@Nemolito - Yeah certainly a down year for Schomber after his fantastic breakout year in PT. A lot of longer prologues and uphill ones is part of the reason but he also wasn't up to it in the ones that did suit him either. Indeed a sad day to have Houle declining but he left his peak with his best year. And yeah I've been a close follower of Pidcock in both his loan years, since he's an interesting rider to follow already at level 1 and now 3, and also I have just been itching to get him into the squad full-time
@Abhishek - Was never in doubt for me that if I had my choice of offers in transfers that Houle would be the one to keep and despite all the riders who had to leave us having good to great years I think I have been vindicated there both for his quality and the way he fits the team. And yeah good to see Areruya putting up numbers, I think he can do better even without further progression and easily surpass 30PpRD but I wouldn't say no to both
Another solid outing for Xero Racing riders in National Championships season - a couple of missed opportunities but some great jerseys secured. In Kenya and Samoa, Salim Kipkemboi and Darren Young attended the National Amateur Championships as the only professional cyclist from their home countries this season, and both took double victories - back to back for Kipkemboi and both fresh titles (but hardly his first time) for Young having missed last year - our first Samoan champion since Daniel Afoa back in 2017.
Bachirou Nikiema defended his Burkinabe Road Race title for a third year in a row and will hopefully be able to show it off better than ever as he finishes his development in the off-season.
The mixed race including Ethiopia, South Africa and Algeria resulted in a massive failure for us in the road race failing to secure any title, but in the Time Trial it was a special moment for the team's history as after seven years (not all of them with a rider competing) we finally secured a South African National Champion's jersey thanks to Morne van Niekerk.
Daniel Habtemichael was never going to defend his Eritrean Road Race jersey on a cobbled course against Xero legend Mekseb Debesay, but he'll be able to wear his jersey again next year, albeit in fewer stages, thanks to his great victory in the Time Trial.
Finally, a sea of Bralirwa riders couldn't stop Joseph Areruya from taking his Rwandan crown for the first time since 2019 - and in 2023 he will get to wear the jersey for the first time as a full-time leader.
We are pleased to announce the developments of our talent programme in 2022. It has been a rather successful year of growth for our young guns as we look to continue developing home-grown riders and giving them major places in the team, which has been seen already with home grown Joseph Areruya leading the team the past two years as well as Daniel Habtemichael this season, as well as home-grown riders composing many of the team's domestiques. We have riders at all stages of the development process but are building a core of mostly ages 23-26 which will sustain us for much of the next decade, and though our former pace of picking up many talents every year clearly has slowed up, we don't intend on just letting our team age and then doing a complete rebuild when it's too late and so we will keep trying to add young blood here and there.
James Fouche 24| 4.99 > 4.100 | 77,000
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'23
A four-year development process for James Fouche as he came into pro cycling a year early at 21, and so he'll still get his year of U25 eligibility as his fully realised self. Definitely our big Kiwi hope for the post-Bennett years when they come. A fantastic attacking climber with a deceptively okay time trial, we can't wait to see what he does next season whether it's being one of the division's best lieutenants or getting his own chances to shine and attack. If nobody noticed he's literally Dion Smith and he better act like it.
Ilan Van Wilder 22| 1.00 > 3.33 | 130,000
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'25
A solid neo-pro year for our young Belgian stage racer with a few breakaways, many bottles carried and a lot of learning done. After a year equally balanced on the climbing and the chrono work, he is starting to look like a proper stage race helper going into 2023 which will be music to our climber's ears. Two more years until he might be more than just a helper in some of those races.
Bachirou Nikiema 25 | 4.99 > 4.100 | 60,000
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'23
Our three-time Burkinabe champion reaches his full potential as a very good puncheur with a fast finish and a fighting spirit, he'll be a fantastic asset for our hills leaders but also very capable of chasing his own results as a stage hunter and breakaway rider which we are very excited to see. He started with us in 2020 as someone who was equally good in a sprint as uphill and we think the path we chose to develop the latter skill more will be proven the more fruitful one. Certainly he's already on the path to be the greatest Burkinabe cyclist of all time!
Corbin Strong 22| 1.00 > 3.40 | 50,000
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'25
The youngest of our Kiwi climbing trio, much like Fouche Corbin Strong is a very attacking climber with the ability to attack hard and many times which he's been working on this season. We are looking forward to him being a little stronger and able to hang on and help for longer next year, and in the further future him being a huge threat for KoM and stage hunting as well as a capable domestique when the road goes up.
Yacine Hamza 25 | 3.72 > 4.33 | 50,000
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'24
Our Algerian sprinter is an interesting one to try and place into the future of the team for multiple reasons, but what cannot be questioned is his quality which has grown this year as he continues to develop into a fantastic leadout man. He will need Pro Tour experience next year one way or another and will be a very handy guy to have around already.
Salim Kipkemboi 24 | 4.82 > 4.100 | 50,000
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'23
Salim Kipkemboi had a very solid season in his third year with us, particularly breaking through at the Tour of America as a key helper in George Bennett's GC victory with some huge shifts on the front of the peloton in the race's toughest stages. He couldn't quite make individual success happen when he went for it but we are sure he will be able to when he gets a free role next season given he has reached his very strong potential in the mountains and hills. A key helper for Joseph Areruya in particular, he will also be an attacking threat in climbing stages with a quick acceleration and u25 eligible next year.
Florian Vermeersch 23 | 1.60 > 3.73 | 170,000
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'25
After a false start due to the loan rules last year, Florian Vermeersch may be a year behind in his development but it will all be worth it as he is one of the brightest talents around when it comes to the Northern Classics, as well as a very handy sprinter. He has balanced both this year in his training and is looking like a solid rider already, which after some good domestique work already this year and even a stage podium in his final race in Euskal Bizikleta, is very exciting. What's even more exciting is the next year, and then the year after that, and then the year after that...
Thomas Pidcock 23 | 3.31 > 4.86 | 320,000
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'24
Thomas Pidcock has had another great season showing his talents - after coming 131st in the PCT in 2021 with Project: Africa he went a step higher and was 155th in the PT with cycleYorkshire, and he arrives back stronger than ever and hopefully capable of some great things already. He's far from done developing, and though we are exploring multiple options for his development plan next season such as a more hills-intensive focus, we are currently planning on staying the course of this year and just focus on his all-round skills as he develops into a true unicorn in the modern cycling landscape. Most of all we are just excited to finally have him on our team!
Robert Stannard 24 | 4.87 > 4.100 | 130,000
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'23
The fourth and final rider maxing out this year - a disappointing individual year is firmly in the rear-view mirror, the lessons learned and skills gained for Robert Stannard as he reaches his full potential as a kick-ass hills leader for the team! The fit with Joseph Areruya will be worked on in planning over the season but the team has no doubt the duo will share the calendar fine with Areruya's hybrid skills and Stannard showing he can play more than one tune as well with his white jersey win in the Benelux Challenge. We slightly changed course for him this season after advice from sports scientists who now more highly value stamina going into the 2023 season. We can't wait to see what he can do!
Happy to see Fouche finally maxing, love that we played a minor part in his development! Overall you have an amazing young set of riders coming through here, that I also assume will be the cause of some massive headaches for you in your renewals phase with a lot of other moving parts in your team.
Interesting that you chose to move Van Wilder into the stage race aspects but I think it probably is the right thing to do. Once Pidcock and Vermeersch max there are very few races that you cannot contest in and I am super excited to see how you navigate this transfer period because you have the makings of a very good PT team in the future if everything aligns for you!
Pidcock is at the same time the craziest development choice ever but also has the most intriguing long-term training potential ever. I'm not at all jealous about his wage demands in the next 2-3 years but playing around with potential longterm training paths is so fun. I feel like his stats are strong enough that he could be the GOAT on any of four terrains (Mo, Hi, Cb, Sp) by the end of his training eligibility or be the first rider to podium each monument. So many terrific options. If you stick to training him, he is gonna be absolutely insane which ever way you go.
Such a crazy good group of talents. Stannard, Vermeersch, Fouche, ... Just superb. Hope you get out of the PCT soon before Pidcock and Areruya get too expensive to keep the rest of them.
Sensational talents and development! Not much more to say, really. It's kind of unbelievable, the quality/future quality you've got here. Very well done! Also very excited to see what you do in the coming years regarding wages and such. Fingers crossed you're able to keep them all, eventhough it could prove difficult, I guess. Suspect already this transfer season could be a big challenge regarding that.
Great bunch of talents, I am sure you are buzzing. Of course I would never ever do what you did with Pidcock but I can appreciate making yourself spend unnecessary millions to create an incredibly unique rider
Pidcock is so cool. Really! I agree with quadsas that I would have never picked this route, but I really appreciate it being done by others as it creates absolutely astounding riders.
The talent pool of your team is next to none. Absolutely brilliant. Haven't seen such a pool since I invested half my team budget in the likes of Lecuisinier, Coquard, Koretzky, Pichon, Paillot, Vlatos etc.
@whitejersey - Definitely owe you a thanks for getting him his first 2.99! Yep not looking forward to renewals, part and parcel of gathering this group. Van Wilder fits the team much better as a stage racer, behind Areruya, Habtemichael and Fouche (and even Bennett will still be at 79MO when IVW maxes) he is going to be more of a superdom or secondary leader and I think those riders score and help better as stage racers generally. His stats as a CV1 (77MO 76HI 75ACC) are cool but not super exciting enough for him to be a formidable attacking rider. And thanks for the kind words
@redordead - Thanks a lot, I like to think so - and indeed there's a trade-off between having all this talent (plus all the already maxed riders) and having a PCT salary cap.
@knockout - Yeah for sure. I don't think I'm ever enough of an active deal-maker in transfers to do the kind of game-breaking training on Pidcock like giving him Demare's SP and HI or something, but I can't pretend I haven't thought a lot about how it could look. Decisions to be made between him, Vermeersch, Stannard and Areruya for training attention but he does look like the most interesting if I was to put in the effort to go all-in on one of them. I love that monument idea - +5CB and +5HI over five years of training?
@ember - Thank you Hopefully I can hang on to as many as possible, you are right that this transfers is probably going to end up with a fairly big statement on what the team's future looks like. All the options both seem like I can't go wrong and that all of them are wrong because I hate to lose guys that I have brought up like what happened with Higuita or even earlier guys like Schreurs or Kennett where I suffered some awful renewals luck.
@quadsas - It's nice to show them off for sure and will be even nicer to see them all out on the road with these stats after the years of work with them. I definitely know it isn't what many would do and I thought about it and continue to do so a lot, I must have explored every combination of CV1, FTR, HI, SP, CB and SR possible and even more. Often I second guess it but I also love that I have created this unicorn
@SotD - As said to quadsas I know how insane it is, but I am glad people are cheering for it, and not just because you're all happy I voluntarily now don't have the CV1-HI version of him And thank you very much for the last comment, it means a lot, if this group can sample just some of your success it will be a great result of the last half-decade of work. The hardest work is still to come - managing these guys in the off-season each year with renewals, transfers and planning - but so is all the best parts
Absolutely stellar talent factory indeed. Vermeersch obviously not really a regional rider for you so it's nice of you to level him up while I'm trying to get back to PT.
As has been said here, and already answered by you, there is indeed an interesting trade-off waiting to happen during your renewals and the coming transfer season where possibly you'll have a decision between current and future points scoring. Will not be easy I think, but I hope and believe you'll be able to find a good way to make it work!
Nemolito wrote:
Absolutely stellar talent factory indeed. Vermeersch obviously not really a regional rider for you so it's nice of you to level him up while I'm trying to get back to PT.
As has been said here, and already answered by you, there is indeed an interesting trade-off waiting to happen during your renewals and the coming transfer season where possibly you'll have a decision between current and future points scoring. Will not be easy I think, but I hope and believe you'll be able to find a good way to make it work!
Salinas, Roux, Velits, Rowe, Houle... we've always been ones for non-regional leaders when the moment calls - and who knows, if Vermeersch is successful enough I'm sure Belgian companies would be queuing up to associate with him...
A very hard to judge season for Hugo Houle in his final one at the peak of his powers. A far more barren palmares than we are used to for the Canadian, and yet he delivered his highest ever PCT points total (previously 457) and rankings finish (previously 42nd) by large margins, was Xero's second best rider by that metric for the third time in his four seasons, and finally captured his white whale of a GC victory - after three times the runner-up, and four times in the Top 10, in his final race of his final peak season he beat the puncheurs to the yellow jersey in the Euskal Bizikleta, and with that and his Stage 3 victory won his only two races of the season. That result, along with his 2nd place in the Tour Down Under way back in January, was largely responsible for his large points haul. So though he was far from his best form from February until September, can you really argue with the results? A certain amount of the new success is no doubt down to a better-suiting calendar without Luke Rowe clashing with him, but it's still a confounding contradiction of a season.
"Yeah I really didn't feel in my best form for a lot of the season, especially in the sprints." reflects the soon-to-be-33-year-old. "I always seemed to launch too early, too late, or didn't have the legs. We did such a great job planning I should have had more results. But at the same time that's racing, and I maximised myself in other races. I can be proud of the season."
Defending his jersey - Euskal Bizikleta, Stage 4
And what of the future? He will still be a unique force in the division next season even if he isn't at full strength uphill or speed in a sprint - though he proved this year he can score without the latter. And with nobody else in his niche (or even a sprinter) on the books, you expect there'd be a role for him at Xero in 2023.
"I'd love to come back and keep leading. I love this team, the people, the fans. I know I can still compete at this level - if I can help us back to the Pro Tour before I go, I'd love that. At the same time I know eventually that doesn't fit with being a leader - you have to adapt. But I am just focused on one season at a time, and I think I can compete with Xero again next year."
As many have begun to discuss it's going to be a busy year once more in the outgoings department for Xero racing, with the next generation breaking through and demanding the higher wages that their new skillsets beget. However that's a tale rather more suited to another time - right now it's time to kick back and enjoy November, and maybe watch some more highlights from that Euskal win.
George Bennett 31 | Maxed | 340,000 | Xero since 2017
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2022 Palmarès
- GC Tour of America (C1/HC)
- 4x Other Stage Podiums
- Apex Mountain Classic (C1)
- 9th GC Volta a Portugal (PTHC)
- Stage Win Criterium du Dauphine (PTHC)
- 9th GC C. du Dauphine (PTHC)
- Stage Win Tour of America (C1/HC)
- Lead GC Tour of America (C1/HC)
Rankings
20
George Bennett
NZL
Xero Racing
584
Only four races on the calendar this season for "Mr. Xero", making it just seven in two years as he has targeted some long-form stage races as the team figure out how to schedule both of their climbing stars. Unlike his disappointing 2021, it seems like he made every one count. From no Top 10s to all Top 10s, from one victory to four, and from a disappointing 79th place in the Pro Tour to his first ever Top 20 in any division. It's not quite his best year ever, but due to the way the cookie crumbled in the PCT points spread this year, it could fool you into thinking so.
The year began with two middling ninth places in his PTHC outings, with the highlight being his stage win in the Criterium du Dauphine in one of his by now trademark hilltop finish victories. Not the best results but in the current calendar these races with time trials are somewhat unavoidable in his schedule, and they certainly could have gone a lot worse.
"Yeah I am never satisfied with a ninth place really. Maybe next season we can do something else with the scheduling, or maybe I just have to keep working on them." he reflects - then laughs. "Of course, maybe they could just do me a solid and add Japan and Cyprus back to the calendar!"
However of course once he crossed the pond to North America he went from ninth and ninth to first and first, beginning with his victory in the Apex Mountain Classic. A fantastic result for his first classic win since way back in 2017 in the CT, and a well-taken win as he outmuscled the peloton and outfoxed Mark Padun. There was nothing foxlike about his next victory though as it was constant strength and aggression to overcome a TT deficit to stage race stars Choi and Pluchkin to win the Tour of America, the first three-week stage win for Bennett, Xero and indeed the country of New Zealand. The sweetest thing of all from those records, of course, is that New Zealand now has a three-week race winner before Australia does. It can't really be understated what that win means to the team or the strength of legs, mind and heart Bennett showed - but we've already written a huge recap here.
"Yeah it goes right up there with my favourite victories I think. I am glad it's never a question I've been asked because I couldn't rank them, but that obviously has to be a contender. It was awesome and so glad to do it with those boys who made it happen." he smiles. He has a year left at the peak of his powers but it was the kind of win that caps a palmarès for a rider of Bennett's ilk. In his career with the team he loves and is now almost synonymous with he has a victory at each level which could serve as the first line of his tribute when his journey is finally done. But let's not navel-gaze on his behalf - we'll no doubt see him again in December for the interview on what's next for him in 2023 and beyond, so we bid him farewell and a happy holidays and don't ask "the big questions".
Bennett's 2021 was a poor season that's hard to judge because it was elevated by a great moment - his stage win at Le Tour. 2022 was a good (maybe even great, certainly not his best) season elevated to an untouchable plane because of yet another great moment. And in seasons when the team isn't fighting at the top of the rankings, and Xero fans just want those indescribable moments of celebration that only sport can provide, nobody does it better than George Bennett.
Definitely liked your write-up of two certified Xero legends. I remember fondly reporting on Houle's amazing shenanigans in the Basque Country. Great farewell (possibly) story for him.
Also, random question. If you had to give a top-3 of your favourite victories since you started MG, what would they be?
Great writeups. Very curious to see how you deal with Bennett and Houle. With their ages they seem like obvious victims of a rebuild but zhey still have plenty to give if you push towards promotion and somehow can do some cap magic to fit enough of your guys in.
@Nemolito - Thank you And whether it was a farewell to his max stats or his time at Xero it couldn't have been better either way, thank you for bringing it to life. And I share Bennett's feelings on the pain of ranking that, plus then I'd have to include countless other contenders not by him. But most of all, that's a piece I'm sure I'll write one day so I wouldn't want to spoil my thoughts
@knockout - Selling Bennett would be a shocker but putting the attachment aside I can't say I disagree with the logic from an outside, objective perspective. They were both part of that amazing 2020 team which got us promoted and both had their PT glory so I wouldn't have that guilt if they weren't part of the next team to do it - but doing it again and hopefully to stay would also be a great send-off for them. Cap magic definitely going to be needed no matter my plans
Great to see two long time Xero loyalists being highlighted so well! Both had a great season and Bennett topped it all off with the ToA win (drats ). Will be interesting to see how you deal with them in the off season, along with whole horde of fantastic talents that you have accumulated, although I too would be shocked if Bennett goes.
AbhishekLFC wrote:
Great to see two long time Xero loyalists being highlighted so well! Both had a great season and Bennett topped it all off with the ToA win (drats ). Will be interesting to see how you deal with them in the off season, along with whole horde of fantastic talents that you have accumulated, although I too would be shocked if Bennett goes.
Yeah two untouchable legends of the team, no doubt. It's going to be tricky for sure in the off-season to balance the old, new, and everything in between but we hope everyone will get their due here or elsewhere.
Areruya already pushing 30 PpRD. Look forward to seeing him get even better!
Salim Kipkemboi and 
Darren Young attended the National Amateur Championships as the only professional cyclist from their home countries this season, and both took double victories - back to back for Kipkemboi and both fresh titles (but hardly his first time) for Young having missed last year - our first Samoan champion since Daniel Afoa back in 2017.
Bachirou Nikiema defended his Burkinabe Road Race title for a third year in a row and will hopefully be able to show it off better than ever as he finishes his development in the off-season.
Morne van Niekerk.
Daniel Habtemichael was never going to defend his Eritrean Road Race jersey on a cobbled course against Xero legend Mekseb Debesay, but he'll be able to wear his jersey again next year, albeit in fewer stages, thanks to his great victory in the Time Trial.
Joseph Areruya from taking his Rwandan crown for the first time since 2019 - and in 2023 he will get to wear the jersey for the first time as a full-time leader.
James Fouche
Ilan Van Wilder
Yacine Hamza
Thomas Pidcock
Robert Stannard
Hugo Houle
