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Benelux Challenge Discussion
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 21-04-2014 02:49
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8059
Joined: 22-06-2009
PCM$: 650.00
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Benelux Challenge Preview
February 2-7, 2014 : Europe C2HC
 Belgium :  Netherlands :  Luxembourg
2 Flat Stages, 2 Hilly Stages, 2 Cobble Stages.
Who's getting their name in the history books as the 1st ever winner
of the Benelux Challenge - A sprinter? A punchuer? A cobbler?
Some sort of combination of all three attributes?
Your guess is as good as mine... 
 | Damion Drapac |  | Tyler Farrar |  | Michael Vanderaerden |  | Christopher Sutton | | Jonas Aaen Jorgensen |  | K. Uugunbayar |  | Mauro Richeze |  | Robert Sweeting |  | Alex Rasmussen |
| Aleksandr Kolobnev | | Alberigo Passalacqua |  | Marcel Wyss | | Phillip Gaimon |  | Sergio Cioban | | V.R. Bugge |  | Timothy Duggan |  | Grega Bole |  | Bjorn Selander |
| Kenny De Haes |  | Stijn Joseph | | Niki Østergaard | | Hayden Roulston | | Cedric Lebris |  | Yu Takenouchi | | Christopher Stevenson | | Alexandre Aulas | | Jean-Lou Paiani |
Make your case below, who do you think is going to win?
Spoiler
A few notes I would like to disclose before starting:
1. Stage 1 the jersey textures will be poor but I fix that for the following stages.
2. After Stage 2 I decided to crow the images so they look bigger on the site.
So, I had to work out a few reporting kinks in the first two stages. 
Reports to come two times a day once the Tour of South China Sea is posted.
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| maxime86 |
Posted on 21-04-2014 02:54
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2950
Joined: 01-03-2012
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happy to see 4 of my riders mentioned! |
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 21-04-2014 02:59
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 16429
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Hopefully Ostergaard dominates stage 4 and Rasmussen wins stage 3. That's my goal. A top 5 would be wonderful but with the amount of cobbles/hills not sure if possible.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| cio93 |
Posted on 21-04-2014 03:02
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World Champion
Posts: 10845
Joined: 29-10-2007
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Predicting 6 breakaway wins...
Though seriously, this could well be a very exciting race if the PCM13 AI finally lives up to its potential.
Not sure what to make of the decisiveness of stages 4 and 5.
I sense Bole could surprise massively here.
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| welker3257 |
Posted on 21-04-2014 03:07
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2336
Joined: 29-05-2013
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I've got someone for every day here, hopefully Hayden can get enough on the cobbles and hang on in the hills to get a good spot in GC. I'd say a stage win and a top 5 is a reasonable target.
Gig 'em Aggies
Fast N' Loud Cycling Project - ICL
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| Kentaurus |
Posted on 21-04-2014 03:07
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3999
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Well hoping that Farrar has a much better start to his season than Haedo. Cobbles not really good on this team, but do think that with some luck the cobbles are not too bad and Farrar (71 cob) can stay with the lead group and beat them in the sprint, especially on stage 6.
Edited by Kentaurus on 21-04-2014 03:08
AZTECA - NBCSN  |
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| maxime86 |
Posted on 21-04-2014 03:51
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2950
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I actually think Aulas has an outside chance with his cobbling abillity and his abillity to sprint
in addition to that, he shouldnt lose to much time on the hilly stages |
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| Jesleyh |
Posted on 21-04-2014 09:01
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15274
Joined: 21-07-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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Duggan should be the TomTom guy doing good here. Lebris can't win this anyway. Top 5 goal here, iirc, and looking at the field, it's not as unrealistic as I thought at first, but I just hope the cobbles don't have a massive impact.
Looking at the route:
Does this race even reach the Netherlands? 
Edited by Jesleyh on 21-04-2014 09:03
Feyenoord(football) and Kelderman fanboy
PCMdaily Awards: 12x nomination, 9x runner-up, 0x win.
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 21-04-2014 10:28
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World Champion
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All in on Joseph here, make us proud!
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| admirschleck |
Posted on 21-04-2014 10:34
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Team Leader
Posts: 6690
Joined: 11-10-2010
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cio93 wrote:
Predicting 6 breakaway wins...
Though seriously, this could well be a very exciting race if the PCM13 AI finally lives up to its potential.
Not sure what to make of the decisiveness of stages 4 and 5.
I sense Bole could surprise massively here.
Your predictions was pretty good so far (Demare having a good day in Badaling and Van Staeyen winning Tour Down Under iirc), so let's hope this one will be one of them. 
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 13:01
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| Bikex |
Posted on 21-04-2014 10:39
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Team Leader
Posts: 7257
Joined: 25-08-2012
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Khayabkhyrvaa, time to make up for your failure in Australia! 
I guess the last stage will also be contested by the sprinters, the two cobbled sections are just too far away from the finish to make a difference. |
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| roturn |
Posted on 21-04-2014 10:42
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Team Manager
Posts: 22246
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Should be an interesting race.
The cobbled races could be the most interesting. No matter where the cobbles are. PCM will surely make it interesting with some cobblers attacking.
Joesph and Wyss my top favourites for that race.
Edited by roturn on 21-04-2014 10:44
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| tastasol |
Posted on 21-04-2014 10:56
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2889
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A lot of breaks going all the way so far, probably the case here as well.. Think Bugge can be a good man here with his decent cobble stat.
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| Dippofix |
Posted on 21-04-2014 11:16
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Posts: 3905
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This will surely be one of the most interesting races of the season for us, now just wondering what we might be able to take from it. Stage 3 is made for Drapac, and Harrison will surely be able to do something on Stages 4 and 6. Stage 1 will be between one of the two too. A stage with a mix out of cobbles and hills would have been ideal for Hamilton and his Fighter skills, but i hope to see him attacking on the cobbles anyway.
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| NTTHRASH |
Posted on 21-04-2014 11:28
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Classics Specialist
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I'll be happy if De Ketele at least gives us something. I don't think we are going to go too far though, we have no true lead here.
"America. Show a nipple on television and the whole country goes ape-shit." -DubbelDekker
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 21-04-2014 15:53
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
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Got a feeling Stobart are going to find this race very hard indeed  |
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| Selwink |
Posted on 21-04-2014 15:57
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8856
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No mentions, no expectations. Result can't be disappointing 
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| cio93 |
Posted on 21-04-2014 16:01
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World Champion
Posts: 10845
Joined: 29-10-2007
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admirschleck wrote:
cio93 wrote:
Predicting 6 breakaway wins...
Though seriously, this could well be a very exciting race if the PCM13 AI finally lives up to its potential.
Not sure what to make of the decisiveness of stages 4 and 5.
I sense Bole could surprise massively here.
Your predictions was pretty good so far (Demare having a good day in Badaling and Van Staeyen winning Tour Down Under iirc), so let's hope this one will be one of them.
Thanks
Yeah, I somehow think he has a great chance to be high up in the GC before stage 4 (or even in the lead), and then I guess good positioning is more crucial than cobble ability alone there.
I mean it's the Muur, but the peloton can strech quite a lot before breaking up.
And I feel like stage 6 won't produce any gaps, as much as I would enjoy them to make an exciting finale.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 21-04-2014 16:01
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Selwink wrote:
No mentions, no expectations. Result can't be disappointing
That is a good way of looking at it  |
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| knockout |
Posted on 21-04-2014 19:29
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
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I hope my team isnt as anonymous in the race as in the list of possible favourites. Actually, I have the feeling that Saramotins could really surprise here. Good sprint and decent over hills and cobbles and a nice fighting spirit can be the start of a nice result. Also, I hope to see Bissinger, Boivin and Stoltz in an attack.
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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