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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@frank
Nice call on the prologue, Frank. For the sakes of my picks, let's hope you're wrong about the rest of the race!
@Steampunk
I agree. Not to turn it into a doping debate but I would not give Grimpito a free pass at all. These days I even question Cuddles at times. Difficult to trust anyone.
"The legs are turning over very well, I had some good sensations," Vinokourov said. "It's very good."
There's my boy.
If only more Dutch guys would heed the call to arms more often, I'd be way higher up on the leaderboard. (That, and if I was willing to pick riders I hate in the inevitable place they will wind up in.)
Great stage today.
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@Buck Rogers
Yeah, it's tough to say - it's deeply engrained and at all levels of the sport - all the way up to the UCI. You've got old riders who mentor the young ones, they retire and become management, the young ones take on their own youngsters...the circle continues.
Some riders seem to have a more clean reputation than others, and it's possible some of the one-day racers are truly clean, but the Grand Tour riders? It's not that they have to dope, but they do if they're going to average 40+kph for 2500kms. Which they don't need to.
Who's clean? Evans has a cleaner reputation than most, but that doesn't mean he isn't doping. Balls to dope? It's all managed by the team. Easy peasie, lemon squeazie. Those are just vitamins, you see.
I'm not giving anyone a free pass, I just haven't seen Andy or Cadel ride in a way that shows either have used a "program." At least effectively. I guess I was throwing that out there in hoping one of my fellow esteemed Velominati would be able to provide an example of either of these two putting in an apparent rocket fueled exhibition.
We are getting close to the main course of the racing season, I am feeling a little "blue" in that it is looking as if AC will roll to an easy victory. How sweet would a Cuddles victory in the TDF be?
Back to the proper topic... anyone have a link to a US video feed for the Dauphiné?
@Marko
I'm with you on those two guys!
@pakrat
For his lack of results this year, at least the World Champion is in the news by deriding the slow process in hearing COTHOdor's case. He's right, now Steak-n-Shake will ride the Tour and that's all everyone will talk about. "When is the hearing?", "Is he guilty?", "Will his victory(s) be expunged?" blah blah blah.
@frank
Jeebus, he looks more like a speedskater with that ass.
@Pedale.Forchetta
Cheers. I would love it if Cuddles could just edge out COTHOdor in the Tour. I can just see him scrapping all the way to Paris, lacking in team support, kicking at his bike out of the saddle on climbs, putting in a badass ride or two when he needs to, and edging out Clenny by less than a minute. Cadel, doing it his way.
Well, hell...I didn't realize this started yesterday. I guess if I missed the original entry I'm out of the whole thing because there aren't any rest days? Damnit.
Oli, I'm going to have to blame you on this one! I calmed down too much and didn't even realize the race was starting this weekend. Guess I should have paid more attention, since I saw this post on Friday.
I'm still suffering Giro hangover. There goes the shop apron...
I'm going to have to head out and ride this pain & embarrassment out:(
I love how low and straight Evans' bars are. Dude looks good on a TT bike, that's for sure.