Ouch!Ha! I knew my 30-minute team prep had a flaw. I forgot Bernal!
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Ouch!Ha! I knew my 30-minute team prep had a flaw. I forgot Bernal!
I'm glad someone went with Gaviria. I couldn't quite fit him in but I think he's a very worthwile gamble at that price. I didn't want to pick too many returning riders this time around (Cian and Juan being the only ones) but I see you picked most of the guys I would have brought back if I had gone solely on merit (Bagioli, Simmons, Van Wilder, Brenner only missing Baroncini). Since they'll have their breakthrough the year after I pick them as is tradition I expect at least a shout out in your victory speech at the end of the yearHere's my team this year with some sort of argumentation and expectations - I tried a new approach for me, going top-heavy and splashing big on two riders almost always in the mix, thus also finding a lot of cheap (and young) guys to root for. Sadly I couldn't just leave my one sentimental pick out, so Sagan is on my team for the third time in a row:
ROGLIC Primoz: Still a great rider, was very unlucky last year from the Tour and beyond. Doubling the points to 2500+ should be doable with no major bad luck.
VAN DER POEL Mathieu: Also struck with bad luck in 2022, but such a classy rider. If Van Aert can get 2800 points, Van Der Poel should be able to get to 2200 points as well. Of course his back problems and his MTB focus might deter his season a bit, but still I feel he’s got so much upside, that I went for the “go big or go home” approach this year.
PIDCOCK Thomas: Picked due to potential and ambitions for the road in 2023. Will easily better his season from last year, 1500 points could be on the table, if he takes a leap in stage races, as I expect.
ALAPHILIPPE Julian: The former World Champ got struck by the rainbow curse, and even though Lefevre is picking on him, 6 out of his last 7 seasons went for over 1000 points, so he’s bound to bounce back in a major way. Probably a consensus pick.
SAGAN Peter: Okay, even though I burned my hand on picking Sagan over Evenepoel last year, I just can’t get myself to not picking him at this price. Sagan is still an undisputed leader, and if his long-covid symptoms and divorce are finally behind him, hopefully he’ll show the World he’s not done yet. I expect/hope for a 1000 points season.
GAVIRIA RENDON Fernando: Movistar thinks Gaviria deserves super sprinter status, and even though they never really managed to back up a real sprinter, Gaviria will get a much needed change of scenery and clear leader role in the races he wishes. 800 points should be doable.
BAGIOLI Andrea: There’s plenty of chefs on QuickStep, and Bagioli will definitely fight with Alaphilippe in several races, but the guy is so talented and aggressive in his style. An injury-free season will also allow him at least 600 points, and I’m probably understating here.
HONORE Mikkel Frølich: If he stayed at QuickStep, I’d never have picked him, and even though EF isn’t exactly masters of one day races, Honoré is on the verge of breaking through with a big win, and a clear leader role will benefit him. 700 points area expected.
ASGREEN Kasper: I’m seeing the QuickStep theme here, but Asgreen had nothing going for him last season, and this guys motor is incredible - just ask Van Der Poel600 points expected. Probably a consensus top10 pick.
UIJTDEBROEKS Cian: Actually young Cian exceeded my expectations for him last year, but after following him race much of the year, it’s clear this guy is the real deal. His ceiling is very high, and though it might take a year or two for him to break the 1000 points barrier, I wouldn’t risk making another mistake by not picking a very young, extremely talented Belgian.
SIMMONS Quinn: Just like Honoré, Simmons is a case of almost-there. He always lights up the races, makes him fun to watch, and he is sure enough in himself to expect his first (big) win to come this year. I’m gunning for a 500 points season.
VAN WILDER Ilan: Young, talented Belgian - and not just Evenepoels sidekick. I’m sure Logic-is-your-friend would tell everyone to pick him, and he couldn’t possibly be anymore unlucky than last year. 500+ points expected.
SCHACHMANN Maximilian: I don’t really know what went wrong with Schachmann last year, he just never was quite there. Three seasons prior all around the 1000 points tells me last season was the outlier. Expecting 750 points at least. Should be a consensus pick.
ONLEY Oscar: Let’s be honest - I didn’t really know the guy before seeing him race against Vingegaard in Croatia, but boy, was he amazing? DSM seem to have a reasonably flat hierarchy, so if Onley is further improving, there should be big things looming. A little daunting, but I’m going talents this year.
MILAN Jonathan: It was him or Van Uden, and in the end I opted for the guy who already showed great promise in the pro peloton last year. Milan is ready to step up to the next level and has a clear path to a leaders role on a Bahrain team void of sprinting competition bar Bauhaus. Expected 500 points.
STYBAR Zdenek: My standard “old cobbles guy”. Change of scenery to Jayco makes him clear leader, and Stybar himself apparently still thinks he has got what it takes. That’s enough for me, since he’s not Froome400 points expected, potentially a consensus pick as well.
WILLIAMS Stephen: I’d liked it better, if his B&B Hotels team hadn’t collapsed, but I guess Israel has to do - a lot of minor races where he could use his punch. The guy has clearly not gotten enough out of his talents so far, and it’s just one of those cases of “I’ve got a feeling” by seeing his wins in Croatia ´21 and Suisse ’22. I expect 400+ points.
GREGOIRE Romain: Most likely picked too soon, but his performance across the U23 scene has been amazing. Hopefully he’ll translate it to the pros rather sooner than later. Picked more from a talent perspective, but these last years have seen more and more young guys breaking through early on. 200 points is an easy estimate.
BRENNER Marco: Rode far better last year than his results suggest. Remember Brenner is still only 20 years old, and with a Vuelta in his bag now, I’m sure he’s ready to step up a notch this year on a DSM team screaming for results. I expect 400 points.
NYS Thibau: Another cyclocrosser-turned road racer. Still very young and learning, but he’s fast and should get his chances this year. Hard to tell if this year is too soon for him, but in the end I opted for him instead of team mate Hellemose, as I think his ceiling is higher. 200 points expected.
MOSCHETTI Matteo: He bossed the Mallorcan races in early 2020, but since then Moschetti has been rather quiet. I’m hoping that his switch to new Q36.5 (Gotta love that name!) will give him lots of opportunities in smaller races, where wins will raise his confidence - he doesn’t seem so confident. Hard to know his racing program yet, but let’s go with 300 expected points.
MOSCON Gianni: Il trattore - lost his 2022 season to a bacterial infection, but should be back on track now. It’s clear what he’s capable of, when he’s healthy. Astana needs him to step up. 500+ points, should be an easy consensus pick, if people don’t shy away from him because of his personality.
DE PLUS Laurens: I lost count of how many years I’ve picked De Plus in this game. He’s been hindered by a viral infection, which he took a long time to regain race fitness from, and even though he’s still a long way down the pecking order at Ineos, even the mules sometimes get their chances. Let’s say a 200 points outcome is a decent floor.
SCHELLING Ide: Another rider hit with long-covid symptoms last year, so I’m gonna trust his own words and believe he’s better now. Talented Dutchman, expecting a repeat of his 500 points from 2021. Will he be a consensus top15 pick due to his low price?
HOELGAARD Markus: Also Hoelgaard experienced the aftermath of Covid last year, which seems to be a theme for at lot of riders. He’s absolutely more than capable to score 300+ points in a regular season, despite backing up Mads P and Stuyven.
PONOMAR Andriy: Great Ukranian talent, still very young - but has already finished two grand tours. I primarily picked him because of his team change, where I need some guys for the massive amount of French races.
FISHER-BLACK Finn: Massively talented, ended 2022 with a terrible crash, just when he was about to show his big talent. Versatile and highly praised by Mauro Gianetti at UAE. 300+ points this year.
STEINHAUSER Georg: After finishing his studies, we’re now ready to see Steinhauser take on pro cycling full time. With both time trial and climbing skills he should be able to get some chances on a opportunistic EF team. 200 points.
HERMANS Ben: This one is gonna be boom-or-break I think. Also Hermans has been hit hard with long-covid. If he’s not able to return to his old self, he’s not gonna make the 50 points mark, but if healthy there’s 500 points on the table for the taking. I’m taking that odds, hoping for Hermans’ full recovery.
WALLS Matthew: Walls should be completely over that horrific crash in the Commonwealth and will likely resume an important sprinters position again this year. 400+ points expected - curious to see if this is a guy that players find general consensus in, because I just stumbled over him in the last minute.
QUICK Blake: Groves is gone, Blake is Quick. Well, not quite as fast yet, but he will at least get some chances, because of the hole the departure of Groves left at Jayco. Very cheap, let’s say the floor is 200 points.
BERNAL GOMEZ Egan Arley: Well, nothing to say here. Guaranteed to be the top pick in this years game, most likely unanimous, except for those forgetting about him or not caring about the overall win.
DEKKER David: French racing. Period. Okay, that’s a bit rough. Dekker showed potential in his first season, but he has been unlucky, ridden silly/stupid or been hit by sickness. He would’ve easily gotten 200 points anywhere else, but on Arkea I can see a 400+ points season coming up.
Good luck to all this year, but mainly good luck to my team![]()
ROGLIC Primoz |
YATES Simon |
PIDCOCK Thomas |
ALAPHILIPPE Julian |
LUTSENKO Alexey |
SAGAN Peter |
HAIG Jack |
DUNBAR Eddie |
HONORE Mikkel Frølich |
ASGREEN Kasper |
UIJTDEBROEKS Cian |
MASNADA Fausto |
SIMMONS Quinn |
SCHACHMANN Maximilian |
HARPER Chris |
ONLEY Oscar |
HAMILTON Lucas |
GREGOIRE Romain |
MÜHLBERGER Gregor |
SYRITSA Gleb |
DE GENDT Aimé |
MOSCON Gianni |
PERICHON Pierre-Luc |
SCHELLING Ide |
HOELGAARD Markus |
EEKHOFF Nils |
FISHER-BLACK Finn |
PONOMAR Andriy |
HALVORSEN Kristoffer |
HERMANS Ben |
BERNAL GOMEZ Egan Arley |
TARLING Joshua |
HOFSTEDE Lennard |
Traditions are goodI'm glad someone went with Gaviria. I couldn't quite fit him in but I think he's a very worthwile gamble at that price. I didn't want to pick too many returning riders this time around (Cian and Juan being the only ones) but I see you picked most of the guys I would have brought back if I had gone solely on merit (Bagioli, Simmons, Van Wilder, Brenner only missing Baroncini). Since they'll have their breakthrough the year after I pick them as is tradition I expect at least a shout out in your victory speech at the end of the year![]()
Glad to see someone take the gamble on Simon Yates. I really thought about picking him myself. It is insane how many GTs he has had to abandon the last few years.Looking at the teams already in, maybe my team is not as bad as I usually imagine: most of them seem to be picked elsewhere, and Piccolo might be my only main miss. In which case it will come down to the unsuspected successes or the apparently minor picks, where I will probably let myself down again.
I don't think I realised how old Perichon was when I picked him as part of a late reshuffle based on not being confident that Cees Bol was ever going to get that Astana deal.
ROGLIC Primoz YATES Simon PIDCOCK Thomas ALAPHILIPPE Julian LUTSENKO Alexey SAGAN Peter HAIG Jack DUNBAR Eddie HONORE Mikkel Frølich ASGREEN Kasper UIJTDEBROEKS Cian MASNADA Fausto SIMMONS Quinn SCHACHMANN Maximilian HARPER Chris ONLEY Oscar HAMILTON Lucas GREGOIRE Romain MÜHLBERGER Gregor SYRITSA Gleb DE GENDT Aimé MOSCON Gianni PERICHON Pierre-Luc SCHELLING Ide HOELGAARD Markus EEKHOFF Nils FISHER-BLACK Finn PONOMAR Andriy HALVORSEN Kristoffer HERMANS Ben BERNAL GOMEZ Egan Arley TARLING Joshua HOFSTEDE Lennard
Damn, I was really hoping to sneak Arrieta in as a unique pick. Figures that you would be the one to crush my dreamsMy CQ squad for 2023 looks like this.
Magnus Sheffield - 621
Tom Pidcock - 599
Andrea Piccolo - 509
Julian Alaphilippe - 489
Tobias Halland Johannessen - 462
Luke Plapp - 441
Jay Vine - 438
Fred Wright - 416
Nicola Conci - 359
Corbin Strong - 358
Andrea Bagioli - 321
Mikkel Honore - 320
Jason Tesson - 264
Cian Uijtdebroeks - 253
Maximilian Schachmann - 187
Antonio Tiberi - 174
Soren Waerenskjold - 168
Jonathan Milan - 160
Yevgeniy Fedorov - 145
Lenny Martinez - 121
Igor Arrieta - 114
Romain Gregoire - 108
Marco Brenner - 105
Thibau Nys - 102
Matt Dinham - 62
Gianni Moscon - 61
Bastien Tronchon - 50
Markus Hoelgaard - 44
Ben Hermans - 20
Matt Walls - 10
Blake Quick - 6
Egan Bernal - 5
David Dekker - 3
I picked him but, for me, it was certainly an option to leave him outHa! I knew my 30-minute team prep had a flaw. I forgot Bernal!
That actually seems to be his problem- endurance and recuperation.Glad to see someone take the gamble on Simon Yates. I really thought about picking him myself. It is insane how many GTs he has had to abandon the last few years.
SCHMID Mauro | 656 |
PIDCOCK Thomas | 599 |
EWAN Caleb | 576 |
ALAPHILIPPE Julian | 489 |
MEEUS Jordi | 483 |
LUTSENKO Alexey | 454 |
WRIGHT Fred | 416 |
BISSEGGER Stefan | 359 |
SERRANO RODRIGUEZ Gonzalo | 323 |
TULETT Ben | 316 |
LEEMREIZE Gijs | 263 |
BONNAMOUR Franck | 243 |
VAN DIJKE Mick | 240 |
PAGE Hugo | 230 |
SCHACHMANN Maximilian | 187 |
TIBERI Antonio | 174 |
BERTHET Clément | 171 |
BAYER Tobias | 164 |
VAN UDEN Casper | 160 |
MILAN Jonathan | 160 |
CALMEJANE Lilian | 136 |
MARTINEZ Lenny | 121 |
GREGOIRE Romain | 108 |
BRENNER Marco | 105 |
BARRE Louis | 92 |
MOSCON Gianni | 61 |
SCHELLING Ide | 46 |
HOELGAARD Markus | 44 |
EEKHOFF Nils | 40 |
FISHER-BLACK Finn | 37 |
MILESI Lorenzo | 23 |
HEIDUK Kim | 17 |
BERNAL GOMEZ Egan Arley | 5 |
Damn, I was really hoping to sneak Arrieta in as a unique pick. Figures that you would be the one to crush my dreams
Since you also have Johannessen and Tesson, I'm down to Penhoët, Poole, Romo and Laurance as potential unique picks.
#Cycling
— Iñigo Zubeldia (@Inigo_Zubeldia) December 26, 2020
Tienen clase fuera y dentro de la carretera, y ahora, también cantando. ¡TXAPELDUNAK!
🎙 Gorka Izagirre | @josebabeloki | Ion Izagirre | @PelloBilbao1990
🎥 @eitbeus pic.twitter.com/ZU7zgTpKT7
1000-1200 points. I think he's a star.I'm kinda surprised so many already revealed to have picked Piccoli. I had him last year, where I enjoyed his autumn, but I don't see him light it up yet in the spring races. It seems to me the late-season races offer more opportunities for easier points due to fatigue and injuries in the peloton, and even though he already looks like a very capable rider, him getting a 700 points season fx isn't worth a pick IMO. What are peoples expectations to him pointswise?
I really love your team building strategy by the way. I would probably have picked a Roglic or a MVDP or an Ayuso (that's more your type of pick than the other two) rather than the Vine/Wright/Conci trio and I'm a bit surprised to not see Asgreen on your team but that's really my only nitpicks. Nice to see Tronchon on there too, loved his stage win in Burgos last year and he was on multiple drafts but he was part of the last few rounds of cuts to get under budget. I considered Strong and Waerenskjold for a while too, they are some fun high upside picks.I am a keen admirer of Arrieta indeed. Last year was too soon I felt, but this year I didn't hesitate.
I expect a solid progression. Ayuso, Carlos Rodriguez, and Arrieta are the future of Spanish cycling. Contador held the record on Gorla with a time of 20.30 (back in 2001). Igor broke it back in 2019 with 20.29 (In an uphill TT as a junior) though it must be mentioned that Contador did it in Subida a Gorla with a double accent of Gorla to be fair.
ALAPHILIPPE Julian |
VAN DER POEL Mathieu |
ANDERSEN Søren Kragh |
GREGOIRE Romain |
MARTINEZ Lenny |
QUINN Sean |
HERMANS Ben |
CONTI Valerio |
VINK Michael |
PLOWRIGHT Jensen |
SYRITSA Gleb |
HODEG CHAGUI Alvaro Jose |
WATSON Samuel |
UIJTDEBROEKS Cian |
MAS NICOLAU Enric |
HAYTER Leo |
TARLING Joshua |
BERNAL GOMEZ Egan Arley |
HERZOG Emil |
MIHOLJEVIC Fran |
SVRCEK Martin |
QUICK Blake |
HAIG Jack |
SCHACHMANN Maximilian |
ASKEY Lewis |
VERNON Ethan |
KÄMNA Lennard |
MASNADA Fausto |
SHEFFIELD Magnus |
MÄDER Gino |
LUTSENKO Alexey |
STEINHAUSER Georg |
LEONARD Michael |
Moscon being the most popular rider would be hilarious!Okay I'm back to the computer to do, err, some more compiling! I'm working on the popularity tab, hope to get that out in the next few hours before I turn it in for the night. I've got a bit of work to do, but I should have it done in a few hours. If anyone wants to get in a guess of the top 5 or 10 picks, have at it, you've got a couple of hours.
I'm about 2/3 of the way through, but it seems like there's a clear #1 pick for this game. Wanna guess who? I'll say 2 things: 1) they're ahead by about 6-7 teams over their nearest competitor now, and 2) it wasn't who I would have guessed was the top pick.![]()
I could see Bernal slipping through the cracks a few times if people are a bit rushed/not careful when putting their team together but there's zero reason why anyone would leave Alaphilippe out when putting together a serious team. So I'll guess Alaphilippe.Okay I'm back to the computer to do, err, some more compiling! I'm working on the popularity tab, hope to get that out in the next few hours before I turn it in for the night. I've got a bit of work to do, but I should have it done in a few hours. If anyone wants to get in a guess of the top 5 or 10 picks, have at it, you've got a couple of hours.
I'm about 2/3 of the way through, but it seems like there's a clear #1 pick for this game. Wanna guess who? I'll say 2 things: 1) they're ahead by about 6-7 teams over their nearest competitor now, and 2) it wasn't who I would have guessed was the top pick.![]()
I never considered Kuss, but that's a very low price for a rider of his caliber. There's not much downside and probably not much upside either if everybody stays healthy at Jumbo but if leadership opportunities open up, he could have a Martinez-like season. I really thought Vermeersch was the real deal after his Roubaix performance in 2021 but he didn't really back it up last year. To be fair he was often used as a domestique for De Lie which doesn't help him scoring wise. Not sure how to explain his fairly anonymous campaign on the cobbles however.My wildcards here are the Jumbo trio of Kuss, Leemreize, M. van Dijke, and Lotto's Florian Vermeersch. I am quite bullish about them but they could turn out to be duds
I have the pleasure of introducing The Basque Street Boys
A team consisting of riders who has either ridden for the original or the current Euskaltel-Euskadi or for any of their feeder teams or who can be considered Basque in some sense or another (please note that I have listed them according to their 2022 CQ scores, not by I what deem to be their Basqueness).
There are however also a few known exceptions, and there might also be some I haven't spotted. Explanations are given for some of them.
HIGUITA GARCIA Sergio Andres 1320
Perhaps a bit controversial since he only rode for FE for a few months before the EF move, but I think he fits in quite well, and most of his old teammates are also here, so he won't be lonely. I thought Unai Cuadrado was in the team, too, but I apparently forgot him when I redid it
BILBAO LOPEZ DE ARMENTIA Pello 1304
LANDA MEANA Mikel 817
ARANBURU DEBA Alexander 618
IZAGIRRE INSAUSTI Ion 565
LASTRA MARTINEZ Jonathan 345
BIZKARRA ETXEGIBEL Mikel 229
RODRIGUEZ GARAICOECHEA Oscar 192
BARCELO ARAGON Fernando 184
BARTHE Cyril 149
LAZKANO LOPEZ Oier 148
FRAILE MATARRANZ Omar 142
ARRIETA LIZARRAGA Igor 114
ABERASTURI IZAGA Jon 108
JUARISTI ARRIETA Txomin 108
MARTIN SANZ Gotzon 104
CASTROVIEJO NICOLAS Jonathan 98
IZAGIRRE INSAUSTI Gorka 95
PETERS Nans 91 I had to keep one of my non-Basque darlings
AZPARREN IRURZUN Xabier Mikel 84
CABEDO CARDA Oscar 65
CANAL BLANCO Carlos 63
BOU COMPANY Joan 59
SOTO GUIRAO Antonio Jesus 37
AZURMENDI SAGASTIBELTZA Ibai 30
ROMEO ABAD Ivan 29
He isn't Basque (at least not by birth), but he is a product of the MMR Academy founded by Samuel Sánchez
ITURRIA SEGUROLA Mikel 28
IRIBAR JAUREGI Unai 25
LOBATO DEL VALLE Juan Jose 23
SANCHEZ MAYO Pelayo 11
Another MMR Academy graduate who's still in contact with Samu. On top of that, his matriname is Mayo
ETXEBERRIA ZAFRA Asier 7
GOIKOETXEA GOIOGANA Peio 0
CHAOUFI Tarik 0
He wasn't a good signing for the original E-E team in its last season, and he hasn't actually scored a single CQ point since 2015. But people with nothing to lose can sometimes be dangerous
And there is of course also a team anthem:
View: https://twitter.com/Inigo_Zubeldia/status/1342907218614738946#Cycling
— Iñigo Zubeldia (@Inigo_Zubeldia) December 26, 2020
Tienen clase fuera y dentro de la carretera, y ahora, también cantando. ¡TXAPELDUNAK!
🎙 Gorka Izagirre | @josebabeloki | Ion Izagirre | @PelloBilbao1990
🎥 @eitbeus pic.twitter.com/ZU7zgTpKT7