The 2022 CQ Ranking Manager Thread

[Jspear]

I can't fit Evenepoel into my team without seemingly making it worse. I had PogChamp last year, but now I struggle to fit a single 1000+ point rider in.

Truth is, I don't know what to expect. He'll be racing bigger races , like Liege, T-A, and, I guess, Tour de Suisse. And, of course, La Vuelta. He's probably not a must pick if he doesn't easily clear 2000 points. But he might, especially if they add on smaller races to his schedule.

Back to the drawing board.

All he has to do is crash one time and then he’s not worth it. Hoping he stays upright and healthy, but he just seems like the type of rider prone to falling.

 

[LaFlorecita]

I sent in my team
I haven't been very active and wasn't able to follow last season as closely as in previous years, so hopefully I didn't miss any obvious picks (I doubt it though...)

Sent in my team through the conversation button as I couldn't find a DM button I hope that is ok (this is how little I've been on here in the last year)

 

[postmanhat]

Thanks a lot for reminder about Groenewegen! He was in my, and I'm sure most teams till then. After last year's free-for-all, he was one of the very few obvious picks this season. It's a completely different season and one of the hardest I can remember in terms of selecting enough riders you feel reasonably confident in. Pretty sure I'm going to have to abandon my normal conservatism, and take a couple of big risks this year.

Luckily, I'm off work with cold/flu so have a bit of time to dig around.

 

[adamski101]

Team submitted. Difficult to make a selection this year, no really obvious must have picks. Thrown caution to the wind and taken a slightly different approach.

 

[Kazistuta]

For two years I've missed out on the 20's greatest talent, but no more! (Despite his cost being more than 1000). That means having to go with some cheaper riders I'm not that confident about, but let's see. I think there's about a handful of obvious picks, but we'll get to that after the weekend

 

[EvansIsTheBest]

For two years I've missed out on the 20's greatest talent, but no more! (Despite his cost being more than 1000). That means having to go with some cheaper riders I'm not that confident about, but let's see. I think there's about a handful of obvious picks, but we'll get to that after the weekend

If I were you, I would reconsider picking Pogacar at his current price

 

[SafeBet]

If I were you, I would reconsider picking Pogacar at his current price

You never know. He might win every WT race of the season and score like 10000 points.

 

[vladimir]

Damn, I just realized that I have forgotten to include one of my absolute certain picks for this year! I could of course send an updated version of my team, but then I am sure that the two cyclists I need to replace will probablty have their season of their lives. So I have decided to keep my team as submitted 23.12

 

[Kazistuta]

If I were you, I would reconsider picking Pogacar at his current price

Touché

 

[Object]

Just send in my team. I think it was hard to find some obvious pick this time.

I cant wait to get the season started!

Good luck everyone!

 

[ray10]

I just sent my team.

 

[firefly3323]

Lurked the forum for a while but decided to join so i could enter a team. Though there really is no chance of my team doing well as I picked most of the riders based on nationality. Either way looking forward to the season!

 

[Jspear]

Lurked the forum for a while but decided to join so i could enter a team. Though there really is no chance of my team doing well as I picked most of the riders based on nationality. Either way looking forward to the season!

Welcome to the forum! Sometimes it’s fun to pick a team worth rooting for over a team you think might be more competitive in the overall game.

 

[skidmark]

Hmm, game entries seem to have hit a wall, only 1 new entry in the last 24 hours! Reminder that the deadline is in just over 48 hours, tell your friends

 

[Jspear]

Hmm, game entries seem to have hit a wall, only 1 new entry in the last 24 hours! Reminder that the deadline is in just over 48 hours, tell your friends

But none of my friends like cycling.

 

[firefly3323]

But none of my friends like cycling.

You're better off than me, I don't have any friends

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

Hmm, game entries seem to have hit a wall, only 1 new entry in the last 24 hours! Reminder that the deadline is in just over 48 hours, tell your friends

Hopefully the rest think like I do, thinking that some kind of revelation might appear, the must-have rider you forgot about.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Almost impossible, I found, to spend at the top of the budget: last year's best riders had such phenomenal performances that it is hard to see them improving, and yet difficult to believe that the tier below them can march in on their territory.

 

[Salvarani]

Handed in my team between Christmas and the New Year, after spending some time on it. Hoping to do a lot better than last year.

Exciting to see what riders that might have been picked by many and riders that might have been forgotten about. Could be quite different teams so will be fun to see all the reveals and read about the thought process that went into it.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Almost impossible, I found, to spend at the top of the budget: last year's best riders had such phenomenal performances that it is hard to see them improving, and yet difficult to believe that the tier below them can march in on their territory.

Interesting. I've had quite the opposite experience: There were a lot of riders in the 400-500+ range that I wanted to include, but I found it hard to find many in the cheaper bracket. It could very well be a very diverse year this one

 

[Jspear]

Almost impossible, I found, to spend at the top of the budget: last year's best riders had such phenomenal performances that it is hard to see them improving, and yet difficult to believe that the tier below them can march in on their territory.

I believe there are lots of riders in the lower tier that won’t jump into the top 10 of the rankings necessarily, but they have to score better than they did last year. I think there’s plenty of riders with a lot to prove this year.

 

[postmanhat]

Almost impossible, I found, to spend at the top of the budget: last year's best riders had such phenomenal performances that it is hard to see them improving, and yet difficult to believe that the tier below them can march in on their territory.

Completely agree. With a few exceptions, so many of the 500+ point riders seem topped out to me. At the moment my team consists of lot of sub 200 picks, a few expensive ones , and very little in between. That may change but it seems like quite an usual year to me.

 

[Koronin]

Completely agree. With a few exceptions, so many of the 500+ point riders seem topped out to me. At the moment my team consists of lot of sub 200 picks, a few expensive ones , and very little in between. That may change but it seems like quite an usual year to me.

This sounds a lot like my team although I suspect not many similar riders.

 

[MADRAZO]

Just sent in my team now with less than 24 hours to go, and looking forward to a good battle with everyone. A tricky year I think especially with so many good (but not obvious) options amongst the medium priced and also with some more expensive riders, meaning all the hardest choises and cuts had to be made amongst these, so that the hardest choises will likely also be the most decisive picks, instead of just amongst a lot of cheaper candidates to fit the puzzle in the end. In the end I do feel satisfied with my team though.

 

[EvansIsTheBest]

Almost impossible, I found, to spend at the top of the budget: last year's best riders had such phenomenal performances that it is hard to see them improving, and yet difficult to believe that the tier below them can march in on their territory.

Agreed. That's why I picked only expensive rider (jokes about Pogacar asides, I'm fairly certain it's the same one as Kazistuta) and a bunch of mid priced options. Also I have the wackiest age curve I've ever had for one of my teams. I have a single rider between ages 26-30 (included) because picking riders in their prime is overrated. I also had like two good results ever in this game so don't listen to my advice.

Just to finish up on Pogacar, every single year I have this exact inner monologue: "well he's obviously a super talented rider but he's not cheap and he was so good last year, how much better can he actually get ?". Then at the end of the year I look up and he's one of the best picks of the game anyway and I go I knew it, I can't believe I missed out again, how stupid am I. I know that considering a rider at 3600 points, regardless of who it is, is completely ludicrous. However, I've been burned so much by overlooking him because of his price that I'm this close to nuking my team and starting over and building around him. Can somebody please talk me out of doing something stupid, thanks.

(I know that some people get upset about dropping names before team reveals in the thread but I'm assuming that people entering the CQ game are aware of who Pogacar is, and again considering his price I don't expect him to factor in this year, so I hope that I won't ruffle any feathers).

Lurked the forum for a while but decided to join so i could enter a team. Though there really is no chance of my team doing well as I picked most of the riders based on nationality. Either way looking forward to the season!

You never know what's going to happen. That's the beauty of the game. Sometimes your best picks are the ones that make you feel the most stupid because you're like "well I thought he was talented but I still completely whiffed because I never expected anything close to this". For instance, when I picked Almeida in 2020, my thought process was I liked his style and how he battled in the Tour of Utah the previous year plus he's going to a team where he'll have opportunities to fight for a couple top 10-15 in smaller WT stage races. It's cool that he was basically two days away from winning the Giro but I'm not going to stand here and say that's what I envisioned when I picked him.

And that same year, none of my five most expensive riders, which were the guys I was most confident about, broke even. 3 of the 5 scored less than half their cost. Still if Evenepoel didn't crash in Lombardia I would have finished on the podium. So even when you have a successful team you end up feeling like an idiot. I know that might not sound like fun but it absolutely is.

A year is a long time. You don't want to be stuck with a guy you don't like but included because you felt like he was too big a bargain to pass on. Because that guy might still end up disappointing and then when you watch the rider that you liked at the same price but you felt was inferior value just tear it up, that's just the worst (I did that when I picked Froome instead of Cavendish last year, never again).

So yeah at the end of the day pick riders you like and let the chips fall where they may.