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Circuit Franco-Belge - Discussion Thread
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 20-09-2012 17:04
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World Champion
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Some riders may have stayed in Belgium after the world championships to participate here as well. They'll have to travel a bit to the south though, since the racing kicks off from northern France and Templeuve. From there they'll go back north and across the border into Belgium again for three and a half stages there.
The terrain around the French-Belgian border is rather flat, so the sprinters will probably thrive. All four stages could very well end up in mass sprints. Only the final stage provides even a small chance for the rest of the riders, however I doubt that the tiny climb will be enough to break the sprinters.
The game sees the cobbled classics specialists as the main favourites for the overall, just because of the short sections of paved roads on stage one and three. I find it very hard to believe that those parts will decide the race, therefore the startlist order isn't reliable in terms of top teams.
 Daniele Bennati has been winning basically every race he has entered this season, so it's pretty obvious that he should be the man to beat. The only thing I can see stopping him from winning the overall is a successful breakaway.
 Maxime Vantomme has been a major disappointment for the Rothaus team throughout the year and needs to change that as soon as possible. Maybe a nationality bonus is the only thing needed for him to finally break through?
 Danilo Napolitano is probably the second best sprinter in the Continental Tour, behind the man at the top of this preview. The Italian has brought home a few victories during the season, but I'm sure that he's still hungry for more.
 Erik Mohs must also be considered as one of the major favourites, being another top tier sprinter quite capable of matching the names mentioned above. He also has a very strong squad of team mates to help him out.
If the race is decided in the sprints, I can't really see anyone else challenging those four. A lot can go wrong also for the big names however, and we've got a ton of outsiders on lined up as well.
Cyclevox duo  Tomas Vaitkus and Mitch Docker,  Henrich Haussler,  Thor Hushovd and  Jérôme Giaux are just a few of the names that could possibly pull off a surprise.
The northern classics stars shouldn't be completely discounted either, even though the race is unlikely to favour them a lot. The sprinters should definitely watch out for  Adam Blythe, Frederik Nolf and  Fabien Taillefour, along with a couple of others.
Full startlist:
Spoiler Rapha Condor
1. A. Blythe
2. C. Anguilet
3. N. Berhane
4. M. Hussein
5. T. Last
6. D. Lloyd
7. I. Stannard
8. E. Van Wyk
Pokerstars
11. F. Nolf
12. S. Dumoulin
13. A. Geslin
14. M. Guillén
15. N. Ingels
16. R. Kluge
17. E. Mohs
18. K. Van Impe
Saab
21. M. Breschel
22. M. Brammeier
23. T. Hushovd
24. K. Ista
25. J. Lindgren
26. A. Lund
27. M. Van Aelbroeck
28. K. Van Hummel
Koppert
31. F. Taillefour
32. H. Dekkers
33. R. Flens
34. S. Langeveld
35. J. McCarthy
36. R. Te Brake
37. B. Traksel
38. R. Van Zandbeek
Focus
41. D. Gaudin
42. J. Adams
43. M. Andersen
44. D. Beatse
45. R. Hardy
46. B. Jungels
47. A. Nechita
48. C. Pineau
Trilux
51. A. Coyot
52. M. Eichler
53. T. Fothen
54. H. Haussler
55. S. Krauss
56. G. Rast
57. S. Tronet
58. R. Zepunkte
Tinkoff
61. D. Kozontchuk
62. A. Khatuntsev
63. P. Korzh
64. E. Krivoruchko
65. A. Markov
66. E. Petrov
67. N. Trusov
68. N. Zharoven
Puma
71. T. Kvist
72. J. Bar
73. D. Bennati
74. J. Bol
75. N. Bouhanni
76. M. Delage
77. E. Gasparotto
78. J. Sütterlin
Cyclevox
81. T. Vaitkus
82. M. Docker
83. G. Heymes
84. L. Holohan
85. R. Mandri
86. C. McConvey
87. D. O'Loughlin
88. K. Pauwels
Proximus
91. D. Kopp
92. J. Claes
93. J. Coenen
94. N. Cohen
95. K. De Weert
96. V. Hacecký
97. E. Reekers
98. M. Ulanowski
Red Bull
101. J. Giaux
102. G. Brown
103. S. Gerrans
104. A. Jelloul
105. C. Manarelli
106. M. Priamo
107. G. Tzortzakis
108. S. Vanthourenhout
Rothaus
111. M. Vantomme
112. J. Ariesen
113. C. Cucinotta
114. M. Landa
115. J. Novak
116. M. Schachmann
117. D. Vesely
118. F. Willems
UniCredit
121. B. Van Poppel
122. F. Borghesi
123. A. Borrajo
124. F. Gavazzi
125. M. Lorenzetto
126. D. Napolitano
127. A. Signego
128. T. Van der Sande
Hollister
131. S. Scheirlinckx
132. R. Caminiti
133. F. Cruz
134. J. Gutiérrez Palacios
135. J. Pantano Gómez
136. P. Pereyra
137. R. Sambris
138. B. Selander
Bpost
141. J. Van Loocke
142. S. Dillier
143. W. Maesen
144. S. Poulhiès
145. J. Stallaert
146. R. Stenuit
147. J. Stuyven
148. W. Van Den Eynde
Cal Giant
151. J. Haedo
152. W. Frischkorn
153. P. Ghyllebert
154. B. Jacques-Maynes
155. B. King
156. L. Pasamontes
157. K. Reijnen
158. T. Tolleson
Vespa
161. A. Cappelle
162. D. Cimolai
163. O. Gatto
164. M. Gavazzi
165. M. Kwiatkowski
166. A. Petrie-Armstrong
167. M. Scanlon
168. I. Speirs
Meiji
171. F. Beppu
172. Y. Arashiro
173. J. Bauer
174. Y. Doi
175. HT. Kwok
176. T. Nishitani
177. S. Park
178. C. Shikai
Pirelli
181. S. Masciarelli
182. A. Bazajev
183. S. Boggia
184. N. D'Andrea
185. D. Di Nucci
186. A. Flaksis
187. S. Lagana'
188. F. Tizza
Cerne
191. B. Santos
192. A. Carvalho
193. L. Coutinho
194. M. Cunha
195. J. Insausti
196. J. Martins
197. N. Oliveira
198. E. Viviani
B
201. J. Dedecker
202. M. Crv
203. L. Mars
204. J. Van de Walle
205. A. Van den Abeele
CSC
211. R. Maksimov
212. A. Ajewole
213. S. Blanco
214. J. Gelabert
215. I. Kovalev
216. B. Lima
217. J. Perez Cuapio
218. E. Teruel
Edited by Pellizotti2 on 20-09-2012 17:05
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| roturn |
Posted on 20-09-2012 17:08
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Team Manager
Posts: 22246
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Last chance for Vantomme to convince me. With the National bonus he should get some decent results and maybe even his first win.
The support might not be ideal but maybe better and he is going for other trains as I only have Cucinotta and Willems as mediocre helpers. First might do better than Vantomme in the sprints actually. 
Hope the few far from the finish cobbled sections won`t destroy the gameplay.
Want to see 4 sprint finishes here.
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| Smowz |
Posted on 20-09-2012 17:11
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Team Leader
Posts: 6479
Joined: 09-04-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Interesting little race this one, could be quite lucrative one given it's HC rating but highly unpredictable.
The two flat ones have those cobbled sections which could well scramble the team tactics (by that I mean AI of course). Then stages two and four have tricky little leg breakers in them.
I can see I wasn't the only manager to bring their cobbled a-list (well in Red Bull's case it is a bit of a b list) riders here - that is apart from Bpost of course!
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 20-09-2012 17:12
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8057
Joined: 22-06-2009
PCM$: 650.00
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Haha worse then the control team  Really? 
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| rycadinho |
Posted on 20-09-2012 17:35
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1078
Joined: 28-09-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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I hope for some breakaway madness, since my team is rather weak despite Barzajevs presence.
- Good luck to all managers who are participating in this race too 
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| cio93 |
Posted on 20-09-2012 17:49
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World Champion
Posts: 10845
Joined: 29-10-2007
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I'll sooo go nuts if the 5 nanometres of cobbles fuck up the gameplay...
So on the bright, positively thinking side, this is our race to lose.
The late hills on 2 and 4 could either turn out to be a launchpad for attackers or, hopefully, weaken Vantomme and Mohs further.
It's really a 4-way-race, bad positioning easily puts you off the bonus seconds, so I hope the great support I provided Bennati with helps here.
Plus, as Smowz pointed out, as a .HC race, it's a great chance to move up in both individual and team standings.
I'm excited, bring it on!
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| felix_29 |
Posted on 20-09-2012 17:54
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3054
Joined: 08-08-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Haussler has had some great stage races, so i hope he can win a stage or so. And of course it will be interesting to see what Vantomme can do. 
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| ember |
Posted on 20-09-2012 19:35
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Team Leader
Posts: 6849
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Must admit I'm hoping the teams closest to mine on the overall ranking don't do too well here
It will certainly be an intense race, which most likely will be decided on bonifications. Guess I'll cheer for the Norwegian bull Hushovd. Nice win by Napolitano on that first stage, but if the 3 other stages come down to mass sprints, this is still Bennati's race to loose, I think. |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 01:28
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| Smowz |
Posted on 20-09-2012 20:45
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Hopes are pinned on Giaux now. But that was quite a result for the Belgian, gotta hope he can survive the hills whilst Mohs for example cannot.
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| Levi4life |
Posted on 20-09-2012 20:48
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Posts: 4882
Joined: 16-03-2007
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I wish Haedo would try.
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| cio93 |
Posted on 20-09-2012 21:06
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Posts: 10845
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The hell was that??
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| CountArach |
Posted on 20-09-2012 22:40
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Posts: 8290
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Van Looke in 8th is surprising. Top 10 is a season goal here and he is the only chance in hell I have to make it apart from a break. Hopefully with his strong cobble stat he can conserve more energy on those short sections.
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 21-09-2012 20:35
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Rapha are in this race. Im just not sure where. No attacks despite having no reason not to. The only mention in 2 stages is Stannard crashing
Still, Blythe is in 10th overall, which is something
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| CountArach |
Posted on 22-09-2012 00:54
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Van Loocke sitting in 9th overall but I get the feeling that bonus seconds are likely to move him lower.
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 22-09-2012 00:59
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CountArach wrote:
Van Loocke sitting in 9th overall but I get the feeling that bonus seconds are likely to move him lower.
Id expect some hill-hating sprinters to get dropped on the final stage though, which may counteract that a little
Edited by SportingNonsense on 22-09-2012 00:59
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| CountArach |
Posted on 22-09-2012 01:12
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Grand Tour Champion
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SportingNonsense wrote:
CountArach wrote:
Van Loocke sitting in 9th overall but I get the feeling that bonus seconds are likely to move him lower.
Id expect some hill-hating sprinters to get dropped on the final stage though, which may counteract that a little
I agree. Now if only Van Loocke wasn't one of them
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| Levi4life |
Posted on 22-09-2012 01:15
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4882
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Balls
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| Smowz |
Posted on 22-09-2012 05:56
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Nice to see plenty of action for us, I've a feeling something will happen in the next two stages that will cause a selection.
Be it a crash or the small sharp hills, I just hope Giaux is ready to take his chance.
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| viking90 |
Posted on 22-09-2012 08:57
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It looked so good for Hushovd in the 3rd last picture then fade down to 8th.
We actually have a top 5 goal here, really hope Hushovd can make that, so far he has the chance.
And sorry for not being so active in the Man-Game lately, haven´t really had the time for this. |
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| ltt |
Posted on 22-09-2012 09:25
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SportingNonsense wrote:
Rapha are in this race. Im just not sure where. No attacks despite having no reason not to.
Those would be the exact words that I'd use to describe my team lol |
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