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Ras Tailteann - Discussion
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 23-03-2026 03:04
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 4088
Joined: 02-11-2010
PCM$: 300.00
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 Ras Tailteann
Ras Tailteann, as it has been for most of its history, is a pure sprint fest, no stinking KOM points here.
Last year Ewan won 2 of the 3 stages on his way to the overall victory. But he isn’t back to defend his title (nobody has won this race twice). Instead we have 2023 winner  Dainese and  Farantakis who won the stage Ewan didn’t win last year.
The top favorites are the veteran  Coquard and  Cullaigh, who is coming off some mixed results at Le Tour.
| Rider | FL | SP | AC | RS | ST | | Coquard | 72 | 83 | 81 | 72 | 69 | | Cullaigh | 74 | 82 | 81 | 70 | 73 | | Farantakis | 74 | 82 | 80 | 72 | 75 | | Dainese | 76 | 81 | 82 | 76 | 75 |  Philipsen | 74 | 81 | 80 | 70 | 74 |  Halvorsen | 76 | 81 | 80 | 71 | 74 |  Kanter | 75 | 81 | 80 | 73 | 75 |  Van Poppel | 72 | 81 | 78 | 71 | 74 |  Jakobsen | 74 | 80 | 80 | 73 | 75 |  Bonifazio | 79 | 80 | 80 | 75 | 68 |  Liu | 74 | 80 | 80 | 69 | 76 |  Hsu | 75 | 80 | 79 | 70 | 75 |  Peak | 80 | 80 | 78 | 77 | 73 |  Einhorn | 74 | 80 | 78 | 71 | 71 | | Thijssen | 75 | 79 | 81 | 70 | 74 | | Gross | 74 | 79 | 79 | 75 | 69 |  Rodenberg | 74 | 79 | 79 | 77 | 70 |  Minali | 73 | 79 | 79 | 74 | 70 |  Adomaitis | 75 | 79 | 78 | 74 | 66 |  Hodeg | 72 | 79 | 78 | 74 | 69 |
Coquad brings a very strong lead out squad in Afewerki, Edmondson, and Mudgway but the team doesn’t have the flat beasts for the chase. Although that may not matter in this race where lots of teams will be interested in catching the break. In contrast Cullaigh does not have his A team, Ballerini and Hayter are his top guys, neither is that fast. But since the Cullaigh-Kemboi combination has had mixed results it may not be a bad strategy.
Farantakis has benefitted from strong lead outs all season, in this race he relies on Zingle and Cavagna. Dainese has a solid pairing in Coutinho and Rickaert. He also has a whole collection of strong rouleurs including cobble great Wisniowski.
Other teams we might see running leadouts in include Puma (Gross, Rubenis), and Los Pollos (Ruize and Malacarne). Philipsen is among the top sprinters but Cedevita clearly aren’t expecting to put together a train as there aren’t any other fast men on the team.
Another rider to watch is Peak, he is very strong on the flat and has had an excellent season so far.
Startlist
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 23-03-2026 04:08
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7626
Joined: 11-04-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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Really keen for this race! We really need to have a strong GC finish and race with Coquard. Coquard especially for the individual rankings. Really hope we can help Coquard get some more wins and hopefully some great results!
Good luck everyone and thanks for the preview!
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 23-03-2026 05:25
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 12849
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1961.50
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Kulikovskiy is here but its going to be a struggle to even get Top 15s. Anything better will be a bonus. Hoping to see some breakaway action for us.
Thanks for the preview!
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| redordead |
Posted on 23-03-2026 08:39
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Team Leader
Posts: 5624
Joined: 18-10-2017
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Hard race to predict. We are going to need Philipsen to surf the wheels here and hopefully he can have a good result to make up for his last few subpar outings.
Thanks for the preview.
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 23-03-2026 12:54
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 16716
Joined: 27-07-2011
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Way too strong of a startlist to expect anything from Rodenberg here, but it would be nice to come away with something, whether it's a minor GC place from Rodenberg or from someone who goes in the break and gets some seconds at the intermediate sprints.
Thanks for the preview!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| Caspi |
Posted on 23-03-2026 13:39
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Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 829
Joined: 22-09-2022
PCM$: 17000.00
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Can't wait to snatch a stage win
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 23-03-2026 13:57
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3924
Joined: 20-04-2020
PCM$: 425.00
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Top-5 is the hope and top-10 the minimum, but it's a sprinter's race, so always remains to be seen what the final verdict is. Thank you for the preview, Ulrich!
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| SotD |
Posted on 23-03-2026 14:34
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World Champion
Posts: 12763
Joined: 29-11-2006
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Farantakis have been strong this season, but I suspect 3 days in the saddle will not be his best. He did win Tour of Qatar, but definately not because of him being the best sprinter.
After the Tour we need to pick ourselves up, and start scoring points again, this could be a key race for doing so - or rather, it needs to be.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-03-2026 21:10
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| Laurens147 |
Posted on 23-03-2026 15:21
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Sprinter
Posts: 1609
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Thanks UU for the preview! 
Hoping for another Liu special, although it won’t be an easy task. Fingers crossed!
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 23-03-2026 15:22
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3853
Joined: 03-07-2012
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Hopefully Einhorn can pick the right wheels and get a good GC finish
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