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Tour of Qatar Discussion
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| SotD |
Posted on 31-10-2017 11:49
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roturn wrote:
That`s how I like to see my team performing.
Super strong train even though hugely contested by Iberia. Head to Head sprint of the very best then and winning in style.
To complete the strong result Groenewegen in bonus second positions to give him a few more GC points in the end I guess.
Indeed it's looking to be a good gamble to use both! Well played 
Not so good for Degenkolb if Zabel doesn't get any bonus seconds, and they don't end up with Degenkolb atleast top 3.
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| cio93 |
Posted on 31-10-2017 11:58
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Obviously not good. Ciolek ran out of energy way too quickly, down to bad positioning and possibly bad daily form. Luckily Sütterlin got s.t. to save the day.
A podium or two Top 5's out of the last two stages for Ciolek is now kind of a must to get enough of a headstart to even Top 30 this race, and we can't expect Sütterlin to repeat last year's epilogue...
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| beagle |
Posted on 31-10-2017 12:19
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Good to see Dege improving stage after stage, not so good to see our team such disorganized. Obviously Zabel needs to gain some experience first 
Manager of Polar in Man-Game
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 07-12-2025 18:00
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| Tamijo |
Posted on 31-10-2017 14:36
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Nice one for Return, very close now - A Thriller
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| ember |
Posted on 31-10-2017 15:06
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That's a stage result way above expectations for Kristoff, which is great. Will need another 10 bonus seconds to make it count for the final GC though, but at least this gives hope we can come away from Qatar with something
Also nice to see Feillu grab a couple of bonus seconds, as he can probably do a top 50 overall now, if he's able to hang on to the bunch for the next two stages, which is far from certain, looking at how Gjølberg missed out on this stage.
And I must say I enjoy the reports, trekbmc, Great work!
For the overall win, it looks more and more like a battle between Bewley and Swift, which should go all the way to the end considering how close they should be in the epilogue. |
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| tastasol |
Posted on 31-10-2017 21:49
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Ah, had put in a bet on Ciolek. Pity that it didn't go all the way
Deserved to see Bewley taking the win, clearly the one who manages to be in the top regularly here, and he looks very good for the GC now.
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| Aquarius97 |
Posted on 31-10-2017 21:51
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Yep, Moser is on route to win 2 out 2 main PT events so far this season.
Great win for Bewley and that GC lead is almost impossible to recover for anyone
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| cio93 |
Posted on 31-10-2017 22:00
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tastasol wrote:
Ah, had put in a bet on Ciolek. Pity that it didn't go all the way
Wow teach me your optimism please, and dinner's on me next time 
This was a near perfect sprint. Ciolek hid well in the slipstreams, got lucky that a gap opened up and he wasn't entirely squeezed into the barriers, and used that opportunity to surge forward. For a second I believed he could win.
30 seconds is just one less than his TT loss last season, so he's close to covering that stage already.
A few more seconds into the better PRL sprinters would be nice now while he's already at it, but this is exactly what I outlined as the goal scenario earlier today, cannot complain in the slightest. 25 ranking points for the stage and possibly a similar amount gained from the improved GC.
Edited by cio93 on 31-10-2017 22:04
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| tastasol |
Posted on 31-10-2017 22:02
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Haha, if matt keeps putting his odds on 30+, I'll keep betting for him
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| ember |
Posted on 31-10-2017 22:23
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And suddenly Bewley seems to have bagged the GC, congratulations on the stage win, Roman! Also a perfect sprint from Ciolek, which was well done in that kind of chaos.
It looked very, very promising for Kristoff for a long time, staying on Bewley's wheel, but seems like he was squeezed out with a kilometer left when Bewley changed lane. After that it seems like he was blocked all the way down to 14th, at least I hope it wasn't him just being empty, as that would be a huge worry considering the perfect leadout he had up until it was 1km left.
Seeing the position he had, 14th is disappointing, and it gives him only one chance to take the bonus seconds needed to keep many decent TTers behind in the epilogue. |
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| viking90 |
Posted on 31-10-2017 22:26
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Lovely 3rd there! Our Top 3 goal is in reach still, achieving that would be a really nice boost and nice start to our PT debut season!
Lets make it Jonas! |
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 31-10-2017 22:27
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Just waiting for someone to join a break or... the TT.
Bewley might have sealed it today. Moser going strong early season.
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| matt17br |
Posted on 31-10-2017 22:30
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tastasol wrote:
Haha, if matt keeps putting his odds on 30+, I'll keep betting for him
As you wish
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| knockout |
Posted on 31-10-2017 22:41
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This race looks set for a disaster now. Van Stayen seems to be content to stay in line and taking top 10s on stages. He isnt even trying to avoid being blocked on a stage like this. He needs at least 10 more bonus seconds which seems unlikely with the way he's racing so far...
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| tastasol |
Posted on 31-10-2017 22:44
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Well, I'm surely betting on him now!
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 31-10-2017 22:45
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A real shame Grosu doesn't get more help from the team as his positioning has been awful so far, but I guess that is to be expected in such a field. Losing the U25 jersey is definitely not good.
On the plus side, Howson hasn't lost any time so far, which could potentially mean both him and Grosu just outside the top 10 in end. Which wouldn't be a bad result after all.
The seconds Vermeltfoort has won so far won't probably count for much, but this type of aggressive riding might be rewarded later in the season when better opportunities for breakaways arise so let's hope he keeps this up.
Really enjoyed the first screenshot - the equipment is coming together nicely this season
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| cio93 |
Posted on 31-10-2017 22:52
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I wouldn't even bet on him for 300.
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| tastasol |
Posted on 31-10-2017 22:58
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You need to have some faith, cio! Surely he would win at least once if you play the stage 96 times?
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| cio93 |
Posted on 31-10-2017 23:01
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Well first of all, I never bet on who I want to win.
And I'd love to dare a reporter who has the files ready and a couple of hours of free time to test that theory
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| Roman |
Posted on 01-11-2017 01:33
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Wow, that went almost perfect for us! Great lead-out from both Habtom and Vesely, and then it was quite easy for Bewley to score another podium result - this time a win. And this time even a 6th place for Vesely - if we can repeat another good result like this in the last sprint stage, things are looking bright for us for the final time trial. Would be a perfect start of the season, really...
Thank you ember and thanks for all the reports, trekbmc. 
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