@Shonak: Thank you! And yeah, I'm definitely very excited, as I've never had a team for the cobbles before. Rumour has it Gaudin is now even more eager to force Strava wheelsuckers out of his slipstream in the service of Trentin
News: Team Is Completed
It has been another hectic and fun transfer season, with the obvious talking point being the departure of Edvald Boasson Hagen. We won't deny we've weakened our team during this transfer season, but we hope we'll prove good enough to stay in the Pro Tour, and then we'll have a lot of fun in the process, as we suddenly find ourselves with a team for the cobbles.
We're also excited to see Fredrik Strand Galta ready to compete with the best in stage races, as he has just finished his development. We won't expect big things from him, but we hope he can be a regular top 10 - top 15 rider in the stage races he does. Together with Rasmus Guldhammer he's our captain for the stage races, and we'll have to sit down with both of them and plan their seasons.
For the hills, it's obviously about Eduard Alexander Beltran. Looking at his abilities as a pure puncheur, you could argue he won't secure many points, and you're probably right. But what we believe in, which also was the reason we decided to chase him this transfer season, is his great combination of strength in both the mountains and the hills. Hopefully he'll get to prove that during the season, eventhough it admittedly will take some careful race planning. Behind him we also got Kristian Dyrnes, Daniel Hoelgaard and Dylan Teuns, who hopefully can try their own luck hunting breakaway success on particular stages.
Just like last year, Alexander Kristoff and Sondre Holst Enger will be our sprinters. None of them are Pro Tour top, top class (which goes for all our leaders, really), but we hope Kristoff can improve on last season, and Holst Enger being able to do something similar to what he did in 2016. We have several rouleurs who should be able to be of importance in the kilometers leading up to the sprints, and maybe we'll even see us do a sprint train on a very good day, with Romain Feillu and Daniel Oss being our designated leadout riders.
Here's our full team for 2017 then (click to make the picture bigger). It also includes Sindre Skjøstad Lunke, who is loaned out to Grieg-Eftel.
I like how your team ended up. Clearly it will be difficult to achieve top 4 yet again, but the question basically is whether or not you have managed to find 1345 points which was lost from and underperforming Edvald Boasson Hagen.
And I do think you have done that.
Frederik Strand Galta is now fully developped and can be expected to score 600 points rather than 300.
Eduard Alexander Beltran gives your team a new subtop level leader who should be able to perform at top 10 level basically everywhere you put him. I would think that is an added 7-800 points.
And finally you have levelled up big in terms of your cobble selection. I would think you could gain the remaining 3-400 points there.
So without putting too much pressure on your riders I would expect you to score somewhat similar (obviously we need to deduct some points for all teams due to the reduced calender and racedays).
The question is, if a similar amount of points will land you a 4th. And I doubt it will. But I still see you safely inside the top 10.
I doubt Galta will score 600 like SotD said, since he was basically free to go to some breaks in mountain stages and overachieve there because of his favourable stats. With 81 he'll most likely be limited to staying in the favourites group and then getting inevitably dropped because of his extremely poor ACC. If he scores 400 I'd say that he will have had a good season. I hope I'm wrong though!
matt17br wrote:
I doubt Galta will score 600 like SotD said, since he was basically free to go to some breaks in mountain stages and overachieve there because of his favourable stats. With 81 he'll most likely be limited to staying in the favourites group and then getting inevitably dropped because of his extremely poor ACC. If he scores 400 I'd say that he will have had a good season. I hope I'm wrong though!
The 600 points is taken from riders like Lachlan Morton (who slightly underperformed and was caught out by some bad luck), Tim Wellens (who scored 940 points) and Daan Olivier (who's worse but scored 550 points).
May be that 600 points is too high. I don't know. I would say that 400 points is easily too low though. That's Kangert, Nerz, Warbasse, unmaxed Barguil, Brambilla and Bongiorno level. If he doesn't outscore those riders, then he has underperformed IMO.
Also you have to take into account that he is currently among the top 5 U25 climbers, which will also give him points.
@SotD: Thank you for your nice words. Though, I disagree Galta should be counted, as I had both him and EBH in the team after renewals, being more than 100k below the wage cap. His expected rise in points was going to be there anyway, and together with a normal season from EBH, that was going to be me team's improvement. So I don't see those points as part of the replacing EBH thing. And yeah, I'm really excited to see what both Beltran and Trentin can do this season. To be honest, I expect us to score more than 300-400 points more on the cobbles than we did last year (ToNE included), but it's always difficult to tell, especially as there are such few race days on that terrain as well, giving one bad moment, be it crash or puncture, a lot of significance.
@matt17br: I also hope you're wrong Assuming we speak about points like they were in 2016 (not factoring less race days), I'm confident Galta will reach at least 400 points. Though, I agree he's likely to struggle a lot in stage races, probably being somewhere between 10th and 20th. But who knows, he might do a Keizer when dropped from GC contention and go crazy hunting stages late in a GT. I'll certainly take it if it happens
Per Mandagsfjord, respected Norwegian journalist for the cycling website bikepro.net raised his eyebrows when we at Aker - MOT announced the team for the 2017 season. Probably for good reasons, you'd say. That's why we below publish some of his questions and team manager ember's answers in a one-on-one conversation they had this afternoon following the team presentation.
Why did you decide now was the time for Boasson Hagen to leave?
That's a question on wrong premises. You should know better, Per! Edvald wanted a new challenge, and we weren't going to refuse that seeing everything he has done for us the past four seasons. Though, it's true we could've forced him to stay seeing we were within the budgets with Edvald included, but who would want an unhappy rider in the team? I really hope he'll excel with Grieg-Eftel, and claim that monument win if they're allowed to race LBL, Lombardia or both with a wildcard.
But seeing your overall team goal for the season, being one of the top 3 teams in the world, it could only have been characterized as wise to keep Boasson Hagen?
Plans will always change, and we're the first to admit our team standings goal is an unrealistic one. When we decided to not refuse Edvald's wish of leaving, we were also well aware we're in for an uphill struggle this season in terms of points scoring. Our main goal is now to stay up and avoid relegation, and looking at the team, I think we've got a very good chance at that.
With Boasson Hagen leaving and no Norwegian rider joining the team, but an Italian, a Colombian, two French riders, a Swiss and a Belgian, have you given up on the dream of doing the Pro Tour with a team only of Norwegians?
You could say so, yes. But we've no intentions of giving up our Norwegian focus, but with Edvald leaving, we had to make sure we got some quality riders joining as well, which forced us to prioritize other riders than Eiking, Grøndahl Jansen and similar riders. And it's not like we've thrown out the Norwegians we already have, Per. With 15 Norwegians and 9 foreigners, there is no doubt which country we've as a priority.
Seeing your leaders for the upcoming season, are you afraid they're not quite at the level needed for the Pro Tour?
Not really, no. Of course none of them are like Edvald, a guarantee of 1300 points in a very bad season and 1600++ in okay and good seasons, but take Rasmus as an example. Last year he scored 800 points, and if he can do that again, we'll be happy (of course slightly less due to the reduction in race days, editors note). Obviously we've no 1000 points rider anymore, but hopefully we've quite a few of those who will score between 400 points and 1000 points.
Does this mean you'll be slightly less ambitious in the races you participate in? That looks quite contradictory to your team goals for the season, as they're more ambitious than ever.
That depends on the way you look at it. We've always gone to races with the ambition to do our very best, and now is no different. Realistically our best will mean sneaking into the top 10 in a lot of races, and who knows, maybe it will even be good enough to win on some occasions.
In your team presentation, there was nothing on possible training in the weeks before the season starts. Have you got the money to improve your team?
Yes we do, but I won't comment on who and how this early. You'll get to know when we're prepared to announce it.
Our new Italian leader for the cobbles looks sharper than ever coming back from a team training camp in an unusual hot and sunny Belgium these weeks. Together with other team members we see as key contributors in cobble races, he has been looking at some sectors we see as a key looking ahead to this year's Tour of Northern Europe.
As a result of the money spent on the training camp, Matteo is now ranked as the joiint ninth best cobbler in the peloton, together with riders like Amadou Bakari. However, we have great faith in Matteo, as his combination of abilities, also bagging a solid sprint and doing well on hills, could make him a consistent challenger for Pro Tour podiums whereever we find cobbles. Of course it's going to be very difficult to challenge Bewley, Summerhill and Van Avermaet, but we hope he'll give them a run for their money, and be a top 5 rider on the cobbles.
I came home from Belgium with a great feeling. I must say the team looks great for the classics, as we've got several riders being capable of being in the mix deep in the finals on the cobbles. And then we've of course got Fabian's experience as well to help us. I'm sure I'll get the help to produce great results, but of course I need to be at my best to compete. Just like in any other part of cycling, it's very competitive at the top, and I'll look for every opportunity I might get to make a result, Trentin says.
Below we present all the riders we see as vital for our coble campaign. They were also the riders coming together in Belgium for a training camp combined with reconoissancing key stages for Tour of Northern Europe.
Trentin's training boosts him towards the top of the tree when it comes to the tough cobbled classics. Obviously still a little short of the likes of Bewley and GVA, but he has age on his side for the future! With your existing Norwegian cobblers and the extra additions from this transfer period, you now have serious depth in this terrrain. Alongside your versatile stage racers and solid sprint unit, my impression is that even in this first incarnation of the post-EBH era, you should still have a steady PT season before being in a position to push on further following this year's re-vamp.
Always a likeable team to follow, with interesting riders and good national focus. We at WCC wish you good luck for the 2017 season!
Thank you for your nice words, Scorchio! I'm really looking forward to see what an improved Trentin can do indeed, must admit it's kind of exciting.
Hopefully we can build on this for future seasons, eventhough I'd like a couple of the riders we picked up in transfers to be a bit younger, with Gaudin, Lhotellerie and Cancellara being 31, 31 and 36 years old, meaning we'll be forced to do changes again in the near future in that department, thinking of upcoming transfer seasons.
Kristian Dyrnes was last year's sensation for us. There's no denying that. He ended the year on a high as well, with second place in the monument Giro di Lombardia. That gave him 44th place in the individual ranking with 697 points.
On top of that, he also won the road race in the Norwegian Championship, and it's with great joy we present his jersey for the 2017 season.
It's the brilliant jersey designer hanspetter61 who has created the jersey, based on our team's jersey made by Festina-Dexia rider Aidan van Niekerk. We can only say a huge thank you to hanspetter61, as we're truly satisfied with the result. We hope you're too!
It was amazing to win the national championship last year, and I've been looking forward to use my new jersey in the first race as well. I've always dreamt of becoming the Norwegian champion, and it's kind of unbelievable getting to ride a whole season in this jersey. I really like how it looks, I must say hanspetter61 has done an amazing bit of work. Hopefully I'll be able to show the jersey in races, race aggressive and try my luck on stages and in certain races, Dyrnes says.
The first opportunity to see Dyrnes race in his national champion jersey is the season opener in China, Badaling International. From China he travels immediately to Sri Lanka to prepare for Colombo Classic, where we'll participate for the first time ever. It's also the first edition of the race. It contains an interesting final kilometers, descending to the finish line, which could suit Dyrnes very well.
Of course this season is something completely different with Edvald not around anymore. We've worked hard this winter to be competitive when we go to China and Sri Lanka, as both races should prove an indicator for where we're at. Hopefully we can produce a surprise result with either Eduard Alexander, Daniel, Dyland or me, Dyrnes says.
It's been a very quiet off-season so far for Aker - MOT. Rumours have it the management of the Norwegian team was shocked seeing many of the riders demands negotiating for their contracts after such a poor season. All in all, my sources tell me the team was only happy with cobbles captain Matteo Trentin and sprinter Sondre Holst Enger looking at the riders expected to score points and lead the team through the 2018.
Especially Alexander Kristoff had a challenging year, performing neither in the sprints or on the cobbles. That couldn't be seen on his wage demands though, and after asking Kristoff to take a wage cut due to his poor 2018, the Norwegian refused and gave the team only one option, as they could only let him leave due to his hefty demand. Thus, there's no question Aker - MOT took a hit in renewals, especially seeing Dyrnes also went out the door. That was seen as a rather unfortunate goodbye, as Dyrnes was a rider the management had counted on for the 2019 season.
In other news, cobbles legend Cancellara was also released, having tutored the younger riders and been the team's road captain for their cobbles campaign.
With such a challenging off-season so far for the management behind the team, their main sponsor and billionaire Kjell Inge Røkke has stated he expects the team to widen their search for new riders in the upcoming transfer season. My sources says the team will chase several riders from the FA market, and they could also look to riders in other teams.
A result of the more international focus, is also that several of the current riders on the team will be for sale this season, having served the team greatly for several seasons.
No less than at least ten riders will be up for sale in the upcoming transfer season, as the team is looking to rebuild. Among them are puncheurs Teuns and Hoelgaard, cobblers Ringheim and Breen, climbers Nesset, Lunke, Aasvold and Hoem, and also stage racer Stake Laengen. Eventhough team manager ember was reluctant to comment my information and this story, he felt obliged to, seeing my solid work pointing out who I've learnt will be available.
You're correct we're looking to rebuild for the upcoming season, after a rather disappointing 2017. We'll be looking to sell several riders. We'll look for deals that gives us money, but we're also interested in trades if that can give us an interesting and talented rider in return. We'll see how it plays out when transfers come, but we'll definitely be heading for an active and stressful transfer season.
Below I proudly present you with the list of riders I've gotten confirmed will be for sale in the upcoming transfer season.
A very exciting prospect to see that many Norwegians available for transfer, although, not quite the rider(s) we at Carlsberg were looking to see available.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Will be interesting to follow your rebuild. You’ve managed to do great things with a squad consisting largely of Norwegians, so I could easily see you challenge for the PT title within a few years with this new, more international approach.
As for the available riders, it’s no secret that I’m a long time admirer of fellow countryman Vegard Breen. His abilities fits our team’s profile very well, and I’d love to see him captain our spring classics team this season. With Teuns also available, there’s certainly a very good chance you’ll hear from us when the window opens
Really surprised by those releases but not much else you can do when riders become prima donnas
And that sales list... I'll be in touch
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." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
@viking90: Yeah, Dyrnes was indeed kind of painful. Though, fingers crossed he'll return as a FA, but who knows, anything can happen there It was okayish to let Kristoff go, as I messed up the first round there, and then there was no chance of paying his demand
@baseballlover312: I can't imagine what kind of rider in my team a Danish PCT could find interesting A pity I only have one!
@Sykkel_Freak: To challenge for the PT title isn't quite what I'm aiming for though, at least not now, as I'll mostly try my luck signing a couple of up and coming kids. Having said that, the FA market is surely juicy (as always), and with Kristoff gone, I hope to have some space to sign a decent leader as well. And I'm looking forward to hear from you! Will definitely be interesting to see how you manage to build your team, after all you've tried this before
@jandal7: Very true! Though, I've only got myself to blame for Dyrnes, unfortunately And I'm looking forward to hear from you!
Per Mandagsfjord is back on track with another piece, as a result of his investigative journalism, after having followed the Norwegian Pro Tour team for months and years. This time around, he presents us with the transfer targets of Aker - MOT, at least according to Per Mandagsfjord's sources.
The first two names shouldn't come as any surprise for people following the world of cycling. Several sources within Aker - MOT have confirmed Rasmus Tiller and Trond Hakon Trondsen are of great interest for the Norwegian team. The two Norwegians are very different rider types. Tiller is seen as a future cobbler and strongman byt the team's management, while Trondsen has the potential to do well as a leadout rider, but also being able to climb hills.
The third rider to have attracted interest from team manager ember is Hampus Anderberg, the young Swede that moved to Belgium early to specialize on the cobbles. He's of course very young and unproven among the professionals, but ember is reported to believe he could become a key member of Aker - MOT, potentially leading the team on the cobbles in the future, even being a Swede!
With the somewhat obvious targets out of the way, which I must admit was rather easy to find, it took me a lot more work to spot their main targets for the transfer season. Though, clearly team manager ember felt the pressure from me yesterday, as his comment to the Evonik - ELKO team left no doubt Miguel Angel Lopez is a rider they'll prioritize. It goes without saying the Colombian is a future great, and with Aker - MOT nowhere to be seen on the hills in 2017, their management will do a lot to make sure that doesn't happen again in the future.
Looking to other terrains, I can reveal Aker - MOT looks to be chasing Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier, once dubbed to be the next French winner of Tour de France. Admittedly the 25 years old climber hasn't quite lived up to the hype, but manager ember believes the best is still to come from the Frenchman. Though, Aker - MOT might face difficulties chasing him, as Festina manager SotD has been quoted he isn't planning on buying any rider from other teams this transfer season. That surely looks to force ember and Aker - MOT to forget about the Frenchman, but one can never quite know what a transfer season will bring.
Looking further towards French riders, time trialist Yoann Paillot, who has been officially listed as a rider that could leave Valio - DeLaval, is a rider the team will keep close track of during the transfer season, as it might become relevant for Aker - MOT to strengthen their time trial department.
Alexey Lutsenko won the Queen stage in last year's Paris-Nice, on his way to a prestigous overall victory.
Alexey Lutsenko is another puncheur ember has been enthusiastic about in staff meetings. The Kazakh was brilliant at times in 2017, and being young, there should be no reason he can't continue to climb and become one of the best out there on the hills. Speaking of puncheurs, also Kristian Dyrnes is on the team's shortlist, as saying goodbye to the former Norwegian champion was a sad story both for the team and Dyrnes himself. Thus, I expect them to try to make everything right again with Dyrnes.
Coming to the sprinter's department, the team's goodbye to Alexander Kristoff was a lot harsher, as his wage request at the very best was out of character. Nevertheless, I've learnt team manager ember is prepared to be humiliated, as he wants to chase Kristoff's signature once again. I guess we can only speculate how weird that potential talk will be. Leigh Howard, who has proven his power in Giro d'Italia and other Pro Tour events, both as a sprinter and a super leadout rider for Sam Bewley, is another sprinter team manager ember very well could chase, if my sources are to be trusted. The same goes for Kris Boeckmans, who is one of few top sprinters able to accelerate another time within the final 500 meters, compared to many other sprinters, like Kristoff, Ciolek and Howard.
