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Paris - Tours Discussion
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 21-03-2017 11:09
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Directeur Sportif
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Paris - Tours
| Category: HC | 233,9 km | terrain: flat |  France |
PCTs last flat classic takes as always part on the long and flat roads from Paris to Tours. Over 200 kilometers of flat racing through almost every time windy and ugly roads, this is going to be a tough race even without climbers.
Defending champion Groenewegen is not here to try and replicate his surprise victory. And not a single other former winner of this traditional race tries to grab the opportunity to be the first of winning this race two times. Instead,  Ahlstrand is the man to beat for anyone that wants to go for his name written newly on the wall of winners in Tours:
| Spr | Acc | Fla | Sta | | Spr | Acc | Fla | Sta | | Ahlstrand | 83 | 82 | 74 | 74 |  Serebriakov | 80 | 77 | 74 | 73 |  Guerao | 83 | 76 | 74 | 71 |  Vanoverschelde | 80 | 75 | 72 | 74 |  Vantomme | 82 | 78 | 73 | 76 |  Matthews | 79 | 79 | 75 | 72 |  Van Heerden | 82 | 73 | 73 | 74 |  Van der Sande | 79 | 79 | 75 | 78 |  Zabel | 81 | 79 | 74 | 74 |  Petit | 79 | 78 | 76 | 76 |  Appollonio | 81 | 78 | 74 | 71 |  Pelucchi | 79 | 77 | 74 | 74 |  Itami | 80 | 82 | 75 | 71 |  Richeze | 79 | 77 | 72 | 71 | | Impey | 80 | 81 | 74 | 75 | Forero | 79 | 74 | 70 | 69 |  Castañeda | 80 | 79 | 71 | 71 |  Reinhardt | 78 | 84 | 71 | 73 |  Lavoine | 80 | 78 | 73 | 71 | Harrison | 78 | 81 | 72 | 73 | | Van Asbroeck | 80 | 78 | 75 | 75 | Sobota | 78 | 78 | 72 | 74 |  Granjel Cabrera | 80 | 77 | 75 | 75 |  Hoffman | 78 | 78 | 76 | 76 |
On the final chance of scoring big it's Spotify against all others again, in main line Guerao for Coldeportes. Many sprinters equal to each other here, making it a ton of possible winners. Vantomme is one of them, most likely the third train sprinter. None of those is too impressive though.
Minor sprinters here are Zabel and Appollonio. Itami and Impey, Van Asbroeck and Granjel Cabrera are long shots, but all have proven their quality in PCT this year.
Other riders like Van der Sande, Petit (energy) and Reinhardt (acceleration) all bring their qualities with them, but can they win it? We'll see tomorrow.
There has never been a flat specialist winning it, however, engine rooms like Maes or Baugnies could pull out big surprises anywhere.
A big surprise would be a breakaway win too, can you guess any of those winning?
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| Selwink |
Posted on 21-03-2017 11:12
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Grand Tour Champion
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That one little hill is hopefully attractive enough for Kuznetsov to attack again. Otherwise it's fingers crossed that Serebriakov again manages to deliver a top-10 sprint. In the end both will probably fail though 
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| roturn |
Posted on 21-03-2017 11:24
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Team Manager
Posts: 22246
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Great memories here with Groenewegen taking his first pro win while not even maxed yet.
Without Lo Cicero here I guess Ahlstrand is the main favourite. Guerao, Vantomme, Zabel to challenge him. |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 01:03
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| Heine |
Posted on 21-03-2017 11:27
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4116
Joined: 08-04-2007
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Come on Zabel!
I am guessing Ahlstrand again, even though I fail every time I do that
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 21-03-2017 11:56
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World Champion
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Joined: 08-08-2011
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Hoping for a tough race that suits Van Asbroeck, but I'm really scared here. A good result is needed or it's all over for us.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Shonak |
Posted on 21-03-2017 15:12
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15615
Joined: 16-07-2013
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Yay croatia on fire to end the season. 3 races to go for Strava, I hope we make 'em count. Van der Sande far down the list but who knows what's possible, maybe we unleash some of our cobblez beaststrength. Allez, allez. 
Botd win, I hope not. Strava is never part of those. 
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| trekbmc |
Posted on 21-03-2017 15:30
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Team Leader
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Another race Croatia, it's amazing! 
Pretty much my favourite race on the calendar. Definetly the one I'd most like to win. Of course I've got Vantomme for the sprint but I'd like to hope the rest of the team isn't wasted, I bought Palini and Stachowiak as rough options for an attack on the final rise, while Bernas can attack on the flat and Morkov can make an option if there's a reduced sprint - that's if the team doesn't form a sprint train, so all-in-all it'd be a shame if the team was wasted without giving it a good go.
The winner however I am almost certain will be Van der Sande, His stamina stat has worked wonders on much shorter courses.
"What done is, is one." - Benji Naesen
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| matt17br |
Posted on 21-03-2017 15:38
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Directeur Sportif
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Croatia <3
We're here, yeah, but the opposition is too strong for us to stand out in any way unfortunately.
Petit is going to win it and nullify my promotion hopes, heard it here first
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| Shonak |
Posted on 21-03-2017 15:40
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Tour de France Champion
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trekbmc wrote:
The winner however I am almost certain will be Van der Sande, His stamina stat has worked wonders on much shorter courses.
Only if there's a good sprinttrain by Netia that we can hijack!
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| trekbmc |
Posted on 21-03-2017 15:57
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Team Leader
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Shonak wrote:
trekbmc wrote:
The winner however I am almost certain will be Van der Sande, His stamina stat has worked wonders on much shorter courses.
Only if there's a good sprinttrain by Netia that we can hijack!
Of course, just as long as you make sure it's by an inseparable margin à la Dunkerque.
"What done is, is one." - Benji Naesen
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| jph27 |
Posted on 21-03-2017 16:03
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Team Leader
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matt17br wrote:
Petit is going to win it and nullify my promotion hopes, heard it here first
We both know that this won't happen. More likely he fails to score any points
Petit should in theory do well here considering his backup stats, but I'm not holding my breath. Gautier has also been sent along in case he fancies a speculative attack towards the finish - but I don't expect it. |
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| viking90 |
Posted on 21-03-2017 18:41
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Our possible sprint train looks stronger then before because we have sent Martin Reimer here aswell. Him, Kvist and Kruopis should make a perfect train if they dont try to real in the break. If we make a train Ahlstrand have a very good chance to win.
But I can see Vantomme win here, they have had some great trains earlier this season. |
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| Kentaurus |
Posted on 21-03-2017 20:04
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3999
Joined: 26-07-2011
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No Summerhill here this year for me, but I do believe there is a reasonable shot for the classics guys in this race, they have given good efforts before. I on the other hand will simply be happy to get a point.
AZTECA - NBCSN  |
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| Margh Norway |
Posted on 21-03-2017 21:36
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Sprinter
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Nice preview, thanks Croatia!
A top 10 for Appollonio would help to kick-off our redemption run. Not the race that will seal our relegation, but still of utmost importance.
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 21-03-2017 22:22
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Team Leader
Posts: 6036
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Forget it guys, Granjel Cabrera is here...
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 21-03-2017 22:25
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World Champion
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We need to win this. Somehow.
(grabs all the needles available and injects straight to Raúl's arm) |
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| sgdanny |
Posted on 22-03-2017 07:54
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Classics Specialist
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Don't think Lavoine will do anything here and Maes haven't attacked all season, so I really don't think we will get anything from here. Fingers crossed though
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| SotD |
Posted on 22-03-2017 08:33
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World Champion
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That Spotify team - Wow! That would be a very very competitive PT train with a top sprinter to finish things off aswell. Ahlstrand, Kvist, Reimer, van Poppel, Hermans, Kruopis. I wish I had that kind of sprint setup.
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| jph27 |
Posted on 22-03-2017 11:07
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Team Leader
Posts: 7339
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Thanks Croatia, great report. I have no words for the performance of my team here. |
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| roturn |
Posted on 22-03-2017 11:09
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Team Manager
Posts: 22246
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Different outcome here but I kind of liked it. Give strong roleurs the chance to attack on such hard finish. Good that PCM decides from time to time to succeed there.
Big move by Strava and also Lierse I guess can`t be too unhappy in the relegation fight with a top5.
Not ideal for Aeropostal but still better than Flores and Azteca, so gaining a bit still. |
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