Whoop Whoop but I'm worried for the classification now after the intermediate failure

That race was really bad for Ferdi and Pierre. But it was a really good report otherwise. Thanks Ian

After kicking off again, we're ready for the Lisbon race. Preview is up. Superprestige is about to be fought for

@trekbmc: yeah, not the best race for your guys. Though now that Sylvain is back, there's a better chance especially given his slight raise in form lately! The World Champion won't be content with just that 1 victory so far in his jersey.
And about the injuries, I'm not a big fan of assigning them myself, though I let riders crash and let the players decide the gravity of it. Last season, TMM and Shonak used an opportunity like that to get them injured for a while, which was pretty cool

Thanks for the preview.

Yeah, forgot about that , I made Ferdi a bit injured now anyway.

Thought Goldie wasn't supposed to race all the NES races? Been a while so i might be wrong. Anyway could be a dud finale if he doesn't show up to focus on the World Cup.

Great to be back in action, gonna take a bit of time to get back into things but i'm looking forwards to it a lot

Hmm it's possible about Goldie, but it's been a while for me, too, so maybe I made the mistake. I need to get back into it, too

And just for the sake of it, a new Piece of History! Hope you enjoy it

Amazing to see people picking the game back up in no time in big numbers

Also, the rating widgets seem like they're here to stay on the site, and they're starting to grow even on me, so there's no point on the ban on the Game Thread anymore, I guess it's okay to use them, as there are so many great posts there to give a thumbs up

Hate to quadrupple post

I'll probably end up doing the Lisbon race this evening. So hold on to your hats

Excited about the race though

EDIT: Said something useless but I worked it out now

Uh-oh, what's this?
A new UCI rule?
God save us all!

Really great rule, just not for me.

Ferdi on the near the edge between in and out, Pierre a while out. At least Sylvain is in, but with Pierre and Stolz most likely out it looks like he'll be without support...

Really favours the bigger nations, but I guess that's the UCI.

It's a risk, for some countries it's a disaster. But I hope it'll increase the fight for lower spots.

Also, with Continental Championships offering UCI points, Africa, Oceania and America have an advantage with way less riders. Valuable points up for grabs there for smaller nations
But, indeed, smaller nations in the big Europe may feel the impact all too well!


And for the record, alternatives include:

-- 1 free rider for each country + extra number to be earned (could be top 25 or based on actual points or even on podium spots)

-- Top 40 instead of top 30

-- Just a limit of UCI points needed. So start list size may differ.

It will, now I really want Kloet to get into the top 30 Switzerland's not even a small nation though.

EDIT: Limit on UCI points could be good, or having an extra rider from each country with a rider top 3/5 in the UCI, although the normal one is probably best for competition.

Yeah. Lipawsky is current World Champion and now he'll have to spur on his fellow countrymen to even be there to support him defend it

Also, Great Britain will feel the impact unless the lesser riders start performing well at the bottom!

I'm ok with this rule. Goldie, Radio, TDF and Hammer Time are all comfortably inside the cut. The "big" gap comes behind Soucek in 26th place and it's pretty close behind him down to about 42nd. Could provide some more action at the back of the pack and drive some riders to race harder and take more risks in search of that big points result.

With the way Goldie and Radio are going they'll be fine. Hammer Time just needs some ice to start moving up. Even TDF seems fine and after the Continentals i imagine all the Americans will be set

Well there both in his team so he might need to sacrifice himself in a few races, I guess it depends on how much he values the worlds compared to victories/classifications.

Lisbon reshapes the Superprestige!
Enjoy the report, I had fun writing it and I think it's some of my better work, including more of the riders in the background while still keeping an eye on the events at the front, I believe.

Terrain description could still be better, but overall I think the report reads quite smoothly. Hope you agree

Well done Ian!

Good to finally see my sent-in tactic "fanatic Vague-fan punches Cook off his bike" to pay off.

Lipawsky didn't follow tactics too well but I can see why anyway, with the sand 5th is good.

Kloet wasn't meant to be racing though but it doesn't really matter.

Really nice race though, thanks Ian.