Sachen Pavés 9h

[team fl]

First Pavé Highlight of the year in old East Germany . Of course Team FL participates, with the following line-up (As the team does not have a clear leader, the order is just alphabetically):

x1 Nathaniel "Nate" Biedermann, the quiet
x2 Fred Colon, the gentleman
x3 Tim Hamberger, the German, perhaps his last races
x4 Toni Hassler, the angry
x5 Harry Hole, the drunk
x6 Niels Hörnö, the dentist
x7 Stefan "King" Küng, the king (?!)
x8 Wesley Lichtenkiesel, the monster
x9 Haruki Murakami, the creative

As we have seen the contestant, we don't have any goal at all but having lots of fun on cobbles. Or not.

[team fl]

Favorite check, yay!

General classement:

***** Ernesto Sabato (Alkworld)
**** Miguel Otero (Alkworld)
*** Filipe Fremont (RSC Elsass), Roger deVlaeminck (RSC Elsass), Michel Cantona (RSC Elsass)
** Xian Bai (FABIANO)
* somebody else

Points classement:

*** Ernesto Sabato (Alkworld)
** somebody else
* a suprise

Mountain classement:

*** The one who wants it and tries
** anybody else
* a surprise

Youth classement:

*** Filipe Fremont (RSC Elsass), Roger deVlaeminck (RSC Elsass), Michel Cantona (RSC Elsass)
** Mikel Shera (SV Furpach)
* Pavel Erban (Medvedi)

Team classement:

*** Alkworld
** RSC Elsass
* Team FL

[team fl]

First stage as expected won by Alkworld. What he thinks about it (in German):

Interview mit dem Teamchef von Alkworld (11:48 Uhr):

Ups, Sie? War das eingeplant?
Ja, heute schon. nicht eingeplant war die schlechte Performance und das viele Tempo von Eliseo nachdem er abgehängt war.
Was werden Sie mit dem ganzen Geld machen, das sie heute verdient haben? Wieviel sind es, 100 k? 200k?.
Ausgeben. Wir drücken schon die Daumen bei unserem aktuellen Gebot für ein neues Talent.
Meinen Gl�ckwunsch zum Erfolg und weiterhin alles gute bei dieser Rundfahrt!
Danke.

So Alkworld is not completely happy with his team's performance, especially about Eliseo. Rumour has it, that he is already trying to replace him with a new talented rider. Anyway, the stage was not that interesting, hope that changes a bit in the future. At least Team FL could open the chances a bit when distancing some helpers of opponent teams. We have to see if this tactic is successful and how much we can do for our leaders.

Generally it seems that Alkworld is just too strong for everybody. Very good team with high regeneration. A bit expensive but I guess the victories and the success will even out the expenses and exceed them by far. We were a bit surprised that Team FL is the second most expensive team in the peloton. Anyway, so far the results are ok. A stage win would be a great thing of course.

[Alkworld]

Alkworld's team manager is of course happy with the result, the bad performance was referring to the game itself, there weren't that many refreshs possible in the last 15 minutes. Eliseo was one victim of that, he apparently didn't notice that he was already dropped from the first group and still continued to ride as fast as he can. You will be easily able to spot him tomorrow morning when he's going on the Zahnfleisch.
About the costs: I think 50k (Team FL) or 70k (Alkworld) is still quite cheap in a tour. A couple of Top 10 positions each day and Top 5 in GC would already compensate it. And talking about positions, I was missing the King in the list of favorites. Of course he's not in the four or five stars area, but due to his strong team, the sprint, climbing and TT skills I see him somewhere in the Top 5 for the GC. After all, Sachsen offers a lot less tough cobblestone sections than the Tour des Pavés did.

[Rockstar Inc]

Alkworld's team manager is of course happy with the result, the bad performance was referring to the game itself, there weren't that many refreshs possible in the last 15 minutes.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2381

[team fl]

Second stages as expected with the same winner than before: Alkworld. But it was another rider today, Otero. Anyway, not that the win was doubted in any phase of the race, but Alkworld even gets the help from other teams, Medvedi today, after a Hassler/Biedermann attack. Like this, Team FL just has to give up and will ride passivly in the peloton, like all the other teams except Furpach or rothmanns. Or not. For the moment, it's just frustrating that the worst fear we had befre the tour has come true. Alkworld doesn't even have to work for his wins himself. At least not when it's crucial. Not to be mistaken: I don't want to blame Alkworld, he does what he needs to, as perfect as we know him. And he would have also won without help. But I blame the other teams who do not try anything for themself to win a stage, who just save their place (the 8th it was for Medvedi today) and only react, in favour of the big favorite. Boring!

[Alkworld]

Now we finally sorted the GC a bit more, the time may have come for some successful escapes. There should be enough riders who already lost a lot of time by now and Team Alkworld is getting a bit tired by now, mostly caused by the really cold temperatures, the rain and some high tempo again.
The fight for the podium still looks pretty open with Medvedi's pave sprinter, Xian Bai, the rider with the highest pavé skill, the "King" and the riders from Elsass still all in range for podium.

[team fl]

Third stage, new winner! And it's not a rider from Alkworld! Very happily it's Wesley Lichtenkiesel form Team FL! Of course the group with Lichtenkiesel, Murakami and two Furpach riders took advantage out of the fact that Alkworld wanted to save energy for the upcoming two days with three stages (two halfstages) and let the group ride and was not interested in the stage. Fortunately, all other teams thought so too, although there were some moments of doubt. In the end, Furpach agreed to get the mountain jersey while letting the Team FL riders fight for the stage. Of course we like the outcome.

In the GC nothing changed, still Alkworld in the pole position, even gaining some points for the points classement with Sabato. Elsass could gain some seconds for the youth classement and surprisingly, Team FL leads in the team classement. Well, not really surprisingly because fo the escape today. Interesting, if we can get it home from the tour.

Tomorrow will be interesting too with two half stages, the second beeing a 7 km TT on mostly pavé. Will another group has a chance, will Alkworld ride for the first half stage, who will win the TT (I guess Fremont)? We will see.

[team fl]

Just for the record, the top15 places in the GC before the two halfstages. Update will be made right before the ITT.

After Stage 3:

01. 00:00 Ernesto Sabato (Alkworld), Pavé 82, TT 53
02. 00:05 Miguel Otero (Alkworld), Pavé 83.9, TT 46
03. 00:13 Zdravo Zagic (SV Furpach), Pavé 81.6, TT 46
04. 00:14 Stefan Küng (Team FL), Pavé 80.9, TT 60
05. 00:20 Michel Cantona (RSC Elsass), Pavé 82.8, TT 63
06. 00:20 Xian Bai (FABIANO), Pavé 85.1, TT 55
07. 00:20 Philippe Fremont (RSC Elsass), Pavé 81.5, TT 75
08. 00:22 Antonin Blaha (Medvedi), Pavé 82.8, TT 55
09. 00:22 Roger deVlaminck (RSC Elsass), Pavé 82.4, TT 61
10. 00:25 Rainer Hügel (FABIANO), Pavé 79.4, TT 71
11. 00:36 Romulo Gallegos (Alkworld), Pavé 84.9, TT 46
12. 00:49 Pavel Erban (Medvedi), Pavé 81, TT 55
13. 00:51 Mikel Shera (SV Furpach), Pavé 76.2, TT 51
14. 00:55 Toni Hassler (Team FL), Pavé 78, TT 50
15. 00:57 Louisa Gates (Real Fratta), Pavé 78.8, TT 47

After Stage 4 (half stage):

01. 00:00 Ernesto Sabato (Alkworld), Pavé 82, TT 53
02. 00:05 Miguel Otero (Alkworld), Pavé 83.9, TT 46
03. 00:11 Antonin Blaha (Medvedi), Pavé 82.8, TT 55
04. 00:13 Zdravo Zagic (SV Furpach), Pavé 81.6, TT 46
05. 00:14 Stefan Küng (Team FL), Pavé 80.9, TT 60
06. 00:19 Xian Bai (FABIANO), Pavé 85.1, TT 55
07. 00:20 Michel Cantona (RSC Elsass), Pavé 82.8, TT 63
08. 00:20 Philippe Fremont (RSC Elsass), Pavé 81.5, TT 75
09. 00:22 Roger deVlaminck (RSC Elsass), Pavé 82.4, TT 61
10. 00:25 Rainer Hügel (FABIANO), Pavé 79.4, TT 71
11. 00:30 Mikel Shera (SV Furpach), Pavé 76.2, TT 51
12. 00:36 Romulo Gallegos (Alkworld), Pavé 84.9, TT 46
13. 00:49 Pavel Erban (Medvedi), Pavé 81, TT 55
14. 00:55 Toni Hassler (Team FL), Pavé 78, TT 50
15. 00:57 Louisa Gates (Real Fratta), Pavé 78.8, TT 47

After Stage 5 (half stage, ITT):

01. 00:00 Philippe Fremont (RSC Elsass), Pavé 81.5, TT 75
02. 00:06 Stefan Küng (Team FL), Pavé 80.9, TT 60
03. 00:06 Michel Cantona (RSC Elsass), Pavé 82.8, TT 63
04. 00:09 Miguel Otero (Alkworld), Pavé 83.9, TT 46
05. 00:26 Ernesto Sabato (Alkworld), Pavé 82, TT 53
06. 00:27 Zdravo Zagic (SV Furpach), Pavé 81.6, TT 46
07. 00:36 Rainer Hügel (FABIANO), Pavé 79.4, TT 71
08. 00:44 Antonin Blaha (Medvedi), Pavé 82.8, TT 55
09. 00:51 Xian Bai (FABIANO), Pavé 85.1, TT 55
13. 01:32 Pavel Erban (Medvedi), Pavé 81, TT 55
11. 01:33 Mikel Shera (SV Furpach), Pavé 76.2, TT 51
14. 01:38 Toni Hassler (Team FL), Pavé 78, TT 50
09. 01:45 Roger deVlaminck (RSC Elsass), Pavé 82.4, TT 61
12. 01:52 Romulo Gallegos (Alkworld), Pavé 84.9, TT 46
15. 02:51 Louisa Gates (Real Fratta), Pavé 78.8, TT 47

[Team ABC-Polsat]

is also morgen alles möglich bei euch alk wird und muss morgen mit otero nen solosieg versuchen

[team fl]

is also morgen alles möglich bei euch alk wird und muss morgen mit otero nen solosieg versuchen

Ja, morgen wird schwer interessant. Die Frage ist, ob Otero das morgen gewinnen kann. Schliesslich wartet bspw. auch FABIANO mit XIan Bai (Pavé 85.1) auch noch auf einen Etappensieg. Auf jeden Fall ist Sabato aus dem Rennen. Ausser Alk kann Fremot bereits vorher loswerden, was ich mir nicht vorstellen kann. Elsass hat drei 80+ Pavé-Fahrer, wird nicht einfach gegen ihn.

Bin gespannt, wo Küng morgen landet. Von den Top4, die innerhalb von 10 Sekunden liegen, ist er nominell der schwächste Pavé-Fahrer. Dafür fhat er aber für das Team FL an seiner Seite, höhö, falls das ein Vorteil ist... .

Wird interessant sein zu schauen, was passiert, wenn niemand Kraft sparen muss für eine weitere Etappe.


Same story in English: Will be very interesting tomorrow. Fremont with the pole position for the last stage, having Cantona also in a good position. The question is if Alkworld can get enough seconds at the end against them. Who knows, perhaps even Sabato can win it, if Alk can outdistance Fremont at the end. But it will be hard to beat the former Poststelle team with its three 80+ pave-skill riders. And of course also some other teams are still waiting for a stage win, like Xian Bai from FABIANO with a pavé-skill of 85.1.

For Team FL, the situation is curious. Küng is among the top4 with less than 10 seconds distance to Fremont but nominally the weakest pavérider of them. Anyway, he has the Team FL at his side, hehe, as if this would be an advantage...

Will be funny to watch what happens tomorrow when nobody needs to save energy for another stage.

[Alkworld]

Very bad day for Team Alkworld today, the group in the first half stage couldn't be caught and the energy for the sprint was still wasted. So it looks like we'll have to change to plan B, which will be announced tomorrow 10:15 am. GC wise, a lot is still possible, mainly because of all the bonus seconds still to be earned, but also because the stage contains the toughest pave sections of the whole tour. And maybe also the training will change something here

[team fl]

What nice finish for this tour, although the expected rider (Miguel Otero) won the stage and the GC. Anyway, the peloton was very active and the races where intense and thrilling, mostly, but especially yesterday and today. In the end, the best team (Alkworld) could decide the GC and saved three stage wins. For Team FL, the tour was highly successful too. Beeing the rider with the second worst pavé-kill among the top10, Stefan could even get a place on the podium (3rd) in the GC and got second in the points classement. Furthermore, Wesley Lichtenkiesel could win a stage after a successful escape and, reflective the very balanced pavé-team, Team FL could win the team classement, also due to Wesley's escape together with Taktashi Murakami during the 3rd stage.

Finally the facts about this tour:

General classement:

01. 00:00 Miguel Otero (Alkworld), Pavé 83.9, TT 46
02. 00:25 Philippe Fremont (RSC Elsass), Pavé 81.5, TT 75
03. 00:31 Stefan Küng (Team FL), Pavé 80.9, TT 60
04. 00:31 Michel Cantona (RSC Elsass), Pavé 82.8, TT 63
05. 00:42 Ernesto Sabato (Alkworld), Pavé 82, TT 53
06. 00:52 Zdravo Zagic (SV Furpach), Pavé 81.6, TT 46
07. 00:57 Antonin Blaha (Medvedi), Pavé 82.8, TT 55
08. 01:24 Rainer Hügel (FABIANO), Pavé 79.4, TT 71
09. 01:57 Pavel Erban (Medvedi), Pavé 81, TT 55
10. 02:00 Xian Bai (FABIANO), Pavé 85.1, TT 55
11. 02:03 Toni Hassler (Team FL), Pavé 78, TT 50
12. 02:17 Romulo Gallegos (Alkworld), Pavé 84.9, TT 46
13. 02:21 Mikel Shera (SV Furpach), Pavé 76.2, TT 51
14. 03:32 Roger deVlaminck (RSC Elsass), Pavé 82.4, TT 61
15. 03:39 Louisa Gates (Real Fratta), Pavé 78.8, TT 47

Points classement:

- Ernesto Sabato (Alkworld)

Moutain classement:

- Steeve Landrin (SV Furpach)

Youth classement:

- Philippe Fremont (RSC Elsass)

Team classement:

- Team FL

Stage wins by team:

3 - Alkworld
1 - Team FL
1 - RSC Elsass
1 - SV Furpach

Stage wins by rider:

2 - Miguel Otero (Alkworld
1 - Wesley Lichtenkiesel (Team FL
1 - Ernesto Sabato (Alkworld)
1 - Phillippe Fremont (RSC Elsass)
1 - Mikel Shera (SV Furpach)