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Tour of Vancouver Discussion
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 18-10-2018 20:42
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Directeur Sportif
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 Tour of Vancouver
The Tour of Vancouver has become an iconic race in the ProContinental circuit and goes into it's 6th edition this year. Past race-winner are Timofey Kritskiy (2013), Janez Brajkovic (2014), Alberto Contador (2015), Riccardo Ricco (2016) and Andrei Amador (2017). It's been several thrilling editions with close battles for the yellow jersey, but Amador rather dominated the fight for the overall win last season: winning both the opening and the fourth stage, he never really looked in danger to give his leader shirt away (also taking the points and mountain classification eventually).
All stages start in the heart of Vancouver, British Columbia, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The race kicks off with a short, but steep mountain timetrial up the Simon Fraser University Hill in Burnaby. The next two stages will be circuit races in Richmond and Coquitlam, mostly flat, but with some tricky climbs, that probably won't hurt the sprinters too much though.. The fourth stage will feature the first summit finish: Cypress, in Northern Vancouver. The climb is "just" 6% in average, but due to it's length, it will definitely give the top-favourites a chance for a late attack.. After another flat circuit race (in Surrey), which may be the hardest of the three flat stages, we will hit another summit finish: the queen-stage up the Mount Seymour! And last, but not least, the riders face a 18km flat TTT in Western Vancouver, that may give a weaker climber the chance to improve in GC.
The Startlist
The GC contenders | Favorites | MO | AC | + | TTT |  Pluchkin | 85 | 74 | | 79 - 78 - 77 - 76 - 72 - 68 - 66 - 64 |  Úran | 82 | 71 | | 78 - 78 - 76 - 75 - 75 - 73 - 62 - 54 |  Velits | 82 | 67 | | 76 - 74 - 72 - 72 - 72 - 70 - 69 - 68 |  Keizer | 81 | 73 | | 81 - 75 - 74 - 72 - 71 - 69 - 65 - 53 |  Monsalve | 81 | 73 | | 78 - 76 - 72 - 72 - 72 - 65 - 63 - 54 |  Eastman | 81 | 69 | | 76 - 75 - 75 - 74 - 71 - 71 - 69 - 64 |  Shikai | 81 | 66 | | 77 - 76 - 75 - 71 - 70 - 63 - 63 - 58 |  Roglic | 80 | 74 | | 79 - 78 - 77 - 77 - 77 - 72 - 70 - 70 |  Duarte | 80 | 73 | | 81 - 80 - 75 - 72 - 72 - 70 - 66 - 66 |  Nazaret | 80 | 72 | | 74 - 71 - 69 - 67 - 66 - 65 - 65 - 62 |  Meintjes | 80 | 69 | | 80 - 78 - 74 - 73 - 73 - 71 - 67 - 63 |  Penasa | 79 | 76 | | 78 - 77 - 76 - 75 - 72 - 70 - 66 - 58 | | Valls | 79 | 72 | | 78 - 77 - 76 - 75 - 72 - 70 - 66 - 58 | | Outsiders | MO | AC | + | TTT | | Brenes | 79 | 70 | | | | Carthy | 79 | 69 | | | | Signorini | 78 | 74 | | |  De la Cruz | 78 | 73 | | 74 - 74 - 73 - 70 - 69 - 66 - 66 - 64 |  Manfredi | 78 | 73 | | 77 - 76 - 76 - 76 - 72 - 69 - 65 - 53 |  Maillet | 77 | 77 | | 80 - 76 - 74 - 74 - 67 - 63 - 60 - 56 | | Nepomnyachsniy | 77 | 75 | | | | Tvetcov | 77 | 73 | | | | Gilanipoor | 77 | 73 | | | | Mannion | 77 | 71 | | | | Scarponi | 77 | 70 | | | | Augustyn | 77 | 68 | | | | Borisavljevic | 77 | 65 | | |
Let's start the favorites watch with those guys, who made the podium here one year ago: Nazaret (2nd) and Roglic (3rd). Both may be happy with a Top-5 this time, but of course there's always a chance to achieve the podium with a big day on one of the two crucial summit finishes here. The TTT may once again be crucial for both though: Roglic looked like the certain runner-up for the GC last season, but he got dropped by his Generali TTT train: looking at this year's lineup, it may well happen again! The team is definitely a big favorite to take the final stage, but if they go too fast, they may once again lose Roglic on their way to the finish. Nazaret obviously as the worse TT rider and also with maybe the worst TTT setup of all GC contenders. He may not get dropped, but he will neither gain time on other GC contenders.
Speaking of other contenders, there's obviously one name standing out from all others: Pluchkin. The strongest climber of all, he simply has no excuses for not winning at least one stage and the final GC. His TTT support is decent as well, though lacking some depth opposing to his maybe most dangerous competitor's team: Úran (a disappointing 7th in the GC last year) comes with quite a strong TTT lineup and with an extra portion of motivation to bounce back from last season's low key performance (particularly on the final mountain stage). And then there's Velits as the next best climber: the veteran may not have the outstanding TTT support, but it should be a well balanced, solid lineup nevertheless. His well known concern must be his acceleration though - something, you can deny on a very good day, however!
Keizer and Monsalve as the next podium contenders: both with a solid TTT lineup to back them up on the final day. Keizer may already target the mountainous prologue, where his TT skills may be only a minor advantage though. Monsalve is a proven attacking rider, who definitely could be a threat for something big here. Eastman and Shikai next in the line of those riders, who may target the podium or at least the Top-5: Eastman had a rather disappointing race last year (9th), opposing to Shikai (4th), who rode a strong final mountain stage. Both lack the explosive kick, but just like Velits, they are definitely capable of pulling good results if everything goes their way.
Duarte, Meintjes and Penasa/Valls as other favorites for the Top-10 at least: Meintjes maybe as another rider, who may struggle to hang on with his teammates in the TTT (even though it should come down to daily form for him) and the Penasa/Valls double makes for the ever interesting tactical option. Also Penasa not amongst his team's five best TT riders, but just like Meintjes, he ain't much worse than Valls (as the fourth best rider)..
De la Cruz, Manfredi (TTT as an issue) and Maillet (TTT as an even bigger issue) as other possible contenders for the GC's Top-10 or Top-15 at least.
The Sprinters | Favorites | HI | SP | AC | | Outsiders | HI | SP | AC |  Vanderbiest | 64 | 82 | 77 | | Bercz | 70 | 76 | 77 | | Haller | 65 | 80 | 79 | | Gough | 64 | 76 | 76 | | Rowe | 62 | 80 | 70 | | Speirs | 62 | 76 | 80 | | Vingerling | 61 | 79 | 79 | | Canelon | 57 | 76 | 81 |  Sobota | 60 | 78 | 78 | | Hopman | 65 | 75 | 77 | | Kreder | 75 | 77 | 78 | | Tzortzakis | 63 | 75 | 74 | | Kuboki | 73 | 77 | 77 | | Pedersen | 67 | 73 | 74 | | Feiereisen | 68 | 77 | 78 | | Liu | 66 | 73 | 74 | | Kemboi | 62 | 77 | 78 | | Sanikwathi | 65 | 73 | 74 |
Three rather tricky flat stages, of which one (the third) was won by the early breakaway last season. The startlist ain't packed with too many quality sprinters and so some riders will be happy to be considered real contenders for valuable stage wins here:
Vanderbiest as the outstanding sprinter on the startlist. With his team lacking a serious GC option, those flat stages have to be the main target for him - coming with some nice support with riders like Feiereisen, Bercz or Sanikwathi. Also Haller must be considered a top favorite for possible bunch sprints, with great leadout riders like Gough and Kreder (who should love the partly undulating profiles here in Vancouver).
Rowe, Vingerling, Sobota, Kuboki and Kemboi as the next best sprinters on the list: as said before, there's some great and rare opportunities for those guys here and especially Kuboki looks like a dangerous contender for the less "punchy" sprinters.
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| fjhoekie |
Posted on 18-10-2018 21:06
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Easy win, no excuses
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game |
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 18-10-2018 21:12
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7593
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After last year's TTT disaster I went into the transfer season with Project: Vancouver. Janse van Rensburg and Rosas are the result of that. We now have no excuse to fail in TTT's anymore.
Last year Amador was well above the rest, this year it should be Pluchkin. Second place will be seen as a victory.
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 18-10-2018 21:17
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World Champion
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Hoping for a top 5 - we may not get it due to being the weakest TTT among the top favourites, and these profiles aren't good for Velits, but we really need it. Could have sworn I brought a sprinter here, but I guess not 
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
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 01:31
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| Selwink |
Posted on 18-10-2018 22:17
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Grand Tour Champion
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Looking for a good result by Duarte here. He's been doing quite well lately with his result in Colombia and hopefully he can keep that up. With Ford and Sergent helping in the TTT (provided that they don't OTL) we can actually do well there I think.
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| Kentaurus |
Posted on 18-10-2018 22:34
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3999
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Need some solid riding from Eastman here, unlike last season where he lost serious time in the TTT we send a reasonably strong squad to support him on that stage.
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 18-10-2018 22:46
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World Champion
Posts: 12986
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Yet again looks like another race Kuboki can pick up some decent points due to weaker fields. Shikai looks like he has one of the weaker TTT teams, so Im hoping he can be strong in the mountains.
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| Eden95 |
Posted on 18-10-2018 23:53
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4505
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We’ve got a crazy strong team backing Keizer here, absolutely no excuses to miss a top-5 in GC. Second would be lovely though 
Indosat - ANZ HQ
"This Schleck sandwich is going to cause serious indigestion for Evans" - Phil Liggett |
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 19-10-2018 00:20
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4191
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First and i think only time this season where i send a team to the race without any hope of doing anything. I knew that the field strenght would be massive and a race that don't use all Kudus' strenghts, and without any kind of TTT team, it was worthless to bring Kudus here.
So i hope my riders join all breakaways, because they have nothing better to do in this race
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| beagle |
Posted on 19-10-2018 07:35
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Would be nice to see my riders being agressive, however don't expect anything point-wise. Let the best (Pluchkin) win.
Manager of Polar in Man-Game
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| Vien |
Posted on 19-10-2018 08:41
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2322
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I had no suitable riders for this and I couldn't send a good TTT team so I just sent a little bit of everything. No hopes for many points so I hope for my team to at least be active. |
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| sgdanny |
Posted on 19-10-2018 10:14
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3591
Joined: 18-03-2014
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Purely a lineup for breakaway stage wins, so not expecting much
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 19-10-2018 11:10
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Team Leader
Posts: 5533
Joined: 12-06-2013
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Hopefully Nazaret & Vingerling can achieve something here.
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| trekbmc |
Posted on 19-10-2018 13:04
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Team Leader
Posts: 7366
Joined: 11-07-2014
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We have 5 rubbish unmaxed guys, but we also have Sobota and the sprint field is mysteriously weak, which means we can actually make something out of this race! Or more than last year's near 0 pointer.
And a stage win in a race won by Pluchkin is a very high achievement if you spin it right so maybe our goal is Sobota's first win. This will be a huge race for Nemiroff though with the best climber, sprinter and a pretty awesome TTT team.
Thanks for the awesome preview tsmoha! Really in depth! 
"What done is, is one." - Benji Naesen
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 19-10-2018 13:07
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4191
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trekbmc wrote:
We have 5 rubbish unmaxed guys, but we also have Sobota and the sprint field is mysteriously weak, which means we can actually make something out of this race! Or more than last year's near 0 pointer.
And a stage win in a race won by Pluchkin is a very high achievement if you spin it right so maybe our goal is Sobota's first win. This will be a huge race for Nemiroff though with the best climber, sprinter and a pretty awesome TTT team.
Thanks for the awesome preview tsmoha! Really in depth!
You know that Vanderbiest is in Carrefour right? 
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| trekbmc |
Posted on 19-10-2018 13:26
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Team Leader
Posts: 7366
Joined: 11-07-2014
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Aquarius97 wrote:
trekbmc wrote:
We have 5 rubbish unmaxed guys, but we also have Sobota and the sprint field is mysteriously weak, which means we can actually make something out of this race! Or more than last year's near 0 pointer.
And a stage win in a race won by Pluchkin is a very high achievement if you spin it right so maybe our goal is Sobota's first win. This will be a huge race for Nemiroff though with the best climber, sprinter and a pretty awesome TTT team.
Thanks for the awesome preview tsmoha! Really in depth!
You know that Vanderbiest is in Carrefour right?
Wouldn't be a race without me saying something dumb I guess.
"What done is, is one." - Benji Naesen
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 20-10-2018 04:51
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Team Leader
Posts: 5533
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I love PCM when Fernandez with 75MO is my best rider ahead of Nazaret with 80MO and Borisavljevic & VdB with 77MO....
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| fjhoekie |
Posted on 20-10-2018 08:49
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4476
Joined: 25-07-2010
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Good start, as expected
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game |
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| Selwink |
Posted on 20-10-2018 09:46
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8856
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Decent start, something we can build on
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 20-10-2018 10:26
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7593
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Copy paste from last year with Pluchkin replacing Amador. Hope this doesn't go for the rest of the race as well.
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