Season Fantasy Challenge #2 | Update San Juan, Mallorca, CEGORR, GPLM, Saudi, Bessèges, Valenciana

Recently I have begun a challenge which I term the 'Season Fantasy Challenge' where I take on two year-long fantasy cycling competitions on Zweeler and FirstCycling, with the ultimate ambition to finish as best as possible. Following a heavy period of racing comes the second update which includes the first big block of racing.

If you want to learn about both competitions I've entered, you can do so by reading the opening column.

Zweeler - https://en.zweeler.com/results/14951

FirstCycling - https://firstcycling.com/fantasy.php?k=sta

Zweeler

Goal: Top50
Ranking on last update (23/1): 231st
Current Ranking: 68th

Since the last update the Zweeler competition has seen the Vuelta a San Juan, Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, Saudi Tour and Volta a Comunitat Valenciana take place. To my disadvantage, no Etoile de Bessèges, where I had both Arnaud De Lie and Mads Pedersen who would've scored big points. Nevertheless there has been a substantial boost in the standings which has taken me to 68th, close to the goal.

In San Juan I finished 108th and scored 40 points via Filippo Ganna's strong GC battle, as well as the stage wins from both Fabio Jakobsen and Sam Bennett. I must say I expected more out of them, but they've collectively brought in 80 points nevertheless.

At the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road race I took a whole 75 points from Michael Matthews and Corbin Strong who sprinted to fourth and fifth on the day. At the Saudi Tour my team didn't score, however there has been no lowering in the standings as in Valencia it jumped back up.

At the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana things sparked back up once again however with a 123rd position where I achieved 129 points. Having Pello Bilbao in the team was virtually a certainty that I'd score high, he brought 54 points, whilst Aleksandr Vlasov and Alex Aranburu took 43 and 32 respectively (4th, 5th and 9th in GC). Until the month of February, when I expect to release update #3, there is the Tour of Oman, Clásica de Almeria, Vuelta a Andalucía, Volta ao Algarve, UAE Tour and the Opening Weekend on the menu.

FirstCycling

Goal: 1st place
Ranking on last update (23/1): 6th
Current Ranking: 5th

In FirstCycling there are more races included, however there is more research work to be done, but that has so far payed off. In the women's competition I finished 92nd at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, 15th at the women's Clasica de Almeria and 60th at the Vuelta CV Feminas, which has taken me to a 43rd position, not bad. On the men's side it continues to be all about consistency, and as the amount of racing ramps up this becomes crucial, but update #2 brings great news as my 6th spot has been improved and I am now inside the Top5.

A lot of racing has taken place since the last update, the results have been as following:
Vuelta a San Juan: 42nd
Trofeo Calvia: 46th
Trofeo Alcudia: 140th
Trofeo Andratx: 134th
Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana: 17th
Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race: 66th
Trofeo Palma: 54th
GP La Marseillaise: 51st
Saudi Tour: 58th
Etoile de Bessèges: 63rd
Volta a Comunitat Valenciana: 16th

Consistency above everything, and I feel like I've achieved that. Certainly I have done aswell as I've entered the Top10 and I'm close to the lead. It was key to perform at the CEGORR and the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana in these weeks as they were the biggest-scoring races and a 16th position in the latter was a good boost to the points.

As gaps begin to grow in the classification it will become harder and harder to bridge over to the front, so I am happy with my current position. Despite not having any breakthrough results that would shower me with points I remain close to the lead with 1725 points. The current leader has 1954. Noticeably I've only been the 37th best manager in the one-day races, but on the stage-races I'm the third biggest scorer. As the following weeks see the stage-races intensify, that could prove very good for my ultimate goal of taking the lead.