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Philadelphia International Classic Discussion
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| CountArach |
Posted on 08-03-2012 13:04
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America welcomes the peleton to the next HC race on the calendar with the Philadelphia International Classic. Last year’s battle was one for the puncheurs, but this time the sprinters are the ones who are favoured for the win on what is surely an easier course.
The course opens and closes on a few laps of a short criterium-style circuit with a bit of a bump on it, but the majority of the day shall be spent on 10 laps of an out-and-back course that contains a 1km climb that averages 6.4%, including a 10% section at the peak. Will this climb, as well as the 257km of racing be enough to knock out some of the weaker sprinters?
The favourite for today, as with all the sprint classics, is  Daniele Bennati. He has a number of big victories under the belt this season and will be hoping to bring his team another step closer to the top end of the leader board. He is brilliantly supported as always by Gasparotto and Kvist.
Another team moving up the rankings of late are Pokerstars, who have brought  Erik Mohs to lead them. Mohs struggles a bit on the hills though, so it will be interesting to see if he can last the distance. He certainly has a few decent rouleurs around him to help out.
Hollister have had a great week of racing with Davis taking a trio of wins so far in Guatemala. They will be hoping to continue their fine run with  Aleksandr Serebriakov. He hasn’t got anyone to help him form a lead-out, however, so he will have to find the right wheel. A man with a similar problem is  Daryl Impey, who has a great team of puncheurs around him, but no one who could bring him to the line. Jayco are probably hoping for a really tough race that can shell out some of the weaker teams.
There are a few other strong sprinters here, such as  Roman Maksimov, who may struggle on the hill,  J.J. Haedo, who is left without any lead-out riders and  Heinrich Haussler, who probably wants some sort of selection to get rid of stronger sprinters.  UniCredit have brought both Borrajo and Lorenzetto, with Borrajo being better in a straight-up sprint, but Lorenzetto better in a tough race.  Vespa have also brought two sprinters, with both Gatto and Speirs present. There are a huge number of other sprinters who could conceivably do well, particularly coming from  Tinkoff,  Meiji,  Oz and  Ferrari, who have all gone the multiple leaders route.
In addition to a huge number of sprinters we also have some very strong puncheurs making an appearance.  Bianchi in particular seem to be betting everything on a tough race, having Claeys, Cobo and Rabon here. Aker have put their hopes in  Anthony Roux.  Aleksandr Flügel will be providing another option for VW if Loddo none of their three sprinter feel up to it. Samuel Sanchez is the final puncheur really worth mentioning, and it will be interesting to see how his team balance his ambitions with those of Haedo.
As for the other three teams here,  Cerne,  Rothaus,  WWE and  Cyclevox will be hoping for a breakaway win, but with 20 teams lining up that could be a tall ask.
Full Startlist
Spoiler Puma
1. D. Bennati
2. J. Bol
3. M. Delage
4. E. Gasparotto
5. W. Kelderman
6. T. Kvist
7. G. Meersman
8. M. Vogt
Pokerstars
11. E. Mohs
12. D. Boucher
13. A. Geslin
14. N. Ingels
15. R. Kluge
16. M. Maaskant
17. F. Nolf
18. K. Van Impe
Hollister
21. A. Serebriakov
22. J. Gutiérrez Palacios
23. Y. Martinez
24. Y. Monsalve
25. A. Proni
26. R. Sambris
27. S. Scheirlinckx
28. B. Selander
CSC
31. R. Maksimov
32. A. Ajewole
33. I. Kovalev
34. B. Lima
35. M. Soler
36. A. Talansky
37. E. Teruel
38. C. Verona
Red Bull
41. D. Impey
42. S. Calzati
43. M. Chérel
44. S. Gerrans
45. R. Kilun
46. K. Kirchen
47. M. Mori
48. E. Vorganov
Cal Giant
51. J. Haedo
52. W. Frischkorn
53. P. Ghyllebert
54. B. Jacques-Maynes
55. L. Pasamontes
56. K. Reijnen
57. S. Sánchez Gonzalez
58. T. Zirbel
Trilux
61. H. Haussler
62. P. Bercz
63. H. Duyn
64. T. Fothen
65. I. Keisse
66. A. Schillenger
67. S. Tronet
68. P. Walsleben
Ferrari
71. E. Rizza
72. E. Capecchi
73. C. D'Amore
74. T. Dall'Antonia
75. M. Marcato
76. M. Santambrogio
77. L. Sterbini
78. M. Zanotti
UniCredit
81. A. Borrajo
82. L. Bernucci
83. D. Bragazzi
84. M. Lorenzetto
85. S. Puccio
86. N. Quintana
87. T. Valjavec
88. T. Van der Sande
Meiji
91. Y. Arashiro
92. J. Bauer
93. F. Beppu
94. HT. Kwok
95. M. Lloyd
96. A. Manan
97. S. Park
98. T. Scully
Tinkoff
101. A. Markov
102. P. Brutt
103. D. Galimzyanov
104. A. Khatuntsev
105. P. Korzh
106. D. Kozontchuk
107. B. Shpilevski
108. N. Trusov
Vespa
111. O. Gatto
112. M. Bono
113. A. Cappelle
114. D. Garbelli
115. A. Pagoto
116. A. Passalacqua
117. M. Quinziato
118. I. Speirs
Team VW
121. A. Loddo
122. W. Anacona
123. G. Brenes
124. A. Flügel
125. R. Förster
126. G. Preidler
127. F. Sabatini
128. R. Zabel
Oz
131. M. Renshaw
132. J. Bobridge
133. S. Clarke
134. W. Ford
135. A. Haidar Anuawar
136. M. Jamieson
137. D. McConnell
138. J. Walker
Bianchi
141. G. Lequatre
142. D. Claeys
143. J. Cobo
144. W. Gustov
145. S. Locatelli
146. O. Martynenko
147. A. Matzbacher
148. F. Rabon
Aker Solutions
151. L. Haedo
152. J. Castroviejo
153. H. Duenas Nevado
154. R. Jaramillo
155. J. Jørgensen
156. L. Nordhaug
157. J. Rojas Gil
158. A. Roux
Cerne
161. M. Biondo
162. L. Afonso
163. B. Borges
164. M. Cunha
165. J. Insausti
166. A. Mourato
167. B. Pires
168. M. Portela
Rothaus
171. V. Iglinski
172. J. Ariesen
173. R. Hesjedal
174. A. Kunitski
175. M. Landa
176. J. Novak
177. R. Ruijgh
178. D. Vesely
WWE
181. J. Keukeleire
182. J. Becerra
183. A. Diniz
184. A. Gottfried
185. J. Mayo
186. J. Polito
187. B. Tankink
188. D. Veilleux
Cyclevox
191. R. Mandri
192. C. Beyer
193. W. Connolly
194. A. Coutts
195. C. McConvey
196. D. McLay
197. T. Rabou
198. S. Richardson
Edited by CountArach on 08-03-2012 23:47
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| ember |
Posted on 08-03-2012 13:09
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Very nice preview!
We're not putting our hopes in Roux though, but Haedo/Jørgensen. But seeing how they acted together in Rogaland GP, I do fear my team will try to do something for Roux here, meaning we'll most likely be anonymous in the final kilometers. But hopefully we can get a man or two in the breakaway, Nordhaug and/or Rojas should be up for that task. |
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| Christer |
Posted on 08-03-2012 13:20
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He might not be the best guy, but Keukeleire is good enough to get a good place in the sprint. Heck, with loads of luck, he might even get a top 5! Anywho, I don't think that this will happen. Too many strong riders. 
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| ltt |
Posted on 08-03-2012 13:37
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I'm thinking that despite the presence of so many decent sprinters, it'll be a breakaway that wins it due to that pretty nasty hill. Might take a lot for the teams to keep it together for a bunch finish, maybe too much for the sprinters to be in good shape. |
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| beagle |
Posted on 08-03-2012 13:56
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hmm, didn´t expect such steep hill on circuit, worrying about Mohs´ climbing (dis)ability...
great preview indeed, I have no doubts about long, very detailed report in high quality 
Manager of Polar in Man-Game
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 08-03-2012 14:49
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Any result will do. Our chances in a mass sprint are slim.
And also, great preview!
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 08-03-2012 15:52
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Preparing myself for another Maksimov disappointment 
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 08-03-2012 18:57
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Pellizotti2 wrote:
Any result will do. Our chances in a mass sprint are slim.
And also, great preview!
+ 1... I guess it's (another) good race for a succesful break, even though this climb is not as long as it looks like. But it's definitely quite steep and a pure sprinter may struggle on that last climb before finish.
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| fenian_1234 |
Posted on 08-03-2012 19:07
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I'll go out on a limb and choose the little known Daniele Bennati for the win. |
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| Heine |
Posted on 08-03-2012 19:16
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Flugel will take this ;-)
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| cio93 |
Posted on 08-03-2012 19:22
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fenian_1234 wrote:
I'll go out on a limb and choose the little known Daniele Bennati for the win.
Huh? Who? Suppose he's on my team, as a look on the start list shows. Honestly, I neither know why I hired him nor why he's here...You're serious about a chance of winning?
Quite an old guy, already maxed out, will decrease after the season...bad transfer planning from me obviously.
Seriously, I guess the hill will disrupt the peloton a lot. Not that I have to fear the most that my sprinter drops, but it hinders the chase a lot.
On the other hand, the lenght should see the breakaway suffer a lot energy- and endurance-wise, so unless a 10+ BOTD establishes, it could be a nice result.
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| Levi4life |
Posted on 08-03-2012 23:33
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Hopefully, if this race turns into a lottery, my team is lucky enough to score some points.
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| Smowz |
Posted on 10-03-2012 15:13
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Hard to say how this one will go, Impey has his chances of course if we end in a sprint.
But we have more than one tactic to play I think, something similar to the Barcelona Classic would be what I expect to happen.
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| ember |
Posted on 11-03-2012 13:06
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When I saw the rain in the first screenshots, I "knew" it was going to be a classic for the breakaway, just like Barcelona. The rain is really annoying for the sprinters in the flat classics it seems. It was definitely a good sprint from Roux, though, I'm disappointed we didn't manage to get in the breakaway, and instead paced the peloton behind. At least I know for the next season that if I don't have a great sprinter, there's no point in racing these flat classics, as one of the other riders most likely will be listed as my leader.
Great report CountArach, and big congratulations to Bianchi. They've been going better and better as the season has progressed. |
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| Smowz |
Posted on 11-03-2012 13:19
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7th and 15th is okay, Bianchi obviously having a brilliant race and they are having a really good couple of months.
Crashes hurt us a bit, but didn't really have a big effect on how we did. Bennati looked like he would have won the sprint in a messy one what ever happened. In the end that was only good enough for 4th.
Not much for other big rivals like Pokerstars, Volkswagen or Cal Giant which is what we are hoping for here.
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| beagle |
Posted on 11-03-2012 13:34
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not too pleasant seeing half of my team involving in mass crash... great race for Bianchi indeed
Manager of Polar in Man-Game
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 11-03-2012 14:09
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ember wrote:
Great report CountArach, and big congratulations to Bianchi. They've been going better and better as the season has progressed.
+1 I wish I had better luck and come on CountArach, Abilphez Ajewole isn't to hard to spell (as a copy and paste his name  )
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| CountArach |
Posted on 11-03-2012 14:34
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Posts: 8290
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Mresuperstar wrote:
ember wrote:
Great report CountArach, and big congratulations to Bianchi. They've been going better and better as the season has progressed.
+1 I wish I had better luck and come on CountArach, Abilphez Ajewole isn't to hard to spell (as a copy and paste his name )
I certainly had to
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| cio93 |
Posted on 11-03-2012 14:36
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Could have been better, could have been worse...
Quite happy with the result though, some 100 points are always nice, especially as we could have been easily caught out in the crash.
Congratulations to Bianchi, they tried the other approach and succeeded.
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 11-03-2012 14:41
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ember wrote:
When I saw the rain in the first screenshots, I "knew" it was going to be a classic for the breakaway, just like Barcelona.
You just took the words out of my mouth.... the rain is really making an impact in the Man-Game this year.
Cobo's attack was a master-stroke, even with the crash I believe he would have won it. It's just a shame my team can't make any profit of the breakaways. And then why does my main sprinter keep joining the BOTD in flat classics?
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