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Tour of Qatar - Discussion
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| tastasol |
Posted on 13-11-2020 18:28
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Classics Specialist
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Not the stage win we wanted, but seeing how the GC went, it was a solid stage from Kragh and no possibility of getting any higher. 8th, 19th and 29th in GC is all in all a very good result for us here, especially with the win in the team classification. Had hoped for a bit more from Würtz, but prologues is not his biggest strength.
Sensational ride by Holloway. Congrats on the win, SN!
And a big chapeau for some great reports, Fabianski 
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 07-12-2025 15:08
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 13-11-2020 18:32
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World Champion
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WOW 
I guess putting basically all of my eggs in the Prologue basket was a good idea. Can't believe how well Zhao did almost getting a Top 3 there, but Kuboki and Raja both with great finishes for their stats too. In the end a Top 15 GC, and a few in the Top 40 is good as well, considering we probably had one of the worst teams here.
Im assuming we did well in the U25 with Arashiro and Zhao as well, so not a terrible race for us, considering it'll be the weakest terrain for my team this season.
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| jph27 |
Posted on 13-11-2020 18:45
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Team Leader
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Well, once again Kemboi puts in a poor prologue (well epilogue) performance at the worst possible time. Still, with Holloway in that form it would have made no difference even if he'd won the stage, and 2nd is a fantastic result nonetheless. Plus with Holloway declining and hopefully more Kemboi training to come, this is just the beginning 
Thanks to Fabianski for some fantastic reports as ever, always hard to report flat races in great detail and yet you managed it every stage! |
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| SotD |
Posted on 13-11-2020 18:54
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World Champion
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Bah, that was definately not what we came for :-(
Vlatos 3rd is obviously fine, but 6th and 15th is less than expected with a pre-race favorite.
I need a good East Java now.
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 13-11-2020 18:55
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Directeur Sportif
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Bad epilogue from Howard, had hoped he wouldn't drop down that far to 14th..
Meyer though with a great performance, even though it hurts to miss a stage by one second. Obviously still a better result than we had expected, so I will take it gladly. At least this gives us two riders in the Top-20 and a few points through stage results as well. Scotson also solid eventually.
Thanks for the outstanding reports and congrats to all, who felt they did well!
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| Bikex |
Posted on 13-11-2020 18:58
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Team Leader
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Wow.. That's just utterly disappointing. Similar to last year all my timetrialists have a bad day at the stage that matters the most.
Seeing several 78 prologue riders in the top 10 when all 4 of my riders with 79+ are far off is just terrible to see. Viviani not even in the top 50. |
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| Roman |
Posted on 13-11-2020 19:04
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Congrats for the win, SN! What a surprise.
Have to be quite happy with the final result, a podium result is definitely ok. Hoped for something more for Hepburn, but overall pretty positive race for my team.
Thanks for all those nice reports, Fabianski!
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| ember |
Posted on 13-11-2020 19:44
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Team Leader
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Wow. What a surprise GC winner. Congratulations, SN!
For the epilogue itself I indeed bet all Daily money on Holloway for the GC, as FL and RES are stats I think counts for such, but surely that must have been a top, top daily form too?
And again, it can't be said too many times, I'd say, thank you for your great and very enjoyable reports, Fabianski! |
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| cio93 |
Posted on 13-11-2020 20:12
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World Champion
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Jasha! fucking! Sütterlin! 
What a wildly inconsistent guy. But now that he knows Ganna is on the rise and his days might actually be numbered, he shows up like this!
I hope this will facilitate valuable mentoring for the Italian in the coming years.
I wasn't a big fan of how we rode in the first five stages, with little breakaway impact, but who cares in the end if this is the result.
180-ish points from possibly our worst lineup all season outside of cobbled races is an amazing start to our season, and does give us some early momentum going to Indonesia and the TTT, where I'd like to continue with this scoring before the triple header that will likely be quite underwhelming.
Good depth from Aregger (who could've at least tried to sprint once), Ganna (who may have had even more in him to get 2nd in the U25) and Weinstein (who grabbed the final 10 points spot on countback) means we left a nice impression on this race in the end with third in the teams classification.
And sending Demare here would've been suicide looking at the close sprints.
Overall, what a ride from a declined Holloway!  Yellow jersey bonus played some part there for sure, but his sprint tactics make him a deserved winner either way. 5 SP less than the big guns, and he played them like a fiddle.
Congrats SN!
And thanks Fabianski for enjoyable and thorough reports! Well done, you did those sprints and the epilogue justice.
Particularly the lengthy sprint play-by-play gave us valuable insight in the sprint mechanics and the different chances for riders opting for various approaches.
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| knockout |
Posted on 13-11-2020 20:13
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Grand Tour Champion
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A prolog report that is too long for the max character limit on daily? (I assume that is the case?) Now thats something i dont think ive seen before. Huge kudus and thank you for such an effort!
That concludes a rather bad race for Evonik. Chavanne as 7th and Stoltz as 11th is okay when looking solely at that because prologs are quite random but also are far below their possibilities. Having Van Stayen drop out of the top 50 in GC is terrible but was obvious that it would happen after he failed to get more bonus seconds and when there was no time gap given at any point. I'm still very annoyed that no time gap was given on stage 4 as that would have given me a third and fourth guy into the top 25 GC and probably also the 2nd place in the team classification behind Grieg if I'm not mistaken.
Even the split on stage 5 right before Chavanne would probably have benefitted my scoring (with or without a split on s4) as there were quite a few sprinters with terrible prologue and less bonus seconds at the end of the group so MVS would have finished 16th in GC if i calculated that correctly. Also Chavanne and Stoltz would have still gotten top 30 results.
Now does that help me? Not at all. Am i a sore loser? Yes, I'm sorry
I love the podium though. Holloway has been amongst my favourite riders for a couple of seasons and I love to see him celebrate on this big stage. And Kemboi is a fantastic rider who was a top ten lock here but seeing him on the podium is just brilliant. And Bewley and Groenewegen are just doing Groenewegen things. Congrats to all their managers!
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 13-11-2020 20:34
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Team Manager
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Well, the insanity continues - what a race for Holloway. A 25 second win at the end of it is quite incredible - fully expected it to be as close as 1st, as it ended up being for 2nd.
It's been a long time since a stage race victory for the team from anybody other than Schleck! Thanks to all for the congrats.
Groenewegen otherwise with the most impressive stage GC wise, I thought the Top 4 were locked on, yet he almost managed to take 2nd. Jungels from 7th last year to 51st this year is an amusing swing.
Thanks Fabianski for all the reports. Very clear exactly what happened throughout the race, and I'm not sure I've ever read a TT report so closely!
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 13-11-2020 20:58
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Tour de France Champion
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Fabianski, your reports amaze me. What a brilliant piece, especially for a TT where you have to keep track of times and everything. Wow.
Holloway just insane. Clearly he has some hidden stats going in his favor the last couple of years.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 13-11-2020 21:29
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Directeur Sportif
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Wasted race days. Reports were awesome though!
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 13-11-2020 21:32
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Directeur Sportif
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Oh yeah and btw. the Holloway-trade proves to be the probably most one-sided one in Man-game history, insanity. Even SotD looks pale against that move.
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 13-11-2020 22:11
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Team Manager
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Croatia14 wrote:
Oh yeah and btw. the Holloway-trade proves to be the probably most one-sided one in Man-game history, insanity. Even SotD looks pale against that move.
A 400k 85-Phinney enabler for Jay Major wasn't bad either 
If you consider the Kuss/Holloway deal to have helped enable McCormick to afford McNulty; alongside likely the best available trainable American to fit in the remaining cap space; then there are certainly long-term benefits to the deal for Ulrich.
Not denying that the deal wasn't good value for me, especially now, but given how high McCormick had to go for McNulty - I wouldn't consider the deal outcome to just be one-sided.
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| matt17br |
Posted on 13-11-2020 22:31
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Directeur Sportif
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Well at least all of our riders finished this race Congrats everyone who had a stake in this race and was happy about the results, SN first in line no doubt.
Fantastic, top-class reporting throughout Fabianski.
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| Bushwackers |
Posted on 14-11-2020 00:15
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Sprinter
Posts: 1982
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Great reporting through and through Fabianski! Enjoyed seeing our riders in the breakaway each day. Congrats to SN on the win.
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 14-11-2020 00:19
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Directeur Sportif
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!HOLLOWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Man Game: McCormick Pro Cycling |
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 14-11-2020 00:20
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Directeur Sportif
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also, one more thanks to fabianski for some great reports.
Man Game: McCormick Pro Cycling |
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| viking90 |
Posted on 14-11-2020 08:27
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Classics Specialist
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I dont hope this sets the tone for our season...Not even top 10 in GC by Ahlstrand is a bit upsetting.
Thanks fo reporting and congrats to GC SN! |
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