Guave’s Sunlight Cycling aimes to be a one of a kind project, with a strong believe in young potential and a real trust-the-process kind of attitude. Our Belgium-founded team doesn’t limit itself to any borders and explores – and aimes to conquer - every far corner of the PCM world, while trusting on talented riders of all nationalities.
Created in 2020, we realize that projects like ours take time. It’s therefore our aim to learn as much as possible, as soon as possible and help our riders highlight their abilities to the fullest.
Sponsors
- Main:
Ray-Ban: the American-founded Italian brand of luxury sunglasses and eyeglasses created in 1936 by the American company Bausch & Lomb consitutes an obvious partners for the Sunlight project. Ray-Ban happily lends its cool and top of the class image to our project. The whole purpose of launching Ray-Ban can be found in the tough times that pilots had while flying planes, for which they needed something to protect their eyes. With the Sunlight project Ray-Ban finds back its origin story and will help our riders reach new hights.
- Secundary:
Nivea: this German personal care brand, owned by the Hamburg-based company Beiersdorf Global AG, specializes in body-care and is a second fairly logical partner in our story. In every part of the world, Nivea products stand for high quality and gentle body care. The brand name is not only associated with trust and security, but also with satisfaction. It needs no explication that riders of the Sunlight project will be permanently packing a bottle of Niveau Protect sunscreen.
- Bicycle: Kuota
- Wheels: Mavic
- Helmet: SH
Jersey
A big shout-out is in its place for non other than IvanEurope for agreeing to create a jersey suiting for the Sunlight project. It is a sober yet remarkable design that should help our riders find each other and themselfs on their journey, this year being their first as an Guave’s Sunlight Cycling rider:
Spoiler
Wolfgang Burmann's Chilean National TT Champion jersey:
On NIVEA’s website, they claim that their parent company, Beiersdorf does not test on animals. However they may not be doing the testing themselves but they are asking others to test their products on animals on their behalf. Unfortunately, this is a typical loophole that shady companies use to try and cover up the fact that their products are indeed tested on animals.
Worse than INEOS
I expected more of you, will discuss this with your parents soon.
On NIVEA’s website, they claim that their parent company, Beiersdorf does not test on animals. However they may not be doing the testing themselves but they are asking others to test their products on animals on their behalf. Unfortunately, this is a typical loophole that shady companies use to try and cover up the fact that their products are indeed tested on animals.
Worse than INEOS
I expected more of you, will discuss this with your parents soon.
Dear Nemolito,
We're not quite sure where you're going with this comment. We our proud that Nivea takes up its responsability and makes sure that people and animals alike don't need to worry about getting a sunburn.
We're absolutely positive that Los Pollos Hermanos is glad as well that their chickens don't end up getting burned too soon and are healthy, alive and kicking moments before they enter the Los Pollos Hermanos ovens.
Parents and children around the world will obviously feel the same, but we're not stopping you from contacting whichever parents you like.
We're proud to announce our first ever group of riders.
As we publish this first update, we've already managed to secure the signing of 18 riders. If everything else falls into place, the Sunlight project will end up with a team of 20 riders. We want to focus on youth, but we also want to stand a chance in the Continental Tour. A compromis was found in the principle of only signing racer below the age of thirty. Most of them were signed from the Free Agent market. We'll also announce a trade and loan deal with one and the same respected Pro Tour team.
But for now, we'll stick to proudly announcing five pioneer Sunlight racers:
Lionel Coutinho
4.100 xp
22/04/1992
28 y/o
5 POT
75,53 OVL
€ 130.000
Flat
Mnt
Hill
TT
Stam
Res
Rec
Cob
Sprint
Acc
Fight
Down
Pro
72
63
65
52
75
74
77
55
79
80
55
64
52
Lionel Coutinho is our first and maybe biggest banger of the squad. Negotiations went very smooth and both parties felt very happy to start this cooperation. By no means, will Coutinho have to do the work on his own. We feel we managed to establish a real sprint squad. Nonetheless, the message stays the same: this year must be a year of learning and gaining experience. We however have no doubt Coutinho will thrive under this motto and within this project.
Dylan Page
4.100 xp
05/11/1993
27 y/o
4 POT
74,95 OVL
€ 85.000
Flat
Mnt
Hill
TT
Stam
Res
Rec
Cob
Sprint
Acc
Fight
Down
Pro
75
57
66
60
72
72
75
66
78
79
62
55
59
Dylan Page will be Coutinho's first lieutenant and might have a go for the prices himself once in a while. Financially, we had to put in a bit of an effort, but the price seemed right in the end. Page is the youngest of our sprint squad, so we're looking forward to what the future will hold for this gem.
Rudy Barbier
4.100 xp
18/12/1992
28 y/o
4 POT
74,58 OVL
€ 50.000
Flat
Mnt
Hill
TT
Stam
Res
Rec
Cob
Sprint
Acc
Fight
Down
Pro
75
50
67
56
72
71
76
68
77
79
65
64
60
Kevin Feiereisen
4.100 xp
12/04/1992
28 y/o
5 POT
74,15 OVL
€ 50.000
Flat
Mnt
Hill
TT
Stam
Res
Rec
Cob
Sprint
Acc
Fight
Down
Pro
74
62
68
58
73
68
75
63
77
78
61
68
69
Genki Yamamoto
4.100 xp
19/11/1991
29 y/o
4 POT
74,01 OVL
€ 50.000
Flat
Mnt
Hill
TT
Stam
Res
Rec
Cob
Sprint
Acc
Fight
Down
Pro
72
56
65
58
71
67
77
57
78
78
59
60
59
Rudy Barbier, Kevin Feiereisen and Genki Yamamoto complete the sprint squad. Together with Page, they should form the ideal lead-out for Coutinho. We're excited to see whether or not they can find each other for the Sunlight project to compete in the last hundred meters of the races they attend.
Thats an amazing group of sprinters you got there. Good flat stats and acceleration on nearly all of them which is often missing in ct sprinters. Well done! Will be interesting to see in action. At least you should have a sprinter on every flat stage this year
It is good to see Coutinho again lead a team in CT. I wish he had stayed on the team but to spend almost 200k for him in the renewals was too much. Last time at CT he got a lot of good results and for sure he will also get it for your team.
That's a really good plethora of sprinters. I hope they manage to produce some great leadout, because if they do I can see Coutinho and Page grabbing quite a few stage wins
After a year of faulty leadership with us in the 2019 CT, it is good to see Yamamoto back again, this time in a hopefully more suitable position as a leadout.
Thats an amazing group of sprinters you got there. Good flat stats and acceleration on nearly all of them which is often missing in ct sprinters. Well done! Will be interesting to see in action. At least you should have a sprinter on every flat stage this year
@knockout: Thanks! I hope they perform. Will be interesting to see whether they'll find and help each other, instead off riding their own races for their own interests.
Plenty of sprint options for you then. I hope to see Feiereisen putting in some good performances, and represent flag well in CT!
@SportingNonsense: We do hope so. As a Belgian Team, Luxemburg is a friendly neighbour, so Feiereisen should feel quite at home.
It is good to see Coutinho again lead a team in CT. I wish he had stayed on the team but to spend almost 200k for him in the renewals was too much. Last time at CT he got a lot of good results and for sure he will also get it for your team.
@fintas: It's funny how some of these riders refuse to negotiate on salary, but then get released only to sign on a lower wage. It's a good thing for us newbies, though. I hope he can meet expectations
That's a really good plethora of sprinters. I hope they manage to produce some great leadout, because if they do I can see Coutinho and Page grabbing quite a few stage wins
@redordead: Well, that's indeed the main concern: will they be able to produce the leadout. If the synergy works out, i think your estimation might turn out right.
After a year of faulty leadership with us in the 2019 CT, it is good to see Yamamoto back again, this time in a hopefully more suitable position as a leadout.
@liefwarrior: That's indeed what we've got in mind for him. He should be able to add experience and surplus value, though.
So you signed all the sprinters?
@AbhishekLFC: Well, maybe that means if lead-outs don't work out, we'll still be able to win those prices, as no other sprinters are available
Well, for us, there can only be one goal: Make Page eat the dust in every single race, so he'll urge you to sell him to us next year
Seriously: I think you've got a great sprinter team. Not one I'm overly afraid of, tbh, but you'll still eat some points from us. And those wages... don't really know why so many of these 77/78 sprinters wanted 70k+ in renewals and now sign for 50k...
Good luck anyway, and waiting to see who else you were able to bring in
Fabianski wrote:
Well, for us, there can only be one goal: Make Page eat the dust in every single race, so he'll urge you to sell him to us next year
Seriously: I think you've got a great sprinter team. Not one I'm overly afraid of, tbh, but you'll still eat some points from us. And those wages... don't really know why so many of these 77/78 sprinters wanted 70k+ in renewals and now sign for 50k...
Good luck anyway, and waiting to see who else you were able to bring in
Beating Rienhardt and/or Scully will indeed be a hard task. But maybe Page really wants to prove himself and Coutinho occasionaly exceeds his own level. Might be interesting.
Whichever the case, we might have a talk next transferwindow
In our first transfer update, we presented a real Sunlight squad: our sprinters. Today, we do the opposite. We'll proudly present our stage riders and puncheurs later, but we've also managed to sign other racers that nicely complete the team and ensure balance troughout.
Christoph Taubel
4.100 xp
11/12/1991
29 y/o
4 POT
73,96 OVL
€ 110.000
Flat
Mnt
Hill
TT
Stam
Res
Rec
Cob
Sprint
Acc
Fight
Down
Pro
73
59
65
60
69
73
69
78
61
64
72
74
60
Christoph Taubel is our cobbleur in chief. While cobble races are hot and popular in the Continental Tour, the Sunlight project decided not to focus on this terrain. Nevertheless, we feel we should have at least one racer that can represent the team and actually mean something. Taubel will have a free role in these races, so we're looking forward to what he can actually mean for us on the cobbled terrain.
Oram James
4.100 xp
17/06/1993 27 y/o
6 POT
72,32 OVL
€ 50.000
fee: € 300.000
Flat
Mnt
Hill
TT
Stam
Res
Rec
Cob
Sprint
Acc
Fight
Down
Pro
73
56
64
77
72
72
68
57
69
70
64
64
77
Similar to the cobbled terrain, time trails aren't the main focus of the Sunlight project. Nonetheless, we really wanted a solid TT'er on the squad, as they are often polyvalent and can help the team in several situations, apart from those TT's where they can do their own thing. Oram James became this TT'er thanks to tsmoha. We agreed a € 300.000 fee for the transfer with Bennelong - Mitchelton and paired the deal with a loan deal, featured further in this update. We're very happy with this transfer and would like to thank tsmoha again via this way. The James deal was one of those unexpected final pieces of the puzzle that, once settled, assured the ending of our transferperiod and resulted in the dreamed balancing of our team.
Sylvain Moniquet
1.0 xp
14/01/1998 22 y/o
4 POT
67,41 OVL
€ 10.000
Flat
Mnt
Hill
TT
Stam
Res
Rec
Cob
Sprint
Acc
Fight
Down
Pro
65
68
67
59
68
67
66
59
62
66
68
65
62
Leonardo Marchiori
1.0 xp
13/06/1998 22 y/o
4 POT
66,49 OVL
€ 10.000
Flat
Mnt
Hill
TT
Stam
Res
Rec
Cob
Sprint
Acc
Fight
Down
Pro
64
61
63
60
67
71
63
60
68
68
62
60
60
Kaden Groves
1.0 xp
23/12/1998 22 y/o
6 POT
69,41 OVL
€ 25.000
Flat
Mnt
Hill
TT
Stam
Res
Rec
Cob
Sprint
Acc
Fight
Down
Pro
68
61
69
64
69
69
66
63
71
71
64
66
68
As the Sunlight project focusses on youth, we're really happy that we can say we'll have three absolute youngsters riding in our jersey.
- Moniquet and Marchiori can show their worth this year as first ever stagiaires for the project.
- It's an absolute honour to have Groves as an loanee from Bennelong - Mitchelton, forming the other part of the Oram James deal. We'll ensure he has all the chances to return to tshoma within the year as a stronger rider.
Nemolito wrote:
Not focussing on cobbles but casually spending over 100k to get one of the better cobblers in the division
Well, let's say we haven't really set any goals when it comes to the cobbled terrain. So there really isn't that much pressure on Taubel's shoulders. Everything he achieves will be regarded as a surplus, also knowing that we haven't really provided great back-up for him. That's why he has a free role. We'll see how that suits him!
Transfer season is over, the CT draft has taken place. Guave's Sunlight Cycling is complete: 20 racers - 14 free agents - 2 stagiairs - 2 draft racers - 1 loanee - 1 transfer. All racers under the age of 30 and a potential of at least 4.
We're very happy with the team we've managed to establish.
What remains is the presentation of two Sunlight squads: puncheurs en climbers. Here they come.
Puncheurs
Andrea Zordan
4.100 xp
11/07/1992
28 y/o
5 POT
74,56 OVL
€ 110.000
Flat
Mnt
Hill
TT
Stam
Res
Rec
Cob
Sprint
Acc
Fight
Down
Pro
67
73
77
55
72
72
70
53
65
74
72
62
55
Andrea Zordan is our masterpuncheur. He's the leader of the squad that will take care of the hilly terrain. We're counting on him to secure some prices on that terrain, but he shouldn't have to do things by himself.
Olivier Le Gac
4.100 xp
27/08/1993
27 y/o
6 POT
74,22 OVL
€ 50.000
Flat
Mnt
Hill
TT
Stam
Res
Rec
Cob
Sprint
Acc
Fight
Down
Pro
70
69
77
60
73
74
71
52
64
69
74
73
60
Nandra Eko Wahyudi
4.100 xp
14/02/1992
28 y/o
6 POT
73,04 OVL
€ 50.000
Flat
Mnt
Hill
TT
Stam
Res
Rec
Cob
Sprint
Acc
Fight
Down
Pro
65
72
76
61
67
69
71
51
58
67
72
65
61
Carl Fredrik Hagen
4.100 xp
26/09/1991
29 y/o
4 POT
74,40 OVL
€ 65.000
Flat
Mnt
Hill
TT
Stam
Res
Rec
Cob
Sprint
Acc
Fight
Down
Pro
68
74
75
65
74
72
71
65
71
72
74
72
64
Irakli Bablidze
4.100 xp
05/10/1993
27 y/o
6 POT
72,75 OVL
€ 50.000
Flat
Mnt
Hill
TT
Stam
Res
Rec
Cob
Sprint
Acc
Fight
Down
Pro
70
73
74
67
74
70
68
64
59
61
70
63
67
The other puncheurs are Olivier Le Gac, Nandra Eko Wahyudi, Carl Fredrik Hagen and Irakli Bablidze. Bablidze was our second draft racer and contributes exactly what was missing to this squad. Some of these support racers represent themselfs as polyvalent racers and will most propably also make their appearance elsewhere. Of course, they'll first and foremost serve as support for Zordan. Let's see how that works out!
Climbers
Mektel Eyob
4.100 xp
04/09/1993
27 y/o
6 POT
75,47 OVL
€ 190.000
Flat
Mnt
Hill
TT
Stam
Res
Rec
Cob
Sprint
Acc
Fight
Down
Pro
68
76
76
66
74
69
73
55
62
66
72
73
66
Mektel Eyob is our man for the stage races and for those other races with countless altimeters. Taking care of the most altimeters apparantly also justifies the most euro's, because Eyobis by far our most expensive rider of the season. Eyob isn't the greatest time trialist, so when it comes to rankings in stage races containing time trails, we should remain realistic. But we're nevertheless convinced that Eyob will show his worth when he can, especially when supported by the rest of our team.
Wolfgang Burmann
4.100 xp
10/02/1991
29 y/o
5 POT
72,97 OVL
€ 50.000
Flat
Mnt
Hill
TT
Stam
Res
Rec
Cob
Sprint
Acc
Fight
Down
Pro
65
76
70
66
66
73
70
50
54
76
65
62
63
Farzad Khodayari
4.100 xp
01/01/1192
28 y/o
4 POT
73,16 OVL
€ 50.000
Flat
Mnt
Hill
TT
Stam
Res
Rec
Cob
Sprint
Acc
Fight
Down
Pro
66
75
73
62
71
72
72
52
64
72
72
80
62
William Maesen
4.100 xp
28/05/1991
29 y/o
6 POT
72,14 OVL
€ 50.000
Flat
Mnt
Hill
TT
Stam
Res
Rec
Cob
Sprint
Acc
Fight
Down
Pro
64
75
72
61
71
73
78
51
50
60
70
66
60
Mihran Avetisyan
4.100 xp
13/07/1991
29 y/o
5 POT
72,74 OVL
€ 0
Flat
Mnt
Hill
TT
Stam
Res
Rec
Cob
Sprint
Acc
Fight
Down
Pro
66
74
74
65
69
68
70
57
62
73
66
64
58
Wolfgang Burmann, Farzad Khodayari, William Maesen and Mihran Avetisyan will support Eyob. At the same time, we hope they'll show up once in a while in an early break-out and maybe even go their own chance. We'll see whether or not those chances will occur. Avetisyan was our first draft free agent, with whom we're very pleased. For a draft racer, he surprisingly has exactly the profile we were hoping for.
For a new CT team, I think you've got quite a good squad. Its great to see Yamamoto here, as he developed in my team and was even a leader at one point for us. Rudy Barbier is (im assuming) also brothers with Pierre who I just signed as a stagiare, so I've got a bit of a connection to your team already.
valverde321 wrote:
For a new CT team, I think you've got quite a good squad. Its great to see Yamamoto here, as he developed in my team and was even a leader at one point for us. Rudy Barbier is (im assuming) also brothers with Pierre who I just signed as a stagiare, so I've got a bit of a connection to your team already.
Well, your post prompted me to do the necessary inquiries and i can tell you, your hunch is right: Pierre indeed is Rudy's brother!
It's not the first comment i've got about Yamamoto and that surprises me a bit. He was last to join the lead-outsquad and i thought he'd be a rather anonymous racer. But it's very nice to read he has already earned his stripes here and there. Makes me even more excited to see what he can bring to my team
Tour of Eritrea
