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Volta a Catalunya - Discussion
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 26-11-2020 07:53
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Classics Specialist
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 Volta a Catalunya
Welcome to Spain for the Volta a Catalunya! The six day stage race combines four different types of stages; one flat stage, one team time trial, 2 hilly stages and 2 mountain stages. Last year’s winner  Tenorio is back to defend his title and become the third man in history, after Alberto Contador and Rigoberto Uran, to become victorious twice in Catalunya. He is without a doubt the top favourite for the GC. Nevertheless, there are various strong riders challenging him, including the GC winner of 2018,  Choi. As mentioned above there are four types of stages, they will all be handled in this preview with the different riders who have a shot at stage wins and the GC. Even though the first stage will be the flat one, the GC riders - mountain goats will be dealt with first.
| Name | MTN | HILL | TT | STA | RES | REC | | Tenorio | 84 | 76 | 80 | 78 | 76 | 79 |  Kudus | 82 | 77 | 72 | 79 | 77 | 79 |  Eastman | 82 | 71 | 77 | 76 | 75 | 76 |  Henao Montoya | 81 | 70 | 70 | 74 | 78 | 75 |  Martin | 80 | 75 | 71 | 74 | 75 | 73 | | Choi | 80 | 74 | 75 | 77 | 76 | 79 |  Intxausti | 80 | 69 | 75 | 75 | 75 | 72 |  Latour | 79 | 75 | 70 | 80 | 78 | 80 | | Pomoshnikov | 79 | 74 | 64 | 78 | 76 | 74 |  De la Cruz | 78 | 75 | 74 | 72 | 76 | 75 |
As mentioned in the introduction, Tenorio is here to defend his title. He is the strongest climber, doesn’t get tired very fast, and won’t be the one dropping out during the TTT. Taking a look at the other two riders of the thee strongest climbers we find Kudus and Eastman. While the man from Eritrea is the best hilly rider from the GC favourites, his time trialling skills won’t be the ones his team, Repsol – Netflix, want during the TTT. He might be even harder to break down physically than Tenorio, though. The American Ryan Eastman is another dangerous name, that will actually be useful during the TTT. He does lack a bit of skill in the hills compared to the other two GC favourites, which might prove to be in his disadvantage.
Henao Montoya, Martin, Choi and Intxausti are normally not as strong in the mountains as the three favourites, but when feeling good they could also be contending for the win, or at least come close. The Colombian is the best climber of those four, but lacks a bit in his hilly and time trial abilities. Martin is also not the best time trialist around, but one of the better hilly riders in the top 10 of the favourites. He should be capable of making a difference in the hills with his acceleration as well. Where the Irishman can make a difference, the Spaniard Intxausti could have a big problem, as nobody on this list is worse than him when it comes to hilly stages. Don’t underestimate him though, as he managed to acquire stage success in the past in his own country. As mentioned in the introduction, Choi won this race in 2018.He could also be a threat to Tenorio as he quite strong physically and won’t be the first to drop in the hills and during the TTT.
Latour, Pomoshnikov and De la Cruz are the last three names on the list. The Frenchman is quite a beast physically and will survive in the hills as well, but shouldn’t be able to follow Tenorio in the mountains. You can never know what tactic Polar has figured out for him though. The same could be said for De la Cruz, even though the man of Kraftwerk Man Machine should be even weaker in the mountains, but should be capable of finishing in the top-10. Pomoshnikov is the second man of MOL in this list and has terrible time trial skills, which means he’ll probably serve as a mountain domestique for Choi.
| Name | SPR | ACC | | | Willwohl | 79 | 78 | |  King | 78 | 73 |  Canelon | 78 | 83 | | Lovassy | 77 | 77 | | Nepomnyachsniy | 77 | 74 |
Not a lot of sprinters have come to Spain, which seems quite normal as they only have one shot, one opportunity to seize the Catalunya stage win they always wanted. Will they capture that one moment, or just let it slip?
We ended our GC list with a Kraftwerk Man Machine rider and open our sprinters list with one as well, as Willwohl seems to be the fastest man in Catalunya. He will not just be given the stage win though, as Canelon is almost just as fast as him, but has the advantage of maintaining his high speed over a longer distance. King should be as fast as Canelon, but needs to hope for a shorter sprint. Lovassy and Nepomnyachsniy also have a shot at winning the stage if they have a good day. Other decent sprinters present are Ovsyannikov, Gough and Navardauskas, who will probably serve as a lead-out for some sprinters mentioned above. While Tzortzakis main reason to be here might be to help his team Berg Cycles in the TTT, the Greek could also be a dark horse for the first stage of the Volta a Catalunya.
The hilly riders/Nordstrom vs. the rest | Name | MTN | HILL | STA | RES | REC | ACC |  Dyrnes | 72 | 78 | 73 | 73 | 70 | 77 |  Zordan | 73 | 77 | 72 | 72 | 70 | 74 | | Villella | 65 | 77 | 72 | 74 | 67 | 80 | | Diggle | 65 | 77 | 74 | 70 | 70 | 70 | | Errazkin | 72 | 77 | 74 | 73 | 74 | 72 |  Paulus | 74 | 77 | 71 | 68 | 73 | 71 | | Gougeard | 63 | 77 | 73 | 71 | 71 | 68 |  Laas | 74 | 76 | 68 | 73 | 73 | 76 | | Henao | 76 | 76 | 71 | 73 | 71 | 70 |  Vichot | 65 | 76 | 77 | 68 | 69 | 80 |
First of all, some of the GC contenders could definitely also be mentioned in the top-10. Since they have been mentioned in another list, I decided to give some other riders the attention they deserve.
The first thing we notice is three riders of Nordstrom – CA Technologies in the top-4 of this list. Dyrnes seems to be the leader, but both Villella and Diggle should be able to take on that role if necessary. One of their main rivals could be Zordan from Guave’s Sunlight Cycling, having the more versatile rider Mektel Eyob as a back-up as well.
Some other names from teams haven’t been mentioned in any other list such as Paulus, Laas and Vichot might not be the biggest favourites for the hilly stages, but can’t simply be forgotten, as they will definitely try to win it.  Venter, who isn’t on the list, could surprise when feeling good.
| Team | Top-5 average TT | | | Repsol - Netflix | 79 | | Desigual | 76,8 | | Polar | 76,6 | | DK – SVA Zalgiris | 76 | | Glanbia Foods | 75,6 | | Kraftwerk Man Machine | 75,2 | | Azteca - NBCSN | 74,6 | | Popo4Ever | 74,4 | | MOL | 74 | | Berg Cycles | 73 |
Those ten teams should be the best at the team time trial stage in this Volta a Catalunya. Repsol – Netflix is the clear favourite and could win time for their GC leader Kudus, as long as he doesn’t lose the wheel of the time trialists in his team. Desigual and Tenorio also have a very capable TTT team though, so they should be able to not lose too much time. On the fifth place Glanbia Foods Cycling Project is the highest ranked team (and the only one on the list) coming from the Continental Division, let’s see if they’re able to exceed the expectations and fight for a podium spot!
The only thing left for me today is to share the startlist with you, the only thing left for the riders is to win a stage and/or the GC of the Volta a Catalunya for their team.
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 26-11-2020 07:55
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World Champion
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Wow we really might have missed a trick not coming here! Great preview Nemo, looking forward to the reports
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
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[ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT]  Xero Racing
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| quadsas |
Posted on 26-11-2020 08:26
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Small Tour Specialist
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Minimum 500 point race for us. Narek Duo Dees Nuts, yall got nuttin
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 26-11-2020 11:39
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Second Top5 goal, and this one should be extremely easily achievable. Not sure if the TTT advantage over Desigual will be enough to defeat Tenorio for the GC win.
I don't have any worries about Kudus being dropped, because that's not happening in PCM18. Also, seeing the overall level of the startlist, i wonder if Dunbar could be a contender for the U25 jersey win
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| hillis91 |
Posted on 26-11-2020 11:58
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Team Leader
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Don't mind us, just here for XP and Breakaways 
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 26-11-2020 12:24
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Grand Tour Champion
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Go go Tenorio! A good TTT result could also see Omar Fraile finish high up in the overall standings as well. Good luck to everyone!
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 26-11-2020 12:51
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Classics Specialist
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Need some redemption after a pretty dismal Hong Kong Challenge. Thanks for the great preview, kinda laughed at the hilly section 
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| Sykkel_Freak |
Posted on 26-11-2020 13:04
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2073
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Great preview!
No GC ambitions here, but we have a strong team to fight for stage wins and hopefully the KoM jersey. A weak puncheur field should open up for breakaways, and Gallopin, Scarponi, Bonnin, Vichot and Uwizeyimana should all be able to do something in that situation if they get the chance.
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| fintas |
Posted on 26-11-2020 13:23
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Small Tour Specialist
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After what happened at the Volta a Portugal I don't even know what I can expect from this race.
If Montoya manages to pass the hills without lose a lot of time then I believe he will be able to reach the top 10 otherwise he will not have any chance because the time lost on the hills will have to be added to the time lost in the TTT.
Tenorio my favorite to win this race.
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| TinxiaS |
Posted on 26-11-2020 15:16
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Domestique
Posts: 504
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I hope that Tadej Pogačar can do something in the young rider classification but I'm worried about Bernal and Dunbar.
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| MacC |
Posted on 26-11-2020 15:30
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Sprinter
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Surprised to see King in with a chance for a stage but I'll take it!
Otherwise hoping the TTT allows Brandt and Craddock be competitive in the overall |
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| MacC |
Posted on 26-11-2020 15:30
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Sprinter
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Surprised to see King in with a chance for a stage but I'll take it!
Otherwise hoping the TTT allows Brandt and Craddock be competitive in the overall |
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 26-11-2020 15:55
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Small Tour Specialist
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Surprised Willwohl is the fastest sprinter, Hope the flat stage doesn’t go to the break!
Top 10 from De la Cruz would be welcome.
Great preview Nemo
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| Kentaurus |
Posted on 26-11-2020 19:41
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Classics Specialist
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Really surprised at the small startlist here, and obviously need a big showing from Eastman who needs to collect tons of points for us.
AZTECA - NBCSN  |
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| hillis91 |
Posted on 27-11-2020 08:27
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Team Leader
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Wow, did NOT expect that much out of the race!
What a start to the race for us 
Congratz on the stage Oram and a great report on the first stage Nemolito 
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| Guave |
Posted on 27-11-2020 08:33
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Stagiare
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Wowza! I actually expected the least of this stage, because I didn't send a sprinter to Spain. Smart thinking from Oram to join the breakaway. During the read, I thought for a long while the breakaway wasn't going to last, but was pleased with the airtime. Surviving that last mountain was a breakpoint, though. Katrasnik is a beast on the flats and Oram a fairly strong TT'er so it's not SUCH a surprise they managed to maintain their lead. That Oram eventually won that sprint was a very very pleasant surprise. I guess he played it smart: left most of the work to his companions during the breakaway and waited until just the right moment to hit the wind and overtake Katrasnik. Superb!
Thanks Nemolito for the perfect and enjoyable report 
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| quadsas |
Posted on 27-11-2020 08:36
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Small Tour Specialist
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Great stage for CT teams, Nepo gets a point too
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 27-11-2020 09:03
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Directeur Sportif
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James Oram <3 Really happy to see him delivering a stage win that early into the season. The step to CT already paid off for him and his new manager!
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 27-11-2020 09:05
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Grand Tour Champion
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No time lost, so that's fine with me. Nice surprise win for Oram to get things started.
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| MacC |
Posted on 27-11-2020 09:13
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Sprinter
Posts: 1594
Joined: 15-07-2008
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MacC wrote:
Surprised to see King in with a chance for a stage but I'll take it!
70th! |
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