U23 races and talents

[Bushman]

Re:

Adam Toupalik did well yesterday. For cyclo crosser it's great result. 1996 year.

Noticed that too. Would have been CX world champion last year if not for the 'accident'. What type of rider is he on the road? Climber/puncheur?

 

[Ruudz0r]

Re: Re:

Adam Toupalik did well yesterday. For cyclo crosser it's great result. 1996 year.

Noticed that too. Would have been CX world champion last year if not for the 'accident'. What type of rider is he on the road? Climber/puncheur?

It is hard to say as he hasnt raced a lot on the road in the bigger races in recent years. From what I have seen from him on both road and CX I would say the hilly races suit him best so I think he is more a puncheur then a climber but yesterdays result also surprised me so maybe he also does have climbing potential.
I think he does have good potential on the road maybe not as much as van Aert, van der Poel and Iserbyt but I think he could be a good pro if he starts focussing on the road.

 

[TMP402]

Re: Re:

Any opinions on Davies? I thought he was a TTist but clearly he can climb too.

Decent climber (already won the queen stage in the Ronde de l'Isard if I'm right), but still more of a TTer. His engine helps him to do long range attacks, but he can't follow accelerations when he's with the favourites.

Thanks! How do you rate his potential?

 

[Samamba]

Re: Re:

Any opinions on Davies? I thought he was a TTist but clearly he can climb too.

Decent climber (already won the queen stage in the Ronde de l'Isard if I'm right), but still more of a TTer. His engine helps him to do long range attacks, but he can't follow accelerations when he's with the favourites.

Thanks! How do you rate his potential?

He's not the "winner type" but he already showed he can ride pro races without struggling at the back so that proves that he has a massive engine for a 20y old. I would say he can be a decent pro one day, a great domestique and maybe a stage hunter in grand tours cause he's a decent climber and can ride solo.

But it's pretty hard to rate someones potential when they aren't winners, so I can be completely wrong. He isn't world class though, that's for sure.

 

[Kokoso]

Re: Re:

Adam Toupalik did well yesterday. For cyclo crosser it's great result. 1996 year.

Noticed that too. Would have been CX world champion last year if not for the 'accident'. What type of rider is he on the road? Climber/puncheur?

In his ripe age of 20 it's to soon to make conclusions on anything I think. He's decent climber obviously, but I don't know anything further only that he is not riding road much. But even now he's probably worse than three other riders so it will be hard for him in rest of his career (joking)

 

[Samamba]

So the Trofeo Almar, the last Nation Cup race of the year, except for the Tour de l'Avenir of course, was today.
After last years exciting edition, this one was a bit of a disappointing ending in a bunch sprint. There was a crash in the last K with Alexandr Kulikovskiy (Russia, 1997!) eventually taking the win. A bit of a surprise for me. Don't know him very well, but see that he has already beaten Hutarovich this month and that he had 2 great junior years (including a second place at the WC).

 

[Samamba]

No Ukraine so no Padun in the Tour de l'Avenir, a bit sad after his win and GC podium in Aosta

 

[nTn]

No Portugal in L'Avenir. Such a shame that Rúben is ill. I would love to see him fighting for this race. Without illness or a crash.

 

[Charly_Gaul]

It seems we have a new Top favourite for L'Avenir.

Really hard stage with two superclimbs, serious competition and Adrien Costa is only 30" worse than Talansky and Atapuma.

So i said it was too early this year

 

[perico]

Costa is a monster. Wow. I knew he was good, but that was impressive. That kid is going to be something special.

 

[PremierAndrew]

Isn't Costa also really promising in time trials?

 

[May0maniac]

Re:

Isn't Costa also really promising in time trials?

2 2nd places at the Junior ITT WC, the guy seems to be a monster, but many riders who ride for Axel were already really impressive before turning pro only to struggle after turning pro, Ian Boswell for example was only 19 when he came 3rd on gc in the Tour of Utah behind Leipheimer and Mancebo.
Still, right now Costa looks like the real deal.
The fact that guys that are already riding for WT teams are allowed to compete in the Tour de l'Avenir is just wrong, what's the point of someone like Mamykin (or Sebastian Henao last year) racing a race like this one when they have already been impressive in WT races?

 

[Samamba]

The Baby Giro is returning!

 

[Samamba]

Klein Constantia calls it quits!

Klein Constantia has decided to cease its activities once the current season comes to its end. The team was created with the intention of serving as a feeder-team to the World Tour Team Etixx–Quick-Step, owned by Zdenek Bakala. The Klein Constantia team can look back with pride at the four years spent in the sport.

Since its inception, Klein Constantia has amassed more than 50 victories in one-day races and stage events alike, positioning itself as one of the top development teams of the peloton. The project, which started in 2013, now comes to its conclusion after a fruitful cycle to make room for the UCI reform. The reform will be put into effect in 2018. It will mean each World Tour team stable will need to run its own development squad within the team.

“During its existence, Klein Constantia saw six riders make the step up to the World Tour with Etixx–Quick-Step, while two others joined top teams of the peloton. Nine other riders have secured contracts with professional Continental Tour teams. Their successes were achieved on a solid foundation, built with passion and dedication by the team’s staff and sponsors, with Mr. Zdenek Bakala at the helm. We would also like to say a big thank you to the companies Janom, Kalas and ELKOV elektro as well as to everyone who has supported us since the inception of this structure”, said Petr Kováč, the team manager of Klein Constantia.

“Klein Constantia was one of the most successful projects focused on the development of young riders. As everybody already knows, next year three Klein Constantia riders will move into the World Tour with our team, following in the footsteps of Julian Alaphilippe, Petr Vakoč and Lukasz Wisniowski. For World Tour teams, 2017 will be a transitional year during which we need to take each step at a time and see how the reform involving youth teams is implemented and where this road will take us in the end. Etixx–Quick-Step will continue to invest in, and look for, young talent, as the scouting programme – which has already brought into the squad a rider of Fernando Gaviria’s calibre – is an important part of our philosophy,” remarked Etixx–Quick-Step CEO Patrick Lefevere.

 

[Bushman]

So Vincenzo Albanese won another Italian u23 race today, solo. In the EC he also attacked and held on for long even though he is really fast in a sprint, which he showed in Avenir amongst other races. Not his only solo victory this year either. What is his limit? He must be tracked by most of the big teams I reckon.

 

[Der Effe]

Re:

So Vincenzo Albanese won another Italian u23 race today, solo. In the EC he also attacked and held on for long even though he is really fast in a sprint, which he showed in Avenir amongst other races. Not his only solo victory this year either. What is his limit? He must be tracked by most of the big teams I reckon.

He is with Bardiani for 2017 and 2018

 

[Samamba]

Halvorsen dominating the sprint stages in Olympia's Tour. Definitely the favorite for Doha!

 

[Anderis]

How those Scandinavian riders are often so good in U23 races but so little of them turn into World Class riders as professionals. Or maybe that just my wrong impression...

 

[Samamba]

Harm Vanhoucke just won the U23 Giro di Lombardia. Lambrecht makes it 1 & 3 for Lotto Soudal, Vendrame was 2nd.

What a season it has been for the Lotto Soudal u23 team. Lambrecht & Vanhoucke - both firstyears (!) - were brilliant with a stage & GC (and every other jersey) win in the Isard, a stage win in the Course de la Paix & the Savoie, Top-10's in the Savoie, the Valle d'Aosta & the Tour de l'Avenir, a top-3 in the Alsace, vice European Champion and now to top it all off a win and a 3rd place in the Piccolo Giro di Lombardia!

 

[May0maniac]

Yes, they were both rally impresive and it's good to see that Vendrame had a good 2nd half of the season, after being taken out by a wrong-way driver while training durning spring, that was a pretty serious crash.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Jasper Philipsen won the Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux ahead of Eddie Dunbar and Neilson Powless.

It's the most famous rouleur-type stage race in this category.

 

[the asian]

Re:

Jasper Philipsen won the Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux ahead of Eddie Dunbar and Neilson Powless.

It's the most famous rouleur-type stage race in this category.

Yes. Good result for him as a 19 year old.

Keenly following his development. He really has all the attributes to dominate the cobbled classics for years to come. God Sprint. Good TT.

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

IIRC Dunbar is a tiny lightweight climber, no? Pretty impressive to get 2nd in this race if that's the case!

 

[May0maniac]

Meanwhile Team Colpack is pretty much dominating the Italian scene. Carboni just won the Trofeo Mario Zanchi and MArk Padun already won 2 races. Those 2 and the U23 EC Aliaksandr Riabushenko (still racing for Palazzago) are maybe the biggest talents racing for Italian teams.
Gazprom's Roman Kustadinchev racently won the Strade Bianche di Romagna, he attacked with over 30km to go and won the whole thing after an impressive solo ride.

 

[the asian]

Re:

IIRC Dunbar is a tiny lightweight climber, no? Pretty impressive to get 2nd in this race if that's the case!

He's a pretty good TT. I believe he is more in the 60-65 KG range. Attacking rider who should do well in Hilly ODR.