Introducing to you... (And specially for Valverde321!)
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Team Vacansoleil Camping Holidays
Co-Sponsors
Vedior, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Philips
Team Managers 1st Tom Boveree
2nd Daan Luijkx Michel Cornelisse Hilaire Van der Schueren
Bicycles Batavus
Budget
€ 5.000.000
UCI Stats
VAC (UCI-code)
Nation: the Netherlands
Pro Continental League
Team Managers: 4
Cyclist: 28
Staff: 5
Welcome to the 2009 “custom” Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team, it’s the group of riders which started in 2009. But I’m not afraid of some risk so I didn’t pick the best riders, I took riders who would fit the team standards. Like Cavendish or Contador would never fit my team, it are two riders with a lot of spirit but it is different then the spirit that my riders have. I’m very proud of them, all 28! There are two new leaders in the team, those are Jurgen Vandenbroeck and Vladimir Gusev. Jurgen signed for two years and Vladimir for only one year, he hopes to get back in the Pro Tour thanks to our team. We hope to count on him in rides like Paris-Roubaix and Tour of Flanders, if we are able to ride those! We bought Jurgen for the Grand Tours, we know he is not a winner but we aim for a top ten spot in a GT which we get invited to! Then we have Brice Feillu, he’s going to be the helper for Jurgen in the GT’s and maybe he is able to win a nice race himself. Then we have a few Dutch talents, those are Ricardo van der Velde for the cobble stones and Boy van Poppel for the sprints. Another Dutch rider is Lars Toma, a good friend of me, Tom Boveree and trainings partner! I also have a small place in the team, I might ride some nice races but I didn’t make myself that good. But in our team we also got a new Danish talent, it is Daniel Kreutzfeld. He was already first at a stage race of 7 days called the Youth Tour in Assen, a Dutch city. He was just 5 seconds in front of me, Tom Boveree. Well here you have the introduction of the riders…
Cyclist
Johnny Hoogerland Age: 23 Type: Hill Classics Favorite Races: Amstel Gold Race, Veenendaal-Veenendaal, Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
Sponsor
Top 10 in Bayern Rundfarht
Top 10 in GP Chiasso
Top 5 in Ronde van het Groene Hart
Top 5 in Rund um den Henninger Turm
Top 10 in Rund um Köln
Other favorite sponsor races Dutch Championships Scheldeprijs Vlaanderen Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne Nokere Koerse Nationale Sluitingsprijs Omloop door het Houtland
Own Goals Become a Pro Tour team for the season of 2011 Win the Dutch Road Race Championships Top 5 of the Pro Continental team ranking Get invited to at least one Grand Tour Top 10 of the Pro Continental individual ranking
Edited by Tombola on 10-03-2010 07:16
Here is our program for Februari, not any thing special but our first sponsor goal is at the second day of the first month. So the Amgen Tour of California and the Challenge Mallorca are some great races to gain some condition for the main riders for Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne and GP Chiasso next month!
28th – 2nd Tour of Qatar (2.1)
11th – 15th Challenge Vuelta a Mallorca (2.1)
18th – 25th Amgen Tour of California (2.HC)
21th – 25th Volta ao Algarve (2.1)
Edited by Tombola on 23-02-2010 17:42
That was the best presentation I have ever seen! And thank you for partially dedicating this story to me. Good luck and Even if you think that nobodies reading it people are they just don't always leave a comment
It was a true sprinting festival! Team Columbia HTC won the opening team trial, so ad the end they still had 5 riders in the top 10. Tom Boonen should have won the GC, he won 3 stages and the jersey for the most points. Unlikely for him, Mark Renshaw got 3rd ad one stage and took 3 seconds bonus. This was 1 seconds enough to keep the golden Qatar jersey. Our team did very well, Bobbie stud on the podium on every stage but never took the top spot. Most of the time it was Boonen who was faster and once it was Bennati. Traksel was two times 2nd and two times 3rd, well done Bobbie!
General Classification
1 Mark Renshaw Team Columbia - HTC 15h54'37
2 Tom Boonen Quickstep + 1
3 Bernhard Eisel Team Columbia - HTC + 3
4 Edvald Boasson Hagen Team Columbia - HTC s.t.
5 Greg Henderson Team Columbia - HTC s.t.
6 Marcus Burghardt Team Columbia - HTC s.t. 7 Bobbie Traksel Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team + 6
8 Tommy Nankervis Cinelli - Down under + 18
9 Bert Roesems Cinelli - Down under s.t. 10 Boy Van Poppel Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team + 26
Points Classification
1 Tom Boonen Quickstep 143 2 Bobbie Traksel Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 127
3 Daniele Bennati Liquigas 115
4 Hilton Clarke Fuji - Servetto 113
5 Kenny Van Hummel Skil - Shimano 105
6 Greg Henderson Team Columbia - HTC 62
7 Bernhard Eisel Team Columbia - HTC 56 8 Boy Van Poppel Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 50
9 Assan Bazayev Astana Cycling Team 49
10 Gerald Ciolek Team Milram 42
Edited by Tombola on 19-02-2010 00:43
Nothing special here, Vladimir used this stage race to gain some form for the classics which are coming up. He thanks his 16th GC spot to stage 3, he was second there, just behind Eduardo Gonzalo from Agritubel who beaded him in the sprint. Some stages I simmed, but Romain Feillu in the Mountain Jersey?
General Classification
1 Ezequiel Mosquera Xacobeo Galicia 16h50'23
2 Juanjo Cobo Fuji - Servetto + 1'27
3 Joaquim Rodríguez Caisse d'Épargne + 1'28
4 Jérôme Pineau Quickstep s.t.
5 Carlos Barredo Quickstep s.t.
6 Rubén Pérez Euskaltel - Euskaldi + 2'22
7 Christophe Moreau Agritubel s.t.
8 Chris Horner Astana Cycling Team + 2'25
9 Stijn Devolder Quickstep + 2'35
10 Koos Moerenhout Rabobank + 3'14 16 Vladimir Gusev Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team + 4'10
Points Classification
1 Romain Feillu Agritubel 8
2 Alessandro Vanotti Liquigas 6
3 José Joaquín Rojas Caisse d'Épargne 4
4 Koldo Fernández de Larrea Euskaltel - Euskaldi 3
5 Rafael Infantino Amica Chips - Knauff 3
6 Christian Knees Team Milram 3
7 Xavi Tondo Andalucia - Cajasur 3
8 José Herrada Contentpolis - Ampo 3
9 Amets Txurruka Euskaltel - Euskaldi 3
10 Daniel Sesma Orbea 3
Mountain Classification
1 Romain Feillu Agritubel 42
2 Alessandro Vanotti Liquigas 39
3 Xavi Tondo Andalucia - Cajasur 30
4 José Herrada Contentpolis - Ampo 26
5 Frederik Willems Liquigas 22
6 David Herrero Xacobeo Galicia 21
7 Niki Terpstra Team Milram 19
8 Valery Kobzarenko Team Type 1 17
9 Ezequiel Mosquera Xacobeo Galicia 13
10 Juanjo Cobo Fuji - Servetto 12
This was a great week for us, it started very good because Jurgen won the prologue just 1 second in front of Swiss beast, Cancellara. Then it was waiting for the most hilly stage and the time trial. In the stage with two large hills Jurgen followed the attack of Hincapie and Hugo Pena, with success. They were with three but Jurgen couldn’t win the stage because the break of the day was still 10 seconds in front at the finish line. He became 4th that day, in the time trial he became 2nd just after Cancellara. Fabian lost a lot of time so he wasn’t a thread any more. The second last stage was really weird, attacks, wind, rider who were suffering, it was Bernhard Eisel who won. But not in a sprint, he attacked with Leukemans in his wheel but Bjorn was left behind with 10k to go. Leukemans was able to hold his 2nd place but finished exactly 1 minute behind Eisel, boy was that guy strong against the wind. Jurgen was in the group behind Bjorn, with Hincapie, Cancellara and a few others. The biggest group who came at the finish line was only 20 riders, everything was splintered. But we were glad that Jurgen made it. After the prologue his second victory! Ongarato did also really well with a 2nd and 3rd place in two bunch sprints.
General Classification 1 Jurgen Van den Broeck Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 25h15'24
2 Mario Aerts Silence - Lotto + 18
3 Brent Bookwalter BMC Racing Team + 52
4 George Hincapie Team Columbia - HTC + 1'06
5 Victor Hugo Peña Rock Racing Team + 1'30
6 José Angel Gómez Marchante Cervélo Test Team + 1'55
7 Philippe Gilbert Silence - Lotto + 2'05
8 Christian Vandevelde Garmin - Slipstream + 2'19
9 Dominique Rollin Cervélo Test Team + 3'16
10 Maarten Tjallingii Rabobank + 3'19
Points Classification 1 Jurgen Van den Broeck Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 69
2 Fabian Cancellara Team Saxo Bank 50
3 Tyler Farrar Garmin - Slipstream 49
4 Bernhard Eisel Team Columbia - HTC 48
5 Daniele Bennati Liquigas 46 6 Alberto Ongarato Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 38
7 Björn Leukemans Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 38
8 Stuart O'Grady Team Saxo Bank 34
9 George Hincapie Team Columbia - HTC 33
10 Nick Nuyens Rabobank 32
Mountain Classification
1 Sébastien Rosseler Quickstep 56
2 Hubert Schwab Quickstep 44
3 Roger Hammond Cervélo Test Team 38
4 Dario Cataldo Quickstep 36
5 Glenn D'Hollander Silence - Lotto 36
6 Enrico Franzoï Liquigas 32
7 Ian MacGregor Team Type 1 28
8 Jackson Stewart BMC Racing Team 24
9 Aleksandr Kuschynski Liquigas 22
10 Dominique Cornu Quickstep 20
Here you see Jurgen at the start of the last stage with his fairly won Yellow jersey…
21th – 25th Volta ao Algarve (2.1)
Gusev and Feillu did great! Vladimir is already riding some nice results while he is far from his top condition. He did well in the two mountain stages but never made it really hard for himself. Brice did made it hard for himself, he tried to follow Barredo and Zubeldia ad the second mountain stage but after 1k of hanging in the wheel of the Spaniards he to take it easy, never the less, I’m still proud at both of my boys. I can’t wait to see what they are able to when their conditions are excellent!
General Classification
1 Kim Kirchen Team Columbia - HTC 22h37'49
2 Carlos Barredo Quickstep + 8
3 Haimar Zubeldia Astana Cycling Team s.t.
4 Marco Pinotti Team Columbia - HTC s.t.
5 Michael Albasini Team Columbia - HTC + 44
6 David Blanco Palmeira Resort - Tavira + 57
7 Sandy Casar Française des Jeux s.t. 8 Brice Feillu Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team s.t.
9 Sébastien Joly Française des Jeux + 1'06
10 Sergio Paulinho Astana Cycling Team s.t. 13 Vladimir Gusev Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team + 2'18
Points Classification
1 Mark Cavendish Team Columbia - HTC 57
2 Tom Boonen Quickstep 45
3 André Greipel Team Columbia - HTC 34
4 Kim Kirchen Team Columbia - HTC 32
5 Hernâni Brôco Liberty Seguros 31
6 Robert Hunter Barloworld 29
7 Jurgen Roelandts Silence - Lotto 25
8 Michael Albasini Team Columbia - HTC 25
9 Samuel Dumoulin Cofidis - Le Crédit en ligne 20 10 Vladimir Gusev Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 20
Mountain Classification
1 Hernâni Brôco Liberty Seguros 15
2 David Blanco Palmeira Resort - Tavira 13
3 Coen Vermeltfoort Rabobank Continental 13
4 Sandy Casar Française des Jeux 11
5 Stéphane Augé Cofidis - Le Crédit en ligne 11
6 Mickael Delage Silence - Lotto 10
7 Tiago Machado Madeinox - Boavista 9
8 Bruno Pires Barbot - Siper 9
9 Mark Cavendish Team Columbia - HTC 8
10 Laurent Mangel Besson Chaussures - Sojasun 8
Thanks to the great job of our Belgium stage racer Vandenbroeck in the USA, we got invited by the French ASO to ride Paris-Nice. This will be the first Pro Tour race for the Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team and we can’t wait to ride the “Race to the Sun”.
Rankings at 28th of Februari
Pro Tour Individual Ranking
1 Pablo Lastras - GCE - 53
2 Christopher Sutton - GRM - 44
3 Fabio Sabatini - LIQ - 42
4 Michael Schär - AST - 33
5 Igor Antón - EUS - 25
Pro Tour Team Ranking
1 Caisse d’Epargne - 53
2 Liquigas - 46
3 Garmin - 45
4 Astana - 38
5 AG2R - 31
Pro Continental Individual Ranking
1 Carlos Sastre - CTT - 220
2 Thor Hushovd - CTT - 185 3 Jurgen Vandenbroeck - VAC - 176
4 Heinrich Haussler - CTT - 155
5 Andrea Molleta - SDV - 30
Pro Continental Team Ranking
1 Cervélo Test Team - 1068 2 Vacansoleil - 320
3 Serrameti - 248
4 Xacobea - 184
5 Andalusia - Cajasur - 151
Most Wins
Thor Hushovd - CTT
Cervélo Test Team
Edited by Tombola on 23-02-2010 17:43
This will be an important month for us, there are some races on the calendar were the sponsors want us to shine. Hopefully they got a lot of energy from the victory that we had achieved in California. In Chiasso we have to ride top 10, and Kuurne, Nokere they have some VIP-boxes but they didn’t set a result as a goal. In the Ronde van het Groene Hart, we have to ride top 5, we probably having to sprint for that places.
The opening weekend of the Belgium classics has begun! Omloop het Volk will traditionally been ride at the Saturday and on Sunday we ride Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne. Two heavy races were not only the cobbles, but also the weather plays a vital roll sometimes.
Omloop het Volk (1.HC)
Tom Boonen already showed in Qatar that he is in the right shape, but are there team mates who can help him. Probably Stijn Devolder, another favorite for these races. Besides Boonen, Hushovd and Cancellara are two other favorites, Hushovd won a few stages in Langkawi but Cancellara didn’t showed himself very often, maybe this weekend?
It was Gusev who was pulling the pack over the cobbled hills, Bjorn asked him too. So rider like Boonen and Cancellara would suffer because Leukemans is a better hill rider then them…
Haussler had a good day today, he let the peloton split and the front group were only 12 riders, for Vacansoleil Leukemans and Gusev were included!
The last 20k Boonen got away with a small group, with Burghardt, Flecha, Hoste and Devolder. The others all attacked but Devolder was reeling them in everytime, and with only 4k to go it was Boonen himself who attacked, successfully… Bjorn became second of the second group!
Results
1 Tom Boonen Quickstep 5h16'07
2 Marcus Burghardt Team Columbia - HTC + 30
3 Juan Antonio Flecha Rabobank s.t.
4 Leif Hoste Silence - Lotto s.t.
5 Stijn Devolder Quickstep s.t.
6 Heinrich Haussler Cervélo Test Team + 1'39 7 Björn Leukemans Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team s.t.
8 Thor Hushovd Cervélo Test Team s.t.
9 Fabian Cancellara Team Saxo Bank s.t.
10 Stuart O'Grady Team Saxo Bank s.t.
11 Roy Sentjens Silence - Lotto + 2'43
12 Kevin Van Impe Quickstep s.t.
13 George Hincapie Team Columbia - HTC s.t.
14 Staf Scheirlinckx Silence - Lotto s.t.
15 Nick Nuyens Rabobank s.t.
16 Steven De Jongh Quickstep s.t.
17 Karsten Kroon Team Saxo Bank s.t.
18 Sébastien Rosseler Quickstep s.t.
19 Dimitri Muravyev Astana Cycling Team + 3'43 20 Vladimir Gusev Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team + 4'36
21 Kevin Hulsmans Quickstep s.t.
22 Greg Van Avermaet Silence - Lotto + 5'07
23 Xavier Florencio Cervélo Test Team + 5'59 24 Aart Vierhouten Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team + 7'10
25 Bobbie Traksel Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team + 10'58
26 Luca Paolini Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo + 13'47 27 Pieter Vanspeybroeck Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team s.t.
28 Servais Knaven Team Milram s.t.
29 Matti Breschel Team Saxo Bank s.t.
30 Kenny De Ketele Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator s.t.
That same day the other part of the Vacansoleil team was trying to achieve a Top 10 spot in the GP Chiasso because our sponsor asked too. We had send a nice team, with Vanderbroecke, Hoogerland, Carrara and Lowik. But when we arrived, we so the startlist, Ivanov, Kirchen, Cunego, Sastre, Scarponi, Nocentini… Maybe it was not going to be that easy…
I send Lowik in the breakaway just to make sure that they didn’t got away, in those smaller races you never know. But with 30k to go they got reeled in, then nothing happened for 10k’s…
Then it was Kirchen who attacked, with Sastre and Scarponi on his backwheel. In the second group you see Carrara, Ivanov and Chavanel. With Carrara being the best sprint of those three and only three riders in front, I was almost sure of a top 10 spot.
The group stayed in front of the peloton with more then 1 minute advantage, Matteo was disappointed that he was not able to follow the first three. Because in the sprint he was going a lot faster, Ivanov and Chavanel had no chance! Still, Matteo was pleased with reaching the first goal!
Results
1 Kim Kirchen Team Columbia - HTC 4h27'08
2 Carlos Sastre Cervélo Test Team s.t.
3 Michele Scarponi Serramenti PVC Diq. - Androni Giocattoli s.t. 4 Matteo Carrara Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team + 45
5 Sergei Ivanov Team Katusha s.t.
6 Sylvain Chavanel Quickstep s.t.
7 John Gadret AG2R - La Mondiale + 1'51
8 Robert Hunter Barloworld s.t.
9 Pierrick Fédrigo BBOX - Bouygues Telecom s.t.
10 Simon Spilak Lampre - N.G.C. s.t.
11 Andrea Tonti Fuji - Servetto s.t.
12 Marcel Wyss Cervélo Test Team s.t.
13 Carlo Scognamiglio Barloworld s.t.
14 Luca Mazzanti Team Katusha s.t.
15 Alessandro Vanotti Liquigas s.t.
16 Sandy Casar Française des Jeux s.t.
17 Damiano Cunego Lampre - N.G.C. s.t.
18 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
19 Joaquin Novoa Cervélo Test Team s.t.
20 Fabian Wegmann Team Milram s.t.
21 Johann Tschopp BBOX - Bouygues Telecom s.t.
22 Maurizio Biondo Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce s.t.
23 Antonio D'Aniello Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce s.t.
24 Cyril Dessel AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
25 Eros Capecchi Fuji - Servetto s.t.
26 Mauro Finnetto CSF group - Navigarre s.t.
27 Alessandro Proni ISD s.t.
28 Manuele Mori Lampre - N.G.C. s.t.
29 Dainius Kairelis Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce s.t.
30 Gilberto Simoni Serramenti PVC Diq. - Androni Giocattoli s.t.
Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne (1.1)
Next, the second classic of the Belgium season, Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne. When the riders were sitting in the touring car you already could see that this was going to be a difficult race, with a wind that reach 59 till 69 k/ph, rain and only 6 degrees it was not going to be a day with a lot of fun for the boys.
With still 150k’s to go, the peloton was splitting up. Already 90 riders were more then 2’30 behind and didn’t stand a chance anymore. Riders who were surprised, Burghardt, second yesterday, Breschel, a great help for Cancellara and O’Grady. And a few others who didn’t make it too the finish.
With 120k to go, this was the first group. They must had a lot of energy because of Boonen’s win yesterday! They had ’50 to the second group with Flecha, Cancellara, Leukemans, Gusev, Traksel and 14 others. Another 1’00 behind was the group with Haussler, Hushovd, Klier, Franzoi and Quinziato…
With 70k to go the first peloton contained 51 riders, but with the first big hill in sight, Leukemans started to attack on his favorite part of the race. Hills with cobbles on them… The group was again, splitting in to peaces! Bjorn had build a gap from 1’10 on the first chasers.
With 30k to go Leukemans still had ’40 seconds on his chasers. This contained a group of only five riders. It really was a hard battle today…
Then Flecha and Devolder got away while they had just catch Leukemans, O’Grady and Boonen weren’t helping to increase the distance. We came close with only ’20 behind and then O’Grady jumped to Flecha and Devolder. While Boonen just did nothing and stayed in the wheel of Gusev, who wasn’t following his team mate Bjorn anymore.
It looked like a easy victory today for Stijn Devolder, he wasn’t really enthousiastic either! Behind him it were O’Grady and Flecha… Team manager of Quick Step, Patrick Lefevre must be really happy after this weekend!
For a second there, Flecha thought he could stand a chance against O’Grady… Behind them it’s Leukmans coming, he still has ’20 seconds on the group behind him with Boonen, Gusev, Haussler, Hushovd and a few others…
But Boonen was going so extremely hard that he made those ’20 seconds disappear within a moment! Leukemans became 5th today. While Gusev tried to stay in Hushovds wheel and became 8th!
Results
Normally I only display the first 30 of classic, but because there were only 48 finishers I want to show you who those beasts were… 179 riders started the race…
1 Stijn Devolder Quickstep 5h06'28
2 Stuart O'Grady Team Saxo Bank + 1'26
3 Juan Antonio Flecha Rabobank s.t.
4 Tom Boonen Quickstep + 2'52 5 Björn Leukemans Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team s.t.
6 Heinrich Haussler Cervélo Test Team s.t.
7 Thor Hushovd Cervélo Test Team s.t. 8 Vladimir Gusev Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team s.t.
9 Leif Hoste Silence - Lotto s.t.
10 George Hincapie Team Columbia - HTC s.t.
11 Kevin Van Impe Quickstep + 6'33
12 Fabian Cancellara Team Saxo Bank s.t.
13 Nick Nuyens Rabobank s.t.
14 Andreas Klier Cervélo Test Team s.t.
15 Enrico Franzoï Liquigas + 8'54
16 Grégory Rast Astana Cycling Team s.t.
17 Manuel Quinziato Liquigas s.t.
18 Dimitri Muravyev Astana Cycling Team s.t.
19 Servais Knaven Team Milram s.t.
20 Frederic Guesdon Française des Jeux s.t.
21 Niki Terpstra Team Milram s.t.
22 Steven De Jongh Quickstep s.t.
23 Staf Scheirlinckx Silence - Lotto + 10'14
24 Kevin Hulsmans Quickstep s.t.
25 Sébastien Rosseler Quickstep s.t.
26 Greg Van Avermaet Silence - Lotto s.t.
27 Roy Sentjens Silence - Lotto + 11'35
28 Nico Sijmens Cofidis - Le Crédit en ligne + 12'13
29 Koen Barbé Landbouwkrediet - Colnago s.t.
30 Murilo Fischer Liquigas s.t.
31 Jimmy Casper Besson Chaussures - Sojasun + 14'11
32 Frederik Willems Liquigas s.t.
33 Aleksandr Pliuschin AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
34 Kevyn Ista Agritubel s.t.
35 Bert De Waele Landbouwkrediet - Colnago s.t.
36 Marcus Burghardt Team Columbia - HTC s.t.
37 Johan Coenen Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator + 14'39
38 Gatis Smukulis AG2R - La Mondiale + 16'03
39 Wouter Weylandt Quickstep + 17'59
40 Sébastien Joly Française des Jeux s.t.
41 Matti Breschel Team Saxo Bank s.t.
42 Bert Grabsch Team Columbia - HTC s.t.
43 David Boucher Landbouwkrediet - Colnago s.t.
44 Guillaume Blot Cofidis - Le Crédit en ligne s.t.
45 Gianni Meersman Française des Jeux s.t.
46 Filip Meirhaeghe Landbouwkrediet - Colnago s.t.
47 Sven Renders Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator s.t.
48 Lloyd Mondory AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
Ricardo van der Velde, Pieter Vanspeybroeck and Bobbie Traksel were in the group from place 49 till 60th, but the jury took them out on 10k for the finish. It was a disappointment for the young guns Ricardo and Pieter but I told them they did a good job, a lot of riders didn’t even past half the classic today!
Next will be Le Samyn, the last day that Leukemans will appear as the captain, after that he will take some rest. Then we have Paris-Nice but there is not a rider with the right conditions, after that Gusev wants to win the KBC 3-Days of the Panne-Koksijde!
There were not many strong riders, it was a nice weather and the sun was shining all along. It didn’t look like a Belgium classic but it still was one! Bjorn really wanted to win today and looking to the startlist, the profile of the race with some hills and cobbles at the end, this was possible!
Mortensen got away with Martin and Roux, the gap never went bigger then 1’20…
Some Vacansoleil fans write the name of Leukemans and Vierhouten on the bridge, thanks guys!
A small group arrived at the group of Mortensen, with riders like Rodriguez and Possoni. It could be the group which arrived first at the finishingline. Mortensen hoped so because he was the best sprinter, but he didn’t helped getting away because he knew Bjorn wanted to win very bad!
Cofidis and Agritubel started the new French army to bring their leaders, Duque and Feillu to the finishline! The gap was already 8’30 with 75k to go…
With 25k to go the gap was brought down to 2’00. Leukemans started to attack on one of the small hills, screaming in his earpieces that Mortensen had to wait on him in front. Mortensen did, he was almost empty but was able to ride for his captain for 5k’s, every meter is one jelled Bjorn to him. All the other BOTD-members already lost track…
After the Prologue and GC in California this is our first classic win! Bjorn was really happy and waited after the finish line to hug his teammates, especially Martin, who did a great job today for his leader!
Results 1 Björn Leukemans Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 4h51'24
2 Nico Sijmens Cofidis - Le Crédit en ligne + 1'06
3 Romain Feillu Agritubel s.t.
4 Jurgen Roelandts Silence - Lotto s.t. 5 Vladimir Gusev Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team s.t.
6 Kevyn Ista Agritubel s.t.
7 Samuel Dumoulin Cofidis - Le Crédit en ligne s.t.
8 Guillaume Blot Cofidis - Le Crédit en ligne s.t.
9 Sterling Magnell Rock Racing Team s.t.
10 Leonardo Duque Cofidis - Le Crédit en ligne s.t.
11 Johan Coenen Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator s.t.
12 Nicolas Jalabert Agritubel s.t.
13 Dimitri De Fauw Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator s.t.
14 Steven Caethoven Agritubel s.t.
15 John Gadret AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
16 Sylvain Calzati Agritubel s.t.
17 Wesley Van der Linden Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator s.t.
18 Mickael Delage Silence - Lotto s.t.
19 Dominique Cornu Quickstep s.t.
20 Kenny De Ketele Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator s.t.
21 Jimmy Engoulvent Besson Chaussures - Sojasun s.t.
22 Frédéric Amorison Landbouwkrediet - Colnago s.t.
23 Jürgen Van De Walle Quickstep s.t.
24 Jimmy Casper Besson Chaussures - Sojasun s.t.
25 Christophe Moreau Agritubel s.t.
26 Dario Cataldo Quickstep s.t.
27 Kevin De Weert Quickstep s.t.
28 Nicolas Vogondy Agritubel s.t.
29 Bart Dockx Silence - Lotto s.t.
30 Francis De Greef Silence - Lotto s.t.
The race to the sun, one of the most prestigious small stage races in the world. This time it contains a lot of favorites. Andy Schleck will be there, but he said it was for training and not for competition so we will see. A lot of Spaniards who could win this year, Valverde, S. Sanchez and Gomez Marchante underlined Paris-Nice on their calendars. Then we have Armstrong, after 2 years he’s back for the first time in the Pro Tour peloton, maybe he has something up his sleave! But then our Vacansoleil riders, well I told them that I would be happy when they just ride in front of the camera’s sometimes. I know that there is nobody who has a good shape jet and their goals are all far away. But if we wanted to ride great races like these, you have to show something to get invited. At this point we are happy with a top 20 with Vandebroeck and Hoogerland told me to go for the mountain jersey.
Some screens of the first TT stage…
Probably the only chance of a stage victory, right on the first day. But is Jurgen able to beat the time of 6 ’23 from French man Vaugrenard?
Yes he can! 6’20 was his time, ‘3 faster. But there is still one man on the road who is able to beat the time of Jurgen, it is Bradley Wiggins. Probably not in shape because he doesn’t even ride top 10 today!
The 2nd and 3rd stage were won by Davis and Hushovd, both in a bunchsprint. Hoogerland gained some KoM points at the 3rd stage and is now second behind Ignatiev.
Jurgen lost his yellow jersey at the 4th stage, it were Gomez Marchante, S. Sanchez, Kirchen and stage winner of this day Alejandro “Pitti” Valverde who got away!
The 5th stage were the first real mountain this year for Vandenbroeck, let’s see what he’s up to. Now standing 9th in the GC, but he doesn’t have a good condition (78).
He’s from America and he has the number 7 on his back, did the organization do that on purpose?
Today Jurgen was able to follow the chasing group with Valverde, Kirchen, Gadret and Cobo. Chavanel was still on the screen here but a few 100 meter further he cracked and lost his 5th GC spot, also Joly was still in the peloton and didn’t defend his 6th GC spot.
But it was… Did you already guessed it? Lance Armstrong who won the stage today! Is Armstrong able to win the Tour de France for the 8th time? Well, today he beated Gomez Marchante! In the sprint of the small group behind them, Vandenbroeck became second behind Kirchen.
Stage 6 wasn’t really special, only a small climb at the end so it wasn’t for Davis neither Hushovd today…
Damn, it was the other Britain from Garmin, David Millar. Who stood the first non-time trial win of Jurgen in the way! Blame him! Jurgen is the one on the left with the white youth jersey! That jersey is probably his because second is Brajkovic but he is 3’28 behind after this stage.
In the second last stage nothing happened, but the last stage was decisive! Kirchen and Valverde got away and leader Marchante was nowhere there. Valverde had ’35 on Kirchen but at the last flat part, Kirchen dropped Alejandro! But it wasn’t enough for the Luxembourgian, he had a gap of ’30 so Valverde won the GC with ‘5 ahead! Jurgen also past Gomez Marchante because he was in the group behind Valverde, along with S. Sanchez, Chavanel, Armstrong and Moncoutie. They lost 1’09 on Kirchen and Marchante lost 2’46 on Kirchen. That meant that Jurgen also past him with a few seconds… Johnny Hoogerland was disappointed, he was going for the KoM but Van Avermaet (leader in KoM) was with him in the break of the day and just got enough points. It was a shame there weren’t other good hill riders in the botd so they could come between. Armstrong did a great job here I think, it wasn’t suite to his profile because of the hills, but the only real mountain stage was won by hem!
Results
General Classification
1 Alejandro Valverde Caisse d'Épargne 31h38'12
2 Kim Kirchen Team Columbia - HTC + 5
3 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskaldi + 46
4 Lance Armstrong Astana Cycling Team + 1'12
5 Sylvain Chavanel Quickstep + 3'11 6 Jurgen Van den Broeck Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team + 3'12
7 José Angel Gómez Marchante Cervélo Test Team + 3'16
8 David Moncoutié Cofidis - Le Crédit en ligne + 4'07
9 David Millar Garmin - Slipstream + 6'36
10 John Gadret AG2R - La Mondiale + 7'02
Points Classification
1 Alejandro Valverde Caisse d'Épargne 105
2 Kim Kirchen Team Columbia - HTC 98 3 Jurgen Van den Broeck Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 94
4 Sylvain Chavanel Quickstep 83
5 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel - Euskaldi 75
6 Stuart O'Grady Team Saxo Bank 75
7 David Millar Garmin - Slipstream 63
8 Lance Armstrong Astana Cycling Team 62
9 David Moncoutié Cofidis - Le Crédit en ligne 54
10 Thor Hushovd Cervélo Test Team 49
Mountain Classification
1 Greg Van Avermaet Silence - Lotto 62 2 Johnny Hoogerland Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 57
3 Josep Jufré Fuji - Servetto 33
4 Kim Kirchen Team Columbia - HTC 32
5 Rémy Di Gregorio Française des Jeux 25
6 Cyril Gautier BBOX - Bouygues Telecom 24
7 José Angel Gómez Marchante Cervélo Test Team 20
8 Dimitry Kozontchuk Rabobank 19
9 Mikhail Ignatiev Team Katusha 17
10 Pierre Cazaux Roubaix Lille Métropole 16
Good luck for you and I promise you this time I will follow it
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