A small 8-man field contested the title in China. PFG-Armavia went there with Time-trialist Liu and puncheur Wang, who was considered one of the favourites. However, it was Liu who joined the morning breakaway, and later attacked himself away from the break and won a solo victory. A great win for next year, as we now have the champions from Taiwan and mainland China, which definitely is our main focuses for next year. We are therefore closely monitoring Meiji, Oz and Metinvest in front of the new season as they have some riders that have caught our interest.
Biao Liu goes over the line alone, after having left his two companions down the road
We are proud to present Liu's national jersey for next year. He should be quite easy to spot in the CT-races after ANFreeman having put his magnificent touch to it.Edited by Bjartne on 18-02-2014 14:52
PFG-Armavia is finally starting to win something...
The season is over, Armavia has relegated, meaning some riders will need to leave after contract negotiations. But now the guys are really eager to show themselves in the NC's both for trying to convince their own team to resign them or to show themselves off to other teams.
Well, we are really happy to confirm that 5 out of 7 riders so far has secured themselves the national champion title. Yesterday, under the South-East Asian championship, we got a good showing by Jimmy Pranata who outsprinted his teammate Dadi Suryadi. Pranata later took the double with 1 tiny second, after a nerve wrecking event to find Indonesias new TT-Champion. Unfortunately, we haven't yet got him a jersey, as the team designer suddenly disappeared. We might look for other good designers in the future, if he is not to come back.
Pranata with the finishing sprint
However, in the Thai-competition, Sai-Udomsin where no-where to be seen right before the start, so the organizers decided to race without him.
After hectic work in the PFG-Armavia head office, we finally got in touch with Sai-Udomsin, stating that he was ready for the Asian Mix-race.....in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Because there were two different mix-races simultaneously, and he confused them, the race organizers were mercyful enough to let him try again in a heads up-competition for the Thai-title. He was seriously jet-lagged after all the travelling, and so he lost the RR, but he gave it all in the TT-event and could celebrate his first ever national title because of that. Probably, his opponent was beginning to tire after 2 tough RR and TT's in one day, as he lost over a half minute to Sai-Udomsin in the end.
Phucong Sai-Udomsin giving it all in the tough 39km TT
Funnily, the jersey was in the bottom of the litter box in Bjartne's office, but was found and washed again after we heard the decision of the UCI to re-race the Thai championship.
So here it is: his new national jersey whom he would proudly wear in all TT-events for the coming season.
With the surprisingly good news of our cancelled relegation, we have now reviewed our current roster one more time, and this is the evaluation as it stands right now. (Might be several changes before the actual renewal, many of the riders available for transfer is living on the edge, and might or might not be renewed.)
2014 - Compal-Merida renewal:
Very likely to stay
Chun Kai Feng
50,000
Ying Hon Yeung
50,000
Biao Liu
50,000
Meiyin Wang
50,000
Dadi Suryadi
50,000
Jimmy Pranata
50,000
Phucong Sai-Udomsin
60,000
Daniil Fominykh
50,000
Sergey Bormatenkov
50,000
Behnam Khalilikhosrosham
50,000
Vahid Ghafari
50,000
Yousef Mirza Banihammad
60,000
Ivano Lo Cicero
550,000
Sep Vanmarcke
250,000
Don't need to sell, but if the right offer comes along...
We're having a lot of asian riders on our short list, but here are the major names, if we disregard nationalities.
Ben Nasser
Bauer
Howard
Nepomnyachsni
Kascheskin
Hassan Ben Nasser comes in to the free agency after this season and will be heavily contested, especially as we're heading towards an inflation in African rider prices. However, we'll join this fight, as he is the kind of punchy rider we need for next season.
Another interesting rider is Jack Bauer. He is on his way out of Meiji, and will be important for us to get, as we look to strengthen our TT-profile of the team.
Then we'll have two Milka-riders in Leigh Howard and Yevgeny Nepomnyaschsni. Both will be huge signings for our team, and will be pricey to get from Milka who is likely to hold them in high regards. Yevgeny is our main goal here, but if we can manage a deal who involve both, much of the season will be saved I believe. We're looking for a sprinter like Howard to take back the glory that we believed Lo Cicero would make this season. Nepomnyachsni will maybe be the best stage racier in whole of Asia after this seasons level up, and will give us a longed strength in stage races.
The last rider we really want to get hold of, is Andrey Kascheskin. Together with Yevgeny, they are the pride of Asia when it comes to mountains and time trials, and Kascheskin can also handle several terrains.
These signings will be a difficult task, and we'll have to see whether some of them are possible, if at all. All of them would make a huge impact on our teams strength, but unfortunately also a huge impact on our transfer budget and wage cap.
So, these are our main priorities, then we'll sign second (or third) tier asian riders, depending on what's left on our budget if we manage to secure some of these signatures.
Edited by Bjartne on 21-02-2014 03:08
I remember we had a silly bidding war on a 50k rider last season, who now has a salary of 70,000... Because Vassilis is from one of my targetted areas he would a possible target to fill my team when needed.
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game
Avin Wargunnson wrote:
There will be blood around Ben Nasser. See you on the market. Pfft
And congrats for staying in the PCT!
Haha, seriously, you too? I think his wage will be ridiculously high. I do have some back up options though
And thanks! Great to see you in PCT for yet another year, I hope to challenge you a little better this year, than last Edited by Bjartne on 21-02-2014 06:47
fjhoekie wrote:
I remember we had a silly bidding war on a 50k rider last season, who now has a salary of 70,000... Because Vassilis is from one of my targetted areas he would a possible target to fill my team when needed.
Hehe, yeah I remember it...He should not have a euro above 50,000 in wage after renewals though. A Cypriot shirt would be very nice to show off, but we will be listening to eventual offers.
Edited by Bjartne on 21-02-2014 06:48
Maybe we can work out a deal for Bauer then! I think with all the interest he's gotten it would benefit us to renew and look for the best offer from teams. This will also help keep his wage lower for the interested team, than if he was a free agent where he may get an inflated wage.
We are interested in a certain Italian Sprinter, although his wages "scare" our accountants, were we to acquire him, at this point
valverde321 wrote:
Maybe we can work out a deal for Bauer then! I think with all the interest he's gotten it would benefit us to renew and look for the best offer from teams. This will also help keep his wage lower for the interested team, than if he was a free agent where he may get an inflated wage.
We are interested in a certain Italian Sprinter, although his wages "scare" our accountants, were we to acquire him, at this point
Haha, his wage is scaring me to death as well, so hopefully I get it down to an extent were its okay. When it comes to Bauer, I think you could gain some money on him, and with about 20 new managers I doubt I'm the only one interested. In fact, my short list includes 9 (nine!) Meiji-riders, so don't worry, we will definitely talk when the transfer season opens Edited by Bjartne on 21-02-2014 07:39
I somewhat forgot about Nasser. I'll keep an eye on him this transfer season. But I fear that he will be too overpriced. As you can imagine, I'm very very interested in Grmay, Girdlestone, Chaabane and Arbaha. Pretty sure we'll be able to come to a fair agreement in the transfer season.
Nice to see you stay in PCT again. You deserve it after being active
aidanvn13 wrote:
I somewhat forgot about Nasser. I'll keep an eye on him this transfer season. But I fear that he will be too overpriced. As you can imagine, I'm very very interested in Grmay, Girdlestone, Chaabane and Arbaha. Pretty sure we'll be able to come to a fair agreement in the transfer season.
Nice to see you stay in PCT again. You deserve it after being active
Thank you so much aidanv! I'm not sure if I really deserve it, having ended last in both my seasons so far, but it is great to be able to start over again. This time I really want to make a safe mid-table
I'm sure we can come to an agreement on the mentioned riders when that time comes. Good luck with your african project!
Sounds good mate, but I believe at least Vanmarcke to leave quite early in the transfer market, due to the large interest around him. We'll see how it develops.
Edited by Bjartne on 21-02-2014 09:03
Vanmarcke indeed is a rider of huge interest.
Rothaus Aegon is not known for their cobbled focus so far but being in PT know the team is looking for a leader on that terrain.
aidanvn13 wrote:
I somewhat forgot about Nasser. I'll keep an eye on him this transfer season. But I fear that he will be too overpriced. As you can imagine, I'm very very interested in Grmay, Girdlestone, Chaabane and Arbaha. Pretty sure we'll be able to come to a fair agreement in the transfer season.
Nice to see you stay in PCT again. You deserve it after being active
Damn Aidan, you can't have everyone...
I'm really thinking of stopping this all-African focus now and signing a couple of good other riders. It isn't feasible for two of us to do decently like that and others will bid on riders like Ben Nasser.
I'll probably be bidding on Grmay and Abraha as well as Bikienga as well Bjartne, so you may get more for them than you expect.
Vanmarcke indeed is a rider of huge interest.
Rothaus Aegon is not known for their cobbled focus so far but being in PT know the team is looking for a leader on that terrain.
I'm sure he would enjoy riding in more familiar surroundings for german licensed Rothaus Aegon if they were to bid for him.
FroomeDog99 wrote:
aidanvn13 wrote:
I somewhat forgot about Nasser. I'll keep an eye on him this transfer season. But I fear that he will be too overpriced. As you can imagine, I'm very very interested in Grmay, Girdlestone, Chaabane and Arbaha. Pretty sure we'll be able to come to a fair agreement in the transfer season.
Nice to see you stay in PCT again. You deserve it after being active
Damn Aidan, you can't have everyone...
I'm really thinking of stopping this all-African focus now and signing a couple of good other riders. It isn't feasible for two of us to do decently like that and others will bid on riders like Ben Nasser.
I'll probably be bidding on Grmay and Abraha as well as Bikienga as well Bjartne, so you may get more for them than you expect.
Well, if that's the case, and Aidan's not interrested in Bikienga, you'll probably get the burkina-man for a very good price though, cause I fell really sorry for you guys
I would prefer to keep both riders, you are interested in from my team. Vanmarcke is an interesting rider for us though, so there may be some potential on that transfer front.
Roman wrote:
I would prefer to keep both riders, you are interested in from my team. Vanmarcke is an interesting rider for us though, so there may be some potential on that transfer front.
Yeah, I never really expected you to let them go easy. They're both really great riders, and they may be way over my league, but we'll see. Vanmarcke is still up for grabs, so anything can happen on that front.
Salfo Bikienga 
