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23.04.2006 Liège - Ans (262 km)
Valverde scores double, another Top-Ten for Schleck
Results:
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Alejandro Valverde
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7th at 0"
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DNF
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Whereas Frank Schleck finishes for the third time in a week at a top-ten spot in a Pro-Tour event and thus takes the 4th position overall in the series, Alejandro Valverde becomes the fifth men in history to realize a double score in the "Ardennes Week-end" including Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The Spaniard has taken advantage of his fast finish at the conclusion of a very tough and animated race that ended up in a sprint of a leading group of about 10 riders, among them the Luxemburgish champ. Frank Schleck has attacked twice in the final kilometers up to Ans because he wanted to avoid a sprint where he knew that the Valverde, Bettini or Cunego would be faster than him. But like his team-mate Ivan Basso, the CSC-rider wasn't able to make a difference in the leading group. This group had formed on the côte de la Redoute after the accelerations of Bettini and Basso. On the côte de Sprimont, Michael Boogerd made a very nice move and he took over half a minute of advantage, together with Joaquin Rodriguez. But on the côte de Saint-Nicolas, a few kilometers later, 10 more riders managed to catch the leading duo. Despite several attacks of Schleck, Basso, Sinkewitz or Boogerd, nobody was able to make a difference, for the great joy of Alejandro Valverde. Before that, the race has been marked by a big break of 24 contestants with among them riders like Serrano, Flecha, Rogers or Commesso, but also Steffen Wesemann and Jens Voigt who were the most active in the group and have left a big impression, before being reeled in by the favourites. Kim Kirchen, whose health problems still aren't completely resolved, wasn't able to do as well as in the Amstel and the Flèche Wallonne and abandonned the race after about 200 kilometers.
19.04.2006 Charleroy - Huy (202 km)
Schleck 4th at Spanish Festival
Results:
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Alejandro Valverde
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4th at 3"
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86th at 2'30"
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Once again, it was Paolo Bettini who was very active with his usual multiple accelerations. His attack on the côte de Ben-Ahin, with a dozen kilometers to go, made a selection in the peloton, especially because a very impressive Mathias Kessler also made his move at that moment. Kessler, Bettini, Valverde and Astarlo got several meters of advance, but on the top of the climb, more riders came back to the front, among them Frank Schleck with his team-mates Basso and Kroon, but also riders like defending champion Di Luca, Etxebarria, Sanchez, Gil or Wegmanns. Schleck then tried his tactics of the Amstel Gold Race by attacking with 10 km to go behind Sinkewitz, but the other favorites chased them down 2 kilometers later, before a bigger regroupement took place on the descent towards Huy. So it was a relatively big peloton, including Frank Schleck and Kim Kirchen, that tackled the Mur the Huy for the last time and for victory, led by Björn Leukemans with a few seconds of advance. Igor Astarloa made an early move on the wall, but he was chased down by Etxebarria. But the Spanish festival continued with the acceleration of Samuel Sanchez, followed by Valverde who passed Sanchez at the right moment and rode to victory in impressive style. Frank Schleck proved once again that he is among the strongest riders of the moment by taking 4th place at the finish behind the two Spaniards and his team-mate Karsten Kroon. On a climb that doesn't really suit him because too short and too steep, Schleck was able to follow the accelerations of Sanchez and Valverde in the toughest slopes, but couldn't do anything against the final jump of the fast Valverde. By taking yet another fantastic top-ten spot, Frank is now noted in 5th position of the Pro-Tour classification. Like at the Amstel Gold Race, Kim Kirchen had to work for his team-mates Sinkewitz, Kessler and Ivanov the whole day and he has done the last climb of the wall in Huy more at his ease, finishing two and a half minutes down together with riders like Voigt, Sastre or his team-mate Wesemann.
16.04.2006 Maastricht - Valkenburg/Cauberg (253 km)
Huge solo-victory for Frank Schleck
Results:
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Frank Schleck
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Winner
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60th at 2'54"
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After his numerous podium and top-ten placings in the last 10 months, it was only a matter of time when Frank Schleck would score a really big win. And on this Sunday, 16th April, the Luxemburgish rider won the second victory in his professional career after a brillant tactical and physical performance. The Amstel Gold Race 2006 began for good on the Eyserenbosberg, with 20 km to go, when Karsten Kroon, then Paolo Bettini raised the speed and thereby splitted the peloton with only about 20 riders staying in the front. A few kilometers later, after the Fromberg, Bettini attacked again and bridged up to Steffen Wesemann who had been alone in the lead for several kilometers already. The Rabobank riders, who had controlled the race until there, weren't able to do so anymore and other riders had to take their responsbilities. Among them was Frank Schleck who attacked together with Ivanov and Wegmann behind the two leaders. These three riders chased down Bettini and Wesemann on the mighty Keutenberg (22% of slope), but the other favourites weren't far behind and more riders bridged up after the summit: Rebellin, Boogerd or Sanchez for example. The race was far from being decided with 10 kilometers to go and Frank Schleck decided that this was the right moment to make his move. He attacked on the flat and despite Sinkewitz trying so, nobody was able to hold the Luxemburgish champ. With 5 km to go, he had 15 seconds of advance on the chasing group, where the T-Mobile riders Ivanov, Wesemann and Sinkewitz did most of the work, supported from time to time by Bettini or Boogerd. On the last kilometers, the never tiring Wesemann went alone behind Schleck, but the CSC rider didn't weaken, nor on the flat, nor on the last ascent of the Cauberg, and he had enough time to celebrate an emotional victory with tears and laughters at the finish. As mentionned, the T-Mobile team was very offensive today and Kim Kirchen contributed also to the nice performance of his squad. The Luxemburger didn't hesitate to take the wind in order to protect his team-mates and he lost contact with the very best in the Eyserenbosberg, after having worked a lot until then and after a flat tyre in the worst possible moment, only a few kilometers before the attack of Paolo Bettini. Finally, Kim finished in the first bigger group of about 30 riders, less than 3 minutes behind Frank Schleck.
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April 9, 2006: 52nd Klasika Primavera
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09.04.2006 Amorebieta - Amorebieta (171 km)
Good day for CSC
Results:
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Carlos Sastre
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73rd at 3'47"
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On the day after the final stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, the same riders traditionnaly participate in the Klasika Primavera around the Basque town Amorebieta on a similarly difficult course. This wasn't the case for T-Mobile and Kim Kirchen but well for team CSC, where Frank Schleck re-entered racing after several days of rest due to his hard crash in the stage race. And after a slower than usual start into the season, Bjarne Riis' team slowly comes to its best form. Carlos Sastre has won the Klasika Primavera on the same day that his team-mate Fabian Cancellara has taken in a very impressive manner the victory out of the hell of the North at Paris-Roubaix. Sastre really seemed strong in Amorebieta, because its was his and Damiano Cunego's accelerations that isolated a lead group of 4 riders in front: Sastre, Cunego, Rodriguez and Contador. At the finish, the experienced Sastre was surprisingly faster than the youngster Cunego in the sprint. Frank Schleck has most of all worked for his team and after that, he slowed down a little bit and let the peloton ride away from him on the last climb, together with his team-mates Blaudzun and Voigt.
08.04.2006 6: Zalla - Zalla (24 km time-trial)
Gomez-Marchante creates the surprise
Results:
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José Angel Gomez
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38th at 1'28"
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126th at 46'30"
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The Tour of the Basque country, like the rest of his seson so far, hasn't been much successfull for Kim Kirchen. But if there were positive points to be found, apart from the accumulation of race kilometers in preparation of the Ardennes classics, this final time-trial surely is among them. Started with the only ambition to test himself in a disciplin that isn't his favourite one, Kim has realized a fairly good result on a tough course with among others a climb of 4 kilometers and with a change in altitude exceeding 200 meters. The T-Mobile riders has taken 38th position, 1'28" behind the winner, but in front of riders like Dario Cioni, time-trial specialist or Davide Rebellin, who was still fighting for the overall victory. This one finally went to the surprising Basque rider José Angel Gomez-Marchante, who had attacked without success numerous times in the first stages, but finally had his day of glory in the time-trial, where he won the stage victory as well as the final overall classification with two seconds of advance on Valverde and Colom, the two riders from Caisse d'Epargne.
07.04.2006 5: Vitoria-Gasteiz - Zalla (178 km)
V like Victory, Voeckler and Voigt
Results:
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Thomas Voeckler
Samuel Sanchez
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140th at 15'40"
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132nd at 45'11"
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Stage 5 has finally brought luck to a break: whereas the favourites prepared themselves for the deciding time-trial of tomorrow, 9 riders broke clear shortly after the finish and held the rest of the field at distance until the finish line. Of course, there were a lot of valuable riders in this lead group: Voigt, Voeckler, Caucchioli and Zaballa plus Grivko, Poilvet, Wegelius, Cobo and Cesar, but none of them was dangerous in the overall classification. Euskatel led the peloton at rather moderate speed and the 9 riders soon had a gap of over 6 minutes. Another day on a tough course and Kim Kirchen integrated the grupetto of around 20 riders, among them his team-mate Guerini, on the most difficult climb of the day, whereas Jens Voigt got more and more active at the front. After some accelerations of the strong German on the Alto de Avellanoda, riders were dropped one by one and only Thomas Voeckler and Cobo were able to hang on to the wheel of the CSC rider. Juan José Cobo didn't really work properly at the front, but he was also dropped after yet another attack of Voigt with less than 5 kilometers to go, so that the stage victory was to be decided in a sprint between Voeckler and Voigt. The issue was very close and the photo-finish decided in favour of the Frenchman. The main peloton crossed the finish-line two minutes and a half behind Voeckler, whereas Kim Kirchen was a quarter of an hour late in 140th position.
06.04.2006 4: Lérin - Vitoria-Gasteiz (172 km)
Oscar Freire wins massive sprint
Results:
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Oscar Freire
Samuel Sanchez
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96th at 28"
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119th at 32'01"
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After the unfortunate crash of Frank Schleck yesterday, the news aren't too bad and he should already return to competition on Sunday's Klasika Primavera. Of course, the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, where Kim Kirchen is still in competition, continued with the 4th and longest stage, very animated in its beginning, where more than 60 almost flat kilometers invited offensive riders to attack. A group of 20 riders with among others Garzelli, Botcharov, Mayo, Casar or Sevilla broke away, but these riders never got more than a minute of advance and their adventure was finished shortly after the Alto de La Herrera, the roof of today's stage. After the Herrera, the course became hillier and attacks continued: 16 riders this time broke clear and they also created a gap of around one minute. But on the multiple ascents of the Alto de Zaldiaran, the group exploded into several pieces, leaving only Stangelj, Aerts, Marzano, Vasseur, Moreno and Wegelius in the lead. The peloton, led by Rabobank, Euskaltel and Caisse d'Epargne, got closer and closer to the break and swallowed the last riders only a few kilometers from the finish line. There, Oscar Freire took revenge for his defeat on the first day by winning the bunch sprint with several meters of advance on the usual protagonists: Sanchez, Rebellin, Valverde. Kim Kirchen has been all day in the peloton but he had react to a flat tyre of his team-mate Patrick Sinkewitz in the last kilometers of the stage. Sinkewitz is best placed of the T-Mobile team in the overall classification and together with Guiseppe Guerini, Kirchen tried to reduce his time-loss to a minimum. Finally, the three riders in magenta crossed the finish line 28 seconds behind the stage winner.
05.04.2006 3: Segura - Lérin (170 km)
Frank Schleck has to abandon after a crash
Results:
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Samuel Sanchez
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DNF
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81st at 1'48"
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138th at 31'33"
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Today's stage was a little bit less difficult on paper, but was marked by a massive crash at the very beginning. Most notable victims were Maxime Montfort, Aitor Osa, Thomas Ziegler and unfortunately also Frank Schleck who were admitted in the hospital Garcia Orcoyen of Estella. Frank has hit the ground with his head and although he tried to continue, he was completely dizzy and suffered of a concussion. He has to stay in hospital for a night of observation, but there doesn't seem anything serious. This means of course out for the fifth of this morning's general classification who had very big ambitions for the rest of the week. Fortunately, if the first impression is confirmed, there won't be any consequence regarding the rest of his season. As for the race in itself, two duos have animated it for a long time: Egoi Martinez and Ivan Parra first, who were escaped between the kilometers 50 and 125, and then Benoît Poilvet and Giovanni Visconti who attacked after km 140 and were caught again in the beautiful little town of Dicastillo with 10 km to go. The decision for the stage victory fell as expected in the last, one kilometer long and very steep (15%) climb up to the finish in Lérin. Bertagnolli and Gomez Marchante tried to surprise everyone by riding very hard, but then Samuel Sanchez made his move, came around everyone in impressive manner an took his second stage victory in two days, in front of Rebellin and Contador. After a less tough stage than the previous ones for him, Kim Kirchen has lost contact to the very best at the beginning of this last climb and finished in the middle of the peloton in 81st position, nearly 2 minutes behind the winner. Before that, he has worked a lot for his team in the flat sections with a lot of crosswinds.
04.04.2006 2: Irun - Segura (155 km)
Stage win for Sanchez, Schleck still at the top
Results:
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Samuel Sanchez
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8th at 2"
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5th at 2"
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159th at 19'10"
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159th at 29'45"
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No less than 12 climbs were categorized on this 2nd stage, which drove the peloton away from the coast into the backyards of the Basque country. But despite this tough course, the riders did not really rest with attacks from the beginning and more than 42 kilometers covered in the first race-hour. 6 riders managed to get a gap after around 30 kilometers: Kaggestad (Credit Agricole), Le Boulanger (Bouyges), Isasi (Euskaltel), Arrieta, Dupont (AG2R) and Nuñez (Kaiku) took a maximum lead of about 3 minutes, but they were not able to have a bigger gap on the peloton, driven by the team-mates of leader Valverde. And whereas Kaggestad and Le Boulanger were dropped earlier on two climbs, the 4 other riders saw their adventure finished at the Alto the Aztiria with about 30 kilometers to go. After that, bigger names entered the action: Osa, Contador and Bertagnolli tried to break away, but behind them, Rebellin set a very fast pace with Boogerd, Schleck and Valverde in his wheel. The Luxemburgish champion was able to follow the moves of the Italian, whose attacks reeled in the attempt of the leading trio and reduced the main group to about 18 riders. On the descent to the finish then, where he seemed to know every centimeter, Samuel Sanchez attacked and together with Contador, the rider from the home team Euskatel gained several meters of advance on the others, a gap which they never could close completely. In the sprint for the stage victory, Sanchez stayed ahead of Contador while Frank Schleck took eight place in the first chasing group, which was led by Valverde only 2 seconds behind the 2 Spaniards. Kim Kirchen has been all day in the grupetto. He is still suffering from an ache in his back, but is trying to finish the stages in order to accumulate race kilometers for the Ardennes classics that still remain his main objective of the spring. Kim is followed after every stage by a physio-therapeutist of his T-Mobile team and hopes to feel better in the next days.
03.04.2006 1: Irun - Irun (130 km)
Valverde wins in a sprint, Schleck 5th
Results:
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Alejandro Valverde
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5th at 0"
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5th at 0"
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147th at 10'26"
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147th at 10'26"
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The Vuelta al Pais Vasco is used by several riders as an ideal preparation for the Ardennes classics, and this year even more, as the course in Spain is extremely tought. The first stage was already really difficult with two climbs of second category and before that, several climbs of 2nd and 3rd category to begin with. But despite the natural difficulties, a big group of 50 riders came together to the finish and without surprise, Alejandro Valverde was fastest of them, just a few milimeters in front of the other rapid Spaniard, Oscar Freier. Frank Schleck participated also in the sprint and he finished in 5th position behind the thw Iberians, Rebellin and Perdiguero. Before that, the Luxemburgish champion had been very attentive at the front of the pack and has also been offensive, for example together with Rebellin and Perdiguero on the last ascent of the Jaizkibel. Other riders also attacked on the main climb of the Clasica San Sebastian like Bertagnolli, Gomez Marchand, a rider from Kaiku or Osa, who made a very strong impression, but no one could really force a decision. Despite a last attack of Samuel Sanchez on the descent, Caisse d'Epargne and Rabobank led the peloton to a sprint, where their two leaders had a very close duell for the stage victory. Before, the day had also been animated by a trio, Fedrigo, Vanotti and Unai Etxebarria, who had more than 6 minutes lead, but were caught again after a little bit less than 100 kilometers in the lead. Despite muscular training and therapeutical exercises in the last weeks, Kim Kirchen still suffers of his back and he was dropped when the big battle began on the last ascent of the Jaizkibel. The T-Mobile rider wasn't able to bring his power onto the pedals and lost over 10 minutes until the finish line, which he crossed in the penultimate group of 40 riders together with people like Verbrugghe, Zberg or his team-mates Ziegler and Guerini.
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Schleck
