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Tour Down Under Discussion
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 07:51
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| roturn |
Posted on 07-06-2015 16:16
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The Stage Race season starts in Australia with the C1 event Tour Down Under. 6 stages with lots of different terrain. The GC is for the puncheurs with the highlight stage on Willunge Hill. But also the first 3 stages are far from easy. In especially the third stage is another hilly rated one. But also the first two have uphill finishes and might be too hard for pure sprinters.
Stages 4 and 6 are the best chance for sprinters to get a win here as well.
It`s quite interesting that 1/3 of the participating teams are CT teams, while only 12/30 PCT teams decided to race here. GC wise though the top riders are from the higher division mainly while CT teams surely hope for the sprint stages the most.
Let`s check a couple of the puncheurs and sprinters here:
| Flat | Hill | Sprint | | Flat | Hill | Sprint |  Di Maggio | 65 | 82 | 63 |  Impey | 74 | 73 | 80 |  Klemme | 71 | 80 | 66 |  Haussler | 73 | 70 | 80 |  Betancourt | 69 | 79 | 67 |  Nizzolo | 73 | 64 | 80 | | Mehr-Wenige | 74 | 78 | 66 |  Serebriakov | 74 | 61 | 80 |  Efimkin | 70 | 78 | 58 |  Lavoine | 73 | 60 | 80 |  Meyer | 74 | 78 | 72 | Ulanowski | 73 | 58 | 80 | | Prevar | 72 | 77 | 67 | Docker | 72 | 68 | 79 | | Lejman | 62 | 77 | 59 |  Mezgec | 71 | 67 | 79 |  Pozzato | 78 | 77 | 76 |  Matthews | 75 | 64 | 79 | | Furdi | 73 | 77 | 69 |  Bennett | 71 | 63 | 79 | | Chaves | 70 | 77 | 57 | Hochmann | 70 | 54 | 79 | | Vakoc | 70 | 77 | 70 | Gatto | 71 | 74 | 78 | | Taborre | 70 | 76 | 62 | Gavazzi | 71 | 73 | 78 | | Hofland | 69 | 76 | 68 | Grillo | 71 | 67 | 78 | | McEvoy | 70 | 76 | 75 | Drujon | 73 | 66 | 78 |  Sinkewitz | 68 | 76 | 50 | Avila | 70 | 66 | 78 | | Simon | 71 | 76 | 72 | Park | 70 | 63 | 78 | | Haas | 71 | 76 | 68 | Sobota | 72 | 60 | 78 | | Ziesler | 69 | 76 | 69 | Ventoso | 74 | 75 | 77 | | Le Gac | 70 | 75 | 64 |  Reimer | 75 | 75 | 77 | | Puusepp | 67 | 75 | 61 | Pozzato | 78 | 77 | 76 | | Ventoso | 74 | 75 | 77 |  Geschke | 71 | 74 | 76 | | Shushemoin | 68 | 75 | 56 | Matysiak | 68 | 73 | 76 | | Khalilikhosroshani | 70 | 75 | 65 | McEvoy | 70 | 76 | 75 | | Weening | 69 | 75 | 58 | Marcato | 73 | 73 | 75 | | Kolobnev | 72 | 75 | 62 | Oss | 78 | 74 | 74 | | Gerdemann | 72 | 75 | 59 | Mørkøv | 75 | 74 | 74 | | Fankhauser | 69 | 75 | 70 | | | | | | Hermans | 77 | 75 | 66 | | | | | | Reimer | 75 | 75 | 77 | | | | | | Geschke | 71 | 74 | 76 | | | | | | Gatto | 71 | 74 | 78 | | | | | | Gavazzi | 71 | 73 | 78 | | | | | | Impey | 74 | 73 | 80 | | | | |
Allan Davis might be the only starting former winner here. This year though he won`t really stand a chance in the GC and not likely in sprints neither.
Another rider who did particularly well here in the past is Impey. As 3rd in 2011 and 2nd in 2012 he surely wants another top result here. The hilly sprint finishes suit him a lot but the way up to Willunga Hill will be crucial for him as he could lose quite some time there.
With Haussler, Gatto, Gavazzi (3rd in 2013), Ventoso (8th in 2014), Reimer, Pozzato, Geschke and a couple of other riders though the competition in those stages is really tough.
Pure sprinters Nizzolo, Serebriakov, Lavoine or Ulanowski will have to hope to get a chance on the flat days, in especially the very last.
Back to the GC fight, it`s Di Maggio once more a favourite in a hilly race. Klemme comes closest and surely wants to prove himself after a mediocre PT season.
Betancourt (9th in 2014) surely wants to improve a lot, while the next couple of riders are very close together.
The Aussies surely hope for a home win by Travis Meyer, who should have best chances to perform well.
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| Selwink |
Posted on 07-06-2015 16:19
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Grand Tour Champion
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Okay. Serebriakov among the best sprinters, and I brought Hochmann. This can only go wrong 
Hopefully they'll prove me wrong though 
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| tastasol |
Posted on 07-06-2015 16:35
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Nice to see that the startlist isn't totally packed. Fancy our chances here, both in the sprints and on the hills. Hopefully they can deliver, in our second most important race of the season. Top 5 goal as well.
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| sgdanny |
Posted on 07-06-2015 16:38
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Too flat for Lejman  Hope he can get into the Willunga break. Much can go wrong and little can go well
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| Roextro |
Posted on 07-06-2015 16:42
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Hoping that Simon can get a top 10 or top 20 in the GC and that Mezgec can get some solid results in the flat stages.
Great preview Roturn |
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| fjhoekie |
Posted on 07-06-2015 17:01
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Suparman, break please.
Efimkin/Prevar for the GC, Ulanowski for stage 6. Should be a decent race I guess, especially if Vaitkus has plans to do something as well.
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game |
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| Margh Norway |
Posted on 07-06-2015 17:24
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Sprinter
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One of the few C1 races Cesare Di Maggio participates. We really need him to convert his valuable race days into ranking points. Gatto should be able to score, too... and Hollenstein and Lane could've been called as talented punchers as well. Thanks for the intro, roturn!
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| knockout |
Posted on 07-06-2015 17:35
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Grand Tour Champion
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This is all about stage hunting for me.
Geschke was the obvious pick for me with all those slight uphill finishes or hills just before the finish line. But with Impey, Gavazzi, Reimer, Ventoso and all the other punchy sprinters it will be a difficult job to pull.
With those profiles one got to fear late attacks so we send the perfect late attackers in Dzamastagic and Smukulis. Can they repeat their Down Under Classic performance? ^^
Mohoric & Smirnovs (& Weiss) also look like dangerous breakaway riders.
So many CT teams here is very interesting. I look forward to race against quite some teams I have not raced against before 
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 07-06-2015 19:02
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Hoping for a great start to the season here, Impey should be able to grab at least one stage and along with some other bonuses he should be able to finish high up in the GC despite losing some time on Willunga. Hoping Di Maggio and the other puncheurs don't distance him too much. |
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| viking90 |
Posted on 07-06-2015 20:13
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Looking for breakaways and some nice result by either Hermans or Reimer even ending up quite good in the GC. |
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| Sykkel_Freak |
Posted on 07-06-2015 20:30
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I never let Di Maggio race this race, so it will be interesting to see how he performs. It looks like hilly stages differs more this season, so I guess his chances are good.
Impey should be the man to beat in the sprints.
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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 07-06-2015 21:48
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Very suitable race for Pozzato. But there's a large amount of riders with similar skills in the PCT this year, so it wont be easy. And Di Maggio/Klemme/Betancourt might be hard to keep in check in the hilly stages.
It's going to be an interesting battle for sure.
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| fintas |
Posted on 07-06-2015 21:53
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This is an easy one, Stage victory for Haussler or McEvoy and top15 GC, is what I hope in this race..
If we take into account what happened in the last edition I see no other winner than Impey..
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| Smowz |
Posted on 07-06-2015 21:53
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Hmm a race with fond memories, I am not so sure these days with the hill top finish that should give the GC win to one of the hill climbers. Di Maggio really should win, I'd like to see though Docker or Meyer have a good home race Aussies can go well here. impey for me to do MvS style beast mode.
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| Alakagom |
Posted on 07-06-2015 21:55
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fintas wrote:
This is an easy one, Stage victory for Haussler or McEvoy and top15 GC, is what I hope in this race..
If we take into account what happened in the last edition I see no other winner than Impey..
Well Van Stayen barely won last year and he was 76 hill 81 sprint
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| Scorchio |
Posted on 07-06-2015 21:59
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Small Tour Specialist
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Season debut for Nutresa, and the first run out for our new puncheur leadership trio of Klemme, Chaves and Gavazzi. Hoping that the hills on stage 3 and 5 prove tough enough to unship the sprinters from the top of the GC battle. Debated back-and-forth whether or not to send Klemme, so at least don't have to wait too far into the season to find out if this was a good decision or otherwise!
Surprised to see so few PCT teams and so many CT. Might mean we can grab a top 10 in bunch sprint stage (although would still need some luck!).
Nice preview .
Manager of ISA - Hexacta in the MG |
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| fintas |
Posted on 07-06-2015 22:04
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Small Tour Specialist
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Alakagom wrote:
fintas wrote:
This is an easy one, Stage victory for Haussler or McEvoy and top15 GC, is what I hope in this race..
If we take into account what happened in the last edition I see no other winner than Impey..
Well Van Stayen barely won last year and he was 76 hill 81 sprint
The first 4 stages seem tailored to Impey. which can ensure precious seconds to get through Willunge Hill without losing the yellow jersey...
But then again we are talking about PCM so you never know what can happen
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 07-06-2015 22:36
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Have my PCM$ on Pozzato, but would be cool to see Meyer taking it. I guess Impey can do it, too. Depends on the first stage already, I assume.
Definitely an interesting race, which is hard to predict. Di Maggio would be kinda lame, tbh 
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| CountArach |
Posted on 07-06-2015 23:24
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Grand Tour Champion
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Going to say that Impey wins this. If he can have the leader's jersey going in to the tougher stages then I don't see him being dropped.
I'm regretting not coming here seeing the start list, however. Zingle might have been able to make an impact.
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| Jesleyh |
Posted on 07-06-2015 23:33
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Tour de France Champion
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Wonder what the CT teams can do in the sprints here, there's some potential for some huge wins for them here.
Don't think Impey can hang on to someone 9 HI stats higher, to be honest.
De Maggio it is.
Will be cheering for the small CT teams and Suparman
Feyenoord(football) and Kelderman fanboy
PCMdaily Awards: 12x nomination, 9x runner-up, 0x win.
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