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[C2] FBD Éire Tour Discussion
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| niconico |
Posted on 09-09-2013 17:09
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2013 FBD Éire Tour
Previous Winners
2012: William Ford
2011: Fränk Schleck
2010: Giovanni Visconti
2009: Timothy Duggan
Most Stage Wins
Tom Boonen - 4
After two years of ProTour status the FBD Éire Tour returns to Ireland as part of the Continental calendar for the first time ranked as a C.2 race. Defending champion William Ford is not going to be back here since his team simply is not here. Actually none of the four previous gets a chance of taking a second here as we will get a fifth winner in about a weeks time.
Route
The race starts off with a TTT for the first time in race history, but how decisive is that going to be? Next two stages are flat and suited for the powerful guys. After that it turns interesting with undulating terrain in stages four and five before a quick return to a flattish route in stage six. Stage seven looks decisive and it could see the leader's jersey changing hands with a very tough uphill finish before the final stage which is more or less flat except for a couple of rolling hills near the finish.
Favourites
The field is not exactly huge this year with just nine teams lining up. All of them with seven riders except  Kappa - ENI, who is bound to lose a lot of time in the first stage with just four riders starting first stage's TTT in Dundalk.
A team that looks strong in this stage in particular is  Team Gazelle. They also have the rider who might just be the biggest favourite to win it all, namely Lieuwe Westra. The Dutchman has had a very good season so far and he will definitely be looking to keep in the Top 10 picture of the Continental Individual Rankings.
So there's him. What about some challengers you say? Maybe this guy.  Tarik Chaoufi. The Moroccan is the strongest hilly rider in the peloton and if his team can keep him in contention in the opening stage, he could very well be the one to watch.
Which brings us to a quartet of strong bike riders. The two  Privatbank members, Eduard Vorganov and Cesar Andres Fonte are also two to look out for. They have a solid team around that should get them through the TTT in orderly fashion. Then we have one of those Kappa - ENI riders. While the team is bound to lose time in the TTT, Francesco Failli is going to be a force that should be reckoned with when we hit the hills. He might only be racing for stage wins but he is an unknown factor that could spice this up a whole lot.  Perikles Ilias is a mountainbike rider who has come to race for Magna-Ryanair this season. He also likes the hills and has the potentiel to be among the Top 5 GC guys here.
Another rider that deserves a mention GC wise is  ANC-Halfords Tom Danielson. While not being the most punchy rider he still has some abilities in that department and is definitely known as a great Continental Tour climber. He has a good team around him and he will be interesting to watch.
The Sprinters
With quite a few opportunities to show off sprinting abilities some teams look designed to be going here for just that. While may have Tom Danielson for the overall they also have the perhaps strongest sprinter here, Ricki Nelson. Two other teams without GC guys but with two very powerful riders are  Adira-Isq Project and  Jaguar - Eritel who have brought Jurgen van Loocke and Sam Bennett here.
Other sprinter presences worth noting are Nico Schinker, Isaac Speirs,  Alex Ciocan and his lead-out man Roy Eefting,  Siarhei Papok and Filipe Cardoso.
Let's get underway!
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 09-09-2013 17:13
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Great preview Nico. 
Well, Ciocan can get one or two stage wins and hope that either Criel or Alafaci can sneak into the GC top 10. Or Ciocan to take bonus seconds and then make a pretty good hill stage. Altough, probably won't be the best TTT for the team tough. |
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| Dippofix |
Posted on 09-09-2013 17:14
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I think the TTT will be decisive, can't see there being too many gaps on stage seven really. But how will it work for Kappa-ENI? The time of their fourth rider Counts or something different?
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 09-09-2013 17:15
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Looks like a weaker startlist, so hopefully we can do well with Chaoufi. Our TTT squad is good as well, and sprints should be covered by Schinker and Brammeier.
Looking forward to the reports  |
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| niconico |
Posted on 09-09-2013 17:24
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Dippofix wrote:
I think the TTT will be decisive, can't see there being too many gaps on stage seven really. But how will it work for Kappa-ENI? The time of their fourth rider Counts or something different?
The four riders will lose the amount of time they are slower than the fifth rider of the winning team, but they are destined for last place because of their rider shortage.
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| Dippofix |
Posted on 09-09-2013 17:29
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niconico wrote:
Dippofix wrote:
I think the TTT will be decisive, can't see there being too many gaps on stage seven really. But how will it work for Kappa-ENI? The time of their fourth rider Counts or something different?
The four riders will lose the amount of time they are slower than the fifth rider of the winning team, but they are destined for last place because of their rider shortage.
Ah ok, good to know.
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 09-09-2013 17:41
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Didn't know Visconti won this race back then. So two of my riders are amongst the previous winners both were not allowed to take part though, even if Oz would have been interested in defending Ford's title!
Would be cool of Bennett or Speirs could grab a stage on home soil! Good luck!
And nice preview!
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| Firefly21 |
Posted on 09-09-2013 17:43
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Great preview.
Hopefully we can complete one of our goals (considering we're on a great rate of failure with out goals so far...). Ilias can grab a top 5...lets hope he does.
Would be nice if Ireland's own Isaac Speirs could nab a victory in the sprints as well.
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| fjhoekie |
Posted on 09-09-2013 17:44
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If the TTT is decisive I'm actually positive Vorganov might win this...
But I'd settle for a top 3 and a top 10
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game |
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Posted on 22-11-2024 14:09
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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 09-09-2013 19:55
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Hope my two 76 TT riders take a sensible approach and don't tear up the rest. I need a pace that Daspuntsag, 68 TT, can follow. He's my number 5. If they do, I can win this.
Adira, Kenya, Privatbank, Halfords and Gazelle are my favorites for this TTT.
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 09-09-2013 21:05
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Well that's a disappointing start...
Gazelle win once again, they should dominate the race after that. Congrats DubbelDekker. |
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| fjhoekie |
Posted on 09-09-2013 21:32
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Not too bad... but 46 seconds is too much... Should've brought Athanasiades...
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game |
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 09-09-2013 21:51
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@nico Im not sure I would call a British team a 'home favourite' in an Irish race!
Irish riders, sure, and Im hoping Bennett can shine in the sprints - as Irish champion as well, this is his big target for the season on home soil.
Very ominous start from Gazelle, they will be even harder to beat from here. I like how you reported the TTT, keeping some suspense by holding back some of the times.
Edited by SportingNonsense on 09-09-2013 21:52
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 09-09-2013 21:54
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Well, that was decent. Still, we faded. Bring me some joy now my boy Ciocan. |
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| niconico |
Posted on 09-09-2013 21:57
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SportingNonsense wrote:
@nico Im not sure I would call a British team a 'home favourite' in an Irish race!
Irish riders, sure, and Im hoping Bennett can shine in the sprints - as Irish champion as well, this is his big target for the season on home soil.
Very ominous start from Gazelle, they will be even harder to beat from here. I like how you reported the TTT, keeping some suspense by holding back some of the times.
Was just thinking that Ireland is part of Great Britain, when I now realize they actually aren't 
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| Spilak23 |
Posted on 09-09-2013 22:28
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Didn't come because of fear in the TTT. Rightfully so it seems. Gazelle keep dominating, they'll get another huge amount of points here.
edit: Forgot to mention both the intro and the stage 1 report were high class!
Edited by Spilak23 on 09-09-2013 22:29
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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 09-09-2013 23:18
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I'm proud of the team; that was a mighty win.
There's still a lot of work to do on the road to Skerries, but we're in a good position. I hope to see an aggressive Westra in the hills. And in this field Minnard, Kriek and Daspuntsag might be able to surprise. Looking forward to those stages.
Good job on the preview and reports indeed.
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| fintas |
Posted on 09-09-2013 23:58
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Contrary to what was said in the preview my greatest hope lies in Irvine that ran in the house and taking into account what has made ​​this season may well surprise here. Van Loocke has already proven to be a complete failure so do not expect anything from him.
I'm very pleased with the outcome of the first stage, did not expect to reach the second position and not for the full domain by the gazzele and have even won, so could not ask for better.
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 10-09-2013 10:51
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6th by Ciocan and 8th by Mora. Well, not bad, but meh. This race is already looking like a bad race for us and it just started. I'm hoping that in mainly stage 4, 6 and 8 Ciocand or Mora do something. |
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| fintas |
Posted on 10-09-2013 11:06
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What else we must do to get something from Van Loocke way??
For the first time we had a train running and it worked perfectly but, as I expected Van Loocke is not able to handle. The few hopes that had just fade way...
congrats to Privatbank
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