I got roped into joining by Bikex, so I didn't really have much of an idea about my team and what I should do. As a result I don't have an attachment to the game, my team or the results. My team I'm guessing is about where it should be in regards with results, although I didn't expect Senechal to be as crap as he is
As of now I don't see myself as anything more than a lurking manager that drops a comment here or there. I'm leaning towards coming back (if possible) with a different idea, at least squad wise, for next season. But I currently can't see myself pouring anything near the same amount of effort here, as I do in MG.
Good luck to everyone the rest of the season and thank you for all the work being done for previews and results
I’m in my fifth season and still have no idea what I’m doing. Lean into it
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
Yeah, mangame and ICL are very different from the concept. Mangame is all about the reports, manager interaction, and role playing, ICL has its results and videos but the main focus really lies on building and changing the team over several seasons, scouting and primarily developing riders etc in a good time frame, hence the high pace. You can only really see if it fits you in the 2nd season imho when you have seen all the facets and pros and cons of the game.
I want to move this to the Changes Discussion Thread and I think I have the moderator power to do so, but I have no idea how it works. Maybe one of the other ICL moderators can do so.
df_Trek's team is a fine example of how much is possible from the first season to the second once you know what you're doing. I dare say Brugse Zot wasn't much to shout about last season (finished 13th in the CT) and now it's a promotion favourite.
Also, the rider development at the end of the season can't be underestimated. Bosch's Daniel Auer (pot 5) went from AVG 73.5 to 76.3 in just two seasons. Tierra del Fuego's and VIP Mobile's squads should improve nicely even without transfers.
Senechal is the favourite to win Paris-Roubaix this season, which would already be huge for you, but he is pretty "single-minded" in his stat distribution. But if you stick with him and the game his wage should drop and you should probably train him as a puncher, which next season will make him a bigger threat in all cobbled races and a season later in many hilly classics as well.
Back to crashes - race ending crashes for captains are very rare. More likely is a crash which leaves him injured for the next few days so he'll lose even more time. But he can still bounce back by winning stages or even a polkadot jersey by joining breakaways. Look at Herrada's TdF last season, he should have been on the podium and only finished 20th in the end due to a crash and an iinjury, but he still scored pretty well in the end. And across the season he outscored Majka despite this crash, on paper both were very similar last season (both had MON 81), and Majka didn't crash at all.
So Fabianski was very unlucky, losing his captain in his first important race. That sucks. But by the laws of average that shouldn't happen to him again for a few seasons at least.
Well, if it's being moved I might as well still post here
ICL started before MG got rid of crashes, so I'm used to it to sorta say. I had both Goos and Van Poppel crash out in Tour de France as my goal race, which kinda sucked. But in the end, it makes the game more realistic, so I'm in favour of keeping crashes on.
Ripley wrote:
Senechal is the favourite to win Paris-Roubaix this season, which would already be huge for you, but he is pretty "single-minded" in his stat distribution. But if you stick with him and the game his wage should drop and you should probably train him as a puncher, which next season will make him a bigger threat in all cobbled races and a season later in many hilly classics as well.
Probably not gonna keep him anyway since I wanna go in a totally different direction. Hopefully someone wants to buy that "single mindedness" in the offseason
We're in plenty of races in April, but the month being so cobbles-heavy means that this is mostly about gaining experience for Harrison Adams so that he can contest these races in 2-3 years.
If we're lucky, maybe he can snatch a Top 10 somewhere.
The two opportunities we have to score points this month are in South Africa, where Auer is a Top 5 climber, and in Wallonie if the cobbles aren't decisive and Plarre can aim for a Top 10 behind the WT guys.
Particularly Auer needs to make use of his rare leader role to not waste 11 race days.
Cold start into the Giro for Herrada who returns here the first time since he became a GT contender. It is a very tough race with strong competitiors, most notably Quintana. Fingers crossed there won't be deciding crashes and that daily form favors Herrada now and then. Hoping for some exciting racing from dominox, heard that there will lots of live coverage upcoming
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
Aleko Vitosa was a complete gamble for me. Not sure how we'll do there, but should be a fun race regardless. Tour of California is an important one as well, so hopefully Mannion can represent America well.
Two focus races for us this month. Lincoln is also a home race, so we are really hoping for Sagan to strike again. Majka is favourite for Sochi, though I don't want to jinx it, a podium would be fine. Also: Can Tao make the top 10 in three GTs in a row?
The giro is going to be a huge race for us, as I took the risk and sent Villella there because of all those early hilly stages. In best case, he will take a few of those and with it the pink jersey as well and then go on and finish in the top 10. Probably none of that is going to happen but we can dream right.
Vali wrote:
The giro is going to be a huge race for us, as I took the risk and sent Villella there because of all those early hilly stages. In best case, he will take a few of those and with it the pink jersey as well and then go on and finish in the top 10. Probably none of that is going to happen but we can dream right.
Also not too shabby in the mountains so quite a good pick. I also always want to see Bananito in at least one GT. The chance of them doing good there is always there
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
Not expecting a great month for the full team but the U23 team should be in for a good month. If we don't join breaks and try for the KOM in this Giro, with the team I've sent, I'm not sure what it'll take for my riders to join breaks.
Really happy we didn't send the big guys to the Giro, that race looks stacked. Sochi though with quite some importance for us, and then Tour des Fjords hopefully will be a feast for us.
University of Lincoln GP 05.05
Grand Prix of Sochi 17.05 - 21.05
Race Horizon Park 30.05
Tour de Romandie 02.05 - 07.05
Aleko Vitoša 03.05
