The 2014 CQ Ranking Manager Thread

[jaylew]

While I totally understand that argument, restricting riders is complicated and having the calendar year as a cutoff simplifies things. I foresee if I made an exception for Visconti that I would hear people say 'but what about this rider'? Because there would be no real reason to make an exception for Visconti other than it didn't affect his season, which you can say about a lot of riders for a lot of reasons. So, I guess from my personal perspective, I also don't want to have to deal with that.

Regardless, I recognize that there are a lot of perspectives represented here and it's hard to make everyone happy, so I hope people at least appreciate it if I try to be as clear as possible for everyone.

I just thought it would make more sense to have the cutoff be the day of the first actual race on the calendar rather than the first calendar day. It would have been different if the first race was on January 1st-5th. Even if that race was the Aussie championships and Visconti couldn't ride, the season would have actually started. The season hadn't started when his suspension ended so it's not an arbitrary date and probably doesn't even affect other riders. It just seems rather silly to have Visconti go all the way back to 2011 points when he wasn't suspended during any part of the racing calendar in 2013.

 

[uspostal]

Went over my 1st cut and got to 33 and had 400 extra pts, so I re-did it and added more value. I went with a lot of young riders hoping for more races to get points. I'm sure I'll challange for last. Good luck to all playing.

Chuck

Under 100 = 9
101-200 = 10
201-300 = 6
301- 400 = 6
400-1000 = 1
1000+ = 1

 

[Ferminal]

So... anyone want to share their thoughts on BALLAN Alessandro?

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

So... anyone want to share their thoughts on BALLAN Alessandro?

Not a clue. Backdated ban with his 2014 results stripped, would be my guess. With a bit of luck he could ride some autumn races and pick up points. Doubt he'll be available for the spring classics, though.

But LOL if he is.

 

[LaFlorecita]

So... anyone want to share their thoughts on BALLAN Alessandro?

I am hoping BMC will not let him start until he gets banned because I'm not gonna pick him. He may be just 0 points so nothing lost there but it's a spot in your team you lose. Like playing with 32 riders instead of 33.

 

[the asian]

I am hoping BMC will not let him start until he gets banned because I'm not gonna pick him. He may be just 0 points so nothing lost there but it's a spot in your team you lose. Like playing with 32 riders instead of 33.

I'm going to pick him nevertheless.

Lot of bargain riders this year, so torn between including these oldies or going for more young blood.

Whoever get's the balance right will have a successful game.

 

[jsem94]

I left those messy riders alone, Cunego too. Not risking it.

 

[Afrank]

I'm going to pick him nevertheless.

Lot of bargain riders this year, so torn between including these oldies or going for more young blood.

Whoever get's the balance right will have a successful game.

It'll be interesting to see the breakdown of who get's chosen by whom this year because there are so many bargains. I tried to balance my team between the older to mid age riders and the younger guys as much as possible, but ended up with a fair amount of younger guys. Hoping it pays off. I didn't bother with the really old guys, I'm betting their best years are mostly behind them. And if they do turn a profit it won't be that much higher then their current point totals.


Re. Ballan, I could definitely see him getting into some good profit, but I also think he'll probably bet banned, so I didn't bother.

kinda hoping he doesn't end up avoiding a ban and then turns out a ton of points. At the same time though I do like Ballan as a rider, so a little conflicted there.

 

[R_O_Shipman]

Well my team is in. Total of 7485 points with the following break down...

0 points = 2
1 - 100 = 18
101-200 = 6
201-300 = 3
301- 400 = 1
400-1000 = 1
1000+ =2

Last year was not a great return, this year I've taken bigger risks.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

I'm going to pick him nevertheless.

Lot of bargain riders this year, so torn between including these oldies or going for more young blood.

Whoever get's the balance right will have a successful game.

Yeah, I'm struggling to get my team anywhere near 7500 so far. Difficult to think of too many high point riders I want to keep on side

 

[will10]

I left those messy riders alone, Cunego too. Not risking it.

+1

I'm more interested in having a team of riders I don't actually mind seeing get results this time round. There were a couple of guys on my team who I almost didn't want to see do well in 2013

 

[oliveira]

1st timer here in the anual CQ manager game. Hoping for some fun, but pretty sure I'll do some newcomer mistakes... So, did a team with (I believe) controlled risk that looks like this:

3 >400pts riders
4 300-399pts riders
4 200-299pts riders
7 100-199pts riders
9 1-99pts riders
3 zero-pointers

Goodluck everyone, and thanks to organizers.
Looking forward to TDU and San Luis like never before

 

[mutschi]

New to the game. Where do you find 0 pointers? The CQ list supplied in the downloaded Excel file goes down to 1 point, but I can't see any 0 point riders? Thanks

 

[Ferminal]

http://cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/cqSubrankingRider.asp

Set CQValue <= 0

 

[the sceptic]

oh this sounds like a fun game.

since im a beginner could someone pm me some basic strategy advice so i dont make a fool of myself?

 

[Tigerion]

oh this sounds like a fun game.

since im a beginner could someone pm me some basic strategy advice so i dont make a fool of myself?

Just jump in and have a go, you can't really go wrong.
Last year was my first year so I don't have a lot of experience but can share what I think
Having a good mix of riders helps, people who can win flat stages as well as GC contenders. Earlier in the year it is dominated buy the classics so if you can get classic riders who can do well later in the season that helps.

For me the main types of riders to look for are:
New riders who you think will do well
Riders who were injured last year so missed a lot of points that they will get this year
Rider who performed badly for some reason last year
I also like to check on the transfers, who has moved teams were they were overshadowed or not given chances but will now have the chance to grow
Anybody you think could have a break out year

 

[Eric8-A]

Totally missed/forgot about it for this year. Hopefully I can create a team within the next few days to be able to participate.

 

[skidmark]

Five days left! 62 teams so far, including 29 new teams! This is shaping up to be the biggest year yet. I think I even might convince my brother (a moderate cycling fan who has never set foot in a cycling forum before) to play, ha.

One note to people sending teams - please ensure they follow the proper format outlined in the opening post:

LAST NAME First Name

with no scores or spaces before/after the names. If you don't do this, either you have to edit and resend, or I would have to edit all the entries on a whole team, which is tough with so many teams. I thank you in advance for your cooperation.

 

[LaFlorecita]

I sent in my team

0: 2 riders
1-99: 8 riders
100-199:11 riders
200-299: 4 riders
300-399: 5 riders
400-499: -
500-999: 2 riders
1000+: 1 rider

8 Italians

 

[yoyokt]

im in the rookie

 

[ingsve]

Just sent in my team for this year. I had finished most of it a month ago and then just put off finishing it until the deadline kept coming closer and closer. In the end there wasn't many changes. I removed some questionable clinic people which I know I'll end up regretting but that's life.

 

[skidmark]

Holy cow, I just woke up and processed the 10 teams that had come in overnight here in Canada, and when I was finished I had 3 more teams. We're up to 74 teams and there are over 90 players from last year who haven't submitted a team yet. Assuming a fairly high return rate (don't know what it is historically but I think it's pretty good) this is gonna be huge! Thanks to everyone so far.

I'll try to keep on top of it but if my inbox is full, please be patient. I'm on a trip visiting with friends so I can't exactly take myself away to fill in teams every minute.

 

[HelgeBlendet]

I just lack the courage to deceide between the different teams I've made. Way to many possibilities. Guess I'll end up with a team including 2-4 riders that won't improve much, but will be fun to follow. Wouldn't have a problem to fill a team <5000 points and could easily pack a team I'd be happy with with more than 9000 points and still loads of low cost riders...

Two riders that will improve quite well (I guess) won't be included just because I'm stuborn. Three riders I had before won't make a comeback and I would hate to see them improve now.

Will be a fun year to follow!

 

[the sceptic]

I sent in my team

0: 2 riders
1-99: 8 riders
100-199:11 riders
200-299: 4 riders
300-399: 5 riders
400-499: -
500-999: 2 riders
1000+: 1 rider

8 Italians

lol. who could that 1000+ rider be

seems like its risky to include a rider with that many points, in case he fails completely. But of course he could also double his points probably in the best case scenario.

 

[skidmark]

Hey, I've been noticing a few minor changes in the latest (and final) 2013 CQ update. None of the already submitted teams have been put over the limit by this, so if you have already submitted a team you need not worry. But I've readjusted the create your team spreadsheet to reflect these changes. There are a couple of fairly popular picks that are 1 point higher or so for whatever reason, so please use the updated create your team sheet (or CQ download) to check your team if you haven't submitted it yet. I've updated the original post to link to the new sheet, or you can just click here.