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

[Glüc]

Talossan Cycling Association Tour
2023
First Leg
Ortona -> Roma


_{(Logo created by Baron Alexandreu Davinescu}

And we're off! Eleven teams, from seven different provinces, each consisting of nine riders, have gathered on the Adriatic Sea near Ortona, Italy for the first stage of a grueling three week long cycling race. This is the first of three such races this season and the most succesful edition of TCAT so far.

The following teams are participating:

- Maritiimi-Maxhestic Els Gagnheirs - (GNH, Maritiimi-Maxhestic) Vlasov Thomas Bouwman Buitrago Ackermann Ganna Cort Küng Almeida -----------------------------------------------------	- The Maricopa Cabana Boys - (MCB, Maricopa) Evenepoel McNulty Haig Vine Groves Affini Armirail Küng Arensman -----------------------------------------------------	- Gordon Hiatus Support Team - (GHS, Benito) Evenepoel Vlasov Geoghegan Hart Kämna Gaviria Küng Hoole Puccio Kuss -----------------------------------------------------
- Cyclohexane - (CHX, Benito) Evenepoel Almeida Pinot Kuss Milan Küng Bettiol Kirsch Pedersen -----------------------------------------------------	- Port Maxhestic AC - (PTM, Maritiimi-Maxhestic) Vlasov Almeida Vine Haig Pedersen Küng Armirail Cort Carthy -----------------------------------------------------	- Dead Last - (DED, Vuode) Evenepoel Almeida Carthy Caruso Cavendish Küng Cort Affini Barguil -----------------------------------------------------
- els Averatxeirs - (ATX, Maritiimi-Maxhestic) Vlasov Sivakov Haig Vine Ackermann Ganna Cort Küng Pedersen -----------------------------------------------------	- Banque da Cézembre Pterodactyls - (BDC, Cézembre) Evenepoel Almeida Kämna Pinot Pedersen Healy A. Paret-Peintra Barta Groves -----------------------------------------------------	- Velociposse Florencia - (VFL, Florencia) Roglič Almeida Vine Kämna Ackermann Tesfatsion Cort Berwick McNulty -----------------------------------------------------
- Kinetic Racing - (KIN, Fiôvâ) Thomas McNulty Vine Bouwman Cavendish Hessmann Affini Gibbons Pedersen	- Cézembre Fieschă - (CFA, Cézembre) Jungels Vlasov Pinot Kuss Pedersen Dennis Rochas Cort Roglič

Links:
Season overview thread
Registration thread
Information about the route and riders

[Glüc]

Apologies for the delay in posting. I was a bit distracted because Lüc and I were recording the second episode of Centraseiră, where we have a detailed discussion of all the teams participating!

Currently writing the update with the results of the time trial

[Glüc]

So the first stage was an individual time trial in the region of Abruzzo. It started in Fossacesia Marina and ended with a short climbing section to Ortona. Already the first opportunity to make a difference in the general classification, it was won by Remco Evenepoel (MCB/GHS/CHX/DED/BDC), who proved why he is considered the favourite and will be wearing the Maglia Rosa tomorrow. Fastest on the climbing section was Brandon McNulty (MCB/VFL/KIN), who takes the lead in the King of the Mountains classification.

A great start for Els Gagnheirs. Strong performances by Ganna, who came second, Almeida, who finished third, Küng, Thomas, and Vlasov ensured the team from MM honoured their name and start TCAT with an early lead. Newcomers the Maricopa Cabana Boys also had a strong start. Meanwhile Els Averatxheirs were appropriately average. Another team making their debut, Dead Last from Vuode exceeded the expectations set by their name. Cézembre Fieschă had a less fortunate entry in TCAT. However, it is still very early. The first time trial usually is not all that representative of the stages that are to come and a lot can still happen. (Naziun Cjovani for example had a pretty bad start in the first edition and ended up winning.)

Standings after stage 1:

1. Maritiimi-Maxhestic Els Gagnheirs - 699
2. The Maricopa Cabana Boys - 674
3. Gordon Hiatus Support Team - 656
4. Cyclohexane - 643
5. Port Maxhestic AC - 621
6. Dead Last - 594
7. els Averatxeirs - 591
8. Banqeu da Cézembre Pterodactyls - 536
9. Velociposse Florencia - 534
10. Kinetic Racing - 345
11. Cézembre Fieschă - 246

Tomorrow we get a pretty flat stage, moving along the coast from Teramo to San Salvo. This should be a good day for the sprint teams (CHX, ATX, BDC, KIN) to score points.

[Glüc]

(I created this new thread yesterday, so it could start with the teams overview rather than the registration instructions. Of course everyone is more than welcome to comment on the race here as well)

[Glüc]

Noooo Pedersen :(

That was disappointing

[Sir Lüc]

Well. My browser decided to freak out when I was typing the report and I lost everything :))))

It's coming tomorrow morning, I'm going to bed

Edit, quick recap: Ely won stage and TCAT lead due to being the only one to pick the stage winner, Jonathan Milan. Strong showing from MCBs and Gagnheirs again. Mass sprint tainted by a crash at about 3.8km to go which broke up the peloton and meant Pedersen couldn't contest for the win. Evenepoel stayed in the front and kept the pink jersey; most other frontrunners were left in the broken up second section and paid upwards of 19" to him.

[Glüc]

Well. My browser decided to freak out when I was typing the report and I lost everything :))))

It's coming tomorrow morning, I'm going to bed

Are you sure you weren't just upset at getting beaten by Ely ;)

[Sir Lüc]

Well. My browser decided to freak out when I was typing the report and I lost everything :))))

It's coming tomorrow morning, I'm going to bed

Are you sure you weren't just upset at getting beaten by Ely ;)

Nah, I'm used to it, she handily beat me in F1 prediction challenge thingies both in 2021 and 2022, and I mostly only won this winter's alpine ski world cup prediction challenge because she forgot to lock in her weekend's picks more often than I did. I knew what I was getting into when I asked her to take part 🙃

[Sir Lüc]

Anyway: mostly-flat stage, so boring all the way until the last few kilometers.

As mentioned, Pedersen (ATX/CHX/PTM/CFA/BDC/KIN) was expected to do really well, but he was essentially cut off from the front by the wreck at 3.8km to go. (Still luckier than Daan Hoole (GHS), who was involved in the crash and turned up to the finish line last, over six minutes later.)

Pedersen's woes threw a spanner in the works of, well, the Pedersen TCAT teams that didn't have another sprinter, as he only picked up 7 points from the daily general classification payouts. Bad luck for Fieschă, Kinetic, Dead Last and Port Maxhestic then, with Mark Cavendish (DED/KIN) also out of contention and scoring 0.

Definitely better luck for Cyclohexane, one of just 1.2% of Velogames team to pick stage winner Jonathan Milan; and for MCB and BDC, both relying on P3 Kaden Groves as their lone and second sprinter respectively.

Meanwhile, Averatxeirs, Gagnheirs and Velociposse will be very glad Pascal Ackermann turned up to get a respectable P6; and closing out the lone sprinter teams, Fernando Gaviria (GHS) placed immediately behind on P7. Closing out the six TCAT riders scoring stage points, Gibbons (KIN) on P14 and Ganna (ATX/GNH) on P19.

Quick note on jerseys: Evenepoel stayed in the front pack post-crash and kept the maglia rosa; Milan will wear the maglia ciclamino (points classification leader); and the maglia blu goes to Paul Lapeira, first across both of today's lowly category 4 climbs for a payout of 6 KOM points.

Standings after stage 2:

Pos	±	Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(+3)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	986	+343
2nd	(=)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	962	+288
3rd	(-2)	Maritiimi-Maxhestic Els Gagnheirs (GNH)	954	+255
4th	(-1)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	857	+201
5th	(+2)	Els Averatxeirs (ATX)	815	+224
6th	(+2)	Banqeu de Cézembre Pterodactyls (BDC)	791	+255
7th	(+2)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	751	+217
8th	(-3)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	742	+121
9th	(-3)	Dead Last (DED)	709	+115
10th	(=)	Kinetic Racing (KIN)	460	+115
11th	(=)	Cézembre Fieschă (CFA)	283	+37

[Sir Lüc]

Very quick "unofficial jersey" recap for TCAT, if we consider only Velogames points scored in the Points Classification and King of Mountains categories respectively.

(Of course calling it a points classification doesn't make much sense since the Velogames general classification is also points based... Let's call it the sprinters' classification instead, and call the other one climbers' classification for consistence.)

This should help highlighting what strategies the teams went for in the long run (ie., we expect three climber teams to lead the climbers' classification, and conversely two sprinter teams to do well in the sprinters' classification)

Sprinters: Of course Cyclohexane also leads this with 34 points, owing to their win today.

1. Cyclohexane (34)
2. Banqeu de Céz (26)
3. MCB & Dead Last (22)
5. GHST (21)
6. Gagnheirs (16)
7. Averatxeirs (10)
8. Port Maxh (8)
9. Velociposse (7)
10. Fieschă (1)
11. Kinetic (0)

Climbers: Velociposse is the leader, benefitting from an error by Giro organisers who erroneously wrote down Brandon McNulty as the fastest in the final intermediate of Saturday's ITT... Alas.

1. Velociposse (22)
2. GHST (14)
3. MCB, Kinetic (12)
5. Cyclohexane, Gagnheirs, Banqeu de Céz, Port Maxh, Dead Last (10)
10. Fieschă, Averatxeirs (0)

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

Question: if the sponsor of a team were to lose their citizenship, would that mean that the team below them would advance in place? If so, then @Carlüs Éovart Vilaçafat hereby renounces his citizenship, and els Gagnheirs will rise.

[King Txec]

Question: if the sponsor of a team were to lose their citizenship, would that mean that the team below them would advance in place? If so, then @Carlüs Éovart Vilaçafat hereby renounces his citizenship, and els Gagnheirs will rise.

Nice try! You better hope Carlüs isn't rubber and this doesn't bounce back on you! "Breaking News: the Distain Renounces!"

[Carlüs Éovart Vilaçafat]

Question: if the sponsor of a team were to lose their citizenship, would that mean that the team below them would advance in place? If so, then @Carlüs Éovart Vilaçafat hereby renounces his citizenship, and els Gagnheirs will rise.

HA! Nice try! You can't get rid of the Cabana Boys that easily!

[Glüc]

Pedersen and Groves 2nd and 3rd and Pinot in the Maglia Azzurro.

This was a good day

Full update after points are revealed

[Glüc]

Stage 3 Vasto -> Melfi

Today the peloton moved further south to the Lucanian town of Melfi. Another day for the sprinters, except this time there was a bit more climbing towards the end with two summits followed by a technical descent to the finish line. Some of the sprint teams used these summits to pull hard wreaking havoc among the peloton, leaving many potential stage winners behind, including Cavendish (DED/KIN), Ackermann(ATX/GNH/VFL), Gaviria (GHS), and yesterday's winner Milan (CHX).

So the stage ended with a sprint in a reduced peloton including only a couple sprinters and most of the GC favourites. Mads Pedersen (ATX,CHX,PTM,CFA,BDC,KIN) was the first of the TCAT riders across the line, followed by Groves (MCB,BDC), with Roglic (VFL,CFA) also doing well.

A lot more happened on the climb. Pinot made a show by attacking to get points on both summits, securing the Maglia Azzurro (jersey for the king of the mountains classification).

Bad news for the Averatxeirs and Els Gagnheirs as Filippo Ganna lost a lot of time and his position in the gc. Of course the upside is that he may now be free to go for stage victories. Another victim of the fast paced climbing was Brandon McNulty (VFL, MCB, KIN) who couldn't keep up and lost his status as GC contender.

All this meant a great day for the Cézembrean teams, especially BdC, who gained the most points due to Pedersen and Groves, jumping to second place overall. Fieschă also had a strong day. Sadly this was not enough to fully bridge the gap with any of the other teams, but at least they are a lot closer in the standings now. Finally, Cyclohexane had another good day, enough to stay in the lead.

On the flip side, GHST and Els Gagnheirs and the increasingly appropriately named Dead Last, whose sprinters did not keep up on the climb, had a pretty bad day.


Standings after stage 3:

Pos	±	Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	1329	+353
2nd	(+4)	Banqeu de Cézembre Pterodactyls (BDC)	1299	+518
3rd	(-1)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	1272	+310
4th	(-1)	Maritiimi-Maxhestic Els Gagnheirs (GNH)	1123	+169
5th	(=)	Els Averatxeirs (ATX)	1112	+287
6th	(+2)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	1044	+312
7th	(-3)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	1012	+155
8th	(-1)	Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	973	+222
9th	(=)	Dead Last (DED)	832	+133
10th	(=)	Kinetic Racing (KIN)	807	+347
11th	(=)	Cézembre Fieschă (CFA)	651	+368

(Not surprisingly after two sprint stages there are two sprint teams in the lead. However, nothing is decided until we get to the mountains.

Tomorrow we move west towards Campania in what should be the most interesting day so far. Remco Evenepoel has already said he wouldn't mind giving away the Maglia Rosa tomorrow (of course his goal is to win it in the end, but strategically it might not be unwise to leave it to someone else who is not a GC contender and then win in back in the mountain stages). That basically counts as a green light for a breakaway to succeed, which means there will be a lot of riders without GC ambitions who will want to be in that breakaway.

Three 2nd category summits promise mean the Maglia Azzurro will also be at play again. Finally an uphill finish will serve first to decide the stage winner but then also as a test for the GC contenders, which will tell us much about which riders are in the race to win and which aren't.

As for TCAT, the wide variety of riders who could potentiall win tomorrow means all teams have the potential to do really well or really poorly.