Corsica International Discussion
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Aquarius97 |
Posted on 03-12-2017 13:20
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Welcome everyone to Corsica to see the 7th edition of this 3-day stage race. As every race, the race consists of a short flat stage, a short timetrial, and a heavy mountain stage. Obviously, the mountain stage always decides who wins the GC, as in all six previous years, the winner of the mountain stage has went onto winning the GC.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 2016 | R.Uran | M.Nazaret | A.Amador | 2015 | J.Brajkovic | J.van der Broeck | A.Contador | 2014 | D.Pozzovivo | B.Intxausti | J.Brajkovic | 2013 | J.Alarcon | T.Kritskiy | R.Taaramae | 2012 | J.Alarcon | F.Duarte | A.Valverde | 2011 | M.Ortega | C.Evans | R.Taaramae |
Considering the few valuable seconds that can be gained in the short TT, there are three major race favourites. Rigoberto Uran, Romain Sicard and Beñat Intxausti. Uran, who is also the defending champion, is the better timetrialist of the three and also have slightly better back-ups, so he should a little advantage on the other two, while Sicard has the advantage of having the best domestique in Quintana
Behind them, Henao and Denifl can perfectly fight for the win, although Henao's worse TT and Denifl lack of back-ups might hurt their chances.
There are still lots of 80+ climbers in this race, like Marquez, with his awesome acceleration or Duarte with his nice prologue stat. Also riders like Berhane, Kiserlovski, Pinot or Brajkovic will fight for a top5 placement in this race
Rider | MON | PRL | Rider | MON | PRL | Úran | 82 | 78 | Intxausti | 82 | 77 | Sicard | 82 | 76 | Henao Montoya | 82 | 71 | Marquez | 80 | 70 | Denifl | 84 | 72 | Duarte | 80 | 75 | Brajkovic | 79 | 76 | Quintana | 81 | 71 | Brenes | 79 | 69 | Talansky | 79 | 72 | Kiserlovski | 80 | 71 | Pinot | 80 | 65 | Berhane | 81 | 65 | Garby | 79 | 68 | Chiarello | 78 | 71 | Van den Broeck | 79 | 73 | Ratiy | 80 | 74 | Contador | 79 | 71 | Warbasse | 78 | 74 |
For the first stage, lots of sprinters are here to get that win/GC lead, with Guerao, Van Heerden and Maksimov shining above the rest.
Also we have here lots of good TTers, led by Cornu, Viennet and Paillot, who are looking for a win in the short TT in the second stage, although with TTs randomness, every 76+ rider might win that stage in a good day
Rider | SPR | ACC | Rider | PRL | RES | Guerao | 83 | 76 | Cornu | 81 | 76 | Van Heerden | 82 | 73 | Paillot | 80 | 74 | Maksimov | 81 | 84 | Van Winden | 80 | 70 | Nelson | 81 | 81 | Viennet | 80 | 75 | Appollonio | 81 | 78 | Dempster | 79 | 74 | Moser | 80 | 79 | Viviani | 79 | 77 | Lavoine | 80 | 78 | Brändle | 79 | 73 | Serebriakov | 80 | 77 | Fraile | 79 | 76 | Stepniak | 79 | 79 | Hamza | 79 | 73 | Manarelli | 79 | 79 | Balloni | 78 | 71 |
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Selwink |
Posted on 03-12-2017 13:34
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8856
Joined: 17-05-2012
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Let's hope we don't fail here once again. Duarte not in a great shape it seems, and neither is Serebriakov. We'll just see what happens and hope it doesn't end in total failure.
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trekbmc |
Posted on 03-12-2017 13:35
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Team Leader
Posts: 7366
Joined: 11-07-2014
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I feel like every race is an XP race for us at this point, 6/8 riders this time are level 1/2.
Sobota can sprint, but it turns out the field is pretty strong, so scratch that, actually surprised there's so much interest in the stage win here. I'd like a breakaway but not to optimistic about getting one either.
After last year it should be Uran's race to lose, but the other climbers won't give him it easily. Interested to see if Brajko can feel inspired to perform now after Romandie.
Thanks for the preview Aquarius, looking forward to the report!
"What done is, is one." - Benji Naesen
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Marcovdw |
Posted on 03-12-2017 13:47
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7593
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This race will make or break our season. Úran has to be on his best, preferably win but at least take a podium. If he doesn't I think we're in big trouble.
Some strong opposition present, but Úran is obviously favourite as defending champion. Thanks for the preview Aquarius and good luck to everyone!
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tastasol |
Posted on 03-12-2017 15:45
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2889
Joined: 11-09-2010
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Just hoping for some points in the TT and riders in the breaks. Plenty of the big guns here, looking forward to that battle on the mountain stage.
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baseballlover312 |
Posted on 03-12-2017 16:20
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Tour de France Champion
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Only God knows why the hell Christian Ranneries is ranked as my main sprinter here above Appollonio. I guess that pretty much guarantees neither of them will get any result, which is a shame because I was hoping for a top 5 maybe.
Garby and Contador are both here, and both have pretty much zero expectations after their previous performances. Anything they do more than finishing the race would be a plus.
Edited by baseballlover312 on 03-12-2017 17:34
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
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Mresuperstar |
Posted on 03-12-2017 16:28
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8057
Joined: 22-06-2009
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Very interested to see how Fraile does here. A good time trial should mean that Warbasse will guide him up the climb. But, then again, this is PCM. You can throw logic out the window with this AI.
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Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 03:35
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Croatia14 |
Posted on 03-12-2017 16:56
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Directeur Sportif
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Same tactic as in Romandie: Potocki for white, Brändle for ITT points and then hanging on in the mountain, and Brajkovic for a Top5 GC. Go Lime!
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CrueTrue |
Posted on 03-12-2017 16:58
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Tour de France Champion
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Much tougher startlist than Romandie, but hoping for the same outcome. With both Sicard and Quintana present, we are certainly here to make it as interesting as possible. |
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sgdanny |
Posted on 03-12-2017 18:02
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Classics Specialist
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Podium on sprint stage would be genius. Poljanski in the Top 30 would be a nice little bonus, too
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Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 03-12-2017 18:57
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Team Leader
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Hoping for Cornu to take the TT/Prologue which he has won in the past in this race. This would also make the final stage more interesting as I've got Zardini, Izagirre, Ruben Fernandez and Delio Fernandez who should be able to control the race and let us hope for a good GC for VDB.
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fintas |
Posted on 03-12-2017 19:40
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2602
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Let's see how Marquez gets out in the first race without Nazareth company. In the last year this was one of the best races for the team with second place overall but this year I have doubts that we will be able to do the same.
The goal is to put Marquez in the top 10 and win a few more points with Barth and Chiarello..
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Bikex |
Posted on 03-12-2017 19:45
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Team Leader
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Weaker sprint field than I had expected. Guerao should be the clear favourite, I hope he does well in that role. Looking forward to see how future prologue champion Leung will do on stage 2.
Not sure what to expect from Denifl in the GC. I’m having a top 5 goal here, but despite his 84 climbers stat it is very difficult to foresee how he’ll do. |
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TheManxMissile |
Posted on 03-12-2017 20:37
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18187
Joined: 12-05-2012
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Hopefully Nelson will at least contest the sprint, but not the biggest race day loss if he slips behind. Plenty of youngsters rolled out again, alongside Nardin and Ivanov as older hands. But our hopes are clearly with Talansky! He's had a brilliant start to the season so far and i'm hoping for more of the same.
Given the number of powerful climbers in attendence a Top15 is my target for him. Should be able to hang into the main favorites group and rely on his PRL gains over the pure-er climbers.
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Eden95 |
Posted on 04-12-2017 01:29
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First real race of the season for Intxausti, the top 3-4 guys are quite similar so it should be a bit of a die-roll on who will turn up. We've got somebody capable of winning each stage and the GC, so here's hoping we can take something from this race.
Indosat - ANZ HQ
"This Schleck sandwich is going to cause serious indigestion for Evans" - Phil Liggett
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Spilak23 |
Posted on 04-12-2017 13:23
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Team Leader
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Time for Henao to start performing.
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Atlantius |
Posted on 04-12-2017 17:58
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Team Leader
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The goal for us here is obviously the TT. Apart from that some breakaway action would be nice
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trekbmc |
Posted on 04-12-2017 19:33
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Team Leader
Posts: 7366
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Gratz on the win bikex, nice sprint by Guereo.
Kolev in the break is more than I hoped for, (although maybe not the best choice of rider by PCM ) so I'm happy, As for Sobota, I knew he wouldn't sprint when I signed him up for this.
Thanks for the nice report Aquarius!
"What done is, is one." - Benji Naesen
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sgdanny |
Posted on 04-12-2017 19:38
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Classics Specialist
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Joined: 18-03-2014
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Fantastic display by the magnificent and maxed Grzegorz Stepniak!
On the other hand Poljanski randomly lost 3½ minutes on this flat stage and even our mild Top 30 goal is already out the window. Expect the team to attack while they can on 3rd stage
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Mresuperstar |
Posted on 04-12-2017 19:40
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8057
Joined: 22-06-2009
PCM$: 650.00
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Superb sprint by Maksimov and Warbasse losing three minutes is probably a blessing in disguise. Hopefully, Fraile takes over as team leader with good TT.
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