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Vattenfall Classic Discussion
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| kumazan |
Posted on 16-06-2012 17:40
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Many things have happened since the Rund um Köln, and it’s time for Pro Tour Cycling to come back to Germany. This time, we head into Hamburg for the Vattenfall Classic, the former World Cup event that is back in the PT after three years being a Continental Tour race. It’s a flat race, but the steep Waseberg is climbed 4 times, 3 of them close to the finish, so a sprint finish can’t be taken for granted. The last 3 times it did finish in a mass sprint, but the previous two editions saw a solo attacker make it to the finish. On to the favourites:
 Tom Boonen has to be the biggest favourite. Very fast, and goes well over the hills, in case the race is made hard. He’s not coming alone, Nestlé bring with him Ivano Lo Cicero, another fast sprinter, and strong domestiques for both.
 Milka seem to have similar plans, with the young, but very fast, Sam Bewley leading the team, and with Forero to either act as plan B, or main leadout man. Either way, they won’t lack support in the last kilometers, with Verbist, or another young aussie like Howard.
 Romain Vanderbiest might be Pearl Adidas’ main asset for this race, but don’t overlook top puncheur Jan Bakelants, who could upset the sprinters. They have a well rounded team of sprinters and classic specialists to support them, so they surely can expect a great result from this race.
 Gert Steegmans is another of the stronger sprinters here. Both him and Michael Van Staeyen can get well over the hills, so expect this guys to challenge for the win.
 Maxime Vantomme is yet to show the goods he was supposed to have when signed for a massive salary with Rothaus. Now, he comes with a team focused on him to one of his team’s home races, so he should be a man to watch.
 Vesuvio is having a great season so far, and with the goal of further improving it, they send Ben Swift, the fast British sprinter. Local puncheur Mehr-Wenige could probably try with a solo attack, but will most likely be there to help Swift.
 Belgian Jurgen Roelandts leads the French squad, which looks like a massive sprint train built to bring Roelandts to the podium, and, certainly, they could very well succeed.
 Another team bringing a puncheur/sprinter combo are Wikipedia, with Tejay Van Garderen and Matthew Goss. The Austrlian sprinter might find himself a bit isolated though, as they don’t seem to bring a sprint focused team.
 Luke Rowe might be very young, but he’ll be leading Wiggle for this race, and will try to show the established sprinters that he’s already a threat. The sprinters won’t want to overlook Damiano Caruso either.
 Raúl Granjel Cabrera will lead the Swedish team, with the doubt of what will the roles of the likes of Ballan and Anza be, to help the Cuban, or to go on the attack, but surely betting on the Champs Élysées winner would be the logical choice.
 Dan Holloway is leading the clockmaker team, which also bring Diego Ulissi as a strong puncheur who could take advantage of the Waseberg.
 Fran Ventoso is probably the sprinter who gets better over the hills. Or maybe the fastest puncheur. Anyhow, both him and Pedro Merino are well capable of a good result.
 Kobe Vanoverschelde might be leading the team, but keep an eye on Edvald Boasson Hagen, top puncheur and quite fast, he must be one of the favourites should the race not be decided in a mass sprint.
 Óscar Avelino will struggle in the Waseberg, but beware of him if he can get over it, not many are faster than him.  Leonardo Duque and  Borut Bozic are other outsiders, quite fast, and shouldn’t have that much of a problem in the hills, while  Martin Pedersen will have pressure on him to get a result for his team, which is at the moment on the verge of relegation.
Finally,  Jack Wolfskin and  UBS - Lapierre bring teams without a clear leader, so they will be looking for the right breakaway.
Starlist
Spoiler
Nestlé
1. T. Boonen
2. S. Denifl
3. J. Fiedler
4. N. Hoffman
5. I. Lo Cicero
6. N. Portal
7. M. Sibilla
8. D. Vitoria
Milka
11. S. Bewley
12. L. Bret
13. A. Delaplace
14. J. Forero
15. L. Howard
16. A. Nepomnyachsniy
17. Z. Stybar
18. E. Verbist
Bacardi
21. G. Steegmans
22. I. Abakoumov
23. G. Bagdonas
24. M. Burghardt
25. J. Ghyselinck
26. M. Heijboer
27. J. Kocjan
28. M. Van Stayen
Rothaus
31. M. Vantomme
32. E. Baumann
33. L. Boom
34. A. Gajek
35. B. Hermans
36. T. Koep
37. A. Kunitski
38. C. Westphal
Vesuvio
41. B. Swift
42. M. Barth
43. B. Gastauer
44. M. Kittel
45. D. Mehr-Wenige
46. T. Schwarmes
47. A. Stauff
48. D. Stundzia
Carmeuse
51. J. Roelandts
52. A. Aulas
53. S. Caethoven
54. P. Jacobs
55. M. Kneisky
56. C. Lhotellerie
57. K. Peeters
58. S. Vandousselaere
Wiggle
61. L. Rowe
62. D. Caruso
63. A. Fenn
64. C. Grippo
65. R. Hampton
66. B. Jarc
67. M. Moser
68. R. Tanguy
Wikipedia
71. M. Goss
72. R. Cleaver
73. J. Decouttere
74. E. King
75. G. Lejman
76. D. Summerhill
77. T. Van Garderen
78. T. Vangheel
Pearl
81. R. Vanderbiest
82. J. Bakelants
83. M. Cardoso
84. W. De Vocht
85. J. Guarnieri
86. L. Mondory
87. M. Richeze
88. W. Walker
Festina
91. D. Holloway
92. M. Bernaudeau
93. A. Lavoine
94. J. Ljungblad
95. R. RodrÃguez Segarra
96. R. Sentjens
97. G. Steurs
98. D. Ulissi
Sony
101. R. Granjel Cabrera
102. S. Anza
103. A. Ballan
104. P. Grillo
105. F. Johansson
106. M. Mortensen
107. D. Muravjev
108. V. Renäng
Santander
111. F. Ventoso
112. D. Allonca
113. J. Del Nero
114. A. Durán
115. F. Echarri
116. J. Gallego Martin
117. P. Merino Criado
118. R. Serrano
B&O
121. K. Vanoverschelde
122. M. Christensen
123. E. Hagen
124. C. Jørgensen
125. D. Klemme
126. K. Nielsen
127. A. Steensen
128. T. Vinter
Webeffect
131. O. Avelino
132. J. Baugnies
133. K. Boeckmans
134. R. Bourdouxhe
135. G. Gazvoda
136. A. Mironov
137. S. Nooytens
138. F. Silvestre
Colombia
141. L. Duque
142. J. Arango
143. S. Bennett
144. A. Brea
145. H. Gallardo
146. S. Ivars
147. H. Machado
148. J. Tendero
Spyker
151. M. Pedersen
152. L. Bak
153. F. Bellotti
154. J. Fuglsang
155. V. Gusev
156. M. Reimer
157. E. Weiss
158. A. Zeits
Pendleton's
161. B. Bozic
162. R. Downing
163. P. Gilbert
164. M. Ladagnous
165. J. McEvoy
166. D. Millar
167. G. Thomas
168. B. Wiggins
Jack Wolfskin
171. X. Florencio
172. J. Donald
173. B. Giling
174. W. Jallays
175. S. Rosseler
176. K. Sys
177. L. Ten Dam
178. J. Van Emden
UBS
181. R. Chtioui
182. S. Barrio
183. R. Bertogliati
184. D. Champion
185. K. Lalouette
186. D. Lelay
187. D. Vorontsov
188. S. Zahner
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| ember |
Posted on 16-06-2012 17:41
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Team Leader
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Very nice preview. Hoping for some action on Waseberg, while I somehow think Bewley in the end will get the upper hand in a head-to-head battle with the rider he's said to ble similar to, Boonen. |
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| p3druh |
Posted on 16-06-2012 17:46
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2388
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Another race where I have the Bakelants-Vanderbiest tandem. Let's see if this one goes better than Seine.
And always nice to see new reporters. Best of luck 
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| Kami |
Posted on 16-06-2012 18:00
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Classics Specialist
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Hoping for a podium, but i can easily see us not even making the top 10. A race that might turn out completely random.
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| SotD |
Posted on 16-06-2012 19:17
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World Champion
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Oh my. How did I not pick Pozzato for this...
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| mb2612 |
Posted on 16-06-2012 22:08
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I thought Ventoso could go well in these races, but he never does.
 [url=www.pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=33182] Team Santander Media Thread[/url]
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 07-12-2025 15:16
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| wackojackohighcliffe |
Posted on 16-06-2012 23:02
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I think this must have been Gilbert's last raceday..hopefully he'll do something fun... |
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| roturn |
Posted on 16-06-2012 23:10
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Dare you Vantomme if you don`t bring a podium here...
the team is just around you and more or less a brilliant sprint train.
But as I know my team and sprints I just can see a total mess here. |
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| dave92 |
Posted on 16-06-2012 23:17
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Hopefully Van Garderen can get away late, if not have to hope Goss can tack on to the right sprint train with some help from Summerhill.
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| Roman |
Posted on 17-06-2012 03:04
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Another podium would be really nice.
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 17-06-2012 08:46
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Very nice preview!
Can't look past Boonen for the victory.
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| Smowz |
Posted on 17-06-2012 09:37
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I fancy Bewley to cause an upset here following a Nestle train fail! We do have six very high standard sprinters here, so it seems likely a sprint will be the end result.
Looking at the list of entries for a classic rouler late attacker - Summerhill or Ballan perhaps?
Cannot see anything for the relegation threatened Spyker or CdC - chance for Carmeuse to make up ground?
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| CountArach |
Posted on 17-06-2012 09:52
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Grand Tour Champion
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I don't see much reason *not* to tip Boonen. How did he go for less than $1 million?
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| SotD |
Posted on 18-06-2012 08:37
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World Champion
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CountArach wrote:
I don't see much reason *not* to tip Boonen. How did he go for less than $1 million?
1 mill is a real upset to the teams wages. I would never go that high for any rider. It's just too big of a gamble. This one has paid off, but it could have gone the other way if he would have gotten into the same amount of crashes that eg. Fothen did. And then 1mill spent on one rider is = relegation.
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| Kami |
Posted on 23-06-2012 10:38
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Classics Specialist
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Wow, Burghardt sprinting to 4th and Steegmans/Van Stayen attacking. Seems totally legit.
I'm happy with the 4th place, although, the AI did fuck up for my team.
Also, great report!
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| jph27 |
Posted on 23-06-2012 10:39
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Great win for Boonen there and a great first report by kumazan. I eagerly await roturn's response to Vantomme's latest result.  |
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| mb2612 |
Posted on 23-06-2012 10:42
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6th is good, could have been better, but it shows that he can do well in the Pro Tour. I need him to keep it up until the end of the season if I am to stay in the top 5 though.
Nice report.
[url=www.pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=33182] Team Santander Media Thread[/url]
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 23-06-2012 10:43
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Great detailed and entertaining report, Boonen is a monster, who will have him next year?
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 23-06-2012 10:46
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 9885
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Really nice report, kumazan!
Boonen was by far the fastest, but the messy sprint definitely favoured him. Seems like most of the sprinters didn't even try.
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| Smowz |
Posted on 23-06-2012 10:52
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Boonan is having such a terrific year, bar the Olympics it feels as if he has won everything. Bewley is having a pretty good time also - time will tell if he can take over from Boonan.
Bit of a mess for the second tier favourites though - is the Vesuvio crown slipping slightly? Probably not as it's only mid table teams that are making significant gains.
Surprised the race proved so selective really - was it windy?
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