diphthong

^pm me. just kidding. no, i'm not. anything to keep slcbob off the podium...it takes a village.

diphthong

i'm not smart enuff to do the math so this'll be stage results. my faves (inpo) for stage four: dumou, kiryienka, froomie, richie and (my boy) tejay. oh boy.
dumou and kiryienka had had health issues lately so going with froomie ftw.

diphthong

blaming aso-again.

slcbob

Well played, sir. Well played.

If we had a village, the podium might be a little more selective.

3 on the podium and a Lantern Rouge. Everyone is a winner!

slcbob

Unfortunately, my prediction for today is not going to hold.

GrainBrain

Damn he hit a wall at 60km/h during course recon!! Fractured his femur is what they're saying, he won't be back for awhile

diphthong

my predictions are just horrible whilst slcbob’s are...bone crushing. too soon?

van aert. van wow.

slcbob

I'm contemplating going full Michelle Obama with a go high response to all these low blows I'm taking. But I can only stay high for so long. (A man's got to know his limitations. - CE)

I was thinking about mocking the Tejay pick, but: a) that's below me, at least once in a while; b) my spider senses were tingling that the lad might do something good.

On the other hand, can it stick? What's the consensus for which stage he crumbles in the hills like Rasmussen would in a TT? Is Friday grippy enough, or does he hold on until Saturday?

Brave ride by Teuns, and well done, Adam. The hill helped his TT nicely.

For Thursday, give me Bennet, Colbrelli, and who can doubt Wout at this point? !!

diphthong

slcbob is killing it so far.

diphthong

the overall consensus is that stage five will be a sprint finish and i'll take a bennett win if it comes but thinking alaphilippe ftw...

slcbob

The Velo$$ ROI on van Aert @ 8 V$ vs. Alahphilippe @ 22 V$ is stunning.

I still miss Steve Cummings.

slcbob

Stage 6: Kwiatkowski free to fly. Makes the break, rides Alahphilippe off his wheel.

Jeanne Dixon whispered it to me.

I'd rather she focus the divine inspiration on TdeS picks.

diphthong

actually, imma agreeing with slcbob. looks to be a great classics-styled stage.
so kwk, julian, gilbert/stybar, ebh, wout wout (what can't he do?!), lutsenko, et al in the running.
methinks kwk would dramatically improve morale within team sky...er...ineos with a w.
so shall it be written. so shall it be done.

slcbob

^ as soon as we agreed, we were both doomed.

So Ineos and AG2R, among others, need to shake it up a bit to give their boys a chance at the top stop. I hope we see Mitchelton-Scott and Astana forced to pull while some teammates sit on up the road waiting to help Poels and Bardet if they can get a little space. Should be interesting, lots of others mixing it up in there, too. Maybe Kwiato was resting up today for that big move? Yeah, that's it. That's the ticket.

I think we bid adieu to Tejay from the top 10 tomorrow. I say that not with my heart, but with my head. Well, actually, after having come up van Garderempty a few times on prior Velo smackdowns, maybe a smidge of heart, too.

I don't know a thing about Teuns, or much about our debutante van Aert, so let's see!

slcbob

There's a mighty storm a brewing right on my heels. Damn, one4smoke! You're hanging on.

Fortunately, the road tips up and will lift me away from that action. I hope.

diphthong

stage seven horrible prediction...thinking pinot or quintana. quintana ftw.

slcbob

Tejay! You hung on nicely! I'll never doubt you again....

I lied. Tejay gets passed by Buchmann, Poels, Teuns, and Pinot tomorrow for the final GC.

Mr. o o gabooga, it's a punchy finish after a big climb -- can Quintana dominate without all that gradient right to the line?

I haven't seen today's stage yet, just the results, but I'll float Dan Martin as the winner.

one4smoke

Congrats on the win, Bob. Thought I might give you a go after 6, but 7 did me in.

On to TdS!!!

diphthong

stage eight...i like any of the troika of martin, yates or pinot to win but i think fuglsang does enough to win the overall.

dstrong 

I hope your predictions for the TdF are as accurate!

At one point on the final climb, Tejay was at the back and I thought he was getting dropped. Glad he was able to hang on!

slcbob

If I make enough of them, some will be!

I encourage you to put all your eggs in that van Basket. I'm sure Tejay will have a great tour. Whether or not he does, he sure did have a great Dauphine. I never should have added "for the final GC." I would have been prescient.

Get well Adam.

I may come back and say something gracious as the victor once the final results are posted, since it doesn't look like I'll need to carve out much in the way of that for the Suisse goings on.

diphthong

a little late to coronate the dauphine king...the crown goes to slcbob and team X Merckx the Spot. nailed 4 of the top 9 riders
with significant contributions from others. very well played. a small consolation to the rest of us...we all picked the overall winner. 4 for 4.

slcbob

Thank you, kind sir. I hope I did not expend my ration of acorns and that I will not have cause to bend the knee in return as soon as the end of this Suisse week. It is not beyond the realm of possibilities.

I am a little irked at Kruijswijck pulling out. I would have liked his points so I could have been a little more smug. The human coat hanger left me hanging. After the drubbing I took in the Giro, I wanted a win that was more demoralizing. But you all are too good.

Besides being the all-Fuglsgang gang, none of us took Froome or Yates. I look forward to continuing to work against you evil geniuses in the stage races to come.


It's such a fine line between stupid and clever.
- David St. Hubbins

Rajflyboy

What is Dauphine ?

Do you just jump in the water at the finish line and swim with Dolphins or something ?

diphthong

Something like that. Think all that plus wearing Zorro eye masks and you’ve got it.