Team D2 semed to take the stage off. I sure hope that was planned as a rest stage and that on tomorrow's last road stage they have some fireworks planned.
Logan Hutchings made the initial break and strongly contested the 1st two intermediate sprints winning one. That break was caught just as they reached that 2nd sprint point and after that the D2 riders seemed to disappear except for a short stretch where three of them tried to pace back the break, unfortunately they did not have the power to do anything but loose ground on the flats.
The finishes were strong but since almost everyone finished in the same time Laverde-Jiminez, Esmaeli and Serrano did not improve thier GC positions or build up any time cushions for the last day's time trial for which all three of them do not excell.
Stage #11 looks like a mini one day classic at 120km. Serrano appears to have the best chance to ride up on the front of the peleton but all three of the D2 top three in the GC cannot afford to just keep pace tomorrow. They need to attack, get in the right breakaway and work hard to keep it away, if they have any hopes of moving up in the GC and building a time cushion.
Tareq Esmaeli is sitting 3rd in the young rider classification. He is just 5 seconds behind Saldarraga and just over 2 minutes behind Stetina. Helping a breakaway stay away and he could still win the White Jersey.
As a D2 manager I have to say I think the D2 team has performed very well. They have shown solid consistency and in the early stages thier willingnees to attack and then attack again paid dividends. Since the uphill time trial they have been more complacient and that has not worked well of them. They are just not (yet) as strong as the majority of the CT riders. Tommorow if they have any legs left at all they must attack and if I was on the team bus tonight, I would tell both Esmaeli and Serrano to do whatever it takes to get into the break, work together and try to stay away and finish as high as you can. If you fade, then be ready to help bridge Laverde-Jiminez if he makes a late race attack.
A very critical day for the D2 team tomorrow. It very well could change the media's perception of their race. Attack and at least go down racing. If they ride conservatatively they will just slide down the standings and the whole effort will be wasted.
So, I have lost the reports for the final 2 stages, sorry. From the results and the screenshots I should be able to recreate them fairly accurately, but sorry if I mess anything up. Also it may take until the weekend for me to finish posting because of this.
[url=www.pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=33182]Team Santander Media Thread[/url]
mb2612 wrote:
So, I have lost the reports for the final 2 stages, sorry. From the results and the screenshots I should be able to recreate them fairly accurately, but sorry if I mess anything up. Also it may take until the weekend for me to finish posting because of this.
Stage #11 also fizzled for the D2 team. Unfortunately the 2nd half of the Vuelta seems to have been too much for the D2 riders to keep the pressure on with the attacking style they used in the early stages. Logan Hutchings got into the break but his heart was just not in the stage as he is vey focused on the time trial in the morning.
Logan Hutchings is as good a time trialer as any CT rider entered in this race. Can he win the time trial - Yes he has a very good chance and you can bet he wants to. Since he rides in the top 25 riders he very well could take the lead at that point and everybody else to ride the 14km flat course will have to chase his time.
On the other key fronts Luis Filipe Larverde-Jiminez is still in 8th place in the GC. He is a very weak tt man and it will hurt him but can he hold on to 10th place? Just behind Laverde-Jiminez in 9th spot is Wilmer Vasquez and in 10th spot is Cadel Evans. Both of these riders should move up and pass Luis, but here is the question of the day. In 11th place is Saul Raisen who is a very strong TT rider (one of the day's favorites), but Raisen is 54 seconds behind Laverde-Jiminez. Can Luis hold on with a great ride and save his top 10 finish?
Further down in the GC is Tareq Esmaeli in 22nd place after moving up a spot on stage #11. One rider just ahead of him (20th place) is S. Szmyd who is a weak tt'er also, so Tareq could climb up to 21st place, but to get into 20th there would have to be a fall, puncture or some other unexpected performance.
Riccadro Serano is in 24th spot in the GC also having moved up a spot on stage #11, but the gaps before and after him seem to exclude his moving up or down on the time trial.
In the competition for the White Jersey, Tareq Esmaeli is still in 3rd place just a mere 5 seconds behind Anders Saldarraga, but Saldarraga should easily out ride Esmaeli in the TT. Hopes of moving up here were lost in stage #11.
The D2 team has nothing to be disappointed in. They attacked in the 1st half of the race and were factors in several of the stages. Laverde Jiminez is in 8th spot in the GC and still has the flicker of hope to hold unto a top 10 finish. Esmaeli and Serrano are likely to finish just outside the top 20 but in the top 25, so three D2 rides in the top 25.
No stage wins (yet), but Logan Hutchings is a fast tt rider and flat courses are his best. He rides early and can put pressure on the remainder of the field. His chances are good for the win, but better for a stage podium spot.
I think the CT organizers should be very pleased with this experment.
Edited by Mhaley45 on 17-03-2012 00:04
Not bad result here for me. I love winning team rankings. But I was hoping that Paulinho would do a little bit better seeing how close it was. I guess the margins weren't on my side.
I think Hollister were fairly smart to send Kiserlovski here and it worked out alright for Davis too. Davis would be one of many in a big sprinters field and only the peerless Bennati has shown any sort of consistency there.
The D2 composite team was a really good idea.
Personnally I don't rate the Tour as a great success for the team though decent enough GC results with Laverde Jimenez and Esmaeli with some representation in the breaks. A stage win is probably a bit much, but only a handful of top tens were managed - this can be bettered.
Mind you CTour teams Vespa and Oz Cycling hardly fared better - what a shocking race for Vespa, back to their 2011 year type form.
Smowz wrote:
I think Hollister were fairly smart to send Kiserlovski here and it worked out alright for Davis too. Davis would be one of many in a big sprinters field and only the peerless Bennati has shown any sort of consistency there.
I figured, after how poor my season was last year, that picking one of the smaller races to target and get as many wins as possible was a good idea. I picked up 6 stage wins, the overall, the points jersey and the mountain jersey, which i guess you could say is mission accomplished
Also really helps towards one of my goals of 15 Stage wins.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Usually I would be happy with 2nd, but this was so darn close!
