Really happy with the last 3 days Hughes has rode fantastically obviously not as strong as Enger but the most annoying part of the man game is when the riders don't try when the tactics are spot on and you fail by not being strong enough that's not a problem he's earned some good points there and we have Bonnin with a good top 30 in GC too now for Houle to close with another top 5 and I will be content with this Veulta
Boy, what an end to a superb GT. After the most boring of GTs it's well deserved to have a finale of this sort.
Schleck with a brilliant attack to reclaim what was rightfully his. Dombrowski will surely face many more chances to win a GT.
Machado finishing with a Schleck-like performance sending himself in the most crazy fashion to catch Kritskiy's group and thus retaining his extremely hard-fought 5th place.
Congratulations tsmoha on Haig's victory. Let's just end this GT with a clean stage with no crashes please.
I'm glad the mountains are over, Abal started this race really well and by that out him in a very good GC place but the longer the race went on he suffered but I'm glad he could hang on to 8th (please dont crash) and adding his 7th in Giro he have delivered more then I hoped when I signed late in the transfer period.
Can we see when last attempt from Stallaert for a podium?
Excellent race to read. Thanks to Tamijo and gratz to those who are happy about their teams' results.
Also, IRL Sahun has sterrato and hormigon on part of both sides so using it in a pro race looks impossible if they are descending as well. Maybe they can do a MTF though.
The user formerly known as 'The Schleck Fan' Gracias Alberto.
Fantastic reporting, once again, Tamijo. Thank you!
Also congratulations to SN, with Schleck claiming those precious seconds and deciding the overall on the final testing stage. It has been a brilliant GT in every way looking at the intensity and excitement at the very top, with brilliant reports to cover it. Certainly my favourite GT for quite some time back, I'd say.
GC wise, I must admit it's very disappointing to have no riders top 10, Galta as our best in 12th, and Guldhammer not really interested, just making it inside the top 20. Especially when the race started rather well for us GC wise.
On the other hand, nice to see Guldhammer finally try something in the mountains. Would obviously have preferred to see him with Haig and Brambilla, as that could have seen him jump to 14th overall, but at least he gave it a go. Congratulations, tsmoha on the stage win! Definitely a superb race for Jayco9 here, with Haig overperforming massively in the GC, even with a stage win, and then there was the Gunman show earlier as well.
Now for that final stage, I see no reason for us to hold back, and Guldhammer has already proven he can be a very, very good leadout rider for Holst Enger in this field. Hopefully he gives it another shot, so Holst Enger can threaten Groenewegen and maybe even win his third stage here, which would be amazing, and also a very nice comfort after a poor GC.
Fantastic display of riding. Just as he did earlier in the race, showing a great desire to attack when not in the race lead, and doing exactly what needed to be done. I was certainly concerned when Dombrowski came back mid-climb, but fortunately Schleck found his final-kilometre kick again, and got a good gap. It always needed to be good, to counter the time loss in the descent, and thankfully it was enough.
Congrats to alex and tsmoha for winning the breakaway lottery ticket, to gain both time and the stage position, and to Heine for having Egger put a halt to Schleck's greed to win the KoM jersey - a fine feat, given the early gap that Schleck had built up.
Well ridden by Goos to secure a Top 20 spot in 19th, but oh König, you had it in your grasp! 29 seconds to make up on Vosekalns, ahead by 1'34 at the last time count, but then somehow 1'14 behind the Latvian at the finish line. A not-so nice 3 minute late swing, so he has to settle for 21st - with a dodgy first week to blame, as he was much better, and clearly a key support rider in the second half of the race. A worthy Top 20 spot for Vosekalns and Evonik anyway, having been hindered by a crash in both GTs.
Holding on to the Teams Classification is also a very satisfying Grand Tour achievement. I'm not sure that it's one I've ever done before, certainly not in any of Andy's GT wins.
Kirsch safely on track for his target of U25 Top 10 in all GTs this season, looks like the full GC target will have to be Top 35 for the Tour though. Nice to see former loanee Lehtinen also in the Top 10, a shame that otherwise the race timing did not suit wildcards Valio and their leaders.
SPOILER WARNING – READ STAGE 21 FIRST – RESULT FURTHER DOWN IN THIS POST
[PTM] Vuelta a Espana - End of Week Three
The Decisive Week
Day 15 start finish at Xorret del Catí
On stage 15, on what was seemingly a relative easy semi mountain stage, we say Kristian Haugaard Jensen taking a breakaway win, but also Aleksandr Pluchkin and Tiago Machado gaining some serious time in GC. This was also the stage where Mike Aaron Egger started his KoM hunt.
On stage 16 Kristian Haugaard Jensen was close to a back to back, but the peloton made it just in time for Sondre Holst Enger to take his 2nd stage win.
Stage 17 was the ITT, Timofey Kritskiy in front of Aleksandr Pluchkin, was a crucial stage in making this race as thrilling as it became, narrowing down the distance between the top 4 riders.
Stage 18 was the first of three brutal mountain stages, the stage was won by Joseph Dombrowski but maybe not as exiting a stage as we could have expected with only the bonus sec. amongst top 4.
Day 19 Finish on Alto de la Farrapona
Stage 19 was the day where Daan Olivier had another brave breakaway though not able to deliver a stage win. Joseph Dombrowski winning the stage from a group with Yonathan Monsalve and Aleksandr Pluchkin. Dombrowski taking the race lead and situation in the GC even more tense than it already was.
This was also the day where 20 riders had to wave goodbye to their opportunity to finish the race in Salamanca.
And then stage 20, the stage expected to put the last GC pieces in place and what a spectacle, attack after attack from riders all attempting to improve in their GC, or KoM position. Jack Haig and Gianluca Brambilla with an impressive long range attack shared the stage, Jack Haig with the best finish.
Not forgetting what most spectators came to see, Andy Schleck with a very late but well timed attack regaining the race lead.
And finally day 21, not much to note on the route except that everyone make it to the finish, the stage was won by Sondre Holst Enger, Aker – MOT seems to have had the best setup for the mass sprint in the 2nd part of the race.
Day 21 Finish in Salamanca
[PTM] Vuelta a Espana – Race overview
Stage podiums
.
Stage 1
stage 2
Stage 3
1
Rodrigo Nascimento
Tiago Machado
Christian Egidio
2
Dylan Groenewegen
Sondre Holst Enger
Hugo Houle
3
Aleksandr Pluchkin
Andy Schleck
Yonathan Monsalve
4
Andy Schleck
Yonathan Monsalve
Joseph Dombrowski
5
Andy Schleck
Angel Madrazo
David Abal
6
Dylan Groenewegen
Emils Liepins
Jon Aberasturi
7
Maurits Lammertink
Carlos Barbero
Clemens Fankhauser
8
Taylor Gunman
Carlos Barbero
Cameron Bayly
9
Andy Schleck
Angel Madrazo
Aleksandr Pluchkin
10
Joseph Dombrowski
Nikias Arndt
Andy Schleck
11
Sondre Holst Enger
Dylan Groenewegen
Andreas Stauff
12
Angel Madrazo
Joseph Dombrowski
Andy Schleck
13
Eduard Prades
Dylan Groenewegen
Nikias Arndt
14
Andy Schleck
Joseph Dombrowski
Daan Olivier
15
Kristian Haugaard Jensen
Mike Aaron Egger
Aleksandr Pluchkin
16
Sondre Holst Enger
Hugo Houle
Dylan Groenewegen
17
Timofey Kritskiy
Aleksandr Pluchkin
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
18
Joseph Dombrowski
Andy Schleck
Angel Madrazo
19
Joseph Dombrowski
Yonathan Monsalve
Aleksandr Pluchkin
20
Jack Haig
Gianluca Brambilla
Andy Schleck
21
Sondre Holst Enger
Emils Liepins
Dylan Groenewegen
GC development
.
GC 1
GC 2
GC 3
1
Rodrigo Nascimento
Tiago Machado
Christian Egidio
2
Tiago Machado
Marlen Zmorka
Rodrigo Nascimento
3
Aleksandr Pluchkin
Tiago Machado
Angel Madrazo
4
Andy Schleck
Aleksandr Pluchkin
Angel Madrazo
5
Andy Schleck
Angel Madrazo
Aleksandr Pluchkin
6
Andy Schleck
Angel Madrazo
Aleksandr Pluchkin
7
Andy Schleck
Angel Madrazo
Aleksandr Pluchkin
8
Andy Schleck
Angel Madrazo
Aleksandr Pluchkin
9
Andy Schleck
Angel Madrazo
Aleksandr Pluchkin
10
Andy Schleck
Joseph Dombrowski
Angel Madrazo
11
Andy Schleck
Joseph Dombrowski
Angel Madrazo
12
Andy Schleck
Joseph Dombrowski
Angel Madrazo
13
Andy Schleck
Joseph Dombrowski
Angel Madrazo
14
Andy Schleck
Joseph Dombrowski
Angel Madrazo
15
Andy Schleck
Joseph Dombrowski
Angel Madrazo
16
Andy Schleck
Joseph Dombrowski
Angel Madrazo
17
Andy Schleck
Joseph Dombrowski
Angel Madrazo
18
Andy Schleck
Joseph Dombrowski
Angel Madrazo
19
Joseph Dombrowski
Andy Schleck
Angel Madrazo
20
Andy Schleck
Joseph Dombrowski
Aleksandr Pluchkin
21
Andy Schleck
Joseph Dombrowski
Aleksandr Pluchkin
Points KoM Team and Youth leaders
.
Points
KoM
Team
Youth
1
x
x
Porto - Prio
Marlen Zmorka
2
Dylan Groenewegen
Dmitri Kozontchuk
Porto - Prio
Marlen Zmorka
3
Aleksandr Pluchkin
Dmitri Kozontchuk
Gazelle
Sondre Holst Enger
4
Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Moser - Sygic
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
5
Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Vesuvio - Accumalux
Fredrik Strand Galta
6
Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Vesuvio - Accumalux
Fredrik Strand Galta
7
Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Vesuvio - Accumalux
Fredrik Strand Galta
8
Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Vesuvio - Accumalux
Fredrik Strand Galta
9
Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Vesuvio - Accumalux
Fredrik Strand Galta
10
Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Vesuvio - Accumalux
Fredrik Strand Galta
11
Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Vesuvio - Accumalux
Fredrik Strand Galta
12
Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Vesuvio - Accumalux
Fredrik Strand Galta
13
Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Vesuvio - Accumalux
Fredrik Strand Galta
14
Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Vesuvio - Accumalux
Fredrik Strand Galta
15
Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Vesuvio - Accumalux
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
16
Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Vesuvio - Accumalux
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
17
Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Vesuvio - Accumalux
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
18
Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Vesuvio - Accumalux
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
19
Andy Schleck
Daan Olivier
Vesuvio - Accumalux
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
20
Andy Schleck
Mike Aaron Egger
Vesuvio - Accumalux
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
21
Andy Schleck
Mike Aaron Egger
Vesuvio - Accumalux
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
My personal notes:
As a neutral “Sports Journalist” is has been a blessing to report this race, starting a bit boring, but with tension building and building towards the final week, culminating in a hard fought stage 20, could not have been much better. Congratulations to those that got what they came for and sorry to those that did not.
Now just left saying thanks for so many kind remarks along the way, that was very nice indeed.
Holst Enger on fire! Congrats yet again, ember. Might have hoped for more in the GC from the Aker boys, but Holst Enger really put in a great shift here.
Kudos to the various winners, Schleck single-handedly rescuing Vesuvio's season in one swoop would appear! Lots of great racing throughout the 21 stages made this an exceelent GT to follow.
Mainly logged on though to say chapeau to Tamijo on his excellent in-depth reporting. Great to see some of the 'new blood' reporters really stepping up their game in terms of quality and regular output in support of our tried-tested-and-trusted die-hard 'old hands' .
Complete side issue, but thought I'd throw out here as good as anywhere - the slight change to RD's for MG star riders now starting to see some impact with the elite stage racers only able to do 1 GT, and consequentially allowing some of the 2nd-tier guys to shine more brightly with 2 chances (if their management has planned that way). A development that may well have longer term implications on e.g. the transfer market in seasons to come. Good to give the status quo a nudge once in a while!
I'm actually quite surprised that we have been able to come out of the race with 5 sprinter stage wins. A very nice reward for initially Groenewegen, and latterly Enger, for roturn and ember reckoning that this would be a worthwhile route for them.
Thank you to Tamijo for not only the reports, but all these extra touches too.
And so it is confirmed. Although it nearly derailed at the end, this has to go down as one of the team's greatest ever races. 4 stage wins, 5 other podiums, and countless more Top 10s, along with long stints in all leaders jerseys, will surely see this being a rankings point bonanza for Schleck and for us. It was a much needed delivery in our key race of the season, and should allay any pressure for the remainder of the season.
But most importantly, this marks the achievement of my last big objective in the career of Andy Schleck at Vesuvio, now having won all three grand tours while part of my team. It may not be his last GT triumph, he should still be better than Alarcon next season, but depending on who else shows up it may turn out that this was the last. Dombrowski really proved himself as a GT contender; and although Pluchkin disappointed and Madrazo faded, they'll both have the edge on Schleck next season.
The team backed him up well, as summarised in my previous post. Possibly the first time Frank Schleck has finished a GT outside of the Top 100 though!
First of all: thanks for the coverage! It's been a pleasure to read and the work you've been put into this, has to be appreciated again and again. This counts for all MG reporters of course, but a special thanks has to go the GT reporters. Especially loved the TT reports and the stage introductions.
Another special thanks for the recaps. And particularly the latest recap with the video and additional screenshot of Haig's sprint and victory Probably not a secret for most of the people here, that he's my favorite rider. Which makes the victory as special as it is.
Gunman another cool (and random) winner for my team. Our first GT stage-victory happened in the Vuelta as well: 2015, Rhys Gillett. Must have been something around stage 8-10 as well. And we got our second and third stage-win. Great. Definitely got more points than we could have hoped for.
Schleck with a brilliant comeback on S20 and it's a deserved victory when looking at the presence of Vesuvio's red in the recap. Huge GT for the team.
First of all, huge thanks to Tamijo. Brilliant reporting!
Congrats to the podium takers!
Maybe should have sent Ahlstrand here and Stallaert to the Giro instead, with Groenewegen 2 stagewins and 3 from Holst Enger.
As said before Abal doing a good Vuelta beating some "better guys", making it two top 10 so far in GTs now its Wellens turn to try something like that in the Tour.
And Haugard Jensen took a nice stage win for us, it would have been nice to see a podium from Stallaert but he managed some nice top 10 places.
Nice try by Santos. I really can't blame him for moving into the wind too soon. It was his only chance to upset the odds. 10th is good enough, although it doesn't bring anything really.
Great to see that no crashes, splits or stupid AI things happened to ruin the fun here on the last day. Congrats to all who had a strong race here, and especially to SN for winning the race. Andy Schleck is really something...
For us we can look back on a race that brought a lot of frustration in the first 14 day, but a few highligts from Santos and Bayly, and then the final week was really strong from Lecuisinier making good use of his physical stats. In the end we came for 7th and the U25 competition aswell as some breakaway luck and we got that. No stagewins but two times 3rd, and some decent points.
Overall I think we didn't move any closer to Moser despite them losing two strong riders, so we have that against us. Hopefully we will take a big amount of points from Norway which was the only reason we picked the band, to level out the "lost" to Moser.
And on a final note. I haven't been very good (and rarely aren't) at giving thumbs up for the effort of the race coverage, but here after the race where my heart isn't pounding every line, I can take the time to let you know that what you have delivered here, Tamijo, is absolutely astounding.
I have been around for quite some season, and seen marvelous reports in the past, but I can say, hands down, that this coverage is the best ever I have experienced in the Man-Game history. It's a very subjective observation ofcourse, but for me there is no doubt. Obviously I enjoy the races where I perform great more, even if the reports are nothing extraordinary, but these have been a thrill and a joy to read, and I have never ever ridden every single line of a GT report before. So you get a HUGE thumbs up from me. I really enjoyed it, and would be ever so pleased to see you cover another GT in near future!
Wow, this definitely became an unbelievable race looking at Holst Enger and his sprint performances. Bringing home the third stage win is very, very nice. And once again Guldhammer with a perfect leadout, which was cool to see, and kind of makes it easier to forget about his bad GC. Now for hoping that his new role as a leadout rider also shows when he's going to negotiate for salary before the next season
I've already said a lot about our GC results here towards the end of the race. It makes me think what could have been, especially as we're still getting a bunch of points from the race, but not from where I expected them pre-race!
Again, thank you for the fantastic reports, Tamijo. I've truly enjoyed this GT, and I'm sure I would have also if I wasn't in it, because of the fight for the overall win and the brilliant way it was reported.
Big congratulations on the overall win, SN! The legend Schleck just became even more impressive. And as you point out, it could very well be that we see him win another GT next year. At least he'll surely fight for another title. At the same time as it was nice to see Schleck win it, kudos to Dombrowski, who challenged Schleck like no one has done it in recent GTs. What a rider he'll be for future seasons! And as SotD wrote earlier, together with Herklotz, it's kind of difficult to see past them for future GTs.
First of all, brilliant reports. The coverage has been excellent. Thanks a lot!
I'm quite satisfied with the race for Evonik. The break logic were awful for our team (too little attempts and always the wrong rider on the right stages) but the GC has been very pleasing. 20th and 29th is on the upper border of what i could realistically expect and eventhough it looked even better for most of the first two weeks that is much appreciated as it is by far the best GC result in team history (don't laugh at me )
What really made me enjoy this race were the two podiums by Liepins. Great overperformance by our 76SP loanee and Atlantius can already come up with a reasonable asking prize for next transfers
Last but not least, all 8 Evonik starters reached the finish line. That must be a team record as well
Scorchio wrote:
Complete side issue, but thought I'd throw out here as good as anywhere - the slight change to RD's for MG star riders now starting to see some impact with the elite stage racers only able to do 1 GT, and consequentially allowing some of the 2nd-tier guys to shine more brightly with 2 chances (if their management has planned that way). A development that may well have longer term implications on e.g. the transfer market in seasons to come. Good to give the status quo a nudge once in a while!
I agree. I kinda like that aspect, although I still feel like we need to have a look at how racedays are affecting GC riders more heavily than non-GC riders. Cobblers haven't been affected at all, as they have always had "too many" racedays, and in this case a certain Sam Bewley will only extend his already huge superiority.
That's a discussion for another thread though, but I like what it has done to the GT's, as it makes it possible to get top 10 results from riders that would otherwise struggle to do top 15.
Even though Velits was able to finish 10th and successfully accomplished our goal in this race, I can't be happy with what have we done here. No real stage results, losing Hirt and Giogieri, who would likely both score top 20 and top 30 result overall and help my team much more in team competition. But still 10th, 23rd, 36th and 42nd is not that bad, way better than nothing surely. A Moser sprinter should be on the startlist here though...
Big thanks for fantastic reporting, was pleasure to read all of them!
EDIT: Oh and congrats to the winners! Huge result for Andy and Vesuvio surely go all the way back to the higher parts of the rankings. Great to see König being a great help.
Edited by Roman on 18-01-2018 19:48
Scorchio wrote:
Complete side issue, but thought I'd throw out here as good as anywhere - the slight change to RD's for MG star riders now starting to see some impact with the elite stage racers only able to do 1 GT, and consequentially allowing some of the 2nd-tier guys to shine more brightly with 2 chances (if their management has planned that way). A development that may well have longer term implications on e.g. the transfer market in seasons to come. Good to give the status quo a nudge once in a while!
I agree. I kinda like that aspect, although I still feel like we need to have a look at how racedays are affecting GC riders more heavily than non-GC riders. Cobblers haven't been affected at all, as they have always had "too many" racedays, and in this case a certain Sam Bewley will only extend his already huge superiority.
That's a discussion for another thread though, but I like what it has done to the GT's, as it makes it possible to get top 10 results from riders that would otherwise struggle to do top 15.
I'm not a fan of this. When you could ride 2 GTs that opened the field for plenty of different season planning strategies: 2 GTs Pluchkin-like, 1 GT Schleck-like or no GT Spilak-like. Each of this could work out equally well depending on your planning skills, the stats of a rider, luck and what the rivals do. Due to the change of RDs every GT contender rides exactly one GT and uses the rest of his RDs on one-week races because 2 GTs are impossible for them and no GT is no longer a valuable option because of the startlists and the reduced number of alternative stage races (both factors impact each other).
Spoiler
Also i prefer to see those riders riding for top 10 in week long races instead of in GTs because i prefer to see the strongest startlists in the GTs as the most prestigious stage races. I prefer the former top 15 GC riders to get a top ten in one week races than in GT.
The schedule (and thus the RDs of top riders) is something where the reporters have to evaluate and decide how much they can and are prepared to carry and i have no right to really influence any decision of that but from the pov of game mechanics and season planning having 42+ RDs for the top guys is better (imo).
[PTM] Vuelta a Espana - End of Week Three 
