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Tour of Qatar - Discussion
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| ember |
Posted on 15-10-2025 17:40
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Wow, that is a monster, monster leadout by us! And it clearly killed Groenewegen the second he started his own sprint, being so close to the front for so very long. Worrying for what is to come in Qatar, as I suspect we might continue to dominate the final kilometers due to our firepower on the flat.
Coming from behind was the way to go to fight for the win and podium, and congratulations, Ollfardh. Bonifazio’s season can very nearly already be classed as a success   |
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 15-10-2025 19:27
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Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Eden95 |
Posted on 15-10-2025 23:13
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Jesus christ. Bonifazio not even in shot at 1km, what a win.
But terrible from all leadouts here. It was fun to watch Aker bully us and Yorkshire’s trains, good to see some dirty tactics in the peloton. Groenwegen cooked at the finish though - him having such strong FL riders in his train could be a net negative for all trains - everybody will be trying to keep up with them and then the 5 main sprinters just get cooked far too early. Worrying signs. Aside from that, our train set up exactly how I would have liked.
On to the next stage I guess, hopefully Gaviria can do better.
Congrats Olfardh and thanks for the report
Indosat - ANZ HQ
"This Schleck sandwich is going to cause serious indigestion for Evans" - Phil Liggett |
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 16-10-2025 11:25
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There we go Niccolo!
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| Eden95 |
Posted on 16-10-2025 12:19
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Congrats SotD, good to see Farantakis deliver here.
Better from us, but still not good enough. Not sure what’s going on, Gaviria launched around the same time as the rest and comparing him to Rodenberg he appeared to have cooked himself at the finish which is not good - no idea what’s going on there. A better result than yesterday sure, but Fernando’s gotta turn it up tomorrow and score some points from this race or we’re fucked.
Thanks for the report UU
Indosat - ANZ HQ
"This Schleck sandwich is going to cause serious indigestion for Evans" - Phil Liggett |
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| redordead |
Posted on 16-10-2025 12:46
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redordead wrote:
8th place is not terrible, but Philipsen will need to do better in a few more stages because he'll surely lose time in the epilogue.
Not what I had in mind 
"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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| ember |
Posted on 16-10-2025 13:18
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We could be in for a very long race here, and good thing Groenewegen isn’t doing all races together with Konychev this season Though, we could be in for many similar stages to the first two stages here, if they are the norm whenever they race together.
Thank you for the report, UU, and congratulations on the win, SotD! |
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| Bikex |
Posted on 16-10-2025 13:26
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Contreras is at least there in the sprints hope he rewards himself with a top 10 result in the next stages. As long as Leung and Ganna don't loose time I'm happy!  |
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| SotD |
Posted on 16-10-2025 16:25
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Nice to see a leadout actually working here, and a much needed win. Nice to get one of those early on to keep hopes up. Farantakis doesn’t exactly have a long list of PT wins to his tally. This is his 2nd ever if I’m not mistaken!
Also great to see Bonifazio taking a win, although from a RP perspective I would like to see Gaviria getting one or two…
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 05-12-2025 11:08
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 16-10-2025 21:41
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Good tactics in theory to follow the strongest sprinter. Not so good when you can't even attempt to pass him and the said sprinter isn't having a great sprint either.
On the plus side, Kooij getting bonus seconds is nice.
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 16-10-2025 22:35
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Even better sprint this time from Rodenberg, not only to follow the wheels well, but then to even launch his own sprint and make a key pass on a better sprinter in the last bit to end up on the podium. He's had a good bunch of sprints so far this year. Have to hope for our chances going forward that it's due to his strong resistance and not just dumb luck. Of course, he clearly isn't the third or fourth best sprinter here even accounting for that, so luck is a huge factor.
We're now in a place where Rodenberg can already punch above his weight for GC if he just doesn't lose any stupid time and lives up to his ability in the epilogue. Two big "if's" though, to be fair. A little annoying to see Norsgaard drop off and lose time randomly. He's not a prologue favorite by any means, but he probably could have snuck into the top 50 and gotten a few depth points just by being pack fodder. So far, Rodenberg makes up for that though.
Congrats to Elco!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| ryant |
Posted on 17-10-2025 00:19
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Could be better, much better but hopefully we can grab more top 10s here. Not sure the gamble of Kemboi/Cullaigh will pay off too well either ...
 John St Ledger in Team Bunzl-Centrica and Team U25Red Bull Driver in RFactor
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 17-10-2025 00:52
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Lierse keeping Bonifazio and him getting a Qatar stage win is one of the most predictable things I’ve ever seen
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."
[PT]  Xero Racing
5x  x5
1x  x1
2x  x2
2x  x2 |
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 17-10-2025 06:37
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But of an improvement from Kuli but nothing much to speak of yet. Still hoping for one or two top 10s but it's looking unlikely at the moment
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 17-10-2025 09:06
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Stage 1 was harsh with 2 4ths in the intermediate and 11th in the final sprint
Stage 2 started the same, but Halvorsen luckily managed to redeem himself with that intermediate win and 7th in the final sprint. Was great to see Quintana in the break, coming so close to a white jersey.
Congratulations to stage winners Lierse and ELCO! Thanks for posting, Imladrik!
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| SotD |
Posted on 17-10-2025 13:23
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I guess the “leading sprinter fucking up” still exists.
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| redordead |
Posted on 17-10-2025 13:32
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I guess there is nothing to be done if you follow the wrong train. Hopefully our luck turns around otherwise we're in for three bad races to start the season.
"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 17-10-2025 14:04
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First strong Ovsya sprint of the year, i hope it's not too late for it to matter here. Probably needs two more similar results to make a difference for the GC due to his bad PRL.
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| Eden95 |
Posted on 17-10-2025 14:46
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Getting better with every stage, can’t help but notice how late the sprint starts in this game version though. Seemed like as soon as he jumped there was no way anyone was going to overtake. Ok HC position but Gaviria needs to win tomorrow to make this race worthwhile or we are screwed.
Indosat - ANZ HQ
"This Schleck sandwich is going to cause serious indigestion for Evans" - Phil Liggett |
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 17-10-2025 15:11
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Eden95 wrote:
Getting better with every stage, can’t help but notice how late the sprint starts in this game version though. Seemed like as soon as he jumped there was no way anyone was going to overtake. Ok HC position but Gaviria needs to win tomorrow to make this race worthwhile or we are screwed.
FYI, this is because they will not sprint to the line unless they have the red bar to make it to the line in this version, so if their red bar is low, they'll start their sprint later |
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