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Tour of Northern Europe Discussion
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| redordead |
Posted on 05-05-2023 15:07
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Tour of Northern Europe
Welcome to the 13th edition of the Tour of Northern Europe (more Belgium, geographically). The race has been changed up to a good, some stages are the same, but we will focus on the changes. First off, the cobbled TTT is now an individual time-trial. Plenty of hard cobbles makes it a day for the specialists. But the next day the puncheurs get a chance to strike back immediately with a hilltop finish. A sprint stage is followed by a hilly cobbled stage that finishes on top of the famous Bosberg. Two more flat stages can give a dominant sprinter a chance to win the points classification. The race ends with another hilly stage in Wallonia and ends on, you guessed it, the Mur de Huy!
The major changes are the changes to the cobbled time-trial and of course one stage less that takes out the flat stage against the clock. The race is set up for the classics specialists, but will a cobbler or puncheur come out on top?
With that said let's look at some of the favourites:
| FL | MO | HI | TT | RS | CB | SP | AC |  Gerts | 77 | 66 | 78 | 67 | 80 | 82 | 72 | 70 |  Wisniowski | 80 | 69 | 71 | 74 | 76 | 83 | 73 | 76 |  Debesay | 75 | 67 | 74 | 72 | 79 | 79 | 69 | 78 |  Pedersen | 77 | 63 | 69 | 69 | 80 | 82 | 78 | 77 |  Per | 79 | 68 | 70 | 72 | 75 | 81 | 74 | 74 |  Kasperkiewicz | 76 | 66 | 74 | 72 | 77 | 81 | 59 | 67 |  De Bie | 73 | 71 | 84 | 72 | 76 | 68 | 72 | 75 |  Theuns | 72 | 67 | 74 | 65 | 73 | 80 | 77 | 76 |  Polanc | 72 | 74 | 73 | 70 | 73 | 78 | 67 | 75 | | Kwiatkowski | 72 | 78 | 81 | 70 | 76 | 68 | 67 | 75 |  Malecki | 73 | 73 | 76 | 70 | 75 | 73 | 71 | 76 | | Van der Poel | 73 | 70 | 76 | 69 | 77 | 72 | 72 | 77 | | Anderberg | 78 | 64 | 69 | 76 | 76 | 78 | 60 | 73 |  Summerhill | 77 | 65 | 72 | 58 | 71 | 82 | 69 | 72 | | Pidcock | 73 | 73 | 74 | 70 | 75 | 72 | 72 | 78 |  Cavagna | 77 | 64 | 74 | 76 | 74 | 73 | 73 | 71 |  Tiller | 74 | 65 | 70 | 67 | 75 | 78 | 74 | 73 |  Senechal | 75 | 61 | 67 | 65 | 74 | 82 | 69 | 74 | | Skujins | 70 | 70 | 83 | 59 | 77 | 67 | 68 | 76 |  Altur | 75 | 62 | 70 | 63 | 70 | 82 | 72 | 68 |  Gamper | 77 | 62 | 66 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 63 | 71 | | Teunissen | 76 | 61 | 67 | 65 | 73 | 81 | 67 | 69 |
Gerts is by far the best cobbler + puncheur, so this race at least on paper seems perfect for him. But Wisniowski is no slouch though and he should be a good bet for the opening stage and put time into others. Debesay has had his moments in cobbled races and he's a good puncheur for a race like this. Sometimes the AI likes the better sprinters, if so Pedersen is there and it's not like he's bad on the hills. Per also brings a bit of everything to the table. Kasperkiewicz will want to make full use of stage 1.
De Bie on the other hand needs a big performance in the hills to minimize the cobble deficit. Lots of teams have favourites for cobbles and hills. For example Theuns/Kwiatkowski, Summerhill/Pidcock, Malecki/Teunissen or Senechal/Skujins.
| FL | MO | HI | ST | RS | SP | AC |  Ponzi | 72 | 69 | 80 | 71 | 66 | 72 | 74 |  Müller | 70 | 65 | 80 | 76 | 71 | 66 | 73 | | Turgis | 73 | 67 | 79 | 76 | 78 | 70 | 77 |  Bax | 71 | 68 | 77 | 77 | 73 | 65 | 68 | | Van der Lijke | 73 | 64 | 76 | 73 | 71 | 82 | 79 | | Gabburo | 75 | 68 | 76 | 73 | 75 | 72 | 76 | | Barthe | 73 | 73 | 76 | 73 | 71 | 68 | 76 |
Most of the top puncheur are already mentioned above, but riders like Ponzi, Müller, Turgis or even Van der Lijke could be dangerous stage hunters on the hilly terrain.
| Sprinter | FL | RS | SP | AC | Lead out | FL | RS | SP | AC |  Degenkolb | 75 | 69 | 83 | 79 | Harrison | 72 | 70 | 78 | 81 | | Van der Lijke | 73 | 71 | 82 | 79 | Teggart | 71 | 72 | 70 | 70 | | Samolenkov | 74 | 71 | 81 | 79 | Senechal | 75 | 74 | 69 | 74 | | Van Poppel | 72 | 71 | 81 | 78 | Gerts | 77 | 80 | 72 | 70 |  Silvestre | 78 | 71 | 80 | 81 | Stallaert | 77 | 68 | 79 | 76 |  Farantakis | 74 | 72 | 80 | 80 | Koumpetsos | 72 | 71 | 74 | 73 | | Hsu | 75 | 70 | 80 | 79 | Darbinyan | 72 | 71 | 76 | 74 | | Appollonio | 73 | 64 | 80 | 76 | Lagane | 69 | 70 | 74 | 75 | | Bol | 76 | 77 | 79 | 77 | Nur Hasan | 72 | 73 | 77 | 76 | | Havik | 73 | 68 | 79 | 76 | Walscheid | 71 | 72 | 77 | 77 |  Abdul Halil | 68 | 66 | 79 | 77 | Nieuwenhuis | 75 | 73 | 73 | 75 | | Pedersen | 77 | 80 | 78 | 77 | Jansen | 72 | 72 | 75 | 70 |
The sprinter's field is also decent, but Degenkolb is big favourite and he'll be looking for multiple stage wins which he's well capable of. Van der Lijke tends to not show his best in normal sprints, but maybe this startlist suits him. Samolenkov and Van Poppel are also good options, as is Silvestre who's here on a wildcard with no pressure.
Full startlist:
Spoiler | De Bie | Sean | Aegon - Peroni | | Barbin | Enrico | Aegon - Peroni | | Vansevenant | Mauri | Aegon - Peroni | | Denz | Nico | Aegon - Peroni | | De Kleijn | Arvid | Aegon - Peroni | | Bovenhuis | Jasper | Aegon - Peroni | | Sergent | Jesse | Aegon - Peroni | | Schädlich | Lucas | Aegon - Peroni | | Wisniowski | Lukasz | Aker - MOT | | Anderberg | Hampus | Aker - MOT | | Nareklishvili | Giorgi | Aker - MOT | | Van Poucke | Aaron | Aker - MOT | | Ballerini | Davide | Aker - MOT | | Eaton | Daniel | Aker - MOT | | Peng | Yuan Tan | Aker - MOT | | Van Moer | Brent | Aker - MOT | | Stallaert | Joeri | Bralirwa - Stevens | | Silvestre | Fabio | Bralirwa - Stevens | | Ndayisenga | Valens | Bralirwa - Stevens | | Okbamariam | Tesfom | Bralirwa - Stevens | | Mugisha | Moise | Bralirwa - Stevens | | Lauk | Karl Patrick | Bralirwa - Stevens | | Mengoulas | Alex | Bralirwa - Stevens | | Menicucci | Samuele | Bralirwa - Stevens | | Summerhill | Danny | cycleYorkshire | | Pidcock | Thomas | cycleYorkshire | | Swift | Connor | cycleYorkshire | | Holmes | Matthew | cycleYorkshire | | Rodenberg | Frederik | cycleYorkshire | | Hennessy | Jacob | cycleYorkshire | | Atkins | George | cycleYorkshire | | O'Loughlin | Michael | cycleYorkshire | | Turgis | Anthony | De Stijl Cycling | | Cataford | Alexandor | De Stijl Cycling | | Bettiol | Alberto | De Stijl Cycling | | Tiller | Rasmus | De Stijl Cycling | | Bol | Cees | De Stijl Cycling | | Nur Hasan | Sandy | De Stijl Cycling | | Boutopoulos | Georgios | De Stijl Cycling | | Mansouri | Hamza | De Stijl Cycling | | Debesay | Mekseb | Duolingo | | Gabburo | Davide | Duolingo | | Pons | Gaetan | Duolingo | | Yates | Joel | Duolingo | | Kulikovskiy | Alexandr | Duolingo | | Szarka | Gergely | Duolingo | | Gradek | Kamil | Duolingo | | Vahtra | Norman | Duolingo | | Van der Lijke | Nick | EA Vesuvio | | Oliveira | Nelson | EA Vesuvio | | Smit | Willie | EA Vesuvio | | Bax | Sjoerd | EA Vesuvio | | Geniets | Kevin | EA Vesuvio | | Rutsch | Jonas | EA Vesuvio | | Teggart | Matthew | EA Vesuvio | | Lampawog | Jay | EA Vesuvio | | Farantakis | Stylianos | ELCO - ABEA | | Kortsidakis | Michail | ELCO - ABEA | | Vlatos | Panagiotis | ELCO - ABEA | | Kiriakidis | Ioannidis | ELCO - ABEA | | Miltiadis | Andreas | ELCO - ABEA | | Stavrakakis | Georgios | ELCO - ABEA | | Koumpetsos | Anastasios | ELCO - ABEA | | Kelly | Joshua | ELCO - ABEA | | Polanc | Jan | Evonik - ELKO | | Neilands | Krists | Evonik - ELKO | | Becis | Armands | Evonik - ELKO | | Thijssen | Gerben | Evonik - ELKO | | Kulppi | Olli | Evonik - ELKO | | Havik | Piotr | Evonik - ELKO | | Ansons | Kristers | Evonik - ELKO | | Dversnes | Fredrik | Evonik - ELKO | | Teunissen | Mike | Gazelle | | Malecki | Kamil | Gazelle | | Potts | Marc | Gazelle | | Godon | Dorian | Gazelle | | Peters | Nans | Gazelle | | Hofland | Moreno | Gazelle | | Cink | Ondrej | Gazelle | | Leknessund | Andreas | Gazelle | | Pedersen | Mads | Grieg-Maersk | | Van der Poel | Mathieu | Grieg-Maersk | | Ringheim | Jo Kogstad | Grieg-Maersk | | De Gendt | Aime | Grieg-Maersk | | Bazhkou | Stanislau | Grieg-Maersk | | Jansen | Amund Grondahl | Grieg-Maersk | | Laporte | Christophe | Grieg-Maersk | | Dahl-Olsen | Gunnar | Grieg-Maersk | | Gerts | Floris | Huski Chocolate | | Van Poppel | Danny | Huski Chocolate | | Van den Berg | Julius | Huski Chocolate | | Roosen | Timo | Huski Chocolate | | Lammertink | Maurits | Huski Chocolate | | Hofstede | Lennard | Huski Chocolate | | Goldstein | Omer | Huski Chocolate | | Vader | Milan | Huski Chocolate | | Degenkolb | John | ISA - Hexacta | | Harrison | Sam | ISA - Hexacta | | Santos | Emerson | ISA - Hexacta | | Sanogo | Abou | ISA - Hexacta | | Baska | Erik | ISA - Hexacta | | Chokri | El Mehdi | ISA - Hexacta | | Arissol | Ahmad | ISA - Hexacta | | Mraouni | Salah Eddine | ISA - Hexacta | | Per | David | Isostar - Specialized | | Peak | Barnabas | Isostar - Specialized | | Cherkasov | Nicolay | Isostar - Specialized | | Bolivar | Isaac | Isostar - Specialized | | Bester | Shaun Nick | Isostar - Specialized | | Rickaert | Jonas | Isostar - Specialized | | Gayral | Joshua | Isostar - Specialized | | Sweeny | Harry | Isostar - Specialized | | Kasperkiewicz | Przemyslaw | King Power | | Hsu | Hsuan Ping | King Power | | Ferreira | Ricardo | King Power | | Van Baarle | Dylan | King Power | | Menten | Milan | King Power | | Chiu | Ho San | King Power | | Darbinyan | Varsham | King Power | | Vanthourenhout | Michael | King Power | | Oomen | Sam | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Gamper | Patrick | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Sajnok | Szymon | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Aleotti | Giovanni | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Verwilst | Aaron | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Siddikov | Dilmurdjon | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Potocki | Viktor | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Covi | Alessandro | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Zepuntke | Ruben | Los Pollos Hermanos | | Abdul Halil | Mohamad Izzat Hilmi | Los Pollos Hermanos | | Ulloa | Jose Gerardo | Los Pollos Hermanos | | Nieuwenhuis | Joris | Los Pollos Hermanos | | Nareklishvili | Beka | Los Pollos Hermanos | | Pira | Yesid Albeiro | Los Pollos Hermanos | | Hoole | Daan | Los Pollos Hermanos | | Stojnic | Veljko | Los Pollos Hermanos | | Kwiatkowski | Michal | MOL Cycling Team | | Theuns | Edward | MOL Cycling Team | | Havik | Yoeri | MOL Cycling Team | | Walscheid | Maximilian | MOL Cycling Team | | Kenyeres | Abel | MOL Cycling Team | | Filutas | Viktor | MOL Cycling Team | | Moricz | Daniel | MOL Cycling Team | | Muhindo | Jimmy | MOL Cycling Team | | Ponzi | Simone | Moser - Sygic | | Prado | Ignacio Jesus | Moser - Sygic | | Appollonio | Davide | Moser - Sygic | | Boros | Michael | Moser - Sygic | | Lagane | Christopher | Moser - Sygic | | Toupalik | Adam | Moser - Sygic | | Atkins | Josh | Moser - Sygic | | Stocek | Matus | Moser - Sygic | | Altur | Marcos | Polar | | Barthe | Cyril | Polar | | Garcia Cortina | Ivan | Polar | | Krul | Stef | Polar | | Honore | Mikkel | Polar | | Baugnies | Jerome | Polar | | Nych | Artem | Polar | | Noia | Carlo | Polar | | Meiler | Lukas | Team Puma - SAP | | Cavagna | Remi | Team Puma - SAP | | Egger | Mike Aaron | Team Puma - SAP | | Bissegger | Stefan | Team Puma - SAP | | Politt | Nils | Team Puma - SAP | | Brunel | Alexys | Team Puma - SAP | | Weinstein | Domenic | Team Puma - SAP | | O'Brien | Kelland | Team Puma - SAP | | Spengler | Lukas | Team UBS | | Müller | Patrick | Team UBS | | Bohli | Tom | Team UBS | | Dillier | Silvan | Team UBS | | Jacobs | Johan | Team UBS | | Reichenbach | Sebastien | Team UBS | | Schäppi | Martin | Team UBS | | Grand | Arnaud | Team UBS | | Skujins | Toms | Tinkoff - La Datcha Team | | Senechal | Florian | Tinkoff - La Datcha Team | | Samolenkov | Artem | Tinkoff - La Datcha Team | | Kamyshev | Arman | Tinkoff - La Datcha Team | | Sulimov | Alexander | Tinkoff - La Datcha Team | | Yatsevich | Kiril | Tinkoff - La Datcha Team | | Zakarin | Aydar | Tinkoff - La Datcha Team | | Zubov | Matvey | Tinkoff - La Datcha Team | | Ovsyannikov | Alexandr | Zwift Pro Cycling | | Yechezkel | Aviv | Zwift Pro Cycling | | Tejada | Harold | Zwift Pro Cycling | | Lopez | Juan Pedro | Zwift Pro Cycling | | Jones | Carter | Zwift Pro Cycling | | Carr | Simon | Zwift Pro Cycling | | Campbell | Akil | Zwift Pro Cycling | | Dewulf | Stan | Zwift Pro Cycling |
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 05-05-2023 15:58
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3367
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Let's hope Zepuntke can prove the haters wrong, after not being mentioned anywhere.
Thanks for the preview, looking forward to the reports of our last stage race of the season.
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 05-05-2023 16:16
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World Champion
Posts: 13915
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This race always looks good on paper for Gerts, but his track record with it is quite bad. Hopefully the changes of dropping the TTT and adding cobbles to the ITT will play into his favor.
Three sprint stages should also feature a good cameo from Danny Van Poppel for some extra points.
With Debesay and De Bie here, this race could potentially decide the relegation battle if one of them turns up big.
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 05-05-2023 17:04
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 9099
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This is the race in the title race we were/are afraid of. Usually this should be very good for Per, but he never performed here yet. I hope we can push him with versatile supporting cast and a flying Bester. The first echelons of the year (?) would be nice given our flat quality.
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| ember |
Posted on 05-05-2023 19:08
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Team Leader
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Fingers crossed the route change somehow can favour Wisniowski seeing how the classics went. The first stage could be key, really hope he delivers a great TT to set him up for the GC. The same goes for Anderberg, who should be able to fight for a good GC here.
This race always fills me with excitement, one of the highlights every year! As alexkr points out, the battle between the teams fighting relegation, will be very interesting to follow. |
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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 05-05-2023 19:42
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2633
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Hard to predict what Malecki and Teunissen can do here. Love how this race is a mix of so many different disciplines.
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 05-05-2023 23:58
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2905
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Love me a good carnage race. TONE is the closest we get to the old Cyprus route should be fun to watch!
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 06-05-2023 00:04
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World Champion
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Memo to self: no points here, don't get overexcited with Gamper
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| knockout |
Posted on 06-05-2023 00:17
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
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The cobbled ttt qas iconic but the ai seemed too struggle with the gc standings after it quite a bit in recent years. Really like the ideas behind the route change and hope it will be a succesful change.
Polanc as our leader here. In theory he should benefit from the route change due to known ttt weaknesses in my team but who knows. The success in balkans lowers the pressure on him so i hope to see a brave race
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 06-05-2023 14:02
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Team Leader
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We're probably doomed either way, but it would be nice to have a final good result. Let's see if Debesay has the legs.
Thanks for the preview, red. It's always a nightmare to predict the favourites here. Looking forward to see how the route changes will affect the racing.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 17:32
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| knockout |
Posted on 06-05-2023 18:49
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
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Great start for Polanc. Really excited for his chances now.
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 06-05-2023 19:14
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World Champion
Posts: 13915
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I'll take that for Gerts. Hoping for some good racing on the hills and cobbles now.
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 06-05-2023 19:25
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 9099
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Per does decent, but Bester was our star of the show. Gamper is really someone for the future!
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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 06-05-2023 22:02
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2633
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Surprisingly good TT by Teunissen!
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 06-05-2023 22:52
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Didn't see the preview before stage 1, but there's not much to write about a TT for us anyways  I hope Stallaert and Silvestre can be competitive on some of the next stages to provide us with a few highlights!
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 07-05-2023 00:13
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Classics Specialist
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Massive win for Gamper, congratulations to Lierse on that one, even though we obviously would like to see them stagnate in their scoring
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| ember |
Posted on 07-05-2023 09:23
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Team Leader
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Good start with several riders high up on the stage. Wisniowski as our best rider should be good for his GC aspirations, as it should make it clear for the whole team who is our leader, also on the hills here. Really curious to see how the next stage plays out. It looks easy enough for a bunch sprint on the hill, hopefully Wisniowski can avoid loosing time except for bonus seconds. |
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 07-05-2023 09:37
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World Champion
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whitejersey wrote:
Massive win for Gamper, congratulations to Lierse on that one, even though we obviously would like to see them stagnate in their scoring
That won't be a problem 
The points we're missing here, Tirreno, Scandinavia Open Road Race and Giro would've pushed us to the division title, but alas. Still nice to see Gamper doing this.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 07-05-2023 11:49
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Classics Specialist
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Ollfardh wrote:
whitejersey wrote:
Massive win for Gamper, congratulations to Lierse on that one, even though we obviously would like to see them stagnate in their scoring
That won't be a problem
The points we're missing here, Tirreno, Scandinavia Open Road Race and Giro would've pushed us to the division title, but alas. Still nice to see Gamper doing this.
Completely forgot that this was a straight up PT race for some reason
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 07-05-2023 17:03
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Classics Specialist
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Nothing spectacular from us, but nice to see Nareklishvili, our future mini-version of Gamper, inside the top-50 already. Congratulations to Ollfahrd and thank you for the report, red 
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