Season 19

[Vos]

For the first time ever, in season 19 the world championship jersey is for a "heavy-hills"-sprinter :



In real cycling this was the WC roadrace of 2019, with brutal weather conditions ( cold and wet ) and just 46 cyclists finished.
Mads Pedersen won, before Trentin (2nd) and Küng (3rd on 0:02").

 

Let's see how the weather is in the CFF version, and more importantly, who is going to win this WC road race.
And who is going to win the other jerseys / prices / victories of season 19 ? Good luck everyone ! 

Overview of previous season 18 =

  HTCHungria
  BlackHole
  ChampsElysees
  Henriks Valdmanis ( KunTeam )
  Xavér Kövér ( HTCHungria )
  Alcino Chaves ( ChampsElysees )
  CC_Porco_Jones
  Caracoles
  Arnfinn Mikalsen ( TeamEuroscalt )
  Ian Mikkelson ( Caracoles )
  Afonso Rio ( OphiukoCT )
  Xavér Kövér ( HTCHungria )
  Ken Hansen ( Astanadena )
  Ryan Beckham ( SPORTLIFE ) 
  John Aakre ( Mlb )

= NT WORLD CHAMPION 

[Vos]

   selection SPORTLIFE

The expectations are very low of this TDU selection that is not in topform. Hopefully a few points in a few stages, that is all.
Stubbe gets the nr1 as tribute to his individual Swiss championship of previous season, but doubtfull if he can score points in stage 3.
61 Stubbe ( 33 ), hillsclimb
62 Rubiera ( 27 ), hills
63 Walter ( 31 ), silver hills-sprint
64 Meijer ( 25 ), hills
65 Pinho ( 28 ), allround semi-helper

stage 1 ;
67º  Walter on 1:20"
His risky 3 EP start was not good enough for this 7-star hills-sprinter. And the GC is out of reach now with already a loss of 1:20"
Maybe he had no GC chance anyway due to his mountain skill of just 8.
His other goals are trying to score points in stages 5 ánd 4, because besides a 7-star hills-sprinter, he is also a 9-star (silver) flathills-specialist.

[Vos]

stage 2 TDU ;
7º  Rubiera
Very good result with 97 form and just a 3-sections-helper, and I'm happy with the first points of this season.
Although, most likely the total points does not matter this season 19 ; I expect no relegation and for sure no top 3 in 1A.

[Vos]

stage 3 TDU ;
11º  Stubbe
stage 4 TDU ;
10º  Walter

More TDU points as expected, but this was a bad tactical tour of my team.
On top of that, unexpectedly Walter finished with full power on 0:20" in stage 5. I guess he was missing the s4 helper.
And 20 seconds better would have caused 6 GC places higher ranked , instead of now 19º GC.
Without the very bad tactical stage 1 and/or without his 2x free roles, the not in topform Walter could have finished top 10 GC easily.
What is surprising to me, because he is not so suited for this TDU.

What is less surprising and almost a SPORTLIFE tradition ; I have no cobblehills cyclists for the upcoming 2 point-rich races.

[Vos]

   selection SPORTLIFE

This PN-selection is not in topform yet, with the exception of Stubbe who already rode the TDU.
There are 2 suited stages to Stubbe, but at the moment it is uncertain who will be the teamcaptain in Paris-Nice.
Because also an option is to go for a good GC with Klaassen or Valotti, despite their form issue.
I cannot estimate who can ride a better GC ; Valotti is much better in the time trial and Klaassen is much better in the final hill-sprint stage.
Or go for good stage results with Stubbe ?

So, the strategy of PN will be decided after stage 1, where Coleman should do well because he can challenge 3 favorites (nrs 3+4+5).
And the points are needed, because after not competing in both cobblehills classic races, my team is almost in the relegation zone.
It even could be that SPORTLIFE will be the lowest 1A ranked Australian team after stage 1, the time trial.
What is a bit shamefull for the 17 times Australian champion.
But no worries, because I expect many points of this PN selection full of veterans. Probably this is my oldest selection ever.

261 Klaassen ( 32 ), tour
262 Valotti ( 32 ), tour
263 Stubbe ( 33 ), hillsclimb
264 Coleman ( 32 ), TT
265 Vorre ( 31 ), hillsclimb

Good luck everyone !

[Aurora Australis]

You're not going to be the last Aussie team after stage 1, my three juniors are only cycling to maybe steal a few points, and my two others aren't going to get 200 points, let alone bridge any new additional gap.

421 Lenny Taylor   21years   TT
422 Alex Trautemberg   21years   TT
423 Eric Armstrong   22years   TT
424 Kirk Clinton   26years   TT
425 Nobby Licuria   26years   TT

[Vos]

Good correction, AA, because I just saw a time trial and I assumed your team would score many points.
But I overlooked the fact that your PN selection has 3 young talents. So, I assumed wrong.

[Vos]

stage 1 ;
8º  Coleman
26º  Valotti  on 1:21"
78º  Klaassen  on 2:13"

stage 2 ;
94º  Klaassen  on 3:04"
Despite Valotti was 52 seconds faster in time trial, I decided to go for Klaassen as teamcaptain in this cobble stage.
What in the end proved to be the right decision.
Vorre did a superb helpersjob in s1, s2, s3 ánd s4, what caused that Klaassen could limit the time damage.
Valotti is just as good on the cobbles, or even slightly better, but due to his free role he finished 4 places and 0:21" behind Klaassen.

stage 3 ;
7º  Stubbe ( teamcaptain )
29º  Klaassen ( free role ) on 0:51"
33º  Valotti ( free role ) on 1:00"
With a s1 peleton of 168, it is clear that my whole team ( TT specialist Coleman was sold after stage 1 ) wasted energy there.
Despite this tactical mistake, a decent good result of not-favorite Stubbe ( and no TC ) who got excellent help of Vorre in s1, s2, and s3.

stage 4 ;
10º  Klaassen ( teamcaptain ) on 0:16"
18º  Stubbe ( free role )
Stubbe dissapointed a bit, even with a free role I expected more of him, being in topform and with an active weather icon.
Klaassen was the teamcaptain to give him a fighting chance to score some GC points. And unexpectedly ; he did more than great !
It did not look it was going to be a great result in s1 and s2, where Klaassen was with helper Vorre in the 2nd group.
But somehow Klaassen made the jump in the windy s3 towards the front group of 31. And this made thé difference.
Despite being isolated in s3, s4 and s5, an amazing race of Klaassen who was not even in topform.

stage 5 ;
26º   Klaassen  on 0:26"
Already isolated in s3, despite this, an excellent race of Klaassen who was finally in topform and in the s4 front peleton of 40.
He moved up about 7 places and ended up as 10º GC.
Not bad at all, with 4x no topform and even 1x a free role, what was in retrospective a strategic mistake.

[Vos]

   selection SPORTLIFE

Let's see what Klaassen can do in this very different little tour. At least he is in topform now.
Gritsal is also a GC contender, and he would have been the teamcaptain if he was in topform, but he is not and he gets a free role.
Hopefully it will not be a strategic mistake to make Klaassen the teamcaptain. The rest of the team will help him in every stage.

191 Klaassen ( 32 ), tour
192 Gritsal ( 32 ), tour
193 Stubbe ( 33 ), hillsclimb
194 Pinho ( 28 ), silver tour
195 Adriaen ( 34 ), silver sprint

Good luck everyone !

[Vos]

stage 1 Tirreno ;
18º  Gritsal ( free role ) on 0:15"
26º  Klaassen ( teamcaptain ) on 0:23"
A very good race with good results.
But my doubts are getting bigger now, if Klaassen is the right choice as teamcaptain.
Gritsal is much better in sprint stages 2 and 5, but he is not in topform yet, and Klaassen is in topform and much better in hills stage 4.
Maybe the upcoming windy sprint stage makes it more clear if I made a ( big ) strategic mistake.

[Vos]

sprint stage 2 Tirreno (2x wind) ;
20º  Adriaen ( "masterhelper", only in s1 he could help )
53º  Gritsal ( free role ) on 0:52"
55º  Klaassen ( teamcaptain ) on 0:52"
A good start of my team.
Unfortunately both GC contenders dropped out of the s2 peleton, and Klaassen lost contact with his masterhelper.
But he had still back up helper Pinho in s2, but he could just help in s2 because the s3 pace was too fierce to Pinho.
Gritsal and the isolated Klaassen could follow the 2nd group in s3 (on 0:22") ánd in s4 (on 0:30"), but both finished in the 3rd group.

stage 3 Tirreno, FFMHH ;
12º  Klaassen ( teamcaptain ) on 0:11"
22º  Gritsal ( free role ) on 0:22"
23º  Stubbe ( masterhelper )
Not good tactics, what costed both my GC contenders a few seconds.
At least it went right that Klaassen had help in s4 of Stubbe, who launched his teamcaptain hard enough into the final section.

hills stage 4 Tirreno ;
27º  Stubbe ( masterhelper )
29º  Klaassen ( teamcaptain ) on 0:59"
108º  Gritsal ( free role ) on 1:57"
Excellent race thanks to Stubbe, who was in all sections with his teamcaptain.

Klaassen moved up several places, and now even 3º GC. But he will lose some places due to the final sprint stage.
Gritsal dropped some places, and now 12º GC. 

[Vos]

sprint stage 5 Tirreno ;
23º  Adriaen ( masterhelper )
48º  Klaassen ( teamcaptain )  on 0:35"
48º  Gritsal ( free role )  on 0:35"
Excellent race, thanks to Adriaen who got 5x the hand symbol.
All 3 were in the s4 front peleton of just 53, and both my GC contenders dropped to the 2nd group in s5. ( 1 group better as in stage 2 )

This sprint result caused that Klaassen dropped only 1 place in the GC.
Without tactical mistakes he could have finished on the GC podium easily, what is surprising to me.
But then again, the rivals could have made mistakes too.
Maybe more impressive is the final GC result of Gritsal, who was 5x not in topform and got 5x free roles.

Final top 10 GC Tirreno :

1    Serafim Gois   29   Flyvende_hjul   0: 00"   
2    Xavér Kövér   28   HTCHungria   0: 49"   
3    Ferdinand Tajan   26   Wizards   0: 51"   
4    Midas Klaassen   32   SPORTLIFE   0: 54"   
5    Aleksandr Menke   32   FaltososDeChigre   1: 13"   
6    Kasper van der Goor   29   Zatarra   1: 22"   
7    Afonso Rio   30   OphiukoCT   1: 39"   
8    Henriks Valdmanis   29   KunTeam   1: 54"   
9    Armen Gritsal   32   SPORTLIFE   1: 57"   
10    Arsenio Sole   27   TTeam   2: 11"   

My team was 27º in 1A before Paris-Nice, and after PN + TIR a jump of 15 places and now 12º in 1A.
Again no cyclists for the upcoming 2 point-rich classic races, just like in the 2 past classic races, so, a drop in 1A will be certain.
I'm looking forward to Catalunya, where Gritsal will be the teamcaptain, and finally in topform.

[Vos]

After not competing in MSR and E3H, my team dropped just 3 places in 1A. Time to score points in the next little tour :

   selection SPORTLIFE

Gritsal is the undisputed teamcaptain, and his goal is a top GC result.
 
141 Gritsal ( 32 ), tour
142 Pinho ( 28 ), silver tour
143 Adriaen ( 34 ), silver sprint
144 Kummer ( 28 ), climb
145 Macannazi ( 28 ), climb

Good luck everyone !

[Vos]

stage 1 Catalunya ;
Wow, very bad tactical race ! Despite having 2 masterhelpers and 1 back-up helper, Gritsal was already isolated in s2.
And he finished as 1st of a group, what is never positive to a GC contender.
A very unnecessary loss of at least 30 seconds in this stage, what might be crucial for the final GC.
11º Gritsal on 1:30" 
28º Kummer ( "masterhelper" who never helped due a too slow start, and finished with a mechanical breakdown ). 
The 2 other helpers dissapointed a lot too, with only helping in s1.   
Also Macannazi finished with a mechanical breakdown, but this did not even matter to the 2 masterhelpers, both were too far behind.

[Vos]

stage 2 Catalunya ;
Another wow ! And this time in a positive way, because an unexpected great race with excellent results, despite or thanks to the storm.
13º   Adriaen ( masterhelper )
19º  Gritsal  on 0:20"
And now Gritsal is the new GC leader.