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Malopolski Wyscig Discussion
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 15-04-2020 12:56
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 Malopolski Wyscig
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Preview
Malopolski Wyscig is a one-day race in south Poland with a pretty brief ManGame history. It entered the scene last year as a PTHC race and was promptly conquered by perennial cobblestone powerhouse Sam Bewley. A year later, the race has taken a step or two down to C1 status and now attracts some of the very best PCT and CT northern classics specialists.
The course is a circuit of around 14 kilometers in and around Krakow, the capital of the Malopolski - or "Lesser Poland" in English - region. It includes one very short (0,5 km) and one longer (2,3 km) cobblestone sector, which are crossed 17 and 18 times, respectively. The roads on those sectors are pretty rough, so we can expect a lot of splits, probably from very early on, and a war of attrition towards the end. Last year, there wasn’t a single group of three or more riders arriving at the finish together in the Top 25. Nonetheless, since this is a flat race after all, we’ll also have a look at the sprint stats of our favorites here:
| FL | CO | ST | RS | SP | AC |  Summerhill | 78 | 83 | 76 | 72 | 70 | 73 |  Vanspeybrouck | 76 | 82 | 78 | 71 | 67 | 69 |  Stallaert | 77 | 81 | 76 | 68 | 79 | 76 |  Baugnies | 78 | 80 | 80 | 73 | 65 | 73 |  Vanbilsen | 78 | 80 | 80 | 74 | 72 | 71 |  Spengler | 74 | 82 | 72 | 73 | 61 | 70 |  Zepuntke | 72 | 81 | 79 | 72 | 72 | 65 |  Nolf | 74 | 80 | 77 | 72 | 63 | 71 |  Kasperkiewicz | 74 | 79 | 73 | 75 | 59 | 66 |  Ferreira | 73 | 79 | 74 | 70 | 71 | 69 |
With Bewley not here, it’s only logical that last year’s runner-up Danny Summerhill is the top favorite for this race. He has great results in spades and looks to add another one here, but there are many dangerous challengers:
Chief among them are Pieter Vanspeybrouck and Joeri Stallaert. Both have stellar cobblestone skills as well as strong flat and stamina stats to back them up, and the Volvo rider additionally stands out as easily the fastest among the favorites. Should a smaller group make it to the finish and he’s in there, it doesn’t look good for anyone else.
Belgian compatriots Jerome Baugnies and Kenneth Vanbilsen may be just a small step below the aforementioned in pure cobblestone ability, but they are tied for the best stamina and second best flat skills of all riders present. They are also the only other Top 10 finishers from last year, 5th and 10th respectively, to be precise.
While I’d argue that those five riders are the top podium contenders, they aren’t the only ones with podium ambitions. Lukas Spengler for instance is, on paper, on par with a Vanspreybrouck on cobbles. He struggles on long distances though, which places him a little lower on this list. Ruben Zepuntke does not lack stamina whatsoever, neither does Frederik Nolf, the fifth Belgian in this group. But both don’t have the pure power on flat roads to be in the top echelon here.
Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz is the hope of the local fans. He has had some great performances this year and certainly hopes for a little nationality bonus. But just as Ricardo Ferreira, he’s on the lower end of the top favorites statwise, and it’s not a big jump to the next tier of riders.
| FL | CO | ST | RS | SP | AC |  Maes | 79 | 78 | 78 | 73 | 61 | 66 |  Breen | 77 | 78 | 72 | 72 | 73 | 72 |  Debesay | 75 | 77 | 75 | 79 | 69 | 78 |  Bush | 74 | 78 | 75 | 73 | 71 | 73 |  Van Keirsbulck | 72 | 78 | 75 | 73 | 70 | 68 | | Sinkeldam | 74 | 77 | 74 | 70 | 68 | 68 | | Bohli | 74 | 77 | 79 | 75 | 74 | 68 |  Kluge | 77 | 76 | 75 | 73 | 76 | 73 | | Albert | 74 | 77 | 74 | 72 | 62 | 66 |  Taubel | 73 | 78 | 69 | 73 | 61 | 64 |  Kosic | 72 | 77 | 74 | 70 | 59 | 64 |  Orue | 69 | 78 | 77 | 70 | 53 | 58 | | Machado | 69 | 79 | 72 | 67 | 62 | 61 |
In said next tier, we have a long list of team leaders who want to crack the Top 10 at the very least, as well as a few deputies looking for a good result of their own.
Nikolas Maes is the best pure flat rider in the entire race and his stamina and cobbles stats are nothing to sneeze at either. He’s probably the closest to the top favorites of this bunch and could have just as well made that list - but we had to make the cut somewhere, and his slightly lower cobblestone stat is what made the difference.
Breen, Bush and Van Keirsbulck are next in line when it comes to combining strong cobblestone skills with very solid secondary stats. Debesay stands out for the highest resistance stat of any rider here.
Sinkeldam and Bohli are the first domestiques to be named, working for Vanspreybrouck and Spengler, respectively. But both are strong enough on their own that, if they haven’t spent too much energy, they can continue on their own to a good result.
Kluge is a bit of a special case as his cobblestone stat alone would not necessarily justify him as an outside contender, but his strong complementary attributes, not to forget the fastest punch of this group, definetely warrant a mention.
Still, he’s probably closer to what could be seen as the third tier of team leaders. That also includes Albert and Kosic, who are pretty well-rounded but not exceptional on cobblestones either, as well as Taubel and Orue, slightly better cobblestone riders with a glaring weakness in stamina and flat stats, respectively.
Finally, we should mention Machado as another lieutenant - to Summerhill - who could go for a good result once his work is done. The only team without a rider listed here is the only amateur team at the start here: Signal Iduna, who will hope for a small miracle from  Dupont to score points here.
| FL | CO | ST | RS | | FL | CO | ST | RS | | Bakari | 59 | 82 | 59 | 56 | Grand | 72 | 77 | 74 | 70 | | Eeckhout | 72 | 77 | 71 | 71 | Domene | 73 | 76 | 73 | 68 | | Drucker | 73 | 76 | 73 | 69 | Sweeck | 73 | 76 | 71 | 72 | | Richardson | 71 | 78 | 68 | 68 | Joseph | 74 | 76 | 76 | 70 | | Corwin | 69 | 77 | 66 | 64 | Gaudin | 73 | 76 | 75 | 67 | | Bolivar | 73 | 77 | 74 | 70 | Lhotellerie | 72 | 76 | 74 | 69 | | Lindeman | 73 | 76 | 72 | 69 | Rowe | 78 | 75 | 76 | 70 | | Flaksis | 70 | 76 | 75 | 70 | Young | 74 | 75 | 74 | 70 |
Just to give you an impression of team strength and list a few additional riders who might break into the Top 20-30, here are some more notable domestiques. Rowe is a standout name, but it remains to be seen how far his (in this context) subpar cobblestone stats can carry him. Eeckhout, Bolivar and Grand might be the most likely to be in the mix late in the race, but it’s difficult to predict differences among these riders. Maybe with the exception of Bakari, who hasn’t shown much ability to stay with the better riders for very long, but it still felt wrong to leave him unmentioned.
Finally, here’s the full startlist:
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Edited by cunego59 on 15-04-2020 13:26
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 15-04-2020 13:02
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World Champion
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I'm pretty sure Krakow isn't the capital of Poland, great preview otherwise! (and at least this confirm for you people actually read them  )
Top 5 should be possible here, and would mean another important step to safety.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Tamijo |
Posted on 15-04-2020 13:26
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Many good cob riders here, doubt Ricardo Ferreira will get even close to a top 10, so hope is either a lucky surprise or more realistically a good combined result from Ferreira and Lhotellerie like both inside top 25 or something.
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 15-04-2020 13:29
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Ollfardh wrote:
I'm pretty sure Krakow isn't the capital of Poland, great preview otherwise! (and at least this confirm for you people actually read them )
You're not wrong Got that mixed up because I was looking up Malopolska, which is the region of which Krakow is actually the capital. Fixed that, thanks, and indeed good to know that there are some attentive sets of eyes on those previews
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 15-04-2020 13:31
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Grand Tour Champion
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All I can hope for is Zepuntke, Albert et al showing up in their best form
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 15-04-2020 13:36
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I said it a couple of races ago: Rowe and Debesay just need to channel their form from flat classics into actually being functional cobbles leaders and we'll be good Cheshire was a really really good sign they will do so, Arenberg less so  A shame we don't get the 2016 WC route, that would have been nice for Debesay, but this one perhaps allows our double threat a bit more
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 01:56
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 15-04-2020 14:24
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Hoping for a good race from VSB. I've pretty much given up hope of surviving, but I would at least like to maintain some respectability. Cobbles have been the one terrain we haven't done worse on this year, I can only hope that continues.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| Yellow Jersey |
Posted on 15-04-2020 14:52
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All flat all cobbles, starting with the number 1 it's time for Summerhill to keep showing his best and take the win, absolute goal here.
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| maxime86 |
Posted on 15-04-2020 18:14
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Classics Specialist
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we've had a pretty big break so excited to be back in action. Nolfs been pretty good for us this season so hoping for another good result to make up for some wasted race days we had at the beginning of the season! |
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| Kentaurus |
Posted on 15-04-2020 19:57
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Classics Specialist
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Time for the trio of riders to just put in a good ride, get us a few points ideally a few points from each of them, and a solid haul for the team.! And if Danny needs any extra support he knows what our kits look like.
AZTECA - NBCSN  |
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 15-04-2020 20:34
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GO BAKARI!
I fancy Rowes chances of a Top5 a lot though!
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| Yellow Jersey |
Posted on 15-04-2020 22:17
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Classics Specialist
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LOVE all this support
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| Scorchio |
Posted on 16-04-2020 07:56
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This should be a real good race - a savage mano-a-mano if the riders have the balls to take the race on early. For ISA, as our cobbled campaign to date has demonstrated, we lack a 5-star leader for the terrain. However, as in previous seasons, Bush has been doing an excellent job picking up good placings on multiple occassions, balanced by the occassional no-show. Hopefully this is one of his better days! Most realistic here is for Bush and Bolivar to cooperate towards both being in the points; a top-10 in this instance would require quite a slice of good fortune. Really crucial to our approach to the cobbles is getting a rider (or two!) in the BotD, as with an experienced 8-man squad, even our weakest riders have some competent ability to match the terrain/race distance which might also play into bringing home a handful of points.
I expect that this will be one of the races where the top 5 on the favourites list is reflected back in the results. Summerhill the overall favourite, but alongside a focus on our own ISA riders, I'm hoping that this is one of those occassions that VSB properly steps up and helps brighten the current mood of despondency at Carlsberg.
( As an aside, I'm very interested in how the rankings table is going to look when the next monthly update is released, as I am not yet as convinved that things are quite as bad as my buddy BBL thinks - I think there are a fair number of teams whose season is not panning out as well as they might have hoped, but I may of course be completely wrong with my gut feel on this one).
Manager of ISA - Hexacta in the MG |
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 16-04-2020 22:13
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Grand Tour Champion
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Probably our best cobblestone race of the season, two riders in the top ten. Zepuntke actually did great for once, don't blame him for being empty in the sprint, and Albert is the super super domestique again!
Thanks for the report cunego, congrats Volvo!
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 16-04-2020 22:24
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Well this sucks, can't say much more about it except thanks for the report.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 16-04-2020 23:02
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Tour de France Champion
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Terrible puncture luck for some people. I was lucky mine happened early. In the post-crash MG universe, untimely punctures feel even worse. Commiserations to Lierse and UBS.
Big congrats to Volvo. A worthy winner who played the race perfectly.
Vanspeybrouck really came through here with second place. I was hoping he would counter the Summerhill attack and maybe solo away, but staying on Staellart's wheel and being pulled to second was a strong move. He's been a lot more consistent this year, despite lacking wins. With everything I've had to complain about this year, he has not been one of them. If we still have a relegation fight to battle for, he is helping.
Absolutely fantastic report cunego! Amazing detail, screenshots, and pacing. Thank you!
Edited by baseballlover312 on 17-04-2020 00:37
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| Bushwackers |
Posted on 16-04-2020 23:27
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Well that's pretty shitty. Can't believe they both punctured at the same time. Spengler looked strong too judging by how he was able to make it back. 
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 16-04-2020 23:29
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What awful awful tactics - I like the ambition to shake it up given our poor results but why on earth was it Debesay with 100km to go and not Rowe? Really awful result. But a really great report cunego, thanks a lot
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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| Yellow Jersey |
Posted on 17-04-2020 00:07
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Sour report to read as Summerhill's tactics were bad so bad, saw two attacks in the flat instead of focusing on the cobbles, but I have to accept. Congratz on the win Volvo and thanks Cunego for the report!
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| Tamijo |
Posted on 17-04-2020 05:26
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Deserved win by Stallaert without doubt the stronger sprinter, as long as he was in the first group hitting the red banner.
Fantastic report Cunego thanks, amazing job from someone not even part of MG.
Ricardo Ferreira did it (again) very happy with the way he is riding on a constant high note. Lhotellerie lost it a bit early today but with a fine top 10 from Ferreira we are good.
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