2014 Paris-Nice: Notes from stage eight

Betancur triumphant

It was another difficult stage for Carlos Betancur and his AG2R La Mondiale team. A seventeen man break formed early in the stage and wasn’t given much leeway, which meant that the peloton was keeping a high pace throughout the stage in an effort at keeping the break under control. The chasing wasn’t left to AG2R at that point, instead other teams, including Tinkoff-Saxo, Astana and Movistar were keen to take up the pace setting with their eye on a stage win. However that all changed when Lieuwe Westra led Vincenzo Nibali (both Astana) on an attack on the Cote de Peille, with more than 40km remaining on the stage. Nibali was too dangerous to let go but he was soon leaving Westra behind and catching up with the remnants of that large breakaway group, so AG2R had to take up the chase on the front. Simon Spilak (Katusha) and Wilco Kelderman (Belkin) bridged over while other riders attacked behind, giving AG2R all they could handle, but they eventually brought back the dangerous riders and the riders had all come back together near the base of the Col d’Eze.

After another flurry of attacks Frank Schleck (Trek) and Spilak managed to get clear near the top of the final climb, the two raced down towards the finish with a much reduced peloton in pursuit. It was a close run thing but they were caught just inside the final kilometre, Schleck launched one last attack and there was a delayed reaction behind before the peloton made a mad dash for the line. A little too mad as a crash took out the World Champion Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida), Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Maxime Monfort (Lotto Belisol) on the finishing straight. All involved finished the stage and were credited with the same time as the winner, though Costa was slow to remount his bike. At the front Schleck was caught before the line and Arthur Vichot (FDJ) took the stage in his impressive French National Champion Jersey, ahead of Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) and Cyril Gautier (Europcar). Betancur finished safely in the front group, though he had looked stretched to the limits towards the end of the stage. It is a terrific win for the 24 year old Colombian, the biggest stage race victory of his career so far and hopefully the sign of bigger things to come in his future.

A worthy race?

To put it simply, yes. I will return to this topic in a future blog post but I also want to say something about now while the action is fresh in the memory. While this edition of Paris-Nice lacked the high mountain finishes and time trials that generally mark the upper tier stage races, it was a highly exciting event nonetheless. There was a lot of moaning in the early stages, many were put off by the seemingly less impressive parcours, and opening with three sprint stages did little to engage those who had already labelled it a boring race. The sprints themselves were very good, but for many those stages are about the last 10km of the race and little more. However the action heated up after that, with the final five stages being full of exciting attacking racing.

I was one who liked the parcours from the start and I really enjoyed it, yet it didn’t quite live up to my high expectations. Partly because some of the stages that were supposed to encourage attacking riding weren’t quite difficult enough, and partly because the crash on the opening stage took a large number of potential contenders right out of contention. Sylvain Chavanel (IAM), Tom-Jelte Slagter (Garmin-Sharp) and Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo), all saw their chances vanish thanks to unfortunately timed mechanical problems, while Geraint Thomas (Sky) crashed out of contention on the penultimate stage. That sort of attrition is part of the sport but on a parcours that was designed to encourage attacking riding and risk taking, the more serious contenders the better. I hope that this format is one that they will consider using again for future editions of the race.

2014 Paris-Nice: Notes from stage one

A fine victory for Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ), a repeat of last year’s opening stage win and claiming the first Yellow Jersey of the race in the process. He had to do it the hard way as well, crashing earlier in the stage and requiring treatment several times on a badly cut knee, but Bouhanni overcame his pain and discomfort to take the win ahead of John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano) and Gianni Meersman (Omega Pharma-Quick Step).

Bonus seconds

I spoke about it in my race preview, and many others have mentioned it on twitter; in a race without high mountain finishes or time trials, every second counts, so picking up bonus second when you can is crucial. With only Christophe Laborie (Bretagne-Seche Environnment) in the break today there were bonus seconds available for the peloton at the intermediate sprints and it was no shock to see that Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) and Sylvain Chavanel each bagged themselves a second and that could matter at the end of the race. Gianni Meersman and Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) also made sure they earned some bonus seconds, both riders can climb better than the pure sprinters and could be setting themselves up to take the Yellow Jersey later in the race, though neither is an obvious overall contender in my opinion.

Attrition

As always happens on these seemingly innocuous sprint stages, crashes strike and illness lurks, each seeking to hobble the contenders and affect the outcome of the race. The first victim was Tejay van Garderen (BMC) who quit about halfway through the stage citing stomach ailments, he was ill over the previous 36 hours but despite the symptoms improving he felt too weak to continue. There were also crashes galore, Bouhanni, Maxime Monfort (Lotto Belisol), Taylor Phinney (BMC), Vasil Kiryienka (Team Sky), Jose Serpa and Mattia Cattaneo (both Lampre-Merida) all hit the deck prior to a big pile up with 20km to go. That pile up saw a number of riders on the ground and many riders held up, causing the peloton to split and a fair number of significant riders to lose time, probably taking them out of contention for overall victory. The list of riders who lost time includes Romain Bardet (AG2R), Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) Eduardo Sepulveda (Bretagne-Seche), Michael Albasini (Orica GreenEDGE), Lieuwe Westra (Astana), John Gadret (Movistar), Chris Anker Sorensen (Tinkoff-Saxo), Thomas Voeckler (Europcar), Jonathan Hivert (Belkin), Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin-Sharp), Julien Simon (Cofidis), Simon Gerrans (Orica GreenEDGE) and many more.

Rui Costa attempted to neutralize the pace at the front so that it could all come back together. However Giant-Shimano weren’t interested and drove that lead group on, then a little later, Omega Pharma-Quick Step and Belkin joined in, none of the teams will have made friends in the process, but they could see the opportunity to win the stage and take the race lead. With sprinters like Matthew Goss (Orica GreenEDGE) and Thor Hushovd (BMC) caught behind, keeping the pace high suited their own fast finishers. As that front group got closer to the finish, more teams took up the pace setting and the fate of the riders trapped behind was sealed. Ultimately Giant-Shimano failed to reap the reward for their efforts, Degenkolb lost his train as they reached the final kilometre and was left to fend for himself, taking Bouhanni’s wheel but unable to beat him to the line.

Looking ahead to stage two

Stage two: Rambouillet – Saint-Georges-sur-Baulche
Image from http://www.letour.com/indexPNC_us.html

Another sprint finish seems likely but with crosswinds possible and some shallow ramps in the final 3km there is an element of unpredictability. It should suit a slightly different sort of sprinter but Bouhanni will certainly fancy his chances of doubling up.

If the winds are strong then the front group could be much reduced by the time it reaches the finish, if Omega Pharma-Quick Step are responsible for that then this stage could belong to Tom Boonen and yet m0re GC aspirants could find themselves adrift.

2014 Team Preview – Astana Pro Team

As with Team Sky, Astana start the 2014 season with their gaze firmly set on the Tour de France. The Kazakh team has assembled a roster loaded with climbers and stage race specialists, and is willing to sacrifice other ambitions in the pursuit of Grand Tour success. They did so successfully in 2013 with Vincenzo Nibali winning the Giro d’Italia in impressive fashion, claiming two stage wins and dominating in the mountains. It wasn’t an ideal race either, as severe weather affected the racing, with some stages being curtailed. Even though Nibali himself is generally unperturbed by inclement weather, the reduction in climbing involved in the race is likely to have decreased his final margin of victory. Nibali tried to follow his Giro success by winning the Vuelta a Espana for a second time, having first won there in 2010, however his campaign fell just short and he finished 2nd. Nibali took some time off after the Giro and kept a lot of sponsorship commitments, as a result, when he returned to cycling at the Tour de Pologne he was off the pace and admitted he was off schedule in his preparations. Nibali always targets some of the hillier one-day races, with the new look Milan-San Remo, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the Giro di Lombardia all likely high on his list of priorities in 2014. With Nibali taking on the Giro and Vuelta in 2013, Jakob Fuglsang got the chance to ride the Tour de France as a team leader, and he made the most of it. Finishing 7th, only just losing out to Dan Martin for a stage win, and climbing superbly towards the end of the race. Fuglsang has shown he can be a team leader in his own right and has earned the right to lead Astana in more races. However that is unlikely to happen in 2014, with the team wisely deciding that his support will be essential for Nibali in France, Fuglsang will find that opportunities for personal success are hard to come by. He has spoken of his desire to try and be more of a stage hunter in 2014, having lost out to Samuel Sanchez in the Criterium du Dauphine as well as Martin in the Tour. Fuglsang will likely have a lead role for some of the shorter stage races and he could get the opportunity to take on the Vuelta for himself, but that choice is unlikely to be made until much closer to the time. With Nibali forgoing the chance to defend the Giro, Astana signed Michele Scarponi so that they could put up a credible defence of their title, while also providing a wise old head to guide a couple of the teams promising young riders. In the past four editions of the Giro, Scarponi has finished 4th, 1st, 4th and 4th; his colourful past aside, Astana know exactly what they are getting from him. After the Giro the plan is for Scarponi to ride the Tour in support of Nibali, though he will be doing so with tired legs.

Aside from those three proven leaders, Astana have a wealth of other stage race riders to choose from. Tanel Kangert was hugely impressive as a super-domestique in 2013, a role he will assume once again this season where he is set to support Nibali at the Tour. The 26 year old Estonian is an excellent GC prospect in his own right, he finished 14th at the Giro and 11th at the Vuelta last season, while riding both as a domestique. Kangert is a very strong climber, a good time trialist, and has the kick to go for a stage win. It’s been hinted he could get the chance to lead Astana at the Vuelta, even though he will be fatigued from the Tour; if not then his chance should surely come in 2015. Janez Brajkovic, 30, was once considered a future Grand Tour contender, it hasn’t worked out for him so far, but he remains a fine rider and another very strong ally for Nibali. Astana also have no shortage of domestiques to call upon. Paolo Tiralongo is a veteran climber who can still do great work in the mountains. Fredrik Kessiakoff is a Swedish climber and time trialist who had a 2013 to forget. Long time team mates of Vincenzo Nibali, Valerio Agnoli and Alessandro Vanotti, followed him to Astana and bring plenty of experience. Kazakhs Andrey Zeits, Alexandr Dyachenko are capable support riders but are likely to miss out on selection for the Tour. Andrei Grivko is likely to be another key support rider for Nibali in France, a strong all-rounder and very powerful engine, Grivko will be crucial if Astana have to control the peloton. Dmitri Gruzdev offers a similar skill set to Grivko, the two are likely to be competing for a single spot on the Tour de France squad. Another all-round talent who should make the Tour de France line-up is Lieuwe Westra, who joins from Vacansoleil-DCM, and like Grivko would serve as a powerful workhorse. Both Grivko and Westra are very strong riders who could star on other teams, but are likely to spend much of the season working for the ambitions of others. The team also have a couple of promising young climbers in Fabio Aru and Mikel Landa. Aru impressed in the Giro del Trentino then looked good at the Giro d’Italia, prior to succumbing to illness. An excellent climber, he is expected to return to the Giro in 2014 with more of a free role, as he gains experience as a stage race rider. Mikel Landa has been one of the most impressive young Spanish climbers over the last three years. He joins from the Euskaltel-Euskadi team, where he caught the eye with a win on the Lagunas de Neila climb during the Vuelta a Burgos back in 2011.

Who are the stage winners?

Much like Team Sky, Astana find it hard to combine their GC ambitions with a sprint or stage win element for the Grand Tours, but they do have options should they decide to do so. Maxim Iglinsky and Enrico Gasparotto are veteran puncheurs who have both won in the Ardennes. Borut Bozic is a tough sprinter, he doesn’t win often but he can be competitive on the tougher stages. Francesco Gavazzi is an opportunistic sprinter who climbs well enough to contest for the win on selective stages. However the team’s most promising stage win threat is 24 year old Italian sprinter, Andrea Guardini. Astana signed Guardini after an impressive 2012 season, when he won a stage at the Giro, beating Mark Cavendish in the process. 2013 didn’t go to plan for Guardini, taking just a single stage win in the Tour de Langkawi, however he remains a talented sprinter and must hope he can make up for that in 2014, a fast start to the season would certainly help. Guardini won’t have a dedicated team behind him, but Astana will likely seek support from another sprinter such as Jacopo Guarnieri, the returning Valentin Iglinsky, or the Kazakh Ruslan Tleubayev. Astana also have two promising young Kazakh riders, Alexey Lutsenko and Arman Kamyshev, both of whom recorded impressive results as juniors in 2012.

2014 season outlook

As with Team Sky, the success or failure of Astana’s season will largely be determined by the performance of Vincenzo Nibali at the Tour de France. They will also contend in the other Grand Tours, with Scarponi at the Giro and an as yet to be decided GC rider getting their chance to shine in the Vuelta.

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2013 Vuelta a Espana: Notes From Stage Fourteen

Daniele Ratto steals the limelight

From the start of the race a group of five riders went clear, Luis Leon Sanchez (Belkin), Philippe Gilbert (BMC), Graeme Brown (Belkin), Steve Chainel (AG2R) and Daniele Ratto (Cannondale). On the Port de Envalira they split up with Sanchez, Gilbert and Ratto climbing too well for the others, at that point their had lead reached it’s maximum value of 12:35. Gilbert led the trio over the top of the climb but they split up on the descent, Sanchez crashed then later withdrew from the race with Hypothermia. Ratto and Gilbert raced on ahead but Ratto soon distanced Gilbert, leading the race over the next two climbs and all the way to the top of the final climb. It was a magnificent performance from the 23 year old, a real landmark victory. It was also superbly timed for the Cannondale team who lost their leader today.

 

The weather wreaks havoc on the race

Having enjoyed a permanently dry and hot race to date, the transformation to dreadful conditions today took an awful toll on the peloton. It rained throughout the day, making the descents very dangerous, it was also cold, particularly at altitude. Fourteen riders were forced to withdraw including Ivan Basso, Luis Leon Sanchez, Wout Poels, Lieuwe Westra, Jelle Vanendert, Haimar Zubeldia, and Roman Kreuziger, several cited hypothermia as the reason. The reaction to the sudden bad weather was totally understandable, many of us feel bad anytime there is a dramatic swing in the conditions, imagine how bad that feels if you have to go out and cycle 169km in the mountains. As a result of the atrocious conditions a large number riders simply struggled with the conditions, losing their recent good form and producing sub par performances. While others, such as Alejandro Valverde, lost ground on descents. Valverde found himself adrift of the peloton as they approached the final climb, however after good work from Sylwester Szmyd and Jose Herrada, Valverde rode very well by himself on the final climb to finish only 50 seconds behind Vincenzo Nibali. Nibali looked comfortable once again, climbing with Chris Horner and kicking ahead of him to take 2nd and a few seconds advantage. Nibali still leads the race, with Horner now 50 seconds behind in 2nd and Valverde 3rd at 1:42.

 

Looking ahead to stage fifteen

Stage 15: Andorra – Peyragudes
Profile from http://www.lavuelta.com

The longest stage of this Vuelta a Espana is expected to take place in the same awful weather that we saw today, if so it will be 232.5km of hell for the riders. Even in ideal weather stage fifteen is a monster, but with cold and rain added in this is just cruel. The two early climbs are brutes of 24.4km and 20 km, leg sapping challenges, particularly so given the weather. The final 50km of the stage was used in stage 17 of the 2012 Tour de France, a stage won by Alejandro Valverde, he will be very motivated to make up for today but it’s not going to be easy. It’s a great stage for a breakaway, if Nicolas Edet or Amets Txurruka do want to contend for the KoM Jersey then they absolutely have to get into the break.

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Transfer Talk: Lieuwa Westra Joins Astana

Lieuwe Westra, a photo by The Wolf on Flickr.

It’s August 1st and the cycling transfer market opened with the news that Lieuwe Westra has signed to ride for Astana in 2014. It’s big step for Westra who will be leaving Vacansoleil-DCM after being with them for all five seasons of their existence, the final three at the World Tour level. He is a very powerful rider making him a good breakawayoption, an excellent time trialist and the current Dutch National ITT Champion, a title he won for the first time in 2012. Unusually for such a strong rider he is also very good on hilly terrain, and can excel on short punchy climbs, though he is less at home in the high mountains. He has shown the ability to compete in the shorter stage races, in 2012 he won the Post Danmark Rundt, and came 2nd in the Tour of Belgium and Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde. All three 2.HC races were largely flat with a time trial and one day with some short and punchy climbs, in other words they were perfect for him. More impressively he finished 2nd overall, 8 seconds behind Bradley Wiggins and won a stage in the 2012 Paris-Nice, a World Tour event. It wasn’t the most mountainous edition of the race and with a final day uphill time trial (in which he finished 2nd 2 seconds behind Wiggins) it was always a race he could do well in. His best moment came on stage 5 which finished atop the Cote de la Croix-Neuve which is a short and punchy climb, about 3km and around 10% average gradient, he attacked from the leading group near the finish.

By signing Westra Astana are adding a strong all-round rider and one who should immediately become the best of his type on their roster. It is also a tactical signing as in 2014 they are targeting the Tour de France with this years Giro d’Italia winner Vincenzo Nibali and that will require a stronger team than they had in the Giro. That Giro squad had a good selection of climbers, but the Tour de France typically has more flat sections and often has 1-2 stages where winds can be a factor. Adding a powerful rider like Westra who is versatile enough to be an asset everywhere bar the high mountains will be a massive boost to the level of support they can offer Nibali.

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