Well, this has certainly been an eventful renewals with some major effects on our teambuilding and transfer strategy. To get the, respectfully, less important news out of the way: We bid farewell to all four of our stagiaires from last year, who unfortunately did not leave a lasting impression. We wish all the best to Shemu Nsengiyumva, Aziz Melki, Marc Brustenga and Ivan Cobo and hope they find a home and room to develop somewhere else.

But now, to the headlines. Angel Madrazo and Fabio Silvestre both regressed due to their age following the previous season. Given their nonetheless high quality, we were keen to keep them on as veteran leaders. Unfortunately, we had to take their new abilities into account to not recklessly spend undue cap space and both were rather unamused by our offers. Nonetheless, we part amicably and who knows, maybe we’ll talk again in free agency.

The final rider to leave us might be the most surprising and also the one management regrets the most: We were unable to come to terms with our young sprinter Houcaine El Sabbahi. Throughout the negotiations, we felt like we offered fair compensation and even stretched outselves quite a bit with our final offer, and it was still not enough. We have expressed our continued interest, though, and will certainly make contact again during free agency.

With that out of the way, let’s take a look at the riders who have renewed their contracts:

	Rider	Age	AVG	2023 Wage	Change	Available
	J. Stallaert	32	78,56	500.000 €	- 150.000	��
	V. Ndayisenga	29	75,24	95.000 €	- 15.000	�
	N. Tesfatsion	24	74,92	85.000 €	+ 25.000	�
	J. Rutsch	25	74,90	85.000 €	+ 35.000	���
	B. Uwizeyimana	30	74,84	95.000 €	+ 10.000	�
	M. Eyob	30	74,61	75.000 €	0	���
	T. Okbamariam	32	73,51	50.000 €	0	���
	M. Mugisha	26	73,49	55.000 €	+ 5.000	�
	S. Khederi	32	73,44	50.000 €	0	���
	J. Hadi	31	73,09	50.000 €	0	��
	S. Mugisha	26	71,14	50.000 €	- 5.000	�
	Y. Debesay	24	70,95	50.000 €	0	Loan
	R. Uhiriwe	22	67,65	50.000 €	- 25.000	Loan
.
	Renewals:			- 120.000
	Released:			- 1.090.000
	Wage Cap:			1.210.000

� strong intention to keep | ��� open for offers | ����� clear intention to sell

So ... that’s quite a bit of cap space, huh? While releasing two of our biggest earners obviously makes up the biggest piece of that pie, we were also able to get the overall wage bill down in renewals.

The biggest contribution here comes from Stallaert, who takes a second major paycut in a row to get his wage down to 500.000. Ndayisenga was also open to a wage reduction after a quieter season in Madrazo’s shadow, while Uhiriwe adjusted his wage according to his status after a brief bidding war in last season’s free agency.
On the other hand, youngsters Tesfatsion and Rutsch earned raises in accordance with their progress, while Uwizeyimana was modestly rewarded for an improved scoring output in 2022.

This leaves us with two things: On the one hand, an enormous 1.21M in cap space. On the other hand, just 13 riders and a roster that’s basically a decent CT team plus Joeri Stallaert (in his last prime season). Hence, a significant retooling is in order, both to remain in PCT as well as build for a brighter future. Should be a lot of fun! And if you’re interested in perhaps aquiring one of our riders, look above at our availability scale. We’re not actively looking to offload anyone, but some of them could be had for the right price.

Ezeefreak wrote:
I see some interesting opportunity here to have some talks in the future.

Also quite a huge paycut for you but with releasin g some of these monsters this was to be expected. But now you have enough foundation to buld up strong again. Good Luck for this and we talk to each other for sure

liefwarrior wrote:
Three big departures and, as you say, only Joeri Stallaert as a true leader for the PCT. Some significant moves will need to be made but you have the cap space to make them. We might have to discuss the departure of one of the Belgian's loyal lieutenants, because Jonas Rutsch certainly looks like quite a treat.

cio93 wrote:
Rutsch available at a perfect time for our plans and the worst time in general

I'd love to make something happen there, and maybe we have just the right piece for your PCT survival in return...

AbhishekLFC wrote:
An expected rebuild lined up, and seeing the renewals, it should be a very interesting one. Look forward to seeing how it goes

knockout wrote:
Time for the rebuild. High expectations after previous transfer seasons but obviously a lot to do and perhaps it's time for a longterm build?

Nice to see Stallaert with a good cut. That should help things too.

baseballlover312 wrote:
There was bound to be a huge shakeup, really looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

redordead wrote:
I would have been very interested in a rider if I was still in PCT

A shame with El Sabbahi. I guess you have a busy transfers season ahead of you, but I know you're up to the task

Croatia14 wrote:
I feel bad

jandal7 wrote:
I know Uhiriwe is available for loan, but he's also at five dots right?

Huge calls to chop Madrazo and Silvestre at this juncture, but it gives you maneuverability from the get go in transfers I guess. Can't wait to see what you do - sure as always we'll be talking

TheManxMissile wrote:
With a renewals setup like that there is only one possible outcome - major signings plural, and then promotion.

cunego59 wrote:
Why not anymore? Surely all my guys could be very useful PT riders, too Either way, I do believe we may have a thing or two to talk about in transfers, we'll see ...