Talossan Cycling Association Tour Season 4 Leg 3: Torino -> Madrid

[Sir Lüc]

Stage 10  Parque de la Naturaleza Sendaviva -> El Ferial Larra Belagua

Another "hockey stick" stage, with a steep climb at the end of an (at best) hilly approach. Predictably, everyone wanted to get into the breakaway and as a result it only managed to form 70km into the stage. Initially 30ish, they were whittled down to as few as 10 by the time the final climb began. Non-TCAT Alec Segaert and Pablo Castrillo were the first to attack, but were joined and ultimately dropped by Jay Vine (GHS/DED) who ultimately cruised to the finish to get a second stage win, and retain the lead of the King of the Mountains classification (polkadot jersey).

Behind, in the group of GC favourites, it was surprisingly Joao Almeida who took the initiative and attacked first; at a point, the lead group of GC contenders numbered as few as 5, but some of the dropped contenders were able to rejoin and a group of 10 finished 5th-14th, including Pidcock, Ciccone, Hindley, Jorgenson, Almeida, Vingegaard and Pellizzari. Vingegaard also regained the red leader's jersey. Some other riders finished in the points but lost some time, such as Gall, Bernal and Fortunato; the latter dropped out of GC top 10 as well.

Unsurprisingly, GHST and Dead Last finished on top today because of Vine, with the Belacostan team getting a win thanks to Ciccone, Jorgenson and Vingegaard, while DED had Pidcock and Almeida. Not much movement in the standings, though, but the bottom 4 is separated by just 50 points (and the bottom 6 by less than 250), so big swings seem primed to happen.

Standings after stage 10:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)		Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	4715	+623
2nd	(=)		Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	4050	+530
3rd	(=)		Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	3731	+322
4th	(=)		Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	3558	+343
5th	(=)		Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	3412	+270
6th	(=)		Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	3179	+145
7th	(=)		Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	3118	+395
8th	(=)		Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	2986	+328
9th	(+2)		Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	2948	+358
10th	(=)		Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	2937	+289
11th	(-2)		Cyclohexane (CHX)	2936	+284

Tomorrow, a typically Basque stage around Bilbao, with many categorised climbs peppered along the course and a final long descent to a slightly uphill sprint. Seems promising for a breakaway, but GC riders may not resist the chance at putting time on each other - if the latter, I strongly suspect Tom Pidcock is the favourite.

[Glüc]

Protestors protested yesterday, which resulted in the stage being neutralised at 3km before the planned finish in Bilbao. No official stage results was published, which means stage points were not awarded. However, GC time differences were measured at the finish, resulting in Almeida (CFA/DED/REX) and Pidcock (BDC/DED/EVC/REX/VFL) climbing to spots 2 and 3 in GC respectively. Fortunato (BDC/DED/PTM) and Soler (BDC) lost many minutes and are out of GC contention.

Without stage point it was a low scoring affair. However, breakaway, intsprint, summit and daily classification points were awarded, which means the results tell us something about who is doing well in the classification standings atm. Just like last two editions Esqipă Velocostă are doing quite well in that regard, and scored the most points. (edit: an earlier version of this post incorrectly stated GHST won instead)

Standings after stage 11:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)		Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	4850	+135
2nd	(=)		Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	4177	+127
3rd	(=)		Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	3861	+130
4th	(=)		Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	3688	+130
5th	(=)		Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	3496	+84
6th	(=)		Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	3270	+91
7th	(=)		Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	3256	+138
8th	(=)		Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	3098	+112
9th	(=)		Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	3039	+91
10th	(+1)		Cyclohexane (CHX)	3025	+89
11th	(-1)		Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	3015	+78

Today we get somewhat of an intermediate stage, with 2nd and 1st category summits along the way, which means the stage seems very well suited for a breakaway victory.

[Tric'hard Lenxheir]

I will be stepping away. Good luck to everyone.

[Glüc]

I will be stepping away. Good luck to everyone.

Why? I hope you're ok...

[Tric'hard Lenxheir]

I will be stepping away. Good luck to everyone.

Why? I hope you're ok...

Because I sometimes get a little depressed and when I do I get grouchy and I just need to back away. I'll leave my team up, not like I have to do anything with it just not going to be commenting

[Sir Lüc]

Stage 12 Laredo -> Los Corrales de Buelna

Massive 50+ rider breakaway, which largely stayed intact until the end. As such, TCAT teams had to do without their GC riders, who would never be allowed in the break, and it was a chance for teams with more stagehunters and fewer GC riders to shine: Port Maxhestic had as many as four riders among the 40ish who made it (Ayuso, Pedersen, Armirail, Küng) and duly exploited their advantage, going on to win the stage, their riders finishing first (for a second stage win by Ayuso), 5th, 17th and 21st respectively.

The next four best teams all scored similarly - Velociposse scored the second most points, holding Ayuso as well as Buitrago (8th), and the other three were the three teams with three riders in the breakaway: Cjovani, Dead Last and the Cabana Boys. Conversely, little luck for CFA and EVC, two of three teams with a single breakaway rider - the third one, GHST, is saved only by Campenaerts placing fourth.

Port Maxhestic takes a decent leap towards the top half and the battle for the podium, but does not gain any position; while Velociposse gains three, in a still extremely tight bottom half of the standings.

Standings after stage 12:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)		Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	5130	+280
2nd	(=)		Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	4533	+356
3rd	(=)		Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	4055	+194
4th	(=)		Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	4034	+346
5th	(=)		Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	3850	+354
6th	(=)		Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	3756	+486
7th	(=)		Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	3393	+137
8th	(+3)		Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	3386	+371
9th	(+1)		Cyclohexane (CHX)	3274	+249
10th	(-2)		Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	3223	+125
11th	(-2)		Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	3222	+183

Today, this edition's queen stage is coming up, with a summit finish on the extremely tough ascent of Alto de l'Angliru, possibly the steepest climb in any TCAT edition (we're still waiting for Monte Zoncolan to finally make its maiden TCAT appearance in a future edition of the Italian leg...). Very good chance today will make or break many riders's prospects in the final overall classification, and in turn, each TCAT team's chances based off the very important end of tour points.

[Sir Lüc]

Very good chance today will make or break many riders's prospects in the final overall classification, and in turn, each TCAT team's chances based off the very important end of tour points.

Specifically, it killed GHST, for a third leg out of three. I should have known:)