@Gustav - Quite a lot of managers were asking about Lagane (and he was part of several deals that just didn't quite get done), but i'm happier keeping him in the end and hopeful he'll work out nicely as one-two with Eriksson
@Abi - Tried to separate Eriksson and Lagane as best I could so hopefully we'll see the best of both. Hopkins is cool and strong training candidate next time round.
@Laurens - Thank you
@Caspi - I did think about doing a full prediction, but after too many years not looking at the broader game i'll wait a year before giving detailed opinions.
@Red - Expect NC's in the future to be varied as well, i've got 63 to pick from (not including retired members, not including mekPark, not including the rumored new Gen coming soon). Mio's kinda locked in though.
The Real Team Introduction: Part 2 - Onee-chan
猫又おかゆ
Nekomata Okayu
Mogu mogu! (Yummy yummy!)
It's all about the tail! I mean, back of the jersey! Say hello the obligatory stray cat, Nekomata Okayu. This purple cat stated her career streaming from her Grandma's house, and uses 'boku' pronouns (ostensibly masculine pronouns, but often used by more tomboy-esque girls). We translated mogu as yummy above, it's more onomatopoeia for chewing, but also stands in for yummy. Yeah, being a cat, Okayu loves to eat.
Okayu officially debuted in April 2019 as the third member of Gamers (after Fubuki & Mio, and just ahead of Inugami Korone), and has gone on to achieve over 2.1million subscribers on Youtube. She was the 11th Hololive member to pass this milestone. Okayu is from Aomori (right up at the northern end of Honshou, the main island of Japan) and has recently done some streams using her native fast-talking accent.
In February 2021 she released her debut single "Mogu Mogu YUMMY!" for her birthday, and releasing her first album "Poisonya Syndrome" in September 2022. May 2025 saw her release a second Album, "PERSONYA RESPECT", and frankly I can't say which is better - they are equally great listens. In fact Okayu has become famous for her chilled our vibes and soft voice, carving her niche inside hololive as an easygoing friend to all.
Except she is also, like an Onee-chan (older sister), primed to tease anyone at any moment, often with a heft dose of innuendo. This in-turn has lead to her being known as a 'harem protagonist' (this is less sexual than it sounds, trust me - but i'm not explaining the history of Japanese visual novel games here). Together with Korone she forms 'OkaKoro' one of the biggest duos in all of Hololive, and are sort of/sort of not canonically married (it's complicated).
Unsurprisingly she has her own pet cat, and is also a big Dragon Ball fan, like really big. Okayu is also flat out one of the very best gamers in Hololive, apt for a member of Gamers - she was a Top20 global ranked player in Mario Tennis for example.
She does what she likes and lives how she wants, introducing the final member to grace our jersey, Isaki Riona! This human, yes vtubers and hololive members can be regular humans (regular-ish, we'll get there) is the 'Leader' of the most recent Hololive generation, Flow Glow. She is a self described stoic fighter that refuses to lose, but has a soft gooey center - what a perfect encapsulation of our team.
Riona debuted in November 2024, alongside her fellow Flow Glow members, as part of the second group under the Dev_Is branch of Hololive. Dev_Is is a more music focused side of Hololive which also features ReGloss. Flow Glow debuted as a unit (Iaski Riona, Koganei Niko, Mizumiya Su, Rindo Chihaya and Kikirara Vivi) immediately with their debut song "FG Roadster" and built up to their first Album realease, "Flow Glow", in January 2026. Riona has since added her first solo track, titled "Ring my Name", in May 2026. She currently has just over 500k subscribers on Youtube.
The key points to know about Riona. She is truly truly awful at dealing with horror, becoming well known for full on sprinting out of the room at any jump scare in a horror game. She is as big a fan of other Hololive members, especially her oshi Mori Calliope (who was originally on the jersey before I decided to swap her for Riona), as any regular viewer. Oh, she is also just a phenomenal singer and dancer, and I do mean phenomenal, like holy-shit levels of good (you'll see in the links below. But because everyone of us contains multitudes, Riona has a background in electrical and systems engineering, so she's very smart. And also kind of cripplingly socially awkward.
God I love this absolute doofus. And thus concludes the real team introduction. Next post I promise will be cycling related - we have predictions to comment on and analyze!
I said we'd talk about cycling, so time to review the Predictions and look ahead to the incoming season!
Generally speaking, the consensus has us pretty safe in the PCT midfield. Which I would be extremely pleased with. At the top end, we could be as high as 7th and getting involved in the fringes of a promotion scrap. At the bottom end, we could be 15th, with some glances over our shoulder.
Everyone is in general agreement our strength comes in our ability to score on all-terrains. Whilst Spengler is not a great all-rounder like Girmay, he's still viewed as a top-end rider and a great base to rely upon. Reis feels broadly liked as a consistent scorer, with a lot of love for the GC depth behind him. Hopkins has been name checked as a top-class tier two sprinter. The split often comes around Lagane and Eriksson, with belief they could both be surprisingly great or relative busts.
Consistency, an ability to score everywhere, and helped by some teams just not being very good. All working in combination to deliver a solid if unspectacular season. After our recent years of struggle and stress that is more than welcomed.
Of course we'd like to be more towards 7th than 15th. Of course what no-one knows is our planning decisions. We have managed to split Lagane from Eriksson a fair bit, but we are RD limited so there is crossover at times. Leemur has a fairly bespoke calendar, as does Reis. Spengler gets plenty of cobbles, but as is always the case with classics riders there just arn't enough accessible races to make full use of those RD. Quite happy with how it all worked out to be honest.
Especially our C2 we quite like, targeting cobbles where we feel Jesus Roniel Marte could be quite decent. One of our weaknesses will be the Tour of America, were we've sent a collection of "whoever had RD left over". We don't have GC depth to really make it worthwhile targeting.
Right, there's a rare MG cycling focus post. Bring on the season, we're very excited for it! Next time in the HQ, we'll attempt a much better and fuller explanation of Hololive! You'll get a crash course in streamers, Japanese Idol culture, and vtubers. Thankfully everyone understands our other sponsors - cinema, alcohol, tourism and tyres.
(two pictures from the "Shimanami Kaido", the most beautiful cycling route in the world, because this is a cycling post)
