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Viana do Castelo Discussion
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 23-10-2025 17:08
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Classics Specialist
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Viana do Castelo Preview:
It’s time for the best race on the calendar! The legendary Viana do Castelo. Myths have been sung about the illogical decision making in years bygone, but new winds are blowing across the MG universe and with those there might be yet another shift in the results here in Portugal. The 206km trek around Northern Portugal has had a cornucopia of winners over the years but  Benoot has the chance to make it a hattrick and become the only rider in Viana history to win the race three times. This time around the Belgian is riding in new colours after a move to newly relegated MOL. Without much further ado let’s take a look at the rest of the field.
Due to the nontraditional profile of the race we have to note two primary types of riders as both regular puncheurs, like last years runner up and two time winner  Meurisse, have been known to perform quite well. Just like regular cobblers also can find success here. In the first category newly trained  Eriksson is looking like a rider who could hit it big for his CT outfit in Tafjord. The Swede has good memories from this race as he finished 6th in the 2022 edition of the race.  Jorgenson found success last year for Zwift, and makes a return to the startlist, will it be a triumphant one for American? Generally speaking, puncheurs who have a passable ability on the cobbles have been able to make a difference in a race like this so we must also keep an eye out for  Van der Poel, who I believe is making his Viana debut this year for the rebranded Estonian outfit.
| Rider | HI | ST | RS | CO | AC | | Benoot | 81 | 75 | 74 | 76 | 71 | | Eriksson | 79 | 78 | 74 | 65 | 76 |  Watson | 78 | 76 | 72 | 57 | 72 | | Van der Poel | 77 | 78 | 77 | 72 | 77 | | Jorgenson | 77 | 79 | 78 | 68 | 71 |  Bettiol | 77 | 78 | 75 | 66 | 77 |  Vincent | 77 | 79 | 72 | 65 | 71 |  Jung | 77 | 72 | 72 | 64 | 71 | | Blouwe | 77 | 71 | 73 | 61 | 74 |  Raileanu | 77 | 74 | 73 | 56 | 70 |  Carr | 77 | 74 | 71 | 55 | 72 | | Lilovski | 77 | 70 | 70 | 54 | 73 | | Lyu | 77 | 75 | 76 | 50 | 74 | | Meurisse | 76 | 72 | 72 | 67 | 76 |  Honore | 76 | 74 | 73 | 67 | 73 |
In terms of pure cobblers, our eyes somewhat surprisingly must turn to the like of  Louvel,  Habimana and Pithie who all posses the necessary skillset to make a real difference out on the course. However, the fear here could be that Zepuntke might not be able to live up to the fourth-place finish from last year locking the Frenchman into a subpar finish having to work for his captain. The Kiwi prospect’s chances are also entirely dependent on what Van der Poel will throw his way as he is primed for a depth finish or potentially even a great finish depending on how manager jph has managed to set up the team’s tactics come the end of the race. A final mention must go out to Polanc who, despite his decline, is a rider that also seems tailormade for this type of parcours although I struggle seeing the Evonik legend keep up with Benoot who should be able to absolutely smash the field to continue MOL’s strong start to the season.
| Rider | HI | ST | RS | CO | AC | | Zepuntke | 69 | 79 | 72 | 82 | 65 | | Stallaert | 65 | 73 | 65 | 79 | 73 | | Polanc | 72 | 77 | 72 | 77 | 74 | | Moricz | 68 | 73 | 71 | 77 | 64 |  Schreurs | 67 | 75 | 75 | 77 | 71 |  Nareklishvili | 66 | 73 | 73 | 77 | 71 | | Benoot | 81 | 75 | 74 | 76 | 71 | | Louvel | 72 | 75 | 78 | 76 | 67 |  Sanogo | 71 | 71 | 72 | 76 | 70 | | Debesay | 71 | 70 | 74 | 76 | 73 | | Tediashvili | 70 | 76 | 78 | 76 | 71 | | Mestric | 70 | 69 | 70 | 76 | 65 | | Van Lerberghe | 65 | 73 | 72 | 76 | 71 |  Zubov | 60 | 65 | 64 | 76 | 64 | | Habimana | 74 | 73 | 72 | 75 | 71 | | Pithie | 72 | 74 | 73 | 75 | 74 | | Roosen | 71 | 71 | 73 | 75 | 71 |
Edited by whitejersey on 23-10-2025 17:12
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| knockout |
Posted on 23-10-2025 17:12
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8234
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Time to shine for Polanc <3
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| quadsas |
Posted on 23-10-2025 17:39
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2727
Joined: 18-01-2013
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Another chance for Tedia to dab on da haters
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 23-10-2025 18:08
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3484
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awesome race this and our leader hasn't been mentioned in the preview but i don't think that will be the case in the race  ,
this suits Basso down to the ground and we have our top 5 goal with him here in mind even before transfers on a normal day i can't see him out the top 5 a bad day he should still top 10 and on a great RD he could win this!
The two main favs though for me have to be Jorgensen and Benoot so if we can be in that 2nd group with Polanc, Zepuntke et al that will have been a succesful day
Sangulin and Livyens also suit this okay and may top 20 so really excited here.
For surprises watch out for Lukas Erikkson and Vincent as this course can really play to the strengths of the high stamina guys |
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 23-10-2025 19:29
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Sprinter
Posts: 1806
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Zepuntke for the second time this month, though he's mainly here because it's a cobbled race of some kind and he had the RDs left. But with his 4th place from last year he could be a good option if the hills aren't very selective. Louvel could be a joker as stated in the preview, so let's hope both do well.
Thanks for the preview, wj!
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| Heine |
Posted on 23-10-2025 19:50
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Hoped to get a stronger cobble-hilly rider so selected this as a goal. Wont manage that goal but felt Vincent was my best bet and he had rd left. Lets hope for some luck!
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| Bjartne |
Posted on 23-10-2025 20:32
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3059
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I'm not sure why we're here, but surely not for points, that I can say  |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 05-12-2025 12:28
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| Caspi |
Posted on 23-10-2025 21:49
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Domestique
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We're obviously not race favorites, but I actually like the squad we bring and am looking forward to seeing which rider(s) will ride as captain(s) on the day.
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 23-10-2025 22:01
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2539
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I have wanted participate in this iconic race for a while and this season decided to give it a go and see if our new cobbler can get us some minor points.
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 23-10-2025 23:31
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Grand Tour Champion
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Hoping this is the year Jorgenson can finally knock off Benoot. The hilly training in the offseason will hopeful make the difference here.
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| redordead |
Posted on 24-10-2025 06:34
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Team Leader
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First time that I can remember Viana having a proper startlist.
"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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| TheUlamog |
Posted on 24-10-2025 11:20
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Free Agent
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I'm not sure what I can expect from this one for us, but Im hoping for a surprise. Good luck to everyone, looks like a great startlist this time around! |
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 24-10-2025 17:19
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Team Leader
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I like this race for various reasons, that's mainly why we're here. Now we didn't need to split the team because of race clash with Roma Maxima, but who wants to score points anyways?
Benoot should be the undisputed favourite, but from my recollection this race is anything but predictable. If that turns to be the case we may save this from being a 0-pointer.
thanks for the preview WJ!
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| Laurens147 |
Posted on 24-10-2025 18:30
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Sprinter
Posts: 1523
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I wasn’t in this race, but this is always a fun race to follow. jt’s words proved to be wise about Basso
Congrats quadsas with the win and thanks WJ for the report! 
MG - Lotto - Caloi
[MG] New Manager of the Year - PCM.daily Awards 2022
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 24-10-2025 18:33
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Classics Specialist
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BASSOOOO!! This has been the plan for the full off-season, and it's amazing to see it come off so well. For whatever reason, he really suits this race and it paid off for sure here!
Congrats Quads for the win a shame to see MVP have bad luck he could have gone really well but glad to see Erikksson and Vincent both have strong performances the stamina stat really helps here |
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| Booker |
Posted on 24-10-2025 19:33
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Protected Rider
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Very happy with the performance and depth scoring from us here, it was a strong squad we brought and glad that at least Bettiol and Vermeersch (lol) paid off!
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| quadsas |
Posted on 24-10-2025 19:56
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2727
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Tedia is on fire, already exceeded his points expectation. I wish I could've scrounged enough shekels to have given him the training I wanted, but looks like that wasn't necessary at all. Now gotta hope that he hasn't sucked the luck out of Lutsenko and Kmieliauskas.
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 24-10-2025 20:42
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7802
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Missed it by a bike wheel. Surely Jorgenson's struggles in the middle of the stage ended up costing him the win here. Just got caught out at the wrong time, but thankfully the team did well to at least get him back on the podium here for a third straight season.
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 24-10-2025 22:11
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Directeur Sportif
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Benoot and Polanc in those shirts feels weird 
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 25-10-2025 09:53
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Sprinter
Posts: 1806
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Thanks for the great report to wj and congrats to quadsas on a surprising win!
It's probably been the cobbles race least suited for Zepuntke, so 11th isn't overly surprising and still worth some good points, especially with Louvel, Lapeira and Küng in 15th to 17th adding some nice depth.
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