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The 2018 CQ Ranking Manager Thread

Hi all, and welcome to the 2018 CQ Ranking Manager Game! This is the eighth edition of the game. Please see below for some history, basics, and more specific rules related to dates, dopers, etc.

History

The game was launched on December 8th 2010 by cyclingnews forum poster Hugo Koblet. His idea was to have a game where you build a cycling team from the website cqranking.com and its comprehensive numerical rankings of riders. What was originally meant to be a 25-team max competition that Hugo reserved the right to cancel if there was lack of interest became the most successful game in cyclingnews forum history, and has expanded to velorooms forums as well.

Hugo successfully ran the game for 3 years, and it bred various offshoots, such as a youth game, seasonal games (classics and GTs), emerging riders and riders in decline games. I took over organizing the main game for 2014 when Hugo got too busy, and have done so for the past four years. See the second post in this thread for a roll of honour of yearly champions.


That is it for preamble. Let’s go through the more comprehensive set of rules:

Basics

The game is based on the point system developed by the website www.cqranking.com. Based on this system you will have to select a team of between 25 and 33 riders whose combined value doesn’t exceed 7500 points. 7500 points is a fair bit under the mean for the ProTour teams whose mean for 2016 is 8891. 7500 is closest to the amount of points UAE Team Emirates made this season, the 13th ranked of the 18 WT teams.

Your aim then is to select a team of riders who will increase their 2017 score the most during the 2018 season. The winner of the game is the one who has selected the team with the highest combined value when the game ends.


1. How the game works

1.1. Start & Finish
The season starts when the first race giving CQ points is held (which is the Aussie National TT Championships on January 5th) and ends when the last major race (.1 or higher) is held. The winner will be crowned when the next update after the last major race is out.*

*An extension will be granted to the end of season if it is very close at the top. If any teams are within 100 points of the leader after the last major race, the season will be automatically extended until the final race of the year unless all teams within 100 points explicitly concede. As well, anyone in the top 10 can extend the season by PMing me a request to do so before the last major race starts.

(The reason for this rule is that although minor races go through December, it is rare to have a rider in the game participate in these races, so it is sensible to end the season when people are still generally watching cycling. But if it's a very close race, it's important to crown the person who picked the best team for the year.)

1.2 Updates
Each week we will publish an update with a top 10 and a list of the high scorers and high jumpers. This will sometimes be by me, and sometimes by others – I will be setting a tentative schedule based on volunteers.

2. On doping

2.1. On ex-dopers
All riders are available to choose, except for riders who are provisionally suspended by the UCI (as of their most recent list).

Riders who have been suspended for doping and had that affect their 2017 score will not be available simply for their 2017 score. Instead, a rider’s value will be equivalent to that of his last full season; or, if he has more recently had a (not full, due to suspension) season in which he has earned more points, that season represents his value. Riders who have been suspended by the UCI (ie. Not merely provisionally suspended) are on this list.

Therefore, you can pick any rider you like, but if you want to take Michael Bresciani, for example, his positive result and suspension came from 2017, meaning his last 'full' season was 2016, in which he scored 5 points. However, since he scored more in his 'partial' 2017 season, his cost is instead the 8 points he scored in that season.

Hopefully the lists I've provided and the rules are clear enough, but if you make an error I will try to let you know if any of your submissions fall into this category.

2.2. Riders getting caught during the season
If you include a rider in your team who gets caught with his hands in the cookie jar, nothing happens right away. Your rider keeps his points unless the cqranking.com deletes his results before the end of the game.

Basically, the value of a rider on cqranking.com always stands.

3. Submitting your team

3.1. How do I?

You pick between 25 and 33 riders whose combined value doesn’t exceed 7500 points and send the list to me.

As I will manually have to include the teams into the Microsoft Excel file which keeps track of the scores, please be careful that you send your team to me based on the correct formula. I don’t take any responsibility for any error you might make. If I spot an error I will do my best to contact you but I can’t guarantee anything. Of course, if you have any questions feel free to ask either here in this thread or by sending a personal message.

The layout you need to use is this:

VAN AVERMAET Greg
CONTADOR VELASCO Alberto
Etc.

Nothing else. No points after the name. Also, be careful that there is no “space” after the name, because I will have to delete it manually, but can't always detect these things in time for the game. If there is an error that isn't discovered until after the game starts, the rider will simply be deleted from the team without replacement.

To make things easier for both you and me I will link to a file for you to download in which you can type in your team and it will automatically show you the value of each rider as well as the aggregated value of your team. Then you will just have to copy your team (names only) directly from this file and send it to me.

Hopefully this clears any misunderstandings of a rider’s value as well as reduces the number of errors made in a team sent to me.

3.2. When do I?
The first race of the season will start January 5, so I want to have your team in hand on January 3 at the latest.

There are two deadlines: a submission deadline and a revision/publication deadline, spaced 24 hours apart. This is to address the issue brought up in recent years about whether it is 'fair' to allow changes after teams have seen the teams of other players, and for 'late' submissions. I would like to make this a game that is accessible to as many people as possible, yet preserve that element of fairness. So, the submission deadline will be when I want to have received all the teams. The revision and publication deadline is to allow a 24-hour period for me to look over the teams and allow a chance to people to change their team in case of error, before having access to a list of riders that other teams picked. If you get mixed up with the time zone or unexpectedly don't have internet access around the submission deadline, I will accept teams up to the revision deadline at my discretion, but if allowed those teams will not have the chance to revise in case of error.

The submission deadline is 23:59 (CET) January 2nd, so early January 3rd for Aussies and sometime earlier on January 2nd for North Americans. The revision and publication deadline is 24 hours later; I would ask that people refrain from posting the riders on their team until after that, so midnight CET on the start of January 4th.

Please note that even though it feels as though the season is over, it’s actually not. There are still racing to be done and CQ points to be handed out that could affect the value of a rider you have picked. It is always possible that an obscure rider may score points in a small race at the end of season, or that CQ will adjust points for an earlier season race for whatever reason (eg. readjusting points for suspended dopers) Be mindful of these changes.

cqranking.com usually uploads the final update of the season on December 31, and the values in this update are the ones we’re using. However, the changes are usually very small so there’s no reason why you can’t start selecting your team already today!

**Disclaimer: ensuring your team is full of eligible riders and is on budget is your responsibility. If I notice you are over budget or have an ineligible rider I will send you a message, but if you don't get back to me in time, or I don't catch it before the deadline, I will simply remove one rider to make your budget work. Obviously it is to your advantage to be able to choose all your riders, so please be diligent.**

Create Your Team

Hugo created a very helpful file in 2012, referred to above, that helps avoid any errors in calculation and helps ensure you are formatting your rider names correctly. I would encourage everyone to use this option, especially if you are not confident in your spreadsheet creating skills. Please use the file attached here to create your team, then copy and paste the rider names to send to me by PM once you have it correct. Thank you.

**note: the 'create your team' file has not yet been manually updated to include different scores for dopers as per rule 2.1, so it is currently wholly your responsibility to account for this.**

I think that about covers everything. If you have any questions or if I forgot to add or explain anything, please let me know.
 
This post is reserved to list submitted teams as they come in. If you have submitted a team recently and don't see it appear within 24 hours, please message me to see what is up. Teams on the list marked with an asterisk need a change, and I have messaged you with the details.

Here are the 129 participating teams in the 2018 edition:

18.valve(pithy)
abbulf
adamski101
Akuryo
AlyKaptan
Amis Velo
ansimi
Archieboy
Armchair Cyclist
armchairclimber
AupaPyama
barmaher
Bicycle Boy
Blues in the bottle
bminchow
bort
Brullnux
Carlo Algatrensig
ChrisDK
comodoro
CQManager
Crevaison
del1962
derrudi
DFA123
DJ Sprtsch
DJW
drebelo
Eric10
escartin
EvansIsTheBest
Eyeballs Out
fauniera
Ferminal
flashke
freshman
Geraint Too Fast
Giallo
Gigs_98
Googolplex
Gotland
GP Blanco
greenedge
Guilherme Ribero
Guybrush
Hakkie2
HelgeBlendet
Hugo Koblet
Jakob 747
Jancouver
Joelsim
Jon_Ezeitza
Josedin
Jpettersen
jsem94
Jspear
kabete
karaev
Kazistuta
kiilike
kiszol
Kjellus
Koronin
Krokro
Kryvo
laarsland
LaFlorecita
Leadbelly
LightBing
Londonpat
LosBrolin
l'velo
Maaaaaarten
MADRAZO
manafana
Martin
Mellow Velo
minessa
monsieur_hulot
NairoQ
Nathanptz
Nicosix
NorthAmericanScum
nuvolablu
Object
oliveira
Pantani1
PeterB
Poles & Co.
Popchu
postmanhat
PremierAndrew
repre
Riverside
rote_laterne
Roubaix
ruvu75
SafeBet
Salvarani
scrooll07
search
shalgo
Shawnm4747
simple
skidmark
Slapshot
Sneekes
sodak_za
Squire
the asian
TheArt
Tigerion
tom-jelte
torcia_86
Total Package
trackstand
triley36
Trudgin
Valv.Piti
VeloRooms
Vesica
vladimir
Wallenquist
will10
WKA311
Yellow Knight
yoyokt
zaka_fan
zlev11


Also, here is the role of honour from previous years:

2011 – 87 participants
1. ingsve – 13897 points
2. Waterloo Sunrise – 13450
3. mc_mountain – 12670

2012 – 129 participants
1. skidmark – 19345 points
2. Kvinto – 18087
3. Nyssinator – 17761

2013 – 132 participants
1. SteelyDan – 13094 points
2. Geraint Too Fast – 13074
3. will10 – 12986

2014 – 150 participants
1. Pentacycle – 14367 points
2. Cykeltyven – 13693
3. Ruudz0r - 13609

2015 – 155 participants
1. Cykeltyven – 16209 points
2. skidmark - 15616
3. snccdcno - 15412

2016 – 144 participants
1. skidmark – 15392 points
2. jeroenk - 14707
3. abbulf – 14448

2017 – 131 participants
1. fauniera – 15867 points
2. the asian - 15698
3. GP Blanco - 15217
 
So my favourite thread for 2018 has finally emerged :razz:
Thanks Skidmark for hosting this yet again; my shortlist has now reached 70 so my longlist will probably never get into play. As always a lot of potential bargains next year, but I will certainly not be the first to start a discussion of potentisal good picks. I hope to have some quiet days between Christmas and New Years to cut down to 33. Good luck to all, hope there will be more than 100 teams again for 2018!
 
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Hey guys, even though I played this game every year I need some help.

How do you add somebody to your team that you completely dislike but has a potential while leaving out some of your favorite riders?

Maybe when I figure out this part, I may end up in the upper half.

Just ask LaFlo ... I think she has the same problem and I'm not sure how LaFlo will make a team without Berto ... or will she still include him even though he retired hoping for a miracle comeback?
 
Re:

Jancouver said:
Hey guys, even though I played this game every year I need some help.

How do you add somebody to your team that you completely dislike but has a potential while leaving out some of your favorite riders?

Maybe when I figure out this part, I may end up in the upper half.

Just ask LaFlo ... I think she has the same problem and I'm not sure how LaFlo will make a team without Berto ... or will she still include him even though he retired hoping for a miracle comeback?
Think of it as insurance. If the rider does well, great for your team. If the rider does poorly, good for you ;)
 
Yes! December is always a lot more fun when you're working on your CQ-team :) Thanks a lot for keeping the game running, skidmark. If you need any help with updates during the year, let me know.

I proposed ending the game at an earlier date this season, but having looked a bit at last year's calendar (assuming this year's will be similar), I think everything is fine as is now.
 
I would suggest that people wait with sending in their teams until later so that skidmark does not have to answer questions on having access to others' teams before finalizing theirs. What is the reason for submitting your team already anyway? You only increase chance that you will want to change some riders later thus complicating skidmark's work of entering teams into spreadsheet.
 
Thanks a lot for hosting again, skidmark!
Looking forward to the tradition of spending the last few days of the year reading twitter and training camp news in the hope to find some kind of useful information that make deciding whom to pick even harder.
 
A little note: while entering my own team and the other team I've received for the Youth game, I noticed two riders' scores were off, the scores in the latest update do not match the scores on the website. I have no idea for how many other riders this is the case. None of the riders' results were in the last month or so, I checked if there had been any amendments in the results but I haven't found anything that could explain this discrepancy. I would advise against using the team builder for now or to check and enter the scores manually.
 
LaFlorecita said:
A little note: while entering my own team and the other team I've received for the Youth game, I noticed two riders' scores were off, the scores in the latest update do not match the scores on the website. I have no idea for how many other riders this is the case. None of the riders' results were in the last month or so, I checked if there had been any amendments in the results but I haven't found anything that could explain this discrepancy. I would advise against using the team builder for now or to check and enter the scores manually.
Mystery has been solved by Squire, it had to do with recently stripped results for Matija Kvasina and Pozdnyakov which resulted in more points for other riders, I'm hopeful this shouldn't affect too many riders.
 
Hey, just to directly address how I'm submitting my team this year - I am doing it as I've always done it (aside from last year, when there was a lengthy and heated discussion that made me decide to finalize my team quickly to end that discussion), which is to submit my provisional team to an early entrant for safekeeping, with about half the team 'for sure' and a list of other riders that I'm choosing the rest from. I sent LaFlorecita that list two days ago. I'm going to try to finish the bulk of my team and send again to Flo by the 27th, which is historically before most of the teams come in and also when I go on a trip so it's a natural goal. I really don't have much time after that to analyze riders anyway, most of my internet time goes into processing the teams as they come in.

I do reserve the right to make changes in the last slots right up until the deadline, and can only give my word that I won't let anyone else's team choices affect that. After much discussion about this subject in the last two years, it's become clear to me that this is fine with the vast majority of players. If it's not fine with you and you want to make a mental asterisk for my team, feel free to do so. As far as I'm concerned, I found those discussions quite exhausting, so how I've outlined it above is how I'm doing it, and am not going to be discussing this subject any more in this thread.

I look forward to the exciting days when we all reveal our teams and discuss them and go into the new year with a totally new slate of riders and hopes. Those are always the most fun parts of this.
 
LaFlorecita said:
A little note: while entering my own team and the other team I've received for the Youth game, I noticed two riders' scores were off, the scores in the latest update do not match the scores on the website. I have no idea for how many other riders this is the case. None of the riders' results were in the last month or so, I checked if there had been any amendments in the results but I haven't found anything that could explain this discrepancy. I would advise against using the team builder for now or to check and enter the scores manually.

So what is the value to be used? Is it the value in the latest Excel file from cqranking.com, the Total 2017 value on the website, or the Current CQ-value on the website?

I have btw discovered a 3rd rider whose value doesn't match, not related to doping but most likely because one of his results is still listed as provisional on the website. I expect this rider to be reasonably popular in Flo's game.
 
Hakkie2 said:
LaFlorecita said:
A little note: while entering my own team and the other team I've received for the Youth game, I noticed two riders' scores were off, the scores in the latest update do not match the scores on the website. I have no idea for how many other riders this is the case. None of the riders' results were in the last month or so, I checked if there had been any amendments in the results but I haven't found anything that could explain this discrepancy. I would advise against using the team builder for now or to check and enter the scores manually.

So what is the value to be used? Is it the value in the latest Excel file from cqranking.com, the Total 2017 value on the website, or the Current CQ-value on the website?

I have btw discovered a 3rd rider whose value doesn't match, not related to doping but most likely because one of his results is still listed as provisional on the website. I expect this rider to be reasonably popular in Flo's game.

Hey Hakkie and everyone else, so you should double check all your scores on the website (using the Total 2017 scores). The December 31st update is the official one used for the game, so if there are differences with the last one up (November 26th as of now), they will be currently reflected on the website but not in the last update.

However, I talked to Flo about the riders who she had noticed with changed scores, and I changed them manually in the 'Create Your Team' file. So if you are using the current version of that (linked to in the first post), those will be corrected. I've also made the change in my copy of the game spreadsheet, so that I'll notice if a team is over 7500. However, if you know of another rider, please PM me and let me know who this is so I can make the changes.
 
Re:

jsem94 said:
There's so many "obvious" picks around the 100-200 point mark this year, but not as many obvious picks in the 500+ range, and you need a few of those just to get to 7500. Really difficult this year to pick the right high scoring riders.
Completely agree. My first list of 35 riders had a cost of only around 5500 points. I had to add a few more expensive picks just to get anywhere close to 7500 points but that also means that I now have a few risky picks in my team. Now my big struggle is to decide which riders with 0-200 points I'll kick out of my team.
 

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