diphthong

don't like the rosters for the ronde. itzulia, however, over in the stage race championship game, has a ripping cast o' characters.
pretty sure the rainbow jersey is gonna slip slip away (probably for good) after the hurly burly is done and the battle is lost and won
on sunday.

diphthong

Semroc takes the ronde! 10th out of 4,472…you gotta be kidding me?! solid.

GrainBrain

WOW

semroc

Thank you GrainBrain. Pro cycling is the best. I was inspired by watching Eros Poli, 1994 tdf stage 15!! Lol.

diphthong

to victor campenaerts, thanks for everything...

felt pretty good/confident coming in at number 373 out of 4472 in our little donnybrooking league for the ronde
but to come in at number 10. 10. bleep. ecstatic to retain the rainbow jersey for one more race but just barely.

diphthong

should be able to change your teams for scheldeprijs later today or mañana. race is wednesday the 6th.

diphthong

Grain Brain and team Variegated variants takes scheldeprijs and nearly pulls a Semroc coming in 29th out of 4483! dayum...
feel lucky to be even in the same league at this point.

we haz a classic in our sights yet again...amstel gold on sunday the tenth. be there or pedal squares.

GrainBrain

Pretty happy with my pics going into Amstel. Besides MvdP, Laporte, Madous, Mahoric I slotted in the two wild cards of Tratnik, Van der Hoorn. Both economy pics that seemed to find themselves at the pointy end often but haven't quite sealed it. I am looking for a top ten with Tratnik.

I hope the wild cards will distance me from the rest vs our little league following me over the top where my little tufts can't seal the sprint.

diphthong

congrats to slcbob and team X Merckx the Spot in capturing Amstel Gold! 96th out of 4503?! results like that have slcbob seriously making up
lost time/missed races at the start of superclasico.

your host would be remiss to not take this opportunity to posit brabantse pijl's lurking presence this wednesday, the 13th...

slcbob

You are too kind, sir. I wish I could blame the spring classics deficit on timing rather than pilot error, but onward across the board.

We have all had our moments of brilliance, and our lack thereof. Endeavor to persevere.

I have to say in passing that our interloper is having a good run. That we're ignoring, of course.

GrainBrain

^^ Cosnefoy not even on my radar, until a too late mention by slcbob ! At least Tratnik was in top 15, he chased forever in no man's land.

slcbob

Too late for both of us, pal. I did OK in SuperClasico but sure could have used the extra points in Spring Classics land. I had some other changes in mind to make there that would have worked out, too. I literally reset transfers to tweak one thing, sat down to do it better, then saw something sparkly and the next thing I knew it was Sunday morning and the stage was locked. D'oh.

It's always something. -- Roseanne Roseannadanna.

diphthong

canam73 and team the bounty smashed brabantse pijl! 211th out of 4512?! imma obvs smoking/drinking the wrong stuff lately. y'all are taking turns destroying races. slcbob a respectably close 2nd.

diphthong

don't forget about paris-roubaix this sunday! should be able to make roster changes starting friday the 14th.

slcbob

I hope this isn't salt in the wound, but with GrainBrain being on a roll this season plus his m.o. of deep picks and token American riders, I'm kinda surprised and a little sad to not see him crush it with Magnus.

Well played, canam73.

GrainBrain

Reported.

I had to choose between him and Turner ... Then I watched it live and saw him constantly drop everyone coming off that final climb in the circuit. I knew he'd get it. I have the comfort of knowing that I would've picked him, and that's enough for my fragile pride.


Besides I got an email the other day from Craddock saying if I picked him again for velogames he'd break his other hand 'cross my face

GrainBrain

Got spicy with (MvdP of course)
Kristoff
Teunissen
Ganna
Sheffield
Boivin
Will the stars align for a wildly strong selective break while the favorites eye each other? Will they be foolish enough to let Ganna go? Could they even stop him if he tries?

diphthong

dayum! Semroc glides over the cobbled sections and unleashes a furious sprint to take paris-roubaix! 241st out of 4531 and takes a second classic!
slcbob and canam73 roll into the velodrome 2nd and 3rd respectively.

...here comes la flèche wallonne on wednesday...gird thy loins...

slcbob

semroc , dayum!!!!!

Oops. Spoiler alert.

GrainBrain

Omg I was holding off posting because of that!! In retrospect it seemed obvious who the winner may be?

​​​​​semroc do you follow LR on Twitter?

Incredible result, great finish.

semroc

I don't go on Twitter. Thanks for the props though. I just got lucky. Sure wanted Valverde to win. So close.

diphthong

dubba dayum...semroc smashes it again in la flèche wallonne! the spring classics are apparently the sweet spot. 19th?!
what kinda internet epo you taking?! both Grain Brain and slcbob finished in the top ten percent as well. tuff crowd...

GrainBrain

He pulled up even but Teuns had found that perfect gear, perfect rhythm and kept it the whole way up. So smooth.

diphthong

semroc just keeps it rolling...takes l-b-l!! helluva run the last few weeks! third monument win this year! Grain Brain in 2nd (and just barely holding on to the rainbow jersey) and slcbob in 3rd completes the podium. whatta week (okay, eight days)!

GrainBrain

https://www.sbs.com.au/sport/article...furt/2suhgaoib

Punchy profile for a sprint classic. Haven't really followed this one but the article above helped my picks. Except Ackerman isn't listed as a starter. I'm most excited for May day - will it be my day? Doubtful since my picks are pretty generic. At least I'll stay in contention!