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Hong Kong Challenge Discussion
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| roturn |
Posted on 09-11-2021 11:12
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The Hong Kong Challenge goes into its 4th year. It`s basically a hybrid race including a time trial as well. Both stages 1 & 3 aren`t pure hill stages and neither pure climbing stages, gaining time though is vital if you are not doing well in the 22km time trial, which comes on day 2.
Last year  Kelderman won as pure puncheur ahead of a hybrid in  Slagter and a climber in Preidler. First two are there again this season, which is interesting to see if they can repeat their performance.
In the years before the stage racers Königand Nibali won the race and didn`t allow the puncheurs to take it.
Bobrdige easily the big name here. Best puncheur and also one of the best against the clock. Kelderman following ahead of Eiking, Prevar, Vogt or Müller.
| Mo | Hi | TT |  Bobridge | 69 | 83 | 77 | | Kelderman | 71 | 82 | 70 |  Eiking | 69 | 80 | 65 |  Vogt | 62 | 80 | 66 |  Prevar | 71 | 80 | 62 |  Müller | 65 | 80 | 63 | | Gebrezgabihier | 70 | 79 | 66 |  Bystrom | 68 | 79 | 61 |  Watson | 65 | 78 | 68 | | Juul-Jensen | 70 | 78 | 67 |  Palini | 70 | 78 | 66 |
The list of hybrids looks a lot stronger. Kwiatkowski, Beltran the best ahead of Slagter or Spilak but also a lot more decent riders on that list. In especially those with a strong TT such as Rosskips, Warbasse or Masnada must be watched.
| Mo | Hi | TT | | Mo | Hi | TT |  Kwiatkowski | 78 | 81 | 70 |  Siskevicius | 72 | 77 | 64 |  Beltran | 79 | 81 | 66 | Grossschartner | 74 | 77 | 67 | | Slagter | 78 | 79 | 66 | Schultz | 76 | 76 | 64 | | Reichenbach | 73 | 79 | 67 |  Eyob | 76 | 76 | 66 |  Spilak | 81 | 78 | 73 |  Masnada | 77 | 76 | 73 |  Paez | 72 | 77 | 68 | Frankiny | 78 | 76 | 64 |  Aranburu | 77 | 77 | 63 | Laas | 74 | 76 | 62 | | Zordan | 73 | 77 | 55 | Fernandez | 75 | 75 | 66 | | Pernsteiner | 75 | 77 | 61 | Rosskopf | 73 | 75 | 76 |  Poljanski | 77 | 77 | 67 | Warbasse | 78 | 75 | 74 |
Depending on their loss on the uphill sections, some riders clearly favourites for the GC podium or top10 as well. Keizer in especially is not a good puncheur but has excellent climbing and time trialing, similar as Brändle, Goncalves, Vangstad, Rosskopf, Craddock and others e.g. Uran. Some strong names here in case of not very selective stages.
| Mo | Hi | TT | | Mo | Hi | TT | | Keizer | 80 | 70 | 80 | Laengen | 76 | 73 | 76 | | Coppel | 62 | 72 | 79 | Uran | 80 | 72 | 76 | | Brändle | 76 | 71 | 79 | Dees | 74 | 71 | 76 | | Goncalves | 73 | 71 | 78 | Ramos Ticona | 70 | 74 | 75 | | Bobridge | 69 | 83 | 77 | Roe | 75 | 73 | 75 | | Vangstad | 72 | 70 | 77 | Zoidl | 74 | 73 | 75 | | Rosskopf | 73 | 75 | 76 | Abreu | 73 | 73 | 75 |  Craddock | 73 | 74 | 76 | Haga | 74 | 71 | 75 |
Less so for the GC but more for stage glory on the TT stage, some names, that surely focus on the stage alone. Some obviously have a bit more hope to also end up high in the GC additionally.
| TT | | Zmorka | 82 | | Keizer | 80 | | Lammertink | 80 | | Dillier | 80 | | Coppel | 79 | | Brändle | 79 | | Haugard | 79 |
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| quadsas |
Posted on 09-11-2021 11:36
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Small Tour Specialist
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Looks like a lot of strong riders had 3 leftover RDs and didn't want to go to a classic. I sent a killing squad here, let's see how it works
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| SotD |
Posted on 09-11-2021 11:36
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World Champion
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Bobridge AND Coppel in the same team. What a setup for such a race!
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| redordead |
Posted on 09-11-2021 11:39
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Let's see if this is 3/3 planning blunders to start the season.
"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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| MacC |
Posted on 09-11-2021 12:01
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Sprinter
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Wow , tough crowd.
Hopeful Craddock can sneak a top 15 and Cruz can do well in the T .Anything though is a bonus given the competition.
Good luck
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| hillis91 |
Posted on 09-11-2021 12:04
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Dang, super tough field here. GL rrrrbody
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 09-11-2021 12:09
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Grand Tour Champion
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One of the few races where I thought Uran could still be amongst the top favorites. Startlist is very strong though so I might have to temper my expectations.
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 09-11-2021 12:33
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I might be wrong, but the startlist is definitely stronger than last season. Won't be a walk in the park again for Wilco I fear. I hope the hill stage(s) are selective enough for Spilak to be in the first group and guys like Keizer to be far behind, but I'm preparing myself for a worst case scenario with Spili outside of the top-10 already 
Thanks for the preview, roturn! Wouldn't mind winning the first two stages like in TDU where you also reported. Don't know if it's too late but I can still transfer you some more €?
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 09-11-2021 13:51
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Tour de France Champion
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We don't have a pure puncheur, but we basically tried to send every other type of rider that might have success here.
This will be Aranburu's debut in a leading role. Obviously his TT will hold him back, but we hope he will be competitive on the hills with his mtn/hill combo and resistance.
We decided Warbasse should be here based on the TT and available RD's. Despite hills predominating, we know climbers can have success here. Warbasse's versatility is mildly unique for the startlist, and we hope that will lead to some results. He'll have help from Roe, who is basically a lesser version of the same mold who's a little more TT heavy.
Then we also have a pure TTist in Sterobo. Not among the best of his craft, but 71 mtn means he's a backup in case somehow the race is insanely unselective and hill doesn't even come into play.
Interested to see how my team's AI manages all our options. Usually an undisputed leader is the better move, but we wanted to test the waters here.
It's been a packed start to our season, and I'm super excited for even more racing. Thanks for the preview!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 09-11-2021 17:53
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Bad memories from how we did in 2020, much better ones concerning 2019, when this race was C2. Back then, Freuler won the first stage, and Masnada took 15th in the GC.
The latter's back now, and will try to repeat this result in C1, in his first race as a maxed rider. Last year has seen some hybrids doing really well - but I guess we'll have to be lucky on day 1 to have some riders in the front group. Last year, Moscon inexplicably missed that split - one reason why he doesn't come back this time.
Pernsteiner has always been a great domestique on the hills last year, let's hope he'll agree to support Masnada. Thièry provides a little more hilly support as well, just like Basso, to a lesser extent though.
Balloni and Rekita are here mainly for the TT; although they don't make the favorites list, they could pull off a good stage result on a great day. Brunel did well in the Qatar prologue, let's see what he can do here.
And finally, we're obviously hyped to see Mauro Schmid in action for the very first time in his pro career 
Good luck to everyone, and thanks for the preview!
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 16:43
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 09-11-2021 19:02
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First big test for whether Rosskopf can be a real contributor for our team. The fear is that our whole team is considered unimportant and we'll miss any splits in S1, therefore having no shot even with a good TT. But if Rosskopf (and Uwizeyimana) manage to be close to the front in both hill stages, we could score some significant depth points here. Hoping for much, expecting very little - let's be positively surprised  Thanks for the preview roturn!
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 09-11-2021 20:36
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Hmmm this’ll be a good challenge for Paez as this is a very strong field and the race doesn’t suit him that well given the TT. We have won this race in the past with Nibali but I don’t see us doing that again this season.
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 10-11-2021 05:39
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Kelderman winning last year came on the back of him joining a freak break with Preidler, Slagter and others which survived by a margin and being better than those riders in the TT. That's definitely not going to happen again (with Wilco atleast) so we don't really aspire for a win. Hopefully he can do well enough on the hills to get a gap to the better time trialists. Looking forward to what Zoidl can do in this race as well.
Thanks for the preview roturn
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| ember |
Posted on 10-11-2021 05:54
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First planning mistake of the season here, thinking this was a TTT. Realized before the season, and after that I haven't been as confident as before for this race
Really hope all the TTers in our team/solid riders with a good TT like Laengen and Vangstad don't affect how Kwiatkowski races on the hills on stage 1 and 3. If it does, this will be a bad race, I fear. If it doesn't, this could potentially be a big, big race for us, as Laengen and potentially Vangstad could and should be riders to add depth points GC wise here.
And a really strong startlist for a C1 race! Keizer and Bobridge are my favourites for the overall, I think, depending on how the hills on stage 1 are raced. Fingers crossed Kwiatkowski goes aggressive, I wouldn't mind if he teams up with Beltran for that!
Looking forward to the reports. It's the first race this season we do where we got big ambitions and expectations  Thank you for the preview, roturn! |
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 10-11-2021 10:40
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Ouch, sad ending to an attractive race. Spilak seemed to be one of the better riders in the race, but needed a second to find his breath again after an attack moments before the following acceleration by EAB. A lot of strong time trialists ending in Spilak's group means a top-10 might be the best thing we can get out of the race now. Still, loved to see the attacking racing and confidence Congratulations to Cedevita!
On to tomorrow now. Hopefully Spilak is indeed able to remain in the top-10 after the time trial and Zmorka can get us the stage win.
Thanks for the report, roturn
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 10-11-2021 10:45
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An anonymous stage from Paez but finished strongly for 5th on the stage! He’s not particularly good against the clock so hopefully he’s aggressive on the final stage as a Top 10 GC result here would be huge!
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 10-11-2021 10:46
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Big, big effort by Rosskopf to end up in the first group. Gives me high hopes for a good GC result as he should be a Top 7 time trialist in that first group now, behind Bobridge, Keizer and Brändle (could be a massive race for Red Bull Zalgiris) and alongside Craddock, Uran and Laengen. It's especially encouraging that we were close to the front for most of the race, which as I mentioned before I did not necessarily anticipate.
Good job by Hadi in 22nd, too, looking well for some depth GC points. A bit disappointed by Uwizeyimana outside the Top 50, but again, no big deal compared to the upside here. Top 20 on the day from Rosskopf tomorrow leading to a Top 10 in the GC (plus Hadi in the Top 25-30) would be best case from here on out, but we'll see.
Thank you for the enjoyable report roturn! Solid AI racing imo. Long-ish range attacks, a short-range attack as well, and from riders you'd like to see them, too. Congrats to Cedevita for the win, Beltran is looking well!
Edited by cunego59 on 10-11-2021 10:47
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 10-11-2021 10:47
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Ivanov still has that attacking spirit, nice!
Uran with the big group gives plenty of opportunities to move forward tomorrow. At least he'll get a result out of this race.
Thanks roturn and congrats Cedevita!
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| SotD |
Posted on 10-11-2021 10:48
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Strong stage, very interesting to follow as a neutral!
Ivanov does his thing - great performance.
Also nice to see Zoidl keeping in the favorites group. He could be in for a very solid GC now.
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 10-11-2021 10:48
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Damn son Edu Beltran lovely work! Great report as well
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