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Barcelona Classic Discussion
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| Bushwackers |
Posted on 16-06-2015 17:43
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Sprinter
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 Barcelona Classic
Welcome to Spain for the Barcelona Classic. The flat-rated course features nine circuits of 20 kilometers that include an ascent of Montjuïc Hill on each lap. With maximum gradients of 11%, Montjuïc has consistently been a major factor in previous races. History has shown this to be an unpredictable race, with vastly different scenarios playing out in previous years:
| Year | Winner | Style | | 2012 | Valentin Iglinski | Late Breakaway | | 2013 | Robby Squire | Early Breakaway | | 2014 | Damion Drapac | Field Sprint |
Interestingly we have two previous winners in attendance this year as
 Iglinski and  Squire will start for  Novatek and  Gatorade respectively. Perhaps they will look to claim another win, but for sure their experience will be invaluable to their teams on this technical, unpredictable course.
The field is quite possibly the strongest that this race has ever seen. There are more than enough high level sprinters to go around. Perhaps the fastest man here is  Ricki Nelson, who likely has the strongest leadout train, although some will wonder if Montjuïc Hill will be too much for him.  AMEX will look to challenge Lululemon with their own train for Giacomo Nizzolo. Obviously, both teams came here to win as they have the two best leadout trains:
| Name | SPR/ACC | Name | SPR/ACC | | Kobe Vanoverschelde | 80/75 | Paride Grillo | 78/78 | | Geoffrey Soupe | 79/77 | Jake Keough | 78/75 | | André Greipel | 79/76 | Rüdiger Selig | 77/79 | | Caleb Ewan | 76/75 | Matti Breschel | 77/73 |
Other big names are  Daryl Impey who will look to build on his stage win in Australia, and  Heinrich Haussler. Both of them are top tier sprinters who should not have difficulty on the hill, although Haussler may be on his own for the sprint.  Nacer Bouhanni (fresh off a stage win in Tachira),
 Raúl Granjel Cabrera, and B World Champion  Max Richeze are other top sprinters that could very easily win in a bunch sprint.
| Name | Sprint | | Ricki Nelson | 81 | | Nacer Bouhanni | 80 | | Raúl Granjel Cabrera | 80 | | Heinrich Haussler | 80 | | Daryl Impey | 80 |  Ismaël Kip | 80 | | Giacomo Nizzolo | 80 | | Maximiliano Richeze | 80 |  Kris Boeckmans | 80 |  Mitch Docker | 79 | | JÃri Hochmann | 79 |  Oscar Gatto | 78 | | Ben King | 78 |  Matteo Pelucchi | 78 |  Christos Volikakis | 78 |  Francisco Ventoso | 77 |  Robert Wagner | 77 |  Hossein Nateghi | 77 |
With Montjuïc Hill in mind, some managers have also chosen to bring their puncheurs. Most notable is the man himself, Cesare Di Maggio, coming fresh off a victory in the Tour Down Under. We should expect to see a move from him, perhaps either going for the victory himself or making the race difficult so his team mate Oscar Gatto can shine in a reduced field sprint. Carlos Betancourt is here as well and we could see a similar tactic play out for his team mate and Tour Down Under stage winner and 3rd overall
Francisco Ventoso. AMEX have brought Dietmar Mehr-Wenige as insurance in case the race does not play out favorably for their stout sprinting team.
| Name | Hill | | Cesare Di Maggio | 82 | | Carlos Betancourt | 79 | | Dietmar Mehr-Wenige | 78 | | Matthew Lloyd | 76 | | Frantisek Rabon | 76 |  Julien Simon | 76 | | Eduin Becerra | 75 | | Félix Emilio Besada | 75 | | Clemens Fankhauser | 75 | | Tarik Chaoufi | 75 | | Marcel Wyss | 75 | | Reto Hollenstein | 75 |
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| roturn |
Posted on 16-06-2015 17:46
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Team Manager
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This is some great analysis preview here!
Quite surprised about the amount of top puncheurs. 3 very surprising top riders there.
For me a breakaway or sprinter race. Should be a good one for Impey even though Bouhanni has proven to be a rider to watch for in Tachira.
Personally I hope Nizzolo takes it. |
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 16-06-2015 17:50
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11819
Joined: 19-07-2010
PCM$: 300.00
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Never believed in Nelson and neither will I here 
Impey must be the guess for me, even though I can see him failing. Or all the sprinters, actually! I kinda would love to see those puncheurs attacking, btw.
Cool preview!
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| Mhaley45 |
Posted on 16-06-2015 18:18
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1036
Joined: 17-06-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Nizzolo crashed and had to withdraw from the Tour Down Under. It very likely will be key to get a sprint train established to give him win/podium opportunity.
AMEX's sleeper here is cobbler/sprinter Matti Breschel. he should be good enough to not get dropped if this turns into a punchuers race and his Sprint speed could allow him to deliver a big result.
We also have Dieter MehrWinge-Wenige if the real uphillers come out to play.
The rest of the team are all sprinters looking to deliver Nizzolo to a podium.
Best scenario Oliver LeGac get in the break and pushes hard on the hills to set up Breschel for the win and MehrWinge-Wenige for a top 10 and LeGac also in the points.
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Team Manager of AMEX - Navigon
Editor of the Cobbler
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 16-06-2015 18:25
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World Champion
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Go Pelucchi, top 10 might be possible here!
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| cio93 |
Posted on 16-06-2015 18:27
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World Champion
Posts: 10845
Joined: 29-10-2007
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I was so close to take this race and let Demare lead, but I found another way to spend my C1 race days that I hope will outscore what he could've done here.
Will be very interesting to watch this with the wild variety of rider types present.
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| Roextro |
Posted on 16-06-2015 18:30
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2370
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Hoping for a solid result by Simon, didn't realise it was such a sprinters' race when making the startlist  |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 07:18
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 16-06-2015 18:34
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
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Fantastic preview!
Hoping for a good Richeze sprint here. Podium is possible!  |
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| knockout |
Posted on 16-06-2015 18:45
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
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I am hugely surprised that some of the top hill specialists like di Maggio or Betancourt are attending the race.
Just like them I don't hope for a easy sprint finish having decided against Boonen. I prefer to see my team as one of the attacking teams here so I brought the man for the late attacks Mark Dzamastagic himself here with the hope that he can repeat his coup. His odds in the betting were horrible but I just could not resist making a small bid on him 
Wagner is here for the possible mass sprint. I don't reckon his chances to get a top ten from him too high but I hope he at least tries to sprint for some minor points.
I think the better sprint option will be Simon Geschke. Harder hills and flat finish sounds like the race for him but he's once again up against the likes of Impey or Haussler so it will be difficult for him if he waits for the sprint. I just hope he at least tries something unlike in Down Under 
I hope that my team can get a rider into the break. If I could chose then Bekmanis or Smirnovs would be the ones to get in there as they combine abilities over hills and a good sprint which would make them very interesting for the finish if they can get there but I would not mind one of the others in the break as well. Perhaps Kulppi gets his manager something to write about?
For the win I go with a boring guess that Impey takes it but I hope the finish will be more ininteresting than just a boring sprint finish ( or a victory of the morning break)
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 16-06-2015 18:56
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World Champion
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Joined: 23-06-2011
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C'mon Raúl, let's bring it home baby! |
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| Bikex |
Posted on 16-06-2015 19:01
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Team Leader
Posts: 7257
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I hope for Kip to not get dropped and then maybe do a top 10 or a successful break with one of my riders, preferably Boonratanathanakorn or Sirironnachai, who both showed already that they could finish off something like that. On top of that those names would please the reporter to spell over and over again. |
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| viking90 |
Posted on 16-06-2015 19:17
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4032
Joined: 24-01-2009
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Nice preview
Will be a fun race to see even if we are not in it! |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 16-06-2015 20:03
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18187
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It's the same team that managed 10th in the DUC... so with a pretty hilly route this time i'm thinking probably a Top20 will be a good result to pick-up. Obviously with Nelson, or Kobe, i'd love the win and it would be a great boost to the team. But i would give it up for security of points by getting two or three guys into the scoring places.
Yates and Alaphillipe to cover breaks would be nice but the AI won't be smart enough for that. Two years down the line and then some training and this will be a perfect route for the two of them, or Ewan.
Basically, why is it not like 2018 already!!!!
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 16-06-2015 20:11
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Team Leader
Posts: 5533
Joined: 12-06-2013
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Bouhanni has great support here so hopefully he uses it to the best of his advantage!
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| The Rider |
Posted on 16-06-2015 20:13
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4543
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Well last season this race was won in a mass sprint by one of the worst hill climbers in the game so goodness knows why we see those puncheurs!
Incredibly hard race to call with hardly anything between a load of favourites really. Nelson started at 1.90/1, I would have had set him as 1st favourite at 4/1 as you really can't call it. |
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| Forever the Best |
Posted on 16-06-2015 20:18
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Classics Specialist
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Go Impey!
I betted on him
Edited by Forever the Best on 16-06-2015 20:19
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 16-06-2015 20:45
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4573
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Liking all the top sprinters staying away, and with Impey being the favourite I'm feeling way too optimistic about this one. It can only go wrong from here
Very surprised to see the likes of Di Maggio and Betancourt here. Never thought at all of bringing Ben Nasser here, interesting to see if they will attack and make use of the selection. |
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| Margh Norway |
Posted on 16-06-2015 21:09
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Sprinter
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Barcelona was the only flat rated C1 race we've chosen this year, thinking the profile somewhat suits our teams abilities. Regardless it wasn't initially planned to send Di Maggio...
He is wanted at Tour of Tasmania (where we received a wildcard) and we decided to honour the opportunity and send him there. That meant he won't be at Tour of Bejing and had race days left... Barcelona was an obvious choice among the races left.
Nonetheless our strategy will stay the same: Making the race as difficult as possible to bring Oscar Gatto in a position to finish the job.
Thanks for the nice preview, Bushwackers!
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 16-06-2015 21:12
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11819
Joined: 19-07-2010
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Wow, kinda cool gamble to send Di Maggio to Tasmania instead of Beijing! Can't say, I had done the same, but from a neutral point of view, it's at least special 
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| Jesleyh |
Posted on 16-06-2015 21:13
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Tour de France Champion
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Yeah awesome, means more chance for Hugenhaben 
Feyenoord(football) and Kelderman fanboy
PCMdaily Awards: 12x nomination, 9x runner-up, 0x win.
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