Tag: Omega Pharma – Quick Step

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Niki Terpstra Victorious at Paris-Roubaix

niki_terpstraOmega Pharma – Quick-Step’s Niki Terpstra has won the biggest race of his career in securing victory at Paris-Roubaix. The front runners with 6km left to go to the velodrome finish included many of the race favourites –Trek’s Fabian Cancellara, Sep Vanmarcke (Belkin ProCycling), Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and no less than three OPQS riders – but it was the 29-year-old Dutchman Terpstra who dug deepest to secure a winning time of 06h 09′ 01”. German sprinter John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano) took second and Cancellara third.

 

A clearly delighted Terpstra said, ‘I feel happy, but really tired. Finally I won a big one. We had a healthy, comfortable pressure from within the team to perform; the kind that motivates us to do well. We won a lot of races but not a big one yet. We wanted to prove we can win a big one… It’s a dream come true. Paris-Roubaix is a crazy race, old fashioned, but that’s why it’s special and why I love it that much. It was really my lucky day.’

 

Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas and Bradley Wiggins secured hard-fought top-10 finishes (7th and 9th respectively) with Wiggins – a replacement for the injured Ian Stannard – clearly frustrated that his performance wasn’t better. ‘There’s a tinge of disappointment because I really had the legs,’ said Wiggins, ‘Even in the final I felt strong. There was a part of it where I was pinching myself a bit – I don’t mind admitting that…’

 

Follow rising star Niki Terpstra on Twitter @NikiTerpstra

 

Image © TDWsport.com

 

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Tony Martin Takes Third TT World Title

Tony Martin Takes Third TT World Title

Tony Martin Takes Third TT World TitleGerman powerhouse Tony Martin won his third straight UCI World TT Championship. In one of the most hotly anticipated time trials of the year. The Omega Pharma – Quick-Step rider was inseparable from Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara at the first intermediate split (7.3km) and it looked like Bradley Wiggins – who had made a slow start – would be settling for Bronze, but as Martin upped his game Cancellara faded, ultimately taking third place 48seconds adrift of Martin’s 1hr 05’36”, with Wiggins in Silver on +46. His victory across the 57.2km course in Florence marked the 58th win (56th road win) for Omega Pharma – Quick-Step in 2013.

 

Commenting on the day Martin said, ‘The last five kilometers were like a celebration for me because I knew I had an advantage of about 40 seconds. I didn’t expect the gap to be that big at all. I expected a battle on the cobbles. I was a little bit afraid of it, I know Cancellara is a specialist on the small corners with the cobbles, so I knew I needed some gaps. I think the gap was high enough, and so I didn’t have to go 100 percent and it was good to not take risks. I knew without a puncture or crash I should win. It was just a really nice final for me. I think it was really a perfect ride, from point A to B. I think it was more or less the same as my first Worlds victory in Copenhagen. I think I really needed this because when you almost win everything in time trials that you could in the past, you need some pressure so you can go to the limit. This was the right pressure for me going into this race. I could work with it. I think this is really the highlight of the season.’

 

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Omega Pharma-QuickStep: More Signings to Come?

OPQ_jerseyThe worst kept secret in professional cycling was officially confirmed last week when Omega Pharma-Quickstep boss Patrick Lefevere announced the signing of Rigoberto Uran. In addition to Uran, who joins from Sky, Lefevere also confirmed the signing of Mark Renshaw from Belkin and Alessandro Petacchi. Uran is expected to be the squad leader and the main contender for Grand Tour success over the next two years of his contract.

 

Add those three to Tom Boonen, Sylvain Chavanel, Tony Martin and Mark Cavendish and you have one of the strongest and most versatile squads in pro cycling. But apparently Lefevere says he may add even more. ‘It depends on the moves in the market. Some people I have to speak to still as there are four or five riders in my team who are at the end of their contracts. There’s Euskaltel stopping and so there are a few riders who’ve done well in the mountains before and I’m interested in. But I’m not in a hurry.’ Sammy Sanchez maybe?

 

OPQ have historically been a good team but never had a contender for the top prizes. So why the sudden change of approach? Lefevre’s explanation is that he’s been put off signing a grand tour contender until now due to cycling’s doping problems.

 

Well, now he’s got one in Uran, who finished second in the Giro d’Italia this year, despite losing time while supporting a fading Wiggins. As the ever quotable Lefevere said: ‘What’s for sure is that I’m not standing there with a gun in his face telling him he has to get on the podium in the Giro, Tour or Vuelta. If he does it though, of course I’ll be happy.’

 

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24th Tour Win for Cavendish

24th Tour Win for Cavendish

24th Tour Win for CavendishBritain’s Mark Cavendish of Omega Pharma-Quick Step, expertly led out by teammates, delivered a textbook finish on yesterday’s Stage 5 of the Tour de France (Cagnes-sur-Mer to Marseille) to claim his first stage victory of the year. Claiming the win in a time of 5h 31’51” – with Team Sky’s Edvald Boasson Hagen, second and Connondale’s Peter Sagan, third – brings Cavendish’s total Tour haul to 24 wins, just one shy of all-time third position’s Andre Leducq and a step closer to Eddy Merckx record 34 wins.

 

Despite the toughness of yesterday’s stage – at 228.5km, the second longest of the Tour – Omega Pharma-Quick Step clearly had more than enough left for the end; post-win Cavendish commented: ‘I usually don’t start winning until about the 5th stage of the Tour anyway. This has been pretty on the norm, but we were really motivated today. ORICA-GreenEDGE did the chasing today which was nice, for once we could sit behind and save it for the end…’

 

The TdF continues today with Stage 6, 176.5km Aix-en-Provence to Montpellier. For more information on the other British riders in the 2013 TdF click here.

 

Want to know how the Tour de France began? Read the Cyclo feature Origins of the Tour de France.

 

Image © TDWsport.com

 

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Tony Martin: Route Choice ‘irresponsible’

tony_martin_largeWith the Tour de France celebrating its centenary this year, you would expect something different, something exciting. But according to Omega Pharma-Quick Step’s Tony Martin the price of that extra frisson of excitement could come at the expense of riders. The two-times defending Time Trial World Champion, writing on his website, has described the decision to include a double take on the notorious Alpe d’Huez, which necessitates the use of the previously untested Col de Sarenne, as ‘irresponsible’.

 

Set to feature on Stage 18, the Col de Sarenne seems to have set alarm bells ringing in the usually unshakable German. He comments: ‘I was excited to ride the new road from Alpe d’Huez (during the Critérium du Dauphiné), the exact same route we’ll see in the Tour, I have to say that I was negatively surprised. The road is old and narrow. It’s a bad road, no guardrails. A mistake could see you falling straight down 30 metres…’

 

TdF organisers have agreed partial resurfacing of the Col – with short sections set to be partially leveled – but the fact remains that one of the world’s most experienced and fearless riders appears troubled by the road ahead.

 

Image © TDWSport.com

 

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Mark Cavendish Conquers Qatar

Mark Cavendish wins Tour of QatarMark Cavendish has won the Tour of Qatar for Omega-Pharma Quick Step after finishing first on the final leg, the 116km from Sealine Beach Resort to Doha Corniche, making it four consecutive wins out of the six stages. It looked much like a repeat of yesterday’s action with Cavendish amongst the bunch sprint forming inside the final 10km of action, but having to fight hard in the final 1km to beat Yauheni Hutarovich (Ag2R La Mondiale) by barely half a wheel to finish in a time of 3h 24’ 31”. He went into today’s stage with a 15second advantage over second place Brent Bookwalter and 20 on third placed Taylor Phinney (both BMC Racing) meaning that only a catastrophe could snatch defeat from the jaws of victory for the Manx Missile, but ultimately he dominated the stage every bit as much as he has dominated the tour.

 

The final overall standings were

Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) in 15h 55’ 20”

Brent Bookwalter (BMC Racing) +25″

Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing) +26″

 

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Mark Cavendish Leads in Qatar

Mark Cavendish Leads in Qatar Omega-Pharma Quick Step’s Mark Cavendish has taken his third straight victory at the Tour of Qatar, coming in strongly at the end of today’s 154km Stage 5 from Al Zubara Fort to Madinat Al Shamal, in an almost identical finish to yesterday’s stage. Going into tomorrow’s final stage – 116km, Sealine Beach Resort to Doha Corniche – he remains in overall lead on a time of 13h 30’ 59” with BMC Racing’s Brent Bookwalter in second, 15seconds adrift, and his teammate Taylor Phinney third on +20seconds. British riders Luke Rowe and Geraint Thomas (both Team Sky) currently sit on overall ninth and tenth position respectively.

 

Cavendish commented that the ride had not been as easy as it looked, saying, ‘Even mild winds here on this circuit causes some problems… We knew it would be stressful today. It caused a few splits but we always had five or six guys riding for me. The protection was spot on. As for my spot in the final, we really kept together. Some other teams tried to take over — I think they got some confidence in the last few days. But my entire team came to me in the last minute and we just went.’ He dedicated the victory to Omega-Pharma Quick Step’s owner Zdenek Bakala on his birthday, adding, ‘What’s better than you getting a victory from the team? It’s a great birthday gift for him I think…’

 

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New Year, New Jersey for Cav

Mark Cavendish new Omega Pharma Quick-Step jerseyMark Cavendish has taken his first outing in the official Omega Pharma-Quick-Step jersey, with a 90minute spin through the hillsides of Tuscany, where he had spent the closing days of 2012 with family and friends.

 

Speaking afterwards Cav, who joins Omega-Pharma after a season with Team Sky, said, ‘It was a nice ride, and I was enthusiastic about officially wearing my new kit. The heritage of this team is incredible; it’s been around since 2003. I’m proud to wear this jersey that Tom (Boonen) and the other guys on the team have made unique in the group. Now I, too, want to contribute and feel like this jersey I’m wearing is even more my own.’ Cavendish will join his teammates for a training camp in Spain, from January 6 to 13, before commencing the serious business of racing for his new team.

 

Image © TDWSport.com