a weekly double-shot of road racing
Wednesday 24th April 2013
issue 06
rapha.cc
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 SUNDAY
SATURDAY
MONDAY
—Liège-Bastogne-Liège
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
— Prologue Tour de Romandie
—S1 Tour de Romandie
THURSDAY —S2 Tour de Romandie
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
—S3 Tour de Romandie
—S4 Tour de Romandie
—S5 Tour de Romandie
liège–bastogne–liège review
tour de romandie
quote:
Martin Takes It – Easy
Froome On Time In Switzerland
Liège will be tough as ever, but the highlight of today’s recon was @andy_schl -eck saying, "Sometimes I wish I was a cow.”
Joaquim Rodríguez KATUSHA
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Dan Martin GARMIN-SHARP
1
Alejandro Valverde MOVISTAR
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At 261.5km and with almost 5,000m of ascent, Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2013 was always going to be won by the pluckiest climber. Irishman Dan Martin, who afterwards claimed he had “amazing legs”, gritted his teeth on the Saint-Nicolas, rode up to the remaining vessel of the Spanish Armada, Joaquim Rodríguez, and jumped away from him (and a man in a panda suit)… Animal costumes aside, Martin had the last laugh of the spring race calendar with his ‘zen’ demeanour and help from Garmin-Sharp colleagues who rode with yogi-like patience. “It felt like one of the easiest races...” he said. The Philippe Gilbert fan club on La Redoute with air horns, techno, and beer-power got the party going as the race got down to business – on this 99th edition and a bitchin’ one at that. Sky’s David Lopez attacked but the bunch kept up as the noise crescendoed. Alberto Contador, Rigoberto Urán, Rui Costa and Ryder Hesjedal made a break, before the aptly titled Giro champ turbocharged away just before the crest of the Colonster and TT’d in style for 10km, a kamikaze burst to set things up for the last big effort of the day. Reaching the decisive Saint-Nicolas climb on this tranquil Sunday afternoon, AG2R’s Carlos Betancur went, bridging up to Hesjedal, joined by Lampre's Scarponi, Movistar's Valverde, Rodríguez of Katusha and the meditative Martin. Hesjedal sat doggedly on the front and dragged his smaller team-mate through Ans and towards the centre of Liège. The slower member of the Spanish contingent, Valverde, sat up as Rodríguez, the more sprightly, attacked on the final kilometre kick to the finish line. But there was no cigar for ‘El Purito’ as Martin, on the crest of a wave, sailed easily up to and beyond Rodriguez to make history at this most classic of Classics.
Doppio joins Tour de Romandie after the prologue, which Team Sky started in pole position after Bradley Wiggins’ win last year. It ended the day still in first place, thanks to a scintillating time trial by Chris Froome. He overtook his minute-man Daniel Moreno to take the yellow jersey by six seconds. The 7.5-kilometre course from Le Châble to Mayens de Bruson featured almost 300 metres of climbing – an ideal first test for the climbing specialist. Garmin-Sharp's Andrew Talansky, who has stood twice on the Romandie podium, was also expected to excel; Sky's Richie Porte had held the fastest time of the day, until Talansky rode himself into the ground to set the new best. RadioShackLeopard Trek’s Robert Kiserlovski goes into the first stage in third, with Porte in fourth, 15 seconds behind The Froome Wagon. Romandie this year is a race of increasing intensity, as the saw-tooth profiles of the stages day-byday become more pronounced. Saturday’s Queen Stage sends the riders over four cat-1 climbs, including twice up the Col de la Croix, which rises to 1,752m. The final time trial this year is on the shores of Lake Geneva, and is almost completely flat – so there will hopefully be no repeat of the chain-dropping mishap that led to such a nailbiting finale for Wiggins last year. The Tour is the final marker in the sand for Giro contenders, and Ryder Hesjedal, among others, will be looking to build on the great form he showed in Liège. To note: the winner of Romandie in 2011 and 2012 has gone on to win the Tour de France. Chris Froome has put himself in the spotlight, and will spend the week learning about the pressures of defending a yellow jersey.
whose team b us i s the most # pr ost y le?
@MatthewBusche of Team RadioShack gets bovine with Andy Schleck
moment of panache Ryder Hesjedal's long, slow selfimmolation over the Côte SaintNicolas was a selfless act that set up his diminutive teammate for the win. His fine form will not be lost on his Giro rivals.
bigringriding award MAN, THAT WAS A GUTSY LITTLE RIDE BUT, ALTOGETHER NOW: “HENAO, HENAO, DON'T DREAM IT'S OVER…”
a weekly double-shot of road racing
Wednesday 24th April 2013 weekend weather
behind the scenes at team sky
Riviera Cowboy London
San Francisco
Osaka
Lausanne
Changeable after a lovely week, 12-14C. Typical. Rain Jacket, Classic Bib Shorts, Knee Warmers
High 60s and sunny. Perfect. Work on those tan lines. Trade Team Jersey, Pro Team Bib Shorts
A rainy week gives way to a sunny weekend and 17C. Bordeaux-Paris Jersey, BordeauxParis Gilet
In the teens at best, sunny with a chance of showers. Pro Team Long Sleeve Jersey, Pro Team Race Cape
rapha-condor-jlt
South African Safari Luke Mellor is one of the rising stars of Rapha-Condor-JLT and has just returned from the Mzansi Tour, a five-stage race in South Africa. Doppio caught up with him on his day off. How was your time in South Africa? The first day was pretty tough, we'd arrived in Johannesburg the day before, then driven to the hotel; it was a big shock coming from the UK to 30C in South Africa. The terrain over there is not really hilly, but you're up and down all day. I don't think we rode on flat roads once the whole race. Who were you racing against? There was a German, Japanese and a French team there, and the rest were African. The MTN-Qhubeka feeder team was there, and the rest were national teams - South Africa, Egypt. There was also a composite African team that Dan Craven was racing for. Robbie Hunter was there too, there were some top-class riders. What were the highlights? The first day it split to pieces, just a brutal day. The next day, Kristian [House] got into the break, and got third. So from having a pretty tough time the day before, that was great. We were fairly active throughout the race and on the third stage I got into the break after 20km, but the group was too big and got brought back. Mike [Cuming] got in a later break, but it ended in a bunch sprint. What did you take away from the Tour? I came away with third in the Under-23 competition. I'd gone into the race looking maybe to have won that category, but it was very tough and I was happy with third. I’m always learning small things, like positioning in the bunch, following Kristian. He's so experienced, you can learn so much from him. How did your new coldblack‰ kit work in the heat? There were people coming up to me in the race, saying 'I bet you don't like wearing black kit,’ but I didn't notice the heat. It looks great and feels good when you're wearing it. tour de romandie profile
3 PROLOGUE Le Châble - Bruson 7.45 km / 310 m
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2
race type: Week-long stage race | distance: 762.5 km | region: Romandy, Switzerland
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STAGE 1 St-Maurice - Renens 176.4 km / 2054 m
Rapha spoke with 22-year old Ian Boswell about the early part of his season with Team Sky, rehabilitation from a knee injury and life as a Western cowboy in Nice, France. Due to a knee injury, you're on a break from racing and training. Tell us about what's different in your day-to-day recovery. Currently I'm experiencing some bad sensations with my knee that have kept me from training the past two weeks. You might think that I would have loads of free time, but it’s quite the contrary. Between stretching, icing, foam-rolling, stability work and, of course, napping, the days pass rather quickly as I wait to begin training again. I have also been picking some guitar in hopes to learn some Townes Van Zandt chords. You've made a sharp rise from the US domestic racing scene to the premier international scene. What are the races you most look forward to? I'm currently at the Ardennes Classics, (I was certainly excited to take part in those), but unfortunately I am here to see the team physiotherapist rather than race. There is always next year! You've moved into a new apartment in Nice. How long will it take you to settle in? I've been in Nice since the beginning of December and it is just starting to feel like home. I now know most of the good routes (so many beautiful climbs in Nice), have figured out the better restaurants and connected with a good group of friends in the area to ride with and enjoy activities off the bike. What are the comparisons between Nice and Bend, Oregon, your hometown? Bend is a small west coast/western (kind of cowboy) town, while Nice is much more like southern California. The French Riviera is properly posh and high fashion, (not my thing), but just north of Nice the Maritime Alps provide endless quiet mountain roads to get lost and find that inner cowboy. Read the full interview on the Rapha blog next week. Visit rapha.cc.
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STAGE 2 Prilly - Granges 190.3 km / 2004 m
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3
STAGE 3 Payerne - Payerne 181 km / 1981 m
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1
1
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STAGE 4 Marly - Les Diablerets 188.5 km / 3981 m
whose team b us is the most # pr ost y le?
STAGE 5 Geneva 18 km / 23 m