ProTour Punditry Predictions

[montage]

No time to look at start lists etc so going for the below:

Omloop - Boonen
KBK - Boonen

 

[smutchin]

Now, that's a gutsy prediction if ever I saw one (then again last year many would have said the same about Paolini)

Eight predictions so far, eight different names for Omloop. And still probably none of us will get it right...

And still no one has gone for Stybar...

 

[The Couch]

Eight predictions so far, eight different names for Omloop. And still no one has gone for Stybar...

Thinking Stybar! Stybar!.....fingers itching, almost typing it ..... then realizing nobody has Vanmarcke either.... now fingers on other hand itching as well... then realizing Boonen has practically destroyed everybody in Oman (and still wants OHN on his win sheet)...
OHN: Boonen
Lantern Rouge (not sure if we do it, but I'm going for a guess no matter if it counts ): Martin Reimer... hesitated to take one of those Polish guys, but went for MTN

KBK: Greipel
Lantern Rouge: Rudy Kowalski ... he sounds Polish (to make up for the OHN guess), but since he's French, it can't be considered as discriminatory/prejudiced

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

Boonen is looking good but I though he would be everyone else's choice so went a bit "left field".
If I was sticking money on it, rather than staking my shocking punditry reputation on it, I'd be going for Boonen!

 

[smutchin]

I did consider Boonen. He does look well up for it at the moment. Can't go for him now though - it would just look like we're all copying monty...

 

[rich p]

I need points so left field choices is the way to speculate....

...and crash badly!
LR is pointless in a day race where half the field drop out anyway, non?

 

[smutchin]

I'm not scoring for LR in day races, but feel free to make a prediction anyway, just for the fun of it.

 

[montage]

I did consider Boonen. He does look well up for it at the moment. Can't go for him now though - it would just look like we're all copying monty...

The sooner somebody does this, the sooner I will have a challenger anywhere near the top

 

[The Couch]

I'm not scoring for LR in day races, but feel free to make a prediction anyway, just for the fun of it.

Smutch... just a question qua scoring?

Do these 1-day Classics then score as high as 1 stage from a multiple-day race?
Seems a bit unequal, no?
(although if the rest here doesn't think so, just ignore me as most do here anyway otherwise )

By the way... not necessarily asking that we change points for this weekend (after most have given their winner already, that would be too unfair), but - if others agree on making the Classics have some more weight - we could change it for the next one?

 

[SWSteve]

15 points? Is almost a GC win, but not quite

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

Here's an idea re scoring - wait til monty does not have the winner and lots of others do and announce 100 bonus points for that race

 

[montage]

Here's an idea re scoring - wait til monty does not have the winner and lots of others do and announce 100 bonus points for that race

I hope you're sitting comfortably!

 

[smutchin]

Do these 1-day Classics then score as high as 1 stage from a multiple-day race?
Seems a bit unequal, no?

I would refer you to Mark Cavendish on this one - ask him how many races he has won...

We're just predicting the outcome of races, whether they're stages in a bigger race or standalone events. If anything, I'm more concerned that there's too much weighting for the overall classifications in these minor stage races. I'm tempted to reduce/scrap points for GC etc in anything less significant than a Grand Tour.

 

[rich p]

I hope you're sitting comfortably!

You're doing surprisingly well for someone who thinks Ten Dam has a chance in the TDF

 

[smutchin]

I was tempted to go for Stannard...

I did consider Boonen...

<facepalm>

I'll tot up the points from this weekend tomorrow.