Grand Prix de Denain – Porte du Hainaut 2023 preview is here and it is the second of four consecutive days of racing for the Velogames Superclasico fantasy Sixes this week after Milano-Torino.
Grand Prix de Denain – Porte du Hainaut 2022
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Max Welscheid took his only win of the season here, one day after finishing second at Danilith Nokere Koerse 2023. Dries De Bondt sprinted to second while, Adrien Petit who started the sprint very early finished third.
Grand Prix de Denain – Porte du Hainaut 2023 preview
Coupe de France rarely deceives and presence of more World Tour teams at Grand Prix de Denain – Porte du Hainaut 2023 makes it even more exciting but also more heavy weights to control the race to bring it to a sprint. 23 km of ‘paves’ awaits the peloton, where expert riders like Adrien Petit or cyclo-cross riders like Clement Venturini and Thibau Nys will try to first harden the race and then surprise to get away. A small pack finish with about 50 riders and Team Arkea-Samsic keeping things under control is expected.
But as the winds and the cobbles come into play, the fight will go down between the toughest guys. The fastest might not necessarily win but the most enduring one will prevail. Milan Menten has shown already shown this type of mentality this season and should double his tally after Le Samyn,
Grand Prix de Denain – Porte du Hainaut 2023 preview for Velogames.
- Pascal Ackermann, (18): the form is not here and will probably be working for Molano
- (Hugo Hofstetter), Team Arkéa Samsic (18)- Good sprinter, loves cobbles. He finished second at Le Samyn and is poised to do well here but will share sprint field with David Dekker among others from his team.
- (Olav Kooij), Jumbo-Visma (18)- The fastest man on paper has a full team dedicated to the the cause of leading him to a sprint. Still Team Jumbo Visma might hold back if someone like Tosh Van Der Sande gets into a front group
- Edward Theuns, Trek Segafredo (16): His second place ar Danilith Nokere Koerse and his late addition to the race here shows the form he is right now. A big safe bet!
- (Dries Van Gestel), TotalEnergies (14)- A secretive , but very efficient rider who has done excellently well in the Cobbles classics last season. While he did not get any top 10 finish yet this season, he has rarely finished outside last season. With noteworthy performances : 6th at Kuurne Bruxelles Kuurne, 7th le Samyn. 3rd at E3, 6th at Paris Tours Elite.
- (Daniel McLay) , Team Arkéa Samsic (14)- One of the many men Arkea Samsic will be sending to sprint. With 3 DNF out of 6 classics, and no big results, his form strongly does not encourages spending 14 credits on him
- (Piet Allegaert), Cofidis (14)- 12th at Omloop, 13th at Kuurne Bruxelles, 5th in his last 2 races. His form suggests that he might have his own chances instead of just guiding last year winner Max Walscheid.
- (Taco Van Der Hoorn), Intermarché – Circus – Wanty (14)- What have we done with Taco? Either a hit or miss, his 14 credits makes picking him even harder.
- (Max Walscheid) Cofidis, (14)- Last year winner starts as a favourite for this year and should be Team Cofidis main men.
- (Juan Sebastián Molano), UAE Team Emirates (12)- For the first time of the season, he is the biggest star and the main man of his team. He has a team fully capable of bringing him to a sprint and his form is decent enough for him to challenge for victory.
- (David Dekker), Team Arkéa Samsic (12)- He will definitely be sprinting alongside Hugo Hofstetter. 2nd in the opening stage at Tour of Oman.
- (Dries De Bondt), Alpecin-Deceuninck (12)- Second last year, he is heading an Alpecin Deceuninck team with multiple options
- (Edvald Boasson Hagen), TotalEnergies (12)- Will be sharing leadership with Van Gestrel while he might not particularly wish for a big group to finish with him
- (Tom Devriendt), Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team (10)- A typical classics rider who is still finding his feet at a new team
- (Stan Dewulf), AG2R Citroën Team (10)- He is not the fastest man, but he is punchy enough to escape alongside some other riders.
- (Tosh Van Der Sande), Jumbo-Visma (10)- Team Jumbo Vimsa plan B. Freshly arrived from Lotto, he enjoys uphill sprint finishes but also can tame cobbles.
- (Arjen Livyns), Lotto Dstny (10)- How much has spent in the breakaway a day before?
- (Axel Laurance), Alpecin-Deceuninck (10)- The 21 year old was saved by Alpecin Deceuninck but his best performances comes from Stage races.
- (Ludovic Robeet), Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB (8)- 14th at Le Samyn this year, he has other top 15 performances to show for in his career.
- Milan Menten, Lotto-Dstny (8): 1st at Samyn, 2nd at GP Criquelion few days later. Then 6th in the weekend and 3rd yesterday. A true classic rider who will not deceive.
- (Emīls Liepiņš), Trek – Segafredo (8)- Trek- Segeafredo comes with a small team with different options, one of them being leading the Latvian champion to a sprint win but Edward Theuns shoud be the main man.
- (Mathias Vacek), Trek – Segafredo (8)- A brave rider who is confirming his potential by being very offensive but only results matter when it concerns Velogames
- (Szymon Sajnok) /(Nickolas Zukowsky) Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team (8)- Both are fast enough for the team to decide to go for them but either don’t have results to back them up like Moschetti to integrate our Velogames team.
- (Paul Penhoët), Groupama – FDJ (8)- If you know him, he should probably be in your team by now. . If you have not heard from him yet. Paul Penhoet is a 21 yr HUGE sprinting and classics talent. Just use 8 coins for him, results will follow if no mishaps happens.
- (Bram Welten), Groupama – FDJ (8)- Another talent from FDJ, worked for Demare only so far this season. Finished 10th here last year, one day after finishing 5th at Danilith Nokere Koerse.
- (Stanisław Aniołkowski) , Human Powered Health (8)- The Polish will be his team best sprinting hope.
- (Arne Marit), (Hugo Page), (Adrien Petit) : Intermarché – Circus – Wanty (8)- How does the wonderful Intermarche Circus Wanty team play this. Honestly we don’t know,neither do they have a single plan and that makes their success. Arne Marit and Hugo Page are the sprinting hope and Adrien Petit 3rd last year, their cobbles expert!
- (Clément Venturini), AG2R Citroën Team (8)- The cyclocross French champion might himself leading the sprint for the team
- Lewis Askey ( FDJ), (6): The British has a big horde of supporters and is a firm favourite among many predictors. His 5th place at Danilith Nokere Koerse confirms his potential.
- (Thibau Nys), Trek – Segafredo (6)- He made his road season debut at Danilith Nokere Koerse a day before and looks very promising. Last season, he put up some performances in on the road against the Vermeersches and Trentin. Could be allowed to sprint with Liepins.
- (Rüdiger Selig),Lotto Dstny (6)- Attracted attention in the Tour de Langawi, he worked for Caleb Ewan and Florian Vermeersch so far in the classics this season. Could be allowed to go for it this time.
- (Pierre Gautherat),AG2R Citroën Team (4)- 17th at Gent Wevelgem, 10th at Primus Classics, 7th at Le Samyn in February, this is where I would use my 4 points joker if I need to.
- (Etienne Van Empel),Team Corratec (4)- The elder but not most famous of the Van Empel had a day upfront in Danilith Nokere Koerse and might want to repeat it.
- (Samuele Zambelli), Team Corratec (4)- Most likely card for Team Corratec from a sprint.
Still feeling lost or not assured? Here is 2€ of thoughts from one of the most intelligent minds in the cycling predictions world, Bence Czigelmajer.
The best performance will probably involves the best combination of the guys highlighted in Bold. Good Luck. A demain for your Superclasico Preview of Bredene Koksijde Classic!
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