30.03.2008 3. Charleville-Mézičres - Charleville-Mézičres (8,3 ITT)
Four times Jens Voigt
Results:
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Edvald Boasson Hagen
Jens Voigt
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53rd at 58"
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19th at 1'53"
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15th at 27"
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6th at 1'11"
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30th at 38"
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81st at 13'52"
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The Criterium International has ended in the centre of Charlevilles-Mézičres with the fourth overall victory of Jens Voigt, for whom this race seems to be tailor-made. It is true that the German always wins according to the same tactics: a first selection on Saturday with the help of a strong team that makes the race very tough, an big escape on Sunday morning that allows him to take the jersey and finally, he only has to control the time-trial. Sounds easy ... when you are called Jens Voigt. The German rider eventually didn't have to take any risks during the last act, a race against the clock of 8,3 kilometers on flat, but twisty roads. He has finished in 43rd position, nearly one minute late on the winner, but still remains on top of the overall classification, with 57" advantage on his team-mate Larsson. The Luxemburgish rider also didn't take any risks, even if Frank Schleck was still in contention for the second spot in the final overall rankings. But on the wet and slippery roads, he negociated the turns with lots of caution and crossed the line in 15th position of the time-trial, 27 seconds late on the winner and with the same time than Alejandro Valverde. But Sanchez, Montfort and Larsson were faster than him this afternoon and so the Luxemburgish rider wasn't able to improve overall but he lost one position, finishing in 6th place, one minute and eleven seconds behind Voigt. Kim Kirchen and Andy Schleck were not involved in any classification battle and they were noted in 30th respectively 53rd place, 38 and 58 seconds late. The stage win was decided between some young guns of team High Road. Edvald Boasson Hagen and Tony Martin, team-mates of Kim Kirchen and two of the most talented riders of their generation, dominated the time-trial and they were faster than the specialists Larsson, Sanchez or Zabriskie. In 10'16" for 8,3 kilometer, the Norwegian was 7 seconds ahead of his German team-mate. Eventually, this evening, High Road as well as Team CSC had something to celebrate.
30.03.2008 2. Les Vielles Forges - Monthermé (99 km)
CSC dominates, Kirchen lives up
Results:
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Simon Gerrans
Jens Voigt
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33rd at 1'50"
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21st at 1'43"
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7th at 1'39"
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5th at 1'36"
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10th at 1'39"
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87th at 14'06"
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The mountain stage of Sunday morning took place on the now usual course to Monthermé with a dozen of medium-rated climbs which the riders had to tackle as of 8h30 in the morning. Team CSC apparently got up early as they were the squad that animated the stage with attacks of the Schlecks and of Jens Voigt. Andy was part of a break of 15 men after kilometer 5 already, together with Voigt and Larsson and other riders like Casar, Gesink or Grivko. The group was caught again at the foot of the Mont Malgré-Tout climb and here it was Frank Schleck who attacked. The Luxemburgish rider bridged up to Lhotellerie and Pauriol, only to drop them at one kilometer of the summit of the climb. He found himself alone in the lead, but the reaction of the favourites didn't wait and Frank was caught again. Jens Voigt attacked once more and this time, he was able to break away together with Casar, Gerrans and Santambrogio: the four riders created a gap of up to 2 minutes and a half to a group of 50 chasers, among them the 3 Luxemburgish riders. With such a gap, it is of course not easy to catch again a fully motivated Jens Voigt. Whereas Casar and Santambroggio were dropped, the German rider continued with Gerrans and both of them stayed away until the end. Gerrans took the stage victory, but Voigt took over the yellow leader jersey and will probably win the race for the fourth time in his carreer. Eventually, Valverde and Cunego took postions 3 and 4 in the stage, but they were already 1'39" late on the winner and in the overall classification, Voigt is now 1'14" ahead of Ten Dam and 1'30" ahead of Vaugrenard in third position. The Luxemburgish riders also did a good race today and despite his efforts from early in the stage, Frank Schleck was able to follow Cunego and Valverde on the climb of La Roche au 7 Villages and he took 7th at the finish. Brother Andy was not far behind in 33rd position, 1'50" late on Gerrans. But also Kim Kirchen lived up again and after having been among the last yesterday, the High Road rider was able to follow the Best today and he finished in the group of the favourites of around a dozen riders. Kim crossed the line in 10th position, in the same time than Frank Schleck. In the overall classification, Schleck the elder is now in 5th position, 1'36" late, his brother is 21st at 1'47" whereas Kim Kirchen is noted as 87th, 14'06" late.
29.03.2008 1. Signy-le-Petit - Charleville-Mézičres (193 km)
Ten Dam resists, Frank Schleck 9th
Results:
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Laurens Ten Dam
Laurens Ten Dam
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33rd at 10"
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33rd at 29"
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9th at 10"
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10th at 29"
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121st at 12'40"
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121st at 12'59"
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The Critérium International 2008 offers one of the rare occasions to see all three professionnal riders of the ACC Contern together in action, and this is of course particularely interesting because it takes place only a few kilometers from Luxemburg in the French Ardennes. The first stage is called flat stage, but nevertheless had some small climbs like Signy-l'Abbaye, Stonne and Barbe-en-Croc on its 193 hilly kilometers between Signy-le-Petit and Charleville-Méziaires and created already a first selection. A group of around 30 riders, including most of the favourites like Voigt, the Schleck brothers, Cunego, Valverde or Millar, proved to be stronger than all the others. If the main peoton finished 6 minutes later, another group with among others Kim Kirchen, lost already nearly 13 minutes today. Whereas the High road team had taken its responsibilities and worked a lot at the front of the peloton during the first part of the race, the Luxemburgish rider was dropped with around 50 kilometers to go and finished the stage in 121st position within the bus, together with around 40 other riders and no less than 4 of his team-mates. But the man of the race was another one: Laurend Ten Dam attacked at kilometer with Ian McKissic and spent 190 kilometers at the front of the race, finishing alone after having dropped McKissic with 23 kilometers to go. He resisted until the end, although the favourites raced very hard behind him, splitting up the peloton. Despite the high speed of the chasers, despite some attacks like the one of Andy Schleck with Grivko at 7 kilometers from the finish, the Dutch rider stayed in the lead until the end and after having known up to 17 minutes of advantage during the stage, he kept only 10 small seconds of gap on the line. Behind the leader, Frank Schleck also schowed himself at the front of the group and he finished the stage in 9th position, whereas Andy crossed the line in 33rd place, also 10 seconds behind the first owner of the yellow leader jersey Ten Dam.
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March 24, 2008: 93rd Rund um Köln
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23.03.2007 Leverkusen - Köln (203 km)
cancelled due to snow
Results:
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The tradionnal Rund um Köln could not celebrate its 100th aniversary in decent manner because the rain had to be cancelled due to snowfalls in the region.
24.03.2007 Milano - San Remo (298 km)
Cancellara unbeatable ???
Results:
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Fabian Cancellara
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52nd at 21"
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106th at 6'12"
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Fabian Cancellara seems to be unbeatable for the moment. In addition to several time-trials that he has already won this year, the Swiss rider clames the victory on all the races this year: on hilly stage races like Tirreno-Adriatico, on off-road kind races like the Monte Paschi Eroica and on the big one-day classics like this afternoon in the Primavera. With tremendous power in his legs after 297 tough race kilometers, Cancellara took off with 2 kilometers to go in the streets of San Remo and took the victory ahead of the sprinters. For the first time since quite a while though, Milano - San Remo wasn't decided in a bunch sprint: not in the Via Roma like usual, but for once near the haven of San Remo, it was one man alone who won. This certainly was due to a tougher course with one additionnal climb around 100 kilometers from the finish that created supplementary fatigue in the sprinters legs. It was also due to the usual favourites, the likes of Bettini, Gilbert and Rebellin who showed offensive spirit and, again, made the race difficult. And last, but not least, it was due to this exceptionnal squad, team CSC, that once again delivered a tactical masterpiece. They announced their option very clearly though, on the Cipressa, when Frank Schleck, Karsten Kroon and co chased very hard to reel in a royal break group containing Bettini, Rebellin, Savoldelli, Axelsson and Lövqvist. The group was caught just at the foot of the Poggio and when Philippe Gilbert attacked on this last climb, people expected Frank again to react. But it was Cancellara himself who anticipated the final and with the help of Arvesen and together with some other favourites like Pozzato, Rebellin again, Freire, Nocentini, Gasparotto or Hushovd, the time-trial world champion bridged up to the front. It was a very select group leading over the Poggio with a small margin, but noone of them was able to hold Cancellara when he took off for the win in the last 2000 meters. The sprint for second place was won by Pozzato ahead of Gilbert and Rebellin. Frank Schleck crossed the summit of the Poggio in a second group, together with most of the sprinters and around 15 seconds behind Philippe Gilbert, the first to turn left after the cycling-world's most famous phone cabine. Several kilometers later, Frank finshed the race in 52nd position, just behind the biggest group and jumped into the arms of his team-mates. Kim Kirchen had a less eventfull race, being with the Best until at the foot of the Poggio, where he was dropped. He rode at a more moderate rythm until the finish line which he crossed in 106th position, 6 minutes late on Cancellara.
18.03.2008 7: San Benedetto del Trento (176 km)
Happy Birthday Fabian
Results:
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Francesco Chicchi
Fabian Cancellara
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DNF
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119th at 2’27"
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53rd at 20'37"
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Traditionnaly, Tirreno-Adriatico finishes with a circuit race alongside the Adrian coast, which the riders have tackled after a loop of 100 kilometers around San Benedetto del Trento. The last kilometers were entirely flat and a royal sprint was expected among the big stars present this year at the race between the two seas: Boonen, Petacchi, Freire, Zabel, Ciolek, McEven, to name only a few of them. Two Basque riders, however, wanted to avoid a sprint by creating an early break before the entry on the local circuit, but Inigo Landaluze and Egoi Marinez never had more than two minutes and a half on the peloton, led by Andy Schleck and his team-mates. With 30 kilometers to go, CSC received the support from Lampre in the chase and the advantage of the two climbers decreased gradually. A massive crash on the rain-drowned roads had divided the pack in the penultimate lap and several riders of the very unlucky team High Road also went down, including Kim Kirchen. The Luxemburger quickly got up again but didn't complete the last lap and so he is not noted in the classification. Tirreno-Adriatico 2008 allowed Kim to do some very important race kilometers, but apart from that, it surely didn't provide him any brilliant souvenirs. The last lap brought to an end the break of the two Euskatel riders and the bunch sprint was announced, even if several sprinters had been delayed by the crash and were not able to participate. Finally, none of the above mentionned big stars took the victory, but it was Francesco Chicchi from Liquigas who won ahead of Napolitano and Cavendish. Fabian Cancellara arrived at the finish line in the first group and so he was able to celebrate his first win in a big stage race on the day of his 27th birthday, in front of Gasparotto and Loevqvist. After a day of hard work with his team-mates at the front of the pack, Andy Schleck finished in 119th position, more than two minutes late on the winner. But this shouldn't be very important for him and he won't think of his personnal scores of this race, but rather of the excellent collective performance by his team and the victory of this team-mate Cancellara.
17.03.2008 6: Civitanova Marche - Castelfidardo (196 km)
Bis repetita for Freire
Results:
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Oscar Freire
Fabian Cancellara
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36th at 24"
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66th at 20’54"
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134th at 6'59"
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54th at 18'01"
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Fabian Cancellara has retained his jersey today on a course that rather favoured his most dangerous opponent, Enrico Gasparotto. Because there were half a dozen of climbs between Civitanova Marche and Castelfidardo, including the one that led up to the finish line. It wasn't very steep but four kilometers long, exactly what it takes for Gasparotto to attack. But Cancellara did better than resist because he quickly bridged up to the Italian and than even accelerated himself, trying to create a gap. But with San Remo in the background, lots of riders are in good form and wanted a victory. Di Luca was the first to bridge up to the two leaders, then Pozzato came along and looked like the potential winner. But never underestimate Oscar Freire in such a finish. The Spaniard came back to the front very quickly and jumped Pozzato just before the line. Before that, the race had been dominated for a long time by a group of 13 riders around Laverde, Lastras, Bertolini and Eltink, a group that has obliged CSC to chase hard at the head of the peloton in order to keep the gap in decent size. Lots of work for Andy Schleck though and after having his job done, he has been dropped with a few kilometers to go. He has finished the stage in 134th position, 7 minutes late and togher with Bruzeghin and Zabriskie. Kim Kirchen stayed up with the Best until the very end. He didn't participate in the sprint because he has lost a few seconds in the last kilometers, finishing in 37th position just behind the first group, togther with Efimkin and Ricco among others. There aren't any notable changes in the overall classification.
16.03.2008 5: Macerata - Recanati (26 km ITT)
Cancellara without surprise
Results:
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Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara
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37th at 2’39"
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73rd at 20’30"
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66th at 3’25"
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44th at 11'02"
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12 months ago, in a similar time-trial than this one, Kim Kirchen had realized a tremendous performance with a third place that had allowed him to take the second place overall of Tirreno-Adriatico behind Andreas Klöden two days later. This year, the conditions were not the same: Kim has less race kilometers in his leg than a year ago, he has other goals right now and most of all, he has already lost lots of time in the previous stages. Of course, he was less motivated for the time-trial and finished in 37th position, 2 minutes and 39 seconds down on the winner (average speed 43 km/h). The name of the winner isn't a surprise at all because it was Fabian Cancellara, reigning world champion, who dominated the race against the clock in 33 minutes and 41 seconds. At 46,3 km/h average speed on a twisty course with a five-kilometer climb, the Swiss rider was 22 seconds faster than another specialist, Dave Zabriskie, and 54 seconds ahead of Lövqvist. With this performance, Cancellara also took the overall race-lead, even if he has had the chance on his side for that. Linus Gerdemann had an excellent time-trial with good intermediate times and was riding into the blue leader jersey when he crashed in a turn shortly before the finish line and broke his leg twice. The second place overall now belongs to Gasparotto, 16 seconds down on Cancellara. Andy Schleck finished the stage in 37 minutes and 6 seconds at an average speed of 42 km/h, meaning that he lost 3 minutes and 25 seconds to the winner and took the 66th position at the finish. With his team-mate in blue, he can now look forward to more work during the next days.
15.03.2008 4: Porto Recanati - Civitanova Marche (166 km)
Alessandro Petacchi climbs well
Results:
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Alessandro Petacchi
Niklas Axelsson
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143rd at 7'42"
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82nd at 18'54"
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76th at 11"
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45th at 8'31"
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Alessandro Petacchi has proved today that he is in good form with Milano-San Remo approaching since he has been able to pass some tough climbs with the first group and still had the strength to beat Oscar Freire in the sprint, another big favourite for the Primavera. On the hills between Porto Recanati and Civitanova March, three riders had formed an early break, but Renaud Dion, Sven Krauss and Juan-José Oroz were quickly joined after some of the favourites (Bettini, Boonen, Corti, Gasparotto, Pasamontes, Nuyens, Sella, Axelsson, Veikkanen, Fothen, Ciolek, Gerdemann, Hincapie, Lövkvist, Vila, Pietropolli, Freire, Breschel, Astarloa et Mazzanti) put the pressure on and the pack was divided on the climb of Corva, with 13 kilometers to go. 13 seconds, this was also the advantage of the 20 riders on top of the climb, but unfortuately for them, Alessandro Petacchi was in the next group and had enough team-mates with him to set up his famous train. The Milram express first bridged up to the break and then prepared the sprint for Ale-Jet who thanked them with a stage victory ahead of Freire and Pozzato. Andy Schleck was in the second of the groups with the Milram riders on top of the Corva climb and crossed the finish line just behind the leaders, 11 seconds late and in 76th position. Kim Kirchen, on his side, he had been dropped a little bit earlier on the climb with a group containing among ohters Ricco, Piepoli and Zabriskie and he finishes the stage in 143rd position.
Before the deciding time-trial of tomorrow, Niklas Axelsson is still the lucky owner of the blue overall leader jersey.
14.03.2008 3: Gubbio - Montelupione (195 km)
Rodriguez climbs the wall
Results:
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Joaquin Rogriguez
Niklas Axelsson
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46th at 2'44"
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56th at 11'03"
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69th at 7'18"
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52nd at 8'20"
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Today was the hardest stage on paper of the 43rd edition of Tirreno-Adriatico, with several climbs and most of all, in the last 30 kilometers, two times the infamous Montelupone to climb, a steep wall of two kilometers at 15% average gradient but with a maximum slope exceeding 20 %. Only the best riders were up at the front of course and after the first passage on the monster, where lots of riders had to get off their bike and walk, 50 riders stayed at the front, among them also Kim Kirchen who had better legs than yesterday. Andy Schleck was in a second group with among others world champion Paolo Bettini. Danilo Di Luca is known to appreciate the steep climbs and his LPR team led the first group to the slopes of the final ascent. Italian champion Visconti was the first to attack, but then Joaquin Rodriguez reacted and nobody was able to hold his wheel. The Spanish champion took the win on top in Montelupone with 12 seconds advantage on Di Luca and Niklas Axelsson who becomes the new overall leader. But Gasparotto only lost 22 seconds and stays within reach of the blue jersey. Another notable performance is the one of Fabian Cancellara who finished 10th of the stage and, with a time-trial still to come, must be considered right now as one of the biggest favourites for the overall win. Kim Kirchen did a good race and finished in 46th position today at 2'44", just behind Savoldelli, after having done some team-work to protect Linus Gerdemann, the in-form man of his team. Andy Schleck crossed the finish line together with his team-mate O'Grady in 69th position, more than 7 minutes late. He is now in 52nd position overall, nearly 10 minutes late.
13.03.2008 2: Civitavecchia - Gubbio (203 km)
Illiano wins first selective stage
Results:
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Raffaele Illiano
Enrico Gasparotto
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87th at 8'23"
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84th at 8'29"
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44th at 1'06"
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53rd at 1'12"
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Another hilly stage where the climb of Belvedere with 10 kilometers to go and a slightly uphill final were expected to favour the offensive riders. Just like yesterday, two riders animated the stage for a long while, namely Daniele Contrini and Fortunato Baliani. The two Italians covered over 170 kilometers at the front of the race, but in the climb to Belvedere, Riccardo Ricco and Enrico Gasparotto attacked in the peloton and their acceleration caused the end of the break. On top of the climb, Ricco, Gasparotto, Axelsson, Gerdemann, Illiano and Capecchi had 30 second advantage on the next chasers, a small gap that they managed to defend until the finish line. Whereas Riccardo Ricco wasn't able to defend his title in the sprint because of a broken front wheel, Raffaele Illiano attacked in the very last meters with Gasparotto and won the stage ahead of the Barloworld rider. Gasparotto should not have been too disapponted by this result because it allowed him to take over the leader jersey with 2 seconds advantage on Axelsson, third of today's stage. But the other favourites like Cancellara, Di Luca, Gerdemann, Pozzato, Devolder or Ballan are less than 30 seconds behind him, waiting for their chance. The two Luxemburgish riders however lost some more time today. Andy Schleck limited the losses well and finished in 44th position, together with 30 other riders like Hincapie, Karpets, Pellizotti or Zabriskie. It was the second, bigger group that had lost contact with the Best in last kilometers of the Belvedere and crossed the finish line ond minute behind Illiano. Kim Kirchen, on his side, was part of the main peloton of around 60 riders that had formed at the beginning of the climb and finished the stage at its own rythm, 8 minutes behind the winner. In the overall classification, Schleck is now 53rd at 1'12", whereas Kirchen is noted in 84th position, 8'29" late.
12.03.2008 1: Civitavecchia - Civitavecchia (160 km)
Freire takes the photo-finish
Results:
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Oscar Freire
Oscar Freire
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29th at 0"
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112th at 0"
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7th at 13"
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11th at 2'34"
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Kim Kirchen and Andy Schleck should be glad to line up in Tirreno-Adriatico this year, where Kim finished second 12 month ago and, even if his form isn't at the same leval than 12 months ago, he surely wants to show himself during the seven stages. Andy, on his side, has of course a particular relationship with Italy since the Giro 2007 and expected a warm welcome by his numerous fans during the first stage, that took the riders over a hilly course in and around the city of Civitavecchia. The stage has been led for a long time by Mikhail Ingatiev, most agressive rider in number of races and Jury Krivtsov, another rider form the East. The two of them had attacked after 30 kilometers already but on the last, flat kilometers, they were not able to resist to the return of the Milram train, set on track to support the two star sprinters Erik Zabel and Alessandro Petacchi. The latter seemed to have the victory within reach for a moment, but a little bit too late after three times world champion Oscar Freire, whose form is growing in approach of Milano - San Remo, and who had launched a very long sprint. Kim Kirchen and Andy Schleck finished the stage in the middle of the pack in 29th respectively 112th position.
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March 9-16, 2008: 66th Paris - Nizza
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16.03.2007 7. Nice - Nice (119 km)
Downhill performance from Sanchez
Results:
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Luis-Leon Sanchez
Davide Rebellin
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DNF
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After having finished third and two times second of the race to the sun, Davide Rebellin has finally taken the overall victory in Paris-Nice today, after the last stage consisting in several loops around Nice. This final part didn't bring any overall changes and the Gerolsteiner captain has finished the stage race with only 3 seconds advantage on Rinaldo Nocentini, the smallest gap in the history of the event. Frank Schleck hasn't finished the race today since his crash from yesterday has brought to him some additionnal pain in his back and his ribs. He climbed off his bike because he did not want to endanger the rest of his sprintg season. He surely won't remember much positive things about this Paris-Nice, except of course his good 5th place on top of the Ventoux. Just like yesterday, the stage victory today has been decided in the downhill because on top of the col d'Eze, all the favourites were still together, despite several attacks from Luis-Leon Sanchez. This groupe has bridged up in the first part of the descent to the two riders remaining in the lead out of an early break, Benitez an Lhotellerie. Clement Lhotellerie, who a few years ago battled with Jempy Drucker on the U23 cyclo-cross circuit, is one of the surprises of this year's Paris-Nice and again, he spent most of the day in front of the race. But the gaps in the overall classifications were very small and the suspense remained until the very end: even the bonus seconds at the end of the stage could be deciding for the victory. Finally, it was Luis-Leon Sanchez who made the winning move at the bottom of the descent with 3000 meters to go: a powerfull attack, some turns in kamikaze style and then full speed ahead alonside the promenade des Anglais. The Spaniard took a well deserved solo win, but with only a few meters advantag on Montfort and Barredo, the first of the chasers. No bonus seconds at the finish though for Nocentini who must settle down with second place behind Rebellin. .
15.03.2007 6. Sisteron - Cannes (206 km)
Rebellin descents faster than Gesink
Results:
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Sylvain Chavanel
Davide Rebellin
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40th at 2'01"
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27th at 23'52"
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If, on top of the col de Tanneron, the last climb of the day, all the GC favourites were still together, 20 kilometers later, down by the sea on the Croisette in Cannes, the gaps were somewhat big. Eventually, Davide Rebellin wanted to win Paris-Nice finally after three podium spots and profited from the descent to attack leaer Gesink and take the yellow jersey from his shoulders. The Italian accelerated right after the summit of the Tanneron and, whereas Frank Schleck and some other riders have been involved in a crash, Rebellin has given full gas on the downhill, together with Chavanel, also known for his excellent descending skills, with Cunego, Sanchez and Nocentini. These fiver riders bridged up to Bobby Julich, who was still leading the race out of an early break until then and arrived at the finish with 44 seconds advantage on the next chasers, one minute and a half on the group yellow jersey and two minutes on Frank Schleck. The Luxemburgish rider has finished the stage in 40th position with Moreau and Mathieu Sprick, who had also crashed on the descent from Tanneron while being in the lead together with Julich. Sylvain Chavanel suprised everybody for the stage win by attacking with 500 meters to go. The French rider crossed the white line with a narrow advantage on Sanchez, Julich and Cunego. In the new overall classification, Rebellin leads 3 seconds ahead of Nocentini, 48" on Popovych and 51 on Gesink, the former leader. Frank Schleck is now noted in 27th position, 24 minutes behind the yellow jersey.
14.03.2007 5. Althen-des-Paluds - Sisteron (173 km)
Luck of the brave for Barredo
Results:
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Carlos Barredo
Robert Gesink
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71st at 2'15"
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35th at 22'29"
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It was the day of a break at Paris-Nice today as the peloton needed to take it a little bit easier, after some very difficult stages since the beginning and with the Mont Ventoux in the legs. It was the luck of the brave for a group of 17 riders that broke at kilometer 80: after two hours of tough racing, the peloton calmed down and Arroyo, Perget, Kroon, Botcharov, Gerrans, Rolland, Vaugrenard, Mori, Passeron, Arrieta, Clement, Monfort, Barredo, Moreau, Lequattre, Gonzalo Ramirez and Santaromita were able to build up their gap. With 15 kilometers to go, on the côte des Marquises, only Kroon, Barredo, Moreau and Rolland remained in the lead. Barredo attackes several times in the last kilometers and finally managed to take the lead alone. The others played it tactically behind the Spaniard who managed to reach the line after a nice solo effort, four seconds ahead of Kroon who was maybe the strongest in the break. With his team-mate at the front, Frank Schleck didn't have any other mission than follow the peloton and he arrived in Sisteron in 71st position, 2'15" behind the winner. There are only few overal changes, except Barredo who makes his entry in the Top 10 and Frank Schleck who wins several positions since some riders abandoned.
13.03.2007 4. Montélimar - Mont Ventoux (175 km)
Evans dominates the Ventoux
Results:
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Cadel Evans
Robert Gesink
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5th at 34"
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37th at 22'29"
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Le Mont Ventoux !!! One of the most mighty climbs of modern cycling and precisely 50 years ago, Charly Gaul participated in building up the legend of this mountain by winning the time-trial stage in the Tour 1958. Today, the riders didn't have to ride until the observatoire on top and missed the most spectacular part of the "mont chauve", but with a climb up to 1400 meter of altitude above sea level, 15 kilometer long and with 7,3 % average gradient at the very beginning of the season, damages were of course to be expected. The sun was out for the first time over Paris-Nice this year, but most of the rider surely hoped for a quiet stage begin and barely reacted when four of them attacked. Voigt, Eisel, Kuschynski and Terpstra took over 7 minutes of advantage, but Cofidis made sure that the gap dropped back to three minutes and a half at the foot of the Giant of Provence. Jens Voigt didn't wait long and took the lead on his own in the first slopes of the final climb, whereas the peloton also bursted into pieces. The group of the favourites became smaller and smaller, so that only four riders still remained together after the successive accelerations from Lhotellerie and Gesink, among them also Frank Schleck who seems to have recovered a bit from his injuries. Together with Evans, Popovych and Gesink, the Luxemburger bridged up to his team-mate Jens Voigt with four kilometers to go, but was dropped himself just one kilometer later. Only Evans and Gesink remained in the lead and on the finish line the Australian was faster than the young Dutch rider who takes the yellow jersey. Frank Schleck finished together with Rebellin and Nocentini in 5th position, 34 seconds down only on Evans. In the overall classification, the CSC rider is now in 37th position, still more than 20 minutes down on the new leader.
12.03.2007 3. Fleurie - Saint-Etienne (166 km)
Carlström smarter than Lhotellerie
Results:
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Kjell Carlström
Sylvain Chavanel
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95th at 19'36"
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63rd at 22'10"
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The col de la Croix Chabouret, culminating at 1200 meters of altitude and 20 kilometers from the finish, showed that the riders now have reached the moutains for good in this race to the sun that lacks precisely of some sunshine. Because today, the weather was again very unconfortable and the riders headed off for another very tough stage, just as during the two last days. But this couldn't prevent the riders from attacking at the start and at kilometer 7, three riders managed to break away and take command of the race for a while: Kjell Carlström, Clément Lhotellerie and Bradley McGee. After having had more than 10 minutes during the stage, they still had four of them at the foot of the last climb of the day. McGee was dropped on the col de la Croix Chabouret whereas Lhotellerie and Carström took off for the stage victory. Behind them, the peloton of course exploded in this 10 km long climb with Cunego, Kreuziger and Chavanel chasing hard and a little bit further behind a group of 13 around Rebellin, Sanchez, Gesink, Albasini, Garate and Karsten Kroon, team-mate of Frank Schleck. The latter wasn't up at the front today, as a consequence of yesterday's crash where he hurt his hip and his back badly as well as of the hard, exhausting chase afterwards. Lhotellerie and Carlström arrived in Saint-Etienne with still a minute of advantage and Carlström had no problem in beating his young oppenent after having stayed smartly in his wheel during the last kilometer. 43 seconds later, Pierre Roalland won the sprint of the favourite's group that had caught Cunego, Kreuziger and Chavanel on the descent. After having been brilliant in exactly this stage to Saint Etienne two years ago, where he took fifth place, the unlucky Frank Schleck had to accept nearly 20 minutes delay today, finishing in 95th place in the peloton. Of course, he moves down in the overall classification where he is now in 69th position. New leader of the race is Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel with just a few seconds advantage on Sanchez, Verdugo and Rebellin.
11.03.2007 2. Nevers - Belleville (201 km)
Laughing Steegmans, crying Schleck
Results:
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Geert Steegmans
Thor Hushovd
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76th at 2'56"
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45th at 3'57"
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Third race day and already, the first climbs waited for the riders with among others the col du fűt d'Avenas at around 20 kilomters from the finish. But nor the profile of the end of the course, nor the efforts from yesterday did prevent Thierry Hupond to attack. The French rider broke away at kilometer 30 after several unsuccessfull attempts from other home riders and took off for a long solo adventure with up to 15 minutes of advantage. The peloton, on the other side, stayed calm in the first half of the race, trying to heal the wounds of yesterday's very tough racing. But shortly after mid-stage, Credit Agricole organized the chase behind the lonely leader and Hupond saw his advantage decrease gradually. In the côte de la Clayette, several crashes divided the peloton and Frank Schleck found himself at the back. In a little group, the Luxemburgish rider was 2 minutes late on the yellow jersey with 50 kilometers to go. Together with Julich and Grivko among others, he chased very hard and managed to drop the gap to under a minute, but at the end, he lost time again. Because at the front, there were of course lots of attacks on the col du fűt d'Avenas and shortly before the summit, Hupond was caught again by Intxausti, Flecha and what remained of the peloton. Thor Hushovd tried a heroic act by attacking in the descent and he was joined with 5 kilometers to go by Albasini, Chavanel and Steegmans. While approaching the red flag, the latter refused to take his turns any more, but clearly showed that he was the strongest in the last 200 meters to take his second victory in two days, ahead of Hushovd and the others. Philippe Gilbert took the sprint of the first peloton 3 seconds late whereas an unlucky Frank Schleck finally lost 2'56" in the third group of about 20 riders. In the overall classification, the CSC rider drops back to 45th position, 3'47" behind Hushovd.
10.03.2007 1. Amilly - Nevers (185 km)
Steegmans storms to victory
Results:
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Geert Steegmans
Thor Hushovd
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19th at 7"
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30th at 43"
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Nothing very unusaul on Paris-Nice: the first stage between Amilly and Nevers had to be shortened due to miserable weather conditions. Not snow, but storm was the cause for the change, and when the riders lined-up for 94 kilometers in rain and heavy wind, the knew already that the afternoon would be a difficult one, despite just one single hill of third category to do. Whereas three riders, Eisel, Terpstra and Velits, broke away very early in the climb, the peloton split into pieces in the crosswinds after mid-race, just as expected. The strongest were at the front like Rebellin, Gilbert, Hushovd the yellow jersey and also Frank Schleck, whereas another group was more than a mintue behind. Under these conditions, the break of course didn't have any chance to succeed and the three had to bury their hopes with around 15 kilometers to go. The final was very eventfull with attacks and crashes, but after a last attempt from Chavanel had been neutralized, around 20 riders sprinted together on the last uphill meters for the stage victory. Geert Steegmans, who particularly likes this kind of finishes, was fastest ahead of Pineau, Hushovd and Gilbert. Frank Schleck crossed the finish line a few seconds later in 19th position, together with among others Sanchez, Nocentini, Flecha, Gesink, Millar or Popovych, whereas the biggest victims of the day are called Evans, Schumacher, Voigt, Julich, Moreau, Cunego or Perreiro. In the overall classification, the Luxemburger of course moves up several positions and is now noted in 30th place, 43" late of the old and new leader Hushovd.
9.03.2007: Prologue in Amilly (4,6 km)
Viking-power
Results:
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Thor Hushovd
Thor Hushovd
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116th at 34"
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116th at 34"
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After the sad headlines over the stupid battle between the UCI and the ASO, organizer of Paris-Nice and Tour de France, the riders finally are on top of the news again and the "race to the sun" took off under rainy conditions in the streets of Amilly, with a prologue of 4,6 kilometers on a mostly flat course with half a dozen of tricky turns. On such a course, Norvegian rider Thor Hushovd can of course perfectly use his explosive power to accelerate faster out of the corners and to hold on to the big gear at more than 50,5 km/h average speed until the finish. In 5'28", the Viking was 4 seconds faster than the surprising Basque Markel Irizar and 5 seconds ahead of Stefan Schumacher and Bradley McGee in the next positions. Defending prologue champion David Millar, who has made out of this Paris-Nice one of his major goals for the season, finished 11 seconds late only in 12th position, and isn't likely to be very satisfied with his performance just like a bunch of other favourites: Evans, Perreiro, Rebellin, Cunego or Schleck. The Luxemburgish rider, who had done well in Paris-Nice prologues in the past (17th in 2006), crossed the line in 116th place at 45,7 km/h average speed. In 6'02", Frank needed exactly the same time than his team-made Kolobnev to cover the course under pouring rain. He is already 34 seconds down on Hushovd, but was one of the riders that had the worst weather conditions during his ride. Is it likely that in this very special olympic year, Schleck doesn't make any more of the race to the sun a major objective of his season like he did in recent years? We will get an answer on Thursday at latest on the Mont Ventoux.
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March 8, 2008: 2nd Monte Paschi Eroica
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08.03.2008 Gaiole in Chianti - Siena (181 km)
A taste of Paris-Roubaix?
Results:
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Fabian Cancellara
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DNF
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Kim Kirchen has been brave enough to line up in a very special race that combines tradition tradition and modernity on the streets of Tuscany. The Monte Paschi Eroica is in fact a tribute to the early cycling races and takes place partly on roads from another time, the "strade bianchi", gravel roads that are typical for the beautiful Chianti region. After 181 kilometers, around 50 of them without tarmac, the 2nd edition of the race ended on the mythical Piazza del Campo in Siena with the victory of time-trial world champion Fabian Cancellara. After the one of Kolobnev last year, it was already the second win for CSC in just as much editions of the race. Cancellara broke away from the field together with Alessandro Ballan with around ten kilometers to go, on the penultimate gravel section. Both of them brigded up to Ryder Hesjedal, the last rider remaining in the lead out of an early break, just to drop him a little bit later and fight out the victory in a two-man sprint. Half a minute behind Cancellara, Linus Gerdemann won the sprint of the next chasers for third place, whereas his team-mate Kim Kirchen did not have on of his best days. The Luxemburgish rider had to step down of his bike during the race and so he didn't see the finish on the place that is famous for the "palio" horse race.
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Drucker
