Decent start by Cataldo even though he may have profited by the way the final climb developed. Pleasant surprise to see even Maillet on the first page of the results table, curious if he can score his first points this season.
Aah yes, good old Kühtai, my Hausberg (hometown mountain??) never fails to not deliver any action at all. Must be down to the insufferable changes of slopes from super steep % to stretches of downhill even.
Shonak wrote:
Aah yes, good old Kühtai, my Hausberg (hometown mountain??) never fails to not deliver any action at all. Must be down to the insufferable changes of slopes from super steep % to stretches of downhill even.
Not a bad stage for Monsalve, he's up there, just lacking the 1-2-3 extra mon stats. I can live with 6th
However, I believe Schädlich is using way to much energy in the breaks, he's not here for breaks but for the TT... Rather send a better climber that atleast have 1-2 percent chanse of a result in the break
Wow, this is going way better than expected. 25 seconds on Martin should be possible to catch on the time trial, and about two minutes down to next rider is a dream position for Dekker. Podium looks very much in reach now. Just don't loose the back of Martin ever again, and the time trial can be an intense one!
Woo! Third place is way more than I had expected beforehand. With 2 mountain stages left it might be hard to hang on to this spot for now, but limiting losses would already be great seeing Brajkovic's TT skills.
I couldn't be happier with Schelling so far, as 10th exceeded my expectations. Its still very early though and I expect him to slip, but he should be good for a top 15 if it keeps going this way.
Think I totally missed this race starting due to the excitement I have for Portugal right now. So I check into the race after the 3rd stage to find out I've totally missed nothing from my team thus far.
I think Domagalski circles this week to peak every year, but can't make the same difference in the mountains as USAPCC last year so is making an attack on the flat? I don't mind though, love to see our team making moves!
Franczak involved in the sprint too, but his stats are definitely too low, should've brought Sobota here instead of Portugal, great to see him trying though as I didn't think he would.
Did my team just do what they were supposed to do? Form a train with Ratto, Viviani, Belletti and Theuns? And do it succesfully? What is happening lately, do they suddenly really want to go to PT after just 2 seasons when it is not even cool anymore?
But seriously, really happy about this 2nd place, Theuns could have defended his perfect position better but Pelucchi was really really strong. No complaints, just happy about any points we get out of this - and it looks like they might be more than expected!
Kentaurus wrote:
Think I totally missed this race starting due to the excitement I have for Portugal right now. So I check into the race after the 3rd stage to find out I've totally missed nothing from my team thus far.
A powerfull finish by Pelucchi to win a stage I considered lost to the breakaway in the final kms. No need for a sprint train if you just take care of your sprinter. He didn't win for me in the CT last year, but he wins here. This may be the result we needed to avoid regulation.
Quite a letdown todays double header. Seems our cold streak won't end in Austria, too.
Cataldo ending in a group of guys of similar climbing skills on stage two, though sadly the gaps are seemingly defining for the rest of the race.
And Appollonio already has to win the two remaining sprint stages to make it a somewhat worthwhile stay for him.