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Gisborne GP Discussion Thread
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| CountArach |
Posted on 25-02-2013 11:00
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Grand Tour Champion
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Gisborne GP (1.1)
The day after the PT fight it out at La Primavera, the PCT teams line up for one hell of a race on the other side of the world – New Zealand to be precise. The course clocks in at 226km but with over 28km of climbing over the length of the course this is not one for the faint of heart. The two laps taking in the final climb will almost certainly decide things, but it will not be an easy ride for the rest of the day.
And for a C1 race we have an amazing startlist. This is great news given that another hilly race is on during the same day with the GP Lugano. Most of the division’s best puncheurs are here, which promises an exciting race and means that some are sure to be disappointed with their results at the end of the day. So let’s see what the teams look like.
Wearing number one, representing  Vespa is Francesco Ginanni. Undoubtedly one of the top puncheurs in the division, he will undoubtedly like the longer distance, as well as the tougher course. His team is a bit light on support, however, but Bosisio should be able to chase back anything too problematic.
 Nicholas Roche is the next on the list of favourites, coming off the back of a strong race in Catalunya. He is another one who will like the tough course as well as the distance and he suffers the same problem as Ginanni – his team just isn’t too strong at all so he may have to do everything himself.
Another hot tip for today is  Aleksandr Efimkin. He will have no trouble on the climbs but his sprint isn’t too strong so he will have to finish on his own if he wants to win this. Salerno and Taborre provide him with two super domestiques to get him to the line in good shape, so he just has to finish it off. Cisco are relying on him to bring in big results this season so a strong finish will be important here.
Always a team with strong puncheurs,  Jaguar have sent their leader Chris Froome here. He is another one with a poor sprint and if you thought that the other leaders had problems with support, then they have nothing on Froome’s lack of domestiques. Still, Froome has a great talent on this terrain and can’t be underestimated.
 Patrick Sinkewitz will be looking for a strong result for Vueling on this tough course. Vueling have sent their best support riders to Lugano instead of here and as such Sinkewitz will be on his own at the end of the race. Further, an uphill sprint may not suit him, and so he might have to go from further out to secure a win in this race.
 Jeremy Roy leads a decent squad here, with Durasek and Anderson both providing strong support. Roy could be a good outside bet if this comes down to a small group sprinting it out, as he has a very good finishing kick. The distance could be a slight problem for him, however.
Discount leader  Thomas Zaini will be the man who Meiji turn to at this race but with Hatanaka they definitely have someone capable of acting as a bit of a wildcard. They would definitely need luck to win here, but both should definitely perform well in the race.
Leading the charge for the CT teams is  Dietmar Mehr-Wenige. The distance might be a slight problem for him, but the hills probably won’t be. As you would expect from a CT team the support is definitely fairly weak, but it is still a great chance for Mehr-Wenige to show himself against the higher league. Mehr-Wenige could be a decent bet if you are looking to put some money down on a wildcard.
 Giovanni Visconti as one of Oz’s three leaders. The other two are Matthew Lloyd and Jiao Pengda. While all three would definitely need some luck to win this race, they are all likely to be capable of a top ten under the right circumstances and as such Oz could well come out of this with a decent points total.
The very aggressive  Carlos Barredo headlines for Amex here, and you get the feeling that he will probably just be a bit outclassed with this opposition. He will need to attack to secure a strong result here, which is probably how he was going to race anyway.
Looking fairly outclassed here,  Rothaus will be lead by Simon Geschke, given that team leader Bellis is at Lugano. Expect to see Rothaus looking for a break or a chance to attack from a fair way out. However, if it does come to a reduced bunch, Geschke has a great sprint and can climb well enough to apply this to the uphill finish.
Strangely,  Sram didn’t send any of their three best puncheurs here and as such Jiri Hudecek leads his team. He will struggle to punch with the best here and will need to be aggressive to secure any result at all. Most of the rest of the team doesn’t look particularly up for this race either and some are undoubtedly here to make up numbers or for experience.
Looking for some valuable ranking points (despite the fact that their manager recently stated that he is hoping for relegation this year), the  Evian duo of Rocchetti and Puusep will perhaps be hoping to play the one-two in order to trick up the other teams. They may struggle at this distance, but with the right combination of luck and solid riding they could well seize a decent result.
This race has proven popular with CT managers, with a total of 6 of the division’s teams signing up to participate. The next one is  ANC – Halfords, who bring Dale Appleby in their retro jersey as their leader. He really isn’t cut out for leadership at this level and may struggle to hold on to the lead group and that won’t be helped by the lack of any real support.
The next CT team are not necessarily known for their talented puncheurs, as  Daniel Silva leads Mobil – Castrol here. More of a climber than a puncheur, he will have to hope that the climbs are much harder than advertised. Most of the team appear to be here for the valuable C1 experience points, however, so it is understandable. Expect to see these guys looking for a break.
The fairly green  Pieter Serry will lead HTC Nieuwsblad to this race and he is undoubtedly here for the experience, which is unsurprising given the average age of his whole team. Still, you think that with the large number of young puncheurs HTC will have a shot at sticking someone in the break and hoping that can stay away.
With no clear leader here  Cadbury will really be hoping to stick someone in the break. Even then only Frend or Vink look capable of staying with the break long enough to see it to the end. Still, there is no harm in trying.
The manager of  Bouygues Telecom have sent a real strong squad to this race. Of cobbled specialists and mountain goats. Pieter Jacobs leads the team and that should be pretty much all you need to know. They will probably be looking for a break.
 Japanese – Korea Cycling and  Sauber both have sent only 5 riders here with the former at least having Suk-Young Choi to lead them. Sauber are perhaps too thinly spread between here and Lugano. Two races on the same day with the same type of terrain is clearly more than most CT rosters can handle.
Complete Startlist
Edited by CountArach on 25-02-2013 11:01
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 25-02-2013 11:08
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Directeur Sportif
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Nice preview, CA!
Win-goal here for Oz  Just hoping for at least the three mentioned Ozzies to finish around Top-10, maybe Gerrans can also do something. A total fail would be horrible, we need to start scoring now.
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| rycadinho |
Posted on 25-02-2013 11:09
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Great preview, though I'm sure that Roche can handle himself in the final despite not having the greatest team to help him. Anything else than top 3 from him would be disappointing since this route suits him perfectly.
I believe that Ginnani will win.
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 25-02-2013 11:51
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Intresting start-list and will be great to see one from Roy, Anderson and Durasek pull off a good performance probably around 10 guys who could win but i'll go for Froome i think to take this. |
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| Heine |
Posted on 25-02-2013 12:20
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I'm really glad I opted for Lugano instead of this Someone will leave this race dissapointed
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| Mhaley45 |
Posted on 25-02-2013 13:21
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Looking for Barredo to get a top 10 placing and with the support he has we think that is posible.
Our hope is that we can protect Barredo until the 200k mark and then let him attack. Keeping him protected and as rested as possible is the goal of the rest of the team, and that includes the need to have a rider in the day's breakaway, so we do not have to expend energy chasing.
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Team Manager of AMEX - Navigon
Editor of the Cobbler
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 07:51
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| roturn |
Posted on 25-02-2013 13:50
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Nice preview.
Only real reason for me to start here was that I created the race and never had the opportunity to really play it but a few tests. 
And after transfers with Bellis and Geschke I decided to go for Lugano. Good decision obviously.
A top 15 would be a success here. Top 10 would be very nice. |
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| CrueTrue |
Posted on 25-02-2013 14:06
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Tour de France Champion
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It's hilly, so I must assume it's a race for the sprinters  |
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| fintas |
Posted on 25-02-2013 16:05
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My plan for this race, went downhill after seeing this start list. If I had hopes of a top 10 being possible, now I think at best I'll have to content myself with a top 15 or 20..
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| Alakagom |
Posted on 25-02-2013 16:10
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No expectations whatsoever. If I see HTC jersey on a screen, it will be an achievement
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 25-02-2013 16:56
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Hoping for a top 5, at least. Roche / Froome / Ginanni will be hard to beat, but Efimkin should normally be able to compete with the rest.
Also hoping that Taborre and Salerno can finish well, as we really need some good points now after the disappointing Trentino.
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 25-02-2013 17:29
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Fintas, your not alone. |
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| fintas |
Posted on 25-02-2013 17:51
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Miguel98 wrote:
Fintas, your not alone.
After all, having the eighth best puncheur keeps open the possibility of a pleasing result. But once again Mehr-Wenige have to fight alone because his colleagues are unlikely to be a help. Let's see what the game has in store.
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 25-02-2013 17:57
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Well, I think the goal is: May the PCM logic be ever in your favour. |
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 26-02-2013 05:57
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fintas wrote:
My plan for this race, went downhill after seeing this start list. If I had hopes of a top 10 being possible, now I think at best I'll have to content myself with a top 15 or 20..
Honestly, i am a bit surprised for how many C1 races you have signed in Mehr-Wenige, as there are tons of better/similar punchers in every PCT race he enters, while he would imo rule the CT hilly races with Weening (i have no point score table in my head, is for exaple 5th-10th in PCT better than CT podium?).
Edited by Avin Wargunnson on 26-02-2013 05:58
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| jaxika |
Posted on 26-02-2013 06:33
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Avin Wargunnson wrote:
fintas wrote:
My plan for this race, went downhill after seeing this start list. If I had hopes of a top 10 being possible, now I think at best I'll have to content myself with a top 15 or 20..
Honestly, i am a bit surprised for how many C1 races you have signed in Mehr-Wenige, as there are tons of better/similar punchers in every PCT race he enters, while he would imo rule the CT hilly races with Weening (i have no point score table in my head, is for exaple 5th-10th in PCT better than CT podium?).
5-6th place in PCT (36/32 pts) its better or equal then 2nd in CT (32 pts) . |
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 26-02-2013 06:36
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jaxika wrote:
Avin Wargunnson wrote:
fintas wrote:
My plan for this race, went downhill after seeing this start list. If I had hopes of a top 10 being possible, now I think at best I'll have to content myself with a top 15 or 20..
Honestly, i am a bit surprised for how many C1 races you have signed in Mehr-Wenige, as there are tons of better/similar punchers in every PCT race he enters, while he would imo rule the CT hilly races with Weening (i have no point score table in my head, is for exaple 5th-10th in PCT better than CT podium?).
5-6th place in PCT (36/32 pts) its better or equal then 2nd in CT (32 pts) .
Thanks, then it is quite reasonable,but he cant be out of top 10. 
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 26-02-2013 12:47
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Great rides by Roy and Anderson for 6th and 13th gives me 42 points and a good 21pts per race day can't really complain with that. |
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| Crommy |
Posted on 26-02-2013 13:00
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With three CT teams represented and two of the weaker PCT teams
Oi!
*looks at team startlist*
Oh, carry on
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 26-02-2013 13:02
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Directeur Sportif
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Pretty satisfied with both racing and results for Oz. Wu in the break, Gerrans and Visconti attacking several times, Jiao stronger than expected, Lloyd finishing in Top-10 and four riders in Top-20. Glad to see all of our leaders trying and not just riding for one leader.
Still missed our third sponsor-goal
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