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Philadelphia International Championship Discussion
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 28-12-2017 16:35
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4191
Joined: 13-09-2015
PCM$: 300.00
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Welcome to Philadelphia! Tomorrow we'll see the 7th edition of the race, Formerly known as a hilly classic, the new route introduced a couple of years ago is a route that is suited perfectly to punchy sprinters, as the race goes in a circuit mostly flat, except for the finish, where there's a one-km uphill zone.
Last year the race was won by Martin Reimer, a rider that fits in the definition of punchy sprinter. Obviously he won't be there, as he's racing for Spotify in the PT level. The main favourite for the win is Isostar's star,  Marko Kump. Last year he could only finish in 8th place. He has already won 4 times times, which puts him in fifth place in that classification across all divisions(only behind Swift and Bewley with 6, and Valls and Alarcon with 5). He is so perfectly suited to this race that not winning it would be a mayor surprise. But his main problem can come through not strong enough lead-out train. He might need to jump in other train, and we all know how dangerous that can be.
Behind the Slovenian, there are three riders that could take the win as well, although all are weaker in the uphill terrain.  Modolo is like a worse copy of Kump, and the Italian won't even have any type of support in the sprint preparations. But he has already beat Kump in a stage in Tour Down Under in January, so there's hope for him.  Van Asbroeck and  Ewan are both capable of sprinting well in the uphill finish, and their teams have the best lead-out trains in the race, specially the Aussie. Lierse has a flat beast like Vanbilsen to set up the train, before likely Gaviria, with his incredible acceleration puts the Belgian in a prime place to sprint for the win. While Podium Ambition have 4 guys with 79+ sprint, and a 81 sprinter like Nelson to lead-out Ewan.
There are a few sprinters that if the race is ridden really fast, thanks to their all-rounder skills, will be in the mix for the win even if their sprint abilities aren't as great as the best sprinters here. Riders like  Holloway, Aregger,  Silvestre or  Rowe join that definition.
This is a flat classic, and some teams have gambled sending their top sprinters here, despite their lack of uphill abilities. Although riders like  Lo Cicero,  Guerao or  Maksimov in a very very good day could find themselves fighting for a win here. Anyway, they should be in the mix for low top10 places, specially if the race goes slow
| Strong Sprinters | SPR | ACC | HILL | FLA | Pure Sprinters | SPR | ACC | HILL | FLA | | Kump | 80 | 80 | 76 | 74 | Lo Cicero | 84 | 78 | 64 | 72 | | Modolo | 78 | 81 | 73 | 74 | Guerao | 83 | 76 | 64 | 74 | | Van Asbroeck | 80 | 78 | 71 | 75 | Nelson | 81 | 81 | 60 | 72 | | Aregger | 78 | 77 | 71 | 73 | Maksimov | 81 | 84 | 58 | 72 | | Ewan | 81 | 79 | 70 | 73 | Soupe | 79 | 77 | 66 | 72 | | Holloway | 80 | 82 | 69 | 78 |  Matthews | 79 | 79 | 64 | 75 |  Bertilsson | 79 | 77 | 69 | 73 |  Hayakawa | 79 | 79 | 64 | 73 |  Van Heerden | 82 | 73 | 68 | 73 |  Manarelli | 79 | 79 | 59 | 72 | | Docker | 79 | 77 | 68 | 72 | Manninen | 78 | 78 | 66 | 72 | | Silvestre | 80 | 81 | 67 | 78 | Keough | 78 | 75 | 64 | 72 |  Moser | 80 | 79 | 67 | 72 | Nepomnyachsniy | 78 | 76 | 64 | 74 | | Appollonio | 81 | 78 | 66 | 74 | Tewelde | 78 | 77 | 64 | 74 | | Rowe | 79 | 80 | 66 | 78 |  Cisse | 78 | 77 | 63 | 74 |
Despite this being a race for (punchy) sprinters, we'll have here some riders that given the chance to attack, could make it to the finish.
Vanbilsen is the strongest rouler in the race, but acting as a domestique for Van Asbroeck, it's very unlikely that he'll have a chance to go on his own. Same goes for Jans and Navardauskas, who will work for Kump. Also, looking at the strong riders in the flat, most of them will have domestique duties to sprinters, with Netia being a team who will rely on attacks from riders like  Mørkøv - although he can sprint for minor places, Bernas or Rabottini.
There are here also a few puncheurs. It would surprising to see one of these riders winning the race, but given the final km, it wouldn't be weird to see some of these in the top10. Schreurs is the strongest puncheur here, while McEvoy might be the biggest threat overall, with his decent sprint stat, although he might have to work for Silvestre
| Flat Specialists | FLA | HIL | ACC | RES | Puncheurs | HIL | FLA | ACC | RES | | Vanbilsen | 78 | 69 | 71 | 74 | Schreurs | 81 | 70 | 74 | 72 | | Jans | 76 | 74 | 74 | 73 | Teklit | 77 | 70 | 70 | 72 | | Kuznetsov | 76 | 70 | 75 | 73 | Hategeka | 77 | 68 | 66 | 69 | | Bauer | 76 | 73 | 70 | 73 | Edet | 77 | 67 | 71 | 69 | | Navardauskas | 75 | 74 | 70 | 74 | Kadri | 76 | 73 | 78 | 69 | | Mørkøv | 75 | 74 | 70 | 70 | Fumeaux | 76 | 72 | 70 | 70 | | Altur | 75 | 70 | 68 | 70 | McEvoy | 76 | 70 | 79 | 70 | | Bernas | 75 | 73 | 71 | 70 | Rabottini | 76 | 70 | 68 | 73 | | Vermote | 75 | 70 | 72 | 71 | Hatanaka | 76 | 70 | 73 | 69 | | De Maar | 75 | 73 | 76 | 71 | Lane | 76 | 69 | 73 | 68 |
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| knockout |
Posted on 28-12-2017 17:13
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
PCM$: 400.00
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Oh Kump, please win this so Croatia stops moaning about relegation for half a week ... 
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| Eden95 |
Posted on 28-12-2017 17:28
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4505
Joined: 05-10-2010
PCM$: 900.00
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Don't know why, but I'm feeling a Van Asbroeck or an Ewan victory coming here. We've got an ok team, i'd like it if Moser could sneak his way into the top 10.
Indosat - ANZ HQ
"This Schleck sandwich is going to cause serious indigestion for Evans" - Phil Liggett |
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 28-12-2017 18:08
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 9099
Joined: 13-03-2013
PCM$: 2100.00
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If Kump doesn't win here, with the best train and the best stats...I promise I stop talking about relegation until our next goal race if we win...
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 13:27
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Bot Agent
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 28-12-2017 18:46
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7593
Joined: 04-07-2012
PCM$: 15345.00
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I don't like riding this race because of the direction in which I took my team and the storyline I created around it, but stupid bands system kinda forced me. Manarelli aside, this is about the weakest squad I could select. No objective here, I'll be focussing my attention on Veenendaal - Veenendaal.
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 28-12-2017 18:52
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 16429
Joined: 27-07-2011
PCM$: 10438.70
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Hoping for a top 10 here from Appo? Shouldn't try for much more, but he could surprise.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 28-12-2017 19:27
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18187
Joined: 12-05-2012
PCM$: 0.00
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It's the Ricki-Caleb-Mitch-Soupe combo again! The rare appearence of the quartet together, but it gives us some sort of chance at a top result. Ricki's been underperforming and could do with a good finish, but he'll struggle on the climb. Caleb's been using up RD's for XP mostly, but this is a race he could do well in and i hope he'll be right at the front end. Mitch also suits this route better than a number of purer sprinters and he's popped in a few decent finishes. Souper, idk i'd just like to see him somewhere at some point.
Then it's fleshed out with youngstesr of Lily, Huynh, Dredd and our Barbadian delight Matthews who could be interesting today.
Aiming strongly at the Top5. Not in the Top10 will be a blow. Outside the Top15 an complete failure with the 4-headed attack option. We're certainly ready for a fight!
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 28-12-2017 19:31
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World Champion
Posts: 11392
Joined: 17-12-2014
PCM$: 1020.00
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Croatia14 wrote:
If Kump doesn't win here, with the best train and the best stats...I promise I stop talking about relegation until our next goal race if we win...
that's a very sneaky promise 
A lot of cool riders here but none cooler than Kump, let's hope for a good, tough day which leads to a good win for him
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
5x  x5
2x  x2
2x  x2 |
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| tastasol |
Posted on 28-12-2017 19:53
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2889
Joined: 11-09-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Somewhat surprised to see so many of the top sprinters here, given the clash with Dutch Food Valley Classic (guessing sgdanny and Mohs is quite happy about that). We're only racing here, so hopefully Rowe can manage a top 10 to round off the month. Does lack a little bit in the hills compared to Kump, but should be decent enough there, at least after the little winter training. Positioning will be probably be the key for us.
Many very good puncheurs here, quite surprised to see Schreurs here. Should be interesting to follow who they'll do.
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| Bushwackers |
Posted on 28-12-2017 20:10
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Sprinter
Posts: 1907
Joined: 07-02-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Wow what a field. I was hoping for a top-10 with Aregger due to his hill stat, but with this many sprinters I doubt he will take part in the finale. Hopefuly we can ditch some of the weak hilly guys, but that's unlikely. Oh well, it means there is a better field for Reinhardt in Dutch Valley.
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 28-12-2017 20:28
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8058
Joined: 22-06-2009
PCM$: 650.00
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I promised Maksimov a beer if he just makes it to the final sprint. 
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| dev4ever |
Posted on 28-12-2017 20:37
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2282
Joined: 13-03-2011
PCM$: 200.00
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Pressure on for Kump here with his improved sprint stat. Really hope he can improve on his classics campaign compared to what he did for me last year!
I feel a Modolo win comming to continue Ferrero's great giro run.
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| fintas |
Posted on 28-12-2017 20:47
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2602
Joined: 21-03-2008
PCM$: 1200.00
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f*ck what a field, I'm just asking for a place in the top 15 from Silvestre.
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| trekbmc |
Posted on 28-12-2017 20:51
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Team Leader
Posts: 7366
Joined: 11-07-2014
PCM$: 700.00
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Kump better win, otherwise we should probably change to FM to get more realstic cycling results.
I was optimistically aiming for one mention in the preview, seeing that Mørkøv is a potential top 10 rider, but seeing a couple other riders mentioned too is cool, although given our teams records with opportunistic late attacks (It'd be roughly less than 1), maybe we're best off relying on Mørkøv.
"What done is, is one." - Benji Naesen
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| viking90 |
Posted on 28-12-2017 21:23
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4032
Joined: 24-01-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Great memories from this race last season, Reimer really crushed it in the sprint 
Can Kumpe make it this time? |
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 28-12-2017 22:43
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World Champion
Posts: 14563
Joined: 08-08-2011
PCM$: 9100.00
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Top 5 is the goal here, should be ok if we make it a tough race. Kump is the man to beat, but Van Asbroeck has done so in the hilly stage in Gabon, so it's not impossible. Great preview as well!
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 29-12-2017 04:22
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World Champion
Posts: 12986
Joined: 20-05-2009
PCM$: 530.00
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Hoping for a decent placing here, but not expecting anything great.
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 29-12-2017 12:13
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Team Manager
Posts: 33046
Joined: 08-03-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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Hoping to see more like 2015 (2nd place) here for Van Heerden than 2016 (15th place). But this season so far hasn't suggested any chance of that!
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| Selwink |
Posted on 29-12-2017 14:37
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8856
Joined: 17-05-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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Holloway and Kadri both outsiders for a good result here. Hopefully one of them delivers
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 29-12-2017 15:02
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 9099
Joined: 13-03-2013
PCM$: 2100.00
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Hmm, I'm not sure what to think. It's awesome to have won this race, that is for sure. On the other hand we are talking about 0 depth points. We are talking about no leadout when being the clear race favourite and having a strong train.
I won't complain, Kump executed it perfectly. The team controlled the race very well. Great win for us! And a necessary one. I'll hold my promise to not speak about the awful r-word until the next goal race.
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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)
