100th Volta Ciclista a Catalunya (2.UWT) // 23rd - 29th of March 2020

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Assuming this race will gain interest after the Corona related cancelled races, here is the 1st "100th Volta Ciclista a Catalunya" thread!
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Date: 2020-03-23 - 2020-03-29 Race class: 2.UWT Race category: Men Elite UCI-Tour: UCI Worldtour

www.voltacatalunya.cat www.twitter.com/voltacatalunya www.facebook.com/voltacatalunya Youtube channel

Startlist PCS Top GC riders PCS Top competitors PCS Stages PCS

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PROFILES:
Stage profiles pulled from the youtube previews. PCS still doesn't have any profiles and the ones on the official website are even worse quality.

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INTERESTING CONTENDERS (SO FAR AND SAVE CANCELLATIONS):
Bernal, Quintana, Valverde, A. Yates, Dumoulin, Froome, Evenepoel, van der Poel, Schachmann, Pinot, Lopez, Porte, Vlasov, Costa, Carthy, De Gendt, Kämna, Kuss, Kruijswijk, Henao, Bagioli, Van Wilder, Ciccone, Vanhoucke, Tejada, Soler, Zakarin, Roche, Latour, Bennett, D. Martin, Hänninen, Majka, Roche...

TRIVIA:
First appearance for Tom Dumoulin since the 2019 Dauphiné.
Lopez amazed friend and foe in the Algarve ITT, can he do the same again in Catalunya?
Even though not half the line-up is complete, the race is already stacked with top riders.
Considering Corona related circumstances, the line-up is destined to change a lot still (both ways).

TOP 15 LAST YEAR:

1	López Miguel Ángel	Astana Pro Team	29:14:17
2	Yates Adam	Mitchelton-Scott	0:14
3	Bernal Egan	Team Sky	0:17
4	Quintana Nairo	Movistar Team	0:25
5	Kruijswijk Steven	Team Jumbo-Visma	0:56
6	Woods Michael	EF Education First	1:42
7	Majka Rafał	BORA - hansgrohe	2:27
8	Martin Guillaume	Wanty - Gobert Cycling Team	2:41
9	Mas Enric	Deceuninck - Quick Step	2:49
10	Valverde Alejandro	Movistar Team	3:02
11	Pinot Thibaut	Groupama - FDJ	,,
12	Schachmann Maximilian	BORA - hansgrohe	3:15
13	Yates Simon	Mitchelton-Scott	4:15
14	Pernsteiner Hermann	Bahrain Merida	5:42
15	Eiking Odd Christian	Wanty - Gobert Cycling Team	7:07

 

[geisterhome]

Profiles looking awesome, super-strong starter field as well, even if some teams still pull out. I hope this won't get canceled.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Port Aine instead of la Molina is great news.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Remco will win this bike race.

 

[hayneplane]

Could end up the most star studded field of the entire season for a stage race.

Given the calendar could change at short notice riders may as well push hard in any race that actually takes place as that more prestigious target they are building for could disappear anyway.

 

[wheresmybrakes]

Remco will win this bike race.

Correct. If he can gain 4 to 5 minutes in the ITT he should be fine for the win.

 

[yaco]

I suspect if teams refuse to participate in this race then the UCI will temporarily suspend the season.

 

[BlueRoads]

So far I'm not sure the teams are worrying about their riders getting ill so much as about getting quarantined and so risking their more important goals of the season. (Hence, more GC orientated teams are more inclined to withdraw than the classics quads.) But eventually, they will have to send their riders somewhere to get some racing into their legs?

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Correct. If he can gain 4 to 5 minutes in the ITT he should be fine for the win.

I wouldn't expect him to win it tbh. Then again, i said the same about Algarve. Only San Juan was obvious he'd win without accidents. Lefevre has also hinted leading up to Tirreno Adriatico (which got cancelled), that he doesn't have to (try and) win every race he enters. Whether or not that means he will still try to win this, or rather if he'd pick his stages and forget GC, i don't know. He was bound to lose 1 more KG by now, so we'll see what difference that makes compared to Algarve, and how others have improved since then.

 

[Red Rick]

Didn't realise Quintana was riding. Definitely a much tougher ask for Evenepoel than TA would've been.

 

[wheresmybrakes]

I was being a bit sarcastic with my last comment. I think Remco will get his ar$e kicked in the high mountains. No matter his gain in the ITT, he ain't gonna win this race. I've a feeling that INEOS are gonna go nuclear in this race to win it for Nico. This race is for a GC team and DQS will come up short. Just my opinion.

 

[red_flanders]

I was being a bit sarcastic with my last comment. I think Remco will get his ar$e kicked in the high mountains. No matter his gain in the ITT, he ain't gonna win this race. I've a feeling that INEOS are gonna go nuclear in this race to win it for Nico. This race is for a GC team and DQS will come up short. Just my opinion.

I think you underestimate him if you think he’s going to get his “arse kicked”. He’ll probably lose some seconds on a couple of mountain stages, but he's not losing minutes IMO. I think he’ll compete for the win.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I was being a bit sarcastic with my last comment. I think Remco will get his ar$e kicked in the high mountains. No matter his gain in the ITT, he ain't gonna win this race. I've a feeling that INEOS are gonna go nuclear in this race to win it for Nico. This race is for a GC team and DQS will come up short. Just my opinion.

That was quite clear, that it was sarcastic, don't worry. It will be interesting for sure. It's what we all want to find out, how he fares in the mountains. It would also depend on your definition of "arse kicked". He's got an enormous engine and he should weigh 59kg now.

 

[yaco]

I was being a bit sarcastic with my last comment. I think Remco will get his ar$e kicked in the high mountains. No matter his gain in the ITT, he ain't gonna win this race. I've a feeling that INEOS are gonna go nuclear in this race to win it for Nico. This race is for a GC team and DQS will come up short. Just my opinion.

Except Ineos are not racing PN.

 

[wheresmybrakes]

Except Ineos are not racing PN.

This is the Catalunya thread?

 

[red_flanders]

I think you underestimate him if you think he’s going to get his “arse kicked”. He’ll probably lose some seconds on a couple of mountain stages, but he's not losing minutes IMO. I think he’ll compete for the win.

@GVFTA I guess we’ll see how funny that is soon enough.

 

[GVFTA]

@GVFTA I guess we’ll see how funny that is soon enough.

That we will. If he struggles here, I am sure it will just be meaningless in regards to his upcoming Giro domination.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I'm interested to see how guys like Vlasov and Evenepoel compare. But also Bennett, Carthy, Hagen, Vanhoucke, Knox, Kämna & Piccoli.

 

[RedheadDane]

I'm interested to see how guys like Vlasov and Evenepoel compare. But also Bennett, Carthy, Hagen, Vanhoucke, Knox, Kämna & Piccoli.

George? Carl Fredrik?

 

[tobydawq]

George? Carl Fredrik?

I'm sure Logic is chuckling cheerfully now.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

George? Carl Fredrik?

The ones that are scheduled to ride the race.

 

[RedheadDane]

The ones that are scheduled to ride the race.

The race is still several weeks away, so I haven't quite checked up on that yet. But, hey... at least I didn't guess 'Sean'! (

 

[Bonimenier]

Officially postponed/cancelled

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Officially postponed/cancelled

At least there was a thread for it!

 

[Red Rick]

Not sure the virus is a conspiracy to stop Liverpool from winning the Premier League or if it's to stop Catalunya from having an ITT.