A warm welcome from Prague, where the PT circuit continues with the famous 4-day long "Taylor Phinney Festival" - also known as "Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha", but the latter name is actually only used to not discourage every other rider than the US American ITT World Champion.
From 2013 to 2015, the race was organized as a one-day event, containing parts of nowadays' stages 2 and 4, leading from the Czech capital to the country's best-known spa resort Karlovy Vary, and back to Prague. Three editions, three winners - Boonen, Guarnieri and Bewley.
But in 2016, someone had the idea to split up the race:
A short prologue in Prague, a transition stage to Karlovy Vary, the PT's longest ITT stage in and around Karlovy Vary, and then the transition back to Prague. The concept sounds great - the result is... boring?!? In those 6 years, Taylor Phinney won stage 3 every single time - and because it's the only one with notable time gaps, the GC as well. And in 3/6 editions, he also took home the points jersey. Domination.
Given that King Phinney is back this year, we don't actually need a favorites list - but for the sake of completeness, let's still get an overview of those who might one day threaten his reign:
Taylor Phinney
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
St
Rs
Rc
Cb
Sp
Ac
Ft
DH
PL
73
85
77
83
77
74
76
58
72
75
68
71
83
Clearly, this skillset is mighty impressive - and he can't really make use of the uphill part of it in this race! At least at first sight - but when looking at the profiles more closely, the 60km long ITT actually includes quite some bumps - no major climbs, but the ITT World Champion will clearly try to use those uphill sections to his advantage, like he did in the past!
Even though he has to share the title "strongest time trialist" with another rider - we'll meet him soon - he's the single best prologue specialist, possibly giving him an additional head-start over his competitors. If we absolutely wanted to spot a weakness, we'd point at his resistance and flat stat - but those clearly haven't kept him from winning so far!
Do you need more arguments why he will (probably) win here again? In 2022, he's got a perfect GC record, winning all of: Tour of Tasmania, Volta a Portugal, and Tour of Ukraine. And he has a perfect record in long TTs so far - his only defeat against the clock so far was in the Volta a Portugal prologue, where he took an underwhelming (by his standards) 7th place. Any questions?
Mads Würtz
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
St
Rs
Rc
Cb
Sp
Ac
Ft
DH
PL
77
67
71
83
78
78
76
62
66
70
69
72
79
If anyone could get close to Phinney, then it would likely be the Dane. After years of training, he finally matches the American's TT skills, and could become the world's single best time triallist next year. But while he's clearly stronger on the flat and has better resistance, he will likely suffer (once more) on the lumpy sections of the time trial parcours. Furthermore, he still has some deficits in shorter races against the clock, and might give away a couple of seconds in the prologue - and a couple of seconds might already be too much.
We only had one single duel of the two top-shots so far in 2022, in the very first race of the year in Tasmania - where Würtz lost 6" to Phinney. On a shorter and flatter course than the one around Karlovy Vary, though. Otherwise, he took a rather disappointing 4th place in the closing TT of Tirreno - Adriatico (a rather short one), and got 5th in Copenhagen - Malmö and in the opening TTT in Tirreno with his team Grieg-Maersk - no top results, either. At least, he assisted teammate Pedersen in his Milano - San Remo win at the end of February, so the morale should still be high! Plus, he finished 2nd in this race last year, so he knows that the course suits him!
Marlen Zmorka
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
St
Rs
Rc
Cb
Sp
Ac
Ft
DH
PL
74
61
66
82
74
75
72
61
62
70
67
60
82
Next up is the sole 82 TTer participating here - because he's the only one in the MGverse, probably. While lacking only a little bit of pure TT speed vs. Phinney and Würtz, he lacks almost everywhere else. Most importantly, he's weak on the uphills - you'll read that again though, promised. His resistance isn't top-notch, either, but still better than Phinney's - but otherwise, there's nothing that should hold him back.
However, they say that numbers don't lie, and the numbers for him are just horrible this year. 15th, 24th, 16th (TTT), 12th (TTT), 42nd, 38th and 24th is his list of results in Tasmania, Qatar, Copenhagen, Tirreno (2x) and Ukraine (2x) - absolutely shocking for a rider of his calibre! No matter the length or the profile, he was just bad - can he finally turn things around here?
Tom Wirtgen
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
St
Rs
Rc
Cb
Sp
Ac
Ft
DH
PL
73
78
75
81
76
75
75
65
63
72
73
64
80
Onto the (shared) youngest rider on the favorites list! The Luxembourger is another bit slower in terms of pure TT speed than those presented before - but he's a very complete rider! Just like Phinney, he's neither the best rouleur, nor does he have the strongest resistance - but he's a very strong uphill rider, much stronger than most TT specialists! Let's see if he can use this strength to get the edge over his opponents - except for one, we probably have to say.
His season start was very promising, taking 4th in the TT and 2nd in the GC of Tasmania. Copenhagen - Malmö then was a huge success for him and EA Vesuvio, as they won the TTT classic. The TTT in Tirreno was a tad worse with 4th place, and the closing ITT didn't go to his liking at all with a 14th place finish. He stroke back in Ukraine though, with a 6th and a 5th place in the 2 ITTs - and yet another runner-up GC finish behind Phinney. Wirtgen is ready to go, it seems! He finished 4th here last year - could the podium be within reach this time?
Ryan Mullen
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
St
Rs
Rc
Cb
Sp
Ac
Ft
DH
PL
75
62
70
81
75
74
72
62
60
70
61
64
78
Looking at the Irishman's skillset, it's pretty clear why he's ranked behind Wirtgen in the favorites list despite having the same TT speed. He's just less strong everywhere else - despite on pan-flat roads, whereof he'll whowever not find many, except for the prologue maybe. But when speaking of prologue - he's actually the weakest of the Top13, so why should he get a good GC result here? Despite not being the best on the uphills, he's clearly not the worst, either. And he definitely is a solid time triallist, so his chances of a Top10 finish are clearly intact. On paper.
On the road, he more or less confirmed those stats. After a 7th place in the Tasmanian TT, he took two second places with Polar in the TTTs in Copenhagen and Tirreno. The closing TT of Tirreno however might have been too short for him, as he finished on an absolutely shocking 107th place! Unlike Wirtgen, he probably doesn't have the greatest confidence going into this race - that furthermore starts with a short prologue... A 19th place last year - with a wildcard - probably doesn't overly improve his self-esteem.
Panagiotis Vlatos
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
St
Rs
Rc
Cb
Sp
Ac
Ft
DH
PL
72
52
66
81
73
71
67
68
67
66
68
52
81
Yes, we dare to not list the Greek on top, despite his "Cycling God" status. Even worse, he's the lowest of the 81 TTers - sacrilege! But we actually feel that he belongs there. Why? Of all the 80+ TTers, he has the lowest resistance, the shared worst recovery, and the second worst mountain stat. All of this combined doesn't sound very promising - but beware, a cycling god is obviously capable of anything!
A 12th place in Tasmania to begin the season with wasn't a very godlike result, though. 8th in Qatar wasn't top-notch, either, but still worth a decent GC placing. ELCO - ABEA then narrowly missed out on the Top10 in Copenhagen - Malmö, before doing much better in the Tirreno - Adriatico TTT with 6th place. However, it looks like Vlatos prefers riding with his teammates rather than racing solo, as he only got 19th in Tirreno's closing TT. All in all, it looks like a Top10 could be possible, but definitely isn't a given! However, he finished 6th last year, so he knows how to do well on this course!
Filippo Ganna
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
St
Rs
Rc
Cb
Sp
Ac
Ft
DH
PL
76
69
73
80
74
81
69
66
69
73
74
74
82
Let's take one step down to the big group of 80 TTers - and the other 26 year-old on this list. Ganna is first of this 7-rider group mainly because he's the most versatile of them - and especially the fastest one uphill. His resistance is only matched by one other rider in this field, and he's one of the world's best prologue riders as well. Great rouleur skills round off his skillset - and although he probably never will be a specialist for 3rd-week TTs in GTs, races like this one are almost tailor-made for him.
But enough praise now, let's let the numbers speak instead: A 10th place in Tasmania was decent, while his 4th place in the Qatar epilogue almost propelled him into the GC Top15. Team Puma - SAP then took 7th place in Copenhagen with him being part of the squad, while they missed out on the Top10 in Tirreno. Unlike Vlatos, however, Ganna did better without his teammates, taking a very respectable 6th place in the closing ITT. He also participated in La Primavera - with limited success, though, as teammate Démare only took 11th place. Let's hope that his confidence didn't take too much of a hit by this, as he looked to be in a good shape before!
Steven Lammertink
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
St
Rs
Rc
Cb
Sp
Ac
Ft
DH
PL
74
64
69
80
70
76
70
65
63
68
74
68
79
Believe it or not, but the Dutchman actually is the final rider on the favorites list having a climbing stat above 60... We can also mention his resistance, that's on par with or even better than most competitors, and so are his rouleur skills. On the downside, he's one of just four sub-80 prologue riders among those 80+ TTers, let's see how that impacts his GC result.
He had a very slow start to the season - even worse than Zmorka - taking only 28th in the Tour of Tasmania ITT. He got some much better vibes in Copenhagen, where Aker - MOT missed out on the podium by just 2" and took 4th place. They added a 7th place in Tirreno, while Lammertink again disappointed in the ITT, taking only 22nd. It's definitely redemption time for him in this race!
Kiril Yatsevich
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
St
Rs
Rc
Cb
Sp
Ac
Ft
DH
PL
70
55
68
80
76
81
67
64
60
63
66
68
80
Redemption time sounds about right for the Russian, who only took 30th in last year's edition - way below the expected outcome given his skills against the clock. But what can really be expected? His resistance is fantastic, for sure - he's the one matching Ganna in that respect - but his climbing skills are close to non-existing. Although still stronger than Vlatos', so why should a Top10 be out of reach for him? We'll see.
His 2022 results don't really speak in his favor, though. 19th in Tasmania, 12th in Qatar, 9th with Tinkoff - La Datcha Team - not the best start. However, the team improved to 3rd in the Tirreno TTT, but with Yatsevich down in 63rd it's questionable how much of that team podium was due to his own performance. He'll need to clearly step up his game if he wants to get somewhere close to the Top10 here!
Damien Howson
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
St
Rs
Rc
Cb
Sp
Ac
Ft
DH
PL
71
59
65
80
73
74
72
58
64
68
72
63
80
We're midway through that 80 TTers list, and they all look pretty similary to be honest. Lower resistance, better recovery than some others - and with 59 Mo almost in the upper half of them considering climbing "skills". He wasn't here last year, given that his team only promoted last offseason. What are his chances for a Top10?
His results so far this year say: Forget it. The start wasn't quite as bad, though, with 13th in Tasmania - but 61st in the Qatar epilogue was the first bummer. The TTTs went well for him, though, with Duoling taking 3rd in Copenhagen and winning in Tirreno - but Howson then took 62th on stage 7 in Tirreno, and 72nd and 46th in the two TTs in Ukraine. Definitely no confidence inspiring results.
Jasha Sütterlin
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
St
Rs
Rc
Cb
Sp
Ac
Ft
DH
PL
71
59
65
80
73
77
67
56
59
60
76
73
80
That last sentence holds for the German as well. Just like teammate Zmorka, he struggled pretty much in every single race against the clock, mostly doing even worse - with once exception: A 7th place in the Qatar epilogue sticks out - because of some missed splits before, this still wasn't worth much.
If he needs to gain some confidence, Sütterlin may want to look back on last year's result, where he took an amazing 3rd place in the GC in this race - if he wants to get even close to repeating this performance, he'll need to step up his game by several levels, though! Maybe his comparatively strong resistance can help?
Emilien Viennet
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
St
Rs
Rc
Cb
Sp
Ac
Ft
DH
PL
72
54
67
80
75
75
72
59
55
64
73
65
80
Just like Los Pollos Hermanos, Polar also have two riders on this list. But the Frenchman is set to struggle a lot on all those road bumps he'll have to face during the TT, being among the bottom 10 climbers in this race. Still better than Vlatos, though - whatever that will finally mean. At least his physical stats are alright, more or less the same as teammate Mullen's.
With 24th and 38th in Tasmania and Qatar, his morale was probably pretty low before the two TTTs with two 2nd places in a row. In each case, he got his best ITT result of the season so far in the closing TT of Tirreno, taking 11th place. The two stages against the clock in Ukraine then were races to forget, with him finishing 117th and 60th - confirming that his chances of a good result are quickly gone if the roads aren't pan-flat. And they aren't around Karlovy Vary, they aren't...
Silvan Dillier
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
St
Rs
Rc
Cb
Sp
Ac
Ft
DH
PL
70
51
64
80
74
77
67
68
61
62
74
63
79
Non-flat roads - something the final rider on our list definitely doesn't want to hear. We've got no clue how a Swiss rider can manage to be the (shared) worst climber of a race - maybe he didn't even grow up there? All of his good TT skills and decent resistance probably won't be able to hide the fact that Dillier suffers on every single minor incline. But he'll try, because his team needs him to do well!
And his manager is trying to warm up his legs by letting him ride some cobbles - with Franceville in January and Via Appia in March. He obviously was just a domestique in both, taking 152nd and 147th. In terms of TT results, he had a pretty bad time with his Team UBS, taking only 12th in Copenhagen and 9th in Tirreno. In his only ITT of the year to date, stage 7 of Tirreno, he finished 53rd - not very promising, but still ahead of the likes of Keizer, Fraile, Howson or Yatsevich, who should be direct rivals in this race.
After all this information, let's try to get an overview - including also the next lower level of TTers, as we have a couple of interesting names in there as well:
Rider
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
St
Rs
Rc
Cb
Sp
Ac
Ft
DH
PL
Phinney
73
85
77
83
77
74
76
58
72
75
68
71
83
Würtz
77
67
71
83
78
78
76
62
66
70
69
72
79
Zmorka
74
61
66
82
74
75
72
61
62
70
67
60
82
Wirtgen
73
78
75
81
76
75
75
65
63
72
73
64
80
Mullen
75
62
70
81
75
74
72
62
60
70
61
64
78
Vlatos
72
52
66
81
73
71
67
68
67
66
68
52
81
Ganna
76
69
73
80
74
81
69
66
69
73
74
74
82
Lammertink
74
64
69
80
70
76
70
65
63
68
74
68
79
Yatsevich
70
55
68
80
76
81
67
64
60
63
66
68
80
Howson
71
59
65
80
73
74
72
58
64
68
72
63
80
Sütterlin
71
59
65
80
73
77
67
56
59
60
76
73
80
Viennet
72
54
67
80
75
75
72
59
55
64
73
65
80
Dillier
70
51
64
80
74
77
67
68
61
62
74
63
79
Keizer
70
79
69
79
72
76
74
57
55
70
70
59
79
Fraile
69
76
72
79
74
76
72
58
60
66
79
65
79
Cataford
74
72
70
79
75
75
73
67
60
69
67
71
79
Mano
71
72
75
79
72
73
74
62
60
66
69
72
77
Oliveira
70
70
72
79
76
72
67
61
70
72
68
68
79
Hepburn
71
64
66
79
74
77
72
60
66
69
67
62
79
Zakarin
74
66
66
79
75
70
75
55
65
70
74
65
79
Razumov
74
63
70
79
75
72
73
56
64
66
70
65
79
Vorobev
75
63
65
79
73
71
67
50
58
72
81
56
78
Tanfield
73
59
63
79
74
75
71
64
66
72
76
65
79
Haugard
72
57
60
79
74
77
70
56
57
67
73
65
79
Dal Col
71
58
64
79
70
72
68
54
62
70
65
62
78
Goldstein
74
55
61
79
70
72
72
52
58
61
61
56
79
Among these additional riders, especially Mano has been doing really well already, but also I. Oliveira, Hepburn or Cataford, as well as Keizer in the more undulating races. We'll have a thrilling fight for the top spots, that's for sure!
We have focused a lot on the time triallists so far - because it's highly probable that one of them will take home the GC. But we also have two flat stages on offer - and if one rider takes them both, even the points jersey could be at stake! Let's take a look at who made the trip to Prague:
Rider
Fl
Rs
Sp
Ac
PL
Coquard
73
74
84
83
79
Ewan
75
71
83
81
73
Groenewegen
73
71
82
81
72
Van der Lijke
73
71
82
79
68
Lo Cicero
70
60
82
75
73
Manninen
74
75
81
80
76
Samolenkov
74
71
81
79
70
Van Poppel
72
71
81
78
72
Cullaigh
74
70
80
81
67
Kemboi
78
77
80
80
81
Appollonio
73
64
80
76
60
Dainese
74
75
79
80
63
Van der Sande
75
73
79
79
58
Philipsen
72
69
79
78
67
Havik
73
68
79
76
66
For once, we'll not get the Top3 clash, given that Isostar probably wanted to avoid all kinds of potential conflicts between a sprint and a GC leader. But we'll once again get the duel Coquard vs. Ewan, augmented by the likes of Groenewegen and Qatar winner Manninen. And especially Kemboi, Coquard or Manninen could be in a great position after the prologue to take over the GC lead after stage 2!
When speaking of prologue - we obviously have almost all of the stage favorites already listed among the GC favorites. But there are a couple of pure specialists, and some of the TTers don't like prologues that much. So let's still present a separate list:
Rider
Fl
Rs
PL
Phinney
73
74
83
Ganna
76
81
82
Leung
73
77
82
Zmorka
74
75
82
Kemboi
78
77
81
Vlatos
72
71
81
Yatsevich
70
81
80
Sütterlin
71
77
80
Wirtgen
73
75
80
Viennet
72
75
80
Howson
71
74
80
Larsen
77
73
80
As mentioned previously, Phinney could well have a head-start over the other GC contenders after the prologue - but especially strong rouleurs like Ganna or Kemboi could make his life hard on such a pan-flat stage! And we've seen quite some surprising prologue results already, so the winner is not granted to come from this list by any means!
You should all know by now that this reporter has a soft spot for young riders, so let's take a look at the potential white jersey winners as well:
Rider
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
St
Rs
Rc
Cb
Sp
Ac
Ft
DH
PL
Mano
71
72
75
79
72
73
74
62
60
66
69
72
77
Van Moer
74
61
69
77
74
76
68
69
58
65
67
68
77
Norsgaard
72
62
65
77
68
73
64
62
57
66
56
59
75
Foss
69
78
72
76
77
79
79
66
60
69
68
66
72
Fung
68
77
71
76
69
73
75
50
62
71
71
67
74
Kiriakidis
68
74
73
76
72
73
74
62
63
71
70
73
76
Ferreyra
72
70
71
76
71
73
72
54
68
69
73
68
75
Bissegger
73
66
68
76
71
75
70
60
72
72
64
71
75
Brunel
74
65
70
76
70
76
71
66
61
64
69
66
76
Stork
69
75
71
75
74
73
76
58
61
70
62
68
76
Chokri
75
61
66
75
74
72
67
76
65
68
66
69
75
O'Loughlin
71
65
67
75
68
72
67
62
63
64
68
65
73
Akhmaevi
67
69
67
75
67
68
69
60
61
65
63
63
71
Pogacar
69
78
75
74
77
78
78
51
63
71
69
66
73
Larsen
77
60
68
74
74
73
78
64
77
76
65
66
80
Leknessund
72
73
71
74
74
78
73
69
65
68
74
69
74
Hennis
67
67
70
74
70
70
69
69
74
75
69
68
74
O'Brien
73
62
71
74
71
75
66
61
64
67
64
65
72
Hulgaard
70
65
69
74
72
70
69
58
65
65
67
67
73
Mano should be the outright favorite for winning this - the Thai has had an amazing season so far, and should even be an outsider for a GC Top10! Van Moer and Norsgaard are impressive to be that high on the list, given that they're still developing, while Foss and Fung might make use of their great climbing skills to get the edge over the "non-climbers" in the bumpy TT. And also beware of wildcard rider Pogacar, or prologue specialist Larsen!
Now you know pretty much everything about the race - and once you have the startlist, you can collect yourself all the remaining information you want to have. Stay tuned for the races - and be assured that the reporter has tried shortening the reports compared to his previous races ;) It hasn't worked in all cases, though...
Sorry for posting a couple of days late, given that the race should be running in parallel with Colombia, but an untimely illness kept me from doing everything "in time".
This is one of those races where we need to deliver in order to avoid a catastrophy in march. We already had a very poor cobbled race, and with another 3 ahead of us, we need something else here.
Coquard obviously among the favorites on stage 2 and 4, and in theory he could also do decent on stage 1. His prologue efforts this season have been very poor, though. Bouglas, Kelly and Kortsidakis is hopefully strong enough to land a stage win for Coquard, but the competition is pretty significant.
Vlatos have done respectable results here in the past, but also messed everything up. So I'm not overly confident that he'll get a good GC result. For depth we have Ioannidis and Kiriakidis, but it's probably top 50 riders and nothing more.
Phinney is the obvious winner, with Würtz as the only realistical option to upset.
With four (on paper) strong time trialists as well as Manninen here, we simply must make this a race where we score well. No excuses for our time trialists anymore, as they really need to turn their season around now.
Awesome preview, thanks Fabianski! The goal is of course to beat Phinney (and the others). That's the reason why we trained Würtz, and even the last seasons we have seen that he can beat Phinney. Hopefully he can do it once more.
As you mentioned, the morale should at least be high. Some good results by Mads P recently, so it's time for Mads W to continue on that trend. It's certainly one of our key races this if we want to be a PT team next year.
Hmm. Not the result we wanted, that's for sure. But better to have a bad day in the prologue than the ITT, I guess. Fingers crossed for better legs then.
Big surprise! We are here for the depth points, hoping to have as many riders as possible in the GC top 50, and Lammertink targetting a top 10. in that regard, I am really hoping we turn our luck for the decisive TT.
A bit strange to see such results. Fortunately for the likes of Phinney and Würtz, the ITT is the one that really matters - but it always suck to see so big favorite mess up. Würtz perhaps not quite as surprising with his 79PRL (If I'm not mistaken?).
Vlatos with his first good TT of the season, which was really nice to see - but as always these PRL makes for a huge surprise, this time it was the win, pts jersey and leaders jersey... Congrats on a massive start!
Coquard was good today, and fitting in where he can fight for the leaders jersey if he performs. Unfortunately a lot of riders within that same distance, so he can't get a leaders jersey by finishing 2nd or 3rd.
Kiriakidis and Ioannidis both in the area where we expect, but nothing that leaves them with good points from this race unless they drastically improves on the longer course.
As expected, the prologue is a bit random again. A shame, but nothing we can do about it I fear. Fantastic report softens the blow for the ones most hurt Keizer with third is great and unexpected, and makes up for a weaker Sütterlin/Zmorka et. al combo. Zmorka decent I guess, but you always hope for more with an 82 prl guy. Let's see what Manninen can do in the sprint now
Sorry to say, but I guess that title goes to Foliforov for his Portugal prologue win
Schäppi at least is a somewhat capable TTer ^^
But I guess some of the prologue results make another strong case for the switch to PCM22 with more control over daily form... Especially Würtz' result is completely ridiculous, and trust me, it was not fun writing the report while shaking my head ^^
Pszczolarski already outperforming my expectation for the entire race. Unfortunate there will only be one day in yellow but im excited we'll get even that.
Well that was dissapointing. I guess all we Can hope for now is that Vlatos has one of his strong races, to finish good in the TT (often not the case when high in the GC) and surviving the final Stage.
A no show from Manninen, a shame. Can't always be on the right side of the sprint lottery. Great report again, thanks Fab, and big congratulations to Yorkshire
Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha 
