The 2026 CQ Ranking Manager Thread

[Panda Claws]

Anyone itching to post TDU teams?

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Oh boy, Penhoet really was terrible last year. Very frustrating to watch. No way was I going to pick him again.

Having had him for the previous two years and therefore watched a lot of his races closely the main problem with Penhoet is having to watch his finishes from behind the sofa because he always looks like a crash about to happen and regularly that is indeed the outcome. The crashes haven't yet affected his confidence but he gets knocked around a lot in a finish and doesn't quite have the speed on a flat finish to get himself out of trouble or finish the job. Maybe needs to add a few kgs of muscle. It's a contract year for him so maybe that will be the catalyst.

 

[bminchow]

And the unique pick of Oier Lazkano.

Ok my team - ILMAESTRO - cq 2026

DERREK GEE-WEST (783): I picked him because he is the most exciting grand tour GC project in cycling

JAI HINDLEY (679): I picked him because he will win the giro d'italia

PAUL DOUBLE (471): I picked him because I like watching him attack on climbs. Probably not a very clever pick

EDOARDO ZAMBANINI (443): We are all going zambananas in 2026!

MIKEL LANDA (433): I picked him because he is my favourite rider

VICTOR LANGELOTTI (383): I picked him because I hope he can turn that tour of Poland performance more consistent in 2026.

RAUL GARCIA PIERINA (345): I picked him because of that one stage in the vuelta where he climbed well. And now he will be a leader at mobistsr

ALBERTO DAINESE (332): I picked him as he is a sprinter joining quickstep, and he is due a good year.

CHRISTOPHE LAPORTE (273): Visma best classics rider is an obvious choice considering his low scoring 2025

BENOIT COSNEFROY (268): when I first read the rules of the game, my first thought was 'i need to pick cosnefroy'. I didn't give it a second thought.

FILIPPO FIORELLI (246): I wanted to pick him for fun as I like him and his transfer to visma. Probably not a good tactical pick.

AFONSO EULALIO (242): I like his name. Also he is a talented rider and I get a good vibe from him.

ANTON SHIFFER (209): Hoping for some good climbing performances in a variety of races now that he joined a top team

ALEXANDER VLASOV (209): Picked in the hope that 2025 was a one-off. Generally he is a points scoring rider.

TOBIAS FOSS (196): due some results and has beaten pocagar mano a Mano

THOMAS GACHINGARD (182): always attacking!!! He should be a good pick for lots of results in different races

PAU MARTI SORIANO (174): I had exactly 174 points left and he was the only rider with 174 points

GIANMARCO GAROFOLI (168): a real talent. Hope to see him improve in 2026.

NICO VINOKUROV (160): Had to pick the vino option. His calendar suggests he will get to do some Asian races. I think he will get good points

ALEX ZINGLE (155): good rider who had a poor 2025.

FILIPPO CONCA (150): Think he will get a lot of chances to score points in smaller one day races.

ARVID DE KLIJNE (134): I always liked him because he is a late started and like ilmaestro he used to play rugby despite not being a massive guy. Also had a poor 2025 and is a very fast rider

EDGAR DAVID CADENA (130): I wanted to pick a mexican

DYLAN VAN BAARLE (126): I feel like this could go horribly wrong, but he's a monument winner at
126 points, yeah I just went for it

DANIEL FELIPE MARTINEZ (121): if he has one more good season in him, it's a no brainer

MATTIA GAFFURI (117): I wanted to pick a DSM rider. They have no good riders so someone like gaffuri has a lot of potential and should get lots of freedom

MERHAWI KUDUS (74): hoping he can turn it around after missing a lot of races in 2025 with injury.

FAUSTO MASNADA (71): don't remember why I picked this rider, never heard of him, must have been a misclick

GISOE EPIS (64): I think I got him confused with Alessandro verre

FLORIAN SENECHAL (53): Bargain


JAN TRATNIK (48): Hoping for some classics leadership

KOWN BOEWMAN (31): Risky one but he climbs well on his day

MATTHEW DIBHAM (25): Very talented, finally coming back after injuries. Looked good at the end of 2025.


Please bear in mind that I found out about the game 2 hours before the submission deadline, so that was how long I had to learn the game and pick my team. I never played before. I didn't know for instance that you could pick riders with a 0 score, until reading this thread today. Whoops

Nice. Well done for first time and only 2 hours. Not just random but you had reasons

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Is it just my impression or do we have in general way more overlap between teams this year than in other years?

That would have been my assumption prior to the reveal. There are so many good - and very obvious - picks in the mid points range that a good chunk of many participant's teams are stacked up in that area. I don't know if it's true, though - but perhaps one of the statistics wizards can dig something up?

 

[bminchow]

I thought more would have picked up Leo Hayter, 11 picks.

I expected at least 20-30 picks for him, given his price.

I was off and on with him. But wanted a MAP rider and thought he may do well if motivation is there. So, happy I have him.

 

[Salvarani]

Prediction was that many were going to stack up in the midrange, my strategy became to look above and below for other picks. I still managed to get a lot of the popular picks anyway, because some of them makes a lot of sense and are quality riders, but one need some edge strategy-wise imo from the rest of the pack to have a better chance to win. Time will tell if it was the right call or not.

 

[Squire]

That would have been my assumption prior to the reveal. There are so many good - and very obvious - picks in the mid points range that a good chunk of many participant's teams are stacked up in that area. I don't know if it's true, though - but perhaps one of the statistics wizards can dig something up?

With how many good picks there are across the board, I was maybe expecting a bit less overlap than usual this year, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

My biggest overlap in terms of riders is with your team, 20 riders according to Shakes' website, which is a bit less than what I've had with some teams before (I think my max was 22 or 23 with MADRAZO one year), but I'm also a bit down in the popularity ranking this year.

As has been pointed out, MADRAZO who tops the popularity ranking has 25 riders overlapping with Total Package, which is the highest number that I can ever remember seeing.

However, in the expensive rider department there is really high variance other than Seixas, which for me still makes it feel like the teams are very different this year. Now that so many people are so experienced in building their teams, it's just natural that a lot of people judge a lot of picks similarly and I don't think it detracts from the game at all. It was just slightly frustrating at the end of last year when I was hoping to catch Salvarani and had to pin my hopes on just the two or three in-form riders I had that they didn't also have.

Prediction were that many were going to stack up in the midrange, my strategy became to look above and below for other picks. I still managed to get a lot of the popular picks anyway, because some of them makes a lot of sense and are quality riders, but one need some edge strategy-wise imo to from the rest of the pack to have a better chance to win. Time will tell if it was the right call or not.

I remember commenting one of the years when fauniera won the game that that was the first time the most popular team ended up winning. But they also had one or two rare picks (f.ex. Uran, who became fauniera's avatar picture afterwards) that scored heavily. Being high in the popularity ranking is often a decent predictor of a good result though. So I'm actually not sure whether the chances are better when you have some 'edge' if that means purposefully avoiding some riders you think will be popular, but the very rare Almeida sure helped me and you last year. But at least for my part that was just down to trying to make the best picks I could come up with. And I've done the same this year without much regard for who I think others will pick, but as it turned out I'm thrilled with my 'edge' in the form of Buitrago and Morgado. And I have some rare picks in other price ranges too.

 

[Salvarani]

With how many good picks there are across the board, I was maybe expecting a bit less overlap than usual this year, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

My biggest overlap in terms of riders is with your team, 20 riders according to Shakes' website, which is a bit less than what I've had with some teams before (I think my max was 22 or 23 with MADRAZO one year), but I'm also a bit down in the popularity ranking this year.

As has been pointed out, MADRAZO who tops the popularity ranking has 25 riders overlapping with Total Package, which is the highest number that I can ever remember seeing.

However, in the expensive rider department there is really high variance other than Seixas, which for me still makes it feel like the teams are very different this year. Now that so many people are so experienced in building their teams, it's just natural that a lot of people judge a lot of picks similarly and I don't think it detracts from the game at all. It was just slightly frustrating at the end of last year when I was hoping to catch Salvarani and had to pin my hopes on just the two or three in-form riders I had that they didn't also have.


I remember commenting one of the years when fauniera won the game that that was the first time the most popular team ended up winning. But they also had one or two rare picks (f.ex. Uran, who became fauniera's avatar picture afterwards) that scored heavily. Being high in the popularity ranking is often a decent predictor of a good result though. So I'm actually not sure whether the chances are better when you have some 'edge' if that means purposefully avoiding some riders you think will be popular, but the very rare Almeida sure helped me and you last year. But at least for my part that was just down to trying to make the best picks I could come up with. And I've done the same this year without much regard for who I think others will pick, but as it turned out I'm thrilled with my 'edge' in the form of Buitrago and Morgado. And I have some rare picks in other price ranges too.

I think when there is a bunch of very good and knowledgeable people/players, who will identify most of the obvious and probably good picks… one could benefit from doing something slightly different. Not much, but a little could go a long way.

At the same it is a risk, if it doesnt pan out, but could be a chance at a bigger return.

As in the opposite, if that everyone was going ”rogue”… one could probably do well from being more defensive/safe.

It is a bit of psychology involved in that.

It is a bit how investing, in real life, can work as well.

 

[will-10]

Anyone itching to post TDU teams?

We can save it at least until O'Connor wins Nationals

 

[Hugo Koblet]

(...) as it turned out I'm thrilled with my 'edge' in the form of Buitrago and Morgado. And I have some rare picks in other price ranges too.

I gotta say that I'm getting a bit worried about the Buitrago and - especially - Morgado hype that I'm reading in this thread.

Buitrago is a nice unique pick for sure! There always seem to be something not going his way, so if he can avoid mishaps this year, he could be in for a big one. I see that he's also starting in TDU, which should be really good for him. However, other than that he's only scheduled for Tirreno and the Giro (so far of course). Do you have any other information about his schedule? I find it a bit weird that they haven't announced the Ardennes as one of his goals, as they suit him so well, and he should definitely do those.

I've been a fan of Morgado since his junior years and I hope that he breaks through (just not this year, please). He has just been so inconsistent his first two seasons that I worry the same thing would happen this year (I know he had a lot of misfortune this year as well).

 

[Squire]

I gotta say that I'm getting a bit worried about the Buitrago and - especially - Morgado hype that I'm reading in this thread.

That might be mostly down to me though.

Buitrago is a nice unique pick for sure! There always seem to be something not going his way, so if he can avoid mishaps this year, he could be in for a big one. I see that he's also starting in TDU, which should be really good for him. However, other than that he's only scheduled for Tirreno and the Giro (so far of course). Do you have any other information about his schedule? I find it a bit weird that they haven't announced the Ardennes as one of his goals, as they suit him so well, and he should definitely do those.

The only thing I know about his schedule which is not listed on PCS is that he's doing the Colombian NC. I don't remember everything from the interview I read, but he might have said that he doesn't want to do many races close to the Giro, so I'm not sure about Ardennes. Would hope he does them if it doesn't mess too much with his preparation though. But I don't mind too much if he only rides the races he's listed for. He should be well set up for a strong second half of the season.

 

[Wvv]

@Shakes , is there a reason why Ashlin Barry is shown in a different format than the other riders?

 

[Earns1985]

Being high in the popularity ranking is often a decent predictor of a good result though. So I'm actually not sure whether the chances are better when you have some 'edge' if that means purposefully avoiding some riders you think will be popular, but the very rare Almeida sure helped me and you last year. But at least for my part that was just down to trying to make the best picks I could come up with. And I've done the same this year without much regard for who I think others will pick, but as it turned out I'm thrilled with my 'edge' in the form of Buitrago and Morgado. And I have some rare picks in other price ranges too.

Last year was basically a very good example for that. There is definetly a correlation between a popular team and a high overall ranking in the end. Especially when a season developes a bit as expected.

I think last year my team was together with @Devil's Elbow the most popular one. We finished 4th and 7th overall, which is good, but we both missed one out of the rarer decicive picks Almeida or del Toro to win this game in the end. Would have been a different story, when popular van Aert would have performed better. But that you as the first three (@Salvarani, @SafeBet, @Squire) did not select the popular no-perfomer and instead selected a rarer fantastic performer made the difference in the end.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Last year was basically a very good example for that. There is definetly a correlation between a popular team and a high overall ranking in the end. Especially when a season developes a bit as expected.

I think last year my team was together with @Devil's Elbow the most popular one. We finished 4th and 7th overall, which is good, but we both missed one out of the rarer decicive picks Almeida or del Toro to win this game in the end. Would have been a different story, when popular van Aert would have performed better. But that you as the first three (@Salvarani, @SafeBet, @Squire) did not select the popular no-perfomer and instead selected a rarer fantastic performer made the difference in the end.

SafeBet had Van Aert, actually.

 

[Salvarani]

SafeBet had Van Aert, actually.

Almost broke-even, but Del Toro made up for that.

 

[Earns1985]

SafeBet had Van Aert, actually.

True yes. But the argument still stands, that picking one out of the rare picks Almeida or del Toro made the difference for the first three to you and the others like me.

 

[Shakes]

@Shakes , is there a reason why Ashlin Barry is shown in a different format than the other riders?

No... but fixed!

 

[Salvarani]

No... but fixed!

I think first and last names are switched around though.

 

[SafeBet]

First time in a while I'm not in the top10 for popularity (maybe ever)!
Also first time in a while I completely missed a very obvious pick in Zingle. Hopefully he doesn't bite me as hard as Tulett did last year.

Having played various CQ games for years, I've grasped what I'm good at and what I'm not good at.
I'm good at identifying talent, I'm not god at identifying opportunities. I have often picked riders a year or two early, sometimes a year late. I've tried copying other top players strategies to identify which riders will have the most opportunities to score but it just doesn't work for me. So I'll stick to talent. Zero thoughts about schedules and teams and pecking orders for me this year. A few notes about some my riders:

Matthew Brennan (1115, 11): expecting a Sagan-esque season from him. He showed me he can win at WT level already. Give him some more endurance and he will probably score big in Roubaix and GW too.

Paul Seixas (661, 73)
Tibor Del Grosso (598, 15): had never considered him before the CX season started. No guarantee he can translate that improvement to the road, but I just didn't wanna miss out in case it happened. Elevation was a major issue for him last year and it's likely the deal breaker to be a good pick.

Albert Withen Philipsen (459, 44)
Thibau Nys (423, 46)
Jenno Berckmoes (408, 6): happy to see he wasn't picked much! He had a rough start of the season in 2025 but he's normally a point machine all year round. Kind of a safety net in case the other young guns don't perform as I hope.

Maxim van Gils (362, 58): has been in my longlist since day one. And in my shortlist until the day I sent my team. There's no rational argument against him, but the whole Lazkano thing scared me away from most Red Bull riders (+ Pelayo). Again, just a gut feeling. Could easily be the reason why I'll finish 73rd or something.

Matyas Kopecky (354, ZERO): I knew he would have been a unique pick. I've been following him for a few years now and unfortunately I've never dared to include him in my team. He features in basically every race he enters and I'm confident he can improve further after joining a more professional environment. There were actually a number of Rockets I wanted (Feldmann, Auge, Peter) but in the end decided against all of them. It still makes me a bit sad!

Lennert van Eetvelt (302, 68)
Joseph Blackmore (277, 31)
Christophe Laporte (273, 59)
Benoit Cosnefroy (268, 64)

Carlos Rodriguez (262, 71): I don't like pelvis fractures for cyclists. Furthermore I've completely removed FOMO from my life in the past couple of years (thank you, therapy) which is the main reason I've sistematically picked such riders in the past.

Leo Bisiaux (246, 21)
Jarno Widar (245, 69)
Filippo Zana (237, 13): I finally managed to include him in my teams this year. He's versatile enough to score in different races and has something to prove after a rough season. Last year he mistimed his first peak and struggled massively at the Giro.

Laurence Pithie (228, 46)
Kevin Vermaerke (219, 18): he's got all the tools to score like 1000 points in one day races for UAE. I see most experienced players have not missed out on his 2026 takeoff though.

Max Poole (215, 60)
Gerben Thijssen (192, 26)
Adria Pericas (162, 25)
Maxime Decomble (152, 35)
Arvid De Kleijn (134, 22)
Per Strand Hagenes (106, 36)
Nicolo Buratti (102, 2): in the pre reveal discussion I had a feeling @Squire was talking about him. I'm not expecting a Canola type of season, but I can see him score 400+ points like Lonardi did last year. This is a rider who scored 80 CQ points at 21 when riding for a Continental team and then was stuck for 3 years in tragically unfriendly schedules with Bahrein. He's fast but can also climb a bit.

Noah Hobbs (90, 34)
Georg Steinhauser (86, 13): heart pick but he's got such a massive engine I really had to pick him at that price. Unfortunately he tends to get sick a lot and he's not very consistent.

Antoine L'Hote (69, 9): the Thibaud Gruel of 2026, at half the price.

Senna Remijn (52, 37)
Mathieu Kockelmann (51, 12): this guy is a bit of a hothead but will score big and fast if he puts everything together. No surprise many of the usual suspects picked him.

Andreas Kron (50, 38)
Jelte Krijnsen (45, 19): I have really no idea of what to expect from him.
Niklas Behrens (16, 33)
Stephen Williams (10, 51)
Leo Hayter (5, 11): I have yet to forget his majestic ride in Santa Caterina circa 2022.
Mattia Agostinacchio (0, 30): no matter the point tally it's going to be a fun ride wit him. Big raw talent!

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Matthew Brennan (1115, 11): expecting a Sagan-esque season from him. He showed me he can win at WT level already. Give him some more endurance and he will probably score big in Roubaix and GW too.

Tibor Del Grosso (598, 15): had never considered him before the CX season started. No guarantee he can translate that improvement to the road, but I just didn't wanna miss out in case it happened. Elevation was a major issue for him last year and it's likely the deal breaker to be a good pick.

Jenno Berckmoes (408, 6): happy to see he wasn't picked much! He had a rough start of the season in 2025 but he's normally a point machine all year round. Kind of a safety net in case the other young guns don't perform as I hope.

Matyas Kopecky (354, ZERO): I knew he would have been a unique pick. I've been following him for a few years now and unfortunately I've never dared to include him in my team. He features in basically every race he enters and I'm confident he can improve further after joining a more professional environment. There were actually a number of Rockets I wanted (Feldmann, Auge, Peter) but in the end decided against all of them. It still makes me a bit sad!

You have some really cool picks here that I wish I had the balls to choose 😁

I really like those four - even if you didn't end up picking Kopecky in the end. I'll be following him closely this year.

 

[Squire]

That's a strong team again, @SafeBet.

There were actually a number of Rockets I wanted (Feldmann, Auge, Peter) but in the end decided against all of them.

They have a lot of riders that would be interesting to have in this game. In fact so many that I also ended up picking none of the cheap ones. Feldmann and Auge both seems like candidates for good points, but I was actually looking at Müller the most. The Venturini signing actually eased my worries for missing out on any breakthrough Rocket a bit.

I'm a bit jealous of your gutsy omissions. I'm also not completely loving the look of Van Gils, but conventional wisdom says he should be a very good pick. I actually haven't looked into pelvic fracture statistics for pro cyclists, so I didn't really pay much attention to the nature of Rodriguez' injury as he was declared fit again for this year. But I did leave out Poole which you didn't. We won't know if that's a good or terrible idea until he starts riding I guess. Him training normally isn't conclusive for his condition really. Today it was announced that he's doing Giro and Vuelta, which might be best case scenario for me I guess. Limits the number of easy stage races he can do, although big Burgos points might be incoming again.

Getting more and more worried about not picking L'Hote. As I've mentioned, I like the look of him as a Decathlon French cup guy and even for stage races like Limousin potentially, if he takes a step up. Maybe I should talk to your therapist.

 

[Salvarani]

I wasnt super-excited about Van Gils either... but as I was taking more of a chance with riders like Skjelmose, Van Wilder, Sheffield and to some degree Tiberi... I felt like playing it a bit more "safer" in the 400-200 points section could be smart.

Picking riders like Van Gils, Van Eetvelt, Laporte, Cosnefroy, C. Rod. and Widar... who I knew would be popular and with a high probability to increase their score that would have been costly to miss out on and I didnt see much reason in not picking them. Adding Bisiaux as a fun inclusion, in a stacked section.

 

[tobydawq]

First time in a while I'm not in the top10 for popularity (maybe ever)!
Also first time in a while I completely missed a very obvious pick in Zingle. Hopefully he doesn't bite me as hard as Tulett did last year.

Having played various CQ games for years, I've grasped what I'm good at and what I'm not good at.
I'm good at identifying talent, I'm not god at identifying opportunities. I have often picked riders a year or two early, sometimes a year late. I've tried copying other top players strategies to identify which riders will have the most opportunities to score but it just doesn't work for me. So I'll stick to talent. Zero thoughts about schedules and teams and pecking orders for me this year. A few notes about some my riders:

Matthew Brennan (1115, 11): expecting a Sagan-esque season from him. He showed me he can win at WT level already. Give him some more endurance and he will probably score big in Roubaix and GW too.

Paul Seixas (661, 73)
Tibor Del Grosso (598, 15): had never considered him before the CX season started. No guarantee he can translate that improvement to the road, but I just didn't wanna miss out in case it happened. Elevation was a major issue for him last year and it's likely the deal breaker to be a good pick.

Albert Withen Philipsen (459, 44)
Thibau Nys (423, 46)
Jenno Berckmoes (408, 6): happy to see he wasn't picked much! He had a rough start of the season in 2025 but he's normally a point machine all year round. Kind of a safety net in case the other young guns don't perform as I hope.

Maxim van Gils (362, 58): has been in my longlist since day one. And in my shortlist until the day I sent my team. There's no rational argument against him, but the whole Lazkano thing scared me away from most Red Bull riders (+ Pelayo). Again, just a gut feeling. Could easily be the reason why I'll finish 73rd or something.

Matyas Kopecky (354, ZERO): I knew he would have been a unique pick. I've been following him for a few years now and unfortunately I've never dared to include him in my team. He features in basically every race he enters and I'm confident he can improve further after joining a more professional environment. There were actually a number of Rockets I wanted (Feldmann, Auge, Peter) but in the end decided against all of them. It still makes me a bit sad!

Lennert van Eetvelt (302, 68)
Joseph Blackmore (277, 31)
Christophe Laporte (273, 59)
Benoit Cosnefroy (268, 64)

Carlos Rodriguez (262, 71): I don't like pelvis fractures for cyclists. Furthermore I've completely removed FOMO from my life in the past couple of years (thank you, therapy) which is the main reason I've sistematically picked such riders in the past.

Leo Bisiaux (246, 21)
Jarno Widar (245, 69)
Filippo Zana (237, 13): I finally managed to include him in my teams this year. He's versatile enough to score in different races and has something to prove after a rough season. Last year he mistimed his first peak and struggled massively at the Giro.

Laurence Pithie (228, 46)
Kevin Vermaerke (219, 18): he's got all the tools to score like 1000 points in one day races for UAE. I see most experienced players have not missed out on his 2026 takeoff though.

Max Poole (215, 60)
Gerben Thijssen (192, 26)
Adria Pericas (162, 25)
Maxime Decomble (152, 35)
Arvid De Kleijn (134, 22)
Per Strand Hagenes (106, 36)
Nicolo Buratti (102, 2): in the pre reveal discussion I had a feeling @Squire was talking about him. I'm not expecting a Canola type of season, but I can see him score 400+ points like Lonardi did last year. This is a rider who scored 80 CQ points at 21 when riding for a Continental team and then was stuck for 3 years in tragically unfriendly schedules with Bahrein. He's fast but can also climb a bit.

Noah Hobbs (90, 34)
Georg Steinhauser (86, 13): heart pick but he's got such a massive engine I really had to pick him at that price. Unfortunately he tends to get sick a lot and he's not very consistent.

Antoine L'Hote (69, 9): the Thibaud Gruel of 2026, at half the price.

Senna Remijn (52, 37)
Mathieu Kockelmann (51, 12): this guy is a bit of a hothead but will score big and fast if he puts everything together. No surprise many of the usual suspects picked him.

Andreas Kron (50, 38)
Jelte Krijnsen (45, 19): I have really no idea of what to expect from him.
Niklas Behrens (16, 33)
Stephen Williams (10, 51)
Leo Hayter (5, 11): I have yet to forget his majestic ride in Santa Caterina circa 2022.
Mattia Agostinacchio (0, 30): no matter the point tally it's going to be a fun ride wit him. Big raw talent!

You must be the only one who shares my (and your) three most expensive riders.

May Bettiol put you in your place

 

[skidmark]

I'm with you on Landa and Uijtdebroeks.

Despite his age I think Landa is a just a great rider. He can top ten every WT week-long or GC he enters and he rode so few races last year. Uijtdebroeks may be more of a risk but he will need to ride a lot of races this year for Movistar and he can get points in one day races as well as tours. His issue might be that Movistar send him to all the best races, where he might get exposed, but this is probably his last chance to be a star. I picked them both instead of riders like Can Wilder, Simmons, Vacek and Buitrago - so let's see how that works out.

I really wanted to find space on my team for Landa. It's a little stressful to pick a rider on the high side of 35 because performance can drop off a cliff any one of those years, but Landa has just been solid for so long that I have no doubt he can still top 10 stuff. Plus I think Landa is the first rider I can ever remember seeing a performance from and thinking "I've got to have him in my CQ team next year" when he won impressively in Burgos as a neo-pro in the first year of this game. I think he's a good standalone pick, just depends on the makeup of the rest of the team. Ultimately with my team, once I decided to take Remco and that I couldn't pass up Seixas and AWP and wanted to re-up on Nys, there wasn't really room for another rider that price. But I'd love to see another good year from Landa even if I don't have him on my team!

 

[Avoriaz]

So I’m a total novice at this. Saw a message on the forum on Tuesday announcing the imminent deadline for submission and joined on a whim - having seen excited references to the game over the years. Thought it would be a good way to get excited at some new races, and look at the sport through a new lens.

As such, there wasn’t a huge amount of science behind my rushed picks, though am relieved that some of these picks have also been chosen elsewhere such that I shouldn’t be left in the dust instantly.

In the absence of science and analysis, I put a focus on youth and inexperience - ruling out anyone over 30, and over 1000 points. Some I chose (Burgaudeau, Zingle, Tarling, Van Eetvelt) because they looked cheap compared to what I thought they were capable of, some (Kaemna) for sentimental reasons, and some because I liked their name (Guernalec, Tim Torn Teutenberg). Some I couldn’t begin to tell you why (Askey)

Looking forward to enjoying how the season unfolds, that Paul Penhoet isn’t as bad as I am now reading, and that the youngsters rule the roost.