2026-2028 Emerging Riders CQ Game

[RedheadDane]

(btw in spanish, 2nd surname is redundant - as there are 2nd name in other languages - except if it helps to better identify the person in the case the first one is very common).
Personally, I believe a combination of 1 name + 1 surname should be always enough except very exceptional cases. And no one will call Héctor by his 2nd surname, as it is even more forgettable than the 1st one so it doesn't give him any identity. Martínez is like Smith in english, it has no personality - and it comes from someone that has Martínez twice in his 8 first surnames jaja

Well, in this case it's because we always use CQ-style names in these games, rather than go by what they're actually known as.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Personally, I believe a combination of 1 name + 1 surname should be always enough except very exceptional cases.

To refer to somebody, certainly it suffices in most circumstances. Situations like two Ben Kings as there were a few years ago are rare, and Spanish names don't need, it would appear, to protect against the potential duplication more than others.


But in game entries, I'd continue to ask for the CQ version of the name so that I can simply paste it into the spreadsheet, otherwise I have to look up what name will return the relevant values in all the field I need. That's not too bad if others have already submitted the name, but is a bit of a pain and more so if I need to try to identify him among several CQ names, and be sure it is the one that the player intends.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Year 1 Month 2

Beginning to make their names known

PESCADOR CASTRO Diego	79 pts​	Tour of Oman 8th	9 teams​
DECOMBLE Maxime	79​	Etoile de Besseges 3rd	33​
BRAVO Henrique Ribeiro	68​	Tour de Rwanda 6th and stage win	1 (Nakazar)​
KOCKELMANN Mathieu	68​	Etoile de Besseges 7th with satge win	13​
CRABBE Tom	60​	stage wins in Etoile de Besseges and Ruta del Sol	6​
DONATI Davide	50​	2 stage wins and a 2nd in Giro di sardenga	4​
JACKOWIAK Jan	45​		6​
GUALDI Simone	44​		15​
PERICAS CAPDEVILA Adria	43​		30​

This month: I might make a printout...

1	Armchair_Cyclist	384​	Decomble, Pescador, Kockelmann, Gualdi, Pericas
2	Del1962	337​	Decomble, Crabbe, Donati, Gualdi, Pericas
2	DevilsElbow	337​	Decomble, Crabbe, Donati, Gualdi, Pericas
4	EvansIsTheBest	336​	Decomble, Kockelmann, Crabbe, Pericas
5	Leadbelly	320​
6	Manafana	319​
7	Cordi	318​
8	DJSprtsch	315​
9	Boris98	310​
10	Kryvoskyn	307​
11	PandaClaws	305​
12	Earns1985	294​
13	Madrazo	293​
13	Qazaqstan	293​
15	Fivezzz	292​
16	Skidmark	290​
17	Nakazar	281​
18	RedheadDane	276​
19	Squire	267​
20	Laurens147	261​
21	Bminchow	254​
22	Blues_in_the_Bottle	252​
23	Berflamand	242​
24	Vladimir	235​
24	JonEzeitza	235​
26	Kazistuta	234​
27	SafeBet	223​
28	Rufs	215​
29	LosBrolin	214​
30	Ingsve	213​
31	Laarsland	211​
32	AmisVelo	164​
33	Haynepayne	148​
34	Onizuka999	130​
35	Josedin	124​
36	SamuCuenca	14​
	CollectiveWisdom	248​
	CollectiveIgnorance	768​
	MainGame2026	289​
	Goodin2025	259​
	PopularLastEdition	156​

Standings

Unfortunately, till far too early to draw any conclusions

1​	Cordi	582	(-)
2​	Armchair_Cyclist	551	(+7)
3​	Leadbelly	510	(+3)
4​	DJSprtsch	507	(+1)
5​	Nakazar	490	(-2)
6​	Boris98	489	(+2)
7​	Berflamand	488	(-5)
8​	Fivezzz	486	(-4)
9​	Del1962	473	(+4)
10​	Kryvoskyn	470	(-)
11​	EvansIsTheBest	464	(+4)
12​	DevilsElbow	456	(+6)
13​	Blues_in_the_Bottle	442	(-7)
14​	Manafana	434	(+5)
15​	Madrazo	417	(+2)
16​	Skidmark	390	(+8)
17​	Qazaqstan	388	(+9)
18​	Laurens147	386	(-2)
19​	PandaClaws	365	(+12)
20​	Bminchow	364	(+3)
20​	Earns1985	364	(+10)
20​	Laarsland	364	(-9)
20​	Vladimir	364	(-6)
24​	Ingsve	362	(-12)
25​	Squire	356	(+2)
26​	RedheadDane	351	(+3)
27​	SafeBet	337	(-5)
28​	Kazistuta	330	(-3)
29​	LosBrolin	329	(-10)
30​	JonEzeitza	284	(+3)
31​	Rufs	245	(+5)
32​	Josedin	239	(-13)
33​	Haynepayne	227	(-5)
34​	AmisVelo	203	(-)
35​	Onizuka999	180	(-3)
36​	SamuCuenca	48	(-1)
	CollectiveWisdom	370
	CollectiveIgnorance	1066
	MainGame2026	392
	Goodin2025	306
	PopularLastEdition	412

 

[Samu Cuenca]

This month: I might make a printout...

You and me both, but for completely opposite reasons.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

I have, very happily, given Fivezzz the 'right' Hector Alvarez.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Year 1 month 3: 2nd March to 5th April


Still waiting for anything eye raising from this group, but Lotto enjoyed their trip to Taiwan...

GRISEL Matys	261 pts​	Tour de Taiwan win and stage pts, Tourangele 3rd, Samyn 6th, win and 2nd in 1.2s	4 teams​
FOX Matthew	106​	Tour de Taiwan 2nd with stage win	1 (Panda Claws)​
ERZEN Zak	79​	GP Monsere 6th, Ronde van Brugge 13, Denain 11th	2 (Laurens, Leadbelly)​
GUALDI Simone	55​	Laigueglia 8th	15​
BELOKI FERNANDEZ Markel	45​		14​
BIESTERBOS Frits	38​		5​
VAN KERCKHOVE Matisse	36​		1​

Gains this month

1	Qazaqstan	492​	Grisel, Gualdi, Beloki
2	EvansIsTheBest	437​	Grisel
2	Josedin	437​	Grisel, Beloki
4	Boris98	406​	Grisel
5	Leadbelly	313​	Erzen, Gualdi
6	PandaClaws	274​
7	DevilsElbow	254​
8	Laurens147	246​
9	LosBrolin	243​
10	Vladimir	225​
11	Armchair_Cyclist	224​
12	Fivezzz	211​
12	Laarsland	211​
14	Kazistuta	206​
15	Squire	205​
16	Cordi	204​
17	Madrazo	201​
18	Earns1985	179​
19	Del1962	178​
20	Nakazar	175​
21	AmisVelo	164​
22	Berflamand	162​
23	Onizuka999	160​
24	DJSprtsch	159​
24	RedheadDane	159​
26	Bminchow	157​
27	JonEzeitza	148​
28	Rufs	146​
29	SafeBet	139​
30	Skidmark	138​
31	Manafana	137​
32	Haynepayne	129​
33	Kryvoskyn	106​
34	Ingsve	94​
35	Blues_in_the_Bottle	92​
36	SamuCuenca	34​
	CollectiveWisdom	213​
	CollectiveIgnorance	488​
	MainGame2026	194​
	Goodin2025	147​
	PopularLastEdition	173​

Standings

1​	EvansIsTheBest	901	(+10)
2​	Boris98	895	(+4)
3​	Qazaqstan	880	(+14)
4​	Leadbelly	823	(-1)
5​	Cordi	786	(-4)
6​	Armchair_Cyclist	775	(-4)
7​	DevilsElbow	710	(+5)
8​	Fivezzz	697	(-)
9​	Josedin	676	(+23)
10​	DJSprtsch	666	(-6)
11​	Nakazar	665	(-6)
12​	Del1962	651	(-3)
13​	Berflamand	650	(-6)
14​	PandaClaws	639	(+5)
15​	Laurens147	632	(+3)
16​	Madrazo	618	(-1)
17​	Vladimir	589	(+3)
18​	Kryvoskyn	576	(-8)
19​	Laarsland	575	(+1)
20​	LosBrolin	572	(+9)
21​	Manafana	571	(-7)
22​	Squire	561	(+3)
23​	Earns1985	543	(-3)
24​	Kazistuta	536	(+4)
25​	Blues_in_the_Bottle	534	(-12)
26​	Skidmark	528	(-10)
27​	Bminchow	521	(-7)
28​	RedheadDane	510	(-2)
29​	SafeBet	476	(-2)
30​	Ingsve	456	(-6)
31​	JonEzeitza	432	(-1)
32​	Rufs	391	(-1)
33​	AmisVelo	367	(+1)
34​	Haynepayne	356	(-1)
35​	Onizuka999	340	(-)
36​	SamuCuenca	82	(-)
	CollectiveWisdom	583
	CollectiveIgnorance	1404
	MainGame2026	586
	Goodin2025	453
	PopularLastEdition	585

 

[EvansIsTheBest]

We should stop the game here.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

We should stop the game here.

I agree. There's no reason to continue the suffering.

 

[Panda Claws]

2027-28 won't be kind to some of these picks

 

[Qazaqstan]

That was an amazing Tour de Taiwan last month. This one's probably going to be goodas well, with Verstrynge and Gualdi top 5 in WT classics and L'Hote winning a ProSeries race. I'm missing Tuckwell tho.

For the upcoming 3 years, I expect the most from Grisel, Sparfel and Donati. What are your guesses?

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Year 1 Month 4 6th April to 3rd May

I might be being unfair to the riders, but I am not sure that there is a great, or even evidence yet of a must have, pick among this cohort, which might make this game lower scoring but more competitive. But like so many of my predictions, this might be way out.


For reasons other than this game (I don't have him), I am delighted in the top scorer in this monthly update.

VERSTRYNGE Emiel	232pts​	liege-B-Liege 4th, Amstel Gold 5th	10 teams​
L'HOTE Antoine	195​	Pays de la Loire stage and GC win	14​
CRABBE Tom	149​	3 stage wins in Tour of Turkey, Scheldeprijs 10th, Limburg 7th	6​
PERICAS CAPDEVILA Adria	145​	Vuelta a Asturias 2nd, Eschborn-Frankfurt 10th	30​
TUCKWELL Luke	112​	Tour de Romandie GC 6th	15​
PESCADOR CASTRO Diego	76​		9​
GUALDI Simone	74​		15​
MEEHAN Jamie	58​		1​
ERZEN Zak	57​		2​

This month's scores

The 4 top scorers and the best UP is a good performance in any update

1	EvansIsTheBest	936​	Verstrynge, L'Hote, Crabbe, Pericas, Meehan
2	Qazaqstan	840​	Verstrynge, L'Hote, Pericas, Gualdi
3	Leadbelly	838​	Verstrynge, Crabbe, Pericas, Gualdi, Erzen
4	Squire	804​	Verstrynge, L'Hote, Pericas, Gualdi
5	Cordi	755​
6	Boris98	744​
7	Del1962	714​
7	DevilsElbow	714​
7	Kazistuta	714​
10	Kryvoskyn	665​
11	RedheadDane	637​
12	LosBrolin	618​
13	Vladimir	617​
14	Manafana	607​
15	Skidmark	605​
16	Fivezzz	601​
17	Armchair_Cyclist	590​
18	Madrazo	564​
19	Laarsland	544​
20	Haynepayne	478​
21	Bminchow	473​
22	SafeBet	463​
23	Earns1985	457​
24	DJSprtsch	456​
25	Laurens147	436​
26	Nakazar	426​
27	Blues_in_the_Bottle	424​
28	Josedin	390​
29	Ingsve	378​
29	PandaClaws	378​
31	AmisVelo	333​
32	Berflamand	329​
33	JonEzeitza	328​
34	Rufs	323​
35	Onizuka999	295​
36	SamuCuenca	80​
	CollectiveWisdom	696​
	CollectiveIgnorance	573​
	MainGame2026	684​
	Goodin2025	401​
	PopularLastEdition	423​

Standings

The top 5 at the beginning of this update period were all in the top 6 during it, and Evans went into April top and top scored during the month. But I think it is too early to say that there is any decisive breakaway.

1​	EvansIsTheBest	1837	(-)
2​	Qazaqstan	1720	(+1)
3​	Leadbelly	1661	(+1)
4​	Boris98	1639	(-2)
5​	Cordi	1541	(-)
6​	DevilsElbow	1424	(+1)
7​	Del1962	1365	(+5)
8​	Armchair_Cyclist	1365	(-2)
9​	Squire	1365	(+13)
10​	Fivezzz	1298	(-2)
11​	Kazistuta	1250	(+13)
12​	Kryvoskyn	1241	(+6)
13​	Vladimir	1206	(+4)
14​	LosBrolin	1190	(+6)
15​	Madrazo	1182	(+1)
16​	Manafana	1178	(+5)
17​	RedheadDane	1147	(+11)
18​	Skidmark	1133	(+8)
19​	DJSprtsch	1122	(-9)
20​	Laarsland	1119	(-1)
21​	Nakazar	1091	(-10)
22​	Laurens147	1068	(-7)
23​	Josedin	1066	(-14)
24​	PandaClaws	1017	(-10)
25​	Earns1985	1000	(-2)
26​	Bminchow	994	(+1)
27​	Berflamand	979	(-14)
28​	Blues_in_the_Bottle	958	(-3)
29​	SafeBet	939	(-)
30​	Ingsve	834	(-)
31​	Haynepayne	834	(+3)
32​	JonEzeitza	760	(-1)
33​	Rufs	714	(-1)
34​	AmisVelo	700	(-1)
35​	Onizuka999	635	(-)
36​	SamuCuenca	162	(-)
	CollectiveWisdom	1279
	CollectiveIgnorance	1744
	MainGame2026	1270
	Goodin2025	854
	PopularLastEdition	1008

Participation from this cohort during Il Giro is likely to be low- profile, but there is presumably something else happening in May.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I would have been number one if I have had Pogačar in this game.

 

[EvansIsTheBest]

More updates like this please and thank you.

 

[bminchow]

I don't know. By missing out on Tuckwell and Gualdi, I may have doomed myself. I know its early. let's go Frits!

 

[Cordi333]

With this cohort being theoretically more low profile, is when one has to ask if maybe a bet on Benja or Seff would have been a good idea.

 

[SafeBet]

With this cohort being theoretically more low profile, is when one has to ask if maybe a bet on Benja or Seff would have been a good idea.

Well I bet on both and I'm currently sitting in 29th place so they better get going early next year.

 

[RedheadDane]

Well I bet on both and I'm currently sitting in 29th place so they better get going early next year.

Benja being Benjamin Noval the younger?
Well, you're definitely gonna have to wait for next year for him to get going...

EDIT!
Just for fun: 18 pro riders born before the year 2000 who to this day have not scored 200 CQ points.

ALVAREZ RODRIGUEZ Rodrigo - 118
MIFSUD Andréa - 116
NABERMAN Tim - 100
VAN DER TUUK Danny - 94
BRAND Sam - 89
BUTTIGIEG Aidan - 76
IACCHI Alessandro - 71
BASTIAENS Ayco - 70
BOARDMAN Samuel - 58
SCALA Jr Hugo - 55
POLI Umberto - 53
BEADLE Hamish - 20
POLGA Antonio - 18
MEO Felix James - 15
IRVINE Declan - 13
DAUGE Lucas - 2
KOYAMA Tomoya - 0
MULLER Anton - 0

Now I could have gone through all the conti teams... but I didn't want to...

 

[manafana]

mid table for me so far