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Vuelta a Colombia - Discussion
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| seancoll |
Posted on 21-11-2024 03:39
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Domestique
Posts: 541
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PCM$: 500.00
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 Vuelta a Colombia
PTHC – 6 Stages
The trip to South America brings us a 6-stage fight between the some of the best in the game. 2 sprint stages and 4 high mountain stages will test the best in the world alongside those from the PCT. Stages 3, 5, and 6 all provide mountain top finishes which could really divide the field here and suggest that the best in the field will come out on top. With only two major stage types here, it’s a simple preview to find the best in the field.
The 2023 victor here is none other than Lecuisinier… and he’s back for 2024! Seeing that, none of the other previous winners is willing to attend this year. Lecuisinier will be aiming to be the 3rd multi-time winner as Pluchkin (2-time 2019, 2018) and Amador (2-time 2017, 2013).
From a stage perspective, the race is currently in a shortened format since beginning as a 15-stage race in 2008. 2017 was the shortest race at only 5 stages, but 6 has become the norm since 2018.
| Name | FL | ST | RS | RC | SP | AC | Jasper  Philipsen | 74 | 74 | 70 | 80 | 81 | 80 | Danny  Van Poppel | 72 | 74 | 71 | 78 | 81 | 78 | Itamar  Einhorn | 74 | 71 | 71 | 74 | 80 | 78 | Elias  Afewerki | 73 | 77 | 70 | 81 | 79 | 80 | Alvaro  Hodeg | 72 | 69 | 74 | 70 | 79 | 78 | Maximilian  Walscheid | 73 | 71 | 74 | 73 | 79 | 79 | Marco  Haller | 71 | 70 | 69 | 74 | 79 | 77 | Lionel  Coutinho | 72 | 75 | 74 | 77 | 79 | 80 | Roman  Lutsyshyn | 70 | 69 | 73 | 74 | 79 | 80 | Barnabas  Peak | 80 | 73 | 77 | 77 | 78 | 78 | Max  Losch | 73 | 72 | 68 | 75 | 78 | 79 | Aksel  Nommela | 72 | 70 | 70 | 72 | 78 | 78 | | Bas Van der Kooij | 73 | 75 | 74 | 83 | 78 | 77 | | Emerson Santos | 75 | 69 | 70 | 74 | 77 | 76 | Hugo  Forssell | 69 | 69 | 74 | 75 | 77 | 77 | Jaume  Sureda | 73 | 71 | 69 | 75 | 77 | 79 | Enzo  Wouters | 75 | 73 | 75 | 83 | 77 | 79 |
With two clear sprint stages, there’s some solid competition here to contest the flat finishes. Philipsen looks like he should be the major favorite with Van Poppel finding himself in the 2nd favorite position. Both will be looking for a slower sprint with the hope that they can jump to the finish with less than a km to go. Van der Kooij is ready to lead out Van Poppel, but Philipsen comes without a major leadout.
Einhorn has found a stage win or two this season already as well and could find himself atop a podium in South America. Alongside Einhorn, the 3rd tier has lots of options from Haller to Coutinho and Hodeg. All three have shown promise this year, but it’s no better than a guess on who will get the better chance in Colombia.
| Name | FL | MO | HI | ST | RS | RC | SP | AC | DH | | Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier | 71 | 85 | 75 | 78 | 80 | 79 | 67 | 74 | 70 | Taylor  Phinney | 71 | 83 | 75 | 74 | 71 | 73 | 70 | 72 | 69 | Joseph  Dombrowski | 69 | 83 | 74 | 79 | 77 | 77 | 59 | 74 | 71 | | Mark Padun | 67 | 82 | 77 | 72 | 74 | 76 | 60 | 75 | 70 | | Rafael Reis | 70 | 81 | 73 | 78 | 76 | 78 | 50 | 64 | 68 | | Hugh Carthy | 71 | 81 | 75 | 77 | 76 | 78 | 60 | 69 | 65 | | Pierre Latour | 69 | 81 | 75 | 80 | 78 | 80 | 65 | 74 | 73 | Daan  Olivier | 72 | 81 | 76 | 76 | 80 | 77 | 64 | 71 | 71 | Andres Camilo  Ardila | 66 | 81 | 80 | 69 | 70 | 74 | 62 | 75 | 66 | | Domen Novak | 68 | 80 | 77 | 74 | 76 | 77 | 66 | 76 | 75 | | Suranga Ranaweera | 67 | 80 | 73 | 75 | 75 | 74 | 58 | 65 | 69 | | Bartosz Warchol | 70 | 80 | 74 | 76 | 77 | 73 | 61 | 70 | 68 | Justo  Tenorio | 64 | 80 | 72 | 72 | 70 | 73 | 55 | 61 | 64 | | Nairo Quintana | 66 | 80 | 72 | 74 | 73 | 73 | 50 | 63 | 59 | | Adam Yates | 71 | 80 | 76 | 79 | 80 | 76 | 67 | 76 | 71 | | Jan Hirt | 69 | 80 | 73 | 76 | 78 | 78 | 64 | 75 | 66 | | Kevin Inkelaar | 64 | 80 | 70 | 75 | 76 | 79 | 60 | 74 | 69 | | Warren Barguil | 69 | 80 | 74 | 76 | 76 | 80 | 63 | 74 | 75 |
Well it is no surprise that Lecuisinier is the top favorite for the race, as he is almost any time he races. He won 2 stages last year, the GC, and the points for a huge result. Without a TT, there really is no one who should be able to compete against him at the highest level.
Phinney and Dombrowski are clearly in the next level of competitors here with Phinney having already found much success so far this season. Both have stellar palmares of their own and would be clear favorites in any scenario with the Frenchman. Dombrowski should be looking at stage 2 as an opportunity to gain more time over Phinnery, who might be slightly less prepared for a long mountain stage compared to the unipuerto finish on Stage 6.
Lots of others will be looking to fill the rest of the top 10, although it would be a surprise for anyone to jump into the top 3. Padun is great on the pure climbs, while Ardila can handle the smaller hills ahead of the climbs better than anyone. Latour is ready for the longer stages and might be able to hold onto the best just a tad longer than his peers in this 3rd tier. Reis, Carthy, and Olivier will also be backing themselves as an opportunity to win as well. Stage wins could all be possible here if Lecuisinier decides not to go alone to the finish on a stage.
Startlist:
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 21-11-2024 05:56
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11866
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Olivier's first outing and I'm glad I didn't pick a Top 5 goal for this race! The startlist is quite closely packed behind the top 3, and we just hope to be on the right end of the results on the mountains. The support team is strong enough, so that should not be an issue. We didn't bring any competitors for the flats, so maybe a couple of opportunities for the breaks for us there.
Thanks for the preview Sean
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| roturn |
Posted on 21-11-2024 07:04
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Team Manager
Posts: 22279
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When decided against a GT with Phinney, those here were the 6 remaining and least ideal rd for him as I lacked the PTHC TT events.
Seeing the startlist it could still become a very decent race as ideally he can reach the podium and likely behind Lecuisinier (easy win I guess) for sure and Dombrowski as stronger climber.
The small daily form might be key for all those mountains but on normal days Phinney should be able to stay ahead of the others really. Carthy, Latour and Olivier likely still the strongest.
Cool to see Olivier also up there for the top5 fight. Cheering for him as long as he is behind Phinney. 
Support wise unfortunately not the very best here as usually it`s Cras as main support. But Schelling is just a little weaker plus Denz and Lipowitz are with him, which makes it 3 decent climbers plus some puncheurs for the early sections. |
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| redordead |
Posted on 21-11-2024 07:20
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5028
Joined: 18-10-2017
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Like with almost any stage race without Pogacar our best bet at scoring points is going for the KOM.
Thanks for the preview
"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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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 21-11-2024 07:54
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2684
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Dombrowski should be fighting for second in GC. Anything below podium would be a bad result in this field.
Curious to see whether Warchol, Carboni and Senni will be burned in support or can add some depth GC points.
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 21-11-2024 08:13
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World Champion
Posts: 13999
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Champoussin's first chance at leadership and he's up against that bunch of 80+ climbers. Can't end well.
I made a weird choice here in terms of sprinters. Brought a very strong lead out for Van Poppel but no one else to help them in the sprint. Guess this happened in the final shuffle when trying to maximize the number of riders we were sending to some races.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 15-03-2025 05:10
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| Laurens147 |
Posted on 21-11-2024 08:50
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Tough field for both Wouters and Quintana. Hope we can score some points out of this one.
Thanks sean for the preview!
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| Bjartne |
Posted on 21-11-2024 09:43
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2975
Joined: 15-07-2007
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Have no idea why we're even at the startlist here |
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 21-11-2024 13:14
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 16566
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Carthy's debut. We need a huge result from him because we need a huge result from someone in every race going forward to turn our season around. Stacked field means it is very unlikely. Hope he can somehow pull it out. 
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 21-11-2024 13:42
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Classics Specialist
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This start list is a little too strong for my liking, no cheap points for Barguil!
Hoping that Coutinho will find his way to some good results in this field where he can cruise a bit more as well!
Looking forward to the Phinney vs. PHL battles, thanks for the preview 
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| knockout |
Posted on 21-11-2024 14:21
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7848
Joined: 21-12-2010
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Hard to draw a better route for a Lecuisinier vs Phinney battle so I should be fine with this. Dombrowski might be the bigger rival but really, everything other than the victory would be a major disappointment.
My support should be strong enough to support him as well with Eenkhoorn and Blums as the key riders and four more climbers in the lineup and only Sureda for the two sprint stages.
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 21-11-2024 18:12
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It's Ranaweeras first proper (I.e. points eligible) race for us, but with this competitive field a top 10 would already be a real success. Hopefully Hodeg is able to get another good result as one of the better sprinters. And finally Pinot, Chevrier or Hadi should be good options for the breaks.
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| ember |
Posted on 21-11-2024 21:08
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Team Leader
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Excited to see Novak finally have a normal go at a GC, after team tactics and the TTT hindered him in Paris-Nice. Biggest expectation for stage 2, as the easy finish there can hopefully suit him well with his good acceleration. For the mountain top finishes, I'm curious to see what kind of resistance and fight he puts up. A GC top 10 must be the goal. |
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 22-11-2024 01:58
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Directeur Sportif
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Honestly thought I had skipped sending a leader here but there Yates is on the startlist. A startlist which illustrates why I thought about not sending him. Hopefully his backups and his hill can put him the other 80 guys.
Haller's first serious race for us, I like where he sits on the favorites list, so be good to get some stage points.
Man Game: McCormick Pro Cycling |
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| seancoll |
Posted on 23-11-2024 02:53
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Domestique
Posts: 541
Joined: 20-12-2022
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Apologies for the delay - will be a double feature later today/tonight to catch up back on schedule!
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 05-02-2025 12:21
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Classics Specialist
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Lecuisinier seems like the favourite obviously, hoping Olivier can do well for Sony!
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| ember |
Posted on 05-02-2025 12:39
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Team Leader
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Great to have you back, sean! Very much looking forward to see the racing unfold here Difficult to see anyone challenge PHL for the GC, but it will cool to follow the fight for the other podium places. Phinney doesn't feel like a given for a podium, eventhough he's a phenomenal rider, but his age surely must start to count for something? |
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 05-02-2025 13:34
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Tour de France Champion
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Maybe Carthy will have more confidence here than he initially did with a GT podium in the bag. Or maybe he's still hungover from it! We'll see!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| redordead |
Posted on 05-02-2025 14:04
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5028
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I've already given up on this race. Not because of the delay, but cuz my riders have shown their 'quality' this season
I'm rooting for Olivier to upset some of the bigger names!
"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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| knockout |
Posted on 05-02-2025 14:11
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Grand Tour Champion
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Glad you're back. Looking forward to this. Time to play the ace that was hidden in my sleeve a bit and get these delayed big points (hopefully) on the board to finally escape the relegation fight
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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