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Down Under Classic - Discussion
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 11-10-2024 16:12
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2905
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 Down Under Classic
Race report will be brought to you by Imladrik
Welcome back to the start of a new ManGame Season! As always the season starts with various races around the Oceanic continent and this race is no exception. For some teams this is the start of a brave new adventure in a new division after their maiden promotion to the Pro Continental Tour, for some it’s the start of their title charge, but no matter what it is always going to be an exciting time as we start racing again!
The Down Under Classic is one of the shortest races on the calendar, a short explosive 81.3km trip around Albert Park that most of the time ends with a bunch sprint.
As the PCT field everchanging none of the riders that finished top 3 last year are here to battle it out for the top spots, thus highest placing return finisher from last year’s edition is  Afewerki who was one of the best riders in the division last year based on his wage per points ratio and has been promptly rewarded for that this year, can he show that he warrants that huge pay increase this year? The Eritrean is not the top favourite by any stretch of the imagination as we have a top tier sprinter in  Ewan present as the spear head of ISA – Hexacta’s relegated roster, the second favourite is also from one of the relegated teams in  Farantakis who has been the target of multiple trainings over the last few years and is a centrepiece for SotD’s Greek project.
 Enger and  Ahlstrand return to the division after brief stints in the Pro Tour are also strong contenders.  Zabel,  Vesely and  Bonifazio are staples of the PCT, and we know that they can be dangerous for everyone around them and lastly, we have  Liu who returns to racing this year after a year on the sidelines and is a huge question mark. On paper the Chinese rider has all the skills to match the best but there are still some doubts about his ability to score and he is a huge bet for the Lotto team in the scoring department.
It is to be expected that there is a ton of depth in the sprinter fields in a classic like this and with 31 riders with a sprint stat at 78 or above we could come to see a very surprising winner in the end.
| Name | FL | ST | RS | SP | AC | FG | | Ewan | 75 | 73 | 71 | 83 | 81 | 63 | | Vesely | 73 | 74 | 68 | 81 | 80 | 61 | | Farantakis | 74 | 75 | 72 | 81 | 80 | 61 | | Zabel | 74 | 74 | 70 | 81 | 79 | 66 | | Ahlstrand | 72 | 71 | 70 | 81 | 79 | 57 | | Enger | 73 | 71 | 73 | 81 | 78 | 62 | | Bonifazio | 79 | 68 | 75 | 80 | 80 | 58 | | Liu | 74 | 76 | 69 | 80 | 80 | 64 | | Afewerki | 73 | 77 | 70 | 79 | 80 | 68 |  Hodeg | 72 | 69 | 74 | 79 | 78 | 53 |  Hayakawa | 73 | 75 | 68 | 79 | 79 | 75 |  Kennett | 75 | 73 | 76 | 79 | 78 | 67 |  Boudat | 73 | 71 | 74 | 79 | 78 | 62 |  Kamberaj | 75 | 73 | 73 | 79 | 78 | 64 |  Haller | 71 | 70 | 69 | 79 | 77 | 65 |  Coutinho | 72 | 75 | 74 | 79 | 80 | 55 |  Perera | 71 | 69 | 73 | 79 | 80 | 50 |
With the way the parcours is set up it is very unlikely that we will see a late attack make it to the finish line as we haven’t seen that since Dzamastagic won here in 2015, but that doesn’t mean that aren’t any riders that are looking to snatch the win from the sprinters. Quispe always needs a mention with his FL and FTR combination, but it does seem unlikely that he will be able to make his mark. Boutopoulos is a very interesting option for ELCO but chances are that he will be held back by his duties for Farantakis. Suter made the move to Lierse this year and is a very interesting prospect but could find himself in a similar position to Boutopoulos with Bonifazio being one of the prime candidates for a strong finish here. Hecht is an interesting shout as he is now at max but I fear that this race isn’t challenging enough for him to make a real difference with his moves, but he is a rider to keep an eye out for during the season.
| Name | FL | ST | RS | SP | AC | FG | | Quispe | 81 | 63 | 61 | 67 | 74 | 85 | | Cherkasov | 80 | 72 | 74 | 70 | 75 | 65 | | Suter | 79 | 75 | 74 | 68 | 74 | 76 | | Boutopoulos | 78 | 73 | 75 | 73 | 78 | 80 | | Andersen | 78 | 70 | 75 | 68 | 69 | 72 | | Dzamastagic | 77 | 74 | 70 | 75 | 76 | 77 | | Biermans | 77 | 71 | 74 | 66 | 67 | 77 | | Kortsidakis | 77 | 75 | 75 | 68 | 72 | 76 | | Mraouni | 77 | 71 | 72 | 71 | 74 | 71 | | Manakov | 77 | 77 | 68 | 72 | 76 | 65 |  Kooistra | 77 | 73 | 69 | 76 | 76 | 63 | | Mugisha | 76 | 70 | 74 | 62 | 68 | 74 | | Jacobs | 76 | 77 | 76 | 67 | 68 | 71 | | Baska | 76 | 70 | 76 | 76 | 77 | 70 | | Tarvis | 76 | 74 | 73 | 64 | 72 | 69 | | Medvedev | 75 | 77 | 76 | 69 | 68 | 78 | | Hecht | 73 | 74 | 77 | 67 | 71 | 79 |
Startlist:
Spoiler | Quispe | Alain | Benetton Bimex Cycling | | Bdadou | Youssef | Benetton Bimex Cycling | | Martino | Stan | Benetton Bimex Cycling | | Borg | Luke | Benetton Bimex Cycling | | Aquilani | Andrea | Benetton Bimex Cycling | | Afewerki | Elias | Benetton Bimex Cycling | | De Marigny-Lagesse | Llucie | Benetton Bimex Cycling | | Bonello | Daniel | Benetton Bimex Cycling | | Uhiriwe | Renus | Bralirwa - Cegeka | | Ben Ameur | Hatem | Bralirwa - Cegeka | | Verstrynge | Emiel | Bralirwa - Cegeka | | Willems | Jago | Bralirwa - Cegeka | | Huby | Antoine | Bralirwa - Cegeka | | Kulindwa | Lameck Marco | Bralirwa - Cegeka | | Feiereisen | Kevin | Bralirwa - Cegeka | | Teggart | Matthew | Bralirwa - Cegeka | | Becis | Armands | DK Zalgiris | | Budenieks | Kristaps | DK Zalgiris | | Kopfauf | Markus | DK Zalgiris | | Tarvis | Peeter | DK Zalgiris | | Raugala | Gustas | DK Zalgiris | | Vesely | Daniel | DK Zalgiris | | Videika | Airidas | DK Zalgiris | | Lapeira | Paul | Ekoi - Le Creuset | | Belohvosciks | Kristians | Ekoi - Le Creuset | | Costiou | Ewen | Ekoi - Le Creuset | | Juntunen | Antti-Jussi | Ekoi - Le Creuset | | Louvel | Matis | Ekoi - Le Creuset | | Pithie | Laurence | Ekoi - Le Creuset | | Lund Andresen | Tobias | Ekoi - Le Creuset | | Hodeg | Alvaro | Ekoi - Le Creuset | | Boutopoulos | Georgios | ELCO - ABEA | | Kortsidakis | Michail | ELCO - ABEA | | Mugisha | Samuel | ELCO - ABEA | | Koumpetsos | Anastasios | ELCO - ABEA | | Niu | Yikui | ELCO - ABEA | | Varotsos | Ioannis | ELCO - ABEA | | Wenzel | Mats | ELCO - ABEA | | Farantakis | Stylianos | ELCO - ABEA | | Hayakawa | Tomohiro | Everesting | | Lau | Wan Yau | Everesting | | Kennaugh | Peter | Everesting | | Silva | Thomas | Everesting | | Riccitello | Matthew | Everesting | | Vasko | Levente | Everesting | | Phonarjthan | Patompob | Everesting | | Gelders | Gil | Everesting | | Curley | Liam | Glanbia | | Wade | Aaron | Glanbia | | Kennett | Dylan | Glanbia | | David | Tom | Glanbia | | Jones | Taj | Glanbia | | Bennett | Sam | Glanbia | | Ryan | Archie | Glanbia | | Downey | Sean | Glanbia | | Loland | Sakarias Koller | Hilcona Racing Team | | Foldager | Anders | Hilcona Racing Team | | Blythe | Adam | Hilcona Racing Team | | Haldimann | Guillaume | Hilcona Racing Team | | Van Uden | Casper | Hilcona Racing Team | | Krieger | Alexander | Hilcona Racing Team | | Artz | Huub | Hilcona Racing Team | | Havik | Yoeri | Hilcona Racing Team | | Sanogo | Abou | ISA - Hexacta | | Contreras | Emiliano | ISA - Hexacta | | Andersen | Idar | ISA - Hexacta | | Mraouni | Salah Eddine | ISA - Hexacta | | Baska | Erik | ISA - Hexacta | | Dlamini | Nicholas | ISA - Hexacta | | Jurado | Cristofer Robin | ISA - Hexacta | | Ewan | Caleb | ISA - Hexacta | | Bayer | Tobias | JEWA TIROL | | Gough | Regan | JEWA TIROL | | Nys | Thibau | JEWA TIROL | | Kabas | Maximilian | JEWA TIROL | | Laurance | Axel | JEWA TIROL | | Degenkolb | John | JEWA TIROL | | Terada | Yoshiki | JEWA TIROL | | Boudat | Thomas | JEWA TIROL | | Tesfom | Sirak | Kraftwerk Man Machine | | De Buyst | Jasper | Kraftwerk Man Machine | | Uhlig | Henri | Kraftwerk Man Machine | | Zabel | Rick | Kraftwerk Man Machine | | Mathis | Marco | Kraftwerk Man Machine | | Teutenberg | Tim Torn | Kraftwerk Man Machine | | Cherkasov | Nicolay | Kraftwerk Man Machine | | McLay | Dan | Kraftwerk Man Machine | | Biermans | Jenthe | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Suter | Joel | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Van Den Bossche | Fabio | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Piccolo | Andrea | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Vandenabeele | Henri | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Benedetti | Gabriele | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Bonifazio | Niccolo | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Calzoni | Walter | Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam | | Demiri | Mikel | Llapi-Vita | | Nuha | Blerton | Llapi-Vita | | Kloppenborg | Lukas Sulaj | Llapi-Vita | | Jarc | Aljaz | Llapi-Vita | | Bechkov | Aleks | Llapi-Vita | | Kiskonen | Siim | Llapi-Vita | | Kamberaj | Xhuliano | Llapi-Vita | | Merlier | Tim | Llapi-Vita | | Van Aert | Wout | Lotto-Caloi | | Changsheng | Sun | Lotto-Caloi | | Fagundez | Eric Antonio | Lotto-Caloi | | Price-Pejtersen | Johan | Lotto-Caloi | | Christen | Fabio | Lotto-Caloi | | Zingle | Axel | Lotto-Caloi | | Liu | Jiankun | Lotto-Caloi | | Berckmoes | Jenno | Lotto-Caloi | | Hecht | Gage | McCormick Pro Cycling | | Hoehn | Alex | McCormick Pro Cycling | | Simmons | Quinn | McCormick Pro Cycling | | Milesi | Lorenzo | McCormick Pro Cycling | | Staune-Mittet | Johannes | McCormick Pro Cycling | | Haller | Marco | McCormick Pro Cycling | | Julajuj | Alex | McCormick Pro Cycling | | Barbier | Pierre | McCormick Pro Cycling | | Guavita | Cesar David | Minions | | Sommer | Jan | Minions | | Gomez | Fausto Agustin | Minions | | Dressler | Luca | Minions | | Casillas | Jhonatan | Minions | | Jiang | Zhihui | Minions | | Paleni | Enzo | Minions | | Ahlstrand | Jonas | Minions | | Gayral | Joshua | Podium Ambition | | Morris Berroa | James | Podium Ambition | | White | Connor | Podium Ambition | | Lagane | Christopher | Podium Ambition | | Forbes | Nathaniel | Podium Ambition | | Marte | Jesus Roniel | Podium Ambition | | Hopkins | Kaden | Podium Ambition | | Major | Jay | Podium Ambition | | Orue | German Anibal | SEE Turtles | | Muhindo | Jimmy | SEE Turtles | | Obando | Bryan Raul | SEE Turtles | | Marcos | Leandro | SEE Turtles | | Tivani | German Nicolas | SEE Turtles | | Fisher-Black | Finn | SEE Turtles | | Revelo | Franklin Joel | SEE Turtles | | Lopez | Harold Martin | SEE Turtles | | Yechezkel | Aviv | Sony - Force India | | Kuroeda | Shiki | Sony - Force India | | Kulikovskiy | Alexandr | Sony - Force India | | Kooistra | Marten | Sony - Force India | | Kuroeda | Saya | Sony - Force India | | Alben | Esow | Sony - Force India | | Trezise | Declan | Sony - Force India | | Singh | Ronaldo Laitonjam | Sony - Force India | | Medvedev | Sergey | Specialized | | Dzamastagic | Mark | Specialized | | Kumara | Amith Udaya | Specialized | | Kench | Josh | Specialized | | Van Keirsbulck | Guillaume | Specialized | | Svestad-Bardseng | Embret | Specialized | | Ayuso | Juan | Specialized | | Coutinho | Lionel | Specialized | | Breen | Vegard | Tafjord Kraft | | Waersted | Syver | Tafjord Kraft | | Ackermann | Pascal | Tafjord Kraft | | Manakov | Viktor | Tafjord Kraft | | Berger | Hakon Frengstad | Tafjord Kraft | | Enger | Sondre Holst | Tafjord Kraft | | Bertilsson | Christian | Tafjord Kraft | | Liepins | Emils | Tafjord Kraft | | Haugard | Phan Age | Team UBS | | Van Asbroeck | Tom | Team UBS | | Jacobs | Johan | Team UBS | | Weiss | Fabian | Team UBS | | Jenni | Luca | Team UBS | | Blum | Elia | Team UBS | | Fominykh | Daniil | Team UBS | | Perera | Madushanka | Team UBS |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 03-12-2024 18:13
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Bot Agent
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| SotD |
Posted on 11-10-2024 16:36
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World Champion
Posts: 12189
Joined: 29-11-2006
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Looks like a good chance for a decent start to the season, but it’s always a gamble with sprints.
We brought as much flat firepower as possible to ensure a break wouldn’t stand a chance and keep Farantakis ahead of things. Time Will tell if it’s a wise decision.
(Farantakis haven’t been trained a lot btw. +1SPR and maybe HI/MO) :-)
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 11-10-2024 16:44
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7593
Joined: 04-07-2012
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Let's start this season off with a bang
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 11-10-2024 16:55
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18187
Joined: 12-05-2012
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Time to make all those last place predictors look like fools, and steal a dramatic victory on day one of the season!
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 11-10-2024 17:23
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World Champion
Posts: 14563
Joined: 08-08-2011
PCM$: 9100.00
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I'm predicting my rouleurs to do stupid attacks and Bonifazio not sprinting because of this.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| quadsas |
Posted on 11-10-2024 17:36
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2518
Joined: 18-01-2013
PCM$: 300.00
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Time for the first win of the year
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 11-10-2024 18:27
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1122
Joined: 07-07-2013
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Hodeg surely isn't among the top favourites but at least he's on the list and from there on everything from a top 10 to a big fat zero is possible. Given he's our only maxed rider at the start being in the break with one of our youngsters should be mandatory in any case to at least show our colours.
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 11-10-2024 19:24
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2905
Joined: 07-08-2011
PCM$: 300.00
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Gonna take a while to get used to seeing the new minishirts in reports and previews but I like the look of mine for sure, great work. There's a reason why I didn't mention Coutinho in the preview but I hope that he can snatch something he has shown in the past that he's able to mix it with top tier sprinters and there are quite a few here for sure.
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| Laurens147 |
Posted on 11-10-2024 20:31
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1125
Joined: 26-04-2020
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First test for Jiankun. It may already give some indication of how ambitious we can be this season.
Thanks WJ for the preview! 
MG - Lotto - Caloi
[MG] New Manager of the Year - PCM.daily Awards 2022
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| knockout |
Posted on 11-10-2024 20:35
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7737
Joined: 21-12-2010
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One of my favourite mg memories was the Dzama win. Would be outstanding if he could do one more attempt at glory where it all began in the last season where he reasonably could deliver big.
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| seancoll |
Posted on 12-10-2024 00:58
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Domestique
Posts: 481
Joined: 20-12-2022
PCM$: 500.00
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I am very much sensing a Bralirwa - Podium Ambitions - SEE Turtles breakaway and then hopefully letting the 77/78 sprinters find a couple major sets of slipstreams and deliver a surprise result.
Anything top 15 would meet expectations for me, and clearly exceed them against the favorites list.
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 12-10-2024 11:04
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Team Leader
Posts: 6036
Joined: 20-07-2008
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Looking forward to see the season started and the look of the new kits. Ewan vs. the field should be an interesting contest. Thanks for the preview WJ!
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| Bjartne |
Posted on 12-10-2024 12:42
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2907
Joined: 15-07-2007
PCM$: 300.00
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Wow, this will be a very interresting race, really looking forward to kick off the PCT- season, and hopefully Enger can steal some points 
Thanks for the great preview wj! |
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 12-10-2024 17:38
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 3269
Joined: 02-11-2010
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Thanks for the preview. Really glad I de-emphasized sprinting this year given the field, Haller only here because he had race days but don't see these classics as his main focus. Maybe he gets lucky.
Would love to see Hecht on the attack but not sure his flat is good enough to get him AI preference. I think he will be more of a stage race breakaway guy. Hoping to see that work out later in the season.
Be great to see Ewan win at home and on his return to the division.
Man Game: McCormick Pro Cycling |
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| Scorchio |
Posted on 12-10-2024 23:41
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2073
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Looking forward to the season kick-off. Straight out of the box we'll get our first idea of whether or not having so many eggs in the Caleb Ewan shaped basket will be a route to success or not in 2024.
Short race, so might have some odd AI. Hope that ISA -Hexacta are able to demonstrate that we have a strong base of riders for controlling flat races, then let's see what eventuates out of what is hopefully a strong lead-out combo. Throughout the season a variety of different potential lead-out combinations will be tested back and forth for Caleb.
There are plenty of sprint races across all 3 divisions in the 1st month of the season, so by the end of January we should all have a good overview of whether or not the hard work in the off-season by the MG admins has an impact on reducing the random sprint lottery experienced throughout 2023. Fingers crossed!
Manager of ISA - Hexacta in the MG |
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| SotD |
Posted on 13-10-2024 17:40
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World Champion
Posts: 12189
Joined: 29-11-2006
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Exactly as bad as feared.
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 13-10-2024 17:47
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2905
Joined: 07-08-2011
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Tactical masterclass from us to get third here. Join the late attacks with Medv to ensure that the trains can't settle at all and then Coutinho finishes to get us a third place, great start to the season for us.
Obviously a rough one for the bigger sprinters who have lost two crucial race days but that is the nature of these classics, thanks for a great report, happy to get the season rolling!
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| Laurens147 |
Posted on 13-10-2024 17:56
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Protected Rider
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Not as good as we hoped, but on to the next one
Congrats Llapi-Vita and thanks for the report Imladrik!
MG - Lotto - Caloi
[MG] New Manager of the Year - PCM.daily Awards 2022
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 13-10-2024 18:06
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18187
Joined: 12-05-2012
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I'll count that as a BotD for Jesus Roniel "King of Breakaways" Marte. #1 of the year, how many will he get come October?
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 13-10-2024 18:46
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World Champion
Posts: 14563
Joined: 08-08-2011
PCM$: 9100.00
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I've definitely had worse season starts than this. Congrats to Llapi for the win and commiseration to ISA. And of course a big thank you for the preview and the report!
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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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)
