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GP Liechtenstein Discussion
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 07-11-2018 15:34
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Grand Tour Specialist
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The PT mountain fest of every season is back in Liechtenstein. This brutal classic of 240 kms makes its seventh appearence in the MG calendar, and there shouldn't be any surprise that we have a really packed startlist, with pretty much every top climber in PT that isn't in the Giro.
| Favourites | MON | ACC | STA | Outsiders | MON | ACC | STA |  Taaramäe | 85 | 76 | 79 |  Arndt | 79 | 75 | 77 |  Spilak | 85 | 74 | 80 |  Velits | 82 | 67 | 74 |  Madrazo | 85 | 72 | 81 |  Reis | 81 | 63 | 78 | | Herklotz | 83 | 76 | 79 | Sosnitskiy | 78 | 73 | 73 |  Pluchkin | 85 | 74 | 78 |  Keinath | 79 | 70 | 77 |  Martin | 82 | 76 | 77 |  Haig | 78 | 73 | 76 |  Barguil | 81 | 75 | 77 | Karnulin | 78 | 70 | 76 |  Tenorio | 84 | 67 | 78 | Nepomnyachsniy | 77 | 75 | 75 |  Gesink | 83 | 68 | 78 | Nesset | 78 | 69 | 77 |  Sicard | 82 | 70 | 80 |  Slagter | 78 | 71 | 71 |  Kritskiy | 84 | 67 | 78 | Bennett | 78 | 73 | 75 |  Wellens | 81 | 68 | 79 | Nerz | 80 | 68 | 75 | | Marquez | 80 | 80 | 70 | Vinhas | 80 | 62 | 74 |  Olivier | 80 | 71 | 76 |  Brambilla | 79 | 63 | 75 |  Galta | 81 | 64 | 78 | Koch | 77 | 76 | 69 |
Leading the startlist is the reigning champion Rein Taaramae, who comes from winning in Paris - Nice and will be looking to get another win before his attempt at finally win Tour de France. His support is massive, with Marquez being a Top10 contender on his own, while also having Krasnoperov, Moschella and Battaglin.
Behind him, three riders that can win this race, even one of them is a former winner.
Angel Madrazo, who won the inagural edition of the race, starts his 2018 season, a season where he hopes to win again a GT in his home race. He only came back once to this race after winning in 2012, being 5th in 2015.
Simon Spilak is on his final year at his prime, and this might be his final chance to win this race. He finished second in 2016 and fifth last year. Now with Isostar he hopes to deliver the first PT classic win for a Slovenian team with a Slovenian rider.
And Aleksandr Pluchkin is back in the PT level, though it's only some wildcards for his team. After dominating the PCT season so far, he'll be looking to show the world he can compete with the best climbers
Silvio Herklotz comes from winning Tour of California, and was already 8th last year. Now he's on the top of his game, he's a Top5 favourite and why not even a podium contender. The future is his, but the present could be too
Daniel Martin and Warren Barguil are two less talented climbers, that could use their good kick to perform above their level, and beat the kind of riders that are the opposite of them, great climbers with a bad kick.
Those are Justo Tenorio, Robert Gesink and Timofey Kritskiy. In a good day all of them can fight for the podium, but in this startlist, even a Top10 could be a good result for them
Romain Sicard, Tim Wellens, Fredik Strand Galta, Daan Olivier, Rafael Reis and Peter Velits are all leaders of their teams, hoping to get a Top10 finish
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| knockout |
Posted on 07-11-2018 16:16
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
PCM$: 400.00
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Oh shit. I thought this was a flat classic and sent the wrong team... 
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| OlegTinkov |
Posted on 07-11-2018 16:36
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2666
Joined: 31-12-2007
PCM$: 450.00
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knockout wrote:
Oh shit. I thought this was a flat classic and sent the wrong team...
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 07-11-2018 16:57
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Team Leader
Posts: 6036
Joined: 20-07-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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The expected gathering of top climbers confirms. Hope Reis can sneak a top15 here. There's lots of competition, but he's got nice support in Vinhas and Silva. Nice to see Pluchkin making a cameo in the PT here, let's see who's the favoured 85er in this race. Good luck everyone and thanks for the preview Aqua!
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| Heine |
Posted on 07-11-2018 17:08
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4116
Joined: 08-04-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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Finally an interesting race again. Excited to see if Rein can win this again, an awesome field but the Rein-train is ready to ride!
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| ember |
Posted on 07-11-2018 18:09
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Team Leader
Posts: 6849
Joined: 27-03-2008
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No big expectations at all here. Taaramäe as the slight favourite ahead of Spilak, I think, with Herklotz a serious threat for the final podium spot, thanks to his brilliant backup stats.
Always been a fan of this race, it's simply too brutal to not enjoy, so I'm looking forward to see how it plays out  |
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| roturn |
Posted on 07-11-2018 18:17
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Team Manager
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Joined: 24-11-2007
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A top15 is realistic. Top10 on a good day with Olivier.
Hopeful he tries an earlier attack instead of waiting until the stronger riders go.
A bit of support from Ciccone and Carboni, but far from the depth that can help him in the 2nd half. |
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| fintas |
Posted on 07-11-2018 18:20
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2602
Joined: 21-03-2008
PCM$: 1200.00
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Gesink participated in this race three times, getting a 7th place in his first while the 12th place in 2013 was his worst record. Last season had its best appearance in this race getting the 4th place in similar conditions to this year.
For this year I hope he can repeat or even improve his final standings, the goal is a place in the top5 and anything under that will be a disappointment.
The rest of the team should not be able to get better than a top30
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| tastasol |
Posted on 07-11-2018 18:29
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2889
Joined: 11-09-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Should be an exciting race! Martin hasn't been great this season, but hope he can do good here. A top 10 should be our goal with the 85 club here.
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| SotD |
Posted on 07-11-2018 18:37
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World Champion
Posts: 12187
Joined: 29-11-2006
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Really weird feeling to have absolutely nothing to do here...
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 03:07
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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 07-11-2018 18:43
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2633
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Madrazo's relatively low acceleration will hurt him, but during the finale his superior stamina might kick in. I'd say he could finish anywhere from 1st to 5th.
Sosnitskiy and Karnulin can battle for top 30, so all in all a nice opportunity to score some points.
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| fjhoekie |
Posted on 07-11-2018 19:35
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4476
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Exciting startlist! Hope Pluchkin can show himself, and his stunning jersey in this, maybe contesting the win
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game |
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 07-11-2018 19:59
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World Champion
Posts: 11392
Joined: 17-12-2014
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Our first ever PT race  Hope for a Velits top 10 but that's highly unlikely. A breakaway seems like a must though!
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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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 07-11-2018 22:52
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Directeur Sportif
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Hopefully Spilak can attack Taaramae somehow, though I doubt it. A podium is expected, a win is what we hope for.
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| cio93 |
Posted on 08-11-2018 15:52
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World Champion
Posts: 10845
Joined: 29-10-2007
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After the Cali win, Herklotz shouldn't feel much pressure here.
Top 5 would be great as I think both Tenorio and Kritskiy can be beaten, but we're not in desperate need of those points. The nature of the race should surely be in our favor though. However, any bad daily form can ruin it all.
Arndt has consistently surprised this year and could aim to get the better of some similar riders, but he might also be in service of Herklotz too much. Hopefully Nerz has that task though, since I'm not as confident in his chances for a decent points-paying result.
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| cio93 |
Posted on 08-11-2018 16:36
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World Champion
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Well, and I'm right back for the post-race comment
Wow, what a crazy good ride by Silvio! Smartly realizing that the last descent would level out the energy bars no matter if you attack or wait before, he took the opportunity Spilak so kindly presented to him.
April has been incredible for us, and there are still chances left for Demare and Kelderman.
I assume I don't have to particularly apologize to Isostar for the apparent lack of relay support considering it all worked out just fine regardless. 
It was just played perfectly by both riders, and there's zero reason to be sad about having to let a rider like Spilak go in the end. Congrats mate on a convincing and very deserved win!
I couldn't have been mad if the other 85s had caught Herklotz on the line either, two minutes on Kritskiy and three on Gesink and Tenorio is the real takeaway from this race considering we now start to go into Vuelta territory, and that's the rider type we need to get gaps on to get on the podium there (Tenorio, Alarcon, Phinney).
Finally, thank you Aquarius for an enjoyable report that covered everything we needed to know and more, in particular with those extensive time gap overviews.
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| redordead |
Posted on 08-11-2018 16:41
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4881
Joined: 18-10-2017
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 Špilak <3
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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| fintas |
Posted on 08-11-2018 18:18
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2602
Joined: 21-03-2008
PCM$: 1200.00
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Very disappointing race. First of all I expected a lot more action from the favorites, and then the result obtained by Gesink is very bad for us.
The only thing that is saved of this race is the excellent 24 place of Amaro Antunes, that was able to beat guys like Rafael Reis.
But any way congrats to Isostar and Thanks for the report.
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| SotD |
Posted on 08-11-2018 18:37
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World Champion
Posts: 12187
Joined: 29-11-2006
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3 riders survived. That's better than expected, sadly
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| tastasol |
Posted on 08-11-2018 19:15
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2889
Joined: 11-09-2010
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10th and 25th is okay, pretty much around what I expected - hoping for more. But this is surely a race for the strongest, so that's just how it is. Congrats to Croatia on a brilliant win - good team work and a string Spilak in the end. Herklotz also continuing to be impressive.
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