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Zuri Metzgete Discussion
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 26-04-2018 20:09
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 9099
Joined: 13-03-2013
PCM$: 2100.00
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Zuri Metzgete
| Category: C2HC | classic | terrain: hills |  Switzerland |
Welcome to the final race of the season: Zuri Metzgete. Or better call it Everybodys nemesis" Nobody likes it. Everybody is fear of it. Hands get sweaty the closer the date comes. And tomorrow will be the day. The D-Day. 24 team, each with 6 to 8 riders. One goal: Escape the burden. Win the lottery. Take the big one. Claim yourself the winner of the riddle of the Man-Game, which is even worse than the riddle of PCM gameplay. Reach the ultimate satisfaction. Win Zuri Metzgete.
7 editions of this hilly hell on earth we had before. Of course with 6 different winners. Of course not even a single rider could retain podium glory once he was part of this race. The curse of Zuri you'd say.
| Year | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | | 2007 | di Luca | Boogerd | Schleck | | 2008 | Cunego | Dekker | Guiterrez | | 2012 | Laverde | Vicioso | Sutherland | | 2013 | Weening | Furdi | Mehr-Wenige | | 2014 | Wyss | Sayar | Bekmanis | | 2015 | De Maar | Durasek | Bartra | | 2016 | Michely | Barbin | Santambrogio |
As you've seen over the last couple of editions: The race becomes more and more unpredictable every year. Back in the PT times we had smaller groups and somehow favourite victories with Di Luca and Cunego. But these days it's unpredictable. 2012 saw a very selective race with Laverde being the strongest. 2013 had the complete turnaround with a Gazelle 1-2 by Weening and Furdi on a big group finish, where often two teammates came in together. 2014 saw a successful finesseur move by Marcel Wyss, who's back for the race today. He won ahead of a 20 man bunch leed by famous Tour of Turkey legend Mustafa Sayar.
Since then we had two big bunches finishing together. 2015 we had a somehow reasonable finisher in Marc de Maar, who proved to be a big-time CT racer. Also Fablok and Novatek with big time races, while Netia got cursed and lost the crown because Morkov happened. And last year wasn't better. MOL came up with a big time October having lunch and dinner at the same time in Switzerland. Michely won that year completely surprising, with also Varga in 5th, sharing 5th of the 6 top places with the dominant CT hill force of Ferrero. The bigger favourites as it were de Mar, Bole, Bille and Klemme received a huge upset there, indicating a turnaround in the promotion area on the final days of the season again.
This time the situation is critical getting into the race right from the start. Still several teams are competing for the promotion spots, especially with the disband promotion situation very unclear this year. Take a look at the current standings after Kigali GP, that left most of the participating teams from the CT, Xero right in the first spot, pretty unhappy:
| 1 | 1 |  | World Cycling Centre | 1730 | | 2 | 2 |  | In-n-Out p/b Carrefour | 1584 | | 3 | 3 |  | Kulczyk - DMTEX | 1511 | | 4 | 5 |  | Philips - Continental | 1503 | | 5 | 7 |  | Team Reddit | 1413 | | 6 | 4 |  | Xero Racing p/b Octagon | 1301 | | 7 | 6 |  | Azteca - NBCSN | 1253 | | 8 | 8 |  | Repsol - Honda | 1204 | | 9 | 9 |  | cycleYorkshire | 1142 | | 10 | 10 |  | Goldcorp - Nordstrom Rack | 993 | | 11 | 11 |  | Campari - Super Dry | 873 | | 12 | 12 |  | Sauber Petronas Racing | 867 | | 13 | 13 |  | Proximus Continental Team | 792 | | 14 | 14 |  | Telia-Brussels Airlines | 774 | | 15 | 15 |  | Aeropostal Venezuela Ciclismo | 645 | | 16 | 16 |  | Wiggle p/b Boardman Bikes | 619 | | 17 | 17 |  | Andorra Cycling Project | 540 | | 18 | 18 |  | The Balkan Cycling Project | 537 | | 19 | 22 |  | Eddie Stobart | 504 | | 20 | 20 |  | Garmin - BikeNZ Cycling | 401 | | 21 | 19 |  | SanCor | 389 | | 22 | 21 |  | Löbauer Stadtwerke - Etixx | 376 | | 23 | 24 |  | Statoil Pro Cycling | 274 | | 24 | 23 |  | VMP - Argon 18 | 264 |
The Top 5 seem to be ready and set for promotion. Xero, sitting in 5th, has a very likely disband promotion spot with Project: Africa disappearing. In Roux they have one of the outright favourites here, so surely they have to be in the pole position for 6th. Well, looking at the Zuri History that you can't count on anything in this race, maybe it's even better to not have a favourite than to actually have one. Chances are there for Azteca and Repsol surely. And remember: More disbands are possible, so every position in that area counts! So it is even very much possible that cycleVorkshire, especially if they have a great race here with Tvetcov, will be a PCT team in 2018. Stay tuned for tomorrow!
To the race and our predictions. First of all it will be freakin long. Hence energy stats should play a role. Especially if the race is ridden as hard as it should be. Then we have a circuit race. That means we'll ride the same climbs 5 times. You're gonna get tired from that, especially as it's a good mixture of roleur hills and steep ramps. Again: This will have a heavy impact if the race is ridden as hard as it should be. And then there is the downhill sections. The 5* appearing downhill section is sharp and offers same high gradients. Riders with great technique should have an advantage, especially if the sky opens its doors to donate some gifts to us that make the race even more difficult. And then there are flat section, open for the attacking roleurs tht get over the hills. They might have a chance, if the race is ridden properly. But who can count on that? The ones that won't mind a lazy race are the sprinters. If they make it over the final hill with the front group, then they should have the opportunities. If they get their positioni...oh well, it's PCM.
So what is the most realistic outcome? A slow race over the climbs, the breakaway being caught before the final round. Then attacks on the climbs, somebody that will burn himself out as a captain and brings everything together just to drop back. Sprinters paradise. But sprinters paradise without sprinters, as they prefer to chill at the back. So something for the stronger puncheurs with numbers to launch them? Well, of course not, because why bother doing a train for your leader. So what is left as an option:Yes, exactly. A messy bunch sprint with leaders still protected by their domestique, that will more often than not land ahead of their initial leader at the end. Somebody will have a lucky spot at the right place with perfect timing and win the race. Most likely a domestique of a mid-level captain, but surely not a race leader. A strange top 10 with a major shuffle-up in the rankings. Zuri madness.
So who is going to be the favourite for that? That's just an unfair question. Pairing PCM with Zuri Metzgete is the worst thing to do for any predictor. Guessing by the logic of the race we should advice the audience to bet on Thorsen. But then again the sprinters always fail their positioning in Zürich. So what now? We can try to offer some ideas by handing out the best riders for a hill/sprint scenario:
| | HIL | ACC | SPR | STA | FLA | MON | RES | | van der Hugenhaben | Robin | 80 | 66 | 68 | 77 | 73 | 77 | 76 | | Chaves | Johan Esteban | 79 | 72 | 57 | 74 | 70 | 76 | 73 | | Roux | Anthony | 78 | 75 | 57 | 78 | 74 | 65 | 71 | | Boily | David | 78 | 74 | 68 | 72 | 67 | 76 | 72 | | Monfort | Maxime | 77 | 72 | 62 | 73 | 70 | 70 | 71 | | Pellaud | Simon | 77 | 70 | 65 | 74 | 70 | 65 | 68 | | Diggle | Tom | 77 | 70 | 64 | 74 | 67 | 65 | 70 | | Bratashcuk | Andrii | 77 | 67 | 62 | 75 | 69 | 71 | 70 | | Kratochvila | Jakub | 77 | 64 | 53 | 70 | 67 | 76 | 68 | | Vichot | Arthur | 76 | 80 | 66 | 77 | 70 | 65 | 68 | | Hugentobler | Gregory | 76 | 76 | 56 | 70 | 70 | 68 | 69 | | Othman | Muhamad Adiq | 76 | 76 | 54 | 73 | 69 | 68 | 70 | | Simon | Julien | 76 | 74 | 72 | 75 | 71 | 64 | 74 | | Bennett | George | 76 | 73 | 65 | 75 | 67 | 78 | 74 | | Taborre | Fabio | 76 | 72 | 62 | 75 | 70 | 67 | 69 | | Lietaer | Eliot | 76 | 71 | 66 | 74 | 70 | 67 | 71 | | Cunego | Damiano | 76 | 70 | 61 | 70 | 66 | 77 | 74 | | Gilbert | Philippe | 76 | 69 | 64 | 74 | 76 | 65 | 70 | | Nzeke | Geremie | 76 | 68 | 66 | 72 | 67 | 72 | 67 | | Wahyudi | Nandra Eko | 76 | 67 | 58 | 67 | 65 | 72 | 69 | | Rodriguez Galindo | Michael | 76 | 67 | 58 | 72 | 69 | 74 | 72 | | Anderson | Ryan | 75 | 75 | 72 | 71 | 70 | 67 | 67 | | Wyss | Marcel | 75 | 75 | 68 | 76 | 72 | 69 | 68 | | Gaimon | Phillip | 75 | 74 | 67 | 75 | 71 | 72 | 72 | | Tvetcov | Serghei | 75 | 73 | 72 | 72 | 71 | 77 | 71 | | Costa | Jaoa | 75 | 73 | 65 | 68 | 66 | 71 | 69 | | Hollenstein | Reto | 75 | 73 | 63 | 73 | 71 | 64 | 70 | | Schoonbroodt | Bob | 75 | 72 | 68 | 75 | 72 | 63 | 73 | | Chérel | Mikaël | 75 | 72 | 61 | 76 | 71 | 61 | 68 | | Schurter | Nino | 75 | 71 | 66 | 67 | 67 | 72 | 71 | | Wallays | Jelle | 75 | 69 | 64 | 72 | 72 | 63 | 71 | | Geschke | Simon | 74 | 76 | 76 | 75 | 71 | 65 | 70 | | Bille | Gaëtan | 74 | 75 | 72 | 73 | 73 | 69 | 71 | | Bardet | Romain | 74 | 75 | 52 | 72 | 66 | 77 | 70 | | Bole | Grega | 74 | 74 | 76 | 74 | 71 | 64 | 67 | | Juarez | Daniel | 74 | 74 | 74 | 73 | 74 | 64 | 72 | | Gatto | Oscar | 74 | 72 | 78 | 71 | 71 | 66 | 64 | | Finetto | Mauro | 74 | 72 | 70 | 74 | 70 | 72 | 72 | | Dowling | Mark | 74 | 72 | 70 | 70 | 70 | 72 | 71 | | Agostini | Stefano | 74 | 72 | 60 | 78 | 68 | 69 | 76 | | Cuming | Michael | 74 | 69 | 64 | 74 | 70 | 74 | 70 | | Marentes | Wilson | 73 | 76 | 67 | 74 | 71 | 73 | 73 | | Pirazzi | Stefano | 73 | 76 | 62 | 69 | 66 | 75 | 68 | | Delage | Mickaël | 73 | 71 | 73 | 73 | 74 | 67 | 70 | | Kossouhorou | Marvain Tognama | 73 | 70 | 72 | 70 | 72 | 71 | 73 | | Smukulis | Gatis | 72 | 75 | 72 | 77 | 75 | 57 | 66 | | Leezer | Tom | 71 | 78 | 71 | 74 | 73 | 59 | 71 | | Timmer | Albert | 71 | 73 | 71 | 72 | 75 | 73 | 69 | | Haussler | Heinrich | 69 | 75 | 79 | 71 | 72 | 60 | 71 |
Firstly I need to be very sorry having to leave out Thorsen and Suaza for Eddie Stobart here. Nice try, you exactly got the spirit of the riddle! Hereby I'm voting for 20 extra points in the rankings for Sutty for just being amazing and making my day.
Secondly we have to check out who has the biggest shot for a rider to win out of the blue. Therefore we just look at the team depth to predict who could have many riders at the front still at the end. Well, nobody knows what the hell PCM may to with them, as they could just hang around at the back and get dropped for no reason. Especially Balkan can sing a song of that, yet they still bring Lejman as a leader to ruin themselves. We vote for 10 extra points to compensate for the Polish Trabi in the run of supercars (yes, that was intended).
Looking deeper at the teams, we think that we found a couple of teams that could have major depth in the final: Xero, Philips, Goldcorp and Sauber seem to have the deepest teams in the race and hence the statistically highest chance on the ultimate luck shot. But well, if statistics were right Evonik would've come last in the PT, right? So yes, you can neither trust the race, nor PCM, nor statistics. So what next?
We can take a look at the objective favourites. Good joke right? There are none in Zuri. But let's check out the best hill riders. At the very front there is van der Hugenhaben. He's been as consistent as Diego Rosa irl this year. Sometimes he shines bright, and he should definitely do more often. But there is this "meh" about his season. Esteban Chaves has been more of the Sondre Enger type of rider. Dropping a division down, still does shit for most of the season and can seldomly go for glory.
Then we have Roux and Boily: The Valverde and Alaphilippe of the MG. Roux does awesome for most of the season, just to fail when it really matters. And Boily is more of the 2017 Alaphilippe. Consistenly great, but misses that one special thing when it's all about winning.
Chances of course go to several riders here, the most outstanding ones listed here: Don't be offended though if the auther at some point walked away from favourites to just fitting name combinations
Maxime "Valgren" Monfort
Marcel "Kreuziger" Wyss
Simon "Vanendert Pellaud
Gregory "Stybar" Hugentobler
George "Fuglsang" Bennett
Damiano "is he even still riding" Cunego
Philippe "Gilbert" Gilbert
Serghei "Konrad" Tvetcov
Ryan "Swishhhh" Anderson
Simon "Ciolek" Geschke
Gaetan Sagan
Grega "Nizzolo" Bole
Daniel "Mareczko" Thorsen
Oscar "fat van Avermaet" Gatto
Marvain "Bakari done right" Kossouhoru
Winner "Everest Challenge" Anacona
...enough of the "fun", let's get back to the right direction. Prediction fun. Well. See you later, please go to Japan Cup/Lombardia for that, cause this is the sad truth. We need to pick favourites. Let's do this without commenting anything and just letting the magic happen.
 Anderson
 Roux, Bille, Tvetcov
 Simon, Bennett, Smukulis, Wyss, Boily
 Pellaud, Monfort, Geschke, Hugentobler, Marentes, Visconti, Vichot
 vdH, Chaves, Juarez, Leezer, Bole, Gaimon, Gatto, Kossohouru, Costa
We can't really explain our selection, because the race would screw over anything anyway. Instead we'd like to thank all active CT managers for an awesome season, and praise the ones that have made it reading until here. Thanks for your attention. Let's let the startlist of the final CT race of 2018 close out this preview:
Final Startlist:
| 77 | Grippo | Chiaffredo | Aeropostal Venezuela | | 75 | Besada | Félix Emilio | Aeropostal Venezuela | | 73 | Pirazzi | Stefano | Aeropostal Venezuela | | 72 | Roman | Maky | Aeropostal Venezuela | | 69 | Dall'Antonia | Tiziano | Aeropostal Venezuela | | 69 | Sepulveda | Eduardo | Aeropostal Venezuela | | 67 | Pereyra | Pedro Pablo | Aeropostal Venezuela | | 62 | Cruz | Freddy | Aeropostal Venezuela | | 76 | Passalacqua | Alberigo | Andorra Cycling Project | | 71 | Baltazar | Carlos | Andorra Cycling Project | | 70 | Rujano | José | Andorra Cycling Project | | 70 | Vila | Ivan | Andorra Cycling Project | | 69 | Rinner | Daniel | Andorra Cycling Project | | 69 | Schlegel | Michal | Andorra Cycling Project | | 67 | Urcelay | Adria | Andorra Cycling Project | | 65 | Flaksis | Andzs | Andorra Cycling Project | | 79 | Chaves | Esteban | Azteca - NBCSN | | 75 | Becerra | Eduin | Azteca - NBCSN | | 73 | Osorio | Danny | Azteca - NBCSN | | 73 | Marentes | Wilson | Azteca - NBCSN | | 73 | Weber | Cleberson | Azteca - NBCSN | | 72 | Ochoa Quintero | Richard | Azteca - NBCSN | | 71 | Mannion | Gavin | Azteca - NBCSN | | 65 | Corwin | Dadley | Azteca - NBCSN | | 77 | Bratashcuk | Andrii | Campari - Super Dry | | 74 | Gatto | Oscar | Campari - Super Dry | | 73 | Rosa | Diego | Campari - Super Dry | | 69 | Petilli | Simone | Campari - Super Dry | | 67 | Girardi | Edoardo | Campari - Super Dry | | 67 | Belletti | Manuel | Campari - Super Dry | | 67 | Matsumoto | Yosukue | Campari - Super Dry | | 66 | Colon | Eduardo | Campari - Super Dry | | 75 | Tvetcov | Serghei | cycleYorkshire | | 72 | Lampier | Steven | cycleYorkshire | | 71 | Semple | Adam | cycleYorkshire | | 70 | Woods | Michael | cycleYorkshire | | 67 | Wu | Shengjun | cycleYorkshire | | 64 | Takenouchi | Yu | cycleYorkshire | | 64 | Murray | Thomas | cycleYorkshire | | 60 | Robert | Stelly | cycleYorkshire | | 75 | Chérel | Mikaël | Eddie Stobart | | 74 | Appleby | Dale | Eddie Stobart | | 71 | Joeaar | Gert | Eddie Stobart | | 68 | Ravasi | Edward | Eddie Stobart | | 67 | Lewis | Shaun | Eddie Stobart | | 65 | Suaza | Jaime | Eddie Stobart | | 64 | Medvedev | Dmitri | Eddie Stobart | | 54 | Thorsen | Daniel | Eddie Stobart | | 73 | Roe | Timothy | Garmin - BikeNZ Cycling | | 73 | Daspuntsag | Erdenebayar | Garmin - BikeNZ Cycling | | 70 | Campero | Piter | Garmin - BikeNZ Cycling | | 69 | Schultz | Nicholas | Garmin - BikeNZ Cycling | | 66 | Crncevic | Aleksa | Garmin - BikeNZ Cycling | | 65 | O'Connor | Ben | Garmin - BikeNZ Cycling | | 65 | Gough | Fraser | Garmin - BikeNZ Cycling | | 60 | Baterdene | Narankhuu | Garmin - BikeNZ Cycling | | 77 | Pellaud | Simon | Goldcorp - Nordstrom Rack | | 76 | Rybakov | Alexander | Goldcorp - Nordstrom Rack | | 75 | Anderson | Ryan | Goldcorp - Nordstrom Rack | | 75 | Gaimon | Phillip | Goldcorp - Nordstrom Rack | | 72 | Smukulis | Gatis | Goldcorp - Nordstrom Rack | | 71 | Hamilton | Nic | Goldcorp - Nordstrom Rack | | 70 | McCutcheon | Connor | Goldcorp - Nordstrom Rack | | 63 | Stash | Mamyr | Goldcorp - Nordstrom Rack | | 80 | van der Hugenhaben | Robin | In-n-Out p/b Carrefour | | 77 | Kratochvila | Jakub | In-n-Out p/b Carrefour | | 75 | Durasek | Kristijan | In-n-Out p/b Carrefour | | 73 | Hardy | Romain | In-n-Out p/b Carrefour | | 70 | Le Bon | Johan | In-n-Out p/b Carrefour | | 69 | Mestre | Ricardo | In-n-Out p/b Carrefour | | 76 | Vichot | Arthur | Kulczyk - DMTEX | | 75 | Hollenstein | Reto | Kulczyk - DMTEX | | 72 | Jérôme | Vincent | Kulczyk - DMTEX | | 72 | Gradek | Kamil | Kulczyk - DMTEX | | 70 | Pozzo | Mattia | Kulczyk - DMTEX | | 66 | Dabkowski | Konrad | Kulczyk - DMTEX | | 64 | Laton | Eryk | Kulczyk - DMTEX | | 63 | Bennett | Sam | Kulczyk - DMTEX | | 74 | Geschke | Simon | Löbauer Stadtwerke - Etixx | | 74 | Bille | Gaëtan | Löbauer Stadtwerke - Etixx | | 73 | Thill | Tom | Löbauer Stadtwerke - Etixx | | 71 | Koch | Jonas | Löbauer Stadtwerke - Etixx | | 67 | Centrone | Ivan | Löbauer Stadtwerke - Etixx | | 64 | Losch | Max | Löbauer Stadtwerke - Etixx | | 63 | Schwarmes | Tom | Löbauer Stadtwerke - Etixx | | 60 | Benoot | Tiesj | Löbauer Stadtwerke - Etixx | | 75 | Wyss | Marcel | Philips - Continental | | 75 | Costa | Jaoa | Philips - Continental | | 74 | Bardet | Romain | Philips - Continental | | 72 | Battaglin | Enrico | Philips - Continental | | 72 | Ruijgh | Rob | Philips - Continental | | 71 | Leezer | Tom | Philips - Continental | | 71 | Timmer | Albert | Philips - Continental | | 61 | Scotson | Miles | Philips - Continental | | 76 | Lietaer | Eliot | Proximus Continental Team | | 75 | Wallays | Jelle | Proximus Continental Team | | 74 | Ockeloen | Jasper | Proximus Continental Team | | 74 | Backaert | Frederik | Proximus Continental Team | | 72 | Maesen | William | Proximus Continental Team | | 71 | Meurisse | Xandro | Proximus Continental Team | | 66 | Curfs | Ben | Proximus Continental Team | | 63 | Vallee | Boris | Proximus Continental Team | | 76 | Cunego | Damiano | Repsol - Honda | | 76 | Gilbert | Philippe | Repsol - Honda | | 74 | Agostini | Stefano | Repsol - Honda | | 73 | Fernando | Nidush | Repsol - Honda | | 71 | Valverde | Alejandro | Repsol - Honda | | 70 | Roson | Jaime | Repsol - Honda | | 68 | RodrÃguez | Cristian | Repsol - Honda | | 67 | Power | Robert | Repsol - Honda | | 75 | Godoy | Sergio | SanCor | | 74 | Juarez | Daniel | SanCor | | 74 | Juarez | Gabriel | SanCor | | 73 | Gaday | Lucas Manuel | SanCor | | 72 | Moyano | Enzo | SanCor | | 72 | Sivori | Ariel | SanCor | | 70 | Diaz | Daniel | SanCor | | 63 | Tolosa | Sebastian | SanCor | | 76 | Hugentobler | Gregory | Sauber Petronas Racing | | 76 | Wahyudi | Nandra Eko | Sauber Petronas Racing | | 76 | Othman | Muhamad | Sauber Petronas Racing | | 75 | Schurter | Nino | Sauber Petronas Racing | | 74 | Zoidl | Riccardo | Sauber Petronas Racing | | 74 | Forcellini | Luca | Sauber Petronas Racing | | 69 | Frankiny | Kilian | Sauber Petronas Racing | | 65 | Lecourt De Billot | Olivier | Sauber Petronas Racing | | 76 | Taborre | Fabio | Statoil Pro Cycling | | 72 | Løvik | Ã…smund | Statoil Pro Cycling | | 71 | Bookwalter | Brent | Statoil Pro Cycling | | 71 | Eiking | Odd Christian | Statoil Pro Cycling | | 67 | Landa | Andreas | Statoil Pro Cycling | | 67 | Skaarseth | Anders | Statoil Pro Cycling | | 65 | Hagen | Krister | Statoil Pro Cycling | | 63 | Park | Sung Baek | Statoil Pro Cycling | | 77 | Monfort | Maxime | Team Reddit | | 76 | Simon | Julien | Team Reddit | | 75 | Schoonbroodt | Bob | Team Reddit | | 74 | Anacona | Winner | Team Reddit | | 73 | Vuillermoz | Alexis | Team Reddit | | 69 | Sella | Emanuele | Team Reddit | | 68 | Kaislavuo | Jesse | Team Reddit | | 65 | Turchi | Luc | Team Reddit | | 73 | Poorseyedi | Mirsamad | Telia-Brussels Airlines | | 72 | Torckler | Michael | Telia-Brussels Airlines | | 72 | Dahlberg | Anders Ekh | Telia-Brussels Airlines | | 71 | Jim | Songezo | Telia-Brussels Airlines | | 71 | Santambrogio | Mauro | Telia-Brussels Airlines | | 70 | Sonnery | Blaise | Telia-Brussels Airlines | | 70 | Magnusson | Kim | Telia-Brussels Airlines | | 67 | Reijnen | Kiel | Telia-Brussels Airlines | | 77 | Lejman | Gracjan | The Balkan Cycling Project | | 73 | Manfred | Hussein | The Balkan Cycling Project | | 72 | La Lavandier | Maxime | The Balkan Cycling Project | | 71 | Halilaj | Redi | The Balkan Cycling Project | | 69 | Ugrinic | Juraj | The Balkan Cycling Project | | 68 | Kalaba | Dusan | The Balkan Cycling Project | | 67 | Roman | Aleksandar | The Balkan Cycling Project | | 62 | Zakarin | Aydar | The Balkan Cycling Project | | 74 | Bole | Grega | VMP - Argon 18 | | 73 | Petrache | Marius | VMP - Argon 18 | | 72 | Panayotov | Petar | VMP - Argon 18 | | 72 | Berdos | Oleg | VMP - Argon 18 | | 72 | Stöhr | Jan | VMP - Argon 18 | | 70 | Ebejer | Clive | VMP - Argon 18 | | 68 | Kamberaj | Xhuliano | VMP - Argon 18 | | 65 | GarcÃa Cortina | Ivan | VMP - Argon 18 | | 74 | Finetto | Mauro | Wiggle p/b Boardman Bikes | | 74 | Cuming | Michael | Wiggle p/b Boardman Bikes | | 74 | Dowling | Mark | Wiggle p/b Boardman Bikes | | 73 | Pozzovivo | Domenico | Wiggle p/b Boardman Bikes | | 73 | Delage | Mickaël | Wiggle p/b Boardman Bikes | | 69 | Haussler | Heinrich | Wiggle p/b Boardman Bikes | | 68 | Eg | Niklas | Wiggle p/b Boardman Bikes | | 60 | Barclay | Kevin | Wiggle p/b Boardman Bikes | | 78 | Boily | David | World Cycling Centre | | 76 | Rodriguez Galindo | Michael | World Cycling Centre | | 74 | Visconti | Giovanni | World Cycling Centre | | 73 | Koshevoy | Ilia | World Cycling Centre | | 69 | Asgreen | Kasper | World Cycling Centre | | 68 | Quintero | Carlos | World Cycling Centre | | 67 | Venturini | Clément | World Cycling Centre | | 64 | Vasylyuk | Andriy | World Cycling Centre | | 78 | Roux | Anthony | Xero Racing p/b Octagon | | 77 | Diggle | Tom | Xero Racing p/b Octagon | | 76 | Bennett | George | Xero Racing p/b Octagon | | 76 | Nzeke | Geremie | Xero Racing p/b Octagon | | 73 | Salinas | Jonathan | Xero Racing p/b Octagon | | 73 | Kossouhorou | Marvain | Xero Racing p/b Octagon | | 73 | Davison | Tom | Xero Racing p/b Octagon | | 72 | Antón | Igor | Xero Racing p/b Octagon |
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 26-04-2018 20:27
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11819
Joined: 19-07-2010
PCM$: 300.00
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Now that's a f****ing brillint preview!
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 26-04-2018 20:38
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Totally agree, what a preview Chapeau  |
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 26-04-2018 20:40
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 16429
Joined: 27-07-2011
PCM$: 10438.70
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Holy balls dude. What a read! Amazing work!
Asgreen and Eg getting their final looks of the year here. I hope they do right by their teams!
Edit: Also, De Maar capped off his godly season here in 2015. Never forget!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| knockout |
Posted on 26-04-2018 20:51
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
PCM$: 400.00
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A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| Bikex |
Posted on 26-04-2018 21:13
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Team Leader
Posts: 7257
Joined: 25-08-2012
PCM$: 600.00
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Ah yes I remember that race 2014. Prior to the race Vontobel and us almost had an identical amount of points, so this would decide the final promoting spot 5 in the rankings. Sayar had the race of his life and was 2nd, still it wasn't enough as the one beating him was Wyss, a Vontobel rider. Sayar btw didn't win the sprint but crossed the line solo. His gap wasn't given. 
Other than that awesome preview. Good luck everyone, would be great if Wyss could repeat his win. |
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 26-04-2018 21:44
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World Champion
Posts: 11392
Joined: 17-12-2014
PCM$: 1020.00
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Best preview in the history of MG. Those rider names are spot on - how unlucky I am to have the brilliant but unlucky Valverde and Fuglsang as my leaders Guess Alaphalippe 2017 means Boily gets injured and misses the hill classics  This is a perfect race for Bakari done right (only a little bit racist ) so naturally I expect him to dissapear early and not lead out Roux/fight for the podium.
Of course you're right, it'll be Anderson won't it? Perfect stats for this 
We brought the best depth here with everyone we could bring, brung. Hopefully that means that we can destroy the race and use our numbers to our adva... oh well, it's PCM.
A win here is all-important, because then we can b̶l̶a̶m̶e̶ ̶A̶q̶u̶a̶r̶i̶u̶s̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶R̶o̶u̶x̶ ̶l̶o̶s̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶d̶i̶v̶i̶d̶u̶a̶l̶ ̶t̶i̶t̶l̶e̶ close out our promotion without the sour note this last couple of months, and a lot of the races this year, has left. Securing 6th is all-important as whilst it's below where we wanted it is basically a direct-promotion spot, whilst if we let ourselves be overtaken then it's up in the air.
Then attacks on the climbs, somebody that will burn himself out as a captain and brings everything together just to drop back.
*Cacak flashbacks*
Therefore we just look at the team depth to predict who could have many riders at the front still at the end. Well, nobody knows what the hell PCM may to with them, as they could just hang around at the back and get dropped for no reason.
*Every race except Benelux flashbacks*
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 26-04-2018 21:47
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2322
Joined: 16-06-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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Beautiful preview, Croatia! Never thought I would be able to say this at the start of the month, but I don't care much about this race. As long as no miracles happen we've secured 5th anyway. So I can sit back and see what Monfort and Simon can do before they decline. |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-11-2024 19:27
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Bot Agent
Posts: Countless
Joined: 23.11.09
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| Yellow Jersey |
Posted on 26-04-2018 22:46
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2809
Joined: 16-04-2013
PCM$: 900.00
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Croatia putting that top notch in the previews, battle with tsmoha's Vancouver preview but it has taken the lead
Well I would love to have a strong performance in the season finale but as a hilly race it may sound like a joke... although... Rujano rode well in San Marino in a very similar profile 
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 26-04-2018 22:54
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4191
Joined: 13-09-2015
PCM$: 300.00
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Best preview ever? Yeah, no doubt!
Praying for a surprise result somehow by Gilbert that helps me to overtake Azteca in the ranking, to be the first in line for a promotion spot if another team disbands. Although not having a rider categorised even with 1 star doesn't give me a lot of hope
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| Booker |
Posted on 26-04-2018 22:56
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Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 875
Joined: 03-07-2013
PCM$: 200.00
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Wow, what a preview. Bit miffed by Vichot’s lack of nickname - but crashing before the finale has been his MO this year, why would it be any different in the Zuri preview
Thanks for that Croatia, can’t wait for the full thing!
Good luck everyone, but hopefully my dawgs have enough in the tank to get a podium
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 26-04-2018 23:24
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3634
Joined: 03-07-2012
PCM$: 300.00
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I just need a Terpstra to finish off the work of my Stybar
Awesome preview, I'd like to think the depth we have can give us an advantage but as has been proved all season it's a little pointless without that one star guy to profit from it.
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| Tamijo |
Posted on 26-04-2018 23:45
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Team Leader
Posts: 7406
Joined: 14-07-2015
PCM$: 599.00
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All said, nice.
Good luck too all, fair fight no crash.
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| Kentaurus |
Posted on 27-04-2018 00:13
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3999
Joined: 26-07-2011
PCM$: 200.00
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I'm pegging Wilson Marentes as a favorite for this one, based on the description it is perfect for him. See Grands Prix Cycliste Stage 1 or Gisborne GP for reference on how and why ... too often he seems a better bet than Chaves.
AZTECA - NBCSN  |
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 27-04-2018 00:16
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World Champion
Posts: 11392
Joined: 17-12-2014
PCM$: 1020.00
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I'll take either of those results as well
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant."
[ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
5x x5
2x x2
2x x2 |
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| Kentaurus |
Posted on 27-04-2018 01:02
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3999
Joined: 26-07-2011
PCM$: 200.00
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I bet you would
AZTECA - NBCSN |
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 27-04-2018 06:26
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Team Leader
Posts: 7295
Joined: 11-04-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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Final race of the season! So keen!! Not expecting a great result but still so excited!!
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 27-04-2018 06:40
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11676
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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Zuriiiiiii! Come on team! Let's-Get-a good result in Metzgete
That is one preview I won't forget for some time
I'm so glad the pressure is off and I can sit back and enjoy this race. I've heard of the horror stories that Zuri has had on teams (no thanks for that little piece of history trek ). Didn't know Wyss is a past winner here. Would be awesome to have his season wrapped with a repeat of 2014. Thanks Bikex for that prediction
All the best to all, and hopefully no crashes to spoil anyone's race. The promotion race isn't as close here as in the PCT, but it is still open! Hopefully this is more of Ardennes-Catalunya than the Tour for "Valverde"
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| trekbmc |
Posted on 27-04-2018 07:15
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Team Leader
Posts: 7366
Joined: 11-07-2014
PCM$: 700.00
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I loved that preview Will support Xero of course as I really want to see them promote, but best of luck to everybody.  I'll hope against hope for good racing.
AbhishekLFC wrote:
I'm so glad the pressure is off and I can sit back and enjoy this race. I've heard of the horror stories that Zuri has had on teams (no thanks for that little piece of history trek ).
Poor poor CT.  Count yourself lucky you don't have to worry.
You think you want that now, but later you really won't want M̶ø̶r̶k̶ø̶v, I mean Marentes to think he can contest, this is Zuri, Kent, Zuri!
"What done is, is one." - Benji Naesen
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| Scorchio |
Posted on 27-04-2018 10:16
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2073
Joined: 14-09-2013
PCM$: 4500.00
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I'll have some of what Croatia is smoking please, for medicinal purposes of course . Great preview chief.
Normally a CT hilly classic would bring expectations of a top 5 for Boily, perhaps even a podium on a good day. But even without the history lesson I recall how bonkers (PCM brainless?) this race has been in the past. As didn't want to rely on this race when projecting forward during pre-season, probably WCC's weakest line-up for a puncheur 1-day of the season. We even have a hill-hating 'sprinter' in our line-up, just in case the whole race rides into a (PCM) fog of Croatia's favourite 'cigarettes', and all stop en-masse for an ice-cream Frederico Bahamontes style .
Good luck to all those in the fight for key end of season places, although there are always a couple of disbands minimum right (?), so a few might end up being beneficiaries of the 'hammer' during the off-season I'd imagine that leave here initially disappointed.
Manager of ISA - Hexacta in the MG |
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