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Heine vs Claude - The preview battle
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| ember |
Posted on 23-08-2026 07:45
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Team Leader
Posts: 7408
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PCM$: 900.00
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Very cool design on the preview! Very enjoyable read too. CT looks very good this season with many solid teams, I feel.
Definitely think we will have a couple of surprises in the promotion spots, and who knows, seeing the full agreemwnt on JEWA, maybe that isn’t as certain as it is predicted  For sure, amazing depth for the hills, but I’m not so sure hill depth is vital for a rider like Yates. And if it turns out they don’t have that super scorer, the points have to come from elsewhere too. The team is great, so it could well be they manage just that, but I don’t think it’s given at all they win the title. |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-08-2026 23:46
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Bot Agent
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 23-08-2026 09:26
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 9174
Joined: 13-03-2013
PCM$: 2200.00
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The Newspaper-style design is the coolest preview design I've seen in a long time.
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| Heine |
Posted on 23-08-2026 13:14
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5075
Joined: 08-04-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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Time for PCT, feels like CT has gotten a lot of love til now. I see 2 design problems I didn't bother to fix
1) The rankings didn't take the bottom of the total rankings
2) I had some writing errors on Philips, so their Claude rankings dissapeared from the rankings
Hope I don't crash too many PCs, first page also updated
PT will take some time, not finished writing and some busy days ahead
PDF of the entire PCT preview
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 23-08-2026 13:59
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3725
Joined: 23-07-2008
PCM$: 700.00
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Think I agree with all 3 analysis for us Mid table is about where id put it us but any bad luck I could definitely see us relegated as well and that's the risk we played taking extra talents on instead of buying a GC leader a great read on all well done |
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| Booker |
Posted on 23-08-2026 17:28
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1231
Joined: 03-07-2013
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Thank you for the extraordinary amount of effort into these Heine, all have been super cool reads and well thought through. I’m hoping your impression of Lyu is backed up by the PCM engine, as he could be a really nice depth scorer if it treats him well. I was actually very surprised not to have had more issues planning MFK, he was able to make most if not all the races I’d like him at, pleasantly surprisingly.
At this stage after the very competitive transfer season and a division full of excellent managers, I’d take a safely midtable finish. 
Glad your kids are ready for the stronger stuff though…let me know and I’ll send a couple of cases for ‘em
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| ivaneurope |
Posted on 23-08-2026 18:32
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3252
Joined: 09-05-2011
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TBH, I made Julien Bernard - a PT domestique, into a beast in CT, including in more hilly races like Hong Kong, Placci and Zuri...not to mention that he almost won in Austria. I'm sure Fernandes and Schlegel will turn out fine 
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 23-08-2026 18:53
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18059
Joined: 12-05-2012
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I'm not going to argue with a prediction that has us somewhere in the top-half of the division, knocking on the doors of promotion. I think it's an over-estimation, but i won't argue it.
And i think the crux of the BMF preview is correct, no grand winning rider, but death by a thousand cuts. Will rely heavily on the ability to score points here, there and everywhere and just accumulate enough without making a splash.
The overall table is interesting. A couple of stand out teams, a large cluster, a few stragglers (which is most years tbf). Great clashes in philosophy will surely all bubble together into an exciting season!
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 23-08-2026 21:24
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Team Leader
Posts: 6376
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Outstanding idea and delivery, big fan. Seems very wisely put up. I can't see Sauber winning the division or UBS, McCormick and Zwift that far down, but it's interesting to see the distribution of the different 'experts'.
Third to last isn't ideal for us but seems fair. I'm hoping we can defy that but it's not going to be easy that's a given.
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 23-08-2026 22:37
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5463
Joined: 29-09-2018
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Really interesting previews, thanks for doing this!
I still don't really know what to expect from my team. My own points predictions have them in the same place as your kids, but I'm obviously hoping that you (and your friend Claude) are right
On some of your points on my team:
- Schmid and Paez indeed have mostly separate schedules. Paez should be really fun in races like TDU or Britain, but also some of the easier C1 classics. Schmid will do harder classics like Euskal Bizikleta, and several stage races. We'll see if I got a better feeling on Mauro's schedule than last year ^^
- As I definitely didn't expect to get a top climber, I don't have enough mountain races to have Godoy and Darbellay on separate schedules. Which however seems to be pretty good for Godoy - as you mentioned, the support cast on the mountains is very weak, but whenever Darbellay is there to support him, Godoy can actually live up to his stats. I'm more worried about the couple of races either of them is on his own...
Bad support actually wouldn't just lead to breakaways winning stages, but also to Godoy/Darbellay breaking down early... One reason for me to not be over-optimistic.
- Sprinting definitely isn't our strength this year; fortunately we only have 3-4 flat classics. So Szarka can focus on being a stage race sprinter otherwise, which I think he weill do pretty well on some occasions (and not at all in other races).
- Sommer definitely doesn't feel like dead weight, as he'll be our leaders in C2 racing - and I do believe that he can be in the fight for a Top 10 there  Obviously not in C1 races and higher, but Stewart also will be happy about having a little bit of support (even though 70k is expensive for a 76 cobbler!). And with 76 Flat he can also be pretty useful to chase breakaways when Schmid or Godoy need it
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 24-08-2026 09:58
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 13357
Joined: 27-07-2015
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7th place as an average for the non-kids' rankings is about where I put my team as well, having gone over the division in the first glance. Hope I can become more popular with the next generation through the season though
Thanks for all the thoughts and efforts put into this!
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| Bjartne |
Posted on 24-08-2026 11:20
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3221
Joined: 15-07-2007
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I have been on phone on travels during the weekend, but have downloaded your newspaper and have enjoyed reading when I have a free minute. Amazing job you've done Heine. Really appreciated.
I will try to think about what kind of name change we could do to please your childs more for next season. |
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 24-08-2026 12:01
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7929
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Kids these days don't know how fun it is to ride a stationary bike in a video game... Got to look into more kid friendly marketing.
If we can be closer to the promotion race than the relegation drop by the end of the season, that's all I ask.
Thanks for going this, fun reads!
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| Laurens147 |
Posted on 24-08-2026 12:39
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Sprinter
Posts: 1756
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Great previews mate!  I hope your points model is right. But I agree with your gut feeling for our verdict!
MG - Lotto - Caloi
[MG] New Manager of the Year - PCM.daily Awards 2022
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| SotD |
Posted on 24-08-2026 12:41
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World Champion
Posts: 13062
Joined: 29-11-2006
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It's a brilliant read really! I'm not even halfway yet, but I love it
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 24-08-2026 12:59
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3949
Joined: 03-07-2012
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If being unanimously tipped for promotion across all 4 isn't pressure enough the average has us winning the whole bloody division.
I don't have the same optimism for my squad as is presented here but we will definitely see a solid improvement on last season where we only narrowly escaped relegation.
I think there's quite a range of what we could score as it really depends on if those in support of Hirschi burn themselves out completely for him or if they leave enough in the tank to get some solid depth scoring securing some top 10's of their own.
But if Hirschi isn't in contention for the Individual standings win with this support team then I think something's gone horribly wrong.
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| tastasol |
Posted on 24-08-2026 13:40
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3059
Joined: 11-09-2010
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Some cool reading! Biggest bummer is of course that your kids wasn't crazy about our team name
Think you are more right than Claude for our sake, but let's hope it's nailed on from Claude.
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| Caspi |
Posted on 24-08-2026 15:00
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Protected Rider
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I'll hopefully have time to add another comment later, but the layout looks fantastic. I also agree with your assessment of the team: lots of decent riders, but no elite standouts. Hopefully that's still enough for a finish just outside the top 5, although I'd much rather your kids turn out to be right #2
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| Eden95 |
Posted on 24-08-2026 22:26
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4852
Joined: 05-10-2010
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These previews are fantastic - thanks for going to all the effort! Some interesting ones where the consensus differs between you, Claude and your points system so will be interesting to see who comes out on top at the end of the season.
Indosat - ANZ HQ
"This Schleck sandwich is going to cause serious indigestion for Evans" - Phil Liggett |
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