Welcome everyone to, perhaps, the first in-depth preview ever for an ICL race. After a speedy start to the season the Giro d'Italia is already upon us. What better way to start the preview than to have a quick recap of the first edition.

The 2014 Giro:

In a season which was, at times, bordering on omnipotence the Spanish outfit started the race in blaring fashion. In the opening stage TTT they beat the next best by a minute and never looked back. For the rest of the race only Liberty Seguros riders donned the Maglia Rosa.





The GC fight wasn't the only battle of interest though. Goss and Impey proved to be the top sprinters of the first ICL GT and there was plenty of breakaway wins for many teams, notably 6 Italians took a stage: will this be matched this time around?



Final GC:


The 2015 Route: https://pcmdaily.c...rowstart=0

9 Flat stages
7 Mountainous stages
3 Hilly Stages
1 TTT (28 KM)
1 ITT (42 KM)

Starting in picturesque Croatia and finishing in Udine it is quite a different Giro in comparison to last year. Notably there are 9 potential sprint finishes, no surprise then that the two fastest sprinters on the planet are here! Vegeta will be looking to impress more than most, after all how often does a GT venture into Croatia?

Can we expect similar results this Giro?

		Team	Nationality	AVG
Froome	Chris	Gazprom Cycling Team	GBR	80.9
Nibali	Vincenzo	Air China	ITA	79.7
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Majka	Rafal	Vegeta Cycling Team	POL	77.2
Porte	Richie	Prorace - Camtel	AUS	78.3
--
Urán	Rigoberto	Ecopetrol - Vivo	COL	76.5
Pinot	Thibaut	Allianz - BMW Cycling Team	FRA	76.4
Pozzovivo	Domenico	LA Aluminios - Antarte	ITA	76.4
Aru	Fabio	Celesio Pro Cycling	ITA	75.4

No! In a big turn around Liberty Seguros don't really have any GC hopes. Notably all of the jersey winners from last season don't make the start list. There is no Contador and Quintana this time so Froome and Nibali are the standout favourites for this one.

The battle for the final spot on the podium looks to be a solid contest between Majka (Vegeta) and Porte (Prorace), the latter may be the favourite due to the TT and TTT, in which Majka may lose over 5'00 combined.

	Team	Nationality	AVG
Schleck	Fränk	Smartone Cycling Team	LUX	74.5
Kangert	Tanel	Fiskars Cycling	EST	75.4
Rabottini	Matteo	LIUCPBM3CGIPBT	ITA	74.8
Wellens	Tim	Filliers - Mora Pro Cycling Team	BEL	74.7
Herrada	Jesús	Liberty Seguros - Würth	ESP	73.8
Verona	Carlos	Liberty Seguros - Würth	ESP	74.1
Cunego	Damiano	LA Aluminios - Antarte	ITA	74.6
Pirazzi	Stefano	La Gazzetta Dello Sport - Gaerne	ITA	75.0
Niemiec	Przemyslaw	Avia - Orlen Oil	POL	74.2
Scarponi	Michele	Avia - Orlen Oil	ITA	73.3
Kennaugh	Peter	Team Bunzl - Centrica	GBR	73.6

Managers of the above will be hoping that they can do something with late attacks, going after stage wins, a potential top 10 place and perhaps the KOM jersey. However, it must be said that most of the KOM points in this Giro are at the very end of the stage, so the GC favourites may be expected to fight out the KOM jesey.

	Team	Nationality	AVG
Kittel	Marcel	CarbonSports Cycling p/b Lightweight	GER	81.4
Cavendish	Mark	Team Bunzl - Centrica	GBR	80.6
Bouhanni	Nacer	Gazprom Cycling Team	FRA	77.9
Viviani	Elia	Allianz - BMW Cycling Team	ITA	77.6
Guardini	Andrea	Saeco - Cannondale	ITA	77.6
Van Poppel	Danny	Filliers - Mora Pro Cycling Team	NED	76.9

9 potential sprint finishes, just how many will Kittel or Cavendish win? Each have quality lead-outs to assure their favourites enter the final in the best positions. CarbonSports ambitions for the WT title will hinge majorly on performing fantastically in many stages. In addition to the above names we might expect the likes of Boonen and Modolo to appear in the mix. How well will Bouhanni go with his team also going after the GC?

	Team	Nationality	AVG
Martin	Tony	Celesio Pro Cycling	GER	79.9
Phinney	Taylor	Team Bunzl - Centrica	USA	77.7
Malori	Adriano	La Gazzetta Dello Sport - Gaerne	ITA	77.7

The single TT does come deep into this Giro so the GC favourites may contest the win, if not the above will be challenging.



Celesio Pro Cycling
Team Bunzl - Centrica
Prorace - Camtel

Difficult to call who will come out on top in the TTT, the above teams look to be the most likely to challenge for the win but each has weak-ish links. Gazprom and Petro China can't be counted out, certainly.

The teams:

Air China

Goals: Win the GC/ Two stage wins

With Nibali on the start list, taking into account his form at Táchira, they will fully expect a GC win here, notwithstanding Froome's presence on the startline.

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Allianz

Goals: Stage win/ GC top 10/ White jersey

After a surprising good start to the season they look poised to continue in the same vein. They possess a decent shout for a GC placing and multiple quick-men.

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Avia - Orlen

Goals: Stage win/ Good KOM placing

They will be pleased that a certain Irishman is leading them in the sprints, and that is about it! They may hope for a strong showing from Scarponi in the mountains.

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CarbonSports

Goals: Five stage wins/ points jersey

This team is all about the sprints. Perhaps five stage wins is not ambitious enough for the meticulous knockout?!

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Celesio

Goals: Two stage wins/ GC top 10/ White jersey

The dominating WTT champ is present on the start line. Perhaps a waste of race days ( he only had 49 to begin with)? Celesio, therefore, will surely expect to win both stages against the clock.

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Ecopetrol

Goals: GC top 5/ 1 Stage win

Uran and Duarte supported by multiple good climbers forms the line-up here. Who knows? Perhaps the podium is in reach?

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Filliers

Goals: 1 Stage win/ KOM jersey

A quite weak line up here. Having said that Van Poppel might fancy a few podium finishes in the sprints and we may see some attack in the mountains from this team. Ligthart could be one to grab a win from a break.

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Fiskars

Goals: GC top 10/ Stage win

The team send a quality line-up to the Tour des Fjords while here it is pretty much Kangert and the rest. The Estonian transfer from Liberty Seguros will look not to disappoint!

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Fred Whitton

Goals: GC top 10/ Stage win

Fuglsang leads the team here in a very similar set-up to Fiskars. They also possess Ivan Basso, will he be a card in this Giro?

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Gazprom

Goals: Win the GC/ 3 Stage Wins

After, somehow, not managing to win a GC with Froome last season, surely they will win this time around, right? Good support in the mountains and with one of the fastest sprinters, surely three stages wins is a minimum here.

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LA Aluminios

Goals: GC top 10/ Team Classification

Pozzovivo and Cunego are the leaders here, surely at least one of them will make the GC top 10. Supported by Jeannesson they will be there or thereabouts in the team classification.

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La Gazzetta Dello Sport - Gaerne (Wildcard)

Goals: Two stage wins

Two stage wins last year, can they repeat this feat? With Pirazzi, Visconti and Malori they look like the best stocked wildcard, poised for another good Giro?

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Liberty Seguros - Würth

Goals: Two stage wins

A team which looks like it would be happy with one stage win, however, considering last year's heroics two stage wins have to be in the offing. Refreshing to see the team give different names a go, however, they will be hoping to podium/win the other GTs. Herrada and Verona are the top for this team which will look to hit the breaks and flash in the mountains.

LIUCPBM3CGIPBT

Goals: Two stage wins

A good cluster of Italians here.Rabottini and Capecchi are both decent enough in the mountains, surely they will be driven on by the home roads. After a fantastic ICL season 1 can Gavazzi challenge for a stage win here?

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Prorace - Camtel

Goals: GC podium/ 1 stage win

After a stellar month of April it is all about the podium for Porte here. The Aussie looks to be the stand-out rider behind Froome/Nibali but you just never know. With the likes of De Gendt and Boonen also present, a stage win in addition to a good GC is expected.

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Saeco - Cannondale (Wildcard)

Goals: 1 Stage win/ 3 podiums

What a fantastic start to the season for this continental wildcard to the Giro. Coming here they top the continental rankings, they might not expect any big GC place, however, in Guardini they have one of the fastest sprinters here. They will no doubt expect big things from him. Elsewhere they have a decent number of good decent climbers, surely good for a stage win?

--

SAP - Bianchi (Wildcard)

Goals: 1 Stage win

Breakaways are surely the no.1 priority here. Veelers might mix it up in the sprints but is unlikely to challenge, any success for the team here surely rests on the shoulders of De Marchi. Can he live up to his aggressive nature at this Giro?

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SmarTone

Goals: 1 Stage wins

A super start to the season may well start to ebb away at this race, we might well see this WT lose major ground to the likes of CarbonSports here. Frank Schleck for the mountains and Farrar for the sprints are the team's best chances here, will be difficult to get a stage win by the looks of it.

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Swiss Life

Goals: 1 Stage win

Will be very difficult for this team to do much here. Morabito looks to be their best hope, perhaps a GC top 20 would be a better goal? You never know, Feillu could get in the mix in the harder stages.

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Team Bunzl - Centrica

Goals: 3 Stage wins/ Points jersey

Cavendish may have been surpassed by Kittel, however, his manager will still have hope here. With hopes for a TT win, perhaps a TTT win and a sneaky win from a break in the mountains (as they have done so often this season) they surely have to be after 3+ stage wins.

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Team Parmalat (Wildcard)

Goals: 1 Stage wins

This archetypal Italian team lends 8 Italians to the startlist. They will be a bit disheartened by the strength of the sprinter line-up, however, they will have hopes of mixing it up in all sprint stages. Rouleur Oss could be a big player in many stages.

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Vegeta

Goals: GC top 5

What a race for the Croatians, the race starts in their own back yard. They don't look likely to take a stage win in Croatia, however, a good GC with Majka is in their grasp. He will need to be in top form in mountains to hold off the likes of Porte.
Difficult to see the team doing anything to Majka underperforms, though.

--

To round out this preview, we will predict which teams will gain the most points. Will be interesting to see how accurate/inaccurate it is come the end. It is all good fun, it will likely be well off!

Predicted points for teams (from most to least):


Enjoy the race! And good luck.

Here we have it. The ICL15 Vuelta a Espana preview. With 7 flat stages, 8 hilly stages, 5 mountain stages and a 46 KM TT comprising the route this time around. Starting in Qatar and finishing in the Basque country the route is a good one.

Link to route: https://pcmdaily.c...owstart=20

ICL14 Vuelta recap:

	Last Name	First Name	Team	Nationality	AVG
	Rodríguez	Joaquím	Liberty Seguros - Würth	ESP	80.4
--
	Van den Broeck	Jurgen	Prorace - Camtel	BEL	77.5
	Mollema	Bauke	Filliers - Mora Pro Cycling Team	NED	78.1
	Kreuziger	Roman	Avia - Orlen Oil	CZE	76.9
	Betancur	Carlos	Ecopetrol - Vivo	COL	78.4
	Costa	Rui	LA Aluminios - Antarte	POR	77.0
	Kiserlovski	Robert	Vegeta Cycling Team	CRO	76.3
	Nieve	Mikel	LA Aluminios - Antarte	ESP	76.1
	Roche	Nicolas	Allianz - BMW Cycling Team	IRL	75.9
	Fuglsang	Jakob	Fred Whitton Race Team	DEN	75.7
	Barguil	Warren	Bulgaria Air	FRA	76.1
	König	Leopold	Gazprom Cycling Team	CZE	75.8
	Gesink	Robert	TVM - Sanyo	NED	75.7
	Antón	Igor	Telecom Namibia Cycling Team	ESP	76.2

Second last season there is one rider who stands out as the overall favourite. It has to be Joaquím Rodríguez. With many big name GC riders missing he will target a comprehensive GC win and perhaps even more than 7 stages in the process, though will he survive Qatar?

Hard to call the second favourite but we are siding with Van den Broeck. The Belgian has targets on winning a GT and, one thinks, this might be his best chance. He will start as a favourite for the stage 13 TT and his great recovery sets him aside from the other GC contenders. Mollema, finished 6th last season, will fancy he can make the podium.

Betancur will be looking to match his stage win tally of last season on his way to a decent GC place. Then we get into a range of dark horses who could challenge for the top 5, including Anton from the irrepressible Telecom Namibia.



Gilbert
Iglinskiy
Kennaugh
Nerz
Schleck

A good GC may be out of the question for the above but they will have eyes on some stage wins, especially with 8 hilly stages on the cards. Nerz won the penultimate stage in the last edition whilst, world champ, Gilbert will be hoping to add at least one victory to his stage win from last season.

ID	Last Name	First Name	Team	Nationality	AVG
	Kittel	Marcel	CarbonSports Cycling p/b Lightweight	GER	81.4
	Greipel	André	Allianz - BMW Cycling Team	GER	80.6
	Cavendish	Mark	Team Bunzl - Centrica	GBR	80.6
	Demare	Arnaud	Swiss Life Team	FRA	78.4
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	Nizzolo	Giacomo	Gazprom Cycling Team	ITA	76.9
	Bos	Theo	TVM - Sanyo	NED	77.4
	Goss	Matthew	Smartone Cycling Team	AUS	77.3
--
	Vangenechten	Jonas	Prorace - Camtel	BEL	75.7
	Lobato	Juan José	Fiskars Cycling	ESP	74.8

You can't count out Rodriguez for a second points jersey here, but with three stages starting in Qatar and 7 total flat stages the allure of the points jersey and multiple stage wins has attracted many sprinting greats. In contrast to last season where Vangenechten was the fastest.

The top 4 will be difficult to out-finish in the flat stages, especially Kittel who has the edge with his lead-out train though Greipel will think otherwise. No likely train for Cavendish though. Lobato will try to match Ventoso and take a sprint win for the Spanish.

The Fabulous Baker Boys will be apart of ICL season 3 as Prorace - Camtel will become Prorace - La Boulangère.

Prorace, who have been one of the constant teams in the ICL, will be joined by La Boulangère who were heavily vested in cycling in the early 00's, a long stint in the yellow jersey in 2004 still memorable for many. The partnership will see the ICL team have a more French focus: which there is certainly a gap for with no French WT teams this season and only two CT ones.

Camtel is fully out of the picture with the dev team also losing Camtel. However, an exciting new Cameroonian based dev team is rumoured to be popping up under the aegis of the Korup National Park.

It is hoped this new incarnation for the team will spur it on to win some number of jerseys as the team look to go in a different direction: Prorace are still jersey-less in the ICL era.

Now we are two seasons down, it is a good time to have a little review of Prorace then Prorace - Camtel to see how the team compared to season 1. With Porte, Langeveld and Boonen the big new additions and Chavanel the only top name departing we felt sure of an increase in performance.

	2014	2015
Total Wins	14	14
Monument Wins	1	1
One Day Wins	6	5
GT Stage Wins	5	6
Team Time Trial Wins	1	2
Jerseys Won	0	0
Different Victors	4	8
Victories from Breaks	0	6

Full Breakdown of Victories:


Top 10 by Prestige Rankings:


With a win in the final ranking race of the season, the 'World TTT Championships', we just managed to match our 14 wins from one season ago. Two short of our target of 16 wins and once again another season with no jerseys won. That said we can look back very fondly on the season where we only missed out on the WT rankings to a fluky Russian outfit - with a flukier Pole besides. Through winning 'Amstel Gold' and the 'World TTT Championships' we completed two of our goals outright, with three wins and a fourth place in GC in our other 'target race' the TDF. If our 2016 budget is based on these target races, other teams will do well to match that.

Gilbert, despite having an incredible Ardennes, did not fully live up to the WC mantle and has several wins less than last season. Our mantra of bringing in some hard nose veterans for breakaways did pay off which is the chief reason for us having more varied winners than last season and 6 break wins opposed to zero.

With Boonen and Langeveld we had two great scorers, the latter has to be a real contender for our rider of the season with his two TDF stage wins as Dutch champion. Though, they were hampered by breakaway wins, as so many of the top cobblers were. Vangenechten, as our top sprinter, really didn't live up to his showings in ICL season 1, a position that probably needs to be filled by a faster finisher.

GC wise - VDB (4th at Vuelta) really did step up this season, compared to last. That said, there weren't too many stages where he was at his very best - few top 5 Vuelta stage finishes attesting to that. Porte (5th at the Giro, 4th at TDF) really gave us great bang for our buck, if never threatening for a stage win.

So all in all a great season for the team - Prorace has become one of the very top classic teams of the ICL. But with dreams of jerseys and general classification victories you would be wise to expect plenty of changes for this ICL stalwart!