WCS 2021

[Vos]

  Stage 1 winner is Groenewegen, and stage 2 is cancelled due to the flood.

CFF League stage 1 winner = Patrick Kok 

[Vos]

olympic road race ( men ) = 2 days and 14 hours left to join.

olympic road race ( women ) = 3 days and 16 hours left to join.

olympic time trial ( men ) =  not yet open to join, it starts in about 6½ days.

It seems to me a good idea to make a competition out of these 3 olympic races.
Just like in the world championship races, where the person who wins the most WC races gets the rainbow jersey.
Instead of a jersey, now there are olympic medals to win.


How to win these medals ?

One important rule = a person can win only one medal, so 3 different persons will win gold, silver and bronze.

The olympic road race ( men ) gets a higher "value" than the other 2 olympic races that are both equal in "value".
3 possible scenario's :

1. someone wins all 3 olympic races.
gold = 3 victories
silver = highest total points of all 3 olympic races
bronze = highest total points of all 3 olympic races

2. someone wins 2 out of 3 olympic races.
gold = 2 victories
silver = 1 victory
bronze = highest total points of all 3 olympic races

3. there are 3 different winners in the 3 olympic races.
gold = victory olympic road race ( men )
silver = 1 victory + highest total points of all 3 olympic races
bronze = 1 victory + highest total points of all 3 olympic races

If there will be an equal amount of highest total points ;
the higher ranking in the olympic road race ( men ) will be decisive in who gets silver and who gets bronze.
If both have an equal amount of total points ánd an equal amount of points in the olympic road race ( men ) ; then both get the same medal.

A victory counts in the Chief of Classics Trophy, ánd an olympic medal will be proudly shown before your name in all season trophy rankings.
Good luck everyone ! 

[Vos]

The original stage 2 was cancelled due to the flooded areas, but I see now that they raced another stage 2 instead ;
a 120km race on the Circuit Zolder motorsport track. And great to notice that Fabio Jakobsen won !
His first victory after his life-threatening horror crash in the Tour de Pologne of 2020.

CFF League stage 2 winner = Vos 
Vos is the new GC leader with 3 more stages to go, that all 3 go ahead as originally planned.

[Vos]

In the hilly stage 3 to Erézee, the 20yo Simmons attacked out of a small break away group.
Only Dewulf could follow, but Simmons won the sprint-á-deux, celebrated his first pro victory, and he is the new GC leader.

CFF League stage 3 winner = ophiuko 
Vos is still the GC leader, but it is extreme close with Kalarratas on 0:01", Cosminelul on 0:03", and some others who still can win this tour.

[Vos]

olympic road race ( men ) =  20 hours left to join.
olympic road race ( women ) =  1 day and 22 hours left to join.
olympic time trial ( men ) =  4 days and 23 hours left to join.

There are medals to win at the olympic games in Japan ! Good luck ! 

[Vos]

Dominant nations in the olympic road race ( men ) =

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Portugal seems the favorite with top competitors ;
Animatoca ( Giro winner 2020 and 2019 ), BrotasTeam ( 4th Tour de France ), and Kalarratas ( world champion ).

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spain will be a very fierce competitor, represented by 2 CFF League debutants of 2021 who are in top form ;
ophiuko ( Tour de France winner ! ) and Vlominck ( 3rd Giro ).
 
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Although it will not be easy for Portugal and Spain to beat outsider the Netherlands ;
Vos ( Chief of Classics ) is often excellent in one-day-races,
and the "secret weapon" is Combuijs ( "winner" red lantern TdF ) who was riding the TdF just as preparation to win gold at the olympics.

⭐⭐
Perhaps the USA will surprise the other top countries,
because they have kekipi ( mountain jersey winner TdF ) who likes this brutal mountain race of 234 km.

⭐
edit 2.44 pm : The Belgian teamcaptain pizzaboys arrived too.
Very often he is one of the best contenders in the CFF League, and normally a medal candidate. But due to the jet lag, just 1 star.

[Vos]

Estonia joined at the last minute with contender = azerite
No star, because probably he is just enjoying the scenery and saving energy for the time trial that starts in 4 days and 7½ hours.
There azerite will be the top favorite as winner of the last time trial ( stage 20 ) in the Tour de France.

Perhaps one or a few participants are still in the airplane towards Japan.
If so, they really have to rush to Musashinonomori Park, because the olympic road race starts in 4 hours and 40 minutes.

[Aurora Australis]

I figure I'll sabotage a few cyclists chances by making my picks.  Go Australia.

[Vos]

Groenewegen wins stage 4.

CFF League stage 4 winner = Kalarratas 
Kalarratas is the new GC leader. Today the final stage.



Carapaz wins solo the golden medal in the olympic road race.
Van Aert ( silver ) and Pogacar ( bronze ) were the best sprinters of the small chasing group. A photo finish was needed to see who won silver.

CFF League olympic winner = Combuijs 

Now there is a very good chance that Combuijs is going to win the golden medal.
Only if someone else wins both other olympic races, that person wins gold and Combuijs wins silver.

The total points of all 3 olympic races might be decisive in who wins silver and who wins bronze. The ranking after 1 olympic race =

olympic road race ( women ) = 17½ hours left to join.

[Aurora Australis]

Now there is a very good chance that Combuijs is going to win the golden medal.
Only if someone else wins both other olympic races, that person wins gold and Combuijs wins silver.

Combuijs has one gold?
If another gets one gold & one bronze, wouldn't they win? (or there should be three more races).  And wasn't the rule that if the count was equal, the one who got the highest result last gets it?

[Vos]

How to win the olympic medals ? See my forumpost 2½ days before the first olympic race :
https://cyclingforfun.org/smf/index.php?topic=700.msg28317#msg28317

[Vos]

Thanks to his attack/victory in stage 3 ( see picture ), Simmons wins the final GC of Tour de Wallonie. 2nd GC Dewulf, 3rd GC Renard.
Jakobsen wins sprint stage 5.

CFF League stage 5 winner = Vos 

GC winner = Kalarratas 
Vos wins the sprint jersey.
ophiuko wins the mountain jersey.
pizzaboys wins the youth jersey.

[Vos]

The very surprising winner of the olympic road race ( women ) is Kiesenhofer, after an attack almost right after the start.
On 1:15" a cheering van Vleuten crossed the finishline, thinking that she won the race and the gold medal.
On 1:29" Longo Borghini finished solo as 3rd.

CFF League olympic winner = Animatoca 

I almost won it, just 4 points behind. The EQ points made the difference, only Animatoca scored many EQ points ; 22 versus my 0.

The current "medal" ranking changes after the 3rd olympic race, only then the medals will be divided.
( the first number = total olympic points after 2 olympic races )

563  Combuijs --> 1 olympic victory ( = men's roadrace )
490  Animatoca --> 1 olympic victory
556  Kalarratas
- - - - - - - - - -
539  Vos
523  kekipi
517  Cosminelul
439  ophiuko
430  Vlominck
413  azerite
404  pizzaboys
219  Aurora Australis
216  BrotasTeam

Still new participants can win an olympic medal, because it is all about the amount of olympic race victories.
If the amount of victories is the same ; winning the men's roadrace is decisive.
No victory in the men's roadrace, ánd the amount of victories is the same ; only then the total olympic points are decisive.

Also good to know ; in the end there are 3 medals to divide, and 3 different persons will win one of the 3 medals ( gold, silver, bronze ).

olympic time trial ( men ) = 2 days and 16½ hours left to join.

[Vos]

Nice to mention, although it was not a CFF League race ; van Vleuten wins gold at the women's time trial. Now her cheering is justified.



In the 2nd picture the moment Roglič realized that he won the gold medal in the olympic time trial.
2nd Dumoulin on 1:01" and 3rd Dennis on 1:03" ( Küng on 1:04" and Ganna on 1:05" were very close to the medals ).

CFF League olympic winner = azerite 

Olympic Medals CFF League =

  Combuijs  -->  1 victory ( = men's roadrace )
  Animatoca  -->  1 victory ( + 843 olympic points )
  azerite  -->  1 victory ( + 818 olympic points )

Congratulations to the medal winners !     

It did not apply in this situation, because the men's roadrace was valued higher ;
but nice to mention that Combuijs scored the most olympic points ( = 947 ).
I was second in total olympic points ( = 913 ), so I finished as 4th at the olympics, as best one without an olympic race victory.

[Vos]

SEASON TR0PHIES 2021 :
( the only rule= when there is an equal amount of victories, the person who won last will be ranked higher )

TOP 12 Divine Champions Trophy

1 Vos   7
2ophiuko   5
3 Kalarratas   4
4 pizzaboys   3
5 Vlominck   3
6 Mitte   2
7 Cosminelul   2
8 BrotasTeam   2
9 azerite   1
10 Mardandoo   1
11Mlb   1
12 Patrick Kok   1

TOP 12 Chief of Classics Trophy

1 Vos   12
2ophiuko   8
3 Cosminelul   8
4 Kalarratas   5
5 Animatoca   3
6 Patrick Kok   3
7 Mitte   2
8 pizzaboys   2
9 GaoYao   2
10 Vlominck   2
11 azerite   1
12 Combuijs   1

TOP 25 Emperor of Stage Wins Trophy 
( including prologue )

1 Vos   34
2 Cosminelul   24
3ophiuko   22
4 Kalarratas   21
5 pizzaboys   17
6 Vlominck   15
7 azerite   12
8 Patrick Kok   11
9 Mitte   10
10 Animatoca   8
11 BrotasTeam   8
12 kekipi   5
13Mlb   5
14 B.E-L   5
15 Mardandoo   4
16 PieterJanVB   3
17 GaoYao   3
18 Aurora Australis   2
18 5o&Tapa   2
20 Sjiz   1
21 Ricoo   1
22 Averatalm   1
23 Foeke   1
24 Euroscalt   1
25 Xavier Giné   1

TOP 10 Royal Sprint Trophy

1 Vos   9
2 Cosminelul   4
3 Kalarratas   4
4 pizzaboys   3
5 Patrick Kok   3
6 Vlominck   2
7ophiuko   2
8 BrotasTeam   2
9 azerite   1
10 Mitte   1

TOP 14 King of the Mountains Trophy

1 Vos   6 
2 pizzaboys   4
3 Mitte   4
4ophiuko   3
5 azerite   3
6 Vlominck   3
7 kekipi   2
8 Mardandoo   1
9Mlb   1
10 Animatoca   1
11 Patrick Kok   1
12 BrotasTeam   1
13 Cosminelul   1
14 Xavier Giné   1

TOP 13 Prince of Youth Trophy

1ophiuko   7 
2 Cosminelul   5
3 Vos   5
4 Mitte   4
5 pizzaboys   3
6 azerite   2
7 Patrick Kok   2
8 Animatoca   1
9 Vlominck   1
10 kekipi   1
11 Kalarratas   1
12 BrotasTeam   1
13 Xavier Giné   1