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Vuelta a Guatemala Discussion
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| mb2612 |
Posted on 04-03-2012 10:50
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It's long, it's hard, all the mountains are at the start. Guatemala yay.
This race is interesting insofar as the first 7 days have 3 mountain stages and a hard uphill finish, while the next 5 are hilly with a flat time trial, meaning that even if someone is dominant for the first half, the terrain will change completely and they could easily loose time.
Lovkvist is the favourite, with his all round abilities, but Kiverlovski will be looking to drop him in the mountains, while Nazaret is even more specialised when the road goes uphill.
After those three, there are plenty of specialist climbers: Raisin, Saldarriaga, Montenegro, Navarro, etc. But expect them to fade in the 2nd week.
For the sprinters, Davis is a cut above the rest, Sinner and Bazajev will try and challenge him, although don't expect much sucess.
The key thing about this tour is that there are only 8 continental teams, so a Div 2 team has been added. I'm not sure how well they will jell together, but expect several top tens as they try and show that they can compete with the big boys.
Startlist:
Spoiler Saab
1. T. Lövkvist
2. J. Bjelkmark
3. N. Brolin
4. T. Eltink
5. U. Galiev
6. E. Salgueiro
7. J. Sørensen
Hollister
11. R. Kiserlovski
12. A. Davis
13. Z. Dempster
14. D. MartÃnez
15. J. Mercado
16. J. Pantano Gómez
17. S. Szmyd
WWE
21. S. Paulinho
22. M. Astarloza
23. S. Damrow
24. L. Didier
25. F. Jeandesbosz
26. H. Roulston
27. T. Voeckler
Export
31. M. Nazaret
32. C. Evans
33. G. Hasta
34. F. Montenegro
35. D. Navarro
36. V. Orozco
37. S. Raisin
Vespa
41. M. Carrara
42. L. Ascani
43. A. Balloni
44. V. Bastaens
45. D. Cimolai
46. M. Gavazzi
47. A. Petrie-Armstrong
Cal Giant
51. P. Stetina
52. B. Colex
53. A. Howes
54. A. Jeannesson
55. T. Peterson
56. B. Sinner
57. T. Tolleson
Aker Solutions
61. M. Ortega
62. O. Hirschlein
63. A. Lund
64. W. Vasquez
Pirelli
71. A. Saldarriaga
72. A. Bazajev
73. H. Dupont
74. A. DÃaz Corrales
75. A. Flaksis
76. N. Kinney
77. F. Montaña
D2
81. L. Laverde Jimenez
82. G. Bonnafond
83. T. Esmaeli
84. L. Hutchings
85. I. Nozal
86. R. Serrano
87. I. Shapira
Oz
91. G. Bennett
92. F. Besada
93. K. Cheung
94. L. Durbridge
95. M. Matthews
96. G. O'Shea
97. M. Vink
A
101. G. Perez
102. A. Ajpacaja
103. F. Colop
104. S. Tuft
105. S. Twing
Edited by SportingNonsense on 04-03-2012 11:02
 [url=www.pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=33182] Team Santander Media Thread[/url]
Please assume I am joking unless otherwise stated |
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| roturn |
Posted on 04-03-2012 10:59
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Have expected a much better startlist here. But the biggest guns are missing. Probably due to the amount of race days. Maybe should have sent a squad here, too as it looks like good chances for decent stage racers like Hesjedal to perform quite well with a bit of luck.
Good luck to all the teams. Will be interesting to follow the D2 team. Hoping for a winning coup on one stage. |
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| fenian_1234 |
Posted on 04-03-2012 11:00
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Hope for Carrara to put in a good performance here.
Hope we get a good open race and not the kind totally dominated by one rider. |
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| ember |
Posted on 04-03-2012 11:02
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Oh well, this is doomsday(s) for my team. Only having 4 riders here, I'm very curious to see how they do. I can only hope for a pleasant surprise, but I expect absolutely nothing, which is a shame, as this will definitely force me to forget about promotion.
But it looks like a great and funny race, looking very much forward to the reports!  |
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| MrDemus |
Posted on 04-03-2012 11:04
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The "weak" start lsit makes it quite interesting for the D2 managers, as we have sent some of our best riders. It will be exciting to see them alongside the CTD riders.
I hope for an interesting race, with a lot of good performances from the D2 team
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| CountArach |
Posted on 04-03-2012 11:07
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Davis is an interesting choice to send here. If he wins the first stage then it is a great move as it gets some good points on the board by giving him yellow. But if he doesn't win it, or worse, if the team works for him on the third stage, then it is a complete backfire.
Hopefully we will see an interesting race without any of the big favourites. My outside bet: Laverde Jimenez gets a top 10 on GC.
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| viking90 |
Posted on 04-03-2012 11:24
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This looks good, was hoping for just this that the best men is not here. Really hoping for great results here.
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| kumazan |
Posted on 04-03-2012 11:26
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Seeing the startlist it's not completely unthinkable that Laverde gets a top 10 in the final GC. I'm sure the Div2 riders will have a lot of chances to shine.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 03:28
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 04-03-2012 11:31
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Nazaret for the overall victory I think. Lövkvist and Carrara to podium.
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 04-03-2012 11:42
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Give me a stage-win, and i'll be a happy man. Bennett maybe? I don't mind as long as someone at Oz Cycling will manage to grab a stage 
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| brownwm |
Posted on 04-03-2012 11:48
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I'm hoping for a top 25 from Laverde Jimenez, but to do that he will have to gain some time from a breakaway. It will be interesting to see how the D2 team will approach this race tactics wise. Hopefully we will see them in a lot of breakaways. I guess the goal for the team is a top 5 in a stage.
Edited by brownwm on 04-03-2012 11:54
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| Mhaley45 |
Posted on 04-03-2012 11:56
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With such a small start list, I have to think that the Team D2 riders will have high hopes of getting some good performances here. I still do not see any of them as true GC contenders, I look for them to make thier individual marks as the stages unfold. Key to that kind of success is to conserve energy until the 1 or 2 stages that best match your skills, then expend all of your energy in one bold chance for a stage win.
Luis Felipe Laverde Jiminez is the best D2 rider for GC contention and as long as he can stay close to the leaders, the D2 team will work for him.
The one thing the D2 team does not have is a sprinter. On stage One they will have not have much interest in a sprint finish and they are not strong on the flats, so today is a day to stay out of trouble, conserve energy and guage the competition.
Do not expect any D2 fireworks in stage One. |
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| rycadinho |
Posted on 04-03-2012 12:17
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Attack attack attack! - I don't have a guy who can match the best riders in the peleton, but I can hope to do a "CSC" like in Tachira, and then it's up to Barzajev to win a stage or two.
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| roturn |
Posted on 04-03-2012 12:24
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CountArach wrote:
Davis is an interesting choice to send here. If he wins the first stage then it is a great move as it gets some good points on the board by giving him yellow. But if he doesn't win it, or worse, if the team works for him on the third stage, then it is a complete backfire.
I doubt so. This normally happens in hilly races like Luxembourg, when the leader is a "decent" puncheur like Velits was with 69.
In a race with mountains and lots of hills maybe 1-2 riders will wait for Davis, but not the team leader like Kiserlovski. That said it should be a good race for Hollister imo. |
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 04-03-2012 12:26
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rycadinho wrote:
Attack attack attack! - I don't have a guy who can match the best riders in the peleton, but I can hope to do a "CSC" like in Tachira, and then it's up to Barzajev to win a stage or two.
 Good Luck
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| Christer |
Posted on 04-03-2012 12:31
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Hmm. The field is weaker than I expected when I picked this race. I hope that means I can get loads of easy points, as I really need them. 
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| jack888 |
Posted on 04-03-2012 14:20
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Been a while since Emu has raced, this looks very fun! Top 3 for Nazaret or maybe some kind of breakaway from someone like Navarro would be cool.
Good luck to the Div2 team, if they get in the breakaway each stage who knows. |
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| Smowz |
Posted on 04-03-2012 20:52
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It's a real mixed bag of a race, I decided the really long stage races had to go after the horrific Tour of America for Red Bull last year.
This one looks pretty close for the GC style riders - Lovkvist is certainly not an out and out favourite.
The Mountain TT is possibly quite a key stage 14km is quite a long one. Could we see Tachira style logic though and a break be allowed leeway on the earlier mountain stages? Going to be a lot of fun to follow!
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| ember |
Posted on 05-03-2012 22:50
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1 stage done, and only 2 riders on the same time as most of the other riders
Nice to see Lund try the breakaway, and I can't say I had expectations for Vasquez, would be nice if we could figure in another breakaway or two though, but we shall see. Nice win for Davis, he has been brilliant this season, winning a lot. |
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| rycadinho |
Posted on 05-03-2012 23:09
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Good start, the team is working well for Bazajev though I hope my climbers will be free to do whatever the like when we hit the harder stages.
- Nice win for Davis, well done!
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