@Shonak - Yes, of course i meant in the PT *looks around in panic*
@Forever - Thanks and thanks
@Mre - You'll be up again before we know it. And yes, absolutely my proudest ManGame moment in those two riders! And please, bring more Zooey to the thread
Trilogy? Well it's our third annoncement of transfers, so.... Ok we really struggled for a good title for this one, leave us alone!
Darren Matthews | 26 | Pot. 4 | XP 4.100
Fl
Mo
Hl
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Cb
Sp
Acc
Ftr
Dhl
Prl
72
61
66
70
70
67
71
73
76
76
74
66
74
Darren comes across from Minions, frankly he should be paying us to get out of such a nightmare. £125k fee secures us a double NC and versatile rider similar to Jyme and Thiago. From the capital of the island, Darren has been flying the Caribbean flag before in the MG but now unites at the worlds most Caribbean team. A big move for the sponsors, and a very handy rider indeed.
Than Tung Huynh | 21 | Pot. 6 | XP 1.00
Fl
Mo
Hl
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Cb
Sp
Acc
Ftr
Dhl
Prl
64
59
66
65
66
71
56
59
68
67
74
67
68
Than Tung Huynh, why would we sign a Vietnamese rider? Good question. We're just open to giving opportunities to all riders. Plus it helps if your decently talented and versatile. Huynh will grow into a unseful squad rider, we don't know how he'll progress exactly, just that he will be a good attacking natured fellow. Plus this means Podium Ambition has at least one rider from every continent on Earth! How many teams can say that? Truly, we are the worlds local team.
We're almost there, almost done with transfers for this season. One in and one out to cover here, as we just finish up in the next couple of days with finalising the squad and prepping our race calendar.
Andrew "Pit Bull" Talansky | 29 | Pot. 7 | XP 4.100
Fl
Mo
Hl
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Cb
Sp
Acc
Ftr
Dhl
Prl
71
79
77
72
75
76
77
56
59
69
63
66
72
Andrew Talansky joins from the free agency. The New York native provides a stage racing option to the team, something we've not really ever had before! He can provide a selection of points when the rest of the squad falls back, making him a valuable addition. Continuing to grow our North American marketing value a number of sponsors will value this excellent ability rider.
Julian Alaphilippe | 25 | Pot. 6 | XP 4.14
Fl
Mo
Hl
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Cb
Sp
Acc
Ftr
Dhl
Prl
70
66
72
62
72
68
76
64
75
75
75
73
64
The Frenchman has been with the team for a couple of years now, growing into a surprisingly useful and versatile rider. But 2017 will be spent in the ProTour with Festina - Dexia. This will complete his development, and Julian will return the complete rider we know he can be with: 77SP and 73HL. Best of luck, Julian!
Hopefully Pitbull will do more for the team than for Rider last season, he used to complain about him like all the time. Then again, The Rider was pretty much complaining about each of his riders me thinks. Definitely two good deals for the team!
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
@shonak - He's our best ever stage racer, i can't complain about him Any points he gets in those races will be precious.
The Great Big We're Really Almost There Now Post
This is the penultimate transfers post for the team, we really are almost there now. As such our race selections have been submitted to the MGUCI and are awaiting confirmation, including a PT wildcard application!
Mitch Docker | 31 | Pot. 5 | XP 4.100
Fl
Mo
Hl
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Cb
Sp
Acc
Ftr
Dhl
Prl
72
69
68
68
69
71
76
56
79
77
57
60
72
Mitch Docker, the now infamous Mitch Docker. He haunted the transfer season under rumors of a massive fallout at Carlsberg. Well we picked him up for just 100k to make an Aussie trio alongside Caleb and Ricki. A good lead-out man and plenty of experience to pass onto the team. He'll be an excellent road captain and marketing opportunity for our fast paced sponsors.
Momchil Robov | 24 | Pot. 4 | XP 4.00
Fl
Mo
Hl
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Cb
Sp
Acc
Ftr
Dhl
Prl
70
71
74
66
70
72
69
50
69
70
75
66
66
Momchil departs the team for a season, joining PT newbies Spotify on loan. A good servant of the team in the past, including two stage wins, we're eager to see him on the biggest stage of all. He'll come back a better rider (76HL, 72MO, 76FTR) and one to watch going forwards. We wish him, and Spotify, well for the 2017 season.
That's it! We've survived transfers for another year. Our directuer sportif, TMM, is rocking a rather lovely #transfersbeard just to top it all off. In the closing days we made two final additions to the team, and we'll show off exactly what our full squad looks like.
Dobrin "Lily" Lilovski | 22 | Pot. 5 | XP 1.00
Fl
Mo
Hl
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Cb
Sp
Acc
Ftr
Dhl
Prl
65
64
69
65
62
66
69
54
62
66
64
70
69
Dobrin joins our, somehow still existant, Bulgarian core. They call him the next Momchil Robov, how high praise is that! A punchy little hills rider Dobrin will need a few years to grow into himself as yet another young talent on the team. We might not have Bulgarian backing anymore, but we still know a talented rider when we see one. Plus he's good off-road as well!
Yoan Pirogue | 22 | Pot. 5 | XP 1.38
Fl
Mo
Hl
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Cb
Sp
Acc
Ftr
Dhl
Prl
66
50
59
58
59
65
62
65
68
69
64
66
70
A second Mauritian rider, we are spoiling the Mauritius Central Bank this season! Yoan will join the team later in the year as a Stagiare, having previously ridden for Eritel also as a Stagiare. Will this turn into a full pro contract for 2018? Only time will tell, but Yoan would fit nicely into our sprinting line-up as he develops. An excellent marketing opportunity, and an intriguing rider.
_______________
Thus we have our full 2017 Roster confirmed (pending any late-day MGUCI intervention or funding foul-ups).
Nat.
Name
Age
Key Stats
Wage
Nickname
Marcus Burghardt
34
82CB 70HL
£420,000
Marcus
Andrew Talansky
29
79MO 77HL
£350,000
“Pitbull”
Geraint Thomas
31
79CB 74SP
£250,000
“G”
Caleb Ewan
23
81SP 70HL
£150,000
Caleb
Ricki Nelson
29
81SP 79RC
£135,000
Ricki
Mitch Docker
31
79SP 72PL
£107,000
Mitch
Simon Yates
25
76HL 78AC
£100,000
Simon
Geoffrey Soupe
29
79SP 77AC
£70,000
“Souper”
Martin Grashev
30
75CB 72MO
£70,000
Martin
Darren Matthews
26
76SP 73CB
£60,000
Darren
Than Tung Huynh
21
68SP 66HL
£55,000
Than
Stefan Hristov
32
77CB 72FL
£50,000
Stefan
Borislav Ivanov
28
76MO 74HL
£50,000
Boris
Thiago Duarte Nardin
29
78FT 73HL
£50,000
Thiago
Jyme Bridges
28
72HL 71CB
£50,000
Jyme
Valentin Stoenchev
26
74TT 74PL
£50,000
“Cupid”
Adam De Vos
24
71MO 71HL
£50,000
“De Boss”
Logan Owen
22
71CB 71AC
£50,000
“Wolverine”
Dobrin Lilovski
22
69HL 69PL
£50,000
"Lily"
Chris Lawless
22
68HL 66SP
£50,000
“Dredd”
Kim Le Court
21
68HL 71FT
£50,000
Kim
Kristian Vanderpool
22
69PL 68TT
£50,000
“Kristin”
Yoan Pirogue
22
68SP 70PL
£10,000
Yoan
Julian Alaphilippe
25
75SP 72HL
Festina
Julian
Momchil Robov
26
74HL 71MO
Spotify
Momchil
Note: Yoan Pirogue is a Stagiare. Julian Alaphilippe + Momchil Robov are on Loan to PT teams
22 full contract riders. 1 Stagiare. 2 Loan-Out's. It's gonne be an interesting year!
We're going to ride our first ever PT race this season! Confirmation came this morning from the MGUCI that Podium Ambition have been given a wildcard entry to the Giro d'Italia! We sent out applications to all three grand tours, with our preference being for the big enchilada, the Tour de France itself. But getting the second biggest and second best Grand Tour as a debut PT showing, we can't complain.
Who will we send? What will our targets be?
No idea, but those guys who need higher level experience are likely to attend. Just to have fun, eat good food, drink good wine and meet some lovely bella regazza!
(Also time to start prepping a ton of italian inspired gifs...)
Huh? Weirdly for this HQ this is not a post about girls! Rather we want to celebrate a little piece of our own history. This is the teams 5th season, a nice landmark itself, but perhaps more impressively this is a few riders 5th seasons with us! Through our promotions, relegations and sponsor changes a small selection of riders have survived unscathed. They're not the most loyal riders in the game, but we care about them.
Geraint Thomas
The big G man himself! Arriving to us down from the PCT and a certain SN, G was an expensive buy in 2013. But he sloted straight into a leadership role in the squad. A handfull of podium finishes in 2013 were good results as he was that years top scorer for the team (a regular occurence for the welshman) and guided us to an unlikely promotion.
Geraint has since then remained as one of our biggest and best riders. He got his first team win in 2014, added another in 2015 and then several in 2016 which was by far his best year to date.
A solid base on the cobbles Geraint's 5th year will take on a different look. No longer is he the teams big cheese on the pave. He'll be second fiddle to Burghardt. Perhaps now we'll see G sit in a bit more and use that sprint finish to its full effect.
Martin Grashev
Another cobbles rider, there might be a pattern emerging here. Martin is a rather unique individual, in that rather than being a more traditional cobbles rider (big engine on the flat) he's quite at home on steeper slopes. Fancying himself as a bit of a climber Martin has graced both high altitudes and the rough roads. All his years thus far have been spent providing key assistance to Geraint on the cobbles. But he has also famously grabbed a few choice results himself!
In 2013, his first pro year in the MG, he got himself onto the podium in the Dobrich GP. This was behind Geraint admitedly but a cracking result for his own palmares. In 2014 he surprised some of the best in the business with 2nd place at the brutally tough Bahir Dar, miles ahead of Geraint. 2014 was also the year of his EPIC race at the Tour du Faso, where almost every day was spent on the attack in desparate search of avoiding relegation.
2015 was a comparitively quiet season but he again popped in some good rides in 2016 back at a lower level he's much more suited to. 2017 holds some interest with the re-powered cobbles unit, and Martin is easily ready for year number 5!
Valentin Stoenchev
Oh poor Cupid. Valentin enters year 5 with the team, and we have to start with an apology from the management. He is still and unmaxed rider. 5 years and not 4.100. We are so sorry Valentin.
The time trialist has never had more than a domestique role in the squad, but has always been one of our best against the clock (mostly because it's a discipline we care nothing about). This has worked in Cupids favor on a few occasions, namely at the Nationals.
We can't really mention anything impressive in terms of regular calendar races. Valentin has popped up in a few breakaways here and there but never been close to getting a victory himself. In fact in the previous 4 years he has only picked up one win, the National Road Race title. Better than nothing!
Year 5 will be another one of hard work in service of others for Cupid. Perhaps another National title awaits at the end, but nothing else seems realistic. And as if to rub it in, we don't expect to see him max out this season either.
Stefan Hristov
Ok, so technically Stefan will only ride his 4th year with us in 2017. He spent a year on loan at Red Bull in 2015. But he has been a part of the team for all that time with some wage contribution coming on our end. So we count him as part of the 5-year club!
Slowly Stefan has grown into a good domestique on the cobbles. He's always been there to help Geraint or Martin in the past, but never really getting his own shot at glory. But that's the life of most riders, and Stefan has carried out his duties brilliantly.
His highlights really only come last year in the CT as part of the dominant cobbles team we assembled. And personally for him the PT season has to be a big thing as well. Plus let us not forget his National Road Race title, way back in 2013!
Rumors are abound already that this might be Stefan's final year at the team, as old father time is knocking on his door. Callous maybe but it happens to everyone at some stage. The 32 year old has had a quiet career, but doing something he loves. That experience is being passed onto the teams next generation. Who knows, he might get another season!
(although his NC win image might be lost to the depths of time and space
The time of the year to give a round-up of how Podium Ambition are predicted to fair. Last season, 2016, predictions in the CT had us 1st-4th and of course we finished a close 2nd. So overall they were fairly reliable. Well now we've gone up the PCT, what do our fellow managers think we can expect this season?!
_____ tastasol - 18th
Firstly, it's not a relegation prediction! His prediction of safety is based around our ability to do very well on cobbles, mix it in the sprinter and bag a few extra from Talansky. Enough all-round capability to keep us safe, if not doing much special. Does have 4 other promoted teams ahead of us.
_____ matt17br - 15th
Firstly, it's not a relegation prediction! Has us as the thrid best promoted team and comfortably buried in the mid-table area. He doesn't go into much detail, but this has to be based of a confidence in consistent scoring boosted by a power cobbles unit.
_____ Bushwackers - 12th
Firstly, it's not a relegation prediction! It's hard to be any more mid-table than this prediction (ok, 13th would be more mid-table). That shows a belief in all-round ability to keep bringing in points, if not any expectation to be winning a lot. 4th best promotion team in this prediction.
_____ SportingNonsense - 20th
Firstly, it's not a relegation prediction! But it is the worst so far. This mathematical prediction shows up our lack of depth and range, being very lowly ranked in climbing, time trials, stage racing and hills. But we're top of Cobbles and top10 in Sprints. So we've got enough to stay safe, but need to diversify to contest.
_____ Tamijo - 8th
Firstly, it's not a relegation prediction! In fact it's almost a promotion one! We've clearly impressed the new manager, and that seems to be based off Talansky having a cracking year. But still only 3rd of the promoted teams, clearly we can all expect a stellar year.
_____ Marcovdw - 8th
Firstly, it's not a relegation prediction! In fact, again, it's almost a promotion one! This is based off a combination of having good outright lead riders, but also having them spread across different areas. As well as having a variety of decent guys who can score in their own right, if not massively. 2nd best of the promoted teams.
_____ AbhishekLFC - 19th
Firstly, it's not a relegation prediction! Another mathematical prediction that highlights depth and variety, but praises our cobbles and sprint set-ups. Indicates that we can rely on these two terrains to give good points, but going forwards we need more options to be really competitive.
_____ Croatia - 4th
Firstly, it's not a relegation preditction! In fact it's a legit promotion prediction! We definitely impressed with our cobbles set-up and focus on sprints. With the ability to pick a large amount of our schedule Croatia believes we can be right amongst the top end of the table and going for a PT spot. Unsurprisingly this has us as the best promoted team.
_____
So that's predictions for 4th, 8th, 8th, 12th, 15th, 18th, 19th, 20th. A range of 16 places. An average of 13th. A median of 14th.
What does this tell us? That we should expect to be finish the season in safety. But some bad luck could drop us into huge trouble, and conversely a few overperformances could catapult us skywards. Either way, it's going to be a very interesting season for Podium Ambition as no-one seems too sure of what we can achieve.
Except the management. We know we're going to win the PCT.
September and October. Crunch time in the season when titles are decided and relegations pounce. Well the title is long gone for Podium Ambition, but those relegation places are stalking the team hard and close! As the great Sir Alex Ferguson once said, "it's squeaky bum time".
Where does Podium Ambition stand? 19th. We've dropped like a stone from 12th at the start of July to 19th at the end of August. An alarming drop as just 202 points were gained in that time! Not helped at all by the baffling and devastating collapse of Ricki in Blatic Chain Tour.
The current final prediction, based on pprd, would have us staying 19th. But if we only manage 200 again in two months that would slip to 20th and just about 100 points the right side of safety! Basically, we either step up our level of performance or there is a real and present danger of relegation.
And all that despite picking up two wins in August! Caleb Ewan with his second of the year in the Volta a Portugal, and Ricki Nelson with his first of the year in Baltic Chain Tour. Brings us up to 3 Stage wins, and Geraints Herning GP victory. A far cry from what we hoped with the 10 Stage wins goal.
Overall it's been a dissapointing and underperforming year. It puts future sponsor plans in a tricky place. Stay in the PCT, we'll keep the current sponsors. Drop to the CT, we'll wipe the slate clean.
Squeaky bum time! Two hard months that will make or break the season...
That time of year where we get to see exactly how our riders are growing and developing their skill sets. The 2018 season has been a big one for Podium Ambition in that respect with 13 unmaxed riders on our books!
We knew going in getting all 13 covered would be impossible if we wanted to stay PCT. So Kristian Vanderpool, Yoan Pirogue and Valentin Stoenchev were sacrificed and the trio remain on the same stats. It's really harsh on Stoenchev who's tenure at the team might be coming to an end after 5 years!
But on with the interesting bits!
Momchil Robov 4 > Max
FL
MT
HL
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FT
DH
PL
70
71
74
66
70
72
70
50
69
70
75
66
66
71
72
76
66
72
73
71
50
69
71
76
66
66
Momchil has been out on loan with Spotify, so massive thanks for getting him Max'd. Robov has become a nice little punchuer, a good man for a breakaway ride. If we end up back in the CT a little training here could provide a nice leading option.
Momchil Robov is also the teams first Level 1 to Max rider!!!
Julian Alaphilippe 4 > Max
FL
MT
HL
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FT
DH
PL
70
66
72
62
72
68
75
64
75
75
75
73
64
72
66
73
63
74
69
78
65
77
77
75
73
64
Julian has been on loan at Festina, so massive thanks for getting him Max'd. Hopefully Julian can bring that incredible experience back to us and a role of lead-out man. Will be a good option for spending left-over budget.
Adam "De Boss" De Vos 3 > 4
FL
MT
HL
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FT
DH
PL
67
71
71
66
72
71
71
59
62
65
68
72
68
68
73
73
66
73
72
73
59
62
67
70
73
68
Adam continues his growth as a nice little climber. Still some distance off making an impact in races he's still important to the team on the steeper roads.
Logan "Wolverine" Owen 2 > 3
FL
MT
HL
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FT
DH
PL
69
65
66
62
68
68
69
71
63
71
64
73
64
70
65
67
62
69
69
70
73
63
71
65
73
64
Wolverine has been part of the cobbles unit that was the cornerstone of our survival. He improves in that department and works hard to establish himself on that terrain in a few years time.
Chris "Dredd" Lawless 1 > 2
FL MT HL TT ST RS RC CB SP AC FT DH PL
67
61
68
58
66
64
64
66
66
66
65
68
58
67
61
69
58
67
65
65
66
66
67
66
68
58
Dredd only goes up one, part of the compromises we had to make to mount a proper survival season. He's underway on the journey to puncheur. Some say he's the next Robov!
Dobrin Lilovski 1 > 2
FL
MT
HL
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FT
DH
PL
65
64
69
65
62
66
69
54
62
66
64
70
69
65
64
70
65
63
67
70
54
62
67
65
70
69
Dobrin again only goes up one, we had to prioritise survival! He's underway on his journey to decent little puncheur. Some say he'll be better than Robov!
Kim Le Court 1 > 2
FL
MT
HL
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FT
DH
PL
66
66
68
59
60
66
65
62
63
61
71
69
60
66
66
69
59
61
67
65
62
63
62
72
69
60
The MG's first female rider gets herself up a level! Like Dredd and Lilovski she'll become a nice little puncheur akin to Robov. Although definitely will be the prority for training of these three, we need her to win races!
Than Tung Huynh 1 > 2
FL
MT
HL
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FT
DH
PL
64
59
66
65
66
71
56
59
68
67
74
67
68
65
59
66
65
66
72
57
59
70
69
74
67
69
Than stats his jounrey towards lead-out man, with a different skillset to Julian. Nothing special yet but in the end his PRL could be useful, although probably not.
Simon Yates 4 > Max
FL
MT
HL
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FT
DH
PL
72
70
76
68
75
69
67
51
73
78
74
64
71
74
70
77
68
77
70
73
52
75
80
74
64
71
Simon gets Max'd! However he is still one or two or three years off his final ultimate form, we've got serious training plans! A nicely versitile puncheur who can sprint, climb mountains and time trial if needs must. Put a bit more work into his hill riding ability and he can be a weapon.
Or if all else fails he'll wreck the CT following a relegation...
Caleb Ewan 4 > Max
FL
MT
HL
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FT
DH
PL
73
62
70
60
71
70
78
69
81
79
63
71
73
75
62
71
60
73
71
80
70
83
81
63
71
73
He's made it! Caleb is max'd! Now firmly a top PCT level sprinter, he's already bagged divisional wins and more are certain to come now. A great finishing speed and strong ability to get over hills and cobbles on the way. Put a finishing touch of training ontop over the next few years and he'll be one of the best in the world!
With minimal declines, only Marcus taking notable loss from out big riders, these gains help us take confidence onwards that next year we can look upwards not down in the PCT.
We're very excited!!!
Ewan maxed I'm glad i don't plan to have any sprinters next season in PCT
And Yates is just amazing. His stat combo reminds me of Ponzi. If you can turn him into only half as good as the Italian, Simon will be one of the best puncheurs in the MG
Yates indeed will be a rather useful rider as he is and training will hopefully develop him into a great rider for you.
Ewan is a scary sight! His Hill stat means he won't be dropped too often which is going to help you immensely as well. He's certainly a fantastic rider to have, especially at PCT level. I hope he performs for you how he should!!!
Yates and Ewan are scary good, not looking forward to facing them next season
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
@Aquarius - And i'll avoid the climbers He won't become Ponzi, not without a promotion to PT very quickly, but a PCT version is in reach.
@LLS - I worry Yates won't score much until i can get his HL up to 79, but you never know and he showed what that kind of combo can do in the CT. Ewan is awesome, just hope he doesn't do a Lo Cicero...
@jandal - Yates not quite scary yet, 79/80HL would be scary. And you've got a great base for PCT, just need one or two bigger leaders with all the support in place already.
@Heine - Won't be close to promotion i feel. Marcus declines and he was already struggling, Talansky still massively outclassed (although if i can scrape together enough for an 80MO that could change). Mid-table this time around, promotion in 2-3 years so you don't need to worry about us yet
@Roturn - 71HL is awesome. Could have put in some Hills level up for 73-75HL but then i have Yates with the HL/SP combo I don't quite think Ewan is that high just yet, he's floating around the lower Top10 overall. Hopefully my mind will be changed at the Down Under Classic in January
![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
Darren Matthews | 26 | Pot. 4 | XP 4.100
Than Tung Huynh | 21 | Pot. 6 | XP 1.00
Andrew "Pit Bull" Talansky | 29 | Pot. 7 | XP 4.100
Julian Alaphilippe | 25 | Pot. 6 | XP 4.14
Mitch Docker | 31 | Pot. 5 | XP 4.100
Momchil Robov | 24 | Pot. 4 | XP 4.00
Yoan Pirogue | 22 | Pot. 5 | XP 1.38
I'm glad i don't plan to have any sprinters next season in PCT 
I don't quite think Ewan is that high just yet, he's floating around the lower Top10 overall. Hopefully my mind will be changed at the Down Under Classic in January 
