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[PCT '25] IESE ProCycling Team
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| redordead |
Posted on 07-05-2025 13:05
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Team Leader
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ivaneurope wrote:
The team did confirmed that they've been keeping tabs on some PCT teams to determine which path will guarantee them at least back-to-back-PCT seasons. The general consensus is that the team needs at least one top tier rider to be able to be competitive in PTHC races. Secure that type of rider first and then build the rest up.
I like the thought process. It would be nice if you can get another crack at PCT next season 
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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| ivaneurope |
Posted on 19-05-2025 15:51
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Classics Specialist
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Spetember's rankings have been released and unfortunately things began to look not good. The team is still 6th in the standings, but now 99 points behind Duvel-Tsingtao, only 13 points ahead of Team Würth MODYF and further 26 ahead of Spark Team NZ. Glanbia is not that far behind with 112 points gap. This means that the team could slip down to 9th in the standings and goodbye to all promotion hopes. But the current model, based on the PpRD ratio has the team barely holding onto the 6th place and peojected 23-point lead over Team Würth MODYF. But those are projected results and do not reflect planning strategies, meaning that the results may vary.
Which is why the last 12 RD's are now more important than ever. The team has decided to spend them on the final two C2 races and the C1 Tour of Britain. Last year in Britain the team made use of the TT stage which enabled William Barta and Marko Pavlic to strong GC positions. The year before that the team had sent Flavio De Luna - another MO/HI rider with good TT. But now that TT loophole many teams had exploited has been removed and teams have to come up with new strategies. Fortunately, the team already has an anternative - KHJ. The team has been emboldened by his TDU win at the start of the season as well as the solid performance in Tour de Vineyards, which didn't suit his strong sides, but managed to get some valuable ranking points. If he keeps the momentum, built from TDU and TdV, the Dane could single-handedly keep the promotion aspirations alive. But in the last race of the season - Zuri Metzgete, he won't be alone.
He will be joined by Julien Bernard and Dinmukhammed Ulysbayev in Zürich. Bernard has been making waves all season long thanks to well crafted breakaways in several races - in the International Österreich Rundfahrt, he was close to win it all thanks to being in a breakaway on Stage 4 and kept the lead until the deciding TT stage, where he fell down to 2nd. In other races he was keeping up with the top riders and also got a good ranking points haul. The same cannot be said about Ulysbayev. He is all the way down in 85th with just 65 points. William Barta isn't performing well either - he's 70th with 79 points. By compairsion, Bernard had 261 points, KHJ - 278 points.
Barta will have a chance to increase his tally once again in the Herald Sun Tour. But that's a really odd race to put a rider of his caliber in such a race. Unless they bank on the TT stage to stay in the GC hunt, but with 73 TT he's far from the best MO/HT time trailist sent here - the more logical thing may've been to send Ahmad Zamri (who was 6th). The team had also sent a traditional TT'er in Carlos Verona rather than Lukas Postlberger which may also hurt their chances at a high result and will have to rely on the Top 4 teams to score the bulk of the points or for the teams around them to falter. And for a team that is fighting for a promotion spot, it's not a good sign to rely on external factor. But missing out on promotion may be an even worse outlook.
The team is one of the oldest and most expensive teams. KHJ and Bernard and 33 and 32 respectively and may ask for a pay raise next season, leaving the team in a bind. Re-sign them to what they want and the team risks losing any resale value, but losing them in free agency will mean that the team will get nothing in return. The team may however be due for some financial boost thanks to the set goals - the team overachived in their Monterrey goal, reached their C1 goal with Bernard's 10th place in Morocco, while being all so close for an upset win in Austria (the team's mandatory win goal) and the team was near their other goals too.
It all comes down to those 12 race days of triumph or tragedy
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| Laurens147 |
Posted on 19-05-2025 16:07
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Sprinter
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Good luck ivan!
MG - Lotto - Caloi
[MG] New Manager of the Year - PCM.daily Awards 2022
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| Caspi |
Posted on 19-05-2025 20:44
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Domestique
Posts: 705
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A nail-biting finish to the season for you 
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 05-12-2025 08:36
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| ivaneurope |
Posted on 02-06-2025 12:48
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Classics Specialist
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Joined: 09-05-2011
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As the dust settled, it is now time to look at what has happened in the final few races of the season and how it will shape our off-season (whatever our division will be). To start off, our first race of the '12 RD of truth' was in Australia for the Herald Sun Tour. Perhaps it was a mistake that we sent Barta over a stronger TT rider like Ahmad Zamri and Postlberger as he missed out on ranking points which may've come in handy in the battle for 5th in the team standings. At least we were fortunate enough to have Carlos Verona as a reliable option and Manuel Stocker scored few points in the sprint stages. But nothing spectacular as we brought home 42 points and we provisionally lost the 6th place to Team Würth MODYF.
Next on our agenda was the new Tour of Britain - now devoid of TT. With that route change it was (alegedly) pointless to send someone like Barta or Ulysbayev and we've picked KHJ with the hope he will bring his Down Under and Vineyards form and gives us a ranking points boost. But no, this time KHJ was nowehre to be seen. Instead, it was Sarris Evangelos' time to shine. The loanee from Lidl Cycling took part in breakaways and collected KoM points along the way and no one was able to beat him in the standings. Stocker also brought home some points for a total of 30 points, but this was a race where we've expected more and left disappointed.
And it all came down to Zuri Metzgete. KHJ was once again in the lineup, but his Britain form was a cause for a concern with Team Würth MODYF and Spark Team NZ both bringing their best in Switzerland. Thankfully we've had our insurance policy that has resuced use on more than one occasion - Julien Bernard. The Frenchman has shown that he can be a reliable scorer by finishing 6th, which was enough to keep 7th overall from Spark, whose leader Beltran finished outside the Top 20 (KHJ also failed to impress as he finished 20th), ending any chances for promotion.
But what now for the team? With 2 additional provisional promotion spots opening up, by finishing 7th it is very likely to be promoted for the 3rd time in PCT and in our 10th season. But we also remember how abysmal our last two attempts were and the goal here will be to not repeat the same mistakes. And we may have to start by looking at what we have now - is this a team that can stay in PCT? To be honest the answer is 'No' - unless you have a generational talent like Newton with Jorgenson, your chances at staying are practically slim to none. KHJ and Bernard are solid riders and we're thankful to them, but they're not the kind of riders that will get you over the hump beyond CT and have already reached their peak. By compairsion TT riders like Verona and Postleberger may also be on the decline, but their TT stats won't change that much and with limits on TT for C2 races in PCT, they could be really useful in TT/TTT-centric C2 races. Then you have riders like Barta and Ulysbayev, who can be useful in many ways. But all answers will be revealed when renewals are done.
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| ivaneurope |
Posted on 05-06-2025 21:28
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Classics Specialist
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Joined: 09-05-2011
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Genii Hyundai N Cycling becomes IESE ProCycling Team - but why?
There has been a lot of buzz around IESE's MGUCI subsidiary as it announced that it will ditch the usual naming system of the team being named after major sponsors, but rather the IESE brand being front and center at the team's core identity. Ivaneurope has explained why the team decided to go for such radical change.
"Our decision to distance ourselves from the traditional naming system of team being branded by 1-2 (sometimes even more) sponsors, is that in our near 10-year history we've entered under different guises and me personally found it really tedious. Therefore the team has made the decision to bring our IESE branding at the forefront of the team's name. Of course our agreements with Logitech, Hyundai Motor Europe and other partners will remain and this decision was communicated with them and gave us their agreement and support. We are very thankful for their support"
Ivaneurope had also mentioned that his initial name pitch when submitting it to MGUCI was rejected - "Our initial proposal was for the team to be called IESE-ManGame Cycling Team, but we've received a memo from the MGUCI offices regarding the use of the ManGame brand in team names. While we were initially disappointed, we've decided to respect their decision and we've reached with a compromise by using ProCycling instead."
The team's nationality was not yet unveiled - last season the team entered under dual Luxembourger-German license. The team confirmed that they'll not be racing under the flag of Luxembourg next season, but are yet to reveal under which flag(s) the team will race in 2025. Logitech, one of the main contributors next season, is Swiss-based, but the team neither confirmed nor denied the possibility to become the third Swiss-registered team after Team UBS and Jura GIANTS (both will race in PT in 2025). The team races under German flag due to Hyundai Motor Europe being based in Germany. The team had raced under German flag as either primary or secondary nationality since 2020, but did not confirm whether or not the team will continue to race under German flag in '25. The team did start as Bulgarian team and remained as such as primary nation for its first 3 years of existence before switching to Canadian license for 2019.
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| ivaneurope |
Posted on 11-06-2025 19:10
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3124
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Since many teams have decided to give their goals roundup, I've decided to do a roundup of my goals for this season and how the team fared.
| Race | Country | Category | Goal | Cost | | Int. Osterreich Rundfahrt |  | 2.C2 | Win | **** | | Monterrey TTT |  | 1.C2 | Top 5 | *** | | Volta a Catalunya |  | 2.C2 | Top 10 | *** | | Giro del Trentino |  | 2.C2 | Top 5 | *** | | Tour du Maroc |  | 2.C1 | Top 10 | *** | | Team Standings | | MGUCI | Top 5 | ***** |
Int. Osterreich Rundfahrt - SATISFIED  Julien Bernard was our leader for this race and at face value I've thought that this goal will be a failure. But taking part in a breakaway on Stage 4 proved to be sufficient enough to take the lead and kept it until the final stage which was a TT one which wasn't one of his strong sides. But he had enough of a gap to finish 2nd. Even though this mean that our goal condition wasn't met, we can be really satisfied
Need I say more - our 3rd win in the last 4 years in Monterrey TTT. This time we were tactical by not picking it up as our mandatory goal by going for Top 5. We've done it as we weren't sure if we would be able to win it at all.
Volta a Catalunya - SATISFIED We've thought that Bernard would perform decently in Catalunya - a race where we usually do well. Unfortunately, he didn't reach the team goal, which was a Top 5 finish, but 10th was still okay. We have to give credit to  Dinmukhammed Ulysbayev,  William Barta and  Muhamma Afif Ahmad Zamri for finishing in Top 20 which meant a win in the Team Standings.
If there's a race in which we've underachieved in our goals, it will be this race. While Bernard winning Stage 3 and the KoM standings as a consolation prize, I think we should've done more in this race where we had success before. The best we could do besides Bernard's accolades there, was Ulysbayev's 12th place.
This was one our picks for the C1 goal and the one the team chose. After  Kristian Haugaard Jensen's win at  Tour Down Under, we were worried that we've made a terrible mistake and it seemed that we'll leave Morocco empty-handed. Thankfully Bernard was once again to the rescue by being within a distance of the top GC contenders to reach 10th
CT Team Standings - SATISFIED (BUT COULD'VE BEEN BETTER) Our goal was a promotion based on Top 5 finish and unfortunately we came up short again. Still, thanks to outside events, the team was invited to take part in the PCT division next season (there's a pattern forming where our promotions are from the disband kind), so I shouldn't be that disappointed as sorta-kinda reached the goal. Hopefully third time's the charm and 2025 be the year where I survive relegation.
I'll also give credit to redordead for the Goals roundup layout - sorry for copying it
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| redordead |
Posted on 12-06-2025 11:06
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Team Leader
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Looks like a very good season in terms of goals. Should be a good budget going up to PCT
ivaneurope wrote:
I'll also give credit to redordead for the Goals roundup layout - sorry for copying it
No worries. I guess that 2020 Best HQ isn't just for show 
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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| Caspi |
Posted on 12-06-2025 11:31
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Domestique
Posts: 705
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Decent outcome, well done
Aren't you supposed to have 5 and not 6 goals though?
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 19-06-2025 14:24
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 16552
Joined: 27-07-2011
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Obviously you always want that top 5 automatic promotion, but still a pretty successful year. The multinational sponsors should give you some flexibility for building a PCT team.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| ivaneurope |
Posted on 21-06-2025 09:26
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3124
Joined: 09-05-2011
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IESE will compete under Czech/Bulgarian flag in 2025
Today, the IESE ProCycling Team had announced the nationality the team race under for the 2025. The team has applied to race under Czech nationality as their primary nationality. The team has also listed Bulgaria as their secondary nation, marking the return of the Bulgarian flag as part of the team's identity since 2018. When asked why the team chose to switch to Czech nationality, IESE CEO ivaneurope told journalists the following:
As you know, our 3-year agreement with Luxembourg cycling authorities has ended and it was decided to not be renewed. Therefore, we starting looking for new nationality to represent. We were monitoring the situation with Moser - Sygic closely before making our decision. After Roman made the announcement that he's leaving the MGUCI circuit, the Czech cycling authorities actually contacted us whether we use Czechia as our primary nation.
When asked about the decision being made so soon after Moser's withdrawal, ivaneurope said this:
Actually we were thinking to postpone the decision to switch to race under Czech flag as a sign of respect towards Roman. But then he gave us the green light to make it official. The main reason why we wanted to race as a Czech team has been that with Team Popo4Ever and now Moser gone, a large hole has formed in the MGUCI market in Central and Eastern Europe and we've thought we can fill the gap.
The jounalists were puzzled over the choice of Bulgaria as a secondary nation. The answer was the following:
The Bulgarian market has been important for us since our formation back in 2016. And the decision to add Bulgaria as secondary nation was for historic reasons too as in 2025 it will mark the 10th season of the team in the MGUCI circuit and we've found it appropriate to celebrate this milestone by adding back the Bulgarian flag as part of our identity since we started as Bulgarian team back in 2016. And our team has been working to bring back Tour of Bulgaria since there are no races in the Balkans outside the PTHC Balkans International and therefore, by bringing back the Bulgarian nationality among the team list it could serve as chance for the race to return down the line.
The team has expressed the importance of having local riders in the team. With Moser's withdrawal many of the Czech riders will be on the open market. But ivaneurope had made it clear that while he keeps tabs on some of the potential free agents on the market, he's not allowed to name anyone as per the MGUCI regulations. He also admited that the team will not hire just riders from the focus nations - their focus is also on riders from nearby countries (like Slovakia or Ukraine for example), but will also look at potential top riders outside their focus region.
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| ivaneurope |
Posted on 07-08-2025 14:53
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3124
Joined: 09-05-2011
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Renewals and availability
Transfer season is nearing and it is time to unveil who are the riders who were renewed for the 2025 season. All riders will be most likely available in some way shape or form depending on how the transfer season unfolds. Here are the riders that have re-signed:
Kristian Haugaard Jensen - KHJ had his moments during this season, winning the Tour Down Under early in the season. While his form got questionable by the end of the season, his contributions couldn't be denied and he even took a pay cut by 20k. However, given his age, the best course will be to explore the transfer market for him even though it may be difficult to find a suitor for his services. We do firmly believe that he'll be still serviceable for one more year to any team that has interest in him
Julien Bernard - Bernard was by far the most consistent rider this season. Even though he didn't win a race, he did finish 2nd in Austria, 2nd in Hong Kong, won a stage and the KoM title in Trentino and 6th Zuri Metzgete. Negotiations with him were really tense, but the team decided that they can't lose him for nothing so a deal for 110k (his 2024 wage) was reached. Given that he is starting to decline from this season, we do believe that he can be an asset given that his new OVL will enable him to race in C2 races, but we also reserve the option to explore the market for him.
William Barta - Barta is our 3rd most expensive rider with 75k wage. It may seem a bit doozy for some, but with the right planning it can be money well spent. Which is why we will make him available to anyone interested in him.
Dinmukhammed Ulysbayev - there was some interest in Ulysbayev last transfer season and while there were some enticing offers, we've decided to keep him. He did had a solid season with us and if there's enough interest in his services we may be more willing to listen to offers.
Carlos Verona and Lukas Postlberger - I'm putting these two together as they have similar TT stat, age and wage. Both have signed for 60k, which seems a small overpay, but for a TTT train they are going to be useful, especially in C2 races for PCT. The issue is that given the lack of suitable TT races in other categories, we may look at changing course and prioritizing other areas. Which may mean parting ways with the TT core
 Yoan Kolev - he's perhaps the least available rider of the entire group given that the team has set requirement to have at least 2 Bulgarian riders on its roster. Unfortunately the team had to part ways with Momchil Robov due to high wage demands and Valentin Stoenchev due to his declining stats. Stoenchev has agreed with the team to become a coach should he fails to find a team for 2025.
We are also looking to gauge interest in the prospects we have re-signed for 2025 (all on 50k wage):
Mattias Malmberg
 Jaakko Siilankorva
 Wilhelm Wallinder
 Noppachai Klahab
Edited by ivaneurope on 08-08-2025 07:53
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| seancoll |
Posted on 07-08-2025 22:14
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Breakaway Specialist
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Absolutely agree that Jensen can be a real contributor in the right scenario... although it can't be mine unless he finds a new nationality real fast. Totally understand why your riders have the distinctions they do.
A tough list, but a few to keep eyes on for sure! Either way, excited to see what you do with the remaining parts of your budget as there are definitely transfer battles to go for.
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 08-08-2025 05:11
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 16552
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Looks like a Scandinavian exodus! I see at least one name up there that we may want to talk about.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| Heine |
Posted on 08-08-2025 08:00
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Pretty much everyone available, looks like you will have an active transfer season trying to tie together a PCT squad
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| Imladrik |
Posted on 08-08-2025 08:34
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Protected Rider
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Busy transferts season incoming I suppose!
And maybe we can have a chat
“...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
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| SotD |
Posted on 08-08-2025 14:51
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World Champion
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Crazy wage demand from Bernard. In all honesty I would probably have released him, as I would suspect he could be picked up for aproximately half that wage in the FA. That being said, he's still easily good enough to still play a role as s breakaway rider at PCT level.
Barta is only on 70K and not 75K btw, and IMO absolutely fairly waged, so I don't expect you to struggle to swap him off if you are interested in that. He has a pretty fun statbase with that 72SPR and still pretty young. I definately can't rule out being interested in him
It's still sad that he missed a stat gain level (Atleast I think he did) back in the days, but he's still at a level where I think it's a pity that no teams have found him interesting to train. 80MO and 72SPR would have been pretty unique. Can still happen 
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| ivaneurope |
Posted on 09-08-2025 15:28
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3124
Joined: 09-05-2011
PCM$: 300.00
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seancoll wrote:
Absolutely agree that Jensen can be a real contributor in the right scenario... although it can't be mine unless he finds a new nationality real fast. Totally understand why your riders have the distinctions they do.
A tough list, but a few to keep eyes on for sure! Either way, excited to see what you do with the remaining parts of your budget as there are definitely transfer battles to go for.
For sure, KHJ is an asset to have as he helped 2 teams to promote. The thing is that I don't expect to sell him for large fee though, meaning that getting the funds for an upgrade will be a tricky one.
baseballlover312 wrote:
Looks like a Scandinavian exodus! I see at least one name up there that we may want to talk about.
Considering that I've decided to fill in a hole, left by the disbands of Moser and Popo4Ever, I may have to part ways with most of my Scandinavian prospects. And considering that my other priority is to stay afloat, perhaps waiting them to max out may not be my the biggest priority.
Heine wrote:
Pretty much everyone available, looks like you will have an active transfer season trying to tie together a PCT squad
Imladrik wrote:
Busy transferts season incoming I suppose!
And maybe we can have a chat
Well, the transfer seson will be an active one for sure - this time I'll need to do this with my brain, not my heart, which is why I've decided to release my 2 Bulgarian NC's.
SotD wrote:
Crazy wage demand from Bernard. In all honesty I would probably have released him, as I would suspect he could be picked up for aproximately half that wage in the FA. That being said, he's still easily good enough to still play a role as s breakaway rider at PCT level.
Barta is only on 70K and not 75K btw, and IMO absolutely fairly waged, so I don't expect you to struggle to swap him off if you are interested in that. He has a pretty fun statbase with that 72SPR and still pretty young. I definately can't rule out being interested in him
It's still sad that he missed a stat gain level (Atleast I think he did) back in the days, but he's still at a level where I think it's a pity that no teams have found him interesting to train. 80MO and 72SPR would have been pretty unique. Can still happen
Well, didn't want to lose Bernard for nothing and I am aware he won't have a good resale value, but since I've acquired him in a straight swap (I've also got Patrick Konrad in the deal, who I flipped to Evonik for cash), I'll make money from his sale (even if it's just 100k). If I don't sell him, he can still have role as a breakaway rider (as you've mentioned) as well as a role in some C2 races (he did well in 1-day races) for some ranking points here and there.
And I agree about Barta - shame that the Azteca disband some years ago prevented him to reach his full potential.
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 09-08-2025 15:46
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Classics Specialist
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Some cool names available though nothing that would fit into my team, KHJ is one of those unlucky riders who at max would have seen a real benefit to the MM stat this year but may just struggle this year after his decline understand the need to sell at PCT level as currently a big list of CT leaders without a standout PCT leader hopefully youll be able to fix that come transfers ! |
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| redordead |
Posted on 11-08-2025 07:04
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Team Leader
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Gotta make some sales I guess, but... this is the year? 
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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