Back again for a 5th season of this thing called the Management Game. I'm pretty lucky to still be here with you at this gathering, even if you guys might be starting to get bored with me.
We are entering our 2nd year with Cedevita on board as our main sponsor. I would like to again thank Mr. Emil Tedeshi and Mr. Enzo Smrekar for their continued support. We are coming off our most successful season in PCT and while that makes us both proud and optimistic, we have to be realistic that some of the performances from last year can't be the norm. This is a long term project. A project to develop pro cycling in Balkan region and to perhaps one day compete at the highest level.
One thing is for sure. We will not be taking any shortcuts. Whatever obstacles are on the road ahead, we are looking forward to facing and overcoming them.
Spoiler
We plan to hold another press conference after the renewal process. There we will discuss the ins and outs of the team in more detail, as well as answer your questions about the upcoming season.
Bostjan Mervar,
team representative and general manager of Cedevita Edited by redordead on 13-07-2023 08:44
As I don't know the renewals it's difficult to say for certain, but just looking at the DB I'll expect you to fight even harder for promotion this season. Alarcon isn't quite what he used to be, but everything else seems to be intact - or better. Pogacar and Siric taking great steps and your teams looks just versatile enough so you don't have to make a lot of changes.
Always love this HQ, one of the best around. Things are hugely on the up for you after last year despite, as is your requirement as the manager of a Slovenian team, you always underselling yourself. Looking forward to see what happens in transfers for you and very not looking forward to having Pogacar in the same U25 class as Higuita, Habtemichael and Fouche. Still only L4, what a freak.
Good to be racing you guys once again, let's hope we can somehow find 71 unique RDs for Beltran and Areruya!
Spoiler
doing that maths on the RDs made me realise that Areruya has a higher OVL and 3 less RDs than the individual standings winner even though he has 2 less HI and will not beat him this year in quality or points hahahaha that's crazy and so hilarious and doesn't make me want to smash my computer hahaha
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
SotD wrote:
As I don't know the renewals it's difficult to say for certain, but just looking at the DB I'll expect you to fight even harder for promotion this season. Alarcon isn't quite what he used to be, but everything else seems to be intact - or better. Pogacar and Siric taking great steps and your teams looks just versatile enough so you don't have to make a lot of changes.
Will be interesting to follow for sure
I think we differ in our opinion a lot, when it comes to fighting for promotion
"A lot of changes" is a subjective term. I agree I don't think there will be 'a lot', but hopefully I can make the few changes I want to make
We will indeed get a better view of the situation post renewals.
Laurens147 wrote:
Good luck red! I'm curious to see how Pogacar will evolve
For sure a team to follow
Thanks! Hopefully I can be allowed to make full use of Pogacar to see how he does as a lvl 4 rider
jandal7 wrote:
Always love this HQ, one of the best around.
You are too kind
jandal7 wrote:
Things are hugely on the up for you after last year despite, as is your requirement as the manager of a Slovenian team, you always underselling yourself. Looking forward to see what happens in transfers for you and very not looking forward to having Pogacar in the same U25 class as Higuita, Habtemichael and Fouche. Still only L4, what a freak.
When I overselled I failed, so I will continue 'underselling' if it works
Transfers are always a mystery, but I've never been happy with them since I'm in PCT. Maybe this year it changes
I think the U25 class of this year is very strong and I wouldn't put Pogacar as the #1. Next year might be a different story
jandal7 wrote:
Good to be racing you guys once again, let's hope we can somehow find 71 unique RDs for Beltran and Areruya!
Spoiler
doing that maths on the RDs made me realise that Areruya has a higher OVL and 3 less RDs than the individual standings winner even though he has 2 less HI and will not beat him this year in quality or points hahahaha that's crazy and so hilarious and doesn't make me want to smash my computer hahaha
The feeling is mutual as I don't wanna face Areruya in any race, be it Beltran or Pogacar. But at least with Beltran you have only one more season to worry about him
If a jersey looks great and stands out, I definitely love to see it for another year! Looking forward to Pogi at level 4 and EAB's final maxed season. If it makes you feel better, Mutsumine has left the division, and imo he was a bigger threat than someone like Areruya will ever be.
We are here today to announce which riders have renewed their contract with the team and we will take questions regarding our current and future moves in the transfer season. In some ways this has been the most stressful and frustrating renewal period since I have been here. I knew it would be like that, but it still didn't make it any easier.
First and foremost Eddy Beltran is back on an improved deal that signifies the brilliant season he had. Both secondary leaders from last year are back in Lahcen Saber and Jose Alarcon. Departing are Andrea Zordan, Olivier Le Gac, Abolfazl Gilanipoor and Matej Vysna. Both stagiares from last year return with full time contracts this year.
With that I present the current Cedevita squad and open the floor up for questions.
Renewals Update
2021 Wage
2022 Wage
Change
Eduard Alexander Beltran
€520,000
€620,000
€100,000
Lahcen Saber
€330,000
€310,000
-€20,000
Tadej Pogacar
€140,000
€210,000
€70,000
Jose Alarcon
€300,000
€160,000
€140,000
David Gaudu
€125,000
€120,000
€5,000
Dusan Rajovic
€50,000
€120,000
€70,000
Andrea Zordan
€50,000
€0
-€50,000
Michael Christodoulos
€50,000
€70,000
€20,000
Andres Camilo Ardila
€180,000
€195,000
€15,000
Matic Groselj
€50,000
€65,000
€15,000
Olivier Le Gac
€50,000
€0
-€50,000
Izidor Penko
€50,000
€50,000
-
Gasper Katrasnik
€75,000
€50,000
-€25,000
Havard Blikra
€50,000
€50,000
-
Miha Poljanec
€65,000
€50,000
-€15,000
Ivan Siric
€60,000
€50,000
-€10,000
Matija Mestric
€50,000
€50,000
-
Abolfazl Gilanipoor
€75,000
€0
-€75,000
Santiago Buitrago
€80,000
€50,000
-€30,000
Matej Vysna
€50,000
€0
-€50,000
Goran Antonijevic
€50,000
€50,000
-
Kees Duyvesteyn
€50,000
€50,000
-
Kristjan Hocevar
€10,000
€50,000
€40,000
Veljko Stojnic
€10,000
€50,000
€40,000
Total Profit:
€115,000
Q:Eduard Beltran comes back with a big raise. Is he worth that money?
Mervar: Of course! He was worth 1050k back in 2019 and we believe he is worth his new wage. As always we as management have to do our part and put him in a position to succeed.
Q:Saber coming back is not a surprise, but Jose Alarcon is on his 2nd decline. Can he still contribute?
Mervar: We believe he can. He has one elite skill, which is climbing. And that's something that doesn't grow on every tree.
Q:The big elephant in the room is Ardila. What happened?
Mervar: To be honest we are still scratching our heads around that one. It doesn't make any sense to us, but we have to live with it. It's not Andres's fault. This will hinder us come transfer season.
Q:Apart from Ardila the number of unmaxed riders has gone down and the brightest talent remaining are all back. Is there any space left to bring more in?
Mervar: Currently, no. Things might change, but despite having a strong season last year our priority still has to be maintaining PCT status. We will see what transfers bring and what we could do. It's clear that the top of our roster is getting older quickly and something has to be done.
Q:The development of Balkan riders therefore stays the same?
Mervar: Of course. Part of that commitment are the full contracts of Hocevar and Stojnic. We think they are important for the future and as said before, if possible we will look to add a few more.
Q:With that said, what are early goals for the season?
Mervar: Remaining in the PCT division is always our first aim each season, then we look to see how far up we can reach. A top half finish would be very nice again. Apart from that this is an important development year for our unmaxed riders. That is one of our priorities and we also want to see how Tadej Pogacar continues to progress.
Transfer Availability
Rider
Level
Age
Pot
OVL
Wage
Availability
Eduard Alexander Beltran
4.100
32
5
79.02
620k
Lahcen Saber
4.100
32
4
77.84
310k
•••••
Tadej Pogacar
4.40
24
6
77.07
210k
Jose Alarcon
4.100
34
5
76.11
160k
•••••
David Gaudu
4.100
26
5
75.63
120k
••
Dusan Rajovic
4.100
25
3
75.50
120k
••••
Michael Christodoulos
4.100
25
5
74.45
70k
•
Andres Camilo Ardila
3.42
23
5
74.16
195k
Matic Groselj
4.100
26
4
74.08
65k
•
Izidor Penko
4.100
26
5
73.98
50k
•
Gasper Katrasnik
4.100
27
5
73.95
50k
•••
Havard Blikra
4.100
31
5
73.79
50k
•••
Miha Poljanec
4.100
27
2
73.70
50k
••
Ivan Siric
4.49
24
6
73.60
50k
Matija Mestric
4.100
25
4
73.47
50k
•••
Santiago Buitrago
3.22
23
5
72.45
50k
•
Goran Antonijevic
4.100
28
3
71.52
50k
•••••
Kees Duyvesteyn
2.70
24
4
69.35
50k
•••••
Kristjan Hocevar
1.57
23
5
68.55
50k
••
Veljko Stojnic
1.57
23
4
68.19
50k
••
• looking to keep | ••• open to offers | ••••• looking to sell
This is just a preliminary list of availability. More in depth information about our transfers as well as loans will be posted before transfer season starts in the adverts.
Bostjan Mervar,
team representative and general manager of Cedevita
Good lord, maxed Pogacar will be such a beast And he's gonna score lots and lots of U25 points for you this season, I imagine, on top of all the normal GC points he should be capable of. Ardila wasn't as much on my radar but he looks awesome, too, even with that hefty wage. Your future is looking really bright with those guys, Gaudu and Rajovic.
Beltran was always going to want a raise, I agree that he's still great value at that wage. Alarcon I'm not so sure about, but at 160k, the risks are limited and if you can flip him, even better. A nice handful of small reductions otherwise, so even with the frustrations, I think it's been a good renewals period overall for you.
I agree with cunego that your future really looks bright. I guess you still underestimate Pog's scoring potential, though
Alarcon at 160k is an absolute bargain for an 81 climber, given that he often showed last year that bad physical stats don't matter at all with the current PCM version.
Guess you tried to be too aggressive on Ardila, so that raise definitely hurts, but you'll still be able to build up a great core of riders around Eddy and Pog!
Oh wow profit in renewals and that amazing wage for Beltran still, just brilliant. Will love to see you soar this year, interested what the go is replacing Alarcon and Saber to find the missing promotion pieces - hope I can assist you in some way there
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
cunego59 wrote:
Good lord, maxed Pogacar will be such a beast And he's gonna score lots and lots of U25 points for you this season, I imagine, on top of all the normal GC points he should be capable of.
How about no? At least not with the likes of Bernal, Sosa, Higuita, Sivakov, Foss, Conci, Inkelaar and McNulty in the same class.
cunego59 wrote:
Beltran was always going to want a raise, I agree that he's still great value at that wage. Alarcon I'm not so sure about, but at 160k, the risks are limited and if you can flip him, even better. A nice handful of small reductions otherwise, so even with the frustrations, I think it's been a good renewals period overall for you.
I got a lot of work ahead of me and not much room to do things. Let's see what happens.
Fabianski wrote:
I agree with cunego that your future really looks bright. I guess you still underestimate Pog's scoring potential, though
More like you overestimate it Next year might be different though
Fabianski wrote:
Alarcon at 160k is an absolute bargain for an 81 climber, given that he often showed last year that bad physical stats don't matter at all with the current PCM version.
I thought so too
Fabianski wrote:
Guess you tried to be too aggressive on Ardila, so that raise definitely hurts, but you'll still be able to build up a great core of riders around Eddy and Pog!
Let's hope I can swing some moves so I'm not too much off last year's performances.
Croatia14 wrote:
Great renewals (except for Ardila), all riders great value for money imo!
jandal7 wrote:
Oh wow profit in renewals and that amazing wage for Beltran still, just brilliant. Will love to see you soar this year, interested what the go is replacing Alarcon and Saber to find the missing promotion pieces - hope I can assist you in some way there
Thanks. Maybe you can assist me in understanding your sense of humor
baseballlover312 wrote:
Some really good wages there, but I just can't take my eyes off of Pogocar being >77 OVL unmaxed. By god...
Maybe they are good, maybe not so much. When you add them up together there is not much left
Beltran
Eriksson
Gaudu
Christodoulos
McCormick
Crncevic
Zariff
Wright
Bechkov **
Jose Alarcon
Abolfazl Gilanipoor
Matej Vysna
