Quick check to see if anyone’s still racing on the last 2 events: No rider on the main race and…. no one on the Later-On version. Time to close the event!
101 riders set a time on this round. 75 left after HR data missing riders removed and we end on 72 riders getting points after the under 60kg males removed.
FULL LEADERBOARD RESULTS FROM THIS RACE:
Pos.
Rider
Time
Points
w/kg
mph
Cat.
Alieno79
0:48:54.71
245.00
4.20
23.71
A1
BareRemi
0:49:01.43
242.00
4.29
23.49
EL.
breers33
0:49:03.76
239.00
4.39
23.49
EL.
4.
nelsonsnyder
0:49:14.41
237.00
4.60
23.49
A1
5.
karel_sousek
0:50:25.18
235.00
4.08
22.82
A2
6.
przemokrk
0:52:12.84
230.00
3.93
22.15
A1
7.
lrollin
0:53:20.34
227.00
3.68
21.70
A3
8.
m-forby
0:53:20.34
224.00
3.91
21.70
A3
9.
orthostice
0:53:20.88
222.00
3.94
21.70
A3
10.
VeloBuch
0:54:53.37
220.00
4.02
21.03
A1
11.
Soniedupetrer
0:54:56.26
215.00
4.03
21.03
A3
12.
Hans.Holm.Moeller
0:54:57.64
212.00
4.01
21.03
A3
13.
Grochang
0:55:01.61
209.00
3.49
21.03
A4
14.
akoval
0:55:03.94
207.00
3.43
21.03
A4
15.
DonMatteo_07
0:55:04.64
205.00
3.79
21.03
A3
16.
Thomas_Lyhne
0:55:05.59
200.00
3.44
21.03
A4
17.
PalGravem
0:55:42.43
197.00
3.70
20.80
A4
18.
KeithOldGit
0:55:46.97
194.00
3.62
20.80
A1
19.
MikeHagen
0:56:08.94
192.00
3.47
20.58
A4
20.
stfmgr_65
0:56:38.10
190.00
3.44
20.36
A4
21.
Florian-Z
0:56:38.84
185.00
3.76
20.36
A4
22.
simonjp
0:56:46.01
182.00
3.70
20.36
A6
23.
tranberg
0:56:59.42
179.00
3.45
20.36
A4
24.
Yumile
0:57:03.52
177.00
3.19
20.36
A6
25.
MatthiasHeil
0:57:50.92
175.00
3.43
19.91
A6
26.
david7508
0:58:15.12
170.00
4.00
19.91
A3
27.
Southafro
0:58:28.00
167.00
3.57
19.69
A4
28.
ludwigdb
0:58:34.18
164.00
3.33
19.69
A5
29.
Dok_PS
0:59:21.43
162.00
3.46
19.46
A2
30.
KlausKinski_GURE
0:59:44.69
160.00
3.47
19.24
A3
31.
yayarecki
1:00:06.72
155.00
3.16
19.24
A5
32.
RaTim
1:00:46.76
152.00
3.04
19.01
A5
33.
SwissChris69
1:01:00.49
149.00
3.26
19.01
A5
34.
Chak
1:01:12.41
147.00
3.32
18.79
A5
35.
RamboRob
1:01:50.82
145.00
3.21
18.79
A5
36.
Andy_UP
1:02:27.83
140.00
2.95
18.57
A5
37.
ogee
1:02:46.77
137.00
3.01
18.34
A6
38.
louis_jvr
1:02:50.31
134.00
3.27
18.34
A5
39.
Duckman2
1:02:54.99
132.00
3.19
18.34
A5
40.
CyclingWorld
1:03:37.27
130.00
3.08
18.12
A6
41.
AEnder
1:03:54.69
125.00
2.90
18.12
A6
42.
Peater
1:04:01.50
122.00
3.18
18.12
A5
43.
Squalo_delle_Alpi
1:04:03.73
119.00
2.75
18.12
A7
44.
Marco92100
1:04:31.10
117.00
3.29
17.90
A5
45.
forco65
1:04:54.89
115.00
2.79
17.90
A7
46.
Riggers1
1:04:59.83
110.00
3.23
17.67
A5
47.
Fanfan31
1:05:04.09
107.00
3.36
17.67
A5
48.
abimmel
1:05:24.89
104.00
3.04
17.67
A6
49.
Mucker1974
1:05:42.31
102.00
2.66
17.67
A7
50.
S.Ludford
1:05:46.53
100.00
2.89
17.67
A6
51.
rouvy1bryon
1:06:41.03
95.00
2.86
17.22
A6
52.
MNHROUVY
1:06:46.74
94.75
2.97
17.22
A6
53.
Feile
1:07:45.86
94.50
3.10
17.00
A5
54.
MSA1117
1:08:02.92
94.25
2.80
17.00
A7
55.
runner2003
1:08:17.95
94.00
2.77
17.00
A7
56.
Facciu
1:08:35.05
93.75
2.69
16.78
A7
57.
pavelfoltyn
1:11:33.04
93.50
2.49
16.11
A8
58.
stelviobound
1:13:04.80
93.25
2.33
15.88
A8
59.
Hopeingod
1:13:40.69
93.00
2.46
15.66
A8
60.
Artur_Bumblebee
1:14:27.93
92.75
2.40
15.43
A8
61.
scruballstars
1:14:35.98
92.50
2.56
15.43
A8
62.
David1951
1:15:04.75
92.25
2.47
15.43
A7
63.
Corky_ouais
1:16:31.65
92.00
2.61
15.21
A7
64.
jeff65
1:16:49.48
91.75
2.29
14.99
A9
65.
Sidlo62
1:20:49.56
91.50
2.10
14.32
A9
66.
sunniva
1:22:24.25
91.25
2.52
14.09
A7
67.
cdtchris
1:22:25.60
91.00
2.15
14.09
A8
68.
Jarma
1:24:56.93
90.75
2.33
13.65
A8
69.
ArnoSchutten
1:25:21.06
90.50
2.04
13.65
A9
70.
PavelB_R2K
1:26:02.41
90.25
2.12
13.42
A9
71.
D.J.Dyer7
1:34:49.99
90.00
1.78
12.08
A9
72.
Drambles
1:42:14.17
89.75
1.64
11.41
A9
TOP 3 ELITE RIDERS FROM THIS RACE: (OVER 4.7 W/KG)
1: BareRemi
2: breers33
3:
ELITE LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
Pos.
Rider
Points
Stages
Ballast
Age
BareRemi
915.94
4
6.25 %
30-39
breers33
720.00
3
0.00 %
40-49
ErlendSundstrom
224.25
1
2.50 %
30-39
TOP 3 CAT. A1 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE: (4.4 – 4.6 W/KG)
1: Alieno79
2: nelsonsnyder
3: przemokrk
A1 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
Pos.
Rider
Points
Stages
Ballast
Age
przemokrk
945.63
4
0.25 %
40-49
nelsonsnyder
924.30
4
2.50 %
50-59
VeloBuch
658.95
3
4.50 %
40-49
4.
Alieno79
245.00
1
0.00 %
40-49
5.
KarianneKanebog
209.00
1
0.00 %
30-39
TOP 3 CAT. A2 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE: (4.1 – 4.3 W/KG)
1: karel_sousek
2: Dok_PS
3:
A2 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
Pos.
Rider
Points
Stages
Ballast
Age
karel_sousek
832.23
4
5.75 %
40-49
Stefan_Schmidt
434.85
2
2.50 %
40-49
Dok_PS
272.00
2
0.00 %
50-59
4.
tildebis
215.00
1
0.00 %
50-59
5.
nielsbrynnum
207.90
1
5.50 %
50-59
TOP 3 CAT. A3 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE: (3.8 – 4.0 W/KG)
1: lrollin
2: m-forby
3: orthostice
A3 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
Pos.
Rider
Points
Stages
Ballast
Age
lrollin
845.82
4
4.75 %
50-59
m-forby
840.96
4
4.00 %
50-59
Hans.Holm.Moeller
809.63
4
3.50 %
50-59
4.
Gil.Mad.io
476.61
2
0.50 %
50-59
5.
orthostice
446.00
2
0.00 %
60+
TOP 3 CAT. A4 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE: (3.5 – 3.7 W/KG)
1: Grochang
2: akoval
3: Thomas_Lyhne
A4 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
Pos.
Rider
Points
Stages
Ballast
Rider
akoval
815.90
4
0.50 %
40-49
Thomas_Lyhne
807.98
4
0.25 %
50-59
Grochang
736.06
4
2.25 %
50-59
4.
MikeHagen
570.31
3
1.50 %
60+
5.
Southafro
456.00
3
0.00 %
50-59
TOP 3 CAT. A5 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE: (3.2 – 3.4 W/KG)
1: ludwigdb
2: yayarecki
3: RaTim
A5 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
Pos.
Rider
Points
Stages
Ballast
Age
ludwigdb
747.54
4
1.25 %
50-59
Andy_UP
681.00
4
0.00 %
40-49
RaTim
658.69
4
0.50 %
40-49
4.
Duckman2
554.00
4
0.00 %
60+
5.
Chak
528.50
4
0.00 %
60+
TOP 3 CAT. A6 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE: 2.9 – 3.1 W/KG
1: simonjp
2: Yumile
3: MatthiasHeil
A6 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
Pos.
Rider
Points
Stages
Age
Yumile
707.00
4
40-49
MatthiasHeil
637.00
4
50-59
simonjp
593.00
4
40-49
4.
BTK_jiri70_cz
430.00
3
50-59
5.
MNHROUVY
338.50
3
50-59
TOP 3 CAT. A7 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE: (2.6 – 2.8 W/KG)
1: Squalo_delle_Alpi
2: forco65
3: Mucker1974
A7 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
Pos.
Rider
Points
Stages
Age
Squalo_delle_Alpi
485.00
4
40-49
Mucker1974
471.00
4
50-59
David1951
371.75
4
60+
4.
sunniva
371.25
4
40-49
5.
LinV
297.25
3
40-49
TOP 3 CAT. A8 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE: 2.3 – 2.5 W/KG
1: pavelfoltyn
2: stelviobound
3: Hopeingod
A8 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
Pos.
Rider
Points
Stages
Age
stelviobound
373.25
4
60+
cdtchris
351.75
4
60+
STADLER-TONI
227.00
1
50-59
4.
fazzo34
180.50
2
50-59
5.
Mianski
94.25
1
50-59
TOP 3 CAT. A9 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE: UNDER 2.3 W/KG
Well done to przemokrk!!!! first monthly win of the year but you now get 2.5% ballast added to carry into next month and the rest of the year. Anice 2nd place to nelsonsnyder and an amazing 3rd place to Bareremi who got to 3rd place with 6.25% ballast!
this is the first time the whole top 10 are previous top 10 finishers so all get some kind of increase in there ballast total. But 12th, 13th and 14th places were all non-ballast runners so i wonder if those guys will hit the top 10 next month?
Remember next Thursday isn’t a championship race. Every time we have a 5th Thursday in a month we run something different. Next week we are doing 12 races in 1 night. All super short sprints and all will be points awarded and lets see who wins that! should be “fun”
Thanks everyone for the continued support and for reading this to the end.
co-founder of muckersworldwide.com and race organizer! Been into cycling since a kid and spent most of the time on BMX and mountain bikes. Took me longer than most to get the road cycling bug but I was bitten around 5 years ago when I finally got a fully fledged road bike that fitted and I let the flat handled road bike go...
Well i tried my hardest to put some kinda’ pressure on my category rival! i was even in 1st place a few times at the start as i tried my hardest to use the top group to drag me along to the long climb as fast as possible. Got to the climb in about 28th, set myself the 2.8 minimum target and off i climbed.one by one I’m getting caught and passed and i think i finally got to the shockingly steep crest in about 45th place! i hate race climbs so much! Anyway, Squallo has caught and passed me so now its all about trying to set as fast a time as possible to the end. luckily im in another fast group as we go along the next section but i can feel my legs are gone! we hit the last climb and i can only just about manage 2.5s now, but with the help of S.Ludford, i keep going, every now and again i get a burst of energy and feel fine at 3.0, but then the gradient goes up 1% more and my legs scream and I’m back down to 2.2s! very frustrating but it is what it is. i finish just inside the top 50 on the race. I’m well inside the top 50 in the championship and 2nd in my category this month. Not bad.
I liked the course! Downhill start then flat and run with the big boys while everyone gets tired. I had a great climb; 16 minutes it took, and holding 4s the whole way–my longest stretch of 4s so far this year. Pleased with that; but in the end, not quite good enough! Stu (bikeanddogtrips) had done one of his mid-climb surges and gotten away, catching a few and forming a group ahead of me. I was *so close* to getting on with them at the top, but that last really steep ramp was just too much. Couldn’t do it. So eased a bit and rode with PalGravem and davidemellano and we did enough to keep the chasing groups at bay. Those two dropped me in the last km, but I’m happy to finish where I did. Kudos to all that finished!
Very hard work for me this night, a double race event to hold the 3rd position in a Champ, and for find to battle for the first in the out.
I find and try to ride good the first part of race with Chris 🇨🇭and Chak 🇨🇦. My direct opponent was in front but the first horrible hill arrived and I put a good pace to jump on it. In the second part I rode with often do alone but behind of me there was John a good climber that put many watt but also take on with him Neil and I didn’t slow down for many km. I’m lucky at the end that my legs hold always a good power and I can win me little battle for our cat.
Thanks to everyone and we look forward to the next battle 💪🦈
Well done Manuel, no way i was gonna beat you on this route and my only hope was you’d tire your legs out on the Italian championship race you did beforehand! But it didn’t and i just can’t climb like you. well done and congrats as it definitely kept the racing spicy for the month!
Hc it’s stupid but it’s my opinion if I don’t like it I can not participate in the races. I think Remi was 1st this month and Nelson 2nd I was 3rd. Congratulations to Remi and Nelson. Respect to everyone.
I pretty much agree with @przemokrk. We know who the strongest riders are who fight for Thursday victories. Pretending otherwise or trying to smooth over that reality is just a game of deception. The ballast system is arbitrary and doesn’t change how the races play out or the differences in skill levels, it just skews the results. If inclusivity is the goal, then a different system should be considered.
To motivate everyone, there’s already the category system. And last year, the “race within the race” format was quite fun. Why not bring that back, with distinctions for things like the first runners with the lowest heart rate, the oldest runners, or those who stay within a certain heart rate range… All of this would add interest for everyone, without distorting the “real” ranking.
And finally, I can’t remember who jokingly suggested that the best riders should start a bit later than the others. It’s a funny idea, but hard to implement — it would require the elite & A1 riders (based on FTP w/kg) to play along, which is far from guaranteed.
Very good arguments Lairin. You and Karel should be listened to here because last year you were on the podium together with Stefan and you have a lot of experience. I see that here you listen to those who agree and applaud the Bosses and you can’t have another task.Irollin sorry for name on top my coment.
prezemokrk, ” I see that here you listen to those who agree and applaud the Bosses and you can’t have another task”
what does that mean? The rules were set at the beginning of the championship and just because a few riders don’t agree with them, i should listen and change it? We can look at change next year but not 4 months down the line. if you actually look at lrollins new leaderboard that he is now top of, there’s really not that much difference in places between you all. The ballast is there for a number of reasons with one of them to dissuade the cheaters amongst you top finishers to realize you might be able to easily win and get through ROUVYs checks, but you’re not gonna keep smashing out the wins here and not get reigned in.
But listen, it’s just an online training platform and we just wanted to try something to be a little different from the rest, but with good intentions. There’s plenty of other race’s/championships on ROUVY that are pure first past the post so consider those if that’s what you need to feel happy. The rules and points will be like this for the rest of the year, and i am sorry you feel they are rubbish and that we only listen to those that agree and applaud us.
@przemokrk I created a raw dissident table that doesn’t count ballasts or the worst-performing month.
The data is pulled directly from Niteor, keeping the principle of 50 points for the first of the month, and so on.
It will be updated every month after the Niteor GC is published.
Brilliant! Running this in parallel to the official site is the perfect way to do this. Neil will never be able to get everybody to agree and at the end of the day he’s the boss (and I mean this in a good way!). We should be grateful for all the work he does to keep this going rather than nagging. However I’ll definitely bookmark your alternative league table with its simple “First person crossing the line is the winner. End of.” perspective. 👍👍👍
lrollin, remember last year and you complaining about the mental stress of racing flat out every Thursday? And that you were not coming back to race this year? Your points were the reason for having a break in January (which did help with us getting involved in the OMG event), only racing for 4 weeks a month (so those 5th Thursdays would not be championship races and you could mentally rest) and the best 10 months from 11 so you knew if you had 1 poor scoring month, it wasn’t going to ruin your year and add to that stress. That was us listening to YOUR feedback last year and trying to help. When we saw you were back, we thought it was because you felt less stressed and up for it again.
The championship is set up well in advance and we let everyone know how its going to run, so it’d be totally wrong to start changing the format 4 months in because some don’t like it. The rules, regs and points are quite simple to understand and that’s how it should be left for the whole year. Its like a football team not happy with 1 point for a draw so making up a table that gives 2 points instead as they are really good a getting a draw!
all your other suggestions can be implemented into Tuesdays races as they are stand alone races and you can try some heart rate ones as yes they were fun but only about 20% of the riders ever took any notice of it. There’s very little you can do you try and get top riders to start later, or try and put them on slower bikes etc etc (although they are really good ideas) but wouldn’t that just then fit back into your “distorting the real rankings” comment, and if not, 2 or 3 other people would be on here complaining that they were faster than the heart rate riders and that’s a “rubbish” way to do it.
Anyway, hope this answers some of your comments and i am sorry you’ve not been able to get on board with what we are trying to do. It’s impossible to please everyone.
I don’t understand you, before the new Muckers Champ, Neil explain to all the new rules for the 2025. Not all is perfect for me but I respect the big work he and Kyle do for all us. Another link with another general classification is a not correct mode and less the rispect to everyone.
This my simple think from one rider that never will be in the first top 10. 👋
Great, this will be a very useful results table. Great that you run the best races at Rouvy. I’m not afraid of the ballast, it’s just that penalizing the winners is strange in my opinion, but I respect that you’re trying to change, we’ll see at the end of the season and maybe together we’ll draw conclusions about what’s good and what’s bad.
@Neil
Okay with your rules, it’s your game, but you can also take into account the immediate feedback from users who participate in your races (For my part, I’m only making suggestions based on what seems to be the fairest). Do you really know if more people are for or against the ballast system?
Yes, you’re right that I’ve often complained about the difficulty of the races, but overall not about the race conditions or the rule of 12 months of racing. The real issue is mostly the level differences and the “mutants” that distort the races. Anyway, I’m just giving feedback but I never speak negatively about your work.
I don’t think you’re the UCI yet, and there’s still room for flexibility in your rules. The ballast system in 2024 was softer and therefore less impactful, but it’s much, much more so in 2025. And that doesn’t change the fact that there are still 5 or 6 (or more) riders who are far above the rest (like Bareremi / breers33 or ErlendSundstrom).
I took the results table and added a ballast filter and a filter to remove the worst month. I also added the Average w/kg, the weight (blurred as it’s not public on Niteor), and the trainer used. With the added filters, everyone can navigate it and do their own analysis
I’ve been following the discussion and want to acknowledge the feedback being shared.
Regarding the comments on the ballast system, it’s important to remember that the rules for this championship were established and communicated extensively before the season began. We made sure to cover the format in posts, on podcasts, and Colin even discussed it on his YouTube channel so everyone would know what to expect from the start.
A significant amount of volunteer time and personal expense goes into running this series for the community. Neil dedicates a huge portion of his free time to planning the races and coordinating with Rouvy. I personally spend about four hours a week maintaining the website and creating posts, and there are ongoing financial costs to keep the site live for everyone.
This is all done to create a fun and competitive environment, so to see the Neil criticised in this way is disheartening. While we are always open to constructive feedback for future seasons, we will not be making fundamental changes mid-championship. It would be unfair to all the riders who have been competing under these rules from the beginning.
We will certainly take all these points into consideration when we plan for next year. For now, we hope you can respect the effort that goes in and continue to enjoy the races.
@Kyle
You might also hear some spontaneous feedback (which doesn’t question the work you’re doing) about your rules and from participants who are directly affected (though 80% of them aren’t really, as they join the races just for the raw Rouvy ranking).
Concretely, if we assume that, for example, Bareremi finishes in the top 3 every month until the end of the year, he would end up with a 20% handicap in the last month — that’s a lot, and honestly, it can be a bit discouraging to keep participating in this championship. It also raises some concerns about sporting fairness. Of course, there’s always the option of not finishing in the top 10 to avoid penalties, but that kind of distorts the spirit of the race, and I’m not sure the top riders would really be okay with that. What does the person concerned think about it, by the way?
The Muckers Championship is one of the most competitive on Rouvy, and it’s a bit of a shame to see the final results potentially so heavily impacted by such a system. I think many of us didn’t fully anticipate the impact of this handicap when the rules were set at the beginning of the year — and then again, did we really have a choice?
And regarding the time you spend managing this championship, Niteor saves you a lot of time compared to last year, and on top of that, you can use the table I developed to save even more time 🙂
Not too bothered about position, just enjoy racing on Thursdays and getting involved in the racing battles and tactics along the way.
Fast start to make sure I’m in a drafting group on the flat section after the descent. A good group, too fast for me but I manage to be a passenger until the climb. Settle into a comfortable pace up the climb and reach Mucker1974 near the top, I decide if we crest the climb together I will stay with him to the finish. We form a nice 4 man group at the bottom of the descent and chase down teammate Squalo 🤦 … but I know Neil and Squalo are close in the championship so I think it’s a fair fight to have them start the final climb together.
As it turned out, Neil had burned a few too many matches earlier in the race so the 2 way fight up the climb didn’t happen, good work Squalo.
oh yes i had burned out some matches at the beginning but also not too much as i was still climbing at around 2.7 which isn’t too bad for me… i might have been able to average 2.8-2.9 if legs were better but that still wouldn’t have kept me with Squalo as he can climb very well.
but i really appreciate the thought and also just the company as it kept me pushing along to the end.
Thanks for another month of great races. I knew this one was going to be a challenge. How much would I have left after emptying the tank on the first climb? I had just enough to hold my position. Normally, I wave to everyone I see, not today, so this is my blanket wave “hi.”
Rainy day, will the sun shine in Muckers race? Strong competition and race course aswell. It all started with descent and flat section, but with several attacks it was not easy ride, because Nelson was in breakaway also. When we approached key climb in the middle, i stayed close to top riders, but the final surge did another layer of damage. Brian leading, followed by Nelson, then Baremi, Alieno and me, with Premek slightly behind.
Mixed feelings now, as i would prefer to ride with real riders only, but best strategy was to stay behind Baremi wheel. Descent was also tricky, but we managed regroup into five lead group. When the long final climb came, i could hold decent pace, but not react to incoming attacks. Solo ride till the finish, focusing hold position. Very happy for the result, thank you all who joined us!
Always the same debate about stationary bikes and dump trainers. I think Karel is talking about the guy with his Zcycle who skews the races a bit and keeps getting disqualified by Rouvy’s automatic filters.
Well i tried my hardest to put some kinda’ pressure on my category rival! i was even in 1st place a few times at the start as i tried my hardest to use the top group to drag me along to the long climb as fast as possible. Got to the climb in about 28th, set myself the 2.8 minimum target and off i climbed.one by one I’m getting caught and passed and i think i finally got to the shockingly steep crest in about 45th place! i hate race climbs so much! Anyway, Squallo has caught and passed me so now its all about trying to set as fast a time as possible to the end. luckily im in another fast group as we go along the next section but i can feel my legs are gone! we hit the last climb and i can only just about manage 2.5s now, but with the help of S.Ludford, i keep going, every now and again i get a burst of energy and feel fine at 3.0, but then the gradient goes up 1% more and my legs scream and I’m back down to 2.2s! very frustrating but it is what it is. i finish just inside the top 50 on the race. I’m well inside the top 50 in the championship and 2nd in my category this month. Not bad.
I liked the course! Downhill start then flat and run with the big boys while everyone gets tired. I had a great climb; 16 minutes it took, and holding 4s the whole way–my longest stretch of 4s so far this year. Pleased with that; but in the end, not quite good enough! Stu (bikeanddogtrips) had done one of his mid-climb surges and gotten away, catching a few and forming a group ahead of me. I was *so close* to getting on with them at the top, but that last really steep ramp was just too much. Couldn’t do it. So eased a bit and rode with PalGravem and davidemellano and we did enough to keep the chasing groups at bay. Those two dropped me in the last km, but I’m happy to finish where I did. Kudos to all that finished!
Well done Mike and thanks for commenting Mucker.
Very hard work for me this night, a double race event to hold the 3rd position in a Champ, and for find to battle for the first in the out.
I find and try to ride good the first part of race with Chris 🇨🇭and Chak 🇨🇦. My direct opponent was in front but the first horrible hill arrived and I put a good pace to jump on it. In the second part I rode with often do alone but behind of me there was John a good climber that put many watt but also take on with him Neil and I didn’t slow down for many km. I’m lucky at the end that my legs hold always a good power and I can win me little battle for our cat.
Thanks to everyone and we look forward to the next battle 💪🦈
Well done Manuel, no way i was gonna beat you on this route and my only hope was you’d tire your legs out on the Italian championship race you did beforehand! But it didn’t and i just can’t climb like you. well done and congrats as it definitely kept the racing spicy for the month!
Hc it’s stupid but it’s my opinion if I don’t like it I can not participate in the races. I think Remi was 1st this month and Nelson 2nd I was 3rd. Congratulations to Remi and Nelson. Respect to everyone.
🙂 erm. are you on about the GC and ballast in your “stupid” opinion?
and to what extent will this ballast grow throughout the season, up to 10-15%
I pretty much agree with @przemokrk. We know who the strongest riders are who fight for Thursday victories. Pretending otherwise or trying to smooth over that reality is just a game of deception. The ballast system is arbitrary and doesn’t change how the races play out or the differences in skill levels, it just skews the results. If inclusivity is the goal, then a different system should be considered.
To motivate everyone, there’s already the category system. And last year, the “race within the race” format was quite fun. Why not bring that back, with distinctions for things like the first runners with the lowest heart rate, the oldest runners, or those who stay within a certain heart rate range… All of this would add interest for everyone, without distorting the “real” ranking.
And finally, I can’t remember who jokingly suggested that the best riders should start a bit later than the others. It’s a funny idea, but hard to implement — it would require the elite & A1 riders (based on FTP w/kg) to play along, which is far from guaranteed.
Very good arguments Lairin. You and Karel should be listened to here because last year you were on the podium together with Stefan and you have a lot of experience. I see that here you listen to those who agree and applaud the Bosses and you can’t have another task.Irollin sorry for name on top my coment.
prezemokrk, ” I see that here you listen to those who agree and applaud the Bosses and you can’t have another task”
what does that mean? The rules were set at the beginning of the championship and just because a few riders don’t agree with them, i should listen and change it? We can look at change next year but not 4 months down the line. if you actually look at lrollins new leaderboard that he is now top of, there’s really not that much difference in places between you all. The ballast is there for a number of reasons with one of them to dissuade the cheaters amongst you top finishers to realize you might be able to easily win and get through ROUVYs checks, but you’re not gonna keep smashing out the wins here and not get reigned in.
But listen, it’s just an online training platform and we just wanted to try something to be a little different from the rest, but with good intentions. There’s plenty of other race’s/championships on ROUVY that are pure first past the post so consider those if that’s what you need to feel happy. The rules and points will be like this for the rest of the year, and i am sorry you feel they are rubbish and that we only listen to those that agree and applaud us.
@przemokrk I created a raw dissident table that doesn’t count ballasts or the worst-performing month.
The data is pulled directly from Niteor, keeping the principle of 50 points for the first of the month, and so on.
It will be updated every month after the Niteor GC is published.
Brilliant! Running this in parallel to the official site is the perfect way to do this. Neil will never be able to get everybody to agree and at the end of the day he’s the boss (and I mean this in a good way!). We should be grateful for all the work he does to keep this going rather than nagging. However I’ll definitely bookmark your alternative league table with its simple “First person crossing the line is the winner. End of.” perspective. 👍👍👍
lrollin, remember last year and you complaining about the mental stress of racing flat out every Thursday? And that you were not coming back to race this year? Your points were the reason for having a break in January (which did help with us getting involved in the OMG event), only racing for 4 weeks a month (so those 5th Thursdays would not be championship races and you could mentally rest) and the best 10 months from 11 so you knew if you had 1 poor scoring month, it wasn’t going to ruin your year and add to that stress. That was us listening to YOUR feedback last year and trying to help. When we saw you were back, we thought it was because you felt less stressed and up for it again.
The championship is set up well in advance and we let everyone know how its going to run, so it’d be totally wrong to start changing the format 4 months in because some don’t like it. The rules, regs and points are quite simple to understand and that’s how it should be left for the whole year. Its like a football team not happy with 1 point for a draw so making up a table that gives 2 points instead as they are really good a getting a draw!
all your other suggestions can be implemented into Tuesdays races as they are stand alone races and you can try some heart rate ones as yes they were fun but only about 20% of the riders ever took any notice of it. There’s very little you can do you try and get top riders to start later, or try and put them on slower bikes etc etc (although they are really good ideas) but wouldn’t that just then fit back into your “distorting the real rankings” comment, and if not, 2 or 3 other people would be on here complaining that they were faster than the heart rate riders and that’s a “rubbish” way to do it.
Anyway, hope this answers some of your comments and i am sorry you’ve not been able to get on board with what we are trying to do. It’s impossible to please everyone.
I don’t understand you, before the new Muckers Champ, Neil explain to all the new rules for the 2025. Not all is perfect for me but I respect the big work he and Kyle do for all us. Another link with another general classification is a not correct mode and less the rispect to everyone.
This my simple think from one rider that never will be in the first top 10. 👋
Great, this will be a very useful results table. Great that you run the best races at Rouvy. I’m not afraid of the ballast, it’s just that penalizing the winners is strange in my opinion, but I respect that you’re trying to change, we’ll see at the end of the season and maybe together we’ll draw conclusions about what’s good and what’s bad.
@Neil
Okay with your rules, it’s your game, but you can also take into account the immediate feedback from users who participate in your races (For my part, I’m only making suggestions based on what seems to be the fairest). Do you really know if more people are for or against the ballast system?
Yes, you’re right that I’ve often complained about the difficulty of the races, but overall not about the race conditions or the rule of 12 months of racing. The real issue is mostly the level differences and the “mutants” that distort the races. Anyway, I’m just giving feedback but I never speak negatively about your work.
I don’t think you’re the UCI yet, and there’s still room for flexibility in your rules. The ballast system in 2024 was softer and therefore less impactful, but it’s much, much more so in 2025. And that doesn’t change the fact that there are still 5 or 6 (or more) riders who are far above the rest (like Bareremi / breers33 or ErlendSundstrom).
I took the results table and added a ballast filter and a filter to remove the worst month. I also added the Average w/kg, the weight (blurred as it’s not public on Niteor), and the trainer used. With the added filters, everyone can navigate it and do their own analysis
I’ve been following the discussion and want to acknowledge the feedback being shared.
Regarding the comments on the ballast system, it’s important to remember that the rules for this championship were established and communicated extensively before the season began. We made sure to cover the format in posts, on podcasts, and Colin even discussed it on his YouTube channel so everyone would know what to expect from the start.
A significant amount of volunteer time and personal expense goes into running this series for the community. Neil dedicates a huge portion of his free time to planning the races and coordinating with Rouvy. I personally spend about four hours a week maintaining the website and creating posts, and there are ongoing financial costs to keep the site live for everyone.
This is all done to create a fun and competitive environment, so to see the Neil criticised in this way is disheartening. While we are always open to constructive feedback for future seasons, we will not be making fundamental changes mid-championship. It would be unfair to all the riders who have been competing under these rules from the beginning.
We will certainly take all these points into consideration when we plan for next year. For now, we hope you can respect the effort that goes in and continue to enjoy the races.
@Kyle
You might also hear some spontaneous feedback (which doesn’t question the work you’re doing) about your rules and from participants who are directly affected (though 80% of them aren’t really, as they join the races just for the raw Rouvy ranking).
Concretely, if we assume that, for example, Bareremi finishes in the top 3 every month until the end of the year, he would end up with a 20% handicap in the last month — that’s a lot, and honestly, it can be a bit discouraging to keep participating in this championship. It also raises some concerns about sporting fairness. Of course, there’s always the option of not finishing in the top 10 to avoid penalties, but that kind of distorts the spirit of the race, and I’m not sure the top riders would really be okay with that. What does the person concerned think about it, by the way?
The Muckers Championship is one of the most competitive on Rouvy, and it’s a bit of a shame to see the final results potentially so heavily impacted by such a system. I think many of us didn’t fully anticipate the impact of this handicap when the rules were set at the beginning of the year — and then again, did we really have a choice?
And regarding the time you spend managing this championship, Niteor saves you a lot of time compared to last year, and on top of that, you can use the table I developed to save even more time 🙂
Not too bothered about position, just enjoy racing on Thursdays and getting involved in the racing battles and tactics along the way.
Fast start to make sure I’m in a drafting group on the flat section after the descent. A good group, too fast for me but I manage to be a passenger until the climb. Settle into a comfortable pace up the climb and reach Mucker1974 near the top, I decide if we crest the climb together I will stay with him to the finish. We form a nice 4 man group at the bottom of the descent and chase down teammate Squalo 🤦 … but I know Neil and Squalo are close in the championship so I think it’s a fair fight to have them start the final climb together.
As it turned out, Neil had burned a few too many matches earlier in the race so the 2 way fight up the climb didn’t happen, good work Squalo.
oh yes i had burned out some matches at the beginning but also not too much as i was still climbing at around 2.7 which isn’t too bad for me… i might have been able to average 2.8-2.9 if legs were better but that still wouldn’t have kept me with Squalo as he can climb very well.
but i really appreciate the thought and also just the company as it kept me pushing along to the end.
Thanks for another month of great races. I knew this one was going to be a challenge. How much would I have left after emptying the tank on the first climb? I had just enough to hold my position. Normally, I wave to everyone I see, not today, so this is my blanket wave “hi.”
well done Mucker and top of your category as well! and Hi
Rainy day, will the sun shine in Muckers race? Strong competition and race course aswell. It all started with descent and flat section, but with several attacks it was not easy ride, because Nelson was in breakaway also. When we approached key climb in the middle, i stayed close to top riders, but the final surge did another layer of damage. Brian leading, followed by Nelson, then Baremi, Alieno and me, with Premek slightly behind.
Mixed feelings now, as i would prefer to ride with real riders only, but best strategy was to stay behind Baremi wheel. Descent was also tricky, but we managed regroup into five lead group. When the long final climb came, i could hold decent pace, but not react to incoming attacks. Solo ride till the finish, focusing hold position. Very happy for the result, thank you all who joined us!
well done Karel and thanks for commenting, would you elaborate on what you mean by “real riders only”? i don’t know what that means. cheers.
Always the same debate about stationary bikes and dump trainers. I think Karel is talking about the guy with his Zcycle who skews the races a bit and keeps getting disqualified by Rouvy’s automatic filters.