I think this race probably sums up our season in a nutshell. Impressive depth scoring which shows that part of the plan worked, but complete no shows from De Bie and Kemboi meaning too few points overall to have a chance of avoiding relegation.
Congrats knockout! And also to UU and roturn. Very good final stage and GC for them.
That Areruya positioning was horrible btw.
Curious what the top part of the rankings looks like after this race.
Spoiler
You're still ahead with Tinkoff as the only real close chaser. Polar remains in third while i climbed to 4th with a ~400 points difference to you. King Power is 80 points behind me while Aker should be out of the top 5 race now.
Basically even this pretty damn good race for me hasnt really shifted the race and while mathematically still possible, it's hard to see anybody but you or Tinkoff coming out of the season victorious.
You're still ahead with Tinkoff as the only real close chaser. Polar remains in third while i climbed to 4th with a ~400 points difference to you. King Power is 80 points behind me while Aker should be out of the top 5 race now.
Basically even this pretty damn good race for me hasnt really shifted the race and while mathematically still possible, it's hard to see anybody but you or Tinkoff coming out of the season victorious.
Why do I even bother doing calculations?
Pretty much spot-on!
Congrats, by the way, really a great revenge by MAL for last year's defeat! Next edition, next battle I guess
Well I have complained about a lack of overperformances this season but that was worth waiting for. Pretty sure we have never won two stages on the same day before nor have we ever won a PTHC stage before.
Questioned why Simmons was going so hard but Yates knew what he needed. His 2nd-to-last maxed race so hopefully he can carry that form into Japan for his final maxed run.
The MAL vs Areruya battle got hijacked by the top climbers
It might have been less hijacked had Areruya not gone AWOL on the descent. But the grand tour climbers did do very well. Will see how it plays out in PCM24.
Thanks JT for the reports and I pass Bikex's thanks on to the right person. If my team is going to ride this race that well I will definitely not being going back to reporting it.
Just horrible. Maybe you can tell me that's Areruya's DH finally catching up to him, but it hasn't ever in PCM22 and he's dominated this stage for two consecutive seasons, so I have to take this as a freak event from the AI. Took away our shot at a race goal and makes our rankings goal of Top 10 so much harder. Really really sucks and I don't know what to say. Unbelievable.
Thanks jt for some good reports. The machinations of your CPU are not your fault And of course congrats knockout, big one for you and MAL looked the best rider throughout, came into Stage 6 thinking Areruya would make it three years in a row winning the stage, but like last year probably not with a huge gap that could have knocked Lopez off the GC.
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [PT] Xero Racing
Just horrible. Maybe you can tell me that's Areruya's DH finally catching up to him, but it hasn't ever in PCM22 and he's dominated this stage for two consecutive seasons, so I have to take this as a freak event from the AI. Took away our shot at a race goal and makes our rankings goal of Top 10 so much harder. Really really sucks and I don't know what to say. Unbelievable.
Thanks jt for some good reports. The machinations of your CPU are not your fault And of course congrats knockout, big one for you and MAL looked the best rider throughout, came into Stage 6 thinking Areruya would make it three years in a row winning the stage, but like last year probably not with a huge gap that could have knocked Lopez off the GC.
I have a theory on this but I didn't see him drop until the bottom of the climb. I think he went back for water at the top of the climb before and just never got back to the front
jt1109 wrote:
I have a theory on this but I didn't see him drop until the bottom of the climb. I think he went back for water at the top of the climb before and just never got back to the front
Interesting take. Would fit that he looked fairly strong after missing the original moves. Sounds reasonable to me. Very unfortunate for jandal, would have liked him a bit closer to his win goal (although not TOO close )
You're still ahead with Tinkoff as the only real close chaser. Polar remains in third while i climbed to 4th with a ~400 points difference to you. King Power is 80 points behind me while Aker should be out of the top 5 race now.
Basically even this pretty damn good race for me hasnt really shifted the race and while mathematically still possible, it's hard to see anybody but you or Tinkoff coming out of the season victorious.
Why do I even bother doing calculations?
Pretty much spot-on!
Congrats, by the way, really a great revenge by MAL for last year's defeat! Next edition, next battle I guess
Because there is a lot more fights going on outside the top 5 PT that i have not paid attention. Has Rabobank scored enough to escape relegation narrowly once again? How is the PCT race towards promotion/relegation developing? Frankly, i have no idea without your posts and even my top5 tracking is based on your most recent update
The end of season cannot have enough updates with close fights ongoing everywhere
I have a theory on this but I didn't see him drop until the bottom of the climb. I think he went back for water at the top of the climb before and just never got back to the front
That would be absolutely horrible tactics, given that Xero had at least 3 other riders in the group at that point.
Another scenario I could imagine is that Areruya was trying to follow the move on the penultimate climb, and then dropped back to the end of the group. It has happened to other riders earlier this year, I remember Fleche Wallonne where Schmid and Valter did exactly that after being caught, and subsequently missed out on a potential top result. Maybe it happened elsewhere, too, but in any case, just dumb AI here.
Congrats knockout! And also to UU and roturn. Very good final stage and GC for them.
That Areruya positioning was horrible btw.
Curious what the top part of the rankings looks like after this race.
Spoiler
You're still ahead with Tinkoff as the only real close chaser. Polar remains in third while i climbed to 4th with a ~400 points difference to you. King Power is 80 points behind me while Aker should be out of the top 5 race now.
Basically even this pretty damn good race for me hasnt really shifted the race and while mathematically still possible, it's hard to see anybody but you or Tinkoff coming out of the season victorious.
What a finish by Phinney. Obviously the profile looked rather mountaineous but Phinney in 2nd and 3rd GC tops this still.
Obviously Areruya was hit hard here, which is always unfortunate but I guess a mix of bad positioning and likely this coming from a not ideal daily form or something in addition.
Good to see Phinney still having it without being the most accelerating one anymore and apparently having good support by Schelling this time.
Congrats to the other scorers such as MAL or Yates and thanks for the excellent reports!
And of course congrats knockout, big one for you and MAL looked the best rider throughout, came into Stage 6 thinking Areruya would make it three years in a row winning the stage, but like last year probably not with a huge gap that could have knocked Lopez off the GC.
