2013 Cycling Thread

[Smallville22]

Lobby group urge Armstrong to make full confession

Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong has been personally urged to make a full confession of all his involvement in doping by the founder of the lobby group Change Cycling Now.
Jaimie Fuller, who formed the group which includes former Tour de France champion Greg Lemond, told Reuters on Wednesday he had talked to Armstrong for an hour on the telephone last month.
He said the pair had subsequently had email exchanges after Fuller had told Armstrong he needed to talk to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Fuller said he planned to have further contacts.
Last year USADA stripped Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles and in a subsequent television interview with Oprah Winfrey the American admitted he had taken performance-enhancing ***** before each of his tour victories.
Fuller, who is also the chief executive officer of the compression clothing company SKINS, earlier told the Tackling Doping in Sport 2013 conference that he had wanted to believe Armstrong was clean. Last year SKINS sent a legal demand to the International Cycling Union seeking damages of $2 million for what it claimed was mis-management in the Armstrong case.
"The thing that upset me most about Lance was not the doping. We now know how prevalent the doping was, how entrenched it has been in the culture of cycling," Fuller told the conference convened by the World Sports Law Report.
"What upset me most all the other things that surrounded him, the way he ****** people, the way that he just climbed all over people, the win at all costs.
"I had a conversation with him not long ago and I said to him it's going to get worse for him before its gets better. I think he's bit delusional.
"He's got to come clean, he's got to tell everything. We didn't see that on Oprah Winfrey, what we saw on Oprah Winfrey was the convenient truths. And when it was inconvenient we didn't get the truth.
"That includes not protecting other people he's still protecting. He needs to show a bit of contrition."

 

[Smallville22]

Jungels roars to first pro victory

Luxembourg’s Bob Jungels was victorious at the GP Mobili Rubinetterie on Thursday.
The 20-year-old RadioShack-Leopard time-triallist secured his first professional success on the one-day race from Suno to Stresa in Northern Italy after claiming multiple titles at national, European and World levels as a junior.
In a four-bike breakaway along with Katusha’s Marco Haller, Movistar’s Eloy Teruel and Colombia-Cold Portes’ Edwin Avila, Jungels was the only one able to resist being reeled back in by the peloton.
He eventually finished 53 seconds ahead of Italians Daniele Bennati (Saxo-Tinkoff) and Simeone Ponzi (Astana) in second and third respectively. Jungels averaged 41.199km/h on the 187.5km course at just over four-and-a-half hours.
An elated Jungels said after the win: “It was a really hard day.
"Everyone on the team kept trying to go in the breakaways and I finally made it with Haller, Teruel and Avila. We worked well together most of the day and got over nine minutes.
"When we went on the climb the first time we still had seven minutes and I saw that I was the strongest in the group. We were three guys by the second time on the climb and I attacked at the bottom.
"That was my only chance so I time-trialled to the finish against a strong headwind. I kept hearing Kim’s voice in my ear piece and I couldn’t believe how long those 15k felt.
“This was a race where we had no real leader so (director) Kim told us to try something. It’s an amazing feeling.
"I was hoping to have a win some time this year but I never expected this. I am overwhelmed. It’s good for the team and I am so happy.”

Result

1. Bob Jungels (Luxembourg / Radioshack-Leopard)

2. Daniele Bennati (Italy / Saxo-Tinkoff) at 53s

3. Simone Ponzi (Italy / Team Astana)

4. Marco Zamparella (Italy / Utensilnord-ora24.eu)

5. Francisco Ventoso (Spain / Movistar Team)

6. Fabio Felline (Italy / Androni-Venezuela)

7. Simone Campagnaro (Italy / Team Nippo-Rosa)

8. Matthieu Ladagnous (France / FDJ)

9. Giovanni Visconti (Italy / Movistar Team)

10. Marco Canola (Italy / Bardiani Valve-CSF Inox)

 

[Smallville22]

Dehaes wins weather-affected Handzame Classic

Belgium's Kenny Dehaes (Lotto-Belisol) was a home winner at the Handzame Classic but the course was heavily affected by bad weather.
Dehaes won a bunch sprint to take the 1.1 UCE Europe Tour event ahead of Vacansoleil-DCM's Dutch duo of Kenny van Humme and Danny van Poppel,
The 196km course in Flanders was turned into a 35km loop from Bredene before ten laps of 16km circuit around Handzame with heavy snow making the bulk of the original course unsafe.
William Clarke (Argos-Shimano), Jonas Vangenechten (Lotto-Belisol), Youcef Reguigui (MTN-Qhubeka), Sean De Bie (Leopard-Trek) and Kess Heytens (Team 3M) did build up a lead of over four minutes with under five laps to go but were eventually reeled in.
It was Dehaes's second victory of the season as he also won the Trofeo Palma de Mallorca.

 

[Smallville22]

Cammaerts wins Classic Loire Atlantique

A late break from Belgian Edwig Cammaerts saw him win the Classic Loire Atlantique – the second race in the Coupe de France series.
Going in to the final 1km, long time attacker Yannick Martinez (La Pomme Marseille) was still in front of the peloton and had Benoît Vaugrenard (FDJ) with him for company.
However, they were swallowed up, allowing Cammaerts to burst clear and take the victory in the 184km race by seven seconds from Yauheni Hutarovich (AG2R La Mondiale) and Laurent Pichon (FDJ).
The Coupe de France consists of a number of standalone races in France and is open for all riders, but only French riders who are part of a French team are able to score points.

 

[Smallville22]

Gaudin wins Grand Prix de Cholet-Pays de Loire

Damien Gaudin (Team Europcar) outsprinted two rivals to take a breakaway win at the Grand Prix de Cholet-Pays de Loire.
Gaudin got the better of Marcel Wyss (IAM Cycling) and Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) in a sprint finish after the three men had left the rest of the field.
Matthias Brandle (IAM Cycling) and Russell Hampton (Team Raleigh) were also with the leaders for much of the day but Hampton was dropped with a 100km to go and then Brandle was released on the final climb of the day.
There were a number of attacks on that final climb but it came down to a sprint with Gaudin winning it ahead of Wyss and Taaramae.
It was Gaudin's second win of the season after his surprise success in the Paris-Nice prologue.

 

[Smallville22]

Ciolek wins Milan-San Remo

German sprinter Gerald Ciolek of MTN-Qhubeka beat hot favourite Peter Sagan of Cannondale to produce a surprise win in a snow-disrupted Milan-San Remo.
Ciolek proved to be the fastest in a six-way sprint at the end of a race hampered by snow and rain, the 26-year-old powering clear of Slovak sensation Sagan and Swiss veteran Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Leopard).
It was the biggest win of the 26-year-old Ciolek’s career after a few years in the wilderness – and a first major victory for Africa’s first Professional Continental team, MTN-Qhubeka.
Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) took fourth place ahead of Russian Luca Paolini (Katusha) and British national champion Ian Stannard (Team Sky).
Ciolek’s unexpected win was a suitably dramatic end to a chaotic 104th edition of “La Classica di Primavera”. Taking place on a Sunday for the first time in 31 years, the 2013 Milan-San Remo started under grey clouds and freezing temperatures.
Heavy snow on Passo del Truchino ****** organisers to neutralise the race after 117 kilometres and bypass the first climb of the day with a bus transfer. The race was further delayed when it was decided that the infamous Le Manie climb – often so decisive in making an initial selection – was also too dangerous to be included in the traditional parcours.
Two hours later, the race resumed in the coastal town of Cogeleto 126.5km from the finish with the initial six-man break – which had formed early on in the day as the riders rolled out of Milan – holding onto their 7’10” advantage built up in the first ‘stage’ of the race.
The escapees – Italians Filippo Fortin (Bardiani Valvole), Matteo Montaguti (Ag2R-La Mondiale) and Diego Rosa (Androni Giocatto), Russian Maxim Belkov (Katusha), Dane Lars Bak (Lotto-Belisol) and Spain’s Pablo Lastras (Movistar) – had held a maximum lead of 12’30” before the neutralised section, with the Cannondale team of Sagan and the Astana team of Vincenzo Nibali combining to reduce the arrears on hearing of the decision to shorten the race.
Once the six leaders had been given back their advantage, the chasing peloton zipped out of Cogeleto, each rider covered head-to-toe in waterproofs and extra layers to ward off the cold. Some big names – including Belgian classics specialist Tom Boonen – decided to quit the race instead of returning to the saddle after the enforced break.
The rain continued to lash down as the peloton ate into the advantage of the six leaders. With the length of the race reduced from 298km to 243.5km, there was more urgency from the main pack.
But the scrapping of two key climbs played into the hands of the sprinters and did not work in the favour of Nibali, who struggled constantly with the cold and eventually threw in the towel 40km from the finish.
Fortin was the first of the leading sextet to crack, the young Italian dropping back with 75km remaining as the advantage fell below the five-minute mark.
Bak, who struggled constantly with cold hands, put in a big dig on the third of the ‘tre capi’, the Capo Berta, which saw both Montaguti and Lastras tailed off. With 30km left to race, all the escapees had been reeled in by the pack – just as a crash in the peloton saw Sky’s Geraint Thomas and Garmin-Sharp’s Tyler Farrar hit the deck.
Sky’s afternoon got worse when Norway’s Edvald Boasson Hagen cracked on the Cipressa climb 25km from the finish. World champion Philippe Gilbert attacked on the descent of the climb, ******* a reaction from Chavanel, Stannard and Russian national champion Eduard Vorganov (Katusha).
Gilbert dropped back into the peloton, but the Stannard trio started the final climb of the day with a 30-second advantage over the chasing pack. Vorganov was first to crack, the Russian swept up by a counter ****** by Astana’s Maxim Iglinsky.
On the precipitous slopes of the Poggio a select chasing group formed around Sagan and Cancellara, with Ciolek there alongside Filippo Pozzato (Lampre-Merida) and Luca Paolini (Katusha).
Sagan, Cancellara, Ciolek and Paolini caught Chavanel and Stannard with 3km remaining on the outskirts of San Remo. Sagan put in the first ****** just over 2km from the finish. Just as the 23-year-old was pegged back, Stannard powered clear in a huge gear to open up a small gap.
But the British powerhouse was caught under the 1km-to-go banner setting things up for a thrilling bunch sprint on the Ligurian coast.
Sagan launched the sprint and looked to have the race in his pocket before a delightful late surge by Ciolek produced a major upset. Cancellara settled for his fourth successive podium finish in Milan-San Remo with a dash to take third.
BMC’s Taylor Phinney came from nowhere to take seventh place, while Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) pipped Britain’s Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) to take eight place as the main chasing pack came home 14 seconds in arrears.

 

[Smallville22]

Wiggins leads strong field for Catalunya

Bradley Wiggins will ramp up his preparations for the Giro d’Italia in the 93rd edition of the Volta a Catalunya, which begins on Monday with a 159.3km stage in Calella.
Team Sky’s Tour de France champion Wiggins will be joined by previous Catalunya winners Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Michele Scarponi (Lampre-Merida) in what promises to be a fiercely competitive field.
Canada’s Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp), who pipped Rodriguez to the Giro d’Italia maglia rosa last year, makes his first major appearance of the season in the undulating seven-day stage race in Spain, which finishes on Sunday 24th March with an eight-lap criterium-style stage in Barcelona.
Hesjedal will be joined American team-mates Christian Valde Velde, David Zabriskie and Tom Danielson, the trio making their first appearance for Garmin-Sharp since the completion of six-month suspensions from the fall-out of the US Anti-Doping Agency’s case against Lance Armstrong.
With Hesjedal shaping his season around the defence of his Giro crown, the Canadian’s performance against Wiggins in Catalunya will be very much under the microscope.
Wiggins first appearance of the 2013 season came in last month’s Tour of Oman, where the 32-year-old rode in support of team-mate Chris Froome, the eventual winner. Wiggins, whose main focus of the current season is May’s Giro, rode a quiet race finishing more than 20 minutes down on Froome in 74th place.
But the Tour of Catalunya should see the Briton take a more prominent role as Wiggins aims to give his new season a kick-start following his Olympic and Tour heroics of 2012.
A strong Sky team also includes all-rounders Rigoberto Uran, David Lopez and Dario Caltaldo, as well as domestiques Peter Kennaugh, Christian Knees, Danny Pate and Josh Edmondson.
Having appeared very much off the pace in Arabian peninsula, Wiggins will have his work cut out in Catalunya against the in-form Rodriguez, who won stages in both Oman and last week’s Tirreno-Adriatico.
A podium in both the Giro and Vuelta a Espana last year, Rodriguez has started the season in promising form following the off-season concerns with Katusha’s WorldTour licence. The Spaniard was fourth on GC in Oman and fifth in last week’s Tirreno-Adriatico and looks to be the man to watch in Catalunya.
Valverde enters the race on the back of his overall win in the Vuelta a Andalucia. The veteran is part of a strong Movistar team that will also harbour hopes of a high GC finish for Colombian Nairo Quintana, who was best climber of the 2011 edition of the race.
Defending champion Michael Albasini, a stage winner in Tirreno-Adriatico, is not part of the GreenEdge squad for Catalunya. The Australian team will push Simon Gerrans for GC – although it remains to be seen how Gerrans will feel following Sunday’s weather-affected Milan-San Remo.
Other names to watch include Lotto-Belisol’s Jurgen van den Broeck, third in last year’s race, Igor Anton (Euskaltel), Nicholas Roche (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff), Damiano Cunego (Lampre) and Rabobank pair Robert Gesink and Steven Kruijswijk.
Unlike many week-long stage races, the Volta a Catalunya – which is the longest running stage race in Spain (the first edition was held in 1911) – features no time trials while none of the seven stages is a typical flat ride suited to sprinters.
Stage three concludes with a summit finish at Vallter 2000 after a 12km climb while the 218km stage four – the race’s queen stage – should see a thrilling battle on the Port Ainé climb, the last of five categorised climbs.
The final day of the race will feature eight ascents of the famous Alto de Montjuic overlooking central Barcelona.

 

[Smallville22]

Meersman wins Catalunya opener as Wiggins flexes muscles

Gianni Meersman (Omega Pharma) won the opening stage of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya after a sprint finish in Calella.
The Belgian raced ahead of Italian Valerio Agnoli (Astana) and Spaniard Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) to take the victory after the 159.3km trek.
A frisky looking Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) broke up the peloton on the on the final descent and earned 28 seconds on some of his rivals.
Flanked by team-mates Dario Cataldo and David Lopez, the Tour de France winner led the peloton to the finish before eventually finishing sixth in a group of 13.
However, fellow GC contenders such Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), Robert Gesink (Blanco Cycling), Michele Scarponi (Lampre-Merida) and Valverde were all amongst the leading bunch.
Meersman's victory sees him take the early lead in the six stage race thanks to his time bonus.
Amongst the GC contenders, Valverde struck the first blow as he gained four bonus seconds for his third place finish.
Stage two is a 160.7km trek from Girona to Banyole on Tuesday.

 

[Smallville22]

Dane Sorensen latest to admit to doping

Olympic silver medallist Rolf Sorensen has admitted to doping during his successful years in the nineties, the Dane said on Monday.
"It is time that I too - long overdue - admit to having been part of the Epo-era that was a part of the sport in the 90s", Sorensen, who won silver at the Olympic Games road race in Atlanta in 1996, said in a statement.
Sorensen admitted to having taken the hormone erythropoietin (EPO) and cortisone but told Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet he was more "a party smoker on Saturdays as opposed to a needle addict".
"I have never used ***** transfusions, which I am totally against, and I simply will not be compared with Lance Armstrong", he added in the newspaper.
Sorensen is the latest in a long line of cyclists to have confessed to doping after Lance Armstrong admitted in January to taking performing-enhancing ***** during his seven straight Tour de France victories from 1999-2005.
Earlier this year fellow Dane Michael Rasmussen admitted to more than a decade of doping.

 

[Smallville22]

Meersman doubles up at Volta a Catalunya

Gianni Meersman took his second successive sprint victory in stage two of the Volta a Catalunya.
The Omega Pharma - Quick-Step man beat Daniele Ratto (Cannondale) and Brett Lancaster (Orica) to the line at the end of a 160.7km stage from Girona to Banyoles.
The Belgian now stands 16 seconds ahead of Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) on GC with Danilo Wyss (BMC Racing) four seconds back in third.
Olivier Kaisen (Lotto-Belisol), Christian Meier (Orica) and Maxime Mederel (Sojuan) were involved in the break of the day but they were not given much room by the peloton with their maximum advantage capped at three minutes.
The second stanza of the WorldTour race concluded with four lumpy circuits in Banyoles and the trio were caught with 20km remaining.
A bunch sprint looked inevitable and 27-year-old Meersman made his move with 200m to go to take his second win in as many days and match his entire total for 2012.

 

[Smallville22]

Contador out of Criterium International with flu

Spain's Alberto Contador has been ruled out of this weekend's Criterium International cycling race because of a bout of flu.
Contador's press office said in a statement that the double Tour de France champion had caught a cold during races in Italy earlier this month.
His next race will be the Tour of the Basque country from April 1-6.
Tour de France runner-up Chris Froome of Britain and Australian Cadel Evans, the 2011 Tour champion, will be the favourites in Corsica on Saturday and Sunday.

 

[Smallville22]

Gatto wins Dwars door Vlaanderen

Italian Oscar Gatto won Dwars door Vlaanderen, the first warm-up race for the Tour of Flanders.
The Vini Fantini rider beat Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil) and Mathew Hayman (Team Sky) to the line in Waregem.
They were part of a 10-man group that formed in the final 25km of the race.
With 13 hills, including the Berendries/Valkenberg and Oude-Kwarement/Paterberg double-headers on the Flanders parcours at the end of the month, in the second half of the race, small lead groups regularly formed with Gert Steegmans and Australian Hayman a constant presence.
Hayman went solo with 40km to go and had a 40 second lead on the chase group, only to be caught by Gatto and Stijn Vandenbergh before the group swelled to 10 riders.
Britain's Ian Stannard attacked with 8km remaining but was hauled back in before Europcar's Tommy Voeckler made his move.
He opened up a 16 second advantage and was nine seconds ahead going under the Flamme Rouge but was caught metres from the finish line and had to settle for fifth as Gatto took his first win of the year.

 

[Smallville22]

Quintana gets the better of Wiggins in Catalunya

Nairo Quintana beat Bradley Wiggins to win stage three of the Tour of Catalunya at the Vallter 2000 ski resort.
Tour de France champion Wiggins attacked out of an elite group inside the final kilometre but Movistar's diminutive Colombian climber Quintana produced a devastating turn of speed to take the victory.
His team-mate Alejandro Valverde was second over the line and takes the overall race lead in the seven stage World Tour event from Gianni Meersman, winner of the first two stages.
Martin Kohler (BMC), Lucas Haedo (Canondale), Karol Domagalski (Caja Rural) and Nicolas Edet (Cofidis) were involved in the break of the day, attacking shortly into the 180km route from Vidreres.
They built up a lead of 7:30 after 20km and maintained that advantage with 80km to go following the category one climb of Alt de Sant Hilari.
Movistar led the peloton and reduced the gap as Edet and Domagalski left their fellow escapees on the cat 1 ascent of Tunel Collabos.
Edet went solo on the 12km concluding climb to the summit finish but was caught and ****** by Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) with 4km remaining.
But the Belgian was reeled in by the Sky train before their team leader Wiggins made his move for a first victory since the Olympic time trial.
However 23-year-old Quintana, who had seven victories in his debut European season in 2012, had other ideas and crossed the line ahead of Valverde and local favourite Joaquim Rodríguez.
Wiggins was fourth and is third on GC, 10 seconds behind 2009 Vuelta champion Valverde and four behind Katusha's Rodríguez.

 

[Smallville22]

Puerto doctor Fuentes may name ***** bag clients

Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, on trial for allegedly running a doping ring in cycling, said on Wednesday he may be willing to cooperate with anti-doping authorities and name the clients whose ***** was found in bags seized by police.
"If they (anti-doping authorities) believe that I am useful and they ask me (to cooperate) I would consider it and I would be ready," Fuentes told reporters attending the trial in Madrid.
"What I don't know is if what I could contribute would be worth anything to them or not," he said, adding that what he envisaged was a "mutual collaboration".
"If they want my involvement to include the list (of my clients) they would have it."
Fuentes and four other defendants, including his ****** Yolanda, have been appearing in court since late January, almost seven years after anabolic steroids, transfusion equipment and ***** bags were seized as part of a investigation code-named "Operation Puerto".
The proceedings have attracted international scrutiny because anti-doping authorities are hopeful it will finally lead to evidence of wrongdoing by athletes in sports other than cycling being made available.
Fuentes told the court in his opening testimony that as well as a host of professional cyclists he also had clients in sports including football, tennis, athletics and boxing.
A World Anti-Doping Agency request for access to the ***** bags has been repeatedly denied by the Spanish authorities, and the agency, which is taking part in the trial, awaits the judge's ruling on their latest petition.
The accused have a final opportunity to speak to the court on April 2 before sentencing begins.
As Spain's current anti-doping legislation was not in ***** in 2006 when the police raids took place, the five are being tried for ********* public health regulations. The prosecutor has asked for jail sentences of two years.

 

[Smallville22]

Felline wins Coppi e Bartali opener, Belkov leads after TTT

A late ****** by Fabio Felline of Androni Giocattoli saw him take a solo victory on the opening stage of the Coppi e Bartali in Gatteo before Katusha's A team won the later team time trial.
Italian Felline attacked in the final kilometre and came home just a second ahead of the chasing peloton.
In second was Felline's team-mate Mattia Gavazzi with UnitedHealthcare's Alessandro Bazzana third.
The 99.5km 'stage 1a' saw an early solo escape from Alessandro Mazzi (Utensilnord Ora24.eu), who built a maximum lead of 5:12 after 44km but was caught with 10km remaining on the stage.
However he took the lead in the KOM standings after crossing the summits of both featured climbs out in front.

Stage 1b

In the afternoon, a unique team time trial saw each squad form two four-rider teams, with each to ride separately - the second rider's time in each would count towards the team's total, with the riders allocated their individual times in the overall standings.
Katusha A emerged triumphant on the 11.2km course, with their rider Maxim Belkov - who finished the opening stage in the second large group of riders, 12s down on the peloton - taking the overall lead of the race.
Second was the Cannondale line-up featuring Ivan Basso and Moreno Moser - neither of whom competed at the sharp end in the morning - with NetApp Endura third.
Damiano Cunego, twice a winner of the Coppi & Bartali - in 2006 and 2009 - was part of the Lampre team that finished fourth.

 

[Smallville22]

Valverde crashes out before Martin solos to win and Catalunya lead

Race leader Alejandro Valverde abandoned the Tour of Catalunya following a crash on Thursday's queen stage, which was won by Irishman Daniel Martin to assume the overall lead.
Spaniard Valverde and his Movistar team-mate Eros Capecchi both crashed on an unclassified descent which race organisers had identified as a dangerous area with around 100km remaining on the mountain-dominated stage.
The team tweeted that the crash - which occurred away from the television cameras - "does not seem to be of serious consequences", referring to any injuries Valverde may have sustained.
The 217.7km stage four featured five categorised climbs and began in Camprodón, with an 18.9km HC mountaintop finish in Port Ainé.
Garmin-Sharp rider Martin soloed to a significant 36-second victory ahead of Katusha's Joaquim Rodriguez, who had assumed the virtual lead of the race from Valverde after the crash, and stage three winner Nairo Quintana.
Colombian Quintana will now be the focus of Movistar's assault on the GC. He stands 32s behind Martin, with Rodriguez 10s off the leader.
Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins finished sixth, over a minute behind the winner, and is now fourth overall, 36s behind Martin.
Martin was part of a 25-man breakaway that formed an hour into the stage, and the sole rider to stay out in front.
Once the peloton had sucked the other 24 riders back in and the final climb begun, Jurgen van de Broeck (Lotto Belisol) and Robert Gesink (Blanco) attacked but were ****** by Rodriguez and Quintana with less than a kilometre remaining. Van de Broeck finished alone in fourth, with Gesink four seconds back in fifth.
Wiggins led home Peter Stetina (Garmin-Sharp), Michele Scarponi (Lampre-Merida) and Thomas Danielson (Garmin-Sharp).
Valverde took the lead on Wednesday having finished six seconds behind Quintana in a three-man group containing 2010 Catalunya winner Rodriguez and Wiggins.
The seven-stage race, the first this year in which Briton Wiggins intends to fight for overall victory, ends in Barcelona on Sunday.

 

[Smallville22]

Ulissi solos to Coppi e Bartali stage two

Diego Ulissi soloed to the second stage of the Coppi e Bartali to take a 58-second lead in the five-day race in Italy.
The Italian rider won by 34 seconds from Colombian climber Miguel Angel Rubiano (Androni Giocattoli) on the 162.3km stage from Gatteo.
Ulissi 's compatriot and Lampre-Merida team-mate Damiano Cunego was third ahead of Croatian Radoslav Rogina (Adria Mobil) at 1:11.
Rubiano is second on GC ahead of Cunego (+1:17).
The leading riders split from an 18-rider group at the front on the four finishing circuits at the finish in Sogliano al Rubicone.
There was an early six-man break - Jake Keough (UnitedHealthcare), Dominique Cornu (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Peter Kuzstor (Utensilnord Ora24.eu), Manuel Amaro (Ceramica Flaminia-Fondriest), Lukas Postlberger (Team Gourmetfein Simplon) and Cesare Benedetti (Team NetApp-Endura) - which lasted up to the finishing circuits.
Each lap of the circuit consisted of an 18 percent climb, effectively shedding most of the peloton until the 18 riders were left. Matteo Rabottini (Vini Fantini-Selle Italia) crashed on one descent before Cunego and Moreno Moser (Cannondale) attacked with three other riders - they were caught before the final climb/lap.
The lead group was down to 10 before the podium finishers made their move.
Stage three in the race held in the Emilia-Romagna region is a 157km run from Zola Predosa to Piane di Mocogno.

 

[Smallville22]

Vintage Cancellara wins E3 Harelbeke

An expert ****** 35 kilometres from the finish saw Fabian Cancellara of RadioShack-Leopard solo to victory in the E3 Herelbeke semi-classic.
The Swiss classics specialist made his decisive ****** on the Kwaremont climb before opening up an unassailable lead over his rivals to underline his credentials ahead of next Sunday’s Ronde van Vlaanderen.
Pre-race favourite Peter Sagan of Slovakia took second place from a chasing group one minute and seven seconds down on Cancellara, the Cannondale rider edging out former team-mate Daniel Oss of BMC and Geraint Thomas of Team Sky.
Belgian national champion Tom Boonen, the defending E3 champion and holder of a record five wins in the cobblestone race, led the peloton over the line 2:17 in arrears.
Thirty-two-year-old Cancellara, winner of E3 in both 2010 and 2011, took his third scalp over the cobbled roads of Flanders after thwarting the strength in depth of both Team Sky and Omega Pharma-Quick Step.
Both ‘super teams’ boasted four riders apiece in an elite leading group as the race entered the final 60 kilometres – and although it was Boonen who put in an initial leg-stretching ****** on the Taaienberg, it was a composed Cancellara who took the spoils at the end of a thrilling day’s action.
The 211km race – which took in many of the climbs that feature in Sunday’s second ‘Monument’ of the season, the Tour of Flanders – started under grey clouds and icy temperatures.
A group of six riders - all clad in leg warmers - formed off the front after an initial ****** was made by Spanish track specialist Eloy Teruel of Movistar some 35km into the race.
The escapees - Anders Lund (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff), Ruslan Tleubayev (Astana), Wouter Mol (Vacansoleil-DCM), Koen Barbe (Crelan), Stefan van Dijk (Accent Jobs) and Teruel - built up a maximum lead of three minutes over the peloton before being swallowed up 65km from the finish.
Team Sky seemed to have control over the race when Boonen made his ****** moments later on the Taaienberg, the eighth of 15 small climbs in the undulating parcours. The Belgian’s ****** sparked a frantic response from his rivals with a select eight-man group soon coming together.
In this group were the likes of Cancellara, Sky pair Edvald Boasson Hagen and Mathew Hayman and the Belgian Jurgen Roelandts. But Milan-San Remo runner-up Sagan missed the cut and, following an untimely bike change, was ****** to fight back on to the main pack at a key moment in the race.
With some chasers joining the leaders, a new select group of 11 riders formed on the front of the race approaching the final 50km: Boonen and his Omega team-mates Stijn Vandenbergh and Zdenek Stybar (Omega), Cancellara,Oss, Roelandts, Hayman, Boassan Hagen (Sky), Lars Boom (Blanco), Sebastian Langeveld (Orica-GreenEdge) and Vincent Jerome (Europcar).
The Cannondale team of Sagan led the chase and soon their man had made contact with the leaders following the Kapelberg climb. World champion Philippe Gilbert (BMC) failed to follow Sagan’s lead, but his BMC team-mate Greg van Avermaet led the chase with the likes of Sky’s Ian Stannard and Thomas, Omega's Sylvain Chavanel, Juan Antonio Flecha (Vacansoleil-DCM) and Andrey Amador (Movistar).
Just as the leading groups were beginning to merge, Cancellara defied the concept of strength in numbers by putting in his decisive ****** on the arduous cobbled climb of the Kwaremont.
Sagan tried to follow but could not match the experienced Swiss for power. The 23-year-old formed a select chasing group with Chavanel, Oss, Thomas and Langeveld. Boasson Hagen rode in limbo between the Sagan group and a larger Boonen group, by which he was soon consumed.
With only one more climb to tackle and the roads becoming wider and less taxing, Cancellara shifted into full time trial mode as he opened up a gap of one minute over the chasing quintet, while the second Boonen group threw in the towel and were caught by the peloton.
The lead dropped to just 40 seconds with 12km remaining after Chavanel and Sagan combined with some hefty pulls for the chasing group.
But Cancellara used all his strength and experience to extend his advantage going into the closing kilometres and had the luxury of passing under the ‘Flamme Rouge’ safe in the knowledge that the victory was his.
The win was Cancellara’s first of the 2013 season – and his first since the prologue of last July’s Tour de France.
Oss attacked his fellow escapees inside the final 500 metres but was pipped to the line by Sagan, with Thomas settling for the first rung off the podium. It was Sagan's third runner-up spot in major races this season.
Langeveld took fifth and Chavanel sixth before the peloton arrived 50 seconds later, with Boonen taking the sprint ahead of Luca Paolini (Katusha), Boasson Hagen and 10th place Sebastien Turgot (Europcar).
With the Ronde van Vlaanderen less than 10 days away, Cancellara has now put himself in pole position to take a second victory in the race which last year saw him crash out with a broken collarbone.

 

[Smallville22]

Martin holds lead as Parisien sprints to stage win

Ireland's Daniel Martin retained his overall Volta a Catalunya lead as Francois Parisien sprinted to a stage five win in Lleida.
The Canadian Argos-Shimano rider held off competition from Frenchmen Samuel Dumoulin (Ag2R La Mondiale) and Stephane Poulhies (Cofidis) to lead the peloton into Lleida after a 157km ride from Rialp.
Martin kept the leader's jersey and extended his lead over Joaquim Rodriguez to 14 seconds after picking up a bonus second for coming third at the intermediate sprint.
The stage's largely downhill profile - save for a category two climb at Port d'Ager - made for a bunch finish and little change in the general classification.
Olivier Kaisen (Lotto) and Tristan Valentin (Cofidis) mounted a two-man breakaway after 50km but their lead stalled at four minutes and the peloton reeled them in 15km from home.
Marcus Burghardt tried to break clear 2km from home, but his ****** was quickly ******* out. Parisien timed his late surge to perfection, hitting the front with less than 50 metres to go.
A delighted Parisien said: I still can’t believe that I won today. This is the biggest win of my career. But what made it even better was the amazing teamwork. Today we executed our plan perfectly.
"Yesterday we studied the final 3km for a long time. Using the team’s innovative new race course analysis system, we were able to see exactly what would happen in the final 3km, and we made a plan for it. It was important that we be at the front with 3km to go, and Patrick Gretsch brought us to the front right on schedule. After that it was up to Georg Preidler and Albert Timmer to keep the speed high. The guys went 65km an hour.
"From our reconnaissance last night we knew it would be crucial to go through the last corner in the top three. We did, and Albert led me out perfectly in the final meters. Everybody followed the plan and I finished it. It was unbelievably strong teamwork, and I am very proud to win my first bunch sprint ever."
Saturday's penultimate stage sees the race head back into the mountains, with the category one Alt de Prades and category two Alt de Lilla likely to have a decisive impact on the general classification ahead of a flat final stage on Sunday.
Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins lies fourth overall, 46 seconds behind Martin and primed to make an assault on the leader.

 

[Smallville22]

Cunego takes first win of season in Coppi e Bartali stage three

Damiano Cunego sprinted to stage three of the Coppi e Bartali while his Lampre team-mate Diego Ulissi hung on to the front group to retain his lead of the five-day race.
It was Italian Cunego's first win of the season as he won the dash for the line ahead of Mauro Santambrogio (Vini Fantini - Selle Italia) and Matej Mugerli (Adria Mobil).
The finish was flat following a climb to the top of the Piane di Mocogno following a 157km stage from Zola Predosa.
After 40km Stefano Pirazzi (Bardiani Valvole – Csf) attacked and nine riders - Fabio Felline (Androni), Jaroslaw Marycz (CCC Polsat Polkowice), Leonardo Duque (Colombia), Klemen Stimulak (Adria Mobil), Chrisopher Jones, Keil Reijnen (Unitedhealthcare), Manuel Amaro, Filippo Savini (Flaminia-Fondriest) and August Jensen (Team Oster Hus Ridley) - went with him.
Thirty kilometres further along Pirazzi broke out from the new lead group and built a lead of two minutes on them, with the peloton a similar distance further back.
As he was slowly dragged back in, the peloton led by Lampre was also gaining on the group of nine. Felline broke from the latter and took the lead from Pirazzi while climbing the steep Passo delle Cento Croci, crossing the summit out in front.
After the descent, Lucas Euser (Unitedhealthcare) left the peloton and ****** everyone for the lead before he fell back into the mix ahead of the final ascent.
Cunego, Santambrogio and Ivan Basso (Cannondale) attacked in turn on the incline, but a bunch sprint was inevitable at the top of the hill - and Basso went early, holding off Santambrogio for the win.
Saturday is a 14.2km time trial in Crevalcore.