Matti Breschel and the press are calling his win today at Dwars door Vlaanderen "big" and I have to agree. Saxo needed a victory and in this race where Quickstep wasn't pushing the tempo much outside of Boonen, Saxo's teamwork paid off in controlling and ultimately winning the race.
Meanwhile at Catalunya, in the Queen stage, Tondo and J-Rod rode away on the final climb with Lulu TTing away from the peloton in the final kilometers to get third. J-Rod now leads that race. Still a couple stages where the standings could change. A couple of interesting riders are in the top 10. For Liquigas , their leading rider is not Roman Kreuziger but Kristijan Koren, who, like Peter Sagan, is another newbie with the team. Also, the third placed Leeky rider (21st overall after this stage) is one Robert Kiserlovski, ANOTHER newbie to the team. He did ride a half year last year with Amica Chips until May, then with Fuji the rest of the year. What do we know of these two?
- Kiserlovski last year did place 4th in GC at Coppi and Bartali and 12th on GC at the Tour of Austria, 17th at Trentino, and 25th at Suisse, so he looks promising: yet another stage racing stud for the team.
- Koren, who last year rode for the continental squad Perutnina Ptuj, won a race, La Cote Picarde, placed 11th on GC at the Tour de l'Avenir, and had a bunch of top 10 placing and looks definitely strong at time trialing.
Meanwhile Garmin's second placed rider is 9th placed Michel Kreder. He was on the Rabobank CT squad last year and has a bunch of good showings including 5th overall at l'Avenir.
Ain't it fun to see the se new guys upset the established order?
At Coppi and Bartali it looks like a mountain stage saw Serpa win a small bunch sprint, and he moved himself into 3rd place in the GC behind two Leeky riders. Notice who's in 4th place in the GC.
Below, VDS points for riders in bold:
After stage 2 of Coppi and Bartali:
Stage 3:
1) José Serpa (Androni Giocattoli) 4:11:09
2) Fortunato Baliani (Miche) st
3) Riccardo Riccò (Ceramica Flaminia) st,
4) Przemyslaw Niemiec (Miche) st
5) Domenico Pozzovivo (CSF INOX Colnago) mt
6) José Rujano (Isd Neri) st
General:
1) Oliver Zaugg (Liquigas Doimo)
2) Ivan Santaromita (Doimo Liquigas) same time
3) José Serpa (Androni Giocattoli Serramenti) to 8
“4) Riccardo Riccò (Ceramica Flaminia) to 8”
5) Damiano Caruso (De Rosa Stac Plastic) to 9
“6) Riccardo Chiarini (De Rosa Stac Plastic) to 9”
7) Mauro Finetto (Liquigas Doimo) to 12
“8) José Rujano (Isd Neri) 13”
9) Daniele Righi (Lampre Farnese Vini) to 15
“10) Francesco Gavazzi (Lampre Farnese Vini) to 15”
More on the jump
Stage three at Catalunya:1. Xavier Tondo (Cervélo) 4:43: 23
2. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) m.t.
3. Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) to 48
4. Sandy Casar (Française DES Jeux) to 1:20
5. Michel Kreder (Garmin-Transitions) m.t.
6. Nicholas Roche (AG2R) m.t.
7. Pieter Weening (Rabobank) m.t.
8. Aitor Perez (Footon-Serevtto-Fuji) m.t.
9. Paolo Tiralongo (Astana) m.t.
10. Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) m.t.
General:
1. J-Rod
2. Tondo 10 seconds
3. Lulu :48
4. Roche 1:20
5. Koren 1"20
6. Hesjedal 1:20
7. Taaramae 1:20
8. Kreuziger 1:22
9. Kreder 1:24
10. Brajkovic 1:25
Finally Dwars door Vlaanderen:
1. Matti Breschel (Den) 204 km in 4u49’37"
2. Björn Leukemans op 7"
3. Niki Trepstra (Ned) z.t.
4. Steve Chainel (Fra)
5. Matthew Hayman (Aus)
6. Luca Paolini (Ita)
7. Wouter Mol (Ned)
8. Tom Veelers (Ned)
9. Stijn Vandenbergh
10. William Bonnet (Fra)