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Tour of Taihu Discussion
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| The Rider |
Posted on 13-10-2014 09:30
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Six flat stages, three stages with three intermediate sprint points and three stages with two intermediate sprint points, comprise this c1 Tour of Taihu Lake. A race which is important for the Asian rankings.
Intermediate sprint (bonifications):
1st - 6 seconds
2nd - 4 seconds
3rd - 2 seconds
Finish line (bonifications):
1st - 20 seconds
2nd - 12 seconds
3rd - 8 seconds
Favourites:
| | FLAT | SPRINT | ACC. |  | Lo Cicero | 72 | 84 | 78 |  | Ciolek | 75 | 83 | 79 | | Napolitano | 73 | 82 | 82 |  | Vantomme | 73 | 82 | 78 |  | Cavendish | 73 | 82 | 81 |  | Goss | 74 | 82 | 74 |  | Vanderbiest | 74 | 81 | 77 |  | Maksimov | 72 | 81 | 84 |
No surprises here, the big name sprinters start as favourites for the GC. Meiji - Cannondale are really going all out for victory here, they bring their two big name sprinters, each capable of winning in their own right. We can expect them to form multiple sprint trains here, but as the terrain is not too taxing we can expect many teams, with a sprinter here, to form sprint trains in the final.
Once again a large total of capable sprinters make the startline, each of the above mentioned favourites will be disappointed if they don't manage at least one stage win.
The Rouleurs:
| | FLAT | STAMINA |  | Maes | 80 | 79 | | Del Nero | 78 | 78 |  | Franzoi | 77 | 77 |
As ever these riders can't be discounted from showing themselves with a late attack.
 Team Ameriabank-Novatek,  Bank of Ireland – Irish Cycling,  Fletcher - Garneau,  Sauber Petronas Racing and  Siam Cement - Lenovo are the five continental teams which bolster the startlist here. Surely, they should have known better than to enter a pro-continental race featuring such terrain. However, after the ProRace Berlin result, you can say that breakaways are capable of winning on any terrain, which looks to be the best these teams can hope for. The continental teams each bring their best sprinter, however, non are in the same class as the race favourites.
It will be interesting to see how this race develops. At its best this race could be really exciting with the bonus seconds in the final really making all the difference in the GC if there isn't too much difference between the sprinters.
Startlist:
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| roturn |
Posted on 13-10-2014 09:35
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Team Manager
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Was not aware of this race to be honest. 6 flat stages, so quite similar to the actual Juarez C2 race.
Hoping to see only sprint finishes here with those top sprinters fighting for the podium.
The 5th stage might be the crucial one as some sprinters might struggle there. So taking bonus seconds on that one can move you up a lot. |
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| Bjartne |
Posted on 13-10-2014 09:45
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3061
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Well, we just have to hang on some of the sprint trains here I assume  |
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 13-10-2014 09:45
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Directeur Sportif
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Stage win and Top-5 in GC would be cool. Goss should be able to achieve that.
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 13-10-2014 09:58
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World Champion
Posts: 12429
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Better win every stage
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| fjhoekie |
Posted on 13-10-2014 10:13
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Cool... Bringing 2 80SP guys will leave your team unnoticed...
Prove 'em wrong André and Maciej! 
Breaks would work too for me, if someone joins them, as I have a bunch of riders who could win from there, like Skettos and Nikolaev...
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game |
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| Alakagom |
Posted on 13-10-2014 10:18
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World Champion
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Again no expectations here, Vantomme will likely finish Top 10 on few stages and finish outside Top 10 GC at the end. Let's already move on to the next race
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 08-12-2025 16:16
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 13-10-2014 10:48
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Just consistency would be brilliant top 3's are vital on the stages for a good GC as well |
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| fintas |
Posted on 13-10-2014 15:55
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Small Tour Specialist
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I'm glad I did not participate in this race, with this startlist would just be a waste of race days.
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| Dippofix |
Posted on 13-10-2014 16:00
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3931
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C'mon Drapac, you can get a Top 10 on each stage if you really try! 
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| Selwink |
Posted on 13-10-2014 16:01
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Grand Tour Champion
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Same for you Serebriakov, show why you are worth the 300k I paid.
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 13-10-2014 16:02
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Classics Specialist
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We've taken surprise GC wins from breaks in Korea, then Japan so now we've got a Chinese race I wonder if we can continue working our way south through the Asian countries.
Hopefully Awang can mix it up and get something out of this race, otherwise we will be relying on a break again.
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| cio93 |
Posted on 13-10-2014 16:16
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World Champion
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Close to best FL team possible (all 70+), so no excuses for breaks staying away.
This is about consistency, and that's where I hope luck cancels itself out over 5 tries and Ciolek can take a GC podium.
We really need more Melaka than Interlagos/Berlin here, and I'm confident that's possible. This is probably the race with the highest scoring potential for us all season long.
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| Bikex |
Posted on 13-10-2014 16:33
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Can't expect anything only am here, because I still had some racedays left in my planner and I made those stages and so am interested how this race turns out. |
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| Ste117 |
Posted on 13-10-2014 16:39
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Classics Specialist
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I may regret not bringing Hutarovich here to help Cav. Thorsen is borderline useless so Van Hummel has a lot of work to do.
MG Team manager Team Ticos Air Costa Rica
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| Alakagom |
Posted on 13-10-2014 18:11
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World Champion
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The actual ****?  Finally he delivers his first podium which is also his first stage win... at last Feels bit surreal. And Coquard in white too, cool.
Well that's the race made for us (bar any disastrous crash).
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| cio93 |
Posted on 13-10-2014 18:15
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World Champion
Posts: 10616
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What the fucking fuck.
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| roturn |
Posted on 13-10-2014 18:17
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cio93 wrote:
What the fucking fuck.
Probably a bad daily form and a sprinter immediately has no chance in the end.
Edited by cio93 on 13-10-2014 18:19
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| cio93 |
Posted on 13-10-2014 18:19
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World Champion
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roturn wrote:
cio93 wrote:
What the fucking fuck.
Probably a bad daily form and a sprinter immediately has no chance in the end.
Bad form shouldn't intrinsically lead to horrible positioning though.
I've seen Schachmann leading a sprint train decently into the last 5k in Juarez. A 64 flat rider working in the chase all day.
If a 64 flat rider can do a sufficient job in the wind, a 75 flat rider can do a sufficient job to position himself even on a -5 day.
This is not a human player on extreme, this is the AI.
Edited by cio93 on 13-10-2014 18:22
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| roturn |
Posted on 13-10-2014 18:22
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Team Manager
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cio93 wrote:
roturn wrote:
cio93 wrote:
What the fucking fuck.
Probably a bad daily form and a sprinter immediately has no chance in the end.
Bad form shouldn't intrinsically lead to horrible positioning though.
I've seen Schachmann leading a sprint train decently into the last 5k in Juarez. A 64 flat rider working in the chase all day.
If a 64 flat rider can do a sufficient job in the wind, a 75 flat rider can do a sufficient job to position himself even on a -5 day.
True. This is PCM logic.
But I often have seen that when the pace gets higher in the end and riders need to move forward quickly, a bad daily form can quickly empty the bars and so even a top sprinter can`t position himself well enough. |
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