The Great Grand-Tour-Game 2012

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Edit: And Valverde, please, win the Vuelta!

Yep. That would too bring me back a little (even though, it won´t happen). That AC "lost" his absolute safe 2nd place today was a shocker for us.

 

[Eshnar]

Degenkolb on sunday could be a clincher.

are you trying to jinx me again?

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Yes. I try to jinx everybody to help myself making a fantastic comeback.

 

[Sylvester]

Grazie Bennati!

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

As wished for: Thx to Swift (even tough a full point for him would have tighten up the standings more) & Bennati, we got a close game for the long weekends last three stages.

No less than 10 out of 16 players have a chance to reach T-3. What a great "run for the money" (only down note; i am not included)!

Provisionals after Stage 18:

22,0 Kazistuta (36,5)
20,5 Sylvester (39,5)
20,0 Eshnar (39,5)
------------------------------
19,5 jsem94 (39,5)
19,0 Vitapen (36,0)
19,0 Hartog (35,0)
18,5 Duartista (38,5)
18,5 Ferminal (37,0)
18,0 Froome19 (38,0)
18,0 boomcie (37,5)
17,5 FoxxyBrown1111 (39,5)
16,5 Mellow Velo (37,0)
16,5 Tuarts (35,5)
16,0 gerundium (37,0)
15,5 Dekker_Tifosi (40,0)
13,5 roundabout (39,5)

 

[jsem94]

Still have a chance...

 

[Kazistuta]

No points for me today or sunday....hopefully JRod will deliver saturday (but not enought to advance in the GC )

I have a "funny" feeling I will be out of the top3 in the end, but it has been fun staying on top for so long regardless

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Still have a chance...

Yop. Only 0,5 points off the podium after todays stage.

No points for me today or sunday....hopefully JRod will deliver saturday (but not enought to advance in the GC)

I have a "funny" feeling I will be out of the top3 in the end, but it has been fun staying on top for so long regardless

... i declared you as winner since when? 2 Weeks? Well, the jinx is alive and kicking, as Eshnar knows.
When i declare, bad things happen. Today it hit you. Only 0,5 point lead after a secure lead since forever.

Of course, Eshnar got his share. To keep the jinx, Katusha did a blunder with having Moreno taking the bonus (& 3rd place) instead of JRod. This missed half point drops him down into a 3-Way-Tie for 3rd. Sorry, Esh.

Provisionals after Stage 19:

22,0 Kazistuta (36,5)
21,5 Sylvester (39,5)
20,0 Eshnar (39,5)
--------------------------------------
20,0 Vitapen (36,0)
20,0 Hartog (35,0)
19,5 jsem94 (39,5)
18,5 Duartista (38,5)
18,0 Froome19 (38,0)
18,0 boomcie (37,5)
17,5 FoxxyBrown1111 (39,5)
17,5 Ferminal (37,0)
17,5 Mellow Velo (37,0)
17,0 gerundium (37,0)
16,5 Tuarts (35,5)
15,5 Dekker_Tifosi (40,0)
13,5 roundabout (39,5)

Picks by the contenders for tomorrow:
Kazistuta JRod
Sylvester AC
Eshnar Gesink (well, unlikely, sorry again )
Vitapen AC
Hartog Froome (would be a stunner)
jsem94 AC

 

[Eshnar]

Of course, Eshnar got his share. To keep the jinx, Katusha did a blunder with having Moreno taking the bonus (& 3rd place) instead of JRod. This missed half point drops him down into a 3-Way-Tie for 3rd. Sorry, Esh.

Eshnar Gesink (well, unlikely, sorry again )

I'm screwed I know.
It was a nice game though.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Good for you Esh, that the break got trou. Thus you keep the 3rd spot.

Provisionals after Stage 20:

22,0 Kazistuta (36,5)
21,5 Sylvester (39,5)
20,0 Eshnar (39,5)
-------------------------------------------
20,0 Vitapen (36,0)
20,0 Hartog (35,0)
19,5 jsem94 (39,5)
18,5 Duartista (38,5)
18,0 Froome19 (38,0)
18,0 boomcie (37,5)
17,5 FoxxyBrown1111 (39,5)
17,5 Ferminal (37,0)
17,5 Tuarts (35,5)
16,5 Mellow Velo (37,0)
16,0 gerundium (37,0)
15,5 Dekker_Tifosi (40,0)
13,5 roundabout (39,5)

There could be important changes in the CG tomorrow on intermediate sprints. Niemiec, Monfort, and De Clercq are inside 8 seconds! It would influence Duartista (he could move up into T-3 if also Viviani wins or scores, while Degenkolb don´t), Sylvester & Hartog (both could lose a point!).
Other than that:
Picks for the contenders;
Kazistuta --- (Rojas DNF)
Sylvester Bennati
Eshnar Degenkolb
Vitapen Viviani
Hartog Degenkolb
jsem94 Bennati

 

[Eshnar]

Good for you Esh, that the break got trou. Thus you keep the 3rd spot.

Provisionals after Stage 20:

22,0 Kazistuta (36,5)
21,5 Sylvester (39,5)
20,0 Eshnar (39,5)
-------------------------------------------
20,0 Vitapen (36,0)
20,0 Hartog (35,0)
19,5 jsem94 (39,5)
18,5 Duartista (38,5)
18,0 Froome19 (38,0)
18,0 boomcie (37,5)
17,5 FoxxyBrown1111 (39,5)
17,5 Ferminal (37,0)
17,5 Tuarts (35,5)
16,5 Mellow Velo (37,0)
16,0 gerundium (37,0)
15,5 Dekker_Tifosi (40,0)
13,5 roundabout (39,5)

There could be important changes in the CG tomorrow on intermediate sprints. Niemiec, Monfort, and De Clercq are inside 8 seconds! It would influence Duartista (he could move up into T-3 if also Viviani wins or scores, while Degenkolb don´t), Sylvester & Hartog (both could lose a point!).
Other than that:
Picks for the contenders;
Kazistuta --- (Rojas DNF)
Sylvester Bennati
Eshnar Degenkolb
Vitapen Viviani
Hartog Degenkolb
jsem94 Bennati

so it all comes down to Degenkolb.
It's a pity the two leaders are too far from me
also if I'm correct hartog cannot reach the top 3 in any case.

 

[Sylvester]

Come on Daniele! You can do it!

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

so it all comes down to Degenkolb.
It's a pity the two leaders are too far from me
also if I'm correct hartog cannot reach the top 3 in any case.

Come on Daniele! You can do it!

Stay tuned. I am just now working on different scenarios for tomorrow. Everything is still possible... I´ll put them online within the next hour.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Scenarios for Stage 21 (if Monfort & Niemiec don´t swap places trou intermadiate sprints):

Kazistuta wins if Bennati don´t finishes T-3,
Sylvester wins if Bennati finishes T-3.
Both players have secured at least place two.

Eshnar finishes 3rd if Degenkolb wins the stage.
Eshnar also finishes 3rd if Viviani doesn´t win the stage (if Viviani finishes 2nd or 3rd, Degenkolb must also finish 2nd or 3rd).
If Bennati wins the stage, Degenkolb must finish 2nd or 3rd to have place three secured.

Viviani must win the stage to have Vitapen finish 3rd. Or Viviani must finish 2nd/3rd while Degenkolb finishes outside T-3.

Hartog finishes 3rd if Mollema drops out of the T-30 (he has to lose at least 3:18 mins). If Viviani wins, he further needs Degenkolb to finish T-3 in the bunch sprint.

jsem94 finishes 3rd if Bennati wins the stage, and Degenkolb does not finish higher than 4th.

 

[jsem94]

Come on Bennati!

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Scenarios Stage 21 if Monfort gains 2+ seconds on intermediate sprints vs. Niemiec:

Kazistuta will win in any case of the buch sprint outcome.
Eshnar can move up to 2nd, while Sylvester can drop to 3rd, or even 4th (tough, that´s very unlikely).
Vitapen could also end up 2nd, while jsem94 will not be influenced (same chances to make 3rd as in "normal" scenarios).
Hartog would have no chance to make T-3. So he better hopes for Mollema´s drop than that Monfort is trying to sprint in the middle of Spain.

 

[Sylvester]

I'm not afraid of the intermediate sprints, but there might be gaps at the finish...

 

[Kazistuta]

You know i deserve it;-)

 

[Kazistuta]

Ain't that a kick in the head......

 

[Eshnar]

So am I 3rd?

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Unofficial final
Sylvester
Kazistuta
Eshnar

Complete standings will follow on Monday.

Congrats to the podium...

 

[Eshnar]

Unofficial final
Sylvester
Kazistuta
Eshnar

Complete standings will follow on Monday.

Congrats to the podium...

yay! (10 char)
edit: Your jinx are powerful

 

[Sylvester]

Grazie, Daniele! I knew you could do it. And more importantly: I FINALLY WON A CYCLING GAME! Kazistuta deserved it every bit as much as I did and some others had some very impressive picks too, so there was quite a bit of luck involved. I'm a Poulidor by nature, so this is huge.

Thank you once again for organising this great game, Foxxy! I'll do my very best to defend my title next year.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

FINAL-STANDINGS:

link to complete stats

GOLD Sylvester 22 points

SILVER Kazistuta 22 points

BRONZE Eshnar 21 points

1st Loser Hartog 21 points

5th Vitapen 20,5 points
6th jsem94 20 points
7th Duartista 19 points
8th Froome19 18 points
9th boomcie 18 points
10th Tuarts 18 points
11th FoxxyBrown1111 17,5 points
12th Ferminal 17,5 points
13th Mellow Velo 17 points
14th gerundium 16 points
15th Dekker_Tifosi 15,5 points
16th roundabout 13,5 points

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Ain't that a kick in the head......

That´s a pity. Leading for practical all days, and then dropped on the last stage. Must feel like JRod. Anyway, Hartog is hit harder. Both years being the 1st guy out of the money... It did came down to this:

Had JRod won the stage, he´d have finished on the podium.

yay! (10 char)
edit: Your jinx are powerful...

But the jinx worked on Kazistuta (), even tough a dane winning two years in a row would have looked good in the books....

Grazie, Daniele! I knew you could do it. And more importantly: I FINALLY WON A CYCLING GAME! Kazistuta deserved it every bit as much as I did and some others had some very impressive picks too, so there was quite a bit of luck involved. I'm a Poulidor by nature, so this is huge.

Thank you once again for organising this great game, Foxxy! I'll do my very best to defend my title next year.

Welcome and congrats again. It was a good year, decided on the very last day.