Online cycling and/or baseball manager type timewasters?

[Sits]

Also avoid these riders who I scouted and were rubbish. I drafted a post on Free Hire then lost it:

Orlondo Roca (ESP)
Dawud Haroun (UAE)

[Levin]

Trevor Kahl is an age 21 IoM prospect with Good CL, Average DH SP, Small FR, TT

Humphrey Collum has good DH. All the other IoM riders at the moment have Average at best

[delicatemoth]

I hope you didn't spend money on those evaluations, I posted them on the Free Hire thread. I check out new IoM talent as soon as I see it.

[Levin]

Ah that's the price I pay for not being involved enough.

[matt j]

Burgess Walborn (posted by DM on the free hire list) isn't the worst prospect I've seen. VG SP / GD HL + GD TT is an interesting combo. Shame about the FR.

Not that I can see him right now (or have space). I think a team might pick him up eventually, as VG SP is usually worth a chance for most teams.

[Sits]

Only logging in sporadically while we’re away but I have another good maxer in Truong. Trained 171 so far, I will finish off with TT then centre him I think. There must be a few races which will fit him.

[matt j]

I'm pretty much assured to make Netherlands tour now, barring complete collapse. Even threatening to pop into Division 1 with the right assortment of results in the next week.

Noticed today that Veridian and Lamar are proving they belong in Division 3 with a strong showing in Kangaroo.

[Sits]

Nice work both! It's an extremely quiet time over at Lindfield while the three main guys reset.

[Levin]

5th overall in the Kangaroo. Not bad, but is that the best I could expect from Lamar in top form?

Good results in Valparaiso matt.

[matt j]

I think you were quite unfortunate there Levin. 1) O'Sala doesn't count, getting a breakaway in the last stage is cool for one team, but awful for everyone else. 2) Losing to Varela is losing to one of the best sprinters and Zalom shouldn't really be in Div 3, imo. 3) You tied with the next person up. That's just a coin flip in OCM. 4) The other rider held his spot only due to the TT. And even then, only by a second.

Morally, you should consider yourself as 2nd place.

Valparaiso is a very irritating tour, but I'm slowly making my peace with it. Getting TT top 9s is a good bonus (Gibbon was 5th!), and then it's only stage 2 that offers anything for the pure sprint teams. I think the profile for stage 3 lies, and makes it too easy for GC winner to take SC too.

[Sits]

I have finished training Trân-Thanh Tân Truong, which was a rush job as he was already 24 when I bought him. But worth it, as he trained a total of 175 points to 206 climber, SP 64/TQ 64 and TT centred to 55 average.

I think we’ll just call him Truong.

English prospect Edan Hurless is now my only trainee, which is handy as the money is dwindling.

[delicatemoth]

We're in a slump again, struggling for results in D4, maybe I should bite the bullet and do a top form reset. At least I've remembered to pick an IoM squad this week, unlike the last two. The move from Monday to Sunday WT races has not been good in that respect as Saturday night is my traditional "Oh shit, I need to do the squad" evening.

[Sits]

I hope you're out of the slump soon dm. It's really a game of peaks and troughs.

So I want to canvass the OTF mini-league's thoughts on something: now I have four potential leaders I'm considering cashing in on Niedziela before he's 30. While he has our best palmares - including GC+points double on the Minutemen - he is now eclipsed by Stephansen and has the least number of races of the four leaders that he can realistically win.

He has become a luxury domestique most of the time but I think Van Summeren can do a lot of those things.

Thoughts? At 29 what could I realistically expect?

[matt j]

You'd get a fair amount of cash for him, no doubt.

Incredible return on training points for you on a couple guys really means that you should consider some of those all 3, all 4 races if you haven't been doing them.

[Sits]

You'd get a fair amount of cash for him, no doubt.

Incredible return on training points for you on a couple guys really means that you should consider some of those all 3, all 4 races if you haven't been doing them.

Thanks Matt, yes Kalisa + Truong means I’m due a dud. I never really consider those all 3/4 races but I guess someone has to win them. I always assumed you need a decent leadout. I can cobble one together but not a proper sprint leadout.

[matt j]

For all 3s/4s, you almost decidedly 'don't' want leadouts, unless the leadout is astonishingly high maxed. Teammates pull from: climbing, downhill, hills, flat roads and cobblestone. Leadouts only pull from: sprinting, technique and flat road.

Basically, the higher the training point max in the 'teammate' category, the better for 3s/4s, cobble or not.

If I was to get a leadout sprinter with a 170 point max (for instance) that would basically mean a 99SP (born 39 + 60 training points), 90 TQ (30 + 60), FR 80 (30+50). I mean, that's just not possible. It would be the best sprinter captain in the game by some distance.

On the other hand, 170 training points spread naturally across a teammate would be an almost reasonable: 79 CL (39 + 40), DH 65 (30 + 35), HL 65 (30 +35), FR 60 (30 + 30), CB 60 (30 +30). Now of course, this guy would be a captain for the all 3s/4s, but hopefully you see what I'm getting at.

The killer thing to note here is that trained sprinters typically have either HL trained (no contribution in combination with SP or TQ - so even leadouts in a normal sprint train with HL trained are a waste), or TT. Useless for the all 3s/4s.

It's just much easier to get more 'contribution' points for all around races from teammates than leadouts.

Edit; More on all-arounds:

http://www.cyclingsimulator.com/forum/support/482657

[Sits]

Hmmmm

[Sits]

So look out for the Hooglede GP on Day 71, having a crack at an all 4s.

[matt j]

Will try to watch for that as it comes nearer.

Speaking of Zalom/Varela, Okereke maybe won for the first time against him today. Needed a super legs day, but a great win for us nevertheless.

[Sits]

Well done Okereke!

[Sits]

Niedziela is on the market but perhaps I’ve overdone it with a price 2x his RV. On the ther hand, dropping it will be a good opportunity to bump his thread.

[matt j]

Niedziela has a bid! Good money, maybe you'll get a bit higher too.

Sign-up for the long awaited Netherlands tour is Sunday (my time - way to early in the morning, but I'm setting an alarm to make sure I get in).

Tamboura (71/78/89) should narrowly hit TF, and should captain barring disaster in first stage TT.
Gullifer, forgotten man of IoM, is a 71/73/80 now, and by tomorrow should have 54 TT. He has a GD in TT, so with super-luck, maybe a 280+ prologuer next season. Should hit TF.
Crumley (79/53/84), now the oldest on the team, will trigger TF to be LOS for the tour. Retirement probably in the next season.
Tamani (76/41/83), straight off of the U23 tour, will now replace Jago (who won't make TF in time) and use TF to be a LOS for the tour.
Valente (86/54/64) will use TF for the tour.
Belford (81/79/53) will use TF for the tour.

Tamboura, Gullifer, and Belford should theoretically have enough TT to be dangerous in the prologue. We are still a little LOS short (no 90+ sprint guys here). I'm not particularly hopeful about getting anything in GC, but it won't be for lack of planning.

I will also be carrying one TS sponsor (5%) into the tour, and will pick up a second (10%) for the 5th and 6th stage.

edit: Gullifer maxed, so can only get to 62 TT. Still not bad.

[Sits]

matt j that’s a great sprint lineup. Best of luck.

And re. Niedziela I had resolved not to drop my price; I wasn’t prepared to let him go for less, even if it is a bit steep.

[delicatemoth]

Giving IoM debuts to my young riders Freeman Woolums and Toby Wilbur, with Carder also in the team. Gilbert Karrick is the main man though.

[matt j]

it probably won't last more than 24 hours, but I backed into Division 1 today (and got the 20k bonus). Weird!