I'm a bit bored and though we could make our own "dream teams" within the rules of the pro-tour. So what do you do is you open up the db of last year, take the riders you want and make your team inside the rules. Just for fun ofc, and in the end you can explain your team. This is also a good way for people to check out the db before renewals and transfer season ;-)
Rules:
Max wage: 3.500.000 (Like the Pro Tour)
Minimum number of riders: 20
Maximum number of riders: 30
No riders from free agents, wage used is the same as in the DB from last season. Note that some (like Kiserlovski) got wrong wage
To get it going here are my team:
GC Leaders:
Taylor Phinney (545 000)
Vincenzo Nibali (450 000)
Cobbleleaders:
Adam Blythe (375 000)
Pieter Vanspeybrouck (170 000)
Hilly leaders:
Edvald Boasson Hagen (454 000)
Sprinters:
Matthew Goss (250 000)
Juan Van Heerden (275 000)
Domestiques:
Magno Nazaret (125 000)
Andrei Grivko (110 000)
Jelle Vanendert (95 000)
Kevin Van Impe (65 000)
Mark Renshaw (60 000)
Igor Abakoumov (50 000)
Gatis Smukulis (50 000)
Cyril Gautier (50 000)
Yoann Offredo (50 000)
Dietmar Mehr-Wenige (67 900)
Adrian Laidler (50 000)
Jairo Agudelo (70 000)
Moises Dueñas (65 000)
Jaime Suaza (50 000)
Total: 3 476 900 (21 riders)
I decided first that I wanted a team with Phinney as one of the leaders since I think that he is one of the best in the game (and would lead my TDF squad), then I decided that I wanted an Italian leader for the Giro and decided on Nibali. I also gave them some climbers as helpers (Suaza, Dueñas, Agudelo, Nazaret and Grivko), that could support them. I decided to not concentrate on Time Trialists and rather destroy the others in the mountains.
For the cobbled classics this team would go with 2 leaders in Blythe and Vanspeybrouck, the latter being the clear number one on cobbles in the CT last year. Both are pretty cheap and would imo give good points together. To support them I took among other Van Impe.
I had decided before starting this that I wanted Hagen, he would get support from Grivko, Vanendert, Mehr-Wenige etc. I think the hill part of my team is weaker than the other parts of the team but that Hagen would score a nice amount of points for the team and that a rider could Vanendert might sneak in some points.
The last part of the team is the sprinter part, here I also decided to go for 2 strong CT riders, in Goss and Van Heerden. They are both sprinters that could get wins both in GTs and smaller tours. They got help from riders like Renshaw and Abakumov who was mostly selected for their low wage and sprinter stat.
This was my "dream team", a team that would in my opinion win the Pro Tour without any problem (yeah, it is a team that would be impossible to get, but it's under the wage cap ;-))
Trying to do my own (and looking at yours) makes me realise how good some of the ProTour teams are (definitely do not include my team in this). I would definitely disagree your team would be a certainty for the title (I'll admit it would be a strong favourite), but I'm glad you picked 1 of my riders \o/
But the more important point: I don't see Theo Bos anywhere in your selection Edited by Crommy on 21-04-2011 21:26
This is for pcm09 by the way! I think strategies would play out differently in pcm10.
Anyway Pluchkin for the Tour and a couple of other stage races. Contador for the Vuelta and maybe races like the Volta and the Tour of the Basque country. Ghiselberti as a bit of an outside top 10 gamble at the Giro - I noticed Castano and Marzano did well there despite not really being the best.
Monuments are worth a cashload of points so it is important to have Burghardt and Bo Hagen two guys capable of delivering podium places.
Van Stayen is the top level sprinter, Guereo was excellent at the Vuelta... Dumoulin, Drujon and Tolleson could strike and also be uber lead outs.
In the domestiques there are three usefull men against the clock along with potential stage winners in Caruso and Visconti who can double up as luxury domestiques for Bo Hagen and in GTours. Medvedev was excellent all year for Vesuvio as were Pecherramon and Vasquez for their teams. Ladagnous and Smukalis are pretty good considering their 50,000 wage.
Interesting idea. But it's important how you define your dream team. I don't see the fun in choosing only the best deals on the market. Nationality and specialization would also have an impact for me. I'll try to post mine later.
I think I agree in part with Alexkr00. I made my team based more on nationality and who I like/dislike, which is also the way I play the man game anyway!
So here's mine, a team with lots of time - trial specialists and almost no sprinters. Also there are only 3 nationalities and 19,000 euros left in the salary cap.
