Criterium Dauphine

Well ive gone EBH over wiggo, as i was looking back at last years stage 4 results (its almost the same kinda profile) and it seems that of the sprinters that are here, they will be there at the end....so i have changed my strategy slightly on this one. (also look who placed highly in the prolouge and you will see the main man of my team)

I was tempted by EBH, he rides a good prologue/TT and can climb smaller mountains well enough (most of the big climbs are later in the race), I wouldn't be surprised to see him in a Thor-esque breakaway win in the first few days.

1Brit
1Scot
1Spanish
1Kiwi
3Aussies
1Dutch
1Frog

Hard one this, so many time trialists but not everyone does well on the short ones. Some improve on distance!

Lots of good riders taking part in this so on paper it looks like it should be entertaining.

J-Rod's not doing it anymore - resting up and focusing on the Vuelta...

2 from under the Aussie Sky,and another Aussie from the Edge.
Captain America and his sidekick
The best Spanish downhiller
A Great Scot
A Western Dutchie
Borat

No Wiggins,Cuddles or Panzerwagon!!

Prologue stacked...

Some Gerries
Some Yanks
Some Aussies
One Frog

Porte or Rogers?... its hard to pick. Im going rogers as a cheap star but think. Lpotre will do better

My quandary is do I try and squeeze Martin in or stick to cuddles? I could get all three big guns but then I'd have to have Dehaes

Now it is
One brit
Two french
Two yanks
Two aussies
One german
One dutch

Well if things work out on the prologue for me i'll probably stay purist, If they go wrong then i'll be chasing break away points

All my guys bar one have a proven track record in this race

Hmmm, currently:

1 Brit
2 Aussies
2 Americans
1 Slovenian
2 French
and a Spaniard

Semi TT weighted but not totally OTT... I think I might end up keeping all four of my stars for most, if not all, of the race.

well for me then its 2 dutch, 2 french, a german, an american, a norwegian, an aussie and new zealander

Looking at the profile i might be tempted to go purist for the first time. As with other comments i cant see many sprinters wanting to have a go at this race as its just climb after climb.

My team at the mo consists of

1 x brit
3 x anzacs
1 x yank
2 x froggies
1 x portugese
1 x dutchman

its far from set in stone but a good base to start with.

A brit
German
Aussie
Yank, might get pts if. Cadel wins
Frog, a expensive ds
Another yank, the one to go for if he has got over calif.
Two aussies
And a dutchman.
Only 107 xpent on stars. Going for ds who can time tria

Well i'll tell you i have

3 Frenchmen
1 Brit (Wiggo)
1 German
2 American's
1 Kazakh
1 Slovenian

so you think you know my guy then? My stars total 118.something as i cant remember off hand exactly how much one of my stars costs. Also got a potential breakaway guy in for the ITT (forced on by my funds, along with 4 other ITT DS's 2 of which could contend overall i reckon

i have the perfect guy for stage 1 just means i cant have Wiggins

Stage one might not be so sprinty, but there is a chance of it, more likely a LONG break reeled in on the last climb and everyone finishing together

Stage 3 is the only real chance of a sprinter winning, but most teams don't send "sprinters" to this race as its well known for being a climbers paradise.

Yeah, pretty hilly and two TTs (ok, one's a prologue), I reckon you could actually play this purist and not do too badly. I think maybe stages 1 and 2 will be the big days for the fantasy game as getting a decent haul of breakaway KoM points will set you up well for the rest of the race.

profiles are up on www.letour.fr now

Gonna wait to see the profiles for stages 1 & 3 - I'm assuming they'll be sprinty but best to be sure. I'm on holiday next week so not sure my girlfriend will want me to be checking my transfers every day - maybe I'll do this one purist...

Hmm, just found them on Velowire - maybe not so sprinty...

Vino's back!

Is Rodriguez down to ride the tour this year? He seems to be the only Giro contender who's riding the Dauphine this year.