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Talossan Cycling Association Tour

Started by Glüc, June 26, 2022, 08:41:29 AM

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Glüc

#15
Lots of things happening at the moment. Most of BdC is falling behind or literally fell or both. Meanwhile Cort Nielsen is trying again for Cjovani. Fortunes may be shifting.

Edit:
Barguil, Quintana, Pogacar all still there with so many others getting dropped. This could be a very good day for Naziun Cjovani (and very bad for GHST, because Roglic is far behind.)

Edit:
Well that was something. Pogacar the big winner as far as the GC is concerned. Roglic the big loser. No idea what this will do for the standings.
Director of Money Laundering and Sportswashing, Banqeu da Cézembre

Glüc

#16
So Audrada's concerns proved correct as there were many incidents today. While everyone managed to finish, many did so battered and bruised. (Although to be honest, I also thought it was by far the most interesting stage to watch so far.)

So for the first time the daily ordering is different. How the turntables for Naziun Cjovani, who not only scored the most points today, but also greatly improved their GC prospects, with Pogacar solidifying his role as the favourite and Vingegaard overcoming some bad luck, managing to hang on and, importantly, improving his position vis-a-vis Roglic. The only thing that could have made the day better would have been if Cort Nielsen actually managing to win the stage, but that proved too much of a challenge after having been in the breakaway every single day so far. On the other hand, it was a disastrous day for the Gordon Hiatus Support Team, scoring very few points, dropping to 4th in the standings, but worst of all, losing Roglic, who sadly was caught by a displaced haystack, as a genuine GC contender.

Standings after stage 5:

1. Banqeu da Cézembre KLüP TMT - 2235 (+219)
2. Kinetic Racing - 1678 (+180)
3. Naziun Cjovani - 1075 (+371)
4. Gordon Hiatus Support Team - 1017 (+92)

Tomorrow is the last stage before we get to the mountains (Binche - Longwy). Should be a lot less chaotic then today, but the finish should be exciting as they will have to climb a bit, so it won't come down to a mass sprint.
Director of Money Laundering and Sportswashing, Banqeu da Cézembre

Audrada Roibeardet

I knew that stage was going to be risky, didn't think it would be that bonkers.

Glüc

#18
Hard not to be impressed by Van Aert. After dominating the first week of the tour and having to do lots of work yesterday, he bravely choose the attack today, first with some others, eventually on his own, spending more than 100 km ahead of the peloton. Seeing the yellow jersey on the attack on a flat stage, without any teammates is not something you see very often. It would have been an insane achievement had he succeeded on his mission. Sadly, he didn't and lost his first place in the standings. Instead, it was mostly the gc favourites that fought for the stage win in the end, with Pogacar showing why he is the favourite, taking the stage and the Maillot Jaune.

This means another good day for Naziun Cjovani with Pogacar and Vingegaard delivering the second day in a row where they scored the most points.

Meanwhile, BdC should be getting worried that they really don't have that many riders who are competing in the group of favourites, resulting for the first time in the last place of the day. We are still ahead, but I fear there may be more similar results coming, and Kinetic Racing is gaining ground due to Pidcock, Thomas and Quintana.

Standings after stage 6:

1. Banqeu da Cézembre KLüP TMT - 2575 (+340)
2. Kinetic Racing - 2136 (+458)
3. Naziun Cjovani - 1604 (+529)
4. Gordon Hiatus Support Team - 1373 (+356)

Tomorrow, the Talossan Cycling Association Tour starts in Tomblaine and then finally makes it to the mountains. Well, one mountain really, the somewhat ridiculously named "Super Planche des Belles Filles", where the finish lies. This is the first big test for the climbers and may tell us a lot about the results to come...

(from letour.fr)
Director of Money Laundering and Sportswashing, Banqeu da Cézembre

Glüc

Another good Cjovani score incoming
Director of Money Laundering and Sportswashing, Banqeu da Cézembre

Glüc

#20
The first major climb of the tour, ending on a challenging gravel path with a 24% gradient, made clear who is still in the race for the gc and who isn't. Strongest again: Pogacar, but Vingegaard managed to stay close and score more points for Naziun Cjovani.

Standings after stage 7:

1. Banqeu da Cézembre KLüP TMT - 2941 (+366) [sh: 3163]
2. Kinetic Racing - 2413 (+277)
3. Naziun Cjovani - 2171 (+567)
4. Gordon Hiatus Support Team - 1803 (+430)

Tomorrow the TCAT arrives in Switzerland: Dole - Lausanne. Somewhat of a transitional stage without any climbs like today. Feels like this could be an opportunity for a breakaway group to make it to the finish for once, so maybe we'll have some surprises.
Director of Money Laundering and Sportswashing, Banqeu da Cézembre

Glüc

A bit early maybe, but as the first contours of the various classifications start to somewhat take shape I decide to quickly calculate a virtual standing.

That is many points will be awarded at the end of the tour based on the various classifications (obviously most points go to the winner of general classification). In the meantime, various points will be also be awarded on a daily basis to whoever is leading at that point. That means that even if a team hasnt scored that many stage points yet, they might still be doing well if they can expect to receive a lot of points for winning overall, so having a look at this could put the current standing in quite a different perspective.

So assuming the current standings stay the same (they won't, but it still tells us something)

Expected end of tour classification points based on the standings after stage 7:
CJO - 1720
BDC - 1185
KIN - 1115
GHS - 1070

Expected daily classification points (stage 8-21) based on the standings after stage 7:
CJO - 1470
KIN - 1316
GHS - 1162
BDC - 1106

Virtual standing (Current standing + Expected end of tour + Expected daily) after stage 7:
1. Naziun Cjovani - 5361
2. Banqeu da Cézembre KLüP TMT - 5232
3. Kinetic Racing - 4844
4. Gordon Hiatus Support Team - 4035

So basically if Pogacar holds on to the yellow jersey, Vingegaard takes second place and Cort Nielsen keeps his place in the King of the Mountains ranking (which is maybe not so likely, but we'll see) Naziun Cjovani can expect to gain enough points to overcome its current deficit and win the Talossan Cycling Association Tour. Of course there are still more than enough possibilities for the other teams to shake things up and none of this is considering all the stage results that are yet to come.
Director of Money Laundering and Sportswashing, Banqeu da Cézembre

Glüc

#22
The expected surprise never came to be in stage 8. The peloton never gave the breakaway a chance. In particular BdC's Nathan van Hooydonck pulled hard all day for his team captains, ensuring the attackers never got too far away. This strategy resulted in success for BdC as Van Aert managed to win another stage, with Pogacar not far behind.

Standings after stage 8:

1. Banqeu da Cézembre KLüP TMT - 3414 (+473) [sh: 3784]
2. Kinetic Racing - 2868 (+455)
3. Naziun Cjovani - 2559 (+388)
4. Gordon Hiatus Support Team - 2087 (+284)

Tomorrow (Aigle, Switzerland -> Châtel Les Portes du Soleil, France) we get a proper mountain stage with plenty of climbing kilometers and an uphill finish (though no HC yet). An important opportunity for all the teams to score big.
Director of Money Laundering and Sportswashing, Banqeu da Cézembre

Glüc

#23
Yesterday was another good day for Naziun Cjovani, due in part to Castroviejo, who was the first TCAT rider across the finish. We hadn't seen much of him in earlier stages, but yesterday he proved to be very valuable. Kinetic Racing still managed to hold on to second place for now, but it's very close.

Standings after stage 9:

1. Banqeu da Cézembre KLüP TMT - 3844 (+430)
2. Kinetic Racing - 3215 (+347)
3. Naziun Cjovani - 3170 (+611)
4. Gordon Hiatus Support Team - 2387 (+300)

Today was a rest day. Tomorrow (Morzine les Portes du Soleil -> Megève) will be another hilly stage, which should be good for attackers, but due to the long uphill finish the gc riders may also show themselves again.


Jonathan Castroviejo (Naziun Cjovani) and Thibaut Pinot (Banqeu da Cézembre) riding in the breakaway in stage 9 of the Talossan Cycling Association Tour. Somewhere in Switzerland presumably. Source: letour.fr
Director of Money Laundering and Sportswashing, Banqeu da Cézembre

Glüc

Quote from: Iason Taiwos on July 01, 2022, 02:30:16 PM
Morale for Naziun Cjovani is quite low. Showed my friend (the Tour aficionado) my picks for my fantasy team. "Eh, well, that's not the guys I would have picked." !!!

Starting to think your friend may have been mistaken. Cort Nielsen in particular turned out to be a great pick for 8 points.
Director of Money Laundering and Sportswashing, Banqeu da Cézembre

Glüc

#25
Another stagewin for Naziun Cjovani. This time it's finally Magnus Cort Nielsen, who has been in the attack many times so far. As a result, Naziun Cjovani overtakes Kinetic Racing for second place and may well be on track to overtake BdC as well in the coming week if it keeps getting these results.

Standings after stage 10:

1. Banqeu da Cézembre KLüP TMT - 3924 (+80)
2. Naziun Cjovani - 3511 (+341)
3. Kinetic Racing - 3317 (+102)
4. Gordon Hiatus Support Team - 2536 (+149)

Big day tomorrow as we get a major mountainstage (Albertville -> Col du Granon Serre Chevalier). Several 1st and Hors category climbs are on the menu, including an absolute tour classic, the highest point in the TCAT: the Col du Galibier. Cycling history has been written on the Galibier many times, so this should be exciting.

(source: letour.fr)
Director of Money Laundering and Sportswashing, Banqeu da Cézembre

Glüc

Ok, just saw the results and wow is my team useless in mountain stages...
Director of Money Laundering and Sportswashing, Banqeu da Cézembre

Iason Taiwos

Holy crap! I wasn't expecting that!

Glüc

Vingegaard takes the lead! And so does Naziun Cjovani! A major setback for BdC, GHST and Kinetic as Van der Poel withdraws, adding to  a pretty disastrous day for BdC overall as Pogacar loses to Vingegaard and none of the other BdC riders are anywhere to be seen.

Standings after stage 10:

1. Naziun Cjovani - 4307 (+796)
2. Banqeu da Cézembre KLüP TMT - 4204 (+280)
3. Kinetic Racing - 3996 (+679)
4. Gordon Hiatus Support Team - 3157 (+621)

A major plottwist today and it doesn't look like things will calm down tomorrow as the TCAT will climb the Galibier again(!) and then move on to another tour classic, the finish at the Alpe d'Huez (which btw is sometimes called the Dutch mountain, partly because Dutch riders have often been succesful here, partly because Dutch tourists on their summer holiday in France tend to go watch this stage, sadly not always behaving well). Another big mountain stage and another important chance for the teams to score big (or in the case of BdC, probably not).

(from letour.fr)

Director of Money Laundering and Sportswashing, Banqeu da Cézembre

Audrada Roibeardet

Speaking of fans misbehaving, I was genuinely upset by the behaviour of the onlookers towards the end of today's stage. We don't want nor need another "Allez Opi-Omi" situation.