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Tour of the Battenkill Discussion
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| roturn |
Posted on 31-08-2014 17:40
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The PCT cobbled season continues with the Tour of the Battenkill in the USA. As it`s the next HC rated race, it`s obviously filled with an incredible startlist including more or less all the divisions top cobblers including last years winner Baugnies.
Speaking of last year. Let`s have a short recap of the 2013 race:
In the sprint of a smaller group the top cobbler Baugnies was taking the win ahead of Breschel and Vanspeybrouck. While last was stepping up to the Pro Tour in 2014, the other two again belong to the big favourites.
Going through other names of the top10 we will also see Veelers, Eisel, Steegmans, Maes, Thomas and many many more in the 2014 edition. But let`s check the startlist a bit closer:
 Baugnies must be named first obviously. He leads a very strong team and surely aims the win. With so many top helpers it`s hard to look around that team. Also the co captains must be named here:
Steurs
Vanbilsen
Their biggest opponent will be  Team Hornbach. With Franzoi they have a great cobbler alongside Veelers and Trentin, who have the big advantage of being fast sprinters in a possible group sprint.
Other top favourites for this race are
 Maes
 Nuyens. Both aren`t the best sprinters and will need to attack just like Baugnies and Franzoi.
Better chances in a sprint finish has the Amex duo  Breschel and Eisel. Both have done well so far and are always able to surprise the better cobblers. This can also be said about Steegmans in case he gets some kind of free role next to Nuyens.
And this was not yet the full list of big favourites. We mustn`t forget  Thomas,  Taillefour, Nepomnyachsniy or  Lagab. All of them need a good day to challenge the others but should be expected in a good position.
Others might struggle to follow the best but depending on the pace they might make a good result. Those are:
 Ventoso
Altur
 Machado
 Visconti
Del Nero
 Turgot
 Sys
 Offredo
 Declerq
 Bikienga
All other teams can`t really expect a high outcome and should focus the breakaway and hope for a great fight to hang on. In a selective race those teams will probably be quite invisible towards the end.
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| Alakagom |
Posted on 31-08-2014 17:52
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Ahhh..cobbles <3
Our win goal, so nothing less than podium is considered. The course is perfect for Baugnies, mix of hills and cobbles and the uphill sprint disadvantages the sprint stat a bit.
Let's hope we can keep it together well. Great preview Roturn, looking forward to the race a lot.
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| roturn |
Posted on 31-08-2014 17:55
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Not really a uphill sprint though. After the late bump it`s going down again. More or less the same as in the 2013 picture. |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 01-09-2014 12:56
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Big race for B3B. It's Cobbles and it's America Tour. We need Thomas to deliver at least a Top10 ride like he did last year. Hopefully we can continue our trend of being better than last season and he could sneak a podium place.
Baugnies to win though, without a doubt
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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 01-09-2014 16:17
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Good terrain for Nuyens. I want a top 5, Nick!
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| Mhaley45 |
Posted on 01-09-2014 21:32
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AMEXpc has this as a Top 5 goal and with Bernhard Eisel and Matti Breschel we think we have the ability to deliver.
Tough Start list for this race. It will be very hard to unseat the 2013 Champion Baugnies. He is well suited for this course and he has the support to be strong at the end.
This is going to be an important race for AMEX's American cobbler - Robert Bush. He is still developing but he wants very badly to show well here in Battenkill. This will be a key event in his season. Let's see what he can deliver.
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 02-09-2014 11:32
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More then likely the same awful performances that I have come to expect from the cobbled classics team top 40 would be an improvement haha |
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 02-09-2014 11:32
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More then likely the same awful performances that I have come to expect from the cobbled classics team top 40 would be an improvement haha |
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| Mhaley45 |
Posted on 02-09-2014 15:08
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Matti Breschel and Bernhard Eisel team up again for podium finishes. Very Surprised that Baugnies attacked so early, he probably would have won again if he had used last years tactics of waiting for the sprint.
Battenkill was a Top 5 goal for the season and we secured that. So far we are 2 for 2 on goals and between Breschel and Eisel we have 3 wins.
Very big day for AMEXpc. Four races down the road AMEX will have another key race - the Avila Classic. That is our win goal for the season. Another win there would give us a dominating Cobble season. Then it will be up to the punchuers and sprinters to rack up their points.
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| Alakagom |
Posted on 02-09-2014 15:58
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I officially give up on Baugnies. In almost every cobbled race so far he attacked pointlessly resulting in nothing...
If this season ever finishes, Baugnies is the first FA on the market. So prepare your offers already 
Great result by Amex, well done.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 02:36
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 02-09-2014 16:00
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Well, HTC are beeing well fucked by the AI this year.. |
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| roturn |
Posted on 02-09-2014 16:01
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Sorry Alakagon. 
I first thought that the AI was playing nicely this time but for some reason everything came together on the last cobbled part, where I expected the gap to become bigger actually.
I mean, all 3 groups were chasing a lot. The peloton the most actually with Amex and Allianz, who failed hugely in the end.
The middle group probably had too many riders in there, so the work was not perfect.
But no idea, why Baugnies was caught as well after being that strong before. Haven`t realized that he slowed down at all. Probably all because of Amex working behind. |
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| Mhaley45 |
Posted on 02-09-2014 20:47
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The AI this season has been different but somewhat consistent at least on the HC/C1 cobble races. Why Baugnies, who won out of a sprint last year, would suddenly go for a mid-race attack is truly strange. I believe if he had waited for a much later attack he would have won again. That he faded at the end is not a surprise - he used all his legs making the attack and pressing the lead. AMEX did well at the end because Eisel also attacked shortly after Baugnies break but Matti Breschel stayed back and waited.
This was the same tactic the AI & AMEX used in two earlier races. At Dwars Door Vlaandaren Breschel made the counter attack letting Eisel stay fresh and sprint for the win. At the E3-Prijs Breschel again made the counter attack leaving Eisel fresh for the sprint.
At Battenkill they swapped roles with Eisel counter attacking the Baugnies move and Breschel holding back for the sprint.
AMEX's cobble squad has performed well in 2014 for three reasons. First they have two cobblers who can win on any given day. That forces the other contenders to respect when either of them attacks. Secondly they have very solid cobbling depth with Kurth, Krauss, Devolder, Kump, Bush and even Barrado keeping everybody protected and fresh. That seems to make a big difference in the final stages of the cobble races. Finally the HC/C1 races do not put as much demand on stamina as the Pro Tour cobble classics do. This allows AMEX's deep team to stay around longer.
Don't worry for long, AMEXpc is still a very one dimensional team who will see little success on the tours and the Hilly and Sprint classics. By seasons end we will be well settled in mid-pack of the PCT standings.
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 02-09-2014 21:01
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Top 5 Goal Achieved + 12th from Altur. Very very nice!
Thanks for the great report roturn 
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 02-09-2014 21:37
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Wasn't the admittedly ambitious Win Goal, but a Top5 is still very much deserved after Thomas hard work and aggressive nature. Hindsight says he should have waited, guess i need to find him a powerhouse co-leader for next season
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 03-09-2014 06:14
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Mhaley45 wrote:
Why Baugnies, who won out of a sprint last year, would suddenly go for a mid-race attack is truly strange.
That is not strange at all, given the fact that pointless attacks of favourites is the main feature of PCM13.
Anyway, great report and congrats to AMEX, their cobble sprinting duo is great this year. Best Metinvest rider on 59th place is expected result, as these races are just HC band fillers for us. 
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| Heine |
Posted on 03-09-2014 08:49
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There will always be strange happenings with the PCM AI :-p
Great race for AMEX, 1st and 3rd gives a nice haul
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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 03-09-2014 19:40
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Exciting race. Congrats to AMEX on a huge result!
Shame that the attacks didn't make it. But it was a result of pretty logical team tactics, so no complaints there. Good to see Nuyens so aggressive.
I'm gutted that Steegmans went into domestique mode though. He worked at the front of the peloton while very capable helpers like Vangenechten (C2 cobble race winner) and Chainel were chilling behind. With a final sprint like this he normally could've easily hit top 5.
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 06-09-2014 12:46
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Cool cobbled race for Oz once again Visconti playing it nicely and Del Nero completing a very good 6-13 here. Some good points after a less succesfull Taiwan Tour. Cobbles, bring me more cobbles!
Cool report as well! Thanks roturn and everyone else, who keep the ball rolling!
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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)
