Hello everybody and welcome to a quick preview of the Benelux Challenge, taking place in Belgium and the Netherlands. In the past, strong allrounders have won here. Nevertheless, it can be said also less stronger allrounders have won here. Interesting, to say the least. Last year's winner was Sam Harrison, with Pidcock and Küng having won the won previous editions. First things first, here is the parcours.
So, let's have a look at the best riders per profile (in theory), and see how they compare with other skills useful in this race.
First, the prologue!
Mtn
Hill
TT
Sta
Res
Cob
Spr
Acc
Prologue
Chavanne
57
63
64
70
75
56
75
75
81
Schomber
54
58
74
66
76
50
69
69
81
Van Aert
63
66
70
72
73
68
64
68
79
Howson
58
64
79
71
72
57
63
66
79
Pedersen
61
67
67
73
76
63
77
77
78
Kennett
58
65
69
73
76
62
79
78
78
Scotson
56
63
76
73
70
75
66
75
78
Kung
70
73
77
74
72
72
63
71
78
Chavanne or Schomber for the first yellow jersey I assume, but none of them for the GC win. One interesting name here of course is previous winner Stefan Kung from Ekoi.
Next up, sprints!
Mtn
Hill
TT
Sta
Res
Cob
Spr
Acc
Prologue
Perera
53
64
58
69
73
64
79
80
74
Kennett
58
65
69
73
76
62
79
78
78
Afewerki
62
63
62
76
69
68
78
79
70
Sanikwathi
58
66
65
70
67
72
78
78
68
Nommela
57
67
58
70
70
73
78
78
65
Stalberg
53
60
57
65
77
58
78
74
65
Wouters
66
68
59
73
75
64
77
79
61
Pedersen
61
67
67
73
76
63
77
77
78
Willems
57
64
63
72
77
55
77
77
70
Girmay
64
71
61
76
76
79
77
76
65
Dekker
63
66
60
81
77
73
77
76
61
Stallaert
58
65
56
73
65
79
77
73
56
Page
66
68
61
73
70
65
76
78
66
Ct individual top scorer Perera together with Kennett and Afewerki as the theoretically best sprinters, but maybe also a possibility for allrounder Girmay to score bonus seconds in one or two flat stages.
Next, the hilly stage!
Mtn
Hill
TT
Sta
Res
Cob
Spr
Acc
Prologue
Benoot
75
81
63
75
74
76
69
71
62
Quita
74
77
66
75
75
60
71
74
66
Van der Poel
70
77
69
78
77
72
72
77
73
Le Gac
69
77
60
73
74
52
64
69
60
Meurisse
73
76
66
72
72
67
70
76
67
Robov
72
76
66
72
73
50
69
71
66
Honore
69
76
68
74
73
67
65
73
68
Stedman
68
76
63
71
72
61
72
75
67
Roman
77
75
64
71
73
61
63
76
58
Godon
69
75
68
75
77
70
70
73
72
Benoot could really do some damage in and around Andenne, and with his cobbled skills he might even take home the GC win. Van der Poel and Godon also not the worst cobblers among the best puncheurs here.
So, final necesary skill, cobbles!
Mtn
Hill
TT
Sta
Res
Cob
Spr
Acc
Prologue
Zepuntke
56
69
65
79
72
82
72
65
65
Kasperkiewicz
66
74
72
75
77
81
59
67
74
Wisniowski
67
69
72
72
73
81
71
73
75
Girmay
64
71
61
76
76
79
77
76
65
Stallaert
58
65
56
73
65
79
77
73
56
Moulingui
53
71
52
71
71
78
65
68
52
Sulimov
63
69
64
75
69
78
64
69
64
Daniel
54
67
54
73
73
78
74
69
62
Polanc
73
72
69
77
72
77
66
74
73
Moricz
58
68
65
73
71
77
66
64
65
Nareklishvili
61
66
75
73
73
77
64
71
76
Kolev
52
62
60
73
71
77
62
67
66
Benoot
75
81
63
75
74
76
69
71
62
Louvel
64
72
73
75
78
76
67
67
73
Debesay
64
71
69
70
74
76
66
73
71
Centrone
62
71
59
72
67
76
53
58
62
Tediashvili
66
70
65
76
78
76
71
71
65
The absolute legendary rider Zepuntke as clearly the best cobbler here, no doubt about that. Who are Kasperkiewicz or Wisniowski even? The fourty bonus seconds because of the two stage wins will probably not be enough for Zepuntke though, as he's just not the best uphill. The other two cobblers however are decent time trialists and can also get up a hill, so theoretically definitely GC contenders. But what does the AI think about this? Polanc also an interesting outsider on this list.
So, only one thing remaining for me now, enjoy the full startlist below, and good luck to all!
“...the secret of the Great Stories is that they have no secrets. The Great Stories are the ones you have heard and want to hear again. The ones you can enter anywhere and inhabit comfortably."
A. Roy
I'm not sure if we'll ride for Meurisse or Debesay in the GC, but it doesn't matter. What matters is a stage win.
Benelux Challenge is our last goal race of the season (stage win), and we're not going to achieve our other sponsor objectives (8 stage wins & top 15 in the team standings) = last chance to achieve any sponsor objective this season.
For the stage win, we have Schomber for the prologue, Sanikwathi for the sprints, Meurisse for the hilly stage, and Lecourt De Billot for a surprise attack.
I’d guess we have more than 50 % of succeeding. Schomber should have around 50 % chance of winning the prologue. Then I would estimate 10 % for Sanikwathi, 5 % for Meurisse and 1 % for Lecourt De Billot to snatch a stage win throughout the race.
However, with how our season has gone so far, I'm not expecting even a podium for anyone besides Schomber.
I really hope Howson can do well in the prologue and Afewerki can perform in the sprints. We do have some guys here that could do well in GC depending on how big the gaps are in the cobbles days. Will be an interesting race!
Benelux Challenge (HC) - Discussion 
