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Tour Down Under Discussion
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 05-10-2023 22:25
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Team Leader
Posts: 7293
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PCM$: 200.00
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Bobridge in the top 10. I was hoping he’d be a bit higher up though. Last flat stage so hopefully Howard can have another good sprint!
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 05-10-2023 22:56
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Team Leader
Posts: 6036
Joined: 20-07-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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This has been a disaster.
I'm hoping this isn't an omen for the rest of the season.
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 05-10-2023 23:32
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 3259
Joined: 02-11-2010
PCM$: 300.00
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Good of Narvaez to make the front group today having miserably failed to do so on prior stages, but that seems a common complaint. Cleary divided leadership is a challenge here.
Break only barely surviving today. I did run tests on this parcours using the 2021 start list nd don't remember the breaks winning so much, so hopefully not automatic.
Man Game: McCormick Pro Cycling |
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 06-10-2023 06:37
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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Vesely did exactly what was needed in the hilly stages by not losing time. Now to lose contact on the last stage and finish 24th 
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| Caspi |
Posted on 06-10-2023 08:33
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Neo-Pro
Posts: 369
Joined: 22-09-2022
PCM$: 10300.00
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Glad to see Van Heerden represent Fresh Cement in the breakaway. Not that happy to see Wippert lose time (and top-10), although it was kind of expected.
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| Laurens147 |
Posted on 06-10-2023 14:55
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1122
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Thanks seancoll for the reports!  Very cool to see ex rider Louis Blouwe snatching KOM for Mercatone.
Congrats to UU and liefwarrior with the victories!
MG - Lotto - Caloi
[MG] New Manager of the Year - PCM.daily Awards 2022
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| MacC |
Posted on 06-10-2023 15:32
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Sprinter
Posts: 1594
Joined: 15-07-2008
PCM$: 700.00
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Well done Tryg and McCormick! and thanks seancoll, really great reports.
Final stage was a lot of work for nothing from Glanbia but positive to see Kennett really in the mix
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 06-10-2023 17:16
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18187
Joined: 12-05-2012
PCM$: 0.00
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Fun race to follow overall, shocking for my team, but fun overall.
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| fjhoekie |
Posted on 06-10-2023 17:36
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4476
Joined: 25-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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1 second... We're back to having terrible luck! This should always have been an easy win of course 
For real though, this result is crazy, 2 stages, 2nd in the GC... 2nd in teams, 4th in points... I couldn't ask for much more, just Beltran not losing a random minute perhaps, would've been close to a top 10 in that case as well... In a throwaway filler race...
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game |
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| knockout |
Posted on 06-10-2023 19:01
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
PCM$: 400.00
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Houle and Dzamastagic together on the stage podium? I like it!
Can I change my prediction to Popo4ever promoting?
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 21-11-2024 23:37
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 06-10-2023 20:50
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4669
Joined: 29-09-2018
PCM$: 185.00
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Hum... Pretty random sprint result on that last stage, with all the top sprinters not even in the mix, and even a 76 sprinter getting a stage podium. Don't quite understand what PCM's logic behind that is, but alas. Bol once again missing out on a top result due to bad positioning, but 6th is OK. I guess we know what we'll have to work on before the next races.
GC-wise he obviously exceeded expectations, 6th place is a great result. At least not one I expected pre-race. It's still slightly bitter-sweet, given that some even less competent hill riders like Vesely and Haller are ahead of him, but unlike Bol they were just consistent in the flat sprints. It's still a job well done by our new sprinter - some training to 80 Spr might not hurt, though.
The rest of the team was completely anonymous, unfortunately. After their early time losses, I was hoping for Theuns and Schmid to at least try to get into a breakaway on S4/5, but no. As said after S5, these 6 RDs for Schmid are definitely wasted. But as I had no clue whether Bol would be strong enough on the hills or not, I felt like I had to take the risk to send him here. At least he got a couple of GC and U25 points, so we should leave the race with around 60 points in total. Could have been better, but could have been clearly worse as well. I feel like TDU is always a hit-or-miss race, and we were closer to hit than to miss I guess.
Congrats to UU for the stage win (I was definitely surprised to see Walscheid doing so well in this field), and to lief for the expected GC and points win.
And thanks to seancoll for the reports, obvoiusly
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 06-10-2023 21:56
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2905
Joined: 07-08-2011
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Expected win for Demare overall, ever so close to a surprise Dzama result on the final stage but Turgis holds onto a top 5 GC spot so this is still a successful race for us despite some odd stage results here and there!
Thanks for the great reports Sean, even if the racing was a bit away from what people expected going in to the race!
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 06-10-2023 21:59
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Team Leader
Posts: 7293
Joined: 11-04-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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7th on the last stage is showing me that Howard is going to be competing for sprints all year and I’m very happy with that!
9th on Gc is not what I was hoping. I could’ve kept Edmondson and brought another key rider with the funds of Bobridge and still get the same result like previous years. He is going to have to do a lot better then that! Still a good start to the year with the consistency we have shown over 2 or the 3 scoring races. Excited to keep these results moving!
Congrats on the stage winner and nice work Demarw and Tryg for meeting expectations (just )
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| seancoll |
Posted on 06-10-2023 22:11
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Domestique
Posts: 480
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PCM$: 500.00
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Looking back on my own reports, it's fascinating to think its fair to say Demare underperformed and still won GC and the points jersey. As a clear favorite for almost every stage, I think Demare is still disappointed to not take a stage victory.
Racing definitely didn't go as I expected either heading in as I figured hills would matter much more on this terrain than it showed. PCM can always play some games with which riders to prioritize, but I still didn't expect downhill and curve positioning to play as large of a factor as it seemed. Regardless, still a fun and interesting race to report for sure.
On the positive side though, two major successful sprint trains feels like a strong takeaway. Not sure why those two teams ended up as the chosen trains, but being the strongest train did give Kraftwerk and McCormick success.
Congrats to all the stage and classification winners, especially Tryg and Popo4ever. Have to give the latter the biggest over-performance of the race.
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 07-10-2023 00:01
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 3259
Joined: 02-11-2010
PCM$: 300.00
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Thanks Sean for the reports. As someone said TDU is supposed to be unpredictable in the mix of sprinters versus puncheurs so not unhappy with how this played out as a race. I think if ridden a little differently it could have been all puncheurs up front.
Really thrilled with the Stage victory, great to come out of our first race with positive momentum. Given our team is structured assuming we will never have a top 3 sprinter and therefore not have a sprint train, it was very surprising to both have one and have it be successful for our first win of the season. Luckily Bagioli and Narvaez, who failed completely at their assigned task of scoring from small group sprints, aren't terrible leadout riders.
Walschied more than did the job this race, third on points and 3 point scoring stage finishes including a win. Our puncheurs didn't contribute anything except a nice lead out but them scoring was a pretty speculative play.
Man Game: McCormick Pro Cycling |
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| Sykkel_Freak |
Posted on 07-10-2023 13:44
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2073
Joined: 11-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Hard to hide my disappointment with how this race went. Overall, very anonymous racing by us. The breakaway taking all the hilly stages made it hard for Gesbert to do anything, but we can only blame ourselves for not contributing enough in the pack. We get an 8th place overall, but that honestly doesn’t cut it without any stage success to supplement it. Hopefully Gesbert can improve going forward.
Congrats to all the winners and thanks for the reports Sean!
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 07-10-2023 18:00
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2433
Joined: 07-07-2013
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Thanks for the great reports seancoll and congrats to Tryg for the win.
Great race for Kraftwerk. Stage win, 2nd in points and 3rd GC for Haller is beyond expectations.
4 in the top 20 GC and winning teams is a fantastic result.
Very happy that forming a train didn't punish the team.
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| Caspi |
Posted on 07-10-2023 19:02
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Neo-Pro
Posts: 369
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Great to see Fresh Cement active in break formation, and also top-5 for Wippert in the sprint
Thanks for the reports!
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 07-10-2023 19:59
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Protected Rider
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Congratulations to ignazio, Ulrich and lief for winning the last stages / the GC. Good to see Garibian active in the break, though it feels like a missed chance after the break essentially gave away their lead. And a Top 10 from Russo in the final sprint is probably what's to be hoped from him in a mass sprint. Teuns finishing 26th overall is somewhat disappointing after him losing quite some time in stages 4 and 5, but as he'd finished around 16th without those losses it's not that important points-wise anyway.
Finally thanks to sean for the great reports!
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| roturn |
Posted on 08-10-2023 06:55
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Team Manager
Posts: 22246
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One 2nd on a stage and 15th GC plus 2nd U25 will bring some points on a less suited route. Matthews as well with two top 10.
That said, Vansevenant was regularly high on the favourite list and likely should have done a bit better to grab bonus seconds at least once which could have done a big jump in the GC. Other than that expectations were basically fulfilled and it was a decent run.
Thanks for the reports and congrats to the winner/scorers. |
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![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
