You got the very best talent of the batch, congrats on that Would go with all or mostly Cv1 dev path for Onley as that gives a much better overall stat combo.
Ayuso is a no brainer, will be worth the money long run and Onley balances that by being more reasonably priced. Maxed he could be similar to Sosa, so by the time you have to make dev decisions you will know if Sosa has proven productive in the PCT.
Let's get poppin'. Time management has been the worst, you could almost say it's as bad as my other management skills but hey ho. Lets round off the transfer recap here and get on to the full team here. We sold 6, bought one. Filled up the rest with free agents and one stagiaire. Obviously Ayuso went out on loan but that's it really.
Pow Wow
Our only transfer this season was our big target coming into the transfer window. Obviously Ayuso was target #1 but for current leaders we wanted to bring Neilson Powless in. He was meant as a semi replacement for Reis, but some changes has them now working together as the top dogs at Benetton this year. He cost us a cool €1.400.000 but with his tender age of only just 28, he will lead the team for years to come. In three years time Ayuso will have finished his development, after which the intention is to ease into the new age of leadership with Powless moving into a supportive role. Having always claimed that we are Hagens Berman Axeon fans, signing our first (former) rider of the American team underlines that statement. At the same time he will be our first American rider. New incoming sponsors Bimbo and Monex love this transfer as the New World has become our secondary focus after Europe, and in extention the obvious micro nations.
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
OVR
Age
Neilson Powless
72
78
72
78
76
74
76
59
65
71
64
65
78
77.07
28
After Neilson, we brought in just three maxed out riders through as free agents. How uncharacteristic though, they're all Time Trialist's. Unnamed Tanzanian draft pick #1 in our maiden season had the record for highest TT stat at 77, but was far from a success. Last year our only real TT rider was Reis. Let's not talk about any of the races where it actually mattered shall we. Powless took over that TT stat record, but we actually had an even higher rider confirmed before the deal was official.
G'Day Mate
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
OVR
Age
Luke Durbridge
72
57
66
80
71
72
68
52
61
62
67
60
80
74.84
33
Elite Aussie trailist Luke Durbridge spent last year in PT before seeing his team Amaysim bow out into relegation, eventually seeing it fall into disbanding. Even after his first downgrade he is still a top, top TT star. Especially for us. Unnamed sources can confirm he was a target way before the window opened. And even though we expected him to go for higher, as is a recurring theme here, we only had to pay €205,000 wage in the end. We expect great things this year from Luke, as great TT stars have proven to be valuable pawns in PCT teams lately. Obviously from next year on he will probably stay on the team for up to one or two more seasons as a useful TTT piece, but this year he is the absolute flat TT captain.
TT after TT after TT, how weird is this to see?
We had different plans for the remainder of the FA market. But a pretty late post-crash bid saw us lose out on American climbing talent Matthew Riccitello a talent we had intended to secure as prime climbing domestique for Ayuso. No bother, as such we reinvested that same budget into strengthening our TTT core, which is a first for this team. In the past we never considered these kind of races, but with Durbridge, 80TT, Powless, 78TT and Reis 76TT. we felt it was necessary to try and be competitive on the team side of racing against the clock. Risky take, but with relegation a consideration, surviving the goal, suddenly the surprise exodus of several top riders has pushed us to the front on certain terrain. Should we plan perfectly, we could potentially finish in the top half and rake in some more cash to develop the team. Top TTer Zmorka obviously went to PT, and with TT heavy teams Jura, and Glanbia jumping up and bowing out of the PCT respectively it suddenly opened up a gap for steady depth scoring should we get things right. Eastman, McNulty, and other prime stage racers left the division which suddenly gives Reis a chance to have a great final season in his prime. But as some of you may know, our lack of depth in Team TT ziptied our neck in the ToA last season. This will not happen again.
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
OVR
Age
Pot
XP
Lukas Talacka
72
57
64
74
71
73
68
63
61
67
73
63
74
69.35
30
4
4.100
Samuel Pokälä
67
61
68
74
70
68
68
61
57
60
59
61
73
69.2
34
4
4.100
Not much to say about these two honestly, but theyre decent riders for what they're worth and will help us become competitive. Season one saw us sign an older Lithuanian and Fin, this feels like deja vu.
These young'uns
Let's keep it short for the other FA signings as these youngsters will be analized in depth in a 'potential development' post coming in later. Let's speedrun this meep meep.
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
OVR
Age
Hjalmar Klyver
67
63
67
63
64
66
64
63
68
69
64
66
64
68.16
23
Davide Ruvalcaba Reyes
66
69
63
62
68
69
67
55
60
64
58
75
65
67.29
22
Llucie De Marigny-Lagesse
67
60
63
66
65
69
67
60
68
68
67
65
67
66.64
23
Moses Moiruri
66
59
61
70
65
67
67
60
60
67
69
65
70
66.28
23
Our only Stag signing sees our first Swedish, and potentially first Scandinavian, rider join the team. Had we had a bigger budget left he would've surely recieved a full contract but alas. Ruvalcaba wasn't initially a goal as we had expected fellow Mexicans Oxxo to pick him up. Monex will be chuffed to see their Post-Del Toro captain join the team as our first full Mexican rider. Llucie was at the team last season but as a stagiaire. She was released during renewals but a re-evaluation of her stat package saw her picked up again on a full time contract. Moses Moiruri was picked up as a young TTT piece, maxing at 76TT he should provide needed depth for years to come. The unofficial African identity of the team surely welcomes the Kenian as he becomes another of several unique nationalities to join the team.
The Full 2024 Team
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
OVR
Age
Rafael Reis
70
81
73
76
78
76
78
56
50
64
66
68
76
77.83
32
Neilson Powless
72
78
72
78
76
74
76
59
65
71
64
65
78
77.07
28
Elias Afewerki
73
63
64
63
77
70
81
69
79
80
68
70
71
76.07
32
Houcaine El Sabbahi
77
64
69
64
72
76
77
64
78
77
68
68
72
75.41
27
Luke Durbridge
72
57
66
80
71
72
68
52
61
62
67
60
80
74.84
33
Jan Xandri
68
76
73
73
68
74
72
60
60
69
75
74
71
74.62
30
Loic Vliegen
71
67
77
61
76
70
70
68
66
74
71
69
67
74.47
31
Federico Olei
69
66
73
62
73
71
72
51
75
75
62
62
69
73.74
28
Alain Quispe
81
52
53
61
63
61
65
53
67
74
85
55
61
72.85
30
Youssef Bdadou
71
63
72
70
70
69
65
70
72
74
73
69
70
72.65
24
Andrea Aquilani
74
64
67
69
70
72
75
64
75
74
68
67
73
72.48
25
Daniel Bonello
72
66
69
69
72
71
70
72
66
67
65
70
70
71.7
24
Felix Sprenger
72
67
68
67
74
70
68
65
67
77
72
77
69
71.49
25
Kwanele Jele
65
74
63
52
71
73
70
55
54
69
76
80
54
70.93
24
Stan Martino
68
73
66
64
73
72
72
67
65
68
71
72
64
70.89
24
Oscar Onley
67
69
71
61
70
71
63
64
63
68
65
69
60
70.49
22
Lukas Talacka
72
57
64
74
71
73
68
63
61
67
73
63
74
69.35
30
Samuel Pokälä
67
61
68
74
70
68
68
61
57
60
59
61
73
69.2
34
Luke Borg
67
68
67
61
63
66
63
63
67
72
70
68
62
68.87
22
Hjalmar Klyver
67
63
67
63
64
66
64
63
68
69
64
66
64
68.16
23
Davide Ruvalcaba Reyes
66
69
63
62
68
69
67
55
60
64
58
75
65
67.29
22
Llucie De Marigny-Lagesse
67
60
63
66
65
69
67
60
68
68
67
65
67
66.64
23
Moses Moiruri
66
59
61
70
65
67
67
60
60
67
69
65
70
66.28
23
A Final word
It's hard to put a finger on any progress since last year. The departures are known but haven't been discussed yet. But with Wilco, Raileanu, and Petelin leaving we see some top end riders shut the door behind them. Are we saddened? Surely not, Wilco was an utter waste of time and money and we are glad to have recovered a million in fees for him. Together with Raileanu and Petelin, €500.000 and €200.000, we were able to secure not only Powless but fund the loan for Ayuso. The top end of our team is getting old yes, but with Powless set to take over after Reis, and Sabbahi the heir to the African sprinting throne when Afewerki loses his magic, it's not all negative. Four regional riders 'should' be maxing this season which will certainly increase the depth for mid tier domestiques. Slowly we are entering the second phase of our team. Out with the 'buy old, get lucky' strat. Benetton is building for the future and doing everything to prepare for the enevitable fruit that the work will bare. Some have said the overal structure has improved, We can only wait and see.
I think you had a great transfers, to sign Ayuso and Onley while putting together a team that should be very competitive this season as well, its is an impressive accomplishment.
I'm not a huge fan of Onley, but he's nothing to scoff at. Ayuso is obviously the future king of the team. Basically Bernal 2.0
Besides the two top talents there seemed to be a clear plan around improving the stage race and TT departments. Those should all work well together and hopefully keep you in PCT for another year
Powless 'should' be improvement over Wilco and Durbridge an improvement over Raileanu and Petelin. So, it should be an improvement over last season, if the three leaders are planned well.
Short term it’s a pretty narrow focus, but when combining it with a huge future setup I think you did a brilliant job. The top level riders should perform really well.
Cool setup, will be tough to not relegate, but if you manage to do so, then you're in a fantastic spot.
You think this is a relegation setup? I’m in trouble if so :-)
It was also my first thought that this team could be in danger. It could indeed (mainly because of lack of depth, which definitely isn't ELCO's case), but I think it should be fine this year.
After McNulty, Eastman and Choi all left the division, Reis should actually be a Top 3 stage racer now - his only concern might be lack of support if Benetton have to control the race. Plus, Reis and Powless have very similar strengths, so planning needs to be done well to maximize their scoring.
Durbridge is a Top 5 TTer in PCT, and although he can't do anything else but TTing he'll score a lot. One of the main questions is whether Afewerki can sort of repeat last year's performance. If he can (almost 500 points), Benetton should be safe. If he gets hit by Zariff syndrome, they could be in trouble. Not having anyone for the hills and the cobbles potentially doesn't help... Having 11 riders to level up (plus a stag) could also be challenging in terms of planning.
Anyway, will be an interesting - and potentially crucial - year for this team. Good luck!
What can I say, I can only root for a team showcasing and developing riders from Andorra, San Marino, Malta and Liechtenstein. Good luck in the new season!
Would go with all or mostly Cv1 dev path for Onley as that gives a much better overall stat combo.
Pow Wow
G'Day Mate
