Tour du Romandie: 27 April - 2 May 2010

[Mellow Velo]

So, we arrive at the Tour du Romandie, the traditional final stage race warm up, before the Giro comes to town!
Starts with a 3.4 km prologue. Friday has a mid length ITT.
The road stages are thus:

 

[issoisso]

This race used to be so awesome before they neutered the course the past 2-3 years

 

[Moondance]

Yeah.... Romandie always was good cycling. And since they got ProTour status at least they got a pretty strong field too, so I don't know why they felt is necessary to dumb down the course.

I lived in Romandie (Geneva) for 10 years and have been to the race many times... Kinda sad.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

To get a swiss guy in the top 10 maybe

 

[theswordsman]

Yeah, I'm not too impressed by the stage profiles. Will Vacansoleil be there so I can root for the break to stay away while I enjoy the scenery?

 

[craig1985]

Provisional start list

I will tip Theo Bos to get a stage win, even though Cav is racing. I could only imagine BroDeal's reaction if Bos pushs Cav into the barriers.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Bos is not starting here. Look at cyclingstartlists and you will see besides Bos name is no green checkmark, but 'Inigo Cuesta' instead

 

[craig1985]

In that case I hope McEwen wins a stage. He usually does.

 

[Jamsque]

So who do we see competing for the overall here? None of the finishes look that difficult, so it should be mostly decided in the ITTs. Maybe one for Christian Vandevelde? I have no idea what kind of form he is in though.

 

[Jonathan]

In that case I hope McEwen wins a stage. He usually does.

The days that one could expect McEwen to deliver a minimum level of results are over. Any win is a bonus.

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

Valverde will win the overall, should be straightforward.

 

[Moondance]

Valverde will win the overall, should be straightforward.

Seriously.... How much racing can this guy do?

 

[craig1985]

The days that one could expect McEwen to deliver a minimum level of results are over. Any win is a bonus.

I mean that he usually wins a stage at Romandie.

 

[theyoungest]

Seriously.... How much racing can this guy do?

He'll soon have all the time in the world to relax. He probably keeps that in mind.

 

[Mellow Velo]

I can confirm that it is on here, so there will be a non geo restricted feed available.
http://www.sportitalia.com/SI2live.aspx
However, their feed can run slightly delayed to the actual race.

 

[nickel999]

So who do we see competing for the overall here? None of the finishes look that difficult, so it should be mostly decided in the ITTs. Maybe one for Christian Vandevelde? I have no idea what kind of form he is in though.

Did Vandevelde even race any of the spring classics? Its a name that flies below the race results radar for me.

 

[Jamsque]

I think he started Liege, don't know where he finished.

 

[karlboss]

I think he started Liege, don't know where he finished.

cycling quotient page is useful

 

[franciep10]

Brajkovic, Kreuziger or maybe Sagan FTW

 

[issoisso]

Ciolek is back after his broken collarbone almost 3 months ago

 

[Jamsque]

Brajkovic, Kreuziger or maybe Sagan FTW

Joking aside, Sagan might not be a bad shout if he can show the same form he did at Paris-Nice. There doesn't look to be enough climbing to trouble him, and we know he goes well in shorter TTs.

 

[TomasC]

Joking aside, Sagan might not be a bad shout if he can show the same form he did at Paris-Nice. There doesn't look to be enough climbing to trouble him, and we know he goes well in shorter TTs.

He may have the job working for Kreuziger. Then again, that was probably his job on Paris-Nice as well
Pity he didn't race the Ardennes classics.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Wasn't this a Valverde/Kreuziger shoot out, last year, with Roman riding away to a narrow GC victory?
He'll want to repeat and get on the Liquigas winning bandwagon.
(Kiserlovski's turn yesterday)

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Kreuziger had a good Amstel and a decent Fleche wallone, but he was terrible in Liège.

Either holding back for Romandie, or past his peak

 

[theyoungest]

He may have the job working for Kreuziger. Then again, that was probably his job on Paris-Nice as well
Pity he didn't race the Ardennes classics.

He did Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Paris-Roubaix, and I believe Kuurne as well. Did you see him? No. And he would have been invisible in the Ardennes as well.
The classics are still too tough for this kid. As they should be.