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Tour Méditerranéen Report
Endura Racing's entry into the European pro ranks took place this week at the Tour Méditerranéen Cycliste Professionnel in France. Spanning five stages and running from Carcassonne towards Toulon.
Stage One - Carcassonne to Sauvian - 95km
An early season race, a screaming tailwind and a shortened stage was only going to mean one thing - a scrochingly fast stage. The race followed the script and immediately picked up the pace as soon as the neutralised start was over. The peleton quickly strung out in a long line, with riders being dropped early on. A split caused by Aqua and Sapone riders meant that the race splintered into a number of small groups. Endura Racing were represented up front with Alexandre Blain and Ian Wilkinson. Out front a small group broke away with Yauheni Hutarovich (Française des Jeux) taking the stage with a sprint from a small group. Average speed was 53kmph!
Alexandre finished in the main bunch, with Ian Wilkinson next in after being dropped on the final climb. Everyoen else made it in within the tight time cut. James Moss took a nasty fall whilst working back through the cars and was lucky to escape with minor injuries. James dug in and finished the stage with an impressive collection of road rash.
Stage Two - Peynier to Trets - 170km
We awoke to snow in Beziers before our transfer along to Peynier, near Aix-en-Provence for stage two. A virtually circular route took the riders across a couple of 2nd category climbs and back to the neighbouring town of Trets. James McCallum had a nasty fall whilst chasing back after a double puncture and was lucky to escape unscathed. His Zipp 808 wheels weren't quite so lucky, shattering on impact. It was a brutally cold day, with temperatures in the feedzone several degrees below zero and a biting wind making it feel much colder. With a three man breakaway - Stefano Garzelli (Acqua & Sapone), Dan Martin (Garmin-Transitions) and Sébastien Turgot (Bouygues Telecom) - down the road, the remaining Endura Riders were all safely in the main group. The break was caught with a few hundred metres to go and at the 500m mark Alexendre was sitting 5th wheel and looking good for a strong finish. Unfortunately a police outrider took the leading riders off course and his chance evaporated. Jussi Veikkanen took a second stage for the Francaise des Jeux team.
Stage Three - Greasque to Six-Fours - 115km
Stage three took the riders from Greasque in the hills near Aix-en-Provence down to the shore of the Mediterranean at Six-Fours. Cold and bright conditions welcomed the race to the village depart with seven Endura Racing riders taking the start following James MacCallum's withdrawal on stage two. Unfortunately, James Moss joined MacCallum as an abandon during the stage as the injuries sustained on the first day took their toll. Although the stage guide showed the run as flat, it was a lumpy finish with a strong sidewind into the finale. Alexandre Blain was unable to contest the sprint from the front group and took 17th place. Yauheni Hutarovich made it three in a row for Française des Jeux whilst teammate Jussi Veikkanen retained the leader's jersey.
Stage Four - La Londe Les Maures to Biot - 160km
Endura Racing were first to the start of Friday's stage, giving the locals plenty of time to inspect our Look 595s. The SRAM Red groupsets and Zipp wheels proved to be of great interest with mechanics answering lots of questions.
The bunch rolled out under sunny skies heading inland and over the days first two climbs before making a beeline for St Tropez. A three rider break - Dominique Cornu (Skil-Shimano), Jonathan Thire (BigMat-Auber 93) and Julien El Fares (Cofidis), - were over a minute up on the bunch when the gendarmes called a halt to proceedings. Snow and ice on the roads north of Frejus were judged too dangerous for the race to pass over. Riders were held on the road as the organisation investigated alternatives. Although t had been hoped that after a long neutralised section the peleton could race the last 20km towards the finish in Biot, but conditions did not allow and the bunch toured in with no results were recorded.
Stage Five - La Ciotat to Mt Faron - 126km
You'd be forgiven for thinking that the Queen Stage of the 2010 Tour Méditerranéen was all about the final climb up Mt Faron, but the race had three major climbs to negotiate before hitting the steep, narrow and roughly surfaced climb to the téléphérique station at the top of the hill.
With the overall classification so tight, this was going to be a tough day for the peleton as the favourites prepared to make a charge up Mt Faron. Although the weather was benign at the seaside town of La Ciotat, conditions deteriorated as the race progressed with sleet and snow showers throughout the stage.
It was a day for failed breakaways, with several attempts to break clear being thwarted by a determined peleton. On the last climb of the day before Mt Faron, Remy Di Gregorio (Française Des Jeux) made another attempt in cahoots with team-mate Mikael Cherel, Dimtriy Fofonov (Astana), Leonardo Duque (Cofidis), Ludovic Turpin (AG2R La Mondiale) and Paul Martens (Rabobank) gaining three minutes on the bunch by the summit of the Col du Corps de Garde.
By the foot of Mt Faron, the chasing pack had cut the gap to a minute and Remi Pauriol (Cofidis), Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) and Francesco Masciarelli (Acqua e Sapone) immediately jumped from the peleton. It was Masciarelli who prevailed, taking the stage by eight seconds over Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne). Valverde’s advantage over his rivals was good enough to take the overall classification.
Endura Racing suffered another hard day at the office, with Evan Oliphant and Ian Wilkinson being best placed in 65th and 72nd positions respectively. The remaining team riders battled their way up the climb only to be prevented from crossing the mobbed finish line by race officials. No times have been recorded for them, but they most certainly finished this grueling race.
With some quality racing in their legs, the race team is bolstered by the arrival of the rest of the Endura Racing squad at the training camp at the Roche Marina Hotel in Nice. All are looking forward to racing again at the Tour du Haut Var next weekend.
Remember you can follow Endura Racing's progress on Twitter - we're @enduraracing.
VIEW RESULTS
12/02/2010