EuroTrash Tour Crash!
There have been some crazy days in the Tour de France and yesterday had it all. All the Tour news, action, video and results are here in EuroTrash. Don’t forget the Tour of Austria, it’s all here too. Put your feet up with Chris Froome and a coffee and catch-up with all the cycle sport happenings.
REGISTER IN JULY FOR GFNY COZUMEL AND YOU COULD BE UPGRADED TO VIP STATUS
Winners will be announced at the beginning of August so register during all of July and you could win GFNY Cozumel VIP status.
VIP PACKAGE INCLUDES:
• Sports massage
• 2 sports nutritionist designed meals
• Front corral start
• Morning VIP tent with coffee and snacks
• Cozumel airport transportation
• Tours
• VIP priority registration line
TOP STORY: Cobbles or No Cobbles?
After Wednesday’s terrible stage 5 over the cobbles of northern France, there will be many calling for them never to be part of the Tour de France again. OK so they are dangerous, but then so are descents. Chris Froome could fall at any time, like he did on Tuesday and let’s face it he crashed before the pave anyway. There are sprints for the sprinters, Mountains for the climbers, time trials for the testers…etc. So why not have cobbles to give the ‘Classics men’ a chance to get a stage win. The weather and road conditions on stage 5 were the same for everyone, not everyone crashed and abandoned, that’s the way it goes and that’s why we watch and love cycle racing.
Tour de France 2014
Monday’s 155 kilometre Stage 3 was a flat run from Cambridge to London and showed off the Tower of London, St Pauls Cathedral, Houses of Parliament and St Katherine’s Dock on the way to the sprint finish on The Mall.
From the gun, two riders got clear: Jean-Marc Bideau (Bretagne-Séché Environnement) and Jan Barta (NetApp-Endura) formed the long-lasting breakaway. Barta and Bideau had a maximum lead of 4.15 at km 33. The Astana team set the pace of the peloton for a while as a mark of respect to the yellow jersey worn for the first time by Vincenzo Nibali. Soon the sprinters’ teams took over with Lotto Belisol giving an indication of André Greipel’s ambitions but the most seen rider was China’s Ji Cheng who stayed true to his nickname “breakaway killer” as he kept the race under control for a bunch gallop highly wanted by his leader Marcel Kittel. Jérémy Roy for FDJ.fr eventually came in to help with 60km to go for French champion Arnaud Démare.
Barta rode as a time trial specialist in the last ten kilometers as Bideau got caught by the peloton eight kilometers before the end. Barta carried on for two more kilometers. Omega Pharma – Quick-Step was the first sprinters’ team in action with Tony Martin putting the hammer down with 4km to go but soon Giant-Shimano showed their superiority. For a little while, Marcel Kittel lost his train but Tom Veelers brought him back in the slipstream of his lead out man Koen De Kort. On The Mall, his power spoke for him. He turned his turbo on. Peter Sagan couldn’t even put his front wheel by the side of the German fast man.
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) held onto his 2 second lead over Peter Sagan and Tinkoff-Saxo’s Alberto Contador moved up to 7th overall.
Stage 3 winner Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano): “Today was one of the best finish lines I have ever seen; with the amount of people lining the roads it was incredible. The team did another great job today and the finish was a perfect finish for me. The coaches had looked at the stage earlier in the year and with their information we knew what to expect – this helped a lot today and meant we could react easily when we needed to. The rain made things a bit tricky in the final stages and it was difficult to stay in front, so it was important that we kept the sprint formation together. We did this and it worked out perfectly. The noise at the finish was incredible and it feels amazing to get a second win with another great team effort.”
Mark Renshaw (OPQS): “I was third at the line, so I’m happy with that considering the big shoes of Mark Cavendish to fill,” Renshaw said. “I didn’t come here to sprint, I came here to leadout Mark, but things had to change now that he crashed. So, like I said, big shoes to fill. But I am satisfied with third behind two really strong guys like Kittel and Sagan. The last corner was more like two or three corners rolled into one, so with the rain it was pretty slippery. Everyone took it slow. I managed to get the inside line, sprint on to Sagan’s wheel, and basically the last 200 or 300 meters nothing changed. It was Kittel to the line with Sagan, and me on his wheel. But I have to say the team rode really well today. I’m proud that they got behind me in support of my new role. It shows we pulled together really well and our result today is nothing to be ashamed of. We’ll see what happens in the next days. We’ve got some great riders in the team that can also take chances. My legs are good, I could tell at the start of the race. It’s a big shame to be without Cavendish, and considering the result today we miss him even more. But we’ve got plenty of other possible objectives we can go for with a strong group of riders.”
BMC’s Daniel Oss finished 10th in a rain-slickened bunch sprint in London: “The main objective was to keep Tejay van Garderen in a safe position and maybe get the yellow jersey with Greg Van Avermaet,” Oss said. “But in the final I was there in a good position so I tried my sprint.” Van Garderen, who finished 42nd, said rain that began falling at the end of the 155-kilometer race added a dangerous element. “The rain just made it so nervous,” he said. “Everyone has fresh legs, everyone can fight really hard. I hate those finishes.”
Omega Pharma – Quick-Step Cycling Team rider Mark Cavendish underwent further examinations after his crash during the first stage of the Tour de France last Saturday. The results underlined the need for surgery after it was confirmed that all ligaments around the AC-joint were ruptured and the shoulder separated. The surgery to stabilize the AC joint will take place on Wednesday 9th of July. The recovery time after the surgery will be around six weeks.
“It’s worse than I was hoping but immediately after the crash I knew something was really wrong,” Cavendish said. “It is really painful, but at the moment all I can do is focus 100% of my effort on my recovery to be able to get back racing for Omega Pharma – Quick-Step as quickly as possible.”
Tour de France Stage 3 Results:
1. Marcel Kittel (Ger) Giant-Shimano in 3:38:30
2. Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale
3. Mark Renshaw (Aus) Omega Pharma – Quick-Step
4. Bryan Coquard (Fra) Europcar
5. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha
6. Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Trek
7. Heinrich Haussler (Aus) IAM Cycling
8. José Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar
9. Romain Feillu (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement
10. Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC.
Tour de France Overall After Stage 3:
1. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana in 13:31:13
2. Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale at 0:02
3. Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica-GreenEDGE
4. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC
5. Christopher Froome (GB) Sky
6. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Belkin
7. Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo
8. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar
9. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol
10. Romain Bardet (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale.
Stage 3:
EN – Summary – Stage 3 (Cambridge > Londres) por tourdefrance
Another notch in Marcel Kittel’s belt. The best sprinter in the world claimed his third win in Stage 4, but his triumph was very hard fought for. The Giant-Shimano colossus failed to anticipate Alexander Kristoff’s burst of raw power and had to squeeze every ounce of power he had to overtake the Norwegian, taking a Northern-flavoured stage which saw Chris Froome take a fall soon after the start. French champion Arnaud Démare (FJD.fr) finished a solid third, ahead of Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and Bryan Coquard (Europcar), the two main protagonists of the points classification.
The first stage on French soil started without 2010 Tour champion Andy Schleck (Trek), due to his crash the day before. The break of Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) and Luis Angel Maté had nearly 4 minutes after 50 kilometres. Further back, Marcel Kittel’s Giant-Shimano and André Greipel’s Lotto Belisol organised the chase while a side wind sapped the breakaways’ strength. Maté took advantage of the race situation to grab the points at the top of the first category 4 climb in defence of teammate Cyril Lemoine’s polka-dot jersey.
The intermediate sprint was contested in Cassel, the scene of Thomas Voeckler’s win at the 2011 Four Days of Dunkirk. The Frenchman took it ahead of Maté, with Peter Sagan (Cannondale) coming in third to add 15 green jersey points to his tally. After the sprint, the Slovak’s teammates joined forces with Lotto to force a split. Riders like Michał Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma – Quick-Step) and Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha) were caught unawares but eventually managed to claw their way back.
Thomas Voeckler eventually went solo and had a gap to 1:30 at the top of the Mont Noir. However, the chasers regrouped and the Frenchman’s lead dwindled to just twenty seconds as he came out of Armentières, 30 km before the line. Calamity struck when three of André Greipel’s Lotto Belisol teammates crashed and Kiwi Greg Henderson was forced to leave the race. Thomas Voeckler’s adventure came to an end in the outskirts of Lille with 16 km to go.
A series of incidents, including Peter Sagan’s fall 15 km before the line, messed up the final sprint. When Alberto Contador and Andrew Talansky’s teammates moved to the front to keep their leaders out of harm’s way, Katusha seized the opportunity to set up Milan-San Remo winner Alexander Kristoff. Marcel Kittel was forced to use up all of his gunpowder to forge ahead and clinch his seventh Tour stage win in two years.
Stage 4 winner Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano): “It was high speeds for the final 30km today, really fast and this made it difficult to stay together. We still came into the final few kilometres in a good position and the guys dropped me off at the front in the wheels. All I could think about was the last corner. We had studied the stage before with the coaches and knew that after the bend it was 250m to go. I nearly went then but held back and then went after the corner to get over to Kristoff. I had to go from a long way out but I managed to get past before the line. In a sprint like today having all the small advantages is important like a super stiff bike and prior knowledge of the finish, these things make the victory possible.”
Alberto Contador finished today’s stage without any mishaps and also moved forward two important positions to fifth place for the team car placement in tomorrow stage. The leader of Tinkoff-Saxo was happy with the result. “As the other days, today has been a stage marked by nerves and danger at every moment, plus the threat of wind, forcing us to be well positioned. I think I have not dropped out of the top 20 positions in the peloton throughout the stage, thanks to the extraordinary work of my team. We haven’t had falls or other mishaps, but we had to be in front a lot and ‘eat’ a lot of wind to go in the top positions, but I have gained two positions that are really important to have the car as far forward as possible tomorrow, if there is any problem,” said Contador.
Belkin’s Bauke Mollema hit the tarmac early on in the stage, coming away with some abrasions. Mollema dropped from sixth to ninth in the overall, but still remains in the top group of 21 at two seconds behind leader Vincenzo Nibali (Astana). “I’m not seriously injured; I only have a few scrapes. I can handle a crash like this,” said Mollema. I had already passed another crash, but ten metres later, when I was accelerating again, a rider in front of me suddenly went down. I sat tight in his wheel and when he hit the tarmac there was no way around for me.” Mollema knows the importance of stage 5. “It’s a key stage, a dangerous one, especially with the possibility of rain. I’m not afraid, tough. In dry circumstances, it would have been an important day, as well. We have a strong team suited for tomorrow’s stage. We reconned it earlier this year and know the strategic points.”
Tour de France Stage 4 Result:
1. Marcel Kittel (Ger) Giant-Shimano in 3:36:39
2. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha
3. Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ.fr
4. Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale
5. Bryan Coquard (Fra) Europcar
6. André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol
7. Mark Renshaw (Aus) Omega Pharma – Quick-Step
8. Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Trek
9. Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre-Merida
10. Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC.
Tour de France Overall After Stage 4:
1. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana in 17:07:52
2. Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale at 0:02
3. Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica-GreenEDGE
4. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC
5. Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo
6. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar
7. Christopher Froome (GB) Sky
8. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol
9. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Belkin
10. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana.
Stage 4:
EN – Summary – Stage 4 (Le Touquet-Paris-Plage… por tourdefrance
The legendary Stage 5 through Belgium and the north of France included the feared cobbled sections of Paris-Roubaix. Chris Froome crashed twice before the paves and called it a day. In a rain soaked day of racing, Lars Boom took a valuable victory in Arenberg-Porte du Hainaut as Vincenzo Nibali retained and increased his lead in the overall ranking. Alberto Contador lost more time than most of the other GC contenders.
Soon after the start proper, Samuel Dumoulin (Ag2r-La Mondiale) accelerated but it was an attack by Rein Taaramäe (Cofidis) that generated the first breakaway. Those two riders were joined by Lieuwe Westra (Astana), Tony Martin (OPQS), Janier Acevedo (Garmin-Sharp), Tony Gallopin (Lotto Belisol), Marcus Burghardt (BMC), Simon Clarke and Matt Hayman (Orica-GreenEDGE) to make it a nine-man front group. They eventually lost Acevedo due to a crash and Burghardt who was called back by his team to race as a helper for Tejay van Garderen and Greg van Avermaet.
Already affected by a crash in stage 4, defending champion Chris Froome (Sky) went down again at km 29. Escorted by four team-mates, the Brit made his way back to the bunch but that was only one of many crashes on wet and slippery roads even before the race hit the cobblestones sections. He crashed again and called it quits at km 83.
After reaching a maximum advantage of 3:05 at km 60, the breakaway riders were chased down by several teams, the most active being Peter Sagan’s Cannondale as the race approached the pavés. Several GC contenders like Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) were forced to ride behind the peloton to come across. The second cobbled section at Ennevelin saw Alberto Contador losing contact to the yellow jersey group. Nibali and Sagan together with a dozen riders caught the remaining breakaway riders with 26km to go.
A group of 15 riders took the lead with 25km to go, it included: Nibali, Fuglsang & Westra (Astana), Sagan (Cannondale), Boom & Vanmarcke (Belkin), Kwiatkowski, Renshaw & Trentin (OPQS), Gallopin (Lotto Belisol), Cancellara (Trek), Lemoine (Cofidis), Clarke, Hayman & Keukeleire (Orica-GreenEDGE). Lars Boom marked the flying trio of Astana riders and then rode away solo in the last cobbled section. Nibali made a huge impact on the race and gained almost three minutes over Contador while challengers Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp), Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida), Tejay van Garderen (BMC) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) limited the damage at about two minutes, as well as Richie Porte who became the new captain of Team Sky after the sad exit of Chris Froome from the Tour de France.
Lars Boom (Belkin) finished solo after 152 kilometres and seven cobbled sections: “Winning a Tour de France stage is like a dream come true,” said a clearly emotional Boom. “It’s extra special to win in rainy conditions and on cobblestones of Paris-Roubaix. I’ve been dreaming of a wet Paris-Roubaix for years and now this happens at the Tour – Simply fantastic. Sep Vanmarcke and I started the stage with the idea to win. It’s very special to be the first Dutch stage winner in Tour de France since Pieter Weening exactly nine years ago. I’m lost for words. I was crying on the bike already and had goose bumps everywhere.”
Boom led the race with Astana rider Vincenzo Nibali and Jakob Fuglsang in the final kilometres. On the last cobbled sector, he made an attack. “I knew I had to do it there as I’m strong on the cobbles and I wanted to be sure that I was going to win. I thought Fabian Cancellara and Peter Sagan would catch up with me in the final, but they didn’t. When I got out of the final corner, I knew I was going to win. That was so nice.”
Sep Vanmarcke (Belkin): A flat tyre in the final ruined Vanmarcke’s chances of a stage win, but still the Belgian crossed the line with a fist pump. “It’s just great that Lars managed to win today. Lars and I were both very strong. On the fourth sector, I wanted to attack. I had planned that in advance, but unfortunately I punctured. My race was over after that and of course I was very disappointed, but when I heard that Lars was going to win, I was still able to enjoy the moment.”
“My rear wheel just kind of got away from me,” said BMC’s Tejay van Garderen. “It was insane out there. I heard Froome was out of the Tour. That kind of takes the whole race down a notch when you have a big favourite who is now out.” Tejay van Garderen finished 31st, 2:28 behind Lars Boom. “It could have been worse, it could have been better,” van Garderen said. “We will just have to move forward.”
Alejandro Valverde: “After all bad luck that we had, we could get through the day well. When I crashed I was perfectly positioned, within the first ten of the bunch, but some rider hit me from the left side, broke my gearing and made me hit the tarmac – it was quite a blow. I spent some seconds on the ground hurting, but Rojas came fast to give me his bike and all the team was sensational, always by my side. I had to do the final 60 kilometres, with all cobblestones on the route, with a seat post 2.5cm smaller than mine, but it was really impossible to switch bikes before the finish, because it was ‘full gas.’
“We must stay happy, because even though we lost quite a bit of time against Nibali, we didn’t concede much to others, and even won some seconds to riders like Alberto. It’s obvious that Nibali is proving to be strong, as well as Fuglsang and all his team, but this has just started and there’s all to play for in this Tour. Anything can happen. On the other hand, I wasn’t aware of what happened to Froome. I did see Zandio crashed, but not him. I was so focused on my racing that I couldn’t realize about anything happening around. I want to thank the team again because they were brilliant today. Before the crash, we were in perfect position, and they took their hearts out for me afterwards. I don’t have any bruises, but my knee, hip and head, and even though it doesn’t seem like anything important, we will see how my body responds tomorrow.”
Alberto Contador finished the stage without falling on the cobbles, but lost time to Nibali. For him it was “a very difficult day, in which I lost much time. Nibali has been in the correct place on the second section, where everything was broken. We have simply saved the day by not falling, which is perhaps the most important. We still have our terrain to come.” In the last kilometres Contador suffered “a problem with the bike. With so much mud it blocked the small sprockets and I could not keep up. It has been a difficult stage from the start, there was much danger. The differences are big, but the Tour is all ahead.”
On the abandon of Froome, he said it was what could be expected “from a stage like this with the cobblestones. It is a nice show for television, but it has a pretty big risk. Froome was the number one favourite and is now out of the race. Of course I feel sorry for him, because to prepare the Tour needs many months of physical and psychological work and many sacrifices that you cannot see. If you have so many crashes and have to go home… I’m sorry for him and for the race, because it would have been a great spectacle in the mountains and on this
year’s Tour will not be able to be.”
Finally he repeated the comments about the advantage obtained by Nibali. “Of course I wish we were on the same time or in front of him, but seeing how the situation was and how the cobbles were; I didn’t want to take more risk than necessary. I’d rather lose a minute more than have a crash and, on the other hand, the Tour is all ahead.”
Belkin’s Bauke Mollema was able to maintain his spot on the cobblestones, finishing 34th in Arenberg and moving to 18th overall. He trails leader Nibali by 2’27” but only by a minute to most of the other classification riders. “What an epic stage,” Mollema said. “I was completely empty in the final. Without my team-mates, I wouldn’t have survived today.”
Jurgen Van den Broeck (Lotto Belisol): “I’m very happy with this result. I finished at 1:43 of Nibali. Among other Contador, Mollema, Talansky and Van Garderen finished behind me. I started the first cobblestone section well in front. Today I had as good as no problems and I felt very well. I crashed one time when Talansky slipped in front of me. I couldn’t avoid it. But I didn’t have any physical problems because of it; I only had some problems with the bike. Because of the sand and dirt my eyes got irritated, but that will be over tomorrow. Jürgen Roelandts and Tony Gallopin were a big help today. They took me in their wheel in the final. We were riding in between the front group and the group Talansky. I had a good day.”
“I crashed with Vasil Kiryienka in the roundabout before the first cobbled sector,” said Michal Kwiatkowski (OPQS). “We were chasing for maybe 20 kilometres. We caught the group on the intermediate sprint. We went really at the limit trying to come back because it was crosswind and the front of the group was really going full gas. The sector number eight, we went back to the front and I stayed there all day. After that we had five guys. We had Tony in the breakaway and me, Baki, Renshaw, and Matteo in the first group. So, we were calm and waiting for the hardest moments. On the second-to -last cobbled sector not many guys were in the front. I was feeling super good. I was much more relaxed on the cobbles than ever before. On the cobbles of the second-to -last sector however I had a flat tire on the front at about 700 meters from the end of the sector.
I was sliding left to right, but knew there would be mechanics at the end of the sector. So I tried to get there and I then swapped my wheel. Renshaw was trying to help me and Matteo, until the end of the stage, we tried to chase the group in front of us. But it was really hard to close the gap even when I was doing my best. What can I say, we had bad luck. With a bit of good luck who knows what could have happened with how good I felt. But many guys in the peloton had bad luck today, and to be in the group with Nibali in yellow like that is encouraging. In the end, Omega Pharma – Quick-Step is the team that knows what they have to do even when they have trouble. We showed we are really strong today and we keep going on in the next stages.”
Tour de France Stage 5 Result:
1. Lars Boom (Ned) Belkin in 3:18:35
2. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana at 0:19
3. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana
4. Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale at 1:01
5. Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek
6. Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-GreenEDGE
7. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma – Quick-Step at 1:07
8. Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Astana at 1:09
9. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Omega Pharma – Quick-Step at 1:21
10. Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis at 1:45.
Tour de France Overall After Stage 5:
1. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana in 20:26:46
2. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana at 0:02
3. Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale at 0:44
4. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma – Quick-Step at 0:50
5. Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek at 1:17
6. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol at 1:45
7. Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Belisol
8. Richie Porte (Aus) Sky at 1:54
9. Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin-Sharp at 2:05
10. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar at 2:11.
Stage 5:
EN – Summary – Stage 5 (Ypres > Arenberg Porte… por tourdefrance
Tour of Austria 2014
After Sunday’s initial mountain battle in the Austrian stage race, the peloton was challenged on Monday’s Stage 2 with a relatively flat stage of 181 kilometres between Waldhofen and Bad Ischl where the sprinters were expected to dominate the events of things.
Entering the final 20 kilometres, Frederik Bakchaert (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) was the last standing escapee from a bigger break formed in the early kilometres of the stage. But the sprinters had the situation under control and with 10 kilometres to go, the pack was complete and ready for the sprinter showdown.
Oscar Gatto (Cannondale) was the fastest on the day and Sky’s Peter Kennaugh held onto the overall.
Tinkoff-Saxo DS, Tristan Hoffman said: “Five riders broke clear from the gun and Team Sky controlled the pace of the pack until the finale where Cannondale took over the reins. Our boys put Jay in a good spot for the sprint and he finished 5th on the line. It was a rather easy stage and the boys had a chance to recover and prepare for tomorrow’s big mountain battle with a steep uphill finish. Oliver (Zaugg) is ready and we hope, he gets to stay in the top of the classifications.”
Tour of Austria Stage 2 Result:
1. Oscar Gatto (Ita) Cannondale in 4:25:53
2. Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Movistar
3. Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha
4. Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) Lotto Belisol
5. Jay Mccarthy (Aus) Tinkoff-Saxo
6. Tim De Troyer (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
7. Fabian Schnaidt (Ger) Team Vorarlberg
8. Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Astana
9. Jan Tratnik (Slo) Amplatz-BMC
10. Michel Kreder (Ned) Wanty-Groupe Gobert.
Tour of Austria Overall After Stage 2:
1. Peter Kennaugh (GB) Sky in 8:58:05
2. Oliver Zaugg (Sui) Tinkoff-Saxo at 0:15
3. Javier Moreno Bazan (Spa) Movistar at 0:24
4. Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale at 0:31
5. Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC
6. Patrick Konrad (Aut) Team Gourmetfein Simplon Wels at 0:35
7. Eros Capecchi (Ita) Movistar at 0:40
8. Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin-Sharp at 0:41
9. Joseph Lloyd Dombrowski (USA) Sky at 0:46
10. Jure Golcer (Slo) Team Gourmetfein Simplon Wels.
Stage 2:
Dayer Quintana (Movistar) won Stage 3 atop the hellish Kitzbüheler Horn, after a long day in the break. What already was a satisfactory adaptation -including appearances in big classics, such as ‘De Ronde’ or Roubaix- by Nairo Quintana to the pro scene turned into a massive success on Tuesday during the first mountain stage of the Tour of Austria.
The Colombian rider from the Movistar Team -neo-pro, turns 22 on August 10, raised in the village of Cómbita like his older brother Nairo- crowned on top of the hellish Kitzbüheler Horn (HC, almost 8km at 12% average) a magnificent breakaway which covered almost the whole 206km of racing from Bad Ischl.
Ten riders, including Dayer, made the original breakaway, never allowed a big gap by the bunch -its biggest margin was 3:30- and coming into the resort city of Kitzbühel, where where downpour fell from several kilometres prior, with less than two minutes. Into the climb, Quintana increased the pace and went away with Levarlet (Cofidis), later dropping the Frenchman to start a solo climb which saw his rivals losing more and more ground on the gruelling slopes.
The bunch with all favourites, 1’30” back halfway into the ascent, was eventually reduced to only three contenders: race leader peter Kennaugh (Sky) and Damiano Caruso (Cannondale), the only ones able to gain terrain on Dayer, and Javi Moreno, who struggled into the final slopes (4th) but kept his third place in the provisional GC. Dayer completed his exhibition on the top tas he opened his victory account as pro and took Movistar Team’s up to 23 in this season.
Stage winner Dayer Quintana (Movistar): “I felt physically well before this race and wanted to test my legs. I wasn’t planning to get into today’s breakaway, though – we were just controlling the race, but at some point, we were into a group of ten up-front. I had to keep going after making the group, and also profiting of the gap staying the same practically until the foot of the climb. I took a strong relay into the first slopes and when I could realize, I was alone. I told to myself: ‘It’s now or never.’ I went on full steam until the finish – there were no time references, only visual ones, and until I didn’t get into the final 200 meters I didn’t feel I could win.
I just couldn’t believe myself, it was spectacular. I cried out of emotion, and in a matter of thousandths of a second, everyone important in my life came to my mind: my team, my family, Nairo, my girlfriend. This is the best way I had to reward them for everyone they did for me. We had come close to the win here with Javi Moreno and Lobato, and we deserved it. I hadn’t raced since the Giro del Trentino – I spent almost two months in Colombia, training hard, in long sessions to build my muscles and lose fat, and things are turning out well. This win convinces myself I’m not just Nairo’s brother – I can win as well, things are achievable when you take efforts.”
Tour of Austria Stage 3 Result:
1. Dayer Uberney Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar in 5:13:16
2. Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale at 0:54
3. Peter Kennaugh (GB) Sky
4. Javier Moreno Bazan (Spa) Movistar at 1:06
5. Patrick Konrad (Aut) Team Gourmetfein Simplon Wels at 1:25
6. Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Cofidis at 1:34
7. Jerome Coppel (Fra) Cofidis
8. Oliver Zaugg (Sui) Tinkoff-Saxo at 1:42
9. Jure Golcer (Slo) Team Gourmetfein Simplon Wels at 1:49
10. Eros Capecchi (Ita) Movistar at 1:56.
Tour of Austria Overall After Stage 3:
1. Peter Kennaugh (GB) Sky in 14:12:11
2. Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale at 0:29
3. Javier Moreno Bazan (Spa) Movistar at 0:40
4. Oliver Zaugg (Sui) Tinkoff-Saxo at 1:07
5. Patrick Konrad (Aut) Team Gourmetfein Simplon Wels at 1:10
6. Jure Golcer (Slo) Team Gourmetfein Simplon Wels at 1:45
7. Eros Capecchi (Ita) Movistar at 1:46
8. Jerome Coppel (Fra) Cofidis at 1:59
9. Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin-Sharp at 2:37.
Sorry no stage 3 video.
Stage 4 ended in a Bunch sprint after the 171.9 kilometres from Matrei to Osttirol. Oscar Gatto of Cannondale got the better of J J Lobato (Movistar) and Marco Haller of Katusha. Sky’s Peter Kennaugh finished tenth and held onto the overall.
Tour of Austria Stage 4 Result:
1. Oscar Gatto (Ita) Cannondale in 4:14:08
2. Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Movistar
3. Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha
4. Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek
5. Nicola Boem (Ita) Bardiani-CSF
6. Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana
7. Rick Zabel (Ger) BMC
8. Sebastian Lander (Den) BMC
9. Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale
10. Peter Kennaugh (GB) Sky.
Tour of Austria Overall After Stage 4:
1. Peter Kennaugh (GB) Sky in 18:26:19
2. Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale at 0:29
3. Javier Moreno Bazan (Spa) Movistar at 0:40
4. Oliver Zaugg (Sui) Tinkoff-Saxo at 1:07
5. Patrick Konrad (Aut) Team Gourmetfein Simplon Wels at 1:10
6. Jure Golcer (Slo) Team Gourmetfein Simplon Wels at 1:45
7. Eros Capecchi (Ita) Movistar at 1:46
8. Jerome Coppel (Fra) Cofidis at 1:59
9. Jesper Hansen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo at 2:38
10. Dayer Uberney Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar at 2:39.
Stage 4:
Chris Froome Rides to France
Chris Froome becomes the first man to cycle from the UK to France via the Eurotunnel. Looks like the train was faster!
Reflecting on his ride, Froome said: “Cycling under the sea was an incredible experience. Opportunities to become the first person in the world to achieve these kind of feats are extremely rare nowadays, especially as a pro-cyclist. To become the first person ever to cycle through the Eurotunnel was right up there with some of the most iconic rides I’ve ever done.”
The PEZ INSTAGRAM
Take a look at our new Instagram page for a live feed of #PeloPics, #DailyDistractions, and giveaways straight from your phone: https://www.instagram.com/pezcyclingnews
*****
The PEZ NEWSWIRE!
Don’t forget to check the “NEWSWIRE” section, you can find it down the right hand side on the home page, just above the EuroTrash section. The bits of news that missed the EuroTrash deadline are in there, plus any news as-it-happens will be added there too.
*****
Any comments drop me a line, email address: [email protected] or Twitter. And there is the PezCyclingNews Twitter and Facebook Fan Page.
Comments are closed.