slcbob

I, too, predict chaos but my spin is that the new blue train puts Viviani into yellow.

I am revisiting my lineup searching for more hard men. This tour and this scoring system play to the puncheurs.

I don't even know what to make of that stupid way of awarding team points - by daily stage, not GC.

I looked around in the official game. It seems to have put the Eurosport and NBC games out of business, as well as George's hobby. At least I can't find how to get past looking at my Eurosport team from, I think, last year's Vuelta. Anyway, back to ASO's very graphic abomination. I felt dirty (that's saying a lot). I don't like it. I mostly built a team but I'm not messing with it any further and won't post a league. The straw that broke the camel's back, after I maintained tolerance while struggling with the skimpy budget and awkward through-a-straw view of the rider list, was finding the pyramid marketing scheme that awards you bonus budget to enable transfers by leg humping other people to join. Nope.

slcbob

P.S. so my focus shifts now to down-selecting amongst the many paths not taken with riders (and now teams? !!) added only to be subtracted. Its best to consolidate on a short list of legit regrets -- the paths not taken but really seriously considered and probably shoulda taken, really. The key for me is to not feel bad about everything, just a few things, in the near future when @dstrong is calmly out front and @one4smoke is well behind him but still feeling pretty smug. And to relish finishing ahead of our gracious host.

dstrong 

Yes! Please! Copy me! We can all go down together!

This morning I re-read the scoring system and commenced to way overthink things! I like the fact that I don't have a budget to work within because I've proven I suck at picking riders from the bottom of the barrel...this system allows me to pick top riders and teams throughout...but the challenge is to balance the spinters/climbers/teams...it's a multi-dimensional problem!

I do find it interesting that a rider will get points when they take over a jersey...but not for holding the jersey day after day.

I've changed my team three times since Wednesday...and I'll probably change it one more time later today.

Bonne chance mes ami!

diphthong

that little race in july starts mañana. last chance to get your predictions and teams in for stage one. i’m down with ewan. slcbob haz vivi. anyone else down to prognosticate? fortune favors the bold...

GrainBrain

Sagan. I swapped out viviani at the last second for Herrada. Had both but really feel like Sagan will go hard for green. Practically the first time he's riding in normal team colors He will be anxious to quickly wear something different, like yellow for maybe a few stages

slcbob

I hope we don't see this in the closing kilometers.
5000 bikers, cycling 50mph downhill with a choke 15 yards wide, what could go wrong (2019/)

May Le Tour live up to all your fantasies. And mine.

I wonder if we'll have any exact match teams in the league. I bet 90%+ of the teams will be 50%++ identical, but the small differences may compound. The last week is going to score completely differently and we'll have some teams pedalling squares.

diphthong

probably will. nothing like a dicey finish to spice things up. just hoping the inevitable crash(es) on stage one don't entail any significant injuries or force any abandons before the race has really even started.

probably not.

probably.

diphthong

well well well...gva wasting no time...

2cam16

What a move by Bora!

slcbob

GROAN-awegen. Ouch. Did one of Elia's boys make that happen?

Oh well. No regrets about not picking Teunnison. Well, no rational regrets. The only regrets I will allow myself this year are Cobrelli, Naesen, Nizzolo, and maybe Dennis, in lieu of any of the sprinters, or Fuglsgang. We'll see how the first three do in the tough man stages, and whether the Rider of Rohan creates a result somewhere other than the ITT. I could almost regret no Trentin, too, but made a conscious decision he's in on the team GC workload. Similar for J-V Wout. I am all in on the Nibali-the-stage-hunter idea. Let's see how this scoring system net's out and whether 2 wins from Viviani (or that crew) offset a bunch of Top N finishes from the guys who ride between the GC group and the laughing bunch.

Stage 2: flip a coin between Mitchellton-Scott and Ineos on the top step. Lotto and Quick-Step duke it out for 3rd. Wait... Jeanne tells me it will be Ineos, M-S, DQ, and L-S.

slcbob

P.S. a saved round on allowed regrets -- Paul. Nice highlight clip by NBC, nice article in Velonews. I'm sure there were some words in the airing that I may hear on tape delay. End of an era. Riders will still carry their suitcases full of courage forward with the big, black, angry mass of the peloton over their shoulder (if they look), but it won't be the same. Kwaheri.

dstrong 

Having two of my riders (Greenwagon & Fuglsang) go down in Stage 1 is an inauspicious start...hopefully everyone settles down and rides safely.

diphthong

agreed. it's not the same without paul. *sad face*

diphthong

stage two horrible prediction. the ttt...teams ef education, team jv (also motivated to keep the maillot jaune), astana and trek-segafredo jumped out. i'll go with trek.

so which team's gc guy(s) loses the most time tomorrow? thinking it'll be the movistar boys.

slcbob

No. The Spanish will TT slightly better than the French. I think of all the favorites, Roman steps off on stage 3 deepest in the hole.

diphthong

^good call. bardet could indeed fulfill our lofty expectations.

slcbob

I share your expectations for wide swings of exceptionalism from Movistar.

GrainBrain

Yeah bummer, I have fuglsang. Van Aert got me a few points. Teunissen was an incredible sight, but cost Sagan a bunch 'o points.

EF will do well today, I feel like Bora will surprise and make the podium.

burnthesheep

All the feels, Cav rides with junior fan after Tour rejection:

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/l...heer-us-429749

slcbob

Jumbo Visma! On fire. And Katusha -- sure didn't see that coming!

Legit disappointment here in my Mitchelton-Scott pick for stage 2. It was pure hallucination with Lotto, mitigated only by the relatively heinous tripping that @ooga-booga was doing with Trek.

Roman (nailed it!) and Richie are both in basement. OTOH, they sure got one over on Lilian Calmejane. So you go guys, it's a long way to Paris. Anything could happen.

Stage 3: will Wout van Aert continue the roll for the JV? Or will Ahlaphilippe deliver as expected? Or will de Marchi keep up the whole orange menace thing that GVA is spinning? My head says Ahlaphilippe, other bits are gurgling Wout (do I still get credit if Poels goes off the normal script?).

diphthong

stage three...sagan.

slcbob

Well I see some interesting things in our little league.

a) Someone is making it interesting! A challenger!!

b) Someone is making it controversial! Our very own lead flip flopper has made two transfers in the act of making things interesting. *sigh*

c) Interesting how I didn't even manage to pick the guys I wanted to pick. I guess I must not have saved my last set of changes when I meant to drop the Rider of Rohan for Fuglsgang, and maybe something else, I can't remember. Much like the "save my changes" press and what I had for lunch yesterday.

GrainBrain

I'm hoping my team can start picking up in the mountains and rolling stages. I picked Herrada for the nod to French continental teams, wish I had chosen Alaphilippe!! What an incredible and smart move today!!

I wanna know what was transferred, better have been good!!

dstrong 

Wait...what? Transfer???

I was joyful when Alaphalippe won the stage AND went into yellow...thinking I'd move up. Imagine my disappointment when the scores were posted and I went down two spots!!!

2cam16

Uggghh...I'm just letting my picks run. I don't have time to be changing my riders daily.