The 2025 CQ Ranking Manager Thread

[Salvarani]

Lineup for TDU

PLAPP Luke
VINE Jay
JOHANSEN Julius
TORRES Pablo
PESCADOR Diego
VAN BAARLE Dylan
BRENNAN Matthew
GLOAG Thomas
WITHEN PHILIPSEN Albert
BAGIOLI Andrea

Decent haul and decent start so far. Cant complain.

 

[ingsve]

Oh... so BYR is the only jersey you don't get extra points for?

Ya, that has never given extra CQ points in any competition, not even the GTs. After all if the young rider is far enough up in the standings they get points anyway for their finish so adding extra for BYR it would be like giving double points for the same result.

 

[Anderis]

Four riders in profit now. Reasonably content with TDU, though I am slightly disappointed that Onley didn't score better. So is he according to CN.

I see that Gloag will be into profit as well with TdU GC points as the 3rd rider both for me and for you but who's your 4th rider?

 

[Samu Cuenca]

With four stage wins I can't complain too much, but I would have liked Bagioli and Higuita to have contributed with a couple of more points between them. Van der Hoorn finishing last is not overly promising, but at this point last season, he was still 7 months away from making a comeback, so all points count as bonuses at the moment.

And Taaramäe almost won the ITT in Sharjah.

 

[RedheadDane]

Ya, that has never given extra CQ points in any competition, not even the GTs. After all if the young rider is far enough up in the standings they get points anyway for their finish so adding extra for BYR it would be like giving double points for the same result.

I suppose that does make sense. Though, I wonder what's the worst position the winner of the BYR competition (in a WT race) has ever finished in. More specifically, if it has ever been low enough that he only got the standard 5 points for finishing.

 

[armchairclimber]

I see that Gloag will be into profit as well with TdU GC points as the 3rd rider both for me and for you but who's your 4th rider?

Philipsen, Brunel, Tjotta adn Gloag.

 

[ingsve]

Ya, might be a significant mistake to not even consider Morgado this year. Just a matter of how big of a mistake.

 

[armchairclimber]

Ya, might be a significant mistake to not even consider Morgado this year. Just a matter of how big of a mistake.

Had him last two years. My worry is that he'll spend a lot of the season as UAE's engine room. But he does look to be even stronger.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Morgado looks fantastic. Brutally strong. He'll be a force this year for sure. Only question is if he can get more consistent and perform on a high level all year.

 

[Salvarani]

Decent haul and decent start so far. Cant complain.

A promising start with Buitrago today also. Hopefully bodes well.

 

[Salvarani]

Had him last two years. My worry is that he'll spend a lot of the season as UAE's engine room. But he does look to be even stronger.

He could clean up in Mallorca for starters in this form... and be close to profit already for his managers.

Question is if it is sustainable and if he can be consistent. I guess this is where his young age may be a factor, but naturally he should have progressed some going into this season.

We have seen young riders have great starts before though and then fizzled out a bit. Not the same type of rider but McNulty had a big start in these early Spanish races before. He had 532 points after P-N already, ended the season on 731 points in 2022.

Right now it is just very hard to see who will continue to be good throughout the year. Very hard to predict, just gotta be happy about a good start for riders that you have picked.

 

[ingsve]

Some early stats now that the results of the weekend are all in. One notable difference to last year is that the points are not as evenly spread as last year. At this point last year there were 47 teams that had more than 400 points. This year it's only 22. This seems to go fairly hand in hand with the popularity of Luke Plapp. Last year 40 teams had him and this year only 20 teams do and the extra points he had available to him at his Nationals seems to be the main difference with most other things being fairly equal.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

We have seen young riders have great starts before though and then fizzled out a bit. Not the same type of rider but McNulty had a big start in these early Spanish races before. He had 532 points after P-N already, ended the season on 731 points in 2022.

McNulty did two GTs on domestique duty that year which helps explain the dropoff (and is IMO also simply not quite as talented as Morgado). Don't think it's a great comparison.

 

[Salvarani]

McNulty did two GTs on domestique duty that year which helps explain the dropoff (and is IMO also simply not quite as talented as Morgado). Don't think it's a great comparison.

Wasnt a comparison, just an example.

 

[repre]

I underestimated effect of departure of 2k+ Hirschi's points from UAE. Nice Morgado pick for his owners. Also Covi's pick came year earlier for me it seems.

 

[RedheadDane]

My riders for the week:

AlUla
Bjerg
Changizi
Wallin

Mallorca
Charmig
Kamp
Kron
Nielsen
Valgren
Wandahl

Surf/CEGORR
Hellemose
Lund
Norsgaard
Pedersen
Withen

Marseille
Gregaard
Stokbro

 

[DJW]

Some decent early points from Gloag and Morgado for me. Hoping the latter can farm a lot more points at the Mallorca races this week. Less hopeful of Pithie repeating his CEGORR win but we shall see:

Mallorca
Pelizzarri
Morgado
Van Bekkum
Herzog

Surf/CEGORR
Withen
Pithie
TTT

Marseille
Tarling
Sutton
Seixas

 

[Earns1985]

Hmm, seems that I really have to stay patient here. Visma will not ride CEGORR. Had hopes, that Brennan could score here.

Otherwise, most of my expensive picks are still waiting with their season start. Vingegaard and van Aert in Portugal mid february, Gall for the UAE Tour. Paul Magnier will start in Besseges.
At least Lipowitz and Demare are scheduled for Mallorca..

Any news, when Riccitello will start his season? UAE Tour like last year? Israel - Premier - Tech will also ride in Valencia and Tour de Provence, where they didn´t announce their roster yet..

 

[Earns1985]

I underestimated effect of departure of 2k+ Hirschi's points from UAE. Nice Morgado pick for his owners. Also Covi's pick came year earlier for me it seems.

Yes with Hirschi, Fisher-Black and Ulissi three riders, who rode these races, left UAE this year.
Thought, that Narvaez would mostly fill this gap, but it seems that he will most likely be used in the bigger one-day races together with Pogacar.

So potential for Morgado and J. Christen is really pretty high this year, although I read somewhere, that J. Christen will also try a bit GC in stage races this year and is scheduled for the vuelta. Will be interesting, if they also let Morgado ride a GC this year, if he continues to be that good. Until now, he is not scheduled yet, I think.

 

[Salvarani]

Yes with Hirschi, Fisher-Black and Ulissi three riders, who rode these races, left UAE this year.
Thought, that Narvaez would mostly fill this gap, but it seems that he will most likely be used in the bigger one-day races together with Pogacar.

So potential for Morgado and J. Christen is really pretty high this year, although I read somewhere, that J. Christen will also try a bit GC in stage races this year and is scheduled for the vuelta. Will be interesting, if they also let Morgado ride a GC this year, if he continues to be that good. Until now, he is not scheduled yet, I think.

Narvaez, Morgado or Christen will likely compete in a number of one-day races.

They also have guys like McNulty, Sivakov, Ayuso, Wellens... who will also compete in a lot of one-day races.

Their team is stacked.

 

[armchairclimber]

No massive hopes for this week.

Mallorca:
Pellizzari
Kron
Christen

Aus:
Nerurkar
Beloki
AWP
Onley
Pescador
Hellemose


Marseille:
Chamberlain
Lafay
Seixas
Izquierdo
Brunel

Most interested in Kron, Pellizzari, Hellemose, Lafay, Seixas and especially Chamberlain.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I watched the last few km of Sharjah today and was almost fooled into thinking Taaramäe was winning, because Josh Kench's Li Ning kit resembles an old Cofidis jersey with Estonian NC bands. Rein held on to 3rd overall, so it could have been worse, and Josh Burnett's second place helps me in the 24-26 ERG.

Now on to the next races in which some of my other riders will be riding, presumably.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Bit disappointed by my TDU showing. I had a weak team, so my expectations weren't high, but I had some hope that Nerurkar would do well here. It was the perfect race for him to perform and rack in some GC points, but he failed big time. He did have a crash on stage 3 (or 2? I don't remember), which could explain his performance - at least I hope so.

 

[RedheadDane]

I watched the last few km of Sharjah today and was almost fooled into thinking Taaramäe was winning, because Josh Kench's Li Ning kit resembles an old Cofidis jersey with Estonian NC bands.

You thought he was a time travelling Taaramae from 2014?

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

Looking forward to see how Jordan Jegat will perform in Saudi Arabia.
I have him and Zukowsky to defend my position in the overall over there.