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SAA Tour d'Afrique Discussion
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 17-09-2018 09:35
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4190
Joined: 13-09-2015
PCM$: 400.00
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It's the third year that this sprinter's paradise is raced around some countries in Africa, more concrete Mauricio, South Africa, Rwanda and Kenya, one stage in each country.
Four almost flat stages where the GC will be rewarded through consistency in the top placings of stage.
The same rider has won the two first editions of this race, and it's of course the main favourite for his third consecutive win in the race.  Ben Swift. Despite having won twice GC, he only has one stage win under his belt, so consistency has been the key for his success in this race
 John Degenkolb has always been in the GC podium while also winning at least one stage each year, and is hoping for a big result that helps his team in his current surprising relegation battle
No other stage winner is present in the race, so the rest of favourites come from strenght and not from race history
| Favourites | SPR | ACC | FLA | Contenders | SPR | ACC | FLA |  Coquard | 84 | 83 | 73 |  Itami | 80 | 82 | 75 | | Degenkolb | 84 | 81 | 76 |  Kump | 81 | 80 | 74 | | Swift | 84 | 82 | 74 |  Vantomme | 82 | 78 | 73 |  Mohs | 83 | 82 | 75 |  Stauff | 80 | 81 | 74 |  Cavendish | 83 | 81 | 73 | Guardini | 80 | 82 | 72 |  Kennaugh | 82 | 81 | 77 |  Kupfernagel | 80 | 80 | 74 |  Lo Cicero | 84 | 78 | 72 | Tzortzakis | 81 | 77 | 73 | | Groenewegen | 82 | 81 | 73 |  Houle | 79 | 78 | 78 |  Demare | 82 | 81 | 73 |  Moser | 80 | 79 | 72 |  Boeckmans | 81 | 83 | 73 | Haller | 80 | 79 | 72 |  Avelino | 83 | 78 | 71 |  Porsev | 79 | 80 | 74 |  Guerao | 83 | 76 | 74 |  Afewerki | 79 | 80 | 73 |  Goss | 82 | 78 | 74 | Hayakawa | 79 | 79 | 73 |
Coquard is now one of the best sprinters in the world, and after a GC podium in Qatar, he needs to keep giving good results to his team. It wouldn't be a surprise if he's the rider meant to break Swift's dominance in the race
Mohs and Cavendish are both two PCT sprinters that are quite similar, though Mohs could suffer if stages are raced fast before the sprint
Kennaugh will be hoping for strong winds that helps him using his superior flat skills in order to overachieve here
Lo Cicero is a really fast sprinter, but as he struggles a bit with acceleration and flat skills, he could not get the results he hopes for, same thing going with Avelino and Guerao.
Demare and Boeckmans should be up there fighting for Top5 stage results. The French surely hopes that every speedbump is used to harm his competitor, with his expectional puncheur abilities
Other sprinters like Goss, Kump, Vantomme, Kump, Itami or Houle (watch out with his flat skills in case of crosswinds!) could be in the mix for decent results, but they could suffer from the "too strong startlist" effect and not really get involved in sprints
Gazelle was supoused to take part in this race, but they weren't allowed to start after they only showed with 5 riders, less than the minimum required to participate
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| roturn |
Posted on 17-09-2018 09:54
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Team Manager
Posts: 22043
Joined: 24-11-2007
PCM$: 3900.00
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Please don`t be a Qatar #2...really need to win here actually with Groenewegen again the leadout for Swift...
If they fail again, I am doomed as sprinter team with them not being interested in their main races.
On a quick look I love to not see Van Stayen here making it one big 84 sprinter less, though upped again by Lo Cicero instead
And also no Bewley.
So please don`t let me down here. 
All but a podium would be a huge fail, but all but a win would be a missed goal really after Qatar and with 2 consecutive GC wins here. |
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| sgdanny |
Posted on 17-09-2018 10:08
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3587
Joined: 18-03-2014
PCM$: 200.00
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Excited to see how Mohs will fare in a PT sprint, but the race will most likely be randomized or he will turn up with Daily Form. Can only get positive from this expectation 
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 17-09-2018 10:13
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World Champion
Posts: 11621
Joined: 17-12-2014
PCM$: 1120.00
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That last stage should be reversed...
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."
[PT]  Xero Racing
5x  x5
1x  x1
2x  x2
2x  x2 |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 07-12-2025 08:06
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 17-09-2018 10:16
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4190
Joined: 13-09-2015
PCM$: 400.00
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That's called Kenya Mountain Classic 
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| tastasol |
Posted on 17-09-2018 10:17
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3030
Joined: 11-09-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Hopefully better than Qatar. Need to see some top 10s from Boeckmans here and the field should suit him better than in Qatar. Fingers crossed for you, roturn, Swift surely has to do better here than whatever he did in Qatar.
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 17-09-2018 10:20
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Team Leader
Posts: 5568
Joined: 12-06-2013
PCM$: 500.00
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That's quite the start list. I hope Moser actually gets involved in the sprints but I won't be getting my hopes up.
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| SotD |
Posted on 17-09-2018 10:50
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World Champion
Posts: 12631
Joined: 29-11-2006
PCM$: 2980.00
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We need atleast 1 stagewin and a GC podium here, otherwise it will be very very unsatisfying. We bring the best possible leadout we can do, and one of the top 3 sprinters. Looking at our current position in the rankings it could be now or never...
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| matt17br |
Posted on 17-09-2018 11:54
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 10519
Joined: 28-09-2013
PCM$: 200.00
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Should easily be one of the quietest races of our season, and the startlist shows that. Hermans has been absolutely glorious so far though, so maybe he comes up with something at some point, not counting on that though.
Thanks for the preview Aquarius, and good luck sprinting teams!
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| fintas |
Posted on 17-09-2018 12:04
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2597
Joined: 21-03-2008
PCM$: 1200.00
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With this startlis I do not expect anything too much from my team, maybe a step top 10 and the GC top20 will be the best we can get.
Being one of the less favorite teams, I would love to see my riders try to be in the breaks every day and who knows how win the KoM jersey.
For me Swift with the help of Groenewegen should win this race
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| cio93 |
Posted on 17-09-2018 12:44
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World Champion
Posts: 10616
Joined: 29-10-2007
PCM$: 500.00
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Surely no big expectations for Demare here, but 4 race days with pretty much guaranteed GC points for the sprinters was too good to pass.
At most, stage 2 might provide an opportunity to weaken some sprinters right at the end, but the main strategy should just be finding decent wheels and get consistent bonus seconds, or maybe be lucky once if the top guys sprint too early and fade.
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 17-09-2018 13:32
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2543
Joined: 07-07-2013
PCM$: 200.00
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Kraftwerk's PTHC goal race, looking for a top 10 from Cav. Fingers crossed.
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| trekbmc |
Posted on 17-09-2018 14:16
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Team Leader
Posts: 7336
Joined: 11-07-2014
PCM$: 700.00
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Vantomme tends to love these PT fields, I don't know why, so I should be let down when I expect him to do well in it.
Hermans scores 10000 while LNH scores 10, Swift wins, Kump is cool, thanks Aquarius! 
"What done is, is one." - Benji Naesen
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| Eden95 |
Posted on 17-09-2018 17:00
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4616
Joined: 05-10-2010
PCM$: 1000.00
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Looking for a few sneaky top-10 finishes from Goss and hopefully an eventual top-10 GC (however unlikely). Any one of the PT big guns could and will most likely take it out. Hope we can be competitive here.
Indosat - ANZ HQ
"This Schleck sandwich is going to cause serious indigestion for Evans" - Phil Liggett |
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 17-09-2018 19:37
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Team Leader
Posts: 6177
Joined: 20-07-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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Four 84 sprinters? This is worse than Qatar!
Anyway we have a stronger team here, hopefully that will help Avelino to a rather difficult top5. Anywhere inside the top15 would be an acceptable result though. Let's see what happens.
Another decisive race for both Festina and Aegon. roturn can't afford many more blunders, and in all fairness I hope Swift finishes first... behing Avelino, that is!
Thanks for another race Aquarius!
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 17-09-2018 19:50
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World Champion
Posts: 12429
Joined: 20-05-2009
PCM$: 530.00
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Hope Itami can stay consistent and bring us a Top 10 here.
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| ember |
Posted on 17-09-2018 20:48
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Team Leader
Posts: 7058
Joined: 27-03-2008
PCM$: 900.00
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This should be an interesting one. Degenkolb has to be the overall favourite after Qatar, but surely Swift will challenge him here. That's the very least that should be expected from the Brit.
Seeing the startlist, I assume Coquard should also be a safe bet for a leadout, contrary to Qatar, unless he gets bad daily form. Will be kind of exciting to see what he can do against top opposition on more equal terms compared to Qatar.
That trio really should be ahead of the rest of the field, which should make for some great sprints considering leadouts and the fight on the final kilometers on each stage. |
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| OlegTinkov |
Posted on 18-09-2018 01:15
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2773
Joined: 31-12-2007
PCM$: 450.00
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Hopefully Porsev can score some points, thanks for the preview!
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 18-09-2018 10:01
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World Champion
Posts: 11621
Joined: 17-12-2014
PCM$: 1120.00
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24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant."
[PT] Xero Racing
5x x5
1x x1
2x x2
2x x2 |
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| trekbmc |
Posted on 18-09-2018 10:03
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Team Leader
Posts: 7336
Joined: 11-07-2014
PCM$: 700.00
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Wow, huge sprint by Dege!
6th (and 2nd best PCT rider) really is pretty good for Vantomme, pretty happy with that and hope he can hold that position! Though I'm a little annoyed that LNH is - as ever - just outside the bonus seconds, the difference between an okay GC and just anonymous, shame for him that there wasn't a timed gap though.
Thanks for the report Aquarius, very well written!
"What done is, is one." - Benji Naesen
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