Giro d'Italia Discussion
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sgdanny |
Posted on 18-09-2016 20:37
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Classics Specialist
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Giro d'Italia 2016
Introduction & History
Welcome to the annual and 10th MG edition of Giro d'Italia and welcome to the very first Grand Tour of the year! We have 21 exciting stages going from Dubrovnik, Croatia to finally end up in Roma, Italy! It's a long journey from our strong field, which have a historical place to behold off with several key riders having their last one shot at supremacy. Damiano Cunego has won 6 Giro d'Italia editions and the new generation is ready to take over!
Aleksandr Pluchkin is here to take his first GT this of this season, as he showed that no one can compare to the "Aleksandr the Great"! He does not have an opposition counting the name Schleck, so his favorite title is hard to get around. A man that can do this is Angel Madrazo! The spaniard have reached the podium 3 times before and now he intends to take his first step on the biggest spot! Vincenzo Nibali has never won this race either, but as his fellow Italians he has never been lucky in this race, now on his old days he might be in for a surprise.
(Short notice : The first 6 stages will be with default leader jerseys, after that it will be the correct leader jerseys)
Former Winners
Winner | 2nd | 3rd | Year | Andy Schleck | Angel Madrazo | Damiano Cunego | 2015 | Damiano Cunego | Aleksandr Pluchkin | Angel Madrazo | 2014 | Taylor Phinney | Angel Madrazo | Simon Spilak | 2013 | Riccardo Ricco | Emanuele Sella | Domenico Pozzovivo | 2012 | Damiano Cunego | Emanuele Sella | Vincenzo Nibali | 2011 | Damiano Cunego | Franco Pelizotti | Riccardo Ricco | 2010 | Damiano Cunego | Emanuele Sella | Franco Pelizotti | 2009 | Damiano Cunego | Riccardo Ricco | Andy Schleck | 2008 | Damiano Cunego | Danilo di Luca | Gilberto Simoni | 2007 |
The Route
We start off in Dubrovnik, Croatia for a flat stage around the beautiful small societies and old towns going along the Adriatic Sea and ending up in Spalato for a Mass sprint naming the first stage winner of the race. Before leaving Croatia we go from Sibernik to the city of Lun and now we venture into Italy. In the city of Trieste the boards will be shaken with a Team Time Trial featuring a hilly course, which will stur the race into a new dimension. This dimension starts with a day on both sides of the Etna Vulcano for the first battle between our GC favorites
The sprinters will be back for the Venezia stage before the punchers will be given a chance to take a stage win in Abano Terme. Lastly the first 3rd of the race will end up with a tame Mountain stage going from Montecchio to Sirmione featuring the fearsome Monte Baldo climb.
The 8th stage is one of the hardest in the race with an accumulated 65 km's climbed. Going over the Forcola de Livigno climb to the Passo de Gavia climb, that will have the highest point of this tour. The next stage is a weird one with a Hilly/Moutain climb, but a flat finish that will give the surviving sprinters the edge in Bergamo. Before heading into mountains again the pack will have a short day with hills before action takes of on Pione di Moscogno, the longest climb on the whole MG Calendar. Before we hit an classic stage going from Falzes to Cortina d'Amprezzo with Passo Duran (the highest percentage climb). Ending on the descent of Passo Giau. Rounding off we have 2 stages for the surviving sprinters with bigger cities like Parma and ending up in Pisa.
Now finally we start off in Firenze for a legendary stage going to the mini-put state of San Marino, The path there lies in between 5 classic climbs and from here on the recovery stages really begin to matter. A resting day in Montesilvano will collide with 2 big Mountain stages. The first going from Pescara to the mighty climb of Blockhaus, this is the King stage of this race getting past the Blockhaus climb that is 28 km's long, the winner here will most certainly be the winner of the Giro. Finally we reach the classic climb of Valico di Monte Cristo on a day with 69 km's of climbing. The winner will have to fight for his turf in the hills to come going to Montefiascone and a hilly TT in Porto Santo Stefano to finally go from the Vatican throughout and around Roma. Here the winner will be cheered for and 21 rough days are over!
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roturn |
Posted on 18-09-2016 20:53
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Team Manager
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Nice preview!
Looking forward to the first GT of the year.
Having Olivier in his first GT leadership is already great after developing him from 1.0.
Having him in the top10-15 range, makes it even better. My actual goal for him was a top20 for him, so anything better is already nice and actually looks highly possible.
Groenewegen a top10 sprinter might get a top5 or podium here and there even though others are still quite a bit stronger. Then again Groenewegen will be back next year maxed.
De Bie and Villella high up in the stage hunter list. Let`s hope, they show something. Need stage results as GC points won`t be too high without top5 chances.
So my team might not be the best, but still has great opporunities for all terrains.
Stage Win & Top20 & Top3 U25 please. |
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Shonak |
Posted on 18-09-2016 20:58
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Tour de France Champion
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Wow great startlist, I expect a thriller!
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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cio93 |
Posted on 18-09-2016 20:59
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World Champion
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I absolutely love the sprinting field here.
Van Stayen showing up was predictable and he will be nearly impossible to beat, but I am somewhat confident Demare can turn out to be the second best sprinter in this race with lots of flat stages having decent elevation gains.
The mountains will also tire out the other sprinters significantly more, and many of the hilly stages look to potentially end in sprints as well. No Grosu or guys like Trofimov/Hagen here is great in that regard.
Sadly I couldn't give him a leadout train with AToC clashing and RD stuff, but I hope Felline will always be around him. Hopefully he'll surf trains well and stays in the slipstreams to strike in the last 250 metres.
For the GC, Nerz and/or Bongiorno can scratch the Top 10 with consistent riding.
I'd like to either see both end in the Top 15, or one of them going for GC and one of them going for the KoM jersey (likely Bongiorno, 79mo used to be a good stat for that).
Bevin and especially Sütterlin come here for TTT support, Heider and Mager should be nice domestiques for both the mountains and hills.
As for predictions outside of my own team, all I care about is that we score better than at least 5 teams who are below us at the moment
Edited by cio93 on 18-09-2016 21:03
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viking90 |
Posted on 18-09-2016 21:00
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4032
Joined: 24-01-2009
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We got some interest here with 3 loanies riding here, one for Aegon and two for RBC.
But as always GTs are great to follow anyway. |
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Croatia14 |
Posted on 18-09-2016 21:17
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Directeur Sportif
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seing this as my first GT I follow I feel like this startlist is not too strong...could well be van Stayen's Giro, but I expect many wins for the breakaways...GC wise it should be Pluchkin --> Madrazo --> Alcorcon --> Wellens --> Henao as my pick
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ember |
Posted on 18-09-2016 21:52
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Team Leader
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Great preview, sgdanny!
This is going to be huge, very excited to see the Giro start. Pluchkin must be the obvious favourite, and with such a route, he could get the leader's jersey in the first week and keep it all the way to Rome. Happy to see that a top 10 looks doable for Guldhammer, that's our main goal and also a sponsor goal here.
Would be nice to see Holst Enger mix it in the sprints as well, a couple of top 5s should be doable seeing the sprinters lining up.
Really hoping Alarcon can prove himself again after a rather disappointing 2015, after a great 2014. Could be much needed for Smowz as well, seeing how Red Bull have struggled until now this season.
Oh, and there isn't much reason for knockout to fear GTs and a huge ranking drop, I suspect, seeing Van Stayen is here. He should be the favourite in most sprints and claim loads of points.
Speaking of sprinters, it's obviously a key race for Grieg-Eftel as well. They definitely need Guarnieri/breakaway luck to score well here, seeing this is probably their strongest GT line up. If not, the tiny, tiny hope of survival will disappear quickly. |
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Bikex |
Posted on 18-09-2016 22:12
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Team Leader
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Finally my first MG GT. Regarding the GC I sacrificed a focus race to be somewhat competitive here. On paper Denifl is one of the 4 best climbers here and with Kiserlovski he has a great support. The climbers field doesn't really look much stronger than in PCT in which Denifl also sucks, so hopes are he doesn't suck much more in PCT and a Top10 could be doable.
Thanks for the great preview sgdanny. |
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Posted on 22-11-2024 13:04
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matt17br |
Posted on 18-09-2016 22:20
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Pluchkin is the obvious favorite, just see no way anyone can even think about dethroning him especially as Madrazo is as inconsistent as it gets and the rest really isn't GT winning material - though Alarcon somehow managed that in a crappy field Vuelta very recently, which is also the case if we don't count the first 2.
Smooth move to take MVS here as he is the top favorite to take on lots of hillier and sprint stages along with Guarnieri - who I honestly rate higher for most flat stages because of his leadout as well. Generally, it was smart to take second/third tier sprinters here instead of those fast men packed WT races such as Qatar and Afrique. Or Le Tour.
Gastauer and De Bie here are pretty huge gambles that could pay off depending on the AI. I count at least 5 stages they have a shot at winning, but it could really turn out to be a huge mistake if PCM decides suddenly not to like them.
Nice to see Zmorka here ready to wreck the TT field - although that one TT really seems to be something for someone with > high 60s in their hilly stat, such as...his teammate Pluchkin, who also definitely can get over mountains very well which is required to win 3rd week TTs nowadays in PCM. Metinvest are gonna have a huge GT, just sneak Grosu in the squad and it would have been the perfect rankings destroyer team, though everyone has a limited amount of race days you know
Thanks for the in-depth preview Danny!
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tastasol |
Posted on 18-09-2016 22:24
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Yeah, without a doubt our strongest GT line up. The TdF one is absolutely shocking So we certainly need a great race if we want any chance of staying up. Hopefully we can build on our great Paris-Roubaix performance.
Guarnieri should certainly be one of the top 3 sprinters here, and he also have great support. Stage win goal should be doable. A bit worried about how he will cope with the semi-hilly stuff on stage 1,2 and 9, but would be a very dissapointing race if he can't win a stage here.
While I'm not going anywhere near the GC battle, it will be a good one to follow. Important race for both Gazelle and Metinvest in that way. Just hoping that we won't see any of the big guys crashing out.
Thanks for the great preview, sgdanny.
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alexkr00 |
Posted on 18-09-2016 22:24
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World Champion
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Time to start scoring some points
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wackojackohighcliffe |
Posted on 18-09-2016 22:28
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7681
Joined: 19-02-2008
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Sent Nibali here for the nationality bonus before finding out it got taken away years ago. Still, he was good value in Tirenno and hopefully will be here. Fairly strong team behind him and should back him up nicely in the TTT. Pluchkin Madrazo will be fun a hope on a traditionally crazy Giro route. Good luck to all, hope for no crashes and thanks for the preview danny!
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sammyt93 |
Posted on 18-09-2016 22:40
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3634
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"mini-put state"? We have a CT team, just a shame there's no Sammarinese riders present to race the stage in our homeland.
With no race clashes our whole team can come out to watch the finish and cheer on Hofer, our only loaned out rider present.
I look forward to following the race and seeing which one of the 2 85's comes out on top of the GC or if someone can spring a surprise and take the first GT of the MG season.
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Eden95 |
Posted on 19-09-2016 02:17
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Easily between the top 3 GC guys, and further it's Pluchkin's to lose considering Madrazo is as inconsistent as he is. Interesting to see both De Bie and Gasteur turn up, hopefully it's not in vain.
Indosat - ANZ HQ
"This Schleck sandwich is going to cause serious indigestion for Evans" - Phil Liggett
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Marcovdw |
Posted on 19-09-2016 07:24
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Grand Tour Champion
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Can Pluchkin complete the triple? I think so!
Also looking forward to Chad Haga's debut in a GC. Not expecting much but he can always surprise me.
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Croatia14 |
Posted on 19-09-2016 08:23
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Directeur Sportif
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forgot that I have loaned out riders here, let's cheer for Bazhkou and Potocki for some breakaway success and of course also their teams for a great first GT of the season. Go RBC & Aker!
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OlegTinkov |
Posted on 19-09-2016 08:58
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Small Tour Specialist
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What a crapy preview: all of my riders should be mentioned in the Stage Hunters category
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Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 19-09-2016 09:52
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World Champion
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So here it comes, the first race of truth of the year for Metinvest.
Thanks for the very nice preview, i just miss the TTT lineups strenght, but i guess we are one of the strongest teams there with maybe Tinkoff? The plan is to gain the jersey after the TTT or the first mountain stage with double Etna ride, this way Pluchkin could use the power of pink to his advantage and bring it all the way to Rome hopefully.
Madrazo will benefit from Gazelle lucky charm for sure, he can be dangerous, like Alarcon or Denifl. Other guys should ne no match in mountains. Most important is to stay away from crashes, please.
Good luck to all, looking forward to the start of the race!
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tsmoha |
Posted on 19-09-2016 10:07
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Directeur Sportif
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Just hoping for a TTT win and breakaways.
Great preview!
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Roman |
Posted on 19-09-2016 14:57
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4386
Joined: 29-05-2007
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Goals:
- Top 15 overall (König)
- Some podium sprint finishes and hopefully a stage win (Howard)
- At least an attempt for a stage win (Vakoc)
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