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February 21-25, 2010: 56th Ruta del Sol
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24.02.2010 5. Torrox Costra - Antequera (161 km)
Frank Schleck active at the front
Results:
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Francisco Ventoso
Michael Rogers
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19th at 7"
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13th at 1’06"
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With 4 climbs on the menu, among them one of first category, and an uphill finish on the last 1200 meters, the last stage of the Ruta del Sol promised some action again and four riders contributed to this from the beginning of the race: Brice Feillu, Angel Vicioso and Marco Marzano attacked on the first climb of the day and were soon joined by Bradley Wiggins. Feillu took advantage of the break to win the overall KOM competition, but when the gap reached a maximum of 5 minutes advantage, Columbia reacted in the peloton and raised the speed. In the climb of El Torcal, the main difficulty of the day, Antonio Piedra and José Angel Gomez Marchante managed to bridge up to the leaders, as they had only a gap of one minute left on the next chasers, towed by Frank Schleck. Due to the high speed on the climb, the number of riders in this group decreased rapidly and with 15 kilometres to go, about 30 riders regrouped together at the head of the race, among them Frank Schleck with his team-mates Voigt and Larsson as well as all the other GC contenders. Columbia was also strongly represented in the first group and they kept everything together in the last kilometres, so that the stage win was decided in a sprint. Francisco Ventoso was the fastest on the line ahead of Simon Gerrans and Michael Rogers, who thus became final overall winner of this Ruta del Sol. Frank Schleck worked a lot at the head of the race in the last kilometres to prepare a sprint for Jens Voigt (5th) and he finished the stage a few moments behind the winner in 19th place. He is noted 1’06” late in 13th position overall, a place that could have been much better without the bad luck on the first day.
24.02.2010 4. Malaga - Malaga (11 km ITT)
Track rider Rasmussen dominates time-trial
Results:
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Alex Rasmussen
Michael Rogers
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21st at 53"
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14th at 1’01"
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Ahead of a hilly and deciding last stage, the time-trial of Malaga had another impact on the overall classification, where 15 riders were still inside a minute of race-leader Pardilla. Start and Finish of the course were spectacular in the football stadium of Malaga and even if the profile was entirely flat, the presence of wind on the road alongside the coast created some gaps. Olympic pursuit champion Bradley Wiggins wanted to test himself on this tailor-made course for him and in 13’04” for 10,9 kilometres, he clocked a first reference time at 50 km/h average speed. This mark stayed on top of the rankings for a while, but another track rider, Alex Rasmussen, was a little bit faster than the rider from Sky and this would be the best time of the day. The Madison world champion and team-mate of Frank Schleck took the stage win 5 seconds ahead of Wiggins with Martin, Rogers and Voigt taking the next positions in the rankings. With the 4th position of the day, Michael Rogers took over the lead in the general classification from Pardilla, who finished way off the pace in 31st place. The rider from Columbia now has 19 seconds advantage on Jurgen Van den Broek and 30 seconds on the former owner of the red jersey. Frank Schleck showed a solid performance today on a course that didn’t suit him at all. At an average speed of nearly 47 km/h, he used 14’02” for his loop and landed on the 21st position of the day, 53 seconds late on the winner and in the same block than riders like Lövqvist, Albasini or Fothen. In the overall classification, Frank is now in 14th place, 1’01” behind the new leader Michael Rogers.
23.02.2010 3. Marbella – Benahavis (163 km)
Freire repeats win
Résultats:
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Oscar Freire
Sergio Pardilla
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14th at 0"
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15th at 41"
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The course of the third stage had a number of small climbs in it, but with the last 40 kilometers on the flat and a slightly uphill finish, the question was open: bunch sprint or break. Brice Feillu and José Angel Gomez Marchante clearly belong to the second category and they attacked at kilometre five to build up an advantage of 3 minutes on the twisty roads in the hinterland of Malaga. But due to the hard work of Carmioore around leader Pardillo and of Milram at the head of the peloton, the gap melted again in the second half of the race and at kilometre 138, the duo was swallowed up again, while Mark Cavendish and some other sprinters didn’t survive to one of the last climbs. Rabobank smelled another chance for Freire and took control of the peloton on the last kilometres of the stage. And the three times world champion rewarded his team-mates for their work by taking the stage win ahead of Greg Bole, Gerrans, Wegmann and Vicioso. In such an uphill finish, the strongest riders are of course at the front and next to Voigt, Montfort or Rogers, Frank Schleck has also participated in the battle for the stage win and he finished in 14th position. They were only 25 riders to be noted in the same time than the winner on the line, since the peloton splitted up into several pieces on the last uphill kilometre. In the overall classification, Frank moved up to 12th position ahead of tomorrow’s time-trial, still 41 seconds late on Pardilla.
22.02.2010 2. Otura - Cordoba (182 km)
Freire wins bunch sprint
Results:
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Oscar Freire
Sergio Pardilla
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38th at 0"
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15th at 41"
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The second stage of the Vuelta Andalucia wasn’t as selective as the first one with only one climb of third category at the beginning of the course and as expected, sprinters were the kings today. In the final rush to the line, there was a big crash in the field that sent several riders to the hospital, but former world champion Oscar Freire wasn’t impressed and he was the first over the line, ahead of Robert Wagner and track rider Alex Rasmussen, a team-mate of Frank Schleck at Saxo Bank. For his first race after the winter, superstar Mark Cavendish was fourth in the sprint. After a stage that has been animated by a long solo ride of Jesus Rosendo during its first half before being completely locked by the sprinter teams in the second part, Frank Schleck managed to arrive in the first part of the peloton in 38th position. The group splitted up in the last kilometres, but Frank was able to come around all the obstacles on the last, hectic kilometres, including the massive pile-up on the finishing straight line, and finished in the same time than the winner of the day.
21.02.2010 1. Jaen - Puerto de La Guardia (160 km)
Bad luck for Frank Schleck
Results:
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Sergio Pardilla
Sergio Pardilla
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13th at 41"
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13th at 41"
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Just a few kilometres away form the Tour of Algarve, on the other side of the border, another cycling race started today with a Luxemburgish rider on board: Frank Schleck lined up in the Tour of Andalucia, better known as Ruta del Sol. And despite the harsh winter that he has known in Europe, where he had to change his road bike for the home trainer quite often, Franks condition seems to be very good and he finished in 13th position of the day, 41 seconds behind the surprising winner Sergio Pardilla, despite being handicapped by a mechanical problem. Four riders broke away early in the stage, but Jesus Rosendo, Ruben Garcia, Stepahne Rosetto and Swiss rider Laurent Beuret, who once was one of the main contenders of the GP OST-Fenster, were caught before the final climb of the day, due to a collective action from several teams. A compact peloton tackled the wall with up to 21 % gradient and Jens Voigt was the first to attack. But with three kilometres to go, Frank Schleck’s chain dropped from the chain-ring and he had to get off his bike in order to fix the problem. He got back onto his bike and tried to find a good rhythm again, but it was already too late: Oscar Pardilla had accelerated at the head of the race and he took a small advantage on the rest of the riders. An advantage that the surprising rider from the modest Carmiooro team was able to maintain until the end to snatch the stage win ahead Jurgen Van Den Broek and Damiano Cunego. At the same time, Pardilla took the red jersey of overall leader. Frank Schleck on his side tried his maximum to come back to the front after his incident and he finished in 13th position together with his team-mates Voigt and Larsson.
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February 17-21, 2010: 36th Volta ao Algarve
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21.02.2010 5. Laguna - Portimao (17 km clm)
Contador and Sanchez confirm good form
Results:
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Luis-Leon Sanchez
Alberto Contador
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41st at 1'35"
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67th at 10'52"
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With Paris-Nice approaching, two of the major protagonists of last year’s race to the sun seem in excellent condition. Luis-Leon Sanchez and Alberto Contador indeed dominated the last stage of the Volta ao Algarve, a 17 kilometre time-trial near Portimao. At 48 km/h average speed, Sanchez took the stage win 13 seconds before Contador, 16 seconds ahead of the winner of the previous day, Rosseler, and 22 ahead of Levi Leiphimer. While taking second place of the day, Contador confirmed his win in the final overall classification, where he has 30 seconds advantage on Sanchez and 32 on Tiago Machado, who lost one position today. Kim Kirchen didn’t take any risks on the tricky course today, where several riders including time-trial specialist David Millar went to the ground, and he finished the race in 23’07” (average speed 44,6 km/h) in 41st position out of 138 starters. On a course with several long false flats and some nasty turns, the Luxemburgish champion lost 1’35” on the winner of the day and clocked in the same time than former U23 world champion Sergey Lagutin or six-day star Iljo Keisse. In the final overall classification, Kim is noted in 67th place, more than 10 minutes down on the winner. But this isn’t very important given the fact the the Katusha rider rode this race mainly as preparation on the Belgian spring classics where he will line up next week. At least, he got used to the weather conditions as the sky was as grey and temperatures as cold in Southern Portugal than in Northern Europe this week.
20.02.2010 4. Cacela - Tavira (169 km)
Victorious break for Rosseler
Results:
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Sebastien Rosseler
Alberto Contador
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33rd at 3'00"
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69th at 9'30"
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For the first time since the beginning of the race, an early break was able to make its way to the finish and it was Sebastien Rosseler who took the flowers, providing the newly created RadioShack team with its first victory. They were 6 to break away in the first kilometres of the race, but Mikael Delage, Frederic Guesdon, Preben Van Hecke, Lars Boom, Iljo Keisse and Edouard Vorganov were joined a little bit later by Rosseler, Egoi Martinez and Imanol Erviti. They were able to build up a 5 minute lead, with Erviti being the only thread for the overall classification. While Guesdon, Boom and Vorganov were dropped in the break, Sebastien Rosseler decided to try it on his own around 30 kilometres from the finish and he managed to stay in the lead until the end. The Belgian rider took the stage win 20 seconds ahead Mickael Delage and the other riders of the break, while the peloton led by André Greipel finished three minutes later. In this peloton, Kim Kirchen has had a quiet day with a team-mate being at the front of the race during most of the stage and he finished 33rd in Tavira.
19.02.2010 3. Castro Marim - Malhao (174 km)
Contador targets overall win
Results:
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Alberto Contador
Alberto Contador
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88th at 3'34"
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74th at 9'30"
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In 2009, Alberto Contador has won the Tour of Algarve in a convincing manner and it seems that this year, the history will be repeated. The defending champion indeed took a serious option on the overall success today by winning the queen stage starting in Castro Marim and ending in Malhao with a mountain top finish. The Spaniard took off at the base of the final climb and took the victory 11 seconds ahead of Tiago Marchado and 22 before Levi Leipheimer, while the Sanchez’ (Luis and Samuel), Klöden and Rodriguez lost more than 30 seconds in just two kilometres. Seven riders broke away after kilometre 10, among them Wouter Weylandt, Nelson Oliveira or Pieter Ghyllebert, one of the riders who lined up at the GP de la Commune de Contern cyclo-cross last Octobre. But the different climbs of the day took their toll and Nelson Oliveira, the strongest rider and last of the break was caught on the final rise to Malhao. At that moment, Contador started his show and nobody was able to follow him, except Portuguese climber Tiago Machado during a few hundred metres. Kim Kirchen was also in the front group of around 100 riders when they tackled the climb, but he didn’t even try to follow the winner of last year’s Tour de France. He rode up to finsh at his own rhythm together with team-mate Vladimir Karpets and arrived at the top in 88th position, more than three minutes after the winner and just behind one of the key riders of the day, Nelson Oliveira.
18.02.2010 2. Sagres - Lagos (207 km)
Greipel impressive in the rain
Results:
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André Greipel
André Greipel
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86th at 5'52"
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85th at 6'06"
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André Greipel was impressive in today's final of the second stage at the Tour of Algarve. Not only, the German took the stage win and the yellow leader jersey, but in this steep uphill sprint, he was a lot faster than everybody else, putting several seconds between him and his opponents. After a long and hard day, more than 200 kilometers in the rain and cold, Greipel finished two seconds ahead of Jurgen Roelandts, 4 seconds before Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez and 6 seconds ahead of the rest of the field, led by the Belgians Keukeleire and Leukemans. An uphill sprint that could have suited well to Kim Kirchen, had the rider from Luxemburg been in the first group of around 50 riders sprinting for the stage win. But on the hilly stage in the East of the Algarve region, the peloton splitted up more and more on the 7 climbs and lots of riders were not able to follow the best. On the last category 3 climb, with about 30 kilometers to go and under terrible weather conditions, Kim Kirchen also let the first peloton slip away and he finished the stage in 86th position, more than 5 minutes down and in a small group together with double Ronde van Vlaanderen winner Stijn Devolder and David De la Fuente amongst others. But the most unlucky guy of the day was named David Vitoria. The Footon rider was in the early break of the day together with Jeremy Hunt, Jerome Baugnies, Michal Golas and Julien Fouchard and, after nearly 200 kilometers in the lead of the race, he came very close to the stage win. During the last 17 kilometers, Vitoria was alone at the front and he resisted very well to the chasers, very well until the last 200 meters when he saw the rocket Greipel and all the others sprint past him.
17.02.2010 1. Faro - Albufeira (157 km)
Vaugrenard ahead of the sprinters
Results:
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Benoît Vaugrenard
Benoît Vaugrenard
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106ème à 5"
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108ème à 15"
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The Tour of Algarve 2010 is proud to present a very high level of competitors with several of the Grand Tour stars (Contador, Klöden, Leipheimer), some classic hunters (Hushovd, Haussler), sprinters (Greipel, Steegmans, McEwen) and other in-form riders. Among them, Kim Kirchen was another last-minute starter, trying to get in some important race kilometers under the timid sun of Southern Europe, whereas the chilly weather in his home areas makes any valuable training impossible.
He finished the opening stage between Faro and Albufeira in the first peloton of around 100 riders and only a few seconds late on the surprising stage winner, Benoît Vaugrenard. The stage was indeed designed for the sprinters and their teams had made sure that the early break containing Pedro Lopes, Luís Pinheiro, Hugo Sabido and Jérôme Baugnies was caught in time. But a late attack from Algarve defending champion Alberto Contador brought some chaos into the Columbia-led peloton. It was on a small hill with less than two kilometers to go that last year's Tour de France winner accelerated and Kim Kirchen's team-mate Juan Horrach was able to profit from the confusion and break away. He was joined a little bit later by Vaugrenard and in the end, the Frenchman won the stage with several bike length advantage on the Spaniard. Five seconds later, André Greipel led the next chasers over the line for third position, a peloton at the end of which Kim Kirchen crossed the line in 106th position, next to his team-mate Joaquim Rodriguez.
11.02.2010 Trofeo Magaluf - Palmanova (159 km)
Greipel wins despite the climbs
Results:
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André Greipel
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37th at 13"
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63rd at 32"
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For the last day, the organizers had round another attractive course between Magaluf and Palmanova, throuth some beautifull countryside but also difficult with no less than 6 medium-rated climbs. Ermanno Capelli was not afraid of this and he started a long solo raid right from the start, having up to 2 minutes of advantage before being swallowed up at mid-race by a small group containing amongst others Voigt and Kolobnev. But due to the high speed in the peloton, this group didn't make it too far and despite another attempt from the young talents Brakelandts and Steensen, around 70 riders were still in contention at the foot of the last climb, among them also the Luxemburgish riders Kim Kirchen, Frank Schleck and Laurent Didier. Even though there were further attacks from Horrach, Sanchez, Montfort and Moreno, the coll des Tords didn't bring any decision and it was only on the last descent that the group splitted up a bit. Finally, 16 riders presented themself in Palmanova for the sprint. Despite the climbs of today, there were still some fast men present in this group and it was André Greipel who took the flowers ahead of Fernandez, Cardoso and Rojas. Frank Schleck and Kim Kirchen didn't take any risks on the tricky descent and Frank finished the race in the middle of the group, 37th at 13" while Kim was totally freewheeling in the last kilometers and finished around 30 seconds behind the first in 63rd place.
10.02.2010 Trofeo Deià (143 km)
Costa wins, Kirchen 6th at Trofeo Deia
Results:
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Rui Alberto Costa
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22nd at 7"
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6th at 7"
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Another difficult race was the Trofeo Deià which sent the riders once again to the top of the Puig Major, coming this time from the other side and the Lluc monastir. The weather conditions weren't much better than on the previous race, so that another tough day of racing was waiting for the roughly 200 riders, among them still Kim Kirchen and again Frank Schleck. The latter showed himself on the climb of Femenia, on the run-up towards the most difficult climb of the day, by being among the first of a peloton that had splitted up several times already since the start in Deià. On the climb of Puig Major, Frank was also present in the first group of around 30 riders, just like did Kim Kirchen. Yesterday's winner Linus Gerdemann was the first to arrive on top of the mountain, ahead of the small group with the two Luxemburgish riders. On the downhill to Soller, local rider Juan Horrach attacked and together with Rui Costa and Rein Taaramae, the team-mate of Kim Kirchen at Katusha quickly got 30 seconds of margin. A small advantage that Rui Costa and Horrach were able to defend until the finish line, where the young and promising Portuguese Rui Costa was faster than Horrach for the stage win. 7 seconds later, a small group crossed the finish line, in which Kim Kirchen was ready to sprint for the victory, should the break with his team-mate have been caught. But this wasn't the case and so Kim took 6th place at the finish, while Frank Schleck was noted in 22th position in the same group. A nice result for the two Luxembourgers after a rather bad day on the previous Trofeo Inca.
09.02.2010 Trofeo Inca (158 km)
Gerdemann wins tough race
Results:
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Linus Gerdemann
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DNS
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DNF
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The third day of racing was held without Frank Schleck who wanted to use the opportunity provided by the special rules of this Challenge and take a well rewarded rest day before testing himself on the last two days. It seems that he chosed a good day to do so since the Trofeo Inca turned out to be a very, very tough race, marked by cold and rainy weather, two climbs and unceasing attacks. Kim Kirchen didn't survive the difficult day and, just like about 150 other contenders, the rider from Katusha stepped out of the race before the finish. Immediately after the start, the attacking begun and after more than an hour of tough racing with more than 46 km/h average speed, it was a young rider from Luxemburg, Laurent Didier, who surprised everyone by crossing the summit of the first climb of the day in the lead, ahead of a whole bunch of Milram riders. On the way to the second uphill, the Puig Major, four riders managed to break away and they tackled the climb that is known by every cycling tourist on the Island with a minute advantage on a group of around 30. At the front, Gerdemann and Rohregger, again two riders from Milram, as well as the two Spaniards Rafael Valls (Fotoon) and Manuel Vazquez (Andalucia) didn't weaken on the long climb and they still had one minute and a half of advantage before tackling the long downhill to the finish. While Rohregger lost contact with the group a little bit later, Linus Gerdemann had no problem to take the win for the most active team of the day in a three-man-sprint, ahead of Valls and Vazquez.
08.02.2010 Trofeo Cala Millor (172 km)
Freire wins another sprint
Results:
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Oscar Freire
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184th at 2'30”
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143rd at 30"
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The riders of the Challenge Mallorca headed to the south of the island for the second act. The following day's will be somewhat hillier, but today's course was another flat one and perfectly suited for the sprinters. While five riders were at the front of the race for a long while with a maximum advantage exceeding six minutes, the sprinter teams started the chase in time and Manuel Ortega, Luis Mas, Andoni Blazquez, Ronan Van Zandbeek and David Deroo were swallowed up with about 15 kilometres to go. Third on the previous day behind Mc Ewen and Fernandez, former world champion Oscar Freire made everything right today and won ahead of André Greipel and Manuel Cardoso, with Förster, Fernandez and the surprising Keukeleire taking the next places a few bike lengths behind the three fastest of the day. After a day filled with hard work, during which he was very often at the front of the peloton to control the race with his team-mates, Kim Kirchen finished the stage just behind the first peloton in 143rd position and just a few seconds late, while Frank Schleck didn't take any risks during his ride. At about 8 kilometers from the finish, when the peloton rode at full speed on the windy and ondulating road alongside the coast, it splitted up into two pieces and the Luxemburgish rider found himself trapped at the back with around 50 other riders. He arrived at the finish two minutes and a half behind the winner of the day.
07.02.2010 Trofeo Palma (116 km)
Good start for Katusha
Results:
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Robbie McEwen
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172nd at 19”
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135th at 11"
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The cyclo-cross season isn't over yet, but fans are already focusing on the upcoming road season. The three luxemburgish top riders, Kim Kirchen, Andy Schleck and Frank Schleck were meant to open their season at the Challenge Mallorca, a challenge that regroupes five one-day races on the biggest of the Balears islands. But Luxemburg's National Champion sufferes from knee disease and preferred not to line up in his first race in order to fly home and cure his injury. The opening act conisted in a criterium through the roads of Palma de Mallorca and if Andy wasn't at the start though, Kim Kirchen and Frank Schleck participated in the event. On the flat course, the sprinters were of course the favourites and in his new team Katusha, Kim Kirchen has several of those fast men as team-mates. Together with Columbia and Rabobank, the Russian team controlled the race today and the Luxemburgish rider was several times at the head of the bunch, just like Frank Schleck by the way. But in the end, it was Kim Kirchen who was rewarded since Robbie McEwen raised the arms at the finish, providing his team with a good start into the season. The Australian was faster on the line than Koldo Fernandez and Oscar Freire, while big favourite André Greipel only finished 15th. Kim Kirchen and Frank Schleck finished way down in the classification on positions 135 and 172, losing some seconds when the bunch splitted up in the last kilometers.
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