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Criterium Hainleite Discussion Thread
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| ember |
Posted on 03-04-2012 18:24
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 Criterium Hainleite
A very interesting race is next in the Continental Tour this season. Criterium Hainleite is a German race, meaning there will probably be lots of beers and singing in the area when the riders race for glory on the challenging course. It's a hilly classic, which never has been raced in the ManGame before, and it has it all. A climb tests the riders early, before a circuit in Erfurt will decide the race winner. The circuit contains both a hill and some cobbles, meaning it should be one of the most unpredictable races so far this season. And that says a lot. How decisive will the tiny hill be? And will the cobbles affect the riders, as it's on a descent? How will pure sprinters cope with the final circuit in Erfurt? Those are just a few of the obvious question that will be asked, and they're all impossible to answer pre-race. We'll wait and see, I guess.
Most teams participating believe in a race for the cobblers, obviously meaning they've brought their cobblers to the race. They're led by Bpost's superstar,  Vanspeybrouck. If the race turns out as most teams expect, he will be the man to beat. He's been great through the spring, and no doubt he has inspired the rest of his team to be as high as 6th on the team ranking. Vanspeybrouck sits pretty in 16th in the individual ranking, but that's not were he has impressed the most. He delivered great results in the ProTour earlier this year, and his team can only hope he can show his worth in Hainleite aswell, contributing to keep momentum in the race for a top 6 overall placing for Team Bpost.
With a quick look on the race profile, there's no doubt  Blythe has got a superb race for him in Germany. But tomorrow's race isn't the first race we can say that for, and Blythe will need to prove both himself and his team that he actually got what it takes to do something big. His season has been disappointing so far, a weak team might be one of the reasons. Just like in the previous cobbled races, he won't get much of support from his own team mates, and he needs to rely on other teams doing the chasing , meaning he can decide the race in a small group sprint.
 Langeveld
 Nolf
 Gaudin
are all interesting cobblers to follow tomorrow. Nolf was predicted to be Vanspeybrouck's closest rival on cobbles this season, and he hasn't quite lived up to the expectations, he must be eager to show himself tomorrow, and he could very well do just that. He's an attacking rider, and if you don't try, you won't win. Langeveld and Gaudin have both been rock solid on cobbles so far this year, and they're two of the riders you'll expect to go for an attack a long way from the finishing line, to win the race in a surprising way.
 Breschel
 Haussler
 Giaux
 Vantomme
are all sprinters who knows how to handle cobbles. Especially Breschel and Haussler looks dangerous for this one, as they don't fear a hill or two either. Breschel must have got the motivation going seeing his team did brilliant in Dauphine Libere, and they must look to somehow perform in the Continental Tour aswell now. Haussler has been good so far this year, with a 2nd place in Rogaland GP and a 5th in Rund um den Eschborn-Frankfurt. It's his home country, and the crowd wll certainly cheer for him. Will it be enough to grab a huge win? Giaux hasn't been able to show his qualities so for, neither in Profrone van Drenthe or on the bigger scene, in Paris - Roubaix. Actually, he abandoned both races, Jayco - Red Bull can only cross fingers he won't do the same tomorrow. Vantomme is an outside shot for the win, but definitely not a rider to forgot. He showed his strength in Nokere - Koerse, and he could show it again, despite the final circuit containing a hill and a cobbled descent.
 Volkswagen - Siemens
 Team Bianchi
take on the race as a hilly classis, as they've sent their dangermen for hills to Germany. Flügel hopes to grab the win on home soil, while Bianchi has 3 riders who can all win the race. Other teams must be on the look-out for Gil, Claeys and Rabon. But how will they handle the cobbles? They're definitely not cobbled specialists, they can only trust their manager for sending them here, being able to make a difference, and not sit on the back of the peloton due to the cobbles.
The race is really wide open, and sprinters, puncheurs and cobblers all stand a fair chance.
Startlist
Spoiler Bpost
1. P. Vanspeybrouck
2. N. Albert
3. R. Broers
4. N. Maes
5. J. Polanc
6. R. Stenuit
7. G. Van Keirsbulck
Rapha Condor
11. A. Blythe
12. A. Bakari
13. N. Berhane
14. T. Grmay
15. H. Kiprotich
16. T. Last
17. E. Van Wyk
Pokerstars
21. F. Nolf
22. J. Degenkolb
23. A. Geslin
24. N. Ingels
25. R. Kluge
26. K. Van Impe
27. J. Vermote
Koppert
31. S. Langeveld
32. R. Flens
33. J. Hopman
34. A. Kamyshev
35. J. Thomson
36. R. Van Zandbeek
37. P. Vlatos
Focus
41. D. Gaudin
42. J. Adams
43. J. Debusschere
44. K. Elissonde
45. R. Hardy
46. C. Pineau
47. J. Roy
Trilux
51. A. Coyot
52. M. Eichler
53. H. Haussler
54. M. Kessler
55. G. Rast
56. A. Saramotins
57. S. Tronet
Saab
61. M. Breschel
62. T. Larsson
63. P. Lavery
64. G. Likhaya
65. J. Lindgren
66. A. Lund
67. M. Wyss
Rothaus
71. L. Boom
72. E. Baumann
73. A. Gajek
74. J. Novak
75. C. Van Heerden
76. M. Vantomme
77. D. Vesely
Red Bull
81. J. Giaux
82. M. Chérel
83. A. Jelloul
84. C. Manarelli
85. C. Sutton
86. G. Tzortzakis
87. S. Vanthourenhout
Oz
91. M. Renshaw
92. K. Cheung
93. S. Clarke
94. W. Gough
95. A. Haidar Anuawar
96. M. Matthews
97. G. O'Shea
Bianchi
101. G. Lequatre
102. D. Claeys
103. K. Gil
104. S. Locatelli
105. O. Martynenko
106. F. Rabon
107. P. Rooijakkers
Team VW
111. A. Klier
112. G. Brenes
113. A. Flügel
114. B. Noval
115. C. Pfannberger
116. G. Preidler
117. D. Schorn
Tinkoff
121. M. Belkov
122. D. Galimzyanov
123. P. Ignatenko
124. A. Khatuntsev
125. A. Kolobnev
126. A. Ovechkin
127. I. Rovny
Cerne
131. J. Insausti
132. L. Afonso
133. A. Antunes
134. B. Borges
135. G. Cerveira
136. B. Pires
137. M. Portela
Puma
141. W. Kelderman
142. N. Bouhanni
143. T. Dumoulin
144. M. Egger
145. O. Le Gac
146. J. Sütterlin
147. M. Vogt
Edited by ember on 03-04-2012 18:32
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| Smowz |
Posted on 03-04-2012 18:48
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Hehe - I know the Dunkirk reduced GP Herning is a pretty small s****y race but that showed Giaux's 'quality' 
I actually sent Cherel here just in case, but I think my team will send Tzortzakis in a break nullifying any hope of a decent place in this. The cobbles will not be enough to break things up so I think the hilly guys/strong all rounders may just surprise.
Sort of a fingers crossed for a couple of guys in the top 20 type of race really.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 03:54
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| viking90 |
Posted on 03-04-2012 19:44
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You did bring me some good luck in Crit. du Dauphine Libere and Barcelona Classic so I hope you keep giving me some good results  And I feel Breschel have a quite good chanche to make something good here. |
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 03-04-2012 20:35
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If it comes to a sprint, I hope for Renshaw to (finally) prove his worth at least a bit of the money we spent for him... if it comes to a break, I hope for some fast guy like Simon Clarke to be in there
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| felix_29 |
Posted on 03-04-2012 20:38
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I got a man for any scenario so i´m confident i´ll get a Top5. Haussler does really good this season, so he could finally grab an important win. 
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| fenian_1234 |
Posted on 03-04-2012 21:11
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This one has surprise winner written all over it. |
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| CountArach |
Posted on 03-04-2012 23:33
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I am expecting nothing from this. The way the cobbles are going they probably won't break the race up. All I can hope for is that they tire hilly riders out and Vanspeybrouck can use his ability to get away. But I agree with Fenian, I think this will be a surprise winner.
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| cio93 |
Posted on 03-04-2012 23:35
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fenian_1234 wrote:
This one has surprise winner written all over it.
That's what I think as well, but it won't be one of my guys. We're here for experience.
Edited by cio93 on 03-04-2012 23:35
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 04-04-2012 01:04
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I agree. With so much surprises in this years' Continental Tour, it would be astonishing not to have a surprise winner here. However I believe the chances of my team walking away with something here are laughable.
All that I'm expecting is a good report
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 04-04-2012 05:52
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Interesting profile, i am looking for the nice report as always. This could be the day for breakaway really
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| roturn |
Posted on 04-04-2012 08:34
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My win goal and one of my favourite races in cycling.
But I unfortunately thought the race would have a flat profile like in real.
But it`s ranked as hilly in the ManGame, so probably a big peloton will sprint for the win but without sprinters participating. Instead I hope that Boom can show something. ´ |
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| ember |
Posted on 04-04-2012 15:55
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Posts: 6849
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Ah, sorry Smowz, I completely forgot about GP Herning.
And I'm sorry to say the report will be delayed. The race is raced, pictures are taken, but I haven't written the report yet. Me and some friends are having a couple of days off (happy Easter), and we're going to do some skiing. I think I'm back late Saturday/Sunday, which means you'll get the report then. Again, I'm sorry for the delay, but hopefully you'll survive |
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| viking90 |
Posted on 07-04-2012 14:39
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I love you ember, you bring luck to me team 
I was disappointed when I saw that Breschel crashed and though it was over but it went good anyway. |
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| CountArach |
Posted on 07-04-2012 15:25
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Oh that is painfully close! Congrats to viking and Saab for that great win. Once again commiserations to Rapha for Blythe's terrible run of luck.
Vanspeybrouck really started to perform better and better as the cobbled season drew on. I think in this case the cobbles meant that people couldn't recover after the hill except for those who were strong on the cobbles, which helped them in the finale.
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 07-04-2012 15:41
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Cant really say I expected anything from Blythe. He doesnt fail to dissapoint.
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| Smowz |
Posted on 07-04-2012 15:51
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Wow I really lucked out there, then again this always looked a complete lottery of a race. I let out a miffed groan as Tzortzakis went in the break but it actually worked out very well indeed.
It seemed to be a race that ended up slightly favouring the hilly riders, but positioning looked to be the key. Vanspreybrouck and Kluge used their road handling to get themselves in position a bit better.
But a great result for us, coupled with that half decent Tour of Beauce result this tricky month for us has ended on a high, possibly even retaining our team ranking lead.
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| jph27 |
Posted on 07-04-2012 16:43
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SportingNonsense wrote:
Cant really say I expected anything from Blythe. He doesnt fail to dissapoint.
You know that if you dared to get rid of him though, then he would start doing well.
Great report and an interesting race. Good win for Saab there. |
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| roturn |
Posted on 07-04-2012 16:45
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6th at least. When I set it to my win goal I thought about a weaker start list and a sprinter could take the win like in my careers every time.
At least we showed a good performance and the young Czech duo did well again.
Nice report. Definitely my most favourite race. In PCM and in real. |
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| beagle |
Posted on 07-04-2012 20:19
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finally good result for Kluge!
together with Slovenia, this is a big day for Saab, time to celebrate Viking
Manager of Polar in Man-Game
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 07-04-2012 21:33
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jph27 wrote:
SportingNonsense wrote:
Cant really say I expected anything from Blythe. He doesnt fail to dissapoint.
You know that if you dared to get rid of him though, then he would start doing well.
Good news for whichever team buys him off me in the transfers then Im dropping cobbles altogether next year, so I dont really mind.
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