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Maxime86's Biased CT Overview
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| maxime86 |
Posted on 05-04-2014 07:25
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2950
Joined: 01-03-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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With all the previews around, I decided with all the time I have all of a sudden, I might as well spread my opinions about the CT division
 Alpina - Avianca
Summary
This team is one of the younger ones in this year's CT peleton, actually 14 of the team's 17 riders are under 30. That said, this team is not all the way there yet, they may be a good team in a few years, but promotion is not something in their reach anytime soon. That said, Columbian sprinter Juan Pablo Forero is probably going to be one of the best in the peleton on flat stages.
Best-Case Scenario
Forero leads the teams to a few wins and Orozco is able to take a few surprising mountain stage wins. Young riders continue to develop. The team finishes between 10th and 15th place in the CT
Worst-Case Scenario
The team struggles throughout the whole as Forero gets dropped whenever the road rises and is beaten by someone else when the stage is flat. The team looks like it needs to be blown up next year as they finish Last.
Ameriabank
Summary
All this team does is sprint, sprint, sprint and did I mention that they sprint? The Serebriakov/Hochmann duo is bound to be a killer in the CT level with the help of many leadout men. Bakhin is the Team's best climber even though he would be a helper on most other teams.
Best-Case Scenario
The Serebriakov/Hochmann duo destroys all other oposition and leads the team to a huge amount of victories as well as promotion.
Worst-Case Scenario
Serebriakov and Hochmann struggle with hillier terrains, costing the team any chance of promotion. The team ends up in the 10-20 range due to the abilities of the team's sprinters of flat stages.
 Azteca - NBCSN
Summary
THis is an extreamly all-around team with good leaders every where. Maybe they're lacking a killer guy, but their wide range of good riders should make up for it. Farrar should do very well as a sprinter at this level.
Best-Case Scenario
Their wide range of riders allow them to win a wide range of races throughout the season. They are able to capitalize on other team's failures but barely miss out on promotion to the PCT
Worst-Case Scenario
Farrar is the only bright points for the team throughout the whole season as the lack of a killer rider in other spots causes them trouble and they finish around the 15th spot.
 Bank of Ireland
Summary
Bank of Ireland was a very star-oriented team. What i mean by that is that the team will go where ever their stars take them. Mendes and Drapac are bound to absolutly tear-up the CT division. The rest of the team on the other hand is full of OK helpers.
Best-Case Scenario
Damion Drapac dominates CT sprints throughout the whole season and Jose Mendes kills all opopsition the moment there's a hill in sight. Bank of Ireland is able to finish in the top 5 of the CT.
Worst-Case Scenario
Drapac struggles with his inabillity in the hills and Mendes has troubles all season finding his gear in the hills. The whole team flounders along with the leaders and they find themselves near the bottom.
 Bonsucro
Summary
This is one of the best teams in the CT division this year with all their fantastic talent in the mountains. Carlos Alexandre Manarelli is also a very good sprinter and should be able to obtain quite a few victories. Txurruka and Nicacio are going to lead the team in the stage races.
However, I sense a flop coming for this team this season for quite a few reasons.
1) All the fantastic sprinters in the CT division
Bonsucro is going to have trouble handing all of the other great sprinters that have arrived in the division this year.
2) No standout riders
Bonsucro has fantastic depth in the mountains, but they dont have that one rider who is a notch above most other riders, and in a CT division with many climbers, Bonsucro may have trouble.
Best-Case Scenario
Bonsucro is able to destroy everyone else in the mountains by using all of their helpers. They are able to dominate all mountain stages and as a result they promote to the PCT.
Worst-Case Scenario
(See what I wrote under the summary)
 Dell - 361° Racing
Summary
One of the many american teams in the CT division with a very similar build as the other teams. The only thing holding them back is their lack of a sprinter. However they do have good climbers, puncheurs and time trailists to make up for it.
Best-Case Scenario
Freddy Cruz is able to pick-up time-trail win after time-trail win. Raisin and Rosskopf are able to lead the team through hills and Mountains. However, this team's ceiling is really quite low and a maximum finish is probably around 10th place.
Worst-Case Scenario
All-Around isn't enough and the whole team struggles to find high finishes during the whole season placing them into the bottom 5
 Eddie Stobart Pro Cycling
Summary
This is really a team that is going to struggle throughout the whole season as they really don't have that many guys who can contribute to wins or high finishes. Their best climber would be a helper on most other teams and their best sprinter, Chris Opie, would probably be a second best sprinter on most other teams. Mark Reshaw is really an average sprinter, but he could win some cobbled classics in a bunch sprint.
Best-Case Scenario
The team picks up some win from escape groups and doesn't finish last. Renshaw wins some cobbled races.
Worst-Case Scenario
They dont win any stages (which is really possible) and finish last in the overall Man-Game rankings.
Edited by maxime86 on 06-04-2014 00:46
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| maxime86 |
Posted on 05-04-2014 07:26
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2950
Joined: 01-03-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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 Euskaltel-Bavaria
Summary
Holy Sh*** was my first reaction when i saw this team's stats. When this team hits a climb it's like christmas. Litterally I can't tell you how many 70+ climbers there are on this team. But not only do they have a bunch of 70+ climbers they also have some great finishers like Fernandez, Jeannesson.
Best-Case Scenario
The team dominates all of the CT climbs throughout the whole season and all the points they pick up allows them to finish first in main stage races. All those points make them finish first.
Worst-Case Scenario
Their lack of cobblers/sprinters cause them to miss out on many points available to them and they only score in the mountains.
pretty good worst case scenario
 Evonik - Signal Iduna
Summary
This team has two sides to it, sprinting and hills. Geschke is going to be one of the best riders in the CT i think. They have a fantastic sprint train, but they lack that one sprinter to punch through. Geschke is going to lead the team throught the whole season.
Best-Case Scenario
Geschke destroys all competition and their fantastic train makes up for the killer sprinter. The team ends up near the 10th spot.
Worst-Case Scenario
Geschke is the only bright spot on the team and their inability to climb even the steps to their own home costs the team many possible stage victories.
 Fletcher - Garneau
Summary
Vanderaerden/Meyer is possibly the best sprinter combination of the whole Continental division. Passalacqua is a very good hill rider for the team. They have a bunch of very good timetrailists who'll pick up a bunch of points throughout the season.
It acually wouldn't surprise me if they come out of nowhere to win the whole CT division.
Best-Case Scenario
the Meyer/Vanderaerden combination wins a crap load of stages and their puncheur win them quite a few races and a bunch of top 10 finishes.
Worst-Case Scenario
Vanderaerden and Meyer are the only guys who can do anything for the team throughout the whole season. The team ends up in the bottom half of the rankings.
 Grupo Nutresa
Summary
This team has as many sprinters as Cyanide has things to fix from PCM 2013 to PCM 2014 which is a lot. This team has a killer guy everywhere: Ochoa Quintero in the mountains, Kolobnev: in the hills and Caethoven/Richeze/Herrera/Haedo/Averin in the sprints.
Best-Case Scenario
All of their leaders lead the team to an immense amount of victories and the CT tittle.
Worst-Case Scenario
The sprinter by committee system doesnt really work out and instead of battling for the continental championship, they finish around the tenth place
Edited by maxime86 on 06-04-2014 05:51
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| maxime86 |
Posted on 05-04-2014 07:26
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2950
Joined: 01-03-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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 In-n-Out p/b Auchan
Summary
This team could have been one of the best in the CT had they not made mistakes during the transfer season, but they will still carry on with one of the most all-around teams in the CT. However, unlike other CT teams, they do have that's one guy who can kill the other riders in Phillip Gaimon. They dont really have any really good sprinters for flat races except for Benoit Sinner. But, They are very well equiped for hilly races with Gaimon and Sweeting.
Best-case scenario
Their hilly riders win races win many of the hilly races, and thier climbers over-achive throughout the whole season and win the team enough points to finish in the top-10
Worst-case scenario
Gaimon and Sweeting aren't able to make up for the team's lack of a really good sprint/climber. As a result, the team finish around the 20th spot.
 Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo Cycling Team
Summary
Okay so they have two riders who can do anything with Stijn Joseph and Kevin Peeters. They honestly have a lot of fantastic talents but thats really it. One really good cobbler/sprinter can only carry you so far.
Best-case scenario
Joseph and Peeters win a bunch of races and their talents continue to develop and the team finishes at the bottom of the table.
Worst-case scenario
Joseph and Peeters win a bunch of races and their talents continue to develop and the team finishes at the bottom of the table.
(yes, its the exact same thing)
 Maloja Mountain Nomads
Summary
Team name = Mountain Nomads, Team Specialty = Mountains. They litterally have two of the top 5 climbers in the whole CT division in Iglinski and Schwab. And then they have Diniz who is the third best climber on the team would be the best cimber on half of the Teams in the CT.
Best-case scenario
They kill everyone constantly in the mountains and pick up some breakaway wins which places them into the number one spot.
Worst-case scenario
They kill everyone constantly in the mountains which places them into the top 5. (Yeah that's the "worst case" scenario)
 ONCE-Eroski Cycling Team
Summary
This team is very similar to Maloja with Arroyo being their version of Iglinski. However they have a stash of very good climbers who are not named arroyo Kulhavy, Rojas Villegas, Castaño, Esquivel all have 76 mtn ratings.
Best-case scenario
They climb to the top (see what I did there) after destroying in the mountains everyone throughout the whole season. Arroyo finishes first in the CT rankings.
Worst-case scenario
They dont do well enough in mountain stage to make up for their lack of any other types of riders except climbers.
 Risa - Ergon
Summary
Extreamly good sprinting team that will probably lead them to the top of the rankings. They really dont have any riders who are just bad, all of their riders are good at something.
Best-case scenario
every sprinting stage results in a win for them, and they have the most wins in the whole CT division
Worst-case scenario
They are hit with bad luck the whole season with flat tires and crashes throughout the whole season.
 Sauber Petronas Racing
Summary
very nice group of climbers, but they really have no cobblers and their sprinters all have terrible flat stats. Zoidl who is a nice time-trailer and ok climber should do well in some stage races.
Best-case scenario
their sprinters don't get dropped on during most races and give them some good result, they really can't finish higher then 8th place
Worst-case scenario
They are a mediocre team and have a bunch of top-10s but not many victories which puts them around the middle of the pack
 Siam Cement - Lenovo
Summary
This is the type of team I like, they have a very good climber and a good sprinter in Rodrigues and Uugunbayar respectively
Best-case scenario
Rodrigues snags a bunch of mountain victories and leads the team to a top 10 finish.
Worst-case scenario
Rodrigues does well but is the only bright spot throught the whole team as the team fall around the 15-20 spots.
Edited by maxime86 on 12-04-2014 18:59
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| maxime86 |
Posted on 05-04-2014 07:26
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2950
Joined: 01-03-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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 ASDA
Summary
They really have two riders that matter in Stannard and Tiernan-Locke. Rowe doesn't have the acceleration to be a great sprinter, but that will come over time.
Best-case scenario
Stannard win nearly ever time trail in the CT division and leads the team to a finish around the 10th spot.
Worst-case scenario
Stannard's inabillity to climb anything costs him many TT wins, the team sputters and they finish near the bottom
 Carlsberg
Summary
The cobbles are this team's only bright spot, i mean they do have some sprinters but no one good enough for any sort of consistent results. Østergaard should do well in the CT leveled cobble race though.
Best-case scenario
Østergaard makes up for the lack of mountain/hill riders and Rasmussen is able to pick up some surprise sprint wins. The team finishes near the 13-16 spots
Worst-case scenario
Østergaard's inabillity to go over anything with the mildest hill costs him a few victorys. The team ends up near the end of the rankings by the end of the season
 Chiquita
Summary
This is a team run by a bunch of annoying minions which really is all you need to know.
Okay really this team is going to be one of the worst this year. They have a bunch of ok sprinters that won't ever win a stage unless they're in a breakaway. This team has some good climbers but with their terrible flat stats, they'll probably be dropped before any climb starts.
Best-case scenario
A few breakaway victorys pushes the team out of last place
Worst-case scenario
The season goes as I think it will and they finish last in the final rankings
Edited by maxime86 on 12-04-2014 19:00
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| maxime86 |
Posted on 05-04-2014 07:26
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2950
Joined: 01-03-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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Reserved
feel free to post |
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| CountArach |
Posted on 05-04-2014 07:35
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8290
Joined: 14-07-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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I like the best and worse case idea and I look forward to more!
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 12:47
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Bot Agent
Posts: Countless
Joined: 23.11.09
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| Jesleyh |
Posted on 05-04-2014 11:43
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15274
Joined: 21-07-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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Looks good.
Can't imagine BoI ending up last though, not even worst-case. 
Feyenoord(football) and Kelderman fanboy
PCMdaily Awards: 12x nomination, 9x runner-up, 0x win.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 05-04-2014 12:36
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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You have missed out Mark Renshaw in my squad list  |
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| Selwink |
Posted on 05-04-2014 12:42
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8856
Joined: 17-05-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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I like the best-case scenario for me 
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| The Rider |
Posted on 05-04-2014 12:47
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4543
Joined: 29-02-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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Super stuff Maxime, great to see your thoughts on the different teams.
Concerning Bonsucro, I have an issue. One major issue! The only rider you left out of our team 'screenshot' will probably be our biggest points scorer! (Pedro Nicacio)  |
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| maxime86 |
Posted on 05-04-2014 15:18
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2950
Joined: 01-03-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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sutty68 wrote:
You have missed out Mark Renshaw in my squad list
The Rider wrote:
Super stuff Maxime, great to see your thoughts on the different teams.
Concerning Bonsucro, I have an issue. One major issue! The only rider you left out of our team 'screenshot' will probably be our biggest points scorer! (Pedro Nicacio)
That's a mistake on my part, both of your team's previews will be changed acorrdingly (just not right now because im not my phone) |
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| 547984 |
Posted on 05-04-2014 16:57
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5008
Joined: 29-01-2013
PCM$: 200.00
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Still better than sutty, I guess. I mean, that's a bold statement for a team not to get any wins.
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! |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 05-04-2014 17:02
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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547984 wrote:
Still better than sutty, I guess. I mean, that's a bold statement for a team not to get any wins.
None of my teams ever win so it doesn't come as too much of a shock to me |
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| maxime86 |
Posted on 06-04-2014 02:15
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2950
Joined: 01-03-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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added some more team previews |
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 06-04-2014 03:08
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Team Leader
Posts: 5533
Joined: 12-06-2013
PCM$: 500.00
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I like my Best Case Scenario and your reaction.
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| maxime86 |
Posted on 06-04-2014 17:20
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2950
Joined: 01-03-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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More previews in post 3! |
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| Bikex |
Posted on 06-04-2014 17:24
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Team Leader
Posts: 7257
Joined: 25-08-2012
PCM$: 600.00
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Surprised to see my team in your oppinion even in the Worst Case Scenario to get in the top 20, that would already more than I ask for. I honestly think top 10 is basically impossible for my team even with Rodrigues doing good! |
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| Jesleyh |
Posted on 06-04-2014 17:26
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15274
Joined: 21-07-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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Yeah, I feel like Siam is overrated. A good sprinter? Do you call thát a good sprinter?
Feyenoord(football) and Kelderman fanboy
PCMdaily Awards: 12x nomination, 9x runner-up, 0x win.
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| maxime86 |
Posted on 06-04-2014 17:49
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2950
Joined: 01-03-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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Jesleyh wrote:
Yeah, I feel like Siam is overrated. A good sprinter? Do you call thát a good sprinter?
I call it a good sprinter, good not great, not amazing |
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| maxime86 |
Posted on 06-04-2014 17:50
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2950
Joined: 01-03-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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Bikex wrote:
Surprised to see my team in your oppinion even in the Worst Case Scenario to get in the top 20, that would already more than I ask for. I honestly think top 10 is basically impossible for my team even with Rodrigues doing good!
well you have one of the best climbers in the whole CT and he alone is bound to bring you up.
I don't know, there's something I like about your team |
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