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Giro d'Italia Discussion
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| redordead |
Posted on 03-01-2022 07:14
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4881
Joined: 18-10-2017
PCM$: 200.00
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 Giro d'Italia
Spoiler
Note: There will be a profile picture with KOMs for each stage report
The first Grand Tour of the season is the Giro d'Italia. 21 stages in 3 weeks across all different parts of Italy. The Giro is often known as a Grand Tour suited to the climbers and this addition doesn't change that. There are 6 mountain classed stages plus a mountain time-trial, so it's quite likely that skill will prove by far the most decisive. Of course the race also offers chances for other riders. You can read more about the entire course in Ulrich's fantastic description from when the route was revealed.
Here we will mostly concentrate on the teams and riders we think will animate this race on different stages. With that said let's look at some of the favourites:
| MO | HI | TT | RS | RC | AC |  Herklotz | 84 | 81 | 74 | 80 | 78 | 76 |
Silvio Herklotz came pretty close to winning this race back in 2019. He returns as a much, much better rider now in 2021. So much that anything else than him winning would be an upset. Arguably the best climber in the world, he can also dominate the shorter hills, has great punch, can time-trial and can handle a 3 week race.
| MO | HI | TT | RS | RC | AC |  Dombrowski | 84 | 75 | 71 | 78 | 78 | 75 |  Kudus | 84 | 77 | 72 | 77 | 79 | 70 |  Morton | 84 | 76 | 73 | 78 | 78 | 67 |
There are three big rivals that will try to challenge the German or at least finish on the podium. Dombrowski already has a Giro podium on his palmares and is a prototypical "mountain goat", perfectly suited to this year's Giro route. Meanwhile Kudus has greatly improved during the off season when he moved to Moser - Sygic. His ability on the shorter climbs might be more of a challenge for Herklotz than the other two. Finally Morton has become a regular fixture when discussing riders that can finish on the podium of a Grand Tour. He is well rounded, but is the least explosive which is why he gets the 3rd spot in this tier.
| MO | HI | TT | RS | RC | AC |  Sicard | 81 | 77 | 75 | 78 | 81 | 69 |  Barguil | 81 | 75 | 70 | 77 | 82 | 75 |  Guldhammer | 81 | 77 | 71 | 75 | 74 | 76 |  Areruya | 79 | 79 | 65 | 78 | 79 | 76 |
Sicard leads the next tier of riders who will hope to mix it up for a podium spot. The Frenchman has been known to perform great with his MO-HI stats, but has felt aging for the first time, how much will that affect him? Barguil is another very talented rider who looks well suited to this Giro. Watch out for him in the final week as his recovery is excellent. Guldhammer comes here with zero pressure on a wildcard. His energy stats aren't quite as good as some others, but combine his climbing and punchiness and you get a rider capable of causing an upset. Speaking of zero, that's not what Areruya is. The Xero rider has that rare MO-HI hybrid ability and when combined with great resistance and explosiveness, well it's nothing to sniff at. And he's already shown what he can do against PT competition this season.
| MO | HI | TT | RS | RC | AC |  Formolo | 79 | 80 | 69 | 76 | 74 | 71 |  Meintjes | 80 | 78 | 71 | 76 | 78 | 69 |  Eastman | 82 | 71 | 77 | 75 | 76 | 69 |  Preidler | 80 | 78 | 58 | 77 | 76 | 69 |  Reis | 81 | 73 | 76 | 76 | 78 | 64 |  Berhane | 81 | 75 | 66 | 74 | 73 | 68 |
Tier IV is definitely more of a wildcard list, but there is still tons of quality here. Formolo's ability on the hills outstrips most, you better drop him before the finish or else! Meintjes is another that combines the MO and HI stats very well and could be a real dark horse. Eastman's 2nd best skill is time-trialing, but this Giro isn't about that. Still, he is a very good climber. Preidler is a perplexing rider at times and conversely doesn't have to worry about his time-trialing ability here. Could be a dangerous rider on many stages if he is on a good day. Reis is very much a diesel type climber and that could come back to bite him at some point. Berhane is another talented climber that loves long climbs above all else.
| FL | MO | RS | RC | SP | AC |  Eislers | 79 | 68 | 78 | 75 | 82 | 78 | | Kemboi | 78 | 61 | 77 | 81 | 80 | 80 | | Kragh Andersen | 77 | 53 | 74 | 78 | 81 | 77 | | Enger | 73 | 63 | 73 | 77 | 81 | 78 | | Contreras | 72 | 64 | 75 | 77 | 78 | 80 | | Van Poppel | 72 | 60 | 71 | 78 | 81 | 78 | | Hsu | 75 | 65 | 70 | 73 | 80 | 79 | | Petit | 76 | 52 | 72 | 78 | 80 | 78 |  Scully | 74 | 52 | 70 | 78 | 79 | 80 |  Moser | 72 | 53 | 69 | 76 | 80 | 79 | | Yates | 74 | 70 | 70 | 73 | 77 | 80 |  Guerao | 73 | 56 | 63 | 80 | 82 | 75 |  Minali | 71 | 52 | 73 | 78 | 77 | 77 |
The fight for the Maglia Ciclamino! Or so these riders hope so. A solid field of sprinters have made the trip to Italy in search of stage wins and to perhaps wear the famous jersey at the end of the race. To make it to the final stage in Milano they'll have to be able to climb over the mountains as well as sprint, so let's see who's here.
The top sprinter has to be Eislers. He possesses the best top speed and is the most durable of the sprinters. He'll face stiff competition from someone like Kemboi who's shown he can beat anyone in a sprint. Wildcard Kragh Andersen is also getting back to his best and has zero pressure on him. Enger is another sprinter with great speed, same as Van Poppel. Contreras on the other hand relies more on quick acceleration. Yates is another rider worth a mention. Not a typical sprinter, but he's been working on that skill for a while now and has the ability to win bunch sprints.
Stage Hunters - Climbers/Puncheurs
| FL | MO | HI | ST | RS | AC | | Buchmann | 71 | 76 | 81 | 73 | 74 | 73 | | Chiarello | 71 | 79 | 75 | 73 | 74 | 72 | | Yates | 74 | 70 | 81 | 77 | 70 | 80 |  Goos | 71 | 77 | 74 | 78 | 75 | 73 | | Roman | 67 | 77 | 75 | 71 | 73 | 76 |  Sosa | 66 | 76 | 76 | 74 | 78 | 72 | | Bettiol | 72 | 71 | 77 | 78 | 75 | 77 |  Van Niekerk | 69 | 74 | 78 | 72 | 75 | 74 | | Burke | 69 | 77 | 76 | 75 | 74 | 71 | | Bernal | 70 | 79 | 72 | 78 | 78 | 68 | | Serrano | 69 | 72 | 77 | 73 | 75 | 77 | | Karnulin | 69 | 78 | 74 | 76 | 75 | 70 | | Carboni | 70 | 78 | 76 | 73 | 73 | 69 | | Nesset | 69 | 78 | 73 | 77 | 76 | 69 | | Geoghegan Hart | 70 | 78 | 74 | 76 | 74 | 69 | | Jang | 67 | 76 | 76 | 72 | 70 | 74 | | Parra Bustamente | 69 | 77 | 74 | 73 | 74 | 71 | | Vervaeke | 73 | 76 | 73 | 76 | 77 | 69 | | Inkelaar | 64 | 78 | 69 | 74 | 75 | 74 | | Kirsch | 70 | 79 | 74 | 75 | 73 | 67 | | Destribois | 69 | 76 | 75 | 68 | 69 | 75 | | Sivakov | 68 | 78 | 71 | 77 | 76 | 69 |
Many of the GC riders will of course also be contenders for winning stages, but here we will list some riders that will try to win stages from the early break as well as collect points for the King of the Mountains, Maglia Azzurra.
| FL | HI | ST | RS | RC | SP | AC | | Trondsen | 75 | 72 | 72 | 73 | 83 | 76 | 76 | | Brockhoff | 79 | 70 | 74 | 76 | 71 | 62 | 73 | | Nych | 78 | 67 | 75 | 72 | 72 | 65 | 76 | | Larsen | 75 | 68 | 73 | 71 | 76 | 76 | 75 | | Kruijswijk | 76 | 70 | 73 | 70 | 68 | 63 | 72 | | Palyi | 73 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 69 | 72 | 74 | | Mullen | 75 | 70 | 75 | 74 | 72 | 60 | 70 | | Eaton | 75 | 69 | 74 | 76 | 74 | 62 | 68 | | Kastrantas | 73 | 75 | 70 | 71 | 65 | 62 | 73 | | Van Niekerk | 76 | 67 | 73 | 75 | 72 | 61 | 67 |
Some of the rouleurs will try to spoil the day for the sprinters on occasion. Picked mostly from riders that don't have the biggest name GC leader or the biggest name sprinter. Grieg have a few options here with Trondsen and Larsen. As do Polar with arguably the strongest flat rider here in Brockhoff as well as a few others. Kruijswijk is also an interesting rider with his all round ability.
Stage 5 - Team Time Trial
| Avg. MO | Avg. TT | Avg. PR | TTT Score | | Generali | 76.13 | 75.25 | 75.50 | 75.63 | | Team Puma - SAP | 71.75 | 75.75 | 75.25 | 74.25 | | Gazelle | 75.88 | 71.25 | 71.25 | 72.79 | | Carlsberg - Danske Bank | 72.25 | 71.25 | 72.25 | 71.92 | | Moser - Sygic | 69.38 | 72.75 | 73.25 | 71.79 | | Zwift Pro Cycling | 70.00 | 72.25 | 72.12 | 71.46 | | Amaysim Cervélo | 71.13 | 71.25 | 71.63 | 71.33 | | Aegon - Peroni | 68.25 | 71.25 | 74.38 | 71.30 | | Huski Chocolate | 73.50 | 69.75 | 70.63 | 71.29 | | Team Tinkoff - La Datcha | 72.63 | 70.63 | 70.63 | 71.29 | | ISA - Hexacta | 71.50 | 70.25 | 71.83 | 71.04 | | King Power | 68.13 | 72.38 | 72.63 | 71.04 | | EA Vesuvio | 71.00 | 70.50 | 70.63 | 70.71 | | Xero Racing | 70.00 | 69.88 | 71.63 | 70.50 | | Festina - OAKA | 74.75 | 67.50 | 68.38 | 70.21 | | Polar | 66.50 | 71.63 | 72.13 | 70.08 | | Mapei | 72.50 | 67.88 | 68.63 | 69.67 | | MOL | 71.25 | 68.50 | 68.75 | 69.50 | | Grieg - Maersk | 69.63 | 68.63 | 68.75 | 69.00 | | Evonik - ELKO | 68.88 | 65.88 | 70.50 | 68.43 | | Isostar - Specialized | 71.63 | 64.88 | 66.00 | 67.50 | | Farfetch Pro Cycling | 70.00 | 68.71 | 70.67 | 60.92* |
* Farfetch's TTT Score is adjusted for having only 6 riders
Generali are the clear favourites for this team time-trial. There is no weak link in their unit. Puma have the capacity to challenge them in pure time-trialing ability, but they aren't as good climbers on this deceptively rolling course. Those two teams should both profit from this stage in terms of their GC ambitions. Gazelle is a notch below, but a bit better than the rest, that are all of very similar quality. Isostar and especially Farfetch stand out as the teams not bothered by this stage.
Stage 18 - Mountain Time Trial
| MO | TT | RS | RC | PR | | Herklotz | 84 | 74 | 80 | 78 | 78 | | Morton | 84 | 73 | 78 | 78 | 73 | | Kudus | 84 | 72 | 77 | 79 | 72 | | Dombrowski | 84 | 71 | 78 | 78 | 71 | | Eastman | 82 | 77 | 75 | 76 | 73 | | Reis | 81 | 76 | 76 | 78 | 76 | | Sicard | 81 | 75 | 78 | 81 | 75 | | Guldhammer | 81 | 71 | 75 | 74 | 71 | | Barguil | 81 | 70 | 77 | 82 | 70 | | Bernal | 79 | 76 | 78 | 80 | 74 |
This time trial is mostly about climbing, some TT prowess and perhaps the ability to recover as it comes after 3 mountain stages in a row. Herklotz is the TTer amongst the best climbers. Morton, Kudus and Dombrowski are all capable of competing with him in a pure climbing challenge. Eastman, Reis and Sicard will need to make use of every meter of flatter road. The others have to be considered nothing more than outsiders at this point.
Full startlist:
Spoiler | Carboni | Giovanni | Aegon - Peroni | | Sergent | Jesse | Aegon - Peroni | | Hepburn | Michael | Aegon - Peroni | | Ciccone | Giulio | Aegon - Peroni | | Zardini | Edoardo | Aegon - Peroni | | Koep | Thomas | Aegon - Peroni | | Minali | Riccardo | Aegon - Peroni | | Erdenebat | Bilguunjargal | Aegon - Peroni | | Morton | Lachlan | Amaysim Cervélo | | Enger | Sondre Holst | Amaysim Cervélo | | Power | Robert | Amaysim Cervélo | | O'Connor | Ben | Amaysim Cervélo | | Canty | Brendan | Amaysim Cervélo | | Harper | Chris | Amaysim Cervélo | | Ghyselinck | Jan | Amaysim Cervélo | | Wohler | Alex | Amaysim Cervélo | | Guldhammer | Rasmus | Carlsberg - Danske Bank | | Kragh Andersen | Asbjorn | Carlsberg - Danske Bank | | Warbasse | Lawrence | Carlsberg - Danske bank | | Eg | Niklas | Carlsberg - Danske Bank | | Sterobo | Rasmus | Carlsberg - Danske Bank | | Olesen | Patrick | Carlsberg - Danske Bank | | Roe | Timothy | Carlsberg - Danske Bank | | Sulvaran | Gyasi | Carlsberg - Danske Bank | | Kirsch | Alex | EA Vesuvio | | Ulissi | Diego | EA Vesuvio | | Goos | Marc | EA Vesuvio | | Smit | Willie | EA Vesuvio | | Pelikan | Janos | EA Vesuvio | | Rucigaj | Ziga | EA Vesuvio | | Bax | Sjoerd | EA Vesuvio | | Cabrera | Nicolas Alejandro | EA Vesuvio | | Eislers | Ingus | Evonik - ELKO | | Chiarello | William | Evonik - ELKO | | Dzamastagic | Mark | Evonik - ELKO | | Becis | Armands | Evonik - ELKO | | Sergis | Kaspars | Evonik - ELKO | | Tvetcov | Serghei | Evonik - ELKO | | Chavanne | Gabriel | Evonik - ELKO | | Stoltz | Yannick | Evonik - ELKO | | Meintjes | Louis | Farfetch Pro Cycling | | Kemboi | Salem | Farfetch Pro Cycling | | Bettiol | Alberto | Farfetch Pro Cycling | | Soulious | Zisis | Farfetch Pro Cycling | | Cras | Steff | Farfetch Pro Cycling | | Affini | Edoardo | Farfetch Pro Cycling | | Van Niekerk | Aidan | Festina - OAKA | | Jang | Gyung Gu | Festina - OAKA | | Ioannidis | Nikolaos | Festina - OAKA | | Mavrikakis | Michail | Festina - OAKA | | Giannoutsos | Miltiadis | Festina - OAKA | | Kastrantas | Charalampas | Festina - OAKA | | Rochas | Remy | Festina - OAKA | | Kiriakidis | Ioannidis | Festina - OAKA | | Formolo | Davide | Gazelle | | Geoghegan Hart | Tao | Gazelle | | Karnulin | Denys | Gazelle | | Vervaeke | Louis | Gazelle | | Peters | Nans | Gazelle | | Konrad | Patrick | Gazelle | | Kruijswijk | Steven | Gazelle | | Kangert | Tanel | Gazelle | | Sicard | Romain | Generali | | Dennis | Rohan | Generali | | Oliveira | Nelson | Generali | | Brown | Nathan | Generali | | Iturria | Mikel | Generali | | Figueiredo | Frederico | Generali | | Ludvigsson | Tobias | Generali | | Dyball | Benjamin | Generali | | Sosa | Ivan | Grieg-Maersk | | Serrano | Gonzalo | Grieg-Maersk | | Nesset | Sigurd | Grieg-Maersk | | Trondsen | Trond Hakon | Grieg-Maersk | | Lastra | Jonathan | Grieg-Maersk | | Larsen | Niklas | Grieg-Maersk | | Brkic | Benjamin | Grieg-Maersk | | Belevics | Arturs | Grieg-Maersk | | Dombrowski | Joseph | Huski Chocolate | | Van Poppel | Danny | Huski Chocolate | | Rodriguez | Oscar | Huski Chocolate | | Brambilla | Gianluca | Huski Chocolate | | Conti | Valerio | Huski Chocolate | | Majka | Rafel | Huski Chocolate | | Goldstein | Omer | Huski Chocolate | | Hoehn | Alex | Huski Chocolate | | Berhane | Natnael | ISA - Hexacta | | Parra Bustamente | Heiner Rodrigo | ISA - Hexacta | | Contreras | Emiliano | ISA - Hexacta | | Sendeku | Getachew | ISA - Hexacta | | Martinez | Daniel Felipe | ISA - Hexacta | | Dlamini | Nicholas | ISA - Hexacta | | Mraouni | Salah Eddine | ISA - Hexacta | | Chokri | El Mehdi | ISA - Hexacta | | Scully | Tom | Isostar - Specialized | | Roman | Aleksandar | Isostar - Specialized | | Villella | Davide | Isostar - Specialized | | Inkelaar | Kevin | Isostar - Specialized | | Hagen | Carl Fredrik | Isostar - Specialized | | Gregaard | Jonas | Isostar - Specialized | | Rikunov | Petr | Isostar - Specialized | | Pedrero | Antonio | Isostar - Specialized | | Reis | Rafael | King Power | | Hsu | Hsuan Ping | King Power | | Quita | Ronnilan | King Power | | Mano | Yuttana | King Power | | Darbinyan | Varsham | King Power | | Leung | Chun Wing | King Power | | Fung | Ka Hoo | King Power | | Beniusis | Justas | King Power | | Barguil | Warren | Mapei | | Buchmann | Emanuel | Mapei | | Destribois | Alex Ariya | Mapei | | Lemus Davila | Luis Enrique | Mapei | | Goncalves | Gaspar | Mapei | | Neuman | Dominik | Mapei | | Groselj | Ziga | Mapei | | Palyi | Csaba | Mapei | | Preidler | Georg | MOL | | Petit | Adrien | MOL | | Brozyna | Piotr | MOL | | Domagalski | Karol Andrzej | MOL | | Dina | Marton | MOL | | Matte | Charles | MOL | | Hussein | Mujtaba | MOL | | Filutas | Viktor | MOL | | Kudus | Merhawi | Moser - Sygic | | Kukrle | Michal | Moser - Sygic | | Toupalik | Adam | Moser - Sygic | | Cink | Ondrej | Moser - Sygic | | Turek | Daniel | Moser - Sygic | | Atkins | Josh | Moser - Sygic | | Osorio | Juan | Moser - Sygic | | Danacik | Jakub | Moser - Sygic | | Izagirre | Ion | Polar | | Bernal | Egan | Polar | | Mullen | Ryan | Polar | | Guerao | Oscar | Polar | | Viennet | Emilien | Polar | | Soler | Marc | Polar | | Nych | Artem | Polar | | Brockhoff | Jan | Polar | | Herklotz | Silvio | Team Puma - SAP | | Stüssi | Colin | Team Puma - SAP | | Vasyliv | Yuriy | Team Puma - SAP | | Sütterlin | Jasha | Team Puma - SAP | | Kämna | Lennard | Team Puma - SAP | | Conci | Nicola | Team Puma - SAP | | Cavagna | Remi | Team Puma - SAP | | Politt | Nils | Team Puma - SAP | | Moser | Moreno | Team Tinkoff - La Datcha | | Sivakov | Pavel | Team Tinkoff - La Datcha | | Vlasov | Alexander | Team Tinkoff - La Datcha | | Mamykin | Matvey | Team Tinkoff - La Datcha | | Rybalkin | Aleksey | Team Tinkoff - La Datcha | | Chernetskiy | Sergey | Team Tinkoff - La Datcha | | Novikov | Nikita | Team Tinkoff - La Datcha | | Foliforov | Alexander | Team Tinkoff - La Datcha | | Areruya | Joseph | Xero Racing | | Bazhkou | Stanislau | Xero Racing | | Schleck | Jordan | Xero Racing | | Habtemichael | Daniel | Xero Racing | | Van Niekerk | Morne | Xero Racing | | van Zyl | Johann | Xero Racing | | Fouche | James | Xero Racing | | Schomber | Nils | Xero Racing | | Yates | Simon | Zwift Pro Cycling | | Eastman | Ryan | Zwift Pro Cycling | | Burke | Jack | Zwift Pro Cycling | | Russo | Clement | Zwift Pro Cycling | | Intxausti | Benat | Zwift Pro Cycling | | Eaton | Daniel | Zwift Pro Cycling | | Verona | Carlos | Zwift Pro Cycling | | Stroll | Lewis | Zwift Pro Cycling |
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| SotD |
Posted on 03-01-2022 07:35
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World Champion
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Great preview.
Interesting to see 4 84MO riders here. I guess they are now out of TdF contention, which leaves us with the possibility of having to face Phinney, Madrazo and Tenorio at worst, which isn't all too shabby. I feel pretty certain that Madrazo will be at the TdF atleast, but I could think maybe Tenorio would be at the Vuelta, and maybe Phinney isn't going for any GT's at all. Who knows.
It will be interesting to see if Kudus can threaten Herklotz like he did with Lecuisinier, or if it was just the latter performing below expectations.
We come here with absolutely nothing, except for some hopes of being visible in the breakaways. Our best climber here is Mavrikakis with 77MO, and the worst is Kiriakidis with 72, so we should be able to do well in the early KOM battle, regardless of who we send.
Our GC leader (if such would exist) probably lies between Jang (76MO 76HI) or van Niekerk (74MO 78HI). I hope in particular that the latter will be able to pose a threat on several occasions, as some of the better puncheurs might be reluctant to play out early as they are either GC riders or better sprinters.
No matter what we can't expect anything from this race, so we'll sit back for once and "enjoy" the AI. Maybe not having anything in the game makes us spot some interesting patterns that we haven't seen before.
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Posted on 22-11-2024 02:19
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| tastasol |
Posted on 03-01-2022 09:00
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Classics Specialist
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Should be a great GC fight!
Sent most of my climbers here, only Vingegaard really left waiting for the other two GTs. I don't expect huge things, but Nesset has previously shown that he can do a good GC. Serrano and Lastra have been somewhat quiet this year, but I hope we can see them in some breaks. And then I'm very intrigued to see what Sosa can do in the first of three GTs this year.
Sending only six riders to a GT isn't something I can remember seeing before 
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 03-01-2022 10:40
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Directeur Sportif
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Lovely Preview! We will loose tons of points here, only going for breakaways and Scully. The GC startlist seems very strong, both Vuelta and Tour will love this line-up. I fear that well loose major ground in the title race atm.
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| hillis91 |
Posted on 03-01-2022 10:52
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Team Leader
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Nice Preview, will be nice to watch from the sidelines 
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| SotD |
Posted on 03-01-2022 11:31
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Croatia14 wrote:
Lovely Preview! We will loose tons of points here, only going for breakaways and Scully. The GC startlist seems very strong, both Vuelta and Tour will love this line-up. I fear that well loose major ground in the title race atm.
Don't you already have a gap of like 1.000 points to the next?
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 03-01-2022 12:57
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World Champion
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Didn't catch any lucky breaks with Dombrowski's planning this year. I thought with a bit of luck we could even be looking at the top spot here, but now I'll be more than happy with a podium.
The sprinter list doesn't have any big names on it though so maybe Van Poppel can pull off a stage win.
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 03-01-2022 13:46
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World Champion
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Very very excited to see Areruya make his GT leading debut for us as well as our first ever Grand Tour - this crept up on me a bit but this is one of the most special MG moments for me really. Seeing a home grown talent from a focus region leading the team into our GT debut is something I would have dreamed about for the last six years since we joined and it's so cool to see it happen. Hopefully he can bring home a white jersey to remember it by.
Scary startlist, but when my leader is 79MO and this is the PT I think I'd probably have said that anyway. Our Top 10 goal is no guarantee but hopefully can be done. Tirreno gives us a dream standard to hold up obviously but not expecting anything on that level. If he's really in that tier of favourites where you put him this will be a very fun race - though I'm sure it will anyway! Great preview red, really really looking forward to this race both from our perspective and as a fan
Spoiler A big race here is basically necessary for our outside hopes of survival, but I'm not going to be thinking about that at all really since I'm not getting my hopes up and just enjoying the ride - which I really have been so far 
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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| cunego59 |
Posted on 03-01-2022 13:56
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Great preview! I'll follow closey, mostly crossing my fingers as hard as I can for Areruya, of couse  Really hope he can at least get that Top 10 you're hoping for, but those Tier 3 and 4 guys are really close together. Could go a number of ways. Really exciting to see multiple African riders competing at the top with Kudus, Meintjes and Berhane in the mix as well, and Aidan of course possibly for stage wins.
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 03-01-2022 14:28
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Tour de France Champion
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My (non-TOA) GT debut. 
It all fell into place for us to be here. Promoting again, getting Guldhammer, the route fitting his talents, and then having pretty favorable clashes which allowed us to go hard here thanks to the lack of race day allocation. We've basically sent the best 8 stage race riders on our team here, minus Aranburu, who would do well in this route but had other responsibilities unfortunately.
Guldhammer made the third tier of favorites, which is awesome. A top 5 seems possible but very unlikely, however, a top 10 seems within reach. The varied climbing and lack of ITT km's mean it's open for the taking. Warbasse will be the top lieutenant, but he's also got Eg, Olesen, and Roe for the mountains, which about as good as we get without Alex. Then Sterobo for the TTT, and Sulvaran, who should now be able to max in PCT quite easily next year.
And then there's AKA. As a PT team I would probably never send such a fragile sprinter here, as the difficulty of the route is just begging him to miss the time cut at some point. But thanks to this being a wildcard, I don't have to worry about him wasting a ton of race days. If he abandons, he abandons. So might as well throw him in the fire and see if we can't luck into a crazy result. At the very least he should be in the mix, as there are only a few sprinters who are definitively better, and we all know how the lottery goes.
My prediction for the race overall is that Herklotz will win, which isn't controversial. Really, there's quite a stark difference between the top 4 and the rest, so I would hope and expect them to finish as the top 4 when there's no crashes, though luck will always hurt someone. I just hope in any case that we don't have another Malecki situation, or at least not for more than a few days.
Thanks for the preview redordead! Very excited for this one.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| SotD |
Posted on 03-01-2022 15:15
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jandal7 wrote:
Very very excited to see Areruya make his GT leading debut for us as well as our first ever Grand Tour - this crept up on me a bit but this is one of the most special MG moments for me really. Seeing a home grown talent from a focus region leading the team into our GT debut is something I would have dreamed about for the last six years since we joined and it's so cool to see it happen. Hopefully he can bring home a white jersey to remember it by.
I remember this all to well, when Lecuisinier "grew up" on the team and started to crawl up and fight for U25 jerseys. Despite not winning the races nor getting podiums it was a great feeling to see him fight with Morton etc. for the crown.
It started in 2015 where he as a very young rider took 2nd place in U25 at both Tour de France and Vuelta a España (and the l'Avenir btw) without quite cracking the top 10 GC. The following year he again got 2nd in the U25 at the Tour de France while finishing the race in 7th as helper for Spilak who himself got 3rd. And then finally at the Vuelta a España he finished 4th in the GC and could claim the U25 jersey. This was his first season as a maxed rider. The next season he went on to win the U25 jersey in the Vuelta a España once more and then in his last eligeble year as a U25 rider he completed the hattrick by taking both Giro d'Italia and Tour de France - still without a GT podium (4th Giro and 5th Tour de France).
This rise have been incredibly fun to take part of and regardless of how fantastic Herklotz have been I wouldn't have traded. The slow and steady rise which culminated last season when Lecuisinier finally won his first ever Grand Tour (Vuelta a España) was absolutely phenomenal! It costed a whole lot of effort and training money on the expenditure of other riders, but it has been worth it.
I hope you'll get to experience the same one day - in whatever direction you decide to bring Areruya
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| knockout |
Posted on 03-01-2022 18:47
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
PCM$: 400.00
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Good startlist for Evonik.
First of all, four 84Mo riders here which means that Taaramae might have a slightly lesser competition elsewhere as i've hoped. Herklotz the obvious favourite but i hope we get an exciting fight at least.
Chiarello not listed in the top four tiers is interesting but i still think he has a decent shot at a top 10-15. But going for Maglia Azzura doesnt sound too bad either.
But much more important is Eislers here. The sprinter startlist looks beatable with Eislers surely as the strongest one in the startlist which could be a blessing or a curse. Of course Dzamastagic is here with him as his main leadout man which worked excellent in the triple header. Third man in the train should be either Chavanne, Becis or maybe even Tvetcov depending on the terrain. Hopefully pcm is smart enough to handle the choice somewhat nicely. Of course Stoltz is here too in order to pull some big pulls towards the final to swallow remaining breakaway riders and/or help that our train doesnt suffer the fate of so many other leadout trains over the last 2.5 years.
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 03-01-2022 21:47
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 3260
Joined: 02-11-2010
PCM$: 300.00
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jandal7 wrote:
Scary startlist, but when my leader is 79MO and this is the PT I think I'd probably have said that anyway. Our Top 10 goal is no guarantee but hopefully can be done. Tirreno gives us a dream standard to hold up obviously but not expecting anything on that level. If he's really in that tier of favourites where you put him this will be a very fun race - though I'm sure it will anyway! Great preview red, really really looking forward to this race both from our perspective and as a fan
I am another big Areruya fan, If I had to bet I would put him in the top 10. First, there are a couple of pretty nasty hilly stages (8 and 14 come to mind), if he can take advantage of those like he did at Tirreno there is time to be gained. Second, I think on mountain stages with limited total climbing (7 and12) the hill stat helps as a lot of climbing is done at high tempo. Combine that with his secondary stats and he has a good shot. The MTT is a worry for him, a lot of time could be lost there.
Great preview Red, looking forward to the race even though Roturn (rightly) made me make the Zoncalon a 2 lane road which offended the purist in me .
Man Game: McCormick Pro Cycling |
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| cio93 |
Posted on 04-01-2022 04:15
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World Champion
Posts: 10845
Joined: 29-10-2007
PCM$: 500.00
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Unsurprisingly, our most important race of the season awaits us!
Silvio comes here with the memories of his battle against Spilak still very fresh in our minds, but indeed much stronger, which is to an extent due to exactly that 2019 edition.
More recently of course, he brings the strongest possible form to the start line in Lecce, with wins in both Tirreno and Hallstatt over similar opposition.
Speaking of opposition:
I'm very happy to have avoided Phinney, Lecuisinier and Madrazo yet again, and thus gladly accept the three climbers next in line showing up in their stead.
While we've been able to keep Dombrowski and Morton well in check over the course of the past seasons, the first fight between Herklotz and the new Kudus is quite anxiety-inducing as the Eritrean has shown impressive skill against Lecuisinier in Colombia. We need to exploit his weaknesses wherever possible.
With this route being the least TT-heavy of the season, all of this was to be expected and factored into our season planning.
The presence of a short, but meaningful TTT immediately catapulted the Giro to the top priority among the GTs, although it's indeed quite rolling and thus maybe not as perfectly suited to our lineup as the TdF or Copenhagen ones. Still, it's much preferable to ITTs.
Its strategical placement after a couple of unpredictable hilly stages, but well before any serious climbing hopefully allows us to use it to not just put time into our biggest rivals, but potentially more importantly to aim for the maglia rosa either going into the Terminillo stage or leaving that climb at the latest.
Ideally, small gaps and/or bonus seconds on stages 3 and 4 and a TTT performance close to Generali sees Sicard and Herklotz fight for the lead going into said stage 7 and Silvio emerging victorious on that day.
Being in the leader's jersey on the tough Montefortino stage the day after would push the morale and allow us to aggressively attempt to increase the gap there with a cushion to fall back onto, and later in week 2, it's absolutely crucial to be in pink on the vital Zoncolan stage as minutes can be gained and lost there alone with bad positioning or race day form.
From then on, attentive riding in week 3 to preserve the lead and a good day in the MTT could seal the deal.
The departure of Nikias Arndt as our second strongest climber doesn't affect this lineup as the presence of a TTT has always prevented him from participating.
Instead, we again rely on the experienced Stüssi/Vasyliv duo as the main domestiques, and the TTT core of Sütterlin/Politt/Cavagna returns as well.
The difference to our '21 TdF and all other GT lineups so far lies in the final two riders to make the trip to Italy, as we proudly present our two loanees Lennard Kämna and Nicola Conci of Carlsberg and Aramco respectively!
Besides being personal favorites of mine, they're extremely well-suited to the parcours, with important roles in both the rolling TTT and the mountain support where they have to bridge the rather big gap between the 77's Stüssi/Vasyliv and the three <70's time trialists.
This also means we field 5 Germans in THE race of the 2021 season without having to make any compromises!
That rough preview should do it for now, as always I'll get into more detail during the race in stage recaps and previews.
Thank you redordead for the great preview and good luck to all managers taking part in this Giro!
May all of you enjoy the racing and all but a particular select few leave Italy very satisfied and with their personal goals fulfilled.
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| OlegTinkov |
Posted on 04-01-2022 07:14
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2666
Joined: 31-12-2007
PCM$: 450.00
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Finally back online after almost two months afk! So I've a lot of catching up to do, but for now I just wish everybody an exciting Giro!
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| Heine |
Posted on 04-01-2022 07:35
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4116
Joined: 08-04-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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Good start for the small Farfetch'd team. Congrats!
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| SotD |
Posted on 04-01-2022 08:23
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World Champion
Posts: 12187
Joined: 29-11-2006
PCM$: 2980.00
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With no KOM points on offer it's fine that Kastrantas didn't make the group.
It's really difficult to see beforehand which stages are suited for KOM hunting btw - Not only for this race but in general.
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| roturn |
Posted on 04-01-2022 08:43
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Team Manager
Posts: 22246
Joined: 24-11-2007
PCM$: 3900.00
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Seeing the startlist Olivier might have been able to top5-7 here, though the profile wasn`t that ideal for him.
Instead the trio of Carboni, Ciccone, Zardini are here for basically stage hunting, KoM and breaks in general. Maybe first can get a top25 or so in his first race since being fully developed.
Other than that the TTT could work well on a good day for some points as neither Minali nor the TT riders will score a lot other than that.
Herklotz will win with ease anyway. Finding the GT without Lecusinier, (Madrazo) and neither Phinney won`t give him proper competition. Kudus as only very interesting rider to challenge him a bit I guess as Dombrowski always was a level below the very best.
First stage already in. Minali might sprint on a good day but I doubt to see him going for it regularly, which is totally fine with his stats.
Erdenebat trying to go into the break is good.
Thanks for taking the Giro and looking forward for future reports. |
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| knockout |
Posted on 04-01-2022 09:25
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
PCM$: 400.00
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Extremely messy sprint. 3rd by Dzamastagic and 7th by Eislers sounds solid but im very disappointed in how disorganized my team was for no reason and i would have prefered by far if the result would have been swapped. For the chance of leading either gc or points at some point which gets more unlikely now.
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| tastasol |
Posted on 04-01-2022 09:30
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2889
Joined: 11-09-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Decent start, with Trondsen sprinting and getting just outside the top 10. He should be able to grow stronger compared to his "rivals" as the race progresses, so hopefully he can climb into the top 10 on a couple of stages. Will be interesting to see if Farfetch only fielding six riders will make it easier for the break to make it tomorrow.
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