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Philadelphia International Championship Discussion
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 08-01-2019 16:30
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Preview and Report by Tsmoha
 Philadelphia International Championship
Opposing to the simultanously held Veenendaal - Veenendaal, the Philadelphia International Championship (both races are on the schedule since 2010, but Philly already goes into it's 9th edition - with no break taken since it's first edition) is definitely a more hilly, but still flat rated one day classic. The famous finish climb certainly favors punchy sprinters, but also more one dimensional sprinters had some notable results or podium finishes in the past eight edition of this race.
Just like Veenendaal, it's just one of those tricky races, where also surprising winners such as Matti Breschel (2014, beating Michael Van Stayen) or Juan José Cobo (2012) feature the honour roll. In the past three editions, the punchy sprinters delivered though: Marko Kump (2017), Martin Reimer (2016) and Arnaud Demare (2015) as those guys taking big wins from here, just like Nolan Hoffman (2013) and record-winner Philippe Gilbert (2010 and 2011) did in the past.
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 |
In the abscence of strong punchy sprinters like Ewan, Degenkolb or Gaviria/Boivin, we may have Van Asbroeck and Roelandts as the most promising sprinters here in Philadelphia: Van Asbroeck finished 2nd and 4th in his previous two starts here and given his advantage on hills, he clearly must aim for the victory this time. Roelandts definitely as a serious contender as well - his experience and sprint skills are still amongst the best on this startlist.
The top sprinters, who will try to deny the climbs: Lo Cicero, Mohs, Appollonio and Nelson: finishing 8th last year, Lo Cicero actually had a notable result despite his lack of climbing - he may aim for a Top-5 this time then? At least he's the stronger climber than Nelson or other pure sprinters such as Meyer, Rowe, Itami or Lavoine..
Holloway and Granjel Cabrera should be other promising contenders behind Van Asbroeck and Roelandts though: Holloway finished 6th here in 2017 and Granjel Cabrera does not only feature the previous winners list for a challenging race like Veenendaal, he also feels comfortable on US roads (multiple Tour of America stage winner) and will certainly try to benefit from his solid climbing skills.
Haller, Guardini and Bouhanni as other fast men, who may struggle on the climb though. Haller may not be his team's leader anyway..
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 |
..because Kreder (though not featured on our sprinters list) may actually be the best suited sprinter for this race! Combining climbing skills with a decent kick, he's that kind of previous race winners such as Reimer or a lite version of Kump/Demare. With also Mehr-Wenige featuring the list of the best pure puncheurs, Kraftwerk certainly comes with an interesting mix of possible options here.
Roleurs can be dangerous here, too: Arashiro, Ignatiev, Feng, Tennant and another polyvalent (possible dark horse) rider like Navardauskas may try their luck to avoid a bunch sprint decision to the line..
And some premium puncheurs will aim to be in the mix on the final short climb up to the finish line: Anuar Aziz obviously as the most notable name, just coming off a great and commanding victory at the Sochi Cup two days ago! Also Waeytens, Dowsett, Bystrom and Bilbao amongst the best puncheurs - though coming with rather mixed feelings from Sochi to here. Palini, Grippo, Dieteren and Vandendert as other interesting riders, who may try to attack at some late point into the race.
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 08-01-2019 17:46
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Tour de France Champion
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Pressure on Van Asbroeck, deal with it Tommyboy!
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 08-01-2019 17:55
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Looking to Kreder for a punchy sprint finish backed up by Haller and DMW, expect a top 10, hope for a top 5.
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 09-01-2019 00:23
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I suppose we have a better chance here than in the other one, but that doesn't mean Appo will survive or do anything noteworthy. It's become obvious that his top 5's and such aren't helping point totals anyway, so whatever.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 09-01-2019 00:47
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Time for Jurgen to deliver a big result in this race. It's ironic, but despite being a team clearly focused on mountains, from the moment i chose the band this race was, during transfers one of my focus would be signing a rider that could win this race, even if i don't have a goal here. So this race is the only reason i signed an sprinter this year, and so far it's working pretty well.
We've brought all the flat power (Vanmarcke, Taillefour) and Bystrom too, to help Roelandts in wherever need he has. Obviously not a train for him, but with better sprinters on paper, he should just follow wheels until the final 700-900 metres where his hill stat should kick off and give us at least a podium. A win would be fantastic, but i'd be really happy with a podium anyway
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 09-01-2019 01:18
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Hoping that Bouhanni can stick with the front of the bunch going into the final kilometers which seems unlikely given the hilly nature but he does like to throw up a surprise here and there so we'll see what he can do.
Also hoping one of our younger riders, such as Aranburu or Gaudu, is able to get into the breakaway.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 08-12-2025 20:10
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 09-01-2019 01:23
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Can only hope for something here, but obviously dont expect much.
Accidentally posted this in the other thread first. Honestly thought I was riding both for some reason when I was doing the planner.
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| maxime86 |
Posted on 09-01-2019 02:23
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Took a risk sending Lo Cicero here instead of Veenendaal.
I saw his previous results and decided to take the gamble, also sent my 2 best leadouts for him here.
At worst if it doesn't work out, i'm hoping Palini can surprise some people at the end |
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 09-01-2019 04:44
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Bit of a wildcard startlist with Nava and Dieteren as team 'leaders' and mostly hills support. Hoping the hard route helps our line-up more than the sprinter set ups.
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| Vien |
Posted on 09-01-2019 07:41
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Sent Meyer here because I thought he'd suck less here than in Veenendaal.
Though why is Indosat allowed to race this? |
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 09-01-2019 09:18
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Vien wrote:
Sent Meyer here because I thought he'd suck less here than in Veenendaal.
Though why is Indosat allowed to race this?
Can only assume Tsmoha didn't notice they were bringing just 4 riders.
Will wait for a decision of Roturn, but given past actions, Indosat riders are ineligible to score points in this race, so basically they are DQ
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 09-01-2019 15:59
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This is huge! What a win by Jurgen! Knew he had the abilities to do something like this, but doing so in a such a tough race (which actually suits him even better) makes this result even more valuable. 370 points already this season for Roelandts, with still some RD's left (though probably not much big scoring chances), and that makes our team to almost break to 2k barrier, that i think that completely guarantees safety, because mostly depending on Bystrom's points from June to October (Kudus has a couple of stage races left, and Vanmarcke 4 cobbled races) isn't the most ideal scenario
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 09-01-2019 17:34
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Ramunas Navardauskas!!
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| Vien |
Posted on 09-01-2019 17:56
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Posts: 2241
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Riesebeek with some depth points. I'll take it. |
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 09-01-2019 19:38
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Great to see Appo hang on that long only to do f*ck all.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 09-01-2019 22:21
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15027
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Sad are the days where I can't be happy with aggressive racing and a podium spot. We did great, but "only" a 3rd place is disappointing. We even lose points compared to the closest competition and Dutch Food Valley Classic was a disaster as well so yeah..
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 09-01-2019 22:48
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I remember when I wanted to sign Boonrat.....korn but decided against it as I thought he would never do anything, and I think this is the 3rd or 4th time he's outperformed my entire team....
Atleast Kuboki and Arashiro made up for Itami being dropped but with the latest rankings, not good enough.
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 10-01-2019 00:13
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Pretty good from Kreder in 6th bettering Cavs effort in the Netherlands. No depth though, still scrabbling for survival points.
Thanks to Tsmoha for the report and Aquarius for the posting and congrats on a good win.
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 10-01-2019 05:00
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Directeur Sportif
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Much needed result for us with Navardausakas finally turning up when it mattered. Shame he couldn't hang on but 2nd is much better than what I was expecting.
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| trekbmc |
Posted on 11-01-2019 01:45
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I really liked our attacking spirit here, Hansen had a dig and Reckweg was incredible, even snagging a top 10 there! Decent depth from Hansen and Bernas too makes this a solid race despite being where we chose to miss Vantomme.
Thanks for the great report!
"What done is, is one." - Benji Naesen
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