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Tour of East Java Discussion
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 06-08-2013 20:42
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Directeur Sportif
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PCM$: 300.00
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The Profiles/
East Java is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the eastern part of the island of Java. Its capital is Surabaya, the second largest city in Indonesia and a major industrial center and port.
Surabaya will also feature the race-concluding criterium: three flat stages and therefore a festival for the CT's top-sprinters!
We do notice some difficulties in the first two stages though. So far this season, we've seen most flat stages ending with a bunch sprint, so we better expect the same here. But don't underestimate both those climbs and tough weather conditions. 40+ degrees wouldn't be surprising by this time of the year.
The Startlist/
The Favorites/
Let's start the preview with the local heroes:  Team Bintang is better known for it's strong climbing squad and therefore ain't aiming for a win here (well, they better don't).. but of course they'll know the crowd on their site. And who knows? Maybe Dimitri De Fauw will be able to join the mix for a Top-10.
But let's have a look at the top-favorites now.. most of the teams brought their best sprinters, with only a few (surprising) exceptions:
 Napolitano is without any question the top-rated sprinter here. A strong lead-out train and a lot of experience should also favor his already good chances to collect both stage-wins and the overall.
 Cavendish, Docker and Vaitkus build AirBaltic's well-known triple-header. If they play their cards well, Cav or Aussie-champion Doc should aim for a Top-3 at least.
 Roelandts is both fast and is capable of surviving some tricky profiles. So if the short climbs will play a role here, the Belgian could become the very top-favorite.
 Guarnieri and still-at-his-best  Davis join this trio of favorites. Davis is known to do well on even hillier profiles, so he's a similar threat as Roelandts is.
Now the biggest surprise and gamble:  Bellis will lead the Rothaus-squad! The team and it's manager definitely did a lot of things right so far, so we shouldn't count Bellis off, even though they may only be little hope for selective stages.
 Kreder,  Feillu,  Park and  Sutton look like the most dangerous sprinters behind those mentioned names.. any advantage for the Asian team Meiji here? They do hope so, of course.
 Van Poppel/Hopman,  Taborre,  Matzka,  Van der Lijke,  Baumann would need some very good days to enter the Top-10.. and  Team Sauber would need some very very good days and pure luck!
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| jph27 |
Posted on 06-08-2013 20:44
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Team Leader
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Win goal for us, doubt it will happen. Roelandts and Bellis or a break for me. |
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 06-08-2013 20:52
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3634
Joined: 03-07-2012
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this race is all about experience for the youngsters, so let's hope one of them can experience a breakaway stage win. maybe if we are extremely lucky Jiriakov can show that his sprint finish isn't all that bad and steal a top 25 on one of the stages but I must admit that being ranked ahead of the control team is a victory in itself.
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| roturn |
Posted on 06-08-2013 20:54
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Team Manager
Posts: 22246
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I just played this race once and so I have absolutely no idea how the AI will handle it. I hope that my team makes the race as difficult as possible.
But I expect at least 2 and eventually even 3 very selective stages here. That`s why I deleted all better sprinters in that lineup so that Bellis will always go for the bonus seconds.
I hope to win that race to be honest but a top5 is fine for me.
Actually I think stage 3 will be the hardest, so one stage win should be possible.
Don`t be surprised if I don`t respond after the stages. Won`t have internet connection for some days.
Edited by roturn on 06-08-2013 20:59
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| Bjartne |
Posted on 06-08-2013 23:02
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2907
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Have no clue what to expect here. Could have brought Lo Cicero, but he would probably fallen short against some better hilly sprinters here. We'll try with Matzka, but our squad is built around fighters, so I expect us to be aggressive as that's our only hope realistically  |
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 06-08-2013 23:03
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World Champion
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Not shore what's going to happen. I imagine the hills are hard enough to brake the pack but will see if the AI is smart enough to push hard across those. Anyway, maybe Guarnieri is a good bet for this. |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 11:28
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| CountArach |
Posted on 07-08-2013 01:20
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Grand Tour Champion
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Hopefully we can get in a break at some point and take bonus time there as this is what it will come down to.
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 07-08-2013 06:13
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World Champion
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Good to see some strongest sprinters here, they will have lesser remaining race days against our Hoffman human rocket.
Good luck to all, i sense some surprise, Bellis can be actually a favourite.
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| tyriion |
Posted on 08-08-2013 13:59
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Sprinter
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Mmm, way bigger starting list than I had hoped for. Good luck to all, but most to van Poppel of course.
Check out my ManGame team here
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| CountArach |
Posted on 08-08-2013 14:36
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Grand Tour Champion
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tyriion wrote:
Mmm, way bigger starting list than I had hoped for. Good luck to all, but most to van Poppel of course.
I mean this was always a no brainer to pick in my eyes even if you have a half-decent sprinter. Only 3 race days for the potential to win a stage race, as well as all 3 stages.
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 08-08-2013 19:41
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11819
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Won't have access to my laptop tonight, so I guess I'll post the first report tomorrow. Sorry, guys!
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| jph27 |
Posted on 09-08-2013 20:10
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Team Leader
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Wave bye to the goal, stupid team performance. That's why we need a train, so Napo isn't boxed in  |
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 09-08-2013 20:15
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World Champion
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Cav trolled a whole pack.  Congrat's to Vespa, so far my prediction was right.  |
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 09-08-2013 20:54
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Classics Specialist
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96th on the stage and 98th in GC, this is going to be a painfully long 3 stages for us. I'll consider it a miracle if we get out of this race with a point.
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| CountArach |
Posted on 09-08-2013 23:19
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Grand Tour Champion
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Now that's a huge pleasant surprise and those sorts of stages are the whole reason I brought in Feillu. Hopefully that little rise in the finale tomorrow makes the same impact.
Thanks for the report, you kept a mostly flat stage really interesting.
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| jph27 |
Posted on 10-08-2013 20:30
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Team Leader
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Need to win stage 3 now, for a thin hope of winning to come true. Shame, I was hoping for 3/5 goals. Congrats Vespa and AirBaltic  |
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 10-08-2013 20:30
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World Champion
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Well finally my team shows a bit of life, but its only an 8th place. If only the startlist wasn't so strong... 
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| Crommy |
Posted on 10-08-2013 21:12
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World Champion
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Great stuff from Roelandts. I'll be happy if he can stay in the top 3 GC
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| jph27 |
Posted on 11-08-2013 22:03
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Team Leader
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I don't mind losing, but to an inactive team which cost us the stage and GC win plus a goal is a little frustrating. Thanks for the report tsmoha, not looking good for next season's budget. |
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| Bjartne |
Posted on 11-08-2013 23:53
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2907
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Pleased with the gaps today, as they favoured me alot. Could have get some decent points here, if not my ENTIRE team was dropped yesterday
Well, 13 points is better than 0
Thanks for the reports tsmoha! |
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