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Tour of South Africa Discussion
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| admirschleck |
Posted on 22-04-2014 21:32
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Welcome to the Tour of South Africa, first HC race of the February, second HC race of the year and the first real challenge for PCTs best puncheurs. The route is a bit different than the last years one as we do have "only" 6 stages this time, so spectators will have a chance to watch 6 stages with very interesting profiles. 3 of them are rated as flat and rest 3 rated as hilly. It's definitely the first chance for hilly sprinters and puncheurs to show themselves this year and maybe make some good prediction on what's going to happen on PCT hills over this 2014 season.
This race is already 3 years part of HC calendar, so the best way to continue this preview would be to take a short look on what has been happening over past 2 years in South Africa.
As I previously said, the race had its first edition back in 2012 and it was really strange one. As only 8 teams signed up for it, it looked like everyone were afraid of these short and steepy African climbs.
Back in 2012, only 2 names were really fighting for the win here and they were Jonathan Bellis and Maxime Monfort. At the end, Bellis took the win thanks to his continuity and bonus seconds, as he constantly finished in Top 10.
Can Bellis defend his 2011 title this year? We'll see!
A year after, the race returned. Once again, it featured 7 stages with very similar route comparing to previous one. Once again, continuity and constantly getting good result helped, as Nolan Hoffman grabbed the win for Metinvest, finishing in front of Flugel and Roche, who are now part of WT. Bellis finished 4th, as he missed the podium for only 6 seconds.
Hoffman showed some great sprint abilities in 2013. He's in this years race, also, but can he really justify the name of defending champion? There's only one way to discover.
For the end of this "History of the Race" part of preview, here are the Top 3 results of past 2 years, in one place:
| 2012 | 2013 | 1.  Jonathan Bellis |  Nolan Hoffman | 2.  Maxime Monfort |  Aleksander Flugel | 3.  Manuele Mori |  Nicolas Roche |
The startlist of this years Tour of South Africa is literally full of different kind of riders. Of course, most of them are puncheurs, but we can see some hilly sprinters, sprinters and climbers over here, aswell. On another side, both of the past 2 winners are here and are some of the main contenders for taking the win.
As the route is very tricky and terrain is dynamic, it's very hard to choose the favourites for this race, but we had to post few of the names that are on top of the worlds most popular bettings. Let's firstly start with puncheurs.
 Alex Dowsett is one of main favourites for taking the win here and definitely one of the best puncheurs in division. His big plus is that the team is registered as African, so this race is one of their most important, which definitely means he (and whole team) prepared well for this.
 Maxime Monfort is the next one. With having great ability to go over steepy and short climbs, Maxime is also a good climber and has a great acceleration, which will definitely help him here. He finished as 2nd back in 2012, can he do that (or even more this time) again?
 Jeremy Roy is the leader and first pick of Allianz BMW for this race. He's pretty good on every kind of terrain and can be one of the main favourites for his, but he has a huge problem with acceleration. If race tempo gets higher, I am afraid he'll soon get in trouble.
 Jack Bobridge , Oz's best puncheur is here aswell. With being one of the best puncheurs in division and definitely being the quickest guy (ACC) in PCT, he had to find his place in this preview. Big chances for him, but there will be only one winner. Can he finish on highest podium position?
 Cyril Gautier - La Vie Claire decided to send a very strong squad here, which is lead by Cyril Gautier, their best puncheur. Gautier isn't definitely the best puncheur in division, but with his all-around abilities and a good acceleration, he can definitely make something good here. He has great team to support him, aswell.
 Jonathan Bellis - What can be really said about winner of this race? Surely one of the top favourites if the race turn out to be perfect for puncheurs. He has some chances in these hilly sprints, even.
 Toms Skujins - One of the youngest puncheurs in division is here aswell and his name is Toms Skujins. Big pressure is on him and it will be interesting to see if he's going to use that as positive stuff or to fail. On a favourites scale from 1 to 10, he's rated as 8,5.
 Hassen Ben Nasser is also one of the guys that has this race in his schedule. He's great puncheur and has some decent sprint, but can he really justify the signature of Kenya Airways this time and take a win on ToSA? We'll see!
 Tommy Zaini is the guy that closes this "best puncheurs" and "top favourites" section of preview. He is great on hills and even better on downhills, but his seconday stats might take him away from the win here. Everything depends on tempo of the race.
Of course, we couldn't just name all the puncheurs that are in the race over there, so here are the names of the guy that are rated as outsiders, but can surprise:  Hategeka,  Kelderman, Vogt,  Acevedo,  Konovalovas and  Lloyd.
As there are alot of sprinters and hilly sprinters here, we're just going to mention them and only post their names below. No reason to post description and paragrahps about them, as the main target of all of them is to try staying with best puncheurs over all of these hills, in 6 days and beating them in final, mass sprints.
| Maximilano Richeze |  Oscar Gatto |  Jonathan McEvoy | | Allan Davis |  Luka Mezgec |  Jukka Vastaranta | | Manuel Belleti | Sascha Modolo |  Nolan Hoffman | | Eduard Grosu | Maciej Ulanowski | Tyler Day | | Hector Rangel | Fabio Felline | Ryan Anderson | | Anthony Brea | Kim Nielsen | Anthony Giacoppo |  Matteo Trentin | Dylan Groenwegen | Daniel Oss |  Ahmad Anuawar | Anuar Manan | Heinrich Haussler |
As you can see, last years winner Nolan Hoffman is in this group of "sprinters and hilly sprinters" , so all of these guys above have big chance of scoring some points and maybe even getting the win here.
That was all for this preview, guys are ready, South African TV stations are ready, everything is ready for start of the race - so nothing to wait for - GO!
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 22-04-2014 21:35
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World Champion
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People, get breakaywa please! |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 22-04-2014 21:38
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Right... It's a quality field so i'd take a Top20/15 from Lloyd happily. Behind him we don't have a lot to talk about. It holds a number of the same riders who came off the great days of Tachira, but that was an oddity. Notable for a rare appearance for Grashev without Thomas around as he gets to stretch his legs away from the cobbles. I'd also like at least one breakaway attempt to get the sponsor on tv.
The GC battle will be interesting. Very hard to call between them. Jaguar have had a good start so Dowsett i guess is favorite. Would love to see Ben Nasser and Hategeka going well for the African teams
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| viking90 |
Posted on 22-04-2014 21:41
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Time for Toms Skujins debut in Swedbank - PEAB uniform! 
It´s time for us to start scorÃng some pts. |
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| cio93 |
Posted on 22-04-2014 21:43
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I would love to have both Kelderman and Vogt in the Top 15 and maybe Delage contesting some sprints or breaking away.
Kelderman might target a Top 10 with some luck and good gaps on the uphill finish stages.
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 22-04-2014 21:44
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Just hoping for a working AI here. Would be a shame to see those big guns not fighting for the win. Of course i'm hoping for Bobridge in his first big race. Top-5 would be awesome, but maybe he plays his ACC wisely. He should avoid taking an early GC-lead though, as Oz ain't exactly strong enough to lead the tricky chase 
Looking forward to this and great preview!
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 28-11-2024 06:19
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| fjhoekie |
Posted on 22-04-2014 21:49
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Hoping Konovalovas will show me he was worth the money I paid to get him.
Ulanowski can't really do anything wrong here, a stage win would be a huge surprise.
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game |
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| fintas |
Posted on 22-04-2014 21:56
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I do not even know what to expect of this race, after all I have seen. would like to see McEvoy get at least the top 10 but will be more than difficult. A stage victory would also not be bad at all, but unfortunately do not think this will be possible
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| Firefly21 |
Posted on 22-04-2014 21:58
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Domestique
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I think this is a good course for Vastaranta, so hopefully he can bring either some good stage results or a nice GC placing.
Looking forward to it!
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 22-04-2014 22:01
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Top 5 goal, nothing less will be accepted! Ben Nasser should be able to outshine a few of the other favourites with his sprint stat but we'll have to see. Hoping Wegmann can grab something as well.
Looking forward to the reports  |
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| Smowz |
Posted on 22-04-2014 22:10
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I think this looks like it will be a quality race, nice work in the preview here as well admir.
I always think Monfort is a threat, he has in general been really solid in Ctour races. He gets my predo curse.
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 22-04-2014 22:17
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Really happy to see Vastrana and McEvoy will be hindered by having sprinters there so Bellis should have a nice advantage in sprints hopefully pick up some bonus seconds |
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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 23-04-2014 02:55
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I like this race because every single stage is hilly. Decided to send a strong squad and I see I'm not the only one. Relieved to see that He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named and his Venchi team are not starting though.
Our goal is to get Monfort into a top 5 GC position. If a stage ends in a mass-sprint, Oss and Nardin are free to try for stage success.
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 23-04-2014 06:37
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Beware the monster, Nolan Hoffman is back in his home country and ready to disappoint (well he will either disappoint you or me).
Just kidding, i cannot expect something similar to last year, but you never know and if Nolan can grab yellow in first stage, everybody is doomed. 
But with much better punchy sprinters around, some podiums will be enough, we simply try to go for the breakaway strategy, with Hoffman and Grosu to finish it in sprints, it can be 0 pointer or nice surprise. Good luck to all, i am happy that i left Rabon out, seeing the punchers present...
Fantastic preview Admir, only i would not see this as first chance for punchers, after Down Under...
Edited by Avin Wargunnson on 23-04-2014 06:38
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| jph27 |
Posted on 23-04-2014 07:43
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Nice to see Haussler wearing number 1. Should ensure he sprints this time, as a few of these stages suit him very well. Gautier will hopefully take a top 10, after going well at the TDU. Great preview admir |
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| Heine |
Posted on 23-04-2014 07:43
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I've always liked this race, it's up and down all the way. Looking forward to seeing the reports. My money is on Bellis
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 23-04-2014 07:46
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Hoping for some good stage results and a Top 10 in the GC. Should Zaini fail, I think Salerno might be the perfect rider to employ on a day for the breakaway.
I decided Zaini's downhill stat would really help him with most stages having a descent in the final 15km or so, usually right before the final climb, and some stages even ending on a descent.
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| Stevenag |
Posted on 23-04-2014 08:57
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Domestique
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This is one of the races that should suit Gatto the most. Some hard hills, but still flat enough for some sprint finishes.
A stage win is the goal, and hopefully a good position in GC, and maybe even challenge for point competition.
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| roturn |
Posted on 23-04-2014 09:07
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So many puncher sprinter riders this season.
Bellis though my favorite. Hope he is doing well.
Ben Nasser would be a great winner as well keeping it African.
Edited by roturn on 23-04-2014 09:09
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| aidanvn13 |
Posted on 23-04-2014 13:17
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Strong field, but hopefully Hategeka can get into the top 10. That would be the hope for our national tour. Other than that, a few top 10s by Day or Rangel would be a great. Hopefully we can manage to be represented in the breaks really often as we all know PCM 13 quite likes breakaways. Who knows, maybe a surprise stage win or another KoM jersey?
I'd like to see Ben Nasser win this one for Kenya and seeing Jaguar doing well would be nice too
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