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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'cos if so, I can get to level 8, I think.
Cyclops - woah, a 566, eh? I didn't realize you had just picked one up. I took have a 566 and like it a lot. Cool color scheme there. I have the white/black from 2009, but am digging the mostly black on yours.
Is anyone following the Ricco news the past few days? Photo op in the new kit yesterday, today he is suspended?
Oh...and did my first proper CX ride on my new cross whip. WOW! That was pure awesomeness. A whole new world of cycling has been opened to me. And, I went with a friend who is a skilled cross rider so did the "thrown into the deep end" type of ride the first time out. Went much harder & faster than I would have gone solo. I have a set of trails only ten minutes from my door. Going to be great on days when I don't feel like road riding, or dealing with cars, to jump on the cx bike.
Anyone watching the Daupine via steephill? I watched the entire Giro through them but haven't been able to find an streaming video of the racing this week.
Did you change your email address for the site? I have heard that will reset your post count.
Oh, PS folks - Frank switched the scoring around for this edition of the VPS. The lower your score, the better you're doing. Ha.
I just got home with 336 new photos..
i 'll try to select 100 and post them i the evening ( 1-3 hours from now on..) ... shots are less "pr0n esthetics", i choose cheap wide angle optics to give you more insight of the place : more humans and vibes, less machines...
well, with all this Sci-Fi TT gear, it's not really the case but at last there are much more humans than yesterday!! racers were verywhere.. in fact, it was really hard to do some shots and not to bump with one ! these crazy mofos!
Dauphiné / Stage 3 / Grenoble - Grenoble / pictures coming soon!
For the addicts...
The photo stock of the 336 pictures
( unedited / uncropped /no selection)
is avalaible at this adress :
( files are still transferring)
but the website should wiork :
GRENOBLE
What the hell is wrong with Basso losing 6+ minutes in a TT!? He should have gone to the Giro.
@Buck Rogers
Yup, sure did.
Finish my job here tomorrow so switched to one of my new work emails before my current one gets cut off.
Well that sucks. Oh well.
@Ron
Actually it's a 586. Or to be more specific a 586 R-Light Limited Edition. Maybe Frank will but my article on it up today. Hint, hint, wink, wink.
...f'ing Wiggins, what a world, what a world...I'm doomed