The 2026 CQ Ranking Manager Thread

[Shakes]

Later than last year but Teams are online @ https://www.cqmanager.com ! Also, for my own convenience, added a Forum Discussion tab that leads directly to last page on here. Please give feedback on whether everything works! As this is redone as my other hosting will die off and I set it up completely different now. As mentioned before, this should be much snappier and faster when loading.


Think @Armchair Cyclist showed my strategy of picking quite well. I am a value investor, so I buy what went down. Anyway:

My most expensive pick I already regret: Biniam Girmay. I picked the team in a rush and no idea what I was thinking. Don't expect him to do much better than last year. I doubt I can still change him?

I have several GC hopefuls. That hopefully all will place top 10 in some GT and properly in one week stage races. Go O'Connor, Tiberi, Mas, Rodriguez, Felipe Martinez and Gaudu. I also picked another Carlos Rodriguez because... why not?

Nys showed some amazing performance in the past but is not always consistent. His CX has been quite ok (when he does not break his handlebars). Widar, another Belgian, is a GC hopeful. Lotto does not have much else so he is free to chase his goals. Let's hope he is fit and has plenty.

Every year needs Visma riders that were injured. Last year was Vingegaard and Van Aert. Van Aert was roughly the same price now and while a fan... decided to go cheaper. Go Laporte and Zingle!

Valgren I had before as well and I am still a believer.

The youth has the future. Go Decomble, Steinhauser (not that young but was injured), Tuckwell and Mattio. Not that many as I'd want but didn't take the time to look properly.

Then some various other riders. lamperti, Cosnefroy, van Eetvelt, Zana, Vermaerke, Poole (Picnic no longer has Onley, so everything on Poole), Thijssen (was sub par in CX though), Valter (free from Visma), Vansevenant (free from Remco), Krijnsen, Taminiaux (who?), Mattio (who again?), and Pelayo Sanchez.

 

[Shakes]

Also added similarity there, measured in two different ways. See: https://www.cqmanager.com/#random_stats

To put it simply, Similarity is the average ownership percentage of your riders across the league (how "mainstream" your team is), while the Diversity Index measures the variance in that ownership (whether you have a consistent mid-tier team or a polarized mix of superstars and "nobodies"). Then based on those stats categorized it (arbitrarily):
Template: Similarity > 30% AND Diversity < 20%
Maverick: Similarity < 25% AND Diversity < 20%
Balanced Gambler: Diversity > 25%
Calculated Mid-Tier: Otherwise

I am boring and Calculated Mid Tier... Yawn.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Thijssen (was sub par in CX though)

You mean the Gerben Thijssen who has done 0 (UCI-sanctioned) CX races in his life?

 

[tobydawq]

You mean the Gerben Thijssen who has done 0 (UCI-sanctioned) CX races in his life?

Maybe confused with Gerben Kuypers? It is astonishing to me that two different people can be named Gerben... What kind of a name is that?

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Maybe confused with Gerben Kuypers? It is astonishing to me that two different people can be named Gerben... What kind of a name is that?

It really isn't that uncommon a name in the Netherlands and Flanders, although a bit old-fashioned these days. In fact, you have more than two Gerbens in cycling - 14-time Vuelta and 6-time Tour stage winner Gerben Karstens and Dutch CX and MTB national coach Gerben de Knegt come to mind.

 

[tobydawq]

It really isn't that uncommon a name in the Netherlands and Flanders, although a bit old-fashioned these days. In fact, you have more than two Gerbens in cycling - 14-time Vuelta and 6-time Tour stage winner Gerben Karstens and Dutch CX and MTB national coach Gerben de Knegt come to mind.

Yeah, I just Googled the name. Apparently, six out of 17 famous people who have ever born the name are cyclists. That seems like an bizarrely large proportion!

Gerben - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[skidmark]

cycling4fans.de used to publish a mock list every year of the top 50 U-23 talents. It seems they stopped doing this in 2018.

Cycling4Fans - Stiftung Fahrertest: U23 Mock List

(Looking at the 2018 list is interesting with Pogacar at no 1, Evenepoel at no 16 and Vingegaard at no 18.)

That used to be an essential resource for me in this game, although they definitely led me down the primrose path a few times. Since then I've had to resort to stupid things like scrolling message boards full of more fandom than analysis, reading tea leaves of results sheets, and sometimes actually watching and following races.

 

[skidmark]

Dunno if it was mentioned already, or if it will make a difference in processing the points, but I think the year-columns should be 2025 and 2026.

Thanks, yeah I hadn't changed a few of the cosmetic things yet but I'll add this to the list! I usually get a memory boost of what needs to change when I'm doing the first update but welcome any suggestions here too.

 

[Shakes]

You mean the Gerben Thijssen who has done 0 (UCI-sanctioned) CX races in his life?

Oops Wrong Gerben.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Later than last year but Teams are online @ https://www.cqmanager.com ! Also, for my own convenience, added a Forum Discussion tab that leads directly to last page on here. Please give feedback on whether everything works! As this is redone as my other hosting will die off and I set it up completely different now. As mentioned before, this should be much snappier and faster when loading.

Great job

Would it be possible to repeat the similarity of teams data that you had last year (eg Shakes and Armchair Cyclist have 15 riders in common, representing 3511pts spent). I sometimes do, sometimes don't, make a table of that in the games I run (tedious manual method): forum comment suggests that it is at least occasionally looked at.

 

[Shakes]

Great job

Would it be possible to repeat the similarity of teams data that you had last year (eg Shakes and Armchair Cyclist have 15 riders in common, representing 3511pts spent). I sometimes do, sometimes don't, make a table of that in the games I run (tedious manual method): forum comment suggests that it is at least occasionally looked at.

I'll have a look later! If I forget remind me

It's a query I just need to quickly rewrite to new database but that's just a minute.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

My most expensive pick I already regret: Biniam Girmay. I picked the team in a rush and no idea what I was thinking. Don't expect him to do much better than last year. I doubt I can still change him?

Girmay was the rider I referred to a while ago as the pick that I needed to fill a big hole in my budget that was there unless I ditched several riders I had picked for guys a bit more expensive that I had considered by chosen against. Basically, looking for him to hold his level and bulk out the score a bit.

 

[repre]

At first i penciled Girmay in. But as i were going down the list i realised there so many great value in 200-300 range, that i checked him out for like 3-4 riders.

He can be good, but even 1200 points for him is not certain. He is not a best of the best sprinter, nor classic rider to score BIG in my opinion. He is just good to great in many areas which is valuable, but not at his price.

He is not Remco or Philipsen who is the best at what they do.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

I asked Co-Pilot for a list of 33 riders who should perform better in 2026 than 2025. In response to a couple more questions I asked for a balance between rebounds, breakouts and team switchers, and between genres of rider.

This is what it suggests:

1. Remco Evenepoel — New environment, renewed GC focus.
2. Primož Roglič — 2025 was disrupted; 2026 offers a cleaner run.
3. Carlos Rodríguez — Strong but inconsistent; ready for a leap.
4. Cian Uijtdebroeks — Still maturing; 2026 could be his breakout.
5. Thymen Arensman — Injury setbacks behind him.
6. Egan Bernal — Steady upward trend; 2026 could be his best post‑injury year.
7. Ben O’Connor — New leadership opportunities.
8. Santiago Buitrago — Quietly improving; ready for bigger GC roles.
9. Lenny Martinez — Young climber poised for a major step.
10. Max Poole — Strong talent who hasn’t fully converted results yet.

1. Matej Mohorič — Always dangerous; 2026 could be a peak year.
2. Alberto Bettiol — Strong engine, inconsistent results; due a rebound.
3. Stefan Küng — Injury‑affected 2025; huge upside if healthy.
4. Mikkel Bjerg — TT gains + classics potential.
5. Oier Lazkano — Monster engine; ready for a big win.
6. Valentin Madouas — Underwhelming 2025; capable of much more.
7. Quinten Hermans — Suited to hilly classics; underused in 2025.
8. Andrea Bagioli — New team role could unlock him.

1. Fabio Jakobsen — 2025 was uneven; 2026 could be a reset.
2. Sam Welsford — Huge power, needs consistency; likely to find it.
3. Arnaud De Lie — Illness and crashes held him back; massive upside.
4. Olav Kooij — Strong but not dominant in 2025; ready to explode.
5. Kaden Groves — New team structure could help him thrive.
6. Ethan Vernon — Speed is there; results haven’t matched yet.

1. Magnus Sheffield — Huge engine; 2026 could be his breakthrough.
2. Andrea Piccolo — Turbulent 2025; enormous talent if stabilised.
3. Romain Grégoire — Young, versatile, and improving fast.
4. Axel Laurance — Strong 2025 flashes; ready for more.
5. Toms Skujiņš — Always close; 2026 could bring bigger wins.
6. Ben Healy — Quiet 2025; explosive potential remains.

1. Tobias Foss — Still hasn’t matched his world title; 2026 could be the year.
2. Jonathan Castroviejo — Ageing but still elite; could rebound with targeted goals.
3. Josh Tarling — Already strong, but 2026 could be his dominant TT season.

In fairness to the AI, I didn't try to explain the budget requirements. It has picked up from its source articles some ideas similar to those that have been expressed here, but it also seems unrealistic in investing hopes in Lazkano and Piccolo.

 

[Shakes]

Great job

Would it be possible to repeat the similarity of teams data that you had last year (eg Shakes and Armchair Cyclist have 15 riders in common, representing 3511pts spent). I sometimes do, sometimes don't, make a table of that in the games I run (tedious manual method): forum comment suggests that it is at least occasionally looked at.

Team — CQ Game

www.cqmanager.com

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I asked Co-Pilot for a list of 33 riders who should perform better in 2026 than 2025. In response to a couple more questions I asked for a balance between rebounds, breakouts and team switchers, and between genres of rider.

This is what it suggests:

1. Remco Evenepoel — New environment, renewed GC focus.
2. Primož Roglič — 2025 was disrupted; 2026 offers a cleaner run.
3. Carlos Rodríguez — Strong but inconsistent; ready for a leap.
4. Cian Uijtdebroeks — Still maturing; 2026 could be his breakout.
5. Thymen Arensman — Injury setbacks behind him.
6. Egan Bernal — Steady upward trend; 2026 could be his best post‑injury year.
7. Ben O’Connor — New leadership opportunities.
8. Santiago Buitrago — Quietly improving; ready for bigger GC roles.
9. Lenny Martinez — Young climber poised for a major step.
10. Max Poole — Strong talent who hasn’t fully converted results yet.
11. Matej Mohorič — Always dangerous; 2026 could be a peak year.
12. Alberto Bettiol — Strong engine, inconsistent results; due a rebound.
13. Stefan Küng — Injury‑affected 2025; huge upside if healthy.
14. Mikkel Bjerg — TT gains + classics potential.
15. Oier Lazkano — Monster engine; ready for a big win.
16. Valentin Madouas — Underwhelming 2025; capable of much more.
17. Quinten Hermans — Suited to hilly classics; underused in 2025.
18. Andrea Bagioli — New team role could unlock him.
19. Fabio Jakobsen — 2025 was uneven; 2026 could be a reset.
20. Sam Welsford — Huge power, needs consistency; likely to find it.
21. Arnaud De Lie — Illness and crashes held him back; massive upside.
22. Olav Kooij — Strong but not dominant in 2025; ready to explode.
23. Kaden Groves — New team structure could help him thrive.
24. Ethan Vernon — Speed is there; results haven’t matched yet.
25. Magnus Sheffield — Huge engine; 2026 could be his breakthrough.
26. Andrea Piccolo — Turbulent 2025; enormous talent if stabilised.
27. Romain Grégoire — Young, versatile, and improving fast.
28. Axel Laurance — Strong 2025 flashes; ready for more.
29. Toms Skujiņš — Always close; 2026 could bring bigger wins.
30. Ben Healy — Quiet 2025; explosive potential remains.
31. Tobias Foss — Still hasn’t matched his world title; 2026 could be the year.
32. Jonathan Castroviejo — Ageing but still elite; could rebound with targeted goals.
33. Josh Tarling — Already strong, but 2026 could be his dominant TT season.

In fairness to the AI, I didn't try to explain the budget requirements. It has picked up from its source articles some ideas similar to those that have been expressed here, but it also seems unrealistic in investing hopes in Lazkano and Piccolo.

I feel like the descriptions of Lazkano and Piccolo may have been switched, although I don't know much about the latter's 2025. I fully agree with the idea that Castroviejo is still elite, but his retirement is a problem, although I don't know whether there are any rumours in Italy about him joining Q36.5. Ben Healy having had a quiet 2025 must be understatement of the year.

 

[tobydawq]

I feel like the descriptions of Lazkano and Piccolo may have been switched, although I don't know much about the latter's 2025. I fully agree with the idea that Castroviejo is still elite, but his retirement is a problem, although I don't know whether there are any rumours in Italy about him joining Q36.5. Ben Healy having had a quiet 2025 must be understatement of the year.

It's probably only Squire who would subscribe to his OnlyFans in order to look for signs that he might be making a comeback

 

[Squire]

Was Bettiol the mystery Italian you alluded to last night?

I made a mental note I was gonna answer this too when I added your post to the multi-quote thing, but I forgot. No he was not. That was Buratti, who I briefly mentioned in my team presentation. I actually didn't offer Bettiol a single thought when creating my team. I've forgotten what it was, but doesn't he have some recurring issue which means he is prone to going long periods without performing? He is not my jam when it comes to the CQ game. But hopefully he should at least turn a profit for you. He did have a good spell in late summer.

Vacek is better than Simmons I would say (at least when it comes to points scoring) and with his TT he should be able to win Renewi Tour (if Söderqvist didn't do it first) and other such races.

UAE are showing these days that it's not necessarily a bad thing to be on a crowded team, and a good Vacek could top 10 the cobbled classics even if Mads Pedersen is ahead of him. Also, with Stuyven going out, Vacek should be second in command in those races and he was completely out of sorts during that period last year so there is a lot to be gained.

And Gee was really consistent all (half) year with good GC results in all races, so it wasn't only the weak Giro that accounted for his points.

I agree that Vacek is a better pick than Simmons. And while it wouldn't be a major surprise if he scores 800 or so, I think other 500+ riders have an easier path to such scores. I'm always a bit weary of riders getting a lot of their points from podiuming lots of ProSeries races. It's almost WT level points for almost .1 level races, and just a slightly different calendar could see a lot of those points go missing. But I like him, and was actually very close to picking him at 262 points in the 2024 game, so I hope he does well (but not better than AWP!).

I think the difference with UAE is that UAE send their million-dollar talents to steal candy from poor Italian and Spanish children in all sorts of low-level races. Haven't seen quite the same level of farming from Lidl-Trek so far. It's mostly been the team leaders who have scored really big on that team. I do in principle agree that the team role thing is a bit overstated for this game, and especially for GC riders it really doesn't matter unless their team is expected to control things or to set up big attacks. But being the main man for a team is still usually a beneficial thing.

You're right about Gee's consistency, but if I was to play devil's advocate to an extreme degree, I could say that his points came from beating Burgos BH riders and Magnus Cort in a stage race, then losing a stage race to Filippo Ganna, then finishing four minutes down on Storer in a stage race. A 1000+ season isn't really a massive stretch to imagine from him though if everything turns out quite favourable, so my main point was mainly just that I can see why he wasn't that popular.

 

[Squire]

It's probably only Squire who would subscribe to his OnlyFans in order to look for signs that he might be making a comeback

I was gonna say that he's sure to perform in 2026, that's for certain!

 

[ingsve]

Team — CQ Game

www.cqmanager.com

Something is not entirely correct with the calculations of team overlaps you reference here. The site says I have 3 overlaps with Redheaddane but it should be 4.

 

[skidmark]

This is getting way worse than skidmark's Grosu fetish!

Geez, I only picked him twice and it's still being talked about over a decade later! I've gotta pick some other stupid rider twice so people start talking about that

If Modolo comes out of retirement maybe I'll take him and people will be reminded that he was my original 'can't quit you' in this game.

 

[skidmark]

Oops Wrong Gerben.

Next time this comes up you've gotta check gerbendictionary.com first.

 

[skidmark]

I asked Co-Pilot for a list of 33 riders who should perform better in 2026 than 2025. In response to a couple more questions I asked for a balance between rebounds, breakouts and team switchers, and between genres of rider.

This is what it suggests:

1. Remco Evenepoel — New environment, renewed GC focus.
2. Primož Roglič — 2025 was disrupted; 2026 offers a cleaner run.
3. Carlos Rodríguez — Strong but inconsistent; ready for a leap.
4. Cian Uijtdebroeks — Still maturing; 2026 could be his breakout.
5. Thymen Arensman — Injury setbacks behind him.
6. Egan Bernal — Steady upward trend; 2026 could be his best post‑injury year.
7. Ben O’Connor — New leadership opportunities.
8. Santiago Buitrago — Quietly improving; ready for bigger GC roles.
9. Lenny Martinez — Young climber poised for a major step.
10. Max Poole — Strong talent who hasn’t fully converted results yet.
11. Matej Mohorič — Always dangerous; 2026 could be a peak year.
12. Alberto Bettiol — Strong engine, inconsistent results; due a rebound.
13. Stefan Küng — Injury‑affected 2025; huge upside if healthy.
14. Mikkel Bjerg — TT gains + classics potential.
15. Oier Lazkano — Monster engine; ready for a big win.
16. Valentin Madouas — Underwhelming 2025; capable of much more.
17. Quinten Hermans — Suited to hilly classics; underused in 2025.
18. Andrea Bagioli — New team role could unlock him.
19. Fabio Jakobsen — 2025 was uneven; 2026 could be a reset.
20. Sam Welsford — Huge power, needs consistency; likely to find it.
21. Arnaud De Lie — Illness and crashes held him back; massive upside.
22. Olav Kooij — Strong but not dominant in 2025; ready to explode.
23. Kaden Groves — New team structure could help him thrive.
24. Ethan Vernon — Speed is there; results haven’t matched yet.
25. Magnus Sheffield — Huge engine; 2026 could be his breakthrough.
26. Andrea Piccolo — Turbulent 2025; enormous talent if stabilised.
27. Romain Grégoire — Young, versatile, and improving fast.
28. Axel Laurance — Strong 2025 flashes; ready for more.
29. Toms Skujiņš — Always close; 2026 could bring bigger wins.
30. Ben Healy — Quiet 2025; explosive potential remains.
31. Tobias Foss — Still hasn’t matched his world title; 2026 could be the year.
32. Jonathan Castroviejo — Ageing but still elite; could rebound with targeted goals.
33. Josh Tarling — Already strong, but 2026 could be his dominant TT season.

In fairness to the AI, I didn't try to explain the budget requirements. It has picked up from its source articles some ideas similar to those that have been expressed here, but it also seems unrealistic in investing hopes in Lazkano and Piccolo.

oh god please don't tell me I have to make an AI Team tab now too

 

[Shakes]

Something is not entirely correct with the calculations of team overlaps you reference here. The site says I have 3 overlaps with Redheaddane but it should be 4.

Ah had to do with a rider not existing in the previous year (e.g. no points). Fixed now... !

 

[R_O_Shipman]

headline thoughts on my team/seeing other teams

Surprised more people don’t believe in a LANDA recovery or an UIJTDEBROEKS improvement when given a leadership role.

I personally think that Evenepoel is a big risk - a reasonable injury lay off or an upset at the priorities of a hundred leader at RB resulting in toys being thrown out of the pram and there’s potential for a big chunk of points to disappear. I get that it’s kind of the point of the game - but with so many good options in the mid price range it makes no sense to me to splurge a huge amount on whether one guy settles in at a team which has seen a number of GC leaders under perform in the past.


Can’t believe I (along with, I’m guessing, two others) picked the wrong Agostinacchio! Carelessness prevails!

I was totally asleep on Dani Martínez, but as one of numerous RB GC guys will he really come to the fore?

I will probably be proven wrong, but I think AWP, Nordhagen, Hagenes and (to a lesser extent) Del Grosso all strike me as guys who are going to have a year converting to a full (or more prominent) WT calendar that makes it hard for them to score big.

I thought I had Remijn in my team, even after the reveal. I don’t know at what point I accidentally removed him but I feel cross with myself on this one.

Overall I’d expect another season of clamouring after mediocrity, but I enjoy watching races and seeing my guys do well - or some of them even to hear them mentioned is a nice added plus when watching a bike race.

Good luck all!