Season 22

[Vos]

Have fun and good luck everyone in season 22 


compared to previous season ; this season 22 has much more climb kilometers


Overview of previous season 21 =

  Flyvende_hjul
  Agua_Verde
  SPORTLIFE
  Henriks Valdmanis ( KunTeam )
  Serafim Gois ( Flyvende_hjul )
  Lasse Rønneberg ( SPORTLIFE )
  Agua_Verde
  Plopsala
  Jakob Heijmans ( Agua_Verde )
  Walt Judd ( Matterhorn )
  Pat Martin ( Flyvende_hjul )
  Bogdan Bidonov ( °Peachy°Melocotons )
  Tristan Min ( Flyvende_hjul )
  Rafael Olmo ( CC_Porco_Jones ) 
  Arnfinn Mikalsen ( TeamEuroscalt )

= NT WORLD CHAMPION ( SPORTLIFE )

[Vos]

   selection SPORTLIFE

This is not an impressive TDU selection. Even a silver cyclist is the teamcaptain, because I expect he can score the most points.
Nobody is good enough to score GC points, and nobody is good enough to get a top result in a stage.
Most likely a top 10 stage result will not happen, nevertheless, the TDU goal is to score as much stage-points as possible.
Good luck everyone !

21 Duncan ( 28 ), silver sprint
22 Clemente ( 34 ), hills-sprint
23 Makarov ( 33 ), TT
24 Rubiera ( 30 ), hills
25 Hummelsby ( 31 ), cobble / bronze sprint helper

TDU stage 1 ;
12º  Duncan

[Vos]

TDU stage 2 ;
16º  Makarov
TDU stage 3 ;
13º  Duncan
22º  Clemente ( free role )
A bit of a gamble that Duncan had just Hummelsby as helper, but he did great by returning in s2 and helping in s3 and s4.
What gave Clemente the opportunity to show his Colombian jersey by finishing in the front group.

The 34yo Clemente gets even the teamcaptain role in stage 4, as a kind of farewell present,
because despite his hope that he would go on training camp for Milan-Sanremo,
his manager decided to fire him after this TDU, due to a way too full team.

[Vos]

TDU stage 4 ;
13º  Clemente 
TDU stage 5 ;
13º  Rubiera

This not-impressive TDU selection did well with pretty decent stage results.
A total of 250 points is good of this not prepared team, but hopefully next season a much stronger SPORTLIFE in the Tour Down Under.

[Vos]

Omloop het Nieuwsblad ;
13º  Barrientos
Strade Bianche ;
3º  Barrientos 
Excellent podiumplace in the ( according to me ) most beautiful classic race, see picture :





   selection SPORTLIFE

Christensen will be the teamcaptain, but it is uncertain if he can ride a good GC.
If he dissapoints, the back up strategy is ; stage results with Rubiera ( s21= 7ºAGR + 10ºLBL ) and Hummelsby ( s21= 2ºPR + 3ºWC ).

101 Christensen ( 30 ), tour
102 Hummelsby ( 31 ), cobble
103 Rubiera ( 30 ), hills
104 Barrientos ( 32 ), cobblehills
105 Meijer ( 28 ), hills

Good luck everyone !

[Fontainbleau]

Chrstensen came 18th in the GC for you. My GC riders could only manage 25th and 36th.

For Tirreno Adriatico I will be taking:

Kevin Luinge - Tour Rider
Maigonis Grasis - Tour Rider
Elliot Kitchens - Hills
James Bush - Hills
Stefan Juhl - Mountain/T-T

[Vos]

Yep, this was not the tour of Christensen.
He dissapointed in the windy hillsclimb-stage 2 with a very bad result ; 48º on 1:41"
I thought he was riding in a pretty safe tactic with 1 EP in s1 and 3 EP in s2, but he could not follow the big s1 group of 91.
And in s2 still behind and even isolated (=tactical mistake), what probably caused he could not return in s3 to the front group of 73.
So, in s3 already 0:40" behind and just 8 EP left for the final 2 heavy sections, it was already clear he would perform badly.
Christensen lost his teamcaptain role due to this bad result, because with the upcoming stages, a final top 10 GC result was out of reach now.

Luckily SPORTLIFE had a back up strategy :

PN stage 3 ;
6º  Rubiera
A good result, thanks to an excellent helpers job of Meijer.

PN stage 4 ;
9º  Hummelsby
Ups, despite the tactics were adjusted to the storm, Hummelsby was isolated in the 2nd group till s4.
In s4 he finally met his helper who dropped out of the front group. Not a good race, he even finished on an embarrissing 0:24"

PN stage 5 ;
14º  Rubiera
A much bigger s1 peleton as I expected. This FFFFH race went like = 189 - 190 - 183 - 150 - 11.
It is obvious that Rubiera could have raced this stage with using less energy.
Probably he was not the only one who wasted EP, because he is not a real flat-hills specialist and 14º is a decent result.

Paris-Nice final GC ;
18º  Christensen  2:37"
Despite a very bad stage 2, and the last 3 stages in free roles, he squeezed a few GC points out of this little tour.



   selection SPORTLIFE

The contrast with previous season cannot be bigger ;
Now just a few cyclists who can score stage points --- versus --- previous season a Tirreno GC victory.
This very bad Tirreno selection has even space for 2 climbers to gain experience.
There was even a last-minute-buy of a local Italian. Hopefully this 11k "investment" is worth it, and he scores a few points in stage 5.

121 Rubiera ( 30 ), hills
122 Meijer ( 28 ), hills
123 Fornacciari ( 26 ), climb-TT
124 Szõnyi ( 26 ), xp
125 Caneschi ( 24 ), xp

Tirreno stage 1 ;
16º  Rubiera
The SPORTLIFE doctor decided to take Rubiera out of the Tirreno due to a nasty hemmorroid, the 38ºC in stage 1 made it worse.
Now this poor selection does not even have a teamcaptain anymore.
Now it is up to Meijer to score points in hills stage 4, without any support. And maybe a few climb TT points of the last-minute-buy.
The goal in stages 2 and 3 will be to enjoy the italian scenery.

[Vos]

Tirreno stage 4, hills ;
25º  Meijer
Ups, he finished with a sad face icon.

Tirreno stage 5, climb-TT ;
17º  Fornacciari
30º   Szõnyi
A few unexpected points of my Hungarian top climber. The local Italian performed well and was a good last-minute-buy.

[Vos]

Unfortunately no SPORTLIFE contenders in Milano-Sanremo. But there was an excellent result in the next classic race :
E3 Harelbeke ;
8º  Barrientos --> the only lightbulb in this race.


   selection SPORTLIFE

SPORTLIFE had weak selections in the previous 3 little tours ; just 2x top 10 stage results ( 6º + 9º ) and just 30 GC points ( 18º ).
But I expect it will change in this Catalunya with a pretty strong selection.
Malin is fully prepared, but uncertain if he can achieve a top GC result, he is just silver and the GC competition is fierce.
Rønneberg is the Catalunya champion of previous season. And my 10 M buy of today, Arnau, is riding this little tour too.
Arnau might be used as extra helper, despite he is the 11th most expensive cyclist in SPORTLIFE history.

171 Malin ( 31 ), silver tour
172 Rønneberg ( 32 ), tour
173 Arnau ( 29 ), tour
174 Meijer ( 28 ), hills
175 Kummer ( 31 ), climb

Good luck everyone !

[Fontainbleau]

James Bush came 4th in the first stage of Volta Catalunya 

[Vos]

James Bush came 4th in the first stage of Volta Catalunya 

Good to see that there is someone that performs well with James Bush.  
I wish he did the same in the Australian NT.
Back to Catalunya ; James Bush finished as 5º in stage 2, and is now the split GC leader with Ryan Granaman ( Plopsala ).
Of course, just for fun this GC lead, because James Bush is not suited for the upcoming 3 stages.
It is now up to Grasis ( 2:07" ) or Luinge ( 2:34" ) to try to score some GC points for your team. Good luck !

Catalunya stage 1, hills ;
11º  Meijer ( helper )
91º  Malin  1:33"
Hmmm, s1 was good, but in s2 helper Meijer had also -1 EP compared to teamcaptain Malin, and suddenly Meijer was going too fast.
Without back up helpers, Malin was isolated the rest of the race, and that is not good.
Well, at least a very good result of Meijer despite his "helpers" role.

Catalunya stage 2, flathills ;
42º  Malin  0:08"
This time a good job of Meijer who was the crucial s4 helper.

Mountain stage 3 and flat TT stage 4 will be crucial for the GC, in these both stages the real time differences will be made.

[Vos]

Catalunya stage 3 ;
10º  Malin  0:17"
My whole team had difficulties in the storm, and could not follow the s1 break away group of 39.
Even in flat s3 they were all in the 2nd group on already 0:44" behind the front group of 30.
Malin had a superb final climb in the last 2 sections, with as result that he has now something on his palmares for the very first time.
Free role cyclists Rønneberg ( 45º on 1:23" ) and Arnau ( 32º on 1:05" ) had less energy left for the final 2-sections-climb.

GC after 3 stages =
8º  Malin  0:42"
21º  Arnau  1:42"
23º  Rønneberg  2:00"
The free role cyclists just outside the top 20. Arnau has a good time trial, probably he moves up after flat TT stage 4.
Malin is not good in TT, but also not very bad. I cannot estimate if he can hold on to his current GC position, it will depend on the GC rivals.

[Aurora Australis]

Kirk Clinton is seeking victory in today's TT race, and maybe taking the race record away from Trump (who must have been 33 years old at the time of the record).

[Vos]

Very nice stage victory of Kirk Clinton, AA, ánd in a new CFF record. 

No incidents to the SPORTLIFE cyclists in the time trial, and now the GC looks like this :
6º  Malin  1:16"
13º  Arnau  1:46"
25º  Rønneberg  2:47"

What causes a dilemma in the upcoming final stage ;
Going for stage victory with Rønneberg ór going for GC results with Malin and Arnau ?
If Malin does not get the teamcaptain role, it is certain he drops out of the top 10 GC. But then again, a top 5 GC is impossible.

Well, whatever happens and whatever I decide, it is fun to highlight the 31yo Isa Malin :
The current top 29 GC have all a golden tour icon, with the exception of Malin, who was bought 11 days ago for just 151k.

[Vos]

Catalunya stage 5 ;
2º  Rønneberg ( teamcaptain )  0:00" 
25º  Malin ( free role )  0:34" --> as 1st of the big 2nd group of 38 cyclists.
33º  Arnau ( helper )  0:34" 
Horrible results ! ! !

Rønneberg finished as best loser , what is not good enough, the strategy was all about the stage victory.
In retrospective ; the best option was to use him as a helper. And as expected, he finished just outside the top 20 GC.

Malin needed just a tiny little more luck to finish on 0:00" or he needed the teamcaptain role, then easily on 0:00"
And then he would have finished as 5º GC, but now a big drop to 10º GC.

Arnau had a rollercoaster ride as helper ; in s2 and s4 he had the same energy difference compared to his teamcaptain,
but in s2 he was going 11sec. too fast, and in the crucial s4 he was going 14sec. too slow. My strategy was based on his s4 help.
For sure Arnau wasted one EP in s2, so even in a (better) helpers role he could have finished on 0:00"
But he was not even needed as helper, because back up helper Kummer was also with the teamcaptain in flat s3.
In a free role Arnau easily would have finished on 0:00" and scored some stage points.
And then he would have finished 10º GC, but now a big drop to 19º GC. 

Due to this strategic mess and horrible results, it is at least a few hundreds of unnecessary points loss, and that is a lot !
The only little comfort = probably the total team points do not matter this season. No 1A podium ambition and no relegation worries.
And WOW, I must write a book now with the title "how to mess up an entire little tour in just the final stage".