Season 23

[ophiuko]

You should have more faith on your riders' GC chances, the same happened to you with Ottar Granberg last BBT 

By the way, Arsenio Sole and Ottar Granberg, two riders whose training I adviced. I knew they were good enough to win some small tours!

[Vos]

You should have more faith on your riders' GC chances, the same happened to you with Ottar Granberg last BBT 

By the way, Arsenio Sole and Ottar Granberg, two riders whose training I adviced. I knew they were good enough to win some small tours!

This happened very often in the past. 

Maybe I have too much respect for my opponents, and/or maybe I'm tempted too often to go for stage victory,
and/or maybe it is because my cyclists are often cheap.
For example, 20 days ago I bought Sole for 4,1 M ( due to his not good TT skill, I thought he could not win Romandie ),
and Granberg, who has just silver, was bought 42 days ago for just 321 k.

Well, let's learn from it, because this time 2nd favorite Beckham will not get the teamcaptain role in stage 1 Giro d'Italia.
But it happens also often that I do not learn from previous tours and races, because I had to mess up Frankfurt :  

Eschborn-Frankfurt ;
22º  Sole 
The big risk in s1 did not pay off, Sole and excellent helper Rønneberg started too slow and could not follow the s1 front peleton of 52.
Thanks to the "forward pawn helpers tactic" of Christensen this EF was not an entire fiasco, because he helped in s2 and s3.
Otherwise Sole would have finished even outside the points, and with a good start he should be able to ride at least top 10.
I should have known better, looking at the many past top results in EF of my team.
Well, I guess it is now time to mess up a big tour : 

   selection SPORTLIFE

This should be a pretty strong Giro selection. Only the manager seems not in form, that might be a problem.

41 Sole ( 31 ), tour
42 Conti ( 29 ), tour
43 Beckham ( 27 ), climb
44 Caneschi ( 25 ), climb
45 Rubiera ( 31 ), hills

Good luck everyone ! 

[Vos]

Giro stage 1, FMDMM ( 1x wind ) ;
9º  Sole ( teamcaptain )  1:34"
11º  Beckham ( helper )
29º  Caneschi ( helper )

A very surprising bad start, because despite using energy, Sole(flat=79) and Beckham(flat=81) could not follow the s1 front group of 30.
It is clear the energy in s1 was a waste, because with 0 EP both also would be in the 2nd group on 0:36", what is a lot of time loss.
For example Caneschi started with 0 EP and his flat=17(and tw-skill also lower), and he was also in the 2nd group.

Anyway, despite the bad start, still a very good result of Sole, with big thanks to the perfect helpers job of 4th fav. Beckham.

GC rivals Martin( Flyvende_hjul ), Mariotti( ValeronIdolo ) and Kövér( HTCHungria ) finished 0:09" ahead of Sole.
They started in the 2nd group too.

[Vos]

Giro stage 2, FMDMH ;
7º  Sole  0:14"

TOP 20 GC, after 2 stages ;
1Arnfinn Mikalsen   33   TeamEuroscalt   0: 00"   
2    Xavér Kövér   32   HTCHungria   0: 56"   
3    Daumants Simsons   28   OphiukoCT   0: 59"   
- - - - - - - - - -
4    Arsenio Sole   31   SPORTLIFE   1: 05"   
5    Piero Mariotti   26   ValeronIdolo   1: 11"   
6    Dada Azarov   27   CaptainOrange   1: 13"   
7    Rigoberto Ortega   28   Fiestina   1: 13"   
8    Aziz Kavalerov   27   °Peachy°Melocotons   1: 24"   
9    Pat Martin   32   Flyvende_hjul   1: 25"   
10    Alessandro Picoli   30   FaltososDeChigre   1: 35"   
- - - - - - - - - -
11    Lucio Cappanari   25   MarquinaTeam   1: 35"   
12    Aad De Jong   28   Bikeos   1: 35"   
13    Diogo Fraga   32   Codex   1: 35"   
14    Mark Boyar   28   IKIBASQUE   1: 39"   
15    Hendrik Den Besten   31   CC_Porco_Jones   1: 42"   
16    Tobias Böttcher   28   Sacido   1: 50"   
17    Manuele Miorlin   29   Shiro_Lions   1: 50"   
18    Nazar Usakov   25   Elgrand   1: 50"   
19    Arnfried Metthe   26   ICSluj   2: 19"   
20    Agapito Salcedo   28   Cremy   2: 19"

[ophiuko]

It may not last, so... 

[Vos]

Giro stage 3, HFFHH ;
22º   Rubiera ( helper )
35º  Sole ( teamcaptain )  0:43"
Conti and Rubiera kept their teamcaptain in the front in the first 3 sections. But it went wrong in s4, where Sole was suddenly isolated.

Again the Giro ranking, especially to ophiuko :
TOP 20 GC, after 3 stages ;
1Daumants Simsons   28   OphiukoCT   0: 00"   
2    Aziz Kavalerov   27   °Peachy°Melocotons   0: 17"   
3    Lucio Cappanari   25   MarquinaTeam   0: 19"   
- - - - - - - - -
4    Arsenio Sole   31   SPORTLIFE   0: 23"   
5    Piero Mariotti   26   ValeronIdolo   0: 29"   
6    Dada Azarov   27   CaptainOrange   0: 31"   
7    Rigoberto Ortega   28   Fiestina   0: 31"   
8    Diogo Fraga   32   Codex   0: 32"   
9    Pat Martin   32   Flyvende_hjul   0: 43"   
10    Aad De Jong   28   Bikeos   0: 49"   
- - - - - - - - -
11    Manuele Miorlin   29   Shiro_Lions   0: 55"   
12    Mark Boyar   28   IKIBASQUE   0: 57"   
13    Alessandro Picoli   30   FaltososDeChigre   1: 02"   
14    Tobias Böttcher   28   Sacido   1: 04"   
15    Xavér Kövér   32   HTCHungria   1: 06"   
16    Hendrik Den Besten   31   CC_Porco_Jones   1: 18"   
17    Arnfinn Mikalsen   33   TeamEuroscalt   1: 33"   
18    Nazar Usakov   25   Elgrand   1: 34"   
19    Paul Schoonderwoerd   30   HTCHungria   1: 40"   
20    Artus Karin   31   Codex   2: 02"

[Vos]

Giro stage 4, hills-sprint ;
31º  Sole  0:22"
Just outside the points, but finishing in the 2nd group is a good result.

Sole moved up to 2º GC, just 0:06" behind new GC leader Kavalerov ( 27, °Peachy°Melocotons ).
The top 9 GC is within one minute, and Sole is not a fan of flat-TT stages, so I assume he will drop after stage 5.

[Vos]

Giro stage 5, flat TT ( storm ) ;
52º  Sole  2:38"
To my surprise Sole dropped only 1 place in the GC.

Giro stage 6, FHFHM ( 2x wind ) ;
2º  Sole  0:00"
WOW ! Amazing result ! 
With thanks to on the hard wind based tactics and a perfect helpersjob of Conti.
Sole moved up 1 GC place :

TOP 20 GC, after 6 stages ;
1Pat Martin   32   Flyvende_hjul   0: 00"   
2    Arsenio Sole   31   SPORTLIFE   0: 12"   
3    Piero Mariotti   26   ValeronIdolo   0: 21"   
- - - - - - - - - -
4    Aad De Jong   28   Bikeos   0: 27"   
5    Daumants Simsons   28   OphiukoCT   0: 41"   
6    Mark Boyar   28   IKIBASQUE   0: 44"   
7    Dada Azarov   27   CaptainOrange   0: 47"   
8    Alessandro Picoli   30   FaltososDeChigre   0: 53"   
9    Xavér Kövér   32   HTCHungria   0: 59"   
10    Diogo Fraga   32   Codex   1: 27"   
- - - - - - - - -
11    Lucio Cappanari   25   MarquinaTeam   1: 35"   
12    Aziz Kavalerov   27   °Peachy°Melocotons   1: 46"   
13    Agapito Salcedo   28   Cremy   1: 46"   
14    Nazar Usakov   25   Elgrand   1: 56"   
15    Tobias Böttcher   28   Sacido   2: 06"   
16    Rigoberto Ortega   28   Fiestina   2: 09"   
17    Manuele Miorlin   29   Shiro_Lions   2: 37"   
18    Dionisio Junior   29   Matterhorn   2: 45"   
19    Arnfried Metthe   26   ICSluj   3: 29"   
20    Paul Schoonderwoerd   30   HTCHungria   3: 41"

[Vos]

Giro stage 7 MMDMM ;
4º  Caneschi ( free role )
5º  Beckham ( free role )
24º  Sole ( teamcaptain )  1:27"
It was the wrong gamble to have just Conti as helper, who should be good enough to be a s4 helper, but unexpectedly he dropped in s2.
And despite Conti used energy in dh s3, he could not return and stayed one group behind his teamcaptain.
But Conti still had a big punch in his leggs for s4, and came 10 seconds closer to Sole, but still could not join him.
I estimate that this unfortunate helper's job ( and wrong gamble ) costed Sole max. 20 seconds,
or perhaps even 0 seconds, because Sole was lucky to finish as last of a big group.

Anyway, I'm happy with these stage results. I'm just not happy that it seems that Sole cannot compete for the Giro victory.
And not because he dropped now to 3º GC on 0:51", but because it seems that at least one GC rival is way too strong.
On top of this, Sole is not suited for the final stage. But it could be that the current nrs 1 and 2 do not like stage 10 also.
And in the current situation, for sure the nrs 4 to 10 are still very fierce GC rivals to Sole.
It is very uncertain if Sole is good enough to finish on the final GC podium.

[Vos]

Giro stage 8, HHHHH ;
29º  Rubiera ( helper ) 
49º  Sole ( teamcaptain )  1:07"
A perfect helper's job of Rubiera.

Giro stage 9, MMMMD ;
6º  Beckham ( free role )
9º  Caneschi ( helper )
30º  Sole ( teamcaptain )  1:42"
Unfortunately Caneshi went too fast in s3, and from then on it was solo-Sole.

TOP 20 GC, after 9 stages ;
1 Xavér Kövér   32   HTCHungria   0: 00"   
2    Pat Martin   32   Flyvende_hjul   0: 10"   
3    Piero Mariotti   26   ValeronIdolo   0: 30"   
- - - - - - - - - -
4    Arsenio Sole   31   SPORTLIFE   0: 51"   
5    Daumants Simsons   28   OphiukoCT   0: 52"   
6    Aad De Jong   28   Bikeos   1: 17"   
7    Mark Boyar   28   IKIBASQUE   1: 43"   
8    Dada Azarov   27   CaptainOrange   1: 57"   
9    Alessandro Picoli   30   FaltososDeChigre   2: 03"   
10    Aziz Kavalerov   27   °Peachy°Melocotons   2: 22"   
- - - - - - - - - -
11    Lucio Cappanari   25   MarquinaTeam   2: 32"   
12    Diogo Fraga   32   Codex   2: 45"   
13    Manuele Miorlin   29   Shiro_Lions   3: 37"   
14    Agapito Salcedo   28   Cremy   4: 31"   
15    Tobias Böttcher   28   Sacido   4: 42"   
16    Arnfried Metthe   26   ICSluj   5: 27"   
17    Paul Schoonderwoerd   30   HTCHungria   5: 38"   
18    Nazar Usakov   25   Elgrand   5: 40"   
19    Dionisio Junior   29   Matterhorn   5: 42"   
20    Hendrik Den Besten   31   CC_Porco_Jones   5: 54"

[Vos]

Giro stage 10, FF^FFC^^ ;
77º  Sole ( teamcaptain )  1:51"
He had good help in the flat sections, but dropped 4 GC places. I guess I could have expected that with his cobbleskill of 14.

FINAL TOP 20 GC ;
1Pat Martin   32   Flyvende_hjul   0: 00"   
2    Daumants Simsons   28   OphiukoCT   0: 17"   
3    Aad De Jong   28   Bikeos   1: 06"   
- - - - - - - - - -
4    Xavér Kövér   32   HTCHungria   1: 23"   
5    Mark Boyar   28   IKIBASQUE   1: 27"   
6    Piero Mariotti   26   ValeronIdolo   1: 32"   
7    Alessandro Picoli   30   FaltososDeChigre   1: 33"   
8    Arsenio Sole   31   SPORTLIFE   1: 43"   
9    Aziz Kavalerov   27   °Peachy°Melocotons   1: 57"   
10    Dada Azarov   27   CaptainOrange   2: 49"   
- - - - - - - - - -
11    Diogo Fraga   32   Codex   3: 27"   
12    Lucio Cappanari   25   MarquinaTeam   3: 34"   
13    Manuele Miorlin   29   Shiro_Lions   4: 29"   
14    Tobias Böttcher   28   Sacido   5: 25"   
15    Agapito Salcedo   28   Cremy   5: 54"   
16    Arnfried Metthe   26   ICSluj   6: 19"   
17    Dionisio Junior   29   Matterhorn   6: 24"   
18    Nazar Usakov   25   Elgrand   6: 42"   
19    Hendrik Den Besten   31   CC_Porco_Jones   6: 55"   
20    Paul Schoonderwoerd   30   HTCHungria   7: 02"   

[Vos]

   selection SPORTLIFE

11 Conti ( 29 ), tour
12 Sole ( 31 ), tour
13 Rønneberg ( 33 ), tour
14 Beckham ( 27 ), climb
15 Neeskens ( 31 ), TT

Good luck everyone ! 

[Vos]

Dauphiné stage 1, hills-TT ;
9º  Neeskens  --> good debut in my team with 99h/98f.
47º  Conti  1:38"

Dauphiné stage 2, hill-sprint ;
44º  Conti  0:37"  --> finishing in the 2nd group is excellent.

Dauphiné stage 3, climb-sprint ( storm ) ;
11º  Conti  0:00"
25º  Rønneberg ( free role )

Dauphiné stage 4, MMFFM ( 1x wind ) ;
10º  Conti  0:21"  --> the only one of this stage who finished with a lightbulb.
13º  Beckham ( free role )

Dauphiné stage 5, HMHFM ;
3º  Conti  0:00" --> amazing result !

Dauphiné, final GC ;
5º  Conti  0:41"

[Vos]

   selection SPORTLIFE

Arnau finished as 11º GC in the Tour de Suisse of previous season, due to bad helper's tactics and even one free role.
Hopefully he does much better now.

If not, then Szõnyi gets a chance to go for victory in mountain stage 5.
Just like in previous season, where he was the leader in TdS stage 4 ( MDMDM ), and won for the first time in his career.

Zannotti makes his debut, and I expect that he achieves a good result in climb-TT stage 2, despite he was bought for just 28k.
And maybe the young Lewis can surprise in stage 2, depending on how good the competition is, because his TT-skill is not high.

11 Arnau ( 30 ), tour
12 Szõnyi ( 27 ), climb
13 Lewis ( 24 ), climb
14 Zannotti ( 27 ), climb-TT
15 Christensen ( 31 ), tour

Good luck everyone !

[Vos]

Suisse, stage 1, sprint ;
70º   Arnau   1:24"
Hmmm, a too early drop in s4 and too much time loss by finishing in the 4th group.
I did not select a real sprint-helper, probably then he would finish one group better, but Arnau is simply not good in flat-sprint.
Luckily there is just one flat-sprint stage in the Tour de France, his main season goal.
Riding a good GC in this Tour de Suisse will be difficult after this time loss in stage 1.

And great to see that the recent bought Zannotti is the 3rd favorite in stage 2. A good investment of just 28k.
I was hoping Lewis would surprise in stage 2, but he already surprised me a lot and even more, by being the 4th favorite.