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Zagreb - Ljubljana Discussion
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 12-12-2013 21:32
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Time for another C1 hilly classic: kicking off in Zagreb, Croatia, this 173km long race will lead us to Ljubljana, Slovenia. It ain't the toughest looking profile, but it's an interesting route. It's a steady up and down in the second half of the race and this could make for several chances to launch a crucial move.
Back in 2011 the first and last edition of this classic was held, with Kolobnev taking the win for Tinkoff, ahead of Flügel (IKEA), Gil (LEGO) and Efimkin (Milka). Those guys will be at the start here in 2013 as well and except of 35 years old Koldo Gil (riding for CSC now) we now already know three of the favorites.
Startlist/
The favorites/
It's a startlist with some strong puncheurs - and of course a few of the very best in the PCT will challenge for the win here.
 Efimkin and  Flügel should be mentioned as the very top-favorites, both seeking to do better than two years ago: simply for the win now. With "defending winner"  Kolobnev on the startlist, too, this could make for a thrilling battle! Will history repeat or will we see a "new order" this time?
Behind those three, there will be more riders challenging for the podium at least:  Hoogerland,  Ben Nasser and  Roy may be listed as those podium-contenders first. All of them will be happy with some more big guns missing on the startlist though.. same goes for  Gautier, who has been underperforming more than fullfilling the high expectations this season. May this be his chance for convincing his manager to keep him on the team for another year?
 Geschke and  Reimer make for an interesting German duo: both lack the top-puncheur-skills, but may hope for less selective race before the bunch enters the short finishing climb. This would be their big chance to play out their speed. Also  De Maar may be one of those "dark horses" for a good finish in Ljubljana.
And last bot (not) least, there are those who hope for a lucky shot:  Smukulis/Duggan,  Pakthusov,  Barrio (or maybe Gil - why not try repeating his 2011 result?),  Golas and.. well, while their managers won't care too much, there's also  Di Luca and  Serov leading their squads in this classic.
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| Smowz |
Posted on 12-12-2013 22:39
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An Efimkin special for me this one.
He will take a late group dart to the line I fancy
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| Ste117 |
Posted on 13-12-2013 00:08
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Hoping Golas can finish in the top 5 at least!
MG Team manager Team Ticos Air Costa Rica
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 11:00
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| CountArach |
Posted on 13-12-2013 00:10
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Dufrasnes will take the win this time 
Seriously Gautier needs a top 10 or better yet a top 5. Someone like Geschke could be a threat though with the less challenging parcours.
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 13-12-2013 06:17
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Heh, i forgot we are racing here. 
Our only chance is either get a rider in the break and hope for them to stick up, or less demanding racing with Capecchi having a chance for top10. But i think top punchers will make it hard, looks like a win for Efimkin. Hopefully Pakthusov will hold there for long and snatch something around 10th place. Good luck to all.
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 13-12-2013 06:42
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Well, look at that - he has one race more left than I thought!
Looks very promising, but I fear positioning ahead of the final climb will be everything. A good result here would be extremely useful.
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| roturn |
Posted on 13-12-2013 10:36
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Hopefully teh profile isn`t very selective. So Geschke could indeed be a good option for the sprint. At least I hope so. |
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 13-12-2013 11:18
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Assuming the break gets caught this time, I'd expect to see a large group contesting the final kick in Ljubljana. Unless of course any attacks on the flat run in to town are able to stick.
Too much of a gamble for me to send Jaguar here because of that unpredictability (Besides the fact that Dowsett and Froome were busy failing at the Tour of Britain anyway, which clashed with this race)
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| Heine |
Posted on 13-12-2013 11:27
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Flügel will dominate this, With Kessler coming in as number 2 
Ah, back to dreaming
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| viking90 |
Posted on 13-12-2013 13:39
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It`s up to Hoogerland to do anything here, not much help from anyone else in the team here |
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| Alakagom |
Posted on 14-12-2013 19:22
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Baugnies & Maar 
This is why I never get why many people always say a strong cobbler will only get results in cobbled classics. Their strong back up stats plus nice hill stat on Baugnies makes him more useful than just cobbles. Same like Vanspeybrouck, especially last year irrc.
Looking forward to the next season, one or two riders and we could be fighting for promotion hopefully.
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 14-12-2013 19:24
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Another race ruined by the AI...
Well, congrats to Heine. Amazing win never than less by Kessler. |
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| roturn |
Posted on 14-12-2013 19:26
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Shame that the game isn`t seeing Geschke as leader in those hilly classics...so I couldn`t really expect anything here after the experiences so far. |
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| viking90 |
Posted on 14-12-2013 19:30
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And Hoogerland doing good
Congrats to Heine! |
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 14-12-2013 20:55
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Yeah good from Roy again 2nd in a classic can never be bad the team is really pulling out the stops to avoid relegation |
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 14-12-2013 21:09
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roturn wrote:
Shame that the game isn`t seeing Geschke as leader in those hilly classics...so I couldn`t really expect anything here after the experiences so far.
Don't know if that was the main problem here though.. due to the whole peloton entering the climb, most of the best puncheurs and the chasing domestiques of their teams were at the front. I guess this is why several teams ended up with almost zero points and other teams had 3-4 guys in the points.. on the other hand, Geschke obviously had a too bad position, so maybe you're right about him not being seen as a leader.. pretty fucked up sprint imo 
But congrats Heine anyway!
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| CountArach |
Posted on 14-12-2013 21:53
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Congrats Heine, awesome result. It was good to see a lot of the pre race favourites doing well despite the race not being super selective.
9-10-15-20 sounds good to me. Another great performance from Dufrasnes in 20th there. I probably won't be renewing him but I really hope someone brings him on board next year - he is a great little domestique and could really work for a CT team.
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 14-12-2013 22:19
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Little by little Bpost is looking more and more menacing. I wouldn't like to be roturn's nails by now.
Heineway congrats to Volkswagen - Mapei. Good victory for them.
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| Heine |
Posted on 15-12-2013 08:49
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Kessler Great result for me, also great with 11th place from Flügel aswell. These are the results I hoped for when I got Kessler, even though I expected opposite positions :-p
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| roturn |
Posted on 15-12-2013 09:31
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Gustavovskiy wrote:
I wouldn't like to be roturn's nails by now.
What nails anymore?  |
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