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Tour of Britain - Stage 6

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Böikzmöind Bristol

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Mark Cavendish sprints to victory on Giro d’Italia Stage 13

Posted in Amgen Tour of California, Giro d'Italia on 18 May 2012 Comments

Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) took his tally of stage wins in this years Giro d'Italia to three when he outsprinted Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) and Mark Renshaw (Rabobank) on the 121km thirteenth stage.

Two men got away from the bunch almost immediately, and after 20km, had picked up just over three and a half minutes. Team Sky and FDJ-BigMat had control of the peloton, and on the fourth category climb to Motezemolo, after 31.7km, the two teams kept the pace nice and steady so as to not risk making their sprinters work too hard early in the stage. As the duo crested the climb the gap was 5:30.

As the kilometres rolled by the gap slowly came down, and with 50km left to race it had dropped to 2:30, over the next 10km Orica-GreenEDGE joined the front of the peloton, and brought the gap down to 1:04. That time fluctuated, but the two riders were eventually swallowed with 20km remaining, after sitting up and allowing themselves to be caught.

A lot of the teams started to make their presence be known at the front of the peloton, with Rabobank, Liquigas-Cannondale, and Katusha all sending riders up. It was Liquigas-Cannondale and Movistar that led the peloton into the finishing straight, and 5km left to race it was Garmin-Barracuda who were leading the bunch, with Movistar and Team Sky not far behind. Both Farnese Vini-Selle Italia and Saxo Bank made an attempt to take over, and Saxo Bank were successful until Team Sky regained control with 1.5km left to race.

Three Sky team mates led Cavendish, Mark Renshaw (Rabobank) and Roberto Ferrari (Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela) under the flamme rouge, but as the line drew closer the Orica-GreenEDGE train came past. Brett Lancaster (Orica-GreenEDGE) launched team mate Matt Goss into his sprint, and immediately Cavendish was on his wheel.

As he began to come around the former team mate, Cavendish found himself being pushed into the barriers, but Goss opened up a gap for him, and the Brit relaunched his sprint to take the stage by a bike length from Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) and Mark Renshaw (Rabobank).

With the peloton finishing immediately behind it's still Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) in pink, but with the race heading into the mountains this weekend, it's going to be a tough couple of days for the Spaniard before Monday's rest day.

Dave Zabriskie destroys competition at Tour of California

Posted in Amgen Tour of California, Pro on 18 May 2012 Comments
Dave Zabriskie destroys competition at Tour of California

Dave 'Captain America' Zabriskie (Garmin-Barracuda) put down a blistering time trial in the Amgen Tour of California to take the stage and leaders jersey. Stopping the clock at 35:39, the next fastest rider was Jens Voigt (RadioShack-Nissan), who came in 23 seconds behind, with Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) in third, 34 seconds back.

Zabriskie said afterwards that he had come out to the course in February this year to videotape it, so he knew exactly where he could let up slightly, yet still carry speed through the course.

Pre-race favourite and last years winner Chris Horner knew that he was going to lose time on the course, hoping to make it up on Mount Baldy (Sat), but he wasn't expecting to lose 2:50.

With Zabriskie in the lead, the GC standings have been significantly rearranged. Four-stage winner Peter Sagan finished 3:27 behind the American, and now sits in 52nd place. However with Van Garderen 34 seconds back, Robert Gesink (Rabobank) 39 seconds behind, and Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Barracuda) trailing by 48 seconds, Horner is going to have to pull of some sort of miracle to take back time from those four, who are all in good stead to take the win. Plus, we mustn't discount Zabriskie, while it would be hard for him to finish first overall, it's not impossible.

Photo from steephill.tv.

Lars Bak solos to victory on Giro d’Italia Stage 12

Posted in Giro d'Italia, Pro on 17 May 2012 Comments

Lars Bak (Lotto-Belisol) attacked his breakaway companions in the final two kilometres to take the biggest win of his career. Sandy Casar (FDJ-BigMat) won the sprint for second ahead of Andre Amador (Movistar), 11 seconds behind the Dane.

A high speed start to the stage meant that the first break to succeed didn't come until 40km. 7 men got away, including Lars Bak, (Lotto-Belisol), Sandy Casar (FDJ-BigMat) and Michal Golas (Omega Pharma-QuickStep). The most dangerous rider in the group was undoubtedly Sandy Casar, sitting just 4:01 behind leader Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha).

At the summit of the Cat 4 La Foce, the group had 1:34 on the peloton, which at the time was being led by Katusha, who were quite happy to let the lead increase, despite Casar being a threat to the leaders jersey. After around 60km two more riders bridged the gap to the group, bringing the tally up to nine.

Their lead bounced around all over the place, but as it got over 4 minutes Casar became the virtual race leader. Coming into the final 40km of the stage, the lead was up to 7 minutes, but when Liquigas-Cannondale took to the front of the peloton on the penultimate climb of the day, the second category Valico La Mola, the gap started to steadily decline. As Golas attacked over the summit, the peloton were 4:11 behind.

Golas kept his lead down the far side of the climb, despite being forced off the road due to misjudging his braking at one point. As the ascent to Villa Tassani began, Golas had 27 seconds on the eight chasers, who were five minutes ahead of the peloton.

With just over 13km remaining, Golas' was finally caught, and as he was swallowed into the group he'd spent most of the day with, Casar attacked. Each of the riders in the break had a bit of a pop on the climb, with Andrey Amador (Movistar) successfully getting away, taking Casar and one other with him. As they came over the top with 11km left to race, the gap had dropped slightly to 4:30.

However Liquigas-Cannondale continued to lead the peloton, and as they came over the top, the gap had come down to 3:47, Casar had lost his virtual lead. The group was able to reform on the descent, and with four kilometres to go they were all back together.

As the riders entered the final 2.5km, the gap was back up to four minutes, and knowing he almost had the leaders jersey, Casar attacked. He was pulled back in the last 2km, at which point Bak jumped, which caused no reaction from the other riders in the group. The Dane kept the pressure on the eight behind him, but by the time they began to organise a chase, it was too late.

Bak came across the line with his jersey zipped all the way up, pointing to his sponsors logos. Casar came in 11 seconds behind, outsprinting Amador in the process. Knowing that the gap was close, Casar hoped for the peloton to come in as slow as possible, but as Juan Antonio Flecha (Team Sky) crossed the line, the gap was only 3:34, putting Casar 26 seconds behind Rodriguez, in third place, while Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Barracuda) sits between them.

Peter Sagan takes his tally up to four in California

Posted in Amgen Tour of California, Pro on 17 May 2012 Comments
Peter Sagan takes his tally up to four in California

Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) once again outsprinted all his challengers to take a record fourth consecutive stage in the Tour of California. Heinrich Haussler (Garmin-Barracuda) once again finished second, a position he unfortunately must be getting very used to. Michael Matthews (Rabobank) came in third.

An eleven man break got away on the first climb, and as they got to the second of the day after 64km, they'd opened up a four minute gap. With Liquigas-Cannondale leading the peloton, they were pulled in with 79km remaining, just as they were getting started on the final climb, Crane Valley Road, was beginning. Six men got clear on the climb and got themselves just under a minute coming over the top, but on the descent Liquigas-Cannondale pulled them back.

The pace the Italian team set on the climb meant a split on the climb was inevitable, however at the foot of the descent the pace dropped slightly, and the majority of the dropped riders were able to get back on. As the speed once again started to rise, BMC, Garmin-Barracuda, Omega Pharma-QuickStep and Rabobank all took to the front to prevent any breaks from getting away.

It seemed like this tactic would work, until with 15km remaining Jonathan Clarke (UnitedHealthcare) made a move, he managed to get 15 seconds, but the peloton eventually reeled him in with 9km left of the race, despite them looking like they were happy to let him stay out there, and him not putting in any effort to do so a all.

Everything changed when Dave Zabriskie (Garmin-Barracuda) countered an attack from two riders, quickly getting away from the peloton. The power of his time trial meant that if he had been determined enough, he could have probably stayed away until the end, but Omega Pharma-QuickStep eventually pulled him in, with 1.4km left to race. Garmin-Barracuda took over from the Belgian team and pulled the group into the closing metres, hoping to line Heinrich Haussler up for a win, but despite Argos-Shimano leading Marcel Kittel out, Daniele Oss (Liquigas-Cannondale) released Peter Sagan at the opportune moment, to take the victory from Haussler and Michael Matthews (Rabobank).

Photo from steephill.tv.

Roberto Ferrari wins Giro d’Italia Stage 11

Posted in Giro d'Italia, Pro on 16 May 2012 Comments
Roberto Ferrari wins Giro d’Italia Stage 11

Roberto Ferrari (Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela) took the sprint finish in Montecatini on Wednesday ahead of Francesco Chicchi (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and Thomas Vaitkus (Orica-GreenEdge). A crash in the last 500 metres once again took out a number of hopefuls, including Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) who didn't crash, but did lose valuable time to prevent him from opening his sprint up successfully.

Six riders got away in the the first ten kilometres, although that reduced to five when Simone Ponzi (Astana) was dropped after less than an hour. They got themselves a 4:23 lead by 20km, and although it did drop to around two and a half minutes, by the time they came through the TV sprint after 103.4km, it was back up to just over four minutes.

Rabobank and Team Sky led the bunch to the base of the Cat 3 Poggio alla Croce where the leaders still had 3:30 on the chase, but as they came over the top that had been reduced to to minutes flat. As the race continued the gap started to steadily fall, and with 31km left to race on this epic 255km stage, it was down to 10 seconds.

It was at this point that Manuele Boaro (Saxo Bank) decided to go for it alone, attacking from his breakaway companions. Adrian Saez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) attempted to chase, and with 25km remaining Baoro had 42 seconds on Saez, with the peloton not far behind. As Liquigas-Cannondale and Katusha came to the front of the peloton, that gap was soon reduced to nothing and Saez was sucked back up by the chasing bunch.

Baoro had 9 seconds as he rode across the start line to begin the 14.4km finishing circuit, but was caught after only 600 metres by Movistar, who led the group behind.

As the race started up the 4th Cat climb to Vico, the attacks started. The first came from Brett Lancaster (Orica-GreenEDGE), however Giovanni Visconti (Movistar) also had a pop, as did Enrico Gasparotto (Astana) and Damiano Cunego (Lampre-ISD). None of these attacked prove to be successful, yet as Team Sky led the bunch into the final kilometres, Alessandro Ballan (BMC) attacked. He was brought back with 1.4km remaining, as Giovanni Visconti (Movistar) came to the front with team mate Francisco Ventoso.

Team Sky were on track to set Mark Cavendish up for the win, but as Ian Kennaugh led his team mates through the final corner, him and Geraint Thomas became tangled and almost had to stop completely. Tomas Vaikus (Orica-GreenEDGE) took the incentive to open up his sprint, and as Sacha Modolo (Colnago-CSF Inox) came round the final corner, his wheels went from under him, which caused a number of riders following him to come down.

Roberto Ferrari (Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela) took the opportunity to come round Cavendish in pursuit of Vaitkus, and using him as a lead out man, came around him to take the victory. Francesco Chicchi (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) avoided the accident in the final corner to come past everyone in the final straight for second.

Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) finished safely in the bunch, allowing him to hold onto the leaders jersey for another day.

Photo from steephill.tv.

Peter Sagan makes it three in California

Posted in Amgen Tour of California, Pro on 16 May 2012 Comments
Peter Sagan makes it three in California

Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) has taken his win tally up to three in the Tour of California. Once again it was Heinrich Haussler (Garmin-Barracuda) who finished closest to the Slovak, with Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) contesting his first sprint of the race, and coming in third.

Four riders got away in the early part of the stage, and picked up a four minute lead within 25km. As the race hit Mount Diablo at 85km, the riders had eight minutes on the main bunch, and that gap stayed still until Liquigas-Cannondale picked up the pace on the front of the peloton, and with 80km left to race they'd pulled the gap down to seven minutes.

As the gap started to drop, Wilson Marentes (Colombia-Coldeportes) and and Jeremy Vennell (Bissell) attacked their break mates Jonathan Patrick McCarty (Spidertech-C10) and Sébastian Salas (Team Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies), and with 65km remaining they had 2 minutes on the two chasers, and six on the peloton.

As the race sped through California, thanks to the work of Frantisek Rabon (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and the rest of his team, the two chasers were absorbed back into the bunch, and with 30km to go there was only a minute and a half to the leaders. As the climb to Patterson Pass approached, the gap had dropped to a minute. Vennell made an attempt to get away solo, but when Marentes had no trouble following, the American accepted defeat and sat up. With the gap now falling quickly, the pair shook hands and let themselves fall back to the punch.

With his team mate back in the bunch, Fabio Duarte (Colombia-Coldeportes) decided he wanted some more exposure for the Columbian based outfit, and attacked on the climb. Nicholas Roche (Ag2R-La Mondiale) decided to join him, and quickly got themselves 25 seconds on the bunch. As the riders came over the top, they had Alexandre Geniez (Argos-Shimano) with them, and a few seconds on the bunch which was being led by Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale).

As they passed under the 10km banner, it was back to two as Geniez had drifted back to the bunch, and they had around 15 seconds. Shortly after they shook hands and were swallowed by the reduced bunch.

Tim Duggan (Liquigas-Cannondale) did a lot of work on the front of the peloton through the last 10km, and despite Team Exergy attacking twice in five kilometres, the bunch came into the final kilometre with no clear leading team.

As the race came through the final left hander, Heinrich Haussler (Garmin-Barracuda) was the first to spring, pulling Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) with him. However as the Australian started to fade, Boonen came round on the left with Sagan on the right. WIth less than 100m to the finish Sagan put in his final kicks and showed that it's not always experience that counts when it comes to winning, as he crossed the line ahead of Haussler and Boonen. Sagan now leads the race by 12 seconds from Haussler, with Jeff Louder (UnitedHealthCare), Fred Rodriguez (Team Exergy) and Ben Jacques-Maynes (Bissell) in third, fourth and fifth respectively, all with less than 30 seconds between themselves and the Slovak leader.

Photo from steephill.tv.

Joaquim Rodriguez takes stage and lead in tenth Giro d’Italia stage

Posted in Giro d'Italia, Pro on 15 May 2012 Comments

Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) outsprinted Bartosz Huzarski (Team NetApp) and Giovanni Visconti (Movistar) to win the tenth stage of the Giro d'Italia.

A five man break got away after 11km, and were able to open up a lead of 4:50 over the Katusha led peloton by kilometre 50. The gap slowly started to come down as the Russian team picked up the pace, and at the intermediate sprint after 98km it had dropped to 3:40. The gap fluctuated as riders picked up food and stopped for the call of nature, but with 50km remaining it was down to 1:50.

WIth 32km left to race and the gap to the leaders at one minute, Stef Clement (Rabobank) attacked from the peloton in an attempt to bridge up to the quintet of riders. Shortly after Francesco Failli (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia) attacked his break mates, and was able to drop two, who Clement soon caught. The three worked together to get back to the lead trio, and with 17km remaining they finally came together.

As Garmin-Barracuda led the peloton under the 15km banner, the gap was down to 52 seconds, and the next 5km saw that gap close significantly, to 19 seconds. With 7.5km to go, the break was caught, and the road started to rise for the Cat 4 climb to Assisi.

A number of small attacks came on the slopes, but none of them stuck, despite some serious attempts, particularly from Tomas Vaitkus (Orica-GreenEdge) and then Tom-Jelter Slagter (Rabobank). As the peloton came into the final kilometres, Slager attempted to attack again, however Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) was on his wheel, as was Bartosz Huzarski (Team NetApp).

With 150m remaining, Rodriguez jumped, and despite Huzarski trying, he wasn't able to catch the Spaniard, who crossed the line with both hands raised, 2 seconds ahead of the chasing Pole.

Despite Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Barracuda) finishing only 6 seconds behind Rodriguez, thanks to a time bonus for the stage winner, the Spaniard now leads the Canadian by 17 seconds, with Paolo Tiralongo (Astana) sitting in third, 32 seconds back. Other notable names in the overall top 10 are Roman Kreuziger (Astana), who's sitting in fourth, 52 seconds behind, and Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale), who's 57 seconds down in sixth.

The Path You’ve Traveled

Posted in Pro, Video on 15 May 2012 Comments
View Jens Voigt & Chris Horner - "The Path You've Traveled" - Presented by Nissan on YouTube

Jens Voigt and Chris Horner of RADIOSHACK NISSAN TREK talk about the path they traveled to become professionals.

Everyone loves Jens Voigt, and this video is proof of just how awesome he is, as well as Chris Horner. It's really interesting hearing what I'd describe as modern veterans, IE riders who are the oldest guys in the peloton, talking about how they started racing, and how things used to be done. Awesome.

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