For me its the same: switching talent per season will not be a good change for me. If talent has too much influence i would sooner suggest to remove a few levels and have the maximum bonus on +15% or something. This way its harder to calculate, has less influence but is still fixed.

I am very much in favour of changing the Age where riders start to get worse.

As always: thanks

Arno 'The Barbecue' Verbeek

After being scouted by Pro Team Yvo Meppelink at the age of 19 he quickly received a prof contract from team Claes. However this didnt work out and after only a week he switched to Team RHB. It was quickly apparent that Verbeek would become an absolute superstar. He was dripping of talent. Every pedal stroke looked strong and smooth and he quickly surpassed all other riders in the team.

At 21 years old he got his breakthrough. The won the first stage of the Tour Down Under by beating the best of the best and going on to finish 10th in the GC. After two short periods in the second division with the team we promoted back to the first and the successes never stopped for Verbeek. At 23 years old he got his first podium in a classic by finishing second in Amstel. After returning in season 8 he got his first classics win, also Amstel. From there the rest is history.

He grew up to have some excellent stats. At the age of 30 this was it:
Arno Verbeek      Age :    30   Wage : 852   
Stamina :    90   Sprint :    78   Climbing :    29
Flat :    83   Cobblestone :    8   Technique :    78
Downhill :    91   Hills :    100   Aggressiveness :    82
Time Trial :    20   Teamwork :    49   Experience :    100

As an exceptional rider he was able to compete not only in the hill stages but also in the tougher sprint hills. He finished 6 times in the top 10 in Milano - San Remo and 2 times top 10 in Eschborn. In the smaller tours he also enjoyed some success by finishing 7 times top 10 in the TDU, one top 10 in both Paris - Nice and the Dauphine.

In his prime he was able to pull off some exceptional races. Winning Giro stages as a free role, winning a sprint hill stage against the best sprinters, but, without a doubt, his biggest stunt was winning the world championship without a training camp.

At the age of 32 he retired as one of the 4 world stars in the peloton and 31 wins in 1a _{and he never finished 9th}.

Palmares
1x World Champion
2x Amstel Gold Race (5 podiums in total)
3x Fleche Wallone (6 podiums in total)
4x Liege - Bastogne - Liege (6 podiums in total)
2x National stage winner (4 podiums in total)
2x Silver bike
3x Bronze bike
7x Dutch champion
6x Giro stage win
2x Vuelta stage win
34x top 10 in a classic
13x other stage wins
20x other podiums

At the moment of his retirement he holds the stage record of 10 stages including the Salzburg WC, Lieja and Flecha. He is also the rider with the most wins at each of the hill classics.

An 8th place for Verbeek in the GC. A nice result and some extra points.

Quote from: oscacom on February 16, 2019, 11:25:50 AM

13 Your cyclists will get some bonuses in all the stages depending on the level of your equipment.

14. Those bonuses are unknown.

Wondering if anyone has attempted a test to determine the extent of "some bonuses" (for example by racing a stage [e.g. a pure hills race] without equipment and then racing a similar stage with equip).  Anyone?

Otherwise, I can live with the idea that the higher the level of the equipment being ridden, the more bonuses a cyclist will receive.

Also, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm thinking that all teams in Div 1, at least all those who have designs on staying there, have bought the highest priced equipment (i.e. Specialized).   Yes?
 

As for your last question: i rarely did. I usually bought Giant as i didnt find the stats worth paying double the price. Giant, as a primarly hill trainer, always felt right.

Im not sure verbeek really is a favourite for the dauphine. The TT really hurts a lot for him. Buuuuut we are in it and will do the the best we can.

Quote from: Sjiz on March 01, 2021, 09:01:46 PM

Verbeeks 30th win in 1a. Excellent result!

Very impressive !
I guess you have to add 2 more victories in his profile, and funny that you mentioned his nickname there. 

Haha yes, I havent updates his profile this season. His nickname was given to him by our spanish colleagues. I liked it :p

Well done! I am sad we didnt win Lieja, especially because i have the feeling it was due to bad luck. A mechanical for Verbeek in s3 and a high luck factor for valter in s5.

Still, its very clear that Verbeek now is one of the top riders who van win on a good day and i dont like that :p

Quote from: Sjiz on February 25, 2021, 10:41:01 AM

The last hillclassic for Verbeek tonight

a legend will participate in his last cycling race

He will finish the season but will not return to the Ardenas