So, a weather-battered week 1 comes to an end. Seems like Vuelta is going the same way as Giro, bar Covid.
Even with Coquard bombing, with only 8 points scored before a crash caused an early retirement, Maricopa Cabana Boys still leads TCAT thanks to its other sprinter Groves more than making up for the missed points. MCB was the lone team to go for a sprinter strategy, which was turbocharged by also picking Ganna and Askey, two unclassed riders who can and did sprint this week. Twice a time trial world champion, Ganna will also have a chance at winning tomorrow's ITT.
It remains to be seen whether MCB can resist Dead Last's charge in the coming stages though. They did lose Bagioli and Bernal might not have been the best allrounder pick (in fact, he's the second lowest scoring one after non-TCAT Bauke Mollema), but they have Ganna too, a solid climber combination of Mas and Martinez, a solid sprinter in Molano, and surprisingly popular pick Barrenetxea, second best 6 point unclassed among TCAT picks at the moment.
Also flying high - perhaps unexpectedly given how their 2022 Vuelta went - are the Cjovani Valcürïas, who also own Martinez, Groves, Ganna and Askey. Unfortunately, their chances to make up the difference with MCB and DED rest all into Juan Ayuso, as Thomas is having a shocker and Arensman and Vine both sadly crashed out. You never know though - Ayuso might well be UAE's chosen leader and resist well into the third week, as Dead Last's Mas fades and MCB gets diminishing returns with fewer sprints left. But sadly, Evenepoel - who the others do have - could be too high an obstacle to clear.
In fourth, Port Maxhestic has for sure the best team they are bringing to TCAT yet. The leading quartet of Evenepoel, Ayuso, Vlasov and Mas is doing fine so far, and Van den Berg is a solid sprinter who should have scored more had he not clumsily crashed in stage 3. The reason PTM aren't higher up is twofold: the sprints did them no favours, but the upcoming climbs should reverse that; and their other picks haven't particularly impressed, except by picking up assist points - but that is nothing to be scoffed at and might very well make the difference ultimately.
Very similar story for Gordon Hiatus Support Team except the effort is a little more spread out. Roglic and Evenepoel both won a stage; Almeida is his usual self, lagging behind on the climbs but always coming back; Uijtdebroeks and Buitrago did ok so far, but neither delivered a standout performance so far. Lazkano will also get more chances at a stage win, as he hasn't showed much so far (and didn't rack up any breakaway points despite featuring in some). Losing Zana without scoring a point is certainly a disappointing blow, but on the other hand he was only worth 6 credits, and Govekar proved to be a good 4 credit "hidden sprinter"; indeed, the best 4 credit pick of TCAT so far, in a way the heir of Neilands at Tour.
Cantzelerïă Aþletici somewhat look like a mix of the previous teams; if picking Roglic and Almeida was a Giro-inspired selection they certainly dodged the Thomas bullet, and Bardet and Vlasov nicely complement them and will no doubt prove useful in the coming climbs. They also certainly picked right with Molano as a sprinter and Barrenetxea in their unclassed picks. Sadly though, Arensman and Bagioli's DNFs will hamper them, as they both could have come alive later. This team's fate entirely depends on Roglic and Almeida scoring big - staying high in GC and placing high in stages - even though they respectively have Kuss-Vingegaard and Ayuso-Soler as uncomfortable co-contestants in Jumbo Visma and UAE. Bardet will not get a high GC finish, so he might be free to fight for stage wins, which he certainly can deliver.
Naziun Cjovani made several picks that might yield increasing returns in the coming stages: Vingegaard and Roglic for sure, but also the aforementioned Bardet and maybe even Buchmann, who did really well in Tour, but hasn't scored much this week and has to contend with a crowded field at Bora (Higuita, Uijtdebroeks, Kämna, Vlasov). Theuns was also a really good sprinter pick - the second best, in fact, and half the cost of Groves! - but where Cjovani fell behind was Berhe and Balderstone, two unrankeds who only scored a combined 8 points and might struggle to get assists (especially because Jayco-AlUla lost its best riders).
The appropriately misspelled Banque da Cézembre Paranoid Knights come next, with the unique strategy of picking all Jumbo-Visma riders they could, that is, everyone but Kelderman. This did yield a whopping 92 times 4 assist points (plus a single GC point for Attila Valter), and I guess this might end up being as good a strategy as any other down the line, with the Vingegaard-Roglic-Kuss trio a really hard one to beat and more assist points sure to come. They will just have to hope that their other two picks, Engelhardt and Hirt, won't be the ones to derail the whole thing -- they have both been pretty lackluster among comparable riders so far.
Cyclohexane has had ups and downs and a whole lot of bad luck: Vine, Zana and Bagioli all abandoned in short sequence. They do have Kuss and Vingegaard to score big later, and Grégoire is a very interesting unique pick that may also come alive later. Buitrago also was a really cheap climber pick that will have more chances, and we already mentioned Theuns as a very good and cheap sprinter pick. Much like CHX was betrayed by Bernal at Tour, though, Geraint Thomas has bombed big time, and he just costs too much to afford that kind of underperformance.
Els Gagnheirs certainly expected more from this TCAT so far, given their track record - Vingegaard, Roglic and Mas certainly did their share of the work. Less so Rubio and Dainese, perhaps, but their performance is certainly not why Gagnheirs is lagging behind. Instead, Gagnheirs are one of four teams to pick four unclassed riders, and the one team who fared the worst, with Arcas a saving grace, but the other three only racking up six points all together, in a situation reminiscent of Cjovani. (Curiously, none of the best unclassed picks by points-per-credit come from the 4-unclasseds, or rather, only Cjovani's Barrenetxea does.)
Conversely, Cézembre Fieschă did really well with their unclassed picks: in addition to the already mentioned Barrenetxea, they nailed two unique picks, Gonzalez (only second to Askey in points-per-credit among unclasseds), and De la Cruz. But something has to explain their low place in the standings: Ballerstedt and Higuita were certainly flops, the former completely at the service of Groves as a leadout, never getting the chance to sprint himself; the latter in the same situation as Buchmann among the utter legion of talented Bora climbers (and Hindley, Jungels and Konrad aren't even doing Vuelta!), outshined as a GC contender by Vlasov and Uijtdebroeks, and as a stage hunter by Kämna. Regardless, more chances to come, zero dropouts so far, they're looking good to improve their position.
Even with Coquard bombing, with only 8 points scored before a crash caused an early retirement, Maricopa Cabana Boys still leads TCAT thanks to its other sprinter Groves more than making up for the missed points. MCB was the lone team to go for a sprinter strategy, which was turbocharged by also picking Ganna and Askey, two unclassed riders who can and did sprint this week. Twice a time trial world champion, Ganna will also have a chance at winning tomorrow's ITT.
It remains to be seen whether MCB can resist Dead Last's charge in the coming stages though. They did lose Bagioli and Bernal might not have been the best allrounder pick (in fact, he's the second lowest scoring one after non-TCAT Bauke Mollema), but they have Ganna too, a solid climber combination of Mas and Martinez, a solid sprinter in Molano, and surprisingly popular pick Barrenetxea, second best 6 point unclassed among TCAT picks at the moment.
Also flying high - perhaps unexpectedly given how their 2022 Vuelta went - are the Cjovani Valcürïas, who also own Martinez, Groves, Ganna and Askey. Unfortunately, their chances to make up the difference with MCB and DED rest all into Juan Ayuso, as Thomas is having a shocker and Arensman and Vine both sadly crashed out. You never know though - Ayuso might well be UAE's chosen leader and resist well into the third week, as Dead Last's Mas fades and MCB gets diminishing returns with fewer sprints left. But sadly, Evenepoel - who the others do have - could be too high an obstacle to clear.
In fourth, Port Maxhestic has for sure the best team they are bringing to TCAT yet. The leading quartet of Evenepoel, Ayuso, Vlasov and Mas is doing fine so far, and Van den Berg is a solid sprinter who should have scored more had he not clumsily crashed in stage 3. The reason PTM aren't higher up is twofold: the sprints did them no favours, but the upcoming climbs should reverse that; and their other picks haven't particularly impressed, except by picking up assist points - but that is nothing to be scoffed at and might very well make the difference ultimately.
Very similar story for Gordon Hiatus Support Team except the effort is a little more spread out. Roglic and Evenepoel both won a stage; Almeida is his usual self, lagging behind on the climbs but always coming back; Uijtdebroeks and Buitrago did ok so far, but neither delivered a standout performance so far. Lazkano will also get more chances at a stage win, as he hasn't showed much so far (and didn't rack up any breakaway points despite featuring in some). Losing Zana without scoring a point is certainly a disappointing blow, but on the other hand he was only worth 6 credits, and Govekar proved to be a good 4 credit "hidden sprinter"; indeed, the best 4 credit pick of TCAT so far, in a way the heir of Neilands at Tour.
Cantzelerïă Aþletici somewhat look like a mix of the previous teams; if picking Roglic and Almeida was a Giro-inspired selection they certainly dodged the Thomas bullet, and Bardet and Vlasov nicely complement them and will no doubt prove useful in the coming climbs. They also certainly picked right with Molano as a sprinter and Barrenetxea in their unclassed picks. Sadly though, Arensman and Bagioli's DNFs will hamper them, as they both could have come alive later. This team's fate entirely depends on Roglic and Almeida scoring big - staying high in GC and placing high in stages - even though they respectively have Kuss-Vingegaard and Ayuso-Soler as uncomfortable co-contestants in Jumbo Visma and UAE. Bardet will not get a high GC finish, so he might be free to fight for stage wins, which he certainly can deliver.
Naziun Cjovani made several picks that might yield increasing returns in the coming stages: Vingegaard and Roglic for sure, but also the aforementioned Bardet and maybe even Buchmann, who did really well in Tour, but hasn't scored much this week and has to contend with a crowded field at Bora (Higuita, Uijtdebroeks, Kämna, Vlasov). Theuns was also a really good sprinter pick - the second best, in fact, and half the cost of Groves! - but where Cjovani fell behind was Berhe and Balderstone, two unrankeds who only scored a combined 8 points and might struggle to get assists (especially because Jayco-AlUla lost its best riders).
The appropriately misspelled Banque da Cézembre Paranoid Knights come next, with the unique strategy of picking all Jumbo-Visma riders they could, that is, everyone but Kelderman. This did yield a whopping 92 times 4 assist points (plus a single GC point for Attila Valter), and I guess this might end up being as good a strategy as any other down the line, with the Vingegaard-Roglic-Kuss trio a really hard one to beat and more assist points sure to come. They will just have to hope that their other two picks, Engelhardt and Hirt, won't be the ones to derail the whole thing -- they have both been pretty lackluster among comparable riders so far.
Cyclohexane has had ups and downs and a whole lot of bad luck: Vine, Zana and Bagioli all abandoned in short sequence. They do have Kuss and Vingegaard to score big later, and Grégoire is a very interesting unique pick that may also come alive later. Buitrago also was a really cheap climber pick that will have more chances, and we already mentioned Theuns as a very good and cheap sprinter pick. Much like CHX was betrayed by Bernal at Tour, though, Geraint Thomas has bombed big time, and he just costs too much to afford that kind of underperformance.
Els Gagnheirs certainly expected more from this TCAT so far, given their track record - Vingegaard, Roglic and Mas certainly did their share of the work. Less so Rubio and Dainese, perhaps, but their performance is certainly not why Gagnheirs is lagging behind. Instead, Gagnheirs are one of four teams to pick four unclassed riders, and the one team who fared the worst, with Arcas a saving grace, but the other three only racking up six points all together, in a situation reminiscent of Cjovani. (Curiously, none of the best unclassed picks by points-per-credit come from the 4-unclasseds, or rather, only Cjovani's Barrenetxea does.)
Conversely, Cézembre Fieschă did really well with their unclassed picks: in addition to the already mentioned Barrenetxea, they nailed two unique picks, Gonzalez (only second to Askey in points-per-credit among unclasseds), and De la Cruz. But something has to explain their low place in the standings: Ballerstedt and Higuita were certainly flops, the former completely at the service of Groves as a leadout, never getting the chance to sprint himself; the latter in the same situation as Buchmann among the utter legion of talented Bora climbers (and Hindley, Jungels and Konrad aren't even doing Vuelta!), outshined as a GC contender by Vlasov and Uijtdebroeks, and as a stage hunter by Kämna. Regardless, more chances to come, zero dropouts so far, they're looking good to improve their position.