2016 Spring Classics CQ Game

Page 2 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Race 14:Scheldeprijs

After the first several entries were sent in, I was beginning to think that my idea of picking Kittel, even though this was the only race in the game he was likely to be in, was not only genius but unique. Eventually enough others did so to get him into the Collective Wisdom squad: at 85% return from one race, it was a worthwhile punt. Eryk Laton, meanwhile, provides a 500% return on the 1 point he cost by coming 24th.

KITTEL Marcel 140pts 10 teams
GROENEWEGEN Dylan 30 2
VAN LERBERGHE Bert 22 3
BENNETT Sam 18 1
GUARNIERI Jacopo 5 1
LATON Eryk 5 1

Points today
Tom-Jelte is the only one to have chosen two scorers today, linking Kittel and Bennett.
1 TomJelte 158
2 AmisVelo 140
2 Armchair 140
2 Asdfgh101 140
2 Del1962 140
2 GeraintTooFast 140
2 Joelsim 140
2 Josedin 140
2 NotMyCircus 140
2 RoteLaterne 140
11 DJSprtsch 30
11 LosBrolin 30
13 Bbaas 22
13 Leadbelly 22
13 Madrazo 22
16 JustSomeGuy 5
16 Trudgin 5
No-one else scored (unless you count Collective Wisdom as a team)

Standings

1 Vladimir 1770
2 Leadbelly 1679
3 GeraintTooFast 1524
4 DJSprtsch 1493
5 Murrjt 1469
6 Josedin 1456
7 DJW 1431
8 Joelsim 1399
9 Kazistuta 1368
10 RoteLaterne 1356
11 Madrazo 1347
12 Search 1343
13 AmisVelo 1284
14 Del1962 1263
15 Togo95 1256
16 Armchair 1238
16 GPBlanco 1238
18 TomJelte 1165
19 Bbaas 1163
20 LosBrolin 1128
21 Scrool07 1123
22 Asdfgh101 1059
23 Flo 984
24 LukasCPH 955
25 Trudgin 890
26 JustSomeGuy 879
27 Comodoro 846
28 MellowVelo 830
29 AG 821
30 NotMyCircus 793
31 GuilhermeRibeiro 150
CollectiveWisdom 1541

Geraint TooFast moves up to 3rd, and Josedin is up to 6th; Rote Laterne has a 4 place rise and re-enters the top ten, as does Joelsim.

Big points should be available on Sunday in Roubaix.
 
Race 15: Paris-Roubaix

And what a race: I wish it could have been more telling in this than it has been.

Hayman, at a cost of 116, would have given a very handsome return had anyone picked him, and while the prices of Boonen and Boassen Hagen justify them having been missed, breakaway hangers on Haussler, Saramontins, Erviti and Sieberg would have been a worthwhile member of any team had they been selected.

But some key riders today were chosen:
STANNARD Ian 145pts 5 teams (AG, DJSprtsch, DJW, Josedin, Scrool07)
VANMARCKE Sep 125 12
PETIT Adrien 62 12
WYNANTS Maarten 46 1 (Search)
ROWE Luke 38 4 (DJSprtsch, DJW, NotMyCircus, Scrool07)
VAN BAARLE Dylan 32 1 (Asdfgh101)
DE KORT Koen 18 2
VAN ASBROECK Tom 14 1
SENECHAL Florian 12 5
and 28 5 pointers, including Cancellara (28 teams) and Phinney (10 teams)

Points earned
A convincing win by Josedin: almost 100 points clear, and the only one of the 12 Vanmarcke teams to have Stannard.
1 Josedin 361 (Stannard, Vanmarcke and Petit, plus Van Asbroeck and 2 fivers)
2 DJW 265 (Stannard, Petit, Rowe and 4 fivers)
2 Scrool07 265 (ditto, but different fivers)
4 GPBlanco 214
5 DJSprtsch 213
6 Murrjt 207
7 GeraintTooFast 202
8 Bbaas 197
9 Search 186
10 AG 165
11 RoteLaterne 158
12 Vladimir 152
13 Leadbelly 150
14 Joelsim 145
14 Madrazo 145
16 TomJelte 130
17 Comodoro 95
18 AmisVelo 82
19 Kazistuta 77
19 Togo95 77
21 MellowVelo 72
22 Asdfgh101 59
23 NotMyCircus 48
24 Armchair 32
25 LosBrolin 30
25 LukasCPH 30
27 Flo 27
28 Trudgin 20
28 JustSomeGuy 20
30 Del1962 10
31 GuilhermeRibeiro 5
CollectiveWisdom 207

Standings
Josedin climbs to third on the back of having the best three riders today that anyone picked. Vladimir's margin at the top is just two points wider than it was this morning. Search replaces Kazistuta in the top ten, and Scrool07, in moving from 21st to 14th, is biggest positive mover.

1 Vladimir 1922
2 Leadbelly 1829
3 Josedin 1817
4 GeraintTooFast 1726
5 DJSprtsch 1706
6 DJW 1696
7 Murrjt 1676
8 Joelsim 1544
9 Search 1529
10 RoteLaterne 1514
11 Madrazo 1492
12 GPBlanco 1452
13 Kazistuta 1445
14 Scrool07 1388
15 AmisVelo 1366
16 Bbaas 1360
17 Togo95 1333
18 TomJelte 1295
19 Del1962 1273
20 Armchair 1270
21 LosBrolin 1158
22 Asdfgh101 1118
23 Flo 1011
24 AG 986
25 LukasCPH 985
26 Comodoro 941
27 Trudgin 910
28 MellowVelo 902
29 JustSomeGuy 899
30 NotMyCircus 841
31 GuilhermeRibeiro 155
CollectiveWisdom 1748

The cobbles are done, but four races remain, with the ardennish Brabantse Pijl next on Wednesday, followed by the three Ardennes proper races. That means that most points will probably be won by a different bunch of riders, the best of whom are very expensive for their limited contribution to this game, and therefore largely absent from this game.

Key to the outcome of our little diversion will be the performances over the next fortnight of Simon Gerrans (20 teams), Dan Martin (12 teams) and Jelle Vanendert (11 teams): our two leaders may find major additional points hard to come by, while Josedin (105 points off the lead) has Gerrans, Geraint TooFast (196 behind) will hope that Vanendert has a hilly classics season like 2012 or 2014, DJW (currently 6th with a 226 point deficit) has both Martin and Gerrans, and Murrjt, 20 points further back, has all three of these potential game-changers (as does the collective wisdom squad).
 
Jan 31, 2015
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For second year in row forget to pick a rider for the Ardennes,my fall in GC will start now only if Teuns who had a 13th place in Fleche Wallone be in form of his life
 
Race 16:Brabantse Pijl

His third race win in the game: Vakoc is the star unique pick of the game.

VAKOC Petr 140 points 1 Team (Murrjt)
GASPAROTTO Enrico 84 4 (Kazistuta, MellowVelo, Rote Laterne, Vladimir)
VANENDERT Jelle 11 11
DILLIER Silvan 5 1
HARDY Romain 5 1
TEUNS Dylan 5 2

Points today
If Vakoc is in a race with few scorers, Murrjt is the daily winner: that is the way things are.
1 Murrjt 151 (Vakoc and Gasparotto)
2 MellowVelo 100 (Gasparotto, Vanendert and Teuns)
3= Vladimir, Kazistuta, RoteLaterne 84 (Gasparotto alone)
6= GeraintTooFast, Togo95 16
8= Josedin, Search, Madrazo, Del1962, Flo, AG, Comodoro 11
15 Scrool07 5
CollectiveWisdom 11

Standings
1 Vladimir 2006
2 Leadbelly 1829
3 Josedin 1828
4 Murrjt 1827
5 GeraintTooFast 1742
6 DJSprtsch 1706
7 DJW 1696
8 RoteLaterne 1598
9 Joelsim 1544
10 Search 1540
11 Kazistuta 1529
12 Madrazo 1503
13 GPBlanco 1452
14 Scrool07 1393
15 AmisVelo 1366
16 Bbaas 1360
17 Togo95 1349
18 TomJelte 1295
19 Del1962 1284
20 Armchair 1270
21 LosBrolin 1158
22 Asdfgh101 1118
23 Flo 1022
24 MellowVelo 1002
25 AG 997
26 LukasCPH 985
27 Comodoro 952
28 Trudgin 910
29 JustSomeGuy 899
30 NotMyCircus 841
31 GuilhermeRibeiro 155
CollectiveWisdom 1759

Mellow Velo ( 4 places) has the biggest rise of the day, but more relevant is that of Murrjt, rising 3 places to 4th, and only 2 points off 2nd.
Vladimir gets some useful points, and increases his lead, but he has limited ammunition for the hilly tripych to follow.

Next instalment in the Dutch Ardennes on Sunday.
 
I feel a bit more optimistic on holding on to my lead after Gasparottos great ride yesterday. However Murrjt have a strong team for the remaining races and might be considered the favorite as it stands now. Cannot see any real danger from the others in the top six so still hopeful of winning my first CQ game :)
 
Race 17: Amstel Gold

My analysis of the riders who might make a difference in the hillier races at the end of the game was unfair to a certain veteran Italian, who might have saved long term leader Vladimir's game.

GASPAROTTO Enrico 220pts 4 teams (Kazistuta, MellowVelo, Rote Laterne, Vladimir)
VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael 132 1 (Los Brolin)
GERRANS Simon 40 20
KREUZIGER Roman 35 1 (Flo)
COSTA Rui Alberto Faria 19 1 (Guilhermo Ribeiro)
VICHOT Arthur 17 5
ROSA Diego 14 1
VANENDERT Jelle 10 11
and 15 five point finishers, including Sep Vanmarcke for 12 teams.

Points earned
1 MellowVelo 275 (Gasparotto, Gerrans, Vanendert and a 5er)
2 RoteLaterne 265 (Gasparotto, Gerrans and a 5er)
3 Kazistuta 260 (Gasparotto and Gerrans)
4 Vladimir 230 (Gasparotto and 2 5ers)
5 LosBrolin 132 (Valgren)
6 Flo 104 (Gerrans, Kreusiger, Rosa, Vanendert and a 5er)
7 Search 72
7 Togo95 72
9 Bbaas 67
10 Murrjt 60
10 AG 60
12 NotMyCircus 57
13 Josedin 55
13 Madrazo 55
13 Comodoro 55
16 Del1962 50
17 DJW 45
17 Joelsim 45
17 GPBlanco 45
17 TomJelte 45
17 JustSomeGuy 45
22 AmisVelo 40
23 Leadbelly 27
24 GuilhermeRibeiro 19
25 GeraintTooFast 15
26 Trudgin 10
27 DJSprtsch 5
27 Armchair 5
27 Asdfgh101 5
27 LukasCPH 5
31 Scrool07 0
CollectiveWisdom 55

Positions

Murrjt is back up to second, and Rote Laterne jumps 4 places to 4th, while Kazistuta is in the top ten with an even bigger jump, 5 places to 6th.

1 Vladimir 2236
2 Murrjt 1887
3 Josedin 1883
4 RoteLaterne 1863
5 Leadbelly 1856
6 Kazistuta 1789
7 GeraintTooFast 1757
8 DJW 1741
9 DJSprtsch 1711
10 Search 1612
11 Joelsim 1589
12 Madrazo 1558
13 GPBlanco 1497
14 Bbaas 1427
15 Togo95 1421
16 AmisVelo 1406
17 Scrool07 1393
18 TomJelte 1340
19 Del1962 1334
20 LosBrolin 1290
21 MellowVelo 1277
22 Armchair 1275
23 Flo 1126
24 Asdfgh101 1123
25 AG 1057
26 Comodoro 1007
27 LukasCPH 990
28 JustSomeGuy 944
29 Trudgin 920
30 NotMyCircus 898
31 GuilhermeRibeiro 174
CollectiveWisdom 1814


The team with most point earning opportunities in the last races, Murrjt, is now in second, but today's winner has given Vladimir a 350 point advantage to take into those races. It is all down to these two, but can Vakoc, Martin, Vanendert and Gerrans get 350 points more than the resurgent Gasparotto?
 
So it turns out that in 18th place, and gaining 18 points, was Dylan Teuns, and not Edward Theuns, as initially reported by CQ. Of the two homophonic riders, Edward is not selected in our game, but Dylan is in the teams of Mellow Velo and Scrool07. So our daily winner's performance is that bit more impressive, with 293 points, and Scrool07 avoids the ignominy of being the only pointless team. They are each one place higher in GC than shown above.
 
Race 18: Flèche Wallonne

Dan Martin is the successful popular pick, but Gasparotto continues to be the value in the final mini-series of races in the game.

MARTIN Daniel 112 points 12 teams
GASPAROTTO Enrico 86 4 (Kazistuta, MellowVelo, Rote Laterne, Vladimir)
COSTA Rui Alberto Faria 46 1 (Guilhermo Ribeiro)
KREUZIGER Roman 40 1 (Flo)
VANENDERT Jelle 18 11
ROSA Diego 16 1
DEVENYNS Dries 7 4
TEUNS Dylan 6 2
and 18 five pointers, none of whom were particularly popular picks.

Points earned
Mellow Velo wins again, and will rue the inclusion of cobbled races in the Spring Classics:
1 MellowVelo 227 (Martin, Gasparotto, Vanendert, Theuns and a 5er)
2 Kazistuta 198 (Martin and Gasparotto)
3= Murrjt ,Search, Comodoro 135 (Gasparotto, Vanendert and a fiver)
6 Del1962 130
7 Asdfgh101 122
7 JustSomeGuy 122
9 DJW 117
10 GPBlanco 112
10 AmisVelo 112
10 TomJelte 112
13 RoteLaterne 93
14 Vladimir 91
15 Flo 79
16 GuilhermeRibeiro 46
17 GeraintTooFast 30
18 Togo95 28
18 AG 28
20 Josedin 18
20 Madrazo 18
22 Leadbelly 17
23 LukasCPH 15
24 NotMyCircus 12
25 Joelsim 10
26 Scrool07 6
27 Bbaas 5
27 LosBrolin 5
27 Trudgin 5
30 DJSprtsch 0
30 Armchair 0
CollectiveWisdom 130

Standings
The gap has not been closed as much as might have been expected, considering the apparent difference in strength between Vladimir's and Murrjt's Ardennes squads, but Gasparotto may well have sealed victory for Vladimir: only 44 points of what was a 349 point lead have been eroded.
Kazistuta, who was 13th after Paris-Roubaix, moves onto the podium, and Mellow Velo is top riser as well as top scorer for today's race.

1 Vladimir 2327
2 Murrjt 2022
3 Kazistuta 1987
4 RoteLaterne 1956
5 Josedin 1901
6 Leadbelly 1873
7 DJW 1858
8 GeraintTooFast 1787
9 Search 1747
10 DJSprtsch 1711
11 GPBlanco 1609
12 Joelsim 1599
13 Madrazo 1576
14 MellowVelo 1522
15 AmisVelo 1518
16 Del1962 1464
17 TomJelte 1452
18 Togo95 1449
19 Bbaas 1432
20 Scrool07 1417
21 LosBrolin 1295
22 Armchair 1275
23 Asdfgh101 1245
24 Flo 1205
25 Comodoro 1142
26 AG 1085
27 JustSomeGuy 1066
28 LukasCPH 1005
29 Trudgin 925
30 NotMyCircus 910
31 GuilhermeRibeiro 220
CollectiveWisdom 1944

And so, snow permitting, we reach the final event in Sunday's Liege-Bastogne-Liege. If Gasparotto and Vanendert have minimal difference between them, and minor point scorers were to cancel each other out, then Murrjt would need either Martin and Gerrans to both podium, or one to win and the other make top 20. It could yet be close, but Vladimir's lead has been more resilient than expected. Leicester City fans will be watching with interest.
 
The Last Leg
Race 19: Liege-Bastogne-Liege


Had Simon Gerrans and Dan Martin done what was hoped of them, we might have had a close finale today, but in the last few km, the race showed it would not upset the standings much.

COSTA Rui Alberto Faria 145pts 1 team (Guilherme Ribeiro)
KREUZIGER Roman 90 1 (Flo)
ROSA Diego 62 1 (Flo)
GASPAROTTO Enrico 46 4 (Kazistuta, MellowVelo, Rote Laterne, Vladimir)
VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael 38 1 (Los Brolin)
TEUNS Dylan 30 2 (Mellow Velo and Scrool07)
VANENDERT Jelle 20 11
and 13 fivers, including Gerrans (20 teams) and Martin (12)

Points today
1 Flo 177 (Kreuziger, Rosa, Vanendert and a fiver)
2 GuilhermeRibeiro 145 (Costa)
3 MellowVelo 111 (Gasparotto, Teuns, Vanendert and 3 fivers)
4 Kazistuta 56
5 Vladimir 51
5 RoteLaterne 51
7 LosBrolin 38
8 Comodoro 35
9 Murrjt 30
9 Search 30
9 Del1962 30
9 Togo95 30
9 Scrool07 30
9 AG 30
15 Josedin 25
15 Madrazo 25
17 GeraintTooFast 20
17 JustSomeGuy 20
19 Joelsim 15
19 Asdfgh101 15
21 DJW 10
21 GPBlanco 10
21 AmisVelo 10
21 TomJelte 10
21 LukasCPH 10
26 Bbaas 5
26 Trudgin 5
26 NotMyCircus 5
29 Leadbelly 0
29 DJSprtsch 0
29 Armchair 0
CollectiveWisdom 30

The Final Standings

The apparently specialised team for today that Murrjt had, including Martin, Gerrans, Vanendert and Vakoc, was outscored today by Gasparotto, who has ensured that Vladimir's lead has survived the hillier races of the final fortnight.

No positional changes in the top ten at all, although Mellow Velo, joint highest climber with Flo, nearly gatecrashed that group at the last minute. Guilherme was pretty much destined for last place as soon as he submitted a team with 75% of his budget spent on just 2 riders, one of whom is recovering from a car crash and the other more noted for autumnal results, but he saved at least some face by nearly winning on the day.

1 Vladimir 2378
2 Murrjt 2052
3 Kazistuta 2043
4 RoteLaterne 2007
5 Josedin 1926
6 Leadbelly 1873
7 DJW 1868
8 GeraintTooFast 1807
9 Search 1777
10 DJSprtsch 1711
11 MellowVelo 1633
12 GPBlanco 1619
13 Joelsim 1614
14 Madrazo 1601
15 AmisVelo 1528
16 Del1962 1494
17 Togo95 1479
18 TomJelte 1462
19 Scrool07 1447
20 Bbaas 1437
21 Flo 1382
22 LosBrolin 1333
23 Armchair 1275
24 Asdfgh101 1260
25 Comodoro 1177
26 AG 1115
27 JustSomeGuy 1086
28 LukasCPH 1015
29 Trudgin 930
30 NotMyCircus 915
31 GuilhermeRibeiro 365
CollectiveWisdom 1974

Vladimir took the lead after Milan-San Remo, and has held onto it since.
His winning team:
Rider/cost/points
CANCELLARA Fabian 449 512
VANMARCKE Sep 600 481
GASPAROTTO Enrico 299 445
DEMARE Arnaud 464 393
STUYVEN Jasper 160 277
POZZATO Filippo 162 152
SENECHAL Florian 165 66
CAPIOT Amaury 187 17
PHINNEY Taylor 174 15
GAUTIER Cyril 196 15
NERZ Dominik 48 5
ENGER Sondre Holst 86 0

which shows that you really only need half your team to be successful to win by a large margin.

Congratulations to Vladimir, to all who at least threatened to run him close, and thanks to all who took part, without whom it would be pointless.
 
:D :D First Cq game win :D :D
Thanks again to Armchair for organizing all these games! But looking at the scores it is quite surprising that I was able to win with so many poor picks. So I guess the classics season this year has been more unpredictable than usual. Normal wokday tomorrow but I still will take a small single malt tonight to celebrate :p
 
Jan 6, 2014
548
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Great result for me, congratulations to vladimir for the outright win and thanks to armchair cyclist for another fun game.
 
This year's winning score easily exceeds those of previous years:

2015
1 GeraintTooFast 1899
2 Search 1800
3 Asdfgh101 1732
4 DJW 1673
5 Karaev 1657

2014
1 Josedin 2197
2 Madrazo 2103
3 DJSprtsch 2075
4 JustSomeGuy 2060
5 asdfgh101 2030

2013
1 rmeloa 2186
2 mc_mountain 2099
3 Ruudz0r 1802
4 Fool on the Hill 1725
5 Hugo Koblet 1702
(Vladimir finished last but one in that first edition, so it shows that perseverance pays)


Top scorers

SAGAN Peter 920(points) 0 (teams)
CANCELLARA Fabian 512 28
VANMARCKE Sep 481 12
GASPAROTTO Enrico 445 4
DEMARE Arnaud 393 3
POELS Wout 381 0
COLBRELLI Sonny 370 0
VAKOC Petr 364 1
VAN AVERMAET Greg 352 1
KRISTOFF Alexander 330 0
VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro 312 0
HAYMAN Mathew 295 0
STUYVEN Jasper 277 9
BOONEN Tom 274 0
STANNARD Ian 267 5
ALAPHILIPPE Julian 262 0
ULISSI Diego 260 0
ROELANDTS Jürgen 257 1


Top by profit
HAYMAN Mathew 179 point profit 0
GASPAROTTO Enrico 146 4
STUYVEN Jasper 117 9
ERVITI OLLO Imanol 95 0
PETIT Adrien 91 12
HALVORSEN Kristoffer 84 0
CANCELLARA Fabian 63 28
ANDREETTA Simone 41 0
VAKOC Petr 34 1
VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael 32 1
JEANNESSON Arnold 22 0
WYNANTS Maarten 17 1
DRUYTS Gerry 11 0
HELVEN Sander 10 0
HONIG Reinier 5 1
VERGAERDE Otto 5 0
LATON Eryk 4 1
JANSEN Amund Grøndahl 3 0
DHAENE Brecht 1 0

Top by %age return
Halvorsen (84 points) and Andreetta (41) scored infinite percentage return
LATON Eryk 500% 1 team
PETIT Adrien 278 12
HAYMAN Mathew 254 0
JANSEN Amund Grøndahl 250 0
ERVITI OLLO Imanol 236 0
HONIG Reinier 200 1
VERGAERDE Otto 200 0
STUYVEN Jasper 173 9
JEANNESSON Arnold 169 0
HELVEN Sander 167 0
GASPAROTTO Enrico 149 4
DRUYTS Gerry 131 0
WYNANTS Maarten 128 1
DHAENE Brecht 125 0
VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael 122 1
CANCELLARA Fabian 114 28
VAKOC Petr 110 1
WAGNER Robert 100 1
VAN MELSEN Kevin 100 1
NIBALI Antonio 100 0
HENTTALA Joonas 100 0
DE MESMAEKER Kevin 100 0
VAN EMPEL Etienne 100 0
TONELLI Alessandro 100 0
DANIEL Maxime 95 0
SOLOMENNIKOV Andrey 94 0
POZZATO Filippo 94 4
THWAITES Scott 87 0
SIEBERG Marcel 86 0
KITTEL Marcel 85 10
WISNIOWSKI Lukasz 85 1
DEMARE Arnaud 85 3
SARAMOTINS Aleksejs 83 0
GUARNIERI Jacopo 81 1
VANMARCKE Sep 80 12
THURAU Björn 74 2
DOUGALL Nicolas 71 0
MAESTRI Mirco 71 0
GAVIRIA RENDON Fernando 71
DUPONT Timothy 71 0
DE KORT Koen 70 2


Impeccable picks
SAGAN Peter 2231 cost 920 pts 0 teams
CANCELLARA Fabian 449 512 28
GASPAROTTO Enrico 299 445 4
HAYMAN Mathew 116 295 0
ERVITI OLLO Imanol 70 165 0
PETIT Adrien 51 142 12
HALVORSEN Kristoffer 0 84 0


I don't know the coding to find the definitive best possible selection: I suspect that it might be:
CANCELLARA Fabian
GASPAROTTO Enrico
DEMARE Arnaud
VAKOC Petr
HAYMAN Mathew
STUYVEN Jasper
STANNARD Ian
ALBASINI Michael
VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael
ERVITI OLLO Imanol
PETIT Adrien
HALVORSEN Kristoffer

Here is the Dropbox file for any further analysis/ad mortem on your team.

Giro game to follow in about a week...