Season 24

[Kekipi]

Giro stage 9, FCHFCm,

25º  Haan ( captain ) 1:05"
30º  Campos ( free ) 1:34"
68º  Goedkoop ( helper )  2:37"

This was my favorite race of this Giro.  Why?  Because of the tactical musing required (for me, of course).  I did not know what to expect from "the rooster" but he came through as best as he was able.  He got help in S1 and S2 from Goedkoop, so good job by him. 
Giro Italia GC standings going into the final (mountains -- MMDMM) race:

1   Tor Steine   27   ValeronIdolo   0: 00"   
2   Aad De Jong   29   Bikeos   0: 24"   
3   Alessandro Picoli   31   FaltososDeChigre  0: 25"   
-----------------------------------------------------
4   Agapito Salcedo   29   Flyvende_hjul   0: 40"   
5   Dada Azarov   28   CaptainOrange   0: 48"   
6   Xavér Kövér   33   HTCHungria   1: 19"   
7   Faustino Arnau   31   SPORTLIFE   1: 40"   
8   Thies Neuhaus   28   QuintoYtapa   1: 42"   
9   Adrian Glibin   28   °Peachy°Melocotons   2: 30"   
10   Wilco Haan   31   LanihuliCycling   2: 39"
-----------------------------------------------------
11   Denny Rabe   30   Marcatone_Due   2: 44"   
12   Martine Perec   29   OphiukoCT   3: 12"   
13   Nazar Usakov   26   Elgrand   3: 20"   
14   Gustave Gloor   32   Turrones   4: 31"   
15   Atila Bekker   32   team_piroshki   4: 48"   
16   Phil Robinson   27   ICSluj   5: 04"   
17   Daniel Alejandro Viñas   32   SPORTLIFE   5: 55"   
18   Harry Rombaut   31   Álvaro_Pino_Boys   6: 17"   
19   Ferdinand Tajan   31   ValeronIdolo   6: 28"   
20   Mario Campos   31   LanihuliCycling   6: 40"

[Vos]

Arnau dropped in the GC and now 9º on already 2:24"

Yes, he dropped (as did my guy, Haan, the rooster  ), but with in his pocket for stormy Stage 9 (FCHFCm), Arnau appears poised for a rise of several places (to 6th?) in the GC.   

Well, the embarrissement symbol that I posted, that was because he is already too far behind to compete for the Giro victory.
For sure Arnau could have been better ranked with less time loss, before "his" stage 9.
In my dream before the Giro , this is where he would conquer the maglia rosa, and hopefully defended it successfully in stage 10.
But already 2:24" behind, well, the reality is different than my pink dream.

Giro stage 9, FCHFMc ( storm ) ;
3º  Arnau   0:16"
41º  Viñas ( free role )  1:41"
Excellent solo result of Arnau, despite he had to do it entirely on his own and did not even had help in s1.
But even with the storm and the fact that he could not challenge any favorites, he managed to get into the s4 breakaway group of 11.

Arnau moved up to 7º GC on 1:40" but even the podium seems far out of reach ( 1:15" behind ).
Free role contender Viñas has still a chance to score a few GC points, after this stage 9 that he did not like due to his cobbleskill= 5.
But it could be that Viñas will ride in a helper's role in the final brutal mountain stage.

[Vos]

Giro stage 10, mountains ;
3º  Lewis ( free role )  0:00"
20º  Arnau   1:03"
51º  Viñas ( helper )  2:27"

The best result ever in the career of the 25yo Lewis, and even achieved in a free role. 
It was up to Viñas to be the helper, but he failed already in s2 what caused that Arnau was isolated almost the whole race.
Probably it did not matter to the GC of Arnau. And the helper's role of Viñas, instead of a free role, costed him just one GC place.

The GC result of Arnau is a bit dissapointing. I expected at least top 5 and I even had a pink dream. 
On the bright side, he scored a top 8 GC big sponsordeal of 924.883,-

It was extreme close between the top GC contenders, see ranking below :

Giro d'Italia, final GC ;
1 Tor Steine   27   ValeronIdolo   0: 00"
2    Aad De Jong   29   Bikeos   0: 03"
3    Alessandro Picoli   31   FaltososDeChigre   0: 36"   
- - - - - - - - - -
4    Dada Azarov   28   CaptainOrange   0: 58"   
5    Xavér Kövér   33   HTCHungria   1: 30"   
6    Agapito Salcedo   29   Flyvende_hjul   1: 33"   
7    Faustino Arnau   31   SPORTLIFE   1: 51"   
8    Thies Neuhaus   28   QuintoYtapa   2: 13"   
9    Nazar Usakov   26   Elgrand   3: 09"   
10    Martine Perec   29   OphiukoCT   3: 12"   
- - - - - - - - - -
11    Denny Rabe   30   Marcatone_Due   3: 16"   
12    Wilco Haan   31   LanihuliCycling   3: 32"   
13    Adrian Glibin   28   °Peachy°Melocotons   3: 44"   
14    Phil Robinson   27   ICSluj   5: 36"   
15    Gustave Gloor   32   Turrones   5: 44"   
16    Harry Rombaut   31   Álvaro_Pino_Boys   6: 28"   
17    Atila Bekker   32   team_piroshki   6: 45"   
18    Ferdinand Tajan   31   ValeronIdolo   7: 20"   
19    Daniel Alejandro Viñas   32   SPORTLIFE   7: 30"   
20    Orencio Molinero   32   CajaRuralZamora    7: 51"   
- - - - - - - - - -
21    Mario Campos   31   LanihuliCycling    7: 54"

[Vos]

   selection SPORTLIFE

141 Granberg ( 31 ), multi-bronze GC contender
142 Taglioni ( 30 ), cobblehills
143 Muntendam ( 32 ), silver hills-sprint
144 Lamas ( 31 ), silver flat-hills
145 Meijer ( 30 ), hills

Good luck everyone ! 

[Vos]

Dauphiné stage 1, flat-cobble ;
40º  Granberg   0:56"
Helper Taglioni got 5x the hands-icon, and finished 5 sec. behind Granberg.

Dauphiné stage 2, hills-sprint ;
25º  Granberg   0:00"
Perfect helper's job of Muntendam who stayed with his teamcaptain in all five sections.

Dauphiné stage 3, flat-TT ;
35º  Granberg   2:47"

At the moment Granberg is 2ºGC on 1:01"

[Vos]

Dauphiné stage 4, hills ;
12º  Muntendam ( free role )
26º  Granberg   0:39"
Excellent results !
Because Muntendam has just silver and Granberg has just bronze.
But not a good race of the 3 masterhelpers ; Lamas and Taglioni dropped already in  s2, and Meijer dropped in s4 = one section too soon.

Granberg is still 2ºGC, but lost 3 seconds, and now on 1:04" behind GC leader Almagro ( 32, Bikeos ).
It will be a podium-battle with Veneberg ( 24, Ophiuko ) and Falaleev ( 32, FaltososDeChigre ), both lost 0:03" on Granberg in this stage 4.
Falaleev seems to have an advantage with his silver sprint icon, and even the nr 6º Egemar can be a fierce rival with his golden sprint icon.

[Kekipi]

Dauphiné stage 1, FCFCC 
28º  Tajan   0:37" (captain)
29º  Hummelsby   0:37" (helper)
71º Pensec 2:30" (free)

Dauphiné stage 2, FHFFhF
35º  Espinar   0:00" (captain)
37º  Pensec   0:00" (helper)
71º Tajan 0:33" (free)

Dauphiné stage 3, flat-TT 
54º  Pensec   3:15"
162º  Tajan   4:32"

Dauphiné stage 4, HHHHH

17º  Tajan 0:29" (captain)
51º  Pensec   0:49" (free)

Dauphiné stage 5, FFFFF (flat sprint)

30º  Pensec   0:34" (free)
97º  Tajan 1:45" (captain)
Pensec, despite never riding as captain, finished in the top 10 GC.     We were also happily surprised by the GC points scored by our cobbles-hills youngster Tajan. 
Final GC

1   Eudald Almagro   32   Bikeos   0: 00"   500   
2   Ottar Granberg   31   SPORTLIFE   1: 23"   400   
3   Spartak Falaleev   32   FaltososDeChigre   1: 38"   325
--------------------------------------------------------   
4   Håkon Egemar   25   ICSluj   1: 53"   275   
5   Joop Veneberg   24   OphiukoCT   1: 58"   250   
6   Tigran Tsarenko   24   °Peachy°Melocotons   2: 22"   225   
7   Pete Haber   27   Elgrand   2: 40"   200   
8   Yanis Pensec   30   LanihuliCycling   2: 51"   175   
9   Brian Walkins   28   Álvaro_Pino_Boys   2: 59"   150   
10   Nate Middleton   29   JGMTeam   3: 09"   125
--------------------------------------------------------   
11   Levan Lipko   32   Flyvende_hjul   3: 13"   100   
12   Marten Smeets   28   Villavante   3: 14"   90   
13   Rafael Angel Muñoz   32   FaltososDeChigre   3: 32"   80   
14   Pedro Saenz   30   JGMTeam   3: 36"   70   
15   Mous Tajan   25   LanihuliCycling   3: 39"   60
16   Ricky Elklint   30   ChronoTony   3: 41"   50
17   Fedir Madanov   26   °Peachy°Melocotons   3: 42"   40
18   Lyuvomir Fedyunin   26   MortoviaCycling   3: 43"   30
19   Sandro Matas   28   Villavante   3: 49"   20
20   Jurgen Aerts   29   LottoStelvio   4: 01"   10

[Vos]

Dauphiné stage 5, sprint ( storm ) ;
65º  Granberg   1:17"
Not a good start and not such a good race, but helper Muntendam did great by staying with Granberg in all 5 sections.

And the podium-rivals had difficulties too in this stormy sprint race ;
Veneberg (also bronze sprint icon) 1:45", Egemar(gold) 0:34" and Falaleev(silver) 0:59"
Looking at this, it was an excellent result of Granberg, because it was good enough to hold on to his 2º place in the GC.

[Vos]

   selection SPORTLIFE

The today bought Boyar and Harper are making their debut for my team.
Top buy Boyar ( 10,2 M ) is riding under the flag of Tanzania and with 0 races this season, he's not in topform yet.
Harper is a cheap buy ( 185 k ) and not suited for this TdS, but hopefully he can help a little bit in stages 2 and 4.
He is more to fill up my TdS-team, due to selection-issues with other cyclists concerning health or total number of races this season.

The goal is to compete for the GC with Conti. He was 5º in the Dauphiné of previous season, the only GC result on his palmares.
But this TdS seems a bit less suited. And I expect a more fierce competition now, because the Tour de France is right behind this TdS.

131 Conti ( 30 ), tour
132 Viñas ( 32 ), tour
133 Boyar ( 29 ), tour
134 Granberg ( 31 ), bronze hills-sprint
135 Harper ( 32 ), hills

Good luck everyone !

[Kekipi]

   selection Lanihuli Cycling

Old guy (OG) Van Passen is our GC hope.  We'd be delighted if he can podium for this small tour, but we also anticipate a hard battle from many TC-infused TDF hopefuls, so we shall see how he does.

201 Van Passen ( 33 ), tour
202 Espinar ( 25 ), silver hills/sprint
203 Goedkoop ( 28 ), tour
204 Queiros ( 33 ), tour
205 Karin ( 32 ), climb/hills


Swiss tour stage 1, FFFFF

32º  Espinar   0:00" (helper)
58º Van Passen   0:36" (captain)

A decent result for OG VP.  Only one GC contender, Schoonderwoerd of HTCHungria, was able to come in at 0:00" so he is the current front-runner for all the marbles.

[Kekipi]

Swiss tour stage 2, HHFHF

28º  Queiros   0:29" (free)
89º Van Passen   0:55" (captain)

Van Passen and three helpers were dropped in S2, which not the case for free-riding Queiros, who used the same EP for that section as OG VP.  Ten riders re-joined the lead group in flat S3, but my captain and his helpers were not among them.      Van Passen then was isolated in S4 and S5, which was another  consequence.    The final result wasn't disastrous as many other GC contenders also finished @  0:55"

Swiss tour stage 3, FFFHD TT

30º Van Passen   1:03"

It is always good when my tour rider(s) can score points in a TT. 
Based on my calculations, going into today's (windy!) FFMHH race, the virtual/unofficial GC top 20 looks like this:

1.   Schoonderwoerd (HTCHungria) 0:00"
2.   Picoli    (FaltososDeChigre) 0:32"
3.   Azarov (CaptainOrange) 0:34"
4.   Camerlynck (QuintoYtapa) 0:45"
5.   Van Paassen (LanihuliCycling) 0:50"
6.   Rodenas (Marcatone_Due) 1:02"
7.   Miorlin (Shiro_Lions) 1:03"
8.   Bekker (team_piroshki) 1:04"
9.   Litenko (°Peachy°Melocotons) 1:08"
10.   Conti (SPORTLIFE) 1:15"
11.   Metthe (ICSluj) 1:17"
12.   Hansen (Codex) 1:22"
13.   Valis (Frier_Accounting) 1:24"
14.   Gloor (Turrones) 1:29"
15.   Vinas (SPORTLIFE) 1:32"
16.   Queiros (LanihuliCycling) 1:39"
17.  Kartashov (team_piroshki) 1:49"
18. Boyar (SPORTLIFE) 1:52"
19. De Jong (Bikeos) 1:52
20. Norwood (OphiukoCT) 1:53

[Vos]

Suisse stage 4, FFM^HH ( 2x wind ) ;
3º  Conti   0:13"
14º  Boyar ( helper )  0:39"
35º   Viñas ( free role )  0:56"
Excellent result of Conti. Before this stage, he finished just twice in the top10 ( 3º & 10º ) in his career, so this 3º place is a split record.
Boyar sacrificied his GC chances by being a helper. Viñas dissapointed because he gambled in s2 and dropped out of the front peleton.

No stage points in the first 3 TdS stages.
In sprint stage 1, Conti finished in the 2nd group, what was a very good result.
In hills-sprint stage 2, Conti finished in the 3rd group, what was not good and an unnecessary time loss of 26 seconds.
Boyar and Viñas had free roles in stages 1 + 2, and both finished twice in the 3rd group.
In TT stage 3 only Boyar was unlucky to have a mechanical breakdown.

GC Tour de Suisse after 4 stages ;
3º  Conti   1:15"
19º  Viñas    2:15"
20º  Boyar   2:18"
So far, Conti is doing better as expected, even despite the bad stage 2 result.
Also Boyar surprises because ; not in topform, mechanical breakdown in the time trial, 2x free roles and even 1x helper role.
Again he will be a helper in the decisive stage 5 with the brutal finish on the Tiefenbachferner = 14,3km with average of 10,3%.

[Aurora Australis]

I can now confirm that this is effectively my last season of competing, as I have a contract to take over a supermarket in two weeks time.  All of my younger cyclists will become available for sale, the current 31-year-olds may or may not end their days in my team.

[Kekipi]

I can now confirm that this is effectively my last season of competing, as I have a contract to take over a supermarket in two weeks time.  All of my younger cyclists will become available for sale, the current 31-year-olds may or may not end their days in my team.

Sad to see you go, AA.   Best to you in your supermarket and all other endeavors. 

[Kekipi]

Swiss tour stage 4, FFMHH

38º Van Passsen   0:56" (captain)
40º  Queiros   1:05" (free)

With the prevailing windy conditions on my mind, I debated how to ride the two flat sections and finally decided to take an intentional drop.  With three concluding "dark" sections looming, I thought making up the time lost by Van Paassen was possible if the tactics were right.  As it turned out, after completing the two flats and going into S3 (mountain), VP was comfortably situated in group 2 @ 0:22" with all his EPs still to employ.  The problem was that his helpers could not help him so he rode the dark sections in isolation to finish @ 0:56".   With help in S3 or S4, he would have saved 9 to 13 seconds.

Swiss tour stage 5, FFFFM

11º Van Paassen   0:33"

This was (for once!) a good race for us.   VP got perfect help from Karin in the flats
The final GC top 20 is as follows:

1   Paul Schoonderwoerd   31   HTCHungria   0: 00"   
2   Fedir Litenko   28   °Peachy°Melocotons   0: 35"   
3   Simone Conti   30   SPORTLIFE   0: 55"
-----------------------------------------------------------------   
4   Yvo VanPaassen   33   LanihuliCycling   1: 13"   
5   Manuele Miorlin   30   Shiro_Lions   1: 18"   
6   Agapito Salcedo   29   Flyvende_hjul   1: 22"   
7   Arnfried Metthe   27   ICSluj   1: 23"   
8   Alessandro Picoli   31   FaltososDeChigre   1: 33"   
9   Dada Azarov   28   CaptainOrange   1: 50"   
10   Piero Mariotti   27   ValeronIdolo   2: 00"   
-----------------------------------------------------------------   
11   Lucien Faivre   27   Elgrand   2: 10"   
12   Mark Norwood   29   OphiukoCT   2: 29"   
13   Aad De Jong   29   Bikeos   2: 32"   
14   Ramon Jesus Rodenas   30   Marcatone_Due   2: 42"   
15   Mark Boyar   29   SPORTLIFE   2: 44"   
16   Ben Camerlynck   28   QuintoYtapa   2: 44"   
17   Atila Bekker   32   team_piroshki   2: 52"   
18   Marcelo Bessa   30   Bergtoppers   2: 55"   
19   Daniel Alejandro Viñas   32   SPORTLIFE   2: 56"   
20   Tigo Grein   29   OphiukoCT   3: 10"