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One in a Billion | Rise to the Summit
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 13-11-2017 08:06
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Grand Tour Specialist
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PCM$: 300.00
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You traitor are the Dutch champion! 
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-11-2024 08:25
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Bot Agent
Posts: Countless
Joined: 23.11.09
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 14-11-2017 04:58
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11676
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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Lol. Yeah 
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 14-11-2017 08:04
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World Champion
Posts: 11392
Joined: 17-12-2014
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Great win
Danny van Poppel is a hardworking Dutchman and you destroyed his dreams
Not bad in the TT either, Giro hangover a bit obviously but still in shape for some fun at Le Tour!
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant."
[ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT]  Xero Racing
5x  x5
2x  x2
2x  x2 |
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 15-11-2017 04:21
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11676
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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Didn't mind the TT result so much. Got the win in the target RR
Onto the Tour next...
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 16-11-2017 16:29
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11676
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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Still no update from the team regarding its future after Duvel pulled out. We were given assurances that a new sponsor will be announced soon. Not a good distraction to have going into the Tour
I was coming into the Tour feeling the most confident that I'd probably ever felt in my life. The Giro win and the Dutch national championship success had made me feel invincible. This would be my first race in my National Champion's jersey!
Stage 1
The Prologue was a little too flat for my liking. I started off well, 19 seconds down at the first time check. I kept losing time through the course and ended up 40th, 43 seconds off the fastest time.
Stage 2 was flat. The early break was allowed a nine minute lead and then the peloton chased them down. Some riders were dropped in the closing stages because of the fast pace. None of the GC contenders were affected though.
(Wearing the NC Jersey!)
Stage 3 involved the first climbs of the race. The break was not allowed to get more than two minutes and were caught with 60 km still left. At the base of the last climb, the peloton was down to 40 riders. Gallopin attacked 4 km from the top of the climb, and 12 km from the finish. Simon Yates countered and the duo rode together till the end, gaining 30 seconds on the peloton. Gallopin took the lead in the GC.
Stage 4
A heavily cobbled stage lived up to the worries of the GC favourites. The three man break had a maximum lead of six minutes. Aru, Dan Martin, Sergio Henao and Dumoulin were some of the riders dropped before the break was caught. That event happened with 11 km left. Nairo Quintana and Meintjes were dropped on the last cobbled section. The lead group was down to 30 riders. I was still at the front, togetehr with Barguil. I moved up to 10th in the GC.
Stage 5 was flat. A single rider formed the break of the day but did not survive till the finish.
Stage 6 was also for the sprinters. It was uneventful an the only moment of excitement was the bunch sprint.
Stage 7 was hilly. The four man break had a six minute lead but were caught with 10 km left. The peloton had eighty riders at that point but this number reduced to 50 at the finish. Simon Yates and Nairo Quintana both lost time! I moved up to 9th in the GC.
Stage 8
The early 5 man break was joined by 2 others. Four of them were caught on the fourth climb. I was in the second group on the road at that time with Craddock, and Barguil was in the next group on the road. Dumoulin was in the peloton, further back. Arredondo attacked from my group on top of the fourth climb, but was caught again. The break was caught soon after and a 40 rider peloton formed on the fifth climb. At the base of the last climb, 30 riders were left in the peloton. Nairo attacked at the top of the climb but was caught. Sagan attacked with 12 km left. He was joined by another at the 4 km mark. Pinot also got away with 2 km to go. The front two gained time on the peloton, but Pinot did not, but claimed the bonus seconds for 3rd place. I finished safely in the pack of leaders, dead tired by the end! I moved up to 7th in the GC. Sagan was the new leader!
| 1 | Peter Sagan | Swissair | 31h35'50 | | 2 | Tony Gallopin | Huawei | + 39 | | 3 | Michał Kwiatkowski | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 46 | | 4 | Tiesj Benoot | Rusal | + 1'16 | | 5 | Romain Bardet | Huawei | + 1'21 | | 6 | Thibaut Pinot | Rusal | + 1'23 | | 7 | Abhishek Sinha | Duvel | s.t. | | 8 | Warren Barguil | Duvel | + 1'41 | | 9 | Gregorio Ibañez | TEAM Kodak | + 2'52 | | 10 | Jay McCarthy | Huawei | + 2'58 |
To be continued...
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| Tamijo |
Posted on 17-11-2017 10:47
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Team Leader
Posts: 7406
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PCM$: 599.00
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Not too bad at this point, a good position after a relative easy week.
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 17-11-2017 14:13
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11676
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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Done alright so far. Big mountains to come in the following stages.
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 17-11-2017 14:39
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4191
Joined: 13-09-2015
PCM$: 300.00
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Only Bardet and Pinot should be GC rivals of the riders that are ahead of you currently in GC, so a good first week
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 17-11-2017 17:57
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11676
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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Yeah all's ok so far
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 20-11-2017 15:44
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11676
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Stage 9
Another mountain stage saw a strong 7 man break get away at the start. They were caught before the first climb. A group of six riders, including Aru, Pinot and Sagan, along with three others went away from the pack. I was in the second group on the road with Barguil, Bardet and Ibanez, chasing them down. Soon after, I was struggling to stay in touch. Barguil was having a good day and he went away on his own in the chase. I was 4 minutes down on the leaders with 8 km to go. Barguil didn't catch the riders out ahead, but managed 5th place. He moved up to 4th in the GC. Pinot won the stage, having dropped Sagan and Aru before, and took the lead in the GC. I slipped to 9th in the GC.
Kruijskwijk, Pantano and Calmejane were a part of the strong ten man break on the transitional Stage 10. Three of them were caught on the first climb. The peloton reduced to 50 riders on top of the first climb. Two more from the break were caught on the second climb, and a further three on the third. The two remaining riders were caught on the descent of the third climb. Only Barguil and I remained from our team in the leading group of 30. Two riders tried get away, getting a small lead but were caught before the final climb of the day. Two more riders attacked on the final climb, but they weren't any of the GC favourites. The leaders remained rather passive throughout, allowing one of the late attackers to survive and win the stage. Barguil was 5th again but there was no change in the GC.
Stage 11
Two of the early four man break were caught on the first climb. The peloton had 60 riders left at the top of it. Again, it was only me and Barguil in this group. A big name casualty was reported here, as Davide Formolo had to retire. Another from the break was caught on the second climb. The peloton had furtehr reduced to 40 riders. The last remaining breakaway rider had a 4 minutes' lead. Nairo Quintana and Ibanez attacked with 12 km to go. They built up a 40 second lead but were caught 4 km later. Traino and Gallopin fell and couldn't recover. The Frenchman lost his podium spot as a result. Barguil continued his good form, finishing 6th and moving up to 3rd in the GC. Arndt finished outside the time-limit to leave us a man short for the rest of the Tour.
Stage 12 was completely flat and the teams of sprinters just about managed to catch the day's break and allowed their leaders to fight it out for the stage win.
Stage 13
A total of seven riders made the day break's after two sets of attacks. The peloton was down to a mere 20 riders on top of the third climb, still 90 seconds behind the break. The break was caught on the descent. Another rider got away soon after. Only Barguil and Vallee was in the front group for Duvel besides me. Gallopin attacked on the next climb, to try to make up some time lost on the last stage. Another group of six riders got a gap to my group. Barguil was in the attacking group, Pinot was still in mine. With 55 km left, it was Barguil, Gallopin and Kwiatkowski out in front, with me and other GC contenders in the next group chasing. I was dropped from the group and was soon picked up by the peloton. I lost time to my rivals again, but remained in 9th place in the GC after the stage. Barguil too lost some time on this stage and fell to 6th in the GC.
| 1 | Thibaut Pinot | Rusal | 55h30'07 | | 2 | Michał Kwiatkowski | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 4'35 | | 3 | Peter Sagan | Swissair | + 4'53 | | 4 | Tiesj Benoot | Rusal | + 6'47 | | 5 | Romain Bardet | Huawei | s.t. | | 6 | Warren Barguil | Duvel | + 8'06 | | 7 | Tony Gallopin | Huawei | + 8'18 | | 8 | Adam Yates | Swissair | + 11'27 | | 9 | Abhishek Sinha | Duvel | + 13'43 | | 10 | Nairo Quintana | De Koninck | + 13'48 |
To be continued...
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| Tamijo |
Posted on 20-11-2017 20:31
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Team Leader
Posts: 7406
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Gliding a bit to far time wise, 9th is fine but with those gaps hard to bounce back on a good day.
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 20-11-2017 20:58
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4191
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Well, the Giro-Tour double is very difficult, and not all riders can do it without failing in the second GT.
Anyway, if at the end you manage to keep a top10 spot, you shouldn't be unhappy with the result
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 21-11-2017 04:18
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11676
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@Tamijo: Yes the gaps look too big now unless I can pull off something dramatic.
@Aquarius: Top 10 would be a little disappointing nonetheless. Was hoping to be closer to the top at least. Still a bit to go but week 2 has been bad.
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 21-11-2017 07:03
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 9099
Joined: 13-03-2013
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very decent start, but it was always to fear that Giro tiredness causes it's tribute - still there is a place to go and that is a Top 5, maybe a podium, which may be in reach if you could ride some smart attacks...Kwiatek and Pinot seem far away though.
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 22-11-2017 04:46
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11676
Joined: 27-07-2015
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A podium looks to be out of reach for the moment. A top 5 is a more realistic target. Didn't realise the Giro would have this much effect in the early mountains! It was looking good in the first week.
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 22-11-2017 15:47
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11676
Joined: 27-07-2015
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Stage 14 was a flat stage with a slightly uphill finish. the day's break built up a 7 minutes' lead but were caught with 15 km to go. There were no time losses from the GC contenders as the sprinters had a rare good day.
Stage 15
The day's break consisted of a massive 13 riders but they couldn't make their numerical advantage count and were caught on the intermediate climb. A group of six favourites went away from the pack including Barguil. I couldn't follow and soon was dropped from the second group as well! Barguill too, seemed to be struggling today and was dropped from the front group as two others joined in. Eventually, after more time loss, I ended the stage falling out of the top 10 in the GC. Barguil was now in 7th.
Stage 16
Twice I tried to join the day's break and both times I was chased down! The break eventually settled with 3 riders in it. I was feeling good on the day and set the pace at the head of the peloton on the second climb. The ulterior motive was to both improev my own position and to try to get rid of some of Barguil's rivals. The size of the peloton was reduced to 80 riders. The break was caught on the third climb. My effort caught up to me eventually, and I was dropped on the this climb. I lost even more time but my effort had managed to get rid of Benoot, so Barguil moved up a place to 6th.
Stage 17
Today's break saw Nairo and Power join. I felt a little frustrated as I wasn't allowed in it the day before and now the peloton was allowing the Colombian the same. The group of GC contenders, again barring Benoot, went away on the second climb. I found myself a long way back very soon and with no chance of getting back. I spent spent the rest of the stage limiting my losses. Barguil did an amazing job up ahead to finish 4th on the stage. I slipped further to 14th in the GC.
| 1 | Thibaut Pinot | Rusal | 74h22'29 | | 2 | Peter Sagan | Swissair | + 4'26 | | 3 | Romain Bardet | Huawei | + 11'27 | | 4 | Michał Kwiatkowski | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 11'29 | | 5 | Tony Gallopin | Huawei | + 13'00 | | 6 | Warren Barguil | Duvel | + 18'05 | | 7 | Nairo Quintana | De Koninck | + 19'22 | | 8 | Adam Yates | Swissair | + 23'33 | | 9 | Graham Traino | Rusal | + 23'41 | | 10 | Robert Power | Lyonnaise des Eaux | + 27'36 | | ... | | 14 | Abhishek Sinha | Duvel | + 36'18 |
To be continued...
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| dominox |
Posted on 22-11-2017 18:00
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Protected Rider
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Oh man... That Tour is not that good as I was expecting. Even top 10 is questionable at this point. Also, it's always strange to see Sagan being 2nd in GC at this point |
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 23-11-2017 03:59
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11676
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dominox wrote:
Oh man... That Tour is not that good as I was expecting. Even top 10 is questionable at this point. Also, it's always strange to see Sagan being 2nd in GC at this point
Yeah this one's gone down the drain. PCM logic putting Sagan among the climbers
Also, French domination at le Tour. Not happening any time soon!
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 23-11-2017 09:36
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Not a real climbers tour it seems...
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 24-11-2017 08:20
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Directeur Sportif
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@Croatia: There were quite a few climbs and there's a big one to come yet but most of the top guys went to the Giro as well, so that might explain it.
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