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Lisbon Classic Discussion
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 27-11-2013 13:35
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Welcome to Portugal for the inaugural Lisbon Classic, a flat classic which takes the ProTour peloton around the Portuguese capital. In its first year takes place in the highest tier in cycling. With the 2013 ProTour season reaching its climax, many teams are in desperate needs of points at both ends of the table. Who can claim a potentially crucial advantage?
Despite being rated as flat, the profile isn’t as easy as the sprinters would hope it to be. With 22kms of climbing being spread across the route, and a short hill coming inside the final 15kms, could we see an attacker taking the spoils?
We’ll have to see. The sprinters will definitely be the favourites though, with some of the strongest teams here wanting everything to be together come the finish, leaving their fastmen to shine. The race will be an interesting one for sure, whatever the outcome.
With the sprinters being the main favourites, I’ll talk about their presence on the startlist first. Where better to start then some of the fastest in the world.  Boonen,  Bennati and  Swift can all reach super speeds and are three of the fastest in the business.
Bennati needs to score well to keep Puma away from relegation, while Boonen and Swift will want to take advantage of their slightly longer sprints to take victory. All three have very strong teams, which should give them great service.
They aren’t the only big sprinters here though, by any means. Riders like  Bewley, who has had a brilliant year so far,  Guerao, who shone at the Tour de France, and  Goss, who will want to move his team towards ProTour victory are all very capable to say the least. It remains to be seen whether they are on the standard to trouble the big three!
Behind them, there is another whole host of sprinters that could surprise here. Home hero Avelino who rides for wildcard team Prio-Porto will be cheered on by the home fans, while riders like  Ciolek,  Vanderbiest,  Van Heerden,  Corioni,  Richeze,  Rowe and  Granjel Cabrera could all get into the top-5 on their day. The odds are against most of them though.
The sprinters aren’t the only bug riders to travel here though. Some puncheurs have made the trip here, hoping for a more selective race. The biggest of these are undoubtedly  Boasson Hagen, who will look to repeat his Ardennes successes, as well as Bakelants, who is another that could overwhelm the sprinters on the hills. Claeys and Van der Hugenhaben both fall into this category as well. Will their gambles pay off?
Also there are a few riders who travel with a good combination of hill and sprint ability, which could be a very useful combination to have.  Pozzato is a big rider that falls into this category, as well as some others like Ulissi and Impey, who could both surprise.
As well as all that, there are a couple of extremely fast men on the flat.  Burghardt, Summerhill and Ballan all could show off their classics prowess and could be a good dark horse to back for a late attack.
Whatever the outcome, the race looks to be an interesting one. Below is the full startlist.
 
Sorry for anyone left out, I apologise in advance. Report won't be out straight away, not very well at the moment.
Edited by FroomeDog99 on 27-11-2013 21:17
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| SotD |
Posted on 27-11-2013 13:45
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Hoping for something lucky here, but as Guerao isn't a pre-race favorite I doubt he'll do well. He normally doesn't when he have to fight for positions himself. So I can only hope that Ulissi can somehow destroy it all.
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 27-11-2013 13:56
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It'll be interesting to see how this pans out. There are a lot of hills in the second half of the race which could provide a decisive gap. However with so many pure sprinters there could be an accommodation of the pace in the pack. Also the puncheurs can benefit from a well-placed attack in the final climb.
Much can happen. So good luck to everyone, it'll be nice to watch the big boys from the first row here.
Also great preview Froome 
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| ember |
Posted on 27-11-2013 14:57
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Not sure why I brought Vanoverschelde here, to be honest.
My hope is Boasson Hagen. He has been incredible in the classics this season, and I really hope he can continue that way. Hopefully he, Bakelants and Claeys can make the race too tough for the sprinters. Though, I doubt they'll attack away, meaning I'll hope for a similar scenario to Milan-Sanremo.
Nice preview! |
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| dave92 |
Posted on 27-11-2013 16:35
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No idea what will happen here. Hopefully Summerhill either gets involved in a late attack or keeps things together for Goss to snag a top 5.
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| cio93 |
Posted on 27-11-2013 17:49
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Wide open race. You indeed have to fancy the chances of EBH or Bakelants considering how good GC riders do on certain mass sprints.
That said, it's surprising Ponzi isn't here. He could definitely challenge for the win if he's on a good wheel.
I hope the hills have enough effect for guys like Guerao to be weakened, but not enough to force a split and/or favour the puncheurs.
Gasparotto and Delage (if Kvist can't hang on) are great leadout guys for such a course, so I hope Bennati has a great position going into the sprint.
Looking at the B&O and Pendleton's lineups, this is obviously the race where we can seal a big piece of our fate.
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| Roman |
Posted on 27-11-2013 17:50
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Hopefully it will all come right into a mass sprint at the finish and these hills will give Bewley a small advantage over some of other favourites. Top 5 would be a good result here, hopefully he can reach it. 
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 08-12-2025 04:21
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| Smowz |
Posted on 27-11-2013 20:59
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It looks a bit hilly, but most of the big sprinters are good enough to last the hills. A top five would be a good result for the much maligned (by me) Van Heerden.
Could be a big one for Bennati and the Puma parade
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| rjc_43 |
Posted on 27-11-2013 21:28
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I think Ponzi was running out of race days by this point, so I've put the majority of my eggs in the Luke Rowe basket. Will he be able to pull it out the bag? I have my doubts.
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| Rin |
Posted on 27-11-2013 22:22
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I have to say that I was actually sending Ciolek as a backup option for Claeys.
The 2nd part is too hard I think for a pure sprinter especially with tempo if the tempo will be very high.
If not then Ciolek is there.
Top 10 and a season goal.
 Team Bianchi - 2012 Man-Game ProContinental Tour Champions
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| Sykkel_Freak |
Posted on 28-11-2013 14:24
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With only two flat classics left this season, it's definitely time for Corioni to step it up a notch. That being said, I guess Van Avermaet will be our captain in this race like he has been in most other races where both of them have raced. The goal is a top 10 for one of them.
Edited by Sykkel_Freak on 28-11-2013 14:24
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| beagle |
Posted on 09-12-2013 19:56
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Hoping for good result after abysmal performance in Germany. But seeing this profile now, I´m still wondering why I have chosen Mohs as last lead-out man. Hopefully he´ll dropped soon and Boonen won´t be slowed down in case of bunch sprint.
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 10-12-2013 17:58
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| tyriion |
Posted on 10-12-2013 18:02
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Awesome race from a neutral point of view. Just the right amount of hills before the sprint to make this one very interesting. And everyone loves a heroic solo attack that gets to the finish.
Thanks for the report
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 10-12-2013 18:04
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Neutral? You were supposed to cheer for Trentin 
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| tyriion |
Posted on 10-12-2013 18:05
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alexkr00 wrote:
Neutral? You were supposed to cheer for Trentin
Ooh crap 
Damn you Burghardt!
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 10-12-2013 18:09
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tyriion wrote:
alexkr00 wrote:
Neutral? You were supposed to cheer for Trentin
Ooh crap
Damn you Burghardt!
That's the spirit! 
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| ember |
Posted on 10-12-2013 18:32
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That was a very entertaining race and report, thanks!
Nice to have two riders in the top 10, eventhough, I must admit I hoped for a bit more from Boasson Hagen as the race progressed, it looked to be evolving perfectly for him.
Impey solid as always, it makes me look forward to what he might be capable of next season
Big congratulations to Bacardi and Kami. It looks to be too little too late though, but a classic win like that must be nice. |
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 10-12-2013 19:00
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Can't understand why all my puncheurs finished 11 minutes down. No wonder Swift was absent in the sprint when all of the support - almost all of which climb better than him - were gone!
Interesting to see a Top 3 from almost-certainly relegating teams though!
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| Sykkel_Freak |
Posted on 10-12-2013 19:00
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I had hopes of a top 10, but 2nd place is beyond everything I had ever expected. Perhaps even more surprising is that the man who does it is Daniel Oss. Definitely one of the teams biggest moments this year.
Thanks for the report!
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