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ProTour Calendar revealed
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 30-10-2012 19:32
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Team Manager
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37 races will decide this year's ProTour. Who will succeed Vesuvio-Accumalux as champions?
The Grand Tours and the Monuments are the big races, of course, but outside of them there is always scope for change, and so it it the case this season, with some new additions. It does mostly remain familiar though - if it aint broke, dont try to fix it!
Here is the calendar:
| 10th January |  | Badaling International | | 22nd - 27th January |  | Tour of Qatar | | 5th February |  | Chrono des Herbiers | | 13th - 19th February |  | Tirreno-Adriatico | | 15th - 22nd February | | Paris-Nice | | 18th - 24th February |  | Volta Ciclista a Catalunya | | 27th February | | Milano - San Remo | | 1st March |  | Omloop Het Nieuwsblad | | 5th March |  | East Midlands Cicle Classic | | 11th March |  | Rund um Koln | | 18th March | | Gent - Wevelgem | | 19th - 24th March | | Vuelta al Pais Vasco | | 25th March | | Ronde van Vlaanderen | | 1st April | | Paris - Roubaix | | 8th April |  | Amstel Gold Race | | 11th April | | Fleche Wallone | | 15th April | | Liege - Bastogne - Liege | | 22nd - 27th April |  | Tour of Romandie | | 1st - 21st May | | Giro d'Italia | | 6th - 13th May |  | Tour of California | | 25th May - 14th June | | Vuelta a Espana | | 1st June | | Strada Appia Antica | | 17th - 24th June | | Criterium du Dauphine Libere | | 17th - 25th June | | Tour de Suisse | | 28th June |  | Classique du Grand-Duché | | 1st - 21st July | | Tour de France | | 26th July - 2nd August |  | Tour of Norway | | 2nd August | | Seine - Marne - Seine | | 5th - 16th August |  | Vuelta a Colombia | | 31st August |  | GP Liechtenstein | | 3rd - 10th September |  | Tour of Northern Europe | | 14th September |  | Lisbon Classic | | 17th - 24th September | | Deutschland Tour | | 2nd October |  | Copenhagen - Malmo TTT | | 6th October |  | Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha | | 17th - 19th October |  | Tour of Tasmania | | 23rd October | | Giro di Lombardia |
After a year out, the Badaling International returns and with more funds, it has bought up the season opener spot. Tour of Qatar remains aswell - although the Team Time Trial has been dropped this year in a bid to prevent the same thing happening as with the last two years, i.e. one team scoring big.
Then it is time for Chrono des Herbiers. It's moved to early in the season to prevent it being somewhat overshadowed by it's proximity to the World Time Trial Championships. The Copenhagen-Malmo TTT will now take that slot at the start of October.
The next part of the season is largely unchanged. The three clashing stage races to really test squad depth, followed by the Cobbles and then the Ardennes before Romandie and into the Giro.
While the Vuelta takes place though, a new race. Strada Appia Antica is a new cobbled race for the ProTour along Roman roads into the finish at Rome. Last season's D2 teams will know this route well.
Dauphine and Tour de Suisse follow, then Grand-Duche and of course the Tour de France, before July ends with a completely new race to the game: the Tour of Norway. Replacing the FBD Eire Tour, race organisers are thought to be keen on Edvald Boasson Hagen winning, but its a sign of the growth of the sport in Norway who also have their first ProTour team in Aker-MOT. The end of Norway clashes with the tough to judge Seine-Marne-Seine before mountains take over once more in Colombia and Liechtenstein.
The Tour of Northern Europe heads for new borders - more on that below - before the first Portugese ProTour race ever: the Lisbon Classic. This replaces the Vattenfall Classic after that Vattenfall sponsor abandoned the race to sponsor a Continental team.
German teams won't mind though, because the Deutschland Tour is back in the ProTour. The ultimate test of an all round stage racer and team with sprint stage, hill stages, a tough mountain stage, a team time trial and an individual time trial.
The TTT has already been mentioned, and then its the ProTour's first ever race in the Czech Republic, Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha. The season ends with plenty of points up for grabs still after that though. New addition the Tour of Tasmania, followed by the finale of Giro di Lombarida.
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We can also reveal the route of the Tour of Northern Europe, created by Pellizotti2. Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and France all feature, with Paris-Roubaix and Liege-Bastogne-Liege like stages set to decide the race.
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| Bushwackers |
Posted on 30-10-2012 19:51
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Sprinter
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Awesome! I love that there are so many different countries now, although I'm bummed to see the GP Mendrisio taken out. I guess it would be greedy for me to ask for 3 Swiss races with only 1 Swiss team 
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 30-10-2012 19:52
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Team Manager
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Bushwackers wrote:
Awesome! I love that there are so many different countries now, although I'm bummed to see the GP Mendrisio taken out. I guess it would be greedy for me to ask for 3 Swiss races with only 1 Swiss team
It only got in because it was made for PCM11 and Badaling International wasnt. Now Badaling is made for PCM12, and Mendrisio isnt. So easy choice
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 30-10-2012 19:58
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Directeur Sportif
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I guess I'll have to save some money for a late-season PT-wildcard  Nice calendar. Tour of Northern Europe looks like a race-to-watch, while East Midland Classic is my favourite race since you made it for PCM10 (?).
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| kumazan |
Posted on 30-10-2012 20:05
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Team Leader
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Way too soon to even consider a possible wildcard for me, but the calendar looks pretty good with the new races. And it's pretty cool to see the Strada Appia Antica in the PT.
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| niconico |
Posted on 30-10-2012 20:12
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3926
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Cool with two stages in Denmark in ToNE, though I'm a bit dissapointed Pluchkin won't get a chance of defending his Tour of Oman win, but on the other hand glad that Deutschland Tour is back, a race Pluchkin would have won a few years back had he not fallen asleep in one of the stages.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 07-12-2025 14:56
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| mb2612 |
Posted on 30-10-2012 20:17
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Team Leader
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I'm really starting to look forwards to this season, although I fear I might have to drop Madrazo to enjoy it.
 [url=www.pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=33182] Team Santander Media Thread[/url]
Please assume I am joking unless otherwise stated |
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| mattiasgt |
Posted on 30-10-2012 20:21
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2176
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Awesome with the Tour of Northern Europe opening up with a prologue in my hometown! Epic stuff.
(Previously) Manager of Koenigsegg
Koenigsegg: ( Media)
Livin' Loud |
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| niconico |
Posted on 30-10-2012 20:27
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3926
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And I didn't even see Tour of Norway 
This Hagen question just became a whole lot more nuanced!
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| Rin |
Posted on 30-10-2012 20:27
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2582
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What a calendar, I guess it will be cracking my head when the start of the Transfer season will be announced thinking where I should set the priorities..
Also just a very few race clashes so it will be more important where you send which rider to race X, Y or Z.
I guess the main part of our main season will be from January to April as then the races start where our team is at the moment very weak and not much with a chance.
 Team Bianchi - 2012 Man-Game ProContinental Tour Champions
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| Christer |
Posted on 30-10-2012 21:16
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1309
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Interesting calendar. You PT-guys seem to have lots of awesome races in store this season. I will try to get in line for opening a can of whoop-ass in California. So you better watch out!
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 30-10-2012 21:19
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World Champion
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I know which race I will be applying a wildcard to (Shouldn't be too hard to guess)
Tour of Norway should be nice too!
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| ember |
Posted on 30-10-2012 21:39
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Team Leader
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That's definitely a nice looking calendar, Tour of Norway will definitely be targeted, hopefully we can give the home crowd something to cheer for, on the contrary to Rogaland GP in the 2012 season, which would've been awesome. Looking forward to see the race profile of Tour of Tasmania aswell, new races are always interesting.
And nice to see GP Liechtenstein still in it, that was a great race to play last season. |
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| roturn |
Posted on 30-10-2012 21:41
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ember wrote:
That's definitely a nice looking calendar, Tour of Norway will definitely be targeted, hopefully we can give the home crowd something to cheer for, on the contrary to Rogaland GP in the 2012 season, which would've been awesome. Looking forward to see the race profile of Tour of Tasmania aswell, new races are always interesting.
And nice to see GP Liechtenstein still in it, that was a great race to play last season.
Check my Stage thread. |
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 30-10-2012 21:42
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Directeur Sportif
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ember wrote:
Looking forward to see the race profile of Tour of Tasmania aswell, new races are always interesting.
You may take a look into roturn's PCM12 stages-thread then
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 30-10-2012 23:01
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Team Leader
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Nice looking calendar. I hope I can save some money to apply for a couple of wildcards.
I make kumazan's words mine. It's great that Appia Antica has been promoted, it's an awesome race. PT level awesome now.
Also I can't leave without praising that portuguese race. Even though it's in Lisboa and it's probably flat, I'll do everything in my power to get my troops signed in for that race
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| CountArach |
Posted on 30-10-2012 23:24
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Grand Tour Champion
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So many cobbled races for wildcards!
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| fenian_1234 |
Posted on 30-10-2012 23:27
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Good to see that the Vuelta a Colombia has held on to its place in the PT.
Is the Ronde going to be the old route or the new route? |
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 30-10-2012 23:37
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Team Manager
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fenian_1234 wrote:
Good to see that the Vuelta a Colombia has held on to its place in the PT.
Is the Ronde going to be the old route or the new route?
2012 Ronde has more climbing in it, so most likely it will be that one. Still going to be classified as flat rather than hilly, unfortunately - but thats the story of PCM12.
Gustavovskiy wrote:
Nice looking calendar. I hope I can save some money to apply for a couple of wildcards.
I make kumazan's words mine. It's great that Appia Antica has been promoted, it's an awesome race. PT level awesome now.
Also I can't leave without praising that portuguese race. Even though it's in Lisboa and it's probably flat, I'll do everything in my power to get my troops signed in for that race
It starts and ends in Lisbon, so a flat finish. But the route loops as far North as Torres Vedras, so Ive found a few hills to include along the way.
Edited by SportingNonsense on 30-10-2012 23:42
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 31-10-2012 06:02
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World Champion
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Great PT calendar, nice inclusion of Tasmania, north Europe Tour and Strada Appia, that should be a spectacular classic, as we know from D2.
I hope Metinvest will save some money to apply for at least one Italian stage race and Czech classic. 
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