Richie Porte | Sky Pro Cycling | + 6'13 | |
Here's what happened at Tirreno - Adriatico. Forgive me for being short about it, but I'm dying to finally tell you, though no doubt you've seen it on television! For that reason I won't include pictures this time, sorry if you were counting on that!
Tirreno - Adriatico :: Stage 5
I like to compare myself to an animal, a hunter. Whenever I get scared, I go in the offense. And in this stage I got scared of losing the podium.
Early on in the race (about 50km from the finish), both Schlecks launched attacks, they kept it going. I saw my chance and went with the attack from Andy Schleck. I saw he was riding in the red so in the final ascend I took him for a ride. Four meters before the finish I got caught by his big brother!
Result
| 1 | Fränk Schleck | Radioshack Nissan Trek | 4h50'49 | | | 2 | Willy Wouters | Team Argos-Shimano | s.t. | IanButler | | 3 | Maxime Monfort | Radioshack Nissan Trek | s.t. | | | 4 | Andy Schleck | Radioshack Nissan Trek | + 18 | | | 5 | Gianluca Brambilla | Liquigas-Cannondale | s.t. | | | 6 | Johnny Hoogerland | Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | | 7 | Moreno Moser | Liquigas-Cannondale | + 43 | | | 8 | Diego Ulissi | Lampre-ISD | s.t. | | | 9 | Alejandro Valverde | Astana Pro Team | + 54 | | | 10 | Joaquin Rodriguez | Katusha Team | s.t. | |
GC
| 1 | Andy Schleck | Radioshack Nissan Trek | 23h50'37 | | | 2 | Willy Wouters | Team Argos-Shimano | + 7 | IanButler | | 3 | Alejandro Valverde | Astana Pro Team | + 46 | | | 4 | Johnny Hoogerland | Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | + 55 | | | 5 | Joaquin Rodriguez | Katusha Team | + 1'31 | | | 6 | Stijn Devolder | Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | | 7 | Fränk Schleck | Radioshack Nissan Trek | + 1'56 | | | 8 | Paul Martens | Rabobank Cycling Team | + 2'19 | | | 9 | Gianluca Brambilla | Liquigas-Cannondale | + 2'36 | | | 10 | Francesco Masciarelli | Astana Pro Team | + 2'57 | |
Instead of dropping down, I'm climbing the ladder! Can I continue this streak?
Tirreno - Adriatico :: Stage 6
This stage looked like pure suicide. But everyone had to get through it. On the first 2nd-category climb of the day, the brothers Schleck went in the unexpected offense. The finish was far off so I decided to skip. However, by the time we got to the top, it was already obvious they would make it to the finish.
Along with Valverde and Hoogerland, I went in the chase. From then on it was a race against fatigue. Fränk dropped his little brother on the final climb, I saw Valverde slowly losing touch. Once again I finish on the podium, I'm close in the Points Jersey now!
Result
| 1 | Fränk Schleck | Radioshack Nissan Trek | 5h25'58 | | | 2 | Andy Schleck | Radioshack Nissan Trek | + 25 | | | 3 | Willy Wouters | Team Argos-Shimano | + 1'03 | IanButler | | 4 | Johnny Hoogerland | Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | + 1'28 | | | 5 | Alejandro Valverde | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | | 6 | Francesco Gavazzi | Astana Pro Team | + 1'57 | | | 7 | Gianluca Brambilla | Liquigas-Cannondale | s.t. | | | 8 | Lars Boom | Rabobank Cycling Team | s.t. | | | 9 | Thor Hushovd | Katusha Team | + 2'22 | | | 10 | Joaquin Rodriguez | Katusha Team | s.t. | |
GC
| 1 | Andy Schleck | Radioshack Nissan Trek | 29h16'54 | | | 2 | Willy Wouters | Team Argos-Shimano | + 47 | IanButler | | 3 | Fränk Schleck | Radioshack Nissan Trek | + 1'27 | | | 4 | Alejandro Valverde | Astana Pro Team | + 1'55 | | | 5 | Johnny Hoogerland | Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | + 2'04 | | | 6 | Joaquin Rodriguez | Katusha Team | + 3'34 | | | 7 | Gianluca Brambilla | Liquigas-Cannondale | + 4'14 | | | 8 | Paul Martens | Rabobank Cycling Team | + 5'12 | | | 9 | Thor Hushovd | Katusha Team | + 7'23 | | | 10 | Stijn Devolder | Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | + 9'55 | |
Points
| 1 | Andy Schleck | Radioshack Nissan Trek | 39 | | | 2 | Fränk Schleck | Radioshack Nissan Trek | 34 | | | 3 | Willy Wouters | Team Argos-Shimano | 33 | IanButler |
Tirreno - Adriatico :: Stage 7 (not 57, obviously!)
The final, 15 km time trial. I'm second, 47 seconds behind Andy Schleck, not famous for his time trialing skills. Can I make up 3 seconds per kilometer?
I can honestly say I rode the time trial of a life time.
Result
| 1 | Lars Boom | Rabobank Cycling Team | 17'20 | | | 2 | Willy Wouters | Team Argos-Shimano | + 1 | IanButler | | 3 | Tyler Farrar | Team Garmin-Barracuda | + 2 | | | 4 | Mikhail Ignatiev | Katusha Team | + 3 | | | 5 | David Millar | Team Garmin-Barracuda | + 4 | | | 6 | Thor Hushovd | Katusha Team | + 7 | | | 7 | Adriano Malori | Lampre-ISD | + 9 | | | 8 | Frantisek Rabon | Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team | + 10 | | | 9 | Geraint Thomas | Sky Pro Cycling | + 13 | | | 10 | Tom Boonen | Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team | + 16 | | | (...) | | 50 | Andy Schleck | Radioshack Nissan Trek | + 1'10 | | (...) | | 77 | Fränk Schleck | Radioshack Nissan Trek | + 1'47 |
General Classification
| 1 | Willy Wouters | Team Argos-Shimano | 29h35'02 | IanButler | | 2 | Andy Schleck | Radioshack Nissan Trek | + 22 | | | 3 | Johnny Hoogerland | Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | + 2'24 | | | 4 | Fränk Schleck | Radioshack Nissan Trek | + 2'26 | | | 5 | Alejandro Valverde | Astana Pro Team | + 2'33 | | | 6 | Joaquin Rodriguez | Katusha Team | + 4'24 | | | 7 | Paul Martens | Rabobank Cycling Team | + 5'05 | | | 8 | Gianluca Brambilla | Liquigas-Cannondale | + 6'38 | | | 9 | Thor Hushovd | Katusha Team | + 6'42 | | | 10 | Stijn Devolder | Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | + 9'34 | |
Points
| 1 | Willy Wouters | Team Argos-Shimano | 43 | IanButler | | 2 | Andy Schleck | Radioshack Nissan Trek | 39 | | | 3 | Fränk Schleck | Radioshack Nissan Trek | 34 | | | 4 | Alejandro Valverde | Astana Pro Team | 30 | | | 5 | Mark Cavendish | Sky Pro Cycling | 24 | |
Mountain Points
| 1 | Pierrick Fédrigo | FDJ-BigMat | 35 | | | 2 | Kristof Vandewalle | Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team | 27 | | | 3 | Daniele Ratto | Liquigas-Cannondale | 23 | | | 4 | Martijn Maaskant | Team Garmin-Barracuda | 18 | | | 5 | Jürgen Roelandts | Lotto Belisol | 18 | |
All I can say now is: unbelievable. I never imagined this possible. This is my big breakthrough. I'll tell you all about it in a next update, right now I've got to go, talk to the press! See you later!
Edited by Ian Butler on 17-02-2013 17:21
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| SSJ2Luigi |
Posted on 17-02-2013 15:03
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World Champion
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AMAZING 
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| PCM rulezz |
Posted on 17-02-2013 15:25
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Protected Rider
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B - e - a - utiful
Winners never quit, quitters never win.
It's difficult not to be happy when you're surrounded by Belgians. - Mark Cavendish
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| Daggen |
Posted on 17-02-2013 15:27
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Sprinter
Posts: 1849
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Great 57th stage by Willy!
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 17-02-2013 16:00
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Tour de France Champion
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One hell of a long stage race - 57 stages, no wonder your riders are tired |
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| Stromeon |
Posted on 17-02-2013 16:38
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3507
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Willy must have a high REC stat if he's putting in a great performance on the 57th stage!
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