Personally if I'd gone first I would pick riders who are expected to score low. Eg, Wells 2. He probably won't score many more and the worst he can score is 0 so you can only lose a maximum of 2 in that direction.
Having said that, there's a reason it's not me playing and that is I didn't play the game as well so what do I know?
Anyway it should add to the enjoyment tomorrow so good luck to both of you