The 2026 CQ Ranking Manager Thread

[Ilmaestro99]

Big performance from giosue epis to surf the wheels and finish top 20 in the trofeo Palma - a big 5 points!!! Every point will count in my lantern rouge battle with @Samu Cuenca - good ride from my star boy.

 

[RedheadDane]

Every point will count in my lantern rouge battle with @Samu Cuenca

I feel left out...

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Big performance from giosue epis to surf the wheels and finish top 20 in the trofeo Palma - a big 5 points!!! Every point will count in my lantern rouge battle with @Samu Cuenca - good ride from my star boy.

When Pogačar starts glowing as much as his hair, your team will be begging mine for a pair of their sunglasses.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

I feel left out...

Well that's because your team is doing quite well. I guess is only January though

When Pogačar starts glowing as much as his hair, your team will be begging mine for a pair of their sunglasses.

Its clear that pocagar is due an 'anus horribilus'. That's why I toyed with the idea of picking him but went with Edoardo zambanini instead. Let's see who has more points in October

 

[tobydawq]

Well that's because your team is doing quite well. I guess is only January though



Its clear that pocagar is due an 'anus horribilus'. That's why I toyed with the idea of picking him but went with Edoardo zambanini instead. Let's see who has more points in October

I think Pogacar will have more points than Zambanini by October.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I think Pogacar will have more points than Zambanini by October.

It will depend on whether his new hairdo makes him smack that or he'll lose himself 8 miles into his first race of the season.

 

[Salvarani]

It will depend on whether his new hairdo makes him smack that or he'll lose himself 8 miles into his first race of the season.

He will go until he collapses

 

[Squire]

Lamperti and Thijssen only managing 12th and a relegation respectively from groups where I could count the number of sprinters on one hand today was also quite disappointing

Lamperti made a strong attack in the closing kilometres, so no wonder he was a bit spent for the sprint. He did at least look very good. Was also among the strongest on the climb. And him attacking kinda underpins what we were discussing earlier about him not being an out-and-out sprinter, not even in his own eyes apparently.

Buitrago looked like comfortably the strongest rider in the race, so maybe there's still hope for my unique pick. But because of his (presumably) bad day in TDU and the Cadel race not suiting him, it hasn't resulted in any meaningful points yet. Which is what I want, rather than him looking like a million dollars and finishing 18th.

 

[skidmark]

Update #3: Onizuka999 Gets Christened into CQ Game

The early season continued this week with races (not braces!) in Mallorca, Saudi Arabia, Australia and France. As more riders get their seasons underway we will see more upheaval in the standings, although the very top of the standings remained tight from last week. How did teams do?

This Week's Top Scorers

Rank	Team	Points this week
1	Onizuka999	498
2	peixotini	462
3	SafeBet	450
4	Popchu	444
5	del1962	433

This week's top teams don't quite clear 500 points, but it's a strong and competitive week, with game newcomer Onizuka999 coming out on top with 498. Their team is powered by rare pick Jan Christen, who gets 175 points for his two team owners, as well as 114 from Matt Brennan (11 teams) and 65 from Laurence Pithie (46). In second place, peixotini comes closest with an interesting mix of rare riders, including Mathys Rondel (92, 3), Jonathan Milan (86, 2), Georg Steinhauser (76, 13) and several riders around the 30 point mark. SafeBet makes the final podium step thanks to Brennan/Steinhauser/Pithie as well as Filippo Zana (57, 13) and others.

This Week's High Movers

Rank	Team	Up/down
1	del1962	(+35)
2	Onizuka999	(+33)
2	lil_michy	(+33)
4	peixotini	(+28)
5	Armchair cyclist	(+25)

There's a similar but jumbled mix in this ranking, with del1962 moving up the most at 35 spots, largely thanks to rare pick Antonio Morgado (173, 5). Onizuka999 comes close to doubling up but has to be satisfied with moving up 33 spots, tied with fellow game newbie lil michy (powered by Remco Evenepoel's 180 points for his 12 team owners).

Green Jersey Competition

Rank	Team	Total
1	karaev	62
2	postmanhat	56
3	SafeBet	52
4	Onizuka999	45
4	Mason07	45

karaev has not seen a weekly win yet, but is the only team to land in the top 15 for all 3 weeks of the season so far, and so their team is rewarded for that consistency with the top spot in this ranking. Last week's winner postmanhat is in 2nd, and SafeBet lands in 3rd after a solid two-week run of 5th and 3rd places respectively.

Top 10 Overall

Rank	Up/down	Team	Points
1	(+1)	karaev	886
2	(-1)	postmanhat	851
3	(-)	Pantani4ever	837
4	(+8)	SafeBet	836
5	(+1)	Earns1985	790
6	(+11)	slow_climber	768
7	(-3)	repre	763
8	(+5)	Wvv	759
9	(+15)	18-Valve. (pithy)	747
10	(-)	Riverside	743

There's some stability at the top but upheval further below. Just like in the Green Jersey, karaev overhauls postmanhat for first here, while Pantani4ever remains very close in 3rd (and only one point ahead of 4th!) SafeBet, slow climber, Wvv and 18-Valve move into the top 10 overall, while LosBrolin, ingsve, Devil's Elbow and ReadheadDane fall out.

Coming up we have stage races in Valenciana and Besseges this week, while the one-day Muscat Classic and first stage of the Tour of Oman will come at the tail end of the week.

spreadsheet link

 

[RedheadDane]

SafeBet, slow climber, Wvv and 18-Valve move into the top 10 overall, while LosBrolin, ingsve, Devil's Elbow and ReadheadDane fall out.

The only surprising part about that is that I was in it.

 

[Squire]

So I was one of four teams who didn't move in the standings this week. That's acceptable, considering my week was almost exclusively fueled by one single moustached man.

Let's see what this week brings.

Etoile de Bessèges (2.1)
DECOMBLE Maxime
KOCKELMANN Mathieu

I might be overly optimistic, but I'll actually be very disappointed with anything less than a top 5 on GC for Decomble here in this weak field. It's not a race where Kockelmann can score a lot, but hopefully he'll get to sprint instead of Grisel. Otherwise I'll be worried.

Volta Comunitat Valenciana (2.Pro)
VLASOV Aleksandr

Startlist not quite complete, but the only potential additions I can see from my team would be Cosnefroy or Torres. This will be an early indication on whether I should regret picking Vlasov or not. A good Vlasov should be among the better in the TT and on the climbs even with Evenepoel in his team. There aren't many I would rate higher on this route, perhaps only Remco, Almeida, Sheffield and Tiberi. The likes of Vacek, Pedersen, Romeo, Garcia and Foss can maybe do a better TT, but will hopefully be dropped on the steep ramps.

Starlists for Muscat and Oman are really bare bones, so I'll look at those later. But I'm really hoping for a Nordhagen season debut there.

 

[hayneplane]

Not flying start to the season but then only Van Eetvelt (crash) and Mas (no form) have really flopped and most of my bigger points riders are yet to start their season.

A bit concerned that almost all my GC type riders are lining up at UAE tour where the podium looks beyond the range of all of them. Hopefully some are heading out to the Middle East a week earlier to do Tour of Oman against less formidable opponents.

 

[YellowSocks]

Meanwhile, at the bottom of the rankings...

The game's gruppetto is doing well. We're riding along quietly, admiring the scenery, far from the pressure of the TV cameras, exchanging gossip about the peloton. Jonas apparently used Quickstep flooring to renovate his kitchen, on the advice of Remco, who renovated his entire house for free (he apparently changed teams to renovate his bathroom). Tadej's new hair color, Ineos' transparent bib shorts... all this keeps us pleasantly occupied. A guy from the Saint-Michel team gave us some biscuits.
Racing? It's so overrated.
We're fine.
The weather is nice.

Everyone seems to have forgotten we exist anyway.

 

[postmanhat]

The story of my week is people scoring far fewer points than they should have from the situations they were in. Vansevenant yesterday was the most annoying (in part because it's the only one I watched live), but Lamperti and Thijssen only managing 12th and a relegation respectively from groups where I could count the number of sprinters on one hand today was also quite disappointing. At least Brennan didn't win and Pithie scored less than he did at the same race last year...

The story of my next week might well be not having anyone in action. Nobody listed yet in Valencia, only Crabbe on the provisional startlist of Bessèges (makes me sad to see how weak that field is, organisers don't deserve that at all), only Vansevenant and Zingle listed so far in Oman. Obviously there will be some additions but it looks like I have some more ground to lose.

Ditto. Vansevant and Brenann messing up the final few K cost me a lot of points. Positive surprise was Steinhauser obviously being over his injury problems and ticking over to a decent early season tally.

Next few days could be painful in terms of Evenepoel, Tiberi and Uijtderberoeks doing well. V for victory is unlikely to be Vlasov or Van Gestel, but maybe Vansevant can learn from his mistakes in Oman.

 

[ingsve]

Update #3: Onizuka999 Gets Christened into CQ Game

The early season continued this week with races (not braces!) in Mallorca, Saudi Arabia, Australia and France. As more riders get their seasons underway we will see more upheaval in the standings, although the very top of the standings remained tight from last week. How did teams do?

This Week's Top Scorers

Rank	Team	Points this week
1	Onizuka999	498
2	peixotini	462
3	SafeBet	450
4	Popchu	444
5	del1962	433

This week's top teams don't quite clear 500 points, but it's a strong and competitive week, with game newcomer Onizuka999 coming out on top with 498. Their team is powered by rare pick Jan Christen, who gets 175 points for his two team owners, as well as 114 from Matt Brennan (11 teams) and 65 from Laurence Pithie (46). In second place, peixotini comes closest with an interesting mix of rare riders, including Mathys Rondel (92, 3), Jonathan Milan (86, 2), Georg Steinhauser (76, 13) and several riders around the 30 point mark. SafeBet makes the final podium step thanks to Brennan/Steinhauser/Pithie as well as Filippo Zana (57, 13) and others.

This Week's High Movers

Rank	Team	Up/down
1	del1962	(+35)
2	Onizuka999	(+33)
2	lil_michy	(+33)
4	peixotini	(+28)
5	Armchair cyclist	(+25)

There's a similar but jumbled mix in this ranking, with del1962 moving up the most at 35 spots, largely thanks to rare pick Antonio Morgado (173, 5). Onizuka999 comes close to doubling up but has to be satisfied with moving up 33 spots, tied with fellow game newbie lil michy (powered by Remco Evenepoel's 180 points for his 12 team owners).

Green Jersey Competition

Rank	Team	Total
1	karaev	62
2	postmanhat	56
3	SafeBet	52
4	Onizuka999	45
4	Mason07	45

karaev has not seen a weekly win yet, but is the only team to land in the top 15 for all 3 weeks of the season so far, and so their team is rewarded for that consistency with the top spot in this ranking. Last week's winner postmanhat is in 2nd, and SafeBet lands in 3rd after a solid two-week run of 5th and 3rd places respectively.

Top 10 Overall

Rank	Up/down	Team	Points
1	(+1)	karaev	886
2	(-1)	postmanhat	851
3	(-)	Pantani4ever	837
4	(+8)	SafeBet	836
5	(+1)	Earns1985	790
6	(+11)	slow_climber	768
7	(-3)	repre	763
8	(+5)	Wvv	759
9	(+15)	18-Valve. (pithy)	747
10	(-)	Riverside	743

There's some stability at the top but upheval further below. Just like in the Green Jersey, karaev overhauls postmanhat for first here, while Pantani4ever remains very close in 3rd (and only one point ahead of 4th!) SafeBet, slow climber, Wvv and 18-Valve move into the top 10 overall, while LosBrolin, ingsve, Devil's Elbow and ReadheadDane fall out.

Coming up we have stage races in Valenciana and Besseges this week, while the one-day Muscat Classic and first stage of the Tour of Oman will come at the tail end of the week.

spreadsheet link

Your points are a little off. You have Gerben Thijssen with 20 points too much and Lukas Kubis with 5 points too much. They both got relegated at GP Marseillaise but it seems like CQrankings published their weekly ranking before updating the score with those relegations. This likely means a few others who moved up a place or two have wrong score too. It should fix itself with the next update but I suppose it might matter for the green jersey perhaps.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

only Crabbe on the provisional startlist of Bessèges (makes me sad to see how weak that field is, organisers don't deserve that at all)

On second thought, I am very pleased with that startlist after all. Really excited to have the kid on my team now, if he can do this on a puncheur-sprinter finish when virtually all of his best results last year were on the flat...

 

[RedheadDane]

Hopefully, the presence of Mads Pedersen in Valenciana will help me get some actual point-points in Europe next week.

So much for that...

DNF

Pedersen Mads

Lidl - Trek

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

Biniiiiiiii 33 points

 

[tobydawq]

This can be an important week for Vacek. He was blocked in the sprint but was always in the front during the splits and with a TT tomorrow and not too hard parcours in general, he could challenge for a podium on GC.

And now with Pedersen's injury, he might even get an even bigger role to play in the classics.

 

[Squire]

Vlasov and Decomble both scoring 3 points for me was not on my bingo card for today's stages.

 

[EvansIsTheBest]

On second thought, I am very pleased with that startlist after all. Really excited to have the kid on my team now, if he can do this on a puncheur-sprinter finish when virtually all of his best results last year were on the flat...

Well Crabbe is the last guy I swapped out of my team which means he'll go on to have a monster season like all the others in that position throughout the years. You are welcome.