From Rome I went by train to San Vicenzo, starting place of the GP Costa degli Etruschi. The race was won by Alessandro Petacchi the last four years in row, but this year someone else will enter the books, as Alessandro is not taking part.
Temperatures of 23 C and a moderate wind were reported, when the riders started the 177 kilometers through the small hills that characterize the area.
We went into the race with six riders, the Brit Chris Froome, and from the Netherlands Jorg Brouwers, Johannes Goolkate, Sieme Pinas, Wout Poels, and Jamie Snijders.
The early, larger hill motivated Capecchi (Fuji-Servetto) and Scarponi (Serramenti) to break away, and five more riders followed. When the peloton passed the hill, five more riders, including Jorg Brouwers from our team, attacked and closed the gap to the lead riders.
The 13 riders had a lead of six minutes, when Lampre started to increase the speed. Several other riders tried to break away from the peloton, but they were all reeled in with 10 km to the finish line.
Then again, some riders tried to break away as they had no chance in a mass sprint that seemed to be inevitable. One of them was our Chris Froome, who put all his energy into the attack.
But the sprinter teams were too strong today, with Acqua&Sapone and LPR Breaks, Paolini vs. Ongarato and Marinangeli. Ongerato, who had his team mate Marinageli in his wheel, opened the sprint with such a speed that no other rider could catch up, and he clearly won the race ahead of Luca Paolini (A&S) and team mate Sergio Marinangeli. Chris Froome ended 79th in his first race of the season.
Finish Top 10
1 Alberto Ongertao LPR Brakes 4h10'47
2 Luca Paolini Acqua & Sapone
3 Sergio Marinangeli LPR Brakes
4 Mirko Lorenzetto Lampre
5 Marco Marcato Vascansoleil
6 Enrico Gasparotto Lampre
7 Marcello Pavarin CSF Group - Navigare
8 Francesco Gavazzi Lampre
9 Michael Reihs Designa Kokken
10 Mattia Gavazzi Serramenti (all same time)
Our next race will be the Tour de Langkawi, a 9-day HC race in Malaysia. All but one stages will be flat or may include some minor hills, but the pre-last stage will finish on the way up to the 1500 meters high Bukit Fraser (Fraser's hill). The climb won't be steep, but it could be decisive for the whole tour.
Le Tour de Langkawi
In 2009's Tour de Langkawi the riders have to ride 9 stages, with the eight stage ending in a long climb up to 844 meter to Bukit Fraser. For security reason this climb was chosen by the organization as replacement for the traditional climb up to Genting Highlands.
(there's the 2008 TdL in my db, therefore the information is not completly in accordance with reality... :))
Overview of the stages
We have chosen seven riders of our team to participate. We set our hope on two of our British riders, 'oldy' Daniel Lloyd and Chris Froome, who shall fight for a good position when it comes to the climb finish stage. Lloyd may be able to show something great in sprinters stages, too. That early in the season you never know, where other riders are in their fitness programme.
Wout Poels got the role of a free rider to begin with. He may try to get away in a break, or may help the leaders when the strong teams try to get off the weaker ones. Furthermore, there will be Jamie Snijders, Sieme Pinas, Johannes Goolkate and Jorg Brauwers as team mates.
137 riders from 20 teams participate in this years TdL: CSF - Navigare
1. D.Pozzovivo
2. A.Bisolti
3. F.Canuti
4. T.Dall'Antonia
5. M.Finetto
6. A.Marangoni
7. F.Savini
8. S.Stortoni
Le Tour de Langkawi
Stage 1: Alor Setar – Kepala Batas
The opening stage of this years TdL will be mostly flat, but does contain three mountain sprints. The first one on top of higher hill 50km for the finish, and two more within the last 15 km from the line. The sun is shining, air temperature is 35 degree, and there is a light wind. We do have a chance for a nice finish, if we succeed in shaking off some sprinters, or at least tiring them enough, so they are exhausted when it comes to the final sprint. … and we stay in front at the same time, of course.
The race was opened by several attacks resulting in a breakaway of 11 riders who took a lead of 4'30” when it was another 80 km to go and the peloton, led by Saxo bank and Bouygues Telecom, increased its speed. Our helpers kept up the pelotons speed up to 20 km from the line, where they were dropped one after each other, leaving our leaders alone with Poels. Lloyd felt it was his day today, so we concentrated on protecting him when it came to the final hills. The 11 riders of todays breakaway.
When the pre-last hill was taken, the breakaway had already shrink down to 5 riders and the peloton was not far off. Coutouly (Besson Chaussures) tried a solo, but was eventually caught by the pack. The final hill would be at just 6 kilometers from the finish, meaning it would be important to stay in front when passing him. Verheyen (Landbouwkrediet) placed an attack, but just to get the bonus. Verheyen taking off
Froome and Lloyd managed to stay in the first rows, and Froome was in perfect position to lead out our sprinter. Froome kept the speed of the peloton up, reducing the number of contenders, but when the sprint was opened by riders next to him – Lloyd was not in his wheel. He was somewhere several bike lengths behind, without a chance to grab a wheel. Froome decided to go for it himself, got behind Fumagalli (Ceramica), who had just passed him and was lying in front. Fumagalli, Froome in his wheel
It was still a long way to go, and from behind another Ceramica rider was coming closer: Kairelis. Froome went into the wind, but not trained in sprints he couldn't hold off the sprinters who came with Kairelis. Kairelis won the race, Froome managed to get fifth. Lloyd took a disappointing 22nd place, but we all know the season has just begun. Kairelis just a few meters from stage victory.
Finish Top 10
1 Dainius Kairelis Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce 3h57'54
2 Luca Paolini Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo s.t.
3 René Weissinger Vorarlberg - Corratec s.t.
4 Stefan Radochla ELK Haus s.t. 5 Chris Froome Redwood - Philips s.t.
6 Mikhaylo Khalilov Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce s.t.
7 Jonas Vangenechten Verandas Willems s.t.
8 Alexander Kristoff Joker Bianchi s.t.
9 Cristiano Fumagalli Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce s.t.
10 Alex Rasmussen Team Saxo Bank s.t.
Le Tour de Langkawi
Stage 2: Butter Worth – Siliawan
The second stage will bring us 164 kilometers from Butter Worth to Siliawan over flat terrain. The route follows pretty much the coast, and there are strong side winds of up to 50km/h.
The first kilometers of the stage the peloton went at a very high pace, but eventually some it calmed down, allowing ten riders to sit in three breakaway groups, who took all sprints. Meanwhile, Ceramica chased the breakaway riders, and high speed in combination with a strong wind generally leads to splits in the peloton. There was no exception today, with the first split at 40 km from the finish.
Our riders managed to sit in the front group of 40 riders, just Lloyd had to work hard to make sure he won't be dropped before things had begun. Acqua & Sapone brought back the second group, but the wind did not decreased, neither did the splitting stop. With 20 km to go, there was a second serious split in the pack, with a group of 53 riders in the front, including half of our team, and luckily, both our leaders were in. Over the radio we heard that Alex Rasmussen had not made it in the front group, meaning – for now – one sprinter less to compete with.
The first group hold the pace up high, preventing the second group from coming back up to just before the finish. When approaching the finish, a Ceramica train had formed for Fumagalli, and Lloyd hang on to it. He lost the wheel, however, and again had difficulties to get behind another sprinter again. Meanwhile, Summer (ELK Haus) and Palumbo (A&S) tried to get away on their own..
Several riders followed, and it was our Chris Froome who made the jump in one sprinters wheel, with Lloyd hanging on to him. Ljungqvist (Saxo Bank) opened the sprint when Froome was in 5th position.
Dall'Antonia (CSF Navigare) attacked and passed Ljunqqvist, Froome followed him in 3rd position already. Behind him were Paolini (A&S) and Kristoff (Joker Bianchi), both much stronger sprinters than Froome. The first two places were obviously not available any more, so it came to a fight for the third rank, with Paolini being the best sprinter finishing the race in the race, ending third. Froome took the 5th place behind Kristoff. Surprisingly, Lloyd had enough power to finish 6th, although some seconds behind his team mate.
Finish Top 10
1 Tiziano Dall'Antonia CSF Group - Navigare 3h39'55
2 Marcus Ljungqvist Team Saxo Bank s.t.
3 Luca Paolini Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo s.t.
4 Alexander Kristoff Joker Bianchi s.t. 5 Chris Froome Redwood - Philips s.t.
6 Daniel Lloyd Redwood - Philips s.t.
7 Jonas Ljungblad Silence - Lotto s.t.
8 Cristiano Fumagalli Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce s.t.
9 Jonas Vangenechten Verandas Willems s.t.
10 Giovanni Visconti ISD s.t.
When the race was done and the riders back in their hotels, the news was spread that 28-yo AG2R helper and fighter Christophe Riblon is banned from cycling for a two year period after a positive doping test result.
With more than 200 km, today's stage will be the longest of the race. The terrain is flat, and with barely wind and no cloud in sight we expect another mass sprint finish. Several riders formed breakaway groups that created a gap of more than eight minutes.
Silence Lotto, Acqua&Sapone, and ELK Haus, however, closed the gap 15km from the finish. Meanwhile, we were left with three riders in the pack, when the preparations for the sprint began. Lloyd tried to get in a wheel of another sprinter, but he just could not make it. All favourites were aligned in one train, led by CSF Navigare for Dall'Antonia, who was followed by Rodochla (ELK Haus), Rasmussen (Saxo Bank), GC leader Paolini (Acqua&Sapone), and De'Haes (Silence Lotto).
Realizing that Lloyd had no wheel to follow, Froome created a second train, trying to bring our sprinter in front, without much success as Lloyd was too exhausted already.
Back in the pack several riders fell down, including one of the tour favourites Domenico Pozzovivo (CSF Navigare). They could all finish the race, however Pozzovivo is now more than 2 minutes behind the other GC contenders.
Close to the finish the sprint had to be decided between Radochla, who had passed Dall'Antonia already, and Paolini, coming dangerously close from behind, and Rasmussen if he can do a little miracle. In the end, Radochla had his wheel in front, ahead of Paolini who got second. Our riders weren't present in the sprint, finishing 24th (Lloyd) and 29th (Froome).
Finish Top 10
1 Stefan Radochla ELK Haus 4h44'59
2 Luca Paolini Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo s.t.
3 Tiziano Dall'Antonia CSF Group - Navigare s.t.
4 Alex Rasmussen Team Saxo Bank s.t.
5 Kenny De Haes Silence - Lotto s.t.
6 Jonas Ljungblad Silence - Lotto s.t.
7 Dainius Kairelis Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce s.t.
8 Alexander Kristoff Joker Bianchi s.t.
9 Cristiano Fumagalli Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce s.t.
10 René Weissinger Vorarlberg - Corratec s.t.
Le Tour de Langkawi
Stage 4: Port Dickson – Bahut Pahat
In the morning before the race I thought about a way to make up for yesterday's loss. The weather forecast service predicts sunny weather and a light wind, getting stronger towards the evening. It will be a flat stage of about 140km, and I decided to go for the breakaway.
So it happened that early in the stage that Jamie Snijders broke away with four other riders. At the first intermediate sprint Jamie got 3rd behind Egger (Vorarlberg) and Gourgue (Landbouwkrediet), collecting some points and money.
The group was joined by another rider, and other riders tried to follow the six guys in front in small groups. Gourgue attacked from the leading group, creating a distance to Snijders of about a minute. The pack, meanwhile 7 minutes behind, started chasing the breakaway groups, while Egger and Snijders attacked from the group behind Gourgue. Snijders felt strong enough to shake off Egger after following him for a while, and eventually catched up with Gourgue. Snijders leaving Eggers behind.
The duo approached the second intermediate sprint which was won by Snijders, as well as the last one.
The pack came closer with the minute, and reeled in the leading duo just before the 20km mark. At that time, once again, our young helpers were dropped, and we prepared for another mass sprint, hoping that things will turn out better for us this time. And things looked promising, as Lloyd managed to hang onto the wheel of Dall'Antonia (CSF) who had won yesterday, and there was only one other short train in sight leading out Vangenechten (Verandas), as Paolini had not yet found to the front. The space allowed Froome to hang on to the sprinter trains as well, maybe he can resume on what he started with earlier in the tour.
When Dall'Antonia left his lead-out man's wheel he really pulled Lloyd behind him away from the sprinting pack. Vangenechten came to the front on the left side of the road, passing Lloyd and closing in to Dall'Antonia, who slowed down a bit. Lloyd tried to pass, but he wasn't as strong as he thought and lost more than he gained on the man before him, and on the other side of the wide road Weissinger (Vorarlberg) pushed forward.
Lloyd really slowed down now, and the finish was too far off to hold the third place. Dall'Antonia won again, ahead of Vangenechten and Weissinger. Lloyd finished 4th.
The victory and the connected time bonus make Dall'Antonio now leader of both, the general and sprint classification.
Even though there was again no podium and time bonus for our leaders today, we felt much better than last evening. Jamie Snijders delivered a good performance, and we were visibly fighting for a spot on the podium.
Finish Top 10
1 Tiziano Dall'Antonia CSF Group - Navigare 3h15'36
2 Jonas Vangenechten Verandas Willems s.t.
3 René Weissinger Vorarlberg - Corratec s.t. 4 Daniel Lloyd Redwood - Philips s.t.
5 Dainius Kairelis Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce s.t.
6 Luca Paolini Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo s.t.
7 Stefan Radochla ELK Haus s.t.
8 Giuseppe Palumbo Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo s.t.
9 Francesco Failli Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo s.t.
10 Kenny De Haes Silence - Lotto s.t.
General classification
1 Tiziano Dall'Antonia CSF Group - Navigare 15h37'36
2 Luca Paolini Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo + 16
3 Stefan Radochla ELK Haus + 28
4 Dainius Kairelis Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce s.t.
5 René Weissinger Vorarlberg - Corratec + 32
6 Jonas Vangenechten Verandas Willems + 36
7 Marcus Ljungqvist Team Saxo Bank s.t.
8 Dirk Bellemakers Landbouwkrediet - Colnago + 38
9 Alexander Kristoff Joker Bianchi + 48
10 Kenny De Haes Silence - Lotto s.t. 11 Chris Froome Redwood - Philips s.t.
14 Daniel Lloyd Redwood - Philips s.t.
74 Wout Poels Redwood - Philips s.t.
133 Jamie Snijders Redwood - Philips + 14'44
135 Sieme Pinas Redwood - Philips + 26'24
136 Johannes Goolkate Redwood - Philips + 27'06
137 Jorg Brauwers Redwood - Philips + 27'51
Today was the last stage of the Challenge Vuelta a Mallorca. Alejandro Valverde (GCE) won the GC ahead of Samuel Sanchez (EUS) and Thomas Dekker (SIL). The results, and the second place of Samuel Sanchez in especially, were overshadowed by the positive doping test of Euskatel team mate Alan Perez. The 26-yo fighter, who's contract will expire this year, is banned from professional cycling for two years.
Edited by manindemaan on 19-08-2009 00:50
Le Tour de Langkawi
Stage 5: Johor Bahru – Bandar Penawar
Another rather short stage had to be ridden today in Malaysia, where temperatures are just below 40 degree Celsius with some breezes now and then. The terrain was flat, and there were three intermediate sprints mostly in the first half of the stage.
At first, 13 riders tried to get in a breakaway, but just three managed to stay away most of the stage. None of them would form a danger for the GC, and they were given a four-minute advantage until CSF – Navigare started chasing them in order to defent the yellow jersey of their leader Dall'Antonia.
Our riders sat back in the peloton in good position when another mass sprint was about to be prepared after the remaining breakaway riders were caught 20km from the finish. Lloyd and Froome stayed close to Dall'Antonia, and Lloyd got in his wheel easily. Nearly every sprinter had his own small train, and many sprinters had a chance for victory when the sprint was opened.
DeHaes (Silence-Lotto) had chosen the best path at the very side of the road and could make the difference. He finished ahead of Ljungqvist and Rasmussen (both Saxo Bank), while Lloyd still got 8th.
Finish Top 10
1 Kenny De Haes Silence - Lotto 3h05'29
2 Marcus Ljungqvist Team Saxo Bank s.t.
3 Alex Rasmussen Team Saxo Bank s.t.
4 Stefan Radochla ELK Haus s.t.
5 René Weissinger Vorarlberg - Corratec s.t.
6 Tiziano Dall'Antonia CSF Group - Navigare s.t.
7 Luca Paolini Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo s.t. 8 Daniel Lloyd Redwood - Philips s.t.
9 Jonas Vangenechten Verandas Willems s.t.
10 Mikhaylo Khalilov Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce s.t.
General classification
1 Tiziano Dall'Antonia CSF Group - Navigare 18h43'05
2 Luca Paolini Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo + 16
3 Marcus Ljungqvist Team Saxo Bank + 24
4 Stefan Radochla ELK Haus + 28
5 Dainius Kairelis Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce s.t.
6 Kenny De Haes Silence - Lotto s.t.
7 René Weissinger Vorarlberg - Corratec + 32
8 Jonas Vangenechten Verandas Willems + 36
9 Dirk Bellemakers Landbouwkrediet - Colnago + 38
10 Alex Rasmussen Team Saxo Bank + 40 13 Daniel Lloyd Redwood - Philips s.t.
14 Chris Froome Redwood - Philips s.t.
74 Wout Poels Redwood - Philips s.t.
133 Jamie Snijders Redwood - Philips + 14'44
135 Sieme Pinas Redwood - Philips + 32'07
136 Jorg Brauwers Redwood - Philips + 32'20
137 Johannes Goolkate Redwood - Philips + 33'10
Le Tour de Langkawi
Stage 6: Bandar Penawan – Kuala Rompin
The sixth stage was a bit longer again with 178km, and it included an easy mountain sprint at kilometer 37. The stage began with a high speed of the peloton after a group of more than 10 riders made a breakaway. CSF Navigare and ELK Haus managed to chase them down before the mountain sprint, that then could be won by Milan, rider of Acqua&Sapone.
After the short climb, attacks started again initiated by Delfosse (Landbouwkrediet), who then had the same time in GC as most of the riders, 48 seconds behind Dall'Antonia, while the other riders that were in the break were back several minutes and more. 11 riders formed the group, with Silence Lotto being present with two riders. They got away more than 6 minutes before the pace in the peloton was increased, with still 100 km to go. With the front group still ahead at 33 km from the line, Delfosso, who still was virtual leader of the race, had a puncture that forced him to stop and speed up again. But before he was on speed again, the peloton had him in sight already, so he let himself fall back.
The rest of the leading group fell apart, but all riders were caught by the peloton 15 km from the finish. Today, only two sprint trains were formed, one with Silence Lotto on top, and the other with CSF on top, and Lloyd in third position in the wheel of Dall'Antonia.
It was Ljungblad (Silence Lotto) who proved to be the better lead out man, as his train had a huge lead when the sprinters started to fight for the finish. De Haes (Silence Lotto), Rodochla (ELK Haus), and Paolini (A&S) came out of his wheel and sprinted side by side. Radochla could hold a small lead for most of the time, but when it came down to the line, Paolini had catched up with him, and there was no difference between them for the ordinary human eye.
Not even the riders knew who had won the stage, and it seemed to take hours before the organisation announced that Radochla had won the stage ahead of Paolini. Lloyd and Froome finished 21st and 22nd, Dall'Antonia just 14th. You cannot always pick the right train..
Paolini is again leading sprinter after his second place today, and reduced the gap to Dall'Antonia in the general classification to 4 seconds.
Finish Top 10
1 Stefan Radochla ELK Haus 3h58'49
2 Luca Paolini Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo s.t.
3 Kenny De Haes Silence - Lotto s.t.
4 Alex Rasmussen Team Saxo Bank s.t.
5 Diego Milán Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo s.t.
6 Marcus Ljungqvist Team Saxo Bank s.t.
7 Sébastien Turgot Bbox Bouygues Télécom s.t.
8 René Weissinger Vorarlberg - Corratec s.t.
9 Peter McDonald Drapac Porsche Cycling s.t.
10 Dainius Kairelis Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce s.t.
General classification
1 Tiziano Dall'Antonia CSF Group - Navigare 22h41'54
2 Luca Paolini Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo + 4
3 Stefan Radochla ELK Haus + 8
4 Kenny De Haes Silence - Lotto + 20
5 Marcus Ljungqvist Team Saxo Bank + 24
6 Dainius Kairelis Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce + 28
7 René Weissinger Vorarlberg - Corratec + 32
8 Jonas Vangenechten Verandas Willems + 36
9 Dirk Bellemakers Landbouwkrediet - Colnago + 38
10 Alex Rasmussen Team Saxo Bank + 40 15 Daniel Lloyd Redwood - Philips + 48
16 Chris Froome Redwood - Philips s.t.
71 Wout Poels Redwood - Philips s.t.
133 Jamie Snijders Redwood - Philips + 16'49
135 Sieme Pinas Redwood - Philips + 38'53
136 Jorg Brauwers Redwood - Philips + 39'06
137 Johannes Goolkate Redwood - Philips + 41'56
Sprint classification
1 Luca Paolini Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo 95
2 Stefan Radochla ELK Haus 91
3 Tiziano Dall'Antonia CSF Group - Navigare 83
4 Kenny De Haes Silence - Lotto 63
5 Marcus Ljungqvist Team Saxo Bank 58
Mountain classification
1 Gaetan Bille Verandas Willems 16
2 Diego Milán Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo 14
3 Rodrigo García Miche - Silver Cross - Selle Italia 14
4 Guy East Trek Livestrong 12
5 Vladimir Duma Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce 12
Edited by manindemaan on 22-08-2009 02:07
Le Tour de Langkawi
Stage 7: Kuala Rompin – Kuantan
With 137 riders the peloton left Kuala Rompin in the morning and headed northwards along the coast to Kuantan with strong winds of up to 50km/h from north-east. The route was fairly flat except for some small hills, two of them with mountain sprints on top. Seven riders found together and formed a breakaway. One of them was Dutch Landbouwkrediet rider Bellemakers, who with just 38” in the GC ladder quickly was virtual leader, but had lost his 9th place in GC when they were reeled in 20 km from the line.
Before the breakaway was caught, Visconti (ISD) fell when riding in the peloton at 40 km from the finish. He was handled as one of the favourites for tomorrows decisive race up to Fraser's hill, and therefore among the group of favourites for the final GC ranking. He could finish the race, but despite the support of a team mate, he couldn't make it back in the peloton and eventually lost about 5 minutes on the winner.
The winner had to be decided in a mass sprint again, and with the strong wind, it was a long and hard fight. Lloyd wasn't the fittest any more after the strong wind during today's stage, and Froome sat back to save energy for tomorrow. Lloyd followed Dall'Antonia, but their chances were small, as there were sprint trains already far ahead of them.
Alex Rasmussen (Saxo Bank) finally won the stage, securing his first season victory in 2009, that started here in Malaysia. Lloyd didn't manage to get into the top 10 and finished 13th.
Finish top 10
1 Alex Rasmussen Team Saxo Bank 4h38'49
2 Alexander Kristoff Joker Bianchi s.t.
3 Cristiano Fumagalli Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce s.t.
4 Mikhaylo Khalilov Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce s.t.
5 Peter McDonald Drapac Porsche Cycling s.t.
6 Jonas Vangenechten Verandas Willems s.t.
7 Stefan Radochla ELK Haus s.t.
8 Tiziano Dall'Antonia CSF Group - Navigare s.t.
9 Marcus Ljungqvist Team Saxo Bank s.t.
10 Luca Paolini Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo s.t.
General classification
1 Tiziano Dall'Antonia CSF Group - Navigare 27h20'43
2 Luca Paolini Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo + 4
3 Stefan Radochla ELK Haus + 8
4 Kenny De Haes Silence - Lotto + 20
5 Alex Rasmussen Team Saxo Bank s.t.
6 Marcus Ljungqvist Team Saxo Bank + 24
7 Dainius Kairelis Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce + 28
8 René Weissinger Vorarlberg - Corratec + 32
9 Jonas Vangenechten Verandas Willems + 36
10 Alexander Kristoff Joker Bianchi s.t. 16 Daniel Lloyd Redwood - Philips + 48
17 Chris Froome Redwood - Philips s.t.
66 Wout Poels Redwood - Philips s.t.
132 Jamie Snijders Redwood - Philips + 20'24
135 Sieme Pinas Redwood - Philips + 50'04
136 Jorg Brauwers Redwood - Philips + 51'45
137 Johannes Goolkate Redwood - Philips + 56'11
Sprint classification
1 Luca Paolini Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo 101
2 Stefan Radochla ELK Haus 100
3 Tiziano Dall'Antonia CSF Group - Navigare 91
4 Alex Rasmussen Team Saxo Bank 78
5 Marcus Ljungqvist Team Saxo Bank 65
Mountain classification
1 Gaetan Bille Verandas Willems 16
2 Diego Milán Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo 14
3 Rodrigo García Miche - Silver Cross - Selle Italia 14
4 Guy East Trek Livestrong 12
5 Vladimir Duma Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce 12
After the stage, a trip of about 100km to Temerloh expected the riders, but this time by bus. It's where they will start tomorrow morning on the decisive stage that will finish in Bukit Fraser, after a long climb of about 30km. Will Visconti make good some time he lost today, or will Pozzovivo be first at the summit, after his bad start in this tour? Or is it Fuglsang who can take the victory and secure a tour win for Saxo Bank?
Le Tour de Langkawi
Stage 8: Temerloh – Bukit Fraser
The stage everyone watched out for, the stage that shall decide who will win the tour de Langkawi 2009. That is, what you could read everywhere in today's newspapers, tv reports, and pub talks. 100 fairly flat kilometers through hilly landscape, followed by 30 km shallow but steady climbing up to 850 meters to the finish line in Bukit Fraser. But they were proven wrong..
Right after the stage was opened, a lot of attacks were made, but CSF kept the speed high and no group got away. Sometimes, the pack was close to a split, as the wind still had not settled down. Fifty kilometers in the stage there was a compact peloton again, and our rider Jorg Brauwers attacked. The other teams were not interested in catching him directly, and only kept him between a minute and two. This way, Brauwers won two intermediate sprints, and attracted some attention on our team.
A while before the climb started, three more riders attacked and quickly passed Brauwers who was exhausted in between. From these riders, Van Goolen (Saxo Bank) would have had the best chances for victory, if the group had made it to the finish. When the peloton reached the foot of the final hill, the leading group had an advantage of three minutes, and several riders attacked from the pack. With each several attacks made today, the most aggressive riders were Paolini (Acqua&Sapone), Ljungqvist (Saxo Bank), and Dall'Antonia (CSF).
Fuglsang did not attack, but he took the lead work in the peloton. Our leaders stayed behind him, waiting for an attack, but Fuglsang kept sitting in his saddle. One time Ljungqvist went on an attack, it was countered by Lloyd, 11 km from the line. They got a small gap to the peloton, but were reeled in as everone else.
With five kilometers to go, Huzarski (ISD) made an attack, which was countered by Trampusch (ELK Haus) and our leader Froome. They were about half a minute ahead for the remaining climb, when the trio started to fight for stage victory. Huzarski attacked first from front, but Trampusch could pass him, while Froome was in 3rd position.
After the next corner, Huzarski accelerated faster than Trampusch did, and got in front again, this time with Froome just behind him. They both passed Trampusch, Froome attacked, facing the finish line..
But Huzarski could hold him off and finished first at the summit.
25 seconds behind Fuglsang sprinted away from the other riders of the peloton, which was still nearly complete. Would the gap be large enough to make a difference in the general classification?
No. Not? The organisation of the tour decided to give the three riders on top and the more than 120 riders that remained in the peloton the same time, and Dall'Antonia still was leader of the tour.
Finish top 10
1 Bartosz Huzarski ISD 3h05'29 2 Chris Froome Redwood - Philips s.t.
3 Gerhard Trampusch ELK Haus s.t.
4 Jakob Fuglsang Team Saxo Bank s.t.
5 Lars Bak Team Saxo Bank s.t.
6 Giuseppe Palumbo Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo s.t.
7 Harald Morscher Vorarlberg - Corratec s.t.
8 Francesco Failli Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo s.t.
9 Dainius Kairelis Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce s.t.
10 Diego Milán Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo s.t.
General classification
1 Tiziano Dall'Antonia CSF Group - Navigare 30h26'12
2 Luca Paolini Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo + 4
3 Stefan Radochla ELK Haus + 8
4 Alex Rasmussen Team Saxo Bank + 14
5 Kenny De Haes Silence - Lotto + 20
6 Marcus Ljungqvist Team Saxo Bank + 24
7 Dainius Kairelis Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce + 28
8 Bartosz Huzarski ISD s.t.
9 Jonas Vangenechten Verandas Willems + 32
10 René Weissinger Vorarlberg - Corratec s.t. 12 Chris Froome Redwood - Philips + 36
22 Daniel Lloyd Redwood - Philips + 48
68 Wout Poels Redwood - Philips s.t.
132 Jamie Snijders Redwood - Philips + 20'24
135 Sieme Pinas Redwood - Philips + 57'42
136 Johannes Goolkate Redwood - Philips + 1h04'51
137 Jorg Brauwers Redwood - Philips + 1h05'41
Sprint classification
1 Luca Paolini Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo 101
2 Stefan Radochla ELK Haus 100
3 Tiziano Dall'Antonia CSF Group - Navigare 96
4 Alex Rasmussen Team Saxo Bank 84
5 Marcus Ljungqvist Team Saxo Bank 67
Mountain classification
1 Bartosz Huzarski ISD 20
2 Diego Milán Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo 16
3 Gaetan Bille Verandas Willems 16 4 Chris Froome Redwood - Philips 14
5 Rodrigo García Miche - Silver Cross - Selle Italia 14
That means, the race will be decided tomorrow, probably in a mass sprint. Dall'Antonia might have the best chances on the paper, but he has not been the best sprinter the last stages.
Edited by manindemaan on 23-08-2009 03:29
Le Tour de Langkawi
Stage 9: Kuala Lumpur Criterium (final stage)
The final stage of the Tour de Langkawi was a 78 km criterium in the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. Three rounds of each 26 km had to be ridden, and there was no wind, and even temperatures fell down to 28 degrees.
When the peloton crossed the finish line for the first time, there was a group of 14 riders riding two minutes ahead, but the gap didn't increase more as CSF was controlling the pack.
With 40 kilometers to go, some riders attacked from the peloton, including Wout Poels. They could close the gap to the leading group, but not even 20 km further, that is 25 km from the finish, all breakaways were caught and the race would be decided in a final mass sprint.
Paolini sprinted in front, with Rasmussen in his wheel. The rest of the sprinters had no chance to follow, and it was an ease for Rasmussen to pass Paolini to grab his second stage victory in the tour.
Vangenechten finished 3rd, while Lloyd and Froome finished 10th and 11th. The pace was too high for Lloyd in the end and still is not fit enough to keep up with the others.
Finish top 10
1 Alex Rasmussen Team Saxo Bank 1h39'39
2 Luca Paolini Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo s.t.
3 Jonas Vangenechten Verandas Willems s.t.
4 Kenny De Haes Silence - Lotto s.t.
5 Alexander Kristoff Joker Bianchi s.t.
6 Tiziano Dall'Antonia CSF Group - Navigare s.t.
7 René Weissinger Vorarlberg - Corratec s.t.
8 Enrico Rossi Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce s.t.
9 Francesco Failli Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo s.t. 10 Chris Froome Redwood - Philips s.t.
Final general classification
1 Luca Paolini Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo 32h05'43
2 Alex Rasmussen Team Saxo Bank + 2
3 Tiziano Dall'Antonia CSF Group - Navigare + 8
4 Stefan Radochla ELK Haus + 16
5 Kenny De Haes Silence - Lotto + 28
6 Jonas Vangenechten Verandas Willems + 32
7 Marcus Ljungqvist Team Saxo Bank s.t.
8 Dainius Kairelis Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce + 36
9 Bartosz Huzarski ISD s.t.
10 René Weissinger Vorarlberg - Corratec + 40
11 Alexander Kristoff Joker Bianchi + 42 12 Chris Froome Redwood - Philips + 44
13 Cristiano Fumagalli Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce + 48
14 Gerhard Trampusch ELK Haus s.t.
15 Peter McDonald Drapac Porsche Cycling + 50
16 Sébastien Delfosse Landbouwkrediet - Colnago s.t.
17 Yukiya Arashiro Bbox Bouygues Télécom + 52
18 Alan Marangoni CSF Group - Navigare s.t.
19 Magnus Espeland Joker Bianchi s.t.
20 Jonas Ljungblad Silence - Lotto + 54
21 Thomas Degand Verandas Willems s.t. 22 Daniel Lloyd Redwood - Philips + 56
23 Enrico Rossi Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce s.t.
24 Francesco Failli Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo s.t.
25 Mikhaylo Khalilov Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce s.t.
26 Diego Milán Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo s.t.
27 Giuseppe Palumbo Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo s.t.
28 Sébastien Turgot Bbox Bouygues Télécom s.t.
29 Lars Bak Team Saxo Bank s.t.
30 James Vanlandschoot Verandas Willems s.t.
31 Jochen Summer ELK Haus s.t.
32 Stefano Garzelli Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo s.t.
33 Philippe Pratte Verandas Willems s.t.
34 Jakob Fuglsang Team Saxo Bank s.t.
35 Matic Strgar Vorarlberg - Corratec s.t.
36 Pierre Rolland Bbox Bouygues Télécom s.t.
37 Johann Tschopp Bbox Bouygues Télécom s.t.
38 Vincent Jérôme Bbox Bouygues Télécom s.t.
39 Chris Anker Sørensen Team Saxo Bank s.t.
40 Domenik Klemme Team Saxo Bank s.t.
41 Stefan Denifl ELK Haus s.t.
42 Markus Eibegger ELK Haus s.t.
43 Laurent Mangel Besson Chaussures - Sojasun s.t.
44 Massimiliano Gentili Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce s.t.
45 Jelle Vanendert Silence - Lotto s.t.
46 Davide Ricci Bitti ISD s.t.
47 Harald Morscher Vorarlberg - Corratec s.t.
48 Jurgen Van Goolen Team Saxo Bank s.t.
49 Guillaume Le Floch Bbox Bouygues Télécom s.t.
50 José Herrada Contentpolis - Ampo s.t.
51 Damien Gaudin Bbox Bouygues Télécom s.t.
52 Romain Zingle Verandas Willems s.t.
53 Geert Verheyen Landbouwkrediet - Colnago s.t.
54 Julien Belgy Bbox Bouygues Télécom s.t.
55 Silvère Ackermann Vorarlberg - Corratec s.t.
56 Sven Nys Landbouwkrediet - Colnago s.t.
57 Steve Morabito Astana Cycling Team s.t.
58 Pieter Jacobs Silence - Lotto s.t.
59 Alexander Kvachuk ISD s.t.
60 Andriy Grivko ISD s.t.
61 Jonathan Bertrand Landbouwkrediet - Colnago s.t.
62 Pascal Hungerbühler Vorarlberg - Corratec s.t.
63 Florian Morizot Besson Chaussures - Sojasun s.t.
64 Didac Ortega Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo s.t.
65 Kevin Peeters Landbouwkrediet - Colnago s.t.
66 Dario Cioni ISD s.t.
67 Matthew Lloyd Silence - Lotto s.t.
68 Alessandro Proni ISD s.t.
69 Scott Zwizanski Kelly Benefit Strategies s.t.
70 Rodrigo García Miche - Silver Cross - Selle Italia s.t.
71 Przemyslaw Niemiec Miche - Silver Cross - Selle Italia s.t.
72 Mauro Finetto CSF Group - Navigare + 3'01
73 Frank Høj Team Saxo Bank s.t.
74 Guy East Trek Livestrong + 3'15
75 Ryohei Komori Trek Livestrong + 3'19
76 Jesse Sergent Trek Livestrong s.t.
77 Shane Kline Kelly Benefit Strategies s.t.
78 Dan Bowman Kelly Benefit Strategies s.t.
79 Julian Kyer Trek Livestrong s.t.
80 Ruggero Marzoli Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo + 3'20
81 Glenn D'Hollander Silence - Lotto s.t.
82 Bart Dockx Silence - Lotto + 3'32
83 Alessandro Bisolti CSF Group - Navigare s.t.
84 Clemens Frankhauser ELK Haus s.t.
85 Jan Kuyckx Verandas Willems + 3'38
86 Vladimir Duma Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce + 3'48 87 Wout Poels Redwood - Philips + 4'11
88 Federico Canuti CSF Group - Navigare + 4'17
89 Jérémie Galland Besson Chaussures - Sojasun + 4'31
90 Cheyne Hoag Kelly Benefit Strategies s.t.
91 Gaetan Bille Verandas Willems + 4'48
92 Jan Valach ELK Haus + 4'56
93 Olivier Kaisen Silence - Lotto + 5'00
94 Julien Simon Besson Chaussures - Sojasun s.t.
95 Antonio D'Aniello Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce + 5'02
96 Marino Palandri Miche - Silver Cross - Selle Italia s.t.
97 Elias Schmäh Vorarlberg - Corratec + 5'06
98 Domenico Pozzovivo CSF Group - Navigare s.t.
99 Dirk Bellemakers Landbouwkrediet - Colnago + 5'09
100 Rob Peeters Landbouwkrediet - Colnago + 5'37
101 Giovanni Visconti ISD + 5'51
102 Philipp Ludescher Vorarlberg - Corratec + 5'55
103 Ingar Stokstad Joker Bianchi + 6'08
104 Robbie Williams Drapac Porsche Cycling + 6'54
105 Filippo Savini CSF Group - Navigare + 7'17
106 Simone Stortoni CSF Group - Navigare + 7'29
107 Alexander Egger Vorarlberg - Corratec + 8'03
108 Roman Kireyev Astana Cycling Team + 8'16
109 Maxim Belkov ISD + 8'39
110 Ben King Trek Livestrong + 8'47
111 Kevin Van Melsen Verandas Willems + 8'51
112 Bjorn Selander Trek Livestrong + 8'59
113 Benjamin Gourgue Landbouwkrediet - Colnago + 9'37
114 Oleg Chuzhda Contentpolis - Ampo + 11'20
115 Sondre Sörtveit Joker Bianchi + 11'34
116 Ryan Anderson Kelly Benefit Strategies s.t.
117 Yannick Talabardon Besson Chaussures - Sojasun + 11'52
118 Simone Scarponi Miche - Silver Cross - Selle Italia s.t.
119 Simone Masciarelli Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo + 12'15
120 Claudio José Casas Contentpolis - Ampo + 13'07
121 Giacomo Scarponi Miche - Silver Cross - Selle Italia + 13'12
122 Dean Windsor Drapac Porsche Cycling + 13'44
123 Rhys Pollock Drapac Porsche Cycling + 14'14
124 Cédric Coutouly Besson Chaussures - Sojasun + 14'18
125 Dario Giancecchi Miche - Silver Cross - Selle Italia + 14'43
126 Simone Saracini Miche - Silver Cross - Selle Italia + 14'56
127 Julian Dario Atehortua Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce + 15'17
128 Filippo Scarponi Miche - Silver Cross - Selle Italia + 16'40
129 Wolfgang Murer ELK Haus + 17'53
130 Zachary Bell Kelly Benefit Strategies + 19'50
131 Clay Murfet Kelly Benefit Strategies + 20'25 132 Jamie Snijders Redwood - Philips + 20'32
133 Joseph Lewis Drapac Porsche Cycling + 21'34
134 Pip Grinter Drapac Porsche Cycling + 25'10 135 Sieme Pinas Redwood - Philips + 1h03'05
136 Johannes Goolkate Redwood - Philips + 1h10'46
137 Jorg Brauwers Redwood - Philips + 1h11'36
Final sprint classification
1 Luca Paolini Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo 121
2 Alex Rasmussen Team Saxo Bank 109
3 Tiziano Dall'Antonia CSF Group - Navigare 106
4 Stefan Radochla ELK Haus 103
5 Kenny De Haes Silence - Lotto 77
6 Jonas Vangenechten Verandas Willems 74
7 Alexander Kristoff Joker Bianchi 69
8 Marcus Ljungqvist Team Saxo Bank 67
9 René Weissinger Vorarlberg - Corratec 67
10 Dainius Kairelis Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce 61
Final mountain classification
1 Bartosz Huzarski ISD 20
2 Diego Milán Acqua & Sapone - Caffé Mokambo 16
3 Gaetan Bille Verandas Willems 16 4 Chris Froome Redwood - Philips 14
5 Rodrigo García Miche - Silver Cross - Selle Italia 14
6 Gerhard Trampusch ELK Haus 12
7 Guy East Trek Livestrong 12
8 Vladimir Duma Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce 12
9 Jakob Fuglsang Team Saxo Bank 10
10 Geert Verheyen Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 10
Final young riders classification
1 Alex Rasmussen Team Saxo Bank 32h05'45 (1)
3 Kenny De Haes Silence - Lotto + 26 (2)
2 Jonas Vangenechten Verandas Willems + 30 (3)
4 Alexander Kristoff Joker Bianchi + 40 (4) 5 Chris Froome Redwood - Philips + 42 (5)
It's February, 21st, and it's time for the Tour du Haut Var, a classic one day race in southern France, the Provence-Alpes-Cote d' Azur. This years edition is a 194 km long track with several climbs, the last one about 35 km from the finish with percentages close to 10%.
We went with six riders to the race, led by Daniel Lloyd, who had some good moments at Tour de Langkawi. With him there are Ramon Sinkeldam and Martijn Keizer to assure support over the final kilometers for Daniel, Serge Kreekels and Ed Meulensteen for protection throughout the day, and Jetse Bol as our man for the breakaway.
Complete startlist of 2009's Tour du Haut Var:
AG2R
1. R.Nocentini
2. C.Dessel
3. J.Gadret
4. B.Kadri
5. J.Loubet
6. B.Sonnery
7. J.Sénac
8. L.Turpin
The race had just begun when Jetse Bol together with ten other riders broke away from the peloton, but they were caught back by the pack quickly. At the first climb of the day, Jetse Bol and this time seven other riders tried to break away, and they had more luck this time as they quickly made a gap of two minutes. The advantage increased steadily up to six minutes, until Kevin Seeldraeyers from Team Quick-Step took over control of the pack's speed when the highest hill of today's race had to be climbed, 90km from the finish line. Jetse Bol did a good job in the climb as well, leading the front group up to the summit. However he could not prevent the peloton to take away a minute of the breakaway's lead.
At the end of the peloton, Gene (Bouygues) and Meulensteen (Redwood) could not keep up with the rest and were dropped. At the next hill, three riders broke away from the pack, and with everyone getting closer, Jetse Bol decided to go on his own, more than 70 km from the line.
His flight didn't last much longer than 20 kilometers, when the chasing group behind him had reeled him in again. At the steep climb 35 km from the finish some riders of the front group attacked, and Jetse was dropped.
The peloton now came closer quickly, and an attack of Moreau (Agritubel) resulted in the end of all breakaways, as he was first on top of the last hill. On the way down a lot of riders fell back, and a large group of 44 riders was left in front. Their pace was high and their advantage to the rest of the riders increased, from 1 minute 20 kilometers from the finish, to 1'30” at 15 kilometers from the line. Most favourites sat in the leading group, and we had Daniel Lloyd in there, protected by Ramon Sinkeldam.
Just 12 kilometers from the line, Quick-Step's leader and favourite Pineau got a puncture, and with him five other Quick-Step riders slowed down for help, without success, as they didn't make it back to the front again.
The leading group was down to 38 riders, and with less than 10 km it seemed to end in a group sprint finish. Lloyd got behind Nocentini, winner of last years Tour du Haut Var, but a several meters ahead Calzati (Agritubel) already got away in a sprint.
Of those following, Benenati (ISD) looked best, but with more than a bike's length back his chances were not that good either. He came closer and got beside Calzati, and on the last meters he even passed the Agritubel rider and grabbed victory.
Nocentini finished 20th, after a bad planned sprint, and Lloyd, who also did not make the best decisions today, finished 14th, which, after all, is still a good result with this competition.
End of February
Our next race after Tour du Haut Var will be Le Samyn, at March 4th, meaning we have some days without a race again. Time to do some office work, where I noticed that Team Cinelli is interested in signing our sprinter Jonathan Bellis. Let's hope Jonathan recognizes the potential of our team and signs with us, instead.
Others seem to have recognized our potential, as we received a wild card for our first Pro Tour Race, the tour from Paris to Nice between 8 and 15 March.
Today our riders will take part in the Belgian flat race Le Samyn. The race, initially called GP Fayt-le-Franc, got his name to honor it's first winner, Jose Samyn (1968), a french cyclist who died in a small Belgian race in 1969 after a fall.
For us, Daniel Lloyd, Ramon Sinkeldam and Martijn Keizer will ride, and they will be supported by Justin van Vliet, Juno Derks, and Jaco Brand, of whom only Jaco has ridden a race this year.
Juno Derks went into the early breakaway with several other riders, and got in a group of initially 9 riders in front, followed by 6 others, a minute behind. More riders made the jump from the peloton to the chasing group, who then reeled in the small front group, forming a large front group of 18 riders. Agritubel and OUCH were present with each two riders, while everyone else was on it's own. PSK Whirlpool tried to keep the breakaway's advantage small, but it increased steadily and reached 5 minutes with 66 km to go.
Back in the pack, Feillu (Agritubel), Pineau (Quick-Step), and Vanlandschoot (Verandas Willems) were involved in a crash, but could resume the race. The peloton however did not wait for them, as with 50 km left and 5 minutes behind the top they had to keep the pace up to keep a chance on a mass sprint finish.
With 40 km to go and the gap down to 4 minutes a few riders attacked from the peloton, including Fothen (Milram), Weylandt (Quick-Step), and Keizer (Redwood). They chased the front group and tried to stay away from the pack, eventually closed the gap to the front, resulting in a new, even larger, leading pack, with less than 20 km to go, and the lead still being two minutes.
Martijn Keizer was one of the first who were dropped by the group, and a new series of attacks led to a new situation, with Aernouts (Rabo CT) and Vogondy (Agritubel) in front, followed by Cuisin (Agritubel) and Canadian Evans (OUCH), followed by Fothen and Derks – riding at the edge of his abilities – and the rest of the breakaway.
Four kilometers from the finish all but the leading two riders were chased down by the peloton, and the sprinters prepared their time of the race. Lloyd jumped in the wheel of Wyss, and behind him was Zberg (both BMC). Up in front, less than 2 km to go, Vogondy dropped Aernouts, who was eventually passed by the peloton, and gave everything to hold off the peloton.
Lloyd showed a good sprint, he passed Wyss and Veelers, and crossed the finish line ranked 6th. Zberg was the best sprinter today, as none of the others could pass him, but Vogondy was smarter today, as he managed to stay away from the pack to take a solo victory.
Before the race...
That we received a wildcard for Paris-Nice made us change our planning for the three days in West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. As we want to send our fittest riders to the big race, we decided to use West-Vlaanderen as preparation for those riders, who had not done that much racing this year. Also, Kai Reus is set to make his debut in our jersey. Our hope is that he stays with the peloton, and stays in front groups in case of splits, and achieve maybe a top 10 in the final time trial. But contenders are strong this year, with guys like for example Grabsch and Fothen.
The race has three stages. They are all fairly flat with some small hills. The first stage from Kortrijk to Bellegem is the longest, with 228km. On day two the riders have to ride the Handzame Koerse, 175km, and finally a 16km time trial in Ichtegem at the third day.
Startlist Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen
Team Columbia
1. B.Grabsch
2. G.Dockx
3. A.Hansen
4. G.Henderson
5. M.Pinotti
6. V.Reynès
7. M.Sieberg
8. K.Siutsou
Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen
Stage 1: Kortrijk – Bellegem
This years driedaagse starts with a 228 km flat stage. Our young and unfit team had a hard time getting through, and a lot of motivational work had to be done from our team cars to keep some riders biting through and finishing.
Not just was it a long stage, there was a strong wind blowing right into the riders' faces as well, making the stage even tougher. Early in the race, Hayman (Rabobank) went in a breakaway of nine riders, including also our rider Derks, but the group was caught by the peloton, as the Rabobank rider seemed them to be too dangerous. After they were caught, new breakaways formed, with a 4-men-group in front including Stamsnijder (Rabobank), another 4-men-group chasing, and a third group with 3 men, including Wynants (Quick-Step). The first two groups found together and had created a gap of more than 10 minutes to the peloton, while the group around Wynants couldn't close the gap and rode behind with a fairly constant margin of a minute.
Garmin and Skil-Shimano increased the speed of the peloton, which streched out really long and splits were inevitable. But the dropped groups could make it back, except for some riders who were dropped. When 200 kilometers were ridden, about a third of the 150 riders were left behind, including all but Reus of our team. Reus rode in front, just to make sure, but did not participate in the final sprint.
Vierhouten (Vasconsoleil) opened the sprint, and Mikhailov (Katusha) tried to pass him. Out of their wheels, van Emden (Rabobank), Feillu (Agritubel) and Zberg (BMC) came to the front, and Zberg, who has already shown his sprint qualities in Le Samyn, is the fastest after all and takes his first stage victory in 2009.
Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen
Stage 2: Handzame Koerse
Today's stage was shorter than yesterday's, but still for most of our riders a rather long stage with 175km. The wind was weaker than the day before, and we set ourself the goal to bring Kai Reus home in a mass sprint, in good condition for tomorrow's decisive time trial.
An early breakaway of eight riders, including Rabobank-man Matthew Hayman, got away with a margin of up to five minutes at 80 km from the finish line. Swedish road champion Ljungblad (Silence Lotto) fell in the pack and took van Dijk (Verandas Willems) down with him, but both could continue the race. As the peloton had already accelerated, they had no chance to get back into the peloton.
Up in front, several riders attacked, leaving Reimer (Cervelo) alone in the leading position, but the breakaway ended when there were just 14 km left to run. Meanwhile, Kai Reus was left alone with Smith, but our goal of the day was reached, as the stage ended in a mass sprint, with Reus in the peloton.
The sprint was opened by Katusha for Mikhailov (point jersey), while Zberg (BMC, yellow jersey) was in bad position. Behind Mikhailov there was Sentjes (Silence-Lotto), who was the only one who could beat the Katusha sprinter. Danilo Hondo (PSK) tried, but he was too late and finished 3rd only.
