Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo Pro Cycling Team (LPU) is a Belgium based cycling team. The idea started in 2014, when football club K. Lierse S.K. noticed the low sale of tickets on the days cycling classics were hold. They realised there are two sports that matter in Belgium, Football and Cycling. Rather then competing, the board proposed and idea to unite the two. After a lot of thinking, the first steps were taken and preparations started. A new cycling team was born!
It was decided the main sponsor would be K. Lierse S.K., Lierse in short. Of course a second, more international sponsor would be needed. The ideal candidate was found only 2 months later. Pizza Ullo is a growing chain of traditional Italian restaurants. Opposing chains such a Pizza Hut and Domino's, they offer more healthy, more traditional Italian pizza.
Soon after, The first restaurant of Pizza Ullo in Belgium was opened, inside the stadium of Lierse. More restaurant opened over time, as the team got in the first wins in 2014, including 2 national championships. The biggest result came in 2015, when Stijn Joseph won Dwars Door Vlaanderen, a semi classic with live broadcasting on tv.
Towards the end of the 2015 season, the team decided a new approach, with even more focus on youth. At the same time, UCI regelations forced a team name change. In 2016, the team name will be Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo Pro Cycling Team.
Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo Pro Cycling Team is looking for young talents to develop with our team. We want a decent amount of Belgian riders, add a few Italians to satisfy our co-sponsor, and the rest can come from all around the world.
Roster
Name
Age
Role
Name
Age
Role
Gabriele Benedetti
24
Domestique
Jenthe Biermans
29
Baroudeur
Niccolo Bonifazio
31
Sprinter
Walter Calzoni
23
Climber
Alessandro Covi
26
Puncheur
Laurens De Plus
29
Puncheur
Alessandro Fedeli
28
Puncheur
Patrick Gamper
27
Cobbler
Jakub Mareczko
30
Sprinter
Sam Oomen
29
Stage Racer
Andrea Piccolo
23
Puncheur
Viktor Potocki
25
Time Trials
Szymon Sajnok
27
Time Trials
Dilmurdjon Siddikov
27
Time Trials
Joel Suter
26
Baroudeur
Fabio Van Den Bossche
24
Cobbler
Maxim Van Gils
25
Climber
Aaron Van Poucke
26
Climber
Henri Vandenabeele
24
Domestique
Aaron Verwilst
27
Domestique
Sasha Weemaes
26
Domestique
Stijn Joseph winning Dwars Door Vlaanderen, our first big win
Kenneth Vanbilsen taking Gent - Wevelgem after a very exciting race
Daniele Dall'Oste with the Giro d'Italia mountain jersey
Our all time victory leader Tom Van Asbroeck winning the Baltic Chain Tour
Sam Oomen showing us the future is bright, winning the Tour de l'Avenir
Kenneth Vanbilsen wins Roma Maxima back to back in 2018 and 2019
Stijn Joseph winning our home race, Heistse Pijl
Arguably our biggest talent, Fernando Gavira winning the Benelux Challenge
Benelux Challenge - Mountain Classification - Stijn Joseph
Driedaagse De Panne - Stage 1 - Stijn Joseph Ruta America del Sur - Mountain Classification - Francis De Greef
Tour de l'Avenir - Stage 7 - Nikita Umerbekov National Championship Road Race - Czech Republic - Josef Cerny National Championship Road Race - Croatia - Domagoj Breznik
2015
Benelux Challenge - Stage 4 - Louis Verhelst Benelux Challenge - Mountain Classification - Louis Verhelst Benelux Challenge - Youth Classification - Louis Verhelst Dwars Door Vlaanderen - Stijn Joseph Tour of Iceland - Mountain Classification - Jasper Stuyven
USA Pro Cycling Challenge - Stage 2 - Manuel Senni
2016
Gent-Wevelgem - Kenneth Vanbilsen Giro d'Italia - Mountains Classification - Daniele Dall'Oste Driedaagse De Panne - Points Classification - Tom Van Asbroeck
4 Jours de Dunkerque - Stage 2 - Tom Van Asbroeck
Volta a Portugal - Stage 3 - Nikita Umerbekov
Internationale Österreich Rundfahrt - Stage 3 - Matteo Pelucchi
2017
Tour of Eritrea - Stage 2 - Matteo Pelucchi
Tour of Eritrea - Stage 4 - Daniele Dall'Oste Tour of Eritrea - Points Classification - Daniele Dall'Oste Tour of Eritrea - Mountain Classification - Daniele Dall'Oste
La Tropicale Amissa Bongo - Stage 2 - Tom Van Asbroeck
Olympia's Tour - Stage 4 - Laurens De Plus
Post Danmark Rundt - Stage 4 - Jakub Mareczko Baltic Chain Tour - General Classification - Tom Van Asbroeck Baltic Chain Tour - Points Classification - Tom Van Asbroeck National Championship Road Race - Belgium - Kenneth Vanbilsen
2018
Tour de Pologne - Youth Classification - Gianni Moscon Roma Maxima - Kenneth Vanbilsen
Driedaagse De Panne - Stage 3 - Tom Van Asbroeck Driedaagse De Panne - Points Classification - Tom Van Asbroeck
Jelajah SKL - Stage 2 - Tom Van Asbroeck
Tour of Beijing - Stage 2 - Matteo Pelucchi Tour of Beijing - Youth Classification - Josef Cerny Tour of Beijing - Team Classification
Tour de l'Avenir - Stage 1 - Sam Oomen Tour de l'Avenir - General Classification - Sam Oomen Tour de l'Avenir - Points Classification - Sam Oomen
2019
Roma Maxima - Kenneth Vanbilsen Vuelta a Colombia - Youth Classification - Sam Oomen Giro d'Italia - Stage 15 - Sam Oomen
Cheshire Cycling Tour - Stage 2 - Tom Van Asbroeck Scandinavia Open Road Race - Youth Classification - Sam Oomen Tour of Beijing - Youth Classification - Sam Oomen
Balkans International - Stage 1 - Zico Waeytens Tour of America - Stage 9 - Manuel Senni
Tour of America - Stage 15 - Daniele Dall'Oste
Tour of America - Stage 18 - Daniele Dall'Oste
Tour of America - Mountain Classification - Daniele Dall'Oste Heistse Pijl - Stijn Joseph
2020
Tour Down Under - Stage 6 - Fernando Gaviria Tour Down Under - Points Classification - Fernando Gaviria Volta a Portugal - Youth Classification - Sam Oomen Vuelta al Pais Vasco - Youth Classification - Sam Oomen
Baltic Chain Tour - Stage 5 - Fernando Gaviria Baltic Chain Tour - General Classification - Fernando Gaviria Baltic Chain Tour - Points Classification - Fernando Gaviria Corsica International - Youth Classification - Sam Oomen Benelux Challenge - General Classification - Fernando Gaviria Benelux Challenge - Points Classification - Fernando Gaviria Tour of Lithuania - Youth Classification - Sam Oomen Tour du Maroc - Youth Classification - Sam Oomen National Championship Road Race - Italy - Niccolo Bonifazio
2021
Viana do Castelo - Patrick Gamper
Barbados Cycling Festival - Stage 3 - Niccolo Bonifazio
Circulo de Juarez - Stage 2 - Niccolo Bonifazio Vuelta al Pais Vasco - General Classification - Sam Oomen Vuelta al Pais Vasco - Team Classification Benelux Challenge - General Classification - Manuel Senni Tour of America - Stage 5 - Domen Novak
Tour of America - Stage 18 - Domen Novak
Tour de l'Avenir - Stage 1 - Sasha Weemaes National Championship Road Race - Uzbekistan - Dilmurdjon Siddikov National Championship Time Trial - Uzbekistan - Dilmurdjon Siddikov
2022
Vuelta al Tachira - Stage 2 - Jakub Mareczko
Tirreno-Adriatico - Stage 7 - Szymon Sajnok Tirreno-Adriatico - Team Classification
Vuelta al Pais Vasco - Stage 5 - Domen Novak Vuelta al Pais Vasco - Team Classification
Tour de Pologne - Stage 4 - Jakub Mareczko Giro d'Italia - Stage 15 - Sam Oomen Chrono d'Arenberg - Patrick Gamper
Internationale Österreich Rundfahrt - Stage 1 - Sam Oomen Internationale Österreich Rundfahrt - General Classification - Sam Oomen Scandinavia Open Road Race - Team Classification
Tour of Northern Europe - Stage 1 - Patrick Gamper
Tour de l'Avenir - Stage 1 - Viktor Potocki National Championship Road Race - Uzbekistan - Dilmurdjon Siddikov National Championship Time Trial - Uzbekistan - Dilmurdjon Siddikov National Championship Road Race - Italy - Manuel Senni National Championship Road Race - Croatia - Viktor Potocki National Championship Time Trial - Croatia - Viktor Potocki
2023
Vuelta al Pais Vasco - Stage 6 - Sam Oomen Vuelta al Pais Vasco - General Classification - Sam Oomen Vuelta al Pais Vasco - Team Classification
Vuelta a Colombia - Stage 1 - Jakub Mareczko Tour de Romandie - Points Classification - Sam Oomen
Franceville Classique - Stage 1 - Patrick Gamper
Tour of East Java - Stage 2 - Niccolo Bonifazio Tour of East Java - Points Classification - Niccolo Bonifazio
Tour of California - Stage 3 - Laurens De Plus
Tour of California - Stage 7 - Sam Oomen
Tour of Eritrea - Stage 3 - Sam Oomen Tour of Eritrea - General Classification - Sam Oomen Tour of Eritrea - Points Classification - Sam Oomen
Benelux Challenge - Stage 5 - Patrick Gamper Paris-Tours - Niccolo Bonifazio
Tour d'Andorra - Stage 4 - Sam Oomen
Tour d'Andorra - Stage 5 - Sam Oomen National Championship Road Race - Uzbekistan - Dilmurdjon Siddikov National Championship Time Trial - Uzbekistan - Dilmurdjon Siddikov National Championship Time Trial - Croatia - Viktor Potocki
2024
Volta a Portugal - Mountain Classification - Aaron Van PouckeEdited by Ollfardh on 03-11-2024 09:38
Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo Cycling Team 2014: 18th in the Continental Tour
Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo Cycling Team 2015: 15th in the Continental Tour
Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo Pro Cycling Team 2016: 25th in the Pro Continental Tour
Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo Pro Cycling Team 2017: 17th in the Pro Continental Tour
Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo Pro Cycling Team 2018: 22nd in the Pro Continental Tour
Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo Pro Cycling Team 2019: 17th in the Pro Continental Tour
Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo Pro Cycling Team 2020: 13th in the Pro Continental Tour
Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo Pro Cycling Team 2021: 14th in the Pro Continental Tour
Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo Pro Cycling Team 2022: 10th in the Pro Continental Tour
Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo Pro Cycling Team 2023: 9th in the Pro Continental Tour
Wins:
2014
Benelux Challenge - Mountain Jersey - Stijn Joseph
Driedaagse De Panne - Stage 1 - Stijn Joseph Ruta America del Sur - Mountain Jersey - Francis De Greef
Tour de l'Avenir - Stage 7 - Nikita Umerbekov National Championship Road Race - Czech Republic - Josef Cerny National Championship Road Race - Croatia - Domagoj Breznik
2015
Benelux Challenge - Stage 4 - Louis Verhelst Benelux Challenge - Mountain Jersey - Louis Verhelst Benelux Challenge - Youth Jersey - Louis Verhelst Dwars Door Vlaanderen - Stijn Joseph Tour of Iceland - Mountain Jersey - Jasper Stuyven
USA Pro Cycling Challenge - Stage 2 - Manuel Senni
2016
Gent-Wevelgem - Kenneth Vanbilsen Giro d'Italia - Mountains Classification - Daniele Dall'Oste Driedaagse De Panne - Points Classification - Tom Van Asbroeck
4 Jours de Dunkerque - Stage 2 - Tom Van Asbroeck
Volta a Portugal - Stage 3 - Nikita Umerbekov
Internationale Österreich Rundfahrt - Stage 3 - Matteo Pelucchi
2017
Tour of Eritrea - Stage 2 - Matteo Pelucchi
Tour of Eritrea - Stage 4 - Daniele Dall'Oste Tour of Eritrea - Points Classification - Daniele Dall'Oste Tour of Eritrea - Mountain Classification - Daniele Dall'Oste
La Tropicale Amissa Bongo - Stage 2 - Tom Van Asbroeck
Olympia's Tour - Stage 4 - Laurens De Plus
Post Danmark Rundt - Stage 4 - Jakub Mareczko Baltic Chain Tour - General Classification - Tom Van Asbroeck Baltic Chain Tour - Points Classification - Tom Van Asbroeck National Championship Road Race - Belgium - Kenneth Vanbilsen
2018
Tour de Pologne - Youth Classification - Gianni Moscon Roma Maxima - Kenneth Vanbilsen
Driedaagse De Panne - Stage 3 - Tom Van Asbroeck Driedaagse De Panne - Points Classification - Tom Van Asbroeck
Jelajah SKL - Stage 2 - Tom Van Asbroeck
Tour of Beijing - Stage 2 - Matteo Pelucchi Tour of Beijing - Youth Classification - Josef Cerny Tour of Beijing - Team Classification
Tour de l'Avenir - Stage 1 - Sam Oomen Tour de l'Avenir - General Classification - Sam Oomen Tour de l'Avenir - Points Classification - Sam Oomen
2019
Roma Maxima - Kenneth Vanbilsen Vuelta a Colombia - Youth Classification - Sam Oomen Giro d'Italia - Stage 15 - Sam Oomen
Cheshire Cycling Tour - Stage 2 - Tom Van Asbroeck Scandinavia Open Road Race - Youth Classification - Sam Oomen Tour of Beijing - Youth Classification - Sam Oomen
Balkans International - Stage 1 - Zico Waeytens Tour of America - Stage 9 - Manuel Senni
Tour of America - Stage 15 - Daniele Dall'Oste
Tour of America - Stage 18 - Daniele Dall'Oste
Tour of America - Mountain Classification - Daniele Dall'Oste Heistse Pijl - Stijn Joseph
2020
Tour Down Under - Stage 6 - Fernando Gaviria Tour Down Under - Points Classification - Fernando Gaviria Volta a Portugal - Youth Classification - Sam Oomen Vuelta al Pais Vasco - Youth Classification - Sam Oomen
Baltic Chain Tour - Stage 5 - Fernando Gaviria Baltic Chain Tour - General Classification - Fernando Gaviria Baltic Chain Tour - Points Classification - Fernando Gaviria Corsica International - Youth Classification - Sam Oomen Benelux Challenge - General Classification - Fernando Gaviria Benelux Challenge - Points Classification - Fernando Gaviria Tour of Lithuania - Youth Classification - Sam Oomen Tour du Maroc - Youth Classification - Sam Oomen National Championship Road Race - Italy - Niccolo Bonifazio
2021
Viana do Castelo - Patrick Gamper
Barbados Cycling Festival - Stage 3 - Niccolo Bonifazio
Circulo de Juarez - Stage 2 - Niccolo Bonifazio Vuelta al Pais Vasco - General Classification - Sam Oomen Vuelta al Pais Vasco - Team Classification Benelux Challenge - General Classification - Manuel Senni Tour of America - Stage 5 - Domen Novak
Tour of America - Stage 18 - Domen Novak
Tour de l'Avenir - Stage 1 - Sasha Weemaes National Championship Road Race - Uzbekistan - Dilmurdjon Siddikov National Championship Time Trial - Uzbekistan - Dilmurdjon Siddikov
2022
Vuelta al Tachira - Stage 2 - Jakub Mareczko
Tirreno-Adriatico - Stage 7 - Szymon Sajnok Tirreno-Adriatico - Team Classification
Vuelta al Pais Vasco - Stage 5 - Domen Novak Vuelta al Pais Vasco - Team Classification
Tour de Pologne - Stage 4 - Jakub Mareczko Giro d'Italia - Stage 15 - Sam Oomen Chrono d'Arenberg - Patrick Gamper
Internationale Österreich Rundfahrt - Stage 1 - Sam Oomen Internationale Österreich Rundfahrt - General Classification - Sam Oomen Scandinavia Open Road Race - Team Classification
Tour of Northern Europe - Stage 1 - Patrick Gamper
Tour de l'Avenir - Stage 1 - Viktor Potocki National Championship Road Race - Uzbekistan - Dilmurdjon Siddikov National Championship Time Trial - Uzbekistan - Dilmurdjon Siddikov National Championship Road Race - Italy - Manuel Senni National Championship Road Race - Croatia - Viktor Potocki National Championship Time Trial - Croatia - Viktor Potocki
2023
Vuelta al Pais Vasco - Stage 6 - Sam Oomen Vuelta al Pais Vasco - General Classification - Sam Oomen Vuelta al Pais Vasco - Team Classification
Vuelta a Colombia - Stage 1 - Jakub Mareczko Tour de Romandie - Points Classification - Sam Oomen
Franceville Classique - Stage 1 - Patrick Gamper
Tour of East Java - Stage 2 - Niccolo Bonifazio Tour of East Java - Points Classification - Niccolo Bonifazio
Tour of California - Stage 3 - Laurens De Plus
Tour of California - Stage 7 - Sam Oomen
Tour of Eritrea - Stage 3 - Sam Oomen Tour of Eritrea - General Classification - Sam Oomen Tour of Eritrea - Points Classification - Sam Oomen
Benelux Challenge - Stage 5 - Patrick Gamper Paris-Tours - Niccolo Bonifazio
Tour d'Andorra - Stage 4 - Sam Oomen
Tour d'Andorra - Stage 5 - Sam Oomen National Championship Road Race - Uzbekistan - Dilmurdjon Siddikov National Championship Time Trial - Uzbekistan - Dilmurdjon Siddikov National Championship Time Trial - Croatia - Viktor Potocki
All time leaders:
Classic wins: Kenneth Vanbilsen (3) - Patrick Gamper (2)
Stage wins: Sam Oomen (8) - Tom Van Asbroeck (5)
Tour de L'Avenir stage wins: Nikita Umerbekov, Sam Oomen, Sasha Weemaes, Viktor Potocki (1) Giro d'Italia stage wins - Sam Oomen (2) Tour of America stage wins - Daniele Dall'Oste, Domen Novak (2) GC wins: Sam Oomen (4) - Fernando Gaviria (2) Tour de l'Avenir GC wins: Sam Oomen (1) Point jerseys: Tom Van Asbroeck, Fernando Gaviria, Sam Oomen (3) KoM jerseys: Daniele Dall'Oste (3) Youth Jerseys: Sam Oomen(8)
National championships Road Race: Josef Cerny - 2014 Domagoj Breznik - 2014 Kenneth Vanbilsen - 2017 Niccolo Bonifazio 2020 Dilmurdjon Siddikov - 2021 Dilmurdjon Siddikov - 2022 Manuel Senni 2022 Viktor Potocki - 2022 Dilmurdjon Siddikov - 2023
National championships Time Trial: Dilmurdjon Siddikov - 2021 Dilmurdjon Siddikov - 2022 Viktor Potocki - 2022 Dilmurdjon Siddikov - 2023 Viktor Potocki - 2023
Our races:
Roma Maxima - 2018 Kenneth Vanbilsen - 2019 Kenneth Vanbilsen
Baltic Chain Tour - 2017 Tom Van Asbroeck - 2020 Fernando Gaviria
Point jerseys - 2017 Tom Van Asbroeck - 2020 Fernando Gaviria
Stage wins - 2020 Fernando Gaviria
Benelux Challenge - 2020 Fernando Gaviria - 2021 Manuel Senni
Point jerseys - 2020 Fernando Gaviria
Mountain jerseys - 2014 Stijn Joseph - 2015 Louis Verhelst
Youth jerseys - 2015 Louis Verhelst
Stage wins - 2015 Louis Verhelst - 2023 Patrick Gamper
Vuelta al Pais Vasco - 2021 Sam Oomen - 2023 Sam Oomen
Youth jerseys - 2020 Sam Oomen
Team classifications - 2021 - 2022 - 2023
Stage wins - 2022 Domen Novak - 2023 Sam Oomen
Edited by Ollfardh on 14-08-2024 12:23
After this transfer season, we felt a new HQ was needed to reflect the major changes we went through. Without a doubt, this was the biggest overhaul this team has ever seen.
Part 1 - Renewals
Completely unexpected news here as we suddenly Fernando Gaviria demanding a huge wage increase despite never winning a race yet. We agree there sure was potential, but his demands made us make a very tough decision. In the end, we decided to give him a chance. This of course had some horrible consequenses for other riders and a huge fine from the ruthless MG UCI. We had realised we had to say goodbye to a few riders, but in the end it was quite a bit more than what he had hoped for.
Part 2 - Departures
Where to begin, where to begin. I think it's only fitting we start with the guy who made a lot happen for us in our early season. Stijn Joseph gave us our first stage win, our first ever classic win in Dwars Door Vlaanderen and even in his last year he won another classic for us, Heistse Pijl. We're happy he found a new team in the CT with Aramco.
The next rider to leave is arguably our most succesfull rider ever. Tom Van Asbroeck joined us upon getting promoted to the PCT and gave us 5 stage wins, 3 point jerseys and our very first GC win in Baltic Chain Tour. We wre kind of hoping to get him out in the PT, but via detour he ended up at Polar, and we'll no doubt face him a few times next year!
The next to leave the team is Gianni Moscon. While he started off very promising, his behaviour became too much to handle and we had to let him go. The youth jersey in Tour de Pologne was his biggest achievement for the team. He goes to Centovalli - Fiat to help them getting promoted.
Next is LPU legend Danielle Dall'Oste, and I have to say, this one hurt the most. He also joined us in our first year and gave us so much back. Highlight is of course his Giro d'Italia KoM jersey, but let's not forget about all his stage wins either. He also takes a step down to CT level at Sotto il sole di riccione.
Also joining him at Sotto il sole di riccione is Matteo Pelucchi. He joined us in our second year to get us promoted to the PCT. After that he gave us three nice stage wins. We'll miss him as well.
Next up is Josef Cerny, also signed in our first season and trained all the way to the top. Moser has been targetting him for a few years now and this year we reached an agreement. He now gets a chance to compete at the top level. We'll remember him mostly for giving us our first NC jersey.
Then we have Kevin Peeters. He joined us from the start and had 6 season with us and won absolutely nothing. We're actually glad no one picked him up. Kevin, you are a waste of life and you should just give up.
Finaly we got rid of Zico Waeytens. Finaly.
Part 3 - Arrivals
So what did we get in return? We signed free agents Alessandro Covi, Sasha Weemaes and Aaron Verwilst. Especially for the first one we expect a long future in our team.
From trades we got a few solid domestiques. Michael Kolar will assist our mountain crew. Isaac Bolivar is the new helper for the cobbles. Kristoffer Skjerping will do his job on the hills.
Lastly we got a few talents in. Patrick Gamper could be next Cancellara and Alessandro Fedeli looks like a young Valverde.
Part 4 - Leadership
With all the changes to the team, the following riders will be the team leaders for 2020:
Fernando Gaviria, sprints. He gets promoted to our main sprinter and with the wage he gets, we can only demand several wins from him.
Sam Oomen, stage races. After completing his training, he's ready for a year of white jerseys, or perhaps even more.
Niccolo Bonifazio, sprints. He also gets a promotion to secondary sprinter instead of leadout, he will mostly be targetting the flatter races.
Kenneth Vanbilsen, cobbles. Nothing new here, he had a good 2019 and we hope he can repeat this in 2020.
Laurens De Plus, hills. With pretty much everyone leaving, the hilly classics fall on his shoulders. Then again, replacing Waeytens shouldn't be too hard.
Manuel Senni, stage races. He did some good stuff last year and we'll definitely count on him again in 2020.
Part 5 - Expectations
Before renewals, we were looking for promotion, but we lost a bit too many riders to be competitive all season long. I don't see us going down with this team, but it can still be hard if we run into problems. Gaviria needs big results to back up his wage and I also fear De Plus is not yet good enough to compete on the hills. I still need to look at the other teams, but I don't think we've improved enough to do much better than last year.
No silly introductions, the only good way to announce it, is just giving it.
Name
Age
Role
Jenthe Biermans
25
Baroudeur
Isaac Bolivar
29
Cobbler
Niccolo Bonifazio
27
Sprinter
Alessandro Covi
22
Puncheur
Laurens De Plus
25
Puncheur
Stan Dewulf
23
Domestique
Alessandro Fedeli
24
Puncheur
Patrick Gamper
23
Puncheur
Fernando Gaviria
26
Sprinter
Michael Kolar
28
Climber
Jakub Mareczko
26
Sprinter
Sam Oomen
25
Stage Racer
Szymon Sajnok
23
Time Trials
Manuel Senni
28
Stage Racer
Wout Van Aert
26
Prologue
Kristoffer Skjerping
27
Puncheur
Kenneth Vanbilsen
30
Cobbler
Louis Verhelst
30
Cobbler
Aaron Verwilst
23
Domestique
Sasha Weemaes
22
Domestique
With 8 key riders leaving, this roster looks very different from what you're used to. This also means we have 8 new riders and the best part of this is we got our average age down to 25 again, which is a huge win. On the downside, the number of Italians is down to 5 and the number of Belgians is down to 8. Our sponsors have made it clear that should go up again next year and we commit ourselves to that goal.
As a Belgian I feel obliged to be rooting for Belgian teams, and definitely one that has WVA! As you might know Covi rode a very decent Brabantse Pijl irl, let's hope he can continue that effort for your team
Really hoping for you that Gaviria will perform according to his wage this year. Oomen should certainly do well in PCT, and he should also score a decent amount of U25 points. His mountain support is pretty fine, too. Cobbles are OK as well, but you might struggle a bit on the hills, as I share your mixed feelings about De Plus.
Honestly, I don't really see you promoting, but you should stay up - if Gaviria performs. Else, it might be pretty hard with just Oomen and Vanbilsen as potential big scorers.
If you want to get rid of non-Belgians and non-Italians next year, I might take Gamper back
Nemolito wrote:
As a Belgian I feel obliged to be rooting for Belgian teams, and definitely one that has WVA! As you might know Covi rode a very decent Brabantse Pijl irl, let's hope he can continue that effort for your team
Thanks, if only I could get RL Wout, promotion would be completely certain.
I have to say, I didn't know Covi before MG, but when I saw him on tv in Brabantse I was cheering for my guy
Fabianski wrote:
Really hoping for you that Gaviria will perform according to his wage this year. Oomen should certainly do well in PCT, and he should also score a decent amount of U25 points. His mountain support is pretty fine, too. Cobbles are OK as well, but you might struggle a bit on the hills, as I share your mixed feelings about De Plus.
Honestly, I don't really see you promoting, but you should stay up - if Gaviria performs. Else, it might be pretty hard with just Oomen and Vanbilsen as potential big scorers.
If you want to get rid of non-Belgians and non-Italians next year, I might take Gamper back
Let's see how Gamper does first
I knew I was going to lose a few guys with Gaviria, but I wasn't expecting losing Moscon and Dall'Oste. Add those two point scorers and I think it might have been possible.
Fernando Gaviria and his outrageous wage demands were a big topic in the offseason. After paying enough ransom to his management, the team expected big things from his, but despite a stage win and point jersey in Tour Down Under, it wasn't nearly enough yet. Although Bonifazio was doing even worse, it needs to be said.
But his bad luck would change in the Baltic Chain Tour, a race the team really likes due to Tom Van Asbroeck's win 3 years ago. Gaviria limited his losses in the prologue, with Wout Van Aert even finished within 3 seconds, securing minor GC points.
Gaviria continued with top 10 finishes, climbing int he GC while avoiding the yellow jersey curse. A shoutout needs to go to Jenthe Biermans here, who did great work keeping his leader in the front. So it all came down to the final stage.
Stage, GC and point jersey win! Fernando Gaviria always had the potential to be a star, but now he really is!
Due to budget issues, our social media team got cut and we could no longer give the daily updates everyone wanted to read. But in short, here's what happened.
Fernando Gaviria showed he's more than just a sprinter by winning our home race the Benelux Tour. He survived hills and cobbles to claim the GC and the points jersey.
Meanwhile Sam Oomen made the most of his last year as a U25 rider, claiming white jerseys left and right. He definitely was the most productive rider this season.
Then somehow this happened.
That was our season, see you soon for the full review and transfer talk!
Without any doubt, the 2020 season was our best so far, both in ranking and in victories. Still, it was less than we had hoped. Our 2019 roster made us dream of promotion, but in renewals we had our first setback where we had to lose 6 riders we would have prefered to keep due to big wage demands.
During the season, we had a few setbacks as well. It took a while for our star rider Gaviria to start performing in sprints. Eventually he turned it into an acceptable season, but definitely not the best sprinter of the PCT, meaning there would be no way he could ask for more wage (*).
Even worse was our secondary sprinter Bonifazio who underperformed massively. He often did not even show up for a sprint and the few times he did, did not reult in a win. He earned without any doubt the title of most disappointing rider.
Sam Oomen had a very good year though. He did well in every race he entered and got us lots of GC and white jersey points. Unfortunately this was his last year where he could earn those white jersey points, so we need a solution for next year.
For Vanbilsen it was definitely a weird year. Andorra pretty much broke the game with their Summerhill/Vanspeybrouck combo, meaning no classic win for us this season.
Finaly Laurens De Plus was given a tough leadership role and had a mixed season where he showed himself on the harder climbs but suffered on the shorter hills.
The rest of the team did ok, Senni did great with the leadership opportunities he was given. Bolivar and Mareczko scored where they could. But no breakaway wins this year, that's a thing that always hurts.
In the end, did we deserve promotion? Probably not, but neither did Zico Waeytens and he got promoted with MOL because of disbanding teams. I do believe that we had our best chance on promotion this year, as both Oomen and De Plus will no longer collect U25 points next year.
Feel like our teams are quite linked as class of 2014 managers who have had some intense relegation battles. Last year you guys finally made that push into mid table security, and I think you're on an upward trend for sure.
I should be well below you in the standings this year, so I can reasonably wish you success without too much worry of conflict.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
baseballlover312 wrote:
Feel like our teams are quite linked as class of 2014 managers who have had some intense relegation battles. Last year you guys finally made that push into mid table security, and I think you're on an upward trend for sure.
I should be well below you in the standings this year, so I can reasonably wish you success without too much worry of conflict.
Thank you! I actually think the new managers could be better off here. The two extra disbands resulted in a lot of PT riders being available. With all the extra budget you're getting, there are certainly opportunities.
So, as it turned out, Gaviria did want a rather big pay raise. We decided to keep him for now, but he will be available during transfer season. Also disappointing was Bonifazio not accepting a major pay cut after his disaster season. This resulted in us going over budget again, but it's only virtual budget this year so we will not be paying a fine.
In total 17 riders got a contract extension. Kolar and Bolivar were no longer happy with minimum wage, so that's them out of the team. Finaly Stan Dewulf was cut because he just wasn't ready for the PCT level. Maybe if the MG UCI helps him out a bit, we might take him back in.
This means our roster going into the transfer season is looking as follows:
So, basically you're trying to offload all your sprinters? Well, I'm tempted to try out if Bonifazio is really THAT bad, but he's got an even higher wage than Reinhardt, so probably no ^^
There's one "No" there I really don't like, but you can be sure you'll still be getting inquiries We're now used to do package deals, so let's see
Gabriele Benedetti
Jenthe Biermans
Patrick Gamper
Sam Oomen
Viktor Potocki
Szymon Sajnok
Dilmurdjon Siddikov
Joel Suter
National Championship Road Race - Czech Republic - Josef Cerny
Isaac Bolivar
Michael Kolar
Kristoffer Skjerping
