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EPIC - Season 1 Part 3
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| JoeArmstrong13 |
Posted on 09-08-2014 09:28
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Ollfardh wrote:
And the first bad news, does anyone have the time to take over Osterreich? 
I will!
When do you want me to start it?
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 09-08-2014 09:30
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As soon as you can, I'll send you the startlists in a minute
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| JoeArmstrong13 |
Posted on 09-08-2014 09:31
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Ok
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| JoeArmstrong13 |
Posted on 09-08-2014 16:31
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This years Osterreich Rundfhart features a very difficult parcour with a three key mountains stages, with two being mountain top finishes which may decide the race with both featuring in the first two stages of the arc, therefore any riders must be in top form before the race begins, as they're will be no possibility to ride yourself into form. The race also features a time trial, which may shake the overall classification, and with this being the final key stage of the race, then the overall favourites must make sure that they can ride well against the clock, as there is no more opportunities to gain time on their rivals.
The Favourites
Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) will go into the race as favourite along with Christian De Vries (Champion System), as both riders are strong climbers, and on paper the best time triallists of the GC contenders, however Team Sky have fielded a strong team meaning that they will be in the best position to blow the race to bits, when the road begins to point skyward, with Dario Cataldo and Christian Knees being Wiggin's key teammates in the mountains.
Jurgen Van den Broeck (Lotto Belisol), Matthias Frank (BMC) and Wilco Kelderman (Belkin) will start the race as outsiders for the race with all three being decent climbers, when on a good day, however Frank may falter when it comes to the flat time trial on the penultimate day, however Keldermen will be a favourite for the final podium spot, as he is a very strong time trialliest and climber.
John Darwin Atapuma, Esteban Chaves (Both Colombia), Philip Deginan (United Healthcare), Sergey Firsanov (Rusvelo) and Johan Nokkvason (Europcar) could all be classed as dark horses, meaning that if the hot favourites spend to much time looking at each other then it may be one of these men who seize the opportunity to go for the win. However with Atapuma, Chaves and Deginan bound to suffer in the time trial, they would need to build up a large margin to get the victory. Davide Rebellin (CCC) may be able to keep up in the mountains although at the age of 41, his best days seem to be past him.
The Sprinters
Kenny Dehaes (Lotto Belisol) and Aidis Kruipos (Orica) will be the sprinters to beat at the race as they will be by far the strongest sprinters in the race, meaning they will have to fight between themselves to get the wins. Lue Khasme Khamphan (Europcar) and Francesco Lasca (Caja Rural) may prove to be the best of the race, however without a dominant sprinter then the flat stages appear to be wide open.
The Opportunists
Watch out for Team Novo Nordisk trying to get a rider in the break, as they don't seem to have a specific leader, meaning they will aim to get riders in the break, and maybe try to win the KoM jersey, and maybe even pick up a stage win if the break is allowed to gain a big lead. IAM Cycling may be another team who aim to get riders in the break, especially Aleksejs Saramontins who is a strong rider, and may perform well in the final time trial, however without a specific leader they may be allowed more freedom from the other teams to do what they please.
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 09-08-2014 16:34
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Very nice preview!
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Shonak |
Posted on 09-08-2014 17:01
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Go Mitchell Birt for Top 15!  (please)
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| brewers90 |
Posted on 09-08-2014 17:06
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I'm actually expecting Nerz to do better than Frank here but we'll see. Great preview. Such a shame we have to put up with De Vries though. 
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 03:22
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 09-08-2014 18:13
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Go Jurgen and Kenny 
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 09-08-2014 19:14
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Goof preview.
Have high hopes for Nokkvason here. Could we se the full startlist btw?
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| JoeArmstrong13 |
Posted on 09-08-2014 19:19
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Today's stage features a number of difficult climbs that will split the peloton before the final ascent up to the line with the final climb proving decisive for the stage win, as well as who will take over the lead on the general classification for the first stage. Today will also show which of the main GC contenders is in a good position for the end of the race, as a mistake today could blow the chances of the contenders for the overall.
The Favourites
The bookies favourite for today is Jurgen Van den Broeck (Lotto Belisol) due to the difficult nature of the final climb, however Bradley Wiggins (TeamSky) may use his strong team to work the other riders over before attacking away to victory, as the final climb is long, meaning that if you attack to early then you may be at risk of being caught by the main group behind. Wilco Keldermen (Belkin), Dominic Nerz (BMC) and Christian De Vries (Champion Systems) will all be close to the thick of the action, and as all three are under 25 the battle for the Young Riders Jersey, as well as the Overall win, may be a one that isn't decided until the final days racing. The course today starts off with a circuit which takes in the difficult climb of the Axams, before leaving the circuit to take in the final climb of the day meaning that a break staying away is highly unlikely
As the group rolled away from the start line in Innsbruck riders began to fight to get their team leaders to the front before the first time up the climb that the riders would climb 6 times before heading for the final climb of the day up to the finish line at Kuhtai.
As the race hit the climb for the first time it was Lotto Belisol and BMC teams that positioned there leaders at the front of the race with the Sky team nowhere to be seen at the front of the bunch.
After 5 kilometres of the stage, the first attack of the day went off the front of the race, it featured Calabria (Team Novo Nordisk) and Cerny (CCC), however they were quickly reeled back in by the Lotto Belisol team, who were ridding well on the front for Van Den Broeck
Shortly afterwards another attack went off the front, this time featuring Mironov (Rusvelo) who was allowed to gain a 30 scone lead over the peloton as the bunch began to reach the summit of the first climb of the day.
As the bunch reached the top of the first climb, there was a split in the peloton with 25 riders being left behind, including Dimitriou (Netapp)
Meanwhile up front Morajko (CCC) attacked out of the peloton and bridged across to the lone leader to make a group of two who had a on minute lead ahead of the peloton of 83 riders, with a group of 28 further behind them. However the main field regrouped on the descent to leave just one rider off the pace.
Mironov (Rusvelo) took the first intermediate sprint to take the lead in the points classification, with Morajko (CCC) 2nd and Calabria (Novo Nordisk) jumping out of the peloton in attempt to get across to the leaders in 3rd.
After 25 kilometres Calabria joined up with the two leaders to make a three man break, with the bunch over 4 minutes behind them, but still with over 140 kilometres to go.
As the peloton began to chase the break it was Europcar who appeared to be doing most of the work along with Netapp and Lotto, who were working for Van Den Broeck and Birt.
Mironov won the first KoM sprint point to take the 6 points on offer.
5 kilometres further down the road Mironov took the sprint points again, meaning he know has 12 points in the points classification. The order for the other two places was the same as the first sprint of the day.
On the fourth time up the climb of Axams, the Lotto Belisol riders forced a split in the peloton, meaning that Davide Rebellin found himself in the dropped group and having to fight to get back onto the main field which now numbered 77 riders. Khamse Khamphan and Tiernan Locke also found themselves struggling to keep up with the peloton on the difficult climb. The whole of the CCC team came back to help their leader chase back on to the bunch, which they were able to do, although Rebellin had expended valuable energy to chase back on.
Orica and Europcar were now the teams working on the front, although I'm not sure who Orica were riding for perhaps Gorka Nieve was feeling good.
As the race seemed to be waiting for the final climb, an attack went off the front of the peloton. Van Goolen (Accent Jobs) put in a huge dig on the climb of Axams.
Velasco (Caja Rural) and Butler ( Champion Systems) responded and bridged the gap to form a chase group of three riders with a lead of a minute over the peloton.
Yet again it was Mironov who took the KoM points ahead of Morajko and Calabria.
As the race began to blow apart behind the break away it was Mironov, who took the sprint points, continuing his dominance of the climbs and sprints today.
Velasco (Caja Rural) then bridged the gap across to the breakaway, meaning there were only four riders ahead of the peloton which was closing in fast on the lead group.
On the final time up Axams, it was Velasco who soloed away from his breakaway companions as the bunch began to reel them all back in.
As the peloton reached the summit of the climb, the caught the rest of the break leaving just Velasco up the road on his own, and a lead group of 17 riders began to distance the rest of the field.
As the peloton hit the climb, there were just 15 riders in contention for the win, with Birt and Chaves 45 seconds down on the group of Wiggins and Van den Broeck
With just 12 kilometres to go Chaves leaves Birt in an attempt to get back to the elite group of 10 which contains Wiggins, Cataldo, Nerz, De Vries, Frank, Clement, Kelderman, Van den Broeck, De Greef and Dimitriou, however Velasco is still ahead of the group and is still riding strongly.
Nokkvason and Atapuma appear to be out of this, as they are in the fifth group on the road over 2 minutes behind the Wiggins group, who are still one a half minutes behind Velasco
We thought it was over for Nokkvason, but he appears to be dragging himself back across to the lead group, but he only has 8 kilometres to close the gap in. Can He Do it?
With just under 5 kilometres to go Wiggins attacks and De Vries and Nerz follow closing the gap to Velasco to just 40 seconds.
Kelderman and Van den Broeck make it across to the Wiggins group, and almost immediately De Vries attacks, but is it to late there is only 2 kilometres to go and Velasco still has a minutes lead. Meanwhile Nokkvason has made it back to the next group on the road with Atapuma, can he close the gap to the leaders?
800m to go- Velasco takes the mountain points, with De Vries second and Wiggins is beginning to chase now is there enough time for him to get back and can Velasco hold onto his lead.
500m to go De Vries catches Velasco but Wiggins is closing in on him.
250m to go De Vries passes Velasco and Wiggins begins to falter with Kelderman in his wheel
100m to go De Vries begins to falter and Wiggins seems to get his second wind and is closing in on De Vries. Has he gone to early?
De Vries wins, with Velasco holding on for a superb second place, and Wiggins holding off Keldermann for 3rd.
Rankings
Stage
Overall
Points
King Of the Mountains
Young Rider
Team
Newspaper Headline
P.S I will include the start list in the next stage preview.
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| Dippofix |
Posted on 09-08-2014 19:40
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Three things: A) You might want to export the results the next time
B) You can get rid of the circles, but I don't know how with a QWERTY keyboard
C) Can you get rid of the link back to album function on your photobucket?
Otherwise, nice report!
Edited by Dippofix on 09-08-2014 19:46
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| brewers90 |
Posted on 09-08-2014 19:41
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Nice ride by Nerz. Should be a top 5 in it for him now. Great job with the report.
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 09-08-2014 19:57
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Jurgen slightly disappointing, but nothing is lost yet
Dippofix wrote:
B) You can get rid of the circles, but I don't know how with a QWERTY keyboard
ctrl + U
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| SSJ2Luigi |
Posted on 09-08-2014 20:04
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Nokkvason showing amazing ride, and Caja Rural gets some nice points early. I guess I can be happy with that.
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| Shonak |
Posted on 09-08-2014 20:33
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Kühtai, my home mountain. 
Birt with a solid ride though he should have hung on earlier. But it's solid start to complete the easy goal. He made a good comeback in Kühtai, whilst Dimitriou should have stayed with him (super smart AI ranked Dimitriou has outsider, hm)
Also, Gorka Nieve 14th. Woah'd me there!
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 09-08-2014 21:20
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Very good report, just export the results next time. And you are allowed to keep it a bit shorter as well
Kelderman doing good so far, have to agree De Vries is a bit annoying, but together we can beat him
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Silvio Herklotz |
Posted on 09-08-2014 22:09
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Ollfardh wrote:
have to agree De Vries is a bit annoying, but together we can beat him
HOW DARE YOU?
I kinda liked De Vries taking the win, it was a super strong ride by him. I'd consider myself as the top favourite now, which is really satisfying.
However, I can understand you don't like a guy with 68 FL and 77 TT
(By the way: I side with Ollfardh, it may be a bit shorter. If you do what Dippofix told you, then this is gonna be a pretty good report. In advance, exporting and posting the results does not take more time then posting all the screenshots from the podiums.)
Edited by Silvio Herklotz on 09-08-2014 22:11
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 09-08-2014 22:43
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Good ride by Nokkvason proving that he can be a valuable asset when used in another role than as a domestique.
Also a good report, but if you listen to the advide given above it will be even better.
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| JoeArmstrong13 |
Posted on 10-08-2014 08:03
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Dippofix wrote:
Three things: A) You might want to export the results the next time
B) You can get rid of the circles, but I don't know how with a QWERTY keyboard
C) Can you get rid of the link back to album function on your photobucket?
Otherwise, nice report!
The export function doesn't work on my computer
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| Cycleman123 |
Posted on 10-08-2014 08:11
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That's weird, do you have excel installed?
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