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Tour of Qatar - Discussion
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 14-10-2025 03:45
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Directeur Sportif
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 Tour of Qatar
The Tour of Qatar is the pro tour sprinter’s early season chance to establish themselves. The expected top dog,  Gaviria, used a win in this race to launch a successful season last year, although it wasn’t enough to save his team from relegation. He is back this year with a new team and is the favorite to repeat.
The race has not changed, 5 flat stages ranging from 120k to 160k and then a 4k ITT to wrap things up. Other than Gaviria the other returning winner is 2023 champion  Philipsen, who is making his debut for Cedevita.
A little weaker field this year, with 14 80+ sprinters down from 20 last year.
| Rider | FL | RS | ST | SP | AC | PR | | Gaviria | 76 | 76 | 74 | 83 | 84 | 71 |  Farantakis | 74 | 72 | 75 | 82 | 80 | 79 |  Groenewegen | 73 | 71 | 74 | 82 | 81 | 72 |  Cullaigh | 74 | 70 | 73 | 82 | 81 | 67 |  Samolenkov | 74 | 71 | 75 | 81 | 79 | 70 |  Halvorsen | 76 | 71 | 74 | 81 | 80 | 68 |  Kanter | 75 | 73 | 75 | 81 | 80 | 68 | | Philipsen | 74 | 70 | 74 | 81 | 80 | 67 | | Kemboi | 78 | 77 | 74 | 80 | 80 | 81 |  Zariff | 70 | 67 | 71 | 80 | 80 | 72 |  Groves | 75 | 73 | 75 | 80 | 79 | 71 |  Bonifazio | 79 | 75 | 68 | 80 | 80 | 70 |  Aniolkowski | 76 | 74 | 76 | 80 | 79 | 59 |  Vesely | 72 | 67 | 73 | 80 | 79 | 56 |
Gaviria the clear favorite here. Behind him Groenewegen, Cullaigh, and Farantakis are the next three strongest but they don’t have much advantage over the rest. Kemboi has some of the strongest secondaries but as cycleYorkshire’s second option he may be on lead out duties. Given his very strong ability in the epilogue that may be a disadvantage. Only Farantakis is in the same range as him in terms of TT ability. Aniolkowski also makes his debut for his new team, Rabobank, he did well against this level of competition last season, including winning stage 1 of this race.
In terms of lead outs, Gaviria is well set with Nur Hasan, Baska, and Trondsen all joining him. Groenewegen has a very strong team with two great rouler-sprinters in Andersen and Konychev plus sprint lead out men in Sarreau and Räim. In addition to a luxury leadout from Kemboi, Cullaigh is joined by Scott and Ballerini. Farantakis probably has the weakest leadout but Zingle and Cavagna are still a strong pairing.
Generally, the sprinters take this race but the TT specialists will at least be competing for stage victory on the last stage and could easily get a top 20 on GC. Andersen who is the best in this category was 11th overall last year.
| Rider | FL | RS | ST | SP | AC | PR | | Andersen | 81 | 78 | 77 | 76 | 74 | 83 |  Ganna | 76 | 81 | 74 | 69 | 73 | 82 | | Leung | 73 | 77 | 65 | 69 | 71 | 82 | | Kemboi | 78 | 77 | 74 | 80 | 80 | 81 | | Larsen | 77 | 73 | 74 | 77 | 76 | 80 |  Herregodts | 73 | 78 | 74 | 67 | 70 | 80 |
Ganna and Leung are the biggest threat to Andersen. Only Kemboi is In the top class here among the sprinters. Although Larsen might also hope to score some bonus seconds in the sprints.
Farantakis is in the next tier of TT specialists along with 12 other riders at 79.
24 teams take the start all with full complements of riders, so 192 riders in all. Bolt Eesti and Gjensidige represent the PCT.
I will be travelling so Imladrik has graciously agreed to post the reports for me.
Startlist
Man Game: McCormick Pro Cycling |
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 14-10-2025 05:04
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 16552
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Not much Rodenberg can do in this kind of field. We'll hope for some lottery luck. Thanks for the preview!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| roturn |
Posted on 14-10-2025 06:56
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Team Manager
Posts: 22043
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A couple top10s in this field is the maximum. Maybe he is on the lucky side once or twice with a nice slip stream.
Other than that Salas/Atkins for the short TT for some small GC points hopefully.
Will be interesting to see if Kemboi and Farantakis are taking advantage of their prologue skill or the sprint lottery is mixing it up too much. |
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| knockout |
Posted on 14-10-2025 07:22
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8234
Joined: 21-12-2010
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This was one of the races where my planned lineup changed the most. From not sending any leader to sending either of Herregodts and Ovsya or both of them, all were preferred plans at some points. I ended up sending both of them. For Herregodts odds of a top 20 gc are looking good but cant expect much more than that. For Ovsya, the upside of a good race is too high even if its quite unlikely to happen. I reckon i need two stage podiums on the sprint stages for him to have a shot at a good gc result with his bad prolog skills. Possible but unlikely.
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| Heine |
Posted on 14-10-2025 07:39
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4461
Joined: 08-04-2007
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Like Roturn says it will be really interesting to see if Kemboi and Farantakis will do well because of their prl/sprint combo
Other than that I have a strange feeling for Halvorsen to do well
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| redordead |
Posted on 14-10-2025 08:25
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Team Leader
Posts: 5510
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We need some points here.
Thanks for the preview.
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 14-10-2025 09:09
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15023
Joined: 08-08-2011
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Help me Niccolo Bonifazio, you're my only hope.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 14-10-2025 11:34
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 12680
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1961.50
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Can't expect too much from here. A couple of Top 10s from Kuli would be nice. All points be welcome!
Thanks for the preview 
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 05-12-2025 10:12
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| Eden95 |
Posted on 14-10-2025 12:20
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4615
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Big race for us. Gaviria’s first race in our colours is exciting, and I think we’ve managed to build an ok enough supporting squad for him. +2 spr to the next contender has me more worried than anything, not entirely convinced as yet of the sprint AI in this version so hope our train doesn’t collapse + any manner of other misadventures. I just hope for a good showing here and a stage win would be nice. Thanks for the preview
Indosat - ANZ HQ
"This Schleck sandwich is going to cause serious indigestion for Evans" - Phil Liggett |
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| ember |
Posted on 14-10-2025 12:49
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Team Leader
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Super excited for this! Groenewegen with our absolute A team regjering support, is exciting. Ended up putting Konychev here too, with the obvious fear him and Kragh combined can kill both Groenewegen and our train before the actual sprint. If we survive that, it can be an amazing leadout day after day. The leadout itself worked brilliant in the tailwind in Tasmania. The tailwind there makes it far too early to say the leadout is great, but I definitely have hopes we can continue that trend.
Thank you for the preview! |
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 14-10-2025 13:13
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World Champion
Posts: 13559
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Feels strange not to have Grosu at the top of the list of favorites here. Let's see what Aniolkowski can do on his debut.
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| SotD |
Posted on 14-10-2025 18:22
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World Champion
Posts: 12630
Joined: 29-11-2006
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With the horrible start we had, there is no room for errors here! Farantakis is here with what we have considered the best possible lineup. Strong flat riders to control, and a very solid leadout rider. Not quite the Cullaigh leadout though! Quite surprised to see both sprinters here, as I would have definately gone for Kemboi as lead sprinter given his history in the race.
If it works out the gamble is Well worth it though! Gaviria is easily the best sprinter here. Will be interesting to see if the leadouts get it right. If not, we could be in for a very Long season, as a lot of eggs have been put into that basket for us!
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| Bikex |
Posted on 14-10-2025 22:37
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Team Leader
Posts: 7385
Joined: 25-08-2012
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Leung and Ganna are here for the prologue and GC and apparently for the sprints I sent Contreras instead of Hsu. Let’s see if he can do something in this field. Thanks for the preview! |
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 15-10-2025 09:12
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3837
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Thank you for the great preview, and for the reporting as well already.
Halvorsen did great here last year. If he could repeat his fifth place, it would be amazing. Will be a hard thing to accomplish of course.
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 15-10-2025 13:18
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3219
Joined: 07-08-2011
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Will he be loved now?
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 15-10-2025 13:43
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 16552
Joined: 27-07-2011
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Great start for Rodenberg in a very tough field here. Even one time bonus result is a good start here for a 79 sprinter. He needs to stay competitive and at least not lose time in the days ahead though to turn it into a reasonable GC placing, which is the goal.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| redordead |
Posted on 15-10-2025 14:00
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Team Leader
Posts: 5510
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8th place is not terrible, but Philipsen will need to do better in a few more stages because he'll surely lose time in the epilogue.
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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| knockout |
Posted on 15-10-2025 14:49
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8234
Joined: 21-12-2010
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Winds in qatar? A miracle! Although no impact in the end
Bad start for ovsya
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 15-10-2025 15:22
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 12680
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Pretty much expected from Kuli in this field. Good that we got Villanueva into the break for some bonus seconds.
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 15-10-2025 15:32
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World Champion
Posts: 13559
Joined: 05-08-2008
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Hectic sprint. Was ready to complain about Aniolkowski's poor positioning and then he is suddenly sprinting for the podium. Almost a perfect debut.
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