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Tour of South Africa Discussion Thread
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| mb2612 |
Posted on 01-02-2013 23:23
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The Tour of South Africa is here, and what a wonderfully diverse field we have in front of us. 20 teams chock full of the greatest talent the pro continental tour has to offer.
Leading the way are Jaguar who have brought their double threat of Froome and Dowsett, although surely neither of them will be as successful as Bellis was last year. Bellis, now riding for Rothaus, is back as well, and along with Ginanni and Gautier he should be the biggest rival to Jaguar. Behind them come Ben Nasser and Flugel, while saving the best for last is Roche, whose sprinting and back up stats would make him favourite if only he had a stronger team.
For the sprinters, Lo Cicero, Gatto and Vingerling are the favourites, while home crowd favourite Hoffman is also a major threat. Park, Andriato and Drujon should also challenge for wins. Also here are the Herald Cycle Series stage winners Abdallah and Day, although I suspect they will find playing with the big boys a step to far.
The stages will hopefully be well balanced with 4 flat stages, and three hilly, the first of which climbs to over 1000 metres before its descent to the finish. The last 50km of the stage is relatively flat though, so it will be hard for anyone to create gaps. There is also a descent finish on stage 6, although with no flat run in expect this hill to be more decisive. Stage 5 is likely to be the queen stage, with multiple circuits of a 6% climb wearing out the legs, and an uphill finish to enable gaps to magnify as the tired slip back.
The four flat stages all have different dynamics, meaning that Lo Cicero won't just clean up here, with all four having some sort of obstacle to provide interest.
Startlist:
Spoiler Jaguar-Eritel
Team BPost
Pivovarna Laško
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
Team Bintang
PFG-Armavia
Rothaus - Aegon
Team WWE
AirBaltic - Endura
VolksWagen-Mapei
Metinvest-Emirates
MTN - World Bicycle Relief
Repsol-Cativen
Alstom-RBC
Vueling Airlines
ING Cycling Project
Meiji - Cannondale
Team CSC-Orbea
HTC Nieuwsblad
LukOil-Rostelekom
Edited by mb2612 on 01-02-2013 23:29
 [url=www.pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=33182] Team Santander Media Thread[/url]
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| Bjartne |
Posted on 01-02-2013 23:46
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Nice preview mb!
I was unsure whether to send Lo Cicero here or not, but gambled on a bit weaker sprinting field here than other stage races. The problem though is if he is struggling in following the peloton over the hills, and therefore failing like in Tour of South China Sea. He'll need a victory or a couple of podiums to be worth the trip.
This can either proving to be a brilliant or as I'm fearing; a terrible decision 
Edited by Bjartne on 01-02-2013 23:47
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| cio93 |
Posted on 01-02-2013 23:57
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Shishelov FTW!
Amazing amount of top puncheurs this season, will be interesting to see whether Bellis collects many bonus seconds in the sprints like last year and stays ahead.
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| Christer |
Posted on 02-02-2013 00:14
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I wonder how this race will go. Hoping Dombrowski shows a little class here, and also that Vingerling proves that he's the best dutch sprinter!
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| roturn |
Posted on 02-02-2013 00:22
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Definitely hope that Bellis can repeat his 2012 performance. Would be a perfect start for him into this season. 1-2 stages are a bit interesting, on the others he should be able to stay and hopefully gain time. In PCM11 he would have gained time so I hope it`s the same in PCM12.  |
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| CountArach |
Posted on 02-02-2013 02:17
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I'm betting that Bellis won't take time in sprints but will narrowly win. Great field and preview.
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 02-02-2013 03:47
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I mostly just sent riders here to get race days Park can maybe salvage something in the sprints, although I doubt it, and Doi or Signorini can hopefully grab some KOM points or get into a successful breakaway on one of the hillier stages.
At this rate though, its looking like Kinoshita will be the one to get in the breaks, he's been our stand out aggressive rider all year as well as in the Crit series.
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| Smowz |
Posted on 02-02-2013 06:53
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Mb has worked hard behind the scenes on the stages for this one - it is a real fascinating course which should offer up some exciting racing with a big field.
Breakaways had a fair bit of success last year, but the queen stages 5 and 6 should see the decisive action. The presence of Ginanni, Roche, Bellis, Froome, Flugal, Gautier, Ben Nasser and Roy really make this a top class field.
First four stages could all well still end in sprints, depends how second stage is raced.
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| Heine |
Posted on 02-02-2013 06:59
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Finally I start my season  And it fits that it is in South Africa, as I'm down here atm
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| fenian_1234 |
Posted on 02-02-2013 09:29
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Some strong teams here - strong enough I hope to not let a break get away one stage and win. Hope the winner is a good hilly rider. Ginanni would be perfect. |
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| kumazan |
Posted on 02-02-2013 09:47
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I really need Ben Nasser to do well here. The goal is a top 5, so it'll be difficult, but it definitely is possible. If Bole/Kump can also be in the mix taking some points in the hillier sprints it'd be nice too.
Edited by kumazan on 02-02-2013 09:47
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 07:00
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| Alakagom |
Posted on 02-02-2013 09:49
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I expect 0 points here. If I get >0 points, I can call this race a success Breaks, breaks and and again, breaks.
Edited by Alakagom on 02-02-2013 09:49
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| mb2612 |
Posted on 02-02-2013 10:56
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Huh, I just noticed I no longer need to crop screenshots.
My day has just become significantly better.
[url=www.pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=33182] Team Santander Media Thread[/url]
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| cio93 |
Posted on 02-02-2013 11:01
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Alakagom wrote:
I expect 0 points here. If I get >0 points, I can call this race a success Breaks, breaks and and again, breaks.
Reminds me a lot of my last season where we had many races with such lineups due to our lack of leaders. We are really really similar teams
But we had some really good results with lots of breaks succeeding, I remember three stage wins from the top of my head.
May the luck be with you
Edited by cio93 on 02-02-2013 11:26
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| ANFreeman |
Posted on 02-02-2013 11:11
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All three of my best hilly riders here, which is concerning due to how overwhelmed they'll be
Still, I'm hoping for a nice surprise from Mandri, maybe he'll slip under the radar. As for the overall... Jaguar
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| CrueTrue |
Posted on 02-02-2013 12:01
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Schreurs will be leading out Vueling. Not mentioned among the favourites, but I have high hopes nonetheless  |
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| roturn |
Posted on 03-02-2013 09:29
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This was a weird sprint. When I saw a Rothaus rider I was pretty sure it would be Van Heerden. And maybe Bellis but I never had the idea that Iglinski would sprint here. And so I am even more surprised/impressed to see him sprinting on the podium.
I wished Bellis would have sprinted at least as the stage positions might become important...
I somehow have the feeling that Bellis kind of riders were far more worth in PCM11 than in PCM12. |
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 03-02-2013 09:47
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roturn wrote:
This was a weird sprint. When I saw a Rothaus rider I was pretty sure it would be Van Heerden. And maybe Bellis but I never had the idea that Iglinski would sprint here. And so I am even more surprised/impressed to see him sprinting on the podium.
I wished Bellis would have sprinted at least as the stage positions might become important...
I somehow have the feeling that Bellis kind of riders were far more worth in PCM11 than in PCM12.
I think that was more to do with Bellis's positioning Roturn because if you look Ryan Anderson was 5th in the sprint so it is possible for Bellis just needs better Positioning , but great win by Hoffman showed real power and Drujon nearly got to him as well. Tomorrow will be very intresting as it's a lot harder stage then today so i hope Anderson could maybe get a top 3 if it's a really hard stage! |
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| mb2612 |
Posted on 03-02-2013 09:57
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Yeah, it was just who happened to be up there at the time as the sprinters with bad hill stats went backwards.
[url=www.pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=33182] Team Santander Media Thread[/url]
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| CountArach |
Posted on 03-02-2013 09:58
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Oh wow, I didn't think Drujon would come in 2nd here. He is mostly here to aim for top 5s and a decent placing in the points jersey competition, so a podium is fantastic news. Even though his hill stat isn't great, it might still be good enough to keep these performances up compared to riders like Lo Cicero.
Nice work from Hoffman to take the win, Metinvest need him to have a great season so that they aren't relying 100% on Popovych.
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