Using Mixed-Integer Programming to Win a Cycling Game
Published Online:1 May 2011https://doi.org/10.1287/ited.1110.0062
Abstract
This paper presents an application of optimization modeling to the winning of a popular cycling game. The application includes real-life data of contempory cyclists. It also has the potential to motivate students with a competitive but fun “race” for a solution. Because the developed optimization model contains features of knapsack problems, multiperiod inventory problems, and logical constraint modeling, it is perfectly suitable for a concluding case study in an undergraduate operations research/management science course. The application was originally developed for an MBA operations research course focusing on spreadsheet modeling skills, but it can also be used in courses that focus on algebraic modeling of optimization problems.
