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Hong Kong Challenge Discussion
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| redordead |
Posted on 15-10-2026 09:11
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Team Leader
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Welcome to the 9th edition of the Hong Kong Challenge. This is the 3rd year since the race has transitioned from a 3 day stage race into a one day classic. While it's not one of the longer one day races on the CT calendar, it is one that features a fair bit of climbing. With that in mind the MM stat was taken into account when compiling the list of favourites. The expected outcome is that we get either a late solo attack winner or a very reduced sprint finish.
With that said let's look at some of the favourites:
| Leader | MM | HI | ST | RS | SP | AC | Helper | MM | HI | ST | RS | SP | AC |  Lutsenko | 76 | 81 | 73 | 70 | 70 | 78 | Yates | 72 | 78 | 77 | 74 | 62 | 69 |  McCarthy | 73 | 80 | 77 | 72 | 63 | 71 | Nikiema | 74 | 77 | 72 | 74 | 70 | 76 |  Yates | 74 | 79 | 74 | 67 | 75 | 77 | Kelderman | 73 | 78 | 74 | 69 | 63 | 66 |  Kinoshita | 74 | 79 | 74 | 71 | 64 | 71 | Langellotti | 75 | 77 | 76 | 71 | 67 | 74 |  Tesfatsion | 77 | 78 | 68 | 72 | 69 | 78 | Rojas | 73 | 76 | 76 | 71 | 67 | 76 |  Mayer | 74 | 78 | 66 | 72 | 72 | 77 | Beltran | 77 | 76 | 70 | 72 | 62 | 69 |  Schlegel | 78 | 77 | 71 | 74 | 64 | 75 | Neuman | 73 | 76 | 69 | 74 | 69 | 77 |  Azman | 77 | 77 | 69 | 72 | 65 | 75 | McKenna | 75 | 76 | 69 | 72 | 65 | 77 |  Quita | 76 | 77 | 75 | 75 | 71 | 74 | Velasco | 74 | 76 | 75 | 71 | 69 | 76 |  Lazkano | 74 | 77 | 68 | 71 | 64 | 75 | Mosca | 73 | 74 | 71 | 73 | 64 | 73 |  Blouwe | 74 | 77 | 71 | 73 | 68 | 74 | Svab | 74 | 76 | 70 | 72 | 67 | 78 |  DLC.Chapulin | 73 | 77 | 75 | 76 | 68 | 77 | Rohendi | 75 | 75 | 73 | 75 | 62 | 73 |  Raileanu | 76 | 76 | 72 | 71 | 58 | 68 | Shirota | 75 | 75 | 69 | 68 | 63 | 78 |  Covi | 76 | 76 | 71 | 72 | 64 | 68 | Bonneu | 71 | 75 | 76 | 72 | 61 | 69 |  Paulus | 75 | 76 | 69 | 66 | 61 | 69 | Boswell | 72 | 76 | 71 | 67 | 61 | 70 |  Brun | 74 | 76 | 73 | 71 | 63 | 74 | Goncalves | 74 | 75 | 71 | 70 | 68 | 74 |  Schönberger | 74 | 76 | 73 | 74 | 65 | 71 | Vendrame | 69 | 76 | 75 | 73 | 71 | 75 |  Glivar | 74 | 76 | 72 | 74 | 70 | 72 | Ryuki | 71 | 73 | 74 | 71 | 67 | 73 |
Lutsenko should be the favourite for any hilly classic on the Continental Tour. No one can best his hill climbing skill, he's more than fine on longer climbs and boast acceleration as good as anyone. And while his main domestique Yates is not the best at prolonged climbing, he should be overall strong enough to lead the Kazakh into the business end of the race.
McCarthy has awesome support with Nikiema and Watson. He's not the best climber though so he'll need to manage his energy despite having great stamina. He's also not much of a sprinter if it comes to it.
Yates on the other hand is easily the best sprinter here with a great punch. He's also a decent climber with only low resistance as his weak point. He also has on paper a very good domestique in Kelderman.
Kinoshita and Langellotti might be the strongest duo of riders for any single team. Both are good climbers and not the fastest finishers. How they work between each other could have a big impact on the dynamic of the race as both have the ability to win it.
Tesfatsion is sometimes maligned for his poor stamina, but he's a very good, explosive climber that could be suited to his race which isn't as long in length as some of the other classics. It's a similar story with Mayer, not as good of a climber, but a very fast finisher. Schlegel and Azman both lean more on the mountain climber side. They've not got the sprinting ability, but overall their punch is good enough. If they can make the race hard enough on the longer climbs then they could be competitive in a more reduced finish. The final rider I want to mention is Quita who I'm a big fan of personally. He can do it all. Climbing, punch, sprinting and good stamina for this level. If he can maintain good positioning I don't see why he can't be a major threat not only here, but in most hilly races.
Full startlist:
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| Dippofix |
Posted on 15-10-2026 10:11
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4120
Joined: 29-01-2013
PCM$: 300.00
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Fond memories of Sagan picking up the win here last year, but it'll be a very different experience for us this time around as a PCT team. Mostly sending the kids here for experience, but hopefully Vendrame and Schönberger can anticipate a bit and maybe pick up some welcome points as well!
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 15-10-2026 10:14
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Team Manager
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I hope Tesfatsion can shine here. He should indeed be pretty well-suited for the race 
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| trekbmc |
Posted on 15-10-2026 10:29
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Team Leader
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For us this race feels less like we're racing against the field and more like Tesfatsion vs. the kilometre counter. Really hoping it's short enough that we see a good result but won't be too surprised if he blows up on the last climb.
My pick is Schlegel to win this one, will be interesting to see how the lower MM guys do given it looked to have mattered a lot last year.
Thanks for the great preview redordead!
"What done is, is one." - Benji Naesen
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| jackgibbs |
Posted on 15-10-2026 13:21
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Free Agent
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Obviously Kinoshita gets the benefit of any doubt from me after winning in San Jose, but the course does seem to suit Langellotti better. So hopefully the game will prefer him in the finale if he looks the stronger of the pair.
Also had to send a small team here because of the GORR conflict. Ludvigsson and Miyazaki should be able to be there late into the race (and the former in particular could even score), but hopefully that doesn't cause any issues. |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 15-10-2026 22:58
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| Imladrik |
Posted on 15-10-2026 15:45
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1374
Joined: 05-10-2021
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Rooting for Lazkano to represent Basque Country!
“...the secret of the Great Stories is that they have no secrets. The Great Stories are the ones you have heard and want to hear again. The ones you can enter anywhere and inhabit comfortably."
A. Roy
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 15-10-2026 16:37
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Tour de France Champion
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Another one for the Cardinals! Less optimistic about this route since mountain is probably more important, but hope to see the boys in the break!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 15-10-2026 16:51
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Classics Specialist
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The dev boys are here no idea why our Kit goes so hard when its a proper mismatched mesh but love it anyway
Gogl probably goes pretty well again here like in San Jose too |
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| Caspi |
Posted on 15-10-2026 21:20
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I also hope that Tesfatsion will have a good race, as that means Azman should have a chance to perform as well.
Stamina shouldn't be an issue for Azman here, nor lack of support. However, it needs to be a tough race on the hills for him to shine, and even then, the startlist looks stacked. Top 5 is the best we can hope for, but with the poor start to the season we'll be happy with a top 10.
Thanks for the preview
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 15-10-2026 21:26
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Team Leader
Posts: 5508
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Have to agree with bbl that this probably won't be the best race for Vogt/KHJ (with the latter surely being quite a bit better here), but let's at least try to get some TV time from the breakaway then
Agree that the better MM riders should have an advantage here, but they might need to gap the likes of Yates, Mayer or Quita here on the final hill - in particular the latter is pretty high up on my favs list...
Thanks for the preview, good luck to all!
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Hong Kong Challenge 
