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Volta a Catalunya Discussion
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| Tamijo |
Posted on 09-12-2019 14:58
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 Volta a Catalunya
C1: 18/2-23/2, 6 stages total 879 km
Welcome to the 12th edition of Volta a Catalunya, since 2007 only in 2017 the race was not on the calendar.
Last season Ki Ho Choi (Meiji - JR East) won the race, he is here trying to do that again for his new team ENI – MOL.
The profile of the race have seen some significant changes since last season, this time the mountain stages both relative long compared to last year where we had just one long and very hard stage and one shorter easier stage.
This time two hilly stages as oppose to last season with just one, but this time both hilly stages finish downhill/flat as oppose to last year where we got an uphill finish. Due to this we can’t rule out that hilly sprinters might come into play on at least stage 5.
But the most important change could be that we won’t get neither the short prologue nor the long ITT this year, instead we got a long slightly undulated TTT. I think this stage could be very important, as we saw in PT earlier this season a stage like this can easily cost a team a minute or two, and a lot more if the GC rider was dropped. OK this is a bit different than Copenhagen-Malmø, as the team was not picked especially for this but I believe it can be crucial if we have an otherwise tight GC.
The local spectators will have many riders to cheer for: Mainly the three Spanish top climbers  Tenorio,  Intxausti and  Abal
But also puncher  Barrio and several domestic riders: Fraile,  Rienda Segura,  Ibarguren, Carretero Millan, Bou Company, Ballesteros, Verona and Allonca
This is a list of the GC favorites, in this list only one rider from each team as we must expect lieutenants not to podium. Also this list has a T and it is not individual, it is a predicted team value for the TTT.
Favorites
| M | T | R | A | S | H | | Tenorio | 84 | 76 | 76 | 67 | 78 | 76 |  Uran | 82 | 76 | 81 | 71 | 75 | 74 |  Schelling | 80 | 77 | 76 | 70 | 75 | 75 | | Intxausti | 81 | 75 | 77 | 69 | 77 | 70 | | Abal | 80 | 76 | 76 | 72 | 73 | 69 |  Shikai | 81 | 75 | 76 | 66 | 74 | 71 |  Eastman | 81 | 73 | 75 | 69 | 76 | 71 |  Choi | 80 | 75 | 76 | 68 | 77 | 74 |  Roglic | 80 | 71 | 76 | 74 | 75 | 76 |  Talansky | 79 | 73 | 76 | 69 | 75 | 77 |  Bennett | 80 | 68 | 74 | 73 | 75 | 76 |  Meintjes | 80 | 68 | 76 | 69 | 77 | 77 | | Machado | 81 | 67 | 69 | 67 | 72 | 74 |
Tenorio my clear top favorite, second to none top climber with a fine team for the TTT and only one minor weakness in a limited acceleration.
First to take over if Tenorio shows any sign of weakness Uran a weaker pure climber with good backup skills.
The above on paper the stronger, but then we got a more even group to fight for the last spot on the podium. Schelling, Intxausti, Abal, Shikai and Eastman
Schelling on paper having the best team for the TTT, able to be the best placed top climber after stage 3, his weakness is that the squad lack top supporting climbers. Intxausti a better climber but with a medium squad, and a lack of acceleration, but all in all those two very even all in all. Abal with a slightly stronger squad, good acceleration, but may lose some time on the hilly stages. Shikai overall very good skillset but a low end acceleration, he comes with strong lieutenants Costagli and that may be very important. Eastman lack a top TTT squad and may lose some time on stage 3, but he got an well rounded climber squad as backup, weak end acceleration but otherwise fine skills.
Choi sits a bit low on my list, but everything taken into account ENI - MOL may be a clear podium contender because they have the strongest squad with top climbers in Carapaz and Pomoshnikov all very strong and it is anyone’s guess which one will be their leader after the first mountain stage. Roglic with a relative weak TTT squad, but if he survives that in good shape for a top result, Talansky the strongest puncher of top climbers, but hard to say how much effect it has in this race.
Bennett, Meintjes, Machado, all of these sits low on my list partly due to a weak TTT squad, expected to lose some time there. Machado though has a strong lieutenants in Pantano Gomez and an overall great climber squad, just hard to say it those teams can reclaim the time loss they are doomed to get in the TTT.
List of Climbers
| M | R | A | S | H | | M | R | A | S | H | | Tenorio | 84 | 76 | 67 | 78 | 76 | Mannion | 77 | 76 | 71 | 72 | 71 | | Uran | 82 | 81 | 71 | 75 | 74 | Kozhatayev | 77 | 75 | 69 | 71 | 74 | | Intxausti | 81 | 77 | 69 | 77 | 70 | Solis | 77 | 75 | 64 | 65 | 58 | | Shikai | 81 | 76 | 66 | 74 | 71 | Bartl | 77 | 74 | 70 | 73 | 72 | | Eastman | 81 | 75 | 69 | 76 | 71 | Grmay | 77 | 73 | 71 | 71 | 74 | | Machado | 81 | 69 | 67 | 72 | 74 | Rodrigues | 77 | 73 | 71 | 70 | 72 | | Roglic | 80 | 76 | 74 | 75 | 76 |  Topchanyuk | 77 | 72 | 70 | 72 | 73 | | Abal | 80 | 76 | 72 | 73 | 69 |  Scarponi | 77 | 72 | 70 | 71 | 75 | | Schelling | 80 | 76 | 70 | 75 | 75 |  Battaglin | 77 | 72 | 70 | 69 | 72 | | Meintjes | 80 | 76 | 69 | 77 | 77 | Hirschlein | 77 | 71 | 59 | 71 | 71 | | Choi | 80 | 76 | 68 | 77 | 74 | Squire | 77 | 70 | 71 | 70 | 77 | | Carapaz | 80 | 76 | 65 | 71 | 71 |  Ignatenko | 77 | 70 | 63 | 74 | 73 | | Bennett | 80 | 74 | 73 | 75 | 76 | Kennaugh | 77 | 70 | 63 | 71 | 70 | | Talansky | 79 | 76 | 69 | 75 | 77 | Hoem | 77 | 69 | 62 | 74 | 72 | | Pomoshnikov | 79 | 76 | 66 | 78 | 74 | Galiev | 76 | 79 | 58 | 73 | 69 | | Pantano Gomez | 79 | 74 | 68 | 73 | 71 | Fraile | 76 | 76 | 66 | 74 | 72 | | Costagli | 79 | 71 | 67 | 70 | 71 | Ivanov | 76 | 75 | 68 | 72 | 74 | | Chamorro | 78 | 76 | 74 | 72 | 75 | Andriafenomananiaina | 76 | 74 | 71 | 74 | 72 | | Ranaweera | 78 | 75 | 65 | 75 | 73 | Ortega | 76 | 74 | 62 | 68 | 65 | | Padun | 78 | 73 | 73 | 71 | 75 | Hasta | 76 | 73 | 60 | 68 | 70 |
Two hilly stages for the punchers, a list of the best.
List of Punchers
| Rider | H | Ac | Fl | St | Rs | Rider | H | Ac | Fl | St | Rs | | Barrio | 79 | 67 | 63 | 69 | 63 | Bennett | 76 | 73 | 67 | 75 | 74 | | Klemme | 79 | 65 | 70 | 73 | 69 | Tanovitchii | 76 | 71 | 72 | 75 | 72 | | Bellis | 78 | 75 | 75 | 80 | 71 | Tenorio | 76 | 67 | 68 | 78 | 76 | | Duchesne | 77 | 79 | 70 | 73 | 72 | Eyob | 76 | 66 | 68 | 74 | 69 | | Squire | 77 | 71 | 68 | 70 | 70 |  Ziesler | 76 | 65 | 69 | 74 | 70 | | Meintjes | 77 | 69 | 71 | 77 | 76 | Haavardsholm | 75 | 80 | 64 | 67 | 69 | | Talansky | 77 | 69 | 71 | 75 | 76 | Silva | 75 | 79 | 68 | 75 | 70 | | Venter | 77 | 66 | 70 | 72 | 74 | Chamorro | 75 | 74 | 66 | 72 | 76 | | Roglic | 76 | 74 | 71 | 75 | 76 | Padun | 75 | 73 | 67 | 71 | 73 |  Seibeb | 76 | 73 | 71 | 70 | 69 | Schelling | 75 | 70 | 71 | 75 | 76 |
Just one sprinter stage unless we get a mass sprint on the hilly stage 5, with also the 1st stage having a climb close to the finish, a hilly sprinter may be the best choice.
List of Sprinters | S | H | A | F | H | R | | Rowe | 79 | 66 | 80 | 78 | 66 | 70 | | Coutinho | 79 | 65 | 80 | 72 | 65 | 74 | | Castaneda | 79 | 58 | 77 | 70 | 58 | 65 | | Angarita | 78 | 62 | 77 | 72 | 62 | 65 | | Kuboki | 77 | 73 | 77 | 73 | 73 | 74 | | Feiereisen | 77 | 68 | 78 | 74 | 68 | 68 | | Habtom | 77 | 61 | 78 | 75 | 61 | 75 | | Kreder | 76 | 71 | 77 | 73 | 71 | 70 | | Horton | 75 | 66 | 80 | 75 | 66 | 63 | | Tzortzakis | 75 | 63 | 74 | 70 | 63 | 69 |
Predicted TTT Ranking
| Team UBS | 77 | | Minions | 76 | | Desigual | 76 | | Kulczyk - Alitalia | 76 | | Rakuten Pro Cycling | 75 | | DK Zalgiris | 75 | | ENI - MOL | 75 | | Azteca - NBCSN | 73 | | Valio - Viking Genetics | 73 | | Sauber Petronas Racing | 71 | | Berg Cycles | 71 | | Adastra - Hell Energy Cycling | 68 | | cycleYorkshire | 68 | | Repsol - Honda | 68 | | Xero Racing | 68 | | Team Popo4Ever p/b Nemiroff | 68 | | Andorra Cycling Project | 67 | | Carrefour - ESPN | 67 | | Swisslion Cycling Team | 67 | | World Cycling Centre | 66 | | La Vie Claire | 64 |
Startlist
Edited by Tamijo on 09-12-2019 15:23
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 09-12-2019 15:32
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Need a good race from Uran. On the podium at the very least, top step preferable.
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| Yellow Jersey |
Posted on 09-12-2019 17:06
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Very strong startlist, I'm finding it weird that Galiev was attributed nº1 in the team but I hope that influenciates nothing, despite the TTT the focus was in the mountains, Machado isn't that strong so the team couldn't be full of specialists (either that or calendar clashes, I can't be sure now). Either way Mottin is here to give it some power but we plan to have him safe and well rounded in the mountains which is where we hope he can stand a safe Top10 in the GC, possibly having a dig in the hills aswell as some of his rivals will struggle and Barrio can even fight for a stage.
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| quadsas |
Posted on 09-12-2019 17:46
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finally we back in the mix of thangs. Time trial will be of utmost importance here, hopefully my artistes can deliver
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 09-12-2019 19:45
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Hopefully Ranaweera can step up and challenge for the youth jersey here, we've given him some good support to help him beat the competition for it and have a decent if not spectacular TTT lineup to try and keep him in contention early on.
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 09-12-2019 19:48
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The TTT in Slovenie made me a little nervous for this, but Bennett showed good form in ToME, though this is a tougher test perhaps. Looking for a good GC result from him and hopefully one or two stage wins from Rowe for a great race here. Certainly not expecting the two stage wins plus a stage podium plus 2nd on GC that we managed last year with no TTT, but it's not impossible 
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."
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 09-12-2019 19:50
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Go Go Tenorio! The important team win goal for the season.
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| ryant |
Posted on 09-12-2019 20:20
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Honestly dont think the TTT unit we've brought is bad at all, unless you know something I dont :/
This is a good chance for Meintjes to grab a top 5 I think, only Tenorio is vastly better than the others so it should be a close fight for the rest I think
 John St Ledger in Team Bunzl-Centrica and Team U25Red Bull Driver in RFactor
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| Tamijo |
Posted on 09-12-2019 21:06
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If you mean me, I don't know nothing, Always make these previews before i know any result.
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| Bushwackers |
Posted on 09-12-2019 23:38
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Nice preview, really looking forward to this one! Reeeally wanting this TTT win and I hope Schelling can stay with our lineup to the finish. If so, he should be good for a top 5-8.
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 10-12-2019 00:07
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Hopefully Shikai can continue his strong form, this time in the mountains. Brought a good TTT squad, and Silva can be our breakaway rider, or dark horse for the hill stages.
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| Ad Bot |
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| Kentaurus |
Posted on 10-12-2019 04:43
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Oof, brutal startlist... hoping Eastman can give a good showing for the CT here, and some of the other guys ride aggressively as we have a solid set of climbers in this as well.
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| redordead |
Posted on 10-12-2019 06:41
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Looking for a lot of breakways here and hoping Kreder/Seibeb can fight for a stage win.
"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 10-12-2019 10:50
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on paper this looks like a good race for roglic, the combination of mountain and hills can give some advantage over pure climbers such as Tiago Machado.
Just do not know if TTT will not have too much importance in the race.
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| redordead |
Posted on 11-12-2019 08:22
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Kreder in 8th is not quite what I wanted. One down four to go 
Otherwise good to see an amateur team taking the win, congrats Aquarius 
"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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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 11-12-2019 08:31
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Grand Tour Champion
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Brought no sprinter so for the first time no complaints about a flat stage.
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| fjhoekie |
Posted on 11-12-2019 09:42
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All I need here is some breaks, so good to see Tanovitchii getting in the mix. Now mainly hoping the team will continue being aggressive, and maybe for Padun to get a decent GC result.
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game |
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 11-12-2019 15:50
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Guess I thought the hill would have more affect. Wasnt expecting a 58HIL rider to win for sure.
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| quadsas |
Posted on 11-12-2019 15:56
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Great ride from Hofer, but I'd preferred he'd have gotten into the break on stage 2, but I'll take it
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| ryant |
Posted on 11-12-2019 17:58
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Decent enough of a start, hopefully Bellis can do something on stage 2, the points jersey could be available with some good results!
John St Ledger in Team Bunzl-Centrica and Team U25
Red Bull Driver in RFactor
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