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Tour de Vineyards - Discussion
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 07-04-2025 02:17
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 3477
Joined: 02-11-2010
PCM$: 300.00
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 Tour de Vineyards
This year is the 7th running of the Tour De Vineyards, its third at the C1 level.
The first Tour de Vineyards occurred back in 2013 and was won by José Angel Gomez Marchante riding for ING Cycling – Project. The race then went on hiatus until 2019 and it has been on the calendar every year since. Perhaps inspired by the unusual hyphenation in the team name of the 2013 winner, every winner but one has ridden for a hyphenated team. The full list is:
| 2013 | José Angel Gomez Marchante | ING Cycling – Project | | 2019 | Ryan Eastman | Azteca - NBCSN | | 2020 | Jakub Novak | Carrefour - ESPN | | 2021 | Martijn Keizer | Red Bull Zalgiris | | 2022 | Mattia Cattaneo | Minions – Subwoolfer | | 2023 | Patrick Schelling | Team UBS - Tissot |
The race has generally favored a strong climber who can also ride the TT and that is because the race has two stages that will be decisive - the climb up Takaka Hill on Stage 3 and the 20k Team Time Trial on Stage 5. The other 3 stages are for the sprinters. This year the Takaka Hill stage gets a new twist, 3 ascents of the Riwaka – Sandy Bay Road, 2.2k at 9.2% prior to the finishing climb. The organizers hoping this will make the stage more selective as last year the GC was dominated by the teams with a strong TTT.
Since the majority of the stages are sprint stages we will start with a look the sprinters on the startlist:
| Rider | FL | SP | AC | RS |  Zabel | 74 | 81 | 79 | 70 |  Carsi | 70 | 80 | 82 | 69 |  Aniolkowski | 76 | 80 | 79 | 74 |  Einhorn | 74 | 80 | 78 | 71 |  Hayakawa | 73 | 79 | 79 | 68 |  Hodeg | 72 | 79 | 78 | 74 |  Riabushenko | 76 | 79 | 77 | 74 |
There are 7 favorites in the sprints with everyone else a clear step below, the necessities of the TTT perhaps limiting the field. Among the 7, Zabel and Carsi are probably the strongest, with the former having the best all round skill set and the latter having the strongest skills in the last kilometer. Zabel also has a nice lead out rider in De Buyst. Of the rest, Aniolkowski stands out, he has probably had the strongest season to date of any of these sprinters.
Moving on to the GC – a classic stage racer who can handle the climb and stay with his team in the TTT is the recipe in this race. And the first name on the list certainly fits that type - Suranga Ranaweera. There are only two other climbers in the race who can match him -  Giannoutsos and  Bennett. The latter will be unlikely to thrive in the TTT but the former is probably the favorite for the overall win as he will benefit from ELCO’s powerful TTT unit. ELCO could score really well as they have another big gun in Mavrikakis. Similarly Sauber will be looking for strong depth with three top riders in Misbah, Natarov and Frankiny. Although Frankiny is not great on the TT bike.
The other two really strong climbers are  Powless for Benetton and  Madrazo for Newton. The veteran Spaniard might be a rider who suffers on the Riwaka – Sandy Bay Road sections. Just below these riders there are a clutch of strong stage racers - Rachid and Evans are both riders who don’t top their team’s wage chart but will get a chance to lead here. Vasyliv will have the luxury of two teammates ( Andriafenomananiaina and Papanov) who don’t quite make this list but are just a shade lower in quality. While  Tejada and Rivera give Manada two riders who do make this list.
| Rider | MT | HI | TT | RS | AC | | Ranaweera | 80 | 73 | 76 | 75 | 65 | | Giannoutsos | 80 | 72 | 72 | 78 | 68 | | Bennett | 80 | 75 | 64 | 73 | 72 | | Misbah | 79 | 70 | 75 | 73 | 68 | | Mavrikakis | 79 | 72 | 71 | 73 | 67 | | Powless | 78 | 72 | 78 | 74 | 71 | | Natarov | 78 | 72 | 70 | 70 | 67 | | Madrazo | 78 | 69 | 70 | 70 | 62 | | Frankiny | 78 | 76 | 64 | 75 | 75 | | Rachid | 77 | 70 | 74 | 73 | 68 | | Evans | 77 | 72 | 74 | 72 | 67 |  Vanhoucke | 77 | 72 | 72 | 72 | 68 | | Vasyliv | 77 | 74 | 72 | 72 | 67 | | Spanopoulos | 77 | 75 | 72 | 72 | 64 |  Munoz | 77 | 73 | 72 | 69 | 70 | | Tejada | 77 | 73 | 71 | 76 | 70 |  Chamorro | 77 | 74 | 64 | 74 | 72 | | Rivera | 77 | 70 | 59 | 74 | 72 |
How any of these riders do will be decided in the TTT.
| All | Top 5 | Top 3 | | ELCO - ABEA | 75.0 | 77.0 | 78.0 | | SEE Turtles | 73.5 | 75.6 | 76.7 | | Glanbia | 72.9 | 75.4 | 76.3 | | Trans Looney Tunes | 72.6 | 74.6 | 76.0 | | Benetton Bimex Cycling | 72.6 | 73.8 | 75.3 | | Kraftwerk Man Machine | 71.0 | 75.2 | 76.3 | | Newton Foundation p/b Zwift | 70.8 | 73.6 | 75.3 | | Team Würth MODYF | 70.5 | 74.6 | 76.3 | | Ekoi - Le Creuset | 69.0 | 71.6 | 73.0 | | Ethiopian Airlines | 68.9 | 73.2 | 76.0 | | Everesting | 68.1 | 72.6 | 74.0 | | Sauber Petronas Racing | 68.0 | 72.4 | 76.0 | | Genii Hyundai N Cycling | 67.3 | 69.8 | 71.7 | | Manada Coyote | 67.1 | 69.8 | 71.0 | | Spark Team NZ | 66.6 | 68.4 | 71.3 | | Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska | 64.1 | 70.2 | 73.0 | | Euskadi-Murias | 63.6 | 65.6 | 67.0 | | Duvel-Tsingtao | 62.9 | 65.2 | 66.7 | | Babymetal | 62.5 | 65.8 | 67.7 | | Gjensidige Pro Cycling Team | 60.1 | 61.6 | 62.3 |
ELCO top the charts both across the whole team and among their top 3. They should be looking at a lot of GC points. The next two lack a top GC leader, they will be relying on  Siriwardena and  Main to hang on, on Takaka Hill. Even if they don’t they should score well in the TTT. Trans, Benetton, Newton, Kraftwerk and Team Würth all bring solid TTT teams and at least one solid GC leader. There will likely be a hard fought battle for the GC places among their leaders. Benetton starts a rider down which might hurt them.
The teams after that are a step down. Particularly Ranaweera and the Sauber boys will be hoping the gaps in the climbing stage are large enough to cover for any TTT weakness. Sauber has a strong top 3 but the quality drops off after that which can lead to a disjointed TTT effort.
20 teams, including 12 from the CT, take to the start line.
Startlist
Man Game: McCormick Pro Cycling |
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| seancoll |
Posted on 07-04-2025 02:26
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Domestique
Posts: 570
Joined: 20-12-2022
PCM$: 500.00
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As said, we're here for the TTT and hoping that Siriwardena can hold a decent gap on stage 3. Otherwise, Oka should attempt to sprint and we should attempt to get in some breakaways.
Would love to cause some surprises here but looking forward to a fun race!
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 07-04-2025 02:37
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Team Leader
Posts: 7360
Joined: 11-04-2012
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Bennett is strong here for at least a high finish in the mountain stage. If he can get seperation could help get a high GC finish as well.
Mudgway hopefully continues his sprinting form here too. A few opportunities. Our home race so we hope for something decent!
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| SotD |
Posted on 07-04-2025 05:27
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World Champion
Posts: 12325
Joined: 29-11-2006
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We have put everything into this race, so we really need a TTT win and a top GC result. It should be possible, but you never know!
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| KaiserAdler |
Posted on 07-04-2025 05:53
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Domestique
Posts: 604
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Lowkey forgot to enter an 8th here. Oh well, yolo.
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 07-04-2025 07:53
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Team Leader
Posts: 6090
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Decided to leave Rodrigues out of this one given the weakness of our TTT + just the one mountain stage. Instead we're hoping for whatever Rachid and Hayakawa can get. Should be a fun race.
Thanks for the preview UU!
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 07-04-2025 08:33
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1366
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Thanks for the great preview, Ulrich!
Ranaweera on top of the list feels weird, but at least a GC podium could be in it if he manages a podium (and some time gaps) in stage 3. Our TTT lineup isn't great, but at least it's not shabby either. Also Hodeg sits in a nice spot in the sprinter field, let's hope he has his (PT)HC legs here!
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 07-04-2025 09:14
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2454
Joined: 07-07-2013
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Zabel needs to save his season here.
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| Ezeefreak |
Posted on 07-04-2025 09:27
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Domestique
Posts: 598
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Oh, i forgot we are there and even with some decent line up  So if we could get a Top 10 this would be a great result for us. Lets hope our rider deliver.
Thanks for the preview and good luck to all.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 14-04-2025 14:01
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| MacC |
Posted on 07-04-2025 15:16
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Sprinter
Posts: 1630
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Thanks for that Ulrich.
At least we have a a pretty strong TTT here. Given how Stage races have gone I think that's our only hope for any success here.
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| seancoll |
Posted on 08-04-2025 05:54
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Domestique
Posts: 570
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A point is a point is a point! Good job Oka!
Excited to get this one started
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 08-04-2025 09:08
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1366
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Thanks for the report, Ulrich, and congrats to Gustav for a nice win! Hodeg ended where he sits in the sprinter ranking in 6th which is fine, but what could have been hadn't he lost his good position with 1.4 km to go ...
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 08-04-2025 09:57
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2454
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Kraftwerk with OK organisation, launching a bit early, Zabel hanging on for a top 3.
Not too bad as he has been swamped in a similar situation in earlier races.
We need repeats of this in all sprint stages to have a chance of staying up.
Congrats to Gustav and thanks to UU for a great report.
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| KaiserAdler |
Posted on 08-04-2025 15:28
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Domestique
Posts: 604
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PCM$: 5800.00
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Decent ride from Bdadou as he’s dogshit. Thanks for the report.
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| 2kignacio2020 |
Posted on 08-04-2025 21:37
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Free Agent
Posts: 109
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So close to get another stage win |
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 08-04-2025 23:07
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Team Leader
Posts: 6090
Joined: 20-07-2008
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Hayakawa's season has been very disapointing, so it's a relief to finally get him to get some sort of result. It's fortunate that it happens on stage one of a race where we don't have a GC contender, which kind of already makes this trip to New Zealand pay for itself. Guess we can pack our bags already.
Thanks for the lively sprint report UU!
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 09-04-2025 00:25
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Team Leader
Posts: 7360
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Mudgway was around the sprint and seemed like he was doing well but left it a bit late. Good start though! Our main goal is the mountain stage anyway.
Congrats to the winner and thanks for the report UU
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| SotD |
Posted on 09-04-2025 05:21
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World Champion
Posts: 12325
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Giannoutsos keeps himself out of trouble is nice to see.
Next stage is make or break for our team, and likely our season. If Giannoutsos Can stay with the front group without losing time at the same time we flood the top 25 with depth it is great. Could go another Way entirely though!
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| Ezeefreak |
Posted on 09-04-2025 06:14
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Domestique
Posts: 598
Joined: 06-07-2009
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Who could have guessed that without any sprinter you wont score on flat sprint stages?!?! I clearly didnt 
Our team is only build for tring to find some time in the TTT and on the next stage. So hopefully they will then show up somewhere on the front.
Thanks for the reports so far.
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 09-04-2025 11:24
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Team Leader
Posts: 6090
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aaaaand it's gone. Consistent with the bipolar nature of Hayakawa's performances through the season. Congrats fj!
Onto the big mountain stage. Curious to see how it plays out.
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