|
Complete World Championship Discussion Thread!
|
| CountArach |
Posted on 14-01-2014 14:35
|
Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8205
Joined: 14-07-2008
PCM$: 200.00
|
Welcome to Stuttgart in Germany for the 2013 Cycling World Championships! We have 5 great events on offer here – the TTT, the U23 RR and ITT and of course the most important prizes of them all – the Elite RR and ITT! The events will be held in the following order:
TTT
U23 ITT
Elite ITT
U23 RR
Elite RR
Each of these races has a post below, so scroll down to see what awaits the riders!
|
| |
|
|
| Ad Bot |
Posted on 08-12-2025 04:21
|
Bot Agent
Posts: Countless
Joined: 23.11.09
|
|
| IP: None |
|
|
| CountArach |
Posted on 14-01-2014 14:35
|
Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8205
Joined: 14-07-2008
PCM$: 200.00
|
So let’s start with the Team Time Trial
2012: https://www.pcmdai...d_id=25003
In 2012 Netherlands beat defending champions Spain by only 27 seconds despite falling behind in the first leg of the race. The Dutch team was helped by the presence of cobbles on the road and they won’t have that advantage this time. Can the Spanish reclaim the title, will the Dutch be able to defend it or will we see a different team altogether take over?
Here is a look at the main favourites:
The defending champions  The Netherlands must come first on the list. While, as said, the course last year really suited them thanks to the cobbles, it should be remembered that they still put together an amazing squad. This year is no exception, with some brilliant time trialists who are also puncheurs mixed in, like Robert Gesink, Thomas Dekker and Lars Boom. This is a team who really could hold on to their title, but it won’t be easy.
If  Spain aren’t the top favourites then I don’t know who is. The selectors were all completely unanimous in who they wanted in this squad in the first round and you can see why – the options available to the selectors aren’t just great time trialists but they are all at least decent puncheurs too. The team is just replete with starts like Angel Madrazo, Justo Tenorio and Alberto Contador.
This is an ideal course for  Russia, with their two big starts Mikhail Ignatiev and Timofey Kritskiy ready to lead the team to a potential podium place. Missing Yuri Trofimov might hurt them a bit though as they are certainly not the deepest squad out there.
The  Belgium selectors didn’t just pick the best time trialists, as some nations did, but instead they picked a solid mix of time trialists and puncheurs, with Philippe Gilbert being the most notable name in the latter category and Dominique Cornu the best of the time trialists.
Several of the most elite time trialists in the world are from  Germany and of course most of their best ones are here. Some of those, like Markus Fothen and Stefan Schumacher are strong puncheurs as well but their top time trialists like Marcel Kittel and Lucas Schadlich might struggle to keep up with them on the climbs.
 France will perhaps look more towards the ITT for their best chance of getting a world champion this year thanks to their leader Jerome Coppel. Nevertheless, this is still a strong squad, but it will struggle with the amount of climbing.
 Australia brings a great squad here, as you would expect. Not all their stars are here but the core of riders from Oz Cycling Project ensure that there are a lot of well known names, with Michael Rogers being chief amongst them. They would definitely prefer a flat course, however.
It is sometimes surprising just how good the time trial squad from  Denmark can be. They have a lot of great riders for the flats and while this won’t be the sort of course that would suit them best, they will still likely put up a good time.
A final note on the  United States team. While they have two of the world’s best time trialists here, the rest of the team lacks some depth. They will likely put in a good time but it would be wrong to expect them to set the world ablaze.
Of course these are just who I see as the favourites and there are plenty of other strong teams out there who might surprise, such as  Sweden,  Ukraine and  Portugal. This sort of course is hard to predict and thus anything can happen.
Startlist:
Spoiler Australia:
Jack Bobridge
Luke Durbridge
Michael Ford
William Ford
Miles Olman
Richie Porte
Michael Rogers
Rory Sutherland
Austria:
Mattias Brändle
Stefan Denifl
Georg Preidler
Riccardo Zoidl
Andrew Bradley
Josef Benetseder
Georg Lauscha
Gerhard Trampusch
Belgium:
Dominique Cornu
Thomas De Gendt
Jan Ghyselinck
Phillipe Gilbert
Ben Hermans
Maxime Monfort
Jurgen Van den Broeck
Kristof Vandewalle
Canada:
David Boily
Charles Dionne
Ryder Hesjedal
Hugo Houle
Christian Meier
Dominique Rollin
Ryan Roth
David Veilleux
Colombia:
Jairo Agudelo
Alex Ardila Cano
Fabio Duarte
Sergio Luis Henao Montoya
Edwin Parra Bustamante
Jose Serpa
Jaime Suaza
Rigoberto Úran
Czech Republic:
Martin Hacecky
Leopold Konig
Jakub Kratochvila
Roman Kreuziger
Jaroslav Kulhavy
Jakub Novak
Frantisek Rabon
Petr Vakoc
Denmark:
Lasse Bøchman
Michael Færk Christensen
Kasper Klostergaard
Michael Mørkøv
Morten Reckweg
André Steensen
Brian Vandborg
Lars Ytting Bak
France:
Mathieu Bernaudeau
Maxime Bouet
Jerome Coppel
Sébastien Ivars
Jean-Christophe Peraud
Pierre Rolland
Jérémy Roy
Benoit Vaugrenard
Germany:
Marcel Barth
Markus Fothen
Nico Keinath
Marcel Kittel
Sebastian Lang
Tony Martin
Lucas Schadlich
Stefan Schumacher
Great Britain:
Ian Bibby
Steven Burke
Richard Cleaver
Tom Diggle
Thomas Faiers
Ian Stannard
Andrew Tennant
Bradley Wiggins
Italy:
Gianpaolo Caruso
Mattia Cattaneo
Damiano Cunego
Adrian Malori
Vincenzo Nibali
Filippo Pozzato
Luigi Sestili
Elia Viviani
Lithuania:
Gediminas Bagdonas
Aidis Kruopis
Ramunas Navardauskas
Drasutis Stundzia
Simas Kondrotas
Darijus Dzervus
Virgilijus Zukas
Mantas Mikuzis
Netherlands:
Lars Boom
Thomas Dekker
Michiel Elijzen
Robert Gesink
Martijn Keizer
Joost Posthuma
Kai Reus
Lieuwe Westra
New Zealand:
Josh Atkins
Jack Bauer
George Bennett
Sam Bewley
Joseph Cooper
Westley Gough
Hayden Roulston
Jesse Sergent
Norway:
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Thor Hushovd
Andreas Landa
Lars Petter Nordhaug
Vegard Robinson Bugge
Ken Sebastian Vassdål
Vegard Stake Laengen
Sten Stenersen
Portugal:
Rui Costa
Cesar Andre Fonte
Jose Mendes
Ricardo Mestre
Nelson Oliveira
Sergio Paulinho
Vitor Rodrigues
Daniel Eduardo Silva
Russia:
Pavel Brutt
Vladimir Gusev
Mikhail Ignatiev
Sergei Kolesnikov
Ivan Kovalev
Timofey Kritskiy
Artem Ovechkin
Anton Vorobev
Slovenia:
Janez Brajkovic
Blaž Furdi
Jure Kocjan
Kristjan Koren
Matej Mugerli
Simon Spilak
Robert Vrecer
Jure Zrimsek
Spain:
David Abal
Alberto Contador
Benat Intxausti
Manuel Lloret
Angel Madrazo
Rubén Plaza
Luis Leon Sanchez Gil
Justo Tenorio
Sweden:
Jonas Bjelkmark
Fredrik Kessiakoff
Johan Lindgren
Thomas Lövkvist
Michael Olsson
Petter Renäng
Tobias Larsson
Mats Andersson
Switzerland:
Fabian Cancellara
Silvan Dillier
Matthias Frank
Thomas Frei
Steve Morabito
Michael Schär
Florian Stalder
Marcel Wyss
Ukraine:
Oleksandr Golovash
Dmitri Grabovski
Andriy Grivko
Mykhaylo Kononenko
Sergiy Lagkuti
Vitaliy Popkov
Jaroslav Popovych
Vadim Ratiy
United States:
Brent Bookwalter
Tyler Brandt
Blake Caldwell
Jason Donald
Ryan Eastman
Craig Lewis
Thomas Peterson
Taylor Phinney
|
| |
|
|
| CountArach |
Posted on 14-01-2014 14:36
|
Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8205
Joined: 14-07-2008
PCM$: 200.00
|
U23 Time Trial
2012: www.pcmdaily.com/...
Last year Ryan Eastman won this race ahead of Jasha Sutterlin by just 8 seconds. This means that Eastman is invalid to compete this year but the runner-up is indeed here to compete once again. Can he go one better? Let’s see who will be competing with the German.
On paper there are two big favourites for this race. The first is Luke Durbridge. While not a great climber he is probably the best time trialist here. Challenging him is likely to be Emilien Viennet who is fairly close to him as a time trialist and may be able to deal with the distance slightly better.
Behind these two there are several other challenges. Jasha Sutterlin was already mentioned as a contender but there are several other names to watch too. China has a chance of taking something out of this with  Chen Shikai. Damien Howson will try to show-up his team-mate.  Bob Jungels is better on the hills than many of those who are here. Speaking of climbers  Mattia Cattaneo also has to be mentioned. There are in fact several other names, all of whom could podium on any given day:
Anton Vorobev
 Phan Age Haugard
Marlen Zmorka
Kiril Yatsevich
Startlist:
Spoiler Algeria
Adel Barbari
Faycal Hamza
Argentina
Cristian Andres Martinez
Eduardo Sepulveda
Australia:
Luke Durbridge
Damien Howson
Austria:
Andreas Hofer
Lukas Postlberger
Belarus:
Stanislau Bazhkou
Kanstantsin Khviyuzau
Belgium:
Sean De Bie
Frederick Frison
China:
Fenghong Guo
Chen Shikai
Denmark:
Lass Norman Hansen
Rasmus Sterobo
Europe:
Mustafa Carsi
Tobias Ludvigsson
Stfan Petrovski
Rafael Reis
Valentin Stoenchev
Petr Vakoc
France:
Yoann Paillot
Emilien Viennet
Germany:
Kevin Predatsch
Jasha Sutterlin
Great Britain:
Mark Christian
Tim Kennaugh
Hong Kong:
King Lok Cheung
Burr Ho
Italy:
Mattia Cattaneo
Andrea Dal Col
Kazakhstan:
Daniil Fominykh
Mikhail Kochetkov
Luxembourg:
Bob Jungels
Alex Kirsch
Mixed:
Maani Altanzul
Isaac Bolivar
Lawson Craddock
Antoine Duchesne
Awit Gebremedhin
Roy Goldstein
Netherlands:
Tom Dumoulin
Marc Goos
New Zealand:
Josh Atkins
Michael Vink
Norway:
Sondre Holst Enger
Phan Age Haugard
Russia:
Anton Vorobev
Kiril Yatsevich
Spain:
Mario Gonzalez Salas
Carlos Verona
Ukraine:
Oleksandr Golovash
Marlen Zmorka
Venezuela:
Sebastian Anaya
Fernando Briceno
|
| |
|
|
| CountArach |
Posted on 14-01-2014 14:36
|
Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8205
Joined: 14-07-2008
PCM$: 200.00
|
Elite Time Trial:
2012: https://www.pcmdai...d_id=25050
Last year saw Michael Rogers triumph over Fabian Cancellara and Taylor Phinney with Jerome Coppel and David Zabriskie a surprisingly large way back. This year many of these same names are to be considered the top favourites. Let’s have a look at the top names:
It would be rude not to start with defending champion Michael Rogers. While he is now 34, he is still a force to be reckoned with any could at least fight for a podium. The slight hill will put him at a disadvantage compared to the others.
Taylor Phinney, meanwhile, could not have asked for a better course. The hill will really play to his strengths. Meanwhile, in a field where most of the best riders are starting to age, he is just coming into his prime now. We could witness the first of many world championships here today.
One man whom Phinney has been fighting with for the last two seasons is Jerome Coppel. If any young rider is going to stop the American, it is this Frenchman. He is a better climber than many of his other competitors too, which should help.
 Fabian Cancellara is here for what is one of his last chances to win this race. While he isn’t as strong a climber as the previous two, he is certainly the better rouleur and this should allow him to take advantage of the flat sections of the race.
After these top four favourites there are a number of others who deserve to at least be listed:
Dominique Cornu
Robert Gesink
Justo Tenorio
Mikhail Ignatiev
Joost Posthuma
Lucas Schadlich
Startlist:
Spoiler Australia:
Jack Bobridge
Michael Rogers
Belgium:
Dominique Cornu
Jan Ghyselinck
Colombia:
Fabio Duarte
Rigoberto Úran
Czech Republic:
Leopold Konig
Roman Kreuziger
Denmark:
André Steensen
Brian Vandborg
France:
Jerome Coppel
Pierre Rolland
Germany:
Marcel Kittel
Lucas Schadlich
Great Britain:
Ian Bibby
Andrew Tennant
Italy:
Adrian Malori
Vincenzo Nibali
Lithuania:
Gediminas Bagdonas
Ramunas Navardauskas
Moldova:
Alexandr Braico
Aleksandr Pluchkin
Netherlands:
Robert Gesink
Joost Posthuma
New Zealand:
Jack Bauer
Jesse Sergent
Poland:
Rafel Majka
Maciej Bodnar
Portugal:
Rui Costa
Nelson Oliveira
Russia:
Mikhail Ignatiev
Timofey Kritskiy
Slovenia:
Janez Brajkovic
Kristjan Koren
Spain:
Rubén Plaza
Justo Tenorio
Sweden:
Johan Lindgren
Thomas Lövkvist
Switzerland:
Fabian Cancellara
Matthias Frank
Ukraine:
Dmitri Grabovski
Jaroslav Popovych
United States:
Brent Bookwalter
Taylor Phinney
Edited by CountArach on 20-01-2014 01:21
|
| |
|
|
| CountArach |
Posted on 14-01-2014 14:37
|
Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8205
Joined: 14-07-2008
PCM$: 200.00
|
U23 Road Race:
2012: https://www.pcmdai...d_id=25059
Last year, after a thrilling race, Kevin Eeckhout was the surprise winner on the cobbled-based course. Few would have predicted him before the race started, but with his Belgium team tearing the race apart and many of his competitors marking each other out of the race, he was able to sneak away with the best win of his career.
This year, the race is absolutely wide open with very few stand-out favourites. The top of the heap, however, is undoubtedly  Tom Skujins. The Latvian hasn’t got a lot of team support, but that is true of almost everyone else here. He is a strong puncheur who a lot others will struggle to follow.
The next rider worth mentioning is Wilco Keldermann. Unlike most of the others here, he enjoys quite a strong team around him, who might be able to put the pressure on the other competitors. Nick Van Der Lijke is also noteworthy amongst his teammates.
Mario Vogt heads up a fairly strong German team. It is easy to imagine the Dutch and hte Germans working together to turn this into a race of attrition in order to overcome Skujins and other isolated competitors. Also don’t forget that the Germans are racing on home ground, so could get an advantage out of that.
Ultimately, however, this is going to be the most open race of all the events and the winner will probably be completely unknown.
Startlist:
Spoiler NOTE: I will clean this list up soon. I haven’t got time right now.
| Durbridge | Luke | Australia | | Kimmince | Ethan | Australia | | Lane | Patrick | Australia | | Morton | Lachlan | Australia | | Phelan | Adam | Australia | | Watson | Calvin | Australia | | Haller | Marco | Austria | | Hofer | Andreas | Austria | | Paulus | Daniel | Austria | | Postlberger | Lukas | Austria | | Standfest | Alex | Austria | | Taubel | Christoph | Austria | | Bazhkou | Stanislau | Belarus | | Khviyuzau | Kanstantsin | Belarus | | Koshevoy | Ilia | Belarus | | Sakalou | Andrei | Belarus | | Shamsonau | Yauheni | Belarus | | Zharoven | Nikita | Belarus | | De Bie | Sean | Belgium | | Maesen | William | Belgium | | Stallaert | Joeri | Belgium | | Van der Sande | Tosh | Belgium | | Waeytens | Zico | Belgium | | Wellens | Tim | Belgium | | Andersen | Michael Valgren | Denmark | | Hansen | Lasse Norman | Denmark | | Lander | Sebastian | Denmark | | Løwenstein | Casper | Denmark | | Nielsen | Magnus Cort | Denmark | | Sterobo | Rasmus | Denmark | | Abraha | Tesfay | Eritrea | | Afewerki | Elias | Eritrea | | Amanuel | Meron | Eritrea | | Debretsion | Aron | Eritrea | | Gebremedhin | Awit | Eritrea | | Tewelde | Jani | Eritrea | | Aleksiev | Aleksander | Europe | | Bratashcuk | Andrii | Europe | | Kastrantas | Charalampas | Europe | | Kung | Stefan | Europe | | Ludvigsson | Tobias | Europe | | Vakoc | Petr | Europe | | Barguil | Warren | France | | Demare | Arnaud | France | | Elissonde | Kenny | France | | Koretzky | Clement | France | | Le Gac | Olivier | France | | Lecuisinier | Pierre-Henri | France | | Arndt | Nikias | Germany | | Dieteren | Jan | Germany | | Mager | Christian | Germany | | Vasyliv | Yuriy | Germany | | Vogt | Mario | Germany | | Zabel | Rick | Germany | | Christian | Mark | Great Britain | | Edmondson | Joshua | Great Britain | | Harrison | Sam | Great Britain | | Kennaugh | Tim | Great Britain | | McLay | Dan | Great Britain | | Yates | Simon | Great Britain | | Cattaneo | Mattia | Italy | | Martinelli | Davide | Italy | | Moser | Moreno | Italy | | Penasa | Pierre Paolo | Italy | | Villella | Davide | Italy | | Viola | Michele | Italy | | Fukata | Hiroyuki | Japan | | Hayakawa | Tomohiro | Japan | | Kinoshita | Tomohiro | Japan | | Mutsumine | Wataru | Japan | | Terasaki | Takero | Japan | | Tsubaki | Hiroshi | Japan | | Fominykh | Daniil | Kazakhstan | | Galiev | Ulugbek | Kazakhstan | | Kamyshev | Arman | Kazakhstan | | Lutsenko | Alexey | Kazakhstan | | Senyenov | Roman | Kazakhstan | | Umerbekov | Nikita | Kazakhstan | | Bartusevics | Rihards | Latvia | | Eislers | Sandis | Latvia | | Liepins | Emils | Latvia | | Pujats | Artis | Latvia | | Skujins | Toms | Latvia | | Vosekalns | Andris | Latvia | | Bollendorff | Lionel | Luxembourg | | Feiereisen | Kevin | Luxembourg | | Heymes | Gilles | Luxembourg | | Jungels | Bob | Luxembourg | | Kirsch | Alex | Luxembourg | | Schlechter | Pit | Luxembourg | | Ahmad Zamri | Muhamma Afif | Malaysia | | Bakri | Sofian Nabil | Malaysia | | Daud | Mohamed Fakhrudin | Malaysia | | Faiz Izzuddin | Omar | Malaysia | | Mat Senan | Mohammad Saufi | Malaysia | | Othman | Muhamad Adiq | Malaysia | | Bru | Fulgencio | Mixed | | Duchesne | Antoine | Mixed | | Grmay | Tsgabu Gebremaryam | Mixed | | Khederi | Souheil | Mixed | | Meintjes | Louis | Mixed | | Shikai | Chen | Mixed | | Goos | Marc | Netherlands | | Kelderman | Wilco | Netherlands | | Kreder | Wesley | Netherlands | | Olivier | Daan | Netherlands | | Schoonbroodt | Bob | Netherlands | | Van der Lijke | Nick | Netherlands | | Atkins | Josh | New Zealand | | Christie | Jason | New Zealand | | Gate | Aaron | New Zealand | | Karwowski | Cameron | New Zealand | | Oram | James | New Zealand | | Vink | Michael | New Zealand | | Blikra | Havard | Norway | | Bystrom | Sven Erik | Norway | | Dyrnes | Kristian | Norway | | Galta | Fredrik Strand | Norway | | Hoelgaard | Daniel | Norway | | Nesset | Sigurd | Norway | | Ablenado | Aberlardo | Portugal/Spain | | Altur | Marcos | Portugal/Spain | | Antunes | Amaro | Portugal/Spain | | Ferreira | Ricardo | Portugal/Spain | | Reis | Rafael | Portugal/Spain | | Silva | Rafael | Portugal/Spain | | Coman | Bogdan | Romania | | Grosu | Eduard | Romania | | Plese | Valentin | Romania | | Sipos | Zoltan | Romania | | Stancu | George Alexandru | Romania | | Voinea | Lucian | Romania | | Boswell | Ian | USA | | Brown | Nathan | USA | | Craddock | Lawson | USA | | Dombrowski | Joseph | USA | | Mannion | Gavin | USA | | Rathe | Jakob | USA | | Anaya | Sebastian | Venezuela | | Besada | Félix Emilio | Venezuela | | Briceno | Fernando | Venezuela | | Quevedo | Xavier | Venezuela | | Ramos | Augusto | Venezuela | | Silvestri | César | Venezuela |
|
| |
|
|
| CountArach |
Posted on 14-01-2014 14:37
|
Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8205
Joined: 14-07-2008
PCM$: 200.00
|
Elite Road Race
2012: https://www.pcmdai...d_id=25086
Last year’s race was a true nail-biter which saw Lars Boom enter a mid-stage attack. He went solo towards the end of the race and held off the bunch lead by a determined Belgium (who took 5 of the top 11 places) in order to win the race. It was a truly epic performance from a rider who was a completely rank outsider.
So let’s move on to this year’s edition. We are going to look at puncheurs and there is every chance of a small group of favourites sprinting it out for the win. We will start with The Netherlands as they have the defending champion on their team. Boom is not likely to be a factor this year (though we could have said the same thing last year). Instead, Robert Gesink will be leading the Dutch team at the head of a fairly strong team.
One of the big favourites, much to the joy of the home audience, is riding for Germany. Stefan Schumacher is great for this kind of race – an incredibly strong puncheur who can deal with the distance and has a decent kick if it comes to it. Not only that but when you have riders like Aleksander Flugel and Patrik Sinkewitz acting as your super domestiques you have a great chance of destroying the field too.
But if you want true depth then Italy is only too happy to provide. Damiano Cunego, Simone Ponzi, Cesare Di Maggio, Diego Ulissi and Riccardo Ricco are all capable of winning this from a big attack and then Filippo Pozzato is the sort of rider who will be able to sit in the bunch until the end to take the whole thing in a sprint, as he did in the Olympics last year. There is a great chance that the winner of the race will come from this group of riders, but who will the team be working for? Too many cooks can spoil the broth.
This is perhaps the last chance that Frank Schleck of Luxemboug will ever have to win the WC so he will be keen to try something. His Vesuvio team have furnished him with his brother Andy and also Ben Gastauer to help him, but ultimately when it comes to the very end of the race Frank is going to have a lot of work to do on his own.
Another favourite who will have to do most of the work for himself is Norway’s Edvald Boassan Hagen. His team aren’t likely to be able to stick with things once the pace increases but after the fantastic season he has had, who would bet against EBH?
Despite not having an absolute top leader Spain are the sort of squad that others will have to watch – almost every rider in the team is capable of winning if they are given a gap. Expect this to be one of the teams will several riders in the finale. If he is still around don’t count out Francisco Ventoso on this sort of uphill finish.
As said above, Belgium put up a huge fight on home soil last year but couldn’t manage the win. This year, despite the change in terrain, they have put in just as much effort to pick a tough and deep squad. They are missing Jan Bakelants, who would have been one of the biggest favourites here, and have had to settle for Philippe Gilbert and Dmitri Claeys as co-leaders. It is in depth that this squad excels, however, with several potential attackers present.
Waving the flag for the USA is Tejay Van Garderen, who will be disappointed that Taylor Phinney is his only major support here over this terrain. Tejay may struggle over the distance, particularly without much support. He has a good kick, however, so if he can conserve his energy then he is always in with a shot. Not only that but he is very slightly more gifted on this terrain than many others listed here.
 Slovenia’s Simon Spilak actually has a slightly better team around him than you would expect from Slovenia, as Janez Brajkovic and CT star Blaz Furdi should be capable of helping for quite some time. Spilak is a great all-rounder for this sort of course with a decent if not brilliant kick and a great, if not necessarily top, ability to climb. Not only that but he should perform well over this distance.
 Great Britain have a decent leader in Chris Froome, though he may struggle against the very best here. He has a few very strong domestiques around him, but don’t expect a lot of this team to stick around for the finish.
Another country missing one of the big favourites is Russia, who have had to fall back on Aleksandr Efimkin. Of course, he is an excellent fall-back option and certainly he has a strong team built around him. He will have to try to be aggressive, as he really doesn’t have much of a kick.
France will be wishing they had a stronger leader as Cyril Gautier is, simply put, not up to the task. Their best hope of a win is a surprise attack from him, Jeremy Roy or Guillaume Levarlet late in the race while hoping that their opponents mark each other out.
Spoiler Australia:
Jack Bobridge
Simon Gerrans
Matthew Goss
Matthew Lloyd
Jay McCarthy
Travis Meyer
Austria:
Mattias Brändle
Stefan Denifl
Georg Preidler
Belgium:
Tom Boonen
Dimitri Claeys
Phillipe Gilbert
Ben Hermans
Maxime Monfort
Jurgen Van den Broeck
Michael Van Stayen
Jelle Vanendert
Johan Vansummeren
Colombia:
Sergio Luis Henao Montoya
Nairo Quintana
Julián Rodas
Jose Serpa
Mauricio Soler
Rigoberto Úran
Czech Republic:
Leopold Konig
Roman Kreuziger
Frantisek Rabon
France:
Mikael Cherel
Jerome Coppel
Cyril Gautier
Guillaume Levarlet
Jean-Christophe Peraud
Jèröme Pineau
Anthony Roux
Jérémy Roy
Julien Simon
Germany:
Alexandar Flügel
Markus Fothen
Simon Geschke
Nico Keinath
Matthias Kessler
Domenik Klemme
Dietmar Mehr-Wenige
Stefan Schumacher
Patrik Sinkewitz
Great Britain:
Jonathon Bellis
Ian Bibby
Tom Diggle
Alex Dowsett
Thomas Faiers
Chris Froome
Jonathan McEvoy
Andrew Tennant
Johnathon Tiernan-Locke
Ireland:
Philip Deignan
Martyn Irvine
Daniel Martin
Italy:
Damiano Caruso
Damiano Cunego
Cesare Di Maggio
Vincenzo Nibali
Simone Ponzi
Filippo Pozzato
Riccardo Ricco
Emanuele Sella
Diego Ulissi
Kazakhstan:
Aleksandr Dyachenko
Andrei Kashechkin
Yevgeni Nepomnyachsniy
Luxembourg:
Laurent Didier
Sebastian Einsle
Ben Gastauer
Kim Kirchen
Andy Schleck
Frank Schleck
Netherlands:
Lars Boom
Thomas Dekker
Robert Gesink
Johnny Hoogerland
Steven Kruijswijk
Joost Posthuma
Kai Reus
Maurice Schreurs
Pieter Weening
New Zealand:
Jack Bauer
George Bennett
Sam Bewley
Norway:
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Johan Fredrik Ziesler
Lars Petter Nordhaug
Christer Rake
Vegard Robinson Bugge
Vegard Stake Laengen
Portugal:
Bruno Borges
Rui Costa
Cesar Andre Fonte
Jose Mendes
Ricardo Mestre
Sergio Paulinho
Bruno Pires
Vitor Rodrigues
Daniel Eduardo Silva
Russia:
Aleksandr Efimkin
Mikhail Ignatiev
Aleksandr Kolobnev
Timofey Kritskiy
Aleksej Kunshin
Ivan Rovny
Alexander Rybakov
Eduard Vorganov
Ilnur Zakarin
Slovenia:
Janez Brajkovic
Blaž Furdi
Kristjan Koren
Matej Mugerli
Simon Spilak
Robert Vrecer
South Africa:
John-Lee Augustyn
Daryl Impey
Johann Rabie
Spain:
Igor Anton
Juan Jose Cobo
Alberto Contador
David Lopez Garcia
Angel Madrazo
Luis Leon Sanchez Gil
Justo Tenorio
Rafael Valls
Francisco Ventoso
Switzerland:
Michael Albasini
Fabian Cancellara
Matthias Frank
Steve Morabito
Nino Schurter
Marcel Wyss
Ukraine:
Dmitri Grabovski
Andriy Grivko
Mykhaylo Kononenko
Anatoliy Pakthusov
Vitaliy Popkov
Jaroslav Popovych
United States:
Brent Bookwalter
Tyler Brandt
Ryan Eastman
Nick Kinney
Taylor Phinney
Danny Summerhill
Andrew Talansky
Tejay Van Garderen
Ethan Weiss
Venezuela:
Honorio Machado
Maky Roman
José Rujano
|
| |
|
|
| alexkr00 |
Posted on 14-01-2014 14:52
|
World Champion
Posts: 13561
Joined: 05-08-2008
PCM$: 400.00
|
Luis Leon Sanchez to win the Road Race so I can sell him for millions in the transfer window 
|
| |
|
|
| Dippofix |
Posted on 14-01-2014 14:53
|
Classics Specialist
Posts: 3930
Joined: 29-01-2013
PCM$: 300.00
|
Uhh, how interesting. It seems the season is coming to an end. 
And both Road Races should be great to watch, seems like a course where anything could happen.
|
| |
|
|
| cio93 |
Posted on 14-01-2014 15:18
|
World Champion
Posts: 10616
Joined: 29-10-2007
PCM$: 500.00
|
Lots of hopes for good results in the worst/least favourite city in the world...
(seriously, I hate that city and the people there. Completely irrational, blame football rivalries  )
Obviously, my personal focus is on the U23 races again, with only VDB as an Elite TTT and RR starter.
I failed to get Sütterlin to lvl 3 last season (probably the only mistake I really regret), so he's not the stand-out favourite he'd probably deserve to be after last year's amazing performance.
Still, with him, Dumoulin and Sterobo, we have some strong candidates for front placings.
Daily form will be a factor in such a close starting field.
The RR is where huge expectations lie on my riders as the preview already mentioned.
Kelderman and Vogt lead the arguably two strongest squads in the race.
Kelderman has a big stamina advantage, Vogt the home bonus.
Not to forget Demare who can always surprise.
Still, the race is as wide open as it gets with the chance of outsiders (a category merely 2 hill points below the best) attacking early, leaving the relay effort to very few teams.
I hope Germany and the Netherlands focus on bringing back those groups rather than getting someone into them, as the race could be decided pretty early (and not to my liking) if that would happen.
|
| |
|
|
| Bushwackers |
Posted on 14-01-2014 15:27
|
Sprinter
Posts: 1982
Joined: 07-02-2009
PCM$: 300.00
|
Wow great previews. I'm really looking forward to the elite RR especially, I think Germany and Italy are really going to be pretty evenly matched. It would be nice if Schumacher could finally win a race here.
|
| |
|
|
| roturn |
Posted on 14-01-2014 16:03
|
Team Manager
Posts: 22043
Joined: 24-11-2007
PCM$: 3900.00
|
Thanks for this brilliant preview.
Really looking forward to those races.
TTT: Lars Boom within the favourite team
U23: Villella and Olivier hopefully go into the breakaway
Elite: Boom, Geschke, Bellis. None might be the no.1 in their team. But all 3 are good for a mid stage attack. Geschke though might be considered to be a sprinter only. So let`s see what happens. |
| |
|
|
| Smowz |
Posted on 14-01-2014 16:19
|
Team Leader
Posts: 6386
Joined: 09-04-2009
PCM$: 200.00
|
Three people deserve most of the credit for the work behind this:
roturn, CountArach and SN.
In this case the first two have put in a fair bit of time to get this going and I wanted to extend my thanks. This is going to be a fascinating battle across all the races.
TTT: I was a Belgian selector and I favoured punchaers over full TT bod's not because of insider info but more in the feeling that I wanted to try and take a risk to get a better result. I still think a podium is a tall order though against the mighty Spain, Netherlands, Russia block. The true strength here is down to some highly dedicated national teams giving these nations great strength in depth.
U23: Not looked too hard at the database recently, so this so be a highly unpredictable one. Difficult to say how the AI will play out - in classics hilly AI has been better than in stage races so could well be a fun race. Of course my eyes will be on Durbridge in the chrono having ridden for Red Bull this season. I am hoping he can pull it off, a bit of good news for Oz Cycling is required!
Elite ITT: I think it has to be one for Phinney really, the best riders should be close to each other, however with Dave Z going early their may be a chance for the old timer or perhaps a punchy outsider? For Fab a podium would be a good result, that said he has been doing very well in chronos this season with a good strike rate against Coppel.
Elite RR
Italy really should be all over this, can the egos work together? Schumacher, Schleck, and Hagen are the big threats - but I have to fancy Cunego - it is time for one last big win (well I suppose he will be there are Lombardy too and next season!)
|
| |
|
|
| tsmoha |
Posted on 14-01-2014 16:25
|
Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11786
Joined: 19-07-2010
PCM$: 300.00
|
Well said, Smowzy! Big thanks to the big three men behind the scenes here! Great write-up, Count. Really enjoyed the read!
Nice so see some of our riders having a chance to go for some glory. Will i don't care too much about Rogers - - i really hope for Durbridge to take the TT. Also interested in Denmark's TT-performances now that i was the only selector for them.
|
| |
|
|
| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 14-01-2014 18:10
|
Classics Specialist
Posts: 2798
Joined: 20-04-2008
PCM$: 200.00
|
Nice previews! Looking forward to my first WC.
|
| |
|
|
| Miguel98 |
Posted on 14-01-2014 18:41
|
World Champion
Posts: 10231
Joined: 23-06-2011
PCM$: 200.00
|
Great preview. Should be awesome races, hopefully PCM won't ruin them. I hope that Silva and Roman, and even Craddock on the U23 show up on the radar and help their team leaders. |
| |
|
|
| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 14-01-2014 21:17
|
Team Leader
Posts: 6178
Joined: 20-07-2008
PCM$: 200.00
|
Looking forward to this as well. I'm very glad to have riders in (almost) every event, even though it'll be very unlikely to achieve any title. Maybe in the TTT with Plaza in the spanish team...
The race all seem pretty interesting, but the queen event, the elite RR, is the one we're all waiting for. Both startlist and profile look quite mouth-watering.
|
| |
|
|
| jph27 |
Posted on 14-01-2014 21:23
|
Team Leader
Posts: 7374
Joined: 20-03-2010
PCM$: 900.00
|
All about the U23 TT with Goldstein for us. Shame no Altanzul in the U23 RR, he could have gone well there being relatively good uphill for a sprinter in that field. Great previews CA |
| |
|
|
| mb2612 |
Posted on 14-01-2014 22:55
|
Team Leader
Posts: 5535
Joined: 18-05-2008
PCM$: 200.00
|
Spain really should reclaim their TTT crown here, after they were robbed last year by the cobbles.
For the road race there isn't much hope, but I guess a Boom like result is possible, although pcm 12 makes it almost certain to be a sprint, in which case, it comes down to who gets their tactics right.
 [url=www.pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=33182] Team Santander Media Thread[/url]
Please assume I am joking unless otherwise stated |
| |
|
|
| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 14-01-2014 23:19
|
Team Manager
Posts: 31706
Joined: 08-03-2007
PCM$: 200.00
|
McCarthy riding the Elite race means that Skujins is a couple of hill stats clear of the rest. Hopefully that might mean something, but if his team are expected to do a lot of work then that will really favour some sort of mid-stage attack.
No real expectations for Schleck any more. Not been his season so far, and is never going to be again with more decreases. At least he has Andy for support this year, which must be his first Worlds appearance for a few years.
All races should be good. Although I fear a dominant Phinney in the TT.
|
| |
|
|
| Roman |
Posted on 14-01-2014 23:26
|
Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4279
Joined: 29-05-2007
PCM$: 200.00
|
Fantastic preview!
A medal would be an amazing result for my team, but Coppel can definetely make it in TT. RR will be probably too hard for him and Bewley, but one man can hope.
|
| |
|
