The list of goal races is rather similar to last year, with a few alterations, which is basically a fully copied line from last year. Olympia TTT remains on the calendar with an improved position this year in a Top 5 expectation while Tropicale Amissa Bongo was our 2nd option. After that, it was going to be a challenging choice but with TTs in mind Danmark was 3rd on the list. I share this just to say that heading into transfers we knew that we needed to keep a highlight on the TT prowess of the team while also expecting Montenegro to leave and not knowing what other priorities we would have.
Monterrey TTT keeps its position but we are banking on a victory this year! We've failed to win the race in the past, but if this isn't the team that can do it, I'm not sure we ever will. Knowing that we went into this season thinking that it was promotion or bust, any questions we had about guaranteeing a Top 5 were thrown to the wayside. Finally, Isle of Man ITT takes a top 5 spot just as it did last year. Looking at the lineup, we assume that we'll end up Top 10 without a Top 5 slot depending on who attends, but even if we don't fulfill the goal, we expect a good point haul here. This was another one where we knew that it was impossible to win sadly, so a Top 5 felt like the right risk to take.
One major difference this season is the desire to go for stage wins as a goal. We didn't know what we would exactly prioritize this year, but with a major priority on finding an all-star leader and the likelihood of picking up a surprise or two, going after the budget through a stage win goal felt great. Having picked up Kennett, Nikiema, McCarthy and our TTT squad, we think this is certainly possible.
Monterrey TTT - Win
Olympia's TTT - Top 10
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Wage
Mario Gonzalez Salas
68
55
57
58
78
71
73
62
58
59
51
76
59
78
50000
Julian Cardona
73
64
64
63
77
72
74
68
62
64
67
62
65
77
65000
Jake Marryatt
71
61
65
68
77
67
74
67
57
60
58
67
63
77
55000
Similo Nyoni
69
56
59
62
77
67
72
69
52
70
68
71
64
77
60000
Damien Howson
68
56
59
62
77
68
69
67
55
61
63
69
60
77
50000
Kent Main
68
75
73
71
74
72
75
76
58
63
69
73
71
74
60000
Atsushi Oka
73
65
66
67
74
71
72
73
64
76
76
67
64
79
55000
Joshua Kelly
73
66
69
72
74
69
73
60
60
71
72
72
62
76
50000
No surprises here that our two TTT goals share the same squad and it's the best teams we could physically put up. One thing that I think our team has lacked a bit is the ability to handle the hills of the TTTs and well... that will still be true. Still, I think our team will handle the flatter sections better than anyone else by far and we've seen from previous years that being able to bring a full team into the second half of any TTT is crucial. Wish we had more to say here, but I think our team will be basically unmatched at the CT level and only a few teams in PCT can battle us at Olympia (Riders of Rohan and Philips - Hero on quick standout)
Isle of Man ITT - Top 5
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Wage
Mario Gonzalez Salas
68
55
57
58
78
71
73
62
58
59
51
76
59
78
50000
Julian Cardona
73
64
64
63
77
72
74
68
62
64
67
62
65
77
65000
Jake Marryatt
71
61
65
68
77
67
74
67
57
60
58
67
63
77
55000
Who else would come here? Cardona is our only returning rider to the race, but he's joined by Marryatt and of course Gonzalez Salas. The Spaniard is our best shot at the Top 5, but Cardona grabbed a 7th here last year to jump ahead of most of the other 77ers by just a second. If we miss the top 5 it'll be a disappointment but still a worry use of RDs.
Prediction - 4/5 Goals
Our full schedule can be found at the beginning of our HQ. I think that we've done a great job improving again and really putting leaders into the squad. While I do think we will come up short on the Team Standings Win, I think we'll make it close and the others feel relatively reasonable for us. 4/5 and a hopeful promotion seems like a great chance for us.
