2023 Talossan Cycling Association Tour - Leg 1: Ortona -> Roma

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

Amazing fun, just like last time! And so many people enthused about Talossan cultural activities is just great -- I can't wait until the next event!  That is when our secret plan will come together and crush our opponents.  We've been lulling you all into a false sense of security, see?  Now it's time to strike.

Thank you so much to @Sir Lüc and @Glüc da Dhi S.H. !

[Sir Lüc]

And here's my final update on our semi-official side classifications!

Sprinters's classification
(Points classification daily points + Intermediate sprint points)

Cyclohexane also wins this classification, with a mind-boggingly strong sprint team -- PC winner Jonathan Milan alone scored 360 PC points thanks to taking the PC lead on day 2 and never leaving it. On top of that, they also held Mads Pedersen, the second best sprinter by points earned; and Alex Kirsch, who scored the second most points of anyone else in the two stages he was Trek's designated sprinter in, after Pedersen's withdrawal, handing the TCAT win to Cyclohexane. (However, those were stage points, so they don't count here.)

Very nice second place for Averatxeirs to somewhat avenge their tenth place in the overall standings, powered by the Ackermann-Pedersen duo, respectively the second and third best TCAT sprinters by points earned.

Special mention to Fieschă, which despite only finishing 7th in the Sprinters's Classification manages to win the most intermediate sprint points of everyone else. (Giro does have a little-known intermediate sprint classification, so maybe so should we??)

Pos	Team	Pts	(PC)	(IS)
1st	Cyclohexane (CHX)	510	440	70
2nd	Els Averatxeirs (ATX)	247	187	60
3rd	Banqeu de Cézembre Pterodactyls (BDC)	230	160	70
4th	Dead Last (DED)	172	107	65
5th	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	168	133	35
6th	Maritiimi-Maxhestic Els Gagnheirs (GNH)	167	137	30
7th	Cézembre Fieschă (CFA)	156	81	75
8th	Kinetic Racing (KIN)	145	120	25
9th	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	143	83	60
10th	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	122	92	30
11th	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	38	23	15

Climbers's classification
(King of Mountains classification daily points + Summit points)

We come to Banqeu de Cézembre's consolation prize, which is their emphatic victory in the Climbers's Classification -- aside from KOM winner Thibaut Pinot, Ben Healy also wore maglia azzurra bringing home a bounty of points, and Aurelién Paret-Peintre was also a solid unique pick.

A recurring theme of my updates was how the Pinot teams were a lock for the Climbers's Classification podium, and this of course repeats in the final update. It is however Fieschă who overtakes CHX for second place, Cort and Roglic making the difference in the final stages.

Pos	Team	Pts	(PC)	(IS)
1st	Banqeu de Cézembre Pterodactyls (BDC)	611	491	120
2nd	Cézembre Fieschă (CFA)	432	330	102
3rd	Cyclohexane (CHX)	405	323	82
4th	Maritiimi-Maxhestic Els Gagnheirs (GNH)	157	58	99
5th	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	145	69	76
6th	Dead Last (DED)	82	25	57
7th	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	78	25	53
8th	Kinetic Racing (KIN)	36	12	24
9th	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	32	12	20
10th	Els Averatxeirs (ATX)	22	0	22
=	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	22	16	6

Combativity classification
Breakaway points (number of breakaways by team riders, times 20)

Usually the real combativity award is given out by a jury, but we have an objective measurement, which is breakaway points, that we can use to build an actual classification. How neat!

Banqeu de Cézembre wins this classification too, thanks again to Pinot, Paret-Peintre and Healy. This time the consolation podium is for Dead Last, who ride high on Warren Barguil's coattails, the Frenchman scoring a surprisingly high 80 breakaway points all by himself.

Pos	Team	Pts
1st	Banqeu de Cézembre Pterodactyls (BDC)	200
2nd	Cyclohexane (CHX)	140
3rd	Dead Last (DED)	120
=	Cézembre Fieschă (CFA)	120
5th	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	100
=	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	100
7th	Els Averatxeirs (ATX)	80
8th	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	60
=	Maritiimi-Maxhestic Els Gagnheirs (GNH)	60
=	Kinetic Racing (KIN)	60
=	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	60

[Glüc]

Congratulations to Ely/Cyclohexane!

I enjoyed this, but even more so because so many were participating, commenting on the thread, joining the watchalong etc, so many thanks to everyone who submitted a team!

Also many thanks to my co-host Lüc of course, who made doing this not just less work, but also a lot more fun. I greatly enjoyed doing Centraseira with him too. Looking forward to the episode where we review this edition and look ahead to the next edition.

That's it for now, but of course this is only a temporary goodbye, because the week before July 1st registrations will open for the second leg of the season! A chance for the teams who were unlucky this time to get their revanche. I hope all teams (and maybe some addition teams) will be participating again. See you all in Bilbao!

[Sir Lüc]

I have no further commentary on GHST's woes except for

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

Updated the wiki page a bit: https://wiki.talossa.com/Talossan_Cycling_Association_Tour

[Glüc]

Updated the wiki page a bit: https://wiki.talossa.com/Talossan_Cycling_Association_Tour

Awesome, thanks!

(Ely is https://wiki.talossa.com/Ersch%C3%A9ve%C3%BE_da_Schir btw)

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

Updated the wiki page a bit: https://wiki.talossa.com/Talossan_Cycling_Association_Tour

Awesome, thanks!

(Ely is https://wiki.talossa.com/Ersch%C3%A9ve%C3%BE_da_Schir btw)

Updated!

[Glüc]

Seeing how crappy the Gordon Hiatus Support Team is doing, I'm regretting not having a Cjovani team this time around...!

Well it's not too late to participate in the latest edition: https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=2539.0

[Iason Taiwos]

Seeing how crappy the Gordon Hiatus Support Team is doing, I'm regretting not having a Cjovani team this time around...!

Well it's not too late to participate in the latest edition: https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=2539.0

Done! Team Cjovani is in!