The Friday cycling quiz: Do early season stage races really shape the Tour?
From the UAE Tour to the Critérium du Dauphiné, stage races through the spring and early summer give us a glimpse of what's to come at the Tour de France
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Paris-Nice, Tirreno-Adriatico the Criterium du Dauphiné .... all well established Tour de France warm-up races for the men's peloton. But is there a tried and tested path to get GC contenders into the best shape for July? And as the women's calendar continues to grow, will they follow a similar route to to glory?
Tour winners are rarely seen at the Tour Down Under in Adelaide, instead it's February's UAE Tour that is establishing itself as the first run out for the Tour contenders, from there it's a mix of the classics and spring stage races as riders combine racing with training camps while doing their best to avoid illness and injury.
This week's quiz looks at the stats behind the races that give us a clue to who will succeed come July.
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Editor of Cycling Weekly magazine, Simon has been working at the title since 2001. He first fell in love with cycling in 1989 when watching the Tour de France on Channel 4, started racing in 1995 and in 2000 he spent one season racing in Belgium. During his time at CW (and Cycle Sport magazine) he has written product reviews, fitness features, pro interviews, race coverage and news. He has covered the Tour de France more times than he can remember along with the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games and many other international and UK domestic races. He became the 134-year-old magazine's 13th editor in 2015 and can still be seen riding bikes around the lanes of Surrey, Sussex and Kent. Albeit a bit slower than before.
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