30.03.2008 3. Charleville-Mézičres (8,3 km ITT)
Voigt equals Poulidor
Results:
| 
| 
|
Tony Martin
Jens Voigt
|
| |
88th at 1'31"
|
46th at 3'04"
|
| |
44th at 50"
|
13th at 44"
|
| | |
| | | |
18 riders in less than 13 seconds, that was the situation at the start of the closing time-trial of the Critérium International, with a small advantage of 7 seconds to Jens Voigt against the specialists like Coppel, Pate, Rabon or Petrov. There was plenty of suspense though, but Frank Schleck, who was also in a very good overall position, did not want to take any risks on the 8,3 twisty kilometres in and around Charléville-Méziaires, even more since he still had some pain in his wrist on a cobbled sector. 44 position at the finish in 10’55”, 50 seconds behind the stage winner at an average speed of 45,6 km/h, these are the figures corresponding to Frank’s run and he was among the slowest out of the GC favourites, so that in the end, he finished 13th overall, 44 seconds late on the winner. For Andy, things were even clearer at the start, he had nothing to gain at all by doing this time-trial at full speed, so he took it easy with 43 km/h average speed and finished in 11’36”, one minute and 36 seconds down on the fastest of the day, which meant for him 88th position of the day and 46th overall with 3 minutes deficit. A rather medium rated result but this wasn’t important at all since this week-end, it was everyone for Jens Voigt in the Saxo Bank team. The German did not fail in his conquest for a fifth overall title, equalling French legend Raymond Poulidor, even if the battle was very tight. Frantisek Rabon, 13th overall after the morning stage, had realized a really good time in 10’11” for 8 kilometres, with only Bradley Wiggins and stage winner Tony Martin being faster today, and Voigt was slightly slower. But the German powerhouse gave it all and finally, he finished 5th of the stage and was able to retain the overall victory by a small margin of only two seconds. Dany Pate, who had been excellent in the morning stage, took seventh position in the time-trial and thus completed a young podium, where the top step was nevertheless held by an old warrior to whom this race definitely suits very much.
29.03.2009 2. Les Vielles Forges - Monthermé (99 km)
Voigt, as usually
Results:
|
|
|
Jens Voigt
Jens Voigt
|
| |
43rd at 1'17"
|
41st at 1'51"
|
| |
13th at 12"
|
12th at 12
|
| | | | | | |
"To win this stage, there is only one good tactics: be the first to attack and hold on until the end”. Easy to do … if you are named Jens Voigt. But the German rider knows about what he speaks since he has demonstrated his tactics in very impressive manner this morning, just as every year. Behind Remy Di Gregorio, Voigt has attacked even before the first passage at Mont Malgré Tout, the biggest difficulty of the day, and he has found himself in a break with four other riders: Lhotellerie, Perez, Navarro and Di Grégorio. Whereas Sandy Casar replaced Perez in the leading group, they took up to a minute of advantage, with the chase being led by Garmin in the peloton. They reduced the gap slightly with the last climbs approaching, but Voigt did not want to give up and once again put the hammer down, with only Navarro staying in his wheel. Both of them still had 20 seconds advantage on Coppel and Moreau at the foot of the last climb, with 3 kilometres to go, whereas the first part of the main group was ten more seconds further behind. At 2000 meters from the line, Voigt also dropped Navarro and he crossed the line as solo winner, 7 seconds ahead of Danny Pate, who had attacked out of the peloton and passed Navarro, Coppel and Moreau. The first group finished at 12 seconds with Frank Schleck in 13th position. They were still about thirty riders in that first group, with several of them still having a chance for overall victory before the deciding time-trial of the afternoon. Andy Schleck had been present at the front of the pack all morning, but has been dropped on the last climb of the day, finishing the stage in 43rd position, 1’17” late on his team-mate Jens Voigt.
28.03.2009 1. Monthois - Charleville-Mézičres (190 km)
Casper au sprint
Results:
|
|
|
Jimmy Casper
Jimmy Casper
|
| |
85th at 34"
|
86th at 44"
|
| |
34th at 0"
|
36th at 10"
|
| | | | | | |
Jimmy Casper has won the first stage of the Critérium International 2009 in a bunch sprint, and he surely can say thanks to team Saxo Bank, and especially Andy Schleck, for all the work they have done at the front of the peloton. Of course, their goal was not the sprint and they only wanted to bring Jens Voigt in a comfortable position to win a record number of five overall titles, but their chasing involved a regroupment with 10 kilometres to go and, thus, the massive sprint. When the early break of the day, consisting of Arnaud Coyot, Thimothy Duggan, Christophe Kern and David Le Lay, had obtained more than 10 minutes advantage with still 150 kilometres to go, Saxo Bank stepped in and reduced that gap to merely 2 minutes, at about 60 kilometres from the conclusion. On the last two climbs of the day, they raised the speed again and Kern and Coyot, the two remaining riders of the break, were caught in the descent of the de Barbe en Croc. In the last kilometres and during the preparation of the sprint, the peloton split into two parts, with Andy Schleck, who had really worked a lot in the wind during the whole stage, finding himself in the second part. He finished the stage with about thirty seconds deficit on the winner. Frank had more chance and was present in the front group, finishing 34th of the stage in the same time than Jimmy Casper, who was faster than Hutarovich, Lemoine and Renshaw on the line.
|
March 22, 2009: 100th Milan - San Remo
|
| |
22.03.2009 Milano - San Remo (298 km)
10 cm after 300 kilometers
Results:
|
|
Mark Cavendish
|
|
| |
|
128th at 8'19"
|
| | |
The 100th edition of Milano - San Remo was of course a big season goal for lots of riders, several among them have had a specific preparation and presented themselves in excellent condition for the start. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case at all for the Luxemburgish riders. Kim Kirchen is already out for several weeks now due to a broken shoulder, Frank Schleck crashed during training in the beginning of the week and has to take a short break, whereas Andy Schleck has problems with his knee during the last weeks. Nevertheless, he lined up for the 298 kilometers between the capital of fashion and the Primavera, but he had to settle down his ambitions with about 40 kilometers to go, shortly after the Cipressa. It is impossible to shine in this long and tough race if one is not 100 % in shape and after Andy lost contact to the best in a downhill, he was never able to brigde up again. The Luxemburgish rider finished in a second group at the end, more than 8 minutes behind the winner and together with riders like Armstrong, Lövqvist, Dekker or Steve Chainel, the winner of the cyclo-cross of the ACC Contern in Niederanven, a few months ago. At the front, the sprinters controlled the race: Liquigas for Bennati and LPR for Petacchi worked a lot at the front of the peloton after that only McEwen was eliminated of the fast men on the Cipressa. In the Poggio, Rebellin and Pozzato tried to force a decision, but it regrouped again in the descent and around fifty riders arrived near the sea in San Remo for a thrilling sprint finish. Heinrich Haussler surprised everyone with a tremendous attack: in fact, he wanted to open the sprint for Hushovd, but found himself several lengths ahead of everybody at 300 meters from the line. He decided to take a go and continued his sprint, but Mark Cavendish was flying behind him and passed the German on the line. The rider from Columbia wins the 100th edition of Milano - San Remo with barely 10 centimeters of advantage, after nearly 300 kilometers of tough racing.
|
March 8 to 15, 2009: 67th Paris - Nice
|
| |
15.03.2007 8. Nice - Nice (119 km)
Sanchez wins, Schleck moves up one more
Results:
|
|
|
Antonio Colom
Luis-Leon Sanchez
|
| |
3rd at 1"
|
2nd at 1’00"
|
| | | | |
Just like all the other days, the traditionnal last stage around the col d'Eze was a spectacular one, with a big battle and Frank Schleck being once more very strong and offensive. But most of all, it was Alberto Contador who put on a big show: the Spaniard surely wanted to make yesterday's bad day forgotten and attacked in the first climb of the day. One by one, he passed the 25 riders of a first break and arrived at the summit of the col de Porte together with young and talented
Taaramae as well as Lopez-Garcia and Casar. The peloton was 2 minutes further behind, but Caisse d'Epargne didn't panick and, together with Frank Schleck's Saxo Bank team, they reduced the gap to a minute in the col de la Turbie, and then to 30 seconds only at the foot of the col d'Eze, last climb of the day. Whereas Contador had taken the lead alone in the meantime, Antonio Colom attacked in the peloton. Frank Schleck was very prompt to react and bridged up to the Katusha rider with Cadel Evans in his wheel, but leader Sanchez was not able to hold the Luxembourger's wheel, nor was Sylvain Chavanel. Schleck, Colom and Evans arrived at the top of the climb 15 seconds behind Contador and a hundred meters ahead of the Sanchez group, led by Lopez-Garcia. They didn't have time to look at the fantastic panorama on the Mediteranean sea and immediately attacked the long downhill section to Nice. With 10 kilometers to go, Schleck and Colom bridged up to Contador, while Evans had lost contact with them. Frank Schleck gave everything in the very last part of the stage, trying to increase the gap to the yellow jersey and eventually sacrifying the stage win. At the end, he wasn't able to sprint any more and finished third of the stage behind Colom and Contador. If the three leaders never had more than 20 seconds advantage on Sanchez, who took the final overall win one minute ahead of Frank Schleck, those few seconds allowed the Luxemburgish champion to pass Chavanel in the overall classification and move up to second place. An excellent result for the beginning of the season in an extremely difficult race where you had to be a very complete rider to make a result, and where you had to be at least as good downhill than uphill to take the win.
14.03.2007 7. Manosque - Fayence (191 km)
Unexpected change
Results:
|
|
|
Luis-Leon Sanchez
Luis-Leon Sanchez
|
| |
3rd at 50"
|
3rd at 1’21"
|
| | | | |
Most of the people thought that Alberto Contador had the overall win in this Paris-Nice in the pocket, after the stage of Montagne de Lurs, but on the penultimate stage, the Spaniard unexpectedly showed some weakness and had to give up the yellow jersey to Sanchez, with Schleck managing to get into a podium place. The stage rather looked like a tourist trip on paper, with the Gorges du Verdon, the picturesque and small roads in the côte d'Azur backdrop, some wineyards along the raod and the finish in the town of Fayence. But for the riders, it wasn't leisure-like at all since the profile was once again very tough, with a climb of category one at 30 kilometers from the finish and no less than nine other uphills. It was in the col de Bourigaille where the race developped after only Peter Velits remained
in the lead out of the early break of 10 riders. Caisse d'Epargne prepared for a big move and Lopez-Garcia held a very high speed, thus reducing the group of favourites to only 10 units, among them Frank Schleck. He was the only one able to follow the three Spanish riders Colom, Sanchez and Contador after another acceleration in the group. Those four riders arrived at the summit a few seconds ahead of another group containing Voigt and Chavanel. Schleck was dropped for a moment in the long descent of the Bourigaille and in the côte de Mons, but he came back again with the help of his team-mate Jens Voigt, just like Chavanel, who is well known for his downhill skills. With 15 kilometers to go, Luis-Leon Sanchez attacked on a flat part and, as an excellent time-trialist, he quickly gained thirty seconds advantage on a group where all eyes were turned on Contador. But the man in yellow showed some signs of weakness and a good tactical manoeuver of Saxo Bank brought him in serious trouble: attack of Voigt and, a little bit later, of Frank Schleck, followed by Chavanel and Colom. Contador found himself alone in the wind and he was never able to bridge up to the group again. The last climb in Fayence didn't change the situation: Sanchez was very strong and constantly increased his lead, eventually winning the stage 50 seconds ahead of Colom, who beat Schleck, Chavanel and Voigt in the sprint for second place. Alberto Contador has lost nearly 3 minutes in the last kilometers and fell back to fourth place overall, behind Sanchez, Chavanel and Schleck. The Luxemburgish National champion now is 1'21" behind the new overall leader and has promised to attack again in tomorrow's last stage.
13.03.2007 6. St-Paul-Trois-Chateaux - La Montagne de Lure (183 km)
Schleck second behind Contador
Results:
|
|
|
Alberto Contador
Alberto Contador
|
| |
2nd at 58"
|
4th at 1’38"
|
| | | | |
This is the stage that everyone kept talking about since the beginning of the week. Montagne de Lure, the "little sister of the Mont Ventoux" in the Provence region, is the only mountain top finish of this year's Paris-Nice, climbing up to 1600 meters of altitude. This was of course the hour of truth for Alberto Contador, from whom everybody awaited an attack, and for all the other GC contenders, including Frank Schleck who provided us with a fantastic performance today.
The final climb presents an average gradient of 6,6% during 14 kilometers, but there were five other climbs on this stage, challenging the climbers. Romain Feillu, Mickaël Delage, Javier Aramendia, Niki Terpstra, Cyril Lemoine, Christophe Riblon, Alan Perez and Sébastien Turgot were the members of the traditionnal early break, but they didn't have much chances to succeed since with 50 kilometers to go, Astana started to raise the speed seriously in the peloton. But it was CSC who fired in the early kilometers of Montagne de Lure, with an attack from Jens Voigt, whereas Frank Schleck took place in the wheel of Contador and his only remaining team-mate. The big favourite accelerated with 8 kilometers to go, but at first, he wasn't able to get rid of the Luxembourger, whereas Chavanel started to be in serious trouble. But two kilomteters later, Contador took off and got into the lead alone, with Schleck and Leon Sanchez remaining in the chase. The Astana captain arrived at the finish 58 seconds ahead of the Luxemburgish champ and is now again overall leader. On the next places, there were Sanchez, in the same time than Schleck an then, half a minute later, Evans, Moncoutié, Voigt and Luis Sanchez. Chavanel limited the losses at the end and he is now third in the general classification, behind Sanchez but one place before Schleck in 4th position. After his brilliant second place of today, the CSC rider now is now 1'38" late on Contador and only a few second behind the two other podium places.
12.03.2007 5. Annonay - Vallon-Pont-d'Arc (204 km)
Jeremy Roy king of the Pont d'Arc
Results:
|
|
|
Jeremy Roy
Sylvain Chavanel
|
| |
48th at 2'33"
|
14th at 1’12"
|
| | | | |
The stages go on and the difficulty is still increasing each day, with today the first climb of first category, the cold de Benas situated at about mid-race. But the finale kilometers of this longest stage of this year, through the beautiful scenery of the Ardčche, was a lot flatter and left some chances for an early break to succeed, especially after two very tiring days and before the mountain-top finish at Montagne de Lure tomorrow. After 13 kilometers of intense racing with some dropped riders, Thomas Voeckler, Jeremy Roy and Tony Martin got the authorisation to slip away, and over the six climbs that led them to the highest point of the
day at 800 meters of altitude, they increased their advantage up to 6 and a half minutes. Quick-Step, Cervélo and Milram have raised the speed in the peloton, where every once in a while, some tired riders were in difficulties at the back. Frank Schleck rode constantly amont the first riders in the pack and had some team-mates around him. At the front, Thomas Voeckler and Tony Martin showed that they are in excellent shape for the moment and even if more and more sprinter teams helped chasing, the gap only melted slowly: four and a half minutes still with 25 km to go and 3 minutes at the 10 Km-mark. Voeckler and Martin played tactics in the last kilometers and Jeremy Roy profited from the situation with an attack at 7 kilometers from the finish and he won with a narrow gap on the Frenchman and the German. 2'33" behind them, Frank Schleck finished 48th in the main peloton led by Heinrich Haussler. Before the deciding stage of tomorrow, there are only few changes overall.
11.03.2007 4. Vichy - Saint-Etienne (174 km)
Vandevelde wins, Contador attacks
Results:
|
|
|
Christian Vandevelde
Sylvain Chavanel
|
| |
9th at 14"
|
14th at 1’12"
|
| | | | |
Stage four already and the riders are approaching the South of France with a finish in Saint-Etienne, in the heart of the Massif Central. Difficult stage of course with 6 climbs of category three, especially after all the efforts that the riders had made in yesterday's crazy stage. But the peloton didn't want to let a break slip away on the first slopes and the speed was extremely high at the beginning, with several little groups forming at the back. It was only after around 70 kilometers that things calmed down a little bit: 7 riders were able to break off and behind them, the peloton regrouped again. But Samuël Dumoulin, Nicolas Roche , Daniel Moreno Fernandez, Christian Vandevelde, Alexandr Kolobnev, Tony Martin and Xavier Florencio never had more than 2 minutes of advantage since several teams like Euskatel and Bbox were eager to have a revange for yesterday's stage and chased together with Quick-Step. With 7 kilometers to go, the climb of la Rochetaillée was meant to bring the decision, but the riders in the break still had some strength left. Christian Vandevelde for example who isolated himself at the front and passed the summit with 20 seconds advantage on Contador who had attacked the peloton in the last two uphill kilometers. Frank Schleck was a little bit too far back when Contador attacked and first had to regain several positions in the peloton before coming back to the Spaniard again in the descent, together around 40 other riders. Vandevelde, on his side, managed to stay in front and he won the stage with 14 seconds advantage on the next group, in which Frank Schleck took 9th position. Sylvain Chavanel had quite a difficult moment at the end where he had to pay for yesterday's efforts. The Frenchman lost some seconds today, but he keeps the lead in the general classification, where Frank Schleck is now noted in 14th place with 1'12" deficit.
10.03.2007 3. Orval - Vichy (178 km)
Chavanel wins dramatic stage
Results:
|
|
|
Sylvain Chavanel
Sylvain Chavanel
|
| |
30čme ŕ 1’09"
|
19čme ŕ 1’39"
|
| | | | |
The col de la Bosse was the first real difficulty of the race to the sun 2009 and even if this climb of 7 kilometers at reasonable gradient was situated more than 50 kilometers from the finish, it surely inspired some of the riders for an early attack. Maciej Bodnar, Jurgen Roelandts, Christophe Le Mevel, Stéphane Augé and Tom Veelers broke away after kilometer 16 and, on a rainy and hilly course, they built up a lead of 7 minutes on the peloton. On top of the col de la Bosse, the gap was still of 3 minutes, when Rabobank suddenly raised the speed in the crosswinds and caused the peloton to split. 15 men broke away, among them 5 in riders in orange (Flecha, Garate, Hayman, Langeveld, Tankink, Tjallingii), but also Chavanel, Gilbert, Colom, Burghardt or yesterday’s winner Haussler. Frank Schleck had been trapped and found himself in a second group of around 30 riders, half a minute behind, whereas Evans and Contador were even further back. With a brilliant effort, Contador managed to bridge up alone to the Schleck-group, whereas the early break of course had no chance of surviving under these conditions and was caught with 30 kilometers to go. On the last kilometres, only 9 riders remained in the lead but despite the hard work of Frank Schleck and his Saxo Bank team-mates in the chase, they were able to increase their lead as the finish approached. Responding to an acceleration of Flecha in the last kilometre, Sylvain Chavanel was finally able to take the stage win ahead of the Spaniard and Langeveld. Frank Schleck crossed the line in 30th position, within the second group of day and a little bit more than a minute down on the winner. Of course, Chavanel scores double today since he is also the new owner of the yellow jersey, 32 ahead of Juan-Manuel Garate. Schleck moves up to 19th overall, 1’39” behind the man of the day, whereas the big losers of today are Kreuziger, Moreau, Vandevelde, Evans or Pereiro: they are out of contention in the general classification after today’s dramatic stage.
9.03.2007 2. St.Brisson-sur-Loire - La Chapelle St-Ursin (196 km)
Haussler jumps on the occasion
Results:
|
|
|
Heinrich Haussler
Alberto Contador
|
| |
143rd at 0"
|
31st at 36"
|
| | | | |
It is written in the road-book of this Paris-Nice that the sprinters won't have much opportunities to shine in a very hilly race, especially towards the end of the week. Heinrich Haussler eventually jumped on the occasion to win the first stage, one of the rare for the men with the fast legs. Because the talented young German normally doesn't very often get the chance for a win since he has to work for Thor Hushovd on most of the occasions. Just like Mark Renshaw, former lead-out man of Hushovd who now works for Cavendish at Columbia for most of the time. The two sprinters, together with Lorenzetto and Veelers, showed a very nice sprint at the end of a stage during which they had the entire support of their team. Four riders indeed tried their chance early in the day and 7 minutes advantage for Piet Rooijakkers, Aitor Hernández, Aleksandr Kuschynski and Christophe Laurent of course obliged Columbia, Rabobank, Française des Jeux or Cervélo to chase hard in order to come back. This was done with 22 kilometers to go, and Columbia took over for the last kilometers for Renschaw, but the latter had to settle down for second behind Haussler on the line. Several crashes have occured today, one with 50 kilometer to go that split the peloton into several parts for about 20 kilometers, with Cadel Evans being behind among others, and another one just 2 kilometers ahead of the conclusion which implicated Frank Schleck as well as yellow jersey Contador. Not too much damage for both of them, even if Frank hit the ground and had parts of his bike into pieces. He was able to get up again and crossed the finish line in 143rd position, two minutes behind the peloton, but without damage in the overall classification since the crash was within the last 3 kilometers.
8.03.2007 1. Amilly - Amilly (9,3 km Itt)
Contador unbeatable ?
Results:
|
|
|
Alberto Contador
Alberto Contador
|
| |
32nd at 36"
|
32nd at 36"
|
| | | | |
Paris-Nice 2009 has begun with an individual time-trial, not in form of a prologue, but as a real stage of more than 9 kilometers, that has already created some gaps. Saxo Bank is very motivated for this race and so Andy Schleck was replaced by his brother Frank in the line-up, since the Older of the two was in better shape after the Tour of California than the Younger, who had been ill for a while. On the long straight lines in Amilly with only a few turns at the end of the course, Sylvain Chavanel has established a first reference time in 11'24". The new recruit from Quick-Step is in excellent form and surely among the favourites for this Paris-Nice, but he preferred to start very early in the race. And he was very right because the rain, that was already falling when Chavanel rode, increased after that and most of the riders had to ride on very wet roads. But this didn't prevent Bradley Wiggins from doing a great race: the double Olympic champion was 12 seconds faster than Chavanel, setting a new best time. Then, it was Frank Schleck's turn, the Saxo-Bank leader made a very quick start and after 5,3 kilometers, he was only 6 seconds behind Wiggins at the provisionnal 6th place. Unfortunately, Frank faded a little bit in the second half of the course and finished in 11'41", at an average speed of 47,5 and at the 18th place for the moment. Of course, the best were yet to come and they had again slightly better weather conditions. But the only one was able to beat the time of Wiggins was Alberto Contador. The former Tour de France winner rode in his typical, very easy-looking style and finished his loop in 11'05", at an incredible average speed of 50,3 km/h and 7 seconds ahead of Bradley Wiggins. Luis-Leon Sanchez finished in third position, young Tony Martin 4th and pre-race favourite David Millar in 5th position. Frank Schleck was 32nd at the end, loosing 36" already on Contador and asking himself how he could possibly make up this time against the strong Astana captain.
|
March 11 to 17, 2009: 44th Tirreno - Adriatico
|
| |
15.03.2009 5: Loreto - Macerata (30 km ITT)
Klöden dominates race against the clock
Results:
|
| 
|
Andreas Klöden
Andreas Klöden
|
|
| |
48th at 2'29"
|
23rd at 3'10"
|
DNS on the next day
|
| |
| | | |
Without suprise and just like two years ago against Kim Kirchen, Andreas Klöden has dominated the time-trial of the race between the two seas, even if he said himself that he was not at his best at the beginning of the stage. But at the end, the German improved the best time of Stijn Devolder by more than 20 seconds and nobody did better than that after him. The course was difficult with two climbs and around 500 meters of change in altitude, as well as a twisty descent, but Klöden nevertheless rode the 30 kilometers in 41'32", meaning impressive an average speed of 43,3 km/h. Devolder at 20 seconds, Lövqvist and Scarponi at 21" or Igantiev at 32" never came close to the Astana rider. Other favourites were further behind: Garzelle lost 40", Basso and Rebellin more than a minute, whereas overnight leader Rodriguze lost nearly 3 minutes and, of course, the blue leader jersey to Klöden. The German now has 6 seconds advantage overall on Thomas Lövkvist, 21" on Scarponi and 41" on Garzelli. Andy Schleck wasn't at his best today, even if the course should have suited him. He didn't take any risks and finished in 44'01", which meant 48th position for him. At 41 km/h average speed, Andy had about the same time than the specialist Svein Tuft, or than Danilo Di Luca, but he has lost 2 minutes and a half on the winner and, of course, the hope for a good overall result. He is still noted in 23rd position in the overall classification this evening, but has decided not to start anymore in tomorrow's stage. Since a few days, Andy has felt some pain in his knee, and he doesn't want to spoil his chances for the next weeks by doing the 230 up-and-down kilometers of the sixth stage.
14.03.2009 4: Foligno - Montelupone (171 km)
Rodriguez does it again
Results:
|
|
|
Joaquim Rodriguez
Joaquim Rodriguez
|
|
| |
24th at 1'02"
|
21st at 1'12"
|
| | | | |
Last year, Andy Schleck discovered with astonishment the climb of Montelupone and its small road with up to 21 % of gradient, where several riders and even a motorbike pilot had to put their feet to the ground and walk two hundred meters before being able to remount on their machine. This year, the riders had again to tackle twice the two kilometer long uphill with 10 % medium slope, and the winner was the same. 12 months ago, Joaquim Rodriguez had taken the win on top of the climb, and this year, the Spanish climber did it again, taking the stage victory and the leader jersey at once. Di Luca's Team LPR had chased down the riders of the early break and Giuseppe Palumbo, Johann Tschopp, Giampaolo Cheula, Jérôme Coppel and Marcin Sapa were caugth again just before the first passage in Montelupone. On the climb, Diquigiovanni took over for Rebellin and Simoni, with the two time Giro winner leading a select group of 25 riders over the summit, among them Andy Schleck. The Saxo Bank rider had good legs and some ambitions for the stage, but unfortunately, his bike had been damaged by a crashing rider. Andy had to step off to repair and it was already too late. Hincapie and Simoni had raised the speed in the leading group for their team-mates Lövqvist and Rebellin, but it was Rodriguez who took the honours by attacking with 600 meters to go, at exactly the same place than the year before. The rider from Caisse d'Epargne has crossed the finish line 6 seconds ahead of Rebellin, 10 before Lövqvist and 14 before Di Luca. He has also taken the bleu jersey of overall leader, although Julien Farčs did suprisingly well today and finished 6th of the stage, 21 seconds behind Rodriguez. Andy Schleck has lost nearly a minute today by arriving in 24th position, and is now rated 21st in the general classification, 1'12" late on the leader.
13.03.2009 3: Fucecchio - Santa Croce sull'Arno (166 km)
Farrar surprises in royal sprint
Results:
|
|
|
Tyler Farrar
Julien El Fares
|
|
| |
92nd at 0"
|
33th at 25"
|
| | | | |
The third stage was still held in beautiful Tuscany, with several loops around the towns of Fucecchio and Santa Croce sull'Arno and the profile was mostly flat with only several small climbs. Three riders broke away early in the stage, but their chances were very small since the sprinter teams held the gap in very reasonable dimensions and were prepared to close it down in the final kilometers. Will Frischkorn, Yuriy Krivtsov und Lieuwe Westra were caught with 10 kilometers to go, so that the expected bunch sprint could take place. Hushovd and Cavendish opened the final rush, but Tyler Farrar created a big surprise in this royal sprint by slipping past them and winning ahead of the Man from Britain, Rossi, McEven and Boonen. Andy Schleck crossed the finish line in 92nd position, in the middle of the huge peloton containing nearly 200 riders. Before the terrible climb of Montelupone and its 21% gradient in tomorrow's stage, there are no changes overall.
12.03.2009 2: Volterra - Marina die Carrara (177 km)
Petacchi wins on home soil
Results:
|
|
|
Alessandro Petacchi
Julien El Fares
|
|
| |
75th at 0"
|
33th at 25"
|
| | | | |
Another difficult and tricky final on narrow and twisty roads and with a double climb on the final circuit in the hills around the coastal city of Marina di Carrara. Marcin Sapa and Ermanno Capelli wanted to repeat yesterday's story and they took off for a long break at kilometer 20, with a maximum advantage of 5 minutes. But the sprinter teams didn't do the same mistake than the day before and they started chasing early, the most active being LPR, Quick-Step and Liquigas. Rebellin and Garzelli were the first to pass the break on the climb o Bedizzano, but despite the attack of the two stars, most of the sprinters were still in the first group after the descent, just like Andy Schleck. Liquigas still had enough helpers to set up a train for Bennati, but in the last kilometer, Lorenzo Bernucci drove Petacchi to the front, who opened the sprint out of the last turn and took the victory near his home-town of La Spezia, ahead of Bennati and Fernandez. Andy Schleck crossed the finish line in 75th position and is now 33rd overall, where Julien El Farčs is still in possession of the blue leader jersey.
11.03.2009 1: Cecina - Capannori (147 km)
El Fares wins out of a break
Results:
|
|
|
Julien El Fares
Julien El Fares
|
|
| |
27th at 12"
|
27th at 25"
|
| | | | |
When Frank Schleck decided at the last moment to ride Paris-Nice this year, Andy was to replace his brother on the line-up of Tirreno-Adriatico, a race that he had already discovered last year when he helped his team-mate Cancellara to the overall win. A long flat section waited for the riders on the opening stage, but the climb of Valgiano, 4 kilometers long with a maximum gradient of 12 %, complicated things a bit for the numerous star-sprinters in the race of the two seas, since it was located only 16 kilometers from the finish line. Vladimir Duma and Julien El Fares didn't want to wait until there and they broke away early in the stage. 30 kilometers from the finish, both of them still had 6 minutes advantage on the main peloton, a group that rode rather camly until there, but where Cervelo, Quick-Step and Liquigas now increased the speed very hard. El Fares arrived alone on top of the last climb, but he had only a few seconds advantage on Duma who bridged up again in the descent. The peloton was mainly led by Liquigas, but the chase wasn't very easy on the narrow, twisty roads leading to the finish: Julien El Fares won the stage with narrow margin on Duma, whereas the first peloton, led by Bennati, Petacchi and Boonen, crossed the white line only 12 seconds later. Andy Schleck was also in this group and he is noted in 27th position both in the day- and the overall classifications.
|
7 mars 2009: 3rd Monte Paschi Eroica
|
| |
08.03.2008 Gaiole in Chianti - Siena (190 km)
Schleck in the good break
Results:
|
|
Thomas Lövkvist
|
|
| |
|
8th at 16"
|
| | |
Down in 2007, Andy and Frank Schleck should have participated to the very first edition of the Monte Paschi, but they were not able to line up due to problems with their flight schedule. After Kim Kirchen in 2008, Andy thus discovered this year the "race of the heroes", which is ridden to a large extent on the famous white gravel roads, typical for the beautiful Toscana region. And it seemed a very positive discovery since Andy was in the good break and rode for the win until the very last climb. The decision fell around 20 kilometers from the finish, when the first peloton with only around 50 riders in it, was about to swallow the early break (Cacchia, Chiarini, Kwachuk, Pierfelici) after a tough race. In the seventh and penultimate gravel section, three kilometers long, Ryder Hesjedal, Daniele Bennati, Giovanni Visconti and Andy Schleck broke away and with 10 kilometers to go, they had 10 seconds advantage on the next chasers, who bridged up to them 3 kilometers later. They were now 15 at the front (Elmiger, Lovquist, Wegmann, Hammond, Lloyd, Gatto, Chiarini, Boasson, Ivanov, Gerdemann, Velitz, Hesjedal, Bennati, Visconti, Schleck) with two climbs remaining. Giovanni Visconti tried his luck with 5 kilometers to go, then Gerdemann, but in the very last, 16 % steep climb, Thomas Lövkvist was the strongest and he arrived at the Piazzo del Campo 4 seconds ahead of Fabain Wegamann and 6 ahead of Martin Elminger. Andy Schleck wasn't far behind since he crossed the finish line in 8th place, 16 seconds behind the winner.
Note: "This site contains links to other Internet pages, on which content and presentation we don't have any influence. These refences are indicated merely for your information and and we can't be made reliable for any of the content of any of the Internet pages our links may take you to."
|
Kirchen
Drucker
