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Tour of Britain discussion thread
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| Smowz |
Posted on 05-02-2011 05:37
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The Tour of Britain welcomes the CTour to its shores and as they peer at the rankings there is some belief that finally there will be a number of British teams in the Protour next year. Wiggle and Pendletons look well set for promotion spots and whilst both do have significant other nations who contribute to their points scoring potential their heart remains in the British isles.
The parcours this year:
will see once again a mainly flat route compared to those travelled in the continent. It would be misleading however to label it a sprinters paradise with only Stages 1, 6 and 8 that could be described as pretty much pan flat. The opener is the grand circuit in London, often used as a final stage in the British tour. That privilege has been given to the historic port city of Liverpool a city which has seen much rejuvenation in the last decade. Stage 6's flat one travels alongside the River Tyne into Gateshead near the North Eastern port of call Newcastle.
The middle England stages from two to five all have complicated finale's where the punchaers will be planning their ambush and a sprinter's team will need to be well stocked to survive. Many are calling stage seven's route in Scotland the queen stage which finishes near to where it all began at Thornhill the birthtown of the bicycle. That stage involves the lengthy (but admittedly fairly shallow) Mennock pass.
Home favourites
The absolute home team is of course 100% Me, their team for this one includes Mark Cavendish and Ben Swift. The latter rider is enduring a pretty miserable season compared to last year and will be eager to recreate stage wins in this latter quarter of the year. Swift took two stages and the overall in the recent Tour of Ireland suggesting that he is in the mood. He will also be buoyed by having Adam Blythe on board who likewise will have been mainly disappointed with the cobbled season and will concentrate on lead outs here. Cavendish and Russ Downing will be wildcards to play in the sprints (admittedly Cav quite a luxury wildcard) and Chris Froome, excellent in this years Worlds View Challenge will look to make sure he follows punchaers attacks in the hills.
100Me
61. C.Froome
62. D.Appleby
63. A.Blythe
64. M.Cavendish
65. R.Cleaver
66. R.Downing
67. D.Lloyd
68. B.Swift
Wiggle have had to wait a little while but this has been their year to promote, though actually winning the division looks highly dependent on having a very strong race here. Luke Rowe took a trio of stage wins at this year's Giro d'Italia and has seemingly eclipsed the 100% Me trio of brits to become the nation's leading sprinter. Though the recent Tour of Ireland saw Luke lose out to Ben Swift two sprints to one, Rowe won the points jersey suggesting he has the greater consistency.We continue that showdown here, though Wiggle may fancy breaking things up in the hills with the likes of Simone Ponzi and Damiano Caruso.
Wiggle
21. S.Ponzi
22. D.Caruso
23. T.Diggle
24. C.Grippo
25. O.Martynenko
26. L.Rowe
27. R.Tanguy
28. J.Tiernan-Locke
Pendleton's have had a very strong season and proved a few doubters wrong in the process, David Millar and Tim Kennaugh represent the British Isles here. It is probably some of their others names like Bozic, Cherel, Abdallah and Moinard who will be ones to watch for. Bozic is a sprinter who can climb and is typical of the Pendleton's stock jacks of all trades general tough men. Moinard and Cherel should be able to survive the sorts of hills the UK has to offer and fast man Abdallah gives the team hope in the fast flat sprints.
Pendleton's
101. A.Moinard
102. C.Abdallah
103. B.Bozic
104. M.Chérel
105. T.Kennaugh
106. D.Millar
107. J.Rovira
108. N.Sijmens
Plenty of Youtube moments from the recent Volta, however the A team has been sent to the Tour of US, leaving a fairly weak looking team here. Kevin Barclay and James McCallum have snatched stage wins on the tour and so should not be ruled out. Team leader Oliver Zaugg does not look like he will feature in the top ten, but a breakaway could gain credence in the General Classification in a race like this something a team like this may well be involved in.
YouTwit
161. O.Zaugg
162. K.Barclay
163. S.Burke
164. L.Kirk
165. T.Last
166. J.McCallum
167. J.McEvoy
168. E.Oliphant
It would be remiss to talk of home candidates and not mention Cillit Bangs leader here Jonathan Bellis. After a fairly active start to the season the British all rounder has been absent and it is no coincidence that his squad has suffered as a result. Bellis is here to stick it to the other British squads and watch out for Manan in the sprints he has quite the turn of speed.
Cillit Bang
41. J.Bellis
42. M.Brammeier
43. J.Claes
44. V.Hacecký
45. L.Lefèvre
46. H.Ma
47. A.Manan
48. Y.Stoltz
Punchaers
Highly seeded by the legendary cyalogic but what can we expect from Schumacher here - he is an unpredictable character who seems to be lacking in that big win. UBS seem to be teetering on the possibility of promotion they have Albasini here with Schumi to take the race apart in the hills. Meanwhile Forster will be a danger on the flat sprint stages.
UBS
1. S.Schumacher
2. M.Albasini
3. S.Barrio
4. R.Förster
5. C.Juul-Jensen
6. A.Kristoff
7. G.Signorini
8. C.Sinelobov
Sylvian Chavanel is a dangerous lurker - who has taken the Tour of Japan this year by waiting to spring his big move at the right time. He almost did the same to the near flawless Mikhail Ignatiev in the six days of Dunkirk - his card will be marked but just where will the Frenchman make his big move. He has some good back up of goodish domestiques here who will probably look to make the race hard in the hills.
EL AL
11. S.Chavanel
12. Y.Doi
13. D.Eliad
14. B.Feillu
15. S.Haimy
16. S.Lagutin
17. D.Loosli
18. R.Sicard
Known really as the breakaway team of the peleton, will they temper themselves here though with Voeckler on board? It seems ironic given how attacking Voeckler is, but it may be worth reining themselves in for Tommy to go for the right moment sort of attack. Riders like Sutherland and Tankirk offer reasonable back up for the baby faced Frenchman.
Bbox
31. T.Voeckler
32. J.Mayo
33. J.Polito
34. R.Sutherland
35. B.Tankink
36. G.Trampusch
37. D.Veilleux
38. Y.Wei
Well known as a decent team in the hills LEGO seem to have a mixed squad here with sprinter Ciolek no doubt looking to score sprint win. The German has had a poor season though and LEGO may feel that strongman Rabon could go with a big move on one of the hilly days and sneak a good result.
LEGO
51. F.Rabon
52. J.Allain
53. G.Ciolek
54. J.Hochmann
55. G.Lequatre
56. A.Moschella
57. P.Rooijakkers
58. A.Stauff
Similar to most teams Intesa have a decent tough man just in case backed up with some class sprinting talent. Their punchaer Vansummeren should be tough enough to live with the other hill climbing talent - watch out for Lelay who performed well in the Tour of Turkey too. Bongiorno and Hutarovich will expect some decent results in the sprints.
Intesa
71. J.Vansummeren
72. R.Bongiorno
73. E.Capecchi
74. E.Girardi
75. Y.Hutarovich
76. D.Lelay
77. P.Mertens
78. A.Nechita
Falcon will be all about Jonny Hoogerland who took a stage in the second string Basque race this year. The team are trying to avoid the wooden spoon of lowest placed team this year - some of their riders have responded well to the rallying cry of the team boss. You would expect Hoogerland to be one of them. Two brits in the squad, sprinter Briggs and decent climber Wegelius who showed himself in the recent Volta a Portugal.
Falcon
91. J.Hoogerland
92. G.Briggs
93. T.Larsson
94. J.Sørensen
95. G.Tzortzakis
96. C.Van Heerden
97. T.Vangheel
98. C.Wegelius
Vespa have Proni and Bosisio here and will feel surely the time has come for at least one of those two to deliver here. Too often much has been made of their opportunities this season only for them to falter - it is not too late for some good results. Sprinter Oscar Gatto who looked useful at the Giro d'Italia has also failed to deliver in the CTour.
Vespa
81. A.Proni
82. L.Ascani
83. A.Balloni
84. G.Bosisio
85. A.Cappelle
86. C.Cassidy
87. O.Gatto
88. E.Verbist
Other decent sprint shouts
Lobato has won a couple of KOM jerseys this year and could be a candidate again here if he goes on breakaways. But he may sit back and look to involve himself in the GC battle if the racing gets hard. Bimbo Nutella look set to make the best impact in the sprints with either Sabido or veteren Bernie Eisel. The latter rider is a tough one to drop and could finish high on GC.
Bimbo
111. R.Lobato
112. A.Albourdainy
113. S.Barberi
114. G.Delise
115. G.Dockx
116. B.Eisel
117. H.Sabido
118. D.Talbott
JJ Haedo has not been clocking up the victories quite as regularly as in previous seasons and for Mercedes thread bare squad this has had an impact. He should have some good opportunities here and the sprinter can live with the hilly men at his best. Pasamontes is a very decent climber on his best form but is often used as a domestique to Pozzato and may find that tag difficult to shrug off.
Mercedes
121. L.Pasamontes
122. J.Bol
123. B.Colex
124. W.Frischkorn
125. P.Ghyllebert
126. J.Haedo
127. A.Howes
128. S.Nydam
Vantomme will be gagging to score some decent results here, the young Belgium has not really made the breakthrough results this year only showing flashes of his obvious speed. Highroad have some good roulers here including another impressive youngster Rob Ruijgh, Ghyselinck and Elijzen. Can any of those three possible make a move somewhere?
HighRoad
131. M.Elijzen
132. K.De Weert
133. J.Ghyselinck
134. R.Ruijgh
135. J.Stuyven
136. M.Van Aelbroeck
137. M.Vantomme
138. R.Zingle
Forero and Vanderaerden should be there and abouts in the sprints, the commentators nightmare brothers Nepomnyachsniy are here to continue their development. Milka scored huge in the Post Denmark Rundt, perhaps there will be a correction here although cyclo cross man Stybar may surprise.
Milka
141. Z.Stybar
142. J.Forero
143. S.Haddou
144. L.Howard
145. B.Jarc
146. Y.Nepomnyachsniy
147. A.Nepomnyachsniy
148. M.Vanderaerden
Pokerstars management have decided that this race is flat enough for their hill shy riders - particularly unhappy with lumps is German Eric Mohs. The star sprinter is preparing for the Vattenfalls Classic which he will have high expectations for - they will be hoping for some stage wins to add to their booty. If things get tough in the hills though expect to see the teams green jerseys filtering to the back to haul Mohs' to the finish line.
Pokerstars
151. A.Geslin
152. G.Atkins
153. D.Boucher
154. J.Degenkolb
155. J.Engoulvent
156. D.Holloway
157. M.Maaskant
158. E.Mohs
Schedule:
The stages will come in pairs this year!
Stages 1 and 2 - Sunday 6th Feb
Stages 3 and 4 - Monday 7th Feb
Stage 5 and 6 - Tuesday 8th Feb
Stages 7 and 8 - Wednesday 9th Feb
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| beagle |
Posted on 05-02-2011 15:59
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I´m not really sure, what I was thinking about, when created lineups for Ireland, Missouri and Britain Tours...bye bye dream of TOP10...
Manager of Polar in Man-Game
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| Smowz |
Posted on 05-02-2011 16:06
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Team Leader
Posts: 6479
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beagle: I think you have had a pretty amazing first year in the Man Game. Winning U23 division, brilliant in the crit series and a very good coherent line up.
Missouri squad does look a little weak though  But here it is not such a bad team really - there are no really weak ass teams (apart from Youtube)
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| fenian_1234 |
Posted on 05-02-2011 16:22
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Cool preview - last year the hills in this race didn't break up the race. We'll see how it goes this time out. |
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| wackojackohighcliffe |
Posted on 05-02-2011 17:04
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Well I'm going skiing for a week so I hope to come back to some wins. Didn't send a very strong squad here so we'll just have to see how it goes. |
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| rjc_43 |
Posted on 05-02-2011 17:06
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The hills didn't break it up much, but Ponzi still won. This year he's "better", but my team has a lot of my so-called leaders in it. It'll be interesting to see who the AI pick to attempt to win the race, if at all.
Goals wise, a very important race for me, a stage win is required (hoping for a sprint victory on stage one from Rowe) and a top 5 GC (hoping for a repeat from last year from Ponzi). Not too much then. |
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| Roman |
Posted on 05-02-2011 18:09
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I'll get probably no points from here. Vanderaerden and Forero aren't good enough to repeat last year's second place of Jimmy Casper. I had to put Casper here this year too.. Oh, wait.. I did big mistake to not race Casper here.. 
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| viking90 |
Posted on 06-02-2011 08:57
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with 1500 m left Briggs saw him finnish first and take the stage win then he realized he is not a top sprinter. But atleast he was up their and did an attempt.
Hope the hills will make problems for the sprinters so Hoogerland can show his skills. |
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Posted on 23-11-2024 22:17
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| fenian_1234 |
Posted on 06-02-2011 10:30
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I'm surprised Cavendish didn't have the speed to come through and win that one.
Gatto simply outclassed. |
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 06-02-2011 12:29
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Not amused
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| rjc_43 |
Posted on 06-02-2011 14:41
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Damnit, so close. So so so close. |
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| rjc_43 |
Posted on 06-02-2011 14:50
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Damnit, so definately not close. And more problems - with Ponzi not bothering to sprint (in 110th that stage), I can't tell whether he's just the pure GC leader, or whether my team are going to ignore him, and try and win with Rowe. Which we all know is impossible with his 64 hill. |
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 06-02-2011 16:13
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Still not amused
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| Roman |
Posted on 06-02-2011 16:14
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Good second stage for Milka. Finally Forero won something and "Nepo" has KOM jersey. In next stage my overall hopes but probably ends..
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| beagle |
Posted on 06-02-2011 16:52
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good start!
now I´m waiting how my "hill shy" boys will defend leader jersey 
Manager of Polar in Man-Game
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| Deadpool |
Posted on 06-02-2011 18:20
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Forgot I was doing this race, but looking at my team I've got a great chance for an extremely good result. |
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| Smowz |
Posted on 06-02-2011 21:13
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Slightly revised schedule, due to a request to slow things down just a little. Which is fair enough really we have been racing through these stages at a million miles an hour recently!
Stage 3's tricky ending in the West Country will be with you Monday evening (tomorrow).
Stage 4 into Stoke will be uploaded on Tuesday early evening.
Stage 5's hilly ending into Dalby Forest Vistor Centre will be up on Wednesday evening.
Stage 6's expected sprint shall be with you on Thursday early evening.
Friday though we will have that Hilly stage in Scotland AND the final stage into Liverpool.
This will set those classics, Canadian and Walloone until the weekend.
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| beagle |
Posted on 06-02-2011 21:28
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nevermind, all of you guys are making great job!
do you have an idea, where (very very aproximately) should this season come to end and renewals, transfer period etc. will start?
Manager of Polar in Man-Game
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| Kami |
Posted on 06-02-2011 21:30
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My guess is within a month more or less. Still a few long stage races to come and after that still the national championships.
Renewals and stuff will depend on the activity of the managers, i guess.
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| beagle |
Posted on 06-02-2011 21:37
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I´m asking because it´s possible I´ll be without connection for 2 weeks in second half of March...and I´m a bit suspicious, that preparation for next season will be proceed right THAT time...
Manager of Polar in Man-Game
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