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Hanko Classic - Discussion
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 08-03-2021 09:51
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 Hanko Classic
Welcome to Finland, welcome for the third edition of the Hanko Classic! The previous editions were won by  Ahlstrand and  Guarnieri, with only the latter having made it back to go for a second Finnish victory. Nevertheless, this course will look familiar to people who have been following cycling for a while, as it is also included in the Baltic Chain Tour. Earlier this season  Vesely won a very close sprint there to win the stage. A lot of riders in the top-10 of that stage will also be there tomorrow, will we see another photo Finnish (ba dum tss)? Let’s have a look at the startlist!
| FLAT | SPR | ACC | STA | RES |  Lo Cicero | 72 | 84 | 78 | 71 | 63 |  Ewan | 75 | 83 | 81 | 73 | 71 |  Swift | 73 | 83 | 81 | 72 | 69 |  Guerao | 74 | 83 | 76 | 71 | 64 |  Avelino | 70 | 82 | 77 | 69 | 65 |  Kristoff | 74 | 82 | 77 | 73 | 69 | | Nelson | 72 | 81 | 81 | 70 | 64 |  Kump | 74 | 81 | 80 | 76 | 73 |  Manninen | 74 | 81 | 80 | 71 | 75 | | Vesely | 73 | 81 | 80 | 74 | 68 | | Guarnieri | 75 | 81 | 80 | 76 | 75 |  Saber | 75 | 81 | 79 | 74 | 72 |  Cavendish | 71 | 81 | 78 | 71 | 68 |  Ciolek | 73 | 81 | 76 | 70 | 66 |  Itami | 75 | 80 | 82 | 71 | 67 | | Boeckmans | 72 | 80 | 82 | 73 | 70 | | Silvestre | 78 | 80 | 81 | 70 | 71 | | Kupfernagel | 74 | 80 | 80 | 73 | 66 |  Bonifazio | 79 | 80 | 80 | 68 | 75 | | Keukeleire | 72 | 80 | 79 | 73 | 68 | | Mohs | 72 | 80 | 77 | 68 | 59 |  Bouhanni | 74 | 80 | 77 | 74 | 69 |  Awang | 64 | 79 | 83 | 67 | 62 | | Perera | 71 | 79 | 80 | 69 | 73 |  Lutsyshyn | 70 | 79 | 80 | 69 | 73 |  Rowe | 78 | 79 | 80 | 76 | 70 |  Thorsen | 58 | 79 | 80 | 58 | 51 |
Purely looking at the sprint speed, Lo Cicero is the fastest. He hasn’t shown that a lot this season though, and his lack of decent acceleration and back up stats makes us wonder if he is really the top favourite. Ewan and Swift on the other hand should me more allrounded, and proved that by both finishing on the podium earlier this season in the Hanko stage of the Baltic Chain Tour. Swift has an incredible lead-out existing out of Silvestre and Kupfernagel, while Ewan can count on Nelson and Keukeleire.
Guerao, Avelino and Kristoff are all very fast riders, but seem to be missing that acceleration as well. Nevertheless, Avelino did manage to finish fifth in the Hanko stage a couple of months ago, so it would not be wise to simply have no faith at all in those type of sprinters.
Then we find some very interesting names. Kump has already won several stages this year, while the same can be said about Manninen. Vesely will be looking for a second victory on this course this season, while Guarnieri will want to see his names on the palmares for the second time.
Well, talking about interesting names, we can’t forget the quartet of Saber, Cavendish, Ciolek and Itami. The Moroccan champion from Swisslion Cycling Team has had a good Baltic Chain Tour and will start together with teammate Boeckmans, a cooperation that has already proven fruitful earlier this season. Cavendish has also shown us a couple of times this season that he may be old, but not rotten, while Ciolek is still looking for his best legs. The Japanese rider from GCN, Itami, had a great Cheshire Cycling Tour in May, where he won the green jersey, and will be looking to continue that good form.
Bonifazio is not the best pure sprinter, but those backup stats simply look delicious. It might not be enough to win the Hanko Classic tomorrow, but he could and should become one of the peloton’s best sprinters in the coming years. Other sprinters that will try to score something for their teams are Bouhanni, Awang, Lutsyshyn and Rowe.
With all those great sprinters here, the probability of a sprint is very high. Nevertheless, we might see some (late) attacks from the stronger rouleurs, with some of them having been very successful so far this season. Let’s take a look at the names standing out.
| FLAT | STA | RES | FIGHT | | Veyhe | 78 | 65 | 69 | 79 | | Vanbilsen | 78 | 80 | 74 | 72 |  Maes | 78 | 76 | 71 | 70 | | Biermans | 77 | 71 | 74 | 77 | | Richardson | 77 | 71 | 74 | 76 | | Breen | 77 | 72 | 72 | 74 | | Aaltio | 77 | 66 | 71 | 69 | | De Bondt | 76 | 72 | 69 | 76 | | Kuznetsov | 76 | 75 | 73 | 76 | | Vanspeybrouck | 75 | 77 | 70 | 73 |  Naesen | 75 | 77 | 73 | 64 |
The list could definitely be bigger, but many names are left out because they will probably (have to) work for their sprinter. Three riders don’t have anyone to work for though, so they will have all the freedom to do their own thing, and they have already shown us this season that they are very much capable of doing so. Those three riders would be Vanspeybrouck, Naesen and Maes.
Let’s have a look at the entire startlist, and let’s hope for a nice race tomorrow!
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| quadsas |
Posted on 08-03-2021 09:53
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Small Tour Specialist
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Pog Guerao is back. If he can get 4th that'd be brilliant
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| redordead |
Posted on 08-03-2021 10:03
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Can we get a repeat performance from the Down Under Classic? Probably not 
Thanks for the preview Nemo 
"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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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 08-03-2021 10:06
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World Champion
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Oh good, we're racing again! Bonifazio has been a disappontment all season, so I hope Vanbilsen does a late attack.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 08-03-2021 10:26
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We're gonna need a miracle from Naesen or Habtom to have a chance at any points here, likely from a late attack or something. No expectations though, like in any other C1 race 
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 08-03-2021 10:31
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Not expecting much given Ciolek hasn't been giving us much to expect.
It shoul be a good opportunity for a nice organized mass sprint
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 08-03-2021 15:30
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Tour de France Champion
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Manninen has been so great this year, I see no reason why he won't take his home race too.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| fintas |
Posted on 08-03-2021 16:21
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I hope a better result than what happened in Down Under.
If ours train works we can achieve a good result, otherwise it will be another one of the many disasters of the season
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 08-03-2021 16:22
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Vesely is back in action, time to pick up points again!
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 08-03-2021 16:49
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Idk, Ewan will probably be close to front in the end but because we'll make a train he'll lose out and again. At least i enjoy seeing out cool pink jerseys a lot in events like this
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 26-11-2024 18:05
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 08-03-2021 17:41
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Fingers crossed for a top 10 from Cav.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 08-03-2021 19:17
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All i can do is pray  |
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| ivaneurope |
Posted on 09-03-2021 05:19
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Classics Specialist
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I'll be content even with Top 10 finish
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 09-03-2021 10:43
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Got a bit worried because everytime we build a train it always fails, but I'll definitely take a podium in a close sprint. Thanks for the report and an update for every 100 meter Nemolito! Congrats Berg!
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| redordead |
Posted on 09-03-2021 10:51
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Well we got a repeat performance from Down Under Classic, but not nearly the same result 
Saber's attack might have been a bit too early, but even more important Boeckmans was nowhere to be seen until the end. Can't start sprinting from like 20th position and get a good result
Congrats on the win fintas, Swift has been pretty consistent throughout the season, also nice to see Ewan near the top
Thanks for the report Nemo
"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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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 09-03-2021 10:55
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World Champion
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It's official, Bonifazio is worse then Waeytens.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| quadsas |
Posted on 09-03-2021 10:57
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Well, Guerao blew his load a bit early, but 28 points is..ok..I guess
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| ivaneurope |
Posted on 09-03-2021 11:00
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Again fell short of the podium. But Top 5 is still something, right?
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| fintas |
Posted on 09-03-2021 11:06
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Very satisfied with this victory, Swift continues to prove that the bet on him was the right one for this season.
Still, I am very disappointed with the results of the rest of the team. Although we did not form a train, Silvestre and Kupfernagel should at least have tried and managed better than places 81 and 129.
Thanks for the report Nemolito
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 09-03-2021 11:09
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Tour de France Champion
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TheManxMissile wrote:
Idk, Ewan will probably be close to front in the end but because we'll make a train he'll lose out and again. At least i enjoy seeing out cool pink jerseys a lot in events like this
Spot on prediction! And our train was looking pretty good, but if you are in the wind anywhere before the final 500 you ain't gonna win.
Swift with the better position behind Ewan, sliding past at the end. It's perfect sprinting from him, and at least he's on the level with Ewan so i can take that loss.
My frustration isn't really AI related anymore, just waiting for the Wage calculation to head more towards results vs stats because Caleb is nowhere close to his current value with the way this game works.
Also this is the kind of result that gives me survival hope, and i hate it! I want to know if we'll be just PCT or CT so i can know which direction to take my team with enough time to lobby the MGUCI to allow a womens team in the CT 
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![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
