Hello, and welcome, here we are with the season opener of the cycling 2013 season. That’s right, it’s La Tropicale Amissa Bongo. It might not ring you any bells, but recently, this race was made more important. Since the EPIC reforms, this race has CAT. CT5, which means that it’s an important race for the CT calendar. The race takes place in Gabon, and involves a lot of hills, but no mountains.
Anthony Charteau won this race the last two years, both times with a small gap in the GC. One thing is sure, he won’t win the race in 2013, since Team Europcar is not participating.
Last year, the startlist was quite weak. This year, the race will feature some bigger names, though the real big names are still not present.
The Stages
The race starts with a tough hilly stage. With 26,5km of climbing, you could already call this the Queen’s stage of this race. The profile might look mild, but believe me, this stage won’t be for the pure sprinters. The hill a few kilometres from the finish, combined with the tough hills earlier in the stage, will take care of that. This stage will also feature crazy gradients, with a killing 24% hill.
Stage 2 will be for the sprinters though. It’s a 100km flat stage. Again, there are two hills not too far from the finish, but there should be enough space for the sprinters to catch up, if they will get dropped, that is.
Stage 3 will shake up the GC, probably. The stage itself isn’t that tough, but the finish ends with a climb of a few kilometres, that steepens up the closer you get to the finish. It could be a reduced sprint, but I expect that a late attack of a (few) puncheur(s) has a chance here.
Stage 4 is the last hilly stage of the race. It finishes uphill, just like Stage 3, but this hill seems a bit smaller. It does feature a bit more hills close to the finish though, which makes this a really open stage.
Le Tropicale Amissa Bongo ends with 3 flat stages. Both will probably end in a bunch sprint, but there might be a chance that a breakaway takes one. Of those 3 stages, Stage 7 has the best chances of a puncheur surviving, with a hill about 15km from the finish. Stage 5 & 6 are fairly easy.
The Startlist
As you can see, there are quite some World Tour teams making their appearance here in Gabon. Not a lot of big names, but there are certainly some here. Especially Belkin is here with a strong team, and Androni also sent a lot of their strong men.
GC favourites Delfi Cervero(60MO, 80HI, 69SP)(FDJ) This Costa Rican wonderkid deserves 3 stars on his own. He’s by far the favourite to gain the GC win. The guy got some weaknesses, like his inability on long climbs and his bad recovery, but he’s so good on hills, that it won’t be a bit problem.
Francesco Reda(72MO, 75HI, 66SP)(Androni) Androni-rider Reda has a good chance on the GC, or at least a second place, as well. Stage 3, with the medium-long climb, might be in his favour, since he can handle long climbs. Willem Brouwer(63MO, 74HI, 78SP)(Belkin) Obviously, he’s here for the sprints. With his ability to go over hills, you could count him as a favourite too. He can get a lot of bonification seconds, and won’t drop out early on the hills. He also has a strong team behind him.
Gerald Ciolek(62MO, 74HI, 76SP)(MTN) Just like Brouwer, Ciolek can grab a lot of bonification seconds, and can hold on at the hills for a long time. This is a really important race for MTN, and he can definitely do something here. Francesco Gavazzi(66MO, 74HI, 74SP)(Astana) A puncheur with a great kick, definitely able to hang on for a long time, and maybe even grab a win if lucky Luca Paolini(65MO, 73HI, 72SP)(Katusha) Not the strongest on the hills, but a real beast on the flat(FL 76). I’m sure he’ll put in a late attack at some moment, and he might take some very valuable seconds there, if he makes it/
Wow if Cervero doesn't get a stage win i might have to give up on fantasy games. I only seem to hit bad luck, and with stat gap it's going to take some serious issues to stop at least one win...
Today, Cycling Season 2013 starts, here, in Bitam, Gabon.
Today is a hilly stage, the question is, will Brouwer & Ciolek be able to hang on, or will this an easy prey for Cervero?
Favourites:
Delfi Cervero(FDJ)
Willem Brouwer(BEL)
Francesco Reda(AND)
Gerald Ciolek(MTN)
Nicolas Edet(COF)
Francesco Gavazzi(AST)
The Stage 136km – Lequatre(BSE) manages to win the first intermediate sprint after a failed attempt to form a breakaway. Lobato(EUS) gets second, ahead of Van Staeyen(TSV). 120km –
Nobody wants to make the effort for the KoM jersey, nobody but Peron(TNN). Gruzdev(AST) and Stauff(MTN) take 3 & 1 point respectively. 104km – Finally the peloton calms down a bit, and Mangel(FDJ) takes the opportunity and attacks. 96km –
Kiendys(CCC) joins Mangel. They have 2 minutes. It looks like we’re having a two-men breakaway today. 88km – Mangel comfortabely takes the intermediate sprint, of course ahead of Kiendys. Lobato takes the peloton sprint. 61km – Surprisingly, both Mangel & Kiendys are not interest in the second KoM. Mangel takes the KoM, and is now equal to Peron in the KoM rankings, since in the peloton, Gruzdev takes the last point. The gap to the breakaway is still around 3 minutes. 57km –
Mangel looks the most tired of the two escapees, he loses the second sprint by a few bicycle lengths. 37km – Perichon(BSE) attacks from the peloton. Grega Bole(VAC) follows. Peloton is on 2’20, with MTN riding at the front. 29km –
Mangel manages to make a gap to Kiendys(’31) on the steep gradients. Bole & Perichon follow at ’52, the peloton is 1’52 behind. 25km – Kiendys dropped even behind the Bole group, while Euskaltel’s Vrecer attacks from the peloton. Mangel still going strong, peloton is not coming closer. 21km –
A chasing group of 24 remains. Sella, Reda(AND), Vaugrenard(FDJ) and Galland(SOJ) are the most notable riders missing out. Mangel 1’40 ahead, 40 seconds ahead of Vrecer, Bole & Perichon. Can Mangel hold on?! 15km – Mangel is dead now, and ends up in group Bole. The peloton, now back with 60 men, is only a minute behind. Vrecer still looks fresh though. A few seconds later, Chiarini(AND) attacks. Ciolek & Martens try to counter, but do not fully succeed. They do get a small gap though. 12km –
Cervero in front of the peloton, it looks like he’s up to something. Group Ciolek is 20 seconds ahead, group Vrecer still 50 seconds. 10km – Cervero places something that looks like an attack, but nothing happens, except for Ciolek being reeled in and Cervero getting 1 meter ahead, then falling back. Peloton on ’30. 8km – There goes Vrecer. Ciolek & Chiarini do the same quickly after that. They are reeled in after that, by Reda & Cervero. 3km –
The riders are now climbing the final hill, every attack was reeled back in by a powerful Cervero. The riders are preparing a sprint. 1,5km –
Lutsenko(AST) & Chiarini leading the bunch into the final turn. Ciolek & Brouwers both positioned on the second row, they have to bridge a big gap. 800m –
Chiarini is still leading, Lutsenko is the rider on the far right, and on the left, Ciolek and Brouwers are coming at lightning-speed. This is going to be close. Chiarini going strong, but Brouwers & Gavazzi are coming from behind, Ciolek is slowing down a bit. Finish –
It’s Willem Brouwer taking the win, ahead of Gavazzi & Cervero. Impressive win, he came from far behind. A big peloton of 48 riders get the same time.
(60MO, 80HI, 69SP)(FDJ)
(72MO, 75HI, 66SP)(Androni)
(63MO, 74HI, 78SP)(Belkin)
(62MO, 74HI, 76SP)(MTN)
(76SP, 76ACC, 60HI) might also have a shot on a win, but only on a few stages, since he’s terrible over hills. 
(75SP, 75ACC, 67HI) is a second row sprinter who can get some podium places if lucky. Kris Boeckmans
(75SP, 75ACC, 66HI) could save Vacansoleil if Markus fails. Some other sprinters present here able to sprint quite well are Francesco Gavazzi, Adrien Petit & Michael van Staeyen.
![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
(COF)
