Not sure If this is the right thread,but it applies to the game as well I think.
Say your competing in the T de F,how many riders do you need to finnish all the stages to qualify for the team award.
Eg. You enter 9,One guy crashes and is withdrawn,are you still in the running for the team even if you have one less rider than the other teams?
Or is it the times of your first, say 5 riders, in the GC list that count?
On another topic has a team, salary cap ever been discussed in cycling terms as in lots of American sports,or is it the case, and always has been, of the most financially equipped sponsored teams, getting the best riders?
You should probably use the cycling sub-forum for such a question, but anyway, an admin might move the thread later, so...
To qualify for the team classification you need a minimum of three riders to finish every stage. Team classification is the sum of times of your best three riders for every stage. The lesser amount wins (of course).
If a rider abandons the race after being one of his team best three riders on one stage, it doesn't matter.
As for your second point : there's nothing such as a salary cap in cycling, basically the most powerful sponsors might get the best riders (but they won't all agree to be domestiques for the best of them, most would rather be leaders in other teams with a slightly smaller wage).
In both the game and real life, what counts for the team award are your 3 best cyclists on that stage. Then sums up with the best 3 cyclists of your team in the next stage, and the best 3 in the next next stage and so on. Therefore unless you have less than 3 riders you can still compete in the teams' award.
In real life, there's no salary cap, and thus it's kinda the case of, as you said, the teams who invest more get the best riders. In the game I'm not sure if there's a salary cap but you are limited by your sponsor's budget to you
What counts is the time of the best three placed riders in each stage. So obviously you need three riders at least.
A salary cap has been discussed, and people like Vaughters have pushed hard for it, but it still doesn't exist, and I don't think there will be a salary cap anytime soon.
