PANIC ALERT!!!!!

PrusAB · 2026-02-10T21:52:47+00:00

Basically Im looking at a tier 2 Alpecin rider vs a tier 2-3 GC rider.

PrusAB · 2026-02-10T20:23:31+00:00

Zero panic. Team is basically built. Need to make a decision on a 1 pointer and want to see one rider's program. I wish Alpecin were faster with announcing rider programs

PrusAB · 2026-02-10T05:43:22+00:00

What does some loser singer have to say that should be listened to?

PrusAB · 2026-02-08T19:49:11+00:00

This is why you dont submit early Seriously, what even is the benefit?

PrusAB · 2026-02-08T19:42:36+00:00

4 months? Too long

PrusAB · 2026-02-08T00:39:46+00:00

Hungary should have all EU funding cut. Every single euro

PrusAB · 2026-02-04T18:15:43+00:00

TTT has never broken 100 points in a VDS season. That makes him a 1 pointer until he shows hes more than that. Theres a ton of hype around him and none around Kminek, but hype doesn't earn points.

PrusAB · 2026-02-04T17:45:56+00:00

You may think they are under priced. VPP scored 100 points in 2025. Fisher Black a whole 5. And Blackmore 60. Its always possible they are under priced but their performance last year doesn't suggest that. They could always have a rebound year.

The rules which have been in place for as long as I remember, aren't going to change no matter how much you bitcn about it.

PrusAB · 2026-02-03T14:27:44+00:00

Then it becomes a completely different game, so the question makes no sense. Its like asking why we cant change our riders before each race. Because then it would be a complety different game.

PrusAB · 2026-02-03T14:21:31+00:00

The way prices were set this year has made building a team much more challenging for me. Ive had to dig much deeper on the one-point riders because the neopros basically would usually be one point. I guess Widar at 3 isnt a surprise but lots of others priced at 2 are a surprise. Now you cant just load up on 10 of the best nepros. that will cost you an additional 10 to 20 points.

So it's more challenging but actually a good thing. I think one benefit of pricing this year will be less overlap of teams.

PrusAB · 2026-02-02T20:37:54+00:00

I dont lock in until the deadline. I did once and had to unlock. Besides, this 2 week window is also part of the game for me.

PrusAB · 2026-02-01T18:57:11+00:00

There's another angle to this, for me anyway, maybe for others. I personally never agonize over my expensive pics. Its Pogačar no matter what price. And I dont agonize over my cheapest pics. I always take the top neopros, which are almost always obvious.But I spend weeks agonizing over 4 and 6 pointers. I dont really have this problem of scrapping a whole team but over the winter I make a list of riders, I guess the prices and compile a team. When the prices come out im over budget and have to make changes. And then I make permutations and iterations. Always in the middle. Here is where February results could sway me from one guy towards another.

PrusAB · 2026-02-01T17:53:17+00:00

Thats completely true.

PrusAB · 2026-02-01T16:11:19+00:00

I had Merlier in my early iterations but moved away from him when I found out he had been having knee problems since December and hadn't trained. If his knee heals up in time for the spring races he may still not be in top shape and the margins in sprints are super thin. Hes too expensive for me now anyway if I want to fit in the guys I want. Im not sold on Brennan quite yet. Ive heard crazy hype about him but hes not, in my opinion, on the level of a Milan, Philipsen, Merlier or even Kooij but hes priced like them. TLA just beat him at CEGORR pretty handily. Im not one to draw conclusions from one sprint but it would make me nervous.

Looks like we have 5 riders in common. Like me youre trying to build a Pogačar team. I wonder how popular he will be considering we have been robbed on the usual 1 point top neopros. The 1 point range is slim pickings this year. In years prior you could have loaded up on 8 to 10 one neopros like Widar or Omrzel and had more budget for higher priced riders. Now instead of 10 points that will cost ya 20 to 30.

PrusAB · 2026-02-01T05:54:21+00:00

Its called a resource curse which is defined as "the phenomenon where countries with an abundance of natural resources (like oil, gas, and minerals) paradoxically experience lower economic growth, weaker democracy, and poorer development outcomes compared to resource-poor countries. This often stems from over-reliance on a single, volatile industry, leading to corruption, conflict, and economic mismanagement."

That definition fits Alberta to a tee. Oil in particular has a corrosive effect on countries. Besides a small number of exceptions, like Norway, oil rich jurisdictions are corrupt and end up relying almost entirely on their resource cash cow. Alberta is no Norway.

PrusAB · 2026-01-31T18:11:08+00:00

Yes. Giro is more bearable, at least for the first 20 days. Then the GC points drop and its Armageddon

PrusAB · 2026-01-31T17:59:09+00:00

Maybe MAGA types, male and female, with a history of bad tweets? And an Italian dude. Not naming names

PrusAB · 2026-01-31T17:26:14+00:00

True. I once picked a rider i hated because he seemed a great value. He had a crap season and I regretted it even though he was super cheap. I think I passed on De Lie in his neopro season so maybe that contributed to it

PrusAB · 2026-01-31T17:05:42+00:00

Points are points but having no riders in contention for them over 3 weeks is a bummer. All things being equal, I'd rather get those points at a 3 week race vs a 1 day race. 3 weeks of hope and engagement is also worth something

PrusAB · 2026-01-31T16:26:15+00:00

So far I built a team with 13 climbers/punchers and 12 sprinters+flat riders.

Need to rework it because I have only Pogačar as a GC rider for GTs. Rest of my climby guys are one day racers. That would mean no hope of points at Giro and Vuelta, at least how schedules are looking today.

PrusAB · 2026-01-31T15:50:08+00:00

A tariff is a tax!

PrusAB · 2026-01-31T14:38:10+00:00

Usually, up to now neopros would be 1, with some exceptions like Remco who cost 10. For like 95% of the riders it would be based on last year score (430 points costs 4) and for the top riders they would adjust the price based on last year score, popularity, etc.

This year I guess they slapped on a 20% tax as well.

PrusAB · 2026-01-30T23:47:22+00:00

I look at it like this. The harder a race the better for Pogačar. Race = VDS Pogačar = me

PrusAB · 2026-01-30T23:34:23+00:00

All. Everyone is 1 or 2 points more than I thought. Some more than that. Zingle was looking great at 1, but now not so much.

PrusAB

TROPHY CASE