The Tour de Suisse is the last warm-up race prior to the Tour, and the last chance to test your form. As far as Tour rivalries go, we typically see one rival choose the Dauphiné and one la Suisse; it’s unpleasant to ruffle your feathers too much with a pre-Tour head-to-head, you see.
While the Dauphiné has the benefit of previewing some of the Tour’s stages in a race situation, the Tour de Suisse has the benefit of including the only thing more sinister than cobbled bergs: a cobbled mountain pass. This road also holds the distinction of being the only one where I feel more sympathy for the road layers than I do the riders.
Aside from rivals and masochism, the key factors determining which race to ride have to do with the timing of the peak: this race features a full week later in the calendar than does the Dauphiné, and based on the Tour’s parcours and rhythm of the rider’s season, this race may have better timing. But in any case, as with the Critérium, the effort is a dangerous gamble: ride too hard and you could fire off the Guns enter the Tour with little more than starter pistols. Balance, balance.
So, as the Dauphiné winds down, it’s time to start thinking about Suisse, our last VSP before le Tour. Get your picks in by 5am Pacific on Saturday morning. Same drill as usual: 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 changed a bit this year, and we may not have completely updated the guide yet, so if there’s a question, ask.
May Merckx be with you all.
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@frank
Still don't like him but it's good to see the world champ finally do something.
@frank
Nice to see he had his left turn signal on...
@Marko
Why do you think he took that long look back early in the sprint?
@xyxax
I didn't see the race today. Could it be youthful inexperience thinking he had the jump only to find Thor the aged experienced God of Asunder pipping him? Like I said, I didn't see the race.
Is it just me or was that the least exciting group sprint for some time? All seemed to unfold in slow motion. Maybe it was because I could only get Dutch commentary and don't speak Dutch.
Good to see the elder statesmen of leopard-trek going for it at the end. Sagan is amazing. Only 21?
It was real boring! It looked like they just rolled across the line lackadaisically. Meh.
@ramenvelo
In great contrast to today. That was AWESOME!!!! Chapeau to Boonen for going for it when his team fucked up and he landed on the front with a KILOMETER to go. Bozic, it appears, could not believe his luck! Awesome finish!
Well, that was a bit more exciting...
I was wondering how long Boonen could hang on for. Looked like Freire stopped pedaling before he hit the line. Nice win, Borut!
@frank
Definitely better finish today than yesterday, although I think tomorrow's finish will top them both!