Season 25

[Vos]

Previous season was unique due to not even one victory somewhere.
Fortunately this season not the case ;
Beckham --> Romandie stage 4 victory, and Giro stage 3 victory.
Lewis --> a surprising Suisse stage 5 victory.

So far this season every tour had a top10 GC result, also the tours after my last forumpost of Itzulia ;
Romandie = 5º Beckham
Giro = 7º Zeppi
Dauphiné = 6º Boyar
Suisse = 10º Milne

   selection SPORTLIFE

Milne is the teamcaptain who tries to achieve a top10 GC result.
Maybe he gets a free role in stage 9, depending on his GC, because Szõnyi likes to compete for victory in that mountain stage.
Szõnyi was close in stage 2 of the Tour de Suisse ; he finished on 0:00" but as 3rd and last of the front group.
But maybe Milne demands the teamcaptain role in stage 9, because he had a very good start in this TdF ;

stage 1, TT ( 1x wind ) = 65º on 2:40" ( no incidents ) --> in contrast to Zeppi who had 2x a mechanical breakdown.
stage 2, hill sprint ( 1x wind ) = 28º on 0:33" ( = 2nd group ) --> without help, Zeppi his 5 EP in s1 was not good enough.
stage 3, sprint = 42º on 0:23" ( = 2nd group ) --> good helper's job of Zeppi in the first 3 sections, more and better as expected.

41 Milne ( 29 ), tour
42 Szõnyi ( 29 ), climb
43 Lewis ( 26 ), climb
44 Beckham ( 29 ), climb
45 Zeppi ( 32 ), "tour"

Good luck everyone !

[Kekipi]

TDF stage 4, HFFMM TT ( cloudy ) ;
25º  Ektov   0:37"

Ektov did okay, but the decision has been made to have him ride free, save for stage 8, where he has the best chance of scoring points.

TDF stage 5, FFMDM ( cloudy ) ;
20º  Perry   0:55" (captain)
85º  Ektov   1:51 (free)

Perry, who is riding with a TC bonus, will be the captain in stages 7 & 9.   We hope that Ektov, who is now 16th GC @ 4:55", will be able to land in the top 15 by tour's end.

[Kekipi]

TDF stage 6, FFChHF TT ( rain; 2x wind ) ;
8º  Neeskens   0:13"
46º Ektov 1:38"

Neeskens, currently the 70th-ranked flat TT in the game, became the 2nd highest points scorer for the team with this result.   He will likely score more points in Stage 10 (FFFFF TT) but probably not enough to become our team points leader. 

Meanwhile, Ektov moved up to 14th GC (@ 5:32") with three mountain stages looming.  He'll be the captain for Stage 8 (FMMDF) and will ride free in stages 7 and 9.

[Kekipi]

TDF stage 7, FMMMM ( clouds; 1x wind ) ;

11º  Perry   0:58" (captain)
61º Ektov 2:45" (free)

Good result for silver climber Perry, with good help provided in S1 to S3 by Lyka.   In the GC standings, Ektov dropped three places to sit in 17th @ 7:39".  He will ride as captain for Stage 8 (FMMDF), so we hope he can move up into the top 15 if all goes well.

[Vos]

TdF stage 4, time trial HFFMM ;
16º  Milne   0:30"
26º  Zeppi   0:39"

TdF stage 5, FFMDM ;
8º  Beckham ( free role )   0:31"
13º  Szõnyi ( free role )   0:47"
14º  Milne ( teamcaptain )  0:47"
17º  Lewis ( helper )   0:55"
Ups, a sudden drop in dh s4 of masterhelper Lewis, and therefore not the important extra bonus in s5 for teamcaptain Milne.
Even more unexpectedly ; Szõnyi dropped in dh s4 too.

TdF stage 6, time trial FFC^HF ( 2x wind ) ;
54º  Milne   1:48"

TdF stage 7, FMMMM ( 1x wind ) ;
6º  Szõnyi ( free role )   0:29"
15º  Beckham ( free role )   0:58"
16º  Lewis ( helper )   0:58"
28º  Milne ( teamcaptain )  1:27"
Ups, masterhelper Lewis was going too slow in s3.
But "thanks to" a mechanical breakdown of Milne in s4, the teamcaptain-helper combo was reunited again. A better result was possible.
Beckham had an off-day by starting too slow what caused a bad free role result. Of course, having no climb TC bonus is a cause too.

Milne is the current 6º GC on 2:58"
It looks that he will achieve his top10 GC goal easily, and it also looks that the GC podium is far out of reach.

[Vos]

TdF stage 8, FM^MDF ;
7º  Milne ( teamcaptain )   0:00"

TdF stage 9, mountains ;
1º  Szõnyi ( teamcaptain ) = victory ! 
12º  Lewis ( helper ) 
30º  Beckham ( helper )   
38º  Milne ( free role )  2:09"

Milne is still the nr 6º GC, now on 4:20"
It seems to me certain that he will drop one place after the upcoming time trial and that he will be the nr 7º GC in this Tour de France.

[Kekipi]

TDF stage 8, FMMDF ( cold ) ;

23º Ektov 0:55" (captain)   

Ektov was the first of the second group of 50, which included his two helpers, Perry and Lyka.

TDF stage 9, MMMMM ( rain ) ;

24º Perry 1:46" (captain)
51º Ektov 2:45" (free)

Perry got help from Lyka in the first three sections but needed help in S4 to finish higher.  Meanwhile, Ektov did not do so well riding free and, as a result, dropped to 21st in the GC @ 10:32".     The goal of a top 10 finish is (obviously) not possible.   Also doubtful is a finish in the GC top 20 for Ektov.  The good news is we will likely score points in the final flat TT with Neeskens.   

[Vos]

Tour de France, final GC = 
7º  Milne   5:02"

San Sebastian ;
6º  Reigersman ( teamcaptain )
19º  Milne ( free role )
Excellent results !
It is even the very first result on the palmares of the 30yo Reigersman, who was bought 12 weeks ago for 1,2 M.

BinckBank Tour, final GC =
7º  Mikael-Nilsson   2:04"
I bought this 32yo three weeks ago, and he proved to be an excellent investment of just 131k.

So far this season in every tour a top 10 GC result.
Now it is up to Boyar in the Vuelta to achieve top10 GC in all tours of this season, what my team never achieved before.
It could be an exciting goal to battle for,
because in previous season Boyar was also the Vuelta teamcaptain and he finished 11º GC, just 0:10" outside the top10 GC.
But this is a different Vuelta, what seems a little bit better suited to Boyar than the Vuelta of season 24.

   selection SPORTLIFE

41 Boyar ( 30 ), tour
42 Caneschi ( 27 ), climb
43 Szõnyi ( 29 ), climb
44 Beckham ( 29 ), climb
45 Mikael-Nilsson ( 32 ), silver cobblehills & bronze sprint / helper in all stages without mountains

Vuelta stage 1, mountains ;
5º  Caneschi ( free role )  0:44"
11º  Boyar ( teamcaptain )  1:06"
15º  Szõnyi ( "helper" )  1:28"
18º  Beckham ( helper )  1:28"
Not a perfect race because Boyar was isolated in s2 and s3, but Beckham came to the rescue in s4 and gave the important extra bonus.
Beckham did also a very good helper's job in s1 what caused an excellent start.
First helper Szõnyi failed in this mountain stage. He started too slow and in all sections one group behind his teamcaptain.

[Vos]

Vuelta stage 2, cobble-sprint ;
7º  Mikael-Nilsson ( "helper" )  0:00"
91º  Boyar ( teamcaptain )  2:26"
Mikael-Nilsson tried to help by using a very low amount of energy points in the first 3 cobble sections.
Unfortunately this did not help and he was going too fast.
He had a lot of energy left in the final 2 flat sections, what caused a return to the s4 front group and a surprising good stage result.
The isolated Boyar had a very unlucky race ; he finished as 1st of a big group due to a mechanical breakdown in s5.
What costed him at least 0:34" extra time loss. 

Vuelta stage 3, sprint ( storm ) ;
53º  Boyar ( teamcaptain )  1:23"
The race was going very well with a very good helper's job of Mikael-Nilsson.
But Boyar got a mechanical breakdown in s4, and it was 100% certain that this caused a drop and could not follow his helper anymore.
Also certain that this bad luck costed 0:31" extra time loss.

Vuelta stage 4, climb-sprint ( 1x wind ) ;
1º  Boyar ( teamcaptain )  0:00"
20º  Beckham ( free role )  0:42"
Great victory of not-favorite Boyar ! 

Vuelta stage 5, flat-hill ;
15º  Mikael-Nilsson ( helper )  0:12"
19º  Boyar ( teamcaptain )  0:12"
Excellent race.

Boyar is 8º GC halfway the Vuelta, on 2:04" behind the Australian GC leader Fevola ( Bikeos ).
The two times bad luck on crucial moments costed Boyar a lot of time.
Without it, Boyar would be less than a minute behind, but as 5º GC with still a gap towards the podiumplaces.
Because at the moment Mira ( HTCHungria ) on 0:01" and Simsons ( OphiukoCT ) on 0:05" are extreme close to Fevola.

[Vos]

Vuelta stage 6, flat-climb ;
7º  Boyar ( teamcaptain )  0:18"
26º  Beckham ( helper )  0:55"
Excellent result, thanks to a very good helper's job.

Vuelta stage 7, cobblehills ( 2x wind ) ;
10º  Mikael-Nilsson ( free role )  0:33"
53º  Boyar ( teamcaptain )  1:35"
I estimated that MN was way too good to help, but in retrospective I was wrong, MN could have helped the first 3 sections.
In reality just 2 sections, because again a mechanical breakdown of teamcaptain Boyar. Now in s2, what caused a drop,
but this time without consequences because Boyar returned to the front peleton in s3.
Perhaps his finish was unlucky, because Boyar finished as 1st of a little group and just missed the cut, what maybe costed 0:19" extra.


Boyar dropped one place to 9º GC, on 2:59" behind GC leader Simsons ( OphiukoCT ).
It is still extreme close in the top of the GC, for example Fevola ( Bikeos ) is on 0:03"
Far behind the top GC contenders, Boyar battles for a top10 GC and it looks like he will achieve this, but maybe too soon to tell.
Especially because Boyar has problems to stay on his bike in this Vuelta.

[Vos]

Vuelta stage 8, mountains ;
7º  Beckham ( free role )  0:35"
10º  Caneschi ( helper )  0:59"
11º  Boyar ( teamcaptain )  0:59"
15º  Szõnyi ( helper )  1:23"
Not an excellent race, because to my big surprise Boyar was isolated in s4.
Helper Szõnyi even accelerated in s4, but despite this, he could not follow, what is very strange, according to me.

Vuelta stage 9, sprint ;
84º  Boyar ( teamcaptain )  2:30"
An extreme off-day of Boyar with a lot of time loss ! 
The start was very good, but an unexpected sudden drop in s2 caused that he was isolated for the rest of the race.
He dropped even further to the 3rd group in s3 and to the 4th group in s4 ánd to the 5th group in s5.
The time loss compared to sprint stage 3 is enormous ;

Vuelta stage 3, sprint ( storm ) ;
53º  Boyar ( teamcaptain )  1:23"
The race was going very well with a very good helper's job of Mikael-Nilsson.
But Boyar got a mechanical breakdown in s4, and it was 100% certain that this caused a drop and could not follow his helper anymore.
Also certain that this bad luck costed 0:31" extra time loss.

Boyar moved up 3 places after mountain stage 8, but the superbad result in stage 9 caused that he is back on 9º GC.
Despite a very unlucky Vuelta, it looks certain that the top10 GC goal will be achieved, because the nr 11 is almost 3 minutes behind.

[Vos]

Vuelta stage 10, TT ;
36º  Boyar   2:34"
Vuelta final GC ;
9º  Boyar      4:38"
What should have been easily 4º without the 2 crucial breakdowns. Anyway, the goal is achieved =
SPORTLIFE scored a top10 GC in all tours of this season.

Giro di Lombardia ;
14º  Boyar ( teamcaptain )   0:13"
16º  Reigersman ( free role )   0:26"

[Vos]

Innsbruck road WC ;
11º  Reigersman   1:05"
The tactics could have been much better, including that Boyar only helped in s1 and s2, and already lost contact with his teamcaptain in s3.

This for sure not great final race of the season, even caused a drop in the season ranking from place 4 to place 5.
Alhough 4th or 5th does not matter to me, what matters is that the gap towards the top 3 was too big throughout the whole season.
And top 3 is already a very nice price.
But SPORTLIFE could win another price this season :
Beckham ( 29yo climber )
I'm happy to win this American jersey for the first time ever.

Also the British jersey was/is still missing on my palmares.
But there are 2 British cyclists with an equal amount of points, and I don't know the criteria who gets the jersey now.
Maybe it depends on the best season result and then the jersey goes to the rival. What would be justified, in my opinion.
Although a pitty, to miss out on the desired Britsh jersey by a difference of zero points.
 
1.298 points = Vinnie Gilliam ( 30yo, LottoStelvio ) --> 1 stage victory + 2º GC Romandie
1.298 points = Mike Milne ( 29yo, SPORTLIFE ) --> no stage victory + 7º GC Tour de France

But not a bad season to SPORTLIFE ;
5º in 1A with 11.495 points  &  5 stage victories  &  American jersey  &  in all tours top10 GC. 

Let's finish my season afterview with this impressive achievement ;
Congratulations to 1A champion OphiukoCT ! 

[ophiuko]

Congratulations to 1A champion OphiukoCT ! 

Thanks very much Vos. It has been an enormously exciting end of the season with the three last races. I can even say it was the moment I enjoyed CFF the most since I started playing. I got lucky on the last race, the Innsbruck WC, being capable to follow the attacks with domestique even when my leader wasn't near the favourites, to end on the second place. Also very happy to win 1st div on my first full-competing season after training two half generations for 11 seasons. Next season, I expect more and better before I sell/retire my older half-generation to start a new one