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Le Tour de Langkawi discussion thread
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| Smowz |
Posted on 27-02-2013 21:45
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Le Tour De Langkawi has a nice history in the ManGame, with some memorable moments on the Genting highlands as well as some notable sprinters performances. This year's edition is slightly toned down with just the one climb up to Genting Highlands which is followed by a hilly stage to the coast which is likely to see some decisive racing.
We also open with a time trial, which at 20km could also be crucial towards GC chasing riders. We have seven stages for the sprinters, a couple are a little lumpy but we should still see some entertainment in those final gallops for which the Tour of Langkawi has seen plenty.
GC contenders:
We have five big climbing leaders here:
 Vadim Ratiy probably just about shades the favourites tag given his more than decent ability against the clock. However he has yet to land a big GC race yet with second at last years Tour de San Luis his best result to date. VolksWagen won last year's Langkawi with Marzano so this could become one of their lucky races.
 Jose Serpa has a wealth of experience and will probably like the conditions here in Malaysia. He was second here in 2011 behind two time winner Bernhard Kohl, though like Ratiy does seem to suffer some allergy to actually winning on GC. His 2012 was spent on domestique duty for Festina in the protour.
We have another former super domestique who could do well here in  Maxim Iglinski. He is better known as a luxury domestique from his Vesuvio days, this though is a good chance for him to break out and has similar skills to Serpa.
 Castano had a solid if unspectacular race last year on his way to third place overall. Like Serpa he was aided by mid race crashes and looked a little flat footed when outmanoeuvred in the last stage by Moreno for second. Will have to work harder to beat VolksWagen's elect this time.
 Jianhua Ji will be eager to show how far the Far East has come to producing a bona fida GC candidate. Though he isn't great against the clock, he will probably enjoy the wide road climbs as we get often here in Asia. It's been a meandering development for Ji but could well have found a stable home in the Meiji camp. Meiji enjoyed a plucky debut in the race picking up a stage win along the way.
The Genting stage does look a tough one but if the big guns do not fire then strong climbing TTers like  Larsson or  Peraud. These two riders will be looking to limit their losses on the big climbing stages, whilst both will look to possibly challenge for a win on stage one.
Outside GC hopes can be added here with token Colombian mountain goat  Ardila Cano, 25 year old prospect  Alizadeh, long time failed climber  Bosisio, and  Cisco pair Osella and Dyachenko.
Sprinters:
 Lo Cicero is one of those sprinters that commanded a massive wage for 2013. His team may have hoped to have things his own way but the presence of Belgian powerhouse  Roelandts and Italian young stallion Guarnieri could well upset his sprint plans.
Manan carries home hopes, with Manarelli, Bazajev, Ferrari and  Lorenzetto possible outside hopes.
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| cio93 |
Posted on 27-02-2013 21:54
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Rooting for VW and Vattenfall intruding the PCT promotion seekers for a surprise.
Btw stage 5 is a joke, how hard do you have to screw up an algorithm to rate this flat, Cyanide?? 
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 27-02-2013 21:56
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cio93 wrote:
Rooting for VW and Vattenfall intruding the PCT promotion seekers for a surprise.
Btw stage 5 is a joke, how hard do you have to screw up an algorithm to rate this flat, Cyanide??
Believe me, there's going to be worst rated stage's this year, trust me. |
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| Alakagom |
Posted on 27-02-2013 21:58
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With just one decisive mountain stage, this will be very interesting how it plays out as we could see big peleton ( 15-25/30 ) possibly as in other races already coming.
Should be very exciting to follow.
Edited by Alakagom on 27-02-2013 21:58
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| rycadinho |
Posted on 27-02-2013 22:00
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If Castaño can stay on his bike, then he should be able to score some very valuable points to the team.
- I doubt that Bazajev can do anything against sprinters of this calibre, but he might have a go for the point jersey due to his stability and experience.
That stage 5 does indeed look rather random, can anyone say how it will work out? A mass sprint finish would be hilarious 
Anyway, I'm really looking forward to this and thanks for yet another good preview Smowz.
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| fenian_1234 |
Posted on 27-02-2013 22:02
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Had hoped for some wins from Guarnieri against a weak field here. Lo Cicero and Roelandts not exactly weak though.... |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 07:41
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| Crommy |
Posted on 27-02-2013 22:25
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Expecting at least a couple of stage wins from Roelandts here!
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| tyriion |
Posted on 27-02-2013 22:46
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Lorenzetto has to pick his days carefully here, but that will always be the case. Looking forward to it.
Check out my ManGame team here
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| Bjartne |
Posted on 27-02-2013 22:59
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Lololol, you got my excact thoughts Smowz. I had really big hopes of a weak sprinting field in Malaysia due to the amount of race days. But we'll have to cope with it. I just hope he can salvage anything out of this race for us.
And thanks for a well written preview  |
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| CountArach |
Posted on 28-02-2013 00:34
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This is a really weak startlist but with so few stages for the GC riders I guess that's to be expected.
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 28-02-2013 01:49
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Fairly weak startlist, and Ji could contend for a Top 5 as long as he doesn't lose too much on the TT and there are gaps on the mountain stage.
My only fear is that the sprinters seem to be rated Team Leader on most teams even though there are better options for Captain, which may lead me to believe the gaps will be minimal on the climbs, but hopefully not.
In any case, Manan is here with the nationality bonus and looking for some Top 5's, or even a win.
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| maxime86 |
Posted on 28-02-2013 01:55
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really like serpa for the GC and i like Guarnieri for a sprint win |
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 28-02-2013 03:19
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Definitely need a Top-10 by Peraud here. So hopefully he can hang on in the mountain-stage.
A nice collection of points would be great anyway, i'm also glad to have none of my best sprinters here.
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 28-02-2013 06:06
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Good luck to all in Malaysia, the GC fight will be interesting, maybe Peraud and Larsson can be very good in GC, thnaks to only one mountain stage and that opening TT.
And i am very glad that Guarnieri, Roelandts and LoCicero are here. Why? Because they will spend some valuable race days here, instead in races where we will have Hoffman. 
Nice preview Smowz, you are quite a busy man now, with Algarve and Langkawi to report, thanks for a nice job!
Edited by Avin Wargunnson on 28-02-2013 06:08
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| Heine |
Posted on 28-02-2013 07:52
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I've been both scared about this race and looking forward to it. Flügel is a rider I can trust will give me great results, Ratiy on the other hand is a question mark. This can go really well and really bad. Anyway, his support (compared to last year) is stronger by me bringing Delgado here. Hopefully that will be worth something. Other than that it will be interesting to see if Zabel can do anything in the sprints. He's not the lead-sprinter in a lot of races but this is one of them
Larsson is one of the riders that really scares me, if he can steal quite some time in the time trial it might be hard to distance him in the mountain :/
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| MrOBJ |
Posted on 28-02-2013 10:24
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For some reason I haven´t chosen Ekh Dahlberg or Ebsen to this race, which make me quite mad.. But nevertheless I think this could be great.
Larsson is this best TT-rider of all the favorites, and hopefully he can obtain a minute or two, to the best climbers in the start. And then I really hope that the gaps will become small at the climb.
But this could also turn out to be a nightmare if Larsson dosen´t ride well, so I´m bit nervous! |
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| aidanvn13 |
Posted on 28-02-2013 15:50
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I'm just trying to remember why I didn't send a sprinter to this race 
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 28-02-2013 16:04
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aidanvn13 wrote:
I'm just trying to remember why I didn't send a sprinter to this race
You're not the only one. I'm still trying to workout why I didn't when they would have had home race advantage.
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| CountArach |
Posted on 28-02-2013 16:10
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MrOBJ wrote:
Larsson is this best TT-rider of all the favorites, and hopefully he can obtain a minute or two, to the best climbers in the start. And then I really hope that the gaps will become small at the climb.
I think Larsson has a great chance of at least getting a podium here. I don't see the time gaps being huge at the end of this climb and with his TT skill that could be great. Nice choice putting him here, it suits him more than some of the punchier TT based courses.
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| brownwm |
Posted on 28-02-2013 20:35
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I am hoping for the mountain and hilly stages to be very selective, otherwise I can see a time-trialist winning this tour. Hopefully I can push for a top 10, and maybe get lucky in a breakaway on the flatter stages.
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