Written by Team Dinmore at 18:32 11/5-2010
Ramiro Monteros (52 - Captain)
Deston Morel (34 - Lead Out)
Harley Newcomb (35 - Team Mate)
Joseph Rolley (33 - Team Mate)
Titus Scoggins (32 - Lead Out)
Gerard Minnich (33 - Lead Out)
Squad leader Ramiro Monteros once again leads the squad into battle. Again he is under pressure due to his 4th place in the inaugural Cymru Taith and will be under pressure to follow this up with another podium after the Volta. The Honduran rider will need to hope he can stay with the better all rounders before the time trial, where he should make up time. This time around the only problem may be the busy pre-tour schedule, meaning his DP may be too low and he may reach form too early, but all the races he is entered in is very good preparation for the tour as the hills in Norway are similar to those in Wales in terms of gradient and length, with the Tronheim TT being a good prelude to the influential stage 2.
With just 4 days until the Cymru Taith the whole of OCM will be watching as the second tour of the year as the busiest week in the Ocm calendar begins, with the Perm tour just a day later making for an action packed few days. In just the races 3rd edition it has already secured a large fan base and each year brings much tourism to this beautiful country.
Stage 1 takes the riders from Bangor in the North to Welshpool over 167km with a quick visit to Snowdonia. However, race organisers have been criticised for not putting more big climbs into the route, but the fans will surely line the gravel roads on Mount Snowdon to cheers on their heroes.
Stage 2 involves a night transfer down to the south of the country before a 35km test around the streets of Newport, this no doubt will be where the champion will be crowned, as the riders will be hoping for the dry conditions that happen so rarely in Wales, otherwise there may be a few casualties on the slippery streets. The fact that the route is not flat will definitely influence the result, as a number of climbers may manage to put in a performance of a lifetime to hold onto the race lead and deny the time triallers.
Stage 3 finishes off this whirlwind tour of Wales with a 168km stage to Cardiff from Newport, The road layout somewhat resembles a super-special rally stage and it will be challenge for the riders not to get lost! But the far bigger challenge is how to prise the stage away from the sprinters, with the route being pan flat bar the last 50km, were a lucky few may escape on the 2 hill that are in the route.
Like the Volta one of the big stories so far is the fact the all of the stage winners and the leaders in the GC form last year are absent. Meaning that the men who have the experience here are the wonder climber Frank van Galen and Ramiro Monteros of Il Grillo and Team Dinmore respectively.
So far as time trials go there are a few clear favourites for the second stage in Newport, Ximenes Platas, Salvino Zubeldia, Verner Nyborg and Bruno van Steensel. These 4 are the men with the best outright time trialling ability but the hills in the satge could favour another rider, such as Christoph Frisch and Ramiro Monteros, the best of the climbers in this discipline.
Stage 3 hands the baton over to the sprinters to finish off the tour in style. Despite no sprinters green jersey there are plenty of fast men signed up and it’s hard to see any other outcome from this stage and the main men for the stage must surely be Dan Korošec, Matthijs Telkamp, Pierre Nieuwendijk, Pascal Juszczak and Forrest Levin. These are the sprinters with the highest averages and Korošec, Telkamp, Nieuwendijk, and Levin therefore must hope that their better all-round skills can play an Oscar Friere to Pascal Juszczak’s Mark Cavendish with his explosive sprint, and try to drop their compatriot on the hills in the route, as well as some of Nieuwendijk’s impressive lead-out train if the opportunity arises.
The race for the overall though will surely be fought over in the first stage and be decided in the time trial. Men in with a shot at glory include; Christoph Frisch, Isaak Papadimitriou, Ramiro Monteros, Frank van Galen, Felix Holm, Saveli Kalinnikov and (on the proviso they climb well) Matthijs Telkamp, Dan Korošec, Yaromir Lelyushenko and perhaps Salvino Zubeldia. These men will be fighting for, rather confusingly, the green jersey and will hope to do well in the GC. In fact the top will be so tight and hard to predict that I refuse to put my confidence behind one single rider!
The profile of the first stage seems to suit Kalinnikov the best, but his time trialling and climbing may let him down. The other big contender seems to be Holm, who’s profile fits the bill, but will almost certainly be pulled back by his time trialling
The final accolade on offer is the White Jersey there are only a few contenders for the jersey in Isaak Papadimitriou, Felix Holm and Dan Korošec. Papadimitriou could take his second of the year, but he would no doubt be disappointed with once again missing out of the top prize, even with this as a consolation gift. Out of the three the favourite has to be Papadimitriou due to his greater time trialling ability and team, but if the gap is small going into the final stage don’t discount Korošec, as he would dearly love to take a jersey due to the absence of the sprinters one.
All that remains to say is good luck to all those who ride, and may the best rider triumph come the finale on day 41!
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