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Tour of the Czech Republic Discussion
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| roturn |
Posted on 16-10-2014 17:12
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The Tour of Czech Republic is inviting the top time trialists of the division. As HC rated race though also the list of puncheurs and sprinters is not too bad with 3 possible sprint finishes and one very hilly stage.
So being a pure time trialist is not enough to get a high GC. You also need to have some puncheur qualities. That said, being a top puncheur only also does not help you.
Topfavourites are obviously those riders with a good combination of both. So the first rider to mention is also from a team with a win goal here with  Bobridge.
But he will be challenged a lot as the startlist is huge.
| Name | Hill | TT |  Dowsett | 80 | 63 | | Bobridge | 79 | 77 |  Craven | 78 | 75 |  Mehr-Wenige | 78 | 63 |  Kelderman | 77 | 69 |  Hategeka | 77 | 66 | | Vogt | 77 | 65 |  Kangert | 76 | 77 |  Konovalovas | 76 | 75 | | Jiao | 76 | 65 |  Lloyd | 76 | 64 | | Taborre | 76 | 62 | | Anuar Aziz | 76 | 61 |  Durasek | 75 | 74 |  Hermans | 75 | 71 |  Reus | 74 | 79 | | Koren | 74 | 78 |  Nepomnyachsniy | 74 | 77 |  Westra | 74 | 76 |  De Maar | 74 | 73 | | Hudecek | 74 | 72 |
So while Dowsett apparently is the best puncheur in the field and top favourite for the 2nd stage, he is far from a good time trialist.
So the bigger opponents for Bobrdige are the 2012 winner Reus, 2012 3rd Koren, who is actually Oz`s 2nd odd here, Craven, Kangert or Nepomnyachsniy, whose team also has a top5 goal here.
The weaker time trialists surely need a selective hill stage to now get dropped to far in the TT.
3 possible sprint stages does not necessarily mean 3 sprints. At least the final stage might indeed prove to be too hard with several hills on the 2nd half. That said the sprinter field is excellent here even though many are missing. But the PCT sprinter field is pretty top in almost any race I guess.
| Name | Flat | Sprint | |  Holloway | 78 | 80 | 82 | | Van Avermaet | 76 | 80 | 71 | | Vanoverschelde | 72 | 80 | 75 | | Docker | 72 | 79 | 77 | | Grillo | 72 | 79 | 79 | | Bennett | 71 | 79 | 79 |  Gavazzi | 71 | 78 | 74 | | Sonnery | 69 | 78 | 73 | | Keough | 72 | 78 | 75 | | Abdallah | 68 | 78 | 76 | | Rangel | 71 | 77 | 75 | | Dockx | 73 | 77 | 76 |  Schinker | 69 | 77 | 75 | | Dekkers | 72 | 77 | 80 | | Chicchi | 71 | 77 | 76 |
Holloway really proved his strength this season again and is the top favourite for those stages. Van Avermaet and Vanoverschelde though will not be far behind him while also others like Grillo, Bennett or Docker can all count several MG stage wins on their account.
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| Alakagom |
Posted on 16-10-2014 17:21
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My weakest line up for the season. De Maar Top 20 and decent stage result as he always usually does, probably on stage 6 would be totally fine here.
Bobridge for the win.
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 16-10-2014 17:30
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Nice preview. Didn't know Koren did already well here, but it makes sense of course 
Obviously hoping for the hilly stage to be selective, with Bobridge playing his strengths. Koren to survive in first groups would be great too. Just need them to deliver, this win goal is important. So please, do something, guys!
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| fintas |
Posted on 16-10-2014 17:32
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I'm a little disappointed with this startlist, because I would like to see some more of the best puncheurs in this race. This just means that the best will be present in GP Onda-Boavista which to me is very bad and does not allow my team to get a good result in that race.
Just like Alakagom said Bobridge for the win.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 12:25
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 16-10-2014 17:37
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Hopefully Lloyd can do a repeat of RSA and ride consistently to some form of points scoring GC position. Also looks like a good chance for Chicchi to score a point, any point, and make him look like less of a complete f*cktard
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| fjhoekie |
Posted on 16-10-2014 17:38
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Konovalovas really has a decent chance to do well here 
Seeing the profiles of the flat stages makes me wonder whether Cardoso may also be an outsider on those given his HI stat...
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| jph27 |
Posted on 16-10-2014 18:03
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We won't win barring a miracle, but if Reus can stay within a couple of minutes of the Top 5 ahead of that 26km TT then top 5 is achievable. Points > placings here, so in the breaks someone please. |
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 16-10-2014 18:40
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Durasek could do ok here if he doesn't decide to do nothing like he has most season and then maybe Docker can top 5 a few sprints |
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| Levi4life |
Posted on 16-10-2014 19:50
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The best I'm gonna get are stage results.
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 16-10-2014 22:35
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Should be an interesting race. Bobridge the obvious favourite but there could be several winners depending on how selective stage 2 is. |
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 17-10-2014 07:50
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Best race of the season for someone like Ignatiev, but we could not be here, because of other races in this band. I will follow the race closely as it is my home Tour. I will root for Bobridge for sure, but good luck to all!
Edited by Avin Wargunnson on 17-10-2014 07:51
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| Mhaley45 |
Posted on 17-10-2014 10:31
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Interesting start list! AMEXpc has a full range of threats on their roster. Gretsch should be a top 5 finisher on the TT stage. Paride Grillo has been steady on the flat stage sprint finishes. Jan Dieteren has won a race out of a breakaway already this season and Dieter Mehr-Wenige is just starting his season now and he will need to score points consistently in the 2nd half of the season for AMEX to hold on to a top 10 PCT ranking.
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| roturn |
Posted on 17-10-2014 11:01
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Mhaley45 wrote:
Interesting start list! AMEXpc has a full range of threats on their roster. Gretsch should be a top 5 finisher on the TT stage. Paride Grillo has been steady on the flat stage sprint finishes. Jan Dieteren has won a race out of a breakaway already this season and Dieter Mehr-Wenige is just starting his season now and he will need to score points consistently in the 2nd half of the season for AMEX to hold on to a top 10 PCT ranking.
Just checked the startlist.
Oz Cycling alone has 5 better time trialists than Gretsch. 
And Mehr-Wenige better not scoring at all this season. Then you might sell him for cheap next year. 
Edited by roturn on 17-10-2014 11:02
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| aidanvn13 |
Posted on 17-10-2014 11:18
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A strong start-list with some very good time trailers. I hope stage 2 is very selective and puts most of those 74 hill and 75+ TTers out of contention. Realistically, we can hope Hategeka puts in a top 10 effort along with the sprinters finishing top 10 on the flat stages. Should be a great race to follow!
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| fintas |
Posted on 17-10-2014 11:20
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roturn wrote:
Mhaley45 wrote:
Interesting start list! AMEXpc has a full range of threats on their roster. Gretsch should be a top 5 finisher on the TT stage. Paride Grillo has been steady on the flat stage sprint finishes. Jan Dieteren has won a race out of a breakaway already this season and Dieter Mehr-Wenige is just starting his season now and he will need to score points consistently in the 2nd half of the season for AMEX to hold on to a top 10 PCT ranking.
Just checked the startlist.
Oz Cycling alone has 5 better time trialists than Gretsch.
And Mehr-Wenige better not scoring at all this season. Then you might sell him for cheap next year. :cool:
In that case he would only return to the starting point . His place in my team waiting for him
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 17-10-2014 13:01
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Bobridge sprinting better than Gossy in Taihu looked like a decent gap, but the bonus seconds may become crucial, so it's okay. Rogers continues just like he raced this tour last year. This time, i'm not too concernend though.
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| fjhoekie |
Posted on 17-10-2014 13:13
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Konovalovas
And just as I predicted Vanoverschelde is worse than lead-out man Cardoso... Oh well... 
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 17-10-2014 13:17
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Very nice Durasek staying in the lead group felt sure he'd miss the split so happy with this. |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 17-10-2014 13:22
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TheManxMissile wrote:
Also looks like a good chance for Chicchi to score a point, any point, and make him look like less of a complete f*cktard
I give up on Francesco, at this point i'd pay to get rid of him
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| cio93 |
Posted on 17-10-2014 13:58
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Vogt losing time is really stupid as he's pretty good on the flat, Felline costs us points too, though I hope he maybe joins the break tomorrow now.
On the other hand, that means four guys with a really good chance for a safe top 30 if the gaps stay reasonable in the hilly stage.
As for the preview itself I missed to comment on, surprisingly few puncheurs so I hope it's selective tomorrow and we can get a good Top 10 out of this, that would be amazing.
Only 10 riders left in the race for white means a decent chance for 3 in the best 5 there too, points points points!
Edited by cio93 on 17-10-2014 14:02
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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)
