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Franceville Classique Discussion
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 17-11-2021 02:38
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 3918
Joined: 02-11-2010
PCM$: 300.00
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 Franceville Classique
Welcome to the 2nd edition of the Franceville Classique. The race is once again in the PTHC but this year moves up in the calendar from June to January to take advantage of the year round warmth in Gabon.
The inaugural edition was won by Yoeri Havik for Duolingo with Gaetan Pons (MOL) and Matt Rowe (YOR) taking the other podium spots. Havik won it from the break, outsprinting 13 others with the big guns trailing in together almost 3 minutes down. The 204 km parcours is the same this year so the leaders will be need to rethink their strategy to make sure the break doesn’t stay away.
 Havik is back and so are the big guns. The startlist is a who’s who of the PTHC cobblers with some top PT guys thrown in, notably the Grieg duo of  Wisniowski and the new and improved Pedersen.
| FL | CO | RS | SP | AC | | Wisniowski | 80 | 83 | 76 | 73 | 76 |  Kamyshev | 77 | 82 | 75 | 66 | 60 |  Blythe | 76 | 82 | 71 | 76 | 73 | | Senechal | 75 | 82 | 74 | 69 | 74 |  Altur | 75 | 82 | 70 | 72 | 68 |  Zepuntke | 72 | 82 | 72 | 72 | 65 | | Pedersen | 77 | 81 | 80 | 78 | 77 |  Stallaert | 77 | 81 | 68 | 79 | 76 |  Bewley | 76 | 81 | 73 | 81 | 80 |  Vanbilsen | 78 | 80 | 74 | 72 | 71 |  Debesay | 75 | 79 | 79 | 69 | 78 | | Sulimov | 73 | 79 | 71 | 65 | 71 |  Fenn | 72 | 79 | 71 | 70 | 69 | | Zubov | 68 | 79 | 69 | 61 | 69 |
Wisniowski is the top cobbler in the field but if it is a group sprint the veteran Bewley, riding for Mapei is the best prepared, while Grieg’s focus could switch to Pedersen. In a sprint the PTHC’s top hope is Stallaert. While if it turns into a race for the hard men Kamyshev and Debesay have strong secondaries, but the Grieg duo will once again be the favorites.
With Grieg having two top favorites and the break winning last year, they will be under a lot of pressure to control the attackers. For that job they bring 4 strong cobblers in Ringheim, Kosic, Laporte, and Resell, plus flat beast Andersen.
Against that depth many of the top teams bring strong second (and third for Tinkoff) options like Senechal, Sulimov,  Baugnies, van den Berg and Owen. So look for lots of attacks as teams try and test Grieg’s strength.
In total the race includes 146 riders representing 19 teams.
Full Start List
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 17-11-2021 02:53
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Tour de France Champion
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We're absent from this one, so all aboard the Grieg train! Hopefully Resell can help Wisniowski and Pedersen to glory.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| SotD |
Posted on 17-11-2021 07:10
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World Champion
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Strong competition here. I guess we'll have to see what Karatzios and Kortsidakis can do, but I won't be expecting a lot.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 06-12-2025 19:02
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 17-11-2021 08:34
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Wishing for another miracle here  Come one Yoeri you can take this!
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 17-11-2021 09:19
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The first big test of whether Stallaert can be the pillar of our PCT survival that he has to be considering how much we pay him. Not too optimistic considering the field, Top 10 is the minimum, Top 5 would be great. Curious to see how detrimental his low RES turns out to be. Thanks for the preview, looking forward to the report!
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 17-11-2021 09:22
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3837
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My best cobblers are Minoungou and Ulloa, so I'm hoping one of them joins a big break that survives again Thanks for the preview, Ulrich, looking forward to the report!
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 17-11-2021 09:36
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7592
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As cunego said... let's see if this is the start of PCT survival on the Cobbles with Blythe. Interesting that Adam is Top3 in the favourites list, but no mention in the preview at all... If that a good sign or not?
Let's see how we go, but this is our strongest cobbles team and support.
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 17-11-2021 10:32
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Grand Tour Champion
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Let's see if Zepuntke's training was a waste of money or a big waste of money
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 17-11-2021 10:42
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Tour de France Champion
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Based on the our season thus far, Henis Hasani will somehow get a Top10 by outsprinting Stallaert.
Because this course is so relatively unchallenging i'm again expecting some AI weirdness this year, which has sort of work from the new look T3A. And with Altur & Wolverine not being great sprinters we could well be involved in those kinds of moves.
I miss Kigali, that was a more fun early season African cobbles race 
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| tastasol |
Posted on 17-11-2021 10:59
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Classics Specialist
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Didn't go super last year in this race, but hopefully it can be more controlled this time. Bewley should be hard to handle in a sprint, but Pedersen showed some good form in Qatar. Fingers crossed for a guy on the podium in a race that can go different ways.
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| ryant |
Posted on 17-11-2021 12:02
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Bit of a dud race for us here, not expecting for us to be favourites at all given what teams other people have brought. Fenn on his own wont be a favourite but I think the race should come down to a reduced sprint, hence we brought Cullaigh - or a break away like last time. Don't think the race will be too selective due to the route and cobble difficulty.
Good luck!
 John St Ledger in Team Bunzl-Centrica and Team U25Red Bull Driver in RFactor
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 17-11-2021 12:15
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Tour de France Champion
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How does Vanbilsen get the 3rd spot on the start list?
A top 10 should be expected here though.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| knockout |
Posted on 17-11-2021 12:45
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Grand Tour Champion
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Very curious to see how the new game handles the cobbles. As in most cobbled PTHC races outside of my own bands, I'll be cheering for the Grieg duo to control the race but of course i'd love a strong Blythe result too. |
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| OlegTinkov |
Posted on 17-11-2021 13:22
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Classics Specialist
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First important race of the season for us, fingers crossed!
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 17-11-2021 22:39
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Tour de France Champion
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We didn't race badly, but the result just isn't there. Seems like we're in for another frustrating season.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 17-11-2021 22:47
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3837
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Did not expect Laizer being our best rider (and scoring points), but two points are two points Was also nice to see Ruiz' national jersey for the first time, thanks Ulrich 
Congratulations to Mapei, but definitely also Bralirwa and Grieg for a good race.
Thanks for a great report!
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| Roman |
Posted on 17-11-2021 22:57
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4279
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So boring to see Bewley winning all the time.
Congrats Heine! 
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| tastasol |
Posted on 18-11-2021 01:41
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3030
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It was always going to be tough to win here against Bewley, so happy with the podium. And then what a team effort, with a total of four riders in the top 10. That really makes this as great a race for us. Really got the more or less maximum out of our depth today and close to 300 points in a PTHC one day race is a great score to get out of this race.
Congrats to Heine on the win! Hopefully Wisniowski can crack Bewley in the tougher races later this year 
Thanks for a great report, Ulrich! Really entertaining read.
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| Heine |
Posted on 18-11-2021 06:13
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He might be declining, but he is still a great rider! Awesome from Bewley
Very good and interesting race, lots happening, many attacks and when my guy win in the end it makes it even better
@tastasol - I really hope he can't crack him ;-)
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 18-11-2021 07:45
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7592
Joined: 28-05-2009
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You know what... I can't complain we didn't give it a go! I think all but Carr were on the attack during the race and even Adam had a good number of digs at the end. 7th is good in a race against PT teams and some top Pave riders.
Well done Heine on the win and looks like Bewley just wins wherever he goes
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