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[PCT 24] ELCO - ABEA
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| SotD |
Posted on 17-07-2024 17:20
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World Champion
Posts: 12182
Joined: 29-11-2006
PCM$: 2980.00
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For the first time ever, ELCO - ABEA, the former Festina-side, have relegated into the Pro Continental Division. It is a massive blow, but will also form an interesting debut in a new division.
..::Team Name::..
 ELCO - ABEA
..::Team Manager::..
 Andreas
..::History::..
2023 ELCO - ABEA
2022 ELCO - ABEA
Credits: OlegTinkov
..::Last Season Standing::..
18th Pro Tour
..::Post-Renewals::..
GC Riders
Miltiadis Giannoutsos | Age: 27 | €220.000
Puncheurs
Zisis Soulious | Age: 28 | €100.000
Aimiliano Vila | Age: 27 | €90.000
 Andreas Miltiadis | Age: 28 | €70.000
Climbers
Michail Mavrikakis | Age: 30 | €120.000
Ioannis Spanopoulos | Age: 31 | €95.000
Dimitrios Christakos | Age: 25 | €85.000
Alexandros Agrotis | Age: 26 | €50.000
 Yikui Niu | Age: 30 | €55.000
 Mats Wenzel | Age: 22 | €50.000
 Edgar Andres Pinzon | Age: 23 | €10.000 (S)
Sprinters
Stylianos Farantakis | Age: 29 | €320.000
Anastasios Koumpetsos | Age: 28 | €85.000
 Luke Lamperti | Age: 22 | €10.000 (S)
 Simon Dehairs | Age: 23 | €10.000 (S)
Cobblers
Michail Kortsidakis | Age: 30 | €115.000
Georgios Stavrakakis | Age: 26 | €90.000
Georgios Boutopoulos | Age: 28 | €160.000
Danny Summerhill | Age: 35 | €80.000
 Alexander Edmondson | Age: 31 | €75.000
Timetriallists
Nikolaos Ioannidis | Age: 31 | €140.000
Ioannis Kiriakidis | Age: 27 | €110.000
Pangiotis Christapopoulos | Age: 29 | €65.000
Ioannis Varotsos | Age: 22 | €100.000
 Edoardo Affini | Age: 28 | €70.000 (L)
 Samuel Mugisha | Age: 27 | €50.000 (L)
Loan Out
Alex Mengoulas | Age: 27 | €50.000
Panagiotis Karatsivis | Age: 23 | €55.000
Martinos Moutsios | Age: 23 | €50.000
Alexandros Matsangos | Age: 25 | €55.000
 Kees Duyvesteyn | Age: 26 | €50.000
*Average age: 27,0
 Circulo de Juarez | Win | | TBA | | TBA | TBA |  Ras Tailteann | Top 5 | | TBA | | TBA | TBA |  Chrono d'Arenberg | Top 5 | | TBA | | TBA | TBA | | Philadelphia International Championship | Top 5 | | TBA | | TBA | TBA | | Team Standings | Top 5 | | TBA | | TBA | TBA |
Edited by SotD on 09-09-2024 18:10
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| SotD |
Posted on 17-07-2024 17:20
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World Champion
Posts: 12182
Joined: 29-11-2006
PCM$: 2980.00
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TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
Edited by SotD on 17-07-2024 17:36
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| SotD |
Posted on 17-07-2024 17:20
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World Champion
Posts: 12182
Joined: 29-11-2006
PCM$: 2980.00
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Reserved for...
The Greek Cycling Mythologi:
It was another great year for Greek Cycling, and if it hadn't been for the relegation of ELCO - ABEA everyone would have aknowledged the fact, that Greek Cycling is in Explosive growth. From it's downturn in 2017, scoring a total of 684 points worldwide, the nation has been on a rise ever since:
2018: 1240 pts
2019: 1335 pts
2020: 1745 pts
2021: 2556 pts
2022: 2652 pts
2023: 3581 pts
From when everyone thought it would require baby-steps to keep the development going in 2021-2022, we suddenly saw the biggest leap ever, from 2652 pts to 3581 pts. A massive jump to just outside the top 20 Nations Ranking. This is a very good indicator that Greek Cycling is beginning an era where it is theoretically possible to be self-sustainable and survive at PT level.
What we, however witnessed with our own eyes, was the fact that even solid riders like Coquard, Carapaz and Koretzky couldn't make it happen. And it is down to crunching numbers, rather than positions. For Greece to be able to be sustainable at PT level we need Greek riders to score approximately 5000 points across all divisions, with the majority of points joint in one team. For this to happen, then benchmark is Russia in 15th place. We have to admit, that there is still some way for Greece to make that. Even another jump of 1000 points would not make that realistic - And with the GuardTower now in the 2nd tier, we should expect to see the points decrease once again.
Let's look at the ranking of Greek riders, however...
Ranking:
The ranking of Greek cyclings finest is achieved by the following:
0 Titan | +3000 points
1 God | +1500 points
2 Hero | +500 points
3 Warrior | 0-500 points
| Rank | Name | Active period | Total points | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | | 0 Titan | Panagiotis Vlatos | 2012-Current | 3307 | 345 | 182 | 552 | | 1 God | Georgos Tzortzakis | 2012-2019 | 1947 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 1 God | Charalampas Kastrantas | 2013-Current | 1674 | 73 | 177 | 118 | | 2 Heroes | Miltiadis Giannoutsos | 2019-Current | 1236 | 722 | 256 | 101 | | 2 Heroes | Georgios Karatzios | 2018-Current | 860 | 90 | 70 | 293 | | 2 Heroes | Stylianos Farantakis | 2016-Current | 817 | 150 | 319 | 251 | | 2 Heroes | Michail Mavrikakis | 2019-Current | 719 | 219 | 197 | 204 | | 2 Heroes | Nikolaos Ioannidis | 2016-Current | 679 | 159 | 105 | 143 | | 2 Heroes | Michail Kortsidakis | 2018-Current | 647 | 212 | 103 | 139 | | 2 Heroes | Ioannis Spanopoulos | 2019-Current | 597 | 98 | 248 | 95 | | 2 Heroes | Ioannidis Kiriakidis | 2018-Current | 531 | 130 | 198 | 126 | | 3 Warrior | Georgios Bouglas | 2017-Current | 493 | 74 | 146 | 57 | | 3 Warrior | Andreas Miltiadis | 2018-Current | 410 | 69 | 151 | 91 | | 3 Warrior | Perikles Ilias | 2013-2015 | 373 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 3 Warrior | Georgios Stavrakakis | 2020-Current | 349 | 182 | 115 | 46 | | 3 Warrior | Georgios Boutopoulos | 2021-Current | 272 | 131 | 87 | 54 | | 3 Warrior | Zisis Soulious | 2020-Current | 266 | 134 | 40 | 81 | | 3 Warrior | Aimiliano Vila | 2019-Current | 222 | 33 | 62 | 101 | | 3 Warrior | Michael Christodoulos | 2020-Current | 173 | 118 | 35 | 19 | | 3 Warrior | Vassilis Adamou | 2013-2016 | 165 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 2 Heroes | Armanto Archimandritis | 2018-2019 | 159 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 3 Warrior | Alexandros Agrotis | 2020-Current | 154 | 52 | 39 | 61 | | 3 Warrior | Ioannis Tamouridis | 2009-2015 | 151 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 3 Warrior | Anastasios Koumpetsos | 2018-Current | 142 | 68 | 40 | 0 | | 3 Warrior | Polychronis Tzortzakis | 2014-2022 | 134 | 0 | 35 | 14 | | 3 Warrior | Marios Athanasiades | 2013-2017 | 125 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 3 Warrior | Alex Mengoulas | 2021-Current | 120 | 86 | 34 | 0 | | 3 Warrior | Sarris Evangelos | 2021-Current | 101 | 101 | 0 | 0 | | 3 Warrior | Pangiotis Christapopoulos | 2021-Current | 85 | 77 | 0 | 8 | | 3 Warrior | Alexandros Matsangos | 2021-Current | 81 | 77 | 4 | 0 | | 3 Warrior | Dimitrios Christakos | 2021-Current | 72 | 62 | 8 | 2 | | 3 Warrior | Constantinos Thymides | 2018-2018 | 69 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 3 Warrior | Neofytos Sakellaridis | 2015-2016 | 67 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 3 Warrior | Georgios Kaloniatis | 2021-Current | 50 | 49 | 1 | 0 | | 3 Warrior | Vasileios Simantirakis | 2015-2015 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 3 Warrior | Panagiotis Karatsivis | 2023-Current | 36 | 36 | 0 | 0 | | 3 Warrior | Petros Gkazonis | 2015-2016 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 3 Warrior | Apostolos Bouglas | 2015-2016 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 3 Warrior | Stavros Theorpanous | 2023-Current | 23 | 23 | 0 | 0 | | 3 Warrior | Konstantinos Efstathiou | 2015-2015 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 3 Warrior | Martinos Moutsios | 2023-Current | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | | 3 Warrior | Christos Volikakis | 2015-2015 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 3 Warrior | Ioannis Drakakis | 2015-2016 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 3 Warrior | Nikolaos Zegklis | 2023-Current | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | | 3 Warrior | Christos Katrakis | 2016-2016 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 3 Warrior | Kyriakos Skettos | 2014-2015 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 3 Warrior | Vasilis Anastopoulos | 2009-2009 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 3 Warrior | Christos Loizou | 2016-2016 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 3 Warrior | Panagiotis Chatzakis | 2015-2015 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 3 Warrior | Tomotheos Skettos | 2015-2015 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 3 Warrior | Hermes Antoniou | 2012-2012 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | | | Sum | | | 17455 | 3581 | 2652 | 2556 |
During the season we saw Giannoutsos taking a jump towards God-rank with a formidable Giro-performance, while riders such as Kortsidakis, Spanopoulos and Kiriakidis found their way to the Heroes-list. What jumps across the eyes, however is the fact that Georgios Bouglas didn't quite make it, despite getting a contract with that sole purpose. He is just 7 points short, which means he might be able to get a shot at the PCT level to see if he can get those. It will be difficult though, with no completing-races-points.
Panagiotis Vlatos had another decent season which took him well inside the Titan-Rank. He will likely forever be a virtue of Greek Cycling, even if Giannoutsos will start to deliver great things.
For the upcoming season we are looking at Farantakis maybe taking the jump towards God-level, with also Mavrikakis having a slim shot of making that. Miltiadis, Bouglas and Stavrakakis need solid performances to get into the group of Heroes.
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| Start | End | Race | Category | | 07-Jan | | Down Under Classic | HC | | 26-Jan | 29-Jan |  Tour of Guadeloupe | C1 | | --- | | | | | 04-Feb | | Omloop Het Nieuwsblad | HC | | 08-Feb | |  Isle of Man TTT | C1 | | 10-Feb | | Le Samyn | HC | | 22-Feb | 24-Feb |  Tour of Ukraine | PTHC | | 22-Feb | 26-Feb | Circulo de Juarez | HC | | 26-Feb | | Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne | C1 | | --- | | | | | 03-Mar | |  Lillestrom GP | C1 | | 12-Mar | 16-Mar | Tour of Norway | HC | | 25-Mar | | Strade Bianche | HC | | 30-Mar | | Geraardsbergen - Bosberg | C2 | | --- | | | | | 23-Apr | | Roma Maxima | PTHC | | 25-Apr | |  Lincoln GP | C2 | | 28-Apr | |  Veenendaal - Veenendaal | PTHC | | 28-Apr | |  Lisbon Classic | HC | | 30-Apr | | Dwars door Vlaanderen | C2 | | --- | | | | | 03-May | 08-May |  Tour de Romandie | HC | | 11-May | 15-May |  Baltic Chain Tour | C1 | | --- | | | | | 01-Jun | |  Hanko Classic | C1 | | 07-Jun | 13-Jun | Tour de Suisse | PTHC | | 12-Jun | 18-Jun | Criterium du Dauphine Libere | PTHC | | 20-Jun | 26-Jun | Tour of California | HC | | --- | | | | | 01-Jul | |  Torshavn GP | C1 | | 03-Jul | 06-Jul |  Arab Tour | HC | | 18-Jul | 23-Jul | Benelux Challenge | HC | | 19-Jul | | Philadelphia International Championship | PTHC | | 25-Jul | 29-Jul |  Tour of Slovenia | PTHC | | --- | | | | | 01-Aug | 05-Aug | Tour de Vineyards | C1 | | 01-Aug | 05-Aug |  Deutschland Tour | PTHC | | 07-Aug | 11-Aug | Post Danmark Rundt | HC | | 11-Aug | | GP Kigali | C1 | | 13-Aug | | Chrono d'Arenberg | PTHC | | 18-Aug | 20-Aug | Ras Tailteann | PTHC | | 22-Aug | | Milano - Torino | HC | | 23-Aug | 31-Aug | Tour de l'Avenir | U23 | | --- | | | | | 02-Sep | 22-Sep | Tour of America | C1 | | 13-Sep | | GP Plouay | C2 | | 22-Sep | 26-Sep |  La Tropicale Amissa Bongo | C1 | | 28-Sep | | Tour of the Battenkill | PTHC | | 28-Sep | | Rheden GP | PTHC | | --- | | | | | 01-Oct | 06-Oct |  Tour of Japan | HC | | 04-Oct | | Paris Tours | C1 | | 18-Oct | | Giro dell'Emilia | HC |
Edited by SotD on 09-09-2024 18:06
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| SotD |
Posted on 17-07-2024 18:46
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World Champion
Posts: 12182
Joined: 29-11-2006
PCM$: 2980.00
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As always we have a batch of talented riders to come through our Greek Cycling Academy, which has proven rather succesful in recent years. Others have been purchased while still in a developping phase from other teams, as we see them fit perfectly in our setup. Let's give the upcoming leaders a brief look.
A number of sub-leaders have matured over the season, despite not being young riders anymore. The three riders below will all take a vital place in our teams aspirations of doing well in the Pro Continental Division.
| | Georgios Boutopoulos | 4.100 | 28yo | Rouleur | €X |
| Fl | Mo | Hi | TT | St | Rs | Rc | Co | Sp | Ac | Fi | Dh | Pr | | 76 | 67 | 71 | 65 | 72 | 74 | 68 | 73 | 72 | 77 | 78 | 73 | 67 | | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | | 78 | 68 | 72 | 66 | 73 | 75 | 69 | 74 | 73 | 78 | 80 | 74 | 68 |
INFO: Boutopoulos joined during last seasons transferwindow. He immidiately jumped in to supplement our sprint train, but over the course of the season we have aknowledged, that he is much more than that. A true powerhouse on the flat, with also qualities in cobbles and hill we have a potentially brilliant guy for the attacking role - As well as obviously a key rider in controlling the pace and setting up our sprinters.
| | Anastasios Koumpetsos | 4.100 | 29yo | Lead-Out | €X |
| Fl | Mo | Hi | TT | St | Rs | Rc | Co | Sp | Ac | Fi | Dh | Pr | | 73 | 67 | 72 | 56 | 75 | 72 | 78 | 58 | 75 | 75 | 73 | 71 | 56 | | ↓↓↓ | | ↓↓↓ | | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | | | | 74 | 67 | 73 | 56 | 76 | 73 | 82 | 58 | 76 | 76 | 74 | 71 | 56 |
INFO: Newly crowned Greek Champion, Koumpetsos is a very solid lead-out sprinter, that has his strengths in the difficult terrains. He has a marvellous recuperation and will be a very interesting lead sprinter in tough races, where the normal sprinters might not being overly confident in themselves.
| | Pangiotis Christapopoulos | 4.100 | 29yo | Time-Triallist | €X |
| Fl | Mo | Hi | TT | St | Rs | Rc | Co | Sp | Ac | Fi | Dh | Pr | | 71 | 62 | 72 | 76 | 71 | 70 | 65 | 62 | 62 | 69 | 74 | 66 | 75 | | ↓↓↓ | | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | | | | ↓↓↓ | | ↓↓↓ | | 73 | 62 | 73 | 78 | 72 | 72 | 66 | 62 | 62 | 69 | 75 | 66 | 77 |
INFO: Christapopoulos was a vital part of our TTT setup last season, but hardly ever got a reasonable chance to shine for himself. This season will be very different, as he is now our strongest rider against the clock. And while Vlatos might still have the edge on very flat timetrials, Christapopoulos is a solid rider when theirs a small incline aswell. We can see him having a great team-up with Ioannidis and Kiriakidis.
In the younger department of our Talent Development we also find some interesting names.
| | Dimitrios Christakos | 4.100 | 25yo | Climber | €X |
| Fl | Mo | Hi | TT | St | Rs | Rc | Co | Sp | Ac | Fi | Dh | Pr | | 69 | 75 | 70 | 70 | 69 | 73 | 71 | 58 | 61 | 68 | 72 | 70 | 73 | | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | | | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | | | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | | | | 69 | 77 | 72 | 70 | 69 | 74 | 72 | 58 | 61 | 70 | 74 | 70 | 73 |
INFO: Christakos had his final piece of development at Polar during last season. He is a talented climber, who will fit in well with Giannoutsos, Mavrikakis and Spanopoulos. Christakos is more of a natural climber, and doesn't excel in a number of facets, but we are hoping to see him be aggressive, and maybe a "mini"-Mavrikakis, who is doing pretty well.
| | Alexandros Agrotis | 4.100 | 26yo | Stage Racer | €X |
| Fl | Mo | Hi | TT | St | Rs | Rc | Co | Sp | Ac | Fi | Dh | Pr | | 71 | 73 | 70 | 72 | 74 | 71 | 73 | 63 | 65 | 68 | 71 | 70 | 73 | | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | | | | | | ↓↓↓ | | 72 | 75 | 71 | 74 | 76 | 72 | 75 | 63 | 65 | 68 | 71 | 70 | 75 |
INFO: We have been looking forward to the next phase of development from Agrotis for the entire season. Agrotis is a well rounded GC rider, and without a doubt the best there has ever been in Cyprus. He's among the top 3 All time riders to come out of Cyprus, and we believe he will continue his development in the future through training. For the season being he is labelled a luxury helper for our GC riders.
| | Alex Mengoulas | 4.84 | 27yo | Cobbler | €X |
| Fl | Mo | Hi | TT | St | Rs | Rc | Co | Sp | Ac | Fi | Dh | Pr | | 72 | 65 | 68 | 71 | 72 | 69 | 66 | 70 | 65 | 73 | 72 | 67 | 71 | | ↓↓↓ | | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | | 74 | 65 | 69 | 73 | 74 | 71 | 67 | 73 | 65 | 74 | 73 | 68 | 73 |
INFO: Mengoulas was one of two cobbled talents of our setup that enjoyed a spell at Binance last season. And Mengoulas has made some real progress. He's a solid hybrid of a cobbler and a timetriallist, something we have great depth in, which makes it a perfect fit. Mengoulas isn't done developping yet, so for now he will be a luxury domestique for Stavrakakis, Kortsidakis and Boutopoulos in the cobbled races.
| | Alexandros Matsangos | 4.29 | 25yo | Cobbler | €X |
| Fl | Mo | Hi | TT | St | Rs | Rc | Co | Sp | Ac | Fi | Dh | Pr | | 69 | 68 | 68 | 68 | 71 | 68 | 61 | 72 | 61 | 68 | 66 | 67 | 68 | | ↓↓↓ | | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | | | | | ↓↓↓ | | 71 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 73 | 70 | 62 | 74 | 61 | 68 | 66 | 67 | 70 |
IFNO: The second rider to have a loan spell at Binance last season was Cypriot cobbler Matsangos. And he too did have a very solid development. Matsangos is one of those versatile riders that can perfom in most terrains - even mountains - but will never excel to being a team leader. He might prove to be an interesting breakaway rider however, and we are not quite sure how we need him to develop further from here. But he's a very interesting hybrid.
| | Panagiotis Karatsivis | 3.99 | 23yo | Stage Racer | €X |
| Fl | Mo | Hi | TT | St | Rs | Rc | Co | Sp | Ac | Fi | Dh | Pr | | 69 | 72 | 68 | 68 | 70 | 71 | 70 | 60 | 64 | 71 | 71 | 67 | 67 | | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | | | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | | | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | | | | 69 | 74 | 70 | 68 | 70 | 72 | 71 | 60 | 64 | 73 | 73 | 67 | 67 |
INFO: Karatsivis, who spent last season at Ekoi - Le Creuset, is one of our 3 youngsters at 23 years of age. He's also among the top 10 best ever Greek talents. We believe that with the right nuturing we can push him inside the 5 best talents ever. Karatsivis is a solid climber that we believe can become a GT top 10 rider with the right focus. And that is very exciting!
| | Martinos Moutsios | 3.37 | 23yo | Time-Triallist | €X |
| Fl | Mo | Hi | TT | St | Rs | Rc | Co | Sp | Ac | Fi | Dh | Pr | | 69 | 59 | 61 | 69 | 68 | 68 | 62 | 65 | 65 | 72 | 70 | 66 | 69 | | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | | | | | | ↓↓↓ | | 71 | 61 | 62 | 73 | 71 | 70 | 65 | 65 | 66 | 72 | 70 | 66 | 73 |
INFO: Moutsios has made huge progress after being loaned out the Los Pollos Hermanos at the PCT level last season. We can't wait to see what that progress will mean to his immidiate succes on the bike. After Vlatos, Moutsious is the biggest Greek timetrial talent ever - he is also a pretty limited rider though, which means that we will have to focus on his weaknesses and make them lesser for him to become a viable PT rider in the future. We do believe that it is possible though.
| | Sarris Evangelos | 3.15 | 23yo | Roulleur | €X |
| Fl | Mo | Hi | TT | St | Rs | Rc | Co | Sp | Ac | Fi | Dh | Pr | | 68 | 63 | 65 | 68 | 71 | 68 | 64 | 68 | 69 | 69 | 68 | 71 | 69 | | ↓↓↓ | | | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | | | ↓↓↓ | | 71 | 63 | 65 | 69 | 73 | 69 | 65 | 70 | 71 | 71 | 68 | 71 | 70 |
INFO: Evangelos is one of very few level 1 talents to have stayed with us to develop past that year. And we have to admit, that he didn't dissapoint us. Evangelos has spent a lot of time in early breaks aswell as doing solid work for our sprinters all year long. He has taken some massive steps, and we can see him being a very valuable rider for us in a year or two.
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| quadsas |
Posted on 17-07-2024 20:03
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2517
Joined: 18-01-2013
PCM$: 300.00
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Boutopolos is chef's kiss. Wouldn't be shocked if he's your top 3/4 scorer next year
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| SotD |
Posted on 17-07-2024 20:24
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World Champion
Posts: 12182
Joined: 29-11-2006
PCM$: 2980.00
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quadsas wrote:
Boutopolos is chef's kiss. Wouldn't be shocked if he's your top 3/4 scorer next year
I agree. He could be very solid. I need to plan him carefully, so Farantakis isn't getting in the way of him performing great things.
If only he was a couple of years younger, he would have been my preferred training option starting from next season. But being eligeble at 29 is a bit of a dealbreaker unfortunately. He could have been an interesting cobbler.
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Posted on 16-11-2024 16:09
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 17-07-2024 20:46
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18187
Joined: 12-05-2012
PCM$: 0.00
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I'm so very excited to have my Pirates race against the Great Greek Gang. Still a few years and talents away from matching this squad but i'm still excited for two of the most interesting and hardcore projects to go toe-to-toe!
With the ever dwindling number of saleable non-Greeks i'm fascinated how you'll managed to, yet again, swindle the off-season and end up with a chunk of training cash!
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| redordead |
Posted on 18-07-2024 08:02
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4865
Joined: 18-10-2017
PCM$: 200.00
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Gonna be interesting to see how you tackle PCT. It's a really fun division though so hopefully you can enjoy it and maybe bounce back immediately 
"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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| Nemolito |
Posted on 18-07-2024 09:26
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3358
Joined: 20-04-2020
PCM$: 425.00
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The Greeks keep on Greeking and that's great to see. Moutsious was very welcome at our team this season and I hope he can aid you well in your promotion hunt this year as well We'll have to see what the renewals bring, but I definitely think you have a very strong (Greek) core to jump back into PT in one season.
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 19-07-2024 12:34
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Team Manager
Posts: 6507
Joined: 14-09-2008
PCM$: 1090.00
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Alex Mengoulas is still fondly remembered over at Bralirwa, not least for his surprise stage win he scored for us at the Tour du Faso Cool to see him continue to grow. I'll second red in that I'm very interested in your adjustments to PCT, though I'm sure you'll do well. You should have good resources to continue to shape your team towards your goals.
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| SotD |
Posted on 19-07-2024 16:53
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World Champion
Posts: 12182
Joined: 29-11-2006
PCM$: 2980.00
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TheManxMissile wrote:
I'm so very excited to have my Pirates race against the Great Greek Gang. Still a few years and talents away from matching this squad but i'm still excited for two of the most interesting and hardcore projects to go toe-to-toe!
With the ever dwindling number of saleable non-Greeks i'm fascinated how you'll managed to, yet again, swindle the off-season and end up with a chunk of training cash!
It will be very interesting indeed! I obviously love the shape-up you have created as it really does resemble what I enjoy doing with my own team - You have more unmaxed potential in your team than I do, so it might be a matter of time before the tables are turned.
This time will be rough to get training money, I have to admit that. As you say the numbers of non-sellable options are heavily dwindling, and with the relegation it had to be sacrificed further. So whether or not I'll be able to do anything is a big question. I hope I atleast get enough from my budget to get one training done. Otherwise I guess I'll have to slave up for a 1-3 level rider
redordead wrote:
Gonna be interesting to see how you tackle PCT. It's a really fun division though so hopefully you can enjoy it and maybe bounce back immediately
Yeah my first glance at race options is pretty positive, although I have some major gaps in my team-build that I need to solve in order to be competitive for promotion. I'm not sure it's super realistic to get there, and I'm also not sure it's going to be my immidiate ambition. It really is down to what kind of training money I can harvest at this level.
Nemolito wrote:
The Greeks keep on Greeking and that's great to see. Moutsious was very welcome at our team this season and I hope he can aid you well in your promotion hunt this year as well We'll have to see what the renewals bring, but I definitely think you have a very strong (Greek) core to jump back into PT in one season.
Happy to hear Moutsios was a welcoming addition. He's probably my weakest link for now, but could form a decent TTT domestique here and there. Next season he should start becoming a valuable asset.
I think the core is pretty solid yes, but for a PCT setup I think it's skewed too much towards MO, TT and SPR to really be viable. I have a lot of depth in COB aswell, but not enough to secure good points, and our HI setup is very weak.
cunego59 wrote:
Alex Mengoulas is still fondly remembered over at Bralirwa, not least for his surprise stage win he scored for us at the Tour du Faso Cool to see him continue to grow. I'll second red in that I'm very interested in your adjustments to PCT, though I'm sure you'll do well. You should have good resources to continue to shape your team towards your goals.
He's a very cool rider indeed, and I can't wait for him to max out. He's another one of those I'm sad to see maxing at the age of 28, as it means I won't get to make him as good as he could be. But I like Stavrakakis a lot, and he will do a lot of the same.
I hope to have good resources, but I'm not that confident though. Will be very interesting to see my budget, so I can start planning the long run
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| SotD |
Posted on 25-07-2024 13:10
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World Champion
Posts: 12182
Joined: 29-11-2006
PCM$: 2980.00
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OlegTinkov has created a new stunning jersey for the team.
We can't wait to get out there wearing this beauty of a jersey. It really enhance our Greek roots, and should be easy to spot in the pack aswell.
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 25-07-2024 13:18
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 16420
Joined: 27-07-2011
PCM$: 10438.70
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Love that jersey for this project! Stunning
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| redordead |
Posted on 26-07-2024 06:45
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4865
Joined: 18-10-2017
PCM$: 200.00
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Yeah, that jersey looks to match perfectly
"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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| DarkWolf |
Posted on 30-07-2024 08:21
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1024
Joined: 21-09-2020
PCM$: 700.00
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I love your fabulous new jersey! I am looking forward to see the variants for the national champs as well, I already imagine them as stunning as the main one.
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 02-08-2024 23:21
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4655
Joined: 29-09-2018
PCM$: 185.00
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Definitely sucks to see you down in PCT next year, was looking forward to race against you... But well, your Frenchies weren't quite good enough (nor was Farantakis), so the verdict is harsh.
But with all these nice talents, and potentially still a couple of riders to sell, I'm sure you'll make your way back to PT really soon! And it would be awesome to somehow see Bouglas get these 7 missing points now...
And as the others said, really nice jersey for you, looking forward to see it in action!
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 09-08-2024 12:24
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1110
Joined: 07-07-2013
PCM$: 200.00
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Though it's sad to relegate I'm rather curious to race against you this season. You've got one of the most focused projects in the game and should have a Greek core strong enough to fight for promotion right away. Also it's been fun to have Karatsivis riding for us last season, he should be a very fun rider if he keeps that up.
Also your new jersey is a really nice and fitting one!
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| SotD |
Posted on 11-08-2024 09:39
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World Champion
Posts: 12182
Joined: 29-11-2006
PCM$: 2980.00
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@baseballlover312
@redordead
@DarkWolf
Thanks a lot guys - I can't wait to see the jersey in action myself. I think it will be a great take to the Greek Pro Team.
Fabianski wrote:
Definitely sucks to see you down in PCT next year, was looking forward to race against you... But well, your Frenchies weren't quite good enough (nor was Farantakis), so the verdict is harsh.
But with all these nice talents, and potentially still a couple of riders to sell, I'm sure you'll make your way back to PT really soon! And it would be awesome to somehow see Bouglas get these 7 missing points now...
And as the others said, really nice jersey for you, looking forward to see it in action!
Thanks. It would have been cool to finally go up against eachother indeed. I'm not sure we have a promotion team on our hands tbh, but a decent depth should see us safe in the midzone, and then it's up to the transfers to see if I can get a little bit extra in to ensure promotion. It might not be the key priority to promote this season though, as I suspect I can still train riders like Christakos and Agrotis at PCT level in their first eligeble year (next season). So the big investments are 2-3 years down the line.
Bouglas is definately in a position where I hope it is a viable option to bring him back. Otherwise maybe some PT team could do the job as it's much easier there 
kandesbunzler26 wrote:
Though it's sad to relegate I'm rather curious to race against you this season. You've got one of the most focused projects in the game and should have a Greek core strong enough to fight for promotion right away. Also it's been fun to have Karatsivis riding for us last season, he should be a very fun rider if he keeps that up.
Also your new jersey is a really nice and fitting one!
It's always fun an intruiging to get to know something new
Karatsivis should be the best greek rider ever after 2 years of training, so your help is much appreciated 
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| SotD |
Posted on 11-08-2024 09:57
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World Champion
Posts: 12182
Joined: 29-11-2006
PCM$: 2980.00
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Renewals has been a rough time on the development of Greek Pro Cycling, as several riders long or short term is currently without a contract.
The Team Manager has announced in a brief press statement, that most of these riders are all still very much on his radar, and if the financial situation should change they will be offered a new option to re-join the team.
"It has been the most difficult period for me ever. Without a doubt. Instead of sitting with a cup of coffee to discuss the final details of the contract going for the upcoming season, I had to take a number of very difficult talks. All riders in the team know the situation, and some have been kind in renewals which have made it possible to keep an additional rider or two - but obviously most have opted to keep a wage that represent their actual level.
Because of the reduced finances of riding at PCT level we had to exclude a number of high integrity riders from our start to the season. We hope it's a temporary situation that can be calmed through sales of one very high profiled rider. But only time can tell".
The riders, not mentioned by the manager, seems to be:
Panagiotis Vlatos
Zisis Soulious
Charalampas Kastrantas
Sarris Evangelos
Georgios Bouglas
Georgios Karatzios
Andreas Miltiadis
Alexandros Matsangos
Also riders such as Leo Vincent, Clement Koretzky and Shaun Nick Bester should have left the team. It's more debateable however whether or not these riders have some sort of long term plans.
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| SotD |
Posted on 11-08-2024 10:10
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World Champion
Posts: 12182
Joined: 29-11-2006
PCM$: 2980.00
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Not many riders of the team are available for offers, but one rider in particular is.
| | Bryan Coquard | 4.100 | 32yo | Sprinter | €600.000 |
| Fl | Mo | Hi | TT | St | Rs | Rc | Co | Sp | Ac | Fi | Dh | Pr | | 73 | 59 | 67 | 65 | 71 | 74 | 84 | 56 | 84 | 83 | 60 | 65 | 79 |
The team should be looking for swaps and is supposedly open to suggestions of many different characters. The manager have highlighted high quality cobblers as a solution - or a solution with several riders of lower quality + cash as solutions the team would consider.
Bryan Coquard have been a long time member of the team and excels in sprints and GC races including sprints and prologues. His palmares is vast and is well renowned as one of the best riders in the field. The possible departure should be accepted by both parties and particularly the relegation from the highest cycling scene should have made Coquard express his eagerness to leave the team in which he also stated:
"I joined the team when we were a team with a heavy french - and in some part Slovenian - core. I have been part of the team winning 3 consequtive PT titles, so I feel like I have nothing new to achieve. I must also admit, that I feel a little bit alienated in the team being the only french rider left. I like my team mates - don't get me wrong - but I am the only foreigner in a setup with currently 17 riders from Greece and Cyprus, and the intention of getting those numbers up are definately present. I think we all agree that it is time for me to move on and help another team in achieving great results at high level."
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![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
