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Rund um Koln - Discussion
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 24-02-2026 02:38
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Directeur Sportif
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 Rund um Köln
The Rund um Köln is a 205k pro tour sprinter’s classic. It features a flat finish suitable for the sprinters but a lot of bumps along the way. The last four years the winners have alternated between the sprinters and the rouleurs with the sprinters taking it in even years (Mannien and Ewan) and the roulers in odd years (Wisniowski and SKA). So the turn of rouleurs this year?
Looking at them first.  Konychev is a beast with all the attributes for a late attack – power on the flats, strong energy stats and a great finishing kick. And Aker has no traditional sprinter here so the Italian should have the whole team behind him although former winner Andersen is also here so the team does have multiple cards.
 Antonijevic,  Nych and  Pedersen are all veterans of the late attack with strong skill sets.  Suter is a younger rider looking to establish his reputation in this kind of race. Abrahamsen is another newcomer to the specialty although he is only now peaking at 30.
| Rider | FL | RS | ST | SP | AC | | Konychev | 82 | 78 | 77 | 76 | 75 | | Suter | 79 | 74 | 75 | 68 | 74 | | Antonijevic | 78 | 74 | 67 | 71 | 74 |  Dversnes | 78 | 76 | 76 | 69 | 77 | | Sweeny | 78 | 76 | 67 | 69 | 71 | | Nych | 78 | 72 | 75 | 65 | 76 | | Pedersen | 77 | 80 | 78 | 78 | 77 | | Abrahamsen | 77 | 76 | 73 | 72 | 75 |  Van den Berg | 77 | 77 | 77 | 71 | 70 |  Havik | 77 | 73 | 74 | 70 | 69 |  Kortsidakis | 77 | 75 | 75 | 68 | 72 | | Andersen | 81 | 78 | 77 | 76 | 74 |
But if the race follows a more standard script the winner will more likely be a sprinter.
| Rider | FL | RS | ST | SP | AC |  Gaviria | 76 | 76 | 74 | 83 | 84 | | Cullaigh | 74 | 70 | 73 | 82 | 81 | | Farantakis | 74 | 72 | 75 | 82 | 80 |  Enger | 73 | 73 | 71 | 81 | 78 |  Philipsen | 74 | 70 | 74 | 81 | 80 |  Halvorsen | 76 | 71 | 74 | 81 | 80 |  Kanter | 75 | 73 | 75 | 81 | 80 |  Samolenkov | 74 | 71 | 75 | 81 | 79 | | Kemboi | 78 | 77 | 74 | 80 | 80 | | Vesely | 72 | 67 | 73 | 80 | 79 |  Groves | 75 | 73 | 75 | 80 | 79 |  Hsu | 75 | 70 | 75 | 80 | 79 | | Bonifazio | 79 | 75 | 68 | 80 | 80 | | Aniolkowski | 76 | 74 | 76 | 80 | 79 |  Rodenberg | 74 | 77 | 70 | 79 | 79 | | Ovsyannikov | 74 | 72 | 75 | 79 | 78 | | Nur Hasan | 74 | 74 | 74 | 79 | 78 |
Gaviria is the top favorite. He is in good form coming off a win at the Hanko Classic and third in Moscow. He has a powerful team behind him with a leadout including Nur Hasan, Trondsen, and Baska and strong men for the chase in Sagiv, Jurado and McCormick loan-in Mohammad.
Farantakis and Enger are also here and they finsied 1-2 in Moscow so they also have form.
cycleYorkshire brings their dynamic duo of Cullaigh and Kemboi, they have had mixed success riding together. Kanter is the best chance for a home country winner both in terms of riders and teams.
24 teams and the maximum 192 riders take the start, Gjensidige and Simba have wildcards.
Startlist
Man Game: McCormick Pro Cycling |
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 24-02-2026 03:37
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Tour de France Champion
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Gonna say the same thing I said for whatever the last PT sprinter's classic was (Moscow?). It will be a success if Per tries something near the front and Rodenberg mixes into the sprint. Last time Rodenberg did okay and Per very near featured in the finale, but got blocked all the way down the peloton at the wrong moment. He's still waiting for a non-cobbled result of note. Maybe it's this time?
Thanks for the preview!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| ember |
Posted on 24-02-2026 07:07
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Team Leader
Posts: 7132
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Another flat classic without Groenewegen. GP Moscow was a miss, but we were aggressive. Fingers crossed we can be aggressive again, but this time also do a result. If not, the battle to avoid relegation feels closer and closer. Definitely nervous for the general development we're having this season regarding points scoring! |
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| knockout |
Posted on 24-02-2026 07:18
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Grand Tour Champion
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Like bbl, i can just copy paste my sprinter classics reply: ovsya is here for the sprint, lots of rouleurs for some late action. Barely any guaranteed scoring but still hopes for something.
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| redordead |
Posted on 24-02-2026 09:32
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Team Leader
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I don't have much expectations here after seeing how Moscow went.
Thanks for the preview.
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 24-02-2026 09:42
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World Champion
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Hoping for another strong Aniolkowski performance ahead of the Tour.
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| Caspi |
Posted on 24-02-2026 10:10
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We got this.
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| SotD |
Posted on 24-02-2026 19:03
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World Champion
Posts: 12748
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Always seem a bit random whether or not we get a good result. We have gotten top results in the last two, so statistically we get "nothing" here. Let's hope Farantakis can disrupt the odds.
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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 24-02-2026 20:27
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Classics Specialist
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Maybe Teunissen can join an attack, but we can't really have any expectations here.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 25-02-2026 22:17
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 25-02-2026 00:51
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Neither Cherkasov nor Kulikovskiy made it to the favourites' list, which isn't a great surprise! Hoping for a surprise result here though.
Thanks for the preview!
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| Eden95 |
Posted on 25-02-2026 01:57
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Huge race for us, with Latour and Dunbar’s recent disappointments Gaviria needs to continue making up for his Qatar no show. Hope he can do something here.
Indosat - ANZ HQ
"This Schleck sandwich is going to cause serious indigestion for Evans" - Phil Liggett |
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 25-02-2026 05:13
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Tour de France Champion
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Eh, okay I guess, given that none the rouleurs got any chances. Would have liked Per to be in the top 50 rather than 79th, but not much you can do about that in this kind of race situation. 13th from Rodenberg at least means we don't leave with nothing.
Thanks for the great report Ulrich! And congrats to Sotd, clearly Farantakis's success is not a fluke at this point.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| knockout |
Posted on 25-02-2026 05:56
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Grand Tour Champion
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6th place by ovsya is pretty good. Ill take it 
Congrats sotd, what a season by farantakis!
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| redordead |
Posted on 25-02-2026 06:55
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redordead wrote:
I don't have much expectations here after seeing how Moscow went.
Thanks for the preview.
We found a way to be a lot worse this time 
Thanks for the report.
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 25-02-2026 07:58
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Classics Specialist
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Thank you for the great preview and report, Ulrich!
We did well to not work at the front all day with our team, but in the end it was really only Ruiz to help Halvorsen it seems, and after many kms doing that by himself, it just wasn't possible to deliver a perfect lead-out as well. Halvorsen might've been a bit tired because of the lack of protection as well. So 7th is definitely an acceptable result Congrats SotD!
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 25-02-2026 08:37
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World Champion
Posts: 13649
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Such a close finish! Getting the win would have been amazing for Aniolkowski, but second is a obviously a great result as well. Perfect set-up for the Tour.
Congrats, SotD! Thanks for the report!
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| ember |
Posted on 25-02-2026 08:50
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Team Leader
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Completely anonymous, which I must admit is surprising, especially seeing the favourites list the AI produced before the racing. Must admit that gave me big hopes 
Congratulations on another win, SotD! What a stellar season Farantakis is having. Sensational, really, compared to all other sprinters. |
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| SotD |
Posted on 25-02-2026 18:41
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World Champion
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Absolutely crazy performance once again. Really surprising to see him keeping on performing like this. Obviously some thing is going right in the setup, but it hasn’t been a consistent setup when he top performs, so I’m hesitent to conclude that I have found a setup that just works. But I’m definately doing some heavy mind work to figure out what works, and when. Also when looking at competition. It’s great to get another one in the basket however, and regardless of poor GT’s we are looking increasingly comfortable in staying up!
Thanks a lot for the congrats, and Thanks a lot for the report!
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| ryant |
Posted on 25-02-2026 20:09
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Small Tour Specialist
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Our train disintegrated but Cullaigh comes out with a podium. Could have easily been worse but we kind of need these results to have a chance of avoiding relegation...
Congratulations to SotD for the win
 John St Ledger in Team Bunzl-Centrica and Team U25Red Bull Driver in RFactor
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