Weekend Roundup: Marcezko trumps Ewan; Chevrier wins San Dimas

So while many were in Normandie and Alentejo this week, there was a lot of racing still happening that most people, unless they are a dork about this stuff like yours truly, didn't know about. We will get started with the big duel of the weekend that turned into a bit of an upset.

Jakub Mareczko beats Caleb Ewan

The title really says it all on this one. For those that have followed the site so far this season have heard already heard of Jakub Mareczko (Viris-Maserati), mainly for his shortcomings against the Italian V12 that is Nicolas Marini (Zalf-Euromobil). At the 31st Trofeo Antonietto Rancilio, Mareczko was set up for a duel with the Australian international wunderkind Caleb Ewan, who was coming with his Australian National Team. While Marini was disappointingly not present, Mareczko and Ewan were set up for a duel and on a more-or-less flat 8 kilometer circuit that was to be done 19 times, the sprint was looking inevitable from the start. While a couple of breakaway attempts tried to go, it was Viris-Maserati, Australian National, Colpack and General Store leading the peloton to keep everything set up for the sprint.

Heading into the finale, the Australians had set up Ewan perfectly and launched the Mini-Pocket Rocket on what looked to be a winning sprint. Ewan looked clear but with 30 meters left in the race, Mareczko popped up on his left and went past for the win. I don't want to sound like getting one 2nd place will be the downfall of Caleb Ewan but it is always a reminder that when fans and the media build up an athlete, such as Ewan, into such an infallible being that when they actually do lose, people lose their damn minds instead of remembering that Ewan is still just a 2nd year U23 and that, as crazy as it might sound, there are really fast sprinters out there. Just because he is being offered World Tour contracts doesn't mean he is going to win every "gimme" race. 

 

I'm sure before the race, Mareczko was planning to be all cool if he beat Ewan. What his salute came off like was "SHITSHITSHITIBEATEWANHOLYSHIT". (Photo: Ciclismoweb.it)

Coming in a close 3rd place was Simone Consonni (Colpack), who is the reigning Italian Track Omnium Champ and has been in fine form this season including a 5th at Popolarrisima two weeks ago. 4th place was 1st year U23 Riccardo Minali (General Store), the son of famed sprinter Nicola Minali and heralded as the next coming of his father, who won stages in all three Grand Tours. The race itself was a very fast one, averaging nearly 45 km/h over 157 kilometers. Now hopefully Mareczko and Ewan will be able to get with Marini and some others for a big time sprint duel later this year.

Iuri Filosi dances away at the Piccolo Sanremo

In a race that is nowhere near Sanremo or the Mediterranean coast for that matter, the Piccolo Sanremo offered up as much excitement as a "small race" can. Located in Sovizzo, which is nearly 300 miles away from Sanremo in the province of Vicenza, the Piccolo Sanremo is dedicated to the big races legacy and follows a course than includes a finishing circuit that has a climb in it and is done 7 times. Every big team was represented by their A-team, in most cases, and fireworks were intimate.

After a flurry of action, a breakaway with Isaia Modena and Mirco Maestri (both General Store) took off early and provided a carrot for the peloton. When the two attackers were gobbled up, a large group rolled off the front of the peloton. This group included Iuri Filosi and Manuel Senni (Colpack), Giacomo Berlato and Alessandro Tonelli (Zalf-Euromobil) and Ilya Koshevoy (GS Podenza), among about 20 others. On the last ascent of the Vigo climb on the final circuit, Filosi was able to drag himself away from the group with Michele Gazzare chasing solo and Senni, Berlato and Koshevoy following in his wake. The masterful climber Filosi was able to time trial away and had time to sit up to celebrate his first, as well as the team's first, win of the season. Gazzara came in 2nd at 6 seconds down while Berlato lead the chasing trio across the line in 3rd, just salvaging the day for Zalf-Euromobil, with Senni in 4th and Koshevoy, whole is scheduled to join Lampre as a stagiaire later this year, in 5th. Filosi is on tap for a huge year on the climbing front so watch out. Also, it is so weird to think that Colpack hasn't won at all this year until now. For a few years, they were right up there with Zalf-Euromobil in the win column but without Villella and company, it is dry times.

Other Races

-Clement Chevrier won his 1st race with Bissell Development by taking the San Dimas Stage Race overall after a solid opening uphill TT and making the breakaway on the next stage, which put him in the leader's jersey. Bissell teammate James Oram won the opening uphill time trial by 1 second over Gregory Brenes (Jamis) and 10 seconds on junior William Barta (BYRDS). Oram's Bissell teammates Tao Geoghegan Hart was 5th and Chevrier was 8th in the TT. On stage 2, a breakaway of 9 went away on the 135 km RR and Chevrier was the best placed in the group. Anton Varabei won the stage with u23 Dan Eaton (Canyon Bicycles-Shimano) in 3rd place. Chevrier took the overall lead on the stage by 3 seconds on Coulton Hartrich. The final stage, a criterium, was won by former USA National Team rider Dan Holloway while Chevrier finished comfortably in the bunch to win the overall over Hartrich while Dan Eaton finished 3rd overall. Chevrier took a big gamble by coming to Bissell and as of now, it is paying off.

-Attention. Attention. Nicolas Marini did not win a race this weekend. The nation is crumbling at the seams. Well maybe not but still, it is notable that Nicolas Marini, who had a winning percentage of 87.5% so far this year, did not win a race that he started in. While Marini didn't win, the 105th edition of La Bolghera did not end in disappointment for Zalf-Euromobil. On an undulating course, 1st year U23 Simone Velasco, who has been heralded as one of the best of his generation, attacked solo on the final 10 circuits of the race and put in a huge effort, that allowed him to have a gap of nearly 1'00"
 by the time he crossed the line. A group of 20 came to the line after him with his Zalf-teammate Albanian Eugert Zhupa leading the charge. Zalf now has 8 victories in a very young season and will be looking to top 60 wins this year. This race signaled the return of the talented Federico Zurlo, who bork ehis collarbone in Trofeo Franco Balestra.

-Arnua Sole won the heralded Spanish one-day, the Subida al Gorla, which is a one-day hill climb that has been won by some of the biggest Spanish names in recent history including Joaquim Rodriguez and Alberto Contador. Marc Soler, a U23 that has been tearing it up on the national front, finished 4th and will be a new name to many when he joins the U23 national team for some races later this year.

-Arvid de Kleijn (Croford) won the U23 Meeus Race, which is a relatively big regional event in Belgian involving everyones favorite elements: wind and cobbles. The race more or less stayed together for a big sprint, which was won by de Kleijn ahead of Christophe Noppe (EFC-OPQS) and Christopher Lawless, a first year U23 with the GB National Team's 100% ME squad.

 

Caldeira takes rainy Volta ao Alentejo finale; Barbero takes overal

Barbero embracing his Basque teammate after a big win

In a rain-soaked finale to a great week of racing, Sammy Caldeira (OFM) won the final stage of the 32nd Volta ao Alentejo ahead of Haavard Blikra (Oster Hus) in the UNESCO World Heritage city of Evora. Without winning a stage, Carlos Barbero (Euskadi) was able to secure the overall classification by 10 seconds over Eduard Prades (OFM) and 17 seconds over Karel Hnik (Etixx).

The race started out really fast with an average of 48 km/h in the first hour of racing and many riders chose to abandon because of the weather and close proximity of Evora. A break of four, that included Portuguese champ Joni Brandão (Efapel), Michael Isidro (Louletano), Alex Darville (USA National) & Carter Jones (Optum), was finally able to roll away after the 1st intermediate sprint and able to get a gap. They were soon joined by Markus Hoelgaard (Etixx), Frederik Galta (Oster Hus), Mateusz Komar (BDC-Marcpol) and finally, Carlos Oyarzun (Efapel), who was able to join the breakaway after the only KOM spot on the map. During this time, Barbero did have a flat tire but was able to get a quick change and get back into the peloton.

A long, shitty day out for Oyarzun

Oyarzun was not done with his aggression because as soon as he joined the breakaway, he attacked the breakaway and went solo off the front. It was a bold move by the Chilean, who previously rode for Movistar, but he plowed onwards on the twisty circuit. In just 25 kilometers from his 2nd attack, Oyarzun had a gap of 2 minutes over the breakaway, which was just minutes from being absorbed by the peloton. Oyarzun continued to ride on solo in fine time trial form but with 20 kilometers to go, he was swallowed up by the peloton. Up until 5 kilometers to go, the peloton was together heading into the sprint finish. The final kilometer included a roundabout and two turns. Once the peloton cleared those obstacles, they went up a slight uphill cobbled road where the finish line was location.

Caldeira leading it out on the ancient streets of Evora

Sammy Caldeira led the sprint out over the uphill portion that he and Blikra broke away from those following from behind and Caldeira was able to take it ahead of the Norwegian, who finished 2 seconds down, as well as Francisco Moreno (Louletano), who led the remnants of the peloton in at 5 seconds. A crash had swept through the peloton in the finale but there were able to get the same time as the winner. Carlos Barbero came across the line 5th, just behind Moreno and American Alex Candelario (Optum), and was able to secure the overall win, which is his 1st win since taking a stage in the Ronde de l'Isard last year. Tanner Putt came in safely with the peloton to secure his 10th place overall as well as the youth jersey, which he won by 10 seconds over Jaime Roson (Ecuador).

Photos: Volta ao Alentejo

Stefan Küng and BMC Devo pull coup; takes Tour de Normandie overall

Today, the Swiss broke their neutrality and launched an attack on Omaha Beach, which saw them take Normandie and give them good position for the coming assault on the Low Countries. Okay, maybe they actually launch an assault on the beach and perhaps they are not occupying northern France. But, BMC Development launched an assault today on the final stage of the Tour de Normandie that shredded the peloton and took leader Lukasz Wisniowski out of contention for the overall win.

Overall WINNER of @tourdenormandie 🙌 on the attack today and i got it back! thanks to the staff and teammates! pic.twitter.com/oktFvMgBt0
— Stefan Kueng (@stefankueng) March 30, 2014

The final stage of the Tour de Normandie started in Torigni-sue-Vire and headed north towards Omaha Beach, where the race would ride the entire length of the beach (roughly 40 kilometers) and then cut inland again towards the annual finish in Caen. This stage is usually just a sprint finish that has no impact on GC but BMC Development had other plans on Sunday. Stefan Küng and Tom Bohli went with a breakaway that took off early in the stage and with company such as Frederik Ludvigsson, Benoit Jarrier, Alex Kirsch, Reidar Borgersen and 12 others, the breakaway got a big gap and when it came time to reel it back it, the gap was not coming down quickly.

Entering the final stages of the race in Caen, the 2nd largest community in Normandie, the gap was still at a healthy 1'30". Etixx was feeling the pressure in the peloton and even Lukasz Wisniowski, the leader of the race, was taking massive pulls on the front to try and bring the gap down. With one lap to go, it was 1'05" and Küng and company were still relatively fresh. Coming into the final sprint, it was Benoit Jarrier who took the stage honors ahead of Olivier Pardini (Verandas Willems) and Cedric Delaplace (Sojasun Espoirs) with Küng riding across the line hoping that they had done enough. It wasn't until 51 seconds later that Dan McLay beat out Marco Benfatto for 19th place that Küng was able to properly celebrate, making it the 2nd BMC Development winner in Normandie in as many years. Lukasz Wisniowski, was was crestfallen about losing the yellow jersey on the final day, finished the race in 15th overall.

Stefan Küng put in two impressive bookend rides that really sealed him Tour de Normandie overall. He won the opening prologue and after a week of solid riding including taking some time bonuses here and there, he rode impressively on the final day to take the overall ahead of Jarrier and Borgersen. His BMC Development teammate Tom Bohli capped off a great week with a 5th overall and 2nd in the youth category (behind Küng) and CC Nogent sur Oise's Kevin Ledanois was my biggest surprise of the week by finishing 6th overall (courtesy of getting into the breakaway on the final day) and taking 3rd in the youth category. U23 Dan McLay won the points classification by 5 points over Marco Benfatto and Stef Van Zummeren capped a successful week by winning the KOM classification.

BMC Development won the teams classification over Bretagne-Seche Environment and it is just a testament to how well Rik Verbrugghe manages his squad. With Silvan Dillier winning last year and Küng's win this year, they definitely have their shit together.

Hnik breaks Iberian stranglehold; takes uphill finish into Santiago do Cacém

Former cyclocross rider Hnik breaks through in Alentejo (Photo: Volta ao Alentejo)

Carlos Barbero was surging towards the line for his first victory in nearly a year and was already thinking about the dedication he was going to give on the podium where he would thank his Euskadi team for their flawless work in delivering him to the line. This was all going to plan until Karel Hnik (Etixx) came up along side him and passed him in the last 50 meters to take his first win in Etixx colors since joining the team last year.

The day started off with a bad note as Optum's Ryan Anderson, who was 3rd on GC, was forced to pull out of the race after crashing hard in the finale of stage 3, which also took out his teammate Eric Young. With the American team being down their leader, Tom Soladay hopped into the day's main breakaway including Robin Carpenter (USA National), Haarvard Blikra (Oster Hus-Ridley), Antonio Carvahlo (LA Alumninios) and Portuguese RR Champion Joni Brandão, among others. The break soldiered on through the flat opening half of the race but with 40 kilometers left to go, Blikra and Brandão attacked the breakaway and kept going on their own for another 25 kilometers before the gave up after going over the KOM spot. The reduced peloton, which was shredded by the pace and undulating circuit in the finale, began to crank up the pace before the final climb to the finish.

The uphill finish was good in the it was steep enough to make the legs cry but not steep enough to blow everyone up and allowed for an exciting sprint finish. Barbero looked good to have it but Hnik came around him in the last 50 meters to get it for Etixx while Eduard Prades slotted into 3rd place. On the U23 front, Sven Erik Bystrøm finished 7th and Ryan Eastman (USA National) finished 8th, similar to their 3rd and 4th places from the day prior. Tanner Putt (USA National) finished safely in the peloton to keep his lead in the youth classification for another day.

The races finishes up tomorrow with a stage to the historic town of Evora, which the race has not visited since 2010. Barring any catastrophes, Carlos Barbero has the GC locked up but his Euskadi team will just need to make sure it stays together for a sprint. Byron Guama will probably want his Ecuador team covering early moves so he can protect his tight KOM lead while Tanner Putt can just keep doing what he has done to keep the youth classification.

Benfatto dodges carnage; takes Tour de Normandie sprint into Carentan

Wheel of @owaindoull after sprint finish! But he didn't crash! Chaos in the sprint! pic.twitter.com/qrqumV6FA4
— AnPostChainReaction (@AnPost_CRC) March 29, 2014

For the majority of the finale at the Tour de Normandie, it looked like there would be a coup on GC and that Lukasz Wisniowski would be unseated from the lead by Reidar Borgersen (Team Joker) but after the peloton hit the hyperdrive, the breakaway was caught in the final kilometer and even more chaos ensued. After a crash went through the peloton, that even delayed leader Wisniowski, it was Astana Continental's Marco Benfatto who was able to emerge victorious ahead of Kristoffer Skjerping (Joker) and Romain Cardis (Vendée U) in the mad dash to the line. Wisniowski, Sondre Holst Enger and Owain Doull were just some of the victims from the crash that swept through the peloton and none were able to participate in the sprint.

The stage, which included a ride along Utah Beach to commemorate D-Day, included multiple breakaways that attempted to wrestle the GC lead away from Wisniowski including a five-man breakaway containing Clement Kortezky (7th, Bretagne-Seche Environment). That breakaway, which was away for the majority of the day, was shut down and then a two man move including Borgersen (9th place) and Fridtjof Roinas (Sparebanken Sør) took off in the last 20 kilometers and got a maximum of nearly 40 seconds, which was more than enough to put Borgersen into yellow. As the kilometers began to click down, the gap plunged to under 20 seconds with 5 kilometers left. Still wanting the stage win, the two put their heads down and soldiered on but heading into the last kilometer, it was all for naught as the peloton went rushing by them. In the finale, there were two separate crashes that ended up causing a hell of a lot of chaos, which led to shuffling and re-shuffling as the sprint unfolded. Dan McLay hit the front too soon for Lotto-Belisol and was toasted by the time others launched their sprint. Benfatto swept past for his 1st win in 2 years with the Astana Continental, finally capitalizing on an big number of podium places. Following Skjerping and Cardis, it was last year's Belgian Top Competitie winner Nicolas Vereecken (Verandas Willems) in 4th and ex-Belgian U23 RR Champion Jorne Carolus (Lotto-Belisol) in 5th.

Tomorrow is the thrilling conclusion to the 34th Tour de Normandie that will include a 40 kilometer ride along Omaha Beach in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of D-Day as well as a likely sprint finish around the Hippodrome in Caen.

Volta ao Alentejo: Cardoso takes sprint into Mertola

Manuel Cardoso does the funky chicken after his win in Mértola (Photo: Volta ao Alentejo)

In what is never the best idea, the Volta ao Alentejo finished with a downhill sprint into Mertola. The finish, that included a couple of turns, did prove bad for a few riders high on GC including Carlos Barbero (Euskadi) and Ryan Anderson (Optum), who were both involved in crashes in the last three kilometers. Anderson is pretty banged up (but his helmet was not broken for what it's worth) and is a race-time decision tomorrow, according to DS Jonas Carney. Former Little 500 champion Eric Young (Optum) was also involved in the same crash as Anderson but was not as lucky as his teammate as he suffered a concussion and well as a few stiches from crashing on gravel. While crashes are a part of bike racing, this should just provide a reminder to race organizers that a technical downhill sprint is never the best of ideas unless the riders are on knobby tires.

The race started off fierce with no breakaways being able to get away for the first 60 kilometers until a breakaway of 5 including Victor de la Parte (Efapel-Glassdrive), Antonio Cabello (Ecuador) and Mateusz Komar (BDC Marcpol). The breakaway went along its merry way of taking the intermediate sprints and mountain points while the peloton slumbered until the real race began. When the peloton began to bear down on the breakaway in the last 60 kilometers, Antonio Cabello attacked but he only lasted until 33 kilometers left, when the peloton vacuumed him up.

Coming into the final kilometers, the race got to its sketchiest point when a rider slid out and took out 10 riders including Barbero, Young and Anderson. Everyone in the main peloton received the same time but the sprint continued to go on. Heading into the final straight from the descent onto a slight uphill, it was ex-World Tour rider Manuel Cardoso (Banco-BIC) who darted out from behind Vincento Rubio (Loulentano), who had lead out the sprint, and took the sprint ahead of Filipe Cardoso (Efapel) and U23s Sven Erik Bystrom (Oster Hus-Ridley) and Ryan Eastman (USA National). Oscar Landa (7th) and Tanner Putt (10th) rounded out a strong stage for the U23 riders.


Barbero was able to hold on to his overall lead due to everyone receiving the same time within the last kilometer. He still holds a 6 second lead on Eduard Prades (OFM) and 9 seconds on Ryan Anderson (Optum) while multiple other riders are in contention. Putt held onto the youth jersey and still has a 11 second lead on Jaime Roson while Barbero kept a 1 point lead on Prades for the points compeition. Byron Guama, who won the only KOM on the day, solidified him KOM lead and now has a 5 point advantage on Barbero.

Tomorrow is yet another uphill finish in Alentejo, this time with an uphill kick into Santiago do Cacém.

P.S. I need to thank my lovely girlfriend Kirsten, who has been extremely patient with me the past week as I have been churning out articles for both Alentejo and Normandie as well as a few other things. Cycling might be a big part of my life but she is my rock so I thank her deeply.

Lukasz Wisniowski continues torrid spring, takes Tour de Normandie queen stage

In his 1st season out of the U23 ranks, Lukasz Wisniowski has been riding with a chip on his shoulder about not getting a professional contract and has been riding like a man possessed. The winner of the Kattekoers, Wisniowski has been riding quietly during the Tour de Normandie but on the 4th stage to Villers-Bocage, he came out of his shell and rode in a breakaway with 3 others and won the sprint to take both the stage as well as the yellow jersey with just 2 stages left.



The stage left Domfront to some special Norman weather including cold, wind and rain and immediately, a break containing Benoit Jarrier (Bretagne-Seche Environment), Guillaume Thevenot (Vendee U) and Paul Oselin (Sojasun Espoirs) went away. The French have been shut out so far in the Tour de Normandie so they were looking to get some glory for Le Hexagon. They got a maximum advantage of 4 minutes but with 4 circuits to be done in and around Villers-Bocage, the gap soon came down. When the group was brought back with over 60 kilometers to go, multiple escape attempts happened but were shut down.

After a big crash involving around 30 riders happened during one of the crossing of the start finish line in Villers-Bocage, Niels Vandyck (AnPost-Chain Reaction) and Johan Coenen (Differdange) took off the front and Rapha-Condor and race leader Tom Moses were put into difficulty. With his team more or less exhausted, Moses was isolated when a group of 4 dropped the hammer with 5 kilometers to go and chaos ensued. Wisniowski, Bert-Jan Lindeman (Rabobank Development), Dylan Teuns (BMC Development) and Erwann Corbel (Bretagne Seche Environment) went off the front and immediately got a big gap. In just 5 kilometers, they were able to extract 22 seconds from the reduced peloton and in the sprint to the line, Wisniowski was able to easily beat out Erwann Corbel and Teuns for the stage win.

Wisniowski was able to leapfrog the GC thanks to time bonuses and take the leader's jersey from Moses. Wisniowski leads breakaway mate Lindeman by 2 seconds while Corbel and Moses lie 10 seconds in arrears. BMC Development's Stefan Kung is in 5th place at 13 seconds and his team was able to hold onto the lead in the team classification.

The race continues tomorrow with an up and down stage to Carentan that will include a ride along Utah Beach in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of D-Day.