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Corsica International discussion
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| Smowz |
Posted on 23-10-2011 06:53
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The hilly island of Corsica, birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte welcomes the conquering climbing heroes of the Continental Tour who will look to do battle on tough slopes of the Col d'Ospelade on the opening day.
Here are ten of the best who have shown up:
 Alejandro Valverde
Former world champion exiled somewhat to the colourful Proximus Trek team . Is currently hopping around the Mediterranean islands being edged out in Mallorca by the experience Sammy Sanchez. This followed a commanding win in the opening High Category stage race of the year in Argentina. Winner of last years Vuelta to, Valverde will hope he is not isolated too much on the final climb against some strong looking teams.
 Jose Alarcon
Winner already of the Vuelta a Tachira, CTours other million Euro man Alarcon continues to plunder the CTour's mountain climbs. His Aker Solutions team seem to be supporting the young Venezualan well, who will need to keep winning if he is to keep in touch with young Jonny Bellis in the individual standings. His limitations against the clock will mean Jose will have to get gaps on the opener.
 José Rujano
Pokerstars are struggling to get going this year after an impressive opening season, it's time to bring Rujano 3rd at last years Vuelta out of the bull pen. An excellent attacking climber who will have to go on the attack from day one as whilst competent against the clock is not as good as others.
 Jurgen Van den Broeck
Whilst not quite as Pokerstars, the noises out of Pirelli's camp is one of some discontent , VdB could not quite make the podium at San Luis but will look to do better here. An excellent climber who goes well against the clock, goes alongside Valverde as one of the best stage racers in the CTour will surely be somewhere amongst the top five. Can he hold onto the other climbers and edge them out on the TT?
 Vadim Ratiy
Notching up a quietly impressive resume this year with a very good second place to Valverde in San Luis, if the Ukrainian follows the right wheels here he could be right up there again. More than useful against the clock, isn't blessed with much acceleration meaning he has to grind his way back on the climbs. Looking to maintain VolksWagens massive momentum.
 Fabio Duarte
Columbian TT champion who forms the trio of Venchi's impressive for a new team's leaders and is thrown in against the best here after struggling to make an impact in the Protour last year. Could be an interesting one to watch as Fabio goes well against the clock, Corsica could be a perfect race for him.
 Magno Nazaret
Emu export may well be checking how much they are paying the misfiring Brazilian after an underwhelming 6th in Tachira and a shocking 21st in San Luis. Nazaret should be doing better than this, and the team who are desperate to show themselves in the mountains will want him to go for it on the opener.
 Igor Antón
CSC's top climber will look to add to the already impressive performances by this new team this year who have shown their capacity to go well on the tough climbs already this year. Anton, after spending a year treading water last year will eager to show what he can do as team leader.
 Ryan Eastman
20 year old Eastman continues to improve and could break the top five here is he finds his feet on the mountains stage. Has not been able to make that breakthrough performance as yet but he is surely due soon, field perhaps a bit too tough here but we shall see.
 Thomas Lövkvist
Saab, will have been pleased to get on the winners podium early on through Hushovd and now will have high hopes through one of Sweden's strongest ever climbing exports in Lovkvist. Saab bring Eltink and Bjelkmark here in support who both had nice seasons last year.
In addition to this we have a strong T.CS Bank team headed by Kolesnikov, Efimkin and Kiryenka, some specialist sprinters in JJ Haedo(CalGiant), Davis (Hollister) and Santos (Cerne) and some top TTers in Schladlich (VolksWagen), Dempster (Hollister) and Larsson (Aker Solutions).
Startlist
Spoiler Proximus
1. A. Valverde
2. N. Cohen
3. K. De Weert
4. I. Kip
5. D. Kopp
6. H. Ma
7. D. Shatskikh
8. Y. Stoltz
Pirelli
11. J. Van den Broeck
12. G. Cheula
13. A. DÃaz Corrales
14. S. Lagana'
15. F. Montaña
16. A. Saldarriaga
17. I. Santaromita
18. F. Tizza
Venchi
21. F. Duarte
22. V. Agnoli
23. F. Aru
24. M. Bodnar
25. M. Corti
26. P. Haugard
27. N. Tirloni
28. D. Viganò
Pokerstars
31. J. Rujano
32. S. Clement
33. S. Dumoulin
34. M. Maaskant
35. J. Van Goolen
Team VW
41. V. Ratiy
42. A. Flügel
43. R. Förster
44. A. Klier
45. W. Li
46. C. Müller
47. C. Pfannberger
48. L. Schädlich
Cal Giant
51. R. Eastman
52. T. Brandt
53. J. Haedo
54. A. Howes
55. K. Koren
56. T. Peterson
57. T. Tolleson
58. T. Zirbel
Saab
61. T. Lövkvist
62. J. Bjelkmark
63. N. Brolin
64. F. Chicchi
65. T. Eltink
66. U. Galiev
67. M. Van Aelbroeck
68. M. Westling
Aker Solutions
71. J. Alarcon
72. J. Castroviejo
73. H. Duenas Nevado
74. L. Haedo
75. R. Jaramillo
76. G. Larsson
77. L. Nordhaug
78. J. Zrimsek
CSC
81. I. Antón
82. B. Armstrong
83. F. Colorado
84. J. Gelabert
85. C. Lewis
86. E. Parra Bustamante
87. A. Talansky
88. E. Teruel
Tinkoff
91. S. Kolesnikov
92. M. Belkov
93. V. Efimkin
94. V. Kiryenka
95. A. Markov
96. E. Petrov
97. A. Timofeev
98. N. Trusov
Cerne
101. P. Nicácio
102. C. Baltazar
103. J. Insausti
104. J. Martins
105. N. Oliveira
106. R. Reis
107. B. Santos
108. R. Vilela
Export
111. M. Nazaret
112. C. Evans
113. G. Hasta
114. M. Karagobek
115. H. Martino
116. F. Montenegro
117. V. Orozco
118. M. Rutkiewicz
Focus
121. F. Morizot
122. J. Adams
123. K. Elissonde
124. B. Feillu
125. T. Meyer
126. A. Nechita
127. S. Robert
128. T. Thill
Bpost
131. F. De Greef
132. M. Elijzen
133. C. Gautier
134. M. La Lavandier
135. S. Poulhiès
136. T. Stubbe
137. J. Vanendert
138. J. Vansummeren
Hollister
141. R. Ochoa Quintero
142. R. Caminiti
143. A. Davis
144. Z. Dempster
145. P. Mach
146. D. MartÃnez
147. J. Mercado
148. R. Sambris
Rothaus
151. R. Ruijgh
152. E. Baumann
153. V. Iglinski
154. T. Koep
155. M. Landa
156. J. Novak
157. A. Passeron
158. D. Vesely
Oz
161. M. Khalmuratov
162. J. Bobridge
163. K. Cheung
164. W. Gough
165. A. Laidler
166. S. Lewis
167. G. O'Shea
168. P. Thuaux
Meiji
171. M. Lloyd
172. F. Beppu
173. J. Crawford
174. T. Hayakawa
175. HT. Kwok
176. J. Murakami
177. R. Nishizono
178. Y. Suzuki
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| jack888 |
Posted on 23-10-2011 06:58
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Very strong field. |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 01:32
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| ember |
Posted on 23-10-2011 07:39
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That's one strong field. I can only hope Alarcon succeeds to make a top 5 overall, as that's our sponsor goal. Hopefully Alarcon, can together with Rujano, blow the race apart on the opening stage, forcing time gaps, which will be much needed if Alarcon is going to get that top 5.
Anyway, good luck to everyone, looks like it's going to be 3 heavily contested stages! |
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| Heine |
Posted on 23-10-2011 09:14
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4116
Joined: 08-04-2007
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Glupe there be something wrong with the startlist? I am pretty sure I did not send flugel here...
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| Heine |
Posted on 23-10-2011 09:17
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Posts: 4116
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Seems i did, what was i thinking?
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 23-10-2011 09:19
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World Champion
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Should be a great race. Seeing the startlist, I'm glad I decided to skip it.
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| CountArach |
Posted on 23-10-2011 09:21
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8290
Joined: 14-07-2008
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I'm hoping De Greef can end up in the top 15, though with this start list I'm not holding out much hope. Elijzen can hopefully put in a strong time trial effort and contend for a podium place on that stage. Poulhies can hopefully once again end up in the top 5 of a sprint stage on French soil.
So many hopefuls...
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| Sykkel_Freak |
Posted on 23-10-2011 09:21
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2073
Joined: 11-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Hopefully, the first stage will not create huge gaps. If not, Duarte could do pretty well here.
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| Waghlon |
Posted on 23-10-2011 10:11
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7694
Joined: 18-08-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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Gameday. This race was on my schedule since long before the transfer season.
THE THOMAS VOECKLER PROPHET OF PCM DAILY
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| Heine |
Posted on 23-10-2011 10:26
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4116
Joined: 08-04-2007
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Going away from the first shock I had from sending Flügel here (I think it might be becuse he had racedays left when I had to send him to the giro, and nowhere to place him), I really want a top 5 and atleast 1 stage win here. I feel I got several chanses (being really lucky in the mountain stage for Ratiy, sprint from Förster, late attack on stage 2 by Flügel, and ofc the TT by Schädlich).
Bring it on 
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| viking90 |
Posted on 23-10-2011 12:07
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Back on track! Time for Lövkvist to show why we bought him, but will be hard to be the best here. |
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 23-10-2011 12:25
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11819
Joined: 19-07-2010
PCM$: 300.00
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We bring our best climber here.. Shaun Lewis.. MO 76  So... there's one hope for Oz Cycling: get in the break in first stage and get the KoM-jersey..
Anyway: looks like a great race with so many top-riders at the start! Looking forward to the reports!
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| Heine |
Posted on 23-10-2011 12:45
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4116
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PCM rank Nazaret (Mon: 80) as the 11th best leader for this race, I think that speaks alot about the quality of the field
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| rycadinho |
Posted on 23-10-2011 12:50
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Holy s*** this race might end up as one of the best during the season with so many top riders!
- Top 5 is the goal, though VDB could with a bit of luck win it or without any, not even complete the goal... there is no room for any errors like San Luis!
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| roturn |
Posted on 23-10-2011 13:15
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You forgot Rob Ruijgh in the top favourite list.
I can`t see anybody else winning here. 
At least I hope for a good sprint result with Baumann.
I should have skipped this race, but I had some race days left and I really love this race. |
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| fenian_1234 |
Posted on 23-10-2011 13:30
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Posts: 4790
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Haha! I'm glad I decided Pozzovivo could duck this one.....
Depending on the stage file, the final TT could be meaningless if it is less than the listed 7km, especially as the profile of stage 1 looks to be selective - ie. tough-ish course before the final climb. |
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 23-10-2011 13:44
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Grand Tour Champion
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Wow, some tough competition for Igor's first race of the season. A top 5 would be nice, but I think a top 10 is more realistic with this start-list.
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| roturn |
Posted on 23-10-2011 14:19
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Team Manager
Posts: 22246
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Fun Facts
| - Australia with the biggest amount of riders (11), followed by USA, Belgium, Spain and France (10) | | - Weakest rider: Hipólito ElÃas Martino (EmuExport/61,60) | | - Strongest rider: Alejandro Valverde (Proximus/81,20) | | - Average average: 70,740 | | - Highest salary: Alejandro Valverde (Proximus/€ 1.150.000) | | - Average wage: 115.268€ | | - Youngest rider: Nevio Tirloni (Venchi/19) | | - Oldest rider: Andreas Klier (Volkswagen/36) | | - Average age: 27,014 | | - Youngest team: Focused Cycling (23,875) | | - Oldest team: Pokerstars (30,600) | | - 16 loanies | | - 6 National Road Champions: Nechita (Focus/ROM), Tolleson (California/USA), Kiryenka (T.CS/BLR), Nicácio (Cerne/BRA), Rujano (Pokerstars/VEN), Lövkvist (Saab/SWD) | | - 7 National ITT Champions: Nechita (Focus/ROM), Kiryenka (T.CS/BLR), Rujano (Pokerstars/VEN), Li (Volkswagen/CHN), Nicácio (Cerne/BRA), Beppu (Meiji/JPN), Duarte (Venchi/COL) |
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| ltt |
Posted on 23-10-2011 16:54
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Posts: 388
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2nd Stage looks perfect for Davis to continue his good form, and looking for Dempster to give me a good result in the TT.
But really glad i didn't send anyone to actually try to win this, the field is just ridiculously strong! |
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| roturn |
Posted on 23-10-2011 17:39
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Team Manager
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Having the ~30. best climber, the ~10.-15. best sprinter and no time trialist in this race.
Hopefully there is at least some Rothaus action in the breaks, although I don`t expect a successful break in both stages. |
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