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Tour of Cyprus Discussion
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 20-02-2020 20:35
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7593
Joined: 04-07-2012
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 Tour of Cyprus
History
| Year | Winner | Team | | 2018 | Primoz Roglic | Generali - EDF |
The second edition of the only professional cycling race in Cyprus. Last year's edition was nominated for the Race of the Year award, which it lost to Tour of America, so it had a successful debut. The mix of climbing and cobblestones is what made the race a spectacle last year, though not everyone was very happy with how the racing turned out. The somewhat controversial decision was made to drop the cobblestone stage for this edition. This attracted a slightly different field, with more climber-oriented riders on the startlist. As C1 category, we have some prime PCT climbers but also CT and amateur contenders.
Profiles
The stages are exactly the same as last year with exception of the second stage, where the cobblestone sections have been replaced with dirt sections. Stage one takes the riders from Nea Dimmata to Larnaca, a flat stage but possibilities for echelons along the coast. Stage two from Limassol to Limassol is also flat, but a great amount of climbing and navigating dirt roads has to be done. Stage three is the queen stage, finishing on Mount Olympus after more climbing earlier in the stage. Stage four has a hill late in the stage after which the riders dive towards Pomos for the finale.
Startlist
| Favorites | MO | HL | RES | Outsides | MO | HL | RES |  Martin | 81 | 76 | 77 |  Pomoshnikov | 79 | 74 | 76 |  Machado | 81 | 74 | 69 | Pantano Gomez | 79 | 71 | 74 |  Bennett | 80 | 76 | 74 |  Nazaret | 79 | 70 | 77 |  Schelling | 80 | 75 | 76 |  Warbasse | 78 | 75 | 73 |  Penasa | 80 | 74 | 72 |  Chamorro | 78 | 75 | 76 | | Carapaz | 80 | 71 | 76 |  Medvedev | 78 | 64 | 77 |  Beltran | 79 | 81 | 72 | Stancu | 78 | 69 | 74 |  Valls | 79 | 75 | 77 |  Nibali | 78 | 73 | 71 |  Chiarello | 79 | 75 | 74 |  Padun | 78 | 75 | 73 |  Anacona | 79 | 74 | 72 | Faglum Karlsson | 78 | 73 | 75 |  Kwiatkowski | 78 | 79 | 76 |  Scarponi | 77 | 75 | 72 |
The winner here has to able to climb very well. Martin and Machado are the best climbers in the race with some premier PCT climbers foregoing this race. Both of them also have the ability to keep their lead on the hilly stage.
Looking for riders who combine climbing and punching are Beltran and Kwiatkowski. Beltran is runner-up in the individual standings behind Pluchkin and has won East Java this season. Kwiatkowski disappointed last time around but is out for redemption, even though he is the highest ranked rider from the previous edition.
Bennett and Schelling are good bets for the overall victory as well. Climbing wise they are equal to those above and they have the skill to survive the hilly stage.
ENI has possibly the strongest duo in the race with Carapaz and Pomoshnikov. The former slightly better on the mountains but the latter slightly better on the hills. Who will be team leader?
Valls won the mountain stage to Mount Olympus last year, ahead of then-teammate Penasa. Now they ride for different teams but want to repeat that performance.
Padun and Faglum Karlsson are the main favorites for the young rider classification. They might also challenge for a top ten classification.
| Sprinters | SP | ACC | RES | Puncheurs | MO | HL | ACC | | Ciolek | 82 | 78 | 68 | Yates | 70 | 79 | 80 | | Appollonio | 81 | 78 | 66 | Meyer | 69 | 79 | 77 | | Kip | 80 | 82 | 63 | Paulinho | 75 | 79 | 75 | | Kupfernagel | 80 | 80 | 66 | Reichenbach | 73 | 79 | 69 | | Vanoverschelde | 80 | 75 | 64 | Barrio | 70 | 79 | 67 | | Reinhardt | 79 | 84 | 66 | Klemme | 73 | 79 | 65 | | Mezgec | 79 | 77 | 70 | Juul-Jensen | 70 | 78 | 79 |  Korzh | 78 | 80 | 65 | Barbin | 68 | 78 | 76 | | Tewelde | 78 | 77 | 72 | Roux | 65 | 78 | 75 |  Angarita | 78 | 77 | 65 | Venter | 74 | 77 | 66 |
The two flat stages will be targeted by sprinters. Ciolek is the favorite and has Mezgec as lead-out, but it might conflict with the team's GC ambitions.
Other contenders for the sprints are Appollonio, Kip, Kupfernagel, Vanoverschelde and Reinhardt, though most of them have a GC rider in the squad as well.
Juul-Jensen won the final stage last year and is back to do it again. The field of riders who targeted this stage is huge though, whether they win from a late attack or a breakaway survival.
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 20-02-2020 20:39
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 16429
Joined: 27-07-2011
PCM$: 10438.70
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Juul-Jensen's appearance is useless in PCM 18. But so are his appearances in most races.
Hoping Warbasse's balance of mountain/hill helps him here GC wise. Obviously a lot of guys are better than him at that, so not expecting much without a TT in the mix.
Appo should be good here. Expecting a 9th and 14th.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-11-2024 11:37
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| Tamijo |
Posted on 20-02-2020 20:58
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Team Leader
Posts: 7406
Joined: 14-07-2015
PCM$: 599.00
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Quite a lucky draw here with so many top PCT climbers not attending, just hope that Martin will live up to it, with some extra pressure.
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 20-02-2020 21:07
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World Champion
Posts: 14563
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Let's go Fox News! Quite high on the startlist even.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Yellow Jersey |
Posted on 20-02-2020 21:35
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2809
Joined: 16-04-2013
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Great news to see such startlist, with Machado a great contender for a final podium it should give valuable points, also hoping Kip can perform in the sprints.
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 20-02-2020 22:03
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3634
Joined: 03-07-2012
PCM$: 300.00
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Hopefully Scarponi can come up with another big performance, although it is a stronger field than last time he led us he should still be able to pick up some points from this one.
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 21-02-2020 03:57
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Team Leader
Posts: 5533
Joined: 12-06-2013
PCM$: 500.00
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You never know what Nibali and Borisavljevic are capable of so hopefully one of them pulls something out of their ass and does something incredible. We'd have to be pretty happy with a Top 10 GC here but a Top 5 would be special! Hopefully Milos also gives the U25 classification a crack.
Would also like to see our riders make it into the breakaway on a couple of stages.
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 21-02-2020 04:01
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World Champion
Posts: 11392
Joined: 17-12-2014
PCM$: 1020.00
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Please Bennett, turn this season around. Loving the look of this field, if we could nab the win my belief may slowly return 
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant."
[ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT]  Xero Racing
5x  x5
2x  x2
2x  x2 |
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| quadsas |
Posted on 21-02-2020 04:48
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2518
Joined: 18-01-2013
PCM$: 300.00
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weakish startlist, probably means Corsica is gonna be filled with strong climbers, bad news for me, shoulda picked Cyprus instead
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| redordead |
Posted on 21-02-2020 05:50
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4881
Joined: 18-10-2017
PCM$: 200.00
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We need a big scoring performance here from Beltran to gain back some ground in the rankings. Unfortunately he hasn't really performed in this type of race this season, still we need probably at least a top 5 GC.
We're hoping that the Ciolek-Mezgec leadout finally works out. He should be a favourite for stage 1. Stage 2 depends on how the sprinters handle that much climbing. Both stage 2 and 4 I can see possibly being taken by a breakaway.
Thanks for the preview Marcovdw 
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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| jaxika |
Posted on 21-02-2020 08:08
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3148
Joined: 16-07-2008
PCM$: 9200.00
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I hope Pomo or Carapaz can deliver ... MAybe Kobe too |
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 21-02-2020 15:27
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11819
Joined: 19-07-2010
PCM$: 300.00
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Just noticed for the first time, that the cobblestones were removed. That's a pity!
Anyway, good luck to all involved
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 21-02-2020 17:49
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Lets hope for some good luck here in Cyprus |
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 21-02-2020 20:36
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7593
Joined: 04-07-2012
PCM$: 15345.00
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Luck you shall have, congrats! 
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| cio93 |
Posted on 21-02-2020 20:44
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World Champion
Posts: 10845
Joined: 29-10-2007
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I second that notion! Great to see Eddie Stobart be successful.
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 21-02-2020 21:43
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World Champion
Posts: 11392
Joined: 17-12-2014
PCM$: 1020.00
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Is Schomber our best rider now? I feel like he's got so many ok results if not points, 6th in a pack sprint what? 
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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| Tamijo |
Posted on 21-02-2020 22:29
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Team Leader
Posts: 7406
Joined: 14-07-2015
PCM$: 599.00
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Congrats to sutty68 and thanks for the report great read although the exitment vanished a bit near the end 
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| beagle |
Posted on 21-02-2020 22:36
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4200
Joined: 06-10-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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Wow, great win for Eddie Stobart team, congrats Sutty!
How about Tour of Ukraine, is there any problem with coverage?
Manager of Polar in Man-Game
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 22-02-2020 01:37
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 16429
Joined: 27-07-2011
PCM$: 10438.70
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Breaks always seem to win when we sprint well. That's the breaks. Glad Angarita could steal some points away from the other PCT teams,
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| Bushwackers |
Posted on 22-02-2020 05:12
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Sprinter
Posts: 1907
Joined: 07-02-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Well we botched this race in the first stage. Bummer.
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