Euskotren entered renewals period with some certitudes (the declining of GC leader Mikel Iturria and of puncheurs Luca Wackermann and Quentin Pacher) and some things uncertains, as what direction the team should take.
They went like this:
Rider
2024 wage
2025 wage
Difference
Iturria Mikel
150 000 €
Released
-150 000 €
Lafay Victor
120 000 €
125 000 €
5 000 €
Pacher Quentin
90 000 €
Released
-90 000 €
Wackermann Luca
90 000 €
Released
-90 000 €
Hofstetter Hugo
80 000 €
Released
-80 000 €
Rochas Remy
75 000 €
65 000 €
-10 000 €
Darbinyan Varsham
65 000 €
70 000 €
5 000 €
Doubey Fabien
60 000 €
Released
-60 000 €
Politt Nils
60 000 €
50 000 €
-10 000 €
Serrano Javier
60 000 €
50 000 €
-10 000 €
Weinstein Domenic
55 000 €
50 000 €
-5 000 €
Armirail Bruno
55 000 €
50 000 €
-5 000 €
Rodriguez Cristian
50 000 €
Released
-50 000 €
Cabanas Oscar
50 000 €
Released
-50 000 €
Le Berre Mathis
50 000 €
50 000 €
0 €
Agirrebeitia Mikel
50 000 €
50 000 €
0 €
Donaldson Robert
15 000 €
50 000 €
35 000 €
Erdenesuren Munkhtulga
0 €
Released
0 €
Gougeard Alexis
0 €
Released
0 €
Berthet Clement
75 000 €
100 000 €
25 000 €
Lazkano Oier
50 000 €
65 000 €
15 000 €
Renard Alexis
50 000 €
50 000 €
0 €
Huby Antoine
50 000 €
50 000 €
0 €
Total
875 000 €
-525 000 €
Total (without releases)
45 000€
Adding to the name already given, two first-season members of the team leave, in Cristian Rodriguez (2022 Vuelta al Pais Vasco KoM and Spain national champion) and Fabien Doubey (team's 8th best scorer of all time). "We've had a discussion with them, said Tim Ladrik, and with the coming of age of Oier and Clement, there was a need to make some space in the climbing departement. We thank them a lot for their commitment to the team, and wish them all the best for the follow-up of their carrier, without saying that we'll never see them again of course." he added.
The last surprise might be the departure of French sprinter Hugo Hofstetter, 3rd best scorer of the 2024 season. "We wanted Hugo to continue with us, but you know the story with sprinters. He thinks he'll have better chances in Free Agency, so we might have a chat with him at that moment."
The biggest wage increase come from Clement Berthert coming back from PT loan with a leading chance, and stagiaire Robert Donaldson getting a full contract.
With that said, the pre-transferts roster looks like this:
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
OVR
Age
Wage
Victor Lafay
66
75
77
63
72
72
72
62
63
74
78
67
61
75,16
29
125 000
Clement Berthet
65
77
76
60
70
75
67
60
62
75
74
75
60
75,11
26
100 000
Varsham Darbinyan
72
58
66
62
72
71
71
76
76
74
64
68
65
74,24
31
70 000
Oier Lazkano
65
71
77
60
68
71
70
60
64
75
79
62
60
74,19
26
65 000
Remy Rochas
67
77
74
61
70
70
73
60
61
73
72
66
62
74,03
29
65 000
Nils Politt
73
63
66
78
70
73
72
60
59
65
69
66
76
73,96
31
50 000
Domenic Weinstein
71
70
70
75
72
70
76
67
68
70
65
69
76
72,99
31
50 000
Bruno Armirail
72
71
73
72
73
75
73
60
61
65
74
68
71
72,86
31
50 000
Javier Serrano
69
64
72
64
75
76
69
74
60
68
73
72
62
72,85
24
50 000
Alexis Renard
77
62
70
67
70
76
69
69
71
71
71
68
69
72,42
26
50 000
Mathis Le Berre
71
64
72
65
72
71
68
71
66
66
72
67
62
71,59
24
50 000
Mikel Agirrebeitia
67
73
66
73
69
72
67
60
55
67
61
73
69
71,32
24
50 000
Antoine Huby
70
63
67
62
67
72
69
69
67
72
65
64
66
70,12
24
50 000
Robert Donaldson
65
56
60
61
67
67
65
68
69
66
65
58
61
67,13
23
50 000
Availabilities
"We're open to talk about any rider", said Tim Ladrik after the team presentation, "though we're probably mostly interested by loans for Mathis, Javier and maybe Antoine. We're very excited for the upcoming transfert season, which promises to be very interesting.
***
Going to answer to you all in a following post, but thank you for the messages!
“...the secret of the Great Stories is that they have no secrets. The Great Stories are the ones you have heard and want to hear again. The ones you can enter anywhere and inhabit comfortably."
A. Roy
Talking about any rider is possible? Maybe there's an opportunity to settle a bidding war from 3 years ago then, though I doubt I'll have the funds or cap space to really get it going
A lot of change but a solid base to start transfers from, particularly with a lot of young riders improving. Hopefully it puts you into position for a promotion push
Interested to see in which direction you go, but it would be cool if you could also fight for promotion. 3rd season seems a good time to go for it.
4th actually!
I'm not sure I'm able to commit to what it takes to promote and, if that happens, stay in the PCT, but we'll see. I'm still torn between all the possibilities with a small budget.
This seems like one of the stronger CT teams. I am excited to see how badly we get beaten next year
Not sure about that, seeing our past results and the loss of three leaders, but we'll see. In any case, happy to ride along you and see how everything folds.
You have a very solid base to push for promotion already, but also a need for some loan outs to keep development going I guess.
But very cool pool of riders with limited use of wage cap in relation to the level. Especially Rochas and Lafay are riders I like a lot, as they were initially picked up and developped at Festina Berthet is ready to do some real CT damage also.
Rochas I still have to find a good way to use him, and that will repeat with Berthet I guess, though he has other arguments. Lafay is indeed very nice to have and has done a good job, now I hope it'll continue, moreover if he stays our main hill leader.
Talking about any rider is possible? Maybe there's an opportunity to settle a bidding war from 3 years ago then, though I doubt I'll have the funds or cap space to really get it going
We can still talk, indeed. That doesn't mean we'll agree. We'll probably talk though seeing your availability list (even if you'll probably have some strong trades in mind before i even show up)
A lot of change but a solid base to start transfers from, particularly with a lot of young riders improving. Hopefully it puts you into position for a promotion push
“...the secret of the Great Stories is that they have no secrets. The Great Stories are the ones you have heard and want to hear again. The ones you can enter anywhere and inhabit comfortably."
A. Roy
Transfers are approaching their end, and it's time for Euskotren to present the new neo-pros who join the team to begin their journey into professional cycling.
Eddy Le Huitouze
Time-triaist
70 000 €
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
70
60
61
70
66
67
66
61
60
64
70
64
69
2025
77
60
62
77
71
72
71
61
65
67
70
64
76
2028
Like Mathis Le Berre, Alexis Renard and Antoine Huby, Eddy comes from Brittany (why isn't our team located there, tell me?). With already some nice TT capabilities, we count on him to begin one of the best French in the discipline.
Mathys Rondel
Stage Racer
75 000 €
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
67
68
67
66
66
67
68
70
58
59
63
62
66
65
2025
70
77
74
71
73
74
75
79
58
59
66
63
67
72
2028
While he's obviously not as talented as many of the future superstar, we expect Mathys to maybe lead the team, if we're still in CT at that moment. With Agirrebeitia and Castellon, we're bound to be back into stage racing at one point.
And guess what? Mathys is born in Le Mans, so that's not Britanny, but not that far.
Jan Castellon
Stage Racer
75 000 €
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
65
69
68
67
63
68
67
69
63
59
66
66
73
62
2025
68
78
75
72
70
75
72
76
63
59
67
67
74
69
2028
Not as good on the flat, but better in the high mountain. Castellon also joins us in the future of stage racing! He and Rondel will grow and learn together, and we're looking forward to them leading the team.
Robert Donaldson
Sprinter
50 000 €
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
65
56
58
60
61
67
67
65
68
69
66
65
58
61
2025
72
57
59
61
61
74
70
70
73
78
73
65
59
61
2028
Robert isn't really a newcomer, as he was a stagiaire with the team last season. We decided to offer him a full contract, as we think he has an interesting profile for the future. For now, he'll work to support Darbinyan in the cobbled races.
“...the secret of the Great Stories is that they have no secrets. The Great Stories are the ones you have heard and want to hear again. The ones you can enter anywhere and inhabit comfortably."
A. Roy
Change of an era, we said. Indeed with the ageing of Mikel Itturia, we had to either look for another leader of this level, or change our plans. Well, seems we had to change our plan. We failed to hire a proper GC rider and a sprinter, and took the option to look on the younger side of things. We've talked about this already. Now let's see who were the other riders in.
Matus Stocek
Puncheur
90 000 €
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
Age
71
68
73
78
61
75
70
72
68
70
75
75
71
61
26
Young puncheur Matus Stocek joins us from defunct Moser and immediately goes to the training camp. We know there has been some debate on whether he or Victor Lafay would be the better suited for this experience, but given the CT hills profile and our own goals, we judged he needed this more. He'll have the difficult task to take up the mantle of Wackerman and Pacher on the easier finish.
We count on him for the future of the team!
Jan Dieteren
Puncheur
0 €
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
Age
67
70
74
77
58
75
70
68
51
63
66
80
73
58
32
From one spanish team to another, Dieteren join us from the CT draft after he spent last season at ZARA. The third German of the team will have the task to support Stocek, Lafay and Berthet in their race, and if he has the occasion, to try and look for results on his own.
Damien Touze
Domestique
50 000 €
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
Age
71
66
68
70
61
73
73
67
70
70
72
71
64
63
29
Owain Doull
Domestique
50 000 €
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
Age
72
59
62
65
73
71
70
68
71
73
73
63
65
75
32
Alexis Gougeard
Domestique
0 €
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
Age
73
66
68
70
70
72
76
70
68
64
65
78
64
72
32
Damien Touze and Owain Doull join us on minimum wage, Alexis Gougeard comes back, again as a draftee. All three will be part of our domestique teams, particularly in the TTT and the cobbles. We look forward to what they can bring to the team.
Muhammad Andy Royan
Talent
25 000 €
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
Age
69
58
59
60
68
69
67
67
62
68
67
62
66
68
22
Muhammad joins us on loan from Indosat. He'll ride for the year with us, before returning to his team. We're always welcoming young guns in our team and are quite happy to help him develop.
Baptiste Vadic
Stagiaire
10 000 €
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
Age
68
54
57
59
65
63
67
70
61
68
67
61
59
64
23
Bastien Tronchon
Stagiaire
10 000 €
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
Age
65
57
63
68
58
69
68
68
57
66
69
63
66
60
23
Donovan Ramirez
Stagiaire
10 000 €
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
Age
69
59
63
67
67
71
69
69
57
66
69
63
64
71
23
With some wage cap left, we welcomed three stagiaire - two Frenchies, and one who already rode last season with Manada. If they show what they can do, they could still get a full contract next season. For now, we welcome them in the team, in particular with Avenir in sight.
That's all for the new arrivals, so let's have a look on our team this season.
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FI
DH
PR
OVR
Age
Matus Stocek
71
68
73
78
61
75
70
72
68
70
75
75
71
61
75,53
26
Victor Lafay
66
75
76
77
63
72
72
72
62
65
74
78
67
61
75,3
29
Clement Berthet
65
77
77
76
60
70
75
67
60
62
75
74
75
60
75,11
26
Varsham Darbinyan
72
58
62
66
62
72
71
71
76
76
74
64
68
65
74,24
31
Remy Rochas
67
77
76
74
61
70
70
73
60
61
73
72
66
62
74,03
29
Nils Politt
73
63
65
66
78
70
73
72
60
59
65
69
66
76
73,96
31
Jan Dieteren
67
70
74
77
58
75
70
68
51
63
66
80
73
58
73,55
32
Domenic Weinstein
71
70
70
70
75
72
70
76
67
68
70
65
69
76
72,99
31
Bruno Armirail
72
71
72
73
72
73
75
73
60
61
65
74
68
71
72,86
31
Alexis Renard
77
62
66
70
67
70
76
69
69
71
71
71
68
69
72,42
26
Damien Touze
71
66
68
70
61
73
73
67
70
70
72
71
64
63
71,93
29
Owain Doull
72
59
62
65
73
71
70
68
71
73
73
63
65
75
71,57
32
Alexis Gougeard
73
66
68
70
70
72
76
70
68
64
65
78
64
72
71,15
32
Antoine Huby
70
63
65
67
62
67
72
69
69
67
72
65
64
66
70,12
24
Jan Castellon
65
69
68
67
63
68
67
69
63
59
66
66
73
62
68,12
22
Donovan Ramirez
69
59
63
67
67
71
69
69
57
66
69
63
64
71
68,05
23
Mathys Rondel
67
68
67
66
66
67
68
70
58
59
63
62
66
65
67,81
22
Bastien Tronchon
65
57
63
68
58
69
68
68
57
66
69
63
66
60
67,55
23
Eddy Le Huitouze
70
60
61
62
70
66
67
66
61
60
64
70
64
69
67,37
22
Robert Donaldson
65
56
58
60
61
67
67
65
68
69
66
65
58
61
67,13
23
Muhammad Andy Royan
69
58
59
60
68
69
67
67
62
68
67
62
66
68
66,57
22
Baptiste Vadic
68
54
57
59
65
63
67
70
61
68
67
61
59
64
65,99
23
So what now? Yes, we probably have to many riders, and our teams isn't well balanced. We chose to look on the future and to rebuild. We'll focus on the races we're the best on, try to find our roots back, and teach young riders.
We'll not look for miracles, but to learn what we have to do to be better.
Farewells
Three youngster left on loan to get experience at the highest level! Agirrebeitia will learn from Jack Haig at Sony Force India, where he'll also ride with countryman Jaime Roson and former teammate Hugo Hofstetter. Serrano takes the road to Switzerland and Team UBS, not for the mountain, but to be a part of Jacobs and Schäppi cobble team. We hope he'll learn a lot on the toughest cobbles of the cycling world!
Same story for Le Berre, who'll do that among one of the best: David Per, at Carlsberg. Not too much beer Mathis!
We thank all three managers for taking them on!
Mikel Iturria has been our leader from year one, but that couldn't really be possible with age coming on. He'll have the opportunity to show he still knows a thing or two for JEWA, in the PCT, where we expect him to support Jan Hirt. We look forward to ride against our former leader, who'll always be welcomed. He scored 725 points for the team.
Luca Wackermann brought the team his first win in Zurich, and repeated that the season after! He secured a contract in his home country at Parmalat - Ecopetrol and we expect to see him and his attacking spirit again! He scored 275 points for the team.
Cristian Rodriguez and Fabien Doubey always were hard worker along our team leaders, often bringing us some points. The first brought us the best climber jersey in our home race, Vuelta al Pais Vasco, our first season. They'll ride at Aker and Gjensidige, respectively.
It was a hard decision, but we let Oier Lazkano leave us for Sauber Petronas - against a well needed fee. In the end, we think his skillset will be more valuable in the PCT than with us. And he'll be in support of one of the best puncheurs in the world in Marc Hirschi! Oier has been with us since the foundation on the team, though he spent most of the time on loan. We'll follow his results with interest.
Quentin Pacher couldn't secure a contract, but he also was a vital part of our hill squad the last three season, winning 2023 Gisborne GP and 146 points. We wish him all the best.
“...the secret of the Great Stories is that they have no secrets. The Great Stories are the ones you have heard and want to hear again. The ones you can enter anywhere and inhabit comfortably."
A. Roy
Think your hills and TT are quite good but overall it will probably take another couple of seasons to be able to get the best out of this team.
Agirrebeitia will definitely follow Haig, and even Leemreize and Roson, to most of his races, and we believe he should be able to contribute in some way.
