Personally I would look at either Classics or Fabian for Cosnefroy as that way he would be a fairly strong domestique on 2 terrains rather than a 78TT rider ho would be a strong TT rider and likely fighting for top 10's in ITT's.
Or maybe even Sprint to get a Leadout man that can handle the hills fairly well, I've not actually run through it to see his stats on any of them but if he was my rider I'd probably compare all those options to TT and Track TT to see what I'd want him to become as he has plenty of different options he could go down.
sammyt93: Yeah we'll have to have another look once we know what kind of rider the squad is lacking or where we could do with some strengthening.
Fast Talents
The team has been working furiously this transfer season to bring in young riders and a trio of these riders were confirmed today. All 3 of them sprinters. Management was very happy with the 2 French talents bought in and particularly impressed with the low wages paid for all 3, especially Jakobsen who we see as a potential leader in the future.
Another set of talents can now be confirmed and this is the group of those who we intend to develop into riders who will specialize in the hills. Gaudu is the top hill specialist of the 3, Paez will have the ability to win reduced sprints and Vincent should be a solid talent. Our new French sponsor are again pleased to see 2 French riders for the future. Both sponsors were pleased with the wages we have managed to acquire the 3 riders for. (Note: We're open to suggestions later in the season regarding development paths)
We finalize our spending on talents with the signing of a duo of Climbers/Stage Racers. The first of which is our most expensive talent with a hefty wage of 220,000 (thanks to a nice bidding war with our favorite local) but he's Spanish so we were willing to pay up and he was an early target so we're pleased to have him. The second is our final talent to be confirmed and we reckon we have got him for an absolute bargain with a wage of 90,000 given he's only 21 and he'll be very useful when developed. In fact, we'd argue he's one of the better bargains of the window.
Congrats on Aranburu, I wanted to fight you hard on him but decided Xuban was our guy and I still wanted the other wage space to have a fighting chance to survive in the Pro Tour this season.
Mresuperstar wrote:
Congrats on Aranburu, I wanted to fight you hard on him but decided Xuban was our guy and I still wanted the other wage space to have a fighting chance to survive in the Pro Tour this season.
I think it was highly unlikely it would end with one of us having both of them so it's probably fair they've ended up at different teams but both on high wages
Some fairly late plans have come into action. These plans have seen Francisco Anton Martin leave the team and move up to the PT with Team Puma - SAP. The plans have also seen Kévin Reza leave the team and make his way down to the CT with Sauber Petronas Racing. Both riders have been an integral part of the sprinting department, being great lead-out men for Bouhanni since their arrival in 2015 in our first PCT season.
Loaned In: Filippo Ganna
22yrs old: Wage of 0
FLA
MO
HIL
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SPR
ACC
FTR
DH
PRO
71
66
68
73
69
74
64
66
69
72
71
74
75
The Italian Talent joins the team on loan for season from Team Puma - SAP as part of what is a growing positive relationship between us and the PT team full of talent. They have been ever so lovely in paying his full wage with a clause to get him to Lvl 2. He is already a useful rider and will prove to be a useful domestique this season as he develops into a future great.
The team has been fairly active late on in the transfer season as have tended to be in past seasons. The two riders signed are both experienced riders and also quality riders who should add a lot to the team. The first of these is the signing of Moreno Moser from Indosat which has seen Christopher De Souza go the other way along with an added fee of 150,000. He'll become our lead sprinter this season alongside Bouhanni which will be a fantastic duo for us. The second of these riders is Armindo Fonseca who joins us from the Free Agency on a wage of 50,000. He joins our sprinting department as a lead-out replacement for Reza & Anton Martin. He will be able to ride C2 so that may be a possibility.
cio93: No problem mate! And yeah we hope they manage to add some vital quality to the team. Booker: Yeah it'll likely be a challenging season but one I'm looking forward to! Survival will be pretty important for our long-term plans. Gotta trust my planning. knockout: Oh... hahahaha. I do look forward to seeing them there though.
Our final bit of business was managing to snag Dutch sprinter Vingerling from the Free Agency for a bargain wage of 70,000. The Dutchman is a more than capable sprinter who will be there to lead out Moser/Bouhanni but also to have chances of his own given his PRO stat of 76 which should give him a chance in a short tour. We hope he will also help young Dutch talent Jakobsen to settle at his new home.
Michael Vingerling
28yrs old : 70,000 : OVR74.82 : Maxed
FLA
MO
HIL
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SPR
ACC
FTR
DH
PRO
71
55
61
65
72
66
76
68
79
79
57
68
76
Our final bit of transfer related news is that we have decided to send 3 of our new talents out on loan to get some experience and to free up some RD's in our team for point scoring riders and vital helpers who will need them. Hugo Hofstetter has gone out on loan to PT team Aegon - Lavazza. Benjamin Thomas has gone out on loan to PCT team Generali - EDF where he should do some lead out work. Andres Paez has gone out on loan to PCT team Repsol - Netflix, he is one rider we were thinking of holding on to as we see him as a valuable breakaway rider but we'll let him ply his trade at the other Spanish team.
The 24-year-old Serbian returns to the Euskaltel – Elior team having spent last season out on loan at Wiesenhof – Andritz.
Milos joined the team back in 2015 from the Free Agency at a wage of 100,000 which we considered to be a fair wage for a useful talent. 2015 was when the team was first in the PCT and it was a difficult time for Milos who managed only 10 points in a season where the team was lucky to avoid relegation.
When asked about his first professional season Milos said: “It was a difficult time for everyone. We all knew we needed to perform better but it was a tough division and we lacked experience across the board. Despite all of this I still felt like I learned a lot and it has driven me to contribute more to the team now that I’m feeling stronger”.
The 2016 season was another season of development for the young Serb who again managed only a handful of points (12) but he had this to say: “I really enjoyed the freedom to ride for my own development as the team was much stronger and we didn’t have to worry about being at the wrong end of the rankings”.
Last year, Milos was sent out on loan to the PT in order for him to complete his development. He has fortunate enough to be able to ride with the Wiesenhof – Andritz team under Heine who had previously taken Ruben Fernandez under his wing a few years back. Our relationship with Heine and his team is one we have benefited from with Bouhanni also coming from the PT outfit and we hope this continues to grow in the coming seasons.
When asked about his PT experience, Milos had the following to say: “Being able to ride at the highest level was a great experience for me. The team environment was truly amazing! Riding in both the Giro and the Vuelta was the biggest challenge of my life thus far but one I will always remember. I even managed to score some points and contribute to the team’s survival so I take pride in that.”
The manager of the Euskaltel – Elior team was asked about what he expects we’ll see from the Serb in 2018: “If you had the opportunity to follow l’Avenir last season then you’ll know he is a promising rider! He finished in the Top 10 of 5 stages on his way to finishing 3rd in the GC behind two very strong young riders. He is the kind of rider who will contribute greatly to the climbing department and our TTT, hopefully he’ll be able to score some vital points and support our leaders in the process”.
We asked Milos if he had a message for the supporters of the team and he said the following: “I know I’m not Spanish or French but the supporters have been behind me since I have joined the team a few years ago. Their continued messages of encouragement on social media and out on the road have kept me on the right track and I can only hope that I will be able to start giving them results in return. There have been many changes within the team in recent weeks and I hope I can help the new crop settle in and realize their potential”.
Spoiler
I know this is the MG & not real life but when doing research about Milos I saw that he had a rough time back in 2016 following the death of a team mate and close friend during a race in China, I can't confirm but it seems as if he didn't return to cycling afterwards. My thoughts are with him & RIP Dejan Maric (pictured below)
Fabio Jakobsen 
Benjamin Thomas 
Andres Paez 
Alex Aranburu 
Nicola Conci 
The Return of Milos 
(pictured below) 
