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Post Danmark Rundt Discussion
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| matt17br |
Posted on 28-11-2016 12:52
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Directeur Sportif
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 Post Danmark Rundt
9th edition and first one in CT for this classic Danish stage race: the Post Danmark Rundt. After 8 years in the 2nd division and a route that always favoured pure Time Trialists, the organisers decided it was time to make a step back to partly change the look of the race and try to add more variety in the race’s startlist. This means that none of the past winners will be present here. Whereas the route only included 4 flat stages and 1 TT in the past, this year we’ll see stage 3 replaced by the addition of a not overly hard hilly stage, which means that Time Trialists are still favourites thanks to last day’s 30 kms ITT.
In particular,  Yatsevich will be really hard to beat. The Russian is coming from a victory in Windhoek’s ITT and a stage win in PCT’s Olympia Tour, 2 huge victories prestige wise, considering how packed those fields were as well.
Even though he certainly comes here with better chances than most, CT is as unpredictable as it gets, and furthermore the route makes it quite a bit harder to say he’s the only favourite: so let’s dig deeper into the startlist and find out who we should look out for!
| Time Trialist | TTR | HIL | RES | ACC | Time Trialist | TTR | HIL | RES | ACC | | Yatsevich | 80 | 68 | 81 | 63 |  De Luna | 74 | 70 | 71 | 68 |  Robert | 79 | 60 | 70 | 55 |  Petrus | 74 | 69 | 68 | 65 |  Stannard | 79 | 55 | 70 | 72 |  Stoenchev | 74 | 67 | 71 | 62 |  Tennant | 78 | 69 | 76 | 68 |  Reijnen | 74 | 67 | 69 | 79 |  Christian | 77 | 69 | 71 | 72 | Offredo | 73 | 69 | 72 | 66 |  Flens | 77 | 62 | 69 | 64 | Pauwels | 73 | 69 | 69 | 52 | | Sebright | 77 | 60 | 70 | 51 | Perry | 73 | 59 | 70 | 64 |  Zoidl | 76 | 74 | 68 | 69 |  Montaguti | 72 | 74 | 70 | 67 | | Renäng | 76 | 56 | 70 | 56 |  Poels | 72 | 68 | 72 | 69 | | Joeaar | 75 | 71 | 70 | 62 | Puerta Zapata | 72 | 62 | 66 | 78 |  Kasa | 74 | 72 | 70 | 66 | Hampton | 72 | 58 | 68 | 64 |
While Yatsevich is the best specialist in the lot, his performances earlier in the season were nothing short of disappointing – he might have a consistency problem to deal with. If he’s on a good day on stage 5, however, no one will be able to actually fight for the win. His biggest issue is likely going to be the hills in stage 3, but he’s not too bad as a puncheur either.
Tennant looks good to also do well in the GC. Last year, he used to be very consistent but he doesn’t seem to be as good this season around, even if he had a few very good days that resulted in stage wins. He is maybe stronger than the top favourite uphill, just like fellow Brit Christian, so he might try to advantage himself in those situations if possible.
Robert and Stannard may be a threat in the time trial, but they stand no chances in the GC because of their noticeable weaknesses uphill. The same could be said for Flens, Sebright and Renäng, as well as several other weaker ones.
Obviously, a few riders that are very good both uphill and against the time are also there, and probably Zoidl is the best example of that too, as someone who often fights for top 10s in mountainous stage races. Joeaar, Kasa, De Luna and Montaguti also fall into this category.
| Sprinter | SPR | ACC | FLA | RES | Puncheur | HIL | RES | SPR | ACC |  Guillén | 81 | 82 | 67 | 62 |  Hategeka | 77 | 69 | 62 | 66 | | Nelson | 81 | 81 | 72 | 64 |  Lejman | 77 | 64 | 59 | 68 | | Nizzolo | 80 | 79 | 73 | 67 |  Othman | 76 | 70 | 54 | 76 | | Drapac | 80 | 79 | 71 | 65 | Milan | 75 | 72 | 70 | 72 | | Rowe | 80 | 70 | 72 | 58 |  Schurter | 75 | 71 | 66 | 71 |  Von Hoff | 79 | 77 | 71 | 74 | Kinney | 75 | 70 | 69 | 74 | | Mezgec | 79 | 77 | 71 | 70 | Haavardsholm | 75 | 69 | 69 | 80 |  Vanderaerden | 79 | 75 | 72 | 65 | Hugentobler | 75 | 69 | 56 | 76 | | Jones | 78 | 78 | 72 | 65 | Bole | 74 | 67 | 76 | 74 | | Krasnov | 78 | 77 | 72 | 67 | Delage | 73 | 70 | 73 | 71 | | Ewan | 78 | 77 | 71 | 69 | Nardin | 73 | 70 | 72 | 74 |
But let’s take a look at stage hunters, too: let’s not forget that most stages will be animated by them, even though the GC is decided in just one day. Talking about sprinters, that have 3 stages to shine here, we can see that both Guillén and Nelson, 2 of CT’s finest pure fast men, are here. Whereas the Costa Rican champion prefers short stages where he is hard to beat, the Australian can adapt in longer ones, as well.
But the opposition the two of them will face will be fiercer than ever: other top names include Nizzolo and Rowe who have often raced in PCT races and did well, Drapac and Vanderaerden.
Among those who can tackle hills a bit better are Von Hoff, Mezgec and Ewan, a skill that might be useful in stage 2, that features a few ascents in the last kilometers.
Talking about puncheurs, on the other hand, the field is definitely not on the highest level, but it’s worth highlighting the presence of Hategeka, winner of Cristobal’s season opener, Lejman and Othman, as well as punchy sprinters Milan, Bole, Delage, Nardin, who could take advantage of situations where the stage is not raced as hard as some men want it to be.
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 28-11-2016 13:07
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Directeur Sportif
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Thanks for the great preview Matt!
This is a real cracker for us. If everything goes like it should then Tennant should be #2 on the favourites list and Kasa another Top5 candidate. But well it's PCM, so we can't rely on that. Then there is Mezgec, who should be in contension for a podium or 2. And not to forget Bole, who should well be the #1 favourite for Stage 3.
All in all: We need to score big here. Turn the negative tendencies around and achieve a huge bunch of points and the sponsor goal. Go #meninlime!
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 28-11-2016 13:23
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Stage win, or two, would do for Ricki and the team really. Nardin or Julian could be interesting depending on how hard the hills get ridden. And G makes an appearance in our sprint-train whilst Souper is away doing other stuff.
On form though, so who knows what we'll manage here!
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 28-11-2016 14:08
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The hilly stage doesn't look that tough, but with Othman, Schurter and Hugentobler I have brought our heavy hitters to try and blow it apart anyway to give Zoidl the best chance possible of taking the GC win.
Now I've just got to hope that the team rides it that way and can drop the other GC contenders.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 28-11-2016 15:16
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All i can do is hope  |
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 28-11-2016 16:11
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No time trial focus, instead going for stage wins with Drapac and the hilly trio. Maybe Weiss can surprise the field in the hilly stage?
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 28-11-2016 19:53
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I know it's our only home race in CT and we are the only Danish team in the MG, but I'm still glad we didn't come. Nothing in this race for us.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 28-11-2016 21:15
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baseballlover312 wrote:
I know it's our only home race in CT and we are the only Danish team in the MG, but I'm still glad we didn't come. Nothing in this race for us.
Disagree. No matter how bad the race is, a home race is a must do. Especially with Docker and Steensen (+de Maar & Veillux)...
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 28-11-2016 21:36
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A good result here is very possible for us. We are hoping for a good showing here
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 28-11-2016 21:43
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Croatia14 wrote:
baseballlover312 wrote:
I know it's our only home race in CT and we are the only Danish team in the MG, but I'm still glad we didn't come. Nothing in this race for us.
Disagree. No matter how bad the race is, a home race is a must do. Especially with Docker and Steensen (+de Maar & Veillux)...
And imo Steensen could have got a top 5 GC out of it, top 10 at worst which would be a nice amount of points. That said it's one less rival for Zoidl that could have beaten my Austrian so makes a top 5 for my rider a little easier.
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 28-11-2016 22:37
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sammyt93 wrote:
Croatia14 wrote:
baseballlover312 wrote:
I know it's our only home race in CT and we are the only Danish team in the MG, but I'm still glad we didn't come. Nothing in this race for us.
Disagree. No matter how bad the race is, a home race is a must do. Especially with Docker and Steensen (+de Maar & Veillux)...
And imo Steensen could have got a top 5 GC out of it, top 10 at worst which would be a nice amount of points. That said it's one less rival for Zoidl that could have beaten my Austrian so makes a top 5 for my rider a little easier.
Maybe Crotia's logic applies if this is C2, but it's still not worth the whole band. Docker would have no doubt done nothing and Steensen has been underwhelming too. Could have easily slipped out of the top 10 and then its all for naught.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 29-11-2016 14:14
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Stage 1 survived 
That was a rather messy and chaotic sprint, hopefully the leadout trains will be stronger in the other 2 flat stages and we'll get more organised sprints.
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 29-11-2016 14:16
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nice try Mezgec!
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 29-11-2016 14:19
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Ok, one moment train going great, next the train is still going but somehow Ricki has lost it and about 1million positions... next
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 29-11-2016 15:37
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Steady-ish start for the Stobart guys |
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 29-11-2016 16:07
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After being quiet in the last races, Drapac comes back with a bang! 
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| Scorchio |
Posted on 29-11-2016 19:21
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Happy to see young development rider Contreras in the BotD, and that he was getting some needed sprint training in at the intermediates; he has the potential to be a pretty decent sprinter in the fullness of time when maxed. Shame he couldn't hold on to the pack when caught, but not unexpected. Brenton gave it a go in the sprint although came to naught, but secured the u25 jersey. A respectable start for WCC in Denmark, here with only 1 maxed rider in the 8 man squad!
Thanks for the reporting!
Manager of ISA - Hexacta in the MG |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 29-11-2016 20:42
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That feeling when the lead-out train is on point!
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| Ste117 |
Posted on 29-11-2016 20:59
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Please teach my team how to complete a decent leadout
MG Team manager Team Ticos Air Costa Rica
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 29-11-2016 21:04
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Ste117 wrote:
Please teach my team how to complete a decent leadout
It's all about incentives. You've got to give them a reason to ride well. For example, i give them Mila Kunis 
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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)
