[11waterloo]

Just took my first look at the line ups (even though most still to be confirmed) and was struck by the varying quality of the teams. Jumbo going in with what looks like most of their TdF riders while DSM clearly have better things to be doing! 

Topic

[11waterloo]

That was the original plan,

That was the original plan, holiday with bike, doing the Grand Fondo Mont Ventoux a week today and watching the professionals do it two days later. Unfortunately fell off my bike and fractured my shoulder blade in April (the only thing I will ever have in common with Julian Alaphilippe!) So holiday still going ahead but no cycling. Given the current hot weather I’m not desperately disappointed! 

[11waterloo]

Rolland seems such an obvious

Rolland seems such an obvious pick for the purist team but I’ll bet non of us put him in! 

[Daniel Norton]

Why the bloody hell didn’t I

Why the bloody hell didn’t I put Rolland and Padun in my Purist team?  This morning, I suddenly feel convinced Padun is going to win at least one stage!

[Daniel Norton]

Are you on a sneaky spring

Are you on a sneaky spring cycling beak on the lovely smooth French roads?  You won’t want to ride your bike on the draggy English B roads if you do.

[11waterloo]

By accident rather than

By accident rather than design (trying to avoid traffic jams on A7 French Autoroute) I ended up driving along today’s finishing straight yesterday! Can’t really give any insight based on my recon other than it is extremely hot. 

[Daniel Norton]

Yeah, I’m definitely torn on

Yeah, I’m definitely torn on the relegation thing.  I like it when a lot of teams go for the breaks.  On the other hand, I’d also like to see more of the best climbers at big races like the Dauphine.

It’s almost completely pointless for the likes of Barguil, Gaudu et al. to even bother going for the GC anyway, as a TT that long and flat in a race with only 2 proper climbing stages means they won’t even be in the hunt.

[Dr Winston]

…and sending their better

…and sending their better riders to second rate one day races…

[Dr Winston]

Dunno… but it does occur to

Dunno… but it does occur to me that it very much encourages races within races, as in bigger breakaway’s. In particular any GC rider laying at five minutes down may be more tempted to lose more time and pick up UCI pta for stage wins, or good finishes, rather than the pts for finishing (maybe) tenth on GC. It’s almost set up for those who can’t win, but are on the second rung for talent, to forget about anything other than top five if their team is in the relegation battle… and it’s set up for the teams to prioritise that.

[mdavidford]

Condor Andy wrote:

I […] have no Journalistic qualifications. I’ve been hanging around on Twitter…

I think you’ve just contradicted yourself there. What more qualifications do you need?

[Daniel Norton]

Is it me, or is this

Is it me, or is this relegation system the reason for teams not sending their A list to Dauphine?  I suspect some teams have looked at the Jumbo Roster and realised that if they want to pick up points, then avoid taking that team on.  Jumbo have the favourite for EVERY stage that doesn’t end in a breakaway.

[Daniel Norton]

PCS is my main site for stats

PCS is my main site for stats as well, for the same reasons

[Daniel Norton]

Dunno how much.  I used to

Dunno how much.  I used to read cycling news all the time, but paying is a stretch.  Call me tight.

[Condor Andy]

Yes that’s a good point.

Yes that’s a good point. Maybe I should preemptively post the race threads and include the link in there, so there’s always a visible source.

[Dr Winston]

Well if you’re going to “play

Well if you’re going to “play the kids”, to coin a football phrase, it’s not actually a bad parcours to do it, i suppose. 

[Dr Winston]

I use PCS all the time…

I use PCS all the time… quite an easy lay out to gauge riders form (looking at you Louis Meintjes).

[Author]

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