2012 Tour de France Stage 7, 7/07/12

July 7, Stage 7: Tomblaine - La Planche des Belles Filles 199km

Froome leads double Sky success on La Planche des Belles Filles

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-7/results)

In shades of the 2011 Vuelta a España, Christopher Froome  led a doubly successful stage for Team Sky on the first mountaintop finish of the 2012 Tour de France. He was the only one who could match and top Cadel Evans (BMC) in the brutal final 100 meters of the climb up La Planche des Belles Filles in the seventh stage. Evans was second, with Sky's Bradley Wiggins third.

Fabian Cancellara fought long and hard but had to drop back on the climb. Wiggins thus moved into the overall lead. Evans is now second at 10 seconds, with Vincenzo Nibali third at 16 seconds, as the top ten was tossed around.

“It wasn't the plan to go for the stage, it was just keeping Brad up there,” said an overjoyed Froome. “But we came to see the climb previously and I knew what the finish was like. I thought, 'I'm there, I've got the legs, why not give a kick and see what happens?' I gave it a nudge and couldn't believe when Cadel didn't follow my wheel."

The end result was the icing on the cake of a dominant performance by Team Sky, who drove the pace and whittled down the field on the newest climb in the Tour. They dropped several big names along the way, due to either crash-related injuries, mechanicals or simply an inability to stay with the high speed set mainly by Edvald Boasson Hagen, Michael Rogers and finally Richie Porte.

In the end, Froome and Wiggins led the high-powered group with Evans and Nibali into the final kilometer. The Froome-Wiggins combination was a familiar one from the 2011 Vuelta a Espana, and once again Froome showed his superior climbing abilities. Evans was the first to jump from the group as the gradient eased, and only Froome could go with him. As the road kicked up again, Froome passed the Australian to claim his first Tour de France stage victory.

“I was expecting someone to surge on that flat bit, and Cadel came through. I jumped onto his wheel. I could see him slowly hurting as the climb got steeper. that was fantastic for us. Having Bradley right there 2 seconds behind, We couldn't ask for more. It puts the team in a fantastic position going forward.

“I'm speechless. That was a dream come true. I never thought of winning a stage here. I'm chuffed to bits.”

While the main battle played out between Evans and Froome for the stage win, Vincenzo Nibali and Rein Taaramae had minor victories of their own, becoming the only other riders to hang onto the front of the race. The Cofidis rider moved into the white jersey of best young rider after Tejay Van Garderen was dropped early in the climb, while Nibali moved into third overall, now 16 seconds behind Wiggins.

With his stage win, Froome also displaced Michael Morkov as best climber, while Peter Sagan padded his lead in the points classification in the intermediate sprint.

A reduced field

There were 12 fewer riders at the start of the seventh stage, four of them having abandoned during Friday's stage. All eight DNF's today were victims of the many crashes in the sixth stage, including Giro d'Italia winner Ryder Hesjedal. They were soon enough joined by Anthony Delaplace of Saur-Sojasun.

About 20 km into the stage, an escape group formed and got away: Cyril Gautier (Europcar), Christophe Riblon (AG2R), Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank), Chris Anker Sorensen (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank), Dmitriy Fofonov (Astana), Martin Velits (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), and Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEdge). The gap reached a maximum of about six minutes before settling in at around five and a half minutes.

The only excitement in the first half of the stage came at the intermediate sprint. Orica-GreenEdge looked to determined to take the remaining points for Matt Goss, but the team seemed to have started its jump far too early. In the end, Peter Sagan of Liquigas sailed on by the Australian to add to his lead.

The first two climbs of the day – the Col de Grosse Pierre and the Col du Mont de Fourche (both category three) - did nothing at all. The seven leaders rolled right over them, although on the approach to the latter, Sanchez complained about the fans running alongside.

The gap finally started coming down for good with about 40 km – and the final category one climb – to go. As the road went up and the gap went down, more and more sprinters and injured riders fell back.

The Planche de Belles Filles was an unknown factor, as it was making its Tour debut. The 5.9km closing climb featured an average gradient of 8.5 percent, with sections up to 13 percent, and the final 100 meters at 14 percent.

Garmin was suffering the loss of three riders, with others having dropped back, but those remaining riders spent much time at the front of the field. They were finally replaced by Bosson Hagen, who led the capture of Gautier, the first rider to fall out of the lead group.

Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Lotto Belisol) suffered a mechanical with about 11km to go, and had to race hard to try and catch the field again. Adam Hansen was there to help him, but it was a long haul. Alejandro Valverde punctured shortly thereafter, so another top rider had dropped out of the main field.

Boasson Hagen put up such a speed that the field split. And only moments after starting the final climb, the lead group was caught. But the brutal pace and the new climb did their work, as more and more riders suffered, including Robert Gesink (Rabobank), Philippe Gilbert (BMC) ad Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep).

With five km still to climb, Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) had to bid farewell to the lead group, the overall lead and his yellow jersey. Only a small group went into the final four km – but neither Fränk Schleck nor Andreas Klöden was among them.

In there, though were Wiggins, Evans, Nibali, Boasson Hagen, Froome, Richie Porte, Rein Taramaae and Denis Menchov.

Froome, who proved himself in last year's Vuelta a Espana, took over from Boasson Hagen and pulled the increasingly smaller group up the final climb. Even Menchov fell back with less than two km to go.

Froome, Wiggins, Evans, Nibali and Taaramae went together unter the flamme rouge. Evans moved into the lead with 400 m to go and the sprint started. Taaramae was dropped it was Froome who made his move on the 14% gradient to take the win, with Evans taking second and Wiggins third.

Full Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling	4:58:35
2	Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team	0:00:02
3	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling
4	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:00:07
5	Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne	0:00:19
6	Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan	0:00:44
7	Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar	0:00:46
8	Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team
9	Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha Team	0:00:50
10	Maxime Monfort (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan	0:00:56

Favorite Pictures of the Day:

Sagan doing a wheelie as he crosses the finish line

L. Sanchez awarded Most Agressive Rider...after punching a spectator who got too close. :)

Dauphine, Wiggins, Tour de Suisse, Schleck, & Trek

Today was another great day for cycling news. Hence another long post.

Last stage in the Criterium du Dauphine:

June 10, Stage 7: Morzine - Châtel 126km

Bradley Wiggins retains his Critérium du Dauphiné title

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/criterium-du-dauphine-2012/stage-7/results)

Daniel Moreno (Katusha) won the final stage of the Criterium du Dauphine, whilst Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) easily secured his second consecutive overall title. Moreno slipped by Rabobank's Luis Leon Sanchez just before the finish line to take the win, with Cadel Evans of BMC Racing Team third.

The final stage with its five ranked climbs and category three mountaintop finish did not change the final podium. Wiggins took the overall win, with teammate Michael Rogers second and Evans third. Christopher Froome was fourth, giving Team Sky three of the top four slots.

Wiggins's lead was never in doubt over the stage, with Sky keeping a close eye on both the day's escape group and the competition for yellow. The dominant performance by both the captain and the team now make Wiggins the top favourite for the Tour de France.

Five more climbs and a mountaintop finish

The final stage of the Dauphine was anything but a simple run-in to the finish. Five ranked climbs were along the way, including the category one Col du Corbier only 24km from the finish.

Several small groups got away early on, before merging into a group of eight: Dmitriy Fofonov (Astana), Pierre Rolland (Europcar), Yaroslav Popovych (RadioShack), Christophe Le Mével (Garmin), Sylvain Chavanel and Stijn Vandenbergh (Omega), Jerome Coppel (Saur) and Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM). They never had much of a lead, and with 35km to go, only Chavanel, Rolland, Coppel and Westra were still away, with Chavanel the next to be dropped.

The trio took a 1:44 lead up the Corbier. Behind them, Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) was dropped on the climb, as he continued to struggle with injuries from a crash earlier in the race. Earlier Thomas Voeckler of Europcar had abandoned with knee problems.

Sky worked to protect Wiggins's lead, moving to the front of the field. BMC had the same idea, hoping to not only hold on to Evans's third place but perhaps also with a stage win in mind.

As the field neared the summit, a handful of riders tried to get away. They never really got away and eventually Wiggins himself calmly led the chase and catch.

It was a reduced field which flew down the many switchbacks of the descent. Vincenzo Nibali of Liquigas-Cannondale was at the head of things, and, after having been dropped the previous day, took off in an apparent attempt to salvage what he could.

Westra seemed to be struggling on that climb, and fell back for good on the descent, leaving Coppel and Rolland alone in the lead. Nibali was rapidly approaching, and the field wasn't far away either.

Nibali and Westra joined forces, but the Italian was unable to hold on, soon dropping back to the field. Westra was soon caught by the BMC-led field, as well, and with 13km to go, the gap was down to about 30 seconds to the two leaders.

With the two leaders in sight, Alexandre Geniez of Argos-Shimano took off out of the field. With some 6km to go, he caught them, but the field was only a few second back.

By then Katusha had moved to the head of the field, and with 5km to go, Rolland and Coppel shook hands and resigned themselves to their fate. They still took a minimal lead up the closing climb, but with 2.4km to go, they were all caught.
Katusha roared up the climb, with Evans noticeably close to the front in his green points jersey.

Evans made his move, but it was Luis Leon Sanchez who looked to have made the decisive move with 250m to go. But Moreno went with him and was able to slip past him at the last second for the win. Evans took third.

Stage Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team	2:59:37
2	Luis-Leon Sanchez (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team
3	Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
4	Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling
5	Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
6	Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica GreenEdge
7	Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
8	Dries Devenyns (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
9	Richie Porte (Aus) Sky Procycling
10	Michael Rogers (Aus) Sky Procycling	0:00:07

Final general classification

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	26:40:46
2	Michael Rogers (Aus) Sky Procycling	0:01:17
3	Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team	0:01:26
4	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:01:45
5	Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team	0:02:12
6	Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Movistar Team	0:02:58
7	Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team	0:03:07
8	Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:03:26
9	Richie Porte (Aus) Sky Procycling	0:03:34
10	Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Radioshack-Nissan	0:03:50

 

 

So Bradley Wiggins won overall. It was a great race for him and Team Sky! However, some people are saying that Wiggins hasn't even peaked yet, so I guess we'll see what he can do at the Tour de France:

 

Yates: Wiggins hasn’t peaked yet

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/yates-wiggins-hasnt-peaked-yet)

Team Sky’s Sean Yates believes that Bradley Wiggins has yet to hit top form, with plans for the Criterium du Dauphine leader to reach optimal condition at the Tour de France this year.

Yates, a former professional and now a team director at Sky, spoke after Sky demonstrated their stranglehold over the Dauphine field with a resounding performance on the Joux Plane on stage 6.

Today was also Stage 2 of the Tour de Suisse:

June 10, Stage 2: Verbania - Verbier 218.3km

Costa steals Schleck's thunder in Verbier

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-de-suisse-2012/stage-2/results)

Rui Costa (Movistar) delivered a master class in timing to win stage 2 of the Tour de Suisse with an attack on the final slopes up to Verbier. The Portuguese rider attacked inside the final two kilometres of the climb, reeling in Frank Schleck (RadioShack-Nissan) who had attacked with six kilometres to go. After making the catch inside the final 200 meters Schleck had little energy for the sprint and was forced to settle for second. Mikel Nieve (Euskaltel) finished third.

Costa’s win shifted him into the race’s overall lead after stage 1 winner Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) sat up with 12 kilometres to go.

Unlike the Dauphine, a race that this year shied away from a mountain top finish, the Tour de Suisse made no bones about including such stage conclusions, with a climb to Verbier featuring on the second stage.

Alessandro Bazzana (Team Type 1 – Sanofi) and Ryan Anderson (Spidertech powered by C10) were the early breakaway and it took a concerted effort from a number of teams, including a clearly motivated RadioShack, to bring them in check.

The pair were brought to check inside the final 30 kilometres as rain began to fall and the final climb loomed over the GC pretenders. On the early slopes RadioShack began unsettling a number of riders. As expected, Peter Sagan and his sprint rivals were quickly eliminated as Linus Gerdemann, Jakob Fuglsang and Maxime Monfort set the pace.

With 6 kilometres to go and the leading group already thinned to less than 40 riders, Schleck attacked. Within one kilometre the climber had established a 22 second buffer as Lampre struggled to mount a significant chase for Damiano Cunego.

John Gadret (AG2R) in his pink overshoes became frustrated, flying from the struggling bunch in a  bid to match and catch Schleck but all his move proved to do was drop Robert Gesink (Rabobank).

Tom Danielson (Garmin-Barracuda) took off and found himself alone, rather than initiating a serious attack, but he briefly persisted as the race went under the 2km to go banner. His move was the catalyst for Costa, who closed the gap and quickly dismantled Schleck’s lead.

The Portuguese rider, the only cyclist allocated Olympic funding for 2012, and winner of a stage in last year’s Tour ,caught the RadioShack rider inside the final 200 meters and as the line approached was the first to open his sprint. Schleck attempted to respond but was no match for the Movistar man.

 

Full Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team	6:21:13
2	Frank Schleck (Lux) RadioShack-Nissan	0:00:04
3	Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi	0:00:12
4	Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Katusha Team	0:00:13
5	Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
6	Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale	0:00:16
7	Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank
8	John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
9	Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team	0:00:18
10	Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Pro Team Astana	0:00:22

 

 

Trek Bikes also released their new Madone for the RSNT team:

 

Trek's new aero Madone for RadioShack-Nissan

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/treks-new-aero-madone-for-radioshack-nissan)

Trek's next-generation Madone isn't set for official release for another two weeks but RadioShack-Nissan riders were racing on it at the Critérium du Dauphiné. This new version borrows several key design features from the company's Speed Concept time trial machine, giving the Wisconsin company the aero road bike they’ve been missing for the past few years.

Much like Scott's Foil, the new Madone doesn't actually look all that slippery with its broad tubes and relatively shallow profiles. However, markings on the frame – not to mention strategically applied paint – point to a Kamm tail design with truncated airfoils that are said to mimic the aerodynamic benefits of a much deeper profile without violating UCI technical guidelines or sacrificing chassis weight and ride quality.

Trek have taken the radical step of moving the rear brake down below the chain stays. Just as significant, Trek has wholly adopted Shimano's new direct-mount interface, which does away with the traditional center mounting holes in the frame and fork and replaces them with twin posts on which the newly symmetrical calipers attach directly. In some ways, this is similar to the U-brake posts of old mountain bikes.

In theory, this design could save a few grams by virtue of the omitted caliper parts but the bigger expected benefit is a more direct lever feel and increased power thanks to reduced flex. In addition to locating the caliper arms closer to the base of the frame, the pivots themselves look to be adjustable for play for truly slop-free action.

Another side benefit is the more slender seat stay design. In contrast to the current version's wishbone layout, the new Madone stays are fully separate from dropout to seat tube and there's no bridge whatsoever. These changes could yield a more comfortable ride.

Given the more complicated position, the rear brake is built with a more convoluted X-shaped scissor linkage and the housing runs through the down tube. There's no barrel adjuster built into this end but seeing as how no rider would be able to safely use it anyway Trek has wisely opted to integrated one into the stop on the head tube.

Speaking of routing, Trek maintains fully internal paths throughout but with new easy-to-access ports on the head tube that provide a clea look with optional flush-fit plugs when using electronic transmissions.

Carryover features from the current Madone include a tapered 'e2' head tube, Trek's no-cut seatmast design, a pocket in the chain stay for a Bontrager Duotrap wireless speed and cadence sensor, and a 90mm-wide bottom bracket shell with correspondingly broad down tube and chain stay spacing and direct press-fit bearings.

And finally, how could I forget our buddy Andy Schleck? I have a new word to add to the dictionary:

Schleck: (verb) to give up because you aren't winning or getting your way. Ex: I 'schlecked' finishing this puzzle because it was too hard.

Andy Schleck: You can do a lot in three weeks

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/andy-schleck-you-can-do-a-lot-in-three-weeks)

Despite another disappointing display, Andy Schleck (RadioShack-Nissan) is hoping he can turn around his Tour de France preparations with training camps in the Alps and Pyrenees. The 2010 Tour de France winner abandoned midway through stage 6 of the Critérium du Dauphiné due to injuries sustained in a crash 48 hours previously.
He had already pulled out of Paris-Nice after just two stages and the Volta a Catalunya. A knee injury in May also affected his training.

“In bad things I always try to find the good things. The good thing is that I have done six stages. Some people will say ‘It is only three weeks till the Tour’ but you can also say it is ‘still’ three weeks to the start in Liège. You can do a lot in three weeks. That is my strength. I’ve shown it in the last years. I was not good in the Tour de Suisse but I was in the Tour de France. I won’t stop believing in it. I’ve worked hard for this.”

While Schleck has indeed shown almost miraculous turns of form before previous Tours, this year will take something truly special if he’s to stand any chance of competing with Bradley Wiggins and Cadel Evans – the two tipped favourites for July.

“It is just that bad luck is following me in the last months,” continued Andy Schleck. “I could not avoid it. Before this I had a left knee problem after my crash in a training camp in Sierra Nevada. It healed and then I improved. Even yesterday, after my crash I felt okay in the climbs. When I stayed in the saddle, my ribs hurt and I was suffering a lot but I came through the day. I was improving in the climbs and I was okay on the Grand Colombier.”

Schleck returned to Luxumbourg and will have an MRI scan on Monday in order to diagnose his injuries. Until then, his Tour participation is in question.

“After the crash we had hoped Andy could at least finish the Dauphiné because he needs the races and the efforts,” said team boss Johan Bruyneel.

“It is not good what happened today. If you are dealing with problems and trying to catch up on form and then when you start to build up and see some improvements but you have a setback again through a crash or an injury, you never have a solid foundation. Andy’s situation is not a good sign for his Tour preparation, especially if you look now at the level of his competitors. For the moment there is not much we can do. It is a difficult situation.”

2012 Criterium du Dauphine Stage 6

The Queen's stage of the Criterium du Dauphine was not a good stage for the more known RadioShack Nissan Trek riders. Although this should come as no surprise, but Andy Schleck abandoned the stage. Also, with his 2nd place finish, Cadel Evans was able to take the Points Jersey from Tony Gallopin. But, on the plus side, a RSNT rider, Haimar Zubeldia, crossed the finish line in 10th place today and Tiago Machado crossed the line 14th. Machado was also part of a 19-man breakaway today.

In the Dauphine today, Brice Feillu managed to get a good lead on the peleton, but he was caught before the end. I was hoping he would win because I randomly chose him on my Road.cc fantasy cycling team when I changed up my roster last night. He had a good run, I'm just sad he couldn't hold off to win. However, the Sky Team is doing an amazing job keeping Bradley Wiggins in the lead.

Andy Schleck abandons Criterium du Dauphine

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/andy-schleck-abandons-criterium-du-dauphine)

Andy Schleck's Criterium du Dauphine has gone from bad to worse, and the RadioShack-Nissan captain threw in the towel on Saturday's sixth stage, abandoning the race. He had come into the penultimate stage in 129th place, over 29 minutes behind race leader Bradley Wiggins.

Schleck had not performed well in any stage, but his worst stage was the fifth, when he lost nearly 14 minutes. He explained his early poor performance was due to knee problems which cost him a week's training in May.

He then crashed heavily in Thursday's windy time trial, and suffered a heavy blow to his right aide and ribcage, as well as severe road rash. After Friday's stage, he declared his intentions to continue in the race, saying, “I’ve abandoned too many times this year already.”

June 9, Stage 6: Saint-Alban-Leysse - Morzine 166.5km

Dauhpine: Wiggins and Sky dominate the Joux Plane

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/criterium-du-dauphine-2012/stage-6/results)

Nairo Quintana (Movistar) won the sixth stage of the Criterium du Dauphine, holding off not only Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team) but also Team Sky. Evans broke from the small group of favourites to finish second, 16 seconds down, with Daniel Moreno of Katusha leading the group across the finish line another eight seconds later.

Bradley Wiggins easily defended his lead, but there were changes behind him. Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) had fallen back on the brutal final climb, and also fell off the podium. Evans attacked near the end but it was not enough to bring him a significant gain, but with Martin gone Michael Rogers moved up to second and Evans to third.

A large escape group had broken away early and stayed away much of the stage. Brice Feillu (Saur-Sojasun) broke from the group on the penultimate ascent, and was able to stay away until near the top of the final climb. The rest of the break group had been caught earlier on the climb.

The day saw a number of riders abandon, but the most significant was Andy Schleck. The RadioShack-Nissan rider was suffering from injuries caused by a crash in the stage four time trial, and had to drop out after 65 kilometres.

However, the stage was a masterful piece of work by Team Sky, with three riders staying with Wiggins until the end, and never showing any signs of weakness. Christopher Froome climbed in to fourth place, giving the British team first, second and fourth places overall. Still, the stage also showed that their competition was weak. Evans was left to fend for himself on the final climb, and top names like Martin and Vincenzo Nibali were unable to conquer the final climb.

Six climbs on the race's queen stage

The race started with the ascent of the category one-ranked Col de Plainpalais, and almost immediately Andy Schleck had difficulties. He only made it to the third ascent of the day before leaving the race.

Others were luckier, and a large escape group formed on that first climb. Petr Ignatenko, Alberto Losada and Yuriy Trofimov (Katusha), Thomas Voeckler and Pierre Rolland (Europcar), Blel Kadri and Christophe Riblon (AG2R), Tiago Machado (RadioShack), Maciej Paterski and Cayetano Sarmiento (Liquigas), Rémy Di Gregorio and David Moncoutié (Cofidis), Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel), Mario Marzano (Lampre), Jesus Hernandez (Saxo Bank), Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma), Brice Feillu (Saur - Sojasun), Alexandre Geniez (Argos) and Matteo Carrara (Vacansoleil) formed the large group which had a lead of up to three and a half minutes on the early part of the stage.
The day's course was not an easy one, as it featured six ranked climbs, including the opening Col de Plainpalais. the category one Col de Colombiere and closing with the Col de Joux Plane (hors categorie), although there was no mountaintop finish.

At around the feeding zone, Andrey Grivko of Astana attacked out of the peloton. It took a long time, but he was able to meet up with the escape group on the descent of the Colombiere.

The category 3 Cote de Chatillon popped up between the two final larger climbs, and Feillu took advantage of it to break from the group.

The expected – or at least, hoped-for – fireworks for the GC never happened. Team Sky had the peloton in full control, with race leader Bradley Wiggins well protected. He kept a close eye on second-placed Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep).

The gap between the peloton and the large escape group remained fairly constant, but Feillu built up his lead over the group. His lead got to be too much for Lotto Belisol, who moved up to help Sky with the lead work. The chase soon showed effect, as the gap fell by about a minute.

Feillu started up the final climb with a three minute lead. And the start of the climb was the cue for Evans' BMC team to move to the head of the field. The pace was high enough that many rides started dropping off the back of the field, as Lotto Belisol and Sky reclaimed the head of the peloton.

The field splintered entirely, with Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana), Philippe Gilbert (BMC) and Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) all dropped.

Feillu clung doggedly to his shrinking lead, and the one-time break group shattered as well. They were finally caught by the Sky-led group, just as Tony Martin had to drop back.

Richie Porte and Edvald Boasson Hagen were the main locomotives for Sky on the climb, putting in monstrous efforts.
Quintana made his move with some 15km to go, trying to bridge up to Feillu. Wiggins still had three teammates with him, including Michael Rogers who looked to move up to second after Martin’s capitulation. Evans had only one teammate at his side, but was soon alone in the small group.

Feillu didn't make it alone to the top of the climb. Quintana caught and passed him and Feillu quickly fell back through the Wiggins group. The Movistar rider took a 22 second gap into the descent.

Evans finally jumped on the descent, with 12km to go. He never had more than a few metres, and Sky quickly and calmly gathered him back in.

It was a fast and dangerous descent. Quintano went all out and wobbled a few times on the tricky curves, but was able to add a few seconds to his narrow lead.

Evans pulled away again with just over 5km to go. But he had left it too late to put in enough time to take the overall lead, and Sky was more concerned with coming down the mountain in one piece.

The Australian was hoping to catch and pass Quintana for the stage win, but the Colombian was in fact increasing his lead on the Wiggins group with every corner. Quintana took the win with a comfortable gap over Evans, with the Wiggins group coming in a few seconds later.

Full Results

1	Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team	4:46:12
2	Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team	0:00:16
3	Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team	0:00:24
4	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling
5	Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica GreenEdge
6	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling
7	Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Movistar Team
8	Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
9	Michael Rogers (Aus) Sky Procycling
10	Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan



2012 Dauphine Stage 4 - ITT

Well, Andy Schleck had to do another Individual Time Trial today; this one at 53km. Its hard to gauge his improvement when 12km into it, he crashes. Then he punctures once he got on the replacement bike...

I guess we'll have to see what July holds for us:

Andy Schleck crashes in Critérium du Dauphiné time trial

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/andy-schleck-crashes-in-criterium-du-dauphine-time-trial)

Andy Schleck's fitness has been a major talking point at the Critérium du Dauphiné to date, but the RadioShack-Nissan rider was denied the chance to gauge his time trialling form when he crashed early on stage 4.

The Luxembourger came a cropper in the stiff winds that buffeted the 53.5km time trial course from Villié-Morgon to Bourg-en-Bresse; rounding a sharp right hand bend 12 kilometres into his effort, a sudden gust caught his rear disc wheel, and Schleck duly took a tumble.

Although Schleck was quickly back on his spare bike, a puncture shortly afterwards added insult to injury, and he opted not to take any further risks as the wind continued to wreak havoc on his cornering.

"When we did the parcours this morning the wind wasn't like that," a dejected Schleck said afterwards. "I had a good start and good feelings until there. After that, I kept on going but I didn't have the concentration after that. I just wanted to get to the finish. I couldn't go in the [time trial] position anymore."

Addressing a group of reporters huddled around a team van near the finish line, Schleck was at least able to count his blessings as far injuries are concerned. Although his skinsuit was torn around his right hip, Schleck reported road rash but no broken bones as a result of his fall.

"After a crash you get on the bike and you have the adrenaline for the first few kilometres, but after a while my ribs hurt and my hand hurt," Schleck said. "Still, I'm sitting here and not in an ambulance, so that's a good sign."

Schleck bristled slightly when it was put to him that he may have erred in choosing disc wheels on such a windy course. "Maybe if you have 85 kilos it's easier to stay on the bike," he said tersely. "The wind was playing with me a bit out there, so it's a good warning maybe for the other guys.

"I started with the first guys and nobody was out there before me [to warn about the conditions – ed]. The wind came just as I started."

Of course, Schleck was among the early starters expressly because he had been so out of sorts in the opening days of the Dauphiné, coughing up chunks of time on the first two road stages.

But then, the 26-year-old Schleck is already an old hand when it comes to churning out sub-par performances in June before undergoing a remarkable transfiguration in July.

"Everybody is asking my form, but then every year people ask about it," he said. "In years gone by, I've always been a bit behind at the Tour de Suisse and then I've always been up there at the Tour de France. And now, [by riding the Dauphiné – ed.] I'm a week ahead, so I'm not worried at all for the Tour."

The more immediate goal is to stay in touch with the likes of Bradley Wiggins (Sky) and Cadel Evans (BMC) on the road to Morzine on Saturday: "Tomorrow, I'm probably not going to feel great on the bike, but I hope to stay with the best on the Joux Plane. Every day, I'm feeling better and better."

Bruyneel – we wanted a time trial test

Schleck and his brother Fränk's rapport with manager Johan Bruyneel has been the subject of considerable media scrutiny in recent weeks, but after phoning the start line to warn his remaining riders about the dangers of using disc wheels, Bruyneel told reporters that his rider had started Thursday's time trial at a decent tempo.

"It's a pity because I think he'd started well," he said. "We weren't expecting him to do a super time trial but the plan was for him to give a constant effort for 50km. I think physically he was going quite well today. He wasn't going to lose the kind of time that a lot of other people were."

While Schleck will continue in the Dauphiné as the race enters the high mountains, Bruyneel was disappointed that he had been denied the chance to test himself against the watch, particularly given the similarities in distance between this time trial, and the Tour de France's penultimate stage to Chartres. Forced to switch bikes following his accident, Schleck will now have no SRM data from his effort.

"He's a climber, so we know already how good he is in the mountains," Bruyneel said wistfully. "This time trial was a great test and we weren't able to do it."

(Picture: http://twitpic.com/9tr392 via @davidopoczynski - Twitter)

June 7, Stage 4 - (ITT): Villié-Morgon - Bourg-en-Bresse 53km

Wiggins takes resounding victory in time trial

 

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/criterium-du-dauphine-2012/stage-4-itt/results)

Bradley Wiggins (Sky) flew to the win of the 53km stage 4 time trial in the Criterium du Dauphine, beating world champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) by a whopping 34 seconds. Former world champion Michael Rogers, also of Sky, was third at 1:11 down.

"It was a solid time trial for everyone today, there was no way of bluffing it or fluking it," said Wiggins. "It was a real test in the conditions. It's just nice to be out there in that discipline after all the training we've spent on the time trial bike over the winter and in the last few weeks.

"To beat the world champion is a big thing as I've not finished ahead of Tony many times in the past. I beat him at Algarve at the start of the season but that was by milliseconds so to do it by a clear margin this time is a huge satisfaction.

"We've been chasing Tony for a long time – he raised the bar at the world championship last year so that was a starting point for us; to work towards trying to get close to him. It's by no means going to be the same every time trial we do from now on but it's something nice to show the kids when they are older! However I don't think you can look into it too much. It's not a form guide for the Tour de France, it's just how you happened to go on one particular day but it's definitely a nice position to be in."

Martin was pragmatic in his assessment of his runner-up result to Wiggins.

"Today I had no super legs," Martin said. "It took a while to get into the rhythm of the race. At the beginning I wasn't really concentrated, but I got better. I know when and why I lost, so it is OK for me. Bradley did a great race. As for me, maybe today I was a little bit tired. I did a lot of training for the Tour of Belgium, and a lot of training after the race to prepare for the Tour de France."

The loser of the day was Cadel Evans, who was nearly caught by his two-minute man, Wiggins. The BMC rider finished eighth on the day, and lost 1:42 on the overall rankings.

Evans in fact fell from second to fifth overall. Martin is now second, 38 seconds behind Wiggins. Rogers is third at 1:20 and Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) fourth at 1:38.

Wiggins covered the 53km from Villié-Morgon to Bourg-en-Bresse in 1:02:12. He almost caught Evans, who started two minutes ahead of him, as they neared the finish line.

Andy Schleck's bad luck continued as he crashed 12km into the stage, a victim of the strong winds which ruled the day. The RadioShack-Nissan rider ended the day with the eighth-slowest time, 10:47 in arrears of Wiggins.

Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEdge) set the early best times at both intermediate time checks and the finish, and remained in the hot seat for a long time. But then along came young Wilco Kelderman of Rabobank, who set better times all along and in fact finished an impressive fourth on the day. The Dutchman nearly came to grief in sight of the finish, narrowly escaping a crash on the final corner as he came into the left hand turn carrying too much speed.

After Kelderman the best times kept changing rapidly. Michael Rogers (Sky), who is enjoying a comeback this year after several rather invisible seasons, took his turn atop the leader's board. Martin then roared in with a new best time.

But the sensation of the day was the overnight race leader, Wiggins. The Briton was third at the first intermediate time check, at 11 seconds down, but charged up to lead Martin by 36 seconds at the 40km time check, before cruising in to win easily.

Interestingly, Great Britain and Australia both claimed three spots in the day's top ten, and Sky took three spots: first, third and sixth.

 

 

Full Results

1	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	1:03:12
2	Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep	0:00:34
3	Michael Rogers (Aus) Sky Procycling	0:01:11
4	Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:01:26
5	Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quickstep	0:01:33
6	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling
7	Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica GreenEdge	0:01:38
8	Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team	0:01:43
9	David Millar (GBr) Garmin - Barracuda	0:01:51
10	Luis-Leon Sanchez (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:01:54

2012 Critérium du Dauphiné Stage 2

June 5, Stage 2: Lamastre - Saint-Félicien 160km

Moreno wins stage 2 of the Dauphiné

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/criterium-du-dauphine-2012/stage-2/results)

Daniel Moreno (Katusha) won stage 2 of the Critérium du Dauphiné from Lamastre to Saint-Félicien, beating Julien Simon (Saur-Sojasun) and Tony Gallopin (RadioShack-Nissan) in a sprint finish.

Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) and Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) finished together with the Sky rider retaining his one-second advantage in the battle for yellow.

Moreno launched his sprint perfectly inside the final 200 meters as the bunch tackled an uphill finish to Saint-Félicien. The Katusha rider latched onto a late attack from Tony Martin (Omega-Pharma QuickStep) before accelerating away with an uphill effort that his teammate Joaquim Rodriguez would have been proud of.

Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Lotto Belisol Team), Rinaldo Nocentini (AG2R La Mondiale), Gallopin and Simon attempted to give chase but were unable to stop the Spaniard from taking his third win of the season.

Rémi Pauriol (FDJ-Big Mat) and Maxime Mederel (Saur - Sojasun) orchestrated the first notable move of the day but interest in their progress rose further when they were joined by a group containing race leader Wiggins, Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale), Boasson Hagen (Team Sky), Philippe Gilbert (BMC), Michael Rogers (Team Sky), Bram Tankink (Rabobank) and Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-QuickStep). Such a move was too dangerous and was soon nullified.

Chavanel, himself an outside bet for overall honours, pressed on alone but even his will and desire knew with Wiggins leading Sky was unlikely to let a contender of any sort up the road and when no assistance arrived the Frenchman sat up.

It was another Frenchman though, the talismanic David Moncoutie (Cofidis) who tried his luck on the slopes of the first climb of six, the Col de Montivernoux. Moncoutie rarely puts a foot wrong when choosing the right moment, and 13 riders were quickly across. The move lacked harmony and when Moncoutie stamped on the pedals once more, he was left with Christophe Kern (Europcar), Blel Kadri (AG2R), and José Sarmiento (Liquigas-Cannondale).

Kadri may have been within 11 seconds of Wiggins' lead but this was manageable situation and as the break pressed on toward Saint-Félicien, Sky monitored their progress.

The lead stretched out towards four minutes with Kadri leading Kern over the top of each climb in an attempt take the KOM lead from Giovanni Bernaudeau (Europcar). However Bernaudeau countered at each turn, grabbing fifth on a number of climbs in a successful bid to hold his lead.

When the predictable happened and Sky upped their pace, the break's lead spiralled towards the minute mark. Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) harried a small counter attack but with Danny Pate and Kanstantsin Siutsou (both of Sky) on the front of the bunch any move was almost futile.

That was until Sky called a halt to their day's efforts and Wesley Sulzberger (Orica GreenEdge) launched his move. He was joined by a handful of willing collaborators but Anthony Roux was the keenest, answering Sulzberger's next acceleration and then plummeting down the col de Fontaille in pursuit of Kern and company. Sulzberger was left to wait for the bunch as Roux cut through the minute gap.

It was then the turn of another aggressive French team, Saur - Sojasun, to make an impression chasing Roux, who had made it to the lead break. Kadri and Roux gave one last throw of the dice before BMC assumed control of the field.

Full Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team	4:02:38
2	Julien Simon (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
3	Tony Gallopin (Fra) Radioshack-Nissan
4	Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
5	Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
6	Luis-Leon Sanchez (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team
7	Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
8	Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team
9	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling
10	Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar

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