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Ronde van Belgie Discussion
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 28-05-2013 20:37
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World Champion
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Following a dominant overall victory that also included two stages wins in Tour de Kumano,  Lieuwe Westra has stepped up to become the big favourite to take his second race in a short period. Beside him, there's also Vadim Shaekhov, another strong climber and capable timetriallist.
Others looking to use the long TT to build up an advantage for the hilly stage as well include  Rick Flens,  Ludovic Bret and  Aggrey Sebright, though all of them will likely suffer badly on stage 5's many climbs.
Especially with the likes of  Jordi Grau,  Perikles Ilias,  Sergiu Cioban and many others wanting to make that stage as hard as they possibly can to drop the time trial specialists and sprinters who are likely to enter the stage at the head of the GC.
Speaking of sprinters, there's a whole bunch of them - ready to have a go at the three first stages.  Azizulhasni Awang won a stage in last year's edition of this race and should actually be able to cope with all three flat stages given the complete lack of climbs.
Looking to challenge him are Hans Dekkers, Igor Abakoumov and  Francesco Lasca, along with plenty of others.
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| Spilak23 |
Posted on 28-05-2013 20:40
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No Larsson, no Niemic. Westra will have another simple run for his money
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| Smowz |
Posted on 28-05-2013 21:00
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Team Leader
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Gazelle are just unreal in these races, Southland, Kumano and now nearer home in Belgium.
Away from them, I am as ever keeping an eye on Cadburys and also Haider Anuawar a former Red Bull man, hoping he can pick up a win from the first three stages.
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 29-05-2013 06:39
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This is simple, Westra is overwhelming favourite, i would be surprised to see anybody even challenging him a bit, but in PCM, there is plenty of room for surprises. 
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| ggDonovan |
Posted on 29-05-2013 10:28
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I also think this tour was made for Westra... there isn't any real contender that can match his stats.
On our side, I really hope the last stage will be a though enough to produce some nice gaps.
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| Ad Bot |
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| CountArach |
Posted on 29-05-2013 11:03
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I have to agree with others - Westra is the huge favourite here. Abakoumov could be interesting in the sprints with his nationality bonus but I think Dekkers will take a couple of stages.
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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 29-05-2013 13:47
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Whoa, I'm surprised by this startlist!
The Ronde van België is a major 'Hilly/TT' tour and the CT has quite a number of riders who would be good here. But of my top 10 favorites on this terrain only Flens and Westra turned up.  https://pcmdaily.c...ost_658659
So I'll have to agree with you all; Westra should take this.
There are some dangers though. If Westra grabs the yellow before the last stage, I'm not sure my support team is strong enough to control the puncheurs. My best hilly domestiques are not here.
But I have good hope that Flens or a sprinter will start stage 5 in the yellow and that Westra will be one of the attackers.
Another potential problem is stage 5 not being fast enough and have Flens or some sprinter (looking at you, Lasca and Belletti) hang on.
So enough tension left if you ask me. Looking forward to it.
Edited by DubbelDekker on 29-05-2013 15:44
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 29-05-2013 14:12
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If stage 5 is raced hard enough then Jiriakov could end up stealing another top 5 on GC, especially if it is mainly sprinters ahead of him going into the stage. I can't see anyone besting Westra though, unless he has some sort of issue.
I reckon this will come down to who loses the least over the TT out of the punchers as I reckon there will be a select group at the end of stage 5 with about 30 men in contention but a small group of 5-6 that have got away.
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| Firefly21 |
Posted on 29-05-2013 17:07
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Domestique
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Unless one of the hill specialists gets a big gap on stage 5, Its got to be Westra pretty much.
Ilias can't TT worth a damn, and I should have brought Graf for the TT, even though he'd get dropped early on in stage 5. I really did not use him enough this season. Still maybe our Greek Puncheur can conjure something, not holding my breath though.
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| Firefly21 |
Posted on 29-05-2013 21:33
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Domestique
Posts: 506
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Looked at the startlist again.. pretty week even by C2 standards
There is only 24 riders with 70+ for Hill and of those riders only 3 have TT of 70+...and all race for Gazelle.
There are a handful of Belgians, the home crowd will probably be behind Kevin De Weert but there are couple of bright prospects in Zico Waeytens and Tim Wellens. Abakoumov is the best hope for the home fans for the first 3 stages and he's a likely one for the sprints.
Could be a huge race for Gazelle if the finishing stage doesn't shatter the peleton - they'll likely have the best position going in. Flens might win the TT but I can't see him hanging on in stage 5.
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 30-05-2013 06:21
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World Champion
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Just so you know, the first report will be with you later today. I've got my final exam today, so I'll get to work on the report once I get home. Sorry for the slight delay.
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| ggDonovan |
Posted on 30-05-2013 08:50
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Pellizotti2 wrote:
Just so you know, the first report will be with you later today. I've got my final exam today, so I'll get to work on the report once I get home. Sorry for the slight delay.
Don't worry about any delay, first thing first 
Good luck with the exam!
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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 30-05-2013 12:38
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No problem. Good luck!
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 30-05-2013 12:51
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Pellizotti2 wrote:
Just so you know, the first report will be with you later today. I've got my final exam today, so I'll get to work on the report once I get home. Sorry for the slight delay.
Good Luck for your exam, hope it goes well for you.
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| jaxika |
Posted on 30-05-2013 12:51
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Good luck |
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| jaxika |
Posted on 30-05-2013 15:28
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Pfff..... more then dissapointing |
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 30-05-2013 15:30
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World Champion
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Thanks all.
Opening stage has now been posted.
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| Stevenag |
Posted on 30-05-2013 15:42
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Domestique
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Thats just insane. Da Dalto is barely good enough a sprinter to be a good leadout even at this level. Lasca flops in the final sprint though after having a good position. I guess the two man break away destroyed the chance for a lot of the biggest sprinters. |
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 30-05-2013 16:54
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Awang might need to work on his positioning at the finale as whilst he is one of huge strongest sprinters he's never got the right position, does anyone know what stat would need training to help correct this?
Still at least he claimed some bonus seconds from the intermediate sprint points to lie 4th on GC.
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| Smowz |
Posted on 30-05-2013 17:04
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Well the sprint fail here is partly due to a lot of things really. Firstly Awang went for the intermediates and secondly the wind which seems to cause havoc.
Even with those series of events I cannot understand how Harrison managed to come 3rd for Cadburys. Very lucky for the guys who got that win.
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