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Down Under Classic Race Discussion
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| redordead |
Posted on 01-10-2026 07:22
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Team Leader
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Welcome to the 18th edition of the Down Under Classic. It has served as the season opener for the Pro Continental division for as long as I can remember. It's a very short race, more of a criterium with only 81 km. Most of the best sprinters tend to be here and some from the CT also usually make the trip. It's an early chance to see how the best riders match up against each other for the upcoming season. It's a fast and furious race due to its length and we don't always get to see lead out trains, but I will include them in the list below.
With that said let's look at some of the favourites:
| Sprinter | FL | SP | AC | Leadout | FL | SP | AC | Leadout | FL | SP | AC |  Ewan | 75 | 83 | 81 | Gross | 74 | 76 | 76 | El-Doghmy | 74 | 74 | 73 |  Coquard | 70 | 81 | 78 | Welsford | 75 | 77 | 77 | Trondsen | 75 | 76 | 76 |  Liu | 74 | 80 | 80 | Page | 74 | 77 | 77 | Tediashvili | 75 | 71 | 71 |  Walls | 74 | 80 | 78 | Pedersen | 76 | 77 | 77 | Madan | 71 | 73 | 73 |  Enger | 72 | 80 | 77 | J.Retana | 71 | 77 | 79 | Kopecky | 73 | 69 | 72 |  V.Poppel | 71 | 80 | 77 | Noppe | 75 | 75 | 73 | Turner | 70 | 72 | 72 |
The favourites list includes all the 80+ sprinters including their two main lead out riders. Ewan is the clear #1 favourites on home turf. We know he'll get a sprint train so if they can deliver him then he should be winning here. Gross is not the fastest, but not much slower than the others and El-Doghmy FL stat is on par with others as well.
Coquard is the 2nd fastest on paper. Not sure if his own lower FL will hinder him here, but Welsford and Trondsen are a pretty cool leadout duo. Liu is a bit slower, but better round with FL and AC. I also like the leadout of a strong guy like Tediashvili followed by a fast Page. Walls has a bit less AC, but a good leadout man in Pedersen although Madan's FL is a bit lower than I would've liked. Veteran Enger is someone close to my heart having him for a season. He's declined now, but still has the top speed to compete at this level. J.Retana has higher AC than him, so hopefully he can stick to his wheel if needed. Rounding out the list is V.Poppel. He has the weakest train here, but we're talking about JT so he probably planned for this. Out of the 80+ sprinters V.Poppel looks mostly likely to surf the wheels.
| FL | HI | ST | RS | SP | AC |  Hopkins | 72 | 65 | 73 | 70 | 79 | 79 |  Willems | 75 | 64 | 72 | 78 | 79 | 79 |  Kamberaj | 75 | 69 | 73 | 73 | 79 | 78 |  Boudat | 73 | 68 | 71 | 74 | 79 | 78 |  Riabushenko | 76 | 68 | 71 | 74 | 79 | 77 |  Bol | 76 | 70 | 75 | 77 | 79 | 77 |  Kulikovskiy | 73 | 71 | 70 | 73 | 78 | 79 |  Prasad | 74 | 68 | 73 | 74 | 78 | 79 |  Hesters | 75 | 64 | 74 | 75 | 78 | 78 |  Szarka | 77 | 67 | 72 | 73 | 78 | 78 |
Full startlist:
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| Blasing |
Posted on 01-10-2026 07:28
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Domestique
Posts: 472
Joined: 27-06-2011
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What a stacked field, holy crap. Don't see us getting much here, but maybe Boudat can suprise.
Manager of JEWA TIROL Cycling Team
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 01-10-2026 23:53
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| Heine |
Posted on 01-10-2026 07:50
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Joined: 08-04-2007
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HERE WE GO!
Big hopes for this, really looking forward to seeing Coquards full leadout train in action. Should put him in a position to do well and then he will hopefully be quick enough!
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| Laurens147 |
Posted on 01-10-2026 08:04
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Sprinter
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Thanks red for the preview! 
We're not present here but rooting for my boy Liu.
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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
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Im really excited to see how Prasad does here. After some simulations there is not really any leadout after the top 4 sprinters but Prasad picks the wheels right so hopefully that happens for us in the actual thing!
Thanks for the preview!!
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 01-10-2026 09:24
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3749
Joined: 23-07-2008
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Very interesting race to start last year it suited to be further down the pack but leadouts in general can be effective
after all the leadout talk in the preview podcast not a single leadout above 77. Ewan must be delighted this brings him massively into play as noted DVP leadout is purposely bad to encourage wheel surfing so hopefully that works.
Very interested in Hopkins and Willems here as noted by WJ and myself they seem to be big overperformers this year
I guess after all that I think Ewan's leadout is enough that he can win so i'd say hes the mostly likely winner for all this is a lottery
Personally just top 10 is the aim for DVP |
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| Booker |
Posted on 01-10-2026 10:35
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Protected Rider
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WE'RE BAAAAAAAAACK!
Thanks for the preview red, much appreciated. Hoping that WJ and JT's concerns about Hesters' sprint abilities in these contested races will be unfounded 
Should be ok as he's within the top 15 sprinters, but the sprint field is going to be a tricky one this year. Hoping Hesters' flat and RS skillsets will help keep him in a good spot for a nice result
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 01-10-2026 10:42
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5498
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I actually like the spot that Szarka is in, roughly where I estimated (Top 15-20). He'll obviously not get a leadout - so just hoping that sending other semi-capable sprinters (Christen, Holzer) doesn't push him to do something weird... after all, he's our best rouleur - I wouldn't mind a late attack (~3km to go), just don't do any weird mid-race stuff please!
Ewan obviously the top favourite (in particular with Groenewegen not being here), but wouldn't be surprised to see some ever-overperforming sprinters like Kulikovskiy being in the mix as well.
Thanks for the preview, good luck to all (including myself  )
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 01-10-2026 10:55
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3749
Joined: 23-07-2008
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Booker wrote:
WE'RE BAAAAAAAAACK!
Thanks for the preview red, much appreciated. Hoping that WJ and JT's concerns about Hesters' sprint abilities in these contested races will be unfounded
)
Will definitely sprint, as only 17 sprinters are above 78 |
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| ember |
Posted on 01-10-2026 11:03
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Team Leader
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Very curious to see how this one plays out, and what pre season analysis prove correct, and which doesn’t. Far too early to conclude, obviously, but flat races have been heavily discussed this off season. Will be fun to follow all season long! |
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 01-10-2026 12:02
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Grand Tour Champion
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Feels weird having a sprinter on the favourites list again, been a while. A top 5 would be a nice way to start the season.
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| seancoll |
Posted on 01-10-2026 14:07
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1079
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Chose to avoid the pure sprint classics mostly with Kennett with fears that PCT teams would drop every major sprinter here, but it appears that's not the case. I'm not used to having anyone about 77spr so the fears about missing out on the sprints were likely misplaced.
Always an interesting race with such a short parcours. Don't think there's any chance for a breakaway or late attack, but I'd love to be proved wrong.
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| Bushwackers |
Posted on 01-10-2026 17:41
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2071
Joined: 07-02-2009
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A bit worried to not see Groenewegen mentioned but hopefully that omission isn't based on the results! Excited to start the season even if we botched this one.
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 01-10-2026 18:07
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Team Manager
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jt1109 wrote:
Very interested in Hopkins and Willems here as noted by WJ and myself they seem to be big overperformers this year
Here's hoping  Feels like anything from a podium spot to finishing outside of the Top 10 is possible. I'd say Top 8-ish is the expectation, but we'll just have to see how it goes. Also curious if Bini will do anything, or if it would've been a better decision to send him to stage races where Willems has a chance to actually be a top sprinter who gets a lead out. I suspect so, but you never know until it happens ... Thank you for the preview red, looking forward to the report!
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 01-10-2026 19:14
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18075
Joined: 12-05-2012
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We're about to feast on some top quality entertainment! (Not just this race, but the whole season ofc). Surprised the field isn't a little more stacked but for me that's no bad thing as Hopkins chances go up.
Also our micro-jersey is very funny
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 01-10-2026 20:22
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5498
Joined: 29-09-2018
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Bushwackers wrote:
A bit worried to not see Groenewegen mentioned but hopefully that omission isn't based on the results! Excited to start the season even if we botched this one.
Silly me who was just looking at the favourites list and not at the startlist, making me believe he's not here
Should be pretty decent indeed
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 01-10-2026 23:48
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 13393
Joined: 27-07-2015
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Kulikovskiy a bit higher up the startlist than I was expecting so here's hoping we can get close to a Top 10. This race doesn't really suit him, so a result in line with his position on the list of favourites will do!
Thanks for the preview red Excited to see the season about to start!
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Down Under Classic 
