Well, here's my first Man - Game report. You'll have to forgive me in advance, because I forgot to export the results of a couple of stages, but here it goes anyway.
Tour of Swaziland
Course Overview
The C1 Africa Tour continues after a 2 month hiatus with the inaugural Tour of Swaziland. Some of the best riders in the Continental Tour have traveled all the way to the southernmost part of Africa to take a shot at this race that will take us through the hills and mountains of Swaziland over the course of the next week.
We’ll start off with a short 10km time trial, and the next two days will be the sprinters’ shot at glory. Stage 2, despite being rated as flat, should not be one for the pure sprinters, as the actual profile is not very flat at all. Here we should expect the winner to be a sprinter who can handle the hills, or maybe even a breakaway. Stage 3 should be more to the big guys’ liking as the second half of the race is almost completely flat.
Stage 4 will be the first day that we should see the GC picture begin to take shape, as the hard final kilometers will weed out the weaker riders. The last two stages are the truly decisive ones, where the climbers will have at each other on the sharp climbs at the end of each day.
The Favorites
The race has a quality field taking part, with two of the best three ranked teams, Rapha Condor - Qhubeka and Jayco - Red Bull taking part (albeit without any of their superstars), as well as the leader of the individual CT rankings, Jose Alarcon. Rapha Condor holds a commanding lead on the Africa Tour rankings, but they remain in a close heat with Jayco for the overall CT Team podium.
Not only are we featuring the cream of the CT, but a certain Saïd Haddou, leader of the D2 individual rankings, is present on the combined D2 team. He will look to mix it up on a higher level with the likes of Cherif Abdallah, Emanuele Rizza, Blaise Sonnery, Daniele Di Nucci, Mattia Gavazzi, and Lucas Sebastian Haedo in the flatter sprint stages.
Alarcon has to be the favorite to win, but he will face stiff opposition from John Gadret, Przemyslaw Niemiec, and Mikayil Krasnoperov. Aside from them, there are a slew of other climbers who aren’t quite on the same level, but will fight for the rest of the top-10 places, or even better if the opportunity arises. These would be Theo Eltink, Shaun Lewis, Matteo Carrara, Francisco Colorado, Zakayo Ndbri, Andres Saldarriaga.
Teams Overview
D2
Despite being from all different teams, we know that the D2 team will work well together, because 4 of the riders (Bodnar, Chacon, Deitziker, and Jerome) locked in their selection for this race by working together to make the successful breakaway that gave us the final podium in the recent Tour of Moroc. Since the team lacks a clear GC leader, they will most likely focus on breakaways and the sprint stages. The team’s obvious star rider is Saïd Haddou, who is having a phenomenal season in the D2, where he has won numerous stages, as well as the points rankings in the Tour de Picardie, Tour of Moroc, and Ronde van Belgie, along with the Dubai Grand Prix. Andreas Dietziker, the Swiss opportunist, has also had a successful season, recently winning the KoM at the Tour of Moroc, and taking 2nd at the Neussenclassics. Miguel Chacon will be a valuable lead out man for Haddou, and Lucasz Bodnar, fresh off of his win at the Tour of Moroc, will look to shine in the opening time trial. Vincente Jerome, although more at home on the cobbles, secured his place by taking 2nd overall in Morocco, and Sergei Klimov will has been designated the team leader, although it remains to be seen if he can compete with the big guns. The D2 team is rounded off by its youngest rider, Tunisian all-rounder Maher Hasnaoui, who impressed everyone by nearly cracking the top-10 and winning the young rider competition at the Tour of Moroc.
Aker Solutions - Bergans Jose Alarcon will lead Aker Solutions here in Swaziland as he attempts to continue his streak of dominance. He has established himself as the CT individual rankings leader through his countless wins, which you all know so I won't repeat here. To put it mildly, he has been untouchable every time the road turns uphill. His main support will come from Lars Petter Nordhaug, recent stage winner at the Vuelta a Burgos, and Hector Duenas Nevado. Aker also sent Argentinian fast man Lucas Sebastian Haedo to contest the sprints.
Emu Export Mikayil Kransoperov has established himself as a formidable leader by winning the Tour of Taiwan as well as a mountain stage in the recent Volta a Portugal, where he was also 7th overall. He will lead Emu Export as one of the top favorites, with a strong team supporting him that includes riders like Cadel Evans and Saul Raisin, who are both accomplished riders, Raisin being the recently crowned champion of the Tour of Colorado.
Ferrari – ERG
Ferrari has given Przemyslaw Niemiec the leadership role for the Tour of Swaziland. He has demonstrated his ability to lead the team through his 3rd overall in the Tour of Japan, and 4th in the Subida al Naranco. He is labeled as one of the top favorites, and will have a key lieutenant in Marco Osella, Transfagarasan GP champion. Ferrari has also sent Emanuele Rizza, who should be able to contest the sprints, provided that he can get over the hills.
Jayco – Red Bull
Jayco probably has the strongest all around team in the race, with a top rider who can contend each of the stages. For the first day, they have Gustavo Veloso, who has a realistic shot at being the first to wear the yellow jersey. In the sprints, there is Blaise Sonnery who is one of the better sprinters in the race, and one of few sprinters who can get themselves over the hills with no problems. The team is headed by John Gadret, who recently displayed his class by finishing in a very respectable 15th against the best in the world at the Tour de France, and 13th in the PT Vuelta a Colombia. He will have a key mountain helper in Daniel Moreno, who is strong enough to be a leader in his own right.
Oz Cycling Project
Oz has by far the youngest team in the race, with the average age being 22 years! It seems as though the team is riding here for experience, as team leader Shaun Lewis has very little support. He is still a strong rider though, and should be able to get a respectable result once the race hits the mountains. Supertalent Luke Durbridge will look to put in a good ride in the time trial, but obviously his best results will be in the years to come.
Pirelli – Alfa Romeo Andres Saldarriaga, the young climber from Colombia, will be leading the Italian Pirelli squad here. He will have ample support when the race starts climbing (especially from compatriot Fredy Montaña), as the team manager has opted to send a team full of mountain men, with only one rider being a non-climbing specialist. That one rider would be Daniele Di Nucci, the veteran fast-finisher, who should have a realistic shot at the two sprint stages after his recent win at the Tour of Colorado.
Rapha Condor – Qhubeka
British/African Rapha Condor should be one of the spectator favorites, as they have sent a predominantly African team to the race, which will be led by Kenyan climber Zakayo Ndbri. He will be supported by Dimitri Jiriakov and Abdelkader Belmokhtar in the mountains, while Cherif Abdallah will feature as one of the faster sprinters in the race. They have also sent British time-trialist duo Andrew Tennant and Ian Stannard to give the opening stage a shot. They will look to score a decent point haul here, as the competition for the podium in the CT Team Rankings remains extremely close between them, Bianchi, and Jayco - Red Bull.
Team CSC – Orbea
CSC will be led by Colombian mountain man Francisco Colorado. He has been relatively quiet this season, with his best results being a 6th place overall in the Tour of Slovenia, and 7th in his namesake tour. However, he should have a good opportunity to take a top placing here in Swaziland. He has solid climbing support in Moises Dueñas and Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio, and flying Russian aero man-engine Ivan Kovalev has to be considered a favorite for the opening time trial.
Saab – Scania Theo Eltink will lead the Saab – Scania squad here in Africa. He is usually good for a GC finish just outside the top-10, with some of his highlights being a stage win in the Tour of Guatemala, and a 7th overall in the Tour of Slovenia right behind Francisco Colorado of CSC, with whom he will have a rematch this week. Eltink will have Jonas Bjelkmark and Enrique Salguiero to help him along in the mountains, but the team has opted to leave all of their numerous sprinters at home.
Vespa – Aprilia – De Rosa
The final team (alphabetically) is Vespa, which will be led by the veteran pure climber from Italy, Matteo Carrara. In his bid for a top placing, he will be helped along by Cunego’s future replacement, Mattia Cattaneo, and puncheur Matteo Bono. Luca Ascani will give the opening time trial his best shot, and Mattia Gavazzi will be their man for the sprints, provided that he can survive the hills. So let’s see what Matteo, Matteo, Mattia, and Mattia can do!
Startlist
Spoiler
Aker Solutions
1. J. Alarcon
2. H. Duenas Nevado
3. R. Guillemois
4. L. Haedo
5. K. Marchewka
6. L. Nordhaug
7. J. Rovira
Red Bull
11. J. Gadret
12. J. Cooper
13. A. Moinard
14. D. Moreno
15. B. Sonnery
16. G. Veloso
17. E. Vorganov
Ferrari
21. P. Niemiec
22. E. Girardi
23. M. Maisto
24. M. Osella
25. D. Pietropolli
26. E. Rizza
27. L. Sterbini
Export
31. M. Krasnoperov
32. A. Bajadali
33. G. Báez
34. C. Evans
35. N. Gauer
36. D. Kairelis
37. S. Raisin
CSC
41. F. Colorado
42. A. Ajewole
43. M. Dueñas
44. I. Kovalev
45. J. Perez Cuapio
46. C. Verona
47. C. Zaballa
Vespa
51. M. Carrara
52. L. Ascani
53. M. Bono
54. M. Cattaneo
55. M. Gavazzi
56. E. Luzi
57. A. Pagoto
Saab
61. T. Eltink
62. J. Bjelkmark
63. N. Brolin
64. U. Galiev
65. C. Løwenstein
66. A. Nehoray
67. E. Salgueiro
Rapha Condor
71. Z. Ndbri
72. C. Abdallah
73. A. Belmokhtar
74. T. Grmay
75. D. Jiriakov
76. I. Stannard
77. A. Tennant
Oz
81. S. Lewis
82. F. Besada
83. K. Cheung
84. L. Durbridge
85. A. Gate
86. G. O'Shea
87. M. Othman
Pirelli
91. A. Saldarriaga
92. N. D'Andrea
93. D. Di Nucci
94. A. DÃaz Corrales
95. M. Iannetti
96. S. Lagana'
97. F. Montaña
Can't say I feel too confident in Alarcon for this one. There's the time trial, the mountains looks too short to make much of an impact, and then there's the team support. But our team has been great in the mountains so far this season, and I can only hope Nordhaug and Duenas Nevado can continue that way, as they should be strong enough to keep an eye on dangerous attacks. I suspect whoever of the overall favourites do best on the time trial will be a tough one to break for Alarcon, especially if he gets yellow after the hilly stage, then it will be hard to bring home that yellow jersey. Hopefully I'm just being too pessimistic
Looking very much forward to the racing, this is Africa, and there isn't too many teams with a great line up, meaning breakaways will probably win it.
A race I have high hopes in, really Gadret could do with at least a podium. I am interested to see how the hilly stage plays out as it comes before the mountains but looks pretty tough.
If our unlikely Division champion campaign can be successful it is here where we need to score heavily.
For Division 2 guys Haddou on stage 3 is the big one, he does have a geniune chance of taking that stage I'd say. Will be interesting to see how that plays out.
Bushwackers wrote:So let’s see what Matteo, Matteo, Mattia, and Mattia can do!
Nice preview all round and this bit did make me laugh. Will have to adopt it as official transfer policy - Vespa can only sign riders with names starting with M.
Great preview Buschwackers. Will be interesting to see if the D2 team can get into any successful breakaways. That will be the aim of the tour, but Haddou is a good enough sprinter to get a top 5 on stage three.
Very good from Alarcon, though, it will be tough to get that yellow jersey from Niemiec, a great ride from him, and congratulations to Ferrari. And a great report!
Wait, what? I just realized that I had a team here.
Amazing surprise when reading the report obviously! Niemiec once again pulls off a great performance. My best rider this season, if taken into equation what was expected from him. Caruso has some bad races, Niemiec hasn't really.
Lastly, you deserve a big compliment on both the preview and the report, Bushwackers. Really like the way it looks.
Great Job 
(And hope you teach me better)
