@Caspi - I was really excited to see Howson win the prologue there. Definitely starting to support our main leaders more now and score important points!
@Abhi - Yeh not the best month but definitely not our worst of the season! Starting to get more comfortable and thinking of planning next season now which is nice!
@Laurens147 - Hopefully a MAXed Carlos means no more getting dropped for no reason as well! Excited to see how he goes next season!
@jandal7 - I feel like a reason it was so up and down is we have not got the secondary leaders to back up Coquard. Hopefully next season Carlos is at the point to earn some strong points!
@KB - Happy with our Ras Tailteann went, we had hoped for a bit better but still Coquard was strong in that race but just wasn't quite strong enough.
@BBL - Really happy with how we have gone and where we are at the moment in the rankings. Hopefully the AI is nicer to Carlos next season
@Red - Coquard has done excellent thats for sure!
A decent month in July. Definitely could've been better. Its now time for one of our biggest months of the season. A really important one as well!
August Preview
Start
End
Race
Category
03-Aug
05-Aug
Ras Tailteann
PTHC
07-Aug
Gisborne GP
C1
15-Aug
20-Aug
Tour of Japan
C1
16-Aug
20-Aug
Deutschland Tour
PTHC
22-Aug
Milano - Torino
HC
22-Aug
GP Lugano
HC
23-Aug
31-Aug
Tour de l'Avenir
U23
Ras Tailteann
A really important race for us. It is our WIN goal for the season and with Coquard here we definitely have a chance to achieve that! A great leadout here as well with Afewerki, Edmondson and Mudgway as well.
Rider
FL
MT
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FT
DH
PR
Coquard
72
58
62
66
64
69
72
82
55
83
81
59
64
78
Afewerki
72
62
63
63
62
76
69
79
68
78
79
67
69
70
Edmondson
73
58
61
64
64
72
71
77
74
77
75
67
64
74
Thompson
72
73
72
70
65
69
73
69
57
67
70
65
74
64
Skala
74
56
64
71
56
70
72
65
74
66
71
72
74
69
Vanthourenhout
75
66
67
68
72
68
73
68
74
68
68
70
73
70
Mudgway
70
59
62
64
60
71
66
76
65
76
78
65
65
65
Gonov
66
68
67
66
71
67
73
71
58
67
67
67
75
72
Gisborne GP
Our last home race of the season! We love this race and have had some great results here before. We hope for another big result here as well. Kelderman is our leader here with a lot of big support!
Rider
FL
MT
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FT
DH
PR
Kelderman
68
69
75
80
68
77
72
70
60
65
69
75
69
68
Bennett
65
79
77
74
63
72
71
74
56
63
70
53
61
63
Edmondson
69
68
73
78
63
73
70
65
53
69
74
67
71
63
Duyvesteyn
68
70
74
77
65
67
71
68
60
64
76
75
67
65
Thornley
68
61
66
70
65
68
70
65
66
67
70
66
61
67
Schrettl
64
67
69
71
58
68
71
66
55
56
65
60
71
59
Arrieta
64
71
68
64
57
68
70
66
61
64
67
78
66
62
Torrico Menachio
63
70
67
63
57
69
65
65
63
57
61
69
74
55
Tour of Japan
Somewhat a B team here in Japan. Kelderman is here to really give it a go at getting some points in the 2 hill stages. We have Marryatt to try and get a result in the prologue. No sprinter here for us and Lemus Davila is our guy for the Mountain TT. Still someone that could get a result but the start list is huge and it is unlikely. We are looking for Marryatt and Kelderman to get some good results for us!
Rider
FL
MT
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FT
DH
PR
Kelderman
68
69
75
80
68
77
72
70
60
65
69
75
69
68
Edmondson
69
68
73
78
63
73
70
65
53
69
74
67
71
63
Duyvesteyn
68
70
74
77
65
67
71
68
60
64
76
75
67
65
Marryatt
71
61
65
68
77
67
74
67
57
60
58
67
63
77
Lemus Davila
69
76
74
71
71
73
68
66
55
56
60
70
71
71
Syritsa
69
61
64
66
58
71
72
65
70
67
68
65
67
58
Schrettl
64
67
69
71
58
68
71
66
55
56
65
60
71
59
Torrico Menachio
63
70
67
63
57
69
65
65
63
57
61
69
74
55
Deutschland Tour
The Deutschland Tour will be a really interesting race. Afewerki is our main sprinter with Mudgway as his leadout. There are 4 flat sprint stages for him to target some good results. Stage 3 is the GC stage and we have our in form TT specialist Damien Howson here. A 45km ITT will decide who wins the GC on stage 3. We are hoping for a strong result here and some nice points.
Rider
FL
MT
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FT
DH
PR
Rodriguez
69
78
75
72
73
73
74
75
55
65
71
67
71
70
Afewerki
72
62
63
63
62
76
69
79
68
78
79
67
69
70
Howson
70
58
61
64
79
71
72
70
57
63
66
71
62
79
Skala
74
56
64
71
56
70
72
65
74
66
71
72
74
69
Mudgway
70
59
62
64
60
71
66
76
65
76
78
65
65
65
Ahmad Zamri
69
74
72
69
74
70
72
73
51
58
67
70
58
74
Thompson
72
73
72
70
65
69
73
69
57
67
70
65
74
64
Gonov
66
68
67
66
71
67
73
71
58
67
67
67
75
72
Milano - Torino
A race that clashes with the GP Lugano which means a weaker team had to go somewhere. We decided that George Bennett would be our leader here with Power and Skala as support. Will be interesting to see how this squad goes!
Rider
FL
MT
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FT
DH
PR
Bennett
65
79
77
74
63
72
71
74
56
63
70
53
61
63
Power
67
77
74
70
66
77
76
79
59
56
63
61
65
65
Skala
74
56
64
71
56
70
72
65
74
66
71
72
74
69
Mudgway
70
59
62
64
60
71
66
76
65
76
78
65
65
65
Lemus Davila
69
76
74
71
71
73
68
66
55
56
60
70
71
71
Syritsa
69
61
64
66
58
71
72
65
70
67
68
65
67
58
Gonov
66
68
67
66
71
67
73
71
58
67
67
67
75
72
Torrico Menachio
63
70
67
63
57
69
65
65
63
57
61
69
74
55
GP Lugano
Another hill race for Kelderman to get a strong result! Again he has some strong support with Edmondson and Duyvesteyn. Should be an interesting race!
Our big WIN goal for the season started of excellent! Coquard won stage 1 with the perfect leadout! So good Afewerki finished in 3rd place as well! Stage 2 saw the leadout get swamped! Afewerki did his best to get Coquard back to the front but couldn't manage. Coquard took 9th. The final stage was by far the worst of the 3. Again a bad leadout with Coquard and Afewerki losing touch in the last km. Afewerki finished ahead of Coquard in stage 3. In the end its a 4th in GC for Coquard and 7th for Afewerki. Good points but it could have been a win.
Gisborne GP
A race we have aimed for all year as it is our home race and we have a strong contender with Kelderman. A very exciting race and Kelderman was there to compete at the end. His sprint was going great and he had a burst in the last few hundred metres. He just missed out on passing for the win but still got a fantastic 3rd place! Excellent race from Wilco!
Tour of Japan
A prologue to start and Marryatt does a great ride finishing 6th place. Obviously unexpected as the cameras weren't assigned to him for his ride. Stage 2 was pretty shocking as we didn't have a strong sprinter here. Stage 3 was much better. Kelderman was active but Edmondson was our guy who finished in 6th. Edmondson was on great form in Japan with the following stage being his best finish of the race. He went hard for the win but couldn't hold on. He finished in 3rd place on the stage but was further down in GC from the short TT on stage 1. Stage 4 is a mountain TT and with Lemus Davila as our best mountain climber here, we weren't expecting much. He was 55th almost 2 minutes down. Stage 6 is another flat stage. We weren't close. GC wise also not close. Edmondson is 5th in the points jersey thanks to some excellent stage finishes. Still some points from stages but definitely could have been better.
Deutschland Tour
Off to Germany. Stage 1 had Afewerki sprint to 7th which was a decent start for us. Stage 2 he could only manage 11th. Stage 3 was the reason we were all here. A flat ITT to decide the GC. Damien Howson was kind of disappointing only able to finish 29th over 2 minutes behind. Stage 4, Afewerki was as anonymous as he has been throughout the race. Same with Stage 5. Overall Howson finishes in 29th 2'37s behind Wirtgen the winner. Carlos was 8th in the U25 ranking.
Milano - Torino
Milano - Torino was a pretty shocking race for us. We were never near the front and Bennett was our best in 27th over 4 and a half minutes behind!
GP Lugano
A bit more happening for us in Switzerland. Schrettl gets into the early breakaway.They are caught and there are attacks from plenty of riders. We have Edmondson in the front group. He hangs on as long as he can and takes a decent 12th place 32 seconds behind the eventual winner. Not too bad considering he was not the leader today.
Start
End
Race
Result
03-Aug
05-Aug
Ras Tailteann
Coquard 4th +31s
07-Aug
Gisborne GP
Kelderman 3rd s.t.
15-Aug
20-Aug
Tour of Japan
Duyvesteyn 59th +2'10s
16-Aug
20-Aug
Deutschland Tour
Howson 29th +2'37s
22-Aug
Milano - Torino
Bennett 27th +4'37s
22-Aug
GP Lugano
Edmondson 12th +32s
August Rankings
A big month for Coquard! He has helped us be confident in our chances of staying in the PCT. We are now cheering for Coquard to win the PCT individual rankings. He had a great month and managed to move from 3rrd back up to 1st. He has a 50 point gap on Powless with not a whole lot of race days left. He will need excellent final months of the season if he wants to stay 1st.
After a decent August, we head into September. Our first ever Grand Tour this month along with many other exciting races.
September Preview
Start
End
Race
Category
01-Sep
Pro Hallstatt Classic
HC
03-Sep
08-Sep
Tour de Romandie
HC
08-Sep
Japan Cup
PTHC
10-Sep
30-Sep
Vuelta a Espana
GT
10-Sep
14-Sep
Baltic Chain Tour
C1
Pro Hallstatt Classic
A mountain classic with George Bennett and Robert Power here as our main contenders. Bennett is probably going to be the main guy, and we would love a top 10 but a strong field means that will be difficult.
Rider
FL
MT
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FT
DH
PR
Bennett
65
79
77
74
63
72
71
74
56
63
70
53
61
63
Power
67
77
74
70
66
77
76
79
59
56
63
61
65
65
Lemus Davila
69
76
74
71
71
73
68
66
55
56
60
70
71
71
Ahmad Zamri
69
74
72
69
74
70
72
73
51
58
67
70
58
74
Thompson
72
73
72
70
65
69
73
69
57
67
70
65
74
64
Syritsa
69
61
64
66
58
71
72
65
70
67
68
65
67
58
Thornley
68
61
66
70
65
68
70
65
66
67
70
66
61
67
Gonov
66
68
67
66
71
67
73
71
58
67
67
67
75
72
Tour de Romandie
No real leaders here for us. Power is our main mountain rider, Edmondson and Duyvesteyn for the hills. No real TT rider either. Mudgway is our sprinter but again not really expecting much at all here.
Rider
FL
MT
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FT
DH
PR
Edmondson
69
68
73
78
63
73
70
65
53
69
74
67
71
63
Duyvesteyn
68
70
74
77
65
67
71
68
60
64
76
75
67
65
Power
67
77
74
70
66
77
76
79
59
56
63
61
65
65
Mudgway
70
59
62
64
60
71
66
76
65
76
78
65
65
65
Ahmad Zamri
69
74
72
69
74
70
72
73
51
58
67
70
58
74
Thompson
72
73
72
70
65
69
73
69
57
67
70
65
74
64
Thornley
68
61
66
70
65
68
70
65
66
67
70
66
61
67
Schrettl
64
67
69
71
58
68
71
66
55
56
65
60
71
59
Japan Cup
Kelderman is our leader in Japan with Carlos here as well for the experience. Kelderman doesn't really have any help but he has shown he doesn't really need it.
Rider
FL
MT
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FT
DH
PR
Rodriguez
69
78
75
72
73
73
74
75
55
65
71
67
71
70
Kelderman
68
69
75
80
68
77
72
70
60
65
69
75
69
68
Skala
74
56
64
71
56
70
72
65
74
66
71
72
74
69
Lemus Davila
69
76
74
71
71
73
68
66
55
56
60
70
71
71
Syritsa
69
61
64
66
58
71
72
65
70
67
68
65
67
58
Gonov
66
68
67
66
71
67
73
71
58
67
67
67
75
72
Arrieta
64
71
68
64
57
68
70
66
61
64
67
78
66
62
Torrico Menachio
63
70
67
63
57
69
65
65
63
57
61
69
74
55
Vuelta a Espana
The first Grand Tour for the team! Carlos is our leader and we are hoping he can do well in the U25 classification. Not expecting heaps in the GC but Afewerki could do well in the sprints. Power is here to support and get into the breakaway and Marryatt for the TT. We cannot gain points but definitely could get some bragging rights.
Rider
FL
MT
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FT
DH
PR
Rodriguez
69
78
75
72
73
73
74
75
55
65
71
67
71
70
Afewerki
72
62
63
63
62
76
69
79
68
78
79
67
69
70
Power
67
77
74
70
66
77
76
79
59
56
63
61
65
65
Marryatt
71
61
65
68
77
67
74
67
57
60
58
67
63
77
Mudgway
70
59
62
64
60
71
66
76
65
76
78
65
65
65
Thompson
72
73
72
70
65
69
73
69
57
67
70
65
74
64
Syritsa
69
61
64
66
58
71
72
65
70
67
68
65
67
58
Gonov
66
68
67
66
71
67
73
71
58
67
67
67
75
72
Baltic Chain Tour
Coquard here and a race we have been aiming for all season. A short ITT to start. Then 4 flat stages. Coquard has an excellent chance to win the GC here and is hoping to go 1 place better then last season where he finished 2nd behind Caleb Ewan. Not a lot of support in the sprints for Coquard which may make it tough. Howson is here for the prologue and then as a work horse.
Bennett was our leader here and seen at the back of the front group in the photo below. He was dropped not long after and finished in 16th place over 3 minutes behind.
Tour de Romandie
The TTT was a bad start as expected. We were near the back of the field losing 59 seconds. Stage 2 was no better as we did not bring a strong sprinter here. Stage 3 we were seen near the front with Duyvesteyn, Edmondson and Power all in the front group of riders. Stage 3 was a mountain stage where we had a couple of riders in the breakaway. They got caught and Power was in 30th at the finish. A mountain TT was where we struggled. Same with the final sprint stage where Mudgway finished 10th. Our best GC was 26th place overall with Power.
Japan Cup
We had 2 riders in the breakaway and that was it. Carlos was our best finisher over 5 minutes back. Kelderman struggled today.
Vuelta a Espana
A great star to our debut Grand Tour. Afewerki finished 4th on stage 1. We also had our future star, Carlos Rodriguez get a great 2nd place in stage 10. After 1 podium and 4 top 10s, we had a great first Grand Tour. Power was our best GC finisher in 42nd over an hour behind.
Baltic Chain Tour
A fantastic race for Coquard here. No victory which would've been the icing on the cake. But with 3 podiums, a 4th and the GC and Points classification wins, it is a fantastic points haul and another great step towards Coquard winning the PCT individual rankings.
@Abhi - Yeh not great but as you said, as usual Coquard keeping our team in the PCT!
October Preview
Start
End
Race
Category
03-Oct
08-Oct
Tour du Maroc
HC
07-Oct
10-Oct
Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha
PT
13-Oct
Philadelphia International Championship
PTHC
17-Oct
Giro dell'Emilia
HC
Tour du Maroc
A race that we won last year and helped us get into the PCT. We had to come back this season and we had to bring back George Bennett to give it a go at going back-to-back. A hard task but he wanted to give it a go! Duyvesteyn is here for the hill stage and Lemus Davila as mountain support.
Rider
FL
MT
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FT
DH
PR
Bennett
65
79
77
74
63
72
71
74
56
63
70
53
61
63
Duyvesteyn
68
70
74
77
65
67
71
68
60
64
76
75
67
65
Lemus Davila
69
76
74
71
71
73
68
66
55
56
60
70
71
71
Ahmad Zamri
69
74
72
69
74
70
72
73
51
58
67
70
58
74
Syritsa
69
61
64
66
58
71
72
65
70
67
68
65
67
58
Gonov
66
68
67
66
71
67
73
71
58
67
67
67
75
72
Arrieta
64
71
68
64
57
68
70
66
61
64
67
78
66
62
Torrico Menachio
63
70
67
63
57
69
65
65
63
57
61
69
74
55
Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha
The squad is mainly here for experience as our last wildcard race of the season. Carlos is here mainly for that. Coquard returns to the PT here and will give it a go at competing in the sprints. No points on offer for us but a bit of fun for the team!
Rider
FL
MT
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FT
DH
PR
Coquard
72
58
62
66
64
69
72
82
55
83
81
59
64
78
Rodriguez
69
78
75
72
73
73
74
75
55
65
71
67
71
70
Afewerki
72
62
63
63
62
76
69
79
68
78
79
67
69
70
Howson
70
58
61
64
79
71
72
70
57
63
66
71
62
79
Vanthourenhout
75
66
67
68
72
68
73
68
74
68
68
70
73
70
Marryatt
71
61
65
68
77
67
74
67
57
60
58
67
63
77
Thompson
72
73
72
70
65
69
73
69
57
67
70
65
74
64
Schrettl
64
67
69
71
58
68
71
66
55
56
65
60
71
59
Philadelphia International Championship
Coquard last race of the season and his last chance to defend his position at the top of the PCT rankings. Afewerki is here to help and a strong team to get Coquard into osition.
Rider
FL
MT
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CO
SP
AC
FT
DH
PR
Coquard
72
58
62
66
64
69
72
82
55
83
81
59
64
78
Afewerki
72
62
63
63
62
76
69
79
68
78
79
67
69
70
Howson
70
58
61
64
79
71
72
70
57
63
66
71
62
79
Power
67
77
74
70
66
77
76
79
59
56
63
61
65
65
Skala
74
56
64
71
56
70
72
65
74
66
71
72
74
69
Marryatt
71
61
65
68
77
67
74
67
57
60
58
67
63
77
Mudgway
70
59
62
64
60
71
66
76
65
76
78
65
65
65
Thornley
68
61
66
70
65
68
70
65
66
67
70
66
61
67
Giro dell'Emilia
Our final race of the season. Wilco Kelderman is here to lead the team and hopefully get one last lot of points. A lot of support here for him with Edmondson and Dyuvesteyn as team mates. Our last chance to get a win!
A pretty shocking race. Bennett finished 20th in stage 5 which was the only time the cameras caught him. Stage 6 had Syritsa in the breakaway and the team finally got some camera time! Not much else to report here though.
Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha
A WT race that we are here for experience. Howson and Coquard do excellent in stage 1 and Coquard follows that up in stage 2 with a 2nd place on the stage. That also meant he got a day in yellow but with a 60km ITT he was never going to hold onto it. Afewerki then took 9th place on the final day to finish off a fun and exciting race!
Philadelphia International Championship
Our leadout really struggled here and lost a lot of time. Coquard was super quick in the final sprint and managed to get himself up to 6th place. Some nice points and turned out to be enough to win the PCT Individual rankings (we will look at that more in the season review).
Giro dell'Emilia
Kelderman was on the move in Italy. Unfortunately it must have been too much effort and he loses almost 4 minutes on the eventual winner. 34th spot for the final race of the season.
I have had time during today so thought I would smash all my end of season posts. No Medium Mountain stat as I don't know if I have it right...
Talent Development
Carlos Rodriguez 25 Years Old - New XP : 4.100 - Potential : 7 - Upgrade : Stage Racer
OUR LEADER IS READY! This is now his team, not mine. We are so excited to see what he can do next season and will start building a team around him from this off season. Even if he cannot rip the PCT to shreds next season, we will start to train him as soon as we can and then we will start to see him go CRAZY!!
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
69
78
72
73
73
74
75
55
65
71
67
71
70
70
80
74
75
75
76
77
55
65
72
68
71
72
Reuben Thompson 25 Years Old - New XP : 4.100 - Potential : 5 - Upgrade : Climber v1
Another rider that has reached the peak of his abilities. Thompson will be great mountain support for Rodriguez in the lower parts of the mountain. We are really excited to see how he goes! He could also get into some breakaways and achieve some great things.
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
72
73
70
65
69
73
69
57
67
70
65
74
64
72
75
72
65
70
74
71
57
67
72
67
74
64
Samuel Welsford 30 Years Old - New XP : 4.100 - Potential : 5 - Upgrade : Sprinter
Welsford finally gets to the peak of his abilities and will be an excellent leadout rider with a fantastic flat stat and a strong sprint and acceleration. We are really excited to see how he goes with leading out our new lead sprinter in 2026 (Whoever that may be...)
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
73
59
64
64
69
69
72
65
75
75
64
65
66
75
59
64
64
71
70
73
66
77
77
64
65
66
Kiaan Watts 25 Years Old - New XP : 3.13 - Potential : 4 - Upgrade : Fighter
Kiann Watts moves to level 3 and continues his development. He is excellent in all areas and is a fighter. We are excited to hopefully see him in more breakaways or leading the peloton.
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
65
66
65
66
63
73
69
60
64
66
74
73
64
67
67
66
67
64
74
70
61
65
67
76
74
65
Igor Arrieta 24 Years Old - New XP : 3.85 - Potential : 4 - Upgrade : Climber v1
Igor Arrieta is a future Spanish star! A strong climber and will be some great support for the climbers in the team and also could be a mountain leader in the future!
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
64
71
64
57
68
70
66
61
64
67
78
66
62
64
73
66
57
68
71
67
61
64
69
80
66
62
Carlos Antonio Torrico Menachio 23 Years Old - New XP : 3.02 - Potential : 5 - Upgrade : Climber v1
Carlos is going to be a future great! He will easily have the ability to lead a squad in a mountain stage once he reaches his peak. We are really excited to see how he progresses over the next couple of years!
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
63
70
63
57
69
65
65
63
57
61
69
74
55
63
74
66
57
70
67
68
63
57
64
72
74
55
Guy Yarrell 24 Years Old - New XP : 2.99 - Potential : 5 - Upgrade : Time Trial
Our future Kiwi star against the clock. We are hoping to see Guy become the next Kiwi superstar! We will see his development over the next few seasons.
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
67
54
58
67
72
65
67
54
64
68
63
64
67
68
54
58
69
73
66
68
54
64
68
64
64
69
Nicholas Narraway 24 Years Old - New XP : 2.05 - Potential : 3 - Upgrade : Climber v1
Another good mountain support rider in the future. Narraway will be excellent mountain support in the future and we are very excited to see this Bermudan rider develop!
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
58
68
67
54
68
70
69
54
59
67
68
64
63
58
69
67
54
68
71
70
54
59
68
69
64
63
Robin Orins 24 Years Old - New XP : 2.14 - Potential : 3 - Upgrade : Cobbles
A future cobbler, Orins will be excellent support for a cobbles leader (should we finally be able to acquire one). Orins will be great in breakaways as well and with his ability on the flat roads he could be a great early leadout rider.
FL
MO
HI
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SP
ACC
FI
DH
PRL
69
54
61
67
71
69
61
68
63
63
74
60
59
70
54
61
67
72
69
61
69
63
63
74
60
59
That is that. The future of the team is looking bright and we are really excited to acquire those missing pieces in the future. The team is in a great place with a newly developed stage race leader (which we did miss during this season). We now need to acquire those few pieces like a TT rider to replace the declining Howson and a big sprinter to jump in for Bryan Coquard.
Current Squad - 2025 Off Season
Here is what our team currently looks like after Talent development and declines (that we know of). Overall hasn't been updated as of yet so thats why they are in this particular order.
Here we are, moving into our 3rd season in the PCT and 10th season in the MGUCI. We have been thinking all season that it's time for a change, time for a challenge. Now that we have some constant extra cash we thought, why not now...
Introducing, for the first time...
SparkNZ - Liquigas Pro Cycling Team
Thanks hillis for this incredible design!
Obviously this means our team has changed focus. A New Zealand/Italian team. We also welcome Liquigas back to the sport of cycling. A legendary name in the sport with some insane victories!
This change in focus comes with some goals and objectives in terms of rider signings for the team. We will be as focused on achieving these goals as close as possible but not sacrificing success.
Short-term Goals
We hope to achieve these goals in the next off season.
1. Build the Kiwi/Italian identity: Sign at least 2 New Zealand riders and 2 Italian riders to make the squad feel clearly Spark NZ–Liquigas.
2. Add experienced Italian leadership: Sign 1 experienced Italian rider as a road captain, climber, sprinter, or Giro support rider.
3. Recruit young development riders: Sign 2 U23/U25 riders, ideally one Kiwi and one Italian, who can develop into future team leaders or key domestiques.
Medium-term Goals
We hope to achieve these goals within the next 2-3 seasons.
1. Create a balanced Kiwi/Italian core: Aim for around 40–50% of the squad to be from New Zealand or Italy combined.
2. Develop future leaders: Turn at least one Kiwi rider into a strong rouleur/TT/classics rider and one Italian rider into a climber, puncheur, or GC option.
3. Strengthen race-specific squads: Build a proper Giro d’Italia climbing group and a classics/breakaway group with Kiwi and Italian riders central to both.
Long-term Goals
We hope to achieve these goals over the next 4 + seasons.
1. Produce a homegrown team leader: Develop a New Zealand or Italian rider into a genuine Grand Tour, classics, or sprint leader.
2. Become a major Giro and classics contender: Build the squad into a team that can consistently challenge for Giro d’Italia stages, top-10 GC results, KOM jerseys, and major Italian one-day races, while still keeping a strong Kiwi/Italian identity.
A very big change but an exciting one with an exciting future. We can't wait to get our off season started!
Ras Tailteann
Gisborne GP
Tour of Japan
Deutschland Tour
Milano - Torino
GP Lugano
Tour de l'Avenir
Pro Hallstatt Classic
Baltic Chain Tour
Tour du Maroc
Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha
Philadelphia International Championship
Samuel Welsford
Nicholas Narraway
Robin Orins
