San Sebastian Classic

im not old enough to know what you mean by ONCE (yes i was alive but too young to be properly into cycling)

but now i have researched that i believe you have the wrong guy (you meant Davis right?)

nope as the guy i have didnt race for ONCE
21, but havn't been into cycling since i was 8, at least not being able to watch anything other than the tdf, and my household was behind the ball game when it came to the internet etc and finding out stuff, still dont have sky. so abit behind on knowledge that isnt already well known beyond about 6/7 years ago

So the odds are stacked towards a Spanish allrounder then

Hope so. My team is packed with spanish speakers

I have 5 spaniards and 3 belgians and 1 other nationality which i wont reveal as will probably give the rider away

I think that a certain rider who happened to have won the mountain classification at the tour will do well tomorrow

My team is a pretty multinational mixed bag headed by 3 Spaniards, then 2 Belgians, the other 4 are from all over!

Seven spaniards for me. plus a token belgian, and some bloke from norway

Theres only 1 rider from Norway. Good choice.

him then

Just made a slightly concerning reshuffle, now only 1 Spaniard and NO Euskaltel!

10 Spaniards in top 20 in 2010
Only 5 in 2009

Still I'm going for the top 9

I'll probably go back to my original lineup or another new one several more times before I settle anyways!

Team selected - and it is badass!

Ok,
I've got 3 from the low countries, one south american, and 5 who are spanish I think, well the two euskatels are anyway.

Right... Heilain Coos mark 5.1 and I'm definitely sticking... I think... maybe!

Go to go out soon, so here is my team, since I have nothing to fear except zero points

Damiano CUNEGO (even tho let me down all season)
Greg VAN AVERMAET (up for it)
Rigoberto URAN URAN (knackered probs)
Ryder HESJEDAL (up for it)
Luis Leon SANCHEZ GIL (back to back wins??)
Carlos BARREDO LLAMAZALES (always does well)
Rui Alberto FARIA DA COSTA (cheap)
Ruben PEREZ MORENO (could do well)
Johan VAN SUMMEREN (lightly raced)

I had JRod in, Hushovd in, Weening in, Davy millar in at various times,

OK! Final lineup...

SASTRE
Van AVAERMET
URAN
HESJEDAL
VELITS
BARREDO
GERDEMANN
VANENDERT
IRRIZIGE

I had Porte and Devenyns in until 10:45 when I found out Andy Schleck and Hushovd weren't racing then I assumed that Gerdemann and Hesjay had just been promoted.

I could have afforded Cunego but I think Sastre will go better!

1 Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) 5:48:53
2 Carlos Barredo (Rabobank) + 0:12
3 Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) + 0:14
4 Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha)
5 Dries Devenyns (Quick Step)
6 Frank Schleck (Leopard-Trek)
7 Haimar Zubeldia (RadioShack)
8 Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
9 Rigoberto Urán (Sky)
10 Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) + 0:50
11 Simon Gerrans (Sky) + 2:05
12 Simone Ponzi (Liquigas-Cannondale)
13 Matti Breschel (Rabobank)
14 Francesco Gavazzi (Lampre-ISD)
15 J Joaquín Rojas (Movistar)
16 Murilo Fischer (Garmin-Cervélo)
17 Juan José Cobo (Geox)
18 Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step)
19 Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Cervélo)
20 Mathias Frank (BMC)

so thats 2,3,9,19 for me, better than diddly squat.

2,3,9,10,19, & a team bonus! Pretty disappointed with Hesjay and Velits but more so at myself for not leaving Devy9s in, and for blatantly knowing that PhilGil was up for it!

1, 3, 7, & 19 for me. Not bad I suppose.

1st, 2nd and 4th for me. some good headline picks but no strength in depth...

1,3,8,9,10 and team bonus = 79 points. Almost in the top ten overall now. Bring on the vuelta!

Hey... riders shouldn't be allowed to withdraw so late!

I finalised my team late y'day removing both Uran & Jelle to free credits for both Thor and PhilGil only to see now that Thor didn't race

Thor owes me some mega points.

2,3,4 and 19, at the least the sprinter i wouldnt tell you i had Gkam came in 3rd

I only scored 44 points. Gutted! I put so much time into thinking about it and even made the catastrophic error of ditching Vanendert in favour of a spaniard. That's the last time I'll let patriotic criteria determine who is in my team. Bring on the Vuelta indeed.

I suddenly realised with 5 minutes to spare I hadn't selected my team - shot through the selection process but in a fatal error I deselected two domestiques, and before I got the second replacement in, the window had closed. Result - eight riders and nul points

Lesson for the future there is to deselect one at a time if deadline looming.

Gutted because I had three of the top ten and another in the top 20

I'm sure you won't forget the Vuelta....

Unusually for me, I actually selected my team before I went on the Blackfriars bridge protest as Critical Mass can often lead to late night returns to my flat and I thought that I might not be able to log on again before the 11am deadline.

Hopefully, this race won't affect the overall result for you! It was only a maximum of 80 points-ish.

Only 79pts