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Tour of Northern Europe Discussion
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 15-02-2011 14:05
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As soon as the GP Fourmies will be finished, the Pro Tour will head to the last stage race of the season, but probably the most exciting and unpredictable race in the calendar. No less than six countries will be hosting the 8 stages of the race, which include every type of terrain except mountains. (maybe it would be a nice idea to bring a mountain stage next year too  )
Last year's winner, Vladimir Gusev, made quite a big mistake in the transfer season and decided to leave Philips and head to the CT team Cilit Bang. The team managed by Waghlon didn't receive an wild card for the race, which means that the Russian won't be able to defend his title.
Even though it's quite hard to predict who are the favorites to grab the overall win, between the cobbled specialists and the puncheurs, there are a few all - rounders that should finish at the top of rankings no matter what happens, such as Cancellara, Devolder or Boom.
Cancellara is also a very strong time - trialists and with 2 time - trials in the race, it will be a great opportunity for the Swiss to gain some time in front of his rivals, both the puncheurs and the cobblers, which made the bookmakers give him the best chance to win this year's Tour of North Europe.
Jan Bakelants is leading the puncheurs' list present here, a list which is completed by names such as Samuel Sanchez, Teejay Van Garderen or Luis Leon Sanchez. Still some of the really big names are missing, most likely being afraid of some major time loses in the cobbled stage, where the cobblers will be in their element.
Unlike the puncheurs, neither of the northern classics specialists missed the chance to ride one of the most demanding races in cycling, Boonen, Burghardt, Ballan, Vanspeybrouck, Nuyens, Franzoi, Nolf, Steurs, Baugnies and Maes, all being ready for some fireworks in the fifth stage, which will end on the Roubaix velodrome.
Spoiler Carmeuse
1. F.Cancellara
2. J.Camier
3. A.Fenn
4. P.Jacobs
5. M.Kneisky
6. J.Roelandts
7. W.Van Den Eynde
8. W.Weylandt
Philips
11. S.Devolder
12. K.Klostergaard
13. A.Lund
14. M.Pedersen
15. M.Reimer
16. M.Schreurs
17. A.Serebriakov
18. M.Tjallingii
Warner Bros.
21. T.Boonen
22. A.Castro Rodriguez
23. G.Coletta
24. K.De Ketele
25. G.De Winde
26. J.Redondo
27. Y.Talabardon
28. R.Van Houts
Sony
31. A.Ballan
32. S.Anza
33. A.Bazajev
34. P.Grillo
35. S.Lang
36. M.Mori
37. M.Mortensen
38. D.Muravjev
Auber 93
41. L.Boom
42. D.Gaudin
43. H.Haussler
44. S.Langeveld
45. M.Machado
46. N.Maes
47. J.Thire
48. S.Tronet
Wolfskin
51. J.Posthuma
52. H.Dekkers
53. B.Giling
54. M.Kreder
55. W.Poels
56. T.Rabou
57. K.Sys
58. L.Ten Dam
Energie
61. L.Sanchez Gil
62. F.Colop
63. C.Corioni
64. M.Cunha
65. L.Duque
66. P.Nicácio
67. J.Rojas Gil
68. C.Zaballa
Domina Vacanze
71. N.Nuyens
72. B.Cooke
73. D.Fleeman
74. B.Myagmarsuren
75. B.Schröder
76. I.Speirs
77. J.Vanendert
78. D.Wyss
Festina
81. S.Sánchez Gonzalez
82. S.Denifl
83. T.Kvist
84. W.Li
85. S.Morabito
86. F.Mourey
87. F.Nolf
88. B.Sonnery
Wikipedia
91. T.Van Garderen
92. T.Brandt
93. R.Broers
94. M.Burghardt
95. K.Eeckhout
96. T.Farrar
97. A.Sebright
98. A.Timofeev
Nespresso
101. J.Fiedler
102. H.Aguilar
103. P.Fédrigo
104. H.Mottin
105. N.Portal
106. Y.Reguigui
107. M.Sibilla
108. G.Steurs
Colombia
111. S.Joly
112. J.Castañeda
113. H.Gallardo
114. C.Knees
115. H.Machado
116. V.Reynès
117. C.Sarmiento
118. D.Summerhill
Pearl
121. E.Franzoi
122. J.Bakelants
123. K.De Haes
124. W.De Vocht
125. S.Joseph
126. T.Leezer
127. M.Richeze
128. D.Vitoria
Team B&O
131. T.Veelers
132. A.Grivko
133. R.Kreuziger
134. E.Pidun
135. A.Rasmussen
136. K.Sobota
137. K.Vanoverschelde
138. T.Vinter
Starbucks
141. K.Koren
142. M.Breschel
143. K.Fajt
144. L.Hansen
145. R.Kiserlovski
146. T.Lowe
147. M.Renshaw
148. J.Tschopp
IKEA
151. J.Lindgren
152. N.Albert
153. A.Flügel
154. J.Giaux
155. D.Kupfernagel
156. J.Ljungblad
157. L.Lundberg
158. P.Vanspeybrouck
Lipton
161. J.Baugnies
162. O.Avelino
163. C.Di Maggio
164. G.Gazvoda
165. A.Grigrian
166. F.Matamoros
167. A.Petrie-Armstrong
168. J.Zrimsek
Lafarge
171. L.Sestili
172. L.Bret
173. M.Docker
174. C.Gautier
175. K.Peeters
176. F.Taillefour
177. R.Van Zandbeek
La Gazzetta
181. D.Van Winden
182. A.Dowsett
183. R.Flens
184. S.Marinangeli
185. M.Mugerli
186. R.RodrÃguez Segarra
187. K.Vandewalle
188. R.Wielinga
Vesuvio
191. M.Kittel
192. A.Bakari
193. T.Faiers
194. M.Ford
195. D.Galimzyanov
196. B.Gastauer
197. J.Hopman
198. P.Merino Criado
Edited by alexkr00 on 15-02-2011 14:08
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| CrueTrue |
Posted on 15-02-2011 14:12
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 27880
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After a somewhat disappointing race in Germany, we're looking for a top-3 in this race with Devolder. As far as I remember, he managed to take a 2nd last year after my rider at that time mr. Gusev.
I doubt that I'll be able to win, but you never know with that Cancellara guy  |
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| SotD |
Posted on 15-02-2011 17:58
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Like everyone else I have no idea what to hope for here. I have Sammy Sánchez because I hope he can win a stage and perhaps make a good impression in the overall, but he isn't very good on the cobbles so he might be dropped totally here. The dream scenario would see him win stage 1 in a hilly riders group taking a minute or so on the TT'ers, in that case he might be able to take the leaders jersey.
Oh what am I trying to say, this is all about dreaming for a result. My one goal, and really only that matters is taking points away from Pearl and Vesuvio. Whether it is 24 points or 150 doesn't really matter. I just must not finish the race losing points on them.
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| CrueTrue |
Posted on 16-02-2011 16:08
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Awesome performance by Devolder. |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 07-12-2025 08:57
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| mattiasgt |
Posted on 16-02-2011 16:13
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Decent performance by Ballan.
(Previously) Manager of Koenigsegg
Koenigsegg: ( Media)
Livin' Loud |
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| SotD |
Posted on 16-02-2011 16:16
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Important, AND brilliant result here! Just what I had in mind when I theoretically put my team up for this race. I didn't believe for one second that it would be realistic though.
Fantastic win from Samuel Sánchez here, also giving him the leaders jersey and the points jersey. Frederik Nolf made a great jump taking the mountains jersey. What an amazing start to this tour!
The overall result is damn hard to know anything about but this start of the race, putting Sammy in yellow, is exactly what I need for him to, perhaps, make a solid TT performance also! Boom and Devolder is probably too close for him to hold onto the jersey, but on a great day he could actually hold off Cancellara. Hopes are kept high!
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| rjc_43 |
Posted on 16-02-2011 16:25
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Hopefully, as SotD suggested, Boom will pull back enough time on Sammy to take the lead, if just for a day. Or a couple of days. Or even to win the overall. It's possible damnit. Anything's possible!
Great ride by Boom though. Boy am I glad the AI recognised him as leader rather than Maes. |
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| SotD |
Posted on 16-02-2011 16:45
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That can be changed in the cobbles rjc
btw. is there any mountainpoints for the TT? If not then I have myself another good 5pts from Nolf there, before he probably loses it 
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 16-02-2011 16:46
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SotD wrote:
That can be changed in the cobbles rjc
btw. is there any mountainpoints for the TT? If not then I have myself another good 5pts from Nolf there, before he probably loses it
There are no categorized climbs, so no mountain points
Edited by alexkr00 on 16-02-2011 16:46
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| SotD |
Posted on 16-02-2011 17:06
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alexkr00 wrote:
SotD wrote:
That can be changed in the cobbles rjc
btw. is there any mountainpoints for the TT? If not then I have myself another good 5pts from Nolf there, before he probably loses it
There are no categorized climbs, so no mountain points
Could be there was some at the finishline. There sometimes are
But will be very interesting to see just how much the hilly stat figures here, because I reckon Cancellara could perhaps come short by -8 in hills though he got +11 on TT... Boom with 78TT and 75HI is probably going into leaders jersey. I have my fingers crossed for another free 15points in jerseys though Perhaps Sammy can even pull a top 10 stage and keep the pointsjersey aswell...
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 16-02-2011 18:06
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SotD, youre massively overestimating the effect of the hill stat if you think Sanchez could come close to Cancellara, stage time wise. It helps, but the route is not notably tough, and so TT stat remains most important
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| rjc_43 |
Posted on 16-02-2011 18:22
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Whereas Boom, on the other hand, is amazingly well suited to the course...
Go Boom! |
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| fenian_1234 |
Posted on 16-02-2011 19:25
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I'll be pleased with anything we can get out of this race. I'm expecting around 40 points though... |
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| SotD |
Posted on 16-02-2011 21:21
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SportingNonsense wrote:
SotD, youre massively overestimating the effect of the hill stat if you think Sanchez could come close to Cancellara, stage time wise. It helps, but the route is not notably tough, and so TT stat remains most important
I'm not but I'm suggesting that Cancellara might not win by 2 minutes on Samuel Sánchez here... I might be wrong on that though.
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| Crommy |
Posted on 17-02-2011 11:51
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Cancellara excellently placed now
Just needs to stay in touch on stage 4, and overall victory is a real possibility
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| CrueTrue |
Posted on 17-02-2011 11:56
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As I said pre-race, Cancellara will be difficult to do anything against, but even so, Devolder's doing well. Top-3 seems likely. |
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| SotD |
Posted on 17-02-2011 13:35
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Can't say anything about losing the jersey to Boom, and losing firmly on Devolder and Cancellara, but losing 28 seconds on Grivko and 12 on Luis Leon while wearing the leaders jersey is somewhat dissapointing. I hope he will be able to regain leaders jersey on stage 4 though as I would really like to be wearing that going into the cobbles :-)
But so far I can't be anything but happy about this race. Fingers crossed for Nolf in the attack next stage, and Sammy Sánchez sprinting his way into the pointsjersey. Could be possible.
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| Setzel |
Posted on 17-02-2011 15:40
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Wow , i missed a lot , dang it working 12 h per day isnt funny 
Sorry for my inactivity guys will try to be more present
Actually Vanendert is doing quite well.
Eating my daily Breakfast at 9 pm
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| dave92 |
Posted on 17-02-2011 16:21
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Good hilly stage from Van Garderen, hope he and Burghardt hunt out a stage.
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 17-02-2011 16:23
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I think nobody will be able to challenge Cancellara here unless a catastrophe happens. However the rest of the top10 he's going to be very unpredictable. Of course the cobblers have a real chance here but on the other hand the puncheurs might their shot as well.
As SotD I also decided to put my faith in my Sanchez, given that the hills come before the cobbles and might provide an advantage over rivals like Boonen or Burghardt.
Given LLS performances so far I'm just hoping he doesn't fall out of the top10 but that Roubaix stage has a really threatning pose.
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