OlegTinkov

2009 Part 3 March

Program

*09.03.2009 FRA HIS Paris - Nice

*20.03.2009 BEL 1.1 Nokere-Koerse

*23.03.2009 FRA 1.1 Cholet - Pays De Loire

*24.03.2009 GER 1.1 Rund um Köln

Paris - Nice

Between the prologue and the 6th stage, the general rankings wasn't changed much. The first days we stayed out of trouble and made sure our trusty leader of Tinkoff Credit Systems, Robert Gesink stayed out of the wind and also out of trouble and didn't loose any seconds in the last kilometres that the bunch sprinters and puncheurs like so much.

The first flat stage (stage 2) was won Anthony Charteau of Caisse d'Epargne, he beat Frederik Veuchelen of Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team, both riders were "leftovers" of the breakaway group which at the beginning consisted of ten riders. Mark Cavensish of Team Columbia - HTC of course won a peloton sprint again by winning the 3rd stage, already his 8th victory of the season! Philippe Gilbert of Silence-Lotto won the 4th stage, he attacked on the last short climb of the race and managed to finish solo, 34 seconds ahead of the peloton. Fabian Wegmann of Team Milram repeated Gilberts trick the day after and also won solo.

The 6th Stage of "the race to the sun" was the Queen's stage with finish on the Montagne de Lure, a climb of 17.7 kilometers, with an average grade of 5.7%. The height of the summit lies at 1755 meters. Early in the race, a group of 9 riders sneaked away from the peloton and since none of the escapees were dangerous to the leaders then were able to build up a big gap. With still 104km to go, the distance between the pack and the first group was 14 minutes. We started to organise the chase of the peloton and we asked for help, but all other teams didn't seem to care about the big gap. Damiano Cunego of Lampre , Ivan Basso of Liquigas and Alberto Contador Velasco of Astana all had teammates in the breakaway group and most of them were just at Paris - Nice to prepare themselves for the Grand Tours. So it was up to us to lead the chase of the peloton and at the foot of the Montagne de Lure, Tinkoff Credit Systems had brought the gap back to about 4 minutes. The 9 riders were already climbing by then and Ludovic Turpin of Ag2r La Mondiale definitely was the strongest climber, so early on the climb he left his fellow escapees behind and tried to resist the chase of the peloton during the last kilometers.

The peloton had becan climbing up the Montagne de Lure aswell, Robert Gesink's helpers weren't strong enough to control the peloton anymore, the result: Almost right from the start, an explosion of attacks. Gesink only focussed on Juan José Cobo Acebo of Fuji-Servetto and when he and Cunego attacked Robert showed his strength by getting right in his wheel easily. The three of them started to picked up the riders of the break away group one by one and with only 5km to go only Ludovic Turpin was still ahead of them. Meanwhile, the group of favorites behind Gesink, Cunego and Cobo was gaining in on them too. Robert knew he had to get rid off Cunego in order to become the general leader. So with 4 more kilometers to the finishline, Gesink spurted away from Cunego and Cobo and was gaining in on Turpin rapidly. Gesink and Turpin got together with only 1km to the top and together they rode to the finish. At the top of the summit Robert Gesink showed his sportsmanship by letting Ludovic Turpin pass the white line first, since he was sure to takeover the leader's jersey with his second place (Cunego got 3rd by winning the sprint of the group of favorites).

We were able to defend the yellow jersey of Robert Gesink the next two days, in both stages Gesink finsihed together with his opponents. Stage 7 won won by Sérgio Miguel Paulinho Moreira of Astana, the last stage in Nice was won by Daniele Bennati of Liquigas. Lars Boom and Stijn Devolder (Rabobank and Quick Step) ended up 2nd and 3rd in the general rankings, 1 minute behind Gesink. By winning Paris - Nice we achieved our fist sponsor goal, this was celebrated with a big teamparty that night in Nice, even the other riders (who didn't ride Paris - Nice) flew in!

Nokere-Koerse

Good news, after a month of recovery (see Announcements) Yukiya Arashiro was fully healed and Nokere-Koerse was his first race after his comeback. And although Arashiro was ready for his first mass sprint, suprisely a breakaway group of 5 riders got away and withstand the chasing peloton. Björn Leukemans, the 31 years old Belgium rider of Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team won the five men sprint, and celebrated his second big win of the season, after already winning the 5th stage of the Tour Down Under. Bert De Waele of Landbouwkrediet - Colnago and Kevyn Ista of Agritubel completed the 100% Belgium podium.

Cholet - Pays De Loire

Just like Nokere-Koerse, Cholet - Pays De Loire also didn't end up in a mass sprint. And also just like Nokere-Koerse a group of 5 suprised the peloton, by finishing only 30 seconds infront of them. This time Taylor Phinney of Trek Livestrong was the smartest of the group, the American track world champion cyclist, used his individual pursuit skills and outsprinted his fellow escapees. Vadym Chumachenko of ISD - Sport Donetsk and Rory Sutherland of OUCH presented by Maxxis finished 2nd and 3rd, metres behind Phinney.

Rund um Köln

The 2009 edition of the German classic based around the city of Cologne, Rund um Köln was raced with a weakened field, as professional teams did not send their stars. Tinkoff Credit Systems on the other hand, did come with a strong team including Heinrich Haussler (proud holder of the UCI Europe Tour leader jersey) and Yukiya Arashiro and therefore we were the favorite from the start. The two ProTour teams Team Milram and Bbox Bouygues Telecom, who just like us wanted a mass sprint, controled the race most of the time. But since both teams aren't as strong as Team Columbia the mass sprint was quite chaotic.

With 4 km to go, three "trains" were formed. Yukiya Arashiro, who was protecting Heinrich Haussler all day, directed our German Sprinter to his wheel and with his last effort brought Heinrich to the rear wheel of Giovanni Bernaudeau of Bbox Bouygues Telecom. Then with only 1500 metres to go Haussler was in perfect position and started to sprint, he first overtoke Bernaudeau and then started gaining up on Francisco Rivera of Amica Chips - Knauf, who still was in the lead. With a strong explosion, Heinrich Haussler got infront of Rivera and even had time to celebrate this great win, by raising his arms which led to this beautiful finishphoto (Rivera finished 2nd and Bernaudeau got 3rd).

Story

The races we didn't participate in: Tirreno-Adriatico 2009 started this year with three flat stages, the 1st one was won by the sprinter of Team Garmin - Chipotle: Tyler Farrar. Tom Boonen of Quick Step and Nicolas Roche of Ag2r La Mondiale won the 2nd and 3rd stage. Stage 4 was the first hilly stage from Foligno to Montelupone, the top favorite Alejandro Valverde Belmonte of Caisse d'Epargne showed that he still is the fastest of the peloton when it comes down to uphill sprints and won quite easily. The day after Valverde's dominance, another specialist showed his world class skills: Fabian Cancellara of Team Saxo Bank won the time trial of 33.4km. The 6th stage was again Valverde time: he and Fränk Schleck were the strongest that day and together sprinted for the vitory, no suprise; Alejandro Valverde Belmonte of Caisse d'Epargne won the mountain stage by outsprinting Schleck and with this win secured his overal ranking. The last stage a sprint in San Benedetto del Tronto was won by Tyler Farrar of Team Garmin - Chipotle (his second win during this race of the two seas).

The Volta ao Distrito de Santarém 2009 a stage race held annually in the District of Santárem, Portugal consisted this year of three flat stage (stage 1, 2 and 4) and an individual time trial. The three flat stages all ended up in mass sprints: Allesandro Proni of ISD - Neri won the first one, Klaas Lodewyck of Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator came in first during the other two flat stages. The winner of Stage 3 (the individual time trial of 21.9km) Kristof Vandewalle of Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator, was also the winner of Volta ao Distrito de Santarém. It was the first vitory by Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator this year, after a bad pre-season.

The longest professional one-day race of 2009, Milano-Sanremo (la classica di Primavera) celebrated it's 100th edition of the sprinters' classic. The condition were really good this year for the sprinters; good weather and no accidents and therefore ended up in a majestic mass sprint. Mark Cavendish of Team Columbia - HTC, who was expected to fall behind during the Cipressa and Poggio, showed the world today that he also can win long classics. He won by a narrow margin to Daniele Benatti of Liquigas and Óscar Freire Gomez of Rabobank. the full top-10: Cavendish, Benatti, Freire, Chicchi, Farrar, Boonen, O'Grady, Haedo, McEwen and Greipel. The other sprinters like Koldo, Davis, Napolitano and Brown didn't finished in the first group but 3 minutes later in the other big pack.

Announcement

As mentioned before Yukiya Arashiro was fully healed in mid March and already rode three races after his come back. He used Nokere-Koerse and Cholet - Pays De Loire to get back into the race shape, during Rund um Köln he was the ultimate teammate for Heinrich Haussler by setting him up perfectly for the sprint. Also during this period we achieved our fist sponsor goal by winning Paris - Nice! Next goal is winning the Scheldeprijs, Heinrich Haussler will be our leader for this Belgian cobble semi classic race. Futhermore we received wildcards for two other Belgium classics: Ronde van Vlaanderen and Gent - Wevelgem.

Race program for end of March 2009

*26.03.2009 BEL 1.1 Dwars door Vlaanderen

*29.03.2009 FRA 2.HC Critérium International

*30.03.2009 BEL 1.HC E3 Prijs Vlaanderen - Harelbeke

*31.03.2009 BEL 1.1 De Brabantse Pijl

2009 Part 1 March

Program

*02.03.2009 BEL 1.1 Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne

*05.03.2009 BEL 1.1 Le Samyn

*08.03.2009 ITA 1.1 Monte Paschi Strade Bianche Eroica Toscana

*09.03.2009 FRA HIS Paris - Nice

Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne

Rain, wind, flat tires, slippery roads, crashes, cobbles; yes, Oleg Tinkov's favorite part of the year has started: The Belgian Cycling Season! Unfortunately we weren't invited for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, but the other cobble race of the weekend: Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne had already given us a warm welcome in the press releases and with Heinrich Haussler of Tinkoff Credit Systems in top shape, we were considered one of the favorite teams to take control in this annual classical single-day road race in Belgium.

Because of the harsh conditions, the peloton was already reduces to 85 riders after 85km and thanks to the Kruisberg and the Oude Kwaremont, a first group was formed of 20 riders (including all favorites). With only 21km to go (2 local laps), Alessandro Ballan of Lampre, Tom Boonen of Quick Step, Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni of Rabobank and George Hincapié Garcés of Team Columbia - HTC crashed right in front of Heinrich Haussler. Lucky for us Haussler was able to stay on his bike, as were Stijn Devolder of Quick Step and Martijn Maaskant of Team Garmin - Chipotle.

The three of them (Devolder, Maaskant and Haussler), all smart riders, understood rightaway that they were going to be on the podium, only in what order wasn't clear yet. And although Haussler was the favorite for winning the sprint Stijn Devolder was stronger today and by placing a surprise attack was able to leave his fellow escapees behind and won Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne solo. Heinrich Haussler got 2nd (just like the Tour Cycliste International du Haut Var), Martijn Maaskant was very happy to become 3rd is this classic cobble race.

Le Samyn

The Memorial José Samyn (also know as Le Samyn), the single-day race for sprinters, was a good race for our young Russian talents. Leon Byasov, Nazar Demin, Lubomir Muradymov, Rais Zakharenko, Carl Badyuk, Lubomir Talikov, Manolis Kalinichenko and Yaroslav Vasichenko weren't able to play a role in the final part of the race but still they all finished in the first big pack. The race ended in a mass sprint, Danilo Hondo, the old sprinter of PSK Whirlpool - Author, won the sprint just inches in front of Greg Henderson of Team Columbia - HTC and Kurt Hovelijnck of Quick Step.

Monte Paschi Strade Bianche Eroica Toscana

Monte Paschi Eroica, the warm weather precursor of the cobbled classics of the north, were the field is usually made up of riders who will take part in the Tirreno Adriatico, could be a perfect race for Heinrich Haussler of Tinkoff Credit Systems. The participated teams didn't arrive in full strength, also a lot of good cobble riders aren't participating in the Eroica, but prefer the 3-daagse van West-Vlaanderen instead. Heinrich Haussler, thanks to his second place in Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne the leader of the UCI Continental Tour, got to wear his UCI Continental leader jersey for the first time. We didn't have enough time to create a custom jersey, so for now he just wears a jersey provided by the UCI over his default outfit.

Tinkoff Credit Systems made the race hard, by making sure the peloton kept a fast-pace all the time. Alot of riders had extreme difficulty to keep up with a fast pace and with 50km still to go, there were only 50 riders left in the first big group. Numerous attacks followed because our young riders couldn't keep the fast pace forever, making it possible to attack. Fastly a group of 6 riders left the big pack, Heinrich Haussler was one of them.

Then at the last gravel stretch of 1.1 km (12 km until the finishline) Heinrich Haussler of Tinkoff Credit Systems placed a last attack and was able to finish solo, what a great win! In the sprint behind Haussler, Gerben Löwik of Vacansoleil toke the 2nd place, Ceramica Flaminia - Bossini Docce's rider Leonardo Giordani got 3rd.

Paris - Nice

Just like last year "the race to the sun" started with a prologue in Amilly (9.3km) and because Tinkoff Credit Systems has as sponsor goal to win Parice - Nice, it was important for Robert Gesink to ride a good time trial. And he did quite well finishing 22th, 26 seconds behind the winner of today: José Iván Gutiérrez Palacios of Caisse d'Epargne. Lars Boom and Stijn Devolder (Rabobank and Quick Step) also rode very fast and ended up 2nd and 3rd (6 and 16 seconds behind Gutiérrez). All favorites for the yellow in Nice did ok and didn't loose must time. So a good start for Gesink, let's hope he can compete with the other big riders during the mountian/hilly stages.

Story

The races we didn't participate in: Omloop het Nieuwsblad was won by Koen Barbé of Landbouwkrediet - Colnago, he outsprinted his fellow escaper Johan Vansummeren of Lilence-Lotto, Tom Boonen of Quick Step won the peloton sprint (the peloton arrived one minute later).

At the same day the Clásica de Almería was on the calendar, the race ended in a mass sprint, Luis Leon Sánchez Gil of Caisse d'Epargne won his helper Pablo Lastras García got 2nd, the first non-caisse rider was Mikel Gaztañaga Echeverria of Contentpolis-Ampo he finished 3rd and completed the 100% Spanish podium.

Damiano Cunego won the Early-March Swiss single-day race Gran Premio di Lugano, he finished infront of the Caisse d'Epargne riders Vasil Kiryienka and Alejandro Valverde Belmonte.

Luis Leon Sánchez Gil of Caisse d'Epargne, who already won the Clásica de Almería, also came out first in the 2009 edition of the Vuelta Ciclista a la Región de Murcia. He won the 4th stage and the general rankings. The other stage winners were Raúl García de Mateos Rubio of Andorra-Grandvalira (stage 1), Javier Benitez Pomares of Contentpolis-Ampo (stage 2 and 5), the 3rd stage a individual time trial of 16km was won by Denis Nikolayevich Menchov of Rabobank.

The Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen 2009 was, as often, decided in the final stage: a 16km long individual time trial. Bert Grabsch of Team Columbia - HTC both won the stage and the general rankings. Steven de Jongh of Quick Step and Klaas Lodewyck of Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator won the first two stages, both pelotonsprints.

Announcement

As mentioned before Tinkoff Credit Systems didn't received a wildcard for Milano-Sanremo. But during the press conference where this sad news was mentioned by Oleg Tinkov, we still had some good news with another announcement: Dmitry Kozoriz will join us next year, he is a 21 year's old Russian rider, who has won a lot of climb stages as a junior. Hopefully he will become a good helper during mountain stages for Robert gesink and Roman Kreuziger next season.

Race program for second half of February 2009

*09.03.2009 FRA HIS Paris - Nice

*20.03.2009 BEL 1.1 Nokere-Koerse

*23.03.2009 FRA 1.1 Cholet - Pays De Loire

*24.03.2009 GER 1.1 Rund um Köln

*26.03.2009 BEL 1.1 Dwars door Vlaanderen

*29.03.2009 FRA 2.HC Critérium International

*30.03.2009 BEL 1.HC E3 Prijs Vlaanderen - Harelbeke

*31.03.2009 BEL 1.1 De Brabantse Pijl

2009 Part 2 February

Program

*15.02.2009 ESP 2.1 Vuelta a Andalucía (Ruta Ciclista Del Sol)

*21.02.2009 ITA 1.1 Trofeo Laigueglia

*24.02.2009 FRA 2.1 Tour Cycliste International du Haut Var

Vuelta a Andalucía (Ruta Ciclista Del Sol)

The Route of the Sun started this year with a individual time trial of 9.7km. Robert Gesink of Tinkoff Credit Systems, our leader for this stage race, had a fairly good time trial and finish 10th, 31 seconds behind José Iván Gutiérrez Palacios of Caisse d'Epargne. Stage 2 and 3 both ended up in a masssprint: Heinrich Hausler of Tinkoff Credit Systems finished 2nd and 4th in the sprint battles, the first one was won by Mikel Gaztañaga Echevarria of Contentpolis-Ampo, the second one by Graeme Allen Brown of Rabobank.

After those two flat stages it was José Iván Gutiérrez Palacios time again, in the 4th Stage he was able to leave all of his opponents behind and finished solo, 30 seconds before the pursuing group. The last stage, was the only mountain stage of the Ruta Ciclista Del Sol, not much happened until the last climb, then Robert Gesink of Tinkoff Credit Systems attacked and managed to reach the top of the mountain solo with a minute advantage of the other favorites. In the downhill to the finishline the chasing group behind Rober Gesink got really close, but they were just seconds too late to grap him. And therefore Gesink was able to celebrate his first win of the season!

José Iván Gutiérrez Palacios of Caisse d'Epargne, who finished 2nd behind Robert Gesink, kept his leader's jersey during the whole Vuelta a Andalucía and also had the most sprinter's points after 5 stages, Robert Gesink ended up 4th in the general rankings, but thanks to his win today, he still won a jersey: the King of the Mountain jersey! Lars Boom of Rabobank was best qualified of the young riders.

Trofeo Laigueglia

The 46th edition of the Trofeo Laigueglia was a bad race for Tinkoff Credit Systems, because Yukiya Arashiro fell hard and broke his wrist. Also Heinrich Hausler couldn't do much and finished 23th in the big pack.

There was some good news though: the evening before Trofeo Laigueglia, Tinkoff Credit Systems received a wildcard for Paris - Nice (see Announcement)! And although Robert Gesink was of the startlist of the Trofeo Laigueglia, he decided not to participate, so he could a few training sessions on the Paris - Nice route. Bytheway Frederik Ericsson of Team Capinordic won the Trofeo Laigueglia.

Tour Cycliste International du Haut Var

This year the early-season single-day race in the Provence (France), had a strong startlist, especially Caisse d'Epargne arrived with a strong team and controlled practically the whole race. A breakaway group of 10 riders was given permission to ride, but when the race entered the last 30km Caisse d'Epargne wheeled them back in. After that an explosion of attacks followed, which ended up in a group of 15 riders including Heinrich Hausler of Tinkoff Credit Systems.

With only 10km to go, Heinrich Hausler attacked again, Caisse d'Epargne sended two riders after him and with only 6km to go José Iván Gutiérrez Palacios and Joaquim Rodríguez Oliver joined Heinrich Hausler on his way to the finishline. Caisse d'Epargne played it smart by constantly attacking, and therefore putting Heinrich Hausler in the defence all the time. In the sprint José Iván Gutiérrez Palacios suprised Heinrich Hausler with a slow looking attack, Heinrich Hausler got close but unfortunately for us finished 2nd. The other Caisse d'Epargne rider (Joaquim Rodríguez Oliver) finished 3rd.

Story

The races we didn't participate in: The Giro della Provincia di Grosseto was won by Domenico Pozzovivo of CSF Group Navigarre (he won the last stage), Sergio Laganà of LPR Brakes Farnese Vini won the first one and the second stage was won by Angelo Furlan of Lampre - N.G.C.

The Tour Méditerranéen Cycliste Professionnel was easily won by David Moncoutié of Cofidis le Crédit en Ligne by winning the only hilly stage of the tour (stage 3), Wouter Weylandt of Quick Step won twice (stage 1 and 2) both were masssprints.

The Amgen Tour of California started with a prologue of 5.4km which became a prey for the father of Giuliana: Fabian Cancellara of Team Saxo Bank. Stage 2, 5 and 6 (all flat stages) were won by the sprinter of Team Garmin - Chipotle: Tyler Farrar. The oldest of the Schleck brothers: Fränk Schleck of Team Saxo Bank won the first hilly stage (stage 3), also the 4th stage was won by Team Saxo Bank, this time it was Alexandr Viktorovich Kolobnev who finished first. Stage 7, a time trial of 24.5km was won (what a suprise) again by Fabian Cancellara of Team Saxo Bank. Christian Müller of Amore & Vita - McDonald's and Angel Madrazo Ruiz of Caisse D'Epargne (stage 8 and 9) completed the stage winnerlist. Strangely the overall winner wasn't amongst the stage winners: Sérgio Miguel Paulinho Moreira of Astana didn't won any stage but he was able to ride good time trials and was always in the front during the hilly stages and therefore won the Amgen Tour of California.

The Volta ao Algarve was a two-man show: Mark Cavendish of Team Columbia - HTC won all the flat races (stage 1, 2 and 5). Sylvain Chavanel of Quick Step won the other two stages (time trial and uphill finish) and with those two stage victories, was able the win the Volta ao Algarve, leaving the other riders far behind.

The three flat stages of the Giro di Sardegna all ended up in masssprints and had a different winner everytime: Stage 1 was won by Borut Božič of Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team, Stage 4 Takashi Miyazawa of Amica Chips - Knauf finished first and last stage was a prey for the old italian sprinter Alberto Loddo of Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli. Luca Paolini of Acqua & Sapone - Caffè Mokambo became the overall winner by winning both hilly stages 2 and 3.

Calendar

Announcement

As mentioned before Tinkoff Credit Systems received a wildcard for Paris - Nice, of course this will be the most important race for March, because it's also a Sponsor Goal (winning Paris - Nice). And we have more good news: Roman Khvostov will join us next year, he is a 19 year's old Russian rider, who has won a lot of stage races as a junior. Hopefully he can adapt fastly to the European lifestyle of professionals, his primairly goal for the first year will be: becoming a good helper during mountain stages for Robert gesink and Roman Kreuziger.

Race program for March 2009

*02.03.2009 BEL 1.1 Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne

*05.03.2009 BEL 1.1 Le Samyn

*08.03.2009 ITA 1.1 Monte Paschi Strade Bianche Eroica Toscana

*09.03.2009 FRA HIS Paris - Nice

*20.03.2009 BEL 1.1 Nokere-Koerse

*22.03.2009 ITA HIS Milano-Sanremo

*23.03.2009 FRA 1.1 Cholet - Pays De Loire

*24.03.2009 GER 1.1 Rund um Köln

*26.03.2009 BEL 1.1 Dwars door Vlaanderen

*29.03.2009 FRA 2.HC Critérium International

*30.03.2009 BEL 1.HC E3 Prijs Vlaanderen - Harelbeke

*31.03.2009 BEL 1.1 De Brabantse Pijl

Veramente una bella storia solo ke se fosse in italiano sarebbe meglio, ma mi accontento

Installare l'ultima versione di Google Toolbar con la traduzione automatica e l'intero topic si Italiane!

Announcement

During the first stage (individual time trial) of the Vuelta a Andalucía (Ruta Ciclista Del Sol) we will ride, for the first time, on special designed equipment. Here's a preview:

2009 Part 1 February

Program

*03.02.2009 FRA 1.1 Grand Prix Cycliste la Marseillaise

*04.02.2009 MAS 2.HC Le Tour de Langkawi

*09.02.2009 ITA 1.1 Gran Premio Costa degli Etruschi

*10.02.2009 ESP 1.1 Cinturón Ciclista Internacional A Mallorca

Grand Prix Cycliste la Marseillaise

The first race of the year was quite successful, since we got a lot of media attention. Arashiro was our leader for the Grand Prix Cycliste la Marseillaise. Tinkoff Credit Systems was able to control the race most of the time. A group of 5 riders went for adventure, but we never let them get more then a 3 munites lead. We got help along the way of Française des Jeux and AG2R La Mondiale, because they were also aiming for a masssprint.

Everything was going as planned until Thomas Voeckler of Bbox Bouygues Télécom place an attack with only 8km left to go, both Tinkoff Credit Systems and Française des Jeux tried to get back to Voeckler intime, but unfortunately for us Voeckler was able to stay ahead of the peloton and arrived solo at the finisline.

In the pelotonsprint behind Thomas Voeckler, Yukiya Arashiro only had to let Guillaume Blot of Cofidis pass him. So Arashiro managed to get on the podium, and for our first race that was quite exciting. Since the main goal of the pre-season is getting our team in the media to ensure ProTour race invitations lateron.

Le Tour de Langkawi

For Le Tour de Langkawi our goal was to try to take a stage win back home, futhermore Roman Kreuziger is using this stage race to get inshape and maybe he will be able to ride a good result (general rankings). Enrico Zen of CSF Navigare, Sebastiaan Siedler of Voralberg - Corratec, Bert de Waele and Denis Flahaut both of Landbouwkrediet - Colnago were the stage winners of the first four stages. Denis Flahaut also won the 5th, 7th and 9th stage and also Enrico Zen of CSF Navigare won more then one stage during this year's edition of Le Tour de Langkawi by winning the 6th stage.

Normally the 8th stage decides the outcome of Langkawi. But this time Enrico Zen's already gained enough time between him and the other favorites. Never the less Roman Kreuziger marked this stage in his agenda, and he did what he promised himself earlier that morning: Winning the stage solo! Our first win this season looked really easy, but Kreuziger had to deal with really good riders at the end of the race (like Johann Tschopp of Bbox Bouygues Télécom). But Roman is in good shape early this season and therefore was able to get rid of all the other riders during the last climb.

Enrico Zen of CSF Navigare finished a minute later but at the end, he won Le Tour de Langkawi, staying ahead of the Landbouwkrediet - Colnage duo Denis Flahaut and Bert de Waele.

Gran Premio Costa degli Etruschi

Heinrich Hausler was the top favorite for this year's edition of the Gran Premio Costa degli Etruschi because there weren't many other sprinter's around this year.

As expected the race ended up in a masssprint and Heinrich Hausler lived up to the expectations by winning the sprint quite easily. Oleg Tinkov was vey happy with this second win of the season and proudly filled in the paperwork for a wildcard for Paris - Nice the dayafter.

Cinturón Ciclista Internacional A Mallorca

During this stage race Tinkoff wasn't able to achieve much, Yukiya Arashiro put some top-10 on his Palmares and our Russian young talents had good conditions to get adjusted more and more to the life of a professional cyclist.

Kim Kirchen of Team Columbia - HTC won the 3rd and 4th stage and became the overal winner of the Cinturón Ciclista Internacional A Mallorca. Also the 1st and 2nd stage was won by a Team Columbia - HTC rider: André Greipel. The only non Team Columbia - HTC stage winner of the Cinturón Ciclista Internacional A Mallorca 2009 was Carlos Barredo Llamazales of Quick Step, he was the fastest uphill during the last stage.

Story

Next to the races mentioned above there was one race we didn't participate in: Etoile de Bessèges, as the new reports tells us, Martin Elmiger of Ag2r La Mondiale won the 4th stage and the general rankings of the "Etoile". The other stage winners were Lloyd Mondory of Ag2r La Mondiale, Jimmy Casper of Besson Chaussures-Sojasun twice and Mikel Gaztañaga Echeverria of Contentpolis-Ampo.

Race program for second half of February 2009

*15.02.2009 ESP 2.1 Vuelta a Andalucía (Ruta Ciclista Del Sol)

*21.02.2009 ITA 1.1 Trofeo Laigueglia

*24.02.2009 FRA 2.1 Tour Cycliste International du Haut Var

2009 January

Program

During the month January we didn't participate in any race. Instead we talked with the riders about their Fitness Training Schedules, Specialisations, Training Types and Contracts. Our pre-season trainingcamps toke place in Italia: Lucca.

Story

Michael Rogers of Team Columbia - HTC won the 2009 Australian National Championship Road Race, he outsprinted his fellow escaper Mitchell Docker of Skil-Shimano, the peloton arrived one minute later.

The Tour Down Under 2009 was dominated by Mark Cavendish of Team Columbia - HTC who won 4 Stages (1st, 3rd, 4th and 6th). But Stijn Devolder of Quick Step (who won the 2nd Stage) came out as the general winner of the Tour Down Under, followed by another Belgium rider, only 2 seconds behind the leader, Björn Leukemans of Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team (5th Stage winner).

Quick Step continued their good spirit by winning the first Stage of the Tour of Qatar 2009, a Team Time Trial of 12km, mainly because of the strong legs of Dominique Cornu. Also Team Columbia - HTC toke another stage win: George Hincapie won the 2nd stage by suprising the peloton in the last 5km. David De La Fuenta of Fuij-Servetto, copied Hincapie's trick the day after, by doing the same but then during the last 3km. Then finally the 4th stage ended up in a mass sprint which was won by Tyler Farrar of Garmin - Slipstream, also the last stgae was won by Tyler Farrar. Marcus Burghardt of Team Columbia - HTC won the 5th Stage, by finishing ahead of his two fellow escapers and with that win he toke control in the general rankings.

Calendar

Race program for February 2009

*03.02.2009 FRA 1.1 Grand Prix Cycliste la Marseillaise

*04.02.2009 MAS 2.HC Le Tour de Langkawi

*09.02.2009 ITA 1.1 Gran Premio Costa degli Etruschi

*10.02.2009 ESP 1.1 Cinturón Ciclista Internacional A Mallorca

*15.02.2009 ESP 2.1 Vuelta a Andalucía (Ruta Ciclista Del Sol)

*21.02.2009 ITA 1.1 Trofeo Laigueglia

*24.02.2009 FRA 2.1 Tour Cycliste International du Haut Var

2009 Intro Part 2

Sponsors

Important races for our sponsors (Cervélo and VIZLEFX.COM) are Volta Ciclista a Catalunya and La Flèche Wallonne. Futhermore we hope to promote to the ProTour at the end of the season. If not this season then definitely the season after this one.

National Team

Oleg Tinkov is also President of the Russian Cycling Federation. The Russian Cycling Federation or ФВСР (in Russian: Федерации велосипедного спорта России) is the national governing body of cycle racing in Russia. Its headquarters are located in Moscow. The ФВСР is a member of the UCI and the UEC.

Race program for 2009

*03.02.2009 FRA 1.1 Grand Prix Cycliste la Marseillaise

*04.02.2009 MAS 2.HC Le Tour de Langkawi

*09.02.2009 ITA 1.1 Gran Premio Costa degli Etruschi

*10.02.2009 ESP 1.1 Cinturón Ciclista Internacional A Mallorca

*15.02.2009 ESP 2.1 Vuelta a Andalucía (Ruta Ciclista Del Sol)

*21.02.2009 ITA 1.1 Trofeo Laigueglia

*24.02.2009 FRA 2.1 Tour Cycliste International du Haut Var

2009 Intro Part 1

Info

Tinkoff Credit Systems (UCI Team Code: TCS) is a continental cycling team based in Russia, racing in UCI Continental Circuits races and when selected as a wildcard to UCI ProTour events. The team is financed by Russian businessman Oleg Tinkov.

Manager

Oleg Tinkov

Squad

Tinkoff Credit Systems emerged from the 2006 Continental team Tinkoff Restaurants, which was based in Russia and employed Russian cyclists. Of the 16 cyclists employed by the team, 12 are Russian. Next to the 12 Russian talents we have 4 leaders in the team, Heinrich Haussler (Classics), Roman Kreuziger (Stage Races), Robert Gesink (Stage Races) and Yukiya Arashiro (Sprinter)

Heinrich Haussler (Classics)

Roman Kreuziger (Stage Races)

Robert Gesink (Stage Races)

Yukiya Arashiro (Sprinter)

Gear

Owner Oleg Tinkoff has worked hard to build links with the Worldwide cycling community, which will hopefully meanwildcard invites to the major races. Tinkoff will use Cervélo Bikes this year, SRAM S80 Wheels, Vision TriMax Discs and Giro Helmets. This standard gear is often replaced by special editions made by VIZLEFX.COM, for example the special edition of the "Tinkoff Credit Systems - VIZLEFX.COM" frame by Fuij Bikes.

Scouting

For the scouting we will mainly focus us on Russia. Our pre-season trainingcamps will take place in Italia: Lucca.

Goals

The season goals for this year are as follows: Win Scheldeprijs, Paris - Nice, La Flèche Wallonne, Volta Ciclista a Catalunya and finish in the top 5 of the Tour de France

General Settings

Game

Pro Cycling Manager 2009

Difficulty level

Hard

Patch

v1.0.3.3

Database

VIZLEFXDB09

To all present and future VIZLFEFX fans,

2009 is now upon us and it’s time to start a new era in PCM graphics, it’s a big time at Vizlefx Interactive™ and plenty to shout about! This Friday the 2009 edition of the Tour Down Under will be available to download. OlegTinkov and rjcleaver have put together their version of the Tour Down Under, for now it will just be the stages but you’ll get a whole load more when the database is released! Our stages will be enhanced for the database to make you feel like you are in the real race itself, photographers, realistic sponsor kits and real out back wildlife! So join the site and we hope that you will feel the rush too!

But that’s not all! On the same night we are looking at getting out 500th member! And for this lucky member we not only have a special VIZLAvatar but we are also giving away a free VIZLEFX T-Shirt to celebrate the upcoming year VIZLEFX has to offer. Oh and did I mention you’ll get a pick of colour too!

But wait there’s even more! As we've mentioned in the months leading up to the end of last year and again this year, VIZLCompetitions have begun. All registered members up to December 31st 2008, are eligible to win cash and prizes, from Feb to July 2009 inclusive. Our first competition begins this month. The Winner of Stage 3 of the Tour of California 2009. - The Nation of the winning rider, an equivalent member must be registered, have Paypal access, be 16 yrs or older and be an active member. If you are chosen, the prize will be 10 Euros!

Thankyou for your attention.

The VIZLEFX Team

Small VIZLDB2009 Update:

With more and more information coming in about the cycling season 2009; the Graphical Team (Roadie, Josu, Smoothie, Ivancin and Cunego) has begun making 2009 jerseys/frames/etc. Although the main focus of the VIZLDB2009 is on graphics, we can quarantine the database itself (OlegTinkov), stats (Ruben) and stages (rjcleaver) will be of the same high quality as all the other VIZLEFX products.

Also since we are working on the track cycling part of the db, we would like to know; What should be the focus of the track cycling, for the VIZLDB2009? Should the focus be on Graphical, Riders or a nice mix of both!

Some works will be pre-released before the release of the DB, like for example the standard Tour Down Under 2009 (release Friday the 13th of February), but for the VIZLFX Enhanced Version of the Tour Down Under 2009 you will have to wait until the VIZLEDB09 is released.

Here are some screenshots of the Tour Down Under 2009 Enhanced:

Stage 6

Stage 5

Stage 4

Some screens of the VIZLEFXDB09:

Work has begun on total completion of the VIZLTour de France 2008. It's expected to be completed by February 16th and be available for upload around 8.00pm (Euro time) only to VIZLEFXInteractive Members.

Also as we get closer to the launch of our new website, we'd like to formally announce, that VIZLEFX will also be launching several new Forums. The current PCM Forum will remain as it is throughout the remainder of 2009. We will lauch 2 accompanying Forums, for our new game titles, Elite Cyclist and Extreme Mountainbike.

See you soon @ VIZLEFX!

Question: Does anyone have a savegame for me, just before the national championships starts? If you have and you want to share it with me, please pm me. Doesn't have to be an ASODB savegame, could also be a savegame from an other DB, as long as this db has not added additional championships.

Thanks in advance,

OlegTinkov

On behalf of VizleFX crew, I want to wish Cycling-Manager.it a happy 2009!

Bytheway, you have only 5 days more days to register at VIZLEFXInteractive, for VIZLMoney Competitions in 2009. You have until Dec 31st at 11.59pm to be in the running for cash and prizes. Terms and Conditions are available on the VizleFX forum in Announcements topic. All submissions after this date will not be elligible.

As VIZLEFX winds down for the holiday period and the end of 2008. Here is a little sample of what our members can expect in 2009

Hi all,

Just a small note that in addition of the VIZLGiro d'Italia 2008, we released the VIZLVehicles 2008 - Edition 1 (Giro).

Also the VizleFX Critérium International 2008 is up for download. Futhermore I would like to add that our requests topic is open for business. So see you soon @ VizleFX

A.S.O.DB 2008 v2.0.2.3 Community RELEASED!

First install A.S.O.DB 2008 v2.0.2.3 Final

- 0. Install Pro Cycling Manager 2008 + latest patch

- 0a. Download - Patch v1.0.2.3 1 (focus-files)

- 0b. Download - Patch v1.0.2.3 2 (cyanide-studio)

- 0c. Download - Patch v1.0.2.3 3 (PCMdaily)

- 0d. Download - Patch v1.0.2.3 4 (PCMGeeks)

- 0e. Download - Patch v1.0.2.3 5 (PCMScandinavia)

- 1. Download the "A.S.O.DB 2008 v2.0.2.3 Final.rar" and save it on your desktop

- 1a. Download A.S.O.DB 2008 v2.0.2.3 Final 1 (PCM Benelux)

- 1b. Download A.S.O.DB 2008 v2.0.2.3 Final 2 (PCMdaily)

- 1c. Download A.S.O.DB 2008 v2.0.2.3 Final 3 (PCMGeeks)

- 1d. Download A.S.O.DB 2008 v2.0.2.3 Final 4 (PCMScandinavia)

- 2. Unzip the "A.S.O.DB 2008 v2.0.2.3 Final.rar" on your desktop

- 2a. Delete your "Cache" folder, you can do this automatically by running the "Cache emptier for PCM08.exe" (included in the "A.S.O.DB 2008 v2.0.2.3 Final.rar")

- 2b. Run the "A.S.O.DB 2008 v2.0.2.3 Final.exe" and follow the instructions. Note: standard the DB is installed in C:\Program Files\Cyanide\Pro Cycling Manager - Season 2008 but if you have installed PCM08 in a other map then you should choose that map during the installation

Then install A.S.O.DB 2008 v2.0.2.3 Community

- 5. Download the "A.S.O.DB 2008 v2.0.2.3 Community.rar" and save it on your desktop

- 5a. Download A.S.O.DB 2008 v2.0.2.3 Community 1 (PCM Benelux)

- 5b. Download A.S.O.DB 2008 v2.0.2.3 Community 2 (PCMdaily)

- 5c. Download A.S.O.DB 2008 v2.0.2.3 Community 3 (PCMGeeks)

- 5d. Download A.S.O.DB 2008 v2.0.2.3 Community 4 (PCMScandinavia)

- 6. Unzip the "A.S.O.DB 2008 v2.0.2.3 Community.rar" on your desktop

- 6a. Delete your "Cache" folder, you can do this automatically by running the "Cache emptier for PCM08.exe" (included in the "A.S.O.DB 2008 v2.0.2.3 Final.rar")

- 6b. Run the "A.S.O.DB 2008 v2.0.2.3 Final to Community.exe" and follow the instructions. Note: standard the DB is installed in C:\Program Files\Cyanide\Pro Cycling Manager - Season 2008 but if you have installed PCM08 in a other map then you should choose that map during the installation

Enjoy!!!

Già disponibili

Disponibile dal 7 novembre 2008

Almost ready to be released!

A.S.O.DB 2008 v2.0.2.3 Final Community Screenshots

Screenshot 4 - Even More Jerseys

A.S.O.DB 2008 v2.0.2.3 Final Community Screenshots

Screenshot 1 - Teams

Screenshot 2 - Jerseys

Screenshot 3 - More Jerseys and Logos

Perchè il link non funziona? Solo quello è il link corretto da scaricare o ce ne sono altri(file)?

PCM Benelux è temporaneo in giù, provi questo quelle ->

- 1a. Download A.S.O.DB 2008 v2.0.2.3 Final (PCMdaily)

- 1b. Download A.S.O.DB 2008 v2.0.2.3 Final (PCMGeeks)

- 1c. Download A.S.O.DB 2008 v2.0.2.3 Final (PCMScandinavia)

ma quale file dovrei scaricare???? ce ne sono infiniti!!!

Prima questo ke è la versione base!!Link 1

Poi questa ke è la versione 2.0.2.3. xxx

e poi al giro ci sono le varie startlist dei 3 grandi giri

Hai solo bisogno di questo -> Link 1

savegames e startlists sono opzionali -> Link 1 and Link 1

On request: