The Tour de France looms on the horizon, and those riders planning to race are putting the final touches on their form – or going into last-minute panic mode, final exam cram-style. The Critérium Dauphiné has long been a favorite preparation race serving both purposes rather well.
It’s a favorite of the Tour’s GC contenders as it usually features stages that, if not identical to key stages from the Tour, will at least feature many of the same climbs; habitual Tour winners like Indurain, Armstrong, and Clentador have traditionally used this race as their preferred method of final preparation; riders seeking additional form will take the beating taken from a week of suffering and have just enough time to recover prior to the Tour. And, of course, riders who have aspirations in July may also find they are a few kilos heavy yet and may indulge in some ultra-lean Spanish beef in order to get to fighting weight.
It’s also a dangerous gamble: ride too hard at the Critérium and you could fire off the Guns of Navarone and enter the Tour in a state of fatigue, as Pharmy did in 2003. A delicate balance, this.
The challenge in predicting the results of a preparation race such as this is that the favorites for the Tour are (hopefully) peaking in one month, not during this event. But they’ll be good – maybe good enough to win. But probably not. Combine that with that the notion that a rider with little hope in July may be looking for glory and will be in peak form, leading to an unexpected result – a review of last year’s race with Jani Brajkovic is a great example of this case.
With that we kick off into the first minor-stage VSP for the Critérium Dauphiné. Being a week-long stage race, the points on offer are 7 for first, 5 for second, 4 for third, 3 for fourth, 2 for fifth, with the usual allotment of bonus points for getting the rider right but the place wrong. Also, there are no rest days, so no rest day swaps, but we will have our usual approach for riders who drop out. Piti Principle applies as always. Also review the guide, being careful to note that the rules have changes a bit this year, and we may not have completely updated the guide yet, so if there’s a question, ask.
Best of luck to all.
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@Marko
@Karolinka
I have got to jump on Marko's ship when it comes to Cadel. I think Evans and Grimpito are cut from the same bolt and neither of them actually have the ballz to dope. I am trying to recall and example of either of them absolutely laying waste to to the field and dropping everyone. Has there been a stage when one of them put in a performance like Alberto did on Etna and the rest of the peloton knew they were only racing for second? If there has been let me know... I want to find it on you tube. IMO those two are clean.
VSP PICKS:
1. Evans
2. Gesink
3. Brajkovic
4. Sanchez
5. J Rod
Marko :
True. Let hope spring eternal.
OF COURSE he's not savvy enough -- I doubt there are many riders who, on their own, ARE savvy enough, especially these days (though I grant you, Mr. Evans may be a little on the extra un-savvy side).
This is one of the primo bugs up my butt about the whole doping circus. The riders are at the bottom of the hill that the s**t rolls down. Yeah, they have to acquiesce. But they hardly decide on their own, out of the blue, no suggestions much less requirements, that they're going to "enhance;" procure banned substances on their own; keep up with the latest and greatest methods and substances to avoid detection on their own; secretly carry all the paraphenalia around on their own; sneak away into a closet and shoot up on a regular racing AND training regime all by themslves without detection by their teamates... there's a whole helluva lot of other people acquiescing.
By all means, enforce. But do it equitably (punish ALL involved, not just riders), accurately, and in a way that actually accomplishes something other than media feeding frenzies.
How? The gods only know. But at least try; I'd like to at least imagine an end to the rider-only witch hunts, hangings, and post-mortem "confessionals."
VSP PICKS:
1. Vino
2. Cuddles
3. Jurgen
4. Basso
5. Voeckler
@pakrat
I was typing while you were posting; see my comment (#95) in response to Marko.
I have no way of knowing, who does. But I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum - I'm pretty convinced almost everybody at this level of cycling does some sort of performance enhancing. Simply to keep up, not to be superman or a big contender.
The various methods and substances used aren't quite the magic bullet a lot of us may think they are. They can't make a water carrier with the inherent talent of a water carrier become fill-in-your-fave-hardman. If a water carrier has the as yet undiscovered talent of fill-in-your-fave-hardman it may be a different story, and we see the kind of rocket launches to higher levels of hardmanness you mention that conventional wisdom says, nay screams, "DOPER!."
However, they CAN help that water carrier make it through the entire Tdf, along with the other water carriers who are also doping - probably not in the same way the contenders are - just to be able to ride at this level.
You gotta remember, even the lowliest domestique employed regularly in the European peloton is a monster compared to you, me, and the fastest guy in your city/state/province/region. That monster arrives for his first day of work, and the lowest ranked employee there is a monster compared to HIM.
Once doping starts, and I think we CAN say it's pretty widespread, it's almost impossible not to engage and stay competitive as a team... just to keep up.
I'm not sure if I ever got around to posting something I was writing to comment on the Tyler article; this may be a repeat if so. Some of this opinion comes from personal expeience, although an admittedly small sample size that would probably be totally insignificant statistically... but, 100% of my cycling friends who were offered or considered for spots on European teams (that would be two. Two friends, US Semi-Pro and Pro) said they essentially were told the outlines of the doping regime, they were going to follow it, or they weren't getting the job.
That's from their mouths. Not strangers. Totally unrelated incidents. And they weren't stars, not European stars, anyway; they were looking at the lowest level of employment. But they did ride where I live, either visiting or having lived here, and absolutely crushed the regular local fast guy training rides, which both IMHO and experience, as well as hearing from other non-local visiting (fast, or USA fast) riders, are nothing to snort at. Our local fast guy rides, that is.
So. I don't think doping is the exception. I think unfortunately the human body, speaking generally, can't do what as a whole the European peloton is doing, without help. If your team can't keep up, no sponsors, no $$$, no team. So, everybody who wants to stay in business... etc. etc. etc.
@frank
Gesink wasn't primarily riding for a GC last year.
VSP PICKS:
1. Evans
2. T Martin
3. Brajkovic
4. S Sanchez
5. Voeckler
Oh what the hell I'll chuck Wiggins in - just because I think he might do well enough in the TT to motivate him to cling on like he did in the Tour before last.
VSP PICKS:
1. Evans
2. T Martin
3. S Sanchez
4. Wiggins
5. Voeckler
@Karolinka
Shhh
VSP PICKS:
1. Basso
2. Evans
3. Brakesabit
4. S sanchez
5. Van den brought
Occasional light rain and wet surface with all the white painted lines in town is making for an understandably cautious prologue at the moment.
@pakrat
Why give Grimpito a free pass? After all, his brother paid for "expert advice" and was recently ripped by Gerard Vroomen (sorry: don't mean to turn this thread into a doping debate)...