The 2021 CQ Ranking Manager Thread

[jon ezeitza]

I said yesterday that one of my cyclists who had to make the difference in the rankings was BOUDAT Thomas - with only 5 picks in the popularity chapter. The 48 points he scored today in Marseille reinforces that criterion. If we add the 24 points scored by TRENTIN Matteo ... we get a total of 72 points. A great start that I hope will continue until October!

 

[postmanhat]

That seemed very much like an early season sprint. Trentin ambled to the front far too early. Wellens sauntered through to sixth without getting out of the saddle. And Calmejane pootled to 8th. 72 points is a nice start.

For Besseges, Wellens and Latour line up again, with Dupont and Laporte. The latter has won this race and come second before, so could do something. Bit disappointed that Calmejane is racing as he's also a former winner.

 

[Fivezzz]

That seemed very much like an early season sprint. Trentin ambled to the front far too early. Wellens sauntered through to sixth without getting out of the saddle. And Calmejane pootled to 8th.

And a climber won the sprint against two sprinters.

 

[Nevs]

Van Aert 5 picks and Van Der Poel 9 picks. Remco also lower picked than I thought.

I love Wout - but where is he going to expand his point-output?
He also spends a lot of energy/time as a domestique
I also love Remco, but is he coming back strong this year? Will he be fully mended?
I mean, I hope so, but he wasn't exactly dirt cheap either

 

[Kazistuta]

Well, a lot has been said about most of the obvious picks in this years edition, so I'll just add a few notes to my team coupled with remarks about some riders I left out. I didn't notice at first, but my team (like last year) is leaning towards the sprinter-heavy structure. Not sure I like that

My Team 2021:

SAGAN Peter
PINOT Thibaut
BERNAL GOMEZ Egan Arley
THOMAS Geraint
LUTSENKO Alexey
TEUNS Dylan
GAVIRIA RENDON Fernando
TRENTIN Matteo
BARDET Romain
CICCONE Giulio
COLBRELLI Sonny
NAESEN Oliver
VIVIANI Elia
GARCIA CORTINA Ivan
MOSCHETTI Matteo
BOL Cees
TEUNISSEN Mike
BUCHMANN Emanuel
OOMEN Sam
DAINESE Alberto
GROVES Kaden
THIJSSEN Gerben
POLITT Nils
VANMARCKE Sep
SARREAU Marc
MOSCON Gianni
SOSA CUERVO Ivan Ramiro
KRUIJSWIJK Steven
LATOUR Pierre
TERPSTRA Niki
FROOME Chris
VANSEVENANT Mauri
DE PLUS Laurens

Peter Sagan: I’ve been a fan of his since his first attack up Willunga Hill. At this cost I had to take him, as I’ve never really felt I had the budget to include him. Good schedule for 2021 and seems very eager to prove his critics wrong, should be more at peace after a difficult year with divorce and stuff.

Giulio Ciccone: This year he should get plenty of chances to ride for himself. Only his lack of TT skills hurts him. He will get around 1000 points this year, and we’re just 8 that picked him? Yeah, baby!

Ivan Garcia Cortina: 17 picks, really? This low count really surprised me, since this guy has shown us all what a big talent he is. Maybe it’s the Movistar classical races curse that made people shy away from him. I’m all aboard the big hair! He could shine all season long in various terrains.

Sam Oomen: I was really in doubt about picking him, don’t know what to expect after his issues and operation. In the end I liked no one in his points range better than him (besides the five guys I already picked in that range), so hoping for a good O(o)men.

Gianni Moscon: Simply don’t like his personality, but knew he would be picked a lot, so felt I needed to include him. If he doesn’t score all year, I won’t be sorry I picked him.

Mauri Vansevenant: After all I couldn’t shy away from picking one prospect. If his point total hadn’t been so low, he’d most likely ended up in the first category of Notable omissions. But he should be getting plenty of opportunities at QuickStep.

Young sprinters (Thijssen, Moschetti, Groves, Dainese, Bool): This has to be where my CQ season is judged. Last years Covid-afffected cycling season wasn’t sprinter friendly, but hopefully this season will be closer to “normal” and get those young guns some “easy” points. All five are poised to get significant sprint roles on their teams.

Notable omissions:

The massively talented young guys, who’s hopefully all on my 2022 CQ team:
Evenepoel, Brenner, Pidcock, Simmons, Kooij, Leknessund, Arensman, Bissegger: Very different reasonings for not picking them this year. Pidcock might turn out to be a make-it or break-it omission on my part.

The zero-pointer:
Quinten Hermans: Really would have loved to fit him in my team, but this year with so many quality bargains there was no need for a zero-pointer.

Be-Bob-a-lula:
Bob Jungels: I’ve got this strange feeling Jungels is declining already. Has nothing to build it on, just going for guts.

My biggest regret:
Bauke Mollema: I thought about him, but not enough. When I reshuffled after the Dumoulin news, I couldn’t really pair him with others I felt good about. He should be a very solid and secure pick this year.

 

[jon ezeitza]

I'm going to Bessèges with Bernal, Mollema, Naesen, Latour and Sarreau. In principle it seems that they complete a good team, but we'll have to wait to see how they are in shape. I'll pay special attention to Bernal, to see if his back has recovered. For the GC, I have more confidence in Mollema, who I imagine will be eager to do something good after his sad last year.

 

[Jakob747]

I love this game -All the little details that go into one's personal quest for overall glory!

So who knew Aurélien Paret-Peintre could sprint? I didn't! However, if one had bothered looking a little into his junior days, you could discover he aprently has a pretty good kick to his repetouire.

 

[tobydawq]

I love this game -All the little details that go into one's personal quest for overall glory!

So who knew Aurélien Paret-Peintre could sprint? I didn't! However, if one had bothered looking a little into his junior days, you could discover he aprently has a pretty good kick to his repetouire.

Well, apparently, it's just very weird how he in two and a half seasons with the pros never once has shown that attribute.

 

[fuiers]

I love Wout - but where is he going to expand his point-output?
He also spends a lot of energy/time as a domestique
I also love Remco, but is he coming back strong this year? Will he be fully mended?
I mean, I hope so, but he wasn't exactly dirt cheap either

Yeah agree its a bit of a strech and in this case if races are cancelled left and right its going to be difficult.

 

[bminchow]

I am definitely no expert at this game, but i guess the defending champion should at least put some analysis out there for others to mock. I don't have the in depth cycling knowledge that some seem to have (what is 0.1 vs 0.2?), but I do watch enough to be familiar with some names and races. Last years victory was based on a risk in taking Wout, the luck of taking Almeida, and just filling in with sufficient depth to keep up. So Risk + Luck = Victory. So with the pressure off now, I feel like i can have more fun with my picks.

ALAPHILIPPE Julian	DQT	FRA	28	1247
EVENEPOEL Remco	DQT	BEL	20	918
SAGAN Peter	BOH	SVK	30	767

When will I ever be able to have all (or any) of these guys on my team again? They are all great fun to watch compete, and could get a ton of points. So lets enjoy. Plus they compete in a lot of races.

LOPEZ MORENO Miguel Angel	AST	COL	26	655
GAUDU David	GFC	FRA	24	484
BERNAL GOMEZ Egan Arley	IGD	COL	23	450
LUTSENKO Alexey	AST	KAZ	28	397
SIVAKOV Pavel	IGD	RUS	23	368
BARDET Romain	ALM	FRA	30	358
CICCONE Giulio	TFS	ITA	26	352
HAMILTON Lucas	MTS	AUS	24	211
BUCHMANN Emanuel	BOH	GER	28	157

I figure of the races that do get canceled, the grand tours will be the last ones to go. So lets take whatever money i had left and bet on those races. I know Lutsenko and Bardet aren't likely to chase GC, but they can get stage wins and do well in other races as well. The rest will get at least one shot to lead in a grand tour (Sivakov deserves it, and Gaudu and Hamilton were kind of forced into it). Plus, again, I actually like all of these guys, which makes it more fun. Going top heavy meant losing out on guys like Thomas and Kuss. But you can't have them all. This also means a slow start until the Giro begins.

MEEUS Jordi	SEG	BEL	22	139
DAINESE Alberto	SUN	ITA	22	137
JUNGELS Bob	DQT	LUX	28	136
CHAMPOUSSIN Clément	ALM	FRA	22	111
FOSS Tobias Svendsen	TJV	NOR	23	99
SOSA CUERVO Ivan Ramiro	IGD	COL	23	68
ARENSMAN Thymen	SUN	NED	21	65

This level was a chance to try and guess which youngsters will make a nice leap in improvement. Meeus may have been a stretch here but was hoping he gets a few opportunities as he has the talent. I also love Dainese over Groves as a sprinter. I see Champoussin, Foss and Sosa taking a nice leap in the mountain races with potential for a stage win. And Jungels just has to be better than last year with the team change. My big miss at this level was Politt. I guess I just like climbers better than one day racers.

KRUIJSWIJK Steven	TJV	NED	33	57
PIDCOCK Thomas	INS	GBR	21	57
LATOUR Pierre	ALM	FRA	27	49

The obvious Three

RUTSCH Jonas	EF1	GER	22	37
CAMARGO PINEDA Diego Andres	CTA	COL	22	35
FROOME Chris	IGD	GBR	35	30
GARRISON Ian	DQT	USA	22	30
VERVLOESEM Xandres	LTS	BEL	20	25
ALEOTTI Giovanni	BOH	ITA	21	22
VERMAERKE Kevin	DSM	USA	20	22
DE PLUS Laurens	TJV	BEL	25	5
AYUSO PESQUERA Juan	UAE		17	0
BRENNER Marco	DSM		18	0
ROMO Javier	AST		19	0

Just filling in the rest with low point young guns (besides Froome and De Plus). These are all just guesses that likely won't do much. Which puts way more pressure on my Top 3!

 

[Squire]

Miguel Florez - He did an FTP test with Hernan Dario Casas back in 2016 and achieved results pretty similar to those of Nairo. H.D Casas mentions Florez as a potential finisher between top-5/8 in a Grand-Tour in the future, and that Florez also packs a pretty mean punch towards the line (Uphill). His big Achilles heel beside an abysmal TT, is his lack of self-belief and confidence in own abilities. In that regard, his victory on the queen-stage of Vuelta San Juan was crucial,l and I predict we gonna see a very live Florez in 2021. He will be an important climbing domestic to a fading Nairo (GT wise at least) - and could capitalize and get some results for himself as well.

This is part of why I love this game. So many participants with loads of interesting knowledge. I had no idea that Florez was such a potential diamond in the rough. I thought he was just a random South American that Savio took a punt on. But looking at his results from last year (which I haven't done until now), there looks to be some promise there.

Orluis Aular - I saw an Interview with Xabier Muriel where he predicts Aular will be one of the riders from Caja Rural who will take a step forward in 2021. He was injured in December and January last year which really hampered his entrance to racing in Europe. Then the pandemic came and everything went to hell so to speak. He needs to pick his days. On undulating terrain, he can really have his say, and with his fast surge towards the line, he is a very dangerous competitor. He has winner inscribed in his DNA.

Now this guy I've been secretly following since he won a Tachira stage at the age of 19. And I'm enjoying his progress. But there has always been someone ahead of him when I've picked my CQ teams.

 

[Jakob747]

This is part of why I love this game. So many participants with loads of interesting knowledge. I had no idea that Florez was such a potential diamond in the rough. I thought he was just a random South American that Savio took a punt on. But looking at his results from last year (which I haven't done until now), there looks to be some promise there.

Savio has a petty good track-record lately - especially when it comes to his rather left wing-signings. The last time he was horrible wrong, was when he signed Carlos Gimenes I think? but ok there his intell failed him pretty badly!

It was during the Vuelta Yacambu (2013) I remember Anderson Paredes won comfortably the GC - but the queen-stage finished on Lomas de Cubiro, Gimenes won that day convincingly I admit, however, I just imagine how Savio´s Venezuelan contact person had his phone on speed dial right after. WE FOUND THE NEW RUJANO - or “Rujanito” as they nick-named Gimenes.

I just hope Florez is allowed to operate a little in the shadow of Nairo because he is actually a rather good prospect! I guess something similar to what you had in mind with Diego Rosa last year?

 

[skidmark]

Update #1: Rote Learning

The season is underway! Points have been scored. Although it's not the traditional season start with the Aussie nationals followed by a fallow week (or sometimes Tropicale Amissa Bongo) then the TDU, I think for most of us we are glad to have racing. The postponement of the Mallorca races and cancellation of San Juan pushed back the start to the CQ game by yet another week, but in the end it's not that much different in terms of the first week point opportunities. Aussie nats are 100 points for the win, Marseillaise was 80, and of course there are further points usually from the Aussie TTs and NZ champs, the points already scored in January from NZ as well as Tachira are included in this update.

With so few points on offer and a few popular riders on the startlist in Marseille, there was the chance for a logjam at the top. But in the end, I don't think anyone expected Aurelien Paret-Peintre to take the win. Well, with maybe one exception.

This Week's Top Scorers

Rank	Team	Points
1	rote_laterne	120
2	Hugo Koblet	100
3	yoyokt	96
4	Boris98	77
5	Crevaison	76
5	LaFlorecita	76
7	Jon_Ezeitza	72
7	postmanhat	72
9	just_some_guy	68
10	manafana	64
10	Object	64

Normally I only list the top 5 in the weekly updates, but since it's week 1 there's no High Movers list (as everyone started out tied for first, no one moved up) so I have some room. Plus it's the first update of the season so maybe people wanna luxuriate in expanded standings.

At any rate, long-time game participant rote_laterne gets off to a great start, seeing their team's unique pick take 80 points for the win in France. That alone would have been good enough for a top 3 this week, but rote also had Wellens (28 points) and Eiking (12 points) to leave no doubt. Game founder Hugo Koblet breaks triple digits to land in second, as one of five teams with second place Thomas Boudat (48 points), as well as 28 from Wellens and 24 from Trentin. yoyokt rounds it out just behind with 96 points from five riders (Coquard, Trentin, Calmejane, Benjamin Thomas and Boasson Hagen).

Green Jersey Competition

Rank	Team	Total
1	rote_laterne	45
2	Hugo Koblet	35
3	yoyokt	30
4	Boris98	26
5	Crevaison	21
5	LaFlorecita	21

For those new to the game (or if you need a reminder), this sub-competition keeps track of who has the highest average finish every week. The points are based off of TdF Green Jersey flat stage points (from the mid-2010s; I like that layout better than the reformed ones the last handful of years). So it goes 45-35-30-26-22-20-18-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2 for the top 15 each week, accumulating points all season. In case of a tie in points for the week, I average the scores, which is why Crevaison and LaFlorecita each get 21 points for the spots that would give 22 and 20 if they weren't tied. Anyway, this week obviously the top 5 of this competition reflect the top 5 of the one week we've had so far. Those standings will jumble as the season goes on.

Top 10 Overall

Well, I guess that's also above! Okay, my work here is done. Sixty eight of our 93 teams got points this week, but they will get more chances this week with the suddenly stacked field at the Etoile de Besseges, as well as the rescheduled Australian National Championships.

Spreadsheet at dropbox

 

[Koronin]

Well at least I started the season with some points. LOL.
Next race I only have 1 rider, so don't expect much of anything.

 

[Nevs]

Yes! One of my unique riders has scored. And returned profit already!
I give you Matteo Malucelli - at 200% return after one week

 

[shalgo]

Yes! One of my unique riders has scored. And returned profit already!
I give you Matteo Malucelli - at 200% return after one week

Nice! Although, considering that he scored all of those points before the team submission deadline, this result can't be much of a surprise to you.

 

[Salvarani]

Etoille de Bessegnes

VAN AVERMAET Greg
NAESEN Oliver
SARREAU Marc
URÁN Rigoberto
LATOUR Pierre
LAPORTE Christophe
VANMARCKE Sep
POLITT Nils
LAWLESS Chris

Hoping there is a chance for some points.

Edit: I had a few more riders apparently

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

Switch two of the riders in Salvarani's team & you have the DJ Sprtsch ine-up for Etoile de Bessèges - Tour du Gard:
Valgren, Uran, Latour, Van Avermaet, Sarreau, Bernal - edit: and now also Lawless and Politt
On paper it should be a cracking team, but I suspect most will just be there for a training ride.
I do have hopes to see Valgren do something for his new team though, and also that Sarreau will be up there in some of the stages.

 

[skidmark]

Well, I wrote up a sprawling rundown of the remainder of my CQ team to satisfy my urge for completeness, musing on topics as far afield as how to determine if someone has potential to be the best of all time, Tony Martin's CQ career nosedive, and what Gianni Savio's scouting trips to South America might look like... and my computer reset itself and somehow lost all trace of the draft I had. Probably for the best for anyone who's not me, lol, you don't need to read 3000 words about my most popular 22 riders. Oh well, at least it was fun to write.

I'll console myself by listing my team for the unusually stacked Etoile de Besseges:

Greg Van Avermaet
Oliver Naesen
Marc Sarreau (literally the first three riders on the startlist; this is going well so far)
Egan Bernal
Bauke Mollema
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Pierre Latour
Chris Lawless
Nils Politt
Sep Vanmarcke
Timothy Dupont

Are you serious? A third of my team is at the Etoile de Besseges? I dunno why of all the weird things covid has brought, this is tripping me out, but it is. That's cool! I have definitely never watched this race, and am excited for the opportunity to do so with such intent interest. But yeah, punchy guys can do well enough here, right? So that's pretty much everyone on the list? Cool.

Aussie Nationals

uhhh I don't have any Australians on my team apparently. Huh. Is that a first for me?

 

[adamski101]

My line up for Etoile de Besseges;

Sarreau
Bernal
Thomas. G
Terpstra
Politt
Laporte

On paper, at least, potential for some points. Just hoping to get first points of the year.

 

[skidmark]

whoops I missed Christophe Laporte on the start list! That was a pleasant surprise.

 

[bminchow]

whoops I missed Christophe Laporte on the start list! That was a pleasant surprise.

Christophe Laporte. My first big miss. Fortunately, Hamilton gets more points for a 5th place in the Australian TT. But what about tomorrow?

 

[Nevs]

Nice! Although, considering that he scored all of those points before the team submission deadline, this result can't be much of a surprise to you.

You would think that.

But honestly I had my list created prior and hadn't looked at it since. so it was a nice surprise

Always nice to see one of your young-uns win a race regardless

 

[greenedge]

Here is my team and some comments on it.

ALAPHILIPPE Julian
SAGAN Peter
HIGUITA GARCIA Sergio Andres
MATTHEWS Michael
THOMAS Geraint
LUTSENKO Alexey
TEUNS Dylan
TRENTIN Matteo
SIVAKOV Pavel
VIVIANI Elia
HAMILTON Lucas
GILBERT Philippe
POZZOVIVO Domenico
BUCHMANN Emanuel
BARTA William
MEEUS Jordi
LAPORTE Christophe
JUNGELS Bob
BOASSON HAGEN Edvald
CALMEJANE Lilian
BJERG Mikkel
POLITT Nils
HIRT Jan
VANMARCKE Sep
PIDCOCK Thomas
KRUIJSWIJK Steven
JANSEN Amund Grøndahl
FROOME Chris
DYBALL Benjamin
TIBERI Antonio
VANSEVENANT Mauri
DE PLUS Laurens

I'm hoping it can go better than last year, although not picking a 33rd rider wasn't the smartest (would have probably gone with one of Cras, Kamp or Langeveld, Larsen or any 0 pointer of which there was a few).
In all I think the squad has a good mix of riders (GC, Cobbles, Ardennes and Sprinters) although I'm worried about the lack of Bernal now that everyone has him.

Other riders that I really wanted were Naesen, Ciccone, Gaudu and Leknessund. I think Kwiatowski, Kristoff and GVA all would have been good swaps for Matthews/Sagan/Higuita. Going for Alaphilippe was a bit of a risk considering how many other riders there were for a cheaper price but it'll be nice to cheer for him.

Going into my more unique riders (under 15 picks): Tiberi, Dyball, Hirt, EBH, Meeus, Barta and Pozzo. I think Tiberi has a good chance to land some nice results this year and if he rides U23's in the WC's could win the ITT. Dyball has a chance to clean up in any Asian races that take place and Hirt is basically the only GT GC hope for Intermarche, I can see him getting a top 15 at the Giro. With Edvald it might be hard to adjust but I thought it'll only take a few victories on the French calendar to be worth it. I can see Meeus stepping in as Bora's 3rd sprinter relatively quickly and he is powerful. For Barta he seems to be improving and if he continues his ITT progression could go well throughout the year. With Pozzovivo I hope he gets the chance to ride for himself and not be too let down by a lack of teammates.

Good luck to everyone for this season!

 

[jon ezeitza]

Good second place for BARBIER Pierre, who gives me ten more points. Allez, Pierre!