Not looking massively enthusiastic at the start it has to be said…….
An Post-Sean Kelly rider Ronan McLaughlin has said his early season form is good and that team spirits are high despite a strange on-off stage two at the five-day Étoile de Bessèges today.
The Donegal man was part of the peloton that contested stage honours into Saint-Ambroix today, as was fellow Irishman Sean Downey and the other six An Post-Sean Kelly riders.
McLaughlin said it was an eventful day, but mostly for the wrong reasons. The race should have been 150kms but that was changed a number of times because of the ice on the roads.
“We got word before the start that the neutral section would be extended to 15km so we could pass an icy descent safely,” McLaughlin told stickybottle.
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“It was quite bad; ice covering the road in some parts. Then we got to the start proper and a lot of the riders wanted to stop and cancel the stage. The weather really was very bad, it was snowing quite heavy.”
“After about 10 minutes standing there it was decided we would get in the cars and drive to the feed zone and reassess the roads there. So we all got in cars and bikes on the roof and then suddenly we were told we had to cycle again and half the bunch had gone already; it was a hard chase back on.”
“We rode steady the whole way to the feed zone and then and we were stopped again by the commissaire and were told we had to race the last 60km or so.”
“After we were set off for the third time we rode steady to the finishing circuit and a lot of the top French riders had been going around the bunch telling everyone that we would stop at the finish line. This didn't happen and we raced the five finishing laps pretty hard.”
The stage ended in a bunch sprint with German Marcel Kittel taking his first win of 2012 and the GC lead.
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McLaughlin said while the stage was chaotic and frustrating, he is feeling good and was very happy with his condition on Wednesday’s opening stage.
“I felt very good yesterday. I'm not the best at racing in the crosswinds and echelons but did quite well yesterday and made the splits in first or second group each time but it all came back together.”
“In the final two kilometres I brought Gedi (Bagdonas) from the back to the front and he ended up getting 11th. Unfortunately Niko Eeckhout was on the left as we came up the right and he got blocked in and couldn’t sprint the way he wanted to. I knew coming into the race my form was good after the training camp in Calpe and hopefully one day here ill get to show it.”
Tomorrow’s stage is the 152km circuit race Grand Prix de Bessèges.
Stage 2: Result
1 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Project 1t4i 1:33:29
2 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling
3 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) FDJ - Big Mat
4 Daniele Colli (Ita) Team Type 1 - Sanofi
5 Justin Jules (Fra) Veranda Rideau U
6 Michael Van Staeyen (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator
7 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Accent.Jobs - Willems Verandas
8 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Team Europcar
9 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis Le Crédit en Ligne
10 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator
17 Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly
27 Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) An Post - Sean Kelly
44 Niko Eeckhout (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly
81 Mark McNally (GBr) An Post - Sean Kelly
85 Pieter Ghyllebert (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly
94 Sean Patrick Downey (Irl) An Post - Sean Kelly
99 Ronan Mc Laughlin (Irl) An Post - Sean Kelly
100 Stijn Ennekens (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly all same time
General Classification
1 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Project 1t4i 5:03:38
2 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) FDJ - Big Mat 0:00:02
3 Bobbie Traksel (Ned) Landbouwkrediet 0:00:09
4 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling 0:00:10
5 Steven Van Vooren (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator 0:00:13
6 Kurt Hovelynck (Bel) Landbouwkrediet
7 Anthony Ravard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:14
8 Koen Barbe (Bel) Landbouwkrediet
9 Dominique Cornu (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator
10 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling 0:00:15
22 Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) An Post - Sean Kelly
23 Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly
40 Niko Eeckhout (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly
77 Pieter Ghyllebert (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly
98 Ronan Mc Laughlin (Irl) An Post - Sean Kelly
103 Mark McNally (GBr) An Post - Sean Kelly
125 Sean Patrick Downey (Irl) An Post - Sean Kelly 0:03:28
132 Stijn Ennekens (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly 0:10:25
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