Ripley wrote:
It ain't over till it's over, still lots of ranking points in play, especially for Moser, it seems.

Ollfardh wrote:
(why no favorites there?).

Shonak wrote:
Nice ICL logo

Shonak wrote:
After 4 years of TTT medals for my team, this year marks the end of this nice streak. Is there a stat of all won medals of every team, Bikex?

Bikex wrote:

Team	1	2	3	4	5
LIUCPBM3CGIPBT	1	1	1	0	0

Ripley wrote:
LIUCPBM3CGIPBT? How can you make a 3 letter abbreviation if apparently every letter is important?

Lunar Industries - Umbrella Corporation presented by M3 Communications Group Incorporated Professional Bicycling Team (i love that i can still remember this) are a legendary entity Wink
And dont forget the Sunnydale Varisty Team formerly Hilly Valley Varsity Team, the dev squad Pfft

Shonak wrote:
That's a nice medal collection by Celesio, mostly courtsey of Tony Martin and Matej Mohoric (U23) and Bob Jungels. Too bad that the manager mvh disappeared.

Ripley wrote:
Still can't fathom how Vittel was able to hire Tony Martin for such a low wage, why no WT team made a serious bid.

Shonak wrote:

Dunno, ask Matt or Jandal. They (over)bid on everybody lol

Ripley wrote:


Nice! I support any reference to the great movie Moon, watched it again just the other day. The Resident Evil series is a mess, though.

Vittel-Havas	Points: 7495		Rank: 1	WAVG: 1	WPOS: 1
T. Martin	Kern	Kozhatayev	Flakemore	Vakoc	Robert
2016	900	855	698	614	534
2	20	21	24	33	39

I dare say that Yellow Jersey didn't plan his transfers quite the brilliant way they turned out. He missed his big targets in the first FA round which I'm sure we all believed would be crucial. In fact, he didn't hire any of his eight best scorers in the first round. He hired four in the 2nd and four even as late as the 3rd round. Waiting clearly has its advantages, though maybe the free agent market won't be as stacked again next season. But he also planned his season brilliantly, sending Tony Martin to the WT to collect a lot of points, making him the 2nd best scorer of the whole CT despite "only" being a world class time trialist.

Credit Suisse	Points: 5752		Rank: 2	WAVG: 8	WPOS: 6
Caruso	Puccio	Ponzi	Cancellara	Aregger	Cattaneo
1923	1161	684	369	299	211
4	12	27	63	86	100

Vali found the missing piece in the puzzle by hiring Puccio, who had such a terrible 2017 season. But boy did he deliver for Credit Suisse this year. Captain Caruso also had a great season, scoring 500 more points than last year. The biggest surprise was Ponzi, who scored only 143 points in 2017 but 684 a year later. He's the main reason my prediction failed. I'll say it's a sign of excellent season planning that Credit Suisse finished 2nd, several positions higher than my formula predicted.

Aviva Cycling	Points: 5325		Rank: 3	WAVG: 5	WPOS: 3
Poels	Fuglsang	Schorn	Valgren	Stannard	Van der Sande
1237	1148	792	439	421	268
10	13	22	53	55	91

I still don't know how my team did so well. I admit to spending a lot of time planning our season and I believe it paid off. But Poels was the gift that kept on giving, he had an amazing season. I'm not usually a fan of sprinters and expected little from Schorn but he was just great and won more than he should have. Fuglsang was rock solid and everybody contributed, Van der Sande winning the GP Montreal was unreal.

Wilier Triestina	Points: 5150		Rank: 4	WAVG: 2	WPOS: 4
Moser	Rabottini	Pelucchi	De Marchi	Sanz	Pantano
1974	620	556	547	281	245
3	31	37	38	90	95

The team was in the middle of the pack for the longest time, Aquarius and Moser waiting patiently for the late hilly races which would turn things around. And they certainly did, Moser finished only behind Herklotz and Tony Martin in the individual rankings and the team jumped past Wiggle and CCC to finish 4th.

CCC Sprandi	Points: 5126		Rank: 5	WAVG: 10	WPOS: 5
Komisarek	Ulissi	Chamorro	Nowaczek	Anacona	Ochoa
1258	1146	576	488	357	300
9	14	36	46	69	84

dominox nailed it: "If anything I would say CCC will be on 5th spot at the end. Why? I already was 7th and 6th. Time for a 5th place." Possibly it was a mistake to send the team to the Giro, where it collected just 155 prestige points, those race days could have been put to better use. I was right when saying my formula, using just 6 riders, wasn't good enough for CCC. And indeed, Dall'Oste was their 8th best scorer (281), only Vittel had more scoring depth. I hope dominox will tell us how Komisarek (AVG 74.7) managed to collect 1258 points, I thought Schorn overperformed, but Komisarek outclassed him. When I add my usual tables and expect that Komisarek will be high up in the Points/AVG ranking.

Wiggle p/b BB	Points: 4843		Rank: 6	WAVG: 7	WPOS: 7
Thomas	Edmondson	Bennett	Clarke	Roche	Meyer
1386	906	514	398	323	284
7	19	42	58	76	88

A solid season for Team Wiggle. Thomas collected a lot of points, I expected even more from him, but admittedely the scoring potential is limited for cobblestone specialists. Bennett was a bit disappointing, but Edmondson had a good year.

Balkan Cycling	Points: 4468		Rank: 7	WAVG: 3	WPOS: 13
Nerz	Rui Costa	Figueiredo	Rajsp	Kolář	Eckmann
1434	1432	492	365	337	193
5	6	45	66	70	107

Though my two formulas were very similar, they spat out wildly different results for the Balkan Cycling Project. Unsurprisingly, the team ended up somewhere in the middle. Nerz and Rui Costa finished 5th and 6th, just two points apart, the team just needs another solid scorer. The sprinters Rajsp and Kolar should improve and that might be enough to become a serious promotion candidate.

Cymru Wales	Points: 3994		Rank: 8	WAVG: 6	WPOS: 2
Fenn	Swift	Rowe	Kreder	Schleck	Serebryakov
1195	680	612	420	302	233
11	29	34	57	82	98

Cymru Wales couldn't match my predictions, especially not WPOS, which had the team in 2nd place. The reason is simple, apart from old Andy Schleck the top riders are all sprinters who had to ride in support of each other. And poor Schleck had a terrible season, probably the planning wasn't focused on him. I believe no other team won as many mass sprints in the CT and that must have been the goal.

Bosch Cycling	Points: 3678		Rank: 9	WAVG: 21	WPOS: 21
Herklotz	Auer	Brus	Rapp	Egner	Paulus
2232	447	169	113	104	92
1	51	116	154	161	173

The one-man show Herklotz really messed up my prediction, though I had feared as much at the start of the season. I was also woefully unaware of the additional points scored from winning the U25 ranking, which made Herklotz 1.5x as effective as an older rider. Another thing I failed to consider: Auer would captain a lot of races and with the support of the whole team he scored way better than you'd expect from a rider with an AVG 73.5. Herklotz will be (even more) unstoppable next season, unless he forces his way into the WT. Match any steal offer, cio, and then put a price tag of 3000 on him.

Pedal Africa	Points: 3546		Rank: 10	WAVG: 12	WPOS: 11
Berhane	Ciolek	Kudus	Grmay	Teshome	Hamza
1049	691	619	381	162	155
16	26	32	61	121	126

The team performed just about as predicted. Still, their only non-African rider, Ciolek, was a disappointment, with his combination of HIl and SPR he should have done better. Berhane was a nice surprise with several top-notch results, Kudus should have done better, but he's still young and should take another step forward next season.

Statoil Pro	Points: 3397		Rank: 11	WAVG: 4	WPOS: 8
Guardini	Hoelgaard	Enger	Ringheim	Pizzaballa	Jeppessen
1327	509	393	390	317	97
8	43	59	60	78	167

Forget the prestige point ranking and the marginal gains employed by teams like Vittel and Aviva. When it comes to reputation and brand awareness, Statoil topped us all with a brilliant Tour de France. Only hardcore fans will have followed the CT results, but everybody watches the Tour. Also, hillis has an exciting team, lots of riders are set to improve. He might have to let go of a sprinter or two and plan more races with Pizzaballa and Zilioli in mind. It's a travesty that Zilioli scored just 24 prestige points this season as a puncher with AVG 76.6!

ICBC Cycling	Points: 3109		Rank: 12	WAVG: 20	WPOS: 20
Mat Senan	Yamamoto	Ki Ho Choi	Ji Min Jung	Khademi	Cahyadi
590	450	365	189	188	170
35	50	65	108	109	115

Like Bosch, ICBC defied my predictions, for the opposite reason, more depth than I accounted for. 12 riders scored over 100 points, that's only matched by Vittel. Possibly the Asian team was a little lucky, too, especially early in the season they achieved a lot of good results.

Jeep Cycling	Points: 2817		Rank: 13	WAVG: 13	WPOS: 9
Duarte	Boeckmans	Hardy	Díaz	Jaramillo	Anderson
715	421	373	194	193	137
23	56	62	105	106	134

Jeep: The team manager sadly never returned from that safari he went on in his sponsor's car. We didn't see much of their best rider, Boeckmans, but Duarte made up for that, winning the Volta a Portugal.

An Post	Points: 2651		Rank: 14	WAVG: 19	WPOS: 18
Goss	Lavery	Mullen	Serry	Havik	Würtz
913	333	323	301	238	159
18	72	75	83	97	124

MacC's team easily beat my prediction thanks to a good performance by captain Goss. Would love to see him continue with his pretty strict Irish focus, but it'll always be an uphill battle.

Cool Runnings	Points: 2637		Rank: 15	WAVG: 16	WPOS: 19
Henao	Lobato	Castle	Mayho	Newbury	Brenes
1080	528	362	169	158	99
15	40	67	117	125	165

TMM wasn't totally wrong, his team relied mostly on Henao, who I feel should have been even more successful. Lobato wasn't bad, either. Is the team really going to go all Caribbean? Would be cool, but a tough road ahead.

Vegeta Cycling	Points: 2636		Rank: 16	WAVG: 15	WPOS: 17
Kiserlovski	Preidler	Domagalski	Valls	Laengen	Hajdu
696	464	324	306	171	91
25	48	74	80	114	177

SSJ2Luigi simply ignored relegation and signed up for a lot of WT races, predictably, the results weren't much to shout about. It's high time to reduce the squad size, which will free up a lot of room in the budget.

Polestar	Points: 2551		Rank: 17	WAVG: 18	WPOS: 15
Kangert	Ludvigsson	Kruijswijk	Ahlstrand	Laas	Smukulis
623	315	262	248	171	141
30	79	92	94	113	133

Matched the expectations. Though Kangert could surely have done better, not his finest season. ivaneurope focused a bit much on TTs, which was rewarded with an excellent result in the TTT WC as 6th.

Spidertech	Points: 2469		Rank: 18	WAVG: 9	WPOS: 12
Gilbert	Lander	Pöstlberger	Sütterlin	Plesner	Salas
680	464	362	322	149	101
28	47	68	77	128	163

My two predictions expected more from Spidertech. Gilbert's final season wasn't the fireworks we hoped for. Lander was a positive surprise, though.

Team WWE	Points: 2373		Rank:19	WAVG: 11	WPOS: 10
Atapuma	Blythe	Landa	Busche	Butler	Berry
962	493	369	215	128	69
17	44	64	99	143	205

WWE overextended their budget slightly in the transfer period and it proved to be a bad omen for the season. All captains underperformed, though similar to Statoil the team did well in the Tour de France, with Atapuma winning the polkadot jersey and that's worth more than just ranking points.

Veranclassic	Points: 2345		Rank: 20	WAVG: 17	WPOS: 16
Bakelants	Van den Broeck	Vangenechten	Bouet	Bille	Waeytens
447	435	290	262	206	151
52	54	87	93	103	127

Nightrider decided to hire 28 riders, even more than Vegeta who failed in setting up a U23 squad, while Veranclassic wasn't even considering that. An admirable Belgian focus, but lacking real captains.

Trek-Segafredo	Points: 1948		Rank: 21	WAVG: 14	WPOS: 14
Felline	Cimolai	Conti	Guldhammer	Hansen	Kamp
337	304	196	178	162	161
71	81	104	110	122	123

Only WWE underperformed even more compared to my predictions. Lacking real captains, but still, the names Cimolai, Quaade, Conti, Felline and Trentin promised some decent results. Better luck next year!