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Clasico San Jose Discussion
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 01-10-2026 08:41
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Team Manager
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 Clasico San José
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Preview
Welcome everyone to the 2026 CT season! It’s time to kick things off once again in Costa Rica, where new CT teams and DEV teams will make their debut, competing against CT veterans and a few PCT teams, too. Who will get a headstart and start their season with an early highlight?
No changes to the route compared to last year. At 212 kilometers, it’s a long day in the saddle for the peloton, with a steady succession of climbs throughout the course. The final 40 kilometers are comparatively flat, except for the duo of short climbs that will be tackled twice, including for the sprint to the finish line – if we will see a sprint, that is, which is not a guarantee.
| FL | MM | HI | ST | RS | SP | AC |  Lutsenko | 67 | 76 | 81 | 73 | 70 | 70 | 78 |  Quita | 74 | 76 | 77 | 75 | 75 | 71 | 74 |  Yates | 72 | 74 | 79 | 74 | 67 | 75 | 77 |  McCarthy | 68 | 73 | 80 | 77 | 72 | 63 | 71 |  Langellotti | 72 | 75 | 77 | 76 | 71 | 67 | 74 | | Kinoshita | 69 | 74 | 79 | 74 | 71 | 64 | 71 |  Tesfatsion | 68 | 77 | 78 | 68 | 72 | 69 | 78 |  Mayer | 68 | 74 | 78 | 66 | 72 | 72 | 77 |  Azman | 69 | 77 | 77 | 69 | 72 | 65 | 75 |
Even at 34 years of age, Lutsenko is still a force to be reckoned with and is the betting favorite for the top puncheur of the CT division. But he will face capable competition. Fellow 34 year old Simon Yates might be a bit worse on hills alone, but he is the fastest of the main contenders. Quita also has a quick finish, and has easily the strongest stamina and resistance of this trio. DeutscheWindguard has received instant promotion buzz in the previews – we should get an early indication how real that is based on Quita’s performance here, and the same holds true for title favorite JEWA TIROL and Yates.
McCarthy is the third 34 year old in the mix, decently well-rounded still, but packs less of a punch if it comes to a sprint. Then we have one of the more interesting leadership constellations at newly-founded Fincantieri - Grand Seiko, who bring – no, not 34 year old, but 35 year old Kinoshita, as well as Langellotti. The former might still be rated as the better pure puncheur, but the latter is much more well-rounded. Should be interesting to see who will get the nod for team captain.
Rounding out the cadre of top favorites are three riders who are strong puncheurs in general, but who all share a distinct weakness in stamina: Tesfatsion, Mayer and Azman will hope for a relaxed race to ensure they have enough left in the tank once they arrive in the final kilometers, otherwise they might all be in trouble.
| FL | MM | HI | ST | RS | SP | AC | | Yates | 71 | 72 | 78 | 77 | 74 | 62 | 69 | | Kelderman | 66 | 73 | 78 | 74 | 69 | 63 | 66 |  Blouwe | 71 | 74 | 77 | 71 | 73 | 68 | 74 |  Glivar | 70 | 74 | 76 | 72 | 74 | 70 | 72 |  Lazkano | 65 | 74 | 77 | 68 | 71 | 64 | 75 |  Asgreen | 67 | 72 | 77 | 70 | 69 | 64 | 74 |  Paulus | 68 | 75 | 76 | 69 | 66 | 61 | 69 |  Neuman | 71 | 73 | 76 | 69 | 74 | 69 | 77 |  Verschaeve | 67 | 75 | 73 | 76 | 75 | 62 | 71 |  De Gendt | 76 | 68 | 73 | 77 | 75 | 65 | 69 |  Covi | 66 | 76 | 76 | 71 | 72 | 64 | 68 |  Wirtgen | 70 | 75 | 75 | 73 | 72 | 66 | 68 |  Vendrame | 72 | 69 | 76 | 75 | 73 | 71 | 75 |  Silva | 72 | 70 | 74 | 73 | 74 | 74 | 75 |
We will go through all team leaders here, but two domestiques top this list of outside contenders: Joel Yates especially, but also 35 year old Kelderman, would be expected to be among the best here, if not for the fact that they each have a teammate in the list of top favorites. We’ll see if they can hang on to score for themselves, nonetheless.
Blouwe and Glivar might be strongest of the group of second-row team leaders, with Tafjord bringing a super deep squad to support the Belgian. DeNA, meanwhile, have all their hill eggs in the Glivar basket, and how well he can deliver will be crucial in what they hope will be an ultimately successful promotion fight this year.
Lazkano and Asgreen, the latter leading the debut squad for new team Billstedt-Horn, are on the edge of contention here. On a good day, they could certainly be in play for a Top 10 finish, but even any points at all are arguably not guaranteed if their teams find themselves too far near the back of the peloton. The same is true for Paulus, leading another new entry in Brandt Cycling Team, and Neuman.
With Verschaeve and De Gendt, THE ONE – Fox God and Incaline bring team captains whose primary profession isn’t as a puncheur. Both are expected to have decent seasons, the former as a stage racer while the latter has been mentioned as a candidate for a Basso-type season – which could start here.
Lastly, in their own category at the bottom of the list, we have representatives for the four PCT teams. Given their presence here, we might expect to see them in a few C2 hilly races, so it should be interesting to find out how they can do here. Covi and Wirtgen are here as super well-rounded climber types who will hope for a selective race and to hold on as long as they can, as they lack the punch to do much in sprint scenarios. The opposite is true for Vendrame and Silva, who have the speed to do some damage from a group, if they can remain close enough to the front until the finale for it to matter. The Italian managed to finish 18th at this race last year.
| FL | MM | HI | ST | RS | SP | AC |  Vogt | 71 | 69 | 78 | 75 | 68 | 60 | 60 | | Jensen | 67 | 71 | 76 | 71 | 67 | 62 | 70 |  Gogl | 68 | 72 | 75 | 72 | 70 | 66 | 73 |  Vosekalns | 64 | 75 | 73 | 66 | 70 | 65 | 68 |
Three development teams make their debut. The Cardinals have the most interesting squad at the start line with Vogt as the standout name, supported by Jensen. Vogt finished as high as 7th here in 2022, but he is, like so many others, 34 years old by now and has been inconsistent even before his decline. Still, who knows what he might be able to do. Gogl and Vosekalns are less likely to make an impression, but shouldn’t be underestimated either.
Lastly, there are a bunch of teams who will hope for decent depth scoring with their domestiques. This includes DeutscheWindguard with the likes of Velasco (9th here last year), Rumac or Lienhard, Grossschartner for JEWA TIROL, Lilovski, Kanepejs, Svab and Stedman at Tafjord or Watson (20th last year) for SEE Turtles, just to name a few. Inevitably, we will find a few names in the Top 25 that are missing here – let me know if you have one or two in mind!
 Spoiler | Lutsenko | Alexey | Air New Zealand-Prada | | Cort Nielsen | Magnus | Air New Zealand-Prada | | Yates | Joel | Air New Zealand-Prada | | Piganzoli | Davide | Air New Zealand-Prada | | Nunes | Hugo | Air New Zealand-Prada | | Toneatti | Davide | Air New Zealand-Prada | | Villa | Giacomo | Air New Zealand-Prada | | Rodriguez | Juan Felipe | Air New Zealand-Prada | | Mayer | Alexandre | Banco Vaticano-Valkyrie | | Onley | Oscar | Banco Vaticano-Valkyrie | | Borg | Luke | Banco Vaticano-Valkyrie | | Bruno | Andrea Alfio | Banco Vaticano-Valkyrie | | Kachur | Dmytro | Banco Vaticano-Valkyrie | | Prieto | Jose Juan | Banco Vaticano-Valkyrie | | Scalco | Matteo | Banco Vaticano-Valkyrie | | Emisci | Ferhat | Banco Vaticano-Valkyrie | | Vosekalns | Andris | BikeNZ - Limonaad | | Wright | Paul | BikeNZ - Limonaad | | Canty | Brendan | BikeNZ - Limonaad | | Garzon | Oscar Santiago | BikeNZ - Limonaad | | Berhane | Hebron | BikeNZ - Limonaad | | Plamondon | Joel | BikeNZ - Limonaad | | Khadbaatar | Temuulen | BikeNZ - Limonaad | | Bruttomesso | Alberto | BikeNZ - Limonaad | | Asgreen | Kasper | Billstedt-Horn | | Hollmann | Juri | Billstedt-Horn | | Muller | Tobias | Billstedt-Horn | | Gruel | Thibaud | Billstedt-Horn | | Putz | Sebastian | Billstedt-Horn | | Brenner | Marco | Billstedt-Horn | | Kretschy | Moritz | Billstedt-Horn | | Nordhagen | Truls | Billstedt-Horn | | Phinney | Taylor | Brandt Cycling Team | | Paulus | Daniel | Brandt Cycling Team | | Boswell | Ian | Brandt Cycling Team | | Richardson | Chequan | Brandt Cycling Team | | Carpenter | Robin | Brandt Cycling Team | | Matte | Charles | Brandt Cycling Team | | Bourgoyne | Lucas | Brandt Cycling Team | | Cole | Owen | Brandt Cycling Team | | Glivar | Gal | DeNA RoadStars | | Mayrhofer | Marius | DeNA RoadStars | | Ryuki | Uga | DeNA RoadStars | | Van Bekkum | Darren | DeNA RoadStars | | Mifsud | Andrea | DeNA RoadStars | | Van Sintmaartensdijk | Roel | DeNA RoadStars | | Reynders | Jens | DeNA RoadStars | | Adomaitis | Rokas | DeNA RoadStars | | Quita | Ronnilan | Deutsche WindGuard | | Velasco | Simone | Deutsche WindGuard | | Rumac | Josip | Deutsche WindGuard | | Lienhard | Fabian | Deutsche WindGuard | | Drizners | Jarrad | Deutsche WindGuard | | Harper | Chris | Deutsche WindGuard | | Ghani | Muhammad Suhaimi | Deutsche WindGuard | | Vendrame | Andrea | Ethiopian Airlines | | Schönberger | Sebastian | Ethiopian Airlines | | Grosser | Aaron | Ethiopian Airlines | | De Kleijn | Arvid | Ethiopian Airlines | | Del Grosso | Tibor | Ethiopian Airlines | | Habteab | Yoel | Ethiopian Airlines | | Dike | Joshua | Ethiopian Airlines | | Arefayne | Aklilu | Ethiopian Airlines | | Silva | Thomas | Everesting | | Lau | Wan Yau | Everesting | | Uwizeyimana | Bonaventure | Everesting | | Henao | Sebastian | Everesting | | Orosco | Kemp | Everesting | | Artz | Huub | Everesting | | Voltr | Martin | Everesting | | Landbo | Mads | Everesting | | Langellotti | Victor | Fincantieri - Grand Seiko | | Kinoshita | Tomohiro | Fincantieri - Grand Seiko | | Ludvigsson | Fredrik | Fincantieri - Grand Seiko | | Miyazaki | Taishi | Fincantieri - Grand Seiko | | Froidevaux | Robin | Fincantieri - Grand Seiko | | Fiorelli | Filippo | Fincantieri - Grand Seiko | | Kaneko | Sohei | Fincantieri - Grand Seiko | | Gogl | Michael | Giovinco Foundation | | Holmes | Matthew | Giovinco Foundation | | Debruyne | Ramses | Giovinco Foundation | | Bouchard | Felix | Giovinco Foundation | | Buschek | Paul | Giovinco Foundation | | Zamperini | Edoardo | Giovinco Foundation | | Agostinacchio | Filippo | Giovinco Foundation | | Jacob | Philippe | Giovinco Foundation | | Neuman | Dominik | IESE ProCycling Team | | Hocevar | Kristjan | IESE ProCycling Team | | Spanopoulos | Ioannis | IESE ProCycling Team | | Vacek | Karel | IESE ProCycling Team | | Klahan | Noppachai | IESE ProCycling Team | | Arenas Rodriguez | Jeremias | IESE ProCycling Team | | Tvedt | Ulrik | IESE ProCycling Team | | Grozev | Gabriel | IESE ProCycling Team | | De Gendt | Aime | IncaLine Pro Cycling | | Alexander | Nathan | IncaLine Pro Cycling | | Cote | Pier-Andre | IncaLine Pro Cycling | | De Paula | Victor Cesar | IncaLine Pro Cycling | | Gonzales | Andre Alexander | IncaLine Pro Cycling | | Luehrs | Luis-Joe | IncaLine Pro Cycling | | Hobbs | Noah | IncaLine Pro Cycling | | Gonzales | Charles | IncaLine Pro Cycling | | Yates | Simon | JEWA TIROL | | Grossschartner | Felix | JEWA TIROL | | Bellan | Juraj | JEWA TIROL | | Kelderman | Wilco | JEWA TIROL | | Potocki | Pavel | JEWA TIROL | | Kabas | Maximilian | JEWA TIROL | | Orue | German Anibal | JEWA TIROL | | Heymes | Gilles | JEWA TIROL | | Tesfatsion | Natnael | Karthago | | Shikai | Chen | Karthago | | Cerny | Josef | Karthago | | Rojas | Henry Antonio | Karthago | | Bergstrom Frisk | Hannes | Karthago | | Pavlic | Marko | Karthago | | Tamm | Lauri | Karthago | | Vainio | Veeti | Karthago | | Covi | Alessandro | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Piccolo | Andrea | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Verwilst | Aaron | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Rafferty | Darren | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Bonneu | Kamiel | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Schrettl | Marco | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Delle Vedove | Alessio | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Arrighetti | Nicolo | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Lazkano | Oier | Parmalat - Croatia | | Mestric | Matija | Parmalat - Croatia | | Mosca | Jacopo | Parmalat - Croatia | | Conti | Valerio | Parmalat - Croatia | | Roosen | Timo | Parmalat - Croatia | | Pinarello | Alessandro | Parmalat - Croatia | | Pita Hidrobo | Alejandro | Parmalat - Croatia | | Baksaas | Morthen Wang | Parmalat - Croatia | | Wirtgen | Luc | Peugeot | | Kirsch | Alex | Peugeot | | Antonijevic | Goran | Peugeot | | Laporte | Christophe | Peugeot | | Kockelmann | Mathieu | Peugeot | | Magnier | Paul | Peugeot | | Rolland | Brieuc | Peugeot | | Kallberg | Axel | Peugeot | | Osorio | Alejandro | SEE Turtles | | McCarthy | Jay | SEE Turtles | | Main | Kent | SEE Turtles | | Restrepo | Jhonatan | SEE Turtles | | Watson | Calvin | SEE Turtles | | Jurado | Cristofer Robin | SEE Turtles | | Tuckwell | Luke | SEE Turtles | | Avila | Freddy Alejandro | SEE Turtles | | Azman | Muhamad Zawawi | Simba Cement - Tanga Fresh | | McKenna | Sean | Simba Cement - Tanga Fresh | | Turgis | Anthony | Simba Cement - Tanga Fresh | | Rachid | Elias Abou | Simba Cement - Tanga Fresh | | Jung | Ha Jeon | Simba Cement - Tanga Fresh | | Kulindwa | Lameck Marco | Simba Cement - Tanga Fresh | | Jungels | Bob | Simba Cement - Tanga Fresh | | Malale | Said | Simba Cement - Tanga Fresh | | Blouwe | Louis | Tafjord Kraft | | Svab | Jernej | Tafjord Kraft | | Stedman | Max | Tafjord Kraft | | Stehli | Felix | Tafjord Kraft | | Lilovski | Dobrin | Tafjord Kraft | | Kanepejs | Deins | Tafjord Kraft | | Laurance | Axel | Tafjord Kraft | | Stajnar | Mihael | Tafjord Kraft | | Jensen | Kristian Haugaard | The Cardinals | | Vogt | Mario | The Cardinals | | Colnaghi | Luca | The Cardinals | | Kolze Changizi | Sebastian | The Cardinals | | McCambridge | Kevin | The Cardinals | | Louwerensen | Tijn | The Cardinals | | Granberg | Sander | The Cardinals | | Casagrande | Diego | The Cardinals | | Verschaeve | Viktor | THE ONE - Fox God | | Mendoza | Bryan Fernando | THE ONE - Fox God | | McGill | Scott | THE ONE - Fox God | | De Laat | Jasper | THE ONE - Fox God | | Kawasaki | Miori | THE ONE - Fox God | | Graat | Tijmen | THE ONE - Fox God | | Puntener | Romano | THE ONE - Fox God | | Koide | Itsuki | THE ONE - Fox God |
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 01-10-2026 09:03
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7762
Joined: 11-04-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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Paul Wright is gonna take this out!
Lets go BikeNZ - Limonaad!!!
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| Heine |
Posted on 01-10-2026 09:13
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5094
Joined: 08-04-2007
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There are better riders present, but I like Wirtgens chances. Really excited to see what he can do with his mon-hill combo
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 01-10-2026 09:21
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3749
Joined: 23-07-2008
PCM$: 700.00
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Interesting start for the CT firstly I don't give Tesfatsion, Azman or Mayer a chance of a result course is too long.
Did anyone notice that the game has given Rojas the leaders BIB over Tesfatsion! That could be a huge save for Karthago if he produces a result that Tesfatsion wouldn't be capable of if that plays true
The same thing happened to Langellotti over Kinoshita which would be very interesting as both would likely have a leader and free role then and could help depth scoring.
Though we know Kinoshita is very likely to get the leader nod over Langellotti so hopefully for Jack that pays off.
To me Mccarthys ST might make the difference if he overcomes his MM and probably more importantly his lack of sprint, but very close between those 5 favs |
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 01-10-2026 09:54
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3500
Joined: 07-08-2011
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Hoping for a good Quita result! Excited to get the season going 
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| trekbmc |
Posted on 01-10-2026 09:55
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Team Leader
Posts: 7398
Joined: 11-07-2014
PCM$: 700.00
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So excited to start the season!
No real expectations for this race, pretty experimental team given I had a couple spare race days for Tesfatsion and Shikai due to not understanding a lot of apparently critical during C1/C2 selections.  Interested to see how the game treats our team but not gonna stress if it's a disaster given I wouldn't have had massive expectations for Rojas either, and seems like there's a chance he's leading anyway.
Thanks for the preview Cunego!
"What done is, is one." - Benji Naesen
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| Blasing |
Posted on 01-10-2026 10:29
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Domestique
Posts: 472
Joined: 27-06-2011
PCM$: 200.00
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This race should be a good indicator of how our hills squad can do. Hoping for a great result here!
Thanks for the preview, looking forward to the season start!
Manager of JEWA TIROL Cycling Team
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 01-10-2026 10:36
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5498
Joined: 29-09-2018
PCM$: 185.00
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Looking forward to see our Dev-Team in action
Funny that PCM seems to trust Vogt quite a lot, giving him Bib 51 
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| Booker |
Posted on 01-10-2026 10:37
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1237
Joined: 03-07-2013
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This ain't your father's CT division...look at those leaders and depth!
Well done to all CT managers on building such a competitive hills field...I'm glad I'm not down here.
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 01-10-2026 11:02
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Team Manager
Posts: 6743
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jt1109 wrote:
Interesting start for the CT firstly I don't give Tesfatsion, Azman or Mayer a chance of a result course is too long.
Definitely fair. I was debating to put them in the Outsiders tier, but ultimately didn't for aesthetic reasons more than anything else Having six riders in the Favorites somehow didn't feel right and none of the other riders jumped out at me. But yeah, could go completely wrong for them, too. The teams all have some alternatives, though. We'll see
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| jackgibbs |
Posted on 01-10-2026 12:58
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Free Agent
Posts: 103
Joined: 25-07-2021
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Hell yes, super excited to make our debut!
Not that surprising to see the cream of the division for the season start, so what result we can manage will be a massive indicator of our chances for a strong overall result this year. Hopefully the Langellotti - Kinoshita pairing can work (not that they always race together...) despite the preseason skepticism. I do think the AI tipping Langellotti via bib number is promising for this specific parcours.
Dream scenario: Top 3 for Langellotti, Top 10 for Kinoshita, and some depth scoring from Ludvigsson. But honestly a Top 5 here from either and I'll be thrilled, and a Top 10 will leave me more than satisfied from our debut race. |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 01-10-2026 23:53
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| betancur |
Posted on 01-10-2026 13:02
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Under 23
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First race: Goal race. No Oliveira here may be questionable planning, but I have trust in Rumac and Velasco to be the best possible support for Quita. Dream scenario would be Velasco attacking to put pressure on the others and Quita saving energy to unleash fury on the final climb. |
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| seancoll |
Posted on 01-10-2026 14:15
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Fabianski wrote:
Looking forward to see our Dev-Team in action
Funny that PCM seems to trust Vogt quite a lot, giving him Bib 51
This was maybe my biggest takeaway from the bibs, that there's some chances this year for the dev teams to really steal points away from the CT teams. Obviously a couple other interesting leadership choices and I'm not sure how to feel about being given the #1 bib. The game must understand the impact of McCarthy across the game's history.
Hopefully for us, our support network is strong enough to keep things steady for McCarthy. I expect an attacking fest from Quita - so also have to hope that Lutsenko is the one to take the impetus to bring back the attacks.
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 01-10-2026 15:32
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Posts: 6385
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Here we go!
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| delet0r |
Posted on 01-10-2026 21:42
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Under 23
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tough start with a tough and deep field. Good luck to everyone involved! |
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 01-10-2026 21:52
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5498
Joined: 29-09-2018
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seancoll wrote:
Fabianski wrote:
Looking forward to see our Dev-Team in action
Funny that PCM seems to trust Vogt quite a lot, giving him Bib 51
This was maybe my biggest takeaway from the bibs, that there's some chances this year for the dev teams to really steal points away from the CT teams.
While bib assignment isn't completely random, I definitely don't trust PCM (anymore) on these. I'd be very surprised to see Vogt getting close to a Top 10 tbh - sure, he's got Hi and Sta, but nothing else. In particular no Spr/Acc, and even MM is likely too low for a race with that much (repeated) climbing. But we'll see
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