Written by Simon de Montfort of Annodomini
Did you know that Antwerp hosted the 1920 Summer Olympics? The streets of Antwerp were used for the road cycling events of which the main one was an individual 175-kilometre time trial - can you imagine??? In addition all riders were using fixed gears! And if you look at Belgian roads in this area, you can figure out it had to be a cobbled time trial most of the time!
Fortunately in 32nd edition of Tweedaagse van Antwerpen riders will have only 4km of time trial, followed by 2 cobbled stages and the final half-sprinting stage. Lets see which teams will fight for the glory this season.
Team Siedel
Tarjei Thorvaldsen knows this tour very well. It is a shame he never won it and this season he doesnt even plan to do so, because he is focusing on a different tour. This means he and his team mates will have a free hand to go on their own without much pressure, which can bring us some excitement.
Indie Rock
Another habitual guest of this tour is Andrea Camata. The 33yo is still feeling quite young and recently finished 3rd in Pre-Roubaix, which confirms his good form. As always he will lose time in the prologue and try to gain some seconds on stages 2 and 3.
Movistar Kelme Team
Do you know who won that Olympic cycling race I mentioned earlier? It was a Swedish rider... And to which country did the Movistar team move recenlty? To Sweden. Coincidence? I dont think so! Jean-Pierre van Bockorst decided he needs to train on Swedish soil to beat the Antwerpen roads. Will it finally give him his long expected win? He surely is one of the favotires again...
Pelles Gazelles
Vuong Duc The was not happy last time. He was there to win this race finally, but they stole it away from him. Kadir stole it. This means war and Vuong is ready for it. He has super strong helpers and will again fight for the highest price. This will be interesting!
NECFTW
Those of you who follow this tour know best that the first stage always turns into something like a Prologue World Championships. There are always dozens of the best time trialers in the world here and they all want to win the 4km TT attempt. It is no different this time and NECFTW arrives with their TT World Champ Alex Peard to grab the Prologue.
Jonas Pro Cycling
The Bermudan veteran Gale Reason will oncce again try to prove that time means nothing to him and that one can win or finish on podium in tours even at the age of 37. He was 5th in Roubaix Classic which just confirms he is in a fighting mode. Everyone loves him so he will have plenty of supporters. Go Gale!
AnnoDomini
Polish team arrives with the same riders as last season. Their captain Julian Cichocki likes the Belgian soil very much, nearly 75% of his palmares was won in Belgium, so he wants to finish in top 9 GC again. The competition however is very strong so it will not be an easy goal.
Aesop | |
Talking about Polish riders, there is one more Polish cobbler aiming high - Blazej Urbanek, current national champion will lead team Aesop. He also has nice history in this race with stage wins and podium finishes. He lacks a bit of support, but he is a strong rider himself and should do well here again.
Comfius
Loudon and Fialho duo can do wonders, we know that, but it looks like there will be one captain this time for team Comfius. Lucas was supporting Marcio during last few editions, but now he was preparing to come back in style and the result of his preparations was a win in Roubaix Classic. He could not make a stronger statement on his goals for TvA, could he? So he is another big candidate for the title.
Team Siverbo
Swedish TT team, which apparently doesnt have any Swedish riders in its rouster, will aim at the prologue success. They have recently joined the top division and will want to show their potential. Good luck guys
Cloud Atlas
The Colombian squad is changing focus from GC to YC and makes Venjamin Sala their captain. Jacinto Cresaco, who was always a bit unlucky in this tour will help the 24yo Venjamin to win a white jersey. There is also Toli Pinto, a great TTer, who won the prologue twice in the past and looks for a 3rd win. So as you can see, the team has quite a lot to look for during this race.
PegasusFlights
The home nation team is also aiming at the YC category with their rider Jeff de Wispelaere. The 24yo has interesting potential and still a lot to learn, cause this is his first big tour. His also young colleagues will try to help him show his talent.
Glamourade
The top Spanish team brings on Marjan Mrak, the Slovenian cobbler who did really well here by winning the YC jersey 2 seasons ago. Last time around he finished 4th in GC which might have been a bit of a surprise for some of you. His only weakness seems to be a lack of strong support, but he did well enough without it last time, so maybe it is not a problem for him.
Andeby
When this team is going into some direction, it is going there full gas! They invested in some older, but very good cobblers, who joined the team only 2 months ago who will ride for Dinica Beselea. On paper the team looks very strong and all riders were preparing especially for this tour, so are in great form. Their only problem is that they barely know each other, so dont look for a team spirit there...
Rigana
They signed up only to allow their TTer Ric Expositi grab the prologue win or result. Ric had a great last season and hopes to keep on going on this high tide and it would be a nice beggining of the year for him if he grabbed a win here.
Mapei Bianchi
Top Italian team has an interesting squad for this tour. Pascal Desando is their most notable rider, but he is a sprinter so may only fight in the last stage. For the GC they have two options - Aldo Edescalzi and Luigi Biohiglio, but both
| | are 35yo domestiques, who have never captained a team in a big tour. It would be a nice ending to their careers if they accomplished something here.
Megaman
Spanish team has 6 TTers on the list and a clear goal to win the Prologue, which we already know will be a difficult task due to the number of time trialers attending.
Skogs Riders
Another attempt for Samuel Gothe and his team mates to get some results in this tour. Their previous two attempts were not succesful and the fierce competition this year is not making life easy for them. I guess they need to maybe change their tactics and try to surprise the peloton with a breakaway maybe.
Rouches
This team is super strong and showed their power in Pre-Roubaix, where they accelerated on the last cobble section and only a few other riders could follow them. In the end Bram Demouge won the race while his colleagues ended up 6th, 8th and 9th. 4 riders in top 10! This was insane! They have several options here for the tour - they can go for the YC classificaion again with Joeri Bessing (who won this yersey last season) or with Bram Demouge, but they can also go for the GC with Garth Yocum or Petter Nyland. Oh, and of course they can go for both jerseys!
Logoloos
Another team full of TTers looking for a Prologue win. Their most notable rider is Arvo Kuku, former Estonian champion.
PVAXX
Gale Reason's fame made some of the younger Bermudan cyclist to start training as cobblers and one of such riders is Goddard Gambill. He was 15 when Gale rose to fame and he wanted to be just like him. Goddard had his first attempt at the tour last season and finished 15th. He will like to improve on this place, but he has one problem - nearly complete the lack of team mates...
Equipo Easy On
This team based in Bahamas has a mix of some exotic riders and their captain will probably be Richard San Nicolas - the only know rider from Guam. His best performance in the tour was 7th place and though he would like to repeat that, it feels like it will be a big challenge taking into consideration the quality of his competitors. But Richard has some nice support so maybe with a bit of luck he can get a top 9 CG place.
Cycling Team FPS
One TTer and one gole for the Danish team - win the Prologue. Demy Alards is their man to deliver. He once was 3rd in this prologue, time for a win now.
Drapeau Noir
The suprising victor of last edition is here to win the tour again. This time however he will have a tougher challenge cause all the opponents will watch his every pedal stroke closely. His team is not the strongest in the field but the manager surely has the experience in winning it (6 GC wins!) and ensured his rider is prepared perfectly to achieve the top spot!
So now that we know the main actors all we have to do is sit back and watch this amazing tour! May the best one win!
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