Second post in one day AGAIN:this is becoming a very bad habit.I'm not going to talk about today's results because there aren't enough info (and photos) around at the moment and I don't want to do 4 posts in one day.So,here we are with the question:What happened yesterday at Tirreno-Adriatico? Well,the stage was supposed to be suitable to sprinters (at the T-A in fact there are Bello Bennati,Petacchi,Breschel,Pacio Cavendish,McEwen,Hushvod,Boonen and other ones).Unfortunately for them,the race was won by Julien El Fares,who formed a breakaway together with Ukrainian Vladimir Duma and crossed the finish-line first,right in front of the breakaway's companion.The group arrived after 12 seconds and third arrived Bello Bennati."It was an incredible day and I am very happy for this win. You have to attack if you want to win," said El Farès."The group waited too long to catch us.In the sprint I played with the nerves of Duma, he was worried about me."
But who is El Fares? Well,Julien El Fares is a French rider of Cofidis team.His grandparents come from North of Africa and his surname means "The Knight (Il Cavaliere in Italian)".El Fares's grandfather was a soldier in the French army and,when the indipendency war exploded in Algeria,he decided to escape in France,in Manosque (near to Aix-En-Provence). "My dad is a Muslim and my mother is Christian,but I'm an atheist and so religion is not a problem in my family",he says.El Fares became pro last year and started to love cycling when he was 6 years old,even if he"wasn't fascinated by a rider in particular,I just loved bycicles.I don't have any contact with Algeria now.Doing cycling as a sport is very hard there,there aren't enough money to buy a bicycle.And then the weather is always very hot and the roads are not good".
El Fares yesterday took all the jerseys of T-A (the climber's one,the young rider's one,the leader's one and so on) and managed to keep the leader's jersey today too.
And what happened to Andy yesterday? Well,he finished the stage with the main group.On this link he says he was surprised by his performance at the Eroica and talks a bit about his form: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2009/mar09/mar12news2 .Matti Breschel came 10th,while Fab Fab probably hasn't fully recovered yet from his injury :( I hope he'll be ok for the Classics,even if it won't be easy :( :(
And what happened to Andy yesterday? Well,he finished the stage with the main group.On this link he says he was surprised by his performance at the Eroica and talks a bit about his form: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2009/mar09/mar12news2 .Matti Breschel came 10th,while Fab Fab probably hasn't fully recovered yet from his injury :( I hope he'll be ok for the Classics,even if it won't be easy :( :(Btw,here's the stage classification:
1 Julien El Farès (Fra) Cofidis 3.34.03 (40.644 km/h)
1 Julien El Farès (Fra) Cofidis 3.34.03 (40.644 km/h)
2 Vladimir Duma (Ukr) Ceramica Flaminia-Bossini Docce
3 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Liquigas 0.12
4 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) LPR Brakes-Farnese Vini
5 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step
6 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Milram
7 Enrico Rossi (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia-Bossini Docce
8 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis
9 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astana
10 Matti Breschel (Den) Saxo Bank
12 George Hincapie (USA) Columbia-Highroad
15 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Columbia-Highroad
17 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffè Mokambo
18 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Lampre-NGC 1
19 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Slipstream
20 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas
21 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Milram
22 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas
24 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes-Farnese Vini
25 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana
27 Andy Schleck (Lux) Saxo Bank
29 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli
41 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank
43 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Silence-Lotto
46 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli
52 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre-NGC 1.12 (he's had some health problems lately)
54 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Silence-Lotto
70 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervélo TestTeam
71 Gabriele Bosisio (Ita) LPR Brakes-Farnese Vini
76 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana
77 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Caisse d'Epargne
78 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Saxo Bank
91 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Columbia-Highroad
98 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Quick Step
99 Svein Tuft (Can) Garmin-Slipstream
118 Kasper Klostergård (Den) Saxo Bank
124 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Katusha
140 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Saxo Bank 4.43
144 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Saxo Bank
146 Cyril Dessel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
150 Ermanno Capelli (Ita) Fuji-Servetto
158 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Milram
168 Mikhaylo Khalilov (Ukr) Ceramica Flaminia-Bossini Docce
182 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Saxo Bank
183 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Columbia-Highroad
186 Filippo Simeoni (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia-Bossini Docce
187 Leif Hoste (Bel) Silence-Lotto
188 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli
189 Frank Hoj (Den) Saxo Bank
197 Martyn Maaskant (Ned) Garmin-Slipstream
NB:As usual,if you want to leave comments after the older post you can do it.
That's true.It's also true that Contador is going really strong at the moment,but maybe he'll blow up (?) during the Tour,or he may argue with sir Lancelot...In both cases Frank and Andy will be able to take advantadges from that and arrive in front of him :)
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