2013 Vuelta a España CQ game

[Jancouver]

My three most expensive picks finished high today so I'm happy. Just hoping Leo Konig can hang on for TOP 10 and Uran and Nibali to go 1-2 on the GC

 

[karlboss]

I don't know about others, but i generally shoot for a rider scoring half his value, with that in mind the collective wisdom team is already looking screwed. Even so early Sanchez, Betancur, Brajkovic, all look like they won't get there.
Did anyone pick or consider Moreno? I'm expecting a top 10 finish and some high placings even win a stage and he wasn't quite worth it.

 

[Tuarts]

Awesome, nailed the TTT and the first red jersey with a 5-minute thought out team.

Only downhill from here! :lol:

 

[murali]

Can we have some bonus points for spotting the riders in the break? I had a rider in yesterday's main break, and also today's break. But those guys wont give me any cq points whatsoever. Kind of wondering when will these riders let the break win.

 

[murali]

uran coming 4th. horner winning.

beating myself for leaving out uran from my team.

 

[murali]

j-rod is slowly climbing back in GC.

now he has crashed inside top-20, currently at 18th. a couple more stages like the last 2, and he will be in top-5.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Can we have some bonus points for spotting the riders in the break?

No! Points here are CQ only: results are what count. Some of the more complex games (Scorito etc) do give breakaway points/points for team mates of stage winners etc. They are probably not run by one man and an Excel page.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Stage 3

Chris Horner was a fairly popular pick: could have been included into the CW team with eight selections.

Well done to Hilltop Finisher, Mkind 07, The Hitch, Keith James Mc, Batchuba, Just Some Guy and Mutschi, but especially to Comodoro, who combined Horner with Uran and Basso for 104 points on the day. Hilltop and Comodoro move onto the virtual podium.

Guaranteed points
1 Search 162
2 Hilltop Finisher 123
3 Comodoro 121
4 Mkind07 119
5 The Hitch 112
6 Keith James Mc 109
7 Batchuba 104
8 Mutschi 103
9 Just Some Guy 102
10 Tuarts 96
11 MC Mountain 90
12 Minessa 87
13 Geraint Too Fast 81
14 DB Coop 74
15 Jancouver 72
16 18-Valve 64
17 Karbonkel 63
18 Cyivel 55
19 Zlev 11 54
20 Al Pacino 53
21 Armchair Cyclist 51
22 Gotland 40
23 Afrank 39
23 Karlboss 39
25 Lightbing 38
26 Leadbelly 35
26 Vladimir 35
28 Maaaaaaaarten 30
29 Murali 26
30 Yellow Knight 23
31 Jakob747 20
32 Oliveira 19
33 Kazistuta 17
34 Vitapen 9
35 Jpettersen 8
36 Evans is the Best 7
36 Pentacycle 7
38 CQ Manager 4
38 Mellow Velo 4
38 The Asian 4
41 Blues in the Bottle 3

Collective Wisdom team 39

 

[murali]

No! Points here are CQ only: results are what count. Some of the more complex games (Scorito etc) do give breakaway points/points for team mates of stage winners etc. They are probably not run by one man and an Excel page.

I am only complaining because i am still stuck at 26. To think that i chucked Uran and took henao, and Meersman instead of roche--i am toally devastated by my absurd choices.

Did i make some monumental mistake in the choices?
(this is my first time with a game like this.)

the team i sent at last was:
191 HENAO MONTOYA Sergio Luis SKY 1371
33 FUGLSANG Jakob AST 755
164 MEERSMAN Gianni OPQ 701
163 FENN Andrew OPQ 243
21 ARNDT Nikias ARG 171
132 ANACONA GOMEZ Winner Andrew LAM 103
64 FERRARI BARCELO Fabricio CJR 64
106 PINEAU Cédric FDJ 64
62 ARAMENDIA LLORENTE Francisco Javier CJR 28

my first attempt was
KREUZIGER Roman TST 1023
MEERSMAN Gianni OPQ 669
BOS Theo BLA 467
ROCHE Nicolas TST 442
CLARKE Simon OGE 368
DE GENDT Thomas VCD 246
MARTINEZ DE ESTEBAN Egoi EUS 110
ANACONA GOMEZ Winner Andrew LAM 103
ARAMENDIA LLORENTE Francisco Javier CJR 28

 

[Cyivel]

I wouldn't worry about it mate.

 

[Netserk]

I would call Fuglsang a monumental mistake. In more ways than one.

 

[Jakob747]

I am only complaining because i am still stuck at 26. To think that i chucked Uran and took henao, and Meersman instead of roche--i am toally devastated by my absurd choices.

Did i make some monumental mistake in the choices?
(this is my first time with a game like this.)

the team i sent at last was:
191 HENAO MONTOYA Sergio Luis SKY 1371
33 FUGLSANG Jakob AST 755
164 MEERSMAN Gianni OPQ 701
163 FENN Andrew OPQ 243
21 ARNDT Nikias ARG 171
132 ANACONA GOMEZ Winner Andrew LAM 103
64 FERRARI BARCELO Fabricio CJR 64
106 PINEAU Cédric FDJ 64
62 ARAMENDIA LLORENTE Francisco Javier CJR 28

my first attempt was
KREUZIGER Roman TST 1023
MEERSMAN Gianni OPQ 669
BOS Theo BLA 467
ROCHE Nicolas TST 442
CLARKE Simon OGE 368
DE GENDT Thomas VCD 246
MARTINEZ DE ESTEBAN Egoi EUS 110
ANACONA GOMEZ Winner Andrew LAM 103
ARAMENDIA LLORENTE Francisco Javier CJR 28

I don’t think you messed up!

Obviously, Henao has not lived up to expectation so far. In normal circumstances, he is one of the punchiest climbers in the world. I am still optimistic - There are bundles of stages suited to his exact characteristics.

Fuglsang had a demanding build-up + very draining Tour. Mentally I think he is spent. Anyway, Astana = all for Nibali. At that prince-range you could have gotten a better alternative in my opinion.

Meersman got that killer-instinct. He might come through on a stage or two. However, his price-tag was rather heavy. I never considered him.

With 12 uphill finishes of various degree I was not very interested in fast-men in general. Therefore, not keen on Andrew Fenn either.

However, Arndt might be interesting. Got speed and arrived in Spain with moral high after his victory in Norway.

Anacona was always going to be risky. Hardly any race-days after his injury.

F.Ferrari, C. Pineau and Aramendia well!!! TV-time.

Roche of course already delivered. He always races well at the Vuelta. + His finishing punch is an asset on several of those hill-top finishes. Good pick in this game.

 

[murali]

does that mean
uran+roche(749+442=1191) in place of fugslang-meersman(1456)
Use extra 267, add it to fenn and anacona and replace with climbers?

How do you accommodate for that win by someone in break?

 

[Jakob747]

does that mean
uran+roche(749+442=1191) in place of fugslang-meersman(1456)
Use extra 267, add it to fenn and anacona and replace with climbers?

How do you accommodate for that win by someone in break?

Your original team consisted of Uran? Or Kreuziger?

The Vuelta as always, is full of fast approach - explosive uphill finishes. Therefore, climbers with punch are excellent choices. Not only for stage-wins, but also overall GC. Provide they are regular and can stay in contention for three weeks.

Purito would be ideal. However, his prince was almost the entire budget. Henao fit the bill - as a logical alternative. He is explosive, possesses great instinct and normally as reliable as Swiss clockwork...

The thing is that all the best explosive climbers where expensive this year. So you would have to think out of the box.

An example. Nicolas Edet. He's already out of contention for GC. He also crashed yesterday I think. Anyway, he could have been a small revelation. He is a punchy climber who on top of that is having his best season to date. Plenty of stages (theoretically suited him) +Cofidis arrived with a flat hierarchy.

So yeah! I would have spent the spare cash on types like Edet - for example. Plus rather unique risky picks only makes the game more exciting.

 

[murali]

initially i was trying kreuziger when i heard that he was going to be one of the leaders of saxo.

Having said that, i was asking about cutting down to uran at 949, because i thought the requirement of adding a bunch of climbers means that we need to cut cost in the higher points.

I wanted to choose purito or valverde, but with both costing 2000+ it seemed too expensive.


so, does that mean that choosing sprinters for vuelta is a big NO?

 

[search]

so, does that mean that choosing sprinters for vuelta is a big NO?

no, I don't think so, there are 5 or 6 opportunities for the sprinters, and most of those in here were cheap

its all about value, not what type of rider. based on the grand tour cq games so far you need like ~50% return to win - and there are several sprinters that can deliver that return.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Stage 4

Nobody paid the high cost for having Moreno or Valverde, so the popular (12 picks) Matthews is the best return relevant to the game. Assuming that the 6 second time gap that gives Nibali the red jersey sticks (part of the reason for my late posting tonight), the top scorers today are the Venn diagram overlap between Nibalists and Matthewsians, viz Cyivel, Afrank, Karlboss and Leadbelly. Honourable mention to Pentacycle, who combined Matthews and Meersman, but lost out to those pesky red jersey points.

Those who have combined Horner and Meersman (The Hitch, Batchuba and Just Some Guy)move into position to be Search's early opposition.

Guaranteed points

1 Search 165
2 The Hitch 140
3 Batchuba 129
4 Just Some Guy 128
5 Hilltop Finisher 123
6 Comodoro 121
7 Mkind07 119
8 Tuarts 114
9 Keith James Mc 109
10 MC Mountain 107
11 Minessa 105
12 Mutschi 103
13 Geraint Too Fast 99
14 Cyivel 98
15 Jancouver 90
16 18-Valve 82
16 Afrank 82
16 Karlboss 82
19 Leadbelly 78
20 DB Coop 74
21 Al Pacino 71
22 Karbonkel 64
23 Zlev 11 54
24 Vladimir 53
25 Armchair Cyclist 52
26 Yellow Knight 48
27 Pentacycle 47
28 Oliveira 44
29 Kazistuta 43
30 Murali 42
31 Gotland 40
32 Lightbing 39
33 Maaaaaaaarten 30
34 Blues in the Bottle 29
35 Jakob747 24
36 CQ Manager 10
36 Vitapen 10
38 Evans is the Best 8
38 Jpettersen 8
40 The Asian 5
41 Mellow Velo 4

Collective Wisdom team 64

 

[murali]

henaoists take the first sigh of relief today.

Heano finished 9th contributing 2 points to the kitty........ at last!

moreno at 949 was costly, but like the nibalists, he turns out to be a better bet than henao.

 

[search]

moreno at 949 was costly, but like the nibalists, he turns out to be a better bet than henao.

Moreno had a good start, but that's not what its about for a rider of his price. He'd need to make ~500 points to be a really good pick. Nibali or Purito can never become one, from my point of view.

 

[Netserk]

Moreno had a good start, but that's not what its about for a rider of his price. He'd need to make ~500 points to be a really good pick. Nibali or Purito can never become one, from my point of view.

Nibali scored more than 1,000 points in the Giro, and I think it's possible for him to score at least 800, which should make him a good pick.

 

[murali]

purito, while earning a lot of leader's jersey points, made @1000 pts in last years vuelta.
does that mean that any rider who might go for a clean sweep a bad choice if his cost is greater than 2000?


Another doubt.
Do we have to look at how many points a rider earned in the previous vuelta?

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Stage 5
The main scoring riders relevant to the game are the same as yesterday: Matthews (12 teams), Meersman (3 teams) and Nibali (leader points, 11 teams); in a reverse of yesterday, the Matthews-Meersman combination beats the Matthews-Nibali pairing, so Pentacycle gets the daily win ahead of yesterday's glory sharers.

Horner and Matthews is the key combination to occupying the podium places at this stage: Search has neither of them, so loses his early position at the top, while The Hitch, Batchuba and Just Some Guy have both, and become the top three.

Guaranteed Points
1 The Hitch 220
2 Batchuba 212
3 Just Some Guy 198
4 Cyivel 186
5 Karlboss 173
6 Afrank 170
7 Search 168
8 Leadbelly 166
9 Pentacycle 157
10 Minessa 138
11 Mkind07 134
12 MC Mountain 132
12 Tuarts 132
14 Kazistuta 124
15 Hilltop Finisher 123
16 Comodoro 121
17 Geraint Too Fast 119
18 Yellow Knight 118
19 Oliveira 115
20 Blues in the Bottle 109
20 Keith James Mc 109
22 Jancouver 108
23 18-Valve 103
23 Mutschi 103
25 Al Pacino 89
25 Karbonkel 89
27 Murali 82
28 Vladimir 81
29 DB Coop 74
30 Zlev 11 54
31 Armchair Cyclist 52
32 Gotland 40
33 Lightbing 39
34 Maaaaaaaarten 30
35 Jakob747 24
36 CQ Manager 10
36 Vitapen 10
38 Evans is the Best 8
38 Jpettersen 8
40 Mellow Velo 6
41 The Asian 5

Collective Wisdom team 134

 

[karlboss]

purito, while earning a lot of leader's jersey points, made @1000 pts in last years vuelta.
does that mean that any rider who might go for a clean sweep a bad choice if his cost is greater than 2000?


Another doubt.
Do we have to look at how many points a rider earned in the previous vuelta?

I think it's worthwhile looking at the previous years, and see how many points riders got, remember how they got them, and what they'd have to do now to get them. Especially valuable when comparing stage hunters to sprinters, to outside top 10 hopefuls.

 

[murali]

the top-9 points earners, till stage 5, are

sl no cq points name earnings
1 949 MORENO FERNANDEZ**Daniel 110
2 280 HORNER**Christopher 98
3 265 MATTHEWS**Michael 95
4 442 ROCHE**Nicolas 74
5 2015 NIBALI**Vincenzo 71
6 2438 VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro 52
7 1072 CANCELLARA**Fabian 50
8 701 MEERSMAN**Gianni 46
9 259 RICHEZE**Maximiliano Ariel 40
8421 636
total cqpoints will be 8421. but they will earn 636 points.


the best team, according to me, and maintaining the 3500 limit is:

sl no cq points name earnings
1 949 MORENO F**Daniel 110
2 280 HORNER**Chris 98
3 265 MATTHEWS**Michael 95
4 442 ROCHE**Nicolas 74
5 178 BRAJKOVIC**Janez 35
6 227 KONIG**Leopold 16
7 344 GRIVKO**Andriy 17
8 569 KANGERT**Tanel 17
9 127 TIRALONGO**Paolo 17
3381 cq points, but earning 479 points in the 5 stages.

with nibali, and 3500 limit
ZANDIO ECHAIDE**Xabier 3
HORNER**Christopher 98
MATTHEWS**Michael 95
ROCHE**Nicolas 74
NIBALI**Vincenzo 71
IRIZAR ARANBURU**Markel 10
BRAJKOVIC**Janez 35
TIRALONGO**Paolo 17
HENDERSON**Greg 3
earning 406 cq points.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Stage 6
With neither sprinters nor GC contenders scoring large today, most of the stage points went to those riders that went unselected.

Nibali gets 18 for 11 teams
Farrar gets 15 points for 6 teams
Matthews gets 7 points for 12 teams
Meers man gets 3 points for 3 teams
Gilbert gets 2 points for 1 team
Brown gets 1 point for 2 teams

The 4 teams that shared the victory on Tuesday and second place yesterday are again joint second on the day, this time beaten by Vladimir's combination of Nibali, Farrar and Brown.


Guaranteed points
1 The Hitch 242
2 Batchuba 234
3 Cyivel 211
4 Just Some Guy 205
5 Karlboss 198
6 Afrank 195
7 Leadbelly 191
8 Search 168
9 Pentacycle 167
10 Minessa 156
11 Tuarts 150
12 Kazistuta 146
13 Geraint Too Fast 137
14 MC Mountain 135
15 Mkind07 134
16 Blues in the Bottle 131
17 Jancouver 126
18 Hilltop Finisher 125
18 Yellow Knight 125
20 18-Valve 122
20 Oliveira 122
22 Comodoro 121
23 Vladimir 115
24 Keith James Mc 109
25 Al Pacino 107
26 Karbonkel 104
27 Mutschi 103
28 Murali 85
29 DB Coop 74
30 Zlev 11 54
31 Armchair Cyclist 52
32 Gotland 40
33 Lightbing 39
34 Maaaaaaaarten 30
35 Jakob747 24
36 CQ Manager 10
36 Vitapen 10
38 Evans is the Best 8
38 Jpettersen 8
40 Mellow Velo 6
41 The Asian 5

Collective Wisdom team 141