Season 21

[Vos]

stage 2 Giro, M-D-F-CM-M 191km, with finish on the notorious Zoncolan ;
9º  Christensen ( free role )  0:22"
11º  Abolins ( free role )
20º  Coy  0:45"

stage 3 Giro, sprint ;
17º  Duncan ( helper )  0:00" --> again a very good helper's job.
34º   Coy  0:33"
98º  Christensen ( free role )  1:41"

So far it is going much better as expected. Now let's see how Coy does in the next 2 stages, both are time trials.
  TOP 10 GC after 3 stages :
1Pat Martin   30    Flyvende_hjul   0: 00"   
2    Afonso Rio   32    OphiukoCT   0: 15"   
3    Kasper van der Goor   31    Zatarra   0: 30"   
- - - - - - - - - -
4    Norman Coy   33    SPORTLIFE   0: 38"   
5    Alessandro Picoli   28    FaltososDeChigre   0: 42"   
6    Ken Hansen   29    Codex   1: 19"   
7    Faustino Arnau   28    Vicam   1: 20"   
8    Gustave Gloor   29    Turrones   1: 23"   
9    Dionisio Junior   27    Matterhorn   1: 27"   
10    Thies Neuhaus   25    QuintoYtapa   1: 38"
- - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - -
22    Birk Christensen   29   SPORTLIFE   3: 03"

[Aurora Australis]

My Giro TT squad

321 Billy Janson   23
322 Lenny Taylor   23
323 Jonny Alfier   24
324 Nobby Licuria   28
325 Tod Henderson   28

To make up for only being 2nd in the last NT race, Nobby intends to win race 4, and fight it against Henderson for race 5.  Henderson hasn't stated whether he's going to commit to race 5 or not.

[Vos]

stage 4 Giro, hill-TT ;
32º  Coy  1:19" --> with mechanical breakdown in s5
43º  Christensen  1:35"

stage 5 Giro flat-TT ;
30º  Coy  1:53"
47º  Christensen  2:16"

  TOP 10 GC after 5 stages :
1Pat Martin   30   Flyvende_hjul   0: 00"   
2    Afonso Rio   32   OphiukoCT   0: 54"   
3    Norman Coy   33   SPORTLIFE   1: 05"   
- - - - - - - - - -
4    Agapito Salcedo   26   Cremy   1: 34"   
5    Faustino Arnau   28   Vicam   1: 43"   
6    Dionisio Junior   27   Matterhorn   1: 57"   
7    Alessandro Picoli   28   FaltososDeChigre   2: 03"   
8    Thies Neuhaus   25   QuintoYtapa   2: 04"   
9    Gustave Gloor   29   Turrones   2: 12"   
10    Ken Hansen   29   Codex   2: 18"
- - - - - - - - - -
17    Birk Christensen   29   SPORTLIFE   4: 10"

[Vos]

stage 6 Giro ;
12º  Coy  0:25"
19º  Christensen ( free role )  0:32"
23º  Arensbak ( helper )

stage 7 Giro ;
13º  Coy  0:25"
15º  Christensen ( free role )  0:37"
Not a good stage.
The s1 peleton was big with 122 cyclists and most likely a "risky" start was possible.
Because free role cyclist Christensen could even follow in s1 with 1 EP and a mechanical breakdown.
But then again, maybe many other GC contenders did not take risk too in s1, and then s1 might not matter.
Thé tactical failure was in s4 ; helper Arensbak dropped and he should have gone full power because Coy was in the frontgroup of 34.

Anyway, Coy lost just a few seconds by being isolated in s4, and he is still very high ranked at the moment.
But I estimate that he will drop in the GC, because the final 3 stages will be difficult to Coy.
And that his silver sprint helper abandoned this Giro, might be a strategic mistake and almost certain extra time loss in stage 9.

First stage 8, much feared by Coy, and probably decisive if he can achieve his top 10 GC goal, what is also a sponsordeal.
For now it is looking still good ; very high ranked and a good gap of 1:38" towards the nr 11º GC.
Hopefully many GC contenders are not good in stage 8 too.

  TOP 20 GC after 7 stages :
1 Pat Martin   30   Flyvende_hjul   0: 00"   
2     Afonso Rio   32   OphiukoCT   0: 41"   
3     Norman Coy   33   SPORTLIFE   1: 36"   
- - - - - - - - - -
4     Dionisio Junior   27   Matterhorn   1: 38"   
5     Ken Hansen   29   Codex   2: 18"   
6     Gustave Gloor   29   Turrones   2: 18"   
7     Faustino Arnau   28   Vicam   2: 22"   
8     Agapito Salcedo   26   Cremy   2: 57"   
9     Henriks Valdmanis   31   KunTeam   3: 01"   
10  Alessandro Picoli   28   FaltososDeChigre   3: 07"   
- - - - - - - - - -
11    Thies Neuhaus   25   QuintoYtapa   3: 14"   
12    Yvo VanStraalen   32   Combuijs   3: 30"   
13    Eddie Egebjerg   27   Shiro_Lions   4: 35"   
14    Jose Damian Prats   30   RealMurciaCycling   4: 41"   
15    Kasper van der Goor   31   Zatarra   4: 57"   
16    Birk Christensen   29   SPORTLIFE   5: 01"   
17    Indulis Plaudis   26   Villavante   5: 11"   
18    Tristan Min   29   Flyvende_hjul   5: 30"   
19    Marco Camilo   32   WaterBoys   5: 36"   
20    Gianni Mori   26   LaSerenissima   6: 14"

[ophiuko]

Very hilly season 22 calendar. In OphiukoCT we will focus on the new GT riders for the new season, so we will say goodbye to Afonso Rio and Teofilo Dias, who let us stay in 1st div during the last 8 training seasons (and still 3 more to go). If anyone wants to sign them, they will probably go for sale for a reasonable price near the end of the season. Otherwise, they will retire in our team.

[Vos]

Indeed, much more hills in season 22, including the WC hills race in Portugal.
The last 2 seasons had a relative low number of climb races. Good for my climbers that season 22 has a decent amount of mountain stages.
All little tours have 1 time trial, with the exception of  Dauphiné and Suisse, both no TT stage.
The big tours have each 2 time trials.
But I have no idea if this is beneficial to my team, because to me it is still a mystery how SPORTLIFE will look next season. 

[Vos]

stage 8 Giro, flat+cobblehills ;
38º  Christensen ( free role )  1:10"
58º   Coy  1:18"
Much less time differences as expected. Very benificial to Coy. But not to Christensen, he performed badly.

stage 9 Giro, sprint ;
65º   Coy  1:06"
126º  Christensen ( free role )  3:25"
Way more time loss for Christensen as expected.
And it is almost certain that Coy had an unnecessary time loss of 33 seconds, because his sprint helper abandoned halfway the Giro.

Remarkable ; Coy is still 3º GC and he already secured his goal / sponsordeal of top 10 GC.
Christensen dropped a few places, now 19º GC.

[Vos]

stage 10 Giro, HFFHH ;
90º  Coy  1:35"
91º  Christensen ( free role )  1:35"
Ups, an unexpected sudden drop in s2 of both my GC contenders, what costed a lot of time.

  FINAL TOP 20 GC :
1 Pat Martin   30   Flyvende_hjul   0: 00"   
2     Afonso Rio   32   OphiukoCT   0: 58"   
3     Ken Hansen   29   Codex   2: 09"   
- - - - - - - - - -
4     Norman Coy   33   SPORTLIFE   2: 55"   
5     Dionisio Junior   27   Matterhorn   3: 13"   
6     Gustave Gloor   29   Turrones   3: 23"   
7     Faustino Arnau   28   Vicam   4: 02"   
8     Alessandro Picoli   28   FaltososDeChigre   4: 09"   
9     Agapito Salcedo   26   Cremy   4: 21"   
10  Henriks Valdmanis   31   KunTeam   4: 25"   
- - - - - - - - - -
11    Kasper van der Goor   31   Zatarra   5: 06"   
12    Yvo VanStraalen   32   Combuijs   5: 26"   
13    Thies Neuhaus   25   QuintoYtapa   5: 26"   
14    Eddie Egebjerg   27   Shiro_Lions   6: 45"   
15    Jose Damian Prats   30   RealMurciaCycling   7: 01"   
16    Indulis Plaudis   26   Villavante   8: 02"   
17    Gianni Mori   26   LaSerenissima   8: 11"   
18    Tristan Min   29   Flyvende_hjul   8: 12"   
19    Frank Jager   29   AmericanChow   8: 30"   
20    Birk Christensen   29   SPORTLIFE   8: 30"   


   selection SPORTLIFE

21 Coy ( 33 ), tour
22 Szõnyi ( 25 ), climb
23 Kummer ( 30 ), climb
24 Hummelsby ( 30 ), cobble
25 Beckham ( 25 ), climb

Merry Christmas to everyone

[Aurora Australis]

Tod Henderson & Nobby Licuria got a surprising 1st & 2nd in Dauphiné stage 3, surprising as their health was 92 & 91.  Plus Markus Benett & Jonny Alfier getting 5th & 6th, of course most of the good TTers appeared to be missing the race.

Btw: I notice that you're back in 3rd in the 1st Div table Vos.

[Vos]

Btw: I notice that you're back in 3rd in the 1st Div table Vos.

Yes. And still 3rd in 1A, perhaps mainly thanks to the 3 little tour victories of this season. But the Dauphiné sucked :


stage 1, windy hills-sprint ;
64º  Coy   1:25"
Ups, just like in the last Giro stage, Coy could not make the cut in the flat section behind a hill section, despite using 2 EP in s3.
And to make it even worse, he lost contact with his helper Hummelsby, who did made the cut and was in the s3 front group of 36.
The bad s3 probably costed 35 seconds. Well, on the bright side ;
the failure of Coy creates an opportunity to make a climber the teamcaptain in the 2 mountain stages of this Dauphiné.

stage 2, stormy mountain stage ;
2º  Szõnyi
14º  Kummer ( helper )
24º  Beckham ( helper )
55º  Coy ( free role )   2:41"
Tactical failure.
Because the helpers dropped already in s3 and could not even return in dh s4 despite using enough energy.
Of course, finishing solo as 2º behind climb legend Arnfinn Mikalsen* ( TeamEuroscalt ), that is not bad at all.

* = No doubt that Mikalsen is the best climber ever of CFF ;
29 stage victories, 3 NT race victories, 1 little tour victory, and 1 world champion race victory.
And it seems he will win the NT individual jersey this season, just like in previous season.

stage 3, flat TT ;
31º  Coy   2:00"
Just one second outside the points, due to a mechanical breakdown.

stage 4, mountains ;
3º  Szõnyi
11º  Kummer ( helper )
57º  Coy ( free role )   3:24"
Again a tactical failure, because again both helpers dropped already in s3, what is way too soon.
Kummer did a big effort in s4 to return, but he ended up in a group of 3 on 0:07"
behind the s4 front group of also 3 ; Szõnyi and 2x TeamEuroscalt ( Seeler and Mikalsen, who again won  ).
In the s5 final climb a furious Pisarev ( ICSluj ) surprised Szõnyi, who could not follow his high pace attack, so, this time a solo 3º place.

stage 5, stormy flat-cobble ;
10º  Hummelsby
110º  Coy ( free role )  3:30"
A pretty good race of Hummelsby who had to do it on his own, because my 3 climbers have an extreme low flat-cobble GV.
Coy tried to hold on to his 20º GC place. But he failed and ended up as 21º GC, 17 seconds behind a few GC points.

A very bad Dauphiné. Hopefully the tactics will go much better in the Tour de Suisse.
I guess the SPORTLIFE manager was not tactically in form during Christmas.   

[Vos]

   selection SPORTLIFE

21 Rønneberg ( 31 ), tour
22 Szõnyi ( 25 ), climb
23 Kummer ( 30 ), climb
24 Rubiera ( 29 ), hills
25 Arensbak ( 33 ), silver climbhills

Good luck everyone !

[Vos]

stage 1 Suisse, FFMHH ;
6º  Rønneberg  0:05"
A very good result, despite being isolated in s3 (= expected ), and that his best helper could not return in s4 (= not expected ).

stage 2 Suisse, hills ;
28º  Rubiera ( helper )
61º  Rønneberg  1:29"
A very dissapointing result in a race where it seems that my teamcaptain was unlucky in some sections by missing just the cut.
Unfortunately masterhelper Rubiera was going too fast in s4, or much better said ; Rønneberg was suddenly going too slow in s4.
"Luckily" he had still back up helper Arensbak in s4,
who could follow in s3 with +2 compared to his teamcaptain, but also in s4 with -1 compared to his teamcaptain. Weird.
Anyway, Rønneberg had support in all sections of this stage, but I did not like the drops in s2 + s3 + s4.
That was unexpectedly 1 or 2 drops too many with as consequence too much time loss. He should be much better in a hills stage.

Rønneberg is now 12º GC on 0:38"
Hopefully he has a lot of luck in the upcoming time trial, to compensate a bit this "big possible bad luck" stage 2.
And to be fair, it could be that Rønneberg was lucky with his very good result in stage 1.
Although, luck is more wished for stages 3 and 4, because according to me, those are most likely thé decisive stages for the final GC.

[Vos]

stage 3 Suisse, TT ;
This time trial was dominated by 2 teams ; Aurora_Australis and ChronoTony.
And also dominated by Australian TT specialists ; 5 out of the top 8 are Australian, and a clear victory of Kirk Clinton ( Aurora_Australis ).

A "little bit" behind the TT specialists, my GC contender finished as :
49º  Rønneberg  2:31"
What causes that he moves up to 5º GC, nice !
But the real GC battle will be in the Suisse mountains, and maybe a battle between many GC contenders,
for example the nr 13º GC is just 0:51" behind current GC leader Adrian Glibin ( 25, °Peachy°Melocotons ).

[Vos]

stage 4 Suisse, stormy MMDMD ;
4º  Kummer ( free role )
11º  Rønneberg  1:30"
16º  Szõnyi ( "helper" )
Ups, sacrificing Szõnyi as superhelper was a failure, because he was riding way too slow, always behind, and he never helped.
But back up helper Arensbak did a good job and stayed with his teamcaptain in the first 3 sections.

For the final GC victory it did not matter that my superhelper failed.
Because new GC leader Xavér Kövér ( HTCHungria ) did amazing by finishing solo as 2º behind climb legend Mikalsen ( TeamEuroscalt ).

Kövér has now a big gap towards the rest, ánd he is the 3rd favorite in the final stage where he will finish on 0:00"
Rønneberg moved up to 2º GC, so he has to finish on 0:00" too. To my surprise he is not a favorite, but it should be duable.

  TOP 20 GC after 4 stages :
1 Xavér Kövér   30   HTCHungria   0: 00"   
2     Lasse Rønneberg   31   SPORTLIFE   1: 04"   
3     Henriks Valdmanis   31   KunTeam   1: 11"   
- - - - - - - - - -
4     Serafim Gois   31   Flyvende_hjul   1: 11"   
5     Manuele Miorlin   27   Shiro_Lions   1: 26"   
6     Pat Martin   30   Flyvende_hjul   1: 54"   
7     Diogo Fraga   30   Codex   1: 59"   
8     Adrian Glibin   25   °Peachy°Melocotons   1: 59"   
9     Karl Johan Abelstedt   28   Codex   2: 07"   
10  Afonso Rio   32   OphiukoCT   2: 26"   
- - - - - - - - - -
11    Samuel Lotz   33   Fiestina   2: 27"   
12    Gustave Gloor   29   Turrones   2: 29"   
13    Phil Robinson   24   ICSluj   2: 30"   
14    Bud Dixon   27   Codex   2: 30"   
15    Ferenc Bartalics   30   RealMurciaCycling   2: 45"   
16    Fedir Litenko   25   °Peachy°Melocotons   2: 47"   
17    Lucio Queiros   30   FaltososDeChigre   2: 50"   
18    Martin Alcala   26   LaSerenissima   2: 53"   
19    Marco Camilo   32   WaterBoys   3: 06"   
20    Martijn Heijblok   31   Mlb   3: 12"

[Aurora Australis]

Good fortunes at him keeping second spot Vos.
And it appears that all of us Div 1 Aussies will be back in Div 1 for next season, with only a question mark on how many Aussie based teams will be joining us from Div 2b for season 22.