2012 Tour de France Stage 8, 7/08/12

July 8, Stage 8: Belfort - Porrentruy 157.5km

Pinot rides to glory in Porrentruy

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-8/results)

Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) pulled off a famous home victory in stage 8 of the 2012 Tour de France. The Tour’s youngest competitor passed leader Frederik Kessiakoff (Astana) with 17km to race and launched a bold attack that left him with enough of a gap to hold off a host of big name challengers who pursued him intensely, but ultimately in vain, over the final kilometres. There were ecstatic scenes of jubilation from the home fans and from Pinot’s team as he crossed the line with 26 seconds to spare.

Cadel Evans (BMC) took second place ahead of Tony Gallopin (RadioShack-Nissan). Team Sky’s Bradley Wiggins kept his GC rival Evans comfortably in his sights and retained the yellow jersey with his fourth placed finish.

"Those were the longest ten kilometers of my life," Pinot said afterward. "When I saw 10km to go and the peloton was coming back, I was really afraid."

Pinot was able to take advantage of having a teammate in the breakaway all day, and he dedicated the victory to Jeremy Roy. "When Jeremy [Roy] was away I wasn't really riding, and then he truly sacrificed himself for me. I'm really happy."

The young Frenchman looked set to take over the white jersey from Cofidis's Rein Taaramae, but the Estonian battled back to come in 2:21 behind the winner to save his best young rider classification.

Pinot was overjoyed with his stage victory, but played down his chances for the overall classification. "Tomorrow my legs will really hurt so I have no real plans for the rest of the Tour, I will take it day by day."

The tone for the 157km stage, which contained a grand total of seven categorised climbs, was set very early on as Jens Voigt (RadioShack-Nissan) led an early break of ten riders. Within a few kilometres Voigt was on his own but a few minutes later he was passed and dropped by Roy.

As Roy ploughed a lone furrow up the road, 60km in there was a major crash involving three Spaniards – Samuel Sanchez, Jorge Azanza (both Euskaltel-Esukadi) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar). In the end it was Sanchez who came off worst, with the 2008 Olympic road race champion having to withdraw with injuries that include a broken collarbone and a dislocated shoulder. It will take a miracle for him to be declared fit to defend his Olympic title in London at the end of this month.

Meanwhile, further up the road, Roy was caught by Kessiakoff with just over 80km to go and the two men worked together to build a healthy lead over the rest of the pack. Pinot then made his first significant move of the afternoon, attacking from the main peloton and forming part of a large 22-man group that went off in chase of the two leaders.

Shortly before the fifth categorised climb of the day – the Cote de Saulcy – Pinot launched a successful bid to bridge the gap to the leading duo, joined by Kevin de Weert (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) and Steven Kruiswijk (Rabobank). Kessiakoff responded immediately and attacked, opening up a lead that peaked at 1:45 and one that he would hold until well inside the final 20km.

Pinot and Tony Gallopin (RadioShack-Nissan) burst clear of the pack and Pinot eventually proved the stronger, passing Kessiakoff with 17km left – just at the top of the final Col de la Croix climb. He then made a daring bid for the winning line on the fast descent into Porrentruy, chased by some of the race’s biggest favourites. Evans, Wiggins, Nibali, Menchov and Frank Schleck were amongst the names that went off in hot pursuit of the youngster.

With these stellar names bearing down on him, it would have been excusable if such a relatively inexperienced rider buckled. But the 22-year-old, who rode through his home town on yesterday’s seventh stage, held his nerve impressively and had time to savour the final 200 metres before celebrating what is easily the biggest win of his highly promising career to date.

As for Wiggins, he find himself in a commanding position - tomorrow's stage is a 41.5km individual time trial that should play to his strengths. But as he revealed on the Team Sky website after the finish, today's stage wasn't as easy as he had anticipated.

"That stage was a lot harder than I expected it to be," he said. "The boys were incredible again today and really marshalled the race. They set us up to be able to go with the others on that last climb.

"Early on we had to wait to let the right break go, and that took a long time and a lot of work. We were racing from the off and that didn’t stop for two hours really. The peloton was decimated and it was a tough day for a lot of people. We’re still in a fantastic position after this first week and that’s two tough days down now. We’ve got a time trial ahead of us now and then a rest day."

Full Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat	3:56:10
2	Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team	0:00:26
3	Tony Gallopin (Fra) RadioShack-Nissan
4	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling
5	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
6	Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
7	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling
8	Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha Team
9	Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan
10	Frank Schleck (Lux) RadioShack-Nissan	0:00:30

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. :)

26/27 - June - 2012 - Daily News

I know this is a late post for yesterday (or an early post for today), but I didn't have time last night. There isn't going to be another post tonight because I will be out of town at a meeting.

This article is almost two days old, but I wanted to share it with you. It's not only RadioShack Nissan that is having management issues:

Cofidis sacks manager Boyer

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cofidis-sacks-manager-boyer)

Eric Boyer, team manager of French squad Cofidis, has been sacked on Monday following weeks of rumours. François Migraine, head of the team's sponsor, blamed Boyer for the outfit's lack of results this season and decided to replace him. According to L'Equipe, former Festina, Astana and FDJ-BigMat directeur sportif Yvon Sanquer will replace him, with the start of the 2012 Tour de France only a few days away.

Boyer, a former pro rider and Giro d'Italia stage winner, joined Cofidis in 2005 to save the team in the aftermath of the Cofidis doping affair, which involved a soigneur and several riders including Philippe Gaumont and David Millar. The now 48-year-old succeeded in restoring the team's credibility and brought the outfit back to success, while at the same time being active as president of the team's association AIGCP. Cofidis' best year in terms of results during his tenrue was in 2008, when Samuel Dumoulin and Sylvain Chavanel won stages at the Tour de France and Chavanel won two Flandrian semi-Classics, Dwars Door Vlaanderen and Brabantse Pijl.

But after the team lost its ProTour license in 2010, results have not been convincing and Boyer's recent incapacity to keep such promising riders like Tony Gallopin, who opted for RadioShack, were additional reasons which led to his exit. Nonetheless, L'Equipe quotes a rider agent, who noted, "It's suprising to reproach to Eric Boyer for having failed in terms of rider recruiting when it was actually François Migraine who directly negotiated the contracts, often behind Boyer's back."

Boyer has not yet publicly reacted to this new turn of events, nor has Cofidis officially announced Yvon Sanquer as new manager. But Migraine hopes that the change of management will serve as "a shock treatment" for the team's riders at the Tour.

This article surprises me. I know when a Tour de France team gets built, it usually has one goal in mind, and most times it is the Yellow Jersey. However, I am surprised that last year's Green Jersey winner is not looking to win it a second time...oh wait, his team wants Bradley Wiggins to win the Yellow.

But on the other hand, I do understand. Mark Cavendish is alos looking to the Olympics, so he can't burn himself out in the Tour de France:

Cavendish not eyeing Tour de France green jersey

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cavendish-not-eyeing-tour-de-france-green-jersey)

With just four days to go until the start of the 2012 Tour de France, Cyclingnews was present in East London as 2011 green jersey winner Mark Cavendish held court at a press conference organised by Team Sky.

The 26-year-old from the Isle of Man looked lean and ready for action as he answered questions about his ambitions and that of his team for the three-week showpiece, which starts in Liège on Saturday. Cavendish was in a calm and co-operative mood but there was no doubting the steel in his eyes and supreme self-confidence in some of his answers, which is the hallmark of all great athletes as their date with destiny draws nearer and nearer.

"My form's really good, it's the best it's been for a few years heading into the Tour," he says.

"I've got a lot of wins this year and I'm excited to get started on Saturday. It's come round quickly - it always does - but I'm happy I've done everything right and prepared properly."

With the Tour imminent and the small matter of a home Olympics coming just six days after its finish, there is much on Cavendish's plate. So just how much has his new surroundings at Team Sky helped him to digest it all?

"You're not just expected to turn up and ride here - there's actually an emphasis on getting you prepared to ride," he said.

"I was never a big fan of the scientific approach in the past. I didn't used to look at my numbers on a graph. But I've been working with Tim Kerrison and Rod Ellingworth for a while now and I've come to realise that it wasn't the methods that I didn't like, it was the way they were presented to me.

"They're now put to me in a way I can understand and not by some scientist who has never ridden a bike and who thinks he knows more than me. You can see the results, you can see what's happening, you can see a trend. Once you buy into that it's incredible what you can do with your training. If anything it makes the pressure bigger as you've done everything right in preparation - there's no excuses if you fail."

This transformation in his training has paid dividends, with Cavendish saying he's in the best shape he's been in for years. Despite this, he claims that he doesn't have his eye on retaining the green jersey he won in Paris last July.

A combination of other ambitions and his team's stated goal of securing an historic yellow jersey for Bradley Wiggins appear to have put dreams of more green on the backburner, at least for now. And the fact that he won't have a full, dedicated leadout train doesn't appear to be an issue that fazes him.

"I don't think stage wins alone will be enough to win the green jersey this year, you'll have to go for the intermediates as well. I haven't got my eyes on green to be honest but of course there's always a chance.

"I've got other goals apart from the Tour de France (alluding to the Olympic Road Race on July 29). It's going to be a long July. I've been working on a lot of things, not just my sprint. I may not dominate the sprints like before but I should be there or thereabouts."

Indeed, Cavendish failed to win any of the sprints in the recent Ster ZLM Toer but consistently placed high enough to earn the overall victory, and the first stage race win of his career. It is a transformation from a focus on pure speed to bringing out characteristics more in line with a Classics rider in order to get over climbs like Box Hill, which he will face in London.

Cavendish still aims to win stages, but because the team will have limited resources dedicated to bunch sprints, he may not equal his records of past years.

"I won the World Championships without a leadout train and I think I've proved time and again that I can do it. You always need one or two guys to get you to that last 200m - nobody does it alone. We've got some guys at the Tour who can help me there but there's not going to be a full blown leadout train like I've had in the past.

"But I joined Team Sky because they're a British team and the biggest team in the world right now. Obviously I knew Brad had an opportunity to do well in the Tour de France and it's a big aim to win the yellow jersey for Sky. The aim is to win the yellow and green jerseys in the next few years. It's a good position to be in."

I am not a fan of suing someone because you are too stupid to know better. For example, the woman who sued McDonalds because SHE spilled hot coffee on her lap. Really? I'm still surprised that she won that case. If I was the judge I would have laughed in her face, then made her pay all court fees.

However, I think Johnny Hoogerland should have sued Euro Media sooner. This crash happened almost a year ago, and it shouldn't have happened at all. The driver of the car should have never gotten that close to the riders. And the fact that Euro Media doesn't seem to care about his injuries just adds fuel to the fire:

Hoogerland to sue over Tour de France 2011 crash

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/hoogerland-to-sue-over-tour-de-france-2011-crash)

Johnny Hoogerland is going to court against Euro Media, who auto driver forced him off the road and into a barbed wire fence during stage 9 of last year's Tour de France. The media company has apparently shown little interest in negotiating a settlement with the Vacansoleil-DCM rider, and today is the deadline for filing a suit.

With only 36km to go on the ninth stage  of the Tour 2011, Hoogerland and Juan Antonio Flecha (Sky) were in a five man-break group going for the win. The media car attempted to pass them on a narrow road and ended up hitting Flecha. The Spaniard crashed, and Hoogerland collided with him and was then catapulted into a barbed-wire fence alongside the road.

Both riders finished the race, and Hoogerland went on the podium to receive the King of the Mountains jersey with tears in his eyes and extensive bandages on his legs.

“We have tried long enough” to come to an agreement, his manager Aart Vierhouten told De Telegraaf. “That failed, so unfortunately we have to take a different tack. And that is through the judicial process. Yesterday I actually had an appointment with a representative of Euro Media, but he never showed up.”

Tour organizer ASO will have nothing to do with the matter, he said. “This week I was in Paris to ask the ASO if they would take any responsibility. All they say is, you must talk to the director of Euro Media. They gave us his number, nothing more. The human aspect is hard to find.”

Hoogerland is said to still suffer from back pain, mood swings and insomnia as a result of the crash.

Now here is a list of the Top 5 Young Rider Contenders for the 2012 Tour de France:

Tour de France: Top five best young riders

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/tour-de-france-top-five-best-young-riders)

A part of the Tour de France since 1975, the best young rider classification has showcased the top developing talents in the peloton on the world's biggest stage, and although not all of the winners of the white jersey classification go on to add an overall title to their name, a fair number have.

The list of names in the palmares of this competition is impressive: Francesco Moser, Laurent Fignon, Greg Lemond, Andy Hampsten, Marco Pantani, Jan Ullrich, Oscar Sevilla, Ivan Basso, Alberto Contador and, for three years in a row, Andy Schleck. Each year the competition brings to the forefront promising new talent.

Last year's winner, Pierre Rolland (Europcar) has aged out of the category, which now includes riders born in 1987 or after. At present there are only 21 such riders set to take place in this year's Tour, but not all will be contenders. Many are in their first Tour or will be dedicated workers for a prime overall contender. Cyclingnews has chosen five riders who could stand a chance at taking home the white jersey in July.

Name: Tejay van Garderen (USA)
Age: 23
Team: BMC Racing
Career Highlights: 2nd 2009 Tour de l'Avenir, 3rd 2010 Critérium du Dauphiné, Best Young Rider in 2011 & 2012 Tour of California, USA Pro Cycling Challenge and 2012 Paris-Nice
Tour debut: 2011
Best Tour finish: 81st
Summary: Tejay van Garderen has been one of the most exciting talents to come out of the USA in recent years, and his third place in his debut Critérium du Dauphiné in 2010, in his first ProTour season, put his name on the list of favorites for every stage race he entered since.

He may not have a chance to fight for the white jersey classification as his loyalties will lie in helping Cadel Evans to his second Tour de France victory, but as one of the main climbing lieutenants for his captain and a world-class time trialist in stage races one cannot discount van Garderen slipping into the jersey as a consequence of his work. Should Evans falter, the young American will be his team's second hope for the overall podium in Paris.

Name: Wout Poels (NED)
Age: 24
Team: Vacansoleil-DCM
Career Highlights: Stage win, 2nd overall 2012 Tour of Luxembourg, Stage, 2nd in 2011 Tour de l'Ain, 17th Vuelta a España, 2nd on Angliru
Tour debut: 2011
Best Tour finish: DNF
Summary: First off it's Wout, not Wouter like Mr. Wynants. Poels has been making that unique name for himself ever since he surprised the world by climbing the torturous slopes of the Angliru in the 2011 Vuelta a España, coming second to overall winner Juan Jose Cobo on the stage ahead of Denis Menchov, Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins.

Since then, he has similarly impressed in this year's Tour of Luxmebourg, where he out-gunned RadioShack-Nissan's Jakob Fuglsang and Fränk Schleck to win the queen stage and came home with second overall. Poels may have the distinct advantage in the Tour de France of not having to work for a recognized podium contender, although Lieuwe Westra could very well finish high up. The 24-year-old Poels is aggressive and great on the climbs, but lacks the time trial prowess of someone like Van Garderen.

Name: Rein Taaramäe (EST)
Age: 25
Team: Cofidis
Career Highlights: Stage 2011 Vuelta a España, three-time Estonian TT champion, Best Young Rider 2011 Paris-Nice, Critérium International, 11th 2011 Tour de France, 4th 2011 Paris-Nice
Tour debut: 2011
Best Tour finish: 11th in 2011
Summary: Rein Taaramäe is a supremely talented climber and time trialist whose only downfall in Grand Tours is luck. As the only rider in our five with a Grand Tour individual stage win to his name, the Estonian will have the advantage over his young competitors of having his whole team behind him in the race.

As witnessed by his fourth place in the 2011 Paris-Nice and mountains classification win at the 2009 Basque Country Tour, Taaramäe has potential to not only climb with the best but he's also well equipped to tackle the 100+ kilometers against the clock as three-time national champion in the discipline. Taaramäe is an opportunist who is not afraid to ride in long breakaways and should not be underestimated by his rivals.

Name: Steven Kruijswijk (NED)
Age: 25
Team: Rabobank
Career Highlights: 8th in 2011 Giro d'Italia, 8th 2012 Tour de Suisse, 3rd 2011 Tour de Suisse
Tour debut: 2012
Best Tour finish: N/A
Summary: Rabobank's Steven Kruijswijk makes his Tour de France debut this year, but he will do so as one of the most successful young riders in the Grand Tours. He's finished two Giri d'Italia and one Vuelta a España, and placed top 10 in the Giro last year, coming second in the best young rider classification to Roman Kreuziger.

Ever since his third place in the 2011 Tour de Suisse, Kruijswijk's name has been uttered in hushed tones of reverence when it comes to this year's Tour. Although the team's main contenders for the overall are Robert Gesink and Bauke Mollema, Kruijswijk will be supported by the Dutch squad, perhaps even getting in on the hunt for the yellow jersey himself.

Name: Thibaut Pinot
Age: 22
Team: FDJ-BigMat
Career Highlights: Winner 2011 Settimana Lombarda, 3rd 2011 Presidential Tour of Turkey, 2010 Tour de Romandie mountains classification
Tour debut: 2012
Best Tour finish: N/A
Summary: Thibaut Pinot is not well-known amongst the cycling pundits, but he has been quietly racking up promising performances and could well be the revelation of the 2012 Tour de France. 11th in the Tour de Romandie this year, he was sitting 10th in the Tour de Suisse until he suffered from heat stroke and had to withdraw.

Pinot earned his spot on this list with his performance in last year's Settimana Lombarda, where he left behind riders like Domenico Pozzovivo to win the mountainous first stage, and held off all the challengers to claim the overall victory three days later. This will be the 22-year-old's first Tour so he has plenty to learn - perhaps the lessons will include podium protocols.

Honorable Mentions

Peter Sagan, 22 (Liquigas-Cannondale) is the main rider tipped for the green jersey classification, but he lacks the abilities in the high mountains and prowess in time trials to contend for the overall best young rider jersey.

Edvald Boasson Hagen, 25 (Sky) has overall wins in the Tour of Norway, Eneco Tour and Tour of Britain in addition to numerous Norwegian titles. However, he will be focusing on the very important task of helping his teammate Bradley Wiggins win the overall Tour and driving Mark Cavendish to the line for stage wins. It is more likely that Boasson Hagen will win a stage than contend for the white jersey.

Marcel Kittel, 24 (Argos-Shimano) is one of the fastest sprinters in the world and will be fighting for stage wins, but he is a terrible climber and will be battling hard just to make the time cut on the high mountain stages and will in no way contend for the young rider classification.

The young riders of the 2012 Tour de France:

Anthony Delaplace (Saur - Sojasun) 1989-08-11
Anthony Roux (FDJ - Bigmat) 1987-04-18
Arthur Vichot (FDJ - Bigmat) 1988-11-26
Cyril Gautier (Europcar) 1987-09-26
Daniel Oss (Liquigas - Cannondale) 1987-01-13
Domenique Nerz (Liquigas-Cannondale) 1989-08-25
Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky Procycling) 1987-05-17
Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Euskaltel - Euskadi) 1987-10-07
Kris Boeckmans (Vacansoleil - Dcm Pro Cycling Team 1987-02-13
Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) 1988-05-11
Nicolas Edet (Cofidis - Le Credit En Ligne) 1987-12-02
Patrick Gretsch (Argos-Shimano) 1987-04-07
Peter Sagan (Liquigas - Cannondale) 1990-01-26
Rafael Valls Ferri (Vacansoleil - Dcm Pro Cycling Team 1987-06-27
Rein Taaramäe (Cofidis - Le Credit En Ligne) 1987-04-24
Romain Zingle (Cofidis - Le Credit En Ligne) 1987-01-29
Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank Cycling Team) 1987-06-07
Tejay Van Garderen (BMC Racing Team) 1988-08-12
Thibaut Pinot (FDJ - Bigmat) 1990-05-29
Tony Gallopin (Radioshack - Nissan) 1988-05-24
Wout Poels (Vacansoleil - Dcm Pro Cycling Team) 1987-10-01

And here is my daily RadioShack Nissan article:

This article has me torn. My gut is to want to take Jakob Fuglsang's side; anyone ever hear of free speech? But at the same time, the company I work for, has policies against speaking to the media, and social media. However, I don't feel that "punishing" Fuglsang for his remarks makes RSNT any better. Now, not only is Fuglsang losing out on WorldTour points, but so is the team. How can they let one of their best riders lose out on getting as many points as he can. This to me feels like the childish 'if I can't have him, no one else can' mentality from RadioShack and Johan Bruyneel:

RadioShack-Nissan rules out WorldTour races for Fuglsang

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/radioshack-nissan-rules-out-worldtour-races-for-fuglsang)

RadioShack-Nissan has decided to stop Jakob Fuglsang from racing in any further WorldTour races this year. This will prevent him from winning any UCI points, which could help his team in 2013 – a team which will not be RadioShack-Nissan.

Fuglsang announced that he was “disappointed” not to be named to the team's Tour de France squad, saying that it “doesn't make RadioShack my first choice for next season.” He is already said to be negotiating with Bjarne Riis to return to Saxo Bank, soon to be known as Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank.

He received word on Monday evening from team manager Johan Bruyneel that he would not be nominated for any further WorldTour races this season. Riders earn points for good results in WorldTour races, and these points transfer with a rider if he goes to a new team. So if Fuglsang were win points this year, they would count for RadioShack this season but also for whatever team he is with next year.

The action is seen as punishment for his critical remarks concerning the team. It will also likely decrease his value for the coming year. It is also a clear indication that RadioShack will not offer him a contract for 2013.

“Bruyneel simply will not give me the chance to score points the rest of the year,” Fuglsang told ekstrabladet.dk. “I asked him directly if it also means I don't ride the Vuelta a Espana, and he confirmed it.”

“It is sad that RadioShack thinking more on points than on results. Good results in WorldTour races are important for the team, and WorldTour points are highly important for me because they help to keep my market value,” he said. “I am disappointed that I will be punished in this way.”

Fuglsang, who has been nominated to ride the Osterreich Rundfahrt, starting Sunday, will still try to do his best. “I will ride my contract out and that will be it. Now I will just do as well as I can in the races I am allowed to ride.”

In retrospect, he said, “it was perhaps not smart to have commented on my situation, but where are we then? One should be allowed to speak his mind without having sporting consequences.”

Paris-Nice, Stage 1

March 4, Stage 1: Dampierre-en-Yvelines - Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse 9.4km

Paris-Nice: Gustav Erik Larsson takes opening stage

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/paris-nice-2012/stage-1/results)

Gustav Erik Larsson (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling) won the opening stage of the 2012 Paris-Nice with a time of 11:19 in the 9.4km time trial from Dampierre-en-Yvelines to Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse.

The Swedish national time trial champion beat Sky’s Bradley Wiggins by one second with Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) finishing four seconds back. World time trial champion and last year’s winner of Paris-Nice, Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), lacked his usual cutting edge and finished in 28th place, 25 seconds down on Larsson.

"Of course I am very happy with the win," said Larrson. "It was a great course and the season started well for me. A great bonus when winning a prologue are all the jerseys and the lead in the general classification. I will work hard to defend that lead."

Vacansoleil-DCM directeur sportif Hilaire Van Der Schueren was pleased with Larrson's performance, noting that for the second straight year his team has won the opening stage at Paris-Nice. "I am really happy with this win after a lot of second places in the early season. Due to the weather we divided our time trial specialists over the schedule and that worked out fine. Last year it was De Gendt with his first win for his new team and now Larsson rewards the confidence of the team with a great win."

Alexandre Geniez (Project 1t4i) was the first rider out of the start house, kicking off the 70th edition of Paris-Nice. But the first significant time was posted by Thomas De Gendt, who rocketed up the 3rd category climb of the Côte des Dix-sept Tournants. The Belgian’s time was so impressive on the climb that he will wear the king of the mountains jersey on stage 2.

The likes of Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Ivan Basso (Liquigas Cannondale) all came through the finish line without disturbing the leading names but it was Larrson who eventually dislodged De Gendt from the leaderboard, wit the Belgian falling to fifth by the end of the stage.

Wiggins, Martin and the evergreen Andreas Kloden were yet to start but just as all three began their march to the start house the heavens began to open. It was far from torrential but Richie Porte (Team Sky) and Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) were the last significant challengers to make it home before the road conditions were effected.

Wiggins started his effort conservatively, reaching the climb five seconds down on De Gendt but one second ahead of Larsson, and five ahead of Tony Martin.

The Brit pulled even further ahead of Martin in the second half of the undulating course, as the German faded on the slick roads.

But Larrson, the silver medal in the Worlds TT in 2009, had done enough. A combination of dry roads and fine riding, enough to secure his first win for his new team.

Full Results

1	Gustav Larsson (Swe) Vacansoleil-DCM	0:11:19
2	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:01
3	Levi Leipheimer (USA) Omega Pharma-Quick Step	0:00:04
4	Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team	0:00:09
5	Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM	0:00:12
6	Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
7	Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne	0:00:13
8	Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan
9	Rémi Pauriol (Fra) FDJ-Bigmat	0:00:15
10	Jerome Coppel (Fra) Saur-Sojasun



Vuelta a Espana: Stage 14

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-14/results)

Rein Taaramae’s (Cofidis) mantra may well be, ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again’, which paid dividends for the talented Estonian on Saturday afternoon as he won the Vuelta’s 14th stage on another summit finish in La Farrapona Lagos de Somiedo.

The 24-year-old Cofidis rider has been very active in this year’s Vuelta and finally took the reward for his efforts after what was an intense 173km in the saddle. He took his place in the breakaway early in the stage and managed to hold on to take his first Grand Tour stage win, something many pundits have been predicting for several years.

Showing dogged determination throughout the entire stage, he beat Geox-TMC duo Juan Jose Cobo and David De La Fuente, who finished second and third respectively.

It was a good day for overall leader Bradley Wiggins, the Brit finishing 45 seconds behind Taaramae and most importantly putting time into his rivals on general classification – he now leads Sky teammate Chris Froome by seven seconds, with Rabobank’s Bauke Mollema in third at 36 seconds.

Froome pointed to Wiggins as he crossed the line one place behind in sixth, an indication of the unity amongst Team Sky’s two best climbers and a sign of the pair’s confidence heading into the Vuelta’s final week – could today and tomorrow define who will be this year’s champion?

One man losing his grip on a chance at the title is defending champion Vincenzo Nibali, who now sits 1:25 behind Wiggins on the general classification and slipped from second to seventh overall on today's stage. The Liquigas-Cannondale leader finished more than a minute behind his main rival and suffered the consequences, giving himself plenty of work to do in the final week of racing if he’s to take another crown.

A weighty half needs a solid breakaway

The second half of today’s stage featured plenty of climbing, with the category two Puerto de la Ventana, the first category Puerto de San Lorenzo and a mountaintop finish at La Farrapona, Lagos de Somiedo in store for riders.

With limited opportunities in the sprints at this year’s Vuelta, HTC-Highroad youngster Leigh Howard decided to make the day’s move, taking off about a half a km into the stage. He was soon joined by the others, and after giving chase for nearly 30 km, the peloton finally decided to let them go.

He was joined by De La Fuente and Taaramae, Guilluame Bonnafond and Lloyd Mondory (AG2R-La Mondiale), Rabobank’s Luis Leon Sanchez, Jonas Aaen Jörgensen of Saxo Bank-Sungard, Sep Vanmarcke (Garmin-Cervélo), Alberto Benitez (Andalucia-Caja Granada), BMC Racing’s Karsten Kroon, Cofidis man Yohan Bagot, Jorge Azanza and Inaki Isasi of Euskaltel-Euskadi, Katusha couple Aliaksandr Kuschynski and Eduard Vorganov, Francesco Bellotti (Liquigas-Cannondale), and Daniele Righi (Lampre-ISD).

Nearing the top of the day’s first climb and with 77km remaining, the big break had 7:38, which would prove to be its maximum advantage as 27km later that mark had been cut to 4:55.

On the descent of the Ventana, Vanmarcke and Kroon found themselves being hoisted out of the forest, the pair crashing and forcing the Dutch veteran to abandon the race. Soon after the man who started the day’s break exited it, dropped on the way up the San Lorenzo; the Australian shut up shop and made his way back to the pack.

It all heats up…

With 40km to go and only 2:50 separating break from peloton, it was time for Katusha’s Alberto Losado to make a move of his own, dragging Sylvain Chavanel and several other riders with him; the bunch shut down the dangerous group that threatened to form but a kilometre later there was another attack that saw Movistar duo Beñat Intxausti and Marzio Bruseghin fly the safety of the peloton in pursuit of the leaders.

Just as this pair was gaining seconds on the field, the ever-aggressive Taaramae made what would be the race-winning move and was on his way off the front of the leading group, taking De La Fuente with him to form an attacking duo that quickly created a sizeable gap.

While these front groups continued to toil, Katusha’s Dani Moreno was another to flee the peloton with 35km remaining, followed by teammate Joaquin Rodriguez; meanwhile Leopard Trek strongman Fabian Cancellara continued to set tempo for Jakob Fuglsang and Maxime Monfort, who both sat in the top 10 of general classification and overall leader Wiggins maintained a comfortable rhythm next to them.

A kilometre after attacking, Moreno was soon within 25 seconds of Intxausti and Bruseghin, with the remnants of the break a further 2:20 up the road and rapidly splitting under the pressure of the mountain and the movement of Taaramae and De La Fuente ahead of it.

This latter duo crested the San Lorenzo together, 2:21 ahead of Moreno as the peloton topped the climb a further 13 seconds afterwards. On the descent the Spaniard caught the duo from Movistar to form a chasing trio that soon made contact with Moreno’s teammate Vorganov.

This new quartet set about building on the slender lead it enjoyed over the main field and slicing the two minutes that separated them from Taaramae, De La Fuente and what little was left of the break with the final 20km and the climb to Lagos de Somiedo approaching.

Heading to the finale

Soon Moreno and co had caught the remnants of the break – Righi, Mondory, and Bonnafond (sans Taaramae and De La Fuente) and set to work on the climb proper with the peloton still keeping the gap between itself and the Katusha rider to less than a minute. And with 15km left in the stage it continued to do that, as the leading duo still had over 60 seconds on the pursuers.

The peloton, led by Liquigas-Cannondale, Rabobank and Leopard Trek, tapped out its rapid rhythm while Movistar’s Italian stager Bruseghin carried out the workhorse duties – appropriate given that the 37-year-old famously owns a farm with donkeys.

As the leading duo crossed the 10km remaining banner, the gap stood at 57 seconds and a kilometre later that had only been cut by three seconds, with the peloton continuing its vigilance and keeping Moreno’s lead under a minute.

The Estonian-Iberian alliance at the front of affairs had 59 seconds, as Moreno’s men passed the banner indicating six kilometres remaining and were soon after caught by the peloton, providing the spark for Euskaltel-Euskadi’s Amets Txurruka to light the powder keg and explode from the main field.

The threat of Moreno negated, the peloton eased off the gas and with five kilometres remaining had allowed the leading duo a lead of 1:12, while Txurruka’s toil had only put him 10 seconds up on the main field. A kilometre later and it was time for Moreno to go again, taking Cobo with him and quickly overrunning the Euskaltel-Euskadi rider.

Behind them it was panic stations for Rodriguez and Nibali, the two overall contenders dropped from the group containing Wiggins and his faithful lieutenant Froome, plus Omega Pharma-Lotto’s Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Vacansoleil-DCM man Wout Poels and Denis Menchov (Geox-TMC).

And with Menchov’s teammate Cobo going alone it was time for Taaramae to do the same at the front of the race, dropping De La Fuente (who soon joined his pursuing companion) and heading for home with two kilometres left to ride.

Despite Cobo’s best efforts, he and De La Fuente remained 21 seconds off the Estonian with 1,000 metres remaining as Wiggins, Froome, Van Den Broeck and co continued their march away from the defending champion that could well have helped crown a new Vuelta king.

The man wearing the crown of the day was Taaramae however, kissing his jersey and raising his arm in the air to celebrate what was a well-deserved and popular win, crossing the line 25 seconds ahead of Cobo, with De La Fuente a further four seconds back on what was a good day for the Spanish squad.

1	Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne	4:39:01
2	Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC	0:00:25
3	David De La Fuente Rasilla (Spa) Geox-TMC	0:00:29
4	Wout Poels (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team	0:00:40
5	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:45
6	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling
7	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
8	Denis Menchov (Rus) Geox-TMC
9	Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi	0:00:55
10	Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto	0:01:00

GC Overall

1	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	55:54:45
2	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:07
3	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:00:36
4	Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC	0:00:55
5	Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek	0:00:58
6	Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Pro Team Astana	0:01:23
7	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:01:25
8	Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard Trek	0:01:37
9	Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto	0:02:16
10	Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team	0:02:24

Vuelta a Espana: Stage 9

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-9/results)

The first ‘real’ summit finish of this year’s Vuelta a España produced the desired effect and sparked fireworks as Garmin-Cervélo’s Daniel Martin took his first Grand Tour stage win at the end of a tough opening week.

The Irishman claimed the spoils for his toil over the final seven kilometres of the stage – when the finishing climb to La Covatilla hit its hardest slopes – beating Rabobank’s Bauke Mollema and Geox-TMC’s Juan Jose Cobo, who finished second and third respectively.

Overnight general classification leader Joaquin Rodriguez lost his red jersey after finishing 49 seconds behind the front group as Mollema gained the overall ascendancy by a single second over the Spaniard.

Defending champion Vincenzo Nibali now sits in third overall and featured in the finale as did Team Sky leader Bradley Wiggins, who now occupies 13th overall and goes into tomorrow’s 40km time trial well poised to make a massive jump on the general classification thanks to his sterling performance on today’s final climb and his prowess against the clock.

Martin sits one place above Wiggins, and the 25-year-old Irishman was ecstatic with his first Grand Tour stage win as he benefited from a gutsy and uncompromising performance in the finale to reap the rewards of persistence in the face of such a tough proposition.

Getting to the main course

After the day’s opening climb, the Puerto de la Cruz di Hierro, Omega Pharma-Lotto man Sebastian Lang instigated the move of the day – the German was joined by local boy Jose Vicente Toribio Alcolea of Andalucia Caja Granada and later Vacansoleil-DCM duo Pim Ligthart and Martijn Keizer to form the leading quartet with 45km traveled.

After 80km of racing the leaders had themselves an advantage in excess of nine minutes, with the peloton content to leave them plenty of leash. 14km later that had dropped to 7:50 and a further 25km down the road, the leading quartet had become a brace of duos, with Ligthart and Lang leaving Toribio and Keizer behind.

With 30km remaining, the gap between the ‘Two Ls’ and their chasers stood at 2:40, with the peloton – unsurprisingly led by the Katusha team of Rodriguez and Dani Moreno – over six minutes behind the leading duo. But as the climb to La Covatilla loomed, that main bunch would soon be split.

And just as those splits occurred, a blast from the past in the form of Andrey Kashechkin found his way to the front, the Astana man revisiting the scene of a success in 2007, when he finished third on the stage to La Covatilla – the last time the Vuelta visited the town.

Ready for the sparks to fly

As the peloton began the climb in earnest, the gap between it and the leading two had decreased to five minutes; with a little over 20km before the finish and neither man a particular mountain goat of note, they would surely be reeled in – it was merely a question of when.

Heading through the town of Bejar, the leaders had themselves four minutes, although it was game over for their chasers, Toribio and Keizer, who were swallowed up and spat out by a peloton blazing in its pursuit of the plucky characters holding court at the front of the race.

When the peloton hit Bejar that gap had been lowered to 3:29 as Katusha continued to lead the field with Moreno and Rodriguez in tow. With the Russian squad’s pursuit of the leaders, that mark continued to fall and dropped to 1:13 when the peloton passed under the 10km-to-go banner.

By that stage Lang had dropped his Dutch companion and continued on his march to the finish, the hardest slopes of the climb still to ride and the big teams – Katusha, Liquigas-Cannondale, Lampre-ISD and Team Sky – charging their batteries for a manic dash to the line. And they needed to; as the bunch passed eight kilometres remaining, the road noticeably tilted skywards and instantly claimed victims on the 12 percent gradient.

Lang himself became a victim a kilometre later when the man who had kicked off the day’s break became the last card to be drawn back into the pack, which was being controlled by Lampre’s fearless troops who continued to set a blistering pace.

It takes one to start the fight

Active in yesterday’s finale, Rein Taaramae was at it again within the final six kilometres, slicing past Jurgen Van Den Broeck and Michele Scarponi at the front of the bunch and chancing his hand at breaking up the group of overall favourites. But the Italian wasn’t going to let the plucky Estonian steal his thunder, and he countered, forcing the remaining big names to follow his lead.

One man not present was Igor Anton, the Euskaltel-Euskadi captain’s poor showing at this Vuelta continuing as he slipped further back. His life wasn’t made any easier when Kevin Seeldrayers (Quick Step) and Sergio Pardilla (Movistar) hit out hard and defending champion Vincenzo Nibali immediately chased with Van Den Broeck on his wheel.

When they were reeled in, Garmin-Cervélo’s Daniel Martin and his cousin Nicolas Roche (Ag2r-La Mondiale) were the next riders to go off the front, with the two working as a good family should and swapping off to try and stay clear.

While Roche dropped back to Scarponi and co, Martin continued his march alone with just four kilometres – but so much suffering – left until the finish. The Irishman was joined shortly afterwards by Vincenzo Nibali, and he worked with the Italian into a stiff headwind to keep the charging peloton behind at bay.

When seven is better than two…

With Christopher Froome dragging his Team Sky captain Bradley Wiggins back to the two leaders, Martin and Nibali’s time at the head of the race seemed limited and 2km from the line, the elite selection at the front that also boasted Van Den Broeck, Cobo and Mollema caught and began working with the hitherto leading duo.

Behind them, Rodriguez was slipping out of contention for the stage win and the overall lead, falling over 40 seconds in arrears while Wiggins forced the pace hard at the front of the race. With 250 metres to go, Martin opened the sprint to the line, kicking hard over the final crest and winning his first grand tour stage and reaping the rewards of his persistence at the front of affairs.

A whopping 49 seconds later Rodriguez rolled over the line, his red jersey just slipping away and with a flat time trial facing the Katusha captain, a place in the podium spots could be gone after tomorrow’s test against the clock. Another man to lose plenty of time was Scarponi, who eventually finished over a minute in arrears.

Result
1	Daniel Martin (Irl) Team Garmin-Cervelo	4:52:14
2	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
3	Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC	0:00:03
4	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:04
5	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:07
6	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:00:11
7	Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne	0:00:12
8	Denis Menchov (Rus) Geox-TMC
9	Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Team RadioShack
10	Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Pro Team Astana

GC Overall

Result
1	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team	37:11:17
2	Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team	0:00:01
3	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:00:09
4	Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Pro Team Astana	0:00:18
5	Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto	0:00:27
6	Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team	0:00:35
7	Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek	0:00:37
8	Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team	0:00:42
9	Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Team RadioShack
10	Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC	0:00:46