fantasy doping draft

[the delgados]

Re:

My team so far:

Leader: Jan Ullrich
Alien climbing doms: Santi Perez and Chris Horner
Flat engines: Aitor Gonzalez and Levi Leipheimer
Stage hunter: Damiano Cunego
Alpha male: Super Mario

aside from cipo being lost and unloved my team seems strong in all kinds of terrain and maybe I can even afford to get cipo a lead out man later on..

Cippo's gonna need more than one lead out, sceptic. With the team you have assembled, Cippo is going to be crying in his lion suit all the way to the line.

 

[zlev11]

Re:

My team so far:

Leader: Jan Ullrich
Alien climbing doms: Santi Perez and Chris Horner
Flat engines: Aitor Gonzalez and Levi Leipheimer
Stage hunter: Damiano Cunego
Alpha male: Super Mario

here's mine:

Leader- Marco Pantani
2nd Leader- Floyd Landis
Climbing Domestiques/Stage Hunters- Riccardo Ricco, Iban Mayo, Laurent Dufaux
Flatland Domestiques- Stefan Schumacher, Isidro Nozal

 

[Miburo]

In 500 years they'll able to bring them back and let them fight it out

I hope they bring me back to spectate it

 

[The Hitch]

Ok so I am going to get a chance to screw Libertine over now as revenge for taking Inudrain, because I know for sure he really wants this rider and it would definately be his next pick.

Well too bad LS my friend

The 89th pick is.

09 TDF version obviously. 6 stages, pretty much every sprint, would have been green if not for silly relegation. Champs sprint was ridiculous domination of the field. Won MSR that year too. All round dodgy year.

Ill take him to compete in any bunch sprints that form. But also due to his ttt abilities. And as bottle carrier - flat rider for the main stages.

 

[Tonton]

Exclusively on CyclingNews, team "La Vie Pas Claire" is presenting the team jersey:

Note: coincidentally, the main sponsor happens to be the brand of my laptop .
Fantasy GT Roster:
Leader - Evgeni Berzin ('94 Giro)
Bodyguard - Alejandro Valverde ('09 Vuelta)
TTT and Mountain Train - Chris Froome ('13 Tour), Abraham Olano ('98 Vuelta), Santiago Botero ('02 Tour)
Mountain Bodyguard - Leonardo Piepoli ('07 Giro)
Vino Option - Alexander Vinokourov ('03 Tour)

 

[observer]

I think additions to this thread should be:
- Jersey presentation, done as additional round of the draft
- Stage draft. put together some parameters such as 2TT 1TTT 5high moutain stages 5 sprint stages etc etc.

 

[D-Queued]

Re:

I think additions to this thread should be:
- Jersey presentation, done as additional round of the draft
- Stage draft. put together some parameters such as 2TT 1TTT 5high moutain stages 5 sprint stages etc etc.

Are special jerseys called for?

e.g.
Points jersey, in flesh coloration complete with IV tracks, awarded for highest HCT?
Most combative for best roid rage?
etc.

This is so much fun, I'd be willing to donate. Cash that is. No blood bags.

Dave.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

GODDAMNIT ONE OF THE PICKS I WAS HOPING WOULD FALL TO #70 IS GONE!!!

(Isidro Nozal)

Right, I now have two picks back to back, and as Gran Isidro was going to be one of them (he basically did the same job as Mauri but not as well and as he was happy to be a domestique for Heras the year after coming 2nd in the race he'd happily dom for Miguelón) I will have to think about one.

But the other one I am happy to go ahead with.

You see, once more the thinking is that Equipo Libertine Seguros-Banesto presented by ONCE needs some people who are willing to not ride for their own interests, as Mig needs his workers. Going this late in the draft, you need people who don't have too much aspiration of leadership and are prepared to quietly get on with their job.

And it is for this reason that I take maybe the quietest of them all, the man for whom leadership was a terrible burden. A true cycling myth and legend, an enigma like no other. A man who has flown under the radar in the doping draft just as his career modus operandi dictated he must. The one, the only, Haimar Zubeldia Agirre from the 2003 Tour.

There may be stronger riders left on the table, but few are as strong, and yet so willing to be a worker ant, as the great mythical Zubeldia. The unseen, unknown, man with no face was at his strongest in 2003, when he would have podiumed the Tour if not for the weakness of his Euskaltel team's TTing squad. Through the whole race, he was climbing with the best; never far from the #2 and #3 overall picks of the draft (with them to Alpe d'Huez and Gap, beating Armstrong by a handful of seconds on Bonascre, with them to Loudenvielle and beaten only by Lance to Luz Ardiden). He was, at this point in his career, a strong time triallist; he may have fallen away in the final week TT, but he was in the top 5 of both the prologue and the first long TT to Cap d'Ouverte. In the wake of the failures of the mercurial Mayo, Zubeldia wound up assuming a leadership role he neither enjoyed nor wanted, and was subsequently happy to relinquish, which is a shame as 2003 showed that he had the talent. But, like with Mauri, it is that unassuming nature that means he will be a willing and helpful worker for Indurain. He's a good enough ITT rider - especially the prologue performance showing good acceleration and burst which will be essential in a TTT environment - to help with the TTT effort along with Indurain, Jalabert, Beloki and Mauri (I'm not expecting Escartín or Jiménez to assist too greatly in this scenario), and he will be able to rock the slopes in a train of pain before peeling off to let Joseba, Chava and The Crab to do their work. And if all else fails, or Mig crashes out or has a 1996 rerun... at least Zubeldia can guarantee an unseen, unnoticed top 10, right?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

After the hiring of Zubeldia, Equipo Libertine Seguros-Banesto presented by ONCE has decided to continue the current policy of taking selfless workers for the team who are strong all-rounders. However, while the legendary enigma of the Basque Country may be more about consistency, my round 8 pick is more known, like Mauri, as a one-hit wonder. But it was a brief and spectacular hit. It also marks the first time since round 2 that I've picked a rider from outside of the borders of Spain, as I've decided the team needs a national champion to make this péloton a bit more colorful. And therefore, with the first pick of the 8th round and 71st overall, Libertine Seguros drafts Andrey Kashechkin, Superdom, Kazakhstan, at the 2006 Vuelta a España.

The fresh-faced, youthful Bonnie Parker to the destructive Vino's Clyde Barrow, Andrey Kashechkin showed up at the 2006 Vuelta in good form, having just podiumed the Deutschlandtour back when it had decent routes and fields, and also the Clásica San Sebastián. However, he was an unproven commodity at the GT level, his best having been an anonymous 19th at the previous year's Tour, while the GP de Fourmies was his biggest win to date. He was therefore set to work as a helper for Aleksandr Vinokourov. While Kash was quiet in the early going, he announced his intentions with a 3rd place to La Covatilla, beating all the GC favourites. From there on in, the Vino-Kash duo wreaked havoc on the race with attacking moves and double teams, neither leaving the top 15 on any GC-relevant stage from that point on. It is true that Kash had the one bad day - Calar Alto - but he compensated for that with an epic Piepoli-esque ride with Vino to his glorious win atop Sierra de la Pandera, the stage on which the first Kazakh GT victory was sealed. Although from a Doping Draft point of view the field wasn't the strongest, Kash still dumped earlier picks in this draft out the back, regularly.

The ability to come top 5 in a Grand Tour ITT and also to contribute to a strong TTT is a very good reason to consider Kashechkin as part of the lineup for Big Mig's squad. Kash can TT, and with a stronger corps around him than the 2006 Astana team, gutted by the Puerto busts, he will be able to produce some excellent strength for that. And, with no matter how strong he was his willingness to drop everything and ride for Vino at all times in that Vuelta, he showed himself a loyal and willing domestique. He will be able to help chase down attacks as well as do some controlling work on the flats and set pace on the lower slopes of the climbs. Of course, like Mauri Kash was a complete one-hit wonder... but it was a heck of a hit.

Draft Summary
Libertine Seguros - 1 Miguel Indurain ('95 Tour), 20 Laurent Jalabert ('95 Vuelta), 30 Joseba Beloki ('01 Tour), 31 José María Jiménez ('98 Vuelta), 41 Fernando Escartin ('99 Tour), 60 Melcior Mauri ('91 Vuelta), 70 Haimar Zubeldia ('03 Tour)
The Hitch - 2 Lance Armstrong ('04 Tour), 19 Michael Rasmussen ('07 Tour), 29 Nairo Quintana ('13 Tour), 32 Vincenzo Nibali ('14 Tour), 42 Andy Schleck ('09 Tour), 59 Carlos Sastre ('08 Tour), 69 Mark Cavendish ('09 Tour)
The Sceptic - 3 Jan Ullrich ('97 Tour), 18 Santi Pérez ('04 Vuelta), 28 Chris Horner ('13 Vuelta), 33 Aitor Gonzalez ('02 Vuelta), 43 Mario Cipollini ('02 Giro), 58 Damiano Cunego ('04 Giro), 68 Levi Leipheimer ('07 Tour)
The Green Monkey - 4 Alberto Contador ('09 Tour), 17 Alex Zülle ('95 Tour), 27 Ivan Gotti ('97 Giro), 34 Emanuele Sella ('08 Giro), 44 Cadel Evans ('07 Tour), 57 Paolo Bettini ('98 Giro), 67 Tom Steels ('98 Tour)
zlev11 - 5 Marco Pantani ('99 Giro), 16 Floyd Landis ('06 Tour), 26 Riccardo Ricco ('08 Tour), 35 Iban Mayo ('03 Tour), 45 Laurent Dufaux ('96 Tour), 56 Stefan Schumacher ('08 Tour), 66 Isidro Nozal ('03 Vuelta)
burning - 6 Bjarne Riis ('96 Tour), 15 Richard Virenque ('97 Tour), 25 Gilberto Simoni ('03 Giro), 36 Bradley Wiggins ('12 Tour), 46 Luc Leblanc ('94 Tour), 55 Bobby Julich ('98 Tour), 65 Serhiy Honchar ('06 Tour)
Netserk - 7 Ivan Basso ('06 Giro), 14 Piotr Ugrumov ('94 Tour), 24 Pavel Tonkov ('98 Giro), 37 Andreas Klöden ('06 Tour), 47 Fabian Cancellara ('10 Tour), 54 George Hincapie ('05 Tour), 64 Paolo Savoldelli ('99 Giro)
Zam Olyas - 8 Gianni Bugno ('90 Giro), 13 Tony Rominger ('95 Giro), 23 Denis Menchov ('09 Giro), 38 Claudio Chiappucci ('92 Tour), 48 Djamolidine Abdoujaparov ('93 Tour), 53 Yaroslav Popovych ('05 Tour), 63 Franco Chioccioli ('91 Giro)
Tonton - 9 Evgeni Berzin ('94 Giro), 12 Chris Froome ('13 Tour), 22 Alexander Vinokourov ('03 Tour), 39 Alejandro Valverde ('09 Vuelta), 49 Abraham Olano ('98 Vuelta), 52 Leonardo Piepoli ('07 Giro), 62 Santiago Botero ('02 Tour)
ciranda - 10 Roberto Heras ('04 Vuelta), 11 Tyler Hamilton ('03 Tour ), 21 Frank Vandenbroucke ('99 Vuelta), 40 Joaquím Rodriguez ('12 Vuelta), 50 Raimondas Rumsas ('02 Tour), 51 Dario Frigo ('01 Giro), 61 Oliverio Rincón ('95 Giro)

Round 8
71 - Libertine Seguros - Andrey Kashechkin ('06 Vuelta)
72 - The Hitch -
73 - The Sceptic -
74 - The Green Monkey -
75 - zlev11 -
76 - burning -
77 - netserk -
78 - Zam_Olyas -
79 - Tonton -
80 - ciranda -

 

[Netserk]

He was quite strong in the 2007 Tour while he was in it as well.

 

[Tonton]

Super posts Libertine Seguros. That's what I like so much about this thread. For all the forum members, the addition of such an eloquent piece of writing makes it that much more interesting. I don't know if anyone here as followed every single GT since 1990, TV broadcast and not just the next morning l'Equipe . I haven't. Each pick provokes a craving for youtube videos. For some of us, it's an opportunity to learn about a page of cycling history; for others, the pleasure to re-live the epic moments of the sport.

 

[WildspokeJoe]

Love the Andrey Kashechkin Pick. Totally Off My Radar. When I saw it I smiled.

 

[The Hitch]

72nd pick.

Not sure which version yet though. Think most recent.

 

[hrotha]

Hard to pick. 2011 was his best year (lol HTC), but he didn't win the TdF ITT by that much and I would assume he wasn't at 100% yet at the Vuelta. He's been a better superdomestique the last few years, and 2014 has his most dominant ITTs in a GT, so this late in the draft I guess that's the version I'd choose.

 

[The Hitch]

2014 also had that solo win. Didn't watch it but heard it was good.

 

[TheGreenMonkey]

Re:

Hard to pick. 2011 was his best year (lol HTC), but he didn't win the TdF ITT by that much and I would assume he wasn't at 100% yet at the Vuelta. He's been a better superdomestique the last few years, and 2014 has his most dominant ITTs in a GT, so this late in the draft I guess that's the version I'd choose.

The thing about the 2011 TT was it did not suit a pure TT like Martin, it was very tough so it was a brilliant performance to win it. Evans was a close second but third was a distance back. I am not sure that Evans also putting in a brilliant TT should take away from the quality Martin's win.

 

[the sceptic]

I''ll take another superdom: Igor González de Galdeano (2002 tour)

another strong engine. Will be vital on the flat and TTT. Can also climb ok so will be helpful in the mountain train as well.

 

[TheGreenMonkey]

I believe I am next.

I will take a rider who helped Tom Steels to his 4 victories in the 1998 Tour de France. I am not quite sure which one yet, I have two to choose from. I was going to go with one from watching youtube videos of the stages Steels won but now I am leaning towards the other one. I might even end up taking both if the other is still available in the last round.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

González de Galdeano was one of the riders on my shortlist for pick 71. I have so many options already for pick 81 but so hard to choose between sentimental picks, personal favourites, and riders the team needs, with only one space remaining...

 

[Tonton]

Re:

González de Galdeano was one of the riders on my shortlist for pick 71. I have so many options already for pick 81 but so hard to choose between sentimental picks, personal favourites, and riders the team needs, with only one space remaining...

+1.
Great pick indeed: GDG was on my shortlist as well, and yes, there are so many options remaining. there are still 3 riders who were on my original list, guys I thought would be gone by now.

 

[TheGreenMonkey]

For my next pick I will take Wilfried Peeters to be help to Tom Steels in the sprints. Not a lead out man as such, but can be put on the front to help catch a breakaway or keep the pace high in the final couple of kilometers. Also a good cobbles rider if there is a cobbles stage could be vital in helping Contador.

 

[zlev11]

i'm going to take Alessandro Petacchi (2004 Giro)

9 stage wins and the points classification

 

[Netserk]

Petacchi was also a very good climber for a sprinter. He will have no problem making the time limit on the full gas mountain stages unlike some of the other sprinters.

 

[hrotha]

All sprinters are screwed anyway, because there are almost no rouleur-type domestiques to pull from the autobus.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re:

All sprinters are screwed anyway, because there are almost no rouleur-type domestiques to pull from the autobus.

That's why my sprinter is Jaja

Edit:

To add to the colorful nature of the péloton, I've had a look to see who has national champions. There's only a few riders who were wearing national colours at the time of their selection; only one jersey is claimed by two men (the Spanish ITT jersey). If this were a real péloton I would argue that the lower draft pick should be subordinate to the higher and therefore Olano must cede his jersey to Contador.

There are the following national champions in the Doping Draft péloton thus far:

Germany road race - Jan Ullrich 1997 (Team Sceptic)
Germany time trial - Jan Ullrich 1997 (Team Sceptic)
Spain time trial - Alberto Contador 2009 (Team Green Monkey) (also Abraham Olano 1998)
Italy road race - Vincenzo Nibali 2014 (Team Hitch p/b Amgen)
Luxembourg road race - Andy Schleck 2009 (Team Hitch p/b Amgen)
Belgium road race - Tom Steels 1998 (Team Green Monkey)
Kazakhstan road race - Andrey Kashechkin 2006 (Equipo Libertine Seguros-Banesto p/b ONCE)