fantasy doping draft

[spetsa]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSFAlTe6F-Q

With the 32nd pick of the 2015 draft, Team Hitch sponsored by Amgen selects, Vincenzo Nibali of Astana.

Probably fallen this far because his early gt podiums really weren't that impressive and his wins have had little compeition. Its true, he always had bad days with Liquigas, only scraped a gt because Anton crashed.
But now he is with Astana. And while maybe he would have lost to Contador or Froome in 2014 he still put up very good numbers, without competition to push him. Additionally he dominated the race and won 4 stages.

Its not just about his climbing skills though, if it was I may have picked someone else. His tt skills are ok, not remarkable, but he is very good at ttting, not neccesarily the same thing. With him, often average tt squads at Liquigas and Astana have done very well in the ttts, and thats because they were very well organized. NIbali's own good flat power, short end speed and insane bike handling make him a very strong addition to any tt squad.

And he's had experience with the domestique role and excelled at it. Remember the 2010 Giro where Liquigas destroyed the race. Nibali, even in pink was loyal domestique to Basso the whole way, doing everything the team wanted of him, didn't challenge the leader. Which is the role he will play for Armstrong.

And he has so much to offer. His bike handling obviously makes him the go to guy for guiding Lance down every descent, like he did for Basso in 2010.
His insane performance on the cobbles last year will also make him Armstrong's lieutenant on the cobble stage, perhaps helping distance his rivals like last year.
Top lieutenant for the hilly stages, may even be allowed to breakaway for the win.

And if he is near the top of the gc he can attack like he did on Grappa in 2010 forcing rivals to chase.

In short, for the role - domestique for Armstrong, easily the best option available right now, and possibly a steal at #32.

Oh and triple gt winner to boot.

Round 1

Pick 1: Libertine Seguros - Miguel Indurain ('95 Tour)
Pick 2: The Hitch - Lance Armstrong ('04 Tour)
Pick 3: The Sceptic - Jan Ullrich ('97 Tour)
Pick 4: The Green Monkey - Alberto Contador ('09 Tour)
Pick 5: zlev11 - Marco Pantani ('99 Giro)
Pick 6: burning - Bjarne Riis ('96 Tour)
Pick 7: Netserk - Ivan Basso ('06 Giro)
Pick 8: Zam Olyas - Gianni Bugno ('90 Giro)
Pick 9: Tonton - Evgeni Berzin ('94 Giro)
Pick 10: Ciranda - Roberto Heras ('04 Vuelta)

Round 2

Pick 11: Ciranda - Tyler Hamilton ('03 Tour)
Pick 12: Tonton - Chris Froome ('13 Tour)
Pick 13: Zam Olyas - Tony Rominger ('95 Giro)
Pick 14: Netserk - Piotr Ugrumov ('94 Tour)
Pick 15: burning - Richard Virenque ('97 Tour)
Pick 16: zlev11 - Floyd Landis ('06 Tour)
Pick 17: The Green Monkey - Alex Zülle ('95 Tour)
Pick 18: The Sceptic - Santi Pérez ('04 Vuelta)
Pick 19: The Hitch - Michael Rasmussen ('07 Tour)
Pick 20: Libertine Seguros - Laurent Jalabert ('95 Vuelta)

Round 3

Pick 21: Ciranda - Frank Vandenbroucke ('99 Vuelta)
Pick 22: Tonton - Alexander Vinokourov ('03 Tour)
Pick 23: Zam Olyas - Denis Menchov ('09 Giro)
Pick 24: Netserk - Pavel Tonkov ('98 Giro)
Pick 25: burning - Gilberto Simoni ('03 Giro)
Pick 26: zlev11 - Riccardo Ricco ('08 Tour)
Pick 27: The Green Monkey - Ivan Gotti ('97 Giro)
Pick 28: The Sceptic - Chris Horner ('13 Vuelta)
Pick 29: The Hitch - Nairo Quintana ('13 Tour)
Pick 30: Libertine Seguros - Joseba Beloki ('01 Tour)

Round 4

Pick 31: Libertine Seguros - José María Jiménez ('98 Vuelta)
Pick 32: The Hitch - Vincenzo Nibali (14 Tour)
Pick 33: The Sceptic -
Pick 34: The Green Monkey -
Pick 35: zlev11 -
Pick 36: burning -
Pick 37: netserk -
Pick 38: Zam Olyas -
Pick 39: Tonton -
Pick 40: ciranda -

You may want to change your presenting sponsor. Amgen is out of the EPO business.

Great thread. Everyone is bringing back some great, if not comical memories.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Ah, but in the timeframe that the draft is representing Amgen were very much in the EPO business. I have Banesto to sponsor me anyway.

I would like to serve notice to sceptic etc. that I am going to be away from Sunday until Tuesday afternoon, so if my pick comes around in that time I won't be able to make it until I get back on Tuesday evening - you can decide how you want to play that if it's going to hold the thread up too much, I might have the chance to log in and see who's free and who's taken in that time but I won't have the chance to post a pick until I get back on Tuesday.

 

[jens_attacks]

what is aitor gonzalez doing these days anyway? still in robbery business?

 

[roundabout]

Re:

The AITORMINATOR® was one of the people I was looking at for my pick, and I was hoping he would still be available at pick 41. It would have been 3 Basques and an Occitan in my team if I had though I also needed some real, pure climbing nous to go with the pure power climber leading the team, in which case The AITORMINATOR® didn't truly fit the bill.

He wasn't the one I was certain would be picked before I chose again either, so sadly I might have to do some reconsideration over the next few days.

Oh, and the reduced bunch finish you're thinking of was the stage to Ubrique. Very much an intermediate stage, the group he won from numbered about 25-30 iirc.

Heh.

2 things about that stage.

I really wanted Luis Perez to win it.

Gonzalez won with a late attack, not by outsprinting everyone.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re: Re:

The AITORMINATOR® was one of the people I was looking at for my pick, and I was hoping he would still be available at pick 41. It would have been 3 Basques and an Occitan in my team if I had though I also needed some real, pure climbing nous to go with the pure power climber leading the team, in which case The AITORMINATOR® didn't truly fit the bill.

He wasn't the one I was certain would be picked before I chose again either, so sadly I might have to do some reconsideration over the next few days.

Oh, and the reduced bunch finish you're thinking of was the stage to Ubrique. Very much an intermediate stage, the group he won from numbered about 25-30 iirc.

Heh.

2 things about that stage.

I really wanted Luis Perez to win it.

Gonzalez won with a late attack, not by outsprinting everyone.

In the world of The AITORMINATOR® that WAS a sprint, he just opened it up very early.

 

[the sceptic]

Re:

Ah, but in the timeframe that the draft is representing Amgen were very much in the EPO business. I have Banesto to sponsor me anyway.

I would like to serve notice to sceptic etc. that I am going to be away from Sunday until Tuesday afternoon, so if my pick comes around in that time I won't be able to make it until I get back on Tuesday evening - you can decide how you want to play that if it's going to hold the thread up too much, I might have the chance to log in and see who's free and who's taken in that time but I won't have the chance to post a pick until I get back on Tuesday.

I'm guessing we might get to you before that, but if not you could just PM your pick (and maybe a back up) to someone.

 

[Tonton]

Re:

Ah, but in the timeframe that the draft is representing Amgen were very much in the EPO business. I have Banesto to sponsor me anyway.

I would like to serve notice to sceptic etc. that I am going to be away from Sunday until Tuesday afternoon, so if my pick comes around in that time I won't be able to make it until I get back on Tuesday evening - you can decide how you want to play that if it's going to hold the thread up too much, I might have the chance to log in and see who's free and who's taken in that time but I won't have the chance to post a pick until I get back on Tuesday.

A little three-day in Tenerife huh?

 

[zlev11]

TerminAitor rules. that Ubrique stage is fantastic, by the way. a bunch of attacks on that final climb and they race all the way to the line.

 

[Netserk]

Atm I have three picks that stand out, I hope none will be taken until it's my turn and I certainly doubt two or all three will be taken, but you never know.

 

[TheGreenMonkey]

For this pick I considered going with GT winners, I considered going with podium finishers, I considered going with Spanish riders, French riders, a Swiss rider, a couple of Italian riders from the early 90s and even riders from much further afield.

Instead I have chosen a rider based on four stages, three which he won and one where he finished second. A performance which took him from from 44th position to 5th before he lost a position in the final TT.

With my pick I take Emanuele Sella from the 2008 Giro.

Round 1

Pick 1: Libertine Seguros - Miguel Indurain ('95 Tour)
Pick 2: The Hitch - Lance Armstrong ('04 Tour)
Pick 3: The Sceptic - Jan Ullrich ('97 Tour)
Pick 4: The Green Monkey - Alberto Contador ('09 Tour)
Pick 5: zlev11 - Marco Pantani ('99 Giro)
Pick 6: burning - Bjarne Riis ('96 Tour)
Pick 7: Netserk - Ivan Basso ('06 Giro)
Pick 8: Zam Olyas - Gianni Bugno ('90 Giro)
Pick 9: Tonton - Evgeni Berzin ('94 Giro)
Pick 10: Ciranda - Roberto Heras ('04 Vuelta)

Round 2

Pick 11: Ciranda - Tyler Hamilton ('03 Tour)
Pick 12: Tonton - Chris Froome ('13 Tour)
Pick 13: Zam Olyas - Tony Rominger ('95 Giro)
Pick 14: Netserk - Piotr Ugrumov ('94 Tour)
Pick 15: burning - Richard Virenque ('97 Tour)
Pick 16: zlev11 - Floyd Landis ('06 Tour)
Pick 17: The Green Monkey - Alex Zülle ('95 Tour)
Pick 18: The Sceptic - Santi Pérez ('04 Vuelta)
Pick 19: The Hitch - Michael Rasmussen ('07 Tour)
Pick 20: Libertine Seguros - Laurent Jalabert ('95 Vuelta)

Round 3

Pick 21: Ciranda - Frank Vandenbroucke ('99 Vuelta)
Pick 22: Tonton - Alexander Vinokourov ('03 Tour)
Pick 23: Zam Olyas - Denis Menchov ('09 Giro)
Pick 24: Netserk - Pavel Tonkov ('98 Giro)
Pick 25: burning - Gilberto Simoni ('03 Giro)
Pick 26: zlev11 - Riccardo Ricco ('08 Tour)
Pick 27: The Green Monkey - Ivan Gotti ('97 Giro)
Pick 28: The Sceptic - Chris Horner ('13 Vuelta)
Pick 29: The Hitch - Nairo Quintana ('13 Tour)
Pick 30: Libertine Seguros - Joseba Beloki ('01 Tour)

Round 4

Pick 31: Libertine Seguros - José María Jiménez ('98 Vuelta)
Pick 32: The Hitch - Vincenzo Nibali ('14 Tour)
Pick 33: The Sceptic - Aitor Gonzalez ('03 Vuelta)
Pick 34: The Green Monkey - Emanuele Sella ('08 Giro)
Pick 35: zlev11 -
Pick 36: burning -
Pick 37: netserk -
Pick 38: Zam Olyas -
Pick 39: Tonton -
Pick 40: ciranda -

 

[TheGreenMonkey]

Also as my name, The Green Monkey might indicate, the jersey being worn by Sella would be a great one for my team.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

If I was going to dope to win bike races, Emanuele Sella's 2008 Giro is the perfect example of how I'd want to do it.

 

[zlev11]

i was going to take this guy with my 2nd round pick, i didn't think he would fall quite this far

Team Gewiss-Saunier Duval selects Iban Mayo (2003 Tour de France)

The most enigmatic climber of the 2000's found his stride at the 2003 Tour de France. He apparently was putting so much power through his pedals that the Euskaltel mechanics had to alter the bottom bracket of his bike so he wouldn't rip the crank arms out of it. His most famous ride was on Alpe d'Huez, where he put 1:45 into the next closest rider and a massive two minutes and twelve seconds into Lance Armstrong. His weak time trialing abilities hurt his chances to threaten the general classification but his climbing was otherworldly, finishing in the top 3 on three different mountain stages (top 8 on all five) at what was one of the strongest Tour fields of all time.

Round 1

Pick 1: Libertine Seguros - Miguel Indurain ('95 Tour)
Pick 2: The Hitch - Lance Armstrong ('04 Tour)
Pick 3: The Sceptic - Jan Ullrich ('97 Tour)
Pick 4: The Green Monkey - Alberto Contador ('09 Tour)
Pick 5: zlev11 - Marco Pantani ('99 Giro)
Pick 6: burning - Bjarne Riis ('96 Tour)
Pick 7: Netserk - Ivan Basso ('06 Giro)
Pick 8: Zam Olyas - Gianni Bugno ('90 Giro)
Pick 9: Tonton - Evgeni Berzin ('94 Giro)
Pick 10: Ciranda - Roberto Heras ('04 Vuelta)

Round 2

Pick 11: Ciranda - Tyler Hamilton ('03 Tour)
Pick 12: Tonton - Chris Froome ('13 Tour)
Pick 13: Zam Olyas - Tony Rominger ('95 Giro)
Pick 14: Netserk - Piotr Ugrumov ('94 Tour)
Pick 15: burning - Richard Virenque ('97 Tour)
Pick 16: zlev11 - Floyd Landis ('06 Tour)
Pick 17: The Green Monkey - Alex Zülle ('95 Tour)
Pick 18: The Sceptic - Santi Pérez ('04 Vuelta)
Pick 19: The Hitch - Michael Rasmussen ('07 Tour)
Pick 20: Libertine Seguros - Laurent Jalabert ('95 Vuelta)

Round 3

Pick 21: Ciranda - Frank Vandenbroucke ('99 Vuelta)
Pick 22: Tonton - Alexander Vinokourov ('03 Tour)
Pick 23: Zam Olyas - Denis Menchov ('09 Giro)
Pick 24: Netserk - Pavel Tonkov ('98 Giro)
Pick 25: burning - Gilberto Simoni ('03 Giro)
Pick 26: zlev11 - Riccardo Ricco ('08 Tour)
Pick 27: The Green Monkey - Ivan Gotti ('97 Giro)
Pick 28: The Sceptic - Chris Horner ('13 Vuelta)
Pick 29: The Hitch - Nairo Quintana ('13 Tour)
Pick 30: Libertine Seguros - Joseba Beloki ('01 Tour)

Round 4

Pick 31: Libertine Seguros - José María Jiménez ('98 Vuelta)
Pick 32: The Hitch - Vincenzo Nibali ('14 Tour)
Pick 33: The Sceptic - Aitor Gonzalez ('02 Vuelta)
Pick 34: The Green Monkey - Emanuele Sella ('08 Giro)
Pick 35: zlev11 - Iban Mayo ('03 Tour)
Pick 36: burning -
Pick 37: netserk -
Pick 38: Zam Olyas -
Pick 39: Tonton -
Pick 40: ciranda -

 

[ciranda]

Of course! Your team is so much the coolest.

 

[D-Queued]

Re:

i was going to take this guy with my 2nd round pick, i didn't think he would fall quite this far

Team Gewiss-Saunier Duval selects Iban Mayo (2003 Tour de France)
...

Excellent choice. Too bad he crashed the next year.

Someone that could have rivaled Lance, but like Beloki met with bad luck.

He was actually my fourth choice of those still unpicked.

So many good dopers to choose from.So little time!

Dave.

 

[TheGreenMonkey]

Mayo is a good pick up.

 

[TheGreenMonkey]

Re: Re:

i was going to take this guy with my 2nd round pick, i didn't think he would fall quite this far

Team Gewiss-Saunier Duval selects Iban Mayo (2003 Tour de France)
...

Excellent choice. Too bad he crashed the next year.

Someone that could have rivaled Lance, but like Beloki met with bad luck.

He was actually my fourth choice of those still unpicked.

So many good dopers to choose from.So little time!

Dave.

There is a PM facility

 

[hrotha]

Finally: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtX4mJO2Yd0

I must say though, I think Mayo is massively overrated.

 

[Netserk]

Y U NO LET MAYO AND SELLA BE AVAILABLE TO ME?!

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Now all of my original selections are gone:

When I made my double pick of Beloki and Jiménez, both had been mentioned earlier in the day (Beloki indirectly but obviously, Chava by name) as part of Hitch's guessing game, but both were on my shortlist to pick prior to this. For anybody who doesn't believe me I direct you to my post right at the start of the thread before the draft even began, where the riders I said I wanted were "Mayo, Beloki, the Aitorminator and Chava" so you can see they were riders I wanted from the get-go. I got two of them, the other two are now off the table sadly. I thought Mayo would go, I had hopes the Aitorminator would fall to 41. I couldn't ever justify picking him over Chava in good conscience though.

 

[Netserk]

Re:

Finally: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtX4mJO2Yd0

I must say though, I think Mayo is massively overrated.

See where Mayo is in 2003?

 

[TheGreenMonkey]

Re:

Now all of my original selections are gone:

When I made my double pick of Beloki and Jiménez, both had been mentioned earlier in the day (Beloki indirectly but obviously, Chava by name) as part of Hitch's guessing game, but both were on my shortlist to pick prior to this. For anybody who doesn't believe me I direct you to my post right at the start of the thread before the draft even began, where the riders I said I wanted were "Mayo, Beloki, the Aitorminator and Chava" so you can see they were riders I wanted from the get-go. I got two of them, the other two are now off the table sadly. I thought Mayo would go, I had hopes the Aitorminator would fall to 41. I couldn't ever justify picking him over Chava in good conscience though.

I am sure everyone believes you, there is absolutely no reason to think you would otherwise.

And even if someone is tipped to making a different pick it is the fault of those who named riders rather than the person who picks someone because of it.

 

[mrhender]

I'am truly sorry for intrusion to the game with an all too obvious Beloki reference...

I should have refrained from making the crash 2003 comment, it was stupid...

Especially my apologies to Libertine who now feels the need to explaining a pick that I have no doubts would have been taken anyway.

I'll not make any such comment again...

 

[The Hitch]

No worries MR H. There have been more obvious spoilers from people participating, and I myself was responsible for offering the guessing game (though was determined not to name anyone).

Anyway, if we can get a few more picks intoday then maybe we will get to LS before he leaves to Valencia to pick up the bbs for his team tomorrow afternoon, and ainsi get another 2 rounds in before Tuesday.

 

[burning]

For the next pick, I select Bradley Wiggins presented by AICAR ('12 Tour).

After picking 2 featherweight climbers, I thought picking Wiggins is a pretty logical choice as he crushed everybody in the time trials and was the second best climber of the race. Not only he was putting impressive numbers stage after stage in the TDF, he never had a bad day in whole 2012, thus this makes him an excellent domestique on the flat and climbs whenever necessary. He would be a really bad domestique in real life, but this is a fantasy draft, so he is an excellent all-rounder who can even leadout sprinters or even win sprints for himself.

Round 1

Pick 1: Libertine Seguros - Miguel Indurain ('95 Tour)
Pick 2: The Hitch - Lance Armstrong ('04 Tour)
Pick 3: The Sceptic - Jan Ullrich ('97 Tour)
Pick 4: The Green Monkey - Alberto Contador ('09 Tour)
Pick 5: zlev11 - Marco Pantani ('99 Giro)
Pick 6: burning - Bjarne Riis ('96 Tour)
Pick 7: Netserk - Ivan Basso ('06 Giro)
Pick 8: Zam Olyas - Gianni Bugno ('90 Giro)
Pick 9: Tonton - Evgeni Berzin ('94 Giro)
Pick 10: Ciranda - Roberto Heras ('04 Vuelta)

Round 2

Pick 11: Ciranda - Tyler Hamilton ('03 Tour)
Pick 12: Tonton - Chris Froome ('13 Tour)
Pick 13: Zam Olyas - Tony Rominger ('95 Giro)
Pick 14: Netserk - Piotr Ugrumov ('94 Tour)
Pick 15: burning - Richard Virenque ('97 Tour)
Pick 16: zlev11 - Floyd Landis ('06 Tour)
Pick 17: The Green Monkey - Alex Zülle ('95 Tour)
Pick 18: The Sceptic - Santi Pérez ('04 Vuelta)
Pick 19: The Hitch - Michael Rasmussen ('07 Tour)
Pick 20: Libertine Seguros - Laurent Jalabert ('95 Vuelta)

Round 3

Pick 21: Ciranda - Frank Vandenbroucke ('99 Vuelta)
Pick 22: Tonton - Alexander Vinokourov ('03 Tour)
Pick 23: Zam Olyas - Denis Menchov ('09 Giro)
Pick 24: Netserk - Pavel Tonkov ('98 Giro)
Pick 25: burning - Gilberto Simoni ('03 Giro)
Pick 26: zlev11 - Riccardo Ricco ('08 Tour)
Pick 27: The Green Monkey - Ivan Gotti ('97 Giro)
Pick 28: The Sceptic - Chris Horner ('13 Vuelta)
Pick 29: The Hitch - Nairo Quintana ('13 Tour)
Pick 30: Libertine Seguros - Joseba Beloki ('01 Tour)

Round 4

Pick 31: Libertine Seguros - José María Jiménez ('98 Vuelta)
Pick 32: The Hitch - Vincenzo Nibali ('14 Tour)
Pick 33: The Sceptic - Aitor Gonzalez ('02 Vuelta)
Pick 34: The Green Monkey - Emanuele Sella ('08 Giro)
Pick 35: zlev11 - Iban Mayo ('03 Tour)
Pick 36: burning - Bradley Wiggins ('12 Tour)
Pick 37: netserk -
Pick 38: Zam Olyas -
Pick 39: Tonton -
Pick 40: ciranda -