Before the preview lets look at our data points. These will give you an idea of where the teams may place going forward though some of these points factor less into the final rankings (im looking at you Average OVL) then others. As well as this a first in one category does not equal the same in another depending on how high you score in each.

Glanbia Long-time team Glanbia finished 21st in PCT last year behind leader Ryan Eastman and previously finished 3rd in the 2022 CT.

Important riders In	Important riders out
Ian Boswell	Ryan Eastman
Tom David	Sean Mckenna
Gavin Mannion	Conor Dunne

Boswell is a blast from the past but still competitive in a weak hilly division. David could be a great signing if planned to the also weak (outside of Zepuntke) cobbles division.

Dylan Kennett

Ian Boswell

Tom David

Weighted OVL: A team with lots of talents scores low on OVL is hardly a surprise here though there's a couple of guys such as Bennett or Squire that are maybe just a little too weak even for this Division. 16th

Depth: This teams best scoring category the first 6 riders all have okay-good scoring potential throughout the season I highlight James Oram as someone who can score at a decent rate as the joint 7th best TT rider in the division. 15th

Leaders: Boswell, David fall into the potentially good riders but not stand out and hurt the teams scoring here rather then helping. I really like Kennett on paper but he scored behind Rubushchenko, Welten and Zariff here which limited the teams scoring overall. 16th

Scoring Potential: Bottom of the pile for Big Scoring Potential as has been highlighted above leaders that are in the second tier are hard to predict and one big season from a Tom David could make this look silly but on excel the team couldn't come through. 18th

Average Finishing Position: Placing on average 16.65 with a few finishes in the top 5 but mostly finishing 16th-18th randomiser this could be a long rebuilding season for Glanbia. But there is hope here Ben Healy and Jason Plowright come back from loan next season and there's development to come in a lot of areas. The team is also not without hope of blowing this prediction out the water with some good results for Tom David and Dylan Kennett but it is a strong indication of the overall strength at CT level this year that a team built like this could struggle greatly. 16.65th

Air New Zealand - Alpha Romeo Came 2nd bottom of the CT last season behind Fabbro and returned with the same leader this year but a whole new secondary cast behind him

Important riders In	Important riders out
Louis Visser	Nur Aiman Zariff
Lars Van Der Haar	Jakub Skala

One of the few benefits of finishing low in the lowest division is you don't have many points to replace if you lose some riders. Losing 2nd and 4th best scorers Zariff and Skala was only a 97-point loss.

Matteo Fabbro

Tom Scully

Lars Van Der Haar

Weighted OVL: A couple of declining 50k riders kept on from last year but mostly talents bring the OVL down which is never a bad thing if you have the top-end talent in my opinion. A couple of potential wastes in the mid-tier and Scully for 120k (10% budget) feels like an overpay. 15th

Depth: The Best category for this team is depth, which is easy to see. Down to Dries De Bondt this team has a rider who on the right day could produce in a one-day classic given the right circumstances with particular focus on Van Der Haar who I would bet will take a flat classic in a breakaway this year with the right amount of opportunities14th

Leaders: Now to the categories that can hurt a team and having a 117-point scoring from last year returning to lead the team hurts the scoring here. While I am a fan of Van Der Haar and De Bondt there is a few riders here that don't appeal to me or the calculations as even viable 50+ scorers.17th

Scoring Potential:Interesting to me this one as I believe Glanbia has better scorers than Air NZ but the acceleration advantage has tipped the scales in this case. That being said it's clear this team will not have a big scorer this season unless it's from breakaways alone and that's a risky strategy in the unpredictable PCM engine.17th

Average Finishing Position: Gaining 0.2 on Glanbia mainly from finishing mid-table more than them (though never promoting in my randomiser) it looks to be a tough season for Air NZ. Though the long rebuild is being played here with 7 lvl 1-2 guys this could be a great cheap foundation for the years to come provided some deadwood is cleared and no large contracts are handed out to average riders from the sponsor's region. 16.45th

Hilcona Racing Team Solid mid-table finish last season behind Kriegar, Keizer and Havik with all bar Keizer returning for this season.

Important riders In	Important riders out
Odd Christian Eiking	Martijn Keizer
Simon Carr

One of the few benefits of finishing low in the lowest division is you don't have many points to replace if you lose some riders. Losing 2nd and 4th best scorers Zariff and Skala was only a 97-point loss.

Odd Christian Eiking

Alexander Krieger

Yoeri Havik

Weighted OVL: An obvious trend forming as another of the teams low on OVL is very talent heavy as expected. So the team will develop as the years progress though I'm not sure if the value on some of these guys is worth the 3 year development. 18th

Depth: Similar comments as above as some of the talents creep in at the bottom of the team depth impacting this heavily and dropping the team to last in this category. These are the two less important ones though, especially in CT so I wouldn't see this as a massive negative especially when they're filled with talents.18th

Leaders: Here we run into what could hurt Hilcona compared to last in the lack of a true 2nd leader behind Eiking and his solid scoring potential. Havik though has shown his tendency to grab lots of points with good planning and there's potential in Carr and Krieger as well though not as confident in Morin. 14th

Scoring Potential:Here's the first confirmation that the formula didn't like the top-end Punchuers and Sprinters not considered elite as the team doesn't score high on the top-end scoring even with Eiking looking a guarantee for a top 20 ranking. The lack of a second leader and riders for the mountains and TT hurt here. 16th

Average Finishing Position: Our final team of the three that kept coming out rooted to the bottom of CT. Hilcona has some big positives the development is plentiful and this is a team built for the long term. Eiking should provide plenty of fun on the hilly races in the short term though as well as Havik and Krieger in the sprint classics and stage races. 15.6th

SEE Turtles have made a name for themselves with a TT heavy focus especially in the Prologues and had a heavy scoring trio of Oka, Tivani and Hamza to carry them to a respectable 10th.

Important riders In	Important riders out
Julio Cardona	Antoine Duchesne
Luke Keough
Similo Nyoni
Magnus Sheffield

More TT guys and a sprinting upgrade in Keough. Sheffield the real prize though and at a cheap wage compared to his talent is a great pickup.

Luke Keough

German Nicolas Tivani

Atushi Oka

Weighted OVL: Some quality depth here especially in the TT and Sprint department, with the outline of a good TTT squad but mostly a prologue army. The cobbles team is less impressive to me at least but still scores well here, especially in a weak division. 10th

Depth: Here the team doesn't fall down exactly just others appear to have more top tier depth. The improvement in the sprint division also brings the teams score down here but with how unpredictable these are that's hard to judge. 17th

Leaders: An unsurprising score on paper for the team who's leader do appear the weakest in a stats terms. The score below though takes into account what this team will most be aiming for. 18th

Scoring Potential: Now we have this teams real strength with no less then 6 riders scoring well in this outcome though it must be noted that none where in the top tier its a very positive sign for this squad overall and shows they will in my opinion over perform all season as they did last season. Special shoutout to Luke Keough here who has a strong chance to be the top scorer sprinter in the division. 9th

Average Finishing Position: With a wide range of possible outcomes here and an average finishing position much higher than their actual position here SEE-Turtles are extremely hard to place. A lot comes down to good planning and some reasonable daily form and this team could very well find themselves promoted this season. The flip side is the TT level is strong and deep in the division this season and a lack of results in that discipline will be make or break for this squad. 13.85th

Babymetal have Victor Verschaeve returning with Aliaksandr Riabushenko from last year's team which had a quiet first year in CT with a few bright spots.

Important riders In	Important riders out
Cristian Raileanu
Jan Drago Petelin

Two very decent additions here both able to score points at the PCT level last season 86 and 52 respectively and in easier C2 competition this year might bump those numbers.

Cristian Raileanu

Aliaksandr Riabushenko

Jan Drago Petelin

Weighted OVL: As we've come to expect now the talent-heavy teams struggle on this metric. And in this case, a few Asian talents being grown for the area doesn't help either. Along with two expensive sprint fillers that I can't see providing much value hurt too. 17th

Depth: And those same sprint fillers hurt on the depth rankings too, The Better news here is a couple of the unmaxed riders look like they will provide real value later down the line especially Uga Ryuki though a year in CT may hurt his development.17th

Leaders: Now onto a real upside for this squad the depth of the leadership is very good and was well rounded out in the off-season to add a strong hilly classic rider in Raileanu and Petelin for the high mountain classics and stage races that don't suit Verschaeve. The main problem for not being higher is the absence of a real leader through the formula I put in like Riabushenko a lot so I wonder if with better planning and more luck he could get a better score than last season. 9th

Scoring Potential: Less surprising to see the team quite far down in these rankings I would assume but maybe still higher than most think. The reason Riabushchenko, Arashiro and Raileanu all scored points on the big scorer potential. Arashiro and Raileanu are probably not too surprising both have great combos the game has seemed to love this edition. Riabushchenko I am intrigued though as on paper he does have a great sprinter combo. He scored best of the pure sprinters and if he can break the 130pt mark I think thats a good season 12th

Average Finishing Position: Another squad that in last season CT would probably have finished a lot higher but there is so much depth in this years division as evidenced by the teams below that the lack of a Certain leader is hurting teams who have tried to build around the secondary leaders as is the case at least in the data rankings. As mentioned above though plenty to look forward to in the future for this team especially if they can add a strong top tier leader in the future. The team finished mostly mid table in testing though hit the heights of 4th and the lows of 18th so a real anything is possible.11.65th

Euskotren - Pays Basque got some great scoring out of Mikel Iturria (6th Individual Standings) with backup from Lafay and Wackermann last season to finish a more than respectable 10th place and only 2 spots of being promoted.

Important riders In	Important riders out
Hugo Hofstetter	Steven Manuel Polanco
Varsham Darbinyan

Upgrades to the sprinting and cobbles departments with Hofsetter and Darbinyan one in the top 10 and one in the top 20 best-cobbled riders in the division while Hofsetter should also challenge for sprint victories.

Mikel Itturia

Viktor Lafay

Varsham Darbinyan

Weighted OVL: Strong team throughout with very little low-end talent or filler riders even down near the bottom of the team. Riders like Weinstein scored well last season and the addition of Poilitt is a similar rider who could pay out with a high point-to-wage ratio.6th

Depth: This team shines in the depth department with at least 15 riders able to score points in this category and that is very evident in their strong backup stats. Look for Wackermann in particular here who scored 100 points last season off his low OVL and should outperform again despite his high price tag for that OVL.5th

Leaders: Unfortunately that's where the good news stops for Euskotren in our data as the surge in quality in both Hills and Mountains in the division has impacted how effective our data believes Lafay and Itturia will be at producing points all season. It's not all doom and gloom though as Darbinyan was picked out as the 3rd highest-scoring on the team due to the weak depth in the cobbled fields and he could provide some much-needed higher scoring. 15th

Scoring Potential: Though still not where the team would like to be just below mid-table finish for Scoring Potential is higher than their leader ranking. This is due to the likes of Itturia, Darbinyan and Lafay scoring nicely here though as noted before the strong field is hurting Itturia with Lafay scoring the highest in this category for the team. 11th

Average Finishing Position: Though they may have ended up on the bottom third of our predictions here don't get it confused this team will be competing all season and is a viable promotion candidate. Taking top 8 promoting into account this team would have been promoted over 20% of the time. The low floor of the leaders though has accounted for plenty of lower-half finishes for the team. I can't lie this is a team after my own heart I love the depth and the number of riders that are possible scoring options but as we've seen in the predictions so far high-end leaders are heavily favoured in this division and when the 33% of team scoring that Itturia provided last year has been heavily eaten into by an increased depth in the division it's hard to see this team in the upper end of the division come the end of the season 11.45th

Euskadi-Murias had a tough year in the CT finishing close to the bottom. Top scorer Daniel Munoz returns though that was only 75pts which was a sharp decline from a promising 2022.

Important riders In	Important riders out
Mustafa Carsi
Jo Kogstad Ringheim
Luca Sterbini

A really solid window for the team not to lose any of their most prominent scorers from last year and adding new additions in the sprints, TT and cobbles. Really hard to know what to make of all the additions as all have not been in the CT for the last two years. Though Carsi was top 200 in the PT and is the favourite on any pan flat stage

Mustafa Carsi

Luca Sterbini

Jo Kogstad Ringheim

Weighted OVL: Not a massive surprise this is a lower-end team in this metric though moves like keeping Sinkledam for an inflated wage make little sense and also hurt the team. Bar that a couple of solid 50k riders make a real difference too many guys are being slightly overpaid here Quevado and Ablenado for sure. 13th

Depth: Similar score for the team in the depth department though it's promising having Sterbini, Scheit and Garcia all who look capable of point-scoring seasons in the lower ends of the team OVL. Small points for the cobbled depth though I feel both are fairly useless due to the lack of backup stats.12th

Leaders: Now here's where this team comes into its own with a very solid score and a top 8 finish. As shown above Carsi, Ringheim and Sterbini all scored well here and it's clear the manager prioritised some high-value scorers. It has to be said that Ringheim and Sterbini don't reach the top 10 in either discipline though so a lot rests on Carsi and how well the management can plan the super fast sprinter picking out those pan-flat courses. 8th

Scoring Potential: Back to the lower-end scoring range here but not without hope. Carsi again brings the bulk of the points but Serrano and Sterbini both are expected to at least hit some high-value scoring. That being said this is a bare team in the top leader's department if Carsi doesn't produce. 14th

Average Finishing Position: This is one of the main teams where manager planning will be crucial this year probably 2nd only to SEE Turtles (though placing in prologues is easier than sprints) and if we see a great season plan for Carsi this team has a lot of potential to be a high-end mid-table team with the base from last year and the three additional scorers. I think there will be a very fine line between boom or bust here though and if Carsi fails the floor this team could fall too will be very low in the rankings. As the average position shows though this team was hitting mid tables and higher plenty of times in the randomiser coming in 12th in the prediction but an 11.25 average position. An interesting team to watch this season for sure. 11.25th

Trans Looney Toons return to CT after a spirited effort in PCT last season only finishing a few hundred points off staying in the division. Though without top scorer Lillian Calmejane.

Important riders In	Important riders out
Matevz Govekar	Kyeng Ho Min
Giorgi Nareklishvili	Lillian Calmejane
	Sven Erik Bystrom
	Zico Waeynets

A team really torn apart with the strict salary cap losing top scorer Calmejane was rough though keeping Jaka Primozic made the most sense from a long-term planning point of view.

Jaka Primozic

Roc Korosec

Girogi Nareklishvili

Weighted OVL: The first team we've previewed to grab an elite score in a category and with good reason, this team packs 19 riders with scoring capability and even some extra TT depth behind those 19. Unlike most teams we've seen the Cobbles riders are also packing strong backup stats in a variety of ways a very well-built roster from the bottom up.2nd

Depth: Unsurprisingly after success overall the team also goes elite in the depth rankings, guys like James Knox, Cristian Munoz and Oliver Lecourt are all more than capable top 10 finishers on any given day. The only department with any lack of depth is sprinting and with a token leader in Vingerling there is unlikely to be many points good here. 3rd

Leaders: Now some positives and negatives in the leadership roles. Primozic has shown last season what he is capable of and should continue with another strong year alongside Narkeshvilli though both look like lower-end of the elite riders in the division. Korosec is a very capable hilly sprinter and given the right parcour should grab multiple good results during the season. The last leader Moulingui also looks a solid rider in the cobbles but very much in the mould of the others solid but not spectacular. 10th

Scoring Potential: And here is the big problem it would seem for Trans this season. Amazing depth but lacking what a Calmejane or Min could have provided in the heavy scoring department. The team did keep Primozic and he scores a heavy amount of points for the team in this category but he is in a stacked mountains division and how far he can go is anyone's guess but he could ride into 20-25 strong pure climber per race though not many of them can match his back up stats. Beyond him the only other heavy scorer is Narkeshvilli and if he comes out on top in another stacked division in the TT then this team will be climbing fairly above this ranking overall. 15th

Average Finishing Position: This team feel like it had a bit of bad luck with the renewals and subsequent sales of star riders while trying to rebuild for the future and though there was a very solid job done there is a real lack of top-end scoring that could count against the team come the end of the season. Top planning and some luck in the TTs are needed for this team to climb further than our finishing position here in 11th but that would not be out of the question.10.55th

Spark Team NZ returned to CT after finishing bottom of the PCT last season with old MG legends Angel Madrazo and Jack Bobridge. A team rebuild was needed over the off-season

Important riders In	Important riders out
George Bennett	Angel Madrazo
Eduard Beltran	Jack Bobridge
Jernaj Svab
Luis Enrique Lemus Devila
Anotine Duchesne

Big rebuild completed in the off season with star signing Bennett along with a New core for the hills and a chief domestique in the mountains very productive.

George Bennett

Eduard Beltran

Luis Enrique Lemus Devila

Weighted OVL: Strong group overall for NZ which is pretty impressive considering Rodriguez still takes up 25% of the budget (excellent team-building talent of his ability), Svab was a great addition in the draft to give the team another scoring option though hard to know where exactly he will rank considering he was racing in the PT the last few years. The team carries a lot of talents to add to the core but all are of a good standard even the regionally-focused signings. 7th

Depth: Some nice scoring depth overall here to down to Rodriguez it's easy to see all riders pitching in with some points throughout the season. Notable lack of cobbled or TT riders, the first is a non-issue that can be avoided with planning the 2nd may be a bit trickier given the MG calendar heavy TTT and TT focus but still possible to avoid most for the team's leaders.6th

Leaders: A bit of a drop off here as it's hard to see a true team leader that isn't Bennett here. Beltran has a great Mo/HI combo but I worry with the backup stats and the amount of hilly classics that finish on a kicker having such low resistance (the rate the red bar deteriorates) could end up being a real issue. with most of his rivals having at least a 5-6 advantage in that category. The flip side is to find the races which influence most on the MO side as he can find himself at a huge advantage and the most difficult medium mountain stages. After those two with Cameron Scott a potential stage winner throughout the season and Jake Marryat a potential top 10 in TTs though it could be Bennett chief domestique Lemus Davila who is going under the radar the man scored 217 pts last season good enough for 15th Overall in the CT standings and if planned to be his leader from time to time is good enough to rack up a healthy scoring total. 12th

Scoring Potential: Though not just a one-man team the bulk of this season's scoring is down to Bennett and how well he will fare at the much weaker CT level. For me his TT is going to be a big disadvantage and finding the right races is going to be the key to unlocking his full scoring potential. Carapaz, Jorgensen, Lunke, Arensman and Elosegui are all capable of putting minutes into him in the wrong race setup. That being said there are so many points available in the mountains with the right planning and for me, he is a promotion winner on his own with the right season. Behind him, good planning for Beltran and Davila is needed but both score some points in this category along with Marryat, Svab and Scott though nothing to move the team out of mid-table. 10th

Average Finishing Position: It's a great rebuild after losing the bulk of the team's leaders and having so much budget placed behind one rider, I think Spark Team NZ have given themselves a great chance of promotion this season given the right planning. There is a downside to having such a bed of talent in the short term mainly the lack of secondary leaders but filling in the gaps with Beltran and Lemus Davilla was smart as concentrating on a few disciplines and not stretching the budget to a leader on all terrains. A strong effort that does produce promotion for a few teams in the sim and rarely falls too far down the rankings due to the floor a rider like Bennett has but with the increase in Mountains competition for Davilla it is hard to see where the secondary points will come from so I'm pretty comfortable with a mid-table finish for now with the caveat that Bennett could easily earn the team promotion on his own given the right schedule. 10.05th

Genii Hyundai N Cycling returned to CT without two of their three top scorers from last season with both Penasa and Sicard leaving the team to leave them light on leaders but plenty of cap space to rebuild.

Important riders In	Important riders out
Kristian Haugaard Jensen	Pierre Paolo Penasa
Julian Bernard	Romain Sicard
Muhamma Afif Ahmad Zamri
Lukas Postlberger

A big rebuild it was indeed. Some great signings picked up here with Haugaard Jensen 14th in the individual rankings last year the pick of the bunch.

Kristian Haugaard Jensen

William Barta

Lukas Postlberger

Weighted OVL: Few talents equal higher in these rankings as we've seen time and time again in this preview. I am a fan of having very few wasted roster spots here with only a couple of riders potentially hurting the team by taking up a roster spot but overall a strong team throughout. 8th

Depth: Solid depth throughout the climbing ranks here varying capabilities and strengths most have made planning the team a bit of a breeze in the high mountains with everything from TT heavy, attackers good MO/HI combos and even a climber who can sprint. A good TT depth in case of any TTT and for the odd TT result is also a bonus though the team does like any real scoring power in Cobbled and Sprint races though these can be avoided mostly and there is a sprint to throw into long stage races with a few flat stages if needed.10th

Leaders: Given top billing to Jensen here with not too much to actually talk about a top puncher in this division has increased competition at the top end but a weaker overall field than last year at least in the C2 races. Will Barta comes off the back of a strong season at PCT level (140pt), you would think he would improve that total down a division but the overall quality of the mountains field may mean reproducing that scorer would be classed as a good year. Postlberger as well drops down two divisions and is hard to place as a scorer but has some good backup stats to do well in TT-heavy events. 13th

Scoring Potential:One of the surprises of the scoring system initially for me but on closer inspection maybe not surprising at all. A strong TT mountains rider has been favoured quite a lot in this version of the game and Genii boasts three of these riders and another two TT riders capable of good results there. Added to a top 20 individual rankings rider in Jensen and you have the base for plenty of spikes throughout the season should the luck fall your way. 6th

Average Finishing Position: Overall this team has a very solid look and a very high floor with Jensen guaranteeing a good chunk of points on his own. There's probably a lack of a definitive Mountains leader to send this squad into the promotion contenders category but this team with the right results along the way could push them further up the rankings. This feels like one of the safest bets in the whole division that the team will end up somewhere from 7th-11th and the algorithm agreed slapping them nearly bang on 9th with a 9.25 average position. 9.25th

Zain - Omantel joins a brand new team becoming the only team based out of the Middle East in the MG.

Important riders In	Important riders out
Richard Carapaz
Riccardo Minali
Milos Borisavljevic

One huge new signing to the CT with Carapaz joining the team with two additional leaders in Minali for the sprints and Borisavljevic a secondary leader in the mountains.

Richard Carapaz

Riccardo Minali

Milos Borisavljevic

Weighted OVL: Plenty of new talent here from the team region brings a score down a little bit and a couple are on the older side but with a very specific focus region the options were limited. All maxed riders though give good scoring opportunities and with most on minimum wages, it gave plenty of flexibility on the upper end of the roster. 14th

Depth: Very similar to the above rankings as a couple of unmaxed guys sneak in at the bottom of the depth. Guys like the La Lavandier twins and Lachine Saber are sneaky points scorers in the right type of races though while David Bartl is a potential TT result given the right profile but will likely ride in a helper role most of the season. 13th

Leaders: Now to the real part of this team there is a strong core of leaders here with Carapaz leading though Borisavljevic is more than capable of having a very strong season if given his opportunities for the year. Behind him, Minali and Bartl should add some points and hills leader Sirironnachai on the right route with less emphasis on MO stat may also score. 11th

Scoring Potential: A very high position in this category came down to two riders scoring in the top apex of the division. Carapaz comes out as the number 3 scorer in the division this season some high praise which I think mostly comes down to the lack of top climbers that can TT (there are some obvious exceptions) though of the 17 riders with above 78 mountains, only 6 have a TT better than 70. To add to that Borisavljevic has the best TT of all riders with 77 Mountains. I feel the only reason Carapaz hasn't come top is his low acceleration and some absurd backup stats for his main competition but these two should carry this team a long way this season despite the relative lack of scoring others can provide. 4th

Average Finishing Position: Could this team be this year Crabbe-CC Chevigny I'd say it's not out of the question that if Carapaz finds the right C1 race to target he can easily come away with a big scoring haul for the season to move this team up into the promotion spots single-handedly. Will they win the division, no there's one outlier team this year but this team could go a long way. To play devil's advocate now though if Carapaz doesn't perform the floor this team falls to could be very low as there's no real depth underneath to sustain an underperforming leader and that is why they have ended up with an 8.65th average finishing position. But they are one team that can dream of promotion for sure.8.65th

Ethiopian Airlines joins a brand new team for the man-game but not a brand new manager, Dippoflex originally managed a Bank of Ireland team back in the 2014-2016 MG seasons.

Important riders In	Important riders out
Sven Erik Bystrom
Pierre Paolo Penasa
Ryan Gibbons
Juan Ernesto Chamorro

The table probably wouldn't be able to include all the signings made by Ethiopians but there are plenty more important ones that's for sure. Three strong leaders in Bystrom, Gibbons and Penasa are the headlines.

Sven Erik Bystrom

Pierre Paolo Penasa

Ryan Gibbons

Weighted OVL: We have our first highest-ranking team of the preview and deserved it. This team hasn't wasted a single roster spot with even Kenyan talent Kipruto able to get over the hills and sprint to a good enough standard for breakaways. A personal favourite is Felix English who could be underrated but has perfect stats to disrupt the flat classics this year with his high flat/accel combo good stamina and sprint.1st

Depth: Interestingly this team instantly does fall in the rankings once depth is taken into account mostly due to others having more talents on their team which can impact the overall team. Don't get it wrong though this team still has great depth for the division Berhane, Schönberger, Grmay and Goncalves all are good Mo/Hill guys who could have strong rides at points in the season while Frison is a solid TT option. 7th

Leaders: Another stable position for the team in the top half for leaders. Though I would proceed with caution here as Bystrom struggled last season at the PCT level though this could change going down a division into a much weaker field in C2 events it is interesting to note. Penasa on the other hand was a very strong rider in the PCT field last year just outside the top 50 in the Individual standings. He should go well despite his first decline this season though a strong mountain field could hurt him there as well. Finally, Ryan Gibbons should be a solid top-10 option in the sprints all year and gain a solid amount of points for the team throughout the season. 7th

Scoring Potential: A slightly surprises strong finish for the team here in my own opinion but Penasa, Gibbons and Chamorro all contributed all Bystrom scores are a lot better than expected though still not as huge as expected seeing Eiking score from earlier in the preview though perhaps down to how bad the field in the hills is this season he will get away with a low mo/hill ratio in more races. The good news for Ethiopians is the amount of riders in the mountains adding value here with Berhane, Penasa and Chamorro combining to contribute a healthy score on their way to 8th in this category.8th

Average Finishing Position: The depth play is something that has worked well in many different CT years Tafjord Kraft last season used depth to hit a top 5 in the rankings without a top 30 scorer and this team gives similar vibes this season to me. There isn't to my eye one outstanding scorer on the team, even then there are enough balanced high-floor riders that they still have the high-scoring ability on the team as a collective according to the algorithm. This intrigues me and this could be a team that you don't see towards the front of the MG photos much this season but will always be lurking in the background picking up the points along the way. It's quite apt then that they finish these rankings lurking outside the promotion zone in 7th if there's one team that will take advantage of underperformance on star riders this season I wouldn't be surprised if it's this one.7.10th

Cervelo Test Team joins a brand new team for the man-game but not a brand new manager, JT was known for relying completely on Taylor Phinney to stay in the PT for many years at RBC.

Important riders In	Important riders out
Gianni Moscon
Lucas Hamilton
Georg Priedler
Ziga Rucigaj

Moscon provides a strong leader in the hills then a trio of mountain options in Hamilton, Priedler and Rucigaj.

Gianni Moscon

Georg Priedler

Zica Rucigaj

Weighted OVL: Decent enough depth here in terms of quality though the manager clearly decided all races would be held on hilly circuits only this season. A halfway-to-decent TTT squad formed at the bottom of the roster may gain a few points throughout the season. 5th

Depth: Plenty of depth in the hills with Zordan and Boily scored well last season though Boily has declined while Watson, Grosser and McCormick all performed badly so a mixed bag. Houle and Waeytens look good on paper though it is hard to know how much the PCT scoring will translate after the declines. Hamilton misses out on being a leader here but scored 417 points in PCT in 2022 and bumps the depth score up here. 2nd

Leaders: Moscon decides how this season goes for the team. The last time we saw him in CT (with -1 hill) he scored 207 points in a slightly stronger hill field. The success of the time is based on the +1 hill the lack of depth in the hills and the strength of the overall team in the hills lifting his ceiling to much higher levels. Priedler and Rucigaj both score similarly in the useful but nowhere near elite mountain leaders to provide an overall score of 3rd place. The algo likes Moscon as a base scorer but there are some issues as seen below.3rd

Scoring Potential: The big scoring has just not been achieved here with only Moscon and Hamilton contributing meaningfully though some backup scoring by Priedler, Rucigaj, Zordan and Houle do make this score closer to mid-table than it could have been. The lack of a another leader that capable of scoring highly is the main worry with that being the main source of points in the division and leaves the team at a lowly rated 13th in this category 13th

Average Finishing Position: Finishing position surprised me slightly I think I underestimated the impact Hamilton could have on the standings though and his addition could make a real difference. The overall depth throughout the squad could help score some points throughout the season for some small gains which will help move the team up the standings every point matters a little more when you can have as little as 200 pts between 9-10 teams in the middle of the standings. a 6.95th average but a 6th overall in the prediction.6.95th

Team Würth MODYF had a relatively quiet year in CT last season Inigo Elosegui and Ide Schelling provided the biggest scoring for the team at just under 150 points each.

Important riders In	Important riders out
Ruben Guerreiro	Inigo Elosegui
Ruben Zeputnke	Ide Schelling
Beka Nareklishvili
Harm Vanhoucke

A full restructure of the leadership here with increased quality in the hills, TT and cobbles leadership a slight step down in the Mountains though worth remembering this was a pre-training Elosegui last season.

Ruben Zeputnke

Ruben Guerreiro

Harm Vanhoucke

Weighted OVL: Plenty of talent here which is bringing the overall score down but some great riders for the future and hard to argue with carrying a future 80 Sprinter regardless of how bad they may be in the hills. The low end of the maxed riders in the team has a nice couple of TT guys who are always useful just to round races and overall it's a very balanced squad.11th

Depth: Tough here to discuss more than above the depth ranking is still affected by some unmaxed riders but those who are maxed all serve a purpose in Mager, Goosens and Lehtinen if you were being picky you'd say that there's less depth in the mountains behind Vanhoucke but all in all an excellent all-around core. 11th

Leaders: A real positive step forward was taken by the team this off-season bagging Guerreiro and Vanhoucke. Guerreiro managed to finish only 50 points behind Moscon and ahead of the likes of Bystrom and looks to be a strong play dropping down to CT level. Vanhoucke and Narakeshvilli both add dynamic scoring being good TT riders while also being good Cobbled and Mountain riders respectively while Vanhoucke will suffer from the increased mountain talent in the division the lack of cobbled riders makes Narakeshvilli a top 5 threat in each race speaking of the cobbles lets look at the last category.6th

Scoring Potential: Zepuntke could/should be the one-man wrecking ball in any Cobbled classics this season at C2 level he is head and shoulders above what any team CT or PCT can bring in terms of pure cobbles ability and could end up being a high scorer for the season. There's even an argument that he could score exceptionally well in C1 events being the lead Cobble rating across both divisions he scores very high in this category but he's not the only one. Guerriro and Narekeshvilli both crack the top 30 and are certain to be hitting the top 10 throughout the season at a consistent rate a really high score here and 2nd overall. 2nd

Average Finishing Position: We are getting to the top end of the table now and there is plenty of teams finished close together with Team Würth MODYF less than 1pt of being 3rd. That being said this could still be too low for this team as no one knows the ceiling of points Zepuntke can score on his own. Saber top scored in CT in 2022 with 690 points and it's not outside the realms of possibility for Zepuntke to hit that mark though he lacks the double skill Saber had. All other one-day leaders on this team hit the top 10 mark which is all-important for CT scoring in the classics while Stage Racing Vanhoucke has the TT skills to outperform his mountain stat in the right races. A powerful top-heavy squad overall and a constant contender throughout the season. 5.40th

Gjensidige Pro Cycling Team came so close to promoting to the PCT last season behind a strong 3 leaders of Eiking, Lunke and Van Moer.

Important riders In	Important riders out
Thymen Arensman	Odd Christian Eiking
Jonas Iver Hvideberg	Adomaitis Rojus
Rudy Barbier

Only Eiking of the top leaders has left with a trio of potential leaders arriving headed by Stage Racer Arensman.

Thymen Arensman	Sindre Skjostad
Lunke	Brent Van Moer

Weighted OVL: As per usual the talents do bring the overall ranking down but there's not much-wasted cap at all in this team with all big money being paid at the correct end of the team. There are many good depth options in Skjerping and Lunder as potential breakaway riders in the correct race environment that could lead to some points throughout the season. 12th

Depth: Some options here there could be some good opportunities for Conti if he is planned well as there's really not the depth of MO/Hill riders as there is in the top division and while he is not in the top riders for those skills he easily could grab a top 10. While there are some good options further down its hard to see Koretzky and Consonni scoring too well just with how this version of PCM handles 2nd sprinters and very low Res and Mo guys. 9th

Leaders: Very much at the top of the rankings here Gjensidige have Arensman, Van Moer and Lunke all expected to be in the top 30 of the individual rankings by the end of the season and can probably count themselves unlucky for the influx of talent in the stage races that there not higher as without Jorgensen, Carapaz and Elosegui (being trained) this team would have been the favourite to promote in the division last season. That being said the duo should still score heavily in the mountains and the reliable Van Moer gives Gjensidige a real punch.5th

Scoring Potential: As expected Lunke, Arensman and Van Moer all score well here with Arensman bringing in a top-10 position. Interestingly Barbier, Knotten and Hvideberg all score as well to underline the depth of scoring this team has in multiple disciplines and it's hard to see any of them failing to score at least a respectable amount of points and this is a very high-floor team.3rd

Average Finishing Position: A well-balanced squad here with three strong leaders for the division which separates this team from most of the chasing pack. It's hard to see how this team fails too badly to move them lower than high mid-table. The sim agrees and their average finishing position is 5.15th bringing them to 4th overall and probably one of the few times that's very unlikely to fall much lower than this with the amount of talented reliable scorers they have.5.15th

:sidebar Probably the best jersey in the division



Simba Cement - Tanga Fresh ended up just in the bottom half last season with Wouter Wipper being the top scorer for the team.

Important riders In	Important riders out
Nils Schomber	Wouter Wippert
Baktihyar Kozhatayev
Dylan Page
Nur Aimann Zariff

Schomber is the clear top add here with a 2-point gap in the prologue a speciality that's proven to score well in this division. A good stage racer in Kozhatayev and the double sprint duo of Page and Zariff also added.

Nils Schomber

Baktihyar Kozhatayev

Bachirou Nikiema

Weighted OVL: Very complete team up and down the roster with only the two level 1 talents unlikely to be able to contribute to scoring. Good use of the loan market to an additional stage racer, TT rider and lead-out man and Dennis and Kiflay are going to rack up numerous points scores in TTs throughout the season. We have ignored the northern classics as has been a theme this season but planning around them shouldn't be an issue. 4th

Depth: I Love the depth of scoring on this team all the way Schomber upwards on the roster you can see riders who with the right opportunity could score meaningful points throughout the season. In weaker hilly races especially those that are tough Laas and Carpenter should be able to hit the top 10 at least, while riders like Smit, Barbari and Mundle all have intriguing stat combos that could play if planned correctly. While the Mountains-only duo of Seboka and Manfredi look very weak on paper the manager got 75 points out of Manfredi last season and a similar haul for both riders this year would be a great get at 50k/58k each. 1st

Leaders: Schomber and Kozhatayev the main leaders here. Kozhateyev doesn't have the best fortune with the increased competition in the mountains this season but he has a good all-around profile in stage racing though he certainly falls into the 2nd tier category for the division. He should however continue to score at a good rate with his backup stats. Nikiema is interesting he scored very few points in the CT last season (33pt in total), this division is certainly weaker and there are going to be more opportunities for him this season and should score some more points how many would seem to be up in the air currently. 4th

Scoring Potential:Schomber is for sure the big hitter here and how far he will go is hard to access though around 250 points would seem to be the average he's hitting which is more than a fair amount for a 110k rider. Kozhatayev and Dennis both score nicely as well. Certainly, this team isn't on the top echelon of big point scorers but more than enough to have a steady amount of guys scoring throughout the season. 7th

Average Finishing Position: I'm going to come out straight away and say I think this prediction is too high for Simba and if they had fallen behind Glensidge and Worth into 5th I think that would have been closer to what is more likely to happen. However, they did not and one thing that was obvious during the test was that the amount of 100+ scorers predicted is very high, similar to Ethiopian. A lot depends on Schombers planning as finding the right opportunities for the prologue specialist could turn into many points come the end of the year. But the backup scoring from Kozhatayev, Nikiema, Zariff, Page, Dennis, Kiflay, Carpenter and Laas looks to be pretty prolific as well as Manfredi and Seboka who the manager did well with last year to get 75 points out of the former can he potential get the same out of Seboka who knows. All in all a very complete team from top to bottom with a range of scorers who should be a minimum of the top half but if the depth scoring is as prolific as predicted will be promotion bound.4.75th

Duvel-Tsingtao is a new team for 2024 managed by a 3rd returning manager in Booker.

Important riders In	Important riders out
Dion Smith
Xianjing Lyu
Bert Van Lerberghe
Timo Roosen
Jingbao Zhao

This is a strong all-around window for Duvel with the regional focus adding Lyu and Van Lerberghe as excellent signings.

Dion Smith

Bert Van Lerberghe

Xianjing Lyu

Weighted OVL: This is a deep team we have a good group of TT riders, in Akhmaevi and Cheung but there is also a strong group of flat/breakaway riders in Noppe, Van Der Sande and Noppe. These are riders that under the right circumstances can grab results throughout the season while Noppe and Van Der Sande double up as domestiques in the Cobbled races. That this team is so deep while also having a top-tier talent in Brenner is even more impressive and he heads up two strong talents that will become very useful as they progress. 3rd

Depth: Scoring opportunities throughout this team with Zhao are a very obvious one, I love his prologue, sprint high accel combo though not sure how much accel plays into sprint in this PCM with the bug behind drafting riders. His prologue alone though is worth a good chunk of points throughout the season. Hermans looks perfect for easy hilly stages that finish on a short uphill to fully max the potential of Hill Hill/Res/Accel combo and planned correctly he will score throughout the season. While cobbled hilly rider Roosen is a good pickup in the weak division. All in all plenty of 2nd tier options here that could score.4th

Leaders: A huge score here that I wasn't quite expecting but the MO/HILL combo guys in Smith and Lyu mimic some of the larger scorers from last year and could be set for big season especially if planned to correctly max out the Mountain stat they both have. Van Lerberghe is super interesting as well as a faster sprinter than any of the better-cobbled riders in the division and equal with the few sprinter-cobbled riders behind him there's a chance for him to pick up some big points in the classics even if that is finishing behind Zepuntke. Zhao also factors in here less for his Sprint but his prologue is going to be a useful point-scoring tool throughout this season.2nd

Scoring Potential: The amount of good mo/hil combo guys shows the attention Booker was paying to last season's standings when putting together this squad and they will compete well in the hills probably even better than in the mountains. Saying that though it may be unwise to rule out Smith in the mountains he possesses better backup stats than most of the 78 guys and should be a top 10 rider for most races. Zhao and Van Lerberghe are the most volatile riders in this team from a point-scoring perspective as planned well they could be huge 150 scorers or more come the end of the year and they will be the guys to carry the team to a promotion through depth should they both score well. 5th

Average Finishing Position: It's a huge finish for Duvel averaging at 3.55th in my tests. Does this overestimate where they will finish to me? Probably so but it is also a strong testament to how many high scorers a team like this will have and how well Booker has watched, taken feedback and implemented a team that fits into all the different stats models that this PCM version favours. I think that alone will see this team promoted and I would be shocked if there not in the top 5 by the end of the season. 3.55th

Newton Foundation p/b Zwift finished last season in the last relegation spot in PCT despite a very strong/young squad and needed to rebuild this offseason.

Important riders In	Important riders out
Inigo Elosegui	Biniam Grimay
Vadim Pronskiy	Neilson Powless
Emilen Viennet	Pascal Ackerman
Alex Mengoulas	Jack Burke
	Matthew Walls

A huge rebuild was required following the loss of star talent Grimay and big scorer Powless but a talent influx has occurred and this team looks strong going forward.

Matteo Jorgenson

Inigo Elosegui

Emilen Viennet

Weighted OVL: Team is pretty heavy on talents which brings the score down but when you have 3 of the top 9 guys based on OVL the score can only be so low. Except for the talents the only lower OVL are Van Garderen and Abreu who both have roles to play on different terrain in a well-built team. 9th

Depth: The depth in the climbs especially the mountains is awe-inspiring Quinn, Madrazo and Pronskiy as domestiques is crazy for this level and the amount of scoring this team could do in stage races is frightening. 3rd leader Juan Pedro Lopez would also be a top 10 contender in any stage race so the endless scoring possibilities in the climbs continue though he scored only 59pts in PCT last year he could increase this against lesser competition. Bram Welton is another potential scorer in the sprint having grabbed just over 90pts last season the drop to CT should see his scoring rise sharply this season against a much weaker sprint and cobbled field. 8th

Leaders:3 incredibly strong leaders here. Jorgensen will lead the charge with over 300pt in PCT unmaxed last season he is the best leader there has been in the CT for a long period. He could be the rider to break the 900pt record that Dan Holloway set way back in the past and I would say he is pretty likely to break this if planned correctly this season. The other top leader in the team is Inigo Elosegui the backup stat monster with added Mountain prowess this season. That he already finished 20th in the CT Individual rankings last season shows how important those stats can be and he should be a top 10 scorer come the end of the season. Last in this section Viennet arrived from PT Polar and instantly is a top 3 leader in the TT at this level he should be another 200pt scorer through this season in what is the strongest leader's core in the division.1st

Scoring Potential: This team has by far the best high-scoring option in the division with Jorgensen and Elosegui. They are two of the top 3 riders in this category with only Zepuntke splitting them. Jorgensen tops the division and has to be a strong favourite to be the top scorer in the overall standings come the end of the year. More interesting is Elosegui who comes out very high on the standings with his superior backup stats propelling him up the rankings along with the +2 mountains boost. Interestingly, the manager has advised he is planning to ride the Tour Of America individually which will be a boom-or-bust race for him. But when the team has such a high floor scoring level this kind of risky chances can be made and not impact the team much at all if it fails. The flip side is a strong rider there could see Elosegui rack up a huge points haul if he goes on to the podium in the race with the HC points system in place.1st

Average Finishing Position: Unsurprisingly this team comes out with a frankly ridiculous 2.45th average finishing position just highlighting how much of a level above this division this team and especially the team leaders are. Its hard to see a Newton's rider not winning the Individual standings this year bar Zepuntke taking over every cobbled race in both C1/C2 and this coupled with the backup scoring in the mountains makes this the heaviest favourite to win a division in Man-Game history which considering we just had a 3-time PT winner in Isostar is a pretty impressive feat in itself and shows just how good a rebuild was completed by MRE considering the tough difficulties he had coming into the off-season a 10 out of 10 job and near guaranteed promotion comes with it. 2.45th

Ezeefreak wrote:

I like the style of presenting the result here. Nice to read.
Though I dont think Glanbia looks like 8th to me too but if Data says so

Booker wrote:

Loving this preview and the format, thanks for all the effort you’re putting into this, jt!

Looking forward to see the remainder fall into place and will give my outrageous views and disagreements more fully around the end

seancoll wrote:

Very, very excited to see the full preview. Less and less excited to see where I am, but that was common last year, too. We'll see whether predictions are a fluke or whether last year's overperformances are what made the difference.

Caspi wrote:

Very nice read so far! Looking forward to see the rest of the predictions

whitejersey wrote:

Great work so far!

Ezeefreak wrote:

Besides Glanbia being that low I think In generall I agree so far. Also I expect soon to see ourselves here, hopefully we can still postpone that a bit

In generally I love that prediction here and look forward to every new entry and how you present and discuss them!

Great work, keep it up

Jakstar22 wrote:

I was hoping for higher but as you said, it completely depends on my backing scorers. Thanks for the information written though! Really interesting to read so far! Great work!

ivaneurope wrote:

I have no expectations to be honest, so mid-table finish is a realistic prediction. Perhaps a serious reboot is on the horizon for 2025

Aycon97 wrote:

At first thank you for this nice way of a prediction, i am following it every time I am on here ^-^

I am honestly surprised my team came that "late". Sure I am happy about my top signings but like you said also below it lacks some depth at the moment with my regional riders. But I hope this will change in the future and I also hope I can live up to the prediction and If I am able to come in top 10 at the end I would be happy!