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Vuelta al Pais Vasco - Discussion
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 29-04-2026 08:27
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World Champion
Posts: 13772
Joined: 05-08-2008
PCM$: 400.00
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 Johannessen was second last year here and will be looking to improve on that.  Conci the only former winner present on the start list.
On paper, most stages are rated as hilly ones, but the climbers could have a hard word to say in stage 5. That stage could potentially create the biggest gaps so we should perhaps look first at climbers when it comes to favorites for the GC. It's a really tough favorites list to make here. Especially when you add in both time - trials, a team one and an individual one.
| Rider | FL | MT | MM | HI | TT | ST | RS | SP | AC |  Paret-Peintre | 72 | 76 | 77 | 77 | 72 | 73 | 75 | 72 | 74 | | Conci | 71 | 77 | 76 | 74 | 78 | 76 | 75 | 63 | 68 |  Habtemichael | 67 | 78 | 76 | 74 | 74 | 74 | 73 | 59 | 66 | | Johannessen | 69 | 80 | 77 | 74 | 70 | 73 | 77 | 67 | 75 |  Powless | 72 | 78 | 75 | 72 | 80 | 76 | 74 | 65 | 71 |  Lasinis | 69 | 79 | 76 | 72 | 74 | 73 | 72 | 61 | 68 |  Choi | 69 | 79 | 76 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 73 | 57 | 65 |  Hirt | 68 | 79 | 76 | 72 | 71 | 74 | 76 | 63 | 73 |
 Sagan,  Turgis,  Vogt,  Eriksson and Storer are the strongest puncheurs here. But given their lack of abilities in time - trials, it's highly unlinkely they will feature high in the GC. Their climbing abilities on bigger hills are not too great either so that's another downside for their GC quest.
The 2 first hilly stages feature a flat finish and there we could see those puncheurs that can also sprint well fight for the stage wins, such as Luchshenko, Rumac,  Paez, Paret-Peintre,  Mayer,  Stedman or  Gabburo.
| Rider | FL | MT | MM | HI | TT | ST | RS | SP | AC | | Turgis | 73 | 67 | 73 | 79 | 66 | 76 | 78 | 70 | 77 | | Sagan | 68 | 70 | 75 | 79 | 64 | 72 | 68 | 69 | 70 | | Eriksson | 72 | 67 | 73 | 79 | 61 | 78 | 74 | 65 | 76 | | Storer | 70 | 75 | 77 | 79 | 69 | 72 | 73 | 64 | 74 | | Vogt | 72 | 61 | 70 | 79 | 65 | 77 | 70 | 61 | 62 | | Tesfatsion | 68 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 61 | 68 | 72 | 69 | 78 |  Budyak | 68 | 74 | 76 | 78 | 68 | 72 | 67 | 57 | 68 | | Paez | 73 | 72 | 75 | 77 | 68 | 74 | 70 | 73 | 76 | | Paret-Peintre | 72 | 76 | 77 | 77 | 72 | 73 | 75 | 72 | 74 | | Mayer | 68 | 69 | 73 | 77 | 70 | 65 | 72 | 72 | 77 | | Gladysh | 72 | 70 | 74 | 77 | 64 | 73 | 72 | 71 | 76 |  Senyenov | 70 | 62 | 70 | 77 | 63 | 68 | 73 | 68 | 73 | | Hoelgaard | 72 | 74 | 76 | 77 | 65 | 72 | 72 | 68 | 74 | | Boileau | 67 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 65 | 68 | 71 | 67 | 76 | | Montenegro | 69 | 70 | 74 | 77 | 64 | 71 | 73 | 64 | 74 | | Dyrnes | 67 | 71 | 74 | 77 | 60 | 72 | 72 | 64 | 76 |  Dieteren | 67 | 70 | 74 | 77 | 58 | 75 | 70 | 63 | 66 |  Seigle | 68 | 72 | 75 | 77 | 64 | 73 | 73 | 63 | 72 | | Carr | 68 | 70 | 74 | 77 | 57 | 74 | 71 | 59 | 72 | | Skjerping | 67 | 70 | 74 | 77 | 62 | 71 | 67 | 58 | 65 | | Stedman | 70 | 68 | 72 | 76 | 63 | 71 | 72 | 72 | 75 | | Gabburo | 75 | 68 | 72 | 76 | 64 | 73 | 75 | 72 | 76 | | Luchshenko | 72 | 65 | 70 | 75 | 63 | 77 | 72 | 75 | 75 | | Rumac | 71 | 72 | 74 | 75 | 64 | 72 | 70 | 74 | 76 |
Kmieliauskas leads the list of top time - trialists present here and will surely target stage 4. He does have some decent climbing abilities, but it's unkilely the Lithuanian will play a part in the GC part here. Powless and Conci will surely want to use the fourth stage to gather an advantage over their GC rivals.
| Rider | FL | MT | MM | HI | TT | ST | RS | SP | AC | | Kmieliauskas | 74 | 70 | 70 | 70 | 81 | 74 | 71 | 63 | 69 | | Powless | 72 | 78 | 75 | 72 | 80 | 76 | 74 | 65 | 71 | | Lammertink | 74 | 64 | 67 | 69 | 80 | 70 | 76 | 63 | 68 | | Beniusis | 71 | 69 | 65 | 60 | 80 | 71 | 73 | 57 | 67 | | Bissegger | 74 | 68 | 69 | 69 | 79 | 73 | 77 | 72 | 73 | | Sütterlin | 70 | 58 | 61 | 64 | 79 | 72 | 76 | 58 | 59 | | Conci | 71 | 77 | 76 | 74 | 78 | 76 | 75 | 63 | 68 | | Cosnefroy | 76 | 68 | 70 | 71 | 78 | 78 | 81 | 69 | 69 |  O'Loughlin | 73 | 67 | 68 | 68 | 78 | 69 | 74 | 63 | 64 | | Christodoulos | 72 | 68 | 68 | 68 | 78 | 75 | 69 | 53 | 64 | | Thomas | 73 | 56 | 61 | 66 | 78 | 75 | 73 | 74 | 79 | | Vandevelde | 75 | 59 | 62 | 65 | 78 | 72 | 74 | 62 | 65 |
A lot of those who finished on the podium in Olympia are present here, so it's no surprise Hunter Valley Cycling, DK Zalgiris and Simba Cement - Tanga Fresh are rated as the big favorites for the opening stage.
| Hunter Valley Cycling | *** | | DK Zalgiris | *** | | Simba Cement - Tanga Fresh | *** | | Tryg - Eni | ** | | Ekoi - Le Creuset | ** | | JEWA TIROL | ** | | SEE Turtles | * | | Kraftwerk Man Machine | * | | Glanbia | * | | Euskadi-Murias | * |
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 29-04-2026 08:45
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2079
Joined: 07-07-2013
PCM$: 400.00
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Thanks for the preview, alex!
I'm really looking forward to this race, APPs allround skillset should make him a podium contender at least and for once he has a strong support cast with Küng, Garibian, Boileau, Vauquelin and Louvel. Another U25 win could also well be in the books and maybe even some points from the other classifications.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 30-04-2026 14:51
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Bot Agent
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| Dippofix |
Posted on 29-04-2026 09:06
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4004
Joined: 29-01-2013
PCM$: 300.00
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Thanks for the preview Alex! Our puncheurs have decent MM too so hoping that they'll be able to do something on the hilly stages and that the climbs won't prove too tough for them. GC is out of the question given the time trialing involved but hoping for some decent stage placings or perhaps breakaways.
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| Heine |
Posted on 29-04-2026 09:13
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4690
Joined: 08-04-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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Just here to try for stage wins, had race days left
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| Caspi |
Posted on 29-04-2026 10:05
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Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 897
Joined: 22-09-2022
PCM$: 17600.00
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Stage 5 is most likely too challenging for Bissegger, but Rodriguez might outperform Choi in the GC under the right circumstances.
Thanks for the preview 
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| quadsas |
Posted on 29-04-2026 10:06
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2813
Joined: 18-01-2013
PCM$: 300.00
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Here to hunt the two time trial stages and hopefully Lasinis can get a top 10 or something as a bonus
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| seancoll |
Posted on 29-04-2026 15:56
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Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 878
Joined: 20-12-2022
PCM$: 500.00
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I always come here thinking I can do something good... that has never been the case. Hopefully we can flip it around
Would simply love to come away with something good - maybe this is another opportunity for Montenegro to fight well above his weight or even a Barta backdoor top 15. Vermaerke maybe a point or two U25 as well?
Putting the betting odds on Powless? Maybe Conci?
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| Heine |
Posted on 30-04-2026 07:19
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4690
Joined: 08-04-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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Only 1 min behind on a TTT? I'll take it! Go stage hunt now!
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 30-04-2026 07:33
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3959
Joined: 20-04-2020
PCM$: 425.00
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Great win for Simba Cement, love to see it! Vandevelde in white also nice
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| liefwarrior |
Posted on 30-04-2026 08:30
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1008
Joined: 04-07-2019
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Already off to a better start than last year despite a slightly more conservative TTT squad. Happy to see we aren't dropping anyone though. We are obviously hoping that this one ends up as one for the climbers again - as far as puncheurs go, I am hoping to see Hoelgaard do well for old times sake.
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 30-04-2026 08:40
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Team Leader
Posts: 5621
Joined: 12-06-2013
PCM$: 500.00
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A lot of hope that Conci can deliver a big result here to continue some strong momentum from Olympia.
Strong first stage even though we didn't win it which is a little disappointing. Storer probably the reason we didn't win but not losing too much time so he stays in a strong position.
It is indeed nice to see Vandevelde in the U25 lead
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| Caspi |
Posted on 30-04-2026 08:49
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Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 897
Joined: 22-09-2022
PCM$: 17600.00
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I guess we're a TTT team now 
Of course, it's Schomber who crosses the line first after his horrendous season. Hope we drop him tomorrow already.
We don't have a team to defend the leader’s jersey but hope that we can keep it until the TT. Will be fun regardless.
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 30-04-2026 09:30
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2079
Joined: 07-07-2013
PCM$: 400.00
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Congrats Caspi, a well deserved win!
9th is a bit underwhelming, but at least APP lost 'only' 4 additional seconds. My heart stopped for a moment when I read we dropped him ...
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