A cosmopolitan assortment of stages will make picking a GC winner and riders who will score the highest in the UC rankings very had to pick. Having said that no doubt the participants who go into the most 'analysis' in picking riders for the route will prosper the most.
Stages 1 & 2:
We start off in Herning, Denmark, with a prologue and a inevitable sprint stage.
Stages 3, 4 & 5:
Next we hit the cobbled roads of Belgium, a tester before the difficult stage 4. A stage which has seen many spirits broken in the five days of Dunkerque in northern France. We stay in Northern France for stage 5 for another nailed on sprint stage.
Stages 6 & 7:
We go back to Belgium for stage 6, taking in the route of the classic Gent Wevelgem. The pure climbers will be crying out for help. Before heading to Italy we stop of in St Gallen, Switzerland, for a 31 kilometre hilly time trial.
Stages 8, 9 & 10:
After a week of travels the Giro is finally where it belongs. You cannot get more Italian than stages 8, 9 and 10, a flat stage in a hilly stage sandwich. Stage 8 sees the riders contest a tough final climb before finishing in Naples and Stage 10 sees the Giro finish in the steep terrain of Assisi, real Gino Bartali country!
Stages 11, 12 & 13:
Stage 11 is a sprinter's stage on paper. But it will take one strong sprint train to hold things together with the stage over 250 kilometres in length. Stage 12 looks like good breakaway country and stage 13 looks to be the easiest road stage of the lot.
Stages 14, 15 & 16:
Stage 14 is the route of Strade Bianchi. Gravel roads and saw tooth terrain will see the strong fighters present battle it out. Stage 15 finally sees the first mountain stage of this Giro, the climbers that have been biding their time will be licking their lips. Stage 16 has your typical punchy Italian finish.
Stages 17, 18 & 19:
The Passo Giau is here for stage 17. Few will argue that this is the hardest climb in this Giro and big time gaps will open up before the descent to the finish. We have the final nailed on sprint stage on stage 18 and the final mountain on stage 19.
Stages 20 & 21:
Any one who is suffering will lose to big on stage 20 as we take in the route of the monument Milan San Remo, usually a sprinters' classic but today after 20 stages the men up in the GC may well contest the win. We end this Giro with another time trial just over 30 kilometres in length, long enough for some sizable time gaps.
Per every stage:
1st place rider =30 points 2nd place =24 points 3rd place 20 points
4th place = 17 points 5th place =15 points 6th place = 13 points
7th place= 11 points 8th place =10 points 9th place =9 points
10th place =8 points 11th place= 7 points 12th place = 6 points
13th place = 5 points 14th place = 4 points 15th = 3points
Plus 1 point per rider who finishes at the same time as the stage winner.
Points for final GC:
1st place = 100 points 2nd place= 75 points 3rd place = 60 points
4th place = 50 points 5th place= 45 points 6th place = 40 points
7th place = 36 points 8th place = 32 points 9th place = 28 points
10th place = 25 points 11th place = 22 points 12th place = 20 points 13th place = 18 points 14th place = 16 points 15th place = 12 points 16th place = 10 points 17th place = 8 points 18th place = 6 points 19th place = 4 points 20th place = 2 points
Points for final points classification:
1st place = 60 points 2nd place = 45 points 3rd place = 35 points
4th place = 25 points 5th place = 20 points 6th place = 16 points
7th place = 12 points 8th place = 10 points 9th place = 8 points
10th place = 6 points 11th place = 4 points 12th place = 2 points
Points for final mountain classification:
1st place = 50 points 2nd place = 40 points 3rd place = 30 points
4th place= 25 points 5th place = 20 points 6th place = 16 points
7th place = 12 points 8th place = 10 points 9th place = 6 points
10th place = 3 points
Points for final youth classification:
1st place: 40 points 2nd place = 30 points 3rd place = 25 points
4th place = 20 points 5th place= 16 points 6th place = 12 points
7th place = 10 points 8th place = 8 points 9th place = 6 points
10th place = 3 points
The Ultra Classification is a team title all points gained by individual riders will be counted towards their team total.
Edited by The Rider on 06-12-2013 15:43
Hi there, and welcome to the HQ/presentation of Team Iberia. We're back after last year's Vuelta a Espana, and we'll now do the Giro. This time, with a total different line-up. We want to have a revanche from the Vuelta, which was pretty bad.
The Squad
We have brought a really strong squad, especially TT wise. With David Millar, we have the shared best TTist of the startlist. With Durbridge, we have an amazing prologue rider, and Grivko is that as well. We haven't got a clear guy for the sprints and cobbles, unfortunately, but David Millar can cobble decently, and since he's also great on the flat and a decent climber, he might be our GC man.
As said, we haven't got a lot for sprints, but for uphill sprints, we have Paul Martens & Danail Petrov. There are quite some hills, so that's great
We also have Caruso for when the terrain gets tough. He's one of the better climbers, and we hope to get a stage-win from him, or maybe the KoM jersey.
At last, we also have Ginanni, Busche and Keisse. The first two of those are decent climbers, with Busche especially strong on the longer ones as well. Keisse will be a great help on the flat and can be a downhill guide. He might go for a Top 10 in sprints as well.
The Goals
We have some ambitious goals again, and we hope we live up to them this time. With our TTists, we think we can grab a few wins, while we have quite some guys for the hilly terrain. So we can expect a stage-win, or maybe 2, as well there. Our team is allround, so we can contend for the Ultra Classification a bit. Win at least 3 stages
Finish in the Top 5 of the Giro Ultra Classification Get a GC Top 10 Get 15 Top 10sEdited by Jesleyh on 07-12-2013 17:04
Since we did not get first pick at any time we have put together a team of dangerous outsiders also making it a priority to get a few Germans for the sponsors.
We have no top favourites for any stage, but both Christophe Kern and Schumacher could do well with a bit of luck. We have also avoided signing riders likely to crack completely on the cobbles. Hopefullt this edition of teh race will be won by a genuine alrounder...
Captains: Johann Tschopp is our clear leader for the GC, whereas Robert Förster will try to bag a few good placings in the sprints. Lieutenants: Serge Pauwels and Yannick Eijssen will be Johanns helpers, whilst Graeme Brown and Marlon Perez will try to lead out Robert. Free Roles: David McCann, Byron Guama and Pello Bilbao will all get free roles; the former for the TTs and the breakaways, the latter two for the hilly stages.
We are missing really stronger contenders for any stage, but can look at a quite balanced squad, where the riders will have to work and help each other throughout the Grand Tour to be able to contest against the other teams. Our main priority lies on hilly & mountain stages and breakaways. With Quniziato we even have some hope for on lucky cobbled breakaway.
Philosophy
We at Cartoon Network obviously want to ride for sweet victories and great excitement. However, we also see it as our duty to bring the joy to viewers, fans and our riders alike. Our team consists of professionals but there should always be room for joyful riding and the beauty of cycling. Our sponsor Cartoon Network declared to support the team throughout the Tour of the Chosen with recaps of the stages at night and short advertisement breaks throughout the Tour, in order to bring the fans closer to our team and excite the young viewership for cycling, which is clearly a sport of the future.
We are McDonalds Pro Cycling Team and we are keen to perform well in this McGiro d'Italia. After another difficult drafting period, we have managed to compile a solid sprint team, who will be trying to launch our sprinter, McFenn, to stage wins.
The Fenn-tastic Nine
As we said earlier, our team is built around young British sprinter Andy McFenn, who will attempt to bring the team some early stage wins. He is supported by McBagdonas and McDocker, with both of these two able to go for themselves on the cobbled stages. As well as McBagdonas, we also have another Lithuanian, McNavardauskas, who is one of the strongest all-rounders in the race. Of course, Lithuania like the colours yellow and red, just like ourselves, as do Spain, which is why McPalomares joins us. The talented Spaniard can climb and sprint and will hopefully get in a few breakaways on the tougher stages. Our man for the mountains is McRohregger, who will hopefully be able to nick a stage win in the high peaks. He will be ably supported by Costa Rican McBrenes. Our coffee is grown in Costa Rica, so we thought we would support this great country. McScognamiglio and McCraddock complete the team and will be mostly domestiques but will hopefully get the opportunity to go in a break at some point.
Goals
*** 3 Stage Wins
** Top 15 GC
* Beat all the small fries
Mikel Nieve: Leader of TOTC3 for Tebag, and one of the favorites to take the GC. He climbs well both in the mountains and the hills, but cannot TT or cobble. Our aim is not to lose too much time in those stages.
Koldo Fernandez: Primary Sprinter for the flat stages. His ability to climb hills is not horrible, but is certainly not noteworthy. On the completely flat stages, however, he is a contender to take the stage.
David de la Fuente: While he is not well known to fans, he still plays a vital role on the team. As one of the domestiques for the hill/mountain stages, he is crucial to Nieve. He also likes to attack, so watch for him in the breakaways!
Jon Castroviejo: The team's TT specialist. He will target Stage 7 and 21. When the road goes up, he is still a domestique for Nieve. As an allrounder, the team is lucky to have a guy like him for all stages.
Hayden Roulston: The only viable cobbler for Tebag. On the cobbled stages, he will be given a free role looking for an outside chance. His sprinting ability is not poor either, so he will be on the train in flat stages.
Jurgen van Goolen:The veteran originally not selected to be a part of TOTC 3, but was put in at the last minute, so don't expect his form to amount to much. He will be a climbing domestique.
Marcin Sapa: Best on flat roads, Sapa just loves to attack. Look for him in the day's breakaway, and if it comes down to a breakaway sprint--like we've seen so many times in TOTC2, he certainly stands a chance.
Fumiyuki Beppu: Another late addition to the TOTC3 squad, Beppu is a solid domestique on the flat stages, and will be an important part of our leadout train, if present.
Aitor Galdos: A veteran looking to end his career here at Tebag; we will him a chance to show us something here at TOTC3. Although it will be tough for him to get a stage win, he may fly under the radar on reduced sprint stages.
baseballlover312, 06-03-14 : "Nuke Moscow...Don't worry Russia, we've got plenty of love to go around your cities"
Sarah Palin, 08-03-14 (CPAC, on Russian aggression) : "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke"
Big thanks to jdog for making this AMAZING userbar!
Here we are. 10 years after Richard Virenque's scandal. Time for us to come back to cycling with new values. And hope this new format will offer us clean sport and equal chances for success!
So we will let Richard ice skatting on French TV and focus on some real sport here!
We don't have the strongest team, we don't have the best climbers. Yet ambitious we are!
Lars will be our man for stages 3, 4, 6 and 20. He has to get something out of this 4 stages.
Maciej will be our man for stages 1 and 21.
For the rest, we have picked a team to do what we think cycling must be: Attack & Enjoy
We have great fighters, descent punchers, climbers and sprinters, but we have no hope to beat a full pack. So we want to attack, attack again, attack no matter what, till the end! There will never be any other guidelines in our team. Let our riders be free!
There is the start list for the TOTC3. The start list is a good indicator of who might do well, in the 2 previous versions of TOTC the rider with the no.1 shirt has gone on to win the GC.
, we have the shared best TTist of the startlist. With Durbridge
, we have an amazing prologue rider, and Grivko
is that as well. We haven't got a clear guy for the sprints and cobbles, unfortunately, but David Millar can cobble decently, and since he's also great on the flat and a decent climber, he might be our GC man. 
& Danail Petrov
. There are quite some hills, so that's great 
for when the terrain gets tough. He's one of the better climbers, and we hope to get a stage-win from him, or maybe the KoM jersey. 
and Keisse
. The first two of those are decent climbers, with Busche especially strong on the longer ones as well. Keisse will be a great help on the flat and can be a downhill guide. He might go for a Top 10 in sprints as well.
Kristjan Koren
Lasse Bøchman
Dennis Van Niekerk
