Minor Day Races Thread 2014

[The Couch]

And Giant keeps on finding sprinters in their ranks...
Jonas Ahlstrand wins stage 2 in Circuit de Sarthe

 

[smutchin]

Kittel made that look easy!

Valiant effort by Luke Rowe but it was never going to work.

 

[thom]

 

[The Couch]

There was some non-PR action as well this weekend: GP Pino Cerami.
40-year old Petacchi won the sprint, making it a double for OPQS this weekend.
It was against some of the lesser sprinters: Napolitano, Van Hummel, Vantomme, Van Asbroeck,.. but (since most of them have already shown some form this year) still quite impressive from him

Up next Paris-Camembert and De Brabanste Pijl both on Wednesday

 

[The Couch]

De Brabanste Pijl is actually looking like it's might be the ideal moral booster for Gilbert.
It seems the a lot of the (strong) competition wasn't much interested in this one
Gilbert, Leukemans and Voeckler have all done well in the past, but haven't been as strong this season as in the past

However, people who have shown strong form this season are not much around (no Kwiatek, Valverde)
Or it could be perhaps time for a new name: Poels, Slagter, Impey...?

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Slagter was my pick when I looked at the startlist - he's on very good form right now.

 

[thom]

The minor day races of course attract riders of a minor stature...

 

[PpPete]

The minor day races of course attract riders of a minor stature...

That is pure class !

 

[The Couch]

The minor day races of course attract riders of a minor stature...

Yeah... unfortunately also of minor reputation

Let's hope if the Polish teams does well, it's the new generation and not the old one

 

[raindog]

Gilbert by a nostril from Michael Mathews - bloody close, though

 

[rich p]

Blimey, Pip wins a race shock.
I like Gilbert and hope he goes well in the Ardennes

 

[thom]

Gilbert looks like having some good form this year not only judging by his win (against a very strong Michael Mathews) but also by a decent late race sortie off the front (that got closed down).

 

[The Couch]

Again a nice showing from Arashiro

But i really want to mention/highlight the Novo Nordisk team:
They managed to get some one into the escape of the day...meaning they probably got all the commentators talking about them to the audience
And they managed to have a rider finish the race... can't imagine how though that is with constantly needing to check/control your (fragile) sugar level

 

[The Couch]

GP Denain ends in a predictable sprint with the "best starting" sprinter Bouhanni winning
Pelucchi takes 2nd place proving there is perhaps more to be expected from him besides the surprise victory in the Tirreno

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

Tour du Finistere won by Antoine Demoitie of Wallonie-Bruxelles

Top 10:
1 Antoine Demoitié (Wallonie-Bruxelles)
2 Julien Simon (Cofidis)
3 Armindo Fonseca (Bretagne-Cured Environment)
4 Kristian Sbaragli (MTN-Qhubeka)
5 Natnael Berhane (Team Europcar)
6 Laurent Evrard (Wallonia-Brussels)
7 Quentin Jauregui (Roubaix-Lille Métropole)
8 Jose Goncalves (Team La Pomme Marseille)
9 Maxime Daniel (AG2R La Mondiale)
10 Yoann Bagot (Cofidis)