It is with great sadness that we must inform you thar our very own legend, Gianluca Brambilla is no longer a Huski Chocolate rider. We would have loved to have Brambilla retire with our team, but with today's competitive nature of cycling it became apparent for both sides that it will take a huge effort for that to happen, so we decided this was the best moment to part ways.
Joe Dombrowski will be allowed to chase his Grand Tour winning dream elsewhere if a team capable of fulfilling this will be interested in investing into Joe and his challenge.
Eduard Grosu, Tiesj Bennot and Danny Van Poppel will be allowed to talk to other teams as well, but the team's does seem them helping out the team in the short and medium term so it's not clear under what circumstances they would be allowed to leave. That being said, it's very unlikely both Grosu and Van Poppel will leave the team since that will see the team going from two top sprinters to none.
Dombrowski for sale! This will be a very interesting transfer season indeed. Lots of huge names poised to move.
Surprised to see Benoot on the block though. His versatility isn't always perfectly suited to the MG calendar, but after training I figured he was a long term investment.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Your team will be almost unrecognisable next season - Grosu and Dombrowski have been with you for so long it seems almost wrong to see them riding in another teams’ colours. Benoot (lovely wage reduction for him also ) and DVP heading out the door as part of the Huski mass exodus must mean you’re making room for a substantial offer for a certain rider - if it is who I think, you’ll be nailed on for a top-5 finish next season for sure.
Dombo being up for sale is for sure an interesting prospect, some interesting options in general here. Gonna second the part of it being weird to potentially see your team without Grosu.
4/5 goals and a Dombrowski sale sounds like the potential to make some moves for you! Grosu off the team would be a very weird thing, one of a few leaders that have been with their team as a leader for all of my years in the game I think.
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
Interesting and quite surprising availabilities. Might just get in touch for a particular rider. Interested to see how you rebuild if indeed all these outgoings come to fruition.
I'm starting the transfer season with the clear intention to sell only for Dombrowski though. For the others, I'm just keeping my options open.
Benoot was a long term plan last year, but with Gerts doing pretty well in the harder hilly classics as well, I'm not sure having Benoot in the team as well makes sense. It will be indeed hard to let Grosu go, especially if Dombrowski will be leaving as well, but we'll see how the transfers will unfold.
Well done on renewals! Dombrowski available is very, very interesting, obviously
Good luck for your transfer season, I'm excited to see what you plan on doing. Surely you have some training in mind if you're going to sell Dombrowski?
It has been a somewhat normal transfer window over at Huski Chocolate, with a few deals here and there and a few free agents coming in as well. What hasn't been normal is that the name on the out list are bigger than those on the in list. Something which hasn't happened since Robert Gesink's departure. We took this approach as we tried to find a new long term leader for our team.
Riders out
Joseph Dombrowski leaves the team after four years where despite being one of the most important riders along side Eduard Grosu and got some great results along the way, failed to achieve what he was fired for: winning a Grand Tour. Joe still has two years left before his decline and we hope he will finally get that GT crown on his head with his new team Gazzelle.
Tiesj Benoot was brought in just last year and was actually given some training as we saw him as our long term leader for the hills. But despite the training and some decent results in the classics, Benoot didn't prove to be much better than Gerts and with another puncheur coming into the team this year, it didn't made much sense to still have him hanging around, when he would get better chances at another team. And that team ended up being Philips Force India.
Clement Champussin will also join Philips Force India, but only for one year. It's the second time we loan the Frenchman out after he spend one year with Minions two years ago. He came back strong from on a loan on the lower divisions and we are sure this time the same thing will happen as starting next year we look to make Clement a vital rider in our lineup.
Riders in
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
XP
Age
Pot
Davide Formolo
72
79
80
69
76
76
74
53
69
71
66
65
69
4.100
30
6
Remco Evenepoel
74
69
72
72
74
76
60
63
64
70
80
66
72
1.0
22
4
**
Julius Van den Berg
77
57
64
58
77
77
73
77
71
70
75
71
64
4.100
26
4
Ide Schelling
71
75
71
68
74
73
70
63
62
67
72
67
70
4.31
24
5
*
Steven Kalf
72
58
66
65
76
74
70
75
73
70
65
67
67
4.100
27
4
Alexander Evans
65
75
71
72
69
71
71
61
57
67
67
62
69
4.11
25
4
*
Milan Vader
70
72
67
65
69
75
69
60
60
63
66
66
69
3.0
26
4
Joren Bloem
70
58
66
59
70
72
68
64
67
66
63
59
64
2.0
23
4
* Loaned in ** Loaned out
Davide Formolo was part of the Dombrowski deal and we welcome the Italian with opened arms. Despite not being as good as the American on the longer climbs, he is still a very gifted climber, but his speciality are the shorter climbs, where he excelled last season and we hope he will do the same this year with Gerts giving him a helping hand.
Remco Evenepoel might not be the most eye catching transfer at the moment, but we know what he will be capable of in the future with the right training and while Joe Dombrowski didn't get that cult glory Gesink had within the team, we know that Remco has what it takes to be our new cult hero. He is set to become one of the best time - trialists in the world, but unlike your regular time - trialists he will be a more than capable rider over both shorter and longer hills. He will spend the year with Red Bull Zalgiris to gain some experience in the lower category races.
Julius Van den Berg comes into the team set to be Gerts' main helper in the cobbled races. But that's not all that recommends Van den Berg for a contract with the team. He is a very good rider on the flats with a good speed as well, which means he will fit right into our sprint train, either when setting it up or when chasing down breakaways.
Ide Schelling comes in on a loan from our friends over at Philips Force India. He is a very good climber and while most of the time he will be helping our leader, he might get a few opportunities for himself as well.
Steven Kalf is another rider joining us from Philips Force India, but this time it's on a permanent deal, which was part of the deal that saw Benoot leave the team. Just like Van den Berg, Kalf is a cobbles specialist, but will fit right in when working for our sprints team as well. And as the current Estonian champion, he will be our only national champion for the season.
Alexander Evans is a similar rider to Ide Schelling and while they will not ride exactly in the same races, his role in the team will be very similar. He will be joining us on a one year deal from Amaysim Cervélo.
Milan Vader has a very unique set of skills that will turn him into a good domestique for both the flats and the mountains. So we look forward to having him in our team for the future seasons, especially in Grand Tours when we will decide to contest both the sprints and the GC.
Joren Bloem is another young talent joining our team, which could become a vital part in our team for the flat races. He could develop into a decent lead-out, but we feel like he will be a nightmare for any breakaway going up the road on the flats in the following years.
Massive reshuffle! Formolo may not have replaced Dombrowski + Benoot in terms of scoring, but you got Remco. I mean, when you get Remco, that's a success. You'll never regret it. It's a win no matter what.
Not thrilled to see you're making him a time trialist though, given our hopes for Kamna! But I guess he's got a few years before Evenepoel shuts down all competition.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Semi-big restructuring for the team this time with a huge future star coming is as a result. Losing Dombroski is a hit but the team still has firepower for PT. Hope Schelling can do well out on loan and that you find Kalf as a useful domestique for Gerts.
Benoot was/is a great rider but maybe a bit too overlapping with Gerts (and Formolo) indeed. Dombrowski is obviously a big loss, but Remco on the other hand is an amazing signing. Good luck this season in PT, fellow Dutchie Edited by Nemolito on 29-08-2022 18:12
