2018 People’s Choice Classic Preview

By David Hunter

Adelaide 50.6km

The season begins with our typical criterium around the streets of Adelaide. The course has four left hand corners and a slight rise to the finishing line. This is all about the last three laps, where the pace is ridiculously fast. Not only do you need to have a fast sprint, but you need teammates to help position you in the closing stages.

Sprint Trains

Mitchelton-Scott

The Aussie arrives with a huge amount of pressure on their shoulders, thanks to Caleb Ewan. He’s already retained the Aussie Criterium title and he’ll be racing in the national jersey. He is supported by Bauer, Edmondson and Impey. This is a change to the previous year, as Roger Kluge seems to have fallen out of favour with the team directors. Edmondson is fresh from his win in the Aussie RR and Impey is a regular in this race. These two will provide a huge amount of speed in the closing lap.

Lotto-Soudal

Andre Greipel returns to this race after a few years away. He is supported by Hansen, Sieberg and Debusschere. This is a tried and tested formula for Lotto, but Debusschere is my worry. The criterium race is not exactly his style, I think he could go missing in the final lap.

Bora-Hansgrohe

They arrive with Sam Bennett as their main sprinter, but he has been a little sick. Waiting in the wings is the world champion, not a bad replacement! The train is very impressive, with Bodnar, Oss and Selig able to help drive the pace. This will put the Bora sprinter in a very strong position, possibly in front of Ewan in the last 250m.

Team Sky

They lack experience, but have lots of horsepower. Their new signing, Kristoffer Halvorsen, should be their main man and they have Puccio, Wisniowski, Lawless and Doull to support him. Not a huge amount of experience, but they should be able to use their power to stay near the front in the final lap.

Quick-Step

Elia Viviani arrives with his new team and he’ll have the support of Senechal, Morkov and Sabatini. It will be interesting to see how he teams up with his countryman, Sabatini, a partnership that could do well this season. The Belgians are another squad with the power to challenge in the closing laps.

Contenders

Caleb Ewan – the little Aussie starts as the overwhelming favourite. He’s an outstanding criterium rider and has a very strong train to help him. In Daryl Impey, he has a rider capable of a big turn of speed to put Ewan into a strong position. Given his impressive sprint to win the Aussie criterium, it looks like he’s already up to race speed. The little sprinter is gunning for his 3rd consecutive win in this race.

Peter Sagan – if Bennett isn’t 100%, I expect to see Sagan sprinting. His train is very impressive, not that Sagan really needs one. The world champion is outstanding at sitting near the front of the bunch and not losing positions. It would be a surprise to see him beating Ewan, this early in the season, but you never know.

Andre Greipel – the big German arrives with an eye on future races. His train looks good, but it’s early in the season for the big man. He could make the podium, but I don’t think he’ll seriously challenge for the win. It is a race he knows well, winning here in 2008, 2012 and 2013.

Phil Bauhaus – very powerful, young German sprinter. He took a breakthrough win in 2017, taking stage 5 of the Dauphine. That really marked his card as one of the up and coming sprinters in cycling. Sunweb don’t have a great sprint train, but Nikias Arndt is a good last man to have. Bauhaus does remind me of a young Kittel.

Elia Viviani – like the other European sprinters, it’s very early in the season. If Vivani can be positioned well, he clearly has the speed required to challenge. However, positioning has always been a weakness for the Italian. Having Sabatini by his side will be good, it will be interesting to see if they have a natural understanding.

Kristoffer Halvorsen – most people will be excited to see what the 21 year old can achieve with Sky. He has a huge amount of power, but the squad don’t usually focus on their sprinters. He is another that might not like the criterium, but Sky should be able to put him near the front of the race and let him tests his legs against the other sprinters.

Prediction Time

No contest…Caleb Ewan. The Aussie is too far ahead of his European rivals at this time of the season. His sprint train has speed and experience, both qualities are crucial in a criterium. It will be interesting to see who else can make it onto the podium.

David Hunter

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