Welcome to the 13th edition of the Strada Appia Antica race. One of the most unique races in the MG calendar due to it being a mixture between a hilly and flat cobbled race. What makes it more interesting is that the two terrains are separated. The first 3/4 of the race is hilly with 8 notable climbs of varying lengths. The last 1/4 is flat, or at least flatter with mostly false flat and 2 long and difficult cobbled sectors.
Let's look at some of the favourites:
Favourites
FL
MO
HI
ST
RS
CB
SP
AC
Pedersen
77
65
69
78
80
83
78
77
Wisniowski
79
68
70
74
75
82
72
75
Per
79
68
70
74
75
82
74
74
Gerts
77
66
78
76
80
82
72
70
Van Hooydonck
73
63
71
75
74
82
61
72
Altur
75
63
70
75
70
82
72
68
Senechal
75
61
67
79
74
82
69
74
Teunissen
76
61
67
77
73
81
67
69
Anderberg
78
64
69
77
76
80
60
73
Theuns
71
66
73
74
71
79
76
74
Polanc
72
74
73
78
73
78
67
75
Can Mads Pedersen finally win this one? 3rd place the last two years means he's not far off, but the competition is still as fierce as ever. You wouldn't be surprised if Wisniowski won it for a 3rd or if last year's runner up David Per were to win it. Those three seem like the best bets with Gerts perhaps as best of the rest just a notch below.
Van Hooydonck, Teunissen and Altur and feel more like solid top 10 bets, but you can't say the same about the last two former winners Senechal and Anderberg. Both won with some aggressive team tactics by their team and while the latter doesn't have the luxury of riding with Wisniowski anymore, Tinkoff are always one of the prominent teams on the cobbles. Theuns will face his first test post decline, but he has pedigree at this race with two runner up places. Lastly it's the always overachieving Polanc who's climbing skills can take advantage of the most 'mountainous' cobbled classic.
Outsiders
FL
MO
HI
ST
RS
CB
SP
AC
Spengler
74
58
67
74
73
83
62
70
Kamyshev
76
56
64
80
74
81
65
59
Tiller
74
65
70
76
75
79
74
73
Gaday
71
67
75
75
72
78
71
73
Owen
73
65
69
73
71
78
64
71
Siric
78
63
71
77
80
78
77
71
Girmay
76
64
71
74
75
77
76
76
Ovsyannikov
74
61
68
75
72
77
79
78
Menten
72
64
73
75
76
77
68
68
Bohli
74
63
68
79
75
77
74
68
Salzmann
73
63
71
77
76
77
67
71
Rutsch
77
63
68
76
75
77
69
68
Spengler is a top cobbler, but probably more for Roubaix than a race like this. Kamyshev can play a crucial role along with Senechal. Tiller is part of a nice 3-pronged attack with Menten and Salzmann. Big free agent signing by Zara, this might be of the better races for Gaday. Owen is on a wildcard here for ISA - Hexacta. The profile of the race might not be well suited to someone like Siric, but I know at least one person who'll be hoping for the opposite. It should be fun to see how Girmay dovetails with Wisniowski, but it's Bini so you can't really count him out. Ovsyannikov is another wildcard here, could be dangerous in a sprint, but the race could prove too hard for him.
The tension! Super excited to see how the dobbelt play out this year, with the deeper PT field compared to last season. Hopefully Anderberg can be in contention for a top 5, eventhough his CB stat alone doesn’t suggest it. Hopefully his backups can make a difference.
Really curious to see how the very best handles this one, with Pedersen, Wisniowski and Per the obvious top tree favourites, especially thinking all three of them look to be absolutely key for their teams in the fight to avoid relegation/avoid the relegation battle.
Thanks for the nice breakaway, red. Best we can hope for during the race is a preview, so hopefully somebody tries something early on. Or maybe Ulloa with a long range attack and some publicity. Bascially anything near top-20/25 is a success.
Tiller's first cobbles race in King Power colors. I hope he does well when being the captain. I'm also hoping for some depth scoring with the rest of the team. Thanks for the preview!
Looking forward to this. First important race for Polanc. The mountains havent played the most crucial role the last few years as the final and all the cobbled sectors are flat or even downhill so despite what the route suggest, this might not be the very best Polanc route. Still, we have some hopes and getting at least a top 10 would be crucial for us.
Not much to say except that we need heroics from Per to save our season, the way it's going. A repeat of last year is the only thing that will get us through. I know a podium is a big ask, but we're gonna need it. Here and everywhere.
Thanks for the preview!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Guess it's not the best suited race for getting our cobbles campaign started, with those long cobbled sections at the end. Theuns will have to hope for a slow race, as he's still among the strongest in a reduced bunch sprint - but he'll first have to make the "reduction", which will be even less trivial post-decline. Still, if he can get a Top 10 on average in these cobbled races, we're happy. And we'll happily take a couple of depth points by Paprstka, looking forward to see what he can do in PT.
Here we go. Some big races coming the next weeks, hopefully Mads P is up for it. Hoping for a win, anything other than a podium would be a little disappointing.
Strada Appia Antica 
