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Giro D'Italia
So, the time has come. The first Grand Tour of 2012.
No previous winner, obvs, as Contador was banned.
Grainy Thomas will make an appearance, as will the Manx Express, in an attempt to gain the last points jersey that he hasn't won.
Pinotti's leading BMC.
I think that Basso will try and do well, as will Fuglsang.
Normal Italian Wildcards and net app: Giocattoli, Colnago-CSF Inox, Farnese Vini-Selle Italia, Team NetApp.
Jose Rujano is a personal favourite
Relatively straightforward Danish TT and two stages to start with.
Would love to hear your thoughts with regards to your teams.
If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.
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111 comments
Question: Am I right that GC standing after each stage earns 10-1 points?
If so and I end up with the rider who wins the TT, I may very well keep him thru stages 2-3 assuming he's somewhat unlikely to be dropped on the flats.
The TT is only a few kms so a decent sprinter or a strong ds might be a better option than an all out TTer.
I think the key word is Balance (and having a plan in mind, that can be adjusted)
and sticking to your gut and not changing your mind based on what others may post on here (not that I do that, but alot will take tips from here)
Agreed. My main problem is that I seem to be rubbish at calling the hillier stages - so I've decided to take risks early! I'll shut up now...
It just means the scoring isn't up yet or not confirmed.
Usually for ITT stages it's standard scorgin (35 for 1st down to 1 for 20th) but with some tweaks for spring/mountain classifications, for TTTs it's usually 10 pts for each member of the 1st team down to 1pt for each of the 10th team (although that may change this year as the normal scores have done).
These stages WILL score and will be counted towards the overall, just be patient and rules will no doubt appear before too long.
Looking at the scoring per stage, there is no information available. I believe TT & TTT do not score ? Am I correct?
Points scored on this stage
No scores are available for this stage
Information on scoring
Er, no
Bit of a work in progress but Dave now has all the info he needs to fill in the blanks, so it's a case of 'watch this space'
Well I have 4 TT DS's, 2 star TT's, a Star sprinter, a star sprinter that can TT, and a DS sprinter. Then may plan will be to take out the two Star TT's for sprinters for stage 2 leaving me 5 Sprinters and 4 others which will all be DS TT's (and for me there is a lack of depth in the DS sprinters) (although the way I have gone means I ont have the ideal DS sprinter for stgae 2, but will be in for stage 3), so going that way to me could maximise points from stage 1 and also not be too shaby for stage 2, and then can have 7 sprinters by stage 3, but then my transfers for the TTT will be to bring in people for stage 6, but from teams that should do well in the TTT.
I know I have just spilled my tatcics, but no names mentioned. And im always in a position to change my tactics. Also My DS TT's are capable of going in a break, or being in sort of the the 12-20 kinda position at the end of a sprint stage if they wish to be
Well I have
A TT who finished in top 3 recently.
A star sprinter.
The must have italian DS who's really a sprinter
A wild Dane (look we need danes not italians)
A recent TT winner.
2 green TT speacialist, hopefully over injury.
A lead out for a star sprinter.
A Danish computer programmer (apparently)
A DS who's really an all rounder, bit of a TT, bit of a sprinter.
The fastest sprinter in the bunch...apparently (and that's not CAV)
A Star TT who has done well in the Giro for years.
That should be enough riders.
2 star TTs. . . one must be De Gendt, and the other possibly swifty....sounds very similar to my squad. and there is only one DS sprinter that i've found. If I had 0.1 more money, I could bring Matt Goss in for stage 2 . . . I think Dave valued the riders perfectly to stop me doing that. . . so i may resort to Renshaw.
Yes, unlimited transfers until the first deadline.
However, the amount of changes you make may come into play should you tie for a prize (fewest transfers is one of the deciding factors in who wins it), so I wouldn't go wild with your transfers!
Thanks drheaton, Appreciate it.
Just a question. If I pick my team now and save it, will I be able to make unlimited changes to it before the race starts? Thanks.
My usual tactic with Cav is to pick him up once he's won a stage as he usually doesn't win the first of a tour.
My team is pretty much finished but at the minute is very TT heavy so I'm not massively happy with it, currently 6/9 are picked for TT skills, the rest being sprinters. It's a gamble (I did really well in the Paris-Nice TT with this tactic) but if it doesn't pay off then I'm way out of shape for the first 5 stages or so. Will probably tweak it to add some balance as the week goes on.
Mine is very similar - totally reliant on a good Prologue. 5 TTers, 2 sprinters that can prologue, and 2 other sprinters. I agree on Cav, I was initially thinking of bringing him in for stage 2, but decided yesterday I would bring in 2 DS sprinters instead and wait to see which stars look good before bringing one in for stage 3. Its not that high-risk though, provided at least a couple of guys do well in the prologue...
I don't know, a little rain, one crash or broken bike and all of a sudden you go from 5 top 10 finishers to nothing at all. That's risky, picking 2 TTers and 7 sprinters/ds team mates of sprinters is the safe option as you may get some points on the prologue but mainly you'll be set for the first two sprint stages and may not need to make (m)any transfers during the first week.
Yeah, its risky, but I'm feeling lucky! I'll still have 6 decent sprinters in by the beginning of stage 2, and probably Cav or Goss for stage 3, so I'm hoping the worst case scenario (rain halfway through the prologue) is still not that bad. Tho' I'm willing to accept that my dire performance in the Romandie game may be an indicator that I have no idea what I'm talking about!
I came dead last in the TdR after two shocking TTs and a a handful of even worse stages in between...
It can go two ways in my opinion, it pays off and you get 150 points, a nice lead on those who've picked sprinters and a buffer that'll allow you to move in your sprinters through stages 2, 3 and 5. The TTT also helps as you can leave in TTers with that in mind.
It can also go terribly wrong (see my 1 point for stage 1 of the TdR after picking a TTing team) and you're even more screwed as you've got no decent sprinters and no time to draft them in before the sprint stages...
It's high risk, high reward and could pay off big time so I might just load up on TTers and take the chance.
Danes man Danes they're great Danes . . . but not Fuglsang
Italians man Italians. 1199 stage wins
Taylor Phinney might go well in the TT
I've had a fiddle about with my team and basically got 3 teams sorted. All 3 are very similar except i've got a big problem with the following:
Renshaw or Goss
Pozzato or Thomas
Swift or De Gendt.
Looking at the bigger picture as well for breakaways and the time trial. Any comments would be appreciated.
I would go for Goss over Renshaw. Goss seems to be in good form with 4 2nd places and the points jersey in Tour of Turkey this week and Renshaw may be on lead-out duty for Bos rather than Rabobank's main sprinter.
I think Thomas should pick up points in the opening time trial and Sky should do well in the TTT.
De Gendt will probably pick up points in a breakaway at some stage, so would be a good choice.
I'll probably go with Thomas on the first stage TT, and transfer Goss in for the flat stages that follow.
Looking forward to the first week as there seems to be quite a lot of good value sprinters and time trialers.
Not sure who's going to win GC doesn't seem to be any outright favourites
One thing - if Cav's found form he could win 3 or 4 stages - so if its a close decision between a Sky rider and a non-Sky rider then the prospect of a few 5-point bonuses might sway it? Other than that, all of the above riders seem like good picks to me, although personally I'd see Renshaw as too much of a risk as he's not really done anything at Rabobank so far. Which is not to say he won't...
Its the fact that in the Giro unless you as a sprinter won every single sprint stage, and hope the other stage in are spread around enough, then the sprinter will never have enough points to win the giro points jersey.
If im correct the TdF and the Vuelta are organized by the same organization, however the one for the Giro is different. Which is why they ultimately differ on points as the Giro doesn't share any unity with the other two GT's
Surely the lure of the Champs Elysees is what entices any sprinters to stay in LeTour whilst it's a TT finale in the Giro.
Will teams be required to have a gc contender, sprinter, and climber like last year or are we free to pick any four star riders that we'd like?
any four you like
I would guess that it simply comes down to scheduling. It's rough to finish the Giro and then have to turn around the for the Tour, but finishing the Tour is the ultimate prestige, so if you drop out of that then what are you racing for? (well, somewhat complicated by the Olympics this year, but that's another matter) As for the Vuelta, it's the last hurrah as far as Grand Tours go, so it makes sense to hang in there for the jersey.
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