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Tour of Qatar Discussion
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| Eden95 |
Posted on 12-10-2026 23:58
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Good result for SNH. Another very luck one though, again he was on 3-4 different leadouts so would be nice for him to pick and stick from now on. Thought he had won the lottery on Gaviria’s wheel out front under the banner, but all the trains in front kind of just lost it and got beaten from behind again. Hope Gaviria can get a win before the race is through though, two days to make up for it.
Also good to see Dainese’s investment paying dividends (although I do think he would be winning stages here regardless  ). Thank you for the report!
Indosat - ANZ HQ
"This Schleck sandwich is going to cause serious indigestion for Evans" - Phil Liggett |
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 13-10-2026 01:24
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Rodenberg just really loves this race, wow. Could not have imagined getting similar results to last year again. It seemed like a 1% outcome then, and especially after the rest of his season wasn't super impressive. But he keeps following good wheels and ending up in great positions in Qatar. Today, like stage 1 and unlike yesterday, he had the gear to match Dainese. Another 2nd place is incredible, both for the stage points and the GC. Even without any more time bonuses, a top 10 seems really reasonable now. A lot of the best sprinters around him are bad in prologues.
Speaking of which, I continue to hope for no splits for SKA's sake. He's chilling at the very back everyday, which is pretty precarious. But obviously his GC is secondary now. His stage performance is more important.
Kemboi v. Kooij has to be the battle to watch now. Neither has been terrific, but they've done enough where the epilogue should launch them towards the top.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| ember |
Posted on 13-10-2026 06:49
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Wow, De Lie… What a rider you can be already next year 
Super impressed by his positioning and sprint, once again. Must admit I even went to check last year’s epilogue to see what kind of time loss can be expected there, and it still looks like a GC top 50 seems very difficult  That’s not important, though, as the positives he’s showing here are very encouraging! |
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| ryant |
Posted on 13-10-2026 12:39
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Cullaigh has been very consistent so far which is great, however we have no margin for error and there's a few riders still within touching distance that we need more time on. Rosenberg in particular but also Kooij is too close keeping in mind the epilogue.
Congrats to Sykkel freak on the win with Dainese!
 John St Ledger in Team Bunzl-Centrica and Team U25Red Bull Driver in RFactor
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| Sykkel_Freak |
Posted on 13-10-2026 15:08
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Ah, so close to another win, but no shame in losing to Gaviria! Really good to see how consistently well our train has performed, which was a major question mark in the off-season. Kiskonen has done well as final lead-out, and Teutenberg has done an exceptional job before him.
We still need one more great sprint. Gaviria, Kemboi, Kooij, Rodenberg, Cullaigh and maybe also Kanter are all close enough to pass Dainese in the epilogue with the current time gaps.
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 13-10-2026 15:12
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Rodenberg chose Cullaigh's wheel again, and it was the wrong one this time around on the much narrower finish. Certainly no complaints for me though. Hoping for a top 10 on stage 5. And then we'll see what happens on stage 6.
Nice to see the favorite get a win!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 13-10-2026 15:19
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Kooij missing out even on the bonus seconds this time. But, on the plus side, Ziijlaard got some bonus secondw, which might help his final GC a bit.
Congrats, jph on Gaviria finally delivering!
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| knockout |
Posted on 13-10-2026 16:00
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Solid leadout by Vermeersch and a very solid sprint by Kemboi. Ill take it
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| SotD |
Posted on 13-10-2026 16:11
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No wonder we start going into breaks when we are so poor at setting up a proper sprint…
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| redordead |
Posted on 14-10-2026 06:43
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Well that's the race over for us with two stages to go. Not sure where we went wrong, but this is not an encouraging look ahead for the other sprint races with similar start lists.
"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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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 14-10-2026 23:04
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| ember |
Posted on 14-10-2026 06:51
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Difficult stage to get properly involved in for De Lie, either because of a block or just running out of energy following Halvorsen and his leadout. Something definitely went wrong for him just before the kite.
For the GC, this is starting to look very promising for Dainese, who has been the consistent top performer. Gaviria finally winning was good to see, congratulations on the stage, jph! |
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| Eden95 |
Posted on 14-10-2026 11:25
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Well, there’s the bad stage. Hopefully we get some luck tomorrow.
Congrats jph, stoked to see Gaviria get a win here again.
Thanks for the report!
Indosat - ANZ HQ
"This Schleck sandwich is going to cause serious indigestion for Evans" - Phil Liggett |
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 14-10-2026 11:38
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Thanks for the great reports, cunego! Congratulations to all winners.
Nothing happening in the LPH camp so nothing to say
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| SotD |
Posted on 14-10-2026 14:56
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I wonder if Farantakis even makes the top 10 GC here. Absolutely ridiculous performance 5 days in a row…
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| Sykkel_Freak |
Posted on 14-10-2026 15:04
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4th is a respectable result, but it is unfortunately the wrong riders that are ahead. Kemboi, Gaviria and Kooij should all comfortably pass Dainese in the GC, but hopefully we can retain a top 5.
Nevertheless, nice to see the stability of Dainese and a good sign for the season to come that he's in the lead after the 5 sprint stages 
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| ember |
Posted on 14-10-2026 15:26
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Evonik! Congratulations, knockout
Almost feels like they love a challenge, now being a force in those flat races with a proper sprinter, like they were ages ago with MVS. Feels like Kemboi might be the favourite for the GC, looking at last season's results in the epilogue, but who knows. Is it so that weather conditions also can have a big effect in such a short prologue/epilogue ride and the gaps that will be between the riders?
De Lie with another participation. Great! HE really held the perfect wheel, just a pity Dainese waited too long to launch Could have been a sensational result if he would be able to follow Dainese all the way to the line, with the latter launching at an even better time. |
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 14-10-2026 15:32
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Rodenberg chose a really silly wheel this time and got himself completely boxed in, but that's how it goes. Hoping for a good epilogue from him tomorrow to end up with a reasonable GC. Top 10 seems likely now, at least.
And happy for SKA to survive without losing any time. A lot of pressure for him to win tomorrow with the price we paid to bring him in this offseason. Let's make it 5 in a row for him.
Edited by baseballlover312 on 14-10-2026 16:16
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 14-10-2026 16:35
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Another messy lead-out, but I think it worked our for the best in the end. Another stage podium for Kooij and I think he's in the mix for a podium in the GC now. And Zijlaard getting more bonus seconds could result in a pretty good GC for him as well.
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 14-10-2026 17:12
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Our hopes here lie on the back of Cosnefroy to put us into a top 20 GC result here, which should still be possible.
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| knockout |
Posted on 14-10-2026 18:27
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Hell yeah!
The next strong race for us
ember wrote:
Evonik! Congratulations, knockout
Almost feels like they love a challenge, now being a force in those flat races with a proper sprinter, like they were ages ago with MVS.
Although MVS was especially terrible in this race with his sub 60 PRL stat. Always was a pain because this race was right on the edge of "should he even ride it" and "does he get enough bonus seconds to finish ahead of the prologue guys
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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