Original idea from Croatia, for those of you with no time for shiny or detailed previews or focusing on PCT or PT, but want to make a quicker prediction of team placings/with a bite of text, feel free to bomb this thread with predictions!
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [PT] Xero Racing
Here's a list of super bold predictions I have (most of which will probably be wrong):
1. Aeropostal will have 1 point scorer in the top 50, which will be Raul Cabrera 2. Andorra Cycling Project will finish in the bottom 5 because of the lack of back up and hill stats in their climbers, however in a few years they'll have an exciting group of young prospects 3. Azteca has a rider finish in the top 3 on every single mountain stage (excluding breakaway victories) but will never have a rider in the top 3 on a cobble or sprint stage (excluding breakaways again) 4. Campari - superdry does not win a race all year, still scores well-ish off top 10s 5. Cycle Yorkshire's Rohan Dennis wins the most time trials in the CT 6. Eddie Stobart's Daniel Thorsen does not get a single top 15 placing and never rides for another team again, however the team actually does pretty well 7. Garmin - BikeNZ has the most Breakaway wins in the CT 8. Nordstrom finishes in the top 5 9. In-n-Out's Kai Reus wins only 1 Time trial all year 10. Kulczyk - DMTEX promotes 11. Löbauer Stadtwerke promotes next year, finishes outside top 15 this year 12. Philips - Continental finishes with 3 riders in the top 30 point scorers 13. Proximus does not score points on a single mountain, hill or timetrial stage 14. Repsol Honda doesn't promote 15. SanCor becomes the go-to sprint train for sprinters who don't have a train and need a train to leech off of 16. Sauber finished outside the top 10 17. Statoil finishes dead last 18. Reddit's winner anacona is the only rider on the team who wins a mountain stage despite having 5 riders with 76+ mountain 19. Telia wins the most mountain classifications 20. Balkan cycling project finishes in the complete middle of the ranking (12th) 21. VMP - Argon has 6 riders that score points all season 22. Wiggle loans out or sells 12 of its 18 riders after this season 23. World Cycling Centre shocks the CT and finishes either second or first 24. Xero's Simon Clarke has a breakaway victory before he has a sprint victory
If anyone wants to know the rationale behind any of these bold predictions, just let me know which ones
maxime86 wrote: 1. Aeropostal will have 1 point scorer in the top 50, which will be Raul Cabrera 10. Kulczyk - DMTEX promotes 13. Proximus does not score points on a single mountain, hill or timetrial stage 14. Repsol Honda doesn't promote 15. SanCor becomes the go-to sprint train for sprinters who don't have a train and need a train to leech off of 17. Statoil finishes dead last 23. World Cycling Centre shocks the CT and finishes either second or first
"bold"
I like our one, I hoped he'd do breaks last season with that fighter stat but never came around He could definitely win if he survives to the finish in a break though. I doubt he'll get a sprint win so very likely
Also would love to hear the rationale behind Goldcorp's one
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [PT] Xero Racing
Also would love to hear the rationale behind Goldcorp's one
Same, not gonna complain though
I'm not saying it's for sure gonna happen, but I honestly could see a situation where u guys win a ton of cobbles races with Van Keirsbulck and Farrar. Then, I love your team's backup stats, everyone has good backup stats and are really all around, meaning I could see a situation where u guys steal a ton of points from random stage victories and top 10s that you aren't expected to get.
@Aquaris : Thanks for the vote, I really do like my team for this season, but the lack of a top sprinter in CT is normally a huge problem. Still think we promote comfortably, but I'd bet on others to take the crown.
@Aquarius, I like the confidence in my squad, I don't expect to finish 5th but I do think there's a chance it could happen. I just hope you aren't putting too much faith in my race planning skills as there is probably a reason why I am still CT in my 5th season, that said I suppose it's 5 seasons worth of learning what doesn't work first hand so I know what mistakes to not repeat.
Third Not sure why you think we'll come there but thanks for the confidence
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [PT] Xero Racing
Did a small numbers based prediction myself, but don't feel like making a new thread for it
Because everyone's prediction is so full based of subjective things and very difficult calculations, I based my prediction relying on one stat: OVL. Which I know is not a 100% accurate reflection of the actual strength but it's good enough for me. I'll call it "Marco's overall ranking based on overall"
There are three individual rankings in the spoilers. They are all based on the average of the first n-riders of the team. The final ranking is a combination of those three rankings
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [PT] Xero Racing
He could definitely win if he survives to the finish in a break though. I doubt he'll get a sprint win so very likely 
Not sure why you think we'll come there but thanks for the confidence 
