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[PCT '23] McCormick Pro Cycling
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 31-07-2023 13:00
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World Champion
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Very excited and obviously very scared for McNulty to rejoin the team for a full year, he will have a far higher value than that wage I'm sure. A good amount of room to play with considering the amazing squad you're bringing up with at least two PCT calibre leaders and many other scorers as well.
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
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| redordead |
Posted on 31-07-2023 17:30
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Crazy low wage on McNulty!
That's step 1/2 for having a good year in PCT 
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 01-08-2023 03:48
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Directeur Sportif
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@MacC - we will definitely be checking out the coffee in Bogota, Although McCormick doesn't sell coffee so maybe they will want us to focus on other produce.
@WJ - Mohammad is definitely the most like rider to move on, but he has a really cool skill set so happy to keep him as well.
@BBl - Plan is for Warbasse to spend a lot of time with Brandon as super domestique, mentor etc. Would have to be a pretty attractive offer or desperate situation to part with him.
@Cio - No question a Phinney/McNulty assault on the TDF and TOA is the stuff of which McCormick dreams are made. Seem likely to stay as dreams.
@Red - will you please tell me step 2 tp having a good year in PT?
@Many - pleased with the McNulty wage, pretty favorable compared to similar riders with more established reputations. But he still has to perform on the road and the team manager has to perform in race planning (yikes PCT is a whole new ballgame).
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| redordead |
Posted on 01-08-2023 12:33
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No promises, but I'm sure you'll need it pretty soon 
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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| SotD |
Posted on 01-08-2023 14:24
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World Champion
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Still room to play with after renewing all riders is pretty solid. Especially given the level of the top riders. Well done!
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| Eden95 |
Posted on 02-08-2023 10:08
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Love that you’ve kept your American base together and also now have a fun new toy to play with with McNulty Lots of wage space with two decent leaders heading into transfers already is a pretty good position to be in.
Indosat - ANZ HQ
"This Schleck sandwich is going to cause serious indigestion for Evans" - Phil Liggett |
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 18-08-2023 03:01
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Directeur Sportif
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McCormick Pro Cycling celebrated some bittersweet moments today as 3 long-term riders confirmed their departure.
Brendan Rhim departs for Zwift Pro Cycling. Brendan was one of the teams original 6 core neo-pros from our inaugural 2019 season and is just the second one to leave the team. While the team appreciates Brendan's contribution we also recognize that after spending two years on loan with MRE and the Zwift organization he liked them more than us and we were happy to negotiate a permanent move.
Luke Keough departs for MOL Cycling Team. Luke spent 3 seasons with us failing to be Dan Holloway.
Finally, Jakob Rathe also leaves for MOL. Jakob was also signed in our inaugural season and although he spent his first year at King Power he has always been the face of McCormick Pro Cycling. His good humor on the team bus was infectious, his love for Belgian Monasteries endearing and his ability to score points at Gent Wevelgem rewarding. Most of all we will miss having to look up how to spell his first name because we know it isn't normal but we can't remember what is weird about it. With the teams focus on cobbles remaining minimal we felt it was time to allow Jakob to experience life with another team.
The team remains active in the transfer market and will announce new signings at a later date.
Before he heads off to Hungary we let Jakob play team ambassador around Baltimore one last time.
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| DarkWolf |
Posted on 18-08-2023 05:28
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We need to see Jakob do a similar dance.
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 18-08-2023 18:14
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Directeur Sportif
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@dw - That is Jakob - don't your recognize him?
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 29-09-2024 04:30
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 20-08-2023 10:13
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Saying goodbye to some cherished riders is never easy. Din't expect the Keough departure actually, but guess the constant pressure and being compared to Holloway every day of the year took a big mental toll 
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 26-08-2023 03:34
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Directeur Sportif
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As we look forward to our first season McCormick Pro Cycling welcomes our new signings for 2023: Andrea Bagioli, Jhonatan Narvaez, Roman Seigle, Edoardo Affini, Gregory Daniel, Patrick Naud, Guillaume Boivin and Quinn Simmons.
Manager Ulrich Ulriksen commented, “One of objectives main objective for the offseason was to increase our support in the punchy races for Ian Boswell, in Bagioli, Narvaez and Seigle we feel like we accomplished that goal, Narvaez and Bagioli are also both fast at the finish and we hope they will be able to score some points for themselves.”
The team and sponsors agreed to expand the team’s regional focus this offseason and the signings of Narvaez, as a our first South American rider, and addition of two Canadians in Naud and Boivin saw that come to fruition. Boivin will serve as the team’s second sprinter as Max Walscheid, who was on loan with MOL Cycling Team last year, replaces the departed Luke Keough as our primary sprinter. Naud will play a key support role both in the flats and the hills as well as getting a chance to lead the team in selected classics.
However, the team remains committed to US cyclists as well, and are thrilled to sign the pre-eminent US talent in this year’s class, in Quinn Simmons. Ulriksen noted that “when we started transfers, we weren’t focused on neo-pro’s, we wanted another leader, but we couldn’t find the right rider and when we saw Quinn was still on the market we had to take the opportunity.”
Strengthening the quality of the team time-trial squad behind Brandon McNulty was another key priority. “We started the transfer window with the top two US time-trial guys in our sights, and we think we got the right man in Greg Daniel,” said Ulriksen. He continued, “when the opportunity to add Eduardo came up it was a bonus, and we are thrilled to have him. With him and Andrea on the squad we may have to talk to McCormick about the Italian market.”
The team also welcomes loan-in riders Shoi Matsuda from King Power and Sean Quinn from Zwift as well as stagiaires Michael Garrison and Jean Claude Nzafashwanayo. Nzafashwanayo is only the second African rider to ride for McCormick (after Daniel Habtemichael) and the first under contract. In addition to the permanent departures announced a few days ago, both Noah Granigan and Gage Hecht will rider on loan with King Power this year.
The team thanks all who worked with us during the transfer season particularly King Power, MOL Cycling Team, Zwift and Gjensidige
2023 Roster
| Nat. | Age | Name | FL | MO | HI | TT | ST | RS | RC | CB | SP | AC | FG | DH | PR |  | 25 | Brandon McNulty | 72 | 80 | 74 | 77 | 75 | 77 | 77 | 61 | 64 | 68 | 71 | 67 | 75 | | 32 | Ian Boswell | 70 | 71 | 80 | 67 | 77 | 73 | 71 | 56 | 65 | 76 | 72 | 68 | 69 |  | 24 | Andrea Bagioli | 71 | 71 | 77 | 69 | 76 | 72 | 69 | 60 | 71 | 76 | 75 | 67 | 71 |  | 26 | Jhonatan Narvaez | 70 | 72 | 77 | 69 | 71 | 71 | 74 | 62 | 73 | 74 | 73 | 67 | 67 |  | 30 | Maximilian Walscheid | 73 | 55 | 63 | 62 | 71 | 74 | 73 | 61 | 79 | 79 | 61 | 67 | 75 | | 29 | Sepp Kuss | 68 | 78 | 71 | 64 | 74 | 76 | 71 | 50 | 55 | 69 | 66 | 72 | 65 | | 33 | Lawrence Warbasse | 69 | 77 | 74 | 73 | 74 | 72 | 70 | 57 | 59 | 64 | 71 | 67 | 73 |  | 29 | Roman Seigle | 68 | 72 | 77 | 64 | 73 | 73 | 69 | 60 | 63 | 72 | 70 | 69 | 67 | | 27 | Edoardo Affini | 73 | 66 | 67 | 77 | 76 | 79 | 72 | 64 | 64 | 70 | 73 | 68 | 78 | | 29 | Gregory Daniel | 75 | 67 | 72 | 77 | 75 | 74 | 72 | 55 | 56 | 68 | 73 | 69 | 76 |  | 32 | Patrick Naud | 76 | 62 | 73 | 64 | 72 | 73 | 71 | 74 | 64 | 67 | 78 | 75 | 64 | | 26 | Thomas Revard | 69 | 76 | 70 | 70 | 69 | 74 | 74 | 61 | 58 | 70 | 67 | 63 | 69 | | 26 | Alex Hoehn | 67 | 75 | 72 | 70 | 71 | 74 | 75 | 64 | 64 | 61 | 78 | 68 | 70 | | 34 | Guillaume Boivin | 72 | 56 | 68 | 60 | 71 | 67 | 74 | 57 | 77 | 77 | 71 | 65 | 64 |  | 27 | Fikri Azka Mohammad | 72 | 70 | 74 | 74 | 69 | 72 | 67 | 61 | 67 | 72 | 64 | 65 | 72 | | 30 | Charles Matte | 67 | 75 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 71 | 70 | 51 | 60 | 51 | 70 | 61 | 71 |  | 24 | Shoi Matsuda | 74 | 65 | 70 | 75 | 69 | 74 | 65 | 60 | 71 | 71 | 60 | 64 | 77 | | 23 | Sean Quinn | 69 | 72 | 71 | 68 | 70 | 74 | 71 | 60 | 66 | 68 | 63 | 63 | 71 | | 27 | Zeke Mostov | 75 | 60 | 61 | 75 | 73 | 75 | 65 | 58 | 60 | 65 | 68 | 60 | 75 | | 22 | Quinn Simmons | 69 | 67 | 68 | 60 | 68 | 71 | 72 | 67 | 66 | 71 | 68 | 69 | 60 |  | 23 | Jean Claude Nzafashwanayo | 70 | 65 | 66 | 60 | 69 | 71 | 68 | 60 | 62 | 54 | 69 | 68 | 60 | | 22 | Michael Garrison | 68 | 64 | 64 | 65 | 65 | 67 | 64 | 55 | 59 | 67 | 72 | 65 | 65 |
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| liefwarrior |
Posted on 26-08-2023 06:28
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Brandon McNulty has arrived; promotion was perfectly timed for him. Ian Boswell should perform decently well on the hills as well and you've secured the future there with the signing of Andrea Bagioli. Interesting to see two very similar riders with the arrival of Jhonatan Narvaez as well. Is the aim for the Ecuadorian to play superdomestique for the Italian?
My only concern is whether you will make it through this season. I haven't kept up with all the signings this year but McNulty should do well, especially with U25 points, and Boswell can probably turn out a performance or two. From there, things get slightly more stark. I'm not a big fan of Walscheid but the duo of Daniel and Affini have the potential to score decent numbers in flatter stage races. It seems to me that you'll be relying heavily on depth scoring in the mountains and the hills, it is a strategy that has succeeded before but I don't know if that will be the case here.
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 26-08-2023 10:36
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Team Leader
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You're well ecquipped for the PCT. McNulty should give you a good safety net and you did well to nurture his supporters. And then you still have the Sean Quinn / Quinn Simmons duo which should confuse your opponents as much as it confuses my mind with their names' similarity. Good luck!
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| hillis91 |
Posted on 26-08-2023 13:23
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Team Leader
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Great setup you have here, and Brandon McNulty is looking super juicy! Great rider
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 26-08-2023 13:40
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I agree that this team looks good! The most important piece of the puzzle was signed a couple of years ago already, and as it was said before, the return of maxed McNulty is just perfect timing. It's exactly this kind of rider I was hoping to get all transfers long, and you didn't even have to look for him but could focus on increasing depth instead.
And I think you did well. For obvious reasons, I'm not overly happy with those TTers joining you, though Would've loved to get Daniel as well, but initially had other priorities and then he was obviously gone. And got outbid on Affini, who made an interesting journey to finally end up with McCormick. From almost no TT department to a very serious TTT contender - great job!
And in addition of a great U.S. talent, you were also able to secure your future for the hills with Bagioli - this realy looks like an amazing transfer season, congrats!
Besides the obvious void in the cobbles department, maybe the lack of a top PCT rider in TTs and sprints might hurt you. But for TTs you've got the depth, and in the sprints both Walscheid and Boivin will score their points as well. Will it be enough to stay up? I think it is; McNulty alone should score a big bunch of points, and then you've got some great depth to do the rest.
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 26-08-2023 14:16
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Going to go a bit against the grain here. When you went into the transfer window I said that you didnt need to do anything in the climbing department and you still don't obviously an excellent stage race squad.
As someone that has done hills overload behind a one dimensional puncheur before I get minor flashbacks from looking at that hills squad and wondering if Boswell can do enough to make up for the points that are porentially lost by blocking Bagioli's u25 scoring and the other 77s puncheurs' ability to have their own agency to make this work.
Your TTT setup looks good for McNulty stage races but for races where he isn't in place I think that they might be underperformers.
I do still think that you survive but a couple of bad races from Boswell and McNulty and this could look very dire come end of the season. And the payoff you have with Bagioli and Simmons should be massive but it's a ton of wage cap invested into riders that may not stabilise you in the PCT!
Best of luck!
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 26-08-2023 20:16
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Directeur Sportif
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Thanks all for the good wishes, consensus is right what I thought, that we are neither doomed nor safe. Luckily, I like the CT so only good things can happen.
liefwarrior wrote:
It seems to me that you'll be relying heavily on depth scoring in the mountains and the hills, it is a strategy that has succeeded before but I don't know if that will be the case here.
I think you hit the nail on the head here. Fab and WJ echo the same point - can I get good points out of all 3 puncheurs is probably the key question. TLT survived with a simllar strategy last year. I think that and a big season from McNulty would get us to safety, the opposite relegation.
Fabianski wrote:
Besides the obvious void in the cobbles department, maybe the lack of a top PCT rider in TTs and sprints might hurt you. But for TTs you've got the depth, and in the sprints both Walscheid and Boivin will score their points as well.
That is my hope as well, we will pick up steady points with these guys and Affini with his back ups and Daniel with his HI may have a chance in some of the TT/HI races. Daniel finished 10th in Norway last year.
Gustavovskiy wrote:
And then you still have the Sean Quinn / Quinn Simmons duo which should confuse your opponents as much as it confuses my mind with their names' similarity
I don't know about confusing our opponents it already messed me up like 5 times during planning.
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| redordead |
Posted on 28-08-2023 07:32
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Ulrich Ulriksen wrote:
I think you hit the nail on the head here. Fab and WJ echo the same point - can I get good points out of all 3 puncheurs is probably the key question. TLT survived with a simllar strategy last year. I think that and a big season from McNulty would get us to safety, the opposite relegation.
I did alright with 3 puncheurs last season 
I 'hate' McNulty, but if he doesn't score lots more points than an unmaxed Pogacar then something probably went wrong
On the whole I don't think you'll have any trouble at all. The squad is well put together and I trust your planning decisions. Likely you'll be nearer the top than the bottom 
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 28-08-2023 08:54
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Great depth in the mountain and hills squad with the TTT shored up as well. Two sprinters is always a nice luxury to have, to keep picking up points in most races. McNulty should be great already
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| MacC |
Posted on 28-08-2023 14:50
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Sprinter
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Looks good , McNulty and Eastman are probably neck and neck but you have actual teammates.
Even your weakest riders aren't bad. I'd say you should be able to avoid a relegation scrap handy enough. I don't trust punchers one bit so I hope you don't regret relying on them
Just be careful signing riders named "Sean"- that's Glanbia territory
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