World Tour Standings as of 1/22/12

I thought about doing something special for my 200th blog post, but I couldn't think of anything. My mind is still beat from my 13 day work week. So, I decided two posts in one day was the way to go. This morning I posted the results from the Santos Tour Down Under, and now I wanted to post the updated WorldTour rankings:

Gerrans, RadioShack-Nissan top first WorldTour rankings

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/gerrans-radioshack-nissan-top-first-worldtour-rankings)


Following his overall victory in the Santos Tour Down Under, GreenEdge's Simon Gerrans became the first leader of the UCI's WorldTour individual rankings.

Gerrans leads runner-up Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) by 19 points, with fellow podium finisher Tiago Machado (RadioShack-Nissan) in third, 15 further points back.

Thanks to the presence of both Machado and Jan Bakelants in the top five on general classification, the RadioShack-Nissan team kicked off the season at the top of the team rankings.

The Luxembourg squad leads Movistar by 7 points, with GreenEdge one point behind.

Strong performances by the home riders, who placed five riders in the points - Gerrans, Sky's Michael Rogers, Rabobank's Michael Matthews and Mark Renshaw and GreenEdge's Robbie McEwen - put Australia atop the nations rankings ahead of Spain and Portugal.

The WorldTour now takes a six-week hiatus before resuming at Paris-Nice on March 4.

WorldTour standings as of January 22, 2012

1	Simon Gerrans (Aus) Greenedge Cycling Team	106	pts
2	Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team	87
3	Tiago Machado (Por) Radioshack-Nissan	72
4	Michael Rogers (Aus) Sky Procycling	61
5	Jan Bakelants (Bel) Radioshack-Nissan	40
6	Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling	34
7	Javier Moreno Bazan (Spa) Movistar Team	20
8	André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team	18
9	Michael Matthews (Aus) Rabobank Cycling Team	15
10	Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) FDJ-Big Mat	7
11	Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Katusha Team	6
12	Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre - ISD	6
13	Mark Renshaw (Aus) Rabobank Cycling Team	5
14	Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha Team	4
15	Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep	4
16	Daniele Bennati (Ita) Radioshack-Nissan	3
17	Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team	1
18	Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	1
19	Robbie McEwen (Aus) Greenedge Cycling Team	1

Teams

1	Radioshack-Nissan	115	pts
2	Movistar Team	108
3	Greenedge Cycling Team	107
4	Sky Procycling	95
5	Rabobank Cycling Team	20
6	Lotto Belisol Team	18
7	Katusha Team	10
8	FDJ-Big Mat	7
9	Lampre - ISD	6
10	Omega Pharma-Quickstep	4
11	Liquigas-Cannondale	1

Nations

1	Australia	188	pts
2	Spain	114
3	Portugal	72
4	Belgium	40
5	Norway	34
6	Germany	22
7	Italy	10
8	Belarus	7
9	Russia	4

Santos Tour Down Under Results

Gerrans crowned Tour Down Under champion in Adelaide

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/tourdownunder/stage-6/results_)

Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) has taken his third Tour Down Under victory, and his fourth win for the week after a text book sprint down King William Road. Mark Renshaw (Rabobank) tried to compete but was unable to come by the German's wheel on the uphill sprint. Italian Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-ISD) was a close third.

The bunch finish was nearly spoiled however by Cameron Meyer (GreenEdge) who made a bold solo move with a little over a lap to go. Meyer's overall hopes had been dashed yesterday when he missed the select front group on the first time up Old Willunga Hill. The field would not be denied, particulalry Andre Greipel's Lotto Belisol team who put the him in a perfect position - the German finishing off with ease.

Simon Gerrans (GreenEdge) meanwhile did all he needed to, successfully finishing in the bunch to take out his second overall title after his career defining 2006 triumph while riding for the French AG2R-Prévoyance team.

For his GreenEdge team, it was another tick in the box after their recent successes in the Mars Cycling Australia Road National Championships and the Jayco Bay Classic Series in Victoria.

The team set out to take the overall title, and despite not winning a stage, can be wholly satisified with a truly team performance that gives them the early lead in the prestigious WorldTour.

"It’s just fantastic," said a clearly excited Gerrans at the finish.

"I can’t thank my team mates enough. I was pleasantly surprised when I was told I had the lead [yesterday]. It’s such a fantastic victory for GreenEDGE. We couldn’t ask for a more perfect way to start the season."

"It’s an even sweeter victory than my first one here in 2006. It gives me the opportunity to thank for the first time the Ryan family and Shayne Bannan for putting this team together. It couldn’t be a better start for us."

Stage winner Greipel was similalry appreciative of his Lotto-Belisol team who have shown definitively to be the best organised when it comes to a bunch dash.

"What can I say," said Greipel. "Lotto-Belisol has just been amazing in leading me out to my third win of the week. It looks easy but it’s not. I was nowhere in the front on GC this year but I’m happy with the sprint finishes."

Greipel's stage win was not enough to take out the points classificaiton however. His three stage wins were cancelled out by his absences on Willunga and in Tanunda, ultimately costing him vital points that Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) was able to bank. The Norwegian would have liked a win but was happy nonetheless.

"It’s an early start to the season and to be on top form now is difficult.I’m happy to be on okay form but I can still get better."

UniSA-Australia had plenty of reason to celebrate, taking out the King of the Moutains for the second year running as well as cleaning up with Rohan Dennis who also took out best young rider.

How it unfolded

With the overall tied on time, and Gerrans a clear leader on countback, GreenEdge were happy to see a sizeable break form very early in the 20 lap circuit race in Adelaide.

It included Bernard Sulzberger, Jay McCarthy (UniSA-Australia), Luke Durbridge, Cameron Meyer (GreenEdge), Martijn Maaskant (Garmin-Barracuda), Adam Hansen (Lotto-Belisol), Sergey Lagutin (Vacansoleil-DCM), Mathew Hayman (Sky), Gorka Izagirre (Euskatel-Euskadi), Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quickstep), Greg Van Avermaet (BMC), Davide Cimolai (Lampre-ISD), Jens Voigt (Radioshack-Nissan), William Bonnet (FDJ-BigMat), Sergio Paulinho and Jonas Jorgensen (Saxo Bank).

They built up an advantage of close to 40 seconds before Rabobank who had missed the move came to the front to bring them back.

With the group within reach Michael Matthews soloed across the final 10 second gap, enough to encourage the peloton that the break should come back into the fold.

With the first intermediate sprint looming and dangerous seconds on the line, GreenEdge sent Luke Durbridge up the road again and he was joined by Davide Cimolai. Cimolai took out the sprint from Durbridge who didn't contest. Jack Bauer (Garmin-Barracuda) jumped out of the peloton to take third.

Once again the speed of the peloton after the prime was enough to nullify the break, and it was all together once more.

Bakelants makes his charge

Jan Bakelants (Radioshack-Nissan), who before today sat seventh on GC, used the lull to make a bid for the bonus second on offer at the second sprint.  He needed just two seconds to get in front of Edvald Boasson Hagen and picked up all three on offer, ahead of Cameron Meyer (GreenEdge) who managed to bridge to Bakelants solo.

Shortly thereafter Romain Sicard (Euskatel-Euskadi) also bridged to make it a trio of strong riders at the front. As the laps ticked by, and the gap failed to reduce Bakelants was becoming a real threat to the overall lead of Simon Gerrans. He was just 16 seconds behind Gerrans at this stage and with the 40 second advantage the break held was virtual leader.

Justifiably he got very little help from Sicard as the race entered the closing kilometres, with Meyer playing ticket collector on the back.

The bunch was having none of it however and with Lotto-Belisol, Lampre-ISD and Liquigas-Cannondale ramping things up for their sprinters the gap rapidly fell away.

Inside 6 kilometres to go and Bakelants decided to raise the white flag, happy enough with his sixth overall. Meyer meanwhile wanted the stage win. He went alone and entered the final 4 kilometre lap with a small advantage.

Though Meyer's fight was admirable, nothing would deny the bunch on the fast city circuit, and with half a lap to go it was all together for a bunch sprint. Lotto-Belisol best placed their man, and it was Andre Greipel who took the sprint from Renshaw and Petacchi.

Gerrans crossed the line safely in the main field to take the overall.

Stage 6 Results:

1	André Greipel (Ger) Lotto-Belisol	1:56:48
2	Mark Renshaw (Aus) Rabobank
3	Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre - ISD
4	Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) FDJ - BigMat
5	Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar
6	Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling
7	Romain Feillu (Fra) Vacansoleil -DCM
8	Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Team Saxo Bank
9	Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Liquigas - Cannondale
10	Manuel Belletti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale

Overall Results:

1	Simon Gerrans (Aus) GreenEDGE	20:46:12
2	Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar
3	Tiago Machado (Por) RadioShack-Nissan	0:00:08
4	Michael Rogers (Aus) Sky Procycling	0:00:14
5	Rohan Dennis (Aus) UNI SA - Australia
6	Jan Bakelants (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan	0:00:16
7	Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling	0:00:18
8	Javier Moreno (Spa) Movistar	0:00:23
9	Michael Matthews (Aus) Rabobank	0:00:29
10	Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha	0:00:32

4 More Years of "Santos" Tour Down Under

I am back after 13 days straight of work. Hopefully things will calm down now, and I'll be able to follow cycling more closely again. I'm following the Santos Tour Down Under and I've been very impressed with Greipel and Valverde! Even Clarke had an amazing stage! I am doing a fantasy league on road.cc and I just joined cobblestone.be. Please join me on either site. I know more about the road.cc one as I was on it last year.

But, enough of what's going on in my world, here is more hot-off-the-press cycling news:

Santos extends with Tour Down Under

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/santos-extends-with-tour-down-under)

The Tour Down Under's future was assured as title sponsor Santos announced it would continue for another four years. The agreement gives the Australian energy corporation naming rights through 2016.

"This is fantastic news for the State and it shows the confidence Santos has in the event," said South Australian premier Jay Weatherill.

"The race is now truly established on the world stage, kicking off the annual UCI WorldTour calendar and attracting the best teams and riders to Adelaide each January."

The Tour Down Under, in its 14th year, became the first non-European race on the UCI's top tier racing calendar in 2008. The UCI extended the race's WorldTour license through 2015 last August. Santos first signed on as title sponsor for the 2010 edition.

"The Santos Tour Down Under is the biggest cycling race in the southern hemisphere and the news that our successful partnership will continue ensures this event can continue its impressive growth."

The race organisation's press release estimates last year's event was worth $43 million to South Australia's economy and was attended by "more than 780,000 people".

The Pre Tour Down Under

Cancer Council Classic: Adelaide East, Australia

Greipel makes show of force in Tour Down Under prologue

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/cancer-council-classic-2012/results)

German Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) has given his Tour Down Under rivals an early warning sign that he means business in 2012, looking almost untouchable in the final sprint to take out the Down Under Classic in Adelaide.

Sky rider Edvald Boasson Hagen opened the sprint after Lotto-Belisol's last lead-out man Greg Henderson swung off but when Greipel put the foot down he seemed to effortlessly sail past the Norwegian - harking back to the way he dominated the 2008, and 2010 tours. Heinrich Haussler completed the top three.

Asked what today’s result was an indication of heading into the first WordTour event of the year, Greipel was frank.

"That we didn’t sleep in the winter," he grinned. "I tried to get a lead out train for this season and we got Greg Henderson in the team.

"I worked with him pretty good in previous seasons so he is a main part in the success of the team for me. But I can't forget Jurgen Roelandts, Marcel Sieberg and Adam Hansen – they are all really important to keep the train going. I think we’ve shown a pretty good effort today."

"I think the guys were awesome. I just needed to stay on the wheels. I saw Rabobank and Sky - they couldn’t pass so I think that meant we have a lot of horsepower in our team.

"Today takes a bit of pressure off. Especially for the young riders who are in Mallorca at the moment. Hopefully it will give them a bit of extra motivation to train well and to keep the Lotto streak running."

Greg Henderson, who was instrumental in positioning Greipel for the sprint was full of emotion at the stage finish, enraptured by his German team mate's performance.

"You know how much power he’s got. I’m leading out at 70km/h and he just comes past me," said Henderson. "I just don’t understand how anyone can go so fast. You’ve seen it. He’s right up there with the likes of Cavendish. The two are going to have a great rivalry this year."

Boasson Hagen who many have tipped as a pre-race favourite on the hillier parcours of this year's race explained that he isn't quite up to top competition form - yet.

"We lost Chris Sutton in the lead up to the final turn, I'm not sure what happened but that's cycling."

"Everyone in the team did a great job, so at least we can be satisfied with that."

The finale of the race was dominated by three teams, with Lampre-ISD, Rabobank and Lotto-Belisol all taking turns stringing the field out. On the penultimate lap Sky also arrived to make it a crowded run to the line. Renshaw punctured on the final lap and that left Lampre-ISD, Lotto-Belisol and Sky to fight it out.

Lotto-Belisol would not be thrown off and with less than a kilometre to go they had their man firmly placed near the front. In the final duel, two riders; Greipel and Boasson Hagen went head-to-head. Greipel however was clearly a level above and sporting a skin suit, he made the well-credentialled Boasson Hagen look almost amateurish in an ominous sign for the week ahead.

Earlier in the day, neo-pro Nathan Haas (Garmin-Barracuda) showed some class to take three of the four intermediate sprints, with Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Movistar) taking out the fourth.

Haas was part of nine-man break that featured throughout the mid-stages of the race. The break never held more than 25 seconds over the chasing bunch, with Lotto-Belisol, Rabobank and GreenEdge keeping a watchful eye at the front of the peloton.

On each and every sprint prime Haas jumped away easily from his fellow breakaway riders. Impressively he made a reasonably renowned fast-man in William Bonnet (FDJ-BigMat) look slow.

When the break was caught with around seven laps to go, the sprint teams began to ramp up for what was a thrilling finale.

An honourable mention goes out to UniSA-Australia rider Steele Von Hoff who finished in front of some big names including Alessandro Petacchi in his first WorldTour outing.

Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	André Greipel (Ger) Lotto-Belisol	1:03:17
2	Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling
3	Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Garmin-Barracuda
4	Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar
5	Steele Von Hoff (Aus) UNI SA-Australia
6	Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Team Saxo Bank
7	Chris Sutton (Aus) Sky Procycling
8	José Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) Movistar
9	Greg Henderson (NZl) Lotto-Belisol
10	Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-ISD

Will 2012 be Boonen's Year?

Boonen's desire to make sprint impact

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/boonens-desire-to-make-sprint-impact)

Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) may have appeared to rein in his sprinting ambitions in the last number of years, but the Belgian believes that he can make an impact in bunch finishes again now that his recovery from injury is complete.

Speaking at the launch of his revamped team in Vilvoorde on Friday, Boonen insisted that his injury woes are now behind him, and revealed that he had hoped to attract Bernhard Eisel to the revamped Omega Pharma-Quick Step squad following the collapse of HTC-Highroad. The Austrian ultimately followed his leader Mark Cavendish to Sky.

“For the sprints, I still believe it,” Boonen told reporters after the lights had gone up on the presentation. “Now we’re is back on the track, we have a good train and a good quality of riders in the team.”

Boonen’s two victories in 2011 both came in bunch sprints, at the Tour of Qatar and Gent-Wevelgem. With his wounded knee now back to full strength, the man from Mol is looking forward to testing himself in the sprints, even if he admitted that his lead-out train was still short of a conductor.

“We’re only missing one guy. We should have a guy like Tosatto or De Jongh who we had before, a guy with experience who can really show these young guys how to do it,” Boonen said. “I was trying to get Bernie Eisel in the team but he didn’t go. That would have been perfect.”

The former world champion also hinted at problems with his equipment in recent years, and 2012 sees Patrick Lefevere’s team returned to riding Specialized bikes after two years on Eddy Merckx. “The material is back on track, we have really good bikes now, so it will be a lot easier than it was last year,” Boonen said.

Boonen has not won a stage at the Tour de France since 2007, of course, and while injury and suspension have limited his appearances and performance since then, the sprinting landscape has altered radically in the meantime with the emergence of Mark Cavendish. He acknowledged that beating the world champion when he is on form is nigh on impossible, but he warned that it might take time for Cavendish and Sky to repeat the kind of lead-out he enjoyed at Highroad.

“I can’t beat him when he’s at his best, but when Cavendish is doing a perfect sprint with a perfect lead-out, it’s almost impossible to beat him,” Boonen said. “But that’s the same for every sprinter – if everything goes perfect, it’s not that hard, it’s just getting there is what’s hard.

“And getting the team to make it as easy for you as possible, that’s what’s hard, and that’s where all the work goes. I think Mark will experience that it’s not a thing you just buy or go into. He’s at Sky and he has the quality, but it’s still going to take time to get everything the way it was like at Highroad. It’s the same for everyone.”

Flecha vs. Paris-Roubaix

Flecha dreaming of elusive Paris-Roubaix win

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/flecha-dreaming-of-elusive-paris-roubaix-win)

Could 2012 be the year when Juan Antonio Flecha breaks his duck at Paris-Roubaix? The popular Spaniard, who turns 35 this year, has had a series of near misses in the 'Queen of Classics', with three podium finishes and three other top ten placings. It's a race that he desperately wants to win, and he also told Cyclingnews of another burning ambition when we caught up with him at the Team Sky training camp in Mallorca.

"If I had to choose one race to win now, it would be Paris-Roubaix," he said. "I have been close there many times and to win it would be amazing. I know many Belgian fans would say ‘come on Flecha, the Belgian races are the best’, but for me right now I would have to say Paris-Roubaix would be my dream.

"I’d also really love to do the Tour de France again this year. It would be my tenth Tour in a row. That would make me very proud and I would really think ‘wow, look at that, that’s fantastic'. I know that I would be going there to work for Mark [Cavendish] and Bradley [Wiggins] and that will keep me occupied. But I’d be lying to you if I told you that I wouldn’t like to win another stage at the Tour. I won’t shirk any of my responsibilities to my team, but I can’t hide my desire to win a stage. I won a stage in my first Tour and it felt unbelievably good. I would love to feel that again."

Flecha has an enormous amount of faith in his coaches at Team Sky, and the feedback that he has received from them over the winter has given him confidence that he can still improve, even at this relatively late stage of his career.

"Can I still improve? It's an interesting question," he says. "I really believe that I can. As long as you show desire and want to improve, you will. If you think, even at my stage of my career, that you have done everything and that you can’t get better then you might as well retire. I am still a pro cyclist and I love it. It’s not my business to analyse how I can get better. It’s up to my coaches. If they think I can improve in certain areas they tell me what to do. And they believe that I can. I have total faith in them.

"I feel good at this stage of the winter but the most important thing is that my coaches are pleased with me. They plan exactly how they want me to be in January. The detail that they go into is very thorough. On my last day of training last season my coaches had already planned my first day of this season. Right now my numbers are exactly where they want them to be."

As a Spaniard who lives in Barcelona, Flecha is well-placed to discuss the relative merits of Mallorca as a training base. And despite some initial reservations he has been really impressed with both the location of the Team Sky camp and the meticulous fashion with which the riders' schedules have been planned.

"At first I was a bit sceptical about Mallorca because in the south of the island the geography is all very similar," he said. "But up here in the north you have flat roads, rolling hilly roads and sharp climbs, so there is a bit of everything. It can be windy but that’s ok as you ride with a group and at this time of year the roads are really quiet. At first I was thinking that there may be some better places in southern Spain for the camp but I have been really pleasantly surprised. It’s also just a 20-minute flight from my home in Barcelona so that makes things easy for me.

"The coaches and the sporting directors have prepared everything perfectly. We are doing everything – motor pacing, climbs and flat rides. I loved being here in December and I have loved this section of the camp too. Here we are solely focussed on riding our bikes. There are no distractions and you don’t have to decide anything for yourself. There is no deliberation as to which group you are going to join as you are told what to do. The five or six-hour rides only seem like a couple of hours, and that’s a really encouraging sign."

Fans can expect to see Flecha in action for the first time in 2012 at the Tour of Qatar next month, which has become a traditional curtain raiser for him.

"Qatar is a race that I like a lot," he said. "It’s a really nice race to enter to start off your season because you always stay in the same hotel, the transfers from the airport are small and the weather is usually good. So in some respects it’s a familiar, calm and gentle introduction to the season. I’m also suited to the cross winds that you have there."