2023 Talossan Cycling Association Tour - Leg 3: Barcelona -> Madrid

[Glüc]

Placeholder post for team reveal.

[Glüc]

Stage 1 Barcelona -> Barcelona (Team Time Trial)

The final leg started with the team time trial yesterday. Unfortunately the organisation wasn't great and because of the late start much of it took place in the dark. Combined with heavy rains this caused several crashes.

Banqeu da Cézembre started out as the big favourites, but had to wait due to a puncture by Vingegaard, ending last. Instead, it was Els Gagnheirs who completed the course in the least amount of time, followed by Dead Last and the Copacabana Boys.


Standings after stage 1

Pos	Team	Points
1st	Els Gaghneirs (GNH)	170
2nd	Dead Last (DED)	150
3rd	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	145
4th	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	125
5th	Els Cantzelerïă Aþletici (SOS)	120
5th	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	120
7th	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	80
8th	Cyclohexane (CHX)	65
9th	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	60
10th	Cjovani Valcurias (CAL)	55
11th	Banqeu da Cézembre Paranoid Knights (BDC)	25

[Sir Lüc]

Folks, terribly sorry about the lack of hype and updates and Centraseirăs, but I've been rather busy and distracted by other stuff lately, and so has Glüc.

Things should smooth out in the next few days, at least for me, so it shouldn't be an issue to resume the kind of daily posting that we did for Giro and Tour, even if Glüc is still busy (which is my understanding).

Thank you to all who are taking part, with a special shout-out to Vitx who's competing again after taking Giro and Tour off, and I hope to see Breneir, Marcel and Audradă back in the future.

A quick note on teams, as I'm very pleased to report we have a very diverse lineup:

- no single rider has been selected by a majority of directeur sportifs (Roglic and Vingegaard are the most picked, by 5 out of 11);
- the largest overlap between any two teams is 4 (same as Tour, and two fewer than Giro);
- two teams have a whopping 5 unique riders.

This should make for exciting competition, as there's more chance a strong performance by your team won't be canceled out by another team having your same riders!

[Sir Lüc]

And a quick scoring update after stage 2, with @Carlüs Éovart Vilaçafat taking the lead largely thanks to Kaden Groves and Romain Bardet!

Pos	±	Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(+2)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	448	+303
2nd	(+3)	Els Cantzelerïă Aþletici (SOS)	342	+222
3rd	(-1)	Dead Last (DED)	334	+184
4th	(+4)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	326	+261
5th	(+5)	Cjovani Valcurias (VAL)	243	+188
6th	(+1)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	236	+156
7th	(-1)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	233	+113
8th	(-4)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	225	+100
9th	(-8)	Els Gagnheirs (GNH)	205	+35
10th	(-1)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	148	+88
11th	(=)	Banque da Cézembre Paranoid Knights (BDC)	25	+0

[Glüc]

11th

Banque da Cézembre Paranoid Knights (BDC)

+0

:'(
That's so bad. I don't think thats ever happened before.

[Carlüs Éovart Vilaçafat]

We've never been in first place before!

Feels goooooood!

[Glüc]

Stage 3 Súria -> Arinsal

First mountain stage today, leaving Spain to finish in Andorra. No big time losses for the main GC contenders yet, but Evenepoel (DED/GHS/MCB/PTM) won the stage, followed by Vingegaard (BDC/CFA/CHX/CJO/GNH), Ayuso (PTM/VAL), Roglic (BDC/SOS/CJO/GHS/GNH) and Mas (DED/GNH/MCB/PTM). With 3 of the top 6 riders Port Maxhestic had a great day and takes over the lead!

Pos	±	Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(+6)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	936	+703
2nd	(-1)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	927	+479
3rd	(=)	Dead Last (DED)	917	+583
4th	(+4)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	887	+662
5th	(-3)	Els Cantzelerïă Aþletici (SOS)	778	+436
6th	(+3)	Els Gagnheirs (GNH)	734	+529
7th	(-3)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	693	+467
8th	(-2)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	437	+156
9th	(-4)	Cjovani Valcurias (VAL)	633	+390
10th	(=)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	578	+430
11th	(=)	Banque da Cézembre Paranoid Knights (BDC)	542	+517

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

!!!!?!?!??!?!!!

Not enough punctuation to express my dismay.

EDIT: Okay, a little better in the update.

[Sir Lüc]

Stage 4 Andorra La Vella -> Tarragona

A first proper bunch sprint, a second Maricopa Cabana Boys victory! This time, no solo efforts could deny Kaden Groves (MCB/VAL) a stage win, with both the hottest team north of Havana and Valcürïas also benefitting from Lewis Askey's eighth place.

The Maricopans ultimately win out due to also placing Evenepoel and Mas in the top 20; and it could have been an even more emphatic victory had Bryan Coquard, the best sprinter on the entry list other than Groves, not been involved in a crash 4km from the finish together with Santiago Buitrago (GHS/CHX) and a few others. Also crashing and out of the sprint contention, Marijn van den Berg (PTM/GHS), his demise, though harmless, sadly preventing Port Maxhestic's defense of the top spot in the standings.

Also scoring relatively high today are the teams of the two other podium finishers: Dead Last and the Cantzeleria Aþletici, due to Juan Sebastian Molano's second place, and Cyclohexane and Naziun Cjovani, due to Edward Theuns's third place.

Standings after stage 4:
                                                           

Pos	±	Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(+1)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	1382	+455
2nd	(+1)	Dead Last (DED)	1253	+336
3rd	(-2)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	1156	+220
4th	(+1)	Els Cantzelerïă Aþletici (SOS)	1093	+315
5th	(-1)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	1040	+153
6th	(+3)	Cjovani Valcurias (VAL)	1016	+383
7th	(=)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	949	+256
8th	(=)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	914	+241
9th	(-3)	Els Gagnheirs (GNH)	847	+113
10th	(=)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	755	+177
11th	(=)	Banque da Cézembre Paranoid Knights (BDC)	721	+179

Very similar stage coming up tomorrow: hilly most of the way, but flat finish for a second mass sprint. Clearly another opportunity for the Cabana Boys to score big - already the only two-sprinter lineup, they now also apparently can count on Askey to aim high. The teams whose sprinters didn't feature today - GHS and PTM with van den Berg, Gagnheirs with Dainese - will surely be looking for another opportunity. On the other hand, it will have to be seen whether Fieschă's Ballerstedt will have any chances to shine, when Groves is sure to receive most if not all of Alpecin's focus in his pursuit of the points classification.

[Sir Lüc]

I totally forgot to deliver updates on these during Tour, but we are totally tracking side classifications too! (sprinters's classification, climbers's classification and the combativity classification)

Reminder that the sprinters's classification is the sum of points gathered in the daily points classification ("PC" on Velogames) and in the intermediate sprints ("Spr" on Velogames); the climbers's classification is the sum of summit points ("Sum") and daily King of Mountains classification points ("KOM"); and the combativity classification is based on breakaway points ("Bkw").

I'll do a quick update on the front of each classification after every update I do, and a fuller update on rest days!

SPRINTERS'S CLASSIFICATION
Maricopa Cabana Boys 40
Naziun Cjovani 32
Cézembre Fieschā 28
Cjovani Valcürïas 26

CLIMBERS'S CLASSIFICATION
Port Maxhestic AC 42
Gordon Hiatus Support Team 40
Maricopa Cabana Boys 35
Dead Last 35

COMBATIVITY CLASSIFICATION
Naziun Cjovani & Cézembre Fieschă jointly lead with 40 points.

[Sir Lüc]

Storm of abandons hitting TCAT sadly. Coquard (MCB) didn't start yesterday, Zana (CHX/GHS) retired due to a stomach illness, and today we already have Bagioli (CHX/SOS/DED) and Vine (CHX/VAL) crashing out.

Cyclohexane is sadly already down to 6 when the sixth stage is not even completed. Eight riders left for Gordon Hiatus Support Team, Valcürïas, Cantzeleria and Dead Last.


Standings after (yesterday's) stage 5 - sorry, no update beyond saying it was another Groves win and MCB/Valcürïas cashed in big on Groves, Ganna and Askey all placing top 5 - but there will be one for today's stage:

Pos	±	Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	2036	+654
2nd	(+4)	Cjovani Valcurias (VAL)	1639	+623
3rd	(-1)	Dead Last (DED)	1569	+316
4th	(-1)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	1322	+166
5th	(=)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	1199	+159
6th	(-2)	Els Cantzelerïă Aþletici (SOS)	1186	+93
7th	(=)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	1136	+187
8th	(=)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	1086	+172
9th	(=)	Els Gagnheirs (GNH)	1071	+224
10th	(=)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	932	+177
11th	(=)	Banque da Cézembre Paranoid Knights (BDC)	828	+107

Congratulations to @Carlüs Éovart Vilaçafat and @Vitxalmour on placing respectively 25th and 66th out of almost 19K Velogames contestants for yesterday's daily score update! Carlüs is also currently 33rd in the overall leaderboard. Even though it's early days, we've seldom if ever had someone from TCAT place that high!

[Sir Lüc]

Stage 6 La Vall d'Uixó -> Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre

Six might be the new nine for Cyclohexane, as after losing Zana, Bagioli and Vine in quick succession they still manage to end up second today thanks to Sepp Kuss's win. But even placing Buitrago 11th was not enough for CHX to pip Banqeu da Cézembre for the top spot, thanks to a whole 100 assist points generated from Kuss's victory - and second place in the general classification - to the other six Jumbo-Visma riders in BDC's roster.

Dead Last and Valcürïas's Lenny Martinez, youngest rider at the start, ended up second but will steal the leader's jersey from Remco Evenepoel. Third place for Romain Bardet (MCB/SOS/CJO/CFA).

Standings after stage 6:

Pos	±	Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	2259	+223
2nd	(=)	Cjovani Valcurias (VAL)	1909	+270
3rd	(=)	Dead Last (DED)	1871	+302
4th	(+3)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	1526	+390
5th	(+1)	Els Cantzelerïă Aþletici (SOS)	1405	+219
6th	(-2)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	1389	+67
7th	(-2)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	1356	+157
8th	(=)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	1339	+253
9th	(=)	Els Gagnheirs (GNH)	1254	+183
10th	(+1)	Banque da Cézembre Paranoid Knights (BDC)	1244	+416
11th	(-1)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	1192	+260

Side classification leadership after stage 6:
SPRINTERS: Cabana Boys (110), Valcürïas (72), GHST (65)
CLIMBERS: Dead Last (60), Port Maxhestic (56), Cabana Boys (55), GHST (54)
COMBATIVITY: Naziun Cjovani & Cézembre Fieschă (40)


Another bunch sprint is coming in stage 7, and it will be the last for a while, as Vuelta next takes on two mountain stages, the latter with an uphill finish; the lone time trial of this year; and lastly another hilly stage with an uphill finish. This is sure to be MCB's chance to do more damage, before we move to less lopsided territory.

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

This is just brutal... GNH sponsors must be livid.

[Carlüs Éovart Vilaçafat]

The Cabana Boys commin' for ya!

[Glüc]

Stage 7 Utiel -> Oliva

Sadly, the prospects for the Cabana Boys, along with Valcurias and the chancery team, deteriorated today, as Thymen Arensman (MCB/SOS/VAL) ended up in hospital after a crash. You couldn't tell from the current scores though as the Cabana Boys and Valcurias did well in terms of the stage result and (spoiler) keep their first and second place in the standing.

The stage started with descending and rolling terrain, but ended pretty much flat, so another opportunity for a bunch sprint. Fastest of the TCAT riders was Edward Theuns (CHX/CJO), followed by Molano (DED/SOS), Groves (MCB/VAL), Van den Berg (PTM/GHS) and Gonzalez (CFA). The results by Molano and Ganna, combined with the GC lead for Martinez means that Dead Last scored the most points today. Meanwhile, Els Gaghneirs did poorly again and drop to last place.

Standings after stage 7:

Pos	±	Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	2517	+258
2nd	(=)	Cjovani Valcurias (VAL)	2185	+276
3rd	(=)	Dead Last (DED)	2164	+293
4th	(=)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	1774	+248
5th	(+2)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	1613	+257
6th	(=)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	1593	+204
7th	(-2)	Els Cantzelerïă Aþletici (SOS)	1590	+185
8th	(=)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	1565	+226
9th	(+1)	Banque da Cézembre Paranoid Knights (BDC)	1362	+118
10th	(+1)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	1360	+168
11th	(-2)	Els Gagnheirs (GNH)	1318	+64

Tomorrow we are on the Costa Blanca in Alicante. But no trips to the beach or partying in Benidorm. Instead there will be serious climbing with 5 summits, including a first category climb.