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Deutschland Tour Discussion
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| Selwink |
Posted on 31-01-2015 10:17
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Grand Tour Champion
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2014 will already see the 8th edition in the ManGame of the Deutschland Tour. It originally started out as a ProTour race in 2007, and after being relegated to CT for 2011 and 2012 it returned in its original form the year after. Record winner with two victories is local hero Fothen, also present this year. Last year he came 2nd after Gesink though. Last year's third place Popovych is not present though, as  Metinvest - Emirates is not present here this year.
The route this year is the same as last year, and provides a very interesting variation. After a flat start, which should end in a sprint, we'll have 4 key stages in a row. First off we have a team time trial, where the first differences should be made. Then we have two medium mountain stages, and although neither of them finishes uphill the last hill is either very long or very close to the end. After that we find the queen stage for this edition, with a finish at the Rettenbachferner in Austria. After two relatively easy stages we end with an individual time trial, where the final differences should be made.
This year's race requires a good climbing ability, a good individual time trial and last but not least a team to help in the team time trial.
It therefore looks like a good race for  Sicard. He's a good climber and time trialist himself, but his support for the TTT is pretty much impossible not to call incredible, as with Fiedler, Zabriskie and Van Winden he has three world class time trialists in his team. Add Bouet, Navardauskas, Rolland and Clement and you'll have an incredible team. His weakness may be the lack of support in the mountains though.
For  Phinney a warning always has to go out. He's a better individual time trialist than Sicard and with Talansky his support in the mountains is stronger. The ttt team is a bit weaker than ING's though, so these two should be serious contenders.
And how could we forget last year's winner,  Gesink. He does not have a lieutenant like Talansky, but in width his team is very strong for the mountains. For the TTT he shouldn't worry either. Finally, his strength in the medium mountain might make him gain time in stage 2 and 3.
Just like the winner we can't forget last year's runner-up  Fothen. As record winner of this race he has something to prove, but without exceptional support in both the mountains and the team time trial he'll have to fix a lot on his own.
Home team  Rothaus - Aegon have brought Keizer as their leader here. He'll rely a lot on the time trials here, with him and Schädlich as engines for the TTT. His major weakness seems to be the medium mountains, where he'll have to limit his losses.
It'll also be interesting to see what Sella, as a pure climber will do for the other home team,  VolksWagen-Mapei. He'll very likely suffer in the final ITT, but he shouldn't worry too much about the TTT with Kovalev, Haugard and Brändle in his team.
Among the outsiders we find many, including  Martin,  Fränk Schleck and  Velits. The latter may be considered the strongest of these probably.
Not only stage racers and their support have traveled towards the start in Saarbrücken, sprinters have as well.
The main sprinters are the Germans  Mohs and, riding for wild card team  Team Puma - SAP, Ciolek,  Bennati, Avelino,  Impey and  Reimer. Apart from Ciolek and Bennati none have received incredible support, so chances are that the sprints might end up being very disrupted.
There are actually too many to mention here, but I'll try.  Simply Red Bull has brought an absolutely incredible squad. It may lack climbers or sprinters, but with Coppel and Cancellara for the TTT we'll likely see them getting at least one podium. Furthermore, they have brought some decent climbers who might take a victory from a break.
The same goes for most other teams. With a bit of luck they might contend for a top-5 in sprints or a top-10 in the GC, but most likely they'll need to rely on breaks to actually get some success.
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| roturn |
Posted on 31-01-2015 10:27
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Sella, Monsalve, Klemme, Zabel. 
Damn you Heine. 
Keizer though could surprise here if limiting the loss in the tougher stages.
Not sure about the TTT. Keizer, Schädlich, Dumoulin, Frison, Koep are probably the 5 strongest by me. The other 3 might hurt a top result there obviously.
But I guess most teams will struggle to bring a complete TTT squad here except for Red Bull and ING eventually.
Really need to gain points on VW here, even though this looks to be hard with their lineup.
Top 10 is minimum with a few good stage results needed. A pity to see Phinney/Gesink here as this makes it harder to get a win or podium in the ITT.
Also my sprinters Nizzolo/Krieger could try to reach something here.
Looking forward to this race. |
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| ember |
Posted on 31-01-2015 10:46
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Good preview! We're here for the sprints with Impey, and it would've looked promising without Ciolek and his well-drilled train. Now it will be all about picking the right wheel, which is always a bit of a lottery.
We've no ambitions for the GC here, which hopefully means we'll be involved in a couple of breakaways.
Should be a very interesting race with so much to play for thinking of the standings and seeing Phinney is here. He really needs to deliver if Wikipedia are to win again. Rothaus-Aegon vs. Volkswagen-Mapei is also looking interesting with Sella and Monsalve favourites agains Keizer on paper.
Fancying Gesink for the overall win, but he needs to make the hill stages count. |
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 31-01-2015 10:50
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If Schleck can surprise with a Top 10, that would be really useful. Needs to make the hill stages count, which I'm not exactly confident about.
Phinney is a real danger here though. Fortunately other teams should beat Wikipedia in the TTT to hopefully prevent Phinney from getting close to the race lead on subsequent stages.
The TTT will be very interesting for Rothaus v VolksWagen too. Possibly Rothaus best chance of getting an edge on VW, before relying on Keizer really riding well on the climbs.
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| Smowz |
Posted on 31-01-2015 10:58
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SportingNonsense wrote:
The TTT will be very interesting for Rothaus v VolksWagen too. Possibly Rothaus best chance of getting an edge on VW, before relying on Keizer really riding well on the climbs.
I can see a problem with your statement right there  Keizer! I always think of 'Keizer' Soze when he is mentioned (like Keizer cons managers that he is a stage racer year after year)
Yeah SRB are going up against ING in the TTT - bring it on I say just got to hope the guys can hang onto the motorbikes Cop and Canc.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 08-12-2025 04:02
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| Heine |
Posted on 31-01-2015 11:17
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I really hope Sella (and maybe Monsalve) can beat Keizer in the GC. I expect Rothaus to beat my team in the TTT. I hope Keizer and Schädlich destroys the rest of their team in the TTT so that the time wont be good...
After that I need my guys to attack, hopefully Sella can take quite some time from Keizer, if I'm luck aswell Klemme and Zabel could steal some points from stage placements.
I feel I got a really strong team here, had to considering it is in Germany. That also fits with how the season has gone. I need to steal points here.
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 31-01-2015 11:29
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Looking forward to this. Was interested in reporting this, too, but ofc it's great to see this done by Selwink. Nice preview there.
Route looks interesting and this TTT may well have an impact eventually. Really hope Rothaus can pull something out of it there, guess it's time for a great GC-result now 
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| SotD |
Posted on 31-01-2015 11:38
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I have a horrible team here. I can only hope that Tzortzakis does something, and that one of my dreadful climbers actually attacks to get some KoM points. Ratiy for somewhere between 25-30th I guess, and Tzortzakis with a couple of to 10s is the likely outcome.
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| wackojackohighcliffe |
Posted on 31-01-2015 12:02
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Hoping for a second Paris-Nice here but top 5 is the extent of my expectations really. Thanks for this Selwin.
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| Roman |
Posted on 31-01-2015 13:06
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I have quite a strong team here. Hoping for top 5 for Velits overall, stage hunting for Sagan and at least decent TTT. Should be a good race.
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 31-01-2015 13:13
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I really hope Gesink can win here, but unless he wins time on Phinney in the hills, he has no chance of doing so. A podium would also be a good result. Also, let's see if Vanendert can repeat last year's performance.
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| Crommy |
Posted on 31-01-2015 15:13
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I'm going for Phinney to take the win here in that final TT.
No hopes for the Bouygues boys, my team is here to try and get in the breaks
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| rjc_43 |
Posted on 31-01-2015 19:43
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Unfortunately I can see myself losing ground to Pokerstars in this race. I think I have the stronger TTT squad, maybe. But will certainly score less on the flat and hills, whilst the mountains could also be a flop as it's down to Faiers once more...
He might pull out a Top 20 ITT though. That's gotta be worth something. Right? Right?!
[url=cleavercycling.co.uk]  [/url] |
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 31-01-2015 19:50
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Nice to see Fothen mentioned even though it's mainly for the historical value of his presence. Very pleasant preview Selwink thanks for effort
Sicard and Phinney do have very good chances here, with only 1 MTF vs 2 TTs. However with only one mountain stage, things will come down to the randomness of daily form. Also those 2 hilly stages look pretty keen on causing some unexpected damage, me thinks.
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| beagle |
Posted on 31-01-2015 21:17
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I don´t know what to expect from this race, Mohs/Ginanni can both deliver orboth fail. Everything is in AI´s hands. Nice preview, thanks Selwink.
Manager of Polar in Man-Game
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| roturn |
Posted on 01-02-2015 10:25
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What a stage. So many crashes. Luckily my team avoided them all it seems. And lucky Phinney, who avoided a time loss different to Faiers.
Disappointing though that none of my sprinters was trying to join the top 10 fight.
Nice report. |
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| Smowz |
Posted on 01-02-2015 10:26
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Wildcard team take the opener - though Mohs is a good second place a nice boost for Pokerstars.
A lot of big crashes though - the wheel of fortune is not kind. A shame Morobito crashed but he is still here which is important for next stage.
The big news though is Vesuvio and Wikipedia related - Vesuvio lose a man and Phinney is down but no time loss you fancy he probably is okay. Losing a man though is critical you'd have thought for Frank Schlecks hopes of snatching a GC lead or even a high GC place.
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 01-02-2015 10:27
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 01-02-2015 10:40
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Damnit, losing De Gendt is a big blow for the TTT. Pity that Phinney lost no time!
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| ember |
Posted on 01-02-2015 11:14
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Good to see Impey being best of the rest in the sprint, but it looks like it will be difficult to challenge for a stage win for him. Will be interesting to see if ING can give Sicard a perfect position and the jersey in the TTT, which he could need if he's going to challenge for the overall win.
And rjc can't be a happy man, getting his hopes for a decent GC placing from Faiers ruined already. |
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