u/jabalabeer

Starting tomorrow, the Rockets will take place in the 4 Jours de Dunkerque. This is a 5 day stage race at .Pro level that suits classic riders in terms of parcours.

5 stages

Stage 1: Parcours best suited for puncheurs

Stage 2: Parcours best suited for sprinters that can survive hills

Stage 3: Parcours for riders that like cobblestones

Stage 4: Parcours best suited for puncheurs

Stage 5: Seems like a stage for sprinters

Rockets line-up

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Competition

Quite a strong field in this race with 10 WT teams. Some of the strongest riders include:

- Shmidt & Langellotti (Ineos)

- Askey & Hofstetter (NSN)

- Meeus, Pithie & Van Poppel (Red Bull)

- Gautherat & L'Hote (Decathlon)

- Madouas & Gruel (FDJ)

- Van den Berg, Asgreen & Lamperti (EF)

- Barrenetxea (Movistar)

- Bittner (Picnic PostNL)

- Tiller (Uno-X)

Rockets expectations

Based on recent form, I think Muller & Bloem will be the main riders for the Rockets. I think they can get some nice results on certain stages, but a good GC result might be difficult in this strong field. Therefore my expectations in terms of UCI-points are quite low. I'm hoping they can surprise and win a stage or at least get a podium in a stage.

This guy is so incredibly consistent and important for the Rockets. Deserves more appreciation!

Also collected a whopping 595 UCI-points in these 11 race days (54 UCI points per day on average)

Not two but three Rockets races tomorrow. Besides the Giro and Rund um Koln the Rockets will also participate in Boucles de L'Aulne. Another French 1.1 race that's part of the Coupe the France (FDJ United series).

Competition:

The startlist is very similar to today's Tour du Finistere. This means FDJ and Movistar and the only WT teams and Cofidis, Total, Caja, Kern Pharma & Euskaltel are the Proteams.

Race preview:

Compared to Tour du Finistere the finish seems less challenging, I think this means the 'strong sprinters' will have more chance here where the puncheurs finished on top in Tour du Finistere. Some names I expect to perform here are Biermans (Cofidis) and Brustenga (Kern Pharma).

For the Rockets I expect the same plan as in the other French one day races: Venturini will be the main man with Loockx as a second leader. Johannink is also participating again. This trio was strong today and I expect the same tomorrow. Looking forward to more UCI-points and maybe Venturini increasing his lead in the FDJ United Series classification.

Tomorrow the Rockets will participate in German 1.1 race Rund um Koln. The race will start at 11:30 and is expected to finish around 16:38.

Competition:

With Red Bull, Alpecin Premier Tech, Lotto Intermarche and Picnic PostNL there are 4 World Tour teams in the race. Q36.5, Tudor and TotalEnergies are strong proteams that are also starting.

In my opinion there is one clear favourite for this race: Jordi Meeus. Red Bull is starting with a very strong line-up with (besides Meeus) Van Poppel, Pithie, Marit, Exteberria, Magagnotti & Thornley. I think they will control the race and try to make sure it ends in a sprint. Alpecin will bring Thijssen as their sprinter, Lotto has Kockelmann and Picnic PostNL has Jakobsen (but I doubt he'll survive until the final).

Rockets expectations:

In Famenne Ardenne Classic & Circuit de Wallonie Bloem showed some strong results, but in tomorrow's race the final KM are more flat compared to those races. Therefore I think Muller might be the main man for the Rockets tomorrow if he manages to survive the hillzone. Feldmann is also riding again after having to skip the Giro due to illness. This means with Bloem, Muller & Feldmann they could even make another train, curious to see if they'll do that.

I think another top 10 should definitely be possible!

While most people are focused on Giro d'Italia, the Rockets also continue to score important UCI points in smaller races. Yesterday Bloem and Muller were strong in Circuit Wallonie.

Video of final 5km:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmSPgcU7HOM