Hello, I have some questions about what strategies I should use in PCM.
For example, on mountain stages I usually protect my 2 best riders until the final climb and then I attack with my best rider protected by my second best one right from the bottom of the climb.I usually end up taking 30 sec/1 min to the other good favorites or even more.
For example, the last time I played with Saxo and I attacked with Contador protected by Kreuziger and I took like 34 sec to Quintiana, 1 min to Froome, 1,30 minutes to Nibali and so on ...
I play on hard and I win the mountain stages almost all the time but I wonder if there is a better strategy out there to gain more time ? Like stick to the favorites until half of the climb to conserve more energy and attack afterwards ?
And what's the best way to attack ? I always put my dot at 84 and keep it that way for the rest of the climb, it's enough to get away and gain some time and it also doesn't burn my rider that fast.
I also need to mention that I only played with favorites like Contador,Froome,Purito etc. and it was in stage race mode, not in career.
If I play with an outsider who is like 78/79 MO, do I stand a chance against the other favorites ? What strategy should I use ?
RedDisciple wrote:
Hello, I have some questions about what strategies I should use in PCM.
For example, on mountain stages I usually protect my 2 best riders until the final climb and then I attack with my best rider protected by my second best one right from the bottom of the climb.I usually end up taking 30 sec/1 min to the other good favorites or even more.
For example, the last time I played with Saxo and I attacked with Contador protected by Kreuziger and I took like 34 sec to Quintiana, 1 min to Froome, 1,30 minutes to Nibali and so on ...
I play on hard and I win the mountain stages almost all the time but I wonder if there is a better strategy out there to gain more time ? Like stick to the favorites until half of the climb to conserve more energy and attack afterwards ?
And what's the best way to attack ? I always put my dot at 84 and keep it that way for the rest of the climb, it's enough to get away and gain some time and it also doesn't burn my rider that fast.
I also need to mention that I only played with favorites like Contador,Froome,Purito etc. and it was in stage race mode, not in career.
If I play with an outsider who is like 78/79 MO, do I stand a chance against the other favorites ? What strategy should I use ?
Thanks.
It depends from the length of the mountain.
If you play f.e. the Alpe d'Huez you shouldn't never attack at the bottom of the climb, because the slopes aren't exaggerated and the other favourites can recover easily.
If you play the Zoncolan/Angliru or even shorter climbs with high slopes it is better attacking on the bottom of the climb because the slopes are less difficult.
The other favourites won't be able to recover the seconds they lost because the slopes are too high and you will win easily.
For the Alpe d'Huez/Mont Ventoux so I'd reccomend attacking when the slopes are higher or when half-climb is passed if the other favourites dn't attack before that point.
For the dot: Yeah I often use 85 on the long climbs, so I think it is right.
I use the Sky tactic, f.e. using Saxo-Tinkoff, set your second best climber typically Kreuziger, on dot 80 and let Contador relay on 50-60, that he follows Kreuziger untill Kreuziger is out of energy and then attack with Contador in the last 8km
You are right, on the longer climbs I find it difficult to win or to get away from the other favorites, I guess I just need to practice more so I'd know when is the right moment to attack.Right now, on climbs that are 15 km + I try to stick with the favorites until there are ~8 kms left but it's very difficult.
I use my dot at ~70 but it drains my energy very fast, by that time some favorites already attacked, if I try to follow them I need to use dot ~80 and it drains my energy again.If I try to come from behind with dot ~84 all I can do is finish in the same time with them.If I attack first I run out of energy and they overtake me before the finish or finish with the same time as me, any suggestions for the longer climbs please ?
And I also need some help when I play with weaker riders.For example, if I play with Purito who is only 81 MO I might have a chance to win the stage in a sprint if I play perfectly, but I can't leave the other favorites behind me, and on the longer climbs I can't even stick with them until the end.What can I do ? Again, this is hard difficulty ...
I haven't used the "Sky train" described elsewhere on the forum - where you have you're leader at the back, protected by the next best climber who's protected by the next best and so on.... It seems interesting.
The critical thing is to protect your main man as long as possible and time the attacks well.
Generally I think the lesser favourites make the risky move and go earlier usually, with the top favourites often going at a good time. As Matt said, earlier attacks can be brought back on long climbs, so keep your main guy on dot and protect him and if you have a spare climber or two, use them to pull the group along until they burn out.
If you have a great team of strong climbers, keep your best domestique away from protection or pulling duties until the others are burned. If you need to put some time into rivals, attack with a strong teammate and get your leader to follow him.
