The Tour de Suisse is, just like the Dauphiné, an important part of the Tour de France preparation of many riders. Below you can find the Zweeler poule predictions for the Tour de Suisse, but together with these predictions I discovered quite an insensitivity of the algorithm towards more mountain stages. As a consequence, the top 3 consists of sprinters, whereas there is only one true sprint opportunity.
The Critérium du Dauphiné is for many cyclists a very important step in their preparation for the Tour de France. Because of that a lot of big names appear at the start. However, you never really know who will seriously race for the GC.
Do not forget out to check out our Critérium du Dauphiné race page.
The predictions for the Critérium du Dauphiné can be found in Table 1 and are based on Zweeler game points (so you do not see e.
The Tour of Norway is going to be an interesting one. First of all, the line-up is great. Not only the Norwegian suspects (Hagen, Halvorsen, and Kristoff) are there, but for example also Luis León Sanchez, Alvaro Hodeg, Tim Wellens and Danny van Poppel show up at the start. The stages are quite ‘sprinter-friendly’, but the teams consist of six riders. Hence, it will not be that easy to control the race.
On Labor Day it’s time for the 57th Eschborn Frankfurt. It will be the last one day race on World Tour level until August. The race over 187.5 kilometers has 8 climbs. Although some sprinters may have a bit of trouble digesting the uphill kilometers, the last climb is at kilometer 146. This means there are 41.5 flat kilometers left to get back into position for the final laps through Frankfurt.
The 105th Liège Bastogne Liège (Luik Bastenaken Luik) is the fourth cycling monument of the year and marks the end of the spring classics. The race lasts 256 kilometers and features 11 climbs. The riders start with the last climb after 241 kilometers, after which they set course for the finish in Luik (unlike last year when the finish was in Ans).
The 83rd La Flèche Wallonne (De Wijlse Pijl) over 195.5 kilometers finishes at the famous Mur De Huy. This year the last 77 kilometers takes place on a final lap of about 29 kilometers long. In total the 77 kilometers feature 9 climbs - three times the Ereffe - Cherave - Mur de Huy combination. It will definitely be an exiting race featuring last years winner Alaphilippe, five time winner Alejandro Valverde and for Daniel Martin it’s a coin toss between a crash or a spot on the podium.
The 54th Amstel Goldrace is a 265.7 kilometer long race through the south of Limburg. The route features 35 hills in total, including three times the infamous ‘Cauberg’. The last climb is at 7.3 kilometers from the finish.
Do not forget out to check out our Amstel Goldrace race page.
The predictions for the Amstel Goldrace can be found in Table 1 and are based on Zweeler game points (so you do not see e.
The 58th De Brabantse Pijl is the first of a series of hills classics. The 196.2 kilometers long race starts in Leuven and finishes in Overijse and features in total 31 hills to conquer.
The predictions for the De Brabantse Pijl can be found in Table 1 and are based on Zweeler game points (so you do not see e.g. probabilities). In the Zweeler game’s riders score points by ending up in the top 25 of a race.
Paris Roubaix is the third monument of the year. The riders have to cover 257 kilometers from Compiègne to Roubaix, 54.5 of those kilometers are cobbles, divided over 29 sectors. The race organization estimates that the total amount of cobbles involved is 6,076,000. Three of the 29 sectors are of the toughest 5-star category.
Important: Don’t forget to check out our Paris Roubaix race statistics page
Personally, the Scheldeprijs kind of feels like the ‘cooling down’ of the Ronde van Vlaanderen. However, that’s perhaps a bit too little credit for a race that is organized for the 107th time. The race starts in Terneuzen (The Netherlands) and is mainly flat. There is one cobbled sector of 1700 meters that is passed two times. For the rest there are no true obstacles except for perhaps the wind.
