Criterium du Dauphine - Stage 1

[Anonymous]

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[theswordsman]

I don't know who will win the stage, but it will be nice to see Team Astana working on the front. There's a really good chance that when the Dauphine is over they'll be the top ranked team in the UCI standings.

 

[Anonymous]

weird stage.. lumpy enough for riders to break away, but astana will obviously want to defend the jersey..

so erm.. breakaway builds up 10 minutes, gap comes back, contador stays in yellow.. slight dirth of sprinters in the race though. Im gonna tip Russ Downing to pick up the sprint win, even though it is on a weird downhill thingy

 

[maltiv]

weird stage.. lumpy enough for riders to break away, but astana will obviously want to defend the jersey..

so erm.. breakaway builds up 10 minutes, gap comes back, contador stays in yellow.. slight dirth of sprinters in the race though. Im gonna tip Russ Downing to pick up the sprint win, even though it is on a weird downhill thingy

Contador says they don't want to defend their jersey tomorrow, so a break could be possible.

 

[Magnus]

Contador says they don't want to defend their jersey tomorrow, so a break could be possible.

But then again. He'd be a fool if he didn't say that.

 

[William H]

I'd pick Haedo in a bunch sprint

 

[Faserr]

mh
Martens

 

[Moondance]

If break/late attack: Fedrigo
If sprint: Dumoulin

France must be victorious!

 

[maltiv]

I think a late attack will stick, no teams here with a dominant sprinter who will be willing to do all the work and the last climb seems like a pretty good place to attack. Astana/Contador won't be that worried about defending his jersey anyway.

 

[Polish]

Alberto and Astana will DEFEND the jersey.

It would be a HUGE Dishonor to the Dauphiné to not defend!
If Alberto soft pedals boooo.

Look at the List of Winners:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dauphiné_Libéré

Lance has won TWICE, Alberto ZERO times.

Klabinski(POL), Bobet (FRA), Anquetil (FRA), Poulidor (FRA), Ocana (ESP), Merckx (BEL), Thevenet (FRA), Hinault (FRA), Lemond (USA), Mottet (FRA), Millar (GBR), Herrera (COL), Indurain (ESP), Armstrong (USA)

 

[Frosty]

Depends who is attacking as to whether Contador will defend the jersey or not. If a group of non-climbers get away then Astana may be content to let them stay away knowing that the time will come back in the mountains. Or maybe Alberto will fancy carrying the jersey from start to finish and show that his team is strong.

As far as taking it easy goes, Conty came third last year behind Valverde and Evans in the Dauphine and went on to win the tour. Dont see why he would take it easy this time, maybe a case of going 95%

 

[kjetilraknerud]

I'm putting my money on Sanchez for the win. He didn't look good today, but an attack on the last climb followed by a kamikaze style descend should suit him well.

 

[Frosty]

Was looking at this one the official site earlier and i think the last few kilometres are a bit misleading - they dont actually dive down to sea level!

The main descent is between 3 and a bit and 2km where the altitude drops from 500 to 400metres asl. The last 2km then sees a gentle rise.

 

[Anonymous]

Was looking at this one the official site earlier and i think the last few kilometres are a bit misleading - they dont actually dive down to sea level!

The main descent is between 3 and a bit and 2km where the altitude drops from 500 to 400metres asl. The last 2km then sees a gentle rise.

ive added final K to the route bit.. i knew it didnt plummet that much, but didnt realise it was uphill at the end..

 

[Frosty]

Well, for what its worth, Conty is saying they wont defend the jersey tomorrow

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/contador-wont-defend-criterium-du-dauphine-leadership

 

[Anonymous]

Well, for what its worth, Conty is saying they wont defend the jersey tomorrow

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/contador-wont-defend-criterium-du-dauphine-leadership

Geraint for yellow then..

Any time bonus's on the stage?

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

Lance has won TWICE, Alberto ZERO times.

So what's the point?

Contador said he's not in the shape to win in his opinion, he needs to build up etc. and he'll not act as if he'd come to win it.
If he felt strong enough to take it as a side effect I guess he'd go for it.
And he'll probably not loose on purpose. But why should he waste his energy if he's not ready yet? Just because he won the prologue by "accident"?

Lance btw. rode the Dauphine more than the two times he won. Also only in preperation.

 

[cyclopeon]

Depends who is attacking as to whether Contador will defend the jersey or not. If a group of non-climbers get away then Astana may be content to let them stay away knowing that the time will come back in the mountains. Or maybe Alberto will fancy carrying the jersey from start to finish and show that his team is strong.

As far as taking it easy goes, Conty came third last year behind Valverde and Evans in the Dauphine and went on to win the tour. Dont see why he would take it easy this time, maybe a case of going 95%

For him, 95% IS taking it easy!

 

[cyclopeon]

Alberto and Astana will DEFEND the jersey.

It would be a HUGE Dishonor to the Dauphiné to not defend!
If Alberto soft pedals boooo.

...

1. Bull roar.
2. How so?
3. Lots of room between soft pedalling and going full out. He'll work as hard as his plan for development requires, no more, no less.

 

[Jamsque]

If David Millar is serious about his GC ambitions then this stage looks like a good opportunity to try and snatch some seconds.

I don't think he'll make a move, though. Someone else will for sure on the final climb, and it ought to stick, but I have no guesses as to who it might be. Best I can do is Francois Obscur.

 

[Sasquatch]

Boasson-Hagen

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

Said he doesn't want to take any chances and that he's riding to ride, not more.

I'd like to see Paul Martens win.

 

[Sasquatch]

Yeah, Bak is also one of the contenders too.

 

[Jamsque]

Your breakaway for today is Rollin (CTT), Kadri (ALM), Ladagnous (FDJ), Minard (COF) and Gautier (BTL). They have more than eight minutes after just an hour of racing, which suggests that Astana is not setting a particularly high tempo. HTC may end up having to chase to protect Tejay's second place on GC.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Gauthier is having a good season - looked quite a useful climber in P-N