The UCI has today released the names of the two teams that will complete the 18 of the UCI World Tour for next year:
AG2R La Mondiale Astana
The first French team to join the story will look to add god national riders who end contract, like Sylvain Chavanel and Jean-Christophe Peraud. Astana would love to have Vinokourov, but it seems a target a bit too high for a newly established team.
The queen stage of the Dauphine is not very long, but it is a continuous up and down some of the big colossus of the Alps. The riders will ride the easy face of the Galibier first, through the Col de Lautaret, and the Croix de Fer before the final climb to the ski resort of Saint-Francois Longchamps. This resort is ¾ through the climb of the Madeleine. This is a real stage for climbers where big differences will surely happen among the favorites.
Today’s stage started crazily fast, as Radioshack wasn’t allowing any break to take time. The climb to the Galibier was a hell for many riders who barely clung to the end of the bunch. Romain Feillu (Euskaltel) took the mountain jersey points; 35 second later came Vincenzo Nibali (Lampre) and Sylvain Chavanel (Quickstep); 1 minute behind the French was a group of 5 riders, including Thor Hushovd (Garmin) and 1’ 40’’ behind the leader came the peloton.
All the effort Radioshack had put on controlling the race was ruined when Frank Schleck crashed while descending the Telegraphe. He had no trouble coming back to the peloton, but by the time this happened a break had already taken shape.
Miguel Angel Rubiano (Lotto) took the points at the top of the Croix de Fer. A group of 7 riders had joined in front by then, where Hushovd was the best climber. Tony Martin had tried to join, but was suffering in the climb and losing 1’ 35’’. The bunch had taken things more easily this time and was 4’ 20’’ behind the leaders.
Xavi Tondo (Euskaltel) was the first important rider to attack in the last climb. The Spaniard is not even among the Top 20 in the GC, so he needs to urgently recover time. With 10 kilometers remaining the break had 1’ 50’’ on Tondo and 2’ 30’’ on the group.
The riders in the break were fairly weak in this climb, as Tondo and Andy Schleck had overtaken them with 7 kilometers still remaining. As the group was already losing 1’ 25’’ on the duo, the leader reacted to defend his jersey. Frank soon rocketed away from the favorites group with no one following him.
Frank Schleck was climbing super fast today, as he did the two previous days. 4 kilometers from home the Radioshack rider was already closing in Tondo and his brother. Hubert Dupont and Bauke Mollema were losing 1’ 35’’ and the group was 2’ 20’’ behind at this point of the stage.
Frank Schleck was unstoppable and left his younger brother and Tondo behind 2 kilometers from home. Hubert Dupont and Bauke Mollema were trying to recover some time, but were already losing 1’ 20’’; John Gadret (Sky) had also managed to leave the group behind and was chasing the duo.
Frank Schleck wins in Saint-Francois Longchamps! The second stage in a row for the Radioshack rider, who is taking revenge for the poor Giro the team had due to crashes. This win settles the GC ahead of tomorrow’s last stage in Grenoble.
Tondo and Andy Schleck had a close sprint for second place, finally won by the Spaniard. They only lost 32 seconds on F. Schleck, so they both took a big step ahead on the GC. Mollema took the fourth spot of the stage, 1’ 32’’ behind the Luxembourgish, and Dupont was 5th 1’ 52’’ later.
The GC is now settled ahead of the last stage, as Frank leads his younger brother Andy by 3’ 49’’. Not even a crash or a bad timed puncture will delay him long enough to lose the yellow in Grenoble. Xavi Tondo progressed a lot and took the 5th overall position 5’ 51’’ behind F. Schleck.
The last stage of the Dauphine leads the riders to Grenoble. The route is fairly short, but has 3 categorized climbs, especially Saint Bernard du Touvet, which top is only 25 kilometers to the finish. The climb is tough enough to put some of the bigger names in trouble if attacks are made in its slopes. Fortunately for Frank Schleck, he has enough time in the GC not to worry about anything to win the race.
Stefan Van Dijk (Rabobank) managed to be in the successful break of the day and that allowed him to take mountain points. As they crossed the Col du Frene, the second of the day, he is only 1 point behind Romain Feillu. Among the 11 other riders of the break are: Mikel Nieve (BMC), Alessandro Ballan (Liquigas), Tony Gallopin (Quickstep), Geraint Thomas (Garmin) and Pablo Lastras (Movistar).
The peloton took things fairly easy today and started the last climb losing 2’ 55’’ on the break. Radioshack and Quickstep control the group, but none of the teams seems too eager to chse the break down.
The climb to Saint Bernard du Touvet was very quiet both in the break and in the bunch, so the break looks very good for the stage win having 2’ 20’’ to play with at the top. This was good news for Stefan Van Dijk, who got the points again and therefore won the mountains jersey of the Dauphine.
John Gadret (Sky) decided to attack in the flat part after the mountain sprint and soon opened a small gap. The French, 9th overall, has Jelle Vanendert and Steven Kruijswijk within 8 seconds in the GC so he is looking to improve his final position.
The break broke in two parts as the riders finished climbing Touvet. At the bottom of the descent Chris Froome (HTC) attacked and dragged Eros Capecchi (Lampre) in his wheel. With 10 kilometers remaining this was the situation behind them:
+ 15’’ Group of 4 riders from the break, including Mikel Nieve.
+ 1’ 30’’ Group of 9 riders, mix of the break and some favorites like Frank Schleck, Hubert Dupont, John Gadret and Marco Marcato.
+ 2’ 25’’ Tom Danielson
+ 2’ 50’’ Main bunch
Xavi Tondo (Euskaltel), the 5th in the GC, was unfortunate enough to be involved in a major crash within the last 9 kilometers. His GC position was going to suffer because it took a while for him to be back on track. John Gadret also crashed in the second group a couple of kilometers after.
Froome and Capecchi were reeled back in the first group. Once the sprint started, Tony Gallopin was the fastest in the first meters ahead of Froome, Capecchi and Van Dijk. They had 55’’ on the second group, so they didn’t have to worry about them for the win.
Tony Gallopin wins in Grenoble! The French held a charging Mikel Nieve behind to take his first win of the season. Gallopin had already been 2nd in Briancon behind Frank Schleck, completing a very good Criterium du Dauphine. Mikel Nieve looked very strong in the sprint, but started it from behind and was never able to recover all the lost ground.
Frank Schleck comfortably won the Dauphine GC after finishing in the second group 45’’ behind the winner. There was a greater deal of emotion in the second spot, as his brother Andy was finally able to maintain the second spot with a 1 second margin ahead of Hubert Dupont. Marco Marcato improved to 5th overall, while Xavi Tondo dropped to the 14th final spot after his crash.
The Clasica de San Sebastian is another of the races that makes its debut in this story. More than a month has gone by since the riders ended the Criterium du Dauphine. The peloton comes back to the Basque Country after the win of Janez Brajkovic in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco earlier this year. The race will take place in the twisty road that characterize the region and in front of a passionate crowd that will cheer the local heroes, especially team Euskaltel – Euskadi. Brajkovic is not supposed to be a contender this time, as the Slovenian is focusing in the later classics, as the race in Quebec.
Favorites:
- Bjorn Leukemans (Lotto): The Belgian cobbled specialist likes the long classics and, at 226 kilometers, San Sebastian fits him well enough. He will probably have some trouble in the hard climb to Jaizkibel, but if he can overcome it he will become one of the main favorites for the win.
- Mikel Nieve (BMC): The local favorite has set San Sebastian as one of his main targets for the year. Nieve arrives after a fantastic Giro, where he was able to take a podium place. He would surely like a few more mountains in the route, but expect him to try to set a higher tempo in the last couple of climb and arrive in a small group to San Sebastian.
- Pieter Weening (HTC): The Giro champion has had time to rest, as he took the Dauphine easy and was able to relax a bit since then. He arrives in San Sebastian trying to prepare himself for his local race in the Netherlands, but even if he is a little short in fitness he could challenge for victory.
- Bauke Mollema (Vacansoleil): The biggest revelation of the season faces a route that could well benefit his climbing abilities. The problem he will have if a reduced group is the lack of sprinting speed, it will be very difficult for him to win if he doesn’t arrive alone.
The route of the Clasica de San Sebastian is scattered with small and steep hills in the first part of the race, but overall it is not very demanding. That changes in the last 60 kilometers, where 3 climbs can select the group of riders a lot. The highlight of the race is the climb to Jaizkibel, the hardest climb of the route. It is crowned within the last 30 kilometers of the stage, so any group with a margin at the top has a good shot at the final win.
There was quite a bit of fight for the break of the day, as teams like Liquigas didn't like some of the riders that got into them or big groups. Only after around 50 kilometers of racing did they actually lift their foot and let a group of 7 riders go away. The main riders in the break were Jos Van Emden (Vacansoleil), Levi Leipheimer (Discovery), Taylor Phinney (Euskaltel) and Lieuwe Westra (Rabobank). 130 kilometers from home the group had built a gap of 5 minutes on the bunch.
Another stronger break took shape a few kilometers later. The group of 6 had riders as strong as Hubert Dupont (Saxo Bank), Jakob Fuglsang (Radioshack) and Bart De Clerq (Lotto). This group was about to catch the leading group with 80 kilometers to go. Behind, the pace in the bunch had increased and the time loss to the leaders was down to 2' 20''.
The peloton reaches the bottom of Jaizkibel with 1' 35'' lost on the big break group. With 40 kilometers left, the climb to Jaizkibel could well be a place where some big things happen towards the final victory in San Sebastian. Liquigas and HTC are the teams setting the pace in the peloton for Marco Marcato and Pieter Weening respectively.
Suprisingly, the climb to Jaizkibel was very quiet, especially in the peloton. The break had broken in pieces in the climb and Zaugg and De Clerq had a few meters on Dupont and Nocentini at the top. There were only 6 riders in front. The rest of the riders of the break were already losing 1' 10'', while the bunch lost time in the climb, they were 1' 55'' behind at the top.
Janez Brajkovic (Discovery) tried an attack in the last small climb. However, he wasn't as fresh as in the early classics of the season. The group of 6 had 1' 20'' at the top of this last climb (14 km to go), so they were ready to fight for the win among themselves.
Jakob Fuglsang leads the group of 6 towards the finish line in San Sebastian. Hubert Dupont tried an attack in the last kilometers but wasn't successful. The lead over the peloton was 1' 05'' with 5 kilometers to go, but no team seemed too keen on chasing the break.
Jakob Fuglsang took a good lead over the other riders in the break at the start of the sprint. Oliver Zaugg, Bart De Clerq and Hubert Dupont follow the Danish trying to close the gap.
Jakob Fuglsang wins in San Sebastian! The Danish rider takes his second win of the season and the most important of his career up to date. Oliver Zaugg was also very strong in the sprint but couldn't make up the gap that Fuglsang had opened at the start of the sprint. Bart De Clerq took the third place ahead of Visconti, Dupont and Nocentini.
Radioshack is making up for the poor start of the season they had by winning Dauphine and San Sebastian. The team has now joined the Top 10 in the World Tour rankings, while among the riders Fuglsang is now 12th and F. Schleck 16th. Zaugg has also progressed a lot, climbing to the 28th place overall.
The Eneco Tour returns with the same route that saw a surprising Steven Kruijswijk win last year’s race after a breakaway in the fourth stage. The route doesn’t have mountains, only the small and steep hills of the Ardennes will be able to upset the sprinters in the long stages. There are, however, two time trials in the 7 days of competition. If a breakaway doesn’t make it to the finish in any of the stages, the time trialists will probably be among the first in the time tables.
Favorites:
- Oscar Freire (Rabobank): Freire is one of the best time trialists out there, but he also can go through the hills if he feels ok. The Eneco Tour is a very big race for Rabobank and they will have their home crowd cheering for the team. That already served him to win the opening Eneco Tour last year.
- Rigoberto Uran (Sky): Sky has a lot of hopes put on Rigoberto Uran. The Colombian is a very good time trialist, probably with an edge on Freire and can keep up in the hills. If he doesn’t struggle in one of the few cobbled sections scattered in the route he could well win the Eneco Tour.
- Taylor Phinney (Euskaltel): This is probably one of the few races in the year where Taylor Phinney can be a contender. The American won a miraculous win in Sestriere in the Giro and is plenty of confidence ever since. However, other than that win his season hasn’t met the expectations put in him.
- Lars Bak (Liquigas): The whole Liquigas team has been lackluster the whole season and Lars has been no different. His best results of the season were Top 10s in the E3 and in Roubaix, but that’s all. The Danish will be Liquigas leader for the race, where he was 8th last season. He will be looking to improve that this time.
The time trial in Amersfoort is as flat as it gets. At only 6 kilometers the time differences will be rather small. Last year Rigoberto Uran grabbed the win ahead of the favorite Samuel Sanchez. The Spaniard has won three time trials this year and is the favorite to take a fourth here in the Netherlands.
The main favorite was one of the first riders out. Samuel Sanchez (Saxo Bank) clocked the best time as expected, 7’ 22’’, 12 seconds better than Pieter Weening.
Sky has some very good time trialists and David Millar is one of them. The British never looked too comfortable in the Amersfoort time trial but clocked the 2nd best time, 8 seconds behind Sanchez.
Cameron Meyer (HTC) was slightly better than the British and was able to clock the 2nd best time 7 seconds behind Sanchez. This is probably the best time trial effort of the season for the Aussie.
Oscar Freire is the main hope of the Rabobank team for the overall victory and one of the main favorites. The Spaniard matched Meyer’s time to take the third provisional spot 7 seconds behind Sanchez.
Levi Leipheimer (Discovery) also matched Meyer’s time 7 seconds behind Sanchez. He did that even though he stated in the previous week that he is racing the Eneco Tour only to prepare himself for the latest races of the season, the tour of Beijing and the Giro di Lombardia.
The Liquigas leader for the race is Lars Bak. The Danish didn’t have a good time trial and ended up posting the 6th best provisional time 9 seconds behind Sanchez.
Taylor Phinney is the odd one in the Euskaltel team, as he can do well in cobbles and time trials. He showed that by taking the 2nd provisional time, only 6 seconds behind Sanchez.
Rigoberto Uran (Sky) was the last of the contenders for today’s victory to hit the road. The Colombian looked very strong but couldn’t match the Spaniard’s time. In the end he posted the 2nd best time at two seconds.
Sanchez wins his third prologue of the season, after doing the same in Catalunya and Dauphine. He has built a big enough gap with the sprinters to probably hold the jersey until the fourth hilly stage. If the Spaniard is able to perform a good time trial on the fifth stage he could be a contender for the overall win.
