Following relegation we expected a challenging renewals period, with the need to lower our wage bill by at least 1 million. The situation wasn't helped by us starting the renewals period with 35 riders under contract, which made choosing who to prioritise re-signing more difficult than it normally would be.
With that said, we managed to reduce our roster to 23 riders and to stay under the PCT salary cap in the process. We saw relatively significant reductions in wages for Kemboi, van der Poel, Pithie and Fernandes, though these were offset by some significant rises, particularly for Stewart and Larsen. This meant that the riders we renewed have lower wages than last season overall, but not by a huge amount, as you can see below.
Rider
2023
2024
Difference
-------------------------------------
--------
--------
----------
Salem Kemboi
375,000
339,000
36,000
Mathieu Van der Poel
250,000
204,000
46,000
Marcus Faglum Karlsson
175,000
186,000
11,000
Laurence Pithie
190,000
156,000
34,000
Alberto Bettiol
140,000
139,000
1,000
Jack Burke
145,000
126,000
19,000
Jay Vine
100,000
118,000
18,000
Jake Stewart
65,000
117,000
52,000
Niklas Larsen
75,000
114,000
39,000
David Dekker
90,000
113,000
23,000
Hamza Mansouri
100,000
106,000
6,000
Jose Fernandes
130,000
102,000
28,000
Benjamin Thomas
70,000
88,000
18,000
Derek Gee
55,000
72,000
17,000
Cedric Bakke Christophersen
70,000
55,000
15,000
Sarris Evangelos
50,000
54,000
4,000
Leonardo Basso
65,000
52,000
13,000
Narankhuu Baterdene
50,000
50,000
Thai Phan Hoang
50,000
50,000
Joel Ponce
50,000
50,000
Karel Camrda
50,000
50,000
Stavros Theorpanous
50,000
50,000
Kantaphon Kunkumpai
55,000
50,000
5,000
-------------------------------------
--------
--------
----------
Total:
2,441,000
As you may expect from the above, we had to let some big spenders go to get under the salary cap. Four of the riders we chose not to renew never actually competed in our jersey, but we wish them the best for the future nonetheless - Davies, Matuzevicius, Buck-Gramcko and Figueiredo Leme are all talented riders, but didn't make the cut for our slimmed down roster.
Other riders were not renewed as a result of their advancing years, with Vermeersch, Craddock and Pons departing as they enter the twilight of their careers. None of the trio achieved anything remarkable in their time with us, though Vermeersch departs as our 48th highest scorer of all time. Similarly, Schultz, Vincent and Crncevic (sorry redordead ) had little to show for their time with the team, though Prado at least has 29th on the team all time scorer list to his name. All four are riders we decided not to renew due to questions about whether their sale would cover the renewals fine that keeping them would generate.
However, De Bie was a different case. While his time with the team has been slightly disappointing, he did bring us our first monument by winning Liege - Bastogne - Liege in 2023, and had he stayed another year perhaps only Yates and Kemboi would be ahead of him on the all-time scorer list. But given his age and wage demands, we felt it was better to let him leave rather than try and fit him into our roster at the expense of some of our younger riders.
Rider
2023
2024
Difference
-------------------------------------
--------
--------
----------
Sean De Bie
535,000
535,000
Nicholas Schultz
160,000
160,000
Ignacio Jesus Prado
110,000
110,000
Gianni Vermeersch
95,000
95,000
Lawson Craddock
95,000
95,000
Leo Vincent
55,000
55,000
Aleksa Crncevic
50,000
50,000
Gaetan Pons
50,000
50,000
Scott Davies
50,000
50,000
Zygimantas Matuzevicius
10,000
10,000
Tobias Buck-Gramcko
10,000
10,000
Pedro Figueiredo Leme
10,000
10,000
Availability
Our availability post is a bit different this year, as no rider is "not for sale", or even "unlikely". Instead, we're willing to let anyone go for the right price, and what influences where each rider falls on the availability scale is what that right price is for us. Once transfers begin we'll make those prices known, but for now we have to be slightly more vague than we would like. That means riders are grouped by how expensive we expect they will prove to be in order for us to sell, though in very broad terms at this point.
1. Least expensive
Thai Phan Hoang
4.05
27yo
€50,000
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
70
71
72
72
65
71
73
72
57
69
72
72
68
67
…
72
72
73
73
66
73
74
73
58
70
74
74
69
68
Narankhuu Baterdene
4.100
30yo
€50,000
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
74
58
60
61
59
72
70
83
67
76
77
59
66
64
Joel Ponce
4.54
28yo
€50,000
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
68
73
73
73
71
69
71
74
64
62
68
71
69
71
…
69
75
75
74
73
71
72
76
64
62
68
71
69
73
Karel Camrda
4.13
24yo
€50,000
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
69
71
71
71
69
73
74
73
54
66
72
71
68
71
…
69
72
73
73
69
75
75
74
54
66
73
72
68
71
Jay Vine
4.100
30yo
€118,000
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
69
77
76
75
66
69
77
77
61
67
75
76
63
70
Leonardo Basso
4.100
32yo
€52,000
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
73
67
70
72
72
78
73
73
73
71
69
62
69
72
Derek Gee
4.100
28yo
€72,000
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
71
75
73
71
72
71
75
76
58
69
74
78
71
70
This first group of riders are the ones who will be the easiest to persuade us to part with, though we suspect we may want more to sell our talents, Basso and Gee than anyone would be willing to pay, at least unless we find them surplus to requirements. Similarly, we don't imagine there will be much of a market for Baterdene, but we think Vine may prove to be of interest to a number of teams at the price we're looking for.
2. Less expensive
Cedric Bakke Christophersen
4.15
24yo
€55,000
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
68
73
73
73
67
72
77
71
64
66
71
73
65
71
…
70
74
74
74
68
74
78
72
65
67
73
75
66
72
Marcus Faglum Karlsson
4.100
31yo
€186,000
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
71
79
76
73
73
78
75
76
56
60
68
66
74
79
Kantaphon Kunkumpai
3.17
23yo
€50,000
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
65
71
71
70
64
72
67
75
56
64
70
63
74
64
…
67
76
75
74
67
75
69
79
56
64
72
66
75
67
Jose Fernandes
4.100
30yo
€102,000
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
71
75
73
70
77
78
77
76
53
62
67
60
68
77
Jack Burke
4.100
30yo
€126,000
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
69
77
77
76
69
75
74
80
55
60
71
77
71
69
Alberto Bettiol
4.100
32yo
€139,000
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
72
71
74
77
68
78
75
74
66
71
77
75
68
67
Benjamin Thomas
4.100
30yo
€88,000
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
73
56
61
66
78
75
73
70
64
74
79
64
66
79
Sarris Evangelos
4.09
24yo
€54,000
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
73
63
65
66
69
75
70
67
72
73
73
68
72
70
…
75
63
65
66
69
76
70
72
73
75
75
68
72
70
Our second group of riders again features some talents we doubt anyone will be interested in at the prices we'll be looking for. But we do think that Faglum Karlsson and Fernandes will be of significant interest at a much lower price than many will anticipate, and we may see Burke and Thomas (and possibly even Bettiol) attracting offers as we think they may be priced below the estimations of many.
3. More expensive
Jake Stewart
4.100
26yo
€117,000
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
77
62
67
72
68
74
77
73
76
76
71
67
68
70
Stavros Theorpanous
3.48
23yo
€50,000
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
70
70
70
70
69
68
71
72
67
68
73
72
69
68
…
75
72
72
72
71
71
74
75
69
70
76
76
71
70
David Dekker
4.100
27yo
€113,000
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
77
61
64
66
60
81
77
74
73
77
76
66
64
61
Mathieu Van der Poel
4.100
30yo
€204,000
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
73
70
74
77
69
78
77
74
72
72
77
77
79
73
Niklas Larsen
4.100
28yo
€114,000
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
77
60
64
68
74
74
73
78
64
77
76
65
66
80
Our penultimate availability grouping consists of riders we would be surprised to see a sizeable enough offer for to make us want to sell - particularly in the case of Theorpanous. That being said, van der Poel and Stewart are likely to be priced at a level that may tempt a few offers if our sense of their value to other managers is correct, though we have been completely wrong before!
4. Most expensive
Hamza Mansouri
4.100
26yo
€106,000
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
73
73
74
74
74
77
75
78
62
68
76
76
65
74
Salem Kemboi
4.100
30yo
€339,000
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
78
62
63
64
63
74
77
81
50
80
80
61
68
81
Laurence Pithie
3.18
23yo
€156,000
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
73
66
69
72
71
74
73
71
75
73
74
67
72
69
…
76
66
69
72
71
76
73
80
77
76
77
67
72
69
Finally, the three riders we would need to see the biggest fees to move on. We would be absolutely shocked if anyone met our demands for Mansouri, and think the same would likely be true for Pithie. But knowing the offers we've had for Kemboi in previous years, we think there is a chance he may leave the team - though of course, we would be very happy to keep him if that valuation wasn't met.
So that concludes our availability post. Basically, if you think you can make a fair offer for any our riders then we'll happily hear you out in transfers, and we won't rule out things like rider swaps if it achieves our aim of making the team stronger in the long term. As it stands expect we might see a few big names move on, but who knows what will actually happen when the window opens?
Looks like an open-minded approach to transfers, which I like. Hopefully this year your time commitments will allow you to avoid the De Bie situation from last year - I’m sure we’ll be chatting (if team management can get through your notoriously busy phone lines!)
Plenty of interesting riders available once again, I'm sure we'll talk a lot this year as well
Getting back first-year signing Basso looks tempting, but I guess there are other priorities... You might guess which rider(s) I'm targeting
Sad to see you relegate, but this sentence "The situation wasn't helped by us starting the renewals period with 35 riders under contract" might be one of the reasons why? 35 riders is a crazy amount of riders
However, relegating with a lot of nice riders both as a promotion base and for selling is a great situation, and I have to say there are some interesting riders on the availability list (even though they would've been even nicer if more of them were French)
Basso and Bettiol obviously interesting for an Italian project think we will be in contact when the season starts
Both are riders I like, but they're at the wrong age for the direction the team is taking so definitely possible I look to sell. Would be weird to see Bettiol riding for another team after 7 seasons though.
Surprised Kemboi gets surety to stick around after last year, though I guess it makes sense not to sell low and to trust his skillset in PCT.
To be honest it's far from certain he stays, it's just I won't sell cheap - don't need to let him go but will if it makes financial sense. I think a lot of last season's issues may be avoided in a weaker sprint field in PCT if he stays, as suspect the fourth sprinter bug was a key part of the problem.
Looks like an open-minded approach to transfers, which I like. Hopefully this year your time commitments will allow you to avoid the De Bie situation from last year - I’m sure we’ll be chatting (if team management can get through your notoriously busy phone lines!)
Still find it remarkable even now that I didn't get a single bid for De Bie last year, not even someone offering me 100k. The positive this year is that I think everyone I might need to sell should get some interest, even at a low fee, so hopefully will avoid that. Look forward to our conversations!
You've consistently had riders I've been interested in but priced out of, I'm sure I'll be in touch and outbid again.
It's win-win for me, either way I get the sale but in all seriousness hopefully it is different this time around for you and we can work something out!
Plenty of interesting riders available once again, I'm sure we'll talk a lot this year as well
Getting back first-year signing Basso looks tempting, but I guess there are other priorities... You might guess which rider(s) I'm targeting
I knew I didn't make a mistake in renewing Hoang, as that's obviously who it is, right? I look forward to the conversations, think I can guess who it is who is most of interest.
Sad to see you relegate, but this sentence "The situation wasn't helped by us starting the renewals period with 35 riders under contract" might be one of the reasons why? 35 riders is a crazy amount of riders
However, relegating with a lot of nice riders both as a promotion base and for selling is a great situation, and I have to say there are some interesting riders on the availability list (even though they would've been even nicer if more of them were French)
It was only 26 full riders, 3 stagiares and 6 out on loan but I take your point to say things went very wrong last transfer season would be an understatement.
I don't actually know yet whether this will be the base of a fight for promotion, or it'll be a case of using sales to buy assets for the future, but will be fun to find out. Look forward to discussing transfers, be they for French riders or not!
I guess I'll have to wait a while longer to see if those Greek/Cypriot riders could join.
But an incredible sexy list of riders for sure!
For the right price, yes To be fair these are two you chose not to pursue originally, so I figured they wouldn't be the highest priority for you anyway.
In previous years, seeing that Kemboi is not untouchable would've made my heart flutter, but I feel like the timing might not be quite right, unfortunately. But you never know, I'm sure I'll come knocking, even if it's just to talk hypotheticals Either way, you mentioned it yourself, you have a plethora of ways you can take this and I'm looking forward to finding out which path you choose.
Also, I'm still a bit mad that you didn't go the very fun Fighter route with Mansouri
In previous years, seeing that Kemboi is not untouchable would've made my heart flutter, but I feel like the timing might not be quite right, unfortunately. But you never know, I'm sure I'll come knocking, even if it's just to talk hypotheticals Either way, you mentioned it yourself, you have a plethora of ways you can take this and I'm looking forward to finding out which path you choose.
Also, I'm still a bit mad that you didn't go the very fun Fighter route with Mansouri
There's never a bad time but yes, that is understandable with your roster as it currently is. I actually wish I'd gone with the puncheur route for Mansouri seeing how he's ridden over the years, though agree the fighter route would have been fun
I guess I'll see how cheap or expensive these vaunted prices are. Either way there are some fun riders here so I may pop in for a natter
Some are very cheap (though mainly to encourage bidding wars) and some are very expensive (because I like to overvalue my talents). Sure we'll find some riders to discuss as ever!
A fun overview of your riders’ availabilities! With us having interests in all categories except the most expensive (!), I’m sure we can find some kind of discussion and maybe deal for several riders making for a discount
Niklas Larsen is a rider I have always regretted allowing to leave. Evangelos too, I wouldn't mind having back on the team. Whether or not this is the year either of them come back to us depends on just how expensive "more expensive" is. I guess I will infd out soon enough.
Salem Kemboi
Mathieu Van der Poel
Marcus Faglum Karlsson
Laurence Pithie
Alberto Bettiol
Jack Burke
Jay Vine
Jake Stewart
Niklas Larsen
Hamza Mansouri
Jose Fernandes
Benjamin Thomas
Cedric Bakke Christophersen
Sarris Evangelos
Narankhuu Baterdene
Thai Phan Hoang
Joel Ponce
Karel Camrda
Stavros Theorpanous
Kantaphon Kunkumpai
) had little to show for their time with the team, though Prado at least has 29th on the team all time scorer list to his name. All four are riders we decided not to renew due to questions about whether their sale would cover the renewals fine that keeping them would generate.
Sean De Bie
Ignacio Jesus Prado
Lawson Craddock
Aleksa Crncevic
Gaetan Pons
Zygimantas Matuzevicius
Tobias Buck-Gramcko
Pedro Figueiredo Leme
