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Tour de Romandie Discussion
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 05-02-2021 18:54
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Grand Tour Champion
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 Tour de Romandie
History
| Year | Winner | Team | | 2019 | Rafael Reis | Duolingo | | 2018 | Chen Shikai | Meiji - JR East | | 2017 | Romain Sicard | Orange Pro Cycling | | 2016 | Thomas Dekker | Compal - Merida | | 2015 | Luis Leon Sanchez Gil | Evonik - ELKO | | 2014 | Simon Spilak | Festina-Canal+ | | 2013 | Andy Schleck | Vesuvio - Accumalux | | 2012 | Thomas Dekker | Spyker Cars | | 2011 | Robert Gesink | Jack Wolfskin | | 2010 | Aleksandr Pluchkin | Team B&O | | 2009 | Stijn Devolder | France Televisions | | 2008 | Denis Menchov | Carlsberg | | 2007 | Janez Brajkovic | Cofidis, le credit par telephone |
Tour de Romandie is a historic race, dating all the way back to 2007 meaning it goes into its fourteenth edition. Over the years it has gone down in prestige though, it used to be part of the ProTour but now it hosts mainly Pro Continental and a few Continental teams with its C1 rating. The only rider to win more than once is Thomas Dekker, doing so in 2012 and 2016, and the other eleven winning only once. While some of them have gone on to win Grand Tours, we won't see any of them this week. A new name on the winner's list, destined for great things?
Profiles
The race opens with a team time trial, which also contains a slight climb to the finish line. Stage two should normally be one for the sprinters but some undulation in the final part might invite attacks. The third stage has an uphill finish in Champéry which will be the first time we'll see the GC contenders. Stage four takes the riders around the mountains surrounding Sion, but has a downhill finish. Stage five is an individual mountain time trial to Villars-sur-Ollon, which will be decisive for the GC, as stage six is the flattest of all regular stages and will see the sprinters duke it out on more time in the streets of Geneva.
Startlist
| Favorites | MO | HL | TTT* | Outsiders | MO | HL | TTT* |  Eastman | 82 | 71 | 75 |  Poljanski | 77 | 77 | 71 |  Guldhammer | 81 | 77 | 74 | Raileanu | 77 | 77 | 71 |  Bennett | 81 | 76 | 73 |  Scarponi | 77 | 75 | 73 | | Monsalve | 81 | 76 | 73 |  Jaramillo | 77 | 75 | 68 |  Henao Montoya | 81 | 70 | 73 |  Grmay | 77 | 74 | 70 |  Preidler | 80 | 78 | 73 | Parra Bustamente | 77 | 74 | 68 |  Latour | 79 | 75 | 77 | Schleck | 77 | 73 | 73 |  Pomoshnikov | 79 | 74 | 73 |  Saggiorato | 77 | 73 | 67 |  Slagter | 78 | 79 | 69 | Lemus Davila | 77 | 72 | 74 | | Atapuma | 78 | 73 | 68 | Bartl | 77 | 72 | 73 | | Diaz | 78 | 70 | 70 | Bonnin | 77 | 72 | 73 | | Stancu | 78 | 69 | 73 |  Battaglin | 77 | 72 | 67 | | Duarte | 78 | 66 | 75 | Hacecky | 77 | 70 | 71 | | Manfredi | 78 | 65 | 67 | Faiers | 77 | 70 | 70 | | Suaza | 78 | 63 | 75 | Bernard | 76 | 75 | 71 |
* = Average of five best TT riders
To win the race, you have to be a climber. A bit of hills is a nice touch, and you need to have some riders who will help you in the team time trial.
Combining qualities, Eastman is the bookies favorite. He is the best climber, and he might be leading early after the TTT. Stage three will be his weakest moment, but he is strong enough to survive that. He'll definitely want to beat his fifth place from 2016.
Guldhammer almost matches the American on most terrains, but does have a significant advantage in the hills. Is it enough to beat him overall as well?
Bennett went to the podium last year, the only participating rider to do so. Past results are no guarantee for the future, definitely not in cycling, but he is expected to head back up there again.
Monsalve would also not be misplaced on the podium. He is very equal to the New Zealander, even down to their team's strength in the TT. He took third in Cyprus and looks to be in form.
Another name to take into consideration is Henao Montoya. Like Eastman he will struggle on stage three, but has plenty of quality to make up for it in othre areas.
PR drama surrounding Preidler and his team Adastra, as he allegedly left the team after Amstel Gold Race. Some intense talks behind closed doors took place, but apparently everything has been resolved as he appears here. Can he get all the trouble out of his head and delight his manager with a great performance?
Latour has the best time trial squad at his disposal. He'll get a boost on stage one, but after that he has to do it by himself. He is strong enough to hold on to a high position for sure.
Pomoshnikov is not the biggest favorite, but a role as outsider is where he might shine. Perhaps they'll let him go on an attack, never to see him again.
Stage three is the domain for Slagter. He is one of the few to bring a great hills ability beside the climbing. Unfortunately, the team time trial will undo all advantage he has there.
The Swiss fans throw their support behind Saggiorato. They'll probably be realistic enough to not expect him to win, but a bit of extra support can do wonders.
The winner from the Tour of Cyprus also participates here: Bernard. Can he surprise again?
| Team | TTT* | Best rider | TT | GC leader | TT | #** | | Polar | 76.6 | Viennet | 80 | Latour | 70 | 7 |  Duolingo | 76.2 | Dempster | 78 | Barbio | 75 | 4 | | Azteca | 75.0 | Eastman | 77 | Eastman | 77 | 1 | | Mapei | 73.6 | Predatsch | 77 | Guldhammer | 71 | 5 | | Adastra | 73.0 | Marchewka | 77 | Preidler | 58 | 8 | | Xero | 73.0 | Van Niekerk | 78 | Bennett | 65 | 7 | | Bakkafrost | 72.8 | Gallopin | 75 | Monsalve | 72 | 3 | | MOL | 72.8 | Hussein | 77 | Pomoshnikov | 64 | 8 | | Berg | 72.6 | Goncalves | 75 | Henao Montoya | 70 | 5 | | Fablok*** | 71.4 | Goldstein | 79 | Poljanski | 67 | 4 | | Nordstrom | 69.8 | Faiers | 74 | Faiers | 74 | 1 | | Campari | 69.2 | Sterobo | 78 | Slagter | 66 | 3 | | Europcar | 67.8 | Pavlic | 72 | Atapuma | 62 | 7 | | Centovalli | 67.4 | Mäder | 71 | Manfredi | 65 | 7 | | Sotto | 66.8 | Maccagli | 75 | Battaglin | 58 | 7 |  Trans | 63.8 | Knox | 66 | Hardy | 59 | 8 |
* = Average of five best TT riders
** = TT of GC leader relative to team
*** = 7 riders
The first wearer of the yellow jersey will be the first rider to cross the line in the fastest team. Favorites for the podium are Polar, Duolingo and Azteca.
Polar has the best time trial squad overall, and the best individual time trialist in Viennet. GC leader Latour is by no means a terrible time trialist, but the fact that he ranks seventh out of eight is testament to the strong squad.
Duolingo is the defending time trial winner, which helped Reis win the race overall. He is no longer part of the team, which does not bring a major GC contender. All focus is on the TTT now and they don't have to worry about dropping a leader.
Azteca's best rider on the time trial is also their GC leader: Eastman. They are perhaps not as strong as the previous two, but the American will definitely go flat out on the final uphill kilometer. Perhaps they might be a bit behind on the two checkpoints, but they'll gain back time in the final sector.
Teams which would normally be outsiders for a podium position are Adastra, Xero and MOL, but they have a potential problem. Their GC leaders, Preidler, Bennett and Pomoshnikov respectively, are not great on the time trial. Leaving them on their own is detrimental to their GC ambitions, so the better TT riders have to slow down so they can stay in the train. It will cost them time on the stage though.
Other outsiders for a podium position are Mapei, Bakkafrost, and Berg, but their leaders ( Guldhammer, Monsalve, and Henao Montoya) are not amongst the weaklings. All other teams either have incomplete squads or no expectations.
| Sprinters | SP | ACC | HL | Sprinters | SP | ACC | HL | | Maksimov | 81 | 84 | 60 | Mezgec | 79 | 77 | 67 | | Guardini | 80 | 82 | 64 | Sobota | 78 | 78 | 60 | | Silvestre | 80 | 81 | 67 | Cisse | 78 | 77 | 63 | | Drapac | 80 | 79 | 53 | Favilli | 76 | 74 | 75 | | Reinhardt | 79 | 84 | 67 | Oliveira | 74 | 76 | 74 | | Boivin | 79 | 80 | 70 | Lienhard | 73 | 76 | 75 |
There are two chances for the sprinters, stages two and six, with a few riders willing to take a gamble on them.
Maksimov is the fastest sprinter. However, the fastest sprinter is not guaranteed to win. At the very least he'll be in contention.
Guardini and Silvestre are his main competition. Since all three have a GC contender with them in the team, not much thought has gone into their leadout.
Drapac might only be a contender for stage two, as he is known to finish outside the time limit on some occasions. Boivin will definitely survive the mountains, and has no major GC leader who might relegate him to carrying bottles.
The Continental Tour is represented by Reinhardt and Mezgec. The former is the hope for his team to get a stage win on home soil.
Stage two is not entirely flat towards the end, giving the opportunity to punchy sprinters. Favilli, Oliveira and Lienhard are the names to watch out for in that case.
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 05-02-2021 19:37
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Home race 
The start list is actually not THAT strong, but we'll still struggle to get a decent GC finish I guess. We should go for stage wins, and hopefully repeat last year's KoM win. Lienhard or Manfredi should go for it, I guess, with Saggiorato hopefully bringing home a Top 20, with some help of Pernsteiner. After stage 1, we should at least not have any problems to get into breakaways, given our lack of TTT strength...
And let's see what Reinhardt can do here - he's already beaten most of these sprinters at least once this year. We should definitely have the strongest train - which unfortunately often was rather a disadvantage...
Thanks for the preview, and good luck to everyone!
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 22:45
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| ivaneurope |
Posted on 05-02-2021 21:10
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2933
Joined: 09-05-2011
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The national champions of Poland, Bulgaria and Luxembourg are there to help Preidler. As we've found out by race organisers, he arrived in Geneva after leaving the Amstel Gold Race, reported to the race officials, Swiss authorities and MGUCI who called us to inform us that he's in Switzerland. We've settled our issues via phone call and the team hopes that he may return to form.
He already showed that even with poor TT he can still net a podium - though the Hong Kong Challenge was only 3 stages. This race is 6 stages with two TT though the second TT stage is individual mountain TT and we don't know how the TT stats will play role. On paper he should be fine.
Edit: Thanks for the preview 
Edited by ivaneurope on 05-02-2021 22:14
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| TinxiaS |
Posted on 05-02-2021 21:19
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Domestique
Posts: 504
Joined: 17-08-2020
PCM$: 400.00
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It's nice to be back at the start of one of the longest races on our calendar.
For my team are no special goals for this race as we have 4 young riders (Piberni, Knox, Munoz, and Sotnebr). The only hope is our sprinter Luka Mezgec that he can finish in the top 5 in the 2nd and last stage. And I'm a bit curious what Hardy can do on the third and fourth stage.
Thanks for the preview 
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 05-02-2021 21:56
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Team Leader
Posts: 6036
Joined: 20-07-2008
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This race was kind to us last year. This time we're banking all our bets on stage 1. Hope that pays off, since we have little chances of achieving anything else.
Thanks for the preview, Marco!
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| beagle |
Posted on 06-02-2021 10:48
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4200
Joined: 06-10-2007
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THIS is the race where Latour might possibly shine. Let´s see what happen in upcoming 6 days.
Thanks Marco for the preview!
Manager of Polar in Man-Game
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| Sykkel_Freak |
Posted on 06-02-2021 18:51
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2073
Joined: 11-07-2010
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I think with this startlist, and the squad we got to support Monsalve, we should have pretty high ambitions for this race. I'm hoping he can continue his good form from Corsica and Cyprus and that we can fight for the win.
Thanks for a great preview
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| ivaneurope |
Posted on 06-02-2021 21:44
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2933
Joined: 09-05-2011
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Well, that's surprising - I was expecting Preidler to be droped out, but guess the TT crew did its job. Sure, he's 40 seconds behind, but it's not the end of the world, right?
Congrats to Duolingo for their team effort and to Marcovdw for the report.
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 06-02-2021 21:49
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Best of the CT teams, losing less than a minute, with all the important guys in the first five positions - I can live with that.
Congrats to Duolingo on a clear win, and thanks to Marco for the report!
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 06-02-2021 22:46
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Team Leader
Posts: 6036
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Yes! Well done boys! Mission accomplished. Anything beyond this result is a bonus. We really needed this to end the drought of bad results. Thanks Ivan and Fab and thanks Marco for the report!
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| TinxiaS |
Posted on 07-02-2021 08:30
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Domestique
Posts: 504
Joined: 17-08-2020
PCM$: 400.00
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The last place haha completely understandable as our main goal was to get our young riders more experiences and second and last stage for Luka Mezgec.
I hope today's stage won't be too hard for Mezgec special the main climb before the downhill to finish and the last three shorter climbs before the finish line.
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 07-02-2021 08:35
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World Champion
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Really can’t complain there. Was fairly sure Bennett would stick with them but still relieved, and 4th is very solid. Not expecting him to be top dog from here but this is a great position to be in looking for the return to the podium as said in the preview
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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| Bjartne |
Posted on 07-02-2021 09:19
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Classics Specialist
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Every season I tell myself to bring in some good TT-ers and every year I fail.
This will be a long race 
Hopefully we can end up in a few breakaways now. |
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| beagle |
Posted on 07-02-2021 18:22
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I can hardly imagine worse start of the race from my team. It´s May already and we are still waiting for the first season win (in PCT).
Congrats Gustav
Manager of Polar in Man-Game
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 07-02-2021 20:25
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Posts: 4669
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Great job, team... Working to catch the breakaway, just to miss out on the decisive move. Well, it wasn't an optimal stage for Reinhardt's stats, that's for sure - but still.
Thanks for the report anyway, and hoping to get into the breakaways from now on!
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| ivaneurope |
Posted on 07-02-2021 20:28
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OK - 6th in the stage, Thill with the polka dots for a day and Preidler didn't lose a second. A fine job.
Congrants to Mezgec for the stage win and to Marovdw for another fine report
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 07-02-2021 20:34
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That's the first one, I believe? Congratulations to Tinxia! Happy for you!
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 07-02-2021 20:37
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World Champion
Posts: 11392
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Fuck I love Jams and god I hate time gaps not being awarded. Business as usual for MG then
Congrats to Tinxia, really cool if that’s your first!
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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| redordead |
Posted on 07-02-2021 20:41
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4881
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Mezgec you bastard, you never did that for me!
He must know he's 32 and it's maybe his last chance to 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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| TinxiaS |
Posted on 07-02-2021 22:15
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Domestique
Posts: 504
Joined: 17-08-2020
PCM$: 400.00
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Finally!!!! Our first win! OMG I'm still in shock a bit!
And with this result, my team reached the main goal of this year to get one win in race or stage.
Thanks to everyone, hahaha
Now we can relax in the next few stages which are not for us
Marcovdwthanks for the report
I'm out! It's partyyyyy timeeeee 
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