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Vuelta al Tachira Discussion
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 14-04-2014 23:07
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Directeur Sportif
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 Vuelta al Tachira
The Vuelta al Tachira has a long history in the ManGame and goes into it's 6th edition this year. 10 stages, including 4 mountains and 2 hilly parcours, make for a hopefully thrilling battle between some premium climbers in the PCT/CT.
The first half of the race will give the sprinters (4) and puncheurs (1) a chance to shine. The question is, wether the first hilly stage will be crucial as for the final GC or not. It should be an interesting stage anyway.. the last five days though look like the days, where the GC will be decided. Two MTFs may be the most decisive places to attack each other.. and the concluding hilly circuit may lead to some nice action, when the GC is still close.
Defending and two-times Tachira-champion Florentino Marquez (HTC/now Quickstep) ain't the start, but Richard Ochoa Quintero (Nutresa) is. The 30 years old local hero won this race back in 2011 and may be one of the most dangerous CT-invitees this year!
The Startlist
The Favorites
Let's start the favorites-preview with the two local teams, which definitely may hope for a special boost to go for a special win:
Repsol-Cativen is led by a well-known veteran in  Kashechkin. He's not only one of the best climbers at the start here, but also one of the best puncheurs amongst the top-favorites. The Kazakh veteran, yet 34 years old, is expected to play his strengths wisely.
Mobil-Aeropostal will hope for their veteran to shine: Columbian mountain goat  Pedraza may be a bit worse rated than Kashechkin, but is definitely amongst the top-favorites.
Another South American arrives with high expectations:  Nazaret, 6th here back in 2012 and 2010, is one of the best climbers at the start and is therefore a real threat.
Same goes for  Eastman. The young gun, who finished 8th here in 2012, is a true force. The US young gun also has one of the best support behind him, so he will aim to kick off Heineken's promotion campaign with a bang.
Next top-climber in line is  Samwel. The Kenyan knows how to "survive" longer stage-races, which could be a plus thanks to the toughest stages being raced from day five on.
Boeing-Bulgario lines up with their own pure climber:  Panayotov, the "Bulgarian Giant", may hope for a Top-5 here. Same goes for  Berhane, who is the most complete "allrounder" amongst the favorites - combining both climbing long and short climbs very well. Just like - though a bit worse -  Marzano,  Navarro or  Efimkin.
And then we have those teams with two possible threats on it's squads:
 Serpa (as the pure climber) or De la Fuente (as the allrounder)
 Maillet (as the pure climber) or Elissonde (as the better stage racer)
 Kelderman (as the pure puncheur) or Nerz (as the better stage racer)
And last but not least, some CT-teams with dangerous riders at the start:
 Schwab, former race-winner  Ochoa Quintero or (with less hopes though)  Esquivel,  Rudaskov or  Feillu.. Some more riders (especially those, who combine both MO and HI) may deserve a mention, but that's it for now.
The Sprinters
With four flat stages on the menu, we have to take a look at who's lining up with some possible threats for those (to be expected) bunch sprints.
Vanoverschelde (with strong support in Cardoso and Lima) may be something like the top-favorite for those sprint stages. Same goes for Bennett and Aberasturi.
Some other guys like Cucinotta, Sonnery, Rizza, Brea or  Rangel will hope for a win as well. Other sprinters are  Angarita, Eisel or Anton Martin.
Edited by tsmoha on 14-04-2014 23:13
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 14-04-2014 23:12
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Team Manager
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Nice to see I found a good race for Bennett here! Use of 10 race days is well worth it for those 3 race day opportunites at the start.
WIll be fun to see what Berhane can manage too. Good race for him, and a rare mountains opportunity without Uran or Intxausti.
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 14-04-2014 23:19
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8057
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Not expecting much here but I got to say... you missed a favourite tsmoha, rider #156  He might be the most dangerous and interesting rider in the entire peloton and he didn't get a mention in his 1st career MG race. 
On a more serious note, wonder how the AI will handle Serpa Vs. De la Fuente and how Anton Martin will do.
One thing is for sure, we can't afford wasting 10 race days with a decent haul of points. 
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 14-04-2014 23:21
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18187
Joined: 12-05-2012
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I would love to see Panayotov, "Bulgarian Giant" (i'm gonna make a better nickname than that), in the Top 5 but after our experiences last year i'd be happy with a Top15. Also interested to see how Sarmiento fares in the mountains with an outside chance of riding himself into a scoring positions. Also have some hopes for Lloyd to impress on the hilly days, and Gorka to be consistent enough to possibly score as well.
Nice field, some strong names but not too many. It's open without being unpredictable and hopefully that should make for an exciting race. Can't wait for the first true climbs of the season
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 14-04-2014 23:22
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Team Manager
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Mresuperstar wrote:
Not expecting much here but I got to say... you missed a favourite tsmoha, rider #156 He might be the most dangerous and interesting rider in the entire peloton and he didn't get a mention in his 1st career MG race.
Beware of the mighty Newton 
Well, it might not have been too wise to send Schwab here, but I fear I made a few not-so-wise decisions in the planning. Anyway, a Top10 here would make me a happy man
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| Stromeon |
Posted on 14-04-2014 23:23
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Classics Specialist
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Interesting... Looks like Angarita can snatch some top 10s in the opening stages and hopefully we can get involved in the break somewhere along the line later on
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| Kami |
Posted on 14-04-2014 23:24
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3485
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A stage, and perhaps a top 10 would be nice. It's one of the few races without a set leader in it, and it's actually nice to see the field not so packed.
Also, apparently i turned into Amex in the preview (minishirts) .
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| cio93 |
Posted on 14-04-2014 23:35
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World Champion
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Pre-race, this looks like 10 decently spent race days for both Nerz and Kelderman.
I wasn't expecting Nerz to be a clear Top 10 favourite beforehand anyway, but I think I can still set that as a goal looking at how many riders he's on par with. At least he should definitely not struggle more than the other contenders on the hilly stuff, so it could come down to having or not having a good day in the mountains.
Speaking of hills, Kelderman proved impressively in last year's Avenir that an advantage (and possibly a leader's jersey) gained in an early hilly stage can be kept quite surprisingly well by him.
I wouldn't bet on that happening again, but it was certainly one of the reasons to bring him here, and it seems like he's a favourite for stages 4 and 10 (depending on how much REC plays a part then) together with Vogt.
I gambled a bit on bringing Delage here (who wouldn't have gotten full race days otherwise though), maybe he can come from behind on stage 5 if the mountain saps the sprinter's legs, and he might possibly challenge Kelderman for the protected role in the hilly stages if ridden more conservatively.
Looking further down, Heider gives us strong mountain support and hopefully competes with the CT leaders for a Top 15 or 20, Bontenackels is a pure climbing domestique while Chevrier will be helpful on all uphill stages.
So overall, Nerz somewhere between 6 and 12 overall and Kelderman at least podiuming a hilly stage is what I'm definitely looking for here.
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| FroomeDog99 |
Posted on 14-04-2014 23:35
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Grand Tour Specialist
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One of Samwel's gambles this year, hope it pays off with a decent overall finish. I'd settle for somewhere from 5th-10th like Ndbri last year. I'm secretly worried about his 54 downhill. Could not be a big factor though.
Looking forward to the reports |
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| NTTHRASH |
Posted on 14-04-2014 23:53
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Classics Specialist
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Will be happy to see the team show our colors at our first C1 race. Luck to all!
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Posted on 22-11-2024 07:35
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| brownwm |
Posted on 15-04-2014 00:00
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Breakaway Specialist
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Really big race for me, important for my goals and getting the season off to a good start, something I couldn't do last year. Hopefully Kashechkin performs here, and maybe a few sprint stages.
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| Mhaley45 |
Posted on 15-04-2014 00:06
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1036
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AMEXpc like most PCT will have couple of throw away races now that we have race bundles. AMEXpc, Unable to avoid all the mountains will be using this race as a training race for most of the squad.
Look for AMEX to contest the sprint stages and we hope that Jan Dieteren or Bernhard Eisel will make run at the Points Jersey.
Any points will be banked and cherished.
This race will be a desire/heart check tour. A chance for the AMEX riders to show they should be in the teams future plans.
=========================================
Team Manager of AMEX - Navigon
Editor of the Cobbler
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| dev4ever |
Posted on 15-04-2014 00:15
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Small Tour Specialist
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Sending only Esquivel + talents here. Not expecting much but a top ten on a stage would be nice. Plus maybe featuring in some breakaways.
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| 547984 |
Posted on 15-04-2014 00:16
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5008
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Will be looking to see what we can do here, not expecting too much looking at the startlist.
Perhaps it wasn't a good idea to use 10 race days against the stiff C1 competition, but you never know what may happen. Hoping for a breakaway...
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| Levi4life |
Posted on 15-04-2014 05:01
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Grand Tour Specialist
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I think anything less than a podium would be a disappointment from Eastman but that's not going to be easy. Hopefully the hills don't play a factor in the selection and hopefully Eastman can hang with Nazaret
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| aidanvn13 |
Posted on 15-04-2014 05:09
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Classics Specialist
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Originally subscribed to this race with the intention of sending Krasnoperov. Unfortunately that won't be happening and instead I'm using the race days for young riders. I also haven't sent Augustyn as I'm a bit weary of the 10 race days and the absence of a time trial.
Other than that, I'm hoping for some breakaways and hopefully a surprise stage win. Hopefully PCM AI sends Niyonshuti or Terciado into the breaks to fight for the KoM and finally, hopefully Rangel can pull off something special.
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| tyriion |
Posted on 15-04-2014 05:30
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Sprinter
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Interesting race. Some sprinters surely look to score here without some of the bigger names.
Check out my ManGame team here
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| roturn |
Posted on 15-04-2014 05:48
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Team Manager
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Cucinotta.
Did not happen a lot to see him in the preview. 1-2 times in total for the last two years. So expect me to follow the sprints closely going for a surprise.
Berhane vs Samwel. Looking interesting. |
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| jph27 |
Posted on 15-04-2014 07:20
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Hoping for a rider in the top and a stage win, but I doubt it'll happen in this field. Eastman to win. |
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| fjhoekie |
Posted on 15-04-2014 08:10
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Ok, so you mention Efimkin, and somehow forgot Topchanyuk, who in my eyes could even beat Efimkin. Hope for a top 10 from both of them, but that'll probably be tough...
Vanoverschelde to win atleast one stage please...
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game |
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![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
