[MinardiM189]

I heard stage 6 could be

I heard stage 6 could be neutralised or cancelled becasue of high winds. 🙁

[MinardiM189]

Dr Winston wrote:

Really !!…Went with Sagan in my purist team who revealed last night he’s been sick for a week and confined to quarters last week…and lost 4 kilos.

I’m having no luck at all in the purist game. 

 

Bad luck with that.

I was considering Sagan but wasn’t sure how his form would be, I then read he had been ill and so ruled him out completely.

Even so he could do well in the 2 sprint stages. The finishes are very technical and being in the right position will count a lot.

[MinardiM189]

Same team as yesterday for me

Same team as yesterday for me –

ROGLIC
DE PLUS
DUMOULIN
POELS
YATES A.
VUILLERMOZ
BETTIOL
VELASCO

Saving my transfers for later. With hindsight Alaphilippe would have been a better pick than Dumoulin but I will probably bring him in for stage4.

Hopefully DePlus doesn’t have to do too much work and then get dropped in the finale.

[MinardiM189]

Condor Andy wrote:

Oh yes, I think we’ll see Alaphilippe attacking out of his mind! Happy with my Yates pick, although I didn’t expect them to win so he was my only MS rider. Carapaz a disappointment and might think about someone else for tomorrow.

Quickstep could even try and get Alaphilippe bonus seconds in the sprints, the last kilometres of both sprints are very technical and a late attack could catch other teams off guard, especially if QS sit up and bloack the road, which isn’t unknown.

[MinardiM189]

Finally got something right

Finally got something right in this race, De Gendt and Madouas bringing home some decent points.

Utterly awful organisation by Bahrain Merida & Mitchelton Scott. They had both targetted this stage but neither team was prepared to work for the victory, not for the first that with these two teams screw up and let the break win a stage they shouldn’t.

[MinardiM189]

Some surprising performaces

Some surprising performaces there,

Sky with a very strong team only 5th, Bahrain Merida only 10th.

EFE Cannondale a brilliant 7th considering their team and the early start.

Lotto Soudal held their own, which was a surprise.

Jumbo probably would have won if they had a later start.

Worked out quite well for me, although I was hoping Velaso might get a lasp place.

It was a toss up between Alaphilippe & Dumoulin but looks like Alaphilippe was a better choice now.

Given the 30s difference between Alaphilippe & Roglic it looks very very difficult for Alaphilippe in GC. He needs to win all 3 hilly stages without Roglic getting and bonus seconds and then do the ITT of his life and beat Roglic.

[MinardiM189]

A pet hate of mine is team

A pet hate of mine is team cars driving too close to their riders.

The rule says 10m but the Quickstep car was about 2m behind their last rider at the finish today.

The car being close behind gives a huge advantage.

[MinardiM189]

Dr Winston wrote:

I can see no reason whatsoever that the main GC teams will want to put in the effort to bring back such a gap. Maybe Trentin and Gilbert had their eye on a stage win but i doubt that would be enough to tempt them out.

Quickstep now have a rider on the front and the gap is coming down.

Mitchelton might give a hand later.

[MinardiM189]

My team for standard –

My team for standard –

ROGLIC
DE PLUS
DUMOULIN
POELS
YATES A.
VUILLERMOZ
BETTIOL
VELASCO

[MinardiM189]

Dr Winston wrote:

Break at 5.30. What’s the maximum gap they can give them ?…Wind from the first two days may continue to play havoc with our picks becasue they may well just let them go with gaps being so big. 

They could let the break win by 10 minutes and it wouldn’t be a problem for the main GC contenders.

To bring it back I think they need to start chasing soon. Gap 6:30 with 105km to go.

Cort Neilsen must be favourite win now.

[MinardiM189]

Condor Andy wrote:

My team:

KWIATKOWSKI
GILBERT
TRENTIN
DEGENKOLB
EWAN
GROSSCHARTNER
TURGIS
SANCHEZ

I thought about keeping Ewan in too.

Looking at the make up of the break I think it could stick. I can’t see who will work to bring it back.

[MinardiM189]

Difficult to pick in both

Difficult to pick in both competitions.

[MinardiM189]

My team for today –

My team for today –

KWIATOWSKI
DE GENDT
KELDERMAN
JUNGELS
TRENTIN
MOLARD
MADOUAS
SANCHEZ

I made a cock up and brought in the wrong rider, so I had to waste a transfer putting things right. 🙁

 

[MinardiM189]

Windy , wet and thunderstroms

Windy , wet and thunderstroms tomorrow. 🙂

Looks like mainly a tailwind but could be cross/tailwind in certain sections.

[MinardiM189]

Dr Winston wrote:

Is it a tail wind tomorrow?

Headwind, cross headwind.

Maybe favourable to echelons really close to the finish.

[Author]

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