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

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

If Porte can hold on to this form for another 6 weeks that will be the most alien performance of all time.

It won't, it most definitely won't.

We've seen this before, just five years ago with Sir Bradley Wiggins.

Evans in 2011 won Tirreno, Romandie and was second in the Dauphine, and as you say Wiggins did even better. Froome has also had similar years and then gone on to do well in the Vuelta as well. It seems people have their favorite aliens...........

Excuse my hyperbole. I guess what stands out is that the GC contenders all performed more or less how we expected vis-a-vis the specialist, except one. So for me that means Porte is at a significantly higher level than the others at the moment. I expect ALL of the other GC contenders to come up in form between now and the start of the Tour. I do not expect Porte will get better (I think we're seeing his peak). If he can either peak further and/or maintain his current level all the way through the end of the TdF, I think that's pretty remarkable (and I don't mean in a good way). Certainly can see him faltering in the third week and still winning TdF (a la Froome). Would be shocked if he's dominate throughout.

Somehow I don't see anyone dominating the Tour and after this race that probably includes Froome. Quintana has done the Giro, Froome is off his best pre Tour form so far and then you have two veterans in Contador and Valverde and someone namely Porte who has never podiumed before. So I don't really see anyone dominating
and it possibly could be a repeat of the Giro where many riders are in contention in the final week. Chaves and Bardet have question marks about them as well due to injuries and whatever. The Tour could be more of a war of attrition than brilliant performances.

 

[Gigs_98]

I kind of want to see valverde winning this so he can continue his absolutely crazy season. Imagine him winning the dauphine and a gt this year.

 

[SeriousSam]

There was no physical collapse last year, just bad luck. Also, with the nuisance that is TJ removed from the picture and Porte riding better than ever, his team will be more committed to him

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

So far Richie has always had a bad day in a GT

Has he? Last year he didn't really have a bad day in the tour only bad luck on stage 2

 

[SeriousSam]

I kind of want to see valverde winning this so he can continue his absolutely crazy season. Imagine him winning the dauphine and a gt this year.

Imagine him doing a better Tour than young Alberto, what an accomplishment that would be. Just plainly better than Contador at everything all year round.

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

There was no physical collapse last year, just bad luck. Also, with the nuisance that is TJ removed from the picture and Porte riding better than ever, his team will be more committed to him

Yes I think Porte will be relieved not to have the two leader scenario again.

 

[portugal11]

I just hope that porte will ride for the win and not for a podium place

 

[Arredondo]

Re:

I just hope that porte will ride for the win and not for a podium place

I fear for that.

 

[Mongolian Torque]

This is fricken interesting all of a sudden. Froomella says he's in it to win it... but then this sewer job of a TT just happened. So me thinks to myself...A) He is feigning weakness of some sort as a part of SKY's current cadre of marginal gains stunts (running up hills with no bike, pedalling whislt sitting on the top tube in some sort of aero postion, etc,) B) Porte found a Jiffy Bag somewhere and washed it down with a Pepsi and a Kangaroo burger and/or he's just in superbe form at the moment C) Porte AND Valverde stole Froome's JIffy Bag and then shared it where Valverde washes his portion down with a good ol' paella. D) Froomella just plain sucked today. E) The SKY regimen, under fire/criticism recently, has been tweaked somewhat. Make any insulation you wish...

As a gauge the Dauphine is a good one, but far from the complete picture. What astonishes me most is how Valverde is having a monster season so far. I saw glimpses of this last year and never thought he would carry it into 2017. Well he did, and I'm ok with that. Also, Porte is other worldly right now too, starting the early TDU win.

Contador seems a better self these days and if he can mark Froome, then great,however, it's the others that are the greater concern all of a sudden. Three weeks is a long time so the list of contenders and pretenders are still pretty much the same, it's the the podium postitions that becomes interesting in earnest this year.

Podium predictions for 2017 Dauphine:
In no particular order...

Pick three from...
Porte/Valverde/Froome/Contador


Podium predictions for 2017 TDF

The Podium Pool:

(in no particular order)

Contador
Froome
Valverde
Quintana
Porte
Pinot
Thomas



1st:

Contador/Froome/Porte

2nd/

Quintana/Valverde/Porte

3rd/

Pinot/Valverde/Thomas/Porte



Quintana is my darkhorse for any podium position given his ridiculous propensity to get better in his SECOND GT or he will just totally burn out...

Nibali will eventually ride for support is my guess, unless he gets back to his training in Jiffy...

Overall, this should make for a slightly more interesting edition of this year's TDF.

One caveat- Contador has to stay UPRIGHT at all costs. His bad luck will finally run out and he will have a fair go of it this year. Froome has no doubt capitalised on the misfortune of Contador crashing from sneezes, strands of hair in the road and just plain bad hair days in recent years.... . Should the contenders avoid any real mishaps, this edition will be a real firecracker.

 

[Cookster15]

Porte just confirmed he can still do a strong TT. He has proved he can climb with the best. If he can stay on his bike and not get dropped in the echelons of the Tour I think Froome has something to worry about. But let's finish this Dauphine first.

 

[Escarabajo]

Wow! Porte!!

Porte to win the Tour with more than 10 minutes.

This forum will have to be shut down for 1 month.

 

[ontheroad]

I kind of want to see valverde winning this so he can continue his absolutely crazy season. Imagine him winning the dauphine and a gt this year.

Imagine him doing a better Tour than young Alberto, what an accomplishment that would be. Just plainly better than Contador at everything all year round.

Bertie and Valverde's careers working in reverse. Bertie ageing and losing his former physical ability to compete at the very top. Valverde defying all logic and improving in his late thirtie's.

 

[Jspear]

Re:

Wow! Porte!!

Porte to win the Tour with more than 10 minutes.

This forum will have to be shut down for 1 month.

I dunno...I think plenty will be happy that someone beat Froome. That's what it is for me. I just want to see ANYONE beat Froome.

 

[Jspear]

This is fricken interesting all of a sudden. Froomella says he's in it to win it... but then this sewer job of a TT just happened. So me thinks to myself...A) He is feigning weakness of some sort as a part of SKY's current cadre of marginal gains stunts (running up hills with no bike, pedalling whislt sitting on the top tube in some sort of aero postion, etc,) B) Porte found a Jiffy Bag somewhere and washed it down with a Pepsi and a Kangaroo burger and/or he's just in superbe form at the moment C) Porte AND Valverde stole Froome's JIffy Bag and then shared it where Valverde washes his portion down with a good ol' paella. D) Froomella just plain sucked today. E) The SKY regimen, under fire/criticism recently, has been tweaked somewhat. Make any insulation you wish...

As a gauge the Dauphine is a good one, but far from the complete picture. What astonishes me most is how Valverde is having a monster season so far. I saw glimpses of this last year and never thought he would carry it into 2017. Well he did, and I'm ok with that. Also, Porte is other worldly right now too, starting the early TDU win.

Contador seems a better self these days and if he can mark Froome, then great,however, it's the others that are the greater concern all of a sudden. Three weeks is a long time so the list of contenders and pretenders are still pretty much the same, it's the the podium postitions that becomes interesting in earnest this year.

Podium predictions for 2017 Dauphine:
In no particular order...

Pick three from...
Porte/Valverde/Froome/Contador


Podium predictions for 2017 TDF

The Podium Pool:

(in no particular order)

Contador
Froome
Valverde
Quintana
Porte
Pinot
Thomas



1st:

Contador/Froome/Porte

2nd/

Quintana/Valverde/Porte

3rd/

Pinot/Valverde/Thomas/Porte



Quintana is my darkhorse for any podium position given his ridiculous propensity to get better in his SECOND GT or he will just totally burn out...

Nibali will eventually ride for support is my guess, unless he gets back to his training in Jiffy...

Overall, this should make for a slightly more interesting edition of this year's TDF.

One caveat- Contador has to stay UPRIGHT at all costs. His bad luck will finally run out and he will have a fair go of it this year. Froome has no doubt capitalised on the misfortune of Contador crashing from sneezes, strands of hair in the road and just plain bad hair days in recent years.... . Should the contenders avoid any real mishaps, this edition will be a real firecracker.

Those are pretty safe and unspecific predictions.

 

[woodburn]

Not ready to at all think Froome isn't the big favorite next month. I seem to remember Mayo destroying a Ventoux TT in the Dauphine and the favorite finishing fifth. Yet when the Tour came around, that guy won it again.

 

[klintE]

Today, 7 June 2017, the Richie Porte Era has begun.

 

[LaFlorecita]

]

Those are pretty safe and unspecific predictions.

I don't know, I thought Froome and Contador for first or bust was pretty interesting

 

[woodburn]

Re:

Today, 7 June 2017, the Richie Porte Era has begun.

Crazy he is six months older than Andy.

 

[rick james]

LOL at the posters who think the Froome era is over with, I said earlier he'd be lucky to top 10, he is taking things at a slower pace, thinking long term for the double, he has nothing to prove in this race and its smart from him, the Tour and Vuelta is what he wants

 

[DFA123]

Re:

LOL at the posters who think the Froome era is over with, I said earlier he'd be lucky to top 10, he is taking things at a slower pace, thinking long term for the double, he has nothing to prove in this race and its smart from him, the Tour and Vuelta is what he wants

Don't buy that at all. It would be absolute madness to change the preparation that has made him unbeatable in the Tour, just for potentially a marginally better shot at the Vuelta. Sky are many things, but they're not so stupid as to risk the only race they and their sponsors really care about.

 

[rick james]

I wouldn't expect you to buy it anyway....Froome knows what he's doing

 

[Pennino]

Re:

Not ready to at all think Froome isn't the big favorite next month. I seem to remember Mayo destroying a Ventoux TT in the Dauphine and the favorite finishing fifth. Yet when the Tour came around, that guy won it again.

Yeah, because it took that guy just one simple phone call to Switzerland to pull the plug out off that very promising Basque bunch of bastards

Never forget.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

I wouldn't expect you to buy it anyway....Froome knows what he's doing

I'm sure he does know what he's doing. I'm also sure that it's not what you claimed above.

 

[DanielSong39]

Sometimes you know what you're doing but the body just doesn't cooperate.

A little early to write off Froome, though. If he gets dropped at Chambéry that's a different story.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Expected better from Froome, the next 3 days will be interesting for him.

Porte and Valverde reallly strong, and at this stage they have genuine chances in the Tour if Froome is below par.