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Vuelta al Pais Vasco Discussion
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 25-11-2017 07:37
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Vuelta al Pais Vasco Preview
This race starts off with a Team Time Trial over mostly flat terrain, pretty much the only sustained flat roads that the riders can expect to see in this race. The next three stages are purely for the men who favour short, sharp climbs. The finishes are alternatively downhill and uphill. The monotone of hills is broken up by a short-ish TT on Stage 5. The ups and downs on the route make it hard to determine whether the flat road TT specialists will take the win or will a GC contender come out on top here. While the last stage does not involve the most climbing, that honour goes to Stage 2, it does have the longest climb to the finish. It doesn't look likely that the punchers can get usurped here, despite the length of the HTF. Also, the finish line comes after the shortest of descents following the final climb.
| Name | HIL | TT | STA | RES | REC | ACC |  | Hagen | 85 | 72 | 81 | 74 | 72 | 79 |  | Bobridge | 83 | 77 | 74 | 74 | 69 | 80 |  | Ponzi | 84 | 68 | 77 | 72 | 76 | 80 |  | Bakelants | 84 | 67 | 81 | 78 | 75 | 78 |  | Trofimov | 82 | 76 | 79 | 77 | 77 | 75 |  | Van Garderen | 82 | 69 | 78 | 75 | 72 | 79 |  | Ignatiev | 75 | 80 | 81 | 74 | 77 | 82 |  | Sagan | 82 | 68 | 78 | 74 | 70 | 76 |  | Ginanni | 83 | 65 | 78 | 78 | 76 | 74 |  | Gastauer | 82 | 66 | 78 | 70 | 68 | 76 |  | Skujins | 83 | 59 | 80 | 77 | 73 | 76 | | Borges | 78 | 60 | 75 | 73 | 70 | 81 |  | Duchesne | 77 | 68 | 73 | 72 | 67 | 79 |  | Beltran | 79 | 66 | 73 | 72 | 72 | 76 | | Pichon | 79 | 64 | 74 | 76 | 72 | 76 |  | Ulissi | 80 | 62 | 83 | 71 | 72 | 75 | | Kangert | 77 | 77 | 76 | 75 | 75 | 72 | | Houle | 75 | 69 | 76 | 71 | 79 | 78 |  | Konovalovas | 76 | 75 | 73 | 75 | 71 | 74 |  | Yates | 76 | 68 | 75 | 69 | 67 | 78 |
Edvald Boasson Hagen will once again start as top favourite in a hilly race. Giving him tough competition will be the likes of Ponzi, Bakelants, Bobridge, Van Garderen and Trofimov. Bobridge and Trofimov's superior TT skills are sure to help them come Stage 5. Trofimov is the defending champion and a three time former champion in this race, so he'll be extra motivated to make it his fourth title.
Gastauer, Ginanni, Sagan and Skuijns are extremely capable punchers. They will definitely be in contention for the top spots in the hilly stages. Their Achilles heel might be the TTs, where they're significantly worse off than their rivals.
Ignatiev is the odd one out among the top favourites, wherein he will depend a lot on his TT skills to make the difference. The problem for him is that the TT kilometers might not be enough for him get back the time he loses climbing.
The other riders with a good combination of hills, TT and acceleration are shown in the table above. They could make an impact in one of the stages.
| Name | HIL | TT | STA | RES | REC | ACC | | Bilbao | 79 | 63 | 77 | 71 | 71 | 75 |  | Zingle | 77 | 68 | 74 | 69 | 70 | 76 |  | Quevedo | 78 | 65 | 72 | 72 | 73 | 75 | | Dyrnes | 78 | 61 | 73 | 73 | 70 | 77 | | Siskevicius | 78 | 65 | 73 | 72 | 68 | 75 |
These riders lack the TT skills to perhaps make an impact, but look out for them trying to get time on the hills with long range attacks.
| Name | TT | HIL | PRL | | Zmorka | 82 | 65 | 82 | | Cornu | 81 | 72 | 81 | | Durbridge | 81 | 67 | 81 | | Ignatiev | 80 | 75 | 80 | | Yatsevich | 80 | 68 | 80 | | Fraile | 79 | 72 | 79 | | Brändle | 79 | 71 | 79 | | Gonzalez Salas | 80 | 60 | 80 | | Malori | 79 | 68 | 79 |
These riders will be targeting the win in the ITT and also looking to spearhead their team to a good position in the Team Time Trial.
Team Time Trial Favourites | Team | Rating | | Jayco - Cobra9 | *** | | Tinkoff Sport Academy | *** | | Generali - EDF | *** | | Gazelle | ** | | Newton Foundation | ** | | Porto - Prio | ** | | Grieg - Eftel | ** | | Hugo Boss | * |  | Iberia - Team Degenkolb | * | | RBC Pro Cycling | * |
Jayco, Tinkoff and Generali start off as top favourites for the TTT. The biggest influence in the GC might be for Bobridge and Trofimov if the stage goes according to script.
Outsiders with TTT Advantage | Name | HIL | TT | STA | RES | REC | ACC | | Watson | 78 | 68 | 76 | 72 | 70 | 72 | | Zakarin | 77 | 68 | 74 | 73 | 68 | 73 | | Chernetskiy | 78 | 66 | 80 | 69 | 70 | 71 | | Haas | 76 | 68 | 76 | 72 | 67 | 73 | | Izagirre | 79 | 77 | 73 | 72 | 69 | 63 | | Konrad | 76 | 71 | 76 | 73 | 72 | 69 | | Gougeard | 77 | 67 | 73 | 71 | 71 | 68 |
Another set of riders, with decent puncher skills, who might find themselves in a good position following the TTT and would look to hold on to that through the rest of the stages.
Spoiler | Last Name | First Name | Team | | Beltran | Eduard Alexander | Aker - MOT | | Dyrnes | Kristian | Aker - MOT | | Laengen | Vegard Stake | Aker - MOT | | Hoelgaard | Daniel | Aker - MOT | | Oss | Daniel | Aker - MOT | | Teuns | Dylan | Aker - MOT | | Aasvold | Lorents Ola | Aker - MOT | | Vangstad | Andreas | Aker - MOT | | Cornu | Dominique | Euskaltel | | Caruso | Damiano | Euskaltel | | Zingle | Romain | Euskaltel | | Le Gac | Olivier | Euskaltel | | Fernandez | Ruben | Euskaltel | | De Souza | Christopher | Euskaltel | | Prades | Eduard | Euskaltel | | Mollema | Bauke | Euskaltel | | Skujins | Toms | Evonik - ELKO | | Siskevicius | Evaldas | Evonik - ELKO | | Smirnovs | Andris | Evonik - ELKO | | Bekmanis | Indulis | Evonik - ELKO | | Potts | Marc | Evonik - ELKO | | Sergis | Kaspars | Evonik - ELKO | | Lopez | Miguel Angel | Evonik - ELKO | | Neilands | Krists | Evonik - ELKO | | Poljanski | Pawel | Fablok - Bank BGZ | | Bodnar | Maciej | Fablok - Bank BGZ | | Zielinski | Kamil | Fablok - Bank BGZ | | Bialoblocki | Marcin | Fablok - Bank BGZ | | Pszczolarski | Wojciech | Fablok - Bank BGZ | | Sagan | Juraj | Fablok - Bank BGZ | | Matysiak | Bartlomiej | Fablok - Bank BGZ | | Nareklishvili | Giorgi | Fablok - Bank BGZ | | Ignatiev | Mikhail | Ferrero - Samruk | | Barbin | Enrico | Ferrero - Samruk | | Kolesnikov | Sergei | Ferrero - Samruk | | Pavarin | Marcello | Ferrero - Samruk | | Krizek | Matthias | Ferrero - Samruk | | Grivko | Andrei | Ferrero - Samruk | | Walker | William | Ferrero - Samruk | | Ignatiev | Dmitriy | Ferrero - Samruk | | Ginanni | Francesco | Gazelle | | Kangert | Tanel | Gazelle | | Koren | Kristjan | Gazelle | | Kruijswijk | Steven | Gazelle | | Konrad | Patrick | Gazelle | | Campenaerts | Victor | Gazelle | | De Gendt | Thomas | Gazelle | | Gretsch | Patrick | Gazelle | | Ulissi | Diego | Generali - EDF | | Viviani | Elia | Generali - EDF | | Rolland | Pierre | Generali - EDF | | Boaro | Manuele | Generali - EDF | | Sterbini | Luca | Generali - EDF | | Ghyselinck | Jan | Generali - EDF | | Ovechkin | Artem | Generali - EDF | | Beukeboom | Dion | Generali - EDF | | Hagen | Edvald Boasson | Grieg - Eftel | | Watson | Calvin | Grieg - Eftel | | Dempster | Zakkari | Grieg - Eftel | | Atkins | Josh | Grieg - Eftel | | Sterobo | Rasmus | Grieg - Eftel | | Vink | Michael | Grieg - Eftel | | Lindgren | Johan | Grieg - Eftel | | Würtz | Mads | Grieg - Eftel | | Ponzi | Simone | Hugo Boss | | Bilbao | Pello | Hugo Boss | | Herrada | Jesús | Hugo Boss | | Gonzalez Salas | Mario | Hugo Boss | | Minguez Ayala | Miguel | Hugo Boss | | AramendÃa | Javier | Hugo Boss | | Ligthart | Pim | Hugo Boss | | Navarrete | Segundo | Hugo Boss | | Izagirre | Ion | Iberia - Team Degenkolb | | Kluge | Roger | Iberia - Team Degenkolb | | Gougeard | Alexis | Iberia - Team Degenkolb | | Bagdonas | Gediminas | Iberia - Team Degenkolb | | Burke | Steven | Iberia - Team Degenkolb | | Latour | Pierre | Iberia - Team Degenkolb | | Soler | Marc | Iberia - Team Degenkolb | | Aaltio | Risto | Iberia - Team Degenkolb | | Mohoric | Matej | Isostar - Adriatic | | Brändle | Matthias | Isostar - Adriatic | | Quevedo | Xavier | Isostar - Adriatic | | Navardauskas | Ramunas | Isostar - Adriatic | | Mugerli | Matej | Isostar - Adriatic | | Bazhkou | Stanislau | Isostar - Adriatic | | Bostner | Jaka | Isostar - Adriatic | | Laas | Martin | Isostar - Adriatic | | Bobridge | Jack | Jayco - Cobra9 | | Durbridge | Luke | Jayco - Cobra9 | | Dyball | Benjamin | Jayco - Cobra9 | | Hepburn | Michael | Jayco - Cobra9 | | Haas | Nathan | Jayco - Cobra9 | | Porte | Richie | Jayco - Cobra9 | | Olman | Miles | Jayco - Cobra9 | | O'Shea | Glenn | Jayco - Cobra9 | | Scheit | Florian | Kraftwerk Man Machine | | Kurth | Michael | Kraftwerk Man Machine | | Bontenackels | Thomas | Kraftwerk Man Machine | | Terasaki | Takero | Kraftwerk Man Machine | | Vachon | Florian | Kraftwerk Man Machine | | Gerdemann | Linus | Kraftwerk Man Machine | | Denz | Nico | Kraftwerk Man Machine | | Politt | Nils | Kraftwerk Man Machine | | Waeytens | Zico | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Gaviria | Fernando | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Senni | Manuel | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Stuyven | Jasper | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Cerny | Josef | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Dall'Oste | Daniele | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Umerbekov | Nikita | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Moscon | Gianni | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Sagan | Peter | Moser - Sygic | | Vysna | Matej | Moser - Sygic | | Kolar | Michael | Moser - Sygic | | Gough | Westley | Moser - Sygic | | Danacik | Jakub | Moser - Sygic | | Turek | Daniel | Moser - Sygic | | Parra Bustamente | Heiner Rodrigo | Moser - Sygic | | Stybar | Zdenek | Moser - Sygic | | Prevar | Oleksandr | Nemiroff - ABBYY | | Topchanyuk | Artem | Nemiroff - ABBYY | | Konovalovas | Ignas | Nemiroff - ABBYY | | Polivoda | Oleksandr | Nemiroff - ABBYY | | Dzhus | Volodymyr | Nemiroff - ABBYY | | Golovash | Oleksandr | Nemiroff - ABBYY | | Avetisyan | Mihran | Nemiroff - ABBYY | | Andriafenomananiaina | Zouzou | Nemiroff - ABBYY | | Van Garderen | Tejay | Newton Foundation | | Fraile | Omar | Newton Foundation | | Brandt | Tyler | Newton Foundation | | Abreu | Jorge | Newton Foundation | | Meier | Christian | Newton Foundation | | Verona | Carlos | Newton Foundation | | Sebright | Aggrey | Newton Foundation | | Eaton | Daniel | Newton Foundation | | Talansky | Andrew | Podium Ambition | | Ewan | Caleb | Podium Ambition | | Yates | Simon | Podium Ambition | | Docker | Mitch | Podium Ambition | | Ivanov | Borislav | Podium Ambition | | Nardin | Thiago Duarte | Podium Ambition | | Bridges | Jyme | Podium Ambition | | De Vos | Adam | Podium Ambition | | Borges | Bruno | Porto - Prio | | Zmorka | Marlen | Porto - Prio | | Nascimento | Rodrigo | Porto - Prio | | Figueiredo | Frederico | Porto - Prio | | Egidio | Christian | Porto - Prio | | Goldstein | Roy | Porto - Prio | | Gonçalves | Domingos | Porto - Prio | | Marchewka | Krzysztof | Porto - Prio | | Houle | Hugo | RBC Pro Cycling | | Duchesne | Antoine | RBC Pro Cycling | | Brown | Nathan | RBC Pro Cycling | | Rosskopf | Joey | RBC Pro Cycling | | Morizot | Florian | RBC Pro Cycling | | Hughes | Zachary | RBC Pro Cycling | | van Zyl | Johann | RBC Pro Cycling | | Matte | Charles | RBC Pro Cycling | | Bakelants | Jan | Strava | | Pichon | Laurent | Strava | | Hansen | Lasse Norman | Strava | | Fankhauser | Clemens | Strava | | Hermans | Ben | Strava | | Didier | Laurent | Strava | | Eyob | Mektel | Strava | | Tulik | Angelo | Strava | | De la Cruz | David | Team Ticos Air Costa Rica | | Ortega | Sergio | Team Ticos Air Costa Rica | | Quintana | Dayer | Team Ticos Air Costa Rica | | Jeannesson | Arnold | Team Ticos Air Costa Rica | | Gonzalez Cortes | Josue | Team Ticos Air Costa Rica | | Rojas Villegas | César | Team Ticos Air Costa Rica | | Santoro | Antonio | Team Ticos Air Costa Rica | | Villalobos | Bryan | Team Ticos Air Costa Rica | | Trofimov | Yuri | Tinkoff Sport Academy | | Chernetskiy | Sergey | Tinkoff Sport Academy | | Zakarin | Ilnur | Tinkoff Sport Academy | | Yatsevich | Kiril | Tinkoff Sport Academy | | Malori | Adrian | Tinkoff Sport Academy | | Vorobev | Anton | Tinkoff Sport Academy | | Dal Col | Andrea | Tinkoff Sport Academy | | Kovalev | Ivan | Tinkoff Sport Academy | | Gastauer | Ben | Vesuvio - Accumalux | | König | Leopold | Vesuvio - Accumalux | | Goos | Marc | Vesuvio - Accumalux | | Jungels | Bob | Vesuvio - Accumalux | | Heymes | Gilles | Vesuvio - Accumalux | | Paterski | Maciej | Vesuvio - Accumalux | | Schlechter | Pit | Vesuvio - Accumalux | | Godoy | Caio | Vesuvio - Accumalux |
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| SotD |
Posted on 25-11-2017 07:50
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World Champion
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Aww, Sagan is here, hence Moser probably scoring as good as Coquard did in South Africa.
Extremely potent setup. No one is saving top riders for these PTHC races apparently. I really thought some teams would Down-prioritize them.
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 25-11-2017 08:17
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11819
Joined: 19-07-2010
PCM$: 300.00
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Okay, we have a win goal. For obvious reasons. There's no way I would accept a 6th in the GC like Bobridge did in P-N. The podium and at least one stage-win is the minimum acceptable result here. The TTT and ITT as the key stages for Bobridge vs those puncheur beasts. And please avoid any horrible day like S6 in Paris - Nice. Haas as our only weakness in the TTT, so I guess he will be dropped there anyway. There's really no excuses for this opening stage.
Lacking the depth in hills then, okay. But with Haas and Dyball, there's at least two domestiques, who can support Bobridge like Lowe/O'Brien did in P-N.
A super-strong startlist though. Anything can happen on a bad/good day. But we've had bad days in both T-A and P-N, so maybe it's time to change our luck here 
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| roturn |
Posted on 25-11-2017 08:41
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Team Manager
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Bobridge the big favourite here.
Though with EBH and Trofimov you never know. As also Ponzi and Bakelants.
Pure class startlist. And not hiding Sagan.
PCT will have a hard task here, though Van Garderen and maybe even Ignatiev are solid top10 riders.
Nice preview with all those extra tables. |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 25-11-2017 09:02
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18187
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Who puts Yates as a favourite in a PTHC race? If he top10's a stage i'll be pretty damn happy! Here more for XP for a couple of guys. Aiming for breakaway visibility rather than points.
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 25-11-2017 09:09
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Directeur Sportif
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Since the startlist is strong I wanted to highlight 20 riders. Maybe should've stopped at Ulissi but anyway. Consider the others as outsider then 
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| Shonak |
Posted on 25-11-2017 09:13
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15615
Joined: 16-07-2013
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Lovely preview, startlist is packed. Little expectations and will be readjusted after the TTT
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| beagle |
Posted on 25-11-2017 09:17
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Grand Tour Specialist
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AbhishekLFC wrote:
Since the startlist is strong I wanted to highlight 20 riders. Maybe should've stopped at Ulissi but anyway. Consider the others as outsider then
Did you write this great preview pre or after racing? Mentioning Izagirre as "outsider with TTT advantage" only makes me worrying 
Manager of Polar in Man-Game
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| sgdanny |
Posted on 25-11-2017 09:44
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Classics Specialist
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Forgettable race for us with Poljanski being really far behind the others, so can only hope for a breakaway win and a Top 25
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 25-11-2017 09:52
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World Champion
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Again my team leader does not get a mention in the preview, not looking good. Then again, in a stage race with the PT is not where we expect our points. Go go breakaway!
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 25-11-2017 10:07
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 9099
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We are hoping for the white jersey here, and maybe some Brändle magic in the ITT.
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| knockout |
Posted on 25-11-2017 10:08
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
PCM$: 400.00
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Stupid TTs. Time for Skujins to perform here but the TTs make this a less interesting race for me. I need some selective racing!
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 25-11-2017 10:20
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Team Leader
Posts: 6036
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Boy what a startlist! Should've focused solely on the TTs I guess, unless Borges punches above his weight again. Strategically, this race could be very important seeing that many teams sent their top puncheurs, but only a few will get a reasonable return. Hopefully stage 5 will be our day.
I'm going to go with Bobridge for the overall win here. Being in a top TTT squad, and one of the best TTist of the favourites, things should go on Jayco's side this time around.
Thanks for a very detailed preview Abhish! Good luck everyone!
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| tastasol |
Posted on 25-11-2017 10:26
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Classics Specialist
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Huge race for us. Boasson Hagen have been a regular at the podium here the last years, and need something like that here. Reckon Trofimov and Bobridge will be the toughest competitors.
Have brought a strong TTT setup, so we'll hopefully limit our losses there. Not great depth in the hills, with only Vink and Watson as helpers, but it will hopefully be enough.
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| trekbmc |
Posted on 25-11-2017 10:34
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Team Leader
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Was worried about the startlist, then I realised I wasn't in the race and I felt better.
Bobridge should be invincible here but can we really trust PCM? I'd support Skujins but think PCM will fail on him as well.  Will be interesting to see how it plays out at least.
Awesome preview Abhishek!
"What done is, is one." - Benji Naesen
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 25-11-2017 10:40
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Directeur Sportif
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I'd fancy Quevedo to finally score more than 10 points in a race btw...
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| ember |
Posted on 25-11-2017 10:47
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Team Leader
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Will be interesting to see what Beltran does this time around. Especially stage 6 should suit him. No GC ambitions with both a TT and a TTT, but hopefully he can do well on a couple of the hilly stages.
Bobridge and EBH the favourites for me, and Trofimov as a strong outsider. |
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| cio93 |
Posted on 25-11-2017 12:03
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World Champion
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Feels like Kelderman is the only world class puncheur not attending this race, not much of an HC aspect to this one!
Hopefully that's good news for us, with our band races mostly coming further down the line (actually we won't be in any of the next 3 races of this category either) and focused on different rider types.
It'll be very important that our rival teams steal points off of each other while we retain a steady points influx to stay in touch until then.
In that sense, go EBH, Ponzi and Trofitruffle!
Realistically, Bobridge should have the skills and especially the motivation after PN to strike. An early yellow jersey after stage 2 could prove crucial and supply massive points.
Ignatiev could've been an interesting rider to follow if he had a better TTT team around him, as I could see him hang on in stages 2-4. Likewise, Coppel would've been interesting to follow.
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| OlegTinkov |
Posted on 25-11-2017 13:34
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2666
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Win goal 
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| matt17br |
Posted on 25-11-2017 14:39
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 10525
Joined: 28-09-2013
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Excited to see what my TTT setup can do in a PTHC field, and how much Ulissi can score up until the last TT. This should be a very good race for us points-wise, even if I am far from expecting a huge result GC-wise.
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![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
