Carrying on (slowly) with the season-ending festivities, now we move to the sweetest (and also most bitter) moment of the Podium Cafe year: recognizing the winners of the FSA Directeur Sportif! And to assess some of the interesting elements of this year’s competition as well. I have asked the podium finishers to stop by in comments and share their secrets with us. It’s their moment to bask in your glow.
Men’s Competition
It feels like I often start this discussion with a look at how close the competition was, and could we really have it get any closer? Well, I guess until we get a one-point victory the answer will continue to be yes. This year, draisienne1000selle, helmed by Chabinho, defeated Zaidex by José Madureira Pinto by a mere 152 points, with Champagne Masi’s Blues in the Bottle a further 303 points back. [The all time record is a Fignonian 9-point spread from the 2012 women’s comp, if you’re curious.]
Not only are the numbers close between the top two, the teams themselves have a great deal of overlapping rider choices, with the biggest difference being draisienne’s choice of both Yates Bros over Arnaud De Lie and Carlos Rodriguez. The fateful day that arguably decided the entire season was October 7, when the Yates Boys finished fifth and sixth for Chabinho, ahead of Zaidex’s Rodriguez in seventh, a 250-point net gain that accounts for the final spread. Blues closed hard with Marc Hirschi and Remco Evenepoel having strong finishes, and earned a very respectable third place with a hard-charging peloton of other FSA DS teams nipping at their heels. Your Men’s Competition Final Top Ten:
- Chabinho, Draisienne100selle, 25,082 points
- zaidex, zaidex by josé madureira pinto, 24,930
- champagne masi, Blues in the Bottle, 24,623
- bouhanniRacing, Quelqu’un a les trimestres de Thibaut Pinot?, 24,344
- JM21, Sport Club Sem Rodinhas, 24,261
- Stefan King, Van Daert Evenepoel, 24,065
- AnthoADR, Daghe Cycling Club, 23,905
- Celestn, ”””24 and under – Celestin”””, 23,699
- Jule, Mamie Nova, 23,663
- PvdV, Pietje Pelle op zijn Gazelle, 23,555
None of this year’s podium showed up near the top in 2022, so congrats on leveling up! And a shout out to Jule, whose Mamie Nova is making a second straight top-ten, and PvdV, who has Pietje Pelle in the top ten for the…
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