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Tour de Romandie - Discussion
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 11-04-2026 07:58
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World Champion
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With one high mountain finish and one mountain time - trial, we have to look at the climbers when we talk about GC favorites. And there's plenty to pick from. On paper,  Almeida is the strongest, followed by  Eastman and  Rodrigues, but the list of good climbers here is so long it's very hard to call them big favorites.
Former winner and second place last year,  Reis is here to lead the Minions.  Shikai also has a good track record here, even winning back in 2018. The two are the only former winners present on the startlist and both have decent chances to write their names on the winners' wall for a second time.
| Rider | FL | MT | MM | HI | TT | ST | RS | SP | AC | | Almeida | 69 | 83 | 77 | 71 | 73 | 76 | 78 | 63 | 71 | | Eastman | 69 | 81 | 76 | 70 | 76 | 75 | 74 | 61 | 68 | | Rodrigues | 66 | 81 | 77 | 73 | 74 | 73 | 75 | 61 | 72 |  Ranaweera | 67 | 80 | 77 | 73 | 76 | 75 | 75 | 58 | 65 | | Reis | 69 | 80 | 76 | 72 | 75 | 77 | 75 | 50 | 63 | | Shikai | 71 | 80 | 75 | 70 | 75 | 73 | 75 | 56 | 66 |  Galta | 68 | 80 | 76 | 72 | 72 | 77 | 78 | 62 | 65 |  Carapaz | 69 | 80 | 76 | 71 | 72 | 71 | 76 | 56 | 65 |  Elosegui | 65 | 80 | 76 | 71 | 72 | 77 | 80 | 60 | 71 |  Johannessen | 69 | 80 | 77 | 74 | 70 | 73 | 77 | 67 | 75 |  Inkelaar | 64 | 80 | 75 | 70 | 64 | 75 | 76 | 60 | 74 | | Jorgenson | 73 | 79 | 78 | 77 | 76 | 79 | 78 | 65 | 71 |  Misbah | 68 | 79 | 75 | 70 | 75 | 76 | 73 | 62 | 68 |  Cras | 68 | 79 | 76 | 72 | 73 | 78 | 77 | 60 | 67 |  Faglum Karlsson | 71 | 79 | 76 | 73 | 73 | 78 | 75 | 60 | 68 |  Hirt | 68 | 79 | 76 | 72 | 71 | 74 | 76 | 63 | 73 |  Mavrikakis | 70 | 79 | 76 | 72 | 71 | 74 | 73 | 61 | 67 |  Yates | 70 | 79 | 77 | 75 | 70 | 78 | 79 | 66 | 75 | | Barguil | 68 | 79 | 76 | 73 | 68 | 74 | 74 | 62 | 72 |  Merchan | 63 | 79 | 75 | 71 | 59 | 68 | 69 | 58 | 69 |
Two opportunities for sprinters here, but there are plenty other HC offer races who offer more for them so while we have some fast guys here, no name that really pops in a division that now includes some of the legendary sprinters of the ManGame. It's Walls who leads the list of fastest guys present here.
| Rider | FL | MT | MM | HI | TT | ST | RS | SP | AC | | Walls | 74 | 61 | 61 | 61 | 61 | 73 | 71 | 80 | 78 | | Thijssen | 75 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 60 | 74 | 70 | 79 | 81 | | Adomaitis | 75 | 59 | 63 | 67 | 67 | 66 | 74 | 79 | 78 | | Kennett | 75 | 58 | 62 | 65 | 69 | 73 | 76 | 79 | 78 |  Ahlstrand | 70 | 56 | 60 | 63 | 56 | 68 | 67 | 79 | 76 |  Hodeg | 72 | 53 | 59 | 65 | 67 | 69 | 74 | 79 | 78 | | Boudat | 73 | 51 | 60 | 68 | 62 | 71 | 74 | 79 | 78 |  Waersted | 73 | 62 | 65 | 67 | 64 | 69 | 78 | 78 | 79 | | Sanikwathi | 72 | 58 | 62 | 66 | 65 | 70 | 67 | 78 | 78 |
The teams throw everything at their climbing squads here as the list of puncheurs is even less impressive than the sprinters' one, except for De Bie, but the Belgian is not exactly the most reliable rider when it comes to deliver to his potential.  Edmondson will be another rider to look out in the third stage, while Jorgenson seems to be the best puncheur from the GC riders so he could also use that third stage to win a few seconds to his rivals and maybe become Zwift's card for the GC.
| Rider | FL | MT | MM | HI | TT | ST | RS | SP | AC | | De Bie | 71 | 69 | 76 | 82 | 70 | 74 | 73 | 70 | 72 | | Edmondson | 69 | 68 | 73 | 78 | 63 | 73 | 70 | 69 | 74 | | Jorgenson | 73 | 79 | 78 | 77 | 76 | 79 | 78 | 65 | 71 | | Debesay | 66 | 71 | 74 | 77 | 60 | 73 | 71 | 64 | 77 | | Duyvesteyn | 68 | 70 | 74 | 77 | 65 | 67 | 71 | 64 | 76 | | Miquel | 69 | 70 | 74 | 77 | 59 | 75 | 76 | 64 | 71 | | Seigle | 68 | 72 | 75 | 77 | 64 | 73 | 73 | 63 | 72 | | Grossschartner | 67 | 74 | 76 | 77 | 67 | 72 | 73 | 62 | 72 |
Below we have the team's rankings for the opening TTT as seen by the game. While there are some questionable ratings down there, McCormick, Zwift and Minions do seem to have the best set-ups here. And they all have riders with high hopes for the GC so the stage will have a double stake for them.
| McCormick | *** | | Zwift | *** | | Minions | *** | | Everesting | ** | | Tryg - Eni | ** | | Trans Looney Tunes | ** | | JEWA TIROL | * | | MOL | * | | Ekoi - Le Creuset | * | | Specialized | * |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 11-04-2026 20:50
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| Heine |
Posted on 11-04-2026 08:15
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4630
Joined: 08-04-2007
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Taking a chance with Galta here, the ttt and startlist the challenge. Just got to hope he can do well on stage 4 and 5
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 11-04-2026 08:36
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7640
Joined: 11-04-2012
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Not really expecting a whole lot here. Would love some points from Edmondson though. Hes been a great form lately. Mudgway might be able to get some points and maybe power in the mountains stages. We will see!
Good luck everyone!
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 11-04-2026 08:41
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2031
Joined: 07-07-2013
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Thanks for the preview, alex!
All eyes on Ranaweera again. He has done really well in the classic stage races this season, so if he survives the mountaintop finish without too much time losses we have high hopes!
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 11-04-2026 10:39
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7903
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Not going to Olympia in order to maximize the TTT here. It's vital that Reis gains time on stages 1 and 5 and minimizes the losses on stages 3 and 4. Only then can we aim for a high GC position
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 11-04-2026 12:10
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Team Leader
Posts: 6237
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Rodrigues again high up on a list that flatters him immenselly. A top5 would be a stupendous result for us.
Should be an interesting race with a lot of possible winners depending on the preponderance of each stage. Looking forward to the reports.
Thanks for the preview alex!
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| Booker |
Posted on 11-04-2026 12:11
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1093
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Don't really think we have the horses to compete with the top end here, so a top 10 in the GC would be a most welcome surprise. But you never know with Faglum Karlsson.
Thanks for the preview alex!
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 11-04-2026 16:10
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 4118
Joined: 02-11-2010
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Agree with others how this plays out will depend a lot on how the different stages play. We focused on the TTT team so a little light on climbers. Maybe the best possible TTT team McCormick can field, which isn't saying much, but figured the clash with Olympia would help.
It seemed to me the Japan MTT didn't favor the IT guys by that much probably because it was pretty steep. Hard to assess that from the profile but given how short this is the same may be true.
With this field not sure we can expect much but at least there are paths to a decent result, particularly if Yates is on good form in stages 4 and 5. Any hope is a big upgrade on prior seasons.
Man Game: McCormick Pro Cycling |
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| Caspi |
Posted on 11-04-2026 17:39
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Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 867
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Yea, we prioritized to send the TTT guys to Olympia, so can't expect much here. With how the last couple of weeks have gone, I guess we will be happy with any amount of points.
Thanks for the preview 
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 11-04-2026 17:52
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7827
Joined: 22-06-2009
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Sent the A squad, need all the points we can get!
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| quadsas |
Posted on 11-04-2026 20:35
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2803
Joined: 18-01-2013
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Giga throwaway race, only one maxed rider and it's Varga. give xp and a lucky breakaway win please
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