The last four years have been a rollercoaster. From a debut promotion, narrowly avoiding relegation, to almost promoting in our third season. We now find ourselves back at square one, four years of experience richer, but with a broken spirit.

Daring tactics, arrogance, memes, and an obscure project got us only this far. Nowhere. But we need more, much more. Blessed by the Holy Father himself, if God is with us, who could be with them?

Today we present our full jersey, blessed upon us by the Holy Jakstar himself, an homage to the greatest country on earth.

It is true, it has been awfully silent in the Vatican since our presentation. For good reason however. First and foremost, I was yearning for my vacation. Having to combine the first week of transfers with my last week of work, and I was exhausted. But, I also wanted to focus on building a team rather than pushing out updates because I felt forced to. Maybe because relegating back to the inferno of the CT isn't something to cheer. Or just because the Pope, and his chosen Manager, do whatever they want. My chimney is spewing white smoke, so here's the team!

This is probably what you've all been wondering about, training. So lets cut to the chase. We've spent over Four Million In training as a CT team so yeah. Team was already built, wages spent, so what do you do if you sell a 23 year old Mexican for 4 million.

-Powless, arguably one of the best in the division, gets a double injection into his climbing legs.

-New signing Alexandre Mayer is immediately greeted with some extra stamina and a booster shot for the hills. They are very much alive with this one.

-Our first incoming trade of the year, Guillermo Beltran gets to share in the mountainous flavors with a little boost.

-And our final training session went to new kid on the block Kevin Vermaerke. Really just the only useful thing we could do with the scraps of cash I had left, so we've trained him in his time-trialing ability.

The assigned values in their respective MM fields are subject to change, no clue if I can trust ChatGPT on that one.

All in all I'm happy with how transfers turned out for us. We went into the transfer window with just 7 riders. I decided fairly soon into the window that the opportunity of having a beast like Powless wouldn't present itself twice, as I did have the intention of returning to the PCT as quickly as possible.

But if some of you remember my first squad back in 2022, it was quite top heavy. Needing loanees and stags to get to the minimum amount allowed. This year only needing the one loanee for that cash money. It was filled with aging riders, with some of questionable pedigree. And perhaps with some luck involving a certain Moroccan man who crushed the division to deliver us promotion in our maiden season. This year however I gave it a spin. Instead looking to build a balanced squad behind Powless that could take us beyond a promotion without the need of an entire rebuild. And we've achieved exactly that. With 400k, Powless is at the very end of what's comfortable wage-wise for a singular leader, but the thirteen others who's wages are on our books sit between 50k, and 85k. Perfectly balanced as all things should be.

I intended to resign the 'Big Four' that I had to let go in renewals. And while it did seem for a while a certain Sammarinese sprinter would return to his nest, we only managed to bag Kwanele Jele. With a unique but impressive skillset, I do believe his 75K wage is somewhat of a bargain. And with Mayer, Sütterlin, and Munoz on a combined 205K wage the core of the team didn't break the bank.

An added bonus being here is the unusually low average age this year. With Sütterlin the only antique rider on the books, everyone else is 30 or younger. It provides us with enough time, potential, and space to develop and build upon a strong core team. Ofcourse with promising talents like Onley, Staune-Mittet, Kachur, and Prieto, all it'll take is time for the next generation to arrive at their peaks.

And finally, our regional focus has well and truly gone off the rails this year. The cacophony of flags listed above looking more like I regurgitated an entire bag of skittles than a 'planned' focus. When I came into the ManGame, I entered with the primary focus of the Greatest country on earth. San Marino. Ofcourse a certain someone had practically monopolized that market and we shifted towards Micro nations, in turn expanding to "Obscure countries." And in that regard, I feel like we've stuck to our guns. With Mauritius, San Marino, Malta, eSwatini, Chile, Morocco, Ukraine, Turkey, and Mexico the core of our team doesn't come from the traditional household nations. And I think that's beautiful.

But it did bring me to tears that we haven't been able to retain or sign a Liechtensteiner this season. Effectively bringing an end to our Triarchy we held for the last four years.

But I'll be back.

@SotD I looked at training his TT but besides the increased cost, which would cut into training for the other's, he'd also lose 5 RD more than now. Obviously in PCT that wouldn't be the biggest issue but with how limited the amount already is in CT I instead chose to 'make' him into a stronger GC climber.

@Heine Obviously I don't like to jinx myself before we even started, but yes I suppose the team and Powless are favorites for promotion and winning the individual ranking respectively. It'll depend on my planning skills though...

@Ezee Last time we were in CT Cobbles and Sprinters were all we had, quite ironic it's those same areas we're extremely weak in this year. Cras is definitely a strong contender and rival for Powless, and to be the best you have to beat the best so I hope they'll meet plenty!

@bbl Losing Del Toro will always be a black page in this chapter, but atleast the team came out of it stronger as a collective.

@trek definitely didn't plan on that training, but I did plan for it last year, fully expecting to avoid relegation. I suppose the upside to this is being able to build on this team if we promote. As Powless will be a strong leader anywhere he goes.

@Eden Pure ITT's are rare indeed, and it always feels like a shame to have a decent climber racing in flat stage races because he's so strong against the clock. Atleast now he can confidently compete in actual GC races without having to hope for enough of a buffer in the TT stages.

It's not something I like to focus on every year, but given how we've gotten a new Statgain system it has changed the outlook of our riders who are still in development. One such man is Oscar Onley, he signed for us back in 2024 in the infamous 'Juan and Onley' tandem. But he did miss a levelup in that first season, somehow. It simply means he won't develop into the infamous hybrid-type rider I aimed for but instead will either lean to a pure climber or pure puncher side. Nonetheless, a strong talent who will surely have a bright future with us, here in the Vatican.

Nat.	Name	FL	MO	MM	HI	TT	ST	RS	RC	CB	SP	AC	FG	DH	PR
	Oscar Onley	67	73	73	73	61	72	73	66	64	63	71	68	70	60
	Climber V1	69	78	78	75	62	76	77	69	64	64	74	71	72	60
	Hills V1	69	75	77	78	62	77	75	68	64	66	75	73	72	61

The sale of Del Toro saw an unmaxed talent travel the other way as a sweetener in the deal. Johannes Staune-Mittet thus becomes the first Norwegian to don our colors, and given his expected final form I suspect he will stay here for the near future. A prime domestique for Powless, with the potential to step in a sub-leadership role himself from time to time.

Nat.	Name	FL	MO	MM	HI	TT	ST	RS	RC	CB	SP	AC	FG	DH	PR
	Johannes Staune-Mittet	65	74	73	71	72	68	69	73	58	60	66	71	67	71
	Stage Race	67	78	76	73	75	72	72	77	58	60	67	72	67	74

One of our regional pearls will see himself reach the end of his development this year. Luke Borg who isn't a grandstanding talent, but does have an enormous value in the team. Back when he was added as a fresh faced 21 year old we did occasionally exchange messages on Instagram, even congratulating me with the birth of my second child three years ago. And as such he has cemented his place in my heart. A respectful domestique, as not everyone can become the next big thing in the peloton. Thanks to ol' Luke here, Malta remains one of only three nations to continuously feature in our team. The other two, Morocco and San Marino, offer little surprise to the imagination.

Nat.	Name	FL	MO	MM	HI	TT	ST	RS	RC	CB	SP	AC	FG	DH	PR
	Luke Borg	69	72	71	70	61	68	69	65	63	68	75	73	71	62
	Climber V1	70	74	73	71	61	70	71	66	63	68	76	74	72	62
	Fighter	71	73	72	71	62	69	70	66	64	69	77	75	72	63

The departure of Federico Olei and Andrea Aquilani saw two of our longest serving Sammarinese leave the team. Which also means this year will be the first year where we see only two nationals of our former main nation representing the team. Andrea Alfio Bruno joined only last year but does offer decent potential to become one of the greatest in San Marino history. Punchers will always have their value in a team, and this one will definitely carry his weight going forward.

Nat.	Name	FL	MO	MM	HI	TT	ST	RS	RC	CB	SP	AC	FG	DH	PR
	Andrea Alfio Bruno	69	63	68	73	60	72	72	65	62	67	71	71	68	59
	Hills V1	71	65	72	78	61	77	74	67	62	70	75	74	70	60

Our next subject, not unlike Bruno, will become a decent hill-focused pawn. We picked him up for free in the CT draft, so there's really no financial risk to get him on board. Our first Ukrainian, Dmytro Kachur!

Nat.	Name	FL	MO	MM	HI	TT	ST	RS	RC	CB	SP	AC	FG	DH	PR
	Dmytro Kachur	65	63	68	72	59	69	71	74	62	61	70	66	68	59
	Hills V1	67	65	72	77	60	74	74	76	62	65	75	70	70	60

Mexicans have always been of great value to the team, and Jose Juan Prieto will be no different. We considered getting his twin brother, Jose Antonio, on board but we ran out of money in the end. Jose Juan will make a great sprinter one day, and we can't wait to see him develop into our next fast man.

Nat.	Name	FL	MO	MM	HI	TT	ST	RS	RC	CB	SP	AC	FG	DH	PR
	Jose Juan Prieto	69	64	66	68	64	68	68	58	61	70	72	65	70	65
	Track-Sprinter	76	64	66	69	65	72	73	69	61	77	79	65	71	72
	Sprinter	76	64	67	69	64	73	72	70	65	77	79	65	71	65

Last, and probably least, is our first Turk Ferhat Emisci. I'll be honest, probably fucked my draft list to end up with this guy but he will be a useful domestisque some way or another. He could become one of the first 'pure' MidMountain riders, but fuck that. He'll probably become our new flatbeast, to guide Prieto to the finish line. That'll be all for us, unless I can find the forum template for the calendar. Until next time

Nat.	Name	FL	MO	MM	HI	TT	ST	RS	RC	CB	SP	AC	FG	DH	PR
	Ferhat Emisci	70	64	69	63	62	67	68	64	58	62	68	66	64	63
	Hills V2	71	65	77	70	63	71	75	68	58	65	75	71	65	63
	Fighter	78	67	72	66	65	72	73	69	61	65	72	75	67	66