Your original transfer plans usually get shredded in the first few hours. Not this year, somehow. For the first time in 15 seasons, we relatively stuck to the the first plan at hand and came away pleasantly surprised at how well things worked out. But maybe that's a bad thing, maybe we weren't ambitious enough? But we like the team assembled in hopes of chasing promotion, and that's all that matters.
There are still a few days left with the transfer window opened, but baring anything crazy, our roster is set for the 2026 season. Of course, more updates to come if things do change.
As always, we honor those that have departed before ushering in all the new faces.
Riders Sold
Bram Welten: Rode for us the past four seasons, picking up 450 points in 224 race days. It was time for an upgrade and Welten welcomed the change of scenery. He was eventually sold to Parmalat - Croatia for 400,000 and gets to be one of the top sprinters in the CT.
Sean Quinn: We didn't initially plan to sell the newly maxed American climber, but after seeing a new American CT team join the MG and how much climbing depth we will have this season and beyond, we figured it was the right time to cash in. Well, that didn't go exactly to plan in getting sold to an American team, as Quinn is headed across the globe to Japan to race for TMM's Bacharu Mamachari Faito! Sorry, buddy. I'm sure you'll find a way to make new friends. We pocketed another 400,000.
Fredrik Ludvigsson: Honestly didn't think we would be able to sell our 32-year-old Swede, but new CT team Fincantieri - Grand Seiko asked about Ludvigsson the moment the transfer season opened and that was that. Sold for 50,000 after one rather uneventful season with us. Hopefully he can find more success in a team that truly believes in him.
Karl Patrick Lauk: The leadout man we bought for cheap last season and then struggled to sell for cheap this season. But eventually we found a trade partner with our Z2Z Dev Team co-owner. KPL plus 70,000 was offloaded to DK Zalgiris while we received a blessed aging stage racer domestique in return to help our star climbers (see below).
Riders Loaned Out
Milan Fretin: Needed a final season of development in the Pro Tour. So, we shipped him off to our friends at MOL Cycling Team to do the job. Should be a solid helper for the cobbled classics when he returns maxed next season.
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
XP
Pot
69
69
69
69
64
71
74
71
71
68
70
69
69
68
25
4.19
4
71
70
70
70
65
72
75
72
72
69
71
71
70
69
26
4.100
4
Ian Lopez: Would have been too confusing to have two Lopez's on the team at the same time, so we sent Ian to that new American CT team, Brandt Cycling Team, to develop from level 1>2. Going to be a long grind until Lopez is maxed in 2030, but should be worth it.
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
XP
Pot
65
69
69
68
59
66
65
68
57
57
65
64
70
58
23
1.64
4
70
77
74
70
60
72
71
73
58
57
67
71
77
59
28
4.100
4
Rider Loaned In
Valery Shtin: It's our obligatory Russian. It's also the third straight season we have loaned in a rider from Pro Tour giant Tinkoff - La Datcha Team. For some reason, team manager OlegTinkov has been a very generous donor to organization over the years as we provide a training facility for his future talents. It's been mutually beneficial for both sides. This move earned us 150,000 for a 1>3 loan where we don't even have to pay Shtin's contract. Shtin needs a lot of development but we will happily stash him in random races.
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
XP
Pot
68
68
67
65
60
67
67
62
63
65
71
70
71
58
22
1.00
4
Riders Bought
Nicholas Dlamini: Another year of bargain buying, as we like to save our money for offseason training camps. Only one rider bought outright this season for cash and it's 31-year-old South African Dlamini from Duvel-Tsingtao. Solid all-arounder that should be very helpful for our TTT setup and we only paid 200,000. He is currently making 75,000 in wages.
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
XP
Pot
75
72
72
72
75
74
72
73
50
62
68
68
62
75
31
4.100
5
Aleksa Crncevic: The blessed man himself obtained in the Lauk swap. Not to be confused with Serbian volleyball player Aleksandra Crncevic. Aleksa wasn't on radar, but our scouting department did a extensive deep dive and said he should be decent. He can climb and is comfortable on a TT bike, what more do you need? Oh, and he is on minimum wage.
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
XP
Pot
67
76
73
70
73
70
70
75
64
61
69
67
75
72
31
4.100
4
Riders Signed
Thomas Kopecky: We have signed Matyas' older brother Thomas, giving us a pair of siblings on the same team for the first time in our long history! And if we could have signed their younger sister Julia Kopecky, we would have as well. (Still waiting for the day we can sponsor a women's MG team...) Thomas joins us on minimum wage to mostly hang out with his brother, and he is a strong attacker who likes to look for the morning breakaway.
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
XP
Pot
73
61
66
66
66
70
70
66
68
69
72
75
74
69
26
3.30
4
78
63
68
68
68
73
73
69
70
71
75
80
76
71
28
4.100
4
Jakub Kaczmarek: The first Polish rider in team history. Certainly not a guy we had on our initial plans, but just so happened to get a call from his agent when we needed to find a rider just like him to fill a void in our roster. Kaczmarek might be past his prime at 33 years old, but can still be a vital TTT asset and a hilly domestique, especially on minimum wage.
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
XP
Pot
71
67
71
74
74
72
73
70
68
62
67
67
66
75
33
4.100
5
Matias Ahtosalo: Sticking with obtaining riders from new countries, we have branched out to Finland and found rookie Matias Ahtosalo. Top-tier name, and hopefully future top-tier domestique on the cobbles for Colby Simmons. Signed for dirt cheap: 50,000.
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
XP
Pot
72
57
62
66
67
69
70
64
70
66
73
67
64
66
23
1.00
2
77
57
63
66
70
73
73
68
74
70
75
67
64
69
26
4.100
2
Luca Van Boven: First season on the professional circuit at 26 years old. The late bloomer was picked up pretty late in free agency on a 50,000 wage deal. A happy surprise for Luca, who was starting to think his career was going to start on a development team or maybe not even at all. But we see the potential others have seemingly missed and decided to give him a chance. He is motivated more than ever to prove his doubters wrong.
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
XP
Pot
70
64
68
68
63
70
71
66
69
68
71
71
72
65
26
3.30
5
73
64
70
70
63
74
74
68
74
71
74
74
73
65
28
4.100
5
Carlos Verona: The Spanish Hero returns. After joining the squad back in our inaugural 2012 season as a 20-year-old rookie and last riding for us in 2022, Verona is back for an 11th — and almost certainly, probably, maybe — final farewell tour. At 34, he's no longer the rider he used to be, but legends don't get forgotten about around here... they just get strategically hidden in TTTs and paid the minimum wage. With 738 race days already under his belt, he'll pad the team record a little further while reminding the youngsters how things were done back when race radios were optional and crashes in the peloton were frequent. How times have changed. Welcome back, Carlos! We missed you!
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
XP
Pot
69
52
56
60
75
69
72
62
57
60
60
58
64
75
34
4.100
6
Artem Shmidt: Verona thought he had passed the torch to excellent TT riders in Ethan Vernon and Tristan Jussaume when he left three years ago, well we have one more prodigy for him to teach before he hangs up the wheels. It's wonderkid Shmidt. We are still dumbfounded how we managed to sign this future star for only 130,000 and we were sweating out the final hours waiting for his signature. But, here he is. Another aero man who beats up clocks.
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
XP
Pot
71
63
65
70
71
69
69
60
67
67
64
76
72
71
22
1.00
5
78
63
68
73
80
76
74
65
71
68
66
78
73
80
25
4.100
5
Sondre Holst Enger: Last but certainly not least, everybody grab your paddles and Ro! We needed a fast man desperately and signed our first 80+ sprinter since Ben Swift in 2021. Enger did hit his first decline at 33 years old, but we believe he still has the firepower to win sprints at this level and be the missing piece we need to challenge for promotion.
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
XP
Pot
72
62
65
68
70
70
72
75
57
80
77
61
67
76
33
4.100
6
The Team
+ = Loaned in. * = Loaned out.
Name
Age
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
OVR
Wage
Jorgenson
27
73
79
78
77
76
79
78
72
68
65
71
65
69
75
78.01
450,000
Elosegui
28
65
80
76
71
72
77
80
83
60
60
71
65
66
71
77.43
265,000
Vernon
26
75
60
63
65
79
73
77
77
66
76
71
63
65
80
75.86
140,000
Enger
33
72
62
65
68
70
70
72
75
57
80
77
61
67
76
75.79
240,000
J.P. Lopez
29
66
78
77
76
59
71
72
75
55
60
78
74
64
63
75.39
115,000
Jussaume
25
72
56
65
74
79
75
75
70
63
60
65
65
67
79
75.25
100,000
J. Retana
27
71
59
62
65
57
69
68
76
70
77
79
63
68
63
74.44
70,000
Pronskiy
28
65
77
75
73
63
73
72
77
58
61
73
73
70
63
74.35
75,000
Crncevic
31
67
76
73
70
73
70
70
75
64
61
69
67
75
72
73.71
50,000
Dlamini
31
75
72
72
72
75
74
72
73
50
62
68
68
62
75
73.29
75,000
Canal
25
69
76
73
70
61
79
74
68
62
66
71
77
81
62
73.00
50,000
Kaczmarek
33
71
67
71
74
74
72
73
70
68
62
67
67
66
75
72.70
50,000
Simmons
23
72
60
66
71
60
73
71
69
72
72
73
63
66
60
72.49
160,000
Blackmore
23
70
74
73
71
68
73
70
73
63
57
64
66
67
71
72.34
175,000
Fretin*
25
69
69
69
69
64
71
74
71
71
68
70
69
69
68
71.46
25,000
Verona
34
69
52
56
60
75
69
72
62
57
60
60
58
64
75
70.76
50,000
Ahtosalo
23
72
57
62
66
67
69
70
64
70
66
73
67
64
66
70.71
50,000
T. Kopecky
26
73
61
66
66
66
70
70
66
68
69
72
75
74
69
70.50
50,000
Van Boven
26
70
64
68
68
63
70
71
66
69
68
71
71
72
65
70.47
50,000
Shmidt
22
71
63
65
70
71
69
69
60
67
67
64
76
72
71
70.08
130,000
Hlady
23
66
69
70
70
60
68
70
66
62
60
63
66
67
58
69.43
50,000
M. Kopecky
23
69
58
63
68
60
66
69
63
63
69
70
64
62
61
68.79
50,000
Shtin+
22
68
68
67
65
60
67
67
62
63
65
71
70
71
58
68.17
0
I. Lopez*
23
65
69
69
68
59
66
65
68
57
57
65
64
70
58
68.00
25,000
Training, National Championship Jerseys, Team Goals, and Race Schedule Coming Soon!
Interesting that you've more or less sacked off two disciplines (hills + cobbles), but nevertheless, Jorgenson, Elosegui, Enger and that TT depth should score more than enough points for you to continue the development of Simmons and Blackmore in peace
Fingers crossed that Dlamini does the job for you, he certainly never let us down!
Congratulations on Schmidt really nice price. We weren't really in the talent market this year or would definitely have looked at him as the first top US TT talent in a while. Also love Kaczmarek, really versatile rider.
With a few days left in the transfer window, we were done. The roster was finalized. The contracts were signed. We had mentally clocked out. Then someone casually mentioned:
"You know... I think we can actually afford Isaac Del Toro."
That was a mistake. We shouldn't have listened to the intern.
Over the next 72 hours, our front office descended into complete and utter chaos. Most of our riders suddenly became "available for the right price." We went all in and had at least five tentative deals lined up and fundraised over 3,510,000 — one of the largest transfer sums in MG history. And for a while... it actually looked possible.
Unfortunately, another team from the Pro Tour showed up with an even larger suitcase full of fake internet money, and our Del Toro dreams ended before they ever left the runway. The Mexican is headed to Europe for the foreseeable future and leaving North America behind.
What could have been. Another superstar, like Bini, has slipped through our fingers.
The rest of the squad has spent the last few days quietly wondering exactly how much — or how little — they're valued after nearly being included in every trade package imaginable. A few egos have undoubtedly been bruised. Preseason training camp will be interesting.
But life moves on. So instead of unveiling cycling's next future Tour de France winner, we'll have to settle for something else we're pretty proud of: Four national champions.
Ethan Vernon – Great Britain ITT Champion Aleksa Crnčević – Bosnia & Herzegovina ITT Champion Juan Pedro López – Spain RR Champion John Jiménez Retana – Costa Rica RR Champion
The transfer season is over. Probably for the best. Maybe, hopefully... I guess.
If there’s one silver lining to the Del Toro heartbreak, it’s that the offseason isn’t over yet — we still have a training post coming up next. And hopefully that money received for Del Toro results in one of our former American stars getting even stronger and dominating the CT.
Still a very strong team put together, and that's before an unholy set of training. Del Toro stings but it'll be forgotten very quickly as a promotion and title challenge grows.
The draft for the 2026 Development Teams was held today, we have signed eight riders — two team captains aged 33 or older and six non-maxed talents. The squad will race 30 C2 race days this season with the calendar yet to be decided.
Let's meet the squad!
Round 1:Rok Korosec (Team Captain #1)
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
OVR
XP
Age
Pot
70
67
71
74
67
72
69
69
61
74
76
69
68
70
74.05
4.100
33
5
Round 2:Orion Child
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
OVR
XP
Age
Pot
67
65
65
65
65
71
69
70
63
63
63
70
64
65
67.03
1.48
23
3
71
72
68
66
66
77
75
74
64
63
65
75
71
66
70.8
4.100
Max
3
Round 3:Michal Pomorski
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
OVR
XP
Age
Pot
69
56
60
67
61
65
67
65
63
65
67
68
66
66
67.24
2.00
23
6
75
57
63
70
61
71
73
71
67
72
73
68
67
66
71.7
4.100
Max
6
Round 4:Alexander Foliforov (Team Captain #2)
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
OVR
XP
Age
Pot
70
72
71
69
67
74
72
71
50
58
54
64
70
67
70.75
4.100
34
5
Round 5:Ruslan Aliyev
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
OVR
XP
Age
Pot
65
63
64
67
57
68
62
61
61
66
65
65
66
57
67.00
2.00
23
6
69
66
69
72
57
74
66
65
63
73
71
69
69
57
72.2
4.100
Max
6
Round 6:Marvin Peters
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
OVR
XP
Age
Pot
69
55
60
65
59
68
66
63
66
69
69
62
67
61
67.62
1.00
22
4
77
56
61
66
60
73
70
72
70
75
76
65
68
62
74.1
4.100
Max
4
Round 7:Donovan Ramirez
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
OVR
XP
Age
Pot
69
59
63
67
67
71
69
69
57
66
69
63
64
71
68.05
2.43
24
4
75
59
64
70
73
75
75
73
57
66
69
67
64
77
71.5
4.100
Max
4
Round 8:Tomas Pridal
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
OVR
XP
Age
Pot
69
63
65
62
60
66
67
61
62
62
64
65
65
61
65.44
1.00
22
6
74
66
71
69
61
74
72
65
63
70
73
71
68
62
71.8
4.100
Max
6
We wish the two vets the best in passing on their wisdom and the six youngsters in the pursuit of persuading a team to sign them to a full contract next season! We will amplify their successes here in our HQ to promote them the best we can.
With the transfer window officially behind us, the squad finally had time to focus on the important things: training and suffering.
This year's offseason camp took place in Boise, Idaho — the hometown of team captain Matteo Jorgenson. The official reason was the area's perfect mix of climbs, rolling roads, and challenging terrain. The unofficial reason was Matteo wanted to bring everyone back to the roads that made him into the rider he is today... and, well, he got to sleep in his own bed.
Nobody left Boise questioning whether the terrain was difficult enough.
The camp was a major success for Jorgenson, who used his home roads to sharpen both his hilly climbing and time trial abilities. After a week of putting the team through the local climbs and testing his legs against the clock, Matteo heads into the new season as an even more complete rider (if that's even possible).
Nat.
Name
Age
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
OVR
Jorgenson
27
73
79
78
77
76
79
78
72
68
65
71
65
69
75
78.01
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
73
79
79
78
77
79
78
72
68
65
71
65
69
75
78.40
Co-captain Inigo Elosegui took a different approach. While Matteo was busy introducing everyone to every hill in Idaho, Inigo focused on the flatter roads and endless tempo efforts, earning a boost to his flat skill.
Nat.
Name
Age
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
OVR
Elosegui
28
65
80
76
71
72
77
80
83
60
60
71
65
66
71
77.43
↓↓↓
66
80
76
71
72
77
80
83
60
60
71
65
66
71
77.44
The rest of the squad returned home with tired legs, improved fitness, and a growing belief that we have the team capable of achieving promotion this season.
After unpacking the bikes and finally getting some much-needed recovery time, the squad received the schedule for the upcoming season. The big surprise, we have been granted three Pro Tour wildcards!
Jorgenson is very, very close to becoming the beast I think everyone suspected he might become when first joining Zwift
This looks like a very strong team and setup for the PCT. Hoping also JP Lopez and Canal can play their roles well, after last season away at Aker. Feels like you might lack another very good leader to be right up there in the promotion spots, but then again, having two of them for the mountains can never hurt in the PCT!
You haven't considered just leaving Jorgenson alone? Poor guy getting trained too much, not good for everyone elses health.
I agree with Ember that you might just have a bit too few RD, so too many races with little points? Don't know how your planning looks, but I see that as your main hurdle to promote
Jorgenson and Elosegui obviously deserved the training money, but what a shame it was that things didn't come together for you on your last bids. Still a ton of riders that I love on your team. Didn't realize that it was quite so top heavy with only 6 riders not being C2 eligible if I understand correctly.
I'm not sure that I would've done my C1/C2 selections the way you did, but I see a clear vision for Trentino and Vancouver. Jussaume will also clearly be doing some heavy racing throughout the year.
Will be rooting for you throughout the season and expecting to hopefully be racing alongside you next year!
Interesting training choice for Jorgensen. Makes sense to bulk him up as potentially a 1-week specialist with his Rec, should make him even more formidable. Hoping he has some issues getting a visa to Aus and misses the plane to Tasmania after seeing his training though
Very smart way to get the MM bump and TT bump for Jorgensen done for less cost. Missing out on Del Toro sucks a lot, but you were happy with the swuad before and everything about that plan still holds true in my view.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Bram Welten: Rode for us the past four seasons, picking up 450 points in 224 race days. It was time for an upgrade and Welten welcomed the change of scenery. He was eventually sold to Parmalat - Croatia for 400,000 and gets to be one of the top sprinters in the CT.
Sean Quinn: We didn't initially plan to sell the newly maxed American climber, but after seeing a new American CT team join the MG and how much climbing depth we will have this season and beyond, we figured it was the right time to cash in. Well, that didn't go exactly to plan in getting sold to an American team, as Quinn is headed across the globe to Japan to race for TMM's Bacharu Mamachari Faito! Sorry, buddy. I'm sure you'll find a way to make new friends. We pocketed another 400,000.
Fredrik Ludvigsson: Honestly didn't think we would be able to sell our 32-year-old Swede, but new CT team Fincantieri - Grand Seiko asked about Ludvigsson the moment the transfer season opened and that was that. Sold for 50,000 after one rather uneventful season with us. Hopefully he can find more success in a team that truly believes in him.
Karl Patrick Lauk: The leadout man we bought for cheap last season and then struggled to sell for cheap this season. But eventually we found a trade partner with our Z2Z Dev Team co-owner. KPL plus 70,000 was offloaded to DK Zalgiris while we received a blessed aging stage racer domestique in return to help our star climbers (see below).
Milan Fretin: Needed a final season of development in the Pro Tour. So, we shipped him off to our friends at MOL Cycling Team to do the job. Should be a solid helper for the cobbled classics when he returns maxed next season.
Valery Shtin: It's our obligatory Russian. It's also the third straight season we have loaned in a rider from Pro Tour giant Tinkoff - La Datcha Team. For some reason, team manager OlegTinkov has been a very generous donor to organization over the years as we provide a training facility for his future talents. It's been mutually beneficial for both sides. This move earned us 150,000 for a 1>3 loan where we don't even have to pay Shtin's contract. Shtin needs a lot of development but we will happily stash him in random races.
Nicholas Dlamini: Another year of bargain buying, as we like to save our money for offseason training camps. Only one rider bought outright this season for cash and it's 31-year-old South African Dlamini from Duvel-Tsingtao. Solid all-arounder that should be very helpful for our TTT setup and we only paid 200,000. He is currently making 75,000 in wages.
Aleksa Crncevic: The blessed man himself obtained in the Lauk swap. Not to be confused with Serbian volleyball player 
Thomas Kopecky: We have signed Matyas' older brother Thomas, giving us a pair of siblings on the same team for the first time in our long history! And if we could have signed their younger sister 
Jakub Kaczmarek: The first Polish rider in team history. Certainly not a guy we had on our initial plans, but just so happened to get a call from his agent when we needed to find a rider just like him to fill a void in our roster. Kaczmarek might be past his prime at 33 years old, but can still be a vital TTT asset and a hilly domestique, especially on minimum wage.
Matias Ahtosalo: Sticking with obtaining riders from new countries, we have branched out to Finland and found rookie Matias Ahtosalo. Top-tier name, and hopefully future top-tier domestique on the cobbles for 
Carlos Verona: The Spanish Hero returns. After joining the squad back in our inaugural 2012 season as a 20-year-old rookie and last riding for us in 2022, Verona is back for an 11th — and almost certainly, probably, maybe — final farewell tour. At 34, he's no longer the rider he used to be, but legends don't get forgotten about around here... they just get strategically hidden in TTTs and paid the minimum wage. With 738 race days already under his belt, he'll pad the team record a little further while reminding the youngsters how things were done back when race radios were optional and crashes in the peloton were frequent. How times have changed. Welcome back, Carlos! We missed you!
Sondre Holst Enger: Last but certainly not least, everybody grab your paddles and Ro! We needed a fast man desperately and signed our first 80+ sprinter since 
Rok Korosec (Team Captain #1)
