Is it ok to make a big thread for a "small race"?
I have two reasons to do so:
1. this years edition is - given the line-up and the uncertainty concerning when things starts getting canceled perhaps the big event of the spring months.
2. I need to test if our calendar is working (seems empty and that's kinda boring).
Format traditionellThere isn't any big changes to the race format: it is a couple of not to long stages for the puncheurs and the sprinters followed by the now famous individual time trial (because the _/ race profile sey the precedent for both the 2017 World championship ITT and the 2020 Tour de France team trial to Planche de Belles Filles.
Stage 1 Wednesday, February 3rd: Bellegarde-Bellegarde, 144 km - flattish
Stage 2 Thursday, February 4th: Saint-Génies-de-Malgoirès - La Calmette, 154 km - flattish
Stage 3 Friday, February 5th: Bessèges - Bèsseges, 155 km - now they'll start with the hills
Stage 4 Saturday, February 6th: Rousson - Saint-Siffret, 152 km - more hills
Stage 5 Sunday, February 7th: Alès-Alès (l'Ermitage), 11 km __/ individual time trial, contra-le-monte
Participation exceptionnel!If it wasn't for the fact that it is, after all, just an early season stage race, this year's

lineup and the final time trial stage could make the headlines alone, as a single-team-internal competition.

Egan Bernal (Former TdF winner and not bad in an uphill time trial)

Geraint Thomas (Former TdF winner and not bad in an uphill time trial)

Michal Kwiatkowski (Former world champion and not bad in an uphill time trial)

Filippo Ganna (Current ITT world champion and not bad in a time trial, that was before he also won a mountain stage in the giro).
However, there are other strong teams present to, most notably the new , or reborn, classics-oriented

and the classics rider from the old

Silvan Dillier (why on earth did they let him go if that was their strategy?) Now he is with

and they also bring Tim Merlier to give

Bryan Coquard a sprint for the money - if he can get past the

van Poppels and

Rudy Barbier, so he can stage a knuckle fight with the boxer

Nacer Bouhanni
then he will face the champions past as in

Mads Pedersen and

Giacomo Nizzolo.
Ok this line-up is a bit too much for a
2.1 sprint but here they go. I don't even bother mentioning all the classics ridsrs lined up here that may want to shake up the finale by attacking to avoid the sprint. A
GC win should be within range for Kwiatkowski, Boasson Hagen, Michal Gogl, Philippe Gilbert, Tim Wellens, Michael Valgren, Alberto Bettiol and Greg van AVermaet / Oliver Naen if they manage to break away for a day in the hills and put some distance between themselves and the presumed better climbing/ITT/GC riders such as

Thomas/Bernal,

Nibali/Mollema,

Uran Uran. Forgot to mention

Leonard Kämna and Grossssssschartner,

John Degenkolb and

Niki Terpstra.
So many on-paper-good riders

but this is just an early season race in south of France, after all. Oh, yeah - I must mention one more :
the early season surprise rider. Who can it be?`
My favorites for GC:
***

Mikael Kwiatkowski (typically starts season strong, and then slows down later)
**

Egan Bernal (training schedule = old school

preparations: win all races before TdF),
the early season surprise guy*

Bauke Mollema (cause Nibali won't move to the front before the Giro, ya'all know that),

Pierre Latour (for French honor you know),

Julien el Fares (the local dude. almost).
Allez allez pour la victoire!