Haugaard strikes in Flèche du Sud; Ruffoni puts Colpack on the board in Italy

Flèche du Sud Stage 1 

Dane Kristian Haugaard surprised the sprinters and took a fantastic solo win for the hometown Leopard-Trek squad. Haugaard, who isn't a bad sprinter usually, went really hard going into the final kilometer and no one was able to come around him. In 2nd was young Alex Darville, only in his first espoirs season, while 3rd was Argentinian ried Mauro Richeze (Nippo). Haugaard is having a fantastic year in his final U23 year as he was 5th in the Ronde van Vlaanderen Nations Cup and 4th in La Côte Picarde and was 7th overall in the Istrian Spring Trophy in March. Leopard-Trek comes here with a stacked team as this is a home race that they desperately want to win.

The 1st stage was more of a prologue than anything as it was only 82 kilometers around the town of Roeser, which is situated in the south in Esch-sur-Alzette. A group of four, including Oscar Clark (Hincapie Development), Christian Helmig (Differdange) and Jasper Ockeloen (Parkhotel) (I CANNOT FIND THE OTHER BREAK RIDER AND IT IS BUGGING ME) spent the majority of the day away as they were up front for over 60km of the 82km.

The break was brought back with just under 10km to go and then the peloton turned the dial to 11 and the pace became frantic. Luxembourgish rider Alex Kirsch (Leopard-Trek) hit the deck with 4km to go, apparently due to a Nippo rider getting into his way but didn't suffer any major damage. Coming into the final k, Haugaard found a gap and hit is hard and didn't look back and took his first win of the season. Post race, Haugaard was relieved to finally take his first win and get that monkey off his back.

There seems to be next to no coverage on the race so results are still hard to come by.

Top 5 Stage 1 Roeser - Roeser

1. Kristian Haugaard (Leopard-Trek)

2. Alex Darville (US National)

3. Mauro Richeze (Nippo)

4. Federico Pozzetto (Tirol)

5. Owain Doull (GB National)

Fleche du Sud might not sound like much but look at this group of winners from this race: Charly Gaul, Acácio da Silva, Alex Zülle, Kim Kirchen, Bradley Wiggins, Geraint Thomas, Andy Schleck and Bob Jungels. That doesn't include any famous stage winners either!

Giro della Regioni Friuli Venezia Giulia Stage 1

Nicola Ruffoni (Colpack) got the race started off well for his team by taking a tight sprint over Filippo Baggio (Ceramica Flaminia) into Mereto di Tomba to kick of the 2013 Giro della Regioni Friuli Venezia Giulia. The name might be a mile long but it is simply the tour of the far northwestern region (Friuli Venezia Giulia) that abuts Slovenia and Austria.




The racing started off very quick as many tried to attack but with over a 50 kilometer average in the first hour, nothing was getting off the front. The course was nearly all flat except for a small climb near the middle, a climb won by Ruffoni's Colpack teammate Davide Orrico. While there was a group of 16 that got off the front during the middle bit of the race, they were brought back as Orrico summited the 4th category climb at 78.5 kilometers. With finishing loops around the finishing town of Mereto di Tomba, the peloton was not letting a big group get much of a gap. A group of 8, including Tour de Bretagne and Circuit des Ardennes winner Riccardo Zoidl (Gourmetfein-Simplon). This group lasted until the last 12 kilometer lap and was swallowed up with 6 kilometers to go as the sprinter's teams were trying to ramp up the pace.

To say this sprint was chaotic...well that is a downright understatement. No organization whatsoever. Hell, Filippo Baggio was EVERYWHERE in the final 200 meters and had to come across multiple riders in the final few meters to get 2nd. Nicola Ruffoni stuck to the inside and got his 3rd victory of the season, a welcome site for the team that has been relegated to the lower steps of the podium so many times this year.

1st  Nicola Ruffoni (Colpack) 3h41'09 " 
2nd Filippo Baggio (Ceramica Flaminia) 3rd David Gomirato (Podenzano) 4th Edward Theuns (VL Technis Abutrlek) 5th Hanis Dakteris (CCD Team Differdange Losch) 6th Andrea Dal Col (Treviso Dynamon Bottoli) 7th Paul Simion (Euromobil Zalf Desiree Fior) 8th Emiljano Stojku (Albania) 9th Jan Sokol (Team Gourmetfein Simplon) 10th Ruben Geerinkx (Ovyta Eijssen)


Tomorrow should be another sprint stage, this time into the the town of Pordenone.

REMINDER: Tour de Berlin starts tomorrow with a 164km romp around the suburb of Birkenwerder. Unless someone can pull a good U23 Marcel Kittel impression, it will be a sprint.

The Beginning of May Roundup: The Stage races

The beginning of May had about five thousand different stages races happening at once and unless you paid attention to a particular race, any results just passed over glazed over eyes without much analysis. Just for the sake of time, I won't be going into the minutia of the race as much since there were 4 stage races running concurrently with one another that had some big U23 talent in them.

Tour de Azerbaijan

We saw the commercials on Eurosport for the first few months of the year about the Tour de Azerbaijan, an attempt by the corrupt government to promote Azerbaijan (i.e. Baku) tourism and attempt to get it back to its former level, where Baku was seen as the gem of the Caspian. Since the fall of communism and the hellacious Nagorno=-Karabakh War between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the country had fallen on hard times but thanks to oil money, Baku is getting back a bit of its former reputation. I might sound very negative about this part of the world but I have done research on Azerbaijan before (oil workers during the turn of the 20th century) and I love the country and the people. I just don't love the Aliyev family, who has ruled Azerbaijan for the majority of the last 50 years. Funnily enough, last year's version of this race was named the Heydar Aliyev Anniversary Tour, in honor of the late tyrant. Now that I have ruined any chance of being invited to the Tour of Azerbaijan, let's get to the race.

Azerbaijan is quite flat around Baku but once you live the city, it can get hilly fast. The first stage was won by the hometown team as Baku Synergy's Christoph Schweizer surprised the sprinters and held them off for an impressive victory. The 2nd stage started at sea level in Baku but climbed and climbed before reaching the highlands into Ismyaili...decimation is a word that fits quite well in what happened. A group of twenty two broke away from the peloton and created a big gap over the peloton. While Serhiy Grechyn got away in the end, it was an impressive performance by Astana Continental's climber Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev, who was able to go 3rd on the stage. Kozhatayev has had a wonderful season so far in the U23 ranks and I really hope this is a talent that can transition into the pros.

After a tame stage three, the fourth stage was utterly brutal for the racers as they made their way up to the Pirqulu Observatory. Jan Hirt (Leopard-Trek) jumped away from Rabobank Development's Jasper Bovenhuis and Baku Synergy's Connor McConvey on the penultimate climb and laid down some serious power to extend his lead to over 4 minutes by the time he summited the Observatory climb. 

Hirt only joined Leopard-Trek midway through last year but he has the talent to climb with the pros, as evident by his ride here and his efforts in the Giro di Padania queen stage last year, where he was 11th after being dropped late by the leading group containing guys such as Betancur and Nibali. His Leopard-Trek teammate Sean De Bie, who helped Hirt early in the 4th stage, showed well on the final stage in Baku where he was 2nd in the final sprint to World Tour Tomas Vaitkus, who was riding for the Lithuanian National team.

The G.C. was largely decided by the 2nd stage breakaway with young riders such as Kozhatayev (3rd), Rabobank cyclocrosser Lars van der Haar (5th), Efapel-Glassdrive's Joni Brandao, Hirt in 8th and Astana CT's Zhandos Bizhigitov in 9th. Take a look down the rankings though and you will find some nice gems. While he missed the decisive breakaway, Merhawi Kudus (UCI Cycling Centre/Eritrea) finished 22nd overall and rode very strong for a team that has little to no consistent support. Ireland's Connor McConvey rode strong on stage 4 and won the KOM jersey, which is a nice result for the Baku Synergy squad and a positive sign of things to come for the young Irishman.

Tour of the Gila

In a desert far, far away from from Azerbaijan, American racing took on one of the more prestigious events of the year in the town of Silver City, New Mexico. Up at nearly 6,000 feet of elevation, this race is quite a shock to the system for those that are not fans of altitude. Gila is really known for three stages: the opening Mongollon stage, the TT and the closing Gila Monster stage, which makes everyones legs give them a last chance to scream at them. While stage racing isn't the heart of American racing by any means, this race has had a huge amount of talent pass through it. This year's edition was no different as both the BMC Development team and Bontrager showed up to throw down.

• The first stage saw the race go up the Mongollon Pass and while Jamis-Hagens Berman Javier Acevedo won the stage up the road, a trio of Bontrager riders in Gavin Mannion, Lawson Craddock and Nathan Wilson led home the young riders, taking 9th, 10th and 11th. 

• Arnaud Grand of BMC Development took the 2nd stage of the race after Johnny Clarke (United Healthcare) nearly ran him into the barriers and was deservingly DQed.

• More strong performances on the young riders front in the 26 kilometer TT as Tour de Normandie winner Silvan Dillier (BMC Devo) went 3rd, Lawson Craddock (Bontrager) 4th and Bissell's Carter Jones went 6th. 

• After suffering from mononucleosis throughout 2011, Kiel Reijnen is probably the most underrated American racer of the last two years. Reijnen stormed the 2010 Asian Tour with Jelly Belly but went through a so-so time with Team Type 1 before landing at United Healthcare. The Washington native has consistently performed on a multitude of courses and deserves a bigger role. Reijnen took the stage four win over youngster (and arrogant and stupid) teammate Luke Keough with Optum's young sprinter Eric Young rounding out the podium.

• Remember how I just said Reijnen was underrated? Bissell's Phil Gaimon was an out of shape gamer when he was 18 but after dedicating himself to getting into better shape, he took to cycling and went from a cat-5 to a cat-1 in just a year. After having some up and down results, Gaimon came into his own last year and even after a crash this year at the San Dimas Stage Race, this writer believes that Gaimon will be headed for the big time next year. I mention him because even after just coming back from a crash, Gaimon attacked the Gila Monster stage and drew out an elite selection of three others. While Gaimon eventually faltered (as dopehead Paco Mancebo won) and finished 4th, his performance was memorable. Behind, it was young Gavin Mannion who attacked the peloton and distanced race leader Javier Acevedo on the finishing climb to finish 5th.

I have to admit that I was surprised to see it was Philip Deignan who took the overall honors here. Wasn't this guy 9th in the Vuelta just a few years ago? How far people can fall but it is good to see him back in the winner's circle. Mannion sewed up the young riders jersey after his impressive climbing on the Gila Monster stage while Carter Jones rolled in 8th overall and Nathan Wilson 10th. 

California will definitely be interesting as Bontrager will be lining up with a strong roster that might be able to challenge for a stage win.

Carpathian Couriers Tour & Szlakiem Grodòw Piastowskich

How do I go about doing this lightly...hmmm...Okay. Poland has five stage races, which isn't bad for a country that size and with their economy and so forth. So why the fuck would you schedule two stage races that overlap each other? Honestly, why would you do this? The Carpathian Couriers Tour is a U23 stage race and should be trying to attract some big U23 talent, no? So why is Silvio Herklotz and his Stölting team at Szlakiem? Along with Etixx-iHNed, Sava and others. But let's not get away from the main point...WHY ARE THESE RACES SCHEDULED TOGETHER?!? Literally, schedule one just a week later and you could draw some better teams for Carpathian Couriers and Szlakiem could be a logical follow up for some of those U23 teams that wanted to test themselves.

Szlakiem is a legit pro race and young riders were spit out without any remorse. Silvio Herklotz had one bad day but after his great 1st stage, Herklotz settled for 12th overall and won the white jersey over Etixx-iHNed's Patrick Konrad. Etixx-iHNed's Norwegian Daniel Hoelgaard was close to knocking off the sprint juggernaut that is Tino Thömel (NSP-Ghost) but had to settle for 2nd.

What is there to take away from Carpathian Couriers? Boris Vallee is quick. Slovakian Michael Kolar took his 3rd win of the year for his Dukla Trencin Trek squad. These wins need to be taken with a grain of salt though because honestly, the competition level is slightly lower than western Europe. Other than this? I honestly cannot draw much from here. It just really annoyed me that they could do so much with this race and well...they don't. I know there are limitations with money and logistics but really...this could be fixed quite easily.

Look forward to more coverage from the Fleche du Sud and the Giro della Regioni Friuli-Venezia-Giulia stage races. There should be no worries about a lack of talent here...these races will promise to be awesome. Also, the latter usually has some kick ass highlights, with last year's race getting 20 minute stage recaps. My addiction is getting bad when this is making me slightly salivate. Until then...

The Big Beginning of May Roundup: One-Day Races

Your fearless writer has been a bit busy this week since I've had to start a new 9-5 job and trying to fit that in with riding and this...well it has been a bit straining but I should be able to get back into the swing of things soon enough.

Let's go back to mid-week and May Day, the day where sensible Europeans give their workers the day off to celebrate their hard work...

Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt: Lasse Norman Hansen (Blue Water Cycling) beat out Michael Valgren Andersen (CULT Energy) and Max Werda (Stölting) in a 4-up sprint to take his 2nd victory of the season on the road and his 2nd win in just 2 weeks. After 140 undulating kilometers around Frankfurt, a breakaway of four including Hansen, Andersen, Werda and his Stölting teammate Silvio Herklotz were out in front after breaking away from seven other riders before the finale. As they had numbers, Herklotz was dialing up the pace to lead out Werda but a miscommunication saw Werda attack as Herklotz wasn't able to keep the speed up any longer after spending the whole day out front. Andersen brought Hansen back up to Werda and Hansen launched with 200 meters to go and took the sprint.

Behind, it was Magnus Cort Nielsen (CULT Energy) who won the bunch sprint for 12th. After spending nearly the whole race out front, Herklotz picked up the mountain and sprint jerseys for his troubles.

Grote Prijs 1 Mei: De Rijke-Shanks continued their impressive season as the Dutch team swept the podium in Hoboken with former Rabobank rider Coen Vermeltfoort taking the honors over Mats Boeve and Yoeri Havik. It was the team's 5th UCI win of the season and the 2nd for Vermeltfoort, who has bounced back nicely after suffering from bad luck and injuries while with Rabobank.

Fernando Grijalba gets the magic Txapela for his Copa de España win

LXXX Clasica Santa Cruz Legazpi: Fernando Grijalba (Caja Rural Amateur) was able to steal the Copa de España overall from Airan Fernandez (Coleur) and former Andalucia pro Pablo Lettuce Lechuga (Cajamar). The final round of the CdE was a 141 kilometer romp around Legazpi but it was the final ten kilometers and the final climb that saw the race exploded. It was Santiago Ramirez (Lizarte) that attacked first followed by Lechuga, Aitor Gonzalez (Lizarte), Cristian Cañada and then Grijalba. Loïc Chetout (Naturgas) and overall leader Airan Fernandez tried to go with Grijalba but were dropped before the finish.

In the end it was Ramirez who won the 5-man sprint for the win while Grijalba finished in 5th place. With Airan Fernandez losing the sprint for 6th to Chetout, he lost his overall lead to Grijalba by a mere three seconds with Pablo Lechuga a further two points behind.

Grijalba is only the 4th rider to win the Copa de España as a U23 along with a guy named Alejandro Valverde. Grijalba also won the junior Copa de España, which makes him the only rider to win both the junior and elite/U23 classification. Watch for the rider from the Valladolid province of Castilla y Leon to move up to the Caja Rural pro team for next year.

Ronde van Overijssel: Tom Vermeer (Jo Piels) outsprinted his breakaway companions Martin Mortensen (Concordia-Riwal) and Christoph Pfingsten (De Rijke-Shanks) as the trio just barely outlasted the chasing peloton, who was lead home by Jeff Vermeulen (Metec CT).

Other results include...

• Paolo Simion (Zalf-Euromobil) took his 3rd win of the year at the Circuito del Porto in a bunch sprint over Liam Bertazzo (Trevigiani) and Davide Martinelli (Food Italia). Zalf continues to roll as in two other smaller races on Sunday, they had Andrea Toniatti and Pierre Paolo Penasa take wins. Best Italian team of the first half of the season by far.
• Frederik Strand Galta (Øster Hus-Ridley) won the Hadeland GP Saturday out of a breakaway of four over Stian Remme (Joker-Merida), Jesper Hansen (CULT Energy) and Frederik Ludvigsson (People4You-Unaas). The group sprint for 5th was won by Asbjørn Kragh Andersen. Sunday saw 20 year old Sondre Holst Enger (Plussbank) go 3rd in the Ringerike GP in a group sprint behind winner Reidar Borgersen (Joker-Merida) and Michael Olsson (People4you-Unaas)

That is all I have for one day races. I know it was a bit brief but don't worry...tomorrow (or later today, depending on location) you will read about the stage races that have been on going. Trust me it is going to be filled with acid. Let's just say that while I support a lot of U23 racing, you need to fucking schedule it a lot better than some races should. Until then :)

Perichon survives to win into Quimperlé; Zoidl wraps up overall

Pierre-Luc Perichon (Bretagne-Séché Environment) attacked in the final kilometers but was just able to hold off a sprinting Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-iHNed) to take his first win of the year. On a course filled with dirt roads and short, punchy climbs, the peloton did not have a parade finish to their Tour de Bretagne.

Of all people, it was Dylan van Baarle (Rabobank Development) and Julian Alaphilippe who really blew the field apart after the third sector of dirt roads, a common sight in Bretagne. Van Baarle was going very well, driving the pace and stealing the mountains jersey away from Olivier Le Gac and sewing it up for himself. While this duo was powering up ahead, race leader Riccardo Zoidl wasn't going to let this move get any more time and took the initiative multiple times to try and bring the gap of nearly two minutes down.

Zoidl and his Gourtmetfein-Simplon team continued to whittle the gap down before the Austrian attacked with Fabien Schmidt (Sojasun) and Pierre-Luc Perichon. Zoidl showed his red hot form as he drug the group up to the tired duo, nullifying a 50 second gap in only 12 minutes. The final climb into Quimperlé saw Perrichon attack and the Frenchman took a 200m advantage into the final uphill rise. Perrichon was clearly suffering as he headed up the finishing straight but was able to raise his arms in victory over a strong Julian Alaphilippe, who nearly caught him on the line. Simon Yates' twin brother Adam Yates (CC Etupes) won the chasing group sprint for 8th.

1. Pierre-Luc Perichon (Bretagne-Séché Environment)

2. Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-iHNed)

3. Fabien Schmidt (Sojasun)

4. Dylan van Baarle (Rabobank Development) **KOM Winner

5. Riccardo Zoidl (Gourmetfein-Simplon)

Overall
1. Zoidl
2. Nick van der Lijke (Rabobank Development)
3. Jasha Sütterlin (Thüringer Energie)
4. van Baarle
5. Alaphilippe
6. Bryan Nauleau (Vendée U)
7. Perichon
8. Vegard Breen (Joker-Merida)
9. Luis Mas Bonet (Burgos-BH)
10. Juan Villegas (4-72 Colombia)

After struggling on the wicked final stage, Timothy Dupont (Ventilair-Steria) still held on to his points jersey thanks to his strong early race, just three points ahead of Alaphilippe. Today capped of a strong week for Riccardo Zoidl, who has won his last two stage races overall and truly is a big koi in a small water garden.

Other takeaways include...

• Consistency was one of the big trends this week as many guys had outstanding races because they  had a consistent presence in the finale. Dupont was very strong in the sprints day after day while guys like Alaphilippe, Mas and Juan Villegas were consistent over nearly the whole race.
• Dylan van Baarle is a beast.
• Jasha Sütterlin looks to be in line for a strong season and might be able to finally live up to the tall expectations that were set for him by some after his incredible performances in the junior ranks. German cycling still is not what it once was and Sütterlin is a key figure in the U23 scene and could play a pivotal role in the next couple of years to see if German riders can still develop into more than sprinters and classics men.
• If you were not watching him before...Bryan Nauleau of the prestigious Vendée U team needs to be watched. He is a late bloomer but after his stagiaire role with Europcar last year, it will be interesting to see if they sign him to a pro deal next year.
• With teammate Daan Olivier signing with Argos-Shimano, it is time to start speculating where Dylan van Baarle and Nick van der Lijke will go for next year. Hmmmm...

Van Baarle smashes Bretagne TT; Zoidl bolsters overall lead

There is a reason why Dylan van Baarle is number one on my list of U23 talents right now and it is simply because of the way that he can utterly dominate a time trial. The Rabobank Development rider stormed the rolling TT by averaging nearly 46.5 kilometers per hour over the 15.9 kilometer course around Huelgoat (please...tell me a funnier town name...I dare you.) The Flying Dutchman beat overall race leader Riccardo Zoidl (Gourmetfein-Simplon) by 13 seconds and Jasha Sütterlin (Thüringer Energie) by a further two.

1. Dylan van Baarle (Rabobank Development)
2. Riccardo Zoidl (Gourmetfein-Simplon) +13
3. Jasha Sütterlin (Thüringer Energie) +15
4. Vegard Breen (Joker Merida) +23
5. Bryan Nauleau (Vendée U) +25

While van Baarle might have lost his G.C. hopes with Riccardo Zoidl going up the rode on the 2nd stage with van Baarle's teammate Nick van der Lijke, the man from Voorburg moved up to 4th overall in the overall classification. Van der Lijke, who was only one second off the lead coming into today, tried his hardest to limit his losses and put in a valiant effort but he lost 41 seconds to Zoidl on the course. Rabobank now has three riders in the top 10 overall with U23 cyclocross World Champion Mike Teunissen moved into 8th overall.

1. Riccardo Zoidl (Gourmetfein-Simplon)
2. Nick van der Lijke (Rabobank Development) +42
3. Jasha Sütterlin (Thüringer Energie) +48
4. Dylan van Baarle (Rabobank Development) +1'07
5. Bryan Nauleau (Vendée U) +1'17
6. Vegard Breen (Joker Merida) +1'19
7. Luis Mas Bonet (Burgos BH) +1'21
8. Mike Teunissen (Rabobank Development) +1'29
9. Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-iHNed) +1'31
10. Jeroen Lepla (Ventilair-Steria) +1'32

With a hard road race on tap for the final stage on Wednesday including parts of the Tro Bro Léon course, Zoidl looks to be in charge but anything can happen...

P.S. I know it might sound like a total lie but as I was driving to work this morning, I thought these three would be on the podium.

Dupont triumphs again in Bretagne

Timothy Dupont (Ventilair-Steria) continued his outstanding season with his 2nd stage win of the Tour de Bretagne as he outsprinted Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-iHNed) and Nick van der Lijke (Rabobank Development) in a bunch sprint into Le Quillio, situated in the heart of Brittany. It was Dupont's ninth win of the year and his 8th podium place in his last two UCI stage races (Tour du Loir-et-Cher and here).

The racing was intense from the start as a group of 17, including overall leader Riccardo Zoidl (Gourmetfein-Simplon) and 2nd place Nick van der Lijke, who were only separated by 6 seconds at the start of the day. This dangerous group was eventually brought back but not after van der Lijke was able to take one bonus second.

After this group was brought back, the main breakaway of the day consisted of former junior World Champion Olivier Le Gac (BIC 2000) and Tim Van Speybroeck (Ventilair-Steria) and the duo was given a pretty big lead at nearly 5 minutes at its biggest. Today's stage went over the Mur de Bretagne multiple times, a hill that featured in the 4th stage of the 2011 Tour de France, where Cadel Evans won in a select sprint over other favorites.

As the duo of Le Gac and Van Speybroeck summited the climb multiple times, the gap began to drop and the speed of the peloton picked up. Le Gac attacked solo when the gap got down to 30 seconds but his attempts were for naught as Ventilair-Steria and Rabobank were looking to bring everything back together for the sprint. Late attacks by Sojasun's Fabrice Jeandeboz and Paul Poux were nipped in the bud and at the end, it was Dupont that put his arms aloft in victory.

With his 3rd place, van der Lijke moved to just 1 second behind Riccardo Zoidl's yellow jersey. Don't expect a miracle by van der Lijke though. Zoidl was 14th in the World TT Championships last year in Valkenburg and along with another hilly stage to round out the race on Wednesday, it will be next to impossible for van der Lijke to usurp the Austrian Zoidl.

Dupont, the reigning Belgian elite w/o contract champion, has been on fire this season and especially since the end of March. Since his win at Wevelgem on March 23, only twice has Dupont finished outside the top 10 in any race, including stages. In the two UCI stage races he has done this year, Tour du Loir-et-Cher and now the Tour de Bretagne, Dupont's lowest placing is 7th. Dupont won the points jersey at Loir-et-Cher and looks on track to do the same here at Bretagne with two stage wins, a 3rd, 5th and 7th. As of now, it would be a travesty if Dupont doesn't get a pro contract next season.

Sunday Roundup

GP Industrie del Marmo

Luca Benedetti (Begnoni) won the UCI 1.2 GP Industrie del Marmo in a mass sprint over last year's winner Thomas Fiumana (Petroli-Firenze) and Caleb Ewan (Australia). Benedetti has been on fire this season, winning 6 races, and as he is turning 25 in June, this is a crucial year for him to try and gain a pro contract.

Taking place on the Liguarian coast in Carrara, the GP Marmo featured a mix of climbing and flats that made the race difficult but didn't allow for a group to get away. Benedetti overcame Fiumana in the final sprint and Ewan continued his strong season with another podium place in his first U23 season.

Photo from finish via ciclismoweb.it

Tour de Bretagne Stage 4

Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-iHNed) took advantage of the uphill finish and out sprinted Maxime Renault (Selection Bretagne) out of the last corner to take the win on stage 4 of the Tour de Bretagne in Fougères. Alaphilippe had been close before this season but was finally able to get his first win of the season with his Etixx-iHNed squad and his first UCI win since his stage win at last year's Coupe des Nations Ville de Saguenay.

The stage featured a breakaway of four including Dylan van Baarle (Rabobank Development), Sam Spokes (Etixx-iHNed), Jan Sokol (Gourmetfein-Simplon) and Nicolas Rousseau (Sud Gascone). The quartet of riders got a decent sized gap but were brought back as the race hit the finishing circuits. As the favorites starred at each other, Alaphilippe and Renault surprised everyone and attacked. Hitting the final corner first, cyclo-cross specialist Alaphilippe sprinted and posted up for the win. Riccardo Zoidl still holds the overall lead by 6 seconds over Nick van der Lijke.

In other races...

• Convicted doper Tino Zaballa (Christina Watches) won the Destination Thy 1.2 race after outsprinting his three breakaway mates. U25 rider Roy Eefting won the group sprint for 5th while Christian Bertilsson (People4You-Unaas) was the top U23 in 12th.
• Brian van Goethem (Metec CT) won the Zuid Oost Drenthe Classic II out of a break of four. Very impressive season so far for the Zeeland native. Coen Vermeltfoort (De Rijke Shanks) won the chasing group sprint for 5th while Antoine Demoitie (Wallonie Bruxelles) beat out Wouter Wippert for the peloton group sprint for 20th.

Nechita (r) and Penasa (l) celebrating the win (Photo: Ciclismoweb.it)

• Zalf-Euromobil dominated one of their home races at the 58th MO Frare De Nardi where they went 1-2 and put 5 riders in the top 10. Romanian Andrei Nechita took the win with his teammate and breakaway companion Pierre Paolo Penasa right behind him in 2nd. Simone Andreetta and Andrea Zordan came 4th and 5th in the sprint for 3rd, which was won by Matteo Colledol (Marchiol). A perfect way to make up for Federico Zurlo's antics yesterday.
• Hincapie Develpoment rider Robin Carpenter won the hilly RR stage at the Joe Martin stage race on Saturday and finished the race 14th overall on Sunday behind Optum-KBS rider Chad Haga. The former Chipotle Development rider won the young riders jersey for his efforts while his team won the team classification
• In a rainy and cold race, Miguel Angel Benito (Caja Rural Amateurs) won the penultimate Copa de España race, the Memorial Rodriguez Inguanzo, after spending 90 kilometers in a breakaway with four others. A thorough write-up of the race is available on Biciciclismo. Airan Fernandez (Coluer) took the Copa de España lead back from French Basque Loïc Chetout (Naturgas Energia) but his lead is quite slim with only one event left, the Premio Santa Cruz de Lezgapi in the Basque Country on Wednesday.