Update #5: The Season is On!
Although the really big points are still in the future, Opening Weekend certainly always feels like its name, and the UAE Tour always feels like... uh, well, some World Tour points, more significant this year as the first WT race without the Australian races. But if anyone was wondering what the CQ game is going to look like in 2021 with tons of relatively 'discounted' riders, this week was definitely a preview to kick it off. Last week Hugo was the only team with over 1000 points; some of this week's scores alone would have caught that mark.
This Week's Top Scorers
This is some "GC of a Grand Tour week" kind of scores. Nobody makes 4 digits, but Nakazar leads the pack with 954 points. Some of that, including their team's highest scorer (Adam Yates, 175 points, 13 teams) was in the UAE Tour, but the bulk was from Belgium and France. Some good points from relatively rare picks David Gaudu (136 points, 19 teams) and Mads Pedersen (135, 5), and also from Anthony Turgis (98, 2) and Phil Gil (70, 19), as well as more popular picks like Pidcock, Politt and Buchmann. A solid all around effort! Otoxiep87 went another direction, as one of the two teams to take Pogacar (286 points) at his 2000+ point cost, helped by a supporting cost of popular picks (Vanmarcke/Pidcock/Politt) and good value picks like David Dekker (60 points, 10 teams) and Clement Champoussin (78 points, 16). Devils Elbow, winner last week, has another solid outing with a lot more points than last week's relatively minor haul.
This Week's High Movers
Nakazar doubles up here, with the gigantic haul finding a proportionate jump up the standings. The other two on the podium are new names, with escartin benefitting from the same Gaudu/Pedersen combo as Nakazar (as well as another large supporting cast), and ray10 rounds it out with a 29 spot jump.
Green Jersey Competition
Not to be left behind, Hugo Koblet gets 12 points in the green jersey competition for another solid week, and indeed the top 4 overall all scored here this week. Hugo still basically has a one-week (45 points for a win) lead over everyone else. Devils Elbow and Nakazar vault into the top echelon here after two great weeks in a row.
Top 10 Overall
Lots of movement on the charts this week - only 3 of the 93 teams are in the same spot as last week - and the top spot switches places by the barest of margins. Despite the good week, Hugo Koblet gets overtaken by Northerner by 12 points, and those two are over 100 points ahead of the next teams on the list. manafana nabs the final podium spot by 9 points. some big jumps into the top 10, with Otoxiep87, shalgo, Total Package, Nakazar and Squire moving in, and rote laterne, Hakkie2, LaFlorecita and RO Shipman falling out.
This week: a bit calmer of a week than last week, but still some good stuff, with La Samyn, Laigueglia mid-week and then Strade Bianche on Saturday, a 1.Pro Italian race Sunday, and the start of Paris-Nice, after which it just keeps rolling. Remember a year ago when the last stage of the UAE Tour was cancelled, Strade Bianche was nixed and Paris-Nice was in doubt and everything was happening very quickly? Phew, I know I've said it before, but I'm grateful to be seeing some racing!
spreadsheet at dropbox