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GP Fourmies discussion thread
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| Smowz |
Posted on 13-02-2011 10:05
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There are four more classics left in the Protour season finishing of course with the big Lombardy hilly classic. Squeezed in between the final stage races we are in France for the French circuit race of GP de Fourmies, the flattest road classic left in the season.
Won last year by this years Milan San Remo and Ronde Van Vlandaraan champ Alessandro Ballan - who took this one last year in a similar style of attack he used for Milan San Remo.
It is therefore a mistake to think that this one is solely for sprinters, but they will be hopeful. This is also really a very rare oppurtunity for the sprinters to take a high profile classic win after being robbed of a chance yet again at the worlds.
Last years top ten revealed a host of sprinters behind Ballan:
| 1 Alessandro Ballan SIC Radical - Timberland 4h27'12 | | 2 Filippo Pozzato Crédit Lyonnais s.t. | | 3 Thor Hushovd Festina - Seiko s.t. | | 4 Daniele Bennati La Gazzetta dello Sport s.t. | | 5 Jérôme Baugnies Lipton Ice Tea s.t. | | 6 Romain Vanderbiest SIC Radical - Timberland s.t. | | 7 Maxime Vantomme Philips - Hummel s.t. | | 8 Samuel Dumoulin Crédit Lyonnais s.t. | | 9 Kenny De Haes Virgin Media - Caisse d'Epargne s.t. | | 10 Mark Cavendish Eurosport s.t. |
Of course Pozzato, Hushovd, Vantomme, Dumoulin and Cavendish are racing in the CTour this year. But Bennati leads the sprinters in the startlist:
Spoiler La Gazzetta
1. D.Bennati
2. M.Bono
3. A.Dowsett
4. S.Marinangeli
5. M.Mugerli
6. R.RodrÃguez Segarra
7. M.Santambrogio
8. R.Wielinga
Festina
11. S.Bewley
12. S.Denifl
13. T.Kvist
14. S.Morabito
15. S.Sánchez Gonzalez
16. D.Ulissi
17. J.Van Goolen
18. M.Vingerling
Wolfskin
21. M.Van Stayen
22. J.Cooper
23. K.De Kort
24. B.Giling
25. M.Kreder
26. P.Martens
27. M.Sieberg
28. K.Sys
Pearl
31. R.Vanderbiest
32. J.Bakelants
33. E.Berthou
34. G.Levarlet
35. L.Mondory
36. Y.Offredo
37. M.Richeze
38. J.Vastaranta
Sony
41. A.Ballan
42. S.Anza
43. L.Fernández Oliveira
44. R.Granjel Cabrera
45. P.Grillo
46. M.Mori
47. D.Muravjev
48. M.Reihs
Nespresso
51. N.Hoffman
52. H.Aguilar
53. D.Di Luca
54. P.Fédrigo
55. N.Portal
56. M.Schär
57. G.Steurs
58. R.Traficante
Philips
61. A.Serebriakov
62. L.Bak
63. A.Lund
64. J.Mouris
65. M.Mørkøv
66. M.Pedersen
67. M.Reimer
68. N.Scheunemann
Domina Vacanze
71. B.Cooke
72. M.Eibegger
73. B.Myagmarsuren
74. N.Nuyens
75. B.Schröder
76. I.Speirs
77. J.Vanendert
78. D.Wyss
Wikipedia
81. T.Farrar
82. R.Broers
83. M.Burghardt
84. M.Busche
85. R.Eastman
86. A.Sebright
87. A.Timofeev
88. T.Van Garderen
Team B&O
91. E.Hagen
92. R.Kreuziger
93. S.Kruijswijk
94. A.Rasmussen
95. T.Riber-Sellebjerg
96. J.Sagan
97. K.Sobota
98. T.Veelers
Lipton
101. O.Avelino
102. G.Brizuela
103. C.Di Maggio
104. F.Matamoros
105. S.Nooytens
106. A.Petrie-Armstrong
107. E.Rizza
108. M.Rowe
Energie
111. L.Duque
112. M.Biondo
113. A.Colom Mas
114. F.Colop
115. J.Rojas Gil
116. M.Soler
117. A.Vicioso
118. C.Zaballa
Carmeuse
121. W.Weylandt
122. A.Aulas
123. C.Brandt
124. S.Casar
125. R.Di Gregorio
126. P.Jacobs
127. M.Kneisky
128. W.Van Den Eynde
Lafarge
131. W.Bonnet
132. L.Bret
133. D.Champion
134. C.Gautier
135. P.Korzh
136. K.Peeters
137. L.Sestili
138. F.Taillefour
Vesuvio
141. J.Hopman
142. M.Barth
143. D.Claerebout
144. T.Costagli
145. D.Galimzyanov
146. B.Gastauer
147. M.Iglinski
148. N.Schinker
Colombia
151. V.Reynès
152. A.Ardila Cano
153. P.Deignan
154. J.Gomez Marchante
155. S.Joly
156. C.Knees
157. O.Pereiro Sio
158. A.Tennant
Warner Bros.
161. M.Van der Pluijm
162. G.De Winde
163. G.Hasta
164. M.Karagobek
165. S.Perez Fernandez
166. J.Redondo
167. S.Rosseler
168. R.Van Houts
Auber 93
171. N.Maes
172. N.Brouzes
173. W.Ford
174. C.Kern
175. S.Langeveld
176. C.Le Mével
177. D.Mehr-Wenige
178. J.Mespoulède
Starbucks
181. A.Amador
182. M.Fahnert
183. K.Fajt
184. L.Hansen
185. R.Jaramillo
186. C.Ospina
187. P.Sibila Romero
188. G.Visconti
Control
191. T.Boonratanathanakorn
192. S.Batchelor
193. K.Michely
194. A.Niyonshuti
EL AL
201. S.Chavanel
202. S.Calzati
203. D.Eliad
204. B.Feillu
205. I.Konovalovas
206. S.Raisin
207. G.Rast
208. R.Sicard
Youngster Bewley is Festina's excellent one year replacement for Hushovd, Van Stayen and Vanderbeist will also be up there on the favourites board. Cases can be made for Hagen, Hoffman, Serebriakov, Farrar and Cooke and we have to watch one the attacking roulers who may go for a Ballan style attack including the man himself!
This race will come a day or two following the Deutschland Tours completion.
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| mattiasgt |
Posted on 13-02-2011 10:52
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I'm routing for a repeat of the last year's result.  But if Ballan not bothers to attack then I have the pair of Granjel Cabrera and Grillo for the sprint.
(Previously) Manager of Koenigsegg
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 13-02-2011 10:56
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mattiasgt wrote:
I have the pair of Granjel Cabrera and Grillo for the sprint.
Good luck beating the pair of Van Stayen and Sieberg 
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| SotD |
Posted on 13-02-2011 12:20
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My fingers are heavily crossed for podium here with a very strong lineup:
Sam Bewley, Diego Ulissi and Samuel Sánchez... We must give a strong impression here to take 3rd overall PT. This is our chance to get some distance on Pearl, Wikipedia and Vesuvio. Grab it!
Obviously we are probably not going to get anything from La Gazzetta, who seems pretty safe in the 2nd place.
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| fenian_1234 |
Posted on 13-02-2011 12:20
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Colombia looking for a win from a break away. No chance in my opinion. |
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| mattiasgt |
Posted on 13-02-2011 12:53
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alexkr00 wrote:
mattiasgt wrote:
I have the pair of Granjel Cabrera and Grillo for the sprint.
Good luck beating the pair of Van Stayen and Sieberg
I'm confident. 
(Previously) Manager of Koenigsegg
Koenigsegg: ( Media)
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| Heine |
Posted on 14-02-2011 11:09
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I think Hagen got close to the perfect stats for a race like this, then again I suck at guessing who will win :-p
Would be fun to see El Al win it, one of the Sylvains!
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| SotD |
Posted on 14-02-2011 12:06
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There are several riders who have "perfect stats" for a race like this I think
Depending on the toughness of the hills sprinters such as:
Tom Boonen, Daniele Bennati, Michael van Stayen, Sam Bewley, Oscar Freire, Jurgen Roelandts and Rául Granjel Cabrera - Due to their high flat ratings, good hilly performances, and decent endurance stats.
In case the hillier riders are the better then:
Edvald Boasson Hagen, Diego Ulissi, Yuri Trofimov, Alejandro Valverde and Tejay van Garderen could be good.
In case it's a matter of having the biggest engine then:
Fabian Cancellara, Alessandro Ballan, Marcus Burghardt and perhaps Jerome Coppel would be the best...
I believe it will be somewhat in the mixture of everything, and day form and luck will play a key role.
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| CrueTrue |
Posted on 15-02-2011 18:44
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Can't complain about the result |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 09-12-2025 05:09
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| mattiasgt |
Posted on 15-02-2011 18:49
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Hey, Reihs beated Granjel Cabrera in a sprint. Isn't that something.
(Previously) Manager of Koenigsegg
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| Smowz |
Posted on 15-02-2011 18:50
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I know a manager who is going to be pretty pissed about it ... waiting for the explosion
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 15-02-2011 18:51
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10th, meh
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| beagle |
Posted on 15-02-2011 18:53
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Smowz wrote:
I know a manager who is going to be pretty pissed about it ... waiting for the explosion
you aren´t definitely talking about manager of Festina, are you?
Manager of Polar in Man-Game
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| p3druh |
Posted on 15-02-2011 19:12
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Vanderbiest 
1st, 5th, 14th and 18th is way better than what I expected from this race!
Also, funny to see Vanderbiest (who can't seem to cope with hills) outlast Bakelants (why in the world was he dropped?).
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| SotD |
Posted on 15-02-2011 19:25
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This is beyond lame!
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| p3druh |
Posted on 15-02-2011 19:34
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SotD wrote:
This is beyond lame!
You're team is only as good as you're last race for you, isn't it? Remember Castaño's performance in the Deutschland with that superb field? It was just yesterday (not to mention every other race he did this year). 
These kind of sprint races are always going to be a shot in the dark, every team has a bad one. Without any top sprinter (as in, capable of mingling with the best), I don't think you can consider this race as a "lame" one for your team.
But those are just my 2 cents.
Edited by p3druh on 15-02-2011 19:35
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| SotD |
Posted on 15-02-2011 19:41
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My teams result is only as good as my last race. I haven't said anything about my team sucking. But this was not only below-par it was also a horrible outcome competitionwise as you get 300pts or so...
So it might well cost me my 3rd place in the PT. I'm not allowed to be a bit sorry with that?
And I reckon Sam Bewley to be one of the absolute top sprinters in this race. And it's basically lame because I didn't even break into top 30. If Bewley came 11th then he was misplaced, and that can happen. But coming in 30th here is not unlucky, thats's shit.
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| p3druh |
Posted on 15-02-2011 19:53
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SotD wrote:
My teams result is only as good as my last race. I haven't said anything about my team sucking. But this was not only below-par it was also a horrible outcome competitionwise as you get 300pts or so...
So it might well cost me my 3rd place in the PT. I'm not allowed to be a bit sorry with that?
Slow down. Everyone here stays quiet every time you win and come here to rejoice and every time you don't do well and become bitter. So why can't I say what I want just because I'm criticizing you? Ignore me if you want but I was just putting my opinion out there and I do believe I am entitled to.
And I reckon Sam Bewley to be one of the absolute top sprinters in this race. And it's basically lame because I didn't even break into top 30. If Bewley came 11th then he was misplaced, and that can happen. But coming in 30th here is not unlucky, thats's shit.
Well, I guess we'll have to agree to disagree because I don't think I would even put him near the top 5. Next year, different story.
Btw, Bakelants got dropped on the tiny little speed bump but I don't see it as shit, it's tough luck. Happened to every single manager out there this year (and every year for that matter).
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| Smowz |
Posted on 15-02-2011 20:09
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To be fair to SotD I thought that the top four riders in the startlist would have been favored in a sprint.
Bennati is the best and then Bewley, Van Stayen and Vanderbeist.
Bennati = 3rd, Van Stayen 10th and Vanderbeist = 1st.
At a level below I would place Granjel Cabrera, Serebriakov, Hoffman, Cooke, Farrar, Avelino, Hagen
Granjel Cabrera = 11th, Serebriakov = 6th, Hoffman 2nd, Cooke = 21st, Farrar = 12th, Avelino 17th and Hagen 46th...
So with the possible exception of Team B and O - this was definitely a sucky race for Festina.
But equally after a very indifferent Tour de France what a great couple of races for Pearl Adidas.
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| SotD |
Posted on 15-02-2011 20:15
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Well I don't think I was critisizing you. Atleast that wasn't my intention. In fact I don't really understand what I did? I was just trying to explain myself.
You wouldn't see me bitching if Sammy Sanchez got dropped an Bewley won the race either, so why should you complain? You probably got the best result of the entire season for you, right?
I don't see what my results in Germany have to do with anything. This is a different race and a different topic. If it was a discussion of the overall performance of our teams we wouldn't need more than one topic. This topic is about this race, and if we don't agree that my results here is way below-par then I agree we don't speak the same language.
Sam Bewley should be top 5 sprinter in this pack and the game AI put him 2nd, so obviously i'm not satisfied with 26th seeing that this was probably the last race where I had a good shot at making a difference.
You say you are entitled to your oppinion but am I not? Why should I ignore you when you comment my post? I don't think anything bad of you, I just try to explain why I react negatively when my riders suck. I believe i'm also very positive when they do well...
Edited by SotD on 15-02-2011 20:17
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