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Veenendaal - Veenendaal Discussion
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 08-01-2019 10:51
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Preview and Report by Tsmoha
 Veenendaal - Veenendaal
Formerly known as "Dutch Food Valley Classic", the Veenendaal - Veenendaal goes into it's 8th edition. A new name, but the race character stays the same: a 200km flat classic with possible crosswinds and a rather tricky, partly undulating profile. No big climbs, really, but it's definitely a challenging day for those sprinters, who not handle hills in any way.
This tricky route often made for some rather surprising winners in the past, too: Mark Cavendish (2017), Ivano Lo Cicero (2016) and Raul Granjel Cabrera (2010) as the only sprinters amongst the former race winners! Sean Downey (2015), Mohammad Saufi Mat Senan (2014), Antonio Bucciero (2012) and Staf Scheirlinckx (2011) as the others - it's certainly race hard to predict, so sprinters (they simply have to) and roleurs (they simply need to try) or early escapees (they always try) could possibly be in the mix for a prestigious victory in an HC race.
The clash with the Philadelphia International Championship makes it in even more interesting event and so we will also focus on this constellation with our following preview for possible favorites of this/both event(s):
The Startlist
The Favorites | Veenendaal | FL | HI | SP | AC | Philadelphia | FL | HI | SP | AC |  Degenkolb | 76 | 69 | 84 | 81 |  Lo Cicero | 72 | 64 | 84 | 78 |  Ewan | 75 | 71 | 83 | 81 |  Mohs | 75 | 65 | 83 | 82 |  Cavendish | 73 | 65 | 83 | 81 |  Appollonio | 74 | 66 | 81 | 78 |  Guerao | 74 | 65 | 83 | 76 | Nelson | 72 | 60 | 81 | 81 |  Goss | 74 | 67 | 82 | 78 |  Van Asbroeck | 75 | 71 | 80 | 78 |  Guarnieri | 76 | 66 | 82 | 81 |  Roelandts | 74 | 70 | 80 | 79 | | Vanderbiest | 74 | 64 | 82 | 77 |  Holloway | 78 | 69 | 80 | 82 |  Saber | 75 | 68 | 81 | 79 |  Granjel Cabrera | 75 | 69 | 80 | 77 |  Moser | 72 | 67 | 80 | 79 | Haller | 72 | 65 | 80 | 79 |  Stauff | 74 | 65 | 80 | 81 | Guardini | 72 | 64 | 80 | 82 | | Kragh Andersen | 77 | 64 | 80 | 77 | Bouhanni | 74 | 63 | 80 | 77 | | Serebriakov | 74 | 61 | 80 | 77 |  Meyer | 72 | 62 | 80 | 76 |  Castañeda | 71 | 59 | 80 | 79 | Rowe | 72 | 62 | 80 | 70 |  Drapac | 71 | 53 | 80 | 79 |  Itami | 75 | 61 | 80 | 82 | | Gaviria | 74 | 71 | 79 | 82 |  Lavoine | 73 | 60 | 80 | 78 |  Boivin | 74 | 70 | 79 | 80 |  Ulanowski | 73 | 58 | 80 | 77 |  Lander | 77 | 69 | 79 | 77 | Pelucchi | 74 | 68 | 79 | 77 |  Rowe | 78 | 66 | 79 | 80 | Harrison | 72 | 67 | 78 | 81 |
Looking at both startlists, it's pretty obvious, that we have a nice mix of top sprinters going to either Veenendaal or Philadelphia. Maybe not the biggest surprises with the HC bands probably well known for most of the managers, but anyway:
Degenkolb, Ewan, last year's winner Cavendish and Guerao make this Veenendaal startlist a pretty sick one. Add to that such premium sprinters like Goss, Guarnieri, Vanderbiest or Saber, we do have a pretty stacked sprinters field here in the Netherlands. Obviously, Degenkolb has to be considered the favorite, but Ewan or Cavendish are really not far behind and they do know (just like all others, of course) that Degenkolb can be beaten.
A few more less strong sprinters may just hope to be in the mix, when it comes down to a bunch sprint decision: Moster, Stauff, flat beast Kragh Andersen, Serebriakov, Castaneda or Drapac as maybe the most promising lower Top-10 contenders. Gaviria or Boivin only with outsider's chances, while strong roleurs such as Lander or Rowe are given the opportunity to benefit from their skills on challenging flat roads and of course a nice sprint.
The Roleurs and Puncheurs | Veenendaal | FL | HI | FI | | Philadelphia | FL | HI | FI | | Maes | 80 | 67 | 72 | | Arashiro | 80 | 64 | 78 | | Ji | 80 | 70 | 69 | | Ignatiev | 79 | 74 | 84 | | Baugnies | 78 | 72 | 74 | | Feng | 78 | 73 | 74 |  Viviani | 78 | 66 | 73 | | Tennant | 77 | 69 | 78 | | Vanbilsen | 78 | 69 | 72 | |  Hansen | 77 | 65 | 72 | | Christensen | 78 | 64 | 64 | | Bernas | 76 | 75 | 82 | | Brockhoff | 78 | 68 | 63 | | Navardauskas | 75 | 75 | 74 | | Gallego Martin | 77 | 68 | 80 | | Kreder | 73 | 75 | 71 | | Hermans | 77 | 75 | 76 | | Philly's Puncheurs | | | | | Breen | 77 | 70 | 74 | | Anuar Aziz | 72 | 81 | 58 | | Vanspeybrouck | 76 | 71 | 74 | | Waeytens | 70 | 80 | 76 | | | | | | Dowsett | 70 | 80 | 75 | | | | | | Bystrom | 72 | 79 | 78 | | | | | | Bilbao | 71 | 79 | 67 | | | | | | Mehr-Wenige | 74 | 78 | 73 | | | | | | Palini | 69 | 78 | 69 | | | | | | Grippo | 63 | 77 | 85 | | | | | | Dieteren | 67 | 77 | 80 | | | | | | Vanendert | 71 | 77 | 74 |
And then there's the ever dangerous roleurs, who may try to escape from the peloton late into the race. Windy conditions would obviously be helpful for those guys, but we better should expect some of those names to try something in any weather conditions:
Maes/Ji riding with Goss, so the question is, if they will support their sprinter until the end or if they are allowed to go for a late breakaway attempt. Both come with a nice skillset for such an attempt and they did stuff like that before..
The same goes for Baugnies, of course, an ever aggressive pure racer. Viviani, Vanbilsen, Christensen, Breen or maybe even Vanspeybrouck as other possible attackers.. Brockhoff/Gallego Martin should be used to support Degenkolb though.
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 08-01-2019 10:58
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We need points now, it's a simple as that. A top 10 in Veenendaal and a podium in Philly is what we aim for.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 08-01-2019 11:00
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Decided to skip this race because of Triple Clash with Philly and Corsica, and literally having no riders that could even score a point here. Surely i won't regret of it 
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| Vien |
Posted on 08-01-2019 11:02
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Last on the startlist, last in points... Probably. |
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 08-01-2019 11:06
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Moser here and Bouhanni in Philly. Doesn't look like either startlist is stronger than the other. If anything, Philly slightly weaker in terms of depth, so sending Bouhanni there was a good decision.
Don't expect much from Moser but a Top 10 would be nice and he does have the support of Lobato. I do expect at least a Top 10 from Bouhanni who has been better recently.
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 08-01-2019 11:41
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How on earth are more punchy sprinters in Veenendaal than in Philadelphia?  like Ewan in Veenendaal and Nelson in Philadelphia f.e.
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 08-01-2019 13:37
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I AM SO EXCITED 
Hoped the startlist would a bit weaker, hoping on a good result for Drapac. Might be along the route throwing bananas at the rivals 
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 08-01-2019 13:46
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Tour de France Champion
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What is there to say? My team is relegating, and AKA finishing 12th here isn't going to change that.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| sgdanny |
Posted on 08-01-2019 15:39
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Is my team here or not?
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| Vien |
Posted on 08-01-2019 15:45
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Doesn't look like it. Either this race wasn't in your band, or you had less than 6 riders. |
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 08-01-2019 16:25
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Your team is not here, the thing is that Tsmoha made this preview comparing startlist strenght with Philadelphia, as both are flat classics that clash on the same day. There's a 24th spot in the race empty that should have been my team, but decided against sending a team here because of a triple clash i had
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 08-01-2019 17:45
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Would be great to see Cav defend his title but I don't have a good vibe after Berlin.
Haller/Kreder might get a minor place in Philly.
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 09-01-2019 04:41
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Need to start over-performing a bit to not fall further off the pace in the division. Saber has been good so far and hoping for a Top 10 finish here at least. Te Brake for support and Per for some surprise hopefully.
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| Vien |
Posted on 09-01-2019 09:31
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Heey, 10 free points, cute! Though I really need to figure out why we can't join breaks in races like this.
Grats matt  |
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 09-01-2019 09:38
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 09-01-2019 09:46
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Gaviria caught napping and got dropped, so we had to sprint with Peeters who set a new record on how many places you can lose in a sprint. Vanbilsen picks up a few points, but not enough.
Thanks for the report though.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 09-01-2019 10:54
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Hermans <3
That is what Rowe can do! Shame he used a bit more energy than ideal in the build up but his roleur strength showed getting the positioning for a great 6th. Probably his first overperformance (or normal performance with good AI) of the season so good to see and valuable points as we look to keep up the consistent snatching of points in the mid season.
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
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 09-01-2019 11:14
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Such a poor result for us
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 09-01-2019 14:34
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Hey! I got it. I mean, it wasn't AKA, but it was a useless fricking piece of crap 12th place, like usual! Just what I needed.
Normally I'd be glad the team was active, but excuse me if that doesn't console me when I'm sitting in fricking 25th place.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| Sykkel_Freak |
Posted on 12-01-2019 23:24
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Chaotic sprint, but thankfully Guarnieri was positioned well. Really satisfied with 3rd in a field including the likes of Degenkolb, Ewan, Cav and Guerao Hopefully Guarnieri can build on this and have a good second half of the season.
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