Written by KrMees of Velosipedska
  
  Because the Volta ao Porto kept the OCM Newspaper staff quite busy these days, I was tasked to write a little something about the Monte Rosa Tour. Being a participant and defending champion myself, I was a little hesitant at first, but I’ve delegated the task to Velosipedska PR manager Vujadin Mileski. In the event that he wholly overestimates our chances in the preview, he will be responsible for the inevitable ridicule from the cycling community. Vujadin has been so kind to write a 2-part preview for this exciting div 5 Tour. First, statistics! Let’s take a look at the numbers in regard to the Swiss tour.
  
  ---Historical Context---
  
  Participations:
  Out of last season's top-9, only defending champion Riste Nikolovski returns to this edition of the race. Interestingly enough, teammate Jordan Spirkoski (12th) is the second-highest placed rider from last season to join #44 as well. Bank Lux's Ernst Reiswig (14th) is last season's best-placed rider outside of the Macedonian outfit to rejoin us in Switzerland.
  
   Nicky Arnott, Donnie Boswell and Marek Wolf will all be racing Monte Rosa for the 6th time. Only retirees Ejvind Martinsen (8, record), Jonathan Berthelsen, Steen Dencker, Þorbrandur Sigbergursson and Normando Carriedo have participated in this tour more often (each 7).
  Arnott, Boswell and Wolf join a select club of only 13 other riders that have raced Monte Rosa at least 6 times, expanding that club to 16 members.*
  
  As for teams, Glasgow United will race here for the 8th time, Halgau for the 6th time and TEAM BOBYN for the 5th time. In total, 30 teams have participated at least 5 times at Monte Rosa. Glasgow joins a shared 5th spot with 8 appearances (3 teams). BCTeam (14), celtas cortos (11), TD rockets (10) and Tashkent Browncoats (9) complete that top-5.*
  
  This season, 6 teams will debut in Switzerland, and a whopping 92 out of 144 riders will race Monte Rosa for the first time in their careers (estimate*).
  
  GC Results:
   Riste Nikolovski can become the 2d rider to successfully defend a Monte Rosa title, after Tamati

Lima did so for Velo Kiwi in S12 and S13. Rudolf Nieuwendijk, Jonathan Berthelsen and Ola Granat have also won Monte Rosa twice, but not back-to-back. Riste will probably try to mimic Granat, who came to MR twice, won it twice, and never returned.
  
  Apart from the defending champion, Amalesh Chamlagain is the only rider with MR podium experience (3d in S42). Ove Nesheim and Salem El Kitli have finished in the top-9 twice, Donnie Boswell, Nicky Arnott and Ahmad Mohamed Salem are the other participants who’ve already had a successful GC run in Switzerland (each 1 top-9 finish).
  
  Looking at all riders, Ejvind Martinsen has the most top-9 finishes of all time (6 in 8 editions). He’s also the rider with the most podium finishes without either a win or a podium finish. The big 5 of Monte Rosa, however are:
   Tamati Lima (3x 1st)
   Augustin Hofman (2x 1st, 2x podium)
   Jonathan Berthelsen (2x 1st, 2x podium)
   Rudolf Nieuwendijk (2x 1st, 1x podium)
   Ture Ivansson (1x 1st, 3x podium)
  
  *Some riders might have been lost, because it seems like the standings leave out riders more than ~14 minutes behind. One such rider is my own Nikola Shaqiri, who helped Riste win last season but isn’t listed in the S43 standings. Let’s just say riders who’ve been cut off didn’t manage to finish the last stage and we’re talking about full completions here.
  
  ---Some Statistics:---
  
  Highest AVG:
  Berritxaco: 48.2
  Man 2 Man: 47.8
  Stavrosslegend: 47.8
  
  Lowest AVG:
  StegaUnited: 42.3
  Vandersluis Pro Cycling: 43.0
  Vojvodina NS: 43.5
  
  Man 2 Man (47-51) and Comanimo (42-46) have the most uniform team, with only a difference of 4 AVG between their best and worst AVG riders. On the other end of the spectrum, StegaUnited's

water carrier Shamus Larsen (29) is a whopping 24 AVG points behind his captain Dawid Turski (53).
  
  Oldest Teams:
  Glasgow United: 33.2
  The Norse Code: 31.2
  Comanimo: 30.2
  
  Youngest Teams:
  Brzeszcze: 23.0
  Twente Cycling Team: 24.0
  Himalaya Bikers: 24.3
  
  Glasgow United also fields the 3 oldest riders in the race, Donnie Boswell (42), Ginge McMath (41) and Nicky Arnott (38). Comanimo's Cees-Jan Boom is also 38. Boswell made his debut in S36, the season Khalifa Al-Fallah and Naim Al-'Ejla were born (both 21). They are the 2 youngest riders in this edition of Monte Rosa.
  
  Single nation teams:
  Glasgow United (Scotland)
  Velosipedska (Macedonia)
  Universal Soup (Vietnam)
  
  In contrast to the single nation contenders, 8 teams field a roster in which every rider has a different nationality. Of these 8 teams, 5 don't field a rider from their home country, so one could argue they represent 7 nations in this race.
  
  Looking at the home country, 5 Swiss riders will race this season, 4 come from home team Halgau and Fulvio Scherrer is participating with StegaUnited.
  
  England and The Netherlands (9 each) are most well-represented, followed by Spain (8), Belgium, Isle of Man and Scotland (7 each). The nations Vietnam and Macedonia are represented by a single team (totalling 6), but Glasgow fans can find 1 extra Scotsman at Team DSM.
  
  A few mock trophies to finish up:
  
  The ‘I also don’t know why I’m here’ trophy for best cobbler at the race: Youssef Kaziri
  The ‘Suddenly called up after all’ trophy for worst form: Shamus Larsen
  The ‘Why is the limit 25?’ trophy for strongest 26-year-old rider: Kynan Bradman
  
  Thanks for reading this article, part 2 will be online soon and will include a look at the favourites.