09.09.2009 11. Murcia - Caravaca de la Cruz (200 km)
Out also for Frank Schleck
Results:
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Tyler Farrar
Alejandro Valverde
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DNS
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Unfortunately, there isn't a rider form Luxemburg any more in the peloton of the Vuelta. Frank Schleck had an opportunity to get some surgery on the knee that made him suffer all year and he took it. He gives up his small chances for a good result in the Vuelta and in the World Championships in favour of the hope to be able to pedal without pain during the next season. It seems that this Tour of Spain wasn't really lucky for Luxemburg's riders and, even if they had resonable form at the start in Assen, the only positive result they achieved was an unsuccessfull attack from Kim Kirchen in Liège and a 15th place for Frank Schleck in the stage to Xorret de Cati. Hopefully, the luck will soon return for them, and why not at the world championships in Mendrision. The stage today ended with a bunch sprint and the victory of Tyler Farrar ahead of Gilbert, Marcato, Isasi and Greipel, the man in green. David Moncoutié, Johnny Hoogerland and Amets Txukkura tried their luck with a long break on the hilly course, but they were reeled in with about 40 kilometres to go.
08.09.2009 10. Alicante - Murcia (162 km)
Gerrans wins dramatic stage
Results:
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Simon Gerrans
Alejandro Valverde
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112th at 14'33"
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61st at 23'47"
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Australian rider Simon Gerrans has won the 10th stage of the Vuelta a Espana with a dramatic and unusual final full of suspense. A big group of 19 contender broke away at the beginning of the stage and nearly all of the teams were represented in it, so that it was able to create a big gap. Riders like Vinokourov, Gerdemann, Hesjedal, Gerrans, De la Fuente, Intxausti, Tossato, Garate, Fulgsang and Kroon were the motors in this group which covered 46 kilometres in the first race hour, rapidly building up an 8 minute advantage. Caisse d'Epargne and Liquigas worked at the front of the peloton, but only to limit the gap and so, with about 20 kilomtres to go, the leading group was already sure to fight for the stage win. There was still a steep hill to come and the Alto de la Cresta del Gallo of course created a selection. Linus Gerdemann was the most active rider at the front and broke away together with Intxausti, but some mechanical problems brought both of the riders out of contention fro the win. Four riders remained in the lead, namely Vinokourov, Gerrans, Fulgsang and Hesjedal. Despite several attacks and a really tactical outcome in the last five kilometres, the victory was decided in a sprint of four, in which Simon Gerrans took his first stage win in the Vuelta, after having won already in the Tour and the Giro during the last two years. Hesjedal, Fulgsang and Vinokourov took the next places, whereas the first bigger group finished nearly four minutes off, a peloton without Frank Schleck. The Saxo Bank rider did not manage to hold on to the first group on the short, but steep Alto de la Cresta del Gallo and finished the stage in the gruppetto, 112th and 14 minutes late on the winner.
07.09.2009 9. Alcoy - Xorret de Cati (186 km)
Frank Schleck moves up
Results:
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Gustavo César Veloso
Alejandro Valverde
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15th at 1'29"
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36th at 12'56"
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Frank Schleck felt a lot better today than yesterday and, if he wasn't able to fight for the win promised to the riders of the early break, he only lost a few seconds to the best GC riders and stayed with them until deep in the final. The stage didn't have any major climb, but lots of ups and downs, of small climbs that hurt the legs. 7 riders broke away after 32 kilometres and Devolder, Marzano, De la Fuente, Taaramae, Sanchez, Caesar and Ramirez took up to 7 minutes of advantage unter the boiling sun. It was only in the very last climb of the day that the peloton reacted seriously and, while the leading group exploded on the slopes of the Alto de Xorret del Cati, Evans, Basso, Gesink and Valverde also put on the pressure in the main group, dropping some of their opponents and passing one by one the riders of the early break. Only Gustavo César Veloso and Marco Marzano from Lampre had enough power left to make it to the finish and the Spaniard from the small team of Xacobeo Galicia took the stage win ahead of the Italian. 41 seconds later, Alejandro Valverde took the third place in the stage which brought him some bonus seconds and the yellow jersey from Cadel Evans, who was 6th in the stage. Frank Schleck arrived in Xorret del Cati as 15th about 40 seconds behind Valverde, in a small group with Paolo Tiralongo and Samuel Sanchez. In the overall classification, the only Luxemburgish rider left in the race is now 36th, 13 minutes behind the new leader Valverde.
06.09.2009 8. Alzira - Alto de Aitana (206 km)
Bad day for the Schlecks
Results:
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Damiano Cunego
Cadel Evans
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DNF
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59th at 10'42"
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46th at 12'01"
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Bad day for cycling Luxemburg and for the Schlecks at the Vuelta, since Frank finished the stage with a mountain top finish on the difficult Alto de Aitana way off the pace and brother Andy didn't even reach the finish line. Apparently, he has the same problems than Kim Kirchen, a few days ago and suffers of digestive problems. Andy wasn't able to eat anything, but he showed all his courage by being at the start today and trying to finish the stage. After several kilometres however, he must have realized that he had to step off his bike at the moment where the big battle began at the front. It was Alejandro Valverde who sent his team-mate to the front in order to raise the speed behind an early break of 6 riders containing Weening, Moncoutié, Voss, Hinault, Bonnet and the incredible JohnnyHoogerland. The rythm became high in the peloton and the victims were numerous like yellow jersey Cancellara, like Vinokourov and also Frank Schleck. The Saxo-Bank rider was dropped on the last climb, at about 10 kilometres from the finish and he lost a huge amount of time until the conclusion. In a small group with Barredo, Martinez and Fulgsang, Frank arrived into the fog at the summit of the Alto de Aitana in 59th position, more than 10 minutes late. At the front, the favourites took some time to catch up with David Moncoutié, the Frenchman who was alone in the lead after having dropped Hoogerland and the others. But in the very last kilometres, there was a big battle with attacks from Basso and then Cunego. The "little prince" took off and passed Moncoutié on the last slopes leading to the finish line. The rider from Cofidis finished in second place, ahead of Gesink, Evans, Valverde and Sanchez. Thanks to his fourth place today, Cadel Evans slipped into the yellow leader jersey of the Vuelta, 2 small seconds ahead of Valverde and 8 ahead of Sanchez.
05.09.2009 7. Valencia - Valencia (30 km ITT)
King Cancellara
Results:
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Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara
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42nd at 2'02”
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51st at 3'10"
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57th at 2'22"
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53rd at 3'15"
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The Tour d'Espagne eventually continued without Kim Kirchen, even before the big overall battle was about to begin. Car the first bigger test for the GC contenders was today, during a pan-flat individual time-trial on the car-racing circuit in Valencia. And just like he did on the motorbike speedway in Assen, Fabian Cancellara also took the victory on the Formula One track in Spain, showing that he actually is the King of time-trialling. Under very bad weather conditions, the Olympic champion needed 36'41" for his course (average speed 49,3 km/h), leaving the other specialists of the discipline without any chance: David Millar finished second at 32 seconds and reigning world champion Bert Grabsch third at 36". Among the podium hopes, it was surprisingly Samuel Sanchez who showed the best performance and finished 6th of the day. Maybe the Euskadel rider with excellent technical skills on the bike felt himself very well on the high-speed circuit and he was a few seconds faster than Evans (10th), Valverde (13th), Vinokourov (15th), Gesink (28th) and also Basso (36th) de plusieures dizaines de secondes. But the gaps weren't really big and the two remaining Luxemburgers also limited the losses in the time-trial. Andy Schleck was the Best of the two in 42nd position with a time of 38'43" (average speed 46,7 km/h), he lost two minutes to his team-mate Cancellara, but barely one on Sanchez, Evans and co. Frank Schleck wasn't far behind him in 39'03" (average speed 45,6 km/h), he was 2'22" behind Cancellara but faster than Kreuziger and Cunego, faster also than André Greipel who has to hand his yellow jersey over to Fabian Cancellara.
04.09.2009 6. Xativa - Xativa (177 km)
Bad luck continues for Kim Kirchen
Results:
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Borut Bozic
André Greipel
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68th at 9”
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86th at 1'26"
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69th at 9"
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66th at 1'11"
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DNS
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Bad surprise in the morning of the sixth stage of the Vuelta since Kim Kirchen did not line up for the start. The series of bad luck continues though for the Columbia rider who wasn't able to climb on his bike due to a stomachache. He has been ill all night and decided a few minutes before the start to call it a race. Of course, he has to give up his ambitions for a good result at the Vuelta for now, but most of all, he misses an excellent opportunity to prepare himself in optimal conditions for the world championships, his big goal of this season after the bad spring. Except for the bad news, the stage developped normally today with a long break of 5 riders, but despite having had up to 7 minutes of advantage, José Antonio López Gil, Matthé Pronk, Bingen Fernandez and Aitor Perez Arrieta never made it to the finish. Because despite the absence of Kim Kirchen, Columbia has done a lot of work at the front of the pack and brought back the break with about 15 kilomtres from the finish, in order to prepare a sprint finish and, why not, consolidate the golden jersey of André Greipel. The final was a little bit hilly and Andy Schleck showed himself at the front of the pack, while his team-mate Matti Breschel tried his luck together with world champion Alessandro Ballan. But despite more attacks, everything came together again under control of the Liquigas team and it was Borut Bozic who took the flowers ahead of Farrar, Bennati, Vigano and Boonen. Favourite André Greipel finished only ninth, but this was enough to retain the golden jersey ahead of tomorrow's time trial. Frank and Andy Schleck have crossed the finish line of today's stage side by side in the peloton, on positions 68 and 69 and 9 seconds down on the winner.
03.09.2009 5. Tarragona - Vinaros (174 km)
Double score for Greipel
Results:
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André Greipel
André Greipel
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124th at 45”
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115th at 1'26"
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125th at 45"
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104th at 1'11"
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58th at 18"
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31st at 54"
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The peloton of the Tour of Spain has finally come home to the land of the paella and, like expected, there has been a rather brutal change in climate. From 15 degrees in chilly Liège, the temperature has raised to over 35 degrees in the oven of this new sprinter stage. However, six riders were not afraid of these conditions and attacked right from the start in Tarragona, trying their luck in a long break: Aitor Hernandez Gutierrez, José Antonio Lopez Gil, Julien El Fares, Matthé Pronk and Serafin Martinez. From 6 minutes on the summit of the coll de Fatxas, highest point of the day, their advantage quickly decreased to less than 4 minutes once that Saxo-Bank, Garmin, Columbia and Liquigas had taken their place at the head of the peloton. On the long and wide open, flat road, the escape was caught with about 25 kilometers to go, just as the narrow and twisty part of the course was about to begin. But this time, the sprinter teams had everything under control and nothing disturbed the bunch sprint, not even a powerfull attack from Philippe Gilbert on the last small climb or a crash by Gerald Ciolek one of the last two narrow turns, a crash that opened some gaps in the peloton. Daniele Bennati launched the sprint at the front, but he was passed by Tom Boonen and André Greipel, who took his second success in this Vuelta. With the stage win and the related bonus seconds, the German also takes control in the overall classification, 6 seconds ahead of Boonen. Just as all the other GC favourites, Kim Kirchen lost about 20 seconds today on the fastest sprinters in the first part of the peloton, whereas Frank and Andy Schleck came in a few more seconds later. Both of them have again been supporting Cancellara today and they are now already more than a minute back on the new overall leader.
01.09.2009 4. Venlo - Liège (225 km)
André Greipel escapes the crash
Results:
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André Greipel
Fabian Cancellara
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147th at 0”
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123rd at 38"
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148th at 0"
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103rd at 35"
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43rd at 0"
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46th at 27"
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Last day in the Benelux for the Vuelta with a touch of spring classics and some really miserable weather conditions waiting for the riders, who in turn are waiting for the Iberian sun to show up. The climb of Cauberg, the Mont Theux, former legendary climb of the Doyenne and the côte Saint-Nicolas are some key points of the Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne- Liège that are featured on today's course and the Luxemburgish riders should have some supplementary motivation today since they always have done very well in the Ardennes classics these last years, even if the Schleck brothers appreciate today's weather conditions less than Kim Kirchen. Javier Ramirez, Lars Boom again, Dominik Roels and Sergey Lagutin were the four riders who animated the race for a long while, but they were caught again with about 20 kilometers to go. Immediately, Kim Kirchen launched an attack on the côte de Saint-Nicolas, but he didn't have more success than Enrico Gasparotto just a little bit later. Despite the hilly profile, the peloton rode towards a massive sprint on the last kilometers along the Meuse river, but then a huge crash brought to the ground about the whole field of the Vuelta. They were only five to escape the big pile-up, among them three from Columbia with Grabsch, Sieberg and Greipel. Perfectly brought into position by his team-mates, the latter had no problems to take the stage win ahead of Wouter Weylandt from Quick-Step. Kim Kirchen crossed the line about a minute later in the first peloton, whereas the Schleck brothers arrived only several minutes later together with race leader Fabian Cancellara, for whom they had waited after the crash. As the accident happened inside the last three kilometers, it doesn't have any incident on the overall classification, where the Swiss champion keeps the jersey d'oro, while the three Luxemburgish riders also remained at their places. They will be more than content this evening to have survived without any damage to this tricky stage.
31.08.2009 3. Zutphen - Venlo (190 km)
Henderson replaces Greipel
Results:
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Greg Henderson
Fabian Cancellara
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124th at 0”
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123rd at 38"
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149th at 1'08"
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112th at 53"
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165th at 0"
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33rd at 27"
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Without any surprise, the third stage of the Tour of Holland, no, the Tour of Spain has finished with a bunch sprint after a completely flat stage, where the break consisting of Lars Boom, Johnny Hoogerland and Jesus Rosendo didn't have any chance for success. Only 2 kilometres after the start, they attacked, but were swallowed up again by the pack shortly before the finish, after more than 170 kilometers of efforts in the lead. Actually, Saxo Bank, Milram, Quick-Step and Garmin
controlled the gap and made everything perfectly to catch them at the right moment. After that, of course, Columbia with Kim Kirchen took over at the head of the peloton: with Grabsch, Henderson and Greipel, the train that was meant to bring the German into position was on its way in the last kilometer. But in a very technical corner 200 meters from the finish, they lost contact to each other and Greipel suddenly found himself a little bit too far back. Greg Henderson saw that he wasn't in his wheel and went for himself. With a powerful acceleration to the line, the man from New Zealand took the victory ahead of Borut Bozic and Oscar Freire. The three Luxemburgish riders finished the stage in the last positions of the bunch, in the same time than the winner. Again and despite their position of stars in the peloton, they have worked hard for their team-mates today, Kim for the sprinters and the Schleck bros for Fabian Cancellara, who is still in the golden jersey after three days.
30.08.2009 2. Assen - Emmen (202 km)
Victorious sprint for Ciolek
Results:
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Gerald Ciolek
Fabian Cancellara
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154th at 30”
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151st at 1'08"
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120th at 18"
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112th at 53"
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59th at 0"
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32nd at 27"
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Bad day for the Schlecks on the narrow and dangerous Dutch roads. Frank was involved in a crash with around 20 kilometers to go and he used quite a bit of time to come back to the peloton again, who was at the moment chasing hard behind the leading rider, Lieuwe Westra. On a final that was marked by several crashes, the most reknowned brothers of the Vuelta found themselves at the back of the peloton and, when the peloton splitted up in the last kilometres, they finished behind the 100th position in the field, 120th and 154th respectively, and lost several seconds in the overall classification. But the most important for them today was surely to have retained the leader jersey inside the team since, due to their support, Fabian Cancellara is still in the yellow leader jersey that he has won in yesterday's opening time trial. Eventually, the stage has finished with a massive sprint, on a course where the only elevation was barely 15 meters high and where the 5 riders of the break had only few chances for success, the last of them was caught with 11 kilometers to go. As usual, Kim Kirchen has participated in the preparation for the sprint in the last kilometres and was at the front until the red flag, which allowed him to take 59th place at the finish and no to loose any time when the peloton splitted up. Garmin took control shortly before the line, but it was Gerald Ciolek who took the win in a very narrow battle, ahead of Sabatini and Hammond.
29.08.2009 1. Assen - Assen (4,8 km clm)
Cancellara motors to the win
Results:
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Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara
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123rd at 38”
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123rd at 38"
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103rd at 35"
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103rd at 35"
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46th at 27"
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46th at 27"
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A rather unusual start for the Tour of Spain since it took place ... in the Netherlands. No burning sun in Iberica though, it was under pouring rain and with barely 15 degrees celsius of temperature that the 198 contenders battled for the first stage win in a prologue ridden on the speed motorway of Assen. And if there is one rider that seems to be riding like a motorbike, it is Fabian Cancellara. The Olympic champion has won yet another opening time trial in a Grand Tour, beating the sprinters on the short track as well as some of the overall contednders. Cancellara used 5 minutes and 20 seconds for the course, riding at 50,6 km/h average speed and 9 seconds faster than Tom Boonen, 12 ahead of Farrar, 14 ahead of Mouris and 16 ahead of Bennati. Then followed Kreuziger, Vinokourov, Basso et Valverde, all of them less than 20 seconds behind the Swiss speed racer. The Schleck brothers hat announced before the start that they did not want to compete for the overall win in this Vuelta and they proved it today by finishing far at the back. They were noted in 103rd position for Frank and 123rd for Andy, already more than 20 seconds back on the favourites for the overall podium. Kim Kirchen did it better today. But with very difficult conditions, rain, slippery roads and small tornados, he didn't want to take any risks. Unlike some other riders who went down onto the asphalt of the speedway, he arrived home safe in 5'47", meaning an average speed of 46,7 km/h and 46th position in the stage, in the same town than Enrico Gasparotto and 27 seconds late on Cancellara.
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August 16, 2009: 29th Clasica San Sebastian
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16.08.2008 Hamburg-Hamburg (216 km)
Unlucky again
Results:
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Tyler Farrar
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DNF
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The 2009 season definitely has brought its share of bad luck for Kim Kirchen. At the Vattenfall cyclassics, a 216 kilometre race in and around Hamburg, Luxemburg’s rider was once again involved in a crash. With about 30 kilometres to go, while the Columbia train worked hard at the head of the peloton to favour a sprint victory for Andre Greipel, a massive crash has brought down several riders, among them David Millar and Kim Kirchen, who didn’t finish the race won by Tyler Farrar ahead of Matti Breschel and Gerald Ciolek. Without surprise, the victory was decided in a bunch sprint, despite a long break from Sergio de Lis and Yuriy Krivstsov, despite also multiple attacks from Philippe Gilbert in the final. On the last ascent of the Waseberg, a short but steep ramp at 16% gradient, the rider from Silence Lotto broke away with O’Grady, Roche and Mori and the four of them were caught again only a few kilometres from the line.
01.08.2008 San Sebastian - San Sebastian (237 km)
Kirchen attacks, Schleck crashes
Results:
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Carlos Barredo
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25th at 7"
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DNF
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Tough waking-up for Andy Schleck after a somewhat euphoric Gala Tour de France, since did not finish the Clasica San Sebastian after a very spectacular crash which left him with a heavily aching body. Fortunately, the rest of his season doesn't seem to be jeopardized by this nasty fall. Kim Kirchen however was near to his best during the race, he was on the attack in the final and, crossed the last climbs with the best and didn't pass too far away from the win. 18 riders opened the road during a long while, but after the crossing of the Jaizkibel, with 30 kilometers to go, the chances of García Acosta, Posoni, Stangelj, Pineau, Petrov, Sörensen, Rohregger and company to make it to the finish were very low. Evgeni Petrov stayed alone in the lead until the foot of the last climb of the day, the Alto de Arkale, but he was also swallowed up after a solid attack from Barredo and Fedrigo in the peloton. Kim Kirchen followed the move and he crossed the summit of the Arkale with Barredo, Fedrigo, Kreuziger and Sanchez, a few seconds ahead of the rest of the peloton. But on the slippery roads, soaking wet after heavy rain falls, the race was decided in the downhills today, and not in the uphills. Barredo took off in the descent from the Arkale, together with Luis-Leon Sanchez, whereas Kim Kirchen found himself aound 20 seconds further back, with Kreuziger and Fedrigo. But the three of them didn't give up and they closed the gap again, being less then 10 seconds behind the leaders with 4 kilometers to go. On another very dangerous downhill, Roman Kreuziger took some risks and bridged up to Barredo, while Sanchez, Kirchen and Fedrigo were caught again by the next chasers. Carlos Barredo finally won the 29th edition of the Clasica San Sebastian in a two-man sprint against Kreuziger, whereas the first chasing group with round 30 riders crossed the line 7 seconds later, led by Mickael Delage. In this group, Valverde, Ivanov, Pozzato, Cunego, and Kim Kirchen who took 25th position in a race which he could have won with a little bit more of luck.
Month of August
Racing started again
More than a month after his very promising Tour de Luxembourg,
racing resumed again for Jempy Drucker at the Polynormande.
Results:
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| La Polynormande
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Mathieu Ladagnous
DNF
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| Antwerpse Havenpijl
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Jens-Erik Madsen
51st at 0"
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| GP Zottegem
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Niko Eekhout
5th at 0"
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But it was a difficult beginnning since this was a tough race that counts for the Coupe the France, with most of the best French professionnals at the start. After 157 difficult kilometers between Avranches and Saint-Martin de Landelles, Mathieu Ladagnous of the Française des Jeux team won the 30th edition in a sprint ahead of Stefan Van Dijk and Wesley Sulzberger, whereas Jempy Drucker didn't finish the race like most of his team-mates. Things were getting better at the Antwerpse Havenpijl, where Jempy found number of Dutch cyclo-cross collegues at the start like Thijs Al, Van Ijzendorn or Van Poppel. Drucker finished the race in the main pack in 51st position, in the same time than winner Jens-Erik Madsen. The Dane was faster in the bunch sprint than Stefan Van Dijk and Denis Flahaut. At the Grand-prix Zottegem however, Jempy mixed up with the sprinters in the battle for the victory and on the right-hand side of the road, he was only little behind Nico Eekhout, Martin Pedersen, Cyril Lemoine and last year's Belgian National champion Jürgen Roelandts. This means an excellent 5th place in a massive sprint of about 130 riders, only two bike length short of the very experimented winner Nico Eekhout.
The 36th Grand-prix Tell has begun with a prologue held as a team-time-trial over a little bit more than 3 kilometers. Whereas the Swiss riders
dominated things with the victory of Team Hörmann ahead of their fellow countrymen of Hadimec and the Polisch National team, the Luxemburgish selection wasn't able to avoid the last place: Drucker, Gressnich, Didier, Heymans, Kohn and Wecker actually finished in 18th place with the time of 4'57" on a
Results:
GP Tell
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(P)
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Team Hörmann
104th at 19"
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(1)
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Vojtech Hacecky
6th at 53"
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(2)
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Nico Keinath
97th at 18'54"
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(3)
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Mirko Saggiorato
17th at 29"
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(4)
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Thomas Frei
65th at 21'39"
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Mathias Frank
63rd at 39'49"
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technically very difficult course, but they were only 19 seconds slower than the winners and 4 seconds away from the 12th position held by team Romer.
The first stage was entirely dominated by a break of 8 riders, among whom three managed to arrive at the finish line nearly a minute ahead of the rest of the bunch. Thomas Frei, the most agressive rider in the group, Kusztor from Hungary and Czech rider Hacecky eventually took the lead with about 10 kilometers to go and, whereas the other riders of the break were caught by the next chasers, they battled out the stage win among themselves. Vojtech Hacecky showed out to be fastest on the line, taking the stage win as well as the overall jersey after this first stage. On the difficult final kilometers, the peloton also splitted up into two pieces. Jempy Drucker showed good form and tactical skills as he managed to stay among the best. He showed himself in the last kilometers and participated in the sprint of his group, taking sixth place of the day behind Pirmin Lang and Daniel Schorn, 53 seconds late on the three leaders. The following stage was less good for Drucker, all the way up and down on a course with no meter of flat and with violent winds. After numerous attacks in the beginning of the stage, the peloton completely splitted up and Drucker arrived at the finish line in the grupetto, more than 18 minutes down on the winner. This one is called Nico Keinath, a German rider who was at the front of the race from the beginning to the end today. After having been part of an early break of 22 riders, he took the lead alone in the last kilometers and resisted to the comeback of Austrian Martin Schöffmann. The group of the favourites with Luxemburg's Laurent Didier was one minute late on Keinath, who also took the leader jersey. Didier also showed a good performance on the third stage where he was again with the best and finished only 20 seconds behind stage winner Mirco Saggiaorato. Once again, the winner of the day was part of the early break, resisting alone in the last 20 kilometers to the return of the favourite's group. Jempy Drucker was also part of this one today, he did a good stage and it was only in the very last meters that he lost some ground, finishing 17th of the stage and 29 seconds late. Containing the climb of Glaubenbergpass, the last stage of the GP Tell was noted as queen stage and the Swiss riders launched a huge attack for the overall victory, creating a break of 9 riders that rode away with about 70 kilometers to go and quickly took three minutes advantage. Towards the end of the race, the peloton with yellow jersey Keinath managed to reduce the gap a bit, but it was already too late: the riders from team BMC took the flowers with the stage win for Thomas Frei and the overall victory for his team-mate, Mathias Frank. The Swiss rider won 10 seconds ahead of German Nico Schneider and 12 ahead of Peter Kusztor of Hungary, Laurent Didier being best Luxemburgish rider in 11th spot. For Jempy Drucker, the speed was too high on the Glaubenbergpass. He isn't a big fan of extreme climbs, but managed to hold on the the biggest group of the day of about 30 riders, finishing 65th of the stage about 20 minutes down on the winner.
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Schleck
Drucker
