Although there are still some wc's on the menu and we might even score a medal with the team in the time trial discipline, we'd thought it was time to wrap up on the remaining off-season races here as well, with only the individual rider analysis and rider award posts remaining after that to wrap up our season.

We failed to win any Mexican championship this time around, but can gladly say Jose Pablo Aguilar Mendez won his first bronze medal in the time trial. The Mexican we're most proud of however is Oscar Samuel Galvan Ramirez. Oscar managed to finish sixth in the renowned tour de L'Avenir. A very fruitful cooperation with ZARA - Irizar, as the young man accomplished what no Mexican accomplished before.

A nice Colombian championship followed, which is great news with/for our secondary sponsor of the coming season. A strong Sergio Higuita won the silver medal in the mountainous road race, whereas Victor Alejandro Ocampo and Alejandro Osorio made it a 1-2 in the time trial.

Three of our riders managed to win a double title, winning both the road race and the time trial. Fatiu Abolaji and Luis Enrique Lopez Nolasco simply had no competition in Nigeria and Honduras respectively, whereas Robinson Steven Ruiz' only Peruvian competition was the (nevertheless still legendary) Alain Quispe.

Then we had three riders who prolonged their titles, simply because they are the national best in their disciplines. Orluis Aular was the strongest in the Venezuelan mountains, whereas Jasha Sütterlin and Marlen Zmorka will wear the German and Ukrainian time trial jerseys next season.

Season is over, time to give out some awards!

This one was a very tough decision. Manninen did score better, finished on the PCT podium and even won our home race in Juarez, but just came short to win the LPH rider of the season award. Zmorka simply did an outstanding job. He won basically every time trial GC he raced in, except for finishing behind Würtz (and some sprinters) in Deutschland. He even surprised us in the end with that amazing Arenberg win to put the cherry on the cake that was his season. He was once again an amazing mentor for our younger time trialists, and for the second time in a row proved to be a vital part in our PCT promotion campaign.

What a entrance this guy made. We paid nicely for him in FA, and paid even more nicely to train him into a hybrid puncheur. He thanked us by winning four stages and a green jersey, as well as scoring nicely in other GC's and classics. To top it off, he's a regional rider! The competition in PT will only get tougher, so obviously we'll be looking at ways to improve Sergio's performances even more.

It's two in a row four our Peruvian! He won this award last year by his great lead-out performances, including a sixth place in a Tour de France stage, but does even better this year. He made the fans cheer with joy by winning the GP de Plouay, and is the rightful winner of this award. It would be amazing to be able to turn him into an even stronger baroudeur, but that seems rather costly for the potential gains. Nevertheless we also want to applaud Osorio as a strong runner up for this award, as the Colombian delivered us our first ever U25 win at the Tour d'Andorra

He only goes and does it again! The legendary Quispe won this award in our first season and came second in the season after. He then left us for Colombini, came back for one season and... he wins it again! In four years this beast of a rider turned all the haters into admirers, and he is far from done! Without even being maxed he did amazing again this season, scoring well over 100 points as a 50k rider. He will be back at Colombini as a 81 rated flat rider next season, so PCT, be prepared.

In our final official post as Los Pollos Hermanos we'll review the performance of all riders that raced in our colours in the 2023 season.

Matti Manninen

He never ceases to amaze me. He made us promote to PT two years ago with a stellar performance and top-3 individually, he was the juan and only reason we had a chance of staying in PT last year, and he is the best scoring sprinter of the division as well this year, with another individual podium place. Three season as a Los Pollos rider and a total win count of seventeen, of which five wins this season, obviously in addition to many strong results both in classics and GC's. The Flying Finn will for ever be remembered as a Los Pollos legend, no matter where he ends up racing next season.

Favourite moment: Winning our home race in Juarez.

Marlen Zmorka

Speaking about Los Pollos legends, This guy is one as well. He was victorious almost everywhere, and delivered us the three of our five goals we picked out for him. He is the Los Pollos most awarded rider, winning 18 times in the last three season, nine of those victories this season alone! An absolute menace, who was well worth the 750k FA investment in him back in 2021.

Favourite moment: Unexpected Arenberg win to crown off his fantastic season.

Sergio Higuita

Perhaps not a legend yet, but certainly a fan's and manager's favourite. Higuita was our biggest FA investment this season at 500k, after which we invested almost two million in his puncheur training. Seems like that was well worth it, as the Colombian hybrid did well in both GC's and classics in his inaugural LPH season. Four stage wins, a green jersey and a top-20 in the individual rankings prove his worth. PT will be hard with the extra competition, but he's ready to give them a battle.

Favourite moment: Winning two stages in a row in the Tour of South Africa.

Orluis Aular

Aular was the other big regional signing for us during the last transfer season, coming over from Binance at a heavy price of almost two million. I guess sometimes it's worth it going the extra mile for a fun regional rider, as he definitely outperformed the expectations for the season with his +-450 points and an individual 35th place. Solid top-10 rider in PTHC, and very constant top-5 rider on the PCT level. It would be fun to see him get better in the mountains, keeping in mind he's also still rather young.

Favourite moment: Third in GC at Tour d'Andorra.

Jasha Sütterlin

The winner of the German battle in the team, albeit very close. He was our fifth best scorer, finishing just outside the top-50 of the division individually, and a very important cog in our TTT setup as well. Apart from Würtz he was also the only time trialist able to beat Zmorka this season, as we were very happy to see him win his first stage as an LPH rider this season.

Favourite moment: Winning stage five at La Tropicale Amissa Bongo.

Ruben Zepuntke

One of the division's better cobblers this season and finishing also just outside the top-50 individually we find our second German. He has never really enjoyed a lot of cobble , but usually manages to find his way top top-10 and several top-5 finishes in PTHC and HC/C1 races. Just like last season he came incredibly close to a win several times, but that win will have to wait until next year. We've always been very fond of Ruben, and seeing him win a race (or multiple) can be described as one of our main objectives of the coming season.

Favourite moment: Weak start in Benelux, but fighting back with two podium finishes in the cobbled stages.

Alejandro Osorio

In his first maxed out season, Osorio did very well. He was always there for either Aular or Higuita, and usually found his way to some back up scoring as well. We'll enjoy seeing him in his first GT as a maxed out rider next season as well, as he will for ever be the first rider who was able to win a white jersey for Los Pollos Hermanos.

Favourite moment: Winning white in the Tour d'Andorra.

Alain Quispe

Words can simply not the describe how much of a cult rider this legend is. When he first came to Los Pollos Hermanos in 2020, all people did was make fun of him. Nevertheless, for two seasons he proved himself as an incredibly useful and scoring rider in CT and PCT for us, before going to Colombini in 2022, and helping them promote to PCT with a stage win that season. This season we loaned him in to reach his final form as the rouleur everyone wants to have, and it was a record breaking season for the man from Peru. Man? I mean God. 104 points. Absolutely legendary. Only calling him legendary can even be considered an insult towards him, as he is so much more.

Favourite moment: Finishing 187th in the Peruvian mountain NC.

Robinson Steven Ruiz

Finishing just below him in the individual standings, also scoring over 100 points, is Ruiz. He learned everything there was to learn from Quispe, and it shows. He was already a very useful lead-out rider last season in PT, and this season he really proved he can also go for the win himself. Unless he receives training that will be harder in PT, but maybe he can still try here and there.

Favourite moment: Winning the GP Plouay.

Luca Sterbini

The Italian, who was our first transfer ever when we bought him back in 2020, did what he was meant to do. Score some points individually, be important for our TTT and mentor the younger time trial talents.

Favourite moment: Always being able to rely on him, from 00:00 on a Monday morning till 23:59 on a Sunday night.

Jose Gerardo Ulloa

Starting with the riders scoring a ppwage of less than 1 now, first we have our best Mexican scorer in Ulloa. Although we would have liked some more points in general, it was clear that he was the longest lasting domestique for Zepuntke in all the cobbled races, which perhaps didn't increase his personal performances. He might enjoy some more freedom next year, so let's see how he handles that.

Favourite moment: Seeing him wear the Mexican jersey all season again.

Luis Enrique Lopez Nolasco

Just like Osorio a solid domestique for Higuita and Aular, as well as being a part of our TTT squad. Definitely outclassed by Osorio this season though, but we're hopeful that Lopez Nolasco, now having completed his development, will be an important rider for our stage racing team in PT.

Favourite moment: Choosing his final stat gains and making him a 79-mtn rider.

Jose Pablo Aguilar Mendez

A pure time trialist who's developîng and scored pretty well for a level three rider with no other skills than time trialing. Was his first season at out team after being loaned out to Colombini, so basically every ex-Colombini rider at our team knows how to perform. Thanks Adler.

Favourite moment: Winning his first bronze medal at the Mexican time trial championship.

Beka Nareklishvili

The Georgian completed his last season in becoming the strong Fabian everyone from CT to PT dreams of, and did that while being a solid domestique for us on both the cobbles and during TTT's. Hopefully he is able to deliver that first win for Zepuntke next season, or maybe find his way to a win himself somewhere?

Favourite moment: Battling for the win during the Georgian NC's.

Guillermo Andres Beltran

The Chilean enjoyed showing the colours of his national jersey this season, and even though he was only level four, was already the master domestique for Higuita in many races. A role he'll even do better next season, as he just completed the final steps in his development towards becoming the best Beltran there is in MG.

Favourite moment: Seeing the joy in his eyes when Higuita finishes his domestique work with a win.

Fatiu Abolaji

An interesting FA pickup for 50k, ensuring Nigeria is still/again represented in MG. Part of our TTT for years to come, unless an African team really wants him.

Favourite moment: Abolaji winning the double gold medal at the Nigerian NC's.

Oscar Samuel Galvan Ramirez

First season for the team after being loaned out to Philips, and simply did his job as a stage race domestique very well. Will be a useful rider wherever we send him next season, as he is looking forward to riding his first GT.

Favourite moment: Scoring points in our C2 home race, the TTT of Monterrey.

Yesid Albeiro Pira

Well, he is something. He'll get there.

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Juri Hollmann and Martinos Moutsios

A little shout-out towards our loanees this season as well. We enjoyed the stay of Hollmann (from Würth - MODYF) and Moutsios (from ELCO - ABEA) and hope they got the experience they needed in our colours. Both of them were mostly part of our cobbled squad, but were versatile enough to use everywhere.

Favourite moments: Both being part of our Monterrey TTT points-winning squad, with Hollmann wearing the white jersey in the PTHC Tour of Slovenia for a bit.

Nemolito wrote:
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