Your team should be more than just fighting against relegation with Cunego leading you. Will you be looking to take part in any PT races? I'd love to see Cunego back fighting there for maybe the last time.
Congratz on signing Il Principe. I'd love to have him on my team but it was soon obvious that there was no way you'd let this one get off your hands. The competition may be fierce but Cunego is known for getting the max and come out on top.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
CountArach wrote:
Your team should be more than just fighting against relegation with Cunego leading you. Will you be looking to take part in any PT races? I'd love to see Cunego back fighting there for maybe the last time.
Sadly enough I will not get accepted in the Giro again after racing it last year, but instead I may try to get in the Italian monuments with him, should also be good fun I'd imagine Depends on my final deals though, the wildcards are costing money, and I will need to have money to get in obviously
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game
The French national champion, a very competent sprinter Romain Vanderbiest has just joined our team. Romain is a former Tour de France stage winner, with his only win being shown in the video above. He never really lived up to his potential in the Pro Tour where the competition has been proven too tough. We however expect him to deliver one level below the Pro Tour and we were therefore prepared to pay 1.000.000 for him to come over from Ayubowan! Last time we paid this amount of money things went quite badly with Vanoverschelde, this time things can only got better. As a nice extra we have a new NC Jersey to show off as well!
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game
Awesome to see Cunego in your team. He asked me for 1mil in renewals and I would have tried to re-sign him in free agency if I wasn't trying to assemble an only asian team.
It's a familiar face entering the team, Ignas Konovalovas rejoins us after he'd left last season. His performances in 2014 were very solid for us, and we believe he's simply had a bad season. This year though he won't lead us too often, instead he'll be a luxury domestique for riders like Prevar and Nepomnyachsniy. His skills against the clock were always good, and we can use that, and besides that Ignas is not too bad going over hills, something we lacked a bit depth in which has now been added.
Paolo Scarponi
Long time member of Wiggle and Good Energy, Paolo Scarponi will join us as a very important domestique for our leader, Damiano Cunego. The fact Paolo speaks Italian will hopefully help with the communications, especially early on as we don't expect any of them to speak Ukrainian fluently at the start of the season.
Jakub Skala
Young talent Jakub Skala from the Czech Republic has been signed, destined to be our first real cobbled rider. He'll need a few years to get to that level, but he should become what is considered to be a very strong domestique in his speciality.
Yauheni Hutarovich
Fast, but aging Belarussian sprinter Yauheni Hutarovich has been attracted as a lead-out for Vanderbiest and Ulanowski. Yauheni has a good sprint, and combine that with his acceleration and you'll see he's a great lead-out. His ability to conquer mountains may hurt him a bit though, but his recuperation from those tough stages will help massively, if he makes the time cut that is.
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game
Congrats on signing Scarponi, I really wanted him as my leader but didn't have the budget to outbid you, hopefully he can have a strong season for you before we continue our yearly tradition of trying to bring him home.
It's a shame you are unlikely to get into the Giro as I would have loved seeing him on the Sammarinese stage finish if I couldn't sign him myself.
With the large amount of new riders some riders have been loaned out, and one rider has been sold, a short summary of them:
Andriy Orlov will enjoy a season in the CT with the New Balance team. Andriy is not ready yet for racing at a higher level and therefore he's hoping to get a few chances to show his attacking spirit in the newly found team. He will return with a lot more experiences, and better skills.
Oleksandr Golovash needs a year at the highest level of cycling and therefore he will be joining the Metinvest - Dacia team. He should be a vualuable rider for them to assist Pluchkin in the TTTs, and besides that he could even try to take a chance himself from a break given his pretty quick sprint.
Mikhail Kochetkov is in pretty much the same situation as Golovash is, but he's joining Orange - KLM Cycling for this season. We hope he will have a similar role as Golovash has with our neighbours.
Polychronis Tzortzakis is the final guy to leave the team, but he is leaving permanently to join La Poste - Mavic. Polychronis may not have ridden in our shirt, however we feel he would be far more valuable at the lower level.
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game
The classic opener of the season for sprinters on the second level of cycling is hosted by the Albert Park Raceway in Melbourne, Australia. The cyclists can enjoy a relatively short ride around the circuit which was designed for automotive races. At a mere 75 kms in lenght this race may not look like a tough one, but we know from own our experience riders will still be tired after this race, being full gas most of the time with no moments to rest. We bring a very solid team here with our new sprinting leader Romain Vanderbiest and a suitably strong support to help him get a good result. He tried this once before, but that was a rather underwhelming experience for the French champion, not even reaching a top 10.
Romain Vanderbiest
Sprinter
Dmitriy Gruzdev
Support
Maciej Ulanowski
Lead Out
Adrian Nitu
Support
Oleksandr Polivoda
Support
Jakub Skala
Support
Yauheni Hutarovich
Support
Roman Lutsyshyn
Support
So not only will we have a strong man to finish it off, his lead out is pretty impressive as well with Ulanowski who has won races at this level himself and strong guys like Polivoda and Gruzdev to make the pace. Future star Roman Lutsyshyn will get his first chance at showing himself, and his potential in the peloton, as does Jakub Skala who will turn into more of a classics expert.
Visit Ukraine - Lviv
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Lviv is the city you all may know as the base of operations for the team as it is now. We're actually located rather closely to Poland in a city which is full of history, as bit of history we'd like to share with you. The city is very much influenced by the Polish culture, and will probably be for a long time to come. It's, as said, located close to the Polish border, far away from the situation in Eastern Europe, and is therefore still a place you can visit without worries. The historical heart of the city, with its old buildings and cobblestone streets, survived Soviet and German occupations during the Second World War largely unscathed making the city a great place for sightseeing, and of course you may always spot one of our amazing riders!
Six days of racing in Eritrea, Africa on the HC level is not the easiest thing imaginable. The country is not pancake flat, and this means this race is the first time this season our climbers will show themselves. Last season we did not have a great time being in this race with Krasnoperov failing, and Kashechkin being unable to step up, only gathering a 22nd and 25th place in the GC, also without any chances even at a real stage win.
Damiano Cunego
Leader
Volodymyr Gomenyuk
Support
Paolo Scarponi
Support
Vitaliy Buts
Support
Artem Topchanyuk
Support
Roman Lutsyshyn
Support
Sergey Nikolaev
Support
Oleksandr Polivoda
Sprinter
Damiano Cunego will make his debut for the team, along with his main domestique Paolo Scarponi, and he will try to fight for a good GC. The fact there are 2 rather tough hilly stages without high mountains may play out in his favour, and the lack of a time trial is not hurting the Italian guy his chances. For stage wins we will probably rely on either an attack from Topchanyuk or Nikolaev, or perhaps a lucky sprint from Polivoda, something which has happened 2 years ago.
Tour de San Luis
At the same time a few of our riders are racing in Eritrea, some action will go down in Argentina as well with the Tour de San Luis. The race is tough 8-day long race with several hilly stages, a short prologue and a fairly short time trial. Our team is perfectly set for races like this, and we hope we can carry the form we had in this kind of races last season over to this season, and then hopefully improve a bit as well. We’re obviously sending the best team we can here, and will aim for a very strong GC position.
Yevgeni Nepomnyachsniy
Leader
Dmitriy Gruzdev
Support
Oleksandr Prevar
Support
Adrian Nitu
Support
Ignas Konovalovas
Support
Zouzou Andriafenomananiaina
Support
Egor Silin
Support
Yauheni Hutarovich
Sprinter
Yevgeni Nepomnyachsniy, our best rider from last season, and Oleksandr Prevar, surprise winner of the 2015 Clasica San Sebastian will both start their seasons in this race. Joining them as possible GC contender is Konovalovas who will ride his first race for us since he left us after 2014. This trio of riders is very much capable of delivering us a great amount of points if things go well, especially considering Nepomnyachsniy’s performances at the tours of Ukraine and Portugal last season. The prologue really gives us an early advantage over other riders, and the time trial is just as good. Also worth noting is the debut of everyone’s favourite rider, Zouzou Andriafenomananiaina. The Madagascan talent will likely grow out to be one of the most useful domestiques in long stage races.
Volta a Catalunya
And speaking of races in which we did well last year, here’s one! The race in Catalunya also starts with a short prologue, and has several tough stages, even more mountainous than those in Argentina and a time trial twice the length of the one in San Luis. Last season Nepomnyachnsiy managed to get 10th in the GC, this year we’ll aim higher.
Yevgeni Nepomnyachsniy
Leader
Marios Athanasiades
Support
Paolo Scarponi
Support
Adrian Nitu
Support
Artem Topchanyuk
Support
Zouzou Andriafenomananiaina
Support
Roger Randrianambinina
Support
Oleksandr Polivoda
Sprinter
This year Nepomnyachsniy will try to do the same again, and with some good support it should be more than possible to achieve a good result. Scarponi, Topchanyuk and Nitu are all worth quite a bit on the uphill sections, and Randrianambinina and Athanasiades are valuable on the flats. Again Polivoda would need a lot of luck to do something in the sprints, but it’s possible for sure.
Gisborne GP
Gisborne, New Zealand, the city of rivers is the host of a long, tough hilly classic clocking in at 226 kilometers in total, making it one of the longer races on our calendar. Despite the fact we did not compete here last year, we have high hopes given we’ve won a very similar race last year with the Clasica San Sebastian. We will not have a clear favourite though, but we’ll be strong, just wait and watch.
Damiano Cunego
Leader
Sergey Nikolaev
Support
Oleksandr Prevar
Support
Egor Silin
Support
Ignas Konovalovas
Support
Roger Randrianambinina
Support
Mykhaylo Kononenko
Support
Zouzou Andriafenomananiaina
Support
Our hill squad will be out in full force, with Cunego leading the way. We will take the gamble in using him in races like this rather than trying to win stage races which have time trials in them as we realize there are stronger guys around there. Prevar will try to help Cunego, but if needed he can try to salvage points himself, and he should be more than able to score a few points at least.
Visit Ukraine - Chersonesus
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Chersonesus is an acient Greek colony located on the Crimean peninsula, on the shore of the Black Sea near Sevastopol. It has been nicknamed the "Ukrainian Pompeii" During much of the classical period Chersonesus was ademocracy ruled by a group of elected archons and a council called the Demiurgi. As time passed the government grew more oligarchic, with power concentrated in the hands of the archons. A form of oath sworn by all the citizens since the 3rd century BC has survived to the present day. In 2013, Chersonesus was listed as a World Heritage Site.
8 days of glorious flat stages on the Emerald Isle! In huge contrast from last month the sprinters will get a good chance to shine, and even to fight for a GC win of their own here!
Romain Vanderbiest
Sprinter
Yauheni Hutarovich
Support
Maciej Ulanowski
Support
Dmitriy Gruzdev
Support
Ignas Konovalovas
Support
Jakub Skala
Support
Oleksandr Polivoda
Support
Roman Lutsyshyn
Support
And who else could we send? Both Romain and Maciej had a good start of their seasons in January, getting 5th and 2nd in the Down Under Classic, and both are capable of doing rather well here. The support comes in 3 classes, Ignas and Gruzdev as powerhouses, Polivoda and Hutarovich as back-up sprinters should something go wrong with our lead-men and young talents Lutsyshyn and Skala to either join a break or kill it from the peloton.
Kandy Cycling Classic
The contrast could not have been larger, from a basically flat race on an island, to a very mountainous course on another island! Sri Lanka hosts the Kandy Cycling Classic which features quite a few brutally hard, long climbs, making this not only a prestigious race, but also one of the hardest races on our calendar.
Damiano Cunego
Leader
Egor Silin
Support
Paolo Scarponi
Support
Volodymyr Gomenyuk
Support
Artem Topchanyuk
Support
Marios Athanasiades
Support
Mykhaylo Kononenko
Support
Adrian Nitu
Support
Cunego will obviously be our guy here, however we also know he is not amongst the very best in the division, and therefore a result will be quite tough to achieve. His support surely won’t be lacking though, as Scarponi, Topchanyuk and Kononenko are all very strong riders who should be able to stay with the little prince for quite a large part of the race, perhaps even getting a decent result themselves.
Betonexpressz GP
Our only venture into the lower class races this year will see us racing in Hungary, where a flat-ish race is held. Due to restrictions we planned this one quite carefully, as we expect a breakaway can also take home this race.
Roger Randrianambinina
Leader
Adrian Nitu
Support
Volodymyr Gomenyuk
Support
Jakub Skala
Support
Vitaliy Buts
Support
Zouzou Andriafenomananiaina
Support
Marios Athanasiades
Support
Roman Lutsyshyn
Support
A Madagascan to lead us here! Yes… For the break we have Buts, and we all know Buts can do well from breaks.
E3 Prijs
Nope, we could not avoid this.
Jakub Skala
Leader
Marios Athanasiades
Support
Volodymyr Gomenyuk
Support
Adrian Nitu
Support
Vitaliy Buts
Support
Sergey Nikolaev
Support
Roger Randrianambinina
Support
Roman Lutsyshyn
Support
Maybe in 3 years Skala could get a top 20. Hope our guys can finish.
Visit Ukraine – Oleshkovski Sands
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Oleshkovski Sands is the largest officially recognized sand desert in Europe, located near Kherson. Its diameter is about 15 km or about 160-210 thousands of ha. Oleshkivski Sands consist of boundless dunes, which height is about 5 meters and with rare vegetation.
How did the desert appear? Some time ago this territory was covered with dense vegetation, which kept the sand movements. But in 18-19th century animals destroyed the only clamp which restrained the movement by eating and trampling the vegetation. Within comparatively small period of time green meadows turned into almost lifeless expanses.
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game
Canada gives us the next stage race on the calendar featuring a range of mountainpasses, flat stages, a n individual time trial, on a mountain and also a team time trial to finish off the race. In order to do well here a team will need a climber, preferably one who can ride a reasonable time trial and a team with power on the flat and in the mountains. The climbing capabilities, or incapabilities are certain to have an impact on the final TTT.
Yevgeni Nepomnyachsniy
Leader
Mykhaylo Kononenko
Support
Romain Vanderbiest
Sprinter
Dmitriy Gruzdev
Support
Paolo Scarponi
Support
Zouzou Andriafenomananiaina
Support
Artem Topchanyuk
Support
Roman Lutsyshyn
Support
Yevgeni is a rider who meets both criteria of being able to climb and TT well, and with the support he gets here surviving in the mountains should be doable. The final team time trial could be a slight issue with a team consisting of a few climber, a sprinter, 2 young talents and a time trialist who has shown he’s not able to survive speed bumps very well.
Philadelphia International Championship
The next race in the Americas is a flat classic in the US of A. Not much can be told about this, except that a mass sprint is very much expected. Only the few quite minor hills could cause a major surprise here.
Romain Vanderbiest
Leader
Vitaliy Buts
Support
Maciej Ulanowski
Support
Dmitriy Gruzdev
Support
Oleksandr Polivoda
Support
Adrian Nitu
Support
Yauheni Hutarovich
Support
Jakub Skala
Support
Our new and improved sprint train will once again try to bring the French guy to the line. We hope that it’ll work, or perhaps go like the Down Under Classic which was not too bad, despite a rather massive failure.
Tour de Romandie
Yet another stage race which kicks off with a short ITT, and ends with another time trial, which unlike the Vancouver race is an individual race. A few flatter stages lead up to the stages on which the GC will take shape, one in the lower mountains, and one really rather tough stage over a few high mountains.
Yevgeni Nepomnyachsniy
Leader
Oleksandr Polivoda
Support
Oleksandr Prevar
Support
Mykhaylo Kononenko
Support
Paolo Scarponi
Support
Adrian Nitu
Support
Artem Topchanyuk
Support
Roman Lutsyshyn
Support
Yevgeni and his amazing support will attempt to win this race, which could be quite possible if the racing over the mountains isn’t too hard. Polivoda will try to repeat the surprising success he had in Catalunya, and he’s a sprinter who can survive hills pretty well. Oleksandr Prevar will hopefully fight for a stage win as well, he could be one of the favourites on the hilly stage, and possible the mountain stage if he survives the climbs.
Dutch Food Valley Classic
Netherlands. Flat. Sprint. Or echelons?
Romain Vanderbiest
Leader
Vitaliy Buts
Support
Mykhaylo Kononenko
Support
Dmitriy Gruzdev
Support
Yauheni Hutarovich
Support
Marios Athanasiades
Support
Volodymyr Gomenyuk
Support
Roman Lutsyshyn
Support
We split our team for the double header, meaning Vanderbiest will have to do with Hutarovich as his lead out rather than Ulanowski. The train won’t be hurt too badly as Gomenyuk is also a great powerhouse.
Interlagos Grand Prix
No cars on this track today, instead the cyclists will be waiting for the red lights to turn off and start their second classic on a race track of the season! This one is not guaranteed to be a sprint as the course is pretty tough, however chances are good we’ll see a sprint.
Maciej Ulanowski
Leader
Sergey Nikolaev
Support
Damiano Cunego
Free Role
Roger Randrianambinina
Support
Oleksandr Polivoda
Support
Adrian Nitu
Support
Ignas Konovalovas
Support
Jakub Skala
Support
Maciej for a sprint, Cunego for an attack, Konovalovas for an attack, Polivoda for a reduced sprint? All possible, but we need luck here.
Presented to you by VisitUkraine, ideas for travel and business
Wooden windmills in the Vodianyky village, Cherkasy region resemble the unique collection of 19 authentic windmills in Kinderdijk, Holland. This site is considered a Dutch icon throughout the entire world, being listed on UNESCO World Heritage.
Standing on the town hill, the medieval Palanok Castle with its peaked turrets is the key sight of the ancient Mukachevo. The castle is reminiscent of Burghausen Castle in Germany, dating back to XI century. The bright history of Palanok, kept by dilapidated walls of the once majestic fortress, is definitely worth attention and this priceless monument of the medieval architecture is worth visiting.
Ancient Uzhgorod is often called the “window to Europe.” It is little wonder, as it is situated in the heart of Zakarpattia – at the bottom of the majestic Carpathian Mountains and close to the border with Slovakia. Once a year Ukrainian city resembles a beautiful city of Atami (Japan) when splendid Japanese cherry trees and magnolias are blossoming in Uzhgorod.
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game
Dunkerque, cobbles. Sorry guys, we were forced in this again… We’ll try to make for some exciting racing though!
Romain Vanderbiest
Leader
Vitaliy Buts
Support
Sergey Nikolaev
Support
Dmitriy Gruzdev
Support
Yauheni Hutarovich
Support
Marios Athanasiades
Support
Volodymyr Gomenyuk
Support
Jakub Skala
Support
With bringing Romain to the cobbled race in his home country we hope we will have the favourite for the sprint stages after the classic men have had their stage. The train is not too impressive, but Hutarovich isn’t too bad as a lead-out either.
Fleche Wallone
Our first ProTour race of the season, and we will go all out for a result!
Damiano Cunego
Leader
Ignas Konovalovas
Support
Yevgeni Nepomnyachsniy
Support
Mykhaylo Kononenko
Support
Oleksandr Prevar
Support
Egor Silin
Support
Paolo Scarponi
Support
Adrian Nitu
Support
Cunego to lead us, and we bring basically all support we can find. These races are likely to be Cunego’s last chance to do things at this level, and we will do anything we can to have him go out on a bang.
Tour of Japan
Japan, one of the very few stage races we feel like we have a chance at actually winning.
Damiano Cunego
Leader
Egor Silin
Support
Paolo Scarponi
Support
Roger Randrianambinina
Support
Ignas Konovalovas
Support
Zouzou Andriafenomananiaina
Support
Oleksandr Polivoda
Support
Roman Lutsyshyn
Support
And to win, we actually need Cunego very badly. His race is like perfect for him with hills he can make a difference on, and a MTT which should also give him an edge over many of the other GC contenders. As always Scarponi will be his most valuable domestique, and with some luck he can even get a decent result as well.
Liege – Bastogne - Liege
A monument! Our first monument ever! … And it’s on the same time as Japan…
Oleksandr Prevar
Leader
Sergey Nikolaev
Support
Yevgeni Nepomnyachsniy
Support
Vitaliy Buts
Support
Artem Topchanyuk
Support
Adrian Nitu
Support
Mykhaylo Kononenko
Support
Jakub Skala
Support
And the fact it’s clashing with Japan means Cunego cannot be here… Prevar is a good leader as well though, and his last year’s San Sebastian win has shown he can survive the distance. Can he survive the PT madness? We will see.
Berlin ProRace
A race which has been unpredictable in recent history. Late attackers have a chance to surprise the sprinters.
Romain Vanderbiest
Leader
Roger Randrianambinina
Support
Maciej Ulanowski
Support
Adrian Nitu
Support
Oleksandr Polivoda
Support
Jakub Skala
Support
Yauheni Hutarovich
Support
Roman Lutsyshyn
Support
We will try no not allow any late attacks this year though! With Maciej and Romain we bring 2 fast sprinters who can fight for the first places, and the Down Under Classic has shown this train of sprinters can do well, even when failing horribly.
Olympia’s Tour
Sprinters, sprinters and more sprinters… And add in a prologue and a TTT and you have a very interesting race.
Cunego, Prevar and Scarponi. Dream Team for a race like this! Both Cunego and Prevar can ride a good GC, and Scarponi is just about the man everyone would want as a domestique here.
Visit Ukraine – Eco Travel, Kolochava
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The Ukrainian Carpathians are the ideal place for the travels in an “eco” style: find your own edelweiss flower, see the sunrise high in the mountains, take a rest with a fishing tackle near a quite lake, and also enjoy the silence of the rural area to the fullest and have a look at the traditions and folk crafts.
Kolochava, a picturesque village surrounded by mountains, is located in Tereblianska Valley. The summit ascend of one of the highest Carpathian mountain – Strymby (1719 m) lures with fascinating landscapes, the possibility of enjoying the peace and getting a lungful of fresh mountain air. In summer lush green hillsides are dripped with blueberries and crocuses, and there are a lot of strawberries, raspberries and blackberries in the forest. The generous Carpathians sun warms the crystal-clear streams of the Kolochava and the Tereblia and there are a lot of trout in Kolochavsky lakes, which seduce most eager travelers to go fishing.
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game
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In Klevan town in Rovno region there is a unique natural scenic “Tunnel of Love”. In warm months, when leaves on the trees are in full bloom, green robe of growing next to each other fabulous green trees form a tunnel along a kilometer stretching away railway. It has become a tradition to attend “Tunnel of Love” for the ones who are in love, in order to make a wish.
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game
Depends on my final deals though, the wildcards are costing money, and I will need to have money to get in obviously 
Romain Vanderbiest
Ignas Konovalovas
Paolo Scarponi
Jakub Skala
Yauheni Hutarovich
Andriy Orlov will enjoy a season in the CT with the New Balance team. Andriy is not ready yet for racing at a higher level and therefore he's hoping to get a few chances to show his attacking spirit in the newly found team. He will return with a lot more experiences, and better skills.
Mikhail Kochetkov is in pretty much the same situation as Golovash is, but he's joining Orange - KLM Cycling for this season. We hope he will have a similar role as Golovash has with our neighbours.
Polychronis Tzortzakis is the final guy to leave the team, but he is leaving permanently to join La Poste - Mavic. Polychronis may not have ridden in our shirt, however we feel he would be far more valuable at the lower level.
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