2024-25 Cyclocross Game

[Samu Cuenca]

I was never gonna be successful in this game after my disastrous selection mishap, but it's still a little bit annoying to see so few of my riders in action. Well at least Vos turned up for one race.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

I cannot understand the way PCS scores NCs. Denmark is worth as much as Belgium, but Switzerland and Poland aren't worth anything?

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

I'm giving it a couple of days before I even think about th update, in case it is just that they haven't assigned a rank to some of the events.

 

[RedheadDane]

I cannot understand the way PCS scores NCs. Denmark is worth as much as Belgium, but Switzerland and Poland aren't worth anything?

Poland should definitely be worth more than Denmark.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Poland should definitely be worth more than Denmark.

says the entrant with Konwa as a UP

 

[RedheadDane]

says the entrant with Konwa as a UP

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Poland should definitely be worth more than Denmark.

- Germany, around 1939

 

[Samu Cuenca]

It was a little frustrating to see Casasola only get 6th in the Italian NC while Persico was hanging out the in the crowds. Surely a 50 minute race wouldn't have killed you, Silvia.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

It was a little frustrating to see Casasola only get 6th

I agree. Really disappointing to see someone who was well on her way to becoming a musthave have the entirety of her world cup campaign destroyed by illness and wind up not even coming close to breaking even. If I somehow lose this (knocks on wood), that will be a key part of the reason why.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I agree. Really disappointing to see someone who was well on her way to becoming a musthave have the entirety of her world cup campaign destroyed by illness and wind up not even coming close to breaking even. If I somehow lose this (knocks on wood), that will be a key part of the reason why.

I hadn't actually realised how far behind her 2024 score she still is. I've been more focused on Verdonschot's misfortunes. I hope Casasola won't end her season early, too.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

The rather odd week that is National Championships plus Otegem:

	Armchair	Devil's Elbow	DJW	Josedin	Laurens	RhD	Samu
Norbert Riberolle Marion	.	.	.	116​	.	.	.
Aerts Toon	105​	105​	.	105​	105​	.	.
Sweeck Laurens	105​	105​	.	105​	.	105​	.
van Alphen Aniek	85​	.	.	.	.	.	.
Boroš Michael	.	.	.	80​	.	.	.
Kuhn Kevin	.	.	.	80​	.	80​	.
Mason Cameron	80​	.	80​	.	.	.	.
Nys Thibau	80​	80​	80​	80​	80​	.	80​
Orts Felipe	.	.	.	80​	80​	80​	.
Pieterse Puck	80​	.	80​	80​	80​	.	80​
Zemanová Kristýna	.	.	.	.	.	80​	80​
Wyseure Joran	76​	.	.	.	.	.	.
Franck Alicia	.	.	.	.	70​	.	.
Iserbyt Eli	.	67​	67​	67​	67​	67​	.
Alvarado Ceylin del Carmen	.	.	65​	65​	.	.	.
Clauzel Hélène	.	65​	.	.	.	.	65​
Ronhaar Pim	65​	.	65​	.	65​	.	65​
Verdonschot Laura	65​	.	65​	.	.	.	65​
Adams Jens	.	.	.	58​	.	.	.
Betsema Denise	.	55​	.	.	.	.	.
Gery Célia	.	.	55​	.	.	.	55​
Cant Sanne	.	.	.	50​	.	.	.
van der Haar Lars	.	50​	.	.	.	.	.
Vandeputte Niels	50​	.	50​	.	50​	50​	.
Vos Marianne	.	.	.	.	.	.	50​

Please direct your displeasure at the scale of points allocated to each country to PCS, not to me

EDIT: I've spent half the day trying to sort glitches on the spreadsheet, largely caused by my having tried to use a short-cut to updates starting (I think) from just before I went travelling at Christmas)
So in the above table, I need you to imagine Cat Ferguson with 65 points for Armcair, DJW and Same, and Ben Askey with 50 for DJW again. I'll incorporate those into the tables below

A rather different aspect to the weekly points gains than usual, but more riders adding to their totals than I might have expected.

1​	Josedin	1070​	15​
2​	ArmchairCyclist	894​	13​
3​	DJW	722​	9​
4​	DevilsElbow	717​	12​
5​	Laurens147	700​	11​
6​	RedheadDane	650​	11​
7​	SamuCuenca	650​	10​

And although I thought there had been a change in the Overall Standings, after I make the Ferguson correction, it turns out there isn't.

1​	DevilsElbow	20296​	(-)
2​	Laurens147	18404​	(-)
3​	ArmchairCyclist	17162​	(-)
4​	Josedin	17155​	(-)
5​	RedheadDane	16117​	(-)
6​	DJW	15421​	(-)
7​	SamuCuenca	12240​	(-)

I'm not sure that any position other than 3rd is still competitive...

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

And after all that adjusting of the spreadsheet (see post above), points (and possession of third place) have changed. To be honest, I'm not certain of the source of the changes (probably pts from U23 races that I hadn't excluded), but I'm more confident in these numbers than the previous ones.

1​	DevilsElbow	20266​
2​	Laurens147	18404​
3​	Josedin	17155​
4​	ArmchairCyclist	17122​
5​	RedheadDane	16032​
6​	DJW	15259​
7​	SamuCuenca	12099​

If you doubt them (and I wouldn't really blame you), feel free to check the spreadsheet. Let me know if anything looks wrong.

 

[RedheadDane]

I would like to point out that I am certain that I have Van Empel.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

I would like to point out that I am certain that I have Van Empel.

You have indeed, but given that everyone other than the clear leader has her, that's not necessarily a great thing.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Podium finishes for Persico on two successive WC event days, but not going to help Samu a jot.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Judging by PCS calendar, the non-top flight races seem to have finished. So I think this update has nothing other that the last three World Cup events of the season: Benidorm, Maasmechelen and Hoogerheide.

WC can mean lots of points, especially when there are three of them in one update:

	Armchair	Devil's Elbow	DJW	Josedin	Laurens	RhD	Samu
Brand Lucinda	.	510​	510​	.	510​	.	.
Vas Blanka	.	470​	.	.	.	470​	.
van Empel Fem	410​	.	410​	410​	410​	410​	410​
van der Poel Mathieu	.	.	.	.	.	.	400​
van der Haar Lars	.	360​	.	.	.	.	.
Vanthourenhout Michael	.	360​	.	.	.	.	.
Backstedt Zoe	350​	350​	.	.	.	350​	350​
van Aert Wout	.	290​	.	.	.	.	290​
Iserbyt Eli	.	278​	278​	278​	278​	278​	.
Alvarado Ceylin del Carmen	.	.	270​	270​	.	.	.
Pieterse Puck	260​	.	260​	260​	260​	.	260​
Aerts Toon	254​	254​	.	254​	254​	.	.
Wyseure Joran	250​	.	.	.	.	.	.
Casasola Sara	.	210​	.	.	.	210​	210​
Nys Thibau	200​	200​	200​	200​	200​	.	200​
Schreiber Marie	.	.	.	.	.	200​	.
van der Heijden Inge	.	200​	.	.	200​	.	.
Verstrynge Emiel	.	186​	.	.	186​	186​	.
Vos Marianne	.	.	.	.	.	.	158​
Orts Felipe	.	.	.	154​	154​	154​	.

And some more of our picks move into profit for the season: Brand, Backsted, Wysure, Nys, Van der Heiden and Boros. But only Devil's Elbow has the majority of the team in profit.

Over these three races:

1​	DevilsElbow	4012​
2​	Laurens147	2767​
3​	RedheadDane	2687​
4​	SamuCuenca	2568​
5​	DJW	2333​
6​	Josedin	2329​
7​	ArmchairCyclist	2275​

Standings

1​	DevilsElbow	24278​	(-)
2​	Laurens147	21171​	(-)
3​	Josedin	19484​	(-)
4​	ArmchairCyclist	19397​	(-)
5​	RedheadDane	18719​	(-)
6​	DJW	17592​	(-)
7​	SamuCuenca	14667​	(-)

World Championships next weekend, but that's not the end of the season: the fat lady doesn't sing until 23rd February.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Brand, Backsted, Wysure, Nys, Van der Heiden and Boros

Did Ilmaestro do the write-up for this update?
I outscored second place by a full 45% this update, that is pretty obscene. It also looks like only Laurens can still join me in at least breaking even...

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

World Championships

Remember, only the Elite points are counted, so nothing for those who picked Michels /Bisiaux/Backstedt/Schreiber/Bentveld/Gery/Holmgren/Chladonova etc


Top ten finishers (there were points down to 25th)

	Armchair	Devil's Elbow	DJW	Josedin	Laurens	RhD	Samu
van der Poel Mathieu	.	.	.	.	.	.	275​
van Empel Fem	275​	.	275​	275​	275​	275​	275​
Brand Lucinda	.	225​	225​	.	225​	.	.
van Aert Wout	.	225​	.	.	.	.	225​
Nys Thibau	190​	190​	190​	190​	190​	.	190​
Pieterse Puck	190​	.	190​	190​	190​	.	190​
van der Heijden Inge	.	170​	.	.	170​	.	.
Vas Blanka	.	150​	.	.	.	150​	.
Verstrynge Emiel	.	150​	.	.	150​	150​	.
Aerts Toon	135​	135​	.	135​	135​	.	.
Casasola Sara	.	135​	.	.	.	135​	135​
Alvarado Ceylin del Carmen	.	.	120​	120​	.	.	.
Vanthourenhout Michael	.	120​	.	.	.	.	.
Clauzel Hélène	.	105​	.	.	.	.	105​
Wyseure Joran	105​	.	.	.	.	.	.
Cant Sanne	.	.	.	90​	.	.	.
van der Haar Lars	.	90​	.	.	.	.	.
Sweeck Laurens	80​	80​	.	80​	.	80​	.

Vanthourenhout and Norbert Riberolle are into profit, but a heck of a lot of our picks in this game won't make that.

Points from Lievin (with number of scorers there):

1​	DevilsElbow	1891​	14​
2​	Laurens147	1525​	12​
3​	SamuCuenca	1403​	8​
4​	Josedin	1298​	12​
5​	ArmchairCyclist	1113​	10​
6​	DJW	1108​	8​
7​	RedheadDane	982​	9​

Standings

Devil's Elbow gets a team into profit. That's a fairly low bar for winning one of these games, but congratulations to him.

I'm not sure that 3rd place is really uncertain anymore either, having said a few weeks ago that that seemed to be the only remaining competition.

1​	DevilsElbow	26169​	(-)
2​	Laurens147	22696​	(-)
3​	Josedin	20782​	(-)
4​	ArmchairCyclist	20510​	(-)
5​	RedheadDane	19701​	(-)
6​	DJW	18700​	(-)
7​	SamuCuenca	16070​	(-)

From here on in, it's almost more a case of which riders finish their seasons when.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Devil's Elbow gets a team into profit. That's a fairly low bar for winning one of these games, but congratulations to him.

The budget was 1389 points per rider, and only three riders more expensive than that (Vanthourenhout, Brand, Van der Heijden) have actually turned a profit so far (having three fewer world cup races is not helping here). I imagine the optimal team will turn by far the lowest profit ever seen in a game like this.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Three events: Maldegem from midweek, Middelkerke yesterday, and today's Lille races.

Several riders seem to have stopped for the season, but some are still tryng to boost our scores.

	Armchair	Devil's Elbow	DJW	Josedin	Laurens	RhD	Samu
van der Heijden Inge	.	220​	.	.	220​	.	.
Sweeck Laurens	192​	192​	.	192​	.	192​	.
Iserbyt Eli	.	190​	190​	190​	190​	190​	.
Brand Lucinda	.	180​	180​	.	180​	.	.
Vandeputte Niels	166​	.	166​	.	166​	166​	.
Aerts Toon	154​	154​	.	154​	154​	.	.
Cant Sanne	.	.	.	148​	.	.	.
Casasola Sara	.	144​	.	.	.	144​	144​
Norbert Riberolle Marion	.	.	.	116​	.	.	.
van der Haar Lars	.	96​	.	.	.	.	.
Adams Jens	.	.	.	94​	.	.	.
Bakker Manon	70​	.	.	.	.	.	.
van Alphen Aniek	68​	.	.	.	.	.	.
Vanthourenhout Michael	.	65​	.	.	.	.	.
Vandebosch Toon	60​	.	.	.	.	.	.

Weekly tables have a rather familiar pattern:

		change	scorers
1​	DevilsElbow	1379​	12​
2​	Josedin	1124​	11​
3​	Laurens147	1084​	10​
4​	RedheadDane	938​	10​
5​	ArmchairCyclist	810​	10​
6​	DJW	602​	5​
7​	SamuCuenca	216​	3​

Some teams have more riders starting their spring break earlier than others (if they started a winter programme at all)

Standings
I think I heard the commentator saying there were six races left: I only see three events on the PCS calendar. (Maybe he was counting men and women's races separately)

1​	DevilsElbow	27548​	(-)
2​	Laurens147	23780​	(-)
3​	Josedin	21906​	(-)
4​	ArmchairCyclist	21320​	(-)
5​	RedheadDane	20639​	(-)
6​	DJW	19302​	(-)
7​	SamuCuenca	16286​	(-)

Two races next weekend (which are the last on TV, I believe), then a season ender at Oostmalle.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

A few days late, but the last of the televised races: Sint Niklaas and Brussels University

	Armchair	Devil's Elbow	DJW	Josedin	Laurens	RhD	Samu
Casasola Sara	.	140​	.	.	.	140​	140​
Vanthourenhout Michael	.	136​	.	.	.	.	.
Brand Lucinda	.	120​	120​	.	120​	.	.
van der Haar Lars	.	110​	.	.	.	.	.
Norbert Riberolle Marion	.	.	.	108​	.	.	.
Vandeputte Niels	100​	.	100​	.	100​	100​	.
Iserbyt Eli	.	84​	84​	84​	84​	84​	.
Betsema Denise	.	80​	.	.	.	.	.
Aerts Toon	74​	74​	.	74​	74​	.	.
Orts Felipe	.	.	.	66​	66​	66​	.
Bakker Manon	56​	.	.	.	.	.	.
Cant Sanne	.	.	.	56​	.	.	.
Michels Jente	50​	.	.	.	.	.	.
Worst Annemarie	.	.	.	50​	50​	50​	.
Kay Anna	.	.	.	.	.	46​	.
Sweeck Laurens	36​	36​	.	36​	.	36​	.
van der Heijden Inge	.	36​	.	.	36​	.	.
Kuhn Kevin	.	.	.	34​	.	34​	.
Mason Cameron	34​	.	34​	.	.	.	.

Casasola and Sweeck move into profit.


It's the same 1-2 as we have had three of the last 4 updates

1​	DevilsElbow	816​
2​	Laurens147	588​
3​	RedheadDane	556​
4​	Josedin	553​
5​	ArmchairCyclist	388​
6​	DJW	360​
7​	SamuCuenca	162​

And the same overall standings as we have had since mid-January

1​	DevilsElbow	28364​	(-)
2​	Laurens147	24368​	(-)
3​	Josedin	22459​	(-)
4​	ArmchairCyclist	21708​	(-)
5​	RedheadDane	21195​	(-)
6​	DJW	19662​	(-)
7​	SamuCuenca	16448​	(-)

And next weekend the season will finish as it started: with no coverage and few of our selected riders.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

I agree. Really disappointing to see someone who was well on her way to becoming a musthave have the entirety of her world cup campaign destroyed by illness and wind up not even coming close to breaking even. If I somehow lose this (knocks on wood), that will be a key part of the reason why.

Well, I'm happy that my predictive powers were stronger in October than in January.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Well, I'm happy that my predictive powers were stronger in October than in January.

Don't get too carried away: that's a 2 point profit.

But in this game, that makes her one of the better picks.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Oostmalle, and that is the season done.

Only one race, and not that many of our selections involved: so all the picked riders who scored are shown:

	Armchair	Devil's Elbow	DJW	Josedin	Laurens	RhD	Samu
Brand Lucinda	.	100​	100​	.	100​	.	.
Sweeck Laurens	80​	80​	.	80​	.	80​	.
van der Heijden Inge	.	80​	.	.	80​	.	.
Clauzel Hélène	.	70​	.	.	.	.	70​
Vandebosch Toon	70​	.	.	.	.	.	.
Cant Sanne	.	.	.	60​	.	.	.
Vandeputte Niels	60​	.	60​	.	60​	60​	.
Betsema Denise	.	46​	.	.	.	.	.
van der Haar Lars	.	46​	.	.	.	.	.
Aerts Toon	42​	42​	.	42​	42​	.	.
Adams Jens	.	.	.	38​	.	.	.
Mason Cameron	34​	.	34​	.	.	.	.
Norbert Riberolle Marion	.	.	.	34​	.	.	.
Van de Putte Victor	.	.	.	.	30​	.	.
Worst Annemarie	.	.	.	30​	30​	30​	.
Meeussen Witse	.	.	.	26​	.	.	.
Kuhn Kevin	.	.	.	20​	.	20​	.
van Kessel Corné	.	.	.	18​	.	.	.

Niels Vandeputte got into profit at the last opportunity.

This race:

I think that is 11 out of 17 updates that Devil's Elbow has been top.

1​	DevilsElbow	464​
2​	Josedin	348​
3​	Laurens147	342​
4​	ArmchairCyclist	286​
5​	DJW	194​
6​	RedheadDane	190​
7​	SamuCuenca	70​

And I don't think anyone was expecting change in the Final Overall Rankings

1​	DevilsElbow	28828​	(-)
2​	Laurens147	24710​	(-)
3​	Josedin	22807​	(-)
4​	ArmchairCyclist	21994​	(-)
5​	RedheadDane	21385​	(-)
6​	DJW	19856​	(-)
7​	SamuCuenca	16518​	(-)

Probably the first time in one of these games that the team lowest on the popularity rankings has come out on top.

If, as I originally proposed, the points only started from when entries closed, the order would not have been any different:

1​	DevilsElbow	27440​
2​	Laurens147	24028​
3​	Josedin	22241​
4​	ArmchairCyclist	21034​
5​	RedheadDane	20863​
6​	DJW	19410​
7​	SamuCuenca	15098​

Devil's Elbow had 12 of his 18 riders in profit, Laurens, Armchair and Samu had 8 each, DJW had 7, and Redhead Dane and Josedin only had one third of their squad in profit.

But even the best possible team included 3 riders who scored lower than last season:

Brand Lucinda	2725​	3641​
van Empel Fem	2715​	2441​
Vanthourenhout Michael	2123​	2386​
Aerts Toon	92​	2236​
Vandeputte Niels	2098​	2127​
van der Heijden Inge	1573​	2082​
van der Haar Lars	2513​	1981​
Sweeck Laurens	1667​	1773​
Nys Thibau	1334​	1632​
Wyseure Joran	1366​	1605​
Vas Blanka	830​	1528​
Norbert Riberolle Marion	1202​	1516​
Orts Felipe	1511​	1505​
Clauzel Hélène	887​	1456​
Backstedt Zoe	1318​	1362​
Verstrynge Emiel	486​	1127​
Strohmeyer Andrew	415​	889​
Werner Kerry	125​	651​
	24980​	31938​

All of them bar Kerry Werner was selected at least once; Devil's Elbow scored 90.26% of that (and has 12 of those riders).


I guess we'll probably give it a whirl again next year: hopefully with it seeming less like a race with MvdP.


In the meantime, don't forget the Spring Classics CQ Game.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

It's a lot easier when the ideal team consists entirely of established names and riders who scored most of their points pre-deadline, but it's still pretty cool to crack 90% of the optimal score.

As ever, thanks for organising @Armchair Cyclist !