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English Cff Forum => General Forum => Topic started by: Aurora Australis on October 20, 2021, 09:30:39 PM
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No season 20 thread, so there is now.
Anyway, Kirk Clinton has snagged his first victory in Stage 1 Catalunya, also claiming the race record off CFF's best ever TTer Richard Levin (and without a weather bonus - Levin had been 33 years when he set that record).
(https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/etapas/tarragonatt.jpg)
1st Kirk Clinton 27 Aurora_Australis a 0 minutos 0sg 167 points
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SPORTLIFE has a bit of "sabbatical season" with almost no season goals.
The main focus in the first half of the season was/is on continuously recruiting and scouting, and so far I achieved in doing that.
However, just as in most other seasons, again bad luck.
Just 2x 19yo's were good enough to be sold ; for 42k and for 1,-
It is still possible to pull a top talent in the next few days, so maybe my "luck" will change.
The season started with a bad draw in the 1st round of the CFF Cup ; no chance at all versus Flyvende_hjul in a hill-sprint-race.
So, it was exit SPORTLIFE, the CFF Cup winner of previous season.
In so far all classic races my team was not competing. But there were a few "highlights" in some little tours :
Paris Nice
GC = 6º Klaassen, including an excellent 2º place in stage 4, his first race in topform.
Tirreno Adriatico
GC = 10º Klaassen, one of my worst tactical little tours.
But the failing of Klaassen had as advantage that my 24yo climber got the teamcaptain role in stage 5 :
2º Beckham, he lost the sprint-a-deux against climb legend Mikalsen ( TeamEuroscalt ) who most times wins solo.
Catalunya
Due to his excellent result in previous climb race, again a teamcaptain role for Beckham in stage 2 :
2º Beckham, now 0:08" behind Mikalsen, who even finished with a mechanical breakdown.
So, very clear that this Euroscalt topclimber was the best, but promising to Beckham that the nr 3 finished solo on 0:52", a big time gap.
GC = 12º Klaassen, not such a good little tour, but not so very bad as in the Tirreno.
(https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/logos/b7a5672a34004ea508e7287b01b4f61a.png) (https://i.imgur.com/GvIPZ8B.png)selection SPORTLIFE
No complete selection, therefore both my 24yo climbers ride just for xp.
Christensen will be the teamcaptain for the first time, he was bought 11 days ago for 3,2 M.
He is not a top tour cyclist and not fully prepared, but hopefully he can battle for top 10 GC.
Two old 33yo cyclists complete this very poor Itzulia selection ; Klaassen and a 7 star silver hillsclimber.
201 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/noruega.jpg) Christensen ( 28 ), tour
202 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/holanda.jpg) Klaassen ( 33 ), tour
203 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/suiza.jpg) Oezcakmak ( 33 ), hillsclimb
204 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/hungria.jpg) Szõnyi ( 24 ), xp
205 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/usa.jpg) Beckham ( 24 ), xp
Good luck everyone ! :)
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A very bad Itzulia, where my team scored an embarrassing total of just 88 points.
In Paris-Roubaix the risky all-or-nothing-tactic gave as result : nothing.
My teamcaptain started too slow, and he was one of the cyclists who finished outside the points with a dissapointment icon.
His "helper" who started good and never helped, scored 50 points.
Now it is up to Rubiera in the 3 hills classic races to try to "save" the so far worst season ever.
Hopefully he can finish top10 somewhere, although he did that just once in his career.
His "palmares" as SPORTLIFE teamcaptain in the hills classics :
season 17 ( without TC bonus ) = 17º AGR, 19º FW, 49º LBL
season 18 = 36º AGR, 18º FW, 8º LBL
season 19 = 12º AGR, 12º FW, 19º LBL
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Good results in the classic hills races. :)
Amstel Gold Race ;
8º Rubiera
Flèche Wallonne ;
5º Rubiera
26º Meijer ( helper )
Liège–Bastogne–Liège ;
16º Rubiera
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(https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/logos/c61102f7ec06a98faff60612b2c41637.png) (https://i.imgur.com/GvIPZ8B.png)selection SPORTLIFE
I assume that Klaassen cannot ride top10 GC, and maybe even top20 GC will be hard to achieve.
What is the reason that Hummelsby gets the teamcaptain role in stage 5.
181 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/dinamarca.jpg) Hummelsby ( 29 ), cobble
182 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/rusia.jpg) Makarov ( 31 ), TT
183 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/holanda.jpg) Klaassen ( 33 ), tour
184 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/usa.jpg) Beckham ( 24 ), climb
185 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/portugal.jpg) Real ( 30 ), cobble
Good luck everyone ! :)
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Romandie
351 Billy Janson 22
352 Markus Benett 27
353 Christian Pocock 27
354 Tod Henderson 27
355 Kirk Workman 32
It's their first races of the season (except Janson who's raced 7 stages so far), so they're out of shape & aren't going to feature. My Giro team is already decided, so depending on health the three who are repeating may do better.
Giro
Christian Pocock 27
Tod Henderson 27
Billy Janson 22
Alex Trautemberg 22
Jonny Alfier 23
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3rd Tod Henderson a 0 minutos 6sg 108 points
That's a really good result for someone on 94 health / 95 form against opponents on 100h/100f.
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Indeed, an excellent result of Tod Henderson.
7º Makarov ( 5th favorite, with 100/100 ) on 0:16" = a big time gap of 10 and 9 seconds behind the nrs 3, 4 and 5.
99º Klaassen ("possible top20 GC contender") on 3:16" --> with mechanical breakdown in the crucial s5.
An unlucky start of this little tour.
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Tour du Romandie ;
Klaassen scored points in stages 2 and 3. But no extra GC points due to bad luck, not a perfect tour, ánd his stage 5 free role.
In the final stage the teamcaptain role was for Hummelsby, who finished as 6º on the cobblestones.
Eschborn-Frankfurt ;
11º Gritsal ( teamcaptain )
16º Cascos ( free role )
(https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/logos/8ed052732fddd78a1b24c0eb2887c9f6.png) (https://i.imgur.com/GvIPZ8B.png)selection SPORTLIFE
It seems to me that Cascos is not a top GC contender in this Giro, and not good enough to finish top10 GC.
Therefore it could be that Rubiera will be the teamcaptain in both hills stages, and Gritsal will be the teamcaptain in the final stage.
For sure this is not a great Giro selection, what is typical for this "in-between/reorganisation/sabbatical" season 20.
151 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/spain.jpg) Cascos ( 28 ), tour
152 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/spain.jpg) Rubiera ( 28 ), hills
153 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/ukrania.jpg) Gritsal ( 33 ), climbsprint
154 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/italia.jpg) Macannazi ( 29 ), climb
155 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/holanda.jpg) Meijer ( 26 ), hills
Giro stage 1 ;
4º Macannazi ( free role )
24º Cascos on 1:04"
A very good result of my Italian climber, but not a good race of my Spanish GC contender because he started too slow.
Lucky for Cascos, also his helper Gritsal started too slow, and he did an amazing "damage control" helper's tactic in all sections.
But of course, the damage was already done in s1, where the 1 EP start of Cascos was not good enough.
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Cascos is 17º GC halfway the Giro. Too much time loss in both TT stages ( as expected ).
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With precious little competition, Tod Henderson dominated the stage 2 TT, and even finished 3rd in the stage 5 TT with hill (he's slower than a recumbent up a hill).
Just as interestingly, Alex Trautemberg is now the leading u23 points scorer this season, and has another TT coming up to score more points; note he isn't actually the TTer that's seeking the u23 jersey, but it's good to have someone up there with my team's history on that jersey.
The other TTer results don't matter,
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My flat TTer, Christian Pocock, who's more than 3 AV lower than a 22-year-old Aussie climb-TTer, is somehow ranked 4th in a Div 1 climb-TT race. Bring on the TT WC.
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Rubiera finished as 5º in hills stage 6.
"GC contender" Cascos had to race in a free role, and after mountain TT stage 7 he even dropped to 20º GC on 5:47"
What is not good enough, so, again he gets a free role in the upcoming hills stage 8.
Stage 9 will probably be decisive for Cascos if he can score a few GC points, or not, what is for sure a possibillity due to the current GC.
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Today the next season 21 schedule is published.
The same cobble WC roadrace as this season 20
Also the WC time trial is in Richmond ( USA ). It is the same flat time trial as in season 19.
The Giro and the Vuelta seem versatile, although both big tours have just 6 mountain sections each.
Also the Tour de France has just 6 mountain sections ( incl. 5x in pure mountain stage 8 ).
Remarkable that this TdF has no TT, and 6x a sprint finish.
Not a good season 21 schedule for my climbers,
although it is a bit of an improvement compared to this season 20 with almost no mountain stages.
The type of cyclists that probably will complain the most, are the cobblehills specialists.
Besides the traditional cobblehills classic races, there are just 3 cobblehills stages in next season 21 ( 1x Giro, 1x BBT, 1x Vuelta ).
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After many forumposts of enthusiastic CFF managers who are excited about the next season 21 schedule, :))
now a post about the Giro of this season ;
In hills stage 8 Meijer did a perfect helper's job, what resulted in an excellent 3º place of Rubiera.
In the final GC ; Cascos finished as 16º on 7:11" behind Giro winner Vrijmoed ( BlackHole ).
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Hahaha actually there were several enthusiastic managers excited about next season, but probably we spent all our enthusiasm on the discord chat. One of the hot topics yesterday was guessing the favourites for the TdF. You should join sometime ;)
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I haven't paid much attention to next season yet, I'm more interested in the Australian team for the NT race tonight, and astonished that Nobby Licuria won the Stage 3 Dauphiné race by 8 seconds with 92 health, 98 form, or that ChronoTony's Bud Mount got second, of course I have no idea what health/form others were racing with (plus this was my week of working in my casual job).
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I haven't paid much attention to next season yet, I'm more interested in the Australian team for the NT race tonight, and astonished that Nobby Licuria won the Stage 3 Dauphiné race by 8 seconds with 92 health, 98 form, or that ChronoTony's Bud Mount got second, of course I have no idea what health/form others were racing with (plus this was my week of working in my casual job).
Makarov was riding with 100/100 and finished as 7º on 0:15"
I suspect he was the 4th favorite, and I vaguely remember he could challenge your Nobby Licuria who was a higher favorite.
Makarov has excellent race conditions, but no TC bonus and no weather icon ( 3x weather was active, also Nobby has no weather icon ).
However, I did not change my team director, and the current big tour team director has just 8 on little tours.
Probably this caused the not good result of Makarov, on top of the unknown luck factor.
Good luck with Australia in the NT race E3-Harelbeke !
As always, your are doing a great NT job, AA, and again this NT season looks very promising to Australia. 8)
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stage 4 Dauphiné ;
4º Gritsal
Final GC Dauphiné =
17º Gritsal
(https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/logos/8e2fd4d4ee620c3f1192c94b40da9db9.png) (https://i.imgur.com/GvIPZ8B.png)selection SPORTLIFE
In previous season my team was riding a bad Tour du Suisse, but on the bright side ; 3x SPORTLIFE cyclists in the final top 9 GC.
That will not happen in this edition, because my TdS selection has just one tour cyclist ; Christensen.
It is doubtfull if he can ride a top 10 GC,
because I expect that the 2 stages with cobbles are decisive for the GC, and I cannot estimate if his cobbleskill is good enough.
And he has no good support in stages 1 and 4, plus his team director with just 8 on little tours is not much helpfull too.
Also the only one time that Christensen was teamcaptain, he dissapointed by finishing 16º GC in Itzulia.
Hopefully he does better now.
Hummelsby gets a free role in flatcobble stage 3 to score some points. And he can use the extra xp.
Also Szõnyi and Real ride mainly for xp, besides that Real will be the stage 3 masterhelper and Szõnyi tries to help a bit in stage 2.
Baia is a cheap buy of 3 days ago, to fill up this poor TdS selection and to be the main helper in stage 2.
111 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/noruega.jpg) Christensen ( 28 ), tour
112 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/dinamarca.jpg) Hummelsby ( 29 ), cobble
113 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/hungria.jpg) Szõnyi ( 24 ), climb
114 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/portugal.jpg) Baia ( 32 ), climb
115 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/portugal.jpg) Real ( 30 ), cobble
Good luck everyone ! :)
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(https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/logos/8e2fd4d4ee620c3f1192c94b40da9db9.png)
stage 1, windy FFM^HH ;
14º Christensen on 0:34"
To my surprise both flatcobble-helpers were good enough to help in flat sections 1 + 2. Excellent race of Christensen.
stage 2, stormy flatmountain ;
14º Christensen on 0:42"
This stage was a battlefield, and one of the victims was helper Baia who dropped in s3.
Christensen managed to stay in the front, and a good result despite he was missing the important extra bonus in s5.
But many teamcaptains were without a helper in s4.
Funny how this stormy stage went / front group size per section = 75 - 4 ( = all OphiukoCT ! second group = 70 ) - 29 - 21 - 1.
stage 3, stormy flatcobble ;
9º Hummelsby ( free role )
25º Real ("helper")
91º Christensen on 2:26"
Masterhelper Real could help in s1 with - 2 EP compared to his teamcaptain.
But in s2, also with - 2, Real suddenly accelerated and left Christensen behind.
So, it became a solo struggle for my GC contender in this to him not good stage.
stage 4, cobblehills ;
54º Christensen on 1:28"
Not a good race, and again he had to do it solo,
because his both flatcobble helpers started too slow and they should have been good enough to help in flatcobble sections 1 + 2.
stage 5, windy climb TT ;
6º Szõnyi
9º Baia
Unexpected good results with a very bad teamdirector, and Szõnyi has just a TT-skill of 47, and Baia does not even have TC bonus.
37º Christensen on 0:54"
Final GC ;
6º Christensen on 2:01"
A very good GC result despite he had not much help in this Tour de Suisse.
Finishing 0:01" behind VanStraalen ( Combuijs ) is of course less funny. :'( :))
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(https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/logos/ec365cb5b403c66bf9212fc15b3d4289.png) (https://i.imgur.com/GvIPZ8B.png)selection SPORTLIFE
121 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/noruega.jpg) Christensen ( 28 ), tour
122 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/hungria.jpg) Szõnyi ( 24 ), climb
123 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/estonia.jpg) Laansalu ( 32 ), cobblehills
124 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/ukrania.jpg) Gritsal ( 33 ), climbsprint
125 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/usa.jpg) Beckham ( 24 ), climb
Good luck everyone ! :)
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Tour squad
291 Nobby Licuria 27
292 Kirk Clinton 27
293 Alex Trautemberg 22
294 Kirk Workman 32
295 Eddy Hines 22
I'll be attempting to secure several TT wins, and hope to secure the u23 jersey as well.
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Finishing 0:01" behind VanStraalen ( Combuijs ) is of course less funny. :'(
Always good to know somebody knows his place in the world... ;D
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;D
Well, I guess you are right, because I would be happy if Christensen also can finish 0:01" behind VanStraalen in this Tour de France.
But maybe this is wishfull thinking of me ;
VanStraalen was 0:19" better in TT stage 2 and very doubtfull if Christensen is better in another stage to make up for this TT time loss.
Remarkable ; Christensen is now 0:20" behind VanStraalen, I guess your teamcaptain was given that extra 0:01" jury-bonus already.
Stop bribing the jury with your crates of honey-ale-beer, Combuijs ! :P ;) :))
And good luck in this Tour de France with many fierce GC rivals, hopefully VanStraalen can win the Tour de France again, like he did in s16.
Back then VanStraalen was the only Dutchman who won a big tour.
By now he has company of van der Goor ( s19 Giro, Zatarra ) and Vrijmoed ( s19 Tour + s20 Giro, Blackhole ).
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stage 4 TdF ;
3º Laansalu ( free role )
Excellent result of my 1,1M buy of 2 weeks ago, who had nothing on his palmares despite he was sold for 38M and 25M one year ago.
I suppose that Laansalu is very happy that he is riding for SPORTLIFE and finally (at 32yo) has a nice podiumplace on his palmares.
But this result had a sacrifise, because now teamcaptain Christensen had nobody to help him.
So, now his tactical back up plan was ; follow the wheel of VanStraalen and defeat him in a sprint-a-deux on the finishline. :))
41º René Aebersold 26 Caracoles 1: 26"
42º Birk Christensen 28 SPORTLIFE 1: 34"
43º Yvo VanStraalen 31 Combuijs 1: 34"
44º David Manuel Piñeiro 31 azerite 1: 38"
Christensen is now 7º GC, and because VanStraalen lost the sprint, the jury deleted that unjustified 1 bonus second in previous stage,
and now the difference with VanStraalen ( 5º GC ) is again 0:19"
But probably my main target should be the nr 6º GC, Afonso Rio ( OphiukoCT ), to make the Australian team battle interesting.
There are now 3 Dutchmen in the top 5 GC. I guess my previous forum text motivated the Dutch GC contenders. :P
To me it seems that in this TdF, the best Dutchman will be Tristan Min because his team ( Flyvende_hjul ) is doing amazing this season.
Perhaps he can even win it, at the moment just 0:08" behind GC leader Ryazanov ( RealMurciaCycling ).
But the nrs 3º and 4º ( Hansen and Vrijmoed ) are also very close on 0:16"
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Great result Vos!
Hopefully Min can do a good last part of the TDF as well, I think it will be a close race between Min, Ryazanov and Hansen!
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Thanks. :)
Good luck with Tristan Min !
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I wouldn't discard Vrijmoed for the win. Without TC he has proved to be at the same level than the others, and he is very powerful for the hills stage.
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I think my statement holds ground ;D
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Christensen lost time in the TT stages compared to his GC rivals.
Flatcobble-sprint stage 6 did not went well,
but finishing in the 3rd group was not bad and doubtfull if perfect tactics would have caused a finish in the 2nd group.
Hills stage 8 went perfect thanks to a great helper's job of Laansalu who finished as 5º.
Christensen finished as 14º with a lightbulb, and despite just 4 stars on hills, he won time on some GC rivals.
Sprint stage 9 was the most feared, because Christensen has just 2 stars on hill-sprint, so it was damage control in this flat sprint race.
Helper Gritsal did a good job and stayed with his teamcaptain the whole race, and both finished in the 4th group on 1:15"
What was a good result. But most GC rivals were better. For example finishing in the 3rd group is gaining a ½ minute, what is a lot.
In stage 9 GC leader Ryazanov did amazing by finishing in the front group of just 6 on 0:00"
Probably a decisive blow to his 2 GC rivals ; Hansen ( 3rd group on 0:45" ) and Min ( 4th group on 1:15" ).
But these top 3 GC contenders were no direct GC rivals to Christensen, his rivals are the top10 GC contenders.
And so far the SPORTLIFE teamcaptain is doing pretty good. :)
I estimate that the final climb stage will be decisive if he can move up one place ór drop one or two places.
(https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/logos/ec365cb5b403c66bf9212fc15b3d4289.png) TOP 20 GC after 9 stages :
1(https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/jerseys/jersey_yellow.png) Alexey Ryazanov 31 RealMurciaCycling 0: 00"
2 Ken Hansen 28 Astanadena 1: 16"
3 Tristan Min 28 Flyvende_hjul 1: 40"
- - - - - - - - - -
4 Yvo VanStraalen 31 Combuijs 2: 16"
5 Rene Vrijmoed 32 BlackHole 2: 31"
6 Birk Christensen 28 SPORTLIFE 2: 43"
7 Afonso Rio 31 OphiukoCT 2: 47"
8 Juan Carlos Palencia 32 Fiestina 3: 00"
9 Henriks Valdmanis 30 KunTeam 3: 23"
10 Maurizio Lorenzetto 32 FaltososDeChigre 3: 44"
- - - - - - - - - -
11 Pat Martin 29 Flyvende_hjul 4: 36"
12 Atila Bekker 28 Caracoles 4: 50"
13 Gustave Gloor 28 Turrones 5: 09"
14 Amadeu Salvado 32 Fiestina 5: 22"
15 David Manuel Piñeiro 31 azerite 6: 19"
16 Francesco Carancini 31 Sonfuga 6: 22"
17 Lino Otero 31 Fiestina 6: 41"
18 Bud Dixon 26 Codex 6: 45"
19 Manuele Miorlin 26 Shiro_Lions 6: 52"
20 Isaias Arriola 30 SenzaSellino 7: 30"
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stage 10 ;
7º Szõnyi ( free role )
12º Beckham ( free role )
16º Christensen ( teamcaptain ) on 1:38"
A good stage, thanks to excellent help of Gritsal in the first 3 sections.
Maybe I should have made Beckham a helper too, because he finished in the same time as Christensen.
But before the race I estimated that Beckham was way too good to help, ánd very uncertain if he could do a good helper's job.
In the final GC nothing changed to Christensen, he could hold on to his position.
What is an excellent result of my just 3,2 M buy of this season. :)
(https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/logos/ec365cb5b403c66bf9212fc15b3d4289.png) FINAL TOP 20 GC :
1(https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/jerseys/jersey_yellow.png) Alexey Ryazanov 31 RealMurciaCycling 0: 00"
2 Tristan Min 28 Flyvende_hjul 0: 42"
3 Ken Hansen 28 Astanadena 0: 47"
- - - - - - - - - -
4 Yvo VanStraalen 31 Combuijs 2: 07"
5 Rene Vrijmoed 32 BlackHole 2: 31"
6 Birk Christensen 28 SPORTLIFE 2: 33"
7 Juan Carlos Palencia 32 Fiestina 2: 51"
8 Henriks Valdmanis 30 KunTeam 3: 13"
9 Afonso Rio 31 OphiukoCT 3: 26"
10 Maurizio Lorenzetto 32 FaltososDeChigre 4: 04"
- - - - - - - - - -
11 Pat Martin 29 Flyvende_hjul 4: 36"
12 Gustave Gloor 28 Turrones 5: 29"
13 Manuele Miorlin 26 Shiro_Lions 5: 54"
14 Atila Bekker 28 Caracoles 5: 58"
15 Amadeu Salvado 32 Fiestina 6: 01"
16 David Manuel Piñeiro 31 azerite 6: 19"
17 Francesco Carancini 31 Sonfuga 6: 42"
18 Lino Otero 31 Fiestina 7: 20"
19 Bud Dixon 26 Codex 7: 23"
20 Isaias Arriola 30 SenzaSellino 8: 09"
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No points in San Sebastian, because only with perfect tactics Cascos could score a few points.
But his 2 EP start was too risky and he could not follow the s1 peleton of 86, while his helpers were in the front of s1, s2, s3.
The isolated Cascos could not even return to the very big s3 peleton of 113, and there his few-points-ambition ended.
But I do expect some points in the next little tour :
(https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/logos/d3b3b3dd456bf24faf1cea8cfca6c56d.png) (https://i.imgur.com/GvIPZ8B.png)selection SPORTLIFE
Unfortunately no GC contender, because cobblehills specialist Laansalu cannot sprint and even worse, he has a TT skill of 6.
The BBT goals are to score points in stages 3 + 4 + 5. Probably I should expect 3x a top10 stage result if the tactics go well.
101 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/estonia.jpg) Laansalu ( 32 ), cobblehills
102 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/rusia.jpg) Makarov ( 31 ), TT
103 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/spain.jpg) Rubiera ( 28 ), hills
104 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/holanda.jpg) Meijer ( 26 ), hills
105 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/usa.jpg) Beckham ( 24 ), xp
Good luck everyone ! :)
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Probably I should expect 3x a top10 stage result if the tactics go well.
BBT stage 3 ;
10º Laansalu
BBT stage 4 ;
7º Makarov
BBT stage 5 ;
5º Rubiera
24º Meijer ( helper )
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(https://www.worldcyclingstats.com/img/logos/c8892128eff206aeb674bcc6880a73a6.png) (https://i.imgur.com/GvIPZ8B.png)selection SPORTLIFE
Tour cyclist Christensen did very well in the TdSuisse and the TdFrance by finishing twice as 6º GC.
But the expectations are much lower in the Vuelta.
Because now he has no TC bonus, and he is not in topform anymore ( in stage 10 he even drops to 94 form ).
And in the TdF most GC contenders were better in both flat TT stages, and this Vuelta even has 3 flat TT stages.
And perhaps the biggest disadvantage is that Christensen gets only 3 or 4 times the teamcaptain role.
Despite this all, he tries to battle for a place in the final top20 GC.
The most Vuelta points of my team should be scored by Makarov and Hummelsby.
Makarov gets the backnumber that ends on 1, due to his ambition to ride ( temporarily ) in the red jersey, like he did in previous season.
111 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/rusia.jpg) Makarov ( 31 ), TT
112 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/dinamarca.jpg) Hummelsby ( 29 ), cobble
113 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/noruega.jpg) Christensen ( 28 ), tour
114 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/alemania.jpg) Kummer ( 29 ), climb
115 (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/imagenes/portugal.jpg) Real ( 30 ), cobble
Good luck everyone ! :)
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Vuelta stage 1 ;
6º Makarov
Vuelta stage 2 ;
3º Makarov
Vuelta stage 3 ;
1º Hummelsby = victory ! 8)
19º Real ( helper )
The first victory this season !
Happy with it :), also because in all previous 1A seasons my team never was without a victory in a season.
No red jersey for Makarov, because twice (s18+s19) TT world champion Mikkelson ( Caracoles ) has also a cobble icon,
and he won stages 1 + 2, ánd he was 0:26" faster in stage 3 than Makarov.
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Vuelta stage 4 ;
2º Hummelsby
23º Real ( helper )
Vuelta stage 5 ;
22º Christensen
No points for Christensen in stage 6, but he managed to finish as last ( 36º ) of the first group on 0:00"
Christensen is doing very well in the GC, despite his 2x free roles in the cobble stages.
He moved up 3 places after stage 6. At the moment he is 7º GC on 2:06" behind GC leader Tristan Min ( Flyvende_hjul ).
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In climb-sprint stage 7 Christensen finished in the 2nd group on 0:41", just outside the points ( 32º ).
Vuelta stage 8 ;
17º Hummelsby ( free role )
100º Christensen on 1:36"
An unexpected drop in s3 caused a bad result in this flat-sprint stage with 1x wind.
Also because his better helper Real did not drop in s3, despite he had in s3 the same EP difference as in s2 compared to his teamcaptain.
Makarov was now the back up helper in s3, but as expected, the s4 pace was too fast for him, and Christensen was isolated in s4.
Remarkable ; Christensen is still 7º GC, now on 3:31" behind new GC leader Ken Hansen ( Astanadena ), who seems to win the Vuelta.
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Vuelta stage 9, flat TT ;
3º Makarov
57º Christensen on 2:41" --> this caused a drop of 5 places :( ; now 12º GC.
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Vuelta climb stage 10 ;
1º Kummer ( HELPER ) --> solo victory ! :o 8)
21º Christensen ( teamcaptain ) on 1:31"
WOW, a solo victory with a not-favorite in a helper's role ! :)
The fully prepared Kummer had to ride very slow to help his teamcaptain, who has no TC and no topform.
And Kummer did an excellent helper's job, till downhill s4, where suddenly he was in a breakaway with Seeler ( TeamEuroscalt ).
Because Kummer had to ride slow to help, his 5 EP finish was superstrong, so he decided to attack and win solo !
Christensen moved up 2 places and finished as 10º GC, what is an excellent final result.
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As expected, no points in Lombardia and Innsbruck.
And in the last race of this season a decent good result of not-favorite Hummelsby, thanks to his 9-star helper who got 5x the hands-icon.
Richmond WC cobble race ;
7º Hummelsby
26º Real ( helper )