YES

Well that was easy. I guess that it might be helpful to back up my opinion with a number or two. I may for example hop into a way back machine and go back into the mists of 2012. Way back when the rider list was released and bvl was crafting the team that would crush all comers. I could then reset the prices to match something along the lines of what Ursula is doing to us for the upcoming year.

The Restricted and double restricted riders would look something like this.

Looking at that list only two of the top ten teams would have been legal. The other two would have had to chop between 20 and 30 points out of their rosters due to more conservative pricing throughout the rider list. Dumping 20 to 30 points of riders would slash overall production of teams. Those mid-priced riders cranking out the 400-600 points that earned all those 18-20 thousand point returns won't all fit on a team, in a year where pricing is more conservative.

There is some upside to this however. The game gets more balance with more conservative pricing. You are not under such pressure to make the one good pick. This year Identifying Sagan and Wiggins as under priced while picking up either Degenkolb or Boonen was necessary to have a shot at winning. Filling out the rest of the roster with consistent riders was also key, but guess wrong on Sagan and Wiggins and J-Rod was your only hope.

With more conservative pricing you can only have one of Sagan, Wiggins, and J-Rod. Since you can have only one finding the killer combo is impossible. This frees us up to pick the big name riders we like best and hope we can fill out the rest of the roster with good riders, and still be competitive. We should see some more variety among the make-up of the the top teams in 2013.

The more conservative pricing also makes teams without restricted riders more competitive. If the top name rider Killer Kombos are removed from the equation, some one who can find value amongst the lower tier can afford more Constrained riders. This will hopefully let them buy more consistency into their roster.

Here's to anything that makes the game more open to different strategies.