Cycling Prediction

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.

It’s a busy time for cycling fans. The Giro and Tour of California just started and today the 65th 4 Jours de Dunkerque starts as well. This HC race has quite some competition from the aforementioned races, but still the startlist looks very interesting with e.g. Bryan Coquard, Christophe Laporte, André Greipel and Dylan Groenewegen. It’s also great to see Niki Terpstra on a bike again after his crash in the Ronde van Vlaanderen.

The 14th Amgen Tour of California starts off today. This event runs at the same time as the Giro d’Italia, but it is definitely worth your attention as well. The startlist is interesting. Despite the fact that there is only one true sprint stage there are quite some sprinters that decided to show up. Among others: Sagan, Jakobsen and Halvorsen. Especially the short stage on Friday, May 17 will be interesting with two tough climbs before the finish on Mount Baldy (HC).

The 102nd Giro d’Italia starts tomorrow (May 11) with a short time trial of 8 kilometers in Bologna. The last 2.1 kilometers of the time trial is a serious climb of 9.7% on average and stretches of maximum 16%. Do not forget out to check out our Giro d’Italia race page. Table 1 show the predictions for the Giro d’Italia Zweeler poule. The predictions come with the usual disclaimer:

The 5th Tour de Yorkshire starts on May 2, 2019 and this will be the first edition as a 2.HC race. Many will look at this race with additional interest, because the World Champtionship take place in this region and will overlap with stage 2. Table 1 show the predictions for the Tour de Yorkshire Zweeler poule. The predictions come with the usual disclaimer:

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 73rd Tour de Romandie starts on April 30, 2019 and is for some Giro GC contenders the dress rehearsal (e.g Primož Roglič, and Ilnur Zakarin). The total length of the six stages is 700 kilometers and this includes two time trials. First there is the the 3.9 kilometers prologue in Neuchâtel, and finally the last stage is a time trial of 20.