6th edition for the ProTour’s big men favourite race: the unique Tour of Northern Europe. 8 breathless days for the riders, who will wake up in a different country almost every day.
The race will kick off in Belfast, Northern Ireland, with a Team Time Trial. They will head towards Dublin the next day for one of the 3 occasions for the pure sprinters. Then they will have to face some flights that will take them from Dublin to Belgium and the next day a cobbles-heavy stage will be raced. Some of the riders know what we’re talking about, as some of the cobbled sectors are usually included in the “Hell of the North”.
The next stage could well be a short Ardennes classic: 170 kms from Geleen, Netherlands to Flémalle, Belgium. Another long transfer will take them to s’Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, for the 30 kilometers-long Individual Time Trial.
The last – long - transfers will take them to Denmark first, for the second sprinters stage, and to the cold Norway, where they’ll spend 2 nervous days for various reasons. In fact, the GC-deciding stage is Stage 7, raced in the beautiful Fjords, a zone which is also full of steep hills. To top it off, Stage 8, the last chance for the sprinters, will also decide who is going to carry home the Green and Polka Dot jerseys.
The route, besides being particularly challenging under so many points of view, is also demanding under a psychological point of view. As we said, the riders will have to race in 7 different countries, which is something that doesn’t happen in any other race. Moreover, it’s hard to find a true big favourite here, someone who can handle equally well Cobbles, Côtes, Longer Hills and Time Trials.
Nonetheless, Fabian Cancellara is probably the best suited to this race, having won it 2 times before, last year and in 2011. ‘Spartacus’ is one of the best cobblers and time trialists around, but doesn’t climb equally well.
The startlist is full of awesome cyclists, top representatives of their respective specialities. Let’s take a look at who we may have to watch out for in each terrain.
The Startlist
The Favourites
Sprinters
SPR
ACC
FLA
Time Trialists
TTR
FLA
RES
Lo Cicero
84
78
72
Fiedler
83
79
76
Degenkolb
83
81
76
Coppel
83
77
78
Mohs
83
82
75
Cancellara
81
82
74
Vanderbiest
82
77
74
Ford
81
63
64
Guarnieri
82
81
76
Kittel
81
75
70
Kristoff
81
79
75
Durbridge
81
73
74
Roelandts
81
80
75
Yatsevich
80
70
81
Maksimov
81
84
72
Zmorka
80
72
73
Kennaugh
81
81
77
Viennet
80
72
75
Kupfernagel
80
80
74
Ignatiev
80
80
74
Holloway
80
82
78
Sergent
80
79
74
Cobblers
COB
FLA
RES
Punchers
HIL
STA
RES
Burghardt
84
79
76
Ginanni
83
78
78
Blythe
82
76
71
Claeys
83
74
68
Cancellara
82
82
74
Gastauer
82
78
70
Vanspeybrouck
82
76
71
Schumacher
81
78
73
Zepuntke
81
72
72
Bobridge
80
74
74
Senechal
80
73
72
Gautier
80
76
72
Kamyshev
80
75
73
Zaini
80
74
65
Nolf
80
74
72
Gilbert
79
79
75
Franzoi
80
76
70
Bilbao
79
77
71
Teunissen
79
74
71
Lutsenko
78
74
72
Gusev
79
77
78
Caruso
78
76
71
No Swift, no Bewley here; possible chance for Pokerstars.com's duo to prove themselves. In fact Degenkolb and Mohs can be considered the best sprinters in the field. It's hard to predict who will be the leader between the two as we'll probably only find it out when the sprint trains are formed. Lo Cicero could get into the contention for a stage win but that will only happen if he decides to actually sprint for once. Other names like Guarnieri, Roelandts and Kennaugh shouldn't be forgotten either, considering how open and 'random' some sprints have been thus far.
With regard to the time trialists, most of the top names are taking part: Coppel, GC winner in 2013, and Fiedler, who this year is riding in a PCT team, are the biggest names here. Always beware of a rider like Cancellara though: the Swiss Machine proved to have an astounding feeling with this race, having won at least a stage each time he took part.
As for the cobblers, we should always consider Burghardt as the biggest threat. Even though the German has had an unfortunate season so far, he proved his talent so many times in the past. Cancellara on the other hand has been only behind this season's dominator Bewley in a few occasions so he should be considered just as strong. Cobbles are unpredictable though, so other second-tier riders like Blythe, Vanspeybrouck and one of the GC favourites Gusev could pull off a surprising result.
Pokerstars.com have another potential top points scorer in Ginanni. The Italian puncher, aided by the absence of the usual suspects, is by far the best bet for the 2 hilly stages. Riders like Claeys and Gastauer on a good day could bring on an interesting battle though and shouldn't be discounted. Also make sure you don't underestimate Schumacher and Gilbert. The two of them are considered as some of the riders to watch out for the GC and this could represent an interesting motivation boost. Below you can find an outlook on the riders who should do well here:
All-Rounders
COB
TTR
HIL
TTT
TLS
Fabian Cancellara
82
81
70
70
303
Stefan Schumacher
68
74
81
73
296
Vladimir Gusev
79
74
71
72
296
Philippe Gilbert
71
71
79
71
292
Giovanni Visconti
73
70
76
73
292
Roger Kluge
77
74
68
71
290
Steven Kruijswijk
74
72
72
71
289
Joost Posthuma
69
77
71
70
287
Pit Schlechter
75
67
72
72
286
Ricardo Van der Velde
73
70
72
70
285
Enrico Franzoi
80
70
67
67
284
Zdenek Stybar
73
69
70
70
282
Alexander Kristoff
78
68
68
68
282
Thomas De Gendt
67
76
70
68
281
Vegard Breen
75
68
70
68
281
As we said, Cancellara stands out as the clear favourite thanks to his ability of being one of the best cobblers and time-trialists at the same time. It's not easy to look any further than him for this race, but the ball is round, and he'll still have a hard time defeating his most fierce opponents.
Just behind him, we can find a really strong rider like Schumacher. The German can also count on one of the best TTT teams around. Gusev is also one of the most solid riders around, and proved it winning the opening edition in the year 2010, even without winning a single stage.
Gilbert won the opening stage in 2012, but wasn't strong enough to keep it up until the last stage. In the last two years he also came 5th and 4th and he could now look to improve his performances.
On the other hand, it will be a debut for Visconti, who can not count on any really strong points but doesn't have any weak ones either. OZ brought one of the strongest teams to support him, if he will be the captain, considering the variety of alternatives the Australian-based team can opt for.
There are many other all-round riders who could grab the win in a race like this. Some of them rely on a bigger ace in the hole but can defend themselves on the other terrains, like Kluge, others will just try to be as constant as possible, and an example is Kruijswijk. We only know that all of them will try their best to provide some great action.
A pity that I am not racing here as Boom is the perfect allrounder for that race as also proven last season.
Definitely one of my favourite races of the season as it is hard to predict the winner.
Hoping for some good results from Zepuntke and Claeys. Will be interesting to see what they can do here.
As usual I feel this is Spartacus's race to loose, will be interesting to see who can challenge him. Without Bewley we might even have some open Cobble/flat stages
No Bewley, no Swift, no Van Stayen - with possible train Mohs/Degenkolb/Kluge I smell great chance to shine on flat terrain! However, sprinter field including Lo Cicero, Kenaugh, Roelandts, Guarnieri,Holloway etc. is still great competition.
Also Ginanni could grab stage win in one of hilly stages.
I´m really looking forward to this race for a long time, hopefully it won´t turn out into nightmare
Sorta not really convinced this will be Fab's race. Sure he should do well on cobbles and in the ITT but you feel as if the hills will lead to some decisive gaps with breakaway maybe more likely on the cobbled stuff.
Ignatiev not mentioned in the whole text (which is btw. super awesome in its detail), while he will win the GC, just wait for it.
Nah, he is really poor on the cobbles,but apart from that he is clearly best all arounder, so maybe if cobbles are ridden defensively, who knows. But i will be happy with good stage results, as we have bunch of stage hunters almost for every stage here (Ignatiev,Zmorka, Nolf, Grosu). So stage win can be possible and if not, at least we could enjoy some nice and unpredictable racing. Good luck to all!
Very nice preview. This is a race I fear quite a lot, because it is so unpredictable. Normally I would look forward to the race, but being so close in the top 3, I just want to get past this race without losing ground to the others.
I suspect that Vesuvio will be moving further ahead here with some decent riders on all terrains - Even Schlecther has outscored my cobblers previously.
I hope that I can score a bit higher than Becherovka here, eventhough that might be the exact opposite.
No big sprinters from either team means that breakaways could be the key. I hope Tom David can go into breaks as he should be OK as an alrounder.
Usually a quiet race for Vesuvio, unless I bring Swift, and this year I haven't.
Schlechter may fare well in the all-round statistics, but that may depend on him going in the breakaway on the cobbled stage as he did in Omloop - I wouldnt expect the AI to let him ride for himself otherwise, and be well positioned - rather than at the back, protecting Van der Lijke or someone else. Gastauer could get some nice stage results, or the breakaway could win those stages instead.
This is a gem of a race, and definitely a very nice preview, matt17br.
We've got no overall ambitions, for that we will loose too much in the TTT. Hopefully Kristoff can grab some stage podiums, and then I'm dreaming of winning that final stage in Kristiansand, but it looks difficult as he's a significant weaker sprinter compared to the best.
Other than that, fingers will be crossed for joining the breakaways. Any rider except Gjølberg and Lund in a breakaway, and I feel we should have a decent chance at stage glory, but as always that's a lottery.
It's been a while since the last race of my team, so I am eager to return to competition.
As is obvious, the team has no ambitions in the general classification, but with Fiedler the victory in the initial stage is possible as well as on a good day Kupfernagel is able to be in the fight for a stage win. I also hope that the team try to at least be present in the breaks
This race is going to be an interesting one. No Bewley means Sergent is likely going to be a team leader, but I have some decent hopes for a good GC result for Stybar and Polnicky - if they can survive hilly stages in the main peloton, cobble stage could really help them to achieve a top 30 result.
Dunno the exact TTT stats of all teams, but I want to win this opener here so hard! No sprinter, but Burghardt/Visconti or Bobridge definitely can do some damage here. Would be disappointing to not come away with a notable result and some solid points here. There's no excuses, imo, as we brought a a well rounded team for this.
tsmoha wrote:
Dunno the exact TTT stats of all teams, but I want to win this opener here so hard! No sprinter, but Burghardt/Visconti or Bobridge definitely can do some damage here. Would be disappointing to not come away with a notable result and some solid points here. There's no excuses, imo, as we brought a a well rounded team for this.
Thanks for the detailed preview!
I actually also made a TTT overview but didnt post it because I thought the preview would get too damn lomg then!
Tour of Northern Europe 
