[MinardiM189]

Dr Winston wrote:

He didn’t really enter my head. My 3.0,s of choice were Harper initially due to being 7th (ITT) and 2nd (road) at the Australian championships prior to the TDU. Then my head got turned by Ploeg who was being fancied by quite a few for breakaway duties and then did just that at the classic…so I ended up with him…(both UniSA)….I think I got locked into wondering which one rather than looking at any other choices. …I just got it wrong really for all the right reasons……

I had those two too, Harper for the same reasons & Ploeg because he might pick up some sprint points. Picking Ploeg was a mistake.

Like you said earlier, leaving the sprinters in until the puncheurs had showed there cards was the way to go, I ended up with Haas, McCarthy (who are nowhere near their normal form) and Dennis, who also seems to be struggling a bit.

6 points in 2 stages from 3 transfers and my TDU standard is screwed.

I have been watching the race on Facebook , GCN are showing it in Europe (Global Cycling Network) and also on Tiz Cycling.

 

[MinardiM189]

Dr Winston wrote:

@ Minardi….bllx…just what we didn’t want. I see you ditched Viviani as well and now he’s gone and contested those two early sprints….damn…I feared that….

I was more tempted to leave Ewan in than Viviani, thinking he might make it to the finish.

My big regret is picking Haas, he was struggling to hang on in the final lap and finished 7s down at the end. For once I should have listened to ‘previewers’ who said Haas looked poor at the Aussie Nationals and probably had no form.

A bit worried by McCarthy too, he hasn’t shown anything so far but hopefully he is saving energy for tomorrow.

Wish I had picked Chris Hamilton from the start, looks like he could win the young rider and finish with a top 10 on GC.

[MinardiM189]

Dr Winston wrote:

I literally have no idea what to make of tonight’s stage. It looks for all the world like a Belgian classic rolleur stage where they all shoot off at a pace….but is that even realistic in the heat they’ve been riding in ?….Pffft….errrr….mmmm…

I’m not sure what to expect from this one, either.

Mitchelton Scott are almost certain to make it hard, hoping for Impey to win the sprint. They will probably get some help from other teams. The only top sprinters who might make it are probably Ewan & Sagan.

So interesting I might stay up and watch it.

 

 

 

[MinardiM189]

Dr Winston wrote:

Don’t forget the stage has two early sprints which make it more than a little interesting. Impey and co have declared the need to grab seconds but Viviani and co may also be grabbing those in their fight for the pts jersey. Stage 3 is gearing up to be a really good one.

Yes, it will be interesting to see who goes for those sprints. With a hard day forecast a lot of riders will probably decide to save their energy to ensure they are there at the finish.

I suspect some teams will decide the stage is too hard for their sprinters and use them to try and stop competitors getting bonus seconds, eg. Walscheid, Bauhaus,Mareczko, Van Poppel. As you others like Viviani could be after the points jersey.

We could also see a lot of attacks on the finishing circuit. Before the final 2 climbs there is a very tight hairpin which could be a great point to attack as the peloton slows and stretches out going around the corner.

[MinardiM189]

Interesting Stage 1.

Interesting Stage 1.

Very surprised teams allowed Bevin to get in the break, he is a good outside bet for GC. Lucky for me as I have him in both purist and standard teams 🙂

Walscheid with an incredible sprint, he went long into a headwind and only that incredible late run by Viviani stopped an impressive win. Jumbo delivering VanPoppel too early yet again, looked like DVP didn’t have the legs either. Philipsen looked good & would probably got 3rd if Bauhaus didn’t deliberately block him.

Sagan looked slow, he went backwards in the final sprint, which is very unusual. Tomorrow should suit him better as the final is uphill.

Stage 3 could be the significant stage for both standard and purist. If it stays at the planned distance, we could see most of the sprinters disappear as GC teams make it tough on the finishing circuit. If it is very hot (the forecast is 40+) they might reduce the number of laps of the finishing circuit, that should give some of the sprinters a better chance to go the distance.

I’m hoping it is hot and goes the full distance.

 

[MinardiM189]

I was surprised that

I was surprised that Walscheid isn’t in the young riders jersey, the TDU website says it is to the rider under 26 years of age.

Obviously they meant to riders under 26 at the beginning of 2016.

[MinardiM189]

Stage 1.

Stage 1.

Forecast to be very windy tomorrow and the lap of the finish circuit has been taken out to avoid the possibility dropped groups interfering with the front group.

This could also signal big problems for some of the GC candidates.

Stage 2.

Extreme heat protocol means the route has been shortened by 29km, a stretch that went through the hills has been removed. This should make is a bit easier for the heavier sprinters.

 

Overall.

I don’t expect Valgren and certain others to be any where near their best, too early in the year for them to be competitive.

It will be interesting to see how the likes of Prades and Ballerini go in their first outings for WT teams. Ballerini was well positioned in the TDU Classic but got caught up in the last corner crash, I fancy him to do well in TDU but he is a bit expensive for a gamble.

Interesting that some teams only arrived last week, whereas others have been in Australia since the end of December. Some riders will be much better prepared for the hot conditions than others.

Doull was sprinting for Sky yesterday because Halvorsen was feeling ill in the heat, the last race where Doull was lead sprinter was Tour of Britain in 2015 , he did very well against a top sprinter field and won the points jersey and finished 4th on GC.

Good luck to everybody for our first outing of 2019.

 

[MinardiM189]

enrique wrote:

I can’t believe how consistent some of you guys are! 🙂 Pretty impressive! 🙂 I have no idea how you do it! How much planning goes into each race?   

In stage races you need to do some forward planning to make best use of transfers & budget. eg. having a cheap rider who may not score points in your team could allow better options in later stages.

I always look at the actual teams’ strategy for a race. Not all teams publish this but some do, you can find this on their twitter feeds or websites. You may discover that they are going to support a different rider than you think, or two riders could be sharing the sprint duties.

Not sure how consistency works in the Purist Competion, I have done well in the overall competition but my results in individual competitions aren’t anything special. Possibly comes down to having less completely disastrous races than other people.

[MinardiM189]

triccky100 wrote:

oh well, was not even close in the end, well played Tony!

Luck just wasn’t with you.

The crash yesterday stopped Venturini doing much better & Wouters finishing last was cruel.

[MinardiM189]

enrique wrote:

You guys are so amazing! 🙂 Wow! 🙂 I’m impressed! 🙂 I wish there was a page where we could have each person’s competition listed – like  it would say the Overall League 1st place and then show – for example – 3rd place Spring Classics – 4th place Giro DÍtalia – 1st place Tour de france – 2nd place Vuleta Espana – and so on – but showing the Top 5 or 10 competitors only. What consistency! How do you guys do it?    I see Minardi’s about to win the Guanxi Tour! 🙂

Best performance this year has probably been Dr Winston’s debut season. He won the Vuleta competition and has finished top 10 in both Standard and Purist competitions. An excellent performance.

[MinardiM189]

Thanks to all for continuing

Thanks to all for continuing to organise this fantastic game.

Dr Winston I find that live chat enhances my enjoyment of watching races on Eurossport. Tiz Cycling Chat is the best I have found (if you put up with the moderator) http://tizcycling-chat.chatango.com/

[MinardiM189]

tony kappler wrote:

As I said, all down to luck. One should get a special prize for picking 1st and last in such circumstances. And I still have 2 transfers left.

I was surprised you went with Wouters as he got dropped on the same stage last year but didn’t finish last.

Special prize will be could be winning the competition.

Not all luck. Keeping Vuillermoz & Uran in and leaving 2 transfers for the last stage is good judgement.

[MinardiM189]

triccky100 wrote:

yes did not work out well at all 

 

All down to your last 2 transfers.

13 points difference (I think)

Both of you have – Ackermann, Jakobsen, Groenewegen & Moscon but then

Tony has – Uran (7pts), Trentin, Wouters & Vuillermoz (0pts) & 2 transfers (edited)

against – Grosschartner (13pts), Venturini, Van Rensburg, Chernetckii (8pts) & 2 transfers

the right picks and you should win it.

Congrats to Bob’s Bicycle Shop who has now sewn up the PURIST competition with Trentin’s win.

I have a slim chance of 2nd if Swift or Visconti finally do something in the last stage.

[MinardiM189]

JohnnyRemo wrote:

Another twist? Trentin wins Stage 5 from Ackerman and Stuyven…

So Mountain Renegade back into the lead by the look of things.

Wouters came in as last man too !!

[MinardiM189]

Markwisdish wrote:

Well done triccky – chernetski was an inspired pick.

Brambilla let his team down and, more importantly, he let me down…. I’m definitely out of the race

If you get the right combination and a bit of luck you could still steal it.

An inspired pick who hits the break and wins all sprints and KoMs might just do it.

[Author]

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