Season 16

[Vos]

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.

[Vos]

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.

[Vos]

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.

[Vos]

   selection SPORTLIFE

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

61 Roman ( 32 ), tour
62 Markhus ( 31 ), flatclimb
63 Lebrun ( 31 ), sprint
64 Vorre ( 28 ), climbhills
65 Zutter ( 22 ), climbhills

Good luck everyone ! 

[Vos]

stage 2 Suisse ;
12º  Roman ( free role )
- - - - -
37º  Vorre ( helper )
38º  Zutter ( 22yo Swiss teamcaptain )
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.

[Vos]

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"

[Vos]

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. 

[Vos]

   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 Kummer ( 25 ), climb
72 Nyheim ( 27 ), climb
73 Rubiera ( 24 ), hills
74 Macannazi ( 25 ), climb
75 Kluivert ( 32 ), hills

Good luck everyone ! 

[Aurora Australis]

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

[Vos]

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.

[Vos]

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.

[Kekipi]

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.

[Vos]

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. 

[Aurora Australis]

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.

[Kekipi]

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.