Australia s21

[Aurora Australis]

Our first dreaded talent induced retirement of the season, with 19 yo Eddy Griffin having 3 to 0 talent to be shown the career-ending door carrying a bunch of Tafe course documents.  It does mean we have another spot open for an Aussie 19 yo TTer to join our ranks, either as a promoted or traded (purchased) cyclist.
We do also have our first 5 talent of the new group, with Maurice Hunter having the honour of being a quick learner on the bike.

[Vos]

Australia u20 ( 19 cyclists ) :

[Vos]

NT race 2 FMMMM 205,5km ( 1x wind ) ;
4º  Norm Bush ( HTCHungria ) 
WOW, again a very surprising excellent climb-result, with big thanks to Dudley Iverson ( LottoStelvio ) who was the important s4 helper.

Australia is still 5º in the ranking, now with 420 points.
Italy is leading with 700 points, 2º Great Britain ( 600 ), 3º Norway ( 530 ) and 4º Switzerland ( 465 ).

Next week a hot and windy sprint race near Paris, France.

[Vos]

"Send your scout to Australia ; thanks !" 



Australia u20 ( 24 cyclists ) :

[Zatarra]

I've hit the Australian mother load. Future top hiller/cobhiller for the pure hills/cobhills (without flat).

Elton Leipheimer   Age : 19   Wage : 851
Stamina : 53   Sprint : 37   Climbing : 42
Flat : 8   Cobblestone : 61   Technique : 41
Downhill : 47   Hills : 62   Aggressiveness : 73
Time Trial : 16   Teamwork : 6   Experience : 0
Price : 2 500 000   Days left : 3   Stages raced : 0

[horace_vr]

Not much luck for me with cobb-hillers; and I think I will close the recruiting season; let's see how the current guys evolve, and we try again next season

[Vos]

RACE 3 :  Sprint in Amilly

32ºC

Montfort L'Amaury, 50 km west of Paris, France,
In 2011 this same sprint race was won by Henderson ( NZL ), see picture. Two Australians came close, Goss ( 2º ) and Haussler ( 4º ).

Such a good result is not expected now, because Australia has a new, very young teamcaptain, who is of course not so experienced yet.
And also because this sprint race is tricky with 2x wind ; every tactic will be a gamble and the outcome is unpredictable.

About the selection ; 5 Australians were already selected almost a week ago.
They were easy and obvious choices, and this is including the 21yo sprint-toptalent Stamer.

Today I selected the final 4 cyclists :
# Frances, due to his weather icon*.
# Milne, due to his CFF ranking as golden flat-sprinter.
In contrast to the Australian ranking, where for example Malone is ranked much higher as 5th flat-sprinter, but he dropped to silver.
Milne has an extreme low xp, but 11 days ago he was sold to an 1A team where he is racing now ; best result is 5º stage 5 Paris-Nice.
# Middleton, due to his high CFF ranking as hills-sprinter and his bad luck that there are no NT hills-sprint races.
In my opinion Milne and Middleton deserve both a NT debut, ánd they can be used as extra helpers.
# Pocock, as xp-cyclist, and this promising cobblehills talent makes his debut for Australia too.

Australia NT selection :

Jasper Caan ( 24 ) SaulSalinasTeam
Jasper Blair ( 31 ) Manicomicos_Cycling_Team
Leroy Ablett* ( 28 ) Vicam
Ian Hamsten* ( 28 ) Plopsala
Wilt Frances* ( 31 ) Manicomicos_Cycling_Team
Reggie Milne ( 25 ) Ciclastur    ( debut )
Nate Middleton ( 26 ) MortoviaCycling    ( debut )
Horace Stamer* ( 21 ) Sacido
Norman Pocock ( 22 ) LOSRAYOSDELARRY    ( debut )

[Vos]

5º  Jasper Caan ( 24yo, SaulSalinasTeam )
Very good result ! 
Caan even had 3 helpers in the s4 front group of just 24.
In retrospective, 2 helpers could have ride in free roles to (maybe) score a few extra points, now they finished just outside the points.
But then again, before this very windy race it was way too risky to sacrifice the 1 or 2 best helpers.
Caan needed the s4 helper to get a top result, no risk taking in this before the race.

Australia is still 5º in the season ranking, now with 600 points.
Italy is doing amazing ( 280 points in this race ) and still leading with 980 points.
Switzerland moved up 2 places, now the nr2º with 665 points.
The Netherlands moved up many places, now 3º with 620 points,  mainly thanks to the victory of top-favorite VanSwieten.
Great Britain is 4º, also with 600 points, just like Australia.
Norway ( 6º with 540 ) and Estonia ( 7º with 540 ) are very close to the top 5.

I expect that Australia takes the lead after the next NT race, because that is a flat time trial.

[Vos]

A very low number of 19yo's so far this season.
But the good news is that there are some good talents among them,
ánd that there is still time to scout/recruit a few more excellent 19yo's. Good luck everyone !



Australia u20 ( 25 cyclists ) :

[Vos]

RACE 4 :  TT Banyoles

2ºC

Banyoles, 95km north of Barcelona, Spain,
In previous season Australia did amazing ( 1.330 points ) in the Doha time trial of 40km.
This TT race is just 3km longer and has the same weather conditions.
The selection is the same as in previous season.

Australia NT selection :

Bud Mount ( 29 ) ChronoTony
Nobby Licuria ( 28 ) Aurora_Australis
Tod Henderson ( 28 ) Aurora_Australis
Kirk Clinton ( 28 ) Aurora_Australis
Christian Pocock* ( 28 ) Aurora_Australis
Walt Judd ( 29 ) Matterhorn
Kirk Workman** ( 33 ) Aurora_Australis
Jason Duffy ( 29 ) Shiro_Lions
Julian Frances ( 31 ) Bergtoppers

[Aurora Australis]

A very low number of 19yo's so far this season.
But the good news is that there are some good talents among them,
ánd that there is still time to scout/recruit a few more excellent 19yo's. Good luck everyone ! :

Most of mine appear to be firing low talent, so you may wish to omit most of them from that good news.  I'm still hoping for one of two late-season cyclists, although that will close in several days.

[Aurora Australis]

I've finished trying for TTers this season, will try again next season.

[Kekipi]

In previous season Australia did amazing ( 1.330 points ) in the Doha time trial of 40km.
This TT race is just 3km longer and has the same weather conditions.
The selection is the same as in previous season.

Translation:  Australia is going to kick tail again, seize the team lead, and go on to win another overall title.

Good job and happy holidays!

[Aurora Australis]

In previous season Australia did amazing ( 1.330 points ) in the Doha time trial of 40km.
This TT race is just 3km longer and has the same weather conditions.
The selection is the same as in previous season.

Translation:  Australia is going to kick tail again, seize the team lead, and go on to win another overall title.
Good job and happy holidays!

And for at least another three seasons after that.  And just to put the fear factor in, particularly given the results of all nine Aussies in the top 13), I'll point out that my cyclists are at the low point of their training cycle, they'll start the peak training cycle next season & be at peak training cycle strength in season 23.

[Vos]

Again an amazing amount of points in the time trial = 1.300 points ! 
Just 30 points less as in previous season, where also the best Australian was 2º on 0:00", back then it was Henderson, and now Licuria.

1    Ian Mikkelson      32   0: 00"   300      Caracoles
2    Nobby Licuria      28   0: 00"   250      Aurora_Australis
3    Ruben Lutz      29   0: 00"   225      ChronoTony
4    Tijn Landzaat      29   0: 01"   200      ChronoTony
5    Tod Henderson      28   0: 02"   180      Aurora_Australis
6    Christian Pocock      28   0: 02"   160      Aurora_Australis
7    Bud Mount      29   0: 03"   150      ChronoTony
8    Julian Frances      31   0: 03"   140      Bergtoppers
9    Ernesto Jorge      27   0: 03"   130      PDM_cycling_team
10    Kirk Workman      33   0: 04"   120      Aurora_Australis
11    Jason Duffy      29   0: 05"   110      Shiro_Lions
12    Walt Judd      29   0: 06"   100      Matterhorn
13    Kirk Clinton      28   0: 07"   90      Aurora_Australis
14    Vladimir Pfister      29   0: 09"   80      ChronoTony
15    Salamon Jordáki      32   0: 09"   70      Catalonia_Team
16    Shalva Makarov      32   0: 09"   60      SPORTLIFE
17    Walter Coburn      29   0: 10"   40      ChronoTony
18    Nurettin Ballack      27   0: 12"   30      PDM_cycling_team
19    Alwin Neeskens      29   0: 12"   20      ChronoTony
20    Friso Vergouw      31   0: 12"   10      Fiestina

As expected, Australia takes the lead in the ranking with a big gap towards the other countries. TOP 5 =
1º    1.900 
2º      980
3º      900
4º      850
5º      665

Next week a cold cobblehills race in Aragon, Spain.