The race many have surely been waiting for since the start of the season, the first taste of HC Mountains, and wow - what a field!
First up the route, and just by looking at it you can tell that we are going to have a great race. Climbing and the strength of your team are going to be vital here.
A 15km TTT opens the race, and the big question is what will the gaps be? Some team leaders will hope to win this stage and grab the race lead right away, for others it is a case of damage limitation.
And then we have Stage 2 to Sant'Orsola Torme - a long stage of climbing, and an uphill finish too. Plenty of opportunity for the gaps to open up.
Punta Veleno is what Stage 3 is all about though, the hardest climb of the race. And then a small descent to the finish - expect fireworks!
Finally the race ends up Passo Pordoi. The 'easiest' Mountain stage, as it is more of a gradual climb to the top, before a steeper section near the end. But still the race can be won and lost here.
And to do battle on these climbs, some of the finest climbers in PCT. Possibly one of the best fields ever in a HC race - and it is not the last time they will do combat in the HC mountains either this season. Who will win Round 1?
Balancing a team good in a TTT, and also good to support their leaders in the mountains was not an easy task. Let's see what they've all gone for.
Rein Taaramäe returns to the Continental level, one that he knows so well. 3rd in the Individual standings in 2010, and of course, winner in 2011. And he now has better stats than he did then! He finished 3rd in this race in 2011, where Riccardo Ricco won. Carmeuse have got to be a contender for the TTT considering the support of Tony Martin and Hugues Mottin, meanwhile pure climber Oscar Solis will be well suited to the mountains - and could even earn a good GC position himself.
David Abal knows what it is like to win a stage here, having won the opening stage individual time trial in 2011. He ultimately finished 8th overall, and 12th in the final CT standings - as like Taaramae, he makes his return to this level in this race. A podium will be his minimum target. Igor Anton is a very capable rider to help him in the mountains, and could challenge for the Top 10 in his own right. But he is the only real help, just like Oliver Kaisen is the only help for the TTT.
Tinkoff have a good record in TTTs over the years, and this brings another opportunity for them to take a victory in the discipline. Vasili Kiryenka and Artem Ovechkin are the sort of powerhorses that any team would love to have. And the best bit this year is that they actually have a team leader who can build from that and maybe win the race. Timofey Kritskiy returns to Tinkoff colours after a ProTour apprenticeship. He finished 20th in 2011, but has come a long way since then.
Another threat for the TTT, Metinvest-Emirates hope to take the PCT TTT crown this year, although they have not brought their strongest possible set up here. Jaroslav Popovych leads the team ... thats right, the 4th team leader out of 4 so far who rode in the ProTour last year - although Popovych has not ridden at the PCT level before. It could be a very interesting Eastern European battle between him and Kritskiy. Oleksandr Sheydyk is his best help in the mountains, while Haijun Ma and Sergiy Lagkuti will prove useful in the TTT.
The Tifosi favourite. Defending champion Domenico Pozzovivvo has no reason to fear all of this former ProTour riders, since he achieved something that they did not last year: a Grand Tour podium. Its harder competition for him than last year, when the race was only in the C1 category, but repeat the victory and the rewards are so much sweeter. Dario Cataldo will be a great assistant to Pozzovivvo here, and knows the race well from being 6th in 2011. He is Vespa's version of a former PT rider in this race! They may lose some time to rivals in the TTT, it is Luca Ascani's job to limit that as much as possible.
Jose Alarcon. The much feared Continental climber at previous seasons ... may just have met his match. He has the best Mountain stat, and in the past that has often been enough. But last year's Individual rankings champion is really going to be tested on his secondary stats this year, with so much competition. This isnt a race he enjoys as much anyway - 5th overall last year, 4th overall the year before. Mikayil Krasnoperov is his support, after a bad race in Vuelta al Tachira. Saul Raisin leads the rest of the strong climbing support - and Bintang's race really starts once the TTT is out of the way.
Mauricio Ardila continues the pattern that Bintang broke of strong climbers who were in the ProTour last year. His skills are in decline and a Top 10 target would be the most realistic here - assuming he leads the team. Franco Pellizotti is a slightly worse rider, but with the Italian boost then who knows, he rode a good race in Venezuela afterall. Hayden Roulston is in charge of damage control for the TTT.
Robert Kiserlovski joins the Hollister climbing lineup that already opened their season in the Vuelta al Tachira. He finished 14th in the CT standings last year winning races on the American continent and avoiding Europe. At least a Top 5 is needed here to vindicate the change in tactics this season. Vitor Rodrigues is here to support him, another who opened his season at Tachira. Like Bintang and WWE, this race is about mountains rather than the TTT. Hernani Broco will do his best alongside Kiserlovski.
It's time for the expensive Gianpaolo Caruso to start earning his bacon. 3rd overall last year, a repeat would be very impressive, but he will do his best alongside support from fellow Italian Marco Osella. In the TTT, Dmitry Gruzdev and Nick Clesen will keep them in touch.
Possibly a little outgunned here, Swedbank nevertheless hope to improve on last year's performances in the race - where Thomas Lovkvist was 12th and Theo Eltink 16th. Jonas Bjelkmark can also offer support in the mountains, and also bears the responsibility for any sort of respectable TTT performance alongside Lovkvist.
There's no weak link in Pivovarna Lasko's TTT train, but nor is there a strong enough aspect to push them up to the top end of the results table. Stijn Devolder will do what he can all race, but the former Tour de France winner is not what he once was, and a Top 10 would be a great result for him.
Peter Stetina was the surprise of last year's race as he made the breakaway on Stage 2 and stayed away all stage to win by 56 seconds. Leading into the final stage, he eventually scored a very respectable 4th. Expect Chinese rider Jianhua Ji to be the team leader here though, with able support from Italian pure climber Gian Piero Signorini who couldnt ask for a better race. Its in Italy and it is short of flat roads. But TTT? What TTT?
Try as I might, there really isnt much to say about Die Berg Komt Er for this race. A wise decision not to bring David Arroyo given the level of competition here, the race is more about gaining experience than anything else. If we notice any of there riders all race, it could be Tyron Giogieri from Albania.
Highlighting their impressive collection of climbers for a CT team, but the problem is that in terms of points scoring opportunities, their race days might have been better spent elsewhere. Robert Vrecer leads the team, with support from similarly strengthed riders Daniel Eduardo Silva, Maky Roman and Remi Di Gregorio.
Once the TTT is out of the way and quickly forgotten, it will be interesting to see how well Michele Scarponi. With home advantage on his side, a Top 15 is the obvious target, and he has Massimiliano Maisto for support.
Finally, PFG-Armava. A solid TTT performance is possible, led by Biao Liu and Ronan Racault, while it is up to Dylan Girdlestone, Yousef Mirza Banihammad and Vassilis Adamou to try to find some way of returning from this race with ranking points.
Edited by SportingNonsense on 21-02-2013 20:42
I'll bet on Taaramae. He has a great suport team, and he will not lose time in the moutains neither the TTT. I will be happy if I can score points and if I can get into a breakaway and even, surprising with a stage win in a break. Bring it on.
It was hard not to send Marchante here, but I felt that the uncertainty around VDB's future at that time + that I knew some insane contenders would show up made it a better choice to value other races.
My bet is also on Taaramae, but with Pozzo and Alarcon able to win if the former doesn't deliver! Will be great to follow this race, especially after a preview of this quality!
Brilliant preview! Certainly one of the races I'm looking most forward to this season. With such a great start list my expectations for the racing and reports are high.
Can't say i believe to much in this race. Hopefully i lose a lot of time on the TTT, so that Scarponi is free to attack and perhaps steal a stage win. Hope for some action at least. Better attacking and failing in a race like this where a top ten seems a little out of reach.
lol I'll need a miracle to get a top 10 here. Oh well, I knew it was a bad idea to accept all those HC mountain heavy races with super Devolder as team leader, now comes the torture.
I guess someone has got to win it, but this is a very loaded startlist, not quite up to Volta standards but getting there. But to be expected for a short Mountain HC rated race.
Pozzovivo remains the favourite for me, Giro podium and and a true thoroughbred over the course and distance. Bintang don't seem to have clicked yet and something seems rotten for them I think Alarcon could also be stuck with this rut.
So here it is, i have been waiting for Trentino from the start of the season, as it is first ever race for Popovych in our colours and should be great clash of the titans. I expected this lineup, good that Dekker is at home at least.
Great preview as others said, with comparing those key team stats. Bouygues has insanely stuffed lineup, thus Taaramae is my top favourite, while i hope Popovych will battle for podium with likes of Abal, Kritskiy and Pozzovivo. Maybe Alarcon also, but lets see how he handles the incresed PCT competion, with many big guns coming from PT this year.
Anyway podium for TTT and top5 in GC for Popo are the goals, cant wait! Edited by Avin Wargunnson on 22-02-2013 06:05
Some teams could score very few points here I suspect, so the TTT win is a good source for Tinkoff and I see a few decent climbers out of time bonus range.
It's set up for Alarcon to show himself really from the opening mountain stage. But I still fancy Pozzovivo for this after a secure team effort.
Time to see what A&A can do. Don't think I'll be able to get my win goal but like you said SN a top 3 would fit expectations.
