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Tour of Eritrea Discussion
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| roturn |
Posted on 03-11-2017 06:19
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The Tour of Eritrea is the first HC stage race of the season and also one of those mixed events of top climbing and top hill skills. The list of former winners impressively shows the improvement of starting fields here seeing a GT podium rider Amador as most recent winner beating GT stars such as Cunego or Ricco which is a lot different to the first edition in 2013 where Gomez Marchante did beat Marquez and Nazaret.
Those two later actually yet again top10 candidates for this year as both are starting. Marquez in fact has shown his strength with the GC win in 2015 while 2016 went to an allrounder in Kwiatkowski. Actually another rider to be one of the favourites in this years edition.
And then there obviously is the home team Eritel, who had 2 top10 results with Berhane but surely are hoping for more this year when sending their top top squad as you can read further below.
| Mountain | Hill | | Mountain | Hill |  Nazaret | 80 | 71 |  Úran | 82 | 74 | | Marquez | 80 | 71 |  Kudus | 81 | 76 |  Brenes | 79 | 73 | Berhane | 81 | 75 |  Costagli | 79 | 71 |  Pinot | 80 | 74 | | Pantano Gómez | 79 | 71 |  Ji | 80 | 75 |  Stancu | 78 | 69 |  Roglic | 79 | 76 | | Signorini | 78 | 69 |  Van den Broeck | 79 | 74 | | Elissonde | 78 | 73 |  Schelling | 79 | 75 | | Saggiorato | 77 | 73 | Chamorro | 78 | 75 |  Gilanipoor | 77 | 71 | Chiarello | 78 | 75 |  Hirschlein | 77 | 71 | Teklehaimanot | 77 | 74 | | Martinez | 76 | 72 | Hiratsuka | 77 | 74 |
First of all there is the climber section. On the left the pure climbers and as Marquez has shown, those are capable to win as well. Hence the Berg Cycles duo has to be watched, in especially with Chiarello being their lieutnant.
On the right the top climbers with stronger hill skills and here the stand out team surely is Eritel. Not only their new star Kudus but also their previous leader Berhane and super domestique Teklehaimanot. Actually they also add Reguigui and Niyonshuti to this mountain train.
Other riders to be mentioned are Uran with Pantano Gomez and Martinez as support. Definitely a team capable of winning here as the Colombian is the top climber here.
Then Haute Route with Pinot, Compal with Ji, Generali with Roglic or Euskaltel with veteran Van den Broeck. All potential winners clearly.
UBS and Ticos with a special mention again. First as Schelling now maxed and looking pretty good and he has a great support team behind him while Ticos Air is known for their mountain depth. Question is if their 2nd tier top riders Costagli and more probably Chamorro can follow when needed?
Then there`s obviously the allrounders and puncheurs to attack on the two hill stages and in especially on the Ardennes like on the final day when pure climbers are expected to struggle.
| Mountain | Hill |  Kwiatkowski | 78 | 79 |  Roche | 77 | 79 | | Poljanski | 77 | 77 | | Zardini | 76 | 77 | | Serry | 75 | 78 | | Reichenbach | 73 | 79 | | Meyer | 69 | 78 | | Zaini | 66 | 80 |
Last year with Cunego and Ricco those kind of riders proved to be vital in this event and while Roche is back, he lost a bit of his strength and already struggled last season to reach the podium even though he won a stage. But still a strong rider that is expected to do well here. With Poljanski behind him, he has one of the best support riders for this race surely.
The standout rider though is a trained Kwiatkowski, winner of 2015 already. He can climb almost as good as the best and then also one of the best on the hill stages. Probably the top favourite if not having a bad day on the long climb. Only his support team is pretty weak in comparison to all other favourites and hence could see him struggle.
Zardini, Serry and Reichenbach are other riders to watch for a hill attack after hanging on at the climb while Meyer and top puncheur Zaini likely are for the hill stages only.
Last but not least the sprinters who are having a maximum of 3 stages here.
| Sprint | Acc | | Sprint | Acc | | Itami | 80 | 82 | Reinhardt | 79 | 84 | | Silvestre | 80 | 81 |  Pelucchi | 79 | 77 | | Keukeleire | 80 | 79 | King | 78 | 73 | | Bouhanni | 80 | 77 | Tewelde | 78 | 77 | | Guardini | 80 | 82 | Kuboki | 77 | 77 | | Drapac | 80 | 79 | Lobato del Valle | 77 | 80 | | Afewerki | 79 | 80 | Cohen | 77 | 76 | | Santos | 79 | 75 | Galimzyanov | 77 | 74 | | Chen | 79 | 78 | Haddi | 77 | 77 | | Stepniak | 79 | 79 | Planckaert | 77 | 77 |
The top of the list is incredibly close and hence no real top favourite is found.
Result wise probably Guardini could be mentioned as he won a stage in last years PT field and also did well in this years Tour Down Under when he won stage 1.
Bouhanni as well did win a stage or two in previous PCT seasons while Keukeleire and Silvestre seem to have the strongest package of all sprinters here. Reinhardt as well always a danger as his acceleration is pretty great.
Itami looks really good but so far not really backing it with results.
And obviously home team Eritel also coming strong here with a trained Afewerki, who as well having a full package and might even have best secondary skills for a stage race sprinter.
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 03-11-2017 06:49
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Can't wait to see trained Roglic, Minions making their first big points (hopefully), and the duos of the home team Eritrel (would also love to see Haute Route do well with Pinot) and Berg as well here! But am definitely supporting Kwiatek for the win  Good luck to those looking for something out of this race, thanks for a nice preview roturn 
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| trekbmc |
Posted on 03-11-2017 07:57
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I'm really worried about this race really, Kwiatkowski is far down the startlist and our support is weak, with only Rabottini really being of use (already struggling to send Kwiatkowski here instead of Poland, I didn't have the heart to also send Honkisz, Stachowiak and Bernas).
There's a lot of climbers who'll be incredibly tough to beat and Kwiatkowski is a long way down the startlist.
Thanks for the preview Roturn! Nice and in-depth.
"What done is, is one." - Benji Naesen
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 03-11-2017 08:37
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This race is a very big deal for Eritel, of course. Its never really happened for us in this race in the past, but the mountain stage this year really provides a huge opportunity to have a great race. Hope that Afewerki is deemed good enough to join in on the sprints too!
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| sgdanny |
Posted on 03-11-2017 09:31
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Will be pretty interesting to see how the Guardini - Stepniak - Cohen combo works on this race now that we've seen Guardini in a race with Mohs and better opposition in TdU. Also Roche will have a hard time getting a podium for sure, so a Top 5 would be great and quite acceptable. Crossing my fingers for Kwiatek and the opposition is strong, but not that overpowered so lots of opportunities here
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 03-11-2017 09:40
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surprisingly awful startlist for a HC race, in all terrains - some big points for minor players up for grabs...not the best of planning from me to miss it - I am rooting for Pinot, Kwiatek and Rogla
bold prediction: 3 stages for Guardini
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 03-11-2017 09:52
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Cool to see our former loanees Afewerki and Keukeleire possibly having a shot at the flat stages. Same goes for our former rider Drapac. This should be a rare opportunity for him to do something notable at this level.
Kwiatek should be the top bet indeed. This mountain stage used to produce late attacks, iirc, so he will limit the losses and win the GC in the final stage. Would be great though, if the local team will shine here this year.
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 03-11-2017 09:55
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We're here for the sprints and the occasional breakaway. Pelucchi showed good shape in Australia, let's hope he can repeat it here.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 03-11-2017 09:58
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Úran is more of a stage racer than a pure climber but it looks like I made a good call by sending him here with full support. The #1 bib brings a lot of expectations into this race to finally score the well-needed points for the rankings.
Drapac may sprint, but I don't expect any miracles.
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| knockout |
Posted on 03-11-2017 10:09
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A rather unique profile which makes this one of the most interesting mountainous races for me. I'm cheering for the mo/hi hybrids here - especially Kwiatek and the Fablok duo with Poljanski. Definitely would say Kwiatek is also the top favourite.
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| trekbmc |
Posted on 03-11-2017 10:22
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Yeah, would be cool to see how Poljanski does as well as a newly maxed Pole in the PCT (Although likely blocked by Roche), Poland likes this kind of race.
"What done is, is one." - Benji Naesen
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-11-2024 20:47
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| Bjartne |
Posted on 03-11-2017 10:43
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Finally unleashing Jianhua Ji for the season. I hope this profile suits him and that we can fight for a top 5 in the end. That would be extremely valuable points! |
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| fintas |
Posted on 03-11-2017 11:15
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The last year did not go very well for us in this race, Nazaret lost the place in the top 10 in the last stage for being poorly positioned. This year I hope everything is different, this will be the first of many races with the trio Marquez, Nazaret and Chiarello and I am curious to see how the game will deal with the Marquez-Nazaret duo as this will be crucial to the success of the season.
Silvestre will have here perhaps his best chance to reach at least one win since many of the best sprinters are not present, hopefully as happened in Down Under his flat stat will give him some edge over the other favorites.
A stage victory and two cyclists in the final top 10 is the least desired for this race, less than that and this race will be a failure. My bet for the win goes to Kudus, the mountain stage will make a difference and he will be able to hold on to the two hill stages.
thanks for the great and detailed preview roturn
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| Bushwackers |
Posted on 03-11-2017 12:26
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Very much looking forward to this one. The startlist is just weak enough that my non-Amador riders should have a chance to score points. I'm hoping for a top-10 for Schelling at least, and I expect Reinhardt to do well in the sprints.
For the winner, I'll bet on one of the Eritel guys. It is a little sad for the rest of us that they are both here 
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| Eden95 |
Posted on 03-11-2017 12:43
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Interested to see how Roglic and Kwiatowski do. We've sent a nothing team and expect nothing from the race, so anything is a positive!
Indosat - ANZ HQ
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 03-11-2017 17:42
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Nice preview roturn, cheering for Eritel to do well in a home race.
Sent my B team here due to race clashes so only chance for ponts will be a bit of breakaway or KOM action.
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| matt17br |
Posted on 03-11-2017 17:47
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Roglic for a top 5 is all I'm asking for, should make up for TDU's anticlimax in my books for sure. Would be nice to see someone like Molard or Malacarne do well too, and if Planckaert managed to score some points in sprints - hard to imagine - that would be just great.
Well this is just tailor made for Kwiat. Thanks for hosting this roturn.
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 03-11-2017 17:52
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Not hoping for anything GC wise, but stage hunting better pay off. Zaini looks to be one of the strongest Hill rider, and Itami can challenge for flat stages, so that looks good, and then Hiratsuka and Gilanipoor can probably get into a break on a mountain stage hopefully
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| Tamijo |
Posted on 03-11-2017 19:16
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This is going to be a great spectator race for sure.
I think that mountain stage will do it, unless it turns out to be very, very close.
If you are racing here don't check the spoiler
Spoiler That long downhill right from the start with lots of attacks 
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 03-11-2017 20:29
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Hoping my riders can combine and do something special here. Bouhanni and Lobato will hopefully grab some points in the sprint stages, I'm hoping Zardini does something in the hills but I won't be mad if he doesn't and instead helps Jürgen VdB with his GC ambitions!
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