Cafe Roubaix

Rider of the week

When it comes to Strade Bianche, one thing is certain: having been created in 2007, the event lacks in history, but makes up for in great racing. It wasn’t a different scenario this year, when the 9th edition took place on the Tuscan hills and white gravel sectors. So now, although where at the beginning of the Spring, Strade Bianche is already a strong candidate for being named best one-day race at the end of the season.

It was an action-packed day in Italy, where the savvy Zdenek Stybar looked to be invincible, followed every attack, stayed at the front all the time and showed his opponents he is the man to beat, before countering the attack of Greg Van Avermaet, heading into the spectacular Piazza il Campo and crossing the finish line first, thus scoring his biggest victory to date in a one-day race.

Zdenek Stybar was one of the hot favorites to take the victory and didn’t fail, putting last season’s injuries and disappointments behind, as he underlined once again his huge potential for the one-day races, a potential which emerged two years ago in Paris-Roubaix, where he finished 6th, this only after an incident with a spectator on the Carrefour de l’Arbre took him out of contention. This time, there weren’t any troubles for the 29-year-old Czech rider, whose strong form, tactical mind and skills perfectly suited to the race helped him survive the selection process that occured on the tough terrain of the race – which included ten dirt sectors – and then dispatch his two rivals, Greg Van Avermaet and Alejandro Valverde with a remarkable ease.

Last season, it was Stybar’s teammate Michal Kwiatkowski who crossed the line solo with his arms flailing ecstatically in Siena’s Piazza il Campo, after a similar attack on the last ramp of the race, thanks to which he left Peter Sagan in the dust. From then on, the young Pole went on to have a great year, which he finished in style, by winning the world title in Ponferrada.

It remains to be seen if the triple cyclo-cross champion – who had a faultless display last Saturday – will also record a breakthrough season and will add a world title or a Spring Monument to his palmares. For this he needs not only luck on his side, but also a change of status inside the Etixx-Quick Step squad, where the cards are still made in Tom Boonen’s favor, the team’s natural leader for the Classics.

Rider of the week

The 70th edition of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad proved to be the best race of 2015 so far, which isn’t a surprise, considering the hype surrounding it, as it was the first Classic of a season many felt started just now, once the riders hit the legendary Belgian cobbles. The 200-km-long race which started and finished in Ghent had everything: attacks, punctures, drama, a hard fight between the strong men and a thrilling finale, which is sure to make it into the vintage collections of every fan.

After Taaianberg, where three of Etixx’s men were left at the front with Ian Stannard, the race resembled to the legendary wins of Mapei from 15-20 years ago, when Patrick Lefevere’s riders mastered the Classic to perfection to get a 1-2-3. In the end, it wasn’t meant to be that way, because a series of mistakes made by Tom Boonen, Niki Terpstra and Stijn Vandenbergh, combined with a very strong and impressive performance from Ian Stannard landed the win for the Brit, who became only the ninth rider in history to take successive triumphs in Omloop.

Thanks to his determination, great power, excellent tactic and instinct, Stannard responded to every attack of his opponents and eventually held off the Etixx-Quick Step trio, scoring what many thought to be an improbable win. One of the strongest cyclists of the peloton, the 27-year-old is building himself a nice palmares and if health and luck will be on his side in the weeks to come, Ian Stannard has every chance of becoming the first British winner of Paris-Roubaix.

Rider of the week

Rein Taaramäe never had an easy road since turning pro. After an excellent 2008 – during which he won the Tour de l’Ain, the mountains classification at the Vuelta al Pais Vasco and finished 3rd at the Tour de Romandie – he was being tipped as a future Grand Tour champion. But nothing materialized in the following years, his best result coming in the 2011 Tour de France, where he was 11th and missed the white jersey for 46 seconds. What were the reasons because of which the Estonian rider didn’t fulfill the huge expectations people had?

First of all, the pressure was too big for Taaramäe, who seemed to lack the mental strength that usually makes the difference at a top level. Another cause were the health problems he endured before finding a solution last Spring, when he underwent a larynx operation to remove an obstruction that was inhibiting his breathing. But besides that, there was another thing that hammered Taaramäe’s GC hopes: he always had a bad day during a three-week race, which lead to him losing a handful of minutes and thus getting out of contention for a top 10 in the GC.

At one point, Rein Taaramäe considered quitting cycling, but eventually shrugged off the disappointments he has had in 2012 and 2013, and decided to give the sport another shot. Last April, he came back stronger, won the queen-stage of the Tour of Turkey and finished 2nd in the overall classification. Then, in the final weeks of the season, the Estonian landed another victory, this time in the Tour du Doubs, followed by a move to Astana, his first World Tour team.

In 2015, Taaramäe opened his campaign in February, with the Vuelta a Murcia being his debut race for the Kazakh outfit. So last Saturday, Rein Taaramäe rode into a large break which got shape after a mid-race attack and then soloed in the last 40 kilometers, putting aside the huge pain he was feeling in his legs after that big effort and holding off the peloton on the last climb, the Alto Fortaleza del Sol (1600 meters, 6% average gradient).

After his first victory in the Astana kit (which was also the team’s first win of the season), it will be interesting to see what does Rein Taaramäe holds in his sleeve for the rest of the year. A couple of months ago, he said he came to the Kazakh team because he wanted to ride pressure-free, which is exactly what happened in the Vuelta a Murcia. Very likely, he will mix this role with the one of lieutenant for the team’s GC riders. Logical, this means Taaramäe – who looks to have found the perfect environment in Astana – has to put aside his Grand Tour ambitions, at least for 2015. On the other hand, it’s almost certain he won’t mind this, as it will allow him to find a new niche, which could see the Eastern European rider focus on one-day races and week-long stage races from now on and getting more wins under his belt.

Rider of the week

Less than two weeks ago, in an interview for Cafe Roubaix, Dirk Demol was confident Bob Jungels can be the revelation of Trek Factory Racing in 2015. The young Luxembourg rider was starting his third season in the World Tour and the expectations surrounding him were high, after 2014 was a year in which he missed a win, although he was consistent in the stage races he rode, with some strong results in Paris-Nice, Criterium International and the Tour of Austria, and two top 10 placings in Vuelta a España, where me made his Grand Tour debut.

In 2015, Jungels decided to start his account in the Étoile de Bessèges, a race which was won in the past by riders like Eddy Planckaert, Adrie Van Der Poel, or Jean Paul van Poppel. Being his first appointment of the year, there were some questions regarding his form, but these found an answer fast, in Les Fumades – stage finish for the second stage – where he came home third. That result brought him a much needed level of confidence, but also four bonification seconds, which could have proven to be decisive at the end of the race.

Fortunately for the Trek Factory Racing cyclist, it wasn’t the case, because he made his life easy in the last day, with an excellent ride in the 11,9 kilometers time trial that took place in Alès. Having a 29 seconds deficit on GC leader Edward Theuns, Bob Jungels put on a fine and fast display – even on the punishing three kilometer climb to the finish – which helped him claim the fifth stage and the overall classification, nine seconds ahead of his former teammate Tony Gallopin. By doing this, Jungels became the first Luxembourg rider to win the Étoile de Bessèges in almost half of century since the inception of the race.

Just 22-year-old, Bob Jungels scored his team’s first victories in 2015 and looks poised to have a great season, which should bring him a couple of more wins, as well as a contract extension with Trek Factory Racing. His next stop will be Ruta del Sol, where the former winner of the Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux will tune-up his form before Paris-Nice, the first major goal of the year. There, with two time trials and a couple of hilly stages, there’s a good possibility that Bob Jungels will get his first World Tour win.

Rider of the week

After the Tour Down Under, won by Rohan Dennis, last week it was the time for the first European races of the season, which came in Spain, where the 25th edition of the Challenge Mallorca took place. Following the pattern of the previous years, two stages were reserved to the puncheurs and climbers, while the other two were meant to be a sprinter’s affair. And they were indeed, but it just happened that those two flat stages turned out to be a one-man show, as Matteo Pelucchi won both without too many problems, each time finishing ahead of strong sprinters, like Elia Viviani, André Greipel or Nacer Bouhanni.

A former national junior champion on the track, Pelucchi has had a hard time finding his place in the pro peloton, his first years – spent with Geox and Europcar – lacking consistence and opportunities. Fortunately for the Italian, IAM Cycling become interested in him and offered a contract starting from 2014, and this turned out to be the move that relaunched his career, because the Swiss team gave him the confidence and chances he was searching for. Once this happened, Pelucchi showed that he can match the best on a flat finish, winning a stage in the Tirreno-Adriatico, in what was one of the biggest surprises seen in recent years in a sprint.

In 2015, after a hard winter work during which he made some serious progress, Matteo Pelucchi decided to start his season in the Challenge Mallorca, where he proved to be in an excellent form, taking both the Trofeo Santanyi-Ses Salines-Campos and the Trofeo Playa de Palma-Palma. Now 26-year-old, the Italian looks to have found the mental strength he needed so much in the past, a factor that can help him beat the top sprinters of the peloton. Taking this, as well as his form, into consideration, watch out for Pelucchi this Spring, because the IAM Cycling rider has all that he needs to notch up some more victories (even at a World Tour level) and show that he deserves a place amongst the fastest sprinters in the world.

Rider of the week

Ever since wearing the yellow jersey and winning the white one in the 2013 Critérium du Dauphiné, Rohan Dennis has been hailed as one of cycling’s biggest talents, but the general impression was the young Aussie didn’t live up to his huge potential, despite another win in the Tour of Alberta GC and a victory in a stage of the Tour of California, on Mount Diablo. Main reason for this was that Dennis, riding for Garmin-Sharp at that time, failed to make an impact in the so important World Tour races. However, things have changed all of the sudden in the second half of 2014, after Dennis signed with BMC, in an unprecendent move that took the cycling world by surprise.

Right after getting under the command of Allan Peiper, a former rider himself (who rode 12 Grand Tours during his career), currently one of the most appreciated sport directors in the pro peloton, things began to move for the 24-year-old. He raced the Vuelta, where he impressed everyone with his form and the 3rd place in the final ITT. That was a sign of the things that were to come, because just a couple of weeks later, Dennis helped BMC win for the first time the team time trial race at the World Championships, as well as finishing 5th in the ITT, two results that gave him confidence and made him wanting for more for the 2015 season, which Dennis began with a second place at the National Championships ITT, just 8 seconds behind Richie Porte.

After the Nationals, Rohan Dennis lined up for the 17th edition of the Tour Down Under as one of BMC’s leaders, and in the third stage he laid his mark on the race, with a great attack on the new finish at Paracombe, where he took the win (his first in the World Tour) and the ochre jersey. Now leader of the GC and having a strong team to support him, Dennis knew that from that point just one big test was ahead, the Willunga Hill, where everyone was waiting for an attack of Richie Porte, the pre-race favorite. As expected, Porte’s acceleration came in the last kilometer and it was a fierce one, and even though Dennis couldn’t answer and lost time, he kept the jersey for two seconds, then came home safe in Adelaide and became the sixth Australian to win the race, a result few could have predicted at the beginning of the previous week.

What are the conclusions of this Tour Down Under? Rohan Dennis is the first World Tour leader of the season (110 points), the win gave him a massive confidence boost for the next races of the year, BMC found a great leader for the future (coincidentally or not, in what was the last stage race of Cadel Evans), while Cannondale-Garmin, the former team of Dennis, can start thinking at what went wrong last year and why did Dennis left the squad after less than two seasons.