road.cc fantasy cycling 2011

I liked the fantasy TdF last year. But the Vuelta was a pain in the backside - I'd prefer to keep it simple without the riders 'prices' changing all the time.

Obviously, with the press coverage, it is easier to track and manage for the Grand Tours, a season long com (in addition to the stand alone comps sounds good)

I'd imagine that a lot of team changes/ transfers between events would be required as teams and team rosters change a lot between races.

the list of races sounds good to me, possibly to much as it means i will be spending even more time than my wife deems necessary at this computer sorting out transfers, great!

As a complete road racing novice I really enjoyed the fantasy events and I'm looking forward to doing better next year.

Would it be possible to offer the chance to have more than one entry per User Name?

I liked the idea of having a fixed team for the Vuelta but I also manted to be in the GC but was too lazy to set up an alternative User Name.

Given the issues with the changes you made for the Vuelta, perhaps maintaining the same rider value throughout a race but updating the values between races. This would mean that you would have to limit the selected events to those which don't clash.

I have posted on the forum a number of times about the 2011 season long game, but I will add my thoughts here again.

In my opinion, the classics, the three grand tours and the world champs are a must. These are typically the biggest races of the year.

Trying to incorporate many of the week long stage races may prove problematic as some overlap. Especially if you consider three other important stage races - Paris-Nice, Tour de Pologue and the Eneco Tour.

I think you should give a starting budget at the start of the season which can be increased/decreased over the course of the season with good/bad transfers.

Keep the fluctuating prices between stages for all the stage races.

Impose price increases for say the top 20 in a one day race.

Any 'money' made from good performances in a race then carrys over and adds to the budget for next race in the calender.

Just my two cents...

Can't wait for the game to begin!

LabMonkey / Jon

I think we can safely say that we'll be picking races that don't overlap, as i'm not keen on making too much work for myself

here's some thoughts from my brain:

1) it *won't* be possible to enter more than one team per user account, sorry. it's too difficult to control

2) there will be unlimited changes between different races, and limited transfers available during stage races

3) rider values will probably continue to change, possibly based on a simpler formula than before, but we won't be complicating our lives with overengineered team pickers that, erm, don't work very well.

4) i reckon 3 grand tours + classics + worlds + a couple of the more interesting week tours is the way to go. dauphiné, tour de suisse maybe

Deal - That sounds great!

Maybe add the Tour Down Under to break up the January boredom.

You want to try and add something different from the other online management games such as those listed below...

http://www.depontieu.net/cobble/
http://velogames.com/
http://fantasy.cycling-games.com/game/

...I agree with going for the big classics and tours but unlimited transfers between races means most people could end up with a pretty similar team.

How about picking a team in Jan and having an May and August transfer window?

Of course it would make it a lower scoring competition but it will make it more equal for those who dont have time to make loads of transfers regularly.

It might increase the skill factor if you have less opportunities to put bad decisions right.

hmm. but surely there's as much skill in making good transfers as there is in making good initial selections?

maybe we could run a similar transfer strategy in the spring classics, say, as we do in the big tours, so you can't change your whole team every time.

That would work for me.

So it is like a transfer window rather than wholesale changes.

How about four transfers between each classic then? Just like on rest days during the Vuelta game?

That way we will need to pick an all round 'classics team' but it will also allow some specificity for each race.

sounds like it might be a plan

Just had a thought though... most teams don't send the same riders to all of the classics, so you would need to decide whether to give free transfers (out of our teams) to riders who are not seleced by their tems to race a subsequent classic.

nah, think you'll just have to own that one

to expand on that rather flippant statement, what i'm looking for is an elegant and simple solution to the problems of transferring riders throughout the season and during the grand tours, and the solution i'm leaning towards is:

1) limited transfers between classics
2) limited transfers within stage races
3) a free transfer window before each grand tour, as many changes as you want
4) no free transfers within stage races for riders that drop out - you just gotta pick a new one

couldn't you just select an entire squad of say 20-25 riders at the start of the season, then have a limited number of transfers per month to make up for injuries etc...

Well, yes. but there are some issues with doing that. specifically, we'll be running the three grand tours as separate competitions as well as incorporating them into an overall year-long game.

So if you come in just for the TdF and you pick a squad/team then, you're at a big advantage over someone who's been playing since january; it's not a level playing field.

We think we're close to a solution on that though. we're thinking it through right now

Two games ?

Has the final decision on races and rules been made yet?

Not yet. but we'll firm it up in the next couple of weeks and make an announcement about it on the site. I *can* tell you that...

1) it will be a season long game and separate games for the three grand tours, which will count toward your overall season

2) it'll kick off with the Milan-San Remo

more soon!

It must be almost time for some more information on the game - I am itching to get my provisional team list underway.

haha, me too.

I have some riders in mind.

Really trivial Dave but on the football one on www.premierleague.com and on one of the online cycling ones (sorry can't remember which one), you can design a kit.

Can we have a kit design for our team?

V. bored at work today.
Any news on the games?

Just picked my team over on Cobblestone... This is for up to the first transfer window in March.

If I could replicate that in the game on here I would be happy with that squad.

Position Rider
1 Nibali Vincenzo [Liquigas - Doimo]
2 Cavendish Mark [Team Htc - Columbia]
3 Schleck Andy [Team Saxo Bank]
4 Porte Richie [Team Saxo Bank]
5 Tondo Volpini Xavier [Cervélo Test Team]
6 Hoogerland Johnny [Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team]
7 Wiggins Bradley [Sky Professional Cycling Team]
8 Löfkvist Thomas [Sky Professional Cycling Team]
9 Burghardt Marcus [Bmc Racing Team]
10 Hinault Sébastien [Ag2R - La Mondiale]
11 Swift Ben [Sky Professional Cycling Team]

I think they are ignoring us... we are the supergeeks of the bike world! Haha

It looks that way...

I can set up a temp mini league on cobblestone to cover us until the road.cc competetion starts if anyone is interested.

we're not ignoring you... we're busy beavering away

No wuzzers then... I will wait and plan my team

the road.cc game is slated to launch mid feb, to give you a month to make your picks before the first scoring race, the milan san remo.

all good things and that

Thats great - that will stop me checking the website every few hours.

Could you leak a definitive race list to upease our excitement?

Milano-San Remo
Gent – Wevelgem
Ronde van Vlaanderen
Paris - Roubaix
Amstel Gold Race
La Flèche Wallonne
Liège - Bastogne - Liège
Giro D'Italia
Criterium du Dauphiné Libéré
Tour de Suisse
Tour de France
Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian
GP Ouest France - Plouay
Vuelta a España
Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec
Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal
World Championships TT
World Championships Road race
Giro di Lombardia

Fantastic choice of races... can't wait to get started!

is it not possible to have the Tour of Britain as it runs concurrently with the Vuelta..?

thought so.

Have subscribed to this thead in anticipation of the competition starting

and it will, the game engine is mostly built and we're just dotting some i's and crossing some t's about the rules and the prizes and such. it'll launch in plenty of time for the Milan - San Remo, don't you worry...

I am super excited to play the full season this year. My husband and I were looking for a fantasy cycling game before the start of the Vuelta last year, and that is how we found road.cc.

I played as a purist last time, and hoping I can keep my resolve and keeping it going this year too.

Thanks for the game! The hardest part is keeping myself away from the scores during the day at work, so I don't give away the actual race that I want to watch when I get home.

When can we start looking at the riders and building our teams?

Personally, I don't think we should be able to transfer riders during a stage race - in the real world they can't.

you'll be wanting the purists' league then

it all goes live tomorrow...

It's live!!!

I don't really like that I have to pick an expensive team leader and climber for the classics. Can't I leave them out and have a team of 7 or select two more domestiques?

No. you can pick an inexpensive team leader and climber though, if you like

make sure you join our 'beat the road.cc team' league too, #6493

More news on prizes later. They gunna be worth playing for, i can tell you that

But they are so expensive

Anyhow, I've got my team sorted and I'm on par with the road.cc team! It can only go downhill from here, I'm afraid. I'm too dumb for this

where's Haussler?

I'm in

i cant see hausler either.

Also can you see other teams selections if youre in the same league?

I was wondering that.

He's definitely not there and we'd better definitely find him. Heinrich Haussler shall return

hi, i can't think of a really good team name. i would like one with a pun to do with a pro team. any suggestions?

Blue sky thinking ??

For a team lacking climbers: Col-No-Go?

Can't wait for the first race!

leotard?