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:)

[Glüc]

Stage 13 Cabezón de la Sal -> L'Angliru

The break didn't have much of a chance yesterday. Instead it was up to the favourites and the tough final climb to L'Angliru really separated the weak from the strong. The strong in this case being Almeida (CFA/DED/REX) who just beat Vingegaard to the line. Everyone else lost time, although Hindley (CFA/REX/VFL) had a strong performance and got in third and climbed to fourth place in GC. Gall (EVC) and Kuss (CFA) also did well. Pellizzari (CFA) and Pidcock (BDC/DED/EVC/REX/VFL) limited their losses but still lost time to the top 2, while Armirail (CHX/MCB/PTM) and Jorgenson  (EVC/GHS/MCB) were among the losers of the day.

We also had a high profile dropout in O'Connor (CFA/CHX/VFL), who already had lost a lot of time since his crash in stage 10. Barcélo (MCB) DNFed as well. These are only the 5th and 6th tcat riders to drop out so far, which all in all isn't a terrible score. (The 4th was Chaves btw, who DNFed in stage 12, which was a big loss for PTM on a day they otherwise did very well in)

Anyway, the entire top 4 of the day consisted of Cézembre Fiescha riders, which we think might be a record (?). The resulting score isn't quite a record (the record score is 1060 fwiw), but is still monstrous and gains CFA four places in the standing.

Standings after stage 13:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)		Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	5627	+497
2nd	(=)		Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	5043	+510
3rd	(=)		Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	4585	+530
4th	(=)		Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	4474	+440
5th	(=)		Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	4310	+460
6th	(+4)		Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	4195	+972
7th	(-1)		Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	4097	+341
8th	(-1)		Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	4003	+610
9th	(+2)		Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	3862	+640
10th	(-1)		Cyclohexane (CHX)	3798	+524
11th	(-3)		Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	3761	+375

Typical for the Vuelta we have a lot of climbing stages, and today is no different, with two first category summits, the latter of which is also the finish. Could be a break, or could be another win for the GC guys

[Sir Lüc]

Stage 14 Avilés -> La Farrapona. Lagos de Somiedo

Lightning quick update. Breakaway almost completely fell to the charging GC riders: the lone survivor and today's winner was Marc Soler (BDC), who nets Banqeu de Cézembre a second daily win. A close second is of course Fieschă, who hold three out of the four GC leaders, today in 2nd, 3rd and 4th behind Soler: Vingegaard, Almeida and Hindley, in this order.

Long-term horrible news for GHST and Cjovani, whose Bernal-Ciccone duo fell out of GC contention in one swoop and seems unlikely to be able to contest for a top 10 spot; Fieschă's situation instead gets even better, if possible, with Sepp Kuss climbing up to 8th in GC.

Standings after stage 14:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)		Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	6030	+403
2nd	(=)		Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	5411	+368
3rd	(=)		Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	5358	+773
4th	(+2)		Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	4911	+716
5th	(-1)		Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	4868	+394
6th	(+2)		Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	4632	+629
7th	(-2)		Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	4601	+291
8th	(-1)		Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	4444	+347
9th	(=)		Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	4346	+484
10th	(=)		Cyclohexane (CHX)	4283	+485
11th	(=)		Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	4056	+295

Today, a mountainous first half makes way for a sprinter-friendly finale. The stage just finished - find out how it went shortly!

[Carlüs Éovart Vilaçafat]

Apparently MCB stands for Middling Cabana Boys LOL

[Glüc]

The profile of stage 15 seemed to invite a succesful break, so as a result everyone wanted to be in it. The first part of the stage was tough so some several riders who could have been succesful in a sprint didn't manage to get in the group. Some did however, and the last part of the stage didn't have as much climbing, so the attacks from riders who didn't fancy their chances against Pedersen in a sprint were all reeled in. The result was a reduced bunchsprint.

Pedersen (DED/MCB/PTM) succeeding in finally winning a stage, followed by Aular (CJO), Frigo (PTM) and Buitrago (BDC/DED/MCB/REX/VFL). Bernal (CJO/GHS) and Ciccone (CHX/CJO/GHS/MCB)  were also in the break and gained some places in GC as a result (even though they are no longer contending for the overall victory) while Vine (GHS/DED) used the opportunity to extend his lead in the King of the Mountains classification.

Despite the name (and with no protestors blocking the finish) Dirnalaiset Mortescu managed to score the most points as a result and significantly reduced the gap with GHST as we went into the second restday.

Standings after stage 15:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)		Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	6418	+388
2nd	(=)		Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	6021	+610
3rd	(=)		Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	5605	+247
4th	(+1)		Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	5372	+504
5th	(+2)		Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	5065	+464
6th	(-2)		Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	5045	+134
7th	(+1)		Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	4922	+478
8th	(-2)		Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	4762	+130
9th	(=)		Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	4573	+227
10th	(=)		Cyclohexane (CHX)	4404	+121
11th	(=)		Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	4256	+200

Tomorrow: more climbing and another uphill finish in a stage near the west coast of Galicia that quickly enters Portugal as well.

[Sir Lüc]

No time for a full update I'm afraid - very busy at a congress rn. GHST and Cjovani's Bernal won, but it is EVC who gets the daily stagewin with Landa in second and Bagioli 13th and just ahead of the GC favourites.

Standings after stage 16:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)		Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	6825	+407
2nd	(=)		Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	6168	+147
3rd	(=)		Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	5783	+178
4th	(=)		Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	5553	+181
5th	(=)		Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	5450	+385
6th	(=)		Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	5368	+323
7th	(+1)		Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	5202	+440
8th	(-1)		Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	5028	+106
9th	(=)		Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	4708	+135
10th	(=)		Cyclohexane (CHX)	4567	+163
11th	(=)		Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	4343	+87

Today, one of the last chances to put time on each other (very crucial especially for non-TT proficient climbers).

[Glüc]

Stage 17   »   O Barco de Valdeorras  ›  Alto de El Morredero

Today was one for the GC and indeed the last 5 riders remaining in front were also the top 5 of the current standings. We didn't get a real all out fight for GC however and no decisive blows were landed. In the end it was Pellizzari (BDC/CHX) who got away and finished in first place, 18 seconds ahead of Pidcock (BDC/DED/EVC/REX/VFL), followed by Hindley (CFA/REX/VFL), Vingegaard and Almeida (CFA/DED/REX).

Vingegaard remains in the lead, but the difference with Almeida is less than a minute. Pidcock, Hindley and Pellizzari follow on 2'28", 3'04" and 3'51" respectively.

Just like the fight for the red jersey has not been decided, the situation in TCAT is also still unclear with GHST having a significant lead, but not doing well in the GC standings and therefore likely suffering when we get to eot points. Today was a good day for their competitors, with BdC winning and Fiescha also doing very well.

Standings after stage 17:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)		Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	7151	+326
2nd	(=)		Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	6616	+448
3rd	(=)		Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	6481	+698
4th	(+2)		Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	6012	+644
5th	(-1)		Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	5896	+343
6th	(+1)		Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	5833	+631
7th	(-2)		Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	5727	+277
8th	(+1)		Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	5330	+622
9th	(-1)		Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	5249	+221
10th	(=)		Cyclohexane (CHX)	5045	+478
11th	(=)		Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	4805	+462

Tomorrow we get the only ITT of this edition. A short, flat parcours through the city of Valladolid. There aren't many stages left so perhaps this will tell us a bit more (if it doesn't get interrupted by protests). Specialist Ganna (BDC/DED/REX/VFL) should probably be the favourite.

[Glüc]

I really don't have much time for update today sorry. Also for a recap of thursdays time trial I'm afraid. Ganna (BDC/DED/REX/VFL) won that one ahead of Vine (GHS/DED), Almeida (CFA/DED/REX) and Armirail (CHX/MCB/PTM), and then Philipsen (BDC/DED/GHS/REX/VFL) beat Pedersen (DED/MCB/PTM), Aular (CJO) and Biermans (EVC) in the sprint yesterday. GC is still undecided, just as TCAT, where the result of these two days is Dead Last scoring the most points on both days and getting very close to dead first, but presumably several teams are still in the running for the final victory.

Standings after stage 19:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)		Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	7904	+381
2nd	(=)		Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	7812	+519
3rd	(=)		Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	7216	+352
4th	(=)		Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	6671	+208
5th	(=)		Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	6580	+320
6th	(=)		Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	6329	+293
7th	(=)		Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	6141	+257
8th	(=)		Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	6106	+315
9th	(=)		Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	5973	+281
10th	(=)		Cyclohexane (CHX)	5423	+97
11th	(=)		Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	5380	+287

Two stages today, including a mountain stage with a HC finish today, which will determine the overall GC winner and the traditional sprint in Madrid on sunday.

[Glüc]

Is Dead Last going to be first? It looks like it, but it depends on Pedersen. Yesterdays stage saw Vingegaard giving the decisive blow on the Puerto de Navacerrada, winning the stage and securing the overall victory. Kuss (CFA) came second, followed by Hindley (CFA/REX/VFL), Pidcock (BDC/DED/EVC/REX/VFL) and Almeida (CFA/DED/REX), resulting in Kuss climbing to 7th place. The top 4 remains the same, but Pellizzarri lost time and drops to 6th (BDC/CHX). The result is another massive stagewin for Fiescha.

Standings after stage 20:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)		Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	8551	+647
2nd	(=)		Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	8350	+538
3rd	(=)		Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	7801	+585
4th	(=)		Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	7608	+937
5th	(=)		Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	7138	+558
6th	(=)		Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	7005	+676
7th	(+1)		Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	6693	+587
8th	(-1)		Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	6634	+493
9th	(=)		Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	6343	+370
10th	(=)		Cyclohexane (CHX)	5897	+474
11th	(=)		Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	5801	+421

We know the final results in GC which also tells us most of the end of tour points that will be awarded. Cézembre Fiescha will score a lot of points from having 3 riders in the top 4 of the standings and 4 riders in the top 7. However, the gap with the top 2 is just a bit too large. The first for the podium is still very much on. BdC needs Philipsen to do very well today to keep third place, otherwise CFA will overtake them.

 Dirnalaiset Mortescu however is not that many points removed from GHST. At the moment GHST is still in the lead, but there is one stage to go, for this edition and for this season and it's the stage to Madrid which will likely end in a sprint. Philipsen might be the favourite, but if Pedersen is competitive he will likely score enough points to secure the overall victory for Dead Last!

It will come down to the wire. GHST is not defeated yet, but advantage DED.