Why would the VSP use the Tour de Suisse instead of the Critérium de Dauphiné? The Dauphiné is looking like the pre-Tour de France. Sky and Garmindale are already giving their GC men nightmares by screwing up on the team time trial front. Practice, practice, practice, lads; it’s better to cock it up now than in the real Tour. Every TDF buck has bailed on the Swiss race in favor of anything else.

Where does that leave us and the betting window? Points are points so it’s time to channel your inner DS and copy @xyxax’s picks. Though the main GC riders may be elsewhere, there are many great riders here; enough to make this an interesting stage race. Maybe even a great race with no obvious overall contender. Bertie is racing but hopefully he is hanging in with the gruppetto everyday. The man needs some rest damn it, not 15,000 meters of climbing. Then there is his teammate Rafal Majka, I’m not sure I trust him. And I sure don’t trust Schumacher or Rebellin who are also racing on the orange CCC team, but that’s another issue and I shouldn’t be putting Majka in the same paragraph. But he shouldn’t wink at the camera while he is crushing everyone on a climb; it’s a little like the Italian Cobra Riccò taunting everyone for not keeping up.

I digress. Here is a start list. Consider this one’s warm up VSP for the Tour de France.

Don’t forget, points go toward great end-of-season prizes.

• First place– A custom Jaegher frame, handbuilt in Belgium.
• Second Place– A Café Roubaix/Velominati wheelset, Chris King hubs, hand built by professional wheelsmith and Velominati Dan Richter.
• Third Place– A Velominati kit: jersey, bibs, and cap.

[vsp_results id=”33213″/]