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Rund um Koln Discussion
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 14-07-2019 17:54
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Grand Tour Champion
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 Rund um Koln
August 2nd, 2018. The riders make their way to the supposed start line of the inaugural Rund um Koln. Except they don't see supporters, or officials, or banners. Is this some kind of sick joke? The riders and teams decide to return to their hotel and leave Köln. Afterwards, they found out the route was a fake picture circulating on the internet, and the entire race was some kind of tax scam.
October 2nd, 2018. After multiple protests from teams and riders, the MGUCI decides to race the Rund um Koln after all. Stage designer tamijo was brought in to design a route as close as possible to the supposed route, and managed to do this in a very short time with great attention to detail. The same teams and riders as two months ago made it to the startlist. Everything is back to normal.
Profile
Rund um Koln translates as Tour around Cologne. It starts in Cologne and finishes in Cologne, duh. The profile is not the flattest we've seen but it should end in a sprint, except if you focus on the final kilometer with a magnifying glass. It has an average gradient of 2.8%, with a maximum of 5% towards the end. This might result in a win for the punchy sprinters, or even a proper puncheur.
Startlist
| Punchy sprinters | HL | SP | ACC | Sprinters | HL | SP | ACC |  Demare | 79 | 82 | 81 |  Coquard | 65 | 84 | 83 |  Kump | 77 | 81 | 80 |  Swift | 68 | 84 | 82 |  Van der Lijke | 76 | 81 | 79 |  Degenkolb | 69 | 84 | 81 |  Houle | 75 | 79 | 78 |  Lo Cicero | 64 | 84 | 78 | | Reimer | 75 | 77 | 80 |  Mohs | 65 | 83 | 82 |  Kreder | 75 | 77 | 78 | Cavendish | 65 | 83 | 81 |  Theuns | 74 | 77 | 76 |  Kristoff | 68 | 83 | 79 | | Bar | 70 | 77 | 76 |  Guerao | 65 | 83 | 76 | | Puncheurs | HL | SP | ACC |  Kennaugh | 65 | 82 | 81 | | Hagen | 85 | 73 | 79 |  Goss | 67 | 82 | 78 | | Koretzky | 80 | 71 | 79 |  Vantomme | 64 | 82 | 78 | | Bilbao | 79 | 71 | 75 |  Boeckmans | 68 | 81 | 83 |  Borges | 78 | 71 | 81 | Tzortzakis | 64 | 81 | 77 |  Chernetskiy | 78 | 63 | 71 | Guardini | 64 | 80 | 82 | | Felline | 77 | 74 | 78 |  Itami | 61 | 80 | 82 |  Senyenov | 77 | 68 | 73 |  Silvestre | 67 | 80 | 81 | | Zordan | 77 | 65 | 74 |  Stauff | 65 | 80 | 81 | | Edet | 77 | 61 | 71 |  Moser | 67 | 80 | 79 | | Afonso | 77 | 57 | 70 | Bouhanni | 63 | 80 | 77 |
The race attracted a lot of sprinters. So many that there are even some very good names which could realistically ride a top ten which we cannot mention here because there isn't enough space.
Three riders categorized as punchy sprinters could be seen as main favorites: Demare, Kump and Van der Lijke. This trio have won these type of races in the past and are virtually inseparable, the bookmakers can't decide on who they will declare main favorite.
A clear step below them are Houle, Reimer, Kreder and Theuns, though a sprint finish always has a possibility of a surprise winner.
Moving on to the sprinters which prefer flat roads. Coquard, Swift, Degenkolb and Lo Cicero are the big names there. Degenkolb especially wants to win in front of his home crowd.
The next line of sprinters consists of Mohs, Cavendish, Kristoff and Guerao. All of them are good sprinters and certain contenders for the victory.
Based on the bookmaker's profiles, Kennaugh, Goss and Vantomme form the next row. This race is a mix of PT and PCT teams, but the sprinting quality in both divisions is so high that we see nearly every top sprinter at the start here.
Hagen the best puncheur on the startlist. Koretzky is another star rider in that discipline, as is Bilbao. However, all off them have a sprinter in the team, Kennaugh, Coquard and Guerao, so the manager has to make a decision regarding team leadership.
One team which does fully focus on puncheurs is Porto, with Borges as leader.
Besides sprinters and puncheurs there are some riders who might surprise them. Wisniowski, Maes and Summerhill spring to mind.
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 14-07-2019 17:59
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Degenkolb here too. Yeah, direct promotion not gonna happen for us
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 07-12-2025 21:35
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| SotD |
Posted on 14-07-2019 18:14
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The race that will determine whether or not top 3 is realistic. First thing first: We need to outscore Vesuvio, which will be almost impossible. Then we need to score big to overtake Evonik and T-Mobile, who are not here.
Come on Coquard. Please let this race be non-selective OR so selective that Koretzky will podium!
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 14-07-2019 18:21
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On the bright side you get to build one more year in PCT, which might help you support your claim to ride PT.
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| sgdanny |
Posted on 14-07-2019 18:40
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No expectations here, let's see how it pans out
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| redordead |
Posted on 14-07-2019 18:46
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Go Kump! 
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 14-07-2019 19:22
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We need something from Kump here. He's got the skillset to shine, so hopefully he does.
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 14-07-2019 21:38
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Brought some decent support for Cav so hope he is in the mix but the uphill finish is not his thing. Doubt Kreder will be given a free role but you never know. Any points will be welcome.
Edit Shout out to Tamijo for creating a stage we can actually race!
Edited by DaveTwoBob on 14-07-2019 23:37
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 14-07-2019 23:10
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Ahaha fantastic turn around Marco. I have to admit I was really pissed about showing up to some random profile picture circulating the webs.
Anyway rooting for the puncheurs. Namely, you know, that one Borges.
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| trekbmc |
Posted on 15-07-2019 03:15
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I love this profile, a sprinter's race with a twist to more interesting is a fantastic profile imo.
The issue is that right now we need a calm boring profile where Vantomme can top 10 and we can take a respectable number of points home. Unfortunately, though I love this profile, anything could happen in terms of our sprinter so I'm kind of on edge about this, not expecting lots of points, but knowing a top 10 or even 15 could make all the difference.
Also, credit where credit is due, bringing EBH was a gutsy move that deserves to be rewarded.
Thanks for the preview Marco, I loved the intro! Rooting for Kump to win!
"What done is, is one." - Benji Naesen
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| SotD |
Posted on 15-07-2019 22:06
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World Champion
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Bollocks! So much for dreaming!
Koretzky sucked here, but when we go for Coquard he obviously have bad odds of doing anything.
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 15-07-2019 22:21
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Interesting finish, massive win for Degenkolb!
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| beagle |
Posted on 15-07-2019 22:23
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What a fantastic win! Thanks Marco for thrilling report!
Manager of Polar in Man-Game
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| sgdanny |
Posted on 15-07-2019 22:28
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What a pleasant surprise to get a surprise result here, very cool indeed!
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 15-07-2019 23:30
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Thank goodness I brought Kreder, 7th place from him after Cav was dropped is awesome.
Congrats to beagle and thanks to Marco for more great reporting.
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 16-07-2019 00:51
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Moser’s 67HIL to accompany his sprint stats doing absolutely nothing there as our best rider is Lobato in 76th. Am i surprised? No. Am I annoyed? Yes. Story of my season.
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| tastasol |
Posted on 16-07-2019 10:13
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Not a great result in the end, but really happy to see the guys trying to go for the big prize. I like it! Nice win for Degenkolb on home turf.
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 16-07-2019 11:49
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Again, not enough. How is Kump beaten by Van der Lijke this year that often!?
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 16-07-2019 11:50
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Anonymous race for us, but na entertaining one.
Strong performance from Dege to clinch a solid win. Congrats beagle, and thanks Marco!
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| CrueTrue |
Posted on 17-07-2019 20:38
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I had hoped for an even more selective race, but given the circumstances EBH delivers a great result.
Entertaining race / report. |
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