Today, TVM - Beslist.nl announced the goals for their debut in CT. The team will aim for sprints and cobbled races, mostly on C2HC level, which is highly ambitious as no riders have been recruited yet.

The most important race for the team is the Benelux Challenge, partly ridden in its home country, the Netherlands. The team will aim for stage wins in the flat stages, especially stage 1 and 6. The fourth stage, with its many cobbled sections could give the team a chance for a win, but this depends on the level of the classics riders the team can manage to sign.

The most challenging goal is the aim for a victory in the Busan GP, a flat race in South Korea. Because of this goal, the team mainly aims to sign some strong sprinters from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.

The team's third goal will be close to home as well. The cobbled race Geraardsbergen - Bosberg should result in a top 5-ranking for the team.

The fourth and final race goal is the aim for top 5 in Circulo de Juarez, which is a almost completely flat stage race and thus highly suitable for the recruitment focus of the team.

Last, but not least, the team aims for a spot amongst the 10 best teams of CT at the end of the season.

These goals are very ambitious and the chances that the team will succeed will depend on the successes of the team in the upcoming transfer season.

With the transfer market open for two days, the first deals are being confirmed. About an hour ago, our first free agent deal was sealed as well. We are happy to welcome sprinter Martijn Verschoor from the province of Groningen (NED) to the team.

UPDATE: Furthermore, Johim Ariesen has also just joined the team. He'll be one of our key sprinters and a helpful domestique for the cobbled races.

We're hoping to present two more riders this evening.

After signing Verschoor and Johim Ariesen, we're happy to present two more additions to the team. Tijmen Eising and Roy Eefting have been signed as important helpers for the team leaders. Both riders are decent sprinters and will be an important part of the leadouts for our main sprinters.

Our focus on sprinters is going well, with four signings already and a few more offers pending. However, we are still aiming to sign a few good cobblers. If any teams have some nice cobblers, preferably from our focus area (NED/BEL/LUX/GER) feel free to contact me!

UPDATE: Two more helpers have joined the team. German youngster Phil Bauhaus has joined the team along with Tim Ariesen, which means both brothers will ride for TVM - Beslist.nl this year!

With some decent signings already, TVM - Beslist.nl was still lacking real leaders who are able to achieve our goals. That is until now!

We are pleased to announce that we've signed 5 riders today, amongst which are 3 team leaders. 27-year-old "Emmenaar" Bert-Jan Lindeman will, as things look now, be our leader for the cobbled classics. 26-year-old Michael Vingerling has also joined our team. He will be one of our key sprinters, but can also be used as leadout for our biggest signing so far: Ismaël Kip has transferred to our team from Shimano - Siam Cement Team for only 80k. He is seen as one of the best sprinters of the Netherlands and should be able to get some important victories for TVM - Beslist.nl.

Next to our leaders, we've also signed two riders who are expected to have a key role in the successes of the team. Both Nick Ingels (EVONIK - ELKO; 225k) and Lars van der Haar (FA) have been signed mainly for their capabilities on the cobblestones. However, Van der Haar is a very versatile rider who could perform well in many disciplines.

With this, our activity on the transfer market has peaked early. We're hoping to sign six more riders within range of our salary cap.

The season for TVM - Beslist.nl starts in February with maybe the biggest goal of the team: the Benelux Challenge. With Kip, Vingerling, Schinker and J.Ariesen, the team is aiming for at least one stage win in the flat stages. The competition for these stages is big with Guillèn (Ticos Air), Krieger (La Poste), Manarelli (Chiquita) and Clarke (Xero) as main rivals for our sprinters. We're confident that we have the best leadout though and we're excited to kick off our first season in CT.

The full line-up: Kip, J.Ariesen, Eising, Matzka, Schinker, Van der Haar, Verschoor, Vingerling

The prologue of the Benelux Challenge was probably the most important time trial of the season. Finishing within 10 seconds of the winner would have resulted in a chance to get the leader jersey after tomorrow's sprint. Verschoor, Vingerling and Kip did well, but they didn't manage to stay within 10 seconds of the surprising winner Bille. Verschoor was our best rider today, finishing 11th at 11 seconds behind Bille.

The results:

1	Gaëtan Bille	La Poste p/b Mavic	7'34
2	Haijun Ma	Elta - Hellenic Post	+ 1
3	Polychronis Tzortzakis	La Poste p/b Mavic	+ 5
11	Martijn Verschoor	TVM - Beslist.nl	+ 11
18	Michael Vingerling	TVM - Beslist.nl	+ 14
40	Tijmen Eising	TVM - Beslist.nl	+ 18
44	Ismaël Kip	TVM - Beslist.nl	+ 19
49	Lars Van der Haar	TVM - Beslist.nl	+ 20
62	Nico Schinker	TVM - Beslist.nl	+ 22
138	Johim Ariesen	TVM - Beslist.nl	+ 35
142	Ralf Matzka	TVM - Beslist.nl	+ 36

Team rankings:

1	La Poste p/b Mavic	23'07
2	Elta - Hellenic Post	+ 4
3	Ferrero - Samruk	+ 8
7	TVM - Beslist.nl	+ 18