Season 20

[Vos]

stage 10 ;
7º  Szõnyi ( free role )
12º  Beckham ( free role )
16º  Christensen ( teamcaptain ) on 1:38"
A good stage, thanks to excellent help of Gritsal in the first 3 sections.
Maybe I should have made Beckham a helper too, because he finished in the same time as Christensen.
But before the race I estimated that Beckham was way too good to help, ánd very uncertain if he could do a good helper's job.

In the final GC nothing changed to Christensen, he could hold on to his position.
What is an excellent result of my just 3,2 M buy of this season.

  FINAL TOP 20 GC :

1 Alexey Ryazanov   31   RealMurciaCycling   0: 00"   
2    Tristan Min   28   Flyvende_hjul   0: 42"   
3    Ken Hansen   28   Astanadena   0: 47"   
- - - - - - - - - -
4    Yvo VanStraalen   31   Combuijs   2: 07"   
5    Rene Vrijmoed   32   BlackHole   2: 31"   
6    Birk Christensen   28   SPORTLIFE   2: 33"   
7    Juan Carlos Palencia   32   Fiestina   2: 51"   
8    Henriks Valdmanis   30   KunTeam   3: 13"   
9    Afonso Rio   31   OphiukoCT   3: 26"   
10    Maurizio Lorenzetto   32   FaltososDeChigre   4: 04"   
- - - - - - - - - -
11    Pat Martin   29   Flyvende_hjul   4: 36"   
12    Gustave Gloor   28   Turrones   5: 29"   
13    Manuele Miorlin   26   Shiro_Lions   5: 54"   
14    Atila Bekker   28   Caracoles   5: 58"   
15    Amadeu Salvado   32   Fiestina   6: 01"   
16    David Manuel Piñeiro   31   azerite   6: 19"   
17    Francesco Carancini   31   Sonfuga   6: 42"   
18    Lino Otero   31   Fiestina   7: 20"   
19    Bud Dixon   26   Codex   7: 23"   
20    Isaias Arriola   30   SenzaSellino   8: 09"   

[Vos]

No points in San Sebastian, because only with perfect tactics Cascos could score a few points.
But his 2 EP start was too risky and he could not follow the s1 peleton of 86, while his helpers were in the front of s1, s2, s3.
The isolated Cascos could not even return to the very big s3 peleton of 113, and there his few-points-ambition ended.

But I do expect some points in the next little tour :

   selection SPORTLIFE

Unfortunately no GC contender, because cobblehills specialist Laansalu cannot sprint and even worse, he has a TT skill of 6.
The BBT goals are to score points in stages 3 + 4 + 5. Probably I should expect 3x a top10 stage result if the tactics go well.

101 Laansalu ( 32 ), cobblehills
102 Makarov ( 31 ), TT
103 Rubiera ( 28 ), hills
104 Meijer ( 26 ), hills
105 Beckham ( 24 ), xp

Good luck everyone !

[Vos]

Probably I should expect 3x a top10 stage result if the tactics go well.

BBT stage 3 ;
10º  Laansalu
BBT stage 4 ;
7º  Makarov
BBT stage 5 ;
5º  Rubiera
24º  Meijer ( helper )

[Vos]

   selection SPORTLIFE

Tour cyclist Christensen did very well in the TdSuisse and the TdFrance by finishing twice as 6º GC.
But the expectations are much lower in the Vuelta.
Because now he has no TC bonus, and he is not in topform anymore ( in stage 10 he even drops to 94 form ).
And in the TdF most GC contenders were better in both flat TT stages, and this Vuelta even has 3 flat TT stages.
And perhaps the biggest disadvantage is that Christensen gets only 3 or 4 times the teamcaptain role.
Despite this all, he tries to battle for a place in the final top20 GC.

The most Vuelta points of my team should be scored by Makarov and Hummelsby.
Makarov gets the backnumber that ends on 1, due to his ambition to ride ( temporarily ) in the red jersey, like he did in previous season.

111 Makarov ( 31 ), TT
112 Hummelsby ( 29 ), cobble
113 Christensen ( 28 ), tour
114 Kummer ( 29 ), climb
115 Real ( 30 ), cobble

Good luck everyone !

[Vos]

Vuelta stage 1 ;
6º  Makarov
Vuelta stage 2 ;
3º  Makarov
Vuelta stage 3 ;
1º  Hummelsby = victory ! 
19º  Real ( helper )

The first victory this season !
Happy with it , also because in all previous 1A seasons my team never was without a victory in a season.

No red jersey for Makarov, because twice (s18+s19) TT world champion Mikkelson ( Caracoles ) has also a cobble icon,
and he won stages 1 + 2, ánd he was 0:26" faster in stage 3 than Makarov.

[Vos]

Vuelta stage 4 ;
2º  Hummelsby
23º  Real ( helper )
Vuelta stage 5 ;
22º  Christensen

No points for Christensen in stage 6, but he managed to finish as last ( 36º ) of the first group on 0:00"
Christensen is doing very well in the GC, despite his 2x free roles in the cobble stages.
He moved up 3 places after stage 6. At the moment he is 7º GC on 2:06" behind GC leader Tristan Min ( Flyvende_hjul ).

[Vos]

In climb-sprint stage 7 Christensen finished in the 2nd group on 0:41", just outside the points ( 32º ).
Vuelta stage 8 ;
17º  Hummelsby ( free role )
100º  Christensen  on 1:36"
An unexpected drop in s3 caused a bad result in this flat-sprint stage with 1x wind.
Also because his better helper Real did not drop in s3, despite he had in s3 the same EP difference as in s2 compared to his teamcaptain.
Makarov was now the back up helper in s3, but as expected, the s4 pace was too fast for him, and Christensen was isolated in s4.

Remarkable ; Christensen is still 7º GC, now on 3:31" behind new GC leader Ken Hansen ( Astanadena ), who seems to win the Vuelta.

[Vos]

Vuelta stage 9, flat TT ;
3º  Makarov
57º  Christensen  on 2:41"  --> this caused a drop of 5 places ; now 12º GC.

[Vos]

Vuelta climb stage 10 ;
1º Kummer ( HELPER ) --> solo victory !   
21º  Christensen ( teamcaptain ) on 1:31"
WOW, a solo victory with a not-favorite in a helper's role !

The fully prepared Kummer had to ride very slow to help his teamcaptain, who has no TC and no topform.
And Kummer did an excellent helper's job, till downhill s4, where suddenly he was in a breakaway with Seeler ( TeamEuroscalt ).
Because Kummer had to ride slow to help, his 5 EP finish was superstrong, so he decided to attack and win solo !

Christensen moved up 2 places and finished as 10º GC, what is an excellent final result.

[Vos]

As expected, no points in Lombardia and Innsbruck.
And in the last race of this season a decent good result of not-favorite Hummelsby, thanks to his 9-star helper who got 5x the hands-icon.
Richmond WC cobble race ;
7º  Hummelsby
26º  Real ( helper )