ELCO - ABEA 2022 Squad is finally ready for announcement. Some trainings will be added later, for the sake of fair play!
Nat.
Name
Age
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
W. Chiarello
31
71
79
75
73
73
74
77
53
63
72
73
69
71
M. Giannoutsos
25
68
78
72
72
76
78
75
57
64
68
75
67
77
M. Mavrikakis
28
70
77
72
71
74
73
69
54
61
67
63
64
71
I. Spanopoulos
29
69
76
74
72
73
72
70
54
60
64
66
62
73
A. Miltiadis
26
68
75
75
67
70
71
66
68
61
75
67
68
67
N. Ioannidis
29
67
75
73
75
76
74
73
57
58
70
72
67
76
I. Kiriakidis
25
68
74
73
76
72
73
74
62
63
71
70
73
76
V. Lafay
26
66
73
75
63
72
71
71
62
63
72
76
67
61
C. Kastrantas
31
73
73
75
62
70
71
65
64
62
73
75
78
62
J. B. Nsengimana
30
65
72
71
72
71
70
72
53
66
72
74
66
74
J. Jegat
23
69
72
66
62
68
70
70
53
53
66
70
70
64
C. Koretzky
32
73
71
81
63
77
70
71
63
71
79
73
70
61
L. Delco
27
71
71
72
69
74
73
74
66
63
71
66
76
70
A. Agrotis
24
70
70
68
70
72
69
71
63
65
67
70
69
71
A. Vila
25
70
69
75
64
70
72
73
54
67
72
74
69
64
J. Kelly
26
72
66
72
72
68
72
59
60
70
71
72
62
74
A. Koumpetsos
26
72
66
70
56
73
71
73
58
74
73
72
71
56
E. Morin
27
70
64
76
63
74
72
67
63
69
75
66
67
65
G. Bouglas
32
72
64
70
58
72
67
76
53
78
78
62
67
58
M. Kortsidakis
28
77
63
69
54
75
75
73
74
68
72
76
70
73
G. Stavrakakis
24
74
61
68
73
72
69
65
75
64
68
70
62
75
B. Coquard
30
73
59
67
65
71
74
84
56
84
83
60
65
79
S. Farantakis
27
74
59
65
72
75
72
79
66
80
80
61
63
79
G. Karatzios
32
77
58
71
59
75
71
67
77
63
65
70
61
59
P. Vlatos
32
72
52
66
81
73
71
67
68
67
66
68
52
81
Despite several weaknesses - in particular in the top level we still feel like we have managed to assemble a fairly wellrounded squad that can atleast somewhat feature in most races. Let's address the elephant in the room first though.
GC Riders:
After the loss of Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier it was evident, that the team would struggle to achieve the same level of greatness than before. The loss of Lecuisinier, De La Cruz and Rochas from this department cost a total of almost 2.350 points, which isolated would see us as the 2nd worst team of last season! This obviously leaves us with some wrinckles - but for a couple of reasons we don't see the loss being worse than 1.000-1.500 points.
The addition of William Chiarello is one of the obvious reasons. Chiarello scored 800 points last season, and while we may not realistically replicat that he should atleast cover the loss of both De La Cruz and Rochas - and probably more so. 500 points from his side is definately not unrealistic.
The departure of Lecuisinier also means more room for the likes of Mavrikakis (200), Ioannidis (150), Kiriakidis (125), Giannoutsos (100) and Spanopoulos (100). Both Kiriakidis and Giannoutsos has leveled up in the off season and both are still just 25 years old. So I do expect quite a lot more from these. Kiriakidis may end up scoring not a whole lot more, but Giannoutsos really should move into that 300+ category. The remaining 3 will all have a significant overhaul due to training and thus I feel comfortable that those ~675 points from last season will easily transition into 1.000+ points.
Sprinters:
The share strength and numbers of sprinters have increased. Farantakis has leveled up and can now be considered an actual lead sprinter himself. Both he and Coquard share that incredible 79PRL stat so they also offer a very solid chance of some GC succes - if nothing else, then from the early stages of GC races. Bouglas has been added as the new leadout for Coquard, and while Coquard had a decent previous season, the leadout from Farantakis couldn't match what we often saw from Bouglas from 2 years back. Also Bouglas is a decent tap-in sprinter himself, to add a bit of joy to the races where the two former sprinters aren't present.
Both Koumpetsos and Kelly have been added to this department aswell, maybe adding a bit of speed here and there, maybe even sprinting on their own on the more difficult races. Kortsidakis and Karatzios are also still here to help keeping things together for Coquard in particular.
On paper we should fare better here, than last season, yet both Coquard and Farantakis had strong seasons, so we don't expect better things - but something around par would also be good
Puncheurs:
Clement Koretzky remains the team leader in the punchy stages. He will not perform according to last season though as the race calender doesn't suit him as well. Still he is regularly performing well, and he should still be a good rider. The depth in this department has increased, although the loss of Aidan van Niekerk is definately present. Miltiadis is now maxed, while both Lafay, Vila and Morin add some new depth. Kastrantas is still around aswell, and while he didn't have a good season last year he is one of those that more regularly than not perform 200 point seasons.
Ioannis Spanopoulos will also be added to this as a respectable domestique and maybe a rider that could overlap a bit in the more MO/HI endurant GC races where Koretzky is usually struggling.
Finally all of Nsengimana, Delco, Kelly and Koumpetsos might add a bit of increased lower level gains for the team.
Cobblers:
We don't have a good cobbled site. As in, really not. Yet it's significantly stronger than last year. Stavrakakis has improved, and will add a bit of added quality in GC races with cobbles and maybe also in Chrono d'Arenberg where Vlatos is already a decent pre-race favorite. Karatzios is at his usual level while Kortsidakis actually improved. Overall we expect something similar to last season, due to the fact that Karatzios ended up taking a win in a one-day race. Something we definately can't replicate.
Timetriallists:
Panagiotis Vlatos is still on a level of his own, and among the top tier timetriallists. This doesn't necessarily mean he will score well, and he definately won't score as much as last season. The depth have however increased drastically and the addition of a trained Ioannidis and a fully developped Kiriakidis hopefully more than cover that.
We cannot provide TTT wins, but the level of our riders can indeed see us being somewhat competitive from the 5-10 area, thus keeping our best riders in the "game". In case we present a TTT setup without or 3 biggest GC riders (Chiarello, Giannoutsos and Mavrikakis) we have an average of 74,1 and the addition of 1 or 2 of the GC leader will hardly have an impact. The interesting thing to this is, that next season we should be significantly improved with Stavrakakis maxing aswell as Agrotis and Christapopoulos leveling up. The level up of Matsangos, Karatsivis, Mengoulas and Christakos will further add flexibility while not losing a lot of quality.
Tour de l'Avenir:
Just like always the Tour de l'Avenir is a key race for us, as we enjoy the build up of new talents. We will present our leader as Dimitrios Christakos (73MO). Christakos isn't a favorite for the title by any means, but he does join the list of outsiders for a spot in the region of 10-15, and with a solid portion of luck he may get a bit higher. Recently signed future star Karatsivis (70MO) will be a key domestique, who could also have a somewhat respectable race himself. Allrounder Alexandre Matsangos (68MO, 68HI, 67TT, 69COB) will likely be a decent domestique aswell, although he will probably struggle to keep up when the best riders move. Finally we added a bit of a hidden gem - we feel like. Jordan Jegat (72MO) was just sitting their waiting to be picked up, and he will be one of the top domestiques for Christakos.
I guess we come there mainly for experience, but we have ambtiions and hopefully we can ride aggressively and showcase some of that future greek good. For Karatsivis this will be only the first of three encouters with this race! For the others it will be their last chance.
Overall:
We don't see us as a top 10 PT side. For that to happen we need the likes of Vlatos, Koretzky, Coquard, Farantakis and Chiarello to play to their utmost level - and to be fair we feel like they did that last season, so a replica is somewhat unrealistic - even if we deduct 7-10% due to a slimmer racecalender.
That said we also don't see us in imminent danger of relegating. It could happen! But I don't think it will! Hopefully the trainings, the top level of certain riders and the experience in the division will pay dividends and make sure we stay afloat for next seasons massive project.
Love the idea of sorting a squad announcement by MO rating Really admire the job you've done in transfers this year transitioning towards the Greek side of things - can't wait for training
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
It's scary how similar our thoughts were for the late rider pickups. Nsengimana would have surely been one of my bids and Delco and possibly even Kelly too.
Think i go along with your self estimation of being a top 10-15 team. Hopefully Chiarello can continue like he did for me to secure these positions.
You managed to go all out on Greeks while keeping Coquard and Koretzky, which steers you away from the relegation zone. Very well done, and only makes your project more sustainable going forward.
But I really want to see that training now.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
If i didn't alredy have to sort 5 PT loans this year i'd have picked up Kelly. I'm just buzzed to see the Caribbeans infilrating as it boosts the odds of actual leader level riders appearing, as well as slowly heading towads a worlds.
Interested to see how this year works out. Could avoid relegation, but might uncomfortable at times if Coquard struggles or your inevtable trainings don't fire. But if anyone will make it work, it's you.
During the proces of natural development, Miltiadis Giannoutsos took the lead role of "best ever greek climber" this off season. Mavrikakis says "Hell no - Not that easy", and add another +2MO and becomes the new benchmark. Mavrikakis isn't a natural leader nor is he a strong attacker, but he is a rock solid diesel - and to further be able to add +4 stats over the two upcoming seasons, who knows what he will eventually be able to become?
Mavrikakis was 158th individual ranking last season bagging 204 points. Some of his career highligts are 18th Pro Hallstatt Classic, 21st Giro d'Italia and a bunch of 30-40th GC positions. We feel confident that the added freedom combined with the training boost will see a remarkable transition from being an anonymous climbing domestique towards being an actual leader of the team. He will be leading the team on a few occasions, but more so being in a shared leaders role with Chiarello and/or Giannoutsos. We hope this can result in him being regularly around 10-20th in the GC races he attends - and maybe have a better chance at hitting one of those succesful breakaways we so badly need!
Nikolaos Ioannidis
4.100
29yo
Timetriallist
€75.000
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
St
Rs
Rc
Co
Sp
Ac
Fi
Dh
Pr
67
75
73
75
76
74
73
57
58
70
72
67
76
↓↓↓
67
75
73
77
76
74
73
57
58
70
72
67
76
One of my biggest dissapointments last season was the unability to find training money for Ioannidis. What a beast he could have been turning into 79TT or 77MO this season. But still moving from 75 to 77 TT will hopefully help us fill out an obvious gap in terms of these relatively TT heavy GC races with a bit of - but not too much of - altitude. Before starting the training session we were in doubt as to how we best developped Ioannidis. Did we want a 77MO rider or a better TT rider? In the end we decided that his strongest spot was the timetrial ability. With an already improved prologue, a very handy resistance and a poor sprint we thought he would likely be better off not fighting with other GC riders in the high mountains. Also having 3 better climbers already sealed his faith.
Ioannidis was 216th individual ranking last season scoring 143 points. Even without training we feel like he could improve on that, but with 77 TT he joins a group of similar riders who regularly perform GC top 10-15 in undersubscribed races or in races where the mountainstages/hilly stages are ridden with a fair ease. His career highligts see results such as 15th Tour of Qatar and 26th Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha. He also temporarily looked like being in the top 10 GC fight of Paris-Nice, but eventually failed to deliver on a semi-easy hilly stage. Last season he was often dedicated to helping Lecuisinier however, even attending 2 Grand Tours. This time he will often be the leader, aswell as stearing clear of 2/3 Grand Tours, which hasn't suited him in the past.
Ioannis Spanopoulos
4.100
29yo
Climber
€100.000
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
St
Rs
Rc
Co
Sp
Ac
Fi
Dh
Pr
69
76
74
72
73
72
70
54
60
64
66
62
73
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
69
77
75
72
73
72
70
54
60
64
66
62
73
Spanopoulos was 325th last years individual ranking and scoring just 95 points there is a big room for improvement. Similarly to Mavrikakis, Spanopoulos isn't the most ideal training asset due to his low acceleration, but his fairly well rounded nature can hopefully help him get a decent set of results in GC races as a helper for the "top climbers" of the team. Spanopoulos will get a lot of freedom, aswell as having a couple of leading roles, but we mainly hope for him to bag some decent GC results here and there as we do have a fair amount of those races this season.
Because of the low amout of points we don't have anything interesting to showcase regarding career highligts. There are a few results around 30th, but nothing all that interesting. He'll have a full season with a lot of freedom to change that though!
Michail Kortsidakis
4.100
28yo
Climber
€85.000
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
St
Rs
Rc
Co
Sp
Ac
Fi
Dh
Pr
77
63
69
54
75
75
73
74
68
72
76
70
73
↓↓↓
77
63
69
54
75
75
73
76
68
72
76
70
73
Michail Kortsidakis was 227th last year bagging 139 points in the individual ranking. From career highligths 23rd Paris-Roubaix, 23rd East Midlands and 25th Rund um Köln, and we hope this added +2COB can see him climb a bit and maybe become a more consistent rider performing around 20th in the cobbled races.
For us Kortsidakis was one of those must train riders for multiple reasons. We like him a lot obviously, but also his base set of stats with a very high flat and some solid physical attributes makes him an obvious leader in the making. Having Karatzios entering his final season as a maxed rider it felt like a good story to make Kortsidakis the aprentice that lived to surpass his master, and with another possible +4 stats in the future, Kortsidakis could likely end up with 80COB and become the best ever greek cobbler.
This season however Kortsidakis is yet again more often than not part of the leadout train for Coquard, aswell as having a shared leadership in the cobbles. But for the future we hope to make the most of his attacking nature aswell - so this training is definately one for the future!
Next season:
Speaking of the future, next season holds a lot of dilemma, as we will begin to see very solid greek riders making themselves available for further training. All of the below will then be available for training.
M. Mavrikakis, 28 yo | 79MO, 72HI, 71TT, 74STA, 73RES, 69REC M. Giannoutsos, 25 yo | 78MO, 77PRL, 72HI, 72TT, 76STA, 78RES, 75REC I. Spanopoulos, 29 yo | 77MO, 75HI, 72TT, 73PRL, 73STA, 72RES, 70REC N. Ioannidis, 29 yo | 77TT, 75MO, 73HI, 76PRL, 76STA,74RES, 73REC S. Farantakis, 27 yo | 80SPR, 79PRL, 74FL, 72TT, 75STA, 72RES, 79REC I. Kiriakidis, 25 yo | 76TT, 74MO, 73HI, 72STA, 73RES, 74REC A. Miltiadis, 26 yo | 75MO, 75HI, 75ACC, 70STA, 71RES, 68COB
Guess it's time to rework training costs for next season then, those Greeks are becoming frightening
Great job at doing your thing; adding a 2nd 79 climber and improving your TT setup definitely looks nice! And while your cobbles squad definitely has no world-beaters, the depth is starting to look pretty nice
Shame Farantakis isn't training eligible yet, cause it would have been a good year to start. But I guess he'll learn from Coquard some more and then take over with improved stats next year.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
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
@jandal7
I always sort by MO/HI. Don't really know why, but it just give me a quick idea of riders. Much more than when I sort by OVL - I hardly ever agree with the OVL who's the better rider anyway
Also it has to be ELCO p/b ELKO ft. ABEA 'n' Evonik.
@knockout
Yeah we certainly seem to have a lot of the same thoughts about which riders are worth adding - even in the micromanagement part
I think I would be dead scared if we were to end up around 15th, so I really hope to be close to 10th, but I think it will go down to the wire really.
And yes, thanks for the sponsorship of domestiques turning into lieutenaints
@baseballlover312
Thanks a lot mate. I hope you are right. It would be devastating for the project to relegate just in time for Farantakis, Giannoutsos etc. to be eligeble for training.
Indeed it sucks that Farantakis isn't eligeble. This season will be his first where he's mostly riding for himself. I gotta test the water to see if he alone is viable or if he indeed needs a lot of training. He's not 100% in the safezone regarding training yet. It really depends on how well different setups (also from other teams) work. And in case he will be trained I could be interested in starting out with +2FL f.e. as I don't think he'll ever be really suitable to be a top top sprinter. I don't like the 84SPR 80ACC thought. And I don't like training ACC for god knows which reason.
@TheManxMissile
Feel free to contact me next season Kelly is a lovely rider, but next season I'll have some greeks home from loan that cover the same area pretty well, so he'll probably be looking elsewhere for a home.
I'm very scared putting this many eggs in the Coquard-basket too. Luckily I have the split option with him and Farantakis. So I hope that where Coquard might mess up, Farantakis could get a bit of a free ride as he'll ride here and there against lesser competition. He took his first stagewin last season, so he does have it in him.
@hillis91
I agree. Those two are exactly my top priorities. Still not entirely sure how to develop them. Giannoutsos will probably go the direct route as a climber, but is Kiriakidis the perfect TT guy or more a GC rider? Can't really decide.
I also forgot to add Kortsidakis to the list. He too is high on my priority list - and not too expensive either. Once Coquard leaves he could take over a bit from the gap as he's also a very strong rouleur. This season I don't use his RD's really smart because I have sprinters everywhere.
@Fabianski
Indeed - let's lower the cost so I can bring more riders up - It was a burden to lift these guys up due to the added 1mio paid just to activate no 6-7-8. That would have been more fun putting into the riders.
I could see a situation where I next season attempt to also keep myself inside the regulations of 8 trainings if possible to get the core as high as possible, before doing these high end trainings that take away the flexibility.
Thanks mate
@redordead
Christodoulos wants to try this next season
This time it has been possible to create a team of only Greek riders participating in a Grand Tour. We won't yet reveal which one, but take a look at this beautyful group of 8 greek riders to benchmark this new record - and new normal!
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
Michail Mavrikakis
70
79
72
71
74
73
69
54
61
67
63
64
71
28
Miltiadis Giannoutsos
68
78
72
72
76
78
75
57
64
68
75
67
77
25
Nikolaos Ioannidis
67
75
73
77
76
74
73
57
58
70
72
67
76
29
Ioannidis Kiriakidis
68
74
73
76
72
73
74
62
63
71
70
73
76
25
Chara. Kastrantas
73
73
75
62
70
71
65
64
62
73
75
78
62
31
Aimiliano Vila
70
69
75
64
70
72
73
54
67
72
74
69
64
25
Georgios Stavrakakis
74
61
68
73
72
69
65
75
64
68
70
62
75
24
Stylianos Farantakis
74
59
65
72
75
72
79
66
80
80
61
63
79
27
Mavrikakis and Giannoutsos will share the leadership, while Ioannidis and Kiriakidis have free roles in terms of seeing what they can possibly do GC wise.
Kastrantas and Vila will offer some much needed breakaway opportunities in the more flat/hilly stages while Farantakis is the team leader and hopefully strong enough to compete for stagewins in this Grand Tour. With sprinters that's never a given though!
Georgios Stavrakakis is mainly here for experience in the help of him maxing out to become a new cobbled leader. Overall we bring a team with an average age of just 26,75 years of age which could likely be a new all time low for us.
Give it another couple of years and the Caribbean/Mauritian team will look as tasty as those Greeks do! Knew the trainings would make the team look less relegation adjacent, and it's more positive for sure.
I know how it feels to risk it all on a sprinter in pursuit of a regional focus. My new favourite PT Team (alongside Zwift, Moser & Isostar... and ISA Hexacta... and ok i like most PT teams a lot).
It's time to take a look at our chances of succes this season, and the criteria is survival!
This season is one of the most difficult benchmark seasons in quite a while for numerous reasons. The calender have been cut short, meaning the benchmark from a theoretical perspective is 7% less - but riders of course isn't hit equally, where the top riders - the winners - will be hit the worst, while some of those top sprinters, top timetriallist and in particular top cobblers will hardly be influenced by fewer racedays, as they are normally outside their best level of competition. Same could be said about the more dedicated puncheurs who doesn't have a duothread. The next thing is the difference in teams participating in the division. Last season there were 20 and thus making an artificially high need for points in order to survive as the number 21 and 22 virtual positions were both scraping 0 points. This - in theory - spread 10% more points around to the other teams. The final thing ofcourse is the combination of alterede race calender, and focus points of teams. In particular puncheurs and timetriallists seems to roam the PT at masses definately not available last season - while the top heavy GC riders seems to have shrunk significantly.
If we want to set a benchmark for survival, let's have a look at the figures.
Last season you needed 5.500 points to survive. If we remember the above we could theoretically lower that amount by 10%, which would be close to 5.000 points. In 2020 it was required to have 5.100 points to survive. That season Indosat was far behind everyone else, so the others shared aproximately 7-800 points to increase the level of competition other places. The 2019 season, however only saw 4.700 points as needed due to the fact that the competition was extremely level and close.
So if we take an average of these we land on aproximately 4.950 points to survive. If we then deduct by 7% the needed points should be 4.600. But to stay safe and have atleast some ease of mind I will go for 5.000 points as a survival benchmark. This also makes a bit of buffer in case a team performs really poorly and loses contact immidiately.
But how can we expect to fare in this new season? Well, there's only one thing to do. Let's dig into the teams qualities and limitations below.
GC Riders:
Rider name
2021 points
2021 Adj.
2022 Exp.
W. Chiarello
805
749
600
M. Giannoutsos
101
94
250
M. Mavrikakis
204
190
250
I. Spanopoulos
95
88
150
Total
1.205
1.121
1.250
William Chiarello had a magnificent season last year, and while we will try to replicate that, it's not realistic that he can have the same level of succes. The raceday reduction make him suffer a bit as we want to make him ride 2 Grand Tours. This obviously see him have very limited flexibility with the remaining racedays. Because of that we don't dare to expect more than 600 points from him, which is also a fairly high estimate. All of Giannoutsos, Mavrikakis and Spanopoulos have developped since last season by atleast 2 key points. This makes us believe that they can also deliver at a higher level. Mavrikakis was already decent last season, and with 79MO he should be better now - but there is a ceiling over his head of course. Whether that is 250 or 350 is difficult to say. Giannoutsos is among the stronger U25 riders - albeit not close to winning any such GC's, so we expect him to be around the same level as Mavrikakis. Spanopoulos another 100 points below those guys, meaning we will reach a likely output of 1.250.
Puncheurs:
Rider name
2021 points
2021 Adj.
2022 Exp.
C. Koretzky
1061
987
750
A. Miltiadis
91
85
100
C. Kastrantas
118
110
100
E. Morin
0
0
75
A. Vila
101
94
75
V. Lafay
0
0
75
Total
1.371
1.276
1.175
Last seasons punchy leader, Clement Koretzky is still with the team, and in fact the support around him have increased significantly. Unfortunately so has the competition. To add to that, the race calender of Koretzky is far from ideal so we expect him to drop quire a lot compared to last season. In particular the early part of the season could be very nervewrecking. Luckily he has a lot of late racedays which can be somewhat of a comfort if we are looking unsettlingly poor in the first half of the season. Miltiadis and Vila have improved over the off season and we hope to see them add points, but we also know that with this ridertype we can get minimum points or they can land a stagewin, which will make or break their season. We expect Militadis and Kastrantas to perform slightly better than the rest, but in average those helpers are likely to score just below 100 points each also mainly due to not racing their full calender.
Despite adding in numbers we expect to lose out in this category due to the massive adjustment in the higher end of the puncheur spectrum. And if I have to point at one major concern this season in terms of survival - this is it.
Timetrials:
Rider name
2021 points
2021 Adj.
2022 Exp.
P. Vlatos
552
513
300
N. Ioannidis
143
133
200
I. Kiriakidis
126
117
150
Total
821
782
650
Just like the hills, we have seen a huge invasion of strong timetriallists. Some more versatile than others, but the lottery of timetriallists will see more tickets to be drawn, which doesn't increase our odds. Vlatos is still one of the best, but the competition have gotten strong both in top level and in depth. Würtz was already a better timetriallist last season together with Phinney and those two still stand out, but added Zmorka, Wirtgen, Mullen and Ganna certainly isn't good for the odds of a repetition of a massive season. 552 points last season was a new record, and we expect that to drop significantly despite Vlatos not being directly hit by lower racedays. We can only hope that the more racedays will see him stray past some of the stronger names often.
Both Ioannidis and Kiriakidis have shaped up much better than last season, but yet again the added numbers in this category harm them. Both add some versatility compared to a lot of other TT riders so hopefully both should increase their level despite fewer racedays and stronger competition. Kiriakidis with his U25 eligebility might score him a little bit here and there - although also here the competition is fierce.
Sprinters:
Rider name
2021 points
2021 Adj.
2022 Exp.
B. Coquard
1106
1029
900
S. Farantakis
251
233
400
G. Bouglas
0
0
100
Total
1.357
1.262
1.400
Bryan Coquard and Stylianos Farantakis had very solid seasons last year, and it can be difficult to replicate it. Coquard will be facing his usual rivals Gaviria, Grosu, Degenkolb, Demare, van der Lijke and Groenewegen, and while Ewan has been added to the list Ahlstrand have left it and Degenkolb have started his decrease. Add to that Degenkolb and Ewan on the same team probably see them split races more often than not, which atleast removes some of the top heavy competition. Having said that, the sprinters competition is always a gamble and the calender doesn't suit Coquard as well as it could have, so we do expect a little less from him - but he could also have a very solid season if our setup works properly. Farantakis has improved during the off season and the possibility to split him and Coquard more often than not will see him target some races that could be very good for him. So we expect good things - although he could face the likes of Degenkolb for the same reasons.
Finally Bouglas is back, and he usually performs pretty well. He is mostly there for Coquard, but the racedays he will have for himself is likely to be almost dead in terms of competition so a couple of interesting stage results are definately on the cards - like it has been before.
Cobblers:
Rider name
2021 points
2021 Adj.
2022 Exp.
G. Karatzios
293
272
150
M. Kortsidakis
139
129
150
G. Stavrakakis
0
0
75
Total
432
401
375
We have added a decent amount of strength to this department. Kortsidakis with his 76COB and Stavrakakis back from loan and 75COB while also a decent TT stat offers some flexibility. But we simply can't realistically match the level from last season where Karatzios out of nothing decided to win a one day race. Even if we move up all over the place the points on offer in the region of 15-25 isn't high enough for us to score bit points. But as seen last season it does only require one big result for this category to burst out of the expected level. Neither have a full schedule and neither will get to use their high FL stat for anything else than helping Coquard so I don't see them gunning for a sudden oneday race victory or stagewin. They are more likely to get that sort of freedom next season.
Domestiques:
Rider name
2021 points
2021 Adj.
2022 Exp.
A. Koumpetsos
0
0
50
J. Nsengimana
0
0
50
L. Delco
0
0
50
J. Kelly
0
0
50
A. Agrotis
61
57
25
Total
61
57
225
There's not a lot of benchmarking here with only Agrotis riding for us. This season he's barely riding - only to level up, so he will definately half his score. The remaining riders have plenty of chances to score their 50 points, and who knows if one of them decides to join a succesful breakaway which could alter the table a lot. All of them are in somewhat locked duties in most races though - so it cannot be expected.
Conclusion:
When the expected level of points is added together we get 5.075 points. This should be enough to survive, but you never know. It could be among those teams that end up going down - or it could be 3-500 points safe. If our riders perform exactly like last season we will end up with 5.250 points, which should atleast be enough, adjusted points would amount to 4.900 points however which would see us struggle to survive.
Regardless of anything, we can expect to see a team in the bottom half of the rankings fighting with everything to stay afloat of that relegation line - and as always the amount of succes we accumulate on Grand Tours is likely going to be the deciding factor, as we don't have many chances to win races and accumulate big points.
Great in-depth writeup, as always!
I think that besides your leaders, your expectations are mostly on the lower end of your riders' scoring potential. As you say, it takes one race to be one level above the expected points, and chances are high that at least 2-3 of your riders will achieve exactly that. Moreover, without a top-level GC rider this year, I hope that your riders will enjoy more freedom in stage races, hopefully adding a good bunch of breakaway points.
Well, time will tell - in each case, I wish you good luck and a lot of fun with your newly oriented team! (Which however is only partly true, as the vast majority of riders was already on board last year )
Fabianski wrote:
Great in-depth writeup, as always!
I think that besides your leaders, your expectations are mostly on the lower end of your riders' scoring potential. As you say, it takes one race to be one level above the expected points, and chances are high that at least 2-3 of your riders will achieve exactly that. Moreover, without a top-level GC rider this year, I hope that your riders will enjoy more freedom in stage races, hopefully adding a good bunch of breakaway points.
Well, time will tell - in each case, I wish you good luck and a lot of fun with your newly oriented team! (Which however is only partly true, as the vast majority of riders was already on board last year )
Thanks a lot mate I enjoy writing these a lot
You are absolutely right. In theory we should get a lot more freedom to attack the races and hopefully get atleast a couple of those right, which could lead to 2-3 riders punching above weight. I think it's more likely that they will do so next season though with Coquard an Koretzky out of the equation. I suspect that those will hold back some freedom - well in the flat it certainly will. How much Koretzky will interfere in those short GC races is yet to be seen of course.
True, in terms of rider mass there's not so much new. It's more the stat distribution that has changed quite drastically
Really admire the job you've done in transfers this year transitioning towards the Greek side of things - can't wait for training 
![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
