Big Donkey
Moderator: englishmods
Re: Big Donkey
May
10th place in D2 with 8110 points, after spending much of the season in last or second last place more than happy with that. Thought others might score more from the Giro and I was even a little bit at risk of relegation but ok, probably not that many others that were ahead of me in the Giro then? Actually without sales might even have promoted after all, sold quite a few points. But happy enough with 10th
2 wins, fantasy race with Winzenried, then during the Giro on the last stage Bongiorno got us our win, would be nice to write well-deserved, but actually it wasn't really deserved.
Giro: Passive Giro with a cheapish team, under 500'000 so not overly cheap, but cheaper than in the past years. But also low income, being more expensive wouldn't have changed that though. So happy with my team there.
-Iskanderov as helper and outside stage chance (not that many strong climbers around, but getting more again)
-Lafuente as GC leader with almost 0 stage chances.
-Gallego for hilly stages with stage chances, but only until the final startlist was published, then it was clear that with his 74 mountain but no sprint he would have no chances vs the 76 and 78 guys.
-Ousland for an escape, but being the only guy with reg (together with Gallego) didn't want to use him too much finally.
-Bongiorno our main hope for sprint, but here too, startlist published, seemed hopeless. Never rode for an MS, ok, one day put it a guy for a few km at the end, completely irrelevant, chased on days where Palamarchuk went alone, otherwise no sprint help, to Milano not even passive one by staying in the peloton
The other 4 guys just there as helpers, Vigni, Kagge, Sherifo and Ole S. Sherifo allowed to go in escape once or twice, Ole the same. But those guys were not only cheap, but also rather weak generally. But ok, having Gjeldnes and Bonjour there as originally planned wouldn't have made a difference. Only guy that would have made sense: Kebede, more option in sprint, but finally Bongiorno won a sprint without him, not sure he does with, so that's ok too.
GC went well, better than without Abdurashitov probably. Without him I'd have started in pole position, sort of. Ahead of everybody after the GC, with Iskanderov some support for the mountains. And then Gjeldnes with reg, Bonjour with 68/69 mountain would have made lots of sense, would have been an interesting defensive Giro, attacks from many places that I'm probably unlikely to be able to counter. But once we discovered Abdurashitov as a likely starter... made no sense to bring a team stronger team for Lafuente anymore. And it went perfectly, second place of the climbers after the TT. Was even confident enough to try a pro-forma attack on Pila, hoped to be able to defend what would remain of my advantage regardless, it worked, also thanks to the passive riding regarding climbers of others. Very slow and helper saving riding by the chasers, Confidential and SWP as well, in the end climbers didn't even get that many wins, 3 I think of 6. Like this Lafuente was basically carried to his second place, on the danger stages like especially Piancavallo nothing at all happened in GC, fine for the Donkeys, got 2nd with Lafuente. 12th Iskanderov and 14th Gallego. We'll take that with the team that we have right now.
And then on the last day Bongiorno wins. FL train, only alternative is Romoc, knowing how badly the guy sprints, avoided the train at first. Milano tried, but there was no train by him, tried again in Roma, made a train, actually sprinted decently, got second, Donkey first. Lucky punch, Bongiorno's career saved already, excellent.
Rider of the season of course Arcadio Bongiorno
-Arcadio, congratulations to your rider of the season award!
-Thanks!
-Are you satisfied with the Giro?
-Of course, the goal was to win a stage, I did it in Rome, so of course I'm satisfied.
-Took the team 21 stages to get that win... were you worried during the race?
-To be honest yes. Of course it looked difficult to beat the train for Verwimp, or to beat Palamarchuk who just is better at positioning, or Frizzante, the same, but I also felt a bit left alone by the team. We didn't even try.
-Are you criticizing Big Donkey?????
-Yes, well, we didnt try. We never helped to get a sprint, of course other teams are then going to fight for position even harder, oh, the Big Donkey guy whose team didn't ride a single km wants my wheel, the shoulder check will be double the usual force. Also to Milano going into the attack just made the tempo so much higher, the team knows I don't especially like high tempo, I prefer a steady tempo, not high tempo from the start.
-Well, but the GC is the first priority for Big Donkey.
-I realize that the GC is more important, but it's not like we brought a GC team either. Also in Milano the GC was completely irrelevant, the team could have sat still, helped a bit for a sprint, bring me there safe and trust me, instead they went on the attack, forcing me to suffer during the race? Also if the team you bring is not especially for the GC leader, why not give me another guy to help me, or even me riding for him at times, Kebede here would have made lots of sense. So yeah, I was nervous during the race, didn't feel supported, didn't feel management was trusting me. I hope I showed them that I can and will deliver, hope that for the Tour I will have more support.
-Ehm, are you sure calling out the Big Donkey is the right tactic to get more support?
-Yes, I call it like it is. And the Big Donkey seems a bit old, he'll probably forget it soon, I'll just have to remind him that I won a Giro stage a few days before the Tour. If I was a bit harsh here, doesn't matter either, I was told he doesn't hold grudges.
-By whom? I think somebody is trying to sabotage your career... Damn, let's finish this interview, the boss might fire me if I keep talking to you. Bye!
-Eh, wh
-BYE!!! Go away!!!
Finances:
+1'078'261 Ok for a GT month with my team. Hoped to gain a bit more during stages at times, but the final GC money was good of course.
Training
In one of the 4 trainings we got lots of flat, nice, rest wasn't all that special if we remember correctly
Retirements:
-Lukas Winzenried 01.04.25-06.05.26 starting skills 46-73-54-70-61 with 35 reg. 82 internal pavé skill Top skills 46-89-50-69-63 with 86.9 pavé. 102 races, 3284 eternal points, 4 race wins, but only got second in Paris-Roubaix, the races his grandfather Anton Hasler dominated. His grandfather was also the reason he never improved in mountain, he was told he didn't need to. In the build up to Roubaix, actually more Flanders, we tested how well we could bring him over the hills, Omloop, E3, it just turned out to be a bit too difficult, so didn't fully support him in Flanders, and he got 4th there finally, after miraculously profiting from strange riding in front... Roubaix then, finally got only second, which despite his great talent on pavé, which really made only a win an acceptable result we had to accept, race situation became so strange after the Carrefour that we still don't know what we should have done. So second it is, even Anton Hasler himself didn't really complain. He retired early at age 34, wasn't eager to spend another few months of his career riding for "glory" in fantasy pavé or gravel races. And since we got more compensation for him than we would in a few months... we were ok with that too. After following in his grandfather's footsteps now, he has decided to follow his father's and now works in an insurance company.
- Marco Lanfredini 01.11.24-30.05.26 starting skills 51-73-78-52-46 with 48 reg Top skills 63-85-78-51-46. Typical 60-80, well, better than our usual ones. 342 races, puts him at 17th in the history of the team and 1533 points. 0 wins, mostly helper for our hill sprinters, although for Bucquoy Roy was still the main guy, and Kebede finally started to wins once Lanfredini got weaker. Still a great rider to have. He now joined a black garlic producing company near Firenze, the same one that almost became our sponsor after not winning Roubaix, Lanfredini got along with them well and now is a garlic farmer. We wish him the best of luck and hope he tries to convince his company to gift us money, instead of sponsoring.
-Noah Lüthi: 01.01.25-30.05.26: Starting skills: 56-71-75-49-58 with 54 reg, top skills: 73-76-75-49-55. 5773 eternal points, number 56 in the team. 1 win, a Giro stage in 25, and got the mountain jersey in the December Tour. With 59 sprint we maybe hoped for a few wins more, but on the other hand 59 for a classic is not a top sprint value either, he got a few more second places in other races. Noah is back in Wabern and works in the office of the Gurtenbrauerei.
New rider
Idris Abraha from Mendefera, Southern Region Ethiopia joined the team on 01.06.26. Starting skills 73-55-59-50-57 with 49 reg for 2'743'472. A climber with unfortunate weaknesses in downhill. For the rest we like what he has to offer a lot, good climbing, decent in the flat, perfect time trialing and good sprint. Training of course will be mountain and flat, our first leader for 2027. Career goal the Giro. He already debuted today. Might race occasionally in June, in July will be concentrating on training during the Tour, and has good chances to start the Vuelta in support of Lafuente.
10th place in D2 with 8110 points, after spending much of the season in last or second last place more than happy with that. Thought others might score more from the Giro and I was even a little bit at risk of relegation but ok, probably not that many others that were ahead of me in the Giro then? Actually without sales might even have promoted after all, sold quite a few points. But happy enough with 10th
2 wins, fantasy race with Winzenried, then during the Giro on the last stage Bongiorno got us our win, would be nice to write well-deserved, but actually it wasn't really deserved.
Giro: Passive Giro with a cheapish team, under 500'000 so not overly cheap, but cheaper than in the past years. But also low income, being more expensive wouldn't have changed that though. So happy with my team there.
-Iskanderov as helper and outside stage chance (not that many strong climbers around, but getting more again)
-Lafuente as GC leader with almost 0 stage chances.
-Gallego for hilly stages with stage chances, but only until the final startlist was published, then it was clear that with his 74 mountain but no sprint he would have no chances vs the 76 and 78 guys.
-Ousland for an escape, but being the only guy with reg (together with Gallego) didn't want to use him too much finally.
-Bongiorno our main hope for sprint, but here too, startlist published, seemed hopeless. Never rode for an MS, ok, one day put it a guy for a few km at the end, completely irrelevant, chased on days where Palamarchuk went alone, otherwise no sprint help, to Milano not even passive one by staying in the peloton
The other 4 guys just there as helpers, Vigni, Kagge, Sherifo and Ole S. Sherifo allowed to go in escape once or twice, Ole the same. But those guys were not only cheap, but also rather weak generally. But ok, having Gjeldnes and Bonjour there as originally planned wouldn't have made a difference. Only guy that would have made sense: Kebede, more option in sprint, but finally Bongiorno won a sprint without him, not sure he does with, so that's ok too.
GC went well, better than without Abdurashitov probably. Without him I'd have started in pole position, sort of. Ahead of everybody after the GC, with Iskanderov some support for the mountains. And then Gjeldnes with reg, Bonjour with 68/69 mountain would have made lots of sense, would have been an interesting defensive Giro, attacks from many places that I'm probably unlikely to be able to counter. But once we discovered Abdurashitov as a likely starter... made no sense to bring a team stronger team for Lafuente anymore. And it went perfectly, second place of the climbers after the TT. Was even confident enough to try a pro-forma attack on Pila, hoped to be able to defend what would remain of my advantage regardless, it worked, also thanks to the passive riding regarding climbers of others. Very slow and helper saving riding by the chasers, Confidential and SWP as well, in the end climbers didn't even get that many wins, 3 I think of 6. Like this Lafuente was basically carried to his second place, on the danger stages like especially Piancavallo nothing at all happened in GC, fine for the Donkeys, got 2nd with Lafuente. 12th Iskanderov and 14th Gallego. We'll take that with the team that we have right now.
And then on the last day Bongiorno wins. FL train, only alternative is Romoc, knowing how badly the guy sprints, avoided the train at first. Milano tried, but there was no train by him, tried again in Roma, made a train, actually sprinted decently, got second, Donkey first. Lucky punch, Bongiorno's career saved already, excellent.
Rider of the season of course Arcadio Bongiorno
-Arcadio, congratulations to your rider of the season award!
-Thanks!
-Are you satisfied with the Giro?
-Of course, the goal was to win a stage, I did it in Rome, so of course I'm satisfied.
-Took the team 21 stages to get that win... were you worried during the race?
-To be honest yes. Of course it looked difficult to beat the train for Verwimp, or to beat Palamarchuk who just is better at positioning, or Frizzante, the same, but I also felt a bit left alone by the team. We didn't even try.
-Are you criticizing Big Donkey?????
-Yes, well, we didnt try. We never helped to get a sprint, of course other teams are then going to fight for position even harder, oh, the Big Donkey guy whose team didn't ride a single km wants my wheel, the shoulder check will be double the usual force. Also to Milano going into the attack just made the tempo so much higher, the team knows I don't especially like high tempo, I prefer a steady tempo, not high tempo from the start.
-Well, but the GC is the first priority for Big Donkey.
-I realize that the GC is more important, but it's not like we brought a GC team either. Also in Milano the GC was completely irrelevant, the team could have sat still, helped a bit for a sprint, bring me there safe and trust me, instead they went on the attack, forcing me to suffer during the race? Also if the team you bring is not especially for the GC leader, why not give me another guy to help me, or even me riding for him at times, Kebede here would have made lots of sense. So yeah, I was nervous during the race, didn't feel supported, didn't feel management was trusting me. I hope I showed them that I can and will deliver, hope that for the Tour I will have more support.
-Ehm, are you sure calling out the Big Donkey is the right tactic to get more support?
-Yes, I call it like it is. And the Big Donkey seems a bit old, he'll probably forget it soon, I'll just have to remind him that I won a Giro stage a few days before the Tour. If I was a bit harsh here, doesn't matter either, I was told he doesn't hold grudges.
-By whom? I think somebody is trying to sabotage your career... Damn, let's finish this interview, the boss might fire me if I keep talking to you. Bye!
-Eh, wh
-BYE!!! Go away!!!
Finances:
+1'078'261 Ok for a GT month with my team. Hoped to gain a bit more during stages at times, but the final GC money was good of course.
Training
In one of the 4 trainings we got lots of flat, nice, rest wasn't all that special if we remember correctly
Retirements:
-Lukas Winzenried 01.04.25-06.05.26 starting skills 46-73-54-70-61 with 35 reg. 82 internal pavé skill Top skills 46-89-50-69-63 with 86.9 pavé. 102 races, 3284 eternal points, 4 race wins, but only got second in Paris-Roubaix, the races his grandfather Anton Hasler dominated. His grandfather was also the reason he never improved in mountain, he was told he didn't need to. In the build up to Roubaix, actually more Flanders, we tested how well we could bring him over the hills, Omloop, E3, it just turned out to be a bit too difficult, so didn't fully support him in Flanders, and he got 4th there finally, after miraculously profiting from strange riding in front... Roubaix then, finally got only second, which despite his great talent on pavé, which really made only a win an acceptable result we had to accept, race situation became so strange after the Carrefour that we still don't know what we should have done. So second it is, even Anton Hasler himself didn't really complain. He retired early at age 34, wasn't eager to spend another few months of his career riding for "glory" in fantasy pavé or gravel races. And since we got more compensation for him than we would in a few months... we were ok with that too. After following in his grandfather's footsteps now, he has decided to follow his father's and now works in an insurance company.
- Marco Lanfredini 01.11.24-30.05.26 starting skills 51-73-78-52-46 with 48 reg Top skills 63-85-78-51-46. Typical 60-80, well, better than our usual ones. 342 races, puts him at 17th in the history of the team and 1533 points. 0 wins, mostly helper for our hill sprinters, although for Bucquoy Roy was still the main guy, and Kebede finally started to wins once Lanfredini got weaker. Still a great rider to have. He now joined a black garlic producing company near Firenze, the same one that almost became our sponsor after not winning Roubaix, Lanfredini got along with them well and now is a garlic farmer. We wish him the best of luck and hope he tries to convince his company to gift us money, instead of sponsoring.
-Noah Lüthi: 01.01.25-30.05.26: Starting skills: 56-71-75-49-58 with 54 reg, top skills: 73-76-75-49-55. 5773 eternal points, number 56 in the team. 1 win, a Giro stage in 25, and got the mountain jersey in the December Tour. With 59 sprint we maybe hoped for a few wins more, but on the other hand 59 for a classic is not a top sprint value either, he got a few more second places in other races. Noah is back in Wabern and works in the office of the Gurtenbrauerei.
New rider
Idris Abraha from Mendefera, Southern Region Ethiopia joined the team on 01.06.26. Starting skills 73-55-59-50-57 with 49 reg for 2'743'472. A climber with unfortunate weaknesses in downhill. For the rest we like what he has to offer a lot, good climbing, decent in the flat, perfect time trialing and good sprint. Training of course will be mountain and flat, our first leader for 2027. Career goal the Giro. He already debuted today. Might race occasionally in June, in July will be concentrating on training during the Tour, and has good chances to start the Vuelta in support of Lafuente.
Kraftsystemrevision! Include the distance!
Basics reform: Give blue a chance!
Don't punish bugusers. We all have to use bugs, since most of them are declared as "features"!
Got a carrot from FL. But they threaten to take it away now.
Basics reform: Give blue a chance!
Don't punish bugusers. We all have to use bugs, since most of them are declared as "features"!
Got a carrot from FL. But they threaten to take it away now.
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