Jesleyh wrote:
Solution found. Sta_race_rules had a maximum of 24 teams for every race. We should really modify it to 25 for the next period.

Today we’ll have a 8km prologue from Quinto to Ambri. There is certainly some elevation, both downhill and uphill, but it’s nothing major. It shouldn’t keep T.Martin off the win. Porte and Nibali can take some time on the other favourites here, but they won’t take tons of time today.
Beside Tony Martin, Sky sent both Thomas and EBH. These guys will definitely do well, and might round off the podium, who knows?

Favourites

T.Martin(OPQ)


E. Boasson Hagen(SKY)
G. Thomas(SKY)


L.Durbridge(OGE)
L.Westra(AST)
R.Porte(SKY)


The Race
Hello and welcome to the coverage of today’s prologue. It’s incredibly rainy today.

The first rider with a decent looking time is M.Wyss(IAM), clocking 5’46 halfway and a 10’31 at the finish line. It’s 4 seconds faster than the previous fastest time, set by Van Leijen(LTB).

Zubeldia (RLT) is the first one to beat the halfway time, clocking a 5’43, 3 seconds faster.
He took 3 extra seconds on Wyss in the second part, and therefore clocked a time of 10’25.
It was a while until someone else got close to that time. Wagner(BEL) was the first one getting close, at 10’29.

Next up was Weening(OGE). He used 5 minutes and 43 seconds for the first part, just like Zubeldia. Unfortunately for him, he finished less than a second slower than Zubeldia after the second part.
Then we got news that the checkpoint time has been beaten.

Thomas(SKY) was on the road, and he was 7 seconds faster than Zubeldia/Weening. He slaughtered their time in the second part as well, by clocking an impressive 10’14.

Vermote(OPQ) was the next good prologue rider on the road. He came just 5 seconds short of Thomas in the first part, and just held on to a provisional 2nd place, on 9 seconds of Thomas.

Garmin has sent Rasmussen to Switzerland. At the checkpoint, he fell just 3 seconds short of Geraint Thomas. He limited his damage, even on the small climb, and he’s now provisional second, at 5 seconds from Thomas.

Meanwhile, P.Velits(OPQ) did a great job and equalled Thomas’ time on the checkpoint, 5’36. He did a terrific job and did just as good in the second part, being just a fraction of a second faster than Thomas at the finish line. He’s now provisionally in the lead!

After just losing 1 second halfway, Sergent(RLT) manages to end up on the provisional podium, being 3 seconds slower than Velits.

After nobody coming close to the checkpoint time for a while, Ludvigsson(ARG) just comes 1 second short. Just like Sergent, he lost 2 additional seconds on the second part, though. He’s now provisional third.

Ukrainian ITT champion Grivko(AST) is up next. He does extremely well, by clocking the fastest time, a 5’33, which is just 2 seconds faster than the current leaders. He refuses to give it away in the second part, and clocks an impressive 10’10! This seems to be enough for a podium, but who knows?

Kelderman(BEL) sets an impressive halfway-time. The supertalent just comes 3 seconds short of Grivko halfway. He loses another 3 seconds in the second part though, which makes him provisional 4th.

Durbridge(OGE) is the next rider doing well. He’s second at the intermediate time check, at 5’34, just 1 second slower than Grivko. He doesn’t do too well in the climbing part though, and loses another 2 seconds. That means he’s just slower than Velits & Thomas, and is provisional 4th.
Riders just kept being way off of Grivko’s time. Decent guys like Boaro(+’6) and Cataldo(+ ’14) just couldn’t come that close.

But then there was Boasson Hagen(SKY). A class prologue rider. He managed to set a 5’31 in the first half, which is 2 seconds faster than the Ukrainian champion. But can he keep on in the second half of the course? Yes he can! Easily, actually. He clocks a 10’05, slaughtering every other time. But will it be enough for the win?

Westra(VAC) is on the road now. He’s a fairly good TTist, the reigning Dutch champion ITT. He loses 3 seconds on EBH in the first part. He does really well in the second part though, grabbing a second provisional time, 3 seconds slower than the Norwegian.

Ghita(ARG) is good at long TTs, but not great in prologues like this. He does quite well, losing only 18 seconds on the full 8km.
Guys like Evans(+ ’16) and Scarponi(+’17) did quite mediocre. Sanchez(7th, ’11) put in quite an strong time though, given he’s not a pure TTist nor a GC guy.

GC outsider Kreuziger(SAX) didn’t do all too bad. Halfway he lost 10 seconds, and he limited his losses in the second part, finishing on 16 seconds.

Porte, Sky’s GC hope, is expected to gain some time on the TT. He lost 4 seconds on EBH after the first few kilometres, and set a 4th provisional time after the second part, losing 3 additional seconds.
Betancur(ALM)’s after him and he lost 27 seconds on EBH.

The world champion ITT, Martin(OPQ) was on the road though. He was expected to leave the opposition chanceless. And he did. Halfway, it was about decided, clocking 5’22 and therefore being 8 seconds faster than EBH. He clocked a time by far under 10 minutes, riding a 9’50. Easy win for him!

Pocketclimber Quintana(MOV) is not good at TTing. He lost 22 seconds in the first part, and takes 37 seconds more than Martin, in the end.

Nibali(AST) did a bit better, losing 16 secs in the first part and an additional 10 seconds in the third part, totalling 26 seconds difference. It actually gives him a provisional 9th.

Pure climber Rodriguez(KAT) just want this prologue to be over with. He loses 25 seconds in the first part and clocks a 10’32 at the finish, 42 seconds slower than ‘easy’ winner Tony Martin.

As expected, Martin totally dominated this. EBH did what was expected, by finishing 2nd, too. Thomas was a disappointment though, with Grivko as a pleasant surprise. Of the GC favourites, Porte('23) gained some seconds. The differences are quite slim though, but they might be decisive in the end. The biggest disappointment of the GC contenders was probably Totti(1’06), and of the real favourites, Rodriguez(’43).

Results:

1	Tony Martin	Omega Pharma - Quick•Step Cycling Team	9'50
2	Edvald Boasson Hagen	Sky Procycling	+ 15
3	Lieuwe Westra	Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team	+ 19
4	Andriy Grivko	Astana Pro Team	+ 20
5	Richie Porte	Sky Procycling	+ 23
6	Geraint Thomas	Sky Procycling	+ 24
7	Peter Velits	Omega Pharma - Quick•Step Cycling Team	s.t.
8	Luke Durbridge	Orica - GreenEdge	s.t.
9	Tobias Ludvigsson	Team Argos - Shimano	+ 27
10	Wilco Kelderman	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	s.t.

GC

1	Tony Martin	Omega Pharma - Quick•Step Cycling Team	9'50
2	Edvald Boasson Hagen	Sky Procycling	+ 15
3	Lieuwe Westra	Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team	+ 19
4	Andriy Grivko	Astana Pro Team	+ 20
5	Richie Porte	Sky Procycling	+ 23
6	Geraint Thomas	Sky Procycling	+ 24
7	Peter Velits	Omega Pharma - Quick•Step Cycling Team	s.t.
8	Luke Durbridge	Orica - GreenEdge	s.t.
9	Tobias Ludvigsson	Team Argos - Shimano	+ 27
10	Wilco Kelderman	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	s.t.

Points

1	Tony Martin	Omega Pharma - Quick•Step Cycling Team	15	15
2	Edvald Boasson Hagen	Sky Procycling	12	12
3	Lieuwe Westra	Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team	10	10
4	Andriy Grivko	Astana Pro Team	9	9
5	Richie Porte	Sky Procycling	8	8
6	Geraint Thomas	Sky Procycling	7	7
7	Peter Velits	Omega Pharma - Quick•Step Cycling Team	6	6
8	Luke Durbridge	Orica - GreenEdge	5	5
9	Tobias Ludvigsson	Team Argos - Shimano	4	4
10	Wilco Kelderman	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	3	3

U25: L.Durbridge(OGE)
Team: Omega Pharma Quickstep