Entering its fifth season in the MGUCI peloton, Bralirwa goes through the first name change in team history. Following a successful four-year partnership with Stevens, who will remain part of the team as our bicycle partner, Bralirwa is excited to announce their new co-title sponsor: Belgian IT company Cegeka!
Cegeka offers a range of services, from data analytics and data infrastructure to business solutions and cyber security. It is a family-owned business that has grown into one of the leading tech industry providers, with strong Belgian roots but major international reach, including offices in more than 20 countries.
In their press release, Cegeka states: “Bralirwa has built a strong presence in the Belgian cycling community over the years through the prominent roles of first Oliver Naesen and then, of course, Joeri Stallaert. With the recent signings of youngsters Lennert Van Eetvelt and Jago Willems, the team has shown its long-term commitment to the Belgian market, so we thought this was the perfect moment to partner up and support them in this endeavour.”
2024 Jersey Reveal
While details on roster construction will come in due time, we can already make the first step into the 2024 season by revealing the very first Bralirwa – Cegeka jersey! Standout jersey designer Ezeefreak put his own unique spin on previous Bralirwa designs and we couldn’t be happier with the result:
Spoiler
The new season is approaching quickly and we’re very excited for both the near and the long-term future of our project, stronger than ever with our new partner. We’re sure the best is yet to come for Bralirwa – Cegeka!
Cool new co-sponsor, their headquarters are close to me And with Van Eetvelt you have a new leader to replace Stallaert in the coming years, although on other terrain.
Quite an impressive list of one day victories after 4 MG years. Three very good seasons in PCT, would be great to see you promote this season!
I'm curious how you will handle the declines from Stallaert, Silvestre and Izagirre. All the best in the transfer window
MG - Lotto - Caloi
[MG] New Manager of the Year - PCM.daily Awards 2022
Cool new co-sponsor, their headquarters are close to me And with Van Eetvelt you have a new leader to replace Stallaert in the coming years, although on other terrain.
Quite an impressive list of one day victories after 4 MG years. Three very good seasons in PCT, would be great to see you promote this season!
I'm curious how you will handle the declines from Stallaert, Silvestre and Izagirre. All the best in the transfer window
Funnily enough, you're not the only manager to live near there And yes, Joeri has really pulled his weight in those classics, it's a big part why we went half-Belgian now. Hopefully he can add another one or two to the list, but having three of your four top scorers decline is not an ideal scenario ...
Pretty amazing record on the goals, other than Kigali in 2020 you have always been close.
I agree, I'm super happy with the jersey. hoyle and hillis have done great work with the previous jerseys and Ezee has matched that beautifully. Can't wait to see it in the first races.
And it still is a bit of a sting that Kigali, of all races, is our biggest miss in terms of goals one day we'll come back there and take it!
The shift to a secondary Belgian sponsor makes total sense since your team has always been far more influenced by Belgians than Germans.
That's what I thought, too. I really would've liked to make Germany work as a true secondary nation and it's not like I haven't tried, but signing two big Belgian talents, on top of our history, really cemented this shift, and now I'm pretty excited for it.
Every year, it's fun to look at your young riders taking another step, wondering how they'll do next season. And it's also a melancholic moment to take note of the skill declines of your oldies, some long-time team staples among them. Here's our overview for this off-season:
Natnael is the brightest talent we've maxed to date, and he'll also be the best puncheur we've ever had (not counting Meintjes). He's already done some good things last year and hopefully he'll be able to shine even more now. Still eligible for U25 jerseys, that should be a decent source of points, too.
Yacob Debesay | Pot: 6 | Age: 25 | Lvl 3 -> 4
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
65
68
72
59
69
69
70
62
63
72
71
65
59
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
66
69
75
60
72
70
71
62
64
75
73
66
60
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
66
71
77
60
73
71
73
62
64
77
76
67
60
Our second talented Eritrean puncheur, Yacob is one step behind Natnael in his development after spending his first year with us as a stagiaire. He likely won't compete for top results but will be a useful domestique and breakaway threat for years to come.
Renus Uhiriwe | Pot: 5 | Age: 23 | Lvl 2 -> 3
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
70
61
66
70
67
68
63
60
63
68
73
64
70
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
71
63
67
72
69
69
65
60
63
68
73
64
72
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
74
66
69
77
73
72
69
60
63
68
75
65
77
Just like Yacob, Renus spent last year out on loan. He's on his way to becoming Rwanda's best time trialist, a great piece to any TTT squad and, with some training, could well compete for top results on his own.
Jean Eric Habimana | Pot: 4 | Age: 23 | Lvl 1 -> 3
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
69
65
70
62
69
70
63
70
66
71
71
67
66
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
71
65
72
62
71
71
64
73
66
71
72
67
66
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
74
65
75
62
74
73
66
77
66
71
76
68
66
The first of four talent aquisitions from our last off-season, and the most talented Rwandan youngster we've ever signed, Jean Eric is working his way towards becoming a very good cobbles-puncheur hybrid. The Mur de Kigali will eventually come calling ...
Welay Hagos Berhe | Pot: 4 | Age: 23 | Lvl 1 -> 3
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
67
68
67
66
69
66
68
60
61
66
67
64
66
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
67
71
69
69
71
68
71
60
61
66
67
64
69
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
68
75
72
73
74
71
75
60
61
67
68
64
73
Welay won't reach the heights of some of his teammates, but he'll be a very useful team member with his good climbing and time trialing skills, both as a domestique and as a depth points scorer.
Lastly, we come to our two big Belgian talents, who played such an integral part in securing the sponsorship of Cegeka. Lennert is easily the biggest gem we've ever signed and he'll be a real contender at a very high level in high mountains as well as on hilly hybrid races. He'll also make us competitive in the Tour de l'Avenir for the first time ever.
Jago Willems | Pot: 4 | Age: 23 | Lvl 1 -> 3
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
68
57
63
62
71
73
60
55
72
72
66
66
65
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
71
57
63
62
71
75
66
55
75
75
66
66
68
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
75
57
64
63
72
78
71
55
79
79
66
67
72
The same goes for Jago, who's already shown some good things in this year's edition. He could well prove to be a useful sprint train helper or even compete for a Top 10 place here or there, but we're patiently waiting for him to become Fabio Silvestre's successor as our long-term primary sprinter in two years.
Skill Decreases
Our fairly big pool of young talent is contrasted this year by a high number of declining riders. And while there are some domestiques among them, this also includes three of our four top scorers from last season. Some big decisions loom during renewals, and we could head into transfers needing an infusion of new leaders.
Tesfom and Souheil have been with us from the very beginning and been solid, dependable teammates ever sice, with Tesfom a steady source of minor points in cobblestone races throughout the years. Both still have a decent skillset and it's not out of the question that they'll be back for another season.
Darren meanwhile has been a newcomer last year and was slightly underwhelming. While I think he has another season in him, it might be more likely on CT level.
Joeri Stallaert | Pot: 7 | Age: 33 | 1st decline
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
77
60
67
58
76
68
80
81
79
76
67
66
58
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
76
59
66
57
75
67
79
80
78
75
66
65
57
Fabio Silvestre | Pot: 4 | Age: 34 | 2nd decline
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
77
60
66
72
68
69
72
55
79
79
69
62
76
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
75
58
64
70
65
66
69
53
77
76
67
60
74
Ion Izagirre | Pot: 6 | Age: 35 | 3rd decline
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
69
72
79
75
70
69
64
52
58
61
67
68
75
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
67
70
77
73
67
66
60
50
56
58
65
66
73
On the one hand, the first decrease for our most decorated rider so far hurts. On the other, Joeri's high potential softens the blow and I'm confident he will still be very competitive in his favorite races even as age starts to catch up with him. We will try almost everything to bring him back, but we also have to be at least a little reasonable in terms of salary commitments.
Fabio is the second most important rider to wear a Bralirwa jersey. We stuck with him through his first decline, but with a more significant drop-off now, it might be time to part ways permantly. I very much hope he gets to wear his Portuguese champion jersey one more year, though, and who knows if we might not bring him back as a leadout rider after all.
In contrast to Joeri and Fabio, Ion can't quite claim the status of Bralirwa icon after just one year with us, but he certainly did the most to make our somewhat risky investment in him worth our while. Providing us with only our second stage race win ever - something that his compatriot Angel Madrazo failed to do the year before -, he gave us a lot of excitement. It's tough to figure out what to do with his unique skillset, for which there is little to no precedence for over the past years. He could still be useful, but it's certainly possible that this is the point where the bottom finally falls out. One of the more interesting decisions during renewals.
Some really strong talents in that bunch! I hope you manage to keep them all once maxed. I suppose a couple of them will ask for some hefty wages. Very interesting, though!
Nice to see the new (semi-) direction supplement the direction in which team building has been going. Stallaert declining is a major event, but like you said he should be almost as good this season as well. Tesfatsion looks really good already, with Van Eetvelt and Willems the ones to watch out for in the near future.
I'm interested to see how Tesfatsion does with maxed stats. Willems looks like a really nice sprinter. Between him and Van Eetvelt the Belgian sponsors must be quite pleased
A great team to follow and an even greater manager to learn from! Stallaert and Silvestre declining (again) is obviously not fun after what they have already done for your team, but I also believe Stallaert will continue to show some great form in the coming season. The first part of the talent post is of course amazing. Some very strong talents rising up through the ranks, both from Africa and also from your new focus nation. Since I've let down the talent chasing part for at least this season, it becomes extra fun to watch others like you do well while still giving level 1's the chances to develop.
And indeed, Cegeka HQ is at only 2-ish km of where I live
Indeed, switching from Germany to Belgium as secondary sponsor fully makes sense, given your history. Can't be mad at the Germans to pull out, especially after selling your only German talent
Didn't have in mind anymore how strong your two Belgian talents actually are, true gems for you! Also still regretting not having been able to get Habimana, but I quickly considered him out of reach given that you would have thrown a million at him if needed
Looking forward to see how you shape up your 2024 roster around Meintjes and a slightly weaker Stallaert - I think it's promotion time for you now, even more so with both Amaysim and Binance disbanding! Good luck!
Some really strong talents in that bunch! I hope you manage to keep them all once maxed. I suppose a couple of them will ask for some hefty wages. Very interesting, though!
Tesfatsion is already proving that with pretty confident demands this year, so it'll be a challenge for sure, but having home-grown leaders will be really cool and at the very least, they'll be good assets.
Nice to see the new (semi-) direction supplement the direction in which team building has been going. Stallaert declining is a major event, but like you said he should be almost as good this season as well. Tesfatsion looks really good already, with Van Eetvelt and Willems the ones to watch out for in the near future.
I'm interested to see how Tesfatsion does with maxed stats. Willems looks like a really nice sprinter. Between him and Van Eetvelt the Belgian sponsors must be quite pleased
I'm very curious about Tesfatsion. If he performs well, he'll definetely be a training candidate in the future. The main stats look great, the physicals less so. And as far as Belgians go, it was only logical to make that commitment after the last offseason, since Jago and Lennert really do look promising.
A great team to follow and an even greater manager to learn from! Stallaert and Silvestre declining (again) is obviously not fun after what they have already done for your team, but I also believe Stallaert will continue to show some great form in the coming season. The first part of the talent post is of course amazing. Some very strong talents rising up through the ranks, both from Africa and also from your new focus nation. Since I've let down the talent chasing part for at least this season, it becomes extra fun to watch others like you do well while still giving level 1's the chances to develop.
And indeed, Cegeka HQ is at only 2-ish km of where I live
<3
Stallaert should hopefully still be very good. And yeah, on the one hand, it's going well with talents and results, on the other, who knows how the season would've gone with one or two good 50k veterans instead of talents But that was also a conscious decision, of course. I'm confident I'll join you in PT eventually, and doing so hopefully with our own talents will be very pleasing.
Indeed, switching from Germany to Belgium as secondary sponsor fully makes sense, given your history. Can't be mad at the Germans to pull out, especially after selling your only German talent
Didn't have in mind anymore how strong your two Belgian talents actually are, true gems for you! Also still regretting not having been able to get Habimana, but I quickly considered him out of reach given that you would have thrown a million at him if needed
Looking forward to see how you shape up your 2024 roster around Meintjes and a slightly weaker Stallaert - I think it's promotion time for you now, even more so with both Amaysim and Binance disbanding! Good luck!
Hehe, promotion predictions are starting already I think I could actually make a push for it, but there will also be some very very intriguing options on the market that continue to build more towards future years. That being said, Stallaert and Meintjes will both decline (again) next year, so if I don't get an additional new leader in this year, yet more turnover looms. Decisions, decisions ...
Curious whether TesFATsion piss poor stamina will ultimately prevent him from doing much. But I am sure you're just ecstatic to have the first big boy maxed. Van Eetvelt is brutal, should sell him that is for sure
That's a really nice set of talents you have there, the future of East African (and indeed Belgian) cycling looks rather bright - and not the least yours too! Stallaert should still be able to be one of the dominant cobblers in PCT, so it remains to see how you plan for the other terrains.
PS: The new jersey is a nice evolution of your old one.
In some ways, our contract renewals mirror last year. We once again released Fabio Silvestre, this time perhaps for good, and we once again let go of an aging Spaniard who was a big contributor - Angel Madrazo last year, Ion Izagirre now.
But in other ways, they are drastically different. Last year, our squad consisted of just 13 riders before transfers began, leaving us with a ton of cap space and a lot of holes to fill. Now, we have only two additional exits: Darren Young, who was with us for just one year, and Souheil Khederi - as one of our season 1 signings, the Tunesian will especially be missed, though he might even find his way back in transfers.
Everyone else, including riders who had been out on loan, are brought back, meaning that we enter transfers with no less than 19 riders on the team - a much stronger foundation, which is exactly what we aimed to build over the last couple of years. Here’s how the contract negotiations went:
Rider
Age
AVG
2024 Wage
Change
Available
L. Meintjes
32
78,34
470.000 €
+ 65.000
●
J. Stallaert
33
77,55
350.000 €
- 150.000
●
N. Tesfatsion
25
76,92
190.000 €
+ 105.000
●●●
V. Ndayisenga
30
75,24
100.000 €
+ 5.000
●
B. Uwizeyimana
31
74,84
110.000 €
+ 15.000
●
M. Eyob
31
74,61
75.000 €
0
●●●
M. Teggart
28
74,01
70.000 €
+ 10.000
●●
N. Politt
30
73,54
60.000 €
+ 5.000
●●●●
M. Mugisha
27
73,49
50.000 €
- 5.000
●
Y. Debesay
25
73,19
50.000 €
0
●●●
J. Hadi
32
73,09
65.000 €
+ 15.000
●●
L. Van Eetvelt
23
72,63
120.000 €
- 80.000
Loan?
T. Okbamariam
33
72,26
50.000 €
0
●●●
J. Habimana
23
72,25
70.000 €
- 30.000
Loan?
C. Verona
32
71,85
75.000 €
- 55.000
●●●●
J. Willems
23
71,82
75.000 €
- 25.000
Loan?
S. Mugisha
27
71,14
50.000 €
0
●
W. Berhe
23
70,32
50.000 €
0
Loan?
R. Uhiriwe
23
68,69
50.000 €
0
Loan?
.
Renewals:
- 125.000
Released:
- 370.000
Wage Cap:
370.000
● strong intention to keep | ●●● open for offers | ●●●●● clear intention to sell
It’s a mixed bag, honestly. Natnael Tesfatsion - somewhat expected after maxing out - and Louis Meintjes stand out as riders receiving a big wage increase. We could’ve driven a harder bargain, but after early talks stalled, we didn’t want to take any chances. They weren’t the only ones who wanted to claim rewards for a strong season: five more riders saw their wages rise between 5.000€ and 15.000€.
The fact that we’re still in the black overall is mainly due to Joeri Stallaert. He once again showed his commitment and his importance to the team not only on the bike, recognizing his diminishing capabilities and accepting a 150.000€ wage cut. Carlos Verona, who scored a big contract in free agency last year, also adjusted his expectations, and our three expensive talent signings reduced their wages significantly, as is so often the case.
With not a ton of cap space and a roster that is virtually ready to head into the season as is, I don’t anticipate this to be a super busy offseason for us. However, some riders are certainly available if the right offer comes around, and some of our talents could well be looking for a loan, too. It would be a bit too boring to just add one more rider and be done with it, wouldn’t it?
Congrats on your renewals, as you said you probably won't need big transfer activity to be competitive. But if you want to loan someone to a nice little fellow PCT team just let me know as there shouldn't be any language problems for your riders
Always love reading the HQ, one of the very top ones around. Intrigued how these transfers play out - your amazing talent core keep getting stronger but declines and releases dampen the firepower at the top. Not as much cap space as you'd like I'm sure but plenty to work with - could be as quiet as you make out or a lot of reshuffling, and if so I'm sure I might have some proposals.
Spoiler
To be clear, proposals that might make you less Rwandan but definitely not more
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
Introducing: Bralirwa - Cegeka 
And with Van Eetvelt you have a new leader to replace Stallaert in the coming years, although on other terrain. 
And yes, Joeri has really pulled his weight in those classics, it's a big part why we went half-Belgian now. Hopefully he can add another one or two to the list, but having three of your four top scorers decline is not an ideal scenario ...
Natnael Tesfatsion | Pot: 5 | Age: 25 | Lvl 4 -> Max
Welay Hagos Berhe | Pot: 4 | Age: 23 | Lvl 1 -> 3
Souheil Khederi | Pot: 5 | Age: 33 | 1st decline
Darren Young | Pot: 3 | Age: 33 | 1st decline
Fabio Silvestre | Pot: 4 | Age: 34 | 2nd decline
Ion Izagirre | Pot: 6 | Age: 35 | 3rd decline
