The 2022 CQ Ranking Manager Thread

[skidmark]

Bagioli is more important to my team than Ewan, and the Italian finished 20 minutes down today for some reason. That's an easy stage race win gone

Apparently he crashed on a gravel section. That sucks, but hopefully all his bad crash luck is used up early in the year, and also that it's not too bad of an issue for him. He's definitely a rider who can score in a lot of places so I'm hopeful it's a long calendar with lots of opportunities.

 

[skidmark]

Well, my moderate hopes at Mallorca have been remarkably undershot. I got:

10 points from Sosa
5 points from Walls

Oh! And 12 points from Bettiol in France. Wow, 87th out of 91 teams, nowhere to go but up!

Saudi Tour

Caleb Ewan
Andrea Bagioli
Lennard Kamna
Cian Uijtdebroeks

Well Ewan is already off to a good start, but my overall hope was Bagioli, who crashed and is 20 minutes down. Kamna could feature, but he's the most popular rider in the game, and Cian isn't super far behind, so this is gonna be more of a 'treading water' kinda race.

Etoile de Besseges

Filippo Baroncini
Antonio Tiberi
Thibaut Pinot
Alberto Bettiol
Sacha Modolo

The two Italians from Trek seem to be unconfirmed still, and Jay Vine appears on some startlists, so it seems still in flux. But my interest lies in the middle of my lineup - stage 4 has a proper test (4.6km @ 9.1%). That is probably too long and hard for Bettiol to hang, but with an uphill finish on stage 2 and the final TT suit his versatility really well so I could see a high finish. But my real hope lies with Pinot, who is certainly a popular pick but also could give a big leg up over the 1/3 of the field who doesn't have him, if he returns to his historical form.

Valenciana

Remco Evenepoel
Tao Geoghegan Hart
Juan Ayuso
Kaden Groves
Matthew Walls
Andrea Piccolo

My 3 GC guys are all relatively popular, but not as popular as I thought - Ayuso is on 57 teams, TGH on 42, and Remco on 35. Obviously most curious about how Remco starts his year, as my most expensive pick and in general. Also curious to see if the other guys feature in the fast finishes on the last two stages.

Great to have the racing picking up!

 

[Salvarani]

22 teams without Ewan, I guess some of them already wonder if they have made a big mistake

I am one of those teams.

I picked Gianni Moscon (11 picks) instead of Bennett (43 picks) and Fuglsang (15 picks) instead of Ewan (68 picks). They were in the same price range.

Other expensive picks being Pidcock, Jakobsen and Lopez on my team.

I figured many would pick the sprinters, but following a lot of sprint stages seemed dull to me.

I think Moscon and Fuglsang will be more fun to follow in many of the bigger one-day races, that I will watch, and Fuglsang could still be a factor in one-week races for GC as well.

I betted on Jakobsen (38 picks) being the best sprinter around this year and younger sprinters like Olav Kooij (26 picks) and Matthew Walls (15 picks) will improve and develop further. If Bennett start of the season is delayed because he need more time, then the latter might get more opportunities now.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

So Bennett disappeared from the Saudi Tour startlist, Bayer did the same in Bessèges and Bagioli's GC challenge ended before it started. Not the best of Tuesdays.

 

[triley36]

So Bennett disappeared from the Saudi Tour startlist, Bayer did the same in Bessèges and Bagioli's GC challenge ended before it started. Not the best of Tuesdays.

Well if misery loves company, know that I am right there with you. My roster is a little thin in Valencia. I’d hoped to offset that in Saudi Arabia where I too had Bagioli and Bennett. My only solace is that I also have Ewen, but I was hoping for a top GC placing out of Bagioli along with stage wins from Bennett and Ewen.

 

[repre]

I am one of those teams.

I picked Gianni Moscon (11 picks) instead of Bennett (43 picks) and Fuglsang (15 picks) instead of Ewan (68 picks). They were in the same price range.

Other expensive picks being Pidcock, Jakobsen and Lopez on my team.

I figured many would pick the sprinters, but following a lot of sprint stages seemed dull to me.

I think Moscon and Fuglsang will be more fun to follow in many of the bigger one-day races, that I will watch, and Fuglsang could still be a factor in one-week races for GC as well.

I betted on Jakobsen (38 picks) being the best sprinter around this year and younger sprinters like Olav Kooij (26 picks) and Matthew Walls (15 picks) will improve and develop further. If Bennett start of the season is delayed because he need more time, then the latter might get more opportunities now.

Moscon and fun shouldn't be used in the same sentence unless you are racist!

 

[Kazistuta]

Moscon and fun shouldn't be used in the same sentence unless you are racist!

Woah, back up.
I get there's a rather bad background catalogue reg. Moscons personality, but as a bike rider he's actually very gifted and opportunistic. Try and separate those things, after all this is just a fantasy game.

 

[Salvarani]

Moscon and fun shouldn't be used in the same sentence unless you are racist!

So I am racist because I thought Moscon might turn out to be a good pick and have a rider, among others, to follow in the big races. Got you.

 

[Kazistuta]

I picked Gianni Moscon (11 picks) instead of Bennett (43 picks) and Fuglsang (15 picks) instead of Ewan (68 picks). They were in the same price range.

(...)
I figured many would pick the sprinters, but following a lot of sprint stages seemed dull to me.

I think Moscon and Fuglsang will be more fun to follow in many of the bigger one-day races, that I will watch...

After reviewing my team before sending in, I noticed I had a lot of sprinters.
My reflection was: Either it'll be a "boring" (in the eye of the beholder) sprinters race, in which I will likely have one or more sprinters from my CQ Team involved, or it'll be a great attacking race, which I can just sit back and enjoy.

Either way, it's a win-win.

 

[Squire]

Apparently he crashed on a gravel section. That sucks, but hopefully all his bad crash luck is used up early in the year, and also that it's not too bad of an issue for him. He's definitely a rider who can score in a lot of places so I'm hopeful it's a long calendar with lots of opportunities.

If I lose it by 100 points again, we know where it went wrong!

 

[Salvarani]

After reviewing my team before sending in, I noticed I had a lot of sprinters.
My reflection was: Either it'll be a "boring" (in the eye of the beholder) sprinters race, in which I will likely have one or more sprinters from my CQ Team involved, or it'll be a great attacking race, which I can just sit back and enjoy.

Either way, it's a win-win.

Yes, very reasonable.

I also figured, which I forgot to mention, you kind of have to go against the grain at some point to have a chance to win. Opt not pick some popular ones in favor for a few not so popular ones. It is a fine line between picking enough popular ones as a sort of base, and then making other good picks. Perhaps some outside of the box. Then it comes down to a lot of factors anyway if they end up being great picks or not. Maybe you dodged a bullet by not picking someone or maybe it ends up being a dumb decision leaving them out, but thats the choices we make. Right now it is out of everyones control, so it is just like you said... just sit back and enjoy.

 

[Jakob747]

Buitrago won Feria de Manizales a few days ago btw. He handled Bryan Gomez in the sprint - Eazy work!... It's no mean feat because Gomez is really fast and has won mass-sprints on the American continent several times, which confirms Buitrago also has a serious burst of speed, plus he is really explosive so in some ways of form similar to Higuita!

Anyway, after the race, he confirmed he will ride the Giro D'Italia in 2022.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=2839309859703066

View: https://www.facebook.com/nuestrociclismo/videos/2839309859703066/

 

[SafeBet]

I see Lawless made the split in the Etoile de Besseges first stage. Last year he would've probably DNFed already...
I know, I shouldn't think about it.

 

[Squire]

Can all of us without Evenepoel just pack our bags and leave now?

 

[BlueRoads]

Can all of us without Evenepoel just pack our bags and leave now?

If he wins Tirreno, yes
Until then I'm still hopeful.

 

[BlueRoads]

So, my starters this week look in good form - not that it really pays off in points, but guys like Pedersen, Cosnefroy, Bettiol and Bagioli seem to be in generally good shape, so I can only hope they are taking it from there and get me some points in the next months. I will need them.

 

[Bonimenier]

Not a massive amount of riders of my team riding this week, but should get a decent amount of points in Saudi and Valencia.

Saudi
Ewan
Uijtdebroeks

Bessèges
Pinot
De Plus
Sheffield

Valencia
Evenepoel
Jakobsen
Ayuso
Dekker

 

[LaFlorecita]

Not a bad start of the week for me with Ewan, Evenepoel, Pedersen and Bagioli
Let's hope for a decent week

 

[EvansIsTheBest]

Nobody made the front group in Bessèges, what a dud. At least Remco is doing Remco things in Spain. Rodriguez looking good too. As for the Saudi Tour, with Ewan's win yesterday and 1, 2, 4, 6 and 7 today it's going alright I'd say. Always nice to see rare picks start off strong and Buitrago, Van Gils and Zingle are doing exactly that.

 

[will-10]

Knew I could count on small-race-Remco

 

[armchairclimber]

Who put that rock in the way yesterday? Bagioli looks good for the season.
Evenepoel? He's just showing of.

 

[manafana]

Anyone know best way to track there teams schedule?

PCS has the game mode but that involves buying each rider to be able to track there races

 

[skidmark]

Remco with more points for me in the first stage of the season (25 + 8) than my whole team had up to the start of this week (27). Bettiol making the selection in Besseges to get a leg up on the pure climbers has my hopes up that he can get a decent overall, and Bagioli gets a few points at least in Saudi. Decent start, excited to be following several races a day again.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Bettiol and Johannessen should do well in the coming days and with Jakobsen and Valverde I should also get some nice points in Spain. The Saudi race doesn't look so good because of the Bagioli crash, unless Kämna goes crazy today and really moves up on the gc it's not a great race for me.

 

[Jakob747]

Typical, I went all-in on Vlasov last year, and then he climbed well below par all year compared to 2020! Low and behold now he is back climbing like an angel again, totally dominating the show today.

At least my constant paranoia concerning Evenpoel went down a slight notch today.