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The 2019 CQ Ranking Manager Thread

Page 11 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Jan 6, 2014
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Jancouver said:
NO LOVE for these CQ Top 100 riders.

Their results will not matter this year.

Which are the most surprising non-takers and would you take any of these if you knew they would be your unique pick?

Briefly considered Naesen and Kreuziger.
 
Squire said:
I'm a bit bummed you didn't write more about your team. I'd be interested in hearing what your expectations are for Lambrecht and Sivakov. I was close to picking the former, but definitely not the latter. I guess you see Cosnefroy as this year's Madouas? Navardauskas, Van Asbroeck and McLay are some very typical 'boring' skidmark picks. ;) And finally, I never really noticed that Marini had signed on with a Chinese team. Had I known, I would have considered him very strongly.

I'm working on it! Sorry, I got behind on a bunch of things due to this week of the game (starting my teaching semester tomorrow, travelling for the rest of the week, prepping financials for a board AGM the day I get back) so I am getting to it when I can.
 
skidmark said:
Hey, a few housekeeping things:

- just reading through the thread and wanted to respond to Jon Ezeitza... I did mention in my opening post about the name formatting, but of course it's a very long post so I can see how it wasn't front and center. Regardless, you know for the future now :)

On your team, Armchair Cyclist pointed out to me that there is no GHIRMAY Biniam in the CQ database, but there is a HAILU Biniam Girmay... is that the correct rider? I have changed it on the spreadsheet but want to confirm. CQ does tend to change the names of Eritrean riders somewhat frequently. As well, there is no AASHEIM Ludwig but there is an AASHEIM Ludwig Fischer, so I've made that change too. Finally, the following 3 of your zero-pointers aren't in CQ database at all, and might not be until they score points: WAERENSKJOLD Soren, VAN WILDER Ilan, BALMER Alexandre. Please keep an eye on them and if they score points that don't show up on the spreadsheet, let me know as it may be a spelling discrepancy. And finally, I corrected Intxausti's name but it only brought your team up to 7499, still under budget. I would normally notice the discrepancy but his name was the last one before a barrage of zero pointers so I didn't see a big zero sticking out in the middle of a bunch of scoring riders.

- I received a team after the deadline from DJW, who swears they didn't look at any other teams but it was too late to officially include it. I have added it to the spreadsheet with an asterisk and it won't be eligible for the overall, weekly or Green Jersey competitions - if it finishes at the top I'll mention it but not include it on the update. I decided not to put its riders on the popularity table (three riders who were unique no longer would have been), and I'm inclined to say this edition has 113 participants, not 114. I genuinely don't remember if this is consistent - aside from the first part about the asterisk and not being eligible - with what I did several years ago with a team (I believe it was Panda Claws), and I don't have time to hunt that down. So if any folks who track the year-by-year participants, riders etc have insight or opinion on the clerical side of things let me know, but that's the gist of it.

- I realize that the Aussie Nats are staggered so the TT isn't until Tuesday... I'm not sure what CQ plans for an update, but obviously this week and next week will be sparse, with few popular riders scoring big at the antipodean races so far, and only the 2.2 Tachira next week until the TDU starts. Anyway, I'm inclined to do an update both weeks if CQ updates their spreadsheets - at this time of year everyone is stoked on their teams so a bit of early season glory is a good thing, right?
I chose BINIYAM GHIRMAY from Procyclingstats (https://www.procyclingstats.com/rider.php?id=215760). Here it is said that this boy was born on February 6, 2000 (without a professional team). In CQ appears HAILU BINIAM GIRMAY, born on February 4, 2000 (without professional team). On the official website of LA TROPICALE AMISSA BONGO, it appears as inscribed by Eritrea Biniam GIRMAY HAILU, born on April 2, 2000 (as a non-professional team). With what do we stay, then? I believe that your decision is correct. But, yes, we will not know when he was born (laughs).
In the case of AASHEIM, CQ appears in effect as AASHEIM Ludvig Fischer, born on February 23, 2000 (without a professional team). In Procyclingstats, is Ludvig Aasheim, born the same day, but enrolled in the team "One-X Norwegian Development Team" (CT). At http://firstcycling.com/rider.php?r=76718, it also appears as in your correction. Therefore, leave it as you corrected it.
VAN WILDER Ilan (https://www.procyclingstats.com/rider.php?id=208539) and BALMER Alexandre (https://www.procyclingstats.com/rider.php?id=210056) do not appear yet in CQ, so we'll have to wait until they earn points.
(Google Translation)
 
skidmark said:
Hey, a few housekeeping things:

- just reading through the thread and wanted to respond to Jon Ezeitza... I did mention in my opening post about the name formatting, but of course it's a very long post so I can see how it wasn't front and center. Regardless, you know for the future now :)

On your team, Armchair Cyclist pointed out to me that there is no GHIRMAY Biniam in the CQ database, but there is a HAILU Biniam Girmay... is that the correct rider? I have changed it on the spreadsheet but want to confirm. CQ does tend to change the names of Eritrean riders somewhat frequently. As well, there is no AASHEIM Ludwig but there is an AASHEIM Ludwig Fischer, so I've made that change too. Finally, the following 3 of your zero-pointers aren't in CQ database at all, and might not be until they score points: WAERENSKJOLD Soren, VAN WILDER Ilan, BALMER Alexandre. Please keep an eye on them and if they score points that don't show up on the spreadsheet, let me know as it may be a spelling discrepancy. And finally, I corrected Intxausti's name but it only brought your team up to 7499, still under budget. I would normally notice the discrepancy but his name was the last one before a barrage of zero pointers so I didn't see a big zero sticking out in the middle of a bunch of scoring riders.

- I received a team after the deadline from DJW, who swears they didn't look at any other teams but it was too late to officially include it. I have added it to the spreadsheet with an asterisk and it won't be eligible for the overall, weekly or Green Jersey competitions - if it finishes at the top I'll mention it but not include it on the update. I decided not to put its riders on the popularity table (three riders who were unique no longer would have been), and I'm inclined to say this edition has 113 participants, not 114. I genuinely don't remember if this is consistent - aside from the first part about the asterisk and not being eligible - with what I did several years ago with a team (I believe it was Panda Claws), and I don't have time to hunt that down. So if any folks who track the year-by-year participants, riders etc have insight or opinion on the clerical side of things let me know, but that's the gist of it.

- I realize that the Aussie Nats are staggered so the TT isn't until Tuesday... I'm not sure what CQ plans for an update, but obviously this week and next week will be sparse, with few popular riders scoring big at the antipodean races so far, and only the 2.2 Tachira next week until the TDU starts. Anyway, I'm inclined to do an update both weeks if CQ updates their spreadsheets - at this time of year everyone is stoked on their teams so a bit of early season glory is a good thing, right?
I chose BINIYAM GHIRMAY from Procyclingstats (https://www.procyclingstats.com/rider.php?id=215760). Here it is said that this boy was born on February 6, 2000 (without a professional team). In CQ appears HAILU BINIAM GIRMAY, born on February 4, 2000 (without professional team). On the official website of LA TROPICALE AMISSA BONGO, it appears as inscribed by Eritrea Biniam GIRMAY HAILU, born on April 2, 2000 (as a non-professional team). With what do we stay, then? I believe that your decision is correct. But, yes, we will not know when he was born (laughs).
In the case of AASHEIM, CQ appears in effect as AASHEIM Ludvig Fischer, born on February 23, 2000 (without a professional team). In Procyclingstats, is Ludvig Aasheim, born the same day, but enrolled in the team "One-X Norwegian Development Team" (CT). At http://firstcycling.com/rider.php?r=76718, it also appears as in your correction. Therefore, leave it as you corrected it.
VAN WILDER Ilan (https://www.procyclingstats.com/rider.php?id=208539) and BALMER Alexandre (https://www.procyclingstats.com/rider.php?id=210056) do not appear yet in CQ, so we'll have to wait until they earn points.
(Google Translation)
 
skidmark said:
Hey, a few housekeeping things:

- just reading through the thread and wanted to respond to Jon Ezeitza... I did mention in my opening post about the name formatting, but of course it's a very long post so I can see how it wasn't front and center. Regardless, you know for the future now :)?
I read that paragraph carefully, but I made another interpretation. I admit that the error is mine, sorry. It will not happen again :) .
 
Jancouver said:
NO LOVE for these CQ Top 100 riders.

Their results will not matter this year.

Which are the most surprising non-takers and would you take any of these if you knew they would be your unique pick?

////////////////////////////////////////////////////


ROGLIC Primoz
DEMARE Arnaud
MATTHEWS Michael
NAESEN Oliver
MARTIN Daniel
SOLER Marc

I was contemplating Demare as i think he'll have a better Classic Season and will top 5 at the WC, so i'll choose him.
Roglic could do the Giro/Vuelta and win one of them, as well as being a contender in many races. Matthews didn't get the chance to perform to his usual level at his 3 main targets last year, this year he will. If Soler rides the Giro I could see him outperforming Landa. Dan Martin was unlucky at the Ardennes and with a scarcity of TDF contenders should top 5. Naesen is super strong and should be a factor all year round.
 
Okay, now that I’ve had time to recover from the team compilation process, I want to offer a few reflections on riders on my team, and ask some people their opinions (if you have any, or were considering those riders, I’d love to hear it). I think maybe it’s most sensible to go from least popular to most popular, as more popular riders require less explanation in general…

MARINI Nicolas (2 teams, 8 points): High five fauniera! Marini was my second last addition to the team. This is my summary of Marini: all of his points are from Asia, and he just signed with an Asian team so that he can race in Asia and study part time. 2018 he had 8 points from 33 days, none of which were in Asia. 2017 he had 114/132 points from 37 days in Asia of 71 total race days. 2016 he had 185/191 points from 41/56 days in Asia. 2015 he had 255/300 points from 40/60 days in Asia. So yeah, his ceiling isn’t huge, but by the end of my team construction I needed someone as cheap as him who could produce a few hundred, and that seemed like a good bet.

COQUARD Bryan (7 teams, 415 points): I mean, it is strange that he raced a lot of days, and lots of them in ‘easy’ races, last year and only got ~400 points. But I can’t overlook his 2016 ceiling of 1300+ points, and his 2013-15 average of ~700 points. I don’t love picking riders if I don’t know what was to explain their relatively lackluster results last year, but he’s still going to be the main guy on his team in 2019 so his floor is high and his ceiling is very high.

NIZZOLO Giacomo (10 teams, 444 points): I got to a point in my team where I needed to drop one of Nizzolo, Coquard and Trentin. They all have slightly different stories: Nizzolo had a horrible year two years ago, had a building back year last year, and has a new team this year. Coquard had a bad year due to team fallout two years ago, had a new team last year, but had little to indicate anything was ‘wrong’ last year. Trentin had a crazy breakout year two years ago largely on the back of an incredible month of Vuelta and Worlds, then had a ‘bad’ year last year with a new team and more responsibility. Each rider has one big season and some solid ones. I ended up dropping Trentin because I decided to let the numbers decide... his CQ average the last 5 years was only about 10 points more than Nizzolo and 40 more than Coquard, but his cost was significantly higher. So it was a close decision. Anyway, Nizzolo’s good and solid, but I have no inside knowledge that he’ll be better than any of the other guys I mentioned – just going with the theory that he needed a full season and GT to get back into his top producing potential. Moving to DDD is neither here nor there I think, he never needed much support and got plenty of chances already at Trek.

NAVARDAUSKUS Ramunas (10 teams, 133 points) – I took him last year and it didn’t end up being a great pick, but a switch to a French PCT team is perfect. He’s been used as an engine for the team in GTs and stage races before but will have a lot more room to breathe, and other than the Worlds, most of his good results have come at races like Sarthe, Denmark, etc, so the myriad .1 and .HC races in his calendar will give some options.

COSNEFROY Benoit (15 teams, 229 points) – I added him when I had about 5 spots left on the team. I had added Gaudu, but was having second thoughts because it really wasn’t clear why he was so lackluster last year, so there wasn’t as clear a path for an expansion this year. Then the other guys I wanted to add put the score up too high so I wanted to drop some points and Cosnefroy stood out at 70 points fewer. His season looked like a bit of a learning curve – he had 56 points by the end of July, but ended with a flourish, adding 173 more after that capped by 72 points for 3rd in Paris-Tours. And he was 9th in Plouay, as well as the last rider in the leading group in both the Canadian races. If he learned how to hang in the top tier in his first season, it’s easy to see him turning that into wins/podiums on the French calendar and good placings in WT races in his second year.

MCLAY Daniel and VAN ASBROECK Tom (18 and 19 teams, 88 and 95 points) – I added these guys begrudgingly after putting MVDP as the 23rd member of my team and realizing I needed a bunch of cheap guys. I don’t know why McLay did poorly, couldn’t really find much info on it, which makes me wary, but he’s fast and he’s motivated, so, sure. TVA had that one Theuns/Planckaert type season at PCT and has been on steady decline since, and although I’m no fan of the results ICA has had with their riders, he seems motivated to go for his own chances and will probably get them in PCT races if anywhere.

VAN DER POEL Mathieu (20 teams, 539 points) – I spoke at length about him already.

SIVAKOV Pavel (21 teams, 195 points) – I picked him last year because I thought despite his injury and being on team Sky, his incredible talent would shine through and he’d pick up some points. His first race back, he got top 5 in Coppi e Bartali, and then… he cooled off adjusting to WT pace it seemed. He did okay in Suisse, but I expected him to be a guy like Bernal who was good enough to pull for a leader and get a GC result himself. I still believe that talent to be there, and I think he’s more talented than Lambrecht, who I also picked for my team at almost 150 more points. So I don’t have an analysis on where he’ll get his chances, but I trust that with enough of a calendar through the year, his talent will come through. Sometimes you trust flashes of talent you’ve seen and they work out (Landa and Majka come to mind as riders I’ve done that for in this game), sometimes they don’t (Romain Sicard, Vincenzo Albanese, Enrico Battaglin, etc etc). Hopefully it’s the former with this guy.

LAMBRECHT Bjorg (23 teams, 337 points) – similar to Sivakov but different situation: I feel like Lambrecht is the less talented of the two (mostly because Sivakov whupped him head-to-head repeatedly in 2017), but of course he’s got more opportunity at Lotto, and showed more high-level consistency in year 1 at a WT team. Survived a very tough Pais Vasco in April for a top 20, podiumed Fjords in May, top 20 in Suisse and Pologne in June and August, 4th in a Vuelta breakaway and 2nd in the U23 worlds in September. That’s no fluke run of form, that’s rider development. I had a similar assessment with Oomen last year and although he didn’t break through the stratosphere, a bit higher results with the same consistency and I’ll be happy.

That’s all I have time for now, I’ll throw some thoughts about the more popular riders (probably fewer words) sometime soon.
 
@skidmark. you can't go wrong with Cosnefroy. He has shown on small races the kind of aggression and smart riding that will make him a winner on the bigger stage. For the post about your difference between you and another competitor, he could be the difference maker. I called him "Jalabert-Light", like pre-'94, maybe less climbing ability (pre '94 Jalabert ;) ) but explosive and fearless. I believe in him, I picked him.

Bryan is a gamble, he could do well for you, it's a matter of calendar: he no longer can be considered as a threat with a big field (same for Nacer, except for the rabbit he pulled out of his *** last year).

Lambrecht is a gamble, but he has the goodies to win a big one. Good pick.

...said the guy who didn't get 0 Remco :) .
 
In addition to just not being on top of his game last year, Coquard says he was feeling the pressure of having to carry the team's ambition on his shoulders. He's much more at ease now that Rolland and Vichot have joined. Also I think his mental state wasn't right after Vital Concept was snubbed for the Tour wildcard. I think they'll get in this year, which should make Coquard more motivated. Additionally, his autumn was marred by a collarbone fracture in the Tour du Limousin. He somehow managed to come back for a few more races. He might not be as awesome as in 2016, but I'll be surprised if he doesn't at least double.

Nizzolo has a huge upside. I don't think we've seen all that he can do yet. But he's quite the risk. Even last year he was bothered by his knee, especially in the spring. He had surgery in early December to 'definitely fix' his problems. If the recovery period is short and the operation actually worked, he could be amazing at DDD. Remember when Cav crashed out of the Tour and Boasson Hagen had some top sprint placings after being delivered perfectly? That amazing leadout (i.e. mostly Janse van Rensburg) is still there with Vermote added on top and will hopefully be put to work for Nizzolo, who the management hopes will save their WT status by bringing in loads of points.

As for Sivakov, I've always thought he was a great talent, but he's not talented in the same way as Ricco and Valverde, or Lambrecht and Bernal. He's a big engine grinder, more like Jungels or Marc Soler. I've always thought his U23 results were not translatable to the WT straight away, and that he'd need a few years. He didn't really beat Lambrecht & co mano a mano, he just rode away early, sometimes even at the start of the stage, and made use of his superior capacity. That doesn't work in the WT. And that Sky team is so difficult to get to lead, unless you're Bernal.

I have more faith in Lambrecht, who I think can have a big breakthrough.
 
Tonton said:
@skidmark. you can't go wrong with Cosnefroy. He has shown on small races the kind of aggression and smart riding that will make him a winner on the bigger stage. For the post about your difference between you and another competitor, he could be the difference maker. I called him "Jalabert-Light", like pre-'94, maybe less climbing ability (pre '94 Jalabert ;) ) but explosive and fearless. I believe in him, I picked him.

Bryan is a gamble, he could do well for you, it's a matter of calendar: he no longer can be considered as a threat with a big field (same for Nacer, except for the rabbit he pulled out of his *** last year).

Lambrecht is a gamble, but he has the goodies to win a big one. Good pick.

...said the guy who didn't get 0 Remco :) .

Thanks for the thoughts, especially on Cosnefroy. Yeah, in terms of aggression and smart riding, his U23 Worlds win outfoxed more experienced WT riders and showed the combination of strength and tactics that can serve a rider very well on a French team. I didn't do a deep dive and didn't see him a ton last year, but sometimes you can fill in a picture just from the stats - he did well to get in a strong break in P-T and get third, holding on at the end of the front groups of the Canadian races shows tenacity and logically the next step would be not just holding on, getting a top 10 at Plouay is a good mix of promising but not good enough to make him too expensive... I look forward to seeing what he can do in this game, and as a rider. I could say that about Gaudu too, but I had him last year so I'm more excited about things shiny and new :D
 
Re:

Squire said:
In addition to just not being on top of his game last year, Coquard says he was feeling the pressure of having to carry the team's ambition on his shoulders. He's much more at ease now that Rolland and Vichot have joined. Also I think his mental state wasn't right after Vital Concept was snubbed for the Tour wildcard. I think they'll get in this year, which should make Coquard more motivated. Additionally, his autumn was marred by a collarbone fracture in the Tour du Limousin. He somehow managed to come back for a few more races. He might not be as awesome as in 2016, but I'll be surprised if he doesn't at least double.

Nizzolo has a huge upside. I don't think we've seen all that he can do yet. But he's quite the risk. Even last year he was bothered by his knee, especially in the spring. He had surgery in early December to 'definitely fix' his problems. If the recovery period is short and the operation actually worked, he could be amazing at DDD. Remember when Cav crashed out of the Tour and Boasson Hagen had some top sprint placings after being delivered perfectly? That amazing leadout (i.e. mostly Janse van Rensburg) is still there with Vermote added on top and will hopefully be put to work for Nizzolo, who the management hopes will save their WT status by bringing in loads of points.

As for Sivakov, I've always thought he was a great talent, but he's not talented in the same way as Ricco and Valverde, or Lambrecht and Bernal. He's a big engine grinder, more like Jungels or Marc Soler. I've always thought his U23 results were not translatable to the WT straight away, and that he'd need a few years. He didn't really beat Lambrecht & co mano a mano, he just rode away early, sometimes even at the start of the stage, and made use of his superior capacity. That doesn't work in the WT. And that Sky team is so difficult to get to lead, unless you're Bernal.

I have more faith in Lambrecht, who I think can have a big breakthrough.

Thanks for the insight. Of course I'm happy to hear your more in-depth info and sound reasoning on the two picks we have in common than the critique of the guy you didn't pick, ha... yeah, I kind of got the sense of that about Coquard, and I guess I didn't follow his last season too closely since he was on so many CQ teams that I didn't really agonize over every result, but it was curious that he was not getting to the top step more consistently. And especially good point about Rolland and Vichot joining - I look for team lineup when seeing how many opportunities someone (especially young riders) might have, but haven't really thought about using that to assess the support a rider will have, but that could be significant, especially in terms of counter-intuitively making him feel less pressure to be the only one to get results, which might make him get more results.

I do think that the 2016 Nizzolo is closer to the 'real' Nizzolo than the last two years, so yeah I think the upside is huge. I think if they're riding him for WT points they will put him in enough of the right races that he'll have to get a return even if he's not 100%, the only danger being that he's pressured into racing when he's not ready and aggravates something. But that doesn't seem incredibly likely.

For Sivakov... I hear that. I followed some of the race threads for his U23 stuff but mostly I was going by the numbers, and it's definitely a different kind of talent/engine to attack early and go long than to ride away after winning the battle of attrition on the final climb. And not only does that not translate to the pros, it's Sky who are basically the antithesis of this. I didn't think of that angle, but even so it's certainly possible that he figures it out this year. But hey, Joe Dombrowski was a world-changing talent going to Sky, and then he was a still-potentially-world-changing talent leaving the confines of Sky, and... well. I've been wrong before.
 
I miss only 3 riders from top 10 popularity table:

NIBALI Vincenzo - Although I am a big fan of him, his best days are over and I don't think he will get a GT podium again. The shark will bite only if he is allowed to win a stage. And I don't believe he can repeat M-SR win, that was a huge score last season.
CAVENDISH Mark - No country for old man. He never made it back since the tour 2017 crash, and he is not commited to road cycling as he was.
VAKOC Petr - He and Leopold KONIG were two of 0 pointers I had on my shortlist, but rumours about there health issues set me back.
In fact, KONIG was the last man to drop from the list (replaced with GENE Yohann /4pts/ who happens to be my unique pick - just because I know GENE will score at least some points by finishing races - but that was really not a smart pick)

btw You guys mentioned MARINI? He was also on the short list, but I dropped him becaus I found no informations about his new chinese team, and I couldn't find its website or any of its other team members. It seems to me that the team exists just on the paer and may not start the season (that scenario also happened with other teams before, who even suddenly quit during the season)
 
Coquard also has track ambitions for Tokyo 2020. That can be a good thing (he thinks he needs the track to be good on the road), it can also be a bad thing (conflicting schedules). While it is true that Vital Concept hired other leaders to take the burden off Coquard, they didn't do anything to strenghten the sprint train. At least as far as i can see.

Concerning Sivakov i agree with what Skidmark said. I think we both tend to go for the talent (van der Poel, Gaviria, Sivakov) while Squire has a stronger emphasis on the possibilities the riders might find. I would add that being a helper at Sky can have a benefit as well. I am thinking of team time trials, of which there are way too many nowadays. Sivakov could profit from being in one of the best TTT teams.

And yeah, high five back concerning Marini. 200 points should be possible here, maybe even more.
 
I picked Lambrecht last year, because unlike a lot of neo-pros, I thought he would be free at Lotto to ride for himself pretty much straight away. Which turned out to be true. I also thought from his previous results and his size he could be a great climber which was less true - he's more of a puncher. His season went very smoothly except for not being able to ride Tour Down Under. Nice consistency although I didn't really think he did progress. Races with short climbs suit him best (Tour of Poland maybe best of all since no TT). Picking him last year kind of brought home to me how difficult it is for most 20 year olds stepping up to the pros. Didn't really consider him this year. I was close to picking another Lotto neo-pro, Vanhoucke, who wasn't far behind Lambrecht a couple of years ago
 
I was also considering Vanhoucke but after last year's disappointment (valid reasons for it of course) I didn't pick him.

My thoughts on some riders I didn't pick- I'll go through the rest of my team later- (for some) I was surprised they were not picked as much.

Hindley, Bouwman and Sivakov were all riders I considered as young talents, but i'm unsure when they'll get a chance to ride for themselves this year. I think riding to support their GC leaders in GT's this year (or even riding a GT for Sivakov) would enable them to progress more than any wins this year would.

Gage Hecht and X.Lyu (the Chinese MTBer) are riders I was both intrigued by due to their evident talents they displayed in races last year, and the fact they race different disciplines. Hecht could be a challenger in both European and American races, whilst i'm sure that Lyu will win some race on the Asian circuit. They're riders i'll monitor for their performances this year. I also considered Olav Hjemsaeter, who finished behind Dainese and Gronewegen in a sprint, but ahead of riders such as Jans and Dupont, so he could be a sprinter to consider for European races.

Durbridge and Trentin I considered and was planning on including both until I realised I would slot Ewan and WVA into my squad instead of Gaviria and Zakarin and then I ran out of funds for them both. Hopefully they go well and I can cheer for them.

Vliegen and Wisniowski will have more opportunities on both their new teams to ride for themselves, Wisniowski in particular impressed me last year during the Cobbles, I just decided not to include him as I thought there would be too much uncertainty as to whether he or Van Keirsbulck would be GVA's last support rider/ the rider sent up the road who could potentially win.

Gaviria and Porte. Choosing neither of them will probably come to haunt me, but I had doubts over each of them. Gaviria was the fastest sprinter last year yet only assembled 600 points, is moving to a different team that has problems (though Molano will be a good help) and still crashes a lot. For Porte I didn't want to be disappointed on a CQ front if he failed this year, as it's hard enough being a normal fan of his with the TDF crashes.

Lastly, I have a feeling that Rui Costa has perhaps one or two really good seasons in him left and he looked as if he started to turn things around a bit last year, I think he could double his score.
 
I had Coquard last year. He almost doubled his points but I must admit I was not impressed by his riding.
From what I remember he had plenty of chances but just couldn't deliver.

on edit: only now do I see Squire's excellent post on Coquard. But I'm still not convinced! Let's see in a few month's time.
 
Thought I would compare my team to Ruvu75's as well and see what you guys think, the different riders are the following:

Ruvu75:[\b]
Landa
Gaviria
Nizzolo
Bonifazio
O'Connor
Halvorsen
Garcia Cortina
Vliegen
Barbier
Swift
Rowe
Atapuma
Van Staeyen
Munoz

Nathanptz:[\b]
Kelderman
Cort Nielsen
Walscheid
Philipsen
Keukeleire
Capiot
Pelucchi
Bakelants
De Decker
Paasschens
Gibson
Asselman
Intxausti
Vacek

SO, 14 differences. quite a lot but I do think it is fun to compare the two teams and elaborate on the differences. Please do so ;)
 
Re:

I quite clearly prefer Ruvu's team. But that's not surprising, as i share 7 of his picks (Landa, Gaviria, Bonifazio, Barbier, Swift, Atapuma and Van Staeyen) and not a single one of your picks. Of the picks you singled out above, i mean.

Kelderman will ride in support of Dumoulin, so i don't quite see the upside.
Cort never seems to deliver at the big races.
Philipsen is a huge talent but quite expensive (same as Pogacar).
Paasschens, Gibson and Asselman i know nothing about to be honest.
 
Mar 14, 2009
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Nathanptz said:
Thought I would compare my team to Ruvu75's as well and see what you guys think, the different riders are the following:

Ruvu75
Landa
Gaviria
Nizzolo
Bonifazio
O'Connor
Halvorsen
Garcia Cortina
Vliegen
Barbier
Swift
Rowe
Atapuma
Van Staeyen
Munoz

Nathanptz:
Kelderman
Cort Nielsen
Walscheid
Philipsen
Keukeleire
Capiot
Pelucchi
Bakelants
De Decker
Paasschens
Gibson
Asselman
Intxausti
Vacek

SO, 14 differences. quite a lot but I do think it is fun to compare the two teams and elaborate on the differences. Please do so ;)

Listen son, I will not sugarcoat it.

Landa, Gaviria, and Nizzolo will score more points than all your guys on this list.

Kelderman will be a domestique, and while I had Walscheid on my long list, he will not score enough points to compensate for the rest of your team. But I think he got potential for huge points!
 
I agree that Ruvu75 probably has a better chance than Nathanptz.

But thoughts on Kelderman... Yes, he is a domestique in Giro. But Oomen got a top 10 that way last year. Kelderman can also do well in the ITTs, unless they make him take it easy in those. And surely Kelderman will be leader at Vuelta? And some one-week races?
 
That might be. My main reason for not picking Kelderman is his CQ-history.

2018 - 678
2017 - 902
2016 - 793
2015 - 620
2014 - 876
2013 - 702

Can't see any reason to suggest WK being a good pick.
He will score not more than 800 points. I think. And if that's true there should be many better options.
 
VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael - 1071 (Unique Pick) – Phenomenal bike rider with an impressive all-around skill-set! In my opinion, Valgren is the proximate successor to an aging Van Avermaet. Everything from Het Nieuwsblad to Liege is game and I consider him a very, very live outsider for the Worlds in Yorkshire as well!

EWAN Caleb - 776 (18 teams) – A few years ago Caleb Ewan was one of the most exciting cycling prospects in the world. Now approaching his mid-twenties, his natural progression curve should hopefully rise even further, allowing him to stamp his authority among the best of the best. I really look forward to seeing how Ewan fares within the renovated Lotto sprint set-up for the new season. I sense a good match. He's got solid support in terms of both firepower (controlling the breakaways) and experienced guys who can deliver him to the line.

GAVIRIA RENDON Fernando - 602 (83 teams) – When it comes to raw skills and unlimited potential, Fernando Gaviria is usually one of the guys most cycling fans come to think about. And there is a good reason for that, Gaviria posses everything needed to be a once in a generational talent. However, there are some major ifs to take into consideration as well. Does he crash too much? Too much focus on bling-bling and fashionable clothes outside of cycling? Nobody fancies his change to UAE either, pure money move. Guys like Molano and maybe the promising pursuit twins Oliveira needs to come in from the right and deliver immediately, to secure some sorts of powerful lead-outs for the speedy Colombian.

ANDERSEN Søren Kragh - 589 (5 teams) – He finished the year by winning the classic Paris–Tours race, displaying both strength and skill combined with a big dose of courage and race smarts. I really believe in his ability and rate his talent highly. Kragh is a multi-talented young prospect with across-the-board abilities on almost every kind of terrain, and I think he will form a formidable duo together with ¨Bling¨ Matthews in the Northern Classics this coming season!

VAN DER POEL Mathieu - 539 (20 teams) – I swear to god Mathieu Van der Poel posses Saganesque potential/talent as a bike rider. A jack of all trades. Limited race days? Sparse opportunities if he fails to deliver on his so-far pretty ambitious 2019 road schedule? I guess so. However, I never really consider leaving him out my CQ squad anyway though - the man is a beast and if nothing else, it should be fun following him all spring in the first serious road campaign of his career.

ARU Fabio - 400 (96 teams) – Last year he cost me every chance of success in the Main-Game thanks to his abysmal performances all year! I'm still pissed about that and didn't really want to include him in my squad this season, to be honest. Although chances of him redeeming himself and acting as some sort of "Grand-Tour" contender probably are slim, I didn't quite have the courage to leave him out of my team. I expect a somewhat better Aru in 2019, but that's also about it really. Not too enthusiastic on his behalf!

GAUDU David - 299 (57 teams) – 22-year-old pocket-rocket climber who displayed true panache and brute force when he won Tour de l'Avenir back in 2016! --- 53kg and a measured V02 of 92ml/kg-min --- this kid should be battling it out with Bernal and Sosa on the steepest gradients in Europe in the years to come! In theory at least! When Gaudu is good he is GOOD, the first 6 months of 2018 were just mediocre though. However, he now has a full GT in his legs and I think 2019 will be the year Gaudu confirms himself as a household name to the cycling audience.

CHAVES RUBIO Jhoan Esteban - 263 (90 teams) – Mononucleosis is never fun. Hopefully, Chaves has recovered and feels ready to assault the 2019 campaign with renewed forces. No doubt he lost some places in the Mitchelton hierarchy, Simon Yates is now the undisputed leader and where this leaves Chaves is still up in the air. Honestly, he is such a boring pick I didn't even bother to google his medical situation- I just added him because of his name and the odd chance he might get to lead the Vuelta in the Autumn! He is very sympathetic and on his best days a hell of a climber - but performance wise I have no idea what to expect to be honest!

COSNEFROY Benoit - 229 (15 teams) – I am a big fan of the guy and this kid won me over immediately he flew past Valentin Madouas on one of the last hills in Paris-Tours. Absolutely blew him away, and it's not like Madouas is not a very talent rider himself! I except a very opportunistic Cosnefroy in 2019. He can animated races and possesses the necessary strength to finish it off at times as well!

DE PLUS Laurens - 226 (24 teams) – I didn't see the crash back in the day but from the description of what I read, it was some tumble causing awful injuries, which he hopefully now has recovered completely from. De Plus has an insane engine though, Geert Van Bondt even predicted he could ride into the top-5 of a GT in the future (Het Nieuwsblad.com)... Less could do, at least in 2019, Jumbo-Visma is stacked as well, so De Plus could often find himself in a helping role I guess, but there will be chances to showcase his own talent along the way I believe. Solid yet unspectacular pick!

O'CONNOR Ben - 219 (37 teams) – In short, Ben O'Connor is one hell of a climber. Ben had a fantastic Grand Tour debut which sadly ended on an unlucky note on the descent of Sestriere. The strength he showed throughout the race stands, however, and a top-10 GC placing in 2019 seems pretty plausible if everything pans out for the lanky Australian!

CAICEDO CEPEDA Jonathan Klever - 207 (4 teams) – Caicedo is somewhat a personal favorite, whom I have followed for years and seen racing live several times here in Colombia. He is the reigning Vuelta Colombia winner - Who also won the incredible hard stage-race Clásica Ciudad de Soacha twice in a row, (2016 and 2015)... In Soacha, he went solo on the HC climb San Miguel increased all the way up and held his advantage on Romeral to finish off a fantastic performance. Carapaz was 4th that day finishing well over 2 minutes behind Caicedo. --- Paulo Caicedo who was his trainer between 2013 and 2017 and who also trained Carapaz for 3 years btw, mentioned in an article in El Universo that Caicedo is even stronger than Richard and described him as an outstanding (altitude climber) who also defends himself well against the clock! Now that sounds well and all - and I agree he is a fantastic climber especially at altitude in Colombia, but in Tour of Croatia 2017, Caicedo attacked on the climb up to (SV. Jure) and well he didn't look remotely amazing there, he hardly got a gap and ended the day on an unspectacular 24th place. Its one thing racing at altitude in South America, but on uneven roads and shitty goat-tracks in Europe with much higher speeds leading into the climbs well that's a whole other ball-game. Still worth a punt at that ¨price¨ though.

PADUN Mark - 191 (30 teams) – Padun impressed me highly in the Hammer-Series./Limburg. The day he totally worked over Sivakov and won the event for Bahrain. I also had the classic Valle d'Aosta 2016 in mind. The day he practically followed a guy like Enric Mas all the way up the hideous hideous Piani di Tavagnasco. He crashed the following day on stage 4, only to recover and finish second the next day on Cervinia after a long rage attacked together with Ravasi. Strong as an ox that Padun.

HALVORSEN Kristoffer - 162 (35 teams) – Halvorsen's top-end speed is world-class I am totally convinced of that. Team Sky is maybe a little bit of an ungrateful squad for a young developing sprinter, but I have a lot of faith in Halvorsen and his talent and think he will do better than in 2018 at least. An ¨Ackermann¨ seems unlikely next year, but less could do, anyway, classy bike-rider to say the least.

EG Niklas - 158 (8 teams) – A fragile little climber who might do well - or might not do that well was how I visioned Niklas Eg before the 2018 season. Of course, I remembered him from his junior days, I also took his lengthy absences from cycling due to sickness in mind - fast rewind to Jebel Hafeet where the camera lens out of the blue catches Eg connecting with the front group consisting of Valverde, Alaphilippe and what not. He ended the day on an excellent 7th place and my attention was back on him again after years of neglecting him. He was mighty strong in Croatia, had a solid Giro debut and all in all, showed enough glimpses of potential for me to take a punt on him for this year's game. Expecting some sort of progression although hard to tell exactly how much!

Might finish the rest of my team tomorrow if I have the time. The more unknown picks so to say.

Gotta have dinner know! :lol:
 

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