The 2016 CQ Ranking Manager Thread

[HelgeBlendet]

Any opinions on Lennard Kamna from the 24 teams who picked him (or anyone else)? For me he was one of the most interesting picks, as he's soooo young (he won't turn 20 until almost the end of the season). There is very little track record for a 19 year old at this level in a full season - Mohoric did poorly, Felline got 288 points but turned 20 in March, Sagan was only 19 for a few weeks of his neo-pro season... even Cancellara turned 20 in March of his neo-pro season (and even then, got less than 200 points). Then again, he's such an obvious talent, finishing top 15 in Bayern Rundfart. He's got an incredible TT - first year of U23 and would have won the Worlds easily if not for the change in wind. If you've got a TT and can hang in on other stages, you can get some good GC points, for sure. And then being on Stolting, which is a bit thin for a PCT team, to say the least, my guess is he'll probably get the kind of freedom you wouldn't get on, say, Cannondale if you're Mohoric (not that Matej could have done better that year anyway, he just wasn't there in terms of endurance).

Anyway, I hesitated on him because I fear that despite his talent his ceiling may be too low, like I can't see him getting 400-500 points as a 19-year old. But in the end I took him because I'm lured in by the siren song of unpredictable young talent.

Thoughts?

Kämna was always in the back of my mind while assembling the team, but I was really unsure about his race program. He can't repeat Bayern and I fear he will mostly "learn" from Linus Gerdemann in stage-races and Fabian Wegmann in hilly ones. Not sure if they ride enough races with a suitable ITT and hilly-ish course for him to hang on. Then again, he might Top5 in the German NC ITT. In the end I put him on my longlist for 2017. I'm happy if he proves me wrong and delivers results this year and if not, he might be on my team next year.

 

[rote_laterne]

Any opinions on Lennard Kamna from the 24 teams who picked him (or anyone else)?

Kämna was one of my sure picks this year (also had him last year) because of his talent and I'm looking forward to follow him. I guess he won't be a massive scorer but should double his points anyway. He should score in the U23 TT, TT in smaller stage races, maybe even GC. I agree that he probably gets all the freedom he needs to improve at Stölting.

 

[Jspear]

Any opinions on Lennard Kamna from the 24 teams who picked him (or anyone else)? For me he was one of the most interesting picks, as he's soooo young (he won't turn 20 until almost the end of the season). There is very little track record for a 19 year old at this level in a full season - Mohoric did poorly, Felline got 288 points but turned 20 in March, Sagan was only 19 for a few weeks of his neo-pro season... even Cancellara turned 20 in March of his neo-pro season (and even then, got less than 200 points). Then again, he's such an obvious talent, finishing top 15 in Bayern Rundfart. He's got an incredible TT - first year of U23 and would have won the Worlds easily if not for the change in wind. If you've got a TT and can hang in on other stages, you can get some good GC points, for sure. And then being on Stolting, which is a bit thin for a PCT team, to say the least, my guess is he'll probably get the kind of freedom you wouldn't get on, say, Cannondale if you're Mohoric (not that Matej could have done better that year anyway, he just wasn't there in terms of endurance).

Anyway, I hesitated on him because I fear that despite his talent his ceiling may be too low, like I can't see him getting 400-500 points as a 19-year old. But in the end I took him because I'm lured in by the siren song of unpredictable young talent.

Thoughts?

I didn't think very deeply when picking him. My thinking was; he's cheap, he's definitely got good potential, and I'm just hoping he shines when given the opportunity. I always think youngsters have more of a chance on PC teams.

 

[escartin]

yep, I am one of those with both Yates . did not know which one to take so thought I might as well take both.

never done this before so no idea what sort of team I have. given that quite a few of my riders appeared in a lot of the lists before the popularity list was posted I was a bit surprised to find myself 125th. although I only have one unique rider (Katrasnik), I guess it was because 20 of my riders were picked by 20 or less people.

anyway here we go:

MEINTJES Louis
POLANC Jan
YATES Adam
YATES Simon
JUNGELS Bob
DOMBROWSKI Joseph Lloyd
GAVIRIA RENDON Fernando
JOEÄÄR Gert
TEN DAM Laurens
DEBESAY ABRHA Mekseb
WESTRA Lieuwe
MOHORIC Matej
TRATNIK Jan
TEKLEHAIMANOT GIRMAZION Daniel
KUDUS GHEBREMEDHIN Merhawi
VELITS Peter
CIOLEK Gerald
TEUNS Dylan
BARGUIL Warren
BETANCUR GOMEZ Carlos Alberto
KITTEL Marcel
ROSA Diego
ZOIDL Riccardo
ARREDONDO MORENO Julian David
HENAO GOMEZ Sebastian
ANTON HERNANDEZ Igor
AMADOR BIKKAZAKOVA Andrey
FENN Andrew
LECUISINIER Pierre-Henri
PERAUD Jean-Christophe
BOS Theo
DIAZ Daniel Ricardo
KATRASNIK Gasper

my 1st submission had Dowsett, Drucker (no-one picked him?), Bennett, Benoot and Hernani Broco but only 26 riders. I then replaced those 5 with Meintjes, Polanc, Gaviria, Velits and Debesay plus the 7 riders from Amador down.

and after all that, I have somehow ended up with 5 Dimension Data riders and 4 Slovenes!

out of the popular riders I did not pick, Gerrans or Martin never even crossed my mind whilst I decided against Cancellara. however, Phinney did cross my mind at one moment but I guess I got distracted by something as I totally forgot about him after .

no idea how I will do but I think I should aim for mid-table or something respectable like that. I also seem to have spent a lot less time picking my team than others as I only found out about this on Sunday evening and 1 hour later had submitted my 1st team. I guess I spent another hour on Monday modifying it... :/

 

[skidmark]

Re:

Have one or two really obvious picks, like Kittel, Cancellara, Gaviria and Demare, but also some unique picks: Asadov, Krieger, Ockoleon and Alizadeh. A few other rare ones and that explains why I'm 124th in the popularity contest.

I'm surprised about Fedi, really. Not many people picked him and he's a great talent. Teuns had a pretty bad year last year, so I expect better now he's older and wiser.

OTOH I left out Phinney and Gerrans. Which I both overlooked

I like your team, lots of young guys, some popular some not as much. Lots to cheer for. Teuns was a very close pick for me, it was between him and Grosu at one point, and it got to the point where I had to pick one. We will see where the year goes.

 

[R_O_Shipman]

Thanks skid mark for all the work.

For what it's worth here's my team and my thinking..... As little of it as there is.


EWAN Caleb - had a good year last year and at that age should get better. Better enough, we'll see

VAN GARDEREN Tejay - unfortunate when performing excellently last year. A similar standard of performance with better fortunes should rake in plenty of points

DOMBROWSKI Joseph Lloyd - another guy who had a good enough season last year to cast doubt on him, but I do see the potential for bigger and better.

TALANSKY Andrew - plenty of talent, plenty of guts, needs a year where it works for him. A big American rider on an American team will always get opportunities.

PHINNEY Taylor - because afte last year everyone should have him

VERMEULEN Alexey - Young, talented, risky pick.

VELITS Peter - dirt cheap. For that money why wouldn't you take him?

ANTON HERNANDEZ Igor - at dd he'll most likely ride his own race. A new team, maybe a new lease of life and if he starts enjoying riding again, who knows what form he could rediscover. At least a stage hunter in the mountains

SOLER GIMENEZ Marc - Young and talented. Thought he would be more popular


ROSON GARCIA Jaime - another really talented youngster, but maybe too soon to score big.

MOHORIC Matej - last time I played the game I bet on mohoric showing his talent he didn't. Maybe this season?

VANMARCKE Sep - has to win a big classic or two soon. His luck wasn't in last year, maybe worth tHe cost. Not that popular.

TEN DAM Laurens - cheap, capable, who knows

VEELERS Tom - a handy sprinter who's total was down last year, could show more.

MARTIN Daniel - popular pick for a reason

MULLEN Ryan - talented neo-pro, maybe too soon to really score many though

MARTIN Tony - die panzer is even more useful in Olympic year. Could well bring in a more than solid return

KITTEL Marcel - I can't believe there are teams without him

KÄMNA Lennard - another talented youngster

HERKLOTZ Silvio - see above

PERAUD Jean-Christophe - an oldy, but a goodie. Should make some improvement this year, although the major results are obviously in the past

JEROME Vincent - no real reason, he just seemed good value

BOUHANNI Rayane - I like at least one zero pointer.

CORT NIELSEN Magnus - had a strong year last season, but I think he's going to buck the Danish trend and continue improving. Bling and Gerro on the same team might limit his opportunities a bit, but greenedge have a good record of giving young talents the opportunities to shine.

LOPEZ MORENO Miguel Angel - big talent that many have looked at. Could really explode onto the scene.

GAVIRIA RENDON Fernando - last year he was already showing that he's a proper sprinter. This year should be more of the same, but all year round. With kittel taking the bigger races, gaviria should get to be one of the top sprinters at lots of smaller races

BETANCUR GOMEZ Carlos Alberto - come on fatty, take your chance! Please!

ACEVEDO CALLE Janier Alexis - a talented rider. Just had a feeling about this one,

MEERSMAN Gianni - one of the first names on my list. A real dip in cq points last year from a reasonably versatile rider with a good kick. Should make a good return to form and bring in a few points with it.

VANDENBERGH Stijn - etixx screwed up tactically in the cobbles repeatedly last year. This time around I think they'll be better. Stijn is 3rd or 4th choice over the pave at the team, so might find that other teams give him some rope. If that's the case he's certainly got the engine to give himself the chance of staying away. Just wish he had some sort of sprint.

GERRANS Simon - obvious pick is obvious. Don't like the guy. Don't like his riding. Glad he is a popular enough pick that I don't need to want him to win too badly

HAIG Jack - my last talented youngster. Again - just a case of hoping he gets the opportunities that he needs.

GOSS Matthew - another rider I gambled on last time I played (2014) and who didn't really come through. He's taken a step down, which should make him a big fish in a smaller pond, instead of a dying fish in the biggest pond of all. He's dirt cheap and might get a decent points total this year.

As I look a my team I'm increasingly aware that outside of obvious picks I'm heavily reliant on young riders. Maybe they can pull it out of the bag. Who knows? I really need good seasons from meersman, and hope that the cobbles go my way as I'm short of GC scorers. I thought long and hard about cav, and now I wish I'd take. Him, but where you go.

Oh and for some reason I convinced myself the limit was 7,000, so I'm way under budget!

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

Have one or two really obvious picks, like Kittel, Cancellara, Gaviria and Demare, but also some unique picks: Asadov, Krieger, Ockoleon and Alizadeh. A few other rare ones and that explains why I'm 124th in the popularity contest.

I'm surprised about Fedi, really. Not many people picked him and he's a great talent. Teuns had a pretty bad year last year, so I expect better now he's older and wiser.

OTOH I left out Phinney and Gerrans. Which I both overlooked

I like your team, lots of young guys, some popular some not as much. Lots to cheer for. Teuns was a very close pick for me, it was between him and Grosu at one point, and it got to the point where I had to pick one. We will see where the year goes.

Thank you

You're team looks very solid also, and considering your history I picture you as one of the faves for this year

 

[Vesica]

So here's my entry for 2016. It's my second edition, trying to improve myself!

KWIATKOWSKI Michal
ALAPHILIPPE Julian
VAN GARDEREN Tejay
MARTIN Daniel
ROSA Diego
DEMARE Arnaud
CANCELLARA Fabian
OLIVEIRA Nelson Filipe Santos Simoes
LOPEZ MORENO Miguel Angel
HENAO GOMEZ Sebastian
MCCARTHY Jay
PHINNEY Taylor
KITTEL Marcel
MEZGEC Luca
GAVIRIA RENDON Fernando
BETANCUR GOMEZ Carlos Alberto
VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael
MOSCON Gianni
SOLER GIMENEZ Marc
LANGEVELD Sebastian
MOHORIC Matej
HAIG Jack
KAMNA Lennard
TEN DAM Laurens
STETINA Peter
CAPECCHI Eros
VERVAEKE Louis
MARTINEZ Yannick
VEELERS Tom
ARCAS PEÑA Jorge
VERMEULEN Alexey
VELITS Peter
BOUHANNI Rayane

In bolt the ones I will elaborate on:
Kwiatkowski: Only expensive pick I doubted about. I think he can score a lot more than 1133, also because of Rio Olympics.
Alaphillipe: huge regret I didn't take him last year. I think he can improve another year. might be go wrong, but I'll take the risk.
Oliveira: New team, new chances. Good TT'er, and can improve in the classics is my guess.

9 of the top 10 popular picks, and place 53.

Missing:
Gerrans: considered him, for a long time on the long list, but I think he's on his way back.
Tony Martin: As well for a long time on the long list. He can do very well with two mayor TT's, but could fit him in and doubted if he can score a bunch more points. Might end in a big regret..

 

[Jakob747]

Here is my squad for the 2016 campaign!

Esteban Chaves (Giro\Vuelta double + conscious of improving his weakness of underperforming in the spring - RMC Interview)

Alexis Vuillermoz

Rein Taaramae - Unique pick. However, I feel confident he will surprise a lot of people in 2016.

Simon Yates

Daniel Martin

Arnaud Demare

Fabian Cancellara

Sam Bennett

Matteo Pelucchi - One of the fastest riders in the world on his day. Unlucky with several crashes in 2015.

Miguel Angel Lopez

Dylan Teuns - Stronger than Gilbert in Liege 15. I feel very confident about this pick!

Simon Gerrans

Marcel Kittel

Fernando Gaviria

Carlos Betancur

Michael Valgren

Pawal Poljanski - I think he will step up even further this year and prove himself as a super dom for Majka in most races!

Carlos Verona

Davide Villella

Sebastian Langeveld

Lawson Craddock

Brendan Canty - Interesting pick I feel. I think he will ride a good stage-racing calendar with Drapac.

Sondre Holst Enger

Asbjorn Kragh Andersen - Excellent at placing himself in the finals. I call him a "placing rider"...

Kenneth Van Rooy - As above, a "placing rider"...

Silvio Herklotz

Rodrigo Contreras - Saw a photo of him 3 days ago in his new outfit. Defiantly looks a lot thinner. Think he can deliver nice things in 16.

Romain Hardy

Louise Vervaeke

Yannick Martinez

Louis Verhelst

Matthew Goss

Richard Carapaz - My idea of a joker in San Luis. Won't get many chances in this game, but a absolutely wonderful young talent!

 

[Kazistuta]

Wow, a lot to read up on the last 23 hours

As foreseen my popularity score only made me 35th (usually I'm in the top10 of most common picks), and I must admit I didn't even think of Tony Martin, that's my biggest regret along with picking Bos instead of Velits (hadn't read about his track focus).

I thought heavily about Cancellara, but besides the fact that there's a lot of young riders claiming part on his home turf (TT's and cobblestones), he also stated he won't participate in Rio. That makes me think the declining Swiss won't make a big profit *cross fingers*

I really wanted to include Kwiatkowski, since I agree with his backers that he's got "easy 2000+ potential". I'm just afraid of spending more than 1000 points on one rider, and sadly the Pole didn't make it.

My team, including comments on the riders not heavily commented on already (or the ones who were "obvious"):

KITTEL Marcel
MARTIN Daniel
BETANCUR GOMEZ Carlos Alberto
VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael
PHINNEY Taylor
DEMARE Arnaud
GERRANS Simon
CORT NIELSEN Magnus
GAVIRIA RENDON Fernando
CIOLEK Gerald
BOS Theo
TEN DAM Laurens
MEZGEC Luka
VAN GARDEREN Tejay
BARGUIL Warren
LOPEZ MORENO Miguel Angel
MEERSMAN Gianni
FORMOLO Davide
KUDUS GHEBREMEDHIN Merhawi

BYSTRØM Sven Erik - Bystrøm was SOOOO strong last year. If he gets just a small amount of leadership, he has the potential of 700-800.

LUTSENKO Alexey - When Vino says the guy's a talent, he must be!

PARDILLA BELLON Sergio - Back from a serious injury, hopefully he'll quickly regain his status at Caja Rural.

VICHOT Arthur - Frenchman with great upside. I like his riding style, and the French calendar offers lots of CQ points.

KELDERMAN Wilco - I reeeeeeeeeeeally need Wilco to deliver. Was surprised to see him picked by so few, but considering the talent pool in the price range, maybe it's understandable. Classy rider with balls.

MARTIN Guillaume - A talented young climber with an odd choice of team - which actually makes me like him even more, because he most likely will get his chances to shine early on at Wanty Group.

WESTRA Lieuwe - Strong, but unpredictable. Make-or-break pick.

HERKLOTZ Silvio - This years Caleb Ewan?

HENAO GOMEZ Sebastian - Wait, what? Only 8 backers? What did I miss? He disappointed several times last year, but it's not exactly a Juraj/Peter talent bro-show, so if he just has half of Sergios talent genes, he will double his score.

ACEVEDO CALLE Janier Alexis - I thought he was an obvious pick, considering his return to Jamis. Should be a monster on the American Calendar.

HAAS Nathan - Also a suprisingly low number of picks. New environment with potential leadership should suit him well, only Boasson Hagen and Reinardt JVR (if he ever gets his act together again) have similar skills.

VAN ASBROECK Tom - I liked his attitude at Topsport. With a bit more consistency than last year, he has the potential to double his score as one of only two sprinters at LottoNL.

BAUHAUS Phil - Low price, but risky pick. Maybe I'm a bit blinded by his beautiful sprint versus Degenkolb and Greipel in 2014, but now he's one year wiser on the pro scene.

CLARKE Simon - Also Clarke was picked mainly due to his change of scenery. Now Gerrans won't be in his way, and I'm curious to see if he can step up.

 

[Tigerion]

Re: Re:

MÜHLBERGER Gregor 202

I like this pick and hope he does good.

My guess for the most picked riders (in that order)
1. Kittel
2. Gerrans
3. Phinney
4. Gaviria
5. Tony Martin
6. Demare
7. Betancur
8. Daniel Martin
9. Cancellara
10. Kudus

I think that will be pretty close. If we combined the yates brothers they could be up there but with the split between them I don't think they will rank. Goss is also likely to rate well, has been on a number of teams for too many years (mine included) and at 10 points and back at WT level he might double his score.
I also think that Igor Anton will poll well

 

[Tigerion]

So mid pack on popularity which is ok. Missing Gaviria so hopefully he doesn't turn into this years Caleb Ewan.
Goal for the year is top 50 and think I have a chance, but with this game who knows.

My team:

IMO Kittel, Lopez, Gerrans, Talanksy, and Cancelllara are my safest picks that should give a pretty good profit. I'm hoping to get a lot from them. Some cheap riders I'm hoping go back to their old glory days: Ten Dam, Bentacur, Goss - I'm hoping Janier Acevedo does better since he's back on the domestic scene. Besides that I have a handful of youngsters that I'm hoping get some chances to shine. Fingers crossed, hoping to do better than last year.

Chaves is an interesting pick. Could improve his form but I don't see him improving that much. Was on my shortlist but think he is likely to end around the 1000 point mark again

I skipped Bos because he said that he is focusing 100% on track and Lopez because he is on Astana.

I hadn't heard that so have him on my team. Oh well he was so cheap that even some training rides on the road should get him into profit

What's truly interesting is that unless I'm mistaken, you could have chosen the top 33 and had 690 points to spare .

Well that makes the popular team easy this year. But I guess it makes sense, no real strong contenders in the 1,000+ zone this year

5th among most popular picks, however my only unique pick is Tom Boonen. Did I miss completely something? Well I know he was injurred last autum but he should recovered now... or not? As I read your posts, you havent even considered him

He had a decent season last year even injured. I briefly considered him but in the end figured he was gettign old, on the cobbles Fabian is a better option at the price point as he at least can grab some more points in ITT. But more importantly the next wave of young cobble riders are really coming through and think the chances of him scoring high points is greatly diminished

Rein Taaramae - Unique pick. However, I feel confident he will surprise a lot of people in 2016.

He was on my short list but didn't quite make the cut

 

[Squire]

Having skimmed through the teams, I have picked out ten entries I think are favourites for this year, or at least will be very interesting to follow. Because of the different team compositions, obviously not all of these will have high placings. However, I think the winner, or a couple of the podium spots, may well come from some of these.

This is how many times the eleven most popular riders are picked by these ten teams:
1. Kittel 10
2. Betancur 10
3. Phinney 9
4. Gerrans 10
5. D.Martin 8
6. Gaviria 9
7. Cancellara 8
8. Demare 10
9. Van Garderen 7
10. Lopez 6
11. T.Martin 8

Cykeltyven (9/11)
500+: T.Martin, Van Garderen, Vanmarcke, D.Martin
With nine of the most popular riders, the absence of Cancellara and Gaviria (and Power's injury) can end up costing Cykeltyven his third podium in as many years. The defending champion will rely on Vanmarcke to have a great classics campaign, and his team is loaded with solid picks (Barguil, Meersman), young, somewhat rare riders who can skyrocket (Moscon, Ciccone, De Plus, Haig) and some very interesting ones which can end up being jokers, like his Landa and Rosa picks last year (Chernetskiy, Van Keirsbulck, Di Gregorio). Cykeltyven needs some luck to finish in the top five, but definitely possible.

EvansIsTheBest (7/11)
500+: Kwiatkowski, Coquard
EvansIsTheBest is another one who knows how to construct a CQ team. He's gambling on bad seasons for both Martins, and is also lacking Van Garderen and Lopez, but otherwise, most of the "must have" picks are there. Coquard is an interesting one, and also quite a gamble. EvansIsTheBest believes in young talent, with the picks of Latour, Formolo, Looij and Oomen. He wants Soler to keep progressing, and Van der Poel to have a more successful visit on the road. Manzin is a pick I think can be very good for this team. I put EvansIsTheBest in the Sasquatch category (see below) of needing weird seasons in order to win, but it's a noteworthy team with some calculated gambles.

Geraint_Too_Fast (11/11)
500+: T.Martin, Van Garderen, Vanmarcke, D.Martin
Geraint_Too_Fast has one of the best track records in this game, and would have been the 2013 champion under the current rules. Interestingly, among the three I consider the best CQ game players historically who participates this year, two has picked Vanmarcke (Cykeltyven and Geraint_Too_Fast). That must count for something, right? And like all time points leader skidmark, GTF goes with Chavanel. Curious to see how the expert opinions work out this year. Geraint has some rather uninspiring guys who nevertheless should be solid (Frank, Boom, Langeveld) and some very exciting ones, especially unique pick Kleber Ramos.

hilltopfinisher (10/11)
500+: Kwiatkowski, Ewan, T.Martin, Van Garderen, D.Martin
With no less than 12 (!) neo-pros, hilltopfinisher is certainly hoping that the future arrives early. A very top-heavy team, which has most of the popular riders, omitting Lopez. Petilli can turn out to be an exclusive revelation for hilltopfinisher, and he's also banking on breakthrough years for Oomen, Senechal and Moscon. Kwiatkowski needs to deliver, while Ewan should get this team a lot of sprint points which not a lot of other teams get. Will it be enough to offset the inevitable duds among the neo-pros?

Hugo Koblet (10/11)
500+: Kwiatkowski, T.Martin, Van Garderen, D.Martin
An all-round solid team, but Hugo might regret the exclusion of Phinney. The CQ game originator puts his faith in Kwiatkowski to lead the line, backed by the all the most popular picks. A very typical CQ team, with some neo-pros that could have a good first year at the top level, like De Plus, Moscon and Martinelli. Hugo will be hoping the Greenedge riders Cort and Mezgec don't step on each other's toes.

Jancouver (9/11)
500+: Dennis, T.Martin, Bonifazio, D.Martin
A pretty unique approach, with 1005 points spent on Rohan Dennis. Jancouver is without Dennis' teammate Van Garderen and also Lopez. Just like hilltopfinisher, Jancouver also goes with a rarely picked sprinter in Bonifazio, while the young guns Formolo, Vakoc and Muhlberger are expected to progress further this year. Jancouver is hoping CQ game veterans Cam Meyer and Moser will relaunch their careers. Wippert and Vichot are also interesting picks.

MADRAZO (11/11)
500+: T.Martin, Van Garderen, D.Martin
The picks leading the line for MADRAZO are nothing fancy, but should form a solid base. It's a tough team with mainly riders from the North of continental Europe, interspersed with all the popular picks. MADRAZO have faith in Bennett, Kung and Dylan Teuns to give him an edge. Rare picks Capiot, Van Lerberghe, Markus and Van Rooy can potentially score big in Benelux races. At least that's what MADRAZO is hoping.

Sasquatch (6/11)
500+: Alaphilippe, Ewan, Bonifazio
It's gonna take a really strange season for Sasquatch to win this, but I included his team for the sheer gutsiness of it. No Cancellara, Van Garderen and none of the Martins makes this team quite a gamble, but in exceptional circumstances, it could pay off. Sasquatch's team has the lowest popularity rank among the ones i present (and the lowest 2014 score, I suspect), but plenty of solid picks. It remains to be seen though, if his trust in Lutsenko, Sicard and Pantano is warranted. There are a few hiccups like the inclusion of the retired Flakemore, but I like the picks of Bennett and Pelucchi. Sasquatch will definitely be hoping for some sprinting upsets.

skidmark (11/11)
500+: T.Martin, Van Garderen, D.Martin
The all-time highest scorer and current organiser of the game is once again back with one of the most popular teams. Skidmark is looking for a last hurrah from Chavanel, and for Grosu, one of his rarest picks, to step up his game. All the most popular picks are here, of course, and young guys like Vervaeke, Bauhaus and Kudus could be good value. Skidmark is normally a bankers candidate for a top 10, but I'm not sure his edge is strong enough to win it. It might not matter though, if most of his popular picks deliver as expected and other players are hurt by missing some of them.

Squire (11/11)
500+: T.Martin, Van Garderen, Kreuziger, Jungels, D.Martin
Yes, I believe I can win, and with the most popular team, the indications of a possible high placing is there already. However, there's more to my team than popularity, with rare picks Kreuziger and Jungels being my jokers. They can potentially win the game for me with a huge margin, or crash and burn and cost me a top 20. I'm definitely hoping for the first option. I have faith in old guys like Farrar, Ciolek and Pozzato to reinvigorate their careers, while riders like Peraud, Talansky and Stuyven should turn a decent profit. I consider myself as a strong candidate for the win, but then again if I didn't, I would probably have picked different riders.


*I assumed all the members are male, mainly for the sentence flow. If there are any females, let me know, and I'll edit the post.

 

[Tigerion]

Re:

Having skimmed through the teams, I have picked out ten entries I think are favourites for this year, or at least will be very interesting to follow. Because of the different team compositions, obviously not all of these will have high placings. However, I think the winner, or a couple of the podium spots, may well come from some of these.

You left off my team so you clearly don't know what you are talking about

Interesting analysis. There are some very interesting rare picks in there for many of those teams.
I like your choice of Peraud, think he could do very well for you but should be solid no matter what.

 

[Jspear]

My team:

IMO Kittel, Lopez, Gerrans, Talanksy, and Cancelllara are my safest picks that should give a pretty good profit. I'm hoping to get a lot from them. Some cheap riders I'm hoping go back to their old glory days: Ten Dam, Bentacur, Goss - I'm hoping Janier Acevedo does better since he's back on the domestic scene. Besides that I have a handful of youngsters that I'm hoping get some chances to shine. Fingers crossed, hoping to do better than last year.

Chaves is an interesting pick. Could improve his form but I don't see him improving that much. Was on my shortlist but think he is likely to end around the 1000 point mark again

My hope is that Chaves does well in both the Giro and Vuelta this year. Last year he was great in the Vuelta...if he can do well in 2 gt's then he'll be worth it....I know that's at least Orica's plan for him. Fingers crossed.

 

[Squire]

Re: Re:

Having skimmed through the teams, I have picked out ten entries I think are favourites for this year, or at least will be very interesting to follow. Because of the different team compositions, obviously not all of these will have high placings. However, I think the winner, or a couple of the podium spots, may well come from some of these.

You left off my team so you clearly don't know what you are talking about

Interesting analysis. There are some very interesting rare picks in there for many of those teams.
I like your choice of Peraud, think he could do very well for you but should be solid no matter what.

Your team has got most of the picks that could be essential, but I think Bos, Mørkøv and Anton (as much as I love him) are a waste of space. I'm also unsure of the Meintjes gamble, and I think Van den Broeck and Geschke don't have much room for improvement. Geschke's 2014 score was inflated by 140 points from a random 1.HC win, so I think he expressed his real CQ level in 2013 and 2015.

But in this game anything can happen We will know at the end of the season.

 

[Jancouver]

Re:

Having skimmed through the teams, I have picked out ten entries I think are favourites for this year, or at least will be very interesting to follow. Because of the different team compositions, obviously not all of these will have high placings. However, I think the winner, or a couple of the podium spots, may well come from some of these.

This is how many times the eleven most popular riders are picked by these ten teams:
1. Kittel 10
2. Betancur 10
3. Phinney 9
4. Gerrans 10
5. D.Martin 8
6. Gaviria 9
7. Cancellara 8
8. Demare 10
9. Van Garderen 7
10. Lopez 6
11. T.Martin 8

Cykeltyven (9/11)
500+: T.Martin, Van Garderen, Vanmarcke, D.Martin
With nine of the most popular riders, the absence of Cancellara and Gaviria (and Power's injury) can end up costing Cykeltyven his third podium in as many years. The defending champion will rely on Vanmarcke to have a great classics campaign, and his team is loaded with solid picks (Barguil, Meersman), young, somewhat rare riders who can skyrocket (Moscon, Ciccone, De Plus, Haig) and some very interesting ones which can end up being jokers, like his Landa and Rosa picks last year (Chernetskiy, Van Keirsbulck, Di Gregorio). Cykeltyven needs some luck to finish in the top five, but definitely possible.

EvansIsTheBest (7/11)
500+: Kwiatkowski, Coquard
EvansIsTheBest is another one who knows how to construct a CQ team. He's gambling on bad seasons for both Martins, and is also lacking Van Garderen and Lopez, but otherwise, most of the "must have" picks are there. Coquard is an interesting one, and also quite a gamble. EvansIsTheBest believes in young talent, with the picks of Latour, Formolo, Looij and Oomen. He wants Soler to keep progressing, and Van der Poel to have a more successful visit on the road. Manzin is a pick I think can be very good for this team. I put EvansIsTheBest in the Sasquatch category (see below) of needing weird seasons in order to win, but it's a noteworthy team with some calculated gambles.

Geraint_Too_Fast (11/11)
500+: T.Martin, Van Garderen, Vanmarcke, D.Martin
Geraint_Too_Fast has one of the best track records in this game, and would have been the 2013 champion under the current rules. Interestingly, among the three I consider the best CQ game players historically who participates this year, two has picked Vanmarcke (Cykeltyven and Geraint_Too_Fast). That must count for something, right? And like all time points leader skidmark, GTF goes with Chavanel. Curious to see how the expert opinions work out this year. Geraint has some rather uninspiring guys who nevertheless should be solid (Frank, Boom, Langeveld) and some very exciting ones, especially unique pick Kleber Ramos.

hilltopfinisher (10/11)
500+: Kwiatkowski, Ewan, T.Martin, Van Garderen, D.Martin
With no less than 12 (!) neo-pros, hilltopfinisher is certainly hoping that the future arrives early. A very top-heavy team, which has most of the popular riders, omitting Lopez. Petilli can turn out to be an exclusive revelation for hilltopfinisher, and he's also banking on breakthrough years for Oomen, Senechal and Moscon. Kwiatkowski needs to deliver, while Ewan should get this team a lot of sprint points which not a lot of other teams get. Will it be enough to offset the inevitable duds among the neo-pros?

Hugo Koblet (10/11)
500+: Kwiatkowski, T.Martin, Van Garderen, D.Martin
An all-round solid team, but Hugo might regret the exclusion of Phinney. The CQ game originator puts his faith in Kwiatkowski to lead the line, backed by the all the most popular picks. A very typical CQ team, with some neo-pros that could have a good first year at the top level, like De Plus, Moscon and Martinelli. Hugo will be hoping the Greenedge riders Cort and Mezgec don't step on each other's toes.

Jancouver (9/11)
500+: Dennis, T.Martin, Bonifazio, D.Martin
A pretty unique approach, with 1005 points spent on Rohan Dennis. Jancouver is without Dennis' teammate Van Garderen and also Lopez. Just like hilltopfinisher, Jancouver also goes with a rarely picked sprinter in Bonifazio, while the young guns Formolo, Vakoc and Muhlberger are expected to progress further this year. Jancouver is hoping CQ game veterans Cam Meyer and Moser will relaunch their careers. Wippert and Vichot are also interesting picks.

MADRAZO (11/11)
500+: T.Martin, Van Garderen, D.Martin
The picks leading the line for MADRAZO are nothing fancy, but should form a solid base. It's a tough team with mainly riders from the North of continental Europe, interspersed with all the popular picks. MADRAZO have faith in Bennett, Kung and Dylan Teuns to give him an edge. Rare picks Capiot, Van Lerberghe, Markus and Van Rooy can potentially score big in Benelux races. At least that's what MADRAZO is hoping.

Sasquatch (6/11)
500+: Alaphilippe, Ewan, Bonifazio
It's gonna take a really strange season for Sasquatch to win this, but I included his team for the sheer gutsiness of it. No Cancellara, Van Garderen and none of the Martins makes this team quite a gamble, but in exceptional circumstances, it could pay off. Sasquatch's team has the lowest popularity rank among the ones i present (and the lowest 2014 score, I suspect), but plenty of solid picks. It remains to be seen though, if his trust in Lutsenko, Sicard and Pantano is warranted. There are a few hiccups like the inclusion of the retired Flakemore, but I like the picks of Bennett and Pelucchi. Sasquatch will definitely be hoping for some sprinting upsets.

skidmark (11/11)
500+: T.Martin, Van Garderen, D.Martin
The all-time highest scorer and current organiser of the game is once again back with one of the most popular teams. Skidmark is looking for a last hurrah from Chavanel, and for Grosu, one of his rarest picks, to step up his game. All the most popular picks are here, of course, and young guys like Vervaeke, Bauhaus and Kudus could be good value. Skidmark is normally a bankers candidate for a top 10, but I'm not sure his edge is strong enough to win it. It might not matter though, if most of his popular picks deliver as expected and other players are hurt by missing some of them.

Squire (11/11)
500+: T.Martin, Van Garderen, Kreuziger, Jungels, D.Martin
Yes, I believe I can win, and with the most popular team, the indications of a possible high placing is there already. However, there's more to my team than popularity, with rare picks Kreuziger and Jungels being my jokers. They can potentially win the game for me with a huge margin, or crash and burn and cost me a top 20. I'm definitely hoping for the first option. I have faith in old guys like Farrar, Ciolek and Pozzato to reinvigorate their careers, while riders like Peraud, Talansky and Stuyven should turn a decent profit. I consider myself as a strong candidate for the win, but then again if I didn't, I would probably have picked different riders.


*I assumed all the members are male, mainly for the sentence flow. If there are any females, let me know, and I'll edit the post.

Nice analysis! I think the game is slightly more open this year and in addition to having most of the common picks, it will take some luck as guys like Vanmarcke, Kwiat, Nib, Dennis, Kreuziger, Jungels etc could make or break your season. You will need 2-3 of those not-so-common to deliver some good points in order to win this edition.

I could have picked more of those common picks but my heart and my "creativity" is what is holding me back in this game.

I just hope that Lopez I left out because he is on Astana is not the 2015 Ewan as I also left him out for a reason and at the end he was the difference between Top15 and Top50.

 

[Tigerion]

Re: Re:

Your team has got most of the picks that could be essential, but I think Bos, Mørkøv and Anton (as much as I love him) are a waste of space. I'm also unsure of the Meintjes gamble, and I think Van den Broeck and Geschke don't have much room for improvement. Geschke's 2014 score was inflated by 140 points from a random 1.HC win, so I think he expressed his real CQ level in 2013 and 2015.

But in this game anything can happen We will know at the end of the season.

Thanks for the feedback.
Geschke was a late balancing change, not 100% but think he should break even if he doesn't do great things.
I hadn't heard that Bos was focusing track so that was probably a mistake but if he finishes a single PT race he will be in profit.
VDB and Anton are the old guard that probably were more heart than head. But still think they have the potential to do well. With Anton if he is given the change to rider the one week PT races then a couple of top 10s and he should make a decent score.
Meintjes is my joker, figured he would be a rare pick but stepping up a level will hopefully prove to be a good thing for him. Might be a terrible pick, or could make a big difference in my team

 

[Jancouver]

Rohan Dennis scored his first 50 points from the Aussie ITT

Standings
1. 2 Rohan DENNIS (SA) 51:13.30
2. 1 Richie PORTE (TAS) 51:52.06 +38.7
3. 37 Sean LAKE (VIC) 52:48.27 +1:34.9
4. 14 Damien HOWSON (AUS) 53:04.83 +1:51.5
5. 18 Ben DYBALL (NSW) 53:09.37 +1:56.0
6. 84 Nick BENSLEY (VIC) 54:24.72 +3:11.4
7. 127 Matthew CLARK (VIC) 54:32.84 +3:19.5
8. 116 Rhys GILLETT (VIC) 55:08.89 +3:55.5
9. 79 Nicholas SQUILLARI (VIC) 55:25.39 +4:12.0
10. 57 Brodie TALBOT (NSW) 55:39.29 +4:25.9
11. 32 Jonathan CLARKE (AUS) 55:49.58 +4:36.2
12. 28 Timothy ROE (SA) 55:51.83 +4:38.5
13. 119 Nathan ELLIOTT (VIC) 56:20.42 +5:07.1
14. 25 Jordan KERBY (QLD) 56:28.32 +5:15.0
15. 50 Craig EVERS (NSW) 56:33.00 +5:19.6
16. 103 Matt BURTON (WA) 56:52.66 +5:39.3
17. 142 Jeremy CAMERON (VIC) 56:53.74 +5:40.4
18. 68 Peter MILOSTIC (NSW) 57:02.12 +5:48.8
19. 75 Sam GIFFORD (VIC) 58:11.52 +6:58.2
20. 88 Timothy BEARDALL (VIC) 58:21.01 +7:07.7
21. 74 Bret STEISZKAL (VIC) 58:41.26 +7:27.9
22. 148 Shaun O'CALLAGHAN (VIC) 58:48.20 +7:34.8
23. 86 Mark FAGG (VIC) 1h00:13.10 +8:59.7
24. 70 Gareth BARNES (NSW) 1h00:22.55 +9:09.2
25. 52 Tim GUY (NSW) 1h00:33.79 +9:20.4
26. 121 Jack LINDSAY (ACT) 1h03:13.64 +12:00.3
27. 58 Andrew WAI (NSW) 1h11:11.21 +19:57.9
28. 146 Peter DUNLOP (QLD) 1h11:36.18 +20:22.8
dns 21 Alexander EDMONDSON (SA)

 

[Squire]

Congratulations on your provisional 1st!

You are now a random Cofidis rider who attacked from the gun, and currently have a 5 second lead over the pack after 500m.

 

[mc_mountain]

Re:

Having skimmed through the teams, I have picked out ten entries I think are favourites for this year, or at least will be very interesting to follow. Because of the different team compositions, obviously not all of these will have high placings. However, I think the winner, or a couple of the podium spots, may well come from some of these.

This is how many times the eleven most popular riders are picked by these ten teams:
1. Kittel 10
2. Betancur 10
3. Phinney 9
4. Gerrans 10
5. D.Martin 8
6. Gaviria 9
7. Cancellara 8
8. Demare 10
9. Van Garderen 7
10. Lopez 6
11. T.Martin 8

<snip>
skidmark (11/11)
500+: T.Martin, Van Garderen, D.Martin
The all-time highest scorer and current organiser of the game is once again back with one of the most popular teams. Skidmark is looking for a last hurrah from Chavanel, and for Grosu, one of his rarest picks, to step up his game. All the most popular picks are here, of course, and young guys like Vervaeke, Bauhaus and Kudus could be good value. Skidmark is normally a bankers candidate for a top 10, but I'm not sure his edge is strong enough to win it. It might not matter though, if most of his popular picks deliver as expected and other players are hurt by missing some of them.

<snip>.

Watch your back skidmark, it looks like someone might be making a play for your gig! (think you've got someone who could do a nice job on the updates when your not a position to do them).

I'm hoping not making this list is a good omen for my team (Hugo kindly included me in a similar list one of the last two years but my team went on to slump).

One of the things i like about this review is that you've not seen not having one or more of the popular riders as a reason to dismiss a team. Some of popular riders will have Schleck/Betancur type seasons and by luck or judgement the team that has got someone less popular instead may end up being an advantage.

Definitely some interesting approaches in there.

 

[TheGreenMonkey]

I have no unique riders, 2 riders only picked by one other person, and 1 with only 2 other picks.
Lots of the most popular riders on my team.

 

[skidmark]

Well, I haven't really talked about my team as a whole yet - I've defended some individually, mused about others, but here's a bit of reflection.

MARTIN Tony - obvious pick, worried he's a bit past his prime now maybe with results in TDF prologue and WTT, but even without TTs he has a huge engine. I like that he's trying the cobbled classics! Fun fact: I almost picked him in the first year of this game, and he would have been a great pick, going from 995 to 1698. Well, certainly better than my pick instead, which was RIccardo Ricco at 756 and of course gave a return of 24. I never looked at it but I probably would have finished in the top 10 that year but for that error.

VAN GARDEREN Tejay - Jancouver mentioned that he might be squeezed out with Dennis and Porte, but I'm of the opposite belief. He showed in the Dauphine and for 17 days of the Tour that he's evolved into an upper echelon guy. I thought he had hit his ceiling, but 2015 made me think I'm wrong. I really think he has it in him to podium a GT.

MARTIN Daniel - I'm actually surprised he's so highly picked, I thought maybe 60 teams, and was the most hesitant about him of all the expensive guys. But he's good and he's joining a supremely class outfit for one day races. Plus the Olys suit him.

DEMARE Arnaud - had some bad luck and should rebound, will likely take the next step in the classics.

CANCELLARA Fabian - the first lock on my team. I have no doubts.

CHAVANEL Sylvain - already explained at length: when he's happy he's good, and he's happy.

BARGUIL Warren - even with the Tour experience, he didn't seem to take much of a step forward last year. I expect (or at least hope) for more consistency this year, in the one week races at least.

FORMOLO Davide - already explained at length

TALANSKY Andrew talented and capable of much more.

LOPEZ MORENO Miguel Angel Last year I took a dogmatic approach about teams like Astana, Saxo and Sky, that if you weren't the main GC guy, I shouldn't pick you. With Astana, that proved wrong for Lopez and Landa, who I wanted on my team, and Rosa, who I didn't ever think about. This year I won't make the same mistake. Lopez has talent that can't be held back.

MEERSMAN Gianni - the boringest of CQ picks: he is usually good for lots of points, he didn't score points this year, he should next year.

GROSU Eduard-Michael - already explained at length

GERRANS Simon - the Pick Who Must Not Be Named. To paraphrase another thread participant, I'm glad everyone picked him so I don't have to cheer for him especially hard.

VICHOT Arthur - love how rare he is. This guy has an engine, and could top 5 Paris Nice, win French Nationals, and win 3 other 1-day races. One of those French riders who is easy to sleep on, but can kill you if you don't have him. Clearly am hoping for that.

CORT NIELSEN Magnus - he's fast, he's talented, and as much as I hated them when they started, I've gotta admit that Orica knows what they're doing developing talent.

PHINNEY Taylor - I'm happy I can cheer for him in this game because he seems like a pretty down-to-earth dude for a pro athlete.

KITTEL Marcel -

STUYVEN Jasper - made some progress last year despite not being put in the classics by his team, which is the dumbest thing ever. Hopefully this year they understand better.

GAVIRIA RENDON Fernando
BETANCUR GOMEZ Carlos Alberto

VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael - gawd, that engine as a neo-pro was so incredible. Is it gonna come back? I dunno but I hope so.

KUDUS GHEBREMEDHIN Merhawi - I'm worried he's not a great pick and I'm going with my hopes, but goddamn do I ever wanna see some diversity in this white, white sport.

CRADDOCK Lawson - sure his numbers are the same the last few years, but goddamn did you see him in Poland? And after that insane injury kept him out for like 3 months? And now he's with an american team. I dunno, worth it to me.

MOHORIC Matej - I thought I was smart for not picking him his first year, which I was, and then for picking him his second, which I wasn't. Am I dumb or smart? This is the tiebreaker.

KÄMNA Lennard - already discussed

ENGER Sondre Holst - IAM may be the Cofidis of PRT teams, but I'm hoping even they can't screw this talent up.

MARTIN Guillaume - good climber on a team without them. Should get his chances.

BAUHAUS Phil
HERKLOTZ Silvio - they should get a chance, right?

PETIT Adrien - the last pick on my team, already discussed.

VERVAEKE Louis - a year to teach him how it shouldn't be should help him get to how it should be.

MARTINEZ Yannick - pretty fast, lots of opportunity

GOSS Matthew - well, at least he can't be worse. Right? Right...?

 

[Popchu]

STUYVEN Jasper - made some progress last year despite not being put in the classics by his team, which is the dumbest thing ever. Hopefully this year they understand better.

What do you mean with this? He crashed in Strade Bianche, he was uncertain after that for the rest of his classic campaign, so he had to reschedule a bit in order to be as good as possible for Vlaanderen / Roubaix. In the first race he had an off-day, still finishing 32nd, and in Roubaix he had a flat tire.

This year his classic campaign is Omloop, Kuurne, Strade, Dwars door Vlaanderen, Harelbeke, Vlaanderen, Roubaix.

In my opinion he can score easily +500 points.

 

[greenedge]

After Sean Lake's ride in the Aussie ITT championships (coming 3rd) I wonder if he can be similar to Bevin from last year (just without the sprinting capabilities). He's only recently turned to cycling as an ex-rower and has won two editions of one of Australia's NRS toughest races, the Grafton to Inverell. Has already scored 25 points from 0 and could get some more in the next few weeks.