Too bad you didn't score any daily results because of the AI, but decent positioning from Beltran did lead to a nice second place and some good corresponding pprd. I hope he keeps this form in his remaining races!

We'll see. He needs to keep repeating this sort of results until the end of the season, because all our other scoring options have been pretty much exhausted.

Also we haven't gotten any "lucky" breakaway results like Thurau in the same race for example



He has to keep this form up! Otherwise it's Goodnight Vienna

Pos	Last		Team	Total	RD	PpRD	Proj
1	1		Farfetch Pro Cycling	2994	106	28,25	4944
2	2		Repsol - Netflix	2547	115	22,15	3876
3	3		Mapei	2535	113	22,43	3925
4	6		Bakkafrost	2423	116	20,89	3656
5	18		MOL	2366	113	20,94	3665
6	4		Team Popo4Ever p/b Nemiroff	2209	121	18,26	3196
7	14		Xero Racing	2156	111	19,42	3399
8	10		Polar	2106	109	19,32	3381
9	8		Duolingo	1942	113	17,19	3008
10	13		Podium Ambition	1904	126	15,11	2644
11	11		Berg Cycles	1803	111	16,24	2842
12	12		Minions	1781	102	17,46	3056
13	20		DK - SVA Zalgiris	1777	113	15,73	2753
14	15		Desigual	1748	99	17,66	3091
15	5		Valio - Viking Genetics	1746	111	15,73	2753
16	7		Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam	1722	104	16,56	2898
17	25		Kraftwerk Man Machine	1579	96	16,45	2879
18	9		Andorra Cycling Project	1547	99	15,63	2735
19	23		Fablok - Chocolate Jacques	1360	89	15,28	2674
20	17		Swisslion Cycling Team	1311	114	11,5	2013
21	16		GCN Racing	1274	118	10,8	1890
22	22		Adastra N Hell Energy Cycling	1238	118	10,49	1836
23	24		Azteca - NBCSN	1222	95	12,86	2251
24	26		Nordstrom - CA Technologies	1221	110	11,1	1943
25	21		Aramco DP	1093	106	10,31	1804
26	19		Campari Asahi Procycling	861	98	8,79	1538

It took over 2 months, but the MGUCI announced the 3rd ranking update for the PCT division. We have kept scoring points at the same rate as we had in the last update and as we feared that led us down the wrong path. The team dropped from 17th to 20th, which is exactly where the previous update projected us at. That PpRD rate now sees us projected in 21st place, the last place that still grants PCT status next season. So how did the last period turn out as it did?

The period started in California, the GC results were solid, but the lack of breakaway success given the lineup sent there was underwhelming. Fortunes for the team and more directly sprinter Lahcen Saber changed in the Baltic Chain Tour. With two podium results the Morrocan had his best race in Swisslion colours, placing 2nd in GC. Tour of Pologne followed the theme of California, okay in GC, but no stage results again meant the scoring was not good enough. Same can be said of Corsica. Kris Boeckmans was the sprint favourite, but failed to deliver even a podium result. Cyprus turned out to be the exact opposite. Boeckmans managed two stage podiums, but the GC scoring was non existent, which again left a sour taste in the mouth.

If the recent disappointments weren't enough our highest paid rider Eddy Beltran scored only 2 pts in the GP Wallonie classic. Which was then followed up by Boeckmans placing only 17th in Veenendaal. A disastrous month of April was closed somewhat better in the Lisbon Classic, as Saber finished 5th. The month of May was not as busy as the previous months. Windhoek was a chance for veteran Hugues Mottin to finally show his worth, but one off day in a 2 day event meant the result was again a little underwhelming. Things didn't improve for us in Scandinavia as Beltran still was not performing close to his expected level. An 11th place finish in a top 5 sponsor goal race was quickly forgettable. Lahcen Saber showed again our mistake in thinking he is a competent cobbler, with a 21st place finish in Malopolski Wyscig, his best result on the cobbles this season.

The north of Europe finally proved a happy hunting ground for the team. Yevgeni Nepomnyachsniy scored a decent 16th in GC in the Tour of Norway. Boeckmans added some solid stage results in the sprints to make the race one of the few highlights of the year. Hanko Classic though didn't turn out as well. The combo of Saber and Boeckmans didn't work as well together as they can, only placing 8th and 17th. Another unmitigated disaster that saw us, the management scratching our heads, was the Tour of Japan. Low GC places with no stage results made for a terrible output. We have to hold our hands up and say we made a mistake going to Japan. Last race in the update was Grands Prix Cyclistes. It looked again to be a race going against us, but with a lot of determination and effort we made a success of it. Eddy Beltran finished 2nd on GC that added some much needed pts to our ranking.

We only have a handful appearances left between our two sprinters. With some luck they might reach across the 700 pts mark between both of them. Nepomnyachsniy's season is also close to over with only 3 races remaining. Our supporting riders seemingly can't score the pts necessary and there simply aren't races left on the calendar that would indicate any breakway successes. So all our hopes now lay with our main rider Eduard Alexander Beltran. He has 5 races remaining and we need him to make every single one of them count!

To survive this season, we need to show the determination and attitude we had in the last race!

Kris Boeckmans		Swisslion Cycling Team	383
Eduard Alexander Beltran		Swisslion Cycling Team	344
Lahcen Saber		Swisslion Cycling Team	227
Yevgeni Nepomnyachsniy		Swisslion Cycling Team	165
Abolfazl Gilanipoor		Swisslion Cycling Team	93
Tyron Giogieri		Swisslion Cycling Team	27
Aberlardo Ablenado		Swisslion Cycling Team	25
Hugues Mottin		Swisslion Cycling Team	22
Miha Poljanec		Swisslion Cycling Team	12
Georgios Stavrakakis		Swisslion Cycling Team	6
Izidor Penko		Swisslion Cycling Team	3
Matic Groselj		Swisslion Cycling Team	3
Michael Christodoulos		Swisslion Cycling Team	1

Bostjan Mervar,
team representative and general manager of Swisslion Cycling Team

Geneva - In the days before the start of the Tour de Suisse, Swisslion Cycling Team in it's 3rd season in the pro peloton is having another difficult season in the ProContinental (PCT) division. In 2018 the team promoted at the first year of asking and then managed to survive the next year in the higher division. This year was supposed to be a year of strengthening and consolidation. But the season hasn't gone as planned...

Big money signings Lahcen Saber and Yevgeni Nepomnyachsniy have both underperformed. Even smaller outlays like the Pello Bilbao for Aberlardo Ablenado swap and the buy of Hugues Mottin have been complete mishits. Furthermore the star of the team from last year, Colombian Eduard Alexander Beltran has badly regressed in his results despite still being only 30 years old.

So with that we come to the team's finances. After accomplishing only 1/5 sponsor goals last year, looking likely to have already missed 3/5 goals this year and spending close to 2.5 million in transfer fees and other expenses. The rumours around the team is that management has lost the trust of the main sponsor, Swisslion Takovo. Instead of replacing the management, rumour has it that the sponsor would rather jump ship, than trying to salvage what might appear to be a shipwreck. In fact sources claim that Swisslion have always backed the team only on 1-year rolling deals. Meaning that they could walk away anytime they wanted to.

It is believed that with a sponsor that is contemplating leaving, general manager Bostjan Mervar is already on the search for potential new sponsors that could prevent the team from folding. It is a mystery what sponsor would want to take over a team that is uncertain in which division they will race next year. We tried getting in touch with Mervar, but have not gotten a response. The same with Swisslion.

One thing is certain, the team's future seems to be as unpredictable as their current results.


The article is quoted from sports newspaper EkipaSN

I am sure you will find new backers. Your team is too good to collapse.

Very interested to hear what Bostjan is looking for or has found already. I suppose the team prefers staying in the Balkan region when looking for their sponsor, but as long as Bostjan is so secretive it's hard to figure out what will happen. Good luck from Belgium, where Los Pollos team manager Nemolito (that's me) is also going through the same process as you know. Hopefully we both find our new sponsor soon, so we can focus on the racing part of our teams again I'm sure you'll find a sponsor soon though, no Balkan sponsor can refuse the temptation of having Pogacar in their team

We will see.



I think Bostjan will take anyone he can find



But do Pogacar or some other riders refuse to stay on the team?

You have some interesting transfer decisions ahead of you no matter how this season ends for you. I wonder whether Beltran will be on the way out as a means to free cap space for new stars or whether you'll try to continue the current direction.

But i cant see you going away from the Slovenian way as you have Pogacar already locked up...

Not matter where I end up, I don't see the 7th best PCT puncheur making much of a difference either way

Well Pogacar doesn't really fit the Evonik inspired team that focuses on classics Also the biggest reason I signed Pogacar was because a certain Slovenian team couldn't be bothered to go for him

	Izidor Penko	Free Role		Michael Christodoulos	Free Role
	Dusan Rajovic	Free Role		Goran Antonijevic	Free Role
	Matija Mestric	Free Role		Ivan Siric	Free Role
	Matic Groselj	Free Role		Georgios Stavrakakis	Free Role

After Paris-Nice in the earlier part of the season. Swisslion attended probably the next biggest non-GT stage race, Tour de Suisse. Again it was a great opportunity for the younger riders to gain valuable experience at the highest cycling level. Stage 1 proved to be highlight of the race as Matija Mestric got 6'' through the intermediate sprints to wear the white jersey on the day 2 TTT. The youngsters finished the time-trial 18th as a team. Swisslion then continued to feature in breakaways with Matic Groselj on stages 4 and 7. Izidor Penko on stages 5 and 6, along with Ivan Siric. In total 5 breakaways over the 7 road race stages.




Race goals:

Breakaway appearance(s)

Success

5 breakaways

Race score: N/A


The race report is brought to you by Sijaj,
team media sponsor of Swisslion Cycling Team

	Tyron Giogieri	Co-Leader		Yuriy Natarov	Domestique
	Abolfazl Gilanipoor	Co-Leader		Artur Sowinski	Stagiare
	Ivan Siric	Domestique		Kees Duyvesteyn	Stagiare
	Georgios Stavrakakis	Domestique		Jeremy Bellicaud	Stagiare

The race preview is brought to you by Sijaj,
team media sponsor of Swisslion Cycling Team

	Tyron Giogieri	Free Role		Yuriy Natarov	Domestique
	Abolfazl Gilanipoor	Free Role		Artur Sowinski	Stagiare
	Ivan Siric	Domestique		Kees Duyvesteyn	Stagiare
	Georgios Stavrakakis	Domestique		Jeremy Bellicaud	Stagiare

The race preview is brought to you by Sijaj,
team media sponsor of Swisslion Cycling Team

	Lahcen Saber	Co-Leader		Dusan Rajovic	Domestique
	Kris Boeckmans	Co-Leader		Matija Mestric	Domestique
	Gabriel Marin	Domestique		Matic Groselj	Domestique
	Miha Poljanec	Domestique		Michael Christodoulos	Domestique

The race preview is brought to you by Sijaj,
team media sponsor of Swisslion Cycling Team

	Tyron Giogieri	Co-Leader		Yuriy Natarov	Domestique
	Abolfazl Gilanipoor	Co-Leader		Artur Sowinski	Stagiare
	Ivan Siric	Domestique		Kees Duyvesteyn	Stagiare
	Georgios Stavrakakis	Domestique		Jeremy Bellicaud	Stagiare

Race goals:

Top 15	Failure	Tyron Giogieri	19th
Top 15	Failure	Abolfazl Gilanipoor	45th

Race score: 2/10


The race report is brought to you by Sijaj,
team media sponsor of Swisslion Cycling Team

	Lahcen Saber	Co-Leader		Stepan Kurianov	Domestique
	Kris Boeckmans	Co-Leader		Ivan Siric	Domestique
	Dusan Rajovic	Domestique		Georgios Stavrakakis	Domestique
	Matic Groselj	Domestique		Yuriy Natarov	Domestique

The race preview is brought to you by Sijaj,
team media sponsor of Swisslion Cycling Team

	Tyron Giogieri	Free Role		Yuriy Natarov	Domestique
	Abolfazl Gilanipoor	Free Role		Artur Sowinski	Stagiare
	Ivan Siric	Domestique		Kees Duyvesteyn	Stagiare
	Georgios Stavrakakis	Domestique		Jeremy Bellicaud	Stagiare

Race goals:

Top 25

Failure

Tyron Giogieri

34th

Race score: 5/10


The race report is brought to you by Sijaj,
team media sponsor of Swisslion Cycling Team

	Lahcen Saber	Co-Leader		Dusan Rajovic	Domestique
	Kris Boeckmans	Co-Leader		Matija Mestric	Domestique
	Gabriel Marin	Domestique		Matic Groselj	Domestique
	Miha Poljanec	Domestique		Michael Christodoulos	Domestique

The last HC sprint classic for Swisslion. The first important race following the recent ranking update. There was a lot of pressure and nerves, as a lot was riding on this result. The team were active from the start in helping chase the breakaway. That effort continued throughout the day. Even as the break was caught and the race was heading into the final kilometres, Swisslion was present at the front. Marin and Saber lead their leader Kris Boeckmans into the last 3 km. Unfortunately they used up their energy a bit too quickly, so Boeckmans had to start his sprint with 1 km to go. He did his best to finish 5th, which was still a good result for us. Saber added a 12th place to boost the team's score. A successful race, but Swisslion will need a lot more of those to climb out of trouble.




Race goals:

Top 10	Success	Kris Boeckmans	5th
Top 10	Failure	Lahcen Saber	12th

Race score: 8/10


The race report is brought to you by Sijaj,
team media sponsor of Swisslion Cycling Team

	Lahcen Saber	Sprinter		Matija Mestric	Free Role
	Gabriel Marin	Leadout		Matic Groselj	Free Role
	Miha Poljanec	Free Role		Michael Christodoulos	Free Role
	Dusan Rajovic	Free Role		Goran Antonijevic	Free Role

The race preview is brought to you by Sijaj,
team media sponsor of Swisslion Cycling Team

Saber bout to win the green when it doesn't matter