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Peaking riders
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| Cossack |
Posted on 28-05-2013 11:31
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Domestique
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Hi, I'm going to start my first career as Movistar. I have read several topics and guides about managing team and riders, but still have two questions:
1. How much should a rider race before his second peak? Valverde will be leader in Ardennes and then his second peak will be Vuelta. After Ardennes he will have 20-30 race days, how much should he race before Vuelta?
2. When is it best to peak sprinters who aren't good enough to go to Tour? I don't think Rojas or Ventoso could win anything there, so I think about sending them to one-week tours mostly and maybe MSR. Which period of season is best to peak them? |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 28-05-2013 11:35
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Tour de France Champion
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1) You don't want to start the Vuelta with more than 45days so there is your answer. You can get up to race fitness (88+) in 5-6days of racing.
2) Both Ventoso and Rojas would be very well suited to the Vuelta and its hillier parcours. Again shorter races like TDU, Catalunya, Romandie, Pologne and Eneco are perfect for them as well. There is no one big race for them unless its the Vuelta.
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| Ad Bot |
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| Cossack |
Posted on 28-05-2013 11:47
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Domestique
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Thanks for reply, would it be enough to send only one of them (Ventoso or Rojas) on Vuelta and sit on other trains' wheels or better take them both and leadout myself? Movistar seems to lack good enough flat/hill riders to create own train. |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 28-05-2013 12:01
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Tour de France Champion
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I would only send one to the Vuelta and the other to the Giro (if you want them at a GT)
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| Cossack |
Posted on 28-05-2013 12:12
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Domestique
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And a bit more generally, where to send ~76 sprinters who aren't as good on hills, like Swift, most Vacansoleil ones etc.? |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 28-05-2013 12:14
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Tour de France Champion
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Cossack wrote:
And a bit more generally, where to send ~76 sprinters who aren't as good on hills, like Swift, most Vacansoleil ones etc.?
TDU and Pologne are musts. Otherwise non-WT races are the best bets for wins
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| ShortsNL |
Posted on 28-05-2013 12:15
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Breakaway Specialist
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1.1 and 1.HC races if you want to win with them, or use them as leadout in your main races.
Any other races you can just use them as helpers. |
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| shin0da_13 |
Posted on 28-05-2013 12:51
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Free Agent
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A good program for Valverde could be planning 2 peaks, one at the Giro and one for Vuelta. For the first peak start racing in Catalunya then Pais-Vasco and Ardennes (90 fitness), Romandie and Giro (that's 43 racing days). You can profit from the good form coming from Giro and try for Dauphine and finish the first part of the season with 51 race days. For the second part of the season start riding directly in Vuelta and continue with Worlds and Lombardia. Depending on the route and the usually pretty weak field you can get a result there without racing before Vuelta.
I am following this schedule with Thibaut Pinot in 2015. Following the preparation races in Catalunya and Pais-Vasco where he was building fitness and riding as suport for Poels, he had 90 fitness for LBL where he got 10th as a helper. 2nd in Romandie, won the Giro and 3rd in Dauphine. In the second part of the season he finished 3rd in Vuelta with fitness varying from 94 in stage 11 to 90 at the end. Now onto Worlds and Lombardia with a good fitness level. |
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| ShortsNL |
Posted on 28-05-2013 13:30
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Breakaway Specialist
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I can't recommend the above. Personally, I think peaking for the Ardennes, the Giro, the Vuelta and WC/Lombardia is at least one peak too many. You would have to ride around at 90-94 fitness or less for most of the time, which isn't really viable unless you're playing on easy/normal mode.
All the other favourites are peaking specifically for some of these races and will have a fitness of at least 5 points higher than you. Add to that some of them may already have better stats, plus a possible stats bonus from hard mode, and you don't stand a chance. Long peaks of 90-94 fitness are great for helpers who ride all over the place, but for your team leaders it's best to stay focused in my experience.
Assuming Valverde, I'd recommend having him prepare for Ardennes-Giro-WC/Lombardia or Giro-Vuelta. In these scenarios he is able seriously contest for the win in all the races he enters. You could also consider Giro-Vuelta-WC/Lombardia because the AI's lack of fitness at the end of the season. |
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| Cossack |
Posted on 28-05-2013 13:38
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Domestique
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I'm going to take Ardennes-Vuelta-WC route as sponsor's main aims are L-B-L and Vuelta. Another one is MSR. What type of rider is best suited for that race? A puncheur (Rui Costa) or a sprinter (Rojas/Ventoso)? I can also take both and see how the situation develops
EDIT: While 5-6 race days before GT is enough for leaders (considering they already have >15), how many do you recommend for sprinters, who have to already be fit in 1st week?
Edited by Cossack on 28-05-2013 14:17
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| ShortsNL |
Posted on 28-05-2013 15:46
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Breakaway Specialist
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Cossack wrote:
I'm going to take Ardennes-Vuelta-WC route as sponsor's main aims are L-B-L and Vuelta. Another one is MSR. What type of rider is best suited for that race? A puncheur (Rui Costa) or a sprinter (Rojas/Ventoso)? I can also take both and see how the situation develops
EDIT: While 5-6 race days before GT is enough for leaders (considering they already have >15), how many do you recommend for sprinters, who have to already be fit in 1st week?
About MSR: I don't know what stats your riders have, so I'll talk about stats instead of riders. Basically, the most important stat by far for this race is STAmina. The higher, the better. Next is Hil, from my experience you need at least 73 to survive the finale. Of course you also need good other stats, including FL, RES and ACC (70+).
Your MSR tactic depends on your strongest rider. If he's got a relatively high HIL stat, push hard on the last hill (the Poggio) and either attack away from everyone or try to get a sprint with only the strong puncheurs remaining. If he's a strong sprinter with a moderate HIL stat, try to survive the Poggio and try to beat everyone in the sprint. Strong mid-way breaks are usually unsuccessful in MSR from my experience, so if you are opting for dual leadership, you can have one rider attack at the bottom of the Poggio (make sure to block the peloton) and have the other one chase whoever tries to follow for a sprint.
About sprinters, I am not sure what you mean with >15, but I am assuming you mean they have 15 race days in their legs after the first mountains in a GT show up. In that case you are right, 5-6 race days are usually enough. For sprinters, as well as prologue/TT specialists for the first week, I recommend a similar amount of race days (15) ahead of when their target stages are, to give them a shot at a good result.
Edit: forgot to mention, but the Vuelta usually requires a lower amount of fitness to be competitive in (due to the AI teams giving their leaders like 55-65 race days before its start), so you can potentially reduce the number of race days for your team prior to it, for example 5-10 for sprinters and 0-5 for leaders. I should note that alternatively you can just have a slightly weaker rider ride the Vuelta on full fitness, allowing him to perform quite a bit above his level.
Edited by ShortsNL on 28-05-2013 15:50
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| Cossack |
Posted on 28-05-2013 16:16
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Domestique
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ShortsNL wrote:
Your MSR tactic depends on your strongest rider. If he's got a relatively high HIL stat, push hard on the last hill (the Poggio) and either attack away from everyone or try to get a sprint with only the strong puncheurs remaining. If he's a strong sprinter with a moderate HIL stat, try to survive the Poggio and try to beat everyone in the sprint. Strong mid-way breaks are usually unsuccessful in MSR from my experience, so if you are opting for dual leadership, you can have one rider attack at the bottom of the Poggio (make sure to block the peloton) and have the other one chase whoever tries to follow for a sprint.
Thanks for advice, what exactly do you mean by "blocking peleton"? |
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 28-05-2013 16:44
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Team Manager
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The streets up on the Poggio are extremely narrow and with the solid rider model, it's difficult to get to the front of the peloton. If you bring your team to the first rows, attack with one rider and simultaneously lower the effort of the other riders to a minimum, the other teams won't be able to get to the front for a while because your riders block the way, thus giving your attacking rider quite an advance.
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 28-05-2013 16:48
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Tour de France Champion
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cunego59 wrote:
The streets up on the Poggio are extremely narrow and with the solid rider model, it's difficult to get to the front of the peloton. If you bring your team to the first rows, attack with one rider and simultaneously lower the effort of the other riders to a minimum, the other teams won't be able to get to the front for a while because your riders block the way, thus giving your attacking rider quite an advance.
Also known as cheating
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 28-05-2013 16:52
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Team Manager
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Or tactics, all a matter of definition  But yeah, it's questionable whether you get much satisfaction of a victory like that.
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| eple |
Posted on 28-05-2013 18:56
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Stagiare
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I've won the MSR last two times with Pozatto. In the DB I'm using he has a great combo of Hill-Sta-DH-Sp.
I've put him on 84% dot effort going up the last hill, which just makes sure he is one of the first to come up top without using too much energy. Then at the top I attack on the short flat into the downhill section for a short amount of time to create a gap, then set him on dot effort and make sure his BPM doesn't go above 187. On the downhill that's usually around 95%. Both times he has come in way ahead of everyone else. |
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