Nathan Haas just tweeted that Haussler's new nickname is Buzz Aldrin

that is brilliant

The following sprinters were VERY lucky that this competition did not include Ster ZLM Tour because it's not HC or WT: Cavendish (2), Renshaw (3)

Might as well do an update for ya'll.........


Matthew Goose
1 win, 6 placings. Finally broke through for a win in the Giro d'Italia but only because Cav was out of it. Loves to be the second person to eat Turkey and has lost to Rabobank sprinters.
Should line up at the Tour!


Yauheni Whotarovich
0 wins, 5 placings. Losing to everyone: old and past-it Italians, Rabobank sprinters, Greipel and Cav. Even racked up two podiums in a 2.1 race, losing to Kreder! He's definitely right up there.
Should line up at the Tour!


Twoler Farrar
0 wins, 5 placings. If Farrar wasn't up there in this competition, you'd be sure 2012 would come true.  Spectacularly absent all year, yet still managing to stack up the podiums. Oman, Tirreno, Giro, Schelde... All the main sprinters have been in his way. But amazingly enough, he's also been unable to get past the likes of Geoffrey Soupe, JJ Haedo or Adam Blythe, not to mention his recent showing in Tour de Suisse behind Allan Davis and Lloyd Mondory.
Should line up at the Tour!

From these three shortlisted, who do you consider to be the ultimate placegetter sprinter for 2012 to be, so far?!  And why?!

Already thought you would enjoy Renshaw in the ZLM tour ;D.

Farrar and Haussler are two, very talented headcases, that lose races for very different reason, sad.

Update on the Placegetter Sprinter for 2012

The leadersboard is as follows:

11 - Goss (1)
10 -
9 -
8 - Sagan (9)
7 -
6 - Swift (2),
5 - Haussler, Hutarovich, Farrar
...

ARE JOINED BY

It looks like it will be quite difficult for anyone to rival Goss in this competition.  But, we have the Vuelta coming up so we might see a surprise.

Vuelta field (name, placings, wins)
      BOUHANNI Nacer - 2 (1)      
        FERNANDEZ DE LARREA Koldo - 0
      VIVIANI Elia - 2
      VENTOSO ALBERDI Francisco José - 0
      ROJAS GIL Jose Joaquin - 2 (1)
     STEEGMANS Gert - 0
      DAVIS Allan - 3
        BENNATI Daniele - 2
      SWIFT Ben - 6 (2)
      DEGENKOLB John - 4 (2)

You never know with the Vuelta, it typically loves to throw the break a 5 minute win on many stages, but based on a quick look, the following races could end in bunch gallops: 2, 5, 7, 10, 13, 18, 19, 21.

It is mathematically possible for Davis, Swift and Degenkolb to match or beat Goss. For Davis and Degenkolb it means a placing in every single sprint stage, but for Swift he only needs to manage 5. For each competitor this is a tall order. Even still, Swift and Degenkolb have multiple wins this season and less spectacular podiums than our man Goss.

But that's just the Vuelta, our second favourite heroes could battle it out in other upcoming races in the coming weeks:
       Tour du Limousin
      Vattenfall
      USA Pro Cycling Challenge
       Tour od Denmark
     
Hope you enjoyed the latest update.

I love this - everyone loves the plucky underdog, but only the best losers are truly celebrated.

And I second Caruut's idea - podiums minus wins makes a lot of sense as a way to rank our sprinters.

PS - Swift and Sagan both won sprinter's jerseys in France/Poland. Surely this should count them out?

I still think that a top rank event should disqualify you from the comp.
Also think that there should be a handicap system eg Farrar is supposed to be a tier 1 sprinter so so he should need 5 wins to be disqualified, like Cav and goss etc. Same for renshaw

Now anything can happen.

Farrar wins Stage 1 of USA PCC!

With the Tour of Beijing and a couple of 1-day races left in WT/HC company, this competition is coming to a close!

the Vuelta narrowed the standings somewhat, as Ben Swift and Allan Davis made late plays at the title. Swift made it to Sagan, but was far from Goss. The Tour of Beijing had 3 sprint stages last year with a decent field, so some riders could still score some late podiums to threaten the competition.

Until now, it looks like the following riders will make up the end of season poll, which will determine the ultimate placegetter sprinter for 2012, aka the biggest loser!  I will set the official poll after Beijing.

Matthew Goss     -   11 placings 1 win


Ben Swift     -   8 placings 2 wins


Allan Davis     -   6 placings 0 wins


Daniele Bennati     -   5 placings 1 win


Mark Renshaw     -   5 placings 1 win


Heinrich Haussler     -   5 placings 0 win


Yauheni Hutarovich     -   5 placings 0 wins


Tyler Farrar     -   5 placings 2 wins

Matthew Goss still leading, but Swift swiftly (excuse the horrible pun) closing the gap.

Speaking of velorooms awaRDS, I'll have to make an award for the winner of this competition.
Any ideas suggestions of how the trophy should look?

THE FINAL STRETCH

Fielding the Tour of Beijing:
HAUSSLER Heinrich
VIVIANI Elia
DAVIS Allan
BENNATI Daniele

I cannot wait for the outcome. But if you'd asked me at the beginning of this year to make a prediction, I would have gotten at least two of the names here. ;D

The names don't surprise me much either, but a few things did: I honestly thought Goss would have had more wins. He has less wins than Farrar!! I'd have never expected Hutarovitch nor Swift to be so high up there, and I'd never have expected Farrar to be so low (relatively speaking). And I'm pretty surprised about the first-or-nothing results of Cavendish and Kittel.

Since you brought it up, here were the predictions from the start of the season:

Jamsque - Renshaw and Farrar
Sublimit - Galimzyanov
JSG - Cavendish
Francois - Renshaw (although it was hard to tell with the long post)
Martin318s - Renshaw and Farrar
BYOP - Goss
Havetts - Farrar
Dinz - Renshaw
Mew - Farrar
42x16ss - Kittel
Mellow Velo - Goss and Renshaw
Taipei - Farrar
Thrawn - Goss and Farrar

That's 5 saying Renshaw... 6 saying Farrar... 3 for Goss... our forum's pretty smart!

PLEASE DON'T LET THAT INFLUENCE YOUR VOTING