pro cycling

Patrick Gretsch (Project 1t4i) took the opening stage of the Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol, rounding the 6km individual time trial in 6:49.  Markel Irizar Aranburu (RadioShack-Nissan) and Jerome Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) finished 2nd and 3rd respectively, a handful of seconds behind Gretsch.

Photo from Vuelta a Andalucia.

Moreno Moser (Liquigas-Cannondale) won the Trofeo Laigueglia ahead of Chavez Rubiano (Col-Androni Giocattoli CIPI) and Matteo Montaguti (Ag2r La Mondiale).  Moser was part of a 20 man group who cleared the majority of the peloton at the foot of Capo Mele.  He attacked the remaining group with 3km remaining on the stage and held his lead to the line.

Photos from SteepHill.

Marcel Kittel (Project 1t4i) took a narrow sprint victory on the final stage at the Tour of Oman.  Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale), Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Barracuda), Denis Galimzyanov (Katusha), and Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ-Bigmat) were all in close contention with Kittel at the line.

Earlier in the day, Lee Rodgers (RTS Racing Team), Michael Schar (BMC), William Clarke (Champion System) and Alexandre Lemair (Bridgestone-Anchor) broke from the peloton.  Liquigas-Cannondale attempted to set up the intermediate sprint victory for Vincenzo Nibali, but unfortunately, he was unable to take any bonus seconds.  Sitting just 1 second behind GC leader Peter Velits (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), he would have to settle for 2nd place overall.  After the first intermediate sprint, another break formed between Laurens Ten Dam (Rabobank) and Johan Vansummeren (Garmin-Barracuda) and teammate Christian Vande Velde.  Omega Pharma-Quick Step lead the peloton, giving the break a 1:30 lead to take the remaining intermediate sprint.  Project 1t4i stepped in to do the final chase around the circuit, setting up the stage for Kittel.

Photos from SteepHill.

Bradley Wiggins (Sky) won the 26km individual time trial from Lagoa to Portimão, finishing in 32:48.  Wiggins was able to beat newly crowned world champion time trialist, Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) by a fraction of a second.  Richie Porte (Sky) took 3rd place, sealing his overall win at the Volta ao Algarve.  Martin was bumped up to 2nd place in the GC, with Wiggins in 3rd.

Top photo from Cycling News, profile from SteepHill.

Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) took the summit victory on Jabal al Akhdhar, his first stage victory since 2010.

The heavy headwind hampered the peloton, but eventually, a 6-man break formed which included Bernhard Eisel (Sky Procycling), Greg Henderson (Lotto Belisol), Oscar Gatto (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia), Will Clarke (Champion System), Martin Kohler (BMC Racing Team) and Albert Timmer (Project 1t4i).  They built up a maximum lead of 3:20, but their lead was reduced to minute due to the chasing work of the peloton.  With 15km remaining, they were all absorbed back into the peloton.  Nibali attacked at the foot of the final climb twice to see reactions from the peloton.  Peter Velits (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) was able to pace a handful of seconds behind Nibali, with FDJ-BigMat duo, Sandy Casar and Arnold Jeannesson, and Tony Gallopin (RadioShack-Nissan) chasing farther back.  And though Katusha put in a significant amount of work to bring the break back for Joaquin Rodriguez, he finished 55 seconds back to Nibali.

Velits currently sits 1st in the GC, 1 second ahead of Nibali, and 17 seconds ahead of Gallopin.

Photos from SteepHill.

Pro is pro.

Tipped from Ciclismo Espresso.

André Greipel (Lotto Belisol) took his second stage victory at the Tour of Oman, winning the 142km stage finish in Al Wadi Al Kabir.  Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale), Tony Gallopin (Radioshack-Nissan) and Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ-BigMat) finished behind Greipel in the sprint

10km into the race, Stijn Vandenbergh (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) and Klass Lodewijk (BMC) formed a break.  At the foot of the day’s first climb, Bousher Alamrat, the duo had a lead of 8 minutes.  By time the duo reached the top, the peloton was 4 minutes behind, due to the efforts of Radioshack-Nissan.  The two riders continued to lead over Al Hamriya, and Al Jissah, the other categorized climbs of the day.  Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) launched an attack on Al Jissah, taking 3rd on the KOM.  Rodriguez was absorbed after his short stint and the duo continued pressing on into the final circuit with 2 minutes in hand.  The peloton eventually caught the break with an increase in speed.  Griepel was dropped from the front group but was coaxed back into the group by teammates Adam Hansen and Marcel Sieberg.

Greipel continues to lead in the GC, ahead of Sagan by 6 seconds and Bouhanni by 18 seconds.

Photo from SteepHill.

Richie Porte (Sky) took a solo win in Malhão, taking victory on stage 3 of the Volta ao Algarve, a 194km stage- Tiago Machado (RadioShack-Nissan) and Rui Costa (Movistar) finished 8 seconds behind Porte.

28km into the stage, 8 riders broke off the front: Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), Christophe Riblon (Ag2R-La Mondiale), Marcus Burghardt (BMC Racing Team), Martijn Maaskant (Garmin-Barracuda), Kasper Klostergaard Larsen (Saxo Bank), Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator), Ronan McLaughlin (An Post-Sean Kelly) and José Gonçalves (Onda).  The break gained 8 minutes over the peloton, but Team Sky put in work to bring their lead back – after 105km, their lead was decreased to 5:30.  On the category 3 climb, Cavalos, the break was caught.  With 41km remaining, Carlos Barredo (Rabobank) and Blel Kadri (Ag2R-La Mondiale) attacked, leading the peloton by a minute.  Sky caught them with 15km remaining.  Porte’s teammates Chris Froome, Bradley Wiggins, and Thomas Lövkvist kept the tempo high, setting up the stage victory for Porte.

Porte now currently sits 1st in the GC – Tiago Machado is 12 seconds back in 2nd place, and Rui Costa is 14 seconds down in 3rd place.

Photo from SteepHill.