Written by Finz of NightmareChaos
Volta ao Porto
Division two is ready for the Grand Tour Volta ao Porto. Twenty teams will be lined up in Porto to race this ten stage tour in the north of Portugal. This seventeenth edition welcomes back defending champion Joppe Marant of Team Crazy Downhillers. The winner of the Sprinters Jersey will be a new one as Evan Topper retired recently.
Lately the Recent Results that you see on the front page have been worked on. They use to give some strange information but since a while now, it is all correct.
World Tour
The world tour received another three new managers for existing teams.
Belgium: duvelke
Colombia: Kas75
Slovenia: KK Perutnina Ptuj
Classics
Classico di Siracusa
The Sicilian Classic invited many good team from division five to compete. Everybody turned up and was excited to start in this great race. This year they are using part of the course that is also used for the coming Giro di Sicilia. The riders must pay attention if they want to do good there also. In the end it was a big group that approached the finish line and the last hills before entering Siracusa where not enough to cause real damage. A bunch sprint on the Via dell´Unita d´Italia was greeted by the cheers of many Sicilians and it was Geres Gyozo who saluted back, winning his first race in his career. He beat Kauto Turunen and Nakai Mitsunori with the smallest margin possible.
1. Geress Gyozo, Team Highsprint
2. Kauto Turunen, suomi superstars
3. Nakai Mitsunori, ukulele
Ainet – Bruggen
The Alps in Austria have something dramatic when you see them in a scenery with cyclists. | | It is not different when the riders ride the Ainet - Bruggen course. The big steep mountains towering over the tiny riders, who desperately try to climb the steep roads. And those mountains are looking down on those riders, not with admiration like the fans. No, they look down, with pity. It was Arnold Tollefsen who could outsmart the mountains best and became the winner of the cristal trophy. Tomas Rosa was second and third was Steve Brasher.
1. Arnold Tollefsen, Team Kernow
2. Tomás Rosa, WalrusPT
3. Steve Brasher, Telstra
Budapest Meeting Point
When the riders enter Budapest they already feel what lies ahead of them. The cobblestone shake the team bus and give an example of what awaits them. Budapest Meeting Point, the division six race over cobble paved streets through the old towns of Buda and Pest. The weather was very windy and that was a major factor in the race. The peloton was ripped in echelons of riders and each was battling their own battle to gain time over the other groups. When the riders finally reached Budapest for the last time there was just one small group ahead. And it was Alfie Scanlon who tried to jump away. Followed by Henrijs Cepels and Tobias Bagge they managed to stay away from the chasing group. A sprint between the three was inevitable. Henrijs Cepels was the fastest beating Tobias Bagge and Alfie Scanlon for first.
1. Henrijs Cepels, nrk
2. Tobias Bagge, de stamper
3. Alfie Scanlon, klontjes
Roubaix Classic
Roubaix Classic, the classic amongst classics. Cobblestones and a long course to ride and weather that does not what riders want it to do. And this year it was no different then other years. It takes experience to win this race. And experience won, Julian Pope, a former winner and an experienced rider on the wrong side of the age line, showed that he was still that. Leaving the front group with more then sixty kilometers to go, he was in for a big adventure. Alone, on the cobbles and in the mud, battling against a big group behind him. But this was his day, his race. It was like he was being pushed by a
| | divine force as he gained time over the peloton. Alone, dirty but happy he entered Roubaix and finished well ahead of the rest, claiming his second cobblestone. Jeremy Murphy beat Jean-Pierre Schooters in a sprint a deux.
1. Julian Pope, Drapeau Noir
2. Jeremy Murphy, lastplace1414
3. Jean-Pierre Schooters, CARCYCL
Brebes – Brebes
Brebes, Central Java. The cobblestone classic of division seven. Many teams have gathered in this part of Asia to compete against each other and the difficult roads around Brebes. The riders encountered a record breaking amount of flat tires. Luckily the organization and the teams where prepared and there were tires in abundance. The forest and roads resulted in two big groups chasing each other from the start. The leading group against the group with those who had a puncture. When the front runners reached Brebes the margin was very small and it was to be decided who would be the winner of this years race. A group sprint started very early as the second group was just meters away. Curtis Ball thought he won the race and celebrated already. It was a classical mistake as Costantijn Snejder passed him just before the finish line. Ferdynand Szymczak saw it all happen in third spot.
1. Costantijn Snejder, Holwerda Cycling
2. Curtis Ball, elmi
3. Ferdynand Szymczak, Malvin
Top Ten Transfers
1. Don Rogers from Cykelmyggen to Avangarda for 325K
2. Federico Vaquero from Gradient Levellers to Twente Cycling Team for 240K
3. Al Lenard from Boys San to Honor et Patria for 225K
4. Alexander Bellamy from Coasters to Greenride for 220K
5. Abdul-Hafiz Irfan from Avangarda to Boys San for 190K
6. Aubrey Welling from Hommerts Cycling Team to NECFTW for175K
7. Oswald Hudler from Gradient Levellers to California Mist for 160K
8. Gian Calliani from Nairobi City Cycling Club to jmtoler for 150K
9. Casper Wulff from Team Revolutie to PEKAC B for 136K
10. Tobias Carrilho from Avangarda to Avataria for 132K
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