@Freitas, it's a bit scary isn't it? I'm not really telling a story here, just recreating what happened in real life. If Wiggins wins Paris-Nice with Westra his closest rival I'll start to worry!!
@sutty, unbeatable on current form. +5 on the day again on the first stage here!
Manager of Bunzl - Centrica
ICL's World Tour Champions and Talented Bottlers
Jon Tiernan-Locke rounded off a stunning February for him and the team with yet another victory in the Souvenir Francis Delpech one day race in France this afternoon. Despite a small starting field of just over 100 riders, the competition was strong with all of the French teams taking the race very seriously. This meant that getting in to the early breakaway was vital to force the other teams to chase. Paul Voss ensured our presence in the break and he rode very strongly before being caught over the final climb.
Even with all of his recent success, it was still quite a surprise to see Tiernan-Locke, wearing the UCI Europe Tour Leader's jersey, beating all of the French talent here
With the break caught and the peloton down to around ten riders, and knowing that he couldn't beat the likes of Dumoulin, Geslin and Traksel in a sprint, Tiernan-Locke decided to go for it just before the descent to the finish and, despite Dumoulin closing quickly in the last 100 metres, he took another victory, his fourth in a row. Another superb team performance was completed when Mandri claimed another tenth place, with Voss, Downing, Wilkinson and Faiers just outside the top ten.
Les Boucles du Sud Ardeche - Souvenir Francis Delpech - Result
Hey, it's time for my second blog and this one is going to be difficult to keep brief.
Why? Well, I could write about 20 paragraphs about Jon Tiernan-Locke. It's amazing to see a British rider at Endura tearing it up on the continent and I would imagine there are a lot of bigger teams out there cursing the fact that they didn't see his potential earlier. All I will say is that the whole team have come together around JTL this month and for me, as one of just two riders in the team that haven't raced yet this season (the other being Iker Camano), it's quite frustrating to watch and not be a part of it.
As I said, I was able to watch the Tour of the Med from the roadside and was near the top of Mont Faron when Jon came screaming past to take a victory, and was able to join the celebrations later on. It was pretty messy for some of the support staff, but us riders couldn't really get on the beers so it was a civilised glass of bubbly. After that I went back to Britain to spend some time with family and friends and now I'm finally training to begin my season in mid-March. I can't wait.
I thought I would give you a brief overview of the season so far aswell here. Well, here it is:
January saw a dominant Richie Porte in Australia as well as wins for Intxausti, Spilak and Westra. Ravard won the first French race of the year.
February's biggest races were won by Renshaw, Tiralongo, Boonen and Danail Petrov, whilst there were also great performances by Vicioso, Tony Martin, Trofimov, Hushovd and, of course, Tiernan-Locke.
Incredibly, we are leading the UCI Europe Tour, both individually and as a team and we will look to keep up this incredible form collectively and not just rely on JTL for all our points! JTL has also been awarded the UCI rider of the month award for February, which isn't particularly unsurprising. More surprising, and amazing, however, is that Tom Faiers has been awarded the young rider of the month award for his incredible consistency and teamwork. WHAT. A. MONTH.
I'll be hitting the road in three weeks in France, see you there,
Thanks a lot Wiley and samdiat. He's way better than Gilbert, what are you on about?
Mandri Maintains Streak With Victory in Le Samyn
Endura Racing continued their unbelievable recent run of form with a stunning victory in the Belgian cobbled race Le Samyn earlier today. Despite the wealth of World Tour and Pro Continental talent on show at the start line, it was a breakaway of nine which somehow held off the peloton over the cobbles to fight it out for victory. Whilst Endura managed to squeeze two riders, Mandri and Wetterhall, into the breakaway, Garmin went one further and got an incredible three riders in to the break, meaning they were always likely to be favourites.
Mandri powered past three (!) Garmin riders to take an unbelievable win in Le Samyn, while the American big boys were left to consider what went wrong with a 2-3-4 finish
But with Wetterhall sacrificing himself for the stronger sprinter, Mandri, he came into the final kilometre on the wheel of Michel Kreder. With the Dutchman clearly running out of steam, Rene came out of his wheel and easily powered past him to take the win. With the Kreder brothers both finishing on the podium and Thomas Dekker in fourth, Garmin will go home tonight not knowing what just happened. But as the famous slogan goes, the look on Jonathan Vaughters' face. Priceless. Meanwhile, Wetterhall came home eighth, with Downing, Voss and Wilkinson also finishing well placed. This run has to end soon, right?
I'm writing this from my hotel room in Cholet, France. Yes, it's racing time again! Tomorrow will be the start of my season, a good two months after the team's first race. I'm rooming with my good mate, Jonny McEvoy and judging by the state of his bed, he'll be sleeping on the floor tonight. I don't think he's quite grasped the concept of living out of a suitcase yet! Still, he's alright for a Scouser!
Right, best leave it there before JMac turns my laptop off! I can't wait to get going although I know my legs are nowhere right now, and that I'll almost certainly be in the pain locker tomorrow afternoon, but you have to start somewhere, right?!
Ian: "A nice flat classic to start my season. Not too long and not too difficult so it will almost certainly come down to a bunch sprint. But as always, you must be vigilant with late attackers."
Ian: "Our stated leader here is Paul Voss because of his great shape but due to his lack of sprinting speed, he will have to go on the attack late on if he wants a result. Therefore our leader is Ian Wilkinson or Matt Cronshaw, depending on who has the better legs on the day. Blain should also have a shot if he has good legs due to riding at home."
Ian: "I am an out and out domestique here to build up fitness. I will look after one of the leaders and/or fetch bottles from the car. I will only go for the breakaway if I feel extremely good later on, but more likely, I will be involved in the sprint train."
Ian: "The favourites seem to be Cardoso, Van Dijk, Matthews, Bonnet and Belletti but there are lots of riders, particularly at Rabobank, Lotto, 1t4i and Accent who could get away from the sprinters. Never discount the French teams either".
Race Report
It was a great day for cycling with lovely weather and beautiful surroundings, but for Ian Bibby, it was a day to refind his race legs. At the start he rode right up to the front to see how he was feeling before settling into the peloton.
Rabobank were riding ferociously to prevent any groups getting away at the beginning but, in the end, they allowed a group of just three riders away. McEvoy was present for Endura alongside Berard and Rousseau.
With the break all but caught, Voss knew he had to go for it and on the final circuit, he rode past them. McEvoy gave him everything he had left, whilst Jelle Vanendert soon joined Voss to try to stay away.
Meanwhile, back in the peloton, the call came to start forming the sprint train just incase Voss didn't survive. Bibby was at the head of it, followed by Partridge, Blain, Wilkinson and the very strong Cronshaw.
With the two late escapees brought back, the sprinters started the leadout for victory. Under the flamme rouge, it was Bol against Wilkinson, with Cronshaw, Vachon, Schulze and Cardoso waiting in the wheels.
Cardoso left it late but flew past Cronshaw, Schulze and Vachon, but could he get the Rabo-man? It was very close but...
...He could celebrate the win with Cronshaw fifth and Wilkinson in sixth. Blain came home twelfth to complete another successful day for the team. It might not have been a win (for once!), but it was a great effort by everyone.
Thanks baia and, Freitas, I personally would have preferred a British win but there's been plenty of those so far this season so we'll let other countries have a chance!
Manager of Bunzl - Centrica
ICL's World Tour Champions and Talented Bottlers
After that I went back to Britain to spend some time with family and friends and now I'm finally training to begin my season in mid-March. I can't wait.
Meanwhile, Wetterhall came home eighth, with Downing, Voss and Wilkinson also finishing well placed. This run has to end soon, right?
