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Team RadioShack’s Robbie McEwen seems to like the races in the French speaking part of Belgium. After winning a stage in this year’s Tour de Wallonie, he won today’s opening stage of the Circuit Franco-Belge (or Tour de Wallonie Picarde), a four-day stage race around the Belgian-French border. In a mass sprint he was clearly faster than last year’s overall winner Adam Blyth (Omega Pharma – Lotto) and Rüdiger Selig (Leopard Trek).

“My teammates brought me in a perfect position,”  explained Robbie McEwen (39). “Sky was pulling for Russell Downing. Behind their trio of Sutton, Henderson and Downing, Blyth was there with his teammate Vandousselaere.  I was in the wheel of Blyth who accelerated. I could easily go around him and his teammate. My sprint was very regular, no explosiveness, but I continuously accelerated.  I had to as the last 150 meters were really uphill. I could keep up my pace and won quite easily. This makes me happy. My third victory of the seaon.”

“It is always a pleasure to work with Robbie McEwen,” said Team Director Dirk Demol. “Despite his age that lends to less explosiveness, he never gives up and is always fighting for his position. He is an example for all other riders. The team also believed in him and worked a lot for him.”

“With Sam Bewley, Michal Kwiatkowski and Gregory Rast I still had three teammates with me,” continued McEwen. “Rast and Kwiatkowski brought me through the last kilometer and then Kwiatkowski guided me to the 6th position to start the sprint. An ideal situation for me.”

The first stage from Mouscron to Péruwelz started very fast. The average speed the first hour of the race was more than 50 k/h. After that, three riders (Ronan Van Zandbeek (Skil-Shimano), David Lelay (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and Jonathan Dewitte (Wallonie Bruxelles-Crédit Agricole)) managed to stay away from the peloton but were finally caught in the local laps.

Robbie McEwen starts tomorrow in the yellow leader’s jersey in stage 2 to Poperinge. “The overall victory is not the main objective here as we came for stage wins, but you never know. Most important is that I get ready for Paris-Tours, my last objective of the season.”

Result Stage 1: Mouscron-Péruwelz, 178.2 km
1 Robbie McEwen (Team RadioShack) 4:03:18;  2 Adam Blyth;  3 Rüdiger Selig;  4 Nacer Bouhanni;  5 Michael Van Staeyen;  6 Sep Vanmarcke;  7 Tom Veelers;  8 Russell Downing;  9 Koen de Kort;  10 Nikolas Maes

General Classification after Stage 1:
1 Robbie McEwen (Team RadioShack) 4:03:18;  2 Adam Blyth 00:04;  3 Ronan van Zandbeek;  4 Rüdiger Selig 00:06;  5 David Lelay 0:07;  6 Arnaud Gérard 0:09;  7 Nacer Bouhanni 0:10;  8 Michael Van Staeyen;  9 Sep Vanmarcke;  10 Tom Veelers

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Luz-Ardiden, France

Tour de France, Stage 12: A Strong Finish

Cadel Evans of the BMC Racing Team confirmed his climbing form on the Tour de France's first major mountain stage by finishing fifth and gaining more time on several of the overall contenders.

Following Attacks

Following an attack by Frank Schleck in the final kilometers of the climb to Luz-Ardiden, Evans was among a select chase group that included Ivan Basso, Andy Schleck, Alberto Contador and Damiano Cunego. "The first real mountain top finish in the Tour there's always something you don't expect and something you do expect," Evans said. "It's still early in the mountains and it's a long way to Paris. If the team just keeps going as it has done every day so far, we'll really put ourselves in a great position and get ourselves in a great position in Paris."

Gaining Time

Olympic champion Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) rode away from Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) to take the stage win, while Frank Schleck (Team Leopard Trek) was third. Evans comfortably followed Basso home as defending Tour champion Contador (Saxo Bank Sungard) conceded 13 seconds. Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar) finished 20 seconds behind Evans to keep the yellow jersey with a 1:49 advantage over Frank Schleck and 2:06 over Evans in third. "You're never particularly comfortable in the Tour at any moment, right now included," Evans said. "We just have to stay calm for now and see how things go in the coming days."

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Carmaux, France

Tour de France, Stage 10: Back In The Saddle

Cadel Evans of the BMC Racing Team finished in the same time as the stage winner Tuesday as the overall standings remained unchanged following the first rest day of the Tour de France.

Nicer Roads

Andre Greipel (Omega Pharma-Lotte) beat Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) in the sprint to win the 158-kilometer stage. Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar) retained his lead and a 2:26 advantage over Evans, who is in third place. BMC Racing Team's Brent Bookwalter, one of several riders involved in a crash on a descent during Sunday's stage, said he appreciated the rest day. "My legs felt decent considering the first week we've had," he said. "My body still feels kind of beat up from the crash the other day. It was nice to come back with a slightly shorter stage, although it was a fast one. There were also nicer roads today, which was very welcome after being on so many goat paths for the first nine days."

Brutal Stages Coming

Wednesday marks the halfway point of the Tour in terms of stages, but not the midpoint as far as the selective kilometers, Bookwalter said. "The main selections or time gaps thus far have been from crashes and technical conditions," he said. "There are a lot of really brutal stages coming which are sure to shake up the GC (general classification) and really only one more day until those start," he said. "So far, we are still in a good position going into those days."

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Dries Devenyns 
"When Gilbert got moving on the last climb I followed him with determination. We got a good lead, but in the lead group not everyone was collaborating. Tony Martin clearly wasn’t cooperating in order to favour Cavendish’s sprint. So I preferred not to force things. In these situations it’s also important to understand if a move will be successful or not. I’m happy, anyway. My legs are spinning really well, even after the rest day. We’ll see in the next few days if there will be any other chances.” 

Jerome Pineau 
Jerome Pineau was involved in a crash that happened about 10 kilometres after the start of the stage. “I couldn’t do anything to avoid the fall. It’s never fun to wipe out, but luckily the consequences weren’t too serious. I just have some scrapes on my left side and knee, but they shouldn’t be a problem.” 

Sylvain Chavanel 
"Today I finished in the first group. It was hard for me, but the rest day surely helped me a lot. At the moment I still don’t have the energy I need to attack, but I’m hoping that in the next days I won’t have any more troubles and maybe I can try to needle my way ahead of the group.” 

Kevin De Weert 
"Again today the day went by without problems or falls. I tried to stay out in front to avoid surprises, and also because often after the rest day the legs might not be super.” 

It was a hard day for Gerald Ciolek. The team’s German sprinter is suffering from a pimple that makes it uncomfortable for him to stay on his saddle. Gert Steegmans is still experiencing pain in his left wrist; he finished the stage in 149th place at 5.59` from the winner

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Cap Fréhel, France

Tour de France Stage 5: Dangerous Day

Cadel Evans avoided a number of crashes that took down several overall contenders at the Tour de France Wednesday as the BMC Racing Team's leader held onto his second place overall.

Stayed In Front

Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Sungard), Bradley Wiggins (Sky Pro Cycling) and Robert Gesink (Rabobank) each crashed, but all were able to get up and continue. Evans finished 11th as Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) won the uphill bunch sprint finish on the 164.5-kilometer stage. "It was really windy, with narrow, winding roads," Evans said. "We worked hard to stay in front all day. I just kept hearing on the radio over and over again, 'crash, crash, crash' and sort of kept going, and then I saw Gesink all covered in dirt. It was a dangerous day."

Good Guidance

Evans remains one second behind yellow jersey wearer Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervélo) heading into the longest stage (226.5 km) of this year's race. The two-time Tour de France runner-up said he's appreciating the fine teamwork he has received, particularly from Manuel Quinziato and Marcus Burghardt. "They're used to riding the classics and riding in the front all day, and dodging traffic islands is their speciality," Evans said. "I'm very grateful to have them here for that as well as their role in the team."

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06-Jul-2011: At about 10 km before the feed-zone Sylvain Chavanel fell hard on his right side, ending up off road and dislocating the acromion-clavicular joint in his right shoulder. 

"In the fall I also hit my head and broke my helmet” Chavanel says. “The consequences could have been much worse. Tomorrow morning I’m lining up for the start as usual, but it’s obvious that tomorrow I can look forward to a day of suffering." 

At about 70 km from the arrival it was Boonen, Steegmans, Ciolek and Engels who bit the asphalt. The four guys were pedalling close together when someone ahead of them took a fall and they all ended up on the ground.

"To avoid the riders ahead of me I braked but my front wheel touched another athlete’s back wheel” Boonen says .“I flew over my bike in an endo and I fell, hitting my head and the right side of my body. My helmet busted on impact."

In the fall Boonen suffered a series of abrasions to his shoulder, elbow and right gluteus, which is sporting a rather deep cut. 

"After the first few minutes of shock I got back on my bike and I wanted to finish the stage” continues Boonen. “I have to thank Engels for his support. Alone I would have risked ending up outside of the maximum time. Now all I only want to recover some Energy from tomorrow."

Boonen will be starting tomorrow’s stage.

In the fall Gert Steegmans took some scrapes to his knee and his left shoulder. The Belgian rider is also suffering from pain in his left wrist. Steegmans will line up for the start tomorrow. 

Kevin De Weert also fell with Contador in a stretch about 100 km from the arrival, fortunately without any consequences.

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I briefly mentioned last month that I was on may way to Europe, I can confirm I am heading over for a  stint in Belgium with the Geox-Fuji Test Team, while there is a bit of a lull in the racing here in Australia.  I hope the experience will teach me a few things and hopefully push me up a little bit more performance wise.

 

My brief trip should fit in well with the Aussie season as the number of races on here in Australia becomes very minimal until the middle of the year. I can go over to Belgium and return back to Australia for the beginning of the bigger national road series races such as Gippsland, Murray and Geelong where I will just slot back into the bikebug.com squad. Hopefully all the more wiser as a result.

 

I’m not even there yet and it’s certainly been a big learning curve! Apart from going to New Zealand for a few bike races I have never really been over seas into a completely foreign country such as Belgium.

 

So far I have had the challenging task of sorting out visas, currency exchange and travel arrangements and trying to find warm clothes in the shops here in Australia to brave the harsh winter in Europe which has probably been the most challenging part to this point.

 

All of these things have made it a big learning curve for me but it adds to the excitement and stress of it.

 

I don't know a huge deal about my team at this stage but I’ll fill you in on what I know so far, Geox-Fuji Test Team is the feeder team to Geox- TMC pro team and our squad is based out of Oostkamp in Belgium, where we are given the opportunity to compete in the local kermesses to the UCI level races with the aim of developing us to move on to bigger and better things.

 

The Man in charge has been looking after a team for the past 20 years and taking in foreign riders from Australia and the states each year, so fingers crossed that the foreign change over is slightly more manageable for me than if it were to a set up without that experience.

 

Most of the other riders in the team are from Belgium or other parts of Europe but there are also a lot of American riders as well.

 

Hopefully I can fill you in on a bit more when I arrive in Belgium and settle in a little bit. But for now I will leave you as I move on to the next big step in chasing that dream.

 

Until next time,

 

Straub

“Wear and tear on a pro cyclists body? Yep we definitely have use by dates.”

Robbie Hunter Radioshack

“My legs hurt”

                                                                                                                                Bert Grabsch HTC

“This isn’t sun block, its war paint, lucky there’s no pressure on me today”

                                                                                                                                Graeme Brown Rabobank

Stage 5 has arrived. I think everyone has been looking forward to this and with Cam Meyer Garmin-Cervelo leap-frogging into the lead yesterday the landscape has changed.

So what exactly happened yesterday? Well a guy who sprints but is not a sprinter has won from a breakaway. He has won by enough seconds to make life hard for anyone chasing him. He leads the peloton by 10 sec to Laurens Ten Dam and 12 sec to Matt Goss.

You get a 10 sec bonus for winning a stage so Goss who is a sprinter and is in the form of his life needs to not only beat Cam Meyer on the road by time but also win the stage just to catch up! Everyone else would have to do more than this...hmmmm

I have it on good authority that Sky is going to attack, try and get Swift up the rankings. Rabobank want to get Michael Matthews up there for the win. Garmin -Cervelo are in the driver’s seat but they can’t just sit back, anything can happen with 2 climbs up Willunga Hill. The crowd want lance to attack. Everyone’s going to be screaming support for Cav just because he’s Cav. (Just quietly, I’m predicting Jack Bobridge will smash it on the second climb)

Once again an 1100am start at McLaren Vale. Wine country and the public are out in force. The drive from the Hilton, the wonderful home base for both the riders and the media, was chock-a-block.

The start is actually on an uphill slope. I notice the riders WC is being used a lot at the back, is everyone nervous?

2 Laps around the beach then up the hill for 2 more. How hard can it be? Pretty hard!!

The peloton roll out and the obligatory break begins...8 riders, none from the major players.

1^st sprint along the ocean at Aldinga beach lap 1 Davide Vigano Leopard Trek  1^st, Sebastian Haedo Saxobank Sungard 2^nd and crit champ John Murphy BMC 3^rd. It’s clear, send guys up the road take up time bonuses, get some points.

2^nd sprint lap 2 Murphy 1^st, Vigano 2^nd and this time Juan Horrach Katusha 3^rd.

And then just before the climbing laps begin, HTC shut things down. 1 min 30 is brought back in a few km and the peloton begin the ascent together.

Old Willunga Hill.

The crowd lining the road makes Checkers Hill yesterday look small. Everyone who could be there was. Walking down from the KOM line to find his spot was a blind man being lead by his lady. This guys living life. The world’s a stage get on it!!

At the top we see the helicopter sitting above us signalling the peloton and Race Director Mike Turtur gets an enormous ovation as he passes. Shortly after a rider turns the final bend...

He’s wearing Uni SA gear. The crowd already screaming go even higher.

Luke Roberts extends his lead in the KOM and crosses the line 1^st on the 1^st lap. Angel Madrazo Movistar 2^nd, Ben Hermans Radioshack 3^rd (He attacked strong up Checkers Hill yesterday) Richie Porte Saxobank Sungard 4^th and Mirko Selvaggi VCD 5^th.

The peloton now stretching out to several groups follow over the top.

2^nd lap things are different.

Ben Hermans 1^st, Riche Porte 2^nd, Jack Bobridge 3^rd (my prediction, c’mon Jack make me look good!) Luke Roberts 4^th and Michael Rogers Sky 5^th.

Now it’s time for the drag race to the finish, and I don’t mean the riders. Jumping into the car Jamie and Roger from ABC radio and me, see if we can race the peloton from the top of the KOM to the line. It’s a gamble but that’s bike racing.

While we descend madly down the Adelaide to Victor Harbour road doing 100kmph the riders are madly descending Penny Hill road also doing 100kmph. It’s touch-and-go between us and them (although they have a smaller carbon footprint, but only just, we’re in a hybrid!!)

A quick turn onto the Aldinga beach road and up to the finish line; security lets us through, make all the equipment portable and jump a barrier and we’re there. The peloton are a few km away.

Some of the guys have gone off the front; they have 13 sec and Jacks there! The last bend before the finishing straight and he slides out. He gets up and rejoins the following group. My prediction has just gone out the window much to our mutual disappointment I’m sure.

Isasi from Euskatel-Euskadi is leading down the straight. And then he gets swallowed up. The finish is going to be tight.

Suddenly Movistar, under the radar for most of the tour, makes its presence known:  Its Francisco Ventoso MOV in a photo finish to Michael Matthews (where did HE come from?) and...Matt Goss! (Where did HE come from? Then again to the average guy in the crowd who’d be holding his position at the finish line for the last 45min, where did we come from?)

“This is a massive victory for me, but more important for the team. We have a new sponsor this year and to win is really important.”  Said Francisco Ventoso today’s stage winner, “The crowds were incredible and the ambience is very special for the cycling.”

Landscape changes again.

“I’ve been in and out of the jersey so if the pattern keeps going the way it has it’s my turn to get back into the jersey tomorrow” Matt Goss

“I’m looking pretty good now with just the 2 sprints tomorrow” Luke Roberts backing himself and rightly so, he’s been the only guy on the podium everyday aside from the girls and Jimmy!!

 So it all comes down to tomorrow.

Mr Meyer...

“Yes, it’s going to come right down to the wire but I have a good team around me and hopefully we can have a good day tomorrow.”

Goss is at 8 seconds. If he wins tomorrow and Cam doesn’t gain any extra time HTC are celebrating. If he doesn’t win Garmin-Cervelo are the happy team. Mathematically there are other options, but this is where your money should go. Meyer has the jersey, Goss has to take it. Goss is the man of the week, Cam has the move of the week.

Cam is in Ochre and Best Young Gun, Matt Goss is Sprint King, Luke Roberts KOM, Richie Porte Most Aggressive and Movistar are the star team. It all comes down to tomorrow.

 “We’ve all got boyfriends. We haven’t really noticed.”

Lauren, Abbey and Amy Podium girls for the 2011 Santos Tour down Under on the subject of who is the hottest guy in the peloton

 

Nice to see that not only are the girls attractive and competent throughout the presentations but they’re also faithful to their men.

Who is hot property right now though is Cam Meyer Garmin-Cervelo winner from a break-away on Stage 4. (But let’s not go straight to the back page shall we?)

The peloton rolled out of Norwood at 1100am and as with previous stages they were right on time.

They followed some 7000+ recreational cyclists who rode various lengths of today’s stage in participation of the Mutual Community Challenge Tour for 2011. More often than not, you won’t find the ‘dream teams’ participating here. Here it’s the ‘Average Joe’s’ of Dodgeball fame. And regardless of how hard or easy it is they love doing it.

The goal is to get to the finish before the pros, and most achieve it. The bunch and as it turned out, the break-away, however, are hard on your heels.

Racing began with a steady travel east out of Adelaide up the picturesque Gorge road running alongside the truly Australian ‘Kangaroo Creek Dam’. This steady climb/rolling hills is consistent and warms the legs until the bunch reached the KOM climb for the day.

The first chance for glory on the agenda.

Checker’s Hill. Just under a km but over 13%.

The crowds were out in force, cheering the police on their mountain bikes who were making regular runs up and down the hill keeping everyone safe, whilst also providing unintentional but good natured entertainment. The feeling on the climb was like one of the European Classics; the last climb of Fleche Wallone perhaps?

 Simone Ponzi  Liquigas-Cannondale and Ben Hermans Radioshack attacked and were first over the top. Jack Bobridge Garmin-Cervelo went over 3^rd, the 2011 Australian Road Champion stretching himself out.

The peloton lengthened perhaps keeping 3 maybe 4 at most wide. Andre Griepel OPL went over attacking in the first 10, maybe thinking of the first sprint and time bonuses, Robbie McEwan Radioshack and Matt Goss HTC following close also thinking the same?

The biggest cheers however just like yesterday were for, drum roll, not Lance sitting comfortably in the middle out for a Sunday stroll; rather the battle scarred Mark Cavendish HTC.

Next up; Gumeracha, the first intermediate sprint, here was where time bonuses could be gained.

Robbie McEwan 1^st, Matt Goss 2^nd and ....let me check this, yep, Spain's Francisco Ventoso Movistar  3^rd.

Smart racing, only 2 sec separates Matt and Robbie now for the Ochre jersey.

Then Garmin-Cervelo (Cam Meyer and Matt Wilson) along with some other guys....put their plan into action: 2 guys in the break. (Prior to the KOM, breaks had tried repeatedly to get away but no-one was listening and with the 1^st sprint so close following the KOM, no-one could get away – but now things were a-changing)

The telling move of the day.

Sprint number 2: Balhannah – this definitely sounds like a Viking hall of the dead where grizzled warriors sing songs and are waited on by Valkyries

De Gent VCD 1^st, Kadri AG2R 2^nd and Meyer 3^rd. Time bonuses all valuable as well as UCI points.

The lead stretched out. 2 minutes 30 the break working together despite Kadri dropping back to the peloton.

The approach to Strathalbyn is a twisting one. It’s downhill and lends itself to the break. HTC, OPL and Radioshack started a concentrated chase although out on the road the breakaway were starting to get smart.

“We thought 'the peloton can bring it back whenever they want' so we waited until about 20-30km to go and then we really hit the gas. And when we went, we went strong.” Cam Meyer

At 3km to go the break still had 30 sec. The crowd was sensing they were going to hang on. People knew Cam was in the break, he was an Aussie. People knew HE could do it. The crowd willed it. More importantly Cam willed it.

 It’s amazing the amount of noise a 10yr old kid can generate bashing their hands on a piece of cardboard advertising strung out on a metallic frame barricade.

Cam Meyer put his head down and the noise disappeared. He looked up, raised his fist and something that should not have happened, happened. He beat the peloton to the line.

He beat them enough to be in Ochre. The crowd went nuts.

So how’s it feel to win, to be in the lead?

“I’m thrilled”...” Matt Wilson in the break with me was just unbelievable, I mean I wouldn't have stayed away without him, so it was just the perfect ride and I'm very happy to take my first Pro Tour (World Tour) victory." The win adds to an already impressive resume with Meyer last year awarded the Sir Hubert Opperman Medal when he was named the Australian Cyclist of the Year after claiming three world and three Commonwealth Games gold medals on the track and the Australian time trial crown on the road. He successfully defended the time trial crown earlier this month.

How’s it feel not to be?

Disappointed...check Andre yesterday.

"I don't think we had enough support from the other teams, as we're not the only ones who have goals for the overall, but, unfortunately today we lost time to some of those guys at the front and lost the jersey," said Goss who also surrendered the lead in the young riders classification.

So where are things for tomorrow...well; Cam is in Ochre and Best young rider, Thomas De Gent holds most aggressive and Jayco Sprints, Luke Roberts holds the Skoda KOM and guess-who is the best team: Garmin-Cervelo.

In the words of Jack Bobridge Garmin-Cervelo, “Moving from car 19 to number 1 is pretty fantastic, eh.”

And in case anyone thinks this week has been a cake walk, Bert Grabsch HTC says his legs are tired.

Tomorrow goes to Willunga for Stage 5. It’s climb time.