redordead wrote:

Yeah, but I'm not sure if useful PT riders will tickle my fancy

Looking forward to finding out what the things to talk about are, because I can't think of any

SotD wrote:
A LOT of room to play with here. Will be very interesting to see what direction you aim for.

whitejersey wrote:
Absolutely nuked your leadership core outside of Stallaert, you have so much space to work with that you're essentially able to build an entirely new team, going to be super interesting to see how this team looks post transfers!

Eden95 wrote:
A very different team post renewals, and lots of free real estate to build on. Could be a tricky transfers to rebuild a squad, but I think that you would definitely be able to navigate that minefield and come out the other side in a good position.

jph27 wrote:
Feel for you with El Sabbahi - it's always challenging dealing with the jump in wage demands in renewals when sprinters max, as I found out with Wouters. Some interesting availabilities there, with a big transfer window ahead of you!

ember wrote:
Indeed a big rebuild incoming!

Seeing Rutsch open for offers is encouraging, as we think he could do the role as a key domestique to Wisniowski very well. Tesfatsion is also a very cool rider we've looked at every transfer season since he joined the DB. Understandably to see you've got strong intentions to keep him, but I guess we'll do talks on Rutsch and others, and who knows, maybe Tesfatsion becomes part of our talks at one point?

cunego59 wrote:
The fun/terrifying thing is that I'm still not super sure about the direction I'm going to be taking this team, despite having had many weeks to think about it.

As we move through a turbulent transfer period, we're happy to be able to announce the first signing and, no doubt, the most important. The most talented Rwandan cyclist since Areruya, we welcome Jean Eric Habimana to Bralirwa - Stevens!

A versatile rider, Jean Eric can go a lot of ways in his development, focusing on either hills or cobbles, or trying to master both. Given his and our love for his local training grounds, the Mur de Kigali, featured prominently in our only home race, there is an inclination to go the route that makes him most competitive there, but that's not a decision to be made today.

Today, we're just excited to have him and present him to the MG world, knowing that whatever happens over the next few days, his signing alone will make this a successful offseason.

Ever since the team's inception, the mission statement has been to strengthen the base of Rwandan and African cycling, supplementing it with international riders to build a competitive, successful roster. But the aim, ultimately, was also to develop and aquire true leadership caliber riders from our focus regions.

Valens Ndayisenga was the start of that in our first season in CT, but he could not carry in the same role when we took the step up to PCT. Now, we have found someone who can take on that role:

Welcome to Bralirwa - Stevens, Louis Meintjes! As one of the continent's most prolific stage racers, Louis will lead us in most races with any sort of climbing, but with his great puncheur abilities, he might shine in a hilly race or two as well. Coming off a Top 50 season in the PT, we hope he'll enter the top ranks of the PCT this year.

At 31 years of age and with a moderate wage, we're happy to have Louis as our centerpiece for the upcoming two or maybe more years. And that, we believe, is well worth paying the second highest fee in team history at 1.5M.

Thanks everyone for the kind comments. We are happy with how the transfer window turns out so far and while Louis Meintjes was the most important leader who is supposed to keep us safe, he's not the only one.

Following renewals, we were in dire need of a sprinter. We tested the waters with a few of the preeminent free agents, including discussing a return of Madushanka Perera. Instead, we came to terms with another rider and not any rider: It's the man who has scored the most ranking points for us in team history!

Yes, Fabio Silvestre is back for a third year in white and green. Age has started to take its toll on him, but he should still be able to get some decent results, plus his TT and prologue skills might come in handy here and there, too. And compared to last season, he takes a wage cut of 270.000, which we can use to spread responsibility for good results around, as we intended.

Speaking of:

Ion Izagirre joins us as our third free agency signing. Like Fabio, he isn't in his prime anymore and certainly has his weaknesses: His complete lack of any type of speed, as well declining physical prowess might well leave him vulnerable at times.

But he still is a good puncheur and his signature skillset that includes above average time trialing should fit our schedule well, given we're in a decent amount of hilly stage races including individual or team time trials. He doesn't come cheap with a wage of 170.000, but in our quest to combine an influx of young talent with immediate point scorers, we hope he contributes enough to the latter to make the investment worth it.

In our entire three year long team history, we have arguably had exactly one really good time trialist under contract - the ageing Jacob Fiedler in 2021. With an eye on our calendar, we wanted to change that this year and luckily, we could once again use this slot to add another German to the roster:

Nils Politt joins us from our friends from Team Puma - SAP, alongside a 625.000 transfer fee, in a swap that sends Jonas Rutsch the other way - so much for increasing our German presence, I guess. In the end, Jonas was under contract for three years but only wore our jersey his rookie year. But we make this deal happily, knowing that he will be able to reach his full potential at Puma in a way that he couldn't with us.

Plus, we get a really great guy in return. Nils is instantly our best time trialist, looking for some decent results himself as well as leading our team time trialing outfit. At 29 years old, he fits our strategy to build for more than just the next year or two and on a 55.000 wage, he's very affordable.

With Jonas gone, however, we also needed to find someone else to add to Joeri Stallaert's support system. And we quickly found a great solution:

Welcome our first ever Irishman, Matthew Teggart! He joins us from Glanbia for a fee of 200.000, immediately filling the role of second in command on any sort of cobblestones. His great stamina hopefully gives him the ability to support Joeri long into his most important races, Matthew's quick finish could also net him a few depth points, or even a little bit more in C2, where he could well do some damage alongside co-cobbler Tesfom Okbamariam. Being just 27 years old, he could well fill this role for years to come.

With these two additions strengthening our core, we feel better and better about our roster. But there are still a few spots to fill, so stay tuned for more over the next couple of days!