My first classic of the year, and I am feeling in to good form to say it is so early in the season. Four wins already in Oman, and I want to make it 5 today.
But anything can happen in the One-Day classics. Crashes, punctures and the weather all play their part, so it will be an exciting race ahead.
Race Report
12km: After a series of attacks, a two man break finally formed. Sadly Hayden was deemed as a marked man, so it was up to Isaac to be the HTC man in the break, and he was joined by Marczynski (CCC-Polsat)
22km: CRASH #1! Jos van Emden (Rabobank) hits the deck hard, after a touching of wheels. Luckily, he is the only one to come down, and seems ok to continue.
44km: The break grew to 4, as Albert (Topsport) and Kaupas (Differdange) joined up with the two lead riders.
55km: In the peleton, I was well protected, and the legs were feeling really good today.
74km: The break's gap peaked at 8'43", as BMC and Garmin took over the control of the peleton.
88km: CRASH #2! Garmin's Martijn Maaskant is down on a cobble section. Amazingly, everyone avoids both him and his bike, but it takes him quite a while to get back to is feet.
104km: Split in the Peleton! The undulating route, plus the weather conditions, suddenly causes a split, with a group of 8 managing to power away. Of these eight riders, 6 of them were HTC, including my entire lead-out train and I.
107km: There is a huge panic in the peleton behind, as Garmin and BMC put the hammer down to bridge back to the split.
134km: On the final cobbled section, the 8 man split caught the day's break, and together this 12 man group really worked well together.
147km: The remains of the peleton finally catch the break with 30km to go, but it was a very sparse peleton that was left.
164km: Everything stayed together until we began to organise ourselves for the finish. Geraint Thomas (Sky) was the first to have a pop off the front, but he would not get far.
169km: Next to go was Thor Hushovd (Garmin), and he was looking strong, quickly opening up a 22" gap.
176km: The HTC guys worked well on the front to try and pull him back, but as sprint began, the former World Champion still had a 9" lead.
177km: Hushovd Victory! The Norwegian rider hold on to take the win, as I get to within 10 metres of him and take second... It was so close!
@all: Thanks a lot for the comments again. Yes, it was close, but Hushovd was clearly stronger. Garmin worked hard after a crash and the split, so their work was rewarded. Hushovd made a similar move at the WC and it didn't pay off, so fair play to him trying it again.
@Ian: Monthly Summary is to be posted next, so you will see who won Omloop
HTC headed to Qatar with stage wins in mind, with Alex Rasmussen leading the team in the sprints. He ended the race on the podium overall, picked up 3 stage wins and the Points Jersey in the process. Great start to the month for the team.
Tour Méditerranéen
m
Name
Team
Time
1
Philippe Gilbert
Omega Pharma - Lotto
15h40'47
2
Jean-Marc Bideau
Bretagne - Schuller
+ 50
3
Mikaël Chérel
Saur - Sojasun
+ 1'10
.
KoM
Kevin Van Impe
Landbouwkrediet
Points
Lloyd Mondory
AG2R La Mondiale
Under 25
Kevin Peeters
Landbouwkrediet
Team
Omega Pharma - Lotto
It was a dual leadership in the form of Kanstantsin Siutsou and Thibaut Pinot. Both riders performed well, despite their lack of form, with Siutsou finishing 9th on GC, and Pinot finishing 2nd in the Under 25 Classification. John Degenkolb lead the team in the sprints, picking up one stage win.
Volta ao Algarve
m
Name
Team
Time
1
Samuel Sánchez
HTC - Highroad
16h08'27
2
Jarlinson Pantano
Colombia es Pasión
+ 4
3
Staf Scheirlinckx
Veranda's Willems - Accent
+ 8
.
KoM
Edgar Pinto
LA - Antarte
Points
Samuel Sánchez
HTC - Highroad
Under 25
Jarlinson Pantano
Colombia es Pasión
Team
FDJ
Well what can be said about Samuel Sanchez that has not been said before... His first race for HTC, and he walks away with the Overall victory and Points Jersey in Portugal. Tony Martin also picked up a stage win in the final ITT, whilst Matt Goss ended his 13 month winless streak, with a fine sprint win on stage 3.
Tour du Haut Var
m
Name
Team
Time
1
Stéphane Poulhiès
Saur - Sojasun
7h55'02
2
Guillaume Blot
Bretagne - Schuller
+ 8
3
Thomas Voeckler
Team Europcar
+ 1'08
.
KoM
Jonathan Hivert
Saur - Sojasun
Points
Rémi Pauriol
FDJ
Under 25
Daniel Ricardo Díaz
Velo-Club La Pomme Marseille
Team
Saur - Sojasun
We went to Haut Var with dual leadership again, with Michael Albasini replacing Siutsou on the team. Albasini went on to finish 12th on GC, whilst Pinot just missed out on the Under 25 jersey again.
Giro di Sardegna
m
Name
Team
Time
1
Joaquim Rodriguez
Katusha Team
20h42'35
2
Riccardo Riccò
Katusha Team
+ 2'30
3
Enrico Gasparotto
Pro Team Astana
+ 2'39
.
KoM
Riccardo Riccò
Katusha Team
Points
Joaquim Rodriguez
Katusha Team
Under 25
Tejay Van Garderen
HTC - Highroad
Team
Katusha Team
Tejay van Garderen and Janez Brajkovic led the team in Italy, finishing 4th and 5th respectively on GC, 4" off the podium. No stage wins during the Stage Race, however Tejay's performance earned him another Under 25 jersey to add to his collection.
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
m
Name
Team
Time
1
Bernhard Eisel
HTC - Highroad
4h42'31
2
Staf Scheirlinckx
Veranda's Willems - Accent
+ 37
3
Thor Hushovd
Team Garmin - Cervélo
+ 58
The perfect ride... THat is how I sum up Bernie's win in Belgium. We went to the Omloop with a team targetting the win, with both Bernie and Lars Bak leading the team. Lars went on to finish 9th, whilst Bernie rode away from the favourites on the final Cobbled section and solo to the win.
GP di Lugano
m
Name
Team
Time
1
Samuel Sánchez
HTC - Highroad
4h15'04
2
Damiano Cunego
Lampre - ISD
+ 23
3
Tejay van Garderen
HTC - Highroad
+ 47
Two races for Sanchez, and two wins in the bag! Like at the Omloop, we went to Lugano with the victory as the team's target. Tejay did a superb job destroying the peleton on the climbs, setting up Sami for the win, and taking 3rd in the process.
Classica Sarda Sassari - Cagliari
m
Name
Team
Time
1
Yury Trofimov
Katusha Team
4h47'18
2
Sébastien Joly
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
3
Kanstantsin Siutsou
HTC - Highroad
+ 11
With focus on the Omloop and Lugano, it was sadly a weakened team that went to the Italian Classic, but that did not stop a fine team performance, finished off by Siutsou, who took a fine 3rd place.
Last year, it was almost the perfect Paris - Nice for HTC. I came away with the Green Jersey on my shoulders, and Tejay ended on the podium, finishing 3rd on GC, and 2nd in the race for the White Under 25 Jersey. This year though, we want the Yellow Jersey!
The team is set out very similar to the 2011 edition, in terms of us bring to two distinct groups of riders to the Stage Race; One for the Sprints and One for the GC battle.
I will lead the team in the sprints, where I am supported by Mark Renshaw, Matt Brammeier and Tony Martin.
Samuel Sanchez leads the HTC GC charge, and is given help in his quest in the form of Tejay van Garderen, Thibaut Pinot and Michael Albasini.
Depending on how the race pans out, we split the focus of van Garderen and Pinot, with one aiming for the KoM jersey, whilst the other will go for White.
@all: It's a strong squad for a reason: 1. Both HTC and Highroad have this race as a Sponsor Goal (HTC want Top 3 and Highroad want Stage Wins) and 2. The main riders for GC (Sanchez / TvG / Pinot / Martin) are all penciled in to ride TdF, and I want to see how they get on together, and maybe try a Sky-esque style domination.
@Ian: Sanchez will lead the team in the fight for Yellow, Pinot and TvG will go for White and KoM
Edited by the_hoyle on 20-01-2013 22:37
27th February 2012 - Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kruurne 
Tour of Qatar 
Tour Méditerranéen 
Volta ao Algarve 
Giro di Sardegna 
GP di Lugano 
Spain
