MVDP was wearing nothing!
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MVDP was wearing nothing!
He's 'ard.Quote:
Originally Posted by Llani Boy
Neither was Pidcock and, wimpy Yorkshire Leeds' lad that he is, he was complaining that with all the blisters he had he couldn't hold onto his bars near the finish.
There was some discussion during the Eurosport coverage about all this and, of course, many riders wear "mitts", ie gloves without finger ends.
And at Roubaix sometimes thicker or even double bar tape. I am having my bar tape replaced during my current Bianchi service and this can be surprisingly expensive. My tape in celeste can be around £80 - so, since I am not doing Roubaix next year - I will settle for just a single thickness.:)
Graham, you are being done - I'll do it for £50. ;)
I saw Pidcock's post along with graphic pics and just thought why weren't you wearing mitts?
I do if only to give my old arthritic finger joints some protection and in warmer weather it affords a better grip. In fact I can't think of a time when I would ride a bike without some kind of hand protection.
Maybe it's the same to professional riders as elite fell runners who turn up to races in midwinter in nothing but a vest and the scimpiest of shorts.
OK everyone, if you fancy it Fantasy Giro is open.Quote:
Originally Posted by Witton Park
I'm going to put my team in now. Entries close Saturday lunchtime.
Had to set up a new league code.Quote:
Originally Posted by Witton Park
46671609
I'm in.
Come on Marco, Graham, Pete S, Mr B and anyone else who does or doesn't ride a bike!
I'm in but I think I have made a fatal error in not selecting Pog. I had to pick G of course but then have gone for a team of experience and attacking potential instead.
OK guys the end of week 1 review.
First though a brief mention for Cav. A good win in a Tour of Hungary Stage this week with Groenewegan in 2nd and looked fairly comfortable.
I'm not sure he's up to taking on the current top rank yet, but with 6 weeks to go, he's not looking too shabby.
OK to the Giro.
One can argue it's looking a tad (no pun intended) one sided, but when we saw the roster that looked likely. But the racing has been good to watch.
Only 3 of us put teams in to Velogames.
Mine are Tadej Pogačar, Thymen Arensman, Esteban Chaves, Filippo Zana, Tim Merlier, Filippo Ganna, Aurélien Paret-Peintre, Michael Valgren, Maximilian Schachmann
PeteS has Luke Plapp, Geraint Thomas, Ben O'Connor, Michael Woods, Olav Kooij, Edward Theuns, Lilian Calmejane, Alessandro De Marchi, Daniel Martínez.
Llani has Geraint Thomas, Eddie Dunbar, Rafał Majka, Ben O'Connor, Caleb Ewan, Simon Clarke, Jasper Stuyven, Luka Mezgec, Madis Mihkels
Points so far are
Witton 3309
PeteS 3161
Llani 1922
So far picking Pogacar has worked, but he cost so many points to buy, that it might affect me elsewhere and PeteS is close by having two potential podium riders.
Pete is hampered a touch by the loss of Michael Woods following a crash, and the loss of Dunbar is costing Llani.
Looking forward to two lumpy days now.
Will Pogacar burn his team by going for too many stages? I suspect that even if he does, he's too far ahead for anything other than crash or illness to get in the way of a win by a huge time gap.
EDIT - Kooij out! Tough for Pete as he looked to be a decent overall points scorer.
Damn. Already lost Michael Woods so losing Kooij is going to hurt my final tally.Quote:
Originally Posted by Witton Park
Should have gone for more Ineos with hindsight but Aurélien Paret-Peintre was a good punt
Although Valentin would also have been a good bet!
WP, Do you know if there is an option to substitute/replace riders or add another if you have a few euros left?Quote:
Originally Posted by PeteS
There might be, but I never have. There are different levels of competition. Will have a look later.Quote:
Originally Posted by Llani Boy
I was looking at the profile for Tuesday/Wednesday next week :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Witton Park
Llani - you can make subs, but they only count in something called the stage hunter competition and there's a cut-off each day.
https://www.velogames.com/italy/2024/rules.php
Thanks WP. I've had a look at the Stage Hunter competition and I'm in 18642nd place out of 19055 so I don't think I'll bother!:rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Witton Park
I've been doing this for about 10 year - it started as a nit of fun with a few old club mates. I just like to do the normal competition as it adds a little interest to watching the racing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Llani Boy
Gutted this morning to see Merlier was relegated to 89th yesterday. Cost me a few points :(
You came out on top yesterday Llani - maybe all is not lost :)
Julian Alaphilippe. Chapeau, sir!
I agree. A fantastic watch on the stage highlights yesterday. I don't think I've seen a leading rider looking behind as much as he did. Either he didn't believe the time gaps or perhaps there were so many cars/motorcycles behind him that he couldn't get a decent view to see if anyone was sneaking up on him!Quote:
Originally Posted by PeteS
He was super - the way he organised his sidekick.
Got to say that chasing back were useless though.
Yes.Quote:
Originally Posted by PeteS
But being a grand old man of French cycling way past his best and around an hour down on the leading teams who had other priorities gave him a fair wind.
End of Week Two.Quote:
Originally Posted by Witton Park
I don't think we've lost any more team members.
Points total as of Sunday evening.
Witton 5433
PeteS 4560
Llani 3106
Whilst the Giro might be over, I don't think the Competition for us is yet. Pete has 3 x GC riders who could clock up a lot of overall points at the end of the race, and might nick a stage this week.
Final Result
Witton 9028
PeteS 7524
Llani 5389
Using a big chunk of my 100 points on Pogacar paid off. His total score was 3719, way ahead of 2nd place Danny Martinez on 2378.
Having said that, Pete had the 2nd, 3rd and 6th best overall points scorers and suffered from the loss of Woods and losing Kooij also cost him perhaps 300-400 points so a good showing under the circumstances.
The low scores of De Marchi and Theuns also didn't help.
The lower value picks can be a bit of a lottery.
Losing Dunbar early cost Llani and Caleb Ewan never really got a blow in during the sprints. After his HM performance I doubt he cares though :D
Just a heads up, I think the Dauphine will be open later this week.
I'll keep an eye on it and alert on here ASAP.
Hopefully we can get one or two more giving it a go.
Thanks for doing the groundwork WP.Quote:
Originally Posted by Witton Park
I'll study the form more closely for the next one!
There's a lot of luck involved Llani. Had Pog fallen ill or crashed I'd have been stuffed, and I was also helped by my worst points scorer being Chaves.Quote:
Originally Posted by Llani Boy
My 6 and 8 pointers came up trumps, but that's rare and a lottery, rather than form selection :)
Thanks WP - hopefully we can get a few more involved for the tour.
I knew Pog was going to score highly but I doubt any of us foresaw how dominant he was going to be.
Pleased with final results though considering I lost 2 who should have been good for a few points. Strangely I toyed with Julian Alaphilippe in place of Woods but decided he was past his best and wouldn't win a stage or feature highly on any others....
https://www.velogames.com/cdd/2024/Quote:
Originally Posted by Witton Park
Dauphine open if anyone fancies joining in
I'm in.Quote:
Originally Posted by Witton Park
Thanks WP
Just me and you then Llani :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Llani Boy
Still, it's the quality not the quantity ;)
The others are probably keeping their powder dry for the Tour, especially Graham ;)
I was away and missed the deadline. Will definitely be up for Le Tour though.
Nearly caught you WP. Only 19 points in it at the finish.Quote:
Originally Posted by Witton Park
I'm starting to get the hang of this.
See you on The Tour!
Indeed Llani - I've been away over the weekend, so I missed the Friday/Saturday Dauphine and was a tad surprised to see the standings when I got home yesterday.Quote:
Originally Posted by Llani Boy
As it was only me and thee, I'll not bother with the overall.
Let's hope more will give the TdF a go.
Just a heads up that in around a week the TdF Velogames will open up with around 48 hours to put teams in.
If interested, keep an eye out for the reminder here or register in advance with velogames and they will email to remind you.
Tour entries now openQuote:
Originally Posted by Witton Park
https://www.velogames.com/velogame/2024/entryform.php
I'm in :)
I watched the team presentations earlier and have had to change my riders. I initially went with Roglic but Pogacar looked so cool and relaxed I had to have him. I also had to have Aberystwyth's Stevie Williams as my wildcard.:)
I'm in. I tried hard to not pick Pog but I can see no other competition for GC and is odds on for the first Giro and tour double since Pantani.
I see we have a 4th team in the FRA forum league this time.
Interesting and Pete off to a good start.Quote:
Originally Posted by PeteS
That was a very fine opening day! I got quite excited watching it at the end.
Day 2 was very fine. Looking to be a classic Tour. And the scenery and architecture on the finish circuit was nice.
I've been to Bologna. A beautiful city and you can always savour a lovely Parmigiagno-Reggiano cheese and Parma ham lunch while deciding on which day to visit the nearby Ferrari museum. Allegedly Bologna is the heart attack capital of Italy.Quote:
Originally Posted by MattPo
It must be something in the water.:)