Three Days of De Panne

[Jamsque]

Awesome - thanks for the feed info guys.

edit-
Who's the Astana guy in the break?

Grivko. He's the danger man, less than a minute down on GC. Some combination of Garmin and BBox are going to be very interested in chasing him down.

 

[krebs303]

The group is pursuing about 30 people strong. De belangrijkste namen: Quinziato, Oss, Gasparotto, Davis, Zingle, Vandenbergh, McEwen, Bandiera, Paolini, Van Dijck, Farrar, Millar, Maaskant, Traksel, Westra, Chainel, Lorenzetto en Bernucci. The main names: Quinziato, Oss, Gasparotto, Davis, Zingle, Vandenbergh, McEwen, Bandiera, Paolini, Van Dijck, Farrar, Millar, Maaskant, Traksel, Westra, Chainel, Lorenzetto and Bernucci.

 

[Beech Mtn]

Grivko. He's the danger man, less than a minute down on GC. Some combination of Garmin and BBox are going to be very interested in chasing him down.

Thanks. Yep, Grivko finisished 13th yesterday - was in that 2nd group. Astana being active in lots of races this year. I assume Gasparotto is still in the main pack - or have they shattered into many mini-pelotons due to the wind? Trying to catch up here.

Edit - thanks Krebs for the info. Think I've got it now.

 

[Jamsque]

I think we have the same kind of situation as yesterday, there are a few groups riding for the GC and everyone else is just soft-pedalling to get to the finish alive.

[edit] It looks DIRT NASTY out there. Just miserable weather.

 

[Beech Mtn]

Did Grivko just pick up the sprint bonus?

 

[Jamsque]

Did Grivko just pick up the sprint bonus?

Yup.

Gap is down to 2 minutes with 20km to go, if they can keep hauling them in at this pace they will catch the break just before the line.

[edit]Gap dropping fast now, 1:30 with 17km to go. The chasing group is only 20 or so strong now.

 

[Beech Mtn]

Rooiakers (spelling?) off the back of the break now

Grivko doing a ton of work

 

[Jamsque]

Lead group down to four, they have shelled Piet Rooijakkers

 

[Beech Mtn]

I've seen Millar and Paolini - do not see Gasparotto.

5K - 45 seconds

 

[ak-zaaf]

Poor Lotto

1. Turgot
2. Gilbert
3. Mouris?
4. Grivko?
5. Traksel +44(?)

Paolini new leader?

/edit: Grivko 3rd

 

[Beech Mtn]

Glad Gilbert didn't win. BBox/French momentum rolls on.

Millar should've done more work and less griping back in the chase group.

edit-
looks like Grivko may have been 3rd.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Bbox again!

Bbox are having some success these days!

 

[Jamsque]

41 seconds the gap to the Millar/Paolini group

 

[Beech Mtn]

what's the time bonus for finishing 3rd? Grivko also took a sprint bonus today.

edit-
Paolini overall leader. Grivko 2nd, with same time.

MIlliar 12 seconds back in 4th place

How well does Paolini TT?

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Don't worry about it, unless Millar falls he has this in the bag.
I'm a bit suprised Westra had to let go in the end, he looked strong in the windy parts, but suddenly he was gone the last 10km!

My predictions for the GC now
1 Millar
2 Grivko
3 Paolini
4 Amorison
5 Mouris

 

[Jamsque]

Millar gained 3 places and one second on 1st today, but he now has Grivko in front of him, who I seem to think is a better TTist than most, but I couldn't tell you why.

 

[Beech Mtn]

Grivko is Ukrainian TT champion.
I don't know anything about Paolini's TT ability.
Millar, well, we all know about him.

 

[Jamsque]

Grivko is Ukrainian TT champion

Well that is a good reason for me to think he is a good time-trialist. He should have a chance to steal this from Millar if he can recover from being in a long break today.

 

[Delicato]

Great spring performances from Astana.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Like I said, don't worry, with Westra out of the picture this should be a walk in the park for Millar.

 

[theswordsman]

Like I said, don't worry, with Westra out of the picture this should be a walk in the park for Millar.

My one concern is the new "ride like a loony" philosophy to Time Trials. By its nature, it means taking more chances and throwing caution to the wind. It worked brilliantly at Criterium International, but if he tries it every time, there could be some bad days. So if he has the option, does he take just enough risks to win, or does he go for the best possible time? We'll see. Actually, his claims of how smart he was yesterday got me wondering as well.

 

[joy118118]

Paris-Nice Prologue: Montfort-l’Amaury 8km
1 Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank 0:10:56
7 David Millar (GBr) Garmin - Transitions 0:00:11
12 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana 0:00:16

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Yeah, but Grivko must have wasted a lot of powers today. But it's true, he isn't that far of Millar either

 

[Beech Mtn]

Isn't it supposed to be raining tomorrow? That will affect how many chances guys can take in the TT. Somebody correct me if my "weather report" is wrong, but I thought it was supposed to rain in that general area for most days between now and the Flanders race.

 

[Beech Mtn]

Yeah, but Grivko must have wasted a lot of powers today. But it's true, he isn't that far of Millar either

You're right about that. Grivko did all the work for a long time in that break. He will be tired tonight.

They have that flat stage to ride tomorrow too, before the TT.