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Tour de Vineyards - Discussion
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 10-04-2024 04:07
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Directeur Sportif
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 Tour de Vineyards
This year is the 6th running of the Tour De Vineyards, its second at the C1 level.
The first Tour de Vineyards occurred back in 2013 and was won by José Angel Gomez Marchante riding for ING Cycling – Project. The race then went on hiatus until 2019 and it has been on the calendar every year since. Perhaps inspired by the unusual hyphenation in the team name of the 2013 winner, every winner but one has ridden for a hyphenated team. The full list is:
| 2013 | José Angel Gomez Marchante | ING Cycling – Project | | 2019 | Ryan Eastman | Azteca - NBCSN | | 2020 | Jakub Novak | Carrefour - ESPN | | 2021 | Martijn Keizer | Red Bull Zalgiris | | 2022 | Mattia Cattaneo | Minions - Subwoolfer |
The race has generally favored a strong climber who can also ride the TT and that is because the race has two stages that will be decisive, the climb up Takaka Hill on Stage 3, and the 20k Team Time Trial on Stage 5. The other 3 stages are for the sprinters.
Since the majority of the stages are sprint stages we will start with a look the sprinters on the startlist:
| Rider | Fl | SP | AC | RS |  Zabel | 74 | 81 | 79 | 70 |  Perera | 71 | 79 | 80 | 73 |  Coutinho | 72 | 79 | 80 | 74 |  Bol | 76 | 79 | 77 | 77 |  Bouhanni | 73 | 79 | 75 | 67 |  Guerao | 70 | 79 | 70 | 58 |  Losch | 73 | 78 | 79 | 68 | | Rowe | 77 | 78 | 78 | 68 | | Bauhaus | 74 | 78 | 75 | 65 | | Mudgway | 70 | 76 | 78 | 66 |  Oka | 73 | 76 | 76 | 72 | | Kreder | 72 | 76 | 76 | 69 | | Sbaragli | 75 | 76 | 76 | 68 |  Itami | 71 | 76 | 76 | 61 | | Dzervus | 72 | 76 | 75 | 70 | | Räim | 74 | 76 | 75 | 72 |  Luchshenko | 72 | 75 | 75 | 72 |
Not the deepest sprint field considering there are 3 sprint stages, perhaps teams were focused on constructing strong TTT squads. Zabel is the stand out name on the startlist with Perera and Coutinho not far behind. Zabel has no reall leadout riders so his team will have to decide how to handle their responsibilities as the top sprinter in the race. Coutinho is joined by Rowe as a leadout and also two youngsters in Kooij and Milan. Perera has Mudgway as his leadout.
After those there is a clear second tier with Bol, Losch and Bouhanni. The first of those is the rare sprinter who doesn’t do too much harm to the TTT team.
And that strength allows his team to compete in the sprints and also be the second best TTT team, although they are not as strong in their top riders, where they rank only 5th. Fellow Swiss team UBS field the best team by all metrics while another traditional powerhouse, Glanbia, field the 3rd best overall team. Behind those three are Kraftwerk and CT TTT specialists SEE Turtles. Next comes Gjensidige but they have struggled in other TTTs as their top riders are much stronger than the rest of the team.
| Team | All | Top 5 | Top 3 | | Team UBS - Tissot | 75.1 (1) | 77.2 (1) | 78.3 (1) | | Jura GIANTS | 73.1 (2) | 75.4 (3) | 76.3 (5) | | Glanbia | 73.0 (3) | 76.6 (2) | 77.0 (2) | | Kraftwerk Man Machine | 71.4 (4) | 75.4 (4) | 76.3 (4) | | SEE Turtles | 71.1 (5) | 74.2 (5) | 75.0 (6) | | Gjensidige Pro Cycling Team | 69.5 (6) | 73.8 (6) | 76.7 (3) | | Sauber Petronas Racing | 69.1 (7) | 71.6 (7) | 73.0 (8) | | Hilcona Racing Team | 67.0 (8) | 69.0 (12) | 71.3 (12) | | DK Zalgiris | 66.1 (9) | 69.8 (9) | 72.3 (10) | | Spark-BNZ Racing | 66.0 (10) | 71.4 (8) | 74.0 (7) | | Bordeaux Métropole - Euskotren | 65.9 (11) | 69.8 (10) | 72.7 (9) | | Air New Zealand-Alfa Romeo | 65.9 (12) | 68.8 (13) | 70.7 (13) | | Stela-Vita | 65.3 (13) | 69.4 (11) | 72.0 (11) | | Lampre - Pinarello | 64.0 (14) | 68.4 (14) | 70.3 (14) | | Ekoi - Le Creuset | 63.1 (15) | 65.6 (15) | 67.3 (15) | | JEWA TIROL | 62.0 (16) | 64.6 (16) | 67.3 (16) | | Babymetal Cycling | 61.4 (17) | 63.6 (17) | 66.0 (17) | | Strava | 61.2 (18) | 62.6 (18) | 65.3 (18) |
But the doing well in the TTT won’t be enough if a rider doesn’t thrive on the finishing climb on Stage 3. The top climbers are:
| Rider | HI | MT | AC | RS | | Ranaweera | 73 | 80 | 65 | 75 | | Guldhammer | 75 | 79 | 73 | 72 | | Monsalve | 74 | 79 | 70 | 77 |  Schelling | 74 | 79 | 68 | 74 | | Stüssi | 73 | 79 | 66 | 73 | | Smith | 75 | 78 | 74 | 74 |  Pomoshnikov | 73 | 78 | 65 | 75 | | Natarov | 72 | 78 | 67 | 70 |  Lunke | 72 | 78 | 65 | 74 | | Campero | 70 | 78 | 71 | 70 | | Alarcon | 67 | 78 | 69 | 65 | | Masnada | 76 | 77 | 73 | 75 |  Gall | 76 | 77 | 72 | 71 |
Ranaweera, Schelling and Stüssi are the riders with a strong TTT team and climbing skills near the top of the list. Those three are probably the favorites for the overall win, with the hyphen in the team name tipping things towards Schelling.
Guldhammer and Monsalve are the other top climbers but their TTT teams aren’t as strong. Smith gives DK Zalgiris a one-two punch. If a punchy are skills are important then Masnada and Gall have the most balanced skill sets. There are also a number of other 77 MT climbers below those listed who are not as strong in the hills including  Keizer, the only former winner on the startlist.
Only 18 teams on the startlist:
 
Man Game: McCormick Pro Cycling |
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 10-04-2024 04:23
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World Champion
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Sad that Bennett's home race (not just nationality-wise, but Nelson is his hometown, went to school in Richmond) continues to have a TTT for his whole prime.
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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."
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 10-04-2024 04:41
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Team Leader
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Keen to see Perera in this as he is one of the top sprinters and have shown decent signs. Also with kiwi Mudgway as the lead out will be cool.
Schleck is our lead mountain but we kind of need a miracle to do well in this one. I guess if Schleck can be in a selective group in the mountain stage and then we hold our own in the TTT we could get a decent GC position.
Keen to race in our home race though! Excited for this one. A stage win will be nice!
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 10-04-2024 06:39
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Grand Tour Specialist
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This startlist looks really favorable for us. It's pretty insane how weak the climbers' field is compared to last year, where we had 9 80+ climbers - and this year it's just Ranaweera who's a bit above the rest. I guess the clash with Deutschland Tour where many strong TTers are leads to a really low PCT participation with just 8 teams...
Good for us, with Stüssi high up in the favourites list this time. And he definitely does have something to make up for, completely failing in the mountain stage last year. Bringing Masnada (and Darbellay) is an attempt to make the team even stronger, and given that the climb isn't really selective, the latter might even have a shot at some bonus seconds. I guess it's a very rare chance for us to do well in a mountain stage...
And we better take this chance, given that our TTT lineup is weaker than usual. Our Top 3 TTers are in Germany, so the TTT outfit is led by Küng and Marchewka. I think our Top 5 (even Top 6) riders are pretty balanced, which seems to be pretty crucial this year, so while the win will be out of reach, we still hope to fight for a stage podium here.
And stage podiums is also what I'm hoping for in the sprints. Bol hopefully won't be considered to be a Top 3 favourite, so we don't need to build a train having no potential leadout for once. And then, anything seems possible with him surely being one of the most well-rounded sprinters here. That didn't help him in his last couple of races, though...
Overall, Schelling should be the favourite for the win thanks to UBS' TTT power. But Ranaweera could well take it if he wins the mountain stage. We'd be very happy if we can get a podium with Stüssi, with Top 5 being the goal and Top 10 the bare minimum. GC depth and some cool sprint results would be welcome, too.
Thanks for the preview, and good luck to all!
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 10-04-2024 08:21
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Team Manager
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Man, I contemplated participating here for a while during planning and looking at the startlist, I really should've done so. Big points available for those who brought a strong team here. But hindsight's 20/20 of course. The TTT isn't super long, but still, Stüssi and Schelling should be the overall favorites if they can hold their ground on the mountain stage. Ranaweera is another obvious contender, but I wouldn't be shocked if, say, Pomoshnikov had a big day in the mountains and was then able to hang on to the lead. Interesting race to be sure, good luck everyone!
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 21-11-2024 19:12
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| hillis91 |
Posted on 10-04-2024 09:29
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If we can manage to not fumble the bag in the TTT, bringing a stronger TTT lineup here. We are in for hopefully some needed points here.
Like Fab said above, the startlist is favourable.
Good luck everybody! 
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 10-04-2024 10:28
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2904
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Our TTT is obviously not great, but we do have a shot at great stage results on ever other stage. With the climbers being fairly weak here this could be a surprisingly good race for us!
Thanks for the preview!
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| MacC |
Posted on 10-04-2024 10:37
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Sprinter
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Some seriously good TTT competition this year...looks like I had to squeeze in a Stagiare here
Thanks Ulrich.
Hopefully Kent Main can benefit from a decent TTT and not lose too much on the big mountain. Schelling must be the man to beat if Ranaweera loses time on the TTT
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| quadsas |
Posted on 10-04-2024 14:49
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Small Tour Specialist
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Could be a decent race for us. TTT might kill aspirations of great GC placements but should get some decent stage results and depth GC from Guldy and Dion
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 10-04-2024 15:46
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Protected Rider
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I can wait for this race getting started as it's the beginning of nearly a race every day for our team for the rest of the season (all the RDs saved until now have to go somewhere)!
A sprinter would have been a good idea given that Russo or even Jiang could get some points here, but now it's up to our youngsters to score points - and the chances are really good given we have a fully U25 eligible squad including 4 stagiaires. And even more importantly we have the three best U25 climbers with Gall above everyone else there by miles and even Delbove and Karatsivis 3 points better than the best young climber not riding for us (Vauquelin is on par with him to be sure). So everything less than the white jersey would be highly disappointing and even a full podium in this classification should be within reach despite our traditionally weak TTT lineup. Gall might not be in contention for a GC Top 10, but with some luck we could match our combined scoring of the last two months (30 points  ) in this race alone. As I stated above, I'm just thrilled to probably get the rest of the season rolling on a (relative) high!
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| seancoll |
Posted on 10-04-2024 23:02
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Domestique
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Seems like the perfect place on the favorites list for me. Lots of 10th best sprinters finding good results this season so I think Oka can get some minor placings.
A 125.km stage is the only type of mountain stage Alarcon can still compete in so hoping for good there too although he's prepped to lose like 6 minutes in the TTT.
TTT might not be good enough for a stage result (although we hope dropping Alarcon changes that). Otherwise, Reguigui and Siriwardena should remain high enough for depth GC we hope!
Looking forward to the race! Thank you for a lovely preview as always
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| Imladrik |
Posted on 11-04-2024 08:36
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Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 807
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Thanks for the preview!
Not a so strong startlist indeed, we could have had a chance of a GC result, maybe, if we sent our GC team. But, well.
Here for the XP, the attacks, and maybe Guerao find some legs. He seems to have them on S1, so let's continue that.
Thanks for the report also.
“...the secret of the Great Stories is that they have no secrets. The Great Stories are the ones you have heard and want to hear again. The ones you can enter anywhere and inhabit comfortably."
A. Roy
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 11-04-2024 10:45
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2904
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Hello darkness my old friend.......
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| quadsas |
Posted on 11-04-2024 13:38
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2518
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Losch is in top form baybay
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 11-04-2024 15:35
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Classics Specialist
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Am I the only one who is worried about their leader getting dropped and losing their GC place during the TTT?
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 11-04-2024 16:19
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I'll take 5th from Bol here. We were obviously hoping for more, especially on day 1 with all the GC and sprint jersey bonus points available, but other teams are luckier with sprints than us lately. And can't really argue against Zabel winning - congrats to Kraftwerk!
Given his awful positioning (once again) and then the early launch (once again, too), I can actually be rather happy with Bol only fading to 5th, beating the two other early launchers. But still hoping to do better on the remaining two occasions, at least one podium would be nice to get.
Commiserations to Lampre, guess the sprinter field is just too weak for you not to get a leadout. And Rowe is probably too strong as a leadout for Coutinho...
Wonder if these 38 seconds will have an impact on the final GC - good head start for Lampre in the team standings, but otherwise I doubt any of these 13 can really benefit from the gain made.
sammyt93 wrote:
Am I the only one who is worried about their leader getting dropped and losing their GC place during the TTT?
I guess Pomoshnikov could indeed be at risk, but Campero should be fine, Misbah and Natarov anyway.
From the other top climbers in the list, Schelling might be the most at risk - despite being a decent TTer. But UBS' Top 5 are just so much stronger than him...
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| Laurens147 |
Posted on 12-04-2024 10:38
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Great win for Babymetal!
MG - Lotto - Caloi
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 12-04-2024 12:24
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Awful, plain awful. Bol seems to have become the least intelligent sprinter of the field, never able to position himself correctly. No clue what's wrong with him, but it seems that he lost all of his strengths post-Giro.
Congrats to Babymetal.
At least we had some good presence at the front of the pack, except for the decisive part of the stage, though - so I'd fully expect us to do the same tomorrow and have no-one in the Top 20 in the end...
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| quadsas |
Posted on 12-04-2024 16:42
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Small Tour Specialist
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Losch too good. Lets hope Guldy and Dion can be as good
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 12-04-2024 16:53
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Congrats to Dave and Ulamog for the wins!
Russell in the break was nice (though he's our weakest rider), but now the most important stage lies before us. So go Gall and get white!
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