Tag Archives: Garmin-Sharp

2014 Rider Watch: Lasse Norman Hansen – Garmin-Sharp

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Lasse Norman Hansen, from Faaborg, Denmark, was an Olympic Champion at London 2012. As at the age of just 20, he won the first ever Gold medal in the Omnium, a testing multi-event track competition. It was a victory Hansen took in exhilarating style, despite crashing during one of the races. He joins Garmin-Sharp as a neo-pro in 2014 on a two year deal and will combine road and track throughout, with the 2016 Olympics firmly on his radar. Lasse Hansen looks a terrific talent with great natural power, and a proficient as a time-trialist. That talent against the clock saw Hansen finish 3rd in the u23 ITT World Championships, and helped him to 2nd, and 3rd place overall finishes in two German u23 stage races. He has also displayed some ability to cope on the hillier terrain while winning the u23 Eschborn-Frankfurt city loop; a hilly one-day race in which Hansen finished ahead of two talented punchy climbers that cycling fans should watch out for, Michael Valgren (who will ride for the Tinkoff-Saxo team this year) and Silvio Herklotz. Jonathan Vaughters has suggested that he should model himself on Fabian Cancellara and aim for a future as a classics rider, a lofty goal for sure and I will bow to Vaughters vastly superior knowledge in analyzing a riders potential. For Lasse Hansen the 2014 season will largely be about trying to learn how to be a professional rider, and how to cope with the work load and speed of the peloton. Then once he starts to settle in he can start to show his talents and learn what his strengths really are.

I have selected Lasse Norman Hansen as a rider to follow throughout 2014 because of his impressive potential, and because I think it will be interesting to monitor his conversion to, and progression on the road. I will be following two neo-pro’s and the other has much more experience on the road and thus is easier to project. Following the season of a neo-pro isn’t about looking for wins and great performances, instead the hope is to get a glimpse of the struggles that all professional cyclists have to face early in their career, with glimpses of their talented sprinkled throughout. If you want to follow Lasse Hansen on twitter then click here

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2014 Team Preview – Garmin-Sharp

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The Garmin-Sharp transformation project, from stage hunting underdogs into a General Classification team continues apace. With that in mind they have acquired another haul of climbing and time-trial talent, to assimilate and develop alongside their increasingly established stars. The team have earned a reputation for attacking riding and giving young riders their chance. They have been willing to roll the dice in a race and sometimes it pays off big. One such occasion was the 9th stage of the 2013 Tour de France where they caused chaos in the early part of the day, blowing the race wide open and ultimately taking the win through Daniel Martin. In the past two seasons they have made great strides through Ryder Hesjedal (2012 Giro winner) and Martin (2013 Liege-Bastogne-Liege winner, 2013 Volta Ciclista a Catalunya winner) and both are set to play prominent roles again in 2014. While Hesjedal struggled to replicate his 2012 success, he did demonstrate the confidence to attack when he felt good; playing a key role in Dan Martins’ LBL victory and animating the early stages of the 2013 Giro, before his form tailed off and suffered with illness. He has also endured a difficult off-season with the revelations of past drug use, I’d expect that Hesjedal will face further questions about that as the season goes on which could become distraction. Fair or not, those questions will arise because some remain sceptical about the date he stopped using the drugs. I’ve not seen any reports about his race schedule for 2014 but I’d expect him to skip the Giro and focus on the Tour de France, where the less strenuous climbs and longer ITT suit his skill set. Dan Martin was the team’s undoubted star in 2013. He will hope to take that momentum into the Giro, where he will be the team’s sole leader and one of the top contenders. With the race starting in Ireland and featuring plenty of steep climbs he should relish it, though his time trialing will be his biggest limitation and will have been the major focus of his winter training. He is always a stage win threat, showing tactical nous when he out foxed Jakob Fuglsang to win the Tour de France stage, and impressive stamina to hold on for a terrific solo win in the 2013 Volta Ciclista a Catalunya. His greatest triumph came in Liege-Bastogne-Liege,where he caught Purito in the final 1km then kicked away to seal a great victory.

Behind those two Garmin have a lot of climbing options and a third Grand Tour leader in Andrew Talansky, who also had a memorable 2013. Talansky was a stage winner and 2nd overall in Paris-Nice, losing out to Richie Porte on the 5th stage after aggressively attacking the peloton while in the Leader’s Jersey. He took some criticism for being a bit over exuberant, but he will learn from that day. I certainly prefer a rider whose natural inclination is to do too much, rather than playing it safe and losing by not doing enough. He followed that up with a 10th overall finish in the Tour de France, despite struggling on a couple of stages. Talansky is a strong climber and good against the clock, he should take another step forward as a GC contender in 2o14 when a return to the Tour is on the cards. Tom-Jelte Slagter, who joins from Belkin, is a punchy Dutch rider who won the Tour Down Under in 2013 and looks tailor-made for the Ardennes Classics. Colombian climber Janier Acevedo joins after looking terrific during the American season, an attacking rider and a magnificent descender, he may need a little time to adjust to the World Tour but he should impress in 2014. Rohan Dennis impressed in the Criterium du Dauphine, while Lachlan Morton was highly entertaining to watch in the Tour of Utah, a climber to keep an eye on. The team has maintained their commitment to feature American riders, the veteran Tom Danielson returns as does Alex Howes, a punchy climber who is settling into the pro peloton, they also have new faces Phillip Gaimon, Ben King who joins from RadioShack and Nathan Brown, a promising 22 year old TT specialist. Tyler Farrar returns again, he has struggled to replicate the success he enjoyed a couple of seasons ago but remains the teams best sprinter and seems to be hopeful that he is getting back to his best. Farrar isn’t their only stage win threat. Ramunas Navardauskas won a stage in the Giro and showed he could survive in the hills and contest the finish from a more select group, while Steel Von Hoff was solid in the sprints but needs to show a little more burst if he wants to take wins at this level. The team has lost some valuable experience with the retirements of David Zabriskie and Christian Vande Velde, however they do still have the wise old head of David Millar for one final season.

A reconfigured Cobbles squad

Despite the progression to a team of climbers, the Cobbled Classics have always been a major target for the team and this year will be no different. They will be particularly motivated after failing to make any impression on the cobbles during 2013. Each year it seems they add another rider who has shown some aptitude there in the past, but too often they then sink without a trace, as Martin Maaskant and Sebastien Rosseler have done. Their only success on the cobbles came when Johan Vansummeren won Paris-Roubaix in 2011, Sep Vanmarcke (Belkin nowadays) was also 2nd in the 2010 Gent-Wevelgem, where Tyler Farrar came 3rd in the 2011 edition. For this year the cobbles unit will again feature Farrar and Vansummeren, alongside a hopefully fit Nick Nuyens and the newly signed Sebastian Langeveld. Nuyens won the 2011 Ronde van Vlaanderen but his career was derailed by a fractured hip early in 2012 and he hasn’t shown the same form since. Langeveld is an experienced cobbles rider who finished 5th, 10th and 7th in E3 Harelbeke, Ronde van Vlanderen and Paris-Roubaix respectively in 2013, he is likely to be given a joint leadership role in the spring and should be able to do even better in 2014.

2014 season outlook

It’s hard to know what would constitute a successful season for Garmin in 2014, improved GC showings wouldn’t automatically result in overall wins. Success at the Giro is certainly possible but Dan Martin won’t start as the favourite, not with Nairo Quintana targeting the victory. A strong showing from Talansky and Hesjedal at the Tour would be great but with Froome and Nibali looking likely to contest the win, getting onto the podium is going to be difficult. Instead I’d look for greater success in the week long stage races and more race wins overall, they will return to the Ardennes with some strong options but those races are so hard to control that it is difficult to predict success there.

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Recent Cycling News #1

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I’ve taken a bit of a post-Vuelta break from writing about cycling. The cycling season is almost over now but I hope to post semi-regular articles throughout the off-season.

Racing news

We saw a number of outstanding performances at the World Championships in Florence. Tony Martin and Ellen van Dijk dominated their respective time trials, no one could match them. Matej Mohoric showed descending skills that were as impressive as they were unusual, as he won the Mens u23 road race. Marianne Vos looked amazing as she attacked and dropped all her rivals on the Via Salviati, going on to retain her title. It was the sixth time Vos had competed in the race,the second time she had been victorious and in each of the other four she finished 2nd, it’s amazing to think that she is only 26. The mens road race is generally dominated by chaos and this was no exception. Where normally that chaos is the result of frequent attacking, this time it was the weather that was to blame, with crashes galore and a final selection made through attrition. It was a less appealing spectacle than usual, yet it seemed fitting given the way the season began. At the end it came down to four riders, Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali, Portugal’s Rui Costa and the Spanish pair of Joaquim Rodriguez and Alejandro Valverde. Spain were playing everything right, with Rodriguez on the offensive, forcing Nibali to work while letting Valverde lurk, waiting for his moment. That moment never came, instead Costa went in solo pursuit of Rodriguez, catching him and winning on the line. Purito looked aghast when he saw that Costa was on his wheel and with Valverde nowhere in sight. The Spanish move had been correct, let one go on the attack, if no chase appears then Rodriguez takes victory for Spain. Yet if Nibali and Costa brought it back together then Valverde would be the fastest on the line, taking victory for Spain, but Valverde fluffed his lines. There was talk afterwards that he simply didn’t have the legs to follow Costa, or that he was doing his Movistar team mate a favour, but I don’t buy either argument. Instead it looked like he made a tactical mistake, choosing to follow Nibali in the belief he would chase the move down, rather than following the fresher Costa.

Rodriguez had his revenge a week later when he won the Giro di Lombardia for the second consecutive season. Rather annoyingly the final monument of the season wasn’t shown live in the UK, with the company that owned the broadcast rights choosing to offer only highlights instead. Presumably they couldn’t be bothered showing it because the team they sponsored wasn’t going to do anything useful in the race. Well that’s my take on it anyway, perhaps they only owned the rights to show highlights and I have done them a disservice, if so I apologize.

 

Janier Acevedo joins Garmin-Sharp rather than Omega Pharma-Quick Step

Although it was reported that Acevedo had a verbal agreement with Omega Pharma-Quick Step, he clearly changed his mind, opting for Garmin-Sharp instead. Much of my opinions about his reported move to OPQS (see link below) hold true for this one was well, he joins a team which intends to build a stronger GC team, one that will make use of his skill set and has also shown a willingness to let riders attack. Moreover with Garmin-Sharp he will likely race in some of the same American races in which he starred this year. Perhaps most importantly we will get the chance to see his terrific descending skills on the World Tour in 2014

 

Omega Pharma-Quick Step sign Jan Bakelants and Thomas de Gendt

Bakelants is pretty much a direct replacement for role held by Sylvain Chavanel, the attacking jack of all trades. He is less of a time trialist but a better climber and his star has definitely been on the rise. De Gendt was signed to replace the Acevedo deal, it will likely result in weaker climbing support for Uran than they had hoped for, but if they can manage to get the chemistry right with De Gendt, they could have a very strong rider on their hands.

 

Mikel Nieve joins Sky Procycling

After an impressive showing in the mountains of the Tour de France, Nieve has opted to continue his career at Sky. I’m a little surprised as I thought he might have a chance as a leader on a smaller team, whereas at Sky he will likely be a very strong climbing domestique for Froome. From Sky’s point of view it’s a great signing, with Porte looking like leading their Giro offensive while Froome returns to the Tour, the team needs more strong climbing support options to compete on both fronts.

 

Jonathan Tiernan-Locke has some biological passport difficulties

This is an unfortunate story, partly because it shouldn’t be a story at all yet, this process is supposed to be confidential. Basically the case seems to be alleging that his blood values during the 2013 season do not match those recorded when he was winning the Tour of Britain in 2012. I don’t know much about the blood values that the passport looks at, and I certainly know little about this case, so the opinion I am about to voice is pure conjecture. When Jonathan Tiernan-Locke was making his way as a young cyclist he contracted the Epstein-Barr virus and reportedly developed Chronic Post-Viral Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) as a result. He spent three years out of the sport while coping with this before being able to get his life back on track. This year at Sky Procycling there have been reports of him feeling tired and over worked, certainly the Sky regimen is more intense and structured than what he was used to. CFS acts upon a persons energy levels, when it is affecting you, even if it is only doing so mildly, you have less energy/greater fatigue. As someone who has suffered from CFS for the last nine years (see my other blog link in the about me section), I can sympathize with that, there have been periods where I have been very healthy again only to be knocked back by illness or over doing things, then I spend months at a level below my best. I don’t know how that would look when looking at the blood values used for the biological passport, but I suspect that if they are measures of physical performance or of energy use, then they would measure lower in someone with an illness such as CFS. If he has been more fatigued this year as a result of being over worked, then CFS may have raised it’s ugly head a little and could be the reason for any discrepancy, rather than doping. I realize that’s an awful lot of conjecture but I felt I had to put the opinion out there. I don’t know the man and have no idea whether he has done anything wrong, and while I can see a way that the dots connect to suggest his illness history is responsible rather than anything illicit, that doesn’t make it so.

 

Europcar apply to join the World Tour

With the demise of both Vacansoleil-DCM and Euskaltel-Euskadi, there is space for a new team on the World Tour level. Europcar are the only team that have applied to make the step up, so as long as they meet all the required criteria it looks like they will be in the World Tour for 2014. If so they will need to do some serious recruiting. Although they have been racing in a large number of World Tour events in recent seasons, they were still able to pick and choose which events they entered, enabling them to operate with a weaker overall squad than World Tour teams, but with enough cream at the top to succeed. They have already lost some of their bigger names, Damian Gaudin and Sebastien Turgot joined AG2R, so they will have to do a lot of shopping. Fortunately for them, with several teams disbanding the market is flooded with riders, they may not be able to fill the roster with stars but they should be able to be competitive.

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Transfer Talk: Sebastian Langeveld Joins Garmin-Sharp

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It’s been known for a while that Sebastian Langeveld was leaving Orica GreenEDGE. He wants better support in the Cobbled Classics than they have given him, but the team is trying to morph into more of a GC team and haven’t room to recruit for both. There is an irony in the fact he is signing for Garmin-Sharp, another team that is morphing into more of a GC team. However Garmin-Sharp are a team that values the Cobbled Classics, it is something they have targeted in recent years, and coming off a frankly awful Cobbled season in 2013, there was a clear need for a change. In the last few years they have added several cobble specialists. Johan Vansummeren, who won Paris-Roubaix in 2011 while with Garmin, Nick Nuyens, winner of Ronde van Vlaanderen in 2011, not with Garmin, and Martijn Maaskant, who is leaving the team after a 3rd consecutive underwhelming season. Langeveld will partner with Vansummeren and hopefully a fully fit Nuyens, giving the American team a strong core group for the Cobbled Classics.
Sebastian Langeveld enjoyed his strongest Classics campaign to date in 2013. Finishing 5th in E3 Prijs Vlaanderen-Harelbeke, 10th in Ronde van Vlaanderen and 7th in Paris-Roubaix. He has two other top 10 finishes in E3 and was 5th in the 2011 Ronde van Vlaanderen. Langeveld will be 29 in January and riding at or around his peak, he is a natural contender on the cobbles, copes well with the short sharp bergs and a fast enough finish to compete for the wins. Away from the cobbles Langeveld remains a very strong competitor and a potential work horse for the team.

2013 Vuelta a Espana: Notes From Stage Seventeen

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Saxo-Tinkoff master the wind once again

On stage 13 of the Tour de France, the Saxo-Tinkoff team took advantage of the crosswinds to distance some of the other favorites, allowing Alberto Contador to gain 1:09 on his rivals. It was a brilliant attack and made for thrilling viewing. Fast forward two months, and Saxo-Tinkoff take advantage of the crosswinds to distance some of the other favorites, allowing Nicholas Roche to gain 1:31 on his nearest rivals. It was another excellent attack. Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R) and Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) were the best placed riders who lost out and now find themselves lagging well behind Roche. The move came with a little more than 30km to the finish, when the race was on the high plateau leading to Burgos, teams knew it was coming and still some riders were caught out.

Lampre-Merida blow it

The days break consisted of only two riders, Adam Hansen (Lotto Belisol) and Javier Aramendia (Caja Rural) and knowing their chances of success were nonexistent they set an easy pace for the first half of the race. Astana had no interest in chasing them down so it fell to whatever teams were interested in bringing the race to the expected bunch sprint, today that was Lampre-Merida. They received some help from Orica GreenEDGE, but the bulk of the work throughout the stage was done by Lampre-Merida. I thought it might be them, they need a stage win  and in Maximiliano Richeze have one of the most in-form fast men in the race. Moreover many of the other teams with sprinters are down to 4 or 5 riders, and simply lack the manpower to commit to a long chase. When the peloton split Orica GreenEDGE lost out, with their sprinters dropped by the peloton, yet Lampre made the move with Richeze and several team mates, it looked good. They had a free ride into the final 10km, where there was a short and steep hill which was the launch pad for an attack by Lampre’s Diego Ulissi. He gained a handful of seconds and stayed ahead for a few kms, once caught other riders launched attacks and Lampre were a team that helped shut those attacks down, keeping Richeze to the front at the same time. In the final 2.5km no team wanted to take it up, Lampre, Garmin, Saxo-Tinkoff and Sky all found themselves on the front for brief spells, but they always wanted someone else to take over. It continued into the final 1km and Bauke Mollema (Belkin) used this indecisiveness to launch a solo attack, nobody followed or gave chase. The sprinters were too busy looking at each other, waiting for someone else to give chase so that they could follow them, that they forgot to catch Mollema, letting him roll over the line unopposed and leaving themselves red faced. It was an audacious victory for Mollema, he is a fast finisher for a climber but he was definitely outmatched in that company, they knew that as well and clearly dismissed his threat. It was great for the 4-man Belkin team, having lost their stage winner, Theo Bos, before the race began, and having seen their GC challenge fall apart, they badly need a stage win to save their Vuelta. I singled out Lampre-Merida for criticism, because they worked all day just to waste the opportunity at the end of the stage. It would be disappointing but understandable if Richeze had lost out to Farrar or Boasson Hagen in a sprint, but to waste the chance while waiting for someone else to make the first move, that just it wasn’t good enough. Of course the same is true for Sky and Garmin-Sharp, both teams need that stage win as well, and both had their fastest finishers well placed to go for the win. However neither of them spent the day sitting on the front of the peloton just to watch someone else ride away to victory.

Looking ahead to stage eighteen

Stage 18: Burgos – Pena Cabarga
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The stage starts on the same high plateau that stage seventeen finished upon, winds might once again be strong but I can’t imagine any team will force the issue there, not with an entire stage to follow. The parcours gets progressively harder with each climb being harder than the last, before it climaxes with the Pena Cabarga. First is the Alto de Bocos, 3km and 6.6%, then the Alto Estacas de Trueba, 10.9km at 3.2%, then things start to get more serious with 65km to go when they reach the Puerto de la Braguia. It’s 6.1km at 6.3% and probably too far out for any attack to be launched, but it will certainly help thin out the peloton. Next is the Alto del Caracol, 10.6km at 5.6%, a climb that has caused real problems for riders in the past. The stage finishes with the Pena Cabarga, 5.9km at 9.2% and ramps much steeper than that, it’s a very tough climb and if any rider is struggling they could lose significant chunks of time. With 1km to go the slope reaches 20% before easing towards the finish line. It will be tough and it could be explosive, provided the GC riders go for it. The two most recent winners on the climb were Chris Froome and Joaquim Rodriguez, it’s a stage where the elite climbers can come to the fore.

Transfer Talk: Andre Cardoso Joins Garmin-Sharp

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The retirement of Christian Vande Velde and the departure of Peter Stetina, combined with Garmin-Sharp’s stated desire to morph into more of a GC team, ensures they are in the market for support climbers for 2014 and beyond. Andre Cardoso, 29, is enjoying a strong second season with Caja Rural and definitely fits the bill. Prior to joining Caja Rural in 2012, Cardoso had been with various Continental teams based in his native Portugal. In that period he had some good performances at the Volta a Portugal and fiished 15th in the 2010 World Championships, finishing in the leading group of 19 riders, no mean feat for a rider at the Continental level. He struggled initially with Caja Rural but found his feet to finish 21st overall in the 2012 Vuelta a Espana, making him their best GC rider. He has enjoyed a stronger 2013, finishing 13th in the Giro del Trentino, 4th in the Vuelta Asturias, 6th in the Glava Tour of Norway and 5th in the Vuelta a Burgos. On the final stage of the Vuelta a Burgos he finished 5th on the climb of the Lagunas de Neila, the first finisher after the group of four leaders who contested the stage win, Nairo Quintana, Vincenzo Nibali, Ivan Basso and David Arroyo, serious climbers all. He is currently 19th in the Vuelta a Espana (after stage 17) and has looked good in the Pyrenean stages. On stage 15 he was the last rider with the eventual winner Alexandre Geniez, but got dropped on a descent, understandable as Geniez was descending like a lunatic. Cardoso will be 30 by the time he joins Garmin-Sharp but he is ready for the move, he is a strong climber and will certainly be an asset to their top GC guys. I am not sure the transfer is 100% confirmed, however when Jonathan Vaughters (manager of Garmin-Sharp) tweets this

 

I think there is a good chance the story is true. It’s a good signing for Garmin-Sharp and a good opportunity for Cardoso to show he belongs on the World Tour.

2013 Vuelta a Espana: Notes From Stage Twelve

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The sprint teams weren’t interested in letting the break win today

The first half of the parcours was favorable to a breakaway today, so long as a decent sized group went away they had a decent chance of making it. However only three riders made the move, Romain Zingle (Cofidis), Fabricio Ferrari (Caja Rural) and Cedric Pineau (FDJ). Astana were delighted with that as Romain Zingle was the most “dangerous” man at more than one hour down, it gave them a free ride today, they would have allowed the break to take a 50 minute advantage. Instead it was the teams with stage wins on their mind who took up the chase, once the break’s lead had stretched out beyond 6 minutes. Orica GreenEDGE came first, then Garmin-Sharp, Argos-Shimano, Lampre-Merida and even Belkin. Their cooperation made it easy to keep the break under control and to slowly reel them in. As the peloton approached the final 35kms, the GC teams started to come to the front, raising the pace and causing the gap to tumble. The race was moving close to the coast and they were worried about crosswinds, getting to the front to avoid getting caught out by a split. They caught the break with a little under 19km to go and with an intermediate sprint pint just ahead, Ivan Basso (Cannondale) and Nicholas Roche (Saxo-Tinkoff) too the opportunity to earn some time bonuses. Basso got a 3 second bonus and Roche a 2 second bonus, they didn’t change anything in the GC for now but every second could count in the final reckoning.

 

BMC and Philippe Gilbert earn an excellent victory

After the sprint point teams started to get themselves organized and Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) took the opportunity to launch a solo attack, quickly gaining a 10 second advantage. Rather than a sprinters team it was BMC who came to the fore, with Philippe Gilbert behind two team mates. The BMC riders were able to check Martin’s progress then close him down, though by that time Gilbert only had one support rider remaining. Orica GreenEDGE and Astana came to the front at this point and brought the race through some nasty technical stuff. As the race approached the finish, Orica, Garmin and Lotto Belisol all had their turn controlling the race but when the race reached the drag to the finish line, it was Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky Procycling) who launched the attack. Boasson Hagen immediately opened a decent gap but he was followed by Philippe Gilbert who showed great form to sweep past the Norwegian and win the stage. It was a terrific victory and a great moment for Gilbert, winning in the Rainbow Jersey for the first time. It was a job well done by his team as well, closing down Tony Martin is never easy, and even after that Gilbert had help getting in position as they reached the finale.

 

Looking ahead to stage thirteen

Stage 13: Valls – Castelldefels
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Like stage twelve this is a stage where the right break could go the distance, there is a lot of bumpy terrain which is to their advantage. Additionally there is no chance of this one finishing in a bunch sprint, so different teams would have to take up the chase. Once again wind could be a factor as much of the stage takes place near the coast, the final 25km pretty much runs alongside the water and if the wind is strong that will be a very dangerous section. With 55km to go, before the race reaches that vulnerable coastal section, they face the punishing Alto del Rat Penat, 4.3km at 10.6%, see below. The middle section is very steep, reaching up to 16% and if anyone is minded to do so, the peloton could be blown apart on this climb. If that happens then we can expect a madcap race to the finish as the various groups try to catch those ahead, and those ahead try to maintain their advantage. If the break has been kept in control then it’s a certainty that this climb will be a launch pad for a rider, or riders trying to jump clear. Edvald Boasson Hagen has shown the inclination to do so, as has Luis Leon Sanchez and both will be men to watch tomorrow. The finish itself is is another tricky one, but there shouldn’t be a large peloton racing towards it which should reduce the risk of crashes. The finish itself has an uphill ramp in the final 350-400m, if the race book can be trusted it looks to be an 8-10% ramp which makes this a stage for the classics finishers, if a reasonable sized group reached the end together. I though Gilbert would target this one, Stybar as well, but it’s going to be a tough stage for any team to control. The composition of the break will be interesting as well, they should be first over the Alto del Rat Penat and that’s a Cat 1 climb. If Nicolas Edet or Amets Txurruka have designs on the KoM Jersey then they might want to take those points, though with three very tough days to follow they may save their energy. It should be a fun one to watch.

 

Alto del Rat Penat
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2013 Vuelta a Espana: Notes Fram Stage Seven

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The sprinters teams set out to do things right today

Having been chastened by yesterdays missed opportunity, the sprint teams started today determined to control the race and bring it to the anticipated bunch sprint at the finish. A three man break was allowed to get clear and establish a modest gap of around 5:00. The riders involved were Christian Knees (Sky Procycling), Marco Pinotti (BMC) and Javier Aramendia (Caja Rural) who had been in the break on stage two. A number of teams worked on the front of the peloton to keep the break manageable and slowly reel it in as the stage progressed. Argos-Shimano, Omega Pharma-Quick Step, Orica GreenEDGE, Garmin-Sharp and Lampre-Merida were all visible on the front at times. The break were caught with about 17km to go, just as they were being caught Marco Pinotti jumped clear in an attempt to repeat Tony Martins effort from the day before. A similarly strong time trialist, Pinotti has the traits to cause the same sort of problems, but the peloton was having none of it and closed him down in short order, with Orica GreenEDGE to the fore. So far so good for the sprint teams, the break reeled in and everyone together for the final 14km.

 

The sprinters teams got it all wrong

At that point things started to unravel. Although the pace was remaining high the sprint teams seemed only too happy to let others take up the pace setting, saving their legs for the final few km. The GC teams had come to the front in their place, notably Katusha, Cannondale and Astana, keeping their leaders safe. With 10km to go, some riders jumped clear on the small climb but there was little initial rush to bring them back, eventually Fabian Cancellara took the chase up, setting a high pace for a short distance. Orica GreenEDGE took over from him, but again the sprinters teams seemed happy to leave the riders out ahead, saving themselves for the finale, presumably thinking of closing them down in the final 3km. It was a mistake though, the final 5km were very technical, more so than they had seemed in the road book, the streets were narrow and some of the corners were very sharp. Making matters worse, the two riders ahead were Philippe Gilbert (BMC) and Zdenek Styber (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), both very strong riders and excellent bike handlers. Just the sort of riders who could use a technical section to gain time on a big bunch, that’s exactly what they did, both riders working very hard to do so. By the final 700m the chasing pack was getting close, seeing this Zdenek Stybar launched a fierce attack, Gilbert could barely hang on to his wheel initially. However he got there and was able to use Stybar as a lead out man, the problem being that even when he launched his own sprint he struggled to gain on Stybar. The duo crossed the line side by side, with Stybar mere inches ahead of Gilbert, Stybar was just too fast for Gilbert, even being led out Gilbert struggled to match Stybar’s speed. It was a terrific victory for Zdenek Stybar, he has been very impressive in 2013, this win is his biggest result to date, though he seems destined to achieve greater results in the years ahead.

 

Dan Martin loses out

With about 11km to go, and with the peloton flying towards the finish, Garmin-Sharp’s Dan Martin came down on a corner. The cause wasn’t immediately apparent but he looked to be in real pain. However acutely aware of the race situation, knowing that getting back onto the back of the peloton would be nigh on impossible, he got back on the bike to try and limit the damage being done to his GC aspirations. Alongside Alex Howes and Johan Vansummeren, Martin tried his best to stay in contention, eventually coming in 1:33 down on the peloton, they must have rode very hard to manage even that. In itself it doesn’t destroy his chances of finishing high on the GC, he is 3:39 behind Vincenzo Nibali now but climbing well in the days ahead would let him gain time on most riders above him. However after the stage he was taken to hospital, reportedly with injuries to his right hand side, it’s unclear how bad they are, but assuming he starts tomorrow he will be hard pressed to be competitive on the final climb while carrying injuries. If he does continue and lose time, then the GC will be over for him, but if he can recover after that then he’d likely target a stage victory in the final week.

 

Looking ahead to stage eight

Stage 8: Jerez de la Frontera – Estepona. Alto Penas Blancas 
profile from http://www.lavuelta.com

After some sprinters stages that didn’t quite work out right, it’s time to get back to the GC competition. The stage profile looks pretty good for a breakaway group, with a hilly middle section. If the right break goes away then it’s likely that Astana will let them take a nice lead, leaving the chasing to any teams who fancy a stage win. If any of the breakaway riders are to go on and win the stage they will need a substantial time gap by the time they reach the foot of the Alto Penas Blancas. As you can see in the profile below the final climb is 14.5km long with an average gradient of 6.6%. There are some steep ramps in the first 2km, then it flattens out a bit before kicking up for the final 9.5km. That final stretch remains within the 6-9% range, before easing slightly towards the finish. It’s a serious climb and a real test of form for the GC riders, after tomorrow we will have a much reduced pool of contenders.

 

  The Alto Penas Blancas
profile from http://www.lavuelta.com

 

Transfer Talk : Peter Stetina Joins BMC

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Peter Stetina by Roxanne King
Peter Stetina, a photo by Roxanne King on Flickr.

Peter Stetina has been involved with the Garmin-Sharp team for most of his career but is leaving for the chance to race in the biggest races and also seeking some personal glory as well. The 26 year old American has shown himself to be a strong support climber, he has performed very well when helping several of his team mates win stage races in the last couple of seasons. In the 2013 Tour of Utah Stetina did a lot of work for Lachlan Morton and then Tom Danielson. Stetina did a great turn on the final climb of the race to shred the peloton and give Danielson the platform to kick away to win the race. Peter Stetina was part of the squad when Dan Martin won the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya. Although the victory came from Martin’s breakaway on stage 4, Stetina has ridden well with him the previous day and had out climbed Martin at the end of the stage. He was there again for Christian Vande Velde’s victory in the 2012 USA Pro Cycling Challnge race in Colorado, where Stetina finished 9th overall himself as one of three Garmin riders in the top ten. Most importantly though Stetina was a crucial part of Ryder Hesjedals victory in the 2012 Giro d’Italia, when he and Christian Vande Velde were the support riders for Hesjedal in the mountains. Both riders were hugely impressive in their roles, chasing attacks and pacing Hesjedal through the Dolomites during the final week. He has completed the Giro d’Italia three times now but it’s the only Grand Tour he has had the chance to ride.
While he hasn’t had many opportunities to ride for himself he has shown he can do well, finishing 4th overall in the 2013 Tour de Langkawi and 3rd in the Gran Premio Miguel Indurain, a one day race full of climbing. However they aren’t the most prestigious races and the desire to race in more of the biggest races must be part of his motivation for moving to BMC. He wants to ride in the Tour de France and he should get the chance to do so in support of Tejay Van Garderen, he also wants a chance to ride for himself in a better quality of races than he has had to date. It was hard for him to find those opportunities at Garmin-Sharp as there is a lot of competition for squad places at the biggest races. Hesjedal, Martin, Danielson and Andrew Talansky all seem to be established as team leaders and there are a number of other support riders capable of fulfilling the same role. There will be less competition for that role at BMC, as while the team has a lot of talent there was a clear need to strengthen their climbing options. Having friends already at BMC certainly won’t harm his chances of succeeding there.

For BMC this signing follows the same principles of the Peter Velits one, theyare recruiting a stronger stable of support climbers for their GC team. They are also increasing their options for the one week stage races throughout the year, races where riders such as Stetina and Velits can take the starring role.

Tour Of Utah – Race Review

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Stage one: Brian Head to Cedar City – Greg Van Avermaet launches early to take victory

On paper the first stage looked tough enough to force a selection by the end, the winner was expected to be a fast man who could climb, such as Greg Van Avermaet. The end result was the expected one but the race itself did not follow the script. Although the day contained plenty of climbing, the course wasn’t as selective as expected and a 92 strong peloton reached the finish together. Early in the stage a two man break went away and stayed away until they were caught 5km from the finish, they were Chris Jones of UnitedHealthcare and Michael Torckler of Bissell Pro Cycling, Torckler swept up the KoM points. After the peloton had swallowed the break the ace wa high but there was not great organization to it and BMC’s Greg Van Avermaet took advantage of that lack of control to jump clear 1km to the finish. The chase was on but with no strong sprint trains in place he was effectively being chased down by a number of individuals rather than a swift moving peloton. Van Avermaet held on to take a fine stage win and the first Yellow Jersey of the race. He finished a few metres ahead of Michael Matthews of Orica GreenEDGE and Ty Magner of the Hincapie Sportswear Development Team as the top sprinters desperately tried to close the gap before Van Avermaet reached the line.

Stage two: Panguitch to Torrey – Michael Matthews shows his speed

Liked the first stage this was a day with a lot of climbing but a flat finish. It proved tougher with a fair number of riders being distanced by the end, there were 67 riders in the peloton that reached the finish. The riding was also faster at the start as teams competed to get into the break for the day. Michael Torckler has succeeded in escaping for the 2nd consecutive day and took a few more KoM points. On the final climb Andzs Flaksis of Bontrager Cycling attacked, crested the climb in the lead and descended aggressively in an effort to solo away for the win. Unfortunately for Flaksis he was unable to open up a large enough gap and he got caught as the peloton stormed towards a bunch finish. As with the previous day a rider tried to go clear for the win, this time it was David Zabriskie but he couldn’t make it work. The sprint was set up by Bontrager as they worked for Jasper Stuyvens but once Michael Matthews kicked there was no one in this field who could live with him, he took a dominant win and the Yellow Jersey. Greg Van Avermaet tried to go with Matthews by following his wheel, it netted him second on the stage but it wasn’t enough to hold on to the race lead, Stuyven finished 3rd.

Stage three: Richfield to Payson – Lachlan Morton struts his stuff

This was the day when the GC race was expected to come to the fore as the peloton would have to cross the gargantuan Mount Nebo, more than 20km of climbing before a long and fast descent to the finish. Although a break got away they were effectively caught on the lower slopes of the climb before the serious racing could begin. At that point Lachlan Morton of Garmin-Sharp attacked from the peloton, caught and dropped the remnants of the break and rode solo up the climb. From that point on Morton took center stage, he looked smooth and comfortable on the climb and took the very long descent at speed holding off the chasing peloton to win by 34 seconds and become the 3rd race leader. It was a sensational victory, the best result of the young Australians career so far and gives a glimpse of his future potential. Although the climb was long and relentless it didn’t shred the peloton as expected, the group which chased Morton on the descent was 20/21 riders strong and included Torckler as he picked up some more KoM points. It left 17 riders within 44 seconds of the race lead.

Stage four: Salt Lake City to Salt Lake City – Michael Matthews strikes again

Stage four was a short circuit race in Salt Lake City and always destined to end in a bunch sprint. A five man break went away but they were never given much of a lead to work with and the most notable incident involved an unfortunate crash involving Chris Baldwin, Marsh Copper and a young spectator. The break was duly reeled in after a final flourish by Champion System’s Craig Lewis and the peloton buckled down for the bunch sprint. Once again Michael Matthews took the win, establishing himself as the fastest sprinter in the race. Greg Van Avermaet took second and kept the Sprint Jersey, Jasper Stuyven was 3rd again as he had been on stage two. Stuyven is in his final season with the Bontrager team as he prepares to move to the World Tour with the Trek team for 2014.

Stage five: Snowbasin Resort to Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort – Chris Horner takes control of the race

Where stage three promised a GC showdown without really delivering, stage five was the real deal, it featured the only mountain top finish in the race. The climb to the Snowbird resort was steep and had a number of ramps, it also came soon after another tough climb to Guardsmans Pass. The day got off to a frantic start as everyone seemed to want to get in the days breakaway group, it put a lot of pressure on Garmin-Sharp who had to work to protect Lachlan Morton. Eventually a 10 man group did get away and once again it included Michael Torckler who was able to take enough KoM points to ensure he would win the Mountain Classification. By the time the break crested the Guardsmans Pass there were only two riders left, Michael Torckler and Yannick Eijssen of BMC, however Torckler hit the wall when the reached the foot of the final climb. Eijssen was very impressive as he paced himself up the final climb and he may have been able to go on to take the stage win had he not been a GC threat. Unfortunately he started the day only 3:45 down on Lachlan Morton and the Garmin-Sharp team had led a strong chase up towards Guardsmans Pass to keep Eijssen under control, it took a toll on them however as only Tom Danielson and Peter Stetina were there to support Morton at the foot of the final climb. The pace quickly went up as Tom Danielson went to the front, however Morton was unable to follow, the young Australian had reached his limit for this race. George Bennett then attacked and went clear of the remaining peloton, he was followed by Danielson and Acevedo who caught up to him. Danielson then went clear on his own until a RadioShack rider bridged over to him, surprisingly it wasn’t Bannett but Chris Horner instead who had seemed in trouble earlier, the two caught and passed Eijssen. From that point the two veteran Americans waged a private battle on the mountain, Danielson tried to keep the pace high to drop Horner, and Horner resolutely stayed on Danielson’s wheel, refusing to come through and do any work. It was a clever tactic but not a particularly nice one, if the two riders were to finish together at the top Horner would take the race lead, that puts the onus on him to do some work, which he didn’t. However niceties aside, Danielson kept the pace high, kept asking Horner to come through and grew frustrated at his inability to drop Horner, then as they reached the finish Horner kicked from behind Danielson to take the win. It was an impressive win for Horner, it put him in Yellow and suggested he is starting to find form ahead of the Vuelta a Espana.

Stage six: Park City to Park City –  Tom Danielson has the last laugh

The final stage was another shortish one, a loop that started and finished in Park City. It ended with the tough climb to Empire Pass and a 8km descent to the finish line and it was set up for a shootout between Horner and Danielson who started the day on the same time. Michael Torckler already had the KoM Jersey wrapped up but the other jerseys were still up for grabs. Sprint Jersey holder Greg Van Avermaet started the day 3 points ahead of Michael Matthews and with neither rider likely to contest for the win today the only sprint points available came from the two intermediate sprint points. They failed to get into the breakaway group when it was finally established but when some Hincapie Sportswear riders tried to bridge over to the break Michael Matthews joined them. BMC responded by increasing the pace on the front of the peloton but all they achieved was a split in the peloton and tiring everyone out, they were unable to stop Matthews reaching the break and winning the intermediate sprint. Those intermediate sprint points were enough to allow Matthews to move ahead of Van Avermaet and win the Sprint Jersey. Lachlan Morton led the Young Riders Classification, taking a 2:34 lead over Bontrager’s Gavin Mannion into the stage. Morton had to work for Tom Danielson and was dropped early on the final climb, Mannion was able to beat him to the finish but Morton managed to hold on to the jersey.

The Yellow Jersey competition was between Horner and Danielson and both reached the foot of the climb safely in the peloton, at which point Garmin-Sharp hit the front at pace. They worked through their riders until the peloton was shattered behind them, when Stetina was done Danielson simply upped the pace and left Chris Horner in his wake. Horner’s RadioShack team mate Matthew Busche tried to pace him through the tough patch and limit the damage being done. Tom Danielson started to peg back Francisco Mancebo, of 5-hour Energy, and Michael Matthews. He passed both on his way to the top of the climb and gradually stretched out his lead over Horner. Danielson crested Empire Pass on his own but was caught by Mancebo and Janier Acevedo, of the Jamis-Hagens Berman team, on the descent, the two of them fought out the win between themselves with Mancebo taking it. It was a great recovery from Mancebo after Danielson had dropped him, having been in the break all day and often prominent on the front, Mancebo must have dug deep to find the strength to get back to Danielson. It was a superb performance from Tom Danielson and he was a very deserving winner of the 2013 Tour of Utah. Chris Horner crossed the line 1:30 behind to finish 2nd overall and Janier Acevedo came 3rd to round out the podium.