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Uppsala Classic Discussion
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| liefwarrior |
Posted on 20-03-2025 05:28
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 Uppsala Classic
2.2| Stages: | 01.  | Uppsala ITT (5.2 km) | 02.  | Aars (189 km) | | | | 03. | Stockholm (182 km) | 04. | Uppsala (194 km) | | |
Welcome to Sweden, where the teams of the Continental Tour have brought along just two Swedes to this sprinters' paradise. Fortunately, they are joined by three ProConti teams; one of whom has included  Christian BERTILSSON in their squad. He is probably the closest thing to a hometown hero we will have, but it isn't event entirely certain that he'll be his team's sprinter.
Overall
That question is an important one here, with three stages set to be contested en masse. With that said, the opening prologue through Uppsala is likely to have a decisive impact on the final classification. It may not be selective enough to award the overall victory at such an early stage, but there doubtlessly be several riders who will be eliminated on this short stretch of road. Although we do have to account for the act that it was more than half the distance again; the final stage of Olympia's Tour saw some riders losing more than a minute to their competitors.
As tends to be the case, the inclusion of a prologue has attracted innumerable specialists. It is, of course, mightily difficult to look past the dominating figure of  Nils SCHOMBER, the winner of Olympia's epilogue. He will face tough competition though, with the likes of  Emilien VIENNET and  Luca STERBINI in attendance. All three finished that stage within a second of each other — although the latter two are less likely to benefit from the tighter, windier route.
The other favourites — the majority of the favourites — will be riding in the  SEE Turtles colours. This will be the only stage targeted by Faycal HAMZA, who is a true specialist. Both Alex FRAME and Atsushi OKA, on the other hand, are capable sprinters as well. Their interest in the subsequent stages will be somewhat tempered by the presence of the team's final prologue contender, Luke KEOUGH, but that shouldn't stop all of them pushing for high placings in the overall competition.
The other names that I would like to draw particular attention to are  Jingbiao ZHAO and  Dylan KENNETT. The former was the highest-ranked sprinter in the Vuelta al Táchira ∣ Points Classification, as well as winning the sprint for the scraps left by the breakaway at Nakhon Ratchasima Trophy. The latter made the Top 5 of the Baltic Chain Tour. Neither will lose time in the prologue and both have proven themselves capable sprinters.
Points
As has generally been the case for the past few years, one might as well choose a straight when spinning a roulette wheel rather than trying to predict sprints in the Continental Tour.  Tom SCULLY is probably the most prolific of this year's bunch, having won Österreich Rundfahrt ∣ Stage 3 and Olympia's Tour ∣ Stage 5 on the way to securing the Olympia's Tour ∣ Points Classification.
Hakon Frengstad BERGER and Mustafa CARSI also won stages of Olympia's Tour. The latter even equaled SCULLY's Points tally, only losing out on count-back. We have already noted that the former will have to contend with his teammate for leadership rights.
 Riccardo MINALI outperformed SCULLY on aggregate throughout Österreich Rundfahrt, securing a single stage along the way. Bram WELTEN (Tour of the Middle East ∣ Stage 1) and  Hugo HOFSTETTER (Volta a Catalunya ∣ Stage 2) have also secured stage wins thus far this year.
One might hope that Adel BARBARI will be able to repeat his success from Tour of Vancouver ∣ Stage 3. Unfortunately he is likely to struggle due to the presence of Nur Aiman ZARIFF, who has struggled for big victories this year.  Aliaksandr RIABUSHENKO stands out for having won a sprinter's classic in the form of Berlin ProRace.
Youth
There aren't any under-25 riders that look like they might be competitive in the sprints, so this classification will probably be decided in the opening prologue. In that respect we will be looking towards  Tim VAN DIJKE, Tristan JUSSAUME and Finn FISHER-BLACK to constitute the podium. It will also be important to keep an eye out for any youths that manage to make their way into breakaways; time bonuses taken from intermediate sprints could prove pivotal.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 31-03-2025 06:51
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 20-03-2025 05:38
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Well not much except Marryatt for the Prologue ITT but I think he is strong enough to get a decent result.
Scott as well has shown he can compete against the top CT sprinters so I also think he could compete here. SHould hopefully be some decent points for us. We really need at least a 7-8pprd average for this race to stary the month off well.
Good preview and good luck to everyone!
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 20-03-2025 06:04
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Directeur Sportif
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Fun race for us with some possibilities. Excited to see what Tim can do in the Prologue. Hoping Kooistra and Alben can mix it up a bit in the sprints, without getting our hopes high.
Thanks for the preview!
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| seancoll |
Posted on 20-03-2025 06:10
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Domestique
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This is a huge race for us, we need a massive result on stage 1, to hold a jersey or two throughout the race, and to aim for a Olympia's Tour type performance. Hopefully sprints are spread across the board and we attempt some real sprints with any of our 3 sprinters.
This is our win goal and while I don't think that will come to fruition, we have to hope ! A score under 150 would be the final blow to team hopes and obviously, that's an unlikely number to hit anywhere. Let's just hope our guys come through when needed.
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| Bjartne |
Posted on 20-03-2025 06:58
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Classics Specialist
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Thanks a lot liefwarrior!
Would be amazing to see Bertilsson snatch a podium here, come on!  |
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| Imladrik |
Posted on 20-03-2025 07:56
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Thanks for the preview!
We really neeed those points, so go the team! Hope Hugo can do well again.
“...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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| Ezeefreak |
Posted on 20-03-2025 08:00
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Domestique
Posts: 587
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Thanks for the preview!
At this race we.... are there  Honestly I dont have too high hopes for us since ther performance of Willwohl and co in the last races. I hope my young riders can maybe shine a bit in Breakaways or so.
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| Caspi |
Posted on 20-03-2025 09:51
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Domestique
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Just like the Turtles, this is a very important race for us. We can settle for 80+ points though, but it will be difficult.
Schomber should be able to win the prologue, and if he can secure a top 5 in the GC as well, then he should be able to secure the first 60 points. Then we just need some minor points. Dennis could score a few in the prologue as well, otherwise we must trust our sprinters. Will Zariff finally take his first win of the season, will Page or Barbari receive some freedom, or are we better off sending Mundle in a breakaway?
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| Dippofix |
Posted on 20-03-2025 11:22
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Not sure why I didn't send any of my TT specialists here, but hopefully our sprinting set up can fire. Only 6 guys there but English-Habtom-Gibbons is our strongest configuration for sprints so hoping to be in the mix for the green jersey and stage wins (perhaps a bit optimistic considering none of these guys have a single win all season, but let's hope for the best).
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 21-03-2025 05:18
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Grand Tour Champion
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Optimistic about getting some points here. A stage win would be ideal to check off our team goal of needing eight of them this season.
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 22-03-2025 10:10
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Old man Dennis still got it! Also nice to see Jussuame getting a top 10. Thanks for the report!
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| Caspi |
Posted on 22-03-2025 10:39
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Domestique
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Not what we expected, was it the wind or perhaps the hill at the end? Nevertheless, we'll take it 
Hopefully Dennis can stay in the top... 5? The win is out of the question, but some points would be nice.
Time to chase some breakaways at least, as we should be able to contest the sprints (besides defending the leaders jersey)
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 22-03-2025 13:12
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Grand Tour Champion
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What a ride from Jussaume! Proud of the youngster, hopefully a sign of a long, successful career ahead.
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| Dippofix |
Posted on 22-03-2025 14:36
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Keizer out of nowhere, great stuff. Expectations much exceeded so far, let's see what we can do in the sprints.
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| seancoll |
Posted on 22-03-2025 17:30
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Domestique
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Definitely didn't notice just how hilly the TT was until looking at the report. Not our best work from what should have been our type of stage, but a few points nonetheless. Hopefully Keough gets good springs and we can find some extra success and salvage this.
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| SotD |
Posted on 23-03-2025 07:28
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Simba destroying the race :-)
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 23-03-2025 08:19
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Oh we're in this race? Go Jakub!
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 23-03-2025 09:09
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Directeur Sportif
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Looks like we didn't get the luck of the weather in the Prologue but still it wasn't that bad an outing. Nothing on Stage 2 but nice to see three riders in the Top 6 of the U25s.
Congrats to Caspi and thanks for the reports!
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| Caspi |
Posted on 23-03-2025 11:03
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Domestique
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Had to re-read the report to ensure I wasn't hallucinating 
Awesome stage from the team! Can't wait for the next reports.
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 23-03-2025 21:55
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4th is a good sprint from Scott. Hopefully he can get a podium or 2 in the last 2 stages. We need to keep our PpRD up!
Congrats to the winner and good report!
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