Fantasy Cycling Teams - 2008

---

Last modified: Tuesday, 8 May, 2018
 

As has become our custom, Lisa & I will be adding to our interest in this year's professional cycling season by following the fortunes of our own fantasy cycling teams. We've been doing this since 1997. We select our teams on the basis of each rider "costing" his total UCI ranking points earned last season divided by fifteen and rounded to the nearest five, with a minimum cost of twenty points and a maximum of 200.  We allow each team 550 points on this basis, with nine riders to be selected. No more than two riders in each team can be selected from the same real life trade team.  Throughout the season we score our riders performances in all the major races according to the points system adapted from one used by Roger Hughes in his Fantasy Cycling League. The tables below summarise the fortunes of our teams throughout the season.

[ Season Review | Looking Forward ]

---

With Basso & Vinokourov departing in disgrace during the season last year, this season's line-up of Steve's Nightowlers is headed up by three new names: Carlos Sastre, Stefan Schumacher and Thomas Dekker. The team's sprint trio: Erik Zabel, Thor Hushovd and Mark Cavendish returns alongside David Millar, Steve Cummings and Bradley Wiggins.

As last year, Lisa has also held on to the mainstays of her Ready Steady Riders in the shape of Alessandro Petacchi, Tom Boonen and Robbie McEwan and Paolo Bettini, Brad McGee, Thomas Voeckler and Roger Hammond also return. The team is rounded out by new boys Michael Rogers and Fabian Cancellera.

For a blow-by-blow details of our riders' successes throughout the season, see the accompanying blog.

The season as a whole was a real rollercoaster ride: Steve's Nightowlers came from behind to take a 130-point lead into Period 6 after winning the Tour with Sastre only to gradually squander it all as Lisa's Ready Steady Riders ran out overall winners by the smallest ever margin in the eleven years we've been doing this.

In his final season, Zabel scored creditably and it would seem that Steve has his successor lined up in the youthful Cavendish. Hushovd scored well in the first half of the season but was invisible thereafter and Thomas Dekker disappointed in spite of a fine spring. Schumacher was outed as a doping cheat and finished his season early in disgrace while Wiggins was a total waste of space. Cummings probably did enough in the Tour of Denmark to justify his place but it's not clear that Millar has much more scoring potential left in him.

Lisa had her own doping problems as Petacchi served a ban which kept him from racing for most ofthe season. McEwan was reliable as ever and Boonen was back to good form this year. Cancellara was unbeatable at his speciality but Bettini struggled to combat the curse of the Rainbow Jersey in his final season. McGee (also retiring) and Hammond were invisible but Rogers and Voeckler justified their places.

Next year .

See below for Ready Steady Riders' results.
 

N i g h t o w l e r s
Rider	Period Scores								Total Score	Cost	Score /Cost
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Carlos Sastre					82		26		108	125	0.86
Erik Zabel		21	6	5	14		3	6	55	75	0.73
Steve Cummings			1			20			21	20	1.05
Thor Hushovd	21		13	4	17				55	70	0.79
Mark Cavendish	7	20	25		24				76	20	3.80
Bradley Wiggins			3						3	20	0.15
David Millar					2			4	6	45	0.13
Stefan Schumacher	1		3		25				29	80	0.36
Thomas Dekker		48	2						50	95	0.53
Total	29	89	53	9	164	20	29	10	403	550	0.73

R e a d y   S t e a d y   R i d e r s
Rider	Period Scores								Total Score	Cost	Score /Cost
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Alessandro Petacchi	5								5	120	0.04
Robbie McEwan		11	7	7	6		47	8	86	90	0.96
Bradley McGee			3						3	20	0.15
Roger Hammond		3							3	45	0.07
Tom Boonen	3	39				11	17	3	73	85	0.86
Paolo Bettini		7	9			12	11		39	80	0.49
Thomas Voeckler	9				6	18			33	40	0.82
Michael Rogers				5		29		1	35	40	0.88
Fabian Cancellera	58	18		9	9	35	3		132	30	4.40
Total	75	78	19	21	21	105	78	12	409	550	0.74

See above for Nightowlers' results.