Forum Users Mini league

INDIVIDUAL COMPETITION WINNERS

Tour Down Under: Alan Tullett(Pure Fantasy)
TDU Purist: Gkam84(Up and Doon Hills)
Tour of Qatar: enrique(Team Don Q)
TOQ Purist: Wig_Billy(Veelers Wheel)
Tour of Mediterranean: Wig_Billy(Veelers Wheel)
TOM Purist: TERatcliffe26(Ratcliffe26)
Tour of Oman: Wig_Billy(Veelers Wheel)
TOO Purist: Teratcliffe26(Ratcliffe26)

you could set one up yourself, just make it a public one and post it on here

Done

League Name Forum's Scorum's

ID 76157

k i'm in anyways

Is there a minimum post limit or is that too Stalins Russia

Well im in

I'm in too

I'm in - happy new year everyone! Love the new dashboard guys, and the extra races - good stuff.

Just joined

Count me in

Good Luck for the new year guys

gatecrashed!!!
a la Trotsky (hope there's no ice around).

What was the number....oh go on then, I hope I do as well as fantady footie

Wasn't there last year a `Last Years Players' league?
If there was, can we have this year a `Last Years Players', but for this last year.......

Sorry, I forgot where was I going with this

Forget my previous post...
..... I'll join the Forum's Scorum's instead

I think i know where you were going Fluff , when the new interface was introduced, our league from last year was erased

1 more would make it a nice round 30.

I'll join.

Dr Heaton the star of the show in the season opener sitting 1st with his purist team and 5th with his standard but may suffer for his lack of Eddy Boss tonight and that ChrisDStripes will be near the top.Of course there's nothing stopping the good Doctor from getting him in on his standard team?

Of the more prominent forum poster's Stumps(purist),Livestrongnick(purist) and myself(purist) are doing a considerable impression of Matt Goss at the back end of the pack punished for not having the Gorilla whilst STEVESPRO79(both teams)had him and are still in the Autobus.

It seems that most peoples purist teams are higher than their standard teams they picked to do well in stage 1. I think this shows that the GC riders are all over this race from the start and the sprinters won't have it all their own way. Gilbert will be keen to kick start his season in the rainbow jersy I reckon.

In

Dr Heaton's early promise proved to last about as long as a Grand Tour leaders jersey for Taylor Phinney as Stevemarks now holds a decent 40 point lead.

Forum Favourites WigBilly and livestrongnick are roaring through the pack with plenty of momentum.

How many of you are holding back transfers for stage 5?

Earned my 'Full House' badge today getting points from everyone on stage 4 Got to be happy with that!!!

145 points for 12th on the stage puts me in the top 10 pre-Willunga

Good to be using this smile icon again

Stevemarks still leads the way but by only 28 now and it may come down to stored transfers so 5th placed Fluided will suffer from non-premium restrictions.

I was aiming for my 'Podium' badge today but totally forgot about Cantwell! Even more annoying is I had him in my team for the first couple of stages!

123 points to move me back up a little but making 6 transfers today bringing in punchy climbers and try and go after the 'Podium', 'Full House' and 'King of the Mountains' badges.

I have to say, if Dave reads this, the badges are excellent and give you something to go after once your chances of a victory are gone. Great idea.

EDIT: Also Dave, I can't remember if this was confirmed anywhere when the game was announced, but is there any plans for 'Jersey' competitions in the grand tours? So you could go after a sprint or mountains jersey once your chances at the overall are gone?

I've just joined this league, I wasn't going to join any, but after seeing who's in, I'm in

So after being bigged up i had a poor stage bringing in Goss rather than the Gorilla.....

Taking penalty points again to get me some badges today

AFTER STAGE 4:

Sanderville leads the Purists by 8 from DrHeaton and a further 2 back to Makiavelli.....the leader is the only one with GT in his team which probably makes him favourite although the fate of the doctor lies largely in the hands of the 'Rainbow Stripes'.

My aim in standard is for a high overall finish for the season so no stage hunting for me but used all 3 of my transfers to take out Guardini,Kittel and Cantwell for Moreno,Hermans and Hansen(my tip for a possible stage win today).

Leaves me with

Thomas
Pietropolli
Hermans
Slagter
Hansen
Moreno
Kerby
Greipel
DeMare

Well im getting closer and closer to the bottom

Dave said on an email to us that he was still working on that and it wouldn't be ready for the start of the year
Im gonna guess it will be introduced for the giro maybe

Ah, I knew I'd seen it somewhere but couldn't find it. That should be good fun then, when I drop to 100/150 points off the lead in the Grand Tours I tend to write them off as there's almost no way of making it back up, it'll be fun to try and concentrate on one type of terrain

7th LMAO

Wow GKam.....I can see why you joined!!

That's a purist score and a half

Yeah and still only second in the purist league....

AFTER STAGE 5

GKam looks to have the purist lead for a while to come as his one-man breakaway has led to a 109pt lead over his nearest challenger Makiavelli.

204pts on stage 5 for Wig_Billy has led to him climbing to 3rd in the overall and it's probably between him,Alan Tulklett and leader Stevemarks for the TDU win.

I'm quite surprised by my current position. After the first 2 stages I thought I was out of it.

My purist team died on its arse today, 34 points, but tomorrow it should bounce right back

Podium badge earned by my Purist team but not too good for them otherwise.

A bit better for standard with a 7th place finish in the Forum's Scorum's overall.

Guardini was probably my biggest fail

6th for me in Forum's Scorum's

Im just amazed im not last! Beware of me in Qatar though

Where did Kenny106 come from? Must have parachuted in before start of stage 6!!

While all are welcome,I think it's only fair to award the Forum's Scorums Overall TDU to Alan Tullett after a poor last stage for breakaway SteveMarks saw him lose his long term lead whilst GKam took the purist.

I'm going to use and edit the first post to record winners of each of the competitions,hopefully we'll be able to seperate them from the overall in the league pages.

Completely fair Ray, I noticed that too

Gkam's purist team demolished my normal team, which shows how good his picks were

It's a lame excuse to say Kenny106 was too late to the party to be the winner. He got the points so he gets the jersey. I finished 56th overall so there are obviously plenty of people who would have drubbed us all if they'd been in the Forum mini league. I don't know why they aren't in it but there you go.

I'm happy to have come top of the All Ireland vs Britain league, to be sure.

Can't wait for the next competition where my normal mediocrity will be resumed.

What are your ideas for the ToQ guys?

Sprinters from teams that can TTT I reckon.

Ive gone sprinters with my cheap guys from TTT teams for stage 1, then make my two transfers for the TTT for other TTT teams that should perform

Purist is a whole other game

Purist wise it's just a case of picking the sprinters who'll perform. Cavendish, EBH, Sagan or whoever, you need to pick the guys who'll be top 5 each day. For the rest I agree, picking teammates of sprinters and TTT guys to try and pick up the odd points, not really going for breaks so much.

Not sure Sagan is riding....he wasnt on the cycling fever startlist

I think that if Cav can finish in the OPQS first 5 he has a genuine chance of winning the overall?

My tactics, pick four expensive sprinters then try and scrounge together a half decent selection of 5 DSs for less than 20 credits...

My tactics. Get the riders I think can do something, then back them up with a cheap DS from the team

Also, same tactics as the TdU, No home nation riders....SO no Qatar riders in my teams

Everyone set for the ToQ?

I've got the following in my standard team

Kruopis
EBH
Cav
Modolo
Guardini
Bewley
Velits
Rasch
Van Avermaet(what a bargain!!!)

My big fears are Degenkolb(it was he or EBH) and Spartacus(coming in for the TTT) to be honest.

I'll reveal purist after stage 1(if anyone's interested after a relative flop in Oz)

Im all set but im not revealing, alls I will say is I have 4 the same as you for my normal team and 6 in my purist team

I'm unsure whether to pick Cancellara, Thomas or Flecha at any point this week. Each could have a go if the race breaks up but might not compete in the sprints. Flecha too should lose time in the TTT on the others if things go to form.

I also reckon Velits is going to be a popular pick for Monday before being dropped by everyone

I'd rather Van Hummel than Flecha if anyone from Vacansoleil....consistent top tenner in the TDF sprints.

True, but given how well Boonen does each year it seems that being a strong rider is more important than being a fast sprinter if you want to do well in the overall.

That's my decision, everything suggests a sprinters race but every year the stronger riders do well. In theory Cav should be unbeatable but I doubt it'll work out that way.

ive got kreder from vaconsoleil in my purist team, I did have Markus in my normal team till i decided to change it.

I may have Cancellara in for the TTT

I've gone for a south east asian...if it comes off, i doubt many other will have picked him....and hes not japanese

I may well have picked him....Chan Jae Jang??

Touche...i expect hell come next to last now.

After ToQ Stage 1

Kenny 106 leads the Forum's Scorum's overall(standard)whilst Gkam is miles clear in the purist.

Nearly nicked the stage with my purist team thanks mainly to Elmiger but beaten by a point by Stumps' standard team who was probably the star performer on the day with his purist 8th on the day also.....My standard team had a shocker!!

Chapeau to anyone who got a podium badge on that stage.

Going to go Bookwalter and Rast in for Bewley(forced-out of race))and Modolo(weakest of my sprinters in terms of TTT) for stage 2 in my standard team.....can't see Elmiger's IAM squad living with Brent's BMC or Greg's RSN in a TTT so figuring he'll drop down the GC considerably(and he's already paid his way for my purists).

Incidentally.....anyone joining is welcome but end of stage 4 is cut off point for ToQ honours(see competition winners in the first post) whilst let's say the END of the Giro is the cut off for overall honours.

Modolo's out...Fractured scaphoid!!

Ouch, nearly picked him but glad I didn't!

Dammit, he's in my purist team!

Chapeau a moi then...lanterne rouge badge

Not a podium badge though?

After Stage 2:
Livestrongnick takes over in Gold for the Forum's Scorum's ToQ but Stumps is showing great form currently 2nd and 4th for his standard and purist teams respectively.....obviously he leads the purists in Qatar.

Top 3 overall(Kenny106,Alan Tullett and Wig_Billy) remain the same but it has certainly tightened up a bit and dare I say I was the improver of the day moving into the top 10(8th)after a pretty good TTT. GKam remains more than 160pts clear of the nearest overall purist rival.

I bought in Blythe and Delle-Stelle for Van Avermaet and Rast for stage 3 thinking that with Modolo out Delle-Stelle may be the go to sprinter on his team and Blythe over Van Avermaet purely on youth points.

Just realised I'm 3rd and 7th in here for ToQ. Didn't expect that Shame I've got Modolo in my purists.

He was 2nd in todays 2nd intermediate sprint

After ToQ Stage 3:

Wig_Billy's purist team hits the front in the Forum Scorum Tour of Qatar with simon F 'first wheel' so to speak...it would be a big ask for him to hold on to the Gold with a purist team of Cav,Kruopis,EBH,Haussler,VanKiersbuilk,VanAvermaet,Blythe,Devolder and Rasch but let's see?

In the Forum's Scorum's overall Alan Tullett has retaken the lead from Kenny 106 and is the first man to 1000pts....whilst Gkam's 818pts leads the purists.

For my part I'm more than happy with 5th in the whole game on that stage and even my modolo-less purists managed a very creditable 119pts

Multi-Tasking starts tomorrow with the Tour Med and I'm thinking that Europcar haven't bought Tivo AND Rolland to muck about but a bit disappointed that Pinot is so pricey(although he was my favourite rider last year).......any bargains out there?

Sorry! After such a great TdF Pinot was always going to shoot up in price just like Bouhanni/Degenkolb/Demare have this year too.

I think there are deals to be had, it'll be interesting to see if anyone bothers taking a punt on Andy Schleck or not, he's still cheap but may be more likely to get Lanterne Rouge points than anything else.

At just 3 credits he's got to be a bargain? How many other 3 pointers are actually capable of winning a summit finish?

Right now how capable is Andy Schleck of winning a summit finish, or even placing in a stage at this point in his 'comeback'?

For me....more likely than say,Pierre-Luc Perichon who is the same price!!

Well, I wont be picking him

From Voigt's comments I think Schleck really struggled at the TdU and right now its about riding miles and getting into race shape, I think he'll potter along in the peloton and, at best, maybe have a crack in a break one day. I'd be happy to be proved wrong though, a fully race fit Andy Schleck would be great for the TdF.

Even that would be worth 3.0 credits.....particularly over a few hills?

For the record my starting standard team is:

Greipel(1st stage only)
Rogers
Pauriol
Chaves
Talansky
Mollema
Monfort
Pellizotti
LeMevel

Nice to see a bit of banter within the Forum's Scorum's league......it's the reason I set it up

I really haven't struggled too much for credits in this one, ive not had to pick any guys that id class as just filling a place because they 3 credits

Meanwhile I'm making NO changes to my ToQ team for stage 4.....anyone else being a bit less conservative?

I'm figuring that most of us now have pretty similar teams.

Ive made 3 changes

Haussler for Viviani
Markus for Hutarovich
Fortin for Roulsten

Leaves me with

Cav
Kruopis
Degenkolb
Van Avermaet
Haussler
Markus
Fortin
Jang
Rasch

So Viviani will win tomorrow based on my luck!

I too have dropped Viviani for Haussler so yes Viviani will win tomorrow

I've gone aggressive and made a penalty transfer.

Degenkolb, Bookwalter, Voss out
Blythe, Guardini, Haussler in

Although you could argue that the racing is a bit boring, with the winds not playing much of a role (although that chase today, with the peloton nailing back almost 4 min in the last 25k, was pretty dramatic) the strategy on what to do re fantasy picks is a gambler's paradise.
It's reasonably clear who is on form based on placings (Markus - very impressive), but there are also riders who are waiting in the wings if their teams could not F** up the last 10K (Degenkolb / Blythe / etc.). There are also safe points to be had in Phinney etc. Everyone must have picks to spare - what to do (Haussler, Viviani, Guardini, Kristoff, Cantwell, etc.)?

Can anyone fill me in on Fortin - what's the story there?

The deal with Fortin....Modolo got injured and he is there next best sprinter, and as a non-WT team cant afford not to at least trying to get a podium a go

Well Degenkolb has been poor and I have now axed him to get in Kristoff and Guardini.

Viviani too expensive at the moment and got axed last night for me and I brought in Barry and Fortin for him and I got my best score yet

After TOQ Stage 4:
Surprise-Surprise yours truly now leads the Forum's Scorum's ToQ....definitely a day to stick and NOT twist.Wig_Billy has a 44point lead in the purist comp(and 4th overall...impressive!!).

After TourMed Stage 1:
Well Greipel smoked the competition and that man again Wig_Billy smoked the Forum's Scorum's competition as well to lead with a mighty 153 pts but unless everyone else has massively misread the course his sprint-heavy team could easily get exposed. JulesW leads the purists but has the withdrawn Taaramae.

Overall;
Unsurprisingly Wig_Billy has taken the Maillot Jaune from Alan Tullett in the Forum's Scorum's Overall with Kenny 106 suffering for lack of premium and dropping to 6th.
GKam still has a commanding lead in the purist overall-however no Talansky or Rogers in the Tour-Med ).

Incidentally I've made 3 changes for ToQ stage 5 and the biggest risk involves taking out EBH.....if he wins the stage I'll be furious

I twisted again and took out Degenkolb

Brought in Kristoff and Guardini

My team as it is now would have won yesterdays stage

I've dropped EBH too, brought in Kristoff and Markus and dropped one of my cheap 3 credit DSs who've been hopeless.

I dropped EBH,Bookwalter and Delle Stelle in favour of Phinney,Markus and Gallopin.

Over in the Med I dropped The Gorilla and Chaves to bring in Kreuziger and Lofqvist.

After TOQ Stage 5:
Simon F(new Gold Jersey in he Forum's Scorums) and I have basically swapped places whilst Wig_Billy increases his lead in the purist to 63pts from Soun_Dax 7 .

After TourMed Stage 2:
Wig_Billy is ruling the Forum's Scorum's here but for me the star so far is TERatcliffe with 2nd standard and 10th purist.

Overall it's Wig_Billy(test that man for EPO) leading Alan Tullett and he's even closed the gap on GKam in the purist to less than 60pts..... JulesW is the Lanterne Rouge

Antone got ANY idea what's happening in the TourMed tomorrow?

No stage tomorrow for the tour of Med, stages can't be deleted from the game so it will just run through to stage 4, but you basically will end up with 4 transfers for stage 4, and 0 points for stage 3

Hope I haven't peaked too early.

After ToQ final stage:A Cav-Like kick from enrique saw him score 209 pts and blow past simon F and livestrongnick to win the competition in the Forum's Scorum's with Wig_Billy just holding on to the purist title......and they go on the first post honours board.

TourMed Stage 3 was cancelled and the extra set of transfers may help bail out a few sprint/TT heavy teams.

In the Overall Forum's Scorums the mover I noticed was obutterwick with a 4 place jump into 7th but Wig_Billy still holds a 60pt lead over 2nd placed Alan Tullett.192pts for GKam's purists stretched out his big lead even further in the Purist division.

I'm beginning to think i may have peaked a bit early too!
Tour of med will be my tester having only got 73 & 21

Just a shame the extra transfers became available feel it mixed things up some what and gave a few teams a much needed life line......

Didn't change my team any as you will see from my score despite having 1,2,3 as I had 1 and 3 already and just but in huntarovich for Guardini

Yeah... I bought into the unlimited transfer opportunity big time, making 5 transfers, but, you didn't make any changes to your team for Stage 6, did you, nick?... Well, it's kind of sad to win that way, but... It was fun... Sort of.. I'm a little disappointed it wasn't fair and square... and I am sorry if I took it away like that... My big prize was bringing in Keisse because he was the Lantern Rouge!

After TourMed stage 4:
Wig_Billy has what looks like an unassailable 104pt lead going into the final stage of the Forum's Scorum's TourMed and Reda and Pinkshoes-Peraud were his inspired picks. TERatcliffe26 leads the purists by 30 from the main man Wig-Billy and has the advantage with the second placed man losing Talansky,Kreder and Taaramae from his line up.

I've personally had 4 wiped out in the purist division....Talansky,Taaramae,Schleck And Taciak!! However I'm going well in the standard overall moving up to 16th

No change in the Forum's Scorum's Overall top 5 although Wig-Billy has extended his lead over Alan Tullett to 84pts and even closed the gap on GKam84 in the overall purists to 111pts.

Not a tour to celebrate for the TourMed organisers with a cancelled stage and bike thefts.....sounds like 'Bandit Country' down there!!

After Tour of Oman Stage 2:
Forum's Scorum's Tour of Oman is led by NeilG83 whilst chrisdstripes heads the purists.

Wig_Billy leads the Forum's Scorum's overall in both the standard and purists division.

Yeah my purist team doing a lot better than my standard team so far - there are no climbers in it though, so I don't hold out much hope of staying top after Thursday. Nice to get a mention tho, thanks Ray!

How does you team stack up to mine? As im hoping to do well thursday and the rest of the race, considering Gallopin came 3rd on green mountain last year and I have Velits

My team is

Sagan
Gilbert
Gallopin
P Velits
Ellisonde
Kittel
Appollonio
Goddaert
Fortin

Hmm - We have 4 in common - Sagan, Appollonio, Fortin and Kittel. Apart from that, its not great - Bodnar, Breschel, Van Avermaet, Bouhanni and Terpstra. So it'll be a short-lived stay at the top I think.

No-one's really mentioned Velits but he did really well last year, so...

After ToO Stage 3:
Well it looks like a Battle-Royale atop Green Mountain for chrisdstripes and TERatcliffe who are separated by just a point in the Forum's Scorum's Tour of Oman purist division.
NeilG83 leads the standard teams but I reckon that one may all come down to Contador?
Interesting that FOUR of the top 8 teams are purist!!

Obviously the overall Forum's Scorum's league does not share this trend and we have to look all the way down to 18th for our leading purist.....Wig_Billy who is also Forum's Scorum's standard overall Maillot Jaune.

So how do your teams look like for Green Mountain?

Mine are

Standard:Sagan,Nibali,Contador,Pasqualon,Marcato,Elmiger,Dempster,Jeanneson,DiCorrado.

Purist:Elmiger,Boonen,Gilbert,Velits,Nibali,Jeanneson,Porte,Tschopp,Bookwalter......NO Sagan

Algarve starts tomorrow too.....how are we reading that one?
2 sprints,a tough uphill finish and then Tony Martin wins the TT and overall?

Any little 'Pork N Cheese' gems in amongst the wildcards?

My Tips for overall are Westra and Kwiatkowski but then my last tips were Rogers and Talansky for the TourMed

Peter Sagan (LIQ)
Tony Gallopin (RSN)
Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ)
Andrea Pasqualon (COG)
Martin Elmiger (IAM)
Alberto Contador (SAX)
Marko Kump (SAX)
Davide Appollonio (ALM)
Danny Van Poppel (VCD)

this lot are more puncheurs than climbers, so lets hope contandor doesn't kill them all off too soon
I thought froome might do well tomorrow, but had doubts after his showing on stage 3...is he saving himself for tomorrow....will porte & wiggo lead him up at the usual high speed?? If so, I reckon Contador will pip him at the post.

For me it's all about Nibali....he's ALWAYS in decent condition and should always be rated at about 35 credits,any less and he's a bargain any more and he's too expensive?

After ToO Stage 4:
It really is time to send Wig_Billy to doping control as he goes into the Forum's Scorum's Tour of Oman lead on countback from NeilG83 whilst TERatcliffe won the battle of the purists atop Green Mountain(or rather chrisdstripes lost it with just 7 pts scored) to lead in that division.....although there are 3 other teams still within 30 pts of him.

The Top 4 overall in the Forum's Scorum's league shows no change(Wig_Billy leading) but the big mover was chrisdstripes redeeming himself by moving up 3 places to 5th and into the elite 6 team group with 2K badges.No prizes for guessing that Wig_Billy still leads the purists with GKam hanging in there.

Will our very own Wig_go make a slip up in Algarve.....it seems to me that his original selections have been consistently strong so far?

My Algarve team is very sprinter heavy, so I expect I'll be a bit behind the people who picked Machado & Costa from the start.

I've mixed my purist team up for Algarve, Couple of TT guys, couple of climbers and hoping the rest will sprint

Mark Cavendish
Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa
Kris Boeckmans
Jonathan Castroviejo
Giacomo Nizzolo
Tony Martin
Ian Boswell
Willem Wauters
Jon Tiernan-Locke

I thought Uran would be leading Sky, but Henao seems more favoured, so Ive dropped RU. #jeneregretterien

Well after the 1st stage of Algarve and it's myself(ray silvester) and obutterwick leading in the FS standard....mighty impressive from NeilG83's purist team though to be third overall and tops in purist for the Volta of Algarve.

If nothing else it got me my high rollers badge and in homage to that I'll be sticking with my team for stage 2....although to be fair I want 4 transfers for the lumpy stage 3!!

In the Overall FS table it's obutterwick that's moved into 4th spot at the expense of chrisdstripes with the rest remaining neutralised...Wig_Billy still holds the purist top spot.

Don't worry, At the end of the Algarve, I will have the purist bag in my hands.

ToO after stage 5:NeilG83 is not giving up the ghost and is just 24 pts short of Forum's Scorum's Oman leader Wig_Billy....reminiscent of Froomey trying to chase down Purito atop green Mountain!! It's a similar looking thing in the purist division but this time NeilG83 is chasing down TERatcliffe's 17pt lead.

Algarve after stage 2:obutterwick and I remain tied in the lead for the Forum's Scorums Volta Ao Algarve so it looks as though we BOTH stuck with the same teams.....the key will be how we adapt for the hillier stage 3 and the ITT.Personally i took out my 3 sprinters(Boeckmans,Cav and Nizzolo)for 3 GC type team leaders(Kelderman,DeGendt and Henao) saving 3 transfers for the ITT tomorrow.NeilG83 leads the purists in Portugal from Dr Heaton but with 35 points between the overall top 10 both races are up for grabs.

In the Overall Forum Scorum's league it's as you were for the top 7 with Wig_Billy holding a massive 330 pt lead over Alan Tullett with NeilG83 rounding out the podium position......simon F climbed 2 spaces into the top 10.Its a lot squakier in the Purist overall but it's also Wig_Billy leading(by 43pts)GKam84.

I think barring something bizarre for the finish of Oman then no one will catch me in the purist. In fact I think Chrisdstripes is the most likely to catch me as he has pretty much the same sprinters as me but also Bouhanni, but he would need a win from Bouhanni

You're probably right TER but I put Bouhanni in to my standard team thinking he's favourite for the stage win,along with Viviani,for Jeanneson and Sagan so watch out for the chrisdstripes then.......NeilG83 would probably need an unlikely looking Selig win,Alan Tullet a Banderia miracle or FluffChucker who has a lot of GC points.
I wouldn't be counting my chickens that's for sure?

Im not counting my chickens, however Im hoping for a Kittel win, and at least expecting both him and Appollonio to top 5 and tie it up for me

Looks up in the air now Kittel's abandoned and Boxer Bouhanni's taken the win Ter?

I Think I should still win due to Ellisonde, but not certain, its gonna be very tight

Tour of Oman: Another great outing for Wig_Billy saw him clinch the Forum's Scorum's Tour of Oman and despite much wailing anf gnashing of teeth TERatcliffe held on to the purist crown(updated on the first post)

Volta Ao Algarve: Teratcliffe blasted into the Forum's scorum's lead jumping ten places to lead the Forum's Scorum's in Portugal....taking Westra for the hilly bits(which I thought was a turn early) saw to that and a 209pt stage score will see a badge for him.The Portuguese sun obviously suits the 'Rat' as he leads the purists also.

Unsurprisingly Teratcliffe made the move into the overall FS top 10 at the expense of simon F and best purist(perhaps we should have a pearl necklace....I mean Jersey).

Pretty happy with my ITT team for tomorrow though:
Martin
Castroviejo
Westra
Kwiatkowski
Kelserman
Machado
RuiCosta
DeMaar(what a bust)
Paulinho

Whats this game we are playing Wig, Ive taken the last 2 purists and you the last 2 standards, I thought I might win both this time but you came up and took the purist and I got the standard

Maybe we should let some others win

Nah.

Get a room (Seriously well done both)

Can the rest of us join your game please. Perhaps as the two of you are so good at this you could provide a daily tip to encourage the rest of us... no red herrings please

Sergeant was the one I missed in the ITT....and it cost me a stage podium badge too!!

I put DeGendt in on stage 3 and replaced him with Westra for the ITT on stage 4....if I'd just put Westra straight in on stage 3 I'd have had the extra transfer on stage 4 for Jessie and the additional aggregate of Lieuwe over Thomas plus Jessie may have got me better than 3rd in the Forum's Scorum's Volta Ao Algarve.

As it is TERatcliffe beat DrHeaton to the Volta title with Wig_Billy claiming the purist section(from TERatcliffe)......with Wiggo starting to dominate leading BOTH divisions in the Overall Forum's Scorum's league and the only one with more than 3K+

The 'Early Classics' looks like it may be a strange format with no spoon-fed rider lists,differing free transfers between races AND transfers between the Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne and Le Samyn races allowed for Purists.

The latest organisational changes are listed in the 'New Races' thread so.....no excuses!!

A Quick recap of the Forum' Scorum's Overall Top 10

1 Veelers Wheel Wig_Billy 3283
2 purefantasy Alan Tullett 2875
3 Queens Park Riders ray silvester 2873
4 Team Sky Blue NeilG83 2848
5 Rule #5 livestrongnick 2734
6 skidders skeletons stevemarks 2709
7 OJB Racing obutterwick 2687
8 Les Miserables 2013 JAndrewHill 2650
8= Ratcliffe26 TERatcliffe26 2650
10 The Pigeons chrisdstripes 2638

Considering i've not had a score over 180, no top 10's in any races i'm pretty chuffed to be 5th overall in this league

Alan Tullett got the best start in the Forum Scorums Early Classics with a new face in the form of crazy cats leading the purists.

In the Forum's Scorum's Overall the top 6 remain the same with TERatcliffe26 gaining most ground in the top 10 by climbing to 7th.Wig Billy still holds his commanding purist lead.

I think a 4 transfer transition into a predominately sprint friendly stage may see a few moves tomorrow.....All in on Cav+Greipel or spread the load amongst the likes of Hutarovich,Van Hummel,Blythe,DeMare and dare I say Farrar?

Leigh Howard and Chris Sutton would be my bargain picks.

Damn shame it was cancelled as i had Cav, Blythe and Howard in my standard and Cav,Greipel, Howard purist:''(

Quite a few people on the forum said they were stacking their teams for Omloop with a chance of KBK being cancelled so if anyone got an advantage from that then Chapeau!!

I did fine for my normal team, but my purist was aimed as much at KBK as Omloop, so lost out there, as it would have been the same as my Omloop team, so lost on Paolini's points from that point of view

Not sure how to play the next too, im thinking Demare plus 2/3 cheap guys and 5 for Bianche in my purist team.
For standard look if any are riding both which i doubt, maybe Geraint. But only have six riding just Saymn for my 6 transfers

Is that you TER on twitter @tommytwodarts?

Yes that is me