Tour de Suisse 2022 - Part 2
These eight stages will mostly be about punchers and climbers for this year, in which we only have one time trial but very important one.
Stage Winners
So we will firstly talk about the puncheurs and possible stage winners. There are no less than five stages that could go to them. UAE Team Emirates' trio Diego Ulissi, Alessandro Covi and Marc Hirschi represent everything about puncheurs.
Benoît Cosnefroy and Quentin Pacher are French riders who have been impressing for some years now with a punchy finish and recently, in classic race as well. Clément Champoussin, although very unpredictable, he can also be included among The French hopes.
A rider that should be taken seriously is Patrick Bevin who is very good sprinter and processes time trial abilities. He can even climb decently as seen recently in the Tour of Turkey.
Andreas Kron and Alexander Kamp are fast finishers that would not mind a steep gradient and should be in the mix for many stages. After a good Tirreno-Adratico, Quinn Simmons had to pause his season due to illness but is now back for the Tour de Suisse where he is expected to prepare himself for his first tour de France.
The Movistar team comes with both Iván García Cortina and Alex Aranburu. Both will have their chances at stage victory. EF Education with Alberto Bettiol, Micheal Valgren and Neilson Powless among others comes with a very capable team that just seems to lack confidence.
Alpecin Fenix will be relying on Jay Vine and Xandro Meurisse and recent giro stage winner. Oldani, for a stage win. Team Jumbo-Visma will hope for a time trial win with Rohan Dennis and Sepp Kuss in the mountains.
Team DSM brought Cees Bol here but their most likely option is Søren Kragh Andersen and it will also be interesting to watch how Thymen Arensman is doing after his wonderful Giro. The team of the year, Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert, have Andrea Pasqualon but beware of Alexander Kristoff, the man who is in the form of his life. Micheal Matthews is here and would normally be challenging for nearly all the early stages but the presence of Kaden Groves who packs a faster sprint than him will be interesting to follow. Not as long as a year ago, Peter Sagan would have been in contention for stage wins. This is is his terrain but he does not seem to be the same man anymore. Team Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, Bora-Hansgrohe and Ineos Grenadiers brought big armada who will be working towards protecting their respective leaders.
General Contenders
Aleksandr Vlasov comes here with a very strong team with Felix Großschartner, Max Schachmann and Sergio Higuita as support. The ex-Astana leader has been more and more impressive this year by improving his climbing and most importantly his sprint. He will be seen every day.
Ineos Grenadiers have both Dani Martínez and Adam Yates as leaders. In small punchy finishes, Dan Martínez will be eyeing for victory. Mr Remco Evenepoel has a time trial which is promised to him and we will see him in the hilly early races as well as his progress in gradients above 10%.
Alexey Lutsenko and Jakob Fuglsang from Israel Start-Up Nation should not be easily dismissed. Michael Woods, given his time-trial history will probably be eyeing for stage wins. Fresh from a very good Giro performance are: Thymen Arensman and Domenico Pozzovivo.
The form of Thibaut Pinot will be under the French scrutiny while Switzerland will also want to have a say in this race with last year winner Gino Mäder, who finished second at this year’s Tour de Romandie. Not known for his explosive power is Stefan Küng who might aim more than winning the time-trial given how much his climbings has improved
Update: As of the recent update; Hugh Carthy is at the start of the Giro with Uran as support and a team to fully back them. EF education are in this race for some UCI points and at least a podium.
Overall Predictions with 10 stars to be used:
Alexander Vlasov : ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆ Capable on all terrain, his biggest threat could a crash or illness.
Hugh Carthy : ★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ Coming from a very good end of giro, the two mountain stage will horrible percentage suits him well and could provide him a good cushion for the time-trial.
Dani Martinez : ★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ He can compete with Vlasov on all terrain but although his team comes with strong support, the Colombian might be kept on a restraint because of Adam Yates.
Remco Evenepoel : ★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ Just because he has suffered in his first giro and does not go as spectacularly on very high gradient does not mean, he should be discarded. He has a definitely worked on his climbing since we last saw him.
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