94th Ronde van Vlaanderen - Live Ticker Part 1
Eight Riders ins the escape lead the peloton by over ten
minutes.... Live Now
Ronde van Vlaanderen
Sunday 4th April 2010
261km
1300 CET -
Welcome to the Daily Peloton's live coverage of
the 2010 Ronde van Vlaanderen.
Race Parcours
Courtesy De
Ronde van Vlaanderen
Read Giles Belbin's extensive race
preview and his history of the
tour of Flanders.
Official updated start list,
here.
1301 CET - At the moment we have eight
riders upfront. They are Nicolas Rousseau (Ag2t la Mondiale), Vicente Garcia Acosta (Caisse
d'Epargne), Michele Merlo (Footon), Oliver Bonnaire (La Francaise des Jeux),
Michael Ignatiev (Katusha), David Boucher (Landbouwkrediet), Floris Goesinen
(Skil-Shimano), and Joost van Leijen (Vacansoleil). They attacked early on in
the stage. They current have a lead of around 12 and a half minutes.
1302 CET - Before the race, Phillipe
Gilbert said: "For me the favourite is Tom Boonen. Flecha, maybe, he's in decent
shape. And there's always Devolder. Maybe Thor Hushovd."
This year we pass over 15 climbs. Their vicious nature, along with the
distance make this arguably the best one-day race of the season.
1303 CET - 137 km to go, the lead group
have a gap of nine minutes.
The weather isn't as cold as predicted; the sun is trying to emerge from the
clouds and there is now rain.
Marco Bandera's fan club and the tifosi wait for the riders on the Grammont.
Photo © 2010 Fotoreporter
Sirotti
1305 CET - Small crash in the middle of
the pack. Tyler Farrar (Garmin) has thrown his bike to the side of the road. He
and two of his team mates went down
DP writer Chris Graetz predicts a Devolder victory today. Quick Step could
either play that card, or aid some guy called Tom Boonen - who incidentally
appears to be everyone else's favourite.
Belgian Devolder is looking for his third consecutive win here. He rides with
#1 on his back, Boonen has #2. BMC are lead by 2007 winner Alessandro Ballan
(#191), and he has George Hincapie and Marcus Burghardt (both former Gent
Wevelgem winners).
Cervelo don't have 2009 runner up Heinrich Haussler riding, but do have Thor
Hushovd as their leader. Philippe Gilbert tries with #93 on his back for Omega
Pharma-Lotto, and 4th placed rider last year Martijn Maaskant could be an
outside bet yet again.
1315 CET - 130 km to go, 8'21" is the
lead.
Saxo Bank leading the peloton right now, working for Matti Breschel and
Fabian Cancellara.
1318 CET - Out of our leading eight,
Mikhail Ignatiev (Katusha) is the rider who interests me the most. People will
be fully aware of his combative nature, and took victory in stage 6 of the 2010
Tirreno-Adriatico, having been in a breakaway.
I'm not surprised to see a Vacansoleil rider upfront; they must be seething
from ASO's decision not to invite them to the Tour de France.
1321 CET - Frank Hoj is now pulling the Saxo
train in the peloton. 7'32" is the gap for our leaders.
1322 CET - 123 km remaining. The echelons are forming in the peloton. Three or
four small groups have lost contact from the main group.
We have 18 km before the leaders reach climb #3 of the day, the 463 meter Molenberg.
Where the breakaway group are now, it appears some light rain has fallen.
Luckily the sun is trying to dry it up; I don't have any news on how the
conditions on the cobbles.
Mikhail Ignatiev leads Floris Goesinen in the break.
Photo © 2010 Fotoreporter
Sirotti
1328 CET - I can't see anyone from our
lead group surviving. Their lead is now hovering around the seven minute mark,
as Sky come to the front to help Saxo Bank.
1330 CET - If you're just joining us, here
are the breakaway group: Nicolas Rousseau (Ag2R), Vicente Garcia Acosta (Caisse
d'Epargne), Michele Merlo (Footon), Oliver Bonnaire (La Francaise des Jeux),
Mikhail Ignatiev (Katusha), David Boucher (Landbouwkrediet), Floris Goesinen
(Skil-Shimano), and Joost van Leijen (Vacansoleil).
They lead by 7:00 with 118 km to go.
1332 CET - Two riders have escaped from the peloton and have a twenty second
lead over the field. No names yet - one is from the Footon team, who have that
ridiculous jersey.
1333 CET - This looks ominous: the clouds
have turned very dark and the wind has increased slightly. Typical Flanders
weather.
Michael Barry and Kurt Asle Arvesen - looking splendid in his national
champions jersey - are now doing the work for Sky. I wonder if Juan Antonio
Flecha or Ian Stannard will fare in the proceedings later on today. I'm
surprised to see Arvesen working; both him and Flecha placed in the top ten in
2008, when only half the field finished the race.
Team Sky takes a pull on the front with Ian Stannard and Juan Antonio Flecha.
Boonen in his Belgian champions jersey follows. Photo © 2010 Fotoreporter
Sirotti
1340 CET - 113km to go.
6'22" is the gap.
Crash in the peloton as they pass through the town on Ooike. Geoffrey Lequarte (Radioshack)
and Lars Bak (HTC) have fallen on the cobbles, along with Daniel Lloyd
(Cervélo).
1344 CET - Our two chasers have been reeled in. The main field are looking
good, as they bring the gap down to 5'47". At the back of the pack, Sebastien
Rosseler (RadioShack) is trying to get back on after falling a moment ago.
While I don't expect them to fare well today, Lance Armstrong, Cadel Evans
and Mark Cavendish are all riding here today. Their inclusions are surprising;
perhaps the first two are here to ride some cobbles which pop up in that race in
July. Cavendish needs the miles in his legs.
1348 CET - Another crash. This blocks the
width of the road. Sergei Ivanov fell, and Gorka Intxausti (Euskatel) is still on
the floor in some pain.
1349 CET - Wow, this crash happened upfront. Adriy Grivko (Astana) - about
five from the front of the group - went down and others had nowhere to go. David
Millar (Garmin) and Cavendish were also affected. The field are nervous today.
It looks like most of the riders involved in that last crash have rejoined.
Hopefully there will be no more falls for the time being.
Quick Step are contributing very little to the chase this afternoon. While
Sky, Saxo Bank and Cervélo are pulling, Quick Step are thanking....
1355 CET - 103km to go. 4'52" is the gap for the 8 man lead group.
Having commented on Armstrong's notable absence a few minutes ago, guess who
is at the front of the pack now?!
Lance Armstrong on the front. Photo © 2010 Fotoreporter
Sirotti
1356 CET - Russian champion, and 2010 Amstel Gold winner,
Sergei Ivanov has
just rejoined the pack after being involved in the crash. 2 km of cobbles at
Varant is now giving the peloton a challenge. Narrow and bumpy; this is brutal.
You can see how much movement the surface has on the bikes.
1400 CET - 100km to go. Gap to our
leaders: 4'17"
Upfront we have: Nicolas Rousseau (Ag2R), Vicente Garcia Acosta (Caisse
d'Epargne), Michele Merlo (Footon), Oliver Bonnaire (La Francaise des Jeux),
Mikhail Ignatiev (Katusha), David Boucher (Landbouwkrediet), Floris Goesinen
(Skil-Shimano), and Joost van Leijen (Vacansoleil).
Right, the main group are off the cobbles and into the village of Kerkhove
1401 CET - David Millar has just rejoined
the pack after being caught up in an earlier crash. No news on the Euskatel
rider Insausti who fell.
1402 CET - Eventful day for RadioShack's
Rosseler. Having fell earlier he now has a flat and will spend more energy
chasing up to the pack again.
1403 CET - Our leaders hit the first
difficult climb of the day, the 1.25 km Kruisberg. Average gradient of 5.3% - but
luckily no cobbles this time around. Despite not being the steepest, six of our
leaders are having problems following Ignatiev and Gosinen (Skil Shimano) in the
first part of the ascent. The rider struggling the post is Michele Merlo from
Footon, but he is just to get back on.
1407 CET - 96 km to go, and the breakaway
group lead by 3'11". Meanwhile the peloton start the Kruisberg. This should
cause any problems for them, although Kevin Hulsmans had a small collision at
the foot of the climb.
1409 CET - FDJ rider Yauheni Hutarovich
looks like he's hit a brick wall on this climb. Upfront, Saxo Bank have five
riders pulling. Sky are keeping their eye on affairs too.
Just a heads up - we'll move into Part 2 of the live coverage when there is
80 km remaining.
1413 CET - Looks like Liquigas rider
Aleksandr Kuschynski collided with a sign that was positioned right on the
roadside. He appears to be ok and will remount.
1415 CET - The peloton are split into two
groups again, though I suspect the race will be coming back together soon.
However, the chase is not helped by more road furniture, which is all over this
current piece road.
1416 CET - 90km to go. 2'16" is the lead
for our eight man group of Nicolas Rousseau (Ag2R), Vicente Garcia Acosta
(Caisse d'Epargne), Michele Merlo (Footon), Oliver Bonnaire (La Francaise des
Jeux), Mikhail Ignatiev (Katusha), David Boucher (Landbouwkrediet), Floris
Goesinen (Skil-Shimano), and Joost van Leijen (Vacansoleil).
1417 CET - It appears the two large
groups have re-formed to make one large peloton again. Guess what? It's still
Saxo Bank doing the work.
1418 CET - Another crash. Servais Knaven
(Milram) was one of three involved. Remember, he won the Paris-Roubaix in 2001.
1419 CET - On a small incline, the
peloton almost grinds to a halt at the rear. Narrow roads + slow moving riders =
recipe for disaster. Upfront, Saxo Bank have formed a mobile road block. Have
they showed their hand too early? Interestingly, only Cancellara is not working.
Another stop at the rear of the bunch. This could get dangerous on the
Koppenberg.
1425 CET - 85km to go.
2'09" is the lead
for the eight man group. The peloton has split into three groups as they pass
through Bercham. It appears that all the favourites are in the first group. Saxo
Bank STILL pulling. Frank Hoj and Stuart O'Grady are doing the work on the front. Further
back, it looks like Robbie McEwen has been dropped.
1426 CET - With our leaders Nicolas
Rousseau (Ag2R), Vicente Garcia Acosta (Caisse d'Epargne), Michele Merlo (Footon),
Oliver Bonnaire (La Francaise des Jeux), Mikhail Ignatiev (Katusha), David
Boucher (Landbouwkrediet), Floris Goesinen (Skil-Shimano), and Joost van Leijen
(Vacansoleil) out front with 1'43",
Our live
Coverage Continues in Part 2
Official
Updated Start List
2010 Race
Preview
Tour of
Flanders - A History
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