Season 12

[Sjiz]

Another year, another opportunity.

For the second time ever we have a sprint world championship. We go to the desert in Qatar.

[Sjiz]

I am happy with the calendar. It looks like a play ground for Verbeek and Poldoja. 3 hill stages in the TDU, all grand tours with 2 hill stages and almost every Small tour has one too. Will be difficult to plan but its a nice challenge.

Also happy to see a limited amount of cobble stages this season. Much better like this :p

[Vos]

Peter Sagan wins the WC road race 2016 in Doha

In CFF the same WC roadrace ; who will be the world champion in season 12 ?
This Doha WC race was once before, in season 3 when the oldest sprinters were all 21yo's.

[Vos]

   selection SPORTLIFE

In previous season it was the most successful TDU ever of my team ;
for the first time a stage victory (Zuidam) and for the first time a top10 GC result (5º Escartin). Both cyclists were sold right after the TDU.
But these results were exceptional, normally my team does not do so well in their home country.

Also this season the goal of the current (10 times !) Australian champion is just to finish once or twice top10 in a stage.
It is up to my both sprinters to try to achieve that.
To motivate the youngest of this selection ; he gets the backnumber that ends on 1, because he will be the teamcaptain in 3 stages.
He has no GC ambition because his sprint is not good, he is not a real flathills specialist and he is just 23yo. But I expect a few points anyway.
Low backnumbers due to the 6th place in the final 1A ranking of season 11.

51 Witsche ( 23 ), hills --> stages 2 + 4 + 5
52 Perea ( 30 ), flatsprint --> stage 3
53 Jannakopulosz ( 30 ), hillsprint --> stage 1
54 Gasparotto ( 30 ), hillsprint --> allround helper
55 Crone ( 30 ), cobblehills --> flathills helper

Have fun and good luck in season 12 everyone ! 

[Vos]

A perfect season for my 25yo climb TT specialist Oscar Smith ; for the first time ever there is a NT race climb time trial. 
And in the normal CFF calendar 5 climb TT stages, that is a lot.
Although just 3 are suited for Smith, because he has no flat (stage 3 Itzulia) and no downhill (stage 2 Catalunya).

[Vos]

stage 1 TDU ;
15º  Jannakopulosz
stage 3 TDU ;
6º  Perea

Good results of my sprinters who are not in topform yet.
Only stage 2 was a bit dissapointing, although I expected no points of my 23yo hills specialist.
But it is not promising that his 2 EP start was not good enough, combined with his very bad final result of a 110º place on 1:16"
In hills stage 4 there are no flat sections, what should be much better for this young Dutchman. I hope and expect a few points.

[Vos]

stage 4 TDU ;
26º  Witsche

As expected a few points for this 23yo. In stage 5 a few points were also possible in retrospective, but the tactics were bad with too many EP.
Also as expected not many points in this TDU, just 130. What gives a 29º place in 1A and that is way too close to the relegation zone.
I assume my team scores more points in stage 1 of the next little tour than the total TDU points.
And in contrast to almost all other seasons, this season I have a (silver) cyclist who can compete in the upcoming 2 cobblehills races.
In the Omloop it might be too difficult for Crone to score points, but for sure I expect he can score points in Strade Bianche.

[Vos]

Strade Bianche ;
4º  Crone
Excellent result of this 11-times Dutch international who will be sold today ( 8 bids so far ) :
https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/vision.php?ciclistaid=3940

[Vos]

   selection SPORTLIFE

Maybe Ibarrola or Dékány can score GC points ; but the strategic plan for this little tour is still work in progress for my not yet in topform team.

211 Ibarrola ( 30 ), golden tour rider
212 Dékány ( 30 ), climb TT + bronze tour rider
213 Smith ( 25 ), climb TT
214 Løvdal ( 30 ), silver tour rider
215 Basov ( 29 ), climb TT

Good luck in everyone ! 

[Vos]

stage 1 Paris Nice ;
5º  Smith
7º  Dékány
10º  Basov
stage 2 Paris Nice ;
22º  Løvdal
Free role riders Ibarrola and Dékány finished also in the first group on 0:00"
Dékány is the temporary new GC leader. 

[Sjiz]

The TDU was a good start, not as perfect as i hoped (i hoped to win 3 stages and the GC). A mistake in stage 1 cost me the victory and a strange stage 2 only resulted in a 6th place. Still we ended very well with wins in stage 4 and 5 and a podium place in the GC. A good start regardless.

Now in Paris - Nice we aim for a good result in the GC with Ablett. So far, so good. A nice TT and a good 9th place in stage 2 makes him sit at 9th in the GC so far. Tonight will be interesting to see how high he can end up there. We aim for another top 10 result.

[Sjiz]

Another good result, light bulb included, from Ablett. He finished 8th in the stage and was the last one to follow the lead group. He took the leaders jersey from Dekany. Only 2 very tough stages to go. The GC is still very close so it will be difficult to keep the jersey. But we will try

[Sjiz]

Stage 4 was a good one. We took some time on some competitors and are a little more clear in the GC. Still very small gaps so tonight will be very tense.

The final stage tonight. Will Reinertsen beat Ablett? Or will another rider take it all?

[WinterIsComing]

Stage 4 was a good one. We took some time on some competitors and are a little more clear in the GC. Still very small gaps so tonight will be very tense.

The final stage tonight. Will Reinertsen beat Ablett? Or will another rider take it all?

You are doing really well with Ablett, Sjiz. So far, a fun and interesting start of the season, with many teams competing. 

[Vos]

Also fun to see and interesting that your teams ( of WiC and Sjiz ) not just battle in the races, but also on the transfermarket 4 days ago :

Alex Riis   30   Astanadena   WinterIsComing   32 446 000   15/09/2020
Rafael Carlos Loinaz   30   °Peachy°Melocotons   TeamRHB   36 500 000   15/09/2020

Impressive cyclists/transfers, both good luck with Riis and Loinaz !