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Deutschland Tour Discussion
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| Vien |
Posted on 30-06-2019 04:58
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 Deutschland Tour
Good morning all cycling fans! Or just fans of the German landscape, but whatever. You are now reading the preview of the 2018 Tour of Germany, also knows as the Deutschland Tour. And if you haven't spent time looking at the profiles yet, you're in for a surprise. Because instead of a mini-GT, like last season in which Úran took the top step of the podium, it's now turned into a flat 5-day stage race!
Flat... So that means it's one for the sprinters right? Well, yes and no. As the main attraction of this Tour is a 26.5 kilometer time trial on day 3. This will likely decide the final GC, as even four perfect sprints will only earn 1'20 in bonification seconds. Then again, the eyes will mostly be on the PT and PCT's best sprinters, as four sprint finishes are to be expected!
So as mentioned, we have to regard time trialists as the only reasonable winner of this edition. And then one name completely stands out, which is Carrefours's leader: Jerôme Coppel! The famous veteran has already won many time trials, even at PCT level and looks unbeatable this time, too. It's also hard to imagine him losing time at the other stages with his great substats. Therefore, he should be the one and only favourite to win this edition.
Behind him, there are three time trialists who can be seen as threatening for him: Durbridge, Kittel and Vlatos. All extremely good time trialists but they will need to have a great day, and Coppel a terrible day, to beat him. Still with the unpredictability of time trials, nothing is impossible.
And then.. Well, how do you even attempt to analyse this? There is a huge group of hungry time trialists who are looking for an upset. Cornu (Euskaltel's last hope?), Yatsevich, Viennet, van Winden and Gonzalez Salas all have top-3 potential. And home riders Schädlich and Sütterlin should have that little bit extra to fight for podium spots, too! All other riders on the list will need a very good day to join the top 5. But it certainly isn't unthinkable.
But of course, the sprinters will recieve a lot more air time during this stage race. And a good one could easily match the GC winner's amount of points scored, with so many opportunities for stage wins and the potential to wear the leader's jersey for two days. And thus, many teams have decided to send a very strong sprinter here. And three of them stand out, though they need no introduction: Coquard, Swift and Degenkolb. The latter has performed well in the PCT so far and is looking to get ready to match with the best sprinters in the world again. If he still has what it takes, it should be enough for a win his home country for sure!
Behind them a group of outsiders who will likely try to join the trains of the aforementioned top sprinters. Espcially Lo Cicero, Cavendish, Mohs, Avelino and Guerao have the ability to outperform the top three either on intelligence or simply by having a good day. Kennaugh, Vantomme and Goss are less likely to win but might focus on consistant results and a potential good result for the points jersey. All other riders will probably hope for one good day to appear on the screen of the many fans watching this race.
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 30-06-2019 06:12
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As you've pointed out, this could very much be our final hope to perform a miracle to drag us out of relegation. Cornu is always capable of producing something in Time Trials but the strength of the field here is very obvious so it'll be quite a challenge but it's still possible that he could make the podium. Ganna is our hope here for the Youth classification which he likely won't win but it'd be nice to see if he can grab some points. The sprinters field is also very strong so Moser will struggle to make the Top 10 but you never know, he will also have great support from Vingerling.
And if none of that works then maybe we'll get lucky from a breakaway and get points that you don't plan for. Either way it'll be a good race and I'm looking forward to it!
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| SotD |
Posted on 30-06-2019 06:50
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If stage 2 isn’t too hard for Vlatos, then this could potentially be a very good race. But the sprints will be random I guess with this many top riders.
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| sgdanny |
Posted on 30-06-2019 12:21
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Just here for the stage points
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 30-06-2019 12:57
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Home race for Kraftwerk and we bought in Schädlich specifically for this so hope he hits some good form and gets a decent GC placing.
Looking for Cav to get in the mix for the sprints, some signs of a leadout train would be nice!
Thanks for the preview Vien.
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| roturn |
Posted on 01-07-2019 06:58
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No GC hopes here obviously except for Swift when taking some bonus seconds.
That said, Sbaragli seems to be too strong for him with the windy conditions. Not sure why, but Swift simply isn`t having a good season unfortunately, which will cost me a lot in the end as I was in need of him performing to his stats. |
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| SotD |
Posted on 01-07-2019 07:25
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What a way to mess up a sprint that was looking like a certain win at some point. Too bad Santos and Bar didn't switch as that is usually the formula for succes.
I can live with 3rd though, as long as we come away with a stagewin on one of the remaining 3 tries.
Vlatos luckily survived in the very back of the group! Some TT'ers were less fortunate, I see... Still a good bunch of GC leaders in the front group however - and we managed to keep 5 there. Let's hope we keep up being attentive.
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 01-07-2019 07:26
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Not bad from Cornu ensuring his GC hopes are maintained by finishing in the first group. Horrible from my sprinters though who have got to hope for more in the upcoming stages.
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| Eden95 |
Posted on 02-07-2019 00:30
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Wacky sprint there, glad to have luckily scrounged a top-10 there. Looks like that’ll be par for course here.
Indosat - ANZ HQ
"This Schleck sandwich is going to cause serious indigestion for Evans" - Phil Liggett |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 06-12-2025 21:37
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| SotD |
Posted on 02-07-2019 05:26
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Well that was just crap.
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| roturn |
Posted on 02-07-2019 05:34
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This was a lot better by Swift even though the bad positioning shouldn`t happen with Sbaragli in the train.
2 more chances for a win. |
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| OlegTinkov |
Posted on 02-07-2019 06:20
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So 2 of our 4 Time Trialists already out of the GC fight, hopefully Malori and/or Vorobev will have a good ride tomorrow!
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 02-07-2019 07:20
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Much better result there for Moser! Hard to expect him to win given the field here so I'm happy with being in the Top 5. Now time for Cornu to do his best in the TT.
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| beagle |
Posted on 02-07-2019 20:11
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2/2, what an amazing start!
Manager of Polar in Man-Game
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 02-07-2019 23:25
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Cav gets 5th in stage 1 and was in the mix.
Nowhere to be seen on stage 2, get it together!
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 03-07-2019 06:06
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Given the level of competition here, I'll take 7th from an ageing Cornu which should mean he'll finish 7th in the GC. Now for Moser to try again in the sprints.
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| SotD |
Posted on 03-07-2019 07:06
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Bah, what a huge letdown! Vlatos should be 3rd or 4th here... So instead it now looks like we'll get 8th GC and no stagewin. That was a big bummer in the fight for overall top 5!
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| maxime86 |
Posted on 03-07-2019 19:08
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Another great win for Coppel! Pretty disappointing once again at Lo Cicero's lack of results but a GC win would be great for us. |
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 03-07-2019 19:47
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Disappointing TT 
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| SotD |
Posted on 04-07-2019 07:25
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It's funny how the races you expect the most from, often is the most dissapointing...
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