TDF "Versus" Fantasy League

I am in.  I am working on mine.  I actually had a lineup and my computer died.  As I said on the other post.  I have a list on paper that I will put on here that will separate sprinters, climbers, TT, and all GC guys if that would help people that are not familiar with the Tours.  I hope to have that on here by the end of the day.  I would particularly like to see Doug, and Kevin in on this because they have expressed an interest in knowing more.  Maybe Justin, Brian O, Karen, and some more people will join in.  Brett had mentioned getting together at a bar and watching a stage.  This would be a fun topic of discussion. 

Since I have never done a league, I have a question.  Since you can change your team, I would assume on flat stages that you want to load up on sprinters, on mtns you want to load up on climbers and GC guys, and on the TTs you want to load up on GC guys and TT specialists.  Is that right or not?

OK... ok...here it is...

I do not know what I am doing so I am asking advice.  This is what I did.  Tell me if I am silly.  $500 is not enough money to start off with.  .  Since the first stage is a TT I loaded up on TT and GC guys.  I picked the ones I though were good, but I could afford, then I picked no-bodies on the bench.  Do you get points for the guys on the bench?  I assumed that they were not riding, but I do not know.  I assume we can have the same people on or team or is that incorrect. Example:  Can Jim and I both have Alberto Contador on our team or can only one of us pick him? 

Starters
Alberto Contador
Bert Grabsch
David Zabriskie
David Millar
Levi Leipheimer
Cadel Evans
Yaroslav Popovych

Bench
Anthony Geslin
Bradley Wiggins
Geoffroy Lequatre
Thierry Hupond
Kurt-Asle Arvesen
Laurent Lefevre

Ok...

Here is a list that I made up that means very little.  It is for people that know absolutely nothing about the Tour but would like to get in on this "League".  I think it will be fun so I hope a lot of you guys participate.  It is a great way to get interested and learn about the tour and cycling in general instead of just riding a bike in a triathlon.

This is just something that I made up, but I tried to seperate guys into groups of sprinters, climbers, Time Trial, and all-around guys.  It is my assumption that you can change your team so I was going to go heavy on sprinters on fast days and climbers in the mtns.  I may be wrong on how this thing works, but regardless the first four stages are just for practice and your points are reset before the 5th stage.  I am not even sure if all of these guys are riding.  I tried to leave off people that I are not in this year's tour, but I may have included a couple.  This is just to help beginners get started with their homework.  This list is not inclusive and it has the same people in more than one disicpline if I think they excel in more than one group.

GC or All around guys

Alberto Contador

Lance Armstrong

Levi Leipheimer

Andy Schleck

Frank Schleck

Cadel Evans

Carlos Sastre

Christian Vandevelde

Kim Kirchen

Yaroslav Popovich

Andreas Kloden

Oscar Pereiro

Denis Menchov

Sylvian Chavanel

Time Trial guys

Fabian Cancallera

Dave Zabriskie

Lance Armstrong

Levi Leipheimer

Cadel Evans

David Millar

Stijn Devolder

Bradly Wiggins

Sprinters

Mark Cavendish

Tyler Farrar

Thor Hushovd

Robbie Hunter

Julian Dean

Oscar Freire

Gert Steegmans

Daniele Bennati

Sebastian Chavanel

Kim Kirchen

Climbers

Thomas Voecker

Mauricio Soler

Levi Leipheimer

Lance Armstrong

David  de La Fuente

Sebastian Lang

Carlos Sastre

Andy Schleck

Frank Schleck

Damiano Cunnego

Manuel Beltran

Sylvian Chavanel

Neal,

Yours is a similar strategy that I use as well.  Pick a couple GC's you like, then concentrate on TT/Sprinters/KoM.  The $500 keeps you from loading up the top 15 riders and every team having the same make up. 

After the 4th stage the rosters will "lock" and you won't be able to change your roster at will.  So something else to think about.  Personally, that's why I'm not worried about the TT.  There are more sprints than TT's.  As for your question, in this type of league we'll all share riders as it's not a draft like most other sports.  For reference here is my team:

Starters
Andy Schleck
Cadel Evans
David Zabriskie
Oscar Freire
Sebastian Lang
Kim Kirchen
Christophe Moreau
Thor Hushovd
Tyler Farrar

Bench
Alexandre Botcharov
José Luis Arrieta
Grégory Rast
Christophe Riblon
Christian Knees
Arnaud Coyot

The bench has a lot of guys I don't know either, but they've either they earned decent points last year or they are on strong teams this year. 

You will not earn points for the bench guys, but you'll see a daily tally if you had started them.  Part of the decision making is who to start vs bench.  Expecting a sprinter to earn much on a mtn top finish isn't going to amount to much, but he will earn points for wearing the green shirt that day.  If someone drops out of the race or is underperforming that's also where the bench comes in.

Jim

Anyone who thinks they may want to do this but feel uncertain about filling out a team can call me at 770-355-8260. 

Another thing you can do is check out the league Lou mentioned at http://www.velogames.com/ .  It separates the riders into sprinters, climbers, GC, and domestiques.  That could be helpful.  I think the one Brent mentioned cost money to join.  Brent can correct me if I am wrong.

I have already posted a team on the two free sites.  I will probably change them before Saturday though. 

This is a great way to learn about the tour.

Nobody should be worried about looking stupid in this pool. 

I'm in.

Ok my picks are in.....

For Stage 1 I am going TT (and by extension Garmin) heavy

Dave Zabriske

Danny Pate

David Millar

Christian Vande Velde

Mick Rodgers

Fabian Cancellara

Alberto Contador

Jens Voigt

Unfortunately, I don't see any info on the versus yet for scoring.  It looks like they're still working on the site as there was a forum section earlier today, that I don't see tonight.

From memory going back to last year, I remember the top 15 in each stage getting the big points, then each of the shirts, Yellow, Green, Polka and White.  I "think" stage wins and the yellow jersey payed out the most on any give day. 

I'll update when I find out more info.

Personally, the drafting league sounds very cool, but I'm pretty much booked until work on Monday morning....recovery time :-p 

Starting

Lance Armstrong

George Hincapie

David Zabriskie

David Millar

Alberto Contador

Levi Leipheimer

Mark Cavendish

Yaroslav Popovych

Amael Moinard (had no $$ left)

Bench (again, no $$)

Fabian Wegmann

Nicolas Vogondy

Christophe Riblon

Brian Vandborg

Jose Ivan Gutierrez

Arnaud Coyot

FYI...if anybody is interested, I went ahead and created a "Mini League" in the Velogames' Fantasy Tour de France.  If you want to join it, first create a Velogames entry and then join this league:

League Name:    BT VELO
League Code: 03012637

Let me know if any questions.

Going to put together a roster for the Versus league now.

Sounds good, Lou.  I'll make a velo team as well before Saturday.

VS rules are up.  http://fantasy.versus.com/cycling/help/rules.asp  So far the only mention to points is this tidbit...  Each day a rider from your starting lineup places within the top fifteen (15) riders for the day, or is identified as the overall leader, best climber, or best sprinter, you will receive points ("Points"). The number of Points you receive for each rider will be detailed www.versus.com/fantasypoints.

As a reminder in this league, the first 4 days are really just for getting your feet wet and trying different team setups.  By the 5th day, the teams lock and no more changes to the 15 can be made.

Jim

Heres my roster for the VS league Stage 1 TT

1. Dave Zabriskie
2. Denis Menchov
3. Oscar Pereiro
4. Bradley Wiggins
5. Tyler Farrar
6. Lance Armstrong
7. Levi Leipheimer
8. David Millar
9. Fabian Cancellara

Bench
 10. George Hincapie
11. Ryder Hesjedal
12. Danny Pate
13. Jens Voit
14. Tony Martin
15. Dmitry Mtravyev

I see lots of changes in the next 4 stages!

Versus league is interesting...as the first 4 stages are practice, I focused entirely on my "Starters" and didn't care about the bench except that they kept me under the cap.  However, trying to come up with the "dream team" is going to be a challenge.

Starters for Stage 1:

 Danny Pate
Julian Dean
Thor Hushovd
Daniele Bennati
Mark Cavendish
Tyler Farrar
Lance Armstrong
Fabian Cancellara
Stuart O'Grady

Ok, I am in this one too

Cool...

Little suprized Menchov can up so short...I dumped him too...

In. 

Picked one dude because he weighs less than me at 5'8" - that means he must be fast because gravity has no effect on him.  Clearly not a downhiller, though.

Velogames Scores for Stage 1 are up...BT VELO league standings...Brent's team is in 56th place overall (out of 6000+ teams!)...nice job, Brent!  Not sure when Stage 2 and Overall standings will be updated, but will post 'em when they're up.

BT VELO

Total Scores