Monday, February 23, 2009

2009 FGBC Spring Classics Pool


There is no entry fee. There will be no prizes. There will, however, be plenty of good times. So don't miss out.


The Races:

Omloop Het Volk Feb. 28
Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne Mar. 1
Monte Paschi Eroica Mar. 7
Milan-San Remo Mar. 21
Dwars Door Vlaanderen Mar. 25
E3 Prijs Vlaanderen Mar. 28
De Brabantse Pijl Mar. 29
Ronde van Vlaanderen Apr. 5
Gent-Wevelgem Apr. 8
Paris-Roubaix Apr. 12
Scheldeprijs Vlaanderen Apr. 15
Amstel Gold Race Apr. 19
La Flèche Wallonne Apr. 22
Liège - Bastogne - Liège Apr. 26


Scoring:

We will employ a slightly different scoring system than last year. For most races, points will be awarded to the top 30 riders just as we did last year. But the so-called monuments (Milan - San Remo, the Ronde van Vlaanderen, Paris Roubaix, and Liège - Bastogne - Liège) will be worth more just because they are so monumental. Also like last year, in order to recognize the accomplishment of just finishing one of these races, 5 points will be awarded to every rider who successfully finishes a race (10 in the monuments).

[Update - 02/23/09 - 9:33 pm] I had previously mentioned that riders grouped under the Ardennes heading would not have their results counted if they should participate in any other races. Andy, King of the Cycling Pool, has convinced me that this is a mistake. So strike that from the record. It's not likely, but if any of these little guys should show up and win one of the really hard ones, you get to keep his points.

Regular Classics:

350
300
275
250
225
200
175
150
125
110
100
95
90
85
80
75
70
65
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5


Monuments:

500
450
425
400
375
350
325
300
280
260
240
220
200
180
160
150
140
130
120
110
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10


Choosing your team:

Assemble a team of nine riders by employing one of three ways of navigating the list of riders below. Based on averages for the respecitve tiers, each of these options should result in roughly the same score. By giving you a few different ways of going about it, you are provide with the illusion of control and a heightened sense of strategic cunning. Of course, we won't be dealing in averages here, so the results will no doubt differ wildly. The best strategy will be revealed in a couple of months when we find out who wins.

When submitting your team, please indicate which option you are going with.


Option 1:

1 from Tier 1
1 from Tier 2
1 from Tier 3
2 from Tier 4
2 from Tier 5
1 from Tier 6
1 from Ardennes


Option 2:

1 from Tier 2
3 from Tier 3
2 from Tier 4
2 from Tier 5
1 from Ardennes


Option 3:

4 from Tier 3
4 from Tier 4
1 from Ardennes

Send your team to the FGBC low-stakes gambling HQ by the end of the day on Friday. Any questions?


Rider List:

Tier 1:

Fabian Cancellara
Tom Boonen


Tier 2:

Allesandro Ballan
Davide Rebellin
Nick Nuyens
Philippe Gilbert


Tier 3:

Filippo Pozzato
Juan Antonio Flecha
Kurt Asle Arvesen
Lance Armstrong
Leif Hoste
Marcus Burghardt
Martin Maaskant
Steven De Jongh
Stijn Devloder
Sylvain Chavanel
Thor Hushovd
Wouter Weylandt


Ardennes:

Alejandro Valverde
Andy Schleck
Benoit Vaugrenard
Cadel Evans
Christian Pfannberger
Damiano Cunego
Danilo Di Luca
Franck Schleck
Ivan Basso
Jerome Pineau
Joachim Rodriguez
Maxime Monfort
Robert Gesink
Samuel Sanchez
Thomas Dekker


Tier 4:

Allan Johansen
Andreas Klier
Baden Cooke
Berhard Eisel
Borut Bozic
Fabian Wegmann
Geroge Hincapie
Greg Van Avermaet
Karsten Kroon
Mark Cavendish
Martin Elmiger
Matti Breschel
Murilio Fischer
Nico Eeckhout
Oscar Freire
Rinaldo Nocentini
Robbie McEwen
Stefan Van Dijk
Stuart O'Grady


Tier 5:

Aitor Galdos
Anthony Geslin
Arnaud Gerard
Bert De Waele
Daniel Lloyd
Enrico Franzoi
Enrico Gasparotto
Frederik Willems
Gregory Rast
Guennadi Mikhailov
Janek Tombak
Johann Van Summeren
John Gadret
Lars Bak
Luca Paolini
Manuel Quinziato
Nico Sijmens
Nikki Terpstra
Pavel Brutt
Roy Sentjens
Ryder Hesjedal
Sergei Ivanov
Staf Scheirlinckx
Steven Cozza
Thomas Voeckler


Tier 6:

Aart Vierhouten
Alexandre Botcharov
Alexandre Usov
Allan Davis
Allesandro Petacchi
Bastiaan Giling
Benoit Salmon
Bert Roesems
Bram Tankink
Christian Murro
Christophe Mengin
Danilo Napolitano
Dominique Rollin
Fabio Baldato
Franco Pellizotti
Gabriele Balducci
Gabriele Bosioso
Geoffroy Laquatre
Gert Steegmans
Jesus Del Nero
Jukka Vastaranta
Kevin Van Impe
Lars Michaelson
Luca Solari
Manuele Mori
Marcel Sieberg
Mario Aerts
Max Van Heeswijk
Michael Schar
Mike Friedman
Olaf Pollack
Pieter Ghyllebert
Robbie Hunter
Salvatore Commesso
Sebastian Chavanel
Steffen Wesemann
Svein Tuft
Thomas Vaitkus
Tyler Farrar
Vincenzo Nibali
Vladimir Gusev
Yaroslav Popovych

16 comments:

mhandsco said...

Option 1:

1.Boonen
2.Gilbert
3.Chavanel
4.Cavendish
4.McEwen
5.Hesjedal
5.Geslin
6.Tuft
Ard.F. Schleck

Campy Only said...

Hmm interesting choices... I assume Jerome Pineau 2X is an error.. but was it supposed to be someone else???

Anonymous said...

okay here we go....................

Ballan
Pozzato
Hoste
Devloder
schleck
Hincapie
Kroon
and of course my cross men who represent me year round....Gadret and Franzoi.


Dallas "don't make me come to Europe and show you how it's done boys." Sigurdur

The Dark Lord said...

It's an error. There's nobody else. At least not there.

The Dark Lord said...

Dallas, which Schleck?

luke enns said...

i'm going for option #3

from tier 3:
filippo pozzarte
juan antonio flecha
kurt asle arvensen

from tier 4:
allan johensen
andreas klier
badem cooke

from ardennes:
alejandro valverde

may the best picker win.

PaddyH said...

From Lethbridge(option 1):

Boonen(t1)
Nuyens(t2)
Chavenel(t3)
Dekker(t4)
Kroon(t4)
O'Grady(t5)
Voekler(t5)
Franzoi(t6)
Popvych(ard)

thank you and goodnight.

PaddyH said...

oh yeah, I have to point out that Dallas is a sucka by picking Big Dumb George...Ian, don't let me down....

The Dark Lord said...

Luke, you need two more riders. One from tier 3 and one from tier 4.

Anonymous said...

George has to do well this season, his years are quickly reaching and end and he has to prove that he is something more than lances " go to " guy. Thats my reasoning at least.

Luke, Valverde will be not cycling very soon i think:) They got his blood man.

As for which Schleck, well it's Frank my friend. Either would be okay with me though as long as those pesky drug rumours are not true.


Having gone through all the trouble explaining and justifying my picks it's still amazing to me year after year I sit at the bottom of the pools.


Dallas " 2009, my time to shine." Sigurdur

Campy Only said...

So.. were our picks supposed to be emailed in...or are we just randomly posting whatever picks on here??

As for Valverde... seeing how Caisse is my team... all I can say is a long drawn out Doooooohhhhhhh....

The Dark Lord said...

Email your team or post it as a comment for all to see. I don't really care.

luke enns said...

woops, my bad, i'll take lance armstrong from tier 3 and cadel evans from tier 4. as for valverde, he's my pick until he's officially booted. i guess. or what do you guys think?

The Dark Lord said...

Getting closer, Luke. Armstrong will do. Evans, however, is an Ardennes guy. You'll have to try again on the tier 4 front.

I know this is not easy. Stick with it and you'll get there.

PaddyH said...

'pretty sure posting rosters here is what it is, and will always be.

for G: my "word verification" is "mograr"

g said...

nice

very nice

(rewiv)