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Sky High - The Story of Team Sky
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| Chirpin |
Posted on 25-07-2010 11:54
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Under 23
Posts: 81
Joined: 15-01-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Hey guys, although I'm not much of a poster on these forums I've always been a regular visitor for many different things (databases, looking for useful tips and reading threads in general). But what dragged me here in the first place was reading some of the great stories that others post. I've decided that it was time that I shared my experiences with everyone. I have a bit of experience with writing stories on other forums but have never really given PCM a try. I will be starting the story with the newly formed Team Sky. I have a liking to a lot of their riders so thats why I have chosen them. Hope you enjoy reading!
Team Background Info
Team Sky's original intention was to build a 25 man-squad with a core of British riders and to nurture the young talent in order to produce the first British Tour de France winner within 5 years.
The first six riders confirmed were Geraint Thomas, Steve Cummings, Chris Froome, Russell Downing, Ian Stannard and Peter Kennaugh, all British riders. The ambition to "ensure competitiveness" through other signings, including a number of foreign riders, was expressed.
On September 10, 2009, a further ten riders were confirmed as set to ride for the team. These were Edvald Boasson Hagen, Thomas Löfkvist, Kurt Asle Arvesen, Simon Gerrans, Juan Antonio Flecha, Kjell Carlström, John-Lee Augustyn, Greg Henderson, Lars Petter Nordhaug, and Morris Possoni. Further additions to the squad, including Chris Sutton and Bradley Wiggins from Garmin-Slipstream, Michael Barry, and Ben Swift from Team Katusha were made before the beginning of the 2010 season.
Team Overview
In my opinion we have a fairly strong squad that can be competitive in almost all areas. We certainly don't have a Contador or a Cavendish. But if we can get our training right theres no doubt we can be there challenging for honors in the key races.
Season Goals
| Win - Santos Tour Down Under | | Win - Paris - Roubaix | | Top 5 - Tour de France | | Top 10 - Amstel Gold Race | | Top 10 - GP Quest France - Plouay | | Wear Sprinters Jersey - Giro D'Italia |
A fair few tough goals there, most notably winning Paris - Roubaix and a top 5 finish in the Tour de France. But there are also some equally achievable goals there as well.
There no doubt that Juan Antonio Flecha will be our leader for the Paris - Roubaix and will have the help of Boasson Hagen and others. Bradley Wiggins will be hoping to get a top 5 finish in the GC of the Tour. We may need a bit of luck but I think we can do well.
Leaders
Bradley Wiggins
Juan Antonio Flecha
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Protected Riders
Kurt Asle Arvesen
Simon Gerrans
Greg Henderson
Thomas Lofkvist
Ben Swift
Geraint Thomas
Luxury Teammate
Kjell Carlstrom
Dario Cioni
Russel Downing
Chris Froome
Serge Pauwels
Chris Sutton
Davide Vigano
Young Riders
Peter Kennaugh
Ian Stannard
Team Mates
John-Lee Augustyn
Michael Barry
Sylvain Calzati
Stephen Cummings
Matthew Hayman
Lars Peter Nordhaug
Nicolas Portal
Morris Possoni |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-11-2024 13:43
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| Chirpin |
Posted on 25-07-2010 12:00
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Under 23
Posts: 81
Joined: 15-01-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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January Calendar
Australian ITT Championships
Australian Road Championships
Santos Tour Down Under
With no real Aussie Time-Trialists on our squad our hopes for a national jersey rest on the Road Champs. Gerrans will go in as our main hope but if Sutton can make it over the hills he may have a crack at it aswell.
All three Australian will take part in the Tour Down Under. Sutton will most likely be a lead-out rider to Greg Henderson while Gerrans day will come in the queen stage where we hope to grab the tour win.
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 25-07-2010 12:01
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World Champion
Posts: 10121
Joined: 01-05-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Good luck! 
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| Chirpin |
Posted on 25-07-2010 12:20
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Under 23
Posts: 81
Joined: 15-01-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Our season starts off with a 42km Time Trial in the town of Buninyong. Evans, Rogers and Porte are the main favourites today.
Richie Porte was the first favourite to finish today and he beats Adam Hansens time by less than 1 second.
Michael Rogers was next in and he beats Portes time by 11 seconds.
But there was no stopping Cadel Evans today as he smashed Rogers time by 50 seconds
| Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Cadel Evans | BMC Racing Team | 54'55 | | 2 | Michael Rogers | Team HTC - Columbia | + 50 | | 3 | Richie Porte | Team Saxo Bank | + 1'01 | | 4 | Adam Hansen | Team HTC - Columbia | s.t. | | 5 | Cameron Meyer | Garmin - Transitions | + 1'09 | | 6 | Brett Lancaster | Cervélo Test Team | + 1'41 | | 7 | Cameron Wurf | Androni Giocattoli - Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni | + 1'45 | | 8 | Matthew Goss | Team HTC - Columbia | + 2'00 | | 9 | Jack Bobridge | Garmin - Transitions | + 2'04 | | 10 | Heinrich Haussler | Cervélo Test Team | + 2'14 |
Edited by Chirpin on 25-07-2010 12:21
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| purepasd |
Posted on 25-07-2010 12:23
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Domestique
Posts: 541
Joined: 23-01-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Looking good! Great story  |
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| BeTibes |
Posted on 25-07-2010 12:28
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Amateur
Posts: 1
Joined: 07-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Nice start Cody, I just wanna take credit for the title  |
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| Chirpin |
Posted on 25-07-2010 12:31
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Under 23
Posts: 81
Joined: 15-01-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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BeTibes wrote:
Nice start Cody, I just wanna take credit for the title
haha I have no idea what you're talking about |
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| litllemagnum |
Posted on 25-07-2010 12:31
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Domestique
Posts: 424
Joined: 14-02-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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Nice start. Keep it up |
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| Chirpin |
Posted on 25-07-2010 12:59
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Under 23
Posts: 81
Joined: 15-01-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Australian Road Championships
The hilly course is in my opinion an ideal stage for Gerrans to try and take the win. I will try and get Hayman into the break and hope they survive.
Hayman got himself into the break as expected. The gap got out to as high as 7 minutes with 80km to go but HTC Columbia began to slowly pull us back.
Simon Clarke from the peloton attacked with 45km to go.
He closed right up on the breakaway with 20km remaining but the Peloton were only 1 minute down and chasing hard.
Hayman wasn't able to keep up with the breakway and fell off the back. His day is done.
Gerrans attacked on the final climb. Evans and Porte followed but the peloton pulled them back. Simon Clarke broke away on his own to take the Championships.
The following breakway riders managed to stay ahead and fought for 2nd place while Chris Sutton just edged Gerrand for 10th place in the Peloton sprint.
| Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Simon Clarke | ISD - Neri | 4h49'32 | | 2 | Wesley Sulzberger | Française des Jeux | + 49 | | 3 | Graeme Brown | Rabobank | s.t. | | 4 | Brett Lancaster | Cervélo Test Team | s.t. | | 5 | Jack Bobridge | Garmin - Transitions | s.t. | | 6 | Benjamin King | Trek Livestrong U23 | s.t. | | 7 | Cadel Evans | BMC Racing Team | + 1'24 | | 8 | Matthew Lloyd | Omega Pharma - Lotto | s.t. | | 9 | Robbie McEwen | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 10 | Christopher Sutton | Sky Professional Cycling Team | s.t. |
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| Chirpin |
Posted on 25-07-2010 13:44
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Under 23
Posts: 81
Joined: 15-01-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Line Up:
Simon Gerrans
Greg Henderson
Russel Downing
Chris Sutton
Geraint Thomas
Matthew Hayman
Lars Peter Nordhaug
Henderson will be our main sprinter for the 5 flat stages and will have Downing and Sutton to help him out while Gerrans will hope to make his mark on the 5th stage up Willunga Hill.
Stage 1
A flat stage but there are a few hills that come late so we will have to wait and see on whether Henderson will have enough energy to contend for the sprint.
After many attacks, a breakaway of 9 formed and got their lead to a max of 4 minutes.
The sprinters teams began to work and pulled them back with just over 20km remaining. This would mean a day for the sprinters.
Henderson didnt have enough energy to get himself towards the front for the sprint so I had Downing leadout a fresher Sutton for the final sprint.
Downing did a good job and Sutton was very close to the lead but Bennati closest to screen was finishing much faster than the rest.
And Bennati takes the stage win from McEwen and Steegmans. Sutton crosses in 5th while Downing holds onto 7th.
| Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Daniele Bennati | Liquigas - Doimo | 3h25'40 | | 2 | Robbie McEwen | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 3 | Gert Steegmans | Team RadioShack | s.t. | | 4 | Manuel Cardoso | Footon - Servetto | s.t. | | 5 | Christopher Sutton | Sky Professional Cycling Team | s.t. | | 6 | Ryder Hesjedal | Garmin - Transitions | s.t. | | 7 | Russell Downing | Sky Professional Cycling Team | s.t. | | 8 | Bram Tankink | Rabobank | s.t. | | 9 | Marco Corti | Footon - Servetto | s.t. | | 10 | Mirco Lorenzetto | Lampre - Farnese Vini | s.t. |
Edited by Chirpin on 25-07-2010 13:57
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| Chirpin |
Posted on 26-07-2010 08:21
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Under 23
Posts: 81
Joined: 15-01-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Santos Tour Down Under Stage 2
Another flat stage but once again there a some hill towards the finish but I feel confident that if Henderson cant make it, we'll have Sutton or Downing to have a good chance of a top 10 finish.
A breakaway of 14 riders escaped today.
With 10km left they still had a reasonable gap as we see the peloton just crossing over the final hill of todays stage.
Only 2 riders were left with a few kms to go and it looks like we will have a break succeeding.
Saramotins from HTC-Columbia outsprints Haedo to take the stage victory.
Chris Sutton was unlucky today as he lead home the peloton for a nice 3rd place finish.
Stage results
| Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Aleksejs Saramotins | Team HTC - Columbia | 4h27'49 | | 2 | Lucas Sebastián Haedo | Team Saxo Bank | s.t. | | 3 | Christopher Sutton | Sky Professional Cycling Team | + 38 | | 4 | Ryder Hesjedal | Garmin - Transitions | s.t. | | 5 | Simone Ponzi | Lampre - Farnese Vini | s.t. | | 6 | Mirco Lorenzetto | Lampre - Farnese Vini | s.t. | | 7 | Levi Leipheimer | Team RadioShack | s.t. | | 8 | Lieuwe Westra | Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 9 | Anthony Geslin | Française des Jeux | s.t. | | 10 | Lance Armstrong | Team RadioShack | s.t. |
General Classification
| Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Aleksejs Saramotins | Team HTC - Columbia | 7h53'19 | | 2 | Lucas Sebastián Haedo | Team Saxo Bank | + 1 | | 3 | Daniele Bennati | Liquigas - Doimo | + 38 | | 4 | Marco Corti | Footon - Servetto | + 43 | | 5 | Christopher Sutton | Sky Professional Cycling Team | + 44 |
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| Chirpin |
Posted on 26-07-2010 09:19
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Under 23
Posts: 81
Joined: 15-01-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Santos Tour Down Under Stage 3
The images I took didn't seem to show up so I can only give a brief report on what happened.
Our 3rd flat stage of the tour and once again we have a late hill coming in just 18km from the finish. I have promoted Sutton to the sprinter status as he is quite clearly more fit and has been putting in good performances.
A breakaway of 7 escape today and the gaps maxes out at 7 minutes
But HTC-Columbia and the other sprinters teams wanted to make sure the breakaway didnt succeed so the finish would come down to a mass sprint.
With 7km to go there is a mass crash in the field that takes out more than 30 riders. Luckily nobody from Sky was involved. The peloton was reduced to around 80 riders as the sprint began. Sutton was placed in a fairly good position.
Sutton moves into 2nd and is ready to pass Cardoso. Steegmans and Bennati are just behind him. Can Sutton grab a stage victory?
Unfortunately, the answer is no. Sutton has the settle for 4th as Bennati just pips Cardoso and Steegmans for his 2nd stage victory.
Stage results
| Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Daniele Bennati | Liquigas - Doimo | 3h51'23 | | 2 | Manuel Cardoso | Footon - Servetto | s.t. | | 3 | Gert Steegmans | Team RadioShack | s.t. | | 4 | Christopher Sutton | Sky Professional Cycling Team | s.t. | | 5 | Ryder Hesjedal | Garmin - Transitions | s.t. | | 6 | Assan Bazayev | Astana | s.t. | | 7 | Wouter Weylandt | Quick·Step | s.t. | | 8 | Robbie McEwen | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 9 | Levi Leipheimer | Team RadioShack | s.t. | | 10 | Juan José Cobo | Caisse d'Epargne | s.t. |
General Classification
| Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Aleksejs Saramotins | Team HTC - Columbia | 11h44'42 | | 2 | Lucas Sebastián Haedo | Team Saxo Bank | + 1 | | 3 | Daniele Bennati | Liquigas - Doimo | + 28 | | 4 | Gert Steegmans | Team RadioShack | + 40 | | 5 | Manuel Cardoso | Footon - Servetto | + 42 | | 6 | Christopher Sutton | Sky Professional Cycling Team | + 44 |
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| Chirpin |
Posted on 26-07-2010 10:44
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Under 23
Posts: 81
Joined: 15-01-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Tour Down Under Stage 4
The flattest stage of the tour and I'm hoping we can get the stage win with Sutton today.
A breakaway of 5 for todays stage
But there was no way they would survive on todays stage. Our other riders finall had enough energy left at this point to be able to setup a sprint train. Geraint Thomas was at the front followed by Downing and then Sutton at the back. We were in a great position at this point.
At 2.5km from the finish, Thomas had us in a great position when the sprint started
But our train had slipped back with just over 1km to go. Downing couldnt keep us in front. Could Sutton salvage a good result from this?
Bennati is unbeatable at the moment as he takes his 3rd stage win of the tour. Sutton was able to grab another 4th place finish.
Stage Results
| Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Daniele Bennati | Liquigas - Doimo | 4h31'11 | | 2 | Robbie McEwen | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 3 | Wouter Weylandt | Quick·Step | s.t. | | 4 | Christopher Sutton | Sky Professional Cycling Team | s.t. | | 5 | Assan Bazayev | Astana | s.t. | | 6 | Mark Renshaw | Team HTC - Columbia | s.t. | | 7 | Anthony Geslin | Française des Jeux | s.t. | | 8 | Graeme Brown | Rabobank | s.t. | | 9 | Juan José Haedo | Team Saxo Bank | s.t. | | 10 | Aleksejs Saramotins | Team HTC - Columbia | s.t. |
General Classification
| Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Aleksejs Saramotins | Team HTC - Columbia | 16h15'53 | | 2 | Lucas Sebastián Haedo | Team Saxo Bank | + 1 | | 3 | Daniele Bennati | Liquigas - Doimo | + 18 | | 4 | Gert Steegmans | Team RadioShack | + 40 | | 5 | Manuel Cardoso | Footon - Servetto | + 42 | | 6 | Christopher Sutton | Sky Professional Cycling Team | + 44 |
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| Chirpin |
Posted on 26-07-2010 11:24
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Under 23
Posts: 81
Joined: 15-01-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Tour Down Under Stage 5
The queen stage of the tour. This is where I hope Gerrans will be in good form so we can go for a top 5 finish, but we really do need to win to satisy our sponsors goals. It wil be tough though with the likes of Armstrong, Leiphemier and Karpets to contend with.
A group of 8 riders including Hoste broke away today.
When we hit one of the tougher climbs about 55km from the finish, the gap was down to 4 minutes.
With 25km to go, the first attacks were made. Kroon was first to go and was the followed by Hesjedal and J.J. Cobo. 3km later they were brought back. The breakaway still had a 2 minute lead.
With 15km to go. Gerrans attacked. Kroon and Hesjedal followed him. They quickly made their way into the breakaway group but Matteo Carrara had just attack as they joined so there was still 1 rider left to catch.
With 7km remaining, Gerrans attacked once again. He was feeling very good today. But as we headed into the final climb 5km from the finish, we were all back together again. Tour leader Saramotins was still in that group which consisted of 39 riders.
Alot of gaps appeared as the sprint started on the final hill. Gerrans in the top 5 but Hesjedal was riding away from all of them.
Hesjedal crosses the line in first place while Gerrans finished 4th.
Stage Results
| Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Ryder Hesjedal | Garmin - Transitions | 6h22'08 | | 2 | Karsten Kroon | BMC Racing Team | + 10 | | 3 | Maarten Tjallingii | Rabobank | s.t. | | 4 | Simon Gerrans | Sky Professional Cycling Team | s.t. | | 5 | Vladimir Karpets | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 6 | Johnny Hoogerland | Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team | + 30 | | 7 | Leonardo Bertagnolli | Androni Giocattoli - Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni | s.t. | | 8 | Daniele Bennati | Liquigas - Doimo | + 42 | | 9 | Matteo Tosatto | Quick·Step | s.t. | | 10 | Levi Leipheimer | Team RadioShack | s.t. |
General Classification
| Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Ryder Hesjedal | Garmin - Transitions | 22h38'39 | | 2 | Karsten Kroon | BMC Racing Team | + 14 | | 3 | Maarten Tjallingii | Rabobank | + 16 | | 4 | Vladimir Karpets | Team Katusha | + 20 | | 5 | Simon Gerrans | Sky Professional Cycling Team | s.t. | | 6 | Daniele Bennati | Liquigas - Doimo | + 22 | | 7 | Aleksejs Saramotins | Team HTC - Columbia | + 29 | | 8 | Leonardo Bertagnolli | Androni Giocattoli - Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni | + 40 | | 9 | Johnny Hoogerland | Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 10 | Levi Leipheimer | Team RadioShack | + 52 |
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 26-07-2010 11:36
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World Champion
Posts: 10121
Joined: 01-05-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Not bad!
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| Batista15 |
Posted on 26-07-2010 11:54
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2704
Joined: 29-04-2007
PCM$: 900.00
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Really nice story so far! |
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| Blue_Milk |
Posted on 26-07-2010 13:02
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Under 23
Posts: 70
Joined: 23-05-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Great story so far, a good effort with Gerrans.
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| Geezar10 |
Posted on 26-07-2010 13:07
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Domestique
Posts: 689
Joined: 14-08-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Great story so far, unlucky not to have won with Sutton though. |
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| Finn84 |
Posted on 26-07-2010 16:42
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Junior Rider
Posts: 46
Joined: 17-08-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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Because of Finnish rider in the team have to look this closer. |
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| Chirpin |
Posted on 27-07-2010 07:24
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Under 23
Posts: 81
Joined: 15-01-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Tour Down Under Stage 6
A flat stage where we will expect a sprint finish. It would be great if we could leave the tour with a stage victory. We have to be very wary of Bennati though, if he finishes in the top 3 of todays finish he will move past Gerrans in the overall standings to 5th place.
A breakaway of 4 riders for today.
However, they would never survive and we will once again go to a sprint finish. With just under 4km to go, we had a reasonably good position. But sadly for us, Bennati has Suttons wheel.
With 1km to go, Hesjedal was amazingly challenging for the sprint win. Sutton was moving up fast with Bennati following him still.
But once again, it was that man Bennati who popped up to grab his 4th victory and 3rd place in the tour. A great result for him and the team. Sutton was able to finish in 2nd place. There was just simply nothing we could do.
Stage Results
| Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Daniele Bennati | Liquigas - Doimo | 3h57'17 | | 2 | Christopher Sutton | Sky Professional Cycling Team | s.t. | | 3 | Karsten Kroon | BMC Racing Team | s.t. | | 4 | Ryder Hesjedal | Garmin - Transitions | s.t. | | 5 | Gert Steegmans | Team RadioShack | s.t. | | 6 | Assan Bazayev | Astana | s.t. | | 7 | Mirco Lorenzetto | Lampre - Farnese Vini | s.t. | | 8 | Manuel Cardoso | Footon - Servetto | s.t. | | 9 | Robbie McEwen | Team Katusha | s.t. | | 10 | Maarten Tjallingii | Rabobank | s.t. |
General Classification
| Rank | Name | Team | Time | | 1 | Ryder Hesjedal | Garmin - Transitions | 26h35'56 | | 2 | Karsten Kroon | BMC Racing Team | + 10 | | 3 | Daniele Bennati | Liquigas - Doimo | + 12 | | 4 | Maarten Tjallingii | Rabobank | + 16 | | 5 | Vladimir Karpets | Team Katusha | + 20 | | 6 | Simon Gerrans | Sky Professional Cycling Team | s.t. | | 7 | Aleksejs Saramotins | Team HTC - Columbia | + 29 | | 8 | Leonardo Bertagnolli | Androni Giocattoli - Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni | + 40 | | 9 | Johnny Hoogerland | Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 10 | Levi Leipheimer | Team RadioShack | + 52 |
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