Vuelta 10h

[Alkworld]

The Vuelta is coming closer and Team Alkworld is slowly getting ready for three weeks of somehow boring profiles, but hopefully a nice group in the morning and some good races. The team is still fighting over who'll be the captain in Spain with two climbers fighting for that spot:
- Ricardo Quaresma - strong in almost every terrain, a lung like a horse and Tour de France winner
- Pablo Picasso - the better climber of the two, Spanish born

He'll be accompanied by:
- Luis Costales - sth similar to a classic rider
- Tupac Amaru - endless power #1
- Oscar Romero - endless power #2
- Eliseo Alberto - high speed
- Antonio Narino - endless power #3
- Jaime Roldos - the TTT specialist (the one-eyed among the blind ones)
- Benito Salas or Juan Montalvo - high speed for the last 500m

[LENNAO]

Hey Guys, welcome all to the Vuelta of this year.
Last year this was my first GT and im glad to be able to ride here again.

My Team:
Joaquin Beloki - potential high class rider for the future. He will win white this Vuelta - unfortunately without a competition. But training is much more important for now
Andy Beck - Helper for the mountains in the future. Lets see how good can he get
Manuel Astarloza - just a helper - he will become my classic to support my mountaineers. But on classic stages he is allowed to ride for his own.
Grischa Uhrmann - same like Astarloza, only difference is that he trains like a shroom and he wanna be the "edelhelfer" for my futural hillsprinter
Milos Krsnic - the man for high tempo at the end - with 59 mountain he has got no problems with small mountains
Adrian Lewis - same as Milos but with lesser hillskills ... But with his reg he will do a lot of more tempo.
Jonas Voigt - Son of the famous Jens - he want to follow in the footsteps of his fast and tough father and will be a helper for the - not existential yet - hillsprinter.
Alvertos Ilias - small helper with low salary and good TT skills to ride a well TTT.
Thorvald Hushovd - the hero of the team - this will be his last GT and he hopes that he can win at least one stage - i hope Playboys has not the same Form as me otherwise it will be hard and i need some luck.

Lets have a nice tour together

best regards,

LENNAO

[Alkworld]

So, kind of a small field we got here. At least we then have to worry about money this time. There should be enough for everybody. The mountain riders here seem to be surprisingly strong, the classic riders surprisingly weak and there are even a few sprinters with Hushovd being the most annoying for Salas
After today's stage there's time for a detailed favourite check. At a first glance, Quaresma (87-63, 54 TT) / Picasso (88, both Alkworld) seems to be the strongest combination, although Zucker (89-62, Ille Racing), Elfarsson (88-57, TUTTIFRUTTI) and Hill (86-55, 54 TT, SV Furpach) may play an important role here.

[Die Playboys]

So times one small outline to me.

Grundtvik sprint with small chances but too weak for Salas and Hushovd!
Ramos a good alternative classic! Too weak for the field but with outsider but opportunities
yes only Märtin remains without great ambitions this time but a good helper!
since today sanchez with small daily done in promising so even what's inside!

Are clear favorites at Alkworld, Ille and Furpach but maybe be a nice escape!

[Alkworld]

Alkworld's favorite check for the Vuelta:

General classement:
***** Ricardo Quaresma (Alkworld)
**** Burkhard Zucker (Ille Racing), Joe Hill (SV Furpach)
*** Pablo Picasso (Alkworld), Arnthor Elfarsson (TUTTIFRUTTI)
** Joaquin Beloki (LENNAO TREK), Stefano Somocy (Team Lampre)
* Pierre Prüm (Team Suessem), Mino Retino (Squeeze)

The Morning Tour winner Quaresma seems to be the best allrounder here and equipped with the strongest helpers. But like Zucker, the best of all mountain riders here, he's already old and might get weaker during the Vuelta. Therefore, some others should also not be underestimated:
- Picasso, if his manager allows him to ride for himself
- Joe Hill with his good team and high TT
- Beloki with the chance for a good training
- Elfarsson with good skills, but a weak team

Points classement:
***
** Ricardo Quaresma (Alkworld), Torvald Hushovd (LENNAO TREK)
* many others (Zucker, Salas, every day escapers, etc.)

That one is a bit hard to predict and strongly depends on how the stages develop.

Mountain classement:
*** A fugitive (like Sailer or Lefebre)
** A climber
* Another rider

This one should be easily possible for a mountain rider who's really interested in it. If there's none (and they continue playing the rabbit / snake game), one of the regular fugitives will make it.

Youth classement:
***** Joaquin Beloki (LENNAO TREK)
**
* JanMoritz Stock (Team Lampre)

Pretty obvious.