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Herald Sun Tour - Discussion
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 14-11-2025 22:11
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 Herald Sun Tour (C2) Discussion
The Herald Sun Tour and Australia's TT specialists tour. The sprinters will also have a field day here!
4 sprinters stages and 1 decisive ITT of 20.8km. Should be a very exciting tour!
| 1 | Emilien Viennet | Newton Foundation p/b Zwift | 14h37'44 | | 2 | Luca Sterbini | Euskadi-Murias | + 6 | | 3 | Giorgi Nareklishvili | Trans Looney Tunes | + 7 | | 4 | Michael O'Loughlin | Glanbia | s.t. | | 5 | James Oram | Glanbia | + 12 | | 6 | Julian Cardona | SEE Turtles | s.t. | | 7 | Similo Nyoni | SEE Turtles | s.t. | | 8 | Jake Marryatt | Spark Team NZ | s.t. | | 9 | Victor Campenaerts | Team Würth MODYF | s.t. | | 10 | Carlos Verona | Genii Hyundai N Cycling | s.t. |
| Rider | FL | TT | PR | RS | ST | FT |  Sütterlin | 70 | 79 | 79 | 76 | 72 | 75 |  O'Loughlin | 73 | 78 | 75 | 74 | 69 | 69 |  Christodoulos | 72 | 78 | 79 | 69 | 75 | 73 |  Thomas | 73 | 78 | 79 | 73 | 75 | 64 | | Sterbini | 67 | 77 | 77 | 72 | 73 | 70 | | Oram | 73 | 77 | 77 | 72 | 72 | 64 | | Mathis | 72 | 77 | 75 | 76 | 68 | 66 | | Tesfom | 75 | 77 | 76 | 74 | 70 | 72 |  Cardona | 73 | 77 | 77 | 74 | 72 | 62 | | Hepburn | 69 | 77 | 77 | 74 | 71 | 65 | | Nyoni | 69 | 77 | 77 | 72 | 67 | 71 |  Frison | 70 | 76 | 76 | 69 | 71 | 62 |  Price-Pejtersen | 72 | 76 | 75 | 76 | 69 | 65 |  Campbell | 74 | 76 | 75 | 68 | 69 | 67 | | Hennis | 70 | 76 | 76 | 72 | 71 | 69 | | Cole | 76 | 76 | 75 | 72 | 70 | 72 |
Sütterlin has to be the favourite for Euskadi-Murias, although as usual, races in Australia are always unpredictable so nothing is guaranteed.
O'Loughlin, Christodoulos, Thomas will be the main competitors in the ITT.
Points will be important here for the C2 teams and Kraftwerk, SEE Turtles and Podium Ambition seem to have the best depth in the TT so should be able to get some excellent points!
| Rider | FL | SP | AC | RS |  Manninen | 73 | 80 | 78 | 73 | | Bol | 76 | 79 | 77 | 77 | | Van der Lijke | 70 | 79 | 74 | 66 |  Walscheid | 73 | 79 | 79 | 74 | | Perera | 71 | 79 | 80 | 73 | | Marin | 74 | 78 | 78 | 73 | | Plowright | 74 | 78 | 76 | 73 |  Hayakawa | 72 | 78 | 77 | 66 | | Norbert | 75 | 77 | 75 | 77 |
A strong field here this year in the CT. Manninen and Perera would have to be my favourites for the stages. Their sprint ability and acceleration will be important. Ethiopian Airlines has also shown they can lead out well!
Bol, Van der Lijke and Walscheid will also compete and should be able to steal away victories if they have a strong leadout or find the right wheel!
Marin, Plowright, Hayakawa and Norbert are my final sprint favourites here. Potentially a stretch but it is Australia! Anything can happen!
Good luck to all riders here and keep an eye out for the 3 PCT teams Colombini Kometa, DeNA Roadstars and Gjensidige Pro Cycling Team.
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| Heine |
Posted on 15-11-2025 07:38
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Come on Thomas! Really looking forward to seeing how he does
Thanks for the preview
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 15-11-2025 16:43
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First chance for Christodoulos to show what he can do when wearing a tie.
Hopeful Bol can compete for the points jersey and that our TT guys don't loose time by chasing for the sprints.
Thanks for the preview Jakstar.
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 16-11-2025 00:48
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Very hard to hate on a Van Der Lijke dub! Congrats Dane!
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| Heine |
Posted on 16-11-2025 06:34
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Congrats Dane!
But most important! Thomas in the sprint getting bonus seconds! Awesome! Thats a great start
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| Heine |
Posted on 16-11-2025 19:44
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Another top 10 from Thomas, can't complain, can't complain
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 16-11-2025 21:51
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Cool to see the "old sprinters in new teams" meta still working 
But it's seriously nice to see the new teams succeed!
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 05-12-2025 11:47
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 17-11-2025 08:44
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Very interesting first stages here. Thomas looks very well positioned in the GC fight and Perera is positioning himself as the best sprinter in the division early this season with some strong results |
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 17-11-2025 08:44
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Very interesting first stages here. Thomas looks very well positioned in the GC fight and Perera is positioning himself as the best sprinter in the division early this season with some strong results |
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| Heine |
Posted on 17-11-2025 11:45
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Thomas still with a small advantage over the other TTers going into stage 4. Fingers crossed
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| Dane Bramage |
Posted on 17-11-2025 14:38
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Thanks guys. van der Lijke a nice surprise so far
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| djorzen |
Posted on 17-11-2025 23:59
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Get in there Matti! Nothing more beautiful than Finn winning for a Finnish team. Exactly the reason why we signed him. Hopefully there are many to come. |
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| Heine |
Posted on 18-11-2025 10:02
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Ah, 5 seconds behind Sutterlin in GC. Doubt he can get that in bonus seconds on the last stage but can always hope. Still well done by Thomas!
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 18-11-2025 13:10
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Catching up
Sprints - doesn't look like Kraftwerk are giving Bol a leadout, he has managed 6th, 7th and 2nd surfing the wheels which is not bad given his low acc.
TT - solid performances from our 3 TT guys should result in decent depth scoring and a win in the Team category loved by the Kraftwerk management.
Thanks for the reports and congrats to the new managers for their wins.
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| seancoll |
Posted on 18-11-2025 23:11
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Disappointed in Ganjkhanlou's sprints so far, but one more chance on stage 5!
The TTers though have done there job, a top 5 and 3 top 10s with Kelly ready to score in the back end of the GC is worth the race days for sure. Always wanting more, but really don't see how this could've realistically gone much better.
Thanks for all the reports so far!
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| Heine |
Posted on 19-11-2025 06:45
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Thomas tried, just not quick enough
Still, 2nd GC I am quite happy with!
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| Dane Bramage |
Posted on 19-11-2025 08:26
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When you have a goal to win 8 stages in stages races, then 2 here from van der Lijke is just what we need.
Thanks for the reports.
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| Radio00 |
Posted on 19-11-2025 09:09
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Strategic Maturity and a Podium Spot in our Season Debut
Behind us lie five intense stages where Team Zappes Kölsch proved one thing: We are here to stay. For our debut season, this was a more than respectable start. We didn’t just ride along in the bunch; we tactically shaped the race.
Walscheid: Opening Podium – Potential Despite Teething Issues The start of the tour was nearly perfect: With a 2nd place on Stage 1, Max Walscheid immediately demonstrated that he has the speed to challenge for the top step. However, in the subsequent stages (7th on Stage 2, 12th on Stages 3 and 5), we fell victim to our inexperience with the "Zappes Sprint Train."
We frequently got "swamped" by the competition in the final kilometer, forcing Max to launch his sprint from poor positions. The silver lining here is clear: When Max has a clear road, we are podium contenders. The fact that he consistently fought for top placements despite the chaotic lead-outs speaks volumes about his individual class. We know exactly what we need to work on: Once the timing in the train clicks, those placements will turn into victories.
Buck-Gramcko: Courage to Make Tough Decisions I am particularly proud of the tactical maturity shown by our young riders. Tobias Buck-Gramcko wore the White Jersey but made a conscious decision during the race to switch to an aggressive strategy: He went all-in for the King of the Mountains (KOM) jersey. Losing the lead in the U25 classification was a calculated sacrifice for the attack on the Polka Dot jersey. Taking this jersey home (albeit shared) confirms that this bold, attacking style was the right choice.
Behrens Demonstrates Squad Depth: We were comfortable shifting our focus away from the White Jersey because we know the depth of talent we have in the squad. Niklas Behrens impressively proved this with a strong 9th place, showing that the team’s future is secure. With him and Buck-Gramcko, we have two promising talents who are already competing at a high level.
Overall A podium finish, a jersey secured through offensive riding, and a Top 10 result with Behrens—the balance sheet looks good. We still have some rough edges (the sprint train), but the heart and the legs are in the right place.
Thank you for the reports. |
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| Jajajasper |
Posted on 19-11-2025 16:50
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decent result, I guess. |
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