Heineken very much enjoyed having Jack Bauer on the team last year. Kiwi media have reported that making that switch permanent is on the Murrican team's agenda.

In response to Compal, a deal involving any of the 3 mentioned riders are extremely unlikely. Kinoshita is thought to be untouchable according to sources and Arashiro and Hatanaka are both stars of Japanese cycling, riders that Meiji would like to hold on to. Of those 3, the only one that has more than a .0000001% chance of leaving is Hatanaka but reports indicate the asking price is much too high for a manager with any sense to justify paying

Meanwhile, Meiji would like to thank Heineken for taking on Jack last season and look forward to working out a deal once the transfer window opens. However, interest is thought to be high for Jack Bauer this season and its hard to say where he may end up!

valverde321 wrote:
[quote]In response to Compal, a deal involving any of the 3 mentioned riders are extremely unlikely. Kinoshita is thought to be untouchable according to sources and Arashiro and Hatanaka are both stars of Japanese cycling, riders that Meiji would like to hold on to. Of those 3, the only one that has more than a .0000001% chance of leaving is Hatanaka but reports indicate the asking price is much too high for a manager with any sense to justify paying

Bjartne wrote:


Thank you for your prompt response, we respect your nationality focus and will stop unsettling any of your Japanese riders. However, we may wan't to start talks in the transfer season regarding other Asian Meiji-riders we have targeted.

With the conclusion of the weekend, in the Man Game Transfer Season the first signings are popping up for all the teams. The first of the transfers have started to become official and in total, two transfers have become official for Meiji.

The two riders joining?

Danilo Napolitiano and Ivano Lo Cicero

Napolitiano is the highest ranked PCT rider from last season that didn't move up to the PT with a promoted team, with a 4th place finish last year. Does this mean he will challenge for the #1 Individual Ranking this year? We can only hope so! An influx of sprinters has hit the PCT but we believe Napolititano will remain one of the best in the PCT. His main stats are obviously his sprinting stats. With an 82 in SPR and ACC he is going to be tough to beat on a flat day. His ability to get over hills has been a question, but in comparison to most other top sprinters he is about the same. He is getting old, but he believes he has one great season left in him maybe two, and Meiji will look to get the most out of his legs!

Lo Cicero is the infamous sprinter who last year struggled. He achieved a huge wage through free agency and some would say he did not live up to his expectations. In a straight line, Lo Cicero is probably Top 5 in the world and we will be looking to have him as a one-two punch alongside Danilo. Lo Cicero has a sprint stat of 84 and an ACC of 78. The stat that lets him down the most is his Hills stat which is a 59. Ivano has been convinced by Meiji's brilliant boss to train on hills during the off-season. If he follows the plan put in place, he could be a hard sprinter to beat next season and thats everything the manager hopes for. The worst case scenario with him, is that he only scores about 500 points like last season, but we believe the training will heavily benefit him.


Please everyone, join me in welcoming these two riders into the team!

With the new cycling season only hours into its existence, it didn't take long for Meiji to accomplish our first goal of the season! The Down Under Classic had much anticipation with many teams hoping to get a win to start off their year. The sprinters classics are going to be highly contested and maybe the most "wide open" in terms of who can win, for the entire year, which meant many teams had hopes of winning this race, and certainly Meiji had the same hopes as many others.

The two Italian Stallions for Meiji were both favourites for the win, and so Meiji were quite confident of achieving our goal going into the race, but of course cycling is very unpredictable and you never know what will happen.



The sprint began with Napolitiano making the first charge for the team



The line comes close now and Lo Cicero and Napolitiano are both near the front!



From the overhead with only about 20m's left Lo Cicero is in the front and Napolititano is about 6th or 7th. Lo Cicero could get the win for Meiji, but its going to be close and Kupfernagel is charging fast!



And in the end, Lo Cicero is just nicked on the line by Kupfernagel but a 2nd place is Meiji's best ever result at the Down Under Classic and Napolitiano was also able to finish in the Top 10, in 9th place, so you could say we X2ed our goal, and lets hope the sponsors think so as well, when deciding next years budget

Congrats to Karcher, and of course we hope to get our first win of the year at the Tour Down Under in just a few days from now!