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GP Postojna: Discussion Thread
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 13-02-2013 21:34
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Slovenia, and the city of Postojna plays host for this race - creatively named after the very same city. Twelve difficult laps are what's awaiting the riders, with the steep Lohaca climb being the obvious highlight. The puncheurs will probably thrive, but everyone else are likely to really suffer through this.
As the race makes it's entrance in the ManGame, it's hard to predict the outcome. The flat kilometers following the last ascent of the Lohaca creates a possibility for dropped riders to return - making this even harder!
Moving on to the participants.
 Team Gazelle are going into the race with full firepower, clearly looking to dominate this race. Their captain and CT's hilly star Pieter Weening showed his strength in San Cristobal, but might've been a bit too aggressive too early in the race.
They could also opt for the other option; co-leader Blaz Furdi, as he might be better suited to the fast, flat finish this race offers. The strength of their squad will allow them to control the race any way they wish.
 Iberia are ready to accept Gazelle's challenge once again - albeit without their biggest star Joaquin Rodriguez. Second in line Samuel Sanchez is happy to fill his compatriot's shoes however, and will surely do everything to convince the team management that he deserves a free role in all the hilly races.
Will be interesting to see if he has recovered from the big disappointment in San Cristobal, or if others like Blazquez, Toribio or Valencia will shine brighter again. As you can see, they're ready to continue the rivalry with Gazelle.
 Kappa-ENI also joins the heads of state this time, after deciding to skip the hilly season opener in San Cristobal. Michele Scarponi spearheads the Italian squad that also includes other potential danger men like Manuele Mori and Francesco Failli.
Those three must be looked at as the big favourites, but there's plenty of strong opposition.
 Privatbank's three-pronged attack force is one to watch particularly closely. Former Jayco-Redbull rider and Russian champion Eduard Vorganov will try to shake things up on the climbs together with Cesar Andre Fonte, and if that doesn't work they'll still have a very quick finisher in Filipe Cardoso - who is probably good enough climber to survive these climbs.
 Pivovarna Lasko's HQ might be 150km away from here, but they've surely still looked forward to this race ever since the start of the season. Local wonder boy Marko Kump costed them a fair few doublons during the transfer season, so he has some pressure on his shoulders to perform - as he is given a captain's role already today.
Fellow youngsters Jan Tratnik and Sean de Bie will help him out as much as possible, but he'll probably find himself isolated a little too early knowing the difficulty of this parcours.
 Magna-Ryanair have gone for a wide spread of leaders rather than focusing on one particular rider like some of the other teams. Perikles Ilias shocked with a third place in Cristobal, and will try to repeat that today while Markus Eibegger and perhaps even Arnaud Demare and Paidi O'Brien might look for results of their own.
 FC Barcelona are also going for the many leaders-tactic, with Jordi Grau being perhaps their strongest card. Mikel Nieve and Sylvain Calzati; who is already familiar with the strength in depth plan since his time with Jayco-Redbull, will take free roles next to him.
 BNCR must be considered an outsider for today. Western Asian duo Sergey Firsanov and Nazar Jumabekov will lead the team as they hope to place both inside the top 20 and perhaps one in the top 10. High quality support comes from Marco Salas.
 Credexbank are also fielding a bit of a dark horse squad, primarily centered around aging Polishs stage racer Przemyslaw Niemiec. They have a whole group of riders capable of entering the top 15 in a race like this however. Thinking mainly of Michal Golas, Adrian Honkisz and young prodigy Stanislau Bazhkou.
 LukOil - Rostelekom are predicted to be the weakest team here, discounting the control team. The Russian team isn't at all built for races like this, and will hope for a few points from Vadim Maslennikov as they await their favourite territory in upcoming stage races.
The full list of starters:
Report will come after South Africa finishes and the start of Paris-Nice and Thuringen Rundfahrt.
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| fjhoekie |
Posted on 13-02-2013 21:43
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Very strong startlist, high hopes for my team...
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game |
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| Stevenag |
Posted on 13-02-2013 21:45
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This is our win goal for the season, and i feel its within reach, even if Scarponi lacks the kick to take it in a sprint with to many riders. Has to hope for a big tempo, ending in some sort of final with the "big three" (Weening, Sanchez, Scarponi). If we can make it impossible for most other riders to participate in the final, anything can happen. |
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| roturn |
Posted on 13-02-2013 21:47
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Stevenag wrote:
This is our win goal for the season, and i feel its within reach, even if Scarponi lacks the kick to take it in a sprint with to many riders. Has to hope for a big tempo, ending in some sort of final with the "big three" (Weening, Sanchez, Scarponi). If we can make it impossible for most other riders to participate in the final, anything can happen.
You have Villella here. Sure you will win then. 
I think this time Weening will win as he learned from his attacks. |
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| Firefly21 |
Posted on 13-02-2013 22:08
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Domestique
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Eibegger and Ilias can hopefully grab a top 15 or so; anything beyond that seems almost impossible given the profile of the race (doesn't suit us) and the strength of the startlist (hard!).
Should be a fun race to watch though!
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| Spilak23 |
Posted on 13-02-2013 22:25
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Sanchez beated Weening already when he could go for his own chance. No Mehr-Wenige here but Scarponi who is quite equal. Those three will definatly finish on the podium. Let's hope it's on a high step!
Also hoping that one of the other guys (Toribio, Valencia or Blazquez) can crack the top 10 again.
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| CountArach |
Posted on 13-02-2013 23:07
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Weening is my favourite here and I look forward to the continued rivalry between the top 2 CT teams.
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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 13-02-2013 23:16
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That's a very strong field! My biggest hope and objective for this race is that Weening doesn't do anything stupid. Secondary objective is a top 3 position and a second rider in top 10.
I hope the enormous length of the race plus the constant up and down will make it very selective, thus making Weenings bad sprinting less of a problem.
I'm very curious to see what Scarponi can do in his first hilly fixture. I consider him very strong.
Good luck to everyone involved!
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Posted on 24-11-2024 06:30
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 14-02-2013 05:44
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Very hard race, judging from the profie, so i expect as others the battle of Gazelle and Iberia, with dark horses Kump and Scarponi. Good luck to all. 
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 16-02-2013 21:40
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Great win for Kump. I literally shitted my pants when I saw the place from Gazzele riders. Why can't you and Iberia share points with us?  |
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| Spilak23 |
Posted on 16-02-2013 21:42
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So this is how a bad result feels!
The race was just too flat. Can't be unhappy though. Blazquez showed himself today following attacks from the best. Sanchez' attack was the strongest but the race not selective enough.
Congrats to Kump on a nice win in his home country.
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| Firefly21 |
Posted on 16-02-2013 21:53
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Domestique
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Wait over 250km of a rolling course, a group of 61(!) riders finished with the exact same time? That is absolutely insane.
Obviously happy as Demare gets another strong result, I did not really think this race would suit him, but pleased to see him there at the finale able to show his sprinting prowess. 13th and 17th for Ilias and Eibegger respectively is also really nice for us.
Nice report Pelli, and congrats to Pivovarna for the win!
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| Stevenag |
Posted on 16-02-2013 21:56
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Domestique
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Hard to be to disappointed with two in the top three, but it kinda sucks when this was our win goal for the season. A lot of close calls so far this season, but at least we are always somewhere in the top of the results. |
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| fjhoekie |
Posted on 16-02-2013 22:11
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Ehm yea, disappointed really... Team Invisable, where I'd like Team Invincable, almost the same when you pronounce it but...
Atleast we showed our green bikes again in the break... But when you have Vorganov and Cardoso in the P when the sprint starts, I guess it'd be fair to expect more...
Nice report tho, very well written.
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game |
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| cio93 |
Posted on 17-02-2013 02:39
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Demare slowly starting to justify his wage
Really happy to see him up front, though the reason for it was a surprisingly non-selective race once more this season.
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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 17-02-2013 04:03
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Wow, I'm so confused right now. Don't know whether to be happy or disappointed...
I don't like seeing such a long and tough hilly race end in a mass sprint. But it has to be said that the favorites didn't work together to stay away very well and a flat ending also doesn't help. So I'm hopeful that this is not a trend that will continue.
Another thing I don't like is the absolute fail by Weening. Not being able to follow Grau, Scarponi and Furdi in his first real effort of the day. And then completely letting go and finishing way behind his teammates, who have been slaving at the front of the peloton for him all day.
But I'm delighted with the support team. They did a great job controlling the race, showing our colors and eventually raking in a good amount of points in the sprint, making this actually one of our best results so far if you look at points per raceday.
Congrats to Kump and his manager; that was a very strong and well-timed jump!
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| Smowz |
Posted on 17-02-2013 08:09
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Not particularly surprised that this ended up in a sprint. Not that it was a true field sprint as Kump won it by producing the best timed attack.
I think we are seeing that nationality is always a really strong influence, especially when differences between the stats is relatively small as it is in C2 races.
Thrilled to see Mori do exactly what he did a number of times for Red Bull last year, he has a nice finishing kick and a good eye for position it seems.
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| cio93 |
Posted on 17-02-2013 11:10
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Smowz wrote:
I think we are seeing that nationality is always a really strong influence, especially when differences between the stats is relatively small as it is in C2 races.
Just like in Italy, huh? 
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| Vien |
Posted on 17-02-2013 11:32
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Crazy results here. Certainly put a grin on my face. I hope the pack will stay together in hilly races more often
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| kumazan |
Posted on 17-02-2013 13:15
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Kump!  Exactly what I hoped when I sent him here, and worked out just perfectly. Of course the fact that the race wasn't selective at all (with over 4000m of accumulated height and 260km!) helped a lot, but what the hell, we suffered enough from that in South Africa.
And ridiculous Gazelle with 5 men in the first 14, the depth they have is just amazing.
Brilliant report Pelli.
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