Criterium de Dauphine - 2eme etape

[Anonymous]

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[taiwan]

It's the only opportunity for the sprinters, unless st.7 is easier than it looks. Haedo's been good recently. Not a very sprinty field.
[edit] Your assessment of Geraint Thomas' potential in stage races is looking good at present, fingers crossed.

 

[saganftw]

those two little kicks before finish look interesting,some desperate french rider will go for victory

 

[kjetilraknerud]

Final climb more than 50 kms from the finish line, should be a bunch sprint. Bennati will fancy this one.

 

[Anonymous]

Im gonna stick my neck out and tip russ downing again no bias whatsoever

I think we will see two main groups come in though, lead group of maybe 60 or 70 riders.

as for Geraint.. we need a crazy predictions thread. Mine is Geraint THomas will win a grand tour during his career. Interesting looking at his performance in the baby giro in 2006. consistently ahead of the likes of dan martin and stannard and 3rd in the mountains class. thats despite the fact that 2006 he rode both the world track, and european track championships, and the commonwealth games, and found time to win the Fleche du Sud that year as well. By far the best british prospect at the moment. if he quits the track after 2012 and focus's on the road at 26 i think he will do very well.

 

[shadowblue]

ya know, i hate to be nitpicky, but the name of the race is Criterium DU Dauphine.

also, if you're gonna provide links to livestreams, why not list all the known sites?
http://www.cyclingfans.com
http://www.steephill.tv
http://www.bvls.eu/cycling.php
http://www.myp2p.eu/competition.php?competitionid=&part=sports&discipline=cycling
http://www.worldlivetv.org/
http://www.worldlivetv.org/

 

[miha1234]

Bole will win again, you will see

 

[Anonymous]

ya know, i hate to be nitpicky, but the name of the race is Criterium DU Dauphine.

got me French isnt my first language, at least ive stopped calling it dauphine libere

also, if you're gonna provide links to livestreams, why not list all the known sites?
http://www.cyclingfans.com
http://www.steephill.tv
http://www.bvls.eu/cycling.php
http://www.myp2p.eu/competition.php?competitionid=&part=sports&discipline=cycling
http://www.worldlivetv.org/
http://www.worldlivetv.org/

because i have better things to do with my life than put up ten different links. That one always has reliable feeds that work first time.And my link goes directly to feeds rather than just websites.

But thanks for the links. You can do the rest of the weeks route posting

 

[Roland Rat]

My prediction - Christophe Moreau to relive past glories.

 

[Anonymous]

My prediction - Christophe Moreau to relive past glories.

for the stage? or are you going wild and saying he can win the gc?

 

[Roland Rat]

for the stage? or are you going wild and saying he can win the gc?

Oh no, just the stage!

 

[Roland Rat]

as for Geraint.. we need a crazy predictions thread. Mine is Geraint THomas will win a grand tour during his career. Interesting looking at his performance in the baby giro in 2006. consistently ahead of the likes of dan martin and stannard and 3rd in the mountains class. thats despite the fact that 2006 he rode both the world track, and european track championships, and the commonwealth games, and found time to win the Fleche du Sud that year as well. By far the best british prospect at the moment. if he quits the track after 2012 and focus's on the road at 26 i think he will do very well.

Agreed.

And...

Peter Kennaugh to win Liege-Bastogne-Liege
Teejay van Garderen to win a Vuelta
Taylor Phinney to win all 5 monuments.

 

[Jamsque]

Agreed.

And...

Peter Kennaugh to win Liege-Bastogne-Liege
Teejay van Garderen to win a Vuelta
Taylor Phinney to win all 5 monuments.

Hee hee.

I think a bit of perspective is needed on the Geraint Thomas front. Yes, he is a talent, he clearly goes fairly well in the TTs, goes uphill pretty well, and has a mean kick. I am yet to be convinced that he can really do well on long, tough climbs.

Now that he has it on his shoulders I think he should be targeting the points jersey at this Dauphine. I would certainly hope to see him sprinting at the finish today, and I think he ought to be able to put in a top 30 or maybe even top 20 performance in the long TT tomorrow.

There are three days of fairly brutal climbing after that, and a fiendish-looking final stage, and I can't see Geraint holding on to his GC position. If he manages to stay in the top 25 overall then he will have done extraordinarily well.

As for long-term goals, I think it is a case of 'wait and see'. I think it is WAY too early to be touting him as a future GT contender. He'll probably head back to the track for the 2012 games anyway.

 

[Anonymous]

As for long-term goals, I think it is a case of 'wait and see'. I think it is WAY too early to be touting him as a future GT contender. He'll probably head back to the track for the 2012 games anyway.

and will be 26 after the 2012 olympics.. ive started an idiotic predictions thread anyway, save this one losing track

 

[Reverend_T_Preedy]

For me, Gerraint Thomas, once he concentrates on the road, will become a Phillipe Gilbert type rider who can perform in the cobbled and hilly classics. I reckon he'll also do well in week long stage races. However, a GT is a different story. Yes his performance in the Baby Giro was good but we was some way behind riders such as Gabrovski, Lloyd etc. Of all the young Brits, I think Peter Kennaugh (or his brother Tim depending on how he progresses) will be a better GT rider.

It'd be interesting to fast forward 10 years and see how Phinney, Thomas, Kennaugh, Sagan, Van Garderen, Bobridge and Cameron Meyer etc get on.

With regards to today, it looks like a strong sprinters day. My pick- Heado from Downing (unless Thomas is given another go in the sprints)

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Teejay van Garderen to win a Vuelta

Not a chance since Ángel Madrazo will win the Vuelta every year for a decade.

 

[Jamsque]

We have our break of the day.

Tankink (Rabobank), Bonnafond (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Augé (Cofidis), Isasi (Euskaltel) and Delaplace (Saur-Sojasun)

Let's see whether Astana plays chicken again today.

I still think Contador is going to win this race, he's been talking a lot of yang about sitting up and not defending the jersey but I think it is all gamesmanship. He went all-out in the prologue, he'll go all-out tomorrow, and I think he wants to win on the Alpe. If he wins and takes time on all three of those stages, which he probably will, then he will take the overall even if he does sit up on some of the others.


[edit] Just like yesterday, Astana is not setting a particularly fast tempo in the early going. The break gained more than three minutes on the peloton between 20km and 25km.

[edit2] And another three minutes in the next 5km.

 

[Magnus]

Isasi (Euskaltel)

Nice! Gotta love him.
Sprinter on euskaltel, never won a thing, and has the climbs covered with his name (at least he did a few years ago.)

 

[Publicus]

We have our break of the day.

Tankink (Rabobank), Bonnafond (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Augé (Cofidis), Isasi (Euskaltel) and Delaplace (Saur-Sojasun)

Let's see whether Astana plays chicken again today.

I still think Contador is going to win this race, he's been talking a lot of yang about sitting up and not defending the jersey but I think it is all gamesmanship. He went all-out in the prologue, he'll go all-out tomorrow, and I think he wants to win on the Alpe. If he wins and takes time on all three of those stages, which he probably will, then he will take the overall even if he does sit up on some of the others.


[edit] Just like yesterday, Astana is not setting a particularly fast tempo in the early going. The break gained more than three minutes on the peloton between 20km and 25km.

[edit2] And another three minutes in the next 5km.

Frankly I think this is very good practice for the appropriate response to potential tactics employed at the Tour--where everyone will try and force Astana to set the pace/control the break. They did this at Paris-Nice as well.

 

[El Imbatido]

I was just reading the stage one report on this site and saw that Retirement Shack was last on the coveted team GC I am assuming this had something to do with Zubeldia or did they just ride like crap?

 

[Jamsque]

Doesn't look like this climb is going to shake things up much, if at all. Should be a bunch sprint.

 

[python]

tankink is taking points. he looks the strongest but i doubt the break will it make it.

 

[Delicato]

I was just reading the stage one report on this site and saw that Retirement Shack was last on the coveted team GC I am assuming this had something to do with Zubeldia or did they just ride like crap?

Is it so surprising? Only 2 of their riders finished with the bunch,namely Brajkovic and Horner. Other guys were involved with the crash. If they had 3 riders in the peloton, they wouldn't be last.

 

[El Imbatido]

Is it so surprising? Only 2 of their riders finished with the bunch,namely Brajkovic and Horner. Other guys were involved with the crash. If they had 3 riders in the peloton, they wouldn't be last.

I have not seen the stage yet, so the article was the only thing i read

 

[Publicus]

I have not seen the stage yet, so the article was the only thing i read

4 of them came in together at +7' yesterday as a result of Haimar's crash. My guess is they were keeping him company/being good teammates.