The Great Big Bike Game 2020 – Velogames Round Up

Well well, what a breathless Tour that was! Some incredible performances and a historic final weekend caps one of the most exciting Tours de France of recent memory. If the other two remaining grand tours of the year have half the excitement of this race then we’re in for a treat. But what of fantasy cycling? Who top scored in the Velogames Great Big Bike Game of 2020? How well did your team fare? Here I’ll go over the winners, and occasional losers, in each category, as well as summarising the final dream team.

Final Rider Standings

The first thing to mention here, is that the points have changed for this year. Every category saw points increases compared to previous years except the on stage climbing points. Some points awards saw both an increase in points and an increase in the number of scorers. For example, 1st place on the stage went from 200 to 250 points and the top positions scored went from 15 to 20. So the overall totals possible have drastically increased and the gaps between top riders have increased as well. Here’s how each category’s best scorers turned out.

All Rounders

1. Primož Roglič – 2529
2. Richie Porte – 1460
3. Tom Dumoulin – 1128
4. Enric Mas – 1077
5. Rigoberto Urán – 876

It should come as no surprise that Roglič top scores in the all rounders category. A stage win, three podiums, and two further top fives plus 620 final classification points contribute to his massive total. He lived up to his billing as a pre-race favourite and his team performed just as strongly as they had done in the numerous warm-up races. 2nd place in this category should come as a bit of a shock as Richie Porte dialled back the years to record a stunning podium finish with a strong showing in the mountains and a superb final time trial. Tom Dumoulin held on for a top 10 finish, but who knows what he could have achieved had he not sacrificed too much of himself in the Pyrenees. Enric Mas posted a similar total thanks to a decent showing in the final mountain stages that saw him creep steadily up the GC rankings. Urán could have perhaps held on for more, but the tough final week saw him slip from a lofty podium spot to 8th in GC. A great result nonetheless, but unfortunately didn’t amount to the fantasy points hauls of his rivals.

Further down the rankings, Egan Bernal ended on 760 before his withdrawal and Bauke Mollema looked in fine shape before crashing on stage 13. Thibaut Pinot and Emanuel Buchmann are the main under-achievers. Pinot unfortunately never recovered from his stage one crashes, but did rally to finish the race and entertain his home fans on La Planche des Belles Filles. Buchmann’s injuries from the Dauphiné did prove too much for him to really feature, although he too managed to finish the race.

Climbers

1. Tadej Pogačar – 2882
2. Miguel Angel López – 1316
3. Adam Yates – 1196
4. Mikel Landa – 1164
5. Richard Carapaz – 1145

One of cycling’s new wonder kids absolutely smashes the competition here. Pogačar performed consistently throughout the race only showing minor weakness when he surrendered time in the stage 7 crosswinds and on the summit of the Col de la Loze. He scored 1541 points in stage finishes alone, which just underlines this guy’s performance.
There were some other really good scorers here as López and Landa tussled for the last podium spot and Yates enjoyed a really positive opening week, which included a stint in yellow. 5th place in the rankings, Richard Carapaz, picked up nearly all of his points after he was unleashed following Bernal’s drop in GC and eventual withdrawal.

There’s a small gap below Carapaz to the imperious Alaphilippe, Guillaume Martin, and Sepp Kuss who all scored well. Two six pointers follow on with good showings from 10th place on GC Caruso and Pierre Rolland. The notable absentees from higher up the list include Nairo Quintana and Romain Bardet. Quintana just hadn’t recovered from the Dauphiné like a few others, and it was a real shame to see Bardet drop out after he’s been 4th on GC.

Sprinters

1. Sam Bennett – 1800
2. Peter Sagan – 1477
3. Wout Van Aert – 1464
4. Caleb Ewan – 965
5. Bryan Coquard – 942

One clear winner here as well as Sam Bennett recorded a huge total. This was thanks to him being the most consistent sprinter with two wins and three further podiums, with a nice 4th place on stage one as well. He held Sagan off magnificently to claim the green jersey along the way. Sagan himself still picks up really great points despite a wee bit of bad luck and seemingly lacking a little top end speed to grab any wins. He’s down to race the Giro in two weeks time and I’m really keen to see how he gets on there.
Wout Van Aert managed two wins and four other good stage placings to contribute to a really decent score for a man saying he was only here for domestique duties. Imagine what this guy could do if his main goal was green and as many stage wins as possible. Time will tell if we get to see that in the next few years.

Elsewhere that points were shared out between numerous stage hopefuls with the most noteable under achiever being European champion Giacomo Nizzolo. Maybe someone has an inside scoop as to why he was off the mark, but here’s hoping he can bounce back because he was on some wonderful form before the Tour.

Unclassed

1. Marc Hirschi – 1010
2. Søren Kragh Andersen – 840
3. Greg Van Avermaet – 584
4. Hugo Hofstetter – 530
5. Carlos Verona – 510

The two best scorers here are from, arguably, the team of the Tour. Sunweb set out to win stages and in Hirschi and Kragh Andersen they picked up three and the most combative award. Van Avermaet did what he usually does, actually, he’s only point off last year’s total (if the game had been on). Hofstetter was Israel Start-Up Nation’s designated sprinter and Carlos Verona proves to be the most valuable 4 pointer. Verona appeared from nowhere to make this list thanks to 19th on GC and 50 points for the team classification.

Dream Team

So who makes the dream team and how does your team stack up in comparison? There are several really easy choices here and a couple of tricky ones to make the budget work. It’s not quite a severe as last year’s Vuelta when all of the most expensive riders made the dream team leaving almost nothing for the wildcard spot. This is partly thanks to Alaphilippe not quite reaching the heights of the 2019 Tour and 2nd place in the all rounder category going to 10 credit Richie Porte. The dream team actually follows the formula that is usually only reserved for the Tour, where the wildcard spot goes to a sprinter. So, not too beat around the bush for too long, here’s the 2020 Tour dream team!

Rider	Class	Cost	Points
Primož Roglič	All Rounder	24	2533
Richie Porte	All Rounder	10	1460
Tadej Pogačar	Climber	16	2882
Adam Yates	Climber	12	1196
Sam Bennett	Sprinter	14	1800
Marc Hirschi	Unclassed	6	1010
Søren Kragh Andersen	Unclassed	6	840
Carlos Verona	Unclassed	4	510
Bryan Coquard	Wildcard (Sprinter)	8	942

Total Points = 13169
Winning Team = 11507

The winning team had a double Sam Bennett and Wout Van Aert. I tried to make this work, but that would mean ditching Andersen and Yates and it yields about 200 fewer points. It would have taken a brave person to take Coquard as the wildcard and who would have thought Porte would have had the race he had, maybe only his wife, who told him he can only go to the Tour if he’s up there with the best. I’m always nervous when making these that I’ve made a glaring error, but I think this is solid. Well done if you took either of the Sunweb men and hopefully you showed more sense than me and recognised Bennett was absolutely worth 14 credits.

That does it from me! Stay tuned for some form pieces I’m planning and there will absolutely be a Giro guide when the game goes live. I’m off to watch a replay of the stage 20 time trial again.