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

[Carlüs Éovart Vilaçafat]

I think Maricopa's raging success in this leg calls for a proper logo!

[Sir Lüc]

Stage 8 Dénia -> Xorret de Catí

GC KUSS GC KUSS GC KUSS

World's best mountain domestique-turned-GC contender Sepp Kuss (CHX/BDC) did not win today, but he did take maillot rojo from Lenny Martinez (DED/VAL) and opened up a sizable lead to all plausible contenders - 2'30 to Evenepoel (MCB/DED/PTM/GHS), 2'38 and 2'42 to his teammates Roglic (SOS/GHS/CJO/GNH/BDC) and Vingegaard (CHX/CJO/GNH/CFA/BDC), all the way down to a very distant Geraint Thomas (VAL/CHX), already 8'43 down in the general classification.

It was not Kuss but Roglic who won today however, edging out Evenepoel in an uphill sprint at the front of a group of leaders including, in order, Ayuso (PTM/VAL), Mas (MCB/DED/PTM/GNH), Vingegaard, Almeida (SOS/GHS/CFA), Kuss and Soler. Rounding off the top ten, Vlasov (PTM/SOS/CFA), while Martinez paid over a minute to the winners and finished 12th together with Uijtdebroeks (GHS).

In TCAT, it is Gordon Hiatus Support Team's day, barely edging out assist points powerhouse Banqeu de Cézembre and Port Maxhestic. All these teams climb up a place, with Gagnheirs also moving out of last place and Dead Last overtaking Valcürïas for second overall.

Standings after stage 8:
                                

Pos	±	Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	2911	+394
2nd	(+1)	Dead Last (DED)	2658	+494
3rd	(-1)	Cjovani Valcurias (VAL)	2437	+252
4th	(+1)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	2291	+678
5th	(+1)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	2248	+655
6th	(-2)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	2105	+331
7th	(=)	Els Cantzelerïă Aþletici (SOS)	2056	+466
8th	(+1)	Banque da Cézembre Paranoid Knights (BDC)	2032	+670
9th	(-1)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	1990	+425
10th	(+1)	Els Gagnheirs (GNH)	1909	+591
11th	(-1)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	1750	+390

Side classification leadership after stage 8:
SPRINTERS: Cabana Boys (160), Valcürïas (116), GHST (99),...
CLIMBERS: Dead Last (94), GHST (93), Port Maxhestic (91), Cabana Boys (88),...
COMBATIVITY: Naziun Cjovani & Cézembre Fieschă (40),..


Get ready for more mountains tomorrow, for the last stage before the first of two rest days!

[Sir Lüc]

SEPP KUSS STILL IN RED

[Sir Lüc]

Stage 9 Cartagena -> Collado de la Cruz de Caravaca

A breakaway stage to cap off the week, with former TCAT rider Lennard Kämna taking the win, showing why he's a much better stage hunter than GC contender/captain. The break included just one TCAT rider, Jon Barrenetxea (DED/SOS/CJO/CFA), who ultimately finished fifth.

A pretty low scoring affair then, with the Barrenetxea teams logically in front, Dead Last topping the standings and going very close to toppling the Cabana Boys at the top, even! Likewise, Fieschă is just five points away from Gagnheirs, while Cjovani and Cantzelerïă both gained places today. Also gaining places, Port Maxhestic, who placed both Enric Mas (MCB/DED/PTM/GNH) and Alexandr Vlasov (PTM/SOS/CFA) in the top 10.

Standings after stage 9:                                            

Pos	±	Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	3046	+135
2nd	(=)	Dead Last (DED)	3007	+349
3rd	(=)	Cjovani Valcurias (VAL)	2523	+86
4th	(+1)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	2480	+232
5th	(-1)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	2421	+130
6th	(+1)	Els Cantzelerïă Aþletici (SOS)	2376	+320
7th	(+2)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	2256	+266
8th	(=)	Banque da Cézembre Paranoid Knights (BDC)	2255	+223
9th	(-3)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	2216	+111
10th	(=)	Els Gagnheirs (GNH)	2088	+179
11th	(=)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	2083	+333

Rest day tomorrow, we will resume on Tuesday with a 25km individual time trial in Valladolid. A bit of analysis to come as well!

[Sir Lüc]

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.

[Sir Lüc]

And the far briefer, promised update on side classifications:

SPRINTERS'S CLASSIFICATION: No surprise, MCB and Valcürïas are flying high thanks to Groves, though Evenepoel makes the difference for first place. GHST's third place is thanks to Evenepoel, Van den Berg and perhaps surprisingly, Lazkano.

Maricopa Cabana Boys 178
Cjovani Valcurias 128
Gordon Hiatus Support Team 105
Port Maxhestic AC 81
Dead Last 75
Naziun Cjovani 56
Cézembre Fieschā 48
Cyclohexane 27
Els Cantzelerïă Aþletici 21
Banque da Cézembre Paranoid Knights 20
Els Gagnheirs 12


CLIMBERS'S CLASSIFICATION: No surprise to find the four Evenepoel teams in front, since he's consistently been at the business end of the KOM classification. Making up the difference for Dead Last are then chiefly Barrenetxea and Lenny Martinez; GHST has Roglic; Port Maxhestic has Ayuso and Mas; and MCB has Mas and Bardet.

The race for the KOM jersey is unsurprisingly very muddy so far, and we don't have a clear frontrunner for the KOM hunt yet, like Vine and then Carapaz were at Vuelta 2022; or like Kaden Groves is right now for the points classification (and therefore the TCAT sprinters's classification). But if I had to make a prediction, then Bardet, out of GC contention, is a great climber and a serious candidate to be free to hunt KOM points like Giulio Ciccone was at Tour.

Dead Last 117
Gordon Hiatus Support Team 101
Port Maxhestic AC 99
Maricopa Cabana Boys 96
Banque da Cézembre Paranoid Knights 75
Cyclohexane 65
Naziun Cjovani 59
Cézembre Fieschā 45
Els Gagnheirs 42
Els Cantzelerïă Aþletici 35
Cjovani Valcurias 22


COMBATIVITY CLASSIFICATION: Might come a little more alive later, with fewer sprint stages expected, which inevitably see small, doomed breakaways (so fewer chances for TCAT riders to be in them). Regardless, Cjovani and Fieschă are still leading, thanks to Barrenetxea for both, Piccolo for the former and Gonzalez for the latter.

Naziun Cjovani 60
Cézembre Fieschā 60
Dead Last 40
Els Cantzelerïă Aþletici 40
Maricopa Cabana Boys 20
Port Maxhestic AC 20
Cjovani Valcurias 0
Gordon Hiatus Support Team 0
Banque da Cézembre Paranoid Knights 0
Cyclohexane 0
Els Gagnheirs 0

[Sir Lüc]

Stage 10 Valladolid -> Valladolid (ITT)

The lone 25.8kms of time trial of this Vuelta are already up, and in a predicted Evenepoel vs Ganna showdown, it's Filippo Ganna (MCB/DED/VAL) who ends up on top!

But it is neither of the Ganna teams who wins today: it's Gordon Hiatus Support Team, who placed Evenepoel (MCB/DED/PTM/GHS), Roglic (SOS/GHS/CJO/GNH/BDC) and Almeida (SOS/GHS/CFA) back-to-back-to-back. Completing the top 5, Alexandr Vlasov (PTM/SOS/CFA); so several teams had multiple riders finish at the business end, and indeed all those teams, plus Valcürïas, now form a top 6 that is shaping up to likely include the contestants for the final podium - with MCB and DED clear frontrunners.

Some predicted Sepp Kuss (CHX/BDC) to be doomed, but he took home a very respectable 13th place and, most importantly, kept the leader's jersey, with over a minute to spare on Evenepoel. Losing more time from Roglic and Evenepoel is, though, Jonas Vingegaard (CHX/CJO/GNH/CFA/BDC): he only placed 10th, and he now could be relegated to being Kuss's luxury domestique, returning the favour from Tour. Roglic might do the same, but he's only 25 seconds down on Evenepoel, so he's a plausible backup in case Kuss cracks later.

Standings after stage 10:

Pos	±	Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	3524	+478
2nd	(=)	Dead Last (DED)	3497	+490
3rd	(+2)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	2984	+563
4th	(=)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	2965	+485
5th	(-2)	Cjovani Valcurias (VAL)	2883	+360
6th	(=)	Els Cantzelerïă Aþletici (SOS)	2840	+464
7th	(+1)	Banque da Cézembre Paranoid Knights (BDC)	2575	+320
8th	(-1)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	2508	+252
9th	(+2)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	2452	+369
10th	(=)	Els Gagnheirs (GNH)	2372	+284
11th	(-2)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	2366	+150

Tomorrow, a long, hilly (but not terribly hilly) approach to a category 1 summit finish. A chance for breakaway stage hunters who can survive the climb? Is a Kämna repeat on the cards? Regardless, you better hope your riders get in the breakaway... or that the GC riders make up the gap before the end.

[Carlüs Éovart Vilaçafat]

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

This is just... oof, just brutal.

[Glüc]

Stage 11 Lerma -> La Laguna Negra.Vinuesa

The stage was decided by a large breakaway group today, which included 6 TCAT riders, of which Grégoire (CHX) was the fastest, ahead of Thomas (VAL/CHX) and Ganna (MCB/DED/VAL).

Behind them the GC favourites didn't do much damage to each other, all ending up in the same group (other than Thomas who climbed to spot 18 in GC), which means Kuss (CHX/BDC) keeps the red jersey.

As a result, Cyclohexane scored the most points today and jumped from 11th to 7th place in the standing, handing the red lantern to Els Gaghneirs. The Valcurias also did well and regained a spot on the podium.

Standings after stage 11:

Pos	±	Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	3686	+162
2nd	(=)	Dead Last (DED)	3659	+162
3rd	(+2)	Cjovani Valcurias (VAL)	3185	+302
4th	(-1)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	3091	+107
5th	(-1)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	3069	+104
6th	(=)	Els Cantzelerïă Aþletici (SOS)	2948	+108
7th	(+4)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	2798	+432
8th	(-1)	Banque da Cézembre Paranoid Knights (BDC)	2745	+170
9th	(-1)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	2608	+100
10th	(-1)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	2525	+73
11th	(-1)	Els Gagnheirs (GNH)	2492	+120

Tomorrow the peloton moves to Zaragoza for a stage that is mostly downhill and will likely be a good opportunity for the sprinters.

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[Sir Lüc]

Stage 12 Olvega -> Zaragoza

The only chance for sprinters this week, it was duly taken, with Molano (DED/SOS) pipping Groves (MCB/VAL) to first place. Most other TCAT sprinters placed towards the front, with Theuns (CHX/CJO) fifth, Van den Berg (GHS/PTM) sixth and Dainese (GNH) seventh.

Thanks to Molano, Cantzelerïă takes first today, with Dead Last in second moving ever so close to leaders Maricopa Cabana Boys - just three points separate the leading pair. However, a relatively even score across the board means the only actual position swap is Gagnheirs getting rid of the lanterne rouge, Fieschă moving in last place instead.

Standings after stage 12:

Pos	±	Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	3964	+278
2nd	(=)	Dead Last (DED)	3961	+302
3rd	(=)	Cjovani Valcurias (VAL)	3465	+280
4th	(=)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	3348	+257
5th	(=)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	3319	+250
6th	(=)	Els Cantzelerïă Aþletici (SOS)	3272	+324
7th	(=)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	3004	+206
8th	(=)	Banque da Cézembre Paranoid Knights (BDC)	2937	+192
9th	(=)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	2828	+220
10th	(+1)	Els Gagnheirs (GNH)	2683	+191
11th	(-1)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	2610	+85

Huge, huge day coming tomorrow as Vuelta encroaches into French territory and takes on the long and inexorable climb of Col du Tourmalet for a highest category summit finish. Expect dire consequences on GC prospects if any of the major contenders gets dropped; this is the first make-or-break stage of this edition.

[Carlüs Éovart Vilaçafat]

You're going to have to pry first place from our cold wet speedos!

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

The only thing worse than my team's performance is the completely indecent delight that Carlus is taking in his success.

[Sir Lüc]

Stage 13 Formigal -> Col du Tourmalet

Expect dire consequences on GC prospects if any of the major contenders gets dropped

And lo and behold, Remco Evenepoel (MCB/DED/PTM/GHS) cracked, and much earlier than it could have been expected. Also out of the GC fight, though not by as much, Joao Almeida (SOS/GHS/CFA).

Who most definitely did not crack, however, was the Jumbo-Visma trio spearheaded by Jonas Vingegaard (CHX/CJO/GNH/CFA/BDC), who was no match for anyone else on Tourmalet and is today's stage winner after a 7km solo effort. 30" behind him, his teammates Kuss (CHX/BDC) and Roglic (SOS/GHS/CJO/GNH/BDC) sealed in the Dutch team's dominance. In fourth place today and in GC, Juan Ayuso (PTM/VAL) may be the last remaining obstacle to a historic sweep of all three Grand Tours by Jumbo-Visma.

Cashing in big on Jumbo-Visma's domination, Banqeu da Cézembre, who set the record for the most points ever scored in a single stage of TCAT, 1060, and propel themselves right behind the leading duo of Dead Last (who finally gets first place) and Maricopa Cabana Boys - both scored low today. Conversely, well-needed high scores for teams like Gagnheirs, Fieschă, Cjovani and Cyclohexane.

The whole field is within about 1000 points, which sounds nice (and is much tighter than Tour and Giro were at this point). However, the reality is that the teams with multiple between Vingegaard, Roglic and Kuss are now set to cash big on their triple lead in GC, while today was horrible news for so-far leaders MCB and Dead Last, who both lost Evenepoel as a GC contender and can only hope for Mas to keep course. Dead Last and Valcürïas also lost Martinez, while GHST had both Evenepoel and Almeida tumble down the order.

Standings after stage 13:           

Pos	±	Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(+1)	Dead Last (DED)	4185	+224
2nd	(-1)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	4117	+153
3rd	(+5)	Banque da Cézembre Paranoid Knights (BDC)	3997	+1060
4th	(=)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	3830	+482
5th	(=)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	3826	+507
6th	(-3)	Cjovani Valcurias (VAL)	3691	+226
7th	(=)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	3680	+676
8th	(-2)	Els Cantzelerïă Aþletici (SOS)	3656	+384
9th	(=)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	3438	+610
10th	(=)	Els Gagnheirs (GNH)	3415	+732
11th	(=)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	3137	+527

More of the same tomorrow, at least profile-wise... can the Jumbo-Visma trio be stopped?