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Baltic Chain Tour Discussion
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| Vien |
Posted on 11-05-2019 06:14
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2322
Joined: 16-06-2008
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 Baltic Chain Tour
Hello everybody and welcome to the preview of 2018's Baltic Chain Tour. Quite a classic in the MG universe, we are entering its sixth edition already. Who's going to follow in the footsteps of Avelino, Vantomme, Ahlstrand, Lo Cicero and last year's winner, Tom van Asbroeck?
The race's formula remains the same: Four sprinter stages through the Baltic area. But before that, we start with a very short cobbled prologue. This stage will likely turn out as unpredictable as ever, but that should only increase the fun!
And once we're done with the prologue... Actually, have you ever realized how annoying this must be for riders? Spending an entire day prepping and recovering for racing THREE kilometers? What a brutal sport this can be in so many ways!
So as I said, after the prologue we get four sprinter stages who all look quite the same: Flattish, but with tiny hills that make riders getting dropped unlikely, but might give some tougher sprinters a small advantage in the final sprint. Especially stage 3 is quite long, with 200 kilometers in the saddle for the peloton. So stamina will play a minor factor here, too.
Due to the four flat stages, many bonification seconds are up for grabs. Therefore, winning this stage race from only winning the prologue seems extremely unlikely. So we will focus on the sprinters to see who may become the final winner!
And then it gets quite hard to control all the stats that may be important in this race... Is it the pure sprints? The flat racing with the potential crosswinds? The cobbles to start off with a good timeset? Or perhaps even the potential to get over the hills if the peloton sets a super high pace? One rider who probably isn't too worries about this is John Degenkolb, who possesses the ability to conquer all. Therefore, ans also based on his previous results this season, he should be named as the main favourite for this race.
Close behind him are Caleb Ewan and Mark Cavendish. The young talent and the veteral have a similar skillset, though Ewan has slightly higher substats. Which has shown in this season, as he has been outperforming the Manx Missile so far. Will it change this time?
One rider to always look out for, but sadly not so much lately, is Lo Cicero. Carrefour's “gamble” has been working out poorly this season, as he hasn't been able to showcase his sprinting potential a lot. Maybe a race he's won before will help him?
Guerao is also a type of rider with the same inconsistency as Lo Cicero. Kip, Drapac and Hochmann are three riders who will also likely struggle to get a good result every day. But a stage win can't be ruled out.
Goss, Vantomme, Holloway, Roelants, Van Asbroeck and perhaps even Rowe form the group of the most dangerous outsiders. All should not have what it takes to beat Degenkolb and the other major favourites in a sprint, but they have the potential to outsmart them in one way or the other. They will surely get mentioned in the stage reports, that's for sure.
Of course, the lack of cobbled and TT races also attracted quite a lot of specialists who are keen on the prologue only. Zepuntke, Vanmarcke and Vanbilsen are the best cobblers, while Ford, Schädlich and Sergent are the best prologue favourites. Kasperkiewicz and Rowe are two dangerous riders who possess the ability to do both quite well.
Especially the cobblers will also be quite interesting for the sprinter stages though, as quite a few great rouleurs joined to either try to attack near the end of the stage or help their sprinter out. So we may also see these names after the prologue.
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 11-05-2019 06:41
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World Champion
Posts: 11395
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Let's go Rowe!
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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| fjhoekie |
Posted on 11-05-2019 07:01
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4476
Joined: 25-07-2010
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Hey, a team here? Cool... Darren Young to dominate!
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game |
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| quadsas |
Posted on 11-05-2019 07:27
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2518
Joined: 18-01-2013
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This is easy victory for Kruopis. He grew up on the streets everyone will be riding on. Therefore if we don't win GC it's clear that there's collusion against DK Zalgiris
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 11-05-2019 08:47
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7593
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A bit of everything here. We'll see how it goes
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 25-11-2024 10:09
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Bot Agent
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 11-05-2019 08:49
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Directeur Sportif
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No Wisniowski no Polanc means the bank is open for anybody
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 11-05-2019 09:13
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2433
Joined: 07-07-2013
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Kraftwerk really need The Missile to launch in this race to lift us out of the relegation zone.
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 11-05-2019 10:57
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World Champion
Posts: 14563
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Van Asbroeck always does well in this race, let's hope he doesn't disappoint.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| knockout |
Posted on 11-05-2019 12:04
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
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This is what intrigues me the most about this race this season. No clear cut prologue favourite makes me hope that someone like Kasperle or Rowe can do well.
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| beagle |
Posted on 11-05-2019 23:44
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4200
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A win goal, everything else will be considered as a big failure.
Thx for preview, looking forward to reports.
Manager of Polar in Man-Game
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 12-05-2019 09:02
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World Champion
Posts: 11395
Joined: 17-12-2014
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Oh yeah, what a ride from Rowe! Absolutely fantastic opening, let’s get those bonuses to stay up there and hope for some winds in the coming days!
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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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 12-05-2019 11:59
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7593
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Good result for Zepuntke. Hopefully he can defend the youth jersey against Ewan but that seems like a tough ask with all the bonus seconds.
Lovely ride by Matthews!
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| quadsas |
Posted on 12-05-2019 14:03
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2518
Joined: 18-01-2013
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Kruopis angeryface
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 12-05-2019 17:26
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2433
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Cavendish beat Degenkolb - don't get the chance to say that very often 
Suspect the whole 1 second might not be enough to stay in front of him 
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 13-05-2019 06:16
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7593
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Can't remember the last time I saw Drapac sprinting for such a good position. Nice to know he still has it!
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| fjhoekie |
Posted on 13-05-2019 08:00
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4476
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Decent enough start for Ulanowksi here, just keep getting top 10s, and this race is a success
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game |
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 13-05-2019 09:17
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World Champion
Posts: 14563
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| 41 | Kenneth Vanbilsen | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | s.t. | | 42 | Tom Van Asbroeck | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | s.t. |
Bad positioning or wrong designated leader issues?
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 13-05-2019 13:21
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2433
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Good team performance giving Cav a great position, just not quite enough to beat Degenkolb but very happy with 2nd.
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| trekbmc |
Posted on 14-05-2019 13:51
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Team Leader
Posts: 7366
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Not quite sure how to respond to that result due to the recent tragic news about the winner.
Thanks for the report Vein.
"What done is, is one." - Benji Naesen
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 14-05-2019 14:48
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World Champion
Posts: 14563
Joined: 08-08-2011
PCM$: 9100.00
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Ollfardh wrote:
| 41 | Kenneth Vanbilsen | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | s.t. | | 42 | Tom Van Asbroeck | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | s.t. |
Bad positioning or wrong designated leader issues?
| 22 | Tom Van Asbroeck | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | s.t. | | 23 | Kenneth Vanbilsen | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | s.t. |
That's settled then.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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