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Vuelta al Pais Vasco Discussion
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| Selwink |
Posted on 11-07-2015 09:57
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Grand Tour Champion
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*Reports will be posted by SN due to me being on vacation for the next few weeks
The Vuelta al Pais Vasco is one of the oldest races on the calendar. This year the riders participating will ride its ninth edition already.
The route is one that can be expected from the region. Not a single stage can be called easy. Of the six stages, two finish at the top of a hill. Mainly stage 5 is looked forward to, due to the finish on the world famous Alto del Arrate. The race seems perfectly suited to punchers who are more than capable of climbing.
Then the final stage is a time trial, which should give the GC another interesting shake up.
The list of favourites seems to be:
| | MO | HIL | ACC | TT |  | Gesink | 82 | 81 | 68 | 80 |  | Trofimov | 78 | 83 | 76 | 77 |  | Ricco | 82 | 80 | 73 | 70 |  | Bakelants | 75 | 84 | 67 | 78 |  | Sicard | 82 | 78 | 70 | 76 |  | Hagen | 70 | 85 | 79 | 72 |  | Roche | 78 | 80 | 72 | 72 |  | F Schleck | 77 | 80 | 67 | 73 |  | Contador | 82 | 76 | 74 | 70 |
(Of course, the normal puncheurs might have a chance too. My experience is that they don't though, hence this list)
A few sprinters have travelled here as well. Standout name is  Van Stayen.
And then there's also the time trial specialists, who seem to have come here for the flat TT alone.
| | TT |  | Cancellara | 81 |  | Durbridge | 81 |  | Zmorka | 80 |  | Yatsevich | 80 | | Viennet | 80 | | Vlatos | 79 |  | Brändle | 79 |
The startlist should provide further reference
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 11-07-2015 10:12
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Surprised to not see Bobridge amongst the favorites 
On paper, he should do well. HI-TT combo has to be the key, so i'm hoping for a Top-10 and a few good stage results maybe. Don't expect Durbridge to be much of a factor for the TT, but Bobridge can actually do well there.
In general, not my favorite race (irl), but a nice route for Bobridge.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 03:10
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| Smowz |
Posted on 11-07-2015 10:44
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Kinda flatter than usual basque tour here, it really does depend on how the AI sees it.
Quite often as we have already seen the chrono can make of the lesser chrono hill guys a little impotent. That said stages 3 and 5 should be decisive. No expectations of GC here, but hopeful of two chances of stage glory, really depends on conditions and daily form in chrono. Holloway should have a chance against frankenstiens monster in the sprint.
Thanks for your recent work on the PT races Selwink.
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 11-07-2015 10:58
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Grand Tour Champion
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Kinda worried now that TVG didn't get mentioned. 
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| Crommy |
Posted on 11-07-2015 12:06
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Very much hoping Bakelants will be aggressive on the hilly stages. I think the length of the final TT means he won't win, but as long as he is aggressive, I'll be content
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| beagle |
Posted on 11-07-2015 12:41
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This might be interested race, hopefully with impact of MO stat in some tougher stages. Gesink is my bet.
Selwink, pls bring me some luck this time
Manager of Polar in Man-Game
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| jph27 |
Posted on 11-07-2015 14:33
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Hope for us to get in the break a lot, Gautier to sneak into the top 20 and a sprint on the flat stage for Petit to get involved in. |
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| SotD |
Posted on 11-07-2015 14:43
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Trofimov for an easy win here.
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| The Rider |
Posted on 11-07-2015 17:39
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Our first WT race! Secretly hoping for the hills to be turned into mountains so we can rustle some feathers.
--
To see some footage of the Spanish Champ would be great. KOM jersey might go to the early breaks so hoping to make them. |
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| Kami |
Posted on 11-07-2015 19:09
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Hopefully Ulissi can continue his good form, but in the end it'll be hard to get a good GC with the time-trial. Perhaps he could snatch a stage win.
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 11-07-2015 19:12
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Hopefully Kinoshita or Zaini can do something here, but Im not guessing they will, or betting on it atleast. I think Trofimov or Hagen will win.
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 11-07-2015 19:27
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Hopefully last year was just a year off for Gesink and now he will be back at winning this race.
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| CrueTrue |
Posted on 11-07-2015 19:44
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Tour de France Champion
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Sicard and Schreurs are here to dominate. Let's go  |
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| ember |
Posted on 11-07-2015 20:42
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Fingers crossed Boasson Hagen is up for another stage race that should suit him well. The final TT is obviously a challenge which favours Gesink and Trofimov. I have the Russian as the standout favourite, as he's usually good at this 
Looking forward to the reports! |
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| Roman |
Posted on 12-07-2015 07:53
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Another Sagan miracle would be perfect here.
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 12-07-2015 13:03
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Borges is at it again. This kid loves the breakaways. Shame he couldn't make it to the end and quite surprising the breakaway did make it to the end. Going to be tough for him to hold onto the KoM but it will be fun to watch him try.
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| wackojackohighcliffe |
Posted on 12-07-2015 14:20
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Here with strength-in-depth to prove useful hopefully...will see how that goes.
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| ember |
Posted on 12-07-2015 16:33
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Thanks for the first report, Selwink (and SN for posting it)!
Kind of a pity to see a breakaway take it on the first stage as I hoped it could shake the GC a bit. Every hilly stage will be a key to gap the better TTers for Boasson Hagen. Third in the bunch sprint is good though, hopefully he can sprint for victory later on in the race.
Big congratulations to valverde321! Really the perfect start, especially for a team without great GC ambitions. |
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| Bushwackers |
Posted on 12-07-2015 18:24
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Sprinter
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Hugentobler! Nice! There's our first decent result this year.
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 12-07-2015 18:28
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The one time Kreder wins a sprint... and it's for nothing 
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