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Tour d'Andorra Discussion
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 31-01-2018 11:36
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 Tour d'Andorra
5th anniversary for one of the toughest stage races in the ManGame calendar: the Tour d'Andorra has been first held in 2013 (as part of the Mini ManGame, with Andrew Bajadali as the first winner) and then became part of the PCT circuit until 2016. An illostrous list of past race winners in those three years then: Domenico Pozzovivo in 2014, Martijn Keizer in 2015 and Andrei Amador as the big winner last season. Past stage-winners include such premium climbers like Tiago Machado (2x in 2016, 2x in 2015), Benat Intxausti (1x in 2016, 1x in 2015, 1x in 2014), Florentino Marquez (1x in 2015, 1x in 2014), David Abal (1x in 2014) and also Amador (1x in 2016) and Pozzovivo (1x in 2014) took stages in their GC-victory campaings. Something, that Keizer didn't achieve two years ago.
The profiles are easily described: climbs everywhere. A lot of climbing. A lot of downhill kilometres as well. A 223km stage on third day and an almost 200km on the final day: surely the queen stage with multiple steep and brutal (10, to be precisive) climbs until the finish line. We probably do not need to talk about timetrial skills too much: it's all about climbing, stamina, recovery, acceleration and of course downhill skills here.
The Startlist
The GC contenders | Favorites | MO | TT | STA | RES | REC | AC | DH |  Eastman | 80 | 75 | 76 | 75 | 76 | 69 | 66 |  Krasnoperov | 80 | 73 | 68 | 69 | 73 | 61 | 69 |  Valls | 79 | 72 | 78 | 77 | 78 | 72 | 66 |  Penasa | 79 | 70 | 75 | 72 | 77 | 76 | 64 |  Solis | 79 | 59 | 68 | 78 | 76 | 67 | 66 | | Anacona | 79 | 66 | 75 | 72 | 74 | 61 | 57 |  Moschella | 79 | 69 | 73 | 70 | 71 | 62 | 75 |  Bennett | 78 | 65 | 75 | 74 | 79 | 73 | 63 |  Karnulin | 78 | 70 | 76 | 75 | 77 | 70 | 73 |  Cataldo | 78 | 69 | 74 | 76 | 75 | 73 | 65 | | Stetina | 78 | 64 | 67 | 74 | 74 | 65 | 73 |  Panayotov | 78 | 68 | 71 | 76 | 73 | 72 | 65 |  Campero | 78 | 69 | 75 | 70 | 72 | 71 | 74 |
The CT's best climbers and stage racers have lined up for the most prestigious mountain stage race of the year. We may begin with someone, who's not only one of the best performers in the CT this year, but who's also quite a strong history in the Tour d'Andorra: Rafael Valls. Finishing 7th overall in 2015 and 8th in 2016, he certainly enjoyed some good days here in the past two years. With the event now being downgraded to C2HC status, he's amongst the pre-race top favorites for the first time and will surely aim for at least the podium.
The same goes for Eastman, obviously: the former U25 winner here back in 2015 (14th overall) is the strongest climber on paper. He lacks some acceleration and comes with some slightly worse backup stats, but the US boy has to aim for nothing else than the victory.
Team Reddit with the Krasnoperov/Anacona duo again. Krasnoperov finished as 17th in 2015 and he surely lacks the backup stats and acceleration to be considered as promising as Eastman or Valls. Still, this duo can be dangerous, if they ignore their weaknesses.
Penasa as a bigger contender for the podium then. Bennett, Karnulin and Cataldo (11th in 2014) maybe as the next best contenders, as they all come with a better allround package than climbers like Solis, Moschella or Stetina. Panayotov (14th in 2014, 12th in 2015) would certainly love to finally get a Top-10 GC result here and Campero might have a shot at a similar result as well. At least, he's one of the better downhill riders amongst the GC contenders. Also Karnulin and Moschella may benefit at some point.
The GC Contenders | Outsiders | MO | TT | STA | RES | REC | AC | DH | | Manfredi | 78 | 65 | 68 | 73 | 72 | 73 | 73 |  Diaz | 78 | 72 | 69 | 73 | 71 | 68 | 74 | | Rujano | 78 | 67 | 69 | 77 | 70 | 70 | 64 | | Atapuma | 78 | 62 | 71 | 72 | 68 | 73 | 63 |  Tvetcov | 77 | 74 | 72 | 71 | 76 | 73 | 64 |  Hacecký | 77 | 68 | 71 | 76 | 76 | 75 | 67 | | Squire | 77 | 65 | 70 | 70 | 76 | 71 | 65 |  Pozzovivo | 77 | 69 | 70 | 75 | 75 | 69 | 67 | | Camier | 77 | 64 | 65 | 67 | 75 | 62 | 67 |  Bardet | 77 | 59 | 72 | 70 | 71 | 75 | 71 | | Antón | 77 | 69 | 70 | 74 | 71 | 74 | 60 | | Salinas | 77 | 71 | 74 | 74 | 70 | 72 | 66 |
A former race-winner and a former stage-winner amongst those GC contenders with outsiders' chances at the Top-10 this year: Pozzovivo (GC and Points winner in 2014, plus a stage-win) and Rujano (stage-win in 2015 and 5th in the GC). The two aging climbers probably won't be with the very best here, but the past experience in this tough race will certainly help. Pozzovivo finished the race as 19th overall last season, in a much stronger field however.
Manfredi and Diaz as the best downhill riders amongst the GC outsiders. Tvetcov as maybe the most complete stage racer and Hacecký as the one with the best backup stats. Xero's Antón and Salinas should definitely make for a strong support, if Bennett is the undisputed leader. But we've already seen changing leader roles, if one of those three struggles at some point.
Bardet as an often aggressive climber then. He surely needs some smart tactics in this tough field as well. He's certainly capable of pulling an early attack at some later point in the race.
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| viking90 |
Posted on 31-01-2018 11:45
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Will Eastman do justice this time?
Have not followed every race but if I remember right he did not really make a good result in Trentino atleast, its between him and Valls for me. Thats not a bold guess  |
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 31-01-2018 12:26
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Cue Bardet completing the hat-trick of crashes when in a good position. So far down the start list...
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 31-01-2018 13:03
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Penasa, Valls and Bennett on the podium, just not sure in which row. Big race for Xero I hope!
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| Tamijo |
Posted on 31-01-2018 13:07
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WE NEED POINTS HERE !!
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| Kentaurus |
Posted on 31-01-2018 13:35
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I think this season so far has shown Valls to be the best climber in the CT, however I'm holding out hope that with this much climbing over a race, the team depth becomes much more of an issue where Eastman will enjoy more support than anyone else.
AZTECA - NBCSN  |
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| Scorchio |
Posted on 31-01-2018 18:05
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WCC's affinity for the mountains reflected by the minimum team size here, development riders and lonely Koshevoy our only rider with a mtn rating in the 70's. Would be surprised to pick-up even 1 ppRD equivalent here. Other riders so weak, might even struggle to get in breaks with generally tough stage starts, but fingers crossed nevertheless. Only a couple of instances where full team size not met by WCC due to rider RD restrictions. Interesting to note that some of the main competition for the overall honours seems to have a similar approach!  .
Biggest surprise for me here is the absence of Jaime Suaza on the start-list, surely a course made for him rather than some of the hilly days he has been spotted at!?! Should be a good battle between Eastman, PPP and Valls for victory here. Diaz is my outsider call for top 5 overall.
Manager of ISA - Hexacta in the MG |
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| Vien |
Posted on 31-01-2018 18:19
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Looking forward to this! Despite not having the best substats, it'll be fun to see how a 78,79 and 80MO rider will perform. Hoping for a lot of attacks and especialy some success in the TT.
Will be fun to see this race regardless of our performance. Who can take down Valls? Surely he can't just win any race? |
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| Yellow Jersey |
Posted on 31-01-2018 19:15
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Brought virtually the strongest team we could here, BIGGEST race of the season and very important for us. Just praying Rujano's and Solis' mega-resistance pay off in the moutain-slogs, we really need it. Also praying a good TT cause it can kill Solis.
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 31-01-2018 19:20
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At Xero HQ we view this as a pivotal race for our season. Suits our trio a lot, top5 goal, and we're not in a good spot. Come on lads!
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant."
[ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT]  Xero Racing
5x  x5
2x  x2
2x  x2 |
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 31-01-2018 19:35
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Disappointing not to see Suaza here, can't really understand why he isn't. Will have to cheer for Solis instead then!
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| Yellow Jersey |
Posted on 31-01-2018 21:52
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SportingNonsense wrote:
Disappointing not to see Suaza here, can't really understand why he isn't. Will have to cheer for Solis instead then!
I'll take all the support i can 
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 31-01-2018 23:11
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We have here our third goal of the season, a Top5, but just a top5 result for Valls would be pathetic. I can't take anything less than a 2nd place with a stage win
I don't think that the final podium will have different riders than Valls, Penasa and Eastman. They are so much better than anyone else in this field, especially with Suaza not being here...  Although the season so far has been about Valls-Penasa duel, which btw hasn't seen a big one really, because Valls crushed the oppositing in Tachira and Langkawi and Penasa did the same in Trentino.
@Viking Eastman only rode Trentino so far in CT level
@Vien He surely can everything And i wouldn't mind if He does
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 31-01-2018 23:32
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All i can do is pray for a decent result !!!
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 31-01-2018 23:47
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Been looking forward to this one!! Hopefully Campero can surprise. I have one of my strongest squads here so hopefully they can impress!
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| Booker |
Posted on 01-02-2018 00:05
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C'mon Penasa! Anything below a podium is a disappointment, and anything in addition to a podium is a bonus. Here we come Andorran mountains!
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 01-02-2018 01:57
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I'll be happy to avoid the dreaded 0 pointer.
Hopefully we are at least strong enough to join breaks and if we are extremely lucky the to maybe have a shot at the KOM jersey.
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| ivaneurope |
Posted on 01-02-2018 09:28
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I've put all my big mountain eggs in this basket. No excuses
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| Shonak |
Posted on 01-02-2018 12:10
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Gratz Aqua, Valls is truyla CT god.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| hillis91 |
Posted on 01-02-2018 12:22
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All i can hope for after the first stage is a breakaway. Not even a win. Just a breakaway.
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