Update #8: Another week, another 1000 points
pardon the update being a bit later this week, it's been a busy one! Just like it was a busy week on the scoresheets of many of the teams of this CQ game. It's my believe that the pandemic-shortened season in 2020 has made it so that game participants could talk themselves into almost any rider this side of Primoz Roglic as a good deal. I think it's perhaps easier to convince yourself to take a rider you really like but is a bit more expensive if that rider still only costs 500 points. If you're comparing a 500 pointer you like to a 300 pointer you like a bit less, it's easier to justify that than, say, if that rider was 1000 points and you were comparing him to a 600 pointer. With the CQ game total remaining at 7500, this has led to some diverse teams, and it also means that there are enough good riders that aren't completely off-limits for teams that no matter which rider wins the big race of the week, it's likely some people are going to have him.
It's sheerly a coincidence that I used 500 points for illustrative purposes, but it fits well enough the profile of Jasper Stuyven. Costing 502 points and with scores from 850-1250 for the last three full seasons, he's not an eye-catchingly good deal, but you could talk yourself into it. And if you did, you snagged a cool 280 points this week for his monument win! Those riders with Van Aert (5 teams) won't be too disappointed with the 'loss', as he snagged even more (430 points). And hey, why don't you pick van der Poel (9 teams) or Pogacar (2 teams) while you're at it? Cycling's biggest names coming off big seasons are still being picked, and the points they bring are truly a haul.
This Week's Top Scorers
Teams have flirted with the 1000 point barrier in recent weeks, and the combo of T-A, MSR and a flurry of smaller races broke that barrier this week. Boris98 returns to the top of the charts after a torrid first few weeks and then a slowdown; aside from Stuyven's 280 points, Boris had four other riders cracking triple digits. The mildly popular Tim Wellens (105, 18 teams), the wildly popular Egan Bernal (136, everyone pretty much), and then exactly 100 from Bardet and Michael Matthews (didn't have a particularly bad year last year, but at 639 cost that was good enough for 23 teams). Sorry Sonny Colbrelli, your 80 points are only good enough for a mention this low down the list, and heaven forbid you scored less than that, you're not even worth a mention on this update. tom jelte gets second, and with a lineup of Van Aert, van der Poel and Sagan (as well as Bernal as a top scorer this week), their team might feature in a number of weekly updates in weeks those 3 are racing. LosBrolin doesn't quite crack a grand but gets third on the week with Stuyven, Bernal and Sagan leading the way and some strong supporting points across the board.
This Week's High Movers
Boris98 finishes just out of the top 5 here, so the next two from the other rankings take over the top two spots here, both with jumps of over 20 spots. 18-Valve.(pithy) manages third here, as one of the 2 owners of Pogacar, as well as having Sagan and Bernal scoring big this week.
Green Jersey Competition
Boris98's team nabbed 4th on the first week of the CQ game, finished in a 3-way tie for 1st the next week, and then underwent a drought until this week, with 45 points for the win returning them to the top of this ranking. No other teams in the top 5 score this week.
Top 10 Overall
And Boris' big week comes with a big result in the overall! Even though they almost made the top 5 high movers of the week, they were already placed quite high, moving up from 18th to 3rd overall! Otoxiep87 loses 96 points to Northerner on the week but still has a pretty healthy lead (although is 370 points really that healthy in a game where top teams are scoring 1000ish every week?), and those two keep the top two spots. Apart from Boris, Bicycle Boy does a big leap into the top 10 (and top 4), Squire and Total Package move into the top 10, while SafeBet, MADRAZO, Fivezzz and Jon Ezeitza fall out.
This week the fun continues, with Catalunya and Coppi e Bartali already underway with none of the biggest phenoms of cycling present, making them seem fairly wide open to my eyes (although Mauri Vansevenant is probably going to get a bunch more points from Italy). And then, we've got De Panne Wednesday, E3 Friday (welcome back!) and Gent Wevelgem Sunday. Classics season is truly underway!
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