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Scandinavia Open Road Race Discussion
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| redordead |
Posted on 16-02-2026 07:27
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 Scandinavia Open Road Race  
Welcome to the 16th edition of the Scandinavia Open Road Race. It's only a 3 day stage race so it is on paper one of the best value races on the PT calendar. The individual time-trial stage was already removed last year. The race is now mostly meant for puncheurs. Climbers did reasonably well here last year, but nothing suggests those results are indicators for this edition. Still I would think the main actors of this race from previous additions should stay the same.
With that said let's look at some of the favourites:
| FL | MM | HI | ST | RS | SP | AC |  Herklotz | 72 | 83 | 81 | 79 | 80 | 68 | 76 |  Lopez | 70 | 82 | 84 | 76 | 74 | 66 | 78 |  Vansevenant | 74 | 78 | 81 | 79 | 78 | 70 | 80 |  Gidich | 72 | 80 | 83 | 78 | 77 | 65 | 75 |  Mohoric | 72 | 77 | 83 | 78 | 72 | 67 | 77 |  Areruya | 72 | 81 | 81 | 76 | 78 | 68 | 76 |  Valter | 72 | 79 | 80 | 76 | 75 | 69 | 78 |  Higuita | 69 | 80 | 80 | 76 | 78 | 66 | 75 |  Bagioli | 71 | 77 | 80 | 77 | 73 | 71 | 78 | | McCarthy | 69 | 74 | 81 | 79 | 74 | 64 | 73 |  Kinoshita | 71 | 76 | 81 | 77 | 74 | 66 | 74 |  Skujins | 68 | 75 | 81 | 77 | 74 | 66 | 73 |  Yates | 73 | 75 | 80 | 76 | 69 | 76 | 79 |  Evenepoel | 75 | 77 | 77 | 79 | 81 | 64 | 71 | | Champoussin | 68 | 79 | 79 | 76 | 76 | 59 | 76 |  Schmid | 72 | 78 | 79 | 73 | 78 | 70 | 79 |  Amezawa | 68 | 79 | 77 | 76 | 78 | 68 | 75 |
If MO is still an important stat here then Herklotz should be the favourite, but even so his other stats are impressive enough that I decided to put him at the top. If it's more about the typical puncheur skill set then the next four are top contenders. Lopez to be fair brings awesome climbing ability as well, but someone like Vansevenant could potentially benefit from a better sprint and acceleration. Gidich and Mohoric are both classic puncheurs with that massive 83 HI stat. Last year's winner Areruya is on paper a similar, slightly worse version of Herklotz, but we've been conditioned to see him perform at the top. Valter and Higuita are two more hybrid types that should also compete for the top spot and with that we've also gone all the former winners here and everyone that's won a PT hilly classic this year.
I think the others are probably more long shots for winning, but could finish on the podium maybe. The Polar duo looks nice, then we have the veterans in Kinoshita, Skujins and Yates. I'm not sure Rabobank has any bad races so their duo could do nicely also. Schmid is a lot more hit and miss, while Amezawa is simply here to have fun on a wildcard.
| FL | MM | HI | ST | RS | SP | AC | | Romo | 71 | 76 | 80 | 78 | 76 | 67 | 71 |  Aleotti | 74 | 76 | 78 | 78 | 77 | 65 | 75 | | Trakhov | 68 | 74 | 79 | 78 | 74 | 69 | 75 | | Formolo | 71 | 79 | 79 | 75 | 75 | 68 | 70 |  Gaudu | 73 | 75 | 78 | 78 | 75 | 68 | 70 |  Müller | 70 | 74 | 80 | 76 | 71 | 66 | 73 | | Kron | 73 | 75 | 79 | 75 | 75 | 66 | 73 |  Aranburu | 69 | 79 | 80 | 70 | 79 | 68 | 71 |  De Plus | 72 | 78 | 79 | 74 | 73 | 61 | 72 | | Strakhov | 69 | 74 | 78 | 77 | 76 | 61 | 70 | | Madouas | 74 | 76 | 77 | 76 | 73 | 73 | 73 |  Van Dijke | 69 | 76 | 78 | 74 | 75 | 71 | 74 | | Mas | 69 | 78 | 77 | 74 | 74 | 60 | 77 | | Geniets | 74 | 74 | 78 | 75 | 77 | 62 | 69 | | Buchmann | 70 | 78 | 80 | 71 | 72 | 64 | 71 |
The field of riders here is very deep as one would expect. The outsiders list is mostly made to flag some interesting riders in case of AI shenanigans. Romo is one of the best super domestiques. Rabobank has more depth with Formolo and Kron. Gaudu is just a personal favourite of mine. Aranburu can be a dangerous rider on his day, same with De Plus maybe. Madouas is more known as a stage hunter, but still a very cool rider. Not sure Van Dijke is capable of having a bad race so he deserves a mention as well.
Full startlist:
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| ember |
Posted on 16-02-2026 07:45
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That’s an impressive startlist! A GC top 5 will be a good result here. Fingers crossed we are able to play the combination of Valter and Romo well, to get a good GC placing for one of them.
Should be a fun race to follow with Herklotz, MAL and Areruya as quite the trio. |
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 16-02-2026 07:51
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World Champion
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We threw all the puncheurs we had in this hoping something would stick. And so did everyone else 
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 16-02-2026 21:52
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 16-02-2026 08:12
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Damn, that's a startlist! Was hoping that MVD can have another of his overperformances. Still hoping, but less confidently!
Thanks for the preview.
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| SotD |
Posted on 16-02-2026 08:33
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World Champion
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We don’t have a lot of ambitions here obviously. If Kinoshita Can somehow fight for a position around 10-15th GC we would be very pleased. Otherwise some aggressive riding to fight for KOM points is likely our best bet. And even that doesn’t seen very realistic.
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| ember |
Posted on 16-02-2026 09:42
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And by the way! Is it the normal 10-6-4 bonifications that is used on the finishing lines, or do we use the other variant to give bonus seconds to everyone in the top 10? |
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| roturn |
Posted on 16-02-2026 10:26
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Was hoping to see less hybrids here but a 3-day race with only GC stages made it an obvious filler for many.
Vansevenant should still fight for the win here or at least podium. He needs to step up here showing his all-round skills.
Hard to beat Herklotz though.
Looking forward to the reports. |
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| knockout |
Posted on 16-02-2026 13:12
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8312
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Herklotz is the top favourite for sure but behind him i have high expectations. Lopez should be a podium favourite and i have brought massive support which hopefully shows in depth scoring...
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 16-02-2026 13:36
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Classics Specialist
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Aleotti has not been good in hilly tours so far and in this field I expect that to continue.
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 16-02-2026 14:47
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Tour de France Champion
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Obviously the most stacked startlist you can have basically, being a short PT race with no relevant clashes.
If Aranburu is going to perform on any kind of route at this point, it should be this one? Short(er) stages without a ton of crazy obstacles throughout and steep uphill finishes that may test resistance like Fleche. Stage 3 might be the downfall of that though. We'll keep expectations low.
Thanks for the preview!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 16-02-2026 20:54
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 4030
Joined: 02-11-2010
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ember wrote:
And by the way! Is it the normal 10-6-4 bonifications that is used on the finishing lines, or do we use the other variant to give bonus seconds to everyone in the top 10?
Scandanavia uses the supplemental bonus system to break up S.t. results so:
20-12-8-6-4-3-2-1
Man Game: McCormick Pro Cycling |
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| ember |
Posted on 16-02-2026 20:59
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Team Leader
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Brilliant, and a good choice, I'd argue! Let's hope for some bonification placings on the stages that could come down to s.t., then  |
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