Forza’s Fury

Last week’s racing wetted my appetite for the rest of the classics’ season. The early races are cool and fun but the real racing has officially begun.

At the Omloop, Ian Stannard showed that he should have been drafted in the Wiskota Fantasy League. Stannard, Wiggins, and G Thomas will be a formidable trio at Paris Roubaix. Sep Vanmarke of Team Forza was also showing good form on the cobbles but was bullied by a flat on the helligan. Team Etixx-Quickstep looked to be the strongest team but were felled by bad tactics and possible hubris as they decided to attack and breakup their stronghold on the early season classic. Chapeau to Stannard, nicknamed Yogi because of his bear-like strength , for a very exciting win.

At KBK, Cavendish showed that he is indeed fast and strong. Kristoff learned that sprinting against J.J. Lobato is cute but he hardly stands a chance against the real fast men. I guess we will see what happens at Milan-San Remo, eh Commish? Wager perhaps?

Strade Bianche

The Strade would be at the top of my list for races that I want to see. The Tuscan countryside, food, wine, art and cycling all sounds so yummy. The Strade Bianche incorporates the cobbled classics with an Ardennsien finish into Siena. The riders roll through 200km of Tuscany, up and down hills, and across white gravel roads called “sterrati”. Definitely a must watch.

Favorites

Alejandro Valverde, Simon Gerrans, Peter Sagan, Fabian Cancellara.

My money is on Fabulous Fabian for the win. He likes this race and is motivated to win. I do believe that he will need to ride away from the group in order to win. Valverde is motivated for points and if he can get across the sterrati the finish is well suited for him. Sagan is tailor made for this race.

Carlos Betancur, Moreno Moser, Zdenek Stybar, Nikki Terpstra

Betancur could win this race if he wants to. But he’s probably going to eat too many pastries. Moser has won this race but without the help of Sagan I would be surprised to see him win again. Stybar and Terpstra will be riding in front of the strongest team and can play off one another to steal a victory from the favorites.

Vincenzo Nibali, Greg Van Avaermaet, Ian Stannard, Filippo "Pippo" Pozzato

The Shark of Messina (Nibali) will put his stamp on this race. However, that means very little in terms of a win. Most likely he will get a way for a bit and will be caught. GVA and Yogi are both really strong and in great form. I also like Pippo, mostly because he’s Italian and what else can he possibly win.

Rinaldo Nocentini, The Slaw Niemec, Damiano Cunego, Sep VanMarke.

Probably not a winner here but I have to consider that Cunego is now riding for an Italian Pro-Conti team and won’t have many opportunities to show his greatness. Sep could get away on the sterrati; the Slaw and Rinaldo have both placed well in this race.

Honorable Mentions : Lars Boom, Sammy Sanchez, Uran Uran, Slagter, Oscar Gatto.

Enjoy the race fellas!

Gregario Forza

The Broom Wagon

...cleaning up after the races

3:1

Stannard likes those odds

Cobbled classic excitement was a percolating this weekend and the Omloop did not disappoint.  Super exciting and impressive win for  Stannard.  No one has him but maybe someone should.   For us the story has to be Forza who, despite botching the sure win, managed to place 5 riders in the top ten.

Cav

You're gonna have to get more aero than that Kristoff

Mark Cavendish strikes again winning Kuurne on Sunday.  The diminutive sprinter was the fastest man once again.  That's not surprising.  What is surprising is that Taco has a good team!  Wake up Mikey and check the blog. Top of the leader board and looking tough.

Next up: Strade Bianche preview, Greg you're on the clock.

On the Rivet

...a look at who's racing hard this weekend 

Bring on the Cobbles!!!

For many people the Omloop marks the beginning of the season.  In conjunction with the slightly less prestigious Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, we have a pretty fun weekend of racing.  Tough weather, tough cyclists and tough courses.  And of course, how could we forget...COBBLES!

Omloop

The Omloop has been one of my favorite races since my boy Juan Antonio Fletcha won it back in 2010.  It got me into the classics and gave us this sweet poster:

Van der Fletcha
Intense

Admittedly, this race is usually not contested by the big guns, but that doesn't mean a few don't use it to flex their muscle a little bit.

Bitch, it's curtains

Who's looking good this year?
Well, look forward to my preview, but please, feel free to add your own thoughts in the mean time.

KBK

Yeah, sometimes it gets cancelled due
 to snow, not something I would advertise

I mean there are cobbles, but really this is a classic for the sprinters.  Not that that is all bad.  We did get this sweet poster out of the deal:

Apparently the course is guarded by some sort of Flandrian Ogre.  I mean, that's something to watch for.  

Who are the favorites? 

Check back to find out.

The Spokes Man

...talking points from The Commish. 

GC Men

Too early for Tour talk?

A couple stage races so far, including TdU and the desert triumvirate.  However, the race that was probably the most exciting so far is one that doesn't even count in our league.  The Vuelta a Andulucia, also known by the flashier name Ruta del Sol, is only rated a 2.1 making it a middle tier race that involves a few big name teams and several pro conti teams.  So imagine you are say Dylan Groenewegen of pro conti  Team Roompot.  You think hey, I'm hot shit, I'm in good shape, it's early in the season, this is going to be fun,  Next thing you know Tour de France Champions are ripping the peloton apart and you are hanging on for dear life.  Contador goes, you lose 20 minutes, Froome goes, there goes another 20.  Big name guys are full on quitting but you can't, you do not have a guaranteed contract.  So much for fun in the sun.  Sorry Dylan Groenwegen, but hey, you finished.

So why am I getting so excited about this?  I know it's only February but if this little scuffle between Froome and Contador is any indicator the Tour is going to be bomb.  Could this year be the most exciting GC battle ever?  I will have to defer to Patrick, our resident cycling folk historian, but I can not think of another Tour with so many past winners in their prime, not to mention a few other grand tour winners as well.  Yeah, I know, a long way to go and anything could happen between now and then.  And even if all the contenders line up it doesn't mean they will finish, but come on, humor me.

Let's break this down.
Top favorites:  Contador, Froome and Nibali.  All former winners, all great climbers.  In addition, each has a team that is stacked.  Is it me or are these teams getting better?  They all have at least one guy who could be a legitimate contender on their own.

Just a step behind: Quintana and Valverde.  Both former grand tour champions and both on the same extremely strong team.  Can they blow things up with a little "you go, then I go" action?

Outsiders:  When you get to the outsiders and you are mentioning a former podium finisher like JRod you know this Tour is stacked. Due to the climby nature of the course all of these up and coming french GC guys will be in the mix. And maybe the Americans can make a play for the jersey with a well timed move.

Do I really think TVG or some frenchy is going to win this year's tour? No. But my point is that this Tour will probably have more grand tour champions fighting it out then ever before.  I mentioned 5 that I can think of without researching it and shit maybe Hesjedal and Scarponi show up to pump those numbers up a bit.

So what do you think?  You ready for some Alpe d'Huez action?  

The Broom Wagon

The Desert 

What the hell are we doing out here?

Dubai, Qatar and Oman...why?  Well, its warm in February there, its got that going for it.  I've been told the riders stay in some plush oil funded hotels.  Riders looking to tune up for the classics appreciate the hard, flat days in the wind.  But for the most part, we only care about these races because they are so early in the season.  Also, they used to be on tv but now I can barely find highlights of Oman on youtube.  But who am I kidding.  I'm watching the shit out of these races and talking even more when my boys take a stage or two.  Let's recap.

Dubai

The most powerful? 

They mixed things up this year by adding a very steep yet very short finish on stage 3.  That stage actually had quite a bit of action and it was worth watching more than just the last 30 seconds.  In the end Cav and his time bonuses reigned supreme.  Gotta say, he showed some pretty good form.  

Qatar

There is nothing out here

Dubai's promo poster should have been used by the Tour of Qatar, cause stage two was a sandy shitstorm.  But that didn't stop Alexander (I still live full time in the blustery fjordlands of Norway) Kristoff from dominating the sprints.  But in the end it was The Terpinator using his TT skills, his strong classics team and of course his own huge engine to seal overall victory.

Oman

 "Green" Mountain is green like
"Green"land is green.

This one gets decided on a dusty ass mountain in the middle of nowhere.  Updates to come.

Ruta Del Sol

"Gregario? Are you there?  Why won't you pick up?"

This race doesn't actually count in our points I just wanted to see if Greg is paying attention.

The Broom Wagon

...cleaning up after the races.

Tour Down Under

Wilunga

The Wiskota Fantasy League is happy to welcome a new member: Dan the Neo-Pro. The Neo-Pro has come out swinging, topping the first leader board of the season. With 4th and 7th place finishes by Dumolin and Impey respectively, Dan has made some early season hay. This is not to diminish from the early season revelation that is Taco. Team Taco Salsa ValVerde has let their presence be known with an impressive performance by Richie Porte. The group texting was ablaze with the news that the man best known last season for carrying his bike was back to riding it. As the hashtag RichiePortage started to trend Taco fired back with an 86 point effort. Team Wiskota Dynamic's risky pick of Evans in the last round, paid off, sort off. Maybe not the overall victory he was looking for but points none the less.

"Hello, Greg? Yeah, do you know who I am now?"

Although the TdU is not the biggest and best race of the year it is still nice to get things rolling. From here we head to the deserts of the Arabian peninsula for a trifecta of half ass races sponsored by our love of gasoline. Check back for some previews as well as draft result commentary from Gregario Forza.

We'll miss you buddy

2015 Wiskota Fantasy Draft Results

Teams

Team Forza

Nibali

Quintana

Gilbert

Boonen Cunego Frank

Van Marcke Zacharin

Pozzovivo

Phinney Koneig

Hesjedahl

Van den Bergh Atapuma Voekler

Demare Alaphillipe Mollema

Niemiec S. Yates

Kukleire Henao

Team Wiskota Dynamic

J-Rod

Kristoff

Degenkolb

Aru

Mollema Alaphillipe

Betancur

Ullissi

Moreno

Lobato Meinjes

Arrendondo

LL Sanchez Paterski Navarro

Evans Brajckovic Teklahaymanot

Team Volpe

Cancellara

Kwiatkowski

Uran Uran

Gallopin

Thomas

Wiggins

JVDB

Navardauskus

Gesink

Albasini

Yates

de Ghent

Pacte de Lupes

Contador

Martin

Bardet

GVA

Rolland

Talansky

Fuglsang

Nieve

Farrar

Riblon

Rogers

Greipel

STP-GREENLINE p/b Unobtanium

Costa

Majka

Kelderman

Bouhanni

Boasson-Hagen

Van Keirsbulck Paolini

Matthews

Kiserlovski Nerz

Grivko Berlato S. Bennet

Slagter

Nocentini Kruisjwiijk

Burghardt Bauer

Maillot Jaune Guillaume

Froome

T. Martin

Kreuziger

Terpstra

Pinot

Wellins

Vichot

S. Sanchez

J. Izaguirre

Vanenedert

G. Caruso

D. Caruso

Taco

Valverde

TVG

Kittel

Cav

Boom

Porte

Barquil

Haas

Chaves

Moser

Monfort

Roche

Dan the Neo-Pro

Sagan

Gerrans

Peraud

Spilak

T. Dumolin

Stybar

Nizzolo

Swift

Inxausti

Gautier

Zubeldia

Impey

Draft Day 2015

The Local

January 19th

7:00 p.m.

"The Boardroom"

No, seriously, that is where we are having the draft. In his first year as draft director, Gregario Forza has locked down some pretty posh accommodations.  Once again the Irish win out as we head to the venerable downtown establishment "The Local".  Perhaps the Guinness with inspire you to pick Danny Boy Martin first overall.  Maybe the corned beef and cabbage will convince you that this is the year to draft Nicolas The Leprechaun Roche.  Or just maybe a wee nip of Jameson will make you take a flyer on Phil the Irish Thrill Deignan.  Whatever happens it should be fun.  Now that we have gear (thanks STP Greenline!) we are looking to move the fantasy cycling club into the future with more events and more good times.  So, dust off your big board and head on down.  Wiskota!

From the Commish

Off-Season

Housekeeping

Even in retirement there is no off-season for Cipo 

A few things need to be worked out before the start of next season.  First, when is the draft?  The Tour Down Under starts on Tuesday, January 20th.  The weekend before is busy with birthdays, pond hockey and NFL playoffs.  I suggest we either meet Sunday night or do it Monday (MLK Day).  I know about half of us have that day off, but we could do it whatever time works for everybody.  If that does not work we could always do it the weekend before that (10th or 11th).  Please let me know what you think.

Second, what's up with the rule changes?  We have talked about dropping most of the euro level races, but cherry picking a few that we like.  Also, there has been discussion of changing some of the points for these non UCI World Tour races.  Namely, reducing the points available in the US races and the Worlds.  Having almost all of our races be from the World Tour should make drafting and the point system easier to understand.  In addition, it will be much easier for me to tally, not to mention reducing the need for weird pirated feeds from Italy.  So there it is let me know what you think and if there is a non World Tour race that you want included let me know.   Wiskota!