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English Cff Forum => NT Teams => Topic started by: Vos on February 05, 2021, 10:14:37 AM
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(https://i.imgur.com/VPw1qZw.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/bi7XdWp.jpg?1) AUSTRALIA NT ; SEASON 15 PREVIEW
race 1 (https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/flags/small/nl.png) (https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/flags/small/be.png) hills = HHHHH 175km
race 2 (https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/flags/small/es.png) (https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/flags/small/fr.png) mountains = MMMMM 232km
race 3 (https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/flags/small/es.png) sprint = FFFFF 180km
race 4 (https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/flags/small/fr.png) time trial = FFFFF 35km
race 5 (https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/flags/small/es.png) cobblehills = C^C^C^C^C^ 160km
race 6 (https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/flags/small/it.png) sprint = FFFFF 119km
race 7 (https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/flags/small/fr.png) flat-cobble = FCFCC 259km
This seems to me a pretty standard season schedule, with of course the exception that there are 2 flat sprint NT races.
The Australian sprint teamcaptain Jasper Blair is happy with that, and for those who do not know who Jasper Blair is : :)
(https://i.imgur.com/vJSnT3J.png)
Unfortunately these 2 sprint races are flat.
Blair likes sprint races with one hill section and/or little "hidden" hills in flat sections, for example in s5 would be perfect.
But Blair is a top flat sprinter too, although there he has more fierce rivals.
So it is uncertain if he really can compete for the individual world championship. Of course I'm going to try.
About the season goal of Australia ; that is hard to predict in these circumstances of new young top cyclists and (too) old (ex?)top-cyclists.
I guess Australia will do well and can compete for a podiumplace. Hopefully my guess is correct.
Luckily there is just one cobblehills race. In the other 6 races Australia should score enough points.
If Australia will do well this season, that depends for a big part on the 2 sprint races, because sprint tactics can go horribly wrong.
And if there is wind, even a bigger chance that sprint tactics go wrong.
Blair has no weather icon, so hopefully there is no wind, no sun, no cold and no rain in the 2 sprint races. Probably that will not happen.
The final NT race 7 is the monumental classic race Paris Roubaix. It is the first time this race is on the NT calendar.
But we start in the hills of a cold, little bit windy Limburg ( the Netherlands ).
The selection and the preview of this NT race 1 to Belgium will be made later today or tomorrow morning. Possibly the lists too.
Just in case, already the best 4 hills specialists are selected, and also the tactics are made.
Remarkable this season ; for the first time Australia had no candidate, so, many thanks for the zero votes. :P :))
There was just one other country without a candidate ; Russia. But that nation is not known for righteous elections anyway.
I guess I'm the Putin of Australia now, hahahaha.
Also this season ; almost all NT managers are very good and experienced. What makes this Australian Putin-job fun and challenging. 8)
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Topics to discuss:
1. Jasper: For me, even if he is listed a sprint-hills, is better as a sprint-flat than sprint-hills. But honestly, I don't know his true level as I didn't compete with the best yet.
2. Candidates: I don't feel in the mood to be NT manager right now, but is true that we have plenty of experienced managers in Australia, not only VOS and Aurora, also Zatarra, Tourmalet, Antequera, Ophiuko... are good enough to guide us.
3. Old guys: I want to know the rankings, because there are some of my 33yo guys that doesn't have a proper level for First Division, but maybe they are good enough to go as helpers with the NT, and I'm thinking of retire them soon.
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My opinion ;
1. Jasper ;
According to me he had much better jndividual world championship chances if there was besides a flat sprint race, also a hill-sprint race.
For example a flat sprint + stage 1 TDU ( or stage 2 PN, or stage 3 CAT, or stage 4 DAU, stage 3 BBT and stage 10 Vuelta ).
Also 2 flat sprint races like stage 4 Tour de France increases his chances a lot due to the many km and above all due to the sneaky hill in s5.
Probably Blair would be thé top favorite for the ind.WC title if there was a better combo as the now 2 flat sprint races.
Not many ( maybe just a few or even none ) top sprinters are so versatile as Blair can be in his perfect combo.
But it is what it is, if I thought he had no chance with these 2 flat sprint races, I would not have written "I'm going to try anyway".
About his true level ; it is possible that this will not be clear after just 1 NT season, often odd things happen in NT sprint races.
Probably you will find out much sooner in 1A ( in the mentioned stages ).
2. Candidates ; I totally agree. And no problem for me to be NT manager, even automatically.
But now I have again all the fun and the honor to race with the best Aussies, and I wish this fun to someone else too.
Well, I was too poor to buy Blair, so this is a great opportunity to race with him. :))
3. Old guys ;
I have to look into this. So later today (or tomorrow morning) I will post the lists.
But GV is to me not the only factor to select someone as helper.
As NT manager : my general rule/advise in this "old" situation = when they are of no use to your team, do not look at the Australia NT.
The exceptions can be a teamcaptain in a NT race, or a best helper, or a points scoring cyclist.
This season ; if my memory is right of previous season, in all NT races of this season Australia has enough good young helpers.
With the exception of the cobblehills race, but useless to keep a helper of a teamcaptain that cannot score points there.
Of course I can already asses your 33yo's, Franky. And I just did, and they all are not needed for Australia this season.
Again to everyone with old Australian cyclists ( and this is also my opinion, but I am the Australian NT manager this season ) ;
even when an old cyclist is a bit needed, as 4th helper or so, the interest of your own team is then more important as the NT of Australia.
If you have doubts about firing an Australian, let me know, I can help you to make the right decision.
No teamcaptain, no best helper, no points ; if he does not have one of these 3 criteria, it is ( most likely ) no problem to fire him.
Even in the best interest of Australia, because now you have one more free place in your team to scout an Australian 19yo top talent. 8)
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Absolutely echo Vos on old guys; if they're not either team captain/points scorer, or a primary domestique (1st or 2nd dom), they're not needed for the NT. When I was manager in season 13, I even chose not to select a few (then) 31 years olds where there were some 23-26 year olds almost as good.
And generally, an old guy who's no longer gold is unlikely to be up to standard for NT any longer.
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(https://i.imgur.com/sltq8i0.png)
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Owen isn't good enough for TT this season. I suspect Mitchum isn't either unless it's hot. Workman's the only >23 <30 cyclist who's good enough unless weather can suit somebody else (and that's still marginal for those somebody else). We're about to see a small vacuum in TT until the next group matures.
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Yes, I agree with you, AA.
And if confirms my expectations of the TT race, that starts in 3 weeks.
Luckily the TT race comes relatively soon. For example the now high ranked 33yo cobble specialists are not good enough after 6 weeks.
But there is hope, because according to me Australia is not depending heavily on the TT race anymore to finish high in the season ranking.
Although, also in the future we need many TT points too to really compete for the worldchampionship. Rival countries do the same.
In previous season we already had young teamcaptains in almost all races, and they can score a good amount of points.
The near future (already in season 17) looks very bright, because your amazing TT team is already 22yo.
The u23 Dream Team looks much better as previous season, also in other skills ;
(https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/australia.jpg) time trial =
1. Nobby Licuria Aurora_Australis 22
3. Tod Henderson Aurora_Australis 22
4. Kirk Clinton Aurora_Australis 22
5. John Friess La_Vie_Claire 22
6. Markus Benett Aurora_Australis 22
7. Christian Pocock Aurora_Australis 22
(https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/australia.jpg) hills =
6. Christian Segond cave 22
(https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/australia.jpg) sprint =
8. Leroy Ablett lasposturas 22
9. Ian Hamsten lasposturas 22
10. Anthony Fletcher lasposturas 22
(https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/australia.jpg) cobbles =
2. Marc Huling CobbleCrushers 22
(https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/australia.jpg) tours =
6. Gilbert Fagan NervionBike 22
10. Donovan Baxter ItaliaCycling 22
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Kirk Clinton and Christian Pocock, Manicomicos youth team quality 8) ;D
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RACE 1 : AYWAILLE
(https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/etapas/heerlen.jpg) (https://i.imgur.com/lEvWQRy.jpg)
6ºC (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/viento1.jpg)(https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/nieve.jpg)
Heerlen, the Netherlands,
In previous season teamcaptain Shields had an epic failure by finishing 132º. Yes, no writing error, it really was 132º, with 12 EP.
Hopefully this season he gets his revanche, because again he is the teamcaptain.
Despite his epic failure Australia scored a very surprising big amount of points in the hills race of previous season ;
9º Coleman ( helper ), 11º Burton ( free role ) and 16º Jones ( free role ). Burton is retired already.
For many seasons Australia scored just a few points in hills races, and this was possibly the most points ever in a hills race.
So, I should be optimistic about the chances of Australia, of course with the requirement that teamcaptain Shields will do very well this time.
This selection consists of only hills specialists, so that Shield has very good support ánd a few can ride in free roles.
Maybe again very surprising extra points.
The only xp cyclist is the nr 6 ( hills ) of the u23 DT, Christian Segond, who makes his debut despite his extreme low experience.
What is very remarkable because he is riding in a team of only 22yo's, and he is the only one of that team who is in the u23 DT.
Hopefully this debut selection will be an encouragement to his manager, so Segond will get more races in his own team.
There are many Australian young talents who deserve an xp place much more, but to me this is a good opportunity for his debut.
In most other NT races there is more space for xp cyclists. Despite this exception now, for sure a high xp is one of the selection criteria.
Australia NT selection :
Gerard Shields* ( 26 ) Quickstepbronx
Vinnie Coleman ( 32 ) galegospolabici
Zack Walkins ( 26 ) Quickstepbronx
Herbie Fredickson ( 25 ) MarquinaTeam
John Jones ( 33 ) ZG
Tim Morton ( 27 ) Inglourious_Bastards
Royce Henderson ( 33 ) Handest
Stu Beal* ( 33 ) $Tourmalet
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Christian Segond ( 22 ) cave ( debut )
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and now 3 former Manicomicos Young Team, Shields, Walkins and Fredickson ;D
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Nice result, Vos!
Can we see the U21 lists, maybe? I'm curious for the cobble-hillers.
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More than excellent result ! 8)
4º Shields
18º Walkins ( helper )
Thanks to his teammates, and especially thanks to Walkins who was still with Shields in section 4. A perfect Quickstepbronx-combo. :)
Despite this great result ( the best Australian hills result since the 3ºplace in season 3 ) ; less points ( -70 ) than previous season,
because free roles Coleman (69º, last season 9º as helper) and Fredickson (124º) did not do well and dropped already in s2 too far behind.
But really satisfied with this good result of Shields and the good amount of points in a hills race.
Also positive ; current twice-in-a-row-world-champion Great Britain did not had tactics and scored 0 points ( instead of 150 in s14 ).
Carrere ( 33, FRA ) won this hills race, and France is the leader in the season ranking with 340 points.
Australia at the moment 5º with 230 points.
Next week a brutal mountain stage of 232km in the Spanish- and French Pyrenees. Weather forecast = sun and 31ºC
Nice result, Vos!
Can we see the U21 lists, maybe? I'm curious for the cobble-hillers.
Thanks. :)
I will make the youth lists tomorrow. I'm curious too, and I need your expertise advice in cobblehills how good the young Aussies can be.
Because cobblehills is the only specialism that is difficult to me to estimate if a young Aussie is good enough to score future NT points.
Handy to know for me, also for possible xp-selections.
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Nice pure climber pulled on day one :-)
Ethan Leipheimer Age : 19 Wage : 565
Stamina : 61 Sprint : 5 Climbing : 67
Flat : 19 Cobblestone : 22 Technique : 65
Downhill : 58 Hills : 47 Aggressiveness : 9
Time Trial : 5 Teamwork : 3 Experience : 0
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(https://i.imgur.com/2Ai1WGj.jpg)
Australia u21 ( 40 cyclists, including 5x 19yo's )
(https://i.imgur.com/b5vj7lu.png)
Australia u22 ( 39x 21yo's, 35x 20yo's, 5x 19yo's )
(https://i.imgur.com/8MhY31H.png)
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Wow, this generation of hillers is not too good this time...if the better u21 are mine...xDD. BTW, all of them are on sale, I cant train them propperly
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I've just got hold of 24yo Dudley Iverson, he'll have the technique & stamina training with the rest of my team (& better experience) before selling him.
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Hi everyone, just wanted te say i'm searching for 19 Year Old hillers. Besides of some Belgian hillers, I'd like to Welcome some Australian hillers in my team as well. 😉
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Barret Blair Edad : 19 Sueldo : 839
Resistencia : 54 Sprint : 7 Montaña : 30
LLano : 32 Pavés : 23 Tecnica : 46
Descenso : 35 Colinas : 59 Agresividad : 72
Crono : 19 TraEqui : 58 Experiencia : 0
Precio : 1 000 000 Dias Quedan : 3 Carreras Disputadas : 0
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Hi everyone, just wanted te say i'm searching for 19 Year Old hillers. Besides of some Belgian hillers, I'd like to Welcome some Australian hillers in my team as well. 😉
Very wise words and a smart choice to get young Aussies as well, Daan. 8)
Good luck with your new youth team of future top hills-specialists !
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This week I will post the Australian u20 lists, hopefully including Australian Plopsala talents. :)
At the moment there are already 21x 19yo's.
So many already, because it is including the standard 8x 19yo's of an Australian team that started today ; Flylikeabutterfly.
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Barret Blair Edad : 19 Sueldo : 839
Resistencia : 54 Sprint : 7 Montaña : 30
LLano : 32 Pavés : 23 Tecnica : 46
Descenso : 35 Colinas : 59 Agresividad : 72
Crono : 19 TraEqui : 58 Experiencia : 0
Precio : 1 000 000 Dias Quedan : 3 Carreras Disputadas : 0
I made a bid. Thx
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(https://i.imgur.com/2Ai1WGj.jpg)
Australia u20 ( 33 cyclists )
(https://i.imgur.com/3l2i7E4.png)
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RACE 2 : Val-Louron
(https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/etapas/jaca.jpg) (https://i.imgur.com/QBLPU0H.jpg)
31ºC (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/sol.jpg)
Jaca, Spain,
Today a brutal mountain race of 232km in the Spanish- and French Pyrenees with the final climb (average 8,3%) to ski resort Val-Louron.
For many seasons Australia was not good in pure mountain races, but in previous season the new teamcaptain Furey did amazing.
He even finished as 5º in extreme hot weather with a stormy mistral in the southern French Alps.
Hopefully he will do amazing again in this different Pyrenees race, and I'm very satisfied if he can finish top 10.
Furey is the nr 86 in the golden climb list, and ranked as 35th pure climber.
The reason of the surprising 5º place of previous season was that Garza did a perfect helper's job.
But this season the 33yo Garza is not selected, simply not good enough anymore.
Special thanks to 14 times Australian international Anthony Garza, who was the mountain teamcaptain for many seasons.
Hopefully the other climbers can do a very good helper's job too.
Furey has not such good support as most foreign rivals do, because the just 24yo debutant Iverson ( nr 175 ) should be the best helper.
And there are just 2 other golden helpers ; R.Henderson ( nr 203 ) and Mount ( nr 282 ).
To give Furey some extra support ; also selected are silver climbers Winger ( gold flatclimb ) and Owens ( only due to his weather icon ).
3 xp cyclists are selected ;
a 22yo TT supertoptalent, a very promising 19yo hills specialist, and the 25yo teamcaptain of next week.
Australia NT selection :
Jason Furey ( 26 ) PDM_cycling_team
Dudley Iverson ( 24 ) Aurora_Australis ( debut )
Ryan Henderson ( 28 ) FrançaiseDesJeux
Colin Mount ( 28 ) Teka
Trevor Winger ( 32 ) Manicomicos_Cycling_Team
Jason Owens* ( 26 ) PORTUGAL2011
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Nobby Licuria ( 22 ) Aurora_Australis
James Bush ( 19 ) Antequera ( debut )
Jasper Blair ( 25 ) Manicomicos_Cycling_Team
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Unbelievable ! Despite a very hard 4 EP start, teamcaptain Furey could not follow the s1 front peleton of 40.
And 4 out of the 5 helpers could follow the front peleton, even including the 2 silver helpers.
In a CFF race in division 1A, both silver helpers would probably go too slow with just +1 compared to their much better teamcaptain.
But it is the NT, now they were going faster than Furey.
Luckily Australia has a foxy manager who anticipated on strange situations in NT races. :D
Best helper Iverson had the doubtfull honor to start slow in case something weird happened.
And he was the only helper who was with Furey on the Portalet (s1), both in the 2nd group on 0:12"
Also very remarkable, both dropped on the Aubisque (s2) to the 4th group on already 0:41" !
And both used enough energy. Iverson even got the attack icon while he dropped from the 2nd group to the 4th group.
On the Tourmalet (s3) both had a much easier pace, and suddenly they came a little closer, still in the 4th group but now on 0:38"
The real attack of helper Iverson was planned on the Aspin (s4).
But despite he gave everything he had and used more energy compared to teamcaptain Furey as in the 3 previous sections,
very unexpectedly Furey was suddenly going much faster than helper Iverson who was now 21 (!) seconds behind Furey.
The good news was that Iverson launched his teamcaptain hard, and Furey came on the Aspin in the big 3rd chasing group on 0:36"
And there he met 3 helpers who had an unintentional so called "forward paws tactic".
Furey could profit perfectly of those 3 helpers on the climb and the descent of the Aspin, and they launched Furey into the final climb.
In the final climb to Val-Louron (s5) Furey did amazing and he finished as 5º ! 8)
A more than excellent result in a bizarre mountain race.
Australia is still 5º in the season ranking. France is still leading and now has 100 points more than Australia, so we came 10 points closer.
Next week a difficult sprint race due to rain and storm.
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It seems that teams waster a lot of efforts at the beginning, because Dudley, Palachev, Miro and some other were at 41'' in S2 too... the favs were relaxed knowing that in the important part they are strong enough to catch all this guys to has gone far at the beginning of the stage hehe. The good one was for Boris Walker, that was strong enough to maintain the position even without helpers.
Nah, very good race VOS ;)
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Thanks Franky, now it is all about the crucial next sprint race.
I'm not sure about this ; I did not see Blair among the favorites in flat sprint stage 4 of Paris Nice. Is this true ?
Well, perhaps it does not matter, because the storm can make this sprint NT race very unpredictable and much luck is needed anyway.
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Thanks Franky, now it is all about the crucial next sprint race.
I'm not sure about this ; I did not see Blair among the favorites in flat sprint stage 4 of Paris Nice. Is this true ?
Well, perhaps it does not matter, because the storm can make this sprint NT race very unpredictable and much luck is needed anyway.
True, but also true that I could challenge the 3, 4 and 5th favorites
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Ok, good to know. Let's see if Blair and his teammates can make a tactical impact on the lottery race of next week.
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(https://i.imgur.com/2Ai1WGj.jpg)
Australia u24 ( 226 cyclists )
(https://i.imgur.com/OrTTr2N.png)
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It seems to me it looks already very good with some excellent 19yo talents. Hopefully they have a good talent rating.
And hopefully more good 19yo's in the very near future because week 2 just started. Good luck everyone ! :)
(https://i.imgur.com/2Ai1WGj.jpg)
Australia u20 ( 51 cyclists )
(https://i.imgur.com/177Jm1v.png)
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RACE 3 : TORREDEMBARRA
(https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/etapas/torredem.jpg) (https://i.imgur.com/1ja4Dsf.jpeg)
14ºC (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/viento3.jpg)(https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/lluvia.jpg)
La Seu d'Urgell, Spain ( 10km below Andorra ),
A sprint stage with storm and rain that starts in the Spanish Pyrenees,
and finishes near the Torredembarra beach of the Costa Daurada ( 100km southwest of Barcelona ).
The storm can make this race very unpredictable. Let's hope that Blair and his Australian helpers do very well.
This race might be crucial for the final ranking of Australia ; we need many points in both sprint races to compete for the world championship.
And maybe Jasper "The Bullet" Blair can compete for the individual world championship as well.
Although to me he has just a little chance, but of course his chances will increase a lot if he rides an excellent first sprint race now.
Two semi-xp cylcists are selected. Both are in the u23 Sprint DreamTeam as numbers 10 and 9.
In the next NT sprint race their teammate ( also of lasposturas ) Anthony Fletcher will make his debut, who is even higher ranked as nr 7.
Australia NT selection :
Jasper Blair ( 25 ) Manicomicos_Cycling_Team
Ryan Pierre ( 28 ) CC_Porco_Jones
Tim Malone ( 25 ) Manicomicos_Cycling_Team
Wilt Frances* ( 25 ) Manicomicos_Cycling_Team
Tony Carter ( 33 ) BoiraCycling
Richard Davidson ( 26 ) Luka_Warriors
Brent Hunter ( 29 ) FrançaiseDesJeux
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Leroy Ablett* ( 22 ) lasposturas
Ian Hamsten* ( 22 ) lasposturas ( debut )
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(https://t4.ftcdn.net/jpg/02/40/96/03/360_F_240960349_Wj11xEAUv6yB57BLQldodITQoo3Nm2o8.jpg)
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Sorry, but I have a serious WC individual champion prospect, so:
1st Aksel Myklebust
Jasper Blair can have 2nd
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Pffffff, Australia should have anticipated in section 2 because they all used enough energy, and teamcaptain Blair used 1 EP in s2.
Apparently that was not enough to follow the s2 peleton of 45.
Remarkable that the 3 least good Aussies could follow in s2, even including the two 22yo's ( ! ).
To my very big surprise the other 6 sprinters dropped to the 2nd group in s2, what caused that a good result was impossible.
Even more remarkable that the 22yo's were still in the s3 front peleton of 44.
Blair had even a back up plan in s4 with his many very good helpers who were with him in all 4 sections, some of them went full power in s4,
but that had no effect at all and they could not bring back Blair to the s4 front group of 22.
Not just the race of Australia was bad and incomprehensible, also the final sprint of Blair was very unsatisfactory and also not expected.
A very dissapointing result ;
15º Blair :'(
Well, a "tactical failure" to anticipate in section 2 with many energy, that even should have been ridiculously more energy as I already used.
Despite this very bad result, the next time I will do exactly the same in a stormy sprint race. To start with Blair in a 12xxx is not logical.
Just 70 points in this NT race 3, and 12 (!) countries did better.
Australia dropped to the 7º place in the season ranking, now 230 points behind still nr 1º France.
And Blair can forget about the individual world championship, zero chance after this very strange debacle in s2.
Just one Australian is happy today, because his Norwegian sprinter won this race.
Let's hope he will be the individual world champion this season ; good luck Aurora and Agtxla.
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:'( :'( :'(
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(https://i.imgur.com/2Ai1WGj.jpg)
Australia u20 ( 76 cyclists, what is a lot ) :)
(https://i.imgur.com/36uyIuy.png)
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Just one Australian is happy today, because his Norwegian sprinter won this race.
Let's hope he will be the individual world champion this season ; good luck Aurora and Agtxla.
Can't complain about that. I'm just hoping for another windy NT race 6.
And this week my TTers farewell to the NT circuit. No victories, but hopefully they can celebrate their last NT with some points.
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Indeed, let's hope that your (old) TT specialists still can score enough points.
Of course, I expect much less TT points as in previous seasons, but we fore sure need points after the sprint disaster in NT race 3.
At the moment Australia is 7º,
that is far below the "worst" results of Australia, because in all previous 13 NT seasons Australia finished top 4 in the final ranking.
I did not look into the Australian TT specialists yet, but soon I will make the NT selection. Probably full of Aurora_Australis TT specialists.
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ey, not a bad one!
Emerson Jameson Age : 19 Wage : 858
Stamina : 24 Sprint : 68 Climbing : 22
Flat : 54 Cobblestone : 2 Technique : 62
Downhill : 54 Hills : 67 Aggressiveness : 64
Time Trial : 10 Teamwork : 27 Experience : 0
Price : 1 Days left : 3 Stages raced : 0
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Emerson Jameson is a very good and promising hill sprinter, Franky ! 8)
Yesterday I recruited also a very good 19yo Australian :
Christian Duffy (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/1estrellas.jpg)
Age : 19 Wage : 842
Stamina : 67 Sprint : 16 Climbing : 64
Flat : 56 Cobblestone : 21 Technique : 69
Downhill : 28 Hills : 1 Aggressiveness : 26
Time Trial : 61 Teamwork : 29 Experience : 0
Price : 500 000 Days left : 2 Stages raced : 1
https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/vision.php?ciclistaid=128235
Will he be my 2nd sell of a 19yo this season ?
So far I sold just one 19yo, the promising cobblehills specialist Mannie Hines for 277k, what could be a bargain to the buyer.
This season I invested about 440k in recruiting/scouting, so I'm still in the negative numbers.
Also no problem if Christian Duffy is not sold, because he could be my next very interesting training project.
And maybe my 19yo Lenny Harris will be sold. He might be very good with his 2 weather icons and if he has a high talent rating.
https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/vision.php?ciclistaid=127605
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not great, but welcome I think :-)
Earl Fredickson Age : 19 Wage : 842
Stamina : 66 Sprint : 7 Climbing : 54
Flat : 50 Cobblestone : 56 Technique : 50
Downhill : 23 Hills : 12 Aggressiveness : 29
Time Trial : 68 Teamwork : 23 Experience : 0
Price : 1 Days left : 3 Stages raced : 0
https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/vision.php?ciclistaid=128867 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/vision.php?ciclistaid=128867)
Rick Whisman Age : 19 Wage : 851
Stamina : 58 Sprint : 14 Climbing : 56
Flat : 68 Cobblestone : 54 Technique : 52
Downhill : 11 Hills : 18 Aggressiveness : 31
Time Trial : 61 Teamwork : 21 Experience : 0
Price : 1 Days left : 3 Stages raced : 0
https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/vision.php?ciclistaid=128770 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/vision.php?ciclistaid=128770)
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If you could reproduce those TTers at the start of next season, I'd definitely buy Rick, and possibly both (Earl dependent on space).
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Leroy Stallone Age : 19 Wage : 806
Stamina : 11 Sprint : 25 Climbing : 24
Flat : 63 Cobblestone : 10 Technique : 74
Downhill : 11 Hills : 66 Aggressiveness : 32
Time Trial : 60 Teamwork : 25 Experience : 0
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RACE 4: CHOLET
(https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/etapas/cholet.jpg) (https://i.imgur.com/vU7CY1k.jpeg)
22ºC
Cholet, western France, 60km east of Nantes,
Let's hope Australia can score enough points, despite the old age of some TT specialists who were extremely successful in the past.
Because most likely it is their last NT race and because they were thé key to all past amazing results of Australia, a tribute to :
Richard Levin ( Aurora_Australis ) --> 5x world champion, 1x individual NT world champion, 4x NT race victories + 5x podium.
Isaac Trump ( Aurora_Australis ) --> 1x world champion, 3x NT race victories + 6x podium.
Looking at a combination of the Australian GV evaluator, the CFF time trial ranking, and experience ; the last one to select was difficult.
But as a tribute to Aurora_Australis ; I selected the 33yo Acree instead of many others who are ranked much higher.
Acree (1x podium) was for many seasons part of the successful NT time trial, and he scored a few points in the last flat TT ( season 13 ).
Maybe a tiny little chance that he surprises due to experience and much luck, but I expect that only the best 4 Australians score points.
And much less points as in previous seasons. But one thing is still the same ; almost the complete NT selection is of Aurora_Australis. :)
Australia NT selection :
Paul Clickett ( 32 ) Aurora_Australis
Richard Levin ( 33 ) Aurora_Australis
Isaac Trump ( 33 ) Aurora_Australis
Christian Pinkney ( 32 ) Aurora_Australis
Kirk Workman ( 27 ) Aurora_Australis
David Wilson ( 31 ) Facha_Bartolo
Ben Mitchum ( 33 ) Aurora_Australis
Dean Shields ( 28 ) Aurora_Australis
Owen Acree ( 33 ) Aurora_Australis
-
Kirk Workman may surprise, but nobody below that.
If there was a realistic chance somebody else would have been able to get points, I would have suggested not to select Owen, however there isn't, and so it's great that the greatest NT team in CFF3 can have one final farewell race together. Here's hoping fortunes is sentimental in around 20 minutes time.
The squad will be massively different next season.
-
To my big surprise the Aurora_Australis time trialists did it again !
More than excellent results, a great total of 700 points, and an amazing victory of Isaac Trump ! 8)
1 Isaac Trump 33 0: 00" 300 Aurora_Australis
2 Jorik van der Toorn 30 0: 02" 250 KunTeam
3 Isidro Murillo 29 0: 03" 225 Inglourious_Bastards
4 David McDermot 30 0: 04" 200 Thorboassonarvesen
5 Richard Levin 33 0: 04" 180 Aurora_Australis
6 Zehar Bottani 29 0: 05" 160 Inglourious_Bastards
7 Ignat Nefedov 31 0: 05" 150 Flyvende_hjul
8 Salamon Jordáki 26 0: 07" 140 Innioraths
9 Paul Clickett 32 0: 07" 130 Aurora_Australis
10 Arthur Bezotosnyi 31 0: 08" 120 KunTeam
11 Michaël Colenbie 31 0: 09" 110 IntellinetCyclingFF
12 James Power 26 0: 10" 100 Rekutxuteam
13 Marcus Rodriguez 28 0: 10" 90 TeaMetal
14 Christian Pinkney 32 0: 11" 80 Aurora_Australis
15 Sandro Adamo 31 0: 11" 70 ProCyclingTeam10
16 Shalva Makarov 26 0: 12" 60 Caracoles
17 Jesus Javier Montaño 29 0: 13" 40 Catalonia_Team
18 Carlos Olmo 31 0: 13" 30 RealMurciaCycling
19 Ian Mikkelson 26 0: 13" 20 CyKings
20 David Wilson 31 0: 13" 10 Facha_Bartolo
The other countries divided the remaining points about equal (2nd best, Spain, scored 265 points) , what is very beneficial to Australia.
Because we moved up from place 7 to place 1 in the season ranking. :)
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Not only your surprise. I'd been thinking maybe Paul Clickett could sneak in a podium, but Trump & Levin stood on those pedals as the last remaining representatives of the first season to say "not yet, we're still here."
Trump has to be the last of the original season cyclists in any discipline who'll win any NT.
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(https://i.imgur.com/2Ai1WGj.jpg)
Australia u20 ( 76 cyclists )
(https://i.imgur.com/3e7ANBf.png)
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RACE 5 : ZALLA
(https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/etapas/zalla.jpg) (https://i.imgur.com/o28s2V8.jpg)
11ºC
Zalla, Basque Country, Spain,
Australia has 1 golden cobblehills cyclist, Sam Rooney, ranked as nr 156 and to me he seems more a Gent-Wevelgem specialist.
In the 3 previous seasons Australia scored zero points in NT cobblehills races.
So the expectations are very low and every scored point would be surprising.
A good opportunity to select xp cyclists. And I looked especially at the young cobblehills talents, and good to see that there are many.
Of course, the nr 2 in the u23 cobblehills DT gets an xp spot.
Maybe he is already good enough to help, what says more about the quality of the 2 older selected cyclists.
I'm impressed by the 21yo cobblehills talents of Agua_Verde, all 3 will make their debut.
According to me the 2 best 19yo's look promising, also they are selected.
One place left, and the last one will be selected later this week. It could be another talent, or maybe an extra (old) helper.
edit ; at the last moment a max. experienced helper is added, to increase the ( still very little ) chance to score a few points.
Australia NT selection :
Sam Rooney ( 25 ) Lemarche
Alex Byers ( 32 ) Fountain
Kirk Trump ( 33 ) $Tourmalet
- - - - - - - - - -
Marc Huling ( 22 ) CobbleCrushers
Bob Janson ( 21 ) Agua_Verde ( debut )
Brooklyn Abolins ( 21 ) Agua_Verde ( debut )
Oliver Odom ( 21 ) Agua_Verde ( debut )
Neil Spiker ( 19 ) ChessPower ( debut )
Mannie Hines ( 19 ) PerrosPardos ( debut )
-
16 Cedric Dussie 25 0: 36" 60 ChampsElysees
17 Arthur Jenus 26 0: 36" 40 JGMTeam
18 Borja Silva 24 0: 36" 30 Orange
19 János Szabics 30 0: 36" 20 Blanes
20 Rayco Martos 27 0: 36" 10 Rekutxuteam
- - - - - - - - - -
21 Sam Rooney 25 0: 36" 0 Lemarche
Pfffffff, almost a few surprising points, the nr 16 finished in the same time. :'(
Thanks to excellent help in the first 3 sections of the 33yo Trump ánd the just 22yo Huling ; teamcaptain Rooney came very close.
Well, positive that he almost scored points, but something else was dissapointing in this race ;
Some rival countries scored way too many points !
Especially main rival Spain, that won this race and scored the most total points ( = 560 ! ).
Spain takes over the lead, and Australia is now 2º in the season ranking, suddenly 285 points behind. That is way too many.
Also many points in this cobblehills race for rivals Ukraine ( 540 points ), Great Britain ( 380 points ) and the Netherlands ( 330 ).
So, it does not look good at the moment, also because next week there is again a sprint race.
The current season ranking, and in green the total points of previous NT sprint race 3 :
1. (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/spain.jpg) 1.465 ( 130 )
2. (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/australia.jpg) 1.180 ( 70 )
3. (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/ukrania.jpg) 1.160 ( 0 )
4. (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/inglaterra.jpg) 1.060 ( 470 )
5. (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/holanda.jpg) 910 ( 140 )
6. (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/noruega.jpg) 825 ( 300 )
7. (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/suiza.jpg) 810 ( 80 )
8. (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/francia.jpg) 770 ( 200 )
9. (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/letonia.jpg) 665 ( 225 )
10. (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/belgica.jpg) 620 ( 250 )
Hopefully a very different outcome in the next NT sprint race, because otherwise Spain and Great Britain are too far ahead.
And then it will be just a battle for the 3º place this season, what would be my worst result as NT manager in CFF3.
All focus is now on our Australian Bullet, he has to perform more than amazing to still have a shot at the world championship of Austalia.
(https://i.imgur.com/vJSnT3J.png)
GO, GO, GO, JASPER "THE BULLET" BLAIR ! ! ! ! ! :)
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RACE 6 : MILANO
(https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/etapas/albese.jpg) (https://i.imgur.com/1ja4Dsf.jpeg)
17ºC (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/lluvia.jpg)
Albese con Cassano, northern Italy,
Australia has to do amazing, despite it has a NT manager who is unlucky in sprint races.
And even 2 perfect final NT races might not be good enough to be the world champion.
Current two times (s14+s13) worldchampion Great Britain was (and i.mo. still is) the topfavorite,
and the worldchampion of s12, Spain, has a very good lead at the moment.
Perhaps it will be a battle for the 3rd place with some other countries.
Also then ; a good sprint result of Blair is needed, who finished as 15º in the stormy NT sprint race 3, what was very dissapointing.
Hopefully this time a much better / much luckier race of the Australian Bullet.
Only sprinters are selected, including the three 22yo's in the u23 sprint dream team.
Australia NT selection :
Jasper Blair ( 25 ) Manicomicos_Cycling_Team
Ryan Pierre ( 28 ) CC_Porco_Jones
Tim Malone ( 25 ) Manicomicos_Cycling_Team
Wilt Frances ( 25 ) Manicomicos_Cycling_Team
Richard Davidson ( 26 ) Luka_Warriors
Brent Hunter ( 29 ) FrançaiseDesJeux
- - - - - - - - - -
Anthony Fletcher ( 22 ) lasposturas ( debut )
Leroy Ablett ( 22 ) lasposturas
Ian Hamsten ( 22 ) lasposturas
-
17º Blair :-[ :(
Again a dissapointing sprint race, this time it went "wrong" in section 4,
because none of the Australians could follow the s4 break away group of 23.
Of course I anticipated on a higher pace in s4, and very weird that all Aussies dropped in s4 and came into the 2nd group of 104 on 0:20"
Apparently the three 22yo's with 0 EP were going just as fast as the best helpers with many energy (or even full power) in s4.
Together with the sprint leaders of FRA, NOO, DEN, GB, ESP, SUI, RUS ; Jasper Blair could make the jump to the s5 front group of now 17.
But despite his megasuperstrong 5 EP, he finished as last of that first group.
Just one positive thing in this sprint race with just 40 points ; rivals GB ( 120 ) and ESP ( 80 ) performed also bad.
But the Netherlands ( 2º+9º = 380 ) scored too many points, and is the new nr 2 in the season ranking.
And despite Australia has 2 very good cobbleflat specialists ;
Great Britain and the Netherlands can score many more points than Australia in the final NT race ( = Paris Roubaix ).
And although I expect that current nr1 Spain will have difficulties to score more points, it has a very good lead in the season ranking.
Probably not a big enough lead for NED and GB, both countries have the potential to overtake Spain. But that will be difficult for AUS.
season ranking with just 1 more race to go :
1 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/spain.jpg) 1.545
2 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/holanda.jpg) 1.290
3 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/australia.jpg) 1.220
4 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/inglaterra.jpg) 1.180
5 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/ukrania.jpg) 1.160
6 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/letonia.jpg) 965
7 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/noruega.jpg) 935
8 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/francia.jpg) 890
9 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/suiza.jpg) 880
10 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/belgica.jpg) 760
I estimate it does not look at the moment ; according to me, the most chance is that Australia will be 4th in the final season ranking.
But also ; I estimate that still everything can happen in the final flat cobble race with 2 stripes of wind. We just have to beat the odds.
However, a podiumplace seems out of reach, but maybe also the 5th place, what would be the worst result ever of Australia.
Perhaps we need a new Australian NT manager who has more luck in sprint races.
It would be at least a few hundreds of points more ( than what I did in both sprint races with 15º and 17º = total of just 110 points :-[ :( ),
and then a very good chance for that new NT manager to become world champion with Australia ( if we have a good season schedule ).
-
Funny to mention that the nr 62 in the golden sprint ranking will win the individual world championship :
(https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/letonia.jpg) Ralfs Zars ( 31, catapunchimpon ) ; 3º and 1º in the sprint races.
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It is not being the best season for Jasper honestly... :-[
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It is not being the best season for Jasper honestly... :-[
= thé understatement of this Australian NT season. :'(
The NT sprint races are a roulette table to me, every time I gamble on red or black, the ball goes into the just one green little box.
So, no matter what I try, I always gamble wrong in NT sprint races.
-
Gambling in a NT race is never the best choose when you ask me. I've learned that the hard way in my first season back as an NT coach. I've gambled in the first sprintrace and the Dutch riders where blown out of the first group in the 2nd section. This time i've played it safe and my leader spent 10 EP's to become second.
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In my opinion ; racing with a lot of EP in a sprint race is for sure gambling too ;
you gamble it will break somewhere, and with 10 EP you gamble even it will break in more then 1 section.
If not ; for sure a bad result with 10 EP.
And of course I tried to gamble like you did sometimes too in the past. Don't forget I raced more than 30 NT sprint races in this game.
The most common/ my standard tactic is 8 or 9 EP without wind, only in NT standard, in normal CFF it is killing to use so many EP.
This time I gambled differently, and often I like to gamble with less EP, although also often I did not, it depends on the situation or ranking.
Anyway, your gamble would have been a better gamble than what I gambled now.
Well, no guts, no glory. I will beat those waste energy gambling Dutch sprinters next time. ;)
After the race it is clear that your gamble of 10 EP was way too much ; the race went like this = 138 - 132 - 121 - 23 - 17
By the way ; also FRA, NOO, DEN, GB, ESP, SUI, RUS made the jump from s4 to s5,
and Blair finished as last of the front group. So maybe they gambled with a 5 or 6 EP tactic ( or 7 EP and they were just better as Blair ).
Also remarkable that the 22yo's with 0 EP in s4 were going just as fast as most much better helpers who went full power in s4 to anticipate on what happened now. Explain that too please. Kidding of course. :))
And kidding because sprint races are a gamble ; also racing with many EP is a gamble.
After the race it is always easy to analyse, and everyone makes different choices, in sprint races every choice/tactic is a gamble.
And in all races I like to race on the edge of what is possible, often with success ( sometimes not ),
in my opinion a better strategy than to play it on safe in ( almost ) every NT race.
But maybe I should make an exception in the sprint races, gamble with a "safe" tactic, score some points, and never win.
And of course when I gamble like that, then the roulette bal will drop in the green box again,
no where a break and the Australian sprinter finishes as 15th due to the gamble of too many EP used.
Also happened before, I have experienced it all. And I hate roulette by now.^^
Anyway, you did very well with the Netherlands, BEL, and back in the world champion battle because all 3 main rival countries failed.
And a good chance to become the world championship this season.
Although it can be very close and exciting, most likely Great Britain will be a fierce rival. Good luck ! 8)
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Thanks for the compliments Vos.
Yeah i've gambled that is would break 2 times and you are right, 10 was to much EP and yes it was luck that i gambled to use that much EP and ended in 2nd spot. So when you look it like that i wasn't playing safe ;D
Don't think we have a change to win this. The gap is very big and i don't think i can close it in one single race.
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This time i've played it safe and my leader spent 10 EP's to become second.
For the record, my captain used 10 eps to place third. And in the windy s3 sprint stage, my cap used 9 to get 12th.
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I also just 9 EP in that race. That was clearly not enough in that race.
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Don't think we have a change to win this. The gap is very big and i don't think i can close it in one single race.
Well, I estimate the Netherlands ánd Great Britain have a good chance despite the indeed big gap towards Spain.
Because NL and GB are top countries in flat cobblestones, and there is even a chance that Spain will not score points next week.
Even Australia has still a chance to be the world champion, a top race result is possible, but NL and GB can have more points scoring cyclists.
Still everything can happen, also because it is the first time Paris Roubaix is a NT race, ánd there are 2 stripes of wind.
The normal Paris Roubaix has no secrets to me, but I assume this NT race will go different and will be surprising.
Good and/or lucky tactics can make the difference in who will be the world champion.
And fun that there are still 4 contenders left with just one more race to go. ( although I estimate AUS will be 4th, hopefully I'm wrong :) ).
So, I expect a fun battlefield in the Hell of the North ! 8)
And the Aussies are motivated and ready, despite their manager who has no clue how to ride this windy NT race to Roubaix. ??? :))
But I assume all other NT managers have the same tactical doubts.
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Analyses NT season 15 with just one more race to go ; FCFCC 259 km, cold, 2x wind.
In red the position in the golden flat cobble list. There are 82 golden flat cobble specialists in the game.
Not a good comparison, but just as indication ; in ( bold ) the NT cobble race points of previous season ( race 6 CFCCC + race 7 CCCCC ).
1º (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/spain.jpg) 1.545 --> 25, 38. --> ( 0 + 60 )
2º (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/holanda.jpg) 1.290 --> 1, 17, 18, 23, 35, 51, 55, 57, 64, 74, 77, 80. --> ( 180 + 0 )
3º (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/australia.jpg) 1.220 --> 4, 6, 28, 36, 82. --> ( 300 + 250 )
4º (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/inglaterra.jpg) 1.180 --> 2, 8, 11, 16, 37, 50, 61, 62, 72. --> ( 460 + 450 )
5º (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/ukrania.jpg) 1.160 --> 26, 31, 60, 75. --> ( 0 + 140 )
Especially for Kekipi, so he does not feel left out, let's add the USA too. ;)
11º (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/usa.jpg) 675 --> 29. --> ( 100 + 100 )
Pretty impressive USA results in previous season, compared to the strenght of all other countries.
At the moment Spain has a good lead, but looking at the red positions of cyclists ; according to me there are still 4 contenders.
But it is a NT race, always surprising results, and the 2x wind makes it even more unpredictable.
So, who knows, maybe Ukraine surprises us all and wins this season 15.
Although I don't expect that, and if I had to put my money on a country, it would be on NL or GB.
Despite the big lead of SPA, what is of course an advantage right now.
But the best is to keep my money in my wallet, because anything can happen in the final NT race. It will be an interesting battle. :)
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It could be you are right, but when i look at my riders I'm seeing riders that are lacking experience. Normally Jakob Heijmans could get a top 10 spot, but i need him tot get in the top 3 and some other riders in the top 20. That will be a very difficult thing to do, but we will know next sunday who will win this one.
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Especially for Kekipi, so he does not feel left out, let's add the USA too. ;)
11º (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/usa.jpg) 675 --> 29. --> ( 100 + 100 )
Pretty impressive USA results in previous season, compared to the strenght of all other countries.
Appreciate the mention. We will do our best to throw a wrench into the spokes of all the team title contenders. ;)
Best of luck to all!
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:))
Thanks, you too good luck !
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About the NT candidates, I tried to write the message in the game, but I think it's not working, so I post it here:
I don't really like much NTs, and I don't think I'm good with tactics, especially for NT races since they are sometimes very weird. But I'm bored training, so if there are no other candidates I don't mind to take the job. I assume it will be a season of transition between AA's old TTers and the new ones, who still will be 23 yo.
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Very good that you are candidate, Ophiuko. 8)
And no pressure and no worries ; you cannot do it wrong, just enjoy racing with the best Aussies. :)
About tactical failures, that is a part of the NT races, it happens often to every NT manager ( including all foreign NT managers ).
And if a race goes completely wrong ; in Australia we blame the cyclists, not the NT manager. ;)
I'm always surprised if a race goes a bit the way I planned, because in most races the cyclists don't listen to my tactical speech before the race.
About next season ; indeed, most likely it will be a transition season with very low expectations of Australia.
With a lucky season schedule ( + good/lucky tactics ) there is still a chance that Australia can compete high in the ranking.
But for example with a flat TT ( instead of hills TT or climb TT ) ánd with 2 cobblehills races, it might be even a struggle to finish top10.
By the way ; this is just next season 16 the case. In season 17 we have again amazing flat TT specialists of Aurora_Australis.
And I estimate that in season 18 Australia can compete in cobblehills races for the very first time ever.
But also in next season 16 we have good young top cyclists for some types of races. Maybe we are lucky with the season schedule.
And no worries for every next Australian NT manager ; I can help if you want.
Of course, all selection decisions and all tactical decisions are entirely yours.
But I can give advice and options to make the job easier and even more fun.
And I know that all other Australian managers are also willing to help. Together we have great expertise in all different types of races.
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It's a pity the system won't allow NT managers for race type, because I have an outstanding record as NT manager in flat-cobbles, certain other race types not so much.
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Some for me. Somehow I really can’t put the good tactics for HHHHH races.
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RACE 7 : ROUBAIX
(https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/etapas/roubaix.jpg) (https://i.imgur.com/GXq652a.jpeg)
1ºC (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/viento2.jpg)(https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/nieve.jpg)
Compiègne, northern France,
For the first time ever the monumental classic race Paris Roubaix is on the NT calendar.
There is much at stake in this decisive NT race 7, and I estimate that even a good race can cause "just" a 4º place in the season ranking.
Because the competition is very fierce, and also the wind can make this Paris Roubaix unpredictable and can cause tactical failures.
About the selection ;
All 5 golden flatcobble specialists were selected almost a week ago.
Including the number last in the golden CFF ranking, the 25yo Jameson, who makes his debut despite his shamefull zero experience.
But he has a golden icon and 2 active weather icons.
Today I completed the selection with 4 experienced 33yo silver cyclists, because of the importance of this race.
In previous season Hunter (nr4) and Friend (nr6) had the same high positions in the golden flatcobble ranking as they have now.
Back then I had to make the (easy) choice to select Friend as teamcaptain, due to his much better experience.
And Friend did great in the 2 flatcobble NT races of previous season ; 1º + 2º + individual world champion with a very big lead. 8)
This season the teamcaptain choice is more difficult, because Hunter improved a tiny little bit in GV (and xp) compared to Friend.
And I have to be opportunistic and creative anyway in this windy Paris Roubaix ;
for example just one top result might not be good enough to finish on the podium in the season ranking, due to the strenght of NL and GB.
And still Australia has a very little chance to become world champion,
despite fierce rivals as NL and GB, and despite Spain has 325 points more at the moment.
But that also means that the results I achieved in previous season ( 1º=300 points, and 2º=250 points ) will not be good enough.
So it will be all about squeezing as much points as possible out of this different NT cobble race. I guess much luck is needed to achieve this.
Of course, being creative and opportunistic, and even gambling on luck is not a good strategic, tactical idea in NT races.
Although it seems to me that the current situation requires it. Well, no guts, no glory ! :)
Australia NT selection :
Angus Friend ( 32 ) Mlb
Keith Hunter ( 25 ) Rekutxuteam
Peter Boit* ( 25 ) Vitimper
Vince Whisman ( 24 ) Luka_Warriors
Sean Jameson** ( 25 ) LosTxinosKudeiros ( debut )
Kent McClure ( 33 ) Yvo_Meppelink_ProCycling
John Battle ( 33 ) Oloteam
Eric Kelly ( 33 ) team_piroshki
Dylan Gilliam* ( 33 ) Manicomicos_Cycling_Team
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Great race Vos! Congratz with the championship!
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And still Australia has a very little chance to become world champion, despite fierce rivals
Excellent job overcoming those fierce rivals. Congrats!
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Congrats Vos, amazing job on this season. Australia wasn't the favourite for sure.
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(https://i.imgur.com/g1dwwbz.jpg)
AUSTRALIA = WORLD CHAMPION ! ! ! 8)
Thanks all ! :)
I guess luck was on Australian side in this final NT race 7.
The teamcaptain and 3 free role cyclists scored a total of 480 points, what made Australia the best scoring nation in this race.
And that was just enough to be the surprising world champion. This is the closest final top 3 ranking of all NT seasons.
But first this ; A big thanks to all CFF managers with Australian internationals !
Final NT season 15 ranking :
1 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/australia.jpg) 1.700
2 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/holanda.jpg) 1.680 --> also very well done this season, BEL, and congrats with the NT race 7 victory.
3 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/spain.jpg) 1.675
- - - - - - - - - -
4 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/inglaterra.jpg) 1.350
5 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/ukrania.jpg) 1.260
6 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/noruega.jpg) 1.155
7 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/francia.jpg) 1.140
8 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/letonia.jpg) 1.025
9 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/belgica.jpg) 920
10 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/suiza.jpg) 880
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Amazing end!! :o :o a new championship comes to the Down Under!! ;D ;D
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Amazing end!! :o :o a new championship comes to the Down Under!! ;D ;D
at the start of next season 16, the NT worldchampionships / medal ranking will look like this : 8)
( there are just 6 nations with a world championship title )
1. (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/australia.jpg) = 4x (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/gold.jpg), 3x (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/silver.jpg), 4x (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/bronce.jpg)
2. (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/spain.jpg) = 4x (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/gold.jpg), 0x (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/silver.jpg), 1x (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/bronce.jpg)
3. (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/inglaterra.jpg) = 2x (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/gold.jpg), 1x (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/silver.jpg), 0x (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/bronce.jpg)
4. (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/belgica.jpg) = 2x (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/gold.jpg), 0x (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/silver.jpg), 0x (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/bronce.jpg)
5. (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/holanda.jpg) = 1x (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/gold.jpg), 5x (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/silver.jpg), 2x (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/bronce.jpg)
6. (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/noruega.jpg) = 1x (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/gold.jpg), 1x (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/silver.jpg), 1x (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/bronce.jpg)
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Great result. I believe that's 3 world championships under your guidance Vos.
Btw: I'll be after 19-year-old Aussie TTers for the next two seasons.
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Indeed, you can see that on the national teams page ; the TOP MANAGERS ranking.
And very good to try to get more amazing 19yo Aussies in the game. Already good luck, AA !
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Pfffff, the NT season 16 schedule is by far the worst ever for Australia ; 3 cobblehills races ! :(
I can see just 2 "positive" things in this NT calendar :
1. Nobody has expectations of Australia with this very bad season schedule, so there is zero pressure on the new Australian NT manager.
Finishing top10 could be even too difficult, and maybe we should be happy if we can avoid finishing as last ( there are 19 countries ).
2. Not much travelling for the NT this weekend, because the NT season starts in Stirling, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia.
Although it is still a long journey from Sydney to Perth = 4.000 km. Hopefully we have home advantage.
Good luck and have fun this NT season, Ophiuko.
I really wished you had a much better NT calendar with your debut as Australian NT manager.
But it can be fun with a different kind of challenge ; the last 3 NT races are very suited to give toptalents extra xp, or a debut.
It might be fun to have on your "palmares" that you are thé NT manager who gave a future top cyclist his debut.
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Actually the race is in wine country South Australia. Here's hoping other teams get lost.
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Yes, you are right, there are 2x Stirling in Australia, I just looked at the first one with my quick google search.
But it is of course the 2nd Sterling, a town near Adelaide, because the finishline is in Paracombe, also near Adelaide.
Hopefully all other nations will fly to the wrong Stirling in Perth.
Then they have to cycle a first NT race of 2.695 km to the finish in Paracombe. :))
If Ophiuko leads the NT selection to the right Stirling, it will be a race of 149 km with all Australians finishing top 9, if all other nations are lost.
What would mean a total score of 1.735 points in one NT race.
That is more than the Australian total of all 7 races in previous season ; so we might be the worldchampion again this season 16. 8) ;)
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Or they could arrive in Sterling Canberra and have to ride across the hills & several states, although some of its downhill so that's nice.