Written by Ello Ello at 22:15 2/12-2019
Episode 3: The wait continues
Commentator: and as they come into the finish it’s Rashad Abdul-Karim who’s going to take the victory /cut/ Iancu Raducioiu rolls over in 21st // Alexander Nyegard has managed the double, Alpe de Huez and Zurich Bern Zurich in the same year // Lincoln Hannity is going to pull away from his group to take 11th.
Bertus de Keijsere (trainer): ye, it’s not been an easy start, it’s now 16 days in and 0 points so far. It just seems like we have different problems each time, we’re missing gaps and the problems just seem to be getting more varied each time.
Henri (manager): As Bertus says, it’s really hard to pin the problems on anything in particular, Iancu got caught up in a crash and got a mechanical at a vital moment but Lincoln just seemed to not be in good enough shape, if I could pinpoint a problem that would be great but it’s all very unknown in what’s not working for us.
Narrator: Ello Ello have had their worst start to a season ever, Marc Marcassin’s 10th place at Lofsdalen is still their best result and it’s looking like the team just isn’t strong enough to compete in the top division. However, they hope the luck is about to take a change, tomorrow brings the start of the Volta ao Porto. This 10 stage race in Portugal has been a happy hunting ground for Rudi Basa.
Rudi Basa (rider): ye, Portugal has been kind to me. Whilst I’ve always very much felt like an underdog I’ve been on the podium multiple times and I’m excited for this attempt, the team around me looks strong and I will be hoping for another podium.
Henri (manager): I feel like we’re in with a shot at the Volta. We always over performed here despite Rudi not being particularly well rounded. We try and plug his gaps with the team around him which is why we bring Iancu, for the downhill sections and Storm for the hills. I think our biggest strength though is that I feel we come into tours better prepared that many other teams.
Frascuelo Aristazabal (trainer): It was probably about 8-9 seasons ago now when Ello Ello first sent me to the Volta, my brief was pretty simple, study the stages, find out where time can be gained. It was a pretty busy few years actually, back then I covered almost every tour for two years just studying time gaps, working out what seemed to work and where the time gaps were. I think its worked a lot, it meant that when we first came to the Volta we knew more about it than teams who’d been on the start line multiple times and we’ve already got knowledge on races like Germany and the Vuelta for when we get to that level.
Henri (manager): Frascuelo’s analysis has been incredibly valuable, we’ve been able to use it in multiple ways, although it’s not always gone well. I think the time when it didn’t work is when we used the analysis to show that a rider in the mould of Gyenge Rubik could win the YC of Kangaroo Tour. We crunched the numbers a lot, we studied the profiles and we thought we could go into that and do well, and what actually happened is we did terribly. It turned out that the sprint teams just wouldn’t let us race the way we needed to in order to win and so Rubik was constantly going against sprinters and getting his ass kicked. But, we refined the process and used the new methods to win Vuelta a Valparaiso on our first time of asking with a rider who was fundamentally different to all the previous winners. The Volta’s different though, much harder to find advantages, the race has been run too many times and everyone knows the sort of rider you want, someone with high CL and TT which is why Rudi’s been so close here so many times, although even then I had to be persuaded to give Rudi a chance here when we first came.
Rudi Basa (rider): In season 47 it seemed to be a discussion on whether I’d be the captain or Lincoln Hannity. From everything I heard, Henri wanted Lincoln but Frascuelo held strong on his research and I ended up getting the chance. It was pretty luck really because I feel like my career hadn’t really been going particularly well until I got that chance and took it. I’m super excited for the first time trial and I hope this can be a spark for the whole team.
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Comments
You better watch out Henri. Amazon might replace you with some mad Portuguese man.
rumour has it the team are only performing badly because Amazon are paying them to increase the drama
I suspect that the bad start is scripted to build up a dramatic storyline. ;)
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