2023 la vuelta-fantasyland **spoilers-duh!**
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2023 la vuelta-fantasyland **spoilers-duh!**
hay y'all...it be that time yet again...la vuelta...la best gt of the año yo be upon ustedes.
entry deadline is 19:00 cest (central european summer time) on saturday, august 26th, 2023. that is 18:00 bst in the uk, and 13:00 est on the us east coast.
best rosters of the year with oodles to proovels. last chance for 2023 gt romance (better than senior prom). new boys. old guys. some tweeners with decent
skillz. shorter, more intense stages. less scenery. two scoops of extra mountains to make up for that.
https://www.velogames.com
league name: bike forums
league code: 877037911
get after it. let's face it, lombardia bragging rights aren't all they're cracked up to be.
entry deadline is 19:00 cest (central european summer time) on saturday, august 26th, 2023. that is 18:00 bst in the uk, and 13:00 est on the us east coast.
best rosters of the year with oodles to proovels. last chance for 2023 gt romance (better than senior prom). new boys. old guys. some tweeners with decent
skillz. shorter, more intense stages. less scenery. two scoops of extra mountains to make up for that.
https://www.velogames.com
league name: bike forums
league code: 877037911
get after it. let's face it, lombardia bragging rights aren't all they're cracked up to be.
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In and happy with my team. Pretty stoked El Patron is a four pointer. It's a weird but great group of riders, wondering how close our teams will be. I didn't get spicy and left out Landa, Mas, Carthy. This profile really looks to suit Hugh!
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If stage 1 is any indication of how the rest of the newly de-named Benelux tour will go, I need this Vuelta.
But Hugh is dead to me.
But Hugh is dead to me.
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[QUOTE=GrainBrain;22993230]In and happy with my team. Pretty stoked El Patron is a four pointer. It's a weird but great group of riders, wondering how close our teams will be. I didn't get spicy and left out Landa, Mas, Carthy. This profile really looks to suit Hugh![/QUOTE]
be sure to remind him as he seems to have missed the last few gt's that possibly suited him here and there.
be sure to remind him as he seems to have missed the last few gt's that possibly suited him here and there.
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starts mañana. get them teams in posthaste.
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Waffle #3 complete. That may be it. Or not.
The Cycling Mole has disappeared behind a paywall so I really have no adult supervision any more. Surely this will be my time to soar.
Buena suerte to all our competitors. Except stoic Keka. 🤣
The Cycling Mole has disappeared behind a paywall so I really have no adult supervision any more. Surely this will be my time to soar.
Buena suerte to all our competitors. Except stoic Keka. 🤣
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Good on the mole, I was tempted to toss the $18 his way but literally all I do is this fantasy league so the GCN $ + VPN $ + CN $ + the mole is that straw that will probably break the marriage 😳 I wonder if he'll post them the day after?
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Waffle #4 complete. I just rotated several Jumbo Visma unclassed 6 pointer assist point mongers off the team and drew lottery tickets amongst the up and comers. This bodes well for their TTT. Who can challenge them?
Predicting the TTT podium is JV, Ineos, Soudal QS. Bora gives it a good run.
Roglic for the red jersey.
Coquard may have a chance at the sprinters jersey if it is not taken by Roglic.
Mountains is always a crap shoot. I thought about little Kenny for a bit but there's not enough points in that business. Picked Storer for his GC potential.
If all that comes to fruition, I will be unbearable in Madrid. Or, perhaps more correctly, more unbearable.
Predicting the TTT podium is JV, Ineos, Soudal QS. Bora gives it a good run.
Roglic for the red jersey.
Coquard may have a chance at the sprinters jersey if it is not taken by Roglic.
Mountains is always a crap shoot. I thought about little Kenny for a bit but there's not enough points in that business. Picked Storer for his GC potential.
If all that comes to fruition, I will be unbearable in Madrid. Or, perhaps more correctly, more unbearable.
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the rain on the opening stage really took the wind out of the sails of the big boys (jv, ineos, uae). no sense in pushing it too hard for gc contenders in slip and slide conditions for potentially a handful of seconds gained. more likely to wipe out and lose 30-45 seconds with a crash.
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The weather for the TTT was perfect. Any time a Grand Tour opens with one, there should be steadily deteriorating weather conditions to prevent two or three strong teams from effectively eliminating 2/3 of the GC contenders on the first day.
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I’m thinking Remco doesn’t really have the temperament for GT’s this isn’t soccer and whinging won’t really get you anywhere. Maybe he should return to football.
.
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So in my final round of changes:
I swapped out Uijtdbroeks for Eddie Dunbar.
I thought deeply about swapping Mas in for Thomas but didn't.
I swapped out Groves for Dainese. And did a few little things with the unclassed folk, shifting some sure thing JV assist point placeholders for lottery tickets on Lazkano, Osborne, and Gregoire.
Very little about the first three stages is making me welcome those moves, other than throwing my hat into the arena with the unclassed players.
I write this now mostly to codify my shame because when I revisit this in week 2 it will help me realize that all the other things I pondered briefly were not serious considerations and I can limit my regrets to my picks and these few non-picks. Oh, and I never really considered Evenepoel even though just about everyone else did. We'll see how that plays out.
I swapped out Uijtdbroeks for Eddie Dunbar.
I thought deeply about swapping Mas in for Thomas but didn't.
I swapped out Groves for Dainese. And did a few little things with the unclassed folk, shifting some sure thing JV assist point placeholders for lottery tickets on Lazkano, Osborne, and Gregoire.
Very little about the first three stages is making me welcome those moves, other than throwing my hat into the arena with the unclassed players.
I write this now mostly to codify my shame because when I revisit this in week 2 it will help me realize that all the other things I pondered briefly were not serious considerations and I can limit my regrets to my picks and these few non-picks. Oh, and I never really considered Evenepoel even though just about everyone else did. We'll see how that plays out.
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Watching today's stage starting with yesterday's recap.
Me: "My swap of Dainese for Groves was not good.."
Mrs. slcbob: " Well it was for Caden Groves"
Me: "My swap of Dainese for Groves was not good.."
Mrs. slcbob: " Well it was for Caden Groves"
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swapped dainese for groves altho prob woulda opted for milan twere he racing la vuelta. looked at it and groves semi-seemed like the semi-obvious choice to pull a degenkolb based on the sprint competition. so far, so good. only a matter of time before he is relegated/dq’d due to argy-bargy tommy steels/cav-style.
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It is such a fine line between stupid and clever.
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I'm looking forward to Sunday's stage. It has De la Cruz' name written all over it... literally. 
Also looking forward to Groves and Alpecin/ship-jumpers-Deceunick ceasing to be relevant. (I say this as a satisfied Quick Step repeat customer).

Also looking forward to Groves and Alpecin/ship-jumpers-Deceunick ceasing to be relevant. (I say this as a satisfied Quick Step repeat customer).
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Is this guy the son of the Swedish chef?
Cian Uijtdebroeks
Cian Uijtdebroeks
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My disappointment over my generic team is offset by my delight in our leagues team names and picks! Castanets... garr that's a good one.
Couple names of Groves, Cepeda, Ayuso ... Oh man Lenny ...
Geraint is just waiting till the TT. Yup.
Couple names of Groves, Cepeda, Ayuso ... Oh man Lenny ...
Geraint is just waiting till the TT. Yup.
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I was watching the stage and saw four or five of my team in the breakaway and thinking - "big day". Apparently more than 30 in the lead group makes it something other than a breakaway...
This may be why me and bean-counters never seem to become besties.

This may be why me and bean-counters never seem to become besties.
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ouch. jay vine out. let’s go giro 2024!
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If I was so intent on having an Irish rider on my team, I should have chosen Fillipo Ganna instead of Eddie Dunbar.
I hope G has gotten his crashes out of his system. All I can think of is no Mas.
I hope G has gotten his crashes out of his system. All I can think of is no Mas.
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