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Vuelta al Tachira Discussion
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| jph27 |
Posted on 08-11-2020 11:11
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 Vuelta al Tachira
The first big test of the 2020 C2 calendar sees us head to Venezuela for the Vuelta al Tachira. 10 stages await us, with three tough mountain stages, a MTT, two hilly stages and four flat stages on the menu. Tachira is always a difficult race to plan for: do you send your best climber and gamble on them being able to dominate a weaker field, or do you send a sub-top leader and hope the best are put off by the 10 RDs? Well, it looks like this year the CT managers took the former gamble.
Headlining the field here are perhaps the two top climbers in the division:  Thibaut Pinot and  Suranga Ranaweera. While neither are the most explosive riders, there is simply no one better at this level in the high mountains. Ranaweera will fancy his chances of taking more time in the MTT, but it’s Pinot who is stronger on the hills – and he has a great record in this race (1st in 2018, 2nd in 2019).
Behind them, we have a number of slightly weaker but perhaps more well rounded climbers.  Keinath headlines this grouping, with  Warbasse (2nd in 2018) and the  Tryg duo of Lunke and Cort Nielsen also ones to watch. While this quartet may not be able to match Pinot and Ranaweera on pure climbing ability, they should still be able to remain in contention throughout.
And then we have two groups of riders who will seek to win in different ways: the pure climbers, and the more punchy climbers. The former includes  Seboka,  Kuss,  Nazaret and  Krasnoperov, as well as Mr Tachira himself: Florentino Marquez, winner in 2010 and 2013, 3rd in 2015 and 4th in 2014. The latter features riders who will hope to do real damage on the hills and then hang on when the altitude rises:  Chamorro, Fabbro and  Ndayisenga are the main names to watch on Stages 4 and 10 amongst the GC contenders.
| MO | HIL | STA | RES | REC | ACC | | Pinot | 80 | 74 | 76 | 79 | 75 | 69 | | Ranaweera | 80 | 73 | 75 | 75 | 74 | 65 | | Seboka | 80 | 62 | 63 | 70 | 73 | 67 | | Marquez | 79 | 70 | 69 | 77 | 75 | 79 | | Krasnoperov | 79 | 67 | 67 | 68 | 72 | 60 | | Keinath | 78 | 75 | 76 | 75 | 74 | 69 | | Cort Nielsen | 78 | 74 | 76 | 75 | 74 | 71 | | Lunke | 78 | 72 | 76 | 74 | 78 | 64 | | Chamorro | 78 | 75 | 72 | 76 | 70 | 74 | | Warbasse | 78 | 75 | 75 | 73 | 72 | 65 | | Fabbro | 78 | 75 | 71 | 72 | 74 | 73 | | Ndayisenga | 78 | 75 | 69 | 68 | 73 | 73 | | Kuss | 78 | 71 | 74 | 76 | 71 | 69 | | Nazaret | 78 | 69 | 68 | 75 | 70 | 69 | | Signorini | 78 | 69 | 66 | 72 | 73 | 74 | | Novak | 77 | 73 | 75 | 73 | 75 | 65 | | Eg | 77 | 71 | 76 | 74 | 75 | 68 |  Jaramillo | 77 | 75 | 70 | 69 | 69 | 76 | | Bardet | 77 | 74 | 72 | 70 | 71 | 75 |  Battaglin | 77 | 72 | 69 | 72 | 67 | 70 | | Mai | 77 | 70 | 67 | 75 | 74 | 60 | | Hoem | 77 | 72 | 74 | 69 | 74 | 62 |  Hirschlein | 77 | 71 | 71 | 71 | 72 | 59 |  Medvedev | 77 | 63 | 63 | 75 | 70 | 70 |
We also have a number of puncheurs who have made the trip here in hope of taking a stage win or two, and perhaps even managing to ride to a strong GC result if they can hang in on the harder stages in the final few days. Quevedo, Hugentobler, Caruso and Bru are all very much pure puncheurs (and Bru is one of the most climbing averse puncheurs around) so may struggle if the repeated climbing gets too much for them. On the other hand, the likes of Paulus, Dall'Oste, Jang,  Eyob and Seibeb are all relatively comfortable on the longer climbs and should cause a few headaches for the climbers if they get into a strong position after Stage 4.
| MO | HIL | STA | RES | REC | ACC | | Quevedo | 71 | 78 | 72 | 72 | 73 | 75 | | Hugentobler | 68 | 78 | 70 | 69 | 68 | 76 | | Paulus | 74 | 77 | 71 | 68 | 73 | 71 | | Caruso | 68 | 77 | 75 | 70 | 63 | 76 | | Bru | 60 | 77 | 69 | 65 | 63 | 72 | | Dall'Oste | 76 | 76 | 71 | 74 | 75 | 71 | | Jang | 76 | 76 | 72 | 70 | 70 | 74 | | Eyob | 76 | 76 | 74 | 69 | 73 | 66 | | Seibeb | 75 | 76 | 70 | 69 | 71 | 73 | | Umerbekov | 70 | 76 | 74 | 67 | 64 | 73 | | Honkisz | 68 | 76 | 74 | 71 | 70 | 69 | | Vink | 67 | 75 | 74 | 71 | 68 | 68 | | De Tier | 68 | 75 | 73 | 72 | 67 | 69 | | Amanuel | 67 | 75 | 73 | 70 | 67 | 71 | | Wallays | 63 | 75 | 72 | 71 | 70 | 69 |
Finally, with four flat stages this is a great opportunity for sprinters to find their legs early in the season. But perhaps due to the race day cost, we have one of the weakest sprint fields you will ever see. Van Heerden is the headline name, although he is severely lacking in explosion compared to your average sprinter, while Bertilsson, Manarelli and Van der Sanden are more well rounded and better bets to perform consistently. Redecker and Dakteris also can’t be discounted, but behind them the sprint field is mainly made up of leadout men, puncheurs and young talents.
| FL | HIL | STA | RES | SP | ACC | | Van Heerden | 71 | 66 | 71 | 64 | 80 | 70 | | Bertilsson | 73 | 69 | 72 | 71 | 79 | 77 | | Manarelli | 72 | 59 | 71 | 65 | 79 | 79 | | Van der Sanden | 73 | 65 | 71 | 69 | 78 | 79 | | Redecker | 73 | 72 | 74 | 67 | 77 | 78 | | Dakteris | 75 | 64 | 74 | 70 | 77 | 77 | | Bercz | 72 | 70 | 73 | 68 | 76 | 77 | | Hadi | 68 | 72 | 73 | 70 | 74 | 71 | | Pasqualon | 71 | 74 | 71 | 72 | 72 | 73 | | Sureda | 68 | 68 | 67 | 68 | 72 | 73 | | Nur Hasan | 67 | 62 | 69 | 71 | 72 | 71 | | Narvaez | 67 | 73 | 68 | 69 | 71 | 71 | | Groves | 68 | 69 | 69 | 69 | 71 | 71 |
Spoiler First Name Last Name Team
Ole Hirschlein Andorra Cycling Project
Ulugbek Galiev Andorra Cycling Project
Lluis Ropero Andorra Cycling Project
Oscar Cabanas Andorra Cycling Project
Jelle Wallays Andorra Cycling Project
Einer Augusto Rubio Andorra Cycling Project
Jens Reynders Andorra Cycling Project
Nils Eekhoff Andorra Cycling Project
Valens Ndayisenga Bralirwa - Stevens Bikes
Heiko Redecker Bralirwa - Stevens Bikes
Christoph Mai Bralirwa - Stevens Bikes
Janvier Hadi Bralirwa - Stevens Bikes
Simon Carr Bralirwa - Stevens Bikes
Juan Pedro Lopez Bralirwa - Stevens Bikes
Moise Mugisha Bralirwa - Stevens Bikes
Didier Munyaneza Bralirwa - Stevens Bikes
Lawrence Warbasse Carlsberg - Danske bank
Christian Bertilsson Carlsberg - Danske Bank
Niklas Eg Carlsberg - Danske Bank
Matteo Fabbro Carlsberg - Danske Bank
Patrick Olesen Carlsberg - Danske Bank
Gyasi Sulvaran Carlsberg - Danske Bank
Jonas Gregaard Carlsberg - Danske Bank
Gyung Gu Jang Carrefour - ESPN
Jakub Novak Carrefour - ESPN
Juan Ernesto Chamorro Carrefour - ESPN
Xavier Quevedo Carrefour - ESPN
Janis Dakteris Carrefour - ESPN
Damiano Caruso Carrefour - ESPN
Patrick Bercz Carrefour - ESPN
Magno Nazaret Desigual
Daniel Eaton Desigual
Carter Jones Desigual
Jhonatan Narvaez Desigual
Erick Herrera Desigual
Federico Olei Desigual
Jaume Sureda Desigual
Louis Visser Desigual
Gregory Hugentobler Eddie Stobart
Nikita Umerbekov Eddie Stobart
Dmitri Medvedev Eddie Stobart
Floris De Tier Eddie Stobart
Salvador Moreno Hernandez Eddie Stobart
asmund Romstad Lovik Eddie Stobart
Neil Van der Ploeg Eddie Stobart
Daniel Savini Eddie Stobart
Mektel Eyob Guave's Sunlight Cycling
Farzad Khodayari Guave's Sunlight Cycling
Wolfgang Burmann Guave's Sunlight Cycling
Mihran Avetisyan Guave's Sunlight Cycling
William Maesen Guave's Sunlight Cycling
Kaden Groves Guave's Sunlight Cycling
Florentino Marquez Los Pollos Hermanos
Matala Seboka Los Pollos Hermanos
Carlos Alexandre Manarelli Los Pollos Hermanos
Stefan Petrovski Los Pollos Hermanos
Samuel Coronel Los Pollos Hermanos
Fulgencio Bru Los Pollos Hermanos
Romeo Quicibal Los Pollos Hermanos
Jose Gerardo Ulloa Los Pollos Hermanos
Sepp Kuss McCormick Pro Cycling
Connor McCutcheon McCormick Pro Cycling
Alex Hoehn McCormick Pro Cycling
Brandon McNulty McCormick Pro Cycling
Alexander Evans McCormick Pro Cycling
Kristofer Gunnlaugsson McCormick Pro Cycling
Connor W Brown McCormick Pro Cycling
Geoffrey Curran McCormick Pro Cycling
Mikayil Krasnoperov Nordica - Enel
Gian Piero Signorini Nordica - Enel
Muhammet Eyüp Karagobek Nordica - Enel
Vadim Pronskiy Nordica - Enel
Samuele Battistella Nordica - Enel
Nicola Venchiarutti Nordica - Enel
Nico Keinath Philips
Geert Van der Sanden Philips
Romain Bardet Philips
Joonas Henttala Philips
Kevin Inkelaar Philips
Michael Storer Philips
Ide Schelling Philips
Thibaut Pinot Project: Africa
Costa Seibeb Project: Africa
Juan Van Heerden Project: Africa
Youcef Reguigui Project: Africa
John-Lee Augustyn Project: Africa
Meron Russom Project: Africa
Byron Munton Project: Africa
Jimmy Muhindo Project: Africa
Suranga Ranaweera Sauber Petronas Racing
Nawuti Liphongyu Sauber Petronas Racing
Bruno Silva Sauber Petronas Racing
Ajay Pandit Chhetri Sauber Petronas Racing
Julien Berard Sauber Petronas Racing
Sandy Nur Hasan Sauber Petronas Racing
Johan Jacobs Sauber Petronas Racing
Lars Van den Berg Sauber Petronas Racing
Daniele Dall'Oste Sotto il sole di riccione
Enrico Battaglin Sotto il sole di riccione
Andrea Pasqualon Sotto il sole di riccione
Antonio Santoro Sotto il Sole di Riccione
Vincenzo Nibali Sotto il sole di Riccione
Dario Puccioni Sotto il sole di Riccione
Riccardo Lucca Sotto il sole di riccione
Alessandro Monaco Sotto il sole di riccione
Daniel Alexander Jaramillo Team Europcar
Daniel Paulus Team Europcar
Kristjan Koren Team Europcar
Adrian Honkisz Team Europcar
Michael Vink Team Europcar
Nick Miller Team Europcar
Jacques Janse van Rensburg Team Europcar
Meron Amanuel Team Europcar
Magnus Cort Nielsen Tryg - Ritter Sport
Sindre Skjostad Lunke Tryg - Ritter Sport
Bjorn Tore Hoem Tryg - Ritter Sport
Georg Zimmermann Tryg - Ritter Sport
Mikkel Honore Tryg - Ritter Sport
Andreas Kron Tryg - Ritter Sport
Magnus Bak Klaris Tryg - Ritter Sport
Michel Ries Tryg - Ritter Sport |
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 08-11-2020 11:27
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Grand Tour Champion
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Time to get our required C2 race days out of the way early into the season. This is probably the last legitimate race Magno Nazaret will get to be a team leader in to close out his respectable career. A Top 10 seems doable.
Also excited to see youngster Louis Visser in action for the first time and Jhonatan Narvaez could be a sneaky wildcard to win a stage.
That said, my money is on Pinot for the GC victory.
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 08-11-2020 11:45
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Posts: 6508
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Here is where the season really starts for Ndayisenga. The CT climbing field is absolutely brutal, I would be happy with a Top 10 but I fear his low res may not allow that. Maybe he can gain some time on the hilly stages, he was decent in Yekaterinburg. I also hope for some decent results by Reidecker in the sprints and we'll see what Hadi will be up to. Looking forward to the race a lot, that's for sure  Thanks for the preview!
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 21-11-2024 20:00
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| aidanvn13 |
Posted on 08-11-2020 12:14
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Classics Specialist
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Absolutely ridiculous climbing startlist  My initial hope was that Pinot would challenge for the win and Reguigui/Seibeb could net a top 10. The latter seems very unlikely now.
The good news is, Van Heerden has probably his best chance all season to grab a win. However, he has no support so we will so how well a bunch of climbers lead him out 
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 08-11-2020 12:23
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World Champion
Posts: 14562
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Come on Dall'Oste!
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 08-11-2020 12:48
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Posts: 3367
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Thank you for the preview! Should be one of the biggest opportunities of the year for Manarelli to win something, so I'm hoping he can deliver. I don't expect too much (or anyything) from Bru and Seboka, but would be nice to see Marquez, "Mr. Tachira" around the top-5 My guess for the podium is 1 Pinot, 2 Ranaweera and 3 Keinath.
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 08-11-2020 13:13
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Well, given my climber lineup this year - and the incredibly stacked field for a C2 race - it was definitely a good choice to not participate. I'd have loved to see the strongest sprinters here, so they'd have had less race days anywhere, but not surprised to see most didn't make the trip, either...
It will be interesting to see what Ranaweera can do after his training; it should really be him vs. Pinot - but Marquez could do quite a lot of damage with his great acceleration, too. And given his RES, the hilly stages might not be hard enough to get rid of him, either.
Looking forward to follow this one, and maybe we'll come back to Venezuela next year - it's always going to be a race to remember for the team, as we got our first ever stage podium here
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 08-11-2020 14:26
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Posts: 3634
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This is the first big test of Ranaweera vs Pinot, hopefully we get a close battle between the 2 that get renewed a few times this season.
This really could set the tone for our season.
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 08-11-2020 14:34
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Posts: 16429
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Well, we have our first goal here, a top 5. Before transfers I guess I assumed the large amount of C2 race days might scare a few of the top names off and leave us some points. Now, I've been very obviously proven wrong. Basically every name in CT climbing and stage racing is here, and our chances are slim.
Obviously, we have to hope that we can count on the hills stat mattering quite a bit if we hope to outdo any of the climbers around us. Both Warbasse and Fabbro have a slight advantage there, and need to capitalize on it if we have any chance of success. I'd favor the prior for leadership usually, but on this course, whoever goes better can take charge. Despite sending a 7 man roster, we should have enough manpower for our leaders. Just a matter of if they can execute.
I made a last minute decision to send Bertilsson here as well, seeing 4 sprint stages on the menu. I had to sacrifice a couple of days of Kragh Andersen leadouts throughout the season, and only time will tell if it was the right choice. On paper he's surprisingly a top 3 sprinter here if not the best for the course. Unfortunately, we have no train for him at all, so we'll just have to see how PCM works it out. Hopefully Warbasse isn't drilling it on the front on flat stages.
Thank you for an awesome preview! Looking forward to the first huge showdown in stage racing for us this season!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 08-11-2020 14:42
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Exciting moment for McCormick since it is our first mention in the preview of a race that isn't flat. But really just a learning experience for us to see where Kuss fits, will be likely at this race for a few seasons to come.
Looking forward to a classic mano-a-mano GC battle and thanks for the preview.
Man Game: McCormick Pro Cycling |
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 08-11-2020 14:47
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Huge startlist but Keinath was always going to be here as I don't think he can compete much in C1. The preview shows him 6th but I'm hoping for a Top 5 challenge with a good MTT hopefully. There are quite a few similar riders who can push him down the order very easily. Hoping Bardet can get into the Top 15 as well because he looks to have the stats for it. Van der Sanden is here as we hope to take advantage of most of the big sprinters being absent.
Pinot vs Ranaweera could be interesting indeed but we'll be looking to pick up the pieces behind them. Will be interesting going head to head against Marquez as well, just after we released him. No hard feelings but one always wishes that their decision is justified.
Thanks for the preview jpg Looking forward to it.
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 08-11-2020 14:53
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Should be fun to see the first GC outing of the year in the CT! But surprisingly weak sprint field here considering the amount of flat stages. But I guess with it being C2 and not C2HC a lot of team left their sprinters at home.
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| roturn |
Posted on 09-11-2020 07:35
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https://pcmdaily....ame_id=392
(As the first couple stages are flat, the GC bet can also stay up while the first reports might already come!)
Tachira is imo a fantastic race to start the season in January. Often giving 2nd tier riders chances to finish high in the GC or win a stage in the sprint. It was the first stage race where Krieger and Olivier finished well for me several years back as freshly maxed riders or still with one level to go!
This year looks a bit different as the GC fight is incredible with most top riders and high 2nd tier riders at the start. Already the fight of the potential top2 with several strong riders able to challenge them.
The sprints therefore look surprisingly weak so that even one-hit-wonders such as Van Heerden or Manarelli could score decent here.
My bets are on Giro stage winner Bertilsson though and former rider Van der Sanden as the more complete ones.
Couple of interesting hill riders as well here for those 1-2 stages. Though they might need to get rid of the stage racers first and then try to catch the break as well. Won`t be easy for the final stage but might be a good chance to grab the yellow after day 4 I guess and once having the gap, they might first need to be passed again. |
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| Bjartne |
Posted on 09-11-2020 11:19
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We bring a decent hill team here, so we put everything into the vital stage four
Will be a really interresting race this! |
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| aidanvn13 |
Posted on 10-11-2020 09:26
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Not gonna lie, when I saw Van Heerden pull ahead I thought he'd get the win. Still not entirely sure how this Acc stat works 
10th place is disappointing, but somehow that is still ahead of Bertilsson. We really need a stage win from JvH - I don't expect much from him the rest of the season!
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 10-11-2020 10:01
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aidanvn13 wrote:
Not gonna lie, when I saw Van Heerden pull ahead I thought he'd get the win. Still not entirely sure how this Acc stat works
10th place is disappointing, but somehow that is still ahead of Bertilsson. We really need a stage win from JvH - I don't expect much from him the rest of the season!
Well, hitting the front under the red kite most of the times isn't a good sign, especially when you have rather low Res like Van Heerden... Had he taken Manarelli's wheel instead of being ahead, I guess he'd have done much better.
Congrats to Carrefour for their first win of the year - and to the Chicken for their first podium ever
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 10-11-2020 10:16
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Two days of racing, three riders in breakaways so far this season, I love that! A bit bittersweet though, since Munyaneza could have taken white and third overall if only he had finished ahead of Monaco :/ And pretty disappointed in Redecker's sprinting. Hopefully that will improve.
Thanks for the report!
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 10-11-2020 10:28
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Fabianski wrote:
aidanvn13 wrote:
Not gonna lie, when I saw Van Heerden pull ahead I thought he'd get the win. Still not entirely sure how this Acc stat works
10th place is disappointing, but somehow that is still ahead of Bertilsson. We really need a stage win from JvH - I don't expect much from him the rest of the season!
Well, hitting the front under the red kite most of the times isn't a good sign, especially when you have rather low Res like Van Heerden... Had he taken Manarelli's wheel instead of being ahead, I guess he'd have done much better.
He couldn't have held it with his Acc though
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| Scorchio |
Posted on 10-11-2020 10:46
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Bit of a bizarre top 10 from that sprint. Really expected Bertilson to boss these sprints looking at the stats, with Manarelli his main threat. At least Manarelli made the podium, and nice to see Dakteris get a win - a very solid rider. Still surprising to see a 77 SP rider win a bunch sprint all the same!
Manager of ISA - Hexacta in the MG |
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| hillis91 |
Posted on 10-11-2020 10:52
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Cool to see Carlos Alexandre Manarelli being up there
Great win for the ESPN crew!
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