[11waterloo]

Are we allowed to start getting a bit excited yet? Looks to be a more varied route than usual with less of the endless nailed on sprint stages that normally dominate the first week or so (though a run of sprint stages does save on the transfers!) I don’t know about the practicality of it, but is there any way of opening the game up using the long lists that most teams already have or just using the full list of riders? It is quite good fun playing about with potential line-ups, especially for the purist game, even knowing that the final roster will probably change. Obviously, if it creates difficulties, I wouldn’t want to add to the burden of running the game but, if it doesn’t, let’s get the TdF party started!   Here are a couple of links to the current state of the start list. https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/tour-de-france/2022/startlist.                                https://firstcycling.com/race.php?r=17&y=2022&k=8  

Topic

[Dr Winston]

I fancy Thomas may stumble

I fancy Thomas may stumble upon quite a few fantasy pts just by virtue of how he rides now. He’s always at the head of the peloton over those final climbs and sprints… regardless of who is fancied for any paticular day. If Hayter goes to the TDF then i bet we’ll see Thomas baby sitting him at stage ends.

[11waterloo]

Way off the mark…. Pierre

Way off the mark…. Pierre Rolland is where those really in the know are going. Competitively priced at £15.7 million as well ???

[Dr Winston]

Yeah… nothing for Pogacar

Yeah… nothing for Pogacar in this tour. Louis Meintjes is where the smart money is.

[11waterloo]

Cav experiencing the opposite

Cav experiencing the opposite of last year. Bennett was nailed on to ride & Cav only got in due to an injury (or Bennett falling out with Lefevere). Cav has never been down to ride TdF as long as Jakobsen was fit and yesterdays (exceptional) performance wouldn’t change that in professional sport where head rules heart. Could argue that Senechal was more unlucky – won his Nationals and offers an alternative to Jakobsen for the tougher sprint stages (whereas Cav & Jakobsen are very similar). That being said, I would have loved to see Cav riding! 

[Daniel Norton]

No Sam Bennett now!

No Sam Bennett now!

That makes the sprinter picks even tighter than ever for the Purist.  Drop Pogacer then?

[Dr Winston]

.. and probably worth Cav

.. and probably worth Cav remembering that there’s also quite a big back story between Quick step and Jakobsen… as well as his own.

[Dr Winston]

Really unfortunate for Cav…

Really unfortunate for Cav… but they’re choosing between second and third ranked sprinters in the world. I suppose they could have taken two and just given up on some of the other stage hunts… more chance of winning the sprints for them at the moment… 

Cav has to remember he was all but finished a couple of years ago, he needs to remain positive for the chance he got to return to the top… there wasn’t a queue for his services at that time.

[Dr Winston]

Don’t give up on it yet.

Don’t give up on it yet. Saturday and Sunday now sunshine with gusts up to 20mph for Saturday… and should be worse on that bridge…. 20mph being echelon time.(just).

[Daniel Norton]

Quickstep are announcing

Quickstep are announcing final team this afternoon, so not certain yet.

I suspect Specialized are putting Patrick Lafavere under sponsor pressure to select Cavendish.  What a performance at the Nationals.  Cav completely out-raced Ben Turner, Hayter and Doull in the style of a true classics racer.  The man is on form.

EDIT:  They are an “hour ahead” in France and it does look like they have just announced.  You’re right, no Cav or Alaphillippe.

[Daniel Norton]

Anyone checked the weather

Anyone checked the weather forecast?  Rain for all three opening days in Denmark.  Unfortunately (for the spectators), only light wind.

Start with a wet, technical TT?  Oh dear…

[Dr Winston]

Shock….Alaphilippe not in

Shock….Alaphilippe not in the team for Quick step.

Shock again…. No Marc Hirschi for UAE.

Crikey. Startlist for Tour de France 2022 (procyclingstats.com)

[Condor Andy]

The Tour is open! Complete

The Tour is open! Complete with the provisional start list released by the race Twitter account, but with only 8 rosters fully confirmed, so expect some changes.

[Daniel Norton]

Exactly. With the wind and
Exactly. With the wind and poss circumstances, the right rider could gain minutes as early as stage 2… Before we even consider cobbles. All bets are off (or on for a real gamble at 14/1!!!) until contenders survive (avoid scary weather?) those stages.

[Dr Winston]

“Dark horse” a poor choice of

“Dark horse” a poor choice of words… yes… i meant as oppose to Roglic or Pogacar… 

I think you could possibly do better for each way than Thomas (agreed he might actually be a good punt for the win). The Tour de Suisse has taught us that any number of top favourites might not make the distance due to Covid…and it’s on the rise in France in quite a big way. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see one or two of the longer shots on the podium with the right circumstances. O’Connor, Caruso, Quintana… well… quite a few… 

[Rendel Harris]

Dr Winston wrote:

Vingegaard would be my dark horse for this TDF. 

Not even such a dark horse, I was looking at the odds on PaddyPower this morning and he’s joint second favourite at 4/1 with Roglic. Geraint next at 14/1 is quite tempting for each way …

[Author]

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