@ tsmoha - I knew you were going to mention him Mas has been quite strong, a podium is starting to look good.
@ The hoyle - Yeah, Sky were just too OP. As for Binckbank, I think I brought a more cobbled style team, and it really had no benefit as I guess there werent enough cobbles to really do anything. Gilbert rode there iirc, who would have normally suited it quite well.
And for the Nat. Champs, I honestly kind of forgot, and then I was thinking people probably wouldn't care that much, but I can post them, and make it a regular thing for future seasons as well. I have to say this was the first time I tried playing them in many years and it was just an awful experience. Basically every one a break is allowed to get clear and win it all, unless it includes one of my riders, so I have to chase down breaks with 1 or 2 riders max in most of them or somehow get in the break.
@ sutty - Yeah, Viviani really did well there, and he's been a great late add to the Vuelta too!
What a performance from Mas! To pull away from the other contenders like that is impressive, what a season for him! Hopefully Froome struggles in week 3, it's still very close and a lot of riders have a chance at the GC.
Mas and Porte come in ahead of the race leader, Froome
1
Davide Formolo
BORA - hansgrohe
+00:00
2
Pierre Latour
AG2R La Mondiale
+00:00
3
Adam Yates
Mitchelton - Scott
+00:00
4
Rigoberto Uran
EF Education First Pro Cycling Team
+00:12
5
Tim Wellens
Lotto - Soudal
+00:34
6
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo - Visma
+01:03
7
Richie Porte
Trek - Segafredo
+01:14
8
Enric Mas
Deceuninck - Quick Step
+01:14
9
Chris Froome
Team Sky
+01:50
10
Wilco Kelderman
Team Sunweb
+01:50
Stage 16
Mas and Froome come in together, no time gaps today
1
Gorka Izagirre
Astana Pro Team
+00:00
2
Thibaut Pinot
Groupama - FDJ
+00:17
3
Davide Formolo
BORA - hansgrohe
+00:17
4
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo - Visma
+00:47
5
Chris Froome
Team Sky
+00:47
6
Enric Mas
Deceuninck - Quick Step
+00:47
7
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
+01:20
8
Daniel Martin
UAE - Team Emirates
+01:20
9
Vincenzo Nibali
Team Bahrain Merida
+01:42
10
Louis Meintjes
Team Dimension Data
+02:25
Stage 17 (ITT)
Jungels, celebrating on the podium after his stage win
1
Bob Jungels
Deceuninck - Quick Step
+00:00
2
Wilco Kelderman
Team Sunweb
+00:17
3
Tom Dumoulin
Team Sunweb
+00:17
4
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo - Visma
+00:20
5
Victor Campenaerts
Lotto - Soudal
+00:21
6
Chris Froome
Team Sky
+00:40
7
Pierre Latour
AG2R La Mondiale
+00:53
8
Enric Mas
Deceuninck - Quick Step
+00:53
9
Georg Preidler
Groupama - FDJ
+01:04
10
Marc Soler
Movistar Team
+01:11
Mas is now 59 Seconds behind Froome, heading into the final crucial stages
Stage 18
Mas attacks on the climb, and holds his lead on the descent to take two in a row for DQT
1
Enric Mas
Deceuninck - Quick Step
+00:00
2
Daryl Impey
Mitchelton - Scott
+00:18
3
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
+00:18
4
Bauke Mollema
Trek - Segafredo
+00:18
5
Chris Froome
Team Sky
+00:18
6
Omar Fraile
Astana Pro Team
+00:18
7
Michael Woods
EF Education First Pro Cycling Team
+00:18
8
Vincenzo Nibali
Team Bahrain Merida
+00:18
9
Ion Izagirre
Astana Pro Team
+00:18
10
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo - Visma
+00:18
Stage 19
*Light Cobble Stage*
Mas, Jungels and Roglic trying to gain as much time as possible
After setting an insane pace on the climb about 15km from the finish, Jugnels and Mas go clear of the Red jersey who looked to be struggling on the climb. Roglic joins the trio, but on the descent the chasers, Froome and Valverde are closing down the gap every km.
Valverde takes the win
After Froome, Valverde and Porte bridge the gap on the descent, Mas and Valverde put the pressure on and Froome gets dropped again! Valverde takes the win but what is the gap to Froome?....
Spoiler
He's down 1:11, so Mas moves into the lead!
Now Mas has only one stage to defend his lead, but its a massive one!
1
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
+00:00
2
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo - Visma
+00:00
3
Bauke Mollema
Trek - Segafredo
+00:00
4
Enric Mas
Deceuninck - Quick Step
+00:00
5
Bob Jungels
Deceuninck - Quick Step
+00:53
6
Gorka Izagirre
Astana Pro Team
+01:11
7
Chris Froome
Team Sky
+01:11
8
Ion Izagirre
Astana Pro Team
+01:11
9
Enrico Gasparotto
Team Dimension Data
+01:11
10
Omar Fraile
Astana Pro Team
+01:11
Stage 20
The situation heading into the final stage. Roglic is also dangerous to Mas' lead as well, so not just Froome that Mas has to watch out for.
And just like that, Roglic crashes out on the penultimate day, terrible luck as he was in a podium position
After nearly 3 weeks, one of the toughest stages mostly ends in one big group
@ Batista - Thanks, I didn't think I would do it, I wasn't expecting him to crack on the hilly stage.
@ Baseball - Thanks, yeah, he was probably just tired of winning or something
@ Freitas - Thanks, he really was great! Got +4 on most of the important days in the last week
@ sutty - Thanks, the whole team rode great! Especially Jungels who was a great team-mate to Mas, and still finished 9th himself which is a good result too!
Three of the biggest favourites for the ITT WC, Tom Dumoulin, Primoz Roglic and Rohan Dennis are missing. Bob Jungels is seen as one of the favourites, as he is in great form!
The hills on the course could prove to be too much for Campenaerts, but a rider like Kwiatkowski could also be a good bet to win. Despite Dumoulin being absent, the Dutch have two very strong challengers in Jos Van Emden and Wilco Kelderman. Dennis not defending his title is an odd choice though, so we will see a new rainbow stripes wearer, atleast for the Time Trial...
For the road race, the organizers decided to use the same route as last year. Valverde was the winner last year, one of the only illustrious races missing from his Palmares, so can he win back to back, given his success on the route last year!
However Froome is seen as the favourite for this route, and after his great year, the WC would be a great closer! On the contrary, Dumoulin has had a very poor year, and perhaps a win at the world championships would justify the rest of the season!
Jungels is an outsider, but to win would be a huge feat! Dan Martin and Richie Porte would also be good riders to bet on, and for many here, a win would really turn their season around.
For much of the day Pierre Latour was the leader at the finish, but many of the favourites were still to come.
The weather was worsening as the day went on though, so perhaps Latour would hold on to his lead.
Oliveira (POR) sets new bests at the time checks
It wasn't until Nelson Oliveira of Portugal, that Latours time was beaten. Oliveiras time would be a tough one to beat, with only about 15 riders left to finish, although most of them were the favourites for the day!
The closest time was Soren Kragh Andersen of Denmark who came 30 seconds off his time.
Jungels (LUX) sets a new time check best!
That was until Bob Jungels! He beats Oliveiras time by just 3 seconds. Now only 5 riders left to finish, including Campenaerts and Froome, so it will be a close finish.
But Campenaerts is 30 seconds down at the last time check, and Froome is already a minute off, its looking good for Jungels! Campenaerts is the closest of the late finishers to Jungels, but its not enough! Jungels is your new ITT World Champion!
Jungels (LUX) about to receive his Rainbow jersey
1
Bob Jungels
+00:00
2
Nelson Oliveira
+00:03
3
Søren Kragh Andersen
+00:33
4
Jos Van Emden
+00:56
5
Victor Campenaerts
+01:02
6
Stefan Küng
+01:08
7
Chris Froome
+01:12
8
Tony Martin
+01:14
9
Wilco Kelderman
+01:16
10
Michal Kwiatkowski
+01:18
11
Gianni Moscon
+01:22
12
Pierre Latour
+01:29
13
Jonathan Castroviejo
+01:35
14
Michael Matthews
+01:37
15
Jan Barta
+01:41
Road Race
Alaphilippe (FRA) attacks, with 25km to go
For much of the race, a break of 2 were ahead of the peloton. The peloton would be reduced to a group of 42, by the time they reached the 3rd last climb, where Julian Alaphilippe attacked. Perhaps inspired by his name painted on the road, he reaches a gap of 45 seconds, as he goes over the top!
More attacks on the last climb
The peloton catch back up to Alaphilippe at the foot of the last climb! Jungels attacks, with Valverde and Froome closely following him. Konrad, the only home-hope left in the front group also tries to follow!
The lead trio go over the top, with two chasers from Belgium
Froome gets dropped by the now lead trio. Tom Dumoulin was able to reach the front group after a great acceleration on the climb, bridging the gap of about 30 seconds. Two Belgians, Lambrecht and Wellens followed Dumoulins move, but couldnt hang on. With the descent into the finish though, perhaps they can get back on with the leaders.
Valverde wins again!
The two chaser from Belgium could never catch the front 3, so in the sprint Valverde was always going to be the favourite, and he wins the Rainbow jersey back to back! Jungels takes 3rd, so close to being double champion, which will sting for sure! Dumoulin narrowly edges Jungels in the sprint for 2nd.
1
Alejandro Valverde
+00:00
2
Tom Dumoulin
+00:04
3
Bob Jungels
+00:06
4
Tim Wellens
+00:46
5
Bjorg Lambrecht
+01:07
6
Romain Bardet
+01:07
7
Jakob Fuglsang
+01:07
8
Chris Froome
+01:27
9
Michal Kwiatkowski
+01:49
10
Patrick Konrad
+01:49
11
Ion Izagirre
+01:49
12
Michael Valgren
+01:49
13
Roman Kreuziger
+01:49
14
Richie Porte
+02:17
15
Miguel Angel Lopez
+02:29
16
Julian Alaphilippe
+03:01
17
Davide Formolo
+03:01
18
Michael Woods
+03:01
19
Ben Hermans
+03:01
20
Daniel Martin
+05:07
Deceuninck nearly take all steps of the podium in the final monument of the season!
Lombardia came down to a bunch sprint from a group of 30 riders, and Gilbert takes his 2nd monument win of the season! Alaphilippe was on his wheel, but didnt have the speed to come around him. Jungels and Alaphilippe both could have taken 2nd and 3rd if they hadn't started celebrating, and because of that Thomas just moved into 2nd, to atleast minimize Deceuninck's domination!
@ baseball - Thanks! I tried to lead out with Gilbert with 5km to go or so, but I guess because of the descent he just kept gaining energy, so no one could really go around him. Believe me, I didnt even want to get a 1-2-3
@ Tamijo - Thanks! The GC win was great, and the Worlds went really well for Bob too, and Lombardia was just too easy
BTW for anyone curious, I was Belgium for the Worlds, so Jungels results were purely AI.
Mas has been quite strong, a podium is starting to look good. 
La Vuelta a Espana (2.UWT) 2019
EuroEyes Cyclassics Hamburg (1.UWT) 2019
Bretagne Classic - Ouest-France (1.UWT) 2019
Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec (1.UWT) 2019
