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GP Izola Discussion
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 14-01-2021 10:20
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Grand Tour Champion
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 GP Izola
History is being written here! For the first time ever, riders in the continental tour (and one PCT team in Repsol) travel to Izola in Slovenia for the GP Izola. With no previous edition there isn't much to discuss in terms of previous winners or famous moments. I could Google anecdotes about the city of Izola but I doubt the cyclists would care. Let's head onto the route then!
Profile
The race is rated as hilly, which certainly seems true for the beginning. The riders climb a local hill four times, heading back down to Izola each time. Then we circle around Izola some more but without taking that hill. Those laps are not entirely flat but not shockingly difficult either. At 146 kilometer it is also a rather short race. Puncheurs or sprinters for the win?
Startlist
| Favorites | HL | SP | ACC | Outsiders | HL | SP | ACC |  Kelderman | 82 | 67 | 72 | Watson | 78 | 62 | 72 |  Zaini | 80 | 65 | 70 |  Hugentobler | 78 | 56 | 76 | | Meyer | 79 | 72 | 77 |  Tsatevich | 77 | 75 | 75 |  Edmondson | 79 | 70 | 76 |  Felline | 77 | 74 | 78 |  Moscon | 79 | 59 | 73 |  Smirnovs | 77 | 72 | 78 |  Barbin | 78 | 71 | 76 | Caruso | 77 | 69 | 76 |  Eiking | 78 | 68 | 76 |  Ben Nasser | 77 | 68 | 74 |  Juul-Jensen | 78 | 66 | 79 | Hoelgaard | 77 | 68 | 74 | | Mehr-Wenige | 78 | 66 | 67 |  Zordan | 77 | 65 | 74 | | Quevedo | 78 | 65 | 75 | Pernsteiner | 77 | 61 | 72 | | Flügel | 78 | 65 | 69 | Roux | 77 | 56 | 74 |
More managers seem to bet on the hilly men doing the task for them, or they could have been fooled by the profile indicator and not looking at the actual profile.
At the first race of the season, I said Kelderman would be the rider to beat in any hilly race. I still stand by that comment, but he has been beaten a few times now. Luckily for him, whenever a crazy Dutchman obsessed with Minions reported on a race (Yekaterinburg and Hong Kong), he ended up winning. Guess who is reporting this race? Banana!
Moving back out of character again, Zaini is the second-best puncheur but definitely someone who doesn't want to see a group finish. He has to attack on one of the small ascents in Izola, which might not be that easy to pull off.
Meyer is probably the fastest from the star puncheurs. Definitely not up to the standard of a regular sprinter, but a reduced group sprint will see him as prime contender.
A similar rider is Edmondson, who could use his acceleration to attack or wait for a sprint. He'll be amongst the front for sure.
Moscon is someone who will do everything to not get it to a sprint, as almost everyone will beat him in it. There's only one way to avoid that, attack!
The race is specifically added to the calendar for a Slovenian team, Trans. Their leader Barbin is a match when it comes to the hills and sprints, and the home crowd might cheer on a rider representing their country.
Gjensidige brings their three musketeers: Eiking, Mehr-Wenige and Flügel. All three will fall short in a sprint, so who receives the nod to attack?
Carlsberg is in the hunt to promote back to PCT, and they throw their support behind Juul-Jensen. He is known to accelerate fast but has difficulty in the sprint, perhaps hoping an early acceleration will give him enough distance.
Quevedo might be Carrefour's best puncheur, but they also have Caruso behind him. Their main man to watch might be Tsatevich, who will beat all others in this section when it comes to a sprint, as long as he is in the front group.
Two riders in the outsider section who could also have an impact in a sprint finish are Felline and Smirnovs, but they'd have to follow attacks by better skilled riders.
| Sprinters | SP | ACC | HL | Sprinters | SP | ACC | HL | | Bouhanni | 80 | 77 | 63 | Modolo | 77 | 79 | 72 | | Reinhardt | 79 | 84 | 67 | Redecker | 77 | 78 | 72 | | Mezgec | 79 | 77 | 67 | M. Kreder | 77 | 78 | 69 | | Colbrelli | 79 | 75 | 61 |  Haddi | 77 | 77 | 65 | | Boev | 78 | 78 | 65 | Naesen | 77 | 76 | 72 | | Cisse | 78 | 77 | 63 | Korosec | 75 | 78 | 75 | | W. Kreder | 77 | 78 | 75 | Lienhard | 73 | 76 | 75 |
The hills at the end do not seem that difficult, a sprinter might walk away with this.
Bouhanni is one of those sprinters, and has Colbrelli as leadout. Strava furthermore brings the best punchy sprinter in Wesley Kreder, and even add Felline from the previous section for good measure. There is one team who wants to take it to a sprint.
Many teams bet on two horses. Centovalli have Reinhardt and Cisse alongside Moscon, as well as Lienhard as best of both worlds.
The home crowd might support Barbin, but they might support Mezgec even more. It gives the manager a difficult decision, focus on the hills for a good chance with Barbin or please the locals with Mezgec? They also have Korosec if they really cannot choose.
Boev is probably not getting leadership over Kelderman, but it is good to keep options open. They hoped the Kreder name would give them a punchy sprinter as well, but Michel is not as adapted as his cousin Wesley.
Naesen won Betonexpressz GP two days ago in neighboring Hungary. It was quite an unconventional sprint, but this sprint likely won't be conventional either. He definitely receives a morale boost from the kisses of the podium girls, unless they infected him with COVID.
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 14-01-2021 10:28
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Marcovdw wrote:
Centovalli have Reinhardt and Cisse alongside Kelderman, as well as Lienhard as best of both worlds.
Oh, Kelderman has joined us? Didn't follow these news 
Don't really know what to expect. I'd bet on a messy and unpredictable outcome given that parcours. The early hills seem like a waste given the flat second half, so I'm not very confident a puncheur will actually take this. Our best bet might be to send Lienhard up front... I feel like anything from a win to zero points are possible - a good reason to not make this a goal race.
Thanks for the preview - let's see who goes banana
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| hillis91 |
Posted on 14-01-2021 10:35
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Team Leader
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One of our goals, we need a big performance from the fellas here!
GL everybody 
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 14-01-2021 10:39
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7593
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Fabianski wrote:
Marcovdw wrote:
Centovalli have Reinhardt and Cisse alongside Kelderman, as well as Lienhard as best of both worlds.
Oh, Kelderman has joined us? Didn't follow these news
Yes, I heard you signed his cousin who used to be in my football team
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| redordead |
Posted on 14-01-2021 10:42
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4881
Joined: 18-10-2017
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IZOLA!!! 
Obviously cheering for the home team here
"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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| TinxiaS |
Posted on 14-01-2021 11:54
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Domestique
Posts: 504
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Welcome everyone to Slovenia!
We are excited to ride finally on home roads next to the coast.
The new official name of the race is GP Slovenian Istria.
The course is connecting the coast cities together. Immediately after the start peloton will start with the main climb (5,5% average, 3,5km) after the clime is time for a long descend and turn on the right next to the Croatian border to salt ''farm'' Sečoveljske soline next to the local airport. This part is the flattest part of the course.
Before riders will left Lucija village next to Portorož they will enter a short 100 to 500m long climbs before entering into the last one and a half kilometer where is important to have a good position where riders will first turn on the sharp right turn and then to the 500m to finish on the long left turn with completely flat and narrow 500m finish to the city of Izola.
This is the type the race where we can expect to win a small breakaway or peloton in a big sprint.
Map from the race:
Presentation videos for this race:
1st video
2nd video
Videos are from our sponsor Cycling24/7
We really hope as this is our win goal for this season but all results in the top 10 will be successful for us as to how this season is going.
If our main candidate Luka Mezgec won't be able to come with the first group to the finish we hope that Rok Korošec, Modolo, or Barbin can do their magic at the finish of the race.
We all know that our team will be special under the pressure as a home team but the competition brought top-class riders.
We wish you all the best and nice vacations for those who will stay after the race in Slovenia
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| TinxiaS |
Posted on 14-01-2021 11:59
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Domestique
Posts: 504
Joined: 17-08-2020
PCM$: 400.00
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Tnx, I really hope that we will manage to get a good result!  
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 14-01-2021 12:40
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Directeur Sportif
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Yeah all eyes on the home team, go Slovenia!
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-11-2024 04:56
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 14-01-2021 13:11
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First C2 outing for us this season. I picked this race because of the hilly ones, it's clearly the easiest and can result in a very messy sprint where i hope Barbero contends. If he does so, he could bring us a very good result
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 14-01-2021 14:40
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Tour de France Champion
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JJ doesn't have the best sprint, but maybe we can see some of his trademarked aggression here for the first time this season if a lot of guys survive the hills. Otherwise the strong sprinters will probably take this one. The goal for us to to stay consistent and score.
Thanks for the preview!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 14-01-2021 20:02
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I really hope that Redecker and Naesen can do something here, and that the game treats them as legit contenders once the bigger hills are done. Then we could be looking at another Betonexpress scenario, but I'm not going to get my hope up. Rather small starting field, curious to see how the AI handles it. Maybe fewer/later splits in the peloton, which could benefit us. Good luck to everyone and thanks for the preview Marco!
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 15-01-2021 01:09
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Should be an interesting race! Good luck everyone!
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 15-01-2021 07:09
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Directeur Sportif
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Not quite sure what to expect from this race as it doesn't suit Kelderman and he hasn't been in the best form while the sprinters haven't themselves proud either. Hoping things change a bit here.
Thanks for the preview
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 15-01-2021 11:07
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Ouch, that was really, really bad tactics. Moscon should definitely have followed the leaders, but well, you can't always win. Onto the next one... Still happy I didn't choose this one as a goal race - the pretty random finish shows it was a good decision.
Congrats to Wilco, who seems to be back on track! And thanks for the report, Marco! Please stop reporting races with Wilco participating, though
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| redordead |
Posted on 15-01-2021 11:16
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Not the most exciting race, would've been fun to see a bit more action. But Kelderman took the risk of attacking and got his reward.
Congrats Abhi
"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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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 15-01-2021 11:52
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Barbero didn't feel like trying today, but at least Rodriguez and Mosca joined the sprint and took a few points
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| hillis91 |
Posted on 15-01-2021 12:06
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Team Leader
Posts: 5897
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So close but no sigar.
I guess, however, that loosing to Kelderman isnt too bad.
Thank you for the report and congratz to Abhi!
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 15-01-2021 12:19
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Yes!! That's a great comeback from the team after a few low races. Excellent teamwork and a great delivery by Kelderman. Smart to allow Eiking to tire himself out after the duo attack. But I'm glad both of them could work together to keep the pack at bay in the closing kilometers. Tough luck hillis, but we really needed that one to keep the pressure on at the top. Love the depth points as well
Thanks for the report Marco and please keep reporting our races
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 15-01-2021 14:46
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Tour de France Champion
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Well, that was a good race for us. JJ heeded my words and did something while the other puncheurs bickered. 3rd a good result, and he remains quite consistent so far this year. Looking at the animations I thought he might have had enough to reach the lead duo and challenge for the win, but ultimately I can't be mad about a podium.
Our scoring potential drops a bit from our lack of depth, but we knew that already since the transfer season. This is a net gain on a terrain I pretty much neglected. Juul-Jensen is definitely having a bit of a redemption arc in CT right now, and for 99k wages I'm very glad I kept him.
Thanks to Marco for a great read, and congrats to Abhishek on a deserved win!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| krisa |
Posted on 15-01-2021 15:21
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7th is decent I guess
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