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Tour of Beijing discussion thread
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 28-02-2015 11:28
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Team Leader
Posts: 6036
Joined: 20-07-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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Things to know about this race:
- It takes place in Beijing, which is the capital of China
- It has 5 stages
- It is classified as HC
- It has only one edition to its name in 2013 which went to  Fabian Wegmann
- It’s probably going to be super decisive for some
Things to know about the profile of the race
- The 1st stage is super flat
- The 2nd and 3rd stages are hilly, with the latter being the queen-stage with the sole hill-top finish of the race
- The 4th and 5th stages are flat, but could be a bit challenging with those climbs near the end
Things to know about the field
- Every freaking puncheur is here. Seriously guys I feel like I’m being joked! How am I going to go over the favourites? Well here they are
| Team | Name | Hill | Sprint |  | Di Maggio | 82 | 63 |  | Ulissi | 80 | 73 |  | Dowsett | 80 | 66 |  | Ben Nasser | 79 | 70 |  | Bobridge | 79 | 69 |  | Betancourt | 79 | 67 |  | Skujins | 79 | 67 |  | Zaini | 79 | 65 |  | Monfort | 79 | 64 |  | Roy | 79 | 64 |
Spoiler | Mehr-Wenige | 78 | 66 | | Bilbao | 77 | 70 | | Hoogerland | 77 | 67 | | Zeits | 77 | 64 | | Lejman | 77 | 59 | | McEvoy | 76 | 75 | | Vastaranta | 76 | 75 | | Rabon | 76 | 72 | | Anuar Aziz | 76 | 66 | | Visconti | 76 | 64 | | Taborre | 76 | 62 | | Gerdemann | 76 | 60 | | Jiao | 76 | 60 | | Kump | 75 | 77 | | Becerra | 75 | 68 | | De la Fuente | 75 | 65 | | Mancuso | 75 | 65 | | Rocchetti | 75 | 65 | | Ilias | 75 | 64 | | Chaoufi | 75 | 61 | | Ji | 75 | 61 | | Pakthusov | 75 | 61 | | Salerno | 75 | 60 | | Sano | 74 | 68 | | Didier | 74 | 67 | | Bennett | 74 | 65 | | Wang | 74 | 64 | | Dyachenko | 74 | 60 | | Barredo | 74 | 58 | | Busche | 74 | 57 | | Grygorenko | 74 | 53 | | Haavardsholm | 73 | 69 | | Minnard | 73 | 68 | | Kriek | 73 | 64 | | Gerrans | 73 | 63 | | Abelouache | 73 | 62 | | Lloret | 73 | 59 | | Chaabane | 73 | 58 | | Schrangl | 73 | 57 | | Paulinho | 73 | 56 | | Eibegger | 72 | 69 | | Paulinho | 72 | 68 | | Roman | 72 | 64 | | Dieteren | 72 | 62 | | Konrad | 72 | 62 | | Mudarra | 72 | 62 | | De la Cruz | 72 | 60 | | Talabardon | 72 | 60 | | Warbasse | 72 | 60 | | Lahsaini | 72 | 59 | | Ibarguren | 72 | 58 | | Gougeard | 72 | 57 | | Chaabane | 72 | 55 | | Cardoso | 71 | 76 | | Gasparotto | 71 | 76 | | Grosu | 71 | 76 | | Yates | 71 | 71 | | Boonratanathanakorn | 71 | 69 | | Lane | 71 | 62 | | Cieslik | 71 | 61 | | Karnulin | 71 | 60 | | Tanovitchii | 71 | 60 | | Wang | 71 | 59 | | Khederi | 71 | 58 | | Mat Senan | 71 | 58 | | Kimeli | 71 | 56 | | Aregger | 70 | 74 | | Yates | 70 | 67 | | Senyenov | 70 | 65 | | van Zyl | 70 | 62 | | Cardoso | 70 | 61 | | De Souza | 70 | 61 | | Kastrantas | 70 | 61 | | Knees | 70 | 60 | | Tratnik | 70 | 60 | | Larsson | 70 | 57 | | Naibo | 70 | 54 | | Ramos Ticona | 70 | 54 | | Hiratsuka | 70 | 50 |
As in most of the races he’s been in, Di Maggio stands as favourite. Dowsett and Ulissi are his main adversaries, and quite capable ones who should give him a good run for his money at least. However given the impossibility of predicting accurately hilly stages let’s not forget the rest of the main puncheurs. Zaini will want to go up one level from his 2nd place last year, while Bobridge should be looking to prove his team is PT material. Monfort and Roy represent the francophone threat here. Plus there’s even Ben Nasser, Betancourt and Skujins but I’m running out of analogies so I’m going to stop.
Then we have sprinters. At least the first stage should go for any of the following:
| Team | Name | Sprint | | Lo Cicero | 84 | | Napolitano | 82 |  | Vanderbiest | 81 |  | Granjel Cabrera | 80 | | Richeze | 80 | | Corioni | 80 |  | Kupfernagel | 80 |  | Lavoine | 80 | | Castañeda | 80 |  | Nelson | 79 |
Spoiler | Merino Criado | 78 | | Ahlstrand | 78 | | Corti | 78 | | Park | 78 | | Manan | 78 | | Haidar Anuawar | 78 | | Kump | 77 | | Modolo | 77 | | Giacoppo | 77 | | Richeze | 77 | | Dekkers | 77 | | Cardoso | 76 | | Gasparotto | 76 | | Grosu | 76 | | Lorenzetto | 76 | | Van Poppel | 76 | | Cardoso | 76 | | McEvoy | 75 | | Vastaranta | 75 | | Traksel | 75 | | Pierzga | 75 | | Aregger | 74 | | Kocjan | 74 | | Van der Sanden | 74 | | Havik | 74 | | Van Poppel | 74 | | Ulissi | 73 | | Rabon | 72 | | Merino Criado | 72 | | Yates | 71 | | Kraft | 71 | | Ben Nasser | 70 | | Bilbao | 70 | | Kraft | 70 | | Domene | 70 |
Meiji’s top duo is here and will want to dominate every mass sprint finish they can get their hands on. Vanderbiest looks set to be their toughest competitor, but Allianz’s duo shouldn’t be overlooked either. The rest of them… well there’s a bucketload of good sprinters so yeah a lot of managers should have reasonable hopes of achieving something here, but keep in mind only a few will actually get anything.
So as you can see, it seems everyone managed to send all their hill leaders and top sprinters to China. This is going to be a very tough race for everyone but only one lucky guy will have the opportunity to take. Who will that be?
Edited by Gustavovskiy on 28-02-2015 11:54
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 28-02-2015 11:32
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World Champion
Posts: 10497
Joined: 23-06-2011
PCM$: 200.00
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PCM Gods. I beg you from all my heart. Make Cabrera win all the sprint stages in this race. Please. Sincerely, Mobil. |
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 28-02-2015 11:34
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11819
Joined: 19-07-2010
PCM$: 300.00
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Top-5 goal 
Expected a packed startlist, but won't make things easier. The queen stage is where Bobridge needs to have a good daily form and smart tactics. Top-10 is very well possible, so i won't cry when missing the goal close.
You may add the full startlist, but other than that: great preview 
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| Bjartne |
Posted on 28-02-2015 11:37
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2907
Joined: 15-07-2007
PCM$: 300.00
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Finally it's here. Our win goal, haha.
Watch us get a top 50  |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 14:31
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| jph27 |
Posted on 28-02-2015 11:37
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Team Leader
Posts: 7339
Joined: 20-03-2010
PCM$: 900.00
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Boy am I glad this isn't in our HC bands!
Fantastic preview. One note though, Roy rides for Allianz not RBC
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 28-02-2015 11:51
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4573
Joined: 07-10-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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Need a performance from Ben Nasser here to ensure our survival. Due to the strength of the field I won't expect a podium finish but anything outside the top ten would be a major failure. Would also be nice to see Gasparotto get involved in a sprint also but that hasn't happened much this year. |
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| Dippofix |
Posted on 28-02-2015 11:56
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3904
Joined: 29-01-2013
PCM$: 300.00
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Many of my targets for next year are here, will be following closely.
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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 28-02-2015 12:02
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2633
Joined: 20-04-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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Holy sh*t, what a startlist! I want a top 10 from Monfort here.
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| Kami |
Posted on 28-02-2015 12:12
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3485
Joined: 19-06-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Hoping for a top 3 from Ulissi, although, if he can get some good results on the harder flat stages, we might be able to get a win. Hopefully stage 3 isn't to hard though.
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| cio93 |
Posted on 28-02-2015 12:17
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World Champion
Posts: 10845
Joined: 29-10-2007
PCM$: 500.00
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It's good that this is not my HC band, although it is bad as well because we obviously can't keep Meiji from scoring here. Together with Japan I guess it'll be tough to get them in the rankings now.
Apart from that small personal spotlight, I'll just enjoy the best PCT riders in a hopefully entertaining last stage race.
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| fintas |
Posted on 28-02-2015 13:16
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2602
Joined: 21-03-2008
PCM$: 1200.00
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I was not waiting to see a race as crowded as this, on top so close to the end of the season hoped they were less top cyclists
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| viking90 |
Posted on 28-02-2015 15:23
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4032
Joined: 24-01-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Tough startlist, I guess we can collect some points atleast! 
Fun to follow the race! |
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| ggDonovan |
Posted on 28-02-2015 19:55
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Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 897
Joined: 08-08-2011
PCM$: 200.00
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Finish somewhere in the top 10 would be ok. Really strong startlist, it will be fun to watch.
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 28-02-2015 20:54
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World Champion
Posts: 12986
Joined: 20-05-2009
PCM$: 530.00
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Mwwahahahaha. I have less confidence in Zaini grabbing a good GC result, but I think we should come out of this with atleast a stage win, which is also good. I must hope for a Top 5 though!
Ulissi looks like the favourite to me. I think he might grab some boni seconds on the last stage, and that might be enough considering he will probably be up there on basically all of the other stages too.
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| jaxika |
Posted on 01-03-2015 07:16
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3148
Joined: 16-07-2008
PCM$: 9200.00
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Im afraid my sprinters can do better then Roy for the GC |
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 01-03-2015 09:31
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11819
Joined: 19-07-2010
PCM$: 300.00
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Huge win for Richeze!
Pity for Bennett, but fortunatelly none of the real big guns involved.. Didn't expect Giacoppo to be in the mix and he did not let me down
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 01-03-2015 09:31
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World Champion
Posts: 10497
Joined: 23-06-2011
PCM$: 200.00
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Jesus christ... Why can't Cabrera learn how to position? |
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| jaxika |
Posted on 01-03-2015 09:34
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3148
Joined: 16-07-2008
PCM$: 9200.00
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Wow, the teams best stage coming in the last stage race of year. Relegation seems out of contention |
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 01-03-2015 10:26
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4573
Joined: 07-10-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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No time losses there make that a decent stage for us. Now for the descicive hilly stages. |
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| Mhaley45 |
Posted on 01-03-2015 10:30
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1036
Joined: 17-06-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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And we hoped for a short weak start list for Beijing! Well now we will have to over perform as this is a Top 5 Goal for AMEXpc.
Damn.............................
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Team Manager of AMEX - Navigon
Editor of the Cobbler
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