The Great Grand-Tour-Game 2012

[DominicDecoco]

Spending little time is not neccesarily a disadvantage. i had exams so could not devote any time to games and only entered this one because foxy pmd me.

My Matthew Goss pick for stage 10 disagrees.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Omg!!!

The whole Giro looked like it was going very crap for me. And in the end I miss TDF selection by a hair

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Sorry Dekker. But i love those tie breakers (as long i am not involved to my disadvantage )

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I'm gutted now. I guess I have to blame Bos for falling and rujano for failing

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Maybe Bos was a sentimental pick? I had some of those last year (picking Tony Martin for T-20 at the TdF for example).

 

[gerundium]

yeah made it as part of the main bunch in the world division (despite it being a tie breaker hehe)

Let's see if i can make it through the Tour as well. I expect the Tour to also be a really hard to predict. This seems favorable for me, being less knowledgeable as some of the contenders here.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Yes, luck is needed too. But picks have to be spend wisely, b/c it helps to make good assumptions on lesser known riders since every half point is important as everybody found out.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Drama for al pacino on the last day. He dropped out "thanks" to Gadret losing his safe 10th CG-Position by finishing the ITT 4+ mins down.
spalco jumped in by gaining his last important point w/Pinotti´s ITT-Win.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Nice game, thanks Foxxy...
I'll be back next year

Thanks from me too, although the game didn't go that well for me.

Well, I've fallen at the first fence....

Thanks again for all the hard work Fox and good luck to the survivors at Le Tour

It's been great fun
...
Good job, Foxxy..!

So hopefully I can enter again next year and take my revanche!

Great game though and thanks for hosting it your doing an awesome job FoxxxyBrown!

Edit: And congratz to the people advancing to the next round ofcourse.

Thank you all too. For those who missed the cut, you are welcome for next years edition for revenge...

Spending little time is not neccesarily a disadvantage...

Pretty impressive then, scoring on 25 occasions out of 41 max.! Even my night long preparing couldn´t help me to score on more than 23 occasions. Plus, you performend constantly well last year too, just missing the cut after the TdF thanks to the crashfest. Congrats.

 

[gerundium]

Yes, luck is needed too. But picks have to be spend wisely, b/c it helps to make good assumptions on lesser known riders since every half point is important as everybody found out.

If the race is very well defined between contenders and everyone is quite knowledgeable the scores will naturally be close (lots of 'obvious' picks and lots of people getting the obvious picks). being less knowledgeable and missing a few obvious picks loses you the game.

If on the other hand the race is very open and a lot can happen even very knowledgeable players will have to make more assumptions and 'guesses'. The ultimate situation of this would a GT where every rider in it is unknown. The picks would be no better than rand() and knowledge wouldn't matter. The more open a tour is the more it becomes a crap shoot and people with comparatively low knowledge base about the sport profit from that.

edit: thanks for running the game btw, it's a blast

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

lots of 'obvious' picks and lots of people getting the obvious picks). being less knowledgeable and missing a few obvious picks loses you the game.

That´s why it is important to have a good feel for the "low" top 20 guys. The game was decided there last year too. It´s where i spent the most time thinking about. And after failing misserably last year on my stage picks, i used more time on them. Ferminal seems to be the expert there.

If on the other hand the race is very open and a lot can happen even very knowledgeable players will have to make more assumptions and 'guesses'. The ultimate situation of this would a GT where every rider in it is unknown. The picks would be no better than rand() and knowledge wouldn't matter. The more open a tour is the more it becomes a crap shoot and people with comparatively low knowledge base about the sport profit from that.

edit: thanks for running the game btw, it's a blast

That happened on the crashfest TdF. OTOH, the Vuelta had very obscure results too. It helped those who had a good "low" top 20. Because those riders finished very high on the final T-20.

Thank you too. I had my fun as well. As said yesterday, w/o it, i wouldn´t have watched the giro until the end...

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Spending little time is not neccesarily a disadvantage. i had exams so could not devote any time to games and only entered this one because foxy pmd me.

Because by the time you get past the first few stages, there are so many factors at play, you have as much chance with a general idea of who is a good climber/sprinter as with well thought out ideas of how the race will develop.

If i had spent a while thinking about it i probably would have picked cav for some of the stages he crashed in, rather than the 3 he won.

Similarly the gc, if you have a well thought out idea of who will come 4th 5th 6th 10th 11th etc, and one person in the middle somewhere gets injured or underperformed, your whole chain has been broken.

yeh i was very lazy for my selection. maybe 1 hour max.
I rode my luck a little. But I didn't have Kreuziger in 2nd? Had jrod

Still I think I will put more thought in tour. Mainly the stages.

 

[Sasquatch]

Beware of the sleeping Sasquatch

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

 

[Sasquatch]

Great work Foxxy

 

[boomcie]

yeh i was very lazy for my selection. maybe 1 hour max.
I rode my luck a little. But I didn't have Kreuziger in 2nd? Had jrod

Still I think I will put more thought in tour. Mainly the stages.

Lol, sorry bout that Timmy, it was Tuarts who had him in second. Purito in second is a great pick (I also put him there ).

Plus I just saw that you would have made it regardless your luck. See ya @ the Tour.

 

[Eshnar]

Well, I'm satisfied with my unexpectedly good result.

Considering I realized I made a few unforgivable tactical mistakes in my stage picks, I guess I can only improve

 

[Vitapen]

Yeah! I'm in!
Foxxy, thank you for a Great game!

 

[Sylvester]

Nobody picked Hesjedal to win the Giro, I guess that's what you call a surprise winner...

At least most people picked him for their top 20. If I recall correctly, last year I had Cobo down to win a Vuelta stage, but I didn't bother to put him in my top 20 - and of course nobody expected the sudden rise of Froome

Good luck all and thanks Foxxy. Looking forward to the Tour already.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Lol, sorry bout that Timmy, it was Tuarts who had him in second. Purito in second is a great pick (I also put him there ).

Plus I just saw that you would have made it regardless your luck. See ya @ the Tour.

Hopefully I can make vuelta this time

 

[al_pacino]

Drama for al pacino on the last day. He dropped out "thanks" to Gadret losing his safe 10th CG-Position by finishing the ITT 4+ mins down.
Wilco jumped in therefore by just sitting on his 17,5 points.

At least I know who to give my anti-support to for the rest of the season.

Nice job on the game, and all the best for those still left in.

 

[Bavarianrider]

You're very welcome.

@TLR you were so damn lucky, lol.
I don't think you would have made it without all those correct placings in the end .
+Kreuziger in second place?

Jakob had some very remarkable picks. Looking forward to see if he will also surprise at the Tour.
Hitch & Foxxy very solid.
Sylvester: nice top 20.

@Hitch, where was Zaugg in your top 20? I heard you call him out many times before the start of the Giro.

The ones that picked these riders for their top 20, please explain:
Vladimir - Minguez (?)
Jens - Bandiera (?)
Bayerische - Martin Velits (?)
...

Honestly i can't remember picking Velits, so i can't really tell you
Last place that's a tough one
Not going to the Tour is sad though

 

[The Hitch]

@Hitch, where was Zaugg in your top 20? I heard you call him out many times before the start of the Giro.


...

I figured its better to play it same as the rest and stay level, rather than risk falling behind for the chance at points no one else will get. Especially since the game is about staying in not about winning, just yet.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Great work Foxxy

Yeah! I'm in!
Foxxy, thank you for a Great game!

Good luck all and thanks Foxxy. Looking forward to the Tour already.

At least I know who to give my anti-support to for the rest of the season.

Nice job on the game, and all the best for those still left in.

Honestly i can't remember picking Velits, so i can't really tell you...
Last place that's a tough one
Not going to the Tour is sad though

All welcome, and those who lost, see you next year.

I figured its better to play it same as the rest and stay level, rather than risk falling behind for the chance at points no one else will get. Especially since the game is about staying in not about winning, just yet.

I have to admit, i think the same safe way. I mean i criticise the riders doing it that way, and i am no inch better.

 

[vladimir]

You're very welcome.

@TLR you were so damn lucky, lol.
I don't think you would have made it without all those correct placings in the end .
+Kreuziger in second place?

Jakob had some very remarkable picks. Looking forward to see if he will also surprise at the Tour.
Hitch & Foxxy very solid.
Sylvester: nice top 20.

@Hitch, where was Zaugg in your top 20? I heard you call him out many times before the start of the Giro.

The ones that picked these riders for their top 20, please explain:
Vladimir - Minguez (?)
Jens - Bandiera (?)
Bayerische - Martin Velits (?)
...

Minguez is a very talented guy, and he was only a little over 5 hours outside the top 20 so I feel he was quite close
On a more serious note, I was really impressed with him in Catalunya where he finished 28 despite doing a ****load of work for Samu. As I have him on my CQ team, I thought he might be a good longshot for a top 20 spot if he got in a good break. Not the best pick in hindsight, but I might pick him again next year if he his riding

 

[Tuarts]

Lol, sorry bout that Timmy, it was Tuarts who had him in second. Purito in second is a great pick (I also put him there ).

Plus I just saw that you would have made it regardless your luck. See ya @ the Tour.

I'm confused, what did I do?