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Tour of Qatar Discussion
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| trekbmc |
Posted on 29-10-2017 07:36
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 Tour of Qatar
Qatar’s crown jewel, a race that costs a lot of money and entertains at least seven camels. However, for the sprinters, it’s a paradise, with roads that are flat, smooth and well-made meaning they can ply their trade without the issue of pesky hills. The sprinters will have 5 days to contest the race, before it is given to the Prologue, or should I say, “Epilogue” specialists, as the final 3.5km allow the sprinters talented in prologues to make small gains which could have a big impact on the GC.
Former Winners: | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | | 2009 |  Hushovd |  Haedo |  Napolitano | | 2010 | Bennati |  Vantomme | Croket | | 2011 | Ford | Vanderbeist | Bennati | | 2012 |  Swift |  Bewley |  Mohs | | 2013 | Boonen | Swift | Bewley | | 2014 | Boonen | Bewley | Kittel | | 2015 | Swift | Bewley | Degenkolb | | 2016 | Degenkolb | Bewley | Swift |
Sprinters: | SP | ACC | FL | PRL | | SP | ACC | FL | PRL |  Degenkolb | 84 | 81 | 76 | 67 |  Coquard | 82 | 83 | 73 | 79 |  Swift | 84 | 82 | 74 | 70 |  Saber | 81 | 79 | 75 | 70 |  Bewley | 83 | 83 | 78 | 71 | Roelandts | 81 | 80 | 75 | 68 |  Van Stayen | 83 | 78 | 76 | 60 |  Boeckmans | 81 | 83 | 73 | 60 |  Kristoff | 83 | 79 | 75 | 73 | Zabel | 81 | 79 | 74 | 55 |  Ahlstrand | 83 | 82 | 74 | 72 | Vesely | 81 | 80 | 73 | 57 | | Avelino | 83 | 78 | 71 | 70 |  Guillén | 81 | 82 | 67 | 56 |  Ciolek | 83 | 79 | 75 | 61 |  Van der Lijke | 80 | 79 | 73 | 68 |  Grosu | 82 | 80 | 73 | 70 | Van Poppel | 80 | 78 | 72 | 72 |  Vanderbiest | 82 | 77 | 74 | 74 |  Keukeleire | 80 | 79 | 72 | 58 |  Howard | 82 | 79 | 76 | 68 |  Stauff | 80 | 81 | 74 | 74 | | Tzortzakis | 82 | 79 | 74 | 59 | Ulanowski | 80 | 77 | 73 | 75 | | Groenewegen | 82 | 81 | 73 | 72 |  Petit | 80 | 78 | 76 | 66 | | Guarnieri | 82 | 81 | 76 | 75 | | | | | |
Many strong sprinters will be out in the heat. Two-time winner Swift will be ready to make up for last year as the top favourite, Groenewegen, Van der Sanden and Sbaragli will give him one of the best lead-outs in the race as well. Which could set him up as the first man to do the treble.
Last year’s winner Degenkolb will want to repeat his victory from last year, however with his lead-out weaker than last year, it’ll be interesting to see how he adapts but he’s still surely got the legs to win again.
Classics star Bewley has finished on the podium in the last 5 editions of this race, finishing in 2nd place on four occasions, this year his first race in the rainbow jersey will give him all the motivation he needs to try once again to finally take the top step of the podium.
Ahlstrand raced in the PCT last year and this year shows potential to contest the race as well, as a very capable sprinter. Coquard will get a boost in the prologue that could see him speed into a late lead or podium position
Strava has a duo of Guarnieri and Boeckmans, the former can prologue well and both can sprint amongst the best, so they’ll have potential as candidates for the win!
So many other sprinters can step into the breach though, Kristoff, Ciolek, Van Stayen, Vanderbiest and Avelino all can sprint fast but lack a little in the acceleration department. Grosu, Howard, Tzortzakis and Roelandts also all have power to be right up there at the top.
So, for the few camels watching, there’ll be many men raring to kick off the season with a bang!
Epilogue Specialists | PRL | TT | | PRL | TT | | Coppel | 83 | 83 |  Gonzalez Salas | 80 | 80 | | Fiedler | 82 | 83 |  Yatsevich | 80 | 80 | | Zmorka | 82 | 82 | Sütterlin | 80 | 80 | | Vlatos | 81 | 81 | Coquard | 79 | 65 | | Durbridge | 81 | 81 | Hansen | 79 | 77 | | Kittel | 81 | 81 | Olman | 79 | 79 | | Schädlich | 80 | 80 | Hepburn | 79 | 79 | | Howson | 80 | 80 | Malori | 79 | 79 | | Stoltz | 80 | 66 | Haugard | 79 | 79 |
The final stage gives the prologue specialists a chance at glory and maybe a late high GC finish, Coppel stands out as the favourite, while Fiedler and Zmorka are a duo for Prio – Porto who will both be strong challengers for him. However many other riders ranging from super specialised prologue riders like Stoltz to sprinters like Coquard who could take the spoils of glory on the last day.
Startlist:
Note: Apologies for a few equipment bugs in the race.
Edited by trekbmc on 29-10-2017 08:11
"What done is, is one." - Benji Naesen
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| SotD |
Posted on 29-10-2017 07:53
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Last season we didn't do all that well in the sprints, and Coquard didn't do well in the epilogue. I hope that will be better this season, although I fear it will not.
Last season, however, the final TT was won by Panagiotis Vlatos, and the year before that by Jerome Coppel. This time I have decided to bring them both. We need a good result in order to stay competitive. Sygic is here, again, with a great team aiming for the race win.
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| viking90 |
Posted on 29-10-2017 07:57
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Now it really starts for us. We have a Top 3 goal here that will be very hard to achieve. Hopefully we can make a sprint train and lead out Ahlstrand to some bonus seconds and he have a decent prologue stat to not loose time against the best sprinters on that stage.
Looking forward to this! |
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| roturn |
Posted on 29-10-2017 08:04
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Tough startlist as expected but hopefully Swift/Groenewegen work out well.
1-2 stage wins and a GC podium is absolutely wanted here.
With some TT guys I hope for some minor top30 positions by those. |
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 29-10-2017 08:14
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It's not a suitable race for Van der Lijke, but had to bring him really. He is probably too far down the pecking order to event sprint though. With TTs these days, will need a lot of luck for Kittel to do well, but there's always a chance.
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| tastasol |
Posted on 29-10-2017 08:35
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Excited to see Ahlstrand against the top guys here. Looks like it should be a good race.
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| fjhoekie |
Posted on 29-10-2017 08:40
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Let's see what Vanderbiest can do here... A top 10 should not be too unrealistic given his pretty decent PRL stat, Ulanowski and Golovash could also be good for some points I hope...
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game |
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 29-10-2017 09:59
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Looking for top10s with Avelino and a stage podium in the final day. Not sure what to hope for the final GC.
I'm expectnig the usual showdown between Bewley, Degenkolb and Swift to be the main decider here. Maybe some echelons tospice things up?
thanks for the preview trekbmc 
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| knockout |
Posted on 29-10-2017 10:05
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Grand Tour Champion
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First start of the season for Van Stayen and it's one of the lesser suiting races but of course he has to attend. Hoping for a lot more consistency this year after a mediocre 2016 edition. Stoltz is my secret weapon and I absolutely hope he will be attentive for echelons. Not sure if the ai is smart enough to treat a 68 OVR as a co-leader though 
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 29-10-2017 10:10
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No Minions in their de facto home race, but we'll cheer for the riders along the road.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 07-12-2025 09:45
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 29-10-2017 10:14
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Go Stoltz! Go Stoltz!
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| Scorchio |
Posted on 29-10-2017 10:15
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Far down the start and prediction list, but a nice race for WCC to track the (any!) involvement of our PT loan-out riders Bolivar (Wiesenhof) and De Luna (Gazelle). Hope they both build some form for later in the season in the hot early season sun!
First big PT sprint duel of the season. Seeing line-ups, favourite has to be Swift. Big interest in who AI deems get trains, number (fingers crossed for 4!), and who inevitably misses out due to the high levels of competition.
Buena suerte Sr.s!
Manager of ISA - Hexacta in the MG |
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| knockout |
Posted on 29-10-2017 10:40
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Grand Tour Champion
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Welcome on the hype train 
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| cio93 |
Posted on 29-10-2017 10:58
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Pretty far down on that startlist, I miss the Bennati times...
Last year, Sütterlin overperformed in the TT while Ciolek underperformed in the sprints to combine for 11th and 21st overall.
Going one higher each would be nice this time, although it's more likely the other way round. Two Top 15s amount to roughly the same points too.
Ciolek doesn't look any better in this field than in 2016 but I hope for a few more convincing stage results from him. 4 7 8 9 10 last year was a decent consistency but just not quite cutting it. We bring our sprint train here, but realistically it won't be used.
The TT will be down to luck with daily form. Sütterlin should aim for 5th to 10th, and maybe van Baarle can add a Top 50 GC result on a good day.
Can't really expect anyone but Degenkolb, Swift or Bewley to take this race. I'm hoping Dege won't falter under the pressure of having to carry a team named after him.
Festina to potentially get a lot of points out of this too to somewhat offset Bewley and get the old rivalry going again.
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 29-10-2017 11:14
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Obviously no expectations for the sprints, but it would be nice if Durbridge delivers a better result than he did last year. At least one Top-20 is a must-have result.
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| ember |
Posted on 29-10-2017 12:44
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Don't have great expectations here, looking at how Kristoff sprinted last year. Think he'll struggle to do consistent top 10s on the first five stages, but here's for hoping 
Degenkolb, Bewley and Swift are the obvious top guns, but really difficult to predict who of them will get the most from this race.
Looking forward to the reports, trekbmc! |
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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 29-10-2017 16:58
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We've sent zero riders with any sprint ability here, so we better join a lot of breakaways. Scoring points will be hard though.
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 29-10-2017 17:04
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World Champion
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As far as I remember, Grosu doesn't have a great history with the Qatar winds. Hopefully the warmth of a new team will change that
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| beagle |
Posted on 29-10-2017 22:32
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For me, ToQ remains one of the most awaited race during season. John Degenkolb is going to defend his 2016 title, this year with young Zabel instead of team legend Mohs for the first time. Our train may look slightly weaker, but it´s still strong enough to compete for podium places, I believe.
Manager of Polar in Man-Game
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| OlegTinkov |
Posted on 30-10-2017 06:40
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Not much in it for us this race, unless Yatsevich or Malori can get in a break and finish it off with a nice time trial.
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