Season 12

[Vos]

stage 4 TdF ;
Despite his masterhelper was going too slow in the first hills section (s3), this time Løvdal managed to finish (32º) in the 2nd group on 0:44"
What is good and I'm sure he would have finished in the 2nd group too, when the helper would have done a better job.
Anyway, in this stage no strange time loss as in the previous stage 3.

stage 5 TdF ;
His masterhelper did a avery good job, although he dropped in s3 and came back in s4.
Maybe this caused that they were both not in the front group of s4, but in the second group.
Although both in the front in s4 would be very surprising to me, being both in the 2nd group (on 0:23") of s4 is already good.
But even with the very important extra helper's bonus in s5, Løvdal did not finish strong. But I'm satisfied with his 46º place on 0:45"

Halfway the Tour de France : 8ºGC Løvdal, on 1:54" behind GC leader Bouguen ( Flandria ).

This looks good, but without the strange time loss in stage 3 and if Løvdal would have been the teamcaptain in stages 1 and 2, then ;
he might be the GC leader right now, a good chance he would be, or at least very close on the 2nd place.
Or very close on the 3rd place, because WinklerPrins ( WinterIsComing ) is 2nd GC on just 0:06"

But Løvdal is very suited for the first half of the Tour de France. In the second half he will struggle in stages 6, 7, 8 and 9.
So even in a perfect TdF so far, he would not be a real top GC contender. I expect he will lose much time in the 2nd half of this TdF.
Just 0:43" ahead on the nr11 right now, that is not enough.
But already 4:06" ahead on the nr21, so it looks very good that Løvdal will score GC points.
Not bad for a silver tour rider, just one other silver tour rider (the nr20) is in the top 23 GC.

[Vos]

stage 6 TdF ;
46º  Løvdal  on 1:51"
A unexpected very good race, thanks to masterhelper Montiel who was with his teamcaptain in all sections.
Løvdal even moved up one place in the GC, and now 7º.

stage 7 TdF ;
4º  Smith  on 0:04"
7º  Basov  on 0:20"
75º  Løvdal  on 1:45" ( with mechanical breakdown )
An excellent mountain TT of Basov, but a very dissapointing result of the fully prepared 1st favorite Smith.
Also not a good stage for Løvdal and he loses 3 places in the GC.

GC Tour de France after 7 stages : ( it is really close !  )

1Anthony Hilton   30   CaptainOrange   0: 00"
2    Gabin Bouguen   27   Flandria   0: 00"
3    Sven WinklerPrins   29   WinterIsComing   0: 04"
- - - - - - - - - -
4    Ivan Semon   30   MortoviaCycling   0: 27"   
5    Rafael Carlos Loinaz   30   TeamRHB   0: 54"
6    Angus Coleman   28   FaltososDeChigre   1: 28"   
7    István Szekér   30   ProdopingPong   1: 29"   
8    Harry Tjoens   30   El_Viejo_Acordeón   1: 48"   
9    Jaime Roman   28   QuintoYtapa   1: 51"
10    Nicolay Løvdal   30   SPORTLIFE   1: 52" ( mechanical breakdown mountain TT + strange 35sec.loss in stage 3 + 2x free roles in mountain stages )
- - - - - - - - - -
11    Allan Palmer   29   Shiro_Lions   2: 18"   
12    Antonius Berner   30   OphiukoCT   2: 22"   
13    Sergey Rodionov   25   FrançaiseDesJeux   2: 34"
14    Edijs Dukurs   30   TipiCyclingTeam   2: 54"   
15    Wendell Green   30   Marcatone_Due   3: 12"
16    Leonid Foros   30   CC_Porco_Jones   3: 34"   
17    Tom Cabanas   30   MortoviaCycling   4: 14"   
18    Ryan Leipheimer   30   Wiggo_pupils   4: 28"   
19    Hans-Jürgen Klose   30   $Tourmalet   4: 48"   
20    Ricardo Bervoets   30   TipiCyclingTeam   5: 51"   

[Vos]

TdF stages 8 and 9 were not perfect, but also not bad.
Despite I think silver tour rider Løvdal could have done a little bit better, he even moved up one place in the GC and at the moment 9º.
It would be amazing if he can hold on to a top10 GC place in the final hills stage. I think he has a good chance to achieve this.

[Vos]

Final GC Tour de France ;
8º  Løvdal   
A great result considering his free roles, he finished on 3:07" behind TdF victor Gabin Bouguen ( Flandria ).
This 8º GC place means also that Løvdal scored a sponsordeal of 483.823,-

Clasica San Sebastian ;
24º  Løvdal   
A very dissapointing result, maybe caused to a mechanical breakdown in s3 what could explain he was not in the front peleton of 90 cyclists. 
Another reason could be that the evening before he drank too much champagne after his great TdF GC result.

[Sjiz]

7th time is the charm. Finally a podium in San Sebastian. Happy with the result. In The BinckBank Tour i will not ride for the GC. The first time this season. We will go stage hunting.

[WinterIsComing]

Very pleased to win San Sebastian with Riis. His 4th podium in a Classic this season, after 3 bronze medals in the Ardennes.

[Vos]

   selection SPORTLIFE

Not a strong selection and just a few points are expected.
Maybe Sordo is good enough to score some points in stage 2 and/or stage 4.
And maybe Neville can score points in stage 3. Also he has a little chance to score a few GC points, but that would be very surprising.
This selection is not even complete, so a good opportunity for the last 2 mentioned cyclists to gain experience.

101 Neville ( 30 ), cobble-hills with little sprint
102 Sordo ( 30 ), flat-hills
103 Montiel ( 28 ), semi-hills-sprint with little cobble
104 VanLidthDeJeude ( 22 ), flat-cobble
105 Smith ( 25 ), climb TT

Good luck everyone ! 

[Sjiz]

Fairly happy with the BBT. We got back some points on Winter. A gap of only 80 points now. It feels like the decision will be made at the WCs.

[Vos]

BinckBank Tour ;
The just few points in this little tour were scored by Sordo ( excellent 7º place in stage 4 ) and Neville ( 16º GC ).
I expect more points in the Vuelta a España :

   selection SPORTLIFE

111 Samsonov ( 30 ), GC
112 Washington ( 30 ), climb
113 Perea ( 30 ), flat-sprint
114 Jannakopulosz ( 30 ), hill-sprint
115 Sordo ( 30 ), flat-hills

Good luck everyone ! 

[Sjiz]

Well, with 8 races to go there's only 4 points between WiC and myself for the final position on the 1a podium. This is going to be close.

[WinterIsComing]

Well, with 8 races to go there's only 4 points between WiC and myself for the final position on the 1a podium. This is going to be close.

We are like Siamese twins this season. 

Tonight, final of CFF-Cup. Don't forget to set up your tactics amd buy good equipment. May the best (or most lucky) win.

Aranguren / Mertens (WiC) versus Overmars / Spiker  (TeamRHB)

Place your bets.

[Vos]

Both good luck in the battle for 1A podium  ánd in the CFF Cup final this evening. 

CFF Cup final season 12 ;

TeamRHB versus WinterIsComing. Place your bets ! 

[Vos]

CFF Cup final ; a clear victory of Aranguren ( WinterIsComing ) in this semi-hill time trial.
Congratulations WiC ! 
Also congratulations with a good CFF Cup season, Sjiz ! 

[WinterIsComing]

CFF Cup final ; a clear victory of Aranguren ( WinterIsComing ) in this semi-hill time trial.
Congratulations WiC ! 
Also congratulations with a good CFF Cup season, Sjiz ! 

Thanks Vos. Scouts did a good job this week. Somehow disappointed to finish a Cup campaign with a TT in the final, but we had to work with it and we delivered. Glad to grab the CFF-Cup. 

Congrats to Sjiz for a great campaign as well. Our fight for 3rd place in competition continues. Good luck. 

[Combuijs]

Congratulations with the CFF Cup, Winter is indeed Coming!