Nice preview, some good stage racers turning up for several WT teams (plus Caja and AG2R). We (Drapac) are definitely a team for the breakaways here but Rory has some decent support in the mountains if we're not aggressive enough to get in the break.

As jandal pointed out, you can add Tomo Hatanaka as an EPIC rider for us

Are you serious? Anacona my GC leader instead of Johnson? What sort of crack are you on?

Good preview, the field is a lot stornger than last year, but that might go for most races

As I said plenty of mistakes, I was looking at HQ's for stats until I realised at the CT teams that I could just look at the actual db. I knew Anacona was a good climber and put him in. I'll replace him with Johnson and check if Johnson is worth it in a position in a classification later, also, I'll post stage reviews if I can find profiles online, otherwise I'll use the PCM one's tomorrow.

Hoping to finally get that stage win in San Luis. Also, our GC leaders are Burton and Sagan.

Generally I just wrote none if I didn't think they had a capable rider (see Lampre, they have none) although I can add them if you need.

Other than saying Golas is a sprinter, you are not quite wrong with your predictions

Well he's not a climber.

I'll take him off, as I said, expect mistakes.

Don't worry about, once the racing starts, people will be so busy complaining about the AI, they forget all about the preview

[quote]Ollfardh wrote:
Don't worry about, once the racing starts, people will be so busy complaining about the AI, they forget all about the preview [/quote

Thanks PCM AiI

Gabon was rubbish, won't waste any words on that.

San Luis should be very exciting. 2nd race, 2nd goal. Hintermüller is quite strong and this race should suit him perfectly. Unfortunately failed to bring a lead-out for Ciolek. Top-10 should be possible, given how close Josef was despite the stage 1 horror.

Also we have Tekeste and Kudus making their debute here, should be exciting to see what they'll accomplish.

Last season Sagan finished 5th in the GC.

Ok, I'll add him. Although GC will be harder this year.

When will the Tour down Under start? I don't want to sound impatient, but OPQS wants to start the season

Welcome to the last stage of La Tropicale Amissa Bongo. The stage today is 126 km long and we finish in Gabon's capital Libreville after an 8-lap circuit around the city. Don't be surprised if the breakaway wins again. They have won 4 out of 6 stages so far. Maybe Movistar will cause the same chaos as they did on stage 2.




Straight from the start there are 9 riders on the attack, looking to get into that winning breakaway. Everyone is content to let them go and they build up a lead of 2 minutes in just 1 kilometer. Delage (Cofidis), Ershov (RusVelo), Hansen (Lotto), Bilbao (Euskaltel), Gerard (Bretagne), Quintero (Colombia), Peron (Novo Nordisk), Marycz (CCC) and Di Corrado (Bardiani) are at the front. Many of these riders were already in breakaways on previous stages, so they do know how to stay in front of the peloton.




The front group has received a maximum lead of 4'50 and now the usual teams are starting to chase.




The front group has entered the circuit through the city of Libreville and the crowds are huge. Hopefully the peloton gets some inspiration from this. However, the police will have to be more alert as this woman is standing on the road and is lucky not to get hit. The peloton follows at 3'40.




The men in orange dominate the KoM sprint and it is Bilbao crossing the line first. With a total of 15 points available on this stage, there is still a chance to take home the mountain jersey.

KoM 1:
1. Bilbao (Euskaltel) - 5 points
2. Marycz (CCC) - 3 points
3. Gerard (Bretagne) - 1 point

The intermediate sprint a few kilometers later is won by Peron, although no one really bothers with it.

Sprint 1:
1. Peron (Novo Nordisk) - 6 points
2. Delage (Cofidis) - 4 points
3. Gerard (Bretagne) - 2 points




Ershov wins the 2nd KoM sprint and Bilbao only gets 3rd, which means that RusVelo's Boev will win the mountain jersey this year. Unless something happens from the peloton in the next 18 kilometers. The peloton follows a bit later at almost 3 minutes and once again they are having trouble closing the gap to the breakaway.

KoM 2:
1. Ershov (RusVelo) - 5 points
2. Delage (Cofidis) - 3 points
3. Bilbao (Euskaltel) - 1 point

And the sprint 3 kilometers later is won by Bilbao. Meanwhile, Movistar comes to the front. This inspires the other chasing teams to increase the pace too.

Sprint 2:
1. Bilbao (Euskaltel) - 6 points
2. Peron (Novo Nordisk) - 4 points
3. Marycz (CCC) - 2 points




The last KoM sprint is won by Bilbao, bringing his total to 11 points. The peloton is chasing hard with MTN-Qhubeka on the front. They are still looking for a stage win. The gap is down to 1'40.

KoM 3:
1. Bilbao (Euskaltel) - 5 points
2. Marycz (CCC) - 3 points
3. Delage (Cofidis) - 1 point

Anyone still cares about the intermediate sprint? Probably not, but here are the results anyway.

Sprint 3:
1. Di Corrado (Bardiani) - 6 points
2. Hansen (Lotto) - 4 points
3. Delage (Cofidis) - 2 points




Under the incredible pace of Flecha, the gap is now 1 minute to the front group. Once again disaster strikes for MTN-Qhubeka, they can't catch a break this week. Augustyn and Abundi have dropped from the peloton. There is little wind so it looks like they are just not strong enough to follow the pace at the front. Bernard and Schneider are other notable names in this group. They are a minute behind the peloton.




Crash! And it is more drama here in Gabon as 6th in GC Martinez Machado crashes. He will have to get in to Group Augustyn and hope he does not lose too much time now. Group Augustyn is 1 and a half minute behind the peloton. Movistar is causing serious pain again, as only 50 riders remain in the peloton. The front group is 50 seconds ahead.




We are on the last lap now and the breakaway has found a new energy source. The gap has increased to a minute. Movistar does a lot of work, but the break is too strong at the moment.




The break is still 1 minute ahead, so it looks like it will be another victory for the breakaway. Sky is now chasing for Weschenbach, but they are facing the same problems as Movistar and are not getting any closer.




Would you just look at that, the breakaway wins again. And it is Bilbao Baggins who is the strongest in the sprint today. What a fitting end of this year's Tropicale. Delage is 2nd and Gerard finishes in 3rd. A few sprinters come back strong, but it is too late for the victory. Verboven stops caring about the sprint and starts celebrating the victory of his team-mate, blocking Roelandts in his attempt to get a top 10 finish.


Martinez Machado sprints to not lose too much time, but the officials don't care and place him in the same time as Group Augustyn. MTN-Qhubeka is devastated as they cross the line, knowing that Augustyn is losing his 10th place in the GC.

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Pello Bilbao	Euskaltel - Euskadi	2h52'39
2	Mickaël Delage	Cofidis, Solutions Crédits	s.t.
3	Arnaud Gérard	Bretagne - Séché Environnement	s.t.
4	Duber Quintero	Colombia	s.t.
5	Artur Ershov	RusVelo	s.t.
6	Jarosław Marycz	CCC Polsat - Polkowice	s.t.
7	Benedikt Weschenbach	Sky Procycling	s.t.
8	Jesper Hansen	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
9	Carlo Calzone	Movistar Team	s.t.
10	Rudy Verboven	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.

Final results -> https://pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread....st_1022133

Haha, Verboven, that has to be a DSQ

(but no, UCI decided against that )

Won't post my actual thoughts about this, will probably get me banned.



Tomorrow the preview will be up. Unfortunately I only had time to play one stage, will try to do at least 2 or 3 this weekend.

Love Hägg! First GC win for NetApp! MVH 4 president!

Also, I really have a strange relationship to breakaways. Whilst the breakaway gave me a GC + stage win, the win-ratio of breakaways is far, far too high. I'm pretty pissed off to see Calzone not taking a stage win here. Hmpf.

Good seeing Movistar cause some serious pain again. Maybe as a reward Rojas managed to get into Top 10.

D'oh horrible start.
Astana failing the goal.Then Gasparotto not going in a breakaway despite being 7-8 minutes behind
And Bernard way behind the top 10.F*ck Movistar in all.Why are you chasing?
Both Gasparotto(2nd stage)and Bernard(6th and 7th stage)cracked in flat stages

The GC was decided on the first stage. With Hägg being part of a small breakaway that got 4 minutes on the peloton, he had a big enough lead to keep the yellow jersey until the end. Fernandez is the biggest surprise here. Also part of the breakaway on stage 1, he never lost much time over the stronger GC riders. Henao was the favourite going into this race and he proved it by finishing first of the rest. Without the successful breakaway on stage 1 he would have won here. Cervero, who finished 8th last year, did a better job this year and finishes just outside the podium on the 4th place. On the last stage Martinez Machado dropped to the 10th place. Over the week Augustyn dropped from 2nd to 15th.

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Heimdal Hägg	Team NetApp - Endura	21h46'49
2	Delio Fernández	Team Champion System	+ 2'03
3	Sergio Henao	Sky Procycling	+ 2'28
4	Delfi Cervero	Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela	+ 3'06
5	Benedikt Weschenbach	Sky Procycling	+ 3'09
6	Rudy Verboven	Euskaltel - Euskadi	+ 3'29
7	Jorge Cristobal Riquelme	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	+ 3'31
8	Jürgen Roelandts	Lotto Belisol	+ 4'17
9	José Joaquín Rojas	Movistar Team	+ 5'09
10	Ricardo Martinez Machado	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	+ 5'33

Weschenbach is the winner here due to his better result on the last stage. Had Martinez Machado not crashed on stage 7, he would probably have taken home the green jersey.

Rank	Name	Team	Points
1	Benedikt Weschenbach	Sky Procycling	68
2	Ricardo Martinez Machado	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	68
3	Pello Bilbao	Euskaltel - Euskadi	57

A close fight in the end, but Boev wins the polka dot jersey with 1 point over Geslin and Bilbao.

Rank	Name	Team	Mountain
1	Igor Boev	RusVelo	12
2	Anthony Geslin	Cofidis, Solutions Crédits	11
3	Pello Bilbao	Euskaltel - Euskadi	11

Hägg also wins the white jersey for best young rider. Cervero finishes 2nd and newcomer Weschenbach finishes 3rd.

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Heimdal Hägg	Team NetApp - Endura	21h46'49 (1)
2	Delfi Cervero	Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela	+ 3'06 (2)
3	Benedikt Weschenbach	Sky Procycling	+ 3'09 (3)

With Henao and Weschenbach high up in the GC and Thwaites inside the top 20, it is no surprise that Sky Procycling win the team classification. Movistar finishes 2nd and NetApp comes in 3rd. Team Novo Nordisk comes last, almost 3 hours behind.

Rank	Team	Time
1	Sky Procycling	65h36'10 (1)
2	Movistar Team	+ 1'42 (2)
3	Team NetApp - Endura	+ 5'13 (3)