The 2023 CQ Ranking Manager Thread

[Jumbo Visma Fan :)]

Good start for Sheffield, I expect him to take a few ITT wins this year. Congrats to Bettiol though.

 

[tobydawq]

Great start with Bettiol obviously but really annoying with Honoré's crashes. Schachmann didn't do well, either. Yates was okay but rode at the worst time.

 

[repre]

Great start with Bettiol obviously but really annoying with Honoré's crashes. Schachmann didn't do well, either. Yates was okay but rode at the worst time.

Schachmann was okay, not many riders were faster in his slot.

 

[Salvarani]

Schachmann was okay, not many riders were faster in his slot.

Considering he hasnt been racing since the Tour it was a pretty okay result, even though it doesnt say very much this early in the season.

 

[bminchow]

The rain gods are apparently rooting for my team. Not too bad to have Bettiol as a unique pick, it seems like

Now that was lucky, but also a nice unique pick. Way to go!

 

[bminchow]

Great start with Bettiol obviously but really annoying with Honoré's crashes. Schachmann didn't do well, either. Yates was okay but rode at the worst time.

It was crashes? Okay. I feel a little better now.

 

[tobydawq]

It was crashes? Okay. I feel a little better now.

Yes, he crashed two times. So did his teammate, Sean Quinn.

It's probably because they were inspired by their teammate Bissegger who did the same on the opening stage of the Tour last year.

 

[Nevs]

Yes, he crashed two times. So did his teammate, Sean Quinn.

It's probably because they were inspired by their teammate Bissegger who did the same on the opening stage of the Tour last year.

That's because I had Bisseger on my VDS team last year
And I've got Honoré here this year.

So crashing once or twice is just to be expected.

 

[BR2]

Good start for Sheffield, I expect him to take a few ITT wins this year. Congrats to Bettiol though.

Honestly this looks extremely promising for Sheffield's season in my eyes.

 

[EvansIsTheBest]

Honestly this looks extremely promising for Sheffield's season in my eyes.

I'm really curious to see what he can do in the classics this year.

 

[skidmark]

Update #2: Top Teams are Feeling Vine

Because of the unusual timing sequence of the Aussie nationals (normally TT is before RR and they are both in the same calendar week), and because CQ decided to stick with their sometimes-broken orthodoxy of getting updates out every Sunday/Monday, the CQ game has been treated to 2 updates for the price of 1!

This week's main event was the Aussie TT won by Jay Vine, gaining a whopping 50 points. The 2.2 New Zealand Cycling Classic was completed, and across an ocean the northern hemisphere calendar got started as the 2.2 Vuelta al Tachira got underway, but neither of these impacted the game too much (I noticed that Squire's unique pick Lucas Carstensen picked up a handy 4 points in NZ; anyone else got some from these races?)

This Week's Top Scorers

1	DJW	92
2	bminchow	70
2	Jakob747	70
2	zaka_fan	70
5	Poles & Co	50
5	Whoops	50
5	karaev	50

A pretty simple formula got these teams here: Vine (50 points) + Plapp for 3 teams (20 points); and for DJW, a unique combo of Vine, Kell O'Brien (25 points) and Chris Harper (17). That's enough for the weekly win! They all count

This Week's High Movers

1	karaev	(+26)
2	Googolplex	(+24)
3	manafana	(+22)
3	Nyssinator	(+22)
3	yoyokt	(+22)

There's usually a fair amount of movement with a few points at the start of the season, as lots of the teams had no points last week and were tied for wherever that was in the table, but just a few points can rocket up the standings. Karaev takes the cake for this one, moving 26 spots on 50 points from Vine.

Green Jersey Competition

1	bminchow	75.3
2	Jakob747	65.3
3	DJW	45
4	zaka_fan	42.3
5	rote_laterne	38.5

All these teams save DJW scored in Green Jersey last week, and the three teams tied for 2nd get an awkward decimal in their scores as they split the points for those three spots at (35 + 30 + 26) / 3 = 30.3. That can be enough to give an edge down the road in a tight season; like I said above, every week counts!

Top 10 Overall

Rank	Up/down	Team	Points
1	(-)	bminchow	196
2	(-)	Jakob747	176
3	(+4)	zaka_fan	170
4	(+3)	greenedge	145
5	(-2)	rote_laterne	142
6	(-3)	Squire	129
7	(-4)	Blues in the bottle	125
7	(-4)	ray10	125
9	(-2)	18-Valve. (pithy)	120
9	(-2)	armchairclimber	120
9	(-2)	Devils_Elbow	120
9	(-2)	Rufs	120
9	(-2)	Salvarani	120

Very similar rankings to last week, as the top 3 teams had Vine + Plapp, and Plapp with 20 points was still one of the highest scoring riders picked this week after his 100 last week gave teams a great head start.

This week, we've got the TdU rolling out as an appetizer for high-level international fields, while by the end of the weekend we'll have stage 1 of San Juan and the newly-upgraded 1.1 Valenciana race to kick off the European calendar. It's happening!

spreadsheet at dropbox

 

[SafeBet]

I'm really curious to see what he can do in the classics this year.

I'm actually curious to see what he can do in stage races if given opportunities.

 

[Salvarani]

The rain gods are apparently rooting for my team. Not too bad to have Bettiol as a unique pick, it seems like

There are two teams with Bettiol, according to the spreadsheet.

 

[Squire]

Thanks for the update, skidmark!

As you noted, Carstensen got a nice win in the NZ Cycle Classic (only worth 4 points, but a good start) to put me ahead of my fellow Plapp/Ewan teams in the top 10. First unique pick to get a win this year I think.

My TDU team:
MOSCON Gianni
PENHOËT Paul
PLAPP Luke
HONORÉ Mikkel Frølich
SCHACHMANN Maximilian
EWAN Caleb

Decent team as everyone can potentially score points from this race, so maybe I can continue my streak of green jersey points next week as well.

Shame about Honoré's crash and time loss, but if there's one thing this game has taught me, it is that everyone will have some bad luck at some point. Ewan looking good so far, but struggles a bit with lack of support. Let's hope for at least one stage win. Don't know if Plapp going for mountain points is a good or a bad sign! But the jersey is worth a stage win, so at least there are some points there if he's not in the running for the overall.

 

[Salvarani]

Shame about Honoré's crash and time loss, but if there's one thing this game has taught me, it is that everyone will have some bad luck at some point.

Yup, and crashes also happens in training.

Juan Pedro López (Trek-Segafredo) is out with a fractured collarbone after crashing during training on Tuesday, and today Aimé De Gendt (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) has also gone down with the same injury after a training crash. The latter I have on my team, who was picked by three others as well. Hopefully he makes it back in time for the classics, where I had hope he might be able to score points in some races.

 

[Anderis]

Still 0.

 

[armchairclimber]

Sadly I don't have Vine (who looks the likely winner) or Sheffield, but do have 6 riders in the top 30 who can all climb, so am hopeful of some positive moves from them over Corkscrew tomorrow.. I'd love to see maybe Vader or Germani getting into a break and trying something ... Vader especially (even if I'm not keen on the JV team for some reason).

 

[vladimir]

There are two teams with Bettiol, according to the spreadsheet.

I am the other one with Bettiol, and from being very excited, I am now mostly concerned. The last time I remember he cramped was in the Olympics, and after that he didn't race for five months. Hope it's not that serious now...

 

[tobydawq]

I am the other one with Bettiol, and from being very excited, I am now mostly concerned. The last time I remember he cramped was in the Olympics, and after that he didn't race for five months. Hope it's not that serious now...

I think he's just very prone to cramping. It also happened in Strade Bianche one year. A bit annoying really but not too worrying, I think (and hope).

 

[Anderis]

I think he's just very prone to cramping. It also happened in Strade Bianche one year. A bit annoying really but not too worrying, I think (and hope).

Well, his autoimmune issues affect his digestive track so it's not difficult to imagine his nutrient absorbtion capabilities may be affected at times, which could cause cramping, but that's my speculation.

Still 0.

Not different after today either.

 

[RedheadDane]

Not a great day for my team...
Strong loses time.
Sheffield loses time.

 

[armchairclimber]

I had an awesome day. Milan Vader picked up 1 point.

 

[Whoops]

Vine looking good for the gc win.

Gianni Moscon crashed and has a possible collarbone fracture

 

[Earns1985]

Hmmm, right now I really regret taking Vine out of my team. He looks super strong, which could lead to a lot of points for him dring the season. But the season is long and most of you did the same (not including him) so I am staying optimistic for the game..

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I joked about making a team of riders with surnames starting with A for the women's game, but a team of B-riders wouldn't actually have been so bad for TDU. My unique pick Bilbao is off to a great start.