Recent content by skidmark

Update #13: A Paul is cast over the CQ game A thrilling and unpredictable edition of Paris-Roubaix may be the primary memory of this week for cycling fans, but the real CQ points in this game came from the most popular rider in the 2026 edition. Paul Seixas earned 446 points for his 73 owners...

Update #12: Wout's Up It was a week of classics, with the Ronde, Dwars Door, and several minor one-day races in France, Spain and Belgium offering points. No GC points for stage races, but there were some high scores coming out of it. This Week's Top Scorers Rank Team Points this week 1...

Update #11: Punk's Not Dead It was a big week in cycling, as we're ramping up the cobbled classics towards Holy Week and running the always-underpriced-on-CQ Volta and always-kinda-unpredictable Coppi e Bartali stage races. But the winner on the week was a familiar name from last week's update...

Update #10: slow climber climbs away The first monument of the season is in the books, and with a half-dozen single day races on the week it was a busy one, although one with a lot of underwhelming results for popular or consequential riders in this game. As a result, several teams in the...

Update #9: DJW Takes Top Spot The one-two stage race punch of Paris-Nice and Tirenno-Adriatico is done, and wild weather led to crashes, peloton splits, and the biggest gaps in generations at the former, while a hilly-but-not-high-mountain parcours led to back-and-forth lead changes and bonus...

Alright, what do I have to look forward to this week? Paris-Nice Carlos Rodriguez Dani Martinez Axel Zingle Well, the two GC guys are well-enough placed after two stages, I suppose we'll see, Martinez is a bit of a bigger difference maker being on fewer than half the teams. Zingle seems to be...

Update #8: Eyeballs Out Balls Out It was a bit of a sparser week in the CQ game, with of course Strade Bianche as the main attraction. As a result, scores were modest, and the teams already at the top had some good weeks, locking down their position atop the standings. This Week's Top Scorers...

Update #7: SafeBet Wins Opening Weekend The end of February is upon us and the points continue to build as the game takes shape. This week was not quite as high as last week with its multiple stage races, but with the big opening races we also see most riders with their seasons underway, and CQ...

Update #6: Smooth week for Rufs A lot of action this week, and the scores were commensurate. Three big early season stage races and a few 1-days combined to get scores nearly touching the four digits - let's see how it shook out! This Week's Top Scorers Rank Team Points this week 1 Rufs...

Ah yes, that time in the CQ season when you hit the first bump in the road, offering bad omens ahead for your team... Remco finishing 10th in February after winning everything before isn't the worst thing if it's a blip. But it does confirm that his potential thermonuclear ceiling that his 12...

I forgot to mention this back in January - longtime game participant (and former winner!) Blues in the bottle messaged me a little over 24 hours after the publication deadline expressing chagrin over realizing that they had missed the deadline this year. I agreed to do what I've done in the past...

Update #5: Morgado, More Success It was a relatively quiet week sandwiched in between a glut of higher level races in other weeks, with the 2.PS Tour of Oman having the most points on offer, and a couple of 1.PS races offering early season point opportunities (along with the mini-sized 2.1...

Update #4: Armchair riding to the top The early season racing carried on last week with Etoile de Besseges and Vuelta Valenciana, where despite the neutralization of the TT, Remco Evenepoel continued his early season tear. Unsurprisingly, the standings this week are topped by teams including...

I missed this earlier this week - just to clarify, the official weekly rankings are based on CQ spreadsheet updates, so that is the basis for the weekly scores. Indeed it will fix itself for the overall scores but we've never countered the official CQ sheet in the game, so their mistake becomes...

Update #3: Onizuka999 Gets Christened into CQ Game The early season continued this week with races (not braces!) in Mallorca, Saudi Arabia, Australia and France. As more riders get their seasons underway we will see more upheaval in the standings, although the very top of the standings remained...