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Tour of the Middle East - Discussion
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 11-04-2021 10:06
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Welcome to … the Middle East. The riders will be racing in three countries over the next four days, as Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman will host the seventh edition of the HC stage race, which means the Qatarese Minions will be trying to get some great results. Two sprints, a stage for the puncheurs and a short but hard mountainous queen stage, who will be victorious? It won’t be Pluchkin for the second year in a row, as the Popo4Ever rider will be replaced by Padun in this edition. There will be two former winners at the start though, let’s look at the list of GC contenders to see who.
| MON | HILL | STA | RES | REC |  Tenorio | 84 | 76 | 78 | 76 | 67 |  Kudus | 82 | 77 | 79 | 77 | 70 |  Monsalve | 81 | 76 | 79 | 80 | 73 |  Carthy | 81 | 75 | 77 | 76 | 69 |  Uran | 81 | 73 | 74 | 80 | 70 |  Padun | 80 | 77 | 72 | 74 | 75 |  Martin | 80 | 75 | 74 | 75 | 73 |  Choi | 80 | 74 | 77 | 76 | 68 |  Nerz | 80 | 72 | 75 | 72 | 68 |  Intxausti | 80 | 69 | 75 | 75 | 67 |  Latour | 79 | 75 | 80 | 78 | 74 | | Pomoshnikov | 79 | 74 | 78 | 76 | 66 | | Abal | 79 | 68 | 71 | 74 | 70 |  Slagter | 78 | 79 | 71 | 73 | 71 | | Roson | 78 | 76 | 67 | 70 | 74 | | De la Cruz | 78 | 75 | 72 | 76 | 73 |  Giogieri | 78 | 73 | 71 | 74 | 67 |
Tenorio is the man to beat in this edition of the Tour of the Middle East, as he should be the best climber on the startlist. The number two of this year’s Vuelta a España won’t have an opportunity to show off his time trial capacities, but even without a stage against the clock he still is considered the top favourite. His biggest rival will probably be former winner Kudus. The Repsol rider is a bit worse when it comes to climbing, but is a slightly better puncheur. In Catalunya earlier this season the Eritrean already succeeded in beating the Spanish top favourite, is he able to do it again?
Those two should also watch out for Monsalve and Carthy. The two climbers also know how to sprint up a hill and are both riding for teams where everything seems to be working out this season. Uran on the other hand has really been feeling the effect of getting older this season. He is the worst puncheur of the top-5 climbers, but manager Marco will be hoping for that little bit extra in his team’s home race.
Padun, Martin, Choi, Nerz and Intxausti are the next five climbers on the list. While Padun and Martin are good puncheurs, Intxausti is the worst of the top-10 on the list. Don’t underestimate the Spaniard though, as he was recently superb in the Monterrey TTT, where he carried the rest of Zalgiris on his shoulders on their way to victory.
Several more strong riders will be hoping for a spot in the top-10 or even top-5. The most versatile of those being Latour, Pomoshnikov, Slagter, Roson, 2016 winner De la Cruz and Giogieri.
Although some of the GC riders will probably be aiming for stage three as well, some real puncheurs will be trying to be victorious there too. Let’s have a look at the biggest candidates for the win there.
| MON | HILL | STA | RES | SPR | ACC |  Paulinho | 75 | 80 | 70 | 72 | 68 | 75 | | Slagter | 78 | 79 | 71 | 73 | 61 | 71 |  Benoot | 75 | 78 | 75 | 74 | 69 | 71 | | Siskevicius | 73 | 78 | 73 | 72 | 71 | 75 | | Moazemi | 73 | 78 | 72 | 72 | 65 | 73 | | Kudus | 82 | 77 | 79 | 77 | 63 | 70 | | Padun | 80 | 77 | 72 | 74 | 60 | 75 |  Squire | 77 | 77 | 70 | 70 | 61 | 71 | | Raileanu | 77 | 77 | 74 | 73 | 59 | 70 |  Areruya | 77 | 77 | 75 | 77 | 68 | 74 | | Dieteren | 70 | 77 | 75 | 70 | 63 | 66 | | Tenorio | 84 | 76 | 78 | 76 | 59 | 67 | | Monsalve | 81 | 76 | 79 | 80 | 65 | 73 |
Paulinho should be the best puncheur in theory. He has a strong acceleration and won’t get dropped on the first longer hill of the day, so the Berg Cycles rider is the favourite for the stage win on stage three. GC rider Slagter might be his biggest contender, but we also see Benoot on the list, who will be looking for vengeance after a bad Grands Prix Cyclistes last month. Siskevicius is a good puncheur and arguably the best sprinter on the list, while Moazemi is a dark horse. Other names on the puncheur list include GC contenders and allrounders such as Areruya, Squire and Raileanu.
The first two stages should however normally be decided with a bunch sprint. Let’s find out who will be trying to get that first yellow jersey and possible green jersey at the end of the Tour.
| FLA | STA | RES | SPR | ACC | | Guerao | 74 | 71 | 64 | 83 | 76 | | Avelino | 70 | 69 | 65 | 82 | 77 | | Maksimov | 72 | 70 | 69 | 81 | 84 | | Vesely | 73 | 74 | 68 | 81 | 80 | | Boeckmans | 72 | 73 | 70 | 80 | 82 |  Bonifazio | 79 | 68 | 75 | 80 | 80 | | Kupfernagel | 74 | 73 | 66 | 80 | 80 | | Haller | 72 | 72 | 71 | 80 | 79 | | Van Asbroeck | 75 | 75 | 72 | 80 | 78 |  Awang | 64 | 67 | 62 | 79 | 83 | | Perera | 71 | 69 | 73 | 79 | 80 | | Lutsyshyn | 70 | 69 | 73 | 79 | 80 | | Van der Sande | 75 | 78 | 73 | 79 | 79 |  Aberasturi | 74 | 73 | 71 | 79 | 78 | | Willwohl | 73 | 71 | 67 | 79 | 78 | | Vaquera | 71 | 69 | 65 | 78 | 80 |
Look at that, our two Oscars back together! Guerao and Avelino might be the fastest sprinters in theory, their acceleration and physical abilities haven’t helped them a lot their season. On a good day they are both very dangerous sprinters, but we can’t consider them to be the top favourites for a stage win.
Maksimov on the other hand has already won multiple races this season. There is no way around it, the Russian is one of the top favourites for the sprints. Vesely right below him on the list, and it’s always hard to predict how the Minion is going to sprint. He has had some great sprints and results this season, but just as many times he decided not to sprint, or even start his sprint from 3k out. Boeckmans has only won one race this season, and is one of those hoping to add another stage win to his victory list as well. Most interesting however will be Bonifazio. Those cuatro stagionis from Pizza Ullo seem to have a special ingredient in them that makes him forget how good of a sprinter he actually is. Maybe this time the Italian decided to eat some Los Pollos Hermanos chicken wings to make him fly like never before?
Some other names that have proven to be decent sprinters as well in the past or this season and don’t need to worry about being too far down the sprinter’s list or having to do domestique work for their respective leaders are Kupfernagel, Haller, Van Asbroeck,, Perera and Lutsyshyn. It will be interesting to see whether they can mingle with the top sprinters, but on a good day they should be able to do so.
My job here is done (well, at least for today), so have fun inspecting the startlist, as it should include all riders at the start tomorrow (hence the name startlist). Also, Marco, stop sending me those delicious bananas to make sure those Lierse riders suffer a puncture. It’s been a bit too much this season and there are no cobbles tomorrow to make it look real enough. I fear Ollfahrd is starting to notice something’s off.
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 11-04-2021 10:15
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Kudus won the race in 2018 against prime Pluchkin, so surely great memories from our previous time racing here.
We should really make use of Tenorio's inferiority in the hilly stage to get to the final stage with some sort of timegap. I hope he's back in full form after some disappointing outing in Cyprus and Japan after winning Cataluña and Apex early on the season, we really need to make up those lost points given he doesn't have many RD's left after this one.
Support can't be better, basically bringing all my climbers and a couple of puncheurs to help in the first 3 stages too
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 11-04-2021 10:20
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I really really NEED a favourable result here!
It’s a strong field but hopefully Martin can have a strong couple days and finish in the Top 5. He has the strong support of Borisavljevic with him.
Avelino has 2 chances here but I can’t say I’m expecting much given his results this season. Prasad is his main support man so hopefully they can work something out.
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 11-04-2021 10:37
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Strong team, we need a good result for once. Hopefully we'll show the Sheikh why he is paying so much money to keep his son on the team.
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 11-04-2021 11:00
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Do I spot a little bit of foreshadowing? It's really cruel to get my hopes up like that. We should probably focus on helping Senni get a few minor GC points.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| fintas |
Posted on 11-04-2021 13:03
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I'm not sure what to expect from this race. Kupfernagel does not seem to be going to achieve more than fighting for the top 10 of the sprint stages.
As for Paulinho, I hope that stage 3 will be tough enough to leave behind some of the candidates for victory in the GC, only in this way he would later be able to try to minimize the losses in the final stage.
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 11-04-2021 13:43
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Grand Tour Champion
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Excited to see Tenorio back in action after his runner-up finish in the Vuelta. He is currently tied with TVG for most wins in program history with 11. So any victory here would be a monumental one. 
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 03:10
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| redordead |
Posted on 11-04-2021 13:55
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Another important race in the relegation battle. I hope Boeckmans can score a stage win in the sprints or at least have two strong results. Unfortunately I haven't brought great support for him, so it might be better if he follows someone else this time. I brought all 3 of my climbers here so I need those HC depth points.
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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| Sykkel_Freak |
Posted on 11-04-2021 14:17
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Tenorio and Kudus are surely the bigger favorites, but Monsalve should have every opportunity to do well! Also a rare chance for Perera to lead us in the sprints. Hopefully he can be up there and fight for a good stage result on the first two stages.
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 11-04-2021 14:20
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Damn, should have plumped for Bennett here. Still, excited to see how Areruya handles a leadership role in a HI/MO race, he's tended towards being over-ambitious and a little silly with early attacks before but worth a roll of the dice here imo to try steal that white jersey from Padun. Guess we'll have to wait and see Looking forward to your reports as ever Nemo 
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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| quadsas |
Posted on 11-04-2021 16:35
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Hard to expect a GC Top 10, but we certainly can get a couple stage results and 3 guys in Top 50. 100 points would be a goodin
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 12-04-2021 09:35
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3367
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Ollfardh wrote:
Do I spot a little bit of foreshadowing? It's really cruel to get my hopes up like that. We should probably focus on helping Senni get a few minor GC points.
Just to make it clear for you or anyone else who has the same question about foreshadowing, I always write the previews before I do the reports, and whatever happens in the race, I never change the previews
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 12-04-2021 11:00
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Nice work from our neo-pro Kipkemboi to move himself into the white jersey from the breakaway, enjoy that from him. Congrats Sykkel, always nice to see a second/third tier guy like Perera get his chance and take it in such a field
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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| redordead |
Posted on 12-04-2021 11:15
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4881
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I was a bit worried as soon as I saw us controlling things at the start. It's weird seeing the sprint favourites fighting for intermediate's, but seeing Boeckmans win those, I thought he might have good legs.
I guess I'll never know. It's my fault for not bringing enough flat support to the race. I hope we can do better on stage 2, because this stage did nothing for us, despite Kurianov's effort in the end.
Congrats on the win Sykkel
"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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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 12-04-2021 11:18
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Not a bad stage that from the team.
Avelino has had some howlers this season so 5th isn’t a bad result for him. The only disappointing thing being that he was leading with 800m to go but just didn’t have the speed. At least he’s got another stage to try again.
Thijssen in the early attack and then finishing 12th on the stage is nice work from the youngster.
Martin and the rest stayed out of trouble and near the front.
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| jaxika |
Posted on 12-04-2021 12:02
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Nice sprint by Maksimov and good work from the team, it seems in this year we are better in the sprint stages then the sprint races (i look at you LoCicero) |
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| quadsas |
Posted on 12-04-2021 12:28
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bruh moment. Einhorn babyyyyyy WHAT A RIDER
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 12-04-2021 13:26
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In terms of the result, not that bad, in terms of sprint preparation, improvement necessary. Nice to see Esmaeli getting a bit of camera time
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| Sykkel_Freak |
Posted on 12-04-2021 13:26
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Woho! Although I hoped Perera would be up there, I didn't really think he would be fast enough to pull off a stage win, but here we are! Perfect positioning and timing from the lad and a fantastic start to the race.
Thanks for the congratulations!
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| Sykkel_Freak |
Posted on 13-04-2021 11:32
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I hadn't really noticed there being a yellow jersey curse for sprinters, but looking at Perera here and thinking back to situations of Guarnieri being in yellow in the past, it makes so much sense. Definitely seems like the game treats Perera as a GC rider, looking at how he just sits on a teammates wheel while the trains are formed and until the final kilometer.
Anyway, perhaps a good thing for Monsalve's chances that Perera isn't in yellow anymore, so overall I don't mind this result 
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Tour of the Middle East
