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Mountains & Results
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 25-11-2024 09:19
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| staviros |
Posted on 02-01-2013 11:14
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Junior Rider
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Good Post EPLE.
i agree with pretty much everything.
to break away i do use my main rider at dot 88% protected for the final climbs, only to give the him an initail gap, then wind it back to about 84%....and constantly amend it until the line.
but once their heart rate is red....you are consuming too much energy....I try and keep it orange....this varies i think by rider stats and fitness etc.
i always set the pace (as per Juszta post) on flat hill or mountain...keepinig it under 60% effort. but try and thin out the lead group on the hills and mountains by upping the pressure on the difficult parts (but keeping my leader under 166 bpm).
this limits any traffic jams on the critical attacks phases at key parts of the race.
this works for the classics as well....cobbles slightly different.
but on normal difficulty i won the TDF with about 7mins to spare....time to move to hard i think. |
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| eple |
Posted on 03-01-2013 18:45
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Stagiare
Posts: 173
Joined: 17-08-2009
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I have still yet to win TdF, but when I eventually do I'll up the difficulty. Is it a big difference from normal to hard?
This season I have signed Nibali and will use him for TdF, and unlike last time when I lost it with a few seconds to Contador, I won't ride for two leaders, but focus all effort to get Nibali to win it.
On a side note: It's so annoying when you catch up to a break away on a climb and your captain get's stuck in the slow traffic behind one of the tired riders. I see it before it's about to happen, and I haven't got a clue how to avoid it, but I just know the other favorites will attack and get a gap.
Edited by eple on 03-01-2013 18:46
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| staviros |
Posted on 03-01-2013 19:10
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Junior Rider
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To avoid the back markers causing a jam, try this.
Have your front rider on permanent relay and the rest of the team on relay....they normally just zip past them. You can even protect you principle in the relay train. |
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| yoejo |
Posted on 12-01-2013 01:12
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Neo-Pro
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I have still yet to win TdF, but when I eventually do I'll up the difficulty. Is it a big difference from normal to hard?
a little in the beginning, but you´ll get used to it. the fitness points are becoming more important. like having 96 in fitness instead of 98 and so on. and it´s much more important to be able to save energy.
just wait till you start on extreme.  patience is your friend up here
On a side note: It's so annoying when you catch up to a break away on a climb and your captain get's stuck in the slow traffic behind one of the tired riders. I see it before it's about to happen, and I haven't got a clue how to avoid it, but I just know the other favorites will attack and get a gap.
agree with staviros previous post also, although I haven´t tried it. but just make sure those riders u don´t want to get caught have a high dot effort when they approach the big breakaway and that your riders are very much at the front. usually it´s seldom any problems going past them. but lower your dot effort very fast after you´ve passed them. 
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| Blueprint |
Posted on 15-01-2013 12:03
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Domestique
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Very useful topic, thanks. I will certainly apply some of the tactics mentioned and practice a lot... |
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| Blueprint |
Posted on 21-01-2013 10:10
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Domestique
Posts: 437
Joined: 29-03-2007
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By the way, what would you guys recommend in the following situations to get the best possible result?
- One good climber, but no good helpers in the team (Lotto for example if you use Vanendert in the Vuelta and Van den Broeck is virtually unprotected)
- Subtop climbers, like Brajkovic or Kreuziger for Astana |
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| eple |
Posted on 21-01-2013 11:01
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Stagiare
Posts: 173
Joined: 17-08-2009
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Do you mean using them separately in different tours? The three big ones or smaller tours? I think you can win a few classics and shorter tours with them.
I think you can get away with having helpers with around 73-74 m skill. It might be tricky at the final climbs of the toughest mountain stages though.
If you have just one strong rider I would have him sit patiently and ignore all the attacks from the outsider favorites and wait until the main favorites attack and then follow them with dot-effort and try to get a gap on the last 5-7km. Basically save as much energy as you can and use it only when it matters. With Vanendert you might wanna try grabbing as many seconds as you can in the hill-stages as you are likely to lose time in the mountains and time trials.
If you are feeling adventurous you can pick a stage towards the end of the tour with lots of climbs and decents and little flat terrain and try to get away with Vanendert. If you go at 60-50km before the finish he can probably manage to ride in at 70-75% on climbs and 65-70% on decents/flat. I've done this a few times with lesser riders and gotten them well up in the rankings, but it might be that Vanendert is considered too strong so the peleton won't let him get a gap. I recon both of them might struggle in the big tours because of lower sta/rec compared to the others, but I think you can get away with that in the Giro and Vuelta.
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| staviros |
Posted on 21-01-2013 17:16
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Junior Rider
Posts: 42
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I agree with EPLE....if i was in your shoes i'd target the Vuelta...usually by that stage in the season most good climbers are burnt out. Gives you a better chance to win/podium with a lightly raced and fit climber. Avoid the TDF as the best riders are usually in their best from. But if you have to race the TDF aim for a top ten or a breakaway stage win. You could use the recon camps and/or training camps to help your chances, but there is a feeling on the forum that its cheating...persoanl choice i guess.
good luck...let us know what you decide to do. |
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| eple |
Posted on 22-01-2013 04:25
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Stagiare
Posts: 173
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I'm having a fairly interesting Giro right now.
I have a newly promoted WT-team, so it's not the strongest. For the Giro my leader is Mollema with 78m. His helpers are Quintana and Machado (78 and 77m). Main favorites are Nibali (83m), Pinot (80m), Kreuziger (80m) and Van Garderen (78m).
I did okay in the early TT and won the team time trail, putting Mollema and Machado in front. As the mountain stages came and went I gained a few seconds in most. I would occasionally lose a little bit to one of them, but gain it back in the next.
In the 14th stage I had a little more than 3 minutes lead on Nibali with Mollema and Machado was 2 min ahead. That's when Mollema had a fall. He was able to get back up, but he just didn't have any power after that. Lost almost 6 minutes in that stage, while Machado lost 15 seconds. So now Mollema was 3 minutes behind Nibali.
In the next stage Mollema ran out of energy very quickly. There was no news on the injury, but clearly the fall was affecting him, as he had 20% energy left at the last climb whereas Machado had more than 50%. I wasn't able to close the gap to Nibali with Machado and lost another 40 seconds bringing his lead down to 56 seconds, but Mollema lost a whooping 9 minutes, close to falling below 20th place. I'm a bit worried with the last TT as Nibali can easily get a whole minute on Machado there.
In the next stage Mollema seemed to be back in shape though, so I took a risk and sent him in the breakaway. At first the peleton was agitated, but eventually they let the break go. At around 50km to go the break had a 6 minutes lead, and that's when I tried to get a gap. It worked and by the end Mollema won the stage 6'50' ahead of Nibali and the rest.
So now he is back in 8th place. Ranking at this point, with 3 mountain stages, one sprint and one long TT to go:
1. Machado 69h:36m:12s
2. Nibali + 56
3. Pinot + 1'25'
4. Van Garderen + 3'05'
5. Nieve + 3'36'
6. Henao + 4'27'
7. Krueziger +5'06'
8. Mollema +5'41'
9 Pozzovivo + 5'49'
10. Carrascal +6.47
(The last one is from my team. A young generated rider with decent mountain and TT-skills, but poor recovery and stamina.)
I really have no idea how I'm gonna win this one. I'm tempted to try and somehow get Mollema back to the top, as he has a better chance on the TT, but I doubt the peleton will allow him to get in the break away again.
Edited by eple on 22-01-2013 04:28
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| cio93 |
Posted on 22-01-2013 04:32
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World Champion
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eple wrote:
I really have no idea how I'm gonna win this one.
I assume you're on normal, because otherwise that question wouldn't arise 
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| eple |
Posted on 22-01-2013 04:56
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Stagiare
Posts: 173
Joined: 17-08-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Hah, you are correct |
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| eple |
Posted on 22-01-2013 06:17
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Stagiare
Posts: 173
Joined: 17-08-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Ah.. I wasn't able to win.. close though. Had a good tactic on the 17th stage as I got away with Mollema with 40km to go. The thought was either he gets away and gain time or the others exert themselves chasing him in, allowing me to attack with Machado. The latter happened and he got a good gap, but Nibali was able to catch up on the decent, coming in just close enough for there not to be a gap, however took plenty of time on the others, securing a podium finish. Still, got bonus time on Nibali though, so he had 1'14'lead if I remember correctly. On the last two mountain stages however Nibali was too strong. He took the jersey with a 25 seconds lead on the last stage and held it in the TT. Machado a total of 56 seconds behind in the GC after the TT. Mollema finished 8th. Would have won if not for the fall. |
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| Blueprint |
Posted on 22-01-2013 08:56
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Domestique
Posts: 437
Joined: 29-03-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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staviros wrote:
I agree with EPLE....if i was in your shoes i'd target the Vuelta...usually by that stage in the season most good climbers are burnt out. Gives you a better chance to win/podium with a lightly raced and fit climber. Avoid the TDF as the best riders are usually in their best from. But if you have to race the TDF aim for a top ten or a breakaway stage win. You could use the recon camps and/or training camps to help your chances, but there is a feeling on the forum that its cheating...persoanl choice i guess.
good luck...let us know what you decide to do.
I decided to wait for the Daily 2013 DB and try it with Astana (because they suck in 2012). Then, with Nibali, I will probably go for Giro, Vuelta and the World Championships (hoping that the parcours will be updated to Tuscany). Then maybe the Tour in 2014, which would be perfectly realistic.
I know the Vuelta is easy, as I found out with Rabobank. While Kruijswijk (Giro) and Gesink (Tour) were struggling and only finished around 10th place, it was easy to get to the Vuelta podium with Mollema after a successful Ardennes campaign and a build-up through Poland, Burgos and San Sebastian. Basically, I only had one problem: Contador. Would I play with Rabobank again, I'd choose to add Kruijswijk to the Tour line-up to give Gesink some decent support and target the Giro with a sprint team. And as I am stubborn as hell, I will keep playing on hard without any camps |
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