Let's kick it all off! Only little more than two weeks away. Will focus on two leagues this time around: SBS and Velogames. Will use this thread to gauge interest. If there's enough, I'll start doing blog posts as well! As A_O pointed out in the Giro thread, SBS have their game up and running now. Started a league there: Join here: SBS Fantasy Tour League Name: TooSerious League password: supercoach Start filling in! Basic premise of this looks the same as last year, you score points for riders or team based on where they finish for that stage, and you get eight trades to make every week of the Tour. It's definitely a game of a thousand strokes, using your bonus stage correctly is pivotal and last year was close. If I remember correctly the winner of our league won it on the last stage using his BS. So get researching! Velogames, haven't started yet but they will have a competition running. It's really simple and those who've played it before enjoy it, you pick 9 riders in a set-n-forget team to score you points across the whole race. The link can be found here: http://velogames.com/. Will update this thread when they open it.. Now, for those that don't know a lot about cycling except that LA is a giant fraud, there's plenty of others here like myself, Chels, Jodie etc who have plenty of knowledge and will help with any questions you have. It's also a good time to talk strategy for the SBS game and anything related. To kick start, to help you all on your way, some websites which should help: Official Website CyclingFever (up to date startlist) CyclingQuotient (ultimate resources for all races and results) Steephill (loads of info, including stage profiles) CyclingNews VeloNews VeloNation
I'm in, defending my surprise win from last year. And yes, won it out of nowhere on the last stage as my bonus stage. Big difference this year is the 3x8 transfers instead of 3x7+3, the 3 being just before the final 2 stages which allowed me to supercharge my team with sprinters for the final stage. May have to pull a different rabbit out of the hat this year.
I am in port with new, very smart HD TV at the ready to see right into the peloton. Many thanks for organising.
[span style='color: #3b3b3b; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: -0.03em; line-height: 54px; background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 13px;]'Page Not Found' again ... that doesn't instill much confidence in them running a proper game with timely updates (a bit like 3 years ago).
http://www.velogames.com/tour-de-france/2013/entryform.php is open. Have you set up a league for it yet??
I had a go at this last year and failed epicly, would be keen to try again if you don't mind an L plater in the league..
The SBS website appears to have some issues, at least for me, but the direct link still works:http://cysb.silentmanager.org/default.aspx?page=rules
If you're allowing L-platers in, I might throw my hat in the ring too. I think I played the Velogames one last year but not the SBS one. My cycling knowledge is limited though so feel free to throw out any tips or suggestions!
Hey guys, yeah sorry, Velogames has started: League Name: TooSerious League Code: 22040444 I'll update the OP too. SBS seems to have gotten their shit back together too, which is good. I've accepted two more teams into that league now, which brings us to 8. I'm not sure the demand is there this year, so may just have to use this thread. I can always quickly write something up if need be.
JC, everyone is welcome mate! Fire away if you have any questions Lenh, you pick up points for how well your riders do on each stage, so the first week is actually quite full of sprint stages, so you'd want more sprinters than anything else. A quick run down of the first week: Stage 1 - Easy sprint stage Stage 2 - Sprint Stage with a mountain, should be a big bunch but perfect for Sagan-style riders Stage 3 - Stage for the Puncheurs/Sprinters Stage 4 - Team Time Trial (doesn't score) Stage 5 - A bumpy sprint stage Stage 6 - Easy sprint stage Stage 7 - Sprint stage So the only profiles out of those where things might go different (ignoring breakaways staying away) are stage 2 and 3. So you might risk it with some of the puncheurs in your side (like Gilbert) but otherwise the majority of points will be from sprint finishes.
Thanks p_l Have made some changes, new look has more sprint in it... Froome, Evans, Sagan, Cavendish, Bouhanni, Kittel, T Martin, Gerrans & Impey
A couple of quick questions re: the SBS comp. 1. Does anyone know whether the rider list will continue to update between now and race start? I just noticed a rider or 2 who have been announced as being in the race who aren't in the list. 2. Can you change your team as part of your trades? eg from a sprinters team for the first few stages to a GC contender's team after that?
JC wrote: A couple of quick questions re: the SBS comp. 1. Does anyone know whether the rider list will continue to update between now and race start? I just noticed a rider or 2 who have been announced as being in the race who aren't in the list. 2. Can you change your team as part of your trades? eg from a sprinters team for the first few stages to a GC contender's team after that? 1. It should be up to date! You'd certainly hope that they do. There were some riders there that aren't riding so I'd presume they'd trim and update accordingly. Hopefully no one major is left out! 2. You team is made up of any rider you select, there's no limit outside of budget, who you have in your team. So obviously on the flatter stages, the sprinters are the more logical selections, and when the road goes up, the climbers are better choices.
Yes Len, that's what my poorly worded question was trying to ask! lol. As for the rider list, I'm not sure that it's anyone 'major' as such. I was researching sprinters and which ones look like riding in the Tour and I noticed that Bennati will be riding for Saxo but I didn't find him in the list of riders. I saw him as more of a 'fill the lower places' guy rather than a stage winner anyway (might be wrong though), but he was one that I noticed.
Lenh191 wrote: Thanks p_l Have made some changes, new look has more sprint in it... Froome, Evans, Sagan, Cavendish, Bouhanni, Kittel, T Martin, Gerrans & Impey Len, I suggest you can be a bit more aggressive with the number of sprinters you have. From memory the second phase of the game has some sprints in it and you might want to keep (at least Cav and Sagan) for that so you may not be best utilising your transfers. You need a double point stage and either an ITT or a flat sprint stage is probably the go for that as they are the most predictable stages. Last year's winner in our comp (AO) saved the double stage until last and was able to set up a full sprinter team for that. I suggest however that it is easier to set up a full sprinter team at the start get a good base down and then start trading when the terrain changes. Thoughts from AO, Jodie and Port as to the correct strategy?
Oh yeah, pretty sure the Team can be traded out just like any rider. I'd double-check the rules though.
chels wrote: Lenh191 wrote: Thanks p_l Have made some changes, new look has more sprint in it... Froome, Evans, Sagan, Cavendish, Bouhanni, Kittel, T Martin, Gerrans & Impey Len, I suggest you can be a bit more aggressive with the number of sprinters you have. From memory the second phase of the game has some sprints in it and you might want to keep (at least Cav and Sagan) for that so you may not be best utilising your transfers. You need a double point stage and either an ITT or a flat sprint stage is probably the go for that as they are the most predictable stages. Last year's winner in our comp (AO) saved the double stage until last and was able to set up a full sprinter team for that. I suggest however that it is easier to set up a full sprinter team at the start get a good base down and then start trading when the terrain changes. Thoughts from AO, Jodie and Port as to the correct strategy? I think a lot of us did something similar Chels last year. I know I put my bonus stage on the time trial but that was on stage 7, its a lot further away this time. I'd say one of the early sprint stages is a good, conservative pick. Stage 1 will be popular so if you want a point of difference, have a look at the other stage profiles and select a different one where you think it will be a mass sprint. As for Bennati, he is a pretty big name - you'd expect them to include him!
chels wrote: Lenh191 wrote: Thanks p_l Have made some changes, new look has more sprint in it... Froome, Evans, Sagan, Cavendish, Bouhanni, Kittel, T Martin, Gerrans & Impey Len, I suggest you can be a bit more aggressive with the number of sprinters you have. From memory the second phase of the game has some sprints in it and you might want to keep (at least Cav and Sagan) for that so you may not be best utilising your transfers. You need a double point stage and either an ITT or a flat sprint stage is probably the go for that as they are the most predictable stages. Last year's winner in our comp (AO) saved the double stage until last and was able to set up a full sprinter team for that. I suggest however that it is easier to set up a full sprinter team at the start get a good base down and then start trading when the terrain changes. Thoughts from AO, Jodie and Port as to the correct strategy? ta mate.. So Froome, Evans, Sagan, Cavendish, Bouhanni, Kittel, [span style='text-decoration: line-through;]T Martin, Degenkolb, Gerrans & Impey? or do you mean actually not have potential overall winners (Froome/Evans) in, and trade to them later?