Critérium du Dauphiné 2017 (04/06 > 11/06/2017)

[LaFlorecita]

Will the other GC contenders allow Contador to go and test himself, even if he is a couple of minutes down? I don't think they will allow him any time, they will watch him like a hawk as they know what he is like (dangerous). No matter what he says in the press conference, you take his words with a pinch of salt! I think he'll finish on podium.

That is another matter. You're right they won't give him much room but if he is 20 minutes down, will they care when he escapes on Col de Sarenne?

 

[glassmoon]

would like to see LRP or Bala to win this bike race.

 

[Lexman]

Are you guys seriously suggesting Contador will lose time on purpose on the flat stages?

Why not?

in an interview with AC a while ago I read something in the style of : I don't care of GC in Dauphiné... want to test myself ...

 

[Valv.Piti]

Are you guys seriously suggesting Contador will lose time on purpose on the flat stages?

Why not?

You being af fan of his for +10 years, Im surprised you actually think that. Its completely ludicrous to me that he should be losing time on some of the earlier stages in a race he realistically could win.

Obviously, it would be smart to be a lot less aggressive and don't care about losing a few seconds here and there in the finales, but losing a couple of minutes isn't something that I would expect, ever, from Contador. Then again it could relieve some pressure on him so Porte and Froome aren't beating him 'fair and square' if they are stronger.

 

[bob.a.feet]

Are you guys seriously suggesting Contador will lose time on purpose on the flat stages?

Why not?

If he's not a threat then he wouldn't be able to test himself against his rivals in the mountains, or at least that's what I think it might be. But if he wants to compete in the mountains and in the time trial, he may as well just target GC.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

If he's not a threat then he wouldn't be able to test himself against his rivals in the mountains, or at least that's what I think it might be. But if he wants to compete in the mountains and in the time trial, he may as well just target GC.

Maybe he just meant that he wants to make the race in the mountains to test himself - which will likely cost him, considering the quality field, hence, "not caring about the GC"

We won't know until the last three stages, IMO. Anything he says in the press conference is just talk.

 

[WheelofGear]

Contador should drop out of the GC and go for the stages. He'll get destroyed by Froome and Porte in the mountains.

Good thing is that with Porte in the race, it wouldn't be a Froomeshow. I think we could get quite a duel. As proven in the Dauphine and Tour last year, Froome can't drop him. He can outsprint him in the last 200m, but that's it.

Then there is Valverde who can win a hilly stage but I don't think he is there yet in terms of GC form. He tends to start slow.

 

[DanielSong39]

Someone like Dan Martin could steal the race in a breakaway. I wouldn't count on a two-man race quite yet...

Also with this being a 1-week race, time splits are likely to be small.

 

[Mr.White]

Re:

no need to lower expectations in order not to get frustrated just in case one doesn't deliver. needless to say all of 3 biggest favorites will test themselves very seriously in all gc-relevant stages.

What 3 favorites? I counted at least 4...

 

[dacooley]

Re: Re:

no need to lower expectations in order not to get frustrated just in case one doesn't deliver. needless to say all of 3 biggest favorites will test themselves very seriously in all gc-relevant stages.

What 3 favorites? I counted at least 4...

froome, contador and richie. as for valverde he's going to do a very conservative 2015 style dauphine me thinks

 

[Valv.Piti]

Are you guys seriously suggesting Contador will lose time on purpose on the flat stages?

Why not?

If he's not a threat then he wouldn't be able to test himself against his rivals in the mountains, or at least that's what I think it might be. But if he wants to compete in the mountains and in the time trial, he may as well just target GC.

Exactly, it would be non-sense if he just strolled around, rode a good TT and tried himself out on one stage. Aint gonna happen, Im surprised some people are seriously believing that will be the case. I guess its expectation management.

 

[Escarabajo]

Strange why they didn't pair Pantano with Contador in this race. Maybe they saw that Suisse fitted really well for him and don't want to change something that is already working for Pantano. Besides Contador is not going for any victory anyway.

 

[carolina]

Re:

Strange why they didn't pair Pantano with Contador in this race. Maybe they saw that Suisse fitted really well for him and don't want to change something that is already working for Pantano. Besides Contador is not going for any victory anyway.

Maybe Pantano wants the chance to win something instead of always working for Contador.

 

[WheelofGear]

Pantano wants to win Suisse.

 

[WheelofGear]

Re:

Pantano wants to win Suisse.

We need a Suisse thread. He must be one of the favorites along with De la Cruz, Ion Izagirre and Poels. Don't know about Lopéz. It's his first race in half a year.

And those who have done the Giro must be tired (Dumoulin, Pozzovivo, Kruijswijk).. Rui Costa less so but I'm not so sure about him anymore when it comes to GC riding.

Then there is lesser competitors like Reichenbach, Konrad, Dombrowski, Caruso, Morton and Frank who can fight for a top 10 result.

It's way more open than Dauphine. The racing should be better.

 

[SHAD0W93]

SInce Contador said he is taking it easy I hope he wins a stage while Valverde wins GC and a stage.

 

[Jspear]

Are you guys seriously suggesting Contador will lose time on purpose on the flat stages?

Why not?

If he's not a threat then he wouldn't be able to test himself against his rivals in the mountains, or at least that's what I think it might be. But if he wants to compete in the mountains and in the time trial, he may as well just target GC.

Exactly, it would be non-sense if he just strolled around, rode a good TT and tried himself out on one stage. Aint gonna happen, Im surprised some people are seriously believing that will be the case. I guess its expectation management.

Nice try....Perhaps you could call it that if this was a rumor started by CN fans, but it's not so...

 

[Mr.White]

Re:

Contador should drop out of the GC and go for the stages. He'll get destroyed by Froome and Porte in the mountains.

Good thing is that with Porte in the race, it wouldn't be a Froomeshow. I think we could get quite a duel. As proven in the Dauphine and Tour last year, Froome can't drop him. He can outsprint him in the last 200m, but that's it.

Then there is Valverde who can win a hilly stage but I don't think he is there yet in terms of GC form. He tends to start slow.

I can't recall Contador dropping time deliberately in a stage race ever! So I guess it won't happen this time either. He even went for a GC in freaking Eneco Tour! He just can't help himself, he's a true racer and he's always in the mix in stage races, even when he's not targeting them. When he said he won't go 100% he probably meant he'll not going to attack like he usually does and he'll hang on the climbs as much as he can without going in the red too much. Results wise, he'll not be bothered with that too much, but I think he'll end up top 5 anyway.

 

[Mr.White]

Re: Re:

no need to lower expectations in order not to get frustrated just in case one doesn't deliver. needless to say all of 3 biggest favorites will test themselves very seriously in all gc-relevant stages.

What 3 favorites? I counted at least 4...

froome, contador and richie. as for valverde he's going to do a very conservative 2015 style dauphine me thinks

I think Valverde will be better than usually, cause he needs to be sharp in the Tour from the very beggining. Movistar doesn't know how Quintana will respond in the Tour after hard Giro, so I guess Bala will be on top of his game already in stage 5

 

[Valv.Piti]

Are you guys seriously suggesting Contador will lose time on purpose on the flat stages?

Why not?

If he's not a threat then he wouldn't be able to test himself against his rivals in the mountains, or at least that's what I think it might be. But if he wants to compete in the mountains and in the time trial, he may as well just target GC.

Exactly, it would be non-sense if he just strolled around, rode a good TT and tried himself out on one stage. Aint gonna happen, Im surprised some people are seriously believing that will be the case. I guess its expectation management.

Nice try....Perhaps you could call it that if this was a rumor started by CN fans, but it's not so...

But I dont remember him saying he will lose time deliberately?

 

[Jspear]

But I dont remember him saying he will lose time deliberately?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LalJ_sALzkU

It's a possibility.

 

[SHAD0W93]

I didn't see Kreuziger was racing this instead of Suisse so I hope he wins a stage as well.

 

[MrTea1976]

I think it will be between Porte and Valverde (here and at the tour). I'd like to see Dan Martin do well though.

 

[LaFlorecita]

If he's not a threat then he wouldn't be able to test himself against his rivals in the mountains, or at least that's what I think it might be. But if he wants to compete in the mountains and in the time trial, he may as well just target GC.

Maybe he just meant that he wants to make the race in the mountains to test himself - which will likely cost him, considering the quality field, hence, "not caring about the GC"

We won't know until the last three stages, IMO. Anything he says in the press conference is just talk.

That's not what he meant. Tell me, in what way is "making the race in the mountains" different from going for GC in terms of energy and recovery afterwards?
He said it himself, he doesn't want to go too far into the red too often. So, he might not go to deep on the climbs. Then he will target a stage to test himself, i.e. go into the red. However, it would be smart to drop time early on so a. he doesn't get tempted to ride for GC anyway and b. he gets some freedom to take a stage.

 

[Nedrider]

I can't really see anyone but Froome winning here. I hope for Contador or Valverde but don't think thats likely.

I think Porte will try to test Froome for the tour and will want to go there with a small victory to boost confidence. Contador will also try to win for the same reason seeing last year he tried but Froome was just too good. Valverde might want to cause some upset seeing Quintana didnt win the Giro to target a double. Movistar will come with 2 contenders so is BMC though Porte is their man, TJ will jump on it if Porte hits streak of badluck :lol: