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Tour of Vancouver Discussion
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| CountArach |
Posted on 16-04-2013 12:05
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Grand Tour Champion
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Vancouver and its surrounds play host to what has to be the premier HC stage racing event of the season in the PCT. A mountain time trial to start off the race sets the scene. The winner will likely carry the leader’s jersey through the next two fairly flat stages before we hit the tough stage that finishes on top of Cypress Mountain. A fairly rolling flatish stage awaits after that before stage six’s race to the top of Mt. Seymour. If that weren’t enough the riders must now contest with a 25km long TT that will determine the final outcome.
What makes this race truly special, however, is the startlist, with almost all of the best stage racers and climbers in the division turning up to try to take out the big win here. So let’s see who is present:
Topping the list as probably the biggest favourite is  Rein Taaramae, the big Estonian stage racer. A superb climber and a better TTist than most of his competition, this race is perfectly suited to his characteristics. Not only that but he brings along some very strong assistance in the form of mountain goat Oscar Solis.
Looking to give him a run for his money is one of the sensations of this season,  Timofey Kritskiy. He has been accused of over-performing this year, but it hard to see why. He can at least match most of the climbers in this race when it comes to climbing and then he is a much better TTist than almost all of them. Anything less than a podium in this race would be a disappointment and he will be hoping to challenge for the top step.
A man needing no introductions is  Jaroslav Popovych who comes here as a big chance for at least a podium place. He can certainly climb well enough to take it out and his TTing is still top-notch but you have to wonder about his team. They are looking a bit thin with only one decent climbing domestique who might be able to make it at least half way up the key mountains. This could hurt in the Ukrainian in his bid for the win.
 David Abal will relish this racing. It isn’t often that you get a stage race like this without any hills to speak of, which should certainly improve the Spaniard’s chances. He is one of the best riders in the race when it comes to going up mountains, and he can TT with the best but he is another rider who will have to perform without his team there to support him, as they are presently in a rebuilding phase with lots of young talent.
Though he is not normally the biggest contender in the mountains,  Martijn Keizer has to be listed as a top favourite given the MTT and also the long flat TT that concludes this race. Even if he loses a short amount of time in the mountains, he can make it back in the TT. Finally, much like Abal, he will be glad that there aren’t any hilly stages. He brings a couple of strong climbers with him for support and they should help to get him up the mountains in one piece.
Having a brilliant season so far is  Domenico Pozzovivo, who probably comes here hoping for at least a top 5 but surely even a podium would not be out of the question. He is a great climber who it will be almost impossible to drop, but he could fall down in the flat TT, which is certainly not his favourite discipline. However, if he can overcome this and place himself highly, it will greatly help Vespa’s outside bid at a promotion slot.
If feels odd to be this far down the startlist and only start to mention  Jose Alarcon. The famous Venezuelan turns up here to stake his claim to at least the two mountain stages. He will be tough to beat there. The question is, can he turn success in these two stages into an overall victory? He certainly isn’t the best TT rider, to put it mildly, but if he can hurt everyone else enough in the mountains and conserve some energy himself, he could be able to at least limit his losses in the final stage. Expect to see him making this race spectacular, though.
 Ruben Plaza is perhaps the opposite of Alarcon. He can’t climb quite as well as a lot of the other riders here but no one will doubt his time trial ability. He will be expecting a great performance in the first and last stages, but will this be enough to lift him onto the podium? It is also worth noting his teammate Nicacio who comes here as a decent bet for a top 10 if he can hold on in the mountains.
Looking to keep his team’s promotion contest alive and well is  Robert Kiserlovski. Hollister always put out a big team with several major climbers for these races but strangely the only major support will be Monsalve. Regardless, Kiserlovski has enough talent to fight with most of the best in the mountains and while he isn’t considered a time trialist, he can perform well enough to be a threat. He is yet another rider who, under the right circumstances, could really have a shot at a top 5.
 Gianpaulo Caruso gets a lot of flack for being a huge drain on his team’s budget, and some of that criticism is justified, but regardless he is really good for these races. He is a strong climber and his time trialing is passable at least. His problem here will be a complete lack of teammates and with this in mind he will probably just be aiming for a top ten with this sort of field.
He may be getting older but he is certainly still competitive at this level -  Stijn Devolder has turned up with a shout at a top 10. He has always been a tremendous well-rounded rider and he will be hoping to show that off today. His team leaves a bit to be desired, but he should be okay given he isn’t aiming for the top step.
Not having the best of seasons so far, Swedbank will be hoping that  Thomas Lovkvist can really turn things around. He will be aiming for a top 10, which should be possible for someone with his all-round talents. He also has a great team of climbing domestiques around him who could also score well in addition to helping him out on the tougher climbs.
Perhaps strangely opting not to send their biggest gun, Repsol have sent  Sergio Ortega, Jairo Agudelo and Alex Ardila Cano to share leadership of the team. They are currently coming last in the PCT rankings and really need at least one of these three to score well, preferably all three.
Still kicking for another season  John Gadret carries the hopes of the home French-Canadian team. He is surrounded by a large number of local Canadaian riders, which will make the crowds love the team. Gadret will have to be aggressive in the mountains to stand any real chance here, as he will struggle against the clock. Still, with a bit of luck a top 10 could be possible, and would indeed be popular. Sebastian Ivars will also be a name to watch. If he can hold on somewhat in the mountains he could rocket up the field in the time trial.
There have been some question marks this season over where  Michael Rogers is racing, and here he is. Certainly he will be disappointed if he doesn’t take the final stage, and he will be hoping to win the first stage too. His problem is that he really does lack a lot in the mountains against the best here and will need to limit his losses because there really is only so much time that he can make up against the clock. Still, don’t discount him entirely from a good result.
With all the money spend on  Joe Dombrowski, who is here for this race, it is unsurprising that Fredrik Kessiakoff leads the WWE team for another season, even though he is past his best. Holding on and hoping might be the Swede’s best chance but in all honesty he will be hoping for a top 15. A stage win for the team would be a huge effort and they might do better to concentrate on that.
 Peter Stetina leads the Japanese Meiji team and he could be the sort of rider that will make this interesting. He is a great mountain-goat but he just plain sucks at time trialing. So ultimately he will have to be attacking again and again. Much like Alarcon, expect to see him lighting up the race when the road goes up. Junya Sano is always worth watching as well and is slightly better rounded than Stetina.
The double team of  Francisco Colorado and Edwin Parra Bustamente will have to ride really aggressively to get much out of this race though you wonder if they could perhaps take a shot at a stage win with an early attack. Neither can time trial well and may struggle once the hammer really goes down in the mountains.
With all these big GC riders you would be forgiven for assuming that no sprinters turned up but with three potential stage wins and a real shot at the points jersey in a HC race, several have turned up. Belarusian champion Yauheni Hutarovich will certainly be one of the big names to beat and his biggest competition might come from Aleksandr Serebriakov. Bruno Santos will suffer in the hills but if he makes it he could well be a big factor. Jaime Alberto Castaneda is in a similar boat, but may also struggle on just the rolling terrain.  Luka Mezgec on the other hand will like the slightly lumpy terrain on the sprint stages and might be able to pull one over the more naturally quick guys. Francesco Chicchi will hope to upset the PCT sprinters and is quick enough to do it.
There are also some decent second-string sprinters to look out for such as Wouter Weylandt, Oscar Gatto, Mattias Westling, Baden Cooke and Sascha Damrow.
And here is the complete startlist:
Edited by CountArach on 16-04-2013 12:08
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| CountArach |
Posted on 16-04-2013 12:05
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Grand Tour Champion
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I just want to say bravo to everyone who entered this race for making one of the best startlists that could be imagined. The mountain stages are going to be awesome.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 03:53
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 16-04-2013 12:13
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Don't know what to expect.. Probably a disastrous outcome  i just have to hope that Rogers won't lose several minutes in the rather short but tough climbs. If he sits up in this ''autobus''-monster, nothing will go well here for us. Final TT is a must though.
Huge startlist indeed. Should be a great debut for this tour in the MG!
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| kumazan |
Posted on 16-04-2013 12:14
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Poor Devolder, prepare to get raped. Again.  Hoping to grab a stage with Huta though, that and a decent GC from Stijn - something like top 15 - would be good enough for us.
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| rycadinho |
Posted on 16-04-2013 12:20
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 this should be quite a spectacle to watch and I'm pretty happy that it's from a neutral point of view.
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 16-04-2013 12:26
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Excellent preview Count and excellent startlist!
Popovych is here for top5, which should be possible, but our dream is top3, but i think that is unfortunately reserved for Taramae,Kritskiy and either Abal,Keiijzer or Pozzo, these will be biggest favourites and our opponents.
I seriously hope that Rogers will be dropped soon and will loose truckloads, because he could surprise with two TTs. (sorry Tsmoha)
And that mountain support for Popovych is not the best in the race, but it is all the best we have this season and it is not so bad,as reporter suggested(75,74,74).
Maybe Hesjedal can try something surprisive in his home tour, fans should cheer for him for sure!
Edited by Avin Wargunnson on 16-04-2013 12:26
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| Spilak23 |
Posted on 16-04-2013 12:36
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Dekker keeps avoiding his rivals.
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 16-04-2013 12:36
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Tour de France Champion
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This race is going to be an EPIC!!!!! The best startlist i've seen all season for an HC event. I am not going to attempt to predict a winner for any stages.
Boeing line up for our "home" race sporting three Canadian lads with high hopes. Sparling is even a local lad, from Victoria whilst Routley is also local from Whistler.
Just looking for some breaks, and anything more is a major bonus.
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| OlegTinkov |
Posted on 16-04-2013 12:37
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Posts: 2666
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Thanks for the preview!
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| tyriion |
Posted on 16-04-2013 13:26
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rycadinho wrote:
this should be quite a spectacle to watch and I'm pretty happy that it's from a neutral point of view.
+1
Looking forward to it even though we're not racing here. Mountains should be dug off and dropped into the valleys
Check out my ManGame team here
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 16-04-2013 13:29
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8057
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Top 5 with Abal would be acceptable, top 3 would be great considering this epic startlist. Can't wait!
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 16-04-2013 15:20
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World Champion
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With every big mountainous race, I keep wondering why I didn't realise that Caruso is far from one of the best climbers in the division this year. I really should've focused on longer races like Langkawi, America, etc... for him. Preparing to get destroyed again. Would be happy with any place among the top 10, but top 15 is probably more realistic.
Hard to look past Taaramae for the win. Kritskiy and Pozzovivo to join him on the podium.
Oh, and great preview Count!
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| viking90 |
Posted on 16-04-2013 15:45
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whoop, good luck getting anything good out of this |
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| Christer |
Posted on 16-04-2013 17:07
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Hoping to sneak in some points for my team. Would probably not be here if this was on a different continent.
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| Heine |
Posted on 16-04-2013 17:07
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Podium from keizer would be great, i have gicen him the best support possible (except for ratiy) so he should deliver
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 16-04-2013 18:12
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What a freakin' startlist. We should be up for a main show, if the IA is up to it.  |
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 16-04-2013 18:15
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tsmoha wrote:
Don't know what to expect.. Probably a disastrous outcome \
Huge startlist indeed. Should be a great debut for this tour in the MG!
This
Dont really need a huge result here, but of course points are going to be needed quite a bit from now on, so anything would be great.
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| brownwm |
Posted on 16-04-2013 18:21
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Every race is a big race for me now, I need a big points scorer, because I can't completely rely on Kashechkin to bring me all my points. Come on team, need some luck.
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| Smowz |
Posted on 16-04-2013 19:03
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Real high quality startlist, hope the racing matches up to it.
I am interested to see how Kritskiy goes here, who has been a revelation in stage racing in the Ctour ranks. Alarcon is the wildcard, he showed an attacking flair before lets see if he goes on the rampage again!
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 16-04-2013 19:26
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Team Manager
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Pretty much the same startlist that we had with Giro del Trentino, just with the additions of Plaza and Keizer.
That saw 1 good mountain stage and 2 bad ones, hopefully Vancouver can deliver 2 good ones, but I fear it might not. Summit finishes appear to be more destructive if theres enough tough climbing earlier in the stage.
It is interesting though how the top mountain riders just keep cancelling each other out in these races. Sharing the success around wont really help any of the managers!
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![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
