For the second year running, Wikipedia take the ProTour crown, having been pushed all the way this year by Vesuvio - in one of the closest battles we've ever seen for the top spot. Taylor Phinney was key, as ever, with 2 stage race wins.
In terms of race wins it was possibly Vesuvio's best ever season. A classic and a stage race for Frank Schleck in his last year at the top level, and a stage race, classic and grand tour for brother Andy. They end 307 points short.
The battle for 3rd features Good Energy (3rd PT season but never higher than 12th), Becherovka and Pokerstars (both made Top 10 in debut PT season) and it is Good Energy who held on to the position they only moved back into after the penultimate race. Ponzi finally got the GC win at Tirreno-Adriatico for them in a season highlight, after several near misses, while they seemed to win most stages at the Giro.
Becherovka take 4th, with 3 classics along the way for Bewley. With cap space room to spare this season, and a squad that will only get stronger, is it too early to make them favourites for 2015? And for Pokerstars it has been a fine season, spent in the lead for a long time before just fading at the end.
Simply Red Bull improve to 6th after 7th last year - and score almost exactly the same amount of ranking points. (7055 then, 7027 now) Behind them are Tinkoff, this year's best newcomer, thanks mainly to Trofimov's 3 stage races and 2 classics. Aker-MOT finish 8th, but in the "World Champion's curse" they failed to win an overall race this season. And it is a return to the top 10 for Team B&O in 9th - having scraped survival last year.
Taking the final Top 10 spot are Festina, but only just! Only 11 points in it ahead of Pendleton's and Lotto, both are whom enjoyed a much better Lombardia. Project 1t4i are 13th, while Bouygues beat Vueling - again by 11 points - in the battle of teams bouncing back from relegation 2 years previously. Both survived this time. As do Swisscom, who dropped 10 positions compared to last season, a worrying fall for their manager.
And in that big relegation battle, VolksWagen had a better Lombardia and survive - it is Rothaus who must go down instead. Both teams gave a great fight, and it is a shame that one of them has to go.
Grand Tour behemoths Santander also face the drop, while Bpost and Prio-Porto will join Rothaus in looking to bounce right back. ING take the bottom spot.
1
Wikipedia
9213
2
Vesuvio-Accumalux
8906
3
Good Energy
7972
4
Becherovka - Kiwibank
7797
5
Pokerstars.com
7655
6
Simply Red BullÂ
7027
7
Tinkoff Credit Systems Bank
6800
8
Aker - MOT
6218
9
Team B&O
6069
10
Festina - Canal+
6026
11
Pendleton's
6017
12
Lotto - Australia Post
6015
13
Project 1t4i
5855
14
Bouygues Telecom
5619
15
Team Vueling Airlines
5608
16
Swisscom - UBS
5545
17
VolksWagen-Mapei
5262
18
Rothaus - Aegon
5130
19
Santander
4635
20
Team Bpost - Vlaanderen
4513
21
Prio - Porto
3950
22
ING - Pro Cycling Team
3681
Yuri Trofimov is of course the individual rankings winner, inspired by his move to a Russian squad, he stepped up to win the PT title for the first time - ahead of last year's winner Phinney. It is Sam Bewley's best finish yet, and both Schleck's finish in the Top 10 for the first time since 2010.
It is almost certainly Frank Schleck's last time in the Top 10. He won the Individual standings back in 2009 and has been Top 10 ever since - except last year where he was 26th. Could it also be the last time for 2010 and 2011 winner Cunego?
It's a very impressive 5th place for Simone Ponzi, the top Puncheur in there, while the top pure sprinter Swift is all the way down in 20th. Although Bewley and Boonen are of course top sprinters, they excel on the Cobbles as well.
132 points saved us in the end. Scary to think that one lucky Classic breakaway from Rothaus would've made us go down. Hopefully we will do better next year (should considering rider development)
Congrats to Wikipedia for winning, and thank you to everyone for a great season!
Great to see that all my 3 loanees scored at least 100 points for their teams, I'd suck to know the deals only helped me out.
Congratulations to Wikipedia for the second year in a row, they kinda got the winning formula sorted out, although Vesuvio really gave them a good run for their money this time.
I can't help but admire Good Energy, with such a very young and nationally focused team, that is a great result.
Further down and what's standing out to me is B&O after indeed a pretty bad last season (thanks again for making me relegate, PCT+Herklotz is much better than PT without ) and Festina who as I said in the Lombardia thread always have my sympathy.
Enough was said about the relegation fight already, sucks to have had these two teams fight it out. I'm sure it'll be only a short PCT stay for Rothaus though.
Of course the same goes for BPost and Prio, it'll be fun to fight these teams next season and I'm sure there are enough promotion spots for all of us...
A big thanks to all the reporters and SN again, it cannot be overstated how much dedication and free time has to be invested into keeping this game running.
Last but not least, a fun fact:
Look at where our 5861 points from last season would've gotten us this time! Edited by cio93 on 07-03-2015 20:00
An enjoyable PT season watching from afar. Particularly enjoyed the GTs as they each create there own exciting narrative and benefit from high quality of reporting in all 3.
Congrats to those who met with success and commiserations to those who struggled through the season. Expect the continuing teams that relegate should be in leading positions to fight for bouncing straight back up from PCT. Think that a number of teams are well placed to 'rattle the cages' of the more dominant teams of the last few seasons as e.g. Good Energy managed this year; Tinkoff and VW squads are examples that look like they will organically improve significantly next season from rider development even before transfers. Will continue to watch the PT coverage with appreciation.
All my sympathies to Rothaus <3 Terrific fight from there to the final race, shame you couldn't pull it off in the end.
All my congratulations to Wikipedia. Back-to-back Champions is a huge result and a massive testament to the riders in that team. Vesuvio pushed it hard and it is hard to see SN come so close to his own crown.
My other favorites Simply Red Bull finish 6th place. Great season from there right up the good end of things. Hopefully they can push the Top5 next season having gotten Soupe off their roster. Great stuff for Smowz one of the great managers at coming and looking around the PCT and CT levels.
Amazing PT season full of incredible surprises (Alarcon in general for example) and close fights. The top tier of the game really delivered on it's repuation and expectations. Can't wait for next season with an influx of really active managers, should lift it to a new level.
_______
Trofimov destroyed that Individual ranking, monsterous season. Some nice variety in rider types represented at the top end (more so than CT and PCT) but still lacking that purer sprinter/cobbler type of rider. Though that rider would need an insane season... Guess we'll have to wait for Ewan to make it to the PT!
This season was a lot of fun, despite how much we sucked. With only a handful of wins and 0/5 goals, I've got some serious changes to make this off-season. I'm regretting letting Richeze go, as I think not having anybody for sprints or cobbled races was detrimental.
Anyway, congratulations to dave92 again, and great challenge by SN. Also congrats to Heine on staying up, while nobody wants to see either team get demoted.
Thanks to all the reporters this year for all of your effort. The pace and quality were always consistently great. Especially thanks to SN for all the work you put in!
Now onto Worlds and Nats, let's get some special jerseys!
Congratulations to Wikipedia. Hope the ensuing wage increases causes Dave to sell me Pinot, at my 3rd attempt
Also glad to see my loanees doing well. Bagot beat Ratiy, while Guardini and Petit showed nicely. Hope to be back with a wildcard next season, maybe for the TdF
And finally, thanks to all the reporters for some great work, and SN for organising everything. Greatly appreciated
Could've saved a mouse by logging into the site an hour or so later... Still bullshit result though.
Congrats to Wiki with another win, one gotta imagine that the wages will run wild now with 2 consequitive wins
On another note, I'm very sad to see Rothaus out of the PT!
Very interesting rankings. I can't really understand that I managed to end up below B&O, infact I can't grasp how on earth they managed to get into the top 10. It has to be down to clever planning I guess.
I love seeing my good mates at Becherovka taking a fairly clear top 5 this season, though. I hope I can be able to challenge them for a top 5 spot next season, when Lecuisinier will finally be of some use.
Congratulations to dave92, a second win in a row underlines his great abilities in this game. Sad to see Rothaus go down, but I'm sure one of the nicest guys around will bounce back!
Really cool to see Good Energy and rjc get a podium in the overall rankings. It feels like Guarnieri very much gave them some needed consistency in the fight for wins in other terrains than the hills, congratulations!
8th place is definitely good and well inside the top 10, which was the goal pre-season. But I must admit it feels a bit like a "what if" season considering Boasson Hagen consistent lack of top class performances.
SportingNonsense wrote:
Aker-MOT finish 8th, but in the "World Champion's curse" they failed to win an overall race this season.[/spoiler]
Yeah, must admit I expected at least one race win from him this season, but it can only get better
And as usual when the final race of the points giving calendar is done, I can't really wait for another one to begin. But looking a lot forward to the Worlds and the national championships as well, especially the road races in the WC, as the route really gives a lot of riders the chance to shine, both in the U23 race and the elite race.
Well here we are and sort of strange to think we actually scored more last year - but Van Heerden and Van Stayen would have really not been as good this year I think. Besides we tried to get that squad strength up guys like Viviani, Morizot, Juul Jenson etc. should do well long term for us. and of course there is Alarcon how can you really beat winning a Grand Tour and a Monument other than winning the rankings. I dunno I sorta count winning the big races up there really with winning the rankings.
Okay a second win for wikipedia - who have done a lot for loaning in teams from time to time. I am sore about Durbridge going to them this year - probably didn't have an impact but I think he should have been with us really but there we go.
Vesuvio have the consoluation of winning the Tour - I think the first time SN has done so. Great race actually there so really at the end not winning the protour team standings perhaps less of a big thing. Frankie now needs to go to hollywood or somewhere perhaps he can drift down the divisions.
Good Energy have positive vibes but perhaps this is as high they can go in the team philosophy? I dunno perhaps they can notch it up even further next year. becherovka have got serious now they have ditched Milka as a sponser. Bewley and Phinney are the two uber uber guys (Trofimov is nearly there as well of course) in man game and they are pushing velits and Sagan as far as they can so they are going to be thereabouts.
Pokerstars for me have reached a plateau - they of course will need to replace Boobastard like we will need to replace the Ab Fab. But great year from the sprint kings.
Tinkoff are champions of Russia - kritskiy is their stage race project but Trofitruffle is going to annoy for a whiles longer. Perfect fit for them.
I would have Aker has the team that could surprise next year as I think they were really unlucky this year with some of their guys. Being lumbered with Sibilla and Van Heerden didn't help. They are the original Alarcon guys so some feeling to them.
Sotd is the tinker man much like me and tinkered and twiddled a little too much - guerao was a dud and Ricco was crashtastic terrible luck - I think they would have been better with better luck but they are not quite top 5 anymore so Festina needs to get back on time.
Long time guys nico, wacko, crue, crommy, bushwhack and alex teams are midtable - I have they have the right amount of marquee talect to remian there for a while longer. Sorry guys nothing inspirational about this season for their teams Pluchkin was obviously close for B and O but bar that they did enough to beat off the majority of the promoted teams and that crappy Santander grand tour freaks.
Pleased to see Heine keep up but sad at the expense of roturn - sorry to those just above but would have liked to see them instead just for a bit more movement. But there it is. Both teams will be interesting to follow next year. Heine is of same alumni as me - Rothaus will always sux in my eyes so it might be hard to see the at top of ranking next year!
Count has had a bad one as had Gustav I think the writing was on the wall for them a whiles ago - they just couldn't bring in the big guns. Think they will be strong next year as have had a long time to think about how to construct their teams - guess Machado will be a headache for Gustav though.
Smowz wrote:
I would have Aker has the team that could surprise next year as I think they were really unlucky this year with some of their guys. Being lumbered with Sibilla and Van Heerden didn't help. They are the original Alarcon guys so some feeling to them.
Thanks for nice words, and yeah, I didn't even care to mention them as disappointments as they haven't really done anything. Sibilla was expected, but I thought I would get more from your former sprinter.
It would indeed be cool to climb further on the overall ranking next season, but I can't see it happening if the possibility to hunt Norwegian talents and make my team almost completely Norwegian is there after the new riders have been added to the database. But if that proves difficult, we might need to find space for another season with a clear foreign captain (like Alarcon, Spilak and Contador) in addition to Boasson Hagen.
Though, I must admit I have no idea on what to do if there are "too few" (purely looking from what I think my own team needs) Norwegians added this off-season, which will make for a thrilling transfer season, just like any other transfer season in this game
Vesuvio after their usual sluggish start (as it appears to me) pushed Wikipedia close, but Dave92 always seems to have a super canny ability in management. Choosing the right riders, keeping hold of the best ones he can. It's impressive.
SN missing out on the title is, perhaps, a pity considering the amount of time he puts into the game it would have been a just award. Maybe Swift winning the WCs would suffice?
Ending up in 3rd for me was in part to an excellent season by Ponzi - putting him back in the Giro compared to the Tour the year before was a brilliant decision it seems. As was his consistency during the season and his win at TA was much loved. Guarnieri slotted into the team, opening up Rowe's ability to sprint and lead out into winning for both riders. Coupled with my depth in hills and cobbles I survived the more mountainous races. I'm hoping that Cattaneo can improve on his 150 odd points this coming season though, otherwise I've been waiting 3 seasons just to wait yet another for him to max.
Fighting against Pokerstars and Becherovka was a tense way to end the season, and I doubted whether I could hold them off. Both teams have excellent strength in depth and can score where my team can often struggle.
Mid table wise, I can't help but think SotD is losing his touch a little - I always expect him to be performing better, but the past few seasons have been turbulent for his team with some quite radical overhauls. It'll be interesting to see how he does in the coming seasons with his talents becoming more useful scorers-wage ratio.
It'll be a pity to see Rothaus go down, as Roturn's input into this game is second to none almost. But I have full faith he'll make the most of a season down in PCT before popping back up to really challenge the PT.
Santander finally succomb to what I always thought they'd suffer from - no depth in any other races than GTs.
Excellent season all round, this game keeps improving and it's down to all those who contribute, and so, for that, thank you.
Well there goes 2014, it was about time. I can't say this season will leave good memories but at least we got some important GT race days for our youngsters, and of course the chance to compete against some of the legends of this game.
It's interesting now to imagine how things will pan out in 2015. Vesuvio looks like the obvious favourite to dethrone Wikipedia, but Frank isn't getting any younger. Good Energy could be a good bet depending how they plan their off-season and how well Ponzi delivers in 2015. Same goes for Aker and EBH. Pokerstars strength in sprints and cobbles should see them up there as well as Becherovka. I'm curious about Tinkoff and Festina. Both had surprising seasons in opposite directions but it's difficult to foresee how will they come out of this season. But then there's Bouygues! They have Theo Bos so they will win everything. There's that too.
Thanks everyone for this season, mainly SN and tsmoha for making all of this possible, but also every other reporter Edited by Gustavovskiy on 07-03-2015 21:29
rjc_43 wrote:
Vesuvio after their usual sluggish start (as it appears to me) pushed Wikipedia close, but Dave92 always seems to have a super canny ability in management. Choosing the right riders, keeping hold of the best ones he can. It's impressive.
SN missing out on the title is, perhaps, a pity considering the amount of time he puts into the game it would have been a just award. Maybe Swift winning the WCs would suffice?
1st place after 8 races, so not so sluggish! That would be lovely for Swift, never had a World champion!
Smowz wrote:
Vesuvio have the consoluation of winning the Tour - I think the first time SN has done so. Great race actually there so really at the end not winning the protour team standings perhaps less of a big thing. Frankie now needs to go to hollywood or somewhere perhaps he can drift down the divisions.
One TdF win each for the Schlecks now. Frank's win came in at 2008, and that was my last GT win until this year, so it has been a very long wait! Frankie is going nowhere! With Vesuvio until the very end.
Gustavovskiy wrote:
looks like the obvious favourite to dethrone Wikipedia, but Frank isn't getting any younger.
Doubt it. It was pretty much a perfect year for Andy, and for Frank given he has had two declines already. Swift couldve done better, yes, but still made the rankings Top 20. Other teams should be able to beat me next year, imo.
But then, I didnt expect to come as high as 2nd this year! It was a big improvement on 2013 for both brothers, despite same/weaker stats and more competition.
Amazing season for Trofimov, but Trofimov and PCM13 won't be the same as Trofimov and PCM14, think Tinkoff main goal for 2015 is to stay in PT, because my other riders ain't scoring much, don't know if I can stay 100% Russian in the nearby future, Wikipedia and Good Energy are my long-term favorites, also Festina will probably bounce back, without all the bad luck:
Well done to Wikipeda for winning the team title. Unsurprising to see Trofimov take the individual title, he's been an absolute beast this season. Also nice to see Cunego in that top 10 (for probably the last time as SN said).
Very sad to see some of those teams go down Hopefully you'll be back up next season.
From the Bouygues front, I'm starting to get more convinced that we're not going to win...
Anyway my policy of signing Jan Bakelants at all costs has paid off given we didn't get relegated, and we managed to beat CT, which is always a bonus. The two riders we loaned in (Petit and Teklehaimanot (who was the 5th highest points scorer in my team!!!)) have been fantastic, getting some nice points, and hopefully they'll go back to their teams and do a job next season after their stats boost.
) and Festina who as I said in the Lombardia thread always have my sympathy.
![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
Hopefully you'll be back up next season.
