Croatia14 wrote:
I´m still angry on Reus, but good luck with him
Haha I got pretty luck there, and thanks! im going to need it!
tsmoha wrote:
Always funny to see lower division teams with a significally better depth in mountains and/or hills than my team Pozzovivo should do a good job at a great wage! Kinda hurt to let him go, but I needed the cash.. Will follow your team closely this season, looks solid enough to be a factor in the PCT.
Thanks for Pozzovivo, his wage is certainly fantastic and will be very valuable for our team, and hopefully he performs well for us this year
Glad Fothen found a good home, he should be able to thrive in his new role as a super Domestique and will enjoy being surrounded by so many other climbers.
Mresuperstar wrote:
Glad Fothen found a good home, he should be able to thrive in his new role as a super Domestique and will enjoy being surrounded by so many other climbers.
Great squad you have here maxime86.
We're really glad to bring him in! And considering we had a load of wage cap left, it was honestly a no-brainer to go for him
thank you! and we hope you'll be happy with ruiz after we took him on loan last year
Talent Check In
Here's just a little break down of all the talents that we personally have on contract, we won't be covering the talents we have on loan as we'll probably do a piece on them in the future, but for now here just a little something about our riders. We know we don't have many young talents, but our youth is really something we want to improve in the near future
Joey Rosskopf (on loan at Red Bull - Huawei)
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FT
DH
PL
73
71
74
74
72
70
68
57
61
70
68
67
75
Rosskopf has been a part of the team since last year, but last year we needed his production to make a promotion push in the CT, but now we're in the PCT, we're comfortable loaning him out this season to finally get him maxed out after him being stuck in the CT for 2 straight years. After being maxed Rosskopf looks like he'll be a very good all-around rider with nice time trial stats to be paired with nice climbing stats. Hopefully he'll be with the team for a long time considering his age and his value.
Spoiler
Rosskopf taking a win at the Tour de Pologne in his USA national champion jersey
Stats when maxed:
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FT
DH
PL
73
73
75
76
73
71
70
57
61
70
68
67
77
Mustafa Carsi
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FT
DH
PL
67
51
54
67
65
66
71
52
76
78
52
68
68
We brought in Carsi this season as a sprinting talent, as we really have had a hole at sprinter for the whole duration of our existence as a team. As it stands now, if we find someone to loan him in next year, it looks like we'll be able to max him out by the end of next year. The only risky part with him is the very low hill and mountain stats he's set to have. But at the very worst, he'd be a very good CT sprinter, meaning we could sell him off.
During the transfer season, we decided to send in our requests for the wildcards we wanted to go for in the PT. We actually responded with quite a long list, and in turn, got accepted to quite a few races, so here are the PT races we'll be riding next year:
Badaling International
The first race we'd like to announce is the Badaling international, where the boys will actually have to travel all the way to china for the first race of the season. This is a climber's classic, and considering we don't necesarily have the climbing talent to keep up with the PT teams, we really aren't expecting much. If anything we just want the guys to get off on the right foot to start the season.
This is just a small hilly race we wanted to participate in. It's close to home, and gives us a nice little test on the hills against PT talent. Again, we aren't expecting much, but we're still hoping for the best in this race that suits many of our riders.
Amstel Gold Race
This is one of the longest standing races in the man-game and is also one of the biggest classics of the year. Also, the fact that it doesnt interefere with any other races we were interested in is nice as it allows us to send a fully powered squad to, (maybe, hopefully...probably not) fight for a high finish.
GP Moscow
We aren't even going to lie here, we have absolutely no chance in this race, as in, less of a chance than all of the other races. In reality, we only signed up for this race to get Mustafa Carsi some very nice experience on the PT terrain. Apart from that, the best we could probably hope for is a breakaway from our team. Actually come to think of it, we'll probably send our loanees to this race too to give them some nice experience in a PT environment as well, but again, we aren't expecting anything from this race.
Here's a little breakdown of all the riders we've loaned in for this season and a little bit about them
note: the training stats are just what i've projected as their trainings, not what they'll definitely be trained as of course
From Netia - Norske Skog
Christos Loizou | 1.51xp | 65.22 Ovl
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FT
DH
PL
65
59
64
60
65
64
62
63
67
67
61
65
60
when maxed as a Sprinter...
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FT
DH
PL
72
60
65
60
72
74
67
68
76
74
61
66
60
Loizou is really just here because of the 50k fee we got for him, in the future he could be quite a good lead-out man for any level and is actually quite a versatile rider with nice cobble and hill stats for a sprinter. He might actually be better suited as a fighter with very nice flat stats, but that'll be up to Netia's choice.
From Becherovka
Jan Hirt | 3.59xp | 72.71 Ovl
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FT
DH
PL
68
75
70
69
73
75
74
52
65
74
72
66
69
when maxed as a Type 1 Climber...
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FT
DH
PL
70
81
75
70
75
78
78
52
65
78
77
68
70
Hirt is actually very valuable now for us as a very good climber, but when maxed, whether as a Climber or a Stage Racer, he's bound to be spectacular. Even without training, he looks like he'll be one of the better climbers in the peleton, along with spectacular backup stats. We are very happy to have him and we are certain he'll find his way to the top. Totally off topic, he's the 3rd Czech rider who's first name starts with a letter J that we've transfered or loaned in from Becherovka, I find that pretty funny.
Loan from Carlsberg
Asbjørn Kragh Andersen | 3.27xp | 71.34 Ovl
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FT
DH
PL
73
52
63
64
68
70
73
53
75
73
60
60
71
when maxed as a Track Sprinter...
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FT
DH
PL
77
52
64
65
70
74
75
53
80
77
60
61
75
Andersen is valuable to our team now as a free sprinter role. Seeing as we don't really have a sprinter right now, he'll definitely be allowed to go off into breaks and win mass sprints from there. But when he's in races with Sweeting or Sonnery, he'll be their main domestique. In the future, Andersen should be a good sprinter and very valuable in lead outs with his future very high flat stat. We hope he'll learn as much as he can from Sweeting and Sonnery this year and apply it to his future development.
From Aeropostal Venezuela Ciclismo
Roniel Campos | 3.25xp | 68.46 Ovl
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FT
DH
PL
68
71
67
63
70
70
67
53
61
63
59
66
63
When maxed as a Type 1 Climber...
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FT
DH
PL
69
75
71
63
71
72
70
53
61
67
63
67
63
Campos is probably at best a low-end mountain domestique, but is also probably a top-end venezuelan talent. He's on the team as a mountain domestique when needed, he doesn't actually have a clause on him which gives us the freedom to have him ride when need be. But Campos is a very unique rider in regards to nationality, so we're very happy to have him here and gain a little bit of experience while also helping Pozzovivo and Fothen.
From Aeropostal Venezuela Ciclismo
Xavier Nieves | 3.11xp | 69.13 Ovl
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FT
DH
PL
69
58
66
65
68
68
65
54
72
71
69
61
69
When maxed as a Track Sprinter
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FT
DH
PL
73
58
67
66
70
72
67
54
77
75
69
62
73
Nieves comes along with Campos from Aeropostal Venezuela as another Venezuelan talent. Again, he's not the greatest talent, but he should be a serviceable rider for Aeropostal Venezuela in a few years. For now, he's here without a clause, again allowing us to have discretion in regards to how many race days to give him. Expect him to make a few starts in flat races, but apart from that he most likely won't be making too many appearances.
From Jayco'z Cycling Project
Dion Smith | 2.0 | 69.23 Ovl
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FT
DH
PL
68
71
68
67
69
71
69
59
66
68
68
70
64
When Maxed as a Stage Racer
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FT
DH
PL
71
78
72
73
75
75
75
59
66
69
69
71
70
Smith might be better training as a climber but in whatever way he trains, he'll be very good rider, whether as a CT leader or a PT domestique, the Kiwi will be a good rider at quite a young age. For us he's a good mountain domestique with ok Time trial stats and will most likely be featured often during the season as one of the best young talents on our squad, although he isn't ours.
Our inaguaral season was quite an exciting one, after always being interested in a cycling team, we we're finally brought in. Our first two sponsors we In-n-Out Burger and Auchan, an American burger chain and a french department store chain respectively. Eventually smaller companies such as Lapierre, ESPN, Trek and Original Joes were all brought in as minor sponsors. Eventually we recieved a nice little yellow jersey which would make our team very visible in the peleton
Spoiler
So going into our first transfer season, we decided to focus mainly on building an American core of riders, we knew it wouldn't be too hard to find solid French riders with the huge French contingent throughout the cycling world. However, we had to fight with the numerous new American cycling teams at the time to make our mark and purchase the riders we wanted.
2014 Transfers
Julian Rodas
<--
From Project: Africa
Climber
Phillip Gaimon
<--
From Free Agency
Puncheur
Remy Di Gregorio
<--
From Free Agency
Climber
Benoit Sinner
<--
From Bouygues Telecom
Sprinter
Sylvain Chavanel
<--
From Amex Pro Cycling
Fighter
Chris Barton
<--
From Free Agency
Stage Racer
Jean-Lou Paiani
<--
From Free Agency
Cobbler
Christophe Kern
<--
From Free Agency
Climber
Cyril Lemoine
<--
From Free Agency
Sprinter
Nicolas Rousseau
<--
From Free Agency
Time Trialist
Robert Sweeting
<--
From Free Agency
Sprinter
Antoine Matteau
<--
From Magna-Ryanair
Fighter
Alexandre Aulas
<--
From Simply Red Bull
Cobbler
Vincent Butts
<--
From Free Agency
Domestique
Dries Beatse
<--
Loan from Bouygues
Talent
Tesfay Abraha
<--
From Compal - Merida
Talent
James Oram
<--
From Free Agency
Stagiere
Alexis Dulin
<--
From Free Agency
Stagiere
Bryan Rameriez
<--
From Free Agency
Stagiere
Chris Barton
-->
Loan to Jaguar Eritel
Stage Racer
The Transfer season was a little difficult for us, as we struggled to stay under our budget. However, we made a few very good moves such as buying Chris Barton and immediately loaning him out for a fee higher than his wage, while only paying half of his wage. These were good moves for our team, but we still expected to stay in the CT level during the season, however, we knew we'd be well equipped for the next year, while still being ok in the short term.
Leaders
MO
HL
TT
Sprinters
HL
SP
ACC
Julian Rodas
76
71
68
Robert Sweeting
70
76
75
Philip Gaimon
72
75
69
Benoit Sinner
61
78
73
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Cobblers
FL
CB
SP
Fighter/Domestiques
MTN
TT
FTR
Jean-Lou Paiani
73
73
66
Remy Di Gregorio
75
60
74
Alexandre Aulas
73
73
74
Antoine Matteau
60
72
79
Going into the season we decided we needed to get creative with out scheduling to manage to stay near the top half of the CT. So, we decided to go all our at the tour of America, sending Julian Rodas, Robert Sweeting and Philip Gaimon, who were our top 3 riders at the time. However, before we got to the Tour of America, we had many other races to ride, and right off the bat we got off to a strong start with Phillip Gaimon winning the Clasico San Cristobal
"Last few strokes of pedals and he'll take a monumental win for the team in their debut race!"
As the season wore on we started off well, with a great performance by Robert sweeting at the BeNeLux Challenge with him taking a third overall in the GC and the points ranking as well. At the first rankings updated, we were in first, but terrible performances at the Tour of Langkawi and the Tour of San Luis. The only good part was the numerous top 10 finishes our American Puncheur Phillip Gaimon.
As we approached the end of the season, the only true race that could save our season was the Tour of America. We went all in for the race sending our best riders, which was quite a risk with the Tour of America being a C2 race and PCT teams being able to ride there at full strength. However, the risk paid off with Rodas winning a stage and finishing 4th in the GC, while Robert Sweeting took 2 stages. We finished the race of with someone in the top 5 of the GC, points ranking and KOTM, while having 11 top 10 finishes and 3 stage wins.
"Rodas holds on to a small advantage on Eastman to bounce back from yesterday's loss in style! It's also the second stage-win for his team in those two entertaining days!"
The Tour of America was our saving (g)race, and propelled us to a 14th place finish in the CT, which was right around where we were looking to finish. However, Auchan was not happy with that result, so we signed a deal with Carrefour to step in as a sponsor. Apart from that, the team didn't change a much as we resigned everyone except Vincent Buts, Benoit Sinner and our stagieres.
Renewals
Vincent Buts
-->
Not Resigned
Disapointing results
Benoit Sinner
-->
Not Resigned
Demands too high
Alexis Dulin
-->
Not Resigned
Stagiere
James Oram
-->
Not Resigned
Stagiere
Bryan Ramirez
-->
Not Resigned
Stagiere
Sponsors
In-n-Out
2 Year Contract
---
Main
Auchan
Out
-->
Main
Carrefour
3 Year Contract
<--
Main
Lapierre
Out
-->
Equipment
Trek
2 Year Contract
<--
Equipment
Trek
Out
-->
Secondary
Air Bus
1 Year Contract
<--
Secondary
ESPN
4 Year Contract
---
Secondary
Original Joes
2 Year Contract
---
Secondary
It was an extremely fun inaugural season for us, and there's no doubt that it propelled us to new heights as a team in our second season.
A Look Back -> In-n-Out Powered By Carrefour (2015)
Our second season was our fight for promotion. After not getting promoted in our first year, we took it upon ourselves to do everything to push for promotion. With Carrefour on as a French sponsor, and not wanting to lose another French sponsor, we pushed for more French riders, as well as better riders as a whole. We also brought on Air Bus as a sponsor which made 2 French sponsors. Our American sponsors were not very concerned with having a bunch of American riders which allowed us to have a ton of freedom. Also, our new sponsors meant a new jersey, and this year we went with a nicer blue colored jersey for our team.
Spoiler
Going into our second transfer season we decided to make sure to not make any mistakes and stay precisely on top of everything. Our organization actually allowed us to keep our options open and we made 2 big signings with Blaise Sonnery and Jakub Novak, who cost us about 1.2k total in transfer fees. But to get the money to make these deals, we had to sell a few very good riders, among them was the aging Julian Rodas and Chris Barton, who actually never ended up riding a race with us.
2014 Transfers
Sylvain Chavanel
-->
To Fox Sports
Fighter
Julian Rodas
-->
To Sancor
Climber
Remy Di Gregorio
-->
To Eddie Stobart
Climber
Chris Barton
-->
To Team Type 1
Stage Races
Christophe Kern
-->
To Sodexo
Climber
Nicolas Rousseau
-->
To Sodexo
Time Trialist
Cherif Abdallah
<--
From Project: Africa
Sprinter
Mickael Delage
<--
From Puma - SAP
Puncheur
Jakub Novak
<--
From Becherovka
Stage Racer
Blaise Sonnery
<--
From Simply Red Bull
Sprinter
Romain Hardy
<--
From Free Agency
Climber
Joey Rosskopf
<--
From Free Agency
Stage Racer
Yoann Offredo
<--
From Free Agency
Cobbler
Daniel Ruiz
<--
Loan From Movistar - US Postal
Talent
Christian Mager
<--
Loan From Puma - SAP
Talent
Clement Chevrier
<--
Loan From Puma - SAP
Talent
We were semi happy with our transfer season, we would have really rather bring in a top flight sprinter, but Jakub Novak for 850k was really not too bad of a plan b. We were also hoping that Cherif Abdallah would be able to perform at the CT level after being an absolute flop at the PCT level. However in retrospect, it might have been better to hang on to people like Julian Rodas, because selling him for 20k is really insignificant. But as a whole we thought it was relatively successful.
Leaders
MO
HL
TT
Sprinters
HL
SP
ACC
Jakub Novak
76
73
76
Robert Sweeting
70
76
75
Philip Gaimon
72
75
69
Cherif Abdallah
63
78
76
Joey Rosskopf
71
74
74
Blaise Sonnery
70
78
73
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Cobblers
FL
CB
SP
Fighter/Domestiques
MTN
TT
FTR
Jean-Lou Paiani
73
73
66
Mickael Delage
67
59
76
Cyril Lemoine
73
70
74
Romain Hardy
75
59
74
Alexandre Aulas
73
73
74
Antoine Matteau
60
72
79
As we went into our second season, we definitely needed to preform in tours as thats what we were really based on. Novak was going to be the heart and soul of the team as he was by far the best stage racer in the CT. However, his limited race days and tough competeition would make it rly tough to properly schedule everything to maximize our point totals.
However the first part of our season was an utter failure with Novak struggling to get it into gear and often being outplaced by his super domestique Hardy. On the other side, Abdallah was being a flop like he was in the PCT and Gaimon was struggling against the tough CT puncheurs. However, after a few months of this, the first sign of light for Novak was Stage 11 of the tour of the middle East, where Novak had been struggling all race.
"Novak finally lives up to his role as the favorite and crushes the competition "
The season continued relatively well for us as the mid season saw a rejuvenation of Baise Sonnery and Joey Rosskopf. Sonnery continued to be as streaky as ever, but began to rack up quite a few of top 5 placings as Joey Rosskopf began to show himself as a strong second leader at the tour of Pologne by taking a stage win and a 6th place overall in the GC
"The winner though is Rosskopf. But is it also the GC lead?..
Rosskopf is taking the GC lead!"
Approaching the end of the season, our main goal was the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. As we decided not to return to the Tour of America, it was important for our American sponsors that we show up correctly at the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. Luckily for us, Jakub Novak was up to the challenge, he took the leaders jersey on the stage 4 leader's jersey and kept it for the next 4 stages to win the overall classification.
"Novak completes the team goal and perhaps helps his team to within touching distance of the promotion places"
Novak's performances throughout the year put us into a promotion spot, and we'd be going up to the PCT next year. However, that meant we needed to undergo a lot of changes personel-wise in transfers and renewals. Unfortunately, not all changes are ones that we wanted, and we had to part ways with long time sprinter and multiple stage winner Robert Sweeting. But on the bright side, the promotion spot meant that all of our sponsors stayed the same as we we're able to fulfill all of their demands.
Renewals
Robert Sweeting
-->
Not Resigned
Demands too high
Cyril Lemoine
-->
Not Resigned
Age
Antoine Matteau
-->
Not Resigned
Age
Sponsors
In-n-Out
1 Year Contract
---
Main
Carrefour
2 Year Contract
---
Main
Trek
1 Year Contract
---
Equipment
Air Bus
1 Year Contract
---
Secondary
ESPN
3 Year Contract
---
Secondary
Original Joes
1 Year Contract
---
Secondary
Getting promotion was the goal of the season, and luckily we got it. However, the team wasn't built up with much young talent, but with a solid core of riders we were definitely in a relatively good spot.
Although we aren't expecting big results at the WT races that we aren't participating in, we are still hoping for some nice exposure and experience, along with the fact that they'll be very interesting for us to ride in, so here are the squads we'll be rolling with at those races
Badaling International
Line-up
Rider Name
NAT.
HL
MTN
STA
Robin Van Der Hugenhaben
NED
80
77
77
Domenico Pozzovivo
ITA
75
79
73
Markus Fothen
GER
71
78
70
Jakub Kratochvila
CZE
77
76
70
Blaise Sonnery
FRA
71
70
66
Jan Hirt
CZE
70
75
73
Romain Hardy
FRA
73
75
73
Mustafa Carsi
TUR
51
54
65
Our first race of the season is bound to be an interesting one being our first WT race ever. For this we've sent pretty much all of our big guns with Van Der Hugenhaben, Fothen, Pozzovivo and Kratochvila. We decided against sending Kai Reus as we didn't really see the use of him come to race here compared to someone like Carsi or Hirt who would benefit greatly from the experience.
Our second PT race comes a little bit further into the season but acts as a bit of a warm-up for our squad before other big races like Amstel, Vancouver and the long series of 1 day races on our calendar. This time we took Reus and Lhotellrie to improve their fitness before our typical PCT races. And as always, Van der Hugenhaben will definitely be our absolute leader.
Amstel Gold Race
Line-up
Rider Name
NAT.
HL
STA
FTR
Robin Van Der Hugenhaben
NED
80
77
80
Kai Reus
NED
74
76
81
Jakub Kratochvila
CZE
77
70
72
Robert Sweeting
USA
70
72
63
Jan Hirt
CZE
70
73
72
Romain Hardy
FRA
73
73
74
Krisstijan Durasek
CRO
75
74
61
Mustafa Carsi
TUR
51
54
65
We're actually going for a good result here as we bring our typical classics squad + Hirt & Carsi. This is our first big classic as a team and we hope that new guys such as Reus and Durasek can help Van der Hugenhaben give us a nice result, but we aren't expecting anything with the absurd hill depth in the PT.
GP Moscow
Line-up
Rider Name
NAT.
FL
SP
ACC
Robin Van Der Hugenhaben
NED
73
68
66
Clement Lhotellerie
FRA
73
59
69
Alexandre Aulas
FRA
73
74
72
Jean-Lou Paiani
FRA
73
66
71
Asbjorn Kargh Andersen
DEN
73
75
73
Mustafa Carsi
TUR
67
76
78
Dion Smith
NZL
68
66
68
Christos Loizou
CYP
65
67
67
This race is solely to gain experience for our riders. Mustafa Carsi will most likely be leading us here after being an afterthought in every other race he'll be in during the season. Kragh Andersen, Smith, and Loizou are all here just to soak up experience in the PT peleton, while Lhotellerie, Aulas and Paiani are here as a thank you for all their hard work during the season. And finally Van der Hugenhaben is here because, i mean he's Robin Van der Hugenhaben, do you need any more of an explanation?
Rumors are floating around the In-n-Out p/b Carrefour camp regarding sponsorships for next year. With In-n-Out, Trek, Air Bus and Original Joes' contracts ending this year, it'll be interesting to see how the team goes along with finding sponsors for next year. Here as an official press release coming from the team regarding the situation.
"With the large majority of our sponsors' contracts ending at the end of this year, we've been put into a situation where we need to look for more sponsors. At the moment we've been in contact with sponsors who've sponsored the team previously. But, we may also be forced to look to continue relations with our current sponsors, whether that's extending their contracts in their current role or giving them a bigger role. For now, that's all we have to say on the matter.
There are some interesting things to take away from this press release. To begin, the point the manager made about being in contact with previous sponsors means that he's been in contact with Auchan and Lapierre who are the only two sponsors the team has had who aren't currently sponsoring the team
Julian Rodas winning a Tour of America Stage in the In-n-Out p/b Auchan jersey
Rumors have it that there aren't many new american sponsors looking to sponsor the team, seeing that there is such a small American core of riders, but current sponsors such as In-n-Out, Original Joes and ESPN maybe looking to extend their deals. But at the moment it seems like the only sure thing for next year is that Carrefour will be a main sponsor next year.
With the season very quickly approaching, we've decided to release a calendar of all the races we will be participating in. We probably won't covering every race in depth, but if you want to know which races we'll be appearing at soon, this is the perfect place to check.
Right off the bat, you'll notice a few a things, first of all we aren't racing in any C2 races. Personally we don't think they really add too much value, it's mainly racing lower tiered races that clash with the races we actually care about. On the other hand, we will be returning to the Tour of America after a year-long hiatus. Obviously you'll remember that the 2014 Tour of America was one of our more successful races, but we decided against going last year as we thought it'd be too risky. Well, we're back this year and making a pretty big push for a good result, but you'll have more information on that later.
Before the season, two big series feature for many teams. The bay Criteriums and Cintinental championships allow riders to prepare for the upcoming season while also having some fun in teams they wouldn't normally ride with.
Bay Crit Participants
Rider
Nat.
Team
Dion Smith
NZL
New Zealand National Team
We only had 1 rider present for this race, but Dion Smith was very present for a rider of his young age. Smith rode for the New Zealand Team and was given quite a few opportunities including on stage 3 where he was able to manage a 10th place and pick up a point in the general classification.
Continental Champs Participants
Rider
Nat.
Races
Kristijan Durasek
CRO
Europe B RR
Christos Loizou
CYP
Europe B RR
Mustafa Carsi
TRK
Europe B RR
The European Road race was very nice for us, Durasek was very active during the whole race and got into the morning break, while Mustafa Carsi road into a very nice top 25 placing.
"After a slow start, the peloton has easily allowed two riders to ride away - these two are Forcellini and Durasek'
In conclusion, it was really nice to see the team in action, although it wasn't in our team colors. The team seems to be showing some promise which is good for our PCT surival hopes, but it'll all depend on the season which is getting closer and closer.
For our first race of the season we headed off to the tour of Eritrea, and we were looking for a nice race to start off our season.
Unfortunately the race went absolutely terribly for us as our leader, Markus Foothen. was absolutely over matched in ability and teammates
Reus going into the break on stage 6 of Tour de San Luis
The Tour of San Luis went a little better as Kai Reus was able to race to a top 10 position on stage 2 which put him into a great spot in the GC for the rest of the race He was able to hold onto his spot and come in 11th in the overall GC.
Van Der Hugenhaben catching the leaders group in the Gisborne GP
The rest of February was still a struggle for the team. The lone bright spot was Robin Van Der Hugenhaben taking a 6th place at the Gisborne GP. RVH also wasn't too shabby in our second WT race in the Classic du Grande-Duche. But we didn't necessarily have any huge performances as we struggled through our first full month in the PCT
After a year where In-n-Out p/b Carrefour struggled mightily in the PCT division and was relegated back to the CT, all of there sponsors have decided to stay on to fund the team. Although this was surprising, it wasn't completely unexpected as the team did have some very notable results including winning the prestigious Tour of America.
Pozzovivo Winning stage 7 on his way to a GC victory in America
The team will most likely have to make changes to stay within the confines of their budget. It will be interesting to see if the team retains riders like Kai Reus, Robin Van der Hugenhaben, Domenico Pozzovio, or Markus Foothen. On the other hand, riders like Mustafa Carsi and Joey Rosskopf are going to be expected to step up to the plate and help lead the team this season.
The team struggled mightily with Pozzovivo's victory in the Tour of America, and RVH's load of top 10 placings being some of the sole bright spots in the whole season, and the team finished 29th overall.
Total
RD
PpRD
Proj
1
Wiesenhof - Andritz
3291
130
25,32
3545
2
Hugo Boss
2806
135
20,79
2911
3
Porto - Prio
2662
130
20,48
2867
...
29
In-n-Out p/b Carrefour
1293
128
10,1
1414
The team is now in the renewal stage and is deciding what it will be doing with its riders and is also deciding what are the team's goals for this upcoming year. The team will definitely try to do its best promote back into the PCT, but it will be interesting to see if they succeed.
Although 2016 was a very disappointing season for In-n-Out, like all the teams relegating to the CT, you have great rider resources available to lead the charge towards bouncing straight back up again assuming renewals are reasonably well planned. This is going to pretty much be a first for the CT division imo given 4 teams with the bones of good PCT level squads are all parachuting in. Previously, not many/any relegations due to being saved by disbanding has meant this element has been largely lacking from the CT.
From a standing start pre-renewals, I put In-n-Out as one of the top favourites for the division title. Good luck in meeting the challenge!
Scorchio wrote:
(...)
From a standing start pre-renewals, I put In-n-Out as one of the top favourites for the division title. Good luck in meeting the challenge!
Haha, thanks Scorchio, I hope you're right, but you never know with PCM. Also, I think the lack of a sprinter on our team will really hurt our chances to earn some points that most other teams will be able to pick up.
In-n-Out Announces Renewals
After being relegated to the CT, In-n-Out p/b Carrefour was forced to cut down on their wages severely. Luckily, most of the team's riders were able to be retained, with one overpaid Man-Game legend and a rider who's been with the team since the beginning.
Here's the team's list of riders who have been retained for the upcoming season:
Rider
Old Wage
New Wage
Robin Van Der Hugenhaben
570,000
300,000
Alexandre Aulas
50,000
50,000
Romain Hardy
60,000
50,000
Johan Le Bon
50,000
50,000
Domenico Pozzovivo
180,000
98,000
Kai Reus
140,000
125,000
Joey Rosskopf
110,000
85,000
Clement Lhotellerie
50,000
50,000
Blaise Sonnery
50,000
50,000
Jakub Kratochvila
90,000
70,000
Robert Sweeting
65,000
50,000
Kristijan Durasek
70,000
50,000
Ricardo Mestre
50,000
50,000
Mustafa Carsi
50,000
50,000
Obviously there were two names missing from this list, and here they are
Rider
Old Wage
Reason for not Renewing
Markus Fothen
370,000
Old Rider with bad stats
Jean-Lou Paiani
50,000
Needed more wage budget
With the transfer season approaching, expect more news on who the team will be looking to retain through the transfer season, and who they'll be targeting on the open market.
Joey Rosskopf (on loan at Red Bull - Huawei)
Mustafa Carsi
| 1.51xp | 65.22 Ovl
| 3.59xp | 72.71 Ovl
| 3.27xp | 71.34 Ovl
| 3.25xp | 68.46 Ovl
| 2.0 | 69.23 Ovl
