The 2025 CQ Ranking Manager Thread

[hayneplane]

Happy about Bagioli, but getting slightly worried by the fact that Pithie got beaten in the sprint for second by Aaron Gate!

Gate is good in those kind of reduced groups. Still got warm feelings towards him as he did well for me last year when he was a unique pick in my debut CQ team.

Didn’t think me could significantly increase his points again to be a value pick but that is an excellent result today.

 

[hayneplane]

Although he only finished fifth in the end, my condolences to everyone who missed out Paul Seixas this year!

The group played themselves out of contention like Pogacar getting 4th in a 2up sprint at RVV2022. Seixas rescued a good result and 5th on first pro race day at 18 along with how strong he looked is a great sign for future races.

 

[ingsve]

The group played themselves out of contention like Pogacar getting 4th in a 2up sprint at RVV2022. Seixas rescued a good result and 5th on first pro race day at 18 along with how strong he looked is a great sign for future races.

Ya, it was very well done. Especially since he looked like he was almost finished and the weakest of the bunch at around 8k to go.

 

[Earns1985]

The group played themselves out of contention like Pogacar getting 4th in a 2up sprint at RVV2022. Seixas rescued a good result and 5th on first pro race day at 18 along with how strong he looked is a great sign for future races.

Yes and it's really rare, that a rider coming straight from the juniors fights in his first pro race for the win. Not even Pogacar managed that. I remember that Evenepoel finished 8th in Argentina in his first Pro race..

 

[hayneplane]

Yes and it's really rare, that a rider coming straight from the juniors fights in his first pro race for the win. Not even Pogacar managed that. I remember that Evenepoel finished 8th in Argentina in his first Pro race..

Obviously there is risk of recency bias but there can’t be many examples of a teenager doing this well in their debut pro race in a decent field.

 

[EvansIsTheBest]

Obviously there is risk of recency bias but there can’t be many examples of a teenager doing this well in their debut pro race in a decent field.

I'd argue that Sagan immediately battling the likes of Evans and Valverde in the TDU was more impressive.

 

[Squire]

I'd argue that Sagan immediately battling the likes of Evans and Valverde in the TDU was more impressive.

He turned 20 a few days after that race though. Spent his first U23 year in a Slovakian conti team, getting some decent results in Eastern European .2 races.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Yes and it's really rare, that a rider coming straight from the juniors fights in his first pro race for the win. Not even Pogacar managed that. I remember that Evenepoel finished 8th in Argentina in his first Pro race..

If we can include ITT performances, Evenepoel came 3rd in one there, and Tarling 2nd in the ITT of his first race.

 

[Earns1985]

Oh damn it, I have no rider at all in Valencia this year..

 

[armchairclimber]

Ah, finally the startlist. Blackmore making his debut for this year. I also have Lenny Martinez, Ivan Romeo, Andrew August and Jelte Krijnsen to keep me interested,
Should be fun.
Izquierdo, Mikhels, Penhoet, Lafay, Chamberlain and Brunel in France.

I seem to share a lot of riders with @Jakob747 , just not the big Aussie point scorers.

 

[Panda Claws]

Ferron baby

 

[Shakes]

Updated website slightly. Now some more details for riders (example for Plapp):

CQ Cycling Game - 2025: GC

It now shows which races the rider got points. This is a step to make game more flexible, e.g. for Spring Classics game where only a set number of races apply. This can now be facilitated as individual race data is on, instead of just the total CQ Points per rider of the year on a certain date.

 

[hayneplane]

Updated website slightly. Now some more details for riders (example for Plapp):

CQ Cycling Game - 2025: GC

It now shows which races the rider got points. This is a step to make game more flexible, e.g. for Spring Classics game where only a set number of races apply. This can now be facilitated as individual race data is on, instead of just the total CQ Points per rider of the year on a certain date.

That is a fantastic resource. Great job.

 

[armchairclimber]

Updated website slightly. Now some more details for riders (example for Plapp):

CQ Cycling Game - 2025: GC

It now shows which races the rider got points. This is a step to make game more flexible, e.g. for Spring Classics game where only a set number of races apply. This can now be facilitated as individual race data is on, instead of just the total CQ Points per rider of the year on a certain date.

It really has been a Game Changer your site. Thanks for you efforts.

 

[ingsve]

Here are my starts for the coming week.

Volta Valenciana
Robert Donaldson
Alexander Kamp
Ethan Vernon

Etoille Besseges
Florian Senechal
Remi Cavagna
Rasmus Tiller

Muscat+Oman
Florian Vermeersch
Ethan Hayter
Cian Uijtdebroecks
Jörgen Nordhagen
(Start list not finished yet)

 

[RedheadDane]

These guys will be in action this week:

Valenciana
Johansen
Kamp
Wandahl

Bessèges
Cort
Gregaard
Stokbro
Søjberg

(So far it doesn't appear like I'll have any riders in Oman. However, but Changizi and Wallin did Alula, so not unthinkable they're staying in the region.)

 

[Earns1985]

What´s up with Lafay? First he was dropped from the startlist in Marseille and now from Besseges..

Any news about that?

 

[bminchow]

Yes, what is up with Lafay? And when will my guys start racing?

Volta Valenciana
Huub Artz
Robert Donaldson
Jacob Soderqvist

all rookies!?

Etoille Besseges
Nada - not a single rider

Muscat+Oman
Florian Vermeersch
Cian Uijtdebroecks
Jörgen Nordhagen
Niklas Behrens
Jay Vine

Thats a little better

 

[armchairclimber]

Quite excited to have a fair number of riders making their seasonal debut this week .... on top of some who have already raced. Blackmore, Uijtdebroeks, Nordhagen, Bittner, Penhoet, Romeo, August and Miklhels.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Seven Trek riders and none of them are being fielded in either Bessèges or Valencia, not even Ciccone who started his season at the latter in 2022 and 2023 before being injured last year... this is a very slow start to the season for my team.

 

[postmanhat]

Omitting Bagioli already looking like my first big mistake of the year, but Ferron's win has offset that for now. Had never seen him interviewed before, and while he seems like a lovely bloke, not the most naturally confident perhaps? Hopefully, this result will help and the team might give him more opportunties.

Otherwise, my team seems a little workshy so far, and their rotas are all over the place this week.

Valenciana
Sosa

Besseges
Ganna
Turner
Tiller
Cavagna
Gelders
Van Gestel

Oman/Muscat
Vermeersch
Uijtdebroeks*

*Just remembered that one of the reasons for not selecting him last year was avoiding spelling his name.

 

[armchairclimber]

Omitting Bagioli already looking like my first big mistake of the year, but Ferron's win has offset that for now. Had never seen him interviewed before, and while he seems like a lovely bloke, not the most naturally confident perhaps? Hopefully, this result will help and the team might give him more opportunties.

Otherwise, my team seems a little workshy so far, and their rotas are all over the place this week.

Valenciana
Sosa

Besseges
Ganna
Turner
Tiller
Cavagna
Gelders
Van Gestel

Oman/Muscat
Vermeersch
Uijtdebroeks*

*Just remembered that one of the reasons for not selecting him last year was avoiding spelling his name.

Just call him Weatabix. The Belgian fans love that. They think it's hilarious.

 

[Earns1985]

Yes, what is up with Lafay? And when will my guys start racing?

Team statement:
He is just sick. We will see him back in action soon!

 

[skidmark]

Update #2: Making a marksi

Okay, the Aussie races are over and we are swinging into the European and early season Middle Eastern calendar! Lost of racing with the AlUla Tour, Mallorca Challenge, two 1-days Down Under, and La Marseillaise. Some decent scores, and one team topping 500 points!

This Week's Top Scorers

Rank	Team	Points this week
1	marksi	509
2	Lortnoc	431
3	Laurens147	406
4	Nevs	383
5	peixotini	373

Newcomer marksi tops the standings this week, scoring 509 points thanks largely to rare picks Mauro Schmid (180 points, 10 teams), Laurence Pithie (92, 15), Antonio Morgado (68, 16), Sam Welsford (48, 11), as well as less rare picks Andrea Bagioli (70, 56) and getting-his-first-pro-points Paul Seixas (32, 66). Lortnoc ends up in 2nd thanks to Schmid/Bagioli/Seixas as well as Jan Christen (80, 14) and Tim Torn Teutenberg (64, 17), and Laurens147 ends in 3rd thanks to Schmid/Teuternberg/Seixas and Alan Hatherly (60, 8).

This Week's High Movers

Rank	Team	Up/down
1	Laurens147	(+33)
1	Armchair cyclist	(+33)
3	abbulf	(+28)
3	peixotini	(+28)
3	Nevs	(+28)

Lots of movement in the charts this early in the season, with a lot of ups and downs, but Laurens147 doubles up on the podium this week, moving up 33 spots. Their team is tied for first with Armchair Cyclist, who does the same (Shchmid leads the way, with Johannes Kulset - 69, 6 - as a rider who hasn't been mentioned), and a 3-way tie for third.

Green Jersey Competition

Rank	Team	Total
1	marksi	61
2	Lortnoc	49
3	DJ Sprtsch	45
4	Jakob747	43
5	Laurens147	30
5	the asian	30

marksi also takes the lead in the Green Jersey competition, thanks to 45 points for the weekly win on top of 16 placing points last week.

For those new to the game (or who need a reminder), the Green Jersey is a sub-competition in this game, much like it works at the Grand Tours. Teams are giving finishing points for top 15 placings every week, and this is added cumulatively through the season. Points are based on the point breakdown of TdF sprint stages of the mid-2010s, so it's 45-35-30-26-22-20-18-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2 for the top 15. Ties in weekly points split the average, so if there was a tie for first each team would get 40 each, tied for 14th would get 3 each, any number of teams tied for 15th would get 1 point each. 3-or-more-way ties would be split by average as well.

Top 10 Overall

Rank	Up/down	Team	Points
1	(-)	DJ Sprtsch	1176
2	(-)	Jakob747	1094
3	(+5)	marksi	1079
4	(+5)	Lortnoc	979
5	(-)	Gotland	952
6	(-2)	Object	864
7	(+7)	ingsve	806
8	(-5)	the asian	787
9	(-2)	skidmark	730
9	(+9)	triley36	730

DJ Sprtsch scored enough in the first part of the Aussie summer to hold on comfortably in first despite not dominating this week, whereas the top scorers from this week move into 3rd and 4th overall. ingsve and triley36 are new to the top 10, while Sneekes and Salvarani fall out of it.

This week sees a couple of early season stage races in the 2.PS Valenciana race and the 2.1 Etoile de Besseges, while in the middle east there is the Muscat Classic and the start of the Tour of Oman.

spreadsheet link

 

[skidmark]

Please note this issue affecting only the "Rankings" tab: every year Armchair Cyclist posts a "Collective Wisdom" team, meaning they're made up of the 33 most popular riders (with some rejigging at the margins if those don't fit perfectly the 7500 point limit). I include this team (called PopTeam1) on the "Rankings" tab but not the "Update" tab - this is for fun, so that participants can track how this collective team might compare to the individually selected teams. This team is not eligible for weekly rankings (ie Green Jersey points) and is not in the 'official' overall, which is in the "Update" tab.

Also, team vickyriso was submitted 5 hours after the publication deadline. They have assured me that they didn't look at any teams posted and I certainly have no reason to disbelieve this, but in the name of fairness and in keeping with prior year precedent I have treated their team the same as the Collective Wisdom team, ie not eligible officially but included on the updates so that they can follow along in the game.

I recognize that might be confusing that the "Rankings" tab might differ from the "Update" tab, but am interested in allowing maximum engagement with this game so that's my imperfect solution.