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Tour d'Andorra Discussion
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 14-04-2023 22:23
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Classics Specialist
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Welcome to Tour d’Andorra. The small mountain nation on the border of Spain and France has long been a home for active pro riders. The race has always been dominated by the strongest stage racers around due to it’s absurdly challenging parcours that includes nothing but mountains and a mountain TT to top it all off. Last year the race was won by big money Tryg investment Tim Wellens, who couldn’t keep his team away from the drop, but at least netted manager liefwarrior a pretty penny to start the rebuild.
Let’s dive into the preview of the favourites. The startlist is dominated by some of the top climbers in the PCT. The early doors favourite is going to be  Madrazo, the aging Spaniard was a marquee signing of Barlirwa – Stevens this season and while he hasn’t been able to match his teammate Stallaert’s amazing scoring he should be the biggest favourite to take home the win here in Andorra. In the field behind him a bunch of interesting names  Padun lacks the time trailing skills of Madrazo so would have to be able to utilise his kick to put time into the veteran on some of the other stages.
 Quintana &  Oomen both have some time trialling skills to their name and Oomen has shown this season that he can match the best riders in the world over three weeks, on top of his already incredible results in races where he’s eligible for points, he finds himself second in the individual PCT standings at the time of writing.
Two other riders that we cannot forget to bring into the mix here are  Ranaweera &  Rodrigues both of these riders have the x-factor to put a lot of time into their opponents on the mountain TT, which is going to be a strong notch in their favour in the pursuit of the podium.
The first CT rider to get a nod in this preview is  Stüssi, despite manager Fabianski’s woes this season when it comes to Stüssi’s results after training, the Swiss rider’s statblock means he could put in a blinder of a performance here, his energy stats combined with the good TT ability means that he should be the best placed CT rider here by a big margin unless  Alarcon finds a second youth, but that shouldn’t be possible considering his lack of physical longevity.  Fabbro &  Kuss are two other CT riders that could provide an upset here against the big boys from the PCT with the American having produced some strong results this season already.
With the preview done here’s the full startlist for the mountain showdown!
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 14-04-2023 22:39
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Thanks for the preview!
I obviously hope you'll be right with Stüssi being the strongest CT finisher here, although that has often not been the case so far. Unfortunately, energy stats don't really matter imho, and a good TT stat is worth close to nothing in a MTT, so I fear it'll come down to how lucky we'll get with daily form. It could obviously go pretty well, or very bad. A Top 10 would be great, but if Stüssi does like in Hallstatt or Apex, we'll leave pretty much (or completely) empty-handed. I was looking forward to this race pre-season; not so much anymore now. We'll see...
Madrazo, Oomen, Padun and Quintana should be out of reach anyway, but vs. the 78/79/80 climbers daily form will definitely have a heavy impact. Will be interesting to see if Bralirwa or Lierse can add some significant points here for their promotion push!
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| Imladrik |
Posted on 14-04-2023 22:44
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Breakaway Specialist
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Thanks for the preview!
Could have been a team goal, maybe it'll be next year as I'll be understanding a bit more how it works 
Well, I hope for breaks, KoM hunting and maybe a winning break.
“...the secret of the Great Stories is that they have no secrets. The Great Stories are the ones you have heard and want to hear again. The ones you can enter anywhere and inhabit comfortably."
A. Roy
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 14-04-2023 22:51
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Directeur Sportif
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Figured Sepp would be out of his depth here but the field isn't quite as strong as I expected. Which might not be good because fear he will be in the dangerous 10th to 15th range where breaks aren't possible but regular results aren't that great either.
As Fabianski notes lots of similar guys so daily form can matter a lot in a short race. Hopefully the MTT is all mountain as Sepp's none too good in the flat TTs.
Seems like Madrazo's race to lose, looking forward to it. Thanks for the preview WJ.
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| liefwarrior |
Posted on 15-04-2023 02:52
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Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 864
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I think this is the first time that we've unleashed Zimmermann to go hunt down the white jersey. Obviously he isn't going to be able to repeat Wellens's victory, but I think he's the favourite in the U25 category. I'm expecting at least one, if not two, challenges at a stage victory and Top 20 in the General Classification, as well as wearing white on the final podiums.
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 15-04-2023 05:59
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Directeur Sportif
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We'll be very happy if Penasa gets the Top 10 that he is billed for in the preview. It's all about being consistent for him this season. He has done that so far. Lets hope that continues. The support team isn't the strongest, so lets hope that does not hamper us too much.
Thanks for the preview WJ 
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 11:14
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| Bjartne |
Posted on 15-04-2023 06:24
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Classics Specialist
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Tour d'Andorra is always a fun race, so looking forward to this, even though we lack the firepower to compete in such a tough PCT-event. Hopefully we can gather some points on breakaway-attempts.
Thanks for the preview WhiteJersey! |
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 15-04-2023 07:03
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Team Leader
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Not sure how this one will go. Let’s hope Schleck and Schultz can get some good results
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 15-04-2023 07:39
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World Champion
Posts: 14563
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Oomen time! The podium is a must, but looking at promotion we will probably have to beat Madrazo, which will be very hard.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 15-04-2023 11:17
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Team Manager
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This might well be the race that makes or breaks our season. We could come away with the GC, two to four stage wins, the points jersey and a few days in yellow, or we could leave with none of that and maybe 3rd or 4th overall. In the latter case, we might have to say goodbye to promotion. But if Madrazo dominates like he very well could, this could be the final boost we need.
Not going to be a walk in the park by any means. I'm most afraid of Padun I think, but Quintana and Oomen are both threats as well. The first stage could already decide a lot, considering the daily form boost that comes with yellow. I hope it goes well!
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 15-04-2023 12:01
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Team Leader
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Anticipating 5 challenging days here for the team with Mas leading in what is a rather strong field. Hopefully he’s on the right side of the lottery for the lower Top 10 of the GC.
Fernandez is our only other climber here and I don’t really see him getting in the breakaway but we shall see.
Thank you for the preview!! Should be a good GC battle between the 4 best, my pick is Oomen or Quintana.
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 15-04-2023 20:47
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Protected Rider
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The GC of this race is a season goal and we're far from even being mentioned in the favourites list - what were we thinking back in autumn 
So once again we're just hoping for the breaks, at least Teuns did make some fairly nice tries this season.
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 16-04-2023 15:22
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Small Tour Specialist
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Kraftwerk's 3 mountain men Nerz, Arndt and Ranaweera are all here, we need a good result from such a commitment.
Thanks for the preview WJ.
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| Laurens147 |
Posted on 17-04-2023 09:14
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Protected Rider
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Come on Carapaz and Manfredi, looking forward to this one! 
MG - Lotto - Caloi
[MG] New Manager of the Year - PCM.daily Awards 2022
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| MacC |
Posted on 17-04-2023 09:55
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Sprinter
Posts: 1594
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Any points here will be a bonus for Glanbia.
A top 15 for Talansky could be on the cards but really what I want to see is somebody going for breaks and KOM .
Thanks for preview and good luck all
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 17-04-2023 22:11
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World Champion
Posts: 14563
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That stage was crazy like Fox News. Absolute destruction and somehow Oomen did ok. Can't wait for the next stage!
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 17-04-2023 22:20
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4669
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Wait... Talansky? Wtf is that guy doing there? Stage of his life for him I guess, beating riders with +5 Mo! Congrats to Glanbia and MacC, really massive stage for you!
I'm obviously happy with Stüssi's performance as well, although seeing him being destroyed by Talansky doesn't feel great. But he was able to beat lots of other strong climbers, so that's definitely a promising start. We'll see if that was just a great day, or if he can be more consistent than he was in most of his other C1 races, though...
Commiserations especially to DarkWolf; Quintana losing 4 minutes is just ridiculous. Even last year he wasn't that bad... But it's still a long race, and I sure hope he'll recover! Same for Madrazo, who once again was a joke on that stage.
But honestly, I can't really see the likes of Talansky, Alarcon or even Stüssi be that strong every single day, so I suppose there'll be some room in the Top 10 for the likes of Madrazo, Quintana, Carapaz or one of the Kraftwerk dudes.
Despite being on the bright side for once, I'm definitely longing for more consistent daily form behaviour...
Thanks for the report nonetheless, wj, was definitely a thrilling one to follow!
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 17-04-2023 22:23
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Directeur Sportif
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MacC wrote:
Any points here will be a bonus for Glanbia.
A top 15 for Talansky could be on the cards but really what I want to see is somebody going for breaks and KOM .
Couldn't decide which of these statements to respond to, but will go for the second one - We had Rodriguez Galindo in the break - how about we trade?
Mediocre stuff from McCormick but worse for others.
Thanks for the report.
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 17-04-2023 23:36
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Team Manager
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:'(
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| Eden95 |
Posted on 18-04-2023 02:16
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Grand Tour Specialist
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What a crazy stage, was a good read WJ! Congrats MacC on a fantastic win, Talansky showing that he still has it. Stussi and Alarcon doing well and finishing in the top-10 is a great result for the CT teams here.
Indosat - ANZ HQ
"This Schleck sandwich is going to cause serious indigestion for Evans" - Phil Liggett |
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