All the changes have been detailed, so without further ado, here is Carlsberg - Danske Bank's 2022 roster:
On the surface, not a ton has changed from last year. The two leaders brought in for 2021, Guldhammer and Trentin, will continue to lead on their respective terrains despite having declined in the offseason. For Trentin, a lean PCT cobbles field means he will still have a chance to compete near the top at times. For Guldhammer, a very strong climber and stage racer cohort in PCT means he cannot be relied on for anywhere close to his over 600 points last year- half of that may be closer to the expectation.
Asbjorn Kragh Andersen will look to pick up where he left off last year in the sprints, once again as the primary leader. He cannot be expected to finish 14th place in the division again, but the team hopes he will remains one of the better sprinters around. Once again, Carlsberg refuse to field a leadout train for AKA, as that absence was never a problem last year. Sebastian Lander will act as the team's sole other sprinter, riding an entirely different calendar from AKA.
The big changes are on the hills. The addition of Kristian Haugaard Jensen and the training of Alex Aranburu have pushed hilly terrain from a complete black hole to a relative focus for Carlsberg. Aranburu and Haugaard will tend to ride separate calendars when possible, but their support will be quite weak. Kasper Asgreen remains the only true puncheur domestique available, though some of the team's versatile domestiques aren't opposed to hilly classics.
The team sees four of its talents graduate to full service this year. Most notable among them is Lennard Kamna, who the team has big plans for already as a leader in goal races this year. His climbing ability makes his time trialing specialty even more valuable, and the team sees a lot of opportunities across the calendar to capitalize on this niche. He should be motivated, as it's probably his own training money at stake in these races.
There's definitely a certain kind of youth movement going on at Carlsberg now, though you won't see it in newly signed talents, who besides Skjelmose are few and unremarkable. Nevertheless, Kamna's graduation and Aranburu's training have put younger riders in the spotlight, and Gregaard, Belevics, and Resell will all slot into major roles as superdomestiques and secondary scorers. All told, Carlsberg only have 5 riders aged 30 or older, and no rider with an OVL under 76 is older than 28. The young core of domestiques has been properly assembled.
Overall, we see a team that is somewhat caught in between its goals here. They will have leaders for all their race days, but none good enough to really excel in PCT. That strategy of breadth is one that hurt them in the 2017-2019 era, and they will not want to repeat that. Given that their leaders are at least stronger now than they were then, they should probably avoid relegation this time. They don't have enough holes to truly collapse.
But beyond that, the setup is a little less clear. The signing of Skjelmose and the failure to sign another superstar made promotion an impossibility. But if they do manage to finish mid table, as they hope, they are then in a similar situation to this offseason, except that a strategy of keeping Guldhammer and Trentin around again will be completely untenable after another decline. At least they'll have a chance this season to see which of their young riders will be able to step up going forward.
Thank you for reading our coverage of this transfer season, and stay tuned for our in-season coverage soon!
I wouldn't be so sure about promotion being an impossibility at all. Investing massively in hills is the best thing you could have done considering how weak the PCT puncheur department is this season. - Jensen is now easily a top-5 puncheur in the division and Aranburu as a sort of Beltran-lite will have plenty of race days he can score well in.
Apart from that, being able to score on any terrain is a huge advantage. Your team reminds me of one that heine would have constructed, strong all round, but no 'top' rider. I think you'll be floating around the promotion spots all season at the very least.
I don't really know what to think of your roster. To me, it surely doesn't look like a team being in relegation danger, that's probably most important this year.
But both Guldhammer and Trentin having declined, your primary leaders in mountains and on cobbles got weaker. While not that much of an issue on cobbles due to the division's overall quality dropping, stage races will be really packed this year.
Which is the reason why I'm not so sure about how well Kamna can do this year. He's a great TTer and a future stage race star for sure, but will the engine give a 77Mo rider enough credit to position him well in a race with 20 or so 79+ climbers? If it happens, he could be a massive scorer in TT-heavy races!
For the hills, you've got two completely different leaders, which should be perfect. KHJ is perfect for short and steep finishes, while Aranburu covers the tough hilly races. Lack of support could be an issue, as you write, but if planned well, they should score good points.
AKA had an awesome season last year - let's see if that was a one-off, or if PCM20 really likes him - before moving on to the next version in 2023 ^^ I guess if he gets 2/3 of last year's point, you'd still call it a successful season.
Otherwise, I like Olesen's versatility. Your cobbles helpers are decent on the hills as well, which could be crucial for the tougher races. And in terms of TTT setup, your teams somewhat reminds me of mine - two good TTers, then a bit of a drop in quality. But surely solid enough to not completely lose a tour in a TTT stage.
Should be a fun season for you - especially also having one of the most exciting talents on board! Good luck!
With a leader on every terrain you should indeed hopefully be safe while also developing the next Danish top talent. Love the Aranburu training. If he does well, maybe I need to come knocking on your door next season, you'll need some Kämna training money then
Eden95 wrote:
I wouldn't be so sure about promotion being an impossibility at all. Investing massively in hills is the best thing you could have done considering how weak the PCT puncheur department is this season. - Jensen is now easily a top-5 puncheur in the division and Aranburu as a sort of Beltran-lite will have plenty of race days he can score well in.
Apart from that, being able to score on any terrain is a huge advantage. Your team reminds me of one that heine would have constructed, strong all round, but no 'top' rider. I think you'll be floating around the promotion spots all season at the very least.
That's pretty much how I felt about it. Jensen made sense from the beginning as I wanted a puncheur anyway. But looking at the shift in focuses at the PCT level this year, I'm especially happy with it. That shift also directed my Aranburu training a bit. I definitely think I've ended up with focuses on the right terrains given how stage racer heavy PCT is now. But then again, I avoided hills last year when that was a divisional strength, and that strategy didn't save me or anything.
Fitting that my team is one Heine would have constructed. Not only because he was one of my favorite managers to talk to and deal with, but because two of my leaders are still guys I bought from him last year.
I hope you're right about potential promotion obviously , but I'd be very satisfied with a top half finish I think.
Fabianski wrote:
I don't really know what to think of your roster. To me, it surely doesn't look like a team being in relegation danger, that's probably most important this year.
But both Guldhammer and Trentin having declined, your primary leaders in mountains and on cobbles got weaker. While not that much of an issue on cobbles due to the division's overall quality dropping, stage races will be really packed this year.
Which is the reason why I'm not so sure about how well Kamna can do this year. He's a great TTer and a future stage race star for sure, but will the engine give a 77Mo rider enough credit to position him well in a race with 20 or so 79+ climbers? If it happens, he could be a massive scorer in TT-heavy races!
For the hills, you've got two completely different leaders, which should be perfect. KHJ is perfect for short and steep finishes, while Aranburu covers the tough hilly races. Lack of support could be an issue, as you write, but if planned well, they should score good points.
AKA had an awesome season last year - let's see if that was a one-off, or if PCM20 really likes him - before moving on to the next version in 2023 ^^ I guess if he gets 2/3 of last year's point, you'd still call it a successful season.
Otherwise, I like Olesen's versatility. Your cobbles helpers are decent on the hills as well, which could be crucial for the tougher races. And in terms of TTT setup, your teams somewhat reminds me of mine - two good TTers, then a bit of a drop in quality. But surely solid enough to not completely lose a tour in a TTT stage.
Should be a fun season for you - especially also having one of the most exciting talents on board! Good luck!
Without revealing too much about his exact calendar, I will say this about Kamna. I envision him as a time trialist for this year. One who can get over bumps better than most, but ultimately a time trialist. So I don't necessarily see him running into too many 79+ climbers on his calendar, at least in races where that distinction is especially meaningful. There's a niche I hope to exploit with him, and I think there are some opportunities for that.
To go with that, I'm effectively giving up on traditional stage races (2-3 Mtn stages and a TT) this year given the competition in PCT. Guldhammer will soak up all the mountain race days we have, but I can't expect much from him. Which, given that he's being paid 300k still, maybe isn't the best use of our funds then. But I'm not the smartest manager.
I think you're right that it should at least be an exciting year for me, having someone to root for on all terrains. Beyond that, I'll just hope for the best.
Nemolito wrote:
With a leader on every terrain you should indeed hopefully be safe while also developing the next Danish top talent. Love the Aranburu training. If he does well, maybe I need to come knocking on your door next season, you'll need some Kämna training money then
Relegation while I'm developing Skjelmose might be the worst possible outcome, so yes, hopeful to avoid that. Glad you like the Aranburu training at least.
redordead wrote:
At worst this should be a rock solid season for you, with no fear of relegation.
Hope you're right about that. As long as we survive, we can always figure out how to do it again next year.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Carlsberg - Danske Bank's 10th season will be very different from any that have come before it. Pro Tour. That's where they will be racing. Years and years of mediocrity - well, lets be honest - mostly failure, have suddenly turned around. The team that demoted to CT for the 2020 season will be at the very top of the spot in 2023.
It wasn't necessarily a particularly spectacular promotion campaign. Carlsberg got only 5 wins this season, and didn't have a single rider in the top 20 of the individual rankings. Nevertheless, it was a full team effort, and it managed to be just enough. Carlsberg racked up 3257 points to secure the 5th and final automatic promotion spot by a slim but ultimately comfortable margin of 203 points over Binance.
Needless to say, this changes everything. Going into last offseason, all signs pointed to Carlsberg either embracing a sustainability strategy in PCT around the development of Skjelmose Jensen, or going all in on older leaders for promotion. When they signed Skjelmose, it seemed like the prior had won the day, and reports were that Carlsberg was actively looking to get younger at the end of the transfer season, even if it meant sacrificing a few points this year. That didn't unfold, and Carlsberg entered the season with a strange combination of a big young talent and older, declining leaders. The crazy part is, it worked.
Old heads of state Rasmus Guldhammer and Matteo Trentin did their jobs all year. While Trentin's big win happened to be a pointless wildcard race, he was pretty consistent in real races despite his decline. Guldhammer had a pretty unsuited schedule, but he still managed to finish 21st overall in a stacked PCT GC field thanks to his classic standout performances.
The young kids stepped up as well. Lennard Kamna ended up being pretty much everything his manager could have hoped, scoring over 500 points and almost cracking the top 30 thanks to his unique skillset. After training, Alex Aranburu was under a ton of scrutiny to live up to the massive investment. He wasn't perfect, but he proved his worth with some big hilly performances in the second half of the season, outperforming his ostensibly better co-leader Kristian Haugaard Jensen by about 100 points in the end.
In previous years, a lot might be made about Kragh Andersen's somewhat poor season, where he came up almost entirely empty in his GC races and finished behind too many weaker sprinters in the standings. But forget any transfer rumors. At this point, his relationship with management is good, and they'll be hoping for a rebound in a more secondary role next year in PT.
So, where does that leave Carlsberg? With a ton of options and a lot of work to do. They only passed one goal this year, and while it was their most important, their budget probably won't be too great going up to PT. And that's not amazing when your leaders are all declining past the point of return and you can't get value back. A trip back to PCT next season already appears likely. But, you never know what options will arise in the transfer season, and it will be a fun experience for the Danish crew regardless. As the offseason comes closer, we'll keep you in the loop with more rumors and information.
Re-reading what I wrote about your team before this season, I guess my statement about Kämna potentially being a huge scorer was pretty much spot-on
Congrats on promoting to PT, that's some perfect timing given that you're going into your 10th year I didn't really believe you'd make it when doing ranking update #7 (end of August), with many other teams still having the ToA card to play - but big time performances in Battenkill and Morocco, and really solid points in Bayern basically promoted you even before Emilia. And you also rocked that one, bringing both Aranburu and KHJ in the Top 10
You said it, no rider in the Top 20 means that Carlsberg had to work really well as a team to achieve this promotion. I guess the rankings reflect that pretty well - none in the Top 20, but still four in the Top 50! Guldhammer's first decline went almost unnoticed - although his calendar wasn't perfect (as you were considering selling him going into transfers), so that was a big factor. Then obviously Kämna, whose 500+ points are above expectations I guess. Trentin and AKA also ended up in the Top 50, despite the former's most valuable result not accounting for any points, and the second having one of his weaker years.
Maybe the two puncheurs were slightly disappointing, but they made their contribution as well. Finally, Skjelmose scored his first 16 points for you - I wonder what number we'll find there by the end of his career
Good luck for the offseason, given Guldhammer's and Trentin's second decline, I guess there will be quite some rebuilding to do
Love it love it love it! Spectacular stuff from your squad, great work by you and love the vindication for your work with Kamna especially and how you planned him very well. Can't wait for Carlsberg taking on the PT! Congratulations on an awesome year
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
Congrats on the promotion after a great season! Kamna was the big revelation and looks set for many great years getting even better. Look forward to see how you go in the PT with the impending rebuild
Great season, deserved promotion, congrats! Looking forward to facing you more regularly. Also increases the odds that Skjelmose and Plapp will race more often against each other, which im hoping to see
Congrats on promotion! Awesome job turning things around in such a short time span. Girmay has only said good things about his time with your team and enjoyed his first pro season on a successful team with a great mentor in Trentin. Best of luck staying up the big boys next season -- it's not easy (speaking from experience).
Big congratulations! And also the perfect timing for your team, I’d say, seeing the development of Skjelmose and some potential free agents. It is brilliant to see you promote, super happy for you!
Congrats on going into PT - it is well deserved. And you're not alone on the "what to do with my declining core" - I'm in the same boat (though from CT to projected PCT), but have no doubt that you'd figure it out.
Wow, nobody in the top-20, but still a great points tally and nice season for you. Lovely to see you heading into PT, and depending on your renewal choices you could have very much wage to spend. Guess with the (Scandinavian) FA pool we are looking it, that's obviously not the worst position to be in. I'd appreciate it if you made sure Würtz stays in PT
Fabianski wrote:
Re-reading what I wrote about your team before this season, I guess my statement about Kämna potentially being a huge scorer was pretty much spot-on
Congrats on promoting to PT, that's some perfect timing given that you're going into your 10th year I didn't really believe you'd make it when doing ranking update #7 (end of August), with many other teams still having the ToA card to play - but big time performances in Battenkill and Morocco, and really solid points in Bayern basically promoted you even before Emilia. And you also rocked that one, bringing both Aranburu and KHJ in the Top 10
You said it, no rider in the Top 20 means that Carlsberg had to work really well as a team to achieve this promotion. I guess the rankings reflect that pretty well - none in the Top 20, but still four in the Top 50! Guldhammer's first decline went almost unnoticed - although his calendar wasn't perfect (as you were considering selling him going into transfers), so that was a big factor. Then obviously Kämna, whose 500+ points are above expectations I guess. Trentin and AKA also ended up in the Top 50, despite the former's most valuable result not accounting for any points, and the second having one of his weaker years.
Maybe the two puncheurs were slightly disappointing, but they made their contribution as well. Finally, Skjelmose scored his first 16 points for you - I wonder what number we'll find there by the end of his career
Good luck for the offseason, given Guldhammer's and Trentin's second decline, I guess there will be quite some rebuilding to do
Definitely a lot to reflect on and a huge offseason ahead, but I like where we're at. We knew Guldhammer and Trentin were on their last legs, so this is kind of the best case scenario. You were of the few true believers in Kamna though. He had something of a slow start, but he ended up being insanely consistent throughout the year and maybe having one of the best wage/points ratios among the top guys in PCT. Very happy to have him on my team for years to come.
redordead wrote:
Congrats on a great season and a well deserved promotion!
I'm sure there will be plenty of riders to sell in order to prop up your budget
Thank you! Selling will definitely be on the agenda, although I'm still happy with a lot of our core depth.
jandal7 wrote:
Love it love it love it! Spectacular stuff from your squad, great work by you and love the vindication for your work with Kamna especially and how you planned him very well. Can't wait for Carlsberg taking on the PT! Congratulations on an awesome year
Thank you! I really felt like I took a risk planning my season around Kamna, trying to find his niche of bumpy TT races rather than focusing on my other tried and true pure leaders, but it worked out really well. I've never been the greatest planner, so it feels pretty good.
AbhishekLFC wrote:
Congrats on the promotion after a great season! Kamna was the big revelation and looks set for many great years getting even better. Look forward to see how you go in the PT with the impending rebuild
We'll see what Kamna's role looks like in PT, cause the jump is a little intimidating, but he's definitely a core piece for us, and what a breakout season!
Mresuperstar wrote:
Congrats on promotion! Awesome job turning things around in such a short time span. Girmay has only said good things about his time with your team and enjoyed his first pro season on a successful team with a great mentor in Trentin. Best of luck staying up the big boys next season -- it's not easy (speaking from experience).
Girmay is an absolute stud. Thrilled we had the chance to take him on. Time after time he ended up being our last cobbles helper despite inferior cobble. Very happy he got to learn under Trentin and start off his career on the right note. Not looking forward to battling with him for years to come though!
ember wrote:
Big congratulations! And also the perfect timing for your team, I’d say, seeing the development of Skjelmose and some potential free agents. It is brilliant to see you promote, super happy for you!
Even if our time in PT is short, I do feel like this is a big step for our team, sponsors, fanbase, etc. It's an entirely new challenge and I'm just so excited to take it on. Skjelmose is coming along nicely, and we'll hopefully be able to max him without any loans now since he's already well into Level 3.
ivaneurope wrote:
Congrats on going into PT - it is well deserved. And you're not alone on the "what to do with my declining core" - I'm in the same boat (though from CT to projected PCT), but have no doubt that you'd figure it out.
Yeah, it's an interesting situation to be in. I took the risk keeping them this year and I obviously don't regret it because it netted me the ultimate goal. But now Guldhammer and Trentin aren't assets at all anymore and we have a lot of leadership spots to fill without much budget from goals. It will be a very exciting to see how it plays out.
Nemolito wrote:
Wow, nobody in the top-20, but still a great points tally and nice season for you. Lovely to see you heading into PT, and depending on your renewal choices you could have very much wage to spend. Guess with the (Scandinavian) FA pool we are looking it, that's obviously not the worst position to be in. I'd appreciate it if you made sure Würtz stays in PT
We obviously have some targets on our mind, but we're still holding out some small glimmer of hope that some of them won't end up being on the open market. Regardless, yeah, we have a lot of work to do, and we have opportunities to get it done.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
The big news of season's end for Carlsberg was obviously their promotion to the Pro Tour, which has understandably dominated the headlines. But here at Sporting News, we're dedicated to giving you our full, normal coverage even when breaking news changes up the cycle. So, we're ready to bring year our yearly talent update from the scouting department.
Gyasi Sulvaran
All-Arounder - 4 > Max - Age 29 - Pot. 2
Flat
Mtn
Hill
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Cob
Spr
Acc
Fig
Dwn
Pro
2022
72
69
74
71
68
76
66
54
66
74
77
67
72
2023
72
71
75
72
69
77
67
54
66
74
77
67
73
Not everyone has a traditional career development, and it took Gyasi a lot longer to get the pros and establish himself than most riders. But at 29, he's finally reached his maxed potential. The defending Curacao champion has already been a frequent breakaway presence and a solid domestique across all terrains the last couple of years. At his peak, he will be a great stage race and hills domestique with a monster engine. he's not exactly Marc De Maar, but his countryman is certainly proud.
Goldwijnn Cannister
Cobbles - 3 > 4 - Age 24 - Pot. 6
Flat
Mtn
Hill
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Cob
Spr
Acc
Fig
Dwn
Pro
2022
70
61
66
64
71
65
67
69
70
72
70
62
66
2023
72
62
67
64
73
66
70
71
73
74
70
63
66
The Curacao Cannon made huge strides in 2022, and he's looking forward to a very productive 3rd professional year. He had very little seasoning before signing, but it's now clear that he will be a solid classics domestique at any level. He's focused on endurance and stability, so his acceleration no longer projects as high as it once did, but he figures to be a solid finisher in light classics and an able flat breakaway man at his peak.
Hugo Forssell
Track-Sprinter - 3 > 4 - Age 24 - Pot. 3
Flat
Mtn
Hill
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Cob
Spr
Acc
Fig
Dwn
Pro
2022
66
62
68
73
67
71
66
57
74
74
69
67
74
2023
68
62
69
73
68
73
74
57
76
76
69
67
76
Forssell recently took home the U23 ITT silver medal. Unfortunately that might be the crown achievement of his career, because our scouts project that he's almost reached his peak at only 24 years old. He always projected as a prospect with a high floor and lower ceiling, and we should see that in the coming year. Nevertheless, Forssell has honed the skillset that caught everyone's attention on the track. He'll be a prologue threat and a fast leadout man who can slot into any TTT team with ease.
Mathias Skjelmose Jensen
Stage Racer - 1 > 3 - Age 23 - Pot. 5
Flat
Mtn
Hill
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Cob
Spr
Acc
Fig
Dwn
Pro
2022
70
70
69
69
66
72
68
58
64
65
69
65
69
2023
71
74
71
72
69
74
71
58
64
65
69
65
72
All is according to plan. The most anticipated Carlsberg talent in history ironically provides the least to talk about in a scouting report. He was a stage racer, he projects as one, and he's developing as one. He won't be a white jersey threat yet in PT this year, but his skillset should be good enough to contend for l'Avenir with the right support group behind him. Every Danish fan will be looking forward to it.
The youth movement (Aside from Skjelmose) seems to be coming to an end at Carlsberg. The core of talents that began developing with the team's first rise to PCT has mostly come and gone. Now, with a PT transfer season ahead, it remains to be seen the strategy they will take. Will they load up on more talents and accept PCT stability, or go for break and try to win now? Lots of options ahead. We'll be on the decisions as always, starting with renewals.
Mr. Pickles
Sporting News
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
I didn't really believe you'd make it when doing ranking update #7 (end of August), with many other teams still having the ToA card to play - but big time performances in Battenkill and Morocco, and really solid points in Bayern basically promoted you even before Emilia. And you also rocked that one, bringing both Aranburu and KHJ in the Top 10 
Gyasi Sulvaran 
Hugo Forssell 
Mathias Skjelmose Jensen 
