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Franceville Classique discussion
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| Heine |
Posted on 05-12-2025 05:51
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4465
Joined: 08-04-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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Welcome to Gabon and the 6th edition of Franceville Classique. A real test for the cobble riders with 2 cobble stages, even though the first one is quite easy the second one will really show who is the best at cobbles, that last cobbel section must be the longest we will see this year! Everyone can talk about Paris-Roubaix and Vlaanderen, but this is the real race for real men!
The 3 first editions of the race was raced as a one day race and won by Havik, Bewley (for Mapei <3) and Stallaert, then in 2023 the profile we see today was introduced and Winsniowski won, before David Per took the win last year. We can see from both those additions that it is winning stage 2 that matters. Stage 1 is the warmup and stage 2 the race.
Previous winners:
Spoiler
| Year | Winner | | 2024 | David Per (Carlsberg - Danske Bank) | | 2023 | Lukasz Wisniowski (Aker - MOT) | | 2022 | Joeri Stallaert (Bralirwa - Stevens) | | 2021 | Sam Bewley (Mapei) | | 2020 | Yoeri Havik (Duolingo) |
2024 results:
Spoiler
| 1 | David Per | Carlsberg - Danske Bank | 8h43'44 | | 2 | Mads Pedersen | Grieg-Maersk | + 2'20 | | 3 | Floris Gerts | Rabobank | + 2'28 | | 4 | Florian Senechal | Tinkoff Team - La Datcha | + 3'54 | | 5 | Marcos Altur | MOL Cycling Team | + 4'22 | | 6 | Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz | Specialized | + 4'44 | | 7 | Joeri Stallaert | Bralirwa - Cegeka | + 4'50 | | 8 | Edward Theuns | Jura GIANTS | s.t. | | 9 | Jan Polanc | Evonik - ELKO | s.t. | | 10 | Arman Kamyshev | Tinkoff Team - La Datcha | + 6'00 |
All of last years top 4 is naturally back and  Per should be considered the biggest favorite after winning last year with over 2 minutes, and finishing 2nd in 2023. Carlsberg got a good support team for him aswell with 3 riders 76 or higher cobble stat to help him.  Pedersen is naturally looking to get higher that last season and might be the single strongest cobble rider in the field and he improved from 3rd in 2023 to 2nd in 2024, but just that tiny bit weaker hill could be his weakness here. Talking about being strong on hills, hello  Gerts! The single strongest cobble puncheur and while stage 2 is rated as flat I still think it might be perfect for him!
Newly trained  Anderberg is another very strong rider here. Aker won this race back in 2023 and knows what is needed, and Anderberg might just be the rider to give them another win here. He's strong on the cobbles, strong on the flat and got good backup stats. Maybe this is his year? Last years 4th place  Senechal should be looking to get another strong finish. This is his last year before he starts declining and might be the last chance to win this.
Other candidates include  Kasperkiewicz,  Van Hooydonck,  Zepuntke,  Siric,  Teunissen,  Gamper, Kamyshev,  Girmay,  Ovsyannikov,  Vermeersch and most likely someone I forget to mention! All strong riders who can with a good day win this. Interesting with the strong sprinters like Girmay, Siric, Vermeersch and Ovsyannikov who can get a good result on the first stage and use that to propel a good stage 2!
There are few pure sprinters here, so that favorites for stage 1 are in general the cobble sprinters Ovsyannikov, Pedersen, Vermeersch, Siric and Girmay, but Bauhaus,  Edmondson,  Stash and  Zijlaard are the most likely to ruin that day for them. Will be interesting to see how it plays out!
All in all we got a really strong field present for what should be one of the coolest races of the season! Following the trend Pedersen should win this year. Per won 2024 after finishing 2nd in 2023 while Pedersen was 2nd last year. Also, Pedersen has gone from 3rd in 2023, to 2nd in 2024! There is just something in me that hopes the pattern repeats!
Startlist
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| Heine |
Posted on 05-12-2025 06:12
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4465
Joined: 08-04-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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First stage will be posted some time tomorrow morning, and I have great news to you! The great genius called WhiteJersey managed to get rid of the damn circle for me! 
Just to have some fun in the thread while we wait for the report, let's a have a small competition for glory. Answers must be in before stage 1 is posted tomorrow
1) How many riders will be in the front group on stage 1 (st finish)?
2) How many riders will be in the front group on stage 2 (st finish)?
3) Who will win the race?
4) Will the winner win any stages, and if yes, how many?
5) Who will win the white/youth jersey?
6) How many riders will be more than 1h10min behind the winner on stage 2?
7) Which team will win the team competition?
8) I can spoil that there for me was one big shock in the BOTD on stage 1, who shocked me in the break?
9) Will it rain on any of the stages? Yes or No?
10) Who will win the points jersey?
Tiebreak question if anyone ends up on the same total sum: Where will mangame legend (?) Guillaume Van Keirsbulck end up in the GC? Closest wins any tiebreak
Edited by Heine on 05-12-2025 06:31
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 05-12-2025 22:52
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 05-12-2025 06:46
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Team Leader
Posts: 5568
Joined: 12-06-2013
PCM$: 500.00
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1. 8
2. 2
3. Gerts
4. Yes, 1
5. Girmay (assuming he's eligible!)
6. 10
7. Tryg (Tough one tbh)
8. Kasperkiewicz
9. Yes
10. Pedersen
Bonus. 30th
Thanks for a something a bit different! Don't have my team here but gives a cool reason to follow along 
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| Heine |
Posted on 05-12-2025 07:10
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4465
Joined: 08-04-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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I can confirm that Girmay is eligible for U25
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| ember |
Posted on 05-12-2025 07:33
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Team Leader
Posts: 7057
Joined: 27-03-2008
PCM$: 900.00
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Excited to go again!
E3 was worrying regarding Anderberg, but this is the pure stuff, which should suit him a lot more, I'd argue. Fingers crossed he gets a good day on stage 2, because if he does, surely it should be possible to keep up with the best/win it solo. Having said that, it will be all about saving energy, if last year is anything to go by. Then he was the first of the candidates to attack, and also possibly the first to bonk and loose a lot of minutes 
If this becomes a race all about stage 2, which feels likely, Pedersen and Per are the obvious ones. But the thinking regarding the training was that Anderberg now should be able to hang on and be just as strong. I'm prepared to be disappointed, but it would be amazing if he proves himself to be top class now.
Thank you for the preview, Heine! Will do the predictions later. A fun addition  |
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| redordead |
Posted on 05-12-2025 07:40
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Team Leader
Posts: 5511
Joined: 18-10-2017
PCM$: 200.00
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1. 30
2. 1
3. Pedersen
4. 1
5. Girmay
6. 0
7. Carlsberg
8. Gerts
9. No
10. Per
Bonus. 44th
Time to see how much of a fluke the win in E3 was. 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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| knockout |
Posted on 05-12-2025 08:45
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8235
Joined: 21-12-2010
PCM$: 500.00
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Not sure how good this suits Ovsya, i guess the second stage might have a bit of a too tough finish for him. But I'll need some redemption after the recent e3 failure
1. 22
2. 1
3. Siric
4. 1
5. Girmay
6. 17
7. Grieg
8. Polanc
9. Yes
10. Ovsya 
37th
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| ember |
Posted on 05-12-2025 09:09
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Team Leader
Posts: 7057
Joined: 27-03-2008
PCM$: 900.00
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1. 27 riders.
2. 2 riders.
3. Anderberg
4. 1 stage.
5. Girmay.
6. 5 riders.
7. Grieg.
8. Gamper.
9. Yes.
10. Pedersen.
76th place. |
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 05-12-2025 09:26
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Sprinter
Posts: 1809
Joined: 07-07-2013
PCM$: 200.00
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Thanks for the preview and the in-race competition, Heine! There's hardly any race better suited for this.
1) 4
2) 1
3) Per
4) 1
5) Girmay
6) all but the winner
7) Carlsberg
8) F. Vermeersch
9) yes
10) Pedersen
tb) 50th
All hopes for us are on Zepuntke to achieve our top 10 goal here, especially when we miss the win goal in Britain (as always expected).
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 05-12-2025 10:58
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15024
Joined: 08-08-2011
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Let's hope the prediction will be a disaster for me and the race will actually be ok.
1) 1
2) 1
3) Pedersen
4) 1
5) Girmay, because I'm too lazy to look up who else is eligible
6) All of them
7) Mapei
8) Gamper, obviously
9) Yes
10) Pedersen
Bonus: 69
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 05-12-2025 12:23
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World Champion
Posts: 13560
Joined: 05-08-2008
PCM$: 400.00
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Let's see if E3 was just a fluke result or struggling to get into the top 10 is where Gerts is sitting now.
1. 100
2. 1
3. Per
4. 1
5. Girmay
6. 0
7. Evonik
8. Neilands
9. No
10. Pedersen
Bonus: 73
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| Heine |
Posted on 05-12-2025 12:38
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4465
Joined: 08-04-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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Btw, I can inform that there are a total of 67 riders competing in the U25 here (as everyone has the same guy there :lol and at least one of them is going to join a BOTD
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| Bushwackers |
Posted on 05-12-2025 13:46
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Sprinter
Posts: 1982
Joined: 07-02-2009
PCM$: 300.00
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1) 13
2) 1
3) Pederson
4) Yes, 1
5) Serrano
6) 38
7) Carlsberg
8) Serrano
9) Yes
10) Pederson
Tough field but hoping for some magic from Jacobs. He wasn't mentioned in E3 but ended up top 10, so hopefully we have the same luck in this one.
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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 05-12-2025 13:59
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2797
Joined: 20-04-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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Come on Mike! Top 10 please
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 05-12-2025 17:28
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7772
Joined: 04-07-2012
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1) How many riders will be in the front group on stage 1 (st finish)?
12
2) How many riders will be in the front group on stage 2 (st finish)?
1
3) Who will win the race?
Per
4) Will the winner win any stages, and if yes, how many?
1
5) Who will win the white/youth jersey?
Girmay
6) How many riders will be more than 1h10min behind the winner on stage 2?
56
7) Which team will win the team competition?
Grieg
8) I can spoil that there for me was one big shock in the BOTD on stage 1, who shocked me in the break?
Zepuntke
9) Will it rain on any of the stages? Yes or No?
Yes
10) Who will win the points jersey?
Per
Bonus: Where will mangame legend (?) Guillaume Van Keirsbulck end up in the GC?
32
Extra bonus: How many Minions will finish the race?
4
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 05-12-2025 18:32
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Sprinter
Posts: 1809
Joined: 07-07-2013
PCM$: 200.00
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kandesbunzler26 wrote:
1) 4
2) 1
3) Per
4) 1
5) Girmay
6) all but the winner
7) Carlsberg
8) F. Vermeersch
9) yes
10) Pedersen
tb) 50th
Finally managed to read question 6) correctly  I'll change my answer:
6) 25
Marcovdw wrote:
8) I can spoil that there for me was one big shock in the BOTD on stage 1, who shocked me in the break?
Zepuntke
Please be wrong here 
I'll show some faith in your team and say 5!
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| Heine |
Posted on 05-12-2025 19:06
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4465
Joined: 08-04-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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Can I get points for the minions question?
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 05-12-2025 19:21
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Sprinter
Posts: 1809
Joined: 07-07-2013
PCM$: 200.00
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You're the judge!
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 05-12-2025 19:49
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3221
Joined: 07-08-2011
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1) 11
2) 1
3) Per
4) 1
5) Girmay
6) 12
7) Specialized
8) Jacobs
9) Yes
10) Per
GVK: 31st.
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| seancoll |
Posted on 05-12-2025 20:23
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Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 765
Joined: 20-12-2022
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1) 47
2) 1
3) Gerts
4) Yes - 1
5) Girmay
6) 12
7) Tinkoff Team - La Datcha
8) Hamish Scheurs
9) No
10) Pedersen
Tiebreak question if anyone ends up on the same total sum: 45th
Know absolutely nothing about cobbles at this level accept that its unpredictable and to always watch out for Pedersen.
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Franceville Classique 
