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U23 Discussion Thread
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| cio93 |
Posted on 14-07-2015 18:30
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The Giro Valle d'Aosta, probably the hardest stage race on the U23 circuit, just kicked off with a 5.4km mountain "prologue".
The favourites include the rather well-known Aussie duo of Power/Haig, Italians Petilli, Ravasi and Ciccone as well as FDJ stagiare Eiking and Belgian climbing talent De Plus.
AND "sadly" it appears I might have to add Lennard Kämna to that mix...
Because the prologue just finished and he got second place, a rather whopping 18 seconds off the winner Robert Power, but still 13 seconds ahead of Petilli in 3rd and Ravasi in 4th, with Haig another second down as 5th.
If anyone's interested in following the race, @GiroVDA on twitter should be helpful for general information, while https://ciclismolive.net/eventilive.php seems to provide a live ticker for every stage.
Former winners of this race include Pinot and Aru, so if you want to know who can win the GTs in 5-10 years time, it's certainly worth following!
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| Riis123 |
Posted on 14-07-2015 18:35
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Read a preview of the race where the guy also mentioned Kamna. Said he was much more of a GT-talent than Silvio. He also made it sound like the Belgian climber you mentioned almost was the newcomer of Pantani.. those Belgian talents just keep coming hah.
I have no clue of of those riders, who will do well etc., but looking forward to the final result. Always fun to see who can take it to the next level. |
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| cio93 |
Posted on 14-07-2015 18:43
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Well Silvio is stagnating in a way lately and he never coped well with consecutive (or even just multiple) mountain stages in a race, so it's possible Kämna is already a better climber than Herklotz.
And then it's rather easy to predict who's a bigger GT talent when one of them is the Junior TT World Champ.
De Plus was the only rider to keep up with Petilli in Ronde de l'Isard, and with the Italian having results like these already, he's certainly a great talent considering he's 3 years younger than Petilli.
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| depeche92 |
Posted on 14-07-2015 19:00
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Kämna is really impressive, next GTs german star without a doubt. I think he can finish in the top 10, it would be a great result for him.
I agree with you favourites Cio, I would probably only add the russians that normally does well here. Power looks in good form , he could win here and then win also Tour de l'Avenir |
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| Wilier |
Posted on 14-07-2015 21:03
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Result is clear. Power is one step above Kamna, and two steps above everyone else.
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| cio93 |
Posted on 14-07-2015 21:31
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I can live with that order for now 
Dunno how well Kämna can translate that performance into mass start stages and multiple mountains yet though.
Guess we'll see soon, although as a first year U23 this race certainly is a success already no matter what happens.
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| Riis123 |
Posted on 14-07-2015 21:55
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Im new to the scene: Is this race the equivalent of Giro d' Italia and Avenir the Tour and which race, historically, is the best measurement of riders becoming good pros/stars? I know Aru has won it a couple of times, but it this mainly a race for italians (like the Giro somewhat is) and Avenir the same for frenchmen - I mean, is there stars of the U23-scene who has chosen not to participate in order to prepare more for Avenir? |
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 14-07-2015 22:15
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well the Austrians are missing, but they're best young riders have just competed in the 2.HC International Osterreich Rundfahrt instead.
Judging by the results list from the first stage I'm guessing this is ridden in trade team colours whereas Avenir is ridden as National Teams.
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| cio93 |
Posted on 14-07-2015 22:16
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Avenir - Tour is a pretty decent comparison, apart from the fact that Avenir usually only has a prologue and no long TT.
Valle d'Aosta can't really be compared to a GT as it's just 6 mountain stages in a row.
If you're taking popularity/influence though, these two are indeed some of the most prestigious and talent-packed races of the year. Go Avenir if you only want to follow one race as you get to see sprinters and prologue/TT specialists too there, and it's still undoubtedly the season highlight for the U23s (and the WT scouts).
Avenir is a Nations Cup race so they have national teams there, while Valle d'Aosta is a "normal" race with many normal teams as well as some national teams to ensure no big talent misses out.
Therefore Avenir obviously just has one French team, but only 6 of the 26 teams here are Italian as well, so it doesn't exactly have a big national focus either.
As there are only 1-2 big stage races each month for U23's, there's hardly anyone that avoids a particular race if his team is invited anyway.
Also, Avenir selections aren't made yet so it would be risky for some to speculate on Avenir being their peak if they're not the absolutely biggest talent of their country.
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| Riis123 |
Posted on 14-07-2015 22:22
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6 mountain stages in a row? You have caught my interest. |
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| cio93 |
Posted on 14-07-2015 22:28
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Riis123 wrote:
6 mountain stages in a row? You have caught my interest.
Profiles are in the first post of this page. Granted, stage 4 is more hilly and stage 2 is not too hard either, but there's definitely nothing for the sprinters here.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 21:29
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| Riis123 |
Posted on 14-07-2015 22:30
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Are there any promising Columbian or Spanish climbers in this race? I know the Columbians are out there, even if they dont compete here, but the Spanish scene seems slim. |
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| Spilak23 |
Posted on 14-07-2015 22:36
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Tzecore combined with Cervinia 
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| cio93 |
Posted on 14-07-2015 22:52
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Spain is a really hard country to judge in the U23 ranks as they have a pretty big amateur scene that stays rather anonymous for the rest of the world though, so I can't give you many names and even less sort them by specialisations.
Alvaro Cuadros (AWT, the Etixx feeder) is good uphill at times, and Enric Mas had a great Peace Race last year and rides Valle d'Aosta for Alberto's U23 team, but his prologue wasn't worth mentioning today.
That's basically all I can give you for Spain. It does indeed seem like they'll have a problem in a couple years, but I guess for now Landa will cover them sufficiently.
Colombia had issues with their national U23 team this year iirc which is why they aren't around as frequently as they used to be, so they aren't here either as you said.
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| CountArach |
Posted on 15-07-2015 09:36
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Riis123 wrote:
Im new to the scene: Is this race the equivalent of Giro d' Italia and Avenir the Tour and which race, historically, is the best measurement of riders becoming good pros/stars? I know Aru has won it a couple of times, but it this mainly a race for italians (like the Giro somewhat is) and Avenir the same for frenchmen - I mean, is there stars of the U23-scene who has chosen not to participate in order to prepare more for Avenir?
The problem is that very few of them are good at predicting things like this. There are a few that are quite good, like U23 LBL or Paris-Roubaix, but even then they won't necessarily show someone who can be a good puncheur or a good cobble stone rider. Rather, they will just show people who can make good strong sustained efforts. Avenir is a bit overrated for picking GT riders and winners tend to become stronger puncheurs. It is easiest to see top TT riders as they are coming through, though, as it is largely about getting your skills right and, once again, putting in a long and sustained individual effort.
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| Wilier |
Posted on 15-07-2015 17:13
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De Plus continues his great season and moves into third overall with the stage win. Power increases his lead on all the other contenders, though.
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 15-07-2015 17:17
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There's a really interesting preview for the race here, with detail on all the teams: https://espoirscentral.blogspot.co.uk/...eview.html
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| Jesleyh |
Posted on 15-07-2015 21:30
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Kämna showed some serious climbing potential today, Cio
Any idea what was going on? Or does he just suck?
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PCMdaily Awards: 12x nomination, 9x runner-up, 0x win.
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| cio93 |
Posted on 15-07-2015 21:36
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Jesleyh wrote:
Kämna showed some serious climbing potential today, Cio
Any idea what was going on? Or does he just suck?
Never heard of that guy. Buchmann is the real deal.
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| Wilier |
Posted on 16-07-2015 16:41
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Probably the easiest stage in this race, is won by the Norwegian u23 ace Eiking. The GC favourites, including Power, Petilli and De Plus finished in a group at 16 seconds. Only Haig and Ravasi grabbed a few seconds but are still a minute behind Power in GC.
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