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Vuelta al PaÃs Vasco discussion thread
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| Smowz |
Posted on 14-03-2013 16:00
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The hilly classics men are here in the traditional final training camp for the Ardennes. As has become tradition the tour ends in a hilly time trial following five hard up and down days in the Basque Country.
Two hill top finishes have been selected for this year's route however the much anticipated stage 3 to Eibar has been removed by race organisers and replaced by an equally tough summit finish.
This following furious road widening schemes in the region by Anderspg and Pellizotti roadworks companies.
The favourites must be watchful as decisive moments could happen at any time, similar to perhaps to the classics for which many are preparing for.
 Yuriy Trofimov comes here in winning form after completely dominating the Paris-Nice.
Whilst he comes here on a wave of confidence  Frank Schleck and  Jan Bakelandts will be absolutely fuming following a last stage crash at the much more competitive Tirreno Adriatico.
It is pretty much a merging of those two fields with the likes of Grand Tour hopefuls  Cunego and  Phinney sitting this one out and small stage race coward  Gesink coming in. An interesting move for Project 1t4i as they have left LL Sanchez out given his victory and possibly his best career result in 2010. That said Gesink is the defending champion, so certainly has bragging rights.
 Edvald Boassan Hagan and  Stefan Schumacher have both won stages here in the past. Both also had decent stage races in Tirreno Adriatico and Paris Nice respectively and should go well here.
 Ponzi,  Pozzato,  Di Maggio and  Ullissi lead an Italian invasion all four are well capable of winning a stage here.
Also in the hunt are Belgian trio Claeys,  Gilbert and  Van Den Brouck.
We should also add former world champion Tejay Van Garderen into the reckoning as well.
 Milka,  Simply Red Bull,  Pokerstars and  Bacardi don't really have big overall claims but the position of the race between the cobbled classics makes it difficult for those teams who certainly have strong riders there.
 Santander and  B and O have thin squads this year and once again here they appear to be making up the numbers.
Wild Card team  Hollister have made an electric start to the Continental Tour. Kiserlowski leads a decent all round team that will surely look to penetrate breakaways.
Startlist:
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| Ad Bot |
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 14-03-2013 16:21
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Nice preview and the stages look like they could be fun and selective.
Cheering for Bobridge, obviously 
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| Kami |
Posted on 14-03-2013 16:40
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I send some stage hunters here, and that's about it. Not expecting much expect for riders to join the break.
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| Bushwackers |
Posted on 14-03-2013 16:48
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Wow that is a stacked field. If Schumacher got a Top-5 I'd be happy, but I don't think we can expect much more with this quality. Should be exciting.
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| niconico |
Posted on 14-03-2013 17:40
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Keinath could maybe do something.
Big fat maybe, maybe
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| dave92 |
Posted on 14-03-2013 19:43
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stacked field, still hope for a top 5 from Van Garderen, but it won't be easy
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 14-03-2013 19:52
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Top 3 is the goal...
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| Levi4life |
Posted on 14-03-2013 19:52
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I'm hoping the stages are selective, but not selective enough to drop Pozzato. He has a decent shot at a top 10 if this is the case.
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| ember |
Posted on 14-03-2013 20:11
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With so many brilliant climbers at the start list, it will be really hard for Boasson Hagen to make an impact, I fear. Add the final time trial, and I'm hoping for a top 10 at best. Though, I'm hoping for my first win in the Pro Tour, either on stage 1 or stage 5.
Nice preview, Smowz. Can't wait for the racing!  |
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 15-03-2013 05:58
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Great preview and what a stuffed startlist, full of MG superstars. Trofimov should win some stage(s) along the route and together with him, Schumacher and Gesink could be a good picks for GC podium.
Edited by Avin Wargunnson on 15-03-2013 05:58
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| SotD |
Posted on 15-03-2013 13:34
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Not real ambition here looking at the startlist. Ulissi could potentially do top 10GC and a couple of top 10 stages but that seems to be the best.
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| Roman |
Posted on 15-03-2013 15:31
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A successfull breakaway is probably the only way how my team can achieve something in this race, Nepomnyachsniy bros and Rabon can at least try to achieve something like a stage podium, hopefully.
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| rjc_43 |
Posted on 15-03-2013 23:50
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This has, quite literally, my A Team for hills. Hopefully the team will continue my current strong form, and keep scoring well pre-Grand Tours. |
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| ember |
Posted on 19-03-2013 19:05
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Really disappointing to see Boasson Hagen do nothing in the stage that probably suited him best, together with stage 5. If he continues to be just as anonymous, he'll struggle with a top 20 overall, considering the TT at the end 
Well played to Puma, Milka and B&O. Congratulations! They should be dangerous riders for the GC as well, considering their solid abilities in tough terrain.
And thanks for the report, Smowz. Nicely done, like always
Edited by ember on 19-03-2013 19:52
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| cio93 |
Posted on 19-03-2013 19:18
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Nice job from VDB! 
Seemed like one of those useless-energy-wasting effort the first few times, but it obviously gets rewarded sometimes.
Sadly not that big of a gap considering how it looked some k's before the finish, but 42 seconds on all others isn't too bad, and a 3rd on a stage was certainly not to be expected beforehand.
Now keeping up on stages 2 and 5, using the MO stat on stage 3 and not losing too much on stage 4, and this might indeed become a good result.
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| mattiasgt |
Posted on 19-03-2013 20:41
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I consider the AI in this stage unrealistic, as Trofimov did not win.
(Previously) Manager of Koenigsegg
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 19-03-2013 20:51
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mattiasgt wrote:
I consider the AI in this stage unrealistic, as Trofimov did not win.
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| Roman |
Posted on 20-03-2013 00:34
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I can't help myself and I have to say that PCM's 12 AI is really loving my team, but it seems like it's only in races outside of France, they probably don't like that I sold some French riders in off-season there.
But who cares, what a result! Great effort by Rabon and this is exactly the reason why I bought him. 
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 20-03-2013 06:12
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Roman wrote:
I can't help myself and I have to say that PCM's 12 AI is really loving my team, but it seems like it's only in races outside of France, they probably don't like that I sold some French riders in off-season there.
But who cares, what a result! Great effort by Rabon and this is exactly the reason why I bought him.
I thought you bought him because he is our compatriot.
But he is a great attacking rider, nice job and win from him (also the others in the group), congrats Roman.
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| niconico |
Posted on 20-03-2013 09:44
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Whoops! A B&O rider!?
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