It’s always been a part of professional cycling, but it’s a phenomenon that’s come under fire lately – the question of who chases versus who wins.
It’s very much a question of the sprinters. Traditionally, when a team has a sprinter that they believe can win the stage, the onus is on their team to chase down the breakaway as they’re the team who’ll benefit. When a team does it well, the rewards are obvious – a stage win for the sprinter and a morale boost for the whole team.
But what about when they don’t win the stage? It was an ever-present concern for Australian outfit Orica-GreenEDGE during the Tour de France. The team often spent more than 100 kilometres leading the peloton in an attempt to reel in the day’s breakaway to set up a stage win for sprinter Matt Goss. Belgian outfit Lotto Belisol would jump on the front with 10 kilometres to go, still fresh after the day’s stage, and lead German sprinter André Greipel out for the win. It happened more than once. So is that good strategy and clever riding from the Belgian team, or are the others teams taking advantage of Orica-GreenEDGE?
Peter Sagan is another recent example of the issue. The Slovakian doesn’t have a leadout train – at least, nothing on the scale of Orica-GreenEDGE, Lotto Belisol or at times even Team Sky – yet the 22-year-old still claimed three stages of the Tour de France ahead of Greipel and Goss, as well as almost every stage of the Tour of California. Sagan usually tacks onto the end of the nearest sprinter being towed to the line and jumps out when everyone is least expecting it, using the work of Goss, Greipel or Cavendish’s teams. Again, is this a remarkably canny move on the part of the youngster, or are Sky, Lotto and GreenEDGE being deprived of their just rewards?
Cavendish certainly seems to think so. The ‘world’s fastest man’, a title verified by his stripey rainbow jersey of the reigning World Champion, recently hit out at Australia over the lack of effort they put into the chase during the Olympic road race – despite the fact that Australia had a rider in the breakaway, six-time Olympian Stuart O’Grady. Cavendish was highly critical of the other teams for failing to help pull back the breakaway, conveniently forgetting that, like Australia, almost every other country capable of helping had a rider ahead of the peloton with a chance at the gold medal. There was another reason Great Britain was on their own – everyone knew that if it came down to a sprint finish, there was no-one who could beat the Manx Missile, Mark Cavendish. If Great Britain wanted the win, Great Britain had to do all the work – and even then, they knew everyone else would be racing them to the finish. It really was them versus the world.
So are the times changing? Is it now professionally acceptable to let another team or rider do all the work so you can take the win? Has the sport of cycling abandoned the ‘no guts, no glory’ ideal that brought about some of the greatest cycling victories we’ve seen in favour of a ‘end justifies the means’ approach to racing? What remains to be seen is this: who will do the work if they know there’s nothing to gain?
Showing posts with label Andre Greipel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Andre Greipel. Show all posts
Tuesday, 31 July 2012
Monday, 16 July 2012
Stage 15: Samatan - Pau
It’s taken two weeks, but today was the first unremarkable stage of this year’s Tour de France. Though unremarkable is never as fun and exciting as remarkable, a stage in which there are no crashes, no sabotage, no drama and which is characterised only by a couple of abandons and an unexpected finish is definitely a good stage. Stage 15 from Samatan to Pau was – finally – that stage.
Once again the attacks began as soon as the race left the neutral zone, groups struggling to stay off the front of the peloton. One or two breakaways seemed to be strong enough to last the distance, but they were inevitably pulled in by Team Sky sooner or later – usually sooner. When yet another break formed at the 60 kilometre mark Sky seemed happy with the composition, Edvald Boasson Hagen and Bernhard Eisel in turn each signalling for the peloton to stop chasing, but the team’s newfound authority of yesterday was shortlived. The enthusiasm of the peloton had no effect, however, the five holding strong and building up a lead ahead of the bunch.
With a 1’30” lead the peloton finally tired of being on the defensive and slowed down, leaving Nicki Sorenson (Saxobank-Tinkoff Bank) floating between to eventually chase down and join the leading group of five. As they passed through the feedzone in Marciac, 60 kilometres from the stage finish, the sextet had a lead of almost six minutes over the peloton, still being led by Team Sky. The next excitement for the day was the breakaway passing the intermediate sprint, but the six chose not to contest the sprint, none of them being in the running for the green jersey, and even the peloton failed to create a stir, Sagan slipping quietly forward to take the next highest points as the peloton rolled through.
The abandons became coming through a little more thickly after that, Giovanni Bernardeau (Europcar) and Kenny van Hummel (Vacansoleil-DCM) on the list with Brett Lancaster (Orica-GreenEDGE) and Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) as victims of Stage 15 of the Tour. The breakaway already up and over the first categorised climb of the day, a small Cat 4, the peloton slowed as they passed an oil patch on the descent, trying to avoid a repeat of yesterday’s carnage. The six out front continued extending their lead as the peloton took a rest day on the road, calm and unconcerned about the leaders 8’20” ahead of them on the road.
Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) continued to lead the breakaway over the next two climbs of the day, garnering another five points towards his polka-dot jersey total in all. As their lead reached 10’30” with just 25 kilometres to go, it became obvious that the break would stay away til the finish in Pau, and German André Greipel (Lotto Belisol) would have to forgo the chance at taking a stage win on his 30th birthday. Though the peloton was still rolling along, as cool as a cucumber, the breakaway were preparing for the inevitable attacks to split the group for a chance at the stage.
They began just outside of 10 kilometres to go, Sorenson leaping off the front to be quickly chased down by the other five riders. The next attack was more serious. Pierrick Fedrigo went off the front with seven kilometres left in the stage, quickly followed by Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Sharp). The two began working together to maintain their lead over the chasing riders, not wanting to bring the Cofidis sprinter, Samuel Dumoulin, to the line with them. Voeckler, obviously feeling the same way, launched a solo pursuit of the duo, hovering somewhere in between the groups on his own.
But the duo up ahead had made too much of a gap, and the stage win was down to the Frenchman and the American. Fedrigo continued glancing back at Vande Velde as Fedrigo led the way into the final straight, waiting for the move. Perceiving a twitch, Fedrigo went for the sprint, Vande Velde not even moving out of the Frenchman’s wheel as they crossed the line, Fedrigo taking his second Tour de France stage victory in the town of Pau. The peloton arrived en masse nearly 12 minutes later, Greipel leading the sprint to take seventh on the stage, while the overall classification and jerseys remain unchanged.
Tomorrow is a rest day, but Stage 16 reaches the high Pyrénées mountains. This is where the big names – think Cadel Evans, Vincenzo Nibali –will have to make their move if they want to have any chance of unseating Bradley Wiggins. Wiggins and Sky will be defending the yellow vigourously, though, so this could be the battle royale we’ve all been waiting for.
Once again the attacks began as soon as the race left the neutral zone, groups struggling to stay off the front of the peloton. One or two breakaways seemed to be strong enough to last the distance, but they were inevitably pulled in by Team Sky sooner or later – usually sooner. When yet another break formed at the 60 kilometre mark Sky seemed happy with the composition, Edvald Boasson Hagen and Bernhard Eisel in turn each signalling for the peloton to stop chasing, but the team’s newfound authority of yesterday was shortlived. The enthusiasm of the peloton had no effect, however, the five holding strong and building up a lead ahead of the bunch.
With a 1’30” lead the peloton finally tired of being on the defensive and slowed down, leaving Nicki Sorenson (Saxobank-Tinkoff Bank) floating between to eventually chase down and join the leading group of five. As they passed through the feedzone in Marciac, 60 kilometres from the stage finish, the sextet had a lead of almost six minutes over the peloton, still being led by Team Sky. The next excitement for the day was the breakaway passing the intermediate sprint, but the six chose not to contest the sprint, none of them being in the running for the green jersey, and even the peloton failed to create a stir, Sagan slipping quietly forward to take the next highest points as the peloton rolled through.
The abandons became coming through a little more thickly after that, Giovanni Bernardeau (Europcar) and Kenny van Hummel (Vacansoleil-DCM) on the list with Brett Lancaster (Orica-GreenEDGE) and Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) as victims of Stage 15 of the Tour. The breakaway already up and over the first categorised climb of the day, a small Cat 4, the peloton slowed as they passed an oil patch on the descent, trying to avoid a repeat of yesterday’s carnage. The six out front continued extending their lead as the peloton took a rest day on the road, calm and unconcerned about the leaders 8’20” ahead of them on the road.
Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) continued to lead the breakaway over the next two climbs of the day, garnering another five points towards his polka-dot jersey total in all. As their lead reached 10’30” with just 25 kilometres to go, it became obvious that the break would stay away til the finish in Pau, and German André Greipel (Lotto Belisol) would have to forgo the chance at taking a stage win on his 30th birthday. Though the peloton was still rolling along, as cool as a cucumber, the breakaway were preparing for the inevitable attacks to split the group for a chance at the stage.
They began just outside of 10 kilometres to go, Sorenson leaping off the front to be quickly chased down by the other five riders. The next attack was more serious. Pierrick Fedrigo went off the front with seven kilometres left in the stage, quickly followed by Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Sharp). The two began working together to maintain their lead over the chasing riders, not wanting to bring the Cofidis sprinter, Samuel Dumoulin, to the line with them. Voeckler, obviously feeling the same way, launched a solo pursuit of the duo, hovering somewhere in between the groups on his own.
But the duo up ahead had made too much of a gap, and the stage win was down to the Frenchman and the American. Fedrigo continued glancing back at Vande Velde as Fedrigo led the way into the final straight, waiting for the move. Perceiving a twitch, Fedrigo went for the sprint, Vande Velde not even moving out of the Frenchman’s wheel as they crossed the line, Fedrigo taking his second Tour de France stage victory in the town of Pau. The peloton arrived en masse nearly 12 minutes later, Greipel leading the sprint to take seventh on the stage, while the overall classification and jerseys remain unchanged.
Tomorrow is a rest day, but Stage 16 reaches the high Pyrénées mountains. This is where the big names – think Cadel Evans, Vincenzo Nibali –will have to make their move if they want to have any chance of unseating Bradley Wiggins. Wiggins and Sky will be defending the yellow vigourously, though, so this could be the battle royale we’ve all been waiting for.
Saturday, 14 July 2012
Stage 13: Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux - Le Cap d'Agde
It was almost not the stage we were expecting. Stage 13 from Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux to Le Cap d’Agde was meant to be a transitional stage, nothing more than an interlude as the Tour went from the Alps to the Pyrenees. But the flat-finish sprinters stage was nearly highjacked in a series of events which ensured that a ‘boring’ stage was anything but.
As always the stage began with a breakaway, Marcus Burghardt (BMC) initiating the attack which turned into a five-man leading group, of which Burghardt was somehow not a member. Instead the job of leading the race went to Pablo Urtasun Perez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis), Matthieu Ladagnous (FDJ-Bigmat), Michael Morkov (Saxobank-Tinkoff Bank) and Roy Curvers (Argos-Shimano), who were doing so admirably with a lead of 27” over the chase group and 2’00” over the peloton at the five kilometre mark. The lead wasn’t enough to hold off Jimmy Engoulvent (Saur-Sojasun) and Maxime Bouet (AG2R La Mondiale), who caught the quintet two kilometres further on.
It didn’t hold off Jerome Pineau (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) either, and the lead of the now eight-strong breakaway was at four minutes with the arrival of the fifth Frenchman. The gap kept expanding, though, none of the leaders high enough on GC to threaten the peloton, and after just 35 kilometres of racing the break was over nine minutes ahead of the Orica-GreenEDGE-led peloton, which decided to bring them in just a little bit closer. Just over 35 kilometres later, the gap had halved to 4’40”, enough for the peloton to ease up just a little.
It still wasn’t easing enough for Tony Gallopin (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek), who became the Tour’s 35th withdrawal, an illness proving too much for him to continue. He wasn’t the only one having a bad day. Peter Velits (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) crashed into the barrier just outside the sprint point, but was thankfully able to pick himself up and keep going with the help of a teammate. Ahead of Velits the peloton were sprinting for the minor placings at the intermediate, Sagan edging out Greipel and Goss to take the seven points still on offer.
Out in front the breakaway were still pedalling away at over 40km/h, the gap to the peloton having been pulled back to less than three minutes. As the number became less than two, Pineau attacked in an attempt to keep the breakaway alive. He was quickly pulled back in and then superseded as Morkov went on the attack, managing to keep a few seconds between himself and the chasing breakaway. Being the fifth anniversary of his father’s death to cancer, Morkov wanted to honour his memory, and with that wish in mind the Dane was gunning for the stage win.
With 60 kilometres to go, Morkov was looking at a very long and lonely time trial in the lead to maintain his advantage and take the victory. But the attempt was going relatively well, the breakaway slowly slipping back second by second and handing Morkov a bigger and bigger lead. Almost 20 kilometres into his solo ride, the former track rider had built a gap of almost a minute, with the peloton a further two minutes back. The gap continued increasing as Morkov was officially voted the most aggressive rider of the stage, already fulfilling his wish for the day’s racing.
BMC stepped up to the front of the peloton as the race hit almost 50km/h. The American team of Cadel Evans was trying to split the race with the help of the crosswinds that were buffeting the riders. The effort succeeded, those riders not dropped by the effort being divided into two smaller pelotons, though unfortunately for BMC, all the riders at whom the attack was aimed made it into the first of the two pelotons. The increase in tempo was also doing damage to Morkov’s lead, the Dane sitting just 1’48”as he entered the 40th kilometre of his solo ride.
The race hit the ascent of Mont Saint-Clair with Morkov still in the lead and a number of riders behind him, either being dropped from the original breakaway or attacking to make up the gap. The peloton was bearing down, caring less about catching Morkov and more about marking each other as Bradley Wiggins (Sky) tried to stick close to Evans, who was leading them hell-for-leather up the climb and not quite dropping the yellow jersey in the process. Jurgen van den Broeck (Lotto Belisol) and Evans led the group of around 25 riders over the top of Mont Saint-Clair, just 23 kilometres from the finishing line.
The peloton had caught Michael Morkov and was around 15 kilometres from the finish when the attack came. Astana’s Alexandre Vinokourov, chased by Orica-GreenEDGE’s Michael Albasini, jumped off the front of the bunch and began working together to build a small lead of no more than 30 seconds off the front of the bunch. Lotto Belisol were making them work for their gains, the sprinter’s train of Andre Greipel keeping the duo in close contact as they reached the 4 kilometre mark. Hauled in at 2.7 kilometres to go, Luis Léon Sánchez (Rabobank) and Mathieu Sprick (Argos-Shimano) made their own sprint for the line, but they couldn’t withstand the power of leader Bradley Wiggins as he barrelled through the flamme rouge with teammate Edvald Boasson Hagen on his tail.
Wiggins’ effort was in vain, though, as Boasson Hagen was quickly overtaken by Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Andre Greipel battling for the line. Greipel was too fast for the young Slovakian, taking a third stage win for the Tour to make him equal with the three of Sagan. Stage 14 is the beginning of the Pyrenees, with a couple of Category 1 climbs towards the end and a Cat 2 near the start. In short, watch the GC riders – Evans, Vincenzo Nibali, Jurgen van den Broeck. Stages like tomorrow are critical for these riders to take back a few precious seconds if they want to have a chance at a podium finish.
As always the stage began with a breakaway, Marcus Burghardt (BMC) initiating the attack which turned into a five-man leading group, of which Burghardt was somehow not a member. Instead the job of leading the race went to Pablo Urtasun Perez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis), Matthieu Ladagnous (FDJ-Bigmat), Michael Morkov (Saxobank-Tinkoff Bank) and Roy Curvers (Argos-Shimano), who were doing so admirably with a lead of 27” over the chase group and 2’00” over the peloton at the five kilometre mark. The lead wasn’t enough to hold off Jimmy Engoulvent (Saur-Sojasun) and Maxime Bouet (AG2R La Mondiale), who caught the quintet two kilometres further on.
It didn’t hold off Jerome Pineau (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) either, and the lead of the now eight-strong breakaway was at four minutes with the arrival of the fifth Frenchman. The gap kept expanding, though, none of the leaders high enough on GC to threaten the peloton, and after just 35 kilometres of racing the break was over nine minutes ahead of the Orica-GreenEDGE-led peloton, which decided to bring them in just a little bit closer. Just over 35 kilometres later, the gap had halved to 4’40”, enough for the peloton to ease up just a little.
It still wasn’t easing enough for Tony Gallopin (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek), who became the Tour’s 35th withdrawal, an illness proving too much for him to continue. He wasn’t the only one having a bad day. Peter Velits (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) crashed into the barrier just outside the sprint point, but was thankfully able to pick himself up and keep going with the help of a teammate. Ahead of Velits the peloton were sprinting for the minor placings at the intermediate, Sagan edging out Greipel and Goss to take the seven points still on offer.
Out in front the breakaway were still pedalling away at over 40km/h, the gap to the peloton having been pulled back to less than three minutes. As the number became less than two, Pineau attacked in an attempt to keep the breakaway alive. He was quickly pulled back in and then superseded as Morkov went on the attack, managing to keep a few seconds between himself and the chasing breakaway. Being the fifth anniversary of his father’s death to cancer, Morkov wanted to honour his memory, and with that wish in mind the Dane was gunning for the stage win.
With 60 kilometres to go, Morkov was looking at a very long and lonely time trial in the lead to maintain his advantage and take the victory. But the attempt was going relatively well, the breakaway slowly slipping back second by second and handing Morkov a bigger and bigger lead. Almost 20 kilometres into his solo ride, the former track rider had built a gap of almost a minute, with the peloton a further two minutes back. The gap continued increasing as Morkov was officially voted the most aggressive rider of the stage, already fulfilling his wish for the day’s racing.
BMC stepped up to the front of the peloton as the race hit almost 50km/h. The American team of Cadel Evans was trying to split the race with the help of the crosswinds that were buffeting the riders. The effort succeeded, those riders not dropped by the effort being divided into two smaller pelotons, though unfortunately for BMC, all the riders at whom the attack was aimed made it into the first of the two pelotons. The increase in tempo was also doing damage to Morkov’s lead, the Dane sitting just 1’48”as he entered the 40th kilometre of his solo ride.
The race hit the ascent of Mont Saint-Clair with Morkov still in the lead and a number of riders behind him, either being dropped from the original breakaway or attacking to make up the gap. The peloton was bearing down, caring less about catching Morkov and more about marking each other as Bradley Wiggins (Sky) tried to stick close to Evans, who was leading them hell-for-leather up the climb and not quite dropping the yellow jersey in the process. Jurgen van den Broeck (Lotto Belisol) and Evans led the group of around 25 riders over the top of Mont Saint-Clair, just 23 kilometres from the finishing line.
The peloton had caught Michael Morkov and was around 15 kilometres from the finish when the attack came. Astana’s Alexandre Vinokourov, chased by Orica-GreenEDGE’s Michael Albasini, jumped off the front of the bunch and began working together to build a small lead of no more than 30 seconds off the front of the bunch. Lotto Belisol were making them work for their gains, the sprinter’s train of Andre Greipel keeping the duo in close contact as they reached the 4 kilometre mark. Hauled in at 2.7 kilometres to go, Luis Léon Sánchez (Rabobank) and Mathieu Sprick (Argos-Shimano) made their own sprint for the line, but they couldn’t withstand the power of leader Bradley Wiggins as he barrelled through the flamme rouge with teammate Edvald Boasson Hagen on his tail.
Wiggins’ effort was in vain, though, as Boasson Hagen was quickly overtaken by Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Andre Greipel battling for the line. Greipel was too fast for the young Slovakian, taking a third stage win for the Tour to make him equal with the three of Sagan. Stage 14 is the beginning of the Pyrenees, with a couple of Category 1 climbs towards the end and a Cat 2 near the start. In short, watch the GC riders – Evans, Vincenzo Nibali, Jurgen van den Broeck. Stages like tomorrow are critical for these riders to take back a few precious seconds if they want to have a chance at a podium finish.
Saturday, 7 July 2012
Stage 6: Épernay – Metz
The Tour de France
ended today. For a lot of riders, it did, in one way or another.
Stage 6 from Épernay to Metz takes the Drama Award for the Tour de
France so far – and maybe the Decisive Stage Award as well, mixing up
the race in a way that really wasn’t expected and could be telling in
the days to come.
The day started before it started, so to speak. A crash in the neutral zone took out Lotto Belisol’s Jurgen van den Broeck and Sky’s Richie Porte. With no serious injuries, everyone was soon back on their bikes and heading towards the official start of the stage. Today’s ‘eager beaver’, hovering off the front of the peloton, was the American David Zabriskie, famously the first man to ride the Tour de France on a vegan diet. He was soon joined David Malacarne (Europcar), Romain Zingle (Cofidis) and Karsten Kroon (Saxobank-Tinkoff Bank), the quartet making slow but steady progress into the distance.
The peloton was not destined to have a good day. Though the time of the breakaway only seemed to concern the leading Radioshack-Nissan-Trek team, the four-minute lead of the escapees putting Malacarne in virtual yellow, what concerned the other riders far more was the crash at 35 kilometres from the start. André Greipel headlined a short list of names that hit the tarmac at the very beginning of the stage, none too damaged to continue riding, though the race doctor was forced to ply his trade on a few bleeding knees and elbows. The crash took the pressure off the chase for a while, allowing the breakaway to stretch their gap to a peak of 6’50”.
The weather seemed content to play along as the peloton rode along at a leisurely 42km/h, no sun, but only a few spots of rain to disturb the day’s ride. Lotto Belisol and Orica-GreenEDGE were leading the chase, promising another exciting showdown between Lotto Belisol’s sprinter Greipel and the Australian, Matthew Goss. The average pace of the peloton slowly increased as they passed through the feed zone, the approach of the intermediate sprint clearly enforcing that they wanted to catch the breakaway before the final kilometre this time.
For once the intermediate sprint brought some surprises. The teams set up as usual, Sky providing a small train for Mark Cavendish. As the final Sky leadout man swung off, Matt Goss launched himself into the sprint from behind Cavendish. The green colours of Liquigas-Cannondale’s Peter Sagan were visible behind the pair, but the real battle was just between Goss and Cavendish, Goss holding half a wheel’s advantage on Cavendish as they crossed the line.
Today’s King of the Mountain point passed without incident, ‘Captain America’ of the time trial, Dave Zabriskie, taking the single point on offer as they rode under the trees. It wasn’t so uneventful for the peloton, who seemed to have learnt nothing from the crashes of the past few days. Another crash sent André Greipel to the ground for the second time today, along with Garmin-Sharp sprinter Tyler Farrar. As a result of his injuries, Lotto Belisol team manager Herman Frison said Greipel wouldn’t sprint for the stage race, as the German was still trying to rejoin the peloton. Things were definitely looking up for Matt Goss, itching for the stage win.
The focus was on a few riders beginning to drop off the back of the peloton, notably Katusha fastman Oscar Freire, when the big drama of the day occurred. Yet another crash rocked the peloton, but this one looked to be a lot more decisive than the previous ones. Only 50 or so riders escaped the carnage just 26 kilometres from the end of the stage, and if you weren’t part of Orica-GreenEDGE, BMC Racing Team, Euskaltel-Euskadi or Team Sky then chances were you weren’t one of the lucky ones. A number of the big names faltered, including Frank Schleck (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek), Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp), Robert Gesink (Rabobank), Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Mark Cavendish, and ended up losing between two and eight minutes to the front peloton. Some riders were destined never to see the front peloton again, riders like Tom Danielson of Garmin-Sharp, Davide Viganò of Lampre-ISD and Mikel Astarloza of Euskaltel-Euskadi pulling out of the race for good.
Meanwhile the front group were oblivious to the drama they’d avoided, all concentration on catching the renegades ahead of them in time for the sprint finish. Simon Gerrans, pulling for GreenEDGE on the front, was having a hard time recouping those last 15 seconds as the breakaway and its chasers raced under the banner of 10 kilometres to go. As soon as Lotto Belisol stepped up to help the pacemaking, however, the numbers began ticking down and heartrates began ticking up. Was Lotto Belisol lining up for Greipel’s leadout man Greg Henderson to take a shot at the victory, or was the effort for Greipel himself?
Lampre-ISD also jumped on the front and lent a hand with the pulling, hauling in two of the three riders, Zingle having dropped off long ago after a flat tyre. Zabriskie, on the other hand, apparently wanted to be the hero of the day, and with two kilometres to go he was attempting a solo time trial 150 metres ahead of the bunch. A racing peloton, however, is as inevitable as karma, and Zabriskie was caught with a kilometre left for the sprinters. Lotto Belisol were powering down the straight as usual, Peter Sagan’s green jersey on Greipel’s wheel and Goss on the end of his own train. For a moment or two it looked like it was between Goss and Greipel, but just as Goss fell behind Greipel’s wheel, a green bullet shot up the side and across the line before anybody could say ‘Sagan’, leaving Greipel with another second and Goss with another third.
The rest of the riders filtered through over the next hour, in varying spirits and states of shabbiness with assorted amounts of skin still attached to elbows and backsides. The jersey wearers remain the same, with Zabriskie claiming the red number for Fighting Spirit, but the GC has certainly received a shake-up today, one which will likely decide the Tour de France. As for tomorrow, we’ve left the sprinters’ stages behind, but with Stage 7 finishing on the never-before-seen climb to La Planche des Belles Filles, we’ve entered the stages of medium mountains, where breakaways have the chance to succeed. Orica-GreenEDGE are becoming desperate for a stage win, so keep an eye out for Simon Gerrans or Michael Albasini, who’ll be looking to join any moves that form, as well as climbers like Alejandro Valverde, who lost a lot of time today that he’ll be looking to get back.
The day started before it started, so to speak. A crash in the neutral zone took out Lotto Belisol’s Jurgen van den Broeck and Sky’s Richie Porte. With no serious injuries, everyone was soon back on their bikes and heading towards the official start of the stage. Today’s ‘eager beaver’, hovering off the front of the peloton, was the American David Zabriskie, famously the first man to ride the Tour de France on a vegan diet. He was soon joined David Malacarne (Europcar), Romain Zingle (Cofidis) and Karsten Kroon (Saxobank-Tinkoff Bank), the quartet making slow but steady progress into the distance.
The peloton was not destined to have a good day. Though the time of the breakaway only seemed to concern the leading Radioshack-Nissan-Trek team, the four-minute lead of the escapees putting Malacarne in virtual yellow, what concerned the other riders far more was the crash at 35 kilometres from the start. André Greipel headlined a short list of names that hit the tarmac at the very beginning of the stage, none too damaged to continue riding, though the race doctor was forced to ply his trade on a few bleeding knees and elbows. The crash took the pressure off the chase for a while, allowing the breakaway to stretch their gap to a peak of 6’50”.
The weather seemed content to play along as the peloton rode along at a leisurely 42km/h, no sun, but only a few spots of rain to disturb the day’s ride. Lotto Belisol and Orica-GreenEDGE were leading the chase, promising another exciting showdown between Lotto Belisol’s sprinter Greipel and the Australian, Matthew Goss. The average pace of the peloton slowly increased as they passed through the feed zone, the approach of the intermediate sprint clearly enforcing that they wanted to catch the breakaway before the final kilometre this time.
For once the intermediate sprint brought some surprises. The teams set up as usual, Sky providing a small train for Mark Cavendish. As the final Sky leadout man swung off, Matt Goss launched himself into the sprint from behind Cavendish. The green colours of Liquigas-Cannondale’s Peter Sagan were visible behind the pair, but the real battle was just between Goss and Cavendish, Goss holding half a wheel’s advantage on Cavendish as they crossed the line.
Today’s King of the Mountain point passed without incident, ‘Captain America’ of the time trial, Dave Zabriskie, taking the single point on offer as they rode under the trees. It wasn’t so uneventful for the peloton, who seemed to have learnt nothing from the crashes of the past few days. Another crash sent André Greipel to the ground for the second time today, along with Garmin-Sharp sprinter Tyler Farrar. As a result of his injuries, Lotto Belisol team manager Herman Frison said Greipel wouldn’t sprint for the stage race, as the German was still trying to rejoin the peloton. Things were definitely looking up for Matt Goss, itching for the stage win.
The focus was on a few riders beginning to drop off the back of the peloton, notably Katusha fastman Oscar Freire, when the big drama of the day occurred. Yet another crash rocked the peloton, but this one looked to be a lot more decisive than the previous ones. Only 50 or so riders escaped the carnage just 26 kilometres from the end of the stage, and if you weren’t part of Orica-GreenEDGE, BMC Racing Team, Euskaltel-Euskadi or Team Sky then chances were you weren’t one of the lucky ones. A number of the big names faltered, including Frank Schleck (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek), Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp), Robert Gesink (Rabobank), Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Mark Cavendish, and ended up losing between two and eight minutes to the front peloton. Some riders were destined never to see the front peloton again, riders like Tom Danielson of Garmin-Sharp, Davide Viganò of Lampre-ISD and Mikel Astarloza of Euskaltel-Euskadi pulling out of the race for good.
Meanwhile the front group were oblivious to the drama they’d avoided, all concentration on catching the renegades ahead of them in time for the sprint finish. Simon Gerrans, pulling for GreenEDGE on the front, was having a hard time recouping those last 15 seconds as the breakaway and its chasers raced under the banner of 10 kilometres to go. As soon as Lotto Belisol stepped up to help the pacemaking, however, the numbers began ticking down and heartrates began ticking up. Was Lotto Belisol lining up for Greipel’s leadout man Greg Henderson to take a shot at the victory, or was the effort for Greipel himself?
Lampre-ISD also jumped on the front and lent a hand with the pulling, hauling in two of the three riders, Zingle having dropped off long ago after a flat tyre. Zabriskie, on the other hand, apparently wanted to be the hero of the day, and with two kilometres to go he was attempting a solo time trial 150 metres ahead of the bunch. A racing peloton, however, is as inevitable as karma, and Zabriskie was caught with a kilometre left for the sprinters. Lotto Belisol were powering down the straight as usual, Peter Sagan’s green jersey on Greipel’s wheel and Goss on the end of his own train. For a moment or two it looked like it was between Goss and Greipel, but just as Goss fell behind Greipel’s wheel, a green bullet shot up the side and across the line before anybody could say ‘Sagan’, leaving Greipel with another second and Goss with another third.
The rest of the riders filtered through over the next hour, in varying spirits and states of shabbiness with assorted amounts of skin still attached to elbows and backsides. The jersey wearers remain the same, with Zabriskie claiming the red number for Fighting Spirit, but the GC has certainly received a shake-up today, one which will likely decide the Tour de France. As for tomorrow, we’ve left the sprinters’ stages behind, but with Stage 7 finishing on the never-before-seen climb to La Planche des Belles Filles, we’ve entered the stages of medium mountains, where breakaways have the chance to succeed. Orica-GreenEDGE are becoming desperate for a stage win, so keep an eye out for Simon Gerrans or Michael Albasini, who’ll be looking to join any moves that form, as well as climbers like Alejandro Valverde, who lost a lot of time today that he’ll be looking to get back.
Friday, 6 July 2012
Stage 5: Rouen – Saint-Quentin
The flat stages in the Tour de France are usually the least
action-packed of the Tour, but that’s not to say that they’re boring.
Far from it, in fact – Stage 4 kept us guessing right up until the last
minute and had us jumping out of our seats at the very end. The classic
French scenery, some very clever tactics and some truly world-class
riding showed us why we stay up until all hours of the morning for this
magnificent race.
Today’s stage left the town of Rouen, rolling across the Somme valley of central northern France to Saint-Quentin, a region of great significance to many Australians because of its World War I connections. Frenchman Mathieu Ladagnous (FDJ-Bigmat) had other things on his mind today than history, setting up the day’s successful break soon after the départ réel with Jan Ghyselinck (Cofidis), Julien Simon (Saur-Sojasun) and Pablo Urtasun Perez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) for company.
The quartet of the day disappeared into the distance, building up a nice little lead of nearly six minutes after 30 kilometres, the peloton having a leisurely ride at 39km/h. For the third day in a row there was a birthday in the bunch – BMC’s Philippe Gilbert turned 30 as he rode along with teammates in the peloton.
But not everyone was having such a happy day. Marcel Kittel, the Argos-Shimano sprinter who was expected to be the revelation of this year’s Tour, finally pulled out of the race after a nasty bout of gastroenteritis left the German too physically drained to continue. Despite Kittel’s indisposition, Argos-Shimano has remained competitive in the sprints, Kittel’s chief leadout man Tom Veelers managing to claim a few top-10 finishes in his friend’s absence.
The peloton – and the breakaway, cruising three minutes ahead – continued to roll through the greenified Somme, passing any number of beautiful historical buildings dating far beyond the First World War. The peloton left the escapees alone for a while, focusing on the sprint point, which the unconcerned breakaway rolled right through. Sadly, though, the intermediate sprint point was becoming fairly predictable, and despite the various sprint trains establishing themselves, FDJ-Bigmat weighing in this time for Yauheni Hutarovich, it was once again Mark Cavendish (Sky) who took a very narrow victory over Orica-GreenEDGE’s Matt Goss.
Intermediate sprint over, the peloton could focus on bringing in the breakaway, former teammates Stuart O’Grady (Orica-GreenEDGE) and Jens Voigt (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek) conferring at the front of the peloton on how to bring the escapees home. With the help of Lotto Belisol the pair continued to chip slowly away at the quartet’s lead, down to 2’15” at 50 kilometres from Saint-Quentin. It seemed likely that the peloton would be caught well within the next 40 kilometres, allowing plenty of time for the usual posturing between teams preparing for the sprint.
But it wasn’t the case. As Stéphane Augé, sports director of Ghyselinck’s Cofidis squad, had said, around 25 kilometres from the end of the stage the four breakaway riders suddenly turned up the gas and kept on moving. As they raced through a series of small French towns, streets packed five-deep with cheering locals and fans, the four wily escapees kept the racing peloton at bay with their high speed, five kilometres faster than their average for the rest of the day.
At first the peloton appeared annoyed that the leading four were forcing them to prolong the inevitable, but as the clock continued to tick down and the distance counter ticked down faster, irritation turned to concern. The peloton began to turn into a rainbow as teams grouped together for a sprint that might or might not eventuate – Team Sky on the left in the black-with-blue-stripe was leading out for Cavendish (while keeping leader Bradley Wiggins out of trouble), on the right in red and black was BMC protecting Cadel Evans, in between splodges of orange for Euskaltel-Euskadi, navy for Movistar, and a line of hot pink for the Lampre-ISD boys readying Petacchi for the sprint. The breakaway was just keeping hold of its advantage as the rainbow quilt bore down, but when the leaders still had one minute at the 10 kilometre banner, things suddenly started looking very interesting. FDJ breakaway rider Ladagnous had led a nearly-successful breakaway in the Tour before and claimed 11th – was this his belated take-two?
Four kilometres from the finish and the breakaway was barrelling down a dead straight road, the peloton breathing down their necks just 25 seconds behind. Loyalties in the break were beginning to fracture when they were given the distraction they needed. A crash in the front part of the peloton took off the pressure for just a few seconds as teams established where their leaders and sprinters were and tried to regroup. The serious contenders were clear of the drama, though, Sky, BMC and the sprint trains holding the key front positions that spared them involvement, and the diminished peloton continued at a rip-roaring pace down the rue de Paris.
But the tenacity in today’s lead group was at a premium, Jan Ghyselinck launching a perfectly-timed attack 1.4 kilometres from the end, flying away from his companions and towards the finish as though he had wings, dreaming of the stage victory. But the five-or six-second gap wasn’t going to keep him safe, the peloton rounding the second-last corner and appearing on his heels. Even a last-ditch dash by Pablo Urtasun Perez couldn’t salvage a breakaway stage win, and suddenly the escapees were absorbed by the peloton just 600 metres from the finish, and suddenly the sprint was on.
Though their train seemed to be invisible, Orica-GreenEDGE once again managed to deliver Matt Goss to a perfectly-lined-up stage win, the Tasmanian going hell-for-leather towards his first Tour de France victory. But perfect just wasn’t good enough on this stage, Lotto Belisol’s André Greipel managing to pip him by a bike length for a second consecutive stage win, leaving Gossy in second with Saxobank-Tinkoff Bank’s Juan José Haedo claiming third.
Stage 6 will be the final flat stage before some serious hills kick in on Stage 7, meaning we can expect another good sprint tomorrow. This is likely Cavendish’s last sprint stage of this year’s Tour, and he’ll be looking to go out with a bang, but green jersey Peter Sagan has missed the last two sprints from delays in crashes and will be equally hungry. Right now, though, it’s André Greipel who dominates the sprints, and there’s also Matt Goss, desperately trying to find the power to convert thirds, seconds and intermediate firsts into a stage win. This may well be the deciding stage in a fierce green jersey competition, so definitely one not to be missed.
Today’s stage left the town of Rouen, rolling across the Somme valley of central northern France to Saint-Quentin, a region of great significance to many Australians because of its World War I connections. Frenchman Mathieu Ladagnous (FDJ-Bigmat) had other things on his mind today than history, setting up the day’s successful break soon after the départ réel with Jan Ghyselinck (Cofidis), Julien Simon (Saur-Sojasun) and Pablo Urtasun Perez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) for company.
The quartet of the day disappeared into the distance, building up a nice little lead of nearly six minutes after 30 kilometres, the peloton having a leisurely ride at 39km/h. For the third day in a row there was a birthday in the bunch – BMC’s Philippe Gilbert turned 30 as he rode along with teammates in the peloton.
But not everyone was having such a happy day. Marcel Kittel, the Argos-Shimano sprinter who was expected to be the revelation of this year’s Tour, finally pulled out of the race after a nasty bout of gastroenteritis left the German too physically drained to continue. Despite Kittel’s indisposition, Argos-Shimano has remained competitive in the sprints, Kittel’s chief leadout man Tom Veelers managing to claim a few top-10 finishes in his friend’s absence.
The peloton – and the breakaway, cruising three minutes ahead – continued to roll through the greenified Somme, passing any number of beautiful historical buildings dating far beyond the First World War. The peloton left the escapees alone for a while, focusing on the sprint point, which the unconcerned breakaway rolled right through. Sadly, though, the intermediate sprint point was becoming fairly predictable, and despite the various sprint trains establishing themselves, FDJ-Bigmat weighing in this time for Yauheni Hutarovich, it was once again Mark Cavendish (Sky) who took a very narrow victory over Orica-GreenEDGE’s Matt Goss.
Intermediate sprint over, the peloton could focus on bringing in the breakaway, former teammates Stuart O’Grady (Orica-GreenEDGE) and Jens Voigt (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek) conferring at the front of the peloton on how to bring the escapees home. With the help of Lotto Belisol the pair continued to chip slowly away at the quartet’s lead, down to 2’15” at 50 kilometres from Saint-Quentin. It seemed likely that the peloton would be caught well within the next 40 kilometres, allowing plenty of time for the usual posturing between teams preparing for the sprint.
But it wasn’t the case. As Stéphane Augé, sports director of Ghyselinck’s Cofidis squad, had said, around 25 kilometres from the end of the stage the four breakaway riders suddenly turned up the gas and kept on moving. As they raced through a series of small French towns, streets packed five-deep with cheering locals and fans, the four wily escapees kept the racing peloton at bay with their high speed, five kilometres faster than their average for the rest of the day.
At first the peloton appeared annoyed that the leading four were forcing them to prolong the inevitable, but as the clock continued to tick down and the distance counter ticked down faster, irritation turned to concern. The peloton began to turn into a rainbow as teams grouped together for a sprint that might or might not eventuate – Team Sky on the left in the black-with-blue-stripe was leading out for Cavendish (while keeping leader Bradley Wiggins out of trouble), on the right in red and black was BMC protecting Cadel Evans, in between splodges of orange for Euskaltel-Euskadi, navy for Movistar, and a line of hot pink for the Lampre-ISD boys readying Petacchi for the sprint. The breakaway was just keeping hold of its advantage as the rainbow quilt bore down, but when the leaders still had one minute at the 10 kilometre banner, things suddenly started looking very interesting. FDJ breakaway rider Ladagnous had led a nearly-successful breakaway in the Tour before and claimed 11th – was this his belated take-two?
Four kilometres from the finish and the breakaway was barrelling down a dead straight road, the peloton breathing down their necks just 25 seconds behind. Loyalties in the break were beginning to fracture when they were given the distraction they needed. A crash in the front part of the peloton took off the pressure for just a few seconds as teams established where their leaders and sprinters were and tried to regroup. The serious contenders were clear of the drama, though, Sky, BMC and the sprint trains holding the key front positions that spared them involvement, and the diminished peloton continued at a rip-roaring pace down the rue de Paris.
But the tenacity in today’s lead group was at a premium, Jan Ghyselinck launching a perfectly-timed attack 1.4 kilometres from the end, flying away from his companions and towards the finish as though he had wings, dreaming of the stage victory. But the five-or six-second gap wasn’t going to keep him safe, the peloton rounding the second-last corner and appearing on his heels. Even a last-ditch dash by Pablo Urtasun Perez couldn’t salvage a breakaway stage win, and suddenly the escapees were absorbed by the peloton just 600 metres from the finish, and suddenly the sprint was on.
Though their train seemed to be invisible, Orica-GreenEDGE once again managed to deliver Matt Goss to a perfectly-lined-up stage win, the Tasmanian going hell-for-leather towards his first Tour de France victory. But perfect just wasn’t good enough on this stage, Lotto Belisol’s André Greipel managing to pip him by a bike length for a second consecutive stage win, leaving Gossy in second with Saxobank-Tinkoff Bank’s Juan José Haedo claiming third.
Stage 6 will be the final flat stage before some serious hills kick in on Stage 7, meaning we can expect another good sprint tomorrow. This is likely Cavendish’s last sprint stage of this year’s Tour, and he’ll be looking to go out with a bang, but green jersey Peter Sagan has missed the last two sprints from delays in crashes and will be equally hungry. Right now, though, it’s André Greipel who dominates the sprints, and there’s also Matt Goss, desperately trying to find the power to convert thirds, seconds and intermediate firsts into a stage win. This may well be the deciding stage in a fierce green jersey competition, so definitely one not to be missed.
Thursday, 5 July 2012
Stage 4: Abbéville – Rouen
The stage started out in the sunshine today, a good omen for the race
that was to come. The stunning scenery of northern France lent a
beautiful backdrop to a much calmer, happier stage than we’ve seen
recently with a thoroughly exciting finish to round things out.
Stage 4 from Abbéville to Rouen saw the Tour leave coastal Normandy and head inland towards the river Seine, which will greet the riders again when they roll into Paris. The peloton had a much slower start to the day than anticipated at an average 37km/h, perhaps enjoying the views as they rode along the sheer cliffs of the ‘Alabaster Coast’, reminiscent of the cliffs of Dover in their pure white colour. Europcar rider Yukiya Arashiro clearly wasn’t watching the countryside, attacking as soon as the peloton was clear of the neutral zone. He was soon joined by David Moncoutié of Cofidis and Anthony Delaplace of Saur-Sojasun, the trio rocketing away to a lead of 8’40” within 20 kilometres.
Though the peloton was taking the morning off to have a more relaxing ride, even celebrating Vladimir Gusev’s (Katusha) 30th birthday, it was a flat stage with plenty of sprint finish potential and the peloton wasn’t going to let a breakaway ruin it. Lotto Belisol, the team of André Greipel, jumped on the front and began pulling, reducing the escapee trio’s lead to seven and a half minutes. They relaxed a bit too soon, though, and when the gap went out to 8’35” again the team of yellow jersey wearer Fabian Cancellara, Radioshack-Nissan-Trek, stepped up to do their turn of defending the maillot jaune – Arashiro’s time gap was enough to put him in virtual yellow.
Up the front in the breakaway, Arashiro and his companions had been making their way over the first three of four Category 4 climbs for the day, climber Moncoutié taking the King of the Mountain points on offer each time. The beautiful coastal views continued to flash by the riders, a cool sea breeze sweeping in from the clear blue ocean keeping the temperature down. The race route finally turned away from the cliffs and headed inland, straight for the day’s intermediate sprint point, which the breakaway, unconcerned with the green jersey, passed without incident.
The peloton was certainly concerned with the green jersey, however, and Orica-GreenEDGE began setting up the win for their rider, Matt Goss. Today’s train certainly seemed better than yesterday’s, but in the end Mark Cavendish (Sky) proved once again that he is indeed the fastest man on two wheels, narrowly taking fourth place ahead of Gossy, Rabobank’s Mark Renshaw and Liquigas-Cannondale’s Peter Sagan.
A little spot of rain further on down the road caused the peloton to take just a little more care on the newly-soaked roads, but if a crash is going to happen in a bike race then it seems no force in the world can stop it. Australian neo Jonathan Cantwell from Team Saxobank-Tinkoff Bank clipped his wheel on the edge of the road with 45 kilometres to go and took a tumble, taking a handful of other riders down with him. Luckily there was no damage done apart from some bumped bodies and bruised egos, and all riders were soon continuing on their way to Rouen.
Over the next few kilometres the lead group’s break continued ticking down as the race began passing through typical French countryside, brilliantly green and full of grand, ancient chateaux and cathédrales. Arashiro definitely didn’t want to be caught, even trying a solo break at one point and earning the day’s Fighting Spirit Award, but he was the first rider to falter and fall when the peloton came knocking. Delaplace and Moncoutié took a little longer, initially being joined by a series of riders sprinting out from the front of the peloton, the most notable being Omega Pharma-Quickstep’s Sylvain Chavanel and Philippe Gilbert of BMC. But the peloton was hungry for the sprint, and the race came back together with about five kilometres to go, 195 riders all barrelling towards the final few kilometres of the stage.
The sprint trains were setting themselves up, Orica-GreenEDGE, Lotto Belisol and Lampre-ISD preparing to deliver their men to the line for victory, Mark Cavendish floating on the nearest wheel as a makeshift leadout train. But nothing complicates or livens things up like a crash less than three kilometres from the finish, especially when the rainbow jersey of Mark Cavendish is sitting on the ground with pieces scraped off his back.
The front section of the peloton continued on, leaving those behind to pick themselves up, focussing instead on the sprint finish to be won. Australia’s Adam Hansen and New Zealand’s Greg Henderson led the Lotto Belisol sprint train powering down the final straight with the same implacability once seen in the HTC-Highroad express. Though the Lampre-ISD train kept pulling for Alessandro Petacchi, and Orica-GreenEDGE’s Daryl Impey did his best to bring Matt Goss forward, no-one could stand in the way of the ‘Gorilla’ André Greipel, Petacchi and Goss sliding into second and fourth respectively with Argos-Shimano’s Tom Veelers rounding out the podium. Cavendish rolled over the line a few minutes later, looking very much the worse for wear but mostly unhurt, the same as his fellow victims.
As the crash happened within the last three kilometres, all those affected had their time gaps neutralised and received the same time as the group they were riding in prior to the crash. As such Peter Sagan maintains his green jersey, and with the time gaps neutralised Fabian Cancellara maintains his yellow into tomorrow’s stage, as does Bradley Wiggins his second place on GC. Tomorrow’s stage to Saint-Quentin is as flat as today’s, but after missing out on a chance at the win today, it will be a safe bet to keep your eyes on Mark Cavendish gunning for a second chance to be on the podium.
Stage 4 from Abbéville to Rouen saw the Tour leave coastal Normandy and head inland towards the river Seine, which will greet the riders again when they roll into Paris. The peloton had a much slower start to the day than anticipated at an average 37km/h, perhaps enjoying the views as they rode along the sheer cliffs of the ‘Alabaster Coast’, reminiscent of the cliffs of Dover in their pure white colour. Europcar rider Yukiya Arashiro clearly wasn’t watching the countryside, attacking as soon as the peloton was clear of the neutral zone. He was soon joined by David Moncoutié of Cofidis and Anthony Delaplace of Saur-Sojasun, the trio rocketing away to a lead of 8’40” within 20 kilometres.
Though the peloton was taking the morning off to have a more relaxing ride, even celebrating Vladimir Gusev’s (Katusha) 30th birthday, it was a flat stage with plenty of sprint finish potential and the peloton wasn’t going to let a breakaway ruin it. Lotto Belisol, the team of André Greipel, jumped on the front and began pulling, reducing the escapee trio’s lead to seven and a half minutes. They relaxed a bit too soon, though, and when the gap went out to 8’35” again the team of yellow jersey wearer Fabian Cancellara, Radioshack-Nissan-Trek, stepped up to do their turn of defending the maillot jaune – Arashiro’s time gap was enough to put him in virtual yellow.
Up the front in the breakaway, Arashiro and his companions had been making their way over the first three of four Category 4 climbs for the day, climber Moncoutié taking the King of the Mountain points on offer each time. The beautiful coastal views continued to flash by the riders, a cool sea breeze sweeping in from the clear blue ocean keeping the temperature down. The race route finally turned away from the cliffs and headed inland, straight for the day’s intermediate sprint point, which the breakaway, unconcerned with the green jersey, passed without incident.
The peloton was certainly concerned with the green jersey, however, and Orica-GreenEDGE began setting up the win for their rider, Matt Goss. Today’s train certainly seemed better than yesterday’s, but in the end Mark Cavendish (Sky) proved once again that he is indeed the fastest man on two wheels, narrowly taking fourth place ahead of Gossy, Rabobank’s Mark Renshaw and Liquigas-Cannondale’s Peter Sagan.
A little spot of rain further on down the road caused the peloton to take just a little more care on the newly-soaked roads, but if a crash is going to happen in a bike race then it seems no force in the world can stop it. Australian neo Jonathan Cantwell from Team Saxobank-Tinkoff Bank clipped his wheel on the edge of the road with 45 kilometres to go and took a tumble, taking a handful of other riders down with him. Luckily there was no damage done apart from some bumped bodies and bruised egos, and all riders were soon continuing on their way to Rouen.
Over the next few kilometres the lead group’s break continued ticking down as the race began passing through typical French countryside, brilliantly green and full of grand, ancient chateaux and cathédrales. Arashiro definitely didn’t want to be caught, even trying a solo break at one point and earning the day’s Fighting Spirit Award, but he was the first rider to falter and fall when the peloton came knocking. Delaplace and Moncoutié took a little longer, initially being joined by a series of riders sprinting out from the front of the peloton, the most notable being Omega Pharma-Quickstep’s Sylvain Chavanel and Philippe Gilbert of BMC. But the peloton was hungry for the sprint, and the race came back together with about five kilometres to go, 195 riders all barrelling towards the final few kilometres of the stage.
The sprint trains were setting themselves up, Orica-GreenEDGE, Lotto Belisol and Lampre-ISD preparing to deliver their men to the line for victory, Mark Cavendish floating on the nearest wheel as a makeshift leadout train. But nothing complicates or livens things up like a crash less than three kilometres from the finish, especially when the rainbow jersey of Mark Cavendish is sitting on the ground with pieces scraped off his back.
The front section of the peloton continued on, leaving those behind to pick themselves up, focussing instead on the sprint finish to be won. Australia’s Adam Hansen and New Zealand’s Greg Henderson led the Lotto Belisol sprint train powering down the final straight with the same implacability once seen in the HTC-Highroad express. Though the Lampre-ISD train kept pulling for Alessandro Petacchi, and Orica-GreenEDGE’s Daryl Impey did his best to bring Matt Goss forward, no-one could stand in the way of the ‘Gorilla’ André Greipel, Petacchi and Goss sliding into second and fourth respectively with Argos-Shimano’s Tom Veelers rounding out the podium. Cavendish rolled over the line a few minutes later, looking very much the worse for wear but mostly unhurt, the same as his fellow victims.
As the crash happened within the last three kilometres, all those affected had their time gaps neutralised and received the same time as the group they were riding in prior to the crash. As such Peter Sagan maintains his green jersey, and with the time gaps neutralised Fabian Cancellara maintains his yellow into tomorrow’s stage, as does Bradley Wiggins his second place on GC. Tomorrow’s stage to Saint-Quentin is as flat as today’s, but after missing out on a chance at the win today, it will be a safe bet to keep your eyes on Mark Cavendish gunning for a second chance to be on the podium.
Tuesday, 3 July 2012
Stage 2: Visé – Tournai
It was a stage of injuries, of sprinters, of chateaux and long
breakaways, and a stage of rising above. Stage 2 of the 2012 Tour de
France from Visé to Tournai saw all the things we’ve come to expect from
the paramount race of the world – pain, triumph, inhuman achievement
and a gripping finish to keep us all guessing.
After the crashes and dramatic finish of yesterday’s stage into Seraing, the peloton started off slowly, savouring the beautiful panoramas and elegant cathedrals of central Belgium. It was 22 kilometres into the stage before Anthony Roux of FDJ-BigMat attempted a breakaway and was quickly joined by Europcar’s Christophe Kern and Saxobank-Tinkoff Bank’s Michael Morkov, wearer of the polka-dot jersey after his participation in yesterday’s breakaway. The three rode rapidly away from the peloton to build up a lead that reached around eight minutes, Roux leaning on his handlebars as though for a time trial to avoid using his broken left hand, the result of one of yesterday’s crashes.
The young Frenchman wasn’t the only rider putting on a brave face for the stage. World time trial champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) was also in considerable pain from a fractured scaphoid in his left hand which had caused temporary doubt as to whether he would start the stage. The German’s Tour de France certainly hadn’t improved, with a puncture in the prologue time trial preceding the Stage 1 crash which left him in a plastic brace.
The breakaway trio’s lead had dropped down to 6’15” as they passed through the city of Namur and began the climb up to the King of the Mountains point at the Côte de la Citadelle de Namur, a Roman-era fortress sitting at the top of the winding cobbles. Morkov dashed ahead of Kern and Roux to take the single point on offer, extending his lead over the polka-dot jersey competition to three points. Objective achieved, Morkov assumed a position at the back of the leading group and let the French pair do the work for the rest of the stage.
The gap quickly receding, the idle peloton realised they’d left it too late to catch the breakaway before the sprint point at Soignies, allowing Kern, Roux and Morkov respectively to take top points, and instead prepared to sprint for 4th place. The teams of the sprinters, already with a rider each at the front to do the pacemaking, sent up their leadout trains to contend for the vital green jersey points. Liquigas-Cannondale’s train was pulling for Peter Sagan, but Australian outfit Orica-GreenEDGE once again slipped sprinter Matthew Goss up the side to take the win ahead of Mark Renshaw (Rabobank) and Mark Cavendish (Sky).
Intermediate sprint aside, the race continued west across Belgium as the lead group’s advantage slowly ticked down. As the peloton loomed behind, Roux decided that the attitude of the day was ‘never say die’ and attacked again with 31 kilometres to go, an action that earned him the Combative Rider award for the day, while Kern and Morkov were swallowed up by the quickly-moving peloton and promptly spat out at the back end. As the pace increased, the hopeful teams of the sprinters moved to the front of the peloton for a second time and began preparing their sprint trains for the battle royale that was to be the stage finish.
At the rear of the peloton, though, Argos-Shimano’s sprinter Marcel Kittel was having trouble. While his team led the peloton charging towards Tournai, Kittel was falling off the back of the main field, his expression strained. Despite the help of teammates Kittel was unable to keep in touch any longer and dropped off, victim of a stomach bug, surrendering his chance at the day’s stage win.
The front of the peloton barely noticed his absence, flying towards the finish at nearly 70kph, scooping up the still-fighting Roux along the way. The key sprint teams of Liquigas-Cannondale, Lotto Belisol, Orica-GreenEDGE and Sky Procycling were jostling for position as King Albert II of Belgium, as keen a cycling fan as his countrymen, waited for the riders at the finish. Though Lotto Belisol appeared to have the win lined up neatly for Andre Greipel, Liquigas-Cannondale’s Peter Sagan clinging to his back wheel, the aptly-named ‘Manx Missile’ of Mark Cavendish shot past Greipel to take his 21st Tour de France stage win, Orica-GreenEDGE’s Matt Goss again slipping up the side to take third.
The win has done little for the overall standings, Peter Sagan taking the green sprinter’s jersey the only change in the classifications. Tomorrow the Tour heads into northern France and more medium mountains, a newfound battleground for Sagan which may enable him to consolidate his lead on the maillot vert.
After the crashes and dramatic finish of yesterday’s stage into Seraing, the peloton started off slowly, savouring the beautiful panoramas and elegant cathedrals of central Belgium. It was 22 kilometres into the stage before Anthony Roux of FDJ-BigMat attempted a breakaway and was quickly joined by Europcar’s Christophe Kern and Saxobank-Tinkoff Bank’s Michael Morkov, wearer of the polka-dot jersey after his participation in yesterday’s breakaway. The three rode rapidly away from the peloton to build up a lead that reached around eight minutes, Roux leaning on his handlebars as though for a time trial to avoid using his broken left hand, the result of one of yesterday’s crashes.
The young Frenchman wasn’t the only rider putting on a brave face for the stage. World time trial champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) was also in considerable pain from a fractured scaphoid in his left hand which had caused temporary doubt as to whether he would start the stage. The German’s Tour de France certainly hadn’t improved, with a puncture in the prologue time trial preceding the Stage 1 crash which left him in a plastic brace.
The breakaway trio’s lead had dropped down to 6’15” as they passed through the city of Namur and began the climb up to the King of the Mountains point at the Côte de la Citadelle de Namur, a Roman-era fortress sitting at the top of the winding cobbles. Morkov dashed ahead of Kern and Roux to take the single point on offer, extending his lead over the polka-dot jersey competition to three points. Objective achieved, Morkov assumed a position at the back of the leading group and let the French pair do the work for the rest of the stage.
The gap quickly receding, the idle peloton realised they’d left it too late to catch the breakaway before the sprint point at Soignies, allowing Kern, Roux and Morkov respectively to take top points, and instead prepared to sprint for 4th place. The teams of the sprinters, already with a rider each at the front to do the pacemaking, sent up their leadout trains to contend for the vital green jersey points. Liquigas-Cannondale’s train was pulling for Peter Sagan, but Australian outfit Orica-GreenEDGE once again slipped sprinter Matthew Goss up the side to take the win ahead of Mark Renshaw (Rabobank) and Mark Cavendish (Sky).
Intermediate sprint aside, the race continued west across Belgium as the lead group’s advantage slowly ticked down. As the peloton loomed behind, Roux decided that the attitude of the day was ‘never say die’ and attacked again with 31 kilometres to go, an action that earned him the Combative Rider award for the day, while Kern and Morkov were swallowed up by the quickly-moving peloton and promptly spat out at the back end. As the pace increased, the hopeful teams of the sprinters moved to the front of the peloton for a second time and began preparing their sprint trains for the battle royale that was to be the stage finish.
At the rear of the peloton, though, Argos-Shimano’s sprinter Marcel Kittel was having trouble. While his team led the peloton charging towards Tournai, Kittel was falling off the back of the main field, his expression strained. Despite the help of teammates Kittel was unable to keep in touch any longer and dropped off, victim of a stomach bug, surrendering his chance at the day’s stage win.
The front of the peloton barely noticed his absence, flying towards the finish at nearly 70kph, scooping up the still-fighting Roux along the way. The key sprint teams of Liquigas-Cannondale, Lotto Belisol, Orica-GreenEDGE and Sky Procycling were jostling for position as King Albert II of Belgium, as keen a cycling fan as his countrymen, waited for the riders at the finish. Though Lotto Belisol appeared to have the win lined up neatly for Andre Greipel, Liquigas-Cannondale’s Peter Sagan clinging to his back wheel, the aptly-named ‘Manx Missile’ of Mark Cavendish shot past Greipel to take his 21st Tour de France stage win, Orica-GreenEDGE’s Matt Goss again slipping up the side to take third.
The win has done little for the overall standings, Peter Sagan taking the green sprinter’s jersey the only change in the classifications. Tomorrow the Tour heads into northern France and more medium mountains, a newfound battleground for Sagan which may enable him to consolidate his lead on the maillot vert.
Thursday, 19 January 2012
Tour Down Under - Stage 3
The rolling road blocks were certainly in effect today, as the peloton rode south-bound from Unley down to Victor Harbour. As Mike Turtur waved the red flag at the end of the neutral zone outside Flinder's Hospital, hundreds of fans cheered the peloton onto the Southern Expressway to begin the journey south. They were moving fast, too, as the traffic was completely stopped barely 25 minutes later as the riders made their way from the Expressway onto the main road southbound.
Following a few abortive attempts, the breakaway of the day had already formed, four riders already four minutes ahead of the peloton - Matt Brammeier, Omega Pharma - Quickstep; Eduard Vorganov, Katusha; Jan Bakelants, Radioshack Nissan Trek; and Thomas de Gendt, Vacansoleil. The teams of sprinters and GC contenders didn't like that, Lotto-Belisol, Rabobank and GreenEDGE keeping and pace high and the time gap steady to ensure a catch before the finish. The renegade four hit the second KOM together, De Gendt, Brammeier and Bakelants taking the top three allocations of points with Vorganov coming across fourth for two. They were still four minutes ahead when they reached the first sprint point in Mt. Compass, De Gendt stepping up to maximum points in front of the crowd.But despite the increase in speed, the time gap was dropping. As the breakaway passed the feed station, restocking their jerseys with food and water bottles, the peloton was only a couple of minutes behind, bottles and bananas flying everywhere as they raced through in hot pursuit. They were gaining, too, the gap barely one minute as Radioshack Nissan Trek drove the peloton to the second sprint point, just a kilometre behind the leaders. De Gendt, Bakelants and Vorganov again raced up to take the sprint points, before sitting up and returning to the peloton, clearly having acheived their aims for the day.
Matt Brammeier, meanwhile, was still trying to stay away from the peloton 200 metres behind, but unsurprisingly Brammeier couldn't hold them off for long, the race coming back together with just under 43 kilometres left to ride. The more ambitious ProTeams then took over the peloton, BMC and Sky picking up the pace and starting to string out the peloton, nine riders at the back managing to keep contact in the increasing crosswinds.
As the peloton hit 55k/h the attacks began again, as did the punctures. The attackers reeled in and the flat tyres catching up, GreenEDGE began driving the reunited peloton towards the stage finish in Victor Harbour on the scenic Fleurieu Peninsula. Although 10 minutes behind the predicted race times, the riders stormed down into the township on the descent, Rabobank doing the work out front for sprinters Michael Matthews and Mark Renshaw. Other teams tried attacking as the finish line loomed, the blue and orange colours of Rabobank not letting anyone get away.
The race altogether as it reached the final metres, bar a few unfortunate punctures, it was down to a bunch sprint finish, Greipel edging out all other contenders to take his third victory in Adelaide and an impressive 10th TDU stage win. FDJ-Big Mat's Yauheni Hutarovich also got up to claim second, with Sky's Edvald Boasson Hagen finally making the podium in third. Rabobank's efforts let Renshaw in fourth, and GreenEDGE was happy with Robbie McEwen placing fifth on the stage, while Simon Gerrans moved into fifth overall in the GC. Stage 3 over, the riders are now another day closer to their nemesis stage - Stage 5's long climb to the top of Old Willunga Hill.
Wednesday, 18 January 2012
Tour Down Under - Stage 2
You wouldn’t have thought we were in the same country. In a complete contrast to the glaring heat of yesterday, Stage 2 of the Santos Tour Down Under began with a cold morning half the temperature of the day before. Steele von Hoff (UniSA) was glad of his gloves as he lined up with the 130 other riders at the starting line – Jurgen Roelandts of Lotto-Belisol and Frédéric Guesdon of FDJ-Big Mat both pulled out of the race after yesterday’s crash.
The more clement conditions meant that the attacks began almost as soon as the race did – Martin Kohler of Team BMC and Will Clarke riding for Team UniSA launched themselves off the peloton after barely a kilometre . The pair continued expanding the gap out, reaching around seven minutes from the peloton after the first sprint point, which Kohler won with Clarke second. The three-second time deduction for winning the sprint put Kohler just one second behind Andre Greipel’s overall lead, while three kilometres behind the riders began attacking off the front of the peloton in pursuit of sprint points.
Australian Michael Matthews of Rabobank claimed third in the sprints, but instead of the riders competing for third falling back to the peloton after the sprint point, a chase group of 12 riders formed, trailing six minutes behind the two leaders, with a few more riders 200 metres ahead of the peloton. But their glory was short-lived, quickly reeled back into the peloton , still seven or eight minutes behind Clarke and Kohler.
But Kohler’s moment in the sun seemed to be short-lived, too. As he and Clarke passed the second sprint point the gap went back down to 5:50, and Kohler began to drop back. By the time they reached the finish line in Stirling to begin the first of three laps, Kohler had completely disappeared back into the peloton and Clarke had a 12-and-a-half minute lead on them. He soloed through the finish line for the first time, attracting a huge cheer from the amassed crowd, which then stopped and stared incredulously for 11 minutes, waiting for the peloton.
The circuit took the riders a little longer than expected, around 40 minutes instead of the anticipated half an hour, but Will Clarke appeared to finish his first lap, albeit a little less comfortably than before. The peloton rode by again 11 minutes later, having brought in an attempted break by Movistar rider Angel Madrazo during the lap. It was a minute further back to the green lantern; AG2R La Mondiale’s Boris Shiplevskiy brought up the rear.
Between laps there was plenty to keep the eager public occupied – the Tour Parade, with its funny cars, waving drivers and free giveaways kept the kids entertained, and the arrival of cycling legend Eddy Merckx caused great excitement among the fans. The colourful jerseys of ProTeams and local clubs alike abounded, and every second person seemed to be pushing a bike.
But as Clarke came closer to the end of the race, his laps became slower...and the peloton became faster. Coming round for the third time and receiving the warning bell as he began his last lap, Clarke had lost two to three minutes to the pursuing hordes on his second lap and was down to an eight-minute lead. As the peloton raced past onto their final lap, closing in on their prey, the tension in the crowd became palpable. They were loving the young Tasmanian underdog from the local team.
Except the prospects weren't looking good. The commentators were counting down the gap between the leader and the peloton as they raced around the final circuit of Stirling, the crowd bellowing unheard encouragement for the 26-year-old to hold off his pursuers just a little longer. The noise at the finish line increased dramatically as a lone rider in a convoy of motorbikes came into view just 300 metres from the finish line, the peloton held at bay long enough for Clarke to ride across the finish and claim his well-deserved stage win, along with the sprint classification jersey and the King of the Mountains jersey.
The peloton stormed by a minute later, sprinters like Edvald Boasson Hagen of Team Sky jostling for position. But it was destined to be an all-Aussie peloton for the day - Michael Matthews sprinted up again for second place this time, while Australian National Road Race Champion Simon Gerrans of GreenEDGE rounded out the top three. Justifiably, Martin Kohler's efforts earlier in the day put him two seconds ahead of Andre Greipel to claim the ochre leader's jersey.
On another note, a personal highlight of the day - as the riders began heading back out onto the road to ride back to the Tour village, the traffic being at a standstill, I found Jérémy Roy of Team FDJ-Big Mat, who kindly stopped to speak to me for a minute. He even handed me his bidon (which was nice and cold, by the way) after I gave him a small toy koala for his daughter Julia. Maybe I need an FDJ jersey as well now...Monday, 26 September 2011
Les Championnats du Monde: Copenhague 2011 (Course en Ligne)
Le contre-la-montre n’est pas une course. C’est une bataille entre les volontés des coureurs, entre la volonté et les pieds de chaque coureur. C’est une opportunité à voir qui peut se motiver le meilleur. Mais un contre-la-montre est court, et c’est individuel. Bien que j’aime la contre-la-montre, je préfère voir les tactiques et la rivalité directe de la course en ligne. Et quand c’est les meilleurs coureurs du monde qui rivalisent pour le prix du maillot arc-en-ciel, c’est la plus meilleure rivalité du monde.
En la première année de la catégorie «Junior», rien spectaculaire n’est venu de la course des femmes juniors. Peut-être l’année prochaine, vainqueur Lucy Garner de Grande-Bretagne rivalisera dans la course des femmes élites ou gagnera une course pro, mais à ce moment-là, les noms de ces femmes ne sont pas familiers. Ce n’est pas vrai pour les femmes élites. En effet, ils sont très familiers, car Georgia Bronzini, d’Italie, et Marianne Vos, du Pays-Bas, se sont placées première et deuxième l’année dernière aussi! Cette année, Ina Teutenberg, d’Allemagne, a complété le trio sur le podium. Un résultat un peu étrange, peut-être, mais c’est très clair qui est la meilleur coureuse dans le peloton féminin.
Les hommes juniors n’ont pas des noms familiers. Ces hommes ont moins de 18 ans, et bien que les hommes ne fassent rien remarquable maintenant, ils sont le futur des courses comme le Tour de France. Donc, sur cette note, faire le guet pour Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier, Martijn Degreve et Steven Lammertink, qui ont gagné les trois places premières avec trois seconds sur les autres coureurs. Et, de façon intéressante, malgré ses bons résultats dans les contre-la-montres, les australiens ne font pas très bien dans les courses en ligne. Même dans les hommes moins de 23 ans, australien Michael Hepburn s’est placé 21ème, et France a gagné les deux places premières et Grande-Bretagne le troisième.
«Garder le meilleur pour la fin» est le proverbe, et l’UCI le fait certainement dans les Championnats du Monde. La course plus intéressante, la plus fortement disputé, c’est la course en ligne des hommes élites, qui est toujours en le dernier jour des Championnats. La course cette année a été décrit par les coureurs comme totalement plat avec plusieurs tours et pas de cols, les conditions parfaites pour un sprint du groupe.
Mais malgré le type de course, il y avait une échappée, quand Lars Boom de Pays-Bas a échappé du peloton et fait la course seulement pour beaucoup de kilomètres. Mais les pays qui ont des bons sprinteurs ne l’a pas permis. En les derniers tours de piste le peloton a attrapé Boom pour avoir une possibilité d’un sprint à la fin. Et bien sûr, il y avait un bon sprint, avec l’équipe australien faisant beaucoup de travail pour son sprinteur, Matt Goss. Même les Brits avec son sprinteur, le porteur du maillot vert du Tour de France, Mark Cavendish, ne peuvent pas préparer son train de sprint. Mais quand «le missile Manx» a les pieds, le missile Manx a les pieds, et personne ne peut l’arrêter. Il a sprinté de la roue arrière de Goss, qui s’est placé deuxième, et gagné son premier titre mondial.
En la première année de la catégorie «Junior», rien spectaculaire n’est venu de la course des femmes juniors. Peut-être l’année prochaine, vainqueur Lucy Garner de Grande-Bretagne rivalisera dans la course des femmes élites ou gagnera une course pro, mais à ce moment-là, les noms de ces femmes ne sont pas familiers. Ce n’est pas vrai pour les femmes élites. En effet, ils sont très familiers, car Georgia Bronzini, d’Italie, et Marianne Vos, du Pays-Bas, se sont placées première et deuxième l’année dernière aussi! Cette année, Ina Teutenberg, d’Allemagne, a complété le trio sur le podium. Un résultat un peu étrange, peut-être, mais c’est très clair qui est la meilleur coureuse dans le peloton féminin.
Les hommes juniors n’ont pas des noms familiers. Ces hommes ont moins de 18 ans, et bien que les hommes ne fassent rien remarquable maintenant, ils sont le futur des courses comme le Tour de France. Donc, sur cette note, faire le guet pour Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier, Martijn Degreve et Steven Lammertink, qui ont gagné les trois places premières avec trois seconds sur les autres coureurs. Et, de façon intéressante, malgré ses bons résultats dans les contre-la-montres, les australiens ne font pas très bien dans les courses en ligne. Même dans les hommes moins de 23 ans, australien Michael Hepburn s’est placé 21ème, et France a gagné les deux places premières et Grande-Bretagne le troisième.
«Garder le meilleur pour la fin» est le proverbe, et l’UCI le fait certainement dans les Championnats du Monde. La course plus intéressante, la plus fortement disputé, c’est la course en ligne des hommes élites, qui est toujours en le dernier jour des Championnats. La course cette année a été décrit par les coureurs comme totalement plat avec plusieurs tours et pas de cols, les conditions parfaites pour un sprint du groupe.
Mais malgré le type de course, il y avait une échappée, quand Lars Boom de Pays-Bas a échappé du peloton et fait la course seulement pour beaucoup de kilomètres. Mais les pays qui ont des bons sprinteurs ne l’a pas permis. En les derniers tours de piste le peloton a attrapé Boom pour avoir une possibilité d’un sprint à la fin. Et bien sûr, il y avait un bon sprint, avec l’équipe australien faisant beaucoup de travail pour son sprinteur, Matt Goss. Même les Brits avec son sprinteur, le porteur du maillot vert du Tour de France, Mark Cavendish, ne peuvent pas préparer son train de sprint. Mais quand «le missile Manx» a les pieds, le missile Manx a les pieds, et personne ne peut l’arrêter. Il a sprinté de la roue arrière de Goss, qui s’est placé deuxième, et gagné son premier titre mondial.
Mais le drame n’a pas terminé là. Il y avait une égalité pour troisieme place! Fabian Cancellara, champion suisse en ligne, et Andre Greipel, le sprinteur allemand, ont traversé l’arrivée au même temps exactement! Après quelques minutes, le médaille bronze a été attribué à Andre Greipel, et Cancellara s’est placé quatrième. Avec cette fin du Championnats, j’attends avec impatience les Championnats 2012 à Limburg, Pays-Bas!
Saturday, 20 August 2011
Eneco Tour of Benelux
Normalement, avec le Tour d’Espagne et l’USA Procycling Challenge maintenant, je ne m’intéresse pas beaucoup à l’Eneco Tour of Benelux. Mais après le Tour de France cette année, je m’intéresse aux coureurs qui ont roulé l’Eneco Tour of Benelux. Et, comme résultat, je me suis intéressée à l’Eneco Tour of Benelux.
La course, qui va entre la Belgique et le Pays-Bas, dure une semaine et comprit un prologue, une contre-la-montre et cinq stages en ligne. Bien sûr, la plupart d’équipes du Tour l’ont couru, avec un ou deux équipes sans licence WorldTour.
Mais c’était les coureurs des équipes fameux qui ont gagné les victoires. Le prologue a devenu la première victoire dans la carrière professionnelle de Taylor Phinney, le jeune américain de l’équipe BMC. Le lendemain, le sprinteur André Greipel (Omega-Pharma-Lotto), et encore le lendemain! À ce point, Taylor Phinney portait le maillot leader aussi. Puis un étape et le maillot leader pour Philippe Gilbert, champion de la Belgique. Il avait devenu comme le Tour de France une fois encore!
Le quatrième étape a été le contre-la-montre, gagné par Jesse Sergent, le jeune coureur Radioshack de Nouvelle Zélande, après lequel il a était un nouveau leader – Edvald Boasson Hagen, mon beau-mec! Et bien que Matteo Bono ait gagné le cinquième et avant-dernier étape, il a était Eddy «The Boss» qui a gagné le dernier étape et les trois maillots de leader, coureur jeune et sprint!
La course, qui va entre la Belgique et le Pays-Bas, dure une semaine et comprit un prologue, une contre-la-montre et cinq stages en ligne. Bien sûr, la plupart d’équipes du Tour l’ont couru, avec un ou deux équipes sans licence WorldTour.
Mais c’était les coureurs des équipes fameux qui ont gagné les victoires. Le prologue a devenu la première victoire dans la carrière professionnelle de Taylor Phinney, le jeune américain de l’équipe BMC. Le lendemain, le sprinteur André Greipel (Omega-Pharma-Lotto), et encore le lendemain! À ce point, Taylor Phinney portait le maillot leader aussi. Puis un étape et le maillot leader pour Philippe Gilbert, champion de la Belgique. Il avait devenu comme le Tour de France une fois encore!
Le quatrième étape a été le contre-la-montre, gagné par Jesse Sergent, le jeune coureur Radioshack de Nouvelle Zélande, après lequel il a était un nouveau leader – Edvald Boasson Hagen, mon beau-mec! Et bien que Matteo Bono ait gagné le cinquième et avant-dernier étape, il a était Eddy «The Boss» qui a gagné le dernier étape et les trois maillots de leader, coureur jeune et sprint!
Photo grâce à Eneco Tour à http://sport.be.msn.com/enecotour/2011/fr/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)