Awaiting posts by Vos et al.

I will post periodically, as well, to document my Div 1 journey. 

S21 RACE 1 -- Mombuey - Ribeira Sacra)

---

Simon Yates in 2016 Vuelta victory on the Mombuey - Ribeira Sacra stage

---

Alessandro De Marchi in 2018 Vuelta victory on the Mombuey - Ribeira Sacra stage

---

Stage results for team USA

10   Gilbert Workman (Thorboassonarvesen), 29, 0: 24", 120 pts      
14   Ryan Granaman (Plopsala), 25, 0: 30", 80 pts

Country standings after 1st race

1 Italy 400 pts
2 Estonia 390 pts
3 Switzerland 335 pts
4 Great Britain 240 pts
5 Australia 220 pts
6 USA 200 pts   

S17 RACE 1: Les Vieilles Forges - Monthermè


Pre-race commentary: Gilbert Workman, 25,  is the top-ranked hiller in the game. Both #2 Sidorenkov of Ukraine and #3 Kangert of Estonia are 24, so we'll see how these young guns fare in this race with the one flat section.   Speaking of which, the #2 (Emerton of Australia) and #3 (Cabeza of Spain) hills w/flat riders are also just 24, and it will be interesting to see how they do.

How it went: Workman finished 4th  @ :18, Sidorenkov 31st @ :36, Kangert 129th @ 1:17, Emerton 133rd @ 1:17, and Cabeza 15th @ :30.    Using as conservative tactics as I dared, Workman had helpers in the first three sections but, unfortunately, none in the critical S4. If he had help there, he likely would have podiumed and possibly won.  He's young and his team, Caracoles, is now in Div 1 and has six (6!) other golden hillers on the roster, so he and his young mates are likely to make some noise in the first two stages of the TDU.  Good luck to all!

Outlook and results: Just as in S14, Blanton (73rd ranked) is the only USA guy in the golden pure hills standings, so he again was the leader.  Unlike in S14, I got the tactics right, but not perfect.  This was evident to me because Carrere of France, who is just five places ahead of Blanton in the rankings (68th) ended up winning the stage. Meanwhile, lots of high-ranked Hillers did not make the top 20, including Todd Power (15th)  and Jake Beal (22nd) of Great Britain (coach forgot to put in tactics?).   On the other hand, outstanding rides were put in by Mochalov of Ukraine (finished 3rd @ rank 96), Igaunis of Letonia (finished 8th @ rank 88), Conte of Italy (finished 15th @ rank 78), Gilbert of France (finished 17th but was unranked), and Bessalov of Ukraine (finished 19th but was unranked).  Great coaching/tactics also likely helped these riders.   

So the USA is ahead of the game compared to its performance in S1 last season. That's gratifying. 

If you've never bought a Store before, perhaps it's because when you investigated the possibility, you were presented with this warning:

YOU SHOULDN´T BUY STORES UNTIL YOU HAVE SPENT A LOT OF TIME PLAYING and your team scores good results in 1st division. You can also have stores in 2nd division when you are having great results (Winnings, General top5,....). EACH STORE HAS HIGH DAILY EXPENSES AND A LOT OF TEAMS HAVE ENDED UP IN BANKRUPTCY. ASK THE EXPERIENCED PLAYERS BEFORE BUYING IT.

Or maybe you have tried but experienced only mediocre (been there) or poor results.

Well it's true that buying a store can be a losing financial proposition, but I've found out that a team need not be getting "good results in [the] 1st division" nor necessarily getting "great results" in the 2nd division.   Money can be made, perhaps 1M+ in a season, even by a Div 3 team.

Here's some stats (a bonus for being a Supporter  ) from the "Higher Profits from Stores" category  --

1   Div 1, rank 3
2   Div 1, rank 1
3   Div 2, rank 1
4   Div 3, rank 1
5   Div 3, rank 1
6   Div 2, rank 3
7   Div 1, rank 2
8   Div 2, rank 3
9   Div 1, rank 5
10   Div 1, rank 7
11   Div 3, rank 2
12   Div 1, rank 24   
13   Div 3, rank 2
14   Div 2, rank 1
15   Div 2, rank 2
16   Div 2, rank 2
17   Div 3, rank 3
18   Div 2, rank 4
19   Div 2, rank 1
20   Div 1, rank 12

So two of the current top five most profitable teams from Stores (and five of the top twenty) are from Division 3.

Also in the Top 20 most profitable Stores are seven (7) teams from Division 1, including the two most profitable, and eight ( from Division 2.

Though I don't have a store in the current season (I'm in Div 2, rank 20+, and have a young-ish team of cobble-hillers in training) but if I'm ever relegated to Div 3, I will certainly take the plunge. 

Better now than not at all.   Postings for the USA NT begin in Season 8.

For the record, here are the results of seasons past for Team USA.

Season   Place    Points
   2          15         560
   3          16         440
   4           8          900
   5          15         550
   6          15         390
   7          n/a         0

The goal for S8 is to improve upon S4's result of 8th place and 900 points.