slcbob

It doesn't look like one for the sprinters. It may be another Ineos tour de force. Will Froome make a dent in the proceedings? How about Nairo and his new knees?

I see six teams as of a moment ago formed up within the Velogames league. Any newcomers use League Name: Bike Forums, League Code: 398952811. Oldcomers should just show up.

Lots of new stage winners and man Friday types rising to top in the Giro. I'm thinking the Dauphine podiums will stick more to the usual suspects and folks with bibs ending in 1. And I'm usually right about these things.

GrainBrain , I know you fancy Intermarche and couldn't help but notice 191 as a promising value pick. Don't listen to the mole. Bystrom isn't going to cut it for you even though you'll excel at typing his name with the ghostbusters o. Louis will score more points.

For stage 1, I'd love to see Kwiatkowski get a day to fly in the break before he hauls the dynamic duo around for the rest of the stages.

diphthong

first team installment was priced at 72 points as i was previewing riders for the tdf. then i remembered my velogames dauphine total participants semi-recent dfl and
scrubbed that. o the lingering and eternal shame...bit more "normal" now.

this race is usually in my top 3-5 fave stage races of any length during the year. thought i would be feeling it but just not. hoping that changes early on.

mcnulty, tgh, kuss or mas to win the whole shindig? going with tgh. and yes, yo no that thomas is racing.

GrainBrain

I'll go and read the Mole now - but my choices are of my own thoughts! Mmm maybe I should blame these picks on someone else but my team is version one because I forgot to fudge around anymore. It's why I feature Colbrelli and Kristof!

Don't worry I'm not wanting on my circus of a team - I feature Loïc Vliegen. You may remember him for getting a 40 second lead 30km to go in L-B-L and blowing up in spectacular fashion.

A lot of Americans in this Dauphine. Regretting not featuring McNulty. Also regret not including Fabio Jakobsen to make it spicy.

Will Barta will win the TT. Geraint - Porte for 1-2 GC.

slcbob

Joe D was tempting. McNulty was in v 2nd to last for the TT points but swapped out for Colbrelli for stage 1 and any gravy.

I didn't want to make Team America suffer the voodoo doll effect that I just watched Cavagna experience.

GrainBrain

I nearly tested my marriage just now because I tuned back in at that exact point! "What a terrible line choice OH MY GOD". Thank goodness I think she's still sleeping, my son seemed alarmed at first then rolled his eyes.

So I got a glance at the teams just now ... Will that Voodoo work on a petroleum company? Did slcbob pull a Martinez?

slcbob

I'll put my two cents on Wilco Kelderman from the field today, for not the win.

Nice of the Dauphine to open up by continuing the Giro's trend of stage winners from left field. Let's do it again. Someone not on my fantasy team will survive from the break. Sorry, Tim Wellens.

GrainBrain

Øh no I picked the wrong Norwegian ... !!

Pöstlberger huh? Who is our mystery man Pedro I would love to hear his reasoning behind his pick - I read that Pöstlberger specifically targeted this stage for a win! Nothing on PCS to indicate this, not like I'm jealous. Similar to Vloïc but not jealous. Not at all.

Our man Brandon not doing great, maybe just a bad day as Pieper suggests? Kristoff is on standby for tour duty but sounds like he's about to be put into it.

Also another American - Garrison is out, bummer.

slcbob

Pedro is on a roll. Stealth Pedro.

Speaking of rolls, I'll pick Sonny for another best of the rest.

GrainBrain

Loïc found himself into a two man break, Hunter thinks Kristoff won't make it on the final uphill, I'm hoping for a surprise. Pedersen crashed out!

slcbob

I saw that the breakaway points are almost as worthless as the assist and team classification points that my Ineos domestiques will get me. D'oh. I need to de-institutionalize my mediocrity and do some mo betta strategery.

diphthong

pöstlberger made my penultimate team draft and only final change was sénéchal for pöstlberger. not exactly working out so far. nice win for lucas.
yet another horrible life choice by yours truly...still traumatized by the cepeda giro pick.

GrainBrain

Brandon looked great today for third! Hoping that's a good sign for tomorrow! For me I can't wait to see how Barta performs, also hoping Craddock does well. Cycling mole mentions possible rain in the later part of TT so those high on GC could get skunked.

I'd say Geraint for the win and motivation to grab yellow.

slcbob

If the forecast dampens the proceedings for Porte and Thomas, team X Merckx the Spot will not be Singing Indurain.

I won't parrot back Hunter's best Al Roker imitation but it will be interesting to see what happens. This will very much be one for the GC folks. I hope the weather is consistent over the last hour or so for a level playing field. I wouldn't be heart broken if some TT guy early in the pack winds up with the stage win in the dry. You know. So we get to see a surprise winner every now and then instead of the same old boring predictable outcomes.

diphthong

yah...gthomas, richie and brandon in that order for stage four.
@slcbob...thanks for starting the thread.

slcbob

Thankfully no rain yet still some surprises. Lutsenko head and shoulders above the field, pulling some of that Kazakh [black] magic a la Vino, though I don't think anyone's team benefitted from it. Postelberger defending against the odds with the yellow giving him wings. Wilco and G went out a little hard, paid for it. G now behind Porte.

Since I went all in on Ineos and took the soup, I'll count on G getting it right tomorrow and Richie not having one of those occasional Porte sort of mishap days.

GrainBrain

Pöstelberger and now a great ride by Kelderman ... interesting GC focus shaping up for Bora's Tour plans huh?

Read an article about some internal problems at Astana but they seem to have been figured out!

Great ride by Lawson Craddock, really happy to see that! Kruijwikkls not far off GC wise. McNulty finding his legs. Interesting that Bjerg spent a couple days reconning the TT course, only to come in 14 seconds slower then Brandon. Tells me Brandon is in good form and mentally sharp yes?

Is Geraint sandbagging a bit? I thought maybe it was a mistake to pick Tour favorites, thinking maybe they'll prefer to fly under the radar. Was thinking Tao would perform better.

GrainBrain

Ha, wonderful reference I haven't heard. I'll be starving at the Tour if Rigo decides to leave his young family and ride!

Looks like Rigo will ride according to PCS.

Watched some of lantern rouge talk about this TT. Glad I'm not the only one surprised by the results. I can't wait to watch the rest. It goes with my thoughts on sandbagging for G - it's crazy how much of a difference there is in the intermediate checks.

diphthong

stage five...looks tailor-made for lutsenko but he won the wrong stage! this is exactly the kind of stage i woulda picked him for. oh well.
also the same styled stage profile that bora would normally try to control and put that peter whatshisname into position to win. the hulk
isn't riding this but lucas is and methinx they keep him in yellow or close. over 10 km from the last short but sweet summit to the finish is an eternity.
would normally tip this to a classic-styled rider but there were a few gt stages similar to this last year that démare decided to win so yeah...cobrelli?
asgreen's been killing it. about 8-9 riders jump to the frontal lobe (naesen, kristoff, stuyven, asgreen, gva, valverde, kwiatkowski)
but going with aranburu to do the astana double-dip.

slcbob

We'll definitely see green and yellow jerseys huffing and puffing to stay with the GC group on that wall. Unless a big break gets well away and Sonny decides to phone it in.

Even though these aren't the big mountains, I'm ready for there to be some brutal Ineos action that strips off the pretenders. I'm due. I've been short changed by Colbrelli in stage 1 and Thomas in stage 4. My luck has to turn around, right? More likely tomorrow than today, but one can hope.

Pretty sure that means ooga-booga 's Naesen mention (not pick! God forbid, he'd be doomed) will surprise us both.

diphthong

coming up with a decided lack of inspiration for a horrible prediction on stage six. stages seven and eight, however?
a different manimal altogether.

just off with the aranburu pick for stage five. if it hadn't been for that meddling thomas...!

slcbob

Bala was showing his age in the TT but he's a spry young lad again today, mas o menos, with a little ayuda from the GC man MA Lopez. It being Movistar, I was waiting for that to implode but it didn't. Yet.

Perhaps tomorrow my faith in the unpopular Dark Blue Train juggernaut will be rewarded with VeloPoints. So far, only a little. Though I see ooga-booga will get a nice lift from TGH and remain a threat.

GrainBrain

Will Barta feeling the curse of my pick. Lawson Craddock has been freed of the burden I place upon him and he's just having a really great showing. Great TT, great work for Valgreen and a really great ride today. PCS doesn't list Craddock yet for the Tour but surely he's in. Think how great it will be to have Cort and Craddock in a break together.

MinnMan

Kuss did not look that strong at the finish.

diphthong

we'll see what surprises, good or bad, kuss has in store for stages seven and eight.

slcbob

Even though it would pain my velostandings, I'd be happy to see Sepp make something happen. Hopefully not Seppuku - death by early mountain attack.

I was surprised both Porte and Thomas (less so) were a bit off the pace today. It should be an interesting climb.