Another successful day at the office!

The team went on the attack from the start and Tom Peterson found himself in the break. He was also being the best placed rider on the GC which put pressure on Fly V to keep the break from going too far out.

Our boys just sat tight and waited for the last climb of the day, where we put a lot of heat on the leader!

In the front Tom found himself alone with world omnium champ and the fastest U23 in the world, Leigh Howard. Fly V were now closing in hard but Tom was just sitting-on knowing Chris Sutton was coming up quick from behind. The two break riders were swarmed in the last 100 meters with Cj wrapping up the bunch sprint and taking the leaders jersey by one second!

We now have one day to control on the flats before the crucial time trial.

Well so far the Tour of Britain has been quite successful with Chris Sutton winning stage 1, then third on Stage 3 and today second on the stage. The team has ridden very well in supporting CJ.

Kai Reus still leads ahead of Boasen-Haagen at one second and CJ at five seconds. The big teams like us and Rabobank have been controlling the race — but with Wiggo choosing not to start tomorrow’s stage and us already loosing Ricardo from a crash on day 1, it will be very hard to control with only four riders left.

Trent is riding quite well after a big break from competition. Tom Peterson is solid but not quite firing on all cylinders. Cj is moving well — this is the level of sprinting for him.

Director’s report from Johnny Weltz:

Stage 8

A stage that was created for a bunch sprint, but it was close to getting a surprise as Svein was hammering towards the finish line after dropping the rest of the breakaway — a break that he bridged up to with 3 other riders! But with 1km to go the hard chasing group caught him and a bunch sprint with Greipel as winner.

A nice week of racing, with a organizer who got it all together in a month! Unfortunately for us we had a stomach flu making the round that took out half of the team. But a big week for Svein, Tom and Timmy!

Stage 7

It was today Svein had to show his skills for this hardest part of cycling. And so he did on a totally flat circuit with a hard wind, he was for sure one of the favorites but as well there were some serious aspirations to win the stage. After 26.3km with a 50km average speed the clock showed 1:45 second slower than the Dutch champion Koos Morenhout — that one hurt after a perfect TT . But at the end of the day , he is back on the track to be one of the worlds best time trialist. Huub was 21st and Tom also did ok in a terrain who isn’t his favorite.

Stage 6

Turned out to be a chaos today! After 35km the whole race ended up on the highway and hand to be neutralized and turned around! For 15km to we where back on the right track again and out the riders where they where. A flat run in to the finish with a bunch sprint as result. Will had to pull out after 10 km with stomac problems

Stage 5

This was the last stage where the moutains could play a role in the race. It had a 2nd category climb right at the start. A group of eight took off right at the start and gained a fast 2 minutes we had Svein in it. Another group of nice joined the front group on the climb to 17 in the front. As the plan was to try to get Tom up the road he attacked hard on the climb, but the whole field blew up into several groups and the first of the field rejoined Svein in the front group .

From the front group three riders had left the group and had one minute. The bunch of GC riders out played each other so it ended up all together behind the break . Going into the final circuit it was pretty hard. It started to rain very hard and the roads got very slippery so it created a crash of 30 riders on a decent, but we were not involved . Svein attacked again and got 7 on the stage behind the guy’s from the breakaway earlyier and some guys who got away towards the end as well .

Team Garmin-Slipstream, Final GC results
1. Michael Albasini 28h14.05
10. Tom Peterson +5.36
15. Timmy Duggan +7.51
17. Svein Tuft +11.29
55. Huub Duyn +35.13

With a very hard mountain top finish at the end of the day, it was not clear who would take charge to control the race all day. Ee wanted to have a break to go with us in it to be in front of the action. So when a group of 13 riders took off after 30 km with Will Frischkorn and Tom Peterson in it, it was perfect .

They gained up to 4 minutes on the field and the chase was on all day with several teams burning off their riders in the front to bring back the group. The break reached the last climb 8 km to the top with and advantage of 2 minutes, and then it all blew apart!

A group of four riders from the first breakaway grouped in the front with Tom in it. He lasted to 4 km from the finish when he blew-up, and Albasini from the break won the stage.

We had Timmy Duggan in as 16th just 3 min down, Huub Duyn 18th 3:40 down and Tom 20th at the same time. We are also third on team GC . It was a really hard climb with sections up to 22 percent grade. Tomorrow we climb up to 2,500 meter high mountain!

Team Garmin-Slipstream, stage 2 results
1. Michael Albasini 4h18.21
16. Timmy Duggan +2.56
18. Huub Duyn +3.19
20. Tom Peterson +3.26
65. Svein Tuft +9.13
66. Chris Sutton
85. Killian Patour +11.01
113. Will Frischkorn +15.26

Team Garmin-Slipstream, GC results
1. Michael Albasini 7h33.14
17. Timmy Duggan +3.06
18. Huub Duyn
19. Tom Peterson +3.36
64. Svein Tuft +9.17
66. Chris Sutton +9.25
85. Killian Patour +11.11
111. Will Frischkorn +15.36

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From the Argyle store:

The last stage took of as all the others, very fast. But after 40km two riders for a small team got away and gained almost 10 minutes. Then the sprinter’s teams started to work, so that blocked pretty much the whole stage as it was easy to control afterwards.

We set up the sprint for CJ but it didn’t worked out all that well and he finished around 10th. Tom finished eigth on GC and second on young jersey — with some harder stages he would for sure have had a better chance to move up on GC . We finish third on team GC and the riders got a good base to build on for the next big races coming up!

Team Garmin-Slipstream, stage 5 results
1. André Greipel 4h00.33
19. Chris Sutton
26. Will Frischkorn
35. Ricardo Van Der Velde
45. Hans Dekkers
58. Kilian Patour
69. Tom Peterson
101. Huub Duyn

Team Garmin-Slipstream, final GC results
1. Linus Gerdemann 17h29.05
8. Tom Peterson +2.32
13. Kilian Patour +6.41
17. Ricardo Van Der Velde +7.19
50. Chris Sutton +27.08
52. Huub Duyn +27.10
61. Will Frischkorn +27.51
83. Hans Dekkers +29.06

Director’s report from Johnny Weltz

As not being his favorite discipline Tom had to do more than a good time trial to change his position on GC — he did his best but had to face the fact that the GC stayed the same afterwards.

We had Kilian up there who defended it well and did a good TT. Gerdeman took over GC jersey and without having too strong a team to work for him, it can still be up in the air on the last day tomorrow!

Team Garmin-Slipstream, stage 4 results
1. Tony Martin 30.09
11. Kilian Patour +1.13
30. Ricardo Van Der Velde +1.51
37. Huub Duyn +2.07
47. Chris Sutton +2.20
51. Tom Peterson +2.32
55. Will Frischkorn +2.48
88. Hans Dekkers +4.05

Team Garmin-Slipstream, GC results
1. Linus Gerdemann 13h28.32
8. Tom Peterson +2.32
13. Kilian Patour +6.41
17. Ricardo Van der Velde +7.19
50. Chris Sutton +27.08
52. Huub Duyn +27.10
61. Will Frischkorn +27.51
83. Hans Dekkers +29.06

As a lot of riders lost 25 minutes yesterday, we where in for a fast start! A lot of breaks went and we where well represented. But nothing got the chance to get away, until a huge group of 22 riders broke clear. We had CJ and Huub in there. After 50 km was done they built up a lead of 3 minutes — but as the group was that big it didn’t work very well.

So after a few attempts it broke into two, and we had CJ in the lead group. They built up a lead again to 3 minutes while the rest were back in the field again. It didn’t work much more smoothly and with a strong chase from behind it was caught with 18 km to go. it all ended in a bunch sprint with the same winner as the first stage . Tomorrow is the time trial of 26km.

Team Garmin-Slipstream, stage 3 results
1. André Greipel 4h11.37
15. Hans Dekkers
19. Kilian Patour
26. Will Frischkorn
32. Chris Sutton
44. Tom Peterson
50. Ricardo Van Der Velde
78. Huub Duyn

Team Garmin-Slipstream, GC results
1. Markus Eibegger 12h57.40
8. Tom Peterson +0.43
19. Ricardo Van Der Velde +6.11
20. Kilian Patour
30. Chris Sutton +25.31
54. Hans Dekkers +25.44
66. Will Frischkorn +25.46
81. Huub Duyn

Milram took control of the race after the break went. Everyday they’ve ridden an exceptionally fast tempo so I suppose they expect Linus to perform. Over the first climb the race exploded and I was able to make the selection. The rest of the stage was also quite selective and for the remainder of the day guys blew off the back until there were eight of us.

At 3km I got blown off when one of the guys attacked into the finish. I tried to make up the difference as they played cat and mouse but ended up at 19 seconds.

Director’s report from Johnny Weltz

Today was the hardest stage in the Bayern Rundfahrt! We had a guy in all the moves from the gun. Finally a break went and we had Ricardo in it. Another group took off and joined the front — then Kilian did a big effort and bridged up on his own. This made a group of 16 riders forming the first group. They gained four minutes before the chase started.

At the foot of the mountains it was down to 2:40. Tom took over on the climb and made the first selection as he caught up to first part of the breakaway. Then the whole race was split into small groups.

We had Ricardo in the fron two times over the climb with six other riders. At the top they were caught by Tom’s group and group of 16 rides was created. But on the descent it split again into several groups — a front group of four with Tom then four others joining them later on the next climb. These eight riders ere the GC of the race and had to decide the stage between them!

Two small Austrian climbers drew the longest straw and finished 1 and 2 — Tom was running out of gas in the end and finished eighth on the day, but is in the game for winning the race overall. He is second on the best young rider jersey and eighth on GC. We are also third on team GC, so a good team performance on the hardest day in the race.

Team Garmin-Slipstream, stage 2 results
1. Markus Eibegger 4h11.46
8. Tom Peterson +0.19
14. Ricardo Van Der Velde +5.58
21. Kilian Patour
58. Huub Duyn +25.33
90. Chris Sutton
91. Will Frischkorn
107. Hans Dekkers

Team Garmin-Slipstream, GC results
1. Markus Eibegger 8h46.03
8. Tom Peterson +0.43
15. Ricardo Van Der Velde +6.11
20. Kilian Patour
30. Chris Sutton +25.32
56. Hans Dekkers +25.44
77. Huub Duyn +25.46
80. Will Frischkorn

Race report from Lionel Marie

“Why so many DNFs?” I can understand this question, so it’s important to explain what the job of ‘teammate’ is. Our leaders for the final Spring Classics — the Ardennes Classics like Liège-Bastogne-Liège (which is more like a mountain stage in a Grand Tour; I think it was like 4000 meters of climbing!) — were Ryder and Dan.

To be at the end in good classification for sure you need to feel good and have good legs that day, but you also need help to be easy in the peloton. That was the role of the other guys. Christian was to protect Dan (meaning take wind for him, come to the car for bottles for him…) The same thing for Jason with Ryder; and then Tom Danielson in the last 100kms (the much harder part.)

Huub, Lucas and Tom were to try to be in break but it was fast all day — 45km/h for the first hour and then 43km/h after two hours. And I will remind you it is NEVER flat! Our guys did a good job, and when you realize that these smaller jobs are a key part in the result of our leader, 11th place at the end, it’s a big result!

So DNF is not a bad thing and does not mean a rider did not do his part. Christian was at 170 bpm heart rate for two hours… he can be proud!

Tom Danielson makes sure Irish champ Dan Martin doesn’t have to touch the wind

Bonjour Garmin-Slipstream fans:

The team did a good job this week! We were disappointed after the prologue on Sunday — Brad did a good job before and during the race but Contador was stronger.

Christian was better day after day and his win was very important for all of the team. I am sure you all saw the win on the TV!

David crashed but was very focused, and it’s a good sign for the next race. Trent finished with better form than he started, so we will see in three weeks what that means for him; and Danny was always ready to bring bottles and did all the work you can’t see on TV!

It was a nice surprise with Tom Peterson… this guy is strong! He needs some time to learn more but with our captain that will be no problem.

In conclusion, our team did a very good job and it’s a good preview for the rest of our season’s objectives here in Europe. Paris-Nice and Tirreno gave us a good start so FOLLOW THE LEADER, GARMIN-SLIPSTREAM!!