La Grande Boucle: CFC Prediction League 07!!!

[MCdread]

Alright ladies and gentlemen, at the request of many otherwise unhappy families, we're going to have another stab at setting up a CFC Tour contest, this old classic of our forum. Hopefully it will turn out better than the last time I organized one... :blush

The rules are going to be the same as usual, unless someone has any problem with any of them, in which case we can discuss that, but not much because there's 3 days left for the Tour to start only. Please use this thread only to post your team and discuss stuff directly related with the contest, like suggestions and mistakes I might commit. Use another thread for Tour, riders and stages talk.

The rules:

The rules are as follows:

- Everyone, even if they don't know what the hell we're talking about is more than welcome to take part in it.

- From the list of riders in the next post, choose 9 (no more, no less, 9 riders it shall be) and take notice that each rider has their price in Touros in front. Prices go from 5 to 105 and you can only spend a maximum of 200 touros in total in building your team. Aside from the budget you have to buy the cyclers there are no other limitations in building your fantasy team, you can pick as many from one team as you want.

- The pointing system is as follows:

5 points for each stage winners (that means that if you have a rider in your team that wins a stage you'll score 5 points), 3 an 1 point for 2nd and 3rd each stage respectively

5 points for the team that wins the Teams Time Trial, 3 for 2nd and 1 for 3rd as above

3 points for a day with the yellow jersey

2 points for a day with the green and polka dot jersey

1 point for a day with the white jersey

8 points for who wins the green jersey and polka dot (mountains) jersey in Paris

3 points for the final white jersey

2 points for the most combative rider in the end

Points from 1st to 10th in the General Classification in the end in the following pattern: 20-15-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1

If a rider that is in this list and it turns out that he won't ride the Tour, you can switch him if you have chosen him, but only before the Tour starts. If a rider abandons during the race, you can't replace him, but you will keep the points he won you.

NOTE: You must submit a team before the Tour starts, ie, before saturday early afternoon (GMT)!

 

[MCdread]

As you may know this is not a definitive list yet, as teams may still change one or two riders from the roster before Saturday. Particularly important riders like Petacchi, Valverde and even Vinokourov might be out because of doping related problems. Also, I may yet revise these rankings after looking for it in more detail tonight or tomorrow morning, as I didn't exactly spend sleepless hours assigning the individual prices. If someone else wants to suggest something different you're more than welcome, especially regarding, say, belgian or german riders for example, as unfortunately this season I wasn't able to follow the spring races as closely as in years before. In any case, start preparing your team and checking the options.
As of now the individual cost in average and pattern among the different specialists is pretty much the same that has been tried in the past editions I also organized.

P.S.: In my screen the third column does not fit in the window. Don't forget to move the bar and check those too.

The riders:

Illes Baleares			        T-Mobile			        CSC	
Oscar Pereiro (Spa)	     20		Michael Rogers (Aus)	  20		Carlos Sastre (Spa)	   40
David Arroyo (Spa)	     10		Marcus Burkhardt (Ger)	  10		Kurt Asle Arvesen (Nor)	   10
José  V. Garcia Acosta (Spa) 15		Mark Cavendish (GBr)	  15		Fabian Cancellara (Swi)	   25
José Ivan Gutierrez (Spa)    10		Bernhard Eisel (Aut)	  10		Iñigo Cuesta (Spa)	   10
Vladimir Karpets (Rus)	     15		Linus Gerdemann (Ger)	  10		Stuart O'Grady (Aus)	   15
Francisco Pérez (Spa)	     10		Bert Grabsch (Ger)	  10		Fränck Schleck (Lux)	   15
Nicolas Portal (Fra)	      5		Kim Kirchen (Lux)	  15		Jens Voigt (Ger)	   15
Alejandro Valverde (Spa)     50		Axel Merckx (Bel)	  10		Christian VandeVelde (Usa) 10
Xabier Zandio (Spa)	     10		Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger)	  15		David Zabriskie (Usa)	   20
							
Lotto			                Rabobank			        AG2R	
Cadel Evans (Aus)	     40		Denis Menchov (Rus)	  35		Christophe Moreau (Fra)	    35
Mario Aerts (Bel)	     10		Michael Boogerd (Ned)	  20		Jose Luis Arrieta (Spa)	    15
Dario David Cioni (Ita)	     10		Bram de Groot (Ned)	   5		Sylvain Calzati (Fra)	    15
Christopher Horner (Usa)     10		Thomas Dekker (Ned)	  15		Cyril Dessel (Fra)	    10
Leif Hoste (Bel)	     10		Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) 15		Martin Elmiger (Swi)	    10
Robbie McEwen (Aus)	     45		Oscar Freire (Spa)	  35		John Gadret (Fra)	    10
Fred Rodriguez (Usa)	     10		Grischa Niermann (Ger)	   5		Simon Gerrans (Aus)	     5
Wim Vansevenant (Bel)	      5		Michael Rasmussen (Den)	  30		Stéphane Goubert (Fra)	     5
Johan Vansummeren (Bel)	      5		Pieter Weening (Ned)	  10		Ludovic Turpin (Fra)	     5
							
Euskaltel			        Lampre			                Gerolsteiner	
Igor Anton (Spa)	     15		Alessandro Ballan (Ita)	  15		Robert Förster (Ger)	    20
Mikel Astarloza (Spa)	     15		Daniel Bennati (Ita)	  15		Markus Fothen (Ger)	    10
Jorge Azanza (Spa)	      5		Paolo Bossoni (Ita)	   5		Heinrich Haussler (Ger)	     5
Iñaki Isasi (Spa)	     10		Marzio Bruseghin	  15		Bernhard Kohl (Aut)	    10
Íñigo Landaluze (Spa)	     10		Claudio Corioni (Ita)	   5		Sven Krauss (Ger)	     5
Rubén Pérez (Spa)	     10		Danilo Napolitano (Ita)	  10		Ronny Scholz (Ger)	     5
Amets Txurruka (Spa)	      5		Daniele Righi (Ita)	  10		Stefan Schumacher (Ger)	    35
Gorka Verdugo (Spa)	      5		Tadej Valjavec (Slo)	  15		Fabian Wegmann (Ger)	    15
Haimar Zubeldia (Spa)	     15		Francisco Vila (Spa)	  10		Peter Wrolich (Aut)	     5
							
Crédit Agricole			        Discovery			        Bouygues	
Thor Hushovd (Nor)	     35		Levi Leipheimer (Usa)	  40		Thomas Voeckler (Fra)	    15
William Bonnet (Fra)	      5		Alberto Contador (Spa)	  20		Stef Clement (Ned)	    10
Alexandre Botcharov (Rus)    10		Vladimir Gusev (Rus)	  10		Pierrick Fédrigo (Fra)	    10
Anthony Charteau (Fra)	      5		George Hincapie (Usa)	  10		Xavier Florencio (Spa)	     5
Julian Dean (NZl)	     10		Egoi Martinez (Spa)	  10		Anthony Geslin (Fra)	     5
Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz)	      5		Benjamin Noval (Spa)	   5		Laurent Lefèvre (Fra)	     5
Patrice Halgand (Fra)	     10		Sérgio Paulinho (Por)	  10		Jérôme Pineau (Fra)	    10
Sébastien Hinault (Fra)	     10		Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr)	  15		Matthieu Sprick (Fra)	     5
Christophe Le Mevel (Fra)     5		Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu)	   5		Johann Tschopp (Swi)	     5
							
Agritubel			        Cofidis			                Liquigas	
Juan Mercado (Spa)	     10		Sylvain Chavanel (Fra)	  20		Manuel Beltran (Spa)	    15
Freddy Bichot (Fra)	      5		Stéphane Augé (Fra)	  10		Michael Albasini (Swi)	     5
Moises Duenas (Spa)	      5		Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra)	   5		Kjell Carlström (Fin)	     5
Romain Feillu (Fra)	      5		Cristian Moreni (Ita)	  10		Murilo Fischer (Bra)	     5
Eduardo G. Ramirez (Spa)      5		Nick Nuyens (Bel)	   5		Alexandr Kuchynski (Blr)     5
Cédric Hervé (Fra)	      5		Ivan Parra (Col)	  10		Filippo Pozzato (Ita)	    10
Nicolas Jalabert (Fra)	     10		Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel)	   5		Manuel Quinziato (Ita)	    10
Benoit Salmon (Fra)	      5		Rik Verbrugghe (Bel)	  10		Charles Wegelius (GBr)	     5
Nicolas Vogondy (Fra)	     10		Bradley Wiggins (GBr)	  20		Frederik Willems (Bel)	     5
						
Française de Jeux			QuickStep			        Milram	
Sandy Casar (Fra)	     10		Tom Boonen (Bel)	  45		Andrei Grivko (Ukr)          5
Sebastien Chavanel (Fra)      5		Carlos Barredo (Spa)	   5		Alessandro Cortinovis (Ita)  5
Mickael Delage (Fra)	      5		Steven de Jongh (Ned)	   5		Ralf Grabsch (Ger)	     5
Rémy Di Gregorio (Fra)	     10		Juan Manuel Garate (Spa)  10		Christian Knees (Ger)	     5
Philippe Gilbert (Bel)	     10		Sébastien Rosseler (Bel)   5		Brett Lancaster (Aus)	     5
Lilian Jégou (Fra)	      5		Gert Steegmans (Bel)	   5		Alberto Ongarato (Ita)	    20
Thomas Lövqvist (Swe)	      5		Bram Tankink (Ned)	   5		Enrico Poitschke (Ger)	     5
Mathieu Ladagnous (Fra)	      5		Matteo Tossato (Ita)	  10		Marcel Sieberg (Ger)	     5
Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra)	      5		Cédric Vasseur (Fra)	  10		Erik Zabel (Ger)	    30
							
Astana			                Saunier Duval			        Barloworld	
Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz)   55 	David Cañada (Spa)	  10		Felix Cardenas (Col)	    15
Antonio Colom (Spa)	     15		Iker Camano (Spa)	  10		Gianpaolo Cheula (Ita)	     5
Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz)	     10		Juan José Cobo (Spa)	   5		Enrico Degano (Ita)	     5
Serguei Ivanov (Rus)	     10		David de la Fuente (Spa)  20		Alexander Efimkin (Rus)	    10
Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz)	     20		Ruben Lobato (Spa)	   5		Robert Hunter (Rsa)	    10
Andreas Klöden (Ger)	     40		Iban Mayo (Spa)	          15		Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita)   5
Daniel Navarro (Spa)	      5		David Millar (GBr)	  20		Kastantsin Siutsou (Blr)     5
Grégory Rast (Swi)	      5		Christophe Rinero (Fra)	   5		Mauricio Soler (Col)	     5
Paolo Savoldelli (Ita)	     15		Francisco Ventoso (Spa)	  10		Geraint Thomas (GBr)	     5

 

[NKVD]

I dont know what your talking about...I watched last year tour for the first time because I was a student and had nothing to do. it was also the first time a tv channel was broadcasting it so I only know Armstrong Landis and Ullrich and a couple of names sound familiar to me but i'll give it a try:

Team NKVD II
1.Denis Menchov (Rus) 35
2.Robert Förster (Ger) 20
3.Oscar Pereiro (Spa) 20
4.Robbie McEwen (Aus) 45
5.Christophe Moreau (Fra) 35
6.Thomas Voeckler (Fra) 15
7.Markus Fothen (Ger) 10
8.Cyril Dessel (Fra) 10
9.Pierrick Fédrigo (Fra) 10

 

[Berrie]

Some suggestions for changes with explenation:
- Zubeldia: 15 (-5) past his peak
- Horner: 15 (+5) good for at least top 20, maybe top 10, good in mountain stages
- Hushovd: 35 (-5) Not as good as past years because of injuries
- Casar: 15 (+5) Was good in giro, able to ride top 20 or 15
- Burghardt: 10 (+5) Young powerful rider, very good in the beginning of the season
- Cavendish: 15 (+5) very good, young sprinter; is able to place himself in top 5 in peleton sprints
- Merckx: 10 (-5) past his peak; pure helper in his team
- Freire: 35 (+10) on good days the only one who can beat McEwen and Boonen
- Niermann: 5 (-5) pure helper
- De Groot: 5 (-5) idem
- Bennati: 20 (+10) also an upcoming sprinter, also able to reach top 5 in peleton sprints
- Gusev: 15 (+5) very good this year; very good against the clock and a survivor in the mountains
- Boonen: 40 (-5) Has to have the same score as McEwen; they are equally good (maybe McEwen is even better)
- Tankink: 5 (-5) pure helper
- Moreau: 30 (-5) very good this year, but is 36 years old; I wouldn't make him as expensive as for example Menchov
- Förster: 20 (-5) good young rider, but not worth that much
- Voeckler: 15 (+5) very attacking rider; always able to win a stage
- Schumacher: 30 (-5) good, young rider, but not worth that much
- Pettachi: you can drop him, he won't ride the Tour this year
- Gadret: 10 (+5) watch out for him in the mountains; can be a surprise

Do with this suggestions as you wish, MCdread...

@ NKVD: that looks like a solid team.

I will puzzle a team together in the following days.

 

[Stapel]

What's the maximum amount of points we can spend?

 

[Berrie]

What's the maximum amount of points we can spend?

200 touros

 

[Stapel]

- Niermann: 5 (-5) pure helper
- De Groot: 5 (-5) idem

Bram de Groot will probably (or should I say hopefully?) not be used to help Freire, but will try to find the right escapes in the first week. He is a candidate for the Yellow Jersey in the first week. He's been really close a few times!
Anyway, he won't help us gain any points in this system!

 

[Stapel]

Profissional list:

Bram de Groot 10
Michael Rasmussen 30
Thomas Dekker 15
Andreas Klöden 40
Steven de Jongh 5
Bram Tankink 10
Tom Boonen 45
Robbie McEwen 40
Gert Steegmans 5

Total 200

Especially Steegmans should earn me some points!

 

[Stapel]

@ NKVD: that looks like a solid team.

Too many touros, though!

 

[MCdread]

Some suggestions for changes with explenation:
- Zubeldia: 15 (-5) past his peak
- Horner: 15 (+5) good for at least top 20, maybe top 10, good in mountain stages
- Casar: 15 (+5) Was good in giro, able to ride top 20 or 15
- Voeckler: 15 (+5) very attacking rider; always able to win a stage
- Gusev: 15 (+5) very good this year; very good against the clock and a survivor in the mountains

Zubeldia placed in the top 10 last year. He was past his peak a few years ago, but in the last couple of seasons I think he has recovered a bit.Casar was never close from that, apart from a top 10 finish in the giro in 2006. In any case, in normal form, Zubeldia is definitely better than either of the others. But ok, I'll put Zubeldia and Voeckler (for his spirit) with 15, but comparing with other riders, I don't think the others should be so good: 10 for all of them anyway.

- Hushovd: 35 (-5) Not as good as past years because of injuries
- Boonen: 40 (-5) Has to have the same score as McEwen; they are equally good (maybe McEwen is even better)
- Freire: 35 (+10) on good days the only one who can beat McEwen and Boonen
- Schumacher: 30 (-5) good, young rider, but not worth that much

Hmm... maybe you're right. I always think of Boonen as the best, but since he actually never won the green jersey and hasn't had a stellar season until now...
Hushovd I agree with 5 points less than McEwen or Boonen, but I think he's more likely to beat either than Freire. Freire seems past his best sprinting days...
Schumacher can challenge them all though imo. He's a rider on the rise. I don't think Freire shouls be more expensive.

What do you think of Boonen-McEwen - 45, Hushovd,Freire,Schumacher - 35?

- Cavendish: 15 (+5) very good, young sprinter; is able to place himself in top 5 in peleton sprints
- Bennati: 20 (+10) also an upcoming sprinter, also able to reach top 5 in peleton sprints

Well, top 5 doesn't award any points, only top 3. Cavendish might be worth the extra points due to being a possible candidate for the white jersey in the first stages due to some possible sprint bonus. I reluctantly accept 15 for Cavendish, and I'm going to give Bennati 5 more only.

- Moreau: 30 (-5) very good this year, but is 36 years old; I wouldn't make him as expensive as for example Menchov

Moreau is in good shape and is a very attacking rider, capable of sustaining time gaps in the medium-high mountain stages. But basically I think he's worth these points because, as he himself as stated, he's going for the King of the Mountains jersey, for which he should be a favourite together with riders like Rasmussen. But Moreau is in best shape, is better and more experienced. And is also more likely to place in the final top 10. I think that for those reasons his more likely to earn more points than a wheel sucker like Menchov who might get a few in mountain stages finishes and top 10 finish. If Moreau wears the mountains jeersey, he's a constant points garner for those who pick him...
We can debate that, but I'd leave him as it is. What do you think?

- Tankink: 5 (-5) pure helper
- Gadret: 10 (+5) watch out for him in the mountains; can be a surprise
- Förster: 20 (-5) good young rider, but not worth that much
- Niermann: 5 (-5) pure helper
- Burghardt: 10 (+5) Young powerful rider, very good in the beginning of the season
- Merckx: 10 (-5) past his peak; pure helper in his team
- De Groot: 5 (-5) idem

Accepted.

 

[MCdread]

NKVD, like Stapel says you have exceeded your budget by 5 Touros.
Actually more, now that the prices are gonna be slightly changed, involving riders you picked.

 

[MCdread]

- Pettachi: you can drop him, he won't ride the Tour this year

Replaced by Andrei Grivko.

 

[MCdread]

Profissional list:

Bram de Groot 10
Michael Rasmussen 30
Thomas Dekker 15
Andreas Klöden 40
Steven de Jongh 5
Bram Tankink 10
Tom Boonen 45
Robbie McEwen 40
Gert Steegmans 5

Total 200

Especially Steegmans should earn me some points!

Lucky guy. As McEwen turned 45, de Groot is now 5, so your budget is alright.

 

[Berrie]

What do you think?

Your original list gave already a good representation of the real strenght of the riders. The suggestions I gave were a few points where I tought a little correction was needed. We could endlessly discuss to give a particular rider 5 extra points or not, so I go with this list and will puzzle a team together.

Thanks for starting this.

 

[MCdread]

Your original list gave already a good representation of the real strenght of the riders. The suggestions I gave were a few points where I tought a little correction was needed. We could endlessly discuss to give a particular rider 5 extra points or not, so I go with this list and will puzzle a team together.

Thanks for starting this.

Ok. Maybe next year or for the Vuelta we can set up a joint partnership planned in advance and with more time to think about it.

 

[Stapel]

Lucky guy. As McEwen turned 45, de Groot is now 5, so your budget is alright.

Tankink alos dropped 5 points, so I am actually on 195, I think.

 

[Urederra]

I want to participate, but I haven't followed cycling lately. The dope thing made me lose interest. I will try to submit a team on time, though.

 

[pacesplace]

I fall in the category of "I don't know what the hell we're talking about" since I've only watched the last three years to see Americans go for the win...

Le Team de pacesplace
Thor Hushovd (Nor) 35
Andreas Klöden (Ger) 40
Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) 15
Thomas Dekker (Ned) 15
Iban Mayo (Spa) 15
Carlos Sastre (Spa) 40
Michael Rasmussen (Den) 30
Daniel Navarro (Spa) 5
Grégory Rast (Swi) 5

Which comes to 200 right now.

 

[Berrie]

I tried to put together a team that can compete at the different classifications. It took some heavy puzzling, but I think I have a very competitive team.

I have also given explenations why I choose these particular riders.

1. Tom Boonen           45  => My sprinter. I think McEwen might be better, but you sometimes have to be a bit patriotic
2. Alexander Vinokourov 55  => My guy for the overall victory
3. Cadel Evans          40  => Competitor for the top 3 overall
4. Franck Schleck       15  => Good in the mountain stages. Maybe top 10, maybe polka dot shirt?
5. Vladimir Gusev       10  => time trial and white jersey
6. John Gadret          10  => Mountain stages, maybe polka dot shirt?
7. Bernhard Kohl        10  => My contestant for the white jersey. There are better candidates, but I also have to look to the points.
8. Phillipe Gilbert     10  => Belgian, attacker, fast in a sprint with a small group
9. Gert Steegmans        5  => filler for my team, but he is fast and can maybe battle in a sprint or two

Thats 200 Touros

I would love to have Cavendish in my team, but thanks to myself he is now 15 points instead of 10.

 

[Stapel]

I want to participate, but I haven't followed cycling lately. The dope thing made me lose interest. I will try to submit a team on time, though.

Well, the dope thing has been around for, at least, 40 years. Still, your line of reasoning is quite popular these days. I regard things differently!

I think this is the first time that there really is going on something that actually does make cycling cleaner. The biggest clue is simply that so many cyclists, directors and doctors are so reluctant. Though I am not so naive to think cycling will ever be 100% clean, there is a huge difference this time. From now on, not only urinal or blood investigations are allowed evidence to trace the use of illegal substances, but also more practical legal evidence is allowed. In the past, having a truck load full with dope, working with several doctors and assistents saying you used it, would still not get you suspended, as long as your urine was ok. That will change now!

The reason why it is so hard to bring a change to cycling is because not a small minority is using illegal stuff, but a big majority. My (educated) guess is on 80-90%.

The new methods might have a huge, positive impact on cycling!