@ember - Thanks



Ten familiar faces, two faces from not too long ago, nine new permanent recruits and one rider with a different owner. Minions 2026 are gearing up for the start of the season.

Mountains

Nat.	Name	FL	MO	MM	HI	TT	ST	RS	RC	CB	SP	AC	FG	DH	PR	Age	Wage
	J. Rodrigues	66	81	77	73	74	73	75	77	55	61	72	70	68	74	32	450k
	M. Borisavljevic	68	77	75	73	74	74	74	75	54	59	65	64	68	74	32	150k
	E. A. Rubio	67	77	76	74	64	76	74	75	60	60	73	73	65	64	28	90k
	J. Xandri	68	76	75	73	73	68	74	72	60	60	69	75	74	71	32	75k

The outlook of the stage racing division looks largely the same, even though Rubio is the only one that remained from last season. We still have a Portuguese as leader, but now it is Rodrigues instead of Reis. Borisavljevic and Xandri replace Vosekalns and Quintana, slightly younger and slightly better against the clock.



Hills

Nat.	Name	FL	MO	MM	HI	TT	ST	RS	RC	CB	SP	AC	FG	DH	PR	Age	Wage
	A. Van Niekerk	69	75	78	80	65	72	75	76	66	64	74	82	71	65	29	350k
	J. Cepeda Hernandez	70	75	76	77	65	71	70	71	61	66	74	73	68	63	30	125k
	J. Morales Ortega	66	76	76	76	61	71	72	75	55	63	75	76	73	62	27	75k
	O. Le Gac	69	68	72	76	59	72	73	69	51	63	68	73	72	59	33	60k

No change at the top, Van Niekerk has a better suited calendar this year as we actually planned for him being on the team, while Cepeda Hernandez will be his main support. The Ecuadorian's almost-copy Kipkemboi is gone, replaced by Morales Ortega who will support both the hills and the mountains team. Le Gac is there as well.



Time trials

Nat.	Name	FL	MO	MM	HI	TT	ST	RS	RC	CB	SP	AC	FG	DH	PR	Age	Wage
	E. Paleni	69	54	57	60	76	68	69	72	54	58	62	69	63	76	24	50k
	L. Dressler	73	60	64	68	73	72	71	67	72	60	63	68	64	68	24	50k
	F. A. Gomez	65	70	68	65	74	70	72	73	52	56	66	69	67	67	24	50k
	C. D. Guavita	66	74	64	53	73	74	64	75	63	50	55	79	65	73	24	60k
	E. Tuyizere	69	64	62	59	72	68	73	66	60	64	58	70	62	74	23	50

The biggest downgrade compared to last year, as third and fourth best scorers Bjerg and Paillot are gone, as are Predatsch, Hamza and Casillas. Yet the only new rider we have for this department is Tuyizere, and he is on loan from SEE Turtles. The talents Paleni, Dressler, Gomez and Guavita are in their final development year, but without mentors they will have to learn among themselves.



Cobbles

Nat.	Name	FL	MO	MM	HI	TT	ST	RS	RC	CB	SP	AC	FG	DH	PR	Age	Wage
	O. Lecourt De Billot	74	57	63	68	63	72	71	63	74	60	72	80	63	67	33	50k
	L. Sweeck	72	61	64	67	67	69	70	60	75	69	69	66	74	70	33	50k
	B. Ndungu	68	64	65	66	58	72	70	65	71	67	67	73	61	59	23	50k

As always, not a discipline we need a big gun in, but rather riders who can get us through the mandatory races (at the lowest level). Lecourt De Billot joins, Sweeck returns, and U23 World Champion Ndungu continues to learn from experienced names, like he did from Boros and De Witte prior.



Sprints

Nat.	Name	FL	MO	MM	HI	TT	ST	RS	RC	CB	SP	AC	FG	DH	PR	Age	Wage
	F. Jakobsen	74	59	63	67	59	75	73	81	73	80	80	67	68	69	30	250k
	D. Kalaba	74	65	67	69	70	70	72	76	57	79	79	58	68	78	30	150k
	J. Major	74	50	58	66	57	74	70	74	70	77	78	62	66	64	31	100k
	E. Baska	76	55	61	67	67	70	76	80	64	76	77	70	61	73	32	75k
	M. Stash	72	55	59	63	66	66	71	71	66	76	75	71	65	77	33	60k
	Z. Jiang	72	61	64	66	65	69	73	72	62	75	75	65	73	79	32	50k

We left the biggest group for last. Jakobsen is signed as clear primary sprinter, with Kalaba returning to the role of secondary sprinter instead of the undesignated rivalry with Kamberaj. Major finally rides in our colors as our grown man as main leadout for the Dutchman, and tertiary sprinter for the scraps. Baska, Stash and Jiang will be the carriages for the trains, with the Chinese moonlighting as prologue specialist.