US Nat team season 16

[Kekipi]

Stage 1, S16


This will the debut of 24 year old Gilbert Workman as captain of the USA hill squad.  Experienced helpers Hank Gale, Jack Overall, and Neil Blanton have been chosen to shepherd the youngster to the final climb of the Paracombe.



The results were interesting.   Workman scored! but it was at a less-than-expected place.  He could not make the 73-man lead group in the first section but he had helpers with him @ :14.  Ditto for S2 @ :16 and S2 @ :25.  He rode S4 hard without help @  :14  and had just one EP for S5 to finish  20th.

Meanwhile, one of the helpers, Zack Mitchum, rode too hard from the start, so he was unable to help Workman, but he ended up a surprising 14th!  So good for him.

[Kekipi]

Stage 2 - Savigliano - Sestriere



Matt Janson, 26, was the captain for this race and he finished in 11th.  I had him ride with 4EPs for the Cat 1 ascent of Savigliano, but none of the helpers, all riding full gas, could keep up.  They weren't far back @ :22 and my mistake was not having any of them ride with 2+ EPs on the subsequent descent, just in case.

Given the chosen tactics, 11th was likely the best Janson could do, so I've gotta be happy.

[Kekipi]

Stage 3 - Albese - Cassano-Milano



I feel it's very easy to select the wrong tactics, and it's hard to find the correct one.

Yes, it's a guessing game.   I like the challenge but dislike the uncertainty.

For the USA, the leader, Truex, and free rider, Saucedo, were gapped in S2 by three hard-riding helpers--Ford, Wolf, and Yellowhair.   Truex and Saucedo never regained contact with the lead group but the trio, with 0 EPs to spend in S5, were able to finish in top 25 (Ford 20th, Wolf 21st, and Yellowhair 25th).

Recently, I've been diligent about noting down the tactics used and meant to do so this morning pre-race, but I got sidetracked with a chore and did not to get to it.    That's sad, because I would have enjoyed doing the post-race analysis, which includes the only-ifs.

[Kekipi]

Stage 4 - Villie Morgon-Bourg en Bresse (TT)



A good win for 31-year-old David McDermot.   It was his fourth podium and second NT TT victory.  The other was in S13, on a similarly windy and rainy course.  In fact, though it might have already been pointed out, I just noticed that every NT TT has been on a rainy, 3-banner wind course. A bug? 

In any case, Go Big Mac!

[ophiuko]

Not a bug, it's just that the weather icons are not saved from one season to other, so it shows the weather icon of this season for every other past season. If you go to past season Australian posts, the real icons are there.

[Kekipi]

Not a bug, it's just that the weather icons are not saved from one season to other, so it shows the weather icon of this season for every other past season. If you go to past season Australian posts, the real icons are there.

Thanks.  I obviously missed the memo.   

[Kekipi]

Stage 5 - Zalla-Zalla



This exact stage was raced last season, and the results for the USA were poor (i.e. no scorer(s) even though two had high potential to finish top 20).  What happened?  Mistaken tactics. 

Last season, the podium for this stage was occupied by Jaen (Spain), Leonov (Ukraine), and Aakre (Norway).   As for the top 20, five Spanish riders made it as did four Ukranians, and three Brits. So those three countries accounted for 60% of the top 20 finishers, which meant the managers thereof hit the jackpot tactically (and obviously had strong cobble-hillers to go along with the tactics).

In this season's (S16) go-around, I decided to make a change and used maximally aggressive tactics, and they paid off:  three riders making the top 20--Julian Finn (10th), John Hamilton (18th), and Bryan Whisman (19th). 

In other S16 results, last season's winner, Jaen, finished 14th, but the good news for Team Spain is his teammate Capilla made the podium (3rd).   Team Ukraine also had good success this time with riders finishing first (Narshawov), 13th (Leonov), 15th (Kaloev), and 20th (Lipko).

Sadly, Team Britain was absent.  I hope they're okay.

[Kekipi]

Stage 6 - Carrara-Montalcino



I was nervous about the tactics employed for this one (4 EPs in S1 to S4 for the captain and two free riders).  On the one hand, if they were correct, we'd stand to do very well.  But, if they weren't, the result could very well have been a shutout akin to the agonizing S5 (Zalla-Zalla) in Season 15.

I also agonized as who'd be the captain.  I initially gave thought to having as leader my rider, Julian Finn, because though he has a lower GV (84.1) than Bryan Whisman (84.9), his experience over BW is +36.

But I ultimately concluded that Finn, with the exact tactics as Whisman, would be more likely to make it to S4 in the lead group as a free rider and then bring it home in the top 20.  I also came to the same conclusion for John Hamilton, who's also blessed with +80 experience.

The final results were good:

7 Whisman @ 0:07 (150 pts)
12 Finn @ 0:14 (100 pts)
16 Hamilton @ 0:14  (60 pts)

I now nervously look forward to the season's final stage, also a potential points windfall for the team.  We'll see what we can do.

[Kekipi]

Stage 7 - Siena-Siena (Strade Bianche)



I gave thought to using conservative tactics to go for a podium or a top 5, but fear of a shutout overcame me, so I went the aggro route tactically (i.e. helpers using 54300 EPs).

While I expected the captain (Finn) and several helpers to be in the lead group in the first three sections, that wasn't the case with a group of thirty in S2 and seven in S3 out in front.  That probably meant that some teams went the 55200 route for some helpers.

The shakedown in S4 saw Finn attack to join the lead group of 16.  Meanwhile, three free riders Wray, Whisman, and Norcross sat at :09 with eleven others. 

The results:  No shutout but just a disappointing 11th for Finn.  Wray, Norcross, and Whisman faded to 26th (@ :41), 27th (@ :41), and 35th (@ :47), respectively.

In the final team standings, the sixth place finish with 1100 points was the best ever for Team USA.  The previous top finish was 8th with 920 points in S8. 

This season, we obviously benefited from the three cobbles/hills races on the schedule.

For next season as coach, I've thrown my hat in the ring but if someone else wants to take the job, just put in and I'll withdraw.