We want to say thank you. To all the riders that have sacrificed everything for the last couple of years. To the bunch of riders that rode in the spirit of the #meninlime, through great times and through tough times. Some of them promoted with us through the ranks, some of them developed to what they've become riding in the lime green of Isostar. All of them contributed to our Top5 in the ProTour rankings, just in the fourth season of the teams existence. This is their final #meninlime-chapter, this is the farewell party for all those honorable parts of our lime identity.

Julien Vermote: The Belgian powerhouse. One of the most loyal, reliable domestiques. The Road Captain. That's what's the perfect description to Julien Vermote looks like. He joined us on minimum wage last year. We'd have liked to keep him, but with the opportunities on the horizon it was a necessary decision to let him go to Grieg - Eftel.

Jetse Bol: Our unique dutchy has a similar story compared to Julien. Joined us last year when he was overlooked, followed up our confidence in him by working hours of hours on the front of flat and hilly races. The perfect domestique on rolling terrain has looked for a new opportunity on lower level, and will find such in the Kraftwerk Man Machine lineup that is known for getting a lot out of their assets on the road.

Abolfazl Gilanipoor: The Iranian mountain goat has spent his last seasons as a nomad, hopping from awesome team to awesome team. After a season at Xero, where he delivered one of the most stunning mountain stage solos in recent history, Gilanipoor settled at Isostar for a season where his main task was supporting Simon Spilak. Still he could shine bright in the races where he got his opportunites. More of those are to come at his new home Swisslion, where our Slovenian friends will take good care of him.

Daniel Jaramillo: We puicked him up as a lvl 3 rider, with nobody showing interest in him. Two years of development turned him into a fantastic attacking rider, making best use of his punchy attacking skillset every climbing fan loves. He's not the best at managing his efforts, but once he times it perfectly he's tough to follow. Riding alongside Spilak hindered his attacking spirit in some way, but now it's time to slip out of his cocoon and conquer the Continental Tour with his new team Europcar, showing the cycling community what a magnificent butterfly Jaramillo can be once unleashed.

Hermann Pernsteiner: Hermann joined us from T-Mobile (now Mapei) in our first ProTour season. We bought him to serve as a superdomestique for Mohoric as their downhill qualities are a perfect match, but also to accentuate his climby puncheurs skillset on opportunities to ride for himself. While Pernsteiner did well at supporting, he didn't click as a scorer in the ProTour. Similarly as with Jaramillo we dicided that now he reached an age where we can't deny him the opportunity to ride more for himself, that's why after being a fantastic servant for two years Hermann Pernsteiner joins Centovalli-Fiat. There he'll have the chance to ride for himself equally close to his homeland, and taking the turn from a supportive into an attacking rider alongside star signing Gianni Moscon.

Martijn Keizer: The dutch stage racer joined us on one of the most complicated deals in MG history last year, moving over from Indosat in an essential 3-team-trade. Keizer proved the decision to give up Blythe for him very right, by being our second best scorer including some outstanding results like his second place at Chrono des Herbiers. Now that he joined Indosat again we think that 1000 points is possible for him in the PT, and wish his old new team the best of luck in having him secure them a safe season. While he also had to serve Spilak in some races, he'll undoubtably be leading the team this year, and thus should have a big impact in 2020.

Dusan Kalaba: Now the time for sentimentalities has come. Dusan Kalaba is one rider we developed through the ranks. We wanted to sign him as a neo-pro already, but finally gave in to the ambitions of "The Balkan Cycling Project" to sign the best young Serbs. When their manager Djordje96 decided to disband the team, we promised to take good care of his proudest discoveries: Aleksandar Roman and Dusan Kalaba. Both are maxed now. And while Aleksandar Roman will stay at the team for longer, Dusan Kalaba decided to try his luck on a lower level in his first year on full strength. However, we are pretty sure that last year has not been the last time we have seen Dusan Kalaba in an Isostar-shirt. After achieving one of the most important wins for the team last season - his stage win at the "Balcans International" - we know that his story and his skillset always have a place in the Isostar-ranks. We will try to bring him back one day, but for now we wish him the all the best things possible at his new challenge: Riding in the PCT for the Minions.

Simon Spilak: The most expensive rider in Isostar history. 2nd of Le Tour in 2018 after several stages in yellow. The winner of the Giro, beating challenger Silvio Herklotz in a stunning race (and probably being one of the last riders capable to do so at a GT). The man that finsihed on the Podium of the 2019 World Championships on Aleko Vitosa, aged 33. The greatest Slovenian cyclist of all time. The rider that still gives everybody chills, when he storms up the toughest climbs. The rider that still competes with the best in the most brutal set ups of the biggest hilly monuments. Simon Spilak has been the key to Isostars Pro Tour success over the last two years. He has almost won everything, only the Vuelta is still left in his pocket. He moved over to our friends at Generali. Can he fill the missing piece in his Palmares there? You've got to hope for it, but it all depends on his manager matt17br. Can he do it one more time, and thus maybe even lift the PT crown for Generali in the fight against the likes of Evonik, Gazelle, Puma and Festina? it will be tough to see him in another jersey, but we wish our hero all the best.

Marko Kump: The greatest Isostar in team history. The man that turned Isostar from a cool first-year story to a brand name in the cycling world. It was Marko Kump that stood like no-one else for the flashy, entertaining, animating, hybrid racing style of Isostar. When we bought Marko Kump in our second season, he was the successor of Grega Bole, who did a fantastic job for the squad on CT level in the hilly sprints. But Marko Kump lifted the game onto another level. He was the leader of the young Isostars that took the PCT by storm, achieving back-to-back promotion by finishing second without a single red main-stat in 2017, when half the riders were still developing. He was the guy that Daniel Jaramillo, Domen Novak, David Per, even Matej Mohoric looked up to in their development process. Alongside Janez Brajkovic and Matej Mugerli, he was guiding our team to success, finishing in the Top10 of the individual rankings. And even in the season after, Kump still did everything he could to consolidate Isostars success, helping them finish top half of the PT in just their 3rd season after back-to-back promotions. Every year since joining us, Kump also showed his attitude in the off-season, working hard on his skills and becoming a Top3 punchy sprinter by 2018. In his last season, Marko Kump more and more agreed on passing the torch to the next generation. While also having his chances, he supported guys like Mohoric and Spilak on numerous occasions, still delivering the bacon from time to time.
But his worth can't just be measured in what he did for the team from time to time. It's about what he did for his country as well. Against all odds, Marko Kump became Slovenias World Champion in 2018, beating the unbeatable Sam Bewley in a race that undoubtedly became the biggest triumph for Slovenian cycling. With tears in our eyes we have to announce that he'll join Nordstrom - CA Technologies next season and leave the Isostar squad. Being 32 it's very likely that it's the last year of his prime, and we wanted him to have a chance at a lower level. We had (much) higher offers for him (and declining them almost came to hunt us later in transfers), but at the end we decided to sell him to a team where he can lead, where the management trusts him and builds around him in races. Marko Kump now has one more year to show everyone what a beast he is. One day he'll come back to Isostar for his last professional season, then we'll build a statue outside our headquarters in Ptuj. The most badass statue a cyclist has ever had. There goes our man Marko Kump. WORLD fucking CHAMPION Marko Kump.

@alexkr00: get out, sentimentalities first

@Fabianski: I bought him for slightly less, and I'd say he's worth it. Of course it was an investment, but I think it's worth it long term. I'd love him in Slovenia, after the race got a very unpleasant place in the calendar meaning we can't attend it. Hope he can do well at the GP Kranj.

Yeah we indeed lost a lot here, but we also gained some strength.

@AbhishekLFC: Yeah I felt like Rick Carlisle handing out ring ceremony speeches, despite missing the ring. I'm pretty happy though with what we've got.

@cunego59: Yeah Isostar does it differently you know Thanks for the nice words too. It was tough to let some go really!

Croatia14 wrote:

@cunego59: Yeah Isostar does it differently you know Thanks for the nice words too. It was tough to let some go really!

Greg Daniel: The American time Trial specialist joins us from our friends at Gjensidige Pro Cycling Team. He'll be vital to our TTT plans and have his chances to shine in the ITT-prone races. He'll also receive some opportunities on a couple of Grand Tours to aid his development, where his climbing abilities may help him become a valuable asset.

Ryan Gibbons: Ryan has taken the step up to Pro Tour level for his development as well. He will be our lead sprinter (no joke!), and might be given more chances than he expected when joining the team. He'll happily wear the South African national champions shirt in our races until he rejoins his home team GCN Racing.

Johann van Zyl: Our other South African new signing is Johann van Zyl. For a moderate 150k fee he joined the squad from Kraftwerk, but left directly to Air France on loan. There he might play a very valuable role as an outstanding domestique for Romain Sicard, while he'll do the same from next year on for our leader(s). His versatility makes him the perfect long-term fit as a domestique at Isostar.

Barnabas Peak: What might be one of the steals of this transfer period is the signing or Barnabas Peak. The high-energy sprinter will be the future sprint leader of the team and is meant to have a bright future. His progression surely will take several years, but we envision him as a future sprint classics dominator. His first steps of development will be made at Nordstrom - CA Technologies.

Clement Russo: The French hilly sprinter joins us on minimum wage. He'll be a great future asset for hilly sprints with his combination of a nice punch and strong finish.

Jonas Rickaert: With the late signing of Jonas Rickaert we already signed Peaks leadout for the future. More importantly he'll add to our strongmen team, lining up well alongside David Per for the classics of the future.

Kamil Gradek: The Polish allrounder joins the team late in his career. He got picked up late, and won the intern battle against Rasmus Mygind for getting that WT contract. He'll be an asset in many races, from time trials to cobbles to stage races the polish allrounder will feature in many line-ups as a domestique.

Iliyan Kolev: Guess what, another Netia-guy! Similarly to his former teammate Rickaert he's a prospect for classics, but clearly focussed on cobbles. He's atypical for the Isostar-squad as he is pretty one-dimensional, but his (future) skillset surely is worth the wage. He'll be key in the cobbles campaign of Per and Polanc.

Mikel Bizkarra: We were surprised that he was free that late in the transfer period, but we were also able to sign the little Basque climber for 50k. Finally we have a successor for first-year captain Igor Anton, which will certainly please the fans. He'll take over Gilanipoors role as agressive climber that is ought to attack in races where our GC leaders are not present. Can he hunt a stage win at La Vuelta? He'll have the freedom!

Roy Jans: We've got another lost son back! Roy Jans was a key glue guy in that successful Isostar-Adriatic PCT squad that took the division by storm. Now he's back, not working for his buddy Kump anymore but instead supporting David Per on the flat classics as well as featuring as a free rider in many races. We'd like to think Polar for giving us the opportunity to bring him home.

Vegard Robinson Bugge: The Norwegian puncheur ticks all the boxes we're looking at when signing a domestique. Bugge can climb long and short climbs, but he's also good enough to cover our leaders on the flat and do cobbles. That means he's one of the much needed glue guys on the squad that can do their job on multiple terrains, and with good energy stats he'll be one of the favorite domestiques of many of our leaders.

Davide Gabburo: The Italian signing will be an important addition to the squad. On the one hand he fills that gap that Jetse Bol left when leaving the team while being much younger. On top however, he still is a lot younger and has room to grow, which will make him a very nice asset, especially looking at the additional punch he brings to the table.

Nans Peters: The French signing of Peters is the one where you take a chance on a 50k rider and once one of those falls through to you. Nans Peters is a versatile high energy puncheur. We aim to work on his climbing abilities with him which will make him a versaitle super-domestique that can do very well from break. The only gap in his game is his punch, but with the role we have in mind for him for the present and future we think he'll be a very valuable long-term contributor.

Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev: The Kazakh stage racer may be the second highest earner Isostar has ever signed via Free Agency, behind Matej Mohoric in the PCT-season. He's meant to be our version of a Sergei Kolesnikov/Steven Kruijswijk type of rider, that will be an excellent long-term wage-to-reward asset. We envision plenty of freedom for him in stage races, not only on the climbs but also in races like the Tour of Northern Europe and similar ones. Baki is the rider everybody wants on their team, and especially our Stage Racer will be very happy to see him on the squad.

Lilian Calmejane: Lilian is our second french signing, and has been on our riders especially since being a pain in the ass at our "home" race, where he won at Balcans International. When we had the opportunity to bring him in, we paid the price and offered a deal around Daniel Jaramillo to bring Calmejanes great allround skillset in from Team Europcar. The very well-rounded puncheur can sprint and ride hard for a long time, a skill combination which will earn him loads of freedom to attack races. He'll most likely ride a complementary schedule to Mohoric. We think that Calmejane in many ways will be a great asset to the Isostar squad.

Primoz Roglic: Finally we could bring him home. In Rogla we bring in one of the last Slovenian stars that haven't ridden in lime yet. After last years' late blow of a swap including Spilak and Roglic, this year we finally got him (and Spilak to Generali in their title push). Roglic will be our secondary stage racer, leading at least one Grand Tour and several stage races. We're proud of having him on board, and while he doesn't completely fit the timeline we couldn't resist the offer when Berg Cycles made him available. Welcome home, Rogla!

Taylor Phinney: The big one! Last year we faced a big blow when we got outbid on Phinney late in the transfer period. But this year we finally got him. Also thanks to Grieg we was able to sign him and work on a good plan of how to use him well. Rumor that have Phinney ride no Grand Tour this year can neither be confirmed nor denied. Interestingly, Phinney has been seen on his Time Trial bike quite a lot this offseason. Is that a sign? We don't know yet, as he might just have been training with his new teammate Greg Daniel. However, Phinney surely is the key to success for the Isostar 2020 campaign, and will determine whether the team can approach the Top10 or have to look further down the table. Phinney will be the main building block to open a title window in the next three years, and it's up to our teambuilding to make that happen in the future. This year it's all about preperation, and signing Taylor exactly helped us in that sense.

Croatia14 wrote:

the_hoyle wrote:
Great signing and additions to the squad. Thanks for taking on Ryan for the season

Also, the why you have the stats below the text about a rider really messed with my head for some reason...

@the_hoyle: Thanks mate! Ryan is always welcome. I did so because I wanted the people to read the text before judging the stats Meaning that you have the context for the signing before you look at it. I've decided to put the stats in late, initially I drew it as stats only.

@Nemolito: Yeah he's quite okay right I'd bet against him receiving a top20 in a GT this year too

@redordead: Shhh you're cheating

@tastasol: Yeah they are some lovely 50k signing, but obviously Pedersen got expensive. Yeah I'm curious about that too. Sadly I have no time about laying out a great plan for this season, so it's all about next season.

@jandal7: Yeah I love some of the signings, and Calmejane and van Zyl were no-brainer once I saw them available. Thanks for the very nice words. with two South Africans on the team am I now more African than you btw?

@whitejersey: Thanks mate. Sending Kump to PCT was a decision of heart, as I want to see him back on winning terms. Also I think Peak is one of the best lvl1 loan-ins one can have with his stats, as he immediately can do a good job from breaks. I like him at your team too!

@AbhishekLFC: Cheers! It was tough as always, but with no declines next season I think we've now managed to have a sustainable PT team that we can now start building for future attempts of attacking the title with. Also I love the #limetime-slogan, gonna keep it probably

@hillis91: Yeah I hope so too. Daniel is a nice fit, and he can ride all the TT races as 2nd option which might leave him somehow protected and with opportunities to ride for himself when Phinney is not present. I think it's a perfect match.

Croatia14 wrote:
@jandal7: Yeah I love some of the signings, and Calmejane and van Zyl were no-brainer once I saw them available. Thanks for the very nice words. with two South Africans on the team am I now more African than you btw?