2014 CC Predictions league

[smutchin]

OK, I've kind of committed myself to doing this, and I know it's still a while off, but it'll be the Tour Down Under before we know it...

So, does anyone have any thoughts about what the format should be? I was thinking along the lines of 3pts for a win, 1pt for a podium place. And only one prediction per person per race/stage, to make things less complicated. Plus extra points for GC and other classifications in multi-stage races.

As for what races should count, I was thinking World Tour races, obviously, plus anything else at my discretion (eg Tour of Britain). Obviously I'd be open to suggestions for races to include, but I don't want to get bogged down with having to process predictions for any old two-bit regional race.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Would 5, 2 and 1 points for the top 3 make it much more complicated?

 

[400bhp]

World Tour + your discretion.

More points for the GT top 3 (and/or points for top 10 say)?

Include KoM and Sprint jerseys in the GT's?

All predictions must be in x weeks before the start of the race? Perhaps 1 week before?

Some silly stuff like Lantern Rouge bonus points?

 

[SWSteve]

How would the points work re: placings as well as sprinters?
Why not 1 GC and 1 Sprinter?

I manage a fantasy football league, we found some issues where picking certain players skewed the points massively as we didn't appreciate how our scoring/selection process would have a big impact... probably due to us making it more complicated than needed in our first year

 

[rich p]

Make it as simple as you can Smutch. It's only for fun after all and you don't want to spend too much of your time on it.
1,2,3 is good enough as far as I'm concerned. World Tour plus any others you fancy.
Points at your discretion.
many thanks too!

 

[Noodley]

Keep it simple: 3,2,1 as Ted Rogers once said.
Never mind complicated stuff - it would just be a bit of fun, not a willy-waving exercise

 

[Noodley]

Actually I have had a slight re-think; if it's raining during a stage and a rider comes 5th then could you award them 13.7 points? Many thanks.

It could become the CC "quirk" that makes all the difference...sort out the real tipsters that would

 

[rich p]

If you want anything more complicated then there's the better known fantasy cycling sites.

 

[rich p]

Actually I have had a slight re-think; if it's raining during a stage and a rider comes 5th then could you award them 13.7 points? Many thanks.

It could become the CC "quirk" that makes all the difference...sort out the real tipsters that would

 

[Crackle]

Just put 0 for all of mine, that's simple and probably accurate

 

[beastie]

Keep it simple but a points weighting towards winning. So 5,2 and 1 point.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Keep it simple but a points weighting towards winning. So 5,2 and 1 point.

That was my reasoning for the 5, 2, 1 points award. Bigger points for the win, and a smaller differentiation between 2nd and 3rd.

 

[smutchin]

Would 5, 2 and 1 points for the top 3 make it much more complicated?

Nope, that sounds fine to me.

And maybe something like double that for GC and other classifications (points, KOM etc) - certainly not much more than that. I'd rather not give too much weight to overall classifications because, for me, the fun is mostly in predicting the outcome of individual races/stages.

How would the points work re: placings as well as sprinters?
Why not 1 GC and 1 Sprinter?

I'm not entirely sure what you mean but I was thinking of points only for stage winners and final classifications, not who's wearing the jerseys at the end of each stage - that's my idea of unnecessarily complicated (just too much data to process). And nothing for intermediate sprints/climbs either for the same reason.

It's really just a mechanism for keeping score of all the informal daily predictions many of us already make in the various race discussion threads. As Noodley says, just a bit of fun, not a willy-waving exercise. So big points for getting it right, fewer points for being close, and the only prize being the esteem of your peers.

 

[smutchin]

Actually I have had a slight re-think; if it's raining during a stage and a rider comes 5th then could you award them 13.7 points? Many thanks.

It could become the CC "quirk" that makes all the difference...sort out the real tipsters that would

I like it. Consider it ratified.

 

[smutchin]

All predictions must be in x weeks before the start of the race? Perhaps 1 week before?

Well, given that start lists often aren't finalised until the last minute, I'm happy to say the day before the race starts - let's say a deadline of 10pm GMT/BST the day before the race. And I don't mind people changing their mind, as long as it's before the race starts. And I'll leave it up to individuals to decide whether they make their predictions publicly in the forum or in a private message to me - again, a lot of the fun for me is discussing/mocking other people's predictions before the race, but it's fine by me if some people would rather play their cards close to their chest. I suppose I ought to make my own predictions public though!

Some silly stuff like Lantern Rouge bonus points?

I like that one too. It's in.

When we get closer to the start of the new season, I'll write up the final version of the rules into a reference sheet, so still plenty of time to come up with more silly/quirky rules. But not too many, please.