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[PCT] Evonik - ELKO | 2015
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| knockout |
Posted on 13-11-2015 19:00
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Grand Tour Champion
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Flaksis wins Tour du Faso
The Tour du Faso is a race with a long history and after being shorten to 3 stages we decided to participate for the very first time.
The opening stage already turned out to be the decisive one as our very own Latvian Andzs Flaksis claimed the stage win with a 12 km long attack and was awarded a 39 second time gap to the peleton.
This time gap proved big enough as our team could control the breaks on the last 2 stages which meant that Andzs can celebrate a well deserved victory! We also could celebrate the win of the team competition due to the gap Andzs could get on stage 1.
On top of that, our talented sprinter Maris Bogdanovics sprinted to a top 20 GC (Top 3 U23) position while alumni Tim Dupont got one of his best season results with a 5th overall. Congrats to him as well!
Edited by knockout on 13-11-2015 19:43
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 17-11-2015 12:36
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It was a nice win for you in Faso!
.: Manager of :.
.: My Awards :.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-12-2024 01:33
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| knockout |
Posted on 17-11-2015 14:10
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Grand Tour Champion
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It sure was!
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| knockout |
Posted on 20-11-2015 22:39
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Grand Tour Champion
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I have a feeling this might be the strongest generation that has ever entered the Man-Game. I expect a few teams already in the World Tour in two years time.
Ollfardh - The Sound, Volume #2, Issue #2
Flashback:
The 2014 class saw 23 new teams joining the ManGame world. 23 teams dedicated to the world of cycling. 23 teams that started at the bottom with only a jersey, a sponsor and some dollars. All united by the dream of one day competing with the legend of the sport in legendary races. To race through famous locations like Trouée d'Arenberg, Alto de Angliru or on the Champs-Élysées.
And while all these teams shared these ambitions there were differences about the expected timeline. While some managers might have hoped to rush through the divisions others aimed for a careful build-up of the squad. The Evonik management always saw their team as the latter one. As a team that prefers long term profit over short term success. As such, this (never published) team plan was the following:
2014 - Sign a bunch of talents + 1 leader. Ranking position has low priority
2015 - Further develop talents + guarantee promotion to PCT
2016 - Avoid relegation + Keep most talents + Sign top talent(s)
2017 - Promote to PT + Keep & develop talents
Attentive readers might have noticed already that reality and plans are two different kettles of fish. While the first transfer season went completely according to the plan with some great talents like Mark Dzamastagic, Willi Willwohl or Lasse Norman Hansen and a strong leader in Simon Geschke, the season went way better than expected with Geschke having a dream season and our cobbled leaders Aleksei Saramotins and Timothy Dupont stepping up as great point scoring options. Result of this was the offered promotion that we did not targetted and which we even considered to decline.
Any business plan won’t survive its first encounter with reality. The reality will always be different. It will never be the plan. Jeff Bezos
After we promoted to PCT the team had to lift to a new level which we were not ready for yet. Thus, we needed to incorporate experience into the squad. And so we did. With Luis Leon Sanchez Gil we bought a PT proven leader and with the legend Tom Boonen himself we bought arguably the most successful rider in MG history. These signings allowed us to fill the rest of the squad with even more talent, most notably Slovenian top talent Matej Mohoric.
We have a grandios Saison gefahren. Robert Wagner
Again, the target was to simply avoid relegation, developing the talent and enjoying the season but the team did again a lot better. A formidable Luis Leon Sanchez dominated the hilly races throughout the year and Tom Boonen impressed once more with his skills while Mark Dzamastagic, Andzs Flaksis and Gatis Smukulis stepped up on occasion and suddenly, we were in the race for promotion to PT.
On the final day of the season, Sanchez added another 4th place to his impressive season to secure us position 6 in the PCT team rankings. Due to the announced retirement of Venchi this position has been announced to garantee promotion to PT:
Evonik - ELKO will ride all the most prestigous cycling races next season. 2 years ahead of schedule. As (so far) only team of the 2014 class.
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| dev4ever |
Posted on 20-11-2015 22:58
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Congratz, very well deserved after the amazing season from LLS and the legend himself did okay too 
Will definitely be rooting for you in PT next season and will be interesting to see what leaders youll end up with!
Going up two seasons in a row is a huge achievement!
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| Margh Norway |
Posted on 21-11-2015 00:44
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Sprinter
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Gratz to another promotion!
Evonik did an awesome job converting it's squad in offseason and ended well-deserved as the best just-promoted team. If the management keeps on being that prospective they'll get along well in the highest ranks of professional cycling.
Greetings from Züri.
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 21-11-2015 00:48
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Team Manager
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It's going to be interesting to see what you do in transfers, given how heavily you relied on two leaders who won't be much help next year. (e.g. which rider will roturn sell you this year. Keizer?) I guess in the end the fact that you were priced out of Skujins ended up helping you!
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| sgdanny |
Posted on 21-11-2015 00:53
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Classics Specialist
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Wauw what a season, LLS surely did show that PCT is the right division for him to dominate
Gratz on the promotion and will surely be excited to see what you plan on doing. The team already have a strong core with young upcoming talents, but with two leaders declining and not strong enough for PT.
Good luck and deserved promotion indeed!
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| knockout |
Posted on 21-11-2015 18:10
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Grand Tour Champion
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dev - Thanks a lot. The leader question is always interesting. Not only for my team but also for 80% of the remaining teams. e.g. What will you do with Brajkovic / how will you replace him if you let him go ?
Margh - Greeting back from Dortmund  Not sure if i'll get along that well in PT. It is a completely different level and a completely new challenge as those top top guys are not as easy to get as top top PCT riders. Still, we got to try to reproduce a similar good offseason.
SportingNonsense - It surely would have helped me this season a lot. I dont regret at all how it worked out although Skujins would have looked nice on my team as well. Who knows - perhaps I can get him this year 
sgdanny - LLS is for sure the perfect leader for any PCT team. And who knows? Perhaps he will return there some day
For the first part of my plan look below:
Tom Boonen facing uncertain future
The season has just finished and the promotion just got sealed for Evonik - ELKO but the time of first transfer rumours already started. And it appears that Tom Boonen might be the first victim of the new situation.
Seemingly, the team is not convinced that the belgian cycling legend can battle with the superstars for yet another season. It is expected that he'll move to a CT team that wants him as star signing for a promotion rush or a newly promoted PCT team. Whether that means that his contract will not be renewed or that he will be renewed to be offered around for a transfer deal is yet to be seen.
Tom Boonen enjoyed a successful 2015 season. He finished the season on fourth position of the individual PCT ranking and had a leading role in the promotion campaign of his team. Highlight of the season was Paris-Roubaix where he finished 2nd.
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 21-11-2015 19:13
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Congrats on promoting. Really happy to see that even though it means we won't be facing each other much.
Perhaps we'll talk if I decide that one or more of my Finnish talents need some PT experience. Kulppi seemed to enjoy this year with you at least...
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| trekbmc |
Posted on 21-11-2015 19:52
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Congrats as well on promoting.  best of luck staying up in the next season. it really was a great season for you with LLS.
"What done is, is one." - Benji Naesen
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| Shonak |
Posted on 21-11-2015 20:00
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Tour de France Champion
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Congratulations, your season has been beyond amazing. I was never in doubt that you'd be a great addition to the MG (albeit I have joined the game a year later than you) and looking at your history with ICL & EPIC and your consequent, detailed improvement of your squad throughout their seasons, there'll be a fair chance in about two seasons you'll make life miserable for anybody involved in the World Tour. Good luck mate!
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 21-11-2015 21:12
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A fantastic season for you! LuLu definitely being the absolute beast of the division, what a signing he was for you. Promotion to the Pro Tour is certainly an amazing feat. With the likes of Boonen and LuLu declining a bit it will be very interesting to see your transfer plans for the next season.
The class of 2014 will always be remembered and although we are all going in different directions I am sure we will be together as one in the highest divisions in a couple seasons time.
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| Dippofix |
Posted on 21-11-2015 21:20
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Luis Leon Sanchez wrote:
A fantastic season for you! LuLu definitely being the absolute beast of the division, what a signing he was for you. Promotion to the Pro Tour is certainly an amazing feat. With the likes of Boonen and LuLu declining a bit it will be very interesting to see your transfer plans for the next season.
The class of 2014 will always be remembered and although we are all going in different directions I am sure we will be together as one in the highest divisions in a couple seasons time.
Stop breaking the fourth wall.
Congrats as well from me, I don't think your first two seasons could have gone any better. Your plan certainly played out to perfection, now it will be interesting to see how it'll work out in uncharted territory. It will be tough for sure, but I have no doubt you'll pull some trick out of your hat again.
Also I agree with what LLS said about the class of 2014, in a few years we will hopefully all (bar BBL, who may or may not have reached the PCT by then ) be reunited at the top.
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 21-11-2015 21:38
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Grand Tour Champion
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Congratulations on the promotion! Last year we were both in CT, and now you are in PT and I'm still at the bottom
Though it has to be said, you always manage to get the best out of your team, so it was only a question of time before you'd reach PT
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| knockout |
Posted on 21-11-2015 23:43
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Grand Tour Champion
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Joined: 21-12-2010
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Thanks everybody for the comments. It's really cool to have so many replies!
Atlantius - Kulppi is always welcome if you want to see him maxed next season But ofc we can also talk about Lindau or some new faces
trekbmc - Thanks. You're right. It's so cool if you have a rider that (almost) never disappoints you.
Shonak - Oh the pressure 
And i would remove EPIC from that list. It would be hard to fail with the strength that Movistar had from the beginning. ^^
But thanks
LLS - We might be going in different directions right now but I'm sure we will meet again some day. Nothing against you but I'd prefer if it wasnt in the 2017 season already
dippo - I agree. They were perfect! Can't we delete BBL from our class to raise the chance of that happening? He applied earlier after all?
marco - Just tell your minions/riders that you get more bananas in P(C)T to share with them as in CT and you'll join me soon
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 22-11-2015 22:37
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Grand Tour Champion
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Massive congrats on the promotion to WT! LLS was a fantastic signing for you and back to back promotions is a great achievement
.: Manager of :.
.: My Awards :.
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| knockout |
Posted on 23-11-2015 08:32
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Grand Tour Champion
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He sure was a great signing! Thanks!
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| SotD |
Posted on 23-11-2015 09:41
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World Champion
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Congrats on the promotion mate. You did amazing so far. I can't wait to see that team of yours in the PT.
Clearly you need to find a leader or two, but you are well aware of that I'm sure... I really do hope you will manage to get Skujins. He would be the perfect fit!
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| roturn |
Posted on 23-11-2015 09:45
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Team Manager
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Well done on quick CT-PT move.
Now the biggest question. Which one of my riders you want this transfers? |
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