Season 10

[Vos]

stage 4 TDU ;
Again a victory of nr2 GC Vigo, well done WinterIsComing. 
6 GC contenders finished in the front group of just 7 cyclists, including nr3 GC Lénárd ( LaGuardia ) and GC leader Jaen ( Peachy ).
Stage 5 can be an interesting GC battle on the Corkscrew climb and a downhill finish into Campbelltown.

Again my teamcaptain could not follow the pace in s2, this time it was just a break in the peleton, s1 = 144 and s2 = 60.
I guess not being in topform is one of the reasons.
Helper Takásc did great, he was in the front on all 3 flat sections, but realized too late his teamcaptain already dropped in s2.
For the first time this season the notorious disappointment symbol and also for the first time no points for my team ;
35º Jannakopulosz ( on 0:42" , he is lucky this game has no shameful symbol  )

I decided that free role rider Bogarde had to take risk in this stage to realize his optimistic GC goal.
That went already wrong in s1, his 1 EP was not good enough to follow the peleton of 144.
In the end he finished on 1:11", just one group behind the failing SPORTLIFE-teamcaptain.
But still he has a little chance in the GC because at the moment 16º on 2:57" what is 21 seconds ahead of the nr20.

[WinterIsComing]

Thx Sjiz and Vos. A great start of the season for my team, as Vigo wins 2 straight. Unfortunately, not able to win back some time from Jaen (and gain something on Lenard). It will be hard to challenge Jaen in the last race, 33s is a lot of time.

[Vos]

stage 5 TDU ;
Despite a hard start of my team due to the wind, they were not good enough in s1 to follow the first peleton of 51.
And therefore a wrong strategic decision to make Pineda the teamcaptain to try to finish top30. Now he did not with a 42º place.

A better choice would have been to have more faith in the GC ambition of Bogarde and choose him as leader.
In a free role he finished as 110º on 1:22" behind stage winner Makaay ( CobbleCrushers ).
And to my surprise that was good enough to score some GC points despite he is not in topform.
Probably he even could have finished top10 GC when he was not riding 2x in a free role and 2x as helper.

The battle for the final GC victory was already decided in section 1 ; Vigo could follow the 1st peleton, and Jean and Lénárd did not.
Final TOP 3 GC ( + nr17  ) Tour Down Under ;
1    Ramon Antonio Vigo   24   WinterIsComing   0: 00"   
2    Marçal Jaen   28   °Peachy°Melocotons   0: 18"   
3    Norbert Lénárd   28   LaGuardia   0: 27"   
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
17    Benjamin Bogarde   28   SPORTLIFE   3: 36"

Congratulations, WiC, great victory with the young Vigo ! 

On to the next little tour !^^
I assume my team will do much better in Paris-Nice than in this worst TDU ever, that added just one top10 (=10º) stage result to the palmares.

First the classic races OHN and SB, where the expectations are low that my cobblehills rider can score points on his own, but he will try.
Despite this, my OHN selection is the best looking ever, and that has everything to do with the selection of Crouzel.

[WinterIsComing]

Very pleased with the results in Tour Down Under. Last stage I needed a good pace to try and get rid of Jaen and Lenard, and thanks to some great help of Runhaar and Timermanis, things went superb. Runhaar and Vigo finished strong (Vigo with a light bulb) and time gained on Jaen was enough to secure the overall victory. Nice start of the campaign. 

[Vos]

Nice start of the campaign. 

I'm wondering what that campaign is ? Maybe even possible that it could be battling for the 1A-championship ?
Whatever it might be, good luck with your very good created allround top team now your topsprinters are also fully trained.

[Sjiz]

There, the first points of the season are in the pocket. Nyland got a nice 11th (a little sad its not 10th and a permanent top 10 on the palmares but i'll take it).

[Vos]

Omloop het Nieuwsblad ;
Takásc could not follow the big peleton of 108 in s1, so his race was over before it really started. Zero points.
Strade Bianche ;
22º Takásc
Very good race despite he had to do it on his own again, because he is the only cobblehills rider in my team.

   selection SPORTLIFE

The main goal in this little tour is stage 1, the mountain time trial.
The 2 cyclists who are not good at that ; their goal is stage 5 and maybe one of them can score GC points despite my team is not if topform.

241 Benett ( 28 ), mountain TT
242 Heger ( 27 ), hillsclimb
243 Løvdal ( 28 ), allround
244 Dékány ( 28 ), mountain TT
245 Basov ( 27 ), mountain TT

Good luck everyone ! 

[WinterIsComing]

Nice start of the campaign. 

I'm wondering what that campaign is ? Maybe even possible that it could be battling for the 1A-championship ?
Whatever it might be, good luck with your very good created allround top team now your topsprinters are also fully trained.

No, I don't think my team is balanced enough to compete for the championship, so let's not exaggerate.

But we are more focused on getting results this time than we were last season, that is for sure.

[Vos]

Just wondering, because your team looks amazing.
But true, there are enough other amazing teams in 1A. Perhaps defending champion °Peachy°Melocotons is thé top favorite.

[WinterIsComing]

Good stage for you, Vos. Congrats with the win. 

[Vos]

Thanks !
Benett his 10th 1A-victory ! ( 9 victories in my team )
stage 1 PN ;
1º Benett 
8º Dékány
10º Basov

[Floppy]

Thanks !
Benett his 10th 1A-victory ! ( 9 victories in my team )
stage 1 PN ;
1º Benett 
8º Dékány
10º Basov

Congratz Vos!

[xabi]

2nd victory in history for Galegospolabici thanks to Danilo Bernardino!

It seems he was pissed off and wanted to redeem himself after the tactical disaster in TDU and not being selected for the first national teams race.

Let's see this evening if I can get another podium with Clemente, as I do not expect any cobble-flat rider to be concentrated.

[Vos]

Thanks Floppy 

Congratulations with your second 1A-victory ever, Xabi, and your first CFF record, well done ! 

[Vos]

stage 5 PN ;
1º Väli ( Atlantico )
5º Løvdal
15º Heger

Heger did very good in a free role, and a more than excellent result of Løvdal.
Before this stage I regretted my strategic choice to go for the GC, because Løvdal was on nr26 and 19 seconds behind the nr20 GC.
But in the end I'm satisfied, because Løvdal moved up to 11º final GC.
And happy with this Paris Nice ; a stage victory and a good total of 510 points for SPORTLIFE.

The battle for the final GC victory was very close and exciting. The current Vuelta victor Hilton won. Congrats, Rico ! 
podium final GC Paris Nice =
1Anthony Hilton   28   CaptainOrange   0: 00"   
2    Alexander Rusakov   28   Flyvende_hjul   0: 23"   
3    Rafael Carlos Loinaz   28   °Peachy°Melocotons   0: 27"   

Let's go to the Tirreno Adriatico !^^