After 4 years as a classic the Cheshire Cycling Tour goes back to its roots and is once again a tour. 4 stages this year. All rated flat with stages 1 and 3 having mild cobbles, a little harder on stage 2 and hardest on stage 4. All the stages feature some climbing so having some capability in the hills could matter and all have pretty straightforward finishes so a little sprint speed will have as well.
The roll of honor for this race includes no surprises. It could be read as a who’s who of the best cobblers of the last decade. Kasperkiewicz is the only multiple winner, taking it in both 2020 and 2021. Most recently Mads Pedersen won the race and he is back to try and repeat.
He leads this first block of competitors who are the top cobblers in the race:
Rider
Fl
CO
HI
Sp
AC
RS
St
Pedersen
77
83
69
78
77
80
78
Spengler
74
83
67
62
70
73
74
Per
79
82
70
74
74
75
74
Van Hooydonck
73
82
71
61
72
74
75
Anderberg
78
82
69
60
73
76
77
Girmay
77
81
71
77
76
76
76
Zepuntke
71
81
68
71
64
71
78
Senechal
74
81
66
68
73
73
78
Ovsyannikov
74
80
69
79
78
72
75
Gerts
75
80
76
70
67
77
73
Gerts the best of these guys in the hills while Pedersen, Girmay and Ovsyannikov are all good in a sprint. Girmay or perhaps Per are the best all-rounders.
But if the race doesn’t turn out to be a pure cobbles test then a lot of other names come into play. These riders have strong cobbles and at least one other stand out ability:
Rider
Fl
CO
HI
Sp
AC
RS
St
The Climbers
Habimana
74
77
75
66
71
73
74
Meiler
74
77
74
63
71
70
72
Kubis
77
76
74
76
72
76
77
Benoot
71
76
81
69
71
74
75
Abrahamsen
77
75
75
72
75
76
73
The Sprinters
Lapeira
77
76
72
76
74
73
74
Stewart
77
76
72
76
71
77
74
Vahtra
72
76
70
75
72
73
75
Jansen
72
76
70
75
70
72
75
De Buyst
72
74
69
75
74
73
71
The Tough Guys
Bohli
74
77
68
74
68
75
79
Tiller
74
79
70
74
73
75
76
Jacobs
76
79
69
67
68
76
77
Pithie
74
77
72
73
74
74
76
Van den Berg
77
77
64
71
70
77
77
Salzmann
73
77
71
67
71
76
77
Lampawog
76
77
68
64
68
75
76
Eekhoff
75
75
68
70
71
77
76
Van Gestel
74
74
71
70
70
75
76
If ability in the hills plays a major role then Benoot because a big player in the race. Abrahamsen is also strong in the hills and has a great all-round skill set while Kubis is one of the most balanced riders in the race.
The best sprinters among the cobblers were already mentioned but Lapeira and Stewart are also strong finishers as well as the aforementioned Kubis.
Among the riders with standout energy stats Tiller and Jacobs top the list as also being top end cobblers. Pithie is another great all-rounder.
Almost the a full startlist with 24 teams and only Sauber sending less than the maximum 8 riders.
Debut for Pedersen, and he gets to go up against Per. Pedersen is the best around and so I'll be aiming for a win each time, though the startlist here is probably even harder than a normal PT race. My hope is that overall four stages, the cream will race to the top, but I'm really not sure how it will play out.
Thanks for the preview!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Cheshire Cycling Tour 
