AbhishekLFC wrote:

A lot of rebuilding lined up with the aging leaders and your intention to move them on. Surprised to see Tesfatsion on so much available but I guess our focus is elsewhere now.

liefwarrior wrote:

Stallaert to be the ultimate leadout/tutor for Ovsyannikov? It is more likely than you think.

jph27 wrote:

A few potentially interesting riders available, though nobody that high up our target list. Nevertheless after some productive deals in previous years I'm sure we'll talk

Fabianski wrote:

I hate to say it, but Stallaert really looks like one of the more attractive cobblers on the market... We'll see, maybe we'll talk - if not about him, I think there might be one or two interesting loan options...

whitejersey wrote:

Saying a quiet prayer towards Stallaert leaving the division. It will be weird to see your team without him in it, he has been the face of your team for so long!

Gustavovskiy wrote:

The dawn of the Bini is upon us, may Lord have mercy on our souls. Part of me wants to start preparing a PM for you tomorrow. Guess we'll find out sooner than later. Good luck either way. You seem to have a great block of riders to build upon.

Last year, we were not able to sign a new Rwandan youngster. In fact, for the first time in team history, we didn't bring on board a single talent from the African continent, with Belgian Emiel Verstrynge our only rookie signing. We wanted to rectify that this year, and we were successful.

Please welcome to Bralirwa - Cegeka:

Vainqueur Masengesho

1.82

23 y/o

Sprinter

130.000€

Leaving last window without a new Rwandan rider wasn't for lack of trying. We were 61 minutes away from bringing in Vainqueur Masengesho in 2024 already, and then unfortunately didn't have the means to recover after the late overbid. Even more unfortunate, the team that signed him wasn't able to provide proper training, leaving Vainqueur with a lost year of development.

Nonetheless, he is perhaps the most talented Rwandan we've ever signed, and finally, he found his way to us. He will develop into a good sprinter with secondary stats that could be better, but hopefully he'll still be able to deliver solid results once he maxes out.

Samuel Niyonkuru

1.00

22 y/o

Climber

50.000€

We had our eyes set on a second Rwandan talent and were very happy to acquire him with a minimum bid in the first few minutes of transfers. Samuel Niyonkuru will grow to be a quality domestique for the mountains, either with a big motor and focused on long climbs, or with a bit more punch.

Hebron Berhane

1.00

22 y/o

Climber

50.000€

But we weren't done with talented African climbers just yet! On another minimum wage deal, we are joined by Eritrean Hebron Berhane. A climber of the classic mold, he can power up those tough, long climbs - just don't ask him to sprint anywhere!

Jonathan Vervenne

1.00

22 y/o

Time Trialist

75.000€

When free agency kicked off, we had aspirations to sign future world class time trialist Alex Segaert. Those went out of the window quickly as his price soared. Luckily though, we found a very solid alternative, and on a much more team-friendly deal, too. Like his more sought-after compatriot, Jonathan Vervenne is not just a strong time trialist, but a well-rounded rider who can also climb a hill or two quite well. Plus, he has a great smile!

Fabianski wrote:

Some really great signings there, congrats! Vainqueur, Berhane and Vervenne were all on my list, too, but in PT lvl 1 talents just aren't quite as attractive in any case, they found a great home, looking forward to see you develop them

redordead wrote:

Some great regional additions. Masengesho is probably my favourite

Caspi wrote:

Vainqueur Masengesho is a cool rider! Glad he found a good home, though I would have loved to see him in our colors.

Heine wrote:

Not the biggest Berhane fan, but Vervenne on stage race development I really like!

Imladrik wrote:

Very nice talents hunt, well done!

There's a lot of turnover among the team captains at Bralirwa this year. During renewals already, we parted ways with last season's lead sprinter Kevin Feiereisen. And now - and we will get to that in more detail in due time -, we sold both Joeri Stallaert and Louis Meintjes.

While Stallaert's successor, Bini Girmay, was already on board, we also needed replacements for the other two. And after a lot of planning and some friendly negotiations, we finally did! We're happy to present:

Takeaki Amezawa

30 y/o

Climber

380.000€

77,77

Our new lead climber is Japanese star Takeaki Amezawa! He joins us from MOL Cycling Team for a hefty fee of 1.700.000€, but he comes with a promising reputation, having just finished 44th in the individual PT rankings last year. And while it'll take some tinkering to find his best schedule, we're sure that with his strong punch and terrific physical condition, he'll be a reliable scorer for us as well.

Alvaro Hodeg

29 y/o

Sprinter

125.000€

75,01

After trying our luck in free agency and coming up short, we saw an opportunity to get our main sprinter on the transfer market. For 125.000€, Alvaro Hodeg joins us from Ekoi - Le Creuset. While not a Tier 1 sprinter, he, too, comes off a pretty successful season, scoring 213 points in PCT last year. That's more than double of Feiereisen's total for us, and if he can replicate that, we'll be happy.

Max Stedman

29 y/o

Puncheur

50.000€

74,62

The third rider that we're presenting today is not on the level of team leader. However, Max Stedman brings a skillset to the team that we did not previously have, and as such, he will certainly get some opportunities to ride for himself. A solid puncheur with a quick finish, he'll hopefully be a threat both in breakaways and at the end of difficult-but-not-too-difficult stages and classics. The Brit joins us from Free Agency for just 50.000€.

After some promising talents, this second wave of newcomers bring us much-needed points scoring potential to hopefully guide us steadily through the season. A few more new signings are still to come before we can present the full squad. Stay tuned!

redordead wrote:

Given that Amezawa replaces Meintjes I'm sure you'll find a good schedule for him and he'll be well worth the high price tag.

Laurens147 wrote:

Nice batch of new talents coming in, while Bini and Van Eetvelt are coming (almost) in their prime. Really like your teambuilding qualities without losing the strong local focus.

Should be another midtable season for you I guess. Best of luck!

AbhishekLFC wrote:

I think this was my last time actively thinking about getting Amezawa but was never likely at that price! Hope he can do well for you

Some very impressive regional talent signings otherwise, well done!