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Tour of Cyprus - Discussion
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 24-01-2021 09:17
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 Tour of Cyprus
Welcome to Cyprus for the third edition of the Tour of Cyprus! The first winner ever,  Roglic, rides in PT nowadays and won’t be defending his title. The only other winner of this Tour,  Beltran, was left at home by manager redordead from Swisslion Cycling Team. So, whatever happens, one thing is for sure: this year’s Tour of Cyprus will have a brand new name on the winner’s list! The first two stages are flat and should be something for the sprinters, while the third stage is a mountain stage and the Tour finishes with a hilly stage. Let’s have a look at the sprinters who’ve made the trip to Cyprus and will be looking for stage glory and the green jersey in the first two stages.
| FLA | STA | RES | SPR | ACC |  Swift | 73 | 72 | 69 | 83 | 81 |  Kristoff | 74 | 73 | 69 | 82 | 77 |  Maksimov | 72 | 70 | 69 | 81 | 84 |  Ciolek | 73 | 70 | 66 | 81 | 76 |  Bonifazio | 79 | 68 | 75 | 80 | 80 | | Boeckmans | 72 | 73 | 70 | 80 | 82 |  Van Asbroeck | 75 | 75 | 72 | 80 | 78 |  Itami | 75 | 71 | 67 | 80 | 82 | | Kupfernagel | 74 | 73 | 66 | 80 | 80 |  Haller | 72 | 72 | 71 | 80 | 79 |  Van der Sande | 75 | 78 | 73 | 79 | 79 |  Boivin | 74 | 74 | 70 | 79 | 80 |  Kalaba | 74 | 70 | 72 | 79 | 79 | | Havik | 73 | 74 | 68 | 79 | 76 | | Matthews | 76 | 72 | 67 | 79 | 79 |  Perera | 71 | 69 | 73 | 79 | 80 | | Stauff | 73 | 72 | 67 | 79 | 79 |  Lutsyshyn | 70 | 69 | 73 | 79 | 80 |  Awang | 64 | 67 | 62 | 79 | 83 |
Swift tops the list as fastest man in the peloton. He also recovers like no one else does after a hard stage, but with the first two stages being the only important ones this shouldn’t make too much of a difference. Kristoff and Ciolek are slightly slower than the Brit, but both have a hard time keeping up their high pace for a longer period of time.
Maksimov, having recently won a stage in Pologne, is also an interesting name on the list. The Russian from MOL is without a doubt one of the best in the world when it comes to keeping that high pace, which comes in handy sometimes when you’re a sprinter and you can actually go quite fast. Then we find a lot of sprinter who are similar to each other: Van Asbroeck, Boeckmans, Bonifazio, Haller, Kupfernagel and Itami. Bonifazio does stand out a little bit though, as he’s definitely more resistant than the other sprinters in Cyprus, as well as just being a beast on the flat. The name of Van der Sande is also worth mentioning, as the Belgian really is a strong all-round sprinter.
Of course, even though the sprints are nice and all, the stage where the Cypriots and other people from around the world will stop teleworking for and put on their telly is the third one, which could very well be decisive for the GC as well. Some very strong climbers will be battling for the win, as can be seen in the list below.
| MTN | HIL | STA | RES | ACC | | Pluchkin | 84 | 74 | 77 | 77 | 73 |  Tenorio | 84 | 76 | 78 | 76 | 67 |  Denifl | 83 | 75 | 73 | 69 | 63 |  Wellens | 82 | 75 | 79 | 80 | 68 |  Kudus | 82 | 77 | 79 | 77 | 70 |  Guldhammer | 81 | 77 | 74 | 75 | 76 | | Monsalve | 81 | 76 | 79 | 80 | 73 |  Bennett | 81 | 76 | 75 | 74 | 73 | | Carthy | 81 | 75 | 77 | 76 | 69 | | Uran | 81 | 73 | 74 | 80 | 70 | | Choi | 80 | 74 | 77 | 76 | 68 | | Preidler | 80 | 78 | 71 | 77 | 69 | | Latour | 79 | 75 | 80 | 78 | 74 | | Pomoshnikov | 79 | 74 | 78 | 76 | 66 | | Pantano Gomez | 79 | 71 | 73 | 74 | 68 | | De la Cruz | 78 | 75 | 72 | 76 | 73 | | Stancu | 78 | 69 | 70 | 74 | 71 | | Giogieri | 78 | 73 | 71 | 74 | 67 | | Roson | 78 | 76 | 67 | 70 | 74 | | Ablenado | 78 | 67 | 73 | 77 | 65 |
A world champion and a Spanish champion entered a bar. It’s not the beginning of a bad joke, but just Pluchkin and Tenorio signing the participation sheet in Café Olympiani this morning. The third stage might be godly with a finish on Mount Olympus, where those two half-gods will be hoping to seal the deal and make the fourth stage unnecessary. It won’t be that easy though, as a lot of strong climbers with the necessary puncheur skills have also made it here, one of their main rivals being the Austrian Denifl.
The Austrian won’t be their only contender though. A lot of interesting names also present, with Kudus, Wellens, Guldhammer, Monsalve, Bennett, Carthy, Uran, Choi and Preidler. Some of them were very recently active in Pologne as well, with an impressing Bennett but a very disappointing Preidler. Let’s see if the second Austrian on the list is able to redeem himself on the island in the Mediterranean.
I owe you one more list though, the list of puncheurs. Stage 4 is a good opportunity for another type of rider than the previous stages to be victorious, so let’s see who’s got a chance at winning that one.
| MTN | HIL | STA | RES | ACC | | Buchmann | 76 | 81 | 73 | 74 | 73 | | Paulinho | 75 | 80 | 70 | 72 | 75 |  Ulissi | 66 | 80 | 83 | 71 | 75 | | Preidler | 80 | 78 | 71 | 77 | 69 | | Benoot | 75 | 78 | 75 | 74 | 71 | | Siskevicius | 73 | 78 | 73 | 72 | 75 | | Kudus | 82 | 77 | 79 | 77 | 70 | | Guldhammer | 81 | 77 | 74 | 75 | 76 | | Areruya | 77 | 77 | 75 | 77 | 74 | | Poljanski | 77 | 77 | 70 | 70 | 71 | | Guerreiro | 76 | 77 | 73 | 73 | 72 | | Bratashcuk | 71 | 77 | 75 | 70 | 67 | | Teklit | 70 | 77 | 75 | 72 | 70 | | Skjerping | 70 | 77 | 71 | 67 | 65 |  Mutsumine | 69 | 77 | 73 | 70 | 71 | | Jung | 67 | 77 | 72 | 72 | 71 | | Villella | 65 | 77 | 72 | 74 | 80 | | Tenorio | 84 | 76 | 78 | 76 | 67 | | Monsalve | 81 | 76 | 79 | 80 | 73 | | Bennett | 81 | 76 | 75 | 74 | 73 |
Apart from some GC riders who have been mentioned before and definitely have a shot at winning this stage as well, five names seem to attract the most attention: Buchmann, Paulinho, Ulissi, Benoot and Siskevicius. Although, if you think about it, the chance of a breakaway rider winning this stage is also very much a possibility.
The only thing left for me today is to share the startlist with you, the only thing left for the riders is to win a stage and/or the GC of the Tour of Cyprus.
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| redordead |
Posted on 24-01-2021 10:22
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A strong statlist as I expected. We've got a similar lineup as we had in Corsica. Boeckmans is our hope to provide a scoring punch in this race. Other than that Giogieri and Ablenado can hopefully get a couple of solid GC results.
Thanks for the preview Nemo 
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 24-01-2021 10:35
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Not really Uran's cup of tea but remaining racedays had to be spent somewhere so here we are. Olympus didn't really create gaps last year and the final stage now has an uphill finish, but the startlist is very strong.
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| jph27 |
Posted on 24-01-2021 11:01
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This is a top 5 goal, for reasons I struggle to comprehend when remembering I could have chosen Pologne instead. Doubt Carthy pulls it off, but if we can get the 120 points we need to stay on track for the single-season PCT record I'll take it  |
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 24-01-2021 11:13
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Senni not making the preview, but I still think he can be close to a top 10 finish. Bonifazio might struggle with the mountains, but if he survives, he can get us some points here.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| ivaneurope |
Posted on 24-01-2021 11:15
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Nemolito reporting on an event that has Preider in it is as inevitable as death and taxes 
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 24-01-2021 13:36
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Podium each year for us here so far, toughest field yet so would be very very happy if that run continues!
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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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 24-01-2021 19:48
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Posts: 2433
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Stacked field! Any points would be great.
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| quadsas |
Posted on 25-01-2021 07:42
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Denifl will basically be on his own here so Top 10 GC would be a great result
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 25-01-2021 08:53
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Decent sprint by Bonifazio, he looked a bit tired from the mountain. Good to see the best sprinter win for once!
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| redordead |
Posted on 25-01-2021 09:13
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I second what Ollfardh said. Well deserved win by Swift
I'm happy with our performance also. We don't have a train to compete for a win, but the way we brought up Boeckmans was pretty good. On another day we might get better than 3rd, but it's okay. Especially an improvement over what happened in Corsica
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-11-2024 02:18
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 25-01-2021 09:25
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Good to see our guys being active with Abdul Halil and Teklit both getting out on the attack and fighting for the intermediate sprints.
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 25-01-2021 09:33
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It turns out this game doesn't realize I have a sprinter here as well.
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| jaxika |
Posted on 25-01-2021 09:49
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Nice one from Maksimov |
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 25-01-2021 11:55
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Posts: 11392
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Not surprised Hirschlein's bathroom break delayed the start so much, he's been totally full of shit since 2016.
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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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 25-01-2021 12:45
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2433
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Nice win for Swift.
Great ride from Haller to grab us a few points. Same from Nerz please.
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| Heine |
Posted on 25-01-2021 13:11
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Posts: 4116
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Sprint stages are boring :-p Congrats to Berg
Sent quite a strong squad for the 2 last stages, will be interesting to see if Buchmann can help Guldhammer om the last one
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 25-01-2021 13:23
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Grand Tour Champion
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Maksimov almost beat Swift in a sprint in a stage that wasn't completely pan flat... That's just mind-boggling to me. Where was this type of effort from the Russian Rocket when you were wearing our kit? 
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| fintas |
Posted on 25-01-2021 21:12
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Thanks guys
nice way to start this race, perfect lead out by the team ends with a very nice win.
If we manage to repeat this result in the next stage, we should guarantee the victory in the points classification, which would make this race a success for us.
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| redordead |
Posted on 26-01-2021 08:29
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What was that?! 
I would've been happy with 2nd place regardless, but damn, tough to see how Boeckmans didn't come up with the win there. Awesome to see the team was working throughout the stage and then Groselj put in another big effort to put Kris in a great, but weird position
It's also ironic that our loanee Orken was the other rider out in front 
I'm happy he's still able to contribure to fintas on a day when Swift just went missing
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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