The transfer availability of our riders can be split into 4 bands of likeliness, set out below - 75%+ chance of leaving, 50%-75% chance of leaving, 50%-75% chance of staying, and 75+ chance of staying. Yes, it's needlessly complex. But I just like numbers.

75%+ Chance of Leaving

Sachin Dulanjana
Gihan Pushpakumara
Tushantha Rajapakshage
Amith Udaya Kumara
Madushanka Perera

No real surprises here. These are the riders who are on the roster bubble, and who we are incredibly confident of being able to replace this transfer period.

50%-75% Chance of Leaving

Suranga Ranaweera
Samuel Ssabagwanya
Darshana Prasad

The second tier of riders are those who stand a good choice of being kept, but are at risk of sold if opportunities open up during transfers that make their roles redundant.

50%-75% Chance of Staying

Hugh Carthy
Yonathan Monsalve
Alberto Bettiol
Anthony Turgis
Josh Atkins
Sameera Chatarunga
Sebastian Lander

Now we're into those who are more likely to stay than leave. We don't plan to sell any of them unless needed to fund other moves, but there are definitely circumstances in which they could depart - though Monsalve and Turgis are probably safer than the others.

75%+ Chance of Staying

Adam Yates
Jay McCarthy
Stefan De Bod
Julius van den Berg
Salem Kemboi

Unless some stroke of amazing fortune falls upon us, it's pretty unlikely these riders will leave - we see them as our best asset for the future on each terrain respectively, and unless something seismic happens they'll be with us for a long time.

The start of the transfer season hasn't always been kind to the team, but this year things started relatively well. Among the first free agent signings to be confirmed this morning were 4 new riders for Farfetch Pro Cycling.

Included in this haul is Mattia Cattaneo, the new GT leader for the team, and three young talents with exciting futures ahead of them - Siim Kiskonen, Steff Cras and Edoardo Affini. The three youngsters all joined on the minimum wage and will now be loaned out to develop, while Cattaneo is on 780k, which is a bargain compared to some prices in free agency in recent years.

As transfers have progressed, a number of riders have bid farewell to the team. Tushantha Rajapakshage, Amith Udaya Kumara, Madushanka Perera and Suranga Ranaweera have all already left or are in the process of doing so - we thank them for their service and wish them well, knowing they will be fine ambassadors for Sri Lankan cycling. Addditionally, new signing Edoardo Affini has gone out on loan to Duolingo for the season.

In their place we are able to report two new signings, with more in the pipeline. Kyeng Ho Min is a talented Korean climber who has come in to replace Ranaweera for a fee of 500k from DK Zalgiris, while Jodok Salzmann has been signed as Kumara's replacement for a wage of 80k from free agency.

cio93 wrote:
XP level 3.200, I never stop learning new things about this game even going into my 8th season.

With Sachin Dulanjana, Gihan Pushpakumara and Sameera Chatarunga departing the team, plus new signings Siim Kiskonen and Steff Cras being loaned out to Berg Cycles to continue their development, we needed to make some new signings. And so three more riders have joined the team for the upcoming season.

The biggest name of this trio is Tosh Van der Sande, signed for a fee of 750k from Xero. He comes in to complete our trio of powerhouse sprinters, each with their own unique niche - Van der Sande can get over the hills, Lander over the cobbles, and Kemboi is our man for the prologues. Another transfer in is that of Milan Menten, an exciting cobbler-puncheur hybrid signed for 300k from Netia - alongside Van den Berg and Salzmann he's part of a bright future for our cobbled squad. And finally, Marco Tizza has joined on a wage of 50k from free agency. Like Samuel Ssabagwanya, what he lacks in pure ability as a puncheur he more than makes up for with his capacities for long, intense efforts, and we're excited to see him develop.

In the final days of transfers, a number of riders were signed to complete the squad. The biggest signing was that of Eugert Zhupa for a fee of 350k from SPAR, who will be our cobbled leader for the season ahead. He was also joined by Mathias Krigbaum, a young Danish TTer and engine for the flat brought in on loan from Carlsberg to develop, and Michael Gogl, a solid puncheur with some room to improve, on a 50k wage from free agency.

Additionally, we added three stagiares - the first in the team's 7 year history - Zisis Soulious on a 15k wage, and Alexey Voloshin and Hugo Nunes, both on 10k wages. Voloshin and Nunes will develop nicely into a puncheur and stage racer respectively, while Soulious' future development is unclear. Like Kiskonen we originally had him down as a sprinter, however we believe he could also be an interesting option trained as a puncheur should we decide to keep him for the long term.

With all that said and done, we are now able to reveal our team for the upcoming season. We expect it to be a long, hard battle to avoid relegation but believe that if our leaders perform to their abilities we should have a decent chance of staying up. Additionally, this is when we take the opportunity to present our talents when they're reached their full potential - we have a scary crop, even if some of them (e.g. Gogl) were signed only as last minute fillers, and may not be with us long term (and as already mentioned, plans may change for others)

Volta a Portugal	Win
Tour de France	Top 5
Vuelta a Espana	Top 10
Giro d'Italia	Top 10
PT Team Standings	Top 10

Our goals this season are based around the main strength of the team - stage races. In Yonathan Monsalve and Adam Yates we already have two riders who have proven they can finish in the top 10 of Grand Tours, and now in Mattia Cattaneo we have a third. Yates has also excelled in the Volta a Portugal in recent years, hence it being our win goal - while we've set the ambitious target of a top 10 in the PT Team Standings purely as the alternative was "avoid relegation", which is truly a minimum aim.

We are delighted to reveal our jersey for the upcoming season - combining the classic Rapha look with a nod to the history of the team by incorporating the La Vie Claire-esque Mondrian design. Once again it is a masterpiece by the_hoyle, and we hope our performances will be as good as it looks!

1. Cattaneo is in Herbiers and Tasmania, looking to turn around his season with good results in both races.

2. Monsalve is in Portugal and Maroc, with Carthy and McCarthy in support for the Volta, and sharing the leadership with Yates in Morocco.

3. As well as being co-leader in Maroc, Yates will lead us in Lombardia - a gamble we hope will pay off, after seeing success for climbers on similar hilly profiles.

4. Our sprinters go to Paris-Tours as a three headed monster, with Lander leading in Moscow and going for stage wins in Portugal and ToNE, and Van der Sande contesting the sprints in Maroc and Tasmania.

5. Zhupa will have a chance to prove his worth after a tough season so far, with the East Midlands Cicle Classic, ToNE and Rheden still on his calendar - with Lander as co-leader in the latter.

Anthony Turgis had a quiet season, but while he didn't taste major success he did develop to reach his full potential. Having completed his development he is now the perfect foil to Jay McCarthy as a second-tier puncheur, although we do have some concerns about his weaknesses on longer climbs.

Hugh Carthy had an impressive season that saw him crowned King of the Mountains at the Tour de France despite having room for further development. We hope that now he has finished developing, he'll be able to add even better results to his already impressive palmares.

Perhaps the rider we’re most excited about in the long term, Alberto Bettiol has also reached his maximum potential following this season – though we hope we can work with him for further improvement in the future. Not only is he a great addition to the depth of our hilly squad, but his versatility makes him incredibly useful on other terrains too.

Darshana Prasad is our sole remaining Sri Lankan rider, and this season he too has completed his development. His combination of abilities should make him a useful leadout man moving forward, as well as a good option for sprints in the later stages of long stage races – though it’s unclear if his future lies with the team beyond this season.

A last minute addition to use up leftover cap space, Michael Gogl is another rider who has reached their max potential this season. While it is unlikely that he will ride in our colours next season, we hope to help him find a new team, perhaps at the Continental level.

The final rider we have finishing developing this season is Samuel Ssabagwanya. A favourite of the team management due to his huge engine and ability to suffer, we look forward to seeing what he brings to the table next season as a key part of our squad whenever the road goes uphill.

A rider who turned pro only this season, Jodok Salzmann has already made great strides. We decided to take a slightly different path with him to originally planned as his weaknesses on longer climbs limit his usefulness as a puncheur, and have sought instead to make him a more well rounded cobbler.

Kyeng Ho Min was a new addition to the team this season, and a rider who provoked lengthy debate amongst the team management regarding his future development. For a while serious consideration was given to turning him into a punchy climber, along the lines of Tom Jelte Slagter, but we decided to turn him into more of a stage racer due to his lack of acceleration.

Similarly to Jodok Salzmann, Milan Menten was a rider we had planned to develop as a puncheur/cobbler hybrid – in fact, when he turned professional in 2018 who originally shortlisted him as a puncheur talent. However, his weaknesses on longer climbs have forced us to rethink his development, and instead we have tried to make him a more well-rounded rider, who will be better able to compete in selective finishes.

The third of our trio of cobbles talents, Julius van den Berg has also taken an important step in his development this season. His strength on the flat will make him an asset in more than just the few cobbled races we ride, though we do have concerns about his long term future with the team due to his struggles when the road rises.

Stefan De Bod is a rider we are excited to see develop further, as we look to build a squad which doesn’t get scared whenever a TT appears. We decided to focus his development this season on making him a stronger climber in addition to his ability against the clock, so that he can prove useful as more than just a rider for TTTs.

We added Marco Tizza to the squad heading into this season following a move for another rider collapsing at the last minute, and following the decision to develop Zisis Soulious as a puncheur he has already become surplus to requirements moving forward. However, we hope that his development in the last season combined with his huge engine will help him find another pro contract easily next season.

One of the biggest struggles as a PT team is developing your own talents from the very beginning of their careers, and we are thankful to Berg Cycles for the help they provided with the development of Steff Cras. While he did not develop as much as he could potentially have, his young age means we are happy to wait an extra season for him to realise his full potential – at which point he will become a key part of our mountain train.

We also want to thank Berg Cycles for their help with the development of Siim Kiskonen this season. The young Estonian will be a core part of Salem Kemboi’s future leadout train, and we think that he should be a real threat from breakaways next season as he continues his development.

Our final talent to have developed this season is Edoardo Affini – thanks must go to Duolingo for their assistance with his development. Alongside De Bod he will become part of our nucleus of TTers in a few seasons time, although for the next few seasons we can’t expect anything from him other than the occasional breakaway appearance.