diphthong

s'up.

it's that time again...fantasy tour de france is upon us. yes, spoilers be up in this team car.

USAZorro , thankfully, did much of the work for y'all:

2023 Tour Week 1 Profiles
2023 Tour Week 2 Profiles
2023 Tour Week 3 Profiles

here is the vehicle:

https://www.velogames.com

league name: bike forums
league number: 877037911 (should work...let me know if it doesn't)

deadline to enter is 12:30 cest/06:30 us east coast time on saturday, july 1st.

please try to be civil and keep the fantasy-related stuff in the...fantasy-related thread. thank you in advance.
cannot guarantee the horrible predictions will be confined exclusively to either thread however. bon chance!

dstrong 

Choosing both Jonas and Tadej leaves so little to spread across the rest of the picks! Yet leaving one of them off is a coin flip and could decide your fate pretty quickly! The year I won the league I stacked my team with the top GC contenders and didn't worry much about the down card riders. Good luck everyone!

Shadco 

I went bargain hunting so to speak.

diphthong

stage hunter game within the game is a thing again so be sure to read up on those rules.

diphthong

ummm...psa to USAZorro ...big thank you for all the posted stage profiles...and don't forget to enter before the deadline...

diphthong

if we were doing a lowest points possible challenge (46 velogames $$/credits), here is the dream team:




calmejane is also a 4 ¢ rider.

GrainBrain

I put Skjelmose in for sure he has been looking fantastic! So many great riders so few positions. I have the Jonas-Tadej pair now but that leaves so very little room. Yet with this parcour they should be potent. Gosh just thinking about Jorgensen, Bernal, Adam Yates, Bilbao not making my cut - always tough to remember that I can't just pick a bunch of GC.

... Jai, O'Connor ...

How come Bernal has been classed as an over all? Would've liked for him to be classed as a climber. But Jai is a climber?

USAZorro

I am in... undercover.

USAZorro

I have little confidence in Rigo. I have the sense that's he's "mailing it in". I did pick two of the others (before you posted), and I found another cheap rider whom I think makes even more sense than some you have there - given his talents and team composition. I'll spill on that one after the tour starts.

slcbob

There remains much perseverating to be accomplished before I can announce a team.

I am thinking of flipping a coin on the big two and trying to ouija board my way into some top 5 GCers plus the unclassed rider(s) on a roll. I refuse to nickel grab assist points after my last demeaning from that strategy.

slcbob

OK. I'm done team picking. I think.

I dare not tell my wife there's a Yates on my team. She will never forgive me if something befalls them. Though that stopped being funny a long time ago, even before the TdS.

I'll pick for Skjelmose for stage 1. I'm reluctantly deferring to the conventional wisdom that the rookie won't go the distance; I didn't pick him for the long haul. But have a great ride, kid. And we'll watch Mads Pedersen tear it up on the later stages. It could be a good one for Lidl Trek sans Segafredo.

I'm counting on Pidcock being free to roam and raking in some stages.

USAZorro

Barring a crash, predicting a podium full of "been there befores" when the race arrives in Paris.

Alaphilippe is certainly motivated for stage one but so are others. Thinking he, Wright, Magnus Cort, Pidcock, and Simmons will be in the mix.

dstrong 

Drastic changes for me at the 11th hour. Putting my money on repeat win by Jonas and spreading out Tadej's cost to improve my sprinter/climber/unclassed roster. We'll see.

slcbob

Good luck everyone.

i recorded my recent adjustments to better savor my upcoming regrets. There will be many, but it will be a great Tour.

diphthong

a wee reminder...those teams not in the league before the start of stage 4 of le tour are not eligible, nor recognized, for the extensive, world-class, no-prizes of said league. so there.

diphthong

the first horrible prediction of juillet...stage one...laporte.

diphthong

wurst in show. here we go.

slcbob

This has promise.

what about lowest points possible but you still have to spend 100 V$?

I can see 2nd bizarro teams entering the BF/DTM league for la Vuelta. You know, because this stuff isnt already overwhelming and exhausting enough.

GrainBrain

Great looking teams - not much faith in Tufts ... wondering how that goes. I'm glad to have snubbed him for Bardet and O'Connor. Excited to see if Craddock can get something here. My pick for stage one?

Simmons!

slcbob

Wow. The (s)pokes took a bold stance, if not necessarily a wide one, shunning both Jonas and Tadej.

A nice spread of picks & strategies by our other usual suspects.

I can't help but notice Keka's team is pretty different from mine. Enough so that the results could close much more than the 600 points I am behind in the stage race overall due largely to my crappy Giro. Or, perhaps more likely, pummel me further into obscurity. I shall be watching that with stealth and vigor.

USAZorro

Looks mighty "iffy" with the GC hope also. He's no longer a GC hope, but if he is just shaken up, still a threat for stage wins.

dstrong 

Mixing sports metaphors I am reminding myself that it's a marathon, not a sprint. So maybe..."it's a grand tour, not a one day classic".

USAZorro

I thought I chose pretty well. Alaphilippe disappointed me today though. Might have done better to have taken Egan.

slcbob

It's a long way to Paris.

GrainBrain

I briefly flirted with both Simon Yates and Corbin Strong on my team. Ah well I'm still bullish on Simmons - Hopefully he'll be doing lead out duties for Skjelmose, Mads or Stuyven. He's very much like a Stuyven yeah? I feel like he'll get the nod if Mads is struggling and there's an opportunity.

Really happy to see Bardet up there!
Yeah hard to tell when everyone is so cagey. I very much wanted a Jorgensen or Powless - but before stage one you would figure they're completely in for their GC guys. Excited to see them unchained now. Now I'm wondering how your picks of Guerreiro and Cruz will do!