Since FL is lazy I do some posting here, but no excellent excel files.
The main tours for the offseason:
Pavé: cat 2, 5 days, most likely start 28th or 29th October. Design a mystery, last year a competition, again? Or something else? I'm rather opposed to use old stages and mix... but a complete fantasy thing like it was most of the time wouldn't bother me (so much for my principles, usually that bothers me)
Andes: cat 3, mountain tour. 16-16-17-17-16 days in the last 5 years.. so I guess the same? (Although IMO the shorter the better)... End on the 24th of November seems logic
December tour: cat 3, 10-14 days, winner of December Tour competition. Between the 2nd and 15th seems logic (mostly we've had it early, could be one week later, but early as usual seems ok)
Christmat tour. cat 1 3-4 days, some peace message usually, designing mysterious. Start the 27th Dec most likely, the 26th is usually reserved for the jubilee race Herne, since the game started on a 26th of December (I think)
January Tour: cat 2, 11 days, second placed of December tour competition. Early January so to finish before Down Under starts. Down Under 2020 seems to be from the 21st, so not too tight this year. 7-17th (to avoid double weekend) a possibility. 9-19 with double weekend but another short tour before that instead of parallel another possibilty.
In addition of course there will be shorter tours. 3 to 6 days. Exact number and length IMO doesn't need to be decided yet, rought preview or proposal:
November 3: 1 before the Andes, 1 during, 1 after.
December 1-2: Last year we had nothing parallel to the Dec tour, hoping to have bigger participation there, do that again? Or have something parallel? 1 after seems sure though
January: 0-1: 1 Since the schedule is not as tight this year as it was in the last few years, an extra tour before or parallel to the January tour seems ok.
THe vault for offseason fantasy tours is basically empty... so needs designing. No guarantee that a tour will be chosen, but chances are there for sure. And if we get 20 tours designed, the number of tours offered might increase slightly... Maybe 2 tours parallel with fewer editions? Shorter tours probably with bigger chances than 6 day tours. So number above not fix, just a proposal, and length etc plays a role, short tours=more tours offered most likely.
What is needed: Non-specialized tours. To explain a bit: A classic tour, with 5 days for classics will have much smaller chances to be chosen that a classic tour with 3 stages for classics and 2 sprints. A climbers tour with 3 days climbing will have close to 0 chances to get chosen, one with a day for climbers (and GC) one for sprint, one classics will have much much bigger chances. Same with sprint, 4 days sprinting, unlikely to be chosen.
The one exception might be the parallel tour to the Andes, there a tour for sprinters, 4 sprint stages, or 4 sprint stages and a short TT (to give both sprinters and TT guys a chance) or sprints with one classic day (classics GC but nothing else) would have good chances. Something for climbers much less.
One day races: Here as well the vault has been fuller in the past....
Classics/races with cat 2 or 3. A race that's raced for the first time won't get more than cat 1. But new off season classics of course are welcome, post proposals from races raced in the past in the thread for off season classics:
viewtopic.php?f=37&t=5342
Last year we had:
03.11. GP Brescia cat 3 hilly
04.11. GP de Lanzarote cat 3 hilly
10.11. GP Coimbra cat 2 circuit, soft hills, max 5, sprint possible
14.11. San Benito Matagalpa cat 2 climbers, rather soft approach, 5 9 end
18.11 San Francisco classic cat 2 hilly
23.11 GP Canyon de Chelly cat 2 flat with late sieb 20 km from the end possible
25.11. Villalba GP cat 2 climbers
28.11. Yamaniguey - La Maquita cat 2 hilly
8 in November, should roughly stay the same, slight increase possible. European ones early, but new ones will have trouble getting in I think, in doubt (same amount of proposals) others join.
09.12. Colombo - Agampodigana cat 2 hilly
12.12. GP Pattaya cat 2 flat
19.12. Kisoro-Kabale cat 3 hilly
20.12. Makete - Kylea cat 2 flat
23.12. Pavés de Noël, cat 3, changing race, new route every year.
24.12. Christmas Island GP cat 2 hilly
25.12. GP Bet Lehem Nazareth cat 2 hilly
26.12.Tour de Herne cat 2 light pavé, light hills
31.12. Catania-Etna cat 2 mountain
31.12. La Saint Sylvestre cat 2 flat
10 in dec, but 6 of them are christmas stuff, that is there because it's there IMO, I think 1-2 more would be ok earlier in the month. Low number for Asia (2 or 3 with the christmas stuff)) and Africa (2), an increase there wouldn't be completely wrong. But no need to increase it just because of that, but again, in doubt proposals from those 2 continents would be in before more North/Central American/Carribean stuff.
January:
01.01. GP Letztebuerg cat 3 hilly
03.01. Napier Bluff Hill Circuit, cat 2, hilly
06.01. Boucles de Wallis et Futuna, cat 3, hilly, sprint possible
09.01. GP de Papeete cat 2 TTT
Only 4, but this year the real season starts later, so another 1-2 would be ok. Nothing from South America with cat 2 it seems, races from there so probably with good chances...
Most likely these races will stay (those that indeed stay) more or less in the same place they were last year, unless there's a big change in the continent rotation we've had in the last 3 or so seasons. Southern Europe-North/Central America/Asia/Africa/Oceania/South America it was (more or less, some mixing of Asian races in the NC America stuff)...
Anyway, proposals etc welcome, somebody with time and a nice excel(lent) sheet too!
The proposals for the classics in the other thread though.
viewtopic.php?f=37&t=5342
Will post the list there too.