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Badaling International Discussion
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| Tamijo |
Posted on 19-08-2018 22:50
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Team Leader
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 Badaling International
Beijing – Badaling 232 km
Welcome to the first race of the 2018 Pro Tour season. Just as last year we start the tour in Asia, more precisely in the area of the Chinese capital Beijing. This will be the 8th edition of the race, first winner was Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez (Festina - Seiko) in 2010, there was no race in 2012.
The local spectators will most likely cheer for  Aker – MOT’s Hong Kong born Burr Ho hoping to see him in the breakaway.
The route passes the hill climb at the Great Wall seven times, 10 km of average 4.1%, favouring a strong puncher with some climbing ability and if a selected group attack the last uphill together some sprint, but the question is if anyone has sprinter legs at this point. The 232 km will favour riders with high stamina. Acceleration and resistance will also be a factor and of course a perfect daily form.
Last year’s winner  Peter Sagan will be here attempting to be the 1st rider to win the race twice in a row, Frank Schleck is currently the only two time winner (2011 – 2014).
The top podium favourites are  Hagen the strongest puncher,  Ponzi with the best acceleration and  Bakelants the strongest climber of the top trio.
Right beneath those we got  Skujins,  De Bie,  Claeys,  Van Garderen, Sagan,  Gastauer,  Ginanni and  Kelderman
Both Sagan and Ginanni previous winners, all these riders may podium the race or even win it on the right day and should in any case be able to do a fine points score in a race like this, any of these would be disappointed not to finish inside top 10.
Seen from a team point of view Aker - MOT has a strong team to back Beltran, also Hugo Boss with a strong team behind Ponzi and also Team Puma – SAP with a very deep squad behind Kelderman.
Isostar Slovenija, Gazelle, Evonik – ELKO and Berg Cycles also here with depth.
List of favorites:
| Rider | H | Acc | M | Sta | Res | Spr | | Hagen | 85 | 79 | 70 | 81 | 74 | 73 | | Ponzi | 84 | 80 | 73 | 77 | 72 | 76 | | Bakelants | 84 | 78 | 75 | 81 | 78 | 73 | | Skujins | 83 | 76 | 70 | 80 | 77 | 68 | | De Bie | 83 | 75 | 71 | 77 | 76 | 72 | | Claeys | 83 | 73 | 67 | 74 | 68 | 67 | | Van Garderen | 82 | 79 | 72 | 78 | 75 | 70 | | Sagan | 82 | 76 | 74 | 78 | 74 | 73 | | Gastauer | 82 | 76 | 71 | 78 | 70 | 67 | | Ginanni | 82 | 73 | 69 | 77 | 77 | 65 | | Kelderman | 82 | 72 | 71 | 80 | 75 | 67 |  Mohoric | 81 | 77 | 71 | 78 | 72 | 67 | | Beltran | 81 | 76 | 79 | 73 | 72 | 65 |  Trofimov | 81 | 73 | 76 | 77 | 75 | 72 |  Koretzky | 80 | 79 | 71 | 77 | 70 | 71 |  Boswell | 80 | 76 | 71 | 77 | 73 | 65 | | Vakoc | 80 | 74 | 71 | 75 | 71 | 71 |  Waeytens | 80 | 73 | 71 | 72 | 70 | 66 |  Vogt | 80 | 63 | 62 | 78 | 71 | 62 |  Prevar | 79 | 73 | 71 | 77 | 70 | 67 | | Slagter | 79 | 71 | 78 | 71 | 73 | 61 | | Reichenbach | 79 | 69 | 73 | 76 | 69 | 63 | | van der Hugenhaben | 79 | 64 | 76 | 75 | 74 | 67 | | Borges | 78 | 81 | 70 | 75 | 73 | 71 |  Jensen | 78 | 76 | 70 | 77 | 73 | 66 |
Startlist:
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 19-08-2018 23:00
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Team Manager
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4 riders make their Vesuvio debut, with Reimer hopefully able to sprint for minor placings if the race is not too selective. And of course, the main target being a Top 10 for Gastauer.
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| tastasol |
Posted on 19-08-2018 23:02
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2889
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Bakelants have a great record of 2nd places here, so we are obviously hoping for something similar. Would be great to finally get the win here for Jan and get our season of to a perfect start.
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| cio93 |
Posted on 19-08-2018 23:28
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World Champion
Posts: 10845
Joined: 29-10-2007
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On the road again!
Can't wait to get started, even though a repeat of last year's performance (7th 9th 14th) or even the 2016 race (8th 9th 10th 12th) will be very tough, most obviously because neither Demare nor Herklotz aren't here this time around.
I hope that means Kelderman gets aggressive after he didn't make a single attempt for glory last time, likely because of the strong and versatile lineup.
It doesn't need to result in more than a Top 10, but we need to show a high motivation level right from the start, especially since we don't expect to score big in Qatar and the TTT after and won't attend the Apex Mountain Classic.
For the major support roles we brought Bongiorno and Mager now, and hopefully Arndt and Felline get free roles and can stick around in the biggest front group to utilise their sprint. One or two Top 20s from that group of guys would be great.
I somehow feel like Mohoric will really like this profile if we get a hard race and sneak off the front to maaaaybe keep Isostar from relegating. For a more mainstream pick, Ponzi to kickstart the title challenge for Hugo Boss after weirdly only podiuming this race once before.
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 19-08-2018 23:46
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Maybe Bakelants decides not to finish second in this race for the first time in 5 years 
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 19-08-2018 23:59
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Team Leader
Posts: 6036
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It's great and all to have the season started, but I'm afraid that neither Claeys nor Borges will take a meaningful result here.
Going with TvG or Bakelants for the win. Sagan for the double would be cool too.
Thanks for the preview Tamijo!
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| Bushwackers |
Posted on 20-08-2018 01:09
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Sprinter
Posts: 1907
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Thanks for getting the season started and nice preview Tamijo! I'm shooting for a top-10 from Trofimov. If he can do that consistently, then I would be happy with this season and I think we would stay afloat.
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 20-08-2018 02:05
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8057
Joined: 22-06-2009
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No expectations for any hilly races this year. Hoping my sneaky decision to send Nibali here will produce a surprise result or Tsatevich comes through with his sprint. Will be hard seeing TVG in different colors for the first time though.
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 20-08-2018 03:35
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Classics Specialist
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Bakelendts to win here. Something to get used to in hilly races for us we have nothing maybe Rosskopf or Benoot in the top 30 would be nice. |
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Posted on 22-11-2024 08:48
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 20-08-2018 03:42
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Go Skujins, Beltran, Mohoric and Borges 
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."
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| OlegTinkov |
Posted on 20-08-2018 04:28
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2666
Joined: 31-12-2007
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Mresuperstar wrote:
No expectations for any hilly races this year. Will be hard seeing TVG in different colors for the first time though.
Same here: No expectations and Trofimov in different colors.
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 20-08-2018 06:33
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Team Leader
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Looking forward to see the PT in action!! Going to be very different with Festina not right at the top. EBH for the win!!
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| roturn |
Posted on 20-08-2018 06:47
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Team Manager
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Big expectations for this race.
Though my team`s history basically says, we will fail in Badaling as in 2-3 regular classics each season.
Though on paper, De Bie now looks too good to not deliver at least something.
Top5 is my aim and think it`s possible. Some low/mid 70`s puncheurs to support him, which should be good enough with some strong roleurs such as Gallopin. |
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| ember |
Posted on 20-08-2018 07:18
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Team Leader
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Brilliant to see this up and running, which makes just the more excited to see the season get going.
This is a race we've generally struggled in, but it's the season opener, which makes it impossible to not have ambitions  Beltran has the stats to surprise on such a course, but I suspect he needs to make use of the downhill to give us a top 10. Would be great to see either him or Vakoc aggressive, preferrably before the world class puncheurs move, giving themselves a head start. If we can make it one rider in the top 10, this will be a success, but most likely we'll be fighting for a top 15, I think. |
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| Heine |
Posted on 20-08-2018 07:32
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4116
Joined: 08-04-2007
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Being mentioned in the preview is a victory in itself in a hilly classic!
Will be interesting to see if Sagan continues his strong form from last year, I have him as favorite together with EBH and Ponzi. Bakelants as others has mentioned with a bit stronger mountain could be a good rider here (my bet is 2nd :-p)
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 20-08-2018 07:39
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Directeur Sportif
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Never done well here, so it probably won't change too much for us to have no Bobridge racing. Maybe Watson or Morton can somehow be at the front of the first bigger group behind the big names and grab a Top-25 result or something for minor points. A breakaway appearance would be appreciated as well.
Thanks for the preview!
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| fjhoekie |
Posted on 20-08-2018 07:58
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4476
Joined: 25-07-2010
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Bring Pluchkin, don't get mentioned... 
Hope he can race aggressively here, a good result should be possible then. Alternatively, Prevar should be able to hold on for long, and perhaps Scarponi with his amazing DH skills could be set for a decent race as well.
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game |
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| SotD |
Posted on 20-08-2018 08:42
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World Champion
Posts: 12188
Joined: 29-11-2006
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On paper I should get something like 10-15th here, so hopefully we won't dissapoint. What I am most interested in, however, is what van der Hugenhaben can deliver. Is he actually a good rider, or worthless...
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| dev4ever |
Posted on 20-08-2018 09:19
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2282
Joined: 13-03-2011
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Not the most suited race for Ponzi for some reason this, lets prove the statistics wrong and kick off the season with a bang though 
Also, first taste of TJ with 79 hill incomming!
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| knockout |
Posted on 20-08-2018 11:17
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
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It was tempting to bring Van Stayen too but i didnt really believe he would do a much better job as Skujins lieutenant than Smirnovs.
Sagan might be favourite here again. skujins hopefully good enough for a top 5 but a top 10 wouldn't be too bad here either.
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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