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Strade Bianche Discussion
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 28-11-2023 22:15
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1119
Joined: 07-07-2013
PCM$: 200.00
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 [HC] Strade Bianche
Welcome to Tuscany, where 22 teams from PCT and 2 teams from CT will ride one of the most spectacular races in modern cycling on the eponymous white streets.
The race consists of a round around the town of Sienna, leading the riders over lots of gravel roads, though those sectors are not considered hard enough to make the race attractive to most of the cobblers. The history of the race supports their view as it’s mostly won by puncheurs. And they will be the big favourites in this year’s edition too, given the many hills the riders have to tackle. This led to big selections in the previous editions, so that only small groups went to the final sprint up to the old town of Sienna.
The race has been on the MGUCI calendar ever since 2009 and has accumulated a long and illustrious list of winners, though none of them was able to win the race twice. But  Van Garderen and  Kelderman are at the start this year trying to change this.
The most recent editions have been won by sprints from small groups, though solo wins were more common in previous editions. And though the white gravel roads of the race are infamous the winners list mostly consists of puncheurs.
Previous winners:
Spoiler
| Year | Winner | | | | | | | | | 2022 | Tejay Van Garderen (Sauber Petronas Racing) | | 2021 | Jay McCarthy (cycleYorkshire) | | 2020 | Bruno Borges (Duolingo) | | | | | | | | 2019 | Toms Skujins (Evonik - ELKO) | | | | | | | | 2018 | Simone Ponzi (Hugo Boss) | | | | | | | | 2017 | Aleksandar Flügel (Kraftwerk Man Machine) | | | | | | | 2016 | Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Netia - Norske Skog) | | | | | | 2015 | Wilco Kelderman (Team Puma - SAP) | | 2014 | Michael Van Stayen (Venchi - Ferranti) | | | | | | 2013 | Jonathan Bellis (Rothaus - Aegon) | | 2012 | Rui Costa (Team CSC-Orbea) | | 2011 | Nick Nuyens (Domina Vacanze) | | 2010 | Marcus Burghardt (Wikipedia) | | 2009 | Clément Lhotellerie (Nintendo - Honda) | | | | | | |
2022 results:
Spoiler
| 1 | Tejay Van Garderen | Sauber Petronas Racing | 5h01'08 | | 2 | Tiesj Benoot | Philips - Force India | s.t. | | 3 | Joseph Areruya | Xero Racing | s.t. | | 4 | Tomohiro Kinoshita | Voyagin - Bird | s.t. | | 5 | Eduard Alexander Beltran | Cedevita | s.t. | | 6 | Pello Bilbao | Kraftwerk Man Machine | s.t. | | 7 | Kristian Haugaard Jensen | Carlsberg - Danske Bank | + 25 | | 8 | Oleksandr Prevar | Team Popo4Ever | s.t. | | 9 | Rui Oliveira | Binance | s.t. | | 10 | Elie Gesbert | Assa Abloy | s.t. |
The list of favourites should mainly consist of the best puncheurs. Kelderman is the best pure puncheur here and has already won the race in 2015, so he has to be considered. But the likes of  Benoot (who adds some cobbles skills),  Buchmann and  Areruya (who is by far the best mountain rider among the favourites) are also keen to take the win here. We have many more pure puncheurs at the start with  Beltran,  De Plus and  Higuita adding some mountain skills. Other interesting riders could be  Ackermann with his superior sprint and  Theuns who’s only a mediocre puncheur in this field but could profit as a sprint/cobbles hybrid if the race turns out to not be very selective.
| | MO | HI | ST | RS | RC | | Kelderman | Wilco | 71 | 82 | 80 | 75 | 73 | | Benoot | Tiesj | 75 | 81 | 75 | 74 | 74 | | Buchmann | Emanuel | 76 | 81 | 73 | 74 | 74 | | Areruya | Joseph | 81 | 81 | 76 | 78 | 79 |  Moscon | Gianni | 73 | 80 | 76 | 77 | 75 |  Boswell | Ian | 71 | 80 | 77 | 73 | 71 | | Beltran | Eduard Alexander | 78 | 80 | 71 | 70 | 70 | | Müller | Patrick | 67 | 80 | 76 | 71 | 70 |  Waeytens | Zico | 71 | 80 | 72 | 70 | 68 |  Izagirre | Ion | 72 | 79 | 70 | 69 | 64 | | Gebrezgabihier | Amanuel | 70 | 79 | 74 | 74 | 72 |  Stannard | Robert | 73 | 79 | 75 | 76 | 74 |  Kanerva | Joni | 64 | 79 | 75 | 69 | 70 |  Turgis | Anthony | 67 | 79 | 76 | 78 | 70 | | De Plus | Laurens | 77 | 79 | 74 | 73 | 71 | | Higuita | Sergio | 78 | 79 | 76 | 78 | 79 | | Prevar | Oleksandr | 70 | 79 | 75 | 68 | 66 |  Kron | Andreas | 70 | 79 | 75 | 75 | 71 |
Full start list:
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 28-11-2023 22:38
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World Champion
Posts: 11392
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PCM$: 1020.00
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Well looks like Areruya is actually going to beat Bennett to making his season debut  Obviously here for the win as we kind of have to be wherever he goes, but last year he never got one in the hilly classics.
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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| Fabianski |
Posted on 28-11-2023 22:40
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4669
Joined: 29-09-2018
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Thanks for the preview 
Really looking forward to this race in 2024, when Schmid will finally be maxed and should join the ranks of the preview favourites. For now, all I can hope for with the lineup of Errazkin, Schmid and Theuns is to get more than zero points.
Meurisse finishing 11th last year gives me some hopes that Schmid could end up in the Top 20 with some aggressive riding as well, but to be honest, a zero-pointer is absolutely possible in hilly classics this year. So I'm mainly here to observe if the energy system redesign actually has some kind of impact, to maybe slightly adapt Schmid's final development step...
Rooting for Scareruya here, given Xero's rough start, but would also love to see a Buchmann win. And looking forward to see what Moscon can do after finally getting that +1 Hi
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 28-11-2023 22:46
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2905
Joined: 07-08-2011
PCM$: 300.00
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Turgis far down the pecking order here, but we need a good result from him if we want to keep our spot in the top 10 after dire set of races receently. Thanks for the preview, hard to look past Areruyra for the win!
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 30-11-2023 00:01
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 3259
Joined: 02-11-2010
PCM$: 300.00
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Boswell was a complete failure at this level last year and we can't afford that this year. A top 10 should be doable given the preview rank. He has a much stronger support squad this year so hopefully that matters.
Man Game: McCormick Pro Cycling |
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| Eden95 |
Posted on 30-11-2023 02:20
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4505
Joined: 05-10-2010
PCM$: 900.00
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Interesting field, looking forward to seeing who will emerge victorious. Not much going on for us here, overperformer Bilbao has his first chance to mop up some minor points but besides that ithe goal is to get someone out front for that invaluable tv time
Thanks for the preview!
Indosat - ANZ HQ
"This Schleck sandwich is going to cause serious indigestion for Evans" - Phil Liggett |
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 30-11-2023 06:52
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
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Benoot 'should' be up there as one of the favourites for this one, as the preview suggests. Would love to see Kelderman actually doing as the preview suggests for his team, but that seems highly unlikely.
Thanks for the preview kb
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 21-11-2024 23:44
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| MacC |
Posted on 30-11-2023 08:05
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Sprinter
Posts: 1594
Joined: 15-07-2008
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Another hit and hope for Glanbia, maybe some small points to keep us ticking over
Thanks for the preview and good luck everybody
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| roturn |
Posted on 30-11-2023 08:44
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Team Manager
Posts: 22246
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On a good day Vansevenant should be up there fighting for some points.
The way he performed this season though, he was rather anonymous and poorly placed.
At least in most classics, he should be the clear team leader and not being mixed with sprinters/climbers etc. |
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 30-11-2023 08:51
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Team Manager
Posts: 6508
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One of only very few hilly classics on our schedule. I'm doubtful that Ion Izagirre can do much here given his skillset, but I'd be happy to be surprised. Curious if Tesfatsion can maybe do something already, too. It's a strong field, should be a very open race. Rooting for Areruya as I always do. Thanks for the preview!
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 30-11-2023 09:58
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2433
Joined: 07-07-2013
PCM$: 200.00
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Hoping Kanerva can stay close to the leading group and get near to a top 10 finish.
Thanks for the preview kandesbunzler.
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 30-11-2023 12:34
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3367
Joined: 20-04-2020
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Higuita did very well in his first hilly race for us in Hong Kong, if he could surprise us with a top-5 I'd be very happy. There's a little chance I guess, with the final including 4 hills quickly after each other. Nevertheless a top-10 would also be decent, looking at the competition. I hope Wilco does well here.
Thanks for the preview, kb!
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 30-11-2023 12:57
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World Champion
Posts: 14563
Joined: 08-08-2011
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Hoping De Plus can hang on for a long time. Thanks for the preview.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| KaiserAdler |
Posted on 30-11-2023 13:29
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Domestique
Posts: 570
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Heres to hoping Kelderman can deliver in style on his debut. thanks for the preview!
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 30-11-2023 15:29
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World Champion
Posts: 14563
Joined: 08-08-2011
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Yeah I'll take 7th. Congrats Jandal! Also thank you for the report!
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 30-11-2023 16:00
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 9099
Joined: 13-03-2013
PCM$: 2100.00
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This has been one of the most Xero-ish races ever. It only missed a lower Top10 Scully and a Jams-Attack
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 30-11-2023 19:00
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2905
Joined: 07-08-2011
PCM$: 300.00
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Hard to have any complaints about this race from our perspective! Three riders in the scoring spots with two of them in the top 10 and Meurisse podium. Thanks for a great report to read through and congrats to Jandal on the Arerurya win!
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 30-11-2023 19:48
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4669
Joined: 29-09-2018
PCM$: 185.00
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Big congrats to Xero, what a great way to win a race
Behind the well-deserved winner, I struggle to find a pattern in the results, though - most top puncheurs are only around 15th place, no matter whether they're pretty good (Buchmann, Benoot) or "just" solid (Kelderman, Moscon, Boswell) climbers. Pretty weird to only have 2 80+ puncheurs in the Top 10 here, might just be too much repetitive climbing for some of them...
Which leads me to the conclusion for my team - on one hand, I can be happy to have three riders in the points; especially glad for Stehli, scoring his first career points. On the other hand, seeing that Meurisse got a podium makes me think that it could also be his "clone" Schmid up there... But given that Schmid should rather be a "Stannard copy" next year, I'm hoping to finally get a Top 10 in this race in 2024 This time around, we just missed out on the important split - can happen, hopefully we'll do better in South Africa 
And yeah, energy stats definitely look to be completely irrelevant in races below 200k, looking at Beltran (or Ndayisenga). Some more good news for Schmid
Thanks for the great report, kb, was really nice to read
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 30-11-2023 21:44
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World Champion
Posts: 11392
Joined: 17-12-2014
PCM$: 1020.00
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What the hell?
Absolutely amazing race looking at that top four as Croatia said. Love to see all my guys doing well and proving I have impeccable taste - don't want to hear anybody questioning the transfer fees I request from now on.
Spoiler Stannard beating Kelderman is particularly sweet, if you know you know.
Great to see the training and change of PCM didn't remove whatever makes Areruya a crazy person with his long range and multiple attacks but I wouldn't have it any other way when he's good enough to do it and win races. Couldn't really have asked for a better (much-delayed) start to his season and between Pais Vasco and this it's a solid kickstart to our comeback after the long break left us in last. Fingers crossed Bennett in Colombia goes well too and I'll be absolutely floating.
Thanks to kb for a report and congrats to whitejersey, Gustav and Nemolito for seeing my vision
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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| cio93 |
Posted on 30-11-2023 23:43
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World Champion
Posts: 10845
Joined: 29-10-2007
PCM$: 500.00
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jandal7 wrote:
Love to see all my guys doing well and proving I have impeccable taste - don't want to hear anybody questioning the transfer fees I request from now on.
I didn't question your request, it was just disappointing that even throwing everything at you wasn't good enough.
Congrats on this win!
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