Tour de Romandie 2015 – Stage 1 Preview

By David Hunter

Vallee de Joux – Juraparc 19.2km

The race begins with a very easy TTT. 3 corners in 19.2km is the least technical course, I think I’ve ever seen! We don’t have a lot of wind, but it is going to be a cross/headwind. It’s going to rain too, expect more of this throughout the week. The wind and rain is to ease in the afternoon, so going out late, could be a big advantage.

The profile is flat, until a 1.5km climb at around 4%. This isn’t a difficult climb, but at the end of a TTT, any lump causes problems. It would certainly help to have a few fresh riders to go to the front, on the climb.

This discipline is usually won by BMC, Trek, Orica, Sky or Etixx. They have the best bikes and wheels, this makes a huge difference. I’ll begin with a look at their squads.

Sky – Froome, Kennaugh, Pate, Roche, Rowe, Stannard, Thomas, Viviani.

BMC – Dennis, Atapuma, Caruso, Flakemore, Kung, Moinard, Senni, Wyss.

Etixx – Martin, Alaphilippe, Bouet, De La Cruz, Golas, Meersman, Serry, Uran.

Orica – Albasini, Bewley, Gerrans, Hepburn, Lancaster, Santaromita, Tuft, Yates

Trek – Zoidl, Alafaci, Busche, Coledan, Nizzolo, Silvestre, Van Poppel, Vandewalle.

No team really have their top TTT squad with them. I would say that Orica have the most TT talent, with the big engines of Hepburn, Lancaster and Tuft but Etixx have Martin, Serry and Uran. Trek look weaker than usually, as do BMC. Team Sky will want to be up there but what condition is Chris Froome in? This is his first ride since crashing in Flèche Wallone, so they might have to be a little cautious.

Looking at the rest of the field, I don’t see another team able to challenge the big 5, except Astana, but winning would be a huge ask for them. The winner should come from the big 5.

Starting order and weather could be decisive.

Prediction Time

I want to go with Orica but Simon Gerrans is putting me off. After his crash, the team will be riding almost a rider down. I think that’s enough to edge it in the favour of Etixx. They have Tony Martin, Uran and Serry. These three are strong TT riders and I think that will make the difference.

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David Hunter

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