2013 CQ Game Classics Edition

[Hugo Koblet]

Vanendert got an injury at VaPV? Nooooooo.

He did. He had to withdraw fom Pais Vasco but according to Marc Sergeant, he's fit for fight again.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Gilbert got 86 points for his 19 teams.
Leukemans has been a consistent source of points for Geraint and Gotland, and gets them another 66 today.
Gasparotto scores 52 for Ingsve and Blackbandit.
Vanendert recovers from the injury that so stressed Caruut to earn 30 points for his 8 teams.
Van Avermaet has his 9th scoring race for Geraint and Just some guy: 21 points this time.
Kolobnev gets 17 points for Evans in best and Jancouver, to whom I must apologise for not having given him 24 points for the Strade Bianchi.
13 other riders got "shrapnel" points for their respective teams.


1 ingsve 150 (Gilbert, Gaspa + 2 minor scorers)
2= mutschi and boomcie (Gilbert, Martens and a 5 pointer)
4 Gotland (Gilbert + 2 five pointers)
5= Hugo Koblet , 18-Valve. (pithy), Tigerion, HelgeBlendet, will10, sublimit, Yellow Knight and DJ Sprtsch 91 each (Gilbert + a 5 pt man)

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

After Amstel, with two races left:

1 rmeloa 2176
2 mc_mountain 2089
3 Fool on the Hill 1715
4 LightBing 1693
5 Ruudz0r 1678
6 Afrank 1656
7 Geraint Too Fast 1579
8 Hugo Koblet 1578
9 shalgo 1511
10 18-Valve. (pithy) 1483
11 Caruut 1478
12 karaev 1441
13 comodoro 1435
14 search 1390
15 Gotland 1385
16 just some guy 1218
17 the asian 1186
18 Froome19 1131
19 mutschi 1125
20 J-King 1066
21 Blackbandit222 1054
22 Tigerion 1039
23 HelgeBlendet 1036
24 AG 968
25 will10 951
26 sublimit 942
27 hilltopfinisher 919
28 Armchair cyclist 917
29 Jancouver 905
30 EvansIsTheBest 904
31 asdfgh101 867
32 GP Blanco 820
33 August 813
34 Yellow Knight 795
35 jsem94 783
36 The Hitch 766
37 boomcie 764
38 ingsve 737
39 DJ Sprtsch 655
40 vladimir 583
41 al_pacino 507

Of the top 15, there are minor rises in placing for Ruudz0r, Geraint and 18 Valve.

If Phil Gilbert wins the two remaining races, those points will put Ruudz0r 2 points ahead of Rmeloa and the effect of minor placings would then be decisive. I think the two breakaway leaders will, Kreuziger-like, maintain their advantage to the end.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Very low points haul today: the highest finisher to be in any of our teams was Slagter in 14th.

The best scorers on the day were all underperforming teams: of those listed below, only Caruut is in the top half of the field overall.


1 boomcie 72 (Slagter, Gilbert, Martens and Schleck)
2 vladimir 68 (Slagter, Gallopin, Vanendert, De Clerq, Schleck, Sulzberger)
3 The Hitch 55 (Slagter, Hermans, Iglinski, Schleck, Zaugg)
4 HelgeBlendet 51 (Slagter + Gilbert)
5 asdfgh101 50 (Slagter, Hermans, Vanendert, Schleck)
6 ingsve 48
7 mutschi 45
8 Caruut 37
9= Tigerion, AG, will10 and DJ Sprtsch 34


Standings with one race left:
1 rmeloa 2181
2 mc_mountain 2094
3 Fool on the Hill 1720
4 Ruudz0r 1707
5 LightBing 1698
6 Afrank 1661
7 Hugo Koblet 1607
8 Geraint Too Fast 1579
9 shalgo 1521
10 Caruut 1515
11 18-Valve. (pithy) 1507
12 karaev 1451
13 comodoro 1440
14 search 1395
14 Gotland 1395
16 just some guy 1250
17 the asian 1196
18 mutschi 1170
19 Froome19 1149
20 J-King 1095
21 HelgeBlendet 1087
22 Tigerion 1073
23 Blackbandit222 1070
24 AG 1002
25 will10 985
26 sublimit 971
27 hilltopfinisher 948
28 Armchair cyclist 946
29 EvansIsTheBest 937
30 Jancouver 928
31 asdfgh101 917
32 GP Blanco 849
33 August 836
33 boomcie 836
35 Yellow Knight 824
36 The Hitch 821
37 jsem94 812
38 ingsve 785
39 DJ Sprtsch 689
40 vladimir 656
41 al_pacino 536

Only changes in top 15 are one place rises for Ruudz0r, Hugo, Caruut and Gotland.

So, what are the odds on Ciolek, Elissonde, Haussler, Howes, Pozzato and Wagner (for mc mountain) gaining 87 points more than Vanmarcke, Oss, Langeveld, Devolder, Breschel and Hayman (Rmeloa's squad) in L-B-L?
Assuming Gilbert can back some sort of recovery from this, Ruudz0r must be favourite for third.

 

[mc_mountain]

So, what are the odds on Ciolek, Elissonde, Haussler, Howes, Pozzato and Wagner (for mc mountain) gaining 87 points more than Vanmarcke, Oss, Langeveld, Devolder, Breschel and Hayman (Rmeloa's squad) in L-B-L?
Assuming Gilbert can back some sort of recovery from this, Ruudz0r must be favourite for third.

Howes and Elissonde look pretty lame picks now, but alternatives in that price range (for the ardennes) were pretty limited - maybe Weening would have been a good one, I guess I could have expected more from Pozzato in RVV and PR. Although I was pretty gutted to lose the top spot and the chance of an elusive CQ victory, its cool to add another podium spot to my resume.

Podiums - 3rd 2011 CQ 2nd 2013 CQ Classics
Top 5s - 4th 2012 CQ Giro, 4th 2012 CQ Vuelta, 4th 2012 CQ GTs Overall
Top 10s - 8th 2012 CQ

* awaits fall after such a display of pride

 

[Ruudz0r]

Very low points haul today: the highest finisher to be in any of our teams was Slagter in 14th.

The best scorers on the day were all underperforming teams: of those listed below, only Caruut is in the top half of the field overall.


1 boomcie 72 (Slagter, Gilbert, Martens and Schleck)
2 vladimir 68 (Slagter, Gallopin, Vanendert, De Clerq, Schleck, Sulzberger)
3 The Hitch 55 (Slagter, Hermans, Iglinski, Schleck, Zaugg)
4 HelgeBlendet 51 (Slagter + Gilbert)
5 asdfgh101 50 (Slagter, Hermans, Vanendert, Schleck)
6 ingsve 48
7 mutschi 45
8 Caruut 37
9= Tigerion, AG, will10 and DJ Sprtsch 34


Standings with one race left:
1 rmeloa 2181
2 mc_mountain 2094
3 Fool on the Hill 1720
4 Ruudz0r 1707
5 LightBing 1698
6 Afrank 1661
7 Hugo Koblet 1607
8 Geraint Too Fast 1579
9 shalgo 1521
10 Caruut 1515
11 18-Valve. (pithy) 1507
12 karaev 1451
13 comodoro 1440
14 search 1395
14 Gotland 1395
16 just some guy 1250
17 the asian 1196
18 mutschi 1170
19 Froome19 1149
20 J-King 1095
21 HelgeBlendet 1087
22 Tigerion 1073
23 Blackbandit222 1070
24 AG 1002
25 will10 985
26 sublimit 971
27 hilltopfinisher 948
28 Armchair cyclist 946
29 EvansIsTheBest 937
30 Jancouver 928
31 asdfgh101 917
32 GP Blanco 849
33 August 836
33 boomcie 836
35 Yellow Knight 824
36 The Hitch 821
37 jsem94 812
38 ingsve 785
39 DJ Sprtsch 689
40 vladimir 656
41 al_pacino 536

Only changes in top 15 are one place rises for Ruudz0r, Hugo, Caruut and Gotland.

So, what are the odds on Ciolek, Elissonde, Haussler, Howes, Pozzato and Wagner (for mc mountain) gaining 87 points more than Vanmarcke, Oss, Langeveld, Devolder, Breschel and Hayman (Rmeloa's squad) in L-B-L?
Assuming Gilbert can back some sort of recovery from this, Ruudz0r must be favourite for third.

A 3rd place would be nice! But im not really a Gilbert fan so if he fails its fine to

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Oh well, guess it's all over more or less. Anyway, I'm very happy to be sitting in 7th position as picking both Cancellara and Gilbert was primarily just a test and I didn't really expect it to pay off.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Gasparotto scores 100 pts for 2 teams, Gilbert gets 90 for 19 of us, Bardet earns 42 for 1 team, Vanendert has 28 points and 8 teams, and Iglinski gets 22 points for his 4 managers. 18 other selected riders got minor points.

The more successful teams overall gained their points over the cobbles: as with the other hilly classics, and like a sprint on the Champs Elysses, those who gained most points are those at the tail of general classification.

1 ingsve 200 (Gasparotto, Gilbert + 2 fivers)
2 Blackbandit222 127 (Gasparotto, Iglinski and a 5 pointer)
3 boomcie 105 (Gilbert + 3 fivers)
4= mutschi, DJ Sprtsch and al_pacino 100 each (Gilbert + 2 fivers)
The other 13 teams with Gilbert all finished well clear of any team without him today.

 

[search]

perfect team (price / points):

CANCELLARA Fabian - 1031 / 961
HAUSSLER Heinrich - 459 / 339
CIOLEK Gerald - 242 / 302
LANGEVELD Sebastian - 227 / 256
VANDENBERGH Stijn - 68 / 235
EISEL Bernhard - 178 / 179
THOMAS Geraint - 181 / 175
OSS Daniel - 222 / 163
STANNARD Ian - 216 / 158
KADRI Blel - 102 / 90
BANDIERA Marco - 45 / 68
MATYSIAK Bartlomiej - 28 / 42

Total: 2999 / 2968

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Final rankings

1 rmeloa 2186
2 mc_mountain 2099
3 Ruudz0r 1802
4 Fool on the Hill 1725
5 Hugo Koblet 1702
6 LightBing 1698
7 Afrank 1666
8 18-Valve. (pithy) 1597
8 Geraint Too Fast 1597
10 shalgo 1568
11 Caruut 1553
12 karaev 1456
13 comodoro 1445
14 Gotland 1436
15 search 1417
16 mutschi 1270
16 just some guy 1270
18 the asian 1246
19 Blackbandit222 1197
20 J-King 1190
21 HelgeBlendet 1182
21 Froome19 1182
23 Tigerion 1168
24 AG 1097
25 will10 1075
26 sublimit 1061
27 hilltopfinisher 1043
28 Armchair cyclist 1041
29 ingsve 985
30 EvansIsTheBest 980
31 asdfgh101 960
32 GP Blanco 944
33 boomcie 941
34 Jancouver 938
35 Yellow Knight 919
36 jsem94 907
37 August 869
38 The Hitch 863
39 DJ Sprtsch 789
40 vladimir 704
41 al_pacino 636

Congratulations to RMeloa and his only real challenger over the distance, mc mountain.

As predicted, Gilbert did enough to raise Ruudz0r to the final step on the podium, but not enough to shake the two long term leaders and cobble specialists.

Other changes on the last stage saw Hugo reach the top five (mainly because LightBing was the only manager not to manage a single finisher in Liege) and 18-Valve re-entering the top 10, and Blackbandit222 coming back into the top 20, at the expense of Caruut and J-King respectively.

The ten most popular picks were almost allowable as a team (total cost was 3001), and they would have scored 1306 points: 15 teams can claim to have done better than a democratically elected squad would have done, so well done to all of them.

The rest of us: I guess there will be a chance to try again in the Giro...

 

[Ruudz0r]

Thanks for the fast updates! Happy with my 3rd place. Congratz Meloa and MC_Mountain

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Please check that I have your scores correct on Google drive.

 

[mc_mountain]

Congrats to rmeloa, and well done to Ruudz0r for getting on to the podium.

Huge kudos to Armchair for the updates after each race, unfortunate there wasnt more of a grandstand finish.

 

[search]

an interesting fact is, that a team with Cancellara, Sagan and a load of 0-pointers (or even without them) would have made it on the podium:

SAGAN Peter - 1963 / 921
CANCELLARA Fabian - 1031 / 961
FINETTO Mauro - 0 / 5
MAS BONET Luis Guillermo - 0 / 15
PRADES REVERTER Eduard - 0 / 24
BARBERO CUESTA Carlos - 2 / 22
VEREECKEN Nicolas - 1 / 5

total: 2997 / 1953

 

[Afrank]

Yes! Managed to hang onto a top 10 spot, and was highest scorer in PR, I'm happy with that.

Congrats to rmeloa, and thanks Armchair for keeping us up to date after every race.

an interesting fact is, that a team with Cancellara, Sagan and a load of 0-pointers (or even without them) would have made it on the podium:

SAGAN Peter - 1963 / 921
CANCELLARA Fabian - 1031 / 961
FINETTO Mauro - 0 / 5
MAS BONET Luis Guillermo - 0 / 15
PRADES REVERTER Eduard - 0 / 24
BARBERO CUESTA Carlos - 2 / 22
VEREECKEN Nicolas - 1 / 5

total: 2997 / 1953

Now I know what my strategy will be next year.

 

[al_pacino]

Not a great place to finish but on the plus side it didn't take much searching to find my name on the list.

Picking Gilbert was the biggest mistake, the more games you pick him in the bigger the disappointment.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

The rest of us: I guess there will be a chance to try again in the Giro...

Hugo won't be doing the GT games this year, AFAIK.

 

[EvansIsTheBest]

I've gone with the no rider over 500 points approach, now I just have to hope that Cancellara and Gilbert won't feature. I didn't have as much time as I would have liked to pick my team but overall, I'm pretty happy with it.
I wonder how much the winner will score. I'd guess around 2000-2200.

Spot on for the second part. The first not so much

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Congratulations to our winner, rmeloa!

I think it was a very interesting game. First of all, I'm very surprised, shocked is probably a better word, that the perfect team didn't even go into profit! Second, in light of this, I think it's very impressive that rmeloa and mc_mountain scored as many points as they did. Third, I like that the game is very versatile and offers a lot options for building your team: You can take the popular route of picking one expensive and some semi expensive riders; or you can take the less popular route and picking two very expensive riders and a bunch of cheap riders. Both directions are competitive, it turned out.

Anyway, let's see if an autumn edition pops up as well. If I have the time and there's enough who wants to play, I won't rule out the idea.

 

[mc_mountain]

Hugo won't be doing the GT games this year, AFAIK.

but as I understand it happy for others to organise them, so hopefully a combination of CQM and Armchair will be ok the repeat their previous efforts.