Decided to take a break after rwading the Dauphine report so I could go to bed and come back here with a clear head.
It all worked out on our end. I got a little scared when it looked like Aranburu cracked on the last hill, but I guess everyone else basically did too, so it wasn't a big issue. It ended up being one of those stages that got selective really early, but never ended up blowing things apart among the favorites. I guess that's not a bad thing, cause Aranburu's stamina probably did hurt him at the end.
It does suck that he was unable to snag any bonus seconds once again, but I'm optimistic that it won't end up mattering. 4th on the stage is sill good, and he was never gonna crack Borges, so 2nd overall is the best we could hope for going into the final stage. As long as we stay with the front group on the final day, I don't think enough people will amass bonuses to kick us off the podium. And while ti does suck that we lost all our depth placements by pacing so much early, it was a strategy move that made sense. Can't have it all.
Congrats to both Eden and valv. Some redemption races for you guys.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Good job by Moscon in stage 5, although I'd obviously have loved to see him get a stage win or at least a podium. More importantly, though, it sucks that the first 24 riders ended up on s.t. with the winner, I was hoping for that group to be way smaller.
Well, one more chance on the final day, but he'll need something special to gain some more positions. Or maybe Aregger could finally show up, although the profile looks too hard for him.
Congrats to those who did well, and thanks for the report.
The TTT was not good, worse than what I was expecting actually. Benoot did well to make back those positions and now be in the Top 10 after stage 5. Hoping he can stay inside the Top 10. Think that's as good as this race will get for us.
Congrats to the stage winners and thanks for the reports Ulrich
3rd team and a 23rd place for Doubey, we will take that, I guess, even though we would have love a breakaway win on this last stage
Would have been good also to really go for the KoM, but, well.
Thanks for the thrilling last report UU, and congrats Indosaat!
“...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
Gaudu has been very boring this race so he decided to spice things up by missing a split. But then he comes back and gets his best stage result of the race
This race didn't go as I thought it would. I was thinking our TTT would be a bit better and we got a bit more depth. It turned out that many other TTT squads were still much worse and Gaudu kinda Zubeldia'd himself into 4th in GC which is higher than I would've thought considering we were only 5th in the TTT.
Good amount of points for us and also a learning experience if we come back to this race
Great reports Ulrich and congrats to Indosat on a well deserved win
Big race for us in the end. Aranburu did exactly what he was supposed to do to waltz his way into second overall. He wasn't the strongest puncheur, and he couldn't compete with the better sprinters at finishes, but he never got gapped and lasted until the end. Combined with a good TTT, that was enough to propel him into 2nd overall. While I could have dreamed of a win, Indosat's TTT win made that an impossibility, and Borges continued to show he was the strongest here.
I can only hope now that this was a breakthrough result for Aranburu. Finally comfortable in his post-training skin, he can continue to flourish into the later part of the season. Of course, it's not lost on me what work the TTT did here. Aranburu can't ITT, and with stage 5 like parcours, he's not a threat to gain bonus seconds in almost any field. So, while this was definitely an awesome result, it may have also proved some of the haters right that Aranburu doesn't have the marginal skills to be a top puncheur. I guess we'll see going forward, as he has some more leadership opportunities.
Congrats to Eden and thanks for all the amazing reports Ulrich!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Oh boy, what a finish from Borges! He was flying at the finish, that’s what I was picturing when we signed him Was initially a little worried when Aidan broke free, but Borges responded the best way possible.
I think this might be our most successful race ever - 3 stage wins and the GC win in a 6 day race is crazy. I wasn’t expecting anything after the first stage given our season so far and definitely didn’t expect a performance like this. It has shadows of Dunbar in Rundfarht last season - this result along with Dunbar’s 2nd in Norway this month are absolutely massive results for us in our fight to stay up. There’s still a long way to go, but this does inspire hope.
Borges was incredible, exactly what is described on the box is what he delivered here. Rohendi and Setiawa were always with him and did a great job in supporting him. We also got our first TTT win which was totally unexpected. Just a terrific race all round for us.
It was good to see Kinoshita pick up a few wins as well as P:A getting a spot on the podium along with Aranburu reddening himself with a solid 2nd in the GC.
5th and 10th on GC from the old master and the future stud is a good result for us, feels like we needed that to keep our season on track as we've had a few disappointing results elsewhere recently.
Well, I guess I can't be disappointed with the GC result we got here, given the weakest TTT squad we ever had. The stage results however are disappointing. Having won a stage in the last three years - thereof two wins by Moscon in the previous two editions - a 5th place as the "top" result is just awful. Moscon was clearly, clearly worse than in all previous participations, and bringing Aregger in the end was a waste of RDs. Maybe without Moscon present he'd actually have participated in some sprints...
Lesson learnt, never ever sign up for two clashing races with TTTs. At least not if you have riders who either don't care about breakaways, or who are among the best and don't care about stage results.
Congrats to Indosat, Borges was a beast here. The beast he should be given the parcours, though.
