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Giro d'Italia Discussion
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| ember |
Posted on 26-12-2024 11:30
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No pink ride from start to finish for Herklotz 
Congratulations on the win, lls! Happy with our approach, getting into the breakaway. Can’t hope for more on these sprint stages.
Thank you for the reports so far, kb, and also to Abhi for posting! |
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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 26-12-2024 12:21
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Wow, that was an amazing trio of stages for us!
First Lutsenko wins stage 2 with some great timing in the hilly sprint. Then we overperform with 5th in the TTT. And the cherry on top: Lutsenko finishes 5th in a regular flat stage bunch sprint and a gap hands him the pink!
Stage 5 should suit him on paper. But it is very similar to stage 1, where he failed. So let's hope the jersey inspires him to do better there.
That long climb near the finish of stage 6 is probably too much for him, so there's a big chance we lose the jersey there. But fingers crossed that Lutsenko can somehow pull off a Malecki-style pink jersey defence.
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 26-12-2024 16:40
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A couple of interesting stage for us. Walls with a good sprint on stage 4 to get second. Definitely happy with that. I guess he is a bit too much of a favorite, but luckily our sprint team is so weak that he didn't sorted back behind another train before the sprint actually started. A win obviously would have been fantastic, but 2nd is a solid result.
I don't know what to make of my team's strategy at this point. Aranburu clinging onto the sprinter's group on stage 4 means he's now third on GC, which would risk solidifying his role as leader and Carthy as the domestique. But then Aranburu didn't really contest the hilly finish on stage five and we ended up with our top 3 GC guys all in the group (which is nice).
I'm not really sure what to expect from this race anymore since I don't know what exactly we're trying to do. But we've been near the front and contending most days, so we'll see what that means. Maybe Carthy does a long range attack late and we get everything we want. Or he works for Aranburu, who obviously cracks, and we end up with nothing. Could go any direction now.
Thanks for the reports and pace!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| knockout |
Posted on 26-12-2024 17:40
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I didnt realize that the finish was slightly uphill so got very exciting when Gavars and Sureda appeared at the front in the final.
So another nothing burger for us with Plapp losing further time. Really would have liked if he were gc option 1b for the ai.
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 26-12-2024 18:37
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Finally a really solid finish by Errazkin on stage 5. Top 5 is pretty much the best we can expect from stages like this one, perfectly suited to the pure puncheurs. There's hope that he can do even better on the next one - but at the same time the final uphill might already be too hard for him.
But the points keep coming in with all these Top 5 stage results, which is great, and which is what we need. Stüssi not losing time is good news, although his bad positioning is again worrying a bit.
Congrats to ryant on Yates' first stage win, wouldn't be surprised to see some more 
Thanks for the report.
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| ryant |
Posted on 26-12-2024 21:08
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Really impressed with the speed of these reports I have to say over the Christmas period. The first few stages were underwhelming from us and Yates so I was slightly worried about our race here/season in general but we grab an easy stage win on a day where we should be run away favourites so I'm very happy with that! Still plenty of opportunities left for Yates so fingers crossed we can grab a few more stages.
 John St Ledger in Team Bunzl-Centrica and Team U25Red Bull Driver in RFactor
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 28-12-2024 13:43
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 26-12-2024 22:38
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A stage win for Thijssen!! He had a fantastic season last year off his performances in the Grand Tours and he's doing it again with a superb win from a less than ideal position on Stage 4. Hopefully he can take a few more throughout the next few weeks here.
A solid stage from us in the hills with Finkler contesting in the Top 10 while Choi and Conci avoid losing time. Job done and onto the next!
Thanks for the great reports and the speed of them so far 
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| ember |
Posted on 27-12-2024 08:41
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Happy to see Laporte on jersey duties! Makes for us potentially claiming a few more points than we can expect here 
Congratulations on the favourite win, ryant! |
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| redordead |
Posted on 27-12-2024 10:56
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Surprise attack by TGH, he's been navigating his way through the stages well so far. Let's keep it up!
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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| knockout |
Posted on 27-12-2024 11:04
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Foss is doing a bit better right now, not losing further time in these hilly stages but Plapp is bleeding. And i had hoped he would sit far better in the youth classification by now.
Next couple of stages should be rather uneventful, maybe Sureda can do well in some of the sprints...
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 27-12-2024 12:49
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The last couple of stages didn't have a finish hard enough for Formolo, but it's good so him so close to the podium in the second one.
Third in the points classification also bringing a few extra points to our tally here. Now let's hope we can time Van Poppel's sprint better in the next stages.
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 27-12-2024 13:42
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So just trying to follow:
Carthy goes to the front of the group and uses his energy to pull over the climb. Drops his own teammate, Aranburu (no one else important), Aranburu pulls that group back alone, and neither factors into the finale while Aranburu loses time.
Very interesting strategy guys!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| ember |
Posted on 27-12-2024 17:37
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AHJ completely not caring/AI not considering him for GC. Now it is for good, being 17 minutts and outside the top 150 on the stage. At least it should give him freedom on the early mountain stages!
Laporte going on jersey duties was great, and he was also very lucky to keep it! Not sure how many KOM points are on offer on the next stages, but great to survive another day with the jersey Could quickly become our only points here seeing how AHJ has been going, except finishing points  |
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 27-12-2024 18:23
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Conmiserations to Carlsberg on their tactics so far.
And sorry to Kelderman for forgetting about his Giro stage win for us two years ago So far, so good for us, remaining in second behind the unbeatable Herklotz. Lutsenko of course still ahead, but for now I'm assuming he'll lose time in the mountains. Although I wouldn't be surprised if in the end he holds on quite well and stays ahead of Eastman
Lopez Nolasco in 70th-ish and the rest of our riders outside of top-100 means we'll never get decent depth scoring, but I guess that was never going to be the case, and Nolasco is suffering being not only the only uphill domestique, but also being quite bad in the hills generally.
Thanks for the nice report again to kb and Abhisheklfc!
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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 27-12-2024 19:23
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Good job Lutsenko! There's no shame in finishing third behind Yates and Herklotz in a stage like this. Also good to see Carboni, Senni and Leknessund all finish in the first group.
It's very encouraging that on a pretty serious climb that stretched the peloton and resulted in a 15 man elite group, Lutsenko was among the first to reach the top. This means that bar any strange incidents we should keep the jersey until at least stage 10.
That one might become a huge test because of the immense climb. But on the other hand; it is far away from the finish and the stage is rated hilly. If the pace on the climb is not too high, there is a chance we survive it. Stage 11 should definitely see Herklotz take over the GC lead though.
Thanks for the solid reports so far!
Edited by DubbelDekker on 27-12-2024 22:46
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 27-12-2024 22:27
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Pardon, how on earth can Szarka get a 5th place in this stage?
I was sure that my rider had to be Errazkin, and was really surprised to see Szarka's name. I'll obviously take it, as he continues our Top 5 streak. And hopefully he'll be among the fastest sprinters as well on the upcoming flat stages, he already did really well in the only "real" chance he had so far.
What's much more worrying though is Stüssi's positioning, finishing as the last Top 10-15 contender in the front group. I guess despite his Top 5 GC position the game doesn't seriously consider him - or is just confused by Errazkin's presence. So far, he didn't lose any time, but stages 10-14 look a bit worrying to me. As long as he holds onto the front group, no complaints though. And by moving up to 4th in the GC (feeling sorry for Carlsberg though, really dumb riding by your guys in this Giro), he even gets some GC points for free.
Congrats to cycleYorkshire again, Yates has definitely woken up!
Thanks for the report.
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 27-12-2024 22:47
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Another job done sorta stage in the hills with Choi and Conci avoiding losing any time to their rivals. Back to the sprints where Thijssen can have a bit of fun!
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