After a successful year, Pearl and Adidas have agreed to an extension of their sponsorship contract with our team. This truly was a match made in heaven for the 3 parts and we will be looking for a repeat of the results we achieved the last couple of seasons.
As always, the jersey for the 2013 season belongs to the designer that has been with us since the get-go: Mr Richard Cleaver. He has put up some brilliant jerseys throughout the seasons (who could forget the awesome Pearl Jam jersey?) and we decided to give him another year off. We liked our jersey from the 2011 and 2012 seasons so much we decided to keep it for the 2013 season. You may already know it but we will revive your memory anyway:
Chapeau Mr. Cleaver, chapeau!
History
In the first year of it's existance, the Pearl Jam year, the team was nowhere near the promotion spots in the early predictions but 5 races won plus half a duzen stage wins combined with numerous Top-10's saw the team end in a surprising 3rd place in the final rankings. Only the top two would promote but the disbandment of the Carlsberg team meant we would also be going to the PT for the 2010 season.
For the 2011 season the team had lost the powerhouse that is Alessandro Ballan and it triggered a big renovation of the squad. Almost every rider over 30 was sold or traded away and replaced by younger riders (even if they were not as gifted as some of the names that had left the team). We brought in some fairly decent acquisitions in Franzoi, Kangert and Weening and then signed one of the most promising riders out there: Jan Bakelants.
What he had planed to be a transitional season quickly turned into our best season so far. Although we didn't have any big results and we only won a couple of races and a couple of stages, the truth is consistency was the key (exactly like in the 2010 season when we promoted from the CT). We were in the Top-10 in every race (baring less than a handful of exceptions) and in the end we found ourselves in 3rd place on the Team Rankings.
2012 brought on new challenges for the team with the need of keeping up with the big guns but, simultaneously, dealing with a big overhaul in the team. Former leaders Fothen and Rujano left the team with Tiago Machado, Peter Velits, Romain Sicard and Jacopo Guarnieiri filling in the voids. The team now looked to Bakelants for leadership and he didn't disappoint. Numerous podiums, a few stage wins and a win in the GP Mendrisio saw him become one of the most prolific point scorers in the Pro-Tour. Being present in the top-10 in virtually every race of the season, Pearl Adidas took another couple of overall wins with two surprising riders, Jukka Vastaranta (Rund um Koln) and Stijn Joseph (Omloop Het Volk). An unexpectedly good showing saw the team finish the year in 2nd place in the Rankings.
With a core of young leaders and a few key helpers, Pearl Adidas once more enters the season looking to build on the past success. With Jan Bakelants as one of the better puncheurs in the game, Tiago Machado, Peter Velits and Romain Sicard as above-average stage racers, Enrico Franzoi as a cobble specialist and Romain Vanderbiest and Jacopo Guarnieri as sprinters looking to challenge the big guns, the teams looks to repeat the final podium of the last two years.
Win Liege-Bastogne-Liege Top 10 @Tour de France Top 10 @Giro D'Italia Top 10 @Vuelta a España Top 3 @Team StandingsEdited by p3druh on 22-12-2012 02:13
The Directeur Sportif of the team was asked to formally address that have surfaced recently. You can find his take on them in the following spoillers.
Regarding the possibility of trading the future French star from a half french team for a 30 year old Spaniard, the DS had this to say:
Spoiler
A less abrasive wording was used to comment on the possibility of Wim De Vocht leaving the team:
Spoiler
"Wim has been with us for a couple of years and he has been a very useful rider for our cobble team. However, he felt out of place when he couldn't manage one single top-10 in a cobble race where as, and I quote, "even Stijn fucking Joseph managed to win a Pro Tour race". This does not bode well for Wim's continuance on the team. But nothing is set in stone so far.
The tone went up a notch however when it came to the possibility of Kangert being on the outs with the team:
Spoiler
This is a joke of a team when it comes to TT. And as sad as it may be, Kangert is our only guy who's actually average in the race against the clock. I question the veracity of the rumor however. "Dry year"? Fuck off. We were picking him up from the pub on the verge of alcoholic coma every other night. Dry year my ass.
with a new Bulgarian backed team entering into the CT level, there are whispers that Petar Panayotov is interested in a move to the new squad. Is there a chance Petar could leave the team?
The Directeur Sportif of Pearl Adidas has once again addressed the rumors about the upcoming transfer season, this time regarding Pearl Adidas' Gentle Giant:
Spoiler
"Petar has been quite impressive in the last season. Not only was he a valuable helper to the team leaders in the mountains but he was also able to get a great result at Volta Ciclista a Catalunya and be one of the best young riders at the GTs he raced. I want him to stay but I can see that after such good results he could be looking to lead a team instead of just playing a supporting role. If that is the case, while we would do everything in our power to keep him, we cannot do so against the rider's will. It's a question of ethics. It has nothing to do with the fact that he has half a meter and 50kg on everyone else on the team. I promise.
According to a Portuguese sports newspaper, the team Adira-Isq is very interested in the Portuguese rider Manuel Cardoso from the team Pearl Adidas.
When asked about this possibility, the GM Frederico Oliveira said: "I confirm that there is indeed interest, both on our part and on the part of Manuel himself. We are neighbors and friends of childhood so it is not surprising that we want to work together. But it is useful to recall that the rider has a contract with his team and so any decision has to go through manager of his team. "
Rumour has it David Vitoria is attracting interest from Sauber Petronas Racing and that they are seriously looking at possibility of bringing the sprinter back to his homeland.
Regarding the portuguese "sprinter" the team's DS had this to say:
Spoiler
"We have a strong focus on two countries: Portugal and France. While we do have leaders (or potential leaders) from France, Tiago Machado and Manuel Cardoso are the only riders currently with the team that come from our truly home nation. Therefore, we are looking to add to that contingent, not to subtract. Cardoso has been with us ever since we gained control of that crappy Marco Polo team and he was a vital piece of the team that got promoted from the CT. He's not only valuable to us for his nationality but also because of what he gave to the team when he was asked to deliver. But, hey, we've got a lot of other crappy riders we'd be happy to see leave! Yes, I'm looking at you David and Evgeni!
When it came to the Swiss rider that spent last season at Nestle on loan, no word was even needed after his last comment but being the blabber mouth that he is, he still gave a statement:
Spoiler
David Vitoria? To a Swiss team? Go right ahead. He's not welcome at this team anymore. The guy was in the grupetto every day with Pearl Adidas and now manages to have a great season at Nestle? Well, he can go and have all the chocolate he wants because we don't want him anywhere near our team anymore. His contract release clause is 15,99€*12508, the number of pills for heartburn we had to take because of him.
Rumours say Evgeni Popov might move to the newly formed team, called PrivatBank. With his 29 years he would be great mentor, and he should be able to get some decent results. He also could be part of the sprinttrain, which the team is rumoured to prepare for the 2013 season. Also 30 year old Cardoso has been linked to the team.
-Denys Kulyk, Sportjournalist for Eurosport.
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game
The shor-tempered leader of the team is having trouble controlling his anger and the transfer season hasn't even begun. A so called "journalist" was the source of the following outburst:
Spoiler
"Are you kidding me? ARE YOU F***ING KIDDING ME?! Is this what passes for journalism nowadays? I know Eurosport journalists aren't exactly known for being the smartest of the bunch but this is beyond absurd. I literally made a statement a few minutes ago saying Manuel Cardoso is off-limits for any team and this "journalist" comes up with this "rumor" that has no legs to stand on, nothing to back it up. What a f***ing twat."
As for Popov, he is dead on. Here's a picture of a conversation I had with him immediately after PrivatBank expressed interest in him (yes, I am a bear):"
Pearl Adidas board and staff have come to an agreement in regard to the what is expected of the team for the upcoming season.
While some specific races are going to be highly targeted, the board expects to see a strong showing throughout the season. Since Pearl and Adidas became sponsors, there has been a higher pressure for results from said sponsors and for the last two years the team has had a goal of being one of the top 3 teams in the Pro Tour. In the 2011 season Pearl Adidas managed to get the 3rd place in the rankings and did one better in 2012 ending up in 2nd place. Given the large distance between Pearl Adidas and the champions Vesuvio and the small distance to the 3rd and 4th placed teams Sony Ericsson and Santander, it was an unanimous decision that a Top 3 @Team Standings would continue to be a good goal for the strategy and development path the team wishes to continue with.
Historically, the GTs result in high visibility and high returns for the sponsors. They are also races in which the team tend to do well. Therefore, like in previous years, the team have set goals for all GTs. While in Spain and Italy the goals will remain the same as last year with the team looking for a Top 10 @Giro D'Italia and a Top 10 @Vuelta a España , in France there will be a slight modification. For two years in a row the team has failed to live up to both the hype of the 2010 Markus Fothen's TdF win and the goal of finishing in the podium in Paris in 2011 and 2012. Now the sponsors felt it would be too much to ask for the current roster to produce a podium in the TdF this year and do not wish to rush the development of potential French superstar Romain Sicard and, as such, have allowed the team to lower the goal to a Top 10 @Tour de France for this season only.
Finally, for the last goal the sponsors demanded that it put some sort of pressure on the face of the team, Jan Bakelants, the undisputed leader of Pearl Adidas. And this goal almost wrote itself. Combining the sponsors wish for visibility with the team's need for points in high scoring races, there was no better option than to set a goal for one of the 5 Monuments of cycling, less than 100 miles away from Bakelants' home town, where we expect him to Win Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
This is it for the goals for the 2013 season but there are still some aspects of the 2013 calender to be analysed since the team has still not reached an agreement in regards to the targeted races. While it is plausible that the team will focus more on one day races that suit the likes of Bakelants or Vastaranta, pressure from the sponsors for the team to target races in France and Portugal can prove to have an influence in the decision and the team's depth in terms of cobble riders can also have a role to play in defining the team's targeted races.
We will report more on the subject once an agreement is in place.
Edited by p3druh on 18-11-2012 15:22
The managerial board and Pearl Adidas' riders have been spotted entering the team's HQ just a few short minutes ago. No one was available to speak to the press but there is no doubt that this is a meeting regarding the contracts for the next season.
Although we cannot fully confirm, reports indicate that the Portuguese star Tiago Machado is not happy with the offer the team extended to him and has left the negotiating table.
This meeting is expected to go long into the morning hours. Stay tuned for further developments.
Edited by p3druh on 28-11-2012 00:48
The meeting regarding what is now confirmed to be the contracts for the 2013 season went long into the night but has now come to an end. And things do not look good for the 2012 runners-up.
There is still no official word on the results but there is a confirmation that Tiago Machado left the building very early, accompanied by his agent, storming through the reporters with a furious look. Could he be heading to Free Agency after a rather successful season?
Superstar Jan Bakelants was one of the last riders to leave the building and a very long talk and heartfelt hug between him and the team manager was caught from a far by the reporters and rumors started flying around that Bakelants too might be leaving the team. If rumors are true, the question now is: is he leaving because he wasn't able to come to terms with the team and is heading for Free Agency or was he able to come to an agreement with the team for a intermediate solution until they find a team to take him?
A source within the team could not comment on any of this this but did reveal that both Romain Sicard and Romain Vanderbiest have signed contracts for the 2013 season with Pearl Adidas.
Later today a press conference (open to the public) will be held and we can expect definite answers by then.
Exciting news that are coming from Pearl - Adidas headquarters, i am looking forward to the press conference. It had to be long and painful negotiations, with many strong riders from last season.
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![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
Tiago Machado left the building very early, accompanied by his agent, storming through the reporters with a furious look. Could he be heading to Free Agency after a rather successful season?
Jan Bakelants was one of the last riders to leave the building and a very long talk and heartfelt hug between him and the team manager was caught from a far by the reporters and rumors started flying around that Bakelants too might be leaving the team. If rumors are true, the question now is: is he leaving because he wasn't able to come to terms with the team and is heading for Free Agency or was he able to come to an agreement with the team for a intermediate solution until they find a team to take him?
Romain Sicard and 
