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Spring Classics 2015
The next major competition I am looking at getting organised for is the Spring Classics 2015. I would also like to get some prizes organised for a mini-league if it is still possible to run a standard mini-league competition.
Is anyone able to tell me how the Spring Classics will run this year?
For example:
- Will they be the same 12 races as last year, which will mean Omloop Het Nieuwsblad will be first on 22nd Feb ... that's less than a month away.
- Will it be possible for players to run a mini-league for this with just standard scoring on its own, i.e. not standard + purist + whatever scores all added together as aggregate league "scores".
If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.
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235 comments
Luck maybe, i like to think its the effort i put in checking form and the weather to see what it was like etc, but your probably right !!!!!!!!!!
All competitions have a limited number of transfers. How on earth have you used so many? I still have 24 left.
Heh heh. I won a multi-tool!
Dave, I'm still looking for Belleti, just to see his value, do you have time to upload him, Bernadeau and Demoitie ?... Thanks...
Nice!
And if the link isn't straightforward enough just plump in Vanmarcke
and Van Avermaet and throw darts at the other names on that page!
You'll get the hang of it and come to love the game!
Beautiful, Nix... Just beautiful!
Thanks, Dave!
I do have the previous values stored somewhere. I'd be happy to post them if you want, although I guess given all the changes you'd rather not mess with the values again... It'd be nice to revert to the pre-competition values just to be able to fit in lower valued riders... Was reverting to the old values ever a possibility? I'd imagine so...
Wouldn't it have been the preferred option?...
If I hadn't double checked I may well have put Tejay VG in, only to find I needed to swap them back. That would be 2 unnecessary transfers. As much as I support change for obvious improvements the current Classics game has been messed up.
It would have been better to have had limited transfers between each race rather than a bundle to cover the whole season. The result of the current rules and cock ups, will be many players having no transfers left for the later races and so they will show no interest in them whatsoever.
Surely that is not what the Fantasy league is about, is it?
I checked form fella but I've never seen crosswinds destroy a race like that .
Nice one
Thanks Nix, very useful link. Wish i'd seen it yesterday. I did play premium last year but the thought of picking for 13 races completely thru me. Missed the beginning of the season so feel a bit lost. I'm sure it'll all come back to me.
Out of order much?
People have been forum banned for less , Enrique can be annoying we all know that but he also makes valid points in between some of his annoying posts
ie
Everyone was told we couldn't have a purist comp as once the game was setup you couldn't add transfers .....this obviously wasn't strictly true because you did exactly that when you (admittedly) dropped the ball on the rider values so him asking about that is totally valid
As I said earlier , spring classics always causes problems.....
It certainly feels that way. Today was a beautiful day of racing. Bet there'll be a ton of low scores. Looking at the pre-race favorites, say Sagan, Degenkolb, Kristoff and Cavendish, you could only fit in those 4 and 4 3.0 or so riders...
I hope next year we get a chance to have rider values lowered to the point we can have 7 or 8 riders and not have half the team be 3.0 or so riders if we choose the favorites...
Stumps did mighty well today, though:
I just wish we had more riders to cheer on for our team...
And that we didn't have to skimp on a good team for lack of transfers:
It is fun, though... In a weird way...
It was announced at the start of the year it was this way for the whole calendar. You've gone some to have 2 left, I've got 26. Surely you noticed the transfers remaining counter going down race by race?
to be honest i didn't really consider the possibility of setting up a competition with no transfers, then adding some at another point. that is possible. i can't help thinking it'd be a bit confusing, especially since i'd have to take them away again immediately whatever the transfer-enabled race was started.
I wish I could find riders on Giant and BMC to pick for my team in the Paris-Rioubiax race. They aren't on the list!
That wasn't a dig Dave it was just illustrating that although Enrique can be annoying he does (sometimes) come up with valid points and ideas .
Perhaps if the current game mechanic stays next season it's a possible alternative for those that enjoy the purist side , you guys would just have to be on the ball that's all
I know... you hurt my feelings...
enrique, it is entirely possible to win this competition with 25 transfers if you plan and get a bit of luck.
Picking 3 big names and a filler does not always work and sometimes the 4 lesser riders score better.
My TdF purist team last year had Froome and Cav in and everyone knows what happened, so basically after the first stage my race was lost, whereas those people with lesser riders went on to out score me.
A lot of it is down to luck as well but giving people masses of transfers is not the way ahead and you just have to accept if one or more of your big names crashes or does not make the top 10 or top 20 thats what you have to accept and move onto the next race.
Its come to this point now
The rules are the rules, and will be set by those that set the rules. Just play to the rules as everyone else has to, and don't continually try to get them changed, if you don't like them its tough, but it doesn't matter what numbers you throw at them, they are not going to change. It seems 90% of players are happy with whatever the rules are and get on with it and play to those rules, and if they win, they win, if they loose they loose, but its all been fun, and fun can be had regardless of the transfers as its the same for all.
Only been a member since Beijing 2014. Never had so much fun following cycling. Wish I'd found the site earlier. LONG LIVE THE RULE MAKERS.
Purist players are a strange bunch .. they claim to like planning and strategy but don't like numbers (or facts it seems) being thrown at them.
Warning: hold up your crucifixes, numbers follow.
So far this year 844 players have signed up to play at least one of these 'fun' purist games.
Whereas 1,930 players have signed up to play at least one of those 'no fun, too easy, teams all the same' standard games.
Seems like we have the tail wagging the dog.
My comment wasnt aimed at u nix, i dont mind the numbers, throw them at me, but enrique may have learnt from last season, that dave will do it the way he sees best and is even less likely to change his mind if he persisting as he does, sometimes it goes beyond debate. U may well see my purist team is doing quite well so the planning is all good for me, but equally i like transfers which is why i do both
Players are able to choose to play a race as purist, or to play a race as standard, or both.
The size of the race, or how many times they can play, or whether they paid doesn't have any relevance to the validity of their choice as an indicator of preference.
The only way the current stats could be distorted is if a very popular race was only available as a standard comp, and I can't see that has occurred so far this year.
No more than 844 players might be playing both so far (as that is the total purist players).
So more than 1,000 players choosing at least 1 standard game have chosen not to play any purist at all so far this year, which is more than the total number who have chosen to play at least 1 purist game.
Further, this 1,000+ is an absolute minimum, as it assumes every purist player plays both types. The 1,000+ anti-purist count would be increased by one for every purist player who plays only purist.
The ratio anti-purist players to players playing purist is probably about 1.5 to 1.
The ratio of 'standard only' players to 'purist only' players is probably about 4 to 1.
I don't get what you are trying to say. All the non premium players will be doing standard and all the paying players will be doing both pretty much. Why would you choose a game with no interaction over one with if you only have 8 races to play...
This thread isn't about purist anyway. Last year it worked on the basis that all premium players had two teams for each race, one was called purist and one was called standard. For each of those they could change the whole team for every race. This year there will be a standard game with a lower number of transfers, which makes strategy more important.
Well done Enrique
Here is a rundown of the non World Tour teams that will be appearing in the 13 races named above, Beside them, you will see how many of the races above those teams are scheduled to participate in, according to PCS:
Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise 11
Team Roompot 9
Wanty - Groupe Gobert 9
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits 8
Team Europcar 8
MTN - Qhubeka 7
Bora-Argon 6
Bretagne - Séché Environnement 5
Androni Giocattoli 4
Nippo - Vini Fantini 4
Southeast 4
CCC Sprandi Polkowice 4
UnitedHealthcare 4
Team Novo Nordisk 3
Bardiani - CSF Pro Team 2
An Post - Chain Reaction 1
CCT p/b Champion System 1
Cult Energy Pro Cycling 1
RusVelo 1
Team Colombia 1
TeamM 1
Veranclassic - Ekoi 1
Wallonie - Bruxelles 1
According to PCS, there will be 40 different teams, including the World Tour teams, some of which will not ride races like Brabanste Pijl, riding the 13 races above.
These teams that appear below will not (!) be in the 2nd half of the competition, according to PCS, meaning they are not (!) currently scheduled to participate in any of the races like Brabantse Pijl and or any of the Ardennes classics and will only appear in the first half of the competition, which does include Strade Bianche, San Remo, Scheldeprijs and the Cobbled Classics....
An Post - Chain Reaction
Androni Giocattoli
Bardiani - CSF Pro Team
CCT p/b Champion System
Cult Energy Pro Cycling
MTN - Qhubeka
Nippo - Vini Fantini
RusVelo
Southeast
Team Colombia
TeamM
Veranclassic - Ekoi
Wallonie - Bruxelles
Enrique, too much effort for an extra transfer, really...
I propose a thought experiment. Let's assume we decide to go with the 3 transfer per race version, but award enrique 4 transfers for each race. Would he contest this set-up?
You know the answer to that, don't you...
Thats where strategy comes into it. If all the teams you mentioned are not competing later then the chances are they will try to put a rider or two in each break so that their sponsor gets publicity rather than sitting in the peleton and hoping to be there at the end.
So you do your homework on those riders and see who fits the course / terrain / weather the best and go for those riders that suit, similar as to picking the top riders.
For instance - blowing my own trumpet here - the Oman stage 2 had a final climb to the line of 10% so i put in Valverde and Majka and they came up trumps whereas others left in all their sprinters.
In the end if you dont want to spend the time doing it thats your choice.
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