2023 Spring Classics CQ Game

EvansIsTheBest · Apr 7, 2023

Pretty cool to see the podium virtually tied when they feature a pretty diverse cast of top scorers on their team.
Salvarini: MVDP, Costa, Welsford and Grégoire
BitB: Pidcock, Benoot, Alaphilippe, Politt, Jorgenson
EITB: MVDP, Pidcock, Alaphilippe, Asgreen

RedheadDane · Apr 8, 2023

As tomorrow shall be my last change to maybe get a bit of points, I shall present my lineup:

Walscheid
Hoole
Milan
Roosen
Rutsch
Norsgaard
Ludvigsson
Schär
Laengen

Anderis · Apr 8, 2023

EvansIsTheBest said:
EITB: MVDP, Pidcock, Alaphilippe, Asgreen

That was my initial idea, but then I decided to take a bunch of guys like Rui Costa, Simmons, Tulett and Turner instead of Van der Poel.

Well, they still could have score a lot points in the races to come but after Turner's 2 injuries it looks increasingly more likely they will altogether score fewer points than Van der Poel alone.

EvansIsTheBest · Apr 9, 2023

EvansIsTheBest said:
Pretty cool to see the podium virtually tied when they feature a pretty diverse cast of top scorers on their team.
Salvarini: MVDP, Costa, Welsford and Grégoire
BitB: Pidcock, Benoot, Alaphilippe, Politt, Jorgenson
EITB: MVDP, Pidcock, Alaphilippe, Asgreen

Probably going to come down to a duel with Salvarini after today's result. I'll need a vintage Alaphilippe performance at some point.

Blues in the bottle · Apr 9, 2023

I have had a great time, thanks Armchair.
Congratulations to those of you who have Van Der Poel.
I could get lucky in the Ardennes, watch out .

RedheadDane · Apr 9, 2023

Well, I got a top-10, + a couple of 5-points for riders finishing.

Armchair Cyclist · Apr 10, 2023

Race 20 Paris - Roubaix
As with the women's yesterday, only one of the lead group had been picked, but today that one was the winner.

Race Pos'n		Pts	Teams
1	VAN DER POEL Mathieu	280	3
8	WALSCHEID Maximilian	80	1
9	REX Laurenz	70	2
12	VERMEERSCH Florian	46	2
16	VANMARCKE Sep	32	2
17	TEUNISSEN Mike	30	3
20	STUYVEN Jasper	24	6
22	WAERENSKJOLD Søren	20	4
24	LAMPAERT Yves	16	1
30	VAN ASBROECK Tom	6	1

and 22 fivers

1	DJSprtsch	375	Van der Poel, Rex, Waerenskjold	80
2	Salvarani	291	Van der Poel, Van Asbroeck	50
3	EvansIsTheBest	285	Van der Poel	35
4	RedheadDane	110	Walscheid	25
5	Leadbelly	104	Rex, Stuyven	15
6	Vladimir	82	Vanmarcke, Teunisse	10
7	Laarsland	59		5
8	Bminchow	56		2.5
8	BR	56		2.5
10	DevilsElbow	54		1
11	Triley36	50
12	Madrazo	42
13	Googolplex	34
13	Peixotini	34
15	RoteLaterne	29
16	Del1962	26
17	Search	25
17	Twiddle87	25
19	JumboVismaFan	20
20	Blues_in_the_Bottle	15
21	AmisVelo	10
21	Comodoro	10
21	DJW	10
21	Hfgon1	10
21	Josedin	10
21	Kazistuta	10
27	Anderis	5
27	Armchair	5
27	SlowClimber	5
30	Rufs	0
	CollectiveWisdom	10
	SoLastYear	34
	MainGamePop	10

Standings
Green

1	Salvarani	451.5	0
2	DJSprtsch	317.1	3
3	Vladimir	258.35	0
4	DevilsElbow	257.17	-2
5	SlowClimber	247.5	-1
6	Blues_in_the_Bottle	204.95	0
7	EvansIsTheBest	202.45	3
8	DJW	193.35	-1
9	Peixotini	183.5	-1
10	Laarsland	182.35	-1

There are 400 points still available here, so at least in theory, all but 4 of the managers are still in with a chance.

Main Game
Van der Poel was one of the most expensive picks in the game, but he seems to be the one that a hopeful team cannot afford to be without, and the three teams that have him, after a frankly ludicrous at this stage of the game 16 place jump by DJ Sprtsch, are all in the top four.

1	Salvarani	1614	0
2	EvansIsTheBest	1592	1
3	Blues_in_the_Bottle	1337	-1
4	DJSprtsch	1279	16
5	DevilsElbow	1272	-1
6	AmisVelo	1219	-1
7	SlowClimber	1198	-1
8	Laarsland	1191	0
9	DJW	1157	-2
10	Peixotini	1140	-1
11	Vladimir	1114	0
12	Madrazo	1080	-2
13	Triley36	1053	0
14	Search	1033	-2
15	Twiddle87	1010	0
16	Anderis	993	-2
17	JumboVismaFan	980	-1
18	Kazistuta	970	-2
19	Bminchow	965	-1
20	Googolplex	943	-2
21	RoteLaterne	905	0
22	Del1962	894	1
23	Hfgon1	886	-2
24	Armchair	861	0
25	Comodoro	841	0
26	Leadbelly	804	0
27	Josedin	637	0
28	BR	612	0
29	Rufs	505	0
30	RedheadDane	350	0
	CollectiveWisdom	846
	SoLastYear	1098
	MainGamePop	871

Theer are 5 races left: this is the stage of the game at which the breadth of squads comes into play, and those who assume that Spring simply means cobbles can come unstuck. It will take a very ompressive late run for anyone outside the top two to win, but changes all the way through the game will be the evidence to whether managers remembered that it's not only about one type of event. Brabantse Pijl on Wednesday: it's not the Ardennes, but it's heading that way (well, not geographically, but you know what I mean)

Spreadsheet

DJ Sprtsch · Apr 10, 2023

Thank you, Mathieu.

Salvarani · Apr 10, 2023

EvansIsTheBest said:
Probably going to come down to a duel with Salvarini after today's result. I'll need a vintage Alaphilippe performance at some point.

I will give you the upper hand as you have both Pidcock and Alaphilippe.

My trio of Bagioli, Costa and Gregoiré will have to produce something special to keep up.

Maybe Welsford could take this game right to the line in Eschborn-Frankfurt, which he hopefully starts for me.

Armchair Cyclist · Apr 13, 2023

Race 11: Brabantse Pijl

A lot of comment about this race having a lower quality field than in previous years: maybe that is why we had few scoring riders:

Race Pos'n		Pts	Teams
8	BAGIOLI Andrea	34	3
10	HEIDUK Kim	24	3
20	BERCKMOES Jenno	6	1
21	HONORE Mikkel Frølich	5	6
26	VAN TRICHT Stan	5	1

1	,	Googolplex	58	Bagioli & Heiduk	80
2	,	Salvarani	40	Bagioli and Berckmoes	50
3	,	Kazistuta	39	Bagioli and Honore	35
4	,	DJW	24		20
4	,	SlowClimber	24		20
6	,	Armchair	5		3.5
6	,	DevilsElbow	5		3.5
6	,	Hfgon1	5		3.5
6	,	Leadbelly	5		3.5
6	,	Peixotini	5		3.5
6	,	RoteLaterne	5		3.5

Standings

Green
The bottom three teams in this table all scored today (Hfgon, Armchair and Rote Laterne), but more significantly, so did the leader who looks unlikely to be caught in this classification.

1	Salvarani	501.5	0
2	DJSprtsch	317.1	0
3	SlowClimber	267.5	2
4	DevilsElbow	260.67	0
5	Vladimir	258.35	-2
6	DJW	213.35	2
7	Blues_in_the_Bottle	204.95	-1
8	EvansIsTheBest	202.45	-1
9	Peixotini	187	0
10	Laarsland	182.35	0

Main Game
Salvarani also increases his lead here, but not to the same effect in terms of making an almost unbreachable gap. Of the other top 10 teams, Devil's Elbow took 5 points today, while Slow Climber and DJW each got 24.

1	Salvarani	1654	0
2	EvansIsTheBest	1592	0
3	Blues_in_the_Bottle	1337	0
4	DJSprtsch	1279	0
5	DevilsElbow	1277	0
6	SlowClimber	1222	1
7	AmisVelo	1219	-1
8	Laarsland	1191	0
9	DJW	1181	0
10	Peixotini	1145	0
11	Vladimir	1114	0
12	Madrazo	1080	0
13	Triley36	1053	0
14	Search	1033	0
15	Twiddle87	1010	0
16	Kazistuta	1009	2
17	Googolplex	1001	3
18	Anderis	993	-2
19	JumboVismaFan	980	-2
20	Bminchow	965	-1
21	RoteLaterne	910	0
22	Del1962	894	0
23	Hfgon1	891	0
24	Armchair	866	0
25	Comodoro	841	0
26	Leadbelly	809	0
27	Josedin	637	0
28	BR	612	0
29	Rufs	505	0
30	RedheadDane	350	0
	CollectiveWisdom	846
	SoLastYear	1098
	MainGamePop	871

So does that set the expectations for the whole Ardennes series? More to be revealed on Sunday in not-really-the-Ardennes-either.

RedheadDane · Apr 13, 2023

One thing's for sure:
Next year, I am not making a team consisting of giants!

Armchair Cyclist · Apr 17, 2023

Race 22 Amstel Gold

A huge proportion of the points here were won by Pidcock, and therefore largely cancel each other out: him aside, there were some interesting unique and rare selections. But no-one went for Birmingham's newest Irish hero.

Race Pos'n		Pts	Teams
3	PIDCOCK Thomas	112	22
4	KRON Andreas Lorentz	96	1
5	LUTSENKO Alexey	86	1
6	BAGIOLI Andrea	76	3
7	VAN GILS Maxim	66	1
15	BENOOT Tiesj	24	1
16	GENIETS Kévin	21	1
25	VAN TRICHT Stan	11	1

only 8 five pointers.

The gap in today's points between the Pidcocks and the Pidcockless is clearly visible: half the scores are simply 112 + n*5.

1	SlowClimber	218	Pidcock + Kron	80
2	Googolplex	193	Pidcock + Bagioli	50
3	Kazistuta	188	Pidcock + Bagioli	35
4	Josedin	183	Pidcock + Van Gils	25
5	Twiddle87	138	Pidcock + Geniets	15
6	Blues_in_the_Bottle	136	Pidcock + Benoot	10
7	DJW	122		2.75
7	Hfgon1	122		2.75
7	JumboVismaFan	122		2.75
7	RoteLaterne	122		2.75
11	AmisVelo	117
11	Anderis	117
11	Armchair	117
11	Del1962	117
11	DevilsElbow	117
11	EvansIsTheBest	117
11	Laarsland	117
11	Madrazo	117
11	Search	117
11	Triley36	117
21	Bminchow	112
21	Comodoro	112
23	DJSprtsch	86	Lutsenko
23	Salvarani	86	Bagioli
25	Peixotini	21
26	BR	5
26	Leadbelly	5
26	Rufs	5
26	Vladimir	5
30	RedheadDane	0
	CollectiveWisdom	117
	SoLastYear	29
	MainGamePop	117

Standings

Green

1	Salvarani	501.5	0
2	SlowClimber	347.5	1
3	DJSprtsch	317.1	-1
4	DevilsElbow	260.67	0
5	Vladimir	258.35	0
6	DJW	216.1	0
7	Blues_in_the_Bottle	214.95	0
8	EvansIsTheBest	202.45	0
9	Googolplex	192.1	4
10	Peixotini	187	-1

That was Slow Climber's third outright win in a race, so second place is probably well earned. But with only 3 races left, anyone outside the podium is now mathematically unable to catch Salvarani.

Main CQ Game points

1	Salvarani	1740	0
2	EvansIsTheBest	1709	0
3	Blues_in_the_Bottle	1473	0
4	SlowClimber	1440	2
5	DevilsElbow	1394	0
6	DJSprtsch	1365	-2
7	AmisVelo	1336	0
8	Laarsland	1308	0
9	DJW	1303	0
10	Kazistuta	1197	6
10	Madrazo	1197	2
12	Googolplex	1194	5
13	Triley36	1170	0
14	Peixotini	1166	-4
15	Search	1150	-1
16	Twiddle87	1148	-1
17	Vladimir	1119	-6
18	Anderis	1110	0
19	JumboVismaFan	1102	0
20	Bminchow	1077	0
21	RoteLaterne	1032	0
22	Hfgon1	1013	1
23	Del1962	1011	-1
24	Armchair	983	0
25	Comodoro	953	0
26	Josedin	820	1
27	Leadbelly	814	-1
28	BR	617	0
29	Rufs	510	0
30	RedheadDane	350	0
	CollectiveWisdom	963
	SoLastYear	1127
	MainGamePop	988

With two Ardennes hilly races and a German sprint to come, we are down to two teams.
But who will prevail?

The rest of us can just get on with shortlisting for the Giro game: less than 3 weeks and then we can try all over again.

EvansIsTheBest · Apr 17, 2023

Can't shake the feeling that Pidcock is going to inch my team ahead of @Salvarani's after Liège just for Welsford to get an anonymous top 10 in Frankfurt to flip the ranking again.

Salvarani · Apr 17, 2023

EvansIsTheBest said:
Can't shake the feeling that Pidcock is going to inch my team ahead of @Salvarani's after Liège just for Welsford to get an anonymous top 10 in Frankfurt to flip the ranking again.

A fight until the bitter end!

Armchair Cyclist · Apr 17, 2023

So, who might win it for whom?

Salvarani and Evans is the Best have just 2 riders in common: Van der Poel, without whom they would not be at the top, and Casper Pedersen, who has a decent enough percentage return but nevertheless a fairly inconsequential contribution.

Their remaining riders, and what they are up to for the next couple of weeks (according to PCS, obviously liable to change:

Salvarani		EitB
BAGIOLI Andrea, ~~COSTA Rui~~, GREGOIRE Romain, TARLING Joshua	Fleche Wallonne	PIDCOCK Thomas, SCHELLING Ide
BAGIOLI Andrea, COSTA Rui, BERCKMOES Jenno	Liege-Bastogne-Liege	PIDCOCK Thomas, ALAPHILIPPE Julian, SCHACHMANN Maximilian, GLOAG Thomas
none	Frankfurt	SCHACHMANN Maximilian
WELSFORD Samuel, VAN ASBROECK Tom	not listed for anything in these weeks	ASGREEN Kasper, DEKKER David
MILAN Jonathan (Giro), NYS Thibau (Romandie)	listed for other races around this time	BOARO Manuele, HERMANS Ben (both Alps), BERNAL Egan (Romandie)
TURNER Ben	injured

Of course, doing Alps, Romandie or Giro does not make it impossible that they will do one or more of the remaining one day races, but it suggests that PCS claim to know what is on their schedule. Turner is the only one that we can be absolutely sure has no more contribution to make in this game.

LBL has a higher points scale than theFleche, which in turn has more points available than Frankfurt, so that needs to be borne in mind.

Bagioli vs Pidcock over two legs: is that the essence of it?

Update: Rui Costa withdrawn from FW according to PCS. (Tues pm)

EvansIsTheBest · Apr 18, 2023

Thanks for the breakdown. Salvarani's sprinters not doing Frankfurt would certainly help my team and it does indeed look like it will come down to Bagioli vs Pidcock then.

Salvarani · Apr 18, 2023

EvansIsTheBest said:
Thanks for the breakdown. Salvarani's sprinters not doing Frankfurt would certainly help my team and it does indeed look like it will come down to Bagioli vs Pidcock then.

Yeah, looks like that could be the case. Unless, Gregoiré can surprise in Fleche and that Costa may be targeting LBL this week. He didnt race for a month after SB and DNF in Basque Country. 32th in AGR, which may have been prep I am hoping. Fleche could be prep, as well, when it comes to him.

Eschborn-Frankfurt there is basically no startlist for, so who knows! Would be bad for me if Welsford is not there, since he would be my last hope.

I think it could be enough for you to take the win, if Pidcock is good in Fleche and LBL.

RedheadDane · Apr 19, 2023

It's five points just for finishing, right? Look! I got points.

118

SCHÄR Michael

AG2R Citroën Team

5

,,

It's not much, but in these races that's probably all I can hope for; that my riders finish.

EvansIsTheBest · Apr 19, 2023

EvansIsTheBest said:
Can't shake the feeling that Pidcock is going to inch my team ahead of @Salvarani's after Liège just for Welsford to get an anonymous top 10 in Frankfurt to flip the ranking again.

Still perfectly on track for that scenario to play out.

Armchair Cyclist · Apr 19, 2023

Race 23: Fleche Wallonne

With the change in specialisation, comes

Race Pos'n		Pts	Teams
7	BENOOT Tiesj	66	1
8	VAN GILS Maxim	58	1
14	VAN WILDER Ilan	27	2
18	PIDCOCK Thomas	18	22
22	VAN EETVELT Lennert	14	8

and 11 fivers

In a throwback to the early stages of the game, BitB comes out top.

1	Blues_in_the_Bottle	103	Benoot, Pidcock, Van Eetvelt	80
2	Josedin	86	Van Gils, Pidcock	50
3	Googolplex	64	Van Wilder, Pidcock, Van Eetvelt	35
4	Anderis	59	Van Wilder, Pidcock, Van Eetvelt	25
5	JumboVismaFan	42	Pidcock, Van Eetvelt	15
6	SlowClimber	37	"	10
7	Comodoro	32	"	4
7	Laarsland	32	"	4
9	Twiddle87	28		2
10	Armchair	23		0.2
10	DJW	23		0.2
10	Hfgon1	23		0.2
10	Kazistuta	23		0.2
10	RoteLaterne	23		0.2
15	BR	19
16	AmisVelo	18
16	Bminchow	18
16	Del1962	18
16	DevilsElbow	18
16	EvansIsTheBest	18
16	Madrazo	18
16	Search	18
16	Triley36	18
24	DJSprtsch	5
24	Peixotini	5
24	RedheadDane	5
24	Salvarani	5
24	Vladimir	5
29	Leadbelly	0
29	Rufs	0
	CollectiveWisdom	32
	SoLastYear	71
	MainGamePop	18

Standings

Green
and now only Slow Climber has a chance to rob Salvarani of the title (but needs to be top scorer in both remaining events to do so)

1	Salvarani	501.5	0
2	SlowClimber	357.5	0
3	DJSprtsch	317.1	0
4	Blues_in_the_Bottle	294.95	3
5	DevilsElbow	260.67	-1
6	Vladimir	258.35	-1
7	Googolplex	227.1	2
8	DJW	216.3	-2
9	EvansIsTheBest	202.45	-1
10	Peixotini	187	0

Main CQ Game

A very slight closing up at the top (and today it was simply Bagioli v Pidcock between those two teams): a good score for Blues in the Bottle makes third place look a bit more secure.

1	Salvarani	1745	0
2	EvansIsTheBest	1727	0
3	Blues_in_the_Bottle	1576	0
4	SlowClimber	1477	0
5	DevilsElbow	1412	0
6	DJSprtsch	1370	0
7	AmisVelo	1354	0
8	Laarsland	1340	0
9	DJW	1326	0
10	Googolplex	1258	2
11	Kazistuta	1220	-1
12	Madrazo	1215	-2
13	Triley36	1188	0
14	Twiddle87	1176	2
15	Peixotini	1171	-1
16	Anderis	1169	2
17	Search	1168	-2
18	JumboVismaFan	1144	1
19	Vladimir	1124	-2
20	Bminchow	1095	0
21	RoteLaterne	1055	0
22	Hfgon1	1036	0
23	Del1962	1029	0
24	Armchair	1006	0
25	Comodoro	985	0
26	Josedin	906	0
27	Leadbelly	814	0
28	BR	636	0
29	Rufs	510	0
30	RedheadDane	355	0
	CollectiveWisdom	995
	SoLastYear	1198
	MainGamePop	1006

Liege-Bastogne-Liege on Sunday for the penultimate instalment.

Anderis · Apr 19, 2023

I've built my team for this type of races, yet Rui Costa, Alaphilippe, Tulett or Gloag didn't even start today.

Still managed to take 4th in La Fleche somehow.

Armchair Cyclist · Apr 22, 2023

Armchair cyclist said:
So, who might win it for whom?

Salvarani and Evans is the Best have just 2 riders in common: Van der Poel, without whom they would not be at the top, and Casper Pedersen, who has a decent enough percentage return but nevertheless a fairly inconsequential contribution.

Their remaining riders, and what they are up to for the next couple of weeks (according to PCS, obviously liable to change:

Salvarani EitB
BAGIOLI Andrea, ~~COSTA Rui~~, GREGOIRE Romain, TARLING Joshua Fleche Wallonne PIDCOCK Thomas, SCHELLING Ide
BAGIOLI Andrea, COSTA Rui, BERCKMOES Jenno Liege-Bastogne-Liege PIDCOCK Thomas, ALAPHILIPPE Julian, SCHACHMANN Maximilian, GLOAG Thomas
none Frankfurt SCHACHMANN Maximilian
WELSFORD Samuel, VAN ASBROECK Tom not listed for anything in these weeks ASGREEN Kasper, DEKKER David
MILAN Jonathan (Giro), NYS Thibau (Romandie) listed for other races around this time BOARO Manuele, HERMANS Ben (both Alps), BERNAL Egan (Romandie)
TURNER Ben injured

Of course, doing Alps, Romandie or Giro does not make it impossible that they will do one or more of the remaining one day races, but it suggests that PCS claim to know what is on their schedule. Turner is the only one that we can be absolutely sure has no more contribution to make in this game.

LBL has a higher points scale than theFleche, which in turn has more points available than Frankfurt, so that needs to be borne in mind.

Bagioli vs Pidcock over two legs: is that the essence of it?

Update: Rui Costa withdrawn from FW according to PCS. (Tues pm)

Updates: For LBL Schachmann & Gloag out (for EitB)

For Frankfurt: Welsford in (for Salvarani) Schelling in (for EitB)

Pendulum swings in favour of Salvarani:
LBL: Bagioli, Costa, Berckmoes vs Pidcock and Alaphilippe
Frankfurt (so far) : Welsford vs Schachmann and Schelling

Salvarani · Apr 23, 2023

Pidcock or Ala having a good race in LBL was always gonna be the real decider. Didnt think I had much of chance after seeing Pidcock in AGR.

I think that is game.

EvansIsTheBest · Apr 23, 2023

Salvarani said:
Pidcock or Ala having a good race in LBL was always gonna be the real decider. Didnt think I had much of chance after seeing Pidcock in AGR.

I think that is game.

Not quite. I think a Welsford win in Frankfurt would push you back in front and fulfill my prediction.

Salvarani · Apr 23, 2023

EvansIsTheBest said:
Not quite. I think a Welsford win in Frankfurt would push you back in front and fulfill my prediction.

Winning is a big ask though. I think the chance of that happening is slim.

Needing a top 5-10 or something from Welsford, would have felt more realistic.

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