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Trofeo Melinda Discussion Thread
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| cio93 |
Posted on 27-06-2012 18:46
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Classics Specialist
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A sunny Italy welcomes 84 riders to this 194 kilometer test for any rider calling himself a puncheur.
As the Tour de l'Avenir is on right now, team leaders have to rely on their experienced domestiques to keep the race together and at least force a select group to decide the race.
The finish line in Fondo comes after a brutal last kilometer averaging 13%.
The participants have the possibility to preview this painful rise to the finish 4 times, but any period of unattentiveness there can destroy their race as weaker riders will swerve all over the road.
Francesco Ginanni has to be the obvious favourite, and he has the strongest support of all. Expect Vespa riders when you're about to see the relay train!
Cesare di Maggio, Venchi's bargain this transfer season, is set to challenge his fellow countryman and wants to add another great result to his already enormous 2012 palmares.
He could be on his own early on, as noone apart from Reda and, to an extent, Sestili, will be able to hang on over the steep stuff for long.
Surprisingly, these two are the only Italians amongst the best 10 puncheurs here, so the home bonus further underlines their favourite status.
Considerably weaker, but definately not without a chance is a whole bunch of participants.
Nicholas Roche is on the road to justify his 500k wage once more, and with a good result, he might help his Pirelli outfit feature in the promotion fight again.
Chris Froome is one of the outstanding performers in this year's Continental Tour. He sits 6th in the individual rankings, and his neighbours Valverde and Ginanni prove how he overperformed all season long.
Practically promoted Bianchi is known for its depth in roster, and Juan Jose Cobo leads their forces here. The clash with Plouay weakens the squad though, as presumably only De la Fuente is strong enough to make an impact out of a favourites group as well.
Germany's future star Aleksandar Flügel is the man for Volkswagen-Siemens in Italy, but he might lack the resistance on the finish hill.
Additionally, his hilly support is questionable.
Aleksandr Kolobnev, Flügel's nearly-namesake, will fancy his chances in this race as well, although with an even weaker team surrounding him.
Franco-Belgian outfit Bpost relies on their best puncheurs for a result, with Jelle Vanendert and Cyril Gautier present.
Johan Vansummeren shouldn't be underestimated for a sneaky attempt as well, while the remaining 4 riders of the squad have an interesting age average of 20,5!
Unicredit sends Pieter Weening, a name we definately have to add to an extended favourites list.
(Fun fact: He's the only Dutch rider starting, which makes the Netherlands being outnumbered by Kenia and Austria)
 Ferrari,  Cerne and  Cyclevox make up the numbers with leaders Salerno, Pires and Mandri/Casar.
Expect one of them to feature in a breakaway, chances in a big group finish should be slim for all but Salerno.
Startlist
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| fenian_1234 |
Posted on 27-06-2012 19:13
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Hope we can bring it back together in the closing stages and win.
What will probably happen is we'll bring it back together and Di Maggio will win.  |
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| jph27 |
Posted on 27-06-2012 19:14
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Di Maggio is here. Do I need to say anything else about who I think will win? 
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| Heine |
Posted on 27-06-2012 19:40
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Sprinter
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Come on Flügel, I want you to come back to the form you had in the start of the season, when you attacked 15 times or something! You know you have to attack!
Volkswagen-Mapei |
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| Rin |
Posted on 27-06-2012 19:48
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I doubt that here the classics guys under 70 in MO will make any impact as I think it's too much to climb.. I had a race clash with Plouay and so De la Fuente and Cobo are here
Important race for us as I guess I have this race as my "Win" goal..
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| kumazan |
Posted on 27-06-2012 19:58
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I'm gonna be original and say one of the 2nd level contenders take it with a long range attack. Roche or Kolobnev.
Nah. I think Ginnani.
Edited by kumazan on 27-06-2012 19:59
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| cio93 |
Posted on 27-06-2012 20:00
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Classics Specialist
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For everyone interested, the mountain/hill ratio is in the spoiler below.
Do not look if you want to be surprised by di Maggio positively/negatively
 17-03-2013
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 27-06-2012 20:03
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Bleh, that means no chance for Salerno. With zero percent mountain impact I would've hoped for a Top 10, but now that will be almost impossible.
Why did I pick this as a target race? 
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-05-2013 20:33
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| Heine |
Posted on 27-06-2012 20:35
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Sprinter
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Pellizotti2 wrote:
Bleh, that means no chance for Salerno. With zero percent mountain impact I would've hoped for a Top 10, but now that will be almost impossible.
Why did I pick this as a target race?
Becuse you chose before transfers and it's anyway hard to chose?
Volkswagen-Mapei |
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 27-06-2012 20:37
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Heine wrote:
Pellizotti2 wrote:
Bleh, that means no chance for Salerno. With zero percent mountain impact I would've hoped for a Top 10, but now that will be almost impossible.
Why did I pick this as a target race?
Becuse you chose before transfers and it's anyway hard to chose?
Yeh, pretty much. Although I should've tried to sign a decent puncheur with this sort of goal.
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| CountArach |
Posted on 27-06-2012 23:35
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cio93 wrote:
For everyone interested, the mountain/hill ratio is in the spoiler below.
Do not look if you want to be surprised by di Maggio positively/negatively
That is superb news. Playing into Vanendert's strengths. I think Roche will take it then.
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 28-06-2012 00:31
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Can I ask for a breakaway win eh?
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| fenian_1234 |
Posted on 28-06-2012 19:07
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Think that is quite a high MO percentage for such a race. |
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 29-06-2012 12:22
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fenian_1234 wrote:
Think that is quite a high MO percentage for such a race.
Had I noticed it was that high, I would have made it lower
  
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| kumazan |
Posted on 29-06-2012 12:42
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SportingNonsense wrote:
fenian_1234 wrote:
Think that is quite a high MO percentage for such a race.
Had I noticed it was that high, I would have made it lower
I would say it's about right, to be honest. Unless for some reason you want it to be more for the puncheurs that is.
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| Rin |
Posted on 29-06-2012 14:00
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I think thats ok when you see especially the first part of the race.. The ascend to the first circuit round which looks like a lot to climb.. Can't see any real puncheur come over that without problems.. And also 3 and a half lap on the circuit isn't that good for a pure puncheur.
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| rycadinho |
Posted on 02-07-2012 17:09
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A top 3 finish is our target here, though I expect Roche to fall completely... again
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| cio93 |
Posted on 03-07-2012 12:41
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Sorry guys for this delay, some technical problems occured, and it was hard work to get good screens and still finish the race before my GPU magically decides to overheat and crash.
All sorts of suggestions to improve are very welcome, this is actually my first ever race report, and although there are many role models out there, it's a matter of experience to do it right.
Edit:
Oh, and the report was my 1000th post 
So I'd like to thank all the guys involved in the ManGame in any way for making such a good job on this extremely entertaining game!
Edited by cio93 on 03-07-2012 12:49
17-03-2013
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| CountArach |
Posted on 03-07-2012 13:01
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That w as a great report. Maybe making the narration for the last lap a little bit longer would have been good as you just sort of skipped to the win (though I understand that not much happened), but other than that it was magnificent.
6th for Vanendert was a great result and Gautier and Vansummeren also picked up a fair few points together. The weaker field and slightly harder course really played into my hands.
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| kumazan |
Posted on 03-07-2012 13:24
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Interesting race. I was close with Ginnani, but Grau did great winning from a lateish break. Great report cio.
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