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Tour of Slovenie Discussion
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 30-04-2021 21:50
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We're in Slovenia for a 5 stage race in late July. As the PT GC men try to recover from their post-Tour hangover, puncheurs and time trialists will try to capitalize on the fatigue of those who went to France. We'll see a mix of PT and PCT guys here, since it's a PTHC race.
It's a puncher's race with a massive TT element, both of the individual and team variety. Or maybe it's the opposite. Riders will have to be fairly well rounded to come out on top here, depending on the selection the hills bring.
Last year, ISA's Sepulveda took the victory, but after his team's promotion, they chose not to return to this PTHC band. Before that, it was a C2HC categorized race. Therefore, we will see a new winner this year.
The first stage is a TTT, followed by hills, a sprint, a very long 49 km TT, and some more hills. Very significant gaps will likely be made in the TT km's, but can the time trialists hang on through the hills?
| Name | Mtn | Hill | TT | Sta | Res | Acc |  Kinoshita | 72 | 83 | 66 | 80 | 77 | 77 |  Lutsenko | 73 | 83 | 68 | 76 | 73 | 81 |  Bobridge | 69 | 83 | 77 | 74 | 74 | 80 |  Lopez | 79 | 82 | 71 | 76 | 74 | 78 |  Di Maggio | 65 | 82 | 62 | 73 | 68 | 75 |  Izagirre | 74 | 81 | 77 | 73 | 72 | 64 |  Jensen | 70 | 80 | 67 | 77 | 73 | 76 |  Dowsett | 65 | 80 | 64 | 74 | 69 | 71 |  Gesink | 81 | 79 | 78 | 75 | 77 | 65 |  Gautier | 67 | 79 | 63 | 75 | 71 | 76 | | Gidich | 75 | 78 | 73 | 77 | 76 | 74 |  Siskevicius | 73 | 78 | 65 | 73 | 72 | 75 | | Kanerva | 64 | 78 | 70 | 75 | 69 | 76 | | Landa | 69 | 78 | 57 | 70 | 69 | 69 |  Meurisse | 74 | 77 | 67 | 74 | 74 | 78 | | Kratochvila | 76 | 77 | 70 | 70 | 68 | 64 |
Some top PCT and PT puncheurs have made their way to Slovenia. Bobridge, Lutsenko, and Kinoshita should be the best on stages 2 and 5 on paper, though Miguel Angel Lopez may question that, especially when the climbs are slightly longer.
In terms of GC, the bigger favorites might be those puncheurs who can also time trial well and have a strong team behind them. Bobridge is once again a great option in a TT, and thus might be the biggest favorite. Stage racer Gesink might have something to say about that though, especially because his team is so strong in the TTT (though Bennelong is too). Izagirre is in the same discussion for similar reasons.
Beyond these guys, most of the puncheurs are weak TTists, but not horrendous. With a 49 km ITT though, even small differences in strength could mean substantial gaps.
| Duolingo | 76.625 |  Repsol - Netflix | 76.5 |  Generali | 76 |  Team UBS | 75.875 | | Polar | 75.125 |  Mapei | 75 | | King Power | 74.5 |  Minions | 73.75 | | Bennelong - Mitchelton | 73.25 |  Desigual | 72.25 | | Xero Racing | 71.5 |  cycleYorkshire | 71.25 | | Rakuten Pro Cycling | 71.25 | | DK - SVA Zalgiris | 70.75 | | Valio - Viking Genetics | 70.625 |  Bakkafrost | 68.125 |  Fablok - Chocolate Jacques | 67.5 |  Nordstrom - CA Technologies | 67.125 | | Evonik - ELKO | 67 | | Volvo acc. by Spotify | 67 | | Campari Asahi Procycling | 65.75 | | Campari Asahi Procycling | 65.75 | | GCN Racing | 65.375 |  Andorra Cycling Project | 65 |  Pdium Ambition | 64.875 |
With the TTT being almost 40 km long and setting the stage for the GC fight, it's no surprise that many teams brought all their best time trialists here, both for the stage, and to support their leaders. All teams have 8 riders, so averages are consistent to team strength. Duolingo lead the way and will be in it for the GC, while Generali and Repsol will mostly be going for the stage win. Most other teams with contenders are competitive, though it should be noted that the pure puncheurs could be at risk of being dropped by their stronger teammates, given the length of the course.
| Name | Flat | Res | Spr | Acc | | Meyer | 72 | 65 | 80 | 76 | | Kalaba | 74 | 72 | 79 | 79 | | Aberasturi | 74 | 71 | 79 | 78 | | Lay | 73 | 66 | 79 | 81 | | Liepins | 73 | 68 | 78 | 79 | | Kuboki | 73 | 74 | 77 | 77 | | Cohen | 73 | 69 | 77 | 76 | | Dzamastagic | 78 | 72 | 76 | 78 | | Matthews | 72 | 67 | 76 | 76 |
We can't forget about pan flat stage 3, although it seems like most teams did. Given the variety of skill-sets needed for GC ambitions, most team left the sprinters at home, leading to a very weak field. Anyone on this list could be in contention for a win. Evonik and Podium Ambition have the closest thing to trains with two sprinters on this list.
| Name | TT | Res | Mtn | Hill | | Zmorka | 82 | 75 | 61 | 66 | | Fiedler | 82 | 74 | 59 | 67 | | Coppel | 81 | 75 | 64 | 74 | | Kittel | 81 | 70 | 55 | 64 | | Sergent | 80 | 74 | 65 | 69 | | Howson | 80 | 74 | 59 | 65 | | Gonzalez Salas | 80 | 76 | 57 | 60 | | Viennet | 80 | 75 | 54 | 67 | | Fraile | 79 | 76 | 76 | 72 | | Brändle | 79 | 73 | 76 | 71 | | Cataford | 79 | 75 | 72 | 70 | | Viviani | 79 | 77 | 60 | 66 | | Mullen | 79 | 74 | 62 | 70 | | Goldstein | 79 | 72 | 55 | 61 |
The TT is mostly flat and very long, though there are a couple of bumps along the way, including in the run up to the finish line. Coppel, along with more stage racer types like Fraile and Brandle will be trying to capitalize on those bumps and potentially make a case for GC spots. Otherwise, guys like Zmorka and Fiedler should battle for the victory. Anything could happen depending on how they feel that day though, and the field is very deep.
It should be some exciting racing in Slovenia. What teams can start off right in the TTT? Find out tomorrow! |
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| tastasol |
Posted on 30-04-2021 22:07
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Classics Specialist
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A race that tempted us very much and because of Chesire it was our third selection in the PTHC bands, but unfortunately we didn't get a spot here. Could have been a great race for a rider like Stake Laengen. Interesting to see the top TTers at the start here, considering we have the Chrono Herbiers at the same time. Some very good TTers present here, so I guess that's good news for our scoring potential in Herbiers at least.
Should be a good race to follow, with perhaps Gesink, Bobridge and Izagirre as the biggest favourites.
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| quadsas |
Posted on 30-04-2021 22:20
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Sent a pretty weak squad here, just hoping for some GC points from Siskevicius and Zamri. sike Krizalid will definitely take a stage here, less than 100 points would spell gulag for the squad
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 30-04-2021 22:44
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No Claeys, because the ITT would hurt him anyway. Would rather focus on a strong TTT and a good result from JvR and/or Haga. Kalaba for the sprint turns out to be a pretty plausible scoring opportunity.
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| knockout |
Posted on 30-04-2021 23:33
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I feel like i took a big risk with my selection here.
Sending Lopez despite being very prone to lose a lot of time in the ttt might fire back. But with the lack of TT skill amongst most puncheurs, the nice clash with the Chrono race and another world class puncheur to cover some other hilly races on his own, i felt like i should give this one a shot.
Tvetcov as our second man in command could actually deliver a nice secondary result as well with pretty solid TT skills on top of a solid hill stat.
I did try to focus on adding as much fire power for the two hilly stages as possible so i have sent Stoltz and Dzamastagic to start making the race hard early and then a batallion of four 75HI+, 75MO+ riders to make the race as fast as possible over the hills before the Lopez attacks. We need time gaps and we need big ones. And we cant afford to get screwed by cautious race juries not wanting to award obvious gaps. I really hope that my team will put down the hammer and not just sit for a calm ride along in the peleton...
And to go even more risky we decided that we might as well weaken our TTT team further by sending Liepins (59TT) along for the ride for a single stage. Stoltz->Dzama->Liepins might actually be a pretty solid sprint train and the idea was to luck into a weak sprinter startlist and hopefully claim a podium. Seeing the startlist i nearly regret sending Liepins because Dzamastagic might have been traited as a proper sprinter if it wasnt for him for once because the stat inflation of the sprint stat pushes the AI to ignore him during sprint preparation most of the time if he doesnt ride as a leadout.
That said the TTT table looks so weird. Volvo, GCN, Andorra and Pdium Gifs below us and Campari even with two weaker lineups - thats sth. 
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| cio93 |
Posted on 01-05-2021 00:16
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Huge risks involved for any team not fielding Gesink, Bobridge or Izaguirre here. These hilly stages will produce gaps, but potentially only after the first 20odd riders.
If this race was an active choice and not just a byproduct of the HC bands, I do think knockout might be right that this was too big of a gamble for MAL.
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 01-05-2021 07:08
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Rooting for Kalaba to win a stage. Questions have to be asked to the organization though if the only Slovenian race is that unattractive to local teams that neither Slovenian team thinks it's reasonable to participate even with serious nationality bias in both. How about a Triglav mountain finish next year?  |
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 01-05-2021 09:39
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Very much looking forward to this one.
Our last race goal of the season. It's pretty much the sort of event we usually thrive in. Gesink has a good chance here, let's see what the performances give us. Bobridge and Izagirre the guys to look out for.
Good luck everyone and thanks for the preview bbl!
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| Sykkel_Freak |
Posted on 01-05-2021 09:42
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Semi-hard hill stages and long TT's has generally been favorable for Gallopin. The TTT is uncomfortably long though and is probably going to hold him back somewhat. Will be hard to replicate the top 10 he got in Norway, but I hope he can get in the vicinity of that.
Would also be nice to see us active in breakaways. Been a while since we fought for KoM points, but perhaps this is an opportunity for Vichot to try and target that jersey.
Hopefully the race judges will closely monitor any cooperation between the two Campari teams. Otherwise it's going to be a difficult race for us and everyone else
Thanks for the preview!
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 01-05-2021 09:44
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Well, huge race for us in the title fight. I think this race will determine whether we can actually fight Farfecht. Such a huge difference between a possible GC win if Zmorka survives the final stage and a "0-pointer" if he doesn't.
Don't care whether we win or not the TTT, more important is that if we lose it, it's by a few seconds only, enough for Zmorka to take the lead after the ITT and then hope he has the legs of the hilly stage in Jelajah or Norway, though they weren't that hard iirc, the idea of him being race leader and being in prime positioning in the bunch is what probably counts most for that stage.
As always, Dunbar is our "hidden weapon", i assume that if Zmorka fails in the final stage, Dunbar will be able to pick up a great GC result, though i'm afraid he might be forced into a domestique for the Ukranian. We'll see
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| knockout |
Posted on 01-05-2021 12:31
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Grand Tour Champion
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cio93 wrote:
If this race was an active choice and not just a byproduct of the HC bands, I do think knockout might be right that this was too big of a gamble for MAL.
This race certainly wasnt a priority during bands selection but it was the same band as Japan, Jurmala and Cheshire. A hilly classic for Skujins, a flat home classic for Van Stayen and a cobbled stage race for Blythe made this band pretty much a lock in my planning.
In the end i had to pick between throwing this race and sending MAL here. Possible Alternatives for Lopez would have been:
- double leadership with skujins/Lopez in more classics
- freeing up enough race days to send Lopez to Suisse/Dauphine
- freeing up enough race days to send Lopez to a GT (incl. Removing Portugal)
- swap Lopez & Skujins in grand duche & the hilly triple header race and figure sth out for Skujins
None of those are really that intriguing to me after experimenting a lot with possible combinations of schedules while depending on how the race goes he has a solid shot at a stage win on both hilly stages which could lead to a good result in the points classification too and i think sth like a 10th place in GC is also very much possible if we get selective racing on the hills (dont forget that Lopez has better time trialling skills than many other puncheurs). If we get a combination of some of those things, this could be worth it. Im sure i could find a better MAL scoring schedule but this looked like the best MAL/Skujins/Van Stayen combined schedule to me. Though obviously a big gamble and maybe i should have rather taken save points from two hilly classics alongside Skujins.
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 01-05-2021 13:09
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The race should produce some good racing, however I don't expect us to get a single point from it, our team here is way too weak to amount to anything outside of a potential breakaway appaerance here or there.
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| redordead |
Posted on 01-05-2021 15:10
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Croatia14 wrote:
Rooting for Kalaba to win a stage. Questions have to be asked to the organization though if the only Slovenian race is that unattractive to local teams that neither Slovenian team thinks it's reasonable to participate even with serious nationality bias in both. How about a Triglav mountain finish next year?
I will continue to boycott this phony french race whenever I can 
Looking forward to your reports bbl 
"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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| Bikex |
Posted on 01-05-2021 18:45
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Brändle should theoretically be able to fight for the win in this race, but I guess with Gesink here this might become difficult. Other than that Gidich and Lutsenko are here also with some ambitions of their own. Gidich should be a favorite for the white jersey. I sent Lutsenko here because most teams with strong punchers are not in this band I believe. However looking at the startlist there is still a strong competition.
Thanks for the preview bbl, looking forward to the reports! |
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| knockout |
Posted on 02-05-2021 08:58
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Nice to see that the race starts tomorrow, would be nice if we could drop many of the better tt guys already and i would love an attack over the penultimate climb
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| Bikex |
Posted on 02-05-2021 09:12
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Good start for the team! Unlucky with Lutsenko losing a second but I guess it won’t matter much and Gidich and Brändle were more attentive. So all my GC guys are in striking distance.
Gesink already in the driver seat, congrats Gustav! |
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 02-05-2021 10:01
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Duolingo are beasts in TTTs, no shame in losing to them by three seconds. Excellent positioning going into the next stages.
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 02-05-2021 10:34
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Pretty meh TTT, about par for expectations I suppose. Hope we can make our own race here and be active and creative or I sense something not far above a 0-pointer on the cards. Should have brought Houle!
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
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 02-05-2021 10:47
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Yes!
Man, I love TTTs 
I reckon I was pretty upset seeing our train set out as first starter, but the result pretty much obliterated that irrelevant fact.
Thanks for the report bbl. Thanks as well Marco and Bikex!
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| Sykkel_Freak |
Posted on 02-05-2021 14:29
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Far from the best TTT we've done, but not so bad that Gallopin is completely out of the top 10-reckoning.
Congrats to Gustavovskiy!
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