The reinforcements keep coming in as we near the end of the transfer window. We are happy to announce that the following three riders have joined our squad for the coming season.

Our first Dutch signing of the transfer window took some time coming. Remco Te Brake joins us the main leadout in Lahcen Saber's sprint train. We do expect him to get sprint leadership duties on certain occasions. He should be a great asset on all flat stages this season.

OVL	FLA	MON	HIL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SPR	ACC	FTR	DHI	PRL
75.25	75	56	64	61	74	72	80	66	79	76	65	74	75

We were involved in a conversation late into the transfer window with our friends at Isostar Slovenija for a possible deal involving a couple of their star riders who were up for sale. In the end, we decided that the 'Honey Badger' suited our team the best and we finalized the deal for 665,000 and Marcel Wyss going in the opposite direction. We believe that this deal will be worth it, as he fits perfectly into our team setup for the upcoming season. He will be the leader of our team on the flats, a Road Captain so to say. He will head our TTT force and will be an able lieutenant to Rui Costa in the hills and hilly tours. We expect good things from him this season.

OVL	FLA	MON	HIL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SPR	ACC	FTR	DHI	PRL
74.62	75	60	74	76	74	74	76	58	75	70	74	72	77

We received an offer for Ralf Matzka to leave the team from BNZ Cycling, another team with whom our relationship goes back to last season. In exchange Lotto Petrus joins our team as an added force in the Time Trial department. His job throughout the season will be simple, help the team ride in perfect tempo in the Time Trials and help his leaders in every other that he riders in.

OVL	FLA	MON	HIL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SPR	ACC	FTR	DHI	PRL
71.26	68	54	69	74	70	68	66	54	63	65	74	64	74

No team can survive without planning for the future and we're well on our way of doing the same. Joining our batch of talents is another two riders who will join up with the team as Stagiaires from August.

Jonas Bokeloh is the first of our Stagiaires and was picked up with the intention to form an integral part of our future sprint train. He should be able to help the team in the flats as well, and is able to get over most hills.

FLA	MON	HIL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SPR	ACC	FTR	DHI	PRL
66	61	67	60	66	66	64	62	71	70	61	69	64
73	61	68	60	71	67	76	67	78	77	61	70	64

Our second stagiaire capture is also a sprinter. He is faster than Bokeloh on the flat stuff. However, his main drawback is going uphill, where let's just say he'd have trouble climbing a ladder, let alone a hill! That notwithstanding, he does possess impressive stats for the flats and who knows, maybe we can teach him how to climb better.

FLA	MON	HIL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SPR	ACC	FTR	DHI	PRL
67	52	57	56	69	70	69	59	73	73	62	73	64
73	52	58	57	70	74	79	59	79	79	62	74	70

jandal7 wrote:
Stop pretending you have MAL in your team Love the Nava capture too <3

We had to wait till almost the last minute of the transfer window to confirm our final rider and complete our team.

Our final rider signed for the team is fittingly someone who fits into our team like a glove. Wout Poels will be an important part of both Henao's mountain train as well as our Time Trial squad. His all-round stage race capabilities and excellent energy stats will be an excellent asset for us all season.

OVL	FLA	MON	HIL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SPR	ACC	FTR	DHI	PRL
73.68	68	74	68	72	78	78	77	61	56	69	68	73	72

Alexander Krieger will be our second sprinter for the season, and will have enough opportunities to lead in races, as Saber takes care of both sprint and cobbles responsibilities.

OVL	FLA	MON	HIL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SPR	ACC	FTR	DHI	PRL
74.63	71	58	62	55	71	74	75	63	79	79	62	68	55

Rob Ruijgh will continue as an integral part of our mountain train for the coming train. With Henao to support, his role remains very important for us.

OVL	FLA	MON	HIL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SPR	ACC	FTR	DHI	PRL
73.85	69	75	72	67	73	72	71	64	61	75	71	64	67

Having been up for sale since the start of transfers, Jaoa Costa did not warrant any interest from the rest of the cycling world, and remains with our team for another season. Despite us wanting to sell him, now that he will continue, we should be able to use him well as a domestique for Rui Costa in the hills.

OVL	FLA	MON	HIL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SPR	ACC	FTR	DHI	PRL
73.62	66	71	75	57	68	69	68	54	65	73	75	72	57

Our absolute leader for the time-trails and the one that is expected to lead the team in the Team Time Trials is Van Zandbeek. He will continue with the same role he took up last season.

OVL	FLA	MON	HIL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SPR	ACC	FTR	DHI	PRL
72.98	73	58	69	76	71	71	72	64	61	69	75	73	76

The first of our talents picked up last season remains with us, and we aim to get him up to Level 3 this year. Allegaert is expected to be a part of Northern Classics squads in the future.

FLA	MON	HIL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SPR	ACC	FTR	DHI	PRL
68	56	63	65	67	70	59	67	60	70	67	65	66
75	56	64	65	74	74	63	75	68	72	68	66	66

The other Stagiaire we signed last season is the puncher talent Lennard Hofstede, who also remains with and is also expected to reach Level 3 this season. We expect him to remain a part of our hills in the future as someone who loves to attack.

FLA	MON	HIL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SPR	ACC	FTR	DHI	PRL
68	64	68	61	68	67	66	61	60	67	71	70	61
69	73	76	62	71	71	73	61	60	74	79	71	62

viking90 wrote:
Rob Ruijgh the worlds slowest "sprinter"?

Nice adding with two depth talents on hill and cobbles.

We know the transfer season this time would be one of transition. The riders we had last season did a fantastic job for us in the CT but they had to make way for others who could keep our momentum going in the PCT. Only six riders have remained with the team from those that got us promotion. In all this shake-up, the number of riders representing us from our home country has gone down to just four. This isn't really a problem for our sponsors, Philips, who are a company with a worldwide presence and appeal. On the flip side, the number of riders representing Germany has increased to five, which should please Continental, who had included such an increase as one of the conditions for continuing with the sponsorship.

Coming to our team, we have stuck with the strategy of depth which served us so well last season. We have had to neglect one terrain, the cobbles, to get here, but we still have a couple of wildcard rider options for the same.

Our team for the mountains will be led by Henao, who will be ably supported by super domestique Pantano. The latter will also get leadership duties in races himself on occasion. Mai, Ruijgh and Poels are our climbing domestiques for the upcoming season.

Portuguese legend Rui Costa will spearhead our puncheur department and he will be accompanied by German youngster Dieteren, who himself is a likely candidate to lead a handful of races. Jaoa Costa remains on the squad, but his role changes this season from co-leader to mostly that of a domestique. Navardauskas will often accompany our hills unit, especially in races where his other qualities can be utilized.

Sprints will be led by Saber, with support from Krieger and Te Brake, both in the form of his leadouts, as well as sharing the load of his sprinting responsibilities in certain races. Once again, Navardauskas will often ride as the extra man in the sprint train when required.

Just Saber and Per, who is on loan, form our Northern Classics and cobbles stage race unit. Having had a lot of success in this terrain in the CT, we had to grudgingly give up the search of obtaining a new cobbles leader midway through the transfer window, Saber will have to take up some of the responsibilities on the cobbles as well, and he will always have the young Slovenian as his lieutenant. Whether Per gets leadership duties himself remains to be seen.

Our Time Trial department has received a boost. Navardauskas joins up with the retained Van Zandbeek while Namibian ITT champion Petrus is also no slouch against the clock.

Hofstede and Allegaert will continue their development with the team this season. Jung and Muller are the other two loan-ins and will mostly follow our hills squad around. Minali and Bokeloh will join the squad in August, where they should mainly feature on the flat terrains.

And now, we wait for the racing to begin...