Wittenberg

And we're back again. A record number of fourteen teams from 7 different provinces will do more than 3400 kilometers of cycling in the coming three weeks while the team captains sit at home and enjoy the show. The goal is to score the most points by winning stages and doing well in three classifications: the King of the Mountains classification (blue jersey), the points classification (cyclamen jersey) and the general classification (pink jersey) which determines which individual rider wins this leg of TCAT.

The following teams are participating:

That battle for the first climb was fun to watch.

(https://media2.giphy.com/media/hvd92D03IenPrCpzWR/giphy.gif)

Oooof Landa :(

That was a rough crash near the end.

Stage 1 Durrës -> Tirana

We're off with an (expected) reduced sprint of just 35 riders - Mads Pedersen (PTM/GHS/CFA/CHX/BDC) just edged out Wout van Aert (VFL/MAN/KIN), who seemed to struggle during the climbs but was helped by his team to reach the front again. A surprising fourth place for Francesco Busatto (CHX) hands today's win to Cyclohexane, who seems to have a knack for picking unexpectedly strong sprinters. Lots of other TCAT near the front - Pidcock, Ulissi, Carapaz and Poole also finished top 10.

Now to the bad news: potential GC contenders Derek Gee (REX/KIN/ATX/EVC) and Lorenzo Fortunato (GHS) already lost one minute, and Thymen Arensman (REX/BDC) lost 1:35. Not as bad of course as, sadly, Mikel Landa (REX/ATX/EVC), who unfortunately crashed out and is TCAT's first abandon.

Standings after stage 1:

Pos	Team	Pts
1st	Cyclohexane (CHX)	615
2nd	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	524
3rd	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC) (EVC)	521
4th	Kinetic (KIN)	447
5th	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	436
6th	Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	431
7th	BdC Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	409
8th	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	407
9th	The Manilows (MAN)	381
10th	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	360
11th	Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	344
12th	Els Averatxeirs (ATX)	249
13th	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	238
14th	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	235

Finish photo (click to enlarge):

(https://www.procyclingstats.com/photos/cw/ad/mads-pedersen-wins-stage-1-of-the-2025-giro-d-italia.jpg)

Coming up tomorrow, the first of two time trials, shorter but with a climb inbetween. All eyes on GC riders like Roglic, Ayuso and Tiberi, who are good time trialists, and on time trial specialists like Tarling, Affini, Vine, Vacek and van Aert. There's also Arensman and Gee who lost time today but should be able to get a top 10 result.

Of these nine, Kinetic and Velociposse hold four, so they might be the favourites for the daily win, and they only share van Aert. You never know though - that hill in the middle might scramble the field a bit in favour of the GC riders.

Stage 2 Tirana -> Tirana

Yesterday we remained in the Albanian capital for the first time trial. It was very close between GC contenders and TT specialist, but in the end it was TT specialist Joshua Tarling (GHS) who was the fastest with a time of 16'07,68", an average speed just under 51 km/h. GC favourite Roglic was less than half a second slower, but does take over the pink jersey from Pedersen, who himself also did well, finishing in 7th place (PTM/GHS/CFA/CHX/BDC) and of course keeping the lead in the poinst classification. Vine (KIN), Affini (VFL/DED/CHX) and Vacek (ATX) completed the top 5. Roglic's main contender for the overall victory, Juan Ayuso did manage to limit the damage, losing only 16 seconds and coming in 10th. Most other GC favourites ended up losing between 20 and 60 seconds.

Wout van Aert (VFL/MAN/KIN) disappointed after a strong showing on the first stage. On paper the stage should have been very well suited for a punchy rider like Van Aert, but he didn't come close to a win and didn't score any points.

Cyclohexane had another strong showing due to the results by Roglič, Affini and Pedersen and keep the overall lead. Team of the day is GHST, who scored the most points, as they were the only team to pick one of the world's strongest TT specialists on top of having Roglič and Pedersen on board as well.

The five teams without Roglič filled the bottom five of the stage leaderboard. Esqipă Velocostă and Els Talossaes Rexhitais had a particularly bad day with no riders in the top 10. With the crash of Landa these teams are off to a very bad start and may even end up competing for last place soon (although of course its still very much early days.) The other team to suffer from the Landa crash also had a bad day and drop to last place in the standings.


Standings after stage 2:
                                             

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	1139	+524
2nd	(+6)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	1090	+683
3rd	(+2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	898	+462
4th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FV.webp)	Kinetic (KIN)	855	+408
5th	(-3)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	799	+275
6th	(+4)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	793	+433
7th	(+2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	The Manilows (MAN)	746	+365
8th	(+3)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/VD.webp)	Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	734	+390
9th	(-2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	BdC Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	673	+264
10th	(-7)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	565	+44
11th	(+2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	538	+300
12th	(+2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	531	+296
13th	(-7)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	493	+62
14th	(-2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Els Averatxeirs (ATX)	486	+237

Tarling (GHS) going fast:
(https://static2.giroditalia.it/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/FbJiVyu7qoowTxc4mAF3_100525-073929-scaled.jpg?v=6757891)

Today is the last stage in Albania. It includes have two somewhat serious climbs that might result in some of the sprint favourites getting dropped halfway, but a fairly long downhill/flat stretch to the finish after that. We may have a succesful break today (currently it appears Tarling (GHS), Germani (VFL) and Donovan (MAN) are represented), allowing Roglič to give away the pink jersey until we get to the mountains. On the other hand the final stretch may be enough for the peloton (perhaps somewhat reduced) to come back and go for a sprint.

Stage 3 Vlorë -> Vlorë

The last stage in Albania was won by Mads Pedersen again (PTM/GHS/CFA/CHX/BDC), whose team controlled the stage very effectively, meaning no chance for a breakaway to succeed and also most pure sprinters getting dropped on the tough terrain mid-stage. A breakaway though ill-fated did get formed, including Tarling (GHS), Germani (VFL) and Donovan (MAN). Germani also managed to score stage points (P16), joined by CJO's Fiorelli (P8), Scaroni (REX/DED/EVC, P9), Ulissi (REX/ATX/EVC, P12) and Poole (GHS/MAN, P13), in addition of course to Pedersen.

Little consequences in the general classification - Pedersen retakes the pink jersey from Primoz Roglic (CJO/PTM/GHS/CFA/DED/MAN/CHX/KIN/MCB) on bonus seconds, and will probably keep it until late in the first week, since a raft of sprint stages are coming up. No major contender lost any time, but Wout van Aert (VFL/MAN/KIN) showed again signs of struggling with illness, as he finished over 15' after the main peloton.

It must be a Pedersen team to come out with the daily win, and indeed it is GHST who does so, thanks to Poole - none of the other four scored any other stage points. All five Pedersen teams are both top five today and in the overall standings thanks to the Dane's impressive pair of sprint wins and time trial P7 inbetween.

Standings after stage 3:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	1501	+362
2nd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	1495	+405
3rd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	1225	+327
4th	(+2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	1137	+344
5th	(+4)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	BdC Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	991	+318
6th	(-2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FV.webp)	Kinetic (KIN)	915	+60
7th	(-2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	907	+108
8th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/VD.webp)	Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	894	+160
9th	(-2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	The Manilows (MAN)	890	+144
10th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	730	+165
11th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	673	+142
12th	(+2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Els Averatxeirs (ATX)	634	+148
13th	(-2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	630	+92
14th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	629	+136

Finishphoto: a ciclamino-clad (points classification leader) Pedersen will be wearing pink again from the next stage

(https://www.procyclingstats.com/photos/cw/bc/mads-pedersen-wins-stage-3-of-the-2025-giro-d-italia.jpg)

Unusual first Monday restday coming up, as riders cross the Adriatic Sea to finally get to Italy proper. See you on Tuesday for the first of three consecutive stages with a likely sprint outcome, and the first chances for the likes of Kaden Groves (ATX/GHS) and Olav Kooij (REX/DED/EVC/MCB) to stretch their legs.

Quote from: Glüc on May 11, 2025, 06:47:28 AM(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)

🤔

Yes?

Well this is certainly a disappointing start!

-Txec R

Quote from: Glüc on May 12, 2025, 08:22:37 AMYes?

A little minor ribbing about the Belcostan Viceroy using a now-officially-former flag to represent the province, is all. :P

Quote from: Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be on May 12, 2025, 01:51:27 PM

Quote from: Glüc on May 12, 2025, 08:22:37 AMYes?

A little minor ribbing about the Belcostan Viceroy using a now-officially-former flag to represent the province, is all. :P

Are you seeing the old flag still? The flags are all linked off the database (in this case https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp) and I did overwrite the old flag with the new at the same URL (old one is now MU.webp). You might have the old flag cached in your browser - we could both already correctly see the new flag. Try visiting the flag url manually or CTRL+F5ing?

(The irony here is that Glüc reminded me himself that I hadn't gotten around to replacing the flag on the database, so he was well aware of the change!)

Thanks Lüc for clearing that up 😇
Of course ribbing of any size would have been well deserved if I had posted the wrong flag, but I was getting rather confused because I was assuming we were both seeing the new one 😅

Because we had a restday, I made a graph of previous results looking at the scores for evenly balanced teams vs teams with the most expensive riders and a lot of cheaper picks.
stdev graph.png

Quote from: Glüc on May 12, 2025, 04:36:18 PMBecause we had a restday, I made a graph of previous results looking at the scores for evenly balanced teams vs teams with the most expensive riders and a lot of cheaper picks.
stdev graph.png

So minmaxing is a valid strategy, it would seem...

Stage 4 Alberobello -> Lecce

A surprising result as TCAT arrived in Apulia in southern Italy today. What was not at all surprising was that we got a bunch sprint, but the winner was not one anyone saw coming. Kooij (REX/DED/EVC/MCB) came in second, Zijlaard (CJO) third, Pedersen (PTM/GHS/CFA/CHX/BDC) fourth and Groves (GHS/ATX) fifth. Fretin (BDC) disappointed, but still scored some points, unlike Van Aert (VFL/MAN/KIN), who didn't even manage to finish in the peloton.

The results for Pedersen and Groves resulted in two-sprinter team GHST easily scoring the most points today and overtaking Cyclohexane for the overall lead. Dirnalaiset Mortescu also had a pretty strong day.


Standings after stage 4:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	1908	+413
2nd	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	1794	+293
3rd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	1497	+272
4th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	1421	+284
5th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	BdC Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	1292	+301
6th	(+2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/VD.webp)	Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	1196	+302
7th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FV.webp)	Kinetic (KIN)	990	+75
8th	(+2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC) (EVC)	984	+254
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	The Manilows (MAN)	982	+92
10th	(-3)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	978	+71
11th	(+2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	928	+298
12th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	911	+238
13th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	861	+232
14th	(-2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Els Averatxeirs (ATX)	852	+218

Casper van Uden winning the sprint:
(https://www.procyclingstats.com/photos/cw/fd/casper-van-uden-wins-stage-4-2025-giro.jpg)

Tomorrow: A couple of hills, but the overall expectation is another sprint. The final stretch is slightly uphill however and it is preceded by another short steep climb only between 2,5 kilometers before the finish. So sprinters with some climbing ability are likely to do well here, and who knows whether a late attack might not succeed?

Quote from: Glüc on May 13, 2025, 05:56:33 PM10th(-3)(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)Velociposse Florencia (VFL)978+71

Oof, man that's rough.

Stage 5 Ceglie Messapica -> Matera

Fifth stage, third Mads Pedersen (PTM/GHS/CFA/CHX/BDC) win - a long uphill sprint culminated in the Dane pipping non-TCAT Zambanini and Tom Pidcock (CJO/VFL/REX/DED/KIN/BDC/EVC) for the stage victory. Banqeu de Cézembre breaks the three-stage winstreak of GHST thanks to Pedersen, Pidcock and Storer, sixth today. Also scoring decent amounts of points are of course the other Pedersen teams, in addition to Naziun Cjovani who places Filippo Fiorelli in fifth. Averatxeirs's Quentin Pacher places seventh, but that's not enough for the M-M team to finish towards the top of the daily standings.

Narrowing at the front of the overall standings, but the Pedersen teams are still firmly on top. The rest of the pack is a very tight affair, with all other teams in little more than 200 points, apart from DED.

Standings after stage 5:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	2293	+385
2nd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	2220	+426
3rd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	1944	+447
4th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	BdC Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	1885	+593
5th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	1805	+384
6th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/VD.webp)	Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	1524	+328
7th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	1309	+325
8th	(+4)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	1298	+387
9th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	1259	+281
10th	(-3)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FV.webp)	Kinetic (KIN)	1255	+265
11th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	1139	+211
12th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	1136	+275
13th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Els Averatxeirs (ATX)	1101	+249
14th	(-5)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	The Manilows (MAN)	1091	+109

Finishphoto: pink jersey Mads Pedersen juust in front of Pidcock (left) and Zambanini (right), as Storer and Aular look on in the second row.

(https://www.procyclingstats.com/photos/cw/bf/pink-jersey-mads-pedersen-wins-stage-5-of-the-2025-giro-d-italia.jpg)

Tomorrow, one last chance for pure sprinters, but not before two categorised climbs (cat 2 and 3 respectively). Is that just gonna be an occasion to farm summit points for the King of Mountains classification, before a full peloton forms back in anticipation for a long mostly flat approach to the finish in Naples? Or is something more exciting in store? A chance for a breakaway to slip by, or even for Pedersen's team to outpace all pure sprinters - as in stages 1, 3 and 5 - and get to Naples with a much reduced bunchsprint of punchy sprinters?

It's nice to see us Maricopans sticking together!

(https://media2.giphy.com/media/26xBAevSH9ORZM6tO/giphy.gif)

Unfortunately at the bottom of the pack!

-Txec R

Oof massive crash in the peloton. Hindley left in an ambulance. Other riders are on their bike again but several appear quite badly hurt including Cerny (who was originally also reported as having abandoned), Adam Yates and Carapaz. 😖

Stage 6 Potenza -> Napoli

Today we moved to the west coast for a sprint in Italy's third largest city and it was wet. Slippery roads caused a rider to slip and much of the peloton behind him followed suit. Biggest TCAT victim was Jai Hindley (CFA/DED/KIN) who suffered a concussion and had to abandon. Multiple other TCAT riders were hurt however, so we have to hope there won't be more abandons because of this crash.

The crash and the condition of the roads led the organisation to decide not to award PC points or time loss at the finish, leaving only the stage itself contested with no implications for classifications and allowing anyone not contesting the stage itself to avoid further risks. Fortunato (GHS) had already scored some KOM points by that point and there was also a break, involving Taco van der Hoorn (CFA/KIN), which only got caught mere kilometers before the finish after being hindered by a very dangerous action by a some protestors (who then also went on to nearly cause another crash in the peloton).

So we did get a sprint in the end, not involving Pedersen (PTM/GHS/CFA/CHX/BDC), who decided not to risk it with no points on the line. Van Aert (VFL/MAN/KIN) accidentally bravely attacked before the finish, but did not manage to stay ahead of the bunch. Instead Groves (GHS/ATX) won the sprint, followed by Fretin (BDC). Zijlaard (CJO), Marcellusi (MCB) and Kooij (REX/DED/EVC/MCB) also managed to end in the top 10.

The result by Groves means GHST again scored the most points and extended their lead. Averatxheirs also did well and gained four places in the standing.

Standings after stage 6:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	2643	+350
2nd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	2353	+133
3rd	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	BdC Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	2168	+283
4th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	2084	+140
5th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	1975	+170
6th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/VD.webp)	Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	1673	+149
7th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	1516	+218
8th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC) (EVC)	1426	+117
9th	(+4)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Els Averatxeirs (ATX)	1409	+308
10th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	1386	+247
11th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FV.webp)	Kinetic (KIN)	1362	+107
12th	(-3)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	1330	+71
13th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	1232	+96
14th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	The Manilows (MAN)	1166	+75

Finishphoto: Groves wins the sprint in a group of only sprinters while the rest of the peloton takes it easy with no points or time on the line.
(https://www.procyclingstats.com/photos/cw/ba/kaden-groves-wins-stage-6-giro-2025.jpg)

Tomorrow, TCAT enters a new phase as we move north into somewhat more mountainous terrain. While friday's stage isn't the most challenging we do end on a pretty serious uphill finish, which should favour pure climbers and the more punchy of the GC contestants, with Roglic probably being favoured to take over the pink jersey. As it stands there are 41 riders within 3 minutes of the GC leader. That number will shrink considerably. The giro can't be won tomorrow, and I don't think the top riders will put minutes between them, but for some riders their GC standing be lost and this will tell us a lot about the chances of the various TCAT teams as well.

(https://static2.giroditalia.it/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/CxO22b85FhCtQaKEpKvx_280425-015241.jpg?v=20250428155241)
Profile of the final climb tomorrow.

Stage 7 Castel di Sangro -> Tagliacozzo (Marsia)

First summit finish, first direct skirmishes between GC contenders, with a long breakaway including Paul Double (CJO/MAN) and Christian Scaroni (REX/DED/EVC) which got regathered on the final climb; bit of a letdown as no early attack came, as most of the final climb saw the leading group slowly shed riders, Juan Ayuso (CJO/PTM/GHS/CFA/VFL/MAN/ATX/BDC/MCB) waiting until the very end to launch an attack that caught his main GC opponent Primoz Roglic (CJO/PTM/GHS/CFA/DED/MAN/CHX/KIN/MCB) sleeping.

Ayuso ultimately got the stage win, gaining 4" on Roglic (fourth today) plus another 10" from finishing first, which all together put him at just 4" from the lead of the general classification. The lead is instead inherited by Roglic himself, with former pink jersey Mads Pedersen (PTM/GHS/CFA/CHX/BDC) obviously not suited to a stage such as today's, plummeting down the order as was always assumed.

Lots of other TCAT riders scoring stage finish points by placing top 20 - unsurprisingly, as it turned out to be a stage for GC contenders - with Ciccone and Tiberi immediately behind Roglic, and Carapaz, Poole and Storer closing the top 10. Both Yates twins, Derek Gee, Harper, Arensman, Poels and Pidcock also got points.

This results in a large haul for most TCAT teams, but the Cabana Boys rising on top; the Maricopans make the most of placing Ayuso, Roglic, Ciccone and Carapaz within the top 8 and leap into the top half of the standings. GHST retains the lead of the overall standings and place second today, though the next nine teams in the daily results are all within about 100 points of them. Sadly not as good as a day for Kinetic and the Royals despite respectively placing four and five riders in the top 20 - the top 10 positions simply pay much more stage finish points.

Standings after stage 7:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	3224	+581
2nd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	2877	+524
3rd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	BdC Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	2667	+499
4th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	2650	+566
5th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	2510	+535
6th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/VD.webp)	Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	2150	+477
7th	(+3)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	2126	+740
8th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	2070	+554
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Els Averatxeirs (ATX)	1946	+537
10th	(+2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	1909	+579
11th	(-3)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	1853	+427
12th	(+2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	The Manilows (MAN)	1743	+577
13th	(-2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FV.webp)	Kinetic (KIN)	1672	+310
14th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	1543	+311

Finishphoto: Juan Ayuso's first stage win at a grand tour
(https://www.procyclingstats.com/photos/cw/cf/juan-ayuso-wins-stage-7-of-the-2025-giro-d-italia.jpg)

Today's stage is already underway - one for a breakaways perhaps, with a category 1 climb right in the middle and a very spicy last bit, with a hard but short climb just before, a long downhill, then a 4% slope finish. Everyone will want to be in the breakaway though, so it might take a while to form.

(https://www.procyclingstats.com/images/profiles/ap/bd/giro-d-italia-2025-stage-8-profile-n3-345db8d89ac866aca111.jpg)

More detailed update tomorrow, because it's way past my bedtime and I've had too much wine, but the short version:

* The break succeeded.
* Ulissi (REX/ATX/EVC) was the first TCAT rider across the line and also takes the lead in GC and the pink jersey
* GHST got the most points again and extend their lead
* The Cabana Boys got very close a second succesive victory and keep gaining spots.

Standings after stage 8:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	3628	+404
2nd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	3071	+194
3rd	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	2935	+285
4th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	BdC Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	2838	+171
5th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	2722	+212
6th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	2527	+401
7th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	2345	+275
8th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Els Averatxeirs (ATX)	2330	+384
9th	(-3)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/VD.webp)	Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	2322	+172
10th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC) (EVC)	2211	+358
11th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	2065	+156
12th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	The Manilows (MAN)	1923	+180
13th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	1862	+319
14th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FV.webp)	Kinetic (KIN)	1799	+127

Tomorrow: Gravel! We get a stage inspired by the spring classic Strade Bianche (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strade_Bianche) passing some of the same gravel sections and finishing on the famous Piazzo del Campo in Siena. Might the most interesting stage to watch this Giro.

Stage 9 Gubbio -> Siena

Quick ish update: yesterday's Strade Bianche ended up being the most chaotic day so far, as what seemed like a stage for the breakaway actually saw just six riders go for it, including sprinters Groves (ATX/GHS) and Fretin (BDC) - hardly candidates for the stage victory. As such, it turned into a day for general classification riders to try and put gaps on each others in the unpredictable gravel portions.

And chaotic they were - Tom Pidcock, one of the favourites for the stage win given his win at Strade Bianche 2023 and his second place at this year's edition, crashed in the second gravel segment taking Primoz Roglic and Derek Gee with him. This effectively guaranteed a minute timeloss to all three, leaving rivals such as Ayuso, Ciccone, Tiberi and Carapaz free to battle for all top 10 places.

The stage win actually went to a resurgent Wout van Aert, who battled with young non-TCAT Isaac del Toro in a two man finale and just about prevailed as the two snaked their way in the tight alleyways of Siena. Giulio Ciccone headed the GC riders for third, about a minute down. A further minute down, Pidcock, Roglic and Gee. Del Toro inherits pink from Diego Ulissi, way down the order today together with Lorenzo Fortunato; both tumble down the order and out of the GC top 20.

Standings after stage 9:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	3851	+223
2nd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	3526	+455
3rd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	3314	+379
4th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	BdC Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	3258	+420
5th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	3101	+574
6th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	3044	+322
7th	(+4)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	2923	+858
8th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Els Averatxeirs (ATX)	2889	+559
9th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC) (EVC)	2744	+533
10th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/VD.webp)	Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	2709	+387
11th	(-4)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	2645	+300
12th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	The Manilows (MAN)	2331	+408
13th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FV.webp)	Kinetic (KIN)	2308	+509
14th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	2303	+441

Quote from: Sir Lüc on May 19, 2025, 11:47:24 AM7th(+4)(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)Velociposse Florencia (VFL)2923+858

VFL won this round by hundreds of points somehow. Going to enjoy this one bright shining moment before we start back burrowing into the ground.

Quote from: Breneir Tzaracomprada on May 19, 2025, 12:14:47 PM

Quote from: Sir Lüc on May 19, 2025, 11:47:24 AM7th(+4)(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)Velociposse Florencia (VFL)2923+858

VFL won this round by hundreds of points somehow. Going to enjoy this one bright shining moment before we start back burrowing into the ground.

Enjoy it because being at the bottom is not terribly exciting!

-Txec R

GO MCB!

(https://media4.giphy.com/media/wi5d9yFintDE6QtiKX/giphy.gif)

Quote from: Carlüs Éovart Vilaçafat on May 19, 2025, 01:45:04 PMGO MCB!

(https://media4.giphy.com/media/wi5d9yFintDE6QtiKX/giphy.gif)

They're movin' on up (movin' on up)
From the west side (movin' on up)
To a podium spot in the skyyy

Movin' on up (movin' on up)
From the west side (movin' on up)
They saddled up and oh, how they fly

It took me a second because those aren't the lyrics at all haha.

-Txec R

Gonna try and quickly finish the update before bed with TCAT considerations and next stage preview.

Today was a restday which I of course forgot to mention. Tomorrow we start again with the second of two time trials, longer and flatter than the first. Tarling should probably be expected to win this if he managed to win the first one. Roglic got extremely close to winning the first TT, but he seems to have dipped a bit in form even if yesterday's time loss was mostly bad luck. Ayuso can do well in TTs but I don't know about ones this flat and long; in similar ones he lost 50" to Roglic at Dauphine 2024 and 35" at Vuelta 2023. And Van Aert, usually an outstanding time trialist, seems conversely to be healing from whatever malaise he had.

The fact a long, flat ITT is coming up should be reason to be reasonably cautious about the state of the general classification, and why it's probably better to defer discussing the outlook right now.

This weekend marked a meaningful shuffling in GC, with riders such as Gee, Poole and Fortunato falling way out of contention, Roglic dropping from wearing the pink jersey on Saturday to tenth now, while others like Carapaz and Ciccone climbed back into the top 10. But this also means that the top 10 presently has at least two or three climbers (Carapaz and Ciccone themselves, but also Bernal) who are likely going to pay at least two minutes tomorrow, if not more, and others who are just worse than others around them, like the Yates brothers when compared to McNulty and Roglic or even to Arensman and Vacek who lie in wait just outside the top 10. And of course the lead may well change hands again as I think Ayuso doing 1'13" better than Del Toro over such a long TT is possible.

So: the GHST domination of the first week is probably over, but it's too early to say who's best placed to win it all. The one thing I'm sure about is that tomorrow's ITT will be pivotal, because after that I don't really see any days for big GC shakeups until next week, meaning there's a good chance the general classification will be mostly stable for five or six stages, which means in turn that the same riders will not be allowed to go on breakaways and get stage wins, and the same riders will also collect a mostly predictable income of daily GC points (that's 30 points each stage for the leader).

Quote from: Sir Lüc on May 19, 2025, 05:45:01 PMGonna try and quickly finish the update

he says,

Starting times for selected riders today (TST, for local/Cézembre time add 7 hours):

TT favourites in bold
Outsider candidates in roman
GC contenders who arent TT specialists in italics


06:26 - Zijlaard (CJO)
06:51 - Černý (PTM)
06:55 - Affini (VFL/DED/CHX)
07:31 - Baroncini (MCB)
07:34 - Van Aert (VFL/MAN/KIN)
07:36 - Tarling (GHS)
07:37 - Vine (KIN)
07:43 - Pedersen (PTM/GHS/CFA/CHX/BDC)
08:08 - Martinez (MAN)

Still in contention for GC [time deficit]
08:48 - Poole (GHS/MAN) [5'35"]
08:49 - Fortunato (GHS) [5'08"]
08:50 - Ulissi (REX/ATX/EVC) [4'56"]
08:51 - Gee (REX/KIN/ATX/EVC) [3'59"]
08:54 - Harper (BDC) [3'39"]
08:55 - Pidcock (CJO/VFL/REX/DED/KIN/BDC/EVC) [3'35"]
09:01 - Vacek (ATX) [3'23"]
09:04 - Arensman (REX/BDC) [3'21"]
09:10 - Storer (BDC) [3'03"]
09:13 - Roglič (CJO/PTM/GHS/CFA/DED/MAN/CHX/KIN/MCB) [2'25"]
09:16 - Adam Yates (CJO/CFA/CHX/BDC) [2'01"]
09:25 - Simon Yates (VFL/KIN/ATX) [1'42"]
09:28 - Ciccone (DED/CHX/ATX/EVC/MCB) [1'41"]
09:31 - Carapaz (PTM/VFL/REX/EVC/MCB) [1'40"]
09:34 - Tiberi (VFL/REX/DED/CHX/EVC) [1'30"]
09:37 - Ayuso (CJO/PTM/GHS/CFA/VFL/MAN/ATX/BDC/MCB) [1'13"]
09:40 - Del Toro (NPC) [0'00"]

Update (7:04):
Zijlaard (CJO) currently in 4th place after 9 riders have finished. Thats not gonna be enough to score points today. Meanwhile Černý (PTM) is now 2nd at the first timepoint where 32 riders have passed. Not a bad start. Let's see how he does on the rest of the parcours. Affini should soon be passing the first timepoint as well.

Update (7:07):
Affini (VFL/DED/CHX) 4" quicker than Černý at t1, but not enough to be in the lead there.

Update (7:29)

Affini a slightly disappointing second place at the finish (after 36 riders finished), with Hoole probably overtaking him as well soon based on his time at t2. Černý currently 5th. Not sure that's gonna be enough for points (which requires a finish in the top 20).

Update (7:50). Tarling (GHS) just passed the first timepoint and as expected takes the lead with a time thats 17" quicker than the number 2 so far. Is GHST heading for another stagewin and extending their lead?

Meanwhile Van Aert (VFL/MAN/KIN) is now in fourth place at t1 (ahead of Affini). Vine (KIN) unfortunately had a mechanical issue and had to change bikes which pretty much ends his chances at a strong result today.

Update (8:03) Tarling slower than Hoole at t2! We could have a very surprising winner today if things stay the same. (Of course all the GC favourites still have to start)

Pedersen (PTM/GHS/CFA/CHX/BDC) does not look to be competing for the win. Vine did have a strong second part after his bike change and passed t2 in 7th place after 78 riders, with 93 still to come. Baroncini, Van Aert and Cerny are now in 11th, 12th and 13th respectively at t2, which probably means none of them will make the top 20.

121 riders have finished. 50 still to go, but this includes all gc favourites, so dont expect anyone outside the current top 5 to make the top 20 overall.

TCAT riders in the current top 15:

2. Tarling (GHS)
4. Affini (VFL/DED/CHX)
5. Vine (KIN)
11. Baroncini(MCB)
12. Van Aert (VFL/MAN/KIN)
14. Černý (PTM)

Vacek (ATX) had a very strong start. Arensman (REX/BDC) not so much :(

(Unfortunately next update will be final stage update, as I will get distracted soon)

Roglic not a good start at all!! (Also its raining now)

Stage 10 Lucca -> Pisa (ITT)

Quote from: Glüc on May 20, 2025, 09:00:41 AM121 riders have finished. 50 still to go, but this includes all gc favourites, so dont expect anyone outside the current top 5 to make the top 20 overall.

TCAT riders in the current top 15:

2. Tarling (GHS)
4. Affini (VFL/DED/CHX)
5. Vine (KIN)
11. Baroncini(MCB)
12. Van Aert (VFL/MAN/KIN)
14. Černý (PTM)

Well, right as I posted this the rain set in, forcing the riders who still had to go to be more careful in the corners and significantly slowing down the GC favourites. In the end even Černý managed to retain his top 20 spot with an 18th place. The only GC contenders who managed to (barely) make the top 20 were Gee (REX/KIN/ATX/EVC), Poole (GHS/MAN) and Roglic. Tarling kept his second place.

The results impacted the GC standings as well. Both Yates twins, Roglic, Arensman, Gee, Harper and Poole all gained spots, while Ciccone, Carapaz, Storer and Vacek lost ground. Roglic especially significantly reduced his gap with the pink jersey.

Lüc's suggestion that GHST dominance would be over turned out to be false hope for the competition as GHST riders improved their standing in GC while the team extended its lead by scoring the most points on a low scoring day.

Standings after stage 10:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	4146	+295
2nd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	3739	+213
3rd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	3412	+98
4th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	BdC Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	3347	+89
5th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	3233	+132
6th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	3156	+233
7th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	3136	+92
8th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Els Averatxeirs (ATX)	2997	+108
9th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/VD.webp)	Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	2907	+198
10th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC) (EVC)	2841	+97
11th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	2736	+91
12th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FV.webp)	Kinetic (KIN)	2534	+226
13th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	The Manilows (MAN)	2450	+119
14th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	2398	+95

Tomorrow we move further north for somewhat of an intermediate stage. There is a first category climb, but that's only about halfway and it's followed by mostly hilly terrain, which makes it an excellent opportunity for a break and probably another fairly low scoring stage.

Stage 11 Viareggio -> Castelnovo ne' Monti

Quick scoring update while I wait for work stuff to work. In a stage that looked like breakaway material, but ended up going to the GC guys, congratulations to EVC for an emphatic daily win and a stunning six riders in the stage top 10. We also have a new podium placed team in the overall standings as the Cabana Boys gain two spots. Two places gained by the Royals as well as they lift themselves off the bottom.

Standings after stage 11:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	4443	+297
2nd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	4159	+420
3rd	(+2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	3904	+671
4th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	3869	+457
5th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	3866	+710
6th	(-2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	BdC Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	3760	+413
7th	(+3)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	3681	+840
8th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Els Averatxeirs (ATX)	3509	+512
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/VD.webp)	Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	3427	+520
10th	(-3)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	3393	+257
11th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	3129	+393
12th	(+2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	3103	+705
13th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FV.webp)	Kinetic (KIN)	2882	+348
14th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	The Manilows (MAN)	2661	+211

We're in for a triplet of possible sprint stages, starting today with a hilly first half and a pancake flat 80km to the end.

Hell yeah! The Cabana Boys kicking PTM down the list and bringing the party to the top three!

(https://media2.giphy.com/media/MF1jHefUpYZZtEAwWK/giphy.gif)

Take that Maritiimi-Maxhestic, the only awesome part of your province is the piece of Maricopa they stole during Reunision! That's right, I said it!

I'm coming for you next Belacostă!

(https://sdk.bitmoji.com/render/panel/47216f13-9572-422c-ba2d-b49cc190dff5-bc188b82-d3f1-4788-868f-62a6fd349bf1-v1.png?transparent=1&palette=1)

By the way, I love Florida Georgia Line and endorse the photo!!

-Txec R

Someday I hope to understand how the scoring system works LOL

Stage 12 Modena -> Viadana

The second half of the stage, through Emilia-Romagna and crossing the Po river into Lombardy, posed too few obstacles for the break, which included Pietrobon (GHS), to stay ahead of the peloton. So we got another sprint, and this time it was finally Kooij (REX/DED/EVC/MCB), who managed to win. Pedersen (PTM/GHS/CFA/CHX/BDC) came fourth, Groves (GHS/ATX) fifth and Fretin (BDC) 6th.

The two sprinter teams did well, especially GHST as they scored the most points again due to the combined score of Pedersen and Groves. BdC also did well along with the four Kooij teams.

Standings after stage 12:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	4861	+418
2nd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	4411	+252
3rd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	4270	+366
4th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	4136	+267
5th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	BdC Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	4134	+374
6th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	4014	+148
7th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC) (EVC)	3983	+302
8th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Els Averatxeirs (ATX)	3733	+224
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/VD.webp)	Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	3727	+300
10th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	3653	+260
11th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	3402	+299
12th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	3253	+124
13th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FV.webp)	Kinetic (KIN)	2983	+101
14th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	The Manilows (MAN)	2751	+90

Finishphoto: Olaf Kooij (in yellow) was the fastest at the line today
(https://www.procyclingstats.com/photos/cw/fc/olav-kooij-wins-stage-12-of-the-2025-giro-d-italia.jpg)


Tomorrow's stage to Vincenza at first glance also looks like another one for the sprinters, but upon closer inspection the last kilometer is uphill and far too steep for most pure sprinters and may be more favourable to riders like Pedersen or Van Aert (who appears to be in good form again).

Quote from: Tric'hard Lenxheir on May 22, 2025, 11:57:19 AMSomeday I hope to understand how the scoring system works LOL

If I have time this weekend, I will probably try to do some overview with examples of how points are scored.

In the meantime, if you're interested,
theres a lot of information about the scoring here: https://www.velogames.com/italy/2025/scores.php
You can find the actual results the scores are based on here: https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/giro-d-italia/2025/
And on your team page (in your case https://www.velogames.com/italy/2025/teamroster.php?tid=73043) you can actually find the scores per rider over the various scoring categories and you can also look at the points per stage.

Of course it also a perfectly valid approach to just enjoy the show and see it as a black box where you put in a team and it mysteriously spits out a result.

Quote from: Carlüs Éovart Vilaçafat on May 22, 2025, 09:43:22 AMI'm coming for you next Belacostă!

Quote from: Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be on May 22, 2025, 08:30:54 PM

Quote from: Carlüs Éovart Vilaçafat on May 22, 2025, 09:43:22 AMI'm coming for you next Belacostă!

(https://i.imgflip.com/9uwycm.jpg)

I laughed way too hard at this LMAO

(https://media3.giphy.com/media/l0IydDARsBSTtN6z6/giphy.gif)

Stage 13 Rovigo -> Vicenza

TCAT finally reaches Lücpäts (aka the northeast) with a fairly flat stage... except for a few bumps along the way as the peloton climbed the Euganei and Berici hills. The Marian sanctuary at Monteberico, just outside Vicenza, set the stage for a very steep final sprint, less than 1km long but at 7.6% average gradient.

Mads Pedersen prevailed over Wout van Aert for a fourth stage win this Giro - the two were likely the favourite duo and they didn't disappoint. Also top 10, Roglic, Tiberi and Gee, and seven other TCAT riders placed P14-P20 to also score some stage finish points.

Cyclohexane gets the daily win thanks to Pedersen, Roglic and Tiberi - the only other team with three riders in the top 10 was Kinetic with van Aert, Roglic again and Gee. No big changes in the standings, but PTM and VFL get very close to MCB and BDC respectively. Fieschă and Averatxeirs swap places - the latter looked very good at moments with Vacek following a Bardet attack with only a few kilometers to go, but they were regathered midway through the final climb.

Standings after stage 13:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	5328	+467
2nd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	4981	+570
3rd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	4624	+354
4th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	4614	+478
5th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	BdC Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	4525	+391
6th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	4519	+505
7th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	4326	+343
8th	(+2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	4135	+482
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/VD.webp)	Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	4077	+350
10th	(-2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Els Averatxeirs (ATX)	4018	+285
11th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	3699	+297
12th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	3519	+266
13th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FV.webp)	Kinetic (KIN)	3468	+485
14th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	The Manilows (MAN)	3158	+407

Finishphoto: Maglia Ciclamino (points classification leader) Mads Pedersen, stage winner, edges out Wout van Aert (yellow jersey). Pink jersey (general classification leader) Isaac del Toro, in the background, finished third.

(https://www.procyclingstats.com/photos/cw/ce/mads-pedersen-wins-stage-13-giro-2025.webp)

Tomorrow the stage looks similar in principle, with a long mostly flat approach all the way from Treviso to a hilly finale straddling the border with Slovenia around Gorizia. The finish itself though is flat, with two laps of a circuit including a short climb similar to today's finale in steepness and length, except the last summit is going to be a whole 8km from the end, so pure sprinters may?could?should? have a chance.

By sheer coincidence I should be in Treviso tomorrow morning, but I have no idea if I'm going to be present at the start. If I am I'm going to post pictures of course.

Stage 14 Treviso -> Gorizia/Nova Gorica (SLO)

Last weekend, the GC was torn asunder by Tom Pidcock crashing and holding up most of the GC favourites. This weekend, history repeats with a worse outcome: Giulio Ciccone (ATX/CHX/DED/EVC/MCB) sadly abandoned TCAT in a crash that held up most pure sprinters and also nearly all riders with GC ambitions... except for pink jersey Del Toro, Simon Yates, Gee, Poole, Pidcock and Carapaz.

Meanwhile in front, non-TCAT Kasper Asgreen was the lone survivor of a four-man breakaway that formerly included Martin Marcellusi (MCB), hence taking the first solo breakaway win of this year's Giro. Kaden Groves (ATX/GHS) won the sprint for second place among the 16 riders who weren't impacted by the Ciccone crash, with Olav Kooij (REX/DED/EVC/MCB) in third, Gee-Pidcock-Carapaz in seventh to ninth, Poole in eleventh and Simon Yates in sixteenth. Also scoring points, Cjovani's Filippo Fiorelli, nineteenth and first among a minute-delayed group that included Roglic, Ayuso, Arensman and Storer. A further minute more delayed, and taking even more significant blows in GC, a group of riders including Tiberi, Ulissi, Harper and Adam Yates.

Today's winners are the Talossaes Rexhitais, who have Kooij, Gee, Pidcock and Carapaz; close but no cigar for Velocostă (who still gain a place and have fifth within reach). Sadly though, the loss of Ciccone is going to be a problem for many of these resurgent teams, and all but Averatxeirs also have Tiberi, who lost five places in GC today. Cyclohexane was well and truly triple whammied with Adam Yates similarly losing three places and clearly losing his status as a potential Ayuso alternative within UAE to Isaac del Toro - who conversely is in stellar form and is definitely overshadowing his captain.

Standings after stage 14:                                                                     

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	5647	+319
2nd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	5058	+77
3rd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	5037	+413
4th	(+2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	4836	+317
5th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	4819	+205
6th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	4814	+488
7th	(-2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	BdC Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	4718	+193
8th	(+2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Els Averatxeirs (ATX)	4405	+387
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/VD.webp)	Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	4382	+305
10th	(-2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	4245	+110
11th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	4198	+499
12th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FV.webp)	Kinetic (KIN)	3770	+302
13th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	3742	+223
14th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	The Manilows (MAN)	3287	+129

I did attend the start in Treviso and will be posting pics later!

I uploaded a selection of pictures I took in Treviso to an Imgur album: https://imgur.com/a/cEw1aLS (https://imgur.com/a/cEw1aLS)

I also took many short videos, maybe I'll post some as restday fodder tomorrow.

Stage 15 Fiume Veneto -> Asagio

A surprising outcome today after the chaos of yesterday. As mentioned by Lüc, Ciccone (DED/CHX/ATX/EVC/MCB) did not appear at the start today. A massive setback for the teams involved. We're back in Italy today, in the northeastern region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, a very familiar region for one of your TCAT commentators. We're heading back to Veneto for a medium mountain stage with first category Monte Grappa along the way.

The stage started with a big break. They never got that much time however and on the Monte Grappa there was an attack out of the group of favourites including Del Toro, Arensman (REX/BDC), Carapaz (PTM/VFL/REX/EVC/MCB) and Gee (REX/KIN/ATX/EVC). The attack didn't succeed, weirdly because teammates of Del Toro were pulling the chase, but the resulting acceleration in the group of favourites resulted in the gap with break getting smaller and eventually they were caught, but not after Fortunato (GHS) got another heap of KOM points on Monte Grappa. More attacks followed and a new break formed, including Scaroni (REX/DED/EVC), Bardet (CJO/PTM) and Fiorelli (CJO). This break succeeded, with Scaroni being the first TCAT rider across the line in third place. Behind them it was surprisingly Roglic (CJO/PTM/GHS/CFA/DED/MAN/CHX/KIN/MCB) who struggled and lost time, along with Pidcock (CJO/VFL/REX/DED/KIN/BDC/EVC) and Ulissi (REX/ATX/EVC). Both Roglic and Pidcock dropped 5 places in GC. Roglic is now nearly 4 minutes behind on Del Toro, which makes it unlikely the favourite at the start will take home the pink Jersey in the end.

Els Talossaes Rexhitais scored the most points today. Velocostă are in an unfortunate position now as without Ciccone they cannot score more points than REX on any future stage, since the remaining 8 riders are shared by the teams. (They could still technically win overall as long as they are ahead of REX in the standings and Arensman doesn't score enough points to bridge the gap.) Still they scored the second most points today and climb to the fourth place in the standing. Cyclohexane had a bad day and lost their second place to the Cabana Boys. However, without Ciccone it will be difficult for both teams to keep their spot on the podium. GHST keep a comfortable lead, but with relatively few riders at the top of the GC standings they could still lose on end of tour points, so it's not decided just yet.

Standings after stage 15:
 

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	5858	+211
2nd	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	5200	+163
3rd	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	5153	+95
4th	(+2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC) (EVC)	5143	+329
5th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	5108	+289
6th	(-2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	5024	+188
7th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	BdC Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	4882	+164
8th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/VD.webp)	Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	4607	+225
9th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Els Averatxeirs (ATX)	4581	+176
10th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	4539	+341
11th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	4366	+121
12th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	4057	+315
13th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FV.webp)	Kinetic (KIN)	3926	+156
14th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	The Manilows (MAN)	3418	+131

Tomorrow: rest day. Hopefully some time to more thoroughly answer Tric'hards question and also have a look at the current standings in the various classifications as we enter the final week.

Right, a quick restday refresher on points, a look at the current standings and a look ahead to the final week.

During a grand tour, riders, both individually and as part of a team of 9 try to compete for winning one or more of the 21 stages and winning several classification, with the winner of the general classification, whoever completes the grand tour in the least amount of time, being considered the overall individual winner.

For TCAT points are scored by the 9 riders in the following ways, which can be divided in three basic categories:

Stage points
*Stage result
*Breakaway points
*Intermediate sprints
*Summits
*Assist points (stage winners)

Daily classification points
* Daily general classification
* Daily points classification
* Daily king of the mountains classification
* Daily assist points (team classification)
* Daily assist points (general classification)

End of tour points
* General classification
* Points classification
* King of the mountain classification
* Assist points (Team classification)


(1/5)

Stage points
Every stage, the most points, 220, are awarded to the rider who crosses the finishline first, who is considered the winner of the stage. The rest of the stage top 20 also get points, but fewer obviously.

For example, if we look at the points gained by Dirnalaiset Mortescu in stage 15 we can look at the result of the stage here: https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/giro-d-italia/2025/stage-15 and see that one DED rider finished in the top 20:
Scaroni, who finished in third place, scoring 160 points.
The remaining DED riders finished outside of the top 20.

DED stage 15 points: 160

However, points can also be scored along the way; to encourage riders to ride a bit more actively the giro awards points for the points classification to the winners of three intermediate sprints. Specifically in the giro the top 3 of the last of these also gets a small time reduction for the general classification. 15 velogames points are awarded to the winner of each of these sprints, with the top 3 also getting points.
As we can see here: https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/giro-d-italia/2025/stage-15-points if you click on "today" DED rider Kooij came third in the first of these sprints and scores 5 velogames points.

DED intermediate sprint points: 5

Riders can also score points for the King of the Mountains classification by being the first to pass several summits, which are categorised by the difficulty of the climb leading up to them. 15 velogames points are awared to the first on category 1 summits, with the top 5 also getting points. (30 points are awarded to the winner of the Colle delle Finestre in stage 20). Here (click "today") https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/giro-d-italia/2025/stage-15-kom you can see there was one cat 1 summit in stage 15 where Scaroni passed in third place, which scores 6 velogames points

DED summit points: 6

Then, velogames awards teams who pick attacking riders by giving 20 velogames points to any rider who is in the break (defined as a front group with 30 or fewer riders at least 5 seconds ahead of the peloton) at the halfway mark of the stage. No DED riders were in the front group at the halfway mark.

DED breakaway points: 0

Finally many riders don't actually ride to win the stage themselves but to help their teammates*. Therefore, velogames also awards a maximum of 8 points to riders whose teammates finish in the top 3 of a stage (provided the teammates do finish the stage themselves). Ciccone is a teammate of the stagewinner of stage 15 Verona. However, as Ciccone didn't start the stage, DED gets no points for that.

DED assist points (stage winners): 0

DED therefore scored 160 + 5 + 6 = 171 points from the stage itself. However, as we can see DED actually received 225 points yesterday, so we're still missing some points.

_{*Obviously these teams are completely fictional and the only real teams are the teams from the Talossan Cycling Association Tour}

(2/5)

Daily classification points

Apart from winning stages the other goal of many grand tour riders is to win in one of the classifications, each represented by a particular coloured jersey. The overall winner is determined after 21 stage, but during each stage the current leader in a classification will wear the corresponding jersey and also get velogames points after every stage.

The most important classification is the general classification, which for the Italian leg of TCAT is represented by the maglia rosa, the pink jersey. The general classification is determined by adding the times of each stage (minus any time deductions won in sprints), which determines the overall winner of the tour. Winning a lot of stages doesn't guarantee a win in the GC as winning at the very end in a sprint doesnt gain you many seconds while you can easily lose minutes on a long climb or a Time Trial. To win the GC a rider needs to perform consistently and this usually favours climbers who can also time trial. The person leading GC gets a daily bonus of 30 velogame points with the top 20 also getting daily points.

As we can see here: https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/giro-d-italia/2025/stage-15-gc Dirnalaiset Mortescu currently has 3 riders in the top 20: Tiberi in 7th place, which scores 14 daily points, Roglic in 10th place, which scores 11 daily points and Pidcock in 16th place, which scores 5 daily points.

DED daily GC points: 14 + 11 + 5 = 30

To win the GC you need a strong team to support you. Therefore teammates of the top 3 in GC are also awarded a maximum of 8 daily points. DED has two teammates of the current number 2 in GC in their team: Kooij and Affini. They both get 4 daily assist points.

DED daily assist points (General classification): 4 + 4 = 8

One of the two important side classificaton is the points classification, which is represented in the Italian leg by the maglia ciclamino, the mauve(?) jersey. Points are won based on a riders position in a stage finish, with more points being awarded for flat stages, and on various intermediate sprints. This classification favours sprinters, who have a fast finish which allows them to score points. The current leader in the PC gets 12 daily velogames points with the top 6 also getting points.

DED has currently one rider in the top 6 PC: https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/giro-d-italia/2025/stage-15-points. This is Kooij, who is currently in second place, which scores 8 daily points

DED daily PC points: 8

A third classification is the King of the Mountains classification, which is represented in the Italian leg by the maglia azzurra, the blue jersey. Points for the KOM classification are scored by being the first rider to arrive at various summits. This classification favours pure climbers with an attacking style, because they need to be in front during mountain stages, not just at the finish. The current leader in the KOM gets 12 daily velogames points with the top 6 also getting points.


DED has currently one rider in the top 6 KOM: https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/giro-d-italia/2025/stage-15-kom. This is Scaroni, who is currently in fifth place, which scores 2 daily points

DED daily KOM points: 2

Finally, there is the teams classification, which is a bit confusing, but it's basically adding the times of the top 3 riders of each team for each stage. Riders whose team is in the top 3 of the team classification get a maximum of 8 daily assist points. You can find the team classification here: https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/giro-d-italia/2025/stage-15-teams-gc. DED has one rider in the currently first placed team and 1 in the currently 3rd placed team, scoring 6 daily points total.

DED daily assist points (Team classification): 4 + 2 = 6

This results in the DED being awarded
30 + 8 + 8 + 2 + 6 = 54 daily points.

171 stage points + 54 daily classification points = 225 points, which is exactly the amount of points DED received yesterday.

Of course, the real point of these classifications isn't to be leading them halfway through the competition, but to win in the end...

(3/5)

End of tour points
At the end of each leg, a lot of points will be awarded based on the winner of the classfication.

*The winner of the general classification gets 600 points, with the top 30 also getting points.
*The winner of the points classification gets 120 points, with the top 10 also getting points.
*The winner of the KOM classification gets 120 points, with the top 10 also getting points.
*The winners of the teams classification get 50 points, the top 5 teams also getting points.

If we look at the current standing in these classification:


The GC is still very much up for grabs, especially as this editions is very much backloaded with the toughest mountain stages still to come.

The current ranking of TCAT riders is as follows:
2. Simon Yates (VFL/KIN/ATX) +1'20"
3. Ayuso (CJO/PTM/GHS/CFA/VFL/MAN/ATX/BDC/MCB) +1'26"
4. Carapaz (PTM/VFL/REX/EVC/MCB) +2'07"
5. Gee (REX/KIN/ATX/EVC) +2'54"
7. Tiberi (VFL/REX/DED/CHX/EVC) +3'02"
9. Arensman (REX/BDC) +3'45"
10. Roglic (CJO/PTM/GHS/CFA/DED/MAN/CHX/KIN/MCB) +3'53"
12. Storer (BDC) +4'25"
14. Adam Yates (CJO/CFA/CHX/BDC) +4'47"
16. Pidcock (CJO/VFL/REX/DED/KIN/BDC/EVC) +5'28"
17. Poole (GHS/MAN) +5'51"
19. Ulissi (REX/ATX/EVC) +8'48"
24. Harper (BDC) +18'37"
30. Bardet (CJO/PTM) +35'29"

It is rather surprising that neither Roglic nor Ayuso is currently in the lead. Roglic could possibly still make a comeback as riders could easily lose several minutes in the final stages, but apparently he is affected by a crash earlier and there is also speculation that he might drop out.

The points classification on the other hand seems pretty much decided. With only two sprint stages remaining there is just no possibility for Kooij to close the gap on Pedersen.

The current PC ranking of TCAT riders is as follows:
1. Pedersen(PTM/GHS/CFA/CHX/BDC) 240 pts
2. Kooij (REX/DED/EVC/MCB) 135 pts
5. Van Aert (VFL/MAN/KIN) 78 pts
8. Groves (GHS/ATX) 63 pts
10. Carapaz (PTM/VFL/REX/EVC/MCB) 52 pts

Similarly, the KOM classification seems mostly decided, although theoretically its still possible for riders to catch up with Fortunato especially with the Cima Coppi still coming up. It's not likely that any rider will score enough points to do so.

1. Fortunato (GHS) 197 pts
2. Ayuso (CJO/PTM/GHS/CFA/VFL/MAN/ATX/BDC/MCB) 54 pts
4. Double (CJO/MAN) 36 pts
5. Scaroni (REX/DED/EVC) 31 pts
9. Ulissi (REX/ATX/EVC) 26 pts

If all classifications remain as they are that would result in the team getting the following end of tour points:

CJO - 1035
PTM - 1200
GHS - 1115
CFA - 1020
VFL - 1865
REX - 1475
DED - 740
MAN - 930
CHX - 740
KIN - 1210
ATX - 1485
BDC - 1295
EVC - 1295
MCB - 1295

This would result in some pretty big shifts in the classification and could even result in GHST not winning despite their current lead. However, a lot could still happen in the final week and the teams that would currently score a lot of end of tour points need their riders to hold on to their current position. Someone like Simon Yates for example may have a lot more opportunity to lose spots than to gain them, while the stage points scored so far are hard points that can't be taken away. On the other hand, teams that have done well in mountain stages so far may continue to score points and close the gap with GHST.

A lot will depend on whether Roglic continues and if he does, whether he can make up some ground on his competitors.

(4/5)

One rider who definitely won't be starting tomorrow is Fretin (BDC), leaving only 4 teams with all riders remaining (for now).

Tomorrow we get the most challenging mountain stage so far, with 4 summits of which 3 are classified as category one and the last one being also the finish. Only the strongest climbers can win tomorrow. If Del Toro can keep the pink jersey here he is in a very good position to overall. The results tomorrow may also tell us whether GHST will be able to convert their advantage into a win in Rome, although the race could also remain undecided for a while.

(https://static2.giroditalia.it/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/wS6M0p3cUSbtNPttH035_280425-034910.jpg?v=20250428174910)
Stage profile for tomorrow

(5/5)

Quote from: Sir Lüc on May 25, 2025, 01:49:16 PMI uploaded a selection of pictures I took in Treviso to an Imgur album: https://imgur.com/a/cEw1aLS (https://imgur.com/a/cEw1aLS)

I also took many short videos, maybe I'll post some as restday fodder tomorrow.

Excellent on the site reporting! Nice photos

Stage 16 Piazzola sul Brenta -> San Valentino (Brentonico)

Bullet points again, because a lot happened and I have little time.

* Scaroni (REX/DED/EVC) won from the break, followed by Fortunato (GHS) in second place.
* Bad news for most teams as Roglic crashed again and withdrew, as did Tarling (GHS)
* More bad news for another group of most teams as Ayuso lost a lot of time.
* Carapaz (PTM/VFL/REX/EVC/MCB) and Gee (REX/KIN/ATX/EVC) did really well and gained in GC
* Arensman (REX/BDC) and Pidcock (CJO/VFL/REX/DED/KIN/BDC/EVC) lost a lot of time
* Els Talossaes Rexhitais scored the most points for the second day in a row and gain three spots in GC
* Esqipă Velocostă has suddenly emerged as one of the main contenders for the victory.
* VFL also still in the race for the win. GHST needs to expand their lead to overcome their deficit in end of tour points. The surge of REX seems to come to late as they needed a much better performance from Arensman to have a chance of overtaking EVC (unless he pulls of a miracle in the final days).

Standings after stage 16:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	6203	+345
2nd	(+2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC) (EVC)	5834	+691
3rd	(+3)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	5458	+434
4th	(-2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	5438	+238
5th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	5344	+236
6th	(-3)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	5272	+119
7th	(+3)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	5236	+697
8th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	BdC Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	5119	+237
9th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/VD.webp)	Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	4986	+379
10th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Els Averatxeirs (ATX)	4867	+286
11th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	4467	+101
12th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FV.webp)	Kinetic (KIN)	4262	+336
13th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	4176	+119
14th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	The Manilows (MAN)	3528	+110

Tomorrow: another alpine stage, but not quite as many vertical meters and no uphill finish

Quote from: Glüc on May 27, 2025, 04:08:53 PM3rd(+3)(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)Velociposse Florencia (VFL)5458+434

The posse is on the podium now! LFG!

Quote from: Glüc on May 27, 2025, 04:08:53 PM* Esqipă Velocostă has suddenly emerged as one of the main contenders for the victory.

Literally just repost the meme

Yeah it's probably gonna be EVC vs VFL for the final win now. GHST had an outside chance but without Roglic it's basically scoring no End of Tour points.

We were so close boys!!!!

(https://media0.giphy.com/media/2VAateam5qzde/giphy.gif)

I'm very happy to no longer be in last place!

-Txec R

Stage 17 San Michele all'Adige (Fondazione Edmund Mach) -> Bormio

Today Giro climbed the mighty Mortirolo, but I'm afraid I haven't managed to follow any of the last three stages, so I can only provide a quick rundown.

Non-TCAT pink jersey wearer Isaac Del Toro won today, slightly ahead of TCAT trio Romain Bardet, Richard Carapaz and Simon Yates. Port Maxhestic gets the stage win thanks to Bardet and Carapaz. Kinetic's Vine is sadly the latest TCAT rider to drop out.

Giro's general classification has pretty much exploded, with Antonio Tiberi just the last to fall out of contention. Pretty clear TCAT Italy 2025 will be a duel between EVC and VFL, with REX silently closing the gap but unable to win (it has the same riders as EVC + Arensman, who can't possibly close the gap on his own seeing what's left). The victory hinges on:

• VFL's Simon Yates vs EVC's Derek Gee -- currently third and fourth in GC;
• VFL's Wout van Aert vs EVC's Olav Kooij in the (possibly 2) sprints left - but they're teammates, and van Aert has so far always been a leadout for Kooij in flat sprints;
• EVC additionally has Scaroni bound to bring home extra End of Tour points via his second place in the King of Mountains classification;
• REX, having almost the same riders as EVC, again basically cannot win but has a good shot at second;
• Other high risers (GHS, PTM and MCB) will all be getting a pittance of End of Tour points so they're basically racing for fourth at this point.

Standings after stage 17:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	6390	+187
2nd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	6276	+442
3rd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	5914	+456
4th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	5848	+504
5th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	5712	+274
6th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	5678	+442
7th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	5347	+75
8th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	BdC Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	5303	+184
9th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Els Averatxeirs (ATX)	5252	+385
10th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/VD.webp)	Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	5076	+90
11th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FV.webp)	Kinetic (KIN)	4644	+382
12th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	4562	+95
13th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	4502	+326
14th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	The Manilows (MAN)	3670	+142

Tomorrow's stage, one of the shortest, is the calm before the storm of stages 18 and 19, which are gonna decide Giro for sure and potentially TCAT too. It's going to either be an affair for the breakaway or for a sprint - we'll see how many energies are left in a very tired peloton's legs.

Kinetic I'm coming for you next!!!

Stage 18 Morbegno -> Cesano Maderno

No sprint today, as instead Denz (CHX) won an impressive victory after going solo from the break.

We also had another high profile dropout as Ayuso abandoned the race. Apparently he was suffering the effects of a bee sting? Either way this leaves TCAT without either of the original favourites.

Not a high scoring stage today, except for Cyclohexane who have a strong day to the victory of Denz.

Standings after stage 18:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	6484	+94
2nd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC) (EVC)	6394	+118
3rd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	6042	+128
4th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	5972	+124
5th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	5806	+94
6th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	5796	+118
7th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	5682	+335
8th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	BdC Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	5412	+109
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Els Averatxeirs (ATX)	5316	+64
10th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/VD.webp)	Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	5154	+78
11th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FV.webp)	Kinetic (KIN)	4782	+138
12th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	4718	+156
13th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	4555	+53
14th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	The Manilows (MAN)	3743	+73

Tomorrow we go into the mountains again for another very tough day with 5 summits and a total of 4908 vertical meters. Another day for the climbers. The giro still has not been decided yet. Saturday will be another challenging mountain stage. The decision, at least as far as the GC is concerned, will fall in one of these two stages.

Stage 19 Biella -> Champoluc

The first of two stages that will all but decide TCAT gifted another stage win to the break and non-TCAT Nicolas Prodhomme. Right behind him, Del Toro and Carapaz finished together, which means this stage was still inconclusive for the ultimate GC win as Del Toro retains a 43" margin. Simon Yates (seventh) and Derek Gee (eleventh) paid roughly half a minute and finished in a group of ten that also included resurgent Antonio Tiberi (ninth). Also scoring today, Storer (13th), Poole (17th), Adam Yates (18th) and Arrieta (19th).

VFL takes the daily win over REX and EVC (tied as Arensman scored no points), but not by enough to make a dent in EVC's End of Tour points advantage. It does, however, kinda limit what REX can do to win second place; if today ends up in a virtual tie again, REX will have to root for a Kooij stage win tomorrow. EVC also officially takes over the top of the standings; if Derek Gee doesn't crash, they should be almost a lock for the final win.

Top of the current virtual standings accounting for End of Tour points as they would be assigned today: EVC 8283, VFL 7901, REX 7695, GHS 6979, PTM 6933, MCB 6897. ATX currently favoured to overtake BDC and KIN to overtake DED - but still a mountain and a sprint stage to go.

Standings after stage 19:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	6838	+444
2nd	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	6534	+50
3rd	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	6521	+479
4th	(+2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	6240	+444
5th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	6203	+231
6th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	6102	+296
7th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	5862	+180
8th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	BdC Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	5535	+123
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Els Averatxeirs (ATX)	5506	+190
10th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/VD.webp)	Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	5341	+187
11th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FV.webp)	Kinetic (KIN)	4989	+207
12th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	4774	+56
13th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	4626	+71
14th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	The Manilows (MAN)	3812	+69

Today, the penultimate stage. Four categorised climbs including the third, Colle delle Finestre, being Giro's tallest summit this year and featuring 8km of uphill gravel from midway through the climb right until the top. Today will decide whether Isaac del Toro wins Giro, and should also decide who wins TCAT.

News flash before update: Simon Yates wins Giro! This should mean TCAT is going to be undecided right until tomorrow and it might all go down to whether Kooij or van Aert sprints for Visma-Lease a Bike.

Stage 20 Verrès -> Sestrière (Vialattea)

Surprisingly Harper (BDC) won yesterday's stage, but the big news happened behind him as none of the favourites could follow Simon Yates (VFL/KIN/ATX), who finished in third place and took the lead in GC and the pink jersey and will become the winner of this years giro. Marcellusi (MCB) and Poole (GHS/MAN) also made the stage top 10

Kinetic was the stage winner and scoring the most points, but looking at the overall standing the top 2 are now basically tied if you consider the end of tour points that will be awarded. The final sprint in Rome will determine who wins this edition of TCAT. Els Talossaes Rexhitais will likely complete the podium, while The Manilows unfortunately will end up with the red lantern.

Standings after stage 20:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC) (EVC)	7004	+166
2nd	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	6875	+354
3rd	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	6648	+114
4th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	6406	+166
5th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	6317	+215
6th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	6272	+69
7th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	5919	+57
8th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	BdC Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	5874	+339
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Els Averatxeirs (ATX)	5768	+262
10th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/VD.webp)	Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	5394	+53
11th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FV.webp)	Kinetic (KIN)	5346	+357
12th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	4823	+49
13th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	4664	+38
14th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	The Manilows (MAN)	3988	+176

Today, the first leg of TCAT 2025 arrives at its final destination: Rome. No GC time will be likely be gained or lost in the final stage, but there is one more opportunity for sprinters to shine.

The finish should be in about an hour...

Esqipă Velocostă wins the first leg of TCAT 2025!

Quote from: Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be on May 12, 2025, 07:01:26 PMSo minmaxing is a valid strategy, it would seem...

Not this time apparently😅

Stage 21 Roma -> Roma

TCAT and Giro came to a close on Sunday, and while the latter was all but decided and just gearing up for a celebratory ride around Rome, TCAT was still open, with EVC holding a slim lead of barely 100pts over VFL, with the Florencian team having reversed its End of Tour deficit thanks to Simon Yates now being the leader and ultimate winner of Giro.

All came down to whether Olav Kooij (EVC/MCB/REX) would deliver for the Belacostans, and so he did, for a second individual stagewin (fourth podium) during this edition. Kaden Groves (ATX/GHS) was second, Mads Pedersen (BDC/CHX/CJO/CFA/GHS) fourth, Filippo Baroncini (MCB) seventh and Kim Heiduk (CJO) seventeenth.

As such, the Cabana Boys claim the final daily stage win (thanks to Kooij and Baroncini) and Velocostă expanded its lead over Velociposse to roughly 300 points before End of Tour points are applied, as no rider scored stage points for the latter.

Standings after stage 21 and before End of Tour points

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	7305	+301
2nd	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	7023	+375
3rd	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	6994	+119
4th	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	6731	+414
5th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	6707	+301
6th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	6491	+219
7th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	6118	+199
8th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	BdC Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	6066	+192
9th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Els Averatxeirs (ATX)	6007	+239
10th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/VD.webp)	Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	5673	+279
11th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FV.webp)	Kinetic (KIN)	5453	+107
12th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	5018	+195
13th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	4708	+44
14th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	The Manilows (MAN)	4024	+36

Will that be enough to keep Velocostă in front after End of Tour points are applied?

FINAL STANDINGS

(± is wrt standings after stage 21 without End of Tour points applied)

Pos	±		Team	Points	EoT bonus
1st	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	8615	+1310
2nd	(+1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FL.webp)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	8404	+1410
3rd	(+2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	8027	+1320
4th	(-2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	7508	+485
5th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	7391	+660
6th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	7091	+600
7th	(+2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MM.webp)	Els Averatxeirs (ATX)	7087	+1080
8th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	BdC Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	6726	+660
9th	(+2)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/FV.webp)	Kinetic (KIN)	6663	+1210
10th	(-3)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	6568	+450
11th	(-1)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/VD.webp)	Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	6163	+490
12th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/CZ.webp)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	5348	+330
13th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/BE.webp)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	5028	+320
14th	(=)	(https://database.talossa.com/static/img/MA.webp)	The Manilows (MAN)	4274	+250

Of course we spoiled the answer already: yes, it was enough. Congratulations to @Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be for winning TCAT Italy 2025! A maiden win in Velocostă's first participation, just like Cyclohexane in Italy 2023. That was a tight affair too - still the tightest winning margin - but this race was also well-fought, with just 211 points separating the top two pair, coincidentally the same as in the previous leg, Spain 2024.

In second, Velociposse returns to a TCAT leg podium for the first time since Italy 2023, and in third, els Talossaes Rexhitais get a first podium and the best result in four participations considering their previous incarnation, Cantzelerïă Aþletici.

SIDE CLASSIFICATIONS...

...are a sweep for GHST, but it's not the first time either GHST sweeps the side classifications (that happened in Spain 2022 too), nor the first time a team sweeps the side classifications while not even making the podium in the general classification (it happened with the Cabana Boys in Spain 2023, who somehow only placed fifth). This, I think, puts GHST on 7 side classification wins, one shy of BdC which still is the team with the most side classification wins (8).

Either way the wins in the Sprinters and Climbers are not surprising (because of Pedersen + Groves in the former and Fortunato in the latter); Combativity is a little more unpredictable but here again Fortunato contributed half of the breakaway points in his hunt for the King of Mountains jersey.

SPRINTERS'S CLASSIFICATION - second win by GHST after Spain 2022
(intermediate sprint points + daily points' classification points)
Gordon Hiatus Support Team 612
Port Maxhestic AC 535
Cézembre Fieschā 513
Cyclohexane 488
BdC Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs 487
Maricopa Cabana Boys 347
Esqipă Velocostă (EVC) 336
Els Talossaes Rexhitais 336
Dirnalaiset Mortescu 310
Velociposse Florencia 255
Kinetic 254
The Manilows 249
Els Averatxeirs 76
Naziun Cjovani 28


CLIMBERS'S CLASSIFICATION - third win by GHST after Spain 2022 and Italy 2024
(summit points + daily KOM points)
Gordon Hiatus Support Team 568
Esqipă Velocostă 252
Dirnalaiset Mortescu 236
Els Talossaes Rexhitais 232
Naziun Cjovani 170
BdC Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs 167
The Manilows 161
Maricopa Cabana Boys 143
Port Maxhestic AC 134
Velociposse Florencia 133
Els Averatxeirs 133
Cézembre Fieschā 109
Cyclohexane 34
Kinetic 24


COMBATIVITY CLASSIFICATION - second win by GHST after Spain 2022
(20 pts per breakaway rider)
Gordon Hiatus Support Team 160
Port Maxhestic AC 140
Esqipă Velocostă 120
Velociposse Florencia 120
Els Talossaes Rexhitais 120
Maricopa Cabana Boys 100
Kinetic 100
Naziun Cjovani 100
The Manilows 100
Els Averatxeirs 80
Dirnalaiset Mortescu 80
Cézembre Fieschā 80
BdC Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs 60
Cyclohexane 20

That's basically it for the results! Some commentary is probably in order but for now, hope everyone had fun and we'll see you in a month for the second leg of TCAT 2025, mirroring Tour de France.

I am very surprised to have made the podium considering at one point my team was in last place! Congrats to the top finishers and I look forward to the next TCAT!

-Txec R

I'm glad that my team finished in a thematically appropriate way, namely 7th out of 14.

Quote from: Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial, UrGP on June 03, 2025, 12:23:42 PMI'm glad that my team finished in a thematically appropriate way, namely 7th out of 14.

That's funny actually!

-Txec R

Quote from: Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial, UrGP on June 03, 2025, 12:23:42 PMI'm glad that my team finished in a thematically appropriate way, namely 7th out of 14.

Hey what are tomorrow's Powerball numbers?

Asking for a friend.


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