Thanks guys. I'm hoping for 2nd from Kreuziger, 1st looks to be pretty much locked up already with Sanchez doing so well. But we'll just have to see.
And another update tonight so that I can hopefully finish the Vuelta and ToB updates tommorow, since a lot of my friends are out of town, so today was my last day with some of them until pretty much when school starts.
Maybe the theme of this years Vuelta, breakaways. Another one survives this time with a few frenchies, something the Spanish will want to make amends to, for the home crowds in the days to come. For now not too much time lost for Kreuziger.
Result:
Stage 12
Now we have a very flat, hilly stage, and despite all odds, there were many attacks late in the race. Roche really took it to everyone else, and Kreuziger held on for 2nd place, a good result for him. If those hills were too steep for most guys, I'm wondering if some guys will even get over the mountains to come?
Result:
Stage 13
Two hilly stages in succession, and this time, Sanchez gets back to his winning ways, while Kreuziger cracks, losing over 1 minute to Sanchez. He maybe loses all his chance to take 2nd place, but a podium or Top 5 might still be possible.
Result:
Stage 14
What kind of GT would this be if there wasn't a breakaway win in the whole 3 weeks? Oh wait, there's been a breakaway win every other stage Well this stage takes true to the breakaway madness as Laurent Didier makes the most of his opportunity and wins. The rest of the riders come in a couple minutes behind. Roman Kreuziger lost 8 minutes to Didier, so about 3 if you do the math, to Sanchez the leader of the race.
Result:
Stage 15
We've got another mountain stage this time not quite as monstrous. Kreuziger "survives" but still loses a bit of time to Sanchez. And even though he loses time, he almost guarantee's a Top 10 with an ITT still to come, later in the race. Dapena gets in a solo move, and actually gets himself into the Top 10 in the GC, so a good result for him.
Result:
Stage 16
And so finally a flat stage, and you'd think the break would give it a rest with trying to stay away till the end and all, but apparently people want to win a stage or something, and the peloton (Except Sky of course) are too lazy to bring them back. Its an FDJ 1-2. Where were all these frenchies in the Tour?
Thanks guys! The Frenchies are really dominating, and I think the best rider in the U23 Ranking is French too, so they might dominate in a couple years.
And sorry, I lost track of time, but I should have an update later tonight.
So whats up with these Frenchies? Well guess what, at this rate every French rider in the race will get a stage win and this time it was Romain Feillu from a breakaway. It wasn't too bad of a stage for the GC contenders either.
Result:
Stage 18
A mountain stage, but the mountain ends about 40km from the line. Kreuziger attacked early on, and on the descent, Sammy Sanchez began to catch him, but he held them off for the stage win. Though if the stage had ended at the top of the climb he would have had a 1'30 gap to Sanchez, so he lost 1 minute on the descent.
Result:
Stage 19:
Garci Dapena, attacked late in the stage, and thanks to him getting himself into GC contention in the break the other day, he now had to be followed by Kreuziger, and again Kreuziger gains a bit of time on the other "real" contenders.
Result:
Stage 20
The final TT of the race and its 36km long. Konovalovas won the stage to make it two stage wins ine final week, and Kreuziger also got into the Top 5. The real surprise was Dowsett who finished 4th. Kreuziger really cut back on his GC rivals and moves into the Top 5 again.
Result:
Stage 21
What can I say, its the final stage, and its flat. Its not as prestigous as Paris, but its still pretty nice. And what do you know, this time it A. didn't end in a break B. a French rider didn't win, so when those two things dont happen you know its a sprint stage. This time Theo Bos, the Dutchie.
Result:
Final General Classification:
Points:
1. Sammy Sanchez 196
KoM;
1. David Garci Dapena 143
Young Rider:
1. Tejay Vangarderen
2. Rigoberto Uran
The first stage, surprisingly ended up with a single rider staying clear. Houle went away with a couple km's left, and the peloton couldn't get organized to chase him back down.
Stage two, had the German Marcel Fischer win, from a break again. I guess the sprinters feel there a better stages still to come for them (or PCM's simulation is just that bad, that a breakaway wins absolutely every stage )
Stage 3 saw Marcel Fischer, win from a breakaway again. This time he was accompanied by 2 others, but Ben Swift still did well to take 5th.
Stage 4 and another break won. This time the Italian Grazziato. Not much else happened.
Stage 5 had a breakaway too. This time Jorgensen won ahead of his other BOTD companion Peter Kennaugh.
Stage 6 finally ended in a mass sprint and Ben Swift was the fastest rider on the day. A great win for Sky, and a great morale booster for the team going into the bottom of the 9th, of the season.
Stage 7 was another mass sprint and Johnny Bellis won for his Endura racing team. What a great win for him and his team.
Stage 8 and it ended off the week and one day Stage Race in London, with a sprint. Williams took the stage ahead of the two previous stage winners Bellis and Swift, in that order.
@DJP-Yeah thanks, he did well, and he used the tactic of building up his form as the 3 weeks went along so thats why he was so strong in the Final week.
And yes the Tour of Britain is one of the most important races for Sky.
@MResuperstar-Thanks, of course were always trying our best to please the greedy no hearted sponsors.
Hi everyone. Just here in the Netherlands for the World Chamionships. Tommorow is the ITT, and the course goes over the Cauberg, as well as the RR a few days after, so this will be one tough TT for most of the riders. Talking with a bunch of the riders, it seems there will a bunch of new teams next season too. I've heard some things about an Australian team, but other than that, I haven't heard much.
Ask David:
DJP19 wrote:
Question for David:
What made you get into cycling and how did you first breakthrough?
I'm not sure, what made me get into cycling, but I loved riding my bike at a young age. Its really hard to describe, whats so great about riding a bike, but I just really enjoy it. I first broke through, when I started to ride fairly well in the Canadian Cyclocross tour, some of my best results in the Cyclocross Canadian Chamionships, where I finished 3rd in 2002. Then I started to ride road a bit with a Club in Quebec, and some people told me I was really good, so in 2006 I signed up for the U23 Canadian TT Championships and I won them. The next two years afterwards, I also won. My first real team was Jittery Joe's in 2007. And a year later I moved to Kelly Benefits, and the rest you could say is history .
So as always thanks everyone, and feel free to ask a question if you like.
I'd say its a tough lineup alright. Certainly the favourites going in are Cancellara and Tony Martin. The only real problem with them starting last is that rain is a possibility and that could really slow down their times, so some earlier starters could get a helpful advantage. Also a bunch of Sky riders have a good chance, like Thomas, Boasson Hagen and soon to depart Rogers.
As for me, I really have no clue. It will be hard to win obviously but the hills somewhat favour me being inside the Top 30, so basically being one of the 30 best TTers in the world. That would be awesome.
Just looking forward to the race later today, and hopefully someone can ask me a question so that I have something to answer for my next Blog Entry......
David's Plan:
Not sure how much plan I even need to put into this race. I think the fact the directors picked me over Svein Tuft speaks for itself. I have to do well. There is rain in the forecast but hopefully that will miss the area we are in. I know that Vinokourov is starting right behind me, so I think thats enough motivation to go my fastest. If he passes me I know its all over.
Before I started it was time to start, I had some spare time to follow how Geraint Thomas was doing. In the first time check he had the fastest time by 30 seconds. In the 2nd Time Check he had the fastest by 16 seconds. But at the finish he took over top spot by 45 seconds, to Rosseler who was 2nd at the time. So expected him to win actually with Thomas missing most of the rain, before it began to pour just before I went out.
5-4-3-2-1-GO!! I went down the ramp. My heart was pounding, this was the biggest stage I have ever been on. It was hard to focus and get into a rythmn at first, but soon I reached the 1st time check. I had beaten the time by 30 seconds!! This was probably too fast of a start, so I slowed down by an average of 2km/h. And I started to feel better.
A couple minutes after I started my teammate Boasson Hagen started. He was a favourite at this point because everyone knows how much he likes dreadful weather, so the conditions suited him. But his times didn't show that. He must have been having an off day for him. Still a Top 10 finish though, so he can be happy.
On the 2nd check I had dropped to 8th place about 1 minute behind Thomas' time. At this point I wanted to hold on for a TOp 20 spot as the win looked lost with Martin and Cancellara still left.
There goes Fabian! He went through the course 5 seconds back on Thomas in TC #1. 7 Seconds back in TC #2, so what would his time be? He is the only one that can beat Thomas now!
I saw the line and went my fastest for it. After the Cauberg, I couldn't feel my legs anymore, it was like they were controlling themselves. But I crossed the line +1'54 of Thomas, to be honest an awful time. I was really hoping for more. I think I can do well in two days though for the RR.
And the winner of the stage is........................
Good Luck
By the way keep up the good work valverde 
