2017 Giro CQ game

[Crevaison]

Quite fitting with a close finish to mirror the real race.. ..Kangert could have made the difference but you're always likely to lose at least one guy along the way.

[Squire]

Top ten in my first GT CQ game. Gotta be pleased with that. Hadn't Kruijswijk abandoned it would've been even better, but as Crevaison says, there's always some bad luck to be factored in. At least my strategy proved successful.

Thank you for doing this game and adding to the enjoyment of the Giro, Armchair Cyclist!

[GP Blanco]

My first podium in a CQ game. Happy to make the podium.

[Armchair cyclist]

Some number crunching:

Best scoring riders:
(at least a stage win worth of points)

The overwhelming favourite to win was simply deemed too expensive by nearly everyone, and the one who did win was several hundred points dearer than riders who most pundits thought had a better chance.
Pinot finished behind Nibali, but gets the podium of point earners through better stage placings. Gaviria and Landa (on plan B) are the main riders whose place points are more important than GC.

1 DUMOULIN Tom 890 1 team
2 QUINTANA ROJAS Nairo Alexander 605 1 team
3 PINOT Thibaut 459 13 teams
4 NIBALI Vincenzo 444 26 teams
5 GAVIRIA RENDON Fernando 438 8 teams
6 ZAKARIN Ilnur 389 19 teams
7 JUNGELS Bob 377 3 teams
8 LANDA MEANA Mikel 323 42 teams
9 POZZOVIVO Domenico 279 7 teams
10 MOLLEMA Bauke 221 0 team
11 YATES Adam 192 9 teams
12 POLANC Jan 190 2 teams
12 ROLLAND Pierre 190 9 teams
14 COSTA Rui Alberto Faria 171 0 team
15 STUYVEN Jasper 164 1 team
16 BENNETT Sam 157 3 teams
17 GREIPEL André 149 0 team
18 FORMOLO Davide 143 6 teams
18 IZAGIRRE INSAUSTI Gorka 143 0 team
20 PÖSTLBERGER Lukas 138 1 team
21 VAN GARDEREN Tejay 136 13 teams
22 HIRT Jan 122 4 teams
23 EWAN Caleb 118 0 team
24 FRAILE MATARRANZ Omar 113 21 teams
25 CATALDO Dario 111 3 teams
25 MONFORT Maxime 111 1 team
27 SANCHEZ GIL Luis Leon 108 0 team
28 REICHENBACH Sébastien 95 0 team
29 KONRAD Patrick 91 4 teams
30 VAN EMDEN Jos 88 0 team
31 DILLIER Silvan 85 0 team
32 MARECZKO Jakub 80 0 team
33 AMADOR BIKKAZAKOVA Andrey 77 4 teams
34 FERRARI Roberto 75 1 team
35 DUPONT Hubert 70 0 team


If any team manager is building its pride on purple points, here are the highest scorers in that category:
1 DUMOULIN Tom 380 1 team
2 GAVIRIA RENDON Fernando 353 8 teams
3 QUINTANA ROJAS Nairo Alexander 215 1 team
4 JUNGELS Bob 212 3 teams
5 PINOT Thibaut 193 13 teams
6 LANDA MEANA Mikel 175 42 teams
7 GREIPEL André 149 0 team
8 ZAKARIN Ilnur 142 19 teams
9 NIBALI Vincenzo 129 26 teams
10 COSTA Rui Alberto Faria 121 0 teams
11 ROLLAND Pierre 120 9 teams
12 EWAN Caleb 118 0 team
13 BENNETT Sam 117 3 teams
14 PÖSTLBERGER Lukas 113 1 team
15 STUYVEN Jasper 109 1 team

Percentage returns
1 KOZONTCHUK Dmitriy 166.7 5 teams
2 AGNOLI Valerio 150.0 9 teams
3 LANDA MEANA Mikel 109.9 42 teams
4 POLANC Jan 103.3 2 teams
5 KISERLOVSKI Robert 93.3 3 teams
6 PÖSTLBERGER Lukas 85.2 1 team
7 DEIGNAN Philip 73.2 1 team
8 FRAILE MATARRANZ Omar 64.2 21 teams
9 PLAZA MOLINA Ruben 63.8 1 team
10 DUMOULIN Tom 61.4 1 team
11 ALAFACI Eugenio 60.0 3 teams
12 ROLLAND Pierre 59.0 9 teams
13 ZAKARIN Ilnur 56.5 19 teams
14 JUNGELS Bob 55.5 3 teams
15 CATALDO Dario 55.5 3 teams
16 JANSE VAN RENSBURG Jacques 51.6 1 team
17 PETILLI Simone 51.4 2 teams
18 ANACONA GOMEZ Winner Andrew 50.5 0 team
19 BERNARD Julien 50.0 1 team
20 POZZOVIVO Domenico 49.6 7 teams
21 HIRT Jan 49.0 4 teams
22 GAVIRIA RENDON Fernando 48.8 8 teams
23 NIBALI Vincenzo 45.9 26 teams
24 PELLIZOTTI Franco 45.8 0 team
25 PINOT Thibaut 45.8 13 teams
26 MONFORT Maxime 41.6 1 team
27 DE PLUS Laurens 41.3 0 team
28 ANDREETTA Simone 41.1 1 team
29 BIDARD François 40.9 0 team
30 FERRARI Roberto 40.3 1 team
31 HANSEN Jesper 40.0 3 teams


Impeccable picks

DUMOULIN Tom
PINOT Thibaut
NIBALI Vincenzo
GAVIRIA RENDON Fernando
ZAKARIN Ilnur
JUNGELS Bob
LANDA MEANA Mikel
POLANC Jan
PÖSTLBERGER Lukas
PELLIZOTTI Franco
PETILLI Simone
PLAZA MOLINA Ruben
KISERLOVSKI Robert
DEIGNAN Philip
AGNOLI Valerio


Most popular picks
LANDA MEANA Mikel 323 42 teams *
NIBALI Vincenzo 444 26 teams *
FOLIFOROV Alexander 26 25 teams *
KRUIJSWIJK Steven 9 25 teams *
FRAILE MATARRANZ Omar 113 21 teams *
ZAKARIN Ilnur 389 19 teams *
PINOT Thibaut 459 13 teams
VAN GARDEREN Tejay 136 13 teams
GASPAROTTO Enrico 15 10 teams *
KANGERT Tanel 21 10 teams *
THOMAS Geraint 69 10 teams
TIRALONGO Paolo 15 10 teams *
AGNOLI Valerio 15 9 teams
PONZI Simone 15 9 teams
ROLLAND Pierre 190 9 teams
YATES Adam 192 9 teams

(asterisked riders made up the Collective Wisdom team, which came exactly halfway through the field)

Best Possible team
My record for doing this accurately is not good, and if there is a way of getting Excel to work it out definitively I don't know it, so the best I can come up with is:

DUMOULIN Tom
GAVIRIA RENDON Fernando
LANDA MEANA Mikel
POLANC Jan
PÖSTLBERGER Lukas
FRAILE MATARRANZ Omar
DE PLUS Laurens
PETILLI Simone
PLAZA MOLINA Ruben

for a total of 2248 (and a popularity score that would have been the second lowest)

Not really related to this game, but for the last few GTs I have set up a ninja thread: highest placed rider with no daily top ten placing: it was Hubert Dupont in 19th place.

Spreadsheet here for further post mortem analysis of your efforts

[Hakkie2]

Small improvements to the Best Possible Team:

Landa
Polanc
Postlberger
Fraile
Rolland
Dumoulin
Zakarin
Cataldo
Kozontchuk

This team would have scored 2322 points. A special mention goes to Postlberger who was also part of the best possible spring classics team.

[Hakkie2]

Cumulative standings of Spring Classics Game + Giro:

1) AG 3363
2) Just Some Guy 3358
3) Kazistuta 3346
4) Del1962 3313
5) Mellow Velo 3068
...

Tight battle between the Top 4!