U23 Nations Cup: Enger takes Coupe des Nations Ville de Saguenay

I hope that I don't sound overly negative when it comes to checking the hype of U23 riders because that isn't what I am trying to accomplish. Sondre Enger is a fantastic bike rider and he showed again that he is a talent for the future with his overall victory at the Coupe des Nations Ville de Saguenay this weekend. Just don't sound like a complete homer and exclaim that, "Sondre Enger is the next Peter Sagan", like some (Norwegian) bloke did on Twitter after his 3rd place overall at the Glava Tour of Norway. All that accomplishes is making you sound like a complete dolt.

The intro gave away one of this weekend's big results but the race itself did not turn out like it should have on paper. The Coupe des Nations Ville de Saguenay parcours for this year, while challenging, should have been manageable even with small teams and with a reduced race schedule this year, bunch sprints could have ruled the day. This was not the case.

Friday's first stage saw the race blow wide open thanks to a large breakaway and a peloton that was happy with the makeup of said break and let the gap balloon. A break of twelve snuck away early on the stage but soon after it was a chasing group of eight, including Norwegians Enger and Sven Erik Bystrøm who would eventually bridge up to the break. Three riders in Alexis Gougeard (France), Diego Ochoa (Colombia) and Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev (Kazakhstan) broke away with two laps to go and got a healthy gap ahead of Nathan Brown (USA) and a dwindling chase group. As the chase group broke up over the final climb, Bystrøm sacrificed himself for Enger and put in a monster effort to bring back Brown and close the gap to the leading trio. It was just a little too late...

Alexis Gougeard taking the win (Photo: Etienne Garnier / VeloFotoPro)

In the final straighaway, Gougeard launched his sprint and was able to hold off Ochoa and Kozhatayev while Enger was only able to make it up to the wheel of the Kazakh for 4th place. In the end, it was 11 riders who were close enough to fight for the overall GC. Gougeard, a noted time trialist, took his 3rd win of the season and has shown himself well in the Nations Cup events this year, after a long solo breakaway at the Ronde van Vlaanderen and 10th at the ZLM Tour.

Stage 1 La Baie to La Baie (151km)

1. Alexis Gougeard (France)
2. Diego Ochoa (Colombia)
3. Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev (Kazakhstan)
4. Sondre Enger (Norway)
5. Romain Guillemois (France)
6. Nathan Brown (United States)
7. Maxat Ayazbayev (Kazakhstan)
8. Alberto Bettiol (Italy)
9. Antoine Duchesne (Canada)
10. Ever Rivera (Colombia) +5"
11. Sven Erik Bystrøm (Norway) +14"

After the craziness that was Saturday's stage, there were many who missed out that were trying to get stage glory. As stated before, bonus seconds are important in this race and naturally, the first sprint was hotly contested as Enger won over Bettiol and Yean Rodriguez (Colombia). A breakaway including Nurbolat Kulimbetov (Kazakhstan), Gavin Mannion (USA), Florent Mottet (ColorCode-Biowanze) and Alexander Krieger (Germany) were away for the middle part of the stage but with the Italians and Norwegians craving a stage win and bonus seconds, the gap dropped quickly and it was all set up for a bunch sprint.

Coming into the finale, it was Norway who took control and Daniel Hoelgaard was putting in a devistating leadout for Enger but when Hoelgaard pulled off at 200 meters to go, Enger couldn't accelerate hard enough past him and this allowed Italian speedster Niccolò Bonifazio to pip the two Scandinavians on the line for a dramatic win. 

Bonifazio makes on of the most unattractive winning faces ever
(Photo: Etienne Garnier / VeloFotoPro)

Thanks to taking a large chunk of time bonuses, Enger only found himself 3 seconds behind Alexis Gougeard on the overall standings. It would be a showdown Sunday for the overall and the dramatics were high until the final kilometer.

Gougeard, not known for his sprinting, was trying to play tactician and to combat Enger, he sent his French teammate Christophe Laporte up the road to soak up the first time bonus. While Laporte took the 5 seconds, it was Bettiol and Enger fighting it out for the minor places with each respectively getting 3 and 1 seconds. The gap was now only two seconds. To Gougeard's relief, a break of seven got up the road and looked dangerous enough to stay away until the end.

The group of seven included Italian speedster Andrea Zordan, Kazakhs Kulimbetov and Zhandos Bizhigitov, Lennard Hofstede (Netherlands), Simon Pavlin (Slovenia) Loïc Pestiaux (ColorCode-Biowanze) and Basque Carlos Barbero. The group worked well together and while the finishing circuits were flat, they kept a healthy gap going into the pointy end of the race. It was the USA (for some reason) that was leading the charge up to bring back the breakaway. As the breakaway began to crumble, it was Kulimbetov who set out alone and was heading for a solo victory until the final descent back into Chicoutimi, when the pack picked him up with less the 500 meters to go.

Once again, it was Enger who was out front early but this time it was another Italian, Federico Zurlo, who took advantage of his slipstream and shot past to take the victory ahead of the Norwegian and Italian teammate Bettiol. You might remember Zurlo from earlier this year when he got into a fight in the final kilometers with a Trevigiani rider in an Italian amateur race and was disqualified after winning the sprint. It seems for now that he has his attitude in check and took an impressive victory. Enger wasn't mad about getting 2nd place either as that was all he needed to shoot past Gougeard on the overall and take the yellow jersey.

Stage 3 Chicoutimi - Chicoutimi

1. Federico Zurlo (Italy)
2. Sondre Enger (Norway)
3. Alberto Bettiol (Italy)
4. Carlos Barbero (Spain)
5. Aljaz Hocevar (Slovenia)

Overall

1. Enger
2. Alexis Gougeard (France) +3"
3. Diego Ochoa (Colombia) +7"
4. Bettiol +8"
5. Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev (Kazakhstan) +11"

• Young Rider (1994): Zurlo
• Climber: Ever Rivera (Colombia)
• Points: Enger
• Team: Norway

Full Results

Sondre Enger is on a great year so far but, and no offense to the competition here, what would he do against a better U23 field like the one at Thüringen? He showed himself against the pros and he is obviously capable in the U23s but I still am left wanting more because I am not convinced he is the real deal just yet. L'Avenir and Worlds will be a testing ground.

Diego Ochoa has been impressive this year. You might have not heard about him much but go look at his results. 3rd overall here with 2nd on stage one. 6th in the Tour de Gironde with three top 10 stage results. He also had two top 10 stage placings in the Ronde de l'Isard. He is only 20 years old, as of last week, and has a pedigree as a sprinter who can climb.

Other impressive ride was from Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev. Kozhatayev has been incredibly consistent this year: KOM at Triptyque Monts et Chateaux, 12th in RvV U23, 14th ZLM Tour, 3rd in the Tour de Azerbaijan and now 5th overall here. If he gets a chance to ride either Valle d'Aosta or l'Avenir, watch out.

I think that Saguenay gets a fairly raw deal when it comes to its Nations Cup race. Because it is across the Atlantic and seems to always run concurrent with Thüringen Rundfahrt, it gets a watered down field that is only here for one race before heading back to Europe, South America, etc. Why not extend the trip? It is time for an American U23 Nations Cup race and it would be perfect to have the foreign riders stay here for a bit longer so they have time to get over get lag, get acclimated and then set out racing.  It seemed like big names such as Davide Villella and Ignazio Moser struggled because of the short trip and not having enough time to find their legs. You only have so many Nations Cup races and the fields shouldn't be watered down because of bad scheduling or the UCI not giving these races enough importance. If anything, the UCI should be funding these races more, bumping them up to 4 or 5 days and trying to get these races out to the greater mass audience.

For lots and lots of pictures of the Coupe des Nations Ville de Saguenay, head over to VeloFotoPro. Really, they have so many great pictures and need to get the attention that they deserve.

Weekend Preview: Thüringen & Coupe des Nations

Pretty big weekend on the U23 this week with the Internationale Thüringen Rundfahrt and the Coupe des Nations Ville de Saguenay. While I'm on the fence about whether they should be run together seen as there are more racing being run at the same time such as the Ronde de l'Oise, Tour of Slovakia and others but I won't get started on that because it will just lead to incoherent babble.

Internationale Thüringen Rundfahrt U23 (Thüringen, Germany) Startlist Maps

It doesn't take a genius to find out where we are...Thüringen, natürlich. Centered near the middle (sort of) of the country, Thüringen (Thuringia in English) was apart of East Germany during the Soviet occupation. In a very CliffNotes version of the area, it is one of the sporting hearts of the country and in terms of cycling, it has been a powerhouse for producing talent. The biggest two names to mention are Marcel Kittel and John Degenkolb, both of whom came from the Thüringen Energie development team and are Thüringen natives. Others include Patrick Gretsch, Sebastian Lang, Hanka Kupfernagel and Olaf Ludwig, among others.

The Thüringen Rundfahrt is one of the showcases of the U23 season and it has one of the most exciting lineups of the year. To start, this race is proper with seven stages and a prologue, which makes it one of, if not the, longest U23 stage race. Just look at the results from the last few seasons and you will understand why this race is so important to watch.

• 2012 saw Rohan Dennis (now Garmin-Sharp) take the overall over Johan Le Bon (FDJ) and Marc Goos (Blanco) while Nikias Arndt (Argos-Shimano) and Danny van Poppel (Vacansoleil) won stages.
• 2011 saw Wilco Kelderman (Blanco) take two stages and the overall win while Tobias Ludvigsson, Nikias Arndt (Argos-Shimano) Luke Rowe (SKY) and Jay McCarthy (Saxo-Tinkoff) won stages.
• 2010 saw John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) win the overall with Barry Markus (Vacansoleil) winning a stage.

That is just three years. Going through the top 10 overall and the podiums from all the stages (excluding TTTs) in just those three years, you would find 17 current World Tour riders. Keep going back and look at some of the winners of this race: Stefan Denifl, Patrick Gretsch, Mathias Frank, Tony Martin, Kai Reus, Thomas Dekker, Joost Posthuma and Pieter Weening. That is a list of phenomenal talent and that is just overall winners. Go back even further and you will see some of the best East German talent in Bert Dietz, Uwe Ampler, Olaf Ludwig and Uwe Raab. Want to look at stage winners? Okay...how does Edvald Boasson Hagen, Danny Pate, Sergey Lagutin, Andre Greipel, Mark Cavendish, Jack Bobridge and Marcel Kittel. I'll go as far as to say that this race alone is 2nd to the Tour de l'Avenir in churning out big time talent and it isn't far off being the top race.

The startlist for this race doesn't let down either. There hasn't been a race yet this year that has had a deeper lineup. Let's review...

• Australia, i.e. Jayco-AIS, is bringing a hell of a lineup. Damien Howson and Caleb Ewan headline for the antipodean squad while the rest of the team consists of guys such as Adam Phelan and Olympia's Tour TT winner Campbell Flakemore. Howson will be shooting for the GC while Ewan will be trying to get some sprints but no one will make it easy.

• Dylan van Baarle is the man to beat for this Thüringen Rundfahrt, especially after his crushing National U23 TT victory this week. Coming in with his Rabobank Development team, van Baarle will have a strong team with riders such as BMC recruit Rick Zabel, strongman Nick van der Lijke and legbreakers in Ruben Zepuntke and Mike Teunissen. This team is pure power and could dominate this race.

• Jasha Sütterlin highlights the hometown Thüringer Energie squad and will be targeting the TT and the overall. Sütterlin is the heir-apparent to Der Panzerwagen himself, Tony Martin. While the squad might seem one dimensional, they bring strong riders in rouleur Alex Frame and climber Nikodemus Holler.

• What is probably the only team to rival Australia and Rabobank Development is the Danish National Team. National U23 TT & RR winner Lasse Norman Hansen is here and will be a favorite for some stages but for the overall, I'm looking at Michael Valgren and Rasmus Sterobo with Kristian Haugaard looking good as well. They will have to have the road define a true GC leader but they will be strong.

• Etixx-iHNed has been red hot as of late and two of their strongest riders in Julian Alaphilippe and Patrick Konrad come here on great form. This duo were two of the strongest climbers at the U23 Peace Race and Thüringen isn't the flattest place in the world. Florian Senechal is craving a win and he could definitely win a selective sprint.

There are definitely more guys to watch...

• Frederik Ludvigsson will be looking for the overall after going 2nd in the Tour of Estonia. His TT will make a huge impression while his climbing could prove decisive.
• Espoirs Central favorite Silvio Herklotz brings a deceptively strong Stölting squad. Herklotz destroyed the German U23 RR and the hillier stages could be where he shines. His TT has not been red hot so the GC might be out of reach against stronger TTers.
• Willi Willwohl is just 18 but his sprint is devistating. He will be looking to clash with Caleb Ewan, Magnus Cort Nielsen and others.
• Simon Yates (Great Britain) has been all over the results pages this year and his sprint should get him on the podium again this year. Owain Doull will be right there with him.
• Michael Vink is coming of a win the the Memorial Van Coningsloo and will be looking for more success. He was 4th in the Olympia's Tour TT so he is a darkhorse for the 28.4km test. 
• Daniel Paulus was not on my radar this year until his last two stage races at Giro del Friuli and the U23 Peace Race. 13th and 4th overall respectively makes him a dark horse for a top 10 overall but his TT is unproven.
• TJ Eisenhart is a steady pick for an unproven USA National Team but he will have to step up to get up into the top 10. He certainly has the pedigree from the juniors but he seems to need more experience.

This is a deep lineup and I am oh so excited to see how this turns out. Thüringen's course is deceptively tough due to the up and down nature of the race and stages that might look bunch sprint friendly could easily split up. Make sure you look at the course profiles here, thanks to @MarkelGL on twitter.

My pick for the win: Dylan van Baarle. I cannot look past the Dutchman and I think this is his race to lose. The only thing I can think of that will stop him is fatigue. He has raced a lot this year and it could catch up with him.

Dark horse: Julian Alaphilippe. I got a feeling.

Coupe des Nations Ville de Saguenay - Startlist - Course Maps

Going up against the Thüringen Rundfahrt, the Coupe des Nations Ville de Saguenay Nations Cup suffers from competition and this year, it is only down to a paltry three stages, which is a shame for a Nations Cup race. One of only two stage races on the Nations Cup circuit, the race reduced from four stages to three on the reasoning that the race would save 500,000 Canadian dollars. Three stages is better than zero and with the race entering its 6th year, it is important for the race to keep continuing.

Out of the 5 winners of the race so far, all 5 have ridden in the World Tour. I say have because Thomas Vedel Kvist retired early in favor of medical school after not cutting it with Quick Step. This race has talent go through it but it is also special because it seems to be where diamonds in the rough are found. 

• Can you name one of the first big races where Daniel Teklehaimanot showed himself? It was here in 2009 that he was 10th in the TT with the UCI Mixed Team. Slovenian Marko Kump (now Saxo-Tinkoff) won a stage here in 2009 when he was one of the best U23 riders in the world. 
• At just 18, Sebastian Lander (BMC) won the first stage while Arnaud Demare (FDJ) won the final stage of the 2010 race. Luka Mezgec (Argos-Shimano) won that 2010 edition, which was his first big international victory. 
• 2011 saw Lasse Norman Hansen win his first U23 RR in a breakaway. At just 20, Warren Barguil (Argos-Shimano) was 4th overall while Chris Juul-Jensen (Saxo-Tinkoff) took an impressive overall win
• Julian Alaphilippe was still primarily a 'cross racer through 2012 but his first big international win in the U23 ranks came in last year's edition as he blasted the uphill sprint in La Bale.

As was stated previously, the startlist for this year's race is a bit depleted because of competing races. Despite this, there is a whole host of racers to watch.

• Mark Dzamastagic leads a short handed Slovenian team but the winner of the recent GP Industria e Commercio is on good form and with time bonuses playing a major factor in this race, he is a danger man for the overall.
• France brings two big names here to look for success. Christophe Laporte will be looking for the straight sprints while former junior World Champion Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier could be an outsider for the overall thanks to stage 2's uphill finish and the focus on bonus sprints in this race.
• United States brings what is the 2nd strongest team in the race. Depending on who is in form, they have a bevy of options for the sprints but Ty Magner should be the guy for the flatter sprints while Gavin Mannion should be the man if stage 2 comes down to a sprint on the uphill finish. Lawson Craddock is here as well and could see himself in the breakaway to get bonus seconds to snag a high overall finish.
• Italy has the strongest team. I saw their lineup and drool might have came out of my mouth. They have a man for every situation. Davide Villella is ultra-consistent and will like the uphill finish on stage 2. Niccoló Bonifazio is blazing quick and will love stage 3's downhill/flat finish. Wait...I'm forgetting Andrea Zordan, the darling Italian sprinter of this year, who could win possibly any of these stages! And then we still have the powerhouses of Ignazio Moser and Alberto Bettiol and another fast man in Federico Zurlo, who could serve as a leadout to his trade teammate Zordan. I am very excited to see how this team works together because they could win every stage. Seriously.
• The Norwegian "OMG HE IS THE NEXT PETER SAGAN!!!1!11!!!!" Sondre Holst Enger will be here and this terrain will suit him. We shall see how is form is after nearly a month layoff from the Tour of Norway
• From the Spanish corner, Carlos Barbero will be flying the Euskadi flag and the uphill finish will suit him as his sprint isn't as quick as others like Bonifazio.

The course in Saguenay, Quebec is flat to rolling but with small teams, sprints are not assured.

-Stage 1 starts out with a small climb but the finishing circuits are flat with a small climb up to the finish every lap. Course Map can be seen here

-Stage 2 is the queen stage with a seven-lap circuit race around Jonquière with a 20km loop that is very rolling. The final three kilometers has a slight incline, which could dull some legs after the first 140 kilometers. This is where the race will probably be won and lost. Course Map.

-The race wraps up with a rather flat race around Chicoutimi that has one climb but it flattens off for a flat sprint, which will help the Lamborghinis among the group. Course Map for Stage 3.

Pick for the win: Davide Villella. Finally.

Keep tuned to my twitter feed @Vlaanderen90 for results and other news before a weekend wrap-up post on Sunday/Monday. 

It isn't always greener on the Other Side

Every day, I always have some moments where I sit down and just scan race results. Big European race? Of course. Asia? You betcha. Tour of Tristan da Cunha? Okay, maybe not but if I have a nervous tick, it is looking at results. I could be bored out of my mind or incredibly busy with work that should have my attention but doesn't; I just go back to scrolling through bike results.

Scanning mindlessly through Monday's Criterium du Dauphine results on my lunch break, my attention is caught by two names, Timofey Kritskiy (Katusha) and Romain Sicard (Euskaltel). If you are new to the sport, these names mean next to nothing and if you saw their results (148th and 149th) on the day, you wouldn't bat an eye. If you have followed young riders as much as I have, these names should mean something to you and Monday's results speak to how difficult and cruel cycling can be. To understand, we need to go back to the last time that these two finished together, the 6th stage of the 2009 Tour de l'Avenir.

Better days. (Photo: LeTour.fr)

On a sweltering day in the Vosges mountains, Russian wünderkind Timofey Kritskiy and Romain Sicard had broken away from the lead group that included the like of Tejay van Garderen, Darwin Atapuma and Rafel Valls among others and were on their way to the summit finish in Gérardmer. The French Basque Romain Sicard was leading the race courtesy of a breakaway (thanks to a French A and B squad) on stage 1 and had a stranglehold on the leader's jersey and he was not thinking about any gifts. The bigger, more powerful Kritskiy was staying with him over every pedal turn. Time was being put into van Garderen and co. but Sicard wasn't gifting this win, he wanted that precious stage win while resplendent in the leader's jersey. Kritskiy overhauled the Basque rider in the finishing straight and put his hand in the air in triumph. It would be be nearly two years to the day until he could experience that thrill again.

2009 Tour de l'Avenir Stage 6 Château-Salins to Gérardmer

1. Timofey Kritskiy
2. Romain Sicard
3. Tejay van Garderen +22
4. Darwin Atapuma s.t.
5. Rafael Valls +28
6. Daniel Teklehaimanot +36
7. Peter Stetina s.t.
8. Michel Kreder +42
9. Sergej Fuchs +46
10. Sergio Henao +49

There paths would diverge abruptly two days later. On the fast descent back into the village of Ornans in the stage 8 time trial, Timofey Kritskiy's projected career was over. Kritskiy was pushing Romain Sicard to his limit and after hearing how close he was to the French-Basque, Kritskiy hit the afterburners going into the final descent. At 80 kilometers/hour, disaster happened. On the 2nd hairpin turn, Kritskiy washed out and crashed hard, shattering his tibia and leaving the Russian on the hot tarmac. A picture from the scene can be seen here but Russian TV did a re-enactment of the ordeal and dressed up his leg for audiences...

The blood is strawberry jam, if I remember correctly

Kritskiy wouldn't walk until after the new year. Sicard won the stage 8 TT and went on to secure the overall title in dramatic fashion by just one second over Tejay van Garderen after a two minute penalty for an illegal bike swap. Sicard would reach another unprecedented height by winning the U23 World RR Championship in Mendrisio two weeks later after flying by a fading Egor Silin and Peter Kennaugh on the final climb. (Carlos Betancur eventually finished 2nd.) Sicard, thanks to his Basque roots, signed with home team Euskaltel-Euskadi while Kritskiy signed a contract with Katusha while unbeknownst the the western media he was still wheelchair bound.

2010 was a year of promise and despair.

Sicard, a hot and cold rider as a U23, showed the signs he showed in the Tour de l'Avenir in some races and went 10th in the Bayern Rundfahrt, 11th in the Dauphine (including 2nd on stage 5) and 20th in the Vuelta a Burgos.

Kritskiy didn't start riding his bike again until spring, something doctors initially thought was out of reach, and rode a grand total of...wait for it...4 races. Four. A rider that was the top of his class as a U23 just a year before rode four semi-classics in his first pro year. The long road is filled with twists.

2011 was a year of promise and despair. 

Romain Sicard showed the cold side of his talent and his 2011 was filled with bad luck and injury, finishing a grant total of two races and pulled out of five more, mainly due to muscle tendonitis which lead to a muscle imbalance. His season was an unmitigated disaster. Not helping matters, Sicard was arrested for drink-driving in November of that year.

Kritskiy started the year with a monkey still on his back. The initial tibia surgery in 2009 had seen him get a 42 cm rod in his leg and after his races in 2010, he got the rod removed. Complications arose and a false joint was created, which meant more surgery and another false start. His season was on ice until the Russian Championships in June with the Itera-Katusha feeder squad, where he finished two minutes back of Mikhail Ignatiev. Kritskiy was experiencing a renaissance, albeit one with a few ups and downs. 5th in the Czech Tour, two top 10s in the Volta ao Portugal followed by two stage wins in the Tour of Bulgaria. To top it off? A world's appearance in Copenhagen in the Elite Men's World Championship RR. He was on his way back...almost.

2012 was a year of promise and despair.

Sicard put together his 2nd whole season as an elite racer and while his results were nothing outrageous, he put together a season that only had one DNF. Sicard finished races such as Paris-Nice (39th overall), Liege-Bastogne-Liege (96th), Tour de Pologne (39th) but his season was highlighted by his inaugural Grand Tour appearance in the Vuelta a Espana, which went splendidly. Sicard rode within himself to 44th overall  and had an impressive ride on the 20th stage to Bola del Mundo, where he finished 5th on the catastrophically hard summit finish.

Kritskiy had another frustrating false start. Following some brutal weather at the Volta a Catalunya, Kritskiy pulled out and the leg injury that had plagued him since the Tour de l'Avenir was back again. Kritskiy could barely train and when he was finally able to get back to it, he got a handful of races in Belgium and the Tour of Beijing. Baby steps get frustrating when your natural talent is limited by nagging injuries. Kritskiy gained nearly 15 kilograms since his Tour de l'Avenir stage victory, which had turned him into a strong rouleur and stunted his climbing abilities he showed in the U23 ranks.

What does 2013 bring? Promise and despair.

Kritskiy is finally experiencing his first professional season without injury and having a relatively proper buildup. Halfway through 2013, Kritskiy has 37 racing days, which is nearly double of his first two "pro seasons" combined. He has yet to find his niche in pro cycling. It is so sad to see a rouleur talent like Kritskiy struggle but so heartwarming to see continuing to go after his dream and not give up. His time trial is coming along relatively well and it could be a place where the young Russian shines in the future.

Sicard is struggling through the hype of his 2009 U23 results and seemingly with every bright spot, there is a gloomy set of clouds on the horizon. Case in point being the stage 2 of the Dauphine, where he finished with Kritskiy. Sicard crashed heavily and hit his knee, which handicapped him greatly. Scheduled to make his Tour de France debut this summer, Sicard's participation has now been thrown in doubt.

It would have been hard to recognize these two guys crossing the finish line on Monday if one were to see a picture of them from 2009. From the highest of highs to the lowest of lows, these guys are just two of many who have experienced the rough road between the U23 ranks and the professional scene. Cycling is damn hard and quitting is a choice that could be made literally every day and after the rotten luck that these two have had, they could be applauded for not hanging up on their dreams before they got their fair shot.

Weekend Roundup: Herklotz and Hansen take National Titles; Surprise winners elsewhere

So we are nearing the mid-point of the season and guys are starting to hit their late spring peaks of form, which makes for some pretty damn good racing action. The U23 men will be ramping up their form for the stage racing season of June and July so some guys are taking it a bit easier while others are blowing their wads early. That's enough of an intro, right? I'm running out of tired clichés to describe June and it is literally the first few days of the month. Let's just get to the action...

Herklotz wins German U23 RR Title

In one of the more impressive displays of power this year, Silvio Herklotz (Stölting) broke away from a group of seven on the next to last lap of the German U23 RR. Located in and around the wine vineyards of Heilbronn, the race was located on a demanding hilly circuit that decimated the field. I know it shouldn't given the state of pro cycling in Germany but I am still surprised there is not a pro race in this region because in is constantly up and down around Heilbronn and the Neckar Valley and you could create a brutal circuit. But I digress...

The course was centered around Ilsfeld, a town just outside of Heilbronn, and followed a winding loop that took it through the white wine vineyards of the Neckar and up a climb to the finish. Stölting had a large team and drove the pace from the start of the 17 lap-9.1 kilometer loop race. A group of 7 that included Herklotz, teammate Max Werda and Nicodemus Haller (Thüringer Energie) among others broke away from the field in the later stages and without a proper chase, the gap ballooned out. on the penultimate lap, Herklotz launched an attack on the uphill back into Ilsfeld, which caused Haller and Raphael Freienstein (Heizomat) to react. They only were allowed a sojourn by Herklotz who dropped them quickly and turned on the afterburners on the last lap. With Herklotz zooming up ahead, it was Werda who was able to react against Haller and Freienstein and pass both of them. Herklotz was ecstatic as he crossed the line and was in disbelief and overwhelmed about what he had just done and was just as excited when he saw Werda crossing the line in second. The three other breakaway companions came in at 4:53 while Rick Zabel (Rabobank Develpoment) and Fabio Bruno lead in the chase at 5:22. Full Results.

Herklotz (r) and Werda showing off the Stölting 1-2

This performance could have easily not occurred because the decision for Herklotz to ride only became definite three days before the race. Herklotz was coming off a tough Bayern Rundfahrt and after having experiencing some fatigue and less-than-ideal training, he came here hoping that his legs would turn around. Well, I think that question was answered, no? I have written about Herklotz previously and I am touting him as one of the brightest talent to come out of Germany in a while. Honestly, when was the last time Germany had a legitimate contender in hilly races, bar Fabian Wegmann? Herklotz could be the answer. I'm not one that likes to pile on a bunch of undeserved accolades but the way this guy rides, it is just incredible. This course was also used once in the past before and the podium from that day was Dominik Nerz, John Degenkolb and Julian Kern, all of whom are in the World Tour currently.

I should also note that Mieke Kröger won the women's U23 event on the same course earlier in the day.  She won a five-up sprint over Katherine Hammes to take the title. Kröger was a very talented junior and she is in her first full year with Futurumshop.nl on the women's pro circuit.

Hansen doubles up in Denmark

Photo: @dullemarulle via Twitter

In an impressive display just a week after signing a contract with Garmin-Sharp for next season, Lasse Norman Hansen gave Jonathan Vaughters a boost of confidence in his decision by taking both the Danish U23 TT and RR titles over the course of Friday and Sunday. Hansen (Blue Water Cycling) first took out the TT on Friday by flying around the ~32km course in a 48.5 km/h average and won the event by 20 seconds over Casper Folsach (TreFor) and 22 seconds on Rasmus Sterobo (CULT Energy). A small field contested Sunday's RR with Hansen taking to the lead with Michael Valgren, Alexander Kamp (CULT) and Kristian Haugaard (Leopard-Trek). With only 6 kilometers left, it was Valgren who suffered a flat tire and left Hansen with a solo victory ahead of Kamp and Haugaard. Hansen is the first Dane to do the double in the U23 championships and will look to go for a senior title in 2 weeks time.

Other results include...

-Damien Howson (Jayco-AIS) broke through for his first win of the season at the Trofeo Alcide Degasperi in a small group sprint win over Gianluca Leonardi and Simone Minali (both Zalf)  just ahead of a sprinting peloton. Howson and the Zalf duo were apart of a breakaway of six that dominated the majority of the race and were able to stay away in the dying moments of the race as the chasing peloton were breathing down their necks.

-In one of the closer bunch sprints of the season, it was Alessio Taliani (Futura Team) taking the Coppa della Pace title ahead of Graziono Di Luca (Monturano) by a mere fraction with Pesche Nettarine di Romagna winner Davide Formolo (Petroli Firenze) settling for 3rd in the three-up bunch sprint. Results and Recap via ciclismoweb

-Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-iHNed) took out the GP Südkärnten (Austria) over Matej Mugerli (Adria Mobil) and Leonardo Pinizzotto (Nippo-De Rosa) in an uphill sprint. It was the 2nd win for Alaphilippe this year after his stage win in the Tour de Bretagne.

-Michael Vink (New Zealand) took a breakthrough win in the Memorial Van Coningsloo in a two-up sprint against Etixx-iHNed's Czech Petr Vakoc. Thanks to a late breakaway with just 10 km to go and a disorganized chase behind, the two were able to contest the sprint alone with Vink outfoxing the slower Vakoc. Behind, it was Nicolas Vereecken (AnPost-ChainReaction) taking the chasing group sprint for third ahead of Jérôme Baugnies (ToWin-Josan). Vereecken is the new leader of the Lotto U27 Top Competitie headed into the next round at the Fleché Ardennaise. Vink has had a lot of highs and lows in his career and hasn't been able to find his feet in the Europe for multiple reasons. Having multiple amazing rides at NZ nationals, he joined Trek-Livestrong in 2011 but while living in the US, he couldn't adapt to the altitude and essentially wasted a year. Vink joined the Belgian VL Techniks team in 2012 but still had a troubled year without much in the way of results. This year, Vink is again in Belgium but has spent a large amount of time with the NZ national team and seems to be finding his feet better in the European scene. Here is to hoping for him.

-Frederik Ludvigsson (People4You-Unaas) wrapped up a successful weekend at the Tour of Estonia with a 2nd place overall thanks to a great TT behind Estonian Gert Joeaar (Cofidis). Ludvigsson finished 4 seconds back mainly due to not getting another chance to get any bonus seconds due to the mainly flat terrain.

-On the juniors front, everyone needs to remember the name Mads Pedersen. By far and away, 2013 is the year of Pedersen. He has dominated the juniors scene with incredible performances. Pedersen won the Paris-Roubaix then went on to win the junior Peace Race overall along with two stage victories. This weekend's Trofeo Karlsberg was owned by Pedersen. The Dane won the final three stages in a row, including a time trial, and won the overall by 18 seconds over American Geoffrey Curran.

Stay tuned for a piece about Rick Zabel's move to BMC later this evening. To Be Continued...

The (BIG) Week That Was Roundup: End of May Extravaganza

I've been busy riding and not following cycling too closely for the last week, so we have a lot to catch up on here at Espoirs Central. Lots went on during my little sabbatical so let's get right to it.

Lasse Norman Hansen signs with Garmin-Sharp

You read that right folks...Jonathan Vaughters and Garmin-Sharp have made another huge signing for 2014 by coming to agreement with Danish Olympic Omnium Gold medalist Lasse Norman Hansen. This is the 2nd huge neo-pro signings for next year after the American squad signed Rabobank Development rider Dylan van Baarle penned a contract with the team.

Having struck gold with his pursuit and overall track cycling abilities, Hansen's abilities on the road might have been over looked by many. A prodigious junior talent that was a huge success on the tarmac and boards, Hansen has spent a large amount of his efforts as a U23 focusing on the track. Despite this, Hansen has accrued some nice results on the road. At 19, Hansen was Danish U23 champion over the likes of now Saxo-Tinkoff's Christopher Juul-Jensen and BMC's Sebastian Lander. Last year, Hansen was 4th in the U23 World TT in Valkenburg just a month after his Olympics triumph.

After medalling twice at track world's in Minsk to start off 2013, Hansen turned his focus to the road with his Blue Water Cycling Team. Hansen started off with a breakaway win at the GP Herning and 10 days later, he got into the final breakaway at the Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt and took out the final sprint of four. Hansen then won the Tour de Berlin TT and finished 3rd overall in the flat stage race while his teammate Mathias Møller won the overall. 

Hansen could go many ways as a rider. Obviously, his time trial skills make him a prime candidate for shorter stage races with a TT. He goes well in harder one-day races and has a good sprint as well but he does have weakness in really hilly stages and he isn't the most consistent rider, day after day, in terms of his form. Hansen has put on muscle due to his track riding and if he were to lose this weight, he could see benefits in his climbing skills that could make his stock rise high. In any case, this is another steal by Vaughters and co. in the early stages of the 2014 transfer season.

Jon Larrinaga takes Tour de Gironde for Euskadi

Larrinaga getting the smooches and flowers

For a team that's future was not even secured coming into this season, Miguel Madriaga's Euskadi squad has been on an absolute role of late and this time, it was Jon Larrinaga who took his turn on the podium with an outstanding overall victory in the Tour de Gironde, a 4 stage race that went in and around the department of Gironde where Bordeaux lies. As this is Bordeaux, sprints ruled.

-Stage 1 was taken by Rabobank Development's Maarten van Trijp over Dany Maffeis and Colombian sprinter Diego Ochoa (4-72 Colombia). It was van Trijp's first win in 2013 with the Rabobank Development team and looks to be a great sprinter in the wings.

-Stage 2 saw the big race shakeup with Euskadi taking the race by the scruff. On a day that was rather straightfoward and should have been a massive sprint, it was Jon Larrinaga who attacked the stage and caught the peloton napping on the run in into Audenge. Larrinaga kept a 19 second gap to the line for his 1st professional win while behind it was Sylvain Pandelé (GSC Blagnac) took the field sprint over Olympia's Tour KOM winner Johim Ariesen (Jo Piels) and Alexander Maes (Soenens).

-Stage 3 was the hardest stage of the race with rolling terrain that broke the race up a bit. Former Belgian junior TT champion Matthias Allegaert used his TT skills to his advantage and took a solo win over a charging Nick van der Lijke (Rabobank Development), Geert van der Weijst (Jo Piels) and Diego Ochoa (4-72 Colombia). Race leader Jon Larrinaga stayed in the main peloton and kept his lead by 9 seconds over Allegaert.

-Stage 4...well I told you this was Bordeaux so what do you think happened? Sprint. Duh. This time is was van der Weijst taking the honors for Jo Piels over Maes and Alexandre Billon (Aubervilles 93).

On the overall, it was Larrinaga who kept his overall lead over Allegaert with a trio of Rabobank Development riders in van der Lijke, Rick Zabel and van Trijp.

• 1. Jon Larrinaga (Euskadi)
• 2. Matthias Allegaert (Soenens)
• 3. Nick van der Lijke (Rabobank Devo)
• 4. Rick Zabel (Rabobank Devo)
• 5. Maarten van Trijp (Rabobank Devo)
• 6. Diego Ochoa (4-72 Colombia)
• 7. Adil Barbari (UCI Mixed)
• 8. Dany Maffeis (Armee de Terre)
• 9. Jérémy Fabio (Martigues) 
• 10. Alliaume Leblond (Aubervillers 93)
• KOM: Camille Thominet (Aubervillers 93)
• Points: Geert van der Weijst (Jo Piels)

Skujins continues Latvian tradition with U23 Peace Race victory

Okay, maybe that headline was a little perfunctory but Toms Skujins is here to stay and as one of Espoirs Central's favorite riders, Skujins put in an outstanding performance in the Course de la Paix U23 (U23 Peace Race) to take an oustanding overall win.

The first day featured a split stage that included...

-A brutal uphill prologue with an average of over 8% in the town of Jesenik...Rasmus Sterobo (CULT Energy/Denmark) blitzed the 2.1 kilometer uphill prologue and took the win by over 8 seconds against fellow Dane Kristian Haugaard (Leopard-Trek) and Austrian Patrick Konrad (Etixx-iHNed). 

-The afternoon stage featured a pretty flat stage from Jesenik to Bruntal that didn't feature many difficulties. It was a mass-sprint that ruled the day with Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Tre-For) sprinting to the win over Daan Meijers (Jo Piels) and Lasse Norman Hansen (Denmark). 

-Toms Skujins has been one of the brightest U23s that no one has really heard of. Perhaps it is because he is Latvian but for some reason, Skujins has been pretty consistent with the Latvian national team, La Pomme Marseille and now Rietumu-Delfin, a Latvian continental team. Go back through his results and you will see some impressive rides from the man from Carnikava including a 2nd in the U23 Ronde van Vlaanderen (2011), 6th in Paris-Tours Espoirs (2010) and 10th overall in this year's Glava Tour of Norway. Skujins is riding for a contract next year and his impressive ride on stage 3 of the Peace Race really put an exclamation on his resume. It was on the first mountain pass that the peloton split into two but it wasn't until 20 kilometers to go until the race really broke open. A group of four including Skujins, Jan Hirt (Leopard-Trek/Czech Republic), Luka Pibernik (Radenska/Slovenia) and Daniel Paulus (Gourmetfein-Simplon/Austria) broke away from the front group. In the end, it was Skujins bursting away from Pibernik in the end with Hirt and Paulus trailing shortly behind.

The peloton behind has let the break get too much gap and their GC chances were neutralized. Jan Polanc (Radenska/Slovenia) led the chase home by a 12 second margin over Etixx-iHNed teammate Julian Alaphilippe and Patrick Konrad, thus cementing his status as one of the best climbers of this espoirs season. With this stage being so decisive, the GC was played out nearly all by the stage results.

• 1. Toms Skujins (Latvia) 
• 2. Jan Hirt (Leopard-Trek) 16"
• 3. Luka Pibernik (Radenska) 22"
• 4. Daniel Paulus (Gourmetfein-Simplon) 44"
• 5. Jan Polanc (Radenska) 1'13"
• 6. Rasmus Sterobo (Denmark) 1'17"
• 7. Patrick Konrad (Etixx-iHNed) 1'20"
• 8. Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-iHNEd) 1'22"
• 9. Kristian Haugaard (Leopard-Trek) 1'24"
• 10. Felix Großschartner (Gourmetfein-Simplon) 1'28"

• Points: Luka Pibernik
• Mountains: Patryk Stosz (Poland)
• Team: Radenska

Lots else happened too...

• The An Post Ras has been covered in depth in many other places so I won't go into too much depth but young riders did quite well for themselves here. Conor Dunne (VL Techniks/Ireland) won the 1st stage in a breakaway two-up sprint (he would later crash out with a broken collarbone). 24 year old New Zealander and owner of a supreme mullet Shane Archbold won the 2nd stage. 22 year old Sam Bennett (An Post/Ireland) won stages 3 and 8 in bunch gallops. Kirill Pozdnyakov (Baku Synergy) won the 4th stage in a four-up sprint. Moreno De Pauw (Belgian Track) won the 5th stage in a last gasp breakaway. That makes six out of eight stage winners under 25 and the seven out of the top 10 overall were under 25. This race also signalled the resurgence of Rasmus Guldhammer, the former Danish wunderkind who had a quick ascent to the World Tour with HTC-Columbia before screeching to a halt and heading back to comfortable surroundings in Denmark. With only middling results since then, has Guldhammer's 3rd place overall signalled a return to greener pastures? We shall see. 

• Mark Dzamastagic (Sava) won the GP Industria e Commercio - San Vendemiano last Sunday in breakaway fashion over teammate Tim Mikelj and with Gianluca Milani (Zalf) leading the first chasing group home at 14 seconds; a group that included powers such as Calvin Watson (Australia) and Marlen Zmorka (Palazzago/Ukraine). It might seem unimportant to some but if you look down at the peloton sprint, you will see that Zalf fast man Andrea Zordan took the honors over Trevigiani's Liam Bertazzo and Bradley Linfield (Australia). It has been a great year for Dzamastagic so far with results such as winning the final stage in the Rhône-Alpes Isère Tour and 2nd place in the ZLM Tour Nations Cup.

• Remember when the U23 Paris-Roubaix was cancelled and nearly all of the foreign teams went into a half-shitstorm/half-depression about losing a race such as this. Well did any of them follow up about why that really happened. The main reason (costs were a factor as well) was that the Coupe de France's Boucles de la Marne was scheduled concurrently with the race and U23 P-R would have only had a small amount of French talent show up. Foreign teams put U23 P-R on a pedestal but many French teams base their whole seasons on the Coupe de France because 1) Money and 2) Money and 3) oh yeah...MONEY. These teams have to focus on these races because it gets their sponsors the coverage they want. With the lack of French talent being there, P-R was suddenly less valuable to potential sponsors and was eventually cancelled. As this last weekend was the previously scheduled date for U23 Roubaix, it of course meant that Boucles de la Marne was in order.
  
  -Stage 1 saw two-time Europcar stagiaire Bryan Nauleau (Vendée U) take the honors in a sprint out of a breakaway of eight (which gained 34 seconds by the end) including teammate Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier, former junior World Champion Olivier Le Gac (BIC 2000) and Mathieu Le Lavendier (Chambery CF).
  
  -Stage 2 saw Armée De Terre rider Benoit Sinner (former European U23 RR Champion) take the honors ahead of young gun Pierre Moncorge (Vulco) in a morning split stage bunch gallop ahead of an afternoon TT.
  
  -Stage 3 TT was thoroughly dominated by Lecuisinier as he won the stage by 8 seconds and took a 17 second lead ahead of teammate Nauleau. Lecuisinier, who should stagiaire with Europcar later this fall, is just coming into his talent and it will be scary when he finds his specialty.
  
  -Stage 4 was more of stage 2 as Sinner took another massive sprint for his 6th win of the season and it was Moncorge who lead in the young bucks for 3rd. Lecuisinier wrapped up his first overall victory of the season and looks primed for a big end of season.

• The Tour of Peaches and Nectarines (Giro Ciclistico Pesche Nettarine di Romagna) took place over last weekend in the rugged hills of Romagna near the Adriatic. This race isn't UCI ranked but it is one of the biggest Italian U23 stage races for all of the amateur squads in Italy. Let me name drop so you understand what I am talking about; all of the following riders have been on the podium at this race: Ivan Basso, Evgeni Petrov, Fabian Cancellara, Alexander Kolobnev, Vladimir Gusev, Riccardo Ricco, Damiano Caruso, Adriano Malori and Rafal Majka. Okay, that list might speak to the doping problem the Italian U23 scene has been plagued with.
  
  -Stage 1 saw Zalf's Giacomo Berlato take a two up sprint over Marco Tizza (FGM) with who else but Davide Villella (Colpack) winning the bunch sprint for third. I can't say that Davide Villella can't win this year because he finally got a win a few weeks ago but seriously, this was 10th podium or thereabouts.
  
  -The queen stage came on stage two and it was a trio of riders who put themselves a head above the rest. On the final climb, it was Davide Formolo (Petroli Firenze), Antonio Nibali (Mastromarco) and Davide Villella (Colpack) who were at the head of the affairs. Formolo distanced himself from Nibali (2 seconds) and Villella (4 seconds) to take the stage victory and get into the leaders jersey. Formolo might not be a name that sounds familiar to most but his results have been consistently getting better. He was 8th in the GiroBio and 4th in Valle d'Aosta last year. Does Nibali remind you of anyone? Well Antonio is the brother of Vincenzo. Just an FYI for a few years from now when that fact will be played up.
  
  -Stage 3 was a proper sprint that saw one of the fastest Italians of the year, Niccoló Bonifazio (Viris), take the stage win over Marco Chianese (Palazzago) and former SKY stagiaire Davide Martinelli (Food Italia). Formolo wrapped up his 2nd straight Peaches and Nectarines overall and is primed for some big rides in the summer.
  

That is all I have. I will try to be better about posting more frequently and you can always follow me on twitter (@Vlaanderen90) to get results, live coverage and plenty of snark. To be continued...

From Belgium to Cali: News and Notes from the week that was

There is more to the world than the Olympia's Tour so let's catch up with a few results...

Robin Carpenter (Hincapie Development) took the win at the Puivelde Pro Kermis just outside of Sint-Niklaas on Wednesday as he launched a late attack out of the front group and took the impressive solo win over Maxime Vantomme (Crelan-Euphony) and Michael Vanthourenhout (BKCP-Powerplus). Carpenter's story is quite interesting. Last year, he got a ride with the Chipotle Development squad and had quite a solid season albeit for a bad run-in with a chainring, a crash that saw him just inches from impailing his temple with the sharp teeth. Cut to last fall and Carpenter was without a team after Chipotle folded and closed up shop. 

It took until last November for Carpenter to find a home at Hincapie Development and he has already started to put up results. Did I also tell you that he has done this while going to college full-time at Swarthmore? Pretty impressive.

Glava Tour of Norway

Sondre Holst Enger up on the final podium of Glava Tour of Norway

19-year old Sondre Holst Enger (Plussbank) had an amazing week at the Glava Tour of Norway after having four top-7 stage finishes and ended up finishing 3rd overall. And of course, people are now saying things such as...

The new Peter Sagan resides in Norway and his name is Sondre Holst Enger (19). 2-4 years time from now he will be one to consider.
— Richard Jørgensen (@Pedalingtheroad) May 19, 2013

which is exactly the wrong thing to say. Look, I am not trivializing his results as he absolutely blew expectations out of the water. But this is just one race in his home country. To give some background on Enger, in his final junior season in 2011 he got some results in field sprints and a few harder races and did well in the World Championships with a 10th and 12th place in the TT and RR, respectively. Last year, in his first season as an espoir, he had some good results in field sprints including a 4th place in the 1st stage of the Tour of Norway, a smattering of other Norwegian races and two top-5 places in Loir-et-Cher. All of these are quality results but the best of his year? No.

This year, Enger got off to a slow start. He had problems in the opening races in Croatia and had some sickness and his only notable result of the early season was a 46th in the Ronde van Vlaanderen Nations Cup. He finally got into some form for some Danish (6th in Skive Lobet) and Norwegian (6th in Hadeland GP and 3rd in Ringerike GP) one-day races. Pretty quality stuff for a man of his age but there were guys just as young up there with him. Then we come to the Tour of Norway, where Enger had high results in three sprinting stages (3rd, 7th and 2nd) and on the queen stage where he stayed in the 1st chasing group and snagged 4th place. 

So he obviously talented to finish 3rd overall and he should have an eye kept on him but one race does not a champion make. I'm not trying to be dismissive but when people flip out and say he is "the new Peter Sagan" then they are just putting stupid expectations on him when they should just let the kid keep developing. Don't label him as Norway's saving grace or whatever the hell the fans want because these fans are just going to be disappointed when he doesn't live up to the expectations that fans set for him. There are riders that are simply in a league above at his age (like Sagan or Boasson Hagen) but I don't think he is at that level. I take my hat off to Enger though for showing his strength this week and not being scared of the bigger teams.

P.S. Don't forget about Toms Skujins. In all the talk about Enger, Skujins has had a great few weeks with three top ten finishes in Hadeland, Ringerike and Uppsala and then stayed in the front split in the queen stage of the Tour of Norway and went on to finish 10th overall. This is after being on the tiny Latvian Rietumu-Delfin team. Skujins is quite talented and deserves his chance and shouldn't have his talent squandered. Other young riders that had good races here include Jesper Hansen (CULT Energy), who finished 7th overall, and Frederik Ludvigsson (People4You-Unaas), who was 15th overall and 5 months younger than Enger. 

Ronde de l'Isard (UCI 2.2U)

Juan Ernesto Chamorro and Heiner Parra (yellow & polka dots) led the Colombian Express
Photo: RadioVelo

This is a race that always provides some interesting results but many of which can be skewed by the small field size and perhaps by a lack of depth in the field. Not to say that there isn't a heap of talent but there are so many climbers here that could realistically win a stage.

-Stage 1 saw a two man breakaway with Frenchman Romain Guyot (Vendée U) and Basque Haritz Orbe (Euskadi) that saw the Frenchman take the win with Orbe coming in 2nd and his Basque teammate Carlos Barbero (Euskadi) taking the reduced field sprint 14 seconds back for 3rd over Tom Bohli (BMC Development) and Edward Theuns (VL Techniks). 

-Stage 2 saw the first uphill finish of the race and it was dominated by Euskadi as Barbero and Orbe went 1-2 over a group of favorites including twins Maxime and Mathieu Le Lavandier (Chambery CF),  Dylan Teuns (Ventilair-Steria), Diego Ochoa and Juan Ernesto Chamorro (4-72 Colombia) with other favorites such as Nate Wilson (USA National) coming in a few seconds down.



Arrivée 3è étape (Ronde de l'Isard 2013) by radio-velo

-Stage 3 was the queen stage of the race with a summit finish at Goulier-Neige, deep in the heart of the Pyrennes. The finale did not let down either. KOM leader Heiner Parra, who escaped on stage 2 to take  the polka dot jersey, let out a hellacious attack that didn't see any responses as he was far down on GC. The Colombian romped up the final ascent as his teammate Chamorro let out a big attack with only a couple of kilometers to go and distanced his GC contenders to finish 7 seconds ahead of Maxime Le Lavandier, 9 seconds ahead of Teuns and 13 seconds ahead of Wilson and 4-72 teammate César Paredes.

-Stage 4 saw 4-72 Colombia control the peloton while a lone rider was able to stay out front on the long descent off the Col de la Core. Gert-Jan Devos, a rider for Ovyta-Eijssen, was able to outlast his breakaway mates in a surprise win while behind him, Chamorro comfortably defended his lead and no other riders were able to pose a serious threat.

The final GC looked like this...

1. Juan Ernesto Chamorro (4-72 Colombia)

2. Maxime Le Lavandier (Chambéry CF) +9"

3. Dylan Teuns (Ventilair-Steria) +20"

4. Mathieu Le Lavandier (Chambéry CF) +30"

5. Nate Wilson (USA National) +34"

6. Pierre-Roger Latour (Chambéry CF) +42"

7. Mikel Iturria (Euskadi) +47"

8. César Paredes (4-72 Colombia) +53"

9. Romain Guyot (Vendée U) +1'00"

10. Clément Chevrier (Chambéry CF) +1'45"

Some takeaways from this race are these:

• Juan Chamorro is legit. After his 2nd in Tour de l'Avenir last year by just 1 second to Warren Barguil (now Argos-Shimano), he has been riding consistently this year on a broad range of terrain and he will be looking for that elusive l'Avenir crown. His territory is the mountains but he has proven himself to be solid on flat to rolling terrain as proven by his Tour de Bretagne performance. Granted, he has a bane and that is a flatter time trial but that can always be improved. Just write this guy down because I guarantee you will hear more from him this summer and beyond.
• Nate Wilson is showing himself to be one of the more promising American climbers. This was the first race he was really ever given the captain title and he took to it with aplomb. He was admittedly suffering on the final day and couldn't do anything but follow wheels but the Virginian will be one to watch this summer with Bontrager and the USA National Team. Another American to watch is TJ Eisenhart (USA National/BMC Development), who came in 14th overall and 2nd in the young rider classification. It is only his first year out of the juniors but he finished 7th on the final stage, which shows a lot of promise after a brutal tour.
• Chambéry CF put in a hell of a performance this week with four riders getting into the top 10. They are the development squad for the Ag2r La Mondiale World Tour team (they even ride in identical white/brown kits) and are based in Chambéry, which is in the Rhône-Alpes region in southwest France, deep in the Alps. Team graduates include Romain Bardet, Axel Domont and Ben Gastauer, all of whom now ride for Ag2r. Former pro cyclists including Gilles Delion (Vice President) and Mickael Buffaz (part-time DS) are involved with the club. The twins Maxime and Mathieu La Lavandier are promising climbers but they need to improve their all around abilities if they are going to cut it in the pro ranks. I would say that Clément Chevrier is the most pro-ready of the lot right now as he has had high finishes at races such as Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Piccolo Giro di Lombardia.

Other News includes...

• Hincapie Development continued their string of success in Europe with former Team Type 1 rider Joey Rosskopf breaking away from the first echelon on the first stage of the new Paris-Arras 2-day race and taking the solo win by 19 seconds over a charging peloton. Rosskopf and his Hincapie Development team then controlled Sunday's rainy 2nd stage and shut down the breakaway attempts and delivered Rosskopf to the overall win as Armée De Terre rider Rudy Barbier beat out Daniel McLay (Lotto U23) in the bunch sprint. 

• EUGENIO ALAFACI FINALLY WON A RACE! You heard that right, folks, the Italian who is a constant presence in the top 10 of races finally broke through for his first UCI win ever. After placing 3rd in the GP Criquielion in a mass sprint on Saturday, it was at Sunday's Omloop der Kempen where the Italian struck. After breaking away from the front echelon with four others, Alafaci attacked with Steven Lammertink (Jo Piels) and the Leopard-Trek rider outsprinted him easily to take the win. Bravo Eugenio! 

• Boris Vallée (ColorCode-Biowanze) won the mass-sprint GP Criquielion on Saturday over Topsport Vlaanderen rider Gijs van Hoecke and Espoirs Central's favorite non-U23 continental Italian rider, Eugenio Alafaci (Leopard-Trek).

• Davide Martinelli (Food Italia) won the Italian U23 Time Trial Championship on Saturday in Ponte San Giovanni, Perugia, Umbria. The field perhaps wasn't as deep as it could be but the former SKY stagiaire averaged an impressive 48.5 km/h over the course as he beat Zalf's Andrea Toniatti by 20 seconds.

• Conor Dunne (VL Techniks) won the first stage of the An Post Ras, the most prestigious race in Ireland. The Irishman Dunne broke away with Mike Northey (Node4-Girodana) and outsprinted the New Zealander in the final straight to take an impressive home win.

• Huge shoutout to the Bontrager Cycling team at the Amgen Tour of California, where they showed what U23 rider can do when thrown into a race like that. Jasper Stuyven had a few top 10's in sprint finishes, 'Downtown' Nate Brown and Antoine Duchesne put in some beastly attacks while Lawson Craddock put in quite a performance to finish 8th overall, finishing top 10 on each of the big mountain top finishes. Congrats to them! I just have one thing for ATOC organizers...why not invite more development teams? Why no Hincapie Development? The youth category in this race is a joke when it is dominated by one team because the other young riders are focusing solely on their team leaders. Surprising youth results give the race even more excitement. It seems as logical as having a women's stage race running concurrently with the men...oh wait.

I think that I covered everything here. It was a busy week but it is only going to get busier from here.

Some of the races coming up include: Tour du Gironde (France; 23rd-26th), U23 Peace Race (Czech Republic; 24th-27th); GP Industria e Commercio (Italy; 26th) along with races already happening such as the An Post Ras. Look for a changing of the U23 rankings this week!

Dylan van Baarle signs neo-pro deal with Garmin-Sharp

On the day where Dylan van Baarle wrapped up his Olympia's Tour crown, it was announced that the Dutchman signed a neo-pro deal with the Garmin-Sharp World Tour team for 2014-15 seasons. He will be joining a strong Dutch contingent on the team that includes (as of now) the Kreder brothers Michel and Raymond, Thomas Dekker and Martijn Maaskant. He is also the 2nd Rabobank Development rider this year to sign with a World Tour team after Daan Olivier signed with Argos-Shimano.

Dylan van Baarle (20) will ride for UCI World Tour Team Garmin-Sharp next year. The U23 rider signed a 2-years deal with @vaughters.
— SEG Cycling (@SEGcycling) May 18, 2013

This is another great signing by the Garmin-Sharp team, who over the past few years have snapped up some of the top U23 talent by signing riders in past years such as Cameron Meyer (now GreenEdge), Jack Bobridge (now Blanco), Ramunas Navardauskas and Rohan Dennis. Van Baarle, while untested in any big mountains, has shown himself on hilly courses, pan-flat stages and time trials of all sorts and as of now, is Espoirs Central #1 U23 so far this season.

Van Baarle was a sensation last year with 4 wins, two of which came in TTs, but experienced a hard fall last year and broke his acetabulum, the concave area on the base of the pelvis where the femur head meets the hip. This set back ended his season and I, for one, thought he would be a slow starter this year. I couldn't have been any more wrong.

Van Baarle won two early races in a row, the Ster van Zwolle and Dorpenomloop Rucphen, in commanding fashion as he broke away both times for wins. Then he went on to 3rd overall at the Tour de Normandie even after an unlucky prologue in the rain, 8th overall in Triptyque Monts et Chateaux after a breakaway took time on a stage and then 4th overall at the Tour de Bretagne, where he won the TT and then made the decisive split on the final stage. He also rode in the Ronde van Vlaanderen Nations Cup, where he was active near the front and made the front splits to finish 30th in the lead group.Van Baarle has capped his season to date with his impressive Olympia's Tour win, which you can read about in previous Espoirs Central posts.

After a commanding win on the grueling stage 4 in Limburg in the Olympia's Tour, it only seems fitting that van Baarle would capture a big contract. Through this year so far, he has 5 UCI wins and that number should only continue to rise as the season progresses. Hats off to Jonathan Vaughters and Garmin-Sharp for this smart signing.

If you want to follow Dylan on twitter, go to @dylanvanbaarle