The 2021 CQ Ranking Manager Thread

[skidmark]

well, I've got Sosa only in Coppi e Bartali (which seems to be going okay for him so far), and a bit of a whiff in De Panne with Dupont and Viviani in the top 10 and Colbrelli and Moschetti the top 20, but considering my lineup there it left some points on the table.

Catalunya is Kruijswijk, Froome and Jungels who are all popular so wouldn't matter anyway, but Kruijswijk is doing meh and the other two bleh. So my week comes down to the classics:

E3

Greg Van Avermaet
Oliver Naesen
Nils Politt
Sep Vanmarcke
Tom Pidcock
Sonny Colbrelli
Amund Jansen
Matteo Trentin
Alexander Kristoff
Edvald Boasson Hagen

Ten decent riders there... aside from two of my 3 Norwegians, top 10 is a something I could envision for any of those guys, and Jansen is pretty consistent, EBH an unknown after being meh in February and working for Manzin in De Panne. I think that, crashes or mechanicals aside, all the other guys should finish near the top, although Kristoff hasn't shown if he's just been unlucky this season or unlucky and over the hill.

Gent Wevelgem

add Moschetti, Laporte, Viviani, Dupont, Sarreau and Chris Lawless, take out Politt and Pidcock.

That's looking good! I don't expect Moschetti or Lawless at the end of things, but that's making a strong team stronger. Hopefully I have some luck.

Cholet-Pays de la Loire

Heck, I dunno! Startlist isn't finished, but really, who's left? There are ten riders on my team that aren't either in other races or injured, and most of them aren't on teams that are here. But I'll be watching G-W anyway!

 

[postmanhat]

Catalunya is a bit of a write off as S.Yates and Ciccone disappoint, again. Could do with a result from the upcoming cobbled classics, but Moscon and Sagan are already big misses. Lineups seem to be changing quite a lot, so E3 tomorrow

Pidcock
Vanmarcke
Pollit
Trentin
Colbrelli
F.Vermeersch

The latter three are my rarer riders so a couple of them in the top ten would be a nice way to end the week

 

[BlueRoads]

Catalunya is a bit of a write off as S.Yates and Ciccone disappoint, again. Could do with a result from the upcoming cobbled classics, but Moscon and Sagan are already big misses. Lineups seem to be changing quite a lot, so E3 tomorrow

Pidcock
Vanmarcke
Pollit
Trentin
Colbrelli
F.Vermeersch

The latter three are my rarer riders so a couple of them in the top ten would be a nice way to end the week

Catalunya's dispappointing for me, too, although I don't have Simon and Ciccone. I will get points from it, but not nearly as many as I hoped for.

 

[Koronin]

I wasn't exactly expecting Asgreen to win today, but that certainly helps my team as only 5 of us picked him.

 

[BlueRoads]

I'm very content with my bunch of young riders at C&B. That race doesn't bring many points, but it's nice to see anyway. E3 was a disaster, even worse than expected with Politt out before the race. And then Gaviria broke his arm or something? I hope he's okay, for him and for me.
So far Gaviria and Lutsenko have been my main disappointments, and with Hirschi, it remains to be seen whether he will follow his pre-break or his past-break form.

 

[Fivezzz]

These lower tier races like Coppi & Bartali where talents get their chance to shine, you got to love them. Romo, Hayter, Ayuso, Brenner, Van Wilder, Vansevenant, Colleoni, Tesfatsion, Tiberi, Sosa, Honoré and of course Vingegaard all getting some nice placings and showing what they're (maybe one day) capable of. Very good to see, or rather just read on PCS (such a shame).

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Kuss dropping out of the top-10 in Catalunya, all my riders bar Colbrelli missing the first echelon in Gent-Wevelgem, and then Bouhanni decided he really didn't like Jake Stewart. Today's the day I get to know the pain of the game I guess, at least Stewart got out of that without a crash...

 

[Koronin]

Not a bad week. Asgreen had a win, Colbrelli a top 5, Valverde got some stage points, but top 5 on GC. Then a few points here and there from a few others.

 

[postmanhat]

Catalunya got worse in that Ciccone DNF, but Sagan's win was a bit of a bonus, and Yates hung on to his top ten in GC

Couldn't have asked for too much more from G-W with Colbrelli and Trentin finishing 3rd and 4th. And fantastic to see Viviani cantering to victory at Cholet. Really hope Cofidis let him race some more of these minor races to build his form/confidence, and to give me/them some points

 

[manafana]

done ok this week hoping i maintain my top 10 placing

 

[skidmark]

Update #9: Leaderboard flips in another monster week

It was an exciting week in racing, with echelons from 170km out in Gent-Wevelgem and constantly attacking racing in E3, as well as De Panne, Coppi e Bartali, and Catalunya (which I guess was exciting if you were nostalgic for the days the Sky train dominated by having the best TTers and then the strongest team in the mountains). That amount of racing was always going to add up to a strong week, but this one is the strongest of the season which has already seen some big weeks.

This Week's Top Scorers

Rank	Team	Points this week
1	Total Package	1246
2	Tigerion	1116
3	Bonimenier	1115
4	Jon_Ezeitza	1076
5	JPettersen	1058

Last week's top 3 scored over 1000 points, and this week doubled that with 6 teams breaking that mark. There were many ways to succeed this week, but if you wanted a spot at the top the must-have was Adam Yates, who managed to pull in 331 points for his 13 teams with the tightly controlled win in Catalunya. Total Package managed the win with Yates and a solid grab bag of classics stars, with 130 points from Trentin (36 teams), 120 from Viviani who finally won a race (32 teams), 119 from Colbrelli (18), 117 from Naesen (42) and 111 from Van Avermaet (33), as well as a few solid sub-100 weeks from riders to top it off. Phew! Tigerion will be happy despite second on the week, reaping 1116 points from an even more concentrated group of high scorers, with Yates leading the way and 222 points from Esteban Chaves (2 teams!), who seems to have finally returned to form (much to the relief of those of us who like the guy and much to the chagrin of those of us who have picked him for the last three years but declined to do again this year). Geraint Thomas (166, 32 teams) and Viviani also contribute. Bonimenier is one point back as the highest team without Yates, with Thomas leading the way over a wealth of classics riders (Trentin, Colbrelli, Naesen, GvA) and 140 points from an almost-41-year-old Alejandro Valverde chosen by 4 teams. Respect to the old man!

This Week's High Movers

Rank	Team	Up/down
1	Tigerion	(+32)
2	PremierAndrew	(+18)
2	Bonimenier	(+18)
2	Yellow Knight	(+18)
5	VeloRooms	(+16)

As we will see lower down, Total Package was already fairly high on the overall and had little space to move up, so Tigerion makes the most notable bounce this week. PremierAndrew and Yellow Knight join Bonimenier on a packed podium on this standing.

Green Jersey Competition

Rank	Team	Total
1	Hugo Koblet	142.67
2	Otoxiep87	133
3	Boris98	107.67
4	Jon_Ezeitza	106
5	Northerner	84

Hugo Koblet is back on top of this ranking after Otoxiep87's tear of the last month, getting 20 points for 6th on the week to regain the lead. 2nd and 3rd place teams are idle this week, while Jon Ezeitza grabs 26 points and Northerner gets 10 to get into the top 5.

Top 10 Overall

Rank	Up/down	Team	Points
1	(+9)	Total Package	4522
2	(-)	Northerner	4477
3	(+4)	Hugo Koblet	4400
4	(-1)	Boris98	4328
5	(+1)	manafana	4311
6	(-2)	Bicycle_Boy	4310
7	(+8)	Jon_Ezeitza	4289
8	(+5)	Fivezzz	4233
9	(-8)	Otoxiep87	4206
10	(+2)	MADRAZO	4068

Otoxiep87's tear through the charts comes to a halt this week as rare picks Pogacar and Vlasov took a break, and the 400 point lead of last week evaporates. Total Package was already 10th overall and so was well positioned to take advantage of the monster week, and so jumps into the top spot overall. Northerner holds in second, tantalizingly close to first (less than 50 points difference can be easily made up in this high scoring environment, but that also means the teams behind you can catch you just as easily), while Hugo returns to the podium. Jon Ezeitza, Fivezzz and MADRAZO return to the top 10, while Squire, rote laterne and Object drop out.

This week is a bit quieter, although there continues a theme of 'races that didn't take place in 2020 returning' in Dwars Door Vlanderen and GP Miguel Indurain, before the one we're all waiting for on Sunday - La Roue Tourangelle. No wait, the one we're all waiting for actually did take place last October but is returning to its normal spot at the start of a Holy Week sandwich, which may of course become an open-faced sandwich depending on what happens with the touch-and-go Paris-Roubaix drama. I'll take what I can get.

Spreadsheet at dropbox

 

[postmanhat]

Well those of us with Simon definitely did not enjoy that battle of the Yates twins, or the campaign so far. I had no idea Thomas was so popular. I can just never bring myself to pick him due to the expectation of him crashing. Still, have only dropped a place, and have a decent lineup for DDW tomorrow.

Wellens
Vermeersch
Viviani
Laporte
Pidcock
Trentin
Jansen
Dupont
Colbrelli

As MVDP is riding, it's probably a case of who can hang on when he attacks, and I think four of those have a reasonable chance of doing so

 

[Koronin]

DDW

Cortina
Serrano
Norsgaard
Benoot
Colbrelli
Politt


GP Miguel Indurain

I Izagirre
Jesus Herrada
Valverde
E Mas
Eg
Juan Pedro Lopez (Trek)

Not a lot of riders in either race, but a couple who can score points and maybe even podium if not win.

 

[Total Package]

I figured my team did pretty well this week, but I never thought I would top this week's standings, let alone the overall classification! I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts (which will not be long I imagine).

 

[BlueRoads]

I'm hoping... I don't want to be last this week.

Dwars: I think I got 15 points. That's a lot, no?
Ronde: Politt, Lutsenko, Pidcock, Milan.
Indurain: Latour, Lutsenko, Romo, Mollema.

Basque Country can't come soon enough.

 

[bminchow]

I'm hoping... I don't want to be last this week.

Dwars: I think I got 15 points. That's a lot, no?
Ronde: Politt, Lutsenko, Pidcock, Milan.
Indurain: Latour, Lutsenko, Romo, Mollema.

Basque Country can't come soon enough.

I'm with you. I'm not built for these classics and I'm just about in last place. bring on the week long races and the Giro!
Indurain: DePlus, LaTour, Lutsenko, Romo
DDV: Alaphilippe, Lutsenko(?), Pidcock, Rutsch, Sagan (okay so I have a couple good guys in Flanders)

 

[Hugo Koblet]

I'm with you. I'm not built for these classics and I'm just about in last place. bring on the week long races and the Giro!
Indurain: DePlus, LaTour, Lutsenko, Romo
DDV: Alaphilippe, Lutsenko(?), Pidcock, Rutsch, Sagan (okay so I have a couple good guys in Flanders)

Pretty sure you mean RVV here, right? Lutsenko isn't riding that.

 

[Salvarani]

Pretty sure you mean RVV here, right? Lutsenko isn't riding that.

That Astana team... for one of the biggest races on the calendar. I know they dont got many riders for cobbles, but my god.

 

[Koronin]

That Astana team... for one of the biggest races on the calendar. I know they dont got many riders for cobbles, but my god.

It really can't be worse than some of the teams Movistar has sent to cobbled races over the years.

 

[skidmark]

Well, I got 2, 6, 7 from DDV which is okay but considering the classics imbalance of my squad I should really be killing it these weeks. At least Kristoff showed a whiff of form.

This weekend:

GP Mig

Pierre Latour
Ion Izagirre
Laurens De Plus
Bauke Mollema

A small squad, but Izagirre has won this race before and Mollema has been great this spring, and Latour can be decent in 1-days like this too. So could be alright. Maybe De Plus will be mad at me not ranking him and win.

Ronde

GvA
Naesen
Politt
AG Jansen
Kristoff
Trentin
Laporte
Colbrelli
Pidcock
Dupont
Boasson Hagen

This classics lineup is looking familiar. There is definitely a tiered system here - Jansen and Dupont and (I think) Laporte are great one-day riders that can't quite hang in races the distance and magnitude of De Ronde. EBH now too. Pidcock is an unknown but I think it's too much of a learning curve for him, this ain't San Remo.

Kristoff has shown improvement and obviously has won before, but I'm in doubt of him this year. Apart from that, I've got GvA, Naesen, Politt, Trentin, Colbrelli, any of whom could conceivably top 10 (although Colbrelli has only done so once at the Ronde, and I don't think Trentin ever has but he looks pretty good). So I dunno, some good chances there.

I am curious whether the postponement of Paris-Roubaix means the likes of Colbrelli, GvA and Laporte are more likely to do Amstel. The postponement will definitely be good for those with injured riders, will make a nice end-of-season pairing with the Worlds for the cobbles guys.

 

[postmanhat]

I also have a fairly classics oriented team, though with a view to riders that can hopefully score throughout the season. Only Moscon missing through injury, though Sagan's absence until now has been very unfortunate. In theory, this race will play out in two ways. The big three go away and it will be a best of the rest. Or a reduced bunch sprint. Either way, I think the first four riders listed are my best bets. Trentin has looked great so far in the classics, unless he's been taken out by Viviani or puncturing. Hasn't got a great record in RVV, but without any mishaps, I'd be surprised if he isn't in the top ten at least.

Colbrelli
Sagan
Trentin
Pidcock
Dupont
Van Der Hoorn
Jansen
Vanmarcke
Pollit
F.Vermeersch
Wellens
Laporte

 

[Koronin]

Some decent points for GP Miguel Indurain with Valverde winning and Jesus Herrada getting 8th.

 

[escartin]

a hoard of riders for RVV. hopefully at least a top ten or 2...

GVA
Naesen
Pedersen
Sagan
Politt
Bettiol
Vanmarke
Kristoff
Colbrelli
Pidcock
Terpstra

 

[postmanhat]

checks spreadsheet

Yep. Asgreen was the last one to be removed from my team, to make way for Sagan when I realised I had enough points spare. So far, going exactly the opposite way to how I'd like

Pretty disappointing RVV. Trentin was looking ok till he punctured, again. Laporte looked good all day but somehow contrived to find himself leading the sprint, so finished outside the top ten. Only Vanmarcke got decent points, but he's quite a popular pick

On to Itzulia

Jansen
De Plus
Vansevant
LaTour
Lastra
Buchmann
Higuita

Hoping the last two can get their seasons going properly, and maybe Vansevant to surprise

 

[Salvarani]

I think I had a pretty good week. Especially with GP Miguel Indurain being very good for me. Eager to see how it holds up compared to everyone else.

I had terrible start and Im already too far behind, but hopefully some places up.