The 2026 CQ Ranking Manager Thread

Panda Claws · 2026-01-11T20:19:18+0000

There's still a ton of value in Evenepoel just reliably getting over 2000 points. That's such a high amount for a single pick that even at 2500 he'll still be pretty good and not a serious detriment for a team hoping to win it all. Just didn't think the upside was significant enough to gamble on. Think he'll just end up being a decent enough pick, but since I'm bound to also have a few busts I aimed for more high risk - high reward picks like Roglic.

DJ Sprtsch · 2026-01-11T20:24:41+0000

Shakes said:
Does anyone know when CQRanking updates their rankings?

Isn’t it midnight UTC or something like that?

Earns1985 · 2026-01-11T20:26:27+0000

Shakes said:
@Armchair Cyclist - Thank you for sending me a list linking PCS to CQ names. It's not completely valid going forward as names are subject to change and ideally its based on identifiers but works well enough.

I added it to everyone's team page. Here for @Armchair Cyclist ==>

Team — CQ Game

www.cqmanager.com

Might make another page, but not today, showing upcoming races with number of riders from our game competing.

Just realized what you just implemented!
Such a good function!

Thanks really for that!
No more srcolling through PCS startlists anymore. What should I do with the 10% of my working time that has been freed up? My boss will thank you for that!

Panda Claws · 2026-01-11T21:21:51+0000

Has anyone here ever scored a CQ point themselves?

hayneplane · 2026-01-11T21:34:57+0000

Shakes said:
@Armchair Cyclist - Thank you for sending me a list linking PCS to CQ names. It's not completely valid going forward as names are subject to change and ideally its based on identifiers but works well enough.

I added it to everyone's team page. Here for @Armchair Cyclist ==>

Team — CQ Game

www.cqmanager.com

Might make another page, but not today, showing upcoming races with number of riders from our game competing.

That’s a magnificent feature. Looking at it for now my riders are being very lazy and waiting until closer to spring to start their seasons unless they are just being shy about announcing their plans for the early season schedule.

Squire · 2026-01-11T21:40:10+0000

Speaking of announcing plans ...

I wonder if someone at PCS reads this thread.

Shortly after me and @Kazistuta discussed that AWP interview from mid-December where his participation in the opening weekend was confirmed, he was added to the startlist for those on PCS.

armchairclimber · 2026-01-11T22:02:46+0000

.9 days to the TDU. What frivolity am I going to spend all that time on.... the Aussie Nationals are such a tease.

Earns1985 · 2026-01-11T22:21:51+0000

armchairclimber said:
.9 days to the TDU. What frivolity am I going to spend all that time on.... the Aussie Nationals are such a tease.

Yeah, to overcome this time, we can start to discuss the pre-startlist of the race:

These should be the riders, who are picked in this game and will participate. If you wonder about the sorting, it´s popularity multiplied with 2025 points, which is a good indicator in my eyes, which riders are the most important participating riders for this game. Quite a huge number! Nearly half of the startlist had been picked!

@Shakes: To receive this overview, when you click on a race on your website, would be fantastic!

Rider	Popularity	Points 2025
VAN EETVELT Lennert	68	302
O'CONNOR Ben	28	563
BRENNAN Matthew	11	1115
PITHIE Laurence	46	228
LAMPERTI Luke	25	235
HAGENES Per Strand	36	106
ZANA Filippo	13	237
TEUTENBERG Tim Torn	7	298
GAUTHERAT Pierre	9	213
KRON Andreas Lorentz	38	50
BRENNER Marco	9	191
WELSFORD Sam	5	318
NOVAK Pavel	15	97
DAINESE Alberto	4	332
VAN UDEN Casper	7	187
FISHER-BLACK Finn	3	406
VINE Jay	1	1190
THORNLEY Callum	9	118
LEONARD Michael	5	168
DINHAM Matthew	33	25
YATES Adam	1	793
TUCKWELL Luke	17	46
SCHIFFER Anton	3	209
L'HOTE Antoine	9	69
RACCAGNI NOVIERO Andrea	3	178
SENTJENS Sente	11	46
CHARMIG Anthon	2	226
ZAMBANINI Edoardo	1	443
TAMINIAUX Lionel	9	42
GLIVAR Gal	6	60
HAIG Jack	3	116
CAVAGNA Rémi	2	162
ZIMMERMANN Georg	1	314
ROMELE Alessandro	3	88
FIORELLI Filippo	1	246
ERZEN Zak	3	70
PEDERSEN Casper	1	208
BUSATTO Francesco	1	207
DONNENWIRTH Tom	2	98
INGEBRIGTSEN Storm	4	47
REINDERINK Pepijn	2	90
CHAMBERLAIN Oscar	4	37
SCHRETTL Marco	1	119
ZIJLAARD Maikel	1	107
O'BRIEN Kelland	1	101
KNOX James	1	85
KAJAMINI Florian Samuel	2	40
PEACE Oliver	3	26
STANNARD Robert	1	65
REX Tim	7	9
THOMPSON Reuben	1	60
VAN DER HOORN Taco	1	59
HUISING Menno	1	57
DRIZNERS Jarrad	1	50
TONEATTI Davide	1	49
MATTIO Pietro	2	24
PORTER Rudy	1	44
FOX Matthew	1	36
VAN DER MEULEN Max	1	35
URIANSTAD BUGGE Martin	3	5
VAN BEKKUM Darren	1	10
MCKENZIE Hamish	8	1
GREENWOOD Matthew	1	3
BALLERSTEDT Maurice	9	0
FONTAINE Titouan	2	0

Panda Claws · 2026-01-11T22:36:27+0000

Casper Van Uden dark horse for sure

will-10 · 2026-01-11T22:43:10+0000

Seeing Brennan on the TDU startlist nearly had me tearing up my whole team. Think he might 'Narvaez' Narvaez.

ingsve · 2026-01-11T23:43:40+0000

Panda Claws said:
There's still a ton of value in Evenepoel just reliably getting over 2000 points. That's such a high amount for a single pick that even at 2500 he'll still be pretty good and not a serious detriment for a team hoping to win it all. Just didn't think the upside was significant enough to gamble on. Think he'll just end up being a decent enough pick, but since I'm bound to also have a few busts I aimed for more high risk - high reward picks like Roglic.

I'm not sure how true that is. At 2500 points he has a profit of 30%. That contributed to a team that scores overall 9720 if the whole team performed like that. And it's a significant proportion of the teams cost.

Looking at Salvaranis winning team last year and seeing how many riders returned that little and seeing how much they cost it lands on 1958 (by being generous and counting Plapp at 34% profit). That's basically the same cost as Evenepoel but spread over 7 "underperforming" riders. That means a team with Remco scoring 2500 could not afford to have any other flops below 30% profit if you want to have a similar failure rate as the last years winning team.

That seems like a rather significant handicap for the rest of the team to compensate.

Raising Remco's score to 3000 points instead means a profit of 55% and that raises the cost of riders in Salvaranis team scoring less than that to 2878 points. That gives the Remco team another 950 points worth of players who can also afford to score lower than 55% profit in order to have a similar failure rate. Now that's at least starting to look a little more reasonable.

Squire · 2026-01-12T00:37:35+0000

Earns1985 said:
Yeah, to overcome this time, we can start to discuss the pre-startlist of the race:

These should be the riders, who are picked in this game and will participate. If you wonder about the sorting, it´s popularity multiplied with 2025 points, which is a good indicator in my eyes, which riders are the most important participating riders for this game. Quite a huge number! Nearly half of the startlist had been picked!

@Shakes: To receive this overview, when you click on a race on your website, would be fantastic!

Rider Popularity Points 2025
VAN EETVELT Lennert
68
302
O'CONNOR Ben
28
563
BRENNAN Matthew
11
1115
PITHIE Laurence
46
228
LAMPERTI Luke
25
235
HAGENES Per Strand
36
106
ZANA Filippo
13
237
TEUTENBERG Tim Torn
7
298
GAUTHERAT Pierre
9
213
KRON Andreas Lorentz
38
50
BRENNER Marco
9
191
WELSFORD Sam
5
318
NOVAK Pavel
15
97
DAINESE Alberto
4
332
VAN UDEN Casper
7
187
FISHER-BLACK Finn
3
406
VINE Jay
1
1190
THORNLEY Callum
9
118
LEONARD Michael
5
168
DINHAM Matthew
33
25
YATES Adam
1
793
TUCKWELL Luke
17
46
SCHIFFER Anton
3
209
L'HOTE Antoine
9
69
RACCAGNI NOVIERO Andrea
3
178
SENTJENS Sente
11
46
CHARMIG Anthon
2
226
ZAMBANINI Edoardo
1
443
TAMINIAUX Lionel
9
42
GLIVAR Gal
6
60
HAIG Jack
3
116
CAVAGNA Rémi
2
162
ZIMMERMANN Georg
1
314
ROMELE Alessandro
3
88
FIORELLI Filippo
1
246
ERZEN Zak
3
70
PEDERSEN Casper
1
208
BUSATTO Francesco
1
207
DONNENWIRTH Tom
2
98
INGEBRIGTSEN Storm
4
47
REINDERINK Pepijn
2
90
CHAMBERLAIN Oscar
4
37
SCHRETTL Marco
1
119
ZIJLAARD Maikel
1
107
O'BRIEN Kelland
1
101
KNOX James
1
85
KAJAMINI Florian Samuel
2
40
PEACE Oliver
3
26
STANNARD Robert
1
65
REX Tim
7
9
THOMPSON Reuben
1
60
VAN DER HOORN Taco
1
59
HUISING Menno
1
57
DRIZNERS Jarrad
1
50
TONEATTI Davide
1
49
MATTIO Pietro
2
24
PORTER Rudy
1
44
FOX Matthew
1
36
VAN DER MEULEN Max
1
35
URIANSTAD BUGGE Martin
3
5
VAN BEKKUM Darren
1
10
MCKENZIE Hamish
8
1
GREENWOOD Matthew
1
3
BALLERSTEDT Maurice
9
0
FONTAINE Titouan
2
0

Pretty sure I have Buitrago participating, and he's not on your list.

ingsve said:
I'm not sure how true that is. At 2500 points he has a profit of 30%. That contributed to a team that scores overall 9720 if the whole team performed like that. And it's a significant proportion of the teams cost.

Looking at Salvaranis winning team last year and seeing how many riders returned that little and seeing how much they cost it lands on 1958 (by being generous and counting Plapp at 34% profit). That's basically the same cost as Evenepoel but spread over 7 "underperforming" riders. That means a team with Remco scoring 2500 could not afford to have any other flops below 30% profit if you want to have a similar failure rate as the last years winning team.

That seems like a rather significant handicap for the rest of the team to compensate.

Raising Remco's score to 3000 points instead means a profit of 55% and that raises the cost of riders in Salvaranis team scoring less than that to 2878 points. That gives the Remco team another 950 points worth of players who can also afford to score lower than 55% profit in order to have a similar failure rate. Now that's at least starting to look a little more reasonable.

I did some numbers on this some years back in the context of picking Valverde when he was fairly popular. One important thing to consider is that a lower budget is expected to give a larger % return. So a Remco team's other 32 riders will likely have a higher % return in total than the 33 riders on a non-Remco team.

Doing some extrapolation with the optimal team's returns to get percentages for an average 15000-scoring team, I calculated that Valverde barely had to make a profit to keep up with the non-Valverde teams if everything else went 'as expected'. Same goes for Remco if one is to use that calculation again.

The kicker is of course where the best picks are in a given year, who you are sacrificing to accommodate the expensive guy, and whether the extra cheap picks that you need are of the required quality.

Armchair Cyclist · 2026-01-12T00:44:36+0000

Earns1985 said:
If you wonder about the sorting, it´s popularity multiplied with 2025 points, which is a good indicator in my eyes, which riders are the most important participating riders for this game.

I have some recollection of a theory being espoused that the relevant metric maximised riders who are selected by half the entrants. A rider who is chosen once will only make a difference to one team: a rider on nearly every team has his relevance to the game effectively obliterated: he might change the size of the scores, but not much difference to the rankings. We shouldn't multiply by price such that free picks are irrelevant, no matter how often they were picked, so something needs to be added to get a non-zero rating: lets make that 100. (I tried it as 1, but that made cheap, very high frequency picks like Williams and Agostinacchio too far down the rankings: in the end, I thought if the minimum expectation of a rider is to return a 200 point profit, I'd post half of that)

So if we take (45-|frequency-45|) x (price+100), and then index that so that the top score is 100 and the free picks that are on only one team have 1, the importance metric is:

	picks	price	importance index
WITHEN PHILIPSEN Albert	44	459	100.0
EVENEPOEL Remco	12	1929	99.0
NYS Thibau	46	423	93.6
O'CONNOR Ben	28	563	75.6
MAS NICOLAU Enric	27	560	72.6
TARLING Joshua	36	328	62.9
GAUDU David	37	315	62.7
VAN GILS Maxim	58	362	60.3
PITHIE Laurence	46	228	58.9
BRENNAN Matthew	11	1115	54.6
SEIXAS Paul	73	661	52.9
BLACKMORE Joseph	31	277	47.8
LAPORTE Christophe	59	273	47.3
MOHORIC Matej	28	290	44.7
TIBERI Antonio	16	555	43.0
DEL GROSSO Tibor	15	598	42.9
POGACAR Tadej	2	5080	42.5
PHILIPSEN Jasper	7	1269	39.3
COSNEFROY Benoit	64	268	39.3
POOLE Max	60	215	38.8
VAN EETVELT Lennert	68	302	36.3
MARTINEZ POVEDA Daniel Felipe	40	121	36.3
DECOMBLE Maxime	35	152	36.2
VLASOV Aleksandr	28	209	35.6
NORDHAGEN Jørgen	22	293	35.5
OMRZEL Jakob	19	345	34.8
LAMPERTI Luke	25	235	34.4
LANDA MEANA Mikel	15	433	32.9
TORRES ARIAS Pablo	34	130	32.2
PELLIZZARI Giulio	10	680	32.1
THIJSSEN Gerben	26	192	31.3
HAGENES Per Strand	36	106	30.6
BISIAUX Léo	21	246	30.0
WIDAR Jarno	69	245	29.9
SÖDERQVIST Jakob	17	323	29.7
RODRIGUEZ CANO Carlos	71	262	28.4
PERICAS CAPDEVILA Adria	25	162	27.1
HOBBS Noah	34	90	26.7
ZINGLE Axel	65	155	26.4
FINN Lorenzo	20	211	25.7
AYUSO PESQUERA Juan	4	1422	25.2
VERMAERKE Kevin	18	219	23.8
KRON Andreas Lorentz	38	50	23.6
REMIJN Senna	37	52	23.3
VALTER Attila	23	137	22.6
HIRSCHI Marc	6	800	22.4
ROGLIC Primoz	5	956	21.9
DE KLEIJN Arvid	22	134	21.4
UIJTDEBROEKS Cian	7	614	20.8
JAKOBSEN Fabio	44	11	20.3
GIRMAY HAILU Biniam	5	843	19.7
VANSEVENANT Mauri	22	113	19.5
SANCHEZ MAYO Pelayo	46	5	19.3
ZANA Filippo	13	237	18.3
VACEK Mathias	7	517	18.1
VAN WILDER Ilan	6	619	18.0
WILLIAMS Stephen	51	10	17.9
KÜNG Stefan	8	433	17.8
DINHAM Matthew	33	25	17.3
RICCITELLO Matthew	6	576	17.0
BEHRENS Niklas	33	16	16.1
DUNBAR Edward	14	167	15.7
MORGADO Antonio Tomas	5	635	15.4
GEE-WEST Derek	4	783	14.9
LIPOWITZ Florian	3	1065	14.7
EULALIO Afonso	9	242	13.0
BERCKMOES Jenno	6	408	12.9
AGOSTINACCHIO Mattia	30	0	12.7
NOVAK Pavel	15	97	12.5
GLOAG Thomas	9	222	12.3
AUGUST Andrew	11	162	12.2
RYAN Archie	9	215	12.1
GAUTHERAT Pierre	9	213	12.0
TEUTENBERG Tim Torn	7	298	11.9
KRIJNSEN Jelte	19	45	11.7
BRENNER Marco	9	191	11.2
POLITT Nils	11	137	11.1
KOOIJ Olav	2	1182	11.0
MILAN Jonathan	2	1179	10.9
PICKERING Finlay	12	112	10.9
MADOUAS Valentin	5	407	10.8
TUCKWELL Luke	17	46	10.6
VAN AERT Wout	2	1130	10.5
STEINHAUSER Georg	13	86	10.4
PEDERSEN Mads	1	2232	10.0
MARTINEZ Lenny	2	1066	10.0

404 riders in the game are of less than 10 importance rankings, and 222 of them are below 2 (remember, 1 is the minimum possible)

Make of that what you will.

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The 2026 CQ Ranking Manager Thread

Panda Claws

DJ Sprtsch

Earns1985

Team — CQ Game

Panda Claws

hayneplane

Team — CQ Game

Squire

armchairclimber

Earns1985

Panda Claws

will-10

ingsve

Squire

Armchair Cyclist

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