April 26 - May 1st, 2005

Frank Schleck

Results

29.04.2005: 3. Aigle - Anzère (146 km)

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DNS / winner Damiano Cunego

Frank Schleck hasn't schown up at the start of the 3rd stage of the 59th Tour de Romandie. On the second day of the race, under cold weather and light but steady rain, he had caught a cold and it hadn't improve much since then. Today, on the mountain stage, his state would surely not get better, so he has prefered to step out of the race in order to be fit again for the soon to come Giro d'Italia.

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DNS / leader Santiago Botero

Results

28.04.2005: 2. Fleurier - Fleurier (172 km)

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46th at 0" of Alessandro Petacchi

16th victory of the season for Petacchi who realizes a perfect general repetition for the Giro d'Italia. Despite 3 climbs of 1st and 2nd category and a total elevation of over 2200 m, the Fassa Bortolo star was able to stay within the first group. Until 10 kms to the finish, the stage was marked by Inigo Landaluze who realized a solo break of over 150 km with a maximum of 10 minutes advance.

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Alessandro Petacchi

9th at 16" of Alessandro Petacchi

Results

27.04.2005: 1. Avenches - Avenches (170 km)

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45th at 0" of Alessandro Petacchi

Alessandro Petacchi has duly profited from the only stage of this race that has a suitable profile for him. From tomorrow on, massive sprints of the whole bunch should be rare. There isn't much more to say about the stage, except that there have been the usual battles at the intermediate sprints for the overall lead, some crashes and a long break of two men: Belgian rider Rosseler and Italian Ravaioli have been in the lead for over 125 km.

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10th at 6" of Oscar Pereiro

Results

26.04.2005: Prologue in Genève

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6th at 4" of Oscar Pereiro

Frank Schleck has proved at the prologue of Paris-Nice (he couldn't walk any more for a few minutes) that he has the faculty to ride himself completely empty in just a few kilometers, an important element if you want to do good short time-trials. And he has done a fantastic one at the Tour de Romandie, finishing 4" behind Pereiro, but in the same time than for example the specialists McGee or Dekker. After having finished 3rd provisional on a flat but technical course and kept that place for a long time, Frank finishes finally at the sixth place.

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Picture: grahamwatson.com

6th at 4" of Oscar Pereiro

April 24, 2005

Frank Schleck
Kim Kirchen

Results

24.04.2005: Liège-Bastogne-Liège

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19th at 1'18" of Vinokourov

What a performance by Vinokourov an Voigt, who both have attacked early, very early with 50 km to go and resisted until the end to their chasers. We surely would have liked to see Frank Schleck or Kim Kirchen in the lead today. But both of the two riders haven't fulfilled the great expectations in their race. Frank Schleck has not managed to be in the good group and he has spent a lot of time chasing behind without ever really coming back to the lead again, whereas Kim Kirchen has been at the front until the Côte de St. Nicolas, with 5 kms to go, and has been dropped there by the strongest riders. A very sad Kirchen said after the race: "I don't know why, but I couldn't do any better. My legs were good, but I had some breathing problems". Nevertheless, a 19th and 63rd place in what maybe the most prestigious classique isn't a bad result at all.

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Photos: www.cyclingnews.com

63rd at 16'06" of Vinokourov

April 19-24, 2005

Andy Schleck
Tour de Georgia

Results

24.05.2005: 6. Blairsville - Alpharetta (201,5 km)

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38th at 0" of Gordon Fraser

Massive sprint in the last stage of the Tour de Georgia, despite another break initiated by Andrea Tafi: this time he has been caught with 10 kms to go, after 90 km in the lead. Andy Schleck finishes in the main field and keeps his excellent 15th place overall. He is also 4th in the King of the Mountains competition and 3rd best young rider of the race.

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15th at 6'44" of Tom Danielson

Results

23.05.2005: 5. Gainsville - Brasstown Bald (182,4 km)

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10th at 2'33" of Tom Danielson

In the second mountain stage, just like yesterday, the Discovery channel riders put the pressure on Floyd Landis with several attackes, including the one of Lance Armstrong himself on the penultimate climb of the day. Their agressive riding was rewarded because Tom Danilson took the stage victory and the leader jersey. Like yesterday also, Andy Schleck did a fantastic race by following the move of Armstrong together with his leader Bobby Julich. At the foot of the last climb, he found himself in a group of 15 riders, more than a minute behind his team-mate Vandevelde. On the terrible climb to Brasstown bald, under hail and snow, this group exploded completely after the attacks of the Discovery-riders, the contestants crossed the finish-line one by one but Schleck managed well to limit the damage on a 10th place.

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15th at 6'44" of Tom Danielson

Results

22.05.2005: 4. Dalton - Dahlonega (214,7 km)

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27th at 2'04" of Brian Vandborg

If the two Schleck brothers have something in common, it is surely their climbing skills. Today was the first of two mountain stages in the Tour de Georgia and Andy has shown a fantastic race by attacking behind Rubiera on the very first climb of the day. A leading group of 6 riders has formed (Rubiera, Schleck, Pinotti, Russ, Aggiano, Krauss) and they should dominate the stage for quite a while. With 120 km to go, after Pinotti had been dropped under rain, thunder and lightning, their advantage reached a maximum of 2'50". 40 kms later, on the Woody gap, Rubiera attacked once more and only 2 riders managed to follow him (Schleck and Krauss). Finally, with 35 km to go, still under the impression of Rubiera, Andy Schleck was dropped and swallowed by a chasing group with all the main GC contenders. He lost 2 more minutes on that group until the finish line, but there he could enjoy himself over the victory of a team-mate, Brian Vandborg.

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25th at 5'21" of Floyd Landis

Results

21.05.2005: 3. Rome - Rome (29,9 km time-trial)

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32th at 3'25" of Floyd Landis

Floyd Landis has dominated the time-trial on a selective course, partially disturbed by the rain, whereas Andy Schleck takes a very good 32nd place, even if the gap to the winner is near to three and a half minutes. Landis also takes the lead in the overall classification, with 19" advance on Zabriskie, team-mate of Schleck who himself takes the second place in the best young rider classification. Once again, team CSC shows impressive time-trial skills with 3 riders in the top ten places.

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27th at 3'25" of Floyd Landis

Results

20.05.2005: 2. Fayetteville - Rome (197,5 km)

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37th at 0" of Peter Wrolich

The last kilometers were a little bit more difficult than yesterday with a short, but steep hill to climb three times. Before he wants to quit cycling, Andrea Tafi continues showing us great sport in his characteristic style: Today he made 115 km alone in the lead. On the final circuit, the peloton broke into several pieces under the impression of the Discovery-channel riders, but Andy Schleck was able to finish in the first half of the riders.

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37th at 10" of Robert Hunter

Results

19.05.2005: 1. Augusta - Macon (207,4 km)

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49th at 0" of Robert Hunter

Like his teammates Bak an Blaudzun, Andy Schleck has attacked in the last kilometers of this stage. Together with Danny Pate, he managed to get a lead of 50 meters on the pack led by Discovery. Andy even raised his hands thinking he won, but there was still another lap to go and everything came back together again: Robert Hunter won the bunch sprint.

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49th at 10" of Robert Hunter

April 20, 2005

Frank Schleck
Kim Kirchen

Results

20.04.2005: Flèche Wallonne

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2nd at 0" of Danilo Di Luca

Another impressive performance by Kim Kirchen at the 2005 Flèche Wallonne and this time it nearly brought him a big, big victory. Only Danilo Di Luca at the top of his form was able to beat him today. Well protected by his teammates, Kim Kirchen seemed very easy in the first part of the race, even on the 19% slope of the Mur de Huy. Later, in the climb of Ben-Ahim, he reacted to an acceleration of Vinokourov, surely because he was afraid seeing that the peloton had a lot of problems on chasing down an impressive Jens Voigt in the lead. But in the downhill to Huy, everthing came together again and a record number of 70 riders presented itself at the foot of the last climb. The speed was very high, but no-one really attacked until Kim Kirchen decided that it was time to go: "I felt pretty good and was very calm, sitting a little bit behind the favourites. A gap opened on the right hand side and I thought it could be the right moment. I accelerated and gave it everything until the finish line". But there wasn't anything to do against Di Luca today. Frank Schleck had a relatively calm race because his team-mate Jens Voigt was in front all day. He showed impressive ease in the climbs today, but wasn't able to be with the very best in the Mur de Huy, too short and too steep for his taste.

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28th at 27" of Danilo Di Luca

April 17, 2005

Frank Schleck
Kim Kirchen

Results

17.04.2005: Amstel Gold Race

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11th at 0" of Danilo Di Luca

Kim Kirchen certainly would have preferred a smaller group at the foot of the Cauberg, just before the final climb. That's why he was very active at the front of the race, like in the Keutenberg where a group of maybe the 10 strongest riders startet a counter-attack behind the 4 leaders: Rebellin, Rodriguez , Leukemans, Valverde, Sinkewitz, Celestino, Di Luca, Boogerd, Freire and the Luxemburgish champion were in that group. But the peloton just won't let them go and a general regroupement took place before the final climb. At that moment, everything was still possible for Kirchen but with 300 meters to go, where Di Luca was able to make an ultimate acceleration, Kim wasn't able to follow. Nevertheless, he finished in the same time than the winner at 11th place, a fantastic result if one takes a look at the names of the riders in front of him. Frank Schleck, on the other side, had a bad day: nearly a crash, two punctured wheels and he wasn't able to be with the best today. He finished way down and a little bit disappointed. Just like Kim Kirchen, he will aim for revenge this week, a little bit further up the Maas. Something worth to be noted: Erwin Thijs and Christophe Moreau have been in the lead of the Amstel race for over 220 km before being caught with jhust 40 km to go.

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Pictures: www.cyclingnews.com

Pictures: manni wollner www.foto-grafik-satz.de

97th at 5'46" of Danilo Di Lucca

April 10, 2005

Kim Kirchen

Results

10.04.2005 Klasika Primavera Amorebieta

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82th at 8'44" of David Etxebarria

Take the same riders and continue... Two days after the end of the Tour around the Basq country, the riders lined up in Amorebieta for the 51st edition of the local spring classic. On a difficult course, a group of 7 riders escaped and David Etxebarria won the race in the sprint. The roads were wet and slippery because it rained all day and Kim Kirchen didn't want to take any risk: he finished in the main bunch, more than 6 minutes down.

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April 4 - 8, 2005

Kim Kirchen

Results

08.04.2005 5A: Altsasu-Onati (93 km)

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Jens Voigt

Jens Voigt has won the morning stage by attacking at km 10 and doing a nice solo ride until the finish line. Behind him, the battle for overall classification has begun with an attack of Di Luca on the last climb. But the Italian rider could only gain 1 second on leader Aitor Osa. Kim Kirchen is not in the result list, only 94 riders finished the stage under cold and rainy weather.

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Aitor Osa

Results

07.04.2005 4: Vitoria-Altsasu(167 km)

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39th at 0" of Alejandro Valverde

Kim Kirchen isn't any more interested in the overall classification, and so he could often be seen at the back of the field. But before the last climb, the red-white-blue jersey went up to the front and he tried to reduce the peloton a little bit by accelerating behind Latassa just before the top. On the descent, everything regrouped and there where lots of attacks in the peloton. Lots of hektik too, very much to the dislike of Kim Kirchen who did not participat in the final sprint, where the usual suspects Valverde, Di Luca and Pediguero took the first places.

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85th at 8'45" of Aitor Osa

Results

06.04.2005 3: Ortuella-Vitoria (176 km)

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11th at 0" of Alejandro Valverde

Stage 3 seemed not too easy on paper with 3 climbs of 2nd category, but it hasn't brought any major changes in the overall classifications. 6 riders had escaped over the final climb, among them yesterday's winner David Moncoutié, but they couldn't avoid a massive sprint with most of the peloton. The break has been caught with 1 kilometer to go and after that, Valverde showed once more how fast his legs can be. Kim Kirchen was well present in the lead group and tried to participate in the sprint, but he was maybe a little to far back when the sprint started and couldn't match with the very best.

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91st at 8'45" of Aitor Osa

Results

05.04.2005 2: Zarautz-La Lejana (166 km)

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115th at 8'46" David Moncoutié

The climbers have expressed themselves on the mountain top finish to La Lejana with Osa and Moncoutié who could escape the field and keep a few seconds advance on the finish line. Behind those two, Davide Rebellin has put in an acceleration in the last very steep hectometers of the stage to try and take some extra advance on his main rivals for the overall victory. Di Luca has been attentive and managed to take the wheel of the Gerolsteiner, but lost the leader's jersey to Aitor Osa. Kim Kirchan has had a bad day and has been dropped before the final climb together with riders like Pellizotti, Voigt or Garzelli. He has lost over 8 minutes and is now out of contention for the final general classification

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99th at 8'45" of Aitor Osa

Results

04.04.2005 1: Zarautz-Zarautz (133 km)

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19th at 0" of Danilo Di Luca

After having been launched perfectly by his team-mates from Liquigas, Danilo Di Luca has won the first stage of the race through the Basque country in a sprint of a group with about 50 riders, among them most of the favourites with Kim Kirchen. This group has taken the lead of the race after several attacks on the short, but up to 16% steep and narrow Alto de Garato with 7 km to go. Most prominent victims of that climb were Voigt, Vinokourov and the two home riders Zubeldia and Mayo. Earlier on, the stage was marked by a break of over 100 kms of the Spanish riders Mayoz and Zarate.

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19th at 0" of Danilo Di Luca