Tour de Suisse 2017 (10/06 > 18/06/2017)

[May0maniac]

after this year the 3 yeear contract with Sölden expires, so maybe they'll change things up next year. Sölden would also have more than enough money to get a Giro MTF, but that's just speculation.

 

[liamito]

Re:

after this year the 3 yeear contract with Sölden expires, so maybe they'll change things up next year. Sölden would also have more than enough money to get a Giro MTF, but that's just speculation.

Tour of Germany is also coming back of course.

 

[May0maniac]

Re: Re:

after this year the 3 year contract with Sölden expires, so maybe they'll change things up next year. Sölden would also have more than enough money to get a Giro MTF, but that's just speculation.

Tour of Germany is also coming back of course.

Yes, but we still don't know how hard the route will be, ASO will probably try to create something that suits the typical German riders, so a few sprint stages, an ITT and a hilly stage/MTF that isn't too hard, so that someone like Tony Martin (or Schachmann in a few years) will still have a decent chance when it comes down to winning the whole thing.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

I'm 90% watching to see how Betancur does, 10% watching to see how Hirt gets on. Both are likely to take a bit of a kicking in the TT, but I'd love to see both get a stage.

 

[jsem94]

Worst profiles I've seen in a while. Just wow. Weird GC field too. Will be interesting though.

 

[Escarabajo]

I don't see anything wrong with the profile. Not sure what people want out of Tour de Suisse.

 

[animir]

Re:

I don't see anything wrong with the profile. Not sure what people want out of Tour de Suisse.

TDS is my favorite race and I like 2017 route. I understand that there are great routes in Switzerland for GC riders but it seems that the best GC riders go to Dauphine. However the best classics riders go usually to TDS, so sometimes I ask myself how this race would be, if more riders had a chance in GC, classics riders including? E.g. MTFs wouldnt be that steep or that long...

 

[GuyIncognito]

This is the first TdS route I have little problem with in a while. Definitely better than last year.

 

[jsem94]

Re:

I don't see anything wrong with the profile. Not sure what people want out of Tour de Suisse.

Not the route design, just the profiles from an aesthetic point of view. They look like utter ***.

 

[carton]

Not the route design, just the profiles from an aesthetic point of view. They look like utter ****.

LOL. And +1. I think the basic ASO/Cronoescalada/Flamme Rouge model is pretty spot on at the moment. So thanks for trying, IMG, but try harder next time

Am I the only one who thinks that the Stage names are a little funny? Cham-Cham-Cham-Cham. Bex. Bern. La Punt. Schaffhausen-Schaffhausen-Schaffhausen-Schaffhausen. I feel like that they're trying to tell me a story. But I'm juvenile like that.

Anyway, there's a nice character to this race, with the weird but usually interesting circuits and the abundance of proper mountains. All it needs is the usual weather

I'm going with a redemption song for the K-man on this one, Izaguirre and Spilak to round out the podium and Lopez as a dark-horse returning champ /predicting

 

[Valv.Piti]

What is up with Sky - are they sending all of their best mountain domestiques to Suisse or are they actually in trouble ahead of TdF? I don't quite understand their approach.

 

[Robert5091]

Re:

What is up with Sky - are they sending all of their best mountain domestiques to Suisse or are they actually in trouble ahead of TdF? I don't quite understand their approach.

Somebody told SDB that the Alps are in Switzerland so ...

 

[ice&fire]

Re: Re:

What is up with Sky - are they sending all of their best mountain domestiques to Suisse or are they actually in trouble ahead of TdF? I don't quite understand their approach.

Somebody told SDB that the Alps are in Switzerland so ...

Can anyone tell SDB that they're also in Austria?

 

[Escarabajo]

Re: Re:

I don't see anything wrong with the profile. Not sure what people want out of Tour de Suisse.

Not the route design, just the profiles from an aesthetic point of view. They look like utter ****.

LOL.
In that case you are right sir!

 

[Laplaz]

So who will win this one? I'll go with Pantano.

 

[BigMac]

Opens thread.

Sees talk about Betancur.

*sigh*

Closes.

 

[Popchu]

Opens thread.

Sees talk about Betancur.

*sigh*

Closes.

What about your endless annoying, not funny references to the Japan Cup in the Betancur thread?

 

[BigMac]

Opens thread.

Sees talk about Betancur.

*sigh*

Closes.

What about your endless annoying, not funny references to the Japan Cup in the Betancur thread?

That was ages ago. It was appropriate.

He's the same hopeless case, so it still fits.

My brain stops everytime there's still talk about him contending for something. It's pure delirium.

 

[Netserk]

Brace yourself, the Tour de Suisse winner has been found!

 

[Son of Amsterhammer]

That Stage 8 climb looks extremely tough, for any race.

 

[Popchu]

Opens thread.

Sees talk about Betancur.

*sigh*

Closes.

What about your endless annoying, not funny references to the Japan Cup in the Betancur thread?

That was ages ago. It was appropriate.

He's the same hopeless case, so it still fits.

My brain stops everytime there's still talk about him contending for something. It's pure delirium.

The Hammer Series showed us he's not a hopeless case. It is legitimate to talk about Betancur in this topic, since he's one of the favorites in this field. Like it or not, but many different sources have him in the top 5 or 10 contenders for this race. But hey, BigMac doesn't allow us to talk about Betancur, one of the most gifted riders in the peloton.

 

[RedheadDane]

So... Bonifazio won the Team Presentation Speed Race.
Unfortunately I can't find an official report... probably because it isn't an official race.

He even had a crash along the way.
Think he was allowed to start over.

 

[May0maniac]

They actually go up all the way to the Tiefenbachferner, the final will be a mess with an 1.7km long tunnel, that doesn't exactly scream great TV coverage.It would be smarter to finish at the upper parking lot of the Rettenbachferner, no Tunnel, enough space and 14.7km at 9.8%.

Lachlan Morton could surprise people, the guy loves climbs at high altitude and is now living at altitude in Boulder, he could finish top 10 on gc or grab a stage win.

 

[Tank Engine]

Re: Re:

What is up with Sky - are they sending all of their best mountain domestiques to Suisse or are they actually in trouble ahead of TdF? I don't quite understand their approach.

Somebody told SDB that the Alps are in Switzerland so ...

Can anyone tell SDB that they're also in Austria?

Well, they did win the last stage race which went through the Austrian Alps

This field doesn't look too impressive. The top guys are probably "warming down" after the Giro. Frank is always solid for this race and if he's going to win it, then I don't think he'll have a better chance. Crushweak should do well, as he didn't race much before the Giro and has no problem with recovery.

I'm definitely interested in how Bananaman and Lopez will go.

 

[Poursuivant]

De La Cruz for the overall