2013 Tour de France Stage 8

This is late because I admit that I had no motivation last night. I'm going to warn you now that I may not do every stage recaps. I used to force myself to write and then it wasn't fun. I don't want this to feel like a job, so I will post when I can.

Stage 8:

This stage offered the first real taste of the mountains. This year the peloton is hitting the Pyrenees first with Ax 3 Domaines as a summit finish, not to mention the HC climb that came just before the last category 1 climb. I knew the sprinters would be distanced, and I hoped they could make the time cut. I didn't want another Ted King situation on the UCI's already bloody hands.

Just as the peloton left the neutral zone, Johnny Hoogerland attacked. I know his crash was two years ago, but it still makes me smile everytime I see his name in a break. He was then join by Jean-Marc Marino, Christophe Riblon, and Rudy Molard. They hit their max time of 9', taking the top four spots on the intermediate sprint, before being reeled back in by the peloton. Greipel lead the peloton over the sprint line, ahead of Sagan and Cavendish. By the time the base of the HC climb hit, the four riders were only down to 1'.

Hoogerland tried to attack the break, but it didn't work, as the peloton was closing in. Then Riblon attacked,  Marino and Hoogerland countered, but to no avail. Riblon went solo.

Robert Gesink attacked the peloton and Thomas Voeckler tried to bridge to him. The back of the peloton fell apart as the pace increased. Damiano Cunego was dropped with the sprinters, as was Daryl Impey, the Yellow Jersey. I have to give Impey credit for trying to hold on for as long as he could, but he started slowing down.

Nairo Quintana attacked next, passed Voeckler, and bridged to Gesink. He passed Gesink before passing Riblon! However, with only 34km left of the stage, the chase was on! Thirty riders, CG contendors, climbers, and teammates to help, began chasing Quintana. All wanting the Yellow Jersey on their shoulders, or for their team. Included in this chase were some big names: Christopher Froome, Richie Porte, Cadel Evans, Alberto Contador, Andy Schleck, Jakob Fuglsang, Dan Martin, Andrew Talansky, Joaquim Rodriguez, Pierre Rolland, and Alejandro Valverde. Missing however was Tejay van Garderen, who was dropped. This surprised me since he was the White Jersey winner last year, and overall had a much better 2012 Tour de France than team leader Evans.

At the top of the climb, Riblon was 27" behind Quintana, and the chase group was at 55". Rolland attacked out of the chase group, wanting extra KOM points. His effort paid off, as he earned back the Polka-Dot Jersey for the time being, but we'd have to see how the final climb would play out. Rolland finally caught Quintana at the very end of the descent, but the chasers were only 22" behind as the category 1 climb started right away.

After battling the HC climb first, Evans, Schleck, D. Martin, Talansky, Fuglsang, Rodriguez and some others were dropped through the descent and the beginning of this next climb, leaving only 10 riders chasing Quintana.

Then more began to fall, leaving only the big names: Froome, Valverde, Contador, Porte, and Kreuzinger. And even they began to shake. It was only Froome and Porte left when Quintana was caught, and Froome attacked solo with about 4km left. The big names who had given up chase were being distanced quite well by Froome, while some, like Evans, was being passed over and over again by other riders.

Froome took the stage with a 51" lead over teammate Porte, and in doing so, earned the Yellow Jersey and tied with Rolland for the KOM jersey. Although he didn't win the stage, Quintana still walked away with the White Jersey.

If this is a hint to what the next two weeks will be like, it looks like Sky might have another 1-2 victory this year.

Even with Andy Schleck on the team, I was surprised that Haimar Zubeldia is actually the highest placed RadioShack Leopard trek rider, broken hand and all.

And, if memory serves me correctly, through 8 stages, we have had 8 separate stage winners.

2012 Tour de France Stage 6, 07/06/12

July 6, Stage 6: Épernay - Metz 207.5km

Sagan wins Tour de France stage 6 in Metz

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-6/results)

Sagan… The name has become a byword for ‘sensational’ at this year’s Tour de France as the 22-year-old Slovak took yet another stage win to make it a triple treat in 2012. The Liquigas-Cannondale rider simply out-powered André Greipel and Matthew Goss to the line in Metz, despite the best efforts of the Lotto-Belisol and Orica-GreenEdge teams respectively.

"Another win and I called this one ‘The Hulk'," said Peter Sagan, regarding his victory salute in Metz. "I'm very happy when I can win a stage like today. Yesterday I was unlucky with the crash but also content that nothing was broken and that I didn't have any injuries.

"This is already more than I ever expected. It's surprised me, too. I wanted to do well but I need to say that this is only the start of the Tour de France and tomorrow is when the race really begins because it's the climbs and I think that after two weeks, by the start of the third week, it's going to be really hard.

"I want the green jersey and I think I can hold on to it all the way to Paris."

With a properly flat parcours and on the eve of a foray into the mountains most would ensure a stage without high drama at this year’s Tour but you’d be wrong as the day was again characterized by crashes and calamity. Runner-up Greipel was involved in two crashes, but still figured in the finale.

"I crashed at 35km and then again at the mountain ranking," Greipel told Radsport-News.com. "I didn't want to sprint, but my teammates talked me into it. It was unbelievably painful." The German sprinter is believed to have dislocated his left shoulder.

For some of the Tour’s big general classification contenders, the day was defined by a massive crash just 25km from home that saw the likes of Garmin-Sharp’s Ryder Hesjedal (who lost more than 13 minutes), Frank Schleck (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek) and Rabobank’s Robert Gesink forego a significant swathe of time; tomorrow’s hills will prove that much harder after the accident as four riders were forced to abandon due to the injuries they suffered.

Consequently, the overall standings took on a different complexion by day’s end, with Hesjedal gone from the top 10 to leave Garmin-Sharp’s hopes in shreds, along with Edvald Boasson Hagen, who found himself caught in the day’s big crash. Radioshack-Nissan’s Fabian Cancellara remains in yellow – he’ll celebrate a week in the jersey tomorrow – whilst his teammate Maxime Monfort slips into the first ten. He’ll be one to watch in the next week.

A tranquil day… Who are we kidding?

With the mountains beckoning and yesterday’s finish line palpitations fresh in their minds, the men working for the Tour’s sprinters kept the day’s break on a short leash. Experienced stager David Zabriskie (Garmin-Sharp) attacked early in the day and was joined by Davide Malacarne (Europcar), Romain Zingle (Cofidis) and Karsten Kroon (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) to form the day’s escaping quartet after about 10km.

The break was allowed a maximum advantage nudging seven minutes before it was time to start pegging back the plucky escapees. The flat parcours lent itself to doing so with ease and the sprinters’ teams could pick and choose how much and when the time would be erased from the break.

There was a crash about 50km into the stage as double stage winner Greipel, his Lotto-Belisol teammate Francis de Greefe, Movistar duo José Ivan Gutierrez and Alejandro Valverde and Gesink and Vacansoleil-DCM pair Lieuwe Westra and Kris Boeckmans all touched down.

With much toil from several of his Lotto-Belisol teammates, Greipel could be seen taking a tow back to the peloton – the opportunity for further stage win glory driving the German and his lieutenants on as the pace increased at the front of the bunch.

Another day of toil for the medical staff

This year’s crash-fest continued 25km from the finish, the road resembling a bike swap meet as wheels, bikes, riders and mechanics cluttered the road whilst Orica-GreenEdge continued at tempo on the front in pursuit of a stage win for Goss. Bad news for Hesjedal, the Giro d’Italia champion caught in the fracas, as was Schleck, Lampre’s Michele Scarponi and AG2R-La Mondiale rider Jean-Christophe Peraud, who had already been held up earlier in the day.

With his BMC Racing teammates around him, fellow general classification contender Cadel Evans remained protected at the head of proceedings, however, the chase of the break taking on an Australian flavour with the reigning champion and his compatriots filling the front seats of the pursuit car.

The story would be different for Garmin-Sharp, however, with the likes of Hesjedal, Christian Vande Velde and Daniel Martin eventually finishing more than 13 minutes after Sagan had crossed the line, with teammate Johan Vansummeren a further three minutes behind.

Before that point, and with the peloton effectively split in half with just 20km remaining in the stage, the break was in the crosshairs of Orica-GreenEdge. Behind, the battered and bruised received attention, medical or otherwise. With 15km remaining there was 2:30 separating the two segments of the field, as Robert Gesink noticeably struggled – a frustratingly familiar story for the first week of the Tour for the Dutchman.

Flying run to the finish

The 10km banner saw the break holding onto a 14-second lead, with Goss increasingly looking the favourite to take line honours given that Greipel and Cavendish had suffered mishaps throughout the day. The latter had been slowed by the crash and wouldn’t figure in the finale at all. Behind them, the group containing Schleck continued to claw back time on the front group, the band of chasers resembling a casualty ward… And their faces spoke volumes for the pain they were enduring.

The final three kilometres saw Zabriskie kick away from his three companions, who were caught by a Lotto-led peloton just 500m later. Grimacing with pain, the veteran called upon the superhero strength of Captain America to stay away but with 1,300m remaining it was the end of Zabriskie’s game.

Soon after the catch was made a long sprint ensued, with Greg Henderson leading out Greipel for what seemed like an eternity (in sprinting terms) but as Peter Sagan’s high cadence kick reached full pitch, the German could only shake his head as he rode to a runner-up position ahead of Goss, who had again valiantly laid everything on the line in pursuit of a stage win.

Full Results

1	Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale	4:37:00
2	André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team
3	Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
4	Kenny Robert Van Hummel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
5	Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
6	Greg Henderson (NZl) Lotto Belisol Team
7	Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre - ISD
8	Luca Paolini (Ita) Katusha Team
9	Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
10	Brett Lancaster (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team	0:00:04

2012 Tour de France Stage 1, 7/01/12

July 1, Stage 1: Liège - Seraing 198km

Sagan triumphs in Seraing

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-1/results)

Peter Sagan of Liquigas-Cannondale took his first Tour de France win in the first stage of his first Tour de France, outsprinting yellow jersey Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) and Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) for the victory. The trio had escaped from the field in the final 1.5km of the stage, under the impetus of a powerful surge from Cancellara, and charged their way up the closing climb in Seraing, Belgium.

There were no changes in the top five of the GC, but the pure time trialists fell out of the top ten. Cancellara easily retained his seven second lead over Sky's Bradley Wiggins with Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) holding third place overall, tied on time with Wiggins.

The stage was marked by a breakaway group which enjoyed approximately 190 kilometers of freedom, but the finale went to the top guns. Although a large group came to the end and was given the time of the winner, the usual sprinters were not involved.

Sagan had been a favourite to take the win on this tricky finish, and Boasson Hagen was no surprise either. But it was not so expected to see Cancellara fighting those two for the stage win, and he has now really shown that he is recovered from his shattered collarbone at the Tour of Flanders and has his self-confidence back.

"Of course people told me I was the favourite," said Sagan. "I knew that Chavanel would try something at the end. I wanted to attack at the hardest section. It was very, very good that Cancellara was there. I saw that he had strong legs. It was good to take it easy behind him."

From the gun

The full complement of 198 riders started on Sunday for the 198 kilometers from Liege to Seraing. And almost immediately after the sharp start, six riders attacked and proved to be the break of the day.

The RadioShack-Nissan-led field was happy to let Yohann Gène (Europcar), Pablo Urtasun (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Maxime Bouet (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Nicolas Edet (Cofidis), Anthony Delaplace (Saur-Sojasun) and Michael Mørkøv (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff) go. Their lead jumped around from 1:10 (after being stopped at a level crossing) to 4:50 but RadioShack-Nissan never let them get too far away, and their advantage settled around the three-minute mark.

Tony Martin's problems in the 2012 Tour de France continued. After the time trial world champion suffered a puncture in the prologue, he proceeded to crash early on in this stage, and seemed to have difficulty staying up with the field much of the day. Open wounds could be seen on the Omega Pharma-QuickStep German's elbow, and it was said he had injured his wrist as well.

The July weather in Belgian is no better than that during the Spring Classics, and the peloton went from overcast to rain to sun, and back again. Fortunately the dry weather prevailed during the nervous finale.

The day's only intermediate sprint came at 139km , and it was hotly contested by both the break group and the peloton. Gene took maximum points at the head of affairs, while in the field Matthew Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) claimed seventh place ahead of Mark Cavendish (Sky) and Andre Greipel (Lotto Belisol).

The oldest of RadioShack's oldies, 40-year-old Jens Voigt, proved why he was named to ride his 15th Tour. He put in many kilometers at the head of the field and was especially vigilant on the front when the gap to the break had crept up again. The German veteran was instrumental in keeping their lead pegged at a comfortable level, ably assisted by Yaroslav Popovych

Along the way, Morkov and Urtasun fought it out for every mountain point. The Dane was the lucky winner, raising a "number one" finger as he took the penultimate climb, but the Basque rider was quick to congratulate him.

With 50km to go, RadioShack-Nissan turned on the speed again and, helped by a tailwind, brought the gap to under two minutes. The Luxembourg-based team was still, as they had all day, doing all the lead work alone.

The escapees hung on gamely to their lead, even as it dropped. With just about 30km to go, though, it finally fell beneath the one minute mark as behind them the other teams started bringing their captains into position. Finally, too, other teams were seen at the head of the field but the impetus in the field momentarily stalled as the gap to the break slowly crept back up again.

At just about the 23km mark four riders crashed, including Mick Rogers of Sky, two Movistar riders and Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank), who remained on the pavement a long time but eventually got up and continued. Shortly thereafter there was another large crash when a fan saw the need to stand in the road to make photos. The speed had been turned on for good by that time, and the lead group took only 28 seconds into the last 20km. The field, scenting the catch and possibly affected by the crashes, was much more hectic than the six escapees.

It was a rolling, curving lead in to the finale, with everyone going all out. BMC, with Marcus Burghardt, had now moved to the front of the field. The inevitable ultimately happened, and with 9km to go the six leaders were caught. Bouet held out longest, but he had no chance against the field now led by Lotto Belisol. The appearance of Andre Greipel at the head of things showed, though, that the Belgian team was not looking for a mass sprint.

The peloton was strung out as it started up the final climb, but it was still a large group. All the big names were at the front, as Orica-GreenEdge pulled them along. Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) jumped at the 2km marker, but Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEdge) caught him on the steepest part of the climb. Cancellara pulled the rest of the field up to the two.

And then Cancellara took off with 1.5km to go! Sagan attached himself to the yellow jersey's rear wheel and the two pulled away. Cancellara was unable to drop Sagan and the lead duo were joined by Boasson Hagen with just over 500m to go, and the three went into the closing – and very high-powered – sprint.

As the field came closer and closer Cancellara opened the sprint at the 150 meter marker. Sagan moved easily around the yellow jersey holder and proudly took the win, sitting straight up and appearing to do a victory dance on his bike.

Full Results

1	Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale	4:58:19
2	Fabian Cancellara (Swi) RadioShack-Nissan
3	Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling
4	Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team
5	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
6	Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team
7	Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
8	Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin - Sharp
9	Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Sharp
10	Dries Devenyns (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep

23 - June - 2012 - Daily News

This article really hit me. This cyclist just came back from a two year ban and won the Italian Road Championship. I know if it was Lance Armstrong, they'd be testing him again. Congrats to Franco Pellizotti!

June 23, Elite Men Road Race: Pergine - Borgo Valsugana 254.7km

Pellizotti returns from ban to win Italian road title

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/italian-road-championships-2012/elite-men-road-race/results)

Franco Pellizotti scored an emphatic victory in the Italian road championships, returning from his two-year ban for irregular biological passport values to solo to his first tricolore. Danilo Di Luca was second from the chasing group.

Now riding for Androni Giocattoli, Pellizotti attacked an elite group which had bridged up to the solo move of Michele Scarponi. He left behind Liquigas-Cannondale duo Moreno Moser and Vincenzo Nibali, Scarponi and Katusha's Giampaolo Caruso en route to the win.

“Anyone who knows me will know how hard I tried in that last kilometre,” Pellizotti said. “At 400 metres to go, I knew I’d won and was able to enjoy it. I wish that it could have never ended.

“I must thank Androni for the great trust they have shown in me. After they confirmed my appointment I was able to train in the best possible way for this race.”

Scarponi had a lead of almost a minute-and-a-half with two laps of the course and 27km to go, but saw his advantage quickly eradicated as the race hurtled towards its conclusion. He was eventually swallowed up by the three podium finishers, Nibali and Caruso just ahead of the beginning of the final lap.

Pellizotti then attacked almost immediately as the riders started to climb for the final time. Caruso was the only rider who was capable of going with him and the duo formed a leading pair for a few kilometres before Pellizotti, who was easily the fresher man, turned the screw and piled on the pressure until Caruso cracked.

Caruso quickly came back to Di Luca and Moser, who eventually overtook him and took their places on the podium. Both Nibali and Scarponi, whose minds were probably several hundred miles north in Liege, where the Tour de France starts next weekend. Nibali had publicly played down his chance of winning here in the build up the race, having spent some punishing hours on the Passo San Pellegrino as part of a training camp ahead of the Tour de France.

Di Luca bettered his previous best finish at the championships (3rd place in 2009) while Moser’s performance offered up further evidence that he could be the next best thing in Italian cycling, belying his tender years at the age of 21.
This year’s renewal was a particularly brutal one, with only 20 riders finishing the race.

Here is a look at the Top 5 Tour de France GC contenders. Although, I must disagree with Frank Schleck. I don't think he will be a threat this year. I really believe this will be a Wiggins/Evans showdown.

Tour de France: Top-five general classification contenders

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/tour-de-france-top-five-general-classification-contenders)

There’s much uncertainty leading into the 2012 Tour de France, with recent injuries and quiet showings throughout the season catapulting some of the favourites into the ‘unknown’ category. Albero Contador is of course absent from this year’s race and this may instil confidence in a number of contenders, while others will hope to turn around a year of poor form. Some, like Bradley Wiggins will be arriving back at the Tour after being forced out last year in the crash-marred first week or from skipping last year’s race.

Cadel Evans and Bradley Wiggins are the top-ranked favourites, but what about the remaining spot on the podium, top five or top ten? Many of last season’s top-ten finishers aren’t looking so sharp, with injuries preventing the likes of Thomas Voeckler from attending his national championships.

Andy Schleck whould have been one of the main protagonists but a fall in the time trial at the Critérium du Dauphiné and subsequent fractured pelvis means he will miss the race. Denis Menchov may have timed his condition perfectly as he demonstrated by winning the Russian time trial title earlier this week. Menchov often needs a pre-Tour, grand tour in his legs before being able to be competitive but with Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a’Espana titles he cannot be ruled out. His Geox-TMC team’s omission last year and disappointing Vuelta in 2011 mean he is not included in the top-five. Ivan Basso has pledged his support to his team mate Vincenzo Nibali and following his assault at a second Giro title, it would appear his condition is not be up to the task regardless.

With such uncertainty we look at a list of five riders who have the potential to win the race or at least finish on the podium...Name: Cadel Evans
Age: 35
Team: BMC Racing Team
Career Highlights: 1st Critérium International (2012), 1st Tour de France (2011), World Road Race champion (2009)
Tour debut: 2005
Best Tour finish: 1st (2011)

Summary: There’s no doubting Evans’ ability to lead his BMC Racing Team at this year’s Tour. This will be his eighth Tour start and despite the disappointment of 2009 and 2010, he’s proven he can climb with the best and time trial quicker than the purist climbers. Evans has received criticism over the years for not being aggressive enough but the confidence and leadership he showed last year quashed such doubts.

Evans had hinted he would begin his season slowly and in his first outing of the season, Tirreno-Adriatico, he made little impression. Just a week-and-a-half later however, he turned up to Critérium International where he won the time trial on his way to the overall victory.

Evans’ Ardennes campaign was cut short due to illness and he lacked the form to repeat last year’s win at Tour de Romandie. However, he showed the kind of aggressive racing often missing to win a stage and finish third overall at the recent Critérium du Dauphiné despite being off the pace in the 53km time trial against Bradley Wiggins. "I still have some improvements to make before the Tour" he said.

His BMC team is specifically designed to winning the overall and unlike Wiggins, his team will have nothing but yellow in Paris on the agenda. This may prove crucial at the end of three weeks.Name: Bradley Wiggins
Age: 32
Team: Sky Procycling
Career Highlights: 1st Critérium du Dauphiné (2012), 1st Tour de Romandie (2012) and 1st Paris - Nice (2012)
Tour debut: 2006
Best Tour finish: 4th (2009)

Summary: Bradley Wiggins has the backing of what looks to be the strongest team in the race. There is a team of domestiques at the Briton’s disposal who, on any other team, would be worthy of a protected role. However, this year Sky is looking to secure the first ever win in the Tour by a Briton and they appear to have timed the team’s form perfectly.

The way Sky led the Critérium du Dauphiné is not necessarily how the Tour will unfold but it was a controlled performance by the team which had Michael Rogers (Aus), Chris Froome (Gbr) and Richie Porte (Aus) finish inside the top-ten. These three will line up as super-domestiques and yet they could have a leader role if they were on any other team. All of them understand this Tour is about Wiggins and personal motives will not be tolerated unless approved by their directors.

Wiggins is a solid bet for a top place in the general classification despite matters being complicated with the inclusion of road world champion Mark Cavendish. With ambitions to win the green and yellow jersey, it could be too much to ask from the team which may be forced into taking charge on the road from day one.Name: Vincenzo Nibali
Age: 27
Team: Liquigas - Cannondale
Career Highlights: 1st Tirreno-Adiatico (2012), 2nd Giro d’Italia (2011), 1st Vuelta a Espana (2010)
Tour debut: 2008
Best Tour finish: 7th (2009)

Summary: Vincenzo Nibali has ridden enough grand tours for a young rider to prove his endurance over a three-week race. He shows initiative in the mountains when necessary and, on a good day, doesn’t need to wait for a last-minute attack to the line. His time trialling is below Wiggins and Evans but he seems to understand the importance of improving this area.

He may have ‘only’ a single grand tour victory on his palmares, the 2010 Vuelta a Espana, but he has finished on the podium of the Giro d’Italia twice; 2nd in 2010 (elevated from third after Alberto Contador was stripped on the title) and 3rd in the 2011 edition.

The need to be patient may be critical to his success as his number one road captain Ivan Basso will likely enforce. Basso and his domestiques took control of the race in the Giro to suit his capabilities and this leadership will be an asset. Nibali has matured in the last few seasons but there is no denying Basso’s experience on the road. If Basso has recovered successfully from his Giro campaign he will be invaluable to the "Shark of Messina".

Nibali has achieved a number of wins this year, including the brutal mountain stage to Jabal Al Akhdar (Green Mountain) and second place overall at the Tour of Oman, plus the hilltop finish of stage five and the overall classification at Tirreno-Adriatico. He has also shown his endurance over longer one-day races, and was frustratingly close to winning one of the season’s Monuments at Milan San-Remo and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, where he was third and second respectively. It’s an impressive list for the Italian, who opened his season in January with the Tour de San Luis. A heavy block of training leading into the Dauphiné may excuse his lacking in the mountains but he should be fit come Tour time.Name: Fränk Schleck
Age: 32
Team: RadioShack-Nissan
Career Highlights: 3rd Tour de France (2011), 1st Tour de Suisse (2010), 1st Amstel Gold Race (2006)
Tour debut: 2006
Best Tour finish: 3rd (2011)

Summary: Fränk Schleck may not have the natural potential of his brother but Andy will be absent this year, leaving Fränk with a sole leadership role - a situation the older brother hasn’t been in since Andy’s debut in 2008 when he shared it with eventual winner Carlos Sastre.

This will be new territory for the Luxembourger who was quick to express he didn’t want to be the designated leader at the Tour: "Because if I put in a disappointing performance, then everyone can afterwards complain that I was not good enough," he told Het Nieuwsblad.

A number of riders at the Tour de Suisse believed he was one of, if not the strongest, in the race, and was seen attacking on the climbs far from the finish. Has his form peaked too soon?

"I'm not a machine. You should be realistic. I am already very lean and in great shape, I cannot continue to maintain this level" he said following the completion of the eight-day race.
Together, Andy and Fränk are a serious force in the mountains but y
ou have to wonder if their talents wouldn’t be better used separately and away from each other. This year will expose Fränk’s reliance on his younger brother and will also answer the question as to whether his team problems have affected his preparation and focus.Name: Robert Gesink
Age: 26
Team: Rabobank
Career Highlights: 1st Tour of California (2012), 1st Tour of Oman (2011), GP Montréal (2010)
Tour debut: 2009
Best Tour finish: 6th (2010)

Summary: The 2012 Tour of California winner crushed his rivals to the top of Mount Baldy in stage seven. He caught the ruminants of the early breakaway, including Chris Horner (RadioShack-Nissan), and finished ahead to two Colombians - Coldeportes climbers, John Atapuma and former U23 world road race champion Fabio Duarte.

Gesink can climb. That has been proven on multiple occasions but where he excels, he also shows weakness. His descending has marginally improved since he lost the race lead in Paris-Nice - essentially on a descent - to Davide Rebellin in 2008, but his ability to stay upright has impeded his grand tour hopes in the past. The Dutchman’s slim and lanky build doesn’t do him any favours when the road heads downward. And unfortunately he won’t have the luxury of Basso’s team escorting him downhill as Nibali prefers to take opportunities and risks wherever he sees fit.

Gesink came away from California on a high but arrived at the Dauphine seemingly behind expectations. His condition improved as the race progressed but it was a common sight to see him teetering off the back of the leading group, unable to cope with the accelerations and instead making his way slowly into contention. Gesink had the fifth best time in the stage seven time trial - a dramatic improvement from 26th in the opening prologue, where he lost 31 seconds to Peter Sagan (Liquigas - Cannondale) - but he will lose time to Evans, Wiggins and Menchov. With a fourth overall in Suisse one can assume is form will have progressed by the start of the Tour in Liège.

So how does the reigning Yellow Jersey feel a week before he has to defend his title?

Evans glad pre-Tour de France spotlight has been on Wiggins

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/evans-glad-pre-tour-de-france-spotlight-has-been-on-wiggins)

Defending Tour de France champion, Cadel Evans (BMC) is the first to admit that leading rival Bradley Wiggins (Sky) has had the better run of form but remains confident that he can once again stand on the top of the podium on the Champs-Élysées in July.

Evans will lead a BMC outfit to the Tour de France which has been bolstered by potent off-season signings Philippe Gilbert and Tejay van Garderen, along with the experienced Stephen Cummings, off the back of his third-place performance at the Critérium du Dauphiné. It’s been acknowledged from the release of the 2012 parcours, generous in time trials, that the 35-year-old Australian should find himself in his element for this 99th edition of the Tour.

"The only thing that has changed mainly has been the level that Team Sky has come to," Evans explained of the time between October when the route was revealed, and the present. Evans was speaking to journalists from his home country over conference call from a low-key and relaxed setting of a teammate’s house where he is currently working through his final preparation for the French Grand Tour. His young son Robel playing in the background Evans was at ease, despite the difficulty communicating throughout the call, saying that he felt he was in much the same space mentally as he was at this time last year.

Overall victories at Paris-Nice, the Tour de Romandie and the Critérium du Dauphiné have ensured that the spotlight has shone brightly on Wiggins while Evans has had a comparatively quiet lead-in with the Critérium International his only GC win for the season to date. And Evans is okay with that.

"The main thing for most riders is just getting to a good level, a level you know you need to be at to race - avoiding injuries, health issues and so on," he said of his preparation. "This year it's been a good progression for me into the Tour and in some ways, not having some race results, it keeps people's attention away from me. That also helps make life a little bit easier."

While Wiggins has been in the spotlight, Evans suggested that there were others who will be starting in Liège on June 30 deserving on general classification consideration. The 38km, Stage 9 individual time trial and another on the penultimate stage could play into the favour of the likes of Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma – QuickStep) or Andreas Klöden (RadioShack – Nissan) who will have several more seasons of grand tour experience under their belt in comparison to the Brit. Samuel Sanchez, Denis Menchov, and Frank Schleck, "if he can get some time," also rated a mention as possibilities for overall contention from Evans. Then there was Alejandro Valverde, "but his performance at the Tour de Suisse wasn’t convincing," Evans said.

Sky’s performance at the Dauphiné was a dominant one, but if there was cause for concern particularly due to their strength in numbers when it came to the Joux Plane on Stage 6 with Michael Rogers, Chris Froome and Richie Porte protecting Wiggins, Evans wasn’t giving anything away.

"At this point if they hold that level, yeah, they’ll have the numbers when it comes down to 20 guys but let’s see what happens with it comes down to five or 10," he said with the more selective climbs of the Tour in mind.
Evans undertook reconnaissance of the Tour’s tougher stages in May and believes that the sage profiles don’t tell the whole story.

"There's a little bit more than it shows on paper, there are a few surprises along the way," he explained. "The Tour organisers seem to have liked adding these in over the last few years - when we get to them, we'll see."

And here is the daily RadioShack Nissan Trek news:

Schlecks to found new German-sponsored team in 2013?

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/schlecks-to-found-new-german-sponsored-team-in-2013)

The newest twist in rumours surrounding problem-plagued RadioShack-Nissan now have the Schleck brothers leaving the team after this season and founding a new team with a German sponsor.

According to De Telegraaf, Fränk and Andy Schleck have found a so-far unnamed German company willing to be co-sponsor.  “Some” German riders are said to already have been approached about signing with the new team, but it is not clear whether that means the Germans currently at RadioShack-Nissan or now. 

The team's management would be handled by Schleck confidant Kim Andersen, as well as Dirk Demol and Alain Gallopin.

Both Schlecks have contracts with the current team through the 2014 season. However, there have long been reports of problems within the team, including late payment of salaries.

The Schlecks and team manager Johan Bruyneel have often been at odds this season. Only yesterday Bruyneel announced that he would not attend the Tour de France due to the USADA doping investigation, in which he is a target.

Amstel Gold Race 2012

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/amstel-gold-race/results)

Enrico Gasparotto (Astana Pro Team) won a thrilling Amstel Gold Race, timing his sprint to perfection atop the Cauberg, to win ahead of Jelle Vanendert (Lotto Belisol Team) and Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale).
Three time world champion Oscar Freire (Katusha Team) finished fourth after his bold attack in the closing 7 kilometres was caught in the final meters of the race. Two-time defending champion, Philippe Gilbert, (BMC Racing Team) had to settle for sixth behind Thomas Voeckler (Europcar).

BMC had controlled the race throughout much of the closing stages but Gilbert was left to do all the work on the final ascent of the Cauberg. His acceleration first brought back Niki Terpstra (Omega Pharma QuckStep) and then Freire's dying legs to within touching distance. However the move proved as a spring board for the podium placers.

Sagan was the first rider to come around the Belgian champion but he too ran out of gas, with Gasparotto accelerating on his left and Vanendert on his right.

Maastricht treaty lasts until opening climbs

The riders had left the chilly start city of Maastricht with a blessing of rain drops and a cold northern wind on their noses. Typically many riders tried break clear on the first of the 31 climbs but nobody gained enough in the first hour of the race, which was covered at 45kph.

After nearly 60 kilometers of racing a large group finally was allowed to go. Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale), Pello Bilbao (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Raymond Kreder (Garmin-Barracuda), Alex Howes (Garmin-Barracuda), Steven Caethoven (Accent Jobs-Willems Veranda), Cedric Pineau (FDJ-Big Mat), Simone Stortoni (Lampre-ISD), Sébastien Delfosse (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony) and Eliot Lietar (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator) were the lucky men.

During the second hour they gathered a maximum lead of 13:30 on the peloton, with no teams wanting to chase. Eventually RadioShack-Nissan, BMC and Katusha took the responsibility and gradually the gap went down.

When approaching the second ascent of the Cauberg the pace in the peloton increased even more and after the Vrakelberg a first group of riders was caught behind the peloton, including outsider Cadel Evans (BMC). In front, the breakaway group lost ground. On top of the Cauberg the gap was down to less than five minutes and that was also where Evans abandoned the race.

With 55 km to go the breakaway group still had four minutes on the peloton. Jurgen Van den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) went down on the Bemelerberg and even though he was assisted by a couple of teammates his race was almost over. When the pace increased inside the final 30 kilometres he was dropped. Meanwhile Danish rider Matti Breschel (Rabobank) also abandoned the race.

The Wolfsberg, at 41km from the finish line on the Cauberg, was the first of the last string of eight climbs. It proved to be the ground where the Astana moved forward. The gap quickly dropped below two minutes and the speed went up another notch when Chris Anker Sorensen (Saxo Bank) attacked the peloton, without much success.

In front Bardet, Bilbao, Howes and Stortoni dropped their fellow breakaway companions although Kreder and Delfosse returned little later. The six remaining leaders entered the last 30km with an advantage of 1:10.

The break split further when Bardet and Howes accelerated again.

Boasson Hagen was the first contender to attack inside the final 15 kilometres but the Sky rider was unable to gain more than 100 meters, with the BMC trio of Mauro Santambrogio, Greg Van Avermaet and Gilbert holding court at the head of the race.

Avermaet, was the perfect teammate, sacrificing his chances for Gilbert, who was either confident of taking on Sagan in the sprint or lacked the legs to attack earlier.

On the penultimate climb of the Keutenberg, Boasson Hagen was swiftly brought back, with Bardet shelling his breakaway companion for the second and final time.

Sky, Astana and Katusha were able to send probing attacks off the front, and Thomas Voeckler and Sagan went briefly alone, but it was Freire who struck a decisive blow with 7km to go, just after Bardet was finally swallowed up.

Freire has never made the podium in Amstel and with Rabobank having such a poor race with Breschel out and Gesink already dropped, Freire's former Dutch team must have been reeling when the Spaniard had a gap of 13 seconds.

But it wouldn't be a Spring Classic without Omega Pharma-Quickstep having their say, and Niki Terpstra accelerated away in pursuit of the Spaniard as the race descended from the Keutenberg.

At the foot of the Cauberg Terpstra had failed to make contact, with a tiring Van Avermaet leading a 20-strong group with Gilbert latched to his wheel.

Gilbert's attack displayed elements of panic and reluctant acceptance at the same time, the rider well aware that everyone was watching him, while also knowing that Freire was on the cusp of a shock win.

Terpstra was quickly reeled in and Gilbert's second acceleration caused the chase group to splinter. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) crashed along with Lars-Peter Nordhaug (Sky), and with a fading Freire unable to hold on the race came down to the strongest, but also the freshest in the sprint for the line.

Full Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Pro Team Astana	6:32:35
2	Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
3	Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:00:02
4	Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Katusha Team
5	Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar
6	Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team
7	Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
8	Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Garmin-Barracuda	0:00:04
9	Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
10	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team

What's better than the Tour de France?

...Tour of Poland? Um, ok?

Boom would rather ride Tour of Poland than Tour de France

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/boom-would-rather-ride-tour-of-poland-than-tour-de-france)

Lars Boom will skip the Tour de France this year. The Rabobank rider sees the Tour of Poland as a better race for him to look for stage wins and to prepare for the London Olympics, where he hopes to ride both the time trial and the road race.

“I would really like to ride the Tour for myself, but I understand that our team is built around Robert Gesink and a few other GC riders,” he told the ANP news agency.

“Last year I rode for Robert Gesink. There's nothing wrong with that and it also went just fine. But a stage win is the biggest thing in the Tour for me.”

Boom will now look for those stage wins in Poland. "I think it's a better preparation for the Games. Then I do hope to ride the Tour of Spain, shortly before the world championships. "

This weekend he will look to take his sixth consecutive Dutch national cyclo-cross title, after which he will devote himself again to the road.

Robert Gesink: A New Father

Gesink's daughter arrives early

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/gesinks-daughter-arrives-early)

Robert Gesink has passed his speedy genes on to a next generation. His daughter Anne was born on Wednesday, nine days before Gesink's partner Daisy's due date.

"Good girl, 54cm and 3750gram. Everything went fine!" the proud father tweeted.

Although the girl was born before her due date, her early arrival was not totally unexpected. “I have my phone in my hand,” Gesink said at the Rabobank team presentation earlier this week, awaiting the call from Daisy.

She is the second Rabobank baby born this week. Maarten Wynants missed the presentation due to the birth of his second son the same day.

Gesink Update

Gesink: All I need is time

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/gesink-all-i-need-is-time)

Robert Gesink (Rabobank) is confident that he can return to his best after a speedy recover from a broken leg. The Dutch climber crashed in training in September and broke his right femur, but with just under two months of rehabilitation he’s already back on the bike and talking up his chances of a successful Tour de France in 2012.

“I’ve been back on the bike for a month now. Everything has been fine so far. I’ve been on the rollers for a while but the weather has been nice so I’ve been out and getting some fresh air too,” he told Cyclingnews.

Since a successful surgery in the days following his crash, Gesink has had time to reflect on what has been a turbulent last twelve months. Away from the bike he had to come to terms with the loss of his father who passed away after a cycling accident. The bond between the two was of course strong, with Gesink senior Robert’s biggest fan. Despite the tremendous loss the climber used his profession to focus during the most difficult moments.

“The first year of losing a father is really tough and difficult,” he said.

“Now I’m more at ease and I’m looking back at all the good times we had together and not how much I miss him. That’s a positive development. And when I see my mum I see that’s she’s doing better and better. She’s getting on with her life and that’s a good thing to see. Of course we all really miss him a lot but it’s never going to change.

“My dad was my biggest supporter and a huge fan of cycling. He read every story in the press so the one thing I can do for him is continue cycling. It’s all easier said than done because sometimes you’re head isn’t right but now I feel more and more accepting of the situation. When I think about my dad now it’s always tough but it’s getting better.”

Gesink’s ability to train through the difficult winter saw him reap the benefits in the first part of the season. Taking two stage wins in the Tour of Oman, as well as the overall, were followed by a stage win and second overall in Tirreno. Ninth in Amstel was hardly a shabby result but from there on his season began to unravel. A mediocre Dauphine was followed by a disastrous Tour de France. Heading into the race he was expected to lead a Dutch charge and there was talk of him splitting the Contador-Schleck dominance. The stage was perfect for him too - sixth the year before, and with Denis Menchov having moved into semi-retirement at Geox, Gesink had a team totally at his disposal.

Tour troubles
 However a series of crashes and heavy time losses ruined his race. With no chance of GC success, he suffered through - hoping to find his legs in the Alps. He eventually finished 33rd overall, and more than one hour back on winner, Cadel Evans.

“Looking back, abandoning after those crashes would have made more sense,” he told Cyclingnews.

“But at that moment I felt I could do something still in the Alps and try and win a stage but I ended up underestimating the damage that the crashes did. I tried in the Alps but in the end I wasn’t good enough. It was a more difficult Tour than the one before because I had to suffer so much just to stay in the peloton. Looking back at it, for sure it would have been easy to go home and focus on the Vuelta but we made a decision at the time. Maybe I’ll learn from that in the future but looking at it now it was just three tough weeks with no good feelings.”

Despite regrouping after the Tour with a number of decent results, Gesink admits that the year was a disappointment on the bike.

“In some ways it was a lost year. If I’m honest the main goal was the Tour and I didn’t go as well as I hoped for. That was disappointing. On a private level, I lost my dad last year. I started really well because I wanted to throw myself into my cycling. It got me away from all the bad thoughts in my head. I trained well over the winter and the start of the season I was flying and riding with the best of the best. But it was all about the Tour last year and crashing there was the biggest disappointing.”

As he recovers from his broken leg in double time all attention has already turned to next year’s Tour de France, showing at the very least that he’s not afraid of the battle. Due to his injuries it’s unlikely that we’ll see him dominate races like Oman in the first part of the year, with a gentler ramp up to July. The parcours certainly does him little favours but he’s confident that his time trialling can improve over the coming months.

“It’s more for the time triallers and I’ll have to focus on that. Last year I did that and I think I improved a lot. This winter I’ll have to spend more time on that and look for more improvements in my time trialling.”

Mental toughness

Gesink has faced question marks over his fragility and frequency of crashes – even from quarters in his own team – but the 25-year-old is resolute in the sense that he has the mental pedigree to shine. With three top ten placings in grand tours it’s perhaps easy to forget how young he is, and he believes that with time he can reach even higher.

“In all the races I’ve done I’ve always been the guy that’s had to do it for the team, in more or less every race I’ve done I’ve been there to get results and I’m used to it. Of course, when you go to the Tour, the pressure is higher but I’ve shown, like when I was 6th two years ago, that I can deal with it,” he said.

“I’m pretty young so if people give me time who knows where I can be at my peak. I’ve finished two Tours but that’s still not that many. So I don’t have the experience of guys like Contador. Schleck is a little different but those two guys are the best in the world but I know that when I’m at my best I’m close to them.”

Make them eat their words...

It tends to be that only the favorites get all the coverage, for obvious reasons. However, sometimes reporters need to take a step back and assess the big picture. Just because you only follow one person doesn't mean that his the only person out there.

Then when sport directers and managers start bad-mouthing the individual athlete, things turn worse. The only thing the athlete has left to do is prove themself better than what people think.

Robert Gesink fires back at his critics

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/robert-gesink-fires-back-at-his-critics)

Robert Gesink of Rabobank is sick and tired of hearing that he cannot deal with adversity and that he crashes too often and has responded to his sports director Adri van Houwelingen, who recently criticised him publicly.

“As if I have not been proven in recent years that I can fight.,” he told De Volkskrant.  “I crashed in the Vuelta in 2009, but was still sixth overall.  What happened in the Tour has nothing to do with my mental toughness. Because there is nothing wrong with that. "

Gesink was one of many who crashed during the fifth stage of the Tour de France from Carhaix to Cap Fehel.  He finished the race 33rd, over an hour down on winner Cadel Evans (BMC).

Van Houwelingen touched a raw nerve with when he publicly said that Gesink often saw the glass as half empty rather than half full and that he had to work on his mental toughness.

"Something like that is the biggest bullshit comment you can give," said Gesink. "He may give his opinion in public. But if someone has a vision that just is not right, I notice that. For my teammates this has not been a subject. "

"It is not true that I crash more than others," Gesink insisted. “But that is what is reported.  Luis Leon Sanchez crashed six or seven times.  You hear nothing about that. Nobody knows how often someone like Bram Tankink hits the ground.  But I'm the one who gets the coverage.”

Gesink didn't help his case with a crash while training two weeks ago, when he fractured his femur.  Although he is now recovering, he probably won't be racing again until next April.

It won't keep the 25-year-old out of next year's Tour de France, though. He is determined to ride. “If only because I have to put things right.”

Gesink Update

Successful surgery for Gesink

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/successful-surgery-for-gesink)

Robert Gesink has undergone successful surgery on his fractured right femur. The Rabobank rider suffered the serious injury in a training crash on Sunday.

The Rabobank rider had a pin installed in his leg on Sunday night at the Meander Medical Center in Amersfoort in the Netherlands. He will remain in hospital a few days, and must have ten days of absolute rest, before starting rehabilitation.

Rabobank sport director Erik Breukink said that Gesink did not remember how the crash happened.

The crash is another blow for the 26-year old after a difficult 12 months. His father died in October 2010 as the result of a cycling accident. Gesink started well in the season, winning two stages in the Tour of Oman en route to overall victory. A crash at the Tour de France left him with back and hip injuries and he finished the race 33rd overall. He recently he finished second in the GP de Quebec, and was looking forward to repeating his two-time win in the Giro dell'Emilia. Now his season is over and he faces a winter of rehabilitation and physiotherapy.

Gesink's place on the Worlds road team will be taken by Rabobank teammate Steve Kruijswijk.

In another team change, Dominique Rollin (FDJ) has withdrawn from the Canadian team. He has not recovered from injuries suffered in a crash at the GP de Montreal. His place on the road race will be taken by Michael Barry of Team Sky.