4 Jours de Dunkerque 2014 (2.HC), 07. - 11.05

[Dazed and Confused]

Un, deux, trois.... nevermind

Official race site: http://www.4joursdedunkerque.org/index.php

Race is live on Eurosport. Some action before the world turns completely pink.

Demare is back defending his win from last year. Other key riders and teams:

1. AG2R La Mondiale (Dumoulin, Daniel)
2. FDJ.fr (Démare, Geslin)
3. Team Europcar (Voeckler, Martinez)
4. Team Giant-Shimano (Arndt, Sinkeldam)
5. Tinkoff-Saxo (Breschel, Mørkøv)
6. Bretagne - Séché Environnement (Fonseca, Jarrier)
7. Cofidis, Solutions Crédits (Petit, Jõeäär)
8. IAM Cycling (Chavanel, Pelucchi)
9. MTN - Qhubeka (Ciolek, Sbaragli)
10. Team NetApp – Endura (Bennett, Jarc)
11. Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise (Van Asbroeck, Vanbilsen)
12. Wanty - Groupe Gobert (Drucker, de Vreese)
13. BigMat - Auber 93 (Rossetto, Tronet)
14. Roubaix Lille Métropole (Planckaert, Dupont)
15. Team La Pomme Marseille 13 (Giraud, Gonçalves)
16. Veranclassic - Doltcini (Mol, Brambilla)
17. Wallonie - Bruxelles (Delfosse, Amorison)

Complete list here: http://www.procyclingstats.com/race/4_Jours_de_Dunkerque_Tour_du_nord_pas_de_Calais_2014-Startlist

 

[Dazed and Confused]

All the stages finishes around 16:45 (CEST).

Perhaps this man can get back after the cobbles beating:

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

If Chava is on form, he'll be a hard man to beat

 

[veji11]

The 4 jours de Dunkerque are usually a very enjoyable race, with wind able to play tricks through Bordures, if the teams that know how to play with it decide to (the belgians, Giant or IAM).

The fact that Chavanel had a rough start of the season could entice him to be very aggressive, since there is not CLM for him, he would need to drop the sprinters like Demare. Voeckler has won it too in the past, but at the time you had the very hard circuit of Mont Cassel to make the decision. Although this year the route is more selective than last year, it isn't as selective as whe you had the Mont Lambert (Boulogne, used in the Tour de France stage to Boulogne in 2012) and Mont Cassel (paved hill) circuits where Voeckler in 2011 and Stybar in 2012 had blown the field to smitherens.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Voeckler looked relatively good in TdR, I expect him to be competitive.

Five WT teams takes the start. Three are French with Tinkoff and Giant making up the rest. Tinkoff's team:

41.VALGREN Michael
42.BRESCHEL Matti
43.HANSEN Jesper
44.KOLAR Michael
45.KUMP Marko
46.MCCARTHY Jay
47.MøRKøV Michael
48.ZAUGG Oliver

I would expect a couple of these riders to show they are more than just bottle carrying material.

 

[trevim]

Voeckler looked relatively good in TdR, I expect him to be competitive.

Five WT teams takes the start. Three are French with Tinkoff and Giant making up the rest. Tinkoff's team:

41.VALGREN Michael
42.BRESCHEL Matti
43.HANSEN Jesper
44.KOLAR Michael
45.KUMP Marko
46.MCCARTHY Jay
47.MøRKøV Michael
48.ZAUGG Oliver

I would expect a couple of these riders to show they are more than just bottle carrying material.

Guys like Kump or Breschel definitely have the talent but I doubt that they'll do anything.

 

[Roude Leiw]

Demare did a nice showing through the cobbles season and has a good team to support him. He is my main favorite. I do not believe in Chava bouncing back, no itt means he has to tear up the field, but he did not show a form until now which makes me believe this. My dark horse would be Mr Aesbroek

 

[manafana]

Will be keeping an eye out Bennett here with Netapp too since their not in the giro.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

No Mont Cassel = screw this race.

 

[PedalCastro]

Bennett hopefully to get a stage win!

 

[veji11]

Could be a fun race, really a shame that it suffers a lot from its placement in the calendar, It falls in a time when the flandersmen and the tour de france men are all on a break to fill up the tank again, and obvioulsy the giromen are doing their thing, so the plateau gets weaker and weaker unfortunately.

For Libertine Seguros, the Mont Cassel will feature, but not as the great circuit we saw in previous years (which I regret too). Nevertheless the route this year is better than last year, so that' a good point.

 

[jsem94]

Demare FTW.

 

[Butterhead]

Guys like Kump or Breschel definitely have the talent but I doubt that they'll do anything.

I would actually say Michael Valgren, he surely have the talent for these kind of hills but I don´t know about what kind of shape he´s in atm.

 

[trevim]

Chava and Petit have 7s advantage with 3.5km to go. FdJ chasing behind.

 

[trevim]

I think Demare won ahead of Arndt and everybody else. Easy win it seemed...

 

[Carols]

Demare what a shock--Not!

 

[Geraint Too Fast]

That was easy.

 

[shalgo]

He came flying out of nowhere.

 

[trevim]

Pos. Rider Team
1 DéMARE Arnaud [www.procyclingstats.com] FDJ.fr
2 SINKELDAM Ramon Team Giant-Shimano
3 MARTINEZ Yannick Team Europcar
4 VANBILSEN Kenneth Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise
5 BENNETT Sam [www.procyclingstats.com] Team NetApp – Endura
6 ROSTOLLAN Thomas Team La Pomme Marseille 13
7 DUMOULIN Samuel AG2R La Mondiale
8 ARNDT Nikias Team Giant-Shimano
9 VANTOMME Maxime Roubaix Lille Métropole
10 KLUGE Roger [www.procyclingstats.com] IAM Cycling

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Damn, that was easy for Demare.

And Topsport are still at it.

 

[Roude Leiw]

What a sprint by Demare

 

[Dazed and Confused]

yea brutal form. Also his team is very strong overall.

Stage:
1 DéMARE Arnaud [www.procyclingstats.com] FDJ.fr 20 30 4:01:09
2 AHLSTRAND Jonas Team Giant-Shimano 14 18 ,,
3 VAN ASBROECK Tom Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise 8 12 ,,
4 WEBER Sascha Veranclassic - Doltcini 7 7 ,,
5 JACOBS Pieter [www.procyclingstats.com] Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise 6 4 ,,
6 GHYSELINCK Jan Wanty - Groupe Gobert 5 3 0:03
7 JAKIN Alo BigMat - Auber 93 4 2 ,,
8 DELFOSSE Sebastien Wallonie - Bruxelles 2 1 ,,
9 TRONET Steven BigMat - Auber 93 ,,
10 VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael [www.procyclingstats.com] Tinkoff-Saxo ,

GC:
1 (1) DéMARE Arnaud [www.procyclingstats.com] FDJ.fr 10 7:50:21
2 (19) VAN ASBROECK Tom Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:16
3 (5) JACOBS Pieter Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:17
4 (3) MARTINEZ Yannick Team Europcar 0:21
5 (8) DELFOSSE Sebastien [www.procyclingstats.com] Wallonie - Bruxelles ,,
6 (27) GHYSELINCK Jan Wanty - Groupe Gobert 0:23
7 (24) TRONET Steven BigMat - Auber 93 ,,
8 (45) JAKIN Alo BigMat - Auber 93 ,,
9 (43) CIOLEK Gerald MTN - Qhubeka ,,
10 (50) VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael [www.procyclingstats.com] Tinkoff-Saxo ,,

Aggressive racing and tough conditions took out many today.

 

[Geraint Too Fast]

What a sprint by Demare

 

[jens_attacks]

wow so many posts...

there were cobbles in the rain today for christ sake. i almost cried

and yep pretty brutal "sprint" by demare

 

[Afrank]

Demare took 4 stages here last year. Fair to say, he owns this race.