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Lisbon Classic Discussion
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| redordead |
Posted on 02-01-2026 18:53
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Team Leader
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Welcome to the 13th edition of the Lisbon Classic. Over the years it has become one of the most recognisable sprint classics in MG and while it's an important race for most PCT teams it does clash with a similar PTHC race in Veenendaal. Therefore the list of sprinters is not completely stacked. At the same time the profile has proved difficult enough for late attackers to win the race. The parcour starts and ends in Lisbon. 205 km with a lot of not necessarily difficult hills but they add up, with the last one about 10 km from the finish line.
With that said let's look at some of the favourites:
| Sprinter | FL | RS | SP | AC | Lead out | FL | RS | SP | AC |  Coquard | 72 | 72 | 83 | 81 | Afewerki | 72 | 69 | 78 | 79 |  Grosu | 72 | 69 | 82 | 79 | Losch | 73 | 68 | 78 | 79 |  Dainese | 76 | 76 | 81 | 82 | Coutinho | 71 | 72 | 78 | 78 |  Enger | 73 | 73 | 81 | 78 | Waersted | 73 | 78 | 78 | 79 |  Van Poppel | 72 | 71 | 81 | 78 | Milan | 77 | 80 | 74 | 73 |  Peak | 80 | 77 | 80 | 78 | Dekker | 77 | 77 | 77 | 76 |  Demare | 71 | 69 | 80 | 78 | Pedersen | 76 | 76 | 77 | 77 |
Coquard is the #1 favourites and will try to continue his strong season with another win here. He has some good opposition at the top end with long time rival Grosu from their days in PT. We have three 81 sprinters in Dainese, Enger and Van Poppel. The latter of this trio is the one that especially owes his manager a good result. On the other hand Peak has proved to be one of the best training investments in the off season, the more difficult, undulating course in Lisbon could also suit him well. Rounding out the big favourites is Demare who is not quite what he was in the past, but still should have more than enough to challenge for the top spots.
| FL | HI | ST | RS | SP | AC |  Thijssen | 75 | 63 | 74 | 70 | 79 | 81 |  Kalaba | 74 | 69 | 70 | 72 | 79 | 79 |  Willwohl | 73 | 65 | 71 | 67 | 79 | 78 |  Riabushenko | 76 | 68 | 71 | 74 | 79 | 77 |  Welten | 76 | 69 | 72 | 71 | 79 | 75 |  Rajovic | 72 | 64 | 70 | 76 | 78 | 82 |  Wouters | 75 | 68 | 73 | 75 | 77 | 79 |  Sureda | 73 | 71 | 71 | 69 | 77 | 79 |  Willems | 73 | 64 | 72 | 77 | 77 | 77 |  Zijlaard | 74 | 70 | 71 | 74 | 77 | 77 |
Thijssen headlines the 2nd list of favourites. With solid stats all round stats and good acceleration he shouldn't be settling for less than a top 10. With the recent uptick in form from the Minions Kalaba will want to keep that momentum going. Willwohl has the worst ST/RS combo if that ends up mattering. On the other end Riabushenko and Welten should be fine in that regard. Rajovic can always be a dark horse for a good result if he can find the right wheel to follow. The other 77 sprinters are bigger doubts for a good result, but they all have at least one stat that stands out.
| FL | HI | ST | RS | SP | AC | | Quispe | 81 | 53 | 63 | 61 | 67 | 74 | | Katrasnik | 81 | 63 | 72 | 76 | 63 | 72 | | Culey | 79 | 65 | 77 | 76 | 66 | 70 | | Rickaert | 78 | 69 | 75 | 75 | 75 | 73 | | Wisniowski | 78 | 69 | 72 | 73 | 71 | 73 | | Andersen | 78 | 70 | 70 | 75 | 68 | 69 | | Hvideberg | 78 | 70 | 74 | 74 | 65 | 65 |  Kooistra | 77 | 65 | 73 | 69 | 76 | 76 | | Milan | 77 | 63 | 72 | 80 | 74 | 73 | | Medvedev | 77 | 64 | 77 | 77 | 71 | 70 |
While the course seems somewhat favourable to the rouleurs there are two reasons why we might not see them attacking the race. For one pretty much all of them have a sprinter that is probably going to be considered as the team leader. And two, I'm not sure the game's AI will allow that sort of behaviour.
Full startlist:
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 02-01-2026 20:13
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7807
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Usually our secondary sprinter goes here because of the clash with Veenendaal, except this year our primary sprinter is our previous secondary sprinter so it's still Kalaba showing up  Let's hope to better last year's ninth
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 02-01-2026 20:18
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 3962
Joined: 02-11-2010
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I have Riabushenko at all these kinds of races on the theory his strong secondaries should help make him competitive as it gets selective. So far he has been a total failure but I think this is the hardest one so far.
We have all our strong roulers here, not guys who will attack but who should help control attacks but that won't do much unless Riabushenko is actually paying attention.
Man Game: McCormick Pro Cycling |
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 02-01-2026 21:29
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7550
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I hope Coquard can make it over the hills and compete here! We are really looking for points and hopefully he can get a decent haul!
Good luck everyone and thanks for the preview!
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 02-01-2026 21:55
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Sprinter
Posts: 1870
Joined: 07-07-2013
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Thanks for the preview, red!
Looking on the favourites it's pretty obvious we'd prefer a successful late attack, but Rajovic is a viable option for a sprint as well. It will be an interesting race anyway!
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 02-01-2026 22:01
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3809
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I'm just hoping to see Zijlaard involved in the sprint
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 03-01-2026 09:06
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| Sykkel_Freak |
Posted on 02-01-2026 22:32
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2136
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Seems like we were not the only team to prioritize Lisbon over Veenendaal - tougher startlist than I had expected. Dainese has won this race before, though, and I hope he can do it again. The length and toughness should suit him well.
Thanks for the preview!
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| Caspi |
Posted on 02-01-2026 22:46
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Domestique
Posts: 729
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Hope to see a reduced sprint where Sureda can shine.
Thanks for the preview 
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 02-01-2026 22:47
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3259
Joined: 07-08-2011
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We have some interesting tools in the bag here to make work, will be interesting to see whether Danny VP can keep up his Giro form or this will be another verified poor sprint
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Lisbon Classic 
