jandal7 wrote:

Think you've had success with the multiple sprinters in the past and think it's a solid tactic, hope it works out for you in all of their non-Manninen races this year

AbhishekLFC wrote:

Two very nice early pickups before the chaos of the FAs really unfolded.

With a strong roster core in place, we decided to heavily focus on acquiring loan riders who really help us this season. With a possible departure of Lars Van der Haar still looming to this hour, replacing him with a reliable cobbles specialist was a crucial role we needed to fill. As such we are excited that one of the first confirmed arrivals is Nils Eekhoff. Nils is not only a strong cobbler but also a very versatile rider who can do a bit of almost everything. Grieg-Maersk will pay the entirety of his 50,000 euro contract in exchange for a 175,000 euro loan fee.

Once again the channels between Evonik - ELKO and Specialized
were very busy and once again we agreed on a loan deal: Talented Italian puncheur Filippo Baroncini joins us for a year. He was on our top2 target list for young loan candidates and we are very excited to see him racing in yellow. Specialized pays the entirety of his 50,000 euro contract in exchange for a 100,000 euro loan fee.

Filippo is a puncheur who prefers the routes with fewer and shorter hills as he prefers flat roads over the high mountains. He also has a pretty solid punch which should help him if he gets opportunities to join breakaways. However, his main job this year is the bottle duty for Miguel Angel Lopez.

AbhishekLFC wrote:

No surprise that some of the best loan signings for the season are headed to Evonik

kandesbunzler26 wrote:

So you actually got your rather quiet transfers and still got some nice signings out of it. With your core still there at least top 5 should be realistic

Juraj Bellan (28)

If you want to win the biggest race in the world again, you have to have good support. As such we are happy that we could add further power to our climbing roster. Juraj Bellan joins us on loan from Moser - Sygic who will pay his wage in return of a nice 169 000 euro compensation. Juraj is especially great on the long and hard mountains and is an absolute diesel of a rider with impressive resilience. Expect him to take long turns at the front of the peleton day after day.

redordead wrote:

Evonik doing the now typical cap/budget gymnastics and bringing in some good support riders to help the established leaders. Eekhoff is a cool rider

Our first (and in all likelyhood only) transfer signing from another team is Patrick Konrad. The slightly unexpected departure of Hannes Bergstrom Frisk left us one man short in the climbing departure where we think that this signing will be a reliable contributor. The long-time Gazelle rider is an experienced veteran who joins us via transfer from Genii Hyundai N Cycling for a fee of 100,000 euro.

Patrick Konrad has strengths in the hills and can contribute in the big mountains. As such he will be an important domestique for both Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier and Miguel Angel Lopez.

SotD wrote:

The Master of Marginal gains is at it again. Already a sublime PT setup from the renewals. With these small adjustments, is it finally time to go get that crown? ;-)