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Tour du Maroc - Discussion
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 18-04-2024 23:33
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Directeur Sportif
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 Tour du Maroc
2023 is the 6th running of the Tour du Maroc. It ran at the PTHC level its first 4 years before dropping to HC last year and this it is downgraded again to C1. Romain Sicard won last year becoming the first two-time winner. He also won the first edition back in 2018.
The race format is pretty simple 3 stages for the sprinters (1, 3, 6) and 3 for the climbers (2, 4, 5). Stage 5 is rated hilly but fits more into the medium mountain category. Kenny Elissonde won it from a breakaway last year.
The GC will be decided among the top climbers in the race and the race has attracted some big guns. 2020 winner  Olivier and 2022 runner-up  Penasa are among them. But neither of those are the best climber that honor belongs to  Padun, although his secondaries are comparatively weak.  Bennett is another big name. He has struggled this season while  Meintjes and  Yates are two big names who have not struggled.  Aular is another rider having a great season but he isn’t as s strong on the punchy climbs as the rest mentioned. And if that isn’t enough 80+ climbers,  Novak and Seboka are also here (apologies to Domen for putting him in the same sentence as Seboka).
| Rider | MT | HI | AC | RS | RC | | Padun | 82 | 77 | 75 | 74 | 76 | | Olivier | 81 | 76 | 71 | 80 | 77 | | Bennett | 81 | 76 | 73 | 74 | 79 | | Aular | 81 | 72 | 69 | 75 | 77 | | Meintjes | 80 | 78 | 69 | 76 | 78 | | Novak | 80 | 77 | 76 | 76 | 77 | | Yates | 80 | 76 | 76 | 80 | 76 | | Penasa | 80 | 74 | 76 | 72 | 77 | | Seboka | 80 | 62 | 67 | 70 | 73 |
Just below this group are talented all-round climbers like  Min,  Monsalve,  Faglum Karlsson,  Frankiny and  Carboni.
When the climbers are not fighting it out the sprinters will have a turn. Despite the three possible stage wins the sprint field is not very deep.
| Rider | FL | SP | AC | RS | | Nur Hasan | 74 | 79 | 78 | 74 |  Moser | 71 | 79 | 77 | 67 | | Stallaert | 77 | 79 | 76 | 68 |  Welten | 76 | 79 | 75 | 71 |  Losch | 73 | 78 | 79 | 68 |  El Sabbahi | 77 | 78 | 77 | 76 | | Mareczko | 74 | 78 | 77 | 73 |  Tivani | 70 | 77 | 78 | 78 |  Aregger | 72 | 77 | 75 | 69 | | Redecker | 72 | 76 | 76 | 65 | | Hamza | 75 | 75 | 75 | 72 |
Nur Hasan and Losch are probably the best overall. Nur Hasan hasn’t brought a lead out while Losch has former Croatian national champion Frankovic. Moser will hope to bring home a win for CT team Simba Cement. With the absence of dominant sprinters and weak leadouts the sprint stages could yield some surprises.
23 teams are will take to the startline including 7 from the CT.
Startlist
Man Game: McCormick Pro Cycling |
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 19-04-2024 00:13
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World Champion
Posts: 11395
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Big boy time for Bennett with two races left in his season that both suit him very well. All is forgotten if he pulls out some big results to give us a huge promotion boost. If not, I might go insane
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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| seancoll |
Posted on 19-04-2024 04:14
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Domestique
Posts: 481
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PCM$: 500.00
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Someone will have to explain to me what I was trying to do with this line-up, besides hope for a Tivani stage result. Breakaways here we come!
Won't say favorites, but there's a few GC leaders who catch our eye for the win. More than anything hoping for some attacks in the main group and leaving a breakaway or two for a win.
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 19-04-2024 05:55
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11677
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Much harder startlist than we were hoping for. Top 15 will be the realistic target with Carboni, and maybe, finally, some breakaway involvement?
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| ivaneurope |
Posted on 19-04-2024 06:13
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2933
Joined: 09-05-2011
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The last hurrah for Triple P and Sicard this season and maybe with the team
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| KaiserAdler |
Posted on 19-04-2024 06:32
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Domestique
Posts: 570
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Really hoping El Sabbahi can deploy some dominance in the sprints.
Petelin is here for a chance at a breakaway win perhaps. Lets see what happens.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 25-11-2024 05:44
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| Caspi |
Posted on 19-04-2024 07:00
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Neo-Pro
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With this start list all hope for any GC result has vanished. However, the weak sprint field gets me dreaming of a stage win.
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 19-04-2024 07:19
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World Champion
Posts: 14563
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Let's make Indosat and Xero a bit nervous by winning this this race 
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| redordead |
Posted on 19-04-2024 07:42
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4881
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A big race for Fastned if Olivier can deliver victory.
"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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| Imladrik |
Posted on 19-04-2024 08:40
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Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 810
Joined: 05-10-2021
PCM$: 600.00
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KoM and stage glory.
Let's hope we're on the offensive, and please, with the right riders.
Thanks for the preview, good luck everybody.
“...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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| Nemolito |
Posted on 19-04-2024 08:45
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3367
Joined: 20-04-2020
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Thanks for the great preview.
Top 8 seems to be realistic, top 5 the goal. Won't be easy though because I rate basically every climber on the favourites list equal or higher to Aular. Our Venezuelan showed some amazing form in Eritrea and Andorra, but can't expect him to overperform every race. Depending on race situation and opponents perhaps Osorio can finish high in U25 again.
Good luck to all!
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 19-04-2024 09:25
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Team Manager
Posts: 6508
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Really tough startlist. From what I've seen so far, the finishes should suit Menitjes pretty well. He has the skillset to win this race, but he could also finish 7th and I wouldn't be able to complain much. I'm also hoping that Tesfatsion can maybe go for a Top 3-5 in the U25 competition.
The sprinting field on the other hand is surprisingly weak. Stallaert has done better than expected this year in sprints, so I'm hopeful he can do some good things here. It's also going to be an interesting case study how sprints play out without such a stacked startlist that we've come to see in most other races.
Thanks for the preview, looking forward to the reports!
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| Eden95 |
Posted on 19-04-2024 09:39
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4505
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That startlist makes me a little worried, there’s a lot of good riders here and a lot with a point to prove for themselves or their team - Us, Fastnes, Lierse, Xero and Bralirwa all towards the top half hoping for a dream result to inch closer to promotion. This race could ultimately be a big factor.
Yates has had an amazing season, and I think the course suits him well. Two stages end with small uphill finishes which have been his bread and butter this season. He has a great opportunity to keep us keep our small promotion hopes alive. Not impressed with Nur Hasan being the ‘best’ sprinter - we don’t have a lead out at all and I’m worried it’ll cook some of our mountain guys legs on the flat stages and of course will launch Nur Hasan far too early.
Thanks for the preview!
Indosat - ANZ HQ
"This Schleck sandwich is going to cause serious indigestion for Evans" - Phil Liggett |
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| quadsas |
Posted on 19-04-2024 13:55
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2518
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Let Losch cook. Dion should add small GC points too I guess
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| Laurens147 |
Posted on 19-04-2024 14:21
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1123
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Didn't bring a sprinter or climber so should be a 0 pointer 
Looking forward to the GC battle between the PCT teams!
Thanks UU for the preview!
MG - Lotto - Caloi
[MG] New Manager of the Year - PCM.daily Awards 2022
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 19-04-2024 15:44
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2905
Joined: 07-08-2011
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Monsalve has done well in similar fields this season an I do expect him to land in the top 10 GC here as well.
Thanks for the great preview!
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 19-04-2024 20:29
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1120
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Imladrik wrote:
KoM and stage glory.
Let's hope we're on the offensive, and please, with the right riders.
Thanks for the preview, good luck everybody.
Couldn't have stated it better, so I'll just second this
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 19-04-2024 22:11
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4670
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Guess I was right in thinking that basically all the great PCT climbers without notable TT skills would be here - which was a good reason for me to skip it. Glad I was in Vinyeards without all of these big guns, but really looking forward for them to battle it out here!
Given the performances so far, Meintjes and Yates should be good bets for an overall win, but Olivier also had some really strong results so far. Padun has performed far below what you'd expect with this great Mo/Hi combo, would be cool to finally see him deliver. And Bennett also still owes jandal a Giro-like performance when it really matters. Some great racing to come hopefully!
Surprised to see such a weak sprint field despite the sprinter stages, though. This was pretty similar in Vineyards, where even a 69 sprinter ended up getting three Top 10s (and from the strongest sprinters only Zabel was really good). We'll see how this works out - wouldn't be surprised to see a breakaway win or two on the flat stages...
Thanks for the preview, and good luck to all participants!
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 20-04-2024 08:43
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1120
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Congrats Eden for the stage win and also to fellow CT managers Imladrik and sean for some nice results too. And of course thanks to Ulrich for the report.
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| quadsas |
Posted on 20-04-2024 15:46
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2518
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Losch be cookin. Good start
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