Tirreno - Adriatico was an anynomous experience for me. The stages were either too tough or too easy, so with Sagan and Cavendish here, I didn't have much of a fighting chance. I also didn't want to risk falling before the classics, so I did some work for the team in some stages.
General Classification
1
Peter Sagan
Cannondale
29h04'58
2
Michał Kwiatkowski
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
+ 1'19
3
Rigoberto Urán
Lotto Belisol
+ 1'23
4
Nicolas Roche
Tinkoff - Saxo
+ 1'45
5
Bauke Mollema
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
+ 2'15
6
Daniel Martin
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 2'55
7
Moreno Moser
Lampre - Merida
+ 4'00
8
Roman Kreuziger
Tinkoff - Saxo
+ 5'13
9
Diego Ulissi
Lampre - Merida
+ 6'12
10
Rafal Majka
Tinkoff - Saxo
+ 6'22
The race to the sun was better for our team. We scrambled some important WT points with Wiggins and Meyer. Adam Yates successfully rounded off Paris - Nice with the climber's jersey.
Paris - Nice 2016
1
Tejay Van Garderen
BMC Racing Team
27h42'30
2
Thibaut Pinot
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 1'26
3
Bradley Wiggins
Orica GreenEdge
+ 1'50
4
Wilco Kelderman
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
+ 2'13
5
Janier Acevedo
BMC Racing Team
+ 2'51
6
Cameron Meyer
Orica GreenEdge
+ 2'53
7
Thomas De Gendt
Lotto Belisol
+ 3'36
8
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
+ 4'02
9
Romain Bardet
Trek Factory Racing
+ 4'17
10
Robert Gesink
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
+ 4'20
And so we're all ready for Milan - Sanremo! Though on the final day of Tirreno - Adriatico, Caleb Ewan hurt himself pretty bad and broke his hip. That's a terrible injury for a cyclist. I wish him a fast recovery!
The first classic, la Primavera. For the audience, a boring race. For us riders... Also boring, but with an exciting finale and a lot of prestige. After a 5th place last year, I know I can sprint for the victory here one day. Today I am 2nd in command. If Matthews gets left behind, I'm the man for the sprint!
Profile
Finally the race organisers are getting back their senses a bit. Instead of making Sanremo another hilly classic, they decided to stick with the Cipressa - Poggio formula. The next 5 years at the least. Good news for guys like me!
Today we saw a pretty big break. We made the mistake of giving them 10 minutes. The peloton realized its mistake and from that moment it was a rush towards the Poggio.
At the foot of the Poggio, we still hadn't caught the break. But surely we would on these slopes. We were pretty much at the front, with Yates, Roelandts, Matthews and myself.
Right before the top, we caught the break, just on time. What a close one. We came to the top of the Poggio in position 1 to 5. Our team was strong today once again!
The downhill was quite tricky, as usual. But we kept our lines, ready to prolong Matthews' victory from last year.
We went very fast and nine of us tore apart from the peloton. With Kristoff, Démare and Sagan here, winning wouldn't be easy. Also, Matthews had lost my wheel and was in a lost situation.
So Roelandts launched me for the final sprint. I felt pretty strong, but after 293 kilometers, I wasn't sure how fast I could go.
It turned out I still had a very decent sprint in me. It was me versus Sagan, again!
I thought I had it, but then it was over. No more punch left, no more power. I lost it all 10 meters from the finish line!
Noo! I crossed the finish line, feeling more disappointed than ever. I was so crushed I didn't talk to anyone, I just got on the team bus and waited for it to leave and take us to the airport to go home.
Result
Once again Sagan is in my way. It's been way too many times now.
But let's try and stay positive. The legs are good, and with the four cobbled classics coming up, that's not unimportant.
A 2nd place is fantastic, no matter how disappointed he may be. And from 5th to 2nd... what will be next year, uh?
Matt's terrain is still yet to come, so are his important races. That he finishes second just shows that this year will be even bigger than the last.
All in all a great race for OGE, two men on the podium, three in Top 10. They are doing things right.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
TimoCycling - Yeah, Sagan is a big part of Matt's career. Always taking the win ahead of him. But a good result indeed
Shonak - You have a point. Though after such a demanding race, it's natural he's disappointed to miss out on the win then. But it looks good for De Ronde! OGE with a very decent Sanremo, we're taking some valuable points!
Ever since I learned the World Championships profile, I've been on some training high. I'm in better shape than ever and at the moment I feel like I can do anything. Today it was time to put that feeling into prizes.
Profile
E3 as we know it. A mini Ronde Van Vlaanderen. Time to see who's the strongest on the cobblestones this year. All masks fall off here.
Our day couldn't have started better, with Wiggins in the break of the day!
And then, 70 kilometers from the finish, the weirdest thing happened. Roelandts was just pulling on the cobbled section, just to maintain a nice pace and keep everyone in line, when I looked behind and saw we had quite the gap. Behind us, other teams were all waiting for someone else to pick up the pace.
Stybar, tactical mastermind as he is, didn't wait long to make the jump forward. He latched on to our train and we were gone. We got 30 seconds, 40... A minute, a minute and a half. What was the peloton waiting for?
When we picked up the break of the day, some of them put in an effort, too. Wiggins did his share, too. With 30 kilometers left to go, however, it was only me doing the work.
So I decided to leave them behind. Stybar was paying attention and got in the slipstream.
Stybar is a sneaky devil, really. I got taken by surprise with a monstrous counter.
I took a couple of breaths and started chasing. I was very keen on not letting him out of my sight. As long as I had him in my vision, this wasn't lost!
And then, 15 kilometers from the finish, things were back to zero.
I thought it might be best to leave him behind immediately. Re-counter!
But Stybar is a pitbull. He stayed at 10 meters for kilometers, unable to bridge the gap, though.
But finally he cracked. 20 meters, 30 meters...
And then I knew I had it.
It had been one hell of a fight, we were equals in strength, the battle was won mentally today. My winning streak in Belgium continues!
Result
1
Matthias Vleminckx
Orica GreenEdge
4h52'30
2
Zdenek Stybar
ASUS
+ 1'04
3
Peter Sagan
Cannondale
+ 2'42
4
Kristjan Koren
Cannondale
s.t.
5
Matthieu Ladagnous
FDJ.fr
+ 4'24
6
Lars Boom
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
7
Sebastian Langeveld
Garmin Sharp
s.t.
8
Niki Terpstra
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
9
Sébastien Turgot
Movistar Team
+ 5'31
10
Sep Vanmarcke
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
+ 6'52
Spoiler
11
Damien Gaudin
Team Katusha
s.t.
12
Geraint Thomas
Team Sky
s.t.
13
Filippo Pozzato
Lampre - Merida
+ 9'41
14
Greg Van Avermaet
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
+ 14'13
15
Kenneth Vanbilsen
FDJ.fr
+ 14'42
16
Tom Boonen
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
+ 15'20
17
Tom Van Asbroeck
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
18
José Joaquín Rojas
Movistar Team
s.t.
19
Adrien Petit
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
20
Jasper Stuyven
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
21
Jürgen Roelandts
Orica GreenEdge
s.t.
22
Philippe Gilbert
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
23
Ramunas Navardauskas
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
24
Marco Marcato
Cannondale
s.t.
25
Maarten Wynants
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
26
Fabio Sabatini
Cannondale
s.t.
27
Gert Steegmans
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
28
Barry Markus
ASUS
s.t.
29
Rick Zabel
Jack Wolfskin
s.t.
30
Jacopo Guarnieri
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
31
Sylvain Chavanel
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
32
Iljo Keisse
TEAM Soleco
s.t.
33
Johan Le Bon
Team Europcar
s.t.
34
Alexey Tsatevitch
Team Katusha
s.t.
35
Bert De Backer
ASUS
s.t.
36
Marcus Burghardt
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
37
Marcel Kittel
ASUS
s.t.
38
Taylor Phinney
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
39
Dylan van Baarle
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
40
Maxim Iglinskiy
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
41
Koen De Kort
ASUS
s.t.
42
Omar Bertazzo
Androni Giocattoli
s.t.
43
Thomas Voeckler
Team Europcar
s.t.
44
Yves Lampaert
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
45
Aidis Kruopis
Cannondale
s.t.
46
Tosh Van der Sande
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
47
Stijn Vandenbergh
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
48
Marco Haller
Team Katusha
s.t.
49
Borut Božic
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
50
Michał Kwiatkowski
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
51
Egoitz García
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
52
Lloyd Mondory
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
53
Alessandro Ballan
Team Katusha
s.t.
54
Ian Stannard
Team Sky
s.t.
55
Boy Van Poppel
ASUS
s.t.
56
Yauheni Hutarovich
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
57
Mirko Selvaggi
Wanty - Groupe Gobert
s.t.
58
Pieter Jacobs
TEAM Soleco
s.t.
59
Preben Van Hecke
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
60
Maciej Bodnar
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
61
Bradley Wiggins
Orica GreenEdge
s.t.
62
Luca Paolini
Jack Wolfskin
s.t.
63
Enrico Gasparotto
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
64
Simone Ponzi
Team Sky
s.t.
65
Björn Leukemans
Wanty - Groupe Gobert
s.t.
66
Gianni Meersman
ASUS
s.t.
67
Jarl Salomein
TEAM Soleco
s.t.
68
Dave De Waele
Wanty - Groupe Gobert
s.t.
69
Julien Fouchard
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
70
Jens Debusschere
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
71
Yury Trofimov
Team Katusha
s.t.
72
Kristof Vandewalle
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
73
Francesco Failli
Androni Giocattoli
s.t.
74
Tim Declercq
TEAM Soleco
s.t.
75
Johnny Hoogerland
Androni Giocattoli
s.t.
76
Davy Commeyne
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
77
Pieter Serry
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
78
Andrew Fenn
Garmin Sharp
s.t.
79
Jeff Vermeulen
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
80
Jens Mouris
Orica GreenEdge
s.t.
81
Jos Van Emden
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
+ 17'00
82
Thomas Damuseau
ASUS
s.t.
83
Alexis Gougeard
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
84
Elia Favilli
Lampre - Merida
+ 18'40
85
Nikolai Trussov
RusVelo
s.t.
86
Zico Waeytens
TEAM Soleco
s.t.
87
Klaas Lodewyck
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
88
Alexander Porsev
Team Katusha
s.t.
89
Alexandre Lemair
FDJ.fr
s.t.
90
Thomas Degand
Wanty - Groupe Gobert
s.t.
91
Tycho van Benschoten
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
92
Manuel Quinziato
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
93
Ivan Basso
Wanty - Groupe Gobert
s.t.
94
Marko Kump
Tinkoff - Saxo
+ 19'24
95
Javier Moreno
Movistar Team
s.t.
96
Ryan Anderson
Androni Giocattoli
s.t.
97
Mickaël Delage
Team Europcar
s.t.
98
Sergey Chernetskiy
RusVelo
s.t.
99
Maarten Tjallingii
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
100
Sander Armee
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
101
Blaz Jarc
Garmin Sharp
s.t.
102
Alan Marangoni
Cannondale
s.t.
103
Jesse Sergent
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
104
Christophe Laborie
Team Europcar
s.t.
105
Fabio Felline
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
106
Murilo Fischer
FDJ.fr
s.t.
107
Fabian Wegmann
Garmin Sharp
s.t.
108
Javier Matellini
Androni Giocattoli
s.t.
109
Alex Dowsett
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
110
Edward Theuns
TEAM Soleco
s.t.
111
Gabriel Rasch
Team Sky
s.t.
112
Nelson Oliveira
Garmin Sharp
s.t.
113
Caleb Fairly
Garmin Sharp
s.t.
114
Julian Kern
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 21'28
115
Ben Hermans
TEAM Soleco
s.t.
116
Axel Domont
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
117
Ángel Madrazo
Movistar Team
s.t.
118
Romain Lemarchand
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
119
Louis Verhelst
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
120
Dayer Quintana
Movistar Team
s.t.
121
Iván Gutiérrez
Movistar Team
s.t.
122
Niels Albert
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
123
Danilo Napolitano
Team Sky
s.t.
124
Alexander Serebryakov
RusVelo
s.t.
125
Yannick Martinez
Team Europcar
s.t.
126
Ariel Maximiliano Richeze
Lampre - Merida
s.t.
127
Pawel Poljanski
Tinkoff - Saxo
s.t.
128
Javier Francisco Aramendia
Movistar Team
s.t.
129
Ivan Rovny
RusVelo
+ 23'07
130
Nicolas Edet
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
131
Valerio Conti
Lampre - Merida
s.t.
132
Sebastian Henao
Team Sky
s.t.
133
Michael Kolar
Tinkoff - Saxo
s.t.
134
Bjorn Selander
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
135
Peter Kennaugh
Jack Wolfskin
s.t.
136
Graham Briggs
Team Sky
s.t.
137
Gediminas Bagdonas
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
138
Dylan Teuns
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
139
Jesper Hansen
Tinkoff - Saxo
s.t.
140
Andrea Palini
Lampre - Merida
s.t.
141
Gavin Mannion
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
142
Yannick Eijssen
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
143
Jacob Martinez
Garmin Sharp
s.t.
144
Petr Ignatenko
Tinkoff - Saxo
s.t.
145
Tom Dernies
Wanty - Groupe Gobert
+ 24'41
146
Jonathan Monsalve
Androni Giocattoli
s.t.
147
Gert Joeaar
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
148
Valerio Agnoli
Team Katusha
s.t.
149
Dave Willems
TEAM Soleco
s.t.
150
Mikhail Ignatiev
Tinkoff - Saxo
s.t.
151
Stefan Radochla
Jack Wolfskin
s.t.
152
David Le Lay
FDJ.fr
s.t.
153
Alessandro De Marchi
Cannondale
s.t.
154
Eduard Vorganov
RusVelo
s.t.
155
Thomas Bonnin
FDJ.fr
s.t.
156
John Gadret
Movistar Team
s.t.
157
Tiago Machado
Jack Wolfskin
s.t.
158
Danny Pate
Team Sky
s.t.
159
Sven M. Schuster
Jack Wolfskin
s.t.
160
Kirill Pozdnyakov
RusVelo
+ 26'18
161
Gian Matteo Nicolosi
Androni Giocattoli
s.t.
162
Romain Sicard
Team Europcar
s.t.
163
Romain Guillemois
Team Europcar
s.t.
164
Erick Rowsell
Jack Wolfskin
s.t.
165
Serguei Klimov
RusVelo
s.t.
166
Perrig Quemeneur
FDJ.fr
s.t.
167
Alexander Rybakov
Team Katusha
s.t.
168
Michael Kurth
Jack Wolfskin
s.t.
169
Valentin Iglinskiy
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
170
Alessio Taliani
Androni Giocattoli
s.t.
171
Thibaut Boyer
Team Europcar
s.t.
172
Bryan Dewitte
Wanty - Groupe Gobert
s.t.
173
Ivan Balykin
RusVelo
s.t.
174
Anthony Rotthier
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
175
Yevgeni Dyatlov
Tinkoff - Saxo
s.t.
176
Marco Ippolito
Cannondale
s.t.
177
Corentin Jegou
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
178
Simon Devaux
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
179
Mitchell Docker
Orica GreenEdge
s.t.
180
Bradley Carroll
Orica GreenEdge
s.t.
181
Matthew Hayman
Orica GreenEdge
s.t.
182
Leigh Howard
Orica GreenEdge
s.t.
Things are going extremely well at the moment. If I can keep up this form until Roubaix, I'll be a very happy man!
Matt
Also, two questions: 1) Were your graphics always so good? Just noticed that they're really sweet!
2) What team does Stybar ride for/who did they replace?
Solid, after three weeks 
)
Tirreno - Adriatico 2016 
Paris - Nice 2016 
E3 Harelbeke 2016 
