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Tour of South Africa - Discussion
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 15-02-2023 07:33
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Directeur Sportif
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Loving the Project Africa performance and also Calmejane doing well here. Very deserved podium, and great stage design to embrace the real puncheurs.
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 15-02-2023 07:55
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Hum... don't know how to feel about this. It was definitely stupid from Moscon to attack so early - and that energy clearly was missing in the end. At least he made the front group.
But instead, I'd have hoped to see him working for Aregger, who was completely empty in the end and unable to sprint for the win. Which was obviously my big hope for this stage.
On the other hand, maybe Aregger's presence in the race actually pushed the AI to position our riders close to the front, hence not missing out on any splits. And so despite our bad TTT lineup, Moscon should still have a good shot at least at the Top 20, with the most suited stages for him coming on the last two days.
Not really happy with Schmid's performance so far, but maybe he'll now join some breakaways. I don't think so, though...
Congrats to Indosat, great answer by Borges after yesterday's disappointment!
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| MacC |
Posted on 15-02-2023 08:12
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Sprinter
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Thanks as always Ulrich
Encouraging McKenna could hold on, if he can get through tomorrow we can start dreaming of a decent result
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| Eden95 |
Posted on 15-02-2023 12:28
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Grand Tour Specialist
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We definitely needed that. After Borges didn’t bother the entire TDU I thought this race might be a write off after his performance yesterday, happy to be wrong. Hope he can keep it up, a top-5 would help us tremendously if he can hang on on s5
Thanks for the report UU
Indosat - ANZ HQ
"This Schleck sandwich is going to cause serious indigestion for Evans" - Phil Liggett |
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| quadsas |
Posted on 15-02-2023 20:05
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Small Tour Specialist
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Fernandes has seemingly turned his season around, has Errazkin done the same? Lets find out
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 16-02-2023 03:10
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Tour de France Champion
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Huh, I clearly got my stage orders mixed up in my excitement for the TTT. Not much to say about that one. Aranburu was around, but once again didn't have kick on an easy finish to get more than a top 10.
Congrats to Voyagin again, and thanks for the report
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| redordead |
Posted on 16-02-2023 06:58
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Three disappointing stages so far. Losing all my depth and no points scored by Gaudu. Need a great TTT to salvage something from this race.
Kinoshita looks to have this race under control.
"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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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 16-02-2023 07:03
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Directeur Sportif
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Benoot did ok, nothing special.
Congrats to Voyagin and thanks for the report Ulrich 
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 06:15
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Bot Agent
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| Eden95 |
Posted on 16-02-2023 10:30
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Borges needs to sort his positioning out, such a good finisher but he’s struggled to get it right all season. So good to see Voyagin doing well, Kino loving you to his reputation is good to see.
We have the ‘best’ TTT team of the main contenders, but McKenna sitting pretty only a few seconds behind is quite scary! If Glanbia go all in and he takes the lead, he might be able to hold on til the end. Hopefully we can keep Borges in a good spot. Thanks for the report UU
Indosat - ANZ HQ
"This Schleck sandwich is going to cause serious indigestion for Evans" - Phil Liggett |
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 16-02-2023 12:21
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Absolutely no clue what we were doing today, but I guess it was the most nonsensical strategy ever. Working all day long and then not bothering at all - I definitely don't get it. Anyone has a clue?
I'm really pissed by what we did, as this was - on paper - the perfect stage for Aregger. And then he was just used to catch the breakaway, only for Moscon to not care about the finish. Guess I'll have to fire some DS...
Well, stage result wise it was an almost nothing race so far - much worse than last year. Which is a recurring pattern with Moscon, though. The TTT will definitely break our GC ambitions, so I'm hoping for some attacks on stages 5 and 6. But Moscon won't care, so someone else has to do something useful.
Congrats to Voyagin, thanks to UU. Cheers.
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| quadsas |
Posted on 16-02-2023 14:53
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Small Tour Specialist
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Errazkin holding on so far. No idea whether TTT will gain or lose us places, could be quite a crapshoot. Just hoping Xuban doesnt get dropped by Žalgiris savages
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 17-02-2023 17:55
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Tour de France Champion
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Wow, huge day for Indosat! Congrats to them. I knew Xero would have a chance to overtake us, but I didn't expect Indosat to have that kind of power. Really setting themselves up for the GC win now.
Very happy with our performance overall. Could we have won? Well, yeah. I got a bit hopeful for it early on. But 3rd is a nice little result, and we gained time on a whole lot of other puncheurs. Aranburu will at least get a decent result here barring catastrophe. And we've elevated all our depth guys to the top 25. One or two of them are bound to hold on for some points, right?
That said, tomorrow is an enormous day for our season. Borges should have this close to wrapped, but we have a real shot at the podium. We could also slip further down. On the surface, Aranburu should be a favorite. It's very tough for a hilly stage, and his mountain and resistance should allow him to outlast pure puncheurs. My only worry is the length. At 217 km's stamina could become a real issue, and Aranburu does not have it. That's part of the reason I was cautioned against training him as a puncheur. I'm still not 100% clear how stamina works in the newer games, but I know stages this long will make it matter. We'll have to hope the stage is broken up before it sends Aranburu out the back.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| redordead |
Posted on 17-02-2023 18:26
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Not the result we needed. Gaudu's is sitting in 8th place, but given how the previous stages have gone, he will continue dropping down the GC. The race is pretty much over for us unless we send someone in the breakaway.
"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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| Fabianski |
Posted on 17-02-2023 18:30
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Well, that's way too much time lost. A minute on similarly rated teams is huge, and despite not having any specialists here, that's unacceptable. Now it's up to Moscon to play his cards well - with 3 minutes down he should be allowed in the breakaway. But if he continues doing absolutely nothing, this will be one of our biggest failures this year, because Aregger just did nothing as well.
I guess we shouldn't have signed up for this race with Vancouver clashing, but yeah, I'll continue doing stupid mistakes every year ^^
Congrats to Indosat, surprise win for sure, and a great situation for Borges now! If low-ish Mo and Res don't matter, he should have this one in the bag, as bbl already said.
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| Eden95 |
Posted on 18-02-2023 04:10
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Holy shit, that was unexpected! I think this is the first TTT win we’ve ever had. I thought we might do a little bit better than expected, but nothing like this. The whole team are solid climbers to go with their TT ability so I wonder if that had something to do with it!
The pressure is on now though, Borges has a lot to do tomorrow to keep the jersey. It should be a day for the likes of Aranburu to flex their legs, so hopefully the team is strong enough to keep things under wraps. Rohendi in 2nd as well is awesome as well! If he can fall into a comfy top-15 position as well as Borges golfing the lead/finishing on the podium it would be a fantastic race for us.
Thanks for the report UU
Indosat - ANZ HQ
"This Schleck sandwich is going to cause serious indigestion for Evans" - Phil Liggett |
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| MacC |
Posted on 18-02-2023 08:35
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Sprinter
Posts: 1594
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Congrats Indosat.
The leason for Glanbia is to go all in on TTTs, can't expect half a team to get top 3s.
Hopefully we're not doubly punished by losing out in the Vancouver TTT.
Maybe McKenna can hold on to a top 20
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| redordead |
Posted on 18-02-2023 18:15
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Well that was interesting. Seems like everything fell into place and Gaudu pretty much didn't need to do anything (which he hasn't all race) to suddenly move into 4th in GC. If he could stay there that would certainly save the race for us.
"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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| Imladrik |
Posted on 18-02-2023 19:08
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Hum, I don't know what to think of this race. We're in every break, we have decent results, but for some reason we send new riders each time in the break, which oberates any possibility to a good KoM placing.
Good efforts by the team, I guess. And three riders in the second group today is not to bad. Maybe we can hang to this third place in the team competition, which was a bit unexpected after the TTT.
Thanks for the reports UU, looking forward to the end!
“...the secret of the Great Stories is that they have no secrets. The Great Stories are the ones you have heard and want to hear again. The ones you can enter anywhere and inhabit comfortably."
A. Roy
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 18-02-2023 20:15
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Team Leader
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Very glad to see Borges succeeding here, especially in a race where he has won before. Kinoshita looking good as well. Congrats guys.
Great reports as well Ulrich!
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| Eden95 |
Posted on 19-02-2023 05:45
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Grand Tour Specialist
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That’s about the best we could have hoped for, I almost feel disappointed Borges wasn’t given the win. Awesome performance from him to stay at the front all day and not lose any time as well as pick up some more bonus seconds. Tomorrow’s finish suits him quite well so hopefully he can stay safely wishing the pack and just roll over the line, it’s not over yet though.
Good to see Kinoshita doing well again, and Aranburu despite being somewhat anonymous keeping himself up in second is great.
Thanks for the report Ulrich
Indosat - ANZ HQ
"This Schleck sandwich is going to cause serious indigestion for Evans" - Phil Liggett |
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