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It's Giro time! Or soon it will be. After the Giro is before the Giro, or so. And what's the only real Giro? Right, the Afternoon Giro! So here we are, back at it, starting with a team full of hope and destined for despair and financial ruin. The fortunate 9 for Team FL are (most likely):

x1 Aron Abreha, sexy sprint leader
x2 Dömös Dömötor, kinky key-domestique
x3 Gianni Giannelli, luscious lead out
x4 Keorapetse Kgositsile, flirtatious flat-rider
x5 Ndamukong Nkengasong, raunchy racer
x6 Spiridon Sprenger, bodacious biker
x7 Thierry Tiendrébéogo, hot 'n' handy helper
x8 Tesfaye Tsegaye, sensual sprint starter
x9 Zacarias Zuzunaga, gorgeous GC-leader

Goal: win everything, spend all the money (we dont' have), seduce everybody.

Still not sure if Cissé or Walkenhorst should find a place in the line up. Hugo is consulting his excel sheets about it.

Spiri!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRKNw477onU

Canned Heat - On The Road Again

Alive & Dead going for the hattrick!

Pure madness. The mathematicians want the hattrick at the GIRO in the afternoon. The triumvirat (Trakhtenbrot, Volta, Krausz) wants to make history. No team before could win the GIRO 3 times in a row. Just one team could make a 3 years winning streak at a GT (Los Ticos: Lee DingWang, Francois Bernard, Ernesto Montevideo, Vuelta 2007-2009)

The team might look like the last 2 years, 2 climbers, 3 classics, 2 reg strong riders, one 58-85-7x kind of rider, a sprinter But first due to my bad team building, no second climber there. So I can go for the market strategy like in 2022 and buy some 85 climber before the month change or I just go with an elderly Chau, or I bring another riding helper/classic/Drinfeld. With the TT leaning profile, the challengers might be different to the last years. Many half-hubers there that can win a lot of time in the TT and are hard to get rid of in the mountain. First goal is to start the GIRO with the #1 again!

#1 Ferenc Krausz (leader and future GIRO winner [probably])
#2 Open for discussion, currently it looks a lot like Drinfeld
#3 Robert Oppenheimer, classics
#4 Anton Rella, young classic
#5 Yann LeCun, reg strong pseudo classic
#6 Rudolf Kalman, 58-85-78 with 45reg
#7 TBA
#8 TBA
#9 Ilija Balinow, Austrian tempobolzer

If we get another reg strong young helper he well get the #8 spot most likely, currently it lools more like Hamarat/Babai for the empty spots.

flockmastoR wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 24, 2024 7:09 pm

Just one team could make a 3 years winning streak at a GT (Los Ticos: Lee DingWang, Francois Bernard, Ernesto Montevideo, Vuelta 2007-2009)

You missed Liquigas-CND Paquito Ortiz, Orlando Salazar, Jesse Ryder in 2016-2018 Vuelta

hm I really thought I checked everything

9 riders?
Do we have 9 usable guys? Not sure.

Longbottom and Almirall.
Henri and Stringfellow.

We have 4, can we start? Marquez not winning the Flèche? Chassot riding 4 or 5 races this month? Garcia? Lorenzini?Woldemariam? All not guaranteed. Might go for Ceriel as leader.

Donkey, for a good Manager like you, every Rider is usable...

Schappy is riding here, only for Entertainment and without anything to win for.

#1 Fenna Kalma, Mountain Stages are to hard, classic stages not hard enough, so only here to get maybe a Top 10 GC Place
#2 Nadija Belkina, classic with downhill. Maybe we can get a good situation
#3 Vanessa Voigt, same like Belkina
#4 Emily Schumann, young Mountain rider, looking for experience here
#5 Georg Hochhausen, young Sprinter, maybe some good results in the Flat stages
#6 Elisa Seidel, young classic for Training here
#7 Andreas Klosterhalfen, cheap rider, maybe some Escapes
#8 Anna Krywonos, cheap rider, maybe some Escapes
#9 Salome Kruschelnytska, cheap rider, maybe some Escapes

Salary: ca. 415k so with average 40k we should not lose money here

I might start here as well, but seriously no idea about the lineup I should bring.

fix: Natanzon and Wolde
99%: Brenes and Hwang
5 spots open

CircleCycle wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 29, 2024 10:59 am

I might start here as well, but seriously no idea about the lineup I should bring.

fix: Natanzon and Wolde
99%: Brenes and Hwang
5 spots open

My line-up for you:

x1 Colin Sullivan
x2 Arda Atakisi
x3 Kazbek Barmagembetov
x4 JuanMora Brenes
x5 William Costigan
x6 JungGi Hwang
x7 Matvey Natazon
x8 Amoz Oz
x9 Hawi Wolde

Words on the streets have it, that the only real Giro could have a double digit number of teams this year. Looks like the following teams will participate (in alphabetical order with the three riders to watch), no guarantee though. Favourite check will be done, once everything is confirmed.

Alive And Dead: Ferenc Krausz, Robert Oppenheimer, Laszlo Babai
- goes for the GC hattrick with Krausz. Rest is help, Babai for the sprint stages.

Big Donkey: Excelino Marquez, Magnifico Garcia, Riccardo Lorenzini
- the usual two climber punch for the Donkeys, supported by horse lung classic Woldemariam. Sprinter Lorenzini as an italian should have the advantage over Chassot. Or maybe there is room for both of them?

Bright: Flopp McMell, Fang Mao,Jay Thayne
- Flopp starts the Giro with a very impressive palmares. His participation in the afternoon has not been confirmed yet, but it looks like he might be there, together with his mate Mao, some nice classics and maybe a smurf.

CircleCycle: Colin Sullivan, William Costigan, Matvey Natazon
- Sullivan! the rest is unsure. Natazon should be a given too, then the question is: Rest of the team full sprint or jack-of-all-trades?

Credit Pommes: Lenny Wingelaar, Jim Stork, Cas Klijn
- CP looks like an afternoon team too, with the dutch Winger in the bag. Meisen not there anymore, but Klijn tries to follow his foot-steps.

Dreizehn: Evelt McPhee, Sidy Randu, Kim Beere
- Dreizen looks like a threat for every stage, maybe not for the GC though. Kim Beere could be a contestant for the Maglia Ciclamino.

Gipfelstuermer: Yotam Ottolenghi, Giuseppe Cotrufo, Ilario Mosconi
- It's not sure if Gipfelstuermer himself already knows when he will start. But everything else than in the afternoon would not be worth participating anyway, so: will Mosconi end his career with Giro wins in multiple editions?

Romoc Riders: Mario Makaay, Mitchel Martens, Adiran Arboleda
- This is just an educated guess. Would fit nicely though. One of the few teams without climber, but eager for stage wins with Makaay, Arboleda or some brave escapees.

Schappy: Fenna Kalma, Nadija Belkina, Georg Hochhausen
- Schappy seems not to like the Giro and starts with a "Rumpftruppe" around Kalma. But maybe they start with a bang, who knows.

Team FL: Zacarias Zuzunaga, Aron Abreha, Spiridon Sprenger
- Zuzunaga and sprints, it looks like. Maybe some sprinkles from Spiridon along the way to Rome. TD Hugo Marxer prepared the team already for lots of Gruppetto work...

So, which teams will chicken out? Will the afternoon get some suprise or short term inscriptions? We will find out on Saturday afternoon!

Gipfelstuermer confirmed. We'll bring the top team, best prepared for a delicious Giro.

x1 Yotam OTTOLENGHI... --> Excellent recipes for light riders
x2 Giuseppe COTRUFO... --> Pasta recipes for slightly-too-heavy classics
x3 Alexis AÏNOUZ.......... --> Allrounder cuisine from France
x4 Alfonso BIALETTI....... --> Best value-for-money coffee, recommended for mountain top cafes before the downhill
x5 Angelo MORIONDO..... --> Tries to challenge the Bialetti and will offer his Siebträger services
x6 Ilario MOSCONI......... --> Knows how to win Michelin stars and Giro stages.
x7 Salman CETINER....... --> Our Barista, can work with Bialetti and Siebträger in escapes
x8 Enver ATABAY............ --> Our coffee roaster, he will deliver the beans (and the hard work)
x9 Christophe ORSINI..... --> Promised to deliver his excellent Corsican wine to Rome, by bike or in the Besenwagen.

team fl wrote: ↑

Thu May 02, 2024 8:36 am

Will the afternoon get some suprise or short term inscriptions?

You can add Brunsketti Swiss Team to your preview. Dreizehn inscribed in the morning edition though.

Were there rumours about a Tukhtahuaev start as well or is he confirmed for the morning?

Gipfelstuermer wrote: ↑

Thu May 02, 2024 9:59 am

Gipfelstuermer confirmed. We'll bring the top team, best prepared for a delicious Giro.

x1 Yotam OTTOLENGHI... --> Excellent recipes for light riders
x2 Giuseppe COTRUFO... --> Pasta recipes for slightly-too-heavy classics
x3 Alexis AÏNOUZ.......... --> Allrounder cuisine from France
x4 Alfonso BIALETTI....... --> Best value-for-money coffee, recommended for mountain top cafes before the downhill
x5 Angelo MORIONDO..... --> Tries to challenge the Bialetti and will offer his Siebträger services
x6 Ilario MOSCONI......... --> Knows how to win Michelin stars and Giro stages.
x7 Salman CETINER....... --> Our Barista, can work with Bialetti and Siebträger in escapes
x8 Enver ATABAY............ --> Our coffee roaster, he will deliver the beans (and the hard work)
x9 Christophe ORSINI..... --> Promised to deliver his excellent Corsican wine to Rome, by bike or in the Besenwagen.

team fl wrote: ↑

Thu May 02, 2024 8:36 am

Will the afternoon get some suprise or short term inscriptions?

You can add Brunsketti Swiss Team to your preview. Dreizehn inscribed in the morning edition though.

Were there rumours about a Tukhtahuaev start as well or is he confirmed for the morning?

Tuk will start in the morning from what I know

Gipfel made sure to abuse his powers as calendar planner to prevent me from starting here

Tukhtahuaev wrote: ↑

Thu May 02, 2024 11:09 am

Gipfel made sure to abuse his powers as calendar planner to prevent me from starting here

You want the job?

Only if you pay me enough to quit my real job

don't know where to start

just inscribed in the morning for some lineup tests
but afternoon at 15h instead of 14h makes it more or less impossible.

so I am still searching for the right time

We want MORE people

One Donkey can deal with at least 15 humans...

Dont know the whole Team yet but we will start in the afternoon.

1: Lenny Wingelaar- Mountain Captain without a GC Chance
2: Jim Stork- Classic, only real helper for Lenny
3: Cas Klijn- Maybe Future Sprintstar
4: Quin Bageloe- All around helper with high reg.
5: Joppie Huurman- Cheap Flatrider
6: Mylan Ippel- Flat helper
7: Yoshua Vosman- Flat helper
8:?
9:?
Maybe With a real Sprinttrain, maybe with Something less Labor intensive.

team fl wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 29, 2024 11:35 am

CircleCycle wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 29, 2024 10:59 am

I might start here as well, but seriously no idea about the lineup I should bring.

fix: Natanzon and Wolde
99%: Brenes and Hwang
5 spots open

My line-up for you:

x1 Colin Sullivan
x2 Arda Atakisi
x3 Kazbek Barmagembetov
x4 JuanMora Brenes
x5 William Costigan
x6 JungGi Hwang
x7 Matvey Natazon
x8 Amoz Oz
x9 Hawi Wolde

Confirmed starting, as I found a sitter for the first stage tomorrow.

Lineup almost sure, but maybe some last minute panik might happen

1
2
3 Pedersen
4 Smith
5 Natanzon
6 Brenes
7 Hwang
8 Barmagambetov
9 Wolde

Marxer out, Atakisi out, so 3 riders for the spots left. Sullivan-Costigan, Costigan-Teweldebrhan, or Sullivan-Teweldebrhan?

You heartless bastard sold Oz 1 day before he would have retired in your team? Pff

Anyway, you need reg, so Costigan.

Marxer is angry, buying Smith. Marxer would have been perfectly fine in the Giro, sprint stages will be much slower than in 1 day races.

confirmed heartless, would much rather have sold Hwang and buy the new sprinter. But 88 flat really useful, for getting the sprints.

Oz - you saw the problems during Romandie. Nobody rides in escape with him. + Mountain jersey for a few days only possible if I knew already there will be a sitter for stage 1.

Marxer will train a bit flat during Giro - and be skipped again for TdF as Smith ist just the far better helper in sprint for Natanzon.

Costigan in, you are right! So Sullivan or Kibrom, to save the money?

Afternoon confirmed for A&D.

Question is still: Hamarat and Kalman or Hamarat and Babai or Babai and Kalman

Smith looks highly cheapened. So would have been there most likely 1 day later. And then you could have sold Oz simply 1 day later! Ah, Smith form, see the problem....
Oz? Of course nobody rode with him during Romandie. He wants the GPM, so let him ride. Giro might have been different, longer race, more collaboration possible.

Anyway, the much more interesting Donkey-dilemma.
Until 2 or 3 weeks ago my team was clear. No Chassot, no Garcia. Marquez-Woldemariam-Novelli-Almirall-Longbottom-Henri-Stringfellow-Lorenzini. And 2 more Magritte and somebody.
Then I realized. Damn, I don't have somebody. And Magritte with his salary is a bit problematic too, no reg either. Fortuny? Uru? Blake? Blake is tempting, killed him today, out. But he has some reg.
And Chassot.. poor guy won MSR and then hardly rode in April, not even Scheldeprijs, mistake, I assumed Lorenzini was much better in pavé, and Chassot would risk to be dropped. Turned out they are almost the same and nobody of notice was dropped. Damn. So Chassot the Giro, why not, sounds good.
We have 8, who's number 9, don't know.
So know we're still clueless...
Kick Novelli, keep the 6. Look for three guys: Garcia in, then Wolde is out, but that makes no sense, no classic. Chassot is in looks good, very likely he will be. Add Wolde, add Novelli. Sounds ok. But what if I want Garcia after all. With all those mountains, why not 2? For stages, GC seems hopeless from the start Krausz will win what, 3' over the TTs? Didn't calculate it, wild guess. And if Allrad shows up, as I sort of expect (and hope), it's even worse.
But 2 guys for stages, why not. But then no Wolde again, Add Novelli, add... Chassot?? No, 4 non-riding riders is too many, Lorenzini despite 73 flat is a non-rider. Koopman? Magritte? Blake (he's out?) Ok, what about Garcia AND Wolde then. Add Chassot, kick Novelli, he's an asshole after all. 4 non-riders still, but Woldemariam at least has reg.

Aaaaahhh.... Chassot-Novelli-Wolde looks kind of best?

Sorry to disappoint you FL, but i won't be here probably. I was really eager to start afternoon but i still have second thoughts about it.
Lineup would probably consist of escape riders plus a bit of punchy sprint from Arboleda and a bit of calmly pace from Martens on ITTs

10? We want 15!

And Allrad, what's up with Allrad?