After two years riding in for GCN Racing, Thibaut Pinot has transitioned to the recently reformed Project: Africa. Pinot is already a legend of the Continental Tour and already possesses extensive palmarés in the races listed above. He has won Tachira (2018) and Eritrea (2019) and last season also managed 2nd in Vancouver and 4th in Langkawi. Pinot's main strength is his very impressive climbing ability both the long slow grind and shorter harder stints. At age 30, he is in the prime of his life, and has impressive physical abilties to complement his climbing abilities. Were the Frenchman suffers is on the TT bike; Project: Africa have done the best to limit his losses and built a capable TTT squad around him.

Suranga Ranaweera is a future superstar, no doubt about it. Riding for the demoted Sauber Petronas Racing, Ranaweera has limited experience riding the CT calendar, only having scored a white jersey in the 2018 Giro del Trentino. He was by far the best young stage racer in the PCT last year, scoring plenty of white jerseys including that of the Tour of America. Sauber Petronas have invested heavily in his development, sending him to the best Alpine riding camp they could find. Ranaweera is strongest in the mountains, but he is also plenty capable on shorter climbs. His greatest advantage over Pinot, and where he will be looking to score enough time to secure victories, is on the TT bike. Aside from that, he has a slight physical disadvantage, which might hurt him on the pure climbs. Viewers shouldn't expect to see him on the attack, the Sri Lankan isn't known to be aggressive, but he will still be a favourite in any of the Continental Tour races that he enters, scoring even more points in the U25 classification.

Keinath has been a leader at the top level for several years now; most recently for Aegon - Lavazza. There he has competed in all three Grand Tours, scoring 9th in the 2017 Tour, 10th in the 2013 Giro, and 11th in the 2019 Vuelta. His last appearance in one of the races being considerd here was way back in 2009, when he won sixth in the Euskal Bizikleta. Unfortunately for Philips the German is past his prime and will have difficulty challenging Pinot and Ranaweera on the mountains. If it comes down to a tight finish or a single winning move however, expect the German to be right up there. His abilities on the TT bike also shouldn't be underestimated, equalling or bettering those of Ranaweera. Keinath will be a favourite in any race were the two aforementioned riders are not in attendance.

Magnus Cort Nielsen spent last season headlining the Tryg Insurance Cycling Team in the Continental Tour's stage races. His was a mediocre season, finishing mostly in the Top 10 on GC, and scoring the occassional stage win. He wasn't anything super special, but evidently the Tryg management believed in him, pouring money into training his climbing capabilities. He can now pace Keinath up the longer slopes, and just about keep up with him when he takes off. He isn't amazing on the TT bike, but can certainly hold his own. It remains to be seen if his management's faith in him will pay off.

Vadim Ratiy is on the opposite end of his career to Ranaweera, at the end of his prime. He is another rider who has spent his last year in the Continental Tour, although his calendar saw him spending several days riding against ProConti teams. The Ukrainian's best results came in his younger years although a 4th in the 2018 Giro del Trentino does stand out. Ratiy is a strong climber, although he somewhat lacks the physical abilities of his nearest competitors. His most significant weakness comes when the pace increases, as once he has picked a tempo Ratiy struggles to change it. With decent TT abilities and a strong presence in the mountains, this could be a great season for Ratiy to round off his peak.

Sindre Skjostad Lunke is another rider entering the Continental Tour after riding in the ProTour, attending two Grand Tours in 2019. Lunke even managed to secure himself a victory in Stage 17 of the 2019 Tour de France from a late breakaway. The Norwegian will have to share leading duties on the Tryg - Ritter Sport with Cort Nielsen, which might hamper his results this year. Lunke, as with many other riders in the 2020 Continental Tour, is rather good on the long climbs. His other strength is his speed on the TT bike, and his rate of recovery in longer tours. If Lunke can navigate around Cort Nielsen, he should be able to perform at a high level in the Continental Tour.

A true stage racer, Jakub Novak arrives in the Continental Tour after a season with Repsol - Netflix. The aging Czech has spent time across all levels of the virtual cycling world. A handful of victories in 2015 were followed by several years of domestique duty at the Pro and ProConti levels. In the final year of his prime he has returned to the team which he was victorious for so long ago. Novak's main quality is his ability in TTs, which outshines all of his competitors by a margin. He will need that to make up any time he loses on the mountains, generally still an area of strength, but comparatively rather weak. Little selection on the climbs, and lots of ITT kilometres will be the recipe for Novak's success this season.

Like so many others on this list, Warbasse's best season was a while ago. In the 2016 Giro d'Italia the American managed to score not one, but two stage victories to go along with a 16th on GC. Since then, Warbasse led Andorra Project in their successful 2018 CT campaign, where he fell short of Pinot, and captained Carlsberg - Danske Bank as they relegated from the 2019 PCT. Warbasse spent the previous season riding in a similar tier to Ranaweera, but with the latters improvement over the offseason, Warbasse will be no more than an outside favourite in this year's stage races. A solid climber, capable of riding a higher tempo for some time, and decent on the TT bike, he will challenge for the final podium place behind Ranaweera & Pinot.

Florentino Marquez is better only than Thibaut Pinot when it comes to TTing, at least on this list. The Colombian more than makes up for it with his impressive climbing ability. As recently as 2018 he finished 11th in the Vuelta a España. Now on the decline, he will never reach the same heights, but newly formed Los Pollos Hermanos will be hoping he can bring that experience to bear in the Continental Tour. Aside from the TT bike, Marquez is also has poor form at higher paces, and struggles on longer routes. He is known as an attacker, and has one of the best punches in the peleton, even compared to sprinters. Stage wins are a definite possibility, and he may be the only man to properly challenge the favourite duo, but GC runs might be hampered by TT kilometres.

Yellow Jersey wrote:
My only comment on this is how Ranaweera has such a small wage for such quality

Yellow Jersey wrote:
My only comment on this is how Ranaweera has such a small wage for such quality

DubbelDekker wrote:
Why are you all forgetting the P in PCT?!?

quadsas wrote:
Intxausti still better than everyone on that list, and some of these guys cost double him. DISGUSTAN

the_hoyle wrote:

Laughs in Pinot!

quadsas wrote:


Less RDs and no TT I am taking my boy BENAT