So, your classics squad is totally set by now, right? No? You're going to keep obsessing over the results in Oman until the deadline to see if you can figure out who is going to be really hot versus only kinda good and who is going to tango with the pavement before Het Nieuwsblad? Okay, I understand.

But, unless you plan on picking up the top 15 places in every race between now and the middle of April, you need to think more broadly. Besides, just think about all those delectable points on offer in stage races, the Ardennes, Lombardia, San Sebastian, and more! So, I take you through five of my favorite climbers and stage racers to give you some advice that will surely come back and haunt me in the final VDS standings.

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While Omloop Eve is drawing ever closer, there were some rumblings over on my 5 to watch post over the last week about a possible U-25 VDS league. I jumped all over the idea (originally proposed by Lopex) and created a spreadsheet and a few simple rules. I will task myself with all of the score keeping as a lot of the scoring relies on the FSA DS scores but all of this will be explained in full.

The whole purpose of this game is to give some of these younger guys some attention. All riders 4 points and above are excluded from this game. No Sagan, EBH, Phinney, etc. I want to give a the spotlight to younger guys who aren't priced quite as high but still have a ton of talent...Trust me, it will be fun!

With that, lets go to the flip and get all this explained! =]

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Title: Life In The Slipstream: The Legend Of Bobby Walthour Sr
Author: Andrew M Homan
Publisher: Potomac Books
Year: 2011
Pages: 241
Order: Potomac Books
What it is: A biography of an American double-World Champion who made his name racing in the slipstream of motor-pacers and on the Six Day circuit.
Strengths: Excellently researched and a fascinating story about an era in cycling's history when the sport was all about speed.
Weaknesses: The more you learn about this era of cycling - not just in the US, but also in Europe - the more you want to know.

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Merde! As I look at the country flags from proposed FSA DS teams, one country seems to be largely ignored: France.

Yes France. The country that held the first bike race. The country that invented gothic art, the guillotine, codeine, the rabies vaccine, the oboe, the bikini, and, without a doubt, the country that perfected polka dots (yes ant1, you should click this link).

Here are 5 French cyclists (and a couple of bonus picks) that should make every FSA DS team better - or at least far more fun to support.

[All this week we will be featuring different angles on playing our year-long fantasy game, the FSA Directeur Sportif. Remember, deadlines for submitting your teams are Feb 22 for the women and Feb 24 for the men. Don't miss out!]

Photo*: Thomas Voeckler being awesome, 2011 Paris-Nice.

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Hey Humans! We clams have awoken from our winter nap and all of the Bay of Biscay is abuzz in preparation for this Most Beautiful Race. As usual, please disregard the meat grinder located just pass the finish line with the tube extending out into the bay to spray fine nutrients for all us bivalves to snack on. Better than popcorn!

The early handicapping suggests a two-man sprint to win between Phil and Al.

6 MONTHS HUMANS! THE BIVALVES ARE EXCITED!!!!

A friend* of mine tipped me of on a quite interesting study conducted by a Belgian economist. Daam Van Reeth studied how a number of different variables - like the parcourse, doping news, uncertainty about the outcome, and patriotism - influence the TV audience during Tour de France. He only use data from Flemish television, but since Podium Cafe is the site where people dream of Belgium, we might learn something from the study anyway.

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[All this week we will be featuring different angles on playing our year-long fantasy game, the FSA Directeur Sportif. Remember, deadlines for submitting your teams are Feb 22 for the women and Feb 24 for the men. Don't miss out! Let's start with -- what else? -- the cobbled classics.]

One rite of winter in my family is when my brother starts emailing me with his team and asking me if I think it's Belgian enough. Mr Van P knows the various strategy choices and has tried a few over the years. But like the moth to the flame, he can't not stack his team with Belgians. Cobbles addicts are like that. Trust me, I know.

I don't usually engage too much in these dialogs. Maybe I'm a lousy brother, but I have trouble settling on my own strategy, and something inside me tells me not to look at Pete's team. Sure, I'd love to follow my heart and go all-in on the classics, but stacking a squad full of Belgies -- what happens to them after Brabantse Pijl? Last year he went completely off the rails and built a team of 25 Belgians. Hell, it was almost entirely Flemish, except for Gilbert, Monfort, Amorison and Baugnies. It's like setting an April 12 expiration date on your team's season. Meanwhile, I quietly built a nicely rounded team stacked to compete through October. Needless to say, in our field of nearly 700 teams last year he finished... 148th. Exactly 210 spots higher than me.

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Admit it. The other day when the VDS competition was opened it was like Christmas morning as you opened the rider price list. There you were, slowly going down the list from expensive to cheap, hoping that you'd find your favorites at a great price. You started at the top, trying to guess if Phil-Gil was worth 36 points. Certainly-if he has another season like last season; but can he repeat that? Hmm.

Moving down, you saw Bert at 30 and mentally put that away until you heard the ruling. J-Rod, Cance, and the Tour winner at 26? Interesting...Manx Missile at 22? Seems a bit high but if he ever puts a complete season, it could be worth it....Whoa! Green Bullet at 22 too? (All sorts of visceral reactions to that one from Get That $#^%@#er Out Of My VDS! to There's My Captain!

By now in the back of your mind there's this vague notion that Someone Is Missing but the list is so interesting you can't yet ID who...Two kids at 20...clearly the VDS Eds want me to pay through the nose....18 pointers all sort of similar...Someone's Definitely Missing...16..Schlecks, Big Bird, Bobo, The Testosterone Tootise..14....Greipel, eh? WHAT THE HELL WHERE IS HE WHERE IS MY MAN WHERE OH GOD IS HE DEAD I CAN'T BREATHE I HAVE HIVES DOES LORE KNOW DOES SHE I HAVE TO HIT VIEW ALL ONLY BAD RIDERS NEED VIEW ALL GGGGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH...12 points and then you see it, right below Jurgen Roelandts and on top of the Little Bald Nugget:

37.

OPQ

PRT

Tom Boonen

12

580

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