What a nice day, 14 degrees and the sun was shining. A easy pace let the riders rest for half the time, but didn’t the peloton rest a bit to much?
Nice behind, huh? It’s the one of Gerben Lowik! Joining the break of the day! Riders who were there in front with him; Charles Wegelius, Christopher Baldwin, Steve Houanard, Elias Schmäh, Ivan Quaranta, Jérémie Galland, Antonio D'Aniello, Thomas Vedel Kvist and Cyril Lemoine.
There was a strong wind and the Landbouwkrediet-Colnago team didn’t have a rider in the breakaway, with the gap already over 11’ they had 100k left to close the gap!
It was a mix of wind, hard riding and 80% of the riders who didn’t cared that the break got away, and so the peloton was splitting. But we weren’t so happy, because there was not Vacansoleil rider in the first part of the peloton, only Landbouwkrediet-Colnago and Cinelli-Down Under!
With one lap to go, Traksel jumped to the group of L-C and C-D riders, pfjoew, he made it! You can see him sitting in the back of the train, while some riders from the other two teams were dropping of because of the steady pace of cyclocrosser, Sven Nijs! Are they going to be on time?
In front Wegelius and Baldwin got away, but Lowik felt very strong today and closed the gap. Most of the riders were very tired and Lowik is a rider with a lot of energy and expierence.
The pack was going to be to late, it were these three who had a shot of winning! Will Lowik grab another win for us in a nice classic? It looked like it, stats of sprinting; Lowik 71, Baldwin 61, Wegelius 58…
At the foot of the climb they were still together, who suffered first from the cobbles! It is Baldwin who cracked first!
Then Wegelius could keep up with Gerben anymore! It was going to be a well deserved and beautiful victory!
What a nice one! Behind the second Skil rider you see Traksel winning the sprint against De Waele for first place of the group and 11th in the classic…
Results 1 Gerben Löwik Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 4h55'05
2 Charles Wegelius Silence - Lotto s.t.
3 Christopher Baldwin Rock Racing Team s.t.
4 Steve Houanard Skil - Shimano + 22
5 Elias Schmäh Vorarlberg - Corratec s.t.
6 Ivan Quaranta Amore & Vita - Mc Donald's s.t.
7 Jérémie Galland Besson Chaussures - Sojasun s.t.
8 Antonio D'Aniello Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce s.t.
9 Thomas Vedel Kvist Quickstep s.t.
10 Cyril Lemoine Skil - Shimano + 46 11 Bobbie Traksel Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team + 57
12 Bert De Waele Landbouwkrediet - Colnago s.t.
13 Sven Nijs Landbouwkrediet - Colnago + 1'15
14 Frank Vandenbroucke Cinelli - Down under + 1'24
15 Koen Barbé Landbouwkrediet - Colnago s.t.
16 Kevin Neirynck Landbouwkrediet - Colnago + 1'37
17 Kevin Peeters Landbouwkrediet - Colnago s.t.
18 Bert Scheirlinckx Landbouwkrediet - Colnago s.t.
19 Logan Hutchings Cinelli - Down under s.t.
20 Benjamin Gourgue Landbouwkrediet - Colnago s.t.
21 Filip Meirhaeghe Landbouwkrediet - Colnago s.t. 22 Vladimir Gusev Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team + 2'11
23 Gorik Gardeyn Silence - Lotto s.t.
24 Laurent Mangel Besson Chaussures - Sojasun s.t.
25 Jimmy Engoulvent Besson Chaussures - Sojasun s.t.
26 Francis De Greef Silence - Lotto s.t.
27 Jurgen Roelandts Silence - Lotto s.t.
28 Jimmy Casper Besson Chaussures - Sojasun s.t.
29 Fred Rodriguez Rock Racing Team s.t.
30 Bart Dockx Silence - Lotto s.t.
It was going to be hard day, the weather and all factors were good but a top 5 spot on this one will be hard for us. We had put all our luck on Bozic today! Will he finally take his first victory!
A big group got away and because of our sponsor goal we had to send someone with it, just to make sure! Today it was the youngest rider of the peloton, Boy van Poppel who joined the break of the day for us…
Names; Daniel Petrov, Cédric Coutouly, Daniel Musiol, Maarten Wynants, Wesley Van der Linden, Glen Alan Chadwick, Piet Rooijakkers, Matthew Hayman, Boy Van Poppel, Sebastian Siedler, Jonas Ljungblad and Zak Dempster
Again it were Landbouwkrediet and Cinelli who were riding at the front of the peloton, but the gap was already 12’30 with 100 k to go…
With 40k to go the botd had a 20’43 gap to the peloton, the riders knew that one of them were going to win. But this makes it the hardest part of the race, sprinters Siedler and Hayman were looking at each other while Van der Linden was trying to break away. But why, after Siedler (76) he was the best sprinter(73).
Was this what Cinelli was riding for, a maybe, 13th place for Bert Roesems. In the material car behind the peloton we called it a suicide attack… Does he want to close 19’ in 30k all alone?
The front group was splitting up while Van der Linden got caught. Nobody was looking at Van Poppel, only to Siedler, Hayman and Van der Linden. Why do they think I gave Boy a pro-contract, huh?
This were the 8 guys who were left in the first part after the splits in the break of the day.
With 14k to go most of the riders were a bit suffering and Coutouly felt like he had a chance of winning to day! With 6k to go the gap was still ’30, will Siedler and Hayman close the gap? While Hayman did completely nothing, when Siedler asked him to he said that you of Vorarlberg are with two guys!
With 1k to go and with some help of Van Poppel they came back to the wheel of Coutouly, but were they able to pass him…
Boy was the first who came next to him, but did he have enough in the tank to keep in front of Siedler and Hayman? It looked like he was loosing speed there…
It was going to be a close sprint…
With 100 meter to go it looked like Siedler, who had the most chance of winning, was loosing speed and Van Poppel was a bike-length in front!
It was Van Poppel who won! Our sponsors were very happy! And me too of course! Non-sprinter Petrov even past Siedler in the last few meters…
Then 15 minutes later the pack arrived, with Westra leading out Traksel and Bozic!
Traksel was riding with such a speed that the pack was shaking! Only Bozic, Van Hummel and Weylandt could keep that pace. But a clear 1st of the pack position for Bozic!
Results 1 Boy Van Poppel Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 4h51'41
2 Daniel Petrov Cycling club Bourgas s.t.
3 Sebastian Siedler Vorarlberg - Corratec s.t.
4 Matthew Hayman Rabobank s.t.
5 Cédric Coutouly Besson Chaussures - Sojasun s.t.
6 Daniel Musiol Vorarlberg - Corratec s.t.
7 Jonas Ljungblad Silence - Lotto s.t.
8 Maarten Wynants Quickstep s.t.
9 Wesley Van der Linden Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator + 1'36
10 Piet Rooijakkers Skil - Shimano s.t.
11 Glen Alan Chadwick Rock Racing Team + 5'01
12 Zak Dempster Cycling club Bourgas s.t. 13 Borut Bozic Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team + 14'28
14 Wouter Weylandt Quickstep s.t.
15 Kenny Van Hummel Skil - Shimano s.t. 16 Bobbie Traksel Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team s.t.
17 Kenny De Ketele Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator s.t.
18 Matteo Tosatto Quickstep s.t.
19 Jurgen Roelandts Silence - Lotto s.t.
20 Jimmy Casper Besson Chaussures - Sojasun s.t.
21 René Haselbacher Vorarlberg - Corratec s.t.
22 René Weissinger Vorarlberg - Corratec s.t.
23 Tom Leezer Rabobank s.t.
24 Janek Tombak Cycling club Bourgas s.t.
25 Gorik Gardeyn Silence - Lotto s.t.
26 Gerrit Glomser Vorarlberg - Corratec s.t.
27 Romain Matheou Besson Chaussures - Sojasun s.t.
28 Dimitri De Fauw Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator s.t.
29 Bert Roesems Cinelli - Down under s.t. 30 Lieuwe Westra Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team s.t.
After all the effort of Cinelli and Landbouwkrediet, Cinelli leader Roesems became 29th because he got reeled in with 15k to go and the best man of Landbouwkrediet was Schierlinckx on a 49th place! We had a nice day and our sponsor offers us a diner for the whole team tonight! Well that was really cool! We hope to see more of Boy but he is only 18 years old, but our staff sees great mass-sprint wins in the future for the son of Jean-Paul van Poppel, who is now manager at Cervelo Test Team. Next will be the Settimana Ciclista Internazionale in Italy.
This is a stage race of 6 days with some major climbs, the 3rd stage was won by Gusev! That was really cool because now were standing on place 1 and 2 of the GC ranking. This because Hoogerland did a great job yesterday, being at the break away at the end. Other break of the day members couldn’t keep up on the stage Gusev won so Hoogerland climbed to 2nd place. Gusev was enough in front to take over the yellow jersey! Second that they was the old Italian Gilberto Simoni, Gibo was going to be the main contender for the leaders jersey.
The 5th stage had some chances for Bozic while it was almost completely flat, but there were a few other sprinters. Hunter, Petacchi, Gasparre, Roelands and Loddo…
Vacansoleil, Barloworld and LPR reeled in the break of the day and it was time for some exiting sprint moments. Westra and Ongarato were leading out Bozic!
In the back of the peloton there was a crash of 49 riders, most important road-diver was Mario Aerts who was standing 3rd before this stage…
Ongarato was leading out Bozic, with in his wheel South African Hunter and Alé-Jét Petacchi!
It was going to be close! The 1st stage was Petacchi 1st, Hunter 2nd and Bozic 3rd…
This was a clear victory for Hunter, in front of Bozic who could just keep his wheel in front of the Italian…
The final stage was a bit dissapoiting, Simoni was defiantly the riders with the most chance of winning. He was in the breakaway with Hoogerland and Carrara who were fighting for the jersey of Gusev, and Chavanel, Brutt and Possoni. But at every hill Simoni was making fun of them and the last hill he got away. He was just gone far enough (’23) to win the GC! There was nothing Carrara and Hoogerland could do. In the second group, Gusev became second behind Scognamiglio at 1’03.
Results
Final Stage…
1 Gilberto Simoni Serramenti PVC Diq. - Androni Giocattoli 3h57'35 2 Johnny Hoogerland Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team + 23
3 Sylvain Chavanel Quickstep s.t. 4 Matteo Carrara Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team s.t.
5 Pavel Brutt Team Katusha s.t.
6 Morris Possoni Team Columbia - HTC s.t.
7 Carlo Scognamiglio Barloworld + 1'03 8 Vladimir Gusev Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team s.t.
9 Mario Aerts Silence - Lotto s.t.
10 Domenico Pozzovivo CSF group - Navigarre s.t.
General Classification
1 Gilberto Simoni Serramenti PVC Diq. - Androni Giocattoli 18h47'03 2 Johnny Hoogerland Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team + 18
3 Vladimir Gusev Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team + 29
4 Sylvain Chavanel Quickstep + 1'00
5 Morris Possoni Team Columbia - HTC + 1'28
6 Michael Barry Team Columbia - HTC + 1'53
7 Lorenzo Bernucci LPR Brakes - Farnese Vini + 2'04
8 Graziano Gasparre Amore & Vita - Mc Donald's + 2'22
9 Daniel Oss Liquigas s.t.
10 Massimiliano Gentili Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce + 2'35
Points Classification
1 Robert Hunter Barloworld 53
2 Gilberto Simoni Serramenti PVC Diq. - Androni Giocattoli 47
3 Carlo Scognamiglio Barloworld 43
4 Alessandro Petacchi LPR Brakes - Farnese Vini 41
5 Sylvain Chavanel Quickstep 36 6 Borut Bozic Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 36
7 Claudio Corioni Liquigas 35 8 Vladimir Gusev Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 33
9 Johnny Hoogerland Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 30
10 Andrea Tonti Fuji - Servetto 29
Mountain Classification
1 Paolo Tiralongo Lampre - N.G.C. 84
2 Diego Milán Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 60
3 Alan Marangoni CSF group - Navigarre 42
4 Gianni Da Ros Liquigas 28
5 Carlos José Ochoa Serramenti PVC Diq. - Androni Giocattoli 28
6 Andrea Tonti Fuji - Servetto 24
7 Gilberto Simoni Serramenti PVC Diq. - Androni Giocattoli 22
8 Artur Krol Amore & Vita - Mc Donald's 20
9 Gorik Gardeyn Silence - Lotto 18
10 Markus Eichler Team Milram 16
In the middle of Settimana Ciclista Internazionale was also a Belgium classic planned. Leukemans was having some rest for other classics and already a though season and Gusev had trying to win in Italy and gain condition for the KBC- 3-Days of the Panne-Koksijde. So it was Bobbie Traksel who had to defend the colors of Vacansoleil today! He did better then we expected because it was a field were most of the organizations would be very proud of! Traksel was in the group for the 12th spot with Haussler, Van Avermaet and Hulsmans. But at the final cobble section he got a flat tire! The first flat tire of the season for Vacansoleil, but not at a nice time though.
He felt back to the 30th place but with all his strength and power he was still trying to get to the group in front of him. With 4k to go he caught the group for place 20 and took the backwheel of Saxo rider Matti Breschel. But Traksel was way stronger then Breschel and Paolini and won the sprint for 20th place. Bobbie was a bit disappointed of his flat tire because he was really strong today! (+5)
Results
1 Tom Boonen Quickstep 5h11'31
2 Thor Hushovd Cervélo Test Team + 47
3 George Hincapie Team Columbia - HTC s.t.
4 Fabian Cancellara Team Saxo Bank s.t.
5 Leif Hoste Silence - Lotto s.t.
6 Juan Antonio Flecha Rabobank s.t.
7 Stuart O'Grady Team Saxo Bank + 1'33
8 Marcus Burghardt Team Columbia - HTC s.t.
9 Roy Sentjens Silence - Lotto + 1'55
10 Kevin Van Impe Quickstep s.t.
11 Nick Nuyens Rabobank s.t.
12 Heinrich Haussler Cervélo Test Team + 2'15
13 Greg Van Avermaet Silence - Lotto s.t.
14 Kevin Hulsmans Quickstep s.t.
15 Staf Scheirlinckx Silence - Lotto + 2'45
16 Matthew Hayman Rabobank s.t.
17 Frederic Guesdon Française des Jeux s.t.
18 Manuel Quinziato Liquigas s.t.
19 Bert Roesems Cinelli - Down under s.t. 20 Bobbie Traksel Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team + 3'15
21 Luca Paolini Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo s.t.
22 Matti Breschel Team Saxo Bank s.t.
23 Wouter Weylandt Quickstep s.t.
24 Francis De Greef Silence - Lotto s.t. 25 Aart Vierhouten Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team s.t.
26 Frank Vandenbroucke Cinelli - Down under s.t.
27 Gatis Smukulis AG2R - La Mondiale s.t.
28 Steven De Jongh Quickstep + 3'44
29 Jimmy Casper Besson Chaussures - Sojasun s.t.
30 Anthony Geslin Française des Jeux s.t.
It has been a great month, with wins of Gusev, Van Poppel and Lowik! Gusev showed a good form and is ready for one of his goals this season, the KBC- 3-days of the Panne-Koksijde! A stage race with cobbled sections and a time trial! Let’s hope we can keep that winning spirit!
April, another exciting month for the team! Accept from the Brabantse Pijl and the KBC 3-Days, we don’t aspect any wins this month. Maybe in a smaller classic like Pino Cerami or Drenthe, were Traksel won last edition. In the Brabantse Pijl will Hoogerland be our main leader, he’s in a reasonable form because of last Italian stage week. The KBC 3-Days is a goal of Gusev, some cobbled stages and a flat time trial at the end make it a perfect match for Gusev! The last part of the month we got invited to some major Pro Tour events, Amstel, Fleche and Liege. In those races Hoogerland is going for a top 10 spot and Vandenbroeck will join him in Liege, because that is one of his favorite races. It’s also to gain some form for the Giro d’Italia, because we were invited!!!!!
First day of the month, Brabantse Pijl. A race which Hoogerland underlined at is calendar and his teammates wanted to help him to his first victory this season! But faith tells something different, everything was going well, Carrara took off with 60k to go. It looked like a suicide mission but Carrara had other plans… He tried to stay in front of the group but not to far. Our plan was to attack on one of the last hills of this classic with Hoogerland, so he could join Carrara and Matteo was able to help him further. With 30k to go it was Gomeze Marchante who attacked, Hoogerland just followed along with Fedrigo, Brandt, Vansummeren, Hugo Pena and Moncoutie. They were closing the gap on Carrara and Matteo begun to ride a bit faster up the hills. With 15k to Matteo was still ’30 in front and the whole peloton was exploded, Hoogerland attacked again and only Fedrigo was able to follow him. Just 6k to go and Matteo was suffering because of the steady pace of Fedrigo. Matteo was disappointed that he wasn’t able to help Hoogerland anymore but Johnny was already happy that he didn’t had to ride with the chasers so he didn’t put so much effort in it as the Frenchman. But Pierrick Fedrigo probably had a super day at the final hill with finish on top, he started the sprint with Hoogerland in his wheel. Hoogerland was just able to get next to him, but not more then that. Fedrigo was super today and he deserved to win! Hoogerland second and Carrara third…
Results
1 Pierrick Fédrigo BBOX - Bouygues Telecom 4h39'08 2 Johnny Hoogerland Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team s.t.
3 Matteo Carrara Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team s.t.
4 Ruggero Marzoli Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo + 20
5 Christophe Brandt Silence - Lotto s.t.
6 José Angel Gómez Marchante Cervélo Test Team s.t.
7 David Moncoutié Cofidis - Le Crédit en ligne s.t.
8 Johan Vansummeren Silence - Lotto s.t.
9 Victor Hugo Peña Rock Racing Team s.t.
10 Denis Galimzyanov Team Katusha + 44
11 Mikhail Ignatiev Team Katusha s.t.
12 J-Enrique Gutierrez Rock Racing Team s.t.
13 Marco Velo Quickstep s.t.
14 Luca Pierfelici Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo s.t.
15 Koos Moerenhout Rabobank s.t.
16 Maryan Hary Cofidis - Le Crédit en ligne s.t.
17 Luca Paolini Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo + 1'12
18 Giuseppe Palumbo Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo s.t.
19 Dainius Kairelis Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce s.t.
20 Óscar Sevilla Rock Racing Team s.t.
21 Johann Tschopp BBOX - Bouygues Telecom s.t.
22 Addy Engels Quickstep s.t.
23 Jürgen Van De Walle Quickstep s.t.
24 Carlos Sastre Cervélo Test Team s.t.
25 Alexandre Botcharov Team Katusha s.t.
26 Hubert Schwab Quickstep s.t.
27 Volodymyr Gustov Cervélo Test Team s.t.
28 Andrei Kunitski Quickstep s.t.
29 Tom Leezer Rabobank + 1'37 30 Marco Marcato Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team s.t.
This would be an important day for Gusev! He planned the whole month of March just to have a good form this week. The first stage at some hills and cobble sections…
It were Nicolas Maes and Bert de Waele who were in the break of the day, De Waele left Maes behind with 30k to go and still had a gap of 5’48. With 25k to go the pack was still not fighting for it and with two small hills to go, thinks were going to be different…
Leukemans, just back after his two weeks of relative rest, attacked on one of the steep hills! Maes was caught easily and it looked like he almost stands still. What a speed Björn developed here, those rest did a good job for him…
With 15k to go he had a gap of 1’50 to a small group who attacked, it were Boom, Nuyens, Ballan, Boonen, Flecha,Terpstra and Gusev. Boonen was the big favorite but didn’t ride because of the three Rabobank boys. Gusev got a small gap and the others were looking at Boonen, within one kilometer Gusev had a gap of ’20 on them. While the pack almost catched the group of Flecha and Boonen. Leukemans had 1’39 on Gusev, while Gusev had ’30 at the pack…
It was Leukemans who won, easily it looked! A nice second victory for our Belgium leader. Under the 1k barrier you see Gusev coming…
Gusev stayed ’29 in front of Boonen, who won the bunch sprint while he pedaled with one leg and his arms on his back…
2nd Stage
Because of the hard wind the pack was starting to split, but it came back together everytime…
Westra and Ongarato were leading out Bozic! Here they come…
On the right sight, under for the viewers, it was Gusev who choose Van Avermaet’s wheel but he couldn’t keep up with him. It were Boonen, Fischer and Paolini who sad behind Bozic.
Boonen won easily, also because Bozic got boxed in by Fisher! That ass…
The 3rd stage was a small one, with in the afternoon the time trial. Boonen also won this stage in front of Paolini and Bozic… Leukemans was still leading with the same time on Gusev, while Boonen was coming close because of his bonus seconds in sprints on Gusev. But Vladimir was a far better time trialist… Last stage result…
Results 1 Vladimir Gusev Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 12'08
2 Leif Hoste Silence - Lotto + 8
3 George Hincapie Team Columbia - HTC + 12
4 Sébastien Rosseler Quickstep + 15 5 Lieuwe Westra Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team + 16
6 Stijn Devolder Quickstep + 17 7 Daniel Kreutzfeldt Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team + 21
8 Lars Boom Rabobank + 22
9 Peter Ronsse Cinelli - Down under + 23
10 Marco Pinotti Team Columbia - HTC + 25 58 Björn Leukemans Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team + 1'10
As you can see Bjorn is far from being a time trial specialist, but on the line he had ’16 left and saw he won the GC of the KBC 3-Days of the Panne-Koksijde! We are very proud of this result, 1st and 2nd in the GC and both of my leaders won a stage. Also Daniel Kreutzfeld did really good because of a great time trial! We knew Lieuwe good ride a good time trial as well…
General Classification 1 Björn Leukemans Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 14h33'03
2 Vladimir Gusev Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team + 16
3 Leif Hoste Silence - Lotto + 54
4 Tom Boonen Quickstep + 55
5 George Hincapie Team Columbia - HTC + 58
6 Sébastien Rosseler Quickstep + 1'01 7 Lieuwe Westra Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team + 1'02
8 Stijn Devolder Quickstep + 1'03 9 Daniel Kreutzfeldt Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team + 1'07
10 Lars Boom Rabobank + 1'08
Points Classification
1 Tom Boonen Quickstep 56
2 Greg Van Avermaet Silence - Lotto 47 3 Vladimir Gusev Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 40
4 Steven De Jongh Quickstep 29
5 Luca Paolini Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 27
6 Roy Sentjens Silence - Lotto 24
7 Alessandro Ballan Lampre - N.G.C. 24 8 Borut Bozic Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 24
9 Murilo Fischer Liquigas 23
10 George Hincapie Team Columbia - HTC 22
Mountain Classification
1 Wilfried Cretskens Silence - Lotto 10
2 Bert De Waele Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 10
3 Aaron Kemps Rock Racing Team 7
4 Nikolas Maes Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator 6
5 Massimo Codol Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 6
6 Guennadi Mikhailov Team Katusha 6
7 Frederic Guesdon Française des Jeux 5
8 Igor Abakoumov ISD 5
9 Matthew Hayman Rabobank 3
10 Dario Andriotto Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 3
@ Bosskardo; I'm not leading the CT because there is Cervélo and in the individual you have Hushovd and Haussler. Leukemans is 6th at the Super Prestige Ranking...
@ AndyRoddick; It was also import for Gusev because of the cobbles and the time trial. If Leukemans didn't get away the first stage he would have won!
The hardest race of the year and the rider who is able to win this one, will be the King of Belgium. Will it be Stijn Devolder like next year of major favorite and team mate, Tom Boonen. It looks like the Belgium riders have the most chance of winning with Boonen, Devolder, Hoste and Gilbert. But will Haussler finally win a big race? It is his most favorite race…
The pack was together for a very long time, the last 40 was hard with the cobbles and hills. A large group of 40 riders was al that was left, with all the big favorites in it. It was O’Grady who attacked as first big name, was it to lead out Cancellara? No, it wasn’t, the Saxo riders used the wrong strategy today… It were the Columbia-HTC riders who ride to victory today! Hincapie got a way on one of the smaller climbs while Burghardt was in the group behind him, trying to slow the chasers. But with 4k to go Flecha and Devolder cracked and Burghardt was alone behind Hincapie but was closing very fast. 1’00, ’40, with 2k it was ’20 and Hincapie was suffering. But Mr. No Chain had just enough in the tank to stay in front of his team mate! Gusev did a good job by riding top 10, he had no chance of sprinting against Haussler and Gilbert. Leukemans also did a great job, he won KBC 3-Days but was not in the very good form. While Flanders is the hardest race of the year, a 16th place is reasonable!
1 George Hincapie Team Columbia - HTC 6h00'14
2 Marcus Burghardt Team Columbia - HTC + 10
3 Juan Antonio Flecha Rabobank + 44
4 Stijn Devolder Quickstep s.t.
5 Tom Boonen Quickstep + 1'01
6 Heinrich Haussler Cervélo Test Team + 1'21
7 Leif Hoste Silence - Lotto s.t.
8 Philippe Gilbert Silence - Lotto s.t. 9 Vladimir Gusev Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team s.t.
10 Thor Hushovd Cervélo Test Team + 1'34
11 Fabian Cancellara Team Saxo Bank s.t.
12 Nick Nuyens Rabobank s.t.
13 Stuart O'Grady Team Saxo Bank + 1'51
14 Roy Sentjens Silence - Lotto s.t.
15 Karsten Kroon Team Saxo Bank s.t. 16 Björn Leukemans Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team s.t.
17 Martijn Maaskant Garmin - Slipstream + 2'03
18 Servais Knaven Team Milram s.t.
19 Kevin Van Impe Quickstep s.t.
20 Staf Scheirlinckx Silence - Lotto s.t.
21 Manuel Quinziato Liquigas s.t.
22 Johan Vansummeren Silence - Lotto s.t.
23 Óscar Freire Rabobank + 2'16
24 Daniele Bennati Liquigas s.t.
25 Kevin Hulsmans Quickstep s.t.
26 Dimitri Muravyev Astana Cycling Team s.t.
27 Niki Terpstra Team Milram s.t.
28 Enrico Franzoï Liquigas s.t.
29 Steven De Jongh Quickstep + 2'44
30 Murilo Fischer Liquigas s.t.
After my injury which took more then 1 month to recover I became 66th an was really pleased!
63 Tom Boveree Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team + 4'23
Next will be one of our sponsor goals! The German 1.HC race, Rund um Köln!
Edited by Tombola on 25-02-2010 20:22
A race with some nice climbs but not from a hard category. Also the final part of the race is quite flat so a bunch sprint wouldn’t be rare. The race is a sponsor goal so we will do anything to get at the top 5! That’s why I had send a nice squad with, Marcato, Ongarato, Bozic, Feillu, Hoogerland, Vandenbroeck, Ruijgh and Lagutin. Riders like Pineau, Cobo and Petacchi were the favorites today!
At the first climb it is Lagutin who is trying to get away with a small group, but unfortunately, they won’t let them…
This breakaway does get away, I don’t know why because there are three guys of Silence-Lotto in it, Gardeyn, Jacobs and Delage. The others were Hernandez, Hoj and a favorite De Waele. For Vacansoleil it was Ruijgh who controlled the breakaway.
Because of the three Silence guys nobody was riding and half way the first climb a few attackers past them. It were Pineau and Albasini, behind them it were P. Velits, Cobo, Vansummeren, Bernucci, Marcato from Vacansoleil and De Waele who could still hang on from the breakoftheday.
With 2,5k to go they closed the gap to the two leaders, Marcato was in the wheel of Velits who was the second best sprinter and Marco was the best on paper…
They begun the sprint very late and that was not positive for Marco because he was one of the last riders of the group. He couldn’t wait and was the first who was going to sprint, Albasini was still a bit in front and everybody went sprinting. Velits, Pineau and Marcato had way more spead then Albasini…
But they were to late! Marco was very disappointed because he almost won, the sprint was just to short. He was clearly the sprinter but Albasini was lucky because of the short sprint and the small gap he still had when they started sprinting. And I, I was happy with reaching another goal!
Ongarato was leading out Bozic but like in the Ronde van het Groene Hart, Bozic got boxed in. So far this had not been his year, he doesn’t have a victory jet…
Results
1 Michael Albasini Team Columbia - HTC 5h05'06 2 Marco Marcato Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team s.t.
3 Jérôme Pineau Quickstep s.t.
4 Peter Velits Team Milram s.t.
5 Lorenzo Bernucci LPR Brakes - Farnese Vini s.t.
6 Juanjo Cobo Fuji - Servetto s.t.
7 Bert De Waele Landbouwkrediet - Colnago s.t.
8 Johan Vansummeren Silence - Lotto s.t.
9 Jesús Del Nero Fuji - Servetto + 1'59
10 Alessandro Petacchi LPR Brakes - Farnese Vini s.t.
11 Christian Kux Team Milram s.t.
12 Bram De Groot Rabobank s.t.
13 André Korff Team Columbia - HTC s.t. 14 Alberto Ongarato Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team s.t.
15 Michael Barry Team Columbia - HTC s.t.
16 Sergio Marinangeli LPR Brakes - Farnese Vini s.t. 17 Borut Bozic Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team s.t.
18 Jos Van Emden Rabobank s.t.
19 Harald Starzengruber ELK Haus - Simplon s.t.
20 Bert Scheirlinckx Landbouwkrediet - Colnago s.t.
21 Grischa Niermann Rabobank s.t.
22 Lasse Bochman Team Saxo Bank s.t.
23 Frédéric Amorison Landbouwkrediet - Colnago s.t.
24 Sebastian Langeveld Rabobank s.t.
25 Gabriele Bosisio LPR Brakes - Farnese Vini s.t.
26 Andrea Tonti Fuji - Servetto s.t.
27 Kai Reus Rabobank s.t.
28 Jurgen Roelandts Silence - Lotto s.t.
29 Sylvain Chavanel Quickstep s.t.
30 Paul Martens Rabobank s.t.
This was a bi-ba-boring race… Really stupid because almost everybody knew who was going to win this almost flat classic if the race wasn’t hard. And well, nothing happened and so Alé Jet could write a nother victory on his records of achievements… Traksel did a great job by placing himself in the wheel of the Italian but he was not even able to come next to him.
Results
1 Alessandro Petacchi LPR Brakes - Farnese Vini 4h11'43 2 Bobbie Traksel Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team s.t.
3 Wouter Weylandt Quickstep s.t.
4 Jimmy Casper Besson Chaussures - Sojasun s.t.
5 Jochen Summer ELK Haus - Simplon s.t.
6 Wesley Van der Linden Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator s.t.
7 Fred Rodriguez Rock Racing Team s.t.
8 André Korff Team Columbia - HTC s.t.
9 Jurgen Roelandts Silence - Lotto s.t.
10 J-Enrique Gutierrez Rock Racing Team s.t.
11 Gorik Gardeyn Silence - Lotto s.t.
12 Aaron Kemps Rock Racing Team s.t.
13 Aitor Galdos Euskaltel - Euskaldi s.t.
14 Romain Matheou Besson Chaussures - Sojasun s.t. 15 Matteo Carrara Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team s.t.
16 Lorenzo Bernucci LPR Brakes - Farnese Vini s.t.
17 Steve Schets Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator s.t.
18 Greg Henderson Team Columbia - HTC s.t.
19 Dimitri De Fauw Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator s.t.
20 Sergio Marinangeli LPR Brakes - Farnese Vini s.t.
21 Sven Nijs Landbouwkrediet - Colnago s.t.
22 Gert Dockx Team Columbia - HTC s.t.
23 Kevin Neirynck Landbouwkrediet - Colnago s.t.
24 Michel Van Staeyen Rabobank Continental s.t.
25 Michael Albasini Team Columbia - HTC s.t.
26 Michael Barry Team Columbia - HTC s.t.
27 Alan Pérez Euskaltel - Euskaldi s.t.
28 Benjamin Gourgue Landbouwkrediet - Colnago s.t.
29 Bert Grabsch Team Columbia - HTC s.t.
30 Kevin Peeters Landbouwkrediet - Colnago s.t.
Traksel doesn’t want to renewal his contract and that will be a hard miss for the team. Because Bobbie is not only a good help for guys like Bozic in the sprint and Leukemans on the cobbles, as you can see in this result he is also capable to ride some nice results himself! He is very happy in our team but he says that some “bigger” teams are interested in him. If he goes, we wish him all the luck, but we are probably going to be Pro Tour ourselves next year…
