Talossan Cycling Association Tour Season 5 Leg 3: Monaco -> Granada

[Glüc]

Stage 11   »   Cartagena  ›  Lorca

As predicted, today ended in a bunch sprint. Brennan (GHS/BDC/MAN) won his third stage. Van Aert (CHX/CJO) continued to 5th place after his leadout. Albanese (CJO/DED), Elosegui (VFL), Alleno (DED) and Porter (PTM) all finished much further back, scoring limited points. A fairly low scoring stage where BdC got the most points.

I don't know if we've ever seen a +0 on the board. If we did it would likely have been in some first week (team) time trial stage.

Standings after stage 11:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)		Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	4629	+308
2nd	(=)		Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	3871	+278
3rd	(+1)		The Manilows (MAN)	3586	+280
4th	(+1)		Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	3573	+284
5th	(+1)		Cyclohexane (CHX)	3451	+178
6th	(-3)		Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	3425	+96
7th	(=)		Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	3303	+87
8th	(+1)		Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	2637	+94
9th	(-1)		Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	2546	+0
10th	(=)		Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	2455	+78
11th	(=)		Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	2370	+30

Tomorrow should be more interesting, as we get a mountain stage with an uphill finish that should suit climbers. It could be a good opportunity for a break, but I also expect to see some timegaps among the GC contenders.

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

Welp, there go my good feelings about this leg of Season 5 for the Posse. It was nice while it lasted though.

[Sir Lüc]

Stage 12  »  Vera  ›  Calar Alto

Summary lifted from PCS: After 40km, a breakaway formed containing Wout van Aert, Santiago Buitrago, and Jakob Omrzel. Omrzel gained time for the general classification, virtually moving to second place. Attacks among favorites occurred on climbs, with Enric Mas gaining 27 seconds. Omrzel soloed to victory, becoming the second youngest stage winner in Vuelta history.

BDC gets the stagewin and gains 100pts on its most likely direct (distant) competitor for the final win, Naziun Cjovani.

Standings after stage 12:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)		Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	5123	+494
2nd	(=)		Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	4017	+146
3rd	(+1)		Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	3967	+394
4th	(-1)		The Manilows (MAN)	3835	+249
5th	(+2)		Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	3760	+457
6th	(=)		Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	3746	+321
7th	(-2)		Cyclohexane (CHX)	3589	+138
8th	(=)		Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	3003	+366
9th	(=)		Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	2664	+118
10th	(=)		Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	2592	+137
11th	(=)		Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	2445	+75

[Glüc]

Stage 13   »   Almuñécar  ›  Loja

After yesterday's epic stage win by Omrzel (BDC/PTM), today was more of a classics type stage suited for attackers. Indeed we got a large break with all team represented, which was eventually reduced to a smaller group. Towards the end several riders tried to break free, but the only one who succeeded, about 5 km before the finish was Van Aert (CHX/CJO), along with Paret-Peintre (CHX), who bravely tried to sprint against Van Aert, but of course was no match for him. In the group that followed Brennan (GHS/BDC) won the sprint for third place, ahead of Widar (GHS/BDC) and Albanese (CJO/DED). Vermaerke (MMM) finished seventh, at least preventing the Menceis from another zero on the board, and Zana (CFA) finished tenth.

On a less fortunate note, yesterday brought more bad news for GHST, BdC and Cyclohexane as Vine abandoned. Today it was more misery for the menceis as Sivakov dropped out.

The stage today was won by Naziun Cjovani. They continue their surge and climb to second place in the standings and will now presumably set their sights on overtaking first place as well. With a full roster (compared to the 6 riders worth 54 credits BdC has left) and 8 stages to go that might not be as impossible as the 1100 point gap makes it seem. BdC still hold the advantage, but this is not over yet.

Standings after stage 13:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)		Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	5560	+437
2nd	(+1)		Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	4463	+496
3rd	(-1)		Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	4422	+405
4th	(=)		The Manilows (MAN)	4091	+256
5th	(+2)		Cyclohexane (CHX)	4044	+455
6th	(=)		Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	3876	+130
7th	(-2)		Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	3847	+87
8th	(=)		Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	3158	+155
9th	(+1)		Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	2819	+227
10th	(-1)		Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	2779	+115
11th	(=)		Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	2592	+147

Tomorrow a mountain stage with an uphill finish that could be one for the gc riders or for some adventurous climber.

[Sir Lüc]

Stage 14  »  Jaén  ›  Sierra de la Pandera

A day for the breakaway - 45 riders from all teams (except GHS) rode far in front of the peloton with Vermaerke (MMM) going solo midway through. Alas it was not to be. After multiple attacks from different riders, it was Marco Brenner (CHX/MAN/REX/VFL) who finally unlocked himself and got the stagewin. Rodriguez (DED/REX/VFL) got 3rd ahead of several other TCAT riders: Paret-Peintre (CHX, 5th), Zana (CFA, 8th), Calzoni (BDC, 9th), a much anticipated Almeida (CFA/CJO/MMM/REX, 10th) and Martin (CFA, 11th).

Among the GC favourites, Gall overtook Roglic for second by gaining 17" on him, alongside Mas, while Carapaz paid a further 6" more, showing he doesn't seem to have the strength to get to the GC podium. Even worse news for Onley, who dropped much earlier and seems also to have to settle for a place outside the podium, and Kuss, who lost two places in GC and is now a lowly 10th. Conversely, Rodriguez's third place 4 whole minutes before Mas gained him two places and a spot in the top 10.

The stagewin goes to REX with Brenner, Rodriguez and Almeida; this is their 11th win this season, tying GHS. High scores for VFL (also with Brenner and Rodriguez) and CHX (Brenner and Paret-Peintre), the latter rising to fourth with only a small gap to 3rd.

Luckily no TCAT riders among the five who abandoned the competition yesterday. It seems like attrition due to illness and/or heat and/or crashes is getting pretty significant.

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)		Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	5715	+155
2nd	(=)		Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	4622	+159
3rd	(=)		Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	4477	+55
4th	(+1)		Cyclohexane (CHX)	4437	+393
5th	(-1)		The Manilows (MAN)	4372	+281
6th	(=)		Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	4360	+484
7th	(=)		Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	3930	+83
8th	(=)		Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	3707	+549
9th	(=)		Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	3056	+237
10th	(=)		Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	2879	+100
11th	(=)		Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	2810	+218

Today's stage will be considerably shorter than planned as a result of the heat. It will likely be an affair for punchy sprinters, with Van Aert surely a primary contender.