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Strade Bianche Discussion
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| roturn |
Posted on 10-05-2014 17:01
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Team Manager
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The Strade Bianche already has a nice history in the Man Game going into the 6th edition. So far the race was always dominated by either a puncheur or a cobbler. And actually it might be the same in 2014 as well.
176km does not sound that long for a classic. But with lots of kilometers on gravel roads, it`s still a very special one. The question will be if the gravels are hard enough to let a cobbler take this one or if the puncheurs take profit of the short climbs.
It`s hard to say actually. First I present some puncheurs that are supposed to do well here:
 Ulissi
 Ben Nasser
 Di Maggio
 Betancourt
 Roy
 Zaini
 Barrio/Cobo
 Kelderman/Vogt
 Zeits
 Visconti
 Acevedo
 Berhane
Obviously going down that list the quality also goes down. Ulissi some kind of top favourite here in case the puncheurs are the strongest.
But we also have those puncheurs, that lack the strongest uphill kick but then have a strong sprint and actually we have quite a few here:
Van Stayen
Ventoso
 Ignatiev
 Kump
 Gavazzi
Felline
 Oss
Wegmann
 Bole
 De Maar
 Santambrogio
 Anderson
So in case the stage is not that selective or one of those is able to hang on with the better puncheurs, their final kick in a group sprint could become important.
The race gives us a lot of opportunities, so of course we aren`t done yet. Here a list of cobblers, that might try it with a late attack:
Baugnies
Steurs
Franzoi
Not the longest list but some very strong riders with Baugnies probably stand out due to his good hill strength.
And last but not least also some sprinters that might do well here as the hills shouldn`t hurt them too much but more than the riders mentioned above:
 Haussler
Hoffman
Gasparotto
Dall'Antonia
Modolo
Andriato/Ferrari
Lorenzetto
So in total a pretty strong startlist even though some big names are in the clashing race Gisborne GP. But it shows the huge amount of top riders in the PCT to fill two hilly races at the same time without a weak startlist.
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 10-05-2014 17:05
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Got three chances here to try and complete out top five goal, with Ben Nasser probably the most likely to pull off a good result. Fingers crossed.
Looking forward to the race, should be a very interesting one with such a range of riders here. |
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| cio93 |
Posted on 10-05-2014 17:08
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World Champion
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Very difficult what to estimate for this race. I'm decently covered for both pure puncheur and punchy sprinter selectivity, although I would love to see Kelderman/Vogt joining the right break for once.
Three riders with 75+ hill should give us the opportunity to race more aggressively.
Heck, why not a successful mid-stage attack by Delage like in his good old PCT times in 2012?
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| jph27 |
Posted on 10-05-2014 17:08
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This is similar enough to the stages in South Africa that Haussler was 2nd on for me not to be overly worried. Van Stayen will win though. |
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| admirschleck |
Posted on 10-05-2014 17:09
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Both Bole and Dall'Antonia getting a mention in preview - it can only be good. Top 20 is some kind of goal. Top 10 and anything above that would be crazy.
Looking forward to the reports!
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 10-05-2014 17:09
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Hopefully Visconti plays his national bonus and backup stats well here. Top-10 would be great, Top-15 has to be the mininum. I can imagine a rather big group at the finish though, so i guess it will be kinda lottery for Visconti.
Looking forward to this double-header by roturn anyway. One good result should be possible. Just perform like Del Nero did most recently 
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 14:34
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| Alakagom |
Posted on 10-05-2014 17:09
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Unpredictable race this one. We got few options with De Maar suited to this race quite nicely, don't have any real hopes though. Top 10 would be nice.
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 10-05-2014 17:15
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The 1st of 4 times Cobo and Ventoso partner up. Hopefully it goes better than what the Ventoso/Barrio duo did at the Tour Down Under where Barrio decided to take a back seat and watch Ventoso the entire time.
Have to go Van Stayen for the win though, he is too OP in bunch sprints.
Which is what I expect this to be. 
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 10-05-2014 18:27
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went with Anderson here to use Bellis in the race were stamina comes into play more so let's see what happens |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 10-05-2014 18:29
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Tour de France Champion
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Chicchi!!! How can he not do well here
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| Mhaley45 |
Posted on 10-05-2014 19:03
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This is they type of race that Marko Kump could dominate in a year or 2, for now we will be happy if he just has a solid race and steals a few points for the team.
=========================================
Team Manager of AMEX - Navigon
Editor of the Cobbler
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 11-05-2014 07:48
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Strong startlist, but honestly surprised to see so many puncheurs without strong finishing kick, i think this will not be so selective as their managers hope.
We are going here with two headed dragon in form of Ignatiev (first PCT race in 2014) and Hoffman and we hope for top10 with one of them, both there would be huge. When i see Ignatiev in Catalunya in PT field, i am no so much worried about puncheur opposition, rather about those like Van Beasten or Ventoso.
Good luck to all!
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| Sykkel_Freak |
Posted on 11-05-2014 10:45
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My first goal of the season, which also happens to be my win goal. I'm hoping the duo Van Stayen/Di Maggio will manage to achieve the goal, but a top 3 would also be decent.
Looking forward to the report!
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| ggDonovan |
Posted on 11-05-2014 10:53
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Strong startlist in Tuscany. We are capable to finish within the first 5 riders but a top 10 will satisfy us.
Good luck!
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| Alakagom |
Posted on 11-05-2014 17:08
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World Champion
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Great effort by Baugnies, 11th in this field is pretty awesome.
Van Stayen is on his way to become most expensive ''sprinter'' in the man-game me thinks 
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 11-05-2014 17:11
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Very good, that's now 2/2 goals completed! Ben Nasser strong enough in the finale to get second, and I guess that's the best we could have asked with Van Staeyen here. Very happy with how that went.
Shame Wegmann and Gasparotto had to sacrifice their chances and possibly more points, but I'm happy enough with just 2nd. Thanks for the report roturn. |
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| admirschleck |
Posted on 11-05-2014 17:12
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Pff, game once again being retarded. Not that I am disappointed with that 22nd position, but why on earth it didn't choose Bole over Jovanovic, as Bole clearly has better stats for this kind of race.
1 HC race wasted. Will see what I can do in the 2nd and last one.
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 11-05-2014 17:12
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I will take a 5th with Zaini. It was a pretty strong field, but Van Stayen I think shouldn't be allowed to race in PCT
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| jph27 |
Posted on 11-05-2014 17:14
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Good to see my team is interested. Oh wait...
Guess I couldn't expect a good result mind, but Haussler still disappointed. Now to read the Gisborne report and hope we can make up for the zero pointer here. |
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 11-05-2014 17:15
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World Champion
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jph27 wrote:
Good to see my team is interested. Oh wait...
Guess I couldn't expect a good result mind, but Haussler still disappointed. Now to read the Gisborne report and hope we can make up for the zero pointer here.
Enjoy
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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)
