Giro 2018 Afternoon (the only real Giro)

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Gipfelstuermer
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Giro 2018 Afternoon (the only real Giro)

Post by Gipfelstuermer » Tue May 01, 2018 11:41 am

In good tradition, I am naming this thread how it is deserved.

Teams already confirmed for this race:
  • Big Donkey (#2 in Total Points, #3 in Div1)
  • Team FL (#8 in Total Points, #8 in Div3)
  • Rasmussen (#25 in Total Points, #11 in Div1)
  • Ulles Tribute (#200 in Total Points, #7 in Div2)
  • Gipfelstuermer (#249 in Total Points, #13 in Div1)
Hopefully many more to come...

Possible line-up for us:
1. Pedro Pinheiro
2. Fabio Fonda
3. Giuseppe Genovese
4. Mateo Montesinos
5. Oscar Oliveira
6. Anibal Alves
7. Halvard Halvorsen
8. Ville Vanhatalo
9. Magnus Martinsen

But Trevorvano Thompson is complaining heavily. Maybe we'll find a purpose for him, not sure yet.
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Re: Giro 2018 Afternoon (the only real Giro)

Post by Robyklebt » Tue May 01, 2018 7:22 pm

Donkey there.

We already sent 12 riders to Israel, 3 will obviously not start. Some of them are beamed to races until Friday, but they are always beamed back immediately after. (Little fuck up today, we beamed them to Iran after the race, we were on the app, fast, close together in the alphabet.... only realized the mistake 20' ago, Kaniuk was furious.)

The room allocation:

Aeschlimann-Pilioko: Last helper and third classic. They expect (and are expected) to become the stars of the team once Zafzaf retires. They talk a lot about the TdF in the evening it seems, not sure we like that, they should concentrate on the Giro. Who cares about the Tour de France, also called post-Giro-criterium in early May?

Gopal-Innocenti: Similar riders, Gopal more experienced and obviously better at this point. We hope he gives Innocenti some good advice, on how to improve.

Kaniuk-Salkey: Starsprinter and the last man to bring him to the sprint. Or the first man if we need to catch a group fast early. Not the most peaceful room in the hotel, since they are rivals for a spot on the team. And Kaniuk is rather adamant that he should be there.

Knoblauch-Vienuolis: Some flat, some sprint for Knoblauch, second classic Vienuolis. Another problematic room, nobody likes Vienuolis anymore in the team. He was always a bit distanced and cold, but since Tobar won Brabant 1" ahead of him, his coldness reached new levels, the most frequent answer you get from Sigitas nowadays is an icy cold stare. He has uttered 7 words since he's in the room (we bugged all the rooms (only ours(really!!)), so we know). Plus some "good appetites" at the table when they are all eating.

Matsushita-Zafzaf: The lung and the heart of the team. Matsushita and Zafzaf really hit it off, became very good friends, the Donkey is a bit jealous actually, since he really likes Matsushita too. But clearly a perfect room. They get along famously and Matsushita is the most talented sleeper in the team. No wonder, he's often half dead after a stage. And even if not, he sleeps, at the latest at 21:30. Unsupervised he then wakes up at 10, decides it's too early and keeps sleeping till 13-14h. That's why his regeneration is so exceptional. We hope that by sharing the room with him, Zafzaf will improve his regeneration a few points too, once Matsushita sleeps, Zafzaf can't talk with him anymore, he stopped playing c4f a while ago too (he was too bad), doesn't read, so nothing to do except sleeping for him.

Tobar-Valdelomar:First classic and second lung. South Americans, they want to share a room. We really hoped to put Valdelomar with Aeschlimann, for the same reasons Zafzaf is with Matsushita, even if Valdelomar doesn't sleep as much as Matsushita., but those 2 insisted to share a room.
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Re: Giro 2018 Afternoon (the only real Giro)

Post by team fl » Wed May 02, 2018 9:02 am

Team FL is in! But the team management is worried that Hugo Marxer might only be part time ready for the only real Giro. Anyway, in the end, the riders convinced the team to sign up as they seem to really like the chance to visit Israel and Italy. After some discussion internally, the Team FL riders' council decided to send the following protagonists:

x1 Afshin "Hash" Pirhashemi, our mellow GC Leader
x2 Willy Attison, always there, always aware (?)
x3 Carlos "El Cesare" Kaiser, the emperor of Italy? Might be not, but at least Afshin's best friend in the mountains (which says a lot about the team...)
x4 Jung Gi Kim, the living abbreviation (KJG), looking out for Nguyen in the flat stages and maybe for himself a a bit...
x5 Lukas "Luke" Marxer, Well, guess whose son he is... not trying to do a "Marxer" during this year's Giro...
x6 Ngo "GoGo" Nguyen, already a sprinter legend in the team who wants to turn his career to gold at the Giro
x7 Serghei "Serge" Pascenco, road captain and handyman, does (still!) not speak a single word German or English though
x8 Kahlid Satour, has to be in the line-up as his name includes the word "Tour"
x9 Juan Villafuerte, I've just realised he actually won a race this year already... yay

While Afshin is the clear GC leader in the team and Ngyuen will be leader for flat stages, the rest of the bunch will have enough freedom to look for their own glory, if they feel fit enough. Besides that, the Giro will most likely be a huge money wasting machine (again). But the goals are clear: win as many flat stages as possible, look out for a top5 GC placement for Afshin and drive the other teams nuts with bad puns and good music (they don't not appreciate).

Of course there has been some debate about the riders who stay at home, so the riders' council felt obligated to explain its decision:
- Wael Afifi: While there is a stage with pavé and his flat could come in handy, it's not time yet to send him to a GT. He will participate at the Tour de France though, most likely
- René Ritter: He's still young and has to develop a bit more to be a valid addition to a GT line-up. Also most likely participating at the TdF.
- Sandro Spaeth: The young swiss newbie at the team will help Hugo Marxer with practical issues, like cleaning up the team car, bringing coffee etc. Also in preparation of the TdF.
- Etimoni Timouani: usually he's the lead out sprinter for Nguyen, but with his bad regeneration and fear of mountains, he rather stays at home looking forward to the TdF, where he could even be the sprint leader...

Ok I admit it, I just told every rider who cannot participate that he will be part of the TdF line-up... Might work (until the TdF).
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Re: Giro 2018 Afternoon (the only real Giro)

Post by Tukhtahuaev » Wed May 02, 2018 12:34 pm

Tukhtahuaev is still not sure whether they'll be able to participate in this year's Giro. Here's the lineup for the case that a start is happening

1. SeungWon Min: Best GC rider in the team, but not at home in the high mountains. Target is a top 10 result
2. Rakhmatillo Ashurmatov: Classic and helper for Min
3. Islambek Kozhamberdi: Strong flatrider who'll work for our sprint captain
4. Alassane Mofosso: Trying his best to put Perdomo in position for the sprints
5. Gerardo Perdomo: Sprint leader, aiming for the maglia ciclamino
6. Vincent Schaus: Helper for flat stages
7. Nodirbek Tukhtasinov: Classic and helper for Min, bargaining tool for the Donkey
8. Jovnna Valkeapää: Strongest flat rider, working for Perdomo as much as his limited regeneration allows him
9. Rinat Zhalmukan: Time trial specialist, who is going to be a helper for other stages

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Re: Giro 2018 Afternoon (the only real Giro)

Post by Team Australia » Wed May 02, 2018 3:36 pm

Team Australia participating in the Giro d'Italia?

Members of the Team Australia were seen in Israel. After a long break, a new group of riders has been assembled, participating in a few races this spring. Rumors are spreading that the manager is now considering a start in the Giro. Traditionally, the team has been more successful in the Vuelta d’Espana, winning amongst other things twice the general classement and 20 stages in four years of participation. In contrast, two participations in the Giro brought only two stage wins and a team classement for the team. However, it has always been a goal to participate in the legendary afternoon edition of the Giro.

A few riders were seen at a party at 4:30 in the morning in Tel Aviv. While they seem to have a good atmosphere amongst each other, some of them seem to be less happy about the leadership of the team. During a race in Austria on march 30th, representatives of the team apparently approached Luca Kohl for transfer talks. They were unable to reach a settlement before the transfer deadline ended on Monday night. Nevertheless Blaise Mollard, the current capitan for hard races, was very displeased, as he would have had to leave the team in case of a transfer.

Moreover, part of the riders fear the sequence of hard races in Italy. They argue that the team is built for one day races rather than hard tours. The subject is not settled yet among the riders. The 34 years old Murchadh MacGorman tries to teach his comrades professionally: "These young riders want to stay up late, have a huge dinner with wine and then go dancing. Its no wonder that you can not regenerate as good if you live a life like that.“

This brings us back to the manager, who registers his team only very sporadically for race. For this reason, the lifestyle of certain riders did not have harsh consequences until now. It seems unclear, whether the manager himself could attend enough races with sufficient attentiveness to justify a start at the Giro. Insiders estimate the probably of a start of the Team Australia to be at around 40%.

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Re: Giro 2018 Afternoon (the only real Giro)

Post by Gipfelstuermer » Wed May 02, 2018 5:21 pm

Rumours on Wildcard Teams arise

Gazzetta dello Sport headlines today with "Forti squadre italiane ricevono wildcard per il Giro." (Engl. "Strong, italian teams receive wildcard for the Giro.") There are rumours, that Luques (#114 in Total Points, but only Div6) and mercatone-uno (#173 in Total Points, Div4) could be the winners of the Wildcards for the only real Giro this year: The Afternoon Giro.

The topic is under discussion since weeks. Other teams are complaining, that not only italian teams should receive wildcards. After Kevin Schulers win at Tour of the Alps, Bugatti (#22 in Total Points, #6 in Div1) announced "If only Italian teams receive wildcards, I am not going to start at afternoon Giro. Then I can also ride any of the simple and easy to win Giros like morning or evening!" His threat should be listened to by Giro organizers because Schuler might be the only one to be able to fight Zafzaf.

Other candidates for the Wildcards include Tukhtahuaev (#117 in Total Points, #7 in Div1), Allrad (#32 in Total Points, #22 in Div2) and Team Australia (#68 in Total Points ,#5 in Div5). Interestingly, Giro organizers have not announced, how many wildcards will be available. Thus, all those teams can hope to receive the Go on May, 4th.
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Re: Giro 2018 Afternoon (the only real Giro)

Post by team fl » Fri May 04, 2018 1:35 pm

Rumour has it, that all mentioned possible wild card teams in the Gazetta will in fact attend the Afternoon Giro. Anyway, somehow information from the Team FL tactics bureau leaked and a note from Hugo Marxer has been found in the team hotel. It seems that the Team FL tour chef has written down information about every team. Let's see what he found out:

- 4 eggs
- milk
- bread (white)
- fussili (integrale)
- sugo (tomato with vegetables)
- bananas
- carrots (to distract the Big Donkey riders)
.
.
.

Oh sorry, that is the wrong note. Ah yes here it is, finally:

Big Donkey

One word: Zafzaf. It looks like Big Donkey will be one of the main favourites for the Giro win 2018. Not only does Zafzaf like the profile very much as one of the best climbers around, he also has the team to go for it with helpers like Aeschlimann and Tobar for the mountain and middle mountain stages as well as reg strong riders for control in the peloton.

Gipfelstuermer

The team name already implies that this team is going for the mountain stages. Pinheiro will be the main man to do it, with the help of his fellow Italian Fonda. Besides that, the team looks well prepared for a lot of up and down, although not so much for flat stages. But I am sure, the team will find ways to be active there too.

Luques

Another Italian team! This local here besides Mercatone-uno seems also not to be at the Giro for the mountains only, although they have a mysterious young rider who seems to be fit for the mountains. Besides that, the team offers a lot for flat stages, either for sprints, early or late escapes. It will be interesting to see, which tactic Luques follows.

Mercatone-uno

Like Team FL, Mercatone-uno will fight for the youth classement. Alex Pelle is the one who will do that. The team is very young in general, so it’s not clear how prepared its riders are to ride their first GT. Anyway, the team itself is not new to that experience and will have a decent plan, I am sure, which might involve a lot of escaping.

Rasmussen

Armin Meier looks like a decent climber. Will his mentor Hungerbühler join him? There are many more questions about a possible line up regarding the tea with probably the most rider depth possible to join the Afternoon Giro this year. Clerc for the flat stages? Who will be allowed to ride for his own glory, who is only waterboy? Anyway, the team will hopefully chose wisely and ride very actively, as usual.

Team Australia

While some teams will have problems choosing their riders for the Giro line up and dealing with the consequences, Team Australia has a pretty easy job: Just don’t forget anybody. The most important rider not to forget is probably Blaise Mollard, the team’s climber. I am sure he will be glad to be accompanied by his teammates Faure and Quin, both specialists for hilly terrain and the main helpers in the mountains. Road captain MacGorman might be found in some escapes.

Team FL

It’s not really known what exactly Team FL is looking for at this year’s Giro. Although Nguyen seems like a decent option for sprint stages, Afshin Pirhashemi seems a bit too young and undeveloped to compete for the Giro win in the hard mountain stages, esp. with the absence of a really mountain proof support staff. Anyway, maybe he can go for the youth rider classement.

Tukhtahuaev

Although climbing star Kanuk left the team at the end of February already, the current line-up is perfect for middle mountain stages with hilly terrain. SeungWon Min is the clear leader for GC, but without a lot of chances to win it. Additionally, Perdomo will be a one of the main favourites for flat stages, as the team will not have to focus on the GC most likely.

UllesTribute

The team is filled with GT proven veterans and scary fit riders like Adjivon, Fosse or Sarr which will be a pain in the ass for every sprint team most likely. But the main part of the team will be a three headed climbing monster consisting of Riyad Mahrez as leader, local Italian Visconti as main helper in the mountains and young climber Samuel Samba.
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Re: Giro 2018 Afternoon (the only real Giro)

Post by team fl » Fri May 04, 2018 2:38 pm

The Favourite check

General classement

***** Lotfi Zafzaf (Big Donkey)
**** Riyad Mahrez (UllesTribute)
*** Armin Meier (Rasmussen), Pedro Pinheiro (Gipfelstuermer), Blaise Mollard (Team Australia), Caius Aeschlimann (Big Donkey)
** Giorgio Visconti (UllesTribute), Afshin Pirhashemi (Team FL)
* Alex Pelle (Mercatone-uno), Artyom Filatov (Luques)

Points classement

*** Lotfi Zafzaf
** Gerardo Perdomo (Tukhtahuaev), Ngo Nguyen (Team FL)
* a surprise rider

Mountain classement

*** The one who wants it
** Another rider
* A surprise rider

Youth classement

*** Afshin Pirhashemi (Team FL)
** Alex Pelle (Mercatone-uno)
* Fabio Fonda (Gipfelstuermer), Samuel Samba (UllesTribute)

Team classement

*** Big Donkey
** UllesTribute
* Gipfelstuermer, Rasmussen
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Re: Giro 2018 Afternoon (the only real Giro)

Post by Robyklebt » Fri May 04, 2018 3:40 pm

Only 9 left!

The rooms:

Zafzaf - Matsushita
Aeschlimann-Salkey: New combination, maybe Aeschlimann will be impressed by Salkey's flat skill. And Salkey by Aeschlimann's mountain skill. Seems they didn't even know each other, even in training, when it's flat Salkey is in front, Aeschlimann suffering at the back, when the road climbs the opposite.
Gopal-Innocenti
Tobar-Valdelomar
Vienuolis in the single room.

As for the favorites...
I think here Zafzaf *****, the next ones *** would be ok. Looking at the skills of the leaders and of the team.. Zafzaf is just clearly the favorite. Unlike the Tour 17 where everybody was impressed (rightly) by Zipoli and didn't realize I didn't have much of a team behind him, here the team is there. Tobar 74, Vienuolis 71, Gopal 64... Clear favorite Zafzaf. Doesn't mean the win is guaranteed, but if I don't make big mistakes, or somebody has a brilliant strategy... looks good for Lotfi. FL should get Kadyrkhanov on his staff, the only guy able to beat Zafzaf in stage races so far. Twice. Grr.
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Re: Giro 2018 Afternoon (the only real Giro)

Post by team fl » Sat May 05, 2018 1:40 pm

I called Kadyrkhanov, but he refused to help... bigheaded prick. Pff... But I agree that Zafzaf is the big favourite by far. I guess a duell against Liquigas-CND would have been very nice to watch (not to read most likely). And then, maybe also others could have sneaked in the GC contention more easily against two teams who are fighting each others... But then again, I guess it may be interesting this way too. Hope for lots of active teams. Well, maybe not during flat stages :)

Anyway, stage 1 is over, as expected it was a fight Andreevic against Zhalmukan which the first one by some inches. All the GC relevant riders landed somewhere behind them in the placements. So the overall GC relevant GC after stage 1 looks like this:

01:03 Afshin Pirhashemi (Team FL)
01:14 Giorgio Visconti (UllesTribute)
01:24 Artyom Filatov (Luques)
01:26 Samuel Samba (UllesTribute)
01:26 Alex Pelle (Mercatone-uno)
01:30 Riyad Mahrez (UllesTribute)
01:31 Caius Aeschlimann (Big Donkey)
01:32 Lotfi Zafzaf (Big Donkey)
01:33 SeungWon Min (Tukhtahuaev)
01:44 Blaise Mollard (Team Australia)
01:51 Pedro Pinheiro (Gipfelstuermer)

This leads to some questions: 1.) is Pirhashemi a legit contender? 2.) is Visconti leader for UllesTribute now? and 3.) is Aeschlimann leader for Big Donkey now? We will see it as soon as the teams arrive in Italy.

But before that, there are two sprint stages to ride. A short one today, a longer one tomorrow. Perdomo looks like the favourite in a bunch sprint, or can Nguyen beat him? Maybe a third one will be laughing, who knows.
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Re: Giro 2018 Afternoon (the only real Giro)

Post by Gipfelstuermer » Sun May 06, 2018 10:31 am

tappa 2: Peloton catches escape after Flamme Rouge - Perdomo wins mass sprint

After a 166km brave escape from Fosse, Anton (both Ulles Tribute), Alves and Montesinos (both Gipfelstuermer), the peloton caught them after Flamme Rouge. Perdomo (Tukhtahuaev) took the win before Nguyen (Team FL).

While the escape never had more than 6:30min to the peloton, four teams (Tukhtahuaev, Team FL, Luques and Big Donkey) had to chase hard to catch them. Fosse was incredibly strong in the wind, but it was not enough for the escape. While Luques was controlling mainly for maglia rosa of Andreevic, the Donkey seems to fear any attacks. Montesinos, known as a medium-strong classic, was enough for their team to join the tempo in peloton. Later in an interview, the Donkey speculated Gipfelstuermer might plan attacks on Zoncolan or in Roma and therefore would have to be chased. Gipfelstuermer refused to comment.

Some observes believe, Zafzaf and Aeschlimann simply feel so strong, that they want their team to work really hard. After all, we counted 11 uphill arrivals during the Giro, so Zafzaf has all the arguments to make his teammater ride hard. Also, a rest day is coming soon for the transfer to Italia, so none of the teams seems to care about energy levels yet.

Stage 3 will be another flat stage, this time 226km. However, the tempo might be high given the following rest day.


5.05.2018,15 Uhr GIRO : Giro 2018 tappa 2: Haifa - Tel Aviv: Flachetappe
1. 00:00:00 Gerardo Perdomo (Tukhtahuaev)
2. 00:00:00 Ngo Nguyen (Team FL)
3. 00:00:00 Yeremei Solomin (Luques)
4. 00:00:00 Clovis Mandjeck (Team Australia)
5. 00:00:00 JungGi Kim (Team FL)
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Re: Giro 2018 Afternoon (the only real Giro)

Post by Robyklebt » Sun May 06, 2018 10:45 am

Actually not really afraid of Montesinos, the tempo is for: Control. I help the sprinters, they help me. They help me by controlling sprint stages for me. If there are classic stages and the classic teams want to control, same thing, Donkey helps. If I don't help, and they end up thinking it's too hard to get these sprints and they start attacking too, then I might be in trouble, since I would have to control whole stages alone. And if then somebody like Montesinos is ahead I can't give him 30' either... So I would risk working a lot, and maybe alone. Not a good plan.
Of course the chances of that happening are not that big, yesterday they could have caught you without me too, if I hadn't announced that I was going to help, they ride differently. But it's about showing goodwill. I help them in 2 ways, 1) no attacks (depending on the amount I work, if I feel I work too much I might go on the attack with my flat monster Salkey (ok, not so monstrous) too in the end, or follow more likely. 2) help with tempo. With that in the end I potentially save energy and the sprint stages are under control for Zafzaf.
Yesterday I worked longer than I planned, but that's because Tukh gave you more time because I was whining about him starting too early... so he slowed down because of my whining, then got a bit close, so stayed in longer. Normally I'd expect to work a bit less... But I plan to continue working in sprint stages (and other stages too if somebody wants to keep the peloton together for a classic (if somebody wants to do that for a climber, I might refuse to work, if somebody is that confident to beat Zafzaf... mmmh, better let him work alone).
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Re: Giro 2018 Afternoon (the only real Giro)

Post by team fl » Wed May 09, 2018 10:53 am

Let's do it the Gipfelstuermer way:

Tappa 4: Slow start after rest day - Pascenco wins solo after long escape

It seems that every team was still asleep at the start of the almost 200 km long stage 4 from Catania to Caltagirone. Nothing happened until km 27 after the start when Willy Attison and Serghei Pascenco from Team FL tried their luck with an escape. As nobody wanted to join them, they continued riding in front of the peloton just the two of them.

After some show of strength by Big Donkey, the gap grew bigger until around 10'40'' when Big Donkey started to chase again. Eventually, it was around 50 secs too late, the time that Pascenco could save in front of the main favorites until reaching the finish line, totally exhausted.

One could argue that this was a gift from Big Donkey, as the team around big GC favortie Lotfi Zafzaf did not seem concerned at all, even after attacks from other opponents later on. And as expected it was the Moroccan climber who grabbed the second place in front of the rest of the bunch, also getting bonus seconds for that. Anyway, Pascenco, although no threat for the GC, will ride in the Maglia Rosa for at least one stage and is also leading the mountain classement now.

Stage 5 will be similar to stage 4 with lots of up and down over 153 km with a steep finish. So will it be another escapee win or will one of the GC favorites try to steal some bonifications?

8.05.2018,15 Uhr GIRO : Giro 2018 tappa 4: Catania - Caltagirone

01. 00:00:00 Serghei Pascenco (Team FL)
02. 00:00:54 Lotfi Zafzaf (Big Donkey)
03. 00:00:57 Giorgio Visconti (UllesTribute)
04. 00:00:57 SeungWon Min (Tukhtahuaev)
05. 00:00:57 Artyom Filatov (Luques)
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Re: Giro 2018 Afternoon (the only real Giro)

Post by Robyklebt » Wed May 09, 2018 2:20 pm

No no, not a gift. Not overly interested in the stage, true, but that doesn't mean I just gift them.
It's just not the Fleche Wallonne, no need for no risk, somebody tries, he gets his chance.
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Re: Giro 2018 Afternoon (the only real Giro)

Post by Robyklebt » Fri May 11, 2018 5:09 am

Zafzaf with the stage. Expected really. But Big Donkey actually thought he would win more time. Not on the first chasers around Mahrez, there all is ok. Well, hoped not to have Min in there actually. Bigger surprise on the FL-Luques group. Hoped to get a bigger cushion on Afshin. He'll win over 2 minutes in the TT, so drop him as far as possible as soon as possible. Normally no reason to worry, enough pro Zafzaf terrain around, just thought he'd already be further back. If it was Doncic I'd be worried a bit now. Really too bad Allrad isn't riding here (or another Giro). Despite being a bit low on mountain, with his puller he'd have his chances.

Back to the ones present, 6 stages 5 teams with stage wins. As usual FL feels he has to win more than the rest and has already 2 stages... Gipfel, Australia and Mercatone haven't won yet, but enough chances left. If FL doesn't want to win all.
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Re: Giro 2018 Afternoon (the only real Giro)

Post by Gipfelstuermer » Sun May 13, 2018 6:32 pm

On Gran Sasso, Zafzaf keeps rosa, Montesinos takes back blue and Pascenco wins.

In a long and hard fight, Pascenco wins out of an escape before Montesinos who was riding hard to collect enough points for blue. Zafzaf comes in third but keeps rosa with now 54'' before Visconti. Montesinos later gave a remarkable interview, noting that he heard a lot of trash talk from Pascenco's manager FL during their escape. He was able to quote some of FL's words (see below, read from bottom to top). International media widely considered it a success by Gipfelstuermer that their team challenged the much more experienced FL so badly, that he had to turn to such dishonorable methods. However, FL's methods were extremely successful again, bringing him the 4th stage win during this year's Giro.


Team FL: I don't complain. I just present you facts that should show, how superior he is in steep climbs against the others.
Team FL: You still gain 4 secs against them on a 5%. Riding alone. With all that power loss.
Team FL: Only important skill is mountain.
Team FL: sprint is not an issue at a 9% finish.
Team FL: Again. If you want to win, work for it. At least I won't gift it to you just like that.
Team FL: esp. with being so much stronger regarding the mountain skill.
Team FL: We would need to go red now, and that would have only been an option with a) more time and b) Mateo and the rest having less energy than Runov for exampole.
Team FL: And see? Now it gets fast in the back. So you're plan won't work anyway if you (us) want to go for the stage...
Team FL: What you suggest is that we pull you to victory.
Team FL: if he rides those uphill km alone, even in green, some teams won't be represented anymore, others might have to fight....
Team FL: Runov and Islambek will be gone if you ride with Mateo. And Mateo not riding is not an option when the other leaders in front ride.
Team FL: Even with riding green, Mateo will most likely sieb Runov and Islamebek, most likely.
Team FL: Convince us why...
Team FL: Then suggest a way to cooperate.
Team FL: never said you should ride alone with Mateo.
Team FL: That about 65 km away. Pullers will make that easily with red tempo. But it's also easy for Mateo to sieb everybody and go alone from then.
Team FL: Mateo has to come up with a plan soon anyway.
Team FL: sure, if you waste energy with Mateo, it's easier for the rest :)
Team FL: As soon as it's about Mateo, it's his turn.
Team FL: I respect that. But that's your decision to bring Mateo in this group. So, as said, my advice is to find away for the others to be able to cooperate. And that recquires proactive communication. That's all ;)
Team FL: See? Works for now. The thing with Mateo, we'll figure out later.
Team FL: For example. Put all pullers in now, make a suggestion how to level out Mateo's mountain skill and hope for the best.
Team FL: If you want to go for the stage, Gipfelstuermer, I suggest you try to convince the otheres in that group for a way to ride too... Because like this, it won't really work out, for anybody in front, I think.
Team FL: Anyway, Monesinos will be even worse in that group....
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Re: Giro 2018 Afternoon (the only real Giro)

Post by team fl » Sun May 13, 2018 7:14 pm

:D great work!
I didn't mean to say it. But I meant what I said.

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Re: Giro 2018 Afternoon (the only real Giro)

Post by luques » Sun May 13, 2018 11:24 pm

Really pissed off that nobody is even mentioning my attack! Puah!

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Re: Giro 2018 Afternoon (the only real Giro)

Post by team fl » Mon May 14, 2018 12:41 am

That was great work too of course ;)
I didn't mean to say it. But I meant what I said.

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Re: Giro 2018 Afternoon (the only real Giro)

Post by team fl » Mon May 14, 2018 1:05 pm

So today is the second rest day of this year's Giro. And boy, some riders need it. Anyway, it is also time to summarize what happened so far in the Afternoon Giro (the only real one):

Quite simple, Zafzaf looks already pretty comfy in that Maglia Rosa, although he seems to like to lend it to some other riders, temporarily. Besides that there is still a lot to do: stage wins, fight for the mountain jersey (not red!!!), the ciclamino, youth classement, honor and glory. So, here are the standings after 9 stages:

General classement

01. 00:00 Lotfi Zafzaf (Big Donkey)
02. 00:54 Giorgio Visconi (UllesTribute)
03. 01:03 SeungWon Min (Tukhtahuaev)
04. 01:08 Riyad Mahrez (UllesTribute)
05. 01:09 Afshin Pirhashemi (Team FL)
06. 01:27 Blaise Mollard (Team Australia)
07. 01:30 Artyom Filatov (Luques)
08. 01:31 Alex Pelle (Mercatone-uno)
09. 01:34 Pedro Pinheiro (Gipfelstuermer)
10. 01:50 Caius Aeschlimann (Big Donkey)

Points classement

01. 142 Ngo Nguyen (Team FL)
02. 128 Gerardo Perdomo (Tukhtahuaev)
03. 108 Yeremei Solomin (Luques)

Mountain classement

01. 037 Mateo Montesinos (Gipfelstuermer)
02. 025 Lotfi Zafzaf (Big Donkey)
03. 022 Serghei Pascenco (Team FL)

Youth classement

01. 01:09 Afshin Pirhashemi (Team FL)
02. 01:30 Artyom Filatov (Luques)
03. 01:31 Alex Pelle (Mercatone-uno)

Team classement

01. 00:00 UllesTribute
02. 03:30 Gipfelstuermer
03. 04:19 Team Australia

Stage wins by riders

2 - Ngo Nguyen (Team FL)
2 - Serghei Pascenco (Team FL)
1 - Parfait Adjivon (UllesTribute)
1 - Konstantin Andreevic (Luques)
1 - Wilfried Faure (Team Australia)
1- Gerardo Perdomo (Tukhtahuaev)
1 - Lotfi Zafzaf (Big Donkey)

Stage wins by teams

4 - Team FL
1 - Big Donkey
1 - Luques
1 - Team Australia
1 - Tukhtahuaev
1 - UllesTribute
I didn't mean to say it. But I meant what I said.

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Re: Giro 2018 Afternoon (the only real Giro)

Post by Robyklebt » Tue May 15, 2018 1:13 pm

Zafzaf likes to lend rosa? No no no, he wants to keep it. Anybody getting it would not help controlling anyway, so makes no sense trying to lend it. Faure got it one day, but that was simply the Donkey miscalculating, had absolutely no interest giving him rosa. Stage, yes, he could have that, as I said I'm in principle not that interested in winning x stages, not FL after all, I'm happy if I get 3, which normally I should manage to get. Ok, with FL winning 4 until now, sort of tempted to try to get more than him, but no no, happy to just sort of control and keep rosa. And get 3 stages along the way.

Comfortable... he's the big favorite, he was expected to be rosa at this point I think. And the most pro Zafzaf terrain still coming, so yeah, comfortable, but at the same time still need to pay attention not to give openings to my opponents. Like on the way to Gran Sasso I gave that opening (by riding a few km too early with Tobar).. there was an opening to gain time there. But Luques, the guy who everybody expected to attack and probably was hanging on, didn't do the logical attack :lol:

If he goes, and somebody like Min+Tukhtasinov, Pinheiro+Genovese, Visconti (Mahrez probably too strong and no classic to help, he might hurt that theoretical escape)Pirhashemi+Villafuerte follows, I could have been in trouble and maybe even lost rosa to one of those guys. But fortunately Luques did nothing :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: By going with nobody following he would have gained 30" before the final 5 km (just calculated that, not experience seeing it), with another team? Or 2? Dangerous. But ok, I was hanging somewhere at that point I think, plus nothing happened.

Second week starts today, first 3 stages that most likely will turn out to be for an escape (even if some teams IMO actually probably will have better chances in the peloton than in the escape) then a likely sprint... not overly exciting stages for the Donkey really. Then the Zoncolan, Donkey there/offline with settings and occasional app checking/ZL sitting.... Right now that stage is actually the biggest worry, if it's the offline settings, then Zafzaf's lead right now is not comfortable at all. (In case it's the offline settings, no problem in attacking and destroying Zafzaf, but at least don't put half the Donkeys out of the time limit....) After that the rather disappointing stage to Sappada on Sunday... we'll see what happens there. SEcond week though is not the best one for the Donkey in general. With the Zoncolan problem... still not sure if I should cut short my real life social life or not.

Anyway, let's hope FL doesn't win all stages.
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Re: Giro 2018 Afternoon (the only real Giro)

Post by Gipfelstuermer » Wed May 16, 2018 3:27 am

Gipfelstuermer splits the field but Gopal takes the win

On the longest stage of the Giro 2018, the peloton had to complete 239km from Penne to Gualdo Tadino through the beautiful landscape of Umbria (often referred to as an area that looks and feels like Tuscany only does on pictures). However, most riders could not enjoy the scenery as Donkey, FL and Tukh took control of the race and kept the speed high enough to leave four escapists without a chance.

Team Gipfelstuermer took the chance at the last hill 30km before the finish line and split the peloton into two. The first group arrived 8 seconds before the second group and thereby eliminated the sprinters. A few GC riders also lost time, especially Min who was supposed to help for a mass sprint.

In the sprint of the first group, unexperienced Gipfelstuermer had difficulties arranging a proper sprint train while the maglia rosa wearing Zafzaf pulled a strong train for his teammate Gopal and thereby stole the victory.

The next stage will bring the peloton from Assisi to Osimo, again partly through beautiful Umbria, but this time providing some cobbles and an uphill arrival.
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Re: Giro 2018 Afternoon (the only real Giro)

Post by Gipfelstuermer » Thu May 17, 2018 2:34 am

A Min in topform wins in Osimo


On a relatively short stage to Osimo, Gipfelstuermer and Big Donkey controlled the race for their leaders. While Big Donkey's leader was clearly maglia rosa wearing Zafzaf, Gipfelstuermer had the pave specialists Montesinos and Genovese, but also Fabio Fonda as possible Options for this race.

While Montesinos and Genovese created a gap on the short pave section, the climbers were able to catch them on the final hill. Min pulled off an attack after flamme rouge and nobody was able to follow, not even Fonda, who came in second with 4''.

Min is now second in GC and should be a among the favorites for the upcoming stage from Osimo to Imola, especially in this form.
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Re: Giro 2018 Afternoon (the only real Giro)

Post by Gipfelstuermer » Fri May 18, 2018 3:04 am

Gipfelstuermer is alive - Fonda wins and gets rewarded with the maglia ciclamino

Despite lots of attacks and km in tempo, the Gipfelstuermer Team had to wait until stage #12 to win a stage against the extraordinarily strong peloton of this year's only real Giro.

After coming in #4 in Gualdo Tadino and #2 in Osimo, Fonda finally won in a sprint of about 20 riders. The rest of the peloton suffered from a small hill 8km before the finish line. Quin from Team Australia could only take the second place after his teammates had worked a lot during the stage to create the sprint. Why couldn't he beat Fonda although probably in good form? First of all, Gipfelstuermer had the stronger train with Edelhelfer Genovese. Secondly, Quin was forced to make tempo after that hill to stay with the first group. Thirdly, Faure was to proud to help Quin and tried to win from a small group around maglia rosa wearing Zafzaf, which was only caught on the last km.

Samba, Genovese and Pirhashemi followed 3rd-5th in the sprint, so no GC contenders received bonus seconds. Fonda is now in maglia ciclamino but can he keep it? Already today a mass sprint can be expected with the dominant teams Donkey, FL and Tukh working for it. The other teams would need to coop extremely well in an escape but this has not happened yet during this Giro. Luques and Australia are for sure candidates for an escape. How about mercatone? Is he happy with #3 in a sprint? And this Gipfel and Ulle? Always good for an escape but tomorrow they might want to be fit for Zoncolan.
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Re: Giro 2018 Afternoon (the only real Giro)

Post by Tukhtahuaev » Sat May 19, 2018 9:23 am

Fight for the ciclamino is on

Gerardo Perdomo wins a close sprint in Nervesa della Battaglia against Ngo Nguyen, which puts three riders within three points.
First in the points classement is Fabio Fonda, who only won one stage, but consistently good results in all stages gave him a lot of points. Three points behind him are Ngo Nguyen and Gerardo Perdomo. Both won two bunch sprints and have to rely on flat stages for their points.
With at most two bunch sprints remaining, Fonda seems to be in a great position, but can he score enough points in the mountain stages? Or is one of the sprinters going to take 2 more stages to snatch the ciclamino away from him?

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