The 2026 CQ Ranking Manager Thread

[RedheadDane]

I just want to point out that I'm very serious when it comes to sticking to whatever theme I have picked for selecting riders.
It's not my fault the guy who was supposed to be my main guy did some head-diving into a stone wall...

Not his fault either. In fact, it doesn't really appear to be anyone's fault; just one of those unfortunate accidents.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

It should really go without saying that what I meant was 'team that is a serious threat for the win', not 'anyone who hasn't picked Van Gils is a fundamentally unserious person'. I find it a little bit ridiculous that it's even turned into a point of discussion.

Keep thinking that I'm not a serious threat for the win. When zambanini wins the Ardennes triplet and Mattia gaffuri is holding onto the maglia Rosa a little too long,.reality will start to dawn....

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

There is a difference between having a few risky picks ... and not having any of the ten most popular riders.

That table I put up yesterday was not the most popular picks: it was an attempt to identify the most important. The most popular 8 picks were missing from that top ten. As explained in the bit behind the spoiler, a rider on every team is entirely irrelevant in terms of competitiveness in the game. The most popular 8 picks were not in that top ten that I posted, so the comment about having none of those riders could have been made by someone with all of Seixas, Rodriguez, Widar, Van Eetveldt, Zingle, Cosnefroy, Poole and Laporte (and Ilmaestro does have some of those).

So is missing the group I posted yesterday really proof of a reckless/thoughtless/unserious approach?

And frankly, so what if someone chooses to do that? It is far from unknown, entirely harmless, and even lets one more player claim to have finished in the top half/quarter of the field.

 

[repre]

Depending on speed of recovery and how good he would have been otherwise, that could be anywhere between 500 and 1200 points knocked off the winning score given that basically every serious player has Van Gils. Can't remember many such moments in this game.

Yeah, and to get injured or bad is one thing and to be in such a good form and be taken out like that for a season is another. Can't remember either such circumstances. Just sad. And Christen won't be penalized by UCI and his managers profiting adding another twist to the situation.

 

[YellowSocks]

YellowSocks 666

As a not very serious team I didn’t choose Van Gils, but I have Cosnefroy, and thanks to some devilish scheming, he is the one who earned me the fatal points. Now I bear the mark of Satan, and I blame UAE for this.

 

[YellowSocks]

Keep thinking that I'm not a serious threat for the win. When zambanini wins the Ardennes triplet and Mattia gaffuri is holding onto the maglia Rosa a little too long,.reality will start to dawn....

... not to mention Giosuè Epis.

 

[EvansIsTheBest]

Expected 1-2 in the ITT but still good to bank in those points. Let's see how well Tarling holds up on GC the rest of the week and if anybody from the Hirt, Dinham, Nordhagen cohort can claw their way back into GC points.

Pretty excited to see Seixas, Widar and Poole all in action in Algarve before the highlight of the week: Pierre Barbier in the Grand Prix Alaiye.

 

[tobydawq]

Expected 1-2 in the ITT but still good to bank in those points. Let's see how well Tarling holds up on GC the rest of the week and if anybody from the Hirt, Dinham, Nordhagen cohort can claw their way back into GC points.

Pretty excited to see Seixas, Widar and Poole all in action in Algarve before the highlight of the week: Pierre Barbier in the Grand Prix Alaiye.

I don't think Tarling will even try to hold on in GC - tomorrow's climb is Mortirolo level.

 

[Earns1985]

Blackmore not in the startlist anymore in Algarve.. nearly as disappointing/worrying as Lafay dropping from Murcias startlist last weekend..

It´s very difficult to get news about them. Somebody has any information about both cases?

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Hopefully I can get a rider over 100 points for the first time this week. Would be a nice milestone