Talossan Cycling Association Tour Season 3 Leg 2 Firenze -> Nice

[Glüc]

Stage 7 Nuits-Saint-Georges › Gevrey-Chambertin

Yesterday we got the first of two individual time trials this tour. This was one was mostly flat but still included an uphill section in the middle which somewhat favours gc riders over tt specialists. Somehow, non GC TT specialists often tend to underperform in grand tour TT's and yesterday was no different, with the top four places being taken by the big four riders. Evenepoel (DED/CFA/PTM) was the fastest, as many had predicted, followed by Pogacar (CHX/CFA/BDC/CJO/GHS), Roglic (VFL/MAN/MCB) and Vingegaard (DED/ARB/VFL/CFA/CJO/PTM). Vingegaard only lost 37 seconds on Evenepoel, keeping the effects on the fight for the yellow jersey somewhat limited.

Almeida (ARB/MAN) had a decent showing, coming in 7th and gaining two spots in GC. Former Irish TT champion Healy (MAN) wass 8th. Vlasov (BDC), TT specialist Bissegger (CJO), much hyped new talent Gee (CHX/DED/BDC/GHS), gc contender Rodriguez (CHX/BDC/MAN/MCB/GHS), Bilbao (CHX/BDC/GHS) and Simon Yates (ARB) also made the top 20, with Rodriguez dropping to 7th in GC. Van Aert (PTM) had an unexpectedly poor showing, finishing in 24th place.


In previous editions Lüc and I have joked about doing a "Iason", which means picking both favourites. This year however, some new strategy has emerged in the form of a "þerxh", picking three (out of four) big favourites at the cost of having to spend the minimum amount of credits on every other position. A bold strategy, but so far it is clearly paying of, as Fieschā easily scored the most points yesterday, as the big-4 showed why they are the big-4. Dead Last continues being Dead First, but with most GC stages still to come CFA is in a very strong position. Port Maxhestic continues to complete the podium. The Cabana Boys had a disappointing day and take over the red lantern from Dead2Last.


Photo from Letour.fr. Current ITT world champion Remco Evenepoel won the stage today. Unfortunately the tour requires the leader in the young rider classification to wear the white jersey, which meant he couldnt wear the rainbow jersey (for the current ITT world champion). Because every second counts in time trials riders often wear uncomfortable odd-looking helmets for aerodynamics reasons. This one is still far from the weirdest TT helmet design however.

Standings after stage 7:

Pos	±	Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	Dead Last (DED)	2449	+474
2nd	(+3)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	2253	+632
3rd	(=)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	2158	+423
4th	(-2)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	2101	+314
5th	(-1)	Banqeu da Cézembre Tavulairs (BDC)	2064	+373
6th	(=)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	1894	+320
7th	(=)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	1892	+433
8th	(=)	Ardita Benito (ARB)	1693	+273
9th	(+1)	Maricopan Manilows (MAN)	1678	+377
10th	(+1)	Dead2Last (VFL)	1542	+363
11th	(-2)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	1530	+219

Today we have a stage that could be interesting for attackers. Another bunch sprint cannot be ruled out but the stage has enough hilly terrain for a break to potentially be succesful.

[Glüc]

Some more bad news for the two teams in last place, as Mads Pedersen has decided not to start today, as he is still suffering from the effects of his crash in stage 5. He is the first TCAT rider to abandon the tour.

[Glüc]

Stage 8 Semur-en-Auxois -> Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises

Every TCAT edition there appears to be one rider who brings excitement by going on adventures and attacking several stages. This edition so far that rider has been Jonas Abrahamsen (DED), the current holder of the polkadot jersey (King of the Mountains classification). He was on the attack again yesterday, originally accompanied by two others including Bissegger (CJO), but they both dropped quickly, so he had to continue solo for most of the stage, picking up more KoM points along the way.

In the end Abrahamsen was caught unfortunately and we did get another bunch sprint. Philipsen (MAN/GHS), failed to win again, but was the first TCAT rider across the line, followed by De Lie (ARB/BDC), Ackermann (DED/ARB/CJO), Van den Berg (CFA), Gibbons (CFA) and Turgis (CHX).

The strong result by Van den Berg, and very surprising result by Gibbons means that for the second time in a row, Fiescha scored the most points, edging ever closer to first place, which keeps being held by Dead Last (thanks to Abrahamsen among other picks).

Standings after stage 8:

Pos	±	Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	Dead Last (DED)	2779	+330
2nd	(=)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	2692	+439
3rd	(+1)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	2419	+318
4th	(+1)	Banqeu da Cézembre Tavulairs (BDC)	2377	+313
5th	(-2)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	2287	+129
6th	(+1)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	2150	+258
7th	(-1)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	2145	+251
8th	(=)	Ardita Benito (ARB)	2089	+396
9th	(=)	Maricopan Manilows (MAN)	1959	+281
10th	(=)	Dead2Last (VFL)	1661	+119
11th	(=)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	1571	+41

Today's stage, which is about to start and is expected finish in about 4,5-5 hours is definitely one to watch, as the riders will have to leave the paved roads for 14 sections of gravel and dirt, which could create a very different dynamic from most stages.

[Glüc]

Something that isn't included in the tcat updates, but that should be talked about is the devastating news that reached the pro-cycling world yesterday.

In the Tour of Austria yesterday, Norwegian talent André Drege died after a crash in the descent of stage 4. He was 25 years old and was supposed to join a pro-team this year.

Many professional cyclists will have known him, so obviously this is gonna have a big impact. Several riders in the Tour de France are wearing a black armband today to pay their respects. It will also result in further calls to do something about safety in pro-cycling, especially as it is only a year after Gino Mäder died in the Tour de Suisse.

Rest in peace André Drege

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

Oh man, this is getting exciting. Imagine if Dead Last ends up in first place while its tribute team, Dead2Last, ends up in dead last place. Could it happen?

[Glüc]

Oh man, this is getting exciting. Imagine if Dead Last ends up in first place while its tribute team, Dead2Last, ends up in dead last place. Could it happen?

It could happen. Dead Last winning would be quite funny and also fitting because of the Abrahamsen pick. But... Nice is still very far. Fiescha and Cyclohexane will certainly be looking to make some big gains when we get to the mountains again. (And you can never quite rule out a GHST or BDC comeback either.)

[Carlüs Éovart Vilaçafat]

Come on MCB!

[Sir Lüc]

Stage 9 Troyes -> Troyes

Yesterday's stage was billed as a potential banger and it didn't disappoint, as the gravel roads around Troyes played host to lots of attacks. The bulk of the breakaway split away with 150km to go already, and a group of eight riders lasted in front until the end, leading to a reduced bunch sprint which was won by Cyclohexane's Anthony Turgis. This propels the leg 1 runners-up to a daily win, in front of Banqeu de Cézembre, Dead Last and GHST (all sharing third placed Derek Gee, as does Cyclohexane), of the Manilows (whose Ben Healy finished fifth) and of the Cabana Boys, the last team with someone in the front eight - second placed Tom Pidcock.

Two other TCAT riders scored points: Mathieu van der Poel (ARB/MAN) - eleventh and among a group of seven riders that moved too late to catch the breakaway but still finished ahead of the main peloton - and Pascal Ackermann (DED/ARB/CJO), who won the peloton's sprint for sixteenth place. The main GC riders battled among themselves at several points in the stage; notably Tadej Pogacar went full steam on every gravel section, and Remco Evenepoel at one point launched a successful attack that was only regathered with much difficulty by Pogacar and Vingegaard, the latter helped by teammates Jorgenson and Laporte. Ultimately, though, they abandoned all efforts at trying for the stage win and finished among the peloton in non-scoring positions. This could have been a real coup by Fieschă, who at one point looked set for a 1-2-3 finish, and by the three riders on Primoz Roglic, who never looked like he could stay with the others and also lost superdomestique Aleksander Vlasov to a crash (the Russian rider finishing the stage, but officially pulling out today due to a broken ankle.)

We therefore go into our first restday with no changes up top, but with Cyclohexane taking full advantage of Turgis and Gee to vault themselves to third place. The Cabana Boys also give the lanterne rouge back to Dead2Last thanks to Tom Pidcock's second place.

Stage photo: the peloton makes its way through an early gravel section


Standings after stage 9:

Pos	±	Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	Dead Last (DED)	3076	+297
2nd	(=)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	2806	+114
3rd	(+4)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	2704	+559
4th	(-1)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	2699	+280
5th	(-1)	Banqeu da Cézembre Tavulairs (BDC)	2677	+300
6th	(-1)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	2361	+74
7th	(-1)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	2258	+108
8th	(=)	Ardita Benito (ARB)	2246	+157
9th	(=)	Maricopan Manilows (MAN)	2244	+285
10th	(+1)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	1824	+253
11th	(-1)	Dead2Last (VFL)	1722	+61

Today is a restday; tomorrow we begin the second week with a very flat stage that will certainly go to another bunch sprint.

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

Standings after stage 9:
Pos   ±   Team   Pts Ove   Pts Today
1st   (=)   Dead Last (DED)   3076   +297
11th   (-1)   Dead2Last (VFL)   1722   +61

That's what I like to see.

[Sir Lüc]

A few customary words to mark the first rest day!

Dead Last is certainly not where they expected to be, but I don't think @Tric'hard Lenxheir will mind! The Vuodeans are in the lead thanks to being the only team who selected Jonas Abrahamsen, the current leader of the King of Mountains classification and TCAT's second best rider by value at 80.3 points per credit. They also own two stage winners in Remco Evenepoel, who won Friday's time trial, and Dylan Groenewegen, who outsprinted everyone else the day before. Early days still, but they look solid enough so far; particularly Evenepoel may have looked like a risky pick given nebulous form, subpar support team and relative inexperience over three weeks, but he has only been outscored by Pogacar and Girmay so far, and he's one of just six TCAT riders to be on track to match the fabled 100 points per credit that makes or breaks each rider (843 scored versus 771 expected at this point).

Cézembre Fieschă has, as Glüc already touched upon, chosen a super-Iason strat: spending big on three of the top four GC contenders and skimping on the rest of the riders. It's a strategy that in its base form has always worked at Tour, but it might have looked riskier this year, as each rider in the top 4 had a few lingering doubts behind their form, some more, some less. But they do seem to have judged the situation well enough for now: they skipped on Roglic, the one that so far has done worse in points per credit (though Vingegaard is slightly behind in the road to hitting 100ppc), and are reaping the benefits of both Evenepoel and Pogacar, the two highest scorers of TCAT in absolute terms. As for the tradeoffs, they could certainly have done worse; while Haig and Poels are still pointless so far, Marijn van den Berg is a solid 6 credit sprinter, with two top-10s to his name and only negligibly behind his expected score if he is to hit 100 points per credit. But where Fieschă has caught a real break, if they even needed one, was finding another sprinter in 4 credit unclassed Ryan Gibbons, as the once-Mads Pedersen leadout turned into his team's sprinting choice as the Dane crashed out of Tour. In his first outing, Gibbons immediately placed sixth, with much more presumably to come, sealing Fieschă's status as the team with a definite edge for the final victory.

Cyclohexane may have once more scored a 4 credit jackpot; the 2023 TCAT Italiă winners had only just edged out BDC due to Alex Kirsch, and they appeared to have found a cheap backup sprinter in Anthony Turgis... only for the Frenchman to also go ahead and win yesterday's stage after spending all day in the breakaway! The victory made him easily TCAT's best pick for now at 110.5 points per credit, and brings fresh air to Cyclohexane's bid, the team still waiting for a true exploit to stake their claim to TCAT Françă 2024 until then. CHX is also the first of the teams holding only maillot jaune wearer Tadej Pogacar among the top 4 GC riders; he's predictably the highest scorer of any TCAT riders in absolute terms, but is a bit behind on pace if he is supposed to bring 100 points per credit to be a worthwhile pick - he'd be expected to have scored 1200pts by now. Still, the bulk of the stages where he's expected to score big have yet to come.

[Sir Lüc]

Gordon Hiatus Support Team shares many riders with Cyclohexane and as a result is just five points behind; where Cyclohexane supplanted subpar sprinter Bryan Coquard with Turgis, GHST has Fernando Gaviria to thank for keeping them somewhat relevant despite Jasper Philipsen having a pretty torrid first week. Gaviria instead managed to score two podiums already, and is TCAT's third best rider by value, and also, like Turgis, well ahead of where he needs to be to hit 100 points per credit (expected 171, scored 417). Just like Cyclohexane, GHST will need Carlos Rodriguez, Pello Bilbao and Santiago Buitrago to carry their weight in GC, especially if Evenepoel keeps performing this good. Stephen Williams and Paul Lapeira have also yet to show they're worthy picks, even with Derek Gee finally showing what he's capable of yesterday.

Banqeu de Cézembre has just received horrible news as Aleksander Vlasov dropped out of Tour de France with a broken ankle. This puts a serious damper on the Cézembreans's prospects at a fourth straight TCAT leg win, an unbeaten run that started in France itself a year ago. BDC was otherwise doing fine so far, never getting a stage win but holding one of the best value picks in Arnaud de Lie, yet another of the six TCAT riders who are overachieving in their quest to get to 100 points per credit. Otherwise, they would also be hoping Rodriguez and Bilbao improve their GC position, with Adam Yates (also of CHX) looking shaky in the pecking order of Pogacar domestiques, a clear disappointment considering his price. BDC will also be expecting more of their unclassed riders - they also hold Gee but Matej Mohoric and Oliver Naesen are unique picks that have yet to make their mark.

Port Maxhestic got off to a great start, making the most of first stage winner Romain Bardet and two unique riders: Wout van Aert got a third place in the opening stage, first among the peloton, and Richard Carapaz briefly wore the yellow jersey and managed to be on par with the leading GC contenders for a while. The Belgian, however, only contested one other sprint, and the Ecuadorean lost lots of time in the Galibier stage, plummeting down the order. PTM also holds Evenepoel and Vingegaard, and while the team initial momentum has waned, the GC duo may still bring loads of points to keep them at the business end.

[Sir Lüc]

Naziun Cjovani has, much like the past two Tours, gone with Pogacar and Vingegaard, which is a slightly more expensive strategy than usual. They've picked a trio of climbers that has yet to score significant points, though that's to be expected given hiller terrain is yet to come; and indeed there's no single climber that's currently on target to score 100 points per credit except for Romain Bardet, so I wouldn't be overly worried yet as Bernal has still scored the third most points of TCAT climbers. Where Denz and Harper may struggle instead is the relative dearth of mountain stages fit for a breakaway (even if Wednesday may be a first chance already). As for their other riders, Pascal Ackermann has proven to be a very solid pick, second among TCAT sprinters both for points and points per credit. The Bissegger-Armirail duo of unclassed riders was clearly picked with time trials in mind, and that hasn't paid off much on Friday, though Bissegger has also proved a potential source of stage points as a van den Berg leadout in sprints.

Ardita Benito, just a few points behind, holds Vingegaard, Ackermann and de Lie, all solid picks so far. They also hold Joao Almeida, who looks like a good choice as the best value among the Pogacar domestiques (Ayuso has scored more and is a mere second ahead in GC, but also costs more). Unique pick Maxim van Gils is the third best among the bunch of promising 8 credit unclasseds and he may definitely have been expected to score more, but then again the only two such riders to do better - Gee and Healy - have only just put themselves on the map yesterday. Laporte and van der Poel, instead, were always going to be risky picks as they are both little more than domestiques despite their individual abilities, making it hard for them to justify their high cost.

The Maricopan Manilows bookend this trio of closely matched teams and are the first to feature Primoz Roglic; the Slovenian has certainly proved to be the worst among the top 4, which is dogging the Manilows a bit considering they also hold another underperforming expensive rider in Jasper Philipsen. They can still hope for high GC placements with Almeida and Rodriguez, and Romain Bardet was undoubtedly a great pick so far, as already discussed elsewhere; van der Poel and unique pick Ben Healy just got them a solid intake of points yesterday, but they could've certainly hoped for more.

[Sir Lüc]

Last but not least, two teams that struggled so far - they both share Roglic, which we already mentioned, but also Jai Hindley - so far pretty unimpressive pointswise as a Roglic domestique - and Mads Pedersen, who unfortunately was the first TCAT retirement.

The Maricopa Cabana Boys actually got a stage win on stage 3 off Mads Pedersen and Fabio Jakobsen. Jakobsen has struggled for results for a long time but has actually managed two top-10 placements, which so far make him better value than stage winner Cavendish or the mighty Jasper Philipsen. A trio of high profile unclasseds round off this team, and while we've already mentioned Laporte's dubious value, Tom Pidcock is definitely a famous unique pick who just finished second in yesterday's stage and may well get more points later on (just how many, and if enough to justify his high pricetag, is the question). And despite being in good form, Alberto Bettiol hasn't shown much yet, already passing up on some stages that would have been a great fit for him.

Dead2Last are the one Roglic team to also hold some other top4 in Jonas Vingegaard - but they also suffer from Hindley being lackluster and Pedersen's retirement. Their Bettiol-type underperforming unclassed is Magnus Cort - the famous Dane has hardly brought home any points, and he too would have been a great fit for some of the stages that have already passed. A small silver lining is Jonas Rickaert, third best among TCAT 4-credit unclasseds in a field where it would have been very tough to identify worthwile picks.

[Glüc]

Stage 10 Orléans -> Saint-Amand-Montrond

Unsurprisingly, there was a bunch sprint. This time Philipsen (MAN/GHS)  finally won. He might have started to worry it wasn't gonna happen, but there is a reason he has been the favourite for every sprint stage so far and this time it paid off. Ackermann (DED/ARB/CJO), Van Aert (PTM), Gaviria (GHS) and Groenewegen (DED) also made the top 10.

The Manilows did well due to the Philipsen win, but GHST also has Gaviria and therefore took the most points. Dead Last also did well and remain Dead First. With Pedersen out of the race both Dead2Last and the Cabana Boys had yet another rough day.

Standings after stage 10:

Pos	±	Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	Dead Last (DED)	3405	+329
2nd	(+2)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	3159	+460
3rd	(-1)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	3002	+196
4th	(-1)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	2866	+162
5th	(=)	Banqeu da Cézembre Tavulairs (BDC)	2842	+165
6th	(=)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	2612	+251
7th	(+2)	Maricopan Manilows (MAN)	2600	+356
8th	(=)	Ardita Benito (ARB)	2515	+269
9th	(-2)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	2501	+243
10th	(=)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	1869	+45
11th	(=)	Dead2Last (VFL)	1797	+75

Tomorrow's stage may bring a bit more excitment as we head into the Massif Central for a stage with no fewer 7 categorised climbs (although none of them of the highest category. A lot of people will be looking at the GC riders tomorrow, but there are certainly chances for a breakaway as well, with people like Carapaz, Gee, Ciccone, Healy among the many options that might go on the attack tomorrow. It's certainly also a stage for people who might be eyeing the KoM classification. I would not be surprised to see the polkadot jersey in the break again.

[Glüc]

Just the standings today unfortunately, because no time for a full update. Yesterdays score (Fiescha got the most points) and the events surrounding several dropouts will be discussed at a later moment.

Standings after stage 12:

Pos	±	Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)	Dead Last (DED)	4362	+366
2nd	(=)	Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	3950	+237
3rd	(=)	Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	3910	+263
4th	(=)	Cyclohexane (CHX)	3728	+265
5th	(=)	Banqeu da Cézembre Tavulairs (BDC)	3586	+231
6th	(=)	Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	3383	+256
7th	(+2)	Ardita Benito (ARB)	3317	+353
8th	(-1)	Maricopan Manilows (MAN)	3311	+242
9th	(-1)	Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	3294	+250
10th	(=)	Dead2Last (VFL)	2301	+57
11th	(=)	Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	2183	+45