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Clover Tour of the Lowveld discussion thread
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| Smowz |
Posted on 16-07-2012 17:37
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South Africa hosts this six stage race which should give us an intriguing tactical battle.
The riders will no doubt recon two climbs in particular: Kowyn's Pass, which is stage 2's finale and host an uphill TT on stage five. The other key climb in the race is God's Window or Worlds End climb which stage's 3 and 4 revolve around. Stage 3 gives us three ascents in the last 60km, whereas stage 4 see's six goes at the hill, by the finish of the race maybe some of the riders will have had a chance to take in the fantastic views!
God's Window also features once at the end of the final stage, though only one version of it keeps the stage rating as flat.
Strangely the first stage looks to be the toughest of the lot with two difficult climbs in the last 30 kilometres. A hard one to predict in the usual circumstances goodness only knows what the CDiv2 boys will make of it!
Looking at the startlist:
The hill climbing powerhouse teams of  Het Nieuwsblad,  Pivorvarna Lasko and  Adecco stand out with two or three decent shouts for the overall. Having a couple of cards to play usually helps in parcours such as these.
 American Express have looked to impose themselves of late and here have a top 10 goal. You have to fancy their chances of taking it with Esmaeli or Ospina.
The slight favourite here is  Luis Felipe Laverde Jimenez, the most expensive CDiv2 rider perhaps slightly disappointing on occasion. Whilst the Colombian is not a noted Chrono man he may find stage 5's uphill time test more to his liking.
 Ruslan Grychenko features low on the startlist probably due to that TT, though it is hard to imagine it proving that decisive.
Hill louthing sprinter  Samai Samai continues his tortured year, what a nasty race to take the Indonesian on!
Nostalgia and autograph hunters meanwhile will be pleased to see veterans Xavier Tondo,  Andreas Klöden,  Isidro Nozal,  Angel Vicioso
and  Francisco Mancebo here. All three have shown good moments in this years races too.
First stage should be up Wednesday, could be a tough one to pick a winner from this field!
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| Alakagom |
Posted on 16-07-2012 17:41
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Directeur Sportif
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Ohhh... why didn't I bring Laverde Velez here...oh why ... 
Oh well, our team looks okay anyway andI hope for Top 10 with anything more would be amazing.
I see vvvvery unpredictable race though. Should be fun
HTC Nieuwsblad
Vacansoleil's contracts catch more dopers than drug testing. |
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| kumazan |
Posted on 16-07-2012 17:51
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Not sure about my chances for a good GC with the mountain TT, so I hope the team focuses in getting a stage win. I'm bringing here possibly my strongest team of the whole season, so it should be possible.
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| jph27 |
Posted on 16-07-2012 18:56
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Could be a good race for us, Eliad and Wegelius here plus arguably the finest hilly sprinter in the division in Gaywood. We need 5 stage wins between now and the end of the season, let's start here.
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| brownwm |
Posted on 16-07-2012 18:59
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Big race for Laverde Jimenez to finally produce something in a stage race. Hoping to stay at the front on the hills and then pull out a gap on the mountain time trial.
Also need a result if I want to finish in the top 3 in the rankings.
Manager of Pro-Continental Tour team Repsol-Cativen |
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| jaxika |
Posted on 16-07-2012 19:25
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I have no idea what we do here but i have a good squad here, maybe with some attacks from us will be fine. |
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| Mhaley45 |
Posted on 16-07-2012 22:50
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AMEX has been pointing towards this race and the Tour of Utah since the D2 transfer period started. Clover Lowveld is AMEX Top 10 race goal. We have assembled a strong squad for this tour.
Rudiger Selig is a decent sprinter and one who maybe able to handle the hills should the sprinter based teams control the breakawaya. Selig will not garner us a stage win but it sure would be nice for him to slip into a top 5 along the way.
The rest of the team is there for the hills. Carlos Ospina is our best but so far this season he has shown a proclivity to recover slowly on the tours. Scott Zajicek is a steady strong domestique and will be one of the reasons AMEX should fare well in the team standings.
AMEX has two serious candidates for the top 10 finish they need. Tareq Esmaeli is not an attacker. He will plod along at the front of the peleton day after day like bulldog refushing to give up the chase. When others have good days and bad ones Esmaeli is the model of consistency.
Tony Colby is in good form, he has finished two of his last three tours in 2nd place and there is no reason to think he should not be able to top 10 here.
AMEX will send Ospina and Selig after stage wins, with Zajicek working to help Esmaeli and Colby both finish in the top 10.
AMEX is also in a very tighly contested race for 2nd place in the team catagory for the season. Currently in 2nd place but less than 100 points out of 5th place. Every point we can add to the team total on this uphill tour will help us protect or extend our slim lead.
Edited by Mhaley45 on 17-07-2012 01:09 |
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 17-07-2012 05:49
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One of the last chances for Grychenko to impress some managers to get some job next year  He is done at Metinvest, but we would like to say goodbye by good result, or play our other cards, attackers Shapira and Dviri. Good luck to all.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 19-05-2013 13:49
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| kopfan |
Posted on 17-07-2012 10:43
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brownwm wrote:
Big race for Laverde Jimenez to finally produce something in a stage race. Hoping to stay at the front on the hills and then pull out a gap on the mountain time trial.
Also need a result if I want to finish in the top 3 in the rankings.
I think that Laverde Jimenez will finally produce the goods here and expect a decent showing from Kingspan with Mancebo Top 5
Manager Team Kingspan Continental
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| Stevenag |
Posted on 17-07-2012 13:16
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With three good hill riders, this should be the stage race for our team. As Tang is the best in the mountains of them, he should be highest in the overall but having three top 5 candidates gives us a big advantage. |
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| Alakagom |
Posted on 18-07-2012 10:43
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Very pleasing result. Another podium and 3 riders in the next peleton puts us in very good position for breaks in the next stages as well puts the pressure on Pivovarna to work very early on the race.
HTC Nieuwsblad
Vacansoleil's contracts catch more dopers than drug testing. |
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| jaxika |
Posted on 18-07-2012 10:47
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Nice stage and nice report. Its a good starting, we need to hang or to improve and then do well on the TT. |
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| CountArach |
Posted on 18-07-2012 10:53
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Very nice reporot smowz. There was a gap today, but it was far from decisive!
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| kumazan |
Posted on 18-07-2012 10:55
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Absolute awesomeness!  First good ride by Lobato in whole season (actually the second, but the first one was in our wildcard race) and it's a win!
Well, our goal for this race is accomplished, but I hope the team will keep working as well as in this stage.
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 18-07-2012 11:05
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Stupid,stupid, stupid Grychenko, i hate this man
The stats seems unimportant, dont know what to do, hilly races are pure suffering for me this year. 
Anyway great report indeed and maybe Grychenko or Shapira/Dviri will make the race better for us some day, in the end Grychenko is still within striking distance, but he will suffer at mountain TT.
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| Mhaley45 |
Posted on 18-07-2012 11:26
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AMEX is sitting in a strong position after stage #1.
After AMEX but in a good deal of work during the day to soften up the peleton, Carlos Ospina countered a late attack and was just out sprinted for the stage win. Ospina finished 2nd and is +0'08 behind the leader Lobato. AMEX also has Tareq Esmaeli and Tony Colby in the next group at +0'51. Esmaeli is 9th in the GC and Colby is 22nd but both have the same time gap.
Phil Zajicek did the majority of the days pacing and fell off on the final climb finishing well back but he did his job well and will be counted on again tomorrow.
Rudiger Selig was able to survive the first uphill day and will wait for his opportunities later in the tour.
Stage #2 is more of the same hilly terrain. The key to the day will be keeping the breakaway under control. This could be a very decisive stage in the tour if a breakaway cannot be closed down. AMEX does not have any riders who are likely to jump into a break and they will have to rely on the strenght of Zajicek, Colby and Esmaeli to keep contact. |
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| Bjartne |
Posted on 18-07-2012 11:27
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What a terrible race for Armavia. It seems like the chance for an ok GC-result is already ruined. I guess we'd never stood a chance anyway, but;
Edited by Bjartne on 18-07-2012 11:29
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| brownwm |
Posted on 18-07-2012 12:10
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Was really worried when Laverde Jimenez got dropped, but great ride to get back into it. Looking forward to the next few stages, I just need to stay with the hilly favourites and then pull out a gap in the time trial.
Edited by brownwm on 18-07-2012 12:10
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| jph27 |
Posted on 18-07-2012 16:06
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You know, if the GC riders would actually race like real riders do on these stages, then would do well here.
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| kopfan |
Posted on 18-07-2012 16:58
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about what i expected... still down to Ospina and Jimenez
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