Vattenfall Cyclassic Preview

A Break of 20 currently crossing a very pretty suspension bridge. Six germans there including (need you ask) Jens!, Bert and Ralph Grabsch, Tom Leezer, Marco Bandiera, David Lopez Garcia, Inaki Isasi, Maciej Bodnar, Kjell Carlstrom, Thomas Fothen, Fabian Wegmann, Tom Stubb, Kevin Hulsmans, Jonathan Hivert, Ignatas Konovalovas, Julian Belgy, Giovanni Bernaudeau, Alexandre Blain, David Deroo, Renee Weissinger. Lead 3.15, 120k to go.

Dario Cioni out after going straight on when everyone else pulled left or right.

break leads by 1.45

64k to go, lead 1.50

after a half hour break. 40k to go for the same break group. Heading back up the Waseburg for the ?second? time out of 4. They rode it once on a large circuit, went back to town and have now come out again to cover it three more times in a mini circuit before heading back to the finish.

now a lead group of 10 being led by Bert Grabsch. In a great display of confidence in him, the rest of Columbia seems to be leading the chase in the peloton.

Bert Grabsch, Wegmann, Isasi, Lopez Garcia, Carsltrom, Hivert +4

and the break is caught. 27k to go

Thanks for the updates

2 QS and 2 leaky among them.

Carlstrom and Visconti. That’s a surprise since I thought that Visconti might be QS’s leader today. Now he seems to be making a break on his own. 20k to go and one more ascent so don’t expect do see his dad bathing in champagne today.

2 Liqui lead followed by Wegmann, a few seconds ahead. Bertagnolli and ??

join the leaders. They barely have a lead. Good because typing Pooyakkers makes me giggle. 8k to go

Uran tries to get away but the sprinters have the end in sight now. Unless Cancellara tries something.

and Uran is still 8s ahead. The finish is wide and straight so the end can’t be far for him.

Robbie gets it from Mark Renshaw, possibly Alan Davies in third

Fischer of Leaky 4th
Rojas Gil 5th
Wrolich 6th
Bonnet 7th
Lorenzetto 8th
Dumoulin 9th
Wegmann 10th

Sounds as if he started off strong, then bonked.

Also what of Cancellara and Julich? Did they do anything? Is the message to Bobby writ large on the wall? He’s had a lot of “rest” recently. I will really miss him when he goes.

What, in general, of CSC? Seems they’ve been mired in mediocrity lately — in perma-tenth, as Schmaltz would say. Tour and Olympics fallout? Bjarne distracted? Team roil? Jens! certainly warned us about his own condition when he pulled out of Worlds. It has been a looong season. But post-Olympics, this is no longer anywhere close to being The Best Team in the World.

I suppose we could observe that Michael Phelps got to take time off away from the pool while the CSCyclists were flung right back out on the road.

What do you all think? Is this ominous?

he was part of the big early break and didn’t seem to be working too hard in it. But then the break split on the second climb of the Waseberg (height 75m, with “sections” at 15%), he fell back to the bunch, then just drifted to the back. The cameras picked him up there and never showed him again. I think that he is just a bit knackered after a long season. It looks like CSC were trying to peak everyone for the Tour this year, possibly before they got the new sponsor on board. After all Cancellara was a most of their early year successes, take that out and all they have for the year is the Tour.

I never saw Bobby or Fabian. I was half expecting Cance to come flying out with 1k or so to go after he had been so quiet, but zilch.