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Tour de Pologne Discussion
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| matt17br |
Posted on 21-12-2016 21:50
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Directeur Sportif
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 Tour de Pologne
7th edition, 4th in the lowest division for one of the two Polish events in the Man-Game calendar: the Tour de Pologne. Traditionally a puncheurs’ race, with not a single stage that can be considered really easy, the event features 4 hard hilly stages, all based off circuits that value the characteristic, long Polish hills. Even the flat stages are made hard by their length: 2 of those are longer than 230 kms, and therefore a huge advantage to both finisseurs and tough sprinters.
Last year, consistency was clearly the key, and even without winning a single stage, Andrey Zeits managed to stand at the top of the podium on day 7. Looking at this year’s route and startlist, it’s not hard to imagine that the scenario will be similar.  Dowsett,  Klemme and  Barbin, the best puncheurs of the division, are in fact all here and all of them have shown that they can excel in longer stage races, but several of their usual rivals are also here with GC chances.
The field is not as good sprinters-wise, because of how many were scared away by the length of the stages that would suit them, but that doesn’t mean that we’re lacking quality! I’d say it’s time to take a better look at the startlist and find out who we can count in for a race under the spotlight, then!
| Puncheur | HIL | ACC | RES | SPR | Puncheur | HIL | ACC | RES | SPR | | Dowsett | 80 | 71 | 69 | 66 |  Michely | 75 | 75 | 69 | 67 | | Klemme | 80 | 66 | 70 | 66 |  Kinney | 75 | 74 | 70 | 69 | | Barbin | 78 | 75 | 73 | 71 | Mancuso | 75 | 73 | 68 | 65 |  Diggle | 77 | 70 | 70 | 64 | Milan | 75 | 72 | 72 | 70 | | Lejman | 77 | 68 | 64 | 59 | Grivko | 75 | 70 | 73 | 54 | | Hategeka | 77 | 66 | 69 | 62 |  Bru | 75 | 70 | 64 | 66 |  Yates | 76 | 78 | 69 | 73 |  Khripta | 75 | 69 | 72 | 63 | | Pavarin | 76 | 76 | 69 | 72 | Lloyd | 75 | 69 | 72 | 63 |  Tiernan-Locke | 76 | 74 | 68 | 63 | Ilias | 75 | 68 | 72 | 64 | | Taborre | 76 | 72 | 69 | 62 |  De Maar | 74 | 77 | 72 | 66 |  Passalacqua | 76 | 69 | 63 | 62 |  Bole | 74 | 74 | 67 | 76 | | Nzeke | 76 | 68 | 67 | 66 |  Gonzalez Cortes | 74 | 72 | 72 | 71 | | Krizek | 75 | 76 | 71 | 67 | Navardauskas | 74 | 70 | 74 | 75 |
As said, it’s hard to look past Dowsett, Klemme and Barbin for the title of favourite. The former has been more inconsistent than the other 2, it has to be said, but he couldn’t ask for a better support cast. The German could have asked for a stronger hilly team, but the route probably makes him the best bet, while the Italian really should be used by now to how good his teammates are.
That said, CT races have taught us that such a word like ‘favourite’ doesn’t really exist after the riders start to pedal. A rider like Diggle or Yates is always dangerous, and seldom shows signs of weakness, differently from the likes of Hategeka and Lejman, that normally prefer isolated days of racing to show their prowess.
Other names include Tiernan-Locke, Taborre, Passalacqua, Chiquita’s duo of Milan and Kinney, Bole, Navardauskas, Gonzalez Cortes and De Maar, but the potential top riders list is a lot longer than just that!
| Sprinter | SPR | ACC | STA | RES | Sprinter | SPR | ACC | STA | RES |  Kip | 80 | 82 | 67 | 63 |  Sabatini | 77 | 74 | 69 | 62 | | Manarelli | 79 | 79 | 71 | 65 | Maikin | 76 | 77 | 71 | 72 | | Soupe | 79 | 77 | 72 | 69 | Matthews | 76 | 76 | 70 | 67 |  Von Hoff | 79 | 77 | 71 | 74 | Bouglas | 76 | 75 | 72 | 68 | | Napolitano | 79 | 77 | 68 | 61 | Bole | 76 | 74 | 74 | 67 | | Ewan | 78 | 77 | 69 | 69 | Murray | 75 | 77 | 70 | 68 | | Szalontay | 78 | 77 | 64 | 65 | Tuulhangai | 75 | 77 | 68 | 64 | | Abdallah | 78 | 76 | 73 | 62 | Morales | 75 | 76 | 71 | 65 | | Trusov | 78 | 74 | 69 | 70 | Witmitz | 75 | 76 | 68 | 60 | | Boonen | 78 | 73 | 71 | 65 | Alaphilippe | 75 | 75 | 72 | 68 |  Cimolai | 77 | 77 | 74 | 68 | Benfatto | 75 | 75 | 71 | 70 | | Uugunbayar | 77 | 75 | 70 | 66 | Eefting | 75 | 74 | 70 | 67 | | Cano | 77 | 74 | 70 | 68 | Navardauskas | 75 | 70 | 74 | 74 |
No Stauff, Nelson or Guillen here, but that doesn’t mean that flat stages will fail to be exciting! With a varied, equal field of sprinters in here, rest assured that every finale will be nearly impossible to predict. Kip, for instance, is normally someone that prefers short, totally flat stages and therefore won’t have easy life in a race like this, but hey who can blame him for taking part!
Unlike him, however, riders of the calibre of Manarelli, Soupe, Von Hoff and Cimolai can stand the test of time on the saddle, and should be considered the more interesting names for exactly that reason.
Other names such as Napolitano, Trusov, Boonen, Uugunbayar, Cano, Maikin, Bouglas and Bole shouldn’t be discounted either, so pay attention!
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 21-12-2016 21:53
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World Champion
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If this had a TT we could look at a very very good result, so I'll set the bar at a very good result instead. No sprinters means a chance for the hill train to get to work and hopefully deliver us to a top 5 or maybe even better.
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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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 21-12-2016 21:56
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Bole + Breakaways + Talent developement...
I call Timmer to be my best scoring rider despite again having the best punchy sprinter in the peloton who should be made for this...
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 21-12-2016 22:27
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7651
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All in for Dowsett here. The squad around him are aimed at the hills and no sprintersin sight. Consistency similar to ToSA will be welcomed greatly
Thanks for the report matt
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 21-12-2016 22:45
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Tour de France Champion
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Note sure what I'm looking for here. Probably nothing.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| Paul23 |
Posted on 21-12-2016 22:56
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Oh Kurwa, seems like I brought a Team for breakaways again. Has anyone statistics on how often all teams went in breaks?
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 22-12-2016 07:01
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Last year Kinney won stage six and I was over the moon. This year I'm hoping on a good GC result by Lejman, Kinney or Milan and a breakaway victory by Weiss or a sprint victory by Manarelli. We have a stage win goal after all.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 22-12-2016 13:05
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Tour de France Champion
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Will Poland be lucky for us |
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 22-12-2016 21:05
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Looks like the team is strong during the stage but not at the end - gotta deliver Diggle and Nzeke to the line, not to the last KMs. Lloydy getting a day or two in the KoM is very nice though. Thanks for an excellent report Matt.
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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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 22-12-2016 21:06
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Directeur Sportif
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oh great, why should we even try?
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 22-12-2016 21:09
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7651
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Very happy with that start. 2 in the top 10 and Bille with a good podium place 
Thanks for the report matt
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-11-2024 23:56
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 22-12-2016 21:15
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Tour de France Champion
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It's a positive start. Lots of visibility and strength on show from Podium Ambition. Fell like we could have gotten a slightly better result at the end, but strength in depth will do nicely in a race like this.
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 22-12-2016 21:20
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Quiet start for the Minions.
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 22-12-2016 23:29
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Tour de France Champion
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At least De Maar seems interested. That's a good sign.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 22-12-2016 23:40
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Small Tour Specialist
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Thanks for the preview and report Matt, this race sneaked under my radar with Christmas cheer in full swing.
Can Klemme get the better of Dowsett and Barbin, defeat the evil wizard and win the heart of the fair maiden of Poland? (It's Panto season )
Tartarinov, Klemme is behind you.
"Oh no he isn't "
"Oh yes he is!"
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 23-12-2016 14:41
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Hmmmmm  |
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 23-12-2016 23:05
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Directeur Sportif
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cause it's time for it: the same procedure as every day...
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 23-12-2016 23:26
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World Champion
Posts: 11392
Joined: 17-12-2014
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Everyone safe with no time losses, onto the next stage where we can hopefully perform better than stage 1
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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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 24-12-2016 10:52
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7651
Joined: 28-05-2009
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No sprinter in the team so happy not to loss any time, and everyone finish safely in the pack.
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 24-12-2016 11:41
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7593
Joined: 04-07-2012
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Nice to see an aggressive Marcos giving the peloton a hard time. Unfortunately Manarelli was too far back
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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)
