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Vuelta a Mallorca Discussion
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 29-04-2014 13:12
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Next up on the calendar is the Vuelta a Mallorca, making it's ManGame return after a year of absence. 2 flat stages followed by the key hill stage, and then a final flat stage with plenty of hills. And looking at the startlist, it is good news for many who are here - as C1 startlists go, this is probably one of the weaker!
Despite no uphill finishes, the race favourite has to be  Chris Froome. Off the back of a great Tour of Oman, he will hope to continue his team's form. He himself is going well, winning up Willunga Hill in the Tour Down Under - although he could not quite convert that into an overall race victory.
Big rival will be  Cesare di Maggio. He only took 9th overall in 2012, but he was much better in many other races that season. This marks the debut of his return to this level.
Race favourite number 3 is  Carlos Betancourt. The Colombian started his season with 9th overall at the Tour Down Under.
Now, there are 18 PCT/CT riders with a 78+ Hill stat. Remarkably, the above are the only 3 of those 18 here! What an opportunity this therefore becomes for some of the next tier of riders on 77 or 76 hill.  Hategaka,  Bilbao, Lejman,  Cobo,  Weening,  Rabon,  Konovalovas and Serry.
Team leaders such as  Anza,  Wegmann,  Becerra,  Hermans,  Durasek and Continental rankings leader  Wyss could all fancy their chances of a Top 10 spot too, if they can ride a good race.
Moving onto sprinters then. 47 PCT/CT riders have a sprint stat of 79 or higher. How many of them are here? Just 7!
Leading the way is Romain Vanderbiest. The Frenchman has won GT stages, so has every rider to be confident, especially with Mitch Docker as a leadout man.
But he is not the only 'Rom' hoping to do well here. The enigmatic Roman Maksimov lines up, and he has an equally strong leadout rider Saulo Lay, and a better number 3 in Hector Hugo Rangel. The Russian Rocket was a strong 4th in the Down Under Classic compared to Vanderbiest's 13th - but can he cope with the hillier course?
Just behind Maksimov down under was Raul Granjel Cabrera. Like Vanderbiest, he has won GT stages but moved to PCT after his team disbanded. Will he be handicapped by the lack of a strong leadout? Can he benefit from being stronger over the hills?
Contender number 4 is Claudio Corioni for his first race of the season. His support is even more nonexistant than at Mobil though.
Hornbach have got a good double attack of  Anthony Lavoine and Francesco Gavazzi. The latter inparticular should go well on Stage 4. More sprinters on the lineup means they could have a powerful leadout train - but Lavoine may not be strong enough for the game to give him one!
Last year's star rider Nolan Hoffman lines up here too, while other sprinters to watch are Fonseca, Cucinotta, Cardoso, Anton Martin, Coquard and  Angarita.
All of the above assumes we will get 3 sprints and a puncheur battle though. As we have seen instead this season, breakaways have been quite common. This could be good news for  Euskaltel on their season debut - as the only team to not have a rider mentioned as a contender for any of the stages!
Previous Edition
On Stage 2 of 2012,  Roman Maksimov's Spanish leadout man left him in the lead with 1km to go.
Yet he could only finish 11th, with  Thor Hushovd winning instead. Project: Africa will hope a similar Spanish lead out/Maksimov combination does better this time.
The rest of the race saw three hill stages that all ultimately ended downhill / on the flat. Stage 3 was the key stage, and two Spaniards dueled it out:  Samuel Sanchez and  Alejandro Valverde. Sanchez won, but did not take the race lead.
On Stage 4 though, Sanchez took 2nd behind  Roche, and with  Di Maggio taking the remaining bonus seconds it moved him into the race lead. And he secured the GC win after another Sanchez,  Luis Leon, won the final stage.
Of this year's field,  Weening was 4th, Di Maggio 9th, Wyss 13th, Hermans 19th and Cobo 20th.
| 1 | Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez | California Giant Berry Farms-Specialized | 18h44'34 | | 2 | Alejandro Valverde | Proximus - Trek | + 12 | | 3 | Luis Leon Sanchez Gil | Cerne | + 1'04 | | 4 | Pieter Weening | UniCredit | + 1'20 | | 5 | Aleksandr Kolobnev | T.CS Bank - OJSC | + 1'34 | | 6 | David De la Fuente | Team Bianchi | + 1'46 | | 7 | Marco Marzano | VolksWagen - Siemens | s.t. | | 8 | Nicolas Roche | Pirelli - Alfa Romeo | + 2'05 | | 9 | Cesare Di Maggio | Team Venchi ProCycling | + 2'17 | | 10 | Maxim Belkov | T.CS Bank - OJSC | + 2'45 | | 11 | Rui Costa | Team CSC-Orbea | + 2'47 | | 12 | Jérôme Pineau | Team WWE | s.t. | | 13 | Marcel Wyss | Saab - Scania | s.t. | | 14 | Cristiano Salerno | Ferrari - ERG | s.t. | | 15 | John-Lee Augustyn | Emu Export | s.t. | | 16 | Sylvain Calzati | Jayco - Red Bull | s.t. | | 17 | Ryder Hesjedal | Team Rothaus - Aegon | s.t. | | 18 | Francis De Greef | Team Bpost | + 3'59 | | 19 | Ben Hermans | Team Rothaus - Aegon | + 4'49 | | 20 | Juan José Cobo | Team Bianchi | s.t. |
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 29-04-2014 13:20
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Got to have a chance with Vanderbiest here to hopefully get a first win of the season but i fear Granjel Cabrera in these sprints hopefully a good leadout from Docker/Torckler will be enough. |
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| Kami |
Posted on 29-04-2014 13:21
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Looking at the field, a top 10 should definitely be manageable, hoping for a top 5 even with some luck.
Nice preview & looking forward to the reports!
Edited by Kami on 29-04-2014 13:21
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| aidanvn13 |
Posted on 29-04-2014 13:22
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Okay, with this weakish feel we're hoping to cash in big time. Maksimov is our big hope for stage 1 (maybe stage 2). A win will be terrific. Hategeka has got his chance to shine now and is coming off of good form from Tour of South Africa where he finished 10th against some strong competition. For the final stage, we've got Rangel who can out climb most other sprinters with his 69Mo and 66Hill - so hopefully the pace is relatively tough up those slopes.
So, a stage win and Top 5 GC is our goal for this race! Let's get down to scoring some points after a disappointing Tour of SA and Tour of Oman! 
Thanks for the nice, in-depth preview SN  Hopefully Maksimov can improve from an 11th place 
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| fjhoekie |
Posted on 29-04-2014 13:26
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As I said in my HQ I should've brought Greipel here...
Konovalovas could get another top 10 here, which is our only goal for this race.
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game |
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| Margh Norway |
Posted on 29-04-2014 13:39
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Great, detailed race preview!
Even with a more unexperienced team Marcel Wyss seems to be in the shape to repeat 2012th result (13th with Saab - Scania). He pleasantly anticipates the challenge.
Sending our best sprinter could turn out a lucky find. Hardly scoring on C2 level Armindo Fonseca's chances at Mallorca aren't worse.
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| cio93 |
Posted on 29-04-2014 13:42
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Hmmm...another race where some opponents will score comparably huge, and certainly one I would've subscribed to if there were any spare race days to have Kelderman lead in...
I somehow doubt stage 3 has a mo/hill-ratio of 0 or close to that, which would rule Di Maggio out of the fight for the win a bit.
Will follow this closely to mourn our further downfall through the rankings with Middle East and Strade Bianche not likely to make up any of the losses in the near future. 
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 29-04-2014 13:49
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Maksimov in a CSC-Orbea jersey... I can hardly remember those days.
Crossing my fingers for a repeat performance from Anton Martin to what he did at Tachira. Other than that Cobo should finish around 5-10 in GC but with the PCM AI so far, who knows what is going to happen.
Great preview SN! 
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 29-04-2014 13:49
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Great preview!
Very pleased to see that we meet not so packed startlist for the first time, this can turn into nice point haul from rabon/Hoffman duo hopefully. I hope that mountain stats will not hinder chances of Rabon in stage 3 and his acc and sprint will help him to nice result.
Top10 is the goal for Rabon, but top3-5 cant be ruled out, that would be great. Hoffman is without pressure now, as he acknowledged he is noppt a worrld beater, so couple of podiums or top5s can do the job.
Good luck to all, but not much.
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 29-04-2014 13:54
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Stage 3 rating is 0.2.
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 29-04-2014 14:01
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Ouch, i will pray that Rabon's 69 mountain is enough then.
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| aidanvn13 |
Posted on 29-04-2014 14:11
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SportingNonsense wrote:
Stage 3 rating is 0.2.
In that case Cobo is probably the most intimidating...
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 29-04-2014 14:20
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.2 rating looks like:
| Froome | Chris | Quickstep | 78.8 | | Di Maggio | Cesare | Venchi - Ferranti | 78.6 | | Betancourt | Carlos | FCB - Polska | 77.8 | | Cobo | Juan José | Team CSC - Orbea | 76.8 | | Hategeka | Gasore | Project: Africa | 76 | | Weening | Pieter | Gazelle | 75.4 | | Serry | Pieter | Quickstep | 75.4 | | Bilbao | Pello | Bacardi - Itera | 74.8 | | Rodriguez Oliver | Joaquin | Team CSC - Orbea | 74.8 | | Rabon | Frantisek | Metinvest-Emirates | 74.6 | | Becerra | Eduin | Mobil - Aeropostal Ciclismo | 74.6 | | Lejman | Gracjan | FCB - Polska | 74.6 | | Konovalovas | Ignas | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | 74.4 | | Durasek | Kristijan | RBC Pro Cycling | 74.2 | | Ghisalberti | Sergio | Metinvest-Emirates | 73.8 | | Wyss | Marcel | Team Vontobel | 73.8 | | Didier | Laurent | FCB - Polska | 73.6 | | Wegmann | Fabian | Team Kenya Airways | 73.4 | | Anza | Santo | Kappa - ENI | 73.2 | | Bosisio | Gabriele | Kappa - ENI | 73.2 |
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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 29-04-2014 14:20
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Cool preview!
Indeed a relatively weak line-up.  Looks like I can actually hope for a Weening top 5! And we have no one who can sprint here, so in the flat stages I want to join some breakaways.
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| aidanvn13 |
Posted on 29-04-2014 14:37
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Hategeka for Top 5 or even a podium it is!
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| ggDonovan |
Posted on 29-04-2014 14:59
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SportingNonsense wrote:
.2 rating looks like:
Spoiler | Froome | Chris | Quickstep | 78.8 | | Di Maggio | Cesare | Venchi - Ferranti | 78.6 | | Betancourt | Carlos | FCB - Polska | 77.8 | | Cobo | Juan José | Team CSC - Orbea | 76.8 | | Hategeka | Gasore | Project: Africa | 76 | | Weening | Pieter | Gazelle | 75.4 | | Serry | Pieter | Quickstep | 75.4 | | Bilbao | Pello | Bacardi - Itera | 74.8 | | Rodriguez Oliver | Joaquin | Team CSC - Orbea | 74.8 | | Rabon | Frantisek | Metinvest-Emirates | 74.6 | | Becerra | Eduin | Mobil - Aeropostal Ciclismo | 74.6 | | Lejman | Gracjan | FCB - Polska | 74.6 | | Konovalovas | Ignas | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | 74.4 | | Durasek | Kristijan | RBC Pro Cycling | 74.2 | | Ghisalberti | Sergio | Metinvest-Emirates | 73.8 | | Wyss | Marcel | Team Vontobel | 73.8 | | Didier | Laurent | FCB - Polska | 73.6 | | Wegmann | Fabian | Team Kenya Airways | 73.4 | | Anza | Santo | Kappa - ENI | 73.2 | | Bosisio | Gabriele | Kappa - ENI | 73.2 |
Grrr... I was going to post the same
Well, I will do another thing, how the hill/mo rating affects to the attribute (hill vs hill/mo) compared to the oposition:
| Juan José Cobo | Team CSC - Orbea | 22,22% | | Carlos Betancourt | FCB - Polska | 16,67% | | Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver | Team CSC - Orbea | 11,11% | | Chris Froome | Quickstep | 11,11% | | Pieter Serry | Quickstep | 10,00% | | Pieter Weening | Gazelle | 10,00% | | Eduin Becerra | Mobil - Aeropostal Ciclismo | 7,78% | | Gabriele Bosisio | Kappa - ENI | 6,67% | | Yusuke Hatanaka | Meiji - Cannondale | 3,33% | | Laurent Didier | FCB - Polska | 2,22% | | Kristijan Durasek | RBC Pro Cycling | 1,11% | | Frantisek Rabon | Metinvest-Emirates | -3,33% | | Cesare Di Maggio | Venchi - Ferranti | -3,33% | | Marcel Wyss | Team Vontobel | -5,56% | | Ignas Konovalovas | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | -6,67% | | Pello Bilbao | Bacardi - Itera | -11,11% | | Fabian Wegmann | Team Kenya Airways | -12,22% | | Gracjan Lejman | FCB - Polska | -14,44% | | Santo Anza | Kappa - ENI | -15,56% | | Ben Hermans | Swedbank-PEAB | -22,22% |
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| aidanvn13 |
Posted on 29-04-2014 15:03
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ggDonovan wrote:
SportingNonsense wrote:
.2 rating looks like:
Spoiler | Froome | Chris | Quickstep | 78.8 | | Di Maggio | Cesare | Venchi - Ferranti | 78.6 | | Betancourt | Carlos | FCB - Polska | 77.8 | | Cobo | Juan José | Team CSC - Orbea | 76.8 | | Hategeka | Gasore | Project: Africa | 76 | | Weening | Pieter | Gazelle | 75.4 | | Serry | Pieter | Quickstep | 75.4 | | Bilbao | Pello | Bacardi - Itera | 74.8 | | Rodriguez Oliver | Joaquin | Team CSC - Orbea | 74.8 | | Rabon | Frantisek | Metinvest-Emirates | 74.6 | | Becerra | Eduin | Mobil - Aeropostal Ciclismo | 74.6 | | Lejman | Gracjan | FCB - Polska | 74.6 | | Konovalovas | Ignas | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | 74.4 | | Durasek | Kristijan | RBC Pro Cycling | 74.2 | | Ghisalberti | Sergio | Metinvest-Emirates | 73.8 | | Wyss | Marcel | Team Vontobel | 73.8 | | Didier | Laurent | FCB - Polska | 73.6 | | Wegmann | Fabian | Team Kenya Airways | 73.4 | | Anza | Santo | Kappa - ENI | 73.2 | | Bosisio | Gabriele | Kappa - ENI | 73.2 |
Grrr... I was going to post the same
Well, I will do another thing, how the hill/mo rating affects to the attribute (hill vs hill/mo) compared to the oposition:
Spoiler | Juan José Cobo | Team CSC - Orbea | 22,22% | | Carlos Betancourt | FCB - Polska | 16,67% | | Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver | Team CSC - Orbea | 11,11% | | Chris Froome | Quickstep | 11,11% | | Pieter Serry | Quickstep | 10,00% | | Pieter Weening | Gazelle | 10,00% | | Eduin Becerra | Mobil - Aeropostal Ciclismo | 7,78% | | Gabriele Bosisio | Kappa - ENI | 6,67% | | Yusuke Hatanaka | Meiji - Cannondale | 3,33% | | Laurent Didier | FCB - Polska | 2,22% | | Kristijan Durasek | RBC Pro Cycling | 1,11% | | Frantisek Rabon | Metinvest-Emirates | -3,33% | | Cesare Di Maggio | Venchi - Ferranti | -3,33% | | Marcel Wyss | Team Vontobel | -5,56% | | Ignas Konovalovas | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | -6,67% | | Pello Bilbao | Bacardi - Itera | -11,11% | | Fabian Wegmann | Team Kenya Airways | -12,22% | | Gracjan Lejman | FCB - Polska | -14,44% | | Santo Anza | Kappa - ENI | -15,56% | | Ben Hermans | Swedbank-PEAB | -22,22% |
You've added Hatanka instead of using Hategeka
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| ggDonovan |
Posted on 29-04-2014 15:16
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aidanvn13 wrote:
ggDonovan wrote:
SportingNonsense wrote:
.2 rating looks like:
Spoiler | Froome | Chris | Quickstep | 78.8 | | Di Maggio | Cesare | Venchi - Ferranti | 78.6 | | Betancourt | Carlos | FCB - Polska | 77.8 | | Cobo | Juan José | Team CSC - Orbea | 76.8 | | Hategeka | Gasore | Project: Africa | 76 | | Weening | Pieter | Gazelle | 75.4 | | Serry | Pieter | Quickstep | 75.4 | | Bilbao | Pello | Bacardi - Itera | 74.8 | | Rodriguez Oliver | Joaquin | Team CSC - Orbea | 74.8 | | Rabon | Frantisek | Metinvest-Emirates | 74.6 | | Becerra | Eduin | Mobil - Aeropostal Ciclismo | 74.6 | | Lejman | Gracjan | FCB - Polska | 74.6 | | Konovalovas | Ignas | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | 74.4 | | Durasek | Kristijan | RBC Pro Cycling | 74.2 | | Ghisalberti | Sergio | Metinvest-Emirates | 73.8 | | Wyss | Marcel | Team Vontobel | 73.8 | | Didier | Laurent | FCB - Polska | 73.6 | | Wegmann | Fabian | Team Kenya Airways | 73.4 | | Anza | Santo | Kappa - ENI | 73.2 | | Bosisio | Gabriele | Kappa - ENI | 73.2 |
Grrr... I was going to post the same
Well, I will do another thing, how the hill/mo rating affects to the attribute (hill vs hill/mo) compared to the oposition:
Spoiler | Juan José Cobo | Team CSC - Orbea | 22,22% | | Carlos Betancourt | FCB - Polska | 16,67% | | Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver | Team CSC - Orbea | 11,11% | | Chris Froome | Quickstep | 11,11% | | Pieter Serry | Quickstep | 10,00% | | Pieter Weening | Gazelle | 10,00% | | Eduin Becerra | Mobil - Aeropostal Ciclismo | 7,78% | | Gabriele Bosisio | Kappa - ENI | 6,67% | | Yusuke Hatanaka | Meiji - Cannondale | 3,33% | | Laurent Didier | FCB - Polska | 2,22% | | Kristijan Durasek | RBC Pro Cycling | 1,11% | | Frantisek Rabon | Metinvest-Emirates | -3,33% | | Cesare Di Maggio | Venchi - Ferranti | -3,33% | | Marcel Wyss | Team Vontobel | -5,56% | | Ignas Konovalovas | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | -6,67% | | Pello Bilbao | Bacardi - Itera | -11,11% | | Fabian Wegmann | Team Kenya Airways | -12,22% | | Gracjan Lejman | FCB - Polska | -14,44% | | Santo Anza | Kappa - ENI | -15,56% | | Ben Hermans | Swedbank-PEAB | -22,22% |
You've added Hatanka instead of using Hategeka
FAIL! I will fix it later
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| jph27 |
Posted on 29-04-2014 16:00
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Don't send Gautier they said. It'll be a stacked startlist they said...
Great preview SN, best of luck to the teams who aren't likely to threaten my top 5 placing. |
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| Smowz |
Posted on 29-04-2014 16:06
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Looking at the various tables - I think Cobo may win.
Not Froome coz of Jaguar-Dowsett sux disease
Not Di Maggio coz I h8 Di Maggio.
Cobo I think as he is Spanish he just will have that extra buzz.
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