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English Cff Forum => General Forum => Topic started by: Vos on March 04, 2021, 11:13:39 AM

Title: Season 16
Post by: Vos on March 04, 2021, 11:13:39 AM: (https://i.imgur.com/gevfoxJ.jpg)
The world championship road race is in Doha ( Qatar ) and perfect for sprinters.

Worth mentioning about season 16 :

Tour Down Under = no mountain sections and no time trial, 4x hills finish and 1x sprint.

Paris Nice = just 2 mountain sections and no mountain finish.

Tirreno Adriatico = no time trial.

Volta a Catalunya = no mountain finish.

Tour du Romandie = no time trial.

Giro d'Italia = just 2 cobble sections, 1x flatcobble and 1x mountaincobble-finish, both in stage 6.

Tour de France = 2 flatcobble stages and 2 hills stages.

BinckBank Tour = no time trial.

Vuelta d' España = versatile.

WC time trial = Lisbon, semi-hills TT, the same as in seasons 13 and 14.

WC road race = Doha, sprint, the same as in seasons 3 and 12.

Already good luck everyone ! :)
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on March 04, 2021, 12:05:19 PM: Quote from: MrBorji on March 04, 2021, 06:38:49 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/5ymbEjG.png)

Copied from the Spanish season 16 topic ; this great overview is made by Mr.Borji 8)
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on March 04, 2021, 12:28:11 PM: For those who cannot understand Spanish, also for them the great overview of Mr.Borji is very clear ;
do not look at the letters, but look at the colors.

The explanation of the letters which may be confusing ( but the colors are not confusing ) :
L = Llano = flat
P = Pavés = cobble
C = Colinas = hills
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Sjiz on March 25, 2021, 03:09:51 PM: Good luck everyone! I will be looking out for all the climbing talents on the market :D
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on March 29, 2021, 01:32:07 PM: The season-start was all about hills :

In NT race 1 ( same as stage 1 TDU ) Rubiera ( 24, ESP ) made his debut. He did amazing by finishing 5º as last of the front group on 0:00"

CFF CUP first round = FF^HHH 197km in Belgium.
The opponent was Belgian champion RemcoEvenpoelckx, who had a fierce rival with the also high ranked Todd Power ( GB ).
Although he is ranked as flathills, he is good in pure hills too ; 8º NT race + 4º stage 1 TDU + CFF record TdF stage HHHFH.
After a good race for both our teamcaptains who both had help in s4 ; both attacked in s5 but without success.
So it came down to a sprint-a-deux ; and Kluivert won ! :)

Next week we have home advantage, and again it is a flathills race ; FFFHH 152km, with finish on the wellknown Willunga Hill ( AUS ).
The opponent is selling all his cyclists for 1,- including his 9star flathills specialist.
So it might be an easy victory, but of course it is also possible that he buys a fierce rival this week.

(https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/logos/27707822768c9c9c00789bdb852cbeae.png) (https://i.imgur.com/GvIPZ8B.png)selection SPORTLIFE

81 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/spain.jpg) Rubiera ( 24 ), hills
82 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/holanda.jpg) Kluivert ( 32 ), hills
83 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/belgica.jpg) Lebrun ( 31 ), sprint
84 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/holanda.jpg) VanPutten ( 33 ), rides in form for Paris-Nice
85 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/holanda.jpg) Jonker ( 32 ), rides in form for OHN and SB

It is doubtfull if VanPutten and Jonker are good enough for their upcoming races,
I guess they are lucky that there was space left in this TDU selection that now is 60% Dutch.
And both can be used as back up helpers/water carriers in the first few sections, like they did in s1 and s2 of stage 1 ( 38ºC ).

stage 1 TDU ;
7º Rubiera --> he finished with a light bulb 8)
27º Kluivert ( helper )
Most likely Kluivert should have been the better teamcaptain due to his 9x(!) better experience and little higher ranking,
but this TDU is a good opportunity to test the just 24yo Rubiera for the first time as leader.
And this experimental combo did great despite both are not in topform yet.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: ophiuko on March 29, 2021, 05:42:52 PM: Happy to finally see a top rider on my "ex-cyclists" list :)
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: wacco on March 29, 2021, 07:35:17 PM: The level is much higher in division 2. But two nice results for my 7star hiller.

15th and 17th.

With the HHHHH I think he ended at his spot. With the FFFFH I was very defensive to make sure to get points. So a higher spot would have been possible if I would have taken the risk. Next time.

Just a few more days to get some points with the old guys. For the rest of the season I have bought a 24 TT specialist. I am expecting much of him especially from the short TT, if explo is still counting though.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: wacco on March 30, 2021, 09:28:34 AM: Almost a top ten spot for bondar, 12th. Best so far in the season. It would be awesome if he could end top 20 in the GC.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on March 30, 2021, 11:50:22 AM: stage 2 TDU ;
29º Rubiera
This flathills stage (1x wind) went like this ; 147 - 39 - 38 - 35 - 2

Unfortunately my whole team dropped in s2 ( together with 103 other cyclists ),
despite my whole team anticipated on an attack in s2 by all using the same amount of EP as in s1.
Well, I guess keeping a high pace in s2 was not enough. At least some points for Rubiera, who is not so suited for this flathills stage.

stage 3 TDU ;
7º Rubiera
To my surprise he was the 4th favorite, so a good moment to experiment with a slow start tactic,
also because the s1 peleton in stage 1 was huge with 108 cyclists.

In stage 3 the s1 peleton was just 35 cyclists, so my start was too slow.
Many sleep-icons in this stage, and also 4th favorite Rubiera was riding behind the whole race, but he never got the sleep icon. ???
Maybe the reason was that he is not in topform yet, but this is just a guess, to me surprising that a 4h favorite did not get it too.
Anyway, Rubiera and many other top cyclists were not far behind the whole race,
and helper Kluivert launched him hard into s5 what resulted in a good 7º place of Rubiera.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: ophiuko on March 30, 2021, 04:45:46 PM: I guess the exp has does something to do with the sleep icon, but not for the favourites. In other words: Rubiera needs more exp
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on March 30, 2021, 06:57:56 PM: For sure he does need xp, and a lot of it, he is working on that in this TDU.
Now at 24yo it does not cost him precious fast trainings, so finally he can race and gain experience.
Although I have planned that Rubiera goes in training modus in the 2nd half of this season, to improve a little bit more on stamina.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on March 30, 2021, 07:24:37 PM: stage 4 TDU ;
6º Lebrun ( free role )
Very good result.

The teamcaptain was again Rubiera so he might can score a few GC points, despite he cannot sprint.
He had help in all sections of Kluivert and VanPutten, and Rubiera finished as 99º on 2:15" what caused a drop to 21º GC.
So he has to move up at least one GC place after stage 5, and hopefully score a few stage points too.
But this is all peanuts and not important, because this TDU is already good with 3x top10 in stages ( 7º, 7º, 6º ).
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: wacco on March 30, 2021, 07:25:24 PM: Well... top 20 is not possible anymore in the GC.

But still happy with the TDU
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Aurora Australis on March 30, 2021, 07:59:35 PM: Well we're on the board with a 2nd for our sprinter behind $Tourmalet's spriter.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on March 31, 2021, 09:44:14 AM: stage 5 TDU ;
96º Rubiera on 1:30" :-[
Ups, unexpectedly his 2 EP start was not good enough to follow his 4 helpers and the s1 peleton of 79.
So, his race was over at the start, and being isolated the whole race made it even worse.
Just before the finishline he saw 2 of his helpers, who have a very low GV for this stage compared to Rubiera.

Looking at the stage result ( 32º ) of best helper Kluivert ;
with a more lucky start of Rubiera ( I thought 2 EP was a save start ) he should have finished top 20 easily, and probably even on 0:24"
What would be 17º GC instead of now dropping to 29º GC and zero extra GC points.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 01, 2021, 09:43:19 AM: Omloop het Nieuwsblad ;
21º Jonker
Good result, because none of his teammates were good enough to help.
And as expected he finished outside the points in Strade Bianche ; 39º on 0:14" of the number 30º

Most likely this was the last race of 32yo golden cobblehills specialist Jonker,
because my team is full with the purchase of 25yo climber Kummer for just 4,1 M.
The best and by far highest ranked pure climber I have ever had ( nr 65 in the golden climb ranking, and nr 25 listed as pure climber ).
Of course, no chance at all to win a mountain stage now TeamEuroscalt is riding in 1A.
Anyway, most likely Jonker will be fired ( I bought him 1 week ago for 225k ),
because continously recruiting is more important to me than the DDV points of Jonker. Also not a loss to NL, he was just 3x Dutch international.

(https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/logos/df924f77f10929a2904cfb2e4b350056.png) (https://i.imgur.com/GvIPZ8B.png)selection SPORTLIFE

VanPutten used the Tour Down Under to get in topform, so he will be the GC contender in Paris Nice although the GC expectation is low.
This is not a good points scoring selection, because I expect just a few GC points, and also just a few points in stages 2 and 4.
Helpers Vonk, Vorre and Beck use this little tour to get in topform, and that is already in stage 4 ( all 3 rode OHN and SB ).
Very high start/backnumbers because my team is almost in the relegation zone.

261 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/holanda.jpg) VanPutten ( 33 ), golden tour / GC
262 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/holanda.jpg) Vonk ( 33 ), golden tour / helper
263 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/holanda.jpg) Kluivert ( 32 ), hills / free role
264 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/dinamarca.jpg) Vorre ( 28 ), silver tour / helper
265 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/alemania.jpg) Beck ( 29 ), silver tour / helper

Good luck everyone ! :)
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: wacco on April 01, 2021, 12:00:42 PM: Well my first big mistake.

I forgot to put tactics, so leader Janno Noor rode as a free role with 22222. He still ended at number 20. But top ten should have been possible.

Next up Paris Nice.
With Ruedi Landenberger I will have one of the favorites. A victory would be nice but top 7 will be enough for our sponsor with some much needed extra cash. This will be his goal for the season, getting the experience, achieving sponsor goals and the WC TT.

Elio Calheiros may give his best in the flat cobble stage.

The rest is just there for experience
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: wacco on April 01, 2021, 08:23:13 PM: A nice 3th spot in this TT. The first three sections looked like it would even be a silver medal but the stage was just to long. Ruedi is perfect for a prologue. The longer the stage the harder it gets. But he still has time to improve
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 02, 2021, 09:25:30 AM: stage 1 PN ;
55º VanPutten on 2:04"
stage 2 PN ;
8º Kluivert ( free role )
24º VanPutten on 0:35"

At the moment VanPutten is on a split 2º GC on 0:08" behind the famous Alex Riis, who is back in 1A because his (new) team promoted.
But everything is still very close together, for example the nr 33º GC is on 1:00"
I assume that the upcoming flatcobble stage with sun, rain and storm, will cause big time differences among the GC contenders.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: kirin on April 02, 2021, 01:34:06 PM: So far, not a great season for azerite team.
50º azerite 0 0 0 0
But the chances of getting any points were minimal. Today is the first time this season where the team will aim for victory with the recently signed Pandolfi.
Also, the team signed Kellman to help Pandolfi along with Dukurs, Cobos to dominate the mountain sprints, and a bunch of young sprinters.
The objective this season is at least getting podiums on several small tours and classics, like Roubaix or GW.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 03, 2021, 10:00:42 AM: stage 3 PN ;
69º VanPutten on 2:28"
stage 4 PN ;
10º VanPutten on 0:10"
23º Vonk ( free role ) on 0:32"

Excellent results of VanPutten, thanks to very good help of his teammates, especially in stage 3 Vonk did a superb helper's job.
As reward, Vonk got a free role in stage 4, because VanPutten had already 2 good helpers,
ánd because I saw that Vonk might score a few GC points despite his helper's roles in stages 1 + 3 (and not in topform in the first 3 stages).

Vonk is 17º GC after this stage 4. Maybe it is possible to score a few GC points with again a free role in stage 5.
Teamcaptain VanPutten dropped to place 8 after stage 3, but moved up now to 3º GC on 0:31" behind Blix ( Aspigarri ).
VanPutten is doing much better as I expected, although he is not so suited for stage 5.
But with a good lead of almost 1½ minute to the nr 11, it looks very good that he can finish in the final top 10 GC, what would be excellent.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 03, 2021, 10:12:02 AM: Quote from: kirin on April 02, 2021, 01:34:06 PM
So far, not a great season for azerite team.
50º azerite 0 0 0 0
But the chances of getting any points were minimal. Today is the first time this season where the team will aim for victory with the recently signed Pandolfi.
Also, the team signed Kellman to help Pandolfi along with Dukurs, Cobos to dominate the mountain sprints, and a bunch of young sprinters.
The objective this season is at least getting podiums on several small tours and classics, like Roubaix or GW.

Almost a victory in stage 3 PN ; 2º Pandolfi on 0:00" behind the higher ranked Brady.
At least your team has left the last place in 1A now, that is a kind of victorious too. :)
Good luck with your season goals, Kirin.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 04, 2021, 03:27:25 PM: (https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/logos/df924f77f10929a2904cfb2e4b350056.png)
Despite the 1 stripe wind, a calm pace in stage 5 PN ( 141 - 135 - 132 - 3 - 17 ),what was beneficial to VanPutten and Vonk ( free role ),
both finished good in the 2nd group on 0:32"
Final GC ; 4º VanPutten ( = excellent 8) ), and 15º Vonk.

(https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/logos/1d29f44d0e03d78eff360ca0987b1b20.png) (https://i.imgur.com/GvIPZ8B.png)selection SPORTLIFE

121 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/alemania.jpg) Beck ( 29 ), GC
122 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/noruega.jpg) Markhus ( 31 ), flatclimb
123 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/holanda.jpg) Vonk ( 33 ), allround helper
124 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/holanda.jpg) Kluivert ( 32 ), hills
125 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/letonia.jpg) Naglis ( 33 ), sprint

stage 1 Tirreno ;
3º Markhus
Not a perfect race, because unexpectedly he was already isolated in s2, so he was missing out the important extra bonus in s5.
It did not matter for stage victory, because Markhus finished on 0:16" behind 1st fav. Mork who had the 2nd fav. as helper.
Too bad, because the intention was to try to surprise as almost favorite who could challenge the nrs 3, 4, 5 favorites.

Well, it was worth the attempt and 3º is a decent result.
But it had the consequence that GC contender Beck had to ride in a free role, and also he dropped unexpectedly in s2 ( with 1 EP ).
Beck finished as 37º on 0:55" what is a dissapointing result / too much time loss.
Although I'm still optimistic that Beck can ride a good GC. This Tirreno should suit him very well despite no TC and just a silver tour icon.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 05, 2021, 08:22:33 AM: stage 2 Tirreno ;
17º Beck on 0:15"
stage 3 Tirreno ;
8º Beck on 0:23"

After these 2 very good stages, Beck is 14º GC on 1:23"
A lower ranking than I expected. Hopefully Beck can move up to top10 GC in the final 2 stages. But I have no idea if he can achieve this.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: wacco on April 05, 2021, 10:11:05 AM: Stage 1: 7th Kristof
Stage 2: 7th Kristof
Stage 3: 11th Kristof (I was hoping to play with the wind. But looks like I was the only one.

Result: GC 4th at the moment. Mostly afraid of stage 5
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 05, 2021, 08:53:36 PM: stage 4 Tirreno ;
3º Kluivert ( free role )
46º Beck on 0:58"

A very surprising podiumplace of Kluivert in a free role, without TC bonus and as not-favorite.
GC contender Beck did also great, thanks to good help of Vonk in the first 3 sections.
Beck moved up 5 GC places and is now 9ºGC on 1:36"
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 06, 2021, 07:41:07 AM: stage 5 Tirreno ;
22º Naglis ( helper )
56º Beck on 0:58"

Unexpectedly teamcaptain Beck dropped in s4 with 3 EP, and lost contact with masterhelper Naglis.
Luckily Beck had his 2 back up helpers in s4, so he still could finish with the extra bonus.
It seems to me that in a perfect race, Beck could have finished 22 seconds sooner, but that would mean just one place better in the GC.
Now Beck (with silver tour icon) stayed on the 9º place in the final GC ; what is the first top10 GC in his career.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 07, 2021, 11:57:07 AM: (https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/logos/8abb6ca97e11114a4e4395f49de88023.png) (https://i.imgur.com/GvIPZ8B.png)selection SPORTLIFE

My team had no suited cyclists for MSR and E3H, but in Catalunya I expect some points :

Ulf Beck finished as 9º GC in the Tirreno, but he is not suited for this little tour due to the time trial.
So his main focus will be on stage 3, although this stage is probably too hard for Beck to get a real top result.
Top 10 in stage 3 might be ( or should be ) possible, and I estimate that he can finish top 30 in stage 5.

My 2 flat sprinters are happy that my team does not go for the GC,
so they can try to get a good stage 2 result despite it is not really suited due to the hill in section 2.
Also Libardo Millan should score points in his stage, the time trial. At the moment he is ranked as nr 42 flat TT specialist of CFF.

141 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/alemania.jpg) Beck ( 29 ), stages 3 + 5
142 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/belgica.jpg) Lebrun ( 31 ), sprint
143 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/colombia.jpg) Millan ( 32 ), TT
144 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/letonia.jpg) Naglis ( 33 ), sprint
145 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/noruega.jpg) Markhus ( 31 ), helper stage 3

Good luck everyone ! :)
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Kekipi on April 07, 2021, 01:23:23 PM: This being my first experience in D1, I am still trying to get a handle on the tactics.

For Tirreno, I decided to take a chance at a GC result with Manny Collins, 33, who was the USA's top cyclist in seasons 10 and 11.

Though he's old now and lacks TT and cobbles skill, he's adequately suited for climbing, hills, and sprints.

So looking at the S16 calendar, Tirreno seemed like the best opportunity for him to see if he still has what it takes to get a GC top 20 result.

He scored in S1 (FFFFM), S2 (FFMHH), and S3 (FFFHM) but my tactical ineptitude in S4 (HHHHH) and S5 (flat sprint) led him to lose close to a minute and with that time loss, a lost place in the top 20. :'(

I'm debating whether to give him a go at Romandie (no cobbles or TT for that), retire him, or put him on the market.

Other results:

San Remo--14th Harold Leeghwater (a good get on the market for 150k)
Harelbeke-- 10th Fernando Maria Prado (a rider I bought for 100k and trained up from age 19). And he's my #2 cobble hiller. My #1, Julian Finn, is in TC preparing for upcoming cobble/hill trifecta. Earlier, Finn finished 10th at Omloop.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 08, 2021, 12:52:09 PM: stage 2 Catalunya ;
8º Naglis (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/incidencias/tools.png) with mechanical breakdown in the crucial final section 5. :(
As expected, my both sprinters were behind in hill section 2, but helper Lebrun did a very good job and both returned to the front in s3.
Unfortunately it went wrong in the final section 5, although this result is still very good.

Especially because 2 weeks ago I bought 9 stars silver sprinter Naglis for just 3.500,-
As a "reward" for his best result ever in his career ; he will be fired. My team is full and he is of no use anymore.
But 12 times Latvian international Naglis ( 33yo ) is happy that he can retire now, with finally something on his palmares ( this 8º place ).
Of course he is also happy that once in his career ; he could ride for the famous SPORTLIFE. Because every CFF cyclist is dreaming of that. :))
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 08, 2021, 01:03:58 PM: Quote from: Vos on April 08, 2021, 12:52:09 PM
stage 2 Catalunya ;
8º Naglis (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/incidencias/tools.png) with mechanical breakdown in the crucial final section 5. :(
As expected, my both sprinters were behind in hill section 2, but helper Lebrun did a very good job and both returned to the front in s3.
Unfortunately it went wrong in the final section 5, although this result is still very good.

Especially because 2 weeks ago I bought 9 stars silver sprinter Naglis for just 3.500,-
As a "reward" for his best result ever in his career ; he will be fired. My team is full and he is of no use anymore.
But 12 times Latvian international Naglis ( 33yo ) is happy that he can retire now, with finally something on his palmares ( this 8º place ).
Of course he is also happy that once in his career ; he could ride for the famous SPORTLIFE. Because every CFF cyclist is dreaming of that. :))

I guess Naglis has to stay for 3 more Catalunya stages, because it is impossible to fire him in the middle of a tour.
Probably I should have known this due to the big chance such a situation happened to me before. But apparently I forgot this.
Now I have to be creative to make space in my team, while Naglis and his mechanic are not happy with eachother the next 3 stages. :)
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 09, 2021, 12:03:20 PM: stage 3 Catalunya ;
7º Beck
stage 4 Catalunya ;
21º Millan

As expected ; the time trial killed the GC chances of Beck, he finished 4½ minutes behind the TT winner Bezotosnyi ( 32, Mlb ).
Beck dropped many places and at the moment 34º GC. Hopefully he is good enough to score a few extra points with a stage 5 result.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 09, 2021, 07:44:36 PM: stage 5 Catalunya ;
32º Beck
No points in this stage, but I'm satisfied with the stage results in this little tour ( 3x top10, including 1 podiumplace ).

In the next 3 point-rich classic races my team will be just a spectator ( and gain some experience ).
After that ; Itzulia ! There SPORTLIFE should be much stronger as in this Catalunya, and the GC will be a goal also.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: wacco on April 11, 2021, 08:58:45 AM: I made the mistake of picking the wrong leader for catalunya. My donestique ended before him in the first two stages and in the mountain sprint stage my leader was sleeping. The last stage we switched and a nice third spot was the result.

The next staged race will be the last of my GC riders. They will be sold or fired.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 11, 2021, 12:53:08 PM: (https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/logos/b7a5672a34004ea508e7287b01b4f61a.png) (https://i.imgur.com/GvIPZ8B.png)selection SPORTLIFE

Ricky Vorre won Itzulia in previous season. 8)
But that was a little tour without a time trial. Now Itzulia starts with a TT stage, and Vorre is bad at that and he will lose much time.
Despite this, I hope he still can ride a good GC ánd 3 good climbhills stages.

VanPutten is my other GC contender. This season he finished 4º GC in Paris Nice.
He likes the time trial, but his teammate Vorre is much better in the 3 climbhills stages.
So it might be that VanPutten will not be the teamcaptain, but I have to look into this after the TT stage 1 results.

Vonk will be the helper because his season schedule changed due to a new buy who is going to ride the Giro instead of Vonk.
So now he can ride Itzulia. This season he already proved to be a good helper in Paris Nice, where he finished 15º GC himself.

Millan is selected for some extra points in the time trial. He finished as 21º in the time trial of Catalunya, hopefully he does better now.

The last spot is for an extra helper in the climbhills stages, who was bought today for 3k. Although I expect he can help just a few sections.
But Cabrera is born in Basque Country, so he is of good use to my team because of his road- and mountain knowledge.
Functioning as "guide" for SPORTLIFE in his own native region will probably be the highlight in his career, because he has no palmares.
But this also a great way to end his career in style, and most likely this causes that the enthusiastic Basque spectators will cheer for my team now.

171 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/dinamarca.jpg) Vorre ( 28 ), silver tour
172 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/holanda.jpg) VanPutten ( 33 ), golden tour
173 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/holanda.jpg) Vonk ( 33 ), golden tour / helper
174 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/colombia.jpg) Millan ( 32 ), TT
175 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/spain.jpg) Cabrera ( 34 ), extra helper

Good luck everyone ! :)
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 12, 2021, 09:00:22 AM: stage 1 Itzulia ;
13º Millan
- - - - - - - - - -
42º VanPutten on 2:04"
78º Vonk on 2:51"
137º Vorre on 3:41"

With 3 suited GC contenders this time trial made clear that I had to chose for VanPutten as teamcaptain.
But I made the wrong strategic decision to go for Vorre in stage 2, what turned out to be a stage with big tactical failures ;

stage 2 Itzulia ;
18º VanPutten ( free role ) on 0:19"
(https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/incidencias/sad.png) 29º Vorre on 0:32"
- - - - - - - - - -
46º Vonk ("helper") on 0:45"

Vorre started too slow and he was already isolated in s1,
because helpers Vonk and Cabrera ( incl. free role VanPutten ) were in the s1 front peleton of 76.
Vorre dropped even from the 2nd- to the 3rd group in s2, while his 3 teammates kept their position in the front group of now just 20.
Also in s3 Vorre was isolated.
In s4 he finally got help of Cabrera, but both were in the 5th group on already 0:48"
Vorre could not challenge favorites, but he should have been really good in this stage 2.
He was the only CFF cyclist who finished with the dissapointment icon.

Vonk should have been the best helper, but in retrospective it was also a tactical mistake to give him a helpers role.
Because he never helped, for example he was still one group before teamcaptain Vorre in s4.
So Vonk lost much unnecessary time due to his helpers role ánd due to his zero energy in the final 2 sections.

VanPutten should have had the teamcaptain role in this stage 2.
Still, he had a good race despite his free role, but as teamcaptain he would have finished 6 or 19 seconds faster.
And if 19 sec. faster, he would have been on a split 1º place in the GC, together with his fellow country man Zuiverloon ( JGMTeam ).
Now the GC looks like this ;

1    Rick Zuiverloon   31   JGMTeam   0: 00"
2    Gisle Sundet   26   azerite   0: 13"
3    Oscar Marcos   30   IKIBASQUE   0: 14"
4    Edward VanPutten   33   SPORTLIFE   0: 19"
5    Samuel Lotz   28   Innioraths   0: 22"
6    Adam Zipp   27   FaltososDeChigre   0: 30"
7    Eric Morken   26   Zatarra   0: 33"
8    Kevin Bush   31   CC_Porco_Jones   0: 33"
9    Alvaro Vaca   34   Kelme4ever   0: 35"
10    Pat Martin   25   HTCHungria   0: 35"
- - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - -
27    Leon Vonk   33   SPORTLIFE   1: 32"
58    Ricky Vorre   28   SPORTLIFE   2: 09" :-[

Too bad for title defender Vorre, but VanPutten will be the teamcaptain in the final 3 stages.
Hopefully this tactical stage 2 mistake of 6 or 19 seconds has no big consequences for the final GC.

As planned, Vonk already sacrificied his own chances, so he will be the helper of new teamcaptain VanPutten.
Vorre gets a free role, especially because he should be very good in stage 4,
ánd he should be good enough to still score some extra GC points despite he is far behind at the moment.
Hopefully this is the right tactical decision now, because Vorre is more suited for the final 3 stages than VanPutten.
Now the difference between them is already 1:50", and I estimate that Vorre is not thát much better. But maybe my estimation is wrong.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 12, 2021, 10:40:55 PM: stage 3 Itzulia ;
61º VanPutten on 1:53"
65º Vorre ( free role ) on 1:53"
78º Vonk ( helper ) on 2:12"
A good race, and Vonk did a good job in the first 3 sections. Remarkable that Vonk finished good himself despite zero energy in s4 and s5.

All 3 SPORTLIFE cyclists moved up in the GC after this cobblehills stage 3 :

1    Oscar Marcos   30   IKIBASQUE   0: 00"
2    Edward VanPutten   33   SPORTLIFE   0: 04"
3    Adam Zipp   27   FaltososDeChigre   0: 35"
4    Alexey Ryazanov   27   Spitz   0: 49"
5    Lourenco Madaleno   30   Kelme4ever   0: 52"
6    Kevin Bush   31   CC_Porco_Jones   1: 00"
7    Hidde Daelman   27   Combuijs   1: 07"
8    Idar Borgen   25   BorinotTeam   1: 16"
9    John Aakre   26   Mlb   1: 16"
10    Rayco Martos   28   Rekutxuteam   1: 16"
- - - - - - - - - -
16    Leon Vonk   33   SPORTLIFE   1: 37"
18    Ricky Vorre   28   SPORTLIFE   1: 54"
- - - - - - - - - -
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 13, 2021, 08:39:40 AM: stage 4 Itzulia ;
5º VanPutten on 0:18"
7º Vorre ( free role ) on 0:18"
- - - - -
42º Vonk ( helper ) on 1:32"

Excellent results, in a maybe not perfect race ;
my team dropped in s2, VanPutten was isolated in the 2nd group of s3, and Vorre dissapointed in s3 by being in the 3rd group.
But in s4 they all were in the same group, although already 0:39" behind 2 escaped cyclists. In total 18 cyclists were in front of my team.
VanPutten got the important extra bonus of helper Vonk in s4, and this caused a surprising, magnificient s5 final climb of my teamcaptain.
Also Vorre ( in a free role ) had an excellent final climb, but that was more expected.
(https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/jerseys/jersey_yellow.png) VanPutten takes the lead after this excellent stage 4 result. 8)

GC Itzulia after 4 stages :

1    Edward VanPutten   33   SPORTLIFE   0: 00"
2    Oscar Marcos   30   IKIBASQUE   0: 32"
3    Lourenco Madaleno   30   Kelme4ever   0: 57"
4    Adam Zipp   27   FaltososDeChigre   1: 08"
5    Kevin Bush   31   CC_Porco_Jones   1: 24"
6    Alexey Ryazanov   27   Spitz   1: 41"
7    Ricky Vorre   28   SPORTLIFE   1: 50"
8    Diogo Fraga   25   ProCyclingTeam10   1: 52"
9    Hidde Daelman   27   Combuijs   2: 17"
10    Samuel Lotz   28   Innioraths   2: 21"
- - - - - - - - - -
16    Leon Vonk   33   SPORTLIFE   2: 47"
- - - - - - - - - -
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 13, 2021, 08:32:50 PM: stage 5 Itzulia ;
18º VanPutten on 0:10"
22º Vorre ( free role ) on 0:16"
- - - - -
55º Vonk ( helper ) on 0:37" --> with 5x hand-icon.

Excellent final stage of my team ; all 3 were in the s3 front peleton of 55.
And in the end an amazing GC victory of VanPutten ! 8)

Final GC Itzulia :
1(https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/jerseys/jersey_yellow.png)Edward VanPutten   33   SPORTLIFE   0: 00"
2    Lourenco Madaleno   30   Kelme4ever   0: 52"
3    Adam Zipp   27   FaltososDeChigre   1: 08"
4    Kevin Bush   31   CC_Porco_Jones   1: 18"
5    Oscar Marcos   30   IKIBASQUE   1: 26"
6    Diogo Fraga   25   ProCyclingTeam10   1: 42"
7    Alexey Ryazanov   27   Spitz   1: 46"
8    Ricky Vorre   28   SPORTLIFE   1: 55"
9    Samuel Lotz   28   Innioraths   2: 10"
10    Semion Filatkin   27   LOSRAYOSDELARRY   2: 16"
- - - - - - - - -
16    Leon Vonk   33   SPORTLIFE   3: 14"
- - - - - - - - -
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Kekipi on April 14, 2021, 10:01:28 AM: (https://cyclingforfun.org/cff/etapas/roubaix.jpg)

Last season, in Div 2, I had my captain ride 03045. He got help in the first three sections and finished 6th.

This time, I'm with the big fish in the big pond (i.e. Div 1). I have a different captain but he has a similar GV, and with 3 flags wind pummeling the course, I knew 03045 would probably lead to a place far outside the top 30 (or akin to the image below).

(https://www.grammar.zone/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Big-fish-eat-little-fish.jpg)

So more aggressive tactics were obviously in order and it netted my captain, Hank Lane, a 26th placement, which was gratifying, especially because 23 of top 25 were golden flat cobblers (there are currently 78 of them in the game). And the rider who finished 25th, Jakob Heijmans, is the #1 flat cobbler but he likely rode too conservatively in the first three sections and was subsequently gapped. Btw, Lane (riding in black below) was a golden flat cobbler at the start of the season but he dropped to silver due to his age, 33, and less than diligent attention to his training by me.

(https://cdn-ctstaging.pressidium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/VAN-HOECKE_VAN-AVERMAET_Test-pave%CC%81s-Paris-Roubaix%C2%A9ACT_KBLB-1340x754.jpg)

Now looming are the Ardennes trio. With only 25 golden flat hillers in the game (but with none of them on my team), there may be some opportunities for points if I can hit the mark with my tactical stab. We shall see.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 15, 2021, 10:42:07 AM: Amstel Gold Race ;
15º Kluivert on 0:33"

A lot of energy ( 2 captain + 3 helper ) was wasted in s1 of this stormy AGR, because it was not even enough to follow the front group of 38.
Probably with less EP they would have been also in the 2nd group ( of 102 cyclists ) on 0:28"
Rubiera did a good helpers job in s2 ( 0:30" behind ) and s3 ( 0:25" behind ), but dropped in s4 due to a tactical mistake of his manager.
What meant that Kluivert was isolated in the s4 group ( of the nrs 15-23 on 0:26" ), and therefore in s5 a dissapointing final result.
I guess he was not the only one who did not had a good race, because it seems that this stormy AGR had difficulties for many rivals too.

Flèche Wallonne ;
2º Kluivert 8) , solo on 0:03" behind Valter, who also won the Amstel Gold Race.

An excellent result of not-favorite Kluivert !
Again it was a stormy race, and again a too slow start of the fully prepared helper Rubiera (=nr11 golden ranking, and Kluivert =nr15).

But this time Kluivert had (back-up)help in s1 of the recent Itzulia winner VanPutten, who kept Kluivert in the s1 front group of 70.
Of course VanPutten (bronze on hills) was not good enough to help in s2 too, so Kluivert had to do it on his own the whole race.

Despite this, he raced a superb Flèche Wallonne by staying in the front group of s2 ( 43 ), s3 ( 16 ), and even in s4 ( 5 ),
a 5-rider break away group that included 3 cyclists of Quickstepbronx ( ! ! ! ) and 1 cyclist of Aspigarri, who clearly had not much energy left.

Kluivert was no match to Valter who attacked and claimed a solo victory,
and the 3 others of the break away group were passed by the chasing groups.
The chasing group with favorites came a few seconds closer in s5, but not enough to prevent that Kluivert finished solo as 2º. :)

The second time in CFF3 history that SPORTLIFE achieved a podiumplace in a hills classic race.
Back in season 2 ( the first 1A season ), there was an also surprising 2º place in LBL.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Kekipi on April 15, 2021, 11:13:48 AM: Quote from: Vos on April 15, 2021, 10:42:07 AM
Amstel Gold Race ;
15º Kluivert on 0:33"

A lot of energy ( 2 captain + 3 helper ) was wasted in s1 of this stormy AGR, because it was not even enough to follow the front group of 38.

Of the 38, 14 finished in the top 30 and 6 finished in the top 10. That also meant that 24 of that group finished out of the points. My captain was like yours (i.e. 2 eps in S1) but he was not strong enough to finish in the top 30 (he finished 36th on :55). :-(

He did do better in FW (33rd on :58) but I'm second-guessing my decision to have him use 0 eps in S1, which put him in chase mode the rest of the way.

We're hoping for more improvement (and points!) in LBL.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 15, 2021, 11:24:27 AM: Kluivert started with a very risky 1 EP in the stormy FW. And very risky, because in the stormy AGR his 2 EP start was not good enough.
And the also fully prepared helper Rubiera, even the nr11 in the golden ranking, had bad starts in AGR ( 3 EP ) ánd FW ( 2 EP ).
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Kekipi on April 15, 2021, 08:35:34 PM: Quote from: Kekipi on April 15, 2021, 11:13:48 AM
We're hoping for more improvement (and points!) in LBL.
Mission accomplished. Even more gratifying was receiving a (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/incidencias/bombilla.png) for the tactics employed.

15 Gábor Gazsó on :37. :D :D
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 16, 2021, 12:06:37 AM: Liège–Bastogne–Liège ;
12º Kluivert on 0:37"

Because Kluivert could not challenge favorites, the tactical masterplan to get a top result was to take on purpose a sleep icon in s1.
That part of the plan worked perfectly ; Kluivert and helper Rubiera started in the 2nd group in this windless LBL.
However, also part of the plan was that they returned in flat s2, but they did not.:( ( just 7 cyclists could return to the s2 front group of 55 )
In fact, the race was over after this s2 failure, because in s1 just 0:16" behind, and in s2 already 0:42" ( ! ) behind.

In the rest of the race Kluivert could limit the big damage that was already done in s2, because he had help in every section.
Even in s4 despite Rubiera dropped suddenly with full power (before the race I was more worried that he would go too fast instead of too slow).
But luckily Kluivert met back-up helper Vorre in s4, who had an unintentional so called "forward pawn" helpers tactic.
Remarkable, because Vorre has just a bronze hills icon and was riding in a helpers role.
It shows that a good start and profiting of the faster slipstream is important, ánd the active weather icon of Vorre was also of influence.

Anyway, at least Kluivert had the extra helpers bonus in all sections, including the important final s5,
so he still could finish 12º despite being in s2 already 0:42" behind the front group of 55.
Well, no guts no glory, it was worth the attempt, unfortunately no glory this time.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 16, 2021, 12:39:16 AM: (https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/logos/c61102f7ec06a98faff60612b2c41637.png) (https://i.imgur.com/GvIPZ8B.png)selection SPORTLIFE

Results in the mountain stages are the goals. Hopefully top results but the competition might be too fierce.

Vorre will be the teamcaptain in stage 1.
He cannot challenge favorites and he will be missing helper VanPutten, who was originally planned to ride Romandie.
But I decided to sell VanPutten ( 5º and 10º in the climbhills stages of PN and ITZ ), who has several bids and will be sold in 20 minutes.
So, probably Vorre has to do it entirely on his own and hopefully he surprises me in this windy climbhills stage.

Macannazi will be the teamcaptain in stages 2, 3 and 5. He should have good help of Nyheim and debutant Kummer.

One open place in this little tour due to the upcoming sell of VanPutten.
And that place is for climb TT specialist Smith to gain experience, and nothing more, because he is useless as helper.

111 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/italia.jpg) Macannazi ( 25 ), climb
112 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/dinamarca.jpg) Vorre ( 28 ), climbhills
113 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/alemania.jpg) Kummer ( 25 ), climb
114 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/noruega.jpg) Nyheim ( 27 ), climb
115 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/australia.jpg) Smith ( 29 ), experience

Good luck everyone ! :)
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Zatarra on April 16, 2021, 11:49:07 AM: After the good results in the cobble hills classics, I'm very disappointed with the results in the last races. Several tactical mistakes - or risks that were not paid out - caused a complete doomed hill classics trilogy. Caldeira had to do it on is own in the first two, because new Zatarra rider Aavik didn't know how to handle the wind (and he was not perfectly prepared; no TC certainly did not help him). In LBL Aavik had the start I planned him to have but this time Caldeira messed up himself. He was last seen crying, at the moment he passed the finish line. We will have to look for him and hope to find him before the Giro starts.

However, we will look forward. In Romandie it's up to Balenko+Stegmeier to get the results in the climbing stages. The newspapers already predicted a tough battle with the SPORTLIFE delegation. They are with three (Macanazzi+Nummer+Nyheim, red.), so we will have to find a tactic that is just perfect and nothing less. Also, the preparation and the circumstances are far from perfect; the director already focuses on the Eschborn classic and the Giro and both Balenko and Stegmeier will go on TC for the Tour. We will see what will happen.

After that it's up to KvdG. His seventh place at the finish line in Frankfurt last season should be changed for the better this season and in the Giro he will be aiming for a top10. That will be hard as he's already having nightmares about the time trials, especially the flat one. We'll see once again.

Hopefully our further season's schedule can result in a battle for Australia's champion, but I have the feeling I've already made too many mistakes for that. At least 500 points were 'lost' in the Ardennes, I assume, and then there are several minor stage errors on top of that.

In the mean time we build a new generation of cobble Hiller's that will hopefully rule the U23 DT next season. Our hopes are high for Haber and Lucas especially. Write down their names for the next seasons if you want to join any prediction games! :).
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 16, 2021, 12:29:14 PM: stage 1 Romandie ;
8º Vorre

This little tour started with a decent good result.
Now it is up to the climbers in the very first real mountain stage of this season.
The competition / rivalry among climbers is very fierce, and most likely at a higher level than it ever was before.

This season the climbers have 12 opportunities ; 3x Romandie, 1x Giro, 2x Dauphiné, 4x Tour, 2x Vuelta.

And the upcoming stage 2 Romandie is the first one :
(https://i.imgur.com/Yippz5k.jpg)

section 2 = Col des Planches --> 10,4 km at average of 8,7%
section 3 = Champex-Lac --> 15 km at average of 5%
section 4 = Les Giettes --> 9,9 km at average of 7,4%
section 5 = Villars-sur-Ollon --> 15km at average of 5,6%
after a short, steep descent there are a few flat kilometers to the finishline in Aigle ( see picture below ).

(https://i.imgur.com/F3pdo8h.jpg)
Aigle, a historic Swiss town on the east edge of the Rhône valley, at the foot of the Swiss Alps.
Not far from the French border and below the lake of Geneva.
Aigle is the French word for eagle ; so who will "fly" over the mountains in this stage and will be the victorious eagle in Aigle ? :)
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 16, 2021, 01:10:32 PM: Quote from: Zatarra on April 16, 2021, 11:49:07 AM
In Romandie it's up to Balenko+Stegmeier to get the results in the climbing stages. The newspapers already predicted a tough battle with the SPORTLIFE delegation. They are with three (Macanazzi+Nummer+Nyheim, red.)
His name is Kummer. ;)
And if he wins of your climbers, you may call him "kummer-and-kwel", that is what he causes to your team. ;D

Hopefully a fun battle between our climbers, but maybe a battle somewhere behind the favorites,
because there are a few ( too good ) amazing climb teams in 1A this season.
Probably even above these amazing teams = TeamEuroscalt.
My tactics this season are to follow the Euroscalt climbers as long as possible. ;)

About the Australian championship ; this season I have set up a mini youth team aside.
You have also a youth team aside, so the chance is more fair now, and maybe it is possible for your team to battle for it.

However, I did not look into this yet, way too soon to tell, and perhaps $Tourmalet will be a rival too if he reorganises his team.
Aurora_Australis will also score many points this season, especially in both WC races ( and he has 2 good climbers ).
But I don't expect he will be rival ; he has a youth team aside too, and according to me no intention to reorganise his team,
and fully go for the Australian championship, what would be an option if he really wanted to. By far the most points are still in the game.

Good luck in the mountains, Zatarra !
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Zatarra on April 16, 2021, 01:32:38 PM: Hahahah, nice one, Vos! Kummer-and-kwel it will be, indeed. As a Dutchmen you will know that the "Nummer"-typo is die to auto-correct. I'm sorry!

Yes, competition is fierce. Hopefully we will manage to ride a good result.

Concerning the Australian championship; I know most points are still in the game, but I'm very unhappy with tours so far. My golden tour riders are simple not good enough... or my tactics are not good enough. That's sad. Hopefully I can improve that this season. I have to think a way to do so.

Good luck to you too!
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 16, 2021, 02:11:39 PM: Thanks :)
By the way ; I have no English auto-correct, although I had been planning to instal this for many years, but I guess I'm ánd was too lazy.
Well, as long as everyone can understand my English with sometimes mistakes in it, it is fine by me.
"Nummer" = Dutch ánd German for "Number", and my German cyclist is not a number, he has a name. So I had to react, and no sorry needed.
Fun fact ; his german name Kummer in English = grief, sorrow, distress, pain, misery. :))
Hopefully he will bring that to others, and he does not have it himself. Anyhow, I like his German name a lot, perfect for a climber ! 8)
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Zatarra on April 16, 2021, 02:12:52 PM: His fellow German NT-rider Stegmeier says he knows how to let Kummer struggle, so that would be nice to see happening once or twice... maybe even thrice this little tour :).
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 16, 2021, 02:47:30 PM: Funny that you have a German climber too ! :D
Just like Stegmaier, also Kummer will go on TC for the TdF.

But it will be very difficult for one of our climbers to be the best German climber in the Tour de France.
Petros Seeler ( TeamEuroscalt ) is German too, and the nr 2 pure climber of the game, versus Stegmaier ( nr 9 ) and Kummer ( nr 21 ).
And TeamEuroscalt has also the nrs 1, 4, 7, 22, 23 and 37 in the top50 of pure climbers.

To comfort us both a bit, all 3 German climbers were bought at almost the same day :
2021-03-30 Stegmaier = 6 750 750
2021-04-01 Kummer = 4 150 000
2021-04-01 Seeler = 57 876 987
What makes our climbers combined, even less than 20% "worth" compared to Seeler.
All pressure in the German climb battle is on Agtxla. :P
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Zatarra on April 16, 2021, 03:10:16 PM: Nice one verview! Indeed. We will we battling with our climbers for the 'second best climber of Germany'-award. Looks like beating agtxla once this season should be the climbing goal for both of us this season :).
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 16, 2021, 11:27:29 PM: stage 2 Romandie ;
2º Macannazi :)
21º Nyheim ( helper )

A perfect race of Rekutxuteam who had 2 favorites.
First favorite Miro claimed another victory, after his 4 stage wins of previous season where he also won the NT climb race (and 6 victories in s14).
So, it was an excellent race + great result of not-favorite Macannazi, finishing solo as 2º on 0:22" behind Miro.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 17, 2021, 11:12:41 AM: stage 3 Romandie ;
4º Macannazi
19º Vorre ( free role )
24º Nyheim ( helper )
27º Kummer ( helper )

Superb domination of TeamEuroscalt in this mountain stage !
And again a very good result of Macannazi because a pure mountain stage is not his speciality.
Remarkable and surprising ; Vorre did very well in a free role. Perhaps he has GC chances despite his 3x free roles in stages 2, 3 and 5.
Macannazi is even 2º GC at the moment, but he is very bad in hills-sprint stage 4, he will finish minutes behind the stage winner.

This is how mountain stage 3 went ; ( 49 - 54 - 6 - 5 - 1 ).

s1 = attack of PDM_cycling_team.
The first shift is made, 49 climbers in the front peleton, including 4x SPORTLIFE.

s2 = a sneaky attack of TeamEuroscalt in the downhill section caused that just 5 cyclists could return.

s3 = another attack of TeamEuroscalt !
A break away group of 6, incl. 4x TeamEuroscalt. Only Fertovs ( ChampsElysees ) and Heijblok ( Mlb ) could follow.
Behind them 2 small chasing groups on 0:14" and 0:22", and unexpectedly Macannazi was isolated in the first chasing group.

s4 = very high pace of all 4x TeamEuroscalt caused that the only 2 other cyclists dropped out of the front group.
In the first chasing group a magnificient attack of Caruso ( Innioraths ) thanks to an excellent helpers job of teammate Nolte.
With a formidabel pace, Caruso could catch the front group of 4x TeamEuroscalt.
The 1st chasing group ( 8 ) on 0:17" incl. Macannazi, ánd helper Nyheim who made a good jump from the 2nd to the 1st chasing group.
The 2nd chasing group ( 13 ) already on 0:35"

s5 = the expected solo attack of one of the TeamEuroscalt climbers ; Palumbo secured the victory.
Stage 1 winner Miro ( Rekutxuteam ) attacked out of the chasing group, passed the 3x TeamEuroscalt climbers,
and came into the wheel of the brave Caruso ( Innioraths ).
On 0:10" of stage winner Palumbo, both sprinted for the 2º place. Miro was too tired of the effort to return, so Caruso won this sprint.

Also Macannazi attacked out of the first chasing group, but could not hold on to the wheel of Miro, so he finished solo as 4º on 0:20"
Menendez ( Luka_Warriors, 5º on 0:31" ) and Fertovs ( ChampsElysees, 6º on 0:41" ) finished solo too.

On 1:12" the first chasing group ( of 9 climbers ) finished, and they sprinted for the 7º place ;
7º Lange ( TeamEuroscalt, most likely in a free role ) won that sprint before 8º Lepin ( LOSRAYOSDELARRY ).
The best helper of TeamEuroscalt, Lebraud, finished even as 9º.
Tuum ( Quickstepbronx ) completed the top10 in this mountain stage.

Not only TeamEuroscalt dominated in this race,
also the Italian climbers did ; 3 out of the top 4 are Italian.
Only Miro ( Rekutxuteam ) is from Spain, and he is the new GC leader before 3 Italians ; 2.Macannazi, 3.Palumbo and 4.DiLuca ( MarquinaTeam ).
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 17, 2021, 09:09:53 PM: stage 4 Romandie ;
73º Vorre on 1:29"
190º Macannazi ( free role ) on 3:40"

This stage was all about damage control. And good to see that both can score GC points.
Tour de Romandie, GC after 4 stages :

1    Samuele DiLuca   32   MarquinaTeam   0: 00"
2    Armen Gritsal   29   JGMTeam   1: 04"
3    Xavér Kövér   25   HTCHungria   1: 13"
- - - - - - - - - -
4    Lambert Duxas   31   CC_Porco_Jones   1: 13"
5    Adam Zipp   27   FaltososDeChigre   1: 19"
6    Martijn Heijblok   26   Mlb   1: 23"
7    Carles Verdugo   25   FlyEaglesFly   1: 41"
8    Ricky Vorre   28   SPORTLIFE   1: 46"
9    Emilio Jesus Costa   26   KunTeam   2: 16"
10    Julio Manuel Miro   30   Rekutxuteam   2: 21"
- - - - - - - - - -
11    Yvo VanStraalen   27   Combuijs   2: 29"
12    Paul-Gerhard Cramer   29   JGMTeam   2: 49"
13    Denis Macannazi   25   SPORTLIFE   2: 54"
14    Romolo Palumbo   26   TeamEuroscalt   3: 00"
15    Diogo Fraga   25   ProCyclingTeam10   3: 01"
16    Sammy Caan   28   BlackHole   3: 05"
17    Zsombor Endrõdi   27   azerite   3: 11"
18    Murat Aeschliman   29   FrançaiseDesJeux   3: 11"
19    Imanol Pages   30   team_piroshki   4: 13"
20    Brent Holmquist   29   TeamSerfin   4: 22"
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 18, 2021, 01:24:24 PM: stage 5 Romandie ;
5º Macannazi
The helpers tactics were not good at all, what caused that the teamcaptain had to do it on his own the whole race.
And despite this, he did pretty well by finishing solo as 5º, although far behind the top 4.
But this result was good enough to score unexpected GC points ; Macannazi even finished 10º GC.

Vorre dissapointed a little bit in this final stage ( 56º on 2:21" in a free role ), but also he scored extra points ; 13º GC.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 19, 2021, 11:59:28 AM: Eschborn-Frankfurt ;
3º Beck

(https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/logos/8ed052732fddd78a1b24c0eb2887c9f6.png) (https://i.imgur.com/GvIPZ8B.png)selection SPORTLIFE

Roman seems to me not a top GC contender in this specific Giro, so possibly I will go for stage results, but I'm still in doubt.

61 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/colombia.jpg) Roman ( 32 ), tour
62 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/spain.jpg) Rubiera ( 24 ), hills
63 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/alemania.jpg) Beck ( 29 ), climbsprint
64 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/italia.jpg) Macannazi ( 25 ), climb
65 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/holanda.jpg) Kluivert ( 32 ), hills

stage 1 Giro ;
15º Beck
24º Roman ( free role ) on 0:00"
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 19, 2021, 07:34:57 PM: stage 2 Giro ;
6º Macannazi
28º Roman ( free role ) on 1:36"

The storm caused a battlefield in the flat sections.
Although I tried to anticipate on the storm, also the SPORTLIFE cyclists were among the many "storm-victims".
Because my whole team could not follow the s1 front peleton of 41.

The s2 back up plan ( Macannazi 1, and helper Beck 4 ) did not work, although they came 6 sec. closer to the s2 front group of just 21.
Maybe this back up plan was good anyway, because free role GC rider Roman ( despite 1EP ) dropped even further in s2, already on 0:43"

In the last 3 sections my cyclists had to do it on his own, as expected ( altough in s3 the full power launch of Beck helped ).
The final results are good, thanks to many rivals who had difficulties in this stage too, or even more difficulties.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 20, 2021, 08:36:31 AM: stage 3 Giro ;
10º Beck
30º Roman ( helper ) on 0:24"

I expected that helper Roman, with 5 EP in s5, could finish on 0:00" as well.
He did a good job because he was together with Beck in the s4 front peleton of 64, but an unexpected drop in s5.
Maybe this is a little mistake, because Roman is still hoping to score a few extra GC points.
And maybe these 24 sec. unnecessary loss do not matter, and my estimation before this Giro is right, that he is not a top GC rider.

This makes the strategic choice easier to go for my hills specialists in stage 5.
Roman will be the teamcaptain for the first time in stage 6 to the Gotthard Pass in Switzerland.
After that it will be more clear if he still has a chance to get a decent GC result.
As it seems now, most likely Roman will get free roles too in hills stages 7 and 10. But fun to have a "GC contender" aside in this Giro. :)
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Zatarra on April 21, 2021, 08:05:22 AM: Argghh... the only chance for KvdG to score nice GC points in the Giro is by making a difference in the pure hill stages. Yet, what happens in the first hills stage? I forget to give my riders roles, so all start in free role. Damn it.

One less stage to make the difference, but still we hope to finish top10. It will be tough, especially with the TT on the program as well, but first KvdG's favourite stage of them all. Even Ruup is among the favourites, so hopefully I don't blow this... :-*
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 21, 2021, 10:25:13 AM: stage 4 Giro ;
29º Roman on 0:56"
stage 5 Giro ;
7º Kluivert
23º Rubiera ( helper )
A decent result, but not a good race, because Rubiera dropped already in semi-flat section 3.

Also Roman ( in a free role ) dropped in s3, and he finished as 54º on 1:13" what is also a decent result due to his not good hills GV.
At the moment he is 13ºGC on 2:13" behind GC leader Pires ( FrançaiseDesJeux ).
Pires has fierce competition right now ; Menke on 0:06", Fuertes on 0:18" and Blix on 0:19"

Far behind these top Giro contenders ; Roman has to compete for a top20 GC place because of the not favorable Giro schedule.
For example 2 more hills stages to go where he gets free roles again. Also he does not like the flat-TT and the sprint stage.
Probably Roman his GC depends on the upcoming stage 6 to the Gotthard Pass, where he will be the teamcaptain for the first time.
Hopefully there are some top20 GC rivals who are not very suited for this stage with a final cobble-climb-section.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Aurora Australis on April 21, 2021, 01:40:50 PM: Amazingly my 23yo flat-TTer with some natural climb ability scored points in the Giro Climb-TT stage 4. Of course they're all here for stage 9, where the 23-year-olds will be at close to maximum health (95?) so they'll be able to properly test themselves.

371   Kirk Clinton   23
372   Christian Pocock   23
373   Nobby Licuria   23
374   Kirk Workman   28
375   Richard Levin   34
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 21, 2021, 10:09:10 PM: Quote from: Zatarra on April 21, 2021, 08:05:22 AM
so hopefully I don't blow this... :-*
Great stage victory of van der Goor, well done Zatarra ! 8)

stage 6 Giro ;
23º Roman on 0:57"
(https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/incidencias/sad.png) Ups, Roman was the only in this race who finished with a dissapointment icon.
And justified, because ( to my surprise ) he could not follow the s1 peleton of 106 ( ! ).
Also unexpectedly he could not return in s4 so he started the final climb with 0:29" behind the s4 front group of 34.
Somehow I forgot to give Beck a helpers role who was with Roman in s4. I guess this was a stage full of mistakes and bad luck.
It even caused that Romand dropped 2 places ; now 15ºGC on 2:52"

The "positive" aspect of this stage 6 is that the battle of the Australian championship is exciting now. :D
Zatarra comes really close in the 1A ranking, just 373 points less than the famous 14 times Australian champion SPORTLIFE.
Luckily Roman is still far ahead in the GC compared to van der Goor ; the difference is a reassuring 0:03" :P ;)
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Zatarra on April 21, 2021, 10:17:43 PM: Haha, it was a very terrifying race for me. Ruup (number 5 favourite) could not follow the peloton in s1 either. Luckily KvdG managed to stay in the first group without any help during the cobbles and the hills and as a miracle Ruup managed to close the gap to the first peloton in three sections, so somewhere in s4 they finally got together again, just in time for the final climb on cobbles.

I'm very happy with the win! Now I hope KvdG can take some time back in the hills as well. My team is strong for the hills, so hopefully at least one of the helper's is good enough to do some good work.

And indeed, the Australian championship is very exciting as of now, but I have the feeling my boys will somewhat let go after the Giro. Hopefully KvdG can at least survive the coming TT to finish higher in the GC than Roman :).
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 21, 2021, 10:53:52 PM: Roman gets 2 free roles in both hills stages ; his current 15ºGC place is not worth fighting for. He should be happy if can finish top20 GC.
So it is up to my 2 hills specialists to score some more Giro points.
And maybe just like your team, I have many gaps in the selections after this Giro, so the Australian battle can still be very interesting and exciting.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 22, 2021, 08:38:08 AM: stage 7 Giro ;
11º Rubiera
15º Kluivert ( helper )
So far a bad tactical season ; again a failure, this time in section 2 where Rubiera (5th favorite) could not follow helper Kluivert.
Surprising to me, perhaps the extreme low experience of Rubiera caused it.
Too bad ; if Rubiera could have stayed in the wheel of Kluivert, the SPORTLIFE-teamcaptain had a real chance to get a victory,
because Kluivert escaped in s4 together with just one other cyclist.
At the moment it is uncertain who will get the teamcaptain role in hills stage 10,
both previous Giro hills stages went wrong, but Kluivert ( 7º stage 5 ) did better as teamcaptain than Rubiera ( now 11º ).

Free role GC contender Roman finished as 66º on 1:15" and dropped one place ; now 16ºGC on 3:05"
It is really close in the margin of the GC ; the nr 12º is just 0:09" ahead, and the nr 19º is just 0:05" behind.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The SEASON 17 CALENDAR is published. 8)
Grrrrrrr, no suited mountain TT stage for Oscar Smith, the nr 1 in the TT Dream Team. Hopefully there will be a suited NT climb time trial.
And many other remarkable things in the season 17 schedule, that is not good for my climbers ;

Giro = just 1 mountain stage with 3 mountain sections, and 1 stage with a cobble-mountain-finish.
Vuelta = also a total of just 4 mountain sections, and just 1 stage that finishes on a mountain top.
Tirreno = just 1 mountain section in a pure flat-mountain stage.
Catalunya = just 2 mountain sections in a MMFHH stage, so no mountain top finish.
Itzulia = 7 mountain sections, but also no mountain s5 finish.
Dauphiné = just 2 mountain sections in a climb-sprint stage.
Also in the Tour de France there are less mountains than in this season, and just 2 stages with mountain s5, including a FFFFM stage.

The both WC races we have seen many times in recent seasons ; both are again in Portugal ( short semi-hills TT + hills race 254,1km ).

It seems to me that hills specialists like this season 17 calendar the most. Maybe also the hill-sprinters are happy with this schedule.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Zatarra on April 22, 2021, 09:27:53 AM: I had the same feeling about season 17 concerning the hillers and hillsprinters.

My cobblehiller were crying. This is a very bad and boring calendar. Also, too many TT in the tours for KvdG. Maybe the Tour de France Will be interesting, but then he might have to miss the stage in the Giro that he won yesterday evening...
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: kirin on April 22, 2021, 12:35:26 PM: About S17 calendar, every small Tour has one TT, my GC riders are not happy with that :(
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 23, 2021, 12:15:11 PM: After a good sprint stage 8 ( despite no help, 51º on 1:12" ) and after the flat TT stage 9 ( 59º on 2:29" ),
Roman moved up to 10ºGC on 3:43"

My both hills specialists do not like the too much flat in hills stage 10 and therefore no top result, and Kluivert dropped 1 in form.
So a change of plan ; now Roman will be the final-stage-teamcaptain to try to get a decent GC result ( and drops just a few places ).
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 23, 2021, 12:19:48 PM: The battle for Giro victory is extreme exciting with 1 more stage to go : 8)

1(https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/jerseys/jersey_pink.png)Lazare Pires   29   FrançaiseDesJeux   0: 00"
2    Aksel Blix   29   Aspigarri   0: 04"
3    Aleksandr Menke   29   FaltososDeChigre   0: 08"
- - - - - - - - - -
4    Raul Fuertes   29   TeamEuroscalt   0: 24"
5    Henriks Valdmanis   26   KunTeam   2: 41"
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 23, 2021, 07:37:33 PM: stage 10 Giro ;
23º Kluivert ( free role )
27º Rubiera ( free role )
- - - - -
54º Roman on 1:05"
Maybe one of the hills specialists should have been a masterhelper, but I had no faith in a good helper's tactic of one of them,
and Beck already was a good helper in flat sections 2 and 3.
But maybe this was a little mistake that costed Roman one or two places in the final GC. For the total team points, it did not matter much.
And very good of Roman that ( to my surprise ) he could finish top 10 GC despite 3x leader roles, 4x free roles and 1x helpers role.

The final top 3 GC finished extreme close ;
in the final stage Menke did just a few seconds better than his rivals, and he moved up 2 GC places and won the Giro !
(https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/logos/8ed052732fddd78a1b24c0eb2887c9f6.png) FINAL TOP 20 GC =
1(https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/jerseys/jersey_pink.png)Aleksandr Menke   29   FaltososDeChigre   0: 00"
2    Lazare Pires   29   FrançaiseDesJeux   0: 03"
3    Aksel Blix   29   Aspigarri   0: 07"
- - - - - - - - - -
4    Raul Fuertes   29   TeamEuroscalt   0: 54"
5    Henriks Valdmanis   26   KunTeam   2: 44"
6    Carles Verdugo   25   FlyEaglesFly   3: 24"
7    Lars Panizzolo   27   LOSRAYOSDELARRY   3: 32"
8    Reinis Melderis   29   Kelme4ever   3: 39"
9    Jarno Voisin   29   CuencaTeam   3: 42"
10    Jaime Roman   32   SPORTLIFE   3: 46"
- - - - - - - - - -
11    John Footman   32   CC_Porco_Jones   4: 00"
12    Armen Gritsal   29   JGMTeam   4: 00"
13    Adao Baiao   30   ProCyclingTeam10   4: 20"
14    Franz Doll   27   Innioraths   4: 22"
15    Bendegúz Csécs   27   Spitz   4: 34"
16    Leandro Povoa   29   BlackHole   4: 45"
17    Kasper van der Goor   26   Zatarra   5: 06"
18    Mazim Pugovkin   30   IKIBASQUE   5: 31"
19    Richard Rogers   33   Facha_Bartolo   5: 32"
20    Brent Holmquist   29   TeamSerfin   5: 47"
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Zatarra on April 23, 2021, 08:06:25 PM: Although KvdG got a light bulb in the last stage with an extremely good result for a 6*(!) hiller (some perfect domestique roles of Ruup and Bettencourt. The helper's role of Aavik failed (he would have been the best helper). Still disappointed with the end result. KvdG lost a lot of time in the TT. That was expected beforehand. However, the amount of time he lost in the mountainstages was disappointing and in the first hill stage and the last sprint stage (stage 8) the tactics failed as well. I think, with better tactics, KvdG would have scored a top10 here. Unfortunately that is not the case.

Still happy with the stage win of KvdG and the lightbulb in the last stage also was a highlight.

Onto the Dauphiné. I don't expect miracles from Morken.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 23, 2021, 11:30:13 PM: (https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/logos/191b5bdfdfade94930708639639a8727.png) (https://i.imgur.com/GvIPZ8B.png)selection SPORTLIFE

61 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/colombia.jpg) Roman ( 32 ), tour
62 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/italia.jpg) Macannazi ( 25 ), climb
63 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/belgica.jpg) Lebrun ( 31 ), sprint
64 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/colombia.jpg) Millan ( 32 ), TT
65 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/alemania.jpg) Beck ( 29 ), allround helper

Good luck everyone ! :)
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 24, 2021, 09:06:55 PM: stage 1 Dauphiné ;
4º Roman on 0:00"
A magnificient result thanks to a very good helpers job of Beck who kept Roman in the front in the first 4 sections.
One of the best race results of the now 32yo Roman in his career, only 2 times he did better ( 2x 2º in s14, riding for QuintoYtapa ).

stage 2 Dauphiné ;
16º Roman on 0:46"
21º Macannazi ("masterhelper") on 0:46"
Tactical failures of both helpers tactics.
Beck did a good job in s1, but was going too fast in s2, s3 and s4.
Masterhelper Macannazi started too slow and was riding the whole race one group behind Roman.
Even the back-up tactic of 1EP in dh-s4 was not good enough to return.
But maybe Macannazi helped at the end of the final s5 climb because he finished in the same time as his teamcaptain.

Hopefully the tactics will be better in the next mountain stage, and Roman is not isolated almost the whole race.
At the moment Roman is 4ºGC on 0:46" That looks very promising.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 25, 2021, 10:08:57 AM: stage 3 Dauphiné ;
7º Roman on 0:10"
Excellent result in this stormy stage, thanks to a perfect helpers job of Beck. What was needed, because masterhelper Macannazi failed again.
Roman still 4ºGC, now on 0:57" of GC leader Pires who won 2 stages and most likely will win this Dauphiné.
Still it looks very good, and hopefully Roman can finish on the final GC podium.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 26, 2021, 08:25:05 AM: CFF CUP quarter final ; SPORTLIFE vs JGMTeam
The race was the same as stage 3 Dauphiné ( MMFFM 130km ) where Zverotic ( JGMTeam ) finished as 3º.
So it was clear to me that the opponent was the top favorite to win this quarter final.

Although there was still a tactical possibility ; a risky tactic of Macannazi so he could finish with a superstrong 5 EP.
It seemed my tactical gamble would be a failure, because Macannazi was behind in s1, s2 and s3.
But luckily he returned in s4 to the front where he had 3 helpers. Also JGMTeam had still 4 climbers in s4 on 0:00"
Unfortunately the superstrong s5 finish of Macannazi was not good enough ; he lost with 0:06" to Zverotic.

Exit SPORTLIFE, and congrats to JGMTeam + good luck in the semi final !
( a semi final that my team could not win, so that is a bit of a comfort after losing this quarter final )

stage 4 Dauphiné ;
18º Millan
55º Roman on 2:55"
Roman dropped one place, ánd lost time to some GC rivals what caused that the podium is out of reach. ( 5ºGC 1:02" vs 3ºGC 0:37" )

stage 5 Dauphiné ;
21º Lebrun ( free role )
47º Roman on 0:55"
A good race and a good result of Roman, thanks to a good job ánd lead out of helper Beck.

Roman could defend his 5ºGC place ( now on 1:57" ), what is an excellent final result. :)
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 26, 2021, 02:36:04 PM: (https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/logos/8e2fd4d4ee620c3f1192c94b40da9db9.png) (https://i.imgur.com/GvIPZ8B.png)selection SPORTLIFE

It is uncertain if Roman can score GC points in this for him not suited little tour.

61 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/colombia.jpg) Roman ( 32 ), tour
62 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/noruega.jpg) Markhus ( 31 ), flatclimb
63 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/belgica.jpg) Lebrun ( 31 ), sprint
64 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/dinamarca.jpg) Vorre ( 28 ), climbhills
65 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/suiza.jpg) Zutter ( 22 ), climbhills

Good luck everyone ! :)
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 27, 2021, 08:39:17 AM: stage 2 Suisse ;
12º Roman ( free role )
- - - - -
37º Vorre ( helper )
38º Zutter ( 22yo Swiss teamcaptain )
(https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/jerseys/jersey_white.png) This stage was all about the attempt to win the white season jersey.
Unfortunately Zutter was not so suited because of his too low flat.
Perhaps with a better tactic, for example a 3 EP start, he could have achieved this goal.
Now his start was too slow, despite this, he had help in both flat sections. But already 0:28" behind the s2 front peleton of 64.
In the end Zutter came close, just a few places and 0:06" behind.

Well, it was worth the attempt despite it costed my team some points.
And not just in this stage 2 where Roman would finish better in a teamcaptain role with Vorre as helper,
but also in stage 1 or 3 it probably costed a few points because I selected Zutter instead of my cobblehills- or TT-specialist.
And who knows, maybe this costed a few GC points also, although Roman is now 25ºGC and it is uncertain if he can finish top20 GC.

And there is a big chance that I will go for stage results in the final 2 stages ( Lebrun and Markhus ),
to try to get some more points out of this Tour de Suisse than the just 50 points scored so far, what is a bit of embarrassing.

But it was worth it ánd fun to battle for the white jersey. :)
Perhaps next season another attempt for the 2nd white jersey on my team palmares.
Then the plan is (again) to buy a 22yo flatcobble- or cobblehills specialist, what makes achieving this goal much easier.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 28, 2021, 08:34:01 AM: After the hills TT, to my surprise Roman moved up 14 places to 11ºGC.
So, too bad for my sprinter because now he has to be a helper ( no one else is good enough to help in stage 4 ).

stage 4 Suisse ;
9º Lebrun ( helper )
36º Roman on 1:22"
An excellent result of Lebrun, and he did excellent as helper too in the first 3 sections.
Unfortunately Roman could not follow him (and the front peleton) in s4, but his result/time loss is not bad.
It even caused that again Roman moved up ; now 8ºGC on 1:12" :)
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 28, 2021, 10:19:38 PM: stage 5 Suisse ;
13º Roman on 0:40"
17º Markhus ( helper )
Very good result, thanks to masterhelper Markhus in this windy stage.

Final GC Tour de Suisse = 5ºGC Roman on 0:54" behind GC winner Marcos ( IKIBASQUE ).

In retrospective it was a mistake to battle for the white jersey in stage 2.
Because of that, Roman had 5sec. or most likely 15sec. unnecessary time loss.
And the difference between Roman and 3ºGC is now exactly 0:15"
But happy with this Tour de Suisse ; Roman ( without TC ) did much and much better as I expected. :)
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 28, 2021, 10:43:53 PM: (https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/logos/ec365cb5b403c66bf9212fc15b3d4289.png) (https://i.imgur.com/GvIPZ8B.png)selection SPORTLIFE

The TdF goals ; good results in the 4 mountain stages and good results in the 2 hills stages.
I assume my climbers are not good enough to challenge the favorites, and the climb competition will be extreme fierce in this TdF.
Despite this, I hope and expect good results in the mountains.

Perhaps the not fully prepared hills teamcaptain Rubiera has more chance to get a top stage result.
Although his helper Kluivert has a big form problem and has no TC also.
But I tried ánd failed to buy good TdF cyclists, so Kluivert ( and Macannazi ) complete this selection.

71 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/alemania.jpg) Kummer ( 25 ), climb
72 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/noruega.jpg) Nyheim ( 27 ), climb
73 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/spain.jpg) Rubiera ( 24 ), hills
74 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/italia.jpg) Macannazi ( 25 ), climb
75 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/holanda.jpg) Kluivert ( 32 ), hills

Good luck everyone ! :)
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Aurora Australis on April 29, 2021, 12:14:43 AM: We're here for the TT stages, obviously. Christian was selected as the extra because he managed a few points in the semi-climb TT race earlier in the season (although at better health), plus a weather bonus in both TT stages. Workman & Pinkney are the main TTers going for results.

351 Christian Pocock   23 (cold)
352 Nobby Licuria   23
353 Tod Henderson   23
354 Kirk Workman   28 (cold & wind)
355 Christian Pinkney   33
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on April 29, 2021, 08:31:46 PM: stage 2 TdF ;
8º Kummer
19º Nyheim ( "helper" )
Very bad stage.
Unexpectedly ( and to me inexplicable ) Kummer could not follow his 2 helpers in s1, who were both in the s1 front group ( as expected ).
Kummer was isolated the whole race, and in fact ; already in section 1 it was a lost race.

Hopefully the 3 other mountain stages will go better, although this stage 2 ( and stage 8 ) should have been the most suited to Kummer.
On the bright side ; this was the first time that the 25yo Kummer was the teamcaptain in my team, and the very first top10 result in his career.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on May 01, 2021, 09:59:37 AM: stage 4 TdF ;
9º Nyheim
19º Kummer ( free role )

This stage was less suited for my 2 climbers due to the 2 flat sections.
And it showed in s1, the 2 EP start was not good enough to Nyheim, who got the teamcaptain role because of his active weather icon.
Also Kummer (with also 2 EP ) could not follow the s1 break away group of 16.
Only helper Macannazi could follow in s1, but he dropped in s2 to the group of his teamcaptain, probably due to his 99 form and no TC.
What might also be the reason that the 4 EP in downhill s4 of helper Macannazi was not good enough to return to Nyheim.
Despite this stage was less suited and Nyheim had almost no help, a top10 result is pretty good.

stage 5 TdF ;
6º Kummer
27º Nyheim ( "helper" )

This time Kummer was the teamcaptain again, and also this time the helpers tactics were bad ;
unexpectedly all 4 helpers started too slow and Kummer was isolated the whole race.
But it was positive that Kummer could win the up-mountain-sprint of the 2nd chasing group of 10 climbers, 1:53"( ! ) behind the stage winner.

Of course that was a TeamEuroscalt climber ; that team (with the top 4 favorites + 1 almost favorite) finished top 3 in this stage.
Even his best helper finished 3º. It is clear that they dominate the mountains in this TdF, including so far 3 solo victories of Mikalsen.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Kekipi on May 01, 2021, 06:59:10 PM: Quote from: Vos on May 01, 2021, 09:59:37 AM
stage 4 TdF ;
9º Nyheim
Currently 12th GC. Do you think he has a chance for a top 20 GC by tour's end? Ditto for any of the other climb specialists (e.g. Mikalsen of TeamEuroscalt)?

It'll be interesting to see how the GC shakes out after the two TTs.

And, of course, there is still one remaining mountain stage for those guys to do their thing.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on May 02, 2021, 01:26:47 AM: Both my fully prepared pure climbers can not score a few GC points.
Too low flat and they are bad in all other skills, only Nyheim has a cobbleskill (1 star flatcobble ) what explained his temporary "high" GC place.
Already the flat time trial made it clear ( 195º Nyheim on 5:15" and 160º Kummer on 4:35" ), they dropped out of the top20 GC.
Also in the final 2 hills stages they both will lose many minutes.

I don't know the stats of Mikalsen ( TeamEuroscalt ), but he is still 2ºGC after the flat time trial.
He likes this cold Tour de France and he wins the mountain stages with big time difference.
So I assume he can ride a decent GC.
Of course it will depend on the hills stages also, for example if his hills- and aggr-skills are very low, he will lose minutes.

I think this is still a TdF for real tour cyclists, despite the 4 mountain stages, 1 HFFMM time trial, and no sprint finishes.
Current GC leader VanStraalen ( Combuijs ) is riding an amazing TdF so far, he was 4ºGC Suisse and he has a hills icon.
Also the current 3ºGC Marcos has a hills icon, and he won the Tour de Suisse.
The nr 4ºGC Ryazanov is already on 1:57" behind VanStraalen and 1:28" behind Mikalsen,
but I would not be surprised if he will overtake Mikalsen in the GC due to the final 2 hills stages.
Ryazanov has also a hills icon, and this season he finished 7ºGC Itzulia, a little tour with many hills.
In previous season he was 2ºGC Tour de France and 6ºGC Vuelta, it shows that he is really good because he could not ride both with TC.

So I expect it will be a battle between these 3 tour cyclists, and maybe added with another tour cyclist.
But perhaps Mikalsen can surprise if he has a bit of a hills skill. But without a hills icon, it seems to me he cannot compete for the podium.
But a top10 GC might be possible, what would be really good for a cyclist with just one climb icon ( + cold icon ; 5 cold TdF stages ).

Next season I will buy a GC contender for the Tour de France ; much more fun than losing to a superior TeamEuroscalt in the mountains. :D
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Aurora Australis on May 02, 2021, 02:22:45 AM: My three 23-year-old TTers got 11th to 13th spots & 225 points at 78-77 health, so that's good. Of course, for Christian Pinkney, it doesn't look as if he'll ever win a race now, ten Div1 podium, several top 5 WCs, a bunch of NT top 10s, no victories.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Kekipi on May 03, 2021, 03:55:01 AM: Quote from: Vos on May 02, 2021, 01:26:47 AM
Current GC leader VanStraalen ( Combuijs ) is riding an amazing TdF so far, he was 4ºGC Suisse and he has a hills icon.
Also the current 3ºGC Marcos has a hills icon, and he won the Tour de Suisse.
The nr 4ºGC Ryazanov is already on 1:57" behind VanStraalen and 1:28" behind Mikalsen,

VanStraalen, Marcos, and Ryazanov appear as locks for the podium.

I did an analysis of the GC top 40 after the last mountain stage and found that almost half (19) have neither a hill nor tour icon. Ditto for 11 of the current top 20.

So that puts these 19 into the category of climbing specialists (and for a few, Climb TT specialists, too). How much time they'll lose in the final two hills stages remains to be seen, but if it amounts to minutes lost, then most will end up out of the top 40/top 20.

The results of stage nine (HHFHH) will certainly clarify the GC picture for these climbing dynamos.

And regarding the other 21 of the top 40, fourteen (14) have both a hills and tour icon, and seven (including my GC top-20 hope, Dave Wolf) have a tour icon but no hills icon.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Aurora Australis on May 03, 2021, 05:01:01 AM: Hill stages have a similar potential time loss capability as sprint & cobbles. Given that 40th is around 10 minutes behind, I don't see anybody in the top 10 able to lose that much, even without considering that others will be in a similar situation. Arnfinn will probably even remain in the top 10 unless he's on domestique duties, and then it's a maybe.
Two stages, one day to find out (sorry, half a day, 9th stage is 1 minute away).
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Aurora Australis on May 03, 2021, 05:14:29 AM: Ok back again.

So Arnfinn with gold climb & nothing else (besides cold weather) lost almost 2 minutes to 1st place in GC. However the 20th time is 1:16 further behind 1st, and 40th is 1 minute exact further behind after stage 9 (to stage 8).
Another non-hiller, Flip only lost 29 sec, but Gervasio did lose 2:12 (but still well within projected top 20 GC territory - probable 15th or so after last stage).
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on May 03, 2021, 07:15:42 AM: stage 8 TdF ;
4º Kummer on 0:00" :)
I guess my climbers saved the best for the last mountain stage.
Finally Nyheim did a very good helpers job, what gave an excellent result ; Kummer finished in the front group of just 4.

stage 9 TdF ;
26º Rubiera on 0:38" :-[
An experimental slow start tactic for 3rd favorite Rubiera in an attempt to go for stage victory. No guts, no glory ! :))
section 1 = (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/incidencias/sleep.png) Too bad, but a bit of expected, and in the 2nd group on 0:15" still nothing lost and he saved energy.
All hope and expectation that Rubiera could return in s2 or s3 to the front, where his 94-form helper is.
section 2 = (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/incidencias/tools.png) Big crash ! The race is over, because Rubiera dropped to the 3rd group on already 0:29"
section 3 = (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/incidencias/sleep.png) With injuries on his left leg and left elbow, Rubiera made the jump to the 2nd group.
But due to the crash in s2 he could not make the jump to the front group of 35 ( incl. "helper" Kluivert ) who were already 0:31" ahead.
section 4 = (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/incidencias/why.png) Kluivert dropped from 1st- to 5th group, but still ahead of his teamcaptain.
I guess Rubiera had an off-day or he was too much injured due to the s2 crash, because the original plan was that he would attack in s4.
But now he was riding in the 6th (!) group, and very surprising ; he even lost 11(!) seconds extra compared to s3.
section 5 = (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/incidencias/sad.png) On 0:38" third(!) favorite Rubiera finished as only TdF cyclist with a dissapoint icon.
According to the doctor of SPORTLIFE it is doubtfull if Rubiera can finish this Tour de France.
But the current best Spanish hills specialist of CFF is determined to ride stage 10 and finish in Lyon.
So, at the start in Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule ; expect a Rubiera full of plasters and bandages. ;D
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Kekipi on May 03, 2021, 08:17:00 PM: Quote from: Aurora Australis on May 03, 2021, 05:14:29 AM
So Arnfinn with gold climb & nothing else (besides cold weather) lost almost 2 minutes to 1st place in GC. However the 20th time is 1:16 further behind 1st, and 40th is 1 minute exact further behind after stage 9 (to stage 8).
Another non-hiller, Flip only lost 29 sec, but Gervasio did lose 2:12 (but still well within projected top 20 GC territory - probable 15th or so after last stage).

Of the climbing specialists, Arnfinn Mikalsen (5th @ 3:29) and Gervasio Bernal (12th @ 7:52) were able to top-20 for the GC. Just missing were Artus Vystavkin (21st), Alessandro Romano (22nd), and Arve Tønnesen (23rd).

It was an interesting Tour. Nice job by all the managers and riders who made it so.

Congrats to Yvo VanStraalen and Combuijs for winning le maillot jaune!
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on May 03, 2021, 08:22:48 PM: stage 10 TdF ;
8º Rubiera
Not in topform, but this hills stage went much better ; no crash, and Kluivert (94 form) did a good helpers job in the first 3 sections.

Congratulations to Combuijs with the amazing Tour de France victory ! 8)

(https://i.imgur.com/nz9PXJe.jpeg)
Yvo VanStraalen ( 27, Combuijs ) wins the Tour de France of season 16.

Also congratulations to all other managers with excellent TdF results.
For example ;
(https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/jerseys/jersey_red_polka.png) Arnfinn Mikalsen ( 26, TeamEuroscalt ) = 5ºGC + 4 stage victories !
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on May 04, 2021, 12:10:02 PM: Clasica San Sebastian ;
13º Vorre
Very good result, because his low flat makes him not so suited for the climbhill classic races.

(https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/logos/d3b3b3dd456bf24faf1cea8cfca6c56d.png) (https://i.imgur.com/GvIPZ8B.png)selection SPORTLIFE

Not a great selection and therefore I expect just a few points.
Sprinter Lebrun has to do it on his own, although Beck (with low health) is selected to try to help 2 sections.
Stage 2 is not a suited hills race to Rubiera + Kluivert ; too much flat. Also their form (99+94) ánd the bad director are not helpfull.
Perhaps Frantzen can surprise, despite his silver icon and his low purchase amount of just 21k (I bought him 12 days ago).

81 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/belgica.jpg) Lebrun ( 31 ), sprint
82 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/noruega.jpg) Frantzen ( 32 ), cobblehills
83 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/spain.jpg) Rubiera ( 24 ), hills
84 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/holanda.jpg) Kluivert ( 32 ), hills
85 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/alemania.jpg) Beck ( 29 ), "semi-helper"/experience

Good luck everyone ! :)
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Aurora Australis on May 04, 2021, 12:27:54 PM: Quote from: Vos on May 04, 2021, 12:10:02 PM
Not a great selection and therefore I expect just a few points.
Sprinter Lebrun has to do it on his own, although Beck (with low health) is selected to try to help 2 sections.
I suspect it'll be almost impossible to get points with the sprinter & no real domestique in a ST. Maybe a GT, where there's a more diversified field. Still, I'm doing the same, only I'm using three 19-year-olds with health somewhere around 60, and a 23-year-old TTer with health around 70.

331 Eric Armstrong   19 (TTer - low health)
332 Daniel Finn   19 (TTer - low health)
333 Jonny Alfier   19 (TTer - low health)
334 Markus Benett   23 (TTer - low health)
335 Jeronimo Medeiros   31 (sprinter)
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on May 04, 2021, 01:15:25 PM: Well, sprinter Lebrun surprised me earlier this season. In a helpers role he finished 9º sprint-stage 4 Tour de Suisse.
Of course he had no sprint TC bonus, but he had an active weather icon (wind).
I have to mention that Lebrun profited a lot of the storm in that TdS stage, by using enough EP in all flat sections due to his helpers role.
Because the storm caused a battlefield/bad tactics for most other sprinters.
Stage 4 TdS, section 5 = just 14 x 0:00", 7x 0:17", 7x 0:32", and the nrs 29+30 finished even on 0:55"

No storm in this BBT stage 1, but again Lebrun has an active weather icon.
If his tactic is right, he should ("easily") score points as teamcaptain, even without the very important extra helpers bonus in s5.
Probably he has much more competition in this BBT compared to Suisse, but also this time I don't expect TC bonus rivals.

But to predict a sprint stage ?
Impossible to me ;D, anything can happen ; perhaps again a surprising top10 or perhaps Lebrun finishes outside the points.
We will see what happens.
For now it is good to see that Lebrun (= nr61) can challenge your sprinter Medeiros (=nr50). Good luck ! :)
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on May 04, 2021, 07:56:12 PM: stage 1 BBT ;
7º Lebrun
A good result despite a bad director ánd despite Beck was not good enough to help.
Because JGMTeam made this race hard in the first 2 sections ; 26 - 15 - 30 - 25 - 23. His allround teamcaptain Andujar finished as 19º.
Unfortunately in s3 ; the JGM-helper was a bit tired and his back up helper had a mechanical breakdown. Now 15 sprinters returned in s3.
To Lebrun it was better if the pace was very high in s3 as well, and nobody could return. But I'm happy with this result.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on May 06, 2021, 09:25:36 AM: stage 2 BBT ;
9º Rubiera
stage 3 BBT ;
16º Frantzen
stage 4 BBT ;
6º Frantzen

Very good results in this BinckBank Tour ; much better as expected.
Nothing at stake in sprint stage 5 in Friesland, because Lebrun is abandon due to a training camp for the WC sprint race in Doha.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on May 06, 2021, 09:24:44 PM: (https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/logos/c8892128eff206aeb674bcc6880a73a6.png) (https://i.imgur.com/GvIPZ8B.png)selection SPORTLIFE

The main Vuelta goal is to get the first stage victory of this season ; it is up to 1st favorite Smith to achieve that.
If he fails, then it will be the first season without stage victories of SPORTLIFE. ( not entirely without a victory, because Itzulia was won ).

The second Vuelta goal is to try to score some GC points with Roman ( this season 10º Giro, 5º Dauphiné, 5º Suisse ).
This might be very difficult without TC bonus, and he has just 99 form ( in stage 10 he even drops to 94 form ).
It was not my intentional Vuelta plan to go for Roman in the GC ; I rather would have bought a better GC contender, but that did not happen.

Besides Roman, also the last 3 places were difficult selection choices.
Frantzen is very suited for stage 10. And golden climbers Kummer and Nyheim should be good in mountain stage 6, even without TC.
But instead I selected Millan, Vorre and silver climber Ros ( a 12½k buy of 1 week ago ).
They are better helpers if Roman is good enough to score some GC points.
In the end these strategic choices will cost my team some points, but as it seems now, the total season points have not much importance.

81 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/australia.jpg) Smith ( 29 ), climb TT
82 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/colombia.jpg) Roman ( 32 ), tour
83 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/colombia.jpg) Millan ( 32 ), flat TT
84 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/spain.jpg) Ros ( 33 ), climb
85 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/dinamarca.jpg) Vorre ( 28 ), allround helper

Good luck everyone ! :)
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Aurora Australis on May 06, 2021, 11:19:58 PM: You're not the only Aussie chasing a first victory for the season. I'd never even thought about that before, because I'd been guaranteed victories every season with my original TTers. I do have faith we'll both get a victory at Vuelta, me in stage 3 (Clickett), and you in stage 5.

331 Dean Shields   29
332 Kirk Clinton   23
333 Paul Clickett   33
334 Dudley Iverson   25
335 Jonny Alfier   19
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on May 08, 2021, 09:34:28 AM: stage 1 Vuelta ;
13º Roman on 0:00"
27º Ros
stage 3 Vuelta ;
5º Millan
19º Smith

A surprising good time trial of Millan and Smith. :)
But Roman did not do very well ( 49º on 2:55" ). Perhaps his 99 form caused this not so good time trial result, and/or he was unlucky.
In stage 2 Roman had a good damage control tactic ( 43º on 1:13" ), and nice to see that he is 12º GC at the moment.
Still it is doubtfull if he will be good enough to score GC points ; too soon to estimate if he has a chance without TC bonus (and with 99 form).
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Aurora Australis on May 08, 2021, 09:38:39 AM: There were little more than a dozen flat-TTers at Vuelta, my 23-year-old with 65 health & 98 form made 16th, which won't happen in the WC TT.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on May 08, 2021, 10:04:20 AM: Indeed, it explains that Smith could score points in a flat time trial, that almost never happens with his 41 flat skill.
Most likely this is by far his best result ever in a flat time trial. Good for his confidence towards stage 7. ;)
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on May 09, 2021, 12:38:27 AM: stage 4 Vuelta ;
8º Ros
25º Roman
(https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/incidencias/tools.png) Bad luck for Roman ; a mechanical breakdown in the crucial section 5.
Just 2 cyclists were so unlucky in s5 ; Roman and a 23yo talent. This costed some seconds for my teamcaptain, who is now 11º GC.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on May 10, 2021, 10:25:22 AM: stage 5 Vuelta ;
Not a perfect hills stage ; masterhelper Vorre started too slow and never returned to teamcaptain Roman, who finished 44º on 1:10"
But this was good enough to move up two places ; now 9ºGC.

stage 6 Vuelta ;
11º Ros ( masterhelper )
20º Roman on 1:34"
Ros went too slow on mountain s1 and went too fast on mountain s3, but he returned in both dh sections to his teamcaptain Roman.
And Roman had help in all sections, even s1 and s3, because back up helper Vorre stayed with Roman in the first four sections.
Of course important that masterhelper Ros was with Roman in s4, and therefore a great result of my GC contender without TC bonus.
Still 9ºGC. And as a "reward" to masterhelper Ros that he did an excellent job in s4 and s5, he was sold after this stage 6. :)

stage 7 Vuelta ;
1º Smith --> victory ! 8)
Roman finished 44º on 1:23" and dropped one place, now 10ºGC on 2:32" of GC leader Pires ( FrançaiseDesJeux ).

The Vuelta will be decided in the final 3 stages with a total of 8 cobblestone sections.
Roman has just a cobbleskill of 51, so it would be amazing if he can stay in the top10 GC.
But maybe this is whisfull-thinking, especially because his form drops from 99 to 94 in the final stage 10.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on May 10, 2021, 07:56:20 PM: stage 8 Vuelta ;
Remarkable that Roman was in flat s2 on 0:32" and suddenly in flat s3 on 1:26"
A positive aspect of this negative time drop ; he met his 2 helpers in s3 again, and both stayed with Roman in s4 ánd even in s5.
Roman finished as 79º on 2:37" and could hold on to his 10ºGC place. So far, so good.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on May 11, 2021, 11:16:40 PM: Roman moved up one GC place after a good stage 9, but after a bad stage 10 ( due to his 94 form ) he dropped luckily just one GC place.
Final TOP 10 GC Vuelta =
1(https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/jerseys/jersey_red.png)Maurizio Lorenzetto   28   FaltososDeChigre   0: 00"
2    Lazare Pires   29   FrançaiseDesJeux   0: 41"
3    Oscar Marcos   30   IKIBASQUE   0: 44"
- - - - - - - - - -
4    Alexander Castilla   27   Innioraths   0: 57"
5    Alexey Ryazanov   27   Spitz   1: 46"
6    Yvo VanStraalen   27   Combuijs   1: 53"
7    Henri Laine   29   CuencaTeam   2: 46"
8    Arjan Putman   28   MarquinaTeam   2: 59"
9    Reinis Melderis   29   Kelme4ever   3: 42"
10 :) Jaime Roman   32   SPORTLIFE   4: 03"
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Kekipi on May 11, 2021, 11:51:47 PM: Quote from: Vos on May 11, 2021, 11:16:40 PM
Roman moved up one GC place after a good stage 9, but after a bad stage 10 ( due to his 94 form ) he dropped luckily just one GC place.
Final TOP 10 GC Vuelta =
1(https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/jerseys/jersey_red.png)Maurizio Lorenzetto   28   FaltososDeChigre   0: 00"
2    Lazare Pires   29   FrançaiseDesJeux   0: 41"
3    Oscar Marcos   30   IKIBASQUE   0: 44"
- - - - - - - - - -
4    Alexander Castilla   27   Innioraths   0: 57"
5    Alexey Ryazanov   27   Spitz   1: 46"
6    Yvo VanStraalen   27   Combuijs   1: 53"
7    Henri Laine   29   CuencaTeam   2: 46"
8    Arjan Putman   28   MarquinaTeam   2: 59"
9    Reinis Melderis   29   Kelme4ever   3: 42"
10 :) Jaime Roman   32   SPORTLIFE   4: 03"
Good job with Roman, Vos. I was impressed with how you managed him.

It was another interesting tour, with Lorenzetto using his strong cobble skill to overcome Pires, who had nearly two minutes on him coming out of the S7 mountain TT.

Meanwhile, my guy, Rafail Levitskiy, finished 15th GC. I had hoped for much better, but that was contingent on being tactically perfect (or near perfect), which wasn't the case in most stages.

Speaking of tactics, I was impressed by those used by Pires, the only one of the top seven without a bronze cobble icon. He may also have been racing without the benefit of TC, which he may have used to finish 2nd GC in the Giro.

I needed to do much better to avoid relegation, and barring a miracle (unexpected) in the final three races, that's what's going to happen.

But I'm actually looking forward to a return to D2, which still will be challenging but in a different less intense and less stressful way.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Aurora Australis on May 12, 2021, 01:41:13 AM: Quote from: Kekipi on May 11, 2021, 11:51:47 PM
I needed to do much better to avoid relegation, and barring a miracle (unexpected) in the final three races, that's what's going to happen.
Yeah, last three races are hard to get out of the relegation zone, particularly with me seeking to do that yet again (meaning you'd need to be seeking an otherwise 29th spot).
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on May 12, 2021, 09:33:36 AM: Thanks Kekipi :)
About avoiding relegation (for a next time) ; try to play with a total points target, for example 4.500 points (= save in the past 10 seasons).

(https://i.imgur.com/Q7tQDD3.jpg)
RELEGATION GHOST, the amount of points of all numbers 30 (=save) in all past 1A seasons :

s15 = 3.891
s14 = 4.040
s13 = 3.947
s12 = 4.183
s11 = 3.617
s10 = 4.092
s09 = 3.875
s08 = 4.249
s07 = 4.490
s06 = 4.023
s05 = 4.553
s04 = 4.503
s03 = 4.732
s02 = 4.493
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Kekipi on May 13, 2021, 07:43:18 AM: Quote from: Vos on May 12, 2021, 09:33:36 AM
Thanks Kekipi :)
About avoiding relegation (for a next time) ; try to play with a total points target, for example 4.500 points (= save in the past 10 seasons).

(https://i.imgur.com/Q7tQDD3.jpg)
RELEGATION GHOST, the amount of points of all numbers 30 (=save) in all past 1A seasons :

s16 = 3.726
s15 = 3.891
s14 = 4.040
s13 = 3.947
s12 = 4.183
s11 = 3.617
s10 = 4.092
s09 = 3.875
s08 = 4.249
s07 = 4.490
s06 = 4.023
s05 = 4.553
s04 = 4.503
s03 = 4.732
s02 = 4.493

Thanks to a hoped for but still surprisingly good result in the WC sprint race (12th/300 pts!) for my silver icon sprinter, my team moved up four spots to finish 31st, which was 3726 - 3541 = 185 pts short of 30th.

Three gold sprinters (ranked 2, 9, & 10) ended up with the dreaded (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/incidencias/sad.png) icon, probably because they used just 1 EP in S1. Fortunately, none of their teams were in danger of the relegation axe, so the lost points weren't tragic.

As for me, yes, I'm disappointed in relegation. But this game, especially in S16, has given me lots of opportunities in dealing with dismay. So I'm sure I'll be okay.

And, as a warning to you all, (https://media1.tenor.com/images/bcbf5d8f8190030ad2597f0d231de032/tenor.gif?itemid=15916083) LOL.

It was a great season. Thanks to all the Div 1 teams for making it so.
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: ophiuko on May 13, 2021, 10:31:55 AM: Now that we have all the available ages in the game, I've made an overview of winners and podium's ages this season:
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/564826389765816343/842315780263378974/unknown.png)
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/564826389765816343/842315805907222528/unknown.png)

Combined statistics of season 15+season 16:
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/564826389765816343/842315976728248350/unknown.png)
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/564826389765816343/842315999315492865/unknown.png)
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Vos on May 13, 2021, 11:30:58 AM: Quote from: Kekipi on May 13, 2021, 07:43:18 AM
And, as a warning to you all
:))
Unfortunately, although you came much closer as I expected. Anyway, good luck next season, and I'm looking forward to your return in 1A.

Giro Lombardia ;
19º Vorre
Excellent result with 94 form and without TC bonus.

Lisboa TT WC ;
10º Millan
Probably a decent result of a 32yo. Two seasons ago he finished as 6th in this exact same time trial.

Doha WC ;
2º Lebrun 8)
Magnificent result of my Belgian sprinter who could not challenge any favorites.
Also nice because I was almost broke after a 10M buy today ; Lebrun scored 450k price money ánd a sponsor deal of 438.640,-( top 8 ).
And super nice = (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/camibelgica.gif) Lebrun is individual Belgian champion ! 8)
This amazing 2º place with 800 points was just enough because he won with a difference of 140 points ( 3º place is 150 points less ).

Thanks to this result in Doha ; SPORTLIFE moved up two places in 1A and finished as 8º.
Fun to pass 2 friendly Italian managers at the last moment. :)
But more "important" was that my team already "sort of secured" a top 10 place in 1A after the Vuelta,
what causes that SPORTLIFE has now 10 times in a row a top 10 place in 1A. I love my team ! :-* :D
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: Aurora Australis on May 13, 2021, 11:37:06 AM: Were my 34 year olds the only ones to make a podium this season? (2nd for Levin best result).
Title: Re: Season 16
Post by: ophiuko on May 13, 2021, 12:23:48 PM: Quote from: Aurora Australis on May 13, 2021, 11:37:06 AM
Were my 34 year olds the only ones to make a podium this season? (2nd for Levin best result).

Exactly