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One in a Billion | Rise to the Summit
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 16-06-2017 15:15
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Grand Tour Specialist
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I think that it has been a really good week for you. 3 days as race leader in Dauphine is a great achievement.
You couldn't do anything about Quintana, but that horrible stage 7, put you out of a realistic chance of a podium
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| Kiserlovski01 |
Posted on 16-06-2017 15:22
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Already expected Meintjes to be released but he's leaving now anyway, should be a relief no matter what the circumstances are. Great ride in France, despite the bad stage. There's still time to grow before le Tour. 
Spoiler Question from someone who never plays the My Pro mode: do you get to do transfers yourself or do they happen automatically?
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 16-06-2017 16:03
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4191
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In the Pro Cyclist mode you only manage yourself. You can choose your team between your offers, but your team is like a IA controlled team in the Career Mode
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 17-06-2017 05:18
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11676
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@Aquarius: The time in yellow and the way I got there did boost my confidence. Stage 7 may indicate that I need to come up with a different strategy than just trying to hang to the lead group on tough mountain stages. I hope I can put this experience to use in the Tour.
@Kiserlovski: Meintjes leaving does leave the door open. I need to ensure I push it open wider. Thanks
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| Tamijo |
Posted on 17-06-2017 06:39
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Team Leader
Posts: 7406
Joined: 14-07-2015
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To ride in the Jersey for the first time must have been something amazing. Otherwise the nightmare of losing everything on one single stage, something that happens to every rider, doing too much to hang in and then explode.
A race to take a lot from, going forward.
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| Kiserlovski01 |
Posted on 17-06-2017 08:17
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4055
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Aquarius97 wrote:
In the Pro Cyclist mode you only manage yourself. You can choose your team between your offers, but your team is like a IA controlled team in the Career Mode
Thanks for that.
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| Ripley |
Posted on 17-06-2017 08:53
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3341
Joined: 25-11-2014
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Yeah, Sinha will only grow from this experience. |
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 17-06-2017 14:28
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Directeur Sportif
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@Tamijo: The feeling was unreal when I stepped onto the podium for the first time. Just like winning my first stage. A lot to learn from this race for sure.
@Ripley: Yes, only way to improve is to use the experience going ahead
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 18-06-2017 02:51
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The hallowed month on the cycling calendar is here. For me, it meant starting the most famous race in the cycling calendar for the very first time. To say I was excited would be an understatement. To say I was nervous, would be an even greater understatement.
I was chosen as the leader for this race despite Betancur's presence. I felt quite silly about the worrying I had done the best part of the last year now! The team had given me the backing I needed to be competitive. My first shot at the Tour was going to be an important one.
Lotto Soudal Startlist
Stage 1 was the Prologue and I saw it as a chance to make a good early impression. I improved as I went through each time check. I crossed the line in 7th place. After everyone had finished, I moved down to 19th, a minute and twenty seconds down on stage winner Rafa Palik. What a day it must have been for the youngster to grab Yellow on his first ride in the Tour! Betancur lost a shade under three minutes.
Stage 2 was flat. I stayed in the pack and out of trouble.
Stage 3 was a carbon copy of the previous. No action for our team.
Stage 4
This stage made a huge dent in my GC placings. Coming into this extra-long team time-trial, we knew that we were not close to the best teams. That was exaggerated by the distance that had to be covered. We finished more than three minutes down on winners Tinkoff-Saxo. Taylor Phinney was the new leader.
Stage 5 was flat again and the sprinters had their moment.
Stage 6 had a small incline just a couple of kilometres before the finish. I had targeted this stage as a possible chance of a win. However, with the break still looming ahead, the teams of sprinters kept the pace impossibly high. The break were caught on the descent and the stage was decided in a bunch sprint.
Stage 7 was another sprinters' paradise and it even saw all 198 riders crossing the line together!
| 1 | Taylor Phinney | Tinkoff-Saxo | 22h57'37 | | 2 | Tejay Van Garderen | Astana Pro Team | + 4 | | 3 | Simon Yates | Astana Pro Team | + 34 | | 4 | Peter Sagan | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 40 | | 5 | Michael Matthews | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 50 | | 6 | Chris Froome | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 52 | | 7 | Daniel Oss | Astana Pro Team | + 1'02 | | 8 | Alexey Tsatevitch | Tinkoff-Saxo | s.t. | | 9 | Gregorio Ibañez | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 1'09 | | 10 | Geraint Thomas | Astana Pro Team | + 1'11 | | ... | | 66 | Abhishek Sinha | Lotto Soudal | + 4'18 | | ... | | 121 | Carlos Betancur | Lotto Soudal | + 5'51 | AbhishekLFC |
To be continued...
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| Tamijo |
Posted on 18-06-2017 07:08
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Team Leader
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Bad blow from the TTT, some serious time lost.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 00:22
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 18-06-2017 07:50
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Tour de France Champion
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Joined: 01-05-2012
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TTT was terrible. Top 10 is still very possible but it'll take him a while to climb back into decent GC position My guess is that he'll get back to position 15-20 at the final rest day and then climb steadily in the final week.
And to make a guess. I'd say he'll finish 11th. |
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 18-06-2017 09:00
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Directeur Sportif
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@Tamijo: Yeah, it was rough 
@Ian: Long way back to the top. But it's just a week gone by and what's a GT without the grind, eh?
Let's see how good a predictor you are then 
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 18-06-2017 13:01
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Directeur Sportif
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After the relatively mild first week in terms of profiles, it was bang, bang, bang all the way on either side of the first rest day.
Stage 8
I tried to get into the break a total of three times in the early part of this stage, but the peloton wouldn't have it. The break would be caught before the last climb of the day. On top of that climb, I found myself in the third group on the road with Dumoulin and Barguil. The two groups ahead had three and six riders respectively. I got dropped by others in the descent to the finish while the others finished as they were. I finished 12th on the stage, moving up to 29th in the GC, exactly eight minutes behind new GC leader Tejay van Garderen.
Stage 9 was another one with climbing. I was chased down twice while trying to get into the break. I guess I should be flattered with the attention the peloton were giving me! The lead group was down to eighty riders on the last climb, where the break were also caught. I attacked on the descent with 4 km to go from the finish and got a few seconds lead. I was pulled back with just 1 km left. The reduced bunch sprint saw Benoot claim 10th.
Stage 10
Betancur joined a strong break. The peloton never allowed them to get a good lead and they were caught on the last climb. I was dropped by the lead group on the same climb. A better descent this time saw me get back some time and I managed to finish 9th. I climbed to 17th in the GC.
Another stage, more early attacks of mine chased down by the pack. Stage 11 started similar to Stages 8 and 9. I was dropped on the second climb, for reasons I cannot explain. My legs just couldn't take the pace and I ended up losing over three minutes. Benoot finished 3rd in the reduced bunch sprint to bring some joy to Lotto. I moved down to 24th in the GC. Benoot's good performance saw him move to a place above me in 23rd!
GC after Stage 11
| 1 | Tejay Van Garderen | Astana Pro Team | 41h37'09 | | 2 | Peter Sagan | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 3'03 | | 3 | Simon Yates | Astana Pro Team | + 4'31 | | 4 | Nairo Quintana | TEAM Cepsa | + 5'44 | | 5 | Rui Costa | Bora - Argon 18 | + 6'07 | | 6 | Daniel Martin | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 6'27 | | 7 | Julian Alaphilippe | Stella Artois | + 7'17 | | 8 | Tom Dumoulin | Stella Artois | + 7'36 | | 9 | Ilnur Zakarin | Team Sky | + 8'19 | | 10 | Thibaut Pinot | Stella Artois | + 8'30 | | ... | | 23 | Tiesj Benoot | Lotto Soudal | + 13'04 | | 24 | Abhishek Sinha | Lotto Soudal | + 13'10 | | ... | | 50 | Carlos Betancur | Lotto Soudal | + 30'23 |
To be continued...
Edited by AbhishekLFC on 19-06-2017 05:12
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| Tamijo |
Posted on 18-06-2017 15:25
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Team Leader
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Mixed results, most of them good.
Tempting to attack early but also dangerous if not getting away.
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 19-06-2017 05:13
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Directeur Sportif
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Haven't worked at all so far. It's frustrating being so far down already and yet not being allowed to get away...
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| Ripley |
Posted on 19-06-2017 07:48
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Classics Specialist
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Sinha's reputation is simply too good to let him join a breakaway at this point, seems pretty realistic. Not the most convincing Tour so far. But if things continue like this I see the opportunity to escape on the last tough mountain stage and maybe gain back enough minutes to make the top 10. |
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 19-06-2017 10:02
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11676
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So you're saying too much of a good thing is a bad thing? 
Gonna keep trying, that's for sure!
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| Kiserlovski01 |
Posted on 19-06-2017 12:59
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4055
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Learning the hard way le Tour's still something different.
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 20-06-2017 02:14
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11676
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As Kiserlovski said, I was learning the hard way that the Tour was an altogether different beast!
Stage 12
I finally managed to get into the break on this stage. I was joined by five others. I picked up first and second places in the KOM sprints on the two second category climbs respectively. We were caught on the last climb of the day, agonisingly close to the finish. I could not hang on to the first group but finished in the second group on the road.
Stage 13 was a transitional flat stage. Roelandts joined the break but they did not survive. A bunch sprint decided the outcome.
Stage 14
I attacked before the first climb in an attempt to catch the break but failed to do so. My early effort proved costly as I was dropped on the HC category climb and did not recover at all. I lost a whopping 18 minutes on this stage, moving down to 33rd in the GC, 32 minutes behind van Garderen!
Stage 15
I joined an incredibly strong multi-rider break with the likes of Luis Leon Sanchez, Bardet, Dayer Quintana, Kruijswijk, Geniez and others. The break was down to 12 members after the second climb. I was in the second group on the road with five others chasing the lead group of three on the third climb. On the fourth climb, it was just me and Geniez in the second group chasing Bardet, the lone leader. I dropped Geniez on the fifth climb but there was no chance of catching Bardet with a four and a half minute gap. I rode at my own pace to finish 2nd! I kept picking up points on all the climbs, moving up to 4th in the KOM standings. Bardet sojourn earned him 8th spot in the GC. I moved up to 27th. This was my best stage result in a Grand Tour!
| 1 | Romain Bardet | Team Sky | 5h34'39 | | 2 | Abhishek Sinha | Lotto Soudal | + 5'32 | | 3 | Simon Yates | Astana Pro Team | + 5'49 | | 4 | Tejay Van Garderen | Astana Pro Team | + 6'13 | | 5 | Davide Formolo | Astana Pro Team | + 7'12 |
Stage 16 after the second rest day wasn't full of high climbing, although it did have three smaller climbs. Lotto were setting the early pace chasing the break. I was dropped once again from the pack on the third climb. Polanc paced me to the finish. Benoot finished 5th on the stage while I lost 7 minutes. My yo-yo ride in the GC continued, as I slipped down to 29th. I dropped a place in the KOM standings too.
| 1 | Tejay Van Garderen | Astana Pro Team | 64h43'39 | | 2 | Simon Yates | Astana Pro Team | + 3'53 | | 3 | Peter Sagan | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 7'12 | | 4 | Rui Costa | Bora - Argon 18 | + 10'26 | | 5 | Nairo Quintana | TEAM Cepsa | + 11'07 | | 6 | Daniel Martin | Tinkoff-Saxo | + 11'33 | | 7 | Davide Formolo | Astana Pro Team | + 12'10 | | 8 | Romain Bardet | Team Sky | + 12'17 | | 9 | Wilco Kelderman | Team Giant-Alpecin | + 13'09 | | 10 | Tom Dumoulin | Stella Artois | + 14'08 | | ... | | 26 | Tiesj Benoot | Lotto Soudal | + 30'03 | | ... | | 29 | Abhishek Sinha | Lotto Soudal | + 36'47 |
To be continued...
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| Ripley |
Posted on 20-06-2017 09:24
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3341
Joined: 25-11-2014
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What's Sagan doing up there after so many mountains? And why aren't you doing any better? Does the team doctor have anything to say? |
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