PTP '09 - pre-season discussion / calendar adjustments
Just been looking at the UCI calendar for 2009 and adjusting the PTP schedule to fit. I came up with this:
Obviously, the two Olympic races are out. Other than that, it's the same calendar as we used last year.
The races with a ?????? at the end are up for debate. August is the most problematic month IMO. It's interesting to see that the UCI have put back the Tour of Poland an entire month to the start of August. If it had been in it's usual place, then I think it would have definitely got the chop -- but the new slot is actually not that bad.
Either Eneco or Deutchland or both should go IMO. Possibly put Ireland in that slot for 1 year and see how it goes?
All opinions are welcome...
Feb 15-22 - Tour of California
28 - Het Volk
Mar 8-15 - Paris-Nice
11-17 - Tirreno-Adriatico ??????
21 - Milan-San Remo
28-39 - Criterium International ??????
Apr 5 - Tour of Flanders
6-11 - Tour of the Basque Country
8 - Gent-Wevelgem
12 - Paris-Roubaix
19 - Amstel Gold Race
22 - La Fleche Wallone
26 - Liege-Bastogne-Liege
28- 3 - Tour de Romandie
May 9-31 - Giro d'Italia
Jun 7-14 - Dauphine Libere
13-21 - Tour de Suisse
Jul 4-26 - Tour de France
Aug 1 - Clasica San Sebastian
2-8 - Tour of Poland ??????
19-26 - Eneco Tour ??????
29- 6 - Deutschland Tour ??????
29-20 - Vuelta a Espana
Sep 24 - Worlds ITT
27 - Worlds RR
Oct 11 - Paris-Tours
17 - Giro di Lombardia
POSSIBLE ADDITIONS :--
Eroica (March 7th)
Scheldeprijs (April 15th)
Volta Catalunya (May 18th - 24th)
Vattenfall Cyclassics (August 16th)
Tour of Ireland (August 19th - 23rd)
Tour of Britain (September 12th - 19th)
Obviously, the two Olympic races are out. Other than that, it's the same calendar as we used last year.
The races with a ?????? at the end are up for debate. August is the most problematic month IMO. It's interesting to see that the UCI have put back the Tour of Poland an entire month to the start of August. If it had been in it's usual place, then I think it would have definitely got the chop -- but the new slot is actually not that bad.
Either Eneco or Deutchland or both should go IMO. Possibly put Ireland in that slot for 1 year and see how it goes?
All opinions are welcome...
0
Comments
-
Also, do you reckon we could get someone from Bikeradar or Procycling to cough up some kind of prize for the overall winner this year?0
-
Hi afx, Happy New Year
Ditch Tirreno as it clashes with PN.
Ditch CI. Any race with half day stages is just so last-century
I would keep Germany simply because its an interesting parcours & hence a test of predicting skill, whereas Eneco is simply a test of which of us can be @rsed to type 'Guttierez'
And hell, lets try Ireland
And a Colnago C50 from BR please.___________________
Strava is not Zen.0 -
...but not the ToB as its a lottery
Scheldpris & Vattenfall & Eroica I would vote for. Not Catalunya as I never ever score any points in Spanish stage races due to Bertiphobia!___________________
Strava is not Zen.0 -
Deutschland Tour isn't on, so that's one race we can trim off.
Poland fills a nice gap, so I'd keep that, ENECO would be my choice to chop if something has to go, but I'd be equally happy to see it stay.
I think adding Eroica could be good, as it helps get the season off to a nice start and you into the swing of things if there's a few races. Not sure about the Scheldprijs as thats already a pretty busy time, so do you want to cram another predictions thread in? Will make a change from the LA threads I suppose though
I'd also add in the Vattenfal, particularly as there's no German Tour and we need to widen our appeal rather than all these dull Belgian races
I'd also add in The ToB, as in theory it's Bike Radar's home Tour, though it is a lottery as to whether anyone will get any points.
Oh and Procycling should definitely cough up a prize 0 -
Add the Eroica.
Drop Tirreno and one of either the Eneco Tour or Poland. Don't drop Criterium International.0 -
I'd keep Tirreno as its a classic race and taken seriously.
Add Eroica, Vattenfall and Catalunya. Proper races.
Poland is pretty pointless, even if it does fill up a gap.It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.0 -
My suggestion would be - one stage race at a time. It's too much effort for a small amount of points on the stage winners. No problem, if its only a day or two overlap.
By all means add some semi-classics, but I feel that more than one pick a day should be a rarity.Twitter: @RichN950 -
Get rid of any race LA is planning on riding
Other than that I'll go with the flow.0 -
What you have listed looks good to me. Wouldn't add or take anything away.Winner: PTP Vuelta 20070
-
calvjones wrote:.And hell, lets try Ireland ..but not the ToB as its a lottery
!
ToI isn't much better. Year 1, CSC rolled up en masse to monster the smaller teams. Unibet got away in one of those stage 1, 15 min+ "ah, we can't be arsed chasing" breaks and it was "game over" for the week. Year 2, Columbia sent over the big boys to do battle with what was predominantly a "Rás" type field, TBH.
At the rate the economy here is going down the crapper, I wouldn't hold much hope for Year 3
Afx - calendar looks fine, though I'd like to see L'Eroica included'This week I 'ave been mostly been climbing like Basso - Shirley Basso.'0 -
What, no GP Sochi?
You people are dinosaurs! Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
Afx
It looks good as is, with the possible exception of the snoozefest that is the Tour of Poland... Except you appear to have missed the Tour Down Under
I'd agree about not adding ToI & ToB, but am easy WRT Eroica.
I'd quite like to see the Volta Catalunya in there too.
If BR can stump up a prize, then that'd be great, but think that they should also reward last year's winner too...
Thanks in advance for your work!0 -
Including Vattenfall seems logical, if Clasica San Sebastian is in.
Eroica will be interesting (although there are perfectly fine classics with a real history not in like Paris-Bruxelles, Fleche Brabanconne, Scheldeprijs, Milano Torino,etc).
I don't think there's a problem with two races at a time early on in the season, and Tirreno Adriatico is special enough, on a par with Paris-Nice IMO.
But because everyone has slightly different opinions, I can understand if you just keep it as it is
0 -
Happy New PTP Year
No real problem with the calender as listed.
The early season clash between Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico is not an issue if teams field reasonable riders in each.
It might be nice to have a break in August to catch breath between TdF and VaE, so don't feel you have to keep us occupied with fillers like Poland and Eneco...
How about a few more points for stage winners to keep interest going in a race if your GC pick is off the pace?Half man, Half bike0 -
Hi afx237vi glad you're going to do PTP again but couldn't we pick more than 1 rider as on other forums? 'Google can bring back a hundred thousand answers. A librarian can bring you back the right one.'
Neil Gaiman0 -
Noodley wrote:Ms Tree wrote:Hi afx237vi glad you're going to do PTP again but couldn't we pick more than 1 rider as on other forums?
We'd have to rename it ProTour Hedging Your Bets
I think the rules should stay pretty much as they are - simple enough for afx to deal with at the mo'. Although it might be nice to reward risk taking - e.g. you get double points for a GC/Classic winner which is a unique pick.___________________
Strava is not Zen.0 -
cut down scatter gun guess work reduces the chances of winning by post volume
...you can only punt one rider a day.. so if you play paris nice you can't play TA the same day...0 -
calvjones wrote:Noodley wrote:Ms Tree wrote:Hi afx237vi glad you're going to do PTP again but couldn't we pick more than 1 rider as on other forums?
We'd have to rename it ProTour Hedging Your Bets
I think the rules should stay pretty much as they are - simple enough for afx to deal with at the mo'. Although it might be nice to reward risk taking - e.g. you get double points for a GC/Classic winner which is a unique pick.
riders in a non mountain breakaway stage (as defined by the grand tour itself) in a grand tour should get double points... even picking the riders in the break is hard enough...0 -
afx237vi wrote:Just been looking at the UCI calendar for 2009 and adjusting the PTP August is the most problematic month IMO. It's interesting to see that the UCI have put back the Tour of Poland an entire month to the start of August. If it had been in it's usual place, then I think it would have definitely got the chop -- but the new slot is actually not that bad.
Either Eneco or Deutchland or both should go IMO. Possibly put Ireland in that slot for 1 year and see how it goes?
All opinions are welcome...
lose eneco and deutchland.. poland stays in by virtue of timming i guess
ToB and/or ToI should be in somehow0 -
mididoctors2 wrote:cut down scatter gun guess work reduces the chances of winning by post volume
...you can only punt one rider a day.. so if you play paris nice you can't play TA the same day...
A lot of though goes into my 'scatter gun guess work'
Penalise people for being interested enough to predict on every race?Winner: PTP Vuelta 20070 -
ditch Poland and Eneco and keep it to one rider...0
-
scwxx77 wrote:mididoctors2 wrote:cut down scatter gun guess work reduces the chances of winning by post volume
...you can only punt one rider a day.. so if you play paris nice you can't play TA the same day...
A lot of though goes into my 'scatter gun guess work'
Penalise people for being interested enough to predict on every race?
cycle racing/stratergy is about commitment and the moment.... lets mirror that ethos 0 -
Look what happened on that forum by changes :shock:Ms Tree wrote:Hi afx237vi glad you're going to do PTP again but couldn't we pick more than 1 rider as on other forums?
If its not broken don't fix it.I think AFX237vi does a fine job as it stands.
Mind it might be nice to get points down to 6th place as Im good at picking 4th spot 0 -
With all the talk of cutting the ENECO Tour. Doesn't predicting on it make the thing more fun to watch on TV?Winner: PTP Vuelta 20070
-
campagchris wrote:
Look what happened on that forum by changes :shock:Ms Tree wrote:Hi afx237vi glad you're going to do PTP again but couldn't we pick more than 1 rider as on other forums?
Can't comment because I don't know what it was like before.
I'm glad they are both different. Wouldn't be much point in competing in both if they were run the same way.Winner: PTP Vuelta 20070 -
I plan to play (badly) this year and wonder if there might be room to add the womens world cup races too? I really enjoyed last years worlds.
Fat people are so insensitive0 -
campagchris wrote:
Look what happened on that forum by changes :shock:Ms Tree wrote:Hi afx237vi glad you're going to do PTP again but couldn't we pick more than 1 rider as on other forums?
If its not broken don't fix it.I think AFX237vi does a fine job as it stands.
Mind it might be nice to get points down to 6th place as Im good at picking 4th spot
thats a great idea Chris.... sure i would've won it last year if we'd had this..... lol not! But it is a good idea!0 -
scwxx77 wrote:With all the talk of cutting the ENECO Tour. Doesn't predicting on it make the thing more fun to watch on TV?
not really....0 -
Chris_Who wrote:I plan to play (badly) this year and wonder if there might be room to add the womens world cup races too? I really enjoyed last years worlds.
yes...
the womens world road race should be in at a minimum0
