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Tour of America Discussion
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| roturn |
Posted on 29-05-2021 10:14
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Team Manager
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Still 1-2 classics to be posted before the start. But as it`s the Continental GT, having the thread up for discussions for a bit longer before stage 1 can`t hurt.
From the previous winner list, only one name really stands out.  Kiserlovski might be ageing, which is shown by his long time ago victory in 2012, actually beating big names such as Sicard back then and couple of already retired riders such as Anton, Kessiakoff, Navarro, a young talent Rafael Reis being 20th back then.
And he came back the following year, only being beaten by Kashechkin but other than that dominated the rest of the field. Actually couple riders in the results there such as  Krasnoperov or  Stetina are as well riding the 2020 edition.
Long time no significant 2020 starter until 2017 and it was again Kiserlovski! Back on podium, this time in 3rd beaten by now PT riders Barguil and Schelling! Ahead of CT stars such as Pinot!
And slowly as we are coming closer to the present, some more 2020 starters show up.  Fraile in 6th or  Garby in 8th.
2018 and basically just  Atapuma in 8th until last year had a certain Nerz as best 2020 starter on the 4th and here we turn towards the present as the experienced German will not only be one of the 2020 top favourites, he will also be supported by no less than one of the Tour of America all-time great Kiserlovski!
The 2020 startfield is lead by Nerz who though is expected to battle for the win in especially with  Penasa. Another CT veteran, back in his duels against Valls, but never really or at all contensting the Tour of America before!
Garby might go for his biggest Tour of America result this season as first contender, a top10 as said before but last year a disappointing 24th only, which terminated the end of his Carlsberg days. Now with BNZ another chance.
Moschella, Krasnoperov, Abal or Duarte are all experienced but also very one-dimensional climbers with a bit of TT skills. On shorter climbs and on the flat stages, they really will struggle making other riders actually pass them on the favourite list.
Atapuma,  Kuss and the legend Kiserlovski are more allround and could actually go for the win (again) or the podium. In especially Kraftwerk will be interesting if they go all-in for Nerz or try a double leadership here. At the age of 34, it definitely will be the final big GC for Kiserlovski.
 Raileanu is one of the most allround riders here, one of the very few climbing hybrids. It will be interesting if his loss on the long climbs can be caught by his puncheur skills. His palmares is not that impressive to be honest as too often he finds himself on the underperforming list.
Gebremedhin, Mannion, Maillet are kind of dark horses, which might fight on the less difficult days and then attack on the pure climbs. Surely must not be ignored, but are another level below the others.
Fraile as last "favourite". His former top10 shows his skills on the CT GT. His climbing is not as strong but his TT and fighting skills are impressive. As long as he holds on to a decent GC position, he shouldn`t be underestimated in the mountains. Being lined up alongside a rider such as Abal though, might hurt his chances depending who is the selected team leader.
| Mo | Hi | TT | | Mo | Hi | TT | | Penasa | 80 | 74 | 70 | Gebremedhin | 77 | 74 | 64 | | Nerz | 80 | 72 | 73 | Mannion | 77 | 71 | 64 | | Garby | 79 | 70 | 68 | Maillet | 77 | 70 | 60 | | Moschella | 79 | 69 | 69 | Stetina | 77 | 66 | 63 | | Abal | 79 | 68 | 75 |  Medvedev | 77 | 63 | 62 | | Krasnoperov | 79 | 67 | 72 | Fraile | 76 | 72 | 79 | | Atapuma | 78 | 73 | 62 | Shapira | 76 | 72 | 63 | | Kiserlovski | 78 | 73 | 70 |  Chhetri | 76 | 71 | 61 | | Kuss | 78 | 71 | 64 | Sortveit | 76 | 70 | 65 | | Duarte | 78 | 66 | 73 | Hasta | 76 | 70 | 69 | | Raileanu | 77 | 77 | 63 |  Brandt | 76 | 69 | 73 |
11 stages and 2 sprinter jerseys for the ToA legend Raul Granjel Cabrera. Though this was from 2015 - 2017. More recently it was Haller in 2018 with three stage wins or Itami with two in 2019.
Haller is also the top favourite for the sprints in 2020. His problem: Same team as Nerz/Kiserlovski. Good for Kraftwerk to have maybe a huge scoring opportunity, not ideal for the riders itself as their team is only half in support for them.
Doesn`t help that sprinter no.2 on the list is Ulanowski. A sprinter as less consistent as hardly another and also riding for a team of just 6 starters, of which 3 1/2 are clearly for the mountains. Both riders only having 1 real support rider, which is hard to form a strong train with.
Other sprinters to mention are Stepniak, Bennett, Ranneries, Vaquera, Young, Bogdanovics or Von Hoff.
With the top sprinter teams not fully going for their fast men though other teams might need to form the trains. Those might be BNZ for Von Hoff, Eddie Stobart for Bogdanovics and Fablok for Stepniak. Maybe Glanbia for Bennett at times or even Europcar for Ranneries.
| Fl | Sp | Acc | | Fl | Sp | Acc | | Haller | 72 | 80 | 79 | King | 75 | 78 | 73 | | Ulanowski | 73 | 80 | 77 | Cimolai | 74 | 77 | 77 | | Stepniak | 72 | 79 | 79 | Berger | 73 | 77 | 77 | | Bennett | 71 | 79 | 79 | Schorn | 76 | 77 | 77 | | Ranneries | 70 | 78 | 82 | Cohen | 73 | 77 | 76 | | Vaquera | 71 | 78 | 80 | Kelemen | 70 | 76 | 79 | | Martinelli | 71 | 78 | 78 | Kvist | 74 | 76 | 76 | | Young | 74 | 78 | 77 | Andersson | 71 | 76 | 76 | | Bogdanovics | 73 | 78 | 77 | Venturini | 75 | 75 | 77 | | Von Hoff | 70 | 78 | 75 | Park | 72 | 75 | 76 |
The list of puncheurs or time trialists isn`t that long, but some riders clearly are here for some stage luck.
Anuar Aziz and Costa are the best pure puncheurs. Their problem is the age. At 34 they have lost a lot of their former strength. Raileanu was already mentioned before, whereas Besada or Vink could surprise on a single stage.
Denz and Bol show the huge depth for Kraftwerk as both could take a stage and are surely of huge support. Mainly for Haller though.
For the TTs and Prologues Fraile is the man to beat. On day 1 Jiang might be a big rival, while on the longer TTs it`s home rider Cruz or veterans Ford and Koren.
| Hi | Fl | Mo | | Fl | TT | Prl | | Anuar Aziz | 78 | 69 | 65 | Fraile | 69 | 79 | 79 | | Costa | 77 | 67 | 68 | Cruz | 75 | 78 | 78 | | Raileanu | 77 | 66 | 77 | Ford | 60 | 78 | 78 | | Besada | 77 | 68 | 63 | Koren | 71 | 76 | 76 | | Denz | 76 | 71 | 74 | Abal | 66 | 75 | 75 | | Bol | 76 | 75 | 68 | Jiang | 72 | 65 | 79 | | Vink | 75 | 71 | 67 | Dulanjana | 67 | 74 | 75 | | Bostner | 75 | 66 | 74 | Frame | 67 | 68 | 75 | | Burke | 75 | 69 | 75 | Ulanowski | 73 | 60 | 75 | | Zielinski | 74 | 70 | 70 | Geniez | 67 | 74 | 74 |
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 29-05-2021 14:33
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 16429
Joined: 27-07-2011
PCM$: 10438.70
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I love this race. Warbasse does too after last year. Unfortunately, it just didn't fit in our very tight schedule for this season, though maybe we should have tried to make room. Hopefully we'll be back next year.
Small, weaker startlist as always, even with the HC points. At this point in the year I should be able to safely cheer for Garby, who should be a real contender this year. We'll see though.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 29-05-2021 14:57
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 3262
Joined: 02-11-2010
PCM$: 300.00
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Big race for McCormick, long term, a primary goal of our sponsors - expect to be going for the win in '23 or '24. Last year we didn't have a strong enough climber to pay proper respect to the race, so this is our debut.
Sent Kuss thinking of a shot at the KOM but given the weaker field and limited TT KM a solid GC position is probably realistic. His support squad are mostly still developing but expect McNulty and the others to learn from the experience in preparation for more serious challenges in the future. All US riders so they should be motivated to perform for the home crowds. Also good to see another one of our US core, Rhim, getting experience on loan at Desigual.
Probably should have sent Keough given the first two stages start in our home city and he would have been a favorite for the prologue but didn't pay close enough attention to the parcours.
Man Game: McCormick Pro Cycling |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 03:26
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 29-05-2021 15:28
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8057
Joined: 22-06-2009
PCM$: 650.00
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Been waiting for this race for a while. Will be interesting to see how PCM handles our two leaders, especially if Fraile shines on Stage 1 and grabs the leader's jersey. Looking at the startlist, a podium finish and three stage wins would be really nice.
Good luck everyone! 
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 29-05-2021 15:33
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World Champion
Posts: 12986
Joined: 20-05-2009
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Not many teams targeting this race again, kind of surprising to me, especially for PCT teams looking to promote. I guess its always a bit of a gamble, but looking forward to it either way, despite not being here this year.
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| MacC |
Posted on 29-05-2021 16:22
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Sprinter
Posts: 1594
Joined: 15-07-2008
PCM$: 700.00
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Last year Glanbia took the prologue, won a couple of stages and a top 20 with Brandt. Anything like that again would be totally acceptable
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 29-05-2021 16:53
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Team Leader
Posts: 6036
Joined: 20-07-2008
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Would have loved to bring a team here but unfortunately haven't got the riders. It seems an exceptional opportunity for a good number of teams. Good luck everyone!
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 29-05-2021 16:55
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 9099
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Surprisingly a very very weak startlist. A guy like Choi or similar Could've crushed this race. Could be a big race for some of the stronger teams here.
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 29-05-2021 17:19
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18187
Joined: 12-05-2012
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Would love to make a return to this race, it's so unique and cool! However as a non-GC team there is really no reason to spend that many race days chasing a few stage wins.
Still going to follow with interest on how the AI goes with probably the closest GT to a normal PCM style DB.
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| hillis91 |
Posted on 29-05-2021 22:03
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Team Leader
Posts: 5896
Joined: 30-11-2006
PCM$: 1500.00
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Hoping for some breakaways or something. Sending a young team just to learn.
Good luck everybody 
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 30-05-2021 12:57
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Team Leader
Posts: 7293
Joined: 11-04-2012
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Keen to see how Garby goes!! Going to be a good stage race!!
Good luck everyone!
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| tastasol |
Posted on 30-05-2021 13:09
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2889
Joined: 11-09-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Go Garby!!
Very small startlist. Could be a great race for some teams here.
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 30-05-2021 15:10
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3634
Joined: 03-07-2012
PCM$: 300.00
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I really wanted to bring a stronger climber here than Chhetri but I couldn't afford to spare the race days for either Frankiny or Ranaweera to have an attempt at the GC podium. Unfortunately I can see this race being the one that breaks our season and ruins the decent run we've been on recently.
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 30-05-2021 18:25
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2433
Joined: 07-07-2013
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Surprised by the weak startlist, Kraftwerk have targeted this race and it could turn out to be a good decision.
Great to be able to send Kiserlovski to the scene of his former glory.
Some very evenly matched riders for the GC, should result in some exciting racing.
Nerz needs to put some time into Abal and Fraile due to their better TT.
Sent Park to support Haller in the sprints, the same combination from his great 2018 outing. Issue here will be having the strength to chase the break. Could be a good year for breakaway wins!
Thanks for the preview roturn, looking forward to this race
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| Bjartne |
Posted on 30-05-2021 21:47
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2907
Joined: 15-07-2007
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Highlight of the season!
Really looking forward to it and excited to see what Atapuma could do
Maybe Ranneries can do something on the flat stages. Very happy to see the relatively weak start list
Wonderful preview Roturn, thank you! |
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 31-05-2021 21:30
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8057
Joined: 22-06-2009
PCM$: 650.00
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A perfect start! Exactly why we brought the Fraile/Abal tag team. Will be really interesting how long Fraile can keep the leader's jersey and how the PCM AI will handle Abal. Should be fun!
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| MacC |
Posted on 31-05-2021 22:00
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Sprinter
Posts: 1594
Joined: 15-07-2008
PCM$: 700.00
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2 in the top 3 and 3 in the top 10, can't complain!
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| sgdanny |
Posted on 31-05-2021 22:32
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3591
Joined: 18-03-2014
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Didnt go into this race with Raileanu for the GC, but with this low of amount of teams, he might have to. All in all, just here to get some stage wins and happy that Stepniak is in a good position, cause his season has been dreadful, but against this opposition he at least has a chance. Not expecting much, only really signed up for this race, as I didnt have any promotion plans, I hadnt participated in this before and because I had a gap that this race could fill. Hope the gamble pays off
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 31-05-2021 23:42
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2433
Joined: 07-07-2013
PCM$: 200.00
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Decent start for Nerz. Surprisingly good for Haller, with 3 sprint stages coming up he might go into yellow with time bonuses. Not sure if that would be a good idea as we need to support Nerz in the hills not Haller.
Congrats Mre, looking forward to a good tight race.
Thanks for the report roturn.
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 01-06-2021 15:19
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8057
Joined: 22-06-2009
PCM$: 650.00
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Wow, seven Desigual riders inside the Top 31. Looked like Young had the speed/timing but ran out of road in the sprint. 
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![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
