2012 Tour de France Stage 4, 7/04/12

July 4, Stage 4: Abbeville - Rouen 214.5km

Greipel wins Tour de France stage in Rouen

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-4/results)

Andre Greipel (Lotto Belisol) opened his account at the 2012 Tour de France with a sprint victory in Rouen. The German came off the wheel of lead-out man Greg Henderson and powered to the stage win ahead of Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-ISD) and Tom Veelers (Argos-Shimano).

However, the build-up to the sprint was marred by a crash with 2.5km remaining as several sprinters hit the tarmac, including world champion Mark Cavendish (Sky). Bernhard Eisel, Cavendish's teammate and Robbie Hunter (Garmin-Sharp) also hit the deck, with Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) lucky to escape the carnage.

But Lotto made their own luck, controlling the peloton through the final few kilometres and delivering Greipel to a winning position. It drew memories of HTC's former dominance, not just in the fact that five of Lotto's current cast came through the Highroad ranks but also in their efficient nature. While they assumed the mantle of responsibility the other sprinters, including Cavendish, were left fighting for their positions.

"I'm so happy today. I am so happy to have those guys on my side, such strong riders to lead me out. This is what we wanted to reach today, winning a stage," Greipel said at the finish.

Greipel, it must be noted, was the only top level sprinter to pass on competing in the intermediate sprint but Peter Sagan consolidated his lead in the battle for green with a sixth place in Fécamp. He also navigated through the crash to finish 5th on the stage, just one place behind Matthew Goss, who was never able to come on terms with his ex-teammate. Sagan now leads the race for green with 147 points with Goss next on 92.

The top of general classification remains unchanged as Fabian Cancellara continues in the yellow jersey with a seven-second lead over Bradley Wiggins (Sky) and Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-QuickStep).

Battered riders welcome calm start

After yesterday's chaos came the calm, with a 214 kilometre stage from Abbeville to Rouen. With no wind and only four fourth categorised climbs the peloton was in no mood to see a repeat of yesterday's events. So there was little surprise when a three-man break, comprised of Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar), Anthony Delaplace (Saur-Sojasun) and David Moncoutie (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne), was allowed to escape.

With no GC threat in the break's ranks the trio was allowed to build its lead to over 8 minutes while the bunch meandered along the French coastline. RadioShack-Nissan, with Cancellara in yellow, was obliged to keep the gap in check and dutifully set tempo on the front.

At the back of the bunch Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank) and Tom Danielson (Garmin-Sharp) nursed their broken bones, riding in single file with the sole ambitions of finishing. The gradual pace was a godsend.

At the intermediate sprint in Fécamp, Arashiro took the maximum points but the race behind briefly came to life when the peloton approached. Cavendish showed a clean pair of heels to Goss and Renshaw, with Sagan sweeping up a consolatory 9 points. Greipel's absence from the action was an ominous sign, though, and in his post-stage press conference he confirmed that the battle for green was of no interest.

With RadioShack-Nissan having performed the majority of the chase work it was the sprinters' teams who finished off the break's last ray of hope with 8.5 kilometres to go. FDJ-Big Mat, Katusha, Orica GreenEdge and Lotto Belisol showed their intentions while Sky and Rabobank briefly sat back.

An immediate counter-attack containing Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis), Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), only seven seconds off the race lead of Fabian Cancellara, plus Wout Poels (Vacansoleil-DCM) gained a small advantage, but this trio, too, was neutralised with 3.5 kilometers to go.

And then the crash: Cavendish, Eisel and Hunter were among those involved, the Austrian left with a gash on his forehead, while the world champion was left sitting on the French tarmac, his stage hopes and green jersey aspirations almost over.

Sagan and Cancellara avoided the bodies and bikes but the peloton was shattered to pieces. Argos-Shimano, Lotto Belisol and Orica GreenEdge had virtually intact lead-outs but Lotto, with Henderson, Hansen, Roelandts and Sieberg, had the survivors in check.

"We had Lars [Bak] up at the front working," Hansen said at the finish. "Towards the end there was a bit of a climb and Lars held his position well. Then we had Jelle doing the climb. Then from the top of the climb, it was my job to keep them in front, using the guys from the other teams and sitting on them, always keeping a good position and then I let go about two and a half and there were two guys behind me from different teams and that was good. And behind them there was Sieberg, Roelandts, then Greg did his work and André finished it off. It was perfect."

Goss and Petacchi, the latter racing without a final lead-out man, were left to fight it out for Greipel's rear wheel but this was textbook Greipel. Often he can go missing in the messy sprints but if delivered to the final 200 meters he is Cavendish's closest rival. Petacchi made a late surge on the German's right but it wasn't enough, the Italian no longer the sprinter he once was.

Full Results

 

1	André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team	5:18:32
2	Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre - ISD
3	Tom Veelers (Ned) Argos-Shimano
4	Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
5	Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale
6	Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
7	Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
8	Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
9	Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling
10	Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi

2012 Giro d'Italia Stage 20

May 26, Stage 20: Caldes/Val di Sole - Passo dello Stelvio 218km

De Gendt wins Giro d'Italia penultimate stage atop the Stelvio

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/giro-ditalia/stage-20/results)

Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil-DCM) took the biggest victory of his career, winning atop the Stelvio on the queen stage of the Giro d'Italia with a superb display. Damiano Cunego of Lampre took second place and third went to Mikel Nieve (Euskaltel-Euskadi).

The maglia rosa stayed with Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) who crossed the finish line over three minutes later, and he managed to make good the thirteen seconds he had lost to Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Barracuda) the previous day.

“I did not expect that,” De Gendt, 25, said. “I attacked on the Mortirolo, because the descents is very dangerous. All the pieces came together. Carrara was was still in the lead. He helped me a lot."

“And I know the Stelvio very well. I have trained there for six years. I've climbed it 20 or 30 times. It's very nice to win on my mountain."

The five brutal climbs did their job in separating the wheat from the chaff, but there were no decisive moves by the favourites until the final climb. They stuck together virtually the whole way, with Ivan Basso (Liquigas) losing contact only in the final kilometres.

De Gendt didn't make the podium, but moved up from eighth to fourth, pushing Basso down to fifth place. Hesjedal defended his second place, and good chances of taking the overall title in Sunday's time trial. He owed much of today's accomplishments to the good work of Christian Vande Velde, who was ordered back out of the lead group and subsequently pulled Hesjedal – and the rest of the favourites – up much of Stelvio. Michele Scarponi again showed he was stronger than Basso, who fell back on the final climb.

Things got off to an early start for the race's queen stage, over five climbs. The peloton was still together as it started up the first of the day's climbs, the category 3 Passo del Tonale. It may have been only category 3 but it was still enough for tired non-climbers to start dropping off the back.

The break of the day finally got away on the climb: Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Barracuda), Roman Kreuziger (Astana), Damiano Caruso (Liquigas), Jose Serpa (Androni Giocattoli), Branislaw Samoilau (Movistar), Oliver Zaugg (RadioShack), Marco Carrara (Vacansoleil-DCM), Mathias Frank (BMC), Matteo Bono (Lampre), Alexander Kristoff (Katusha), Tom Slagter (Rabobank), and Matteo Rabottini (Farnese Vini).

The Passo del Tonale was also the end of the race for four riders. Robert Hunter (Garmin-Barracuda), Andrea Guardini (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia), Dominique Rollin (FDJ-Big Mat) and Ivan Velasco (Euskaltel-Euskadi) were all disqualified by the race jury for hanging on to team cars, and removed from the race.

The gap jumped to six minutes after the second climb, but dropped to about three and half minutes as the lead group started up the Mortirolo.

The grueling grind up the Mortirolo with an average gradient of 10.4% and a maximum of 21%, took its toll, blasting apart the lead group. Oliver Zaugg (RadioShack-Nissan) and Matteo Carrara (Vacansoleil) were the last men standing only 4km up the brutal climb. Behind them, the peloton also fell apart, with Lampre leading the way, perhaps in hope of helping Michele Scarponi move up in the overall standings.

Caruso moved up to the front, as Carrara weakened. Vande Velde and Serpa joined forces with Carrara on the chase. Even the climbers suffered. King of the Mountains Rabottini fell out of the lead group on the climb and was soon absorbed back in the peloton.

Vande Velde and Serpa dropped Carrara and were able to join Caruso and Zaugg in the lead up the climb. Amador was also able to move up to the leaders, making it a quintet in the lead. Zaugg took off from his companions as they neared the top. He really took off as he hit a flat-to-descending section near the top.

Even the 22% gradient near the top didn't significantly slow down Zaugg, and he made his way through the screaming throngs to the top.

Vande Velde fell back on the descent, and the favourites' group got larger again. Thomas De Gendt had jumped earlier, and more and more riders jumped to join him, with Carrara leading the way for him, Nieve Cunego and Losada.

With about 40km to go – and the Stelvio looming nearer – the favourites' group seemed to call a cease fire, slowing down for a break, as riders further behind them on GC taking their chances and jumping out. Zaugg's gap skyrocketed to nearly six minutes.

Eventually a six-man group formed to chase Zaugg, with riders from the former lead group and those who had managed to move up. All the gaps slowly came down again.

With 30.4km to go, the six caught and swallowed up Zaugg. Vande Velde had evidently been called back and was now supporting captain Hesjedal. The field, by now fairly large again, took advantage of the short flat section between the final two climbs to cut the gap.

The leading group took a four-minute gap as they started up the Stelvio. Zaugg paid for his earlier efforts and was no longer able to stay with the others.

With some 16.5km of climbing left, De Gendt jumped, followed by Nieve. Cunego struggled to remain in sight of the duo, while Amador and Kangert disappeared from view.

Vande Velde ground things away at the head of the maglia rosa group, holding the pace high enough to bring the group down to15 riders or so. Cunego clawed his way back to the two leaders, catching them with about 13km to go.

But almost immediately De Gendt attacked again, and the other two couldn't go with him. With jis jersey wide open and flapping, he seemed to have an easy time going up the climb, and in fact the gap to the maglia rosa group grew again, to over four minutes. And with every meter, he moved his way up in the rankings. In fact, he was getting dangerously close to knocking Hesjedal out of second place, and the gap was 5:05 as the favourites crossed under the 10km banner.

Vande Velde finally fell back, after having done countless kilometres of lead work. Meanwhile the riders passed the first snow fields along the way. With about 5km to go, the maglia rosa group took a look around to sum up the situation. Hesjedal moved to the front of the group, looking for, but not getting, help from the others.

De Gendt was obviously suffering as he hit the 3km marker, but over five minutes behind him, the maglia rosa group wasn't doing much better. Basso dropped off, and soon only Hesjedal, Rodriguez and Scarponi were together.

The Belgian crossed the finish line after a day's ride of nearly six hours, but barely able to celebrate his win. Cunego crossed the finish line 55 seconds later, and Nivel came in for third at 2:50

Scarponi, Rodriguez and Hesjedal gave gas at the end, and were able to cut the gap to reasonable poportsion. Rodriguez came in at 3:22 and Hesjedal at 3:35.

Full Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team	6:54:41
2	Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - ISD	0:00:56
3	Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi	0:02:50
4	Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team	0:03:22
5	Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre - ISD	0:03:34
6	Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Barracuda	0:03:36
7	John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale	0:04:29
8	Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling	0:04:53
9	Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Sky Procycling	0:04:55
10	Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale

2012 Giro d'Italia Stage 18

May 24, Stage 18: San Vito di Cadore - Vedelago 139km

Guardini has Cavendish's number in Vedelago

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/giro-ditalia/stage-18/results)

He’d waited almost three weeks but in the sprinters’ final opportunity Andrea Guardini (Farnese Vini - Selle Italia) finally delivered, winning stage 18 of the Giro d’Italia. It was a triumph worth waiting for, worth the jibes he’d received from the Italian press who questioned why he had failed to impress in any of the previous sprints, and certainly worth remaining in the race for after so many of his sprint rivals had packed up and gone home.

Finishing ahead of Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) and Roberto Ferrari (Androni) the Farnese rider has finally arrived on the big stage.

“I’m still very young and I’ve got to develop a lot as a rider. I’ve really suffered on the climbs in this Giro d’Italia but 198 riders started the Giro and now there’s only 168 left. That proves something," Guardini said.

“During the first week of the Giro d’Italia I didn’t believe in myself enough. I’d been struggling in the sprints and things hadn’t been going my way. I knew this sprint was the last chance I had. I knew it suited me because it was so flat. I knew my chance was today or that I’d have to wait until next year. I knew I could beat Cavendish but I knew I had to jump first and by doing that today, I’ve realised what I can do.”

“The difference between winning this sprint and winning one after 250km of racing all comes down to experience. A few years ago Cavendish struggled on the climbs and he’s amazing, as he proved by winning Milano-Sanremo at the first attempt and at my age. I think I’m a similar kind of sprinter as Cavendish but my idol was Robbie McEwen who retired a few days ago.”

Stage 18 from San Vito Cardore to Vedelago, less than 150km long and on flat and downhill roads, marked the sprinters last chance of taking a stage and everything pointed towards Cavendish’s fourth stage win of the race. Matthew Goss, Mark Renshaw and Theo Boss had long since left the race and Cavendish, who snapped up the maximum points on offer at the day’s intermediate sprint, looked as hungry as ever.

The world champion appeared crowded out though as the peloton raced towards the line. With Peter Kennaugh out of the race Sky was missing a key ingredient from its train and Bernhard Eisel and Geraint Thomas were forced to work overtime inside the final 10 kilometres. Omega Pharma-Quickstep and Saxo Bank decided to take charge but inside the final kilometre Eisel nudged his way through the chaos and towards the front. Thomas and Cavendish were glued to his wheel and the stage winning headlines were being prepared.

There was the inevitable and messy scramble for the world champion’s wheel, a position almost as difficult to achieve as a sprint win itself. Roberto Ferrari and Guardini were the principle contenders, with the Farnese rider eventually yielding as Thomas hit the front inside the final 500.

But while Cavendish’s glory looked almost inevitable, an Italian 22-year-old from Pregnago thought otherwise, launching his sprint just as Cavendish raised himself from the saddle. The Italian went on the right, first around Ferrari and then the tiring Thomas as Cavendish struggled on the left.

As Cavendish looked to his right the writing was on the wall, and Guardini was able to raise his hands and saviour the biggest day in his career. A new winner, a new headline, a new sprinter has arrived.

After yesterday’s mammoth stage through the Dolomites and the legendary climb up the Passo Giau, the riders at this year’s Giro d’Italia set off for their final flat stage of the race. In usual circumstances the prospect of just 139 kilometres would be walk in the park. However after nearly three-weeks of racing, and with a number of teams still without a stage win, stage 18 was always destined to be tougher than expected.

After just 20 kilometres the first break formed with Manuele Boaro (Saxo Bank), Stef Clement (Rabobank), Pier Paolo De Negri (Farnese Vini) and Angelo Pagani (Colnago-CSF Inox) going clear. Their lead stretched to 3 minutes before Sky and Omega Quickstep began to muster their troops.

With an intermediate sprint at kilometre 84 and Cavendish keen to claim as many points as possible ahead of a mountain double header and time trial Sky stretched themselves to bring the break back.

And once the British sprinter achieved the first aim of the day Sky allowed another move to go clear.

Clement was present again, clearly hoping he could rescue Rabobank’s poor Giro single-handedly. On this occasion he was joined by Martijn Keizer (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team), Olivier Kaisen (Lotto Belisol Team) and Mickael Delage (FDJ-Big Mat).

Kaisen had more breakaway kilometres in his legs than any other rider in the race - 639 – with Keizer a close second at 612 and the foursome built up a lead approaching a minute with 46 kilometres remaining.

Sky reacted by putting the dependable Ian Stannard on the front, and the lone Sky rider kept the gap in check before a number of teams rolled up their sleeves and joined the pursuit.

Delage was the last man standing, and was briefly joined by Lars Bak, but the pair were never given much leeway, a gap of 11 seconds their biggest buffer.

Caught inside the final 4 kilometres it all came back together.

Full Results

1	Andrea Guardini (Ita) Farnese Vini - Selle Italia	3:00:52
2	Mark Cavendish (GBr) Sky Procycling
3	Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
4	Robert Hunter (RSA) Garmin - Barracuda
5	Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank
6	Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) RadioShack-Nissan
7	Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha Team
8	Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
9	Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
10	Dennis Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team