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Benelux Challenge Discussion
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 24-02-2018 18:30
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Directeur Sportif
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Benelux Challenge
| Category: C2HC | 6 Stages | terrain: classics |  BeNeLux  |
Welcome to planner's hell. Between french fries and german campervans several teams are willing to face the BeNeLux Challenge. 6 days of racing - not the nice velodrome version, but the rough one: Hills, cobbles, open roads, wind, weather. You gotta resist it all to be successful here.
The last warrior to win here will try to defend his title here: We are talking about Sauber-captain Gregory Hugentobler (2016). But he has to be aware of another former winner: Philips wildcard Marcel Wyss (2014) . They can all be happy that the third former winner, Marc de Maar (2015), is not here again.
But several stage winners of the past came back to compete and revive the glory they received earlier: Geschke (2016), Kruopis (2015), Takenouchi (2014). Why many more former winners (like Bille) are missing is unexplainable really. But let's not focus on what could have been, but take a look at who will be competing in this years edition.
Stage 1:
A prologue stage. The fastest man wins. Who could look past Chavanne for this? Ah yes: PCM AI is the only thing really that could possibly beat him.
 Chavanne | 82 |  Martin | 78 |  Cruz | 76 |  Laizer | 76 |  Reus | 79 |  Meyer | 78 |  Goddaert | 76 | Sepulveda | 76 |  Robert | 79 |  Mullen | 78 | Hacecký | 76 |  Van Zandbeek | 76 | | Stannard | 79 | Van Emden | 78 |  Kneisky | 76 | Vandewalle | 76 | | Hofer | 78 | Ma | 77 | Kruopis | 76 | Hochmann | 75 |
 Chavanne
 Reus, Stannard, Robert
 van Emden, Meyer, Mullen, Martin, Hofer
 Ma, Kruopis, Sepulveda, Hochmann
Stage 2:
Away we go onto the first of two sprint stages. And this should be a rather obvious one for the sprinters. But watch out, there is a slight rise on the final kilometer, that could distract the pure sprinters. Surely their teams will make it a mass sprint
| FL | HI | SP | AC | | FL | HI | SP | AC |  Thorsen | 61 | 54 | 82 | 85 | Sonnery | 69 | 70 | 78 | 73 | | Meyer | 72 | 61 | 80 | 76 |  Harrison | 72 | 67 | 78 | 81 | | Kip | 69 | 56 | 80 | 82 | Thwaites | 73 | 65 | 78 | 76 |  Haussler | 72 | 69 | 79 | 75 |  Brus | 71 | 64 | 78 | 78 |  Mezgec | 71 | 67 | 79 | 77 | Corti | 72 | 63 | 78 | 76 |  Clarke | 72 | 62 | 79 | 78 | Jones | 72 | 60 | 78 | 78 | | Vanderaerden | 72 | 61 | 79 | 75 | Cimolai | 74 | 66 | 77 | 77 | | Lay | 73 | 60 | 79 | 81 | Jaser | 73 | 66 | 77 | 75 | | Hochmann | 70 | 54 | 79 | 80 | Vasylyuk | 72 | 64 | 77 | 76 |  Gatto | 71 | 74 | 78 | 72 | Geschke | 71 | 74 | 76 | 76 | | Kreder | 73 | 70 | 78 | 80 | Kreder | 73 | 71 | 76 | 77 | | Kruopis | 73 | 70 | 78 | 77 | Horton | 76 | 67 | 76 | 82 |
M.Kreder
Kruopis, Harrison
Thorsen, Gatto, Geschke
Meyer, Kip, Haussler, Mezgec, Sonnery
Clarke, Vanderaerden, Thwaites, Lay, Hochmann, R.Kreder, Brus
Stage 3:
We go onto the hills. First off is the longer but calmer hill stage, that finishes with a huge downhill part. So whoever sprints first will win. The question is: Who will be able to sprint first? Will it be a solo rider, a favourite group or even a bigger bunch? We have a very open race on this stage.
| HI | AC | | HI | AC | | HI | AC | | Roux | 78 | 75 | Simon | 76 | 74 |  Anderson | 75 | 75 | | Monfort | 77 | 72 | Rybakov | 76 | 72 | Besada | 75 | 75 |  Squire | 77 | 71 |  Taborre | 76 | 72 | Gaimon | 75 | 74 | | Diggle | 77 | 70 | Lietaer | 76 | 71 | Costa | 75 | 73 | | Grippo | 77 | 69 | Gilbert | 76 | 69 | Hollenstein | 75 | 73 | | Lejman | 77 | 68 | Passalacqua | 76 | 69 | Schoonbroodt | 75 | 72 | | Vichot | 76 | 80 | Haavardsholm | 75 | 80 | Geschke | 74 | 76 | | Hugentobler | 76 | 76 | Wyss | 75 | 75 | Gatto | 74 | 72 |
Roux, Vichot
Hugentobler, Squire, Geschke
M.Kreder, Gatto, Monfort, Haavardsholm, M. Wyss
Chavanne, Schoonbrodt, Simon, Grippo, Anderson, Gaimon
van Emden, Zoidl, D.Wyss, Kruopis, Harrison, Gilbert, Reus, Horton
Stage 4:
The huge cobbled stage awaiting, and hills plaster the way. Can the pure puncheurs limit their losses? It is pretty unlikely that the best can resist the strongest cobblers, but hybrids may stand a chance. And could it be the first day for a breakaway win?
| FL | HI | CB | AC | | FL | HI | CB | AC | | Van Keirsbulck | 72 | 71 | 78 | 68 | Marcato | 72 | 72 | 72 | 71 | | Bush | 74 | 62 | 78 | 73 | van der Poel | 71 | 70 | 72 | 72 | | Vandenbergh | 75 | 66 | 77 | 62 | Per | 73 | 69 | 72 | 73 | | Drucker | 74 | 65 | 77 | 75 | Van Emden | 76 | 67 | 72 | 73 | | Grand | 72 | 65 | 77 | 65 | Armee | 71 | 74 | 71 | 74 | | Thwaites | 73 | 65 | 76 | 76 | Visconti | 71 | 74 | 71 | 71 | | Flaksis | 70 | 65 | 76 | 62 | Meersman | 76 | 68 | 71 | 72 | | Lindeman | 73 | 64 | 76 | 76 | Horton | 76 | 67 | 71 | 82 | | Verbist | 76 | 63 | 76 | 66 | Roux | 74 | 78 | 52 | 75 | | Jérôme | 73 | 72 | 75 | 65 | Squire | 68 | 77 | 65 | 71 | | Fouquet | 74 | 67 | 75 | 64 | Monfort | 70 | 77 | 58 | 72 | | Schoonbroodt | 72 | 75 | 74 | 72 | Hugentobler | 70 | 76 | 69 | 76 | | De Vreese | 74 | 72 | 74 | 70 | Gilbert | 76 | 76 | 68 | 69 | | Wyss | 73 | 68 | 74 | 73 | Lietaer | 70 | 76 | 67 | 71 | | Martinez | 72 | 68 | 73 | 76 | Vichot | 70 | 76 | 60 | 80 | | Harrison | 72 | 67 | 73 | 81 | Wyss | 72 | 75 | 61 | 75 | | Backaert | 72 | 74 | 72 | 66 | Reus | 77 | 74 | 67 | 62 | | Gatto | 71 | 74 | 72 | 72 | Geschke | 71 | 74 | 59 | 76 |
van Keirsbulck
Schoonbrodt
Drucker, Bush, Hugentobler
Gatto, Vandenbergh, Thwaites, Jerome, Gilbert
Squire, van Emden, Harrison, de Vreese, Grand, van der Poel, Per, Jams
Stage 5: Back to hills without cobbles. The chances get better for breakaway riders day by day. But there is also room for important GC movement over the several hills and on the final ramp.
| HI | AC | | HI | AC | | HI | AC | | Roux | 78 | 75 | Simon | 76 | 74 | Anderson | 75 | 75 | | Monfort | 77 | 72 | Rybakov | 76 | 72 | Besada | 75 | 75 | | Squire | 77 | 71 | Taborre | 76 | 72 | Gaimon | 75 | 74 | | Diggle | 77 | 70 | Lietaer | 76 | 71 | Costa | 75 | 73 | | Grippo | 77 | 69 | Gilbert | 76 | 69 | Hollenstein | 75 | 73 | | Lejman | 77 | 68 | Passalacqua | 76 | 69 | Schoonbroodt | 75 | 72 | | Vichot | 76 | 80 | Haavardsholm | 75 | 80 | Geschke | 74 | 76 | | Hugentobler | 76 | 76 | Wyss | 75 | 75 | Gatto | 74 | 72 |
Roux, Vichot
Hugentobler, Squire, Breakaway
Monfort, Haavardsholm, M. Wyss, Schoonbrodt
Geschke, Gatto, Simon, Grippo, Anderson, Gaimon
M.Kreder, van Emden, Gilbert, van der Poel, van Keirsbulck, Drucker
Stage 6: A long final stage awaits the peloton. You'd say the GC fight is closed, it is very unlikely that still a sprinter is involved that is capable of picking up points here. Instead, they want to use their second opportunity. But last stages on tours are quite breakaway-prone if they are flat. Maybe the length makes the difference in favor of a sprint royale?
| FL | HI | SP | AC | | FL | HI | SP | AC | | Thorsen | 61 | 54 | 82 | 85 | Sonnery | 69 | 70 | 78 | 73 | | Meyer | 72 | 61 | 80 | 76 | Harrison | 72 | 67 | 78 | 81 | | Kip | 69 | 56 | 80 | 82 | Thwaites | 73 | 65 | 78 | 76 | | Haussler | 72 | 69 | 79 | 75 | Brus | 71 | 64 | 78 | 78 | | Mezgec | 71 | 67 | 79 | 77 | Corti | 72 | 63 | 78 | 76 | | Clarke | 72 | 62 | 79 | 78 | Jones | 72 | 60 | 78 | 78 | | Vanderaerden | 72 | 61 | 79 | 75 | Cimolai | 74 | 66 | 77 | 77 | | Lay | 73 | 60 | 79 | 81 | Jaser | 73 | 66 | 77 | 75 | | Hochmann | 70 | 54 | 79 | 80 | Vasylyuk | 72 | 64 | 77 | 76 | | Gatto | 71 | 74 | 78 | 72 | Geschke | 71 | 74 | 76 | 76 | | Kreder | 73 | 70 | 78 | 80 | Kreder | 73 | 71 | 76 | 77 | | Kruopis | 73 | 70 | 78 | 77 | Horton | 76 | 67 | 76 | 82 |
Breakaway
M.Kreder, Thwaites, Harrison
Kruopis, Gatto, Haussler
Meyer, Thorsen, Kip, Haussler, Martinez, Horton
Mezgec, Clarke, Vanderaerden, Lay, Hochmann, Brus, Geschke, Kneisky
We hope you very much enjoyed the preview of the stages. Rating the determining stages we now put together the Power Ranking for the Top 30 GC Contenders:
| #1 | Gregory Hugentobler | #16 | Michel Kreder | | #2 | Guillaume Van Keirsbulck | #17 | Laurens De Vreese | | #3 | Bob Schoonbroodt | #18 | Matthieu van der Poel | | #4 | Kai Reus | #19 | Anthony Roux | | #5 | Robbie Squire | #20 | Arnaud Grand | | #6 | Jos Van Emden | #21 | Stijn Vandenbergh | | #7 | Jempy Drucker | #22 | David Per | | #8 | Oscar Gatto | #23 | Vincent Jérôme | | #9 | Philippe Gilbert | #24 | Gabriel Chavanne | | #10 | Sam Harrison | #25 | Sander Armee | | #11 | Arthur Vichot | #26 | Maxime Monfort | | #12 | Robert Bush | #27 | Jamalidin Novardianto | | #13 | Eliot Lietaer | #28 | Aidis Kruopis | | #14 | Scott Thwaites | #29 | Bert-Jan Lindeman | | #15 | Danilo Wyss | #30 | Tobyn Horton |
Final Startlist:
Edited by Aquarius97 on 24-02-2018 22:38
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 24-02-2018 18:53
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World Champion
Posts: 11392
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Let's see how the great Roux experiment goes by sending him here. I actually don't mind him being sent here - it's Geraardsbergen, Paris-Tours and Solidarnosc which are the dumb choices for him. Hope he can win at least a stage, but you never know with Benelux. Doubt Vandenbergh can do much on GC or even the cobbles given the hills associated. Roux could go for it if the peloton splits are left until the final climb or two on stage four, otherwise Jams is our man. Shame PCM won't give him leadership. Elsewhere Clarke only really has one stage to go for given the overwhelming breakaway odds for stage 6 - I remember last year we got a 1-2-3 in the sprint... for 7th 
And thanks for an amazing preview Croatia, just awesome. I hope Schomber is racing for Statoil for the prologue too, as he would've just missed out on the stage 1 table so no way to tell
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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| Vien |
Posted on 24-02-2018 19:50
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2322
Joined: 16-06-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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Waat, Croatia reporting? WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO TSMOHA?!?!?!
This will be an interesting race for us for sure. Except for having pretty much the only chance to win a GC this season with Schoonbroodt, we have top 5 potential in every stage. Of course we'll also have to compare ourselves to our promotion rivals to see how well we did eventually, but I'm certainly looking forward to a lot of points no matter what! |
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| Kentaurus |
Posted on 24-02-2018 20:30
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3999
Joined: 26-07-2011
PCM$: 200.00
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Welcome to the race no one has any clue about how will unfold. A mix of riders, of every type involved. Probably the hardest race to deal with in planning, trying to figure if it is worth sending. I sent Squire who should be fine on the hills, but the rest of the race could be a mess. Looks like others were about in the same position, not quite sure what to do.
My vaunted six man squad again... shows you my hopes for this thing.
Edited by Kentaurus on 25-02-2018 00:39
AZTECA - NBCSN  |
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| Yellow Jersey |
Posted on 24-02-2018 22:01
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2809
Joined: 16-04-2013
PCM$: 900.00
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Wow Jaser mentioned in a Sprinters preview.. This kid is going places 
In all honesty great preview Croatia! Although your prediction sees no such Andorra riders in the Top30 I hope they can prove that wrong, and I'm very excited for this one.
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| Tamijo |
Posted on 24-02-2018 23:52
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Team Leader
Posts: 7406
Joined: 14-07-2015
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Great very detailed preview Thanks
Now just keeping fingers croxxxxed
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| Scorchio |
Posted on 25-02-2018 00:00
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2073
Joined: 14-09-2013
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Probably the most crazy-assed race on the CT calendar. Bring it on! 
Manager of ISA - Hexacta in the MG |
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 25-02-2018 00:41
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3634
Joined: 03-07-2012
PCM$: 300.00
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I'm glad Hugentobler comes out on top of your ranking as I think I was crazy enough to set defending his title as our win goal.
I don't expect him to do it but think he should be capable of a top 5 here and have a chance at defending his title if he gets lucky.
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 25-02-2018 01:05
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2905
Joined: 07-08-2011
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Stunning preview! This race has the potential to be really nutty, props the most varied route we will see in a CT race this year. Praying that GVK smacks the cobbles like he did in Bosberg. A GC on top would be great but not getting my hopes up.
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| Booker |
Posted on 25-02-2018 01:21
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Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 875
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What a preview Croatia, props to you!
Thinking we don't quite have the studs to last throughout this race and remain in GC contention, but maybe the likes of Jerome and Gradek can surprise me a bit. Vichot, Hochmann, and Mullen are here for stage victories, but we need to keep taking solid points from these C2HC races if we're to stay in the top spots.
Hugentobler and Schoonbrooooodt look like solid picks for top places (and we hope they end up beating the likes of Reus  )
Looking forward to this clusterfuck
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 25-02-2018 05:44
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11676
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Amazing preview Croatia 
Our last goal race of the season and we've brought a team for all terrains. Will be tough for Wyss to make a mark overall, so mostly it's Drucker and his cobbles team who have to do the business for us.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-11-2024 19:44
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 25-02-2018 14:59
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4191
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Amazing preview  Thanks for that Croatia!
This is race where we have to score big if we want to continue fighting for promotion. Gilbert and Marcato are both very solid riders for this route, with Gilbert being only worse than Schoonbrodt and slightly worse than Hugentobler in cobbles of the good puncheurs. Afaik, the game will consider the puncheurs as leaders, so probably the cobbler won't play a big role in the GC.
Apart from GC fight, i hope for a decent showing of Kneisky in the prologue, and to have riders in breakaways and to fight for once for the KoM jersey
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| ryant |
Posted on 25-02-2018 17:20
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2322
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I dont know how well we'll go here, its an odd race and I dont know if Thwaites will do a good GC being a cobbler and nothing else really. I've got to hope that these hill stages aren't too selective but we'll see what happens.
 John St Ledger in Team Bunzl-Centrica and Team U25Red Bull Driver in RFactor
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 25-02-2018 20:38
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11819
Joined: 19-07-2010
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Vien wrote:
Waat, Croatia reporting? WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO TSMOHA?!?!?!
I'm here and here
Actually was meant to report this Benelux Challenge, but I've switched Andorra with Croatia. Looking at this preview, I'm glad we did Cool stuff with the preview for every stage! Hoping for a proper AI here, especially those hilly cobbles stages could be tricky for the game engine, I fear  But I will wait and see. Just from the look of the profiles, it's a cool race (even though I did not want to report on it)!
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 26-02-2018 13:31
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Tour de France Champion
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Hopefully the Stobart boys can achieve a decent result here  |
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| Tamijo |
Posted on 27-02-2018 07:26
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Team Leader
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My rider already got pain in their legs - waiting this long on the startline.
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 27-02-2018 09:11
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4191
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Tamijo wrote:
My rider already got pain in their legs - waiting this long on the startline.
i have sent my riders back to the hotel
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 27-02-2018 09:48
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World Champion
Posts: 11392
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Can they stay there for the rest of the race? Big race for Jams 
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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| Vien |
Posted on 27-02-2018 10:12
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2322
Joined: 16-06-2008
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It's all part of the hype! |
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| Vien |
Posted on 27-02-2018 10:54
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2322
Joined: 16-06-2008
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Complaining always helps . But it was worth the wait! Great result and a great report, thanks Croatia.
Obviously sad to see Ma drop from first to third so late, but it's still some unexpected points, so I'm happy with it. Also, doesn't the TT stat come into play in prologues longer than 5km? If so, this result would be easier to explain with Chavanne not winning. |
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