Beltran came back to his best form this season. He won several stages and classifications, winning the individual scoring title. He posted a team high 2.25 pts/wage ratio while scoring 1171 points total. Improved planning and added support are huge reasons for his success.
Best result(s):
Tour de Pologne (HC)
2nd Overall, 2x Stage win, 1st Points
Balkans International (PTHC)
2nd Overall, Stage win
Hong Kong Challenge (C1)
1st Overall, 2x Stage win, 1st Points
Tour of Chile (C1)
2nd Overall, 1st Points
Clasica San Sebastian (PTHC)
4th
Tour of Lithuania (HC)
4th Overall
Strade Bianche (HC)
5th
Milano - Torino (C1)
3rd
Jose Alarcon
Alarcon came to us late in the transfer window as a short term option to bolster our climbing ranks and give us what we thought would be some much needed scoring. He certainly did that as he excelled in the hardest mountain stages and did well in the hills also.
Best result(s):
Tour of East Java (PTHC)
6th Overall
Tour d'Andorra (C1)
5th Overall, 2nd Points
Tour of Eritrea (C1)
3rd Overall
Tour du Maroc (PTHC)
9th Overall
Lahcen Saber
Saber's season can be explained pretty easily. Going to the Tour of America was a huge mistake! Apart from that he was okay, but when you waste nearly half of your race days on one bad race. Well that's how it was. Another learning experience for next year.
Best result(s):
Baltic Chain Tour (C1)
2nd Overall, Stage win
Veenendaal - Veenendaal (HC)
6th
Circulo de Juarez (C1)
7th Overall
David Gaudu
With limited finances available Gaudu was a late signing brought in to act as super domestique for Eddy Beltran, as well have a few of his own chances in different races. He accomplished both with aplomb, cracking the top 100 in the individual ranking and being one of the more cost efficient riders on the team.
Best result(s):
GP Wallonie (PTHC)
8th
Benelux Challenge (HC)
1st KOM, 2nd Stage
Tour of Norway (PTHC)
21st Overall
Japan Cup (PTHC)
19th
Tadej Pogacar
Tadej finally returned to us after spending two years on loan. His role for this season was similar to Gaudu's. A domestique at times and with freedom to ride for himself otherwise. He excelled at the time he had that freedom and took full advantage of scoring in the U25 classification. An excellent season to offset his still higher wage.
Best result(s):
Tour of Norway (PTHC)
10th Overall
Tour de Pologne (HC)
19th Overall, 3rd Stage, 1st U25
Vuelta al Pais Vasco (HC)
20th Overall, 1st U25
Abolfazl Gilanipoor
Gilanipoor pretty much picked up where he left off last season in terms of his scoring. Which might actually be more impressive this time. He spent a significant part of his time shadowing Alarcon. He did well there and when he had his own opportunities.
Best result(s):
Tour de Vineyards (HC)
13th Overall
Tour of America (C1)
14th Overall
Sakartvelo Trophy (C2)
11th
Andrea Zordan
Zordan was brought in as one of Beltran's key domestiques, but he also spent some time supporting Alarcon and even Gilanipoor. He got himself in a fair few breakaways across the season and scored most of his points at the Tour of America.
Best result(s):
Tour of America (C1)
26th Overall, Stage win, 5th KOM
Izidor Penko
This was Izidor's first season as a maxed rider. While he was mostly in a supporting role, he didn't really do much of anything early in the season and late in the season. But he 'exploded' at the Tour of Norway where he paired a good day on the TT stage with his all round climbing ability.
Best result(s):
Tour of Norway (PTHC)
7th Overall, 3rd U25
Dusan Rajovic
For Dusan this season was just for completing his development and to do that he didn't need many race days. Still he was eligible for a C2 sprint stage race where he won the first race of his young career.
Best result(s):
Ras Tailteann (C2)
5th Overall, Stage win, 1st U25
Miha Poljanec
Miha is another rider who finished his development. He's an allround domestique that is always there to support others. Perhaps next year he gets more breakaway chances.
Best result(s):
Rheden GP (PTHC)
24th
Benelux Challenge (HC)
27th Overall
Havard Blikra
Blikra was signed for his dual ability to help on the hard hills and in the mountains. He spent most of the season in a domestique role.
Best result(s):
Tour de Pologne (HC)
26th Overall
Matej Vysna
Vysna has a similar story to Blikra. Brought in for similar reason's and spent most of the season working for others.
Best result(s):
Tour of East Java (PTHC)
33rd Overall
Gasper Katrasnik
Gasper was a rider we really liked for a long time and were happy to acquire him. His season didn't go to plan, as we expected more production from him in the flat classics. Still he's a useful rider for us and we're looking forward to seeing more from him next year.
Best result(s):
Paris Tours (PTHC)
19th
Jefferson Cepeda Hernandez
Jefferson came here on loan from ISA - Hexacta to learn and get more experience in the pro peloton. He had great opportunities to learn from riders like Eddy Beltran. We loved having him here and we wish him all the best at his parent team.
Best result(s):
Japan Cup (PTHC)
14th
Andres Camilo Ardila
Andres Camilo was brought in as a highly rated neo pro. His goal for this season was simply to learn and gather as much experience as possible. Despite that he managed to contribute a bit of scoring, which was very nice to see.
Best result(s):
Hong Kong Challenge (C1)
1st U25
Michael Christodoulos
This was the final year of development for Michael. Our calendar wasn't built around time-trial races so he didn't get a ton of chances. Perhaps that changes next season.
Best result(s):
Tour of Ukraine (HC)
33rd Overall, 3rd U25
Ivan Siric
Ivan again got plenty of race days to continue his development. He's still far from where we envision him, but he contributed well in a number of helper roles, including some lead out work.
Olivier Le Gac
Olivier was another rider brought in as part of the 'hills brigade' to support Eddy Beltran. While he didn't get many individual results, he certainly did help towards the overall team success.
Best result(s):
Giro dell'Emilia (HC)
17th
Santiago Buitrago
Santiago raced a lot this year to gain as much experience as he could. Similar to Ardila he found a way to score some points. He looks to have a bright future.
Best result(s):
Euskal Bizikleta (C2)
1st U25
Matija Mestric
Matija didn't need to race too much this season to complete his development into a maxed rider. Still he got into some breakaways and scored a few points in the mandatory cobbled races.
Matic Groselj
Similar as with Christodoulos, Groselj didn't have too many opportunities in TT races, but he did race a lot and didn't make much of an impact. His development is now finished and we hope to see some better results from him next year.
Juan Pedro Lopez
Lopez came here on loan from Zwift Pro Cycling. He is a young climber that raced quite a lot and was present in plenty of mountainous and hilly races. We loved having him here and we wish him all the best at his parent team.
Goran Antonijevic
Goran is a rider that works for others rather than scoring himself. He had some breakaway moments this season, but he couldn't quite pull off a result. He did gain the experience needed to complete his development, so we're looking forward to seeing him next year.
Alexander Evans
The Aussie joined us on loan from Amaysim - Cervelo. He contributed most of his domestique work in the mountains, but was also included in the TTT group on the rare occasions it was required. We loved having him here and we wish him all the best at his parent team.
Kristjan Hocevar
Finally let's mention our stagiares. Kristjan managed to score some minor points in his limited race days. We look forward to seeing more of him next season.
Veljko Stojnic
Veljko is our other stagiare. He pretty much followed the same programme as Kristjan. As with any young rider it'll take some time for him to develop, but we like his upside as an all round rider and expect to see more of him next year.
Bostjan Mervar,
team representative and general manager of Cedevita
Always like reading a rider analysis I know Avenir didn't give you any points or anything, but I still believe Pogacar deserves a mention for winning it that easily Looking forward to how you'll tackle renewals, and what you'll do with your 'bigger earning' riders during renewals and/or transfer season.
Nemolito wrote:
Looking forward to how you'll tackle renewals, and what you'll do with your 'bigger earning' riders during renewals and/or transfer season.
Renewals are pretty straightforward. Either they're renewed or not.
In the first part of rider development we will take a look at the riders that are finishing their development.
Dusan Rajovic | Pot: 3 | Age: 25 | Lvl: 4.100
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FT
DH
PR
2021
71
58
64
59
70
75
69
55
76
80
57
57
61
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
2022
72
58
64
59
70
76
70
55
78
82
57
57
62
It's been a long 3 years, but Dusan has been working hard for us and has now completed his development. He's an explosive sprinter relying on his acceleration to make up for his lack of top end speed. He'll never be a favourite sprinter, but we hope he can pull off some upsets along the way.
It's been a slow and steady progress for Michael, but he's here now. He projects to be our best time-trialer and was developed to also improve his climbing abilities. Whether he has what it takes to survive some bumps in the road is hard to say, but we see him as a solid domestique that should get more chances in TT races next season.
Matic Groselj | Pot: 4 | Age: 26 | Lvl: 4.100
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FT
DH
PR
2021
76
58
66
75
73
76
70
67
72
71
69
70
77
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
2022
78
58
66
77
74
78
71
67
73
72
69
70
79
Matic is a year older than the other two, coming into the sport a year later. He now finishes his development as a fast time-trialer and strong rouleur. Like Christodoulos he may get a few more chances in TT races, but we would more like seeing his supposedly big engine in some breakaways as well.
Matija Mestric | Pot : 4 | Age: 25 | Lvl: 4.100
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FT
DH
PR
2021
72
63
69
63
68
69
67
74
55
65
70
75
67
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
2022
73
63
70
63
69
70
68
76
55
65
71
75
67
Mestric got on the scoreboard this season which shows he at least has some potential on the cobbles. He would probably be better off working for a true leader, but stats wise that's what he projects to be next season with his finished development. Apart from that his future is still a bit of a mystery.
Goran Antonijevic | Pot: 3 | Age: 28 | Lvl: 4.100
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FT
DH
PR
2021
76
61
65
67
66
73
64
67
70
73
79
72
67
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
2022
78
61
66
68
67
74
65
68
71
74
80
72
68
Goran is the oldest rider here. He spent much of his early days bouncing around different teams as a stagiare. He later joined our one time amateur squad where we got to know him a bit better. After that he joined us full time and two years later we're here. Goran should be a good domestique on the flat roads.
Stay tuned for part 2 where we will look at the progress of our two most promising Balkan talents.
Bostjan Mervar,
team representative and general manager of Cedevita
In the second part of rider development we will take a look at perhaps two future team leaders, Tadej Pogacar and Ivan Siric.
Tadej Pogacar | Pot: 6 | Age: 24 | Lvl: 4.40
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FT
DH
PR
2021
68
75
72
73
76
76
76
51
63
69
66
65
72
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
2022
69
78
75
74
77
78
78
51
63
71
69
66
73
Tadej is coming off a great 'debut' season and now takes the biggest step in his development. While he is without a doubt a stage racer he worked more on his all round climbing ability this time. He will be a more important rider for the team next season and we hope this improvement will show itself in some races.
Ivan Siric | Pot: 6 | Age: 24 | Lvl: 4.49
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FT
DH
PR
2021
74
63
69
65
72
76
60
71
73
70
59
74
65
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
2022
76
63
70
65
75
78
65
74
75
71
60
75
65
If Pogacar is looking to make a big contribution already next season then Ivan is a much slower burner in that regard. The Bosnian is slowly but surely working his way towards becoming a strong classics rider. We don't expect him to provide much scoring, but he should be an excellent helper with his overall strength.
Stay tuned for the last past, there we will review the progress of the youngest talents remaining.
Bostjan Mervar,
team representative and general manager of Cedevita
Pogacar will be mad handy at level 4 next year, have fun
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
Andres already managed to showcase his talent this season as he quite often found himself among the U25 scorers. He's much more of a pure climber than he is a stage racer so that's where we see his development going. His energy stats leave something to be desired, but we be believe he will be able challenge the best on the right terrain.
Santiago Buitrago | Pot: 5 | Age: 23 | Lvl: 3.22
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FT
DH
PR
2021
66
69
68
65
67
70
69
60
65
73
68
66
65
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
2022
66
73
71
65
68
72
72
60
65
76
71
66
65
Santiago also had a successful first season. He had a similar calendar like Ardila as they are both mainly climbers. Santiago isn't quite as suited to the most difficult high mountains, he prefers a more punchier terrain. He could also develop into a great stage hunter.
Kees Duyvesteyn | Pot: 4 | Age: 24 | Lvl: 2.70
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FT
DH
PR
2021
67
64
69
64
65
67
64
60
63
69
68
66
64
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
2022
67
65
70
64
65
68
65
60
63
70
69
66
64
Duyvesteyn was supposed to spend the season on loan in CT with now defunct Polestar. Instead he spent the year mostly training on his own. Long term the Kiwi projects to be an explosive puncheur. We see him as a good future domestique as well as a sneaky breakaway rider.
This wraps up our 3 part series on rider development. We managed to max out 5 regional riders this season, which was and still is the main aim of our cycling project. As our resources get stretched we might have to cut down on rider development a bit, but it's still a major part of what we intend to do.
Bostjan Mervar,
team representative and general manager of Cedevita
Beltran
Alarcon
Saber
Gaudu
Pogacar
Gilanipoor
Zordan
Rajovic
Blikra
Vysna
Cepeda Hernandez *
Christodoulos
Siric
Mestric
Lopez *
Evans *
I know Avenir didn't give you any points or anything, but I still believe Pogacar deserves a mention for winning it that easily 
Looking forward to how you'll tackle renewals, and what you'll do with your 'bigger earning' riders during renewals and/or transfer season.
