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Critérium du Dauphiné Discussion
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| ember |
Posted on 19-06-2013 09:53
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It's as always for Critérium du Dauphiné a challenging route that awaits the riders. A prologue kicks things off in Grenoble, before the only flat stage is at day two of the race. From stage 3 and on, it's expected to be all about the overall contenders.
Stage 3 is categorized as a hilly one. The short length and the fast run in to Saint-Étienne could be what the favourites need to try to gap each other, as you’re likely to be able to hold on to a lead at the descent. Though, it could also be a day where the favourites decide to save their energy for the coming stages, thus being a nice opportunity for breakaway riders.
Stage 4 is the race against the truth. 38.4 kilometers in the area of Anneyron will be the first big test for the GC contenders. The time trial is ranked flat, but contains two categorized climbs, meaning you'll need to handle it all to be able to win such a stage.
Stage 5 ends with the mythical Mont Ventoux. The Beast of the Provence is arguably the toughest end to any stage this year's Critérium du Dauphiné, and the riders need to bring their best to fight for the stage win. Mont Ventoux is followed by a tricky stage 6, which is another hilly one, and another one ending with a descent. The second category climb before the downhill is a tough one, and it should be an opportunity for riders who have lost too much time on the opening days to get some of it back.
Stage 7 is the Queen stage, with a couple of well-known climbs on the menu. Col de la Croix de Fer and Col de Telégraphe are both in the final half of the stage, meaning this should be the place for the big battle between the overall contenders. A short descent down to Valloire takes the riders to the finish line, as they're lucky enough to not ride Col de Galibier in this year's edition of the race. The race ends with a hilly stage 8, which shouldn't see big changes in the general classification, considering the riders should be exhausted after the effort on stage 7. Though, with two categorized climbs followed by a descent and a short flat, it could also be the place to gain those needed seconds to improve in the standings.
 Spilak
has won this race the two last years, and he lines up hoping for another overall win, making a hat trick. He's an excellent climber, and being one of the strongest on hilly terrain certainly helps when no less than three stages are ranked hilly.
 Phinney
will look to challenge the Slovenian, and this race should suit him perfect. He comes from a stunning win in Giro d'Italia, and he'll hope to do something similar here: get hold of the yellow jersey on the prologue or the time trial, and defend it on the tougher terrain.
 Gesink
 Valverde
must both be pleased with the profile, considering there are three hilly stages. They're brilliant at that terrain, and are also great climbers. You can also add Gesink's lethal abilities on the time trial bike, and you'll understand his ambitions for a podium overall. Valverde's weakness is time trialing, but that hasn't stopped him from winning big earlier seasons in the Pro Tour.
 Contador
is arguably the best climber in this race, and he must look to Mont Ventoux and stage 7 to gap the others, as he’s not amongst the best puncheurs or chrono riders. Though, looking at his team mates he’ll probably be forced to make the race hard on his own, as none of his team mates look able to blow the peloton in pieces on the climbs.
 Eastman
 Sicard
are both expected to be two of the world's best stage racers in the future. They'll both get the chance to lead their teams in Critérium du Dauphiné, and especially Sicard must feel the pressure, as he's the only French rider who comes into the race with overall ambitions. Can they fight for an overall top 5, or will we only see them fight each other for the white jersey?
 Van Den Broeck
 Martin
 Keinath
are three more challengers for a good placing in the overall standings. The Belgian has proved earlier this season that he enjoys attacking, and with three hilly stages you must say it won't be a bad idea to be aggressive to gain valuable time. Martin is arguably a slightly better puncheur compared to Van Den Broeck, but he lacks the power of the Belgian on time trials. His good backup stats should see him be able to compete at a high level all eight days, meaning he'll definitely be a rider to watch on the three tough stages that ends the race.
Keinath probably lacks the top quality making him able to fight for an overall podium, but he's overall solid and rarely has a bad day. That could be of utter importance, as there are no less than six stages (excluding the prologue) where it's possible to lose time for overall contenders.
 Valls
 Lloret
De la Fuente
are three Spaniards wanting to fight for a top 10 in the overall standings. Valls has gotten a rare chance to lead his Spanish team, and he should be eager to prove himself as a team leader, after having worked brilliant for Tenorio in the Giro. Lloret and De la Fuente shouldn't be good enough for much better than an overall top 10, but especially De la Fuente has made it a habit to surprise the peloton with crazy solo attacks. That will be a rider to watch out for.
 Milka-AVG
 UBS-BMC
 Vesuvio-Accumalux
aren't coming to this year's Critérium du Dauphiné with big overall ambitions. The Czech team has brought home hero
Coppel
to aim for maillot jaune, while Vesuvio probably will look to
Caethoven
for a good stage result at stage 2. UBS-BMC doesn't have a top sprinter or time trialists, and must look for breakaways, probably targeting the polkadot with one of their climbers.
Last, but definitely not least, comes wild card team Bintang! They've brought a great team for the race, led by last season’s best climber in the Continental Division
 Alarcon
He will be supported by strong climbers like Krasnoperov, Ghisalberti and Orozco. They will definitely be a team to watch for the team classification. And will the young Venezuelan climber be strong enough to climb his way to a top 5 in the overall standing?
The start list in full:
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The racing will start when Vuelta a Espana is done.
Edited by ember on 19-06-2013 16:37
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| SotD |
Posted on 19-06-2013 10:01
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Seeing how the game treats mountainstages I have to HOPE for top 5 from Contador. The win surely goes to Phinney, ahead of Gesink or Spilak. Jurgen van den Broeck for top 5 due to his sprint, and Sicard, Valverde, Eastman, Keinath and Krasnoperov to complete the top 10 with Valls just short I think. Looking at how things progressed earlier I might get a good subtop result from Rolland though.
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| Sykkel_Freak |
Posted on 19-06-2013 12:20
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Good preview!
With Di Maggio having two 7th places from Badaling International and Fleche Wallone as his most notable results so far, I hope he could challenge for a stage win on one of the hilly stages. Stage 3 looks like the stage were he has the best chances. Other than that, I hope Brambilla will be able to follow up his decent overall placement from the Giro.
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| cio93 |
Posted on 19-06-2013 12:50
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It was an easy decision to send VDB here with the TTT in Switzerland.
Many others seem to have faith in their squads though, so I'm really happy the big stars went there.
Only 1 1/2 mountaintop finishes is perfect for VDB as he should be able to use his good sprint for some points and seconds.
I just hope he is not overly aggressive (Badaling) or constantly misses he right move (Catalunya).
The TT favours Phinney and Gesink enough to make them stand out, but behind them, the field is wide open.
A top 10 is a must, I realistically see VDB somewhere between 5th and 8th.
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| Smowz |
Posted on 19-06-2013 17:07
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All in for the hoped sprint on stage two, which is coming up next. Van Stayen coming in straight from the Vuelta is hoping to nip in with another podium.
Elsewhere it is a chance for us to go for breakaways, though in shorter stage races chances are a little less.
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| Sykkel_Freak |
Posted on 19-06-2013 17:22
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Wow, that was a really strong performance by Bodnar. One of his best (perhaps even the best) results on a TT in the Venchi jersey, regardless of division. Really happy about that!
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| Levi4life |
Posted on 19-06-2013 18:02
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The hilly stages/really bad tactics will probably keep Eastman out of the top 10. Nice to see him do well in the prologue though.
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| SotD |
Posted on 19-06-2013 20:52
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Mathieu Bernaudeau with a dazzling TT performance yet again. He has been my most consistent rider over this season, perhaps he deserves a little bit of training next season.
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| beagle |
Posted on 19-06-2013 21:52
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This is race where I can hardly score any significant amount of points. Hopefully it´ll be over soon 
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| Roman |
Posted on 19-06-2013 23:14
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Really happy with these results! 
Especially for sure that win for Coppel, 6th for Kreuziger, 9th for Bouet, even my young talent Gough with 22th place is a nice performance, even that the competition isn't the greatest here thankfully to Tour de Suisse with TTT.
Hopefully Coppel will be able to defend his jersey with help of my team right into the second TT. Even if not, hopefully Rabon or König will try to go for a good result to a breakaway.
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| Smowz |
Posted on 20-06-2013 10:18
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Van Stayen strikes again, fantastic consistent sprinting from the Belgian.
Fell a bit sorry for Pearl Adidas though, Vanderbiest was rightly the favourite there but when you saw just the one train and the guy burst off early you suspected it would be the leech like Van Stayen that would benefit.
No more flat stages now, though there is perhaps a chance of a few more sprints you never know. Will be interesting to see if Phinney tries to snatch the jersey before stages 4's time trial.
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| cio93 |
Posted on 20-06-2013 11:35
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Usual solid sprint there, now let's roll!
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| Roman |
Posted on 20-06-2013 14:41
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Good stage for my team, well-defended jersey. Well, almost, Phinney did a great sprint, only a little bit of a good luck helped us. It will be harder to do the same in the next stage indeed, but not impossible for sure.
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| Sykkel_Freak |
Posted on 20-06-2013 19:21
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As expected, a calm stage for us. Sadly, we weren't able to get any TV time, but we'll make up for that later. Looking forward to the next stage! I hope Di Maggio can challenge for the stage win.
Edit: But he didn't! At least we had Brambilla coming in with the pack. He is well placed in the GC, now. I hope he can climb the rankings a bit more, though.
Edited by Sykkel_Freak on 20-06-2013 19:29
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| cio93 |
Posted on 20-06-2013 19:24
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Can't we just change to PCM 13 right now?
Seriously annoying, this "oh let's go hard for 30 kilometres oh we caught someone weak from the break now it's useless to continue oh there's the pack what happened oh we don't care" shit...
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| mb2612 |
Posted on 20-06-2013 19:26
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cio93 wrote:
Can't we just change to PCM 13 right now?
Seriously annoying, this "oh let's go hard for 30 kilometres oh we caught someone weak from the break now it's useless to continue oh there's the pack what happened oh we don't care" shit...
pretty much this.
But 2nd and 3rd from the last two stages makes this a successful race already.
[url=www.pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=33182] Team Santander Media Thread[/url]
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| Smowz |
Posted on 20-06-2013 19:32
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Well from what I have seen so far, I am not convinced we will not see that from pcm13 either.
Very happy with Moinard there, a bit like mb this race is already a success for us. Anything extra is a bonus.
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| mb2612 |
Posted on 20-06-2013 19:47
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Smowz wrote:
Well from what I have seen so far, I am not convinced we will not see that from pcm13 either.
Maybe so, but new slightly different bugs are better than old bugs.
[url=www.pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=33182] Team Santander Media Thread[/url]
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| mattiasgt |
Posted on 20-06-2013 20:05
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Ha, I laughed when I saw Meyer being rated as a favorite for that "flat" stage. Lucky he didn't cause Valverde to drop back.
Oh, and annoyingly no time gaps there. Boring.
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| Roman |
Posted on 20-06-2013 23:12
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Well, too bad for Coppel that De la Fuente stayed away, but still 2nd overall, with a chance to get back for one more stage to the lead, solid.
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