Australia NT Season 14

[Vos]

Well hello mr Wilson!

Martin Wilson   Age : 19   Wage : 850
Stamina : 64   Sprint : 5   Climbing : 66
Flat : 19   Cobblestone : 62   Technique : 54
Downhill : 60   Hills : 8   Aggressiveness : 19
Time Trial : 34   Teamwork : 53   Experience : 0
Price : 1   Days left :   Stages raced : 0
https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/vision.php?ciclistaid=117007

Very nice ! 
And the best 19yo Australian climber.
I found a picture for Wilson his profile page : 

[Franky]

Well hello mr Wilson!

Martin Wilson   Age : 19   Wage : 850
Stamina : 64   Sprint : 5   Climbing : 66
Flat : 19   Cobblestone : 62   Technique : 54
Downhill : 60   Hills : 8   Aggressiveness : 19
Time Trial : 34   Teamwork : 53   Experience : 0
Price : 1   Days left :   Stages raced : 0
https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/vision.php?ciclistaid=117007

If instead of that 62 cobb were flat or hills...

Anyway, is a great pure climber

[Vos]

[Vos]

RACE 2 : Madone d'Utelle

38ºC

Nice, France,
Australia has not a good palmares in pure mountain NT races. In the past we were happy if a few points could be scored.
Still we have just a few golden climbers, but the situation improved because we have a new and better teamcaptain ; Jason Furey.
In previous season he was not successful yet, but this season he is more experienced,
and he has a lot of confidence after winning both mountain stages in the Paris Nice of division 2d.
Of course this is no guarantee for a successful race, in fact, it will be a very difficult race in this extreme hot weather with a stormy mistral.
Let's hope the helpers will do a great job, so Furey does not have to ride in the wind and has enough water to drink.

Because Australia has just a few climbers ( only 3 Australian pure climbers in the golden climb ranking ; the nrs 72, 247 and 300 ),
there is space to select xp cyclists ; a 22yo climber who is in the u23 DT, a 21yo TT toptalent, and the 24yo teamcaptain of next week.

Australia NT selection :

Jason Furey ( 25 ) PDM_cycling_team
Anthony Garza ( 32 ) SaulSalinasTeam
Trevor Winger ( 31 ) Manicomicos_Cycling_Team
Colin Mount ( 27 ) Teka
Ryan Henderson ( 27 ) FrançaiseDesJeux
Nate Henderson** ( 32 ) Estoparia
- - - - - - - - - -
Norm Bush* ( 22 ) Orange
Nobby Licuria ( 21 ) Aurora_Australis
Jasper Blair ( 24 ) Manicomicos_Cycling_Team

[Vos]

Almost all Australians did not do what I planned, just 2 of them listened a bit to my tactical briefing before the race ;
the 22yo Bush was the only helper of Furey in s1, after that only Garza did a perfect helper's job in s2, s3 ánd s4.
Thanks to the crucial help of Garza and thanks to a very good final climb of teamcaptain Furey, he finished on an excellent 5º place.
Despite a too low pure climb GV, N.Henderson (19º) scored unexpectedly 20 points extra, thanks to his double weather bonus.
I'm 99% sure this is the best result ever of Australia in a pure mountain NT race.
Australia moved up to the 2º place in the season ranking, 180 points behind leader Italy.

Next week we stay in the French Alpes, but no climbs next week, it is a NT sprint race. Only the extreme hot temperature is the same.
For the first time the just 24yo Jasper Blair will be the teamcaptain of Australia.
I'm curious how he will perform, hopefully the foreign sprint rivals will not wear bulletproof cycling shirts.

[Vos]

Just for fun ánd as a reward/encouragement, because so far there are just 25x 19yo's, and I assume not all 25 will have a future in this game.

Australia u20 ( 25 cyclists )

[WinterIsComing]

Thanks for the lists, Vos.

Somehow, 2 climbing talents who were set free by Frenkie's team (both for €1 on the list) found their way to my team. I will try to look after them and train them well.

[Vos]

Always good to read that a topmanager trains Australian talents. 

[Aurora Australis]

Given the Jasper Blair is better than Nelson was at his peak (who appears to have been retired), and that it's not a windy race, we should be confident about getting points.  The future of Aussie sprinting is ready to perform.

[Vos]

Yes, indeed, Jasper Blair is better than the retired Nelson.
Maybe the sprint competition might be better now than Nelson had in his many seasons as Australian sprint leader.
Although I also agree with you that we normally should be more confident to score points in NT sprint races, and more points than Nelson did.
But it is a NT sprint race, then often abnormal things happen, even without wind.
And besides this ; a sprint race is all about tactics / taking risk or less risk.
There is always a possibillity that a risky tactic can go wrong what causes 0 points. Almost risk free tactics is just a few points/not enough to me.

Personally ; I'm never confident before a NT sprint race, even now, with a better sprint leader than we had before.
But Jasper Blair is a great asset to Australia. I expect he will score much more future points on average in future races, than his predecessor.

A preview of this NT sprint race later today.
On Monday I already selected 4 sprinters and made the tactics, just in case. 5 more to be selected today, possibly including xp cyclists.

[Vos]

RACE 3 : BELLEY

36ºC

Tain-L'Hermitage, France,
For the first time the just 24yo Jasper Blair will be the teamcaptain.
He is the nr 16 in the golden sprint list, ranked as hills sprinter, but he is an excellent flat sprinter as well.
The expectations are high, although NT sprint races are always a bit of a gamble. Let's hope all tactics go well.
Blair should have good support, 2 of the helpers are of his own team, so I assume they know how to help their teammate perfectly.

Two semi-xp-cyclists are selected ;
the 21yo promising sprinter Ablett, and for the 2nd time this season the 24yo top-flatcobble-specialist Hunter.
One real xp cyclist is selected ; the 22yo TT specialist Mount.
And not even because he is the nr1 in the u23 DT, but more because he is the most experienced u24 Australian.
Let's reward the manager who trains him very well and let him ride a lot, therefore Mount gets his 2nd NT race in his career.

Nice remark ; maybe this is the youngest Australian NT selection ever.

Australia NT selection :

Jasper Blair ( 24 ) Manicomicos_Cycling_Team
Ryan Pierre* ( 27 ) CC_Porco_Jones
Tony Carter ( 32 ) MarvelProCycling
Wilt Frances ( 24 ) Manicomicos_Cycling_Team
Tim Malone ( 24 ) Manicomicos_Cycling_Team
Richard Davidson ( 25 ) Luka_Warriors
- - - - - - - - - -
Leroy Ablett ( 21 ) lasposturas
Keith Hunter ( 24 ) catapunchimpon
Bud Mount ( 22 ) ChronoTony

[Franky]

g0 g0 g0!!

The Gun, The Shotgun and The Bullet (Frances, Malone and Blair) are ready for this challenge! They will shot, Blair will hurt.

[Vos]

11º  Blair --> with mechanical breakdown in the crucial final section 5 
19º  Pierre ( helper )

A dissapointing result due to bad luck.
Also remarkable that the peleton was mega-huge in s1 with 148 cyclists ( out of the total of 166 cyclists ).
I took no risk at the start and it seems to me that Australia had a too hard start.
But also it seems to me that almost all countries had a too hard start, so that might cancel out the too hard start of Australia.
Looking at the bright side of this NT sprint race ; 11º with bad luck in the decisive s5, that is very promising for future NT sprint races.
Top results and many points are possible in the future. Unfortunately now just a total of 130 points.

But those too few 130 points are good enough to get closer to former leader Italy who did not score in this NT race 3.
However, new leader the Netherlands had 5 sprinters who scored points, including a 2º place behind the Norwegian race victor of Aurora Australis.
This means that Australia dropped one place in the season ranking, now 50 points behind Italy and 150 points behind the Netherlands.
Despite a bad luck race with too few points, Australia came 30 points closer to the number 1 position. (before this race, Italy had a lead of 180 points)
But of course, this is a dissapointing race result and possibly even a missed opportunity to take the lead in the season ranking.

Next week the time trial of 65km in Luxembourg, including 1 cobblehill- and 1 hill section.
Let's hope Australia can score many points there compared to the many rival countries, because it is all close together right now.
But I did not estimate yet the GV of this specific time trial, so I don't know yet if Australia can score many points.

[Franky]

[Vos]

Some best 19yo's made it into this u21 list. Later this week ; again a list of just the 19yo's. So send your scout to Australia.

Australia u21 ( 81 cyclists, including 33x 19yo's )