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Tour down under

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  • January 7, 2019 at 11:04 pm #29263
    Dr Winston

    Here we go again….and just why is Mr Porte so heavily fancied again?…He was stealing a living last season. 

    He’s definitely the first issue to think about this season for the purist team…isn’t he?

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  • January 10, 2019 at 2:58 pm #933915
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    Dr Winston

    Not just a case of finishing

    Not just a case of finishing 1-2-3 either Andy. With time bonuses at all intermediate sprints it would only take two of them to be hell bent on taking the pts jersey (and leaders Jersey for a while) to battle it out and the points will soon rack up. Having said that the likes of Impey and Ulissi may also target those bonus seconds. Sagan and Viviani have enjoyed those sorts of steals in the past whilst Ewan of course could carry all of GC, pts and Youth jerseys for a while. Having said that stages three, four and six may not quite turn out as we’d like with all three at the end if we go that way….although stage three has two intermediate sprints straight out of the traps..

    Having said all that though it may just well be that a few teams would happily see UniSA ride off into the sunset and mop up plenty of bonus seconds….Porte for one would gladly see the bonus seconds evaporate I suspect.

    January 10, 2019 at 1:59 pm #933913
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    Condor Andy

    I keep having to remind

    I keep having to remind myself (even after all this time playing) that it’s mostly a stage game, even in the purist. There will be (probably) 4 sprints and only 2 GC days, and one of those is a maybe. My big question is, do I take all three expensive boys in the hope they’ll finish 1-2-3 every sprint stage?

    January 10, 2019 at 1:39 pm #933911
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    Dr Winston

    Good ploy Andy…and a fair

    Good ploy Andy…and a fair assessment. Two quite cheap good outside bets in the game imo for GC.

     

    That stage could easily see somebody like Valgren or Sanchez throw a giant spanner in the works for the GC boys and our plans for our teams. Like you say the gaps on Willunga Hill are quite small whereas a well ridden stage 4 could be more profitable time wise. Given the fact that the likes of Woods and Porte will be favourites for stage 6 then anybody else will surely target that stage 4.

    January 10, 2019 at 1:32 pm #933909
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    Condor Andy

    Errrr yeah, stage 4, that one

    Errrr yeah, stage 4, that one. Here’s hoping for late attacks on that one.

    The thing is, Impey won last year because of bonus seconds on stages 2 and 4, and then only losing 8 seconds to Porte on Willunga Hill. The GC gaps are never really that huge and Willunga Hill isn’t hard enough really. I’m going sprint heavy in the purist with a couple of outside bets.

    January 10, 2019 at 1:12 pm #933907
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    Dr Winston

    Did you mean stage 4 Andy?…

    Did you mean stage 4 Andy?….That looks like the deciding stage for the game depending upon how it is ridden in real life. It could be that a few GC contenders just look at each other for too long, or a full on battle…or a breakaway from the top of the corkscrew….or maybe they make a pigs ear of it and it ends up a reduced sprint. 

    It’s a really well placed stage. If we assume that the pretenders know that beating Porte on Willunga Hill may be difficult it could be their best chance to put some time into him.

    January 9, 2019 at 9:56 am #933905
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    Condor Andy

    Yeah it’s a good line-up for

    Yeah it’s a good line-up for TDU. Poels, Latour etc. He was a passenger at the Vuelta because he was still recovering from his Tour crash. I guess we’ll see if he’s fully recovered from it.

    I agree though, I don’t think he’ll have an amazing year, but he should still do well here. The thing I’m thinking of with team selection is, there’s only really stage 6 that’s GC, maaaaybe stage 5 as well depending on how the final climb is raced. I’m going sprint heavy with the purist team.

    January 8, 2019 at 6:47 pm #933903
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    Dr Winston

    @Andy. I didn’t mean that

    @Andy. I didn’t mean that unkindly…he genuinely looked like he was struggling to finish stages at times let alone whole races by the end. He was nothing but a passenger at the Vuelta and beyond and even before his two good races he struggled. 

    I know this is his race historically but i’m Surprised he’s such a big a favourite as he’s looking at the moment with some stiff competition in this tour and how his season ended…

     

     

     

    January 8, 2019 at 1:40 pm #933901
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    dave atkinson

    Porte has been on the podium

    Porte has been on the podium every year since 2015, and has won the queen stage every year since 2014. so perhaps not *that* surprising he’s a favourite…

    January 8, 2019 at 1:14 pm #933899
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    Gkam84

    I’m going to try and make

    I’m going to try and make more of an effort this season to actually play the game, rather than just chucking in a team and not making transfers. I basically played both teams as purist last season and the season before since I left the admin side of the game and let others take it on, I sort of lost interest because I wasn’t having to log in daily and update anything.

    January 8, 2019 at 11:27 am #933897
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    Condor Andy

    His ‘stealing a living’ year

    His ‘stealing a living’ year included winning the Tour de Suisse and 3rd at the Tour de Romandie. 2nd at the TDU too, it was only his TdF that was bollocks. He turns 34 at the end of this month if that sways your opinion at all.

    January 8, 2019 at 10:51 am #933895
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    RoryC4

    I suppose he always seems to

    I suppose he always seems to perform in the TDU and will want to make a big impression for his new team. All depends on his pricing for me

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