FRANK SCHLECK WINS THE FIRST STAGE OF CRITERIUM INTERNATIONAL! YAY (*faints*)
A Fangirl can't even study Nietszche in peace in these days ;) First, I was distracted by mr. Fabian Cancellara's triumph in Harelbeke; then, it was Frank Schleck's turn to distract me with his great victory at Criterium International (mind you, I'm not complaining for that... ;)
A Fangirl can't even study Nietszche in peace in these days ;) First, I was distracted by mr. Fabian Cancellara's triumph in Harelbeke; then, it was Frank Schleck's turn to distract me with his great victory at Criterium International (mind you, I'm not complaining for that... ;) Today stage of Criterium International ended on Col de l'Ospedal, a climb that led the riders up to an altitude of 1.000 meters above the sea level. Frank Schleck crossed the finish-line alone, 16" before of Vasil Kiryenka and 22" before of Rein Taaramae. 4th was Lopez Garcia, 5th Geniez, 6th Lagutin, 7th Nordhaug, 8th Rolland, 9th Fedrigo and 10th was Andy Schleck. A very good result, especially if you consider that Andy was in the same gruppetto as Lagutin, Nordhaug, Rolland and Fedrigo.
Unfortunately I can't tell you many things about this race, since it wasn't broadcasted here in Italy. Luckily however I could watch E3 Prijs Vlaanderen - Harelbeke, which was won by a magnificient Fabian Cancellara. Leopard raced amazingly well and O'Grady had a very important role in the race.
Unfortunately I can't tell you many things about this race, since it wasn't broadcasted here in Italy. Luckily however I could watch E3 Prijs Vlaanderen - Harelbeke, which was won by a magnificient Fabian Cancellara. Leopard raced amazingly well and O'Grady had a very important role in the race.
Fabian looked very determined this afternoon: I just tell you that, when he had to change his bike for a gear problem, he actually threw it on the ground and, as soon as he got the new bike, he started riding immediately. The mechanic couldn't even help him to get started again!!
O'Grady was in the first group of breakawayers together with Roelandts, Van De Walle, Hinault, Bonnet, Vanmarcke, Iglinskiy and a few other guys (sorry, I can't remember their names). With about 30 kms to go, Sep Vanmarcke (one of my favourite riders, he was born in 1988 and has a bright future ahead of him!) tried a solo attack. In the meanwhile, Cancellara abandoned the peloton on a climb and started his race towards victory. After a few seconds, he joined the 3rd group of breakawayers. Every rider of that group started to follow Cancellara, without giving him a single turn at the front.
Then the Locomotive from Bern managed to join the second group of breakawayers. A few seconds later, he joined the first one. All the riders started to follow him, so that the 3 group of breakawayers just melted into one, formed by about 20 riders. Amongst them there were Terpstra, Chainel, Ivanov, Gusev, Jerome, Tuft, Tankink and Larsson.
O'Grady was in the first group of breakawayers together with Roelandts, Van De Walle, Hinault, Bonnet, Vanmarcke, Iglinskiy and a few other guys (sorry, I can't remember their names). With about 30 kms to go, Sep Vanmarcke (one of my favourite riders, he was born in 1988 and has a bright future ahead of him!) tried a solo attack. In the meanwhile, Cancellara abandoned the peloton on a climb and started his race towards victory. After a few seconds, he joined the 3rd group of breakawayers. Every rider of that group started to follow Cancellara, without giving him a single turn at the front.
Then the Locomotive from Bern managed to join the second group of breakawayers. A few seconds later, he joined the first one. All the riders started to follow him, so that the 3 group of breakawayers just melted into one, formed by about 20 riders. Amongst them there were Terpstra, Chainel, Ivanov, Gusev, Jerome, Tuft, Tankink and Larsson.
Vanmarcke was caught by these riders and O'Grady helped Cancellara as long as he could. Then, with about 18 kms to go, Fabian said 'bye bye!' to everyone and soloed to the finish-line. He really looked exhausted after the finish-line (I thought he was going to throw up!), but he was also incredibly happy.
In the meanwhile, the guys who were chasing him didn't seem to be able to work together. Amongst them there were some strong guys like Larsson, Ivanov, Tuft, Haussler and Terpstra, but it looked as if they had already given in. Terpstra was the only one who tried to start a serious chase, but he soon got very angry at his fellows because of the lack of cooperation. I couldn't understand why everyone gave in all of a sudden and I was pretty disappointed by the riders' attitude. Moreover, I was very confused by Katusha's tactics: firstly, Gusev and Ivanov never cooperated with Terpstra. Secondly, with about 10 kms to go Ivanov tried to break free from his companions a few times. Did he want to chase Fabian on his own? Or was he riding for second place? In both cases, imo that was a totally useless move.
Eventually, second in the race was Roelandts, while 3rd was Gusev. 4th was a great Vanmarcke. Hopefully the Belgian rider of Garmin will show us a good race also tomorrow, at Gand-Wevelgem.
In the meanwhile, the guys who were chasing him didn't seem to be able to work together. Amongst them there were some strong guys like Larsson, Ivanov, Tuft, Haussler and Terpstra, but it looked as if they had already given in. Terpstra was the only one who tried to start a serious chase, but he soon got very angry at his fellows because of the lack of cooperation. I couldn't understand why everyone gave in all of a sudden and I was pretty disappointed by the riders' attitude. Moreover, I was very confused by Katusha's tactics: firstly, Gusev and Ivanov never cooperated with Terpstra. Secondly, with about 10 kms to go Ivanov tried to break free from his companions a few times. Did he want to chase Fabian on his own? Or was he riding for second place? In both cases, imo that was a totally useless move.
Eventually, second in the race was Roelandts, while 3rd was Gusev. 4th was a great Vanmarcke. Hopefully the Belgian rider of Garmin will show us a good race also tomorrow, at Gand-Wevelgem.
So, that's all from me for the moment. Now I'm off to celebrate Frank's victory ;) Let's raise one of our famous virtual toasts to Leopard Trek's victories, shall we? ;)
PS1: Some of you haven't checked the new post at Bananas About Bikes yet (don't try to cheat me because I have my secret ways to know whether you've checked it or not). Go do it now!
PS2: I couldn't find any pic of Frank's victory, so I posted an old one. However, someone found a picture that is even worse than the one I posted above. Why did they make that choice?!?
I kind of saw that stage! Only bits and pieces of what was being shown, because silly me didn't expect anything too interesting to happen and was busy doing something else. :-(
RispondiEliminaFrom what I did see, Andy's group wasn't too organized, they kept scattering across the road like they couldn't sort it out who should be pulling.
Vlandeeren, on the other hand, I didn't see, but I did hear of Fabian's victory. :-)
PS: The link to the photo isn't working anymore. I think I know what you're talking about, though. :-)
Perhaps the Leopards will put spots on their jerseys for every victory they earn so that would mean they have four spots--or stripes?--thus far...
RispondiEliminaI feel old, if not ancient, when I am reminded that Sep Vanmarcke was born in 1988.
@ Cristin: Luckily Holy RaiSport2 broadcasted Criterium International yesterday evening at 8. I was so happy! It was a very nice stage, in which the brothers attacked one after the other in a great way. At a certain point, Andy attacked and just Vinokourov followed him, Fangirl was enthusiastic!
RispondiEliminaFrank attacked with 8 kms to go, it was a brave move and at first just Taaramae could keep his pace. Then Kiryenka started a lonely (successful) chase behind the leading duo but, with about 3 kms to go, Frankie said 'adieu!' to his fellows and soloed to the finish-line. And, after Andy's arrival, there was the usual quantity of Schleck-love being spread all around the brothers... How lovely <3
Fabian's victory reminded me of 2010 Roubaix. He attacked and the race was over for everyone. Amazing.
Here's the link to the infamous pic: http://www.sport24.co.za/OtherSport/Cycling/Schleck-wins-Criterium-stage-20110326
Horrible, isn't it?
@ Sansen: They could actually put spots in the white part of their jerseys, it would look very 'leopardish'!
Come on miss, shall I remind you that Jens Voigt was born in 1971 and is still kicking asses? ;)
Frank's doing awesomeness and I'm missing it! Yay! At least I put every kind of alarm and reminder not to miss Gand Wevelgem today. Is there any way to watch a recap on the net?
RispondiEliminaThe infamuos pic was not so much infamous, remember the "time trial face" for the Vuelta (I suppose)? But the truth is that Frank is just nice nice nice :-)
Francesca
I love it when there's so much cycling on tv: I watched the E3 Harelbeke and Gent-Wevelgem and in between the World Champs Track.. I thought it was great to see Tom Boonen win a big race again :) And next week: the RONDE! ;)
RispondiElimina@Fede
RispondiEliminaYeah, that's the article I was thinking about. ;-) Horrible indeed lol.
Lol also at the mental image of a bunch of guys wearing leopard-printed jerseys xD
BTW, Frankie came 12th in the TT and won the GC (like we all don't know it by now)
@ Francesca: I don't know if there is any recaps on the Internet. However I know that tonight at 10.30 there is the broadcast of the second day of CI on RaiSport2. Frank has won, so I expect some good images of him (although I won't be able to see them because I must go to bed early tonight :(
RispondiEliminaThe time trial face from Vuelta? I'm afraid I have never seen that pic... Or, if I have, I didn't know its nickname.
Btw that pic from the Olympics is horrible, how can you ruin a Frank's pic in that way? Fangirls should organise a protest against those horrible photos of Frankie.
@ Marleen: I'm shocked by the amount of races broadcasted by RaiSport2 in the last days. On Wednesday they showed Dwars door Vlaanderen, yesterday they broadcasted Harelbeke, Coppi & Bartali, the Track Worlds and Criterium International. Today instead they've showed Gand-Wevelgem, Trofeo Binda (Emma Pooley got a stunning victory) and Criterium International- take 2. It's hard to keep the pace with all those races going on! But after all, that's why we were all looking forward to March ;)
I was very happy for Tom too, Quick Step needed a good victory like this! Too bad that Bennati was second. Hopefully he'll get a great victory soon!
Talking about GW, I must say that I got very angry at that man that caused Offredo's crash after the finish-line. I don't think he was allowed to stay there!
On to a happier note, 7 days to go before The Ronde! I so love that race! <3
@ Cristin: Perhaps the spots on the jersey could have strange colours to make them more visible in the peloton. What about fluorescent yellow? ;)
Yay, a great victory for Frank! I was very impressed by his result in the TT, he was even faster than Vinokourov and Taramae! Rock on, Frank!
I know, what was that man doing there?! Two riders down, including Offredo.. and Tom Boonen and Tyler Farrar, who were in the temporary 'studio' of Belgium television later on, were totally shocked too when they watched the re-cap of the finish and saw those riders crash.. they hadn't noticed it after the finish. I thought them being concerned was very sweet :)
RispondiEliminaI don't know if this meand anything to anyone, but my Eurosport is showing the CI TT right now. It's almost over though, Andy has just started and he was 10th GC after the first stage...
RispondiElimina@Fede
LOL fluorescent spots. ;-)
@ Marleen: I was really scared when I saw Offredo and Duque going down, at first it looked as if they were having very serious problems!
RispondiEliminaI didn't know about Boonen and Farrar's reaction, how sweet!! <3
@ Cristin: unfortunately I've read your comment just now :( Hopefully someone read it yesterday evening and could switch on Eurosport on time to see the Schleck brothers kicking some asses in the TT ;)
The fluorescent spots at least would make it easier to recognise the team riders when it's raining...
PS: Communication service: the 'followers' tab at your right shows just 20 followers. Btw fear not, you readers that don't see your names in said tab: I know that you're following the blog and I thank you very much for that! Simply, Blogger is having some problems counting the followers of some blogs- and mine is amongst them. Sorry for the problem!
Yay for Fränk and Fabian! :D *joins in on the toast a bit late*
RispondiEliminaI'm really surprised by the amount of cycling on TV these days too! I didn't see Criterium International, though (actually, I didn't even know that Fränk had won until Tuesday <(^_^)' because I had other things on my mind) I did watch Harelbeke and Fabian winning which was brilliant!
These past three days, TV2 Sport has been showing Three Days of De Panne and they'll be broadcasting Tour of the Basque Country next week. I was really happy until I found out that they're not broadcasting The Ronde!
Sorry for the late reply, but I've been terribly busy lately. I hope you're doing fine, dear :)
RispondiEliminaTV2 didn't broadcast the Ronde? Oh my, they must be crazy! Perhaps they should revise their priority: 3 Days of La Panne and Harelbeke are important, just like Crit. International, but perhaps they should have broadcasted De Ronde rather than these races...
However, I hope you found a decent streaming of the race or something like that! This year Ronde was amazing :D
And take a look at Tour of Basque Country when you can, it's always very exciting!
Don't worry about it, Fede ^.^ As you can see from my delayed reply I'm quite busy these days too. I'm doing OK, I think. Unfortunately, my poor little pony has gotten a chronic lung disease D:
RispondiEliminaI've completely (OK, almost completely) forgiven TV2 for not broadcasting the Ronde because they're going all Tour de France-crazy over Paris-Roubaix tomorrow :D
And I did find a nice stream and for once it didn't crash in the final!
I've also been watching Tour of the Basque Country all week - very exciting (at least to watch Andy and Fränk and hear Danish commentators being nice to them!)
Poor pony!!! I'm so sorry for her :(
RispondiEliminaI'm happy to know that TV2 guys have recuperated their brains and will show aPris-Roubaix this afternoon. Also Rai went crazy about this race, yesterday evening they broadcasted every single finale of the race with the original comment, it was nice!
Danish commentators nice with los Schlecks? That's a great news indeed!
Yeah, it's sad, but for now she'll be OK. The funny thing is that she has to take clenbuterol the next four weeks. Mum: "Is there anything you can do?" Vet: "Well, how much do you follow cycling?" That was pretty funny xD
RispondiEliminaIt IS great news! I was really dreading watching the first race with them with Danish commentators but Rolf Sørensen even said: "It's only natural to want to race for a national team. If there had been a big Danish team in my time I would have done everything to race for it." :D
Clenbuterol?!? Perhaps even the cow (shall I say 'steak'?) that Contador ate during the Tour had a lung chronic disease and needed clenbuterol!! Or, at least, that's what Conti wants us to believe...
RispondiEliminaRolf Sorensen, what a clever man!!! You've got to heart los Sorensens, whatever their name may be!
Sorry, late reply again! I've been really busy - but not in a bad way :P
RispondiEliminaMaybe - I did have the thought xD But I had to sign this piece of paper saying that she could never be used for consumption, so maybe not...
And love to all the Sørensens! :D