2008-09 FGBC CX Pool

This one snuck up on me a bit. I thought the first Superprestige race was next week, but it's on Sunday. So it's time to get this thing kicked off. Giddy-up.

We'll do it a little bit differently this time around. Same basic idea as last year's innaugural edition, but it's expanded for this year and features a slightly different format for choosing teams. We'll include all the same European races as last year (Superprestige and GVA series, plus World Cup races), but the World Cup races should be worth more points than the other two series. In addition, we'll add all the other C1 races in Netherlands or Belgium. The points for those will be the same as for the SP and GVA races. See below for point breakdowns. In addition, we'll include some of the main North American races as well. The racing is getting so good here, that it's worth paying more attention too. We'll follow a few of the women too, at least for the US races. So there are two separate calendars, and points will be accumulated from both. This will give us a full calendar of races. Almost 50 in total. And it brings us right up to the start of the spring classics series. That should help make winter go by a little faster.

The system for choosing riders will also be a little bit different this year. There are no dollar values to budget this time around. Rather, I've divided the racers into tiered groups, and you'll pick one or two from each group. I think this will give us a slate of teams that is much more balanced. We'll see. It's also the easiest way I could think of to accomodate both the European and North American scenes. There are no doubt other ways of doing that. But we'll stick with this for now and evaluate later.

The North American Trophy series has already started, but we'll begin with the next race on the schedule, which is on Saturday in Gloucester, MA. So please have your rosters to me at fortgarrybikeclubATgmailDOTcom by noon on Saturday. Once again, this is free and open to anyone who might happen to be interested.

For the record, our defending champion is Andy. Vic was the runner-up. And I finished in third.

The calendars are as follows:

European Calendar

Oct. 12 SP #1: Ruddervoorde (Belgium)
Oct. 19 CDM #1: Kalmthout (Belgium)
Oct. 26 CDM #2: Tabor (Czech Republic)
Nov. 1 GVA #1: Koppenbergcross Oudenaarde
Nov. 2 SP #2: Eerde-Veghel (Netherlands)
Nov. 9 CDM #3: Pijnacker (Netherlands)
Nov. 11 GVA #2: Jaarmarktcross Niel
Nov. 16 SP #3: Gavere (Belgium)
Nov. 22 GVA #3: GP van Hasselt
Nov. 23 SP #4: Hamme-Zogge (Belgium)
Nov. 29 CDM #4: Koksijde (Belgium)
Nov. 30 SP #5: Gieten (Netherlands)
Dec. 7 CDM #5: Igorre (Spain)
Dec. 13 GVA #4: GP Rouwmoer Essen
Dec. 14 Vlaamse Druivenveldrit, Overijse (Belgium)
Dec. 19 Scheldecross, Antwerpen (Belgium)
Dec. 21 CDM #6: Nommay (France)
Dec. 23 GP Montferland, Zeddam (Netherlands)
Dec. 26 CDM #7: Hofstade (Belgium)
Dec. 28 SP #6: Diegem (Belgium)
Dec. 29 Noordzeecross, Middelkerke (Belgium)
Dec. 30 GVA #5: Azencross Loenhout
Jan. 1 GVA #6: GP Sven Nys Baal
Jan. 2 GP de Ster Sint-Niklaas, St. Niklaas (Belgium)
Jan. 4 Internationale Veldrit Sint Michielsgestel (Netherlands)
Jan. 14 Internationale Centrumcross van Surhuisterveen (Belgium)
Jan. 18 CDM #8: Roubaix (France)
Jan. 25 CDM #9: Milan (Italy)
Feb. 1 World Championships: Hoogerheide (Netherlands)
Feb. 5 Indoor Cyclocross, Hasselt (Belgium)
Feb. 7 GVA #7: Krawatencross Lille
Feb. 8 SP #7: Hoogstraten (Belgium)
Feb. 14 Internationale Cyclo Cross Heerlen, Heerlen (Netherlands)
Feb. 15 SP #8: Vorselaar (Belgium)
Feb. 22 GVA #8: Internationale Sluitingsprijs Oostmalle

North American Calendar

Oct. 11 NA Trophy #3: Gloucester, MA
Oct. 12 NA Trophy #4: Gloucester, MA
Oct. 18 Granogue Cross, Wilmington, DE
Oct. 19 Wissahickon Cyclocross, Philadelphia, PA
Oct. 25 USGP #1: Louisville, KY
Oct. 26 USGP #2: Louisville, KY
Nov. 1 NA Trophy #5: Boulder, CO
Nov. 2 NA Trophy #6: Boulder, CO
Nov. 15 USGP #3: West Windsor, NJ
Nov. 16 USGP #4: West Windsor, NJ
Nov. 22 NA Trophy #7: Southampton, NY
Nov. 23 NA Trophy #8: Southampton, NY
Dec. 6 USGP #5: Portland, OR
Dec. 7 USGP #6: Portland, OR
Dec. 14 US National Championships: Kansas City, KS

Scoring for Superprestige, GVA, other non-World Cup European races, and all North American races:

150-125-100 -90-80-75-70-65-60-55-50-45-40-35-30-25-20-15-10-5

Scoring for the World Cup races:

250-225-200-175-150-125-100-90-80-70-60-50-45-40-35-30-25-20-15-10

Scoring for the World Championships:

500-450-400-350-300-250-200-180-160-140-120-100-90-80-70-60-50-40-30-20

Now comes the fun part. Choose a team nine riders. Just follow the instructions below. Remember, send it in by Saturday at 12 pm CDT.

Pick 1
Bart Wellens
Lars Boom
Sven Nys

Pick 1
Klaas Vantornout
Niels Albert
Zdenek Stybar


Pick 2
Bart Aernouts
Christian Heule
Dieter Vanthourenhout
Enrico Franzoi
Francis Mourey
Gerben De Kneght
Jan Verstraeten
Kevin Pauwels
Peter Dlask
Radomir Simunik
Richard Groenendaal
Rob Peeters
Sven Vanthourenhout
Thijs Al
Wilant Van Gils


Pick 2
Aurelian Duval
David Derepas
Davy Commeyne
Davy Willemsens
Jan Chrobak
Jan Soetens
Jempy Drucker
Johannes Sickmueller
Jonathan Lopez
Kamil Ausbuher
Lukas Kloucek
Malte Urban
Marco Bianco
Marco Fontana
Marek Cichosz
Mariusz Gil
Martin Nijland
Micholas Bazin
Milan Barenyi
Philipp Walsleben
Pirmin Lang
Rene Birkenfeld
Simon Zahner
Steve Chainel
Vaclav Metlicka
Zdenek Mlynar

Pick 1
Jeremy Powers
Jonathan Page
Ryan Trebon
Tim Johnson
[Note that Page and Trebon will both likely be splitting their time between North America and Europe. They will be eligible to gain points on either continent. The same goes for others too. It's just not likely to happen.]

Pick 1
Andy Jacques-Mayne
Barry Wicks
Geoff Kabush
Jamey Driscoll
Joachim Parbo
Todd Wells
Troy Wells

Pick 1
Georgia Gould
Katie Compton
Rachel Lloyd
Wendy Simms
Sue Butler