jandal7 wrote:
Brynjolfsson, what a hero Hope you stick with Gautier and he doesn't demand too much wage, the CT deserves another great French puncheur to show them how it's done

Halme took a somewhat surprising TT-NC last year but wasn't quite capable of following it up outside the TTT's.

Nevertheless he did about as expected.
Future:
Could remain a valuable part of the team as he will be even stronger next year, but it will depend on how the pieces fit the puzzle.

Given the chance of a life-time he made the least of it by not even getting into a single breakaway all year and only getting caught on camera when involved in a crash or getting dropped along with on paper much weaker climbers.

Future:
Questionable. He have been with us since the first season and thus holds a special place but building our 2018-squad will be a puzzle and this piece might not fit.

Joonas is still developing and while we didn't have much expectations for him we had hoped to see him more active in general.

He was part of our good result in Monterrey though.
Future:
Finnish riders are thee core of our team and we hope to be able to find room for an even stronger Henttala next season.

Gustavs role was mainly to learn and help his leaders along the way.

He did just that and even tried getting in the break a few times, without luck though.
Future:
Despite him growing in strength it looks to be difficult for him to get a new contract.

Kaislavuo was sent to Team Reddit in the CT to gather experience when we realised he wouldn't get many race days on the main team.
That was a great decision for everyone as Jesse hada splendid season wearing the youth jersey in Vuelta a Tachira as well as getting into several breaks.

In fact he even managed to add his name to the very short list of Finnish winners by taking a stage in Benelux.
Future:
His chances are certainly much better now than they looked before the season due to his wonderful way of riding!

As a general thought I'm quite happy with this years talent development.
Everyone gained the XP I wanted them to and some will be instrumental in our next season.

Joni Kanerva

22 yrs

1 > 3.24

Pot 6

Joni is a massive talent with the ability to go in different directions.
We have chosen to put him on the path towards becoming a top class puncher
While he have developed a lot this season it looks like we'll probably need some help giving him the best opportunities next season.

	Fla	Mtn	Hill	TT	Sta	Res	Rec	Cbl	Spr	Acc	Fgt	Dwn	Prl
2017	66	60	69	69	67	65	66	55	61	68	68	66	69
2018	67	62	73	69	70	67	68	55	62	71	71	67	69

Risto Aaltio

29 yrs

4.08 > Max

Pot 4

Risto is the very essence of a late bloomer reaching his peak just before turning 30.
He is immensely strong on the flat and have naturally focused on evolving even further in this area while also increasing his TT skill as a bonus - after all his job is basically to ride a TT with 150+ riders in his wheel.

	Fla	Mtn	Hill	TT	Sta	Res	Rec	Cbl	Spr	Acc	Fgt	Dwn	Prl
2017	75	61	67	67	65	69	70	63	61	61	68	63	68
2018	77	61	68	69	66	71	71	63	61	61	69	63	70

Matti Manninen

25 yrs

4.76 > Max

Pot 4

Here we have the man Aaltio is destined to work for.
Matti found his talent after barely scraping through for a couple of years. This year he got the first results to his name and have taken a step up to where he can lead us on the flat next year as well as challenge for a good GC in flat races with a short TT.
While it says Max by his name we could very well see him develop even further in the future though...

	Fla	Mtn	Hill	TT	Sta	Res	Rec	Cbl	Spr	Acc	Fgt	Dwn	Prl
2017	72	64	66	69	71	74	76	58	78	78	70	71	74
2018	74	64	66	69	71	75	77	58	80	80	70	71	76

Samuel Halme

26 yrs

4.60 > Max

Pot 6

As defending Finnish TT-champion he hav naturally focused on developing further in that discipline.
However as he really isn't a top TT'er he needed to develop the skills needed to bee of help in stage races where his TT-ability can come to good use in TTT's.

	Fla	Mtn	Hill	TT	Sta	Res	Rec	Cbl	Spr	Acc	Fgt	Dwn	Prl
2017	71	55	64	72	66	68	69	53	58	67	62	61	72
2018	72	57	65	74	68	70	71	53	58	68	62	61	74

Roope Nurmi

24 yrs

3.06 > 4.36

Pot 4

Despite his current status as national champion Nurmi is more of a solid all-rounder than a (potential) profile.
Also seeing his current level makes it likely that he is entering a plateau in his development being to experienced to learn much in CT and still too weak to be of much use in PT.

	Fla	Mtn	Hill	TT	Sta	Res	Rec	Cbl	Spr	Acc	Fgt	Dwn	Prl
2017	69	56	66	61	70	71	68	67	69	71	64	67	64
2018	71	56	68	61	72	72	69	69	69	71	67	68	64

Jesse Kaislavuo

24 yrs

2.98 > 3.62

Pot 3

While Jesse definitely isn't the most talented rider around he has the right spirit and a well-rounded skillset to match it.
We have been in a lot of doubt as to whether he should focus mainly on cobbles or a more rounded approach making him better on hills.
His aggressive approach to racing this year have convinced us that he will benefit more from being an all-round classics type rider than a more pure cobbler.

	Fla	Mtn	Hill	TT	Sta	Res	Rec	Cbl	Spr	Acc	Fgt	Dwn	Prl
2017	69	65	68	59	69	70	72	68	66	72	73	69	59
2018	70	65	69	59	70	71	72	69	66	72	74	69	59

Gustav Höög

22 yrs

1.43 > 3.46

Pot 5

Deciding on Gustavs development have really not been easy!
The obvious choice would be to have him focus on his strongest asset, sprinting, but that would see him end up at best as a mediocre CT-leadout.
In stead we have gone with the plan of making him more likely to actually get to the finish line more often while also keeping his kick towards the end.
A skillset that could see him being very dangerous in breakaways once fully developed.

	Fla	Mtn	Hill	TT	Sta	Res	Rec	Cbl	Spr	Acc	Fgt	Dwn	Prl
2017	67	52	60	54	62	67	69	60	67	72	62	58	62
2018	68	55	63	54	64	69	71	60	68	75	64	58	62

Emils Liepins

25 yrs

4.12 > Max

Pot 5

Easy decision with our Latvian friend: He is a sprinter and he have already shown in the Vuelta that he is capable of being there in the finale.
So we have gone with the most obvious course of his final development making him a very nice leadout for Manninen.

	Fla	Mtn	Hill	TT	Sta	Res	Rec	Cbl	Spr	Acc	Fgt	Dwn	Prl
2017	71	60	66	59	71	67	76	54	76	77	58	58	60
2018	73	60	66	59	73	68	77	55	78	79	58	58	60

Essa Khalifa

24 yrs

3.90 > 4.30

Pot 5

Our Arabian friend continues his course towards being one of the regions best hilly riders.
He is also heading into a tough point in his career though as he will need to look elsewhere if he is to develop further next season.

	Fla	Mtn	Hill	TT	Sta	Res	Rec	Cbl	Spr	Acc	Fgt	Dwn	Prl
2017	68	63	70	63	69	68	66	57	59	61	66	63	63
2018	69	66	73	64	70	69	68	57	59	63	69	64	64

Raimondas Rumsas

34 yrs

2.81 > 3.19

Pot 7

Rumsas is immensely talented when it comes to time-trialling but equally challenged when it comes to most other things.
So he have taken an approach this year that helps him get over mountains and hills more easily without sacrificing his strength.

	Fla	Mtn	Hill	TT	Sta	Res	Rec	Cbl	Spr	Acc	Fgt	Dwn	Prl
2017	64	55	61	70	63	63	64	52	53	61	66	63	68
2018	65	57	63	72	65	65	66	52	53	62	67	63	70

Atlantius wrote:
Ollfardh: That's the plan.

knockout: You wouldn't notice a decent time trial period if he was sitting in your team bus would you? Joni will definitely be more useful as a puncher so there were no real doubt even though hill and TT has same potential max.
It feels like the effort for Finnish cycling is finally starting to pay off.

Croatia: I am actually looking forward to seeing Aaltio pull Liepins/Manninen to sprints in CT!

Hiski Kanerva made the least of his 2nd chance as a stagiare by being completely anonymous in the races he started.

Though he might have been in a short break at the U23 punchers classic.
Future:
Of the existing Finnish riders Hiski looks the least likely to get a new contract and the influx of new talent doesn't help him either.

Our big hope for the future Joni Kanerva (unrelated to Hiski) had a much better debut season getting in a few breaks.

He even grabbed his first career top 10 on a Langkawi stage.
Future:
Joni Kanerva is set to be a core member of our team in the future and we would be very sad to see him go.

Khalifa has a wondeful aggressive way of racing and this year was no different.

This year was no difference, but as previous years he didn't get much to show from it.
Future:
Khalifa holds a special place in our heart and we trust that he will be a strong rider in the future, but his passport makes his chances in the 2018-puzzle less favourable.

After some great results as a helper at Evonik it was time for Olli to get to ride his own chance on the cobbles.
Unfortunately he seems better cut out for being a super-charged helper than making full use of his own strengths on the cobbles.

He did his best to compensate by being vary active in breaks and getting a couple of good results on the way as well.
Future:
Olli will always have a spot on our team!

Having been massively let down by working for Anacona last year Sakari was supposed to chase breaks/KOM's all year long.

He was much less active than hoped for though with a break in stage 19 of the Vuelta being the clear highlight of his season.
We had even hoped for a good few more minor points throughout the season from him but apparently that was not to be.
Future:
Looks like he will be saved by his passport.

knockout wrote:
Good to know that Kulppi will always have a spot in your team but also quite sad that he let your team down this season. Definitely seems to be better as a support guy.


Two Kanervas is too confusing so i'm glad that Hiski didnt look like someone worth keeping

Liepins was this seasons element of exchange between us and Evonik (where Liepins even used to be on contract).
As could be expected he was mainly in the helpers role and as such he was part of as much as 23 top 10's, of which 10 podiums incl 4 wins.

Add to that two stage 2nds in the Vuelta and it sums up tp a pretty good season for him.
Future:
We would love to keep him to team up with Manninen next year, but with a need to cut riders a lot can happen.

Lindaus season was for the large part about helping Gautier and as such he did a solid job.

His personal highlight waas getting in the break as stage 5 of Tour de Pologne.
Future:
Another rider that I would surely like to keep but is part of the puzzle that is transforming a PCT-relegating team to a CT-promoting one. Could stay and could go.

Our big leader, last year nicknamed Il Toro, was a good few leevels below what we epected from him.
He started of the season decently in Australia, but after that he completely failed to deliver.
Often he was given a great leadout by Manninen and decided to blow it all by leaving Mattis wheel. Other times he just didn't seem to bother trying and other times still he just didn't have the kick he did last year.

Last season he had 8 wins and a further 10 podiums. This year no wins and just 2 podiums in total!
Certainly not the way we expected the Italian champion to ride!
Future:
Looks likely that he will be heading for the unemployment que.

Manninen have had a real breakthrough season with a bunch of promising results despite mainly working for Lo Cicero.
From his first point in Norway over holding the youth jerseey in Post Danmark Rundt to actually winning the youth jerseys in Baltic Chain Tour and Barbados he have grown with resposibility throghout the season.

With his development taken into account he seems ready to take on leadership in CT 2018.
Future:
He has a contract for life.

Nurmi was a trusted helper, who last season saved his contract negotiations by taking the NC.

He showed the flag in the Vuelta but was apart from that largely invisible despite racing many races where our biggest hopes were breakaways.
Future:
Out of the Finnish riders on the team Roope will have one of the toughest contract negotiations.