Transfagarasan GP Discussion
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Marcovdw |
Posted on 25-06-2021 10:40
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Transfagarasan GP
History
Year | Winner | Team | 2019 | Ryan Eastman | Azteca - NBCSN | 2014 | Peilun Wu | Siam Cement - Lenovo | 2013 | Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver | Iberia - Communidad Valenciana | 2012 | Marco Osella | Ferrari - ERGa | 2010 | Jose Alarcon | Team IKEA - Bianchi |
Transfagarasan GP is a one-day classic in Romania, held at C2HC level on the 23rd of September. The race returned to the calendar last year after an absence since 2014, and was won by Ryan Eastman who took over the title as last race winner from Peilun Wu. As C2HC race, all Continental Teams and only Continental Teams participate, so he is unable to defend his title due to bureaucracy. The race derives its name from the Transfăgărășan (copy-paste obviously), a road crossing the Carpathian mountains which was labeled by Jeremy Clarkson from the good Top Gear as "the best road in the world". If the locals want to cheer for one of their own, they're not in luck as there is no Romanian on the startlist.
Profile
The race is very short, only 88888 meters. The first part contains some bits of climbing, followed by a flat section leading up to the main climb. There's no time to enjoy the scenery, we expect the race to explode from the bottom with a fast push up the mountain to the highest point of the road just over 2 kilometer.
Startlist
Favorites | MO | ACC | RES | Outsiders | MO | ACC | RES | Pinot | 80 | 69 | 79 | Bardet | 77 | 75 | 70 | Seboka | 80 | 67 | 70 | Saggiorato | 77 | 72 | 74 | Ranaweera | 80 | 65 | 75 | Parra Bustamente | 77 | 71 | 74 | Ratiy | 80 | 58 | 73 | Medvedev | 77 | 70 | 75 | Marquez | 79 | 79 | 77 | Battaglin | 77 | 70 | 72 | Garby | 79 | 70 | 76 | Eg | 77 | 68 | 74 | Frankiny | 78 | 75 | 75 | Hoem | 77 | 62 | 69 | Chamorro | 78 | 74 | 76 | Mai | 77 | 60 | 75 | Signorini | 78 | 74 | 72 | Burmann | 76 | 76 | 73 | Manfredi | 78 | 73 | 73 | Jang | 76 | 74 | 70 | Fabbro | 78 | 73 | 72 | Inkelaar | 76 | 73 | 73 | Ndayisenga | 78 | 73 | 68 | Schultz | 76 | 71 | 80 | Cort Nielsen | 78 | 71 | 75 | Henao | 76 | 70 | 73 | Kuss | 78 | 69 | 76 | Reguigui | 76 | 69 | 69 | Keinath | 78 | 69 | 75 | Brandt | 76 | 66 | 69 | Lunke | 78 | 64 | 74 | Eyob | 76 | 66 | 69 | Jaramillo | 77 | 76 | 69 | Silva | 76 | 64 | 74 |
The highest returning customer is Pinot, who finished fourth last time out. Now he's one of the top favorites again and won't be satisfied with anything less than a podium. The top spot is all he's aiming for
Under normal circumstances, putting Seboka in the favorite's list would be laughed at by every manager, including his own. But if there is one race where he could do well, it's here. All he can do is climb, and let that just be the only thing you need to do here.
Ranaweera won Classique Pico Basile, the last mountainous Continental race featuring the majority of this field. There are more ranking points on offer for this C2HC race, so repeating the trick is more valuable here. His loyal lieutenant Frankiny will help him as always.
Ratiy finished as number five in the last edition, and like Pinot wants to move up in he history books. While high up the favorites, he might not be regarded as highly as Pinot and Ranaweera, which might be an advantage if he gets away and they decide to let him go. Signorini could block them as well.
In case we have a long sprint up the mountain, Marquez is very dangerous. He has the best acceleration in the entire field and is keen on using it. Will Seboka let him though?
Garby is not a top favorite, but a favorite nonetheless. Can you tell there is a really strong bunch of climbers in the lowest division? It makes the race unpredictable!
Further riders to mention are Sakartvelo winner Fabbro, the Tryg duo of no.6 of 2019 Cort Nielsen and Pico Basile runner-up Lunke, number six from Pico Basile Ndayisenga, number eight from 2019 Manfredi, Chamorro, Keinath and Kuss.
Edited by Marcovdw on 25-06-2021 11:03
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Bikex |
Posted on 25-06-2021 10:47
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I want to make a small correction to your great preview: There was at least one more Transfergarasan GP before 2019 when the legend that is Peilun Wu won with an epic mid race attack: https://pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread...d_id=37122
He had a mountain stat of 74, unbelievable when looking at this years startlist. Good luck to everyone! |
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cunego59 |
Posted on 25-06-2021 10:54
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I fancy Ndayisenga's chances for a good result here, even with his comparably low resistance. But as always with CT climbing, it's so hard to predict! Good luck everyone, looking forward to the report!
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Marcovdw |
Posted on 25-06-2021 10:57
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Bikex wrote:
I want to make a small correction to your great preview: There was at least one more Transfergarasan GP before 2019 when the legend that is Peilun Wu won with an epic mid race attack: https://pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread...d_id=37122
He had a mountain stat of 74, unbelievable when looking at this years startlist. Good luck to everyone!
Ah, that wasn't mentioned in the profile thread where I take this information from. I'll add it to the preview because it deserves a mention
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Bjartne |
Posted on 25-06-2021 13:04
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Cool race, and we thought we were having a great team here, but obviously there are a lot better climbers in this division |
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Nemolito |
Posted on 25-06-2021 13:11
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I'm still laughing at Seboka in the list of favourites As Marquez has been given bib 61, I suppose the game is as well, and the Spaniard is our leader. It will be his last race ever for the team, a top-3 goodbye would be ideal
Thanks for the preview!
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baseballlover312 |
Posted on 25-06-2021 15:20
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Warbasse was "out" of race days and I didn't want to "waste" others by switching him to a pure mountain race. Looking at his results this year, he probably could have done well here.
Nevertheless, this will serve as the only race where Fabbro and Eg ride together without Larry. Worst thing that could happen is that their anonymous and bad. I'm up for an unsuccessful adventure or a good result, but not neither. Both have shown flashes this year, and this is their last chance to get a result for themselves. Interesting that Eg got the leader's bib.
As for favorites, it should be the usual suspects here - Pinot, Ranaweera, Marquez, etc.
Thanks for the preview!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
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AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 25-06-2021 16:21
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Don't have high hopes for this one. Keinath has shown he does much better in stage races, so this isn't his preferred type of race. Bardet hasn't shown much all season. Probably a Top 10 is a good result here.
Thanks for the preview
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Fabianski |
Posted on 25-06-2021 16:47
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Don't really know what to expect here. Manfredi hasn't been great most of the season, but sometimes still had his bright stages. For Saggiorato, it's the final chance to shine as a maxed rider.
Pernsteiner has often been doing well on those long climbs, too. But my dark horse is Moscon; he actually was our second best rider in Trentino, and with his great resistance, he can handle those climbs pretty well. It depends on how steep this one is, though.
All in all, I don't expect a top result, but some decent depth points. Good luck to all, and thanks for the preview!
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Posted on 23-11-2024 01:21
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Fabianski |
Posted on 25-06-2021 16:47
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Don't really know what to expect here. Manfredi hasn't been great most of the season, but sometimes still had his bright stages. For Saggiorato, it's the final chance to shine as a maxed rider.
Pernsteiner has often been doing well on those long climbs, too. But my dark horse is Moscon; he actually was our second best rider in Trentino, and with his great resistance, he can handle those climbs pretty well. It depends on how steep this one is, though.
All in all, I don't expect a top result, but some decent depth points. Good luck to all, and thanks for the preview!
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Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 25-06-2021 22:49
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Kuss making the transatlantic trip to compete are a very successful ToA - anything here is a bonus. Field is tougher but a single long climb is to Sepp's liking. Looking at the field Garby really underperformed in the ToA - finishing 6 spots behind Kuss (barring strange stuff on ToA stage 21), with probably slightly better stats.
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MacC |
Posted on 26-06-2021 11:59
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Not much grounds for hope for Glanbia. Will be hoping Brandt can sneak a top 20
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sammyt93 |
Posted on 26-06-2021 14:34
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Hopefully the deadly duo can combine to take down Pinot again as he does seem weaker in one day races than in stage races.
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Fabianski |
Posted on 26-06-2021 17:17
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Well, 19th as the best result is an absolute disaster. We've never done as horribly all season long, so that's the worst possible end of year for our climbers. No way they'll stay with us in PCT, especially not as "leaders".
Congrats to P:A and Pinot, well deserved win!
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baseballlover312 |
Posted on 26-06-2021 17:54
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Lackluster performance by Fabbro to not even make the top 10, but Eg in 14th makes it at least not a catastrophic defeat. Predictable and well deserved podium riders.
Congrats to P:A on another Pinot win, and thanks for the report!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
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Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 26-06-2021 19:06
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Kuss not on his best form but will forgive that.
Ranaweera and Pinot once again proving the class of the division. Congrats.
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Nemolito |
Posted on 26-06-2021 19:28
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Nothing could be done against the big two, but Marquez definitely did very well by following the right move and then finishing on the podium in his last race for Los Pollos. Gracias por todo, Florentino!
Lovely report with beautiful pictures as well, very clear and easy to follow as always, thanks for that Congratulations to Aidan!
Btw, lovely domestique work by Seboka as well. He is a legend and you all know it.
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maxime86 |
Posted on 26-06-2021 22:44
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8th place isn't too bad for Chamorro here, Pinot is just too much to handle at this level when faced with certain tailor made stages for him like this. Overall though, can't be mad at our team or Chamorro's result what so ever. Thanks for the report! |
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cunego59 |
Posted on 26-06-2021 23:11
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Happy that Pinot won this to finish the season in a way that justifies his price tag, which hasn't always been the case throughout the year. Congrats, Aidan! Pretty happy with Ndayisenga in 7th, can't expect much more. Thank you for the report, indeed a very nice one!
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sammyt93 |
Posted on 26-06-2021 23:40
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Pinot did well to force Ranaweera to go around the outside of him in that final corner, looks to be what settled it between the 2 of them.
Ranaweera has 1 last race left and Frankiny has 3 more classics left so their seasons aren't quite done just yet, this next update is going to show us where we are likely to finish though with us only having 6 races left after this one.
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