The 2026 CQ Ranking Manager Thread

[ingsve]

Vlasov in to profit but O' Connor looks a lost cause. He will struggle to break-even.

Still, with all the injured riders on basically every team this year having someone who is actually riding and scoring some points is better than nothing. Out of my expensive picks I sort of feel more comfortable with O'Connor compared to Mas and Landa so far.

 

[the asian]

Still, with all the injured riders on basically every team this year having someone who is actually riding and scoring some points is better than nothing. Out of my expensive picks I sort of feel more comfortable with O'Connor compared to Mas and Landa so far.

Mas has the Vuelta, where he should finish high up in the GC to score some decent points.

 

[ingsve]

Mas has the Vuelta, where he should finish high up in the GC to score some decent points.

Ya, but being scheduled for the Vuelta as well is no guarantee that he will have found any form by then either.

 

[RedheadDane]

Okay, I've got some riders at La Doyenne:

Charmig
Cort
Foldager
Hellemose
Honoré
Kamp
Kron

 

[Devil's Elbow]

It’s not quite as sprinter-friendly a route as usual in Turkey, but if Crabbe is at a level where he can win sprints he starts from 15th wheel he could still rack up quite a few points this week.

 

[Shakes]

For cycling im happy Pogacar is not riding off by himself anymore.

For this game I'm devastated.

Torn.

 

[EvansIsTheBest]

2nd, 3rd and 4th in Liège for my team. Such a shame they let some unknown Slovenian dude slip off the front. I'm going to need them to pay more attention from now on.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

2nd, 3rd and 4th in Liège for my team. Such a shame they let some unknown Slovenian dude slip off the front. I'm going to need them to pay more attention from now on.

1 rider in the top 40 for me. Thank god the classics are over. Despite 2 unique pick wins in 2 days I could be bottom of the leaderboard tomorrow

 

[RedheadDane]

1 rider in the top 40 for me. Thank god the classics are over. Despite 2 unique pick wins in 2 days I could be bottom of the leaderboard tomorrow

Hello. I also only had one rider in the top-40.
And no wins in the last two days... actually; entire week!

DNF	Foldager Anders

GODDAMMIT, Anders. You had... one job; finishing the race so you'd break even.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Pozzovivo on 62 points after 6 race days. If he keeps up that moyenne, he might be the first-ever rider to make the optimal team who was retired at the start of the season.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I only had one rider in the top 1.

 

[RedheadDane]

I only had one rider in the top 1.

Having two riders would have been impressive.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Having two riders would have been impressive.

I'm hoping for a 33 rider tie in the Tour de France. Records are meant to be broken and it's, been 22 years since that Dutch race (one year for each winner).

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Hello. I also only had one rider in the top-40.
And no wins in the last two days... actually; entire week!

DNF	Foldager Anders

GODDAMMIT, Anders. You had... one job; finishing the race so you'd break even.

You're my big rival for last place. I will be cheering against all danish riders from now on

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

I only had one rider in the top 1.

That's only one more than I had.

 

[ingsve]

Even though his form has not really looked impressive. Ben O'Connor is still actually 69 points ahead of where he was a year ago. That's 47% ahead.
I think he will need to top-10 a GT this season and do well in some other races to break into a slight profit.

 

[EvansIsTheBest]

Update #15: Paul leads popularity polls

It hasn't exatcly been a banner year for popular picks but there is one teenager that seems determined to make up for everyone else's lackluster scoring. The Ardennes Classics went by nearly as fast as Pogacar and Seixas up the Côte de la Redoute (commiserations for the people that passed on the Frenchman). However the less heralded races provided plenty of scoring as well with the Tour of the Alps and the Vuelta a Asturias featuring multiple popular picks.

This Week's Top Scorers

Rank​	Team​	Points this week​
1​	DJW​	1088​
2​	zigzag_wanderer​	1071​
3​	armchairclimber​	999​
4​	Lortnoc​	957​
5​	JumboVismaFan​	955​

DJW scores a second weekly week this season, cracking 1000 points on the week to boot. Seixas is obviously the headliner here but contributions from Pellizzari, Cosnefroy, Pericas, Rondel, Bisiaux and Omrzel put their team over the top. Zigzag wanderer goes straight into second with Crabbe and Crescioli instead of Rondel and Cosnefroy. Armchairclimber climbs on the last spot of the podium missing a single point to reach 1000 points (similar combo of Seixas, Pellizzari, Cosnefroy, Bisiaux and Pericas with some Kron sprinkled in). Lortnoc and Jumbo Visma Fan complete the top five with mostly the same cast of characters (Evenepoel and Quintana do feature heavily on JVF's team to be fair).

This Week's High Movers

Rank​	Team​	Up/Down​
1​	zigzag_wanderer​	(+15)​
2​	DJW​	(+14)​
3​	kingcycling​	(+12)​
4​	armchairclimber​	(+11)​
5​	Salvarani​	(+10)​
5​	JumboVismaFan​	(+10)​

Six double digit jumps this update highlighted by zigzag wanderer and DJW. Defending champ Salvarani makes an appearance with rare pick Diego Pescador quietly turning into a big fish. Kingcycling incredibly top heavy team (Evenepoel, Roglic, Pellizzari and Seixas) benefits from their heavy hitters coming out swinging this week.

Green Jersey Competition

Rank​	Team​	Total​
1​	slow_climber​	165​
2​	karaev​	120​
3​	SafeBet​	119​
4​	postmanhat​	118​
5​	Eyeballs Out​	117​

Postmanhat scores 14 points this week and Eyeballs Out scores 10 to really tighten up the podium race. Slow climber keeps a weekly win as a buffer.

Top 10 Overall

Rank​	Team​	Points​
1​	slow_climber​	6294​
2​	postmanhat​	6152​
3​	Eyeballs Out​	6041​
4​	Crevaison​	5798​
5​	Nyssinator​	5785​
6​	SafeBet​	5750​
7​	karaev​	5725​
8​	ingsve​	5720​
9​	repre ​	5687​
10​	Hugo Koblet​	5653​

Postmanhat trims another 200 points of slow climber's lead and is now well within striking distance. Crevaison and SafeBet rocket up the rankings into the top 5 and the top 10 respectively. Vladimir makes way in the top 10. With another monster week on the horizon (Romandie, Frankfurt, etc.), they'll have plenty of opportunities to bounce back. For my part I'll have to watch Crabbe, one of the last cuts from my team, clean up the sprints in Turkey. Fun.

Spreadsheet link

 

[EvansIsTheBest]

Pozzovivo on 62 points after 6 race days. If he keeps up that moyenne, he might be the first-ever rider to make the optimal team who was retired at the start of the season.

And people make fun of me for picking retired dudes in the Spring Classics game. But one of these days, Gilbert will make a shock comeback and I'll clean up.

 

[RedheadDane]

And people make fun of me for picking retired dudes in the Spring Classics game. But one of these days, Gilbert will make a shock comeback and I'll clean up.

I hate to break it to you, but even if Gilbert made a shock comeback, and won Frankfurt, you still wouldn't win the Spring Classics game.

Anyway, just three guys for Romandie:

Hellemose
C. Pedersen
Withen

 

[armchairclimber]

Two high scoring weeks in a row have brought me into a more respectable top half position. I don't expect much from this week with a mediocre Romandie team ... Nordhagen and Withen Philipsen being my best chances. Del Grosso at the end of the week might do ok. Not sure what to expect from Frankfurt. Maybe Juan Martinez can pick up a few in Turkiye.

 

[ingsve]

The Evenepoel owners are closing in on the top of the table. EvansIsTheBest at 12th and Skidmark 14th now. I guess he's on a training break now however and will be back at Dauphine.

 

[EvansIsTheBest]

The Evenepoel owners are closing in on the top of the table. EvansIsTheBest at 12th and Skidmark 14th now. I guess he's on a training break now however and will be back at Dauphine.

Evenepoel's climbing just isn't where it needs to be though. He did a good job of salvaging points even when he didn't have the legs but hard to see him get away with it during the Tour. I only have Van Eetvelt listed for the Giro (skidmark has Hatherly as well) so expect us to sink down the rankings in the coming weeks. We'll probably be too far back by the time Remco starts racing again to have a realistic shot at winning.