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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@Alpin
Please continue! These are great - I'll convert the links to embedded images.
nice!
showtime!
)
The Shack ...
they sure have a strong design ( personal views)
un Français en amérique
Red is well nice in red
Brajkovic Machine
Detail close-up
Red like Race like R
it's in the details
lovely bits of white
BMC Swiss Precision Cycling
Can't be fair. Total fan. I repressed myself todayto come in full BMC kit..
Impec, Di2, SRM ...Argh.
nonchalant beasts
Frontside of the Impec with his composite (p)lugs
that's a big one.
aluminium bars almost everywhere
Dura-Ace Di2 and SRM are the new Black in PRO cycling
Di2 seemed to be installed in half of the entire Peloton
Half/half also for Impec/SLR at BMC
Some wear and tear already there for this dérailleur
The Di2 battery can be quite concealed under the BB...
Steve morabito's Bike
Michael Schar's one
Black bars can be élégantes ...
Some BMC riders choose carbon rims more designed for flat stages
Damned Foreign' Fans ))))
The armada arrives.
I think i snobbed the lampre Team... aieaieaie... should i spank myself with a Wilier top tube?
Nevertheless here are some Italian delicatessen...
Ernesto Colnago Design will never die with bikes like this...
Equipped in Full Campa' ( "Campy" is son non-Euro)
Campagnolo Record 11 speeds for sure
Even Campagnolo Bora Ultra Two Wheels..
Still i got one from Lampre : here it is. Italianissima.
Here is a the latest version of the Kuota KOM ...
Nice cockpit, isn't it ?
Curious bottom bracket design...
Reynolds Wheels & Sram Red transmission
Oh, and these beauties from SKY Pinarello were lost in the Post...
..In the last set this marvellous Colgnago was missing and replaced by as swiss engineered machine. Here it is.
and now in the same set..
Some pictures from Garmin-Cervelo, Liquigas, Katousha, Astana, Euskatel, Rabobank...
Riders in the storm are coming soon after this big last set...
I want to clip this ring and go racing !
The new Cannondale EVO frame : 695g in 57cm...
Evo fork and Mavic Cosmic rims
an iconic green
Cofidis new Look(s)
Dumoulin! Dumoulin! Dumoulin !
The very atypical Look stem
At the Astana Bus covering from the rain...
Waiting in line for better days ...
Rabobank was standing alone apart from the other buses ...
the Prologue 's winner 's bike.
minimal PRO design
Lapierre FDJ (replacement?) bikes
QuickStep rides Merckx.
HTC shows and ride the new and impressive Venge "Mc Laren"
aren't you a little scared like me ?
Martin from Highroad has a bike so new even stickers are still in.
Katusha bikes from Focus looked great in "russian" colors
close-up : the Look Blade
Where do i remember this name?
The Garmin-Cervelo S3 is very good looking in sober black
Rotor, not Motor !!!
Another Martin ( from Garmin-Cervelo now )
hey, Delphinati!!! here come the racers !
Wow, awesome shots Alpin. Between you and Pedale we are set!
Those are awesome shots. I love the BMC stuff. Notice how all the bikes running Red are using Shimano cassettes? I called that a couple of years ago. The Red cassette is so noisy I figured Red with DA cassette and chain would be the hot set up. I'll be switching my cassette when the Red wears out.
...
The riders today were really elusive before race because of the weather : it was bad, bad, BAD... the really impressive thing is the simplicity and joviality of these sports..there , they are only in arm warmers and cyclin caps joking and smiling under hectoliters of rain like it was normal : oh, righto! just 200km Under the rain! yummy ! even if some were contrated ( more than normal) ..the vibe was quite cheerful and all!
The thing is, they had just arrived to sign ( i was elsewhere ..) and the false start was'nt really impressive ( normal !)
Here are the stolen shots!
Hey Delphinati !
the name of the game is who's who???
the pictures are just numbered
at you to determinate the name of the racers!!!
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
..Bare in mind that i don't know the answers ...