Some of you may remember Heine's thread from last year. Those of you that are new and don't, then here is a brief explanation from his thread:
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
The only change I'll make is that you can use this year's DB, and free agents that have wages next to their name can be used - so Boonen, Cunego and co are available - but new additions and free agents last year can't be used - so no Dombrowski, Vanbilsen and co.
I'll post mine soon, feel free to ask any questions and just post your dream team in here. For the newbies it's a good chance to explore the database and see what you can see. Have fun!
I have made my team based on which riders I believe would win the Pro Tour with their current wages, and their new capabilities. I have come upon these 20 riders:
Angel Madrazo - 750.000 €
Sergio Luis Henao Montoya - 280.000€
Stefan Denifl - 160.000 €
Jan Bakelants - 520.000 €
Tom Boonen - 650.000 €
Ben Swift - 280.000 €
Ian Bibby - 95.000 €
Teodoro Costagli - 50.000 €
Jianhua Ji - 60.000 €
Cesare Di Maggio - 50.000 €
Chris Froome - 75.000 €
Ben Gastauer - 50.000 €
Maurice Schreurs - 50.000 €
Marcel Kittel - 60.000 €
Michael Ford - 60.000 €
Jesse Sergent - 60.000 €
Brent Bookwalter - 65.000 €
Anthony Lavoine - 65.000 €
Andrew Fenn - 66.000 €
Pieter Jacobs - 53.000 €
Angel Madrazo will win the Vuelta, and probably the Tour de France, looking at the 2013 setup. At the Vuelta it seems like a good idea to let Henao Montoya help him, perhaps with riders such as Ji and Bibby as main domestiques. In the Tour de France Denifl and Bibby would be good while Costagli, Bookwalter and Sergent would help in the TTT. Tom Boonen for green jersey with help from Lavoine and possibly Bakelants just as a show off.
The Giro could be ridden by Either Henao Montoya or Denifl and obviously helped by Costagli, and Di Maggio. Ben Swift for stagewins in either the Giro or the Vuelta (or both).
For the hilly classics Jan Bakelants would be able to win everything with the support of Di Maggio, Froome, Gastauer, Schreurs, Ji and Bibby. Possibly one of them could be swopped with another subtop sprinter like Avelino to give Boonen and Swift the best possible leadout.
In the cobbles Tom Boonen would be supported by Pieter Jacobs and Andrew Fenn. I could spice the lineup with strong flat riders such as Jesse Sergent and semigood cobblers such as Bibby and Swift.
Denifl and Henao Montoya should be able to score decent in the smaller PT races, while Bakelants could also take the small GC races where there are more hills than mountains.
Overall I can't seem to pick a better overall squad I think. Perhaps I would go for less hilly riders, and get another sprinter or climber, but I think this is a pretty strong team.
Currently recovering from a concussion and not allowed much screen time by the doctor. Otherwise I would have posted a team by now. Strange no one else has. Yours looks very strong indeed!
I managed to get 25 riders into my team, trying to put together a team that would garner a lot of points but might not dominate like SotD's. Here goes:
Danilo Napolitano (325,000)
Aleksandr Efimkin (300,000)
Aleksandar Flugel (280,000)
Danny Summerhill (275,000)
Jacob Fiedler (230,000)
Dominique Cornu (215,000)
Walter Pedraza (180,000)
Gerald Ciolek (175,000)
Enrico Franzoi (168,000)
Stefan Denifl (160,000)
Ivano Lo Cicero (122,600)
Geert Steurs (122,000)
Tommy Zaini (120,000)
Vadim Ratiy (114,000)
Lucas Schadlich (90,000)
Oscar Solis (85,000)
Dmitri Claeys (70,000)
Marco Guillen (70,000)
Marcel Kittel (60,000)
Michael Ford (60,000)
Oscar Avelino (59,200)
Michel Sibilla (58,900)
Jaime Suaza (50,500)
Cesare Di Maggio (50,000)
Amadou Bakari (50,000)
Denifl, Pedraza and Ratiy would probably lead in a grand tour each, with Suaza and Solis there as support riders, who could lead in other stage races - for example Suaza in the Vuelta a Colombia. None of them are brilliant TT'ers, but they should still do reasonably well.
In the Hills, Di Maggio and Claeys would lead, with Efimkin and Flugel for the more difficult races and Zaini to add a little more support. Again, they won't dominate races but will pick up at least a decent haul in the Ardennes and the other hilly classics.
For the TT's, Fiedler, Cornu, Kittel, Ford and Schadlich are a formidable TTT team, and all would do well on their own. Cornu could lead in races with few hills and a TT, while the others could be used as engines or as domestiques.
In the Cobbles, Franzoi would lead with Summerhill and Steurs also working alongside him. Bakari and Sibilla would mainly be used as domestiques, due to their weaknesses in other stats.
Finally, for the sprints Lo Cicero, Avelino, Guillen and Ciolek could be used to lead out Napolitano as well as getting their own chances. The TT'ers could also be used here to help setup a leadout train.
Di Maggio and Claeys as hilly captains in the PT is an almost zero point scorer I reckon. They should be very very lucky to get in top 10 as a leader I think. I'd rather think they would be high if they were helpers for one of the ultimate leaders, and as such perhaps could shred the pack early on, catching some good riders behind.
In a battle royale they would be losing a lot of terrain I think. That way there is a lot of difference between the PT and the CT.
I will see if I can do something later ;-) I dunno about Di Maggio, considering that he did well in the Italian Championships... Might be that his high hill stat "tricks" pcm... :/ If not Cycling_Freak should sell him for ALOT of money to the CT
SotD wrote:
Di Maggio and Claeys as hilly captains in the PT is an almost zero point scorer I reckon.
I think you're definitely underestimating Di Maggio. For some reason, the secondary stats don't really come into it in hilly races like stamina.
Should really count him out of anything over 200km with his stamina rating, but take the recent Italian championships 250K plus - he was 7th and finished in the same group as Ulissi, Ponzi, Ricco and Ginanni. Only Cunego and Pozzato up ahead of them. He probably won't win anything, but is going to be able to race everything with a hill unlike some others and end up with lots of points.
The italian Champs doesn't include Schleck, Bakelants, Schumacher, Trofimov, Hagen, Gesink, Van Garderen, Spilak, Valverde, Efimkin and Gilbert though.
And as you pointed out he was in the group, but didn't manage to beat any of the better riders such as Ulissi, Ponzi, Ricco and Ginanni, and as such should be able to beat any of those above.
Given that most of those will be in any hilly one day race of the PT, Di Maggio would be somewhere between 15 and 20th everytime, which won't give many points. It will give some, sure, but as a leader that is worthless if you want to be a good PT team imo. But becoming 15th as a helper... That's something completely different, and that is a nice bonus. But to believe he would be in top 10 in the PT is optimistic I think. And when the hilly races are short and fast, he might even struggle to keep up with the likes of Ben Nasser, Bellis, Van der Hugenhaben, Mehr-Wenige, Phinney and other fast riders like that.
Obiously he will be able to get a fluke top 10 now and again, but I really wouldn't put my lifesavings on him being anything more than a domestique at the PT/WT.
Only 20 riders in my team, but I think it would be a pretty good one. The team would mostly focus on classics and short stage-races.
Robert Gesink
€793,000
Sylvain Chavanel
€ 100,000
Paul Martens
€55,000
Jeremy Roy
€ 160,000
Dimitri Claeys
€70,000
Maurice Schreurs
€ 50,000
Dietmar Mehr-Wenige
€75,000
Steven Kruijswijk
€ 105,000
Lets start with the hilly specialists, who will be led by Gesink, the team's absolute leader. Gesink would be a top 5 candidate in the classics and a favorite to take the win in any one week stage race in the calendar. And with that support, I think the success would be guaranteed.
Tom Boonen
€ 650,000
Joost Posthuma
€160,000
Johan Vansummeren
€ 85,000
Evert Verbist
€ 95,000
Sebastien Rosseler
€ 50,000
Leigh Howard
€60,000
Sebastien Minard
€ 50,000
The second leader of the team is Tom Boonen, who with the right support that the team should provide could be unstoppable in the cobbled classics. Also, he would receive a leading role in the Tour de France, as the team will go after stage wins and not bring a GC leader. Posthuma, Verbist, Rosseler, Vansummeren and Kruijswijk would be Boonen's support in the classics, while Howard and Minard would be the last riders to lead him out in the sprints.
Jurgen Van den Broeck
€ 600,000
Stefan Denifl
€160,000
Markus Eibegger
€ 50,000
Wout Poels
€50,000
Moving to the GC riders for the Grand Tours we have Van den Broeck and Denifl. Van den Broeck would receive a leading role in the Giro where he could aim for a top 5, while Denifl would go for La Vuelta, having the support of Eibegger to feel more at home in the team.
Benoit Vaugrenard
€70,000
The wild-card rider in the team would be Vaugrenard, who became on of my favorite riders and a must have for me after his Tour de France win in 2011.
22 riders, 3.483.400 in wage cap used. Should give a strong team, both hilly riders are strong and should be able to score good results in the hilly classics, specially with the support they got. The GC-leaders have proved that they can podium in GT's and will have strong support both in the climbs (Suaza, Denifl, Costagli) and in TTT (Ford, Kittel, Schädlich and Stannard, aslo Kenisky). Franzoi is a good cobble rider at a low wage, that will get top support from 2 riders that can get top 5 tehmself (Fenn and Sibilla) and a good support rider in Nooytens. For the sprints Swift is the leader with a train consisting of Kneisky, Ratto and Hoffman to lead him to the front.
