Team I-Gen - Festina presents the final goals of the team, and the setup that is assigned to secure them. At first, the following goals where published:
Now it seems evident, that it is infact the Vuelta a España that will be targeted and not the Giro d'Italia, where the team managed to get 4th by Riccardo Ricco last season. The planning has been done, and it is now a certainty that the team will go full in on the 2016 goals.
Tour de France - Top 3
It comes as a small surprise that Simon Spilak will be racing the Tour de France, as it has been targeted for quite som time, but it may come as a surprise to some, that the team have gone extremely deep in order to give him the much needed support to win the race. Last seasons 13th overall, Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier is there to support him, aswell as talented climbers Jakub Novak and Yuriy Vasyliv. Also the teams road captain, Jerome Coppel have been assigned for the task, to control the Team Time Trial on stage 7. With him are strong TT'ers, Panagiotis Vlatos, Mathieu Bernaudeau and Maxime Bouet. Lineup:
101 Simon Spilak
102 Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
103 Jerome Coppel
104 Jakub Novak
105 Yuriy Vasyliv
106 Panagiotis Vlatos
107 Mathieu Bernaudeau
108 Maxime Bouet
Top 5 AVG TT: 79,20
Top 5 AVG MO: 77,20
Q: "No sprinters?"
A: No, we want to assure that Simon Spilak gets exactly the support he needs, and we would feel like having too many things to focus on, having a sprinter here. Without one we can focus entirely on keeping Spilak out of trouble, and if the chance occurs he can sprint for a result himself. With the current setup we believe we are a firm candidate to win the TTT, and to provide Spilak with the best possible mountain support we can, and having riders like Coppel, Bouet, Bernaudeau and Vlatos we should be able to control things on the flat terrain aswell. Coppel and Lecuisinier are set to do most work on the hill stages to keep Spilak in for the stage win, and Lecuisinier, Vasyliv and Novak should be able to fight well in the mountains. And we could also be a contender for the team classification.
Q: "Who can threaten Spilak to win?"
A: There are obviously a number of guys capable of doing that, but Andy Schleck is the obvious choice. He won the race before and the fact that the mountains are all situated in the final week will give him the upper hand. He usually also performs extremely well in 3rd week timetrials, so we can't expect Spilak to take him out just like that, but we hope we can gain some time in the two initial weeks. The early TT should suit Spilak well, and the TTT could potentially give a bit, aswell as the three hilly stages. Time will tell! I expect Taylor Phinney to take the early lead, but could lose the jersey before the first hilly stage because of the strong sprinters. Then we should preferably get it, but riders like Gesink could pose a threat on the early part. Obviously you can never rule out riders like Pluchkin, Madrazo, Tenorio, Taaramäe and Kritskiy either, but we are unsure of which riders will be present.
Liege-Bastogne-Liege - Win
Having previously gotten 2nd in Liege-Bastogne-Liege we had to go for a win here. We are not favorites, not really the best of the rest, but Simon Spilak can win every race if he has a good day, and the sponsors demaned us taking a gamble on atleast one race this season, so why not this. Simon Spilak are leading things, and will be well supported by Clement Koretzky, Yuriy Vasyliv, Tom David, Olivier Le Gac, Charalampas Kastrantas, Alexis Gougeard and Markus Eibegger. So basically as strong as possible except for road captain, Jerome Coppel who are targeting another classic. Lineup:
11 Simon Spilak
12 Clement Koretzky
13 Tom David
14 Olivier Le Gac
15 Yuriy Vasyliv
16 Charalampas Kastrantas
17 Alexis Gougeard
18 Markus Eibegger
Q: "Why Liege-Bastogne-Liege?"
A: I feel like it is the most prestigous classic that we actually have a shot at winning. We could have gone for Paris-Roubaix or Milano San Remo, but we fancy our chances here better.
Q: "Who are the favorite for the race?"
A: Not us, that's for sure. Last season Ponzi took it all, so we can't get around him really, and there are a bunch of top riders lurking to win here, such as Boasson Hagen, Trofimov, Bakelants, van Garderen, Ginanni and Gesink, but there are also a long list of relatively new, and young riders that we can not look past either. Riders like Skujins, Kelderman, Gastauer, Bobdrige, De Bie, Lutsenko and Sagan. But if we could go 2nd here last season we can go for the win aswell. Spilak is as good as guess as any, when looking past the 3-4 obvious choices.
Giro di Lombardia - Top 10
Last season we had a bit of a shocker here, where our three most prominent riders all performed well - a couple of them well above their weight also. But we have had our share of bad luck here also, with Ricco crashing out. We see the final race of the season as an important one to perform well in. Aswell as we want to give a good showing from race 1, we also want to close the ball by going well - It makes for a good break, and riders will keep calm and happy. We will have Simon Spilak here, unlike last season where it was Ricco, Koretzky and Pichon. We also want Koretzky here as he did so well last season. Because of the mountainous character of the race Piter Campero is here, aswell as the hilly brigade; Tom David, Olivier Le Gac, Charalampas Kastrantas, Alexis Gougeard and Markus Eibegger. Lineup:
31 Simon Spilak
32 Clement Koretzky
33 Tom David
34 Olivier Le Gac
35 Piter Campero
36 Charalampas Kastrantas
37 Alexis Gougeard
38 Markus Eibegger
Q: "Getting 4th here last season, must surely see ambitions beyond 10th?"
A: Yes. We would not be happy with 10th. We aim for top 10 as we think top 5 would be a gamble after a long season, where we don't know the status of our riders. They are tired, some might be injured. But under normal circumstances Spilak should fight for a top 5, while Koretzky should fight for 10-20th.
Q: "Some different candidates here compared to Liege?"
A: Most are the same, but Gesink might be a better bet here, and I reckon a rider like Cunego, Taaramäe and maybe Sicard could also be a decent bet here, maybe even Phinney or Guldhammer. But you have to be born yesterday if you are not expecting the usual suspects to be fighting it over here.
Vuelta a España - Top 10
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier had a strong Vuelta debut last season, getting 13th. This season we aim to improve figures for him, as dealing him some decent backup to perform accordingly. Obviously the 23 year old is our captain, but we expect a strong ride from Yury Vasyliv and Piter Campero aswell. Those three are our main riders for the GC, while Clement Koretzky are here on a free role to chase stagewins. He will be supported by Alexis Gougeard, while Bryan Coquard is here with Marco Haller to see if a stagewin might be possible. Final rider in the lineup is young Pavel Potocki, and that actually see us having three 23 year old climbers. Lineup:
121 Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
122 Yuriy Vasyliv
123 Piter Campero
124 Clement Koretzky
125 Bryan Coquard
126 Marco Haller
127 Alexis Gougeard
128 Pavel Potocki
Q: "Lecuisinier as a leader? He was 2nd in l'Avenir and 13th at Vuelta, what changed?"
A: A lot! Lecuisinier might have "just" gotten 2nd in Tour de l'Avenir, like he did in 2014, but the U23 Worlds and his performance last season in the GC races clearly showed that he developped quite a bit. We can never be sure that he can go +3 in GC a season after, but we think he should be able to do so. His support are massively better than last season with Vasyliv and Campero, whereas he had Grmay and Campero last season. Campero developped quite drastically aswell as Vasyliv. So we expect both Campero and Vasyliv to fight for top 30 themselves.
Q: "The favorite for the race?"
A: Yeah. Your guess is as good as mine I guess. I have no idea who will ride, but I would say home favorites like Madrazo and Tenorio are good bets. Maybe a rider like Velits can upset the big guns. Pluchkin have to ride somewhere I guess, so he would be the obvious rider to look for unless he targets the Giro. Previously a rider like Alarcon have done well also, and I guess Lecuisiniers nemesis, Lachlan Morton would also be a decent shout at a top result rider.
Pro Tour - Top 3
Winning last seasons Pro Tour was somewhat of an achievement for the team, and something we have fought long and hard for. So once that achievement was "unlocked" we started aiming for other big things, such as the Tour de France, which we have never done all that well at. We still estimate our team as one of the stronger, but top 3 could be a long shot as there are some very strong teams in the division. All comes down to planning. Both our own, and others, and whether or not we get lucky with our leaders, but looking solely on teams we would expect to be around top 5, fighting with teams like Vesuvio - Accumalux, Aker - MOT, Becherovka - Petrol, Jayco's Cycling Team, Tinkoff Sport Academy and maybe Gazelle.
Q: "Being the reigning champion don't you feel this is a bit "cop"?"
A: No definately not. We lost significant riders in the window, such as Laurent Pichon, Yoann Paillot, Martin Hacecký and most important, Riccardo Ricco. Those guys you don't just replace with young riders getting a year older. You need to rebuild slowly and plan carefully. The other teams are getting stronger, while we get slightly weaker. It shouldn't be that difficult to spot who is stepping up, and who is stepping down.
Q: "Who are your top three favorites for the PT ranking?"
A: My first choice would be Tinkoff Sport Academy and then I would say our friends from Becherovka - Petrol, and we have to pick ourselves as the last, otherwise that goal would be pointless. If we cannot pick ourselves, then last seasons runner-up Vesuvio - Accumalux must be the third. They have done remarkable changes, and it is still to be seen what they can turn it into. Swift out will hurt as will Frank Schleck turning older, but gaining riders like Vanmarcke, Fabio Aru and Marc Goos are definately a strong signal, as is the training camp spent on Nick van der Lijke who are an obvious Milano San Remo contender.
Edited by SotD on 19-03-2017 11:34
Some seriously great posts to keep your fans and other managers informed about the past, present and future of the team, very nice read!
But just two small things, it is actually Becherovka - Petrof and Jayco'z, as far as names goes.
Also not naming us among the rival dangerous teams would deserve a thumb down, we feel ofended, even more when we see promoted team mentioned. You will pay for it during season when Pluchkin destroys yours puppies.
Avin Wargunnson wrote:
Some seriously great posts to keep your fans and other managers informed about the past, present and future of the team, very nice read!
But just two small things, it is actually Becherovka - Petrof and Jayco'z, as far as names goes.
Also not naming us among the rival dangerous teams would deserve a thumb down, we feel ofended, even more when we see promoted team mentioned. You will pay for it during season when Pluchkin destroys yours puppies.
Thanks a lot
Hehe true. I considered mentioning you, but I knew that you are one of the few managers who would actually read and comment on it, so deliberately didn't
Can't wait to see the final program of Pluchkin. I assume he will win almost all races he ride, and Zmorka could be a great point scorer aswell. Grosu seems (like Tzortzakis and Coquard) a bit pointless looking at how managers trained their sprinters. Last season an 82 SPR rider in the Pro Tour was a good rider, and a 81 SPR rider a very decent one. This season both stats are pretty useless unless they are planned carefully and luckily. I have tried to spread it out, so hopefully I will be lucky atleast a couple of places, but to be honest I doubt my sprinters will get a single win this year.
Avin Wargunnson wrote:
Some seriously great posts to keep your fans and other managers informed about the past, present and future of the team, very nice read!
But just two small things, it is actually Becherovka - Petrof and Jayco'z, as far as names goes.
Also not naming us among the rival dangerous teams would deserve a thumb down, we feel ofended, even more when we see promoted team mentioned. You will pay for it during season when Pluchkin destroys yours puppies.
Thanks a lot
Hehe true. I considered mentioning you, but I knew that you are one of the few managers who would actually read and comment on it, so deliberately didn't
Can't wait to see the final program of Pluchkin. I assume he will win almost all races he ride, and Zmorka could be a great point scorer aswell. Grosu seems (like Tzortzakis and Coquard) a bit pointless looking at how managers trained their sprinters. Last season an 82 SPR rider in the Pro Tour was a good rider, and a 81 SPR rider a very decent one. This season both stats are pretty useless unless they are planned carefully and luckily. I have tried to spread it out, so hopefully I will be lucky atleast a couple of places, but to be honest I doubt my sprinters will get a single win this year.
Fair enough, i was just teasing you, like you did.
I will reveal the calendar of Aleksandr the Great after all the race planning is done, so sty tuned for that, lets see if he can dominate again with some improved guys like Phinney and maybe Madrazo will awake?
Yeah, tough year for those 80-81 sprinters, but we both dont rely on them as two top scorers, unlike those teams who trained theirs to 83/84
Welcome to lovely China for the season opener. Badaling International has been part of the Pro Tour since 2010, so this will be the 6th time the Pro Tour peloton takes on the 7 circuit climb of the race. The race have a long list of legends to it's tally, and riders such as Damiano Cunego, Yuri Trofimov aswell as former Festina favorite Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez have all been on the podium to cheer after winning the race. Vesuvio - Accumalux mastermind, Franck Schleck is the only rider to have won the race twice - In 2011 and again in 2014.
Last season, Festina-Canal+ took on the race with superstar Simon Spilak in the lead role. However, it was young rouleur Clement Koretzky who stole the headline, after a hectic finale, where he landed 7th overall. The race was a great success for the French team, however only one rider from last seasons Badaling International line up have managed to be re-selected for the task - Clement Koretzky. Let's have a look at the 2016 line up for the Team I-Gen - Festina setup.
STARTING LINE UP FOR THE RACE
#61
Koretzky,
Clement
#62
Le Gac,
Olivier
#63
David,
Tom
#64
Campero,
Piter
#65
Potocki,
Pavel
#66
Bernaudeau,
Mathieu
#67
Kosic,
Nejc
Despite having less firing power than last season, the team evidently wants to be part of the finale, and with Clement Koretzky that should be possible. The race is always difficult to predict, and because of that the management have decided to bring a little bit of everything, well knowing, that the team are not likely to be the headlight act.
EXPERTS SUGGESTS
Bookmakers seem confident that, Clement Koretzky should not be in play for the overall win, but clearly have him as a dark horse for another top 10. The weighted odds of the five biggest betting companies have the following top 5:
#1
Trofimov,
Yuri
1,80
#2
Ponzi,
Simone
2,00
#3
Bakelants,
Jan
2,40
#4
Boasson Hagen,
Edvald
3,20
#5
van Garderen,
Tejay
6,00
#14
Koretzky,
Clement
21,00
*Weighted values of bet365, Unibet, sky BET, Paddy Power and betfair
Having seen what the experts say, we head on straight to the real expert of the team, the team manager, who have been so kind to help us get an established view of the team towards the race.
MANAGER'S CORNER
Team manager, Andreas Jøhnke have put up a few words on the race.
"We know that this might not be the race we had last season, and we can accept that. We know what Koretzky is capable of, and we hope he can upset yet again. A top 10 is the internal goal for the race, and with a little bit of luck that should be possible.
We bring a good mixture for the team. Clement is clearly our number one guy here, but we expect Tom David and Olivier Le Gac to be able to do fairly well here. We have decided to bring Pavel Potocki and Piter Campero here because we know the steep hills of the race have some resemblances to mountain climbing. Mathieu is here to control things for the first part of the race, and we are OK with the fact that he will struggle to make it all the way to the finish line. Kosic is solely here for experience."
The race is known as a HC race and few Pro Tour teams have ever ridden the race. This season will be very different though, with several Pro Tour teams having gotten wildcards for this particular "race band". Team I-Gen - Festina will ride the race for the first time ever, and will be lead by a couple of sprinters who never rode the race either.
STARTING LINE UP FOR THE RACE
#141
Haller,
Marco
#142
Stepniak,
Grzegorz
#143
Eibegger,
Markus
#144
Hofer,
Andreas
#145
Kastrantas,
Charalampas
#146
Gougeard,
Alexis
#147
Bouet,
Maxime
Marco Haller and Grzegorz Stepniak are joint leaders for the team, but neither are likely to be contending for the win, nor for the top 10 for that matter. However, there might be a "slack" in potential winners, which might give us a very unique and alternative race in the beautiful surroundings.
EXPERTS SUGGESTS
The bookies have a hard time grasping just what to expect, but it seems the most likely that sprinters team of the Pro Continental Tour will control the race for the overall win, while the Pro Tour teams are looking to upset from either a breakaways or a shock sprint finish. These are the pre-race favorites:
#1
Lo Cicero,
Ivano
2,00
#2
Avelino,
Óscar
2,40
#3
Dzamastagic,
Mark
2,60
#4
van Heerden,
Juan
3,00
#5
Vantomme,
Maxime
3,80
#27
Haller,
Marco
42,00
*Weighted values of bet365, Unibet, sky BET, Paddy Power and betfair
Having seen what the experts say, we head on straight to the real expert of the team, the team manager, who have been so kind to help us get an established view of the team towards the race.
MANAGER'S CORNER
Team manager, Andreas Jøhnke have put up a few words on the race.
"This is a very difficult race for us to be honest. It is so quick and we expect a lot of difficulties getting a good result. We have a few fast men here, and the best we can do is hope for either to have the perfect legs, and the luck needed in the finale to get a bit of success. The amount of top sprinters that are likely to attend this race will make the trains move fast and all over the place, and you need coolness to get on the right wheel. Both Haller and Stepniak are relatively inexperienced in these mass sprints, so we expect nothing, but hope for the best.
Looking past our two main riders here, we have some helpers to keep things interesting until the end, such as Hofer, Eibegger and Bouet. Gougeard and Kastrantas will be given a free role to attempt something from the distance."
Salaam and welcome to this windy race of Qatar, known as Tour of Qatar. The race have been on the calender since 2008, and the Pro Tour calender since 2009 and have some very prominent winning names such as Thor Hushovd, Daniele Bennati, twice Ben Swift and Tom Boonen aswell as the odd man out, William Ford back in 2011. The race consist of 5 flat and relatively (on paper) easy stages and one final epilogue of just 3,5km. The longest stage of the race is stage 5 with 160km. So it's not one for the endurant sprinters. However it is one for the clever, fast and strong ones as we are likely to face echelons on the way to the line.
Tour of Qatar have previously been an exciting race for Festina fans as Thor Hushovd have won the race and last season Jerome Coppel took 6th after a massive time trial effort on the final stage. This season will be different, however as the French TT Champion will not be present, leaving the time trialling to the Greek TT Champion, Panagiotis Vlatos, aswell as the Prologue specialist Bryan Coquard.
STARTING LINE UP FOR THE RACE
#61
Coquard,
Bryan
#62
Tzortzakis,
Georgos
#63
Vlatos,
Panagiotis
#64
David,
Tom
#65
Haller,
Marco
#66
Bernaudeau,
Mathieu
#67
Bouet,
Maxime
#68
Kosic,
Nejc
Former Giro d'Italia stagewinner, Georgos Tzortzakis is here with a strong lineup for the sprints, where also French powerhouse Bryan Coquard could be in line for a decent result. Another greek rider, is the 4 times national timetrial champion, Panagiotis Vlatos, who will look forward to that final epilogue to make a jump in the GC.
EXPERTS SUGGESTS
Overload! A massive amount of top sprinters are suggested to make a start in this race, and it could mean all sort of things. The bookies are not taking lightly on the matter for the final GC, and have a mixture of the best timetrial riders , the sprinters likely to succeed, aswell as having a decent prologue ability for that final seconds-winning chance.
#1
Swift,
Ben
1,60
#2
Bewley,
Sam
2,00
#3
Degenkolb,
John
2,30
#4
Fiedler,
Jakob
3,50
#5
Cavendish,
Mark
3,80
#14
Vlatos,
Panagiotis
17,00
#17
Coquard,
Bryan
22,00
*Weighted values of bet365, Unibet, sky BET, Paddy Power and betfair
Having seen what the experts say, we head on straight to the real expert of the team, the team manager, who have been so kind to help us get an established view of the team towards the race.
MANAGER'S CORNER
Team manager, Andreas Jøhnke have put up a few words on the race.
"We love this race! It is so difficult to predict and it is so immensely important for the top sprinters to do well on more than just one occassion to get that time gap down to the strongest timetriallist like Fiedler or Zmorka and we must never rule out those sprinters with a decent set of prologue skills either, like Cavendish, Guarnieri, Lo Cicero or our own Coquard.
We bring a team that can both timetrial, go fast in the wind and sprint, and then we hope it will be enough to keep us infront of things. Georgos Tzortzakis and Bryan Coquard should help eachother to gain results on the first 5 stages, and then we hope Vlatos and Bernaudeau can be kept out of trouble aswell for that final epilogue. Tom David, Maxime Bouet and Marco Haller are in charge of that and Kosic is here again to learn how to ride under difficult circumstances.
We have decided to leave Jerome Coppel home this time around, as we simply find the race too unpredictable for his set of skills. We could be wrong, but considered ourselves a bit lucky last season, and don't feel like tempting faith."
The month of January is over and some races have been ridden for the recently changed Team I-Gen - Festina. In details:
* Badaling International
* Down Under Classic
* Tour of Qatar
Last season Clement Koretzky, amongst others within the team, delivered a strong Badaling International. However, this time around we were barely on par as our lead rider - Koretzky - only managed 16th in the race, where as our goal was top 15, and our hopes were top 10.
Down Under Classic was always going to be a difficult race for us, having leadout sprinters Marco Haller and Grzegorz Stepniak there leading the team. Neither did have the power to sprint, and thus leaving us with nothing.
In the Qatari race, Tour of Qatar we had a reasonably expectation that Tzortzakis, Coquard and Vlatos could all be in contention for a respectable result. Especially Bryan Coquard were by pundits expected to do well in the GC, and while Tzortzakis took 6th on the first stage, he crased out of contention, dragging another 5 riders with him on the second stage - including Coquard. The poor decision altered the race all together, and instead everything was in for keeping Panagiotis Vlatos safe for that final stage. And he soundly delivered, by winning the final TT and securing 9th in the GC. The race was dissapointing in such that our main sprinters were out of the race before it began, but we are happy with a stagewin and a top 10 GC result. Especially seeing Panagiotis Vlatos taking his first ever Pro Tour stage win!
Early days on the Belgian cobbles could be a dangerous time, as rain and hailstones could make conditions go bad very quickly. Slippery roads on cobbles and gravel are not ideal for bike riding, so this race demands the very best of techincal riders to handle the circumstances. However, a large engine and a powerful kick is also necessary to pose a serious threat to the riders aiming to win in this slightly bumpy, but otherwise flat cobbled classic.
The Omloop Het Nieuwsblad has been around since 2008 where it for a couple of seasons were a tough Continental race, before turning "Pro" in 2010. The very best of cobblers are usually the winners here and Tom Boonen have claimed the win twice, while Marcus Burghardt and Fabian Cancellara both won once. Stijn Joseph made the winners list in 2012, and last season the race was part of a combination, called Omloop Het Volk, which was won by Belgian Pieter Vanspeybrouck. This has rarely been a race for Festina, but this season could see things different as Tom David showed some quality riding in the cobbles last season.
STARTING LINE UP FOR THE RACE
#61
David,
Tom
#62
Kosic,
Nejc
#63
Stepniak,
Grzegorz
#64
Kastrantas,
Charalampas
#65
Gougeard,
Alexis
#66
Hofer,
Andreas
#67
Bouet,
Maxime
#68
Eibegger,
Markus
The New Zealand cobbler Tom David may be less interesting to follow than his countryman Sam Bewley, but nontheless several medias are speculating that he could be in for quite a decent season. The lack of support on the stones may be a bit of a problem, however, and it's evident that he is not a pre-race favorite by any means.
EXPERTS SUGGESTS
The first cobbled race of the season is always one to look forward to. Despite having never won the race, Sam Bewley is the massive pre race favorite, but he is somewhat followed by a long list of top riders trying to claim the victory. As the race is usually decided in a decimated sprint, bookies seem to think highly of the sprinters expected to attend the race.
#1
Bewley,
Sam
1,50
#2
van Avermaet,
Greg
2,60
#3
Kristoff,
Alexander
2,80
#4
Blythe,
Adam
3,00
#5
Burghardt,
Markus
3,60
#16
David,
Tom
14,00
*Weighted values of bet365, Unibet, sky BET, Paddy Power and betfair
Having seen what the experts say, we head on straight to the real expert of the team, the team manager, who have been so kind to help us get an established view of the team towards the race.
MANAGER'S CORNER
Team manager, Andreas Jøhnke have put up a few words on the race.
"This i Tom's first real chance to lead the team in a cobbled classic, so we are really excited for him. We are quite aware that this particular cobbled classic might not suit him all that well, being relatively flat and having only a few cobbled sections. This means that we are likely to see those durable sprinters like van Avermaet, Kristoff, Stallaert, Thwaites and Rowe perform better than Tom David will - But we do hope that the race will be ridden aggressively as this would be our chance.
In case things turn dull we have decided to go for Stepniak also, but we are not considering that an likely outcome, so we are putting hands down for Nejc Kosic to lift the burden and maybe get a bit of help from Kastrantas, Gougeard, Hofer, Bouet and Eibegger however unlikely it will be.
Expectations aren't all that high, but we would like to see Tom snatch a top 15, and with some luck get inside the top 10. It's up to him to make the most of the situation."
Obvious soft spot for the Kiwis and I hope David can perform well amongst the big boys this season Edited by jandal7 on 30-07-2016 12:03
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
Another early Belgian classic is the Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne who have many similarities to that of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. The favorites are similar, the length of the race also, while the run in are fairly flat aswell. Much unlike Omloop Het Nieuwsblad this race is fairly new to the Pro Tour, as it has mainly been a CDiv race. In 2009 the race was for a rare occassion on the Pro Tour list, and back then superstar Tom Boonen claimed the win ahead of Thor Hushovd and Bernie Eisel. The race was cut from the program entirely in 2013 and '14 before re-appearing in the joint Omloop Het Volk last season.
Finances have been gathered and this means that Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne is now back on the table, hopefully looking to see a massive amount of top quality riders attend. The one time the race was a Pro Tour race, Festina managed to put two riders in the top 5, Thor Hushovd and Marcus Burghardt, the latter still being a contender. This season, however, Tom David will be leading the way as an outside bet for a top 10.
STARTING LINE UP FOR THE RACE
#61
David,
Tom
#62
Kosic,
Nejc
#63
Stepniak,
Grzegorz
#64
Kastrantas,
Charalampas
#65
Gougeard,
Alexis
#66
Hofer,
Andreas
#67
Bouet,
Maxime
#68
Eibegger,
Markus
Line up are the same as Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and the favorites list is basically identically aswell, the main difference is that bookies seem to fancy Danny Summerhill slightly more here.
EXPERTS SUGGESTS
Getting a good run for the money will be betting already, as listing prices are likely to be changed immidiately after the finish of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. For now the odds looks strangely familiar, but there are a few changes to the schedule.
#1
Bewley,
Sam
1,60
#2
van Avermaet,
Greg
2,40
#3
Kristoff,
Alexander
2,80
#4
Blythe,
Adam
3,20
#5
Summerhill,
Danny
4,00
#18
David,
Tom
17,00
*Weighted values of bet365, Unibet, sky BET, Paddy Power and betfair
Having seen what the experts say, we head on straight to the real expert of the team, the team manager, who have been so kind to help us get an established view of the team towards the race.
MANAGER'S CORNER
Team manager, Andreas Jøhnke have put up a few words on the race.
"Despite bookmakers finding Tom's chances better at Omloop, we fancy our chances here the most. The steep cobbled climb about 40k's from the line could be a turning point where riders like Summerhill, Burghardt, Vanspeybrouck and Tom could break away from those lesser hilly capable riders like Blythe, Kamyshev, Senechal and some of the sprinters like Kristoff, Stallaert, Kluge and Thwaites. Obviously that far from goal there is a real chance of things merging back together only to have wasted valuable energy.
But under the right circumstances that hill could drain some of those subtop fast guys, whom we are not all to happy about bringing home to the line. Tom is fairly fast for a strong puncheur so we fancy our chances for a top 10 better in a direct sprint against Baugnies, van Keirsbulck, Gusev and those kind of riders.
From the two races we should preferably have Tom David in top 10 in atleast one of them, despite it being very difficult."
Simon Spilak
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
Jakub Novak
Yuriy Vasyliv
Panagiotis Vlatos
Tom David
Markus Eibegger
Piter Campero
Pavel Potocki
Trofimov,
Ponzi,
Bakelants,
Boasson Hagen,
van Garderen,
Stepniak,
Avelino,
van Heerden,
Swift,
