Here we pickup a nice sprinter, some more cobbles help and a great veteran puncheur in Caruso, all on tiny wages for us. Despite Lavoine struggling in the PCT over the last 2 years, the downgrade in competition should surely be a blessing.
|Current Team Composition|
Name
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
Gyung Gu Jang
67
76
76
62
72
70
70
54
66
74
73
56
62
Jakub Novak
70
77
73
76
75
73
75
60
64
65
64
61
76
Anthony Lavoine
73
60
60
62
71
64
77
65
80
78
62
79
62
Juan Chamorro
66
78
75
65
72
76
70
51
66
74
78
74
64
Frederik Nolf
73
62
65
63
76
71
68
79
62
70
74
59
63
Alexey Tsatevich
74
62
77
60
74
73
70
75
75
75
66
69
64
Xavier Quevedo
69
71
78
65
72
72
73
56
65
75
69
72
65
Thanawut Sanikwathi
72
58
66
65
70
67
75
72
78
78
66
72
68
Janis Dakteris
75
55
64
62
74
70
73
72
77
77
63
61
62
Damiano Caruso
67
68
77
56
75
70
63
53
69
76
74
76
56
Patrick Bercz
72
62
70
60
73
68
75
66
76
77
67
66
60
Wen Hao Li
75
53
61
78
73
68
71
50
75
75
64
64
78
Jan Ghyselinck
74
61
68
77
75
77
73
61
64
68
74
61
77
Jakub Skala
74
56
71
56
70
72
65
74
66
71
72
74
69
* Note: Aleksa Crncevic has left on loan to cycleYorkshire.
This puts us into a spot where we have 10 74+ rated OVL riders and 7 75+ OVL riders. This isn't necessarily the best stat to go off of of course, but we're hoping this says good things about our extreme depth in the CT this year.
Note - This post will be updated with the results of the CT draft following its results. This post will also be updated if there are any administrative issues or late transfers that come in.
Team Presentation
Finally we are lucky enough to reveal what will in all likelyhood be out full team at the end of the transfer season. We hope this will give you a good look at our team coming into the season.
|Leaders|
Jakub Novak $110,000 | 75.51 | Aquired for Alan Banasezk & $350,000
These are likely the three team members we will be building our schedule around. Novak will have strong climbers to help him in tours and our cobblers along with the squad around them should mean Tsatevich and Nolf are great options in every cobbled race. Tsatevich will likely required some creative planning to get the most out of him but we're excited to see what his talents offer at the CT level.
|Climbers|
Gyung Gu Jang $120,000 | 75.63 | Aquired for Jan Drago Petelin
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
67
76
76
62
72
70
70
54
66
74
73
56
62
Juan Ernesto Chamorro $130,000 | 75.46 | 2nd Season
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
66
78
75
65
72
76
70
51
66
74
78
74
64
Erick Rowsell $0,000 | 73.00 | CT Draft
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
68
74
69
73
71
74
70
57
61
67
65
62
73
Both Jang and Chamorro will get more than their fair share of leading opportunities given both should be considered very solid climbers at the CT level. However, with limited help around them they will likely be paired often for mountain-based races. Also expect Jang to act as a main helper for Novak in tours while Chamorro takes on bigger mountains when needed.
|Sprinters|
Anthony Lavoine $60,000 | 75.48 | From F/A
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
73
60
60
62
71
64
77
65
80
78
62
79
62
Patrick Bercz $50,000 | 73.63 | 4th Season
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
72
62
70
60
73
68
75
66
76
77
67
66
60
Lavoine is a huge pickup for us at his wage. Although he won't be the best sprinter in the division, he should get many opportunities to shine in races that other sprinters may not necessarily target. Bercz will act as his main leadout, although we have a strong contingent of potential leadout riders to help Lavoine as well.
|Puncheurs|
Xavier Quevedo $100,000 | 75.09 | 2nd Season
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
69
71
78
65
72
72
73
56
65
75
69
72
65
Damiano Caruso $55,000 | 74.05 | From F/A
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
67
68
77
56
75
70
63
53
69
76
74
76
56
Of the mass exodus of our puncheurs from last season went on, clearly Quevedo was the one to stay. His ability to climb along with strong acceleration will give him many chances to lead the team in the hills while acting as one of the better puncheurs in the division. Caruso will likely hold free roles in those hilly races where Quevedo features as well as his fantastic attacking stats should hopefully result in a strong points total for the veteran.
|Cobblers|
Thanawut Sanikwathi $110,000 | 74.84 | 4th Season
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
72
58
66
65
70
67
75
72
78
78
66
72
68
Janis Dakteris $55,000 | 74.51 | From F/A
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
75
55
64
62
74
70
73
72
77
77
63
61
62
Baptiste Planckaert $50,000 | 74.11 | From F/A
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
73
54
65
64
71
72
70
71
77
77
64
62
67
Jakub Skala $50,000 | 72.56 | Aquired with Ghyselinck for Laporte & $150,000
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
74
56
71
56
70
72
65
74
66
71
72
74
69
Of these riders, Sanikwathi will likely be the one who gets the most opportunity on his own given his strong sprinting and servicable cobbling. Planckaert, Dakteris and Skala will likely see their race days spent on cobbled stages while also helping Lavoine in leadout roles.
|Time-Trialists|
Wen Hao Li $50,000 | 73.33 | 3rd Season
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
75
53
61
78
73
68
71
50
75
75
64
64
78
Jan Ghyselinck $50,000 | 73.30 | Aquired with Skala for Laporte & $150,000
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
74
61
68
77
75
77
73
61
64
68
74
61
77
Darren Young $0,000 | 70.91 | CT Draft
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
71
56
61
74
67
72
71
71
72
72
65
70
74
Wen Hao Li is a fan favorite considering his ability to timetrial is one of the best in the CT while his sprinting makes him a fantastic leadout. Although there are few team time-trials this season for us, Li and Ghyselinck as two of the better men in the division against the clock along with Novak will be a strong group to compete with.
|Loaned-Out|
Aleksa Crncevic $50,000 | 71.81 | Loaned to cycleYorkshire to Max XP
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
67
74
69
71
69
69
73
64
61
69
67
75
70
When Maxed
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
67
76
70
73
70
70
75
64
61
69
67
75
72
Aleksa will spend the season on loan to reach max XP this season. We wish him well and are super excited to see him come back to the best of his abilities next season as he will act as a perfect replacement for the aging Jakub Novak.
|Current Team Composition|
Name
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
Gyung Gu Jang
67
76
76
62
72
70
70
54
66
74
73
56
62
Jakub Novak
70
77
73
76
75
73
75
60
64
65
64
61
76
Anthony Lavoine
73
60
60
62
71
64
77
65
80
78
62
79
62
Juan Chamorro
66
78
75
65
72
76
70
51
66
74
78
74
64
Frederik Nolf
73
62
65
63
76
71
68
79
62
70
74
59
63
Alexey Tsatevich
74
62
77
60
74
73
70
75
75
75
66
69
64
Xavier Quevedo
69
71
78
65
72
72
73
56
65
75
69
72
65
Thanawut Sanikwathi
72
58
66
65
70
67
75
72
78
78
66
72
68
Janis Dakteris
75
55
64
62
74
70
73
72
77
77
63
61
62
Baptiste Planckaert
73
54
65
64
71
72
70
71
77
77
64
62
67
Damiano Caruso
67
68
77
56
75
70
63
53
69
76
74
76
56
Patrick Bercz
72
62
70
60
73
68
75
66
76
77
67
66
60
Wen Hao Li
75
53
61
78
73
68
71
50
75
75
64
64
78
Jan Ghyselinck
74
61
68
77
75
77
73
61
64
68
74
61
77
Erick Rowsell
68
74
69
73
71
74
70
57
61
67
65
62
73
Jakub Skala
74
56
71
56
70
72
65
74
66
71
72
74
69
Darren Young
71
56
61
74
67
72
71
71
72
72
65
70
74
Overall this has been a solid transfer season in the team's eyes. It's clear that we targetting a specific market defficiency with the solid 100-120k wage riders, but will this work is yet to be seen. Hopefully our goals of being a top 5 to 10 team on almost every terrain can come to fruition and see us back in the PCT shortly.
Also apologies for the mix and match of nationalities here, the sponsors seemed to care very little about nationality rather than promotion. We'll try to come back to our French and American roots in coming seasons.
AbhishekLFC wrote:
Great overall squad you've built here, which should challenge on all terrains. Looking forward to the racing
Really appreciate the kind words, very excited to get the season started. Maybe some small rivalry potential here with our teams coming down from the PCT and trying to immediately hop back up. Good luck this season!
Agree with Abhi here, superb CT set-up with no spare RDs I'm guessing and a ridiculous depth of quality for the division I think. Chamorro should be awesome especially with that MO-HI-RES-ACC line looking very sweet.
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jandal7 wrote:
Agree with Abhi here, superb CT set-up with no spare RDs I'm guessing and a ridiculous depth of quality for the division I think. Chamorro should be awesome especially with that MO-HI-RES-ACC line looking very sweet.
I'm really hoping you're right, we've had too much of a history of wasting RDs so really wanted to buck that trend. Chamorro is definitely someone who I'm hoping/expecting will overperform with those stats, but the CT has definitely changed in the climbing department since I was last here.
With the conclusion of the CT draft, we're bringing in two very talented team-mates who are bound to help our leaders as well as providing some important time-trial support.
|Top Pick Rowsell Falls|
Erick Rowsell
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
68
74
69
73
71
74
70
57
61
67
65
62
73
Given we had the second-to-last pick of the 1st round, we were super happy to pick up our number 1 pick in Rowsell. We needed some climbing help in tours behind Novak and Rowsell will offer that along with time-trial support. Probably won't score almost any points, but will definitely help our other guys do so.
|2nd on Carrefour's List, Young Joins|
Darren Young
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
71
56
61
74
67
72
71
71
72
72
65
70
74
Darren Young comes from a similar style to Rowsell, being a versitile team-mate who can also help out in a TTT. Young's solid cobbling will making him a key member of an already strong cobbled squad for us. His low overall seems a bit scary, but his ability on the cobbles and against the clock paired with his sprinting is a skill-set that was completely unique at this stage.
With that, we aquired both of our top-2 picks in the CT draft, which means the draft was definitely an overall positive for us, despite us avoiding the pattented sprinter technique of some others.
With that, here is what looks like to be the final iteration of our team this year (Our team presentation post has also been updated to include Rowsell and Young).
AbhishekLFC wrote:
Great overall squad you've built here, which should challenge on all terrains. Looking forward to the racing
Really appreciate the kind words, very excited to get the season started. Maybe some small rivalry potential here with our teams coming down from the PCT and trying to immediately hop back up. Good luck this season!
I'm all for it I guess we promoted together in 2017, so let's try to do it again, shall we?