2010 Cervélo TestTeam season

Manager

Joop Alberda

One-day victories

Stage race overall victories

–

Stage race stage victories

2009 Cervélo TestTeam season

The 2009 season for the , its first, began in February with the Tour of Qatar and ended in October with the Giro di Lombardia. Though they applied for UCI ProTour status after their formation, the team competed in 2009 as a UCI Professional Continental team with wildcard status...

The 2010 season for the , its second and final, began in February with the Étoile de Bessèges

Étoile de Bessèges

The Étoile de Bessèges is an early-season five-day road bicycle racing stage race held annually in Southern France, around Bessèges. Since 2005, it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour and features as one of the first stage races of the European season.-Palmarès:...

and ended in October at the Giro di Lombardia

2010 Giro di Lombardia

The 2010 Giro di Lombardia was the 104th edition of this single day classic cycling race, colloquially known as the "Race of the Falling Leaves". The event took place 16 October 2010. It was the final event of the 2010 UCI World Ranking and the final major event of the 2010 road racing season...

. As they did in 2009, competed in 2010 as a UCI Professional Continental team with wildcard status, meaning they were eligible to be invited to any UCI ProTour

UCI ProTour

The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the UCI . Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, it comprises a number of 'ProTour' cycling teams, each of whom are required to compete in every round of the series...

event.

Most of the team's riders were retained from 2009, but the team experienced one major offseason change – the replacement of Thomas Campana as team manager with Joop Alberda.

2010 roster

Ages as of January 1, 2010

Riders who joined the team for the 2010 season

Rider	2009 team
Davide Appolonio	neo-pro
Theo Bos Theo Bos Theo Bos is a Dutch road cyclist and track cyclist, Olympic silver medalist and five-time world champion. He lives in Alkmaar, Netherlands. Theo Bos is the brother of Olympic medalist in speed skating Jan Bos. Bos rides for UCI ProTeam .-Early life:Theo Bos was born on 22 August 1983 in Hierden,...	continental team
João Correia
Stefan Denifl Stefan Denifl Stefan Denifl is a professional cyclist who is riding for the UCI ProTour team, .Denifl began the cycling in 2001 in the "Team Bike Denifl" as Mountain Biker. In 2003, he moved to the street in the "Team ÖAMTC Recheis Lattella". From 2004 he focused on road cycling...
Xavier Tondó Xavier Tondó Xavier Tondo Volpini was a Spanish professional road racing cyclist who specialized in mountain stages of bicycle races- Death :...

Riders who left the team during or after the 2009 season

Rider	2010 team
Daniel Fleeman Daniel Fleeman Daniel Fleeman is an English racing cyclist who rides for . He won the Tour des Pyrenées in 2008 with An Post-Sean Kelly. In 2009 he was a member of the Cervélo Test Team.- Palmares :20042005...	Raleigh
Simon Gerrans Simon Gerrans Simon Gerrans is an Australian professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for the British UCI ProTour team, .-Biography:Gerrans was born in Melbourne, Victoria and grew up in Mansfield, Victoria....
José Ángel Gómez Marchante José Ángel Gómez Marchante José Ángel Gómez Marchante is a Spanish road bicycle racer for UCI Professional Continental team...
Serge Pauwels Serge Pauwels Serge Pauwels is a Belgian professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour .- Cycling career:Serge Pauwels' career kicked off in 2004 in the youth team of the Netherlands ProTour Team Rabobank. He also rode for their Continental team in 2004 and 2005...
Hayden Roulston Hayden Roulston Hayden Roulston, MNZM is a New Zealand professional racing cyclist for UCI ProTour team . He won the silver medal in the men's 4000 m individual pursuit and a bronze medal in the men's 4000 m team pursuit at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.Roulston was a talented junior rider on both road and...

Spring classics

The team entered the spring season with high hopes after having been successful in the classics in 2009. Hushovd's delayed season start meant that he was not at as strong of form for the traditional spring season opener, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, as he was in 2009 when he won it. Though he admitted that repeating his victory would be a longshot, he claimed the team had "four or five guys" who could win the race. The race was won by 's Juan Antonio Flecha

Juan Antonio Flecha

Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni is an Argentine-born Spanish professional road bicycle racer for the UCI ProTour team .-Career:...

in a solo breakaway, and Haussler won the 18-man sprint for second place 18 seconds behind him. The next day, the team claimed its first win of the season with Bos in the Clásica de Almería

Clásica de Almería

The Clásica de Almería is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in March in Almería, Spain, starting and finishing in Almería itself. Since 2005, the race is organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. Established in 1986, the race was run as an amateur event in its first six years...

. Though Bos had lost contact with the peloton near the beginning of the race, the work of Cuesta, Deignan, and Wyss brought him back. Along with Bos came Mark Cavendish

Mark Cavendish

Mark Cavendish MBE is a Manx professional road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTeam until the end of this season when the team is dissolved. He will join Team Sky at the start of the 2012 season...

, who the young Dutchman pipped at the line for the victory.

Stage races

The team's season began at the Étoile de Bessèges

Étoile de Bessèges

. This race was supposed to be Hushovd's season opener, but he pulled out days before it was run, citing illness. They did not get any victories at the event. Their next stage race was the Tour of Qatar

2010 Tour of Qatar

The 2010 Tour of Qatar was the ninth edition of the Tour of Qatar cycling stage race. It was rated as a 2.1 event on the UCI Asia Tour, and was held from 7 February to 12 February 2010, in Qatar. The race was won by Wouter Mol of .-Teams:...

, an event in which they were extremely successful in 2009 and thus had high expectations in 2010. In the opening stage team time trial

Team time trial

A team time trial is a road-based bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock .Teams start at equal intervals, usually two, three or four minutes apart...

, they originally finished second, 8 seconds behind stage winners , but were later assessed a minute penalty because Haussler pushed Rasch at one point. The team protested the penalty. Haussler denied he pushed Rasch at all, and sporting director Jens Zemke stated that the push was for Rasch's safety, to avoid a crash, and not to gain a competitive advantage. Nonetheless, the protest was denied, and the team was put into a distant last place because of the penalty. This effectively eliminated the general classification hopes for Haussler, who had finished second in this event in 2009. Zemke considered withdrawing the team from the race, but decided against it. Haussler vowed the team would continue to be combative, though a mistake made by Haussler in the sprint finish to stage 4 kept them from a possible victory. Just as he had in 2009, Haussler won the event's points classification without winning a stage, finishing eighth or higher (and second twice) in the five road race stages. The team had also recouped the minute penalty after the race's final stage and won the teams classification, also for the second year in a row.

Giro d'Italia

Team leader Sastre announced in December 2009 that he would return to the Giro after winning two stages and finishing fourth overall in the 2009 Giro d'Italia

2009 Giro d'Italia

The 2009 Giro d'Italia was the 92nd running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It was held from 9 to 31 May 2009, and marked the 100th year since the first edition of the race...

. In pre-race analyses, Sastre was frequently mentioned as a rider who could contend for overall victory.

Sastre was one of a great many riders to crash in the road race stages in the Netherlands which began the Giro. He was caught up in a big crash near the finish line of stage 2, though he did not himself fall from his bike, and lost 34 seconds to other contenders like Cadel Evans

Cadel Evans

Cadel Lee Evans is an Australian professional racing cyclist and winner of the 2011 Tour de France. Early in his career, Evans was a champion mountain biker, winning the World Cup in 1998 and 1999 and placing seventh in the men's cross-country mountain bike race at the 2000 Summer Olympics in...

and Ivan Basso

Ivan Basso

Ivan Basso is an Italian professional road bicycle racer who is currently racing with UCI ProTeam . Basso, nicknamed Ivan the Terrible, is among the best mountain riders in the professional field in the 21st century, and is considered one of the strongest stage race riders...

. Sastre fell in stage 3 and was 46 seconds back of the stage winner, and more importantly, fellow contenders Basso and Alexander Vinokourov

Alexander Vinokourov

Alexander Nikolaevich Vinokourov, also written Alexandre Vinokourov, is an ethnically Russian Kazakhstani professional road bicycle racer who currently competes with the UCI ProTeam Astana...

. Before the transfer to Italy, Sastre was in 43rd place in the overall standings, 1'40" behind race leader Vinokourov. The squad rode solidly in the stage 4 team time trial

Team time trial

A team time trial is a road-based bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock .Teams start at equal intervals, usually two, three or four minutes apart...

, coming home with six riders in a time that was good for fifth on the day. Sastre's troubles continued in stage 7 in Tuscany

Tuscany

Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....

. The route for the stage incorporated unpaved roads, and the day on which the stage was run happened to have heavy rainfall. This made the course muddy and very difficult. Sastre crashed multiple times, and crossed the finish line covered in mud over five minutes behind the other overall contenders. He was speculated to be completely out of overall contention at this point, sitting over seven minutes back of Vinokourov in the standings. Tondó, riding his first Giro, had been near the leaders in stage 7, but had dropped back to help Sastre to the finish. In stage 8, Sastre continued to struggle, and specifically released Tondó to ride his own race. Tondó rode most of the final climb to Monte Terminillo

Monte Terminillo

Monte Terminillo is a massif in the Monti Reatini, part of the Abruzzese Apennines range in central Italy. It is located some 20 km from Rieti and 100 km from Rome and has a highest altitude of ....

ahead of the pink jersey peloton and took third on the stage, while Sastre lost over a minute to the race's elite and fell to 8'10" back.

Stage 11 into L'Aquila

L'Aquila

L'Aquila is a city and comune in central Italy, both the capital city of the Abruzzo region and of the Province of L'Aquila. , it has a population of 73,150 inhabitants, but has a daily presence in the territory of 100,000 people for study, tertiary activities, jobs and tourism...

caused major changes in the overall standings. Over 50 riders formed a leading group ahead of the peloton, and this group held at one point an advantage of 20 minutes. Sastre, Tondó, Wyss, and Gustov all made this selection, and Wyss and Gustov joined riders from , , and in driving the leading group, since all four teams stood to have riders highly placed in the overall standings should the group stay away. The overall contenders took back some of the time from the leaders' biggest advantage, but still ceded nearly 13 minutes to them. The day's results put both Tondó and Sastre in the top ten overall, at fourth and eighth respectively. Both riders finished with the peloton in stage 14, which went over Monte Grappa, conceding over two minutes to race favorites like Basso and Vincenzo Nibali

Vincenzo Nibali

Vincenzo Nibali is an Italian professional road bicycle racer who rides UCI ProTeam . Born near the Strait of Messina, Nibali's nickname is the "shark of the strait" or simply "the shark." His first major win came at the 2006 GP Ouest-France, where he beat an impressive field on a tough course...

, but moving up to third and sixth overall. Tondó lost out on overall contention in the next stage, losing 25 minutes on Monte Zoncolan

Monte Zoncolan

Monte Zoncolan is a mountain in the Carnic Alps, located in the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. It is one of the most demanding climbs in professional road bicycle racing, having been used in the Giro d'Italia four times and the Giro Donne once...

. Sastre was sixth on this stage, 2'44" back of stage winner Basso. This put him in fourth overall before the uphill individual time trial

Individual time trial

An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials...

to Plan de Corones after the second rest day.

Sastre was unable to capitalize on this position, however. He was just 19th in the time trial, losing over a minute to his rivals. The next day's stage was conquered by a morning breakaway. Konovalovas had made the early split, but was unable to stay with the leaders to the finish in Pejo Terme

Peio

Peio is a comune in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 50 km northwest of Trento...

, finishing ninth on the day. Sastre lost five seconds at the finish line, but maintained fifth overall. In stage 19, Tondó again made a morning breakaway, but this group was not destined for success as were the leaders on the L'Aquila stage. They were caught on the Passo del Mortirolo

Passo del Mortirolo

The Mortirolo Pass is a high mountain pass in the Alps in Italy. Also known as Passo di Foppa, it connects Mazzo di Valtellina and Val Camonica...

by the -led main group. 's support riders rode a strong tempo that made others fall from the pace held by Basso, Nibali, and Michele Scarponi

Michele Scarponi

Michele Scarponi is an Italian professional road bicycle racer, currently riding for UCI ProTeam .In 2006, Scarponi was implicated in the Operación Puerto doping case...

. Sastre was among the many riders to fall. Between the Mortirolo and the stage-ending climb of Aprica

Aprica

Aprica is a town and comune in the province of Sondrio, Lombardy, northern Italy. It is located on the eponymous pass, the most favourable one connecting Valtellina to Val Camonica.Its main activity is winter tourism.-External links:* * *...

, Sastre and Vinokourov, Evans, John Gadret

John Gadret

John Gadret is a French professional racing cyclist in cyclo-cross and road racing disciplines for UCI ProTour team . He became a stagiaire for Cofidis in 2003 before turning professional with the team in 2004....

, and race leader David Arroyo

David Arroyo

David Arroyo Durán is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer, riding on the UCI ProTeam . He is one of the best climbers on his team along with team leader Alejandro Valverde. After Valverde crashed on the first week of the 2006 Tour de France, Arroyo was made team leader, until Pereiro claimed...

came together as a chase group, but they lost time throughout the Aprica climb and could not bridge back to the leading Italian trio. Sastre and Vinokourov briefly held a time gap over race leader Basso in the Giro's final road stage, but both finished well back of him at the finish. Sastre was 60th in the time trial which closed out the Giro, securing eighth overall. The squad finished the Giro without any victories, placing seventh in the Trofeo Fast Team and 19th in the Trofeo Super Team.

While eighth overall was widely derided as a disappointment for a rider thought to be an overall contender and one gifted 13 minutes, it was revealed shortly after the Giro concluded that Sastre's injuries upon crashing in the Netherlands and Tuscany were much worse than first reported. He was diagnosed with a spinal disc herniation

Spinal disc herniation

A spinal disc herniation , informally and misleadingly called a "slipped disc", is a medical condition affecting the spine due to trauma, lifting injuries, or idiopathic, in which a tear in the outer, fibrous ring of an intervertebral disc allows the soft, central portion A spinal disc herniation...

by team doctors, an injury that briefly put his Tour de France participation in doubt. Sastre stated that the team knew from the time he first crashed that the injuries likely would keep him from overall contention, but they kept quiet about it while the race was being run so as to not make excuses for his performance. The injury has been recognized as changing the perception of his eighth place finish.

Tour de France

Sastre led the squad sent to the Tour de France. Haussler was supposed to be on the squad as well, but was replaced by Lloyd when his recurrent knee injury required surgery. Hushovd was also present, aiming for a second straight points classification win. Florencio was named to the squad at first, but he was later pulled because he had used a substance for treating saddle sores that contained ephedrine

Ephedrine

Ephedrine is a sympathomimetic amine commonly used as a stimulant, appetite suppressant, concentration aid, decongestant, and to treat hypotension associated with anaesthesia....

, which is banned. The team's stated reason for pulling him was that he had violated internal rules which require riders to secure permission from medical staff before taking any medication or supplement. He was not replaced, and the team began the Tour with a squad of only eight riders instead of the usual nine. Florencio later criticized the decision, after the team's demise later in the year, as hampering his chances to obtain a contract for 2011.

Hushovd took third place behind Alessandro Petacchi

Alessandro Petacchi

Alessandro Petacchi is an Italian professional road racing cyclist for .A specialist sprinter, Petacchi has won 51 grand tour stages with wins of the points jersey in the Giro d'Italia in 2004, the Vuelta a España in 2005 and the Tour de France in 2010.In 2007 Alessandro was banned from cycling...

and Mark Renshaw

Mark Renshaw

Mark Renshaw is an Australian racing cyclist with UCI ProTeam , who is considered one of the best lead-out men in the world.- Early career :...

in the Tour's first road race stage, as they were three of only five riders to contest the sprint after a massive crash in the stage's final kilometer thinned the field greatly. The next day, a series of crashes took place, felling overall contenders like Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong

Lance Edward Armstrong is an American former professional road racing cyclist who won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times, after having survived testicular cancer. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research and support...

and Andy Schleck

Andy Schleck

Andy Raymond Schleck is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . He is the younger brother of Fränk Schleck, who also rides for . Their father Johny Schleck rode the Tour de France and Vuelta a España between 1965 and 1974...

among dozens of others. With several groups on the road fragmented by the repeated crashes, race leader Fabian Cancellara

Fabian Cancellara

Fabian Cancellara is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . A time trial specialist, he is a four-time World Time Trial Champion and is the current Olympic gold medalist...

negotiated a neutralization of the stage finish, wherein no one would sprint for the line and everyone who was together when the crashes began would get the same finishing time relative to solo stage winner Sylvain Chavanel

Sylvain Chavanel

Sylvain Chavanel Albira is a French professional road bicycle racer. His brother Sébastien Chavanel is also a cyclist.Chavanel started his professional career in 2000 with Jean-René Bernaudeau's team Bonjour, which became Brioches La Boulangère in 2003...

. Hushovd took a meaningless seventh place on the day, but was angered by the decision, since it nullified the team's work on the day. All eight Cervélo riders had escaped crashes and Hushovd had several support riders with him for the finish, a finish that the slowdown denied him a chance to contest. The next day's stage incorporated many cobbled sectors known for featuring in the difficult classic cycle race Paris-Roubaix

Paris-Roubaix

Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France near the Belgian frontier. Since its beginning in 1896 until 1967 it started in Paris and ended in Roubaix ; since 1968 the start city is Compiègne , whilst the finish is still in Roubaix...

, including perhaps its most difficult, the Arenberg Trench. Thus, the day was expected to feature many crashes, and did. Cancellara led a group of six, working for his team leader Schleck, past a major pileup 40 km (24.9 mi) from the finish. Hushovd followed in this group, and since Cancellara was exhausted having worked for Schleck all day, Hushovd easily took the stage win. This result gave him the green jersey as the points classification leader. The next three stages featured more typical field sprints. Hushovd retained his green jersey through these stages, though he did not come close to winning any of them.

Sastre finished with the first group, containing most of the race's top favorites, in the Tour's first mountain stage finishing at Morzine-Avoriaz. The result gained him 16 places in the general classification, moving from 28th to 12th. The next day, however, he finished three minutes behind the main group of the race's top riders (who themselves finished two minutes behind Alberto Contador

Alberto Contador

Alberto Contador Velasco is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . He was the winner of the 2007 Tour de France with the team. With the Astana team he has won the 2008 Giro d'Italia, the 2008 Vuelta a España, the 2009 Tour de France, the 2010 Tour de France and won 2011 Giro...

and Schleck), falling to 17th and never again coming close to cracking the race's top ten.

After another lackluster performance in a field sprint in stage 11, Hushovd lost the green jersey to Petacchi. In stage 12, Hushovd made the morning's breakaway and got 10 points in intermediate sprints, taking the jersey back. He lost it back to Petacchi again after stage 13, when the Italian finished five places better in the sprint for the finish line. Stage 16 included an ascent of the Col du Tourmalet

Col du Tourmalet

Col du Tourmalet is the highest road in the central Pyrenees in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées in France. Sainte-Marie-de-Campan is at the foot on the eastern side and the ski station La Mongie two-thirds of the way up. Luz-Saint-Sauveur is at the bottom of the western side.Tourmalet is also a...

, but Hushovd was able to take tenth place in this stage (first position from the peloton), thanks to work from teammates including Sastre. This again put the green jersey on Hushovd's shoulders, but he lost it for good after stage 18 when he was a distant 14th in the sprint. Hushovd took seventh on the Champs-Élysées, but he ended up just third in the points classification, behind both the winner Petacchi and Mark Cavendish

Mark Cavendish

. Sastre was the team's best-placed rider in the final overall standings, but he was over 26 minutes behind Tour champion Contador, for 20th place. The squad was 19th in the teams classification.

Vuelta a España

Sastre had planned at the beginning of the season to ride two of the three Grand Tours, and was unsure after the Giro whether he would ride the Tour or the Vuelta. In an atypical decision, Sastre lined up in Seville

Seville

Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...

for the Vuelta start after starting the Giro and the Tour as well. Hushovd was also on the squad, with the aim of honing is form prior to the world championships road race

2010 UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race

The Men's Individual Road Race of the 2010 UCI Road World Championships cycling event took place on 3 October in Melbourne and concluded in Geelong, Australia. Thor Hushovd claimed the World Championship in a sprint finish, to become the first Norwegian to win the World Championship road...

. Also on the start list was Cuesta, starting the race for the 17th consecutive year, breaking his own record. With reigning Vuelta champion Alejandro Valverde

Alejandro Valverde

Alejandro Valverde Belmonte is a Spanish road racing cyclist currently under suspension. He last rode for UCI ProTour team . Valverde's biggest wins have been the 2009 Vuelta a España, the Liège–Bastogne–Liège in 2006, 2008 and 2006 UCI ProTour series championship...

unable to defend his crown due to a doping suspension handed down earlier in the year, race officials gave bib number one to Cuesta in commemoration of this achievement.

Despite the race starting mere days after the team announced it would fold after the season, the squad turned in a solid ride in the stage 1 team time trial

Team time trial

A team time trial is a road-based bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock .Teams start at equal intervals, usually two, three or four minutes apart...

, finishing with five riders 13 seconds back of 's winning time, for fourth place. In an unusually early mountain stage two days later, Tondó and Florencio both broke into the top ten overall, at eighth and tenth respectively, by finishing within 30 seconds of stage winner and new race leader Philippe Gilbert

Philippe Gilbert

Philippe Gilbert is a Belgian professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . Gilbert is a classics specialist...

. Both lost time the next day, but Tondó limited his losses to 19 seconds and actually moved up in the overall standings as a result, to seventh. Sastre was 25th on the day, dropping a minute and 34 seconds, and later claimed that his race schedule for the season, riding all three Grand Tours, was beginning to leave him tired. Florencio had finished the stage in the last group on the road, 14 minutes down to drop well out of the overall standings. Bos placed ninth in the field sprint finish to stage 5 in Lorca

Lorca

Lorca is a municipality and town in the autonomous community of Murcia in southeastern Spain, 36 miles southwest of the city of Murcia. It had a population of 92,694 in 2010, up from the 2001 census total of 77,477. Lorca is the municipality with the second-largest surface area in Spain with...

. Hushovd finished 43 seconds behind the peloton, opting to preserve himself for the next day. In stage 6, which was mostly flat but featured the second-category Alto de la Cresta del Gallo climb towards the finish, 70 riders made all the day's selections and finished together. Hushovd was present at the front of this group and took a sprint win over Daniele Bennati

Daniele Bennati

Daniele Bennati is an Italian road racing cyclist specializing in fast sprint finishes. He currently rides for UCI ProTeam . He turned professional in 2002, when he joined the team and wore zebra stripes as part of Mario Cipollini’s leadout train...

and Grega Bole

Grega Bole

Grega Bole is a Slovenian professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam .- Palmares :200320052010...

. The Alto de la Cresta del Gallo had proved too difficult for sprinters like Tyler Farrar

Tyler Farrar

Tyler Farrar is an American professional road racing cyclist since 2003.-Cycling career:Farrar started racing at 13, and rode for in 2003, in 2004, and in 2006 and 2007. In April 2006 he crashed near the finish of the Circuit de la Sarthe and broke his collarbone and missed most of the season...

, Alessandro Petacchi

Alessandro Petacchi

, and Mark Cavendish

Mark Cavendish

, leaving Hushovd with a smaller field of rival sprinters and a rather easy victory.

Stage 8 was the next mountain stage, and it reshuffled the overall standings somewhat. David Moncoutié

David Moncoutié

David Moncoutié is a French professional road racing cyclist with the French team Cofidis, with whom he turned professional in 1997. He is a climber, and won his first professional race in a mountain stage of Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré...

won the stage from the morning breakaway, Tondó and Sastre both finished the stage in the top ten, and Tondó moved up to fourth overall, 42 seconds behind new race leader Igor Antón

Igor Antón

Igor Antón Hernández is a Basque professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team Euskaltel-Euskadi....

. Sastre moved up from 21st to 17th with the result. The next major stage was stage 11, ending with a short, explosive climb to Vallnord

Vallnord

Vallnord is a ski/snowboard resort in the Pyrenees mountains in the country of Andorra, close to the border with Spain at Tor, Pallars.It encompasses the linked sectors of Pal and Arinsal and the Ordino-Arcalis sector some kilometres away.All the separate sectors within Vallnord contain...

in Andorra

Andorra

Andorra , officially the Principality of Andorra , also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, , is a small landlocked country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of...

. Tondó finished the stage third, just behind Antón and Ezequiel Mosquera

Ezequiel Mosquera

Ezequiel Mosquera Míguez is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . He has finished in the top 5 of the Vuelta a España in all appearances, and finished second in the 2010, after putting in a strong time trial and winning the penultimate stage to Bola del Mundo.On September 30,...

, who had both put in attacks in the final kilometer to try to win the stage. Cuesta and Sastre finished ninth and tenth respectively on the day, which moved Sastre up to 13th. Stage 14 was the first mountain stage in the Vuelta's difficult final week. Tondó again rode with the race's elite for most of the day, finishing seventh and conceding 39 seconds to stage winner Joaquim Rodríguez

Joaquim Rodríguez

Joaquim Rodríguez Oliver is a Spanish professional road racing cyclist. He has been competing since 2001, and currently rides for the UCI ProTour team .- Palmarès :2001...

. This result cost him a place in the overall standings, as Ezequiel Mosquera

Ezequiel Mosquera

, who had been behind him, finished ahead in the stage. Sastre was 15th, but moved up to tenth overall as a result. The next day ended with a very high climb at Lagos de Covadonga. Tondó lost roughly two minutes to the race's elite riders at the finish, coming home 23rd and slipping to fifth overall as a result. Sastre also lost time, finishing 14th, but he moved up to ninth overall as Rubén Plaza

Rubén Plaza

Rubén Plaza Molina is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for . He turned professional in 2001 with , before moving to Comunidad Valenciana...

lost considerably more time. Both lost more time on the Alto de Cotobello the next day, with Tondó falling to eighth in the standings. Both Tondó and Sastre turned in solid rides in the stage 17 individual time trial

Individual time trial

An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials...

. Eleventh and thirteenth respectively meant they gained time against most of the race's top riders, as the riders who finished better than them were mostly time trial specialists with no designs on the overall standings. They moved into sixth and eighth overall. Tondó rode to fifth place on the Bola del Mundo in the race's queen stage, but since Fränk Schleck

Fränk Schleck

Fränk René Schleck is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . At the start of 2005, Schleck was joined by his younger brother Andy on , and they split the 2005 national championships between them, with Fränk winning the road race and Andy winning the time trial...

finished ahead of him in fourth, he was unable to overtake the Luxembourger for fifth overall. Tondó finished the race in sixth place, with Sastre eighth. Cervélo was the only team with two riders in the top ten of the final overall standings. The squad finished fourth in the teams classification, even though they had only five riders (Tondó, Sastre, Florencio, Cuesta, and Pujol) finish the race. For his part, it was the first time in his career that Tondó had finished a Grand Tour.

Season victories

Race	Competition	Rider	Location
Tour of Qatar 2010 Tour of Qatar The 2010 Tour of Qatar was the ninth edition of the Tour of Qatar cycling stage race. It was rated as a 2.1 event on the UCI Asia Tour, and was held from 7 February to 12 February 2010, in Qatar. The race was won by Wouter Mol of .-Teams:... , Points classification	UCI Asia Tour
Tour of Qatar 2010 Tour of Qatar The 2010 Tour of Qatar was the ninth edition of the Tour of Qatar cycling stage race. It was rated as a 2.1 event on the UCI Asia Tour, and was held from 7 February to 12 February 2010, in Qatar. The race was won by Wouter Mol of .-Teams:... , Teams classification	UCI Asia Tour	The riders on the squad were Martin Reimer Martin Reimer Martin Reimer is a former German professional road bicycle racer who last rode for UCI Professional Continental team . In 2009 he was the surprise winner of the German National Road Race Championship.... , Jeremy Hunt Jeremy Hunt (cyclist) Jeremy Hunt is a British road racing cyclist for UCI ProTour team . He is mainly a sprinter. Hunt was the British national road race champion in 1997 and in 2001.... , Heinrich Haussler Heinrich Haussler Heinrich Haussler is an Australian road racing cyclist with German heritage. Haussler races for UCI ProTeam .-Early life:... , Theo Bos Theo Bos Theo Bos is a Dutch road cyclist and track cyclist, Olympic silver medalist and five-time world champion. He lives in Alkmaar, Netherlands. Theo Bos is the brother of Olympic medalist in speed skating Jan Bos. Bos rides for UCI ProTeam .-Early life:Theo Bos was born on 22 August 1983 in Hierden,... , Roger Hammond, Andreas Klier Andreas Klier Andreas Klier is a German professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam .-Palmares:1996200220032005-External links:... , Davide Appolonio, and Gabriel Rasch Gabriel Rasch Ole Gabriel «Gabba» Rasch is a Norwegian road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . As a professional, Rasch has always been a teammate of countryman Thor Hushovd, and credits Hushovd with helping him break into the professional ranks....
Clásica de Almería Clásica de Almería The Clásica de Almería is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in March in Almería, Spain, starting and finishing in Almería itself. Since 2005, the race is organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. Established in 1986, the race was run as an amateur event in its first six years...	UCI Europe Tour		Almería Almería Almería is a city in Andalusia, Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the province of the same name.-Toponym:Tradition says that the name Almería stems from the Arabic المرية Al-Mariyya: "The Mirror", comparing it to "The Mirror of the Sea"...
Vuelta a Murcia Vuelta a Murcia The Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia is a road bicycle race held in and around Murcia, Spain. The race consists of a men's competition over five stages and is part of the UCI Europe Tour as a 2.1 event. The first four editions were reserved to amateurs.... , Stage 5	UCI Europe Tour		Murcia Murcia -History:It is widely believed that Murcia's name is derived from the Latin words of Myrtea or Murtea, meaning land of Myrtle , although it may also be a derivation of the word Murtia, which would mean Murtius Village...
Paris–Nice 2010 Paris–Nice The 2010 Paris–Nice was the 68th running of the Paris–Nice cycling stage race, often known as the Race to the Sun. It started on 7 March and ended on 14 March in Nice and consisted of a prologue time-trial and seven stages. Alberto Contador of Spain won the race, regaining the title he had won in... , Stage 6	UCI World Ranking		Tourrettes-sur-Loup Tourrettes-sur-Loup Tourrettes-sur-Loup is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.This is an artisan's village situated near Grasse. It features medieval and romanesque buildings.-Population:-External links:*...
Volta a Catalunya 2010 Volta a Catalunya The 2010 Volta a Catalunya was the 90th running of the race.It was the second race of the UCI ProTour calendar of 2010, and took place from March 22 to March 28.-Participating teams:... , Stage 3	UCI ProTour		La Seu d'Urgell La Seu d'Urgell La Seu d'Urgell is a town located in the Catalan Pyrenees in Spain. La Seu d'Urgell is also the capital of the comarca Alt Urgell, head of the judicial district of la Seu d'Urgell and the seat of Bishop of Urgell, one of the Andorra co-princes...
Vuelta a Castilla y León 2010 Vuelta a Castilla y León The 2010 Vuelta a Castilla y León, the 25th running of the race, started on April 14 and concluded on April 18. Normally the race would be run in March, however, this year the start was been pushed back to mid-April. It was won by Alberto Contador.-Stages:... , Stage 1	UCI Europe Tour		Burgos Burgos Burgos is a city of northern Spain, historic capital of Castile. It is situated at the edge of the central plateau, with about 178,966 inhabitants in the city proper and another 20,000 in its suburbs. It is the capital of the province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León...
Vuelta a Castilla y León 2010 Vuelta a Castilla y León The 2010 Vuelta a Castilla y León, the 25th running of the race, started on April 14 and concluded on April 18. Normally the race would be run in March, however, this year the start was been pushed back to mid-April. It was won by Alberto Contador.-Stages:... , Stage 2	UCI Europe Tour		Palencia Palencia Palencia is a city south of Tierra de Campos, in north-northwest Spain, the capital of the province of Palencia in the autonomous community of Castile-Leon...
Vuelta a Castilla y León 2010 Vuelta a Castilla y León The 2010 Vuelta a Castilla y León, the 25th running of the race, started on April 14 and concluded on April 18. Normally the race would be run in March, however, this year the start was been pushed back to mid-April. It was won by Alberto Contador.-Stages:... , Points classification	UCI Europe Tour
Tour of California 2010 Tour of California The 2010 Tour of California was the fifth running of the Tour of California cycling stage race. It was held from May 16–23, and was the first edition of the race held in the month of May, after the first four occurred in February. It was rated as a 2.HC event on the UCI America Tour... , Stage 2	UCI America Tour		Santa Rosa Santa Rosa Santa Rosa is the Spanish and Portuguese name for Saint Rose. It may also refer to:-Places: Argentina:Santa Rosa, La PampaSanta Rosa de Calamuchita Santa Rosa de Calchines Santa Rosa de Río Primero...
Tour de Suisse 2010 Tour de Suisse The 2010 Tour de Suisse was the 74th edition of the Tour de Suisse stage race. It took place from 12 June to 20 June and was part of both the 2010 UCI ProTour and the World Calendar. It began with a short individual time trial in Lugano and ended with another time trial, in Liestal... , Stage 2	UCI World Ranking		Sierre Sierre Sierre is the capital of the district of Sierre in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a population of 14,355.It is situated on the French–German language border of the canton of Wallis...
Tour de France 2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10 The 2010 Tour de France begins on 3 July in Rotterdam in the Netherlands with a prologue time trial, and stage 10 occurs on 14 July, with a medium mountain stage in Gap.-Prologue:3 July 2010 - Rotterdam , ... , Stage 3	UCI World Ranking 2010 UCI World Ranking The 2010 UCI World Ranking was the second edition of the ranking system launched by the International Cycling Union in 2009. The series started with the Tour Down Under's opening stage on 19 January, and consisted of 13 stage races and 13 one-day races, culminating in the Giro di Lombardia on 16...		Arenberg Porte du Hainaut
Tour du Limousin Tour du Limousin Tour du Limousin is a 4-day road bicycle race held annually in Limousin, France. It was first held in 1968 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. In 2011 it was upgraded to an 2.HC event. Between 1968 and 1974 it was an amateur race.-Winners:-External links:* *... , Stage 4	UCI Europe Tour		Limoges Limoges Limoges \|Limousin]] dialect of Occitan) is a city and commune, the capital of the Haute-Vienne department and the administrative capital of the Limousin région in west-central France....
Vuelta a España 2010 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11 These are the individual stages of the 2010 Vuelta a España, with Stage 1 on 28 August and Stage 11 on 8 September.-Stages:* s.t. indicates that the rider crossed the finish line in the same group as the one receiving the time above him, and was therefore credited with the same finishing... , Stage 6	UCI World Ranking		Murcia Murcia -History:It is widely believed that Murcia's name is derived from the Latin words of Myrtea or Murtea, meaning land of Myrtle , although it may also be a derivation of the word Murtia, which would mean Murtius Village...

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