Before we get renewals, a very brief look back on the National Championships, which have been quite eventful for Bralirwa - Stevens.
In total, we managed to secure six titles! Joeri Stallaert capped his spectacular season off the only way he knows how, by winning. He'll wear the iconic black, yellow and red next season. Also winning their road races were Madushanka Perera in Sri Lanka, Souheil Khederi in Tunesia, returning to the bright red NC shirt he wore two years ago for us already, and most importantly, Janvier Hadi kept the Rwandan national championship in house.
We actually swept the Rwandan Championships as Bonaventure Uwizeyimana defended his time trialing title, and Jacob Fiedler added a second time trialing title for our team in Germany as well. Now, will those riders wear their colors on a Bralirwa shirt? The first step to determining that are renewals.
Contract Renewals
First, there are four riders who we have to bid farewell to. Jacob Fiedler and Joey Rosskopf were reliable points scorers for us last season, points we will have to make up with other riders. Both are on the decline, but neither was willing to take that into account during the negotiations.
We also part ways with one of our stagiaires, Henok Mulubrhan. The Eritrean youngster showed flashes, but ultimately not enough to convince us to keep him long term. Finally, Andrea Vendrame will not be with us next year. After scoring a whopping 15 points on a 75.000 wage and a 125.000 (plus Mikiel Habtom) fee, he had the audacity to demand a raise. Could he still have provided us with value, even with that? Perhaps. Was I petty enough to not grant that demand in a million years? Absolutely.
But now, on to happier things - the riders that have renewed their contracts for the upcoming season:
Rider
Age
AVG
2021 Wage
Change
Available
J. Stallaert
31
78,56
650.000
- 200.000
●●●●
F. Silvestre
32
78,11
440.000
+ 70.000
●●●
M. Perera
29
75,49
125.000
+ 75.000
●●●
V. Ndayisenga
28
75,24
110.000
- 5.000
B. Uwizeyimana
29
74,84
85.000
- 30.000
M. Eyob
29
74,61
75.000
+ 20.000
●
L. Vliegen
29
74,47
70.000
0
●●●●
Y. Lampaert
31
74,36
70.000
0
●●●
B. Schoonbroodt
31
74,15
60.000
0
●●●
T. Okbamariam
31
73,51
50.000
0
●
H. El Sabbahi
25
73,50
50.000
0
Loan
S. Khederi
31
73,44
50.000
0
J. Rutsch
24
73,42
50.000
0
Loan
J. Hadi
30
73,09
50.000
0
N. Tesfatsion
23
72,63
70.000
- 30.000
M. Mugisha
25
71,91
50.000
Loan
S. Mugisha
25
70,05
55.000
+ 5.000
Loan
Y. Debesay
23
68,07
50.000
+ 40.000
Loan
.
Renewals:
55.000
Released:
335.000
Wage Cap:
340.000
● strong intention to keep | ●●● open for offers | ●●●●● clear intention to sell
Let's start with the salary reductions first. Stallaert cashed in on a big free agency frenzy and was amenable to a significant salary reduction. He still sits well above his previous salary levels, but we weren't going to offend our top star by trying to squeeze out every last cent, so we're happy with where we are.
All those things, though on a much smaller scale, are true for youngster Tesfatsion, another big money FA aquisition from last year. And then both of our Rwandan stars, Ndayisenga and Uwizeyimana, agreed to lower their salaries a bit as well.
On the other hand, we have a small increase for Samuel Mugisha, who wanted to see his surprisingly productive season recognized. Perhaps we could have gotten him for minimum salary from free agency, but we figured it would be a good incentive for other up and comers to see one of their own be rewarded. We also signed stagiaire Debesay to a permanent deal at minimum wage.
Eyob, arguably a steal at just 55.000 in free agency last year, got a well-deserved raise. And really, you can't describe Silvestre's 70.000 raise any other way than well-deserved either, after the spectacular season he has had, even if it does hurt the bottom line quite a bit.
Finally, the biggest raise was also the most controversial one, drawing heated arguments in our building. In the end, we decided to come to an agreement with Perera, more than doubling his salary. In a very similar situation, we refused to renew Rüdiger Selig last year, and that was certainly an option here as well. However, given the big influx of new teams and many sprinters declining, we figured a rider like Madushanka would be worth more and a replacement much harder to find this off-season than last.
As you can see, we're also already looking at how the transfer window might shape up for us. And it could be quite interesting - many of our stronger riders could become available. This might be surprising to some, especially with regards to our two absolute leaders, Stallaert and Silvestre. But while an extra push to re-enter the promotion race is an option, a retooling of the squad is also on the table.
Stevens, specifically, has been open in their criticism of the number of German riders, which has only grown louder after failing to resign Jacob Fiedler. They have even questioned their status as co-name sponsor, if there are no changes in that regard. With most of our African riders firmly entrenched in the team, this leaves us with only so many levers we can pull to make those changes happen. Now, of course this won't be a fire sale - we would need substantial offers to let one of our top scorers go. But offers will be considered.
The crazy thing is as much of an overpay as Stallaert was always going to be purely from an OVL/wage perspective, his value was so immense that it made me at least forget about the cost almost entirely. Surprised to hear he could be on the move, but if it comes down to a change in sponsorship and nationality focus, it will have to be done. Still, tough to trade two of the best PCT riders from last season.
In any case, you have a strong core and plenty of room to play with. Looking forward to seeing your next moves.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Stallaert looks even nicer with that paycut, a bit surprised that you want to sell him. However, I guess you've got a pretty precise plan in mind
Sorry for having sold you that Vendrame guy. However, his "twin" (Lienhard) gained even more and did even worse - and wanted more money, too... So I definitely know those feelings. Looks like I've got something wrong in my riders' education
Looking forward to see how you're going to solve that "Germans issue", though
Considering how much Stallaert and Silvestre are taking from your cap, you still have a very generous amount of cap space left over and almost a full 20 riders already. Also echo the others ala Stallaert - considering field of top cobblers continues to get smaller he should be in track to have another belter of a season. If he does leave, hopefully it i$ definitely worth your while
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
baseballlover312 wrote:
The crazy thing is as much of an overpay as Stallaert was always going to be purely from an OVL/wage perspective, his value was so immense that it made me at least forget about the cost almost entirely. Surprised to hear he could be on the move, but if it comes down to a change in sponsorship and nationality focus, it will have to be done. Still, tough to trade two of the best PCT riders from last season.
In any case, you have a strong core and plenty of room to play with. Looking forward to seeing your next moves.
Yeah, Stallaert was worth every penny last year and he will be even more so next season - be it for me or someone else. I don't anticipate selling both him and Silvestre (though it's not completely out of the question). And depending on how things go, I might not sell either. But I like the idea of having a bit more flexibility and there are a few ways in which I would like to reshape the roster. We'll see though.
AbhishekLFC wrote:
Did not expect Stallaert to be available! Sprinters fleecing you a bit but otherwise that's a good base to build on.
knockout wrote:
A german title sponsor but barely any German riders in the squad? That scounds like a familiar problem
Tough renewals with your leaders being very sprinter heavy but quite cool how you got both Rwandan top guys to accept wage cuts!
Fiedler not agreeing to a generous wage cut is quite unnecessary
Sprinters in renewals, it's a pain Silvestre ultimately was an easy decision, even if I would have liked to pay a bit less. The Perera signing goes against all of my instincts and previous strategies, but I felt the landscape had shifted in a way that justifies it. Looking at the post renewals DB now, he would arguably be a Top 15 sprinter on the market, and younger than all but one of those guys. Only time will tell if comparable riders get as much money in free agency and validate my decision, or if there continue to be 50k bargains.
And yeah, lots of money to be made from German sponsors, but at least over here, they're only so patient about having hardly any national representation And I actually might have kept Fiedler around, if only to see the German NC shirt every once in a while, but like, you can't be a 71 OVR rider demanding six figures ...
Fabianski wrote:
Stallaert looks even nicer with that paycut, a bit surprised that you want to sell him. However, I guess you've got a pretty precise plan in mind
Sorry for having sold you that Vendrame guy. However, his "twin" (Lienhard) gained even more and did even worse - and wanted more money, too... So I definitely know those feelings. Looks like I've got something wrong in my riders' education
Looking forward to see how you're going to solve that "Germans issue", though
Well, like I said in your HQ, that swap didn't go too well for either of us Such is MG life though, what can you do. I do indeed have a few concrete ideas for transfers, both regarding Germans and other riders, but will they come to fruition? Who knows ...
Eden95 wrote:
Considering how much Stallaert and Silvestre are taking from your cap, you still have a very generous amount of cap space left over and almost a full 20 riders already. Also echo the others ala Stallaert - considering field of top cobblers continues to get smaller he should be in track to have another belter of a season. If he does leave, hopefully it i$ definitely worth your while
Oh, no doubt that Stallaert is going to perform well again. This would not be a sale because I don't believe in him as a scorer anymore. And as you say, even if I end up keeping him, I have a good amount of flexibility left. Interesting times ahead ...
Hadi is locked in for the rest of his (maxed) career, I'm afraid
redordead wrote:
You have some flexbility and highly sought after assets. I have no doubt you'll make the right decision, whichever direction you wish to go in
You've had more confidence in my decision than I myself, and luckily, so far you've been proven right I wouldn't mind if that continues.
Transfers are ever so close, but before the madness begins, we have one more treat for y'all: the presentation of our brand new 2022 jersey!
With the_hoyle, longtime designer stalwart and creator of the first two jerseys in team history, having put his career on hold, we had to look elsewhere for a new outfit. And who better to turn to than the equally established, equally talented and equally admired hillis91!
Still following our patented concept of Rwandan colors on a white shirt, he was told to let his creativity flow, and to incorporate once again another type of geometric shape. What he presented us is nothing short of spectacular:
Spoiler
Having received pictures of the freshly manufactured kits, our riders couldn't wait to take it out for a spin:
It's an outstanding jersey that our riders will do everything they can to present successfully in the coming year. I especially want to draw your attention to the detailed accessories, and the exquisite National Champion jerseys for Rwanda and Tunisia, worn by Janvier Hadi and Souheil Khederi, respectively. And depending on the outcome of transfers, there might be more of those on the way ...
But that's for another time. For now, we want to thank hillis91 for this beauty of a jersey, as well as once again the_hoyle for the fantastic designs of the prior years that laid the groundwork for this one. We couldn't be happier!
Plans are made, plans are pursued, plans are thwarted, plans are changed - it's a tale as old as transfer seasons. Our plans led us from pursuing a youngster with a promising future to paying a fortune for a veteran who, while no longer at the peak of his powers, is still one of the very best in the game right now.
And so, without having spent even a single thought on such a scenario less than three days ago, we suddenly find ourselves with a two time Tour de France champion on our hands.
Angel Madrazo
4.100
34yo
Stage Racer
€600.000
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
St
Rs
Rc
Co
Sp
Ac
Fi
Dh
Pr
66
83
74
75
78
77
78
53
61
69
64
67
75
Who would have thought? Not me. But I tell you what - it's freaking exciting! Perhaps looking at Pluchkin for inspiration, Angel Madrazo has decided to spend the autumn of his career (hopefully) dominating the PCT division. We have not planned for this, but I'm sure we will find enough races to fill his admittedly rather few race days.
This signing is an absolute milestone for Bralirwa - Stevens. Not only is it by far, like by a countrymile, the most expensive transfer in team history at 2.3 million. It's also the first time the team will ever be competitive in high-level stage races. And you better believe that we're gonna try to get a wild card here and there, too.
While not what we expected when we started this transfer window, this is an absolute delight. And being able to keep both Stallaert and Silvestre means we will be a force to be reckoned with on almost every terrain. It's gonna be a wild ride for Bralirwa this year. And once again, no matter the outcome, we will enjoy every second of it.
Wow, amazing signing for you! If Stallaert kind of repeats his last season, this could be the missing piece that made you drop in the late season last year - I don't know your full roster, but I definitely wouldn't be surprised to see you go up this time
Fabianski wrote:
Wow, amazing signing for you! If Stallaert kind of repeats his last season, this could be the missing piece that made you drop in the late season last year - I don't know your full roster, but I definitely wouldn't be surprised to see you go up this time
I had to give up a lot of depth to be able to fit Madrazo, so I'm not sure it'll ultimately be enough to promote. But if all three leaders score at or close to their maximum, and one or two second row riders pitch in, I could be in the mix. Los Pollos Hermanos is perhaps a good example of a very top-heavy team going up, but they did have contributions from other riders, too. It may come down to how well I'll be able to plan each rider's schedule.
But like I said, promotion isn't the only thing that matters. We only ever won one stage race, and it was with Silvestre. I would hope that changes this year, and to be competitive in the mountains will be a lot of fun to watch.
Madrazo was very, very appealing for me at some point. But I then logic and the regional focus stepped up and I went in a different direction. No regrets, only a "what if?" question popping up from time to time.
Very nice acquisition, congratulations!
Just seen the new jersey! Very nice updates. Madrazo must surely be the move to take you to the PT this season, well worth the expensive outlay to do so.
Bralirwa looking for sophomore success in the PCT, going to be awesome to watch Glad we shouldn't clash too much so I can cheer for you doing so
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
So awesome to see you land a rider like Madrazo! Joeri, Silvestre and him are such a strong leading trio and should coast you to promotion on their backs. Of course riding against him is another story
![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
