Summary: A morning breakaway group of six escapes, which includes: Exteberria, Merino, Tizza, Kirsch, Arashiro and Diamond. They work fairly well together, but top out with a maximum gap of 5 minutes back to the peloton.

They hit the slopes of the major final climb with a three minute cushion and 60kms still to race. Not looking good for them and trying to go solo from this far out seems beyond stupid.


The breakaway holds firm all the way to the top, but only three survived. Diamond leads them over with the two Spanish cyclists on his wheel. A great effort, but the peloton can be seen right behind them. This escape is basically over.


After a peloton of 70 comes together by the bottom of the slopes, another attack is unleashed with 18kms to go. The move is started by Simon Yates and 13 cyclists are quick to jump on his wheel. They open up a quick 40-second gap to the peloton.

Pretty much all the favourites are here: Quintana, Kwiatkowski, Betancur, Gesink, Diamond... wait, Diamond. The young Brit is still kicking, how much energy does he still have left in the tank after being in the breakaway all day. Can't be much. But, here he is.

Never mind, nobody is willing to do the pace making and the peloton reels them in. Back to square one with 15kms to go.


After all the cat-and-mouse games it came down to a selective sprint at the uphill finish. Simon Yates coming out on top.

Result: 28th - Exhausted. No time to talk. Back in action tomorrow.

Summary: Rain can't slow Caleb Ewan down.

Result: 31st - Legs never really recovered from yesterday's ride.

Summary: Marcus Diamond leads the front group of 25 cyclists onto the final tiny incline with 2.2kms to go. This kid has gone through hell all day, fighting to stay at the front of the race and here we are. The finish line just over the hill and Diamond has control of the front. If anybody deserves to win this race it would be him.

But, that's not how cycling works.


Diamond over the top, still holding the lead. The crowd going crazy!


Under the banner. Here comes Petr Vakoc. He waited for this.


Legs turning but the bike isn't moving any faster. Diamond fading hard.


Diamond hugs the boards and gets passed a few more times. Can't criticize the effort, he put everything he had into that bike today. Gutsy performance. At the end of the day, though, Vakoc secures the win.

Result: 7th - I had this race won if it was a kilometer shorter. Proud my ride nonetheless. The amount of times I nearly got dropped throughout the day due to bad positioning makes this result even more special.

- Each member gets 3.0 points to spread however they like over the 13 attributes listed above. One post per member.
- Stats work on a decimal system starting at 55.0.
- Stats are bumped up in PCM when they hit that number, ex. 55.9 = 55 in-game, and 61.4 = 61 stat in-game.
- The decimal numbers will remain hidden.
- There is a threshold for each stat when more points are needed to increase that stat. It's start off on a 1-to-1 scale where 1 point equals 1 stat upgrade. However, the scales get exponentially further and further apart the closer that stat gets to the maximum of 85. The increasing scale will also remain a mystery.
- Comment below to provide stat upgrades

Summary: Goal scoring party! To say the formation change worked would be a understatement. Coach McFarlane looks like a genius. After scoring four goals in the first 36 minutes, AFC Hornchurch took its foot off the gas a little bit.

Rating: 9.3 - Give me a chance to get involved and look at what happens: One goal and one assist. I should also get some bonus points for this finish. The precision and power.


Player of Game: Charley Kendall, AFC Hornchurch (9.5)

Summary: Lewis Hall put AFC Hornchurch ahead in the 16th minute, but they couldn't hold on. Another Lewis, Lewis Tallack, found the equalizer in the 82nd minute to help Ware escape with a point. Tough tie.

Rating: 7.0 - Meh...

Player of Game: Jordan Goddard, AFC Hornchurch (7.7)

Summary: The incredible showing nobody saw. With only 66 people in attendance on a rainy day in Potters Bar, AFC Hornchurch explodes for five more goals with four goals coming in the first 22 minutes.

The highlight of the match, and perhaps goal of the season, has more views on YouTube than there were people at the game. Marcus Diamond with an absolute firecracker from outside the box. Enjoy!


Rating: 9.4 - Upper 90 finish and I stepped up to the penalty spot later in the second half for a second goal (10th career goal). That's four goals in eight games with AFC Hornchurch. I also picked up an assist as well. And yet it still wasn't enough to be named the Player of the Game.

Player of Game: Lewis Hall, AFC Hornchurch (9.5)

Summary: Taken down by a questionable penalty call. Greys shuts out AFC Hornchurch and it's high-powered, but inconsistent offense.

Rating: 6.5 - I had to be subbed off at halftime. For some reason I was battling cramps throughout the first half and couldn't snap out of it. A few hours after the game and I was fine. Weird. Perhaps I should do more cardio workouts.

Player of Game: Ronnie O'Donnell, Grays (7.4)

- Each member gets 5.0 points to spread however they like over the 36 attributes listed above. One post per member.
- Stats work on a decimal system starting at 1.0.
- Stats are bumped up in FM when they hit that number, ex. 2.9 = 2 in-game, and 13.4 = 13 stat in-game.
- The decimal numbers will remain hidden.
- There is a threshold for each stat when more points are needed to increase that stat. It's start off on a 1-to-1 scale where 1 point equals 1 stat upgrade. However, the scales get exponentially further and further apart the closer that stat gets to the maximum of 20. The increasing scale will also remain a mystery and is different from the cycling progression scale.
-Comment below to provide stat upgrades.

Summary: Rain plus cobbles. What's the worst that could happen?

Yeah, you guessed it.

The first crash happens with 120kms to go. One of the outside dark horse contenders is involved: youngster Marcus Diamond. The cameras catch him getting back to his feet, looks fine but muddy.


Diamond rejoins the peloton with the help of a teammate. Still a long ways to go in this race (110kms). He should have enough time to recover.


Another crash! This one way more serious with 22.8kms to go. It wipes out/halts over half the field. No reports on who is involved, but it appears all the big guns are at the front in a group of 42 cyclists.

... It won't matter.

The peloton slows up and allows everybody to come back together with 10kms to go. Looks like a bunch sprint will decide this one.


Wait, I spoke too soon. Attack off the front with 6kms to go. That's Lars Boom going for glory and on his wheel is Nils Eekhoff and, it's hard to read the number on his back... no way... that's Marcus Diamond. The heart of this kid.


Boom looks back to see who followed him and asks for some help pacing to the finish. Nearly 5kms left and they have a 25 second gap. Diamond glances over at Boom and, instead of pulling for the trio, he launches a counter attack.


Gutsy move to attack a veteran like that and it backfires hard. Diamond can't break free and is now gassed with the peloton closing back in.


The sprinters clean up the scraps. Amund Grondahl Jansen takes the win. INM sprinter Adam Blythe with a solid 4th place.

Result: 22nd - The early crash — totally my fault, I haven't ridden cobbles in a while — didn't really faze me. My only chance to win was to follow Boom and try to overtake him. Didn't work out, but I gave it my best shot. Meanwhile, Alex Vogel got caught up in that second crash and got some pretty nasty battle wounds. All superficial though. Tough girl.

Summary: Perfect day in Belgium. Five cyclists pulled away with 6kms to go. Realizing this was the winning move, Marcus Diamond eventually bridged the gap to put six cyclists in front for a bunch sprint.


Result: 6th - Got up to the leaders right before the final sprint. I'll take a Top 10 finish, way better than crashing. Now I got to catch the train and make it back to the UK tonight for AFC Hornchurch's match.

Summary: Crashes, splits, rain. It was ugly. Only the strongest survived today. Others got wiped away and were left chasing all the action.

Result: 36th - I got held up by one of the crashes with about 60kms to go. Never recovered. Alex Vogel's bad luck continued and she went down right in front of me. Other than that, the team did fairly well with four cyclists in the Top 25.

Summary: The action picks up with 12kms to go. Breakaway caught, the depleted peloton looks around for a new pace setter. INM takes up the task. Kanstantsin Siutsou hits the front with Marcus Diamond on his wheel.


The INM duo isn't messing around. Gap created off the front. The only man paying close enough attention to follow this move was Fabio Felline.


Siutsou drops off. But, he did his job. Diamond and Felline have 20 seconds to the rest of the favourites and didn't even have to attack to get the gap. Less than 5kms to go.


Maxime Daniel and Simon Sellier cross the gap. One of these four will take the win here. Who saved enough energy?


Felline! Just barely. What a finish.

Result: 2nd - Truly enjoyed that race. You always want to win, but a second place is well deserved. I'll get you next time Fabio.

Summary: Italians Nicola Bagioli and Gianluca Brambilla ride away from the field for the top two spots. Spaniard Carlos Verona came in three minutes later for third place. These hills ripped the field apart.


Result: 20th - Held my own for the most part. Stayed with the leaders until the climbs at the end. The incline to the finish was just brutal. I nearly had to get off my bike and just walk.

- Each member gets 3.0 points to spread however they like over the 13 attributes listed above. One post per member.
- Stats work on a decimal system starting at 55.0.
- Stats are bumped up in PCM when they hit that number, ex. 55.9 = 55 in-game, and 61.4 = 61 stat in-game.
- The decimal numbers will remain hidden.
- There is a threshold for each stat when more points are needed to increase that stat. It's start off on a 1-to-1 scale where 1 point equals 1 stat upgrade. However, the scales get exponentially further and further apart the closer that stat gets to the maximum of 85. The increasing scale will also remain a mystery.
- Comment below to provide stat upgrades

Summary: AFC Hornchurch dominates with 23 shots, but Marcus Diamond's lone goal wasn't enough to prevent Bury Town from stealing three points at home.


Rating: 7.3 - Fifth goal for Hornchurch in 10 games. Still not getting much help from my teammates. It is what it is, I guess.

Player of Game: Kelvin Osei-Addo, Bury Town (8.7)

Summary: In the 16th minute, Marcus Diamond found himself in the middle of the box with a split second to shoot. He glanced down at the ball to make the strike... There went his split second. A last-ditch slide tackle saves a sure goal, but the ball ends up on the foot of Tobi Joseph. He unloaded a one-time rocket, bar down. Goal.

Hornchurch's defense holds on for the 1-0 win.

Rating: 7.0 - That should have been my goal, but glad we got the win nonetheless. I got subbed off in the 59th minute. Not sure why. I could have gone longer.

Player of Game: Tobi Joseph, AFC Hornchurch (7.5)

Summary: All the action comes in the final 15 minutes. A through ball from the defense got Javen Palmer free for the first goal of the game in the 79th minute. Five minutes later, a red-hot Marcus Diamond picked out the top corner for the equalizer.


Rating: 8.3 - Give me space at the top of the box and I'll make you pay.

Player of Game: Marcus Diamond, AFC Hornchurch (8.3)

Summary: After Tobi Joseph and Warren Mfula trade goals in the first half, separated by one minute and 13 seconds, Mfula connected on a half-volley outside the box to put VCD ahead in the 65th minutes.

A controversial penalty call put Marcus Diamond on the spot in the 72nd minute. He calmly slotted the ball into the right side of the net to help Hornchurch secure another draw.

Rating: 6.7 - Pretty poor game, but I kept my nerves in check at the penalty spot. Coming up clutch doesn't go unnoticed. That's seven goals in 13 games.

Player of Game: Warren Mfula, VCD (8.7)

- Each member gets 5.0 points to spread however they like over the 36 attributes listed above. One post per member.
- Stats work on a decimal system starting at 1.0.
- Stats are bumped up in FM when they hit that number, ex. 2.9 = 2 in-game, and 13.4 = 13 stat in-game.
- The decimal numbers will remain hidden.
- There is a threshold for each stat when more points are needed to increase that stat. It's start off on a 1-to-1 scale where 1 point equals 1 stat upgrade. However, the scales get exponentially further and further apart the closer that stat gets to the maximum of 20. The increasing scale will also remain a mystery and is different from the cycling progression scale.
-Comment below to provide stat upgrades.

Summary: Narrow roads make for a tricky finish for the cyclists who managed to stay up front. Not a lot of room to make a pass, luckily there were no crashes. In the end, Brit Owain Doull pulled away for the win.

Result: 20th - Finished in the lead group and tried to help lead out Hofstetter but got pushed to the side by some of the more veteran cyclists. Hofstetter took eighth, was probably hoping for better.

Summary: The only categorized climb was too far out (35kms to go) to tempt a long-range effort. Instead, 72 cyclists finished on the same time with Paolo Simion winning the sprint to the line.

Result: 16th - I had thoughts about testing my luck prior to the sprint, but decided it would have been stupid to waste the energy. Tougher stages ahead, I got to pick my battles wisely. Teammate Michel Kreder sprinted to a 9th place finish on the stage.

Summary: An interesting name in the morning breakaway: Marcus Diamond. Not sure if this is what INM wanted or Diamond is doing this on his own. Either way, it gives us — the race broadcasters — something to talk about for the next couple of hours.


The five-man group fights until the final climb, but eventually the peloton brings them back. This is always to be expected, so why Diamond put himself in that position is a little strange.


The man in yellow, Paolo Simion, claims a second win in as many days.

Result: 26th - The downhill into the finish allowed me to finish on the same time as the leaders. I honestly don't know how I ended up in the breakaway. I know, it's bizarre to even say that.

I was just coming to the front of the peloton and the next thing I know I find myself in no man's land. A breakaway group of four in front of me and the peloton 30 seconds behind. I decided to join the BOTD. I should really pay more attention to my surroundings next time.

Then again, getting some TV time is never a bad thing.

Summary: Everything is kicking off with 22kms to go. Reports of crashes off the back, the breakaway is caught and now an attack off the front! Hang on, this is getting wild.


Our cameras have picked up Marcus Diamond by himself crossing over the final categorized climb in first place. It's a mad scramble behind him. Some could argue the ethics of attacking with a crash happening, but this was an ideal spot to attack regardless of what was going on behind him.


Onward to the downhill, Diamond has to take some risks to build a bigger gap. Most of the favourites have now noticed that Diamond has slipped away in the chaos.


The incline with 5kms to go. Diamond holding a modest 30-second gap.


Up and over, Diamond makes the turn and can see the finish. But, the final kilometer is all uphill. This is going to hurt. Does Diamond have enough to hold on for a spectator victory to win the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon on the final stage?


The cruel climb to the finish has undone Diamond. Patrick Konrad and Lillian Calmejane make the catch with 650 meters remaining. How harsh.


Result: 4th - Tactics were perfect. I did everything right. I just didn't have the stamina to finish it off. This one hurts. What could have been. Yeah, I'm young and haven't hit my peak, so I shouldn't be too upset and rather happy with this result.

But, when it's right there in front of you... Being young is just an excuse for not finishing the job. I don't want heartbreaks. I want stardom.

- Each member gets 3.0 points to spread however they like over the 13 attributes listed above. One post per member.
- Stats work on a decimal system starting at 55.0.
- Stats are bumped up in PCM when they hit that number, ex. 55.9 = 55 in-game, and 61.4 = 61 stat in-game.
- The decimal numbers will remain hidden.
- There is a threshold for each stat when more points are needed to increase that stat. It's start off on a 1-to-1 scale where 1 point equals 1 stat upgrade. However, the scales get exponentially further and further apart the closer that stat gets to the maximum of 85. The increasing scale will also remain a mystery.
- Comment below to provide stat upgrades