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Viana do Castelo Discussion
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 19-10-2022 07:59
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World Champion
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 Viana do Castelo
There's a few races in cycling that flirt with the phrase "modern classic" - one-day races with a less storied history than Sanremo or Flanders, but with epic racing and scenes that fans go wild for. Strade Bianche is one. Viana do Castelo, coming into its fifth edition this year, is trying its best to be another. A unique profile which only the best can be victorious on, brutal altitude gain matched with rough cobbles makes for an intriguing spectacle, and the Portuguese coastline isn't half bad viewing for the few quiet moments in the race.
This parcours has lent itself to the brave and the bold in years gone by, with daring solos from  Meurisse (45km solo after 70km in a mid-range attack, no I will never shut up about it), Gamper (left at home by his  Lierse team despite being the defending champ), Brynjolfsson, Summerhill and Baugnies and Boom all taking that path to victory. As you can see there it has favoured the northern classics riders who can get over the hills well, with the long climb up to the Santuario de Santa Luzia on each lap accompanied by the long cobbled descent, requiring immense technical skill, the often-decisive centrepiece of it all. Usually, the pattern is thus: you lose the race on the rolling hills and cobbles, but you win it on the way to and from Santa Luzia.
| Name | CB | HI | RS | MO | ST | DH | Name | CB | HI | RS | MO | ST | DH |  Benoot | 76 | 80 | 74 | 75 | 75 | 66 |  Monk | 76 | 66 | 70 | 60 | 76 | 77 |  David | 78 | 75 | 74 | 62 | 76 | 70 |  Paprstka | 75 | 69 | 70 | 62 | 74 | 78 |  Gaday | 78 | 75 | 72 | 67 | 75 | 64 | Rowe | 75 | 66 | 70 | 55 | 76 | 71 | | Bewley | 79 | 67 | 70 | 65 | 72 | 73 |  De Witte | 75 | 68 | 72 | 60 | 75 | 65 |  Waeytens | 67 | 80 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 75 | Fenn | 79 | 61 | 71 | 53 | 75 | 71 | | van Garderen | 65 | 80 | 72 | 70 | 75 | 73 | Ghani | 74 | 73 | 68 | 68 | 71 | 67 | | Schoonbroodt | 74 | 75 | 73 | 63 | 75 | 74 | Marcos | 74 | 73 | 65 | 62 | 71 | 64 | | Meurisse | 68 | 77 | 74 | 74 | 74 | 68 | Verhelst | 74 | 73 | 69 | 56 | 72 | 71 | | Marzuki | 74 | 74 | 72 | 71 | 71 | 71 | Budenieks | 70 | 75 | 75 | 75 | 70 | 72 | | Richardson | 78 | 67 | 68 | 61 | 68 | 66 |  Kaislavuo | 73 | 70 | 73 | 65 | 73 | 70 | | Schreurs | 77 | 67 | 75 | 54 | 75 | 63 | Richardson | 78 | 67 | 68 | 61 | 68 | 66 | | Centrone | 76 | 71 | 67 | 62 | 72 | 75 |  Poljanec | 73 | 69 | 68 | 67 | 70 | 73 |  Declerq | 76 | 72 | 69 | 65 | 71 | 68 | Siric | 74 | 70 | 78 | 63 | 75 | 75 | | Sweeck | 76 | 68 | 72 | 62 | 71 | 75 | Kaislavuo | 73 | 70 | 73 | 65 | 73 | 70 | | Schlechter | 75 | 72 | 67 | 59 | 71 | 67 | Poljanec | 73 | 69 | 68 | 67 | 70 | 73 |
An interesting long list of names, none of whom should be counted out. Some may feel they are missing out - if they do, they should stop reading and go to sleep because they have a race tomorrow and they're not going to prove me wrong without their forty winks!
Probably a colossal favourite coming into the race is Tiesj Benoot, who is perhaps the most suited rider to this race we've had here in some time, perhaps ever. Runner-up to Meurisse in 2020, he has since received training to make him even more outstanding in the hills. A great puncheur and climber who is also among the best here on the cobbles, even if he isn't quite at the level of David, Gaday or Bewley. The former two are the inverse of Benoot - top cobblers who are in the second tier of puncheurs here, while the former World Champion and 13x Monument winner Bewley needs no introduction - the best over cobbles and one of the best sprinters here too, the only question mark is uphill - he's no slouch, but he's a few steps off the pace of the first three. The two Kiwis come here with incredible team strength, with Schreurs one of the other top classics riders as well as Monk and Scotson also providing great support for Bewley, while David has Schoonbroodt, Marzuki and Ghani, all of whom have had Top 10 finishes here in the past, as well as a second leader we will get to shortly. We have seen what that kind of team strength can mean in recent years for guys like Meurisse, Summerhill and Baugnies, who often have many teammates in the Top 15 or even Top 5 providing tactical and physical advantages.
Sauber's second option is van Garderen, with Benoot and Waeytens the top puncheurs who have decided to attend. While Benoot's nous on the cobbles makes him a top favourite, neither of those two should be counted out as they can hold their own there too, as can Xandro Meurisse, 2020 victor here. In 2020, Meurisse used the kind of depth van Garderen now has, with teammates in 4th, 12th, 13th and 32nd. This year, he only has Rowe - actually his teammate that day as well and in the attack with him then, albeit at a different team.
Those are the names that scream potential winners as well as the two best teams, but the reason we love this race is the many different outcomes we can receive. There's the big favourites who can play it traditionally or spring a surprise with a big solo. There's the outsiders who can try to emulate Meurisse with a long-range attack getting the jump on the bigger names. And then there's all those smaller names with the skills to take it when the cards fall their way - as Brynjolfsson did back in 2017. Who will it be? Find out tomorrow as the brilliant Nemolito takes you through the race.
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 19-10-2022 08:08
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World Champion
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Last year we had an unexpected win, but this race is such madness I decided to send some lesser cobbled riders, hoping we get a special breakaway again.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 19-10-2022 08:35
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Wait, only 12 teams here? Will be interesting to see how the engine handles this - might be good news for the BotD.
If one of the top riders is to take it though, I can't really see a way past Benoot. His climbing advantage looks to be bigger than the cobbles disadvantage, especially given that the far longest sector is on the downhill and is surely far less energy-sapping than it would be if they had to climb up on this side...
Also rooting for Sauber though, always hoping for our friends to have a good season, and this race looks to be a decent one for David - although the hill could be too long for him ^^
Thanks to jandal and Nemo for preview & race, and good luck everyone!
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 19-10-2022 08:53
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Directeur Sportif
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Go Benoot, go Cedevita, go TLT! Always loving this race.
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 19-10-2022 09:04
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Not Sure what to expect here. None of our cobblers can climb, so I don't expect a great result to be honest. Bewley coming off a nice first cobbles race though, maybe he keeps performing even on a less suited profile.
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 19-10-2022 09:21
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Grand Tour Champion
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The cobblestone team was never going to score in Omloop, so figured I'd give this one a go. Been years since we've participated here but the results over the last few years have been unpredictable, so hopefully the dice will roll in our direction.
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| redordead |
Posted on 19-10-2022 09:24
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My thinking was scoring 1 point here would be one more than in Omloop. We'll see.
"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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| whitejersey |
Posted on 19-10-2022 09:51
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Classics Specialist
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Let's see if the Xero contingent of our team can pull of a result here. Bit of a gamble with Rowe but who knows this race is always different. Thanks for the preview. Bit weird to see such a small pool of teams considering this is one of the most fun races on the calendar all year!
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 10:04
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| ivaneurope |
Posted on 19-10-2022 10:35
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Classics Specialist
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Richardson is so good, the reporter included him in the favorites list twice 
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 22-10-2022 23:08
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Classics Specialist
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Thanks for the great preview, jandal!
Sorry for the delay, had some technical difficulties. Posted now 
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| Shonak |
Posted on 23-10-2022 00:51
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15615
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Thanks, finally a first proper result i can comment on. gaday really delivered here and did well enough to make me look forward to other cbs classics. gratz to the hattrick winner and his team.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 23-10-2022 02:04
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Classics Specialist
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Thanks for the report!
Meurisse doing exactly what I bought him to do, to win Viana! Absolutely love this race with all of my heart! Nice to "finally" get a win on the board after some second place finishes, so far so good, really feeling good about the construction of the team as of right now but there's still a lot of racing to be done!
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 23-10-2022 07:27
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Not a total bust, but this was the only race in the calendar where we had a top favourite, so had high hopes. Support team probably too weak to do that though and small startlist didn't help. Anyway, still an ok result as the points keep coming.
Congrats to WJ for the win and thanks for the report Nemo
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 23-10-2022 08:40
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Solid result for Bewley, I guess. Also nice to see Monk attacking and adding a "secondary" result. Thanks for the report!
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 23-10-2022 09:23
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Damn I love this race! Great to see Meurisse winning, also very happy with Strava and Cedevita really performing well here. What a shame about Benoot though, maybe lacked the one climbing cobbler to really make the race hard enough on the climbs.
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 23-10-2022 09:30
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World Champion
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For a brief moment it looked like we could repeat last year, but Aleotti is no Gamper of course. Yeah Mr. White Jersey!
Thanks for the preview and report, Jandal and Nemolito!
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 23-10-2022 10:52
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7593
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Thanks Nemolito and congrats whitejersey!
Eighth and eleventh will probably our best result in cobblestones this season, though had hoped Marcos' skillset would have been used better.
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 23-10-2022 10:59
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World Champion
Posts: 11392
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Hell freaking yeah Meurisse, love it love it love it!!!!! 
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
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| knockout |
Posted on 23-10-2022 12:23
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Grand Tour Champion
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Lovely result, nice to see Meurisse delivering for HelloFresh. Seems like the plan to invest in multiple riders that have the upside to outperform their stats already pays off early in the season
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 23-10-2022 13:54
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Classics Specialist
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Good result from Tom David on his debut for the team, looks like our investment in a cobbles department is already paying off, just a shame we had to burn so many domestiques to get him there as it limited our potential to score depth points. Hopefully we get a bigger startlist in future cobble races so it doesn't become a trend.
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