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Tour of Norway Discussion
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 18-11-2016 10:20
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 9099
Joined: 13-03-2013
PCM$: 2100.00
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Tour of Norway
| Category: HC | 5 Stages | terrain: flat & TT |  Norway |
"A pan flat tour in the calendar? Boring!" If you agree with that statement then get the hell out of here! If you disagree you're absolutely at the right place. Cause this 5-day event through Norway will show the specators all the spice a flat tour can have: Furious sprints. A sharp TT. Rough climate. The ideal tour for the strong men. For the oldschool fighters. And for the powerhouses. We'll have a battle between the men with the huge TT engines and the men with the fastest legs and a small chance for some powerful and aggressive roleurs. Anybody hyped here?
The former editions were all ridden on some different terrain, thus it's no surprise that neither last year's winner Alessandro Proni (2015) is here, nor Fränk Schleck (2014) or Matthias Frank (2013).
Stage 3, the 30 kilometer long time trial, will most likely judge about winners and losers. The TT specialists should be able to gain enough time on the sprinters here. This makes  Fiedler the favourite in first line. But in a TT anything can happen, especially if it's PCM 16, so there are more possible winners of course. We are talking about any guy from 79-80, but in first line there is  Cornu to mention as the main challenger. But so many more guys, like the  Generali TT team, will have winning ambitions.
TT specialists
| TT | PR | RS | FL | | TT | PR | RS | FL | | Fiedler | 83 | 82 | 76 | 79 |  Cancellara | 79 | 79 | 71 | 80 | | Cornu | 81 | 81 | 76 | 75 | Viviani | 79 | 79 | 77 | 78 | | Van Winden | 80 | 80 | 70 | 74 |  Bialoblocki | 79 | 75 | 76 | 78 |  Schädlich | 80 | 80 | 71 | 70 |  Reus | 79 | 79 | 79 | 77 |  Paillot | 80 | 80 | 74 | 70 |  Kwok | 79 | 79 | 73 | 76 |  Gonzalez Salas | 80 | 80 | 76 | 70 | Brändle | 79 | 79 | 73 | 75 |  Dillier | 80 | 79 | 77 | 70 |  Haugard | 79 | 79 | 77 | 72 |
There are four more stages though, which means plenty of possibilities to hurt the TTists. Possibly even a chance to win the whole tour for a dominant sprinter?
Challenging the TTists are a huge number of sprinters. We have a strong number of the PCT lead sprinters competing, in first line Lo Cicero and  Ahlstrand. Especially the Swede needs to prove his salary and has a fantastic sprint train there to launch him.
Statwise the most promising challengers should be the fatty sprinters clan, containing of  Avelino,  Guerao and  Van Heerden. The Spaniard additionally is the only sprinter besides the Swede who won a stage here and came back.
Out of the 80 and lower sprinters a few guys stand out though.  Van Asbroeck and  Granjel Cabrera would love a hard race.  Itami could make use of his acceleration to recieve some nice placements. Reinhardt and  Lay do the same, but in an even more one-dimensional way. They both could have a decent punch after surfing some wheels, but they lack the top class spinting skills.
None of the big sprinters is a proper time triallist though, the first one with chances out of the TT should be Kuboki, but he is not likely to recieve any bonus seconds from sprints. Zabel could also be a candidate for some sprints, but he is lacking the needed X-factor for winning stages.
Sprinters
| SP | AC | FL | RC | | SP | AC | FL | RC | | Lo Cicero | 84 | 78 | 72 | 79 | Lay | 79 | 81 | 73 | 77 | | Ahlstrand | 83 | 82 | 74 | 79 | Coutinho | 79 | 80 | 72 | 77 | | Avelino | 83 | 78 | 71 | 77 |  Porsev | 79 | 80 | 74 | 80 | | Guerao | 83 | 76 | 74 | 81 | Aberasturi | 79 | 78 | 74 | 76 | | Van Heerden | 82 | 73 | 73 | 78 |  Santos | 79 | 75 | 71 | 74 | | Zabel | 81 | 79 | 74 | 79 | Forero | 79 | 74 | 70 | 77 | | Itami | 80 | 82 | 75 | 78 | Reinhardt | 78 | 84 | 71 | 78 |  Castañeda | 80 | 79 | 71 | 78 | Korzh | 78 | 80 | 74 | 74 | | Lavoine | 80 | 78 | 73 | 77 |  Hoffman | 78 | 78 | 76 | 78 | | Van Asbroeck | 80 | 78 | 75 | 79 | Kruopis | 78 | 77 | 73 | 75 | | Granjel Cabrera | 80 | 77 | 75 | 82 | Kvist | 77 | 78 | 75 | 80 | | Serebriakov | 80 | 77 | 74 | 79 | Kuboki | 77 | 77 | 73 | 71 | | Haussler | 80 | 76 | 73 | 83 | Van Poppel | 76 | 78 | 75 | 80 |
The third party in this battle is the pool of breakaway riders. Any guy of the huge startlist can win this if he is at the right place at the right time and having the legs, with the favourites looking at each other and allowing a surprise victory.
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 18-11-2016 10:31
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World Champion
Posts: 14563
Joined: 08-08-2011
PCM$: 9100.00
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Let's go Van Asbroeck! Looking forward to your reports here after your time in Czech Republic was cut short 
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| matt17br |
Posted on 18-11-2016 10:40
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 10525
Joined: 28-09-2013
PCM$: 200.00
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Ugh this is very risky. Should have set Olympia as a goal instead of this one, if Van Winden fails the TT we're 0/2 goals so far. Hopefully not, if he performs even normally we can achieve this top 5, fingers crossed. Plus the longer the TT the merrier randomness wise tbf.
Looking forward to this.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 00:46
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| fintas |
Posted on 18-11-2016 12:04
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2602
Joined: 21-03-2008
PCM$: 1200.00
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Is this the race......
I think that once again the team will fail, Fiedler has everything to achieve the objective in this race, as Haussler will have a lot of competition and it will be difficult to do something positive
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| OlegTinkov |
Posted on 18-11-2016 12:19
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2666
Joined: 31-12-2007
PCM$: 450.00
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Eager to find out if Korzh and Porsev with the help of Boev can actually do something here in Norway, good luck to all and again a very good preview Mr. Croatia!
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| Selwink |
Posted on 18-11-2016 12:55
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8856
Joined: 17-05-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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Cancellara's TTs have been reasonable so far this season, let's hope he can keep that up. Of course, the field is very strong here so I can't expect too much. Anything less than a top-10 would be a failure though.
Serebriakov should do decently here, but then again, it's Serebriakov and you never know.
Looking forward to this in any case, thanks for a nice preview
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| sgdanny |
Posted on 18-11-2016 13:17
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3591
Joined: 18-03-2014
PCM$: 200.00
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It's all about being lucky in the TT sadly and after watching Olympia that is asking a lot for us to be the lucky winner in that. Fingers crossed
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| tastasol |
Posted on 18-11-2016 14:32
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2889
Joined: 11-09-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Boy, would I've loved to be here! Hope Ahlstrand can do better than in Olympias Tour. The TT could go all possible ways, but it really should be Fiedler.
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| viking90 |
Posted on 18-11-2016 14:39
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4032
Joined: 24-01-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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If we feel like it we could set up some nice sprint trains here... 
We have one season goal here, pts jersey. That will be hard.
And thanks for a great preview |
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| dev4ever |
Posted on 18-11-2016 22:06
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2282
Joined: 13-03-2011
PCM$: 200.00
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will be grateful for any points scored here really. great preview as usual croatia
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 18-11-2016 22:57
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World Champion
Posts: 12986
Joined: 20-05-2009
PCM$: 530.00
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Have no real expectations here. Itami and Kuboki might do something hopefully, but it will be tough to set ourselves apart from the rest.
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 19-11-2016 02:15
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Team Leader
Posts: 5533
Joined: 12-06-2013
PCM$: 500.00
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Time for Cornu to deliver a top GC result here after a disastrous TTT killed his hopes in Olympia. The TT suits him and he should get enough time along with the likes of Fiedler to keep away from the sprinters. Interestingly, I thought this would suit the puncheurs and so I hope that my team can make this race more interesting!
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| Shonak |
Posted on 19-11-2016 18:34
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15615
Joined: 16-07-2013
PCM$: 350.00
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Ahlstrand with the right answer to the PCT rankings for Spotify.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 19-11-2016 18:35
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World Champion
Posts: 11392
Joined: 17-12-2014
PCM$: 1020.00
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Wow what a finish, congrats to Spotify on a great first result in a Scandinavian race for them! Awesome report Croatia 
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant."
[ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT]  Xero Racing
5x  x5
2x  x2
2x  x2 |
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| Selwink |
Posted on 19-11-2016 18:35
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8856
Joined: 17-05-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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3rd?! What is this sorcery 
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 19-11-2016 18:38
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World Champion
Posts: 14563
Joined: 08-08-2011
PCM$: 9100.00
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Horrible positioning from Van Asbroeck (not to mention his pointless energy wasting at an intermediate sprint). The rest of the team was invisible, but ok, I didn't send a proper leadout. As this stage suited us the most with the small hills in the final, I can pretty much confirm we won't get much out of this one
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| matt17br |
Posted on 19-11-2016 18:38
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 10525
Joined: 28-09-2013
PCM$: 200.00
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I swear by now that Lo Cicero vs Ahlstrand rivalry must have become the most intersting of the MG 
Congrats viking, finally you can be happy consistently after so much frustration.
Our team... ugh why can't Theuns ever sprint? I swear he did it like once this season, or was that Belletti?
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| Bushwackers |
Posted on 19-11-2016 19:07
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Sprinter
Posts: 1907
Joined: 07-02-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Nice to see Ahlstrand win here. It looks like my sprinter isn't going to participate though.
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 19-11-2016 19:43
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World Champion
Posts: 12986
Joined: 20-05-2009
PCM$: 530.00
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It seems like Itami is always "one of the fastest at the end" but is just never positioned well so he has to come from way back. 
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 19-11-2016 20:45
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World Champion
Posts: 10497
Joined: 23-06-2011
PCM$: 200.00
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God, Cabrera is useless this year. Last year in a packed sprinters field he wsa beeing better.... |
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