I might as well... (Tour of Qatar 14)

This starts the day after Dubai finishes so I have to remember to check in for last-minute changes - a lot of riders seem to be down to ride both at the moment but a crash in Dubai could mess things up a bit!

I'll be honest , since this race opened I've picked both std and purist but have swapped and changed so many times without confirming changes .....however as much as I'd love to go full out sprinters in both teams I know echelons can and likely will play havoc so I'm still not settled on a team

I'd imagine wind could well come into play, so worth thinking about that - more experienced riders who can get themselves in the right break, or the right spot on the echelon, will prosper.

That said, dromedaries or no, this is a pretty flat old tour. A punchy sprinter who can do short TTs well (perhaps somebody with a bit of history on the track?) could take the GC. An open field, though, and wouldn't be surprised to see someone pretty leftfield (thinking Gaudin, Fenn etc.) walking off with it.

Incidentally, if Phinney was competing, I reckon he'd win this in his sleep.

Well dont say I didnt warn you about the humps. Cant see a sprinter winning the GC.

Last years race was as flat as a pancake with Cav winning 4 stages. I cant see it being any problems to the sprinters at all although i haven't seen the profiles anywhere yet.

My team will be all sprinters with the odd ds in.

Well who should I pick for the TOQ?
The stage names suggest a very indulating profile.
You read camel track, and I think 'lots of humps',
But there are not many climbers in the startlists .
So I am thinking of building my squad around Riblon, Gilbert and Westra.
Any thoughts?

Argh, Dave must have taken out a badge I put in, picking first and last home...

Liking the 'Skinsuit' badge for picking a TT winner

Wasn't me, twas the boss man

Cough Cough...........its open

Just read the news this morning:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/horner-signs-with-lampre-merida

In faux celebration, can I have the value for Chris Horner, please?

I shall give you those, because you were first to ask, the game will be open in a couple of days and I will not be giving out any more riders values before that.

Heinrich Haussler 20.6
Matteo Pelucchi 18.6
Martin Elmiger 17.1
Sebastien Hinault 5.5
Blaz Jarc 9.6
Daniel Schorn 10.3
Scott Thwaites 9.9
Sam Bennett 20.7
Zakkari Dempster 10.1
Enrico Battaglin 13.1
Marco Coledan 11.5
Lucas Sebastian Haedo 8.4
Alessandro Bazzana 16.8
Robert Forster 3

Right, every rider should now have a value, but they will not update until after the first stage of Qatar I think....

Because they have not been involved in a race yet.

Let me try and remedy that, but the values won't be exact

Hi Gkam. Just out of curiousity, I was taking a look at the Current Rider Ranking on the FC 'Rankings' page and noticed that none of the riders for IAM cycling and Team NetApp - Endura seem to have a value.

The four of us who run the game are a very select group of "men"

But I am happy to take all the credit, because indeed, I AM THE MAN

I had the startlist set up weeks ago, there was no issue with that, it will be open on 31st if everything is ok at Dave's end

Looks like 8 man teams and it looks like the guys at ProCycling Stats seem to have all teams with 8 riders, just not all confirmed. Wow! That's pretty complete! Other than putting these riders in the race, what else would prevent Qatar from being open soon?

http://www.procyclingstats.com/race/Tour_of_Qatar_2014-Startlist

I suppose I could go look at startlists to get it set up