the prologue starts tommorow and i am anxiously awaitng (even though i wont be able to watch it till sunday) This will be an extremely short Individual time trial in Liege.(6.4 kilometers) Basically a battle between tony martin and fabian cancellara with (i assume --->) little effect on the overall lead. On a fantasy team side the stage winner will also pull on the yellow jersey racking up some serious early points if you have them on your team. so here's my "fantasy team" for the 2012 running of Le Tour De France.
1.Cadel Evans
2.Peter Sagan
3.Frank Shleck
4.Tejay Van Garderen
5.Mark Cavendish
6.David Zabriske
7.Marcus Burghardt
8.Peter Velits
9.Matty Goss
1.) My money is on evans or wiggins to be on the top of the podium come chams elysse so it was tough on choosing which to "sign". Both have shown they are strong and ready to rumble. But, I truly believe that in our generation of racing one man, no matter how great, can win the tour de france. It takes a dedicated, synchronized, experienced team. For that reason cadel evan's Team BMC tipped the scale for me. With riders like van garderen, gilbert, and most importantly hincapie, this team know how to win and knows how to protect their rider. we saw that last year when hincapie escorted cadel through some of the worst crashes in TDF history like he was secret service protecting his president.
2.) Sagan I believe is a gamble. Showing near impeccable form in california i have to assume he will make me some points in stage wins and green jersey pursuit.
3.) the number 3 category is for climbers. i went with frank shleck. That again was a really tough call for me and i hope he doesnt dissapoint. he's been talking about how he's not in good form after tour de suisse and how he doesnt want the team leaders position. but this guy has been in the top 10 in paris 5 times and even took up the bottom step of the podium last year. If he doesnt get me some stage wins or gc points ill be surprised and heart broken, especially since he doesn't have to watch after his brother this year.
4 and 7.) Tejay and Marcus are both strong riders and i would hope tejay goes for a mt. stage win but really they were in my "price range" and i hoped to get some "assist" points when their boss gets in yellow. It would be great if tejay plants himself in top ten gc while protecting kangaroo man.
5.) mark cavendish *sigh* this was my most stressed about decision.....a good sprinter can make you ALOT of points and mark has helped me to victory in both tdf and giro d'italia. HOWEVER! with him focused on the olympics, leaner then ever, not having his old lead out train, and being on a team commited to get wiggins in the maillot jaune you cant assume he will be swimming in the stage wins and points jersey like before :'( But, i had to go with my gut and sign him. he's just been to successful in the past and has SUCH a drive to win that i have to hope he will get me a few stages with bernie. But my real nervousness is that he cost ALOT and i could have used those points to purchase a better time trialist, another sprinter, or even have cadel and wiggins. Make me rich cavendish.
6.) with this year being heavy in time trials i had to ensure i had a time trialist on the team......sadly i could not afford fabian or tony martin. but, zabriske is a good time trialist who did some impressive work at the ToC. Fingers crossed.
7.)see #4
8.) gotta be honest i dont expect alot from velits. just he was what i could afford. he's was top 20 last year so i hope he can better that this year.
9.)matthew goss. was a key member in cav's htc leadout and is an impressive sprinter himself. with orica greenedge having little hope for gc I am hoping they will commit to chasing the green jersey. But, im nervous. matt too has his eyes set on the olympics and has hinted he wont even make it to paris. should i have gone with griepel? gilbert? farrar? ech even writing this makes me want to go back through and change my team.
Mad props to www.velogames.com
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