Original idea from Croatia, the place for people who want to predict the CT but don't have the time or want for those nasty words. Feel free to bomb this thread with predictions!
Spoiler
My prediction to kick it off is the ultimate lazy one, I only looked at every team once, so it's going to be pretty off, but I stand by Delvaux winning.
1
Delvaux
2
Valio – Delaval
3
ENI – MOL
4
Compal Meridia
5
Campari Super Dry
6
GCN Pro Team
7
Equinor Pro Cycling
8
Swisslion Cycling Team
9
DK Žalgiris
10
Sauber Petronas Racing
11
?
12
BNZ Cycling Team
13
Eddie Stobart
14
Andorra Project - InGamba
15
Telia – Brussels Airlines
16
Adastra – Argon 18
17
Banco de Bogota
18
Oberfranken
Really impressed with all the teams though, normally there are a couple not great teams at the bottom, this time it was very hard across the whole table.
What a rollercoaster of a prediction season - straight from last place to first in a matter of days! I don't think either one is right, but I definitely like your prediction better, trek
Sykkel_Freak wrote:
What a rollercoaster of a prediction season - straight from last place to first in a matter of days! I don't think either one is right, but I definitely like your prediction better, trek
This was obviously made very quickly and looking back now maybe Valio deserved first, but I do think you're definitely a strong contender for the title (though any of my top 6 could be in the running imo, after that there's a bit of a gap), but with Guarrnierri and Kreder splitting the sprints, Breen with awesome back-ups and good support on the flat, plus just generally Kadri, Vichot and Favilli being awesome, I really don't think the lack of mountains or TT guys will harm you in the slightest.
Might do a full one later but just for the goodness of Oberfranken and Adastra I rate them now out of bottom 5:
13
Oberfranken
14
Adastra - Argon 18
Yes, Ratiy won`t score a lot, but I like some of the other riders. I like the look of Diaz and Elissonde in CT though and former rider Geschke can do huge if planned nicely. Abraha maybe here and there.
Adastra has 2 solid climbers with above average Acc for CT. Think both will do okay and surprise.
Love the look of CT this year. So much depth across all specialities and no real standout riders in any field (with very few exceptions, that is). Very hard to predict really. Disregard the points, it's just something I was using to make my life easier while skimming through the various teams.
With the season coming round faster than I expected, didn't get the opportunity to do an in-depth look at CT unfortunately. Had a roam through the DB this morning, and here is my gut-feeling appraisal. A number of placings are very close, especially 5th-8th, and then the mid-field group just behind that. CT division is the most susceptible to significant under/over-performance due to variability in quality of race-planning. I have taken no account of this, although I did contemplate awarding experienced managers a default bonus, but didn't do so in the end.
1
Valio - DeLaval
2
Delvaux
3
ENI - MOL
4
GCN ProTeam
5
Compal-Merida
6
Team Cerveceria Costa Rica
7
Sauber Petronas Racing
8
Swisslion Cycling Team
9
Banco de Bogota
10
Campari - Super Dry
11
Rothaus - Aegon
12
Andorra Project - InGamba
13
Adastra - Argon 18
14
Oberfranken
15
BNZ Cycling Team
16
Eddie Stobart
17
DK Zalgiris
18
Telia-Brussels Airlines
19
Equinor Pro Cycling
Valio - DeLaval is in my opinion the best team the CT division has ever seen. I think they could easily be breaking through the 2000 points barrier for the season which would be really impressive!
I think the addition of the new Amateur teams will have no impact on the promotion race (as I believe should be the case), but may well impact some of the lower ranked teams overall points potential by mopping up more of the breakaway points that teams like Eddie Stobart/Equinor may have expected to pick up in previous seasons.
Good luck to all, and most importantly enjoy the season ahead!
