The 2021 CQ Ranking Manager Thread

[Hugo Koblet]

Thanks for the update, skidmark. And great to still be atop of the leaderboard!

For next week I have:

Haut Var:
Van Avermaet
Naesen
Laporte
Brenner
Pidcock
Vanmarcke
Tejada
Latour

Pidcock should be one of the biggest favorites - although Ineos' team is so stacked so it's kinda a lottery who's gonna go on the offensive and make it stick -but other than that I don't expect much (I do have some cute idea that Van Avermaet might surprise on these parcours though).

UAE Tour:
A.Yates
Lutsenko
Buchmann
Dekker
Dainese

Really? Only 5 riders? Hard to know what to expect here in such a stacked field. Yates should be one of the favorites despite the ITT, but Lutsenko disappointed me very much in Provence that I don't know what he can do here.

 

[bminchow]

Not sure how I am going to catch Hugo like this. I've got the climbers and he has the stage winners at haut var. And I'd take yates over Froome any day.
Hugo Bob
Haut Var:
Van Avermaet Champoussin
Naesen Ciccone
Laporte Gaudu
Brenner Brenner
Pidcock Pidcock
Vanmarcke Sivakov
Tejada Vermaerke
Latour LaTour

UAE Tour:
A.Yates Froome
Lutsenko Lutsenko
Buchmann Buchmann
Dekker Arensman
Dainese Dainese

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Not sure how I am going to catch Hugo like this. I've got the climbers and he has the stage winners at haut var. And I'd take yates over Froome any day.
Hugo Bob
Haut Var:
Van Avermaet Champoussin
Naesen Ciccone
Laporte Gaudu
Brenner Brenner
Pidcock Pidcock
Vanmarcke Sivakov
Tejada Vermaerke
Latour LaTour

UAE Tour:
A.Yates Froome
Lutsenko Lutsenko
Buchmann Buchmann
Dekker Arensman
Dainese Dainese

Well, Ciccone should be one of the biggest favorites for Haut Var. Sivakov as well, and Gaudu could also do well. You've got the better team for Haut Var for sure. I'll take mine over yours at UAE, though

Edit: I must have overlooked Arensman at UAE Tour - he's on my team as well.

 

[Koronin]

Haut Var:

Jesus Herrada
Juan Pedro Lopez
Cristian Munoz

Apparently just 3 riders.

UAE Tour:

Fernando Gaviria
Sergio Huita
Neilson Powless
Chris Froome
Nikias Arndt
Mark Donovan
Alejandro Valverde
Inigo Elosegui


At least I have a sprinter for UAE Tour this year.

 

[jon ezeitza]

I have been very happy with my first weekly win since I started playing a few years ago.
Now we must continue in the Alps and in the UAE. I have these cyclists:
* THE ALPS:
LATOUR Pierre
MOLLEMA Bauke
NAESEN Oliver
* UAE:
BJERG Mikkel
BUCHMANN Emanuel
FROOME Chris
HIGUITA Sergio
SOSA Iván Ramiro
VIVIANI Elia
YATES Adam

 

[adamski101]

Line-ups for upcoming races;

Haut Var

O'Connor
Brenner
Gaudu
Madouas
Laporte
Thomas
Pidcock
Sivakov
Vanmarcke

UAE Tour

Gaviria
Sosa
Van der Poel
Buchmann
Higuita
Froome
Colleoni
Dainese
Tiberi

On paper, at least, Haut Var looks promising, although it is first race of season for a few of them.

UAE, not expecting a great deal as most have likes of Buchmann and Sosa for GC. Can't recall how popular a pick was Higuita. Stacked sprinter line up for this race and not too confident that Gaviria and Dainese will get good results.

 

[postmanhat]

Pretty thin gruel for me this weekend

Haut Var

Pidcock
Ciccone
Laporte
Latour
Vanmarcke

Not too sure who the team leader is for Trek, but hoping for at least a top ten for Ciccone

UAE

Formolo
Buchmann
Viviani
Higuita

First race for all of them I think, so no idea what to expect. Some indication that Viviani is less terrible than last year would be a plus

 

[bminchow]

Line-ups for upcoming races;

Haut Var

O'Connor
Brenner
Gaudu
Madouas
Laporte
Thomas
Pidcock
Sivakov
Vanmarcke

UAE Tour

Gaviria
Sosa
Van der Poel
Buchmann
Higuita
Froome
Colleoni
Dainese
Tiberi

On paper, at least, Haut Var looks promising, although it is first race of season for a few of them.

UAE, not expecting a great deal as most have likes of Buchmann and Sosa for GC. Can't recall how popular a pick was Higuita. Stacked sprinter line up for this race and not too confident that Gaviria and Dainese will get good results.

I'm afraid Sosa is no longer in the race.

 

[armchairclimber]

Well, a few posts back, I think I expressed otimism with my "Talented" team for Haut Var and UAE. Then Hirschi made other plans and the rest of them decided to be utterly woeful. It's not going to be a good start to the campaign. I may be over-reliant upon Alaphilippe, Sagan and Hirschi this year. I do hope that Gaviria remembers how to race pretty soon.

 

[Koronin]

Well I guess maybe I get a few points from Herrada at Haut Var.

Apparently the only rider on my semi decent team at UAE who is actually there to race is Powless. I'm with armchairclimber in hoping Gaviria remembers he's a sprinter and thus how to race soon.

 

[Kazistuta]

Anyone else know the feeling when having the two surviving sprinters in the front group and both of them decides to sprint too soon?... while in France both Ciccone and Pinot decided to leave me hanging? Well, it started so well this weekend.

 

[Koronin]

Anyone else know the feeling when having the two surviving sprinters in the front group and both of them decides to sprint too soon?... while in France both Ciccone and Pinot decided to leave me hanging? Well, it started so well this weekend.

Just 1, my other sprinters aren't there. Which may not be the worst thing after today.

 

[adamski101]

5th, 6th and 7th on GC from Haut Var with Gaudu, O'Connor and Madouas. Few points from Sivakov and Thomas and stage win for Van der Poel.

Hoping Gaviria can remember he is a sprinter soon. Not expecting much else from UAE Tour.

 

[bminchow]

It looks like Ciccone is the big bust. He couldn't even beat Fabio. Well done to Adamski.

 

[skidmark]

Update #4: So Var So Good

It was (hopefully!) the quietest week we'll have in quite awhile here at the CQ game, with the 3-day 2.1 Tour du Var taking centre stage, plus a stage of UAE Tour that happened before the update as well. So after the excitement and scramble to get on the starting lists on the early season races, we can take a breath and assess the first part of our respective teams' seasons before the top-level races start happening fast and furious, starting with this weekend. The start of the season was rocky with the covid changes, but we've tentatively made it through the races that survived the first round of cancellations.

This Week's Top Scorers

Rank	Team	Points this week
1	Devils_Elbow	220
2	adamski101	199
3	trackstand	196
4	Nicosix	182
5	EvansIsTheBest	180

Only one team breaking 200 points this week, and it's Devils Elbow! Congratulations. As nobody had Brambilla and only 3 teams had Rusty Woods, Devils Elbow's team is driven by 102 points from Bauke Mollema (33 teams) for third place (+ stage placings), and 48 from David Gaudu (19 teams). But actually it seems like what's put their team over the top was the inclusion of Monday's UAE TT stage in the CQ ranking, getting 30 points from Bissegger (18 points) and Bjerg (12) there. adamski101 would've taken the week without that stage's inclusion, with a spread-out haul from Ben O'Connor (55 points, 5 teams), Gaudu, Valentin Madouas (45, 4) and MvdP (39, 9). Team trackstand takes the third spot.

This Week's High Movers

Rank	Team	Up/down
1	Devils_Elbow	(+26)
2	Nakazar	(+20)
3	adamski101	(+18)
4	EvansIsTheBest	(+16)
5	Yellow Knight	(+15)

Devils Elbow doubles up here, jumping a modest (compared to the volatile first few weeks) 26 spots in the standings. Nakazar is a newcomer on this ranking, while adamski101 gets a second podium of the week.

Green Jersey Competition

Rank	Team	Total
1	Hugo Koblet	106.67
2	Boris98	62.67
3	Jon_Ezeitza	62
4	LaFlorecita	55
5	Crevaison	51

No change from last week, no scoring from the top 5. Devils Elbow gets 7th overall with 45 points for the weekly win.

Top 10 Overall

Rank	Up/down	Team	Points
1	(-)	Hugo Koblet	1030
2	(+1)	Northerner	998
3	(-1)	LaFlorecita	977
4	(-)	Object	966
5	(+1)	rote_laterne	906
6	(+2)	manafana	879
7	(+2)	Jon_Ezeitza	858
8	(-3)	Hakkie2	848
9	(+2)	R_O_Shipman	808
9	(+4)	skidmark	808

Hugo Koblet holds onto the top spot again this week despite scoring only 35 points; no other top 10 teams cleared 130 so not much ground was made up. Northerner and LaFlorecita switch places on the podium, while lower down, R_O_Shipman and skidmark enter the top 10, and Crevaison and Boris98 tumble out.

This week... deep breath... it's OPENING WEEKEND! The first WT race of the season, the UAE Tour, is not to be overlooked, there are a couple of fun mountains even though the GC race was drastically thinned on the first day. But as that winds up, we get the hallowed double of Het Nieuwsblad and KBK in Belgium, and the "nobody pays attention to these races but they give out some decent CQ points" undercard of two .Pro races in France.

The 'real' opening of the European season ushers in the flurry of classic races (and capital-C Classics) coming in the month ahead. Let's see some racing!

Spreadsheet at dropbox

 

[Armchair cyclist]

This week... deep breath... it's OPENING WEEKEND!... As that [the UAE Tour] winds up, we get the hallowed double of Het Nieuwsblad and KBK in Belgium, and the "nobody pays attention to these races but they give out some decent CQ points" undercard of two .Pro races in France.

The 'real' opening of the European season ushers in the flurry of classic races (and capital-C Classics) coming in the month ahead. Let's see some racing!

And those four races, and 18 other Classics/classics up to Liege make up the Spring Classics CQ game, for which you can use the same price list as you did for this game. Don't forget to get your team (12 men, 3000 pt budget) to me before the Omloop.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

I guess beginner's luck really is a thing.

 

[jon ezeitza]

After the successes of Mollema, now it is time for Adam Yates, Higuita and Buchmann in the UAE Tour. Let's go to the podium!

 

[bminchow]

Oh Lutsenko. You lovable loser. How you have let me down. REALLY wishing Sagan could have raced this weekend. Dug me a hole!

 

[bminchow]

After the successes of Mollema, now it is time for Adam Yates, Higuita and Buchmann in the UAE Tour. Let's go to the podium!

Wow. very nice.

 

[Nevs]

After the successes of Mollema, now it is time for Adam Yates, Higuita and Buchmann in the UAE Tour. Let's go to the podium!

Amusingly, I send out the same trio

 

[Koronin]

May as well just give up on my team now.

 

[skidmark]

Well UAE is a bit of a bust, Higuita would get a score of points had it not been for stage 1 but he can still pick up some minor placing points.

What about this weekend??

Omloop

Greg Van Avermaet
Nils Pollitt
Christophe Laporte
Thomas Pidcock
Sep Vanmarcke
Alexander Kristoff
Matteo Trentin
Timothy Dupont
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Chris Lawless

Yowza, I knew when forming my team that there were some real hitters in the classics, but seeing the first taste of it on paper is kinda fun. GVA and Kristoff are top-tier legends, Vanmarcke, EBH and Trentin are super solid racers, Pollitt is building a resume, and Pidcock/Lawless are on their way up (although this may not be their race). And I'm leaving out very strong and consistent racers in Laporte and Dupont here. So I'm hoping for a good weekend, but then of course the flip side is that with so many possible options I'll probably be on pins and needles the whole classics season hoping a crash won't happen.

KBK

similar but with Hodeg (and Leknessund for some reason?)

Faun Aredeche

uhh... NOBODY?!?! What the hell? I don't pick 33 riders to have them not in a race!!

Drome

at least I got Ion Izagirre and Latour here. Not the most accomplished 1-day racers but one can hope.

 

[Kazistuta]

Faun Aredeche

uhh... NOBODY?!?! What the hell? I don't pick 33 riders to have them not race

Seems like Ion is riding both French races.

 

[bminchow]

Well UAE is a bit of a bust, Higuita would get a score of points had it not been for stage 1 but he can still pick up some minor placing points.

What about this weekend??

Omloop

Greg Van Avermaet
Nils Pollitt
Christophe Laporte
Thomas Pidcock
Sep Vanmarcke
Alexander Kristoff
Matteo Trentin
Timothy Dupont
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Chris Lawless

Yowza, I knew when forming my team that there were some real hitters in the classics, but seeing the first taste of it on paper is kinda fun. GVA and Kristoff are top-tier legends, Vanmarcke, EBH and Trentin are super solid racers, Pollitt is building a resume, and Pidcock/Lawless are on their way up (although this may not be their race). And I'm leaving out very strong and consistent racers in Laporte and Dupont here. So I'm hoping for a good weekend, but then of course the flip side is that with so many possible options I'll probably be on pins and needles the whole classics season hoping a crash won't happen.

KBK

similar but with Hodeg (and Leknessund for some reason?)

Faun Aredeche

uhh... NOBODY?!?! What the hell? I don't pick 33 riders to have them not in a race!!

Drome

at least I got Ion Izagirre and Latour here. Not the most accomplished 1-day racers but one can hope.

nice classics team! I'm built for grand tours so I'll wait this spring out.