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[PT] Evonik - ELKO | 2021
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| knockout |
Posted on 16-09-2021 09:41
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
PCM$: 400.00
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abhi - i wouldnt be sure that taaramae and navardauskas are enough to replace blythe, van stayen and skujins in terms of scoring but we should at least be competitive again.
fabianski - i dont know what you are talking about but i felt it was a good fit too  |
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 16-09-2021 11:16
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8059
Joined: 22-06-2009
PCM$: 650.00
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Some very interesting changes. I considered going after Blythe but eventually decided to forego a cobble leader with Summerhill joining the division. Will say that Simon Yates is extremely happy that MVS is headed to the PCT. Let the Demare v. Yates battles commence.
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| knockout |
Posted on 16-09-2021 13:03
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
PCM$: 400.00
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Mresuperstar wrote:
Some very interesting changes. I considered going after Blythe but eventually decided to forego a cobble leader with Summerhill joining the division. Will say that Simon Yates is extremely happy that MVS is headed to the PCT. Let the Demare v. Yates battles commence.
I can imagine that Yates is very happy about this development. Time to show which potential really looms in him  |
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| knockout |
Posted on 16-09-2021 13:16
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
PCM$: 400.00
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We are delighted to welcome our fourth and presumably final loan signing of the season. Aleksa Crncevic joins our team as part of our good relations with Carrefour - ESPN. Crnecevic is more experienced than your usual loanee and will join previously announced loan riders Williams and Xandri as part of the Taaramae support in the mountains. His strength uphill and downhill on long mountains as well as the ability to perform on consecutive days will surely be important during a Grand Tour. Welcome Aleksa!
 Aleksa Crncevic (26)
| FL | MO | HI | TT | ST | RS | RC | CB | SP | AC | FG | DH | PR | | 67 | 76 | 70 | 73 | 70 | 70 | 75 | 64 | 61 | 69 | 67 | 75 | 72 | |
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| cio93 |
Posted on 16-09-2021 13:46
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World Champion
Posts: 10845
Joined: 29-10-2007
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knockout wrote:
Mresuperstar wrote:
Some very interesting changes. I considered going after Blythe but eventually decided to forego a cobble leader with Summerhill joining the division. Will say that Simon Yates is extremely happy that MVS is headed to the PCT. Let the Demare v. Yates battles commence.
I can imagine that Yates is very happy about this development. Time to show which potential really looms in him
We'll make sure to slap him right back into reality! 
Honestly though, I'm looking forward to a new rival and will dearly miss the old one.
May Demare and Yates avoid each other as often as he avoided MVS!
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| knockout |
Posted on 16-09-2021 13:56
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
PCM$: 400.00
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cio93 wrote:
knockout wrote:
Mresuperstar wrote:
Some very interesting changes. I considered going after Blythe but eventually decided to forego a cobble leader with Summerhill joining the division. Will say that Simon Yates is extremely happy that MVS is headed to the PCT. Let the Demare v. Yates battles commence.
I can imagine that Yates is very happy about this development. Time to show which potential really looms in him
We'll make sure to slap him right back into reality!
Honestly though, I'm looking forward to a new rival and will dearly miss the old one.
May Demare and Yates avoid each other as often as he avoided MVS!
I think Demare should be scared of a new rival and beg his team to invest as much training into him as humanly possible |
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| knockout |
Posted on 16-09-2021 20:41
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
PCM$: 400.00
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Evonik is one of the teams that rely the least on free agent signings. The most recent one was in 2019 and the most recent one that signed for more than minimum wage was Ingus Eislers in 2018. This year things look like the team will make a single FA signing: Hugo Hofstetter. He signs a contract worth 90,000 for one year.
Following the sale of Michael Van Stayen and the departure of Emils Liepins during the renewals process, the team was looking for a new sprinter to add to the roster. Hofstetter fills this need. He is a versatile sprinter who can fill the #2 sprinter role in the team. He can ride on the cobbles and on the hills much better than most other sprinters and can use that ability to compete in sprints that other sprinters might not be able to participate in.
 Hugo Hofstetter (27) | FL | MO | HI | TT | ST | RS | RC | CB | SP | AC | FG | DH | PR | | 74 | 62 | 70 | 64 | 71 | 71 | 75 | 73 | 77 | 78 | 71 | 68 | 66 |
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| knockout |
Posted on 17-09-2021 21:06
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
PCM$: 400.00
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Following the sale of Adam Blythe, our hopes for the cobbles rested entirely on the shoulders of Krists Neilands. While we like Neilands a lot, he has not proven to be on the level of a PT leader so we looked for ways to improve our setup for these races further and have found the perfect solution for our team:
Jan Polanc joins us from PT winner Isostar - Specialized. The Slovenian is arguably the best climber amongst all cobblers which translates nicely to some of the more hilly cobbled races. Last season he was slightly behind David Per in the pecking order of the Slovenian team so it was time for him to step up as leader of a PT team. We are super excited about this transfer eventhough that means that Oscar Riesebeek had to leave the team. Unless we see any unexpected developments, this concludes our moves in this year's transfer window.
 Jan Polanc (29)
| FL | MO | HI | TT | ST | RS | RC | CB | SP | AC | FG | DH | PR | | 72 | 74 | 73 | 70 | 78 | 73 | 65 | 78 | 67 | 75 | 67 | 71 | 74 |
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 17-09-2021 21:11
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 9099
Joined: 13-03-2013
PCM$: 2100.00
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Big time addition for you, should fit perfectly into what you're doing with the team. Congrats on signing our amazing Jan!
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| knockout |
Posted on 17-09-2021 21:16
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
PCM$: 400.00
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Croatia14 wrote:
Big time addition for you, should fit perfectly into what you're doing with the team. Congrats on signing our amazing Jan!
Absolutely, he was one of the best possible fits - both stats wise and cap wise. I'm super hyped that we managed to agree on this deal. Thanks for trusting us with Jan!  |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 06:29
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| redordead |
Posted on 17-09-2021 21:16
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4881
Joined: 18-10-2017
PCM$: 200.00
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Jan!! <3
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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| knockout |
Posted on 19-09-2021 11:07
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
PCM$: 400.00
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After an eventful transfer season, Evonik - ELKO saw some big changes around our squad. Long-term leaders Toms Skujins, Michael Van Stayen and Adam Blythe were sold to PCT teams while also loyal domestiques Oscar Riesebeek and Andrei Sakalou left the team. They were replaced by our new leaders Rein Taaramae and Jan Polanc as well as strong support riders like Ramunas Navadauskas and Hugo Hofstetter.
We are very excited with the deals we have made and think that this was an excellent off-season for Evonik - ELKO. We believe that we will be once again very competitive in the fight for the top positions of the PT rankings.
This is our full roster for the 2021 season:
| | FL | MO | HI | TT | ST | RS | RC | CB | SP | AC | FG | DH | PR | | XP | Age |  | Miguel Angel Lopez | 70 | 79 | 82 | 71 | 76 | 74 | 74 | 50 | 66 | 78 | 80 | 71 | 72 | | 4.100 | 27 |  | Rein Taaramäe | 73 | 83 | 76 | 79 | 76 | 77 | 74 | 50 | 58 | 73 | 68 | 68 | 77 | | 4.100 | 34 |  | Ingus Eislers | 79 | 68 | 67 | 59 | 77 | 78 | 75 | 59 | 82 | 78 | 64 | 62 | 61 | | 4.100 | 32 |  | William Chiarello | 71 | 79 | 75 | 73 | 73 | 74 | 77 | 53 | 63 | 72 | 73 | 69 | 71 | | 4.100 | 30 | | Jan Polanc | 72 | 74 | 73 | 70 | 78 | 73 | 65 | 78 | 67 | 75 | 67 | 71 | 74 | | 4.100 | 29 | | Martins Blums | 72 | 77 | 77 | 68 | 71 | 73 | 74 | 63 | 64 | 70 | 73 | 78 | 71 | | 4.100 | 26 | | Andris Vosekalns | 66 | 78 | 75 | 62 | 69 | 73 | 72 | 51 | 67 | 71 | 81 | 68 | 62 | | 4.100 | 29 | | Krists Neilands | 77 | 56 | 69 | 63 | 74 | 73 | 70 | 78 | 71 | 67 | 63 | 71 | 67 | | 4.100 | 27 | | Mark Dzamastagic | 78 | 66 | 70 | 65 | 76 | 72 | 76 | 66 | 76 | 78 | 78 | 66 | 65 | | 4.100 | 30 | | Kristaps Budenieks | 69 | 75 | 75 | 63 | 70 | 75 | 72 | 70 | 69 | 74 | 75 | 72 | 61 | | 4.100 | 26 | | Hugo Hofstetter | 74 | 62 | 70 | 64 | 71 | 71 | 75 | 73 | 77 | 78 | 71 | 68 | 66 | | 4.100 | 27 |  | Stephen Williams* | 68 | 76 | 72 | 66 | 72 | 75 | 75 | 63 | 65 | 72 | 73 | 72 | 66 | | 4.17 | 25 | | Armands Becis | 74 | 68 | 73 | 69 | 73 | 75 | 73 | 68 | 74 | 74 | 78 | 65 | 74 | | 4.100 | 30 | | Kaspars Sergis | 68 | 75 | 76 | 58 | 69 | 73 | 73 | 58 | 58 | 70 | 76 | 66 | 58 | | 4.100 | 29 |  | Serghei Tvetcov | 70 | 76 | 74 | 73 | 70 | 69 | 74 | 57 | 71 | 71 | 72 | 63 | 74 | | 4.100 | 33 | | Aleksa Crncevic* | 67 | 76 | 70 | 73 | 70 | 70 | 75 | 64 | 61 | 69 | 67 | 75 | 72 | | 4.100 | 26 |  | Gabriel Chavanne | 75 | 58 | 64 | 65 | 71 | 76 | 74 | 57 | 76 | 76 | 53 | 67 | 82 | | 4.100 | 29 |  | Yannick Stoltz | 79 | 61 | 67 | 65 | 74 | 77 | 73 | 64 | 61 | 72 | 84 | 72 | 79 | | 4.100 | 33 |  | Syver Waersted* | 71 | 62 | 67 | 64 | 68 | 76 | 76 | 60 | 76 | 77 | 71 | 72 | 74 | | 4.18 | 25 |  | Jan Xandri* | 67 | 74 | 72 | 71 | 66 | 73 | 70 | 60 | 60 | 69 | 75 | 74 | 69 | | 4.4 | 27 |  | R. Navardauskas | 74 | 59 | 74 | 75 | 72 | 72 | 74 | 57 | 74 | 68 | 73 | 71 | 76 | | 4.100 | 33 |
*Loaned In
We are curious to hear your thoughts on the squad: Do you think we have improved compared to last season or is this squad weaker than it was before we made all these changes? |
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| roturn |
Posted on 19-09-2021 11:13
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Team Manager
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The climbing depth has improved for sure. You might finally have a shot at winning the Tour then.
Cobbles going down easily of course and without Van Stayen you miss the rider for the hybrid races. Though Eislers should do decently well as well.
Not sure about full squad obviously as it`s too many changes with 3 leaders out and just 1 1/2 in really but depth might help you to still improve from last year but I think with a big IF. IF Taaramae can find the races/GTs, where he can score and not getting a Herklotz/Phinney/Lecuisinier clash.
MAL about to become no.1 in the hilly races I guess. |
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 19-09-2021 14:09
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 16429
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It will be incredibly strange to see your team with a big GT guy instead of a big cobbles leader. But maybe it will finally be your chance to fulfill your team goal of winning the TDF. 
Very interested to see how Eislers performs in his maxed year.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 19-09-2021 14:13
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Team Manager
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Like roturn, I think a lot depends on a) how consistent MAL will be in hilly races and b) how well Taaramäe fares against some of the other top climbers. And maybe how the AI treats the duo of Polanc and Neilands on cobbles. If they perform according to their abilities on paper, they should score pretty well, but if they are treated as secondary or tertiary contenders and they're poorly positioned most of the time, it could be rough. All in all though, I think it's just a really cool squad with lots of interesting riders. The fact that you're excited about what you have speaks volumes, I think
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| knockout |
Posted on 19-09-2021 17:10
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
PCM$: 400.00
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Roturn - I think this a very fitting assessment of my squad. It has the potential to be slightly better than last season but it's a big IF and we might regret losing one too many "proper leaders".
bbl - Spoiler alert: Taaramae won't ride Le Tour 
It's incredible strange to me too and it will take some time adjusting to not having an almost guaranteed top ten in races such as Roubaix.
cunego - I think the AI concerns about the cobbles is very valid. A lot of 78ish cobblers have encountered them in the past so its of course a risk that I'm aware of. My belief is that Polanc should be safe in the hillier one but might be at risk in the flatter one.
I'm excited because a roster like this turned into my prefered plan once plan A and B were obviously not possible (which were a Grieg cobbler or Gaviria) and the financial details about this solution just fit very well together. |
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 19-09-2021 18:58
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11676
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Basically witnessed your transition from a classics focused team to a stage race focused one over the last three seasons, with MAL having a lot to do with being the motivation for the transition (or that is what my thought is), That win GT goal is no longer a meme. I remember when Michel Koch was tasked with it
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| knockout |
Posted on 19-09-2021 21:18
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
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I'd say the transition was a one year transition and was due to one of the stage racers that we are interested in being available for us for once.
Over the years i was quite interested in 2-3 of the elite stage racers but apparently never valued them high enough to have the top offer. This season - we happened to have a lot of cash and were crazy enough to pay tons for a short term solution.
But i guess you are right that it started a bit earlier with Chiarello and Tvetcov which gave us top 15 options for a GT for the first time
The win goal remains a meme goal when you dont anticipate which GT you'd be sending your future leader to when submitting the goals ... |
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| redordead |
Posted on 20-09-2021 12:44
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Grand Tour Specialist
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You don't need to send MAL to PTHC this year do you?
He should have more than enough fun in PT races and monuments alone
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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| knockout |
Posted on 20-09-2021 13:22
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
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redordead wrote:
You don't need to send MAL to PTHC this year do you?
He should have more than enough fun in PT races and monuments alone
I have some bad news for you...
Unfortunately Lopez was the only leader we knew we would keep when picking PTHC bands so it was an obvious decision to focus heavily on his strenghts when picking bands... |
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