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Tour of America Discussion Thread
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| CountArach |
Posted on 07-07-2012 02:01
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Grand Tour Champion
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Here we are! The only three week tour in the Continental division. Last year’s race saw the complete and utter domination of Franco Pellizotti, who won the race by just over 13 minutes from Konstantin Siutou, which almost singlehandedly catapulted him into seventh in the individual season rankings, scoring 507 points alone. The competition looks a little tougher here this year, but some of the teams will be hoping to emulate that task with some large point hauls here. It will be tougher, however, as only 5 teams participated last time and this time there are 9 times sending a squad here. But before looking at them each in turn, let’s examine the parcours.
Week 1
The race starts off with two completely flat stages which will determine who gets our first two yellow jerseys, as well as starting to show who is looking strong for our green jersey competition. The third stage could go to anyone really, with a break looking possible or a puncheur with a long-range attack. If the third stage doesn’t shake up the GC then the shark-toothed fourth stage will, with a total of 8 categorised climbs and barely a moment of flat road. The fifth stage will test the depths of the teams as they undertake the test against the clock. After these two crucial stages the race returns to the flat for the sixth and seventh stages of the first week.
Week 2
The race stays on the flat transitional stages through stages eight and nine before finally hitting the high mountains on the next two days. Both finish on descents but stage eleven in particular looks like it could really determine who is at least in the running for a top 5 in this race. As if that wasn’t hard enough, the race then straight away moves on to a 15km mountain time trial which will likely be one of the most important stages for the GC riders. The mountains don’t stop in this middle week as stage thirteen brings the first summit finish as well as a large number of king of the mountain points for any climbers who might be well off the pace and looking for a different kind of reward. The rolling stage 14 brings us to the end of the week and looks like another stage that could well be decided by the break, given that it is mostly downhill and comes off the back of several mountain stages.
Week 3
Stages fifteen and sixteen are both somewhat hilly courses though they don’t look too decisive given what the riders have already faced in the second week. Seventeen is yet another rolling stage but this time with a hilltop finish, so the riders will have to stay alert for gaps once again. The sprinters finally get what looks like a day for them on stage eighteen before stage nineteens individual time trial over 55km, which will surely sort out any GC positions that are not decided yet. Finally, on stage twenty there is the absolute queen stage of this race. After an almost completely flat day they tackle Trumbull Peak, which is 4.5km with an average slope of 20.4% and a maximum gradient of close to 30%. The winner here is mostly probably the man who will win overall. Finally, a sprint stage finishes this epic race off.
Now on to the teams who are racing here. It is interesting to note 7 of the bottom 10 teams in the standings are here (not taking the most recent races into account), so this race could well decide what the bottom of the table looks like at the very end. Expect some real scrambling for points!
The Teams and The Riders
 Team CSC – Orbea
 | 1. | Igor Antón |  | 2. | Brad Armstrong |  | 3. | Serafin Blanco |  | 4. | Roman Maksimov |  | 5. | Mauricio Soler | | 6. | Andrew Talansky | | 7. | Eloy Teruel |
The first thing to note about this team is that it is the only team that has any American riders on it, meaning that it is already the favourite for most of the American fans watching ‘their’ Grand Tour. Igor Anton leads what is a decent team here, though Soler is the only one who will be capable of pulling the race back together if there are unwanted attacks. Armstrong and Talansky should be able to help to do a lot of the early work, however. Maksimov and his leadout man Teruel will hope to get a sprint result in one of the first two stages, because it seems unlikely that he will make it much further than that in this race. This team will likely suffer in the TTT as well, but as will be seen, that is a common theme here. In summary, Anton will be disappointed with anything less than the win, given that he is a far better climber than all but one rider in this startlist.
 Hollister Pro Cycling
 | 11. | Robert Kiserlovski |  | 12. | Zakkari Dempster |  | 13. | Damian MartÃnez |  | 14. | Yonathon Monsalve | | 15. | Richard Ochoa Quintero | | 16. | Aleksander Serebriakov |  | 17. | Sylwester Szmyd |
Kiserlovski is the one rider who Anton fears in this whole startlist. He is his equal in almost every way, but he just lacks that explosive kick which Anton is capable of. Fortunately for Kiserlovski he has a grade-A climbing team around him to pull any attacks back. Ochoa Quintero and Szmyd could both rider for GC in a race like this and perform well, but they will be giving their all to ensure that Kiserlovski can take the win. Add in Martinez and Monsalve to do a heap of work and things are looking even better. Dempster is clearly here for the TTT, where Hollister will hope to grab valuable time on Anton. Serebriakov will be targeting the sprints as well, though you have to wonder how much help he will receive from this climbing-centric team. Just like Anton, Kiserlovski will be disappointed with anything less than a win.
 Focused Cycling
 | 21. | Romain Sicard | | 22. | Kenny Elissonde | | 23. | Brice Feillu | | 24. | Romain Feillu |  | 25. | Alex Kirsch | | 26. | Florian Morizot |  | 27. | Toms Skujins |
Sicard could one day be the winner of the Tour de France that the French have so long waited for, but for now he will find himself in a much ‘smaller’ Grand Tour, fighting it out for a podium spot. He is probably already better over three weeks than most of the other riders here, though it remains to be seen how that plays out. You also have to think that he pretty much has the U25 jersey pretty much sown up just by being here. Brice Feillu and Morizot will both provide him with some strong climbing support and the two young riders Elissonde and Kirsch aren’t slouches up the climbs either. Romain Feillu, meanwhile, will be hoping to grab a stage or some strong positions in the sprints and will probably cope with the tougher sprint stages better than most of the other sprinters here. The biggest weakness in this team is the TTT, where they are likely to lose a number of minutes.
 Cerne
 | 31. | Pedro Nicácio |  | 32. | Amaro Antunes | | 33. | Jon Insausti | | 34. | Nelson Oliveira | | 35. | Rafael Reis | | 36. | Andre Vital |  | 37. | Elia Viviani |
Cerne have brought a relatively young and untested team here to help their Brazilian leader Nicacio. He is easily the strongest time trialists amongst the GC contenders and indeed of almost any rider in the race. This is good news for him because, given how weak his team are, he may be required to claw some time back in the nineteenth stage’s long TT. He may also struggle on some of the tougher hilly stages. Expect to see Vital doing a lot of the work if Nicacio takes yellow at any point, because he is the best climber in the rest of the team by far. Cerne is also one of the only teams who didn’t bring a sprinter, which could leave them with no choice but to join a lot of breaks throughout this race. The good news for them is that they actually appear to possess one of the strong TTT trains in the race here and so they might be able to pull out a nice time gap in the first week.
 Team WWE
 | 41. | Fredrick Kessiakoff | | 42. | Julian Becerra |  | 43. | Andre Greipel |  | 44. | Leif Hoste | | 45. | Justo Mayo | | 46. | Juliano Polito | | 47. | Amets Txurruka |
Kessiakoff headlines a fairly balanced Team WWE and along with Txurruka and Becerra will be hoping to shine in the mountains. His problem is that he is likely to suffer over three weeks and as such though he is a better climber than all the second tier favourites, he might still struggle to get a top 5 in the GC. Greipel will be looking to make up for a relatively disappointing season here where he is undeniably one of the top sprinters. If that fails, WWE have brought plenty of really attacking riders with them and will hope to pull a result out of a break or possibly have a shot at the mountain jersey.
 Aker Solutions - Bergans
| 51. | Jairo Agudelo | | 52. | Jonathon Castroviejo | | 53. | Ole Hirschlein |  | 54. | Jonas Jørgensen | | 55. | Johan Le Bon | | 56. | Wilmer Vasquez | | 57. | Emilien Viennet |
Agudelo leads the Aker team to this race, and will be ably supported by Vasquez. His problem, however, will be in the many tough hilly stages, where he might lose some time. He is a true mountaingoat and should be able to keep up with Anton and Kiserlovski on all but the toughest stages, where he will be hoping to put time into the other GC contenders. Jorgenson will be hoping for another surprise victory, like the two he had at the Vuelta al Tachira at the very start of the season. Other than these riders, the team won’t be providing a lot of support, so expect to see them in breaks throughout the race.
 Emu Export
| 61. | Daniel Navarro | | 62. | Dimitri De Fauw |  | 63. | Muhammet Karagobek | | 64. | Kevin Seeldraeyers | | 65. | Ivan Seledkov |  | 66. | Cornelius Van Ooijen | | 67. | Thomas Ziegler |
Navarro is another one of the pure climbers in this race, with the time trial being his biggest weakness, which probably prevents him from being a true podium contender. With only Seeldraeyers by his side and time to make up in the final TT expect to see him being one of the big aggressors of the race. De Fauw is one of the many riders here to target the first couple of stages, though his ability to go beyond that is questionable. The team should at least avoid losing to much time in the TTT, though either way Navarro will have to be attacking on almost every mountain stage.
 Meiji – Fuji
 | 71. | Junya Sano | | 72. | Fumiyuki Beppu | | 73. | Yoshimitsu Hiratsuka |  | 74. | Ho-Ting Kwok |  | 75. | Anuar Manan |  | 76. | Tom Scully | | 77. | Chen Shikai |
Sano is here as their notional GC leader and will be hoping for a top 10 placing where he can beat the domestiques who would otherwise outclimb him. The team isn’t too bad in the TTT either, but the focus here is on breaks and also providing a lead-out for Manan, who will be hoping for a stage win to really justify him coming along. He has one of the two best lead-outs in the race and will hopefully put that to good use. As said, the other way these guys will be looking for a result is in a break along the way and given that most of the team possesses a strong kick, this is entirely possible.
 Proximus – Trek
 | 81. | Davronjan Shatskikh | | 82. | Joren Claes |  | 83. | Vojtech Hacecký | | 84. | Ismael Kip | | 85. | David Kopp | | 86. | Lars Tommersen |  | 87. | Khayabkhyrvaa Uugunbayar |
The final team on the list, Proximus haven’t brought anyone at all for the mountains but instead are entirely built around setting Kip up for sprints. He is definitely one of the best sprinters here, and with Uugunbayar and Hacecky to lead him out his skills will only be enhanced. Definitely someone to watch for the first week, but after that you have to wonder how Proximus plans on getting results.
Edited by CountArach on 07-07-2012 10:48
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 07-07-2012 02:20
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8057
Joined: 22-06-2009
PCM$: 650.00
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I'm super excited for this race, and I'm glad Anton gets to wear #1. Targets on our back and we need this win to salvage this season. Pushin' the chips all-in... 
Edit: Oh and of course brilliant review CountArach 
Edited by Mresuperstar on 07-07-2012 02:21
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| Levi4life |
Posted on 07-07-2012 02:57
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4882
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I hope nobody scores any points so that I can maintain my top 5 in the America tour. 
Edited by Levi4life on 07-07-2012 03:00
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| Christer |
Posted on 07-07-2012 03:05
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1414
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Hey. I hope to win this. Therefore, I will fail. That is all.
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 07-07-2012 03:45
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World Champion
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Completely forgot I signed up for this race I was about to write "I plan on racing this race next season" turns out we're already in it.
And if I remember correctly, you've basically read my mind Count. Trying to get a decent result in GC, maybe some decent Sprint results. The big key was not losing the GC for Sano in the TTT, hence the strong TTT team. And breaks. Any breaks will be a bonus.
The startlist seems smaller than I thought. That is either going to be promising, with the chance of better than usual results, or Mountain Domination, most likely from CSC who look to have a very strong climbing team.
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| Mr_Monk |
Posted on 07-07-2012 04:02
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Domestique
Posts: 718
Joined: 02-08-2011
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I'm not part of the man-game, but I have some questions about this "Tour of America":
1. What mounth of the season is this?
2. How come only 7 riders per team (or is that some part of the man-game rules)?
3. Do you know what cities/states/mountains are in the Tour?
4. Where can I download this race |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 11:46
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| CountArach |
Posted on 07-07-2012 04:10
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8290
Joined: 14-07-2008
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Mr_Monk wrote:
1. What mounth of the season is this?
September
Mr_Monk wrote:
2. How come only 7 riders per team (or is that some part of the man-game rules)?
Man-Game rules.
Mr_Monk wrote:
3. Do you know what cities/states/mountains are in the Tour?
No idea. I'll address that as they come up.
Mr_Monk wrote:
4. Where can I download this race
Not sure.
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 07-07-2012 04:21
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Grand Tour Champion
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Reread the preview again because it was so good the first time, and not to be picky but one obvious mistake I saw was Brice and Romain Feillu being Columbian
Edited by Mresuperstar on 07-07-2012 04:23
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 07-07-2012 04:22
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World Champion
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I think the stages are the same ones in this thread
https://pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread....ost_321749
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| CountArach |
Posted on 07-07-2012 05:46
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8290
Joined: 14-07-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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Mresuperstar wrote:
Reread the preview again because it was so good the first time, and not to be picky but one obvious mistake I saw was Brice and Romain Feillu being Columbian
Thanks, I seem to have forgotten to change those flags
@ valverde - Yep, those are the ones.
Edited by CountArach on 07-07-2012 05:47
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| ember |
Posted on 07-07-2012 07:30
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Team Leader
Posts: 6849
Joined: 27-03-2008
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Very nice preview!
This will be a fun race to participate in, and it will be interesting to see how a 3 weeks Tour play out in the CT this year. I'm expecting success for breakaways |
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| jph27 |
Posted on 07-07-2012 07:33
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This is a mad race for the CT, but it's also going to be an exciting one. Brilliant preview tees it up nicely. |
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| ltt |
Posted on 07-07-2012 09:37
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Neo-Pro
Posts: 388
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Should be a lot more interesting this year seeing as there's no Pellizotti to totally dominate it.
Hoping that Kiserlovski does well, should get a top 5 at least, and it would be nice to get a couple of stage wins as well  |
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| rjc_43 |
Posted on 07-07-2012 09:49
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Little disappointed to see that Rapha didn't decide to join us in this race. SN said he was going to be doing it this season.
Never the less, I seriously hope that Sicard/Focus can make back up the minutes I will lose in that TTT.
[url=cleavercycling.co.uk]  [/url] |
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| kumazan |
Posted on 07-07-2012 10:26
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Team Leader
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Very interesting race, surely. The mini GT of the CT, I'm sure it's gonna be exciting, and the small peloton could help with it. I was going to cheer for Kiserlovski, for regional links with my team, but seeing he's a Spaniard now...
Great preview anyway Count, just like this beast of a race deserves!
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| CountArach |
Posted on 07-07-2012 10:48
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8290
Joined: 14-07-2008
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kumazan wrote:
Very interesting race, surely. The mini GT of the CT, I'm sure it's gonna be exciting, and the small peloton could help with it. I was going to cheer for Kiserlovski, for regional links with my team, but seeing he's a Spaniard now...
Great preview anyway Count, just like this beast of a race deserves!
I really should proof-read these things...
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| Smowz |
Posted on 07-07-2012 12:46
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Difficult to work out how this race will go.
Anton and Kiserlowski are a different class in terms of climbing, but it will not be until deep into the second week before they will get going. Lots of breakaway type terrain before then amd WWE/Emu export/Aker Solutions could be dangerous there.
Should be a cool race to follow, particularly with an expert reporter!
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| Mr_Monk |
Posted on 07-07-2012 23:40
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Domestique
Posts: 718
Joined: 02-08-2011
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OlegTinkov wrote:
CountArach wrote:
Mr_Monk wrote:
1. What mounth of the season is this?
September
Mr_Monk wrote:
2. How come only 7 riders per team (or is that some part of the man-game rules)?
Man-Game rules.
Mr_Monk wrote:
3. Do you know what cities/states/mountains are in the Tour?
No idea. I'll address that as they come up.
Mr_Monk wrote:
4. Where can I download this race
Not sure.
I build the race for almost every pcm:
OlegTinkov wrote:
Tour of America 2011
Spoiler
Info
Date: 01.07.2011
Country: USA
UCI Cat.: None
UCI Naam: Tour of America
UCI Road Calendar: Men Elite
Length: 21 stages, more than 3,500 km
Start - Finish: Manhattan, New York - San Francisco, California
Route: (by SportingNonsense) We start in Manhattan, New York - but the race doesnt hang around there, the opening flat stage and we already move into a 2nd stage, with the finish in Philadelphia. Stage 2 and State number 3, with a flat finish in Baltimore. For the 3rd stage, we get to the capital city Washington DC - but thats only on the route, before a flat finish in Hagerstown.
Various state parks and forests are ridden through on Stage 4 as we have the first of 2 key stages involving Morgantown. It's a hilly stage to get there, and a 26km TTT once there. The journey west continues from there, with 3 flat stages ending in Parkersburg, Columbus and Dayton, as we move from West Virginia to Ohio and then into Indiana, with Stage 9 ending in Indianapolis to close the first 9 days of racing and bring an end to the mostly sprint dominated action.
The rest day flight of over 1000 miles takes us over states including Missouri - who have had their cycling fix for the year - and into one of the central points in American cycling, Boulder, Colorado. Immediately into the mountainous stages, and the first part of the route takes in some tough climbs in the first half before not the hardest finish in Breckenridge. The next stage to Minturn is next, classed as a tough hilly stage, but what follows is a mountain time trial at Vail Ski Resort - first going up, then back down again. Stage 13 next, and the Queen stage. From Vail, we head through towns Dillon, Silver Plume, Empire and Winter Park until the stage finish up Rollins Pass. 5 tough climbs that should have a huge effect on the race. The mountains continue on Stage 14, heading north from Winter Park, the big climb here coming on the Trail Ridge Road - which is closed in winters! Still over 100km to go from there though, but its not an easy route as we move back into Boulder. The Colorado leg ends on Stage 15, with a couple of laps of the Morgul-Bismarck cycling loop around Boulder.
Another 1000 mile rest day journey and we are in Reno - perhaps not the best chosen place for a race day given the amount of casinos! It makes Nevada the 8th state visited, and we are soon into California (where we will stay) in a route around Lake Tahoe and ending in Tahoe City. I dont know why there is a Nevada City in California, but there is, and a hilly stage through the Tahoe National forest reaches it for a tricky stage finale. Any sprinters with energy left will enjoy Stage 18 - probably their last chance of victory aswell - as we head to the flat lands of Sacramento. Worries you may have that this route is light on individual time trial kilometres can be put to rest on Stage 19, a 57km course in and around Sacramento. In normal Grand Tours, the last TT would be the last decisivie stage. Not here, the race designer (i.e. me) has opted to end the race with 2 hilly stages. Stage 20 takes us to Santa Rosa and in Stage 21 we quickly reach San Francisco, with an intermediate sprint on or close to the Golden Gate Bridge, before we then head slightly eastwards to the Mt Diablo State park for the final climb of the race!
This is an awsome route 
My only complaint is that you spend a week in Colorado and then fly over Utah to Nevada and California  Surely Utah deserves a couple stages, there are some great climbs and lots of cycling fans |
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| ember |
Posted on 08-07-2012 09:02
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Team Leader
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Quite as expected from Jørgensen, he needs to be lucky with the positioning if he's going to grab a stage win. Nice try from Viennet, but it was never meant to be on an opening stage like this. A nice report aswell, CountArach, setting a high standard for what's to follow
Congrats to Meiji! |
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| Heine |
Posted on 08-07-2012 09:48
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4116
Joined: 08-04-2007
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If I stay in the ct I will participate in this race next year, just for fun
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