FSA DS Notes: Down the Stretch! And Some Awesomeness

Before I continue shouting at you to get your FSA Directeur Sportif team in, a note about FSA and VisionTech, our sponsors.

[What is the FSA DS? Go here.]

See that picture up above? See the name on the wheels? I know a little something about those wheels, courtesy of VisionTech, located in Mukilteo, Washington (and Italy and Taiwan). I ride the Metron 55s. They're the best wheels I've ever owned for any number of reasons, including increasing my speed by some amount that I don't think I've earned. But don't take it from a shlub like me, take it from people who really ride these wheels and other FSA and Vision parts (cockpits and cranks being the most ubiquitous. Here's what sort of weekend they just had:

• Sam Bennett, pictured above, took the Qatar finale on the Metron wheels (I believe the Metron 81s, the deepest dish model).
• Stage six saw the top four places go to Bora-Argon, Astana, Cofidis and Tinkoff-Saxo, all sponsored to varying degrees by FSA or Vision Tech or both.
• The top two overall, Terpstra and Macej Bodnar, are both riding FSA.
• Tinkoff-Saxo? You mean the team of Peter Sagan? Yup. And he's been riding their wheels for years.
• On the women's side, the Visit Dallas team (pictured below) rocked the Valley of the Sun stage race in Arizona this weekend, riding a mix of the Metron 40s and 55s. Visit Dallas placed three riders in the top ten on GC, and had stage placings up and down the results sheet.

OK, on to the FSA DS...

REMEMBER TO FINISH UP YOUR ROSTER BY NEXT FRIDAY NIGHT. Deadline is Feb 28

Technically you must submit by 14.00 CET Saturday February 28. Is that midnight Pacific? Don't ask me to calculate. Just finish Friday. And by finish, I mean you must SUBMIT. The single most common error is people completing their teams but not submitting. The second most common error is picking Damiano Cunego for your team. Anyway, we are under two weeks to go, so don't delay.

Things to watch:

• You've seen the sprinters in action, including Mark Cavendish today. Did you even need to see the sprinters in action? They're the most predictable people in the sport. But anyway, if you are targeting one of the bunch gallopers, you've at least been able to track who's healthy and fit.
• This week gets a bit more interesting. Obviously the headliner is the Omloop which is our season opener and too late to help you, but the Tour of Oman starts tomorrow. Oman is typically won by a climber doing climberly things. The last four editions have been won by Froome (twice), Peter Velits and Bobo Gesink.
• Friday is the queen stage of Oman, the race to Green Mountain, which ends with a 5.7km jaunt of 10 percent. So if you're playing the waiting game, maybe you'll learn something on Friday.
• Meanwhile, the Ruta del Sol a/k/a Vuelta a Andalucia, will be happening and giving you some of the same type of information. Stage 4 is the killer, and that's on Saturday. Make of it what you will.
• Oh, and don't freak out if you get an email from me this week or next, or both. I will be contacting people whose teams are not complete, with something resembling a mass mailing, reminding people to finish up soon. Because some of you are so forgetful!
• If you miss the Saturday, February 28 deadline, YOU CANNOT JOIN THE FSA DIRECTEUR SPORTIF TIL 2016.