Fleche/Liege
Well 40th and 48th for Valter not exactly amazing. Thankful all the more then for the much better outing in Grand Duche earlier in the season.
Koln
It’s not in Netherlands, so Van der Lijke is further back. 11th, well it’s alright.
Vuelta
Godoy leads the team but expectations are not high as the team is weaker than the Giro team, which itself didn’t achieve much. Munton, Bax, Geniets. Rutsch, Johannessen, Cabrera and Teggart mean our team is a young one. No sprinter should mean more breakaways, but by the Giro, looks like sprints are sprints this year.
Breakaway watch begins on Stage 5, some KoM points for Johannessen. Stage 7 looks very promising for Cabrera, but he capitulates on the Tourmalet, where Godoy also wasn’t at his greatest. 9th in GC after Stage 7 though, looks like a Top 10 hilt should be possible then.
Stage 9 brings the best GT result of the season so far! Godoy pipped by Yates after both stormed the final kilometre. 2nd on the stage and a GC boost to 7th. Hope levels rising.
Ahh breakaway pain. Munton only 11th on Stage 11. Bax leading into the final kilometre but caught for 6th on Stage 12. Get through the TT on Stage 13, now 11th in GC for Godoy.
Stage 15 and Geniets earns his GT bacon. In the breakaway, then leading out Godoy at the finish for a WIN. Ridiculously tight photo finish, with apologies to Aegon who could have been 1-2, instead got 4-5. A fabulous 4th on the next mountain stage then brings Godoy back to 10th in GC. 5 stages to go.
OUCH. Random 4 minute loss on Stage 18 and all the way down to 20th in GC. 4th in the Mountain TT recovers to 15th, but that drop still hurts. And yuk, another shambolic day on the final mountain stage. Only 19th on GC. And a final week noted by a complete lack of breakaway participation for the team. Shining at times, but ending on a downer.
Suisse
Wirtgen returns to look to lift the team then, and with Kirsch here too.
Lift the team? Oh yes. Let’s definitely take a 1-2 in the opening time trial! Great for Wirtgen to notch up a win, and Tanfield there in 2nd.
Race lead into one of the challenges of coming here – big mountain Stage 2. Well perhaps having the jersey encouraged a bit too eagerness early in the final climb. But 8th is a fine result in the end. Kirsch only 45th though, unfortunately. No GC gaps on Stage 3 is better news.
Two third places make for a good sprinting race for Moser.
Good hills in Stage 6 for Wirtgen. GC win is gone but podium within reach, as is the Points jersey.
Horrible final stage then. Only 15th, while Bernal showed that actually the GC was winnable. Missing the open goal of the Points jersey too.
Scandinavia
Well at least Wirtgen gets a chance to try again. Back to a better TT with 3rd behind Phinney for the opener. It sets up a chance to hold on to a GC placing on the remaining stages. Stage 2 was good, Stage 3 too, until a shattering final kilometre. 13th in GC. Race was worth a try, elsewhere in the multiverse, a better result could surely have been there.
No surprise to be down to 16th in the rankings, a Wirtgen boost at least steered it away from being lower.
